caughtinanetwork | Strike 2 [video]

[Who's glad that the curse is over with? This guy right here. It's much easier to do damage control on something intangible like fear after the fact than to try and defend people from it and, honestly, it made him feel totally useless.]

Yo, Vatheon's been pullin' some nasty tricks. First yours truly here slept through a friend's birthday, then this whole...shit [that's about all he can say to describe it] with the...fairies? Had to happen too. Now I'm just noticin' a good chunk of pals from my world are gone! I'm sick of this, man, who wants to go hit up the arcade? Or get some comics? Maybe hit a few balls in the park, seriously, somethin' needs to happen besides all this doom and gloom over here.

[There's a pause as he looks for a way to filter the broadcast before becoming too impatient to do so and sighs.]

Hey, Yukari, happy birthday. Left you somethin' in your room, didn't wrap it though, sorry.

[And it's kind of weird, too. Hey, giving girls bunnies is Akihiko's thing ~~in another universe~~.

Either way he switches off the feed.]

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[So is he, Yukari, so is he. Sure he wants to have fun on his birthday like any other teenager, but he doesn't expect anyone to actually know the date offhand.]

Yeah. The sixteenth.

But hell! We've still got Christmas before that! What's Christmas like in Vatheon? Do these natives even know anything about it?

[. . . Man, it feels like it's been forever since their last Christmas. What was it like? It actually takes her a moment to remember, but the fireworks on New Years' Eve had been a lot more memorable.]

Yeah, they do. Heh, I guess we "foreigners" start to rub off on them after a while.

[Emphasis on foreigners, since she still has trouble thinking of herself as one.]

They even held a festival to celebrate the new year.

Cool. Sucks that we don't get to be at home for this, but y'know when life throws lemons at you--throw 'em back.

[What was that even.]

Whatcha want for Christmas? If you say a new pair of shoes or a fruitcake, sorry senorita, that's a no-go.

[She has no idea what that was. She certainly doesn't feel like she's throwing anything back at the people who are keeping her here, nor this "Lamufao" god--

But luckily Junpei's question is distracting enough that she just shrugs it off.]

. . . Tch! And why not?

[RUDE you didn't even give her a chance to answer!!]

'Cause I don't know your size, Yuka-tan, duh.

[did he just...imply that that's his only problem with shoe-shopping. The world may never know.]

[. . . Hmpth. She folds her arms, conceding, because that's a fair enough objection. But still--]

You don't need that for fruit cake.

[Is she . . . pouting? ~~Nope!!~~ The world may never know.]

...If you want more cake, yeah, you can have that--but not fruitcake. I don't know what it is or anything but I hear it's nasty.

[. . . Only if you've got something against healthy food. Rather than say that aloud though, Yukari will just accept Junpei's comment as an "agree to disagree" type situation.]

Well, what about you? What are you looking to get?

...I dunno.

[And that's quite a heavy thing for him to say. There is nothing in Vatheon that he wants at the moment, nothing except abstract things like "I want to go home" or "I want our friends back." His expression might say that, but he's not going to.]

Y'know, I think all I really want is just the drive to continue improving myself? To be the kinda man that would make Chidori proud.

[He just had to make it awkward, didn't he?

It's a noble enough answer, though; and having seen what Junpei was like after she'd died, Yukari doesn't think he's being insincere. She just stares at the expression on his face for a moment before turning her attention back to the cake.]

. . . You'll see her again.

[He deserves a little reassurance . . .]

I don't...need to see her to know that she's with me. It's okay.

["It's okay," huh . . . heh, if only it had been that easy when she lost Minato.]

Good.

[But she definitely doesn't need to dwell on that, especially when Junpei doesn't even seem to know or remember . . .

She forces a bit of a smile, after a bit of a pause, and then goes on.]

Anyway, thanks . . . y'know, for the cake. I'll probably save the rest of it for later.

[Now that she's finished her slice, she still has whatever present is waiting for her in her room to look forward to-- which she'd nearly forgotten about.]

Edited 2012-12-08 14:31 (UTC)

Strike 2 [video]

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