#reversedpsync 02

[inheritai]

"Well, more my thing than yours at least. Now Iris would be way into this...but I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with this little go-getter anyway." Her Seequtezi, having been bounding on the balls of its feet, jumped up into the air out of sheer need to burn energy, only to be caught by Mizuki's arms wrapping around it. It seems displeased by this, but its owner's headpats pacify it.

"Isn't he just adorable?" Aiba was currently projecting herself into the vision of both AI-Balls, as well as Tama's. Judging by henthusiasm about her Spiramon, it's clear the answer wasn't "or something." "They really did make sure everyone got the perfect partner for them!"

@inheritai

"So you've both got your own partners too, huh?" Ryuki nodded as he saw Mizuki and Aiba with spiramon of their own, patting his dracojuna on the head with one hand. "This sort of seems like something right up your alley, Mizuki."

"Yeah, I feel like you'll do better at this than Ryuki." Tama grinned, poking him in the cheek. "Anyways, Aiba, is that a bug or something?"

[firstclassrookie]

@reversedpsync

'LEON! HELP!!!'

"Shit!" Leon runs in the direction of Ashley's voice... damn this mist...! He can't see well enough to get a clear shot. She's been carried off by one of those cultists that came out of the fog, but he can't risk her getting caught in the crossfire...

When he nearly runs straight into someone, he nearly shoots, thinking it's another cultist, but...

"Ryuki!" He quickly lowers his gun. Ryuki's in law enforcement, isn't he? Maybe...

"I don't have a lot of time to explain, but do you hear that girl shouting? I have to save her. Do you think you can help me corner the guy? I don't want to shoot blindly into the mist and risk anyone getting hurt."

[necroticrose]

@reversedpsync​

“Oh. It’s you.” Lilith sticks her nose in the air as she walks past him with a huff. She could just keep moving, but something stops her in her tracks. The way she’d acted around the festival... it was embarrassing. It would be easy to let it go and hope he does the same, but she has too much pride for that. She turns back. She has to set the record straight.

“Don’t think for a moment that that costume represented the kind of person I am. I’ll have you know I am not the airheaded cheerleader that blasted curse made me out to be.” She jabs her finger in his direction for emphasis.

“You will tell no one about the interaction we had, do you understand?” Crossing her arms, she glares at him. “Or else I’ll have to silence you myself. Have I made myself clear?”

[en4cer]

@reversedpsync​

sculpted  manicure  tapped  pensively  at  her  upper  lip  .  evidently  there  was  something  on  her  mind,  for  an  ambition  drove  her  further  than  intended  .  it  was  the  same  ambitious  that  characterized  her  klan  for  generations  --  which  both  worried  her  and  brought  her  closer  to  home  .  

"  i've  brought  with  me  a  proposal  ,  "

pardon  the  intrusion  --  quite  direct  ,  kiramman  .

"  hear  me  out  .  i've  come  to  trail's  end  and  curved  towards  the  precise  answer  to  our  problem  here  .  in  fact  ,  we've  been  quite  on  track  as  it  stands  .  "  what  is  she  talking  about  ??  "  we  band  together  ,  as  sisters  and  brother  .  there  is  power  in  number  .  "

[spiderstaff]

"Miss Tama is really cool!" Kay nods enthusiastically. "She's smart and pretty, and she really cares about Mr. Ryuki." She tries a reassuring smile, but she isn't sure how well she's able to pull it off. Truthfully, she isn't sure what she can do to help. Maybe Tama was right though-- the best she can do is be here for the brothers, right?

"You don't have to worry about a thing, Mr. Yukuto-- Mr. Ryuki is surrounded by a ton of people who care about him! He has lots of friends. And Miss Tama and I even make sure he gets out of the house and has fun sometimes." ...mostly that involves her dragging him to the mall or the boardwalk, but she sees it as helping.

"Technically it should be Mr. Date paying me back, 'cuz he's the dummy who owes me money. He's gonna owe you a ton next time you see him, Ryuki. Don't let him cheat you!"

"Look at you, big bro." Yukuto grinned, doing his best to keep relative calm despite the circumstances. He couldn't really say what was going on, nor what was up with the two other people here, but he wasn't going to dwell on that. Doing that probably wouldn't help the circumstances, and he could tell his brother needed support right now. "Making friends, huh? Well, it's nice to meet you too! I'm Yukuto- this guy's brother."

"O-Oh, uh... yeah. Sorry, um..." In truth, he'd forgotten that Tama and Kay had been there at all until his brother had spoken up again, making a weak attempt to wipe the tears away. It wouldn't do much to hide the fact that he'd been crying, but it at least made him feel a bit better, even as his mind was spinning as he tried to comprehend all this. "Kay is a friend who knew one of my coworkers. And Tama is my, uh... we work together?"

"I'm his left eye," she offered, still keeping close to Kay to offer her support. Maybe a bit of a tease to lighten the mood a touch would help? "I'm an AI, his partner and personal assistant. I keep track of all the money he owes Kay, here."

[spiderstaff]

Kay keeps holding on to Tama's coattails, afraid to interrupt Ryuki and his brother. If his brother had been... gone... this has to be hard for him.

The other guy does look just like his brother... all except for the eyes. Even down to the watch that looks like the one Ryuki carries. The one that doesn't work for some reason.

