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Post by mugenginga on Dec 22, 2009 10:16:06 GMT -5
Teddie was blinking. Whaaat? The last time his head hurt this much was before he realized he was a Shadow. Concentrating to figure out who he was had hurt his brain like this.
"...Sensei?" he said.
Anpu glowered back. The tension here was thick enough a knife couldn't have cut it. There was a heavy weight over the entire area. Anpu's eyes flicked to Ryoji, who was looking at his hand now. Probably checking for blood. People never gave him enough credit. He refocused on Souji.
"Too soon? For what? And you can... Oh," Anpu gave a dark smirk, "You can't, can you? He doesn't know, does he?"
Ryoji waved his hand to Minato to indicate his friend could stop holding him up. He sat up and his eyes crossed, laying back down. Or not. He lifted his head to his temple again. Okay, he'd never had a concussion before, but... It meant he wasn't in condition to listen to much of hte conversation. He closed his eyes for how his vision was swimming. Anpu glanced at Ryoji. Idiot needed to stay down for a bit, if he'd hit Ryoji right he probably had a concussion.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 22, 2009 10:39:45 GMT -5
Souji felt a bead of sweat run down his forehead. Bastard had figured it out. "No, he doesn't know, and I would like to keep it that way." The alternative was everyone becoming drooling members of the Lost for the short time they would have left in their lives.
Naoto looked over at Ryoji. Judging by his condition, he likely had a concussion. She took a step forward.
"If you two would stop bickering for a moment, Ryoji-san likely has a concussion. I do not think it would be a good idea to move him at the moment, but I would like to get some medical help for him. Also, I believe someone should find Yuugi-san and and Atem-san and inform them of what has happened," Naoto stated.
Minato looked over at Ryoji again, then stood up. "I'll go find Yuugi and Atem." He looked back at Ryoji before running back off toward the festival.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 22, 2009 11:21:41 GMT -5
Anpu regarded Souji. There was something like fear there. He looked at where Minato and Ryoji were. He hesitated, remembering what it had been like before Ryoji regained control. He didn't think Death had given it back, which meant Ryoji knew what was happening somewhere. He turned back to Souji. He was missing something important here. He opened his mouth when Naoto spoke.
"He should move fine unless something else is contributing to his condition," Anpu said, "If you're bringing the Pharaoh and his boyfriend here, I'll be excusing myself."
Anpu turned to leave. The direction he turned was the direction he had been heading before he was cornered. Where Minato and the rest had been minutes before.
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Mana had looked blown away as the presence had faded. She stood still for several moments. No one had died, she was fairly certain about that. She didn't know what to make of that. She sighed and walked over to the kicked down door. If that teenager really was an avatar, Izanagi was just watching this unfold.
"You really are an asshole, Izanagi," she muttered, removing her shoes and walking into the honden to set about pushing the door up.
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Yuugi and Atem were taking a break away from the main part of the festival. A fair sized pond was to the side. What made it a pond was more the depth than the size. It was useless in the day, but it was known for being used for moon divinations. Atem was rotating his hands over his knees. He heard Yuugi chuckle.
"...what now?" he said.
"I thought you were in better shape than that," he smiled.
"I'm just not used to walking like this. Whose bright idea was it to make clothes like this for festivals, anyhow? I'm burning up."
Yuugi nodded, and wiped his forehead, "Yeah, well. Most people come at night. I don't know why we decided to come during the day. I wounder how Ryoji-kun and Bakura-kun are doing."
Atem glanced out towards the main festival, "They probably couldn't find us so went off to do their own thing. That's got me worried. I'm not sure Bakura is clueless about Anpu the way he was about Zorc."
"What do you mean? He knew about Zorc, right?"
"It's not that. Bakura got an odd expression on his face earlier. I'm not sure, but Anpu might be talking to him. They're both fully aware of each other."
"Wait, like we did? Why would Anpu do that? He thinks of Bakura as a host, nothing more!"
"He thinks of him as a hostage. He knows we can't do much with him using Bakura's body. Besides that, Anpu is more manipulative than Zorc was. He's more patient and prefers to pull the strings from a safe distance."
"Can we not talk about this? We're supposed to be relaxing! Are your knees feeling better?" Yuugi stood.
