[Fourze/Pagebreak/Etc Mushball Universe, specifically tagging Kazari and Etienne, but open to all]

[sushisamurai]

It's good to be back in Japan. France was nice, but there's something about being home that just feels right.

I fall back into my sushi peddling ways with ease, putting my old cart to good use as I walk the city in search of customers. Daigoyou and my origamis are wonderful company, but I do miss being one of Take-chan's samurai.

Just a bit.

I set my cart in a nicely populated area, there's a school that's just getting out nearby, and lots of people milling about. I rest my hands on my hips and nod with determination.

"Gold Sushi, open for business!"

Comments

[kabukisamurai]

I have heard he, if not they, are rampaging at a nearby high school. Not the school that I had previously posed as a student teacher at, but hopefully I will be able to find my way onto the faculty of this school as well.

I refuse to acknowledge how upset I am by such a turn of events. Only a few months after the Ranger Key arrived to my hand (in the middle of a performance, no less), and here my Lord, and some of my dearest friends have been engulfed by this new rising evil. It is terrible, and as such I will not.

Running up to the school, however, I'm caught short by a wave of serious melancholy, and I pause, only to hear a familiar voice.

I spin around. The Gold Sushi cart. I'd almost forgotten he had returned to Japan. I'm not as alone as I feared.

"Genta!"

[pussyfortono]

[ as Ryuunosuke is heading towards Genta's cart, he's also turning a corner & heading that way too. He notices Ryuunosuke right away & starts walking over to him ]

[samuraisister]

There's a familiar figure. "Ryuu-san!" I yell, running up to him with my arms outstretched.

[sushisamurai]

I turn at the sound of my name being spoken - well, shouted really - by a familiar voice. I squint in the sunlight, then my face breaks out into a wide grin. I throw a whole arm into the air and wave excitedly at him.

"Ryuu-san!" My wave turns into a sweeping gesture, beckoning him to come and have a seat at my cart. "Come! Come! The usual, I assume? On the house today."

[kabukisamurai]

"Genta!" I repeat, tripping over myself in my haste to get to his cart, planting my hands on the counter and shaking my head as I pant and try to organize my thoughts. I hadn't realized how long I'd been running.

Not with any particular goal, of course. I think maybe I was trying ineffectually to outrun the truth.

"There's trouble," I finally choke out, once my breathing evens out. "Something terrible has happened."

[sushisamurai]

My smile fades into a look of concern, and I reach out to grip Ryuunosuke's shoulder, as much to offer him brotherly comfort as to hold him upright, since he looks like he might either pass out or just plain fall over at any moment.

I have to stay calm though, sometimes Ryuunosuke has been known to get worked up over little things, imaginary things, or nothing at all.

"Breathe. Just breathe." I nod, drawing in slow breaths in an attempt to coach him into breathing more steadily. "And tell me - slowly - what's happened."

[kabukisamurai]

Of course he doesn't know. Not anything.

I take a slow, shaky breath at his urging, but my exhale comes out as more of a sob.

"Some terrible evil is rising, Genta. And it... It's taken Tono."

[sushisamurai]

My grip on Ryuunosuke's shoulder tightens, so much so that I'm probably hurting him, but I don't really care. Now I need something to hold me steady.

"Take-chan?" My Take-chan? "What about Take-chan?"

[kabukisamurai]

His hand at my shoulder could almost hurt, but instead it just triggers an avalanche of doubt and fear and incredible guilt and I sort of fold a bit, leaning down over his counter and burying my head in my crossed arms. Possibly crying.

"I'm sorry, Genta. I failed. Whatever it is, it's not Gedoushu. It's not anything I recognize. But Tono has turned against us. Against me, and Hikoma-san, and the Kuroko-tachi."

[sushisamurai]

"Take-chan is... is evil?" I'm trying to stay calm, trying to be strong, since Ryuunosuke is obviously falling apart.

"Chiaki... the others, where are they?" I pull away from Ryuunosuke and start closing up my cart. "We have to assemble the team."

We have to save my Take-chan.

[kabukisamurai]

He doesn't understand. I wasn't clear enough. Yet another failure to add to the list.

I shake myself, and immediately move to help him close up the cart. I need him now, more than I ever thought I would, at least in this one-on-one sort of way.

As I reach to help him take down his banner, my arm shudders and I pull back, clasping a hand over where I know I still have a dark bruise, deep enough that it twinges when I turn my arm in a certain way. A reminder.

"He has Chiaki and Mako, too. On his... side." I finally explain, my voice trembling with the effort of keeping myself speaking. "I don't know about Kotoha, I hope she's safe at home."

[sushisamurai]

I notice Ryuunosuke wince in pain and grip his arm, though he doesn't seem to be bleeding. As I close up shop I wrap some ice in a towel, tying it off and then handing the impromptu ice pack wordlessly over to him.

"Kotoha-chan was here," I frown, deeply, trying to remember if she said where she's be going. "Earlier, she stopped by. What if they have her too now?"

[kabukisamurai]

I almost refuse Genta's offer of an ice pack: this injury is for me to bear and should well serve as a reminder never to be so carelessly trusting again.

But it does hurt, and he's so distressed, so subdued that I take it and hold it against my arm with a sigh.

Oh, no. "Kotoha." I moan softly, hanging my head and considering beating it against his cart for good measure. "I hope that is not the case, but it is possible. They are... they are not at all themselves, but they are capable of... pretending to be, I suppose."

[sushisamurai]

I turn away from Ryuunosuke for a moment, trying to keep myself composed, keep myself as optimistic as always. As the others have come to expect me to be.

Things are different now. A lot has changed.

Quite suddenly I find that I've put my fist through one of the panels of my cart, just narrowly missing putting my hand through the glass of Ika and Ebi's tank instead.

[kabukisamurai]

I startle when Genta promptly destroys a part of his cart. I've never seen him quite so angry, even the first time we had Tono taken from us, used against us.

I take two long strides to his side and grip his arm, carefully drawing his hand out and checking for cuts or abrasions. "Save it." I tell him tersely. Even if it were just Tono, and we had the rest of us at hand to help retrieve him, I would still be in charge. "Save it for the demon that took him from us."

[sushisamurai]

My knuckles are bleeding, quite freely, but I can't really feel it. My chest hurts too much for that.

I give Ryuunosuke a sharp nod, not embarrassed about my outburst of rage. If anything it served the purpose of rallying Ryuunosuke, shaking him out of his guilt and giving him a good swift kick into his role as Take-chan's second.

"What should we do?"

[kabukisamurai]

I stare at Genta for a moment, then wonder if maybe he did that on purpose. I can't worry about my own guilt right now. I still have one member of the team to protect, to defend, to stand beside. I owe him more than my own wallowing.

I cast around for a moment, then let his makeshift ice pack fall open, scattering the ice and reaching for his hand, wrapping the cold damp cloth around his bleeding hand.

"For now, we'll return to the mansion."