Duck Tales (WooOoo!)       Inaba - Central Commercial Dist. Years ago, this was a bustling center of commerce and communal activity, a bright spot in a small and happy town, with each store telling stories spanning generations of the highs and lows of Inaba. Many of these stories are now at an end, as family-owned stores have been closing down left and right since the Junes department store opened close by. The long street where these stores reside still has a couple shops that are fighting to the bitter end. Daidara Metalworks and the Shiroku grocery store both stand strong before seemingly inevitable disaster, with Chinese Diner Aiya, Marukyu Tofu, and the Souzai Daigaku beef skewer stand continuing to attract hungry stomachs. Tatsumi Textiles largely survives on patronage from the Amagi Inn, and sometimes it seems only one young man's obsessive reading hobby is actually keeping Yomenaido Bookstore from falling apart. Konishi Liquors up at the northern end may be the next to go, following failing business and family tragedy. A small gas station does service for the few automobiles to come by here, more often servicing the buses that swing by the stop at the southern end. The outlook is grim, the street populated largely by bitter elderly folks and teenage bullies looking for an easy mark. Even the local, once proud Tatsuhime Shrine is falling apart, already said to be taken over by wild animals. The whole district faces a losing battle against Junes for commerce, but this nostalgic district held dearly by previous generations will go down fighting. "G-get back here!" Cries the voice of a young man as there is a loud, obnoxious quacking that echoes through the shopping district as the evening hours start to roll forth. An oddly-colored duck that is surely not from this part of the globe waddles about with wings outstretched, perhaps too injured - or maybe too fat - to fly and claim a decisive victory in this chase. A chase that is being lost by a somewhat short long-haired boy in a bicycling helmet trying to keep up, huffing and puffing all the way past the few passers-by of the district at this hour. There aren't may businesses open in these parts any more. Those few that are probably wouldn't give shenanigans of this nature a second look. After all, Inaba's been the source of all sorts of weirdness lately. It's almost becoming... normal. Expected, perhaps. And at least this kid in the bicycling helmet has his own expectations for whatever reason - to catch that oddly-colored duck! But he's lost just about all his breath in the chase, losing speed fast while the duck continues to gain distance as they dash past Tatsumi Textiles. Duck season? It's been a rough week for one Fumiya Watanabe, though he's tried his best not to let it show. When one goes to great lengths to build an image, one has to do everything he can to keep it up. But a few of his keener classmates have noticed odd behavior from him lately. He was caught one day wearing a black shirt around town, though today he's in his usual pink attire. He walks down the street with one hand in his pants pocket and the other dragging a neon skateboard which he is, for some reason, neglecting to ride. His head is slightly sunken, so something must be eating at the youth... The loud quacking seems to snap him out of his funk, though, and he spins around in the direction of the disturbance. An animal he never really expected to see is being chased by a guy he's not all that familiar with and it's causing not nearly as much of a commotion as something like this /should/. Typical for Fumiya, he acts without thinking. In an instant his skateboard clatters to the ground and he leaps on top of it, taking off after the duck. The walkman, which he always carries around, comes to life as he mashes the Play button and music starts blaring in his headphones... ((The Power of love is a curious thing. Make one man weep, make another man sing...)) The day is coming to a quiet end. Souji exits the convience store, sucking on a popsicle in the mild summer heat. He is kind of enjoying the lack of craziness lately. I mean after the events of Kenji's dungeon, Souji hasn't been looking forward to dealing with a lot related to his job. It wasn't that he wouldn't do it but rather he needed some time to think a lot over. That talk with Yosuke only made Souji feel more on edge. I mean was he really in as much control as he claimed? Oh well, it isn't time to dwell on those things. Souji relaxes, enjoying the fruity popsicle between his teeth. He stands just outside of the store, basking in the normalness of the day. ...Is that someone chasing a weird duck? Souji turns his head to follow the pair. That Duck didn't look normal....And why was someone chasing it? I mean...through the Shopping District no less. And then they are followed by a guy in a pink suit... Souji sighs, disposing of his popsicle. He