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Post by mugenginga on Dec 19, 2009 11:24:55 GMT -5
Even Atem looked embarassed. As in not just a blush, but a hard to read expression. He even knew Minato was just teasing them, but he didn't need suggestions like that voiced. The fact that it set Atem off should be more than enough to describe Yuugi. He sounded like a broken record, no words. Just stutterring to the point of it being unclear what he really wanted to say.
That isn't to say Yuugi didn't have an adolescent male mind, he'd shown it among his male friends before. But one has to keep in mind the suggestion was in relation to someone he knew well. Also a guy. The fact that he had an male teenage mind probably made the situation worse than it otherwise could have been. One could almost see the steam coming out of his ears.
Yuugi really was too easy. Atem was getting it under control well with a well intentioned glare towards Minato, but Yuugi was still stammering.
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Ryoji removed the ice pack for a bit. At this point all it was giving him was a cold headache. He glanced at the flier and shook his head, "Not a clue, I thought you put it up. I don't think any festivals are standard this time of year either. Oh, wait," he pointed at the flier, "It says here its a reopening type thing. Kinda weird, though. You don't see many shrines dedicated to Izanami."
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Bakura nodded as Adachi left. He wasn't sure why there was any need to lock the door. It was probably because Adachi was a police officer and had heard horror stories. He stacked the cards back together and set them down. He approached the door and sweatdropped. Okay, paranoid was one thing. How many locks did a person need? He set about locking them.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 19, 2009 11:58:21 GMT -5
There was a visible eye twitch as Souji's eyes moved to the Izanami part of the flier. Really, it was more than an eye twitch. For one, you don't see shrines dedicated to Izanami practically at all. And then there was the fact that only a month previously he had forced her to realize humanity wanted nothing to do with what she thought they needed.
He snatched the paper from Ryoji and ran out the door.
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Minato snickered at their expressions. "I was just kidding, geez, sorry."
"WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"
Souji practically skidded to a stop in front of Minato, Yuugi, Teddie, and Atem.
"Woah, what happened?!" Minato asked. Souji panted for breath, and then held the flier out to Minato, who took it from his hand. "'Grand Reopening of the Tadoru Shrine?' Oh, it's a festival celebrating the shrine's reopening."
"That's... not... the... problem..." Souji gasped out, and pressed his finger down on one line. Minato's eyes moved down to where Souji was pointing.
"So it's a shrine dedicated to Izanami?" Minato asked. "Wow, don't see a lot of those."
"Yeah, that's what Ryoji said, but that's not the problem! This thing appeared out of nowhere stamped to my fridge, and I don't know where it came from! This stinks of Izanami," Souji growled.
"Didn't you say she said she wasn't going to screw with humanity anymore? I think you're just overreacting a bit," Minato said. "And besides, I've seen your mail pile. You probably got this thing weeks ago and never noticed it until now."
"It was on my fridge! I never put things on the fridge!" Souji said. He was getting more frustrated.
"Well, if there's a festival on, we should go. It might be fun," Minato said. "And you can come to check things out if you're that worried."
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 19, 2009 13:02:21 GMT -5
Ryoji blinked as Souji practically ripped the paper from his hand. He stood there for a few moments, unsure what he was supposed to read into that. And then he heard Souji scream like some panic ridden child. Okay, this was beyond him but Souji was freaking.
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Atem was about to give a quip back to Minato when Souji barelled out of his apartment with enough force to interuppt even Yuugi's derailed train of thoughts. Atem winced as it looked like Souji was going to figure out how to faceplant a wall before managing to reroute where he was running. Yuugi whirled around and saw a look of panic and exhaustion on Souji's face.
Yuugi stood up on his toes to read the flier Minato was now holding. Atem processed the words as they came. Izanami was the one Souji had mentioned causing the problems with the TV World. Yuugi's family weren't all that religious, nor were any of their friends, so he only knew the names with passing knowledge.
"Maybe Ryoji-kun put it there?" offered Yuugi.
Ryoji stepped out of the apartment right as his name had been mentioned. He had dropped the ice pack into the sink before coming out. He heard Yuugi's comment and shook his head.
He gave a thumbs up and winked, "Hey, I'm all for going to a festival. Seeing the kimono being busted out is an unexpected bonus this time of year, don't you think?"
"Souji-kun, Minato-kun is right, fun aside. If it bothers you that much we could ask around there."
Yuugi rolled his eyes, "He means he wants to go. Wait... have you ever been to a festival, Atem?"
Atem shook his head and smiled, "Not in Japan, and it was a mess in Egypt. What with being seen as the mortal incarnation of a god, it wasn't anything you'd call relaxing."
The group stood a chance of hearing the locks to Adachi's apartment clicking together. Bakura had heard Souji scream and wanted to make sure he was alright, but the locks were a hassle. What was Adachi afraid of, anyhow!?
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 19, 2009 13:19:43 GMT -5
Minato grinned. "Then you should definitely go, Atem. They're a lot of fun. Though the ones I went to last year weren't that fun... summer festival kind of sucked, and I didn't enjoy New Year's too much either..." Summer Festival was because he had ended up scheduling dates with three different girls for that day. It... didn't go well. And New Year's was because of someone that was standing right in front of him. Minato looked down at the paper, which he had moved so that everyone could see. "Oh, hey, it's tomorrow! We should totally go!"
