Hatsuyume
Maybe he hadn't been entirely honest about how the movie night with Seto had gone. To start, yea, they'd sat at opposite ends of the couch. In the middle, yea, they'd wound up sharing the middle for the sole reason of a popcorn bowl being in reach, Seto herself only able to go so long through a movie without eating as it turned out.
For the most part, her reaction was almost unreadable. He himself got excited over fight scenes, laughed when Thor got tased, so on, so on (well, at least until Seto told him to shut up and watch the movie...)...
She seemed fairly set on leaving, when they got to the end. As Loki screamed to Thor about what he was doing, why he was doing it, with a few nasty parallels being drawn either out of paranoia or out of a stupid mental ability called foresight in his case. As they fell over the side, caught by Odin and...
DAMN that was a terrible father wasn't it. Credits began to roll, and the door to the living room was still shut- so in the end they opted to wait for the after credits scene in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, in a sense- she was quiet because she wanted to be, and he himself simply didn't have anything to say. ...Annnnd then he was quiet because suddenly the reason she was quiet was a hell of a lot more serious.
"Ahhhh..." Sleeping. She'd fallen asleep and-
And oh hey, the after credits scene was on and now he didn't even care. Carefully and quietly, he'd somehow managed to slip away from the couch. One wrong move and she'd have likely wound up on his shoulder so...
Appealing as that was he'd played it very carefully before fleeing to the door and picking his way out. Yea, okay, maybe he'd wind up reamed out by someone for slipping out 'early' but come on!
How long was Tenma going to take?
. . .
Evidently a while, as the next morning would tell. But the fact was, Seto left for work early and he still had school... So he never did really find out what happened after he left the room. Seto sure as hell wasn't saying. And... He wasn't seeing anything on top of what he knew!
So as the days drew closer to December, the events of the birthday faded off. Time at school passed relatively normally, with most planning for a nice quiet Christmas for once given the activity through the rest of the year. Well.
Mostly.
"Tell ussssss."
"NYH-" Sometimes, despite being the most 'normal' of the group, Honda could be so damn creepy-! Katsuya snapped himself out of whatever thoughts he'd been caught in for the final stretch of the school day, looking to the teen standing over his desk. "Th' hell- I already told y' I wasn' sayin'..!"
Honda groaned, shaking his head. "I'm already spending Christmas with this guy," he moaned, ignoring the indignant 'HEY!' from where Otogi was. "You could at least tell me what you're doing...!"
"I already told y', I wasn'," he growled in response, a slightly pained smile on his face. "So you c'n jus' f'rget about getting' an answer until new years..!"
"No way! C'monnnnnn!"
"H-Honda-kun..." While Honda continued to grumble Bakura sighed, shaking his head. "Don't you think there might be a reason why he's not saying..?"
"Heh?"
"Ohhhhh..." While a few of the others idly looked up from whatever they were doing (Yugi was making some sort of plan with Anzu, Otogi muttering off about Honda, annnd... Other Yugi watching.), Honda blinked. "...Hang on..." Aw hell.
"Honda..."
"It's about your sister isn't it?"
God dammit. "Hondaaaaaa..."
"You're spending Christmas over there! You could give her something for me-"
"OR," Otogi interrupted, conveniently coming to the desk himself, "Something from me..."
"OIIIIII..." Oh no way in hell..! "I am defin'tly not actin' as yer own Christmas delivery!"
"Wait so you really are-"
"HONDAAAAAA-"
"H-Hey, g-guys... Calm down, I'm sure..."
"So... If you're in Osaka this Christmas, what's happening at Kaiba-san's?"
Suddenly, there was silence over the now empty class-room, and everyone immediately looked over to Yugi.
"Errrr..."
"Hnn. That's a good question..." God dammit 'Yugi'.
While he was plenty glad the conversation was successfully steered from the topic of Osaka (and his sister), it didn't help when suddenly Honda had that look again. "Don't tell me you didn't get her something for Christmas..."
"WH- OI, what the hell's that s'pposed t' mean?" he snarled from his seat.
Honda shrugged. "Oh... Nothing- but while I don't have much to do in the way of gift giving..."
"And what does THAT mean?" Anzu asked, an odd smile coming over her face.
...Damn she could get intimidating. Honda immediately clammed up, laughing almost uneasily. "Ahahahah- Hey, just joking around here!"
"He does bring up a good point though," Bakura admitted with a sigh. "But... Are you talking about Kyoko? Or is there someone else at Kaiba-kun's..?" OH SHIT-
Suddenly there was awkward coughing from Honda, rolled eyes from Otogi...
"Something like that," the latter said, smoothly covering for his loose-tongued and otherwise momentarily terrified friends. "You could say it's a secret everyone knows," he added, Bakura nodding in apparent understanding.
"Ahhhhh... So we know there's someone but not the name..." He seemed to drift into thought at that, Katsuya mentally laughing in the back of his mind. Ahahaha... Yeaaaaaaa, that was it... It seemed to him that half of the others were feeling the same really, the other Yugi even rubbing the back of his head in some sort of moment of awkward exasperation.
"Hah... If we could just tell him..."
There was a look from Yugi that said 'NO.', and that froze him in place rather quickly. Even with that however...
Bakura seemed set to channel his dad, and it was not helping. "If you're not going to be in the area for Christmas, I have to agree with Honda-kun," he began with a shrug. "You should at least get them something..." BAWWWWWWWW...
He knew that dammit, but he was still stuck..! "Ehhh... I'm goin', don' worry!"
"Going now, or later?" Anzu asked with a smirk. "This was the last day of school- how long are you going to be in Osaka exactly..?"
"Nyh-!" He ducked under the figurative pressure, laughing nervously. He'd been set to take a train, but his mom went and bought him a damn plane ticket... "...I leave t'morrow..."
"T-Tomorrow..!"
"Sheeeesh, Jonouchi, when in the hell were you going to tell us THAT?"
"Nyhhhhh- I'd have said somethin'..!"
"...Um..."
The group turned, watching as a pair of students stared from the doorway with wide eyes. "Eh-"
"Um..." The taller of the two coughed. "We're supposed to clean in here..."
"Oh-!" Bakura jumped, the others moving to grab their bags. "Right- Sorry about that..!"
"It's fine..?" While the two shared confused looks, the rest began to move past with their own 'apologies'.
"Sorry 'bout th' wait!"
"Have fun with mopping~"
"Honda..!"
"GH- I'm sorry I'm sorry!"
"Hahhhh... Really, what am I supposed to do with you..."
