Hell Kaiser Ryou Marufuji (
masokaiser) wrote in
herobox2013-03-15 09:03 pm
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[UAU: fast-forward]
[Today has been...interesting, for the both of them.
Well, maybe less interesting on Juudai's end. He's probably used to ignoring Saruyama's scripts and hiding the new deck by now, which is really something that Kaiser should talk to him about. There's going to be serious danger to both of them if this continues.
Right now, though, he's busy picking mangoes out of a pile and trying to ignore his crippling shame.
(He really hadn't expected that to happen in the ring. He'd barely even noticed it, in the state he was in, blended in with the usual sick excitement of the duel. But he had taken a shock and for the first time he was truly prepared for it, ready for it, and...)
He shakes off the thought and turns back to the cart with his bag of fruit.
...There are considerably more cookies in the basket than the last time he checked.]
...Juudai.
Well, maybe less interesting on Juudai's end. He's probably used to ignoring Saruyama's scripts and hiding the new deck by now, which is really something that Kaiser should talk to him about. There's going to be serious danger to both of them if this continues.
Right now, though, he's busy picking mangoes out of a pile and trying to ignore his crippling shame.
(He really hadn't expected that to happen in the ring. He'd barely even noticed it, in the state he was in, blended in with the usual sick excitement of the duel. But he had taken a shock and for the first time he was truly prepared for it, ready for it, and...)
He shakes off the thought and turns back to the cart with his bag of fruit.
...There are considerably more cookies in the basket than the last time he checked.]
...Juudai.
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[ Juudai is currently very thoroughly examining two different bags of rice, with a very thoroughly absorbed expression, as if he had been doing this for hours and would keep doing it for more hours. ]
What do you think, medium-grain or short-grain?
[ He turns to Kaiser with an expression so innocent that it could not possibly be he who suck a couple boxes of Meiji Panda Cookies into the cart. ]
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...He sighs.]
Short-grain. It chills better.
[The cookies make a detour to bop Juudai lightly on the head on their way to the shelf.]
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These days, he only wears that jacket in the ring. ]
What next, daikon? Cucumber?
[ Grocery shopping is good because they don't have to think about their next match for an hour while they do it. ]
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Both, I think.
[But, unluckily for Juudai, he's got something to talk to him about. They don't get their hour-long reprieve from the underground today. Not with what Juudai's been doing.
He turns to inspect the packages of nori on the shelf, not looking at Juudai when he first speaks.]
...I found the script you threw away.
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It wasn't me. [ Juudai is aware that this is a variant of the same argument he has been using for two weeks now, and one that Kaiser is sick of hearing. ] I mean - it was like. I couldn't have pulled it off. Not convincingly. I don't know who he's got writing them.
[ Juudai taps a rhythm with the short, thin cucumber against his palm like a drumstick, lost in thought. ]
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He writes them.
[He's been reading the scripts, all of them, even the ones he never brought up, and he's seen the progression. They were almost cartoonish, at first, played up and exaggerated for the ring, the kind of persona that you can put on and take off with the costume, a rubber mask. But as they went on, as Saruyama saw more and more of what Juudai is like when he's under pressure, when he's desperate, when he's in pain...
(as he gets the chance to see of Juudai what he saw of Kaiser in those ten gut-wrenching losses)
(the scripts have been moving closer and closer to the truth)]
...He's reading you, Juudai.
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No, he's not. He's just running through random ideas. I told him when it started. He can't turn me into something I'm not.
[ He runs a hand through his hair once and readjusts his jacket, to make sure that the collar obscures the red, spidery scars on his neck from the nodes. ]
Why does he need two heels, anyway? We're doing great as we are.
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But this can't wait until later. This can't wait until the next time, because if Juudai doesn't see it now he might not until it's too late.
And if Kaiser backs down, he might dismiss it even more completely.]
Saruyama only keeps heels. Turns are his specialty.
So he doesn't try to make someone something they're not. Not if he can help it.
