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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Oct 27, 2009 6:24:38 GMT -5
Minato had been wondering about that, and spoke up. "Why did you guys split in the first place?" That had been odd too. They had been practically inseperable before, and now they were two different people. Sure, more convienent this way, since they didn't have to worry about the Puzzle so much now, but it was still odd.
Souji supposed it had something to do with the TV World forcing whoever was in the Puzzle at the time out of the Puzzle when one enters. And since Atem had been in the puzzle both times they entered...
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Post by mugenginga on Oct 27, 2009 13:30:33 GMT -5
Atem hesitated. He had known the question was going to be asked eventually, but it was tricky and a bit painful to attempt to explain. Yuugi had forgotten about that, but Minato had a good point. Atem wasn't even supposed to be anything more than a soul anymore, and although he hadn't wanted to fully admit it, he had known their journey was probably going to end with the Pharaoh leaving. He looked towards Atem, expectantly. The former Pharaoh realized he had no choice.
He looked away, "The first time we entered the TV World, we entered Yuugi's world. I think I got expelled thanks to Yuugi's shadow. It was likely trying to face him by himself. I know it felt like something tangible forced me to seperate from him. As for my World, I'm not really sure. Perhaps it was efforts to the actions of my Shadow," he shook his head, "But you're asking about why we're seperate now, correct?"
Yuugi nodded, "It's not that I mind... but I got the impression you didn't even have a body anymore."
Atem nodded, "I didn't. When I sealed myself into the Puzzle, I sealed good portion of my soul. Perhaps because of the concept of soul of my original time, it was a very tangible method of sealing. I wasn't mummified, your grandpa could probably tell you how they found no sarcophogas in my tomb. But if my theory is right, it also explains why I have a body now," he looked towards Yuugi carefully, "I will never be able to meet my priests in their original forms again... in the Mind Crush, I had to make a choice. My past... or ou.. my present," Atem hesitated, but it was likely at least Souji caught that he had been about to say 'our present, "And I chose the present... My memories said I would be forsaking one or the other. I think if I had chosen my past, I would have remained in the Puzzle and you and I would have parted ways eventually."
Yuugi hesitated, looking some mixture of worry and embarassed. At least for once it was leaning more towards worry, "T-that means... you picked... um... over...?"
Atem looked a little harsher than usual. In truth he was fighting off the awkwardness, and managing rather well to succeed. He'd always been better at that then the now fidgeting Yuugi. He returned his gaze towards Souji and Minato, "Did I lose you there? It is easier to understand if you know what Yuugi and I have been through over the past year or so."
Because there was absolutely nothing to be confused about in that explanation. Atem having a tomb, for one, had the potential to throw the group. Sure he'd been a Pharaoh, but he was also... here. Then the concept that sealing one's soul was sealing one's body. To those who hadn't done research into Ancient Egyptian mythology, that seemed rather odd. Modern beliefs expressed the soul as very intangible. The biggest mind screw, however, was likely that Atem was speaking of his memories as tangible things. The closest thing to that had been the Abyss of Time, and Minato had been very much dead durings his friends' adventures through there. After all, Yuugi and Atem were the only ones present who had beein in the ultimate Yami no Game and Atem's World of Memories...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Oct 27, 2009 15:31:24 GMT -5
On the other hand, Minato and Souji were both used to this kind of weirdness. The Mind Crush from before could have resulted in some journey to the center of the mind or something like that (had Souji voiced that thought, Minato would have groaned, even though neither of them even knew what that would have referenced). And as for Atem's decision to stay with Yuugi, well, that was to be expected. Everyone, except possibly Kanji, and that was only because of how soon he'd gotten there, knew what was going on with the two of them.
"...In any case, we need to keep an eye on K1 when he wakes up. And probably while he's still got the syndrome, too. I wouldn't doubt it if that Belphegor demon tried to attack him while he couldn't defend himself," Souji said. He sighed. "We have a lot of work ahead of us. Tomorrow, we should head back to the apartments."
Minato nodded. And once they were back there, he needed to do something at Tartarus...
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Post by mugenginga on Oct 27, 2009 15:38:38 GMT -5
Atem nodded, "I hate to say this, but I have to go back to bed. Souji, do you have any idea when this will pass?" There was an unspoken "Because I hate being this defenseless", but Atem had accepted Souji as the right type of observant person that would pick up on it. By keeping it unspoken, he wouldn't have to worry Yuugi.