"OW, ANZU I SAID I WAS SORRY DAMMIT-"
"So..." By the time they got to the shoe lockers the majority of them had scattered in an odd sense- Bakura's locker was on one end of the room, and the others were a little closer together than that; 'ba' wasn't exactly as close as say... 'Ma', 'Mu', 'Ho' or anything.
As it was, while he and Yugi started chatting, Anzu grabbed her shoes and headed out, the others heading their own way with quick 'later!'s or 'see you at Burger World!' depending. Anzu had work, Bakura probably had something himself...
The Other Yugi took this as his chance to join in the conversation himself. "SO." he continued from where his partner had started. "Perhaps you can use the chocolate this time?"
"Choc- OIIIIIII..." While Katsuya leveled a dark glare at a now laughing spirit, Yugi sighed.
"Erm... I don't think that's the best idea other me..."
"Hnn. Well, you could always try silver," he decided with an alarmingly straight face. "You can never go wrong with silver!"
As the spirit grinned Katsuya groaned, somehow unable to keep from smiling despite that. "MANNNN... I've got somethin' ready, I swear..! Jus' somethin' missin'..."
The others stared. "Missing?" Yugi asked.
"Yea." He nodded, pulling his shoes on while he went. "Made somethin' outta wire, but it feels like it needs somethin' else y' know?"
"...Wire?" The other Yugi seemed to frown, muttering to himself while Yugi continued.
"Mmm... Well, if it's what I think, maybe you could use a stone..?"
"Did he make jewelry? ...A bracelet..?" Oii oiiii...
"Errr... I guess I could look around f'r somethin'... Can't really buy anythin' like tha' though..."
"What would Kaiba even do with jewelry..." OIIIII, it wasn't jewelry dammit...
"You could probably get something that looks nice from a craft store though right? It wouldn't be a real stone, but it would at least look like it."
"Would she even want it..?"
God dammit-! "IT AIN' A BRACELET..!"
As the spirit jumped his partner laughed shaking his head. "Aha... Other me, you can make a lot more than just accessories with wire..!"
"Ah... Of course..."
"Hahhh... I guess I could check one 'f th' stores b'fore headin' back..." the blond decided in the meantime. "Not like I've got much else t' do righ' now..."
"Nn? You don't have work?"
He shook his head. "Nah... Plane t'morrow r'member? Was gonna call you guys b'fore I caught it."
"Hnn... Well, that's good at least!" Yugi said with a smile. "Hnnn... I'd come with, but I told Grandpa I'd help with the store..."
"It is fairly busy right now..." That's because it's Christmas.
Ahhh... "Eeeh, tha's fine," he said with a shrug, cutting the other Yugi short before he could even say another word. "I'll figure it out..."
"I could always come along as well-"
"Other me, you said you would stay while I was helping Grandpa..."
"Ahhhhh..."
Oh boy. "Er- I think I'll go now..."
"Ah- But I could tell you which stones mean-"
"Other me..."
He had a 'feeling' that in a few seconds the spirit would concede for some reason or other (probably guilt) in the end really. And that was fine- he didn't think he'd ever get this done if he spent too long picking a stone anyways. Not if he wanted to eat something before getting to bed. And before packing.
...He probably should have packed a while ago actually.
…
Shit.
The present, in the end, was carefully wrapped and slipped to Kyoko before he left later that day. He got a drive to the airport of course- he would have walked, but hahaha, apparently someone wouldn't have it...
Even from the other end of the world, as it seemed. "Sheesh Jonouchi, did you really think we wouldn't see you off?"
He smirked from where they sat in the waiting area of the airport, friends taking their own seats while Yugi kept his eye on the clock. "Eh- figured you'd all be busy actually..."
Honda merely shrugged at that. Though Bakura and Anzu were indeed missing from the crowd, Otogi had also made it at least, and was now shaking his head. "Not really- there's not much to do when school is out, to be honest." Oh really.
"I would have thought Mokuba or Kaiba would be here though," Honda added with an odd frown. "How the hell are you getting the present to them if they aren't even in Japan?"
It was Katsuya's turn to shrug, the blond still smiling nonetheless. "Eh... Supposedly they come back from some sorta business trip in a few days..."
Otogi nodded. "Makes sense... Most won't be holding meetings on the holiday itself..."
"Well, at least it means Kaiba-san won't miss it then," Yugi added in with a light smile. "I know that Mokuba won't let that happen at least."
"Hahaha! I'd be more worried abou' him figuring out what I got th'm both!"
"Eh? You got something for him too?"
The other Yugi blinked from above the group, peering down with wide eyes. "I did not hear about this..." ...You didn't ask.
Either way. "Course I did..! What, y' thought I'd only get somethin' f'r Se-" He coughed, catching a number of panicked looks from his friends toward those milling around them, "F'r Kaiba?"
"Um... I would have thought you'd get something for the others myself..." Yugi admitted, his other merely raising an eyebrow.
"I thought it was because..." He seemed to pause, apparently getting a short message from his lighter half before coughing. "...Nevermind, that makes sense."
Hahahaha... Learning a little everyday huh? A ping came from the speakers overhead, the group glancing upward as the next flight announced it was ready to board. "Huh. Well, guess tha's my cue..."
"Yea, guess so... Hey!" Honda added, shouting after the blond as he headed toward the gate, "Make sure you tell your sister I said hi!"
"So did I..!" Otogi added, Katsuya shouting his own retort back.
"Tha's about all they're getting' fr'm ya too!"
"J-Jonouchi..."
"So mean..."
"...I wonder how far on the plane I could get before-"
The look on Yugi's face was about all he caught as he made the gate, but in the end he had a feeling he knew how that sentence ended.
"Katsuya-nihan..!"
The moment he left the plane to get through a crowd of people he was met with a tackle, stumbling just slightly as he laughed. "HAHAAH! Shizuka!~"
The girl released her hug, grinning. "I'm so glad you made it..! I can't wait to show you everything and-"
"Settle down Shizuka...!" Chuckling came from behind the girl, and Katsuya's grin warmed into a calmer smile as his mother stepped forward to give him her own hug. "It's good to see you again, Katsuya... I've been so worried since Shizuka got back..."
"Eh?" he asked from the hug, "Worried?"
Despite not looking he knew that Shizuka was giving a somewhat awkward shrug, apparently both aware and unaware of why that was.
His mom answered for him, at any rate. "Of course..! I might not know what happened, but with that Ryuzaki boy in the condition he was..." Oh.
