I dunno if I'd be good at it.

[He doesn't seem very confident in himself. Animals can be hard work.]

In school they said that I was better with books and writing. We can always try first? Is that okay?

[That way they can back out if it isn't a good fit.]

[ another nod. he'll start ushering them out of the apartment so they can start heading to the shelter. ]

It's okay to try. That's how you'll learn.

[ he doesn't want to push nanashi into doing anything that he doesn't want to do. he just wants to offer suggestions if nanashi doesn't really have a point of guidance ]

I only knew I wanted to work with animals because of the farm that our grandparents own.

[ the grandparents that jouhei stayed with. since he was young and in much better physical condition than two elderly farmers, he was tasked with doing a lot of the labour work and also taking care of the farm animals and pets. ]

You lived on a farm for a long time. That means you already had the experience you needed!

[Nanashi goes in to poke Jouhei's side. ]

Maybe I'll work at the animal shelter for the summer. Then I'll go back to school in fall.

[ jouhei responds to the poking by ruffling nanashi's hair a little. this will be a frequent thing ]

I can get you a job at the clinic if you want it. Or the dog sanctuary.

[ not that nanashi can do anything more than either clean or look after the animals for a bit but it's better than nothing. also, earning clean money is probably better than their family's dirty money ]

[ Ruffling the hair again.....! Nanashi's starting to get used to it so it's okay. ]

Can I work beside you? I'll do my best.

[ He doesn't want to work too far from Jouhei's place. Yeahh, clean money is better. Get that yakuza blood money out of here.]

It won't be for too long.

As long as you don't mind waking up early.

[ as in waking up at 6am or even earlier ]

I can wake up early, that's okay.

[He says that now but................Nanashi may regret this.]

What time do you usually leave in the morning? You're always gone by the time I wake up.

6AM.

[ do you regret this already, nanashi ]

[ YES...HE DOES.]

That's earlier than I thought. You don't ever sleep in, Jouhei?


[ What kind of person can always wake up before 6am and not sleep in once? ]

Why would I?

[ he asks like this is some foreign concept. who is this man??? ]

You only get a few hours of sleep that way.

[So he has to sleep early all the time.]

Geez, I feel tired thinking about this.

Not if you go to sleep early.

[ have you ever thought about that, nanashi??? ]

[NO OF COURSE NOT.]

I messed up my sleeping schedule a while ago. Going to sleep early is harder than it sounds..

[Sweats. How is he going to fix this.]

How bad is it?

[ it's not that hard if nanashi sleeps at midnight because that means he could get about five hours of sleep. it's fucked up if nanashi sleeps at, like... 3am or something ]

Bad? I always sleep for more than 20 hours....

[SOMEONE's got depression. ]

Do you think I should go see a doctor later?

... you should definitely see a doctor.

[ because wtf man ]

Is this because of your body...?

I'll go call them and ask for an appointment.

[Nanashi nods quietly.]

Yeah. I thought I caught something weird at first. Know any good clinics?

I'll ask around.

[ someone's bound to know one that's good ]

How long has this been happening?

A few weeks. I pass out without meaning to.

[Nanashi frowns. Sorry he didn't tell you sooner, cousin. He had issues. ]

I'm becoming more like the guy in my memories? He grew up in some kind of nuclear wasteland. That dude was always sick with something.

[So retrospec's at it again. He wishes that they didn't have to deal with their past lives at all.]

[ at any other time, jouhei might have pinched him but he's just glad that nanashi is sharing things with him now. he'd rather know and not dish out any consequences if that's what it's going to take ]

... nuclear wasteland?

[ this is his way of asking for more deets ]

Yeah. From what I remember there was a huge war. Missiles kept raining down from the sky until someone decided to block it off with a huge rock. It was dark all the time and there was toxic waste everywhere.

[So he gained the effects from that in this life. This is too detailed so Nanashi can't be making any of this up. He's thankful that Jouhei's willing to listen regardless.]

I get so scared sometimes. It feels like it's just a dream and then it's not.

[ that does sound pretty awful. jouhei hasn't regained back any memories that suggest that his world is anything like nanashi's. although it sounds pretty awful, he kind of wishes that they were both from the same time and place. at least that can mean that jouhei can provide some sort of comfort. ]

... do you remember the war?

[ it's one thing to live in that shitty wasteland but it's another to actually go through a war and with the whole missile nonsense ]

Not really. I think my past self died before he saw anything. He was young like me.

[It feels weird saying that. Nanashi gives Jouhei his palm so he can see all the changes going on. His skin is paler in completion and all zombielike. Grosss???]

There's no cure for this.

... we can see a doctor and try to figure out what to do.

[ jouhei doesn't want to give up on a chance of possibly making anything better. maybe the doctor will just rec them to use heat pads or something but better than nothing. anyway, they've been walking for a while now so here they are! in front of the animal shelter ]

Let's start here.

Okay, thanks for being so patient with me Jouhei. I know it's been hard.

[Nanashi's really lucky to have you around and he just wanted to let you know that.]

The shelter's pretty big. Where do we look first?

[ They're off to go poke at some animals. There's a bunch of kittens without homes all going MEOWWW. ]