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[After a whole ten days of non-stop rain, Kaneki had gotten used to the fact that the weather was just destined to be bad this month. First the heat, now the rain...but what he wasn't expecting was waking up to a room feeling like the inside of a freezer. And since you can't really sleep until you've gotten to the source of an issue like that, it didn't take him long to figure out why. He shouldn't have been surprised, really, but...snow? In August?

Now he can't hope to sleep again, effectively stuck in his room under as many covers as he can get his hands on to try and keep warm. It's the kind of situation that's so bizarre that you can't really just sit there without the urge to tell someone about it. He spends some time going through the recent contacts on his Gear until he remembers a conversation he had with Chie over the weekend. It had been a while since he'd spoken to Tsukiyama, hadn't it...

After a minute of deliberation, Tsukiyama will get a ping to his Gear. It's not stupid o'clock right now, thankfully, but the sun has just started to rise properly. Not that it can be seen as cloudy as it is, right now.]

Good morning, Tsukiyama-san. Sorry if I'm waking you up, since I know it's still early. But...I don't know if you've looked yet, but it's...snowing. It's actually snowing outside, right now. It got so cold in my room that it woke me up.

Maybe some Pokemon are causing it? Things have been showing up all month, so I guess this shouldn't be too surprising. I've still never seen anything like it though.

[He pauses there for a second, wondering if he should say anything else. He already feels like he's rambling but he never really knows what to say, exactly, so he makes himself continue.]

Chie-san told me that you and her visited the ruins recently. It's a good thing you did before now, or else you might have been caught in the snow.

[He doesn't feel the need to mention that he's here, too. He's sure that Tsukiyama knows, and there's really no point in bringing it up, is there?]

Anyway...I hope you've been doing okay.

[He realizes in hindsight that it might be a little awkward to just leave it at that, but he's not sure what else he could have said. Kaneki eventually settles with that much for Tsukiyama to see whenever he's awake.]

[...Ah.

Well, that's unexpected but it's not unwelcome, really; Tsukiyama's been in a decent mood lately and Violet has been a new experience, if a bit of a dull one - really, he's just been waiting for the storms to pass to attempt to get back to Goldenrod, but in the meantime there's been a badge to get and things to look at and...well, lots of sheep to avoid...

That said, Kaneki isn't the only one to notice that it's cold as hell this morning; he hadn't expected to suddenly need the heat on in this godforsaken inn, and it doesn't take him very long to figure out why, even if he does spend a good long while just watching bits of white falling in patches in utter goddamn consternation because fucking really.

Nice to see the weather hasn't stopped conspiring against him over the last eleven and a half months, he supposes...

But the cold just means it's good weather for coffee, and he's already well awake by the time the ping to his gear comes in, and it's good to read it, really, and the ending...it's awkward, but it's charming in its own way.]

Good morning, Kaneki-kun! No, no, I've been up for a while now; the sudden temperature shift got me too, it seems...

I've been doing well enough, though. I certainly can't complain about much but the weather, and if that's the most of my problems, then I'm doing well, I'd say. Hopefully you've been all right as well...?

[By the time he responds he's gotten the heat going in his room, too, his Chandelure situated in the corner near the bed to provide an extra, more immediate heat source. The light flickering from his body coupled with the snow falling outside makes for a rather strange scene, but he actually doesn't find himself minding it too much. It certainly is weather to keep him indoors all day, that's for sure.]

I've been doing okay. I almost got stuck with a lot of sheep last week, but other than that I've been alright.

[Not that that would have been the worst problem to have, but...one Mareep is plenty.]

I got that badge that we were talking about before, the one from Falkner. I haven't actually tried flying or anything yet, but I'm glad I have it now if I need it.

I was finally able to get that one myself recently, actually - I didn't stay out this way for very long, the first time I came through. I was able to skip straight to Goldenrod from Cherrygrove, so this is my first time seeing this place; shame the weather's been so bad.

I don't mind the rain, at least, though I admit I'm not sure what to do with the snow. It's August.