Right. He coughed, rubbing the back of his head as his mom stepped back. "Awww... Y- Y know I'm alrigh', I mean... Y' even got me a plane ticket..."
"It's still important," she insisted, frowning briefly. She knelt down somewhat, taking her son's bag despite his protests as she continued. "And it was worth the money to see you sooner."
"I'd still 've been here..."
"One more day is one day worth it... Now, how about we all get home?" she asked, Shizuka nodding while her brother merely shook his head and agreed. "I have lunch waiting, and maybe you can meet Shizuka's friends while you're at it, she's been looking forward to this..."
Her friends? "Ah, well, Katsugi-kun might not..." Good, there was still a 'kun' there. "But I can definitely phone Keichi!" Kei-
...There was supposed to be a 'kun' there, a 'kun'... "Well, whatever you feel is best..."
Katsuya rubbed his head as they left the airport, shrugging. "Er... Yea. ...I don' mind if I don' see Haga..."
"Oh, have you boys already met then?"
The siblings traded a brief glance, and in the end Katsuya merely shrugged. "Yea. …Yea I guess y' could say tha'..."
"Gh- YOU'RE here?" In the end, Haga had been amazingly insistent on joining Ryuzaki along for the visit when the latter had insisted on his friend staying at home. Despite typically being somewhat warmer than Tokyo, there was already snow dusting the ground of Asahi- thin snowpants and warm boots were coming out of everyone's wardrobes, and the sight of either of them garbed in winter clothes was mildly shocking to say the least.
As it was. "Yea... Got a probl'm with it Haga?"
"Nihan..."
Haga merely scowled at the blond's barb, crossing his arm as his friend shook his head. "Tch. You KNEW about this," he accused the boy, Ryuzaki's expression quite clearly stating 'no SHIT' in response.
"You don't say!" he exclaimed as he rolled his eyes. "Why the hell do you think I wanted you to stay home?"
"You could have merely said what the reason was," he protested under his breath, Katsuya rubbing his forehead as he caught the snippets of conversation through his usual 'alternate method'.
Ryuzaki snorted. "Yea. And you'd have listened?"
"I would have prepa-"
"Katsugi-kun..! Keichi..!" The two jumped turning as Shizuka frowned. "Please... I didn't ask you to come here to fight..!" Briefly, Haga seemed to mutter something in response before being elbowed by the other. "Hey..!" Hahhhh...
"Look," he cut in, the others turning. "You don' like me, I'm cool w' tha'- I don't exactly see y' as 'one 'f th' guys' myself," he added, Haga merely sneering at the comment as he ignored another look from Shizuka. "But if y' don' wanna be here then you c'n scram, got it?"
"Nihan..!"
"Actually, he has a point..."
"Keichi...!"
Again Haga snorted, rolling his eyes. "Oh whatever," he spat almost bitterly. "I hardly have anything better to do today..." There was some muttering in the back of his mind in response to that which sounded somewhat familiar- but Katsuya decided to squash it back down instead, smirking.
"Good! So... Shizuka! What'd y' have in mind f'r us?"
As the boys turned to her she blinked, eyes briefly widening as she was put on the spot. "Ah... Hnnn..." She frowned a little, snow blowing lightly in the meantime. "Well, Christmas isn't until tuesday, so I thought that since we'd be inside most of that time..."
"Could go to the river," Ryuzaki offered with a shrug, scratching the back of his hood-covered neck. "See if it's frozen."
"Ah- In this weather..?"
Katsuya shrugged, grinning. "Hey, better than nothin' righ'?" There was a mutter from the side that sounded suspiciously like 'idiot' and he growled. "Oiiiii, what was that bug boy..."
"NIHAN..!"
"OW-!" The blond ducked as his sister took a swipe at his head, wincing. "Shit, tha' hurts..."
"What did I say about getting along...!"
"Alrigh', I'm listenin', I'm listenin'..."
"Have either of you even briefly considered what you'll be doing if the ice ISN'T frozen...?"
Katsuya (and evidently Ryuzaki as well) were briefly considering ignoring the possibility entirely to be honest, before Shizuka seemed to take the comment to heart herself. "Ah... I didn't think of that..."
"I guess we could grab the sled from my house..." Ryuzaki muttered in response, Haga seeming to give him an incredulous look before shaking it off. Whatever worked, simply 'worked' in the end he figured, staring at the two with a mix of amusement and confusion. Yea.
Whatever worked. "Righ' you guys knock yerselves out figurin' out what t' do, I'm grabbing somethin' fr'm my bag..."
"Eh, your bag?"
"Nihan, what would you even need..."
"If he grabs his disk..."
"AH- NIHAN DON'T YOU DARE!"
"I AIN' GRABBIN' TH' DISK!"
"I'm warning you nihan...!"
"If he's getting his duel disk, I'm getting mine..! I'll show him the true power of insects..."
"Haga we're going to the fucking RIVER-"
"KATSUGI-KUN..."
The fact that they even got started on the trek to the river was a miracle in itself really, but at least he made it out with his deck and their nice waterproof case in the end.
"Aw man... I'm fucking s... S... HA-CH!"
Haga hissed as he ducked under a sneezing Ryuzaki, the group taking refuge in the boy's home for the moment after the trip to the river turned out to be a flop. "Honestly," he grumbled from behind his book, barely hiding a smirk that said 'I told you so'. "Anyone with eyes could have seen that the ice wasn't going to hold..."
Before Ryuzaki could retort Shizuka sighed, turning to her friend and jerking a head toward the kitchen. "Katsugi-kun, could you get me a hot water bottle?"
The boy blinked, but otherwise nodded, vanishing off while Katsuya rubbed the back of his neck. "Errr... Sorry 'bou th' ice Ryuzaki... That w's pretty..."
"It's fine," he said between shivers, Shizuka grimacing as the boy huddled in his pile of blankets. "Not like you'd have ah... ah..."
"Kleenex-!"
"ACH-" The others ducked, and Ryuzaki gave a short grimace to Shizuka. "Sorry..."
"Mnn... Right before Christmas too..." The girl sighed, shaking her head and taking a seat on the couch in the room. "I guess there's no helping it..."
"Haga could've done somethin' other th'n laugh..."
"N-Nihan..!" Shizuka protested, before a snort from Ryuzaki cut them off.
"Tch. Maybe. But at least he fucking laughed..." Eh.
Katsuya frowned, sitting up from the couch a moment. "Th' hell's that supposed t' mean..."