(Why does he carry around a watch that doesn't work...? Maybe it's like mine. Maybe it's important to him.)

At the mention of an 'audience', though, Kay finally finds the courage to speak up, waving shyly at the other man.

"Um. I'm Kay, and this is Miss Tama. We're Mr. Ryuki's friends." She looks up at Tama for help, unsure of what to say next.

"It's very nice to meet you!"

"It's... not that simple, Kay." There were a lot of things Tama couldn't say- it wasn't her place to decide for Ryuki who should know about all the little details of what went on inside his head. And even beyond that, she was just a child. But there was a bit she could do, if only to reassure her at least a little bit. "Ryuki has been holding onto this for a very long time."

Without a further word, Ryuki had launched himself at his brother and started clinging to him as if he was scared he was going to vanish again. He didn't really care if it was a hallucination, he didn't care if it was all fake. Even if it only lasted for a moment, he could see his brother again.

"I- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." Sobs choked his words, not caring how he looked. It had been too long, he'd been so alone. He was only a half. "I'm sorry, Yukuto..."

"H-Hey, bro... it's alright. Whatever's upsetting you... it's fine." Patting his brother's back, Yukuto just wore an easygoing smile. He didn't know what was going on, but this seemed just like Kuruto- always the sort to hide everything inside and insist it was all fine, only for it to all come out in a breakdown somewhere further down the line. "We've got a bit of an audience here though, man. Mind telling me what's up...?"

[spiderstaff]

Kay was glad to come across Ryuki in the mist... she'd never admit it, but she's a little scared out here. Last time, she ran into someone she'd rather not have another encounter with.

And Ryuki's reliable, he's nice! And she likes Tama, too. Surely she'll be OK when she's with them, right?

That's when she hears it, though. That voice...

"Ryuki...?" That can't be him, can it? Unless it's a younger version. That could happen, right? But he said another name, one she doesn't recognize.

She looks up at Tama, tugging on the hem of her coat to get her attention.

"Miss Tama, who is that? Is Ryuki all right?"

@spiderstaff

Ryuki didn't know what was happening in the mists, but it wasn't something that gave him a good feeling. He'd wandered out into it from a pure need to know what was going on, despite Tama's warnings about it being obviously suspicious- and he was glad that he had, because he'd rather quickly come across Kay wandering through the mist as well. "We should stick together, Kay. Have you come across anyone here that you kn-"

"Hey, big bro!"

He could never mistake the sound of his brother's voice, freezing in place as it rang in his ears. Nor could he ever mistake his brother's face, so nearly identical to his own. The only difference was age- his brother was younger, seventeen years old. After all, that's how old he'd been when he'd...

"Yu...kuto...?"

"Ryuki...?" Tama knew everything about him, which meant she knew about his brother. She was as concerned for him as she was for Kay in this fog, her hands gently on his shoulders. "Hey..."

[firstclassrookie]

"You can see him-?!" Leon can't hide the disbelief in his voice as he turns to look at Ryuki. "I can't see anything through this fog. You must have some pretty impressive eyesight."

Still, though, he's seen weirder... and that's not to mention all the weird magic and tech available in this place. If Ryuki can help get Ashley back, that's good enough for him. He'll just have to trust that he knows what he's doing.

(It's not like I have a choice... still, it's not the worst gamble I've ever taken, right?)

"In that case, I'll head in that direction, try to cut him off. If he's distracted with me, it'll be easier to get Ashley away from him."

"Let me know when you're in range, and I'll try to get her to jump toward me. Sound good?"

"Of course. It sounds like her voice was coming from over there...?" He squinted into the fog, evolver held low at his side. All of this stupid mist was annoying to see... but thankfully, he had an AI at his side.

'Tama, thermo mode.'

'On it!' Her searching was as efficient as it'd always been back home in these mists, quickly bringing up the thermo vision AR and displaying it for Ryuki. 'Two biological signals detected. You could use a stun round, but you'd run the risk of also stunning the girl.'

'No good then. We'll just get close and go from there.'

"You'll just have to trust me, but I can see him off in that direction. If you can get that girl away from whoever's carrying her, I should be able to take him out, even through the mist."

[spiderstaff]

Kay holds on to Tama, a bit frightened, as if she'd just seen a ghost.

"Ryuki's... twin?" Her voice wavers. He'd never mentioned a sibling before, but then again she doesn't know him that well. And from that reaction...

...she's seen it in people before.

"Should we do something? Can we help them?" It doesn't feel like there's anything she could say that would help, but Tama knows Ryuki, right? She'll know what to do. Kay trusts her.

"I don't want Mr. Ryuki to be hurt, Miss Tama. I want to help him."

"Big bro, what's up? You've got a funny look on your face." His younger brother leaned in, watching intently. It didn't take him any time at all to realize that something was up- Kuruto was older, but he was still Kuruto. "...Kuruto? What's the matter? And what happened to your eye?"

"I-I.... you... how are you...?" Ryuki was frozen in place, not responding to his brother or Tama's hands on his shoulder. It was impossible- but this place was impossible. He'd already seen things that didn't make sense, so that meant.... "Is it... really you?"

"Kay, um..." Tama knelt down beside her, moving her slightly away from Ryuki. She wasn't sure what exactly to do in this scenario- for everything she had in her database, suddenly running into what could very well be his younger brother in this place was not something she knew how to handle. "That's his younger brother- his twin."