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Hey, Sakamoto Ryuji here.

I can't be the only one with ass kicking on the brain after that invisible dog bullshit. What's the consensus on fighting instructors around here? Did that turn out to be a thing?

If anyone's got the time show a few moves and still taking requests, I got one of my own. I'd appreciate a few tips if you feel like sharing. I'm talking about the badasses that know what they're doing, not just the make it up as you go kind (like me). Hate to say it, but the stuff we're facing in events is a little different from what I'm used to.

Dunno what I could trade for it, but I learn fast! And I'll think of something. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

PS: And if you're looking for Akira, don't worry. Nothing bad happened to him. He just went home. Sorry.

_{[The last bit is the real crux of the message and also the thorn in its side; bundling it in with the request lessens the sharp prick of it. Not by much, but some.]}

I | Exercise facilities + outer grounds

_{[Anyone with an eye for blond phantom thieves can usually spot Ryuji adhering to a runner's training schedule, a carry-over from home. Indoors in the weight room, outdoors on the grounds, casual long distance jogs, short distance drills--he's at it most days, alternating between staving off boredom and building on his strength.

Usually time following an event are cool down days, a period to let himself recover from the trial of the week. Not this time. He keeps his foot jammed on the gas pedal with the restlessness energy of someone who has something he has to face but is taking every detour to avoid it. The request for some self-defense pointers had been practical--if the Tartarus event taught him anything (and the Asgard event before that, and the zombie event before that), he could use them--but it's also fuel for the avoidance fire.

Usually there's room for a chat in between squats on the beach or a friendly wave on a run, but don't take it personally if he seems a bit standoffish today. He's distracted, brows set in a flat line, viciously pouring energy into his routine with a nice, healthy contempt for the ground or the horizon, whatever he happens to be staring at.

If someone catches his eye, though, he'll forcibly relax, offering a smile. It comes a beat too late to be effortless, but that's hardly out of place, right? They've all been through a lot coming out the other side of the event meat grinder.]}

II | Training center

_{[Futaba. Morgana. Iwai. Yusuke. Ann. Makoto. Haru... Akira. How could he have thought this place felt small? With all of the people most familiar to him--people he'd shared the burden of events with, sat across the breakfast table with, lived with in the case of his two best friends--gone to fuck knows where, Wonderland feels infinitely massive and empty. He could handle this together. Alone, it's... it's hard. Harder than he imagined.

There's still Akechi, and isn't that the height of irony, to be the last man standing with Akechi Goro, out of everyone. He hesitates a while with phone in hand, Akechi's name in the To: field, but his hands aren't interested in sending more messages.

They want to make fists. They want to break.

Those in the training center will be privy to Ryuji, uncharacteristically stoic and grim-faced, slipping on a pair of gloves and squaring off with a punching bag with a frenetic violence to match. Either that punching bag insulted him, or someone didn't burn off quite enough energy climbing stairs in Tartarus.

The flurry is broken up only by a wince after a particularly hard punch. Peeling off his glove reveals a streak of red from split knuckles. Apparently someone also doesn't know when to quit.]}

Fuck

_{[Any gym rats handy with bandaids...? Alternatively, maybe you see him taking himself and his bloody hands for a walk to the clinic for something to wrap them with. He's probably not the only needing aftercare after that doozy of an event, even if his most recent war wounds are fresher.]}

III | Kitchen

_{[The thought of going back to his empty room in his empty section of hallway throbs worse than his bandaged knuckles. Suddenly it's like his first day in Wonderland all over again, not knowing what to do or where to park himself in a strange, unwelcoming environment.

He ends up in the kitchen, hungry but not really, searching the fridge and cupboards with a listless indecisiveness. He's probably standing in your way as you go to grab something--and will continue to stand in your way until prompted, or he notices you.]}

_{[And he'll slide to the side to let you get to your business, smile apologetic.]}

IV | Wildcard

_{[Ryuji'll be going about business as usual in Wonderland post-event, so feel free to come up with your own starter around the mansion and/or elsewhere! Or hit me up for a different one if you're not feeling the locations/prompts.]}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

_{[That's a sentiment he can understand--new found strength after pain has scraped away thin skin. If he had a chance, he doesn't think he'd go back and change all that happened to him, even if it meant exchanging the bad for the good. He wouldn't be who he is now without the bad--the struggle, the hard lessons, the few snatches of wisdom gleaned along the way.