Atem looked up. He was going to bring up Souji as well, but his Partner had made a request. He nodded and stood up. Maybe he was too serious. In Ancient Egypt, he'd been more relaxed, even with the weight of the future throne on his shoulders. And Masad's constant reminder about it. Mana had been the only thing that prevented their group from being dragged down. Atem smiled at Yuugi.
"Alright," he said. Yuugi lit up.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 22, 2009 11:52:59 GMT -5
Minato had been looking all over the main area of the festival for Yuugi and Atem, but he didn't actually see them until they were leaving an area off to the side of the festival. He ran up to the two of them.
"We've got a problem," Minato said.
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Souji just scowled at Anpu as he headed toward the shrine. There was something suspicious going on there. But he couldn't follow after Anpu; Anpu would likely hear him, and Izanami could sense him, too.
"W-Wait, did you say, boyfriend?" Kanji stuttered out. "They're..." He found himself unable to say anything else. Even Naoto had to be a little surprised at that news. Either Anpu was insulting them, or he was telling the truth... Minato never mentioned this.
Souji looked back down at Ryoji. "Do you think you can walk? You were looking pretty bad for a bit before."
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 22, 2009 12:07:05 GMT -5
Yuugi and Atem both exchanged a glance. Atem opened his mouth but was surprised to find himself cut of. He was even more surprised at the conclusion Yuugi had reached. Surprised in part because he hadn't thought of it.
"Did something happen to Ryoji-kun!?"
Yuugi saw the look on Minato's face. He'd known Ryoji and Bakura had gone off together. Atem had mentioned Bakura was acting weird. There was something they weren't being told about Ryoji. Later on, he'd probably wonder how he had made the leap himself, but the danger was now.
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Anpu's shoulders moved a bit as Kanji freaked a bit. He was chuckling, but without noise. He didn't turna round or give any confirmation. It was possible it could be taken as a mere insult from that reaction alone.
Ryoji tried to sit up again. He kept his eyes closed as he did so. He didn't feel like he was going to fall down again.
"Maybe, but I think I need help up. Hey... did something happen while I was unconscious?"
They were acting weird. They were acting weird like Minato had at first. It wasn't just a concussion that was bothering him. He had two kinds of pain. He was having trouble fighting off the sharp bolt like pain. He needed to see a doctor. He didn't like doctors, but at this point it was worrying him...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 22, 2009 12:41:05 GMT -5
Minato nodded. He wasn't sure how they had reached that conclusion himself; he expected them to think of Souji first, but they'd hit things right on the nail.
"I don't know what all happened, but Anpu attacked Ryoji, and Ryoji nearly killed Anpu before he got control of himself again. Bakura's okay, but Naoto thinks Ryoji might have a concussion," Minato explained. He knew this explanation was confusing, not to mention alarming to those who didn't know about Ryoji's secret, which at this point was pretty much just Yuugi and Atem, but he had known they would have to explain the truth about Ryoji soon enough.
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Kanji looked a bit miffed at Anpu pretty much ignoring him. "H-Hey! I'm talkin' to you!"
Souji gave a pained smile. "As far as I know, nothing happened. Minato freaked out a bit more than I expected when we found you, though." Well, that wasn't an entire lie.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 22, 2009 13:06:22 GMT -5
"Ryoji nearly... killed...?"
"That bastard..." Atem growled. Who he was referencing was unclear, "We can talk about this later."
Yuugi had known that level of hatred in Atem only a few times before. When Kaiba put Mokuba through the torture of losing in Death-T. Atem had pulled him out and Mokuba had begged him to save Kaiba. Towards Malik, both his true and his dark sides. But it was rare. In truth, Atem had raged worse, but Yuugi hadn't been there for that. He nodded towards Atem and turned towards Minato.
"We don't have time to talk! Take us there!"
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Anpu took a side step and seemed to melt into the shadows. It had been a miscalculation that actually got him captured in Ancient Egypt. It was extremely unlikely even Naoto would know where he now was. The more superstitious would fear he actually had vanished. He had been known as the Thief King, and he still had those skills.
"Is it that bad if I know?"
