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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 18, 2009 3:37:38 GMT -5
Adachi smiled. Okay, so he was pretty sure that nod was because the kid couldn't think of anything else to say.
"If you two are done, I'm going back to my place. Something tells me it might not have been a good idea to leave Ryoji and Teddie alone up there..." Souji said, sighing.
"What makes you say that?" Minato asked.
"Call it a hunch."
Adachi hadn't been paying too much attention to the Seta kid and his emo-haired friend until Teddie was brought up. Wait, what?! The bear was here too?! What, was Hanamura and Amagi here too? On that note, might as well put all of Inaba on this freaky island too. Geez.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 18, 2009 4:31:06 GMT -5
"Are you headed home too, Minato-kun?" Yuugi asked.
Atem walked towards Adachi after he was sure Bakura was headed towards the apartments. It took maybe a second to deliver his message, "Remember my warning."
Bakura stopped and turned around. He didn't know where Adachi's apartment was. On top of that, Atem was giving Adachi a discomforting look. It reminded Bakura a bit of how 'Dark Yuugi' had regarded his other self during that one game. Bakura felt the need to lie down, and he suspected it was from more than being driven to the point of collapsing by his other self.
---------
"So he doesn't act like that all the time?"
"Of course not! That's why I think Adachi is involved in all of this! What about Minato-kun? Is he always this depressive?"
Ryoji looked away, into some distance like there was something only he could see. He shook his head, "No... nothing like that. He keeps rubbing his neck... Dammit!"
Teddie jumped as Ryoji hit the back of the couch with a fist, "Ryoji-kun...?"
"I'm not usually this worried either. But something is wrong! I can't get Souji-kun to tell me, and Minato-kun keeps dodging the question! What could be so bad that Minato-kun can't tell me!? I swear it felt like I knew him before we even met, I know that sounds nuts but I did, and now its like our friendship means nothing! Swear to me you don't know what's going on!"
Teddie jumped as the frustration got shifted towards him, "I really don't! All I know is the shadows seemed scared of you and some really powerful shadow seemed to be on the other side during that fight with Minato-kun's but then vanished for no reason!"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 18, 2009 4:46:01 GMT -5
Adachi paled as Atem very clearly delivered his message, and slowly nodded. Once Atem had given him that look, he turned around and walked back toward Bakura.
"Come on, I'll show you the way up there," he said, and started leading the way to his apartment. Of course, because of how the building was laid out, this meant he had to take the same path up as the others, but then again, Souji seemed to be hanging back for some reason, staring at the blue-haired kid.
Minato nodded when Yuugi adressed him. "Actually, I think I'm going to go check on Teddie and Ryoji too. Something's bothering me." He rubbed his neck again, and Souji sighed.
"Alright, let's go." Souji said. Once Adachi and Bakura were on the second floor, he started up the stairs and led the way down to his apartment. He walked past Adachi, who had stopped outside of his own door and was fumbling with his keys, and down to his own apartment. Souji stopped outside of his door. He was hearing angry voices from inside. Minato paled.
"We should go in..." Minato said. Souji pulled out his own key and opened the door just as Teddie mentioned the shadow he had sensed during the battle with Minato's Shadow. Both Souji and Minato seemed frozen in the door frame. Finally Souji took a step forward, and took a sniff.
"You let my pasta burn," he stated. "...And ruined the pot too, probably."
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 18, 2009 11:10:14 GMT -5
"I'll come with you!" Yuugi said.
.
Minato nor Souji seemed to hear. Yuugi hesitated, wondering if it had to do with Ryoji. A blind person could see there was more to Ryoji than Minato or Souji felt comfortable letting on. Yuugi had often been called as such. At best ignorant, but he could see it. The lack of reaction confused Yuugi a bit, and he jumped a bit as he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.
"Let's just follow them," said Atem. Yuugi nodded.
Bakura had noticed Yuugi's reaction. He felt out of nowhere like he was somehow in the way as Atem and Yuugi looked at each other and pushed the entire situation out of his mind as he headed after Adachi. Having lived the past year and a half making a point of ignoring signals such as that to keep people safe, he had made it an all out personality trait. That and he "knew" Yuugi and Anzu liked each other. In other words, it didn't occur to him to think of it in the correct manner.
The long haired teenager hesitated as he heard yelling. Even after Souji had taken a step into his apartment and Adachi had gotten his own door opened he waited longer than what might be considered polite before finally heading in. If Yuugi and Atem had gotten there even a moment earlier, he might not have gone in.