Ryuzaki sniffed, coughing from his blanket nest a moment before shaking still eerily short (albeit wet) hair. "I mean he's been the most depressing room-mate since ever," he muttered, "I mean come on... You telling me you didn't notice?"
He opened his mouth to answer that, before frowning. Come to think... "...Well 's usual banter wasn' as narcissistic..."
"You actually know what narcissistic means."
"Gh- Oiiii, what's tha' s'pposed t' mean..!"
"N-Nihan! Keichi..!" There was a sound from the kitchen, Shizuka standing up and pausing a moment before moving to leave the living room. "Mn... Hang on, I think Katsugi-kun might be stuck..."
As she left the room the others stared, before looking back. "You're right," Ryuzaki admitted with a yawn. "That's one thing."
"Annnnnn'... Th' other thing?"
The boy snorted, rolling his eyes. Now that he could see him in proper lighting without the hood and coat and everything, he had to admit that the differences between 'this' Ryuzaki and the one from Battle City were a little alarming. The scars were fairly obvious for one- the ones he could see on his face, at least, and the hair, despite having had a few months to grow, still had yet to really come closer than an inch or so above his shoulders. A drastic change compared to the length it had been formerly. And his eyes...
Gold eyes stared off at the ceiling a moment, and Ryuzaki sighed. "Man... I don't know, maybe it's because he's homesick or something..."
Oh yea, he'd wanted to ask about that. "Yea... What's Haga doin' here again..?"
Ryuzaki raised an eyebrow. "What... Shizka didn't tell you?" At the look he received in response he snorted. "Huh. Weird, feels like she tells you everything..."
"Wh- Th' hell does tha' mean?"
"I don't know! You just... It's creepy. You know things and..." He frowned. "If I didn't know any better I'd be asking where the shiny gold item was..." There was an odd, distant look in his eyes as he said that, and Katsuya swallowed. "...Hell, the duels were weird enough..."
"Y-Yea... 'Bou' th' duels..." He grimaced. "'D rather not go int' tha' just now... Christmas an' all..."
As Ryuzaki snorted a cold feeling grew in his chest, the boy shaking his head. "Yea. That's it. Whatever, I'll deal with it..."
"Oi..." Hey now, he didn't want to talk about it alright..!
"I'll explain Haga to you, alright. Not really my place," he added almost darkly, the blond across from him narrowing his eyes, "But I mind as well..." Why, because he'd figure it out? Come on... "Shizka said you met his sister during Battle City right? Black hair, poncho?" Ponc-
Oh! "Yea! ...Twin righ'?"
He nodded. "Yea. She's the first of three sisters." WH-
"Haga's got three?" he hissed, a few distant and garbled mutterings in the back of his mind telling him they wouldn't have much longer to talk.
"Yep. All older than him technically- and the other two..." He breathed, shaking his head. "I don't know what's going on... All I know is they wanted Haga out, so he asked for a place to stay." What.
That- What. "His sisters boot'd 'm outta his place... Seriously?" WHAAAAT. "He's yer age though', why th' hell."
Ryuzaki snorted. "Try a year younger Jonouchi, he skipped a year."
PFFFF what- "HE WH-"
"Nihan?" The two turned, watching as Shizuka poked her head in with narrowed eyes. "What are you talking about..."
"Errr... Nothin' big..."
"Just cards and stuff. It's alright Shizka." Ohoh, someone was good at a cover story when he needed to be...
Well, enough that Shizuka's eyes narrowed a little further before she shook it off at least. "Mnnn..." She sighed. "Well, I called kaa-chan okay?" she explained, looking to her brother. "Keichi's mom is away for vacation, so I started making lunch here~"
"AH- S-Shizka..."
"Eh? We're eating here..?"
"Well, I don't think either of them can cook," she muttered, looking to Ryuzaki with that comment.
"Hey! I can-"
"...Right now," the girl added stubbornly, a second series of sneezes meeting the air.
"It's not that bad..."
Haga appeared in the doorway himself, a dry smirk on his face. "Say that without sneezing."
"It's not that baA- Ahhh..." Oh boy.
A loud sneeze came over the air as Katsuya rubbed his head, laughing under his breath.
Evidently someone heard him. "Oi oi, like to see you deal with this..."
"Haha- No thanks." He was perfectly cool with staying dry- and healthy for that matter.
Between leaving Ryuzaki in a pile of blankets Saturday evening to head back to Shizuka's house and the fact that Haga was about as social as a stinkbug, they didn't see much of the two on Sunday and Monday. Most of the two days instead were spent looking around the rest of Asahi, with only a short visit at Shizuka's insistence to see how Ryuzaki was faring. He had the jarring feeling that there was something else as well, but seeing how he wasn't getting anything more on that in any way shape or form he reluctantly let it drop.
As it was, Tuesday had finally come and he had better things to do. He wasn't entirely sure where the decision to have all the Christmas fun on the evening of the 25th came about, but he figured it was alright in the end- More time to get Shizuka's present wrapped up, even if it meant still having no clue what Shizuka was planning.
...And she was definitely planning something...
Sitting on the couch in the middle of Christmas Day however, while his sister vanished off to get something, did not leave him with much else to think of after all. "Maybe you should just ignore it..." the uneasy tone of Little Winguard offered, the blond holding his deck almost absently as the image of the group nodding in agreement came to mind.
Hahaha... "Yea easier said th'n done," he muttered under his breath as he looked toward the tree in the corner of the room. "I feel like someone's breath'n down my neck..."
"Are you sure that isn't paranoia, mnnnn...?~"
"NYHHH-!"
"AH-!" There was a slight clatter from the kitchen, Katsuya's mother quick to poke her head in the room. "What happened..!"
ERK- He hurriedly straightened himself on the couch, coughing. "Er- Nothin'! Jus' a... ...saw somethin..."
"Something?" Akie blinked, apparently only made more worried. "What did you see?" Uhhhh...
His eyes darted around the room somewhat, mind drawing a blank on what to use as an excuse. Eventually, with another cough he rubbed the back of his head. "Uh... ...spider..." he decided lamely, his mother's expression immediately falling flat.
"A spider."
"...And what is that supposed to mean, little imago...?" UH-
"My my~" added Selket, "Have a thing against arachnids, my 'dear'...?" WHY BOTH OF THEM-
"Er... Y-Yea!" he pressed on, laughing awkwardly and not meeting his mom's stare. "Somethin' like tha'..."
"Kid, you had better not try summoning the Queen any time in the near future..." AAWWWWWW come on! What else was he supposed to say!
