It had been a little
quiet lately, especially for a time when it seemed like the crap was about to
hit the fan. Minako couldn't say she understood it,
but she didn't dislike it either. Although there's something
to be said about times being /too/ quiet. When it's too quiet, you think
too much. And so you have to find something to do! What better than a trip to
the arcade, to beat the snot out of some digital baddies?
The afternoon finds Minako seated at one of her usual spots, a fighter game of
some sort, and mashing away at the buttons. "That's it! C'mon, take that!
Ha!" Her voice carries across the arcade as she's lost herself in the game
for the time being. Oh hey look, a new high score!
It looks like a score
is more than one 'high' that's about to be ruined today. At the far corner of the arcade, where
disconnected machines leave a spot tucked in shadow thanks to the lights
surrounding all sides, a figure in a tattered cloak and cracked mask watches
the girl at the further end at play.
Thin lips peel back from teeth in a silent snarl, rays of gold light
welling from between his fingers as he clenches his fist for a moment. Then opens it to reveal.... an arcade
token? And flicks it off his thumb with
a contemptuous gesture, sending it spinning towards a machine further off.....
Eventually, Minako might chance to notice a sound quite different from
the usual electronic din of the arcade -- namely the sound of people screaming,
and foosteps behind her as they start running for the
door....
Just a bit further
and she'll beat the final boss! Her attention hasn't been anywhere else. Minako grins, happy cause she's on a roll. But then it had
to go and happen. Yeah. That. Go and enjoy yourself for /once/ and look what
happens. The disruptive noise earns an eyebrow twitch from the girl and she
almost- /almost/ decides to just finish her game before standing up. But we
can't have our heroes getting lazy, can we?
With a sigh, the
blonde slaps her hands down on the machine and stands up in one motion,
glancing in the direction everyone's running from. "Disturbing a girl's
hard-earned fun..." she mutters under her breath as her eyes fall across it's source. Wait, what does she mean 'earned'? She's had it
easy lately! Regardless, Minako tries to figure out
just why this is a disturbance and if it's worth her doing something about it
when she sees the cloaked figure.
....who almost seems
to melt away, leaving just a darkened corner in the shadow of two disconnected machines. Was he even
there? Besides, it's the -other- figure
that will probably catch Minako's attention. Partly because of her blue
skin... and partly because a
"Now now, you're losing points moving all over like that!"
she chides, laughing a bit behind her hand.
"So everybody -- freeze!" Those arrows flashing brightly for a moment
--
-- and behind Minako, there's a sudden loud crash as every single runner suddenly
draws up short, stomping their feet down and standing up straight as if on
military review.
Cue the facepalm. It was too good to last after all. Minako blinks and peers at the empty space again. Wait,
wasn't it just... But the other figure tears her attention away from any
further wondering. It is an eternally asked yet unspoken question that will
always be wondered- why did the monsters have to be so slutty
looking??
Resisting the urge to
gawk, Minako runs to get between two tall arcade
machines on the other side of the room. She nearly trips at the sudden single
movement of the entire patronage at the arcade. "You gotta
be kidding me." Was that monster a DDR machine?! Not wasting another
moment though, so long as no one spots her there, she pulls out her henshin stick and transforms.
"Now then...
everybody back this way!" The
arcade woman beckons, those arrows flashing white once more -- and again as
one, the would-be fleeing crowd turns and quick-marches back over to her,
tromping their way with a sharp, echoing sound.
....which is rather impressive, since none of them are
-wearing- boots. "That's
right, darlings! First I'll take all
your money, and then you'll waste your lives away, dancing to my beat! I wonder who I should start with first?" o/` Sauntering over
to peer at a poor salaryman who just happened to be
dragged along at his children's insistence.
"Tsk.
No no no, much too
old. Let's see...."
"Hey, dancing's
not a waste! Er... it isn't when it's of your own
free will!" DDR was actually a pretty cool game, if you asked Minako. "The arcade is a place to relax and have fun
between the hectic life in
Venus goes back to a
normal volume, continuing her speech where she left off. "Leave those
people alone, and I'll challenge you to a dance duel! Your one mistake will be
that you took on Sailor Venus, champion of of love
and arcade games!" She looks rather smug, but call
it a bit of ego mixed with anger at someone spoiling her high score.
