End of the Rainbow (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

For the first time any of the group had seen, Chill Out Coffee was actually having a very busy day. Well, in some kind of defense it was early in the morning. Most places were due to open in around half an hour. The rush was on pretty heavily. The Help Wanted sign was still in the door, although the edges were curling in a bit. It looked like it had been taped back on several times.

As if that wasn't enough of a problem, the crowd seemed onery. Not "give me coffee or die" onery, but actually upset about something. Not that it was that hard to tell why. Between height and fashion sense, it was pretty hard to miss the brown haired man all but yelling at someone behind the counter.

"S-sir, please!"

"I will be glad to go as soon as you tell me where you saw her!" Kaiba barked.

Jeff Madison came out from the back room. He frowned as he saw the tall man giving a rather severe verbal lashing to an employee. He hung there and listened for a few moments before coming out from behind the counter. Despite his head only coming up to Kaiba's upper chest, he didn't seem intimidated by the man. Kaiba narrowed his gaze at him and Jeff just flashed a smile.

"Now look here, sir,"

"Kaiba," Kaiba said.

"Fine, Kaiba. My clerk has informed you we can't give out personal information like that. And I don't care how high an' mighty you find yourself to be, Kisa's father would have yer' head if he knew you were askin' bout her."

"I can take care of myself," Kaiba scoffed.

"Hey, make some room!" Was probably the nicest of the angry shouts.

"If you want me to move, you'll inform this man to give me the information I want!" Kaiba barked. It managed to quiet most of the murmers, but a few of the crowd looked ready to get violent soon...

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji had a feeling that things were going bad the moment he stepped through the door of the coffee shop. He had come here together with Yuugi and Atem to get a job here. Obviously they still had an opening; the Help Wanted sign was still there. But from outside, they hadn't been able to see the commotion. They'd certainly been able to hear it though.

Souji had come in just about the time Jeff had come out of the back room. Souji had managed to see who the center of the commotion was almost instantly. He frowned.

"What's Kaiba doing here?" Souji asked. He doubted Yuugi or Atem would know the answer to that question. In fact, of the three of them, he had the most idea of what was going on, considering how many times he'd seen Kisa here.

Let me take control, Izanagi said in Souji's head.

No. Not after what happened the last time you and Kaiba were within five feet of each other, Souji flatly stated.

Do you honestly think he respects you? You saw how he reacted toward Yuugi and Atem, and it's obvious he respected Atem more when they shared a body, Izanagi stated. He sees you as an unstable teenager with some sort of multiple personality issue, but it's still the same kind of deal. He acknowledges me more. Most likely because I've been a thorn in his side. But I don't doubt that he'd just ignore you if you tried doing anything about him.

I hate when you make sense, Souji said. He closed his eyes, and his stance slightly changed, and his eyes gained a bit of a yellowish gleam.

You're doing that interview by yourself, by the way, Izanagi said to Souji. Souji just grunted and sat back to let Izanagi do his damage. Izanagi smirked and started heading toward where Kaiba was in the crowd.

[mugenginga]

Atem had known the source of the commotion as soon as he heard Kaiba's voice. Familiarity breeds contempt. Yuugi had also known the source, and had practically yelled his feelings of third wheel with his stance. Izanagi's attempts to get forward were not met with much success. The crowd was pretty thick. One of the clerks was having minimal success with helping people around Kaiba, but the tall teenager showed no signs of moving for anyone's convenience.

"You aren't going to deny you know her," Kaiba growled.

"Well of course not! I never said anything of the sort. I mentioned her father, didn't I?" Jeff crossed his arms, "With the way you're actin', I'm inclined to think you are some kind of stalker."

Kaiba looked ready to incinerate Jeff with his gaze alone, "I am not a stalker! I just want to ask her a few questions!"

Yuugi couldn't really see over the crowd. He found himself cursing his height again. He jumped when he felt Atem's hand on his shoulder. The former Pharaoh pointed past Izanagi and said a few things. Yuugi could barely hear them over the crowd, and a good portion of it was lip reading. He looked dejected and Atem said something more. Finally Yuugi nodded. He squeezed past the edge of the crowd due to his height and managed to come up next to Jeff and Kaiba. Kaiba glanced to the side and scowled, attempting to return his focus to Jeff. The man was instead focused on Yuugi now.

"Hey, kiddo. Look, I'm kinda-"

"I'm seventeen," Yuugi said. He still sounded like he felt the third wheel.