I like this town a lot more than I thought I would. It's pretty quiet and there aren't as many people here, but...it's nice.

The rain hasn't been too bad. At least it wasn't hot or anything like it was at the beginning of the month, but...the weather really has gotten worse in a whole different way.

[...god he and Banjou really did jinx it, didn't they. IT CAN'T GET ANY WORSE, OF COURSE NOT.]

Well, if the pattern holds we'll have ten days or so of this; I suppose I won't be going too far, unless there's a 24-hour period or so where it looks to be letting up.

You're probably right...I hope those Mareep are gone by now, or they're going to be in trouble.

[More like frozen solid, if they're still as damp as they were the last time he saw them.]

[oh no]

I'm sure they're fine, Kaneki-kun. After all, they've survived everything else this place has thrown at them.

That's true. I guess a little snow wouldn't hurt them if all of that rain didn't.

[...]

I've been on the routes for a while now...has anything much happened back in Goldenrod?

Well, the heat wave brought some giant flamethrowing anteaters with it, for some reason. Otherwise, it's the same as it usually is, I think...

How have you been holding up, as far as the routes go?

Ah, I don't think I saw those...I tried to stay indoors when it was so hot out.

[Flamethrowing anteaters, though...]

It was a little hard at first, but Chie-san is a good traveling partner. And the weather wasn't bad like this when we were on the routes for the most part, at least.

[It was more like she had a tendency to just walk into anything and everything headfirst while Kaneki had no choice but to follow, to be honest.]

I liked camping out in the Ilex Forest. ...we did run into some exploding pinecones, but other than that it was fine.

Hori-san is always so good for that sort of thing - she's positively fearless, isn't she?

She'll take care of you if necessary; she's like that, even if she'll deny it.

The first thing she wanted to do when we got there was climb up a tree, so I believe that. She really has made traveling a lot easier to get used to.

...but being able to use Teleport to get around is still really useful.

Ah, I'm not surprised, actually - we used to do all sorts of things like that back home. She's never content with doing things the easy way, to put it gently.

She said she just wanted to get up there so she could have a better view of the forest...but she really wanted to take a close-up picture of the exploding pinecones.

[And let him tell you that she had absolutely zero qualms with getting within five inches of a pissed off Pineco.]

Did she make you climb trees too?

Ahh, that sounds like her! It's good to know some things never change, because that's how it was for us, too - trees, buildings...just about anything that was standing still long enough, honestly. Though I wouldn't say she made me; I've always liked high places.

It sounds like you were made to be friends, then.

What else did you both do, back home? If you don't mind me asking.

Oh, just about everything, really! We've been inseparable since high school; I love her a lot, she's been like a sibling to me for so long.

It's less what we did and more what we didn't do, I think.

[Having spent the time with Chie that he has, it makes sense that Tsukiyama would have taken to her. She really does seem to fear nothing. Add on the sheer willingness to do basically whatever, and it's no surprise that he would have found her interesting.]

I see...it's good to have someone like that. Someone you're that close to, I mean.

[His thoughts wander briefly to Hide, and he can't help but wonder what he might be doing right now. What he would think about all of this here.]

[It's...kind of begging the question, really.]

You don't have to give me details, of course, but...is there anyone like that for you, back home?

I...have a friend. He's my best friend, really. We've known each other since we were kids. We always spent a lot of time together.

It's been a while since I've seen him, though.

Does he know about everything that's happened?

[He...doubts it, strongly, but.]

No, he doesn't.

[Yet even so, sometimes he can't help but wonder. Hide somehow seems to know too much for his own good, at times...but this is something he's determined to keep from him.]

I think he just thinks I've been under the weather lately.

I thought so, honestly; I don't recall having ever met any of your friends from before all that, though I imagined it might be possible that you were just keeping work and pleasure separate.

Yeah. He'd been to Anteiku with me, before, but we didn't go there together regularly. And it was...before everything, anyway.

IC Contact/Voicemail

text; 8/20, morning

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