"Eh?" The youkai pauses
for a moment, peering out across the crowd as Venus steps out and announces herself... and then just -stares-. "Ehhhhh?!" o.o Grabbing two people
by the shoulders and shoving them apart for a better look -- and then promptly barelling the rest over as she beelines right for Venus,
sending them tumbling and slamming into the game machines. Until she finally comes
*right* up to her, peering into her face.
"Sugoiiiiii~! You're PERFECT!" <3
The arcade woman bouncing a bit in place, eyes shining like those
aforementioned high scores, hands clasped under her chin. "Such grace! Such energy!
And such a young and pretty thing too!
You're JUST what I'm looking for!"
Looking to catch Venus by the gloved hand and waist and promptly dance
her around the room... <3
Sailor Venus blinks.
She wasn't expecting /that/ reaction. Usually they get a little indignant or
fussy if you interrupt them. She sweatdrops in
sympathy at the poor two who got shoved out of the way, and before she can
react any further, the monster woman is up in her face! "Eh? Ah- ano..." Blink blink. A few
of the compliments sink in and Venus looks surprised.
"R-really? Heheh, well it's about time someone
noticed my ta-aaaaa~!" Before she can finish
bragging, the senshi finds herself
being swung around the room. "Hey!" She pulls away, landing in a half
defensive - half bewildered pose. Huh. She scratched her head for a moment in
thought of what to do, and then waves a hand to get the woman's attention
again. "Hey uh. You know you can just /ask/
people instead of forcing them to dance, y'know?"
Venus looks a little hopeful. Come on, no fight today! T_T
"Oh, I'm not
going to force -you- to dance, dearie!" the
woman replies, drawing up and half-hiding a grin behind the back of her
hand. "I simply can't wait that
long! So I'm just going to steal all
that wonderful energy away by devouring your life's force!" ....yeah, so
much for -that- wish. "So --
without further ado -- " Pointing her hand and giving a little snap of
her fingers -- and all the flung-away patrons immediately draw themselves up,
as if on puppet strings.
"Get her!!"
she directs, arrows flashing as she points at Venus. And as one, the crowd turns
and sprints forward, hands reaching for her...
Aww man. She knew it
wouldn't be that easy. And she really hated it when they started puppeting the locals! Sailor Venus quickly takes a hesitant
step back, and then- She jumps! Not too high, there's a ceiling in here silly!
But she does manage to get up on top of one of the machines. Not too much of an
advantage unless you have a plan.
"Well, if that's
how you're going to be about it..." Crap, now what? When in doubt, attack!
Pointing a finger towards the dance obsessed one, she shouts her attack.
"Venus Crecent Beam!" Shooting from her
fingertip comes the beam of light, aimed towards the
dance pad. Hopefully that's what's controlling the people, right? That's how
the game worked! Sorta. If it didn't, then getting down from here would be tricky.
She might be on to
something -- but unfortunately, it seems that this creature isn't about to let
her act on it so easily. "Hmph! That's a 'Poor!'"
she sniffs, white arrows flashing as the beam comes in -- and one of the
patrons jumps in front of it! The
Crescent Beam catches him full in the chest, slamming him into another of the
machines and knocking it over with a spray of sparks. Luckily, Venus can tell from here that's he's
not badly hurt from it. "If you
want to clear -this- stage dearie, you're really
going to have to -clear- it -- and everyone else on it!"
As if to confirm
that, the rest of the crowd immediately falls into place in front of the youkai, interposing themselves between her and Venus'
perch. She -does- have a clear shot,
being on the higher ground... unfortunately, it's not that high for them to
jump...
There's a gasp from
the senshi as one of the patrons jumps into her
attack. It's someting she didn't even see coming, and
the shock of what just happened almost sends her wobbling off of her perch.
Fortunately she steadies herself, but it doesn't improve her situation any.
Narrowing her eyes, she realizes she's in quite a bit of a pickle here. "How cowardly!" She hisses, though now she's
glancing around trying to come up with another option. What to do without
hitting anyone else...?!