"Huh."

"The person you're talking to is me!" Kaiba barked.

"And I do believe I gave you your answer. I will not give you any information regarding Kisa, and if you don't drop it I will be calling the cops!"

That more than anything else got a response from the crowd. Even the noisier of the dissenters settled down. Kaiba let out a very annoyed tsk noise and turned. He'd been all but ignoring Yuugi the whole time. He noticed Souji, and the sheen to the teenager's eyes was not lost on him. He tsked again and began picking his way out of the crowd. For all their antagonizing, no one seemed willing to actually do anything when the man passed him. Izanagi could stop him if he wanted to. Atem was tracing the edge of the crowd looking borderline pissed in an attempt to meet Kaiba when he got out the back of it. Yuugi was hanging his head.

"You all right, ki... ah, you know what I mean," Jeff asked Yuugi.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Izanagi managed to figure out the situation quickly enough. Kaiba must have figured out that Kisa frequented this place and came here to get information. Obviously Kaiba had been bothered by Kisa in more ways than one. Or he really was a stalker. In any case, Kaiba certainly had chosen the wrong way to go about things. Izanagi frowned and walked up to Kaiba.

"What was that all about, Kaiba?" Izanagi asked. It was merely a formality; he knew what it was about. But no need to piss the man off further than he likely already was.

[mugenginga]

Kaiba didn't even look at Izanagi. He stepped past him. He didn't make an effort for or against running into the silver haired teenager, and as a result he didn't bump into him. However, the effort took enough time that Atem was able to cut him off. He actually did stop for the tanned teenager. Atem glared at Kaiba, who was quick to respond with one of his own.

Yuugi jumped a bit, "I'm fine! I'm sorry he caused you so much trouble... Atem?"

Jeff looked towards where Yuugi had looked. He could see Kaiba, although his height wasn't freakish among the mixed ethnicities (and species) of the store at the moment. He looked back down at Yuugi who was now trying to work his way through the crowd again. He shook his head and headed back towards the counter. Kaiba and Atem were standing near the door, but were now out of peoples' ways.

"Do you have something to say?" Kaiba growled at Atem.

"I'm tired of you ignoring my Partner," Atem stated, his voice flat.

Neither seemed to care too much about Izanagi's presence.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Izanagi "hmph"-ed when Kaiba walked past him. The man was obviously in no mood to talk. Izanagi had been preparing to antagonize him further when Atem cut in front of Kaiba and made his point. Izanagi smirked. Looked like Kaiba was still ignoring Yuugi. The man certainly had ego issues, didn't he?

In any case, Izanagi had moved to observing the situation. He'd only make things more complicated if he antagonized Kaiba now. Not that he didn't want to, but Souji would give him holy hell again if he did. And Souji had regained his strength since when Izanagi had first pushed him out of control. His avatar could very easily push him out of dominance now.

[mugenginga]

Kaiba smirked. Atem narrowed his gaze any further. The other teenager thought this was funny. Kaiba side stepped, and when Atem tried to cut him off he literally shoved the shorter teenager out of the way. Atem stumbled back and almost ran into Yuugi as the short teenager got past the other side of the crowd.

"Kaiba!" Atem shouted.

Kaiba stopped, "I told you before. If you want me to see him as something other than less than that mediocrity, have him issue a challenge. Until then, he's barely worth mention."

He didn't wait for a comeback. He pushed open the door to the store. He turned in the direction opposite of the apartments and walked away. Yuugi looked ashamed for some insane reason and looked away from the group. Atem scowled after his retreating form. Once Kaiba was out of his sight he turned towards Yuugi.

"He's not going to acknowledge you if you don't, Partner."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Izanagi watched silently as Kaiba shoved Atem out of the way and headed on out after saying that Yuugi wasn't even worth mentioning. He sighed and walked over to Yuugi and Atem. He turned to Yuugi.

"Atem has a point. Kaiba doesn't seem like he'll even acknowledge your presence until you beat him," Izanagi stated.

Even so, Izanagi was wondering about Kaiba's decision to come here. Obviously he had been looking for information about Kisa, which of course, went with his encounter with the man previously. The man had been bothered by Kisa in more ways than one. Bothered enough that he'd come here looking for information about her.

It was pretty obvious there was something on Izanagi's mind at this point. He didn't seem to be focusing much on Yuugi and Atem's conversation.

[mugenginga]

"And he'll just hate me more if I don't beat him! Which I won't!"

