D479 // video; open to action

[windbreak]

- really piss me off!

[A young man glares at the camera as the recording begins, but if he's trying to intimidate anyone, the effect could use some work. For one thing, it's Yosuke - dishevelled hair, snow-dusted headphones and all. For another, there's a glazed look in his eyes that suggests he's having trouble concentrating on the screen.

He shakes a fist, which isn't really a gesture to strike fear into the heart of the Holy City either. The coldly gleaming dagger in the middle of it helps, though.]

What's wrong with all of us? Are we gonna let some crazy bitch in the window get away with calling us all sheep!? How can we be sheep? Sheep wouldn't just kill time giving, giving Kanji and everyone hotness ratings while there's honest-to-god psychopaths just strolling around town, straight up murdering people with vines and stuff in broad daylight for the hell of it, and... and...

[He falters for a second. Ugh, but he does have a point, he knows it! And woe betide the next garbled rumour that floats into his increasingly foggy mind to distract him from getting to it!]

I mean, what are the gods here doing at a time like this? She was right there! Do you think it's just this town we give a damn about!? Because if we - gah!

[Abruptly, the image blurs into a streak of white and dirt brown - and something else, something with a slightly darker metallic sheen than the knife Yosuke was brandishing a minute ago, passing close enough that it's possible to hear it whoosh by.

It may be a surprise that when the picture returns to Yosuke, it looks like he's still standing; he didn't even drop his knife. While his first attempt to whip round and point it at the off-screen culprit doesn't quite go in the direction he intended, the second one does.] Sagami!

[With another flash of the dagger in his hand, the recording ends. If only the brewing street brawl itself could be so easily brushed off...]

Comments

[Post]

[izanyagi]

[He was pretty occupied with his own mission, the last thing he neded was a distraction. Until the thing was destroyed, Souji had been quiet on the network. However, when the task is done, he checks to see how the rest of his friends are doing, and THIS stares right back at him. Apparently Yosuke is suffering from....PMS something. That sure as hell isn't his normal temperament.

Not to mention the offhand comment about Kanji. Could he have? ...he doesn't want to assume things, especially when he trusted him with it, but there's a mixture of anger, annoyance and bitter disappointment building up in him.]

Yosuke, are you alright?

video

[windbreak]

What do you think!? [The Yosuke who finally reappears some time later looks distinctly battered compared to the one in the initial recording - a torn scarf, fresh bruising all the way down his head, and no sign of the dagger from before - but make no mistake, he hasn't had any sense beaten into him yet. In fact, he's far too ticked off to put even his usual half-hearted effort into typing when he can just yell.] Some asshole just jumped me! And where the hell are you!?

[Video]

[izanyagi]

Out there fighting.

[He's going to ignore the tone, at least for now. There's something wrong, but he can't quite place his finger on it, and not just the fact his friend looks like something's been giving him a beating.]

Who attacked you?

[windbreak]

Uh... [For a brief moment, he looks even more disoriented. Dammit, what's making it so hard to think today? That pisses him off, too...] Ugh, who cares? If I could've jumped him first... No, listen! I know exactly what you're doing out there!

[TEXT AGAIN]

[izanyagi]

[WHAT. IS. GOING. ON. This is not the Yosuke he knows. It's like all the alarm bells are going on and as soon as he can, he needs to try and seek him out. He can't speak out loud right now either and switches back to text...]

Yosuke you don't sound or look well. Go lie down, I'll come back soon.

[Action]

[not_sasuke]

[Yuusuke is in a similar state, summoning his knife back via telekinesis. Though he makes as if to throw it again, he apparently kept a certain amount of his mental faculties - enough to attempt a fake-out and send a different kunai flying Yosuke's way. With a rope tied around its end, it's clearly more for the sake of capture rather than damage, aimed to coil around Yosuke's arms if he isn't careful.

After all, it's easier to hurt someone if they can't move around to avoid your attacks... And right now, all he can think of is causing as much pain as possible.]

