[Video for Kuranosuke and then Action] | Second Bite

[biteoutofcrime]

Video; private to Kuranosuke

Hey. It's Kuzuryuu.

[The young man's changed a little since the last time they spoke, but despite the added inches and the blessings Pokemon puberty evolution has bestowed on his face, he looks nervous. Troubled, maybe.]

Can I ask you a favor?

Action; OTA

[There's a new face in Union City. Sort of. Maybe? The girl might look familiar to some--something about the freckles and the slender build, the sleek, thick fur of her tail--but she's rushing past as quickly as she can while barefoot, her modestly heeled boots held in one hand.

She's followed by a shyly happy Golbat who looks like she's just visited a beauty salon. While O-Ren isn't sure of her new look, she's tentatively willing to enjoy both it and herself.

Not that her friend's giving her time to stop and smell the roses, as it were.]

Comments

[battlearmor]

Mmmyyyup. What's up, buddy. [Kuranosuke may or may not have slept in today, and isn't in his makeup. Not super glamorous, but what's it matter?]

[biteoutofcrime]

[Wow. Well, that's different. Kuzuryuu has the grace to only blink once before looking around, as if he's worried someone might be listening in.

Or maybe some Pokemon.

Finding nothing, he leans in a little closer to the Warp Band.]

Listen, I got a problem. A problem I think you can help with. A... [He gestures helplessly, looking for the word, then crosses his arms with a sigh.] A Stylist problem.

[battlearmor]

A stylist problem? A guy like you? [Something must really be up. Kuzuryuu doesn't strike him as the type to care about that kind of thing.] What's the deal?

[biteoutofcrime]

I've got this Golbat...She evolved a while ago, and she seemed to adjust to that pretty well, but then I evolved and now, I don't fucking know. She's got this complex or something...

[He sits back and huffs.]

I keep telling her that shit doesn't matter, but she won't listen to me. She doesn't even want to go out with me around town anymore. She's one of my strongest Pokemon! Haa. [Kuzuryuu rubs the inner corners of his eyes.] Anyway, I got nothing. All I can tell is it's some kind of confidence thing.

[battlearmor]

...Of course she has a complex about it. Don't you know a thing about girls? You were pretty happy when you got evolving too, huh? [He sighs, shaking his head.] Golbat, huh... Well, look. I don't have anything to do today. How about you bring her here?

action

[actsmagnificent]

[ Hey, look at that. For once it's not Haruka who's nearly knocking someone over!

The girl bumps into her side as she passes; instinctively, Haruka shoots out a hand to steady her by the arm. ] Whoops! Are you all right, Ski-- [ Wait, tail. ] --puppy?

action

[biteoutofcrime]

['She' almost chokes at the term, red as an Octillery, and yanks his arm back.]

Do--don't touch me!

[Well that came out super masculine. The idea of getting caught out in this smacks into Fuyuhiko like a tidal wave, and he stares for a second, wide-eyed and horrified, before he averts his eyes and clears his throat. Holy shit, this dude is like half a foot taller than him, this is awful. He attempts to at least soften his voice, ease the growl out of it.]

I--I mean...s-sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going.

[The Golbat flaps giddily around in the background, bursting with an inside joke she can't tell.]

[actsmagnificent]

[ No harm done. Haruka smiles sympathetically. ] You might want to wear your shoes. The street can be dangerous.

[ There's something odd about this person, but Haruka can't quite put her finger on what. It won't stop her from being, ah. Helpful.

By which we mean "winking". ]

[biteoutofcrime]

[Fucking hell, is he flirting with him? Fuyuhiko is going to scream. Scream and then string Kuranosuke up by his nostrils. Or other tender parts.]

Aah, they're, uh. New. And I'm in a fu--I'm in a, a hurry. So I took 'em off.

[O-Ren the Golbat calms down enough to perch awkwardly on Fuyuhiko's shoulders. She's a little big for this, but she wants to greet their new friend with a big, fangy grin.]

action

[missleadingquestions]

[The first thing Maya recognises when they pass by her and she turns around isn't Fuyuhiko-- it's O-Ren. She turns to greet O-Ren, the realisation not setting in just yet, but--]

O-....Ren...? [See, the girl she's tailing can't be Fuyuhiko's sister, no, her hair is different. Maybe it's not O-Ren.

...Or, you know, maybe it's Fuyuhiko. Are you kidding that would be the best--]

Savior--

[biteoutofcrime]

[He freezes in his tracks.

Oh. Fuck. No.

Without even looking, without even turning, he takes off at a breakneck run. O-Ren, who started to slow to say hello to Maya, bobs, startled, in her flight and then swoops after him.]

[missleadingquestions]

[It was O-Ren.