As it was that seemed to be enough for his mother, the woman shaking her head and sighing. "If you say so... I need to go check on the chicken anyways." Heh.
"We're havin'... Home-cooked fried chicken..?" Um. Just them? He got that he ate a lot but... Wasn't that a bit pricey with the plane and...
...Oh hell no. "How did you know I was cooking fried chicken?" his mom asked somewhat suspiciously, Katsuya growing pale in the meantime.
"Uh- Jus' th' smell!"
"Oh- It's really that strong..?" she muttered in response, jumping as her son suddenly bolted down the hall to the basement stairs. "AH- Katsuya, what are you doing?"
"JUS' R'MEMBERED SOMETHIN' 'S ALL!"
"Eh?"
"'S nothin'," he continued, "I'll be up in a sec!"
"K-Katsuya!"
While his mother was busy pondering the fact that she would likely never fully understand her son's mind Katsuya skidded down the steps of the basement, a series of boxes meeting his gaze as he came into the room. "So..." The gruff voice of the Panther Warrior met his ears, and while the blond began tearing into boxes he snorted. "Exactly what is it that you're looking for again..?"
"Sparklers," he responded vaguely, re-sealing a box and moving it to the side. "They're somewhere 'n th's side 'f th' room."
"...Sparklers..?"
"Not to but in, but what exactly are sparklers..?" Wh- What kind of question-
Oh. Right. "Er... They're sticks y' set on fire t' give off sparks. They don' ever end up in flames though," he added, answering Gearfried's question.
"...Ahh."
"Oh hey- those were the things you used on that cake then weren't they Katsuya-jun..." Yeup!
Before he could answer however he jumped, head smacking against the wall behind him and causing him to immediately grab at it with a hiss. "OH!" shouted the Little Winguard, apparently just recalling the event herself. "I remember that..! We don't have those here, they were cool..!" Ahahahhaah..
"sffff... Glad y' think so..."
"You alright kid?" Ugh...
"Jus'... Fine..." Thank you, Flame Swordsman, for caring...
"I was under the impression that these 'sparklers' were meant for birthday events, were they not..?" muttered the Fisherman in the meantime, the others nodding in the back of his mind.
"Eh... More an 'all celebrations' thing," he answered as he returned to searching the boxes. "I figure Christmas counts."
"...Then this really isn't something that normally happens..." Hey hey hey now Ishzark, what the hell was that supposed to mean...
...Oh hey sparklers! "Aha! This oughta light'n th' mood..."
"...was that a joke..." There was nothing wrong with that joke Gilford. Nothing.
Nothing nothing nothing (he was really getting too defensive over this)- "Hnnn... Just what brought about this sudden decision in the first place... I'm accustomed to your 'last moment' decisions boy... But this seems a little too quick..."
"Eh, saw somethin', nothin' much..."
"You saw the otherrrrr imago...? Howwwwwww innnnterestingggg, hmmmm..." WH-
He choked, almost dropping the sparklers as he stopped before the stairs back up. "Gh- Y' KNEW?" he hissed, turning around to mid air only to remember that the voice 'behind' him was not coming from anywhere on the physical plane.
The Insect Queen merely chuckled. "Do not presummmmme that my presenceeee in your deck means I abannnnndon my children, little imagooooo... Just as your commmpaniiiion travelssss between, so do I..." Errr...
"...So... Th's entire time..." he began, paling as the dots began to connect in his head. "...Y've been visitin' Haga's deck..."
"Of courseeeee. Jussst because he cannot hearrrrrrr my voiceeeee, does not meannnnn I abandonnnn himmmm..." Errrr...
"R-Righ'..."
"Just what does him coming for dinner even have to do with this Katsuya-jun?"
"Is there some sort of Christmas tradition we were not made aware of last this occurred..?"
"Oh! Oh! Tell us! Your holidays are really interesting you know..!" Ahahahaha WINGUARD STOP-
He rubbed his head, shrugging. "Eh... Jus' th' gloom getting on my nerves 's all."
"Gloom?" Panther Warrior repeated dully.
"Exactly how will sparklers rectify that..." muttered Ishzark in agreement.
"Wh- It's gotta! Ev'ryone loves sparklers!"
There was a silence from the deck, and he tensed. "O-Oii... What's w' th' silence..!"
"Nothing, nothing," Gilford decided with a shrug. "It's something we will have to observe for ourselves in the end..."
"How th' hell do you guys ev'n see all th's..."
"Well, if you can see it," Gearfried began.
"N'vermind..." A knock on the door came to mind at that moment, and he headed up the stairs. "I gotta get up there anyway. Talk t' you all lat'r..!"
"Awww, I was going to ask about-"
"Perhaps another time, Winguard."
Exactly what Ishzark meant by 'another time' he wasn't sure, but he figured he'd find out later anyways really. As it was...
-kots kots kots-
...The guests had arrived. "Ahh! Katsuya, can you get that?" his mom asked, shouting at who she assumed was still in the basement. "I need to deal with this chicken..."
"Yea, sure!" He smirked for a moment, before going to the door. Hehehe, they probably thought he'd be surprised... The door opened, and he briefly held the grin. "Merry Chris'maaaaaa- GAH-"
A solid 'thwack' came on his head, and as he held it in pain once again Shizuka frowned. "I had a feeling you'd do that," she sighed, the two behind her sharing confused glances.
"Gh... Shizuka..."
"Errr... Anything we should know..?" Ryuzaki asked somewhat idly, still looking somewhat under the weather despite the few days of recovery.
A look in the back of his mind from Shizuka was all he really needed for the response to that. "...Nah... 'S nothin'..."
Ryuzaki didn't appear to really believe him on that- if anything, Haga looked about three times as suspicious in fact. Despite this however neither of the two said anything, merely coming inside. In a sense, he was fairly relieved about that...
But looking back on it later, he would wonder if perhaps the evening would have gone a little better if they had.
Dinner went about as well as expected, to be honest. Though some would accuse him of thinking otherwise (Haga was at his table, using 'CHAN' with his sister's name and DAMMIT-), the fact was that in the end the 'worst' was something that was never likely to happen. Not when his mom was there, and not when his sister was there.
And as much as he hated to think of it, the fact remained that Haga and Ryuzaki had been in Shizuka's class since the start of the fall term. Which was exactly why he wound up in a heated mental battle against himself to keep from starting an argument in front of his mother and put the remaining power of his mouth into devouring anything on his plate. Haga kept his mouth shut himself- and, he noted as the meal came to a close, barely touched his food really. Ryuzaki at least ate something, but-
"Oh... Katsugi-kun, are you not feeling well..?" Apparently Shizuka noticed.