better go check whats going on. He shoves his hands in his hands into his pockets, following after the trio. "G-Get back here!" The unfamiliar long-haired boy repeats once more, but unfortunately, he's about come to his limit. He slows to a stop and doubles over, grabbing his knees and lowering his head as he huffs and puffs anotherwise tries to catch his breath. The duck is surely about to escape into the Inaba countryside, when all of a sudden... A skateboard and some guy with even funnier looks than himself suddenly dash by. Yoshiro's head turns up at this sight as though it were something so incredible a sight as to spend a moment he doesn't have to spare in getting back his breath, staring dumbstruck as the race gets itself a new entrant. "Hey Bro..." Fumiya says to Yoshiro as he passes by. Slowing down just enough to make small talk with his fellow chaser, Fumiya jerks a thumb towards the fleeing waterfowl. "So what's up with Howard there?" He asks, referencing a terrible 80s movie that odds are no one will pick up on. When Souji joins the chase, Fumiya laughs out loud. "Oh man, seems we got a race on our hands." He glances back at Yoshiro and at Souji. He's not met them before, but they do look familiar. Maybe at school? With a big grin on his face, Fumiya comes up with an idea. "Alright bros... let's have some fun at Howard's expense." Fumiya keeps his speed on the skateboard just slow enough to keep talking to the other students. "Let's see which one of us can snag that duck first?" Souji stops when the crazy Yukuza kid addresses him. He just stares at pinky and the long hair for a moment. A race? Sounded like fun. Souji removes his hands from his pockets. "Sure but why are we chasing the duck?" He looks over at Yoshiro with a raised brow. He notes that this is probably the one of the two to ask. "That duck doesn't look like its from around here." He states matter of a factly, watching the fowl grow slightly smaller in the distance. "It's going to get hurt if we don't hurry. The street is close to here." "Huh?" Yoshiro looks up at the oddly colorful guy who is probably part of some sort of really weird thing out here in the asscrack of society, heart pounding too fast from exertion to put together anything of coherence - let alone decipher what a 'Howard' is. Is that a local insult? "Uhh," the long-haired boy just wipes his brow at the suggestion, he's not in a condition to race! The duck, on the other hand, continues to waddle along off across the street (why did the duck cross the road?). "It's, um, it's... we just have to... just have to catch it, okay?!" The city boy blurts out weakly as he starts after it again with hardly any real speed behind him. Fumiya hrms. Souji seems up to it, Yoshiro not so much. "This ain't like the city, bro, the duck probably won't get run over too quick." He says to Souji. "But it might be best that we get it sooner rather than later, right?" Maybe it's making its way to the Floodplain? There's not many places a duck would be attracted to in this town. Glancing at Yoshiro, Fumiya chuckles. "You seem kinda winded, bro. I guess it wouldn't be a fair race." Especially with his skateboard and all. However, suddenly his expression brightens and he speeds back up. "Life ain't fair though! You can play or you can eat my dust!" He shouts back, taking off after the duck. Well... at least he's trying to catch it? Souji blinks at Yoshiro's answer, confused by the lack of information. What could be the reason for chasing a strange duck? It was a mystery that would astound generations to come...Or it was just one of those junior detective novel plots that astounded noone. The grey haired teen shrugs and just walks after Fuyima, hands returning to his pocket. While Souji wasn't exerting himself, he was definately moving faster than Yoshiro by sheer fact he wasn't winded. He keeps Fuyima in his sight, wandering after the duck mostly from morbid curiousity. Slow and steady wins the race after all. And the duck is winning, all right, it's going to stay a winner and that is how it intends to be, for how much intent a duck can ever really have in its life as a duck. The duck isn't that far off from the bookstore at this point. Perhaps Enoha is about to have a late visitor to her shift at the bookstore?! (Is it her shift?) Nonetheless, Yoshiro trudges along in third place for this great race to catch a duck that is clearly not from any of these parts, coughing as a small cloud of dust indeed comes up when Fumiya leaves the long-haired city boy in the dust. "Tch! The country sucks," Yoshiro says out loud in-between breaths as he tries to keep some pace behind Souji - if only to provide exposition, as it were. Exposition and presence. "This whole thing is, is... it's stupid!" And that's the exposition from the long-haired city kid in the bicycling helmet as he slows down once more to catch his breath. Fumiya