Word count: 430
Genre: humour
Rating: worksafe
Note: Written for an application to a roleplay at Livejournal.
There were things you just didn't ask of a man.
To travel into the future on a train and fight monsters that were out to destroy time was one, to have to get along with an individual as impossibly hopeless as the supposed oh-so-special Den-O was another.
Yuuto had believed himself to be a pretty easy-to-get-along-with guy, but seeing as the one who asked him to do such impossible things was, in fact, himself, he had soon started to doubt this. And if that was how his future self handled things, why not take on the role of being disagreeable right away? It would speed up the process, and wasting time was something Yuuto had never liked.
Not that he wouldn't do the job he'd been asked. And do it well, too. Not only was it necessary for the sake of humanity's survival, but it would also teach that wimp Nogami to think he was someone special just because he was the one Chosen to Protect the Time Stream. Yuuto could do – would do, no, had already done (for several years, even) – a better job.
On his own. Without any 'friends' to help him out. His older self had already explained to him well enough what the cards would do to the memories of those around him; making 'friends' was just another waste of time.
And yet, when he sat and looked at the babbling hoard of imagins that Nogami kept around, he found that he from time to time had to stop himself from putting on a softer expression than his usual frown. There was something about the atmosphere in the DenLiner dining car that got to you, no matter how much you tried to pretend it didn't. Even though Deneb's face wouldn't show it, Yuuto could still feel the hopefulness radiating from his own imagin every time he looked at his host from across the car.
In the end, he had enough, and rose from his seat, grabbing Deneb by the collar and pulled him backwards out of the train. As they left, Nogami said something about an invitation to the Milk Dipper Café to celebrate the birthday of some regular, which Yuuto pretended not to hear. As long as he made sure to point out that it was Deneb who had made him come – which the imagin without doubt would attempt – he could calmly sit down to drink that horrid coffee of Nogami's sister's, and watch the commotion without damaging his image.
Because to ask for him to show that he enjoyed hanging out with these fools really was too much.