"Ohhhhh, hohohohoho!!" The youkai
woman laughs behind her hand, seeming delighted by Venus' outrage. "If you don't want to see these poor,
shuffling dancers suffer dearie, all you have to do
is come down and surrender to me! I
promise, having your life eaten won't hurt -- much! It might even be --"
A shiver seems to go
through the rows of people in front of her -- and as one, each steps either
side with that same slamming, marching step, suddenly leaving a clear aisle
between her and Venus as they line up on either side, facing each other.
"
....fun?"
o.o;
Something
silvery flies through the air and smashes into the upper panel just below the
woman's throat, making her screech as a spray of sparks explodes from it and
sends her staggering back. The item in question ricochets and buries
itself at the top of the arcade shelf, just under Venus' crouching leg,
revealed to be... a compact disc?
"Score F,"
informs a quiet voice from the side.
"You lose."
It really irked Venus
how the monsters liked to brag. But it also unnerved her how the people it was
controlling simply stepped aside, in so much military fashion, for her. In the
split second that this occurs, Sailor Venus wondered if it would be worth the
risk to take another shot at her now that the path was clear. But she made
everyone move so fast, it might be too dangerous.
Just as she was about
to resignedly step down from the machine - she'd figure something out on the
way, she had to! - the silver flashes past and she
stops and stares at the disc at her feet. "What's this...?" Sweet, it
damaged the monster at least! Relief is clearly apparent on the girl's face.
She looks to find the source of the voice.
"Music is the fire
that gives life to the world," that quiet voice continues as the figure
steps into view. "People dance when
that fire fills their souls. A dance
with -no- soul does not deserve to exist in this world. Your corrupt beat will come to its end."
As long as it's been
since the last attack, it's also been quite awhile since Minako
has seen Ryuji -- as such, it might take her a moment to recognize him. When she -does-, it's going to be the
contrast that shocks her more than anything, most likely -- the last time he
saw him, he was... well, pretty much like ALL the times she's seen him, an
ever-smiling, bright and cheerful young man in faded jeans and a leather
jacket.
-This- time, Ryuji is
dressed in a black button-down shirt, the collar left undone to reveal a silver
cross hanging on a chain across his throat.
Left untucked, the hem of that shirt falls to
the sleek gleam of a pair of vinyl pants, a pair of chrome-studded belts criss-crossed low on his hips gunslinger-style. A black overcoat falls over all, tapering at
the waist to make the lower half flare outwards slightly, seeming to broaden
with his steps. And whereas before his
hair was shaded a vibrant, billiant orange, it's now
been darkened to a sheer jet black, save for a shock at the front threaded with
an electrical red. A
pair of steel-colored wraparounds hiding those usually-sparkling eyes from
view.
"
....oi. Miss," he calls out in
that same quiet voice, turning his head a bit towards Venus' perch. "You really shouldn't stay up there like
that. Not with a skirt that short."
True, with his new
appearance and attitude, Sailor Venus wouldn't realize it's
Ryuji right away. In fact, it's going to take a bit more than a speech for that
to occur to her, but maybe it has to do with the fact that his eyes are hidden
in addition to his clothes. She blinks at the speaker. Hey, what is this, her own personal Tuxedo Mask? Although, she has to admit,
his taste in clothes was much better. Shaking her head to come back to the
present, she realizes she should take advantage of the fact that the monster is
distracted. That is, until it's pointed out to her that she too is a
distraction. Venus' face colors and she scrambles to get down off of the
machine. "Ah... h-hai!
Sorry about that. Um. Thank you for your help!"
It's now that she's
at ground level with him that she notices that he's familiar. But first things
first, don't let the enemy get the upper hand again. Turning to face the
monster again, Minako points an arm forward again,
and this time steps forward to get closer so that no one will jump between her
and her target. "Better end this before I regret it! Sorry, but I'm
revoking your tokens and credits.
"Iya,
don't mention it," he murmurs in that same soft, cool tone. "I like helping cute girls."
"Grrrrr -- !!" By this time the youkai
woman has turned around, recovering enough to snarl at them. "How DARE you! You disrespectful little brats can't treat
machines like this! No WONDER they stop
working, I -- eep!" So busy ranting that she almost misses the
fact that there's a beam coming *right at her.* When she does realize it however, it's
too late -- the blast takes her full-on this time. Although unfortunately it doesn't seem to
have much effect, rocking her back a bit but still leaving her standing and
snarling, the white arrows on her chest flashing
wildly.