And that? That means that girl wasn't a girl.]

Hey-- where are you going?!

[Why the hell's he running off? Clearly she has to tail him-- but in her clothes (and with him knowing she's following), it's quicker for her to keep to the shadows with shadow sneak.]

[biteoutofcrime]

[Like hell he's going to answer Maya, then she'll know it's him. He keeps running, turning down a dark side street and then turning again to try to shake her, but when he finally stops to look around, he doesn't see her there. Maybe he's safe.

O-Ren catches up and chides him. She wanted to show Maya all the good work Kuranosuke did.]

Forget about it, O-Ren, I'm not going back there for--oh, fucking Savior, what if she gets back first, my clothes...!

[He's so fucked.]

Action;

[stahlflugel]

[when you're trying to avoid attention, that's, of course, when you attract the most attention. Eren, out on patrol with his Jolteon and Glaceon, pauses for a moment when he sees a familiar golbat. O-Ren, wasn't that her name? She'd made friends with Rosa quickly enough, even if Eren had ended up turning down Kuzuryuu's offer. It seemed too good to be true.

But that wasn't Kuzuryuu... was it?

Except that it smelled like Kuzuryuu. Sort of a faint wet dog smell....]

Hey... I think... I know you. Why... are you wearing that?

Action;

[biteoutofcrime]

[Kuzuryuu makes the mistake of turning and then the second mistake of letting his eyes widen in recognition. Fuck him sideways, of all the times for people he knows to be milling around like aimless pieces of shit--]

Uh, you gotta be mistaken. I mean, you must be mistaken.

[He starts to stalk off faster, hoping that, with his efforts, his voice sounds enough like his sister's to let him get away unquestioned.]

action;

[stahlflugel]

[Welcome to RPland, Kuzu, where this is a common, everyday occurrence!

Unfortunately for you, Eren doesn't know your sister. And this is potentially hilarious]

... It IS you! That guy! Kuzuryuu!

action;

[biteoutofcrime]

Auurgh!

[Kuzuryuu whips around, grabs Eren by the collar, and drags him off to the side, where he won't be shouting his name out in the middle of the street where everyone can hear and see and jump to conclusions. Kuzuryuu's voice is a low hiss, a little more urgent and embarrassed than his usual growl.]

Shut the fuck up, asshole! I'm only doing this for O-Ren, got it?!

[The Golbat flaps after them, looking at least a little bit shamefaced for Kuzuryuu's sake.]

Action

[somnambulatory]

Was that...?

[Jinxie doesn't recognize the girl, but she knows that Golbat.]

Action

[biteoutofcrime]

[Mightyenas have great hearing, and when he recognizes Jinxie's voice, his tail tucks straight down between his legs.

Why. Why. Gods damn it, Koibuchi, why.

He speeds his walk up, but O-Ren doesn't get the message, since she's turned to wave hello to Jinxie with a wing.]

Action

[somnambulatory]

Hi, O-Ren. Where's Fuyuhiko...?

Action

[biteoutofcrime]

Skree~!

[O-Ren flaps over to poor Fuyuhiko, who slaps a hand over his face, completely mortified.]

For fuck's sake...

Action;

[future_sight]

[Normally Nozomi is a bit more alert, and able to avoid being run into. But, for some reason, as Kuzuryuu briskly walks, he'll run into her. Not necessarily carrying anything important, she does appear to have a few grocery parcels with her, which she drops with the impact.]

Hey!

[Turning, she catches him. It's very hard to hide things from Nozomi. It's not like she tries to ruin everyone's surprises, but with eyes like hers, she can read a person like a book more often than not. So when the "girl" walks past her, rather briskly, she stops; was that..?

O-Ren definitely is a dead give away.]

...Ku...

[Savior, are you serious right now?]

Action;

[biteoutofcrime]

[He jerks to a stop when he hears her, glances over his shoulder, and then starts to flee again. He barely completes the first step before he spins and hurries back again to crouch and ungraciously help gather her dropped parcels, gruff and stiff.]

Don't say a fucking word.

[He could kill someone. Preferably himself. He has never been so mortified in his entire twenty years of life.]

Action;

[future_sight]

[You realize how hard that is for her, right Kuzuryuu?]

Okay, Kumi.

[Sorry not sorry]

O-Ren, you look fantastic! Do you ladies have a girls day off?

Action;

[biteoutofcrime]

[Kuzuryuu makes a noise that can be best transcribed as "Kkkkggghrgkh" and keeps his head down as he retrieves the last of the groceries. O-Ren touches down though and shows off shyly, practically pink with warm fuzzies at the attention.

Kuzuryuu stands and shoves Nozomi's parcels back into her arms.]

Great, here's your shit, sorry, so long.