is probably the only one taking the race thing seriously. Well, besides the duck; it seems to be taking it VERY seriously. But of the trio of humanoids, Fumiya is the only one 'in the zone'. He's totally going to win this race, he won't be shown up by Howard the Duck, or those other two bros. Though he finds himself wishing there was some traffic around. Sure it would be a tad more dangerous for himself, and considerably more dangerous for their feathered friend. But if there was just a truck or something driving by then Fumiya could grab onto the back for some sweet speed, just like in that one movie! Fumiya's chase hits a bit of a snag, though, as something more important comes up. If Souji or Yoshiro even blink they might miss it, but suddenly Fumiya is not between them and the duck anymore. He is roughly 5 yards to the right of where he just was, at a full stop and leaning on a pole as two schoolgirls walk by. "S'up babes?" You are correct. Souji isn't taking this very seriously. He yawns as he continues to keep his leisurely pace behind Fuyima and the duck. He does look behind him when Yoshiro makes his 'the country sucks' line, quirking a brow up. So he was probably from the big city. Souji could relate in a limited sense. However, Souji liked the country. And then Souji becomes the leader in the race. As Fumiya drops out, Souji wins again simply by waving to the girls. They giggle as the "transfer student" passes them with a charming smile. But then Souji leaves the race to go for a vending machine. He is indisposed for the moment, giving Yoshiro the edge he needs to win this thing. What could Souji be buying?! Is it beer or some kind of energy drink?! Will that win this climatic race?! Yoshiro turns his head at where Fumiya and Souji both go and wave to the girls. Certainly, by teenager standards, pretty fine girls. Cute, bubbly, available! And highly receptive to male attention. The outsider in this equation just shakes his head and sighs as he plods along towards the bookstore even as Souji goes to get himself something to drink. Yoshiro wipes his brow again and draws ever closer, ever steadier, to the duck at the bookstore. "Okay," he says, "st-stand still, all right? I want to go home," he mutters as he draws closer, arms stretched out as if to catch the duck currently roosting near the bin of books just outside. The duck quacks loudly and suddenly gets into the air, flapping aggressively and earning a boyish scream as Yoshiro is knocked flat on his ass writhing about to try and defend himself. He's left shuddering on the sidewalk as the duck starts wandering back the other way. Fumiya's posturing doesn't seem to do him much good. Both schoolgirls just take a sideways look at him and keep walking, giggling to themselves. Is it the clothes? The hair? Things get worse as they actually respond more favorably to Souji, and that earns the grey-haired kid an angry glance from Fumiya, which his mostly obscured by his sunglasses anyway. Not about to waste any more time in this race, Fumiya hops back on his skateboard and tears down the road towards the bookstore just in time to see Yoshiro fail at Duck Hunting. Where's that annoying dog when you need him? "Gotcha now, Howard!" Fumiya states as the duck wanders straight into his path. Fumiya's duck-grabbing abilities aren't much better than Yoshiro's, though, and the waterfowl slips through his fingers as Fumiya's skateboard takes him directly into traffic. "Oh crap!" Luckily this is Inaba and the only vehicle on the road was going slow enough that hitting the breaks would've constituted an increase in speed. Fumiya's own natural agility allows him to weave around the car, but his braking abilities aren't so good and he hits the edge of the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Thrown off his skateboard he flips in the air and lands on his back just to the right of a garbage can. At least he's spared the Yosuke treatment. But Souji isn't buying something to drink. He turns holding about two small rolls of melon bread. Sure vending machine bread was often stale and past experation but there was one thing he knew for sure.... Ducks love bread of all kinds! Souji tears off a chunk and chucks it over by the duck. The fowl probably wanders over to feed, which prompts Souji to continue his tactic. Does Souji fall over or look like an ass? Probably not. He's not exactly running or moving in a particularly wreckless way. The teen kneels down near the duck, reaching out for it while it chows down on stale bread. He is rewarded with a nasty bite on his out stretched hand. A very nasty bite....Infact, the duck isn't letting go. "!!!!" Souji restrains himself from swearing out loud since the girls are still within earshot. He'd have to endure for popularity's shake, even if the pain was brining faint tears to his eyes. Did these things have teeth?! Souji tries to toss more