[windbreak]

[The icy cobblestones underfoot and the muddied snowdrifts piled around them seem further and further away to Yosuke with every passing heartbeat, but his reflexes don't need to consult his hazy conscious mind before yanking him the hell out of the way, and they're quicker at it than he normally gives them credit for. Before he knows it, there's a second dagger in his hand, and a look of uncharacteristic fury twisting his face.]

I don't know what you think you're doing, but I'll make you pay...!

[He lunges, twin kunai drawn, sharp enough to sever the offending rope if it doesn't have enough sense to beat it - and two more burst from his pockets seemingly with a mind of their own, rocketing point-first towards Yuusuke's knees.]

[not_sasuke]

[It's too far on its run to be easily yanked back, and the rope is easily severed. But that's fine too - the kunai will simply shift directions and aim straight for Yosuke's back instead.

As for Yuusuke himself, he manages to slip out of the way with a well-timed roll, ending in a defensive crouch.]

More than you, apparently. Do you ever do anything besides complain?

We don't need extra weight like you.

[If pressed, he wouldn't be able to answer exactly why he was choosing now of all times to bring this up. Then again, he probably wouldn't have much of a response aside from violence to begin with.]

[windbreak]

Ugh - [It's between thinking of a snappy retort and bodily throwing himself out of stabbing range, and before Yosuke can decide, his stray foot on the slippery ground makes the decision for him. He crashes to earth almost on top of his own weapons, seething. That jab hit a nerve. While he's in this frame of mind, a simple hello would probably have hit a nerve too, but that's beside the point.]

Dammit, don't you dare look down on me!

[Right as he painfully hauls himself back up, the kunai that missed Yuusuke a second ago flip around to close in on him again. This time, they're joined by a barrage of several smaller wooden daggers that Souji probably regrets making already, not heavy enough to bludgeon or impale but more than enough to draw blood.]

[not_sasuke]

[He manages to roll again to avoid the actual knife, but he's unable to avoid getting grazed by one of the wooden daggers. Perhaps luckily for him, his coat is thick enough to prevent him from actually being cut - though if it were his hands or face, things would have gotten ugly.

As it is, he simply sneers, redirecting his own two kunai right back to Yosuke once more. This time they come at him from two different sides, trying to direct him into the line of fire of the other in the hopes that one will be in his blind spot.]

Not like there's anything to look up to, that's for sure.

[As for Yuusuke himself, he manages to get back on his feet, his left hand resting lightly on the wrist of his right. Come on, just try and dodge...]

[realmenknitplushies]

[What. Wait, what. He stops smashing golems for five minutes to get a drink of water and Yosuke's going on about...]

...the hell did you just say?

[windbreak]

[There's no response for some time, but when a picture does pop up again, it's one of a Yosuke with a flushed face, a torn scarf, the beginnings of a black eye, and obvious difficulty catching his breath.

But no less of a temper, apparently.]

You heard me, Kanji! Did you know about this!?

[realmenknitplushies]

Did I know about what?! If I knew what you were talking about, I wouldn't be asking, would I?

[windbreak]

Then go and ask Souji what the hell he's talking about! Writing down that kind of crap... I mean, I didn't even want to know! It was an accident! There's things I never wanted to know!

[His breathing is shallow. God, even the look on Kanji's dumb face is starting to tick him off now.]

Anyways! What are you doing checking this thing when there's still whole streets full of stupid ice monsters out there? Huh!?

[realmenknitplushies]

I was checking to see if there were any big targets I should be lookin' out for, or if anyone wanted some backup! Not to see you ranting on about a bunch of crap!

voice;

[tonsofpun]

For the hell of it, huh?

[windbreak]

[He doesn't get around to replying for a while, and once he does, he sounds distinctly out of breath compared to before.]

Yeah, that's what they said! ["They" being a couple of natives the other day who conveniently left out any names or physical descriptors beside the vines.] And - and what's anyone else doing about it, huh?

[tonsofpun]

[There isn't a response for a long time, and then it only comes after the battle calms, the dead are tallied and taken care of. Even then, she sounds. Pissed.