Souji paled. He could have sworn he saw the date listed on there change when he looked back down at it...
A clicking sound distracted him. It sounded like someone was unlocking a door, but that was way too many locks. Doors typically don't have that many locks. Whoever had that apartment was really paranoid, it looked like.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 19, 2009 13:59:18 GMT -5
Atem smiled and nodded. He noted Minato's eyes flick towards Ryoji as he mentioned the New Year's festival. Yuugi glanced over at Ryoji as well. He'd mentioned kimonos. It was more proper to go to festivals with them, but he doubted that was why Ryoji had brought it up. He was as bad as Otogi.
Actually, he was kind of like Otogi too. He sighed and shook his head, realizing the girls probably fawned over him. At least Ryoji and Otogi seemed to welcome it. He found himself chuckling. Their given names sounded similar too. Ryoji and Ryuuji.
Teddie had begun to look nervous at the poster as well. He thought he could relax at Minato's comment. If Minato wasn't concerned, maybe Izanami was a normal thing in the human world. But Souji was still stressed.
"Let's go, then! Besides, its a festival! Kimonos!" he threw his hands up in the air at this.
"See, he knows what its about," Ryoji was beaming. Yuugi and Atem both sweatdropped.
The door to Adachi's apartment burst open and Bakura practically stumbled out. As if the locks weren't bad enough the last one had stuck. Bakura was rather weak in terms of phsyical strength, and so it had taken a few painful thumps to get the door to burst open. He caught himself on the opposing wall. He took in a few breaths.
"Is everything okay? I heard shouts..."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 19, 2009 14:14:58 GMT -5
Minato grinned. "Y'know, I heard the girls don't wear anything under their kimonos..." He stopped when Adachi's door burst open and Bakura stumbled out of the door. Despite his worry, Souji found himself facepalming. And then he looked at the door a little closer, and found himself facepalming even further.
"Really Adachi? Really?" Souji groaned. "I think five locks is a bit much, don't you think?" He realized Bakura had asked a question. "Huh? Oh, we're fine. Thank you for the concern, though."
Minato looked toward Bakura. "Hey, since you're out here, do you want to come with us to a festival tomorrow? It'll be fun!"
Souji's thoughts immediately went toward Yuugi and Atem. And then they went back to Izanami. This was all too suspicious. He'd let Yuugi and Atem reconnect with their friend, while he did some looking around. A shrine dedicated to one of the most unappreciated goddesses in Shinto, and the one that had made his life hell to boot? Way too suspicious.
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Post by mugenginga on Dec 19, 2009 14:30:44 GMT -5
Teddie's eyes had gotten to that trademark wide look. Ryoji was about to respond after a short chuckle when the door burst open. Both of them turned to see Bakura as he spoke.
Bakura looked nervous as all eyes fell on him. If he was truthful he'd say he wanted to go. He hadn't been to a festival in over a year. Two years, even. The few chances he'd had before he got the Ring always had something get in the way. And at his best he was a bit on the shy side. The Ring and worry that his other self would harm people had turned him into an almost total recluse. His father would try and get them to go out when he was home, but he always made excuses. He knew the rumors, some were all but waiting for him to become a shut-in.
"Bakura-kun...?"
Bakura jerked his head up at Yuugi's voice, "I don't know if I should..."
Yuugi grinned and ran up beside Bakura rather than being in front of him, "Come on! You hardly ever go out! It's been months since you were in school, too!"
Bakura looked taken aback at Yuugi, but finally he nodded, a smile appearing, "Okay. If Adachi-san says its okay. I don't want to trouble him more than I have."
Atem found himself smiling. It was that obvious trust and unbiased friendship that had allowed Yuugi to make friends. Not the Puzzle as he was sure his partner still thought. It was that which caused Atem to feel Yuugi was stronger than he was..
"Souji-kun, if you're not back by night we'll worry,"
Souji had probably been trying to leave without fanfare. Atem had caught it. With Naoya gone, the two most observant members of the group were back to being Souji and Atem. And it was a toss up who was moreso. Yuugi was talking with that childlike energy of his to Bakura. Rather than annoying the white haired teen, it seemed to relieve him somehow. The Ring was still visible, but he wasn't focusing on it.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Dec 19, 2009 21:01:43 GMT -5
Souji gave a nervous smile. Atem had read him like a book. Well, he hadn't expected any less from Atem.
"Don't worry. I plan to be back before then," Souji said. He dropped his voice a bit more. "If anything else happens with Ryoji, please tell me." After a moment, he started down the hall.
Minato had been conversing with Ryoji and Teddie, finally losing a bit of that nervousness around Ryoji as he relaxed. It wasn't all gone; he couldn't forget Ryoji's kicked puppy look as he'd explained they were all going to die nor could he forget Ryoji's emotionless face once he'd become more Nyx than Ryoji and had turned into the Nyx Avatar. But somehow the news of the festival had made him relax enough to talk with Ryoji somewhat normally. He turned as Souji started down the hall, shrugged, and went back to his conversation with Teddie and Ryoji. Souji was off in his own little world at the moment, and Minato knew he was still bothered by that flier. And who wouldn't be? Izanami was to Souji what Nyx was to Minato.
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