" ? " Ryuji cocks his head a moment -- then whips
his other hand up, sending two more of those silvery discs flying out. Immediately the woman raises her arm, the
double-rank on either side beginning to shuffle forward to put themselves in
the way. But catching the motion, Ryuji aburptly snaps his arm to the side as he steps outward,
dropping his head as his other hand flies up to his face. And just like that, the rows snap into the
same stylistic pose, stopping their motion -- leaving both discs free to strike
her with another spray of sparks, making her shriek and stumble back as those
lights flash again.
"
.....I was right." Ryuji keeps the pose held even as he peers
over the tops of those slipped-down glasses.
"When I hit her before. Then you now. And again. The arrows -- there's a pattern when they
flash."
Monsters were like
nasty bugs, no matter how many times you sprayed them, they just wouldn't die!
Sailor Venus just about says as much, beginning to grumble when she sees that
it's still standing. And then as Ryuji attacks and counters her with his dance
move, and she blinks at his little revelation. "Really?"
It would make sense, considering what she /was/! "So then is it like the
game? Hit them when they light up?" Minako
grins, not waiting for an answer as she moves to test that theory while the
creature is still stunned. She kicks out at it's chest
as one of the arrows lights, might as well use her feet like they were meant to
be used! "Yaa!"
*STOMP!* Reeling from Ryuji's attack, the dance yokai gets caught full-on by Venus' kick, the heel of her
shoe hitting -just- as the arrow flashes -- and it sends her stumbling back
with another shriek, definitely a pained one.
"
< You got it. > " Ryuji actually sounds out the words in
English, that soft voice seeming to roll like velvet over the syllables as he
turns his back on the yokai. "Find the rhythm. I'll give you the beat." Raising a hand up to run his fingers lightly
through his hair before flinging it upwards, something white suddenly spinning
into his palm, catching it to reveal.... an iPod?
"
< Let's Groove Motion, baby. > " His thumb pressing the button... and music
blares from it, a spark of pink lightning seeming to race down his thumb and
arm, to his other arm as he flings it out.
And all at once, -every- machine in the arcade lights up as the same
music blasts out from all of them:
'Ignition.' The youth in the
black coat whipping his hand down, 'holstering' the iPod
on his belt by clipping it there, then whirling to point accusingly towards the
yokai -- and all at once, the crowd turns and slams
their heels down a they point as well, looks of righteous anger on their faces.
"You won't beat
MY score!!" The dance creature
hisses her fury out as she whirls on Venus, flinging out her hand. A barrage of light-arrows zapping out from
her palm, some of them smashing into the machines at
the sides as they streak towards her.
But at least now the crowd is being kept from jumping in -- and the
music blaring from all sides -does- give her a rhythm now, to go with those
flashing lights.
If Venus weren't so
close to the monster, she might have time to react to the words that Ryuji
says, or admire the special effects. As it stands, she's a little busy dodging
the light arrows. "Eep!"
She squeaks as she zips to one side, and then another as one grazes her side.
"Heey, don't damage this place! Where else will
I spend my free time?!" She does hear the music start up though, and using
it to her advantage manages to almost turn her spastic dodging into some sort
of rythmic dance. Sailor Venus laughs. "That's
more like it!" She kicks out again, this time adding a spin to it to put
more power behind it.
Nicely evaded, those
light arrows explode harmlessly into the machines, allowing Venus the chance to
get in close enough to stamp that spinning kick into the second panel. As with the first hit, the second seems to
'shock' the creature enough to make her stagger back, the hits at those
flashing arrows actually seeming to weaken her with each successful tag.
Abruptly however, an arm
moves to slip around Venus' waist, a hand reaching for hers as Ryuji steps in
from behind, suddenly getting.... a -lot- closer. "Left and right," he murmurs at her
ear. "Two, one, now" And turning
his body a bit to lash the heel of his boot towards the right-side panel. Ah, that explains it -- even if senshi -are- flexible enough to do a splits, chances are
she can't kick at two at once from standing.
Yes, it worked! If
this wasn't so life threatening, Sailor Venus would consider it fun. As it
stands, she may lay off the DDR for a while. But she's not
about to quit until she takes down this thing. The arm around her waist
though, that was unexpected! Venus blushes, but the instructions kick her into
gear and she follows through. "Right!"