Because of the delay, the two spiky haired teens were a bit behind the others. They got within hearing range just as Souji made his comment. Yuugi looked worried at what appeared to be a broken look from Minato. Atem saw the borderline panic, and it was another case of wondering what it was about Ryoji that Souji and Minato do that they wouldn't tell them. He was sure it had to do with their world, and considering Minato probably more to do with him than Souji. If they weren't careful they were going to get one of Yuugi's friendship lectures, the kind that was almost guaranteed to piss Kaiba off.
Ryoji and Teddie had both looked up when the door opened. Teddie looked relieved, as if he had been worried where their conversation was going. Ryoji looked annoyed. He turned away as he saw Minato.
"I'm sorry, I'll go take care of it," Ryoji said, leaving the room before anyone could object. He sounded more than a little irritated.
He was actually a bit relieved. Souji hadn't told Teddie either. At this point it was possible only Minato and Souji knew. Ryoji wouldn't have minded the secrets if it wasn't so hard on Minato. And it wasn't that he intended on breaking the friendship. That was the source of the irritation, at least in part. If he wasn't Minato's friend he wouldn't have cared.
Minato seemed fearful of him, and as Ryoji ran the water a horrid thought crossed his mind. He was afraid of that entire messed up world, of 'his shadow' as Teddie kept calling it, of that freaky thing that had been in the sky... and it seemed to be the same kind of fear.
His hand slipped as that thought solidified and ran right under the hot running water. The pain from that outweighted the sharp pain that had come and just as quickly gone from his head, but he managed to mostly mute the hiss from both. He suddenly didn't want to talk to anyone, Minato included.
Yuugi's wrinkled his nose as he walked into the apartment, and Atem's base personality was all that prevented him from doing the same. Teddie was staring off where Ryoji had gone, but he turned back to the group.
"Minato-kun, he's really worried about you... what can't you tell him?"
"Are you trying to protect him? I'm sure he can handle whatever you say!" Yuugi said.
If dramatic irony was a kind of weight, at this point the entire group would be lucky to be merely flattened.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 18, 2009 18:37:35 GMT -5
Minato looked conflicted. He was afraid of Ryoji, but at the same time, Ryoji was a friend, but... He shook his head. Shit. Dammit. Whatever other profanity he could come up with. This wasn't fair. It wasn't that the Appriser was here. He had been expecting that. It was that the Appriser was here... and it was still Ryoji. Just... why!? One time wasn't enough?!
He looked over at Teddie with the same broken expression that had appeared when Minato and Souji had entered the apartment. "I can't. If I tell him, he'll remember, and then..." He shook his head again. Souji put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, but as long as..." He motioned toward the kitchen. As long as Ryoji was nearby. "...we can't say anything. I promise, we'll explain later."
------------------
Adachi hadn't paid much mind to the yelling down the hallway or Bakura lingering at the door. "Go ahead and make yourself at home. There's leftovers in the fridge, take whatever you want. Though, it's mostly all cabbage..." He gave a little nervous laugh as he said that last part. Hey, it was cheap and easy to cook.
He looked over at Bakura's pendant thing. The Ring. Adachi'd heard about a shrine that had just come under new management, maybe the miko running it did exorcisms. Could have solved a lot of problems.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 18, 2009 18:55:11 GMT -5
Yuugi looked at Minato. His eyes were full of sympathy. He wanted to help, but he didn't know what they couldn't tell Ryoji. Atem looked sympathetic as well. He had the feeling Minato was trying to protect Ryoji as much as he was trying to protect himself. He had said Ryoji would remember. That struck a little close to home. Not knowing who you were... Ryoji didn't seem to have that problem. What could he have forgotten...?
"Is it really better that way...?" Yuugi thought out loud.
Ryoji looked at the pot. It would probably just be better to take it out to the trash rather than trying to salvage it. He didn't like the idea of scraping the pasta off the bottom of the bowl. There was something he had done that Minato didn't want him to remember. That was the only explanation. He was being protected, and that thought was both comforting and infuriating at the same time. What could possibly be so bad that he couldn't handle it?
...Fall.
He closed his eyes as another sharp pain went through his head. He knew about it, somewhere. Whatever Minato was keeping from him. He stuck the pot under the water and began to scrub, trying to use the sound to drown out his thoughts. It didn't help.