And for Caroline, she wouldn't even be here if not for the vampire blood that had saved and changed her. He can't be sorry about that. (Even if her condition kind of blows when it comes to dietary restrictions.)]}

The super strength and mind bendy powers are pretty cool when they're not aimed at me. I'm glad you're still with us.

_{[Whatever happened along the way to make it possible.]}

... What about not havin' a pulse? Were the books right or wrong on that?

[There's something about hearing that, that he's glad she didn't die, that warms her insides. He's seen the worst pieces of her, saw them before he saw anything else, and he's still glad she's here.

It's more than she expected, really. More than she deserves.]

Thanks.

[The single word is soft, almost as if she finds it hard to believe.

At his question, she holds out a hand, turning it over so the inside of her wrist points upward.]

It's slower than it should be. You can check it if you want to. [She goes on to explain.] If we drink things like coffee, the caffeine helps speed it up and makes us feel warmer to the touch.

Edited 2017-12-23 03:33 (UTC)

I mean, you still get to have a life, right? Then it's worth it.

_{[He offers a smile. He takes her thanks to be in regards to accepting her vampirism in general--and from what she's said, it was hardly a choice for her. An act of shitty revenge someone had enacted on her, and just something she has to live with now.

As she exposes one pale wrist, his gaze goes to it, unable to hide his curiosity. He hadn't exactly had time to take the temperature of her skin the first time--he'd been a little bit busy trying to get away from her.]}

--You sure? _{[About a grubby boy feeling her up, that is.]} Does that have somethin' to do with--? You know. The face stuff.

_{[He makes a gesture at his eyes where hers had gone veiny and bloody-eyed. Bite excluded, that had probably been hands down the creepiest part of Caroline ripping the curtain down on the existence of vampires.]}

[She smiles brightly at that.]

Definitely.

[Her life is better in nearly every way it can be. She'd been a pretty pathetic person before she'd died. Caroline liked to see it as her second chance.

Even if she could be human again, she wouldn't want to be.]

I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. [She shakes her wrist at him in a sort of reassurance.]

Sort of. It happens when we're really hungry, just as a reflex. I can do it on purpose to be, you know, scary. I can usually keep that from happening at all as long as I'm not like starving.

_{[Good point.]}

Guess you really don't need to worry about most dudes getting handsy with you, huh? You could rip them a new asshole with your pinky finger.

_{[It's always the quiet ones undead ones hot chicks you gotta watch out for. He takes her hand in both of his, one cupping it from below, while he takes the temperature of her wrist with the fingertips of the other. His mouth forms a small, curious 'O'. Her skin is cool to the touch, but just that: cool.

Beneath it, he can feel the delicate flutter of her pulse. Undeniably present but slow, like her heart is on the verge of forgetting it has a job to do on every beat.]}

Whoa... It's a weird feelin'! _{[And yet despite saying so, he laughs.]} That's amazing...

_{[If it wasn't explained to him, perhaps he'd be more legitimately weirded out by his one-time attacker, but when she lays it out in basic terms, it really does seem like vampires are merely a different kind of people with their own quirky biology.]}

They tend to regret it if they try.

[No joke.

She's the definition of relaxed and poised as he checks her pulse, his fingers warm against her skin the way a human's usually is.]

I think that's the first time anyone's called it that, but I'll take it. [She's just glad he's curious instead of freaked out around her, all things considered.] Elena's a bigger fan of coffee than I am, so she'd probably feel warmer.

_{[... He should be thankful she let him off with as little as she had... ]}

Yeah--vampires. I get it. Not all fun and games. Havin' to drink people's blood sounds horrible after bein' forced into this. But all the abilities you guys have that make you so strong... That's pretty neat.

_{[He releases her with a grateful smile.]}

Does that mean you don't feel the cold?

[It could have been worse, it's true.]

I mean, I can jump off buildings and not hurt myself. Who wouldn't want to be able to do that?

[Caroline that sounds crazy but okay.]

Well, I mean it's still cold. But I can't freeze to death or anything. I guess I'd just end up a vampire popsicle until I managed to thaw out. [A beat.] Which sounds like it would suck, since pain is still very much a thing so I'll just keep wearing a coat.

You did take a lightning strike like a champ... You're a freakin' tank. Ain't never seen nothin' like you and Elena in the real world, that's for sure! Well, except on TV.

_{[Now he's just imagining Yusuke freezing her in a block of ice... He'd probably do it just to sketch her without worrying she'd move on him...]}

Shit, wish you'd been there back when the mansion turned into a ski resort! That blizzard just about turned me into a popsicle!

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