Her foot smashes the
opposite side, and she's greatful for the help.
Because really now, baring some magical acrobatics, would it really count if
she had tried to run and smash both buttons with her hands? That was considered
cheating in some circles, might look kinda stupid,
and so who knows what the monster would think. Oh. And it's kinda
cool to be helped by someone who looks like he stepped out of a music video.
For once since these
new creatures started showing up in this weird
...but Ryuji tightens the
arm around Venus' waist before whirling her way, pirouette-style. And raising his arm instead, letting the
strike there and wrap around it, trapping it.
But not without cost; the metal discs actualy
-tear- into his sleeve and the flesh beneath, making the dark youth draw back
his lips from his teeth, hissing in pain...
Hey! That's cause it challenged her on her home turf! Didn't you know
you can't challenge Venus at an arcade and win? At least, that's what she likes
to think. Dangit, it's still alive! "You know,
it'd be really nice to get all the cool gadgets like Sailor Moon,
sometimes." Ok so she has some. Just, you know. She hasn't been Sailor V
in forever, and she's pretty sure that the current level of monsters she's been
facing are a bit above what the crecent
mirror can handle.
As she's pulled away
from the incoming attack, Sailor Venus gasps as the dancing man takes the
damage. She turns her glare back to the monster. That's it, no more nice senshi. Concentrating to
put just a little more into it this time, Venus takes aim once more at the creature.
If she's got hold of Ryuji, she's not going anywhere. "I've just about had
enough of you and your 'games'!
As if realizing at
the same moment that holding that token-chain makes -her- immobile as well, the
DDR youkai widens its eyes, starting to let go -- but
too late. The Crescent Beam hits full on
the upper plate as the white arrow flashes, the creature throwing back its head
and giving a rising shriek as all its arrows flash wildly...
"
< Checkmate. > " Ryuji
sounds out, raising his free hand to point at the creature -- then snap his
fingers. " <
So cool. >"
....and beams of
white light shine out as the thing -explodes-!
Though harmlessly in a show of gold and silver dust,
flying across the room for a moment.
Even that razor-chain dissolves away... save for one single token which
plinks to the ground, spinning in place for a moment to clatter on its
side. Leaving Ryuji to
let out a long breath as he lets his arm drop, clasping his hand over the torn
sleeve.
Finally! Sailor Venus shields her eyes for a moment, then opens her
mouth to shout something at the single remain of the creature, when she
realizes she's been beat to it. "...what he said." Then she blinks
and turns to get a better look at her rescuer. "Um, thanks for saving me
back there." She's not quite sure how it would have turned out if he
hadn't shown up. Forget kicking butt at the end, she had managed to get herself
cornered from the start.
She looks over his
outfit, wondering whether it was just his superhero getup, or if he dressed
like that normally. Hey, some musicians did! But then as she sees his arm
again, she erks, "Oh crap, that's right, you got
hurt! Let me get you something to wrap that up with!" Better safe than
sorry, even if she doesn't know how bad it is, Venus has an active imagination
that sometimes jumps ahead of her. She glances around quickly, eventually
dashing over to one of the redemption counters. Long since empty since the
worker fled, she grabs a spare apron and brings it over. "Here, let me
wrap this around it. It'll have to make due." If he lets her, she'll use
the ties to wrap it and secure it in place.
"Iya,
it's okay... " Ryuji shakes his head as she makes her
way back over with the apron, though he does keep his hand clamped firmly down
on his torn sleeve. A sound from nearby
draws his attention though, revealing that the crowd the DDR youkai had snared starting to come out of their trance,
peering around confusedly.
"HEY!!" A balding, middle-aged man just outright
-stares- at the bunch of smoking, ruined machines around them. "What happened to my
arcade??!"
" ....time to
go," Ryuji remarks solemnly before reaching to try and snag Venus' hand
and drag her along as he sprints for the door.
Just as she finished
tying the makeshift bandage on, and she was about to check to see that the
other people were ok- they get scolded! Such a thankless job! And she still
wanted to make sure that guy she accidentally hit was ok! *sob* Sailor Venus erks once more as she's dragged away and out the door. She
does wave goodbye as she runs, shouting an apology and saying that they simply
took care of some troublemakers! Hey, she's not going to let her reputation get
ruined here! Even if they'll never know it's actually her.