Very pissed.]

The guy who got killed was going after a kid. I guess they forgot that part.

[windbreak]

[By now, Yosuke's head feels like it's finally beginning to clear, but he's not too sure. What he is sure of is that that's a real suspicious thing to say. Reeeeeal suspicious.] He was? I mean, how would you know?

[tonsofpun]

Because I'm the fucking psychopath.

[He's seen her use her powers. He's seen her mercy-kill a wounded giant, he's seen her ready and willing to kill Adachi, if Yosuke were to name him a threat when they were all together. Is it such a surprise?]

[Action]

[sleight_of_hand]

[He swore that one of these days he was just going to drop Hanamura off a cliff just for shits and giggles.]

[It was bad enough he was gumming up the bracelets with his over dramatic whining in the middle of Frigid Hell in the Holy City when it should just be used for emergency broadcasts. But no, it couldn't just be that bad; the stupid brat had to be out in the middle of this mess on top of it. Bad enough he had to actually drop the lazy goofball act and actually be the genius detective he claimed he was, but he didn't want to deal with Hanamura's teenaged drama on top of it.]

[By the time he finally found the idiot, he looked like he had been put through the ringer, beat up and bloody but somehow still kicking. Maybe it was loser's pride that kept him going; at least that was something Adachi was slightly familiar with.]

[He leaned against the wall, frowning at the idiot, before he finally said the first thing that came to mind:]

You look like shit.

[windbreak]

[Yosuke must have been out of it, if he hadn't noticed that least appealing of all possible sights loitering nearby until he'd happened to stop only a few steps away to catch his breath and toss the gently bloodied remains of his scarf back over his shivering shoulder. Something wasn't right, he could tell that much - and he could tell that despite his efforts to spit it out, vent it physically if it wouldn't leave on its own, it was still there.

It had gotten to the point where forcing himself to glance over and meet Adachi's eyes almost came as a sick relief; at least he knew what pissed him off about that guy. Not enough of a relief for so much as an ironic smile, though, let alone a jab at how Adachi would know all about pieces of shit. No, there was a time and place for stupid games, and it'd come when Adachi was safely back in jail. Or, failing that, when Yosuke wasn't feeling nearly as sick.]

What's the matter today? [His voice was perfectly flat, in the way that a lid is right before the water beneath starts to boil.]

[sleight_of_hand]

'What's the matter?'

[That usual cheerful, goofy look on his face lasted all for a few seconds more, before Adachi dropped it entirely. Really, he was annoyed; this little brat causing trouble no matter what he did... what a pain in the ass.]

You; you're what's the matter. We're in the middle of a crisis situation, and you're around here cloggin' up the network and causing trouble.

[He let out an annoyed noise, pushing himself away from the wall.]

Dumbass; go the hell home and stop making things more difficult for the rest of us.

[windbreak]

You, giving a crap about "the rest of us"? That's a riot.

[But Yosuke didn't care much for just looking daggers at this murderer's self-righteous face, not with so much else on his mind, not when he could be attacked again by someone worth the effort at any moment. In a flash, the kunai in his hands sprang into the air by themselves, pointing squarely at Adachi's head from several feet above; with another blur of movement, he'd drawn three more wooden daggers, ready to throw.]

Now get out of the damn way!

[sleight_of_hand]

[Why did everyone forget he was a cop?]

[Sure, there was the act; the carefully laid goofball act that got him overlooked and ignored by most people. That was the point, of course, to make himself not that noticeable so people would leave him alone. He'd told Souji before, of course; being alone was easier.]

[But then you had this dumbass that seemed to forget the fact that he could have his gun drawn and pointed at him in less than a second. That he could take down the little punk brat and cuff him if he needed to. That he was an actual, trained member of law enforcement, and for all his laziness, he was capable of being good at his job if he gave enough of a shit to be.]

[Considering how much this brat tended to piss him off, he was sure going to give it a good try.]

Don't make me waste a bullet on you kid. Put the knives down!

[...damn, he actually sounded like a cop. Weird how that actually felt good.]