The boy shrugged, almost immediately putting up a well noticed mask of 'I am perfectly fine'. "Hn! Of course!" he responded, voice at least partially devoid of the usual callousness used in a duel. "Probably just caught whatever Ryuzaki has..."
"You mean a cold..?" he asked in response to that, Haga merely fixing his friend with a dry look.
"Yes..."
"Well, if everyone is done their food for now," Akie decided in the end, "You may leave the table- Desert should be ready soon enough, and then we can exchange gifts alright..?"
Katsuya stood almost immediately, the attention of the other three instantly shifting toward him. "Yea! Tha' sounds like an' idea..."
"Ehh... Nihan, what are you doing..."
The blond merely grinned, moving toward the door. "Nothin'~ Jus' goin' outside f'r some fresh air~"
The others looked toward each other as he left, silent for a moment. It took until he was already outside that they did move, or so he 'saw', and as that happened he grinned. Hehehe... Alright! That made things even better he told himself, pulling out the sparklers he'd set aside in the hall along with a lighter he'd snatched from the kitchen while grabbing cutlery.
One sparkler... Two... Three... (damn balancing these between his fingers was hard) and..!
"Nihan, what are you doing out here..?"
"Oiii, Jonouchi, you don't even have a coat..."
He stood with his back to the three as they stepped out, still grinning happily as the door shut behind them. "...Nihan..?"
"Ta-daaah!~" He laughed, turning with the sparklers as he spun them around his fingers; swirls of light met the air, and he held them out. "Figured we c'ld use somethin' like th's t' celebrate! 'S Chris'mas after all, ri... ...gh..?"
As he opened his eyes to look at their reactions the sparklers froze in his grip, the crackling continuing as the nearly invisible flame continued down its path on the wire. Haga, who had briefly looked nothing more than surprised in the back of his mind, now had a frozen expression of confusion and horror threatening to break his mask, the boy looking to his friend. Shizuka was a little more obvious- shock clearly evident on her face as she immediately began shaking her friend's shoulder. And Ryuzaki...
Ryuzaki merely stood, gold eyes fixed on the sparks with a distant gaze, frozen and glazed. As though he was suddenly not there, as though he were in another place entirely...
The sparklers fell from his grip and into the snow, wet down from existence immediately. "Shi'... Th' hell jus' happened..! Wh-"
Abruptly the boy before him blinked, before frowning. "Eh- O-oii, Shizka, what..."
The girl brought her hand back from his shoulder with a snap, staring. "...K-Keichi, you just froze..."
"Ehh? Froze..?" He frowned, before looking at the others. "And what are you guys looking at..!"
Katsuya found himself mysteriously unable to speak, mouth opening and closing without a word before Haga did it instead.
"...Please!" he snorted, turning to go inside. "Your eyes are playing tricks on you, fossil-brain."
"Fossil brain! THE HELL?"
As Haga disappeared inside Katsuya swallowed, eyes briefly glancing at the sparklers in the snow before moving back up. "Er- S'nothin' Ryuzaki," he found himself saying, Shizuka uneasily looking away herself. "...You alrigh'..?"
"Course I am..!" he retorted, apparently entirely unaware of the 'freeze' he'd experienced. "You're the one who ran out here for some reason!"
"Er... Hahaha, yea, jus' need'd some fresh air really...!"
Ryuzaki's scowl deepened in annoyance, before a shout came from inside. "Kids, desert is ready..!" AH-
"Oh- We should head inside," Shizuka decided, lightly tugging at Ryuzaki's arm. "Let's go!"
The boy paused, as though still wondering if he should say anything else before nodding. "...Yea, alright..." he said in the end, turning as Katsuya and Shizuka both followed. "Wonder what's up with Haga though..."
The pair shared two uneasy looks with one another, but in the end said nothing. Maybe it was just easier before, when Shizuka had been questioning her brother- and in his case, when he wasn't the one asking questions. But the fact remained that in the back of his mind he could see the expressions Haga had made between the light shock and the horror at the end.
And Haga had definitely caught what happened before Ryuzaki spotted the sparklers.
There was no question as to whether or not Christmas had passed awkwardly after that. Haga had reverted to his 'quiet' state, only briefly expressing more than apparent depressed boredom when he opened Shizuka's present (a booster pack and some kind of vest with bugs on it) and Ryuzaki's (more booster packs, and a book on entomology surprisingly enough). The only thing more than that was a slight bit of expectancy when the others opened what he got them (Shizuka got a stuffed butterfly with some booster packs for her own deck needs, and Ryuzaki was given some sort of mechanical dino thing to his surprise). Otherwise, nothing.
"Ahhhh... Thank you so much!" Shizuka nonetheless told him, placing the butterfly beside Ryuzaki's gift of a few dvds for some show in English he didn't know of. "It's adorable..!"
Though Haga said nothing, he did seem to almost smile... At least until Katsuya coughed and handed her his own.
"Ah- Here, Shizuka..! I got y' somethin' too."
She turned, smiling. He himself had already opened his present from her- a pack of cards, and a rather warm scarf. As she opened it up however, she stared briefly before chuckling. "Gh- Really..?"
"Eh, what'd he get you..?" Ryuzaki asked, leaning over from where he'd been flipping through the cards he'd gotten from Shizuka. (He'd also gotten a pair of gloves, or at least would, not that Katsuya wanted to consider why Shizuka was going to wait until he was gone to give these to the boy.)
Shizuka smiled, holding up the hat and scarf he'd spotted a few days prior. It hadn't cost too much, and the fact was, he'd been a little stuck on what to get since the events of the summer proved he didn't know as much about her as he thought...
But the smile was enough to tell him he'd done well. "It's so cute! Thank you Nihan..!~"
"Heh! 'S nothin'!" he laughed in response, leaning back from where he was sitting.
"I'm going to wear this all winter," she was saying in the meantime as she tried the hat on. "It's so warm..~" Hah! Success then.
...Or at least for the next few days, he told himself. Not a clue if she'd end up having to wear them all winter really...
As it was. Christmas packed up rather quickly after the presents; Haga and Ryuzaki needed to get home, and Haga himself didn't seem to want to be there much longer anyways. They packed up their things, Shizuka saying goodbye to them outside (and out of his sight in all ways and forms much to his distaste), and soon enough it was time to clean up and sleep.