[He finds what you have buried in you, and he digs it out and bares it to the world. The only choice is whether he'll be gentle about it, or whether he'll corner you and rip it out.]
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(the script that was at the bottom of the trash can hit uncomfortably close this time.)
( In Saruyama's brusque hand: 2-3 turns, don't lose more than 2k. opponents will be the Insecto Brothers. their specialty is to have the younger brother absorb the elder's damage with effects. he usually collapses within 3-4 turns. HAVE DAMAGE COMBO READY.
JUUDAI: 'how could you use him like that?'
banter. he will not be remorseful.
JUUDAI: 'i see... so it's like that, for you... you've never understood him, because you haven't felt his pain. i think maybe that's what's keeping you from understanding his feelings, isn't it? he suffered for you! you can't understand him without suffering yourself!'
damage combo. continue to target elder. hell kaiser will pick up on your lead and follow.
JUUDAI: 'i see you now. i see what you really are, when you suffer.'
convey emotion: you are beginning to realize that pain conveys truth, in the underground. if successful, we will develop this characterization in further duels. )
That pain was truth. (That pain made you free. Free from masks. Free from shame.) Juudai had gone cold, reading this script, because it was as if Saruyama had been there, had heard what he'd thought that night with Kaiser, or what he sometimes thinks in the ring, tells himself when the collars bite at his neck and arms. ]
Well - [ Juudai's voice is abrupt, difficult to work. ] - well, maybe he needs a new specialty.
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He turns to Juudai, finally, after a glance up and down the empty aisle.]
Juudai.
I can tell when you're afraid.
[Juudai can't hide from him, not when he's already opened himself so much. Kaiser reaches out to grip his shoulder, for a moment, because this is important and it's so much harder not to listen when there's contact.]
Take his next script. It's going to get worse every time. He's going to read into you further.
[...his hand moves away.]
The ring isn't reality. Keep it that way.
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It didn't take the sting out of it, though. Juudai could rationalize Kaiser all he wanted, but it hurt a little that Kaiser was taking Saruyama's side over his. (Maybe it hurt more than a little.)
So when Kaiser lets go, Juudai jerks his shoulder forward a little. The ring isn't reality. Keep it that way. ]
[ And suddenly, Juudai's rounding on Kaiser and he can hear himself snap: ]
I don't think you're the person to lecture me about keeping his private life out of the ring.
[ (Well, yeah. He saw it, but.)
Instantly, Juudai regrets it. ]
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He'd have thought that he'd still be ashamed of that, like he was ringside after the adrenaline and the bloodlust had worn off. He would have thought that being reminded of that
(of hanging forward from the mesh of the cage, hard and panting and wild-eyed as he recovered from the shock)
would at least give him some sort of pause.
His expression darkens.
He's not ashamed. He's just irritated. He's angry that Juudai would pull sonething out of the cage and use it against him.
(the ring is sharp and clear and more real than reality and nothing inside it can be trusted because that kind of focus and clarity and heat warps things, Juudai must know that)]
...Exactly.
Hell Kaiser didn't come out of a script. I had no such luxury.
[He mutters something about meat, then, and turns away (presumably to go locate it), walking as quickly as he can without drawing undue attention.]
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Kaiser went into the ring to get some kind of dose of a reality too strong to live every day. Then he came out, and was Kaiser again. Not the Hell Kaiser. But he didn't want that for Juudai. It was dangerous for the ring to be real. And Juudai knew that. It was just...
(he couldn't explain what it was just.)
Anyway, Juudai didn't need a reason to defy Saruyama. It was a reason in itself. That guy needed to learn he didn't have everyone in his hands.
While they're separated, Juudai grabs the panko, some crisp daikon radishes, and a small bag of bean sprouts. Balancing them carefully in his arms, he goes to look for Kaiser again. ]
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He sees Juudai approaching out of the corner of his eye, and sighs heavily.]
You're putting both of us in danger.
[He knows, though, that Juudai's not about to change. He knows what Juudai's like, when he decides something is right. More than anything, he sounds resigned to whatever fate the discarded scripts have brought them.