bread with his free hand but the Duck craves fingers now! "!!!!!" The door to Daidara Metalworks swings open... Thora Kobayashi steps out, smearing sweat off her forehead, her mind spiraling into terrible thoughts about her newly returned co-worker. That train is promptly derailed, resuling in a massive accident broadcast across the nation where hundreds of travellers lose their lives in a tragi-okay, that's a little too much metaphor. She spots Yoshiro on his ass, Fumiya crumpled by garbage cans, and Souji being slowly eaten by a duck. Seconds pass, Thora bites her lower lip, and then... "BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" "Ahh!" Yoshiro shudders underneath a nonexistent duck that he still things is trying to attack him when it has long since passed him up for delicious breaded Souji fingers (pass the soy sauce). He flinches, winces, and otherwise makes a total fool of himself. The sort of thing that merits giggling from dogs going on duck hunts. ...and there's that familiar laughter again, he has started to become a lot more acquainted with that terrible laugh from a reputably terrible person. This compels him less to get up as he opens an eye and sees that the duck... is not currently on himself. Huh. He sighs out loud and just stays on the ground against the pavement with a displeased look on his face. Why does he even bother, he wonders sometimes while he tries to cast a glance over to where that stupid duck might be now. Fumiya's acquaitance with the sidewalk doesn't last for too long, though his rough and tumble trip across the street has left him with a couple of bruises and a rip in his fabulous pink shirt. He hears an unfamiliar laugh as he climbs back to his feet, and looks back across the road to spot Thora. Suddenly the duck doesn't matter again. "Wow, maybe I hurt my head harder than I thought, I see an angel." Yes. Yes he really just said that. "How's it going, Thora-babe?" Hopping back on his skateboard, mostly for mobility but also for speed just in case Thora doesn't take kindly to that comment, Fumiya races back over to where Souji is wrestling with Howard. Their race isn't over yet, Souji hasn't caught the duck! In fact, it's more like the duck caught him. That's like a disqualification, right? "Using bread as an advantage, huh? You're better than I thought, bro." Fumiya says as he approaches them. Very slowly he tries to sneak up behind the duck, stepping off of his neon skateboard. Fumiya's not entirely safe either, he may be wearing gloves, but they're fingerless, and its finger foods the duck has a craving for right now... Aigis is not particularly well versed in duck battle, but she may have to learn for the Gekkoukan High School Robot (My life as a teenage robot, my life as a teenage robot) has stumbled upon a startling scene during her approach towards Daidara. Thora laughing at people being foolish is not unusual, but souji being eaten by a duck is. As are people calling Thora 'babe'. (actually lately it seems that people hitting on Thora is not all THAT unusual) Though Fumiya is certainly weird. Is that a human, Aigis wonders, look at that hair. It does not look like human hair. Perhaps he is a cyborg? But who could have constructed this cyborg? So far, Aigis nicknames him Johnny Five and observes, rather obviously too. That's a skateboard, she thinks, with an unusual color scheme--perhaps it's a device to improve his mobility? Hmm. She runs some scans, he seems human--how advanced can this piece of technology be? Souji tries to shake off the duck but it holds on. "argh!" The ducks is spun around to meet Fumiya when he tries to get close. This wasn't so much defense as a coincidence. As the 80's child tries to get in close, the duck flaps its wings violently, possibly smacking Fumiya with all the fury a duck can muster. Souji finally looks over at the source of laughter, frowning when he sees Thora. She isn't going to let him live this down. Great. The leader of the investigation team can handle Shadows but not ducks! The duck continues to flap its wings wildly as Souji tries to shake it off, appearing to be aiming at Fumiya. "GET THIS DUCK OFF OF ME!" That is a damn lie, people hitting on Thora will always continue to be very unusual. Thora laughs so hard that she has to hold her sides. She actually didn't laugh that often either so it was good to cut loose every now and then. Lately her source of amusement has firmly remained as poor Yoshiro of all people. It just seemed like every time they met, Yoshiro was accidentally making a total ass of himself. She calms a little, wiping tears from her eyes to cheerfully stutter out a, "H-hi boss!" to the poor beducked Souji. As Fumiya talks, she actually doesn't think he's addressing her at first. Not until he says that name with that suffix attached to it. The residual laughter gradually dies. Like an antagonist from a Terminator film, she slowly and dramatically turns towards that 80's guy. "Do not..." she snarls, suddenly taking off in a sprint with one fist drawn back. "CALL ME THAT!" This duck - who will forever be known as Howard the Hardcore - is not going to go down lightly. Wherever it ran from, it doesn't want to go back. No, this is a duck that will fight for its freedom. It may, in fact, be an optional boss fight intended for some obscure Darkside story path. (But let's keep that between us.) Yoshiro's lazy scan of the area comes to a sudden halt when Thora calls someone... 