"...Er..." About half-way through cleaning their mother went to tidy the rest of the kitchen, the blond coughing. "...Shizuka... Abou' earlier..."
She looked up, blinking a moment before realizing what her brother was referring to. "...It's fine, Katsuya-nihan."
"..'S it?" he asked, pausing from where he'd gathered the last of the wrapping paper.
His sister merely stared, looking down a moment before nodding. "...Yea. It wasn't on purpose right? I'll just talk to him about it, later... I didn't think..."
"...Chrismas righ'?"
She nodded. "...E-Exactly..." the girl responded, her brother pulling her close for a hug as she began to shake somewhat. "...Christmas..."
New Years couldn't have come any faster really.
Shizuka, in the end, seemed to decide that she would speak to Ryuzaki about what happened with the sparklers after the holiday break was over really. She didn't want things to get any more awkward than they already were, and if he had to guess, he'd say Haga was feeling the same way- the dino-guy certainly didn't seem to show that he'd been cornered on the subject after all, and the fact was, he wasn't going to press the matter.
He'd done something along those lines for almost six months really; be kinda hypocritical if he pushed to learn more on the matter right away. Mind...
At the moment he was pretty tempted... "So... What's this about a girlfriend?" the boy asked with a grin, Shizuka appearing to mentally smack herself in the face for asking what her brother had gotten for 'her'.
At lease she hadn't mentioned Seto by name, he told himself, but either way. "Non 'f yer business Dino-boy," he growled, the comment merely resulting in a somewhat larger grin.
"Hehehe... Touchy...?"
"Keichi..."
The boy laughed, leaning back in his seat. "Okay, okay! I'll take it easy!"
"Five minutes," Haga added in from his own chair, barely sparing a glance at his watch from where he was already flipping through a severely book-marked book.
"We'll keep it in mind," his friend remarked idly, stretching somewhat. "Anyways, thanks for having us over again Shizka."
"Hahaha... Well, it is new years..!" she laughed in response, before turning to her brother. "Ah- that reminds me... Nihan, could you grab the rest of the osechi from the kitchen?"
"Eh?" He blinked, before standing with a shrug. "Yea, sure." The term 'rest' implied there wasn't much left to be honest though he told himself, heading to the kitchen to grab the plate. The fact was, he hadn't been feeling quite as hungry as usual most of the day. Exactly what killed his appetite was unclear but...
He grabbed the tiers of food, stacking them up and grabbing them from the bottom as he moved back to the hall. Hell, maybe he was just paranoid. Sure, being paranoid tended to come with good reason for him, but hell! It was new years, what-
The sound of clattering trays against hardwood floor would meet the sounds of the others ears but by that point his senses were focused on another time and realm entirely.
He was standing on stone stairs again and dimly he could hear the sounds of shouts from outside. He was talking...
And then he was marching. Shuffling. Led along a line of people who were not at all subtle about their distaste for him. Ramming him against the shoulder, forcing him to smack against the tunnel walls whilst somehow still moving...
In the end he was pulled forward first for these very reasons. "How interesting!" the men with blades laugh, he himself allowed to fall face forward to the ground. "Spat upon by even the scum of your own kind, just why would that be..?"
As he pushes himself up from the ground they respond. "He is a demon!" they cry fiercely. "A monster who claims to speak with creatures that lurk in the shadows..!" "A foul swine who dares presume he speaks with GODS!" "Blasphemer, speaking words of so called 'PROPHECY'!"
Stumbling to his feet he finds himself pulled roughly upward by the back of his tunic, the Egyptian man gripping him and turning him round with a vicious grin. "You fancy yourself a seer then, an oracle eh?" he asks venomously, the young man in his grip holding an impassive frown.
"I call myself nothing," he responds coolly, the Egyptians laughing in response.
"HAHAHA, a seer with humor!" the man, a priest his mind tells him, laughs. High Priest and brother to the Pharaoh, how far the man has fallen... The priest turns back to him and narrows his eyes. "If that is the case, seer, then read for me my future," he demands, grip upon the 'seer's wrist tightening.
There is a hole behind him. He is certain he will fall there regardless of his response. As it is, he sees no future for this man, so how is he to...
Ten. Someone calls, a flicker of worried others standing before him as he frowns. And with a sudden flash the room vanishes and is instead replaced with spattered blood and the sound of clashing metal across a ruined temple floor.
Nine. Briefly he can see someone's face, before an entirely different one replaces it. An expression of rage covered in gold and fabric, familiar and yet not all at once.
Eight. The sounds continue and the sky above is dark and red. As the one in gold is thrown viciously back by someone cloaked in shadows their cape furls back around them. The teen does not back down however, instead standing with continued resolve and charging once more.
Seven. Sparks fly and metal blade clashes on metal blade. And as the shadowed being is thrown to the ground the teen stands triumphant, face finally recognizable as he- no, she- speaks.
"I am NO MAN, FATHER!"
Six. He smiles despite himself, though not in 'reality' as others see it.
Five. Looking back from the ground to the Priest, he speaks something...
Four. And the Priest's expression shifts with rage.
Three. The shouts in the background begin to dull...
Two. ...Before the sick sound of cutting flesh meets the air, the Priest's blade sinking deep into his middle before being violently torn back.
ONE. With a stumble back, he's tumbling into the pit...
And he smiles...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
"KATSUYA-NIHAN!"
Someone's hand is on his shoulder he realized with a jolt, eyes snapping back into focus as he took a rasping breath. Someone...
As he took in the food scattered on the floor and the worried stares of his sister and her friends he paled, only just barely glad that his mother had been unable to stay awake before. He knew he'd just had a 'vision' after all. And Shizuka knew as well.
...So what was he going to tell these guys?
AN: Annnnd that's a wrap for this chapter! Only one more before the next major arc, I hope you're all ready..!
Many thanks to LeonaWriter for acting as Beta once again for this chapter- I'll probably ask this more often, it seems to prevent a large number of grammar issues that the other chapters are guilty of.
In any case, again, no promises for updates, I have no idea how long they will take. Skin is still not set up on AO3, mostly because I've been working on an image for each chapter and don't intend to start uploading until I have a decent set ready enough to hold a semi-steady update schedule.
But that's beside the point!
There's very little news for today, and even fewer in the line of anonymous reviews. There were a few however! So, without further ado...
Anonymous Review Responses
Our only anon review for this update, Crazikido2! You may be way back on chapter 4 right now, but even so! I'm glad you're enjoying the story thus far, and hope you enjoy all that comes between that chapter and this one here!