She follows until
they get wherever they're going, though she does watch the mysterious guy
curiously. "Hey, my name's Sailor Venus by the way. What about you?"
Something kept nagging at the back of her head that he was familiar, and she
just couldn't figure out why.
Ryuji doesn't answer her
as he drags her down the street, then down a side-street and down several more
into a nearby alleyway. Nor does he
answer her as they finally manage to get well out of sight of the arcade. Not, despite that quiet voice, because he's
unfriendly -- but rather because by the time they're done his breath is huffing
quietly from his lips as he leans back against the alley wall and clasps his
arm, that makeshift bandage already starting to darken.
Sailor Venus pauses
to catch her breath too, although she doesn't have the added problem of blood
loss to make that difficult to overcome. She lets the question drop entirely
for the moment as she glances at his arm again. "Hey, maybe um... maybe we
should get you to a doctor?" She can understand if perhaps he has some
secret identity like she does- she won't intrude so long as she knows he'll go
seek treatment. But it does worry her, the fact that in so little time he's
already bleeding through the bandaging. Did she not wrap it right? Oh curse you
home-economics!
"
....no.... I'll be fine.... " Ryuji murmurs the reply back as he
leans against the wall with his head bowed, still panting for a moment.... then
raises his head to smile quietly at her.
" ...thank you." And raising his hand up to finally slip his
glasses from his face as he offers that smile.... and despite the dark clothes
and the changed hair, the sight of his eyes along with that smile may -finally-
jog Venus' memory...
"Well if you say
so..." Venus doesn't really sound convinced. She watches concerned, until
he thanks her, and she waves it off. "What are you talking about? It's
only natural to be worried about my r--" She blinks as the glasses come
off, and the gears start turning. Only there's a little 'clunk' sound that
comes from within her head as one of the gears seems to have gotten stuck.
"-Ryu--?"
Sailor Venus stumbles over the name of her friend, surprised. The super cool
looking dancing rescuer she met was the happy go lucky fanboy
friend she hung out with on a regular basis? Wha...
The gears in her head barely catch up in time for her to try to cover her
blunder, and she quickly ammends her sentance. "-rescuer! Ahaha!"
She laughs,
scratching the back of her head nervously. Ok. Where's the hidden camera?
"If you hadn't shown up, I'd probably be dancing still, or a youma snack of some sort!"
"Eh?" Ryuji blinks a bit at that stumble, but it
doesn't seem to catch enough for him to wonder about it. Instead, he just smiles a little and shakes
his head. "Iya...
you would have done just fine on your own," he murmurs in that same quiet
tone, still smiling at her. "It was
just because of all those people that you were worried about. Otherwise you would have beaten her yourself,
I'm sure of it."
Sitting
down on a crate, Minako hmms
thoughtfully in response. It
could be an agreement, or it could be her thinking about it, but in reality
she's actually trying to figure out just what happened here. Ryuji was a
part-time super hero? Nah, that couldn't be it. Maybe he was in a band. He
liked music a lot! But then he never said anything like this to her before! Oh,
oh! Maybe he secretly liked cosplay! That must be it.
He was kinda a geek over some
things anwyays. Minako nods
to herself as she loses herself in thought over this,
somewhat forgetting that she probably should have answered Ryuji.
Ryuji apparently doesn't
feel his comment needed an answer though.
"You were asking my name awhile ago, right?" So he did actually hear her, just wasn't in any shape to answer at
the time. "'Ryuji'
desu. Seikono Ryuji," he offers with that same quiet
smile. Pretty much confirming he's not
part-time hero-ing, unless he's the kind that's not
terribly fond of a secret identity.
"And you said you were.... Venus?"
Sailor Venus blinks
and looks up. "Ah- yes, I did." Well, there it was. She wasn't
imagining it in any case. But what was with this? He was acting like a
completely different person. It was kinda throwing
her off. "Sailor Venus actually, but Venus is fine. Nice
to meet you." Again. She smiles and offers
a handshake. And considers something. Which one was
the real Ryuji, after all? The one she was seeing now, or the one she knew
before? One quick way to find out. "I've got a
few friends like me too, though before I met up with them I used to just go by
V. You haven't seen any other Sailor Senshi around
this city, have you?" Oh she probably knew the answer, if the Ryuji she
knew had seen them, he'd probably not stop telling
people about it. But then again, what did she know now?
