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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 21, 2010 21:38:39 GMT -5
As Yamada had expected, Adachi was still going to be in the hospital for another day or so. Which meant Yamada, as the latest rookie, was stuck delivering coffee, which was fine by him, because today wasn't Nekoi's day off and he still needed to deliver that note. Did Yamada schedule his movements around town based on their only female detective's work schedule? Yes, yes he did. She was scary, and dammit, he did not want to be there when she went off on someone.
So Yamada found himself in this coffee shop, which wasn't really crowded today, likely because of the post-Christmas slump. If it hadn't been closed, it had likely been crowded beyond all belief on Christmas. He looked over at where the cash register sat on the counter and grinned as he spotted Yuugi. Kid was hard to miss with his rather... unique hair.
Yamada walked over to the counter. On the way over, he managed to catch a glimpse of someone working the machines in the back. He'd heard that Seta kid worked here too, and from the looks of things, he was out of the hospital. Well, all they'd had to do was stitch up his arm, and Yamada could see the bit of bandage sticking out from under his sleeve. He looked back toward Yuugi.
"Uh, can I get the usual?" Yamada asked. "Takahashi-san's got me delivering coffee for him instead of Adachi-san, but you should know by now what the station gets, right?"
Souji looked toward the counter as he heard a semi-familiar voice speak up, and then went back to ignoring them. Just the usual police gopher here to pick up coffee for the senior detectives. His day had been pretty uneventful so far. Due to oversleeping, though, he'd ended up not being able to walk to work with Yuugi and Atem like he usually did. A bit of a shame, since he STILL hadn't gotten to explaining what the heck had happened to him, but he supposed that could wait until after they were done that day.
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 21, 2010 22:16:27 GMT -5
Atem was in the back, cutting open a box. He wasn't just limited to cleaning as he had been at first, and was currently getting some supplies he'd been told they were low on. He'd ran into Souji once or twice already, and the former Pharaoh had noted that he seemed less stressed. Something had happened between being taken to the hospital and coming back. The only reason Atem hadn't brought it up was his work ethic. It wouldn't have taken long, and probably wouldn't have been an issue given the slow business, but Atem didn't feel right doing so. He intended to talk to the taller teenager after they got off.
Yuugi had returned Yamada's smile with one of his own. He had actually never met Yamada, having never been to the station. So he wasn't quite sure what the man meant when he said the usual until he mentioned Takahashi and Adachi.
"Oh, right! You're with the police station! Sure, no problem!" Yuugi turned his head to look at Souji, "Souji-kun, you need me to remind you?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 21, 2010 23:40:45 GMT -5
Souji shook his head. "No, I think I can remember it all." He turned back toward the machine and got to work pouring several cups of coffee.
"Thanks," Yamada said with a grin. He seemed to remember something and reached into his breast pocket before pulling out a folded piece of paper. He held it out to Yuugi. "That reminds me, your friend Bakura-san wanted me to give this to you."
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 21, 2010 23:59:17 GMT -5
Yuugi shook his head to indicate it wasn't a problem. He was operating the register when Yamada pulled the paper out of his pocket. He looked up as Yamada held it out. His eyes widened as the man mentioned Bakura. He looked down at the note and politely took it, opening it up quickly. He blinked at the katakana inside. It was gibberish as far as he could tell. He tried to read it out loud, but he tripped right over it. Souji probably heard him. In any case, he looked rather worried.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 22, 2010 0:37:43 GMT -5
Yamada raised an eyebrow as Yuugi's eyes widened and he took the note. The kid tried to read the note out loud, but he ended up tripping over it, meaning he couldn't make any more sense of it than Yamada could.
Souji was walking over carrying a cardboard tray with quite a few cups of coffee on it as Yuugi started reading the note. "...What is that?" Souji asked.
Yamada looked toward Souji and Yuugi. "...Hey. Bakura-san wouldn't happen to have any kind of... multiple personality disorder would he?"
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 22, 2010 14:42:22 GMT -5
Souji didn't get an immediate response from the short teenager. Yuugi was staring hard at the note. It was entirely in katakana. That indicated it wasn't in Japanese. It wasn't in English by any means, and Yamada said he'd gotten it from Bakura... the implications clicked for Yuugi then and there. He glanced towards Souji, holding out the note for him to see.
Souji probably couldn't read Ancient Egyptian, but Yuugi hoped he'd focus on the note. He turned his attention back to Yamada just as he asked his question. It caused a slight bit of hesitation. Yuugi took a deep breath before he was able to continue. It was rude the way he was pretending not to notice Yamada's question, but...
"Hey, why did Bakura-kun give this to you? Couldn't he have just come to see us...?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 22, 2010 14:51:29 GMT -5
Souji looked down at the note and frowned. It was all in katakana, and it didn't seem like Japanese, unless it was supposed to be a code of some sorts.
Yamada frowned as Yuugi ignored his question and asked his own. He sighed.
"Actually... he's locked up at the station. He came in about that missing person's report about him, and things spiraled, and we had to lock him up," Yamada answered. "That's why I was asking if he had another personality or something like that."
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 22, 2010 14:57:12 GMT -5
Yuugi didn't know how to answer that. He didn't know how to answer that in a way that wouldn't get Bakura into more trouble. If he said no, people would assume that Anpu and Bakura were the same person. He didn't know how saying yes would help things, either. With Atem's interaction with the Eye and the Ring, it had to be Anpu at the station. Besides, Bakura wouldn't have gotten himself arrested.