For all others reading, I wish the same to you! And many thanks for your likes and your favorites- I would never get so far without them!
Usagi's Manga & Japan Guide/Corner
The section that's finally back in the feel of things! Whoo!
Today's chapter is titled 'Hatsuyume'- It refers to the tradition in Japan concerning the first dream of the new year (Hatsu meaning First, Yume meaning Dream.), and the idea is that whatever you dream will lean toward your fate for the year. Dreaming of Eggplants, Mt. Fuji, and Falcons is supposedly very lucky on Hatsuyume, but if you can't remember the dream then you didn't have one..!
Whaaat you thought I'd leave the movie THAT open ended? HAH!
Nahhh it just wasn't something that was letting itself expand beyond exposition really.
Honda by this point is a fairly interesting character, I have to say. He might not have any of the 'interesting' points in his skill set compared to the others any more, but that's exactly WHY. The only thing is, he doesn't seem to realize it himself (part of who he is)- to Honda, moments of normallcy are a dying dream, and one that he unfortunately tries a little too hard to cling to by this point. He'll get over it though, don't worry! But when you're afraid of some sort of maniac stealing souls or whatever and not being able to do anything about it, it's pretty rough.
Otogi knows what's up though.
And oh? Did you forget?
Bakura doesn't know that Seto's a woman! He's actually the only one of the main domino group who doesn't at that- even the other Bakura knows.
Conversational chapter bits like these often turn out to be the hardest and the easiest to do all at once I find. At a certain point they more or less write themselves, but sometimes it's difficult to make sure people know who's saying what..!
I don't actually know how shoe lockers are arranged in most high schools in Japan, but I'd assume a sort of alphabetical order. Seeing how we have... 'Ba' from Bakura, followed by... Honda, Jonouchi, Mazaki, Mutou, and Otogi... You can see how they end up on a fairly distant end from the poor guy.
Get used to conversations guys. I tend to actually draw from experience for these actually- conversations from the alcove area of my highschool where I'd hang out for lunch... OH GOD THE SHENANIGANS. Those are the kind of people that Jou and Yugi's group strike me as. The people who talk about the WEIRDEST CRAP at times, and get into some bizarre shenanigans that pull in even the most sane of people despite things, with the one at the side occasionally speaking up, but that guy's one of the group too... Those were my people! And sometimes it looks like we're beating the SHIT out of each other, but we're really not- it's just fun.
Hell I used to half murder my eventual husband in an attempt to steal the cookies he had for lunch.
And that is it for Usagi's personal snippets in her notes, oho-
Of course his mother was worried you guys, what were they gonna say when Ryuzaki came back the way he did? When they couldn't even call to say how Shizuka was, like they probably should have? Jou's mom already feels bad for cutting him out of their lives the way she did (but the fact was, she was terrified of going back, willing to admit it or not), she's not going to lose her eldest baby again..!
OH HAGA... Writing him is quite interesting; particularly since he's not normally an ass unless he's either trying to prove himself or if he's talking to someone he hates.
Jou unfortunately fits the bill on the latter. As it is, Jou's got a waterproof case for his deck now- mostly because he's carrying the cards everywhere, even when he can't bring the duel disk... What with having conversations with the cards occasionally.
Interestingly enough, the events of the Christmas half of the chapter moved BACKWARDS, due to the date issues. The Japanese holidays start as close to Christmas as possible- because of that, when I'd planned things, I had initially had it set up that Christmas dinner would be first, and then they'd go to the river to deal with Haga's depressiveness there.
However, Christmas falls on a Tuesday this year, which means that Jou would have at least THREE DAYS before that happened. Because of that, the river happened first, 'for the heck of it', while Jou attempted to play a bit nicer around Christmas.
I think it worked, though Haga still doesn't really like Jou much at all.
Ryuzaki still doesn't know the details on what's going on with Jou- it's ironic, because he caught on the quickest compared to the others...! The fact is though, Shizuka feels it's not her place to say... ...And in the meantime, Ryuzaki just doesn't want Jou bugging him about anything else.
Now, Jou really did have a cool idea with those sparklers! And lets face it, Jou doesn't always get that his idea of fun isn't going to be someone's idea of fun.
But what happened to Ryuzaki..! A little something that you can guess at until later my friends- because believe me when I say Shizuka WILL corner Haga on that... ...Because Haga very obviously knew what it was.
CHRISTMAAAAAS. For those wondering, Akie (Jou's mom) got Shizuka a new coat with a pair of booster packs slipped in the pockets, and for her son, a thick pair of gloves, a pair of fingerless gloves, and some booster packs! (The middle because she thought it was something he'd find cool, and the latter because the fact is, her daughter and son both duel. She's caught on to the fact that booster packs - amazing.)
Kaiba's present will be discussed next chapter, eheheheheehe.
Osechi are traditional Japanese new year foods, typically recognized by their special boxes, called 'juubako'. Things like datemaki (a sweet rolled omelette), among others (from lobsters to specifically prepared eggs to deserts) are in these boxes, and each food represents something else in the new year. You can get them at convenience stores ready prepared in Japan nowadays though.
...And in light of Jonouchi's latest vision, I will now hide under a rock and wait for any coming flames to strike.
FanArt and My Art Section
Recent FF developments remove the 'com' part however, so where there would ordinarily be a dot-com, there is now 'dot-com'! In addition to removing spaces, replace it with the obvious correct form to get your link!
Only one today, a doodle-sheet with me playing around with a different drawing style! Focuses on the costumes of the VR arc for the doodles really.
'Avatar' Style Attempt - i5. photobucket dot-com / albums / y153 / natasha_unos_1 / AvatarStyle. jpg
Chibi! RP Muse Ryuzaki - i5. photobucket dot-com / albums / y153 / natasha_unos_1 / CHIBISRyuuzaki. jpg - What Ryuzaki looks like when I play him in an RP game known as 'United One'; however, aside from clothing, this is accurate to what he looks like in the fanfic right now.
Music Corner
This week we have a few more songs...
Egomama (Ego-Selfish) – www . youtube dot-com / watch? v= n0l0iLUgyPQ – Overall an interesting song in my opinion. Also catchy!
Genomimikuronikuru – www . youtube dot-com / watch? v= sDj6NrPSaTc – Unfortunately there are no subs for this one anywhere! As it is, does it sound familiar? That's the tune from 'Mozaik Role'..! It's a duet between Kou Shibasaki and Deco 27, who also sang Egomama.
At any rate, that's all for now! Until the next update, I wish you all the best!