Yuugi nodded, "I'm... not sure we can fight him. When he took his true form in front of K1-kun, it was really scary. I know none of you have been caught up in a Game of Darkness, but they are really oppressing. It's kind of hard to describe..."
Atem paused, "We do what we can. It's to protect a friend."
Yuugi relaxed a bit and looked a little sheepish, "You're right... I didn't give up in your Memory World, I can't give up here!"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Oct 27, 2009 16:12:35 GMT -5
Souji smiled. "Yeah, we'll do our best. Oh, Atem, you should be fine sometime soon. Most people don't take anywhere near this long to recover after going into the TV World, so you should be okay."
He stretched. "Right, now that that's all cleared up... I'm gonna get started on dinner."
Souji walked over to the fridge and opened it up. It looked like he had the ingrediants to make miso ramen. He decided to make miso ramen.
Upon pulling all of the ingrediants out of the fridge and setting them down, he started wondering how he should boil the noodles...
Minato looked Souji's way before noticing Kanji (who had walked back outside during their conversation, probably trying to get as far away from Naoto, who had just walked back in, as possible (a big clue being that his face had gone red as a beet when Naoto had come in)) had left Yuugi's jacket and shirt on the couch. "Hey, Yuugi, I think Kanji finished fixing your jacket."
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Post by mugenginga on Oct 27, 2009 16:19:50 GMT -5
Atem looked decidedly annoyed at Souji's comment. Which lead to Yuugi failing at stifling a chuckle, and a glare that was anything but serious in Yuugi's direction. Atem had gotten into the bedroom just as Kanji left the room. Yuugi looked up towards where Minato had indicated. He looked around. Kanji had left, so he couldn't thank him. He picked up the jacket and paused for a moment.
He stared. The jacket and shirt had been torn, right? He slipped his hand through the jacket and felt around where the tear had been. He almost missed it, but he finally found the stitching. His eyes got wide.
"You can't tell this was ever ripped!" he said, somewhat loudly. It was from surprise, but it was still almost shouted. He looked towards Naoto, "Is he always this good?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Oct 27, 2009 16:46:37 GMT -5
Naoto nodded. "His family runs a textile shop, so he's alway's known how to sew."
"He also does stuffed animals. They're so cute they'll give you diabetes. The instantly lethal kind." Souji paused. "His words, not mine."
"I bet Nanako would love one of those," Minato said. He had gravitated toward the fridge to grab some more melon bread, but was stopped when Souji threw a large wooden spoon at his head.
"Not until after dinner," Souji said.
"Dude, it's my melon bread!"
"Not. Until. After. We. Eat." Souji said. He was holding a rather menacing looking tenderizer. Minato backed away.
"Fine, fine..." Minato said.
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Post by mugenginga on Oct 27, 2009 16:58:31 GMT -5
Yuugi nodded, "Oh, that's why I'm so good at games!" He was smiling, "I mean, cause my family owns a gaming store. Gramps actually owns it, but we live upstairs from it. Um... who's Nanako?"
Souji probably hadn't realized this, but the only person not from his time/world that he had told of his family was Minato. At least she was shorter than Yuugi at her seven years of age. Yuugi was barely taller than a twelve year old American girl, after all. Yuugi had pulled off his vest and was pulling off the jacket to see if the fix was as good on as it was looking. Which of course, it was.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Oct 27, 2009 17:08:38 GMT -5
Souji gave a soft smile. "She's my very cute cousin. I stayed with my uncle while I lived in Inaba, so we got very close." He turned around and pointed the tenderizer at Yuugi. "And if you so much as touch her, I'll string you up by your ankles and feed you to the crows."
"...Sempai, Nanako's not on the island," Naoto said. "You do not need to string Yuugi-san by his ankles." She sighed. He was very protective of Nanako. Which was more than a slight understatement.
"Oh. Right. Sorry." Souji turned around and continued cooking the ramen. Minato sweatdropped.
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Post by mugenginga on Oct 27, 2009 17:17:24 GMT -5
Yuugi paled, suddenly wondering fi he'd done something to seem threatening. He looked like a deer caught in headlights until Souji turned back around. He blinked, trying to come up with words and then deciding that maybe keeping his mouth shut was the better plan.