They needed to get that note to Atem, too. Anpu was from Ancient Egypt, which left a very distinct possibility as to the writing of that note. But he couldn't just say that. He'd been asked a question. He didn't want to seem rude if he could avoid it. Yuugi gave a look at Souji, the expression a clear indication of how he didn't know what to do with this. Anpu had really gotten everyone in a tight spot, and it was beginning to look like the only victim was going to be Bakura...
"Souji-kun, I'm sorry but..." Atem stopped coming out of the back room. He had two large bags of coffee in either arm, and he seemed to be using the side of his hips to support them for their weight. He looked between Souji and Yuugi, "What's wrong?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 22, 2010 15:09:27 GMT -5
Souji was thinking along the same lines as Yuugi. If "Bakura" really had been the one to send this, then it was looking likely that it was Egyptian written in katakana on this sheet. There was also the issue of Anpu being arrested. Souji didn't doubt that Anpu had intentionally done that. Anpu was taking the fact he still had Bakura's body to his full advantage, as well. He'd already managed to work them into another corner.
Souji turned as Atem said his name and asked his question. "Apparently Bakura's been arrested. He also wrote Yuugi a letter."
Yamada frowned and looked back toward Souji. "Hey, can I have that coffee?"
Souji blinked and realized he was still carrying the cardboard tray. "Oh, sure. Here you go." He placed the tray on the counter in front of Yamada.
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 22, 2010 15:17:46 GMT -5
Atem narrowed his eyes at the words. He'd gotten the very feeling it was Bakura in the Ring before. Now it had come up that Bakura had been arrested? That was all the confirmation the former Pharaoh needed to know it was Anpu in control of the body at the moment. He glanced towards Yuugi and Souji for a minute before looking over to Yamada.
"Please accept my apologies. As I told you, Bakura has been missing for some time. We're just surprised he's been arrested," Atem said.
Yuugi almost ran over the last bit of what Atem said. He seemed to be talking a little fast, "A-and we're sorry for the weird reactions to the letter. Bakura-kun has this way of writing only Atem seems to be able to decode. Since he uses katakana it sometimes takes me time to realize that's what it is. Here's your change."
"I keep telling you he has that habit, Partner," Atem said.
He'd realized in an instant what Yuugi was indicating. The pronunciation of the katakana was Ancient Egyptian. Even though Yuugi could identify the meaning of some hieroglyphics, he wouldn't know the pronunciations and such. And with the way Anpu had written it, it would be less suspect then the glyphs themselves.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 22, 2010 15:33:06 GMT -5
Yamada blinked. A way of writing that only Atem could understand? Well, that was kinda weird, but they were still teenagers. Teenagers these days did that, right? He took his change and pocketed it before heading out of the cafe.
Souji waited for Yamada to leave before speaking up. "I don't like this. Anpu doesn't seem like the type to just let himself get arrested."
He looked toward Atem. "Judging by how the note's written, it looks like it's a message specifically for you, too."
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 22, 2010 15:44:06 GMT -5
"He's got something planned," Atem said, nodding his head to confirm what Souji said. He carefully put the two bags of coffee down before walking over and taking the note from Souji. He scanned over it, his eyes getting narrower with each word.
"Atem...?"
"...Thanks to Malik, he knows about the Dark Games. Malik's evil personality resurfaced thanks to one. I didn't realize how much he didn't understand about the Items," Atem clenched his hand into a fist, crushing the note into it, "The whole point of this message was to inform me he is going to escape and get the Ring back."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 22, 2010 16:08:36 GMT -5
"Shit," Souji growled. His memories of when Izanagi was separate from him were hazy at best, but he did remember that Magatsu Izanagi had gotten into a Dark Game with Malik in front of Anpu before. If Anpu knew about Dark Games now, that was very bad.
"What are we going to do? We can't give him the Ring now that he knows about Dark Games, but we can't leave Bakura in there either," Souji said. He was visibly annoyed. This was a lose-lose situation. They couldn't leave Bakura in the Ring, but they couldn't let Anpu gain access to the Dark Games either.
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 22, 2010 17:10:31 GMT -5
"We have to get Bakura-kun back to his body," Yuugi said.
Atem looked up at that. He hadn't known how to respond to Souji's question. His thoughts were running the same way. Bakura hadn't shown the ability to suppress Anpu. To be fair, even Yuugi had held trouble with that. Even after they had acknowledged each other. The Duel with Rafael had proven that. Yuugi continued after the short pause.
"I understand it will get Anpu access to the Dark Games, but we have to trust Bakura-kun! He can fight back against the Ring, he's done it before!"
"Partner, it might be a choice between Bakura and lots of people," Atem said, "He doesn't care who he kills as long as he can get to me. He didn't in Ancient Egypt, he won't know."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 22, 2010 17:51:03 GMT -5
Souji felt a bit torn. While he didn't want Bakura to be stuck in the Ring, the fact was, Anpu would kill people with it. He agreed with Atem in that Bakura might not be able to hold Anpu back, either. He hadn't shown signs of being able to do that in the past, and Souji had seen Bakura's Shadow. In the end, it was Atem and Yuugi's decision.
"We were already trying to get the Ring back to Anpu to begin with, and from the sound of things, Anpu wants that Ring rather badly. I say we let him have it," Souji said. He sighed and put a hand on his head. "I'm not confident Bakura can fight back against Anpu either, though. If only we could contact him while he was still in the Ring..."
As far as Souji could tell, though, that was impossible. He'd (well, Izanagi) had spoken to Bakura's spirit presence before, but that had been when he was active and hanging from Anpu's neck.
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