Atem looked rather annoyed, "Partner, I've said-"

"Atem, Kaiba-kun's right! How many times did I fight? I mean, I handled Dark Bakura, but that was different and-"

"What?"

"Whether you win or not is not the point, Partner. Since when has the risk of loss ever bothered you? I thought you played the game for fun..." Atem was now sounding concerned.

"I do! I mean... but Kaiba-kun won't. And you know he won't be treating it as a game... I hate fighting for real unless I have to!"

All in all, they weren't really paying attention to Izanagi.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

They're ignoring you.

I don't need you to tell me that, Izanagi replied to Souji. He crossed his arms and let Yuugi and Atem talk. Yuugi obviously seemed bothered over the fact that Kaiba wouldn't be treating things like a game. He finally sighed and put a hand on his forehead.

"Yuugi, it may just be a better idea altogether to go ahead and play Kaiba. It's obviously just going to cause more problems if you don't," Izanagi stated.

[mugenginga]

Atem looked up as Izanagi spoke. They were likely being rude, but he was tired of this. Yuugi was not the passive type. A lot of people thought he was, and he often preferred to take that route, but he and his Partner were not so different. He shook his head at Yuugi.

"Partner, this is not like you," Atem gave a small smile, "I'm supposed to be the one who doesn't take losing well. Kaiba will acknowledge you even if you lose. Because, Partner... Even if you lose you won't go down easily."

Yuugi was still frowning. Atem was right, of course. He was acting a bit out of character here. And besides, he'd convinced people about his intentions before via fighting. Rebecca, for example. And he'd lost that game on purpose. The way Mai had when Anzu had pulled that somewhat stupid stunt... It was stupid, but he was glad about it. He looked at Atem and chuckled, causing a confused look from the Pharaoh. Didn't like to lose, right. Almost killed Kaiba because of it. He took in a breath and nodded. He'd never battled Kaiba, and that was the problem.

"Weren't we here to ask about places looking for help?" He asked.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Izanagi nodded at Yuugi's observation, which made him remember something. "Give me just one second."

Souji, your turn, Izanagi said. Souji sighed and let the god switch dominance with him, his stance shifting accordingly.

"I really can't see how you two handled doing that all of the time before," Souji said. He really didn't like Izanagi. Really didn't like him, but he was having to cooperate with the god for now anyways, or he'd disappear. Being an avatar sucked. "Let's go ask about those jobs."

[mugenginga]

Yuugi gave a nervous laugh as Souji asked how they handled it before. The truth was, they hadn't. At first he couldn't accept it at all and had blacked out, much the way Bakura's experience with Zorc had always gone. It had taken Honda's death (or so he had thought at the time) to kick him into acknowledging the presence of "his other self". And they hadn't really talked until Kaiba threatened to kill himself, which had turned out to be a result of Pegasus kidnapping Mokuba.

Souji moved on with his conversation. Yuugi nodded and looked towards Atem. The former Pharaoh seemed lost in thought for a moment. Yuugi cleared his throat and Atem blinked and looked back of him, shaking his head.

"We should probably wait for the crowd to thin out," Atem said.

"Morning rush, I guess..." Yuugi said, stepping to the side as a few people passed by.

(OOC: Feel free to do a time "hop" until the crowd thins out if you want. :3)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

After a rather long while of just pretty much sitting around, the crowd began to thin out. Souji stood up and stretched. They had been there for quite the while. The commotion earlier with Kaiba had not helped with the crowd in the least, which meant they had spent more time waiting there than they probably would have normally.

"Right. Now we can go ask about those jobs," Souji said. He walked over to where the line was forming and waited for a register to open up before walking over to it.

"Hi, we're here about that help wanted sign in the window?" Souji asked. The bored looking cashier who could very quite possibly have been the cousin of the one at the burger joint at El Grande Mall looked up.

"You'll have to talk to our manager about that," the cashier said. "Why did you even wait in line just to ask about that?"

Souji chose to ignore that comment for now.

[mugenginga]

"Hey, no need to razz on the man's politeness. We need more people like that, after all."

The cashier gave a dull blink and looked towards Jeff. The man waved to Souji and gestured towards an empty table in the corner. As usual he was giving quite possibly the world's largest grin. Even talking to Kaiba he'd not seemed all that upset. He didn't wait to see if Souji understood before walking over to the table himself. Atem and Yuugi glanced at each other and headed towards the table as Jeff took a seat.