'boss.' Huh? Boss? He sits up from the pavement, wiping his brow again. He's totally physically spent, he's been chasing that duck for who knows how long today and at this rate his dorm manager is going to bust his ass super hard. This is a good few hours away, but still, he doesn't relish the thought on top of his academic record... He winces at the DUCKROLL. He does not nearly feel manly(tm) enough to get into that circle of angry biting duck as he gets to his feet, slowly approaching with the apparent intent to actually reach out and grab it, but no way, no how, that thing is going to eat him alive! And he winces again when Thora shouts, that crazy gangster girl has a hell of a shout. Man, what a day this has been. It took a moment for Thora's shout of 'boss' to Souji to register with Fumiya. He pauses just before he's about to grab the duck, and looks at Souji with a tilted head. "...boss, huh?" Maybe he'll ask what that's about later. If Thora doesn't kill him. Speaking of, Fumiya realizes that doom is fast approaching and tries to think of something to diffuse this situation. What usually works? Spinning around, turning away from the duck for a moment, he faces Thora with his two hands crossed, forming a 'T'. "Time out!" He says, praying that it will actually work. Shouting 'Time out' in dangerous situations usually works in the movies! Quickly turning back to the duck, he stops hesitating and tries to grab it, hopefully bracing its wings with his hands. Hopefully he can get it to let go of Souji as well, but if 'Boss' loses some fingers over this its the price he pays for tring to bring bread into things. Aigis remains unseen by Fumiya for the time being. Under normal circumstances he would be thrilled to think a girl was taking an interest in him for any reason, though his thrill might be cut short if he knew she was a robot. Boop. Beep. This robot cannot lie, it's surprisingly common!! Nevertheless. She doesn't try to help Fumiya avoid a beating. She barely knows what's going on though, hilariously, she does have a tendency to run into situations where Thora is about to beat on someone. Instead she approaches the battle between Duck and Souji, as this is truly a dangerous situation--ducks can be quite murderous after all--and she has the unique capability of talking to small woodland creatures. In theory. She seems able to talk to Koro-Chan anyway. "Souji-San. Would you like me to calm the duck down?" She looks down to the duck and says, "Quack." to it experimentally. She seems totally unperturbed about the dangers of this duck. Will she be ... its next target?! Boss?! Maybe Souji was the Yakuza boss of the area! You could almost see it. That regal expression his face as he used force to control his enemies. His gang of merry fellows. He's just like that guy from Hitman Reborn....Or mayabe not. Finally the duck lets go of Souji, leaving a very red bite make on the boy's hand. He frowns as he stares at it. Damnit. He looks over at Aigis and nods. "Do your best but...I think that duck is seriously angry about something." The duck is grabbed by Fumiya and flaps violently, biting at anything it can. Once it is free of Fumiya, it glares at Aigis' words. "QUAAAAACK!" Souji blinks and looks over at Thora, frowning as he still feels his hand throbbing with some pain. Well atleast he didn't lose a finger or anything. "Hey, Kobayashi. Thanks for your help." He has a hint of sarcasism in his voice, pulling his hands back into his pockets as he watches the duck carry on. Finally he looks over at Yoshiro again. "So you going to tell us whats going on or you going to keep it yourself still?" He smirks when Fumiya hits on Thora. Man that guy is going to lose something if he isn't careful. There's quite a story behind that boss thing! People would have more luck getting it out of Souji than out of Thora though. Or, well, it's easy to assume that Souji was a bancho of some sort. Just look at him. 