There's something else bothering him, though, and he looks suddenly uncomfortable with his surroundings, distinctly out of place. His posture seems to tighten, his body curls in on itself very slightly.]
...we should finish here.
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(The day it stops being a disadvantage is the day they've forever lost to the underground, anyway.)
Kaiser's posture suddenly changes. Juudai's does too, in response; he anxiously looks around. ]
What is it?
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We're being followed.
[He doesn't know by whom, exactly, not from the glimpses he's gotten. He doesn't even know how he knows. But he's quite sure it isn't a good thing.]
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Juudai turns and matches stride with Kaiser, and keeps his voice low: ]
Some guys from the ring? Cops? Saruyama's goons?
[ Guys from the ring could spell trouble if they want to work out a grudge. (Possibly violently.) Cops could be bad because sometimes names get leaked to the police, and usually the underground's network of thugs step in to neutralize any potential informants if they get arrested or "rescued." Saruyama's goons would probably just want to make sure they're not trying to escape, but any extra personal information those guys pick up is information Saruyama can somehow twist to his advantage. ]
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Not cops. Not sure otherwise.
[His whole body is tense. He's never been followed on a routine trip like this before, not that he can remember (or that he noticed).]
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There's a tall man in the next aisle over who is only buying a few things, but he's dressed like a salaryman and seems to be in a hurry. Juudai finds himself scanning necks for node-scars from the collars, for tattoos, for anything suspicious.
He's not good at this; he can't pick out any one person. ]
I got nothing. [ he whispers this as they walk towards the door. ]
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Maybe I was wrong.
[But no, he doesn't think so. He can still feel eyes on him.
He walks quickly, and as they come through the door he begins to hear footsteps matching theirs.]
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He is amateurishly obvious about the fact that he knows someone is following them, and that he is nervous. ]
1/2
(Trying to catch up, which would be idiotic if it's someone following them for information.)
(If he's closing in, that means they're in danger.)
The footsteps come closer, closer, and he tenses as they draw in almost directly behind them
(it has to be an attack, couldn't just be a casual approach)
before he whirls around, dropping the bag, and aims his fist at their pursuer's jaw.]
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(He wasn't an opponent. He was a mole.)
(Kaiser just attacked one of Saruyama's moles.)
He freezes.]
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Oh shit.
[ The words are out of his mouth before he even registers saying them. ]
Oh shit.
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Kaiser is too paralyzed to try to stop him.
He nods, mutely, in response to Juudai's words. "Oh shit" sounds about right, yes.]
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What are we going to do?
[ The way Juudai says it, it's like a rhetorical question. What can they do? ]
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I don't...
I don't know.
[He's doing an excellent job of composing himself on the outside, at least, but his heart is pounding and his mind is racing with the most important question.]
Which of us...
[Which of them will take the punishment, for this?]
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Kaiser struck, so it will probably be Juudai. This is good. Juudai can handle this. He feels strangely better now that all the tension has ruptured.
It's over. He can handle Saruyama. ]
Come on. [ He squeezes Kaiser's hand again, then goes to a knee to pick up the dropped groceries. ] Let's get home with this stuff. I'm hungry.
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The hand in his makes the pounding of his heart slow, lets him breathe.
And...they can survive this, can't they?
After everything in the ring...they can survive it.
(even if he still feels sick deep down he can take the time they have remaining before Saruyama finds out)
He reaches down to gather everything back into the bag, and spots something spilled out onto the ground.
He holds the box of Pocky up, waves it slowly.]
You continue to be a master of stealth.
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Aw, come on, I'll let you have some...
[ They finish getting the other grocery bag put back together, and Juudai takes the Pocky box, opens it, and sticks one in his mouth as they walk back to the apartment. Yeah, punching Saruyama's guy was bad, but what could he have been tailing them for anyway? Protection? Probably just trying to see that they weren't going to make a break for it. It can't be that bad. Kaiser could defend himself by explaining they thought it was a thug or a robbery. (They'll be okay.) (He hopes.) ]