Live in peace... in fear... useless to fight...
The living room would hear the clattering of the pot against the side of the metal sink as Ryoji collapsed and hit the floor, unconscious.
----------
"Thank you very much," Bakura said, still ever polite.
He looked away as he saw Adachi glance at the Ring. He didn't want to force anyone to relive what his other self had put them through. His memories of that encounter wtih Dark Yuugi... he'd thrown his life away there to save his friends and bring down hs other self, and somehow Dark Yuugi... Atem now, it seemed, had saved him. Them. His other self was still there.
He headed towards the kitchen and opened the fridge. His head hurt.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 18, 2009 19:08:53 GMT -5
Minato had stayed silent upon Yuugi voicing his thought. He honestly didn't know if it was better. Maybe it was better to get it over with. Souji didn't seem to think so, though Souji seemed to be of the opinion that fate was that easy to defy. It wasn't, Minato knew that. If Minato hadn't sacrificed himself, what was fated to happen would have happened to his world.
And then there was a loud clatter and thump from the kitchen as something hit the floor.
"RYOJI!" Minato screamed and ran past the others into Souji's kitchen. Ryoji had passed out, oh man, this was not good, not at all. He crouched down beside Ryoji and lightly shook him. "Ryoji! Wake up!"
Souji had run the moment he heard the pot clatter against the sink, but Minato had been faster and gotten there faster too. "Shit, he's out cold." This didn't look like exhaustion, and it didn't look like something they'd need to take him to the hospital for (to be honest, Souji didn't think Ryoji was human enough that the hospital could do anything for him). Which meant...
No. Ryoji was not awakening now. Not now, and not ever if he could stop it.
------------------
Adachi sat down at his work desk, and glanced over at the pile of paperwork he'd left by the phone. Oh. Oops. He got up and walked over to the phone before picking up the paperwork and heading back to the desk. He needed to get this done. Doji.. Takahashi-san would get mad at him again if he didn't get that paperwork in order.
He glanced back at where Bakura had gone. Yeah, that kid needed an exorcism ASAP. Maybe the next time Adachi had an off-day.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 18, 2009 19:28:21 GMT -5
Atem had jerked at the sound and both he and Yuugi were into the now very crowded kitchen seconds after Souji had gotten in. Atem was surprised, but more concerned about the look of utter panic on Souji and Minato's faces. Yuugi was just worried.
Ryoji twitched and his eyes opened. They were out of focus, the kind of crosseyed one might expect from a person about to pass out. They didn't go into focus until his hand reached to his head and grabbed it like he had some kind of massive migraine. He looked up towards Minato and blinked. He gave that trademark goofy grin of his and put his palms on the floor to push himself up.
"I'm fine. I probably just slipped and hit my head... Wow, you guys are really worried, aren't you?"
He wasn't even aware that he was rubbing his temple still. Man, but did he ever have a headache. He couldn't even come up with what he had been just thinking about before slipping thanks to the pain. He hoped it wasn't evident, the group looked worried enough as it was.
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Bakura had to wrinkle his nose at the fridge. He'd heard Adachi talking about cabbage but... would it kill him to mix it up with ramen or something? Cabbage tended to have a strong odor to it. He pulled out a tupperware container and a bottled water. For how disorganized the man came across his fridge was like some kind of regimented batallion. Everything was stacked neatly and labeled, it was a little freaky.
He paused with the door halfshut before grabbing another container. Just in case.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 18, 2009 19:42:27 GMT -5
Souji looked down at the floor. He always cleaned up any spills immediately; wet floors were probably the number one cause of kitchen accidents. And the floor wasn't that wet; what had spilled had been from when Ryoji fell. But he decided to believe it for Ryoji's sake.
"You scared me, man!" Minato said. He tried to smile for Ryoji's sake. "For god's sake, watch where you're walking!"
He guessed Souji had a point. It was better to keep Ryoji ignorant for as long as possible. But how long was that possible? Even the first time, Ryoji had awakened after about a month. And this time it seemed to be coming faster. Ryoji had never collapsed with weird headaches at school or when he was hanging out with him and Junpei.
---------------
Adachi sighed and pushed away the paperwork. Some other time. He couldn't focus.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 18, 2009 19:58:31 GMT -5
Ryoji returned the smile. Just like that the tension seemed to be gone. It did help that whatever he had been thinking about was just out of reach. For some reason it didn't bother him, either. He got the rest of the way to his feet using the counter as support.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I tried to burn myself and must have splashed some water on the floor."