He pulled off the jacket. He realized it was also clean. Kanji had washed it, too? He folded up the clothes and placed them on a table near his and Atem's room. The door was still broken, so Yuugi was able to see that Atem was asleep. He hoped for Atem's sake that he was feeling better tomorrow. Or maybe for Souji's sake. It had diffused quickly, but Atem had been annoyed at Souji's implications he was acting weak. So much so that the tanned teenager would probably be forcing himself to be active tomorrow even if he wasn't ready.
"I don't have any family other than my parents and Gramps. My dad is always away on business, and I think my mom is Gramps' only kid. I'm a lot closer to Gramps than any of my other family."
Which was apparent what with the "okaasan", "otoosan" and "jii-chan" way the teenager used to speak of them. He was trying to come up with small talk to avoid the issue of the Apartments. They'd been gone for a while, Adachi could be back by now. Souji's sleep suffered when the man was nearby. ANd he was quite worried about Adachi. Not that the man didn't deserve some kind of punishment, but if Souji killed him he'd be a murderer...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Oct 27, 2009 17:38:12 GMT -5
Souji said nothing, but scooped the ramen into some bowls. "Food's ready."
---------------------
The next morning, everyone was packing for the ride back to the apartments. Minato had gotten K1 and Naoya's stuff together, as well as his own. There wasn't much of note in K1's bag. Just his MP3 player, which had been dead for a while, considering Minato had seen K1 wearing it all the time, just never listening to it. Naoya's stuff had a few papers filled with various programming codes that Minato couldn't make head nor tails of, and power cords. Lots of them. About halfway through looking through Naoya's bag, Minato suddenly realized that it was probably more than a bit creepy that he was doing this, and returned to packing their items.
Since Kanji had nothing to pack, he helped Souji pack, meanwhile, keeping his back turned to Naoto, who was in the middle of packing herself. She had brought lots of books. Souji had somehow managed to pack a sword.
"...I like to keep it with me, okay?" Souji said. "Are we ready to go?"
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Post by mugenginga on Oct 27, 2009 17:46:09 GMT -5
The entire contents of Atem and Yuugi's stuff fit into a backpack Yuugi was wearing. Atem had seemed quite a bit more awake that morning, although Naoto and Souji could probably tell he was forcing himself just a bit. Yuugi and Atem hadn't been in the room when Minato had been going through K1 and Naoya's bags, which was probably in Minato's favor. He had been grateful that the way the group seemed to feel towards the two hadn't changed much. Souji seemed to feel justified in his dislike of the man and viewed K1 with a bit more incredulity than before. Minato was always hard to read, and obviously had other things on his mind.
As usual Yuugi was wearing the Pendant, which still seemed to react towards him like its chosen bearer, as there was no apparent weight difference to it with how Yuugi was holding himiself. Atem had taken to wearing his cartouche on the outside of his outfit, which was a change from how it had once been worn. Yuugi did raise an eyebrow at Souji's sword, but Atem knew that Souji viewed it the way most warriors viewed their weapons. Be that weapon a sword, a portable gaming device, or a deck of cards, there was a way those seasoned in battle carried their weapon of choice that was ofte only visible to other fighters.
Yuugi nodded at Souji's question, "I think we should check on K1-kun-tachi as soon as we get back to the city, though."
His eyes flicked towards Minato for a brief second. Eight. They had eight days before whatever was putting Minato's life at risk occurred. Atem caught the slight twitch but kept it to himself. He could no longer see the Death Clocks, but he knew what Yuugi was nervous about.
(OOC: Yeah, "-tachi" can indeed be added on after a standard honorific. Seen it happen. If for whatever reason you don't know, it roughly means "and the others". K1-kun-tachi means K1 and those he is with.)
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Oct 27, 2009 18:23:52 GMT -5
Souji nodded. He pulled his bag out, and looked at Kanji, who had grabbed the cooler full of food. Thankfully, most of it was NOT melon bread, as they had ended up throwing a lot of it out, due to mold, much to Minato's chagrin. Minato had insisted that they save what was left for... everyone's enjoyment. Yes.
"Alright, let's go then. The bus leaves in about thirty minutes, so we have to hurry," Souji said, checking his watch. He led the way, with Kanji and Naoto following after. Minato gave a small smile before grabbing his bags and following after as well.
He had a lot of time after all.
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