Ryoji had turned to Souji and made sure their eyes were locked before he asked. Everyone was working hard to hide something. So hard that maybe it was better if he dropped it. He felt the sharp pain fade as he asked the question, and it surprised him. If it was that bad, if Souji told him honestly it was that bad, he wouldn't ask again.
He had a feeling that if they were working to hide it this hard, it was more than for his own mind they were hiding it. He'd try and figure it out, but he would stop burdening his friends with it. He recognized the crossroads. Right now he needed honesty to the single question. He'd make his decision based on it.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 22, 2009 13:30:38 GMT -5
Minato turned around and started leading the way back to where he had left Ryoji.
He knew it wasn't long now until they knew the truth. The only question was if Ryoji did or not...
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Souji once again looked pained. Ryoji had figured out that whatever they were keeping from him was rather dangerous... He slowly nodded.
"Yeah... It's that bad," Souji said. He held out a hand to Ryoji as an offer to help him up off of the ground.
Naoto and Kanji both were looking at where Anpu had disappeared. If the thief was gone, then Yuugi and Atem must have been on their way over here now.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 22, 2009 13:50:03 GMT -5
Ryoji looked a bit pained, but nodded. He didn't honestly know what answer he wanted. He took the hand and got to his feet, placing his hand against a tree once he was up. He was a bit dizzy and his head hurt, but now he just had a minor concussion. He looked at Souji.
"I have a selfish request. Don't tell Minato-kun about this. I don't want him burdened with more than whatever it is you can't tell me. And... I'm sorry," Ryoji looked away, "For burdening you like this, I'm truly sorry."
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Anpu came out of the trees. He looked over to the honden. He got ready to dart, not a jump but a preparation for action, when he saw what looked like a door. It thumped against the inside wall and he heard a sigh. He caught a look of a woman in an outfit his host's memories knew belonged to the priestesses of this temple. She reminded him of Souji, that was just messed up.
"If you're going to stare, you could help," she said, but her back was turned to him.
Anpu focsued, "Are you Izanami?"
She looked up. She didn't recognize the man. Incorrect. She'd never met him. It wasn't visible but he had something rather powerful hanging from around his neck. And she recognized him as one of the two she couldn't get a lock on before. She brushed her hands off against each other and slipped past the door.
"It is rude to ask for someone's name without introducing one's self first," she stated.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 22, 2009 14:16:55 GMT -5
Souji once again was feeling like a jerk for hiding the truth from Ryoji. But this was a case where the truth would lead to them all possibly dying, and Souji didn't have a full plan developed to stop the Fall from coming yet. Not only that, but Ryoji was requesting that he keep the question he had asked him a secret from Minato.
"I will, don't worry," Souji said. "...And you're not burdening us. You don't have to apologize for anything."
"Souji! Ryoji!"
Souji turned around to see who had called his name. Minato stepped around a tree, and Souji could see that Atem and Yuugi weren't that far behind.
"What are we, chopped liver?" Kanji asked. Minato looked over at Kanji, Naoto, and Teddie.
"Where's Anpu?" Minato asked.
"He slipped away earlier," Naoto said.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 22, 2009 14:39:51 GMT -5
"I still don't know what's going on, but you can count on us, Ryoji-kun!" Teddie said. Ryoji gave a bitter smile and nodded to both Souji and Teddie. He was a burden, but if they wanted to try to avoid being a burden to him, he wouldn't argue.
Ryoji jerked his head up as he heard the yell,. His eyes went a bit crossed but he recovered in time to give a smile to Minato. He tapped the side of his head that wasn't sore with his fist, "Hey, don't yell so much. I just had a head injury."
Atem and Yuugi filtered out behind Souji. Yuugi took a step forward, "Ryoji-kun, are you okay!? You're all there, right?"
"What did Anpu do?" Atem asked.
Ryoji blinked and waved his hand, "I'm fine, I'm fine. I just got whacked upside the head and Minato-kun-tachi found me. I guess I just rub Bakura's other personality wrong."
Atem hesitated. Yuugi opened his mouth again but Atem held up a hand, "He was probably trying to sneak off without you knowing. At least you're okay."
He's not aware he flipped out. Either he has another personality or something worse, Atem turned to Minato and his expression matched his next thoughts, We have to know if you don't want us to say something wrong, Minato-kun.
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Anpu stared at her for a moment. If she was a goddess, or even a favored priestess of one, he needed to step carefully. He shruged, "My name is Anpu."
She stared at him. She wasn't amused, "You think awful highly of yourself, don't you? If your name is Anpu, than mine is Tadoru Mana. If you wish to know my real name, you will give me yours. You are not a priest of the judge of the dead, that name is not yours to choose for yourself."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 22, 2009 15:15:05 GMT -5
Minato looked over at Atem, and then over at Ryoji. At this point, Minato could only hope that Yuugi and Atem wouldn't say anything to make the situation worse.
"I have a feeling Anpu was trying to get away in order to eavesdrop on Souji's conversation with Izanami. It would explain the direction that Anpu was going in when he was trying to leave," Naoto said. "In any case... Ryoji. You may be walking now, but I would still like to get you checked out by a doctor. There is a hospital nearby here; we can just get you a quick check up and come right back. We may find out what's causing your headaches there too."
Souji was confused as to why Naoto was pulling Ryoji away for this; she was aware he was a Shadow. Probably nothing would show up that was wrong on any scans or anything. He was confused for about two seconds until she gave a small glance toward Minato. She was trying to pull Ryoji away long enough for Minato to be able to fill things in, and for them to resolve the things with Anpu and Izanami.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 22, 2009 15:32:24 GMT -5
"You wouldn't be trying to get me alone, would you?" He felt Kanji's gaze on him, "...Relax. I couldn't do anything now anyhow. I feel like my eyes are trying to roll into the back of my head everytime I move quickly. Besides, I've been feeling a bit under the weather. Two birds, right?"
Ryoji walked forward. He had to concentrate on not weaving. Other than a slight stumble when he took his hand off the tree, he was successful. He walked next to Naoto and turned back towards.
"It'll be okay, Minato-kun. Not like the world's gonna end, right?"
Yuugi nodded towards Naoto. Atem noted Souji's confusion and subsequent loss. He let out a sigh. Good, if they could get the info they could figure out what to do next better.
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"What if I already know who you are?"
Mana smiled in that cocky way she had, "If you're that confident, you can drop it. I don't mind."
Anpu scowled, "I used to be known as Masud, but that is not my name anymore."
"Then I am indeed an incarnation of the goddess Izanami. What do you want?"
Anpu looked behind him, "Don't take this wrong if I'm off mark, but this kid named Souji is having a freak out over possibly being an avatar of a god you know."
Izanami narrowed her eyes, "You are on dangerous ground. Do you really want to continue this?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 22, 2009 15:54:05 GMT -5
Naoto had looked away from Ryoji when he asked if she was trying to get him away, and Kanji's face had gone red, and he was glaring at Ryoji until Ryoji made his excuse. Kanji turned his back to Naoto and Ryoji after Ryoji got done talking.
Minato avoided looking at Ryoji directly as Ryoji asked his question. "Ahahaha... yeah, I guess so. Anyways, hurry back, alright? I wanna hit all of the booths before nightfall."
Naoto turned to Ryoji. "Come on, Ryoji-san. If we want to make this quick, we should go now."
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 22, 2009 16:10:34 GMT -5
Ryoji looked a bit pained as Minato looked away. He'd said something wrong there. He'd shift expressions if Minato looked up. He turned to Naoto as she spoke.
"Right. You guys don't go having too much fun without me," he said. He followed Naoto as she cut a path through the trees.
Atem watched them go. It was several moments before he turned to Minato and Souji, "We have to know."
"Arisato-kun, you said Ryoji-kun attacked Anpu! What happened!?"
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Anpu could tell that. He also doubted she would care about his host if it came down to killing him, "Really, I'm just curious about why you hate Izanagi so much. I got the broken cliffnotes version from Adachi. I only know Egyptian dieties."
Izanami put her hands on her hips, "It is none of your business! And don't try looking it up, the stories are all horribly slanted in Izanagi's favor. Why would I tell you, anyhow?"
Anpu grinned a bit, he'd hit a nerve, "Because if you want to talk to Souji, or even if you want him dead, I can help."
Izanami spoke slowly, "What the hell do you think you could do?"
The Thief King of Ancient Egypt relaxed. He'd gotten his foot in the door.
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