"Venus....
heh. It's a nice name. It reminds me of a song I know... " Ryuji smiles
quietly, reaching to shake that hand.... and then stares as the rest of those
words sink in. " ...V? Wait -- Sailor V? YOU'RE Sailor V?" Okay.... he's not fanboying. But that wide-eyed, incredulous look is
definitely the 'old' Ryuji....
.....what isn't however is the soft, oddly rusty-sounding laugh as he sinks back
against the wall, sliding his hand from hers and just shaking his head a
bit. Ara.... ?
Aha, there it was. But... less so than she expected. Venus laughs and winks.
"Yeah, the Sailor V. Good to know her name hasn't completely disappeared
in this place." She watches him as he leans back, demeanor changing once
again, and then asks one last time, "Look, I don't meen
to nag or anything, but I really want to make sure you're ok. An alley isn't
exactly my ideal place to hang out, and I probably should get going... but all
the same, I'm not going to leave my bleeding rescuer out for the alley cats
either." Ohh, Artemis would have yelled at her
for that one. Still, she has a point.
"Iya,
I'll be fine. I'll go home and put on
some music, and I'll be better in no time." Ryuji smiles sheepishly as he glances over,
adding in that soft tone, "Heh... it's not
fair. I spent so many years wanting to
finally meet you. Ever
since the first time I saw you.
And now that I have, I can't think of a thing to say... " Closing his
eyes and sinking back against the alley wall for a moment... and then blinking
them open. "Sou da! I know!"
Reaching his good hand into his coat, rummaging around a bit...
Nodding, Sailor Venus
seems ready to go, but she pauses at his last statement. Yeah, she could tell
it meant a lot to him. It was kinda like a kid
meeting Santa or something, really. So she had once or twice
amusedly considered what he might say if he knew who she was. But the senshi didn't really give away their identity. That was the
way it was, and with the trouble they ran into, it was always for good reason.
She feels almost a little bad for it now, but... well they'd probably meet
again, if his flashy arrival was any indication. "Ah... you want an
autograph?" She smiles. That is something she
/can/ do.
"Hai! If I can just.... grrr...
where is it? Chotto...
I -know- I've got on me somewhere.
Oh! Here it is!" Ryuji fishes out a pen, raising
up to hold it between his teeth for a moment, then pulls out a CD and offers
both to her. It's a 'single' CD, an
import from
Huh? Wait a sec. He
had that CD on him already? Sailor Venus laughs for the irony of the situation,
and takes the pen and CD. For a moment she taps the pen on her chin in thought,
then opens the case and scribbles something down. When she's done, she closes the
pen and the case, and hands it back to Ryuji. Then she offers a wave once more.
"Take care of yourself ok? Don't neglect that arm! Catch you around!"
There's a grin, and then she leaps up a fire escape, onto the roof, and she's
gone.
If Ryuji were to open
the case, inside is written:
Keep on dancing, don't ever lose that rhythm!
Sailor 'V' Venus
P.S. - Thanks for the help! ^_^
The case is eventually
opened, and soon traded for another -- carefully sealed in a glass frame on a
velvet backboard as Ryuji carefully sets it down on his apartment desk. Just looking at it for a
long moment... then giving a little sigh as he closes his eyes. Picturing that night years ago, an entire
continent away, over the span of an ocean.... and looking up from the street to
see the proud figure standing at the edge of the rooftop, hand resting on her
hip.
"After all this
time," he mumurs in that soft, quiet tonee... and then makes a face. "Mou. Being sick -sucks-. I want my voice back!" ;_;
Sighing and opening his eyes, and peering miserably down at his shredded
coat sleeve. "And my new outfit
too.... " ;_;
Eventually though he does
get cleaned up, and takes a moment to peer in the bathroom mirror, absently
running his fingers through the shock of red at the front of his now-black
hair... then grins a bit, shaking his head.
"Nah.
it's just not me." And reaches for the bottle of hair dye as he
steps into the shower...