[Initially, Tsuchi had not thought much of anything about the new staff member that had been hired to the school recently. She had looked and smelled like an ordinary human, and was kind enough to listen to the older kids who came to the office seeking guidance for their high school entrance exams coming up soon. He had been prepared to treat her the same way as he does the rest of his human coworkers--polite, but not looking to make friends. Humans who get hired as teachers or other staff at this school tend to lose their memories of Tsuchigomori once they retire, the records adjusted accordingly to make it look like he has been working here for a reasonable amount of years as opposed to his whole life. So there's no reason to worry about anyone noticing something off about him without directly exposing his true self to their eyes.
A new white book appears in the bookstacks, as is customary when a new student or staff member has been assigned to the school, their futures now able to be examined and studied by the keeper of the 4pm Bookstacks. However, Tsuchigomori had not touched it at all until this morning, when the book containing the future of Evangeline suddenly turned a bright vivid red. That certainly got his attention, and sure enough, it seems that fate has other ideas as for the first time in many, many years, an adult human has managed to enter the 4pm Bookstacks.
Tsuchi has kept to the shadows of the ceiling far above her here, watching with careful, suspicious eyes to see what she's doing here. She had suddenly entered before he had even had a chance to actually look at her book to try to find out why it had turned red, and so this is one of the rare instances where he actually doesn't know what to expect here. Did he make a mistake somehow when determining her status as a human, or was it really a sheer accident that she was able to make it here? Normally the staff doesn't care about the rumors that circulate around the school, chalking it up to the active imaginations of children, but to think that this woman would actually go looking into it...
She sits at a desk--his desk, in fact, and he frowns, wondering what to do about this. There's nothing on the desk that incriminates him as being the Monster of the 4pm Bookstacks, but he can't just let her hang out here. He needs to make sure that she isn't going to be a threat to the existence of the Seven Rumors--too many humans knowing about them can make them lose their status as mere rumors after all. He's not so cold as to threaten her right off the bat, however--instead Tsuchi sighs, and swaps out his usual pair of glasses for the ones he normally wears when he's in his human guise as he carefully climbs his way down from the ceiling in a dark part of the bookstacks out of sight of her. Time to play the part of the hapless coworker, and see where this goes for now.]
I swear, this school's library feels like it keeps getting bigger the longer I work here. It shouldn't be this easy to get lost looking for materials for the science department...
[Comes the loud, higher-pitched reedier voice of "Tsuchigomori-sensei" when acting as a human being announced as he approaches her, as if having come from the direction of the entrance to the bookstacks. He's carrying a handful of random papers that look like they're in danger of slipping out of his grasp at any moment as he then caefully pauses, and then adjusts his glasses as if only just now seeing her.]
no subject
A new white book appears in the bookstacks, as is customary when a new student or staff member has been assigned to the school, their futures now able to be examined and studied by the keeper of the 4pm Bookstacks. However, Tsuchigomori had not touched it at all until this morning, when the book containing the future of Evangeline suddenly turned a bright vivid red. That certainly got his attention, and sure enough, it seems that fate has other ideas as for the first time in many, many years, an adult human has managed to enter the 4pm Bookstacks.
Tsuchi has kept to the shadows of the ceiling far above her here, watching with careful, suspicious eyes to see what she's doing here. She had suddenly entered before he had even had a chance to actually look at her book to try to find out why it had turned red, and so this is one of the rare instances where he actually doesn't know what to expect here. Did he make a mistake somehow when determining her status as a human, or was it really a sheer accident that she was able to make it here? Normally the staff doesn't care about the rumors that circulate around the school, chalking it up to the active imaginations of children, but to think that this woman would actually go looking into it...
She sits at a desk--his desk, in fact, and he frowns, wondering what to do about this. There's nothing on the desk that incriminates him as being the Monster of the 4pm Bookstacks, but he can't just let her hang out here. He needs to make sure that she isn't going to be a threat to the existence of the Seven Rumors--too many humans knowing about them can make them lose their status as mere rumors after all. He's not so cold as to threaten her right off the bat, however--instead Tsuchi sighs, and swaps out his usual pair of glasses for the ones he normally wears when he's in his human guise as he carefully climbs his way down from the ceiling in a dark part of the bookstacks out of sight of her. Time to play the part of the hapless coworker, and see where this goes for now.]
I swear, this school's library feels like it keeps getting bigger the longer I work here. It shouldn't be this easy to get lost looking for materials for the science department...
[Comes the loud, higher-pitched reedier voice of "Tsuchigomori-sensei" when acting as a human being announced as he approaches her, as if having come from the direction of the entrance to the bookstacks. He's carrying a handful of random papers that look like they're in danger of slipping out of his grasp at any moment as he then caefully pauses, and then adjusts his glasses as if only just now seeing her.]
Ehhhh, Evangeline-san? What are you doing here?