'Boss' is a bit reflexive on Thora's part at least. Even though Fumiya has the skateboard advantage, it actually seems like she's catching up real fast. When Fumiya throws up the T it looks as if she's /not going to stop/, oh god oh god! Surprisingly, she does stop though, but an inch away from full impact. Uncomfortably close. From this distance, Thora could very well fell Fumiya with /one breath/. "What." she growls impatiently. That hand is still curled into a fist so Fumiya better watch it. "Ah?!" Yoshiro recoils as Souji digs his hands into pockets and asks him for some sort of reasonable explanation for why this whole stupid duck thing came to be. "I, uh... it's, it's, um, complicated, see." He digs his own hands into his own pockets as he follows the journey of the duck over to... Aigis? What's she doing here all of a sudden? He casts a cagey glance but otherwise goes back to stammering out some sort of explanation or another. "So, I was visiting my aunt, right, she needed me to run an errand, and, um." He clears his throat and swallows, as though this were something embarrassing and spicy. "There was this zoo truck passing by, and, um... I accidentally got my shirt caught on its cage door." Though is back is turned to Thora, perhaps foolishly, Fumiya can still feel the approaching doom. A chill run downs his spine as if the reaper itself were after him. Luckily, she stops, though the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Angry giant girl is too close for comfort. But he has bigger fish to fry that moment, as he finally gets a handful of duck. This means he won the race! Before he can get to celebrate his victory (did they even decide on a prize for the winner?) he hears something. Quack? He looks up to Aigis. The fact that a girl just tried to talk to a duck should probably set off a cautionary alarms for Fumiya, but it doesn't really stop him. "Hey babe, how's it going?" He asks with a handful of violently flapping duck. He's trying to look cool. Really, he's doing the best that he can. "So..." He turns around, feathers flying everywhere, to face Yoshiro. "..you're kind of a klutz, eh bro?" The spazzing duck proves to be a little too distracting, even for Fumiya, and he mutters. "Anyone got a leash for Howard here? What do you do with ducks anyway?" "Do not treat the duck so roughly." Aigis says simply, not reacting one way or another to being called babe. She is all business for the moment and will have to ask what that means later and why his hair is so bizarre will have to remain a mystery for now. "It is upset, but I will not stand for poor treatment of the duck." She gives a small nod to Souji and examines the bite mark. She approaches slowly and ducks down, holding out her hand for the duck to either bite on or hop onto, "Quack." She tells the duck. What could she be saying?! Maybe she's inviting him to duckberg?! "He is in a fowl mood." She adds, for the team's benefit. Souji watches the chaos unfold around him. He finds his normal day out falling apart around him. Between the duck fight and the impending murder of Fumiya, it doesn't seem like he can go enjoy another popsicle by the riverbed. He sighs and looks at Yoshiro, shaking his head. "So it's a zoo animal? Geez, that is probably one special duck...Aigis, can you calm it down so we can get it back to the truck? They've probably noticed by now that it is missing." No offense Fumiya but you look kinda crazy in your outfit. You might try to eat the duck or dye the duck pink or something. Souji gives Fumiya a sideways glance, expecting him to comply since Aigis seems to speak duck. "As for you," Souji looks back at Yoshiro. "No harm done. I'm sure it was just an accident." He smiles uneasily. Anger boils in the back of Thora's mind as she remains there, holding back. With each passing second, however, that restraint lifts. He goes through all the trouble of pandering for her attention and now... Now he was IGNORING her! Growling in frustration and ignoring the squirming, irate animal in Fumiya's grasp, that fist unfolds, reaching up to snatch Fumiya up by the collar. Those who have seen the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast may recall a moment in the film where the Beast gets up in someone's face and practically /roars/ his words at them with enough force that their hair is blown back. Imagine that happening right now. "DON'T YOU TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!" "I was in a hurry!" Yoshiro protests as though, in the grand picture of things, he was completely in the right. "Jeez, it was bad enough hearing her complain about it, um," he winces as there is an angry flapping mess not that far from his face. "J-just hand the duck to me!" Sure, hand the duck to a total wuss of a string-armed boy who probably doesn't have the right to be considered one based on his particular appearance and physical health. He's even wincing at the thought of trying to take that thing into his arms to begin with, that thing is a killer! A KILLER. He backs away and covers himself with his arms when it gets especially snippy at him. Then Aigis drops the pun! Yoshiro's guard lows. His jaw drops. "You think?" It's only a moment of relief (by horrible pun) in comparison to the tension that mounts around not only securing - but