Yuugi was relieved it was something as simple as that. Atem could tell Minato and Souji were faking, but let it rest. Teddie couldn't even get into the small kitchen for the crowd at the doorway, but at least he was taller than Yuugi and Atem and could see in. Ryoji looked up at Teddie.
"Sorry about earlier, by the way. I'm still a bit stressed about the change of scenery. I like knowing when I'm gonna move, y'know?"
Teddie nodded. He wasn't good at the whole "keeping secrets" thing, but he had the sense to know that the best way to do so was not to speak. Ryoji was really showing signs of seeing only what he wanted to with the exception of Minato's issues, and even then it seemed to have once again been brushed under the carpet in favor of his preferred perception of reality. People seeing only what they wanted to had created the mess Souj had been through, though, so it wasn't likely the greatest thing to see occurring.
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"Adachi-san, are you okay?"
He'd offer to help, but even a quick glance told him the paperwork was police related. Stuff like that tended to be confidential. Bakura seemed to be in a better mood than before, especially after opening up a container and taking a bite. He still looked rather hungry, he was eating fast enough for it. He smiled towards Adachi in an attempt at alleviating whatever was bothering the man. He seemed like a nice kid.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 18, 2009 20:15:01 GMT -5
Souji smiled. "Oh, I know what you're saying. My parents move around so much, I'll just be settling into some place, and then, bam! We gotta move to some new town for their work." He smacked his palms together as he said the "bam". He looked at Ryoji. "You took a hard fall, though. I'd put some ice on that, just in case."
Minato realized he was still crouching down, and stood up next to Ryoji.
"Yeah, ice would probably be good," Minato said. Ryoji seemed to have recovered from whatever had caused him to faint. Minato was sure it was his true self trying to awaken. Now that he thought about it, Ryoji had been spending more time away from school as that day got closer. And then that full moon had occurred...
He was estimating a month before it all went to hell.
-------------------
Adachi groaned. "Just stressed, I guess. There's this thing called Apathy Syndrome goin' around, and I'm the only one on the force who knows anything about it, so I've gotta do all of the paperwork relating to it."
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 19, 2009 5:47:23 GMT -5
"Yeah, same here. My parents are in business, I'm always moving," Ryoji felt the back of his head, he didn't feel a bump but he had passed out... "I wouldn't know where to put it, though. Can you hit your head without getting a bump?"
"We should head back to the apartment, partner. Minato-kun, call us if you need anything."
Atem in truth, was annoyed. He couldn't claim to know what they were trying to keep secret from Ryoji. But the situation implied that whatever it was had caused Ryoji to pass out. Which meant the secret was more dangerous than Ryoji passing out. He hoped it would work out.
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Bakura at this point was grateful that he had gotten two containers. At least he was starting to feel like he had actually eaten something. This reminded him of when he raided the Battle Ship fridge. He'd been out for who knew how long. He vaguely remembered losing a fight against Yuugi, but the memory was hazy at best. He hadn't even remembered entering that tournament.
Speaking of tournaments... Bakura turned away after letting Adachi speak and reached into his pocket. He spread out the forty cards neatly stacked together. He... only remembered some of these cards. One in particular stood out as out of place. What was a Diabound Kernel? He wasn't even sure he wanted anything to do with this game anymore...z
Despite his thoughts, Bakura was holding the cards like he cared for them. The fear and worry was there, but he held them like someone who wanted to keep them safe would. The way a musican might handle their instrument or a member of track might care for their shoes...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 19, 2009 7:16:56 GMT -5
Minato turned as Yuugi and Atem left the building. "Huh? Oh, okay. Yeah." He had actually backed a little bit away from Ryoji.
Souji sighed. "We're putting it on there to keep you from getting a bump. You're going to get one if you don't put this ice on it." He held out a plastic bag filled with ice that he had covered with a washcloth. "Just put that where it hurts, alright?"
He turned to Teddie. "Why don't you and Minato head back to Minato's apartment for now?"
-------------------
Adachi looked down at his desk. There was a brochure on it that he didn't remember picking up before... curious, he pulled it out from under a stack of papers. It was for some festival that they were having at that shrine soon. That sounded interesting.
He looked up to say something to Bakura, but stopped when he saw the kid looking down at his cards. Those were the same cards Anpu had fought him with, he recognized the design on the backs.
Adachi was once again distracted as his phone began to ring. Again, considering he didn't run around handing out his phone number, there was only one person it could be... He carefully picked it up.
"Hello, Adachi speaking--"
"Adachi, where the hell are you!?"
Adachi held the phone away from his face and winced. "Sorry boss..." he said.
"You've been gone for hours! Someone said you ran off with that kid from earlier and they haven't seen you since!"
"Er, well, yeah. Some things happened and--"
"Get your ass down here or you can just go ahead and hand in your badge!"
"...Yes sir..." Adachi said. He put the phone back on the receiver. "Sorry, I've gotta go."
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 19, 2009 9:37:15 GMT -5
Ryoji took the bag and put it on his forehead. It was some kind of electric shock that danced back and forth from his temples, but the pain had been there before he fell. He applied it just to make Souji happy. Minato had gotten over his worry and was back to being nervous. He put on a grin.
"You're as bad as Akihiko-san was at the incident at the hot springs," That hadn't ended well for him and Junpei, actually. That thought caused him to chuckle to himself, despite having meant it to imply Minato was acting really nervous.
Teddie nodded. He trusted Souji, but he was still concerned. He noticed Minato was lagging, "Hey, Minato-kun! Come on!"
It was cheerful, and only those that had known Teddie for a while would realize it wasn't at full force. No one ever accused the bear of being calm.
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"Is Bakura-kun going to be alright...?" Yuugi and Atem had reached the stairs. Atem hesitated at Yuugi's question and turned towards him.
"I'd be lying if I said I knew. I don't think he'll be hurt, Anpu needs him as much as Zorc did. That name bothers me, though."
Yuugi nodded, "Isn't it the real name for Anubis?"
Atem blinked, "How did you know?"
"...I never told you, did I?" Yuugi looked a bit sheepish and rubbed the back of his head, "I was doing a lot of research on Ancient Egypt when I had free time. Especially right before we went there to find your memory. Gramps was about as fluent as anyone can be with hieroglyphics, so I asked him a lot of stuff too. I thought you knew, sorry about that."
Atem paused. He had seen the books but had been so busy moving from one fight to the next he'd never really had it click. At most he'd thought it was for the plans to go to Egypt. Yuugi had laid into him about holding himself back. He'd been looking for ways to avoid going to Egypt because he'd known he'd have to leave him when he got his memories. Even then he'd known he had feelings for his partner. Honestly, it truly solidified back in that duel with Rafael. But he'd always kept it to himself because he knew he had to leave him, he didn't want to risk hurting him. It was still a concern and-
"Atem?"
Atem blinked and looked down. By this time Minato and Teddie would be in the hall and see them standing there in the hall way. Yuugi saw Atem had heard him.
"Yes, partner?"
"You're blushing," Yuugi felt like a hypocrite. As soon as he had seen Atem start his cheeks had gotten hot.
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Bakura snapped out of whatever corner of his mind the cards had gotten him to and looked up, "Um... be careful?"
It was unsure not from Bakura's basic personality. In truth, he was used to living alone. His dad travelled all the time and his mom was dead. It was why no one had been there when Yuugi came over when he had been calling in sick so much at school. So it felt weird to be wishing someone well as they left.
(OOC: I don't know the exact term, but its Japanese and the closest translation is "go and return safely". You hear it all the time in anime.)
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 19, 2009 10:20:02 GMT -5
Minato, who had been lost in thought, looked up when Teddie told him to hurry up. He had actually barely noticed the comment about Akihiko, but at the moment, Teddie was trying to get him to catch up. He ran after Teddie and caught up just as the two of them were walking past Yuugi and Atem.
Minato grinned. "Get a room, you two." He was actually really glad for them, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to take a leaf out of Souji's book and tease them a bit.
---------------
Souji smiled at Ryoji, and then looked over at his fridge. A paper had been put up on the front with a magnet, which was odd, since Souji never did put anything up there. He pulled it off.
"...Festival?" Souji repeated. He hadn't heard about any festivals. On that note... "Ryoji, do you know where this paper came from?"
----------------
Adachi looked over at Bakura. "Don't worry! I'll be fine. You just take care of yourself, okay?" He picked up the forms he had left behind before, and opened the door to leave. "Oh, make sure you lock these behind me." He then closed the door behind him, and headed down the hallway to leave the building, ignoring the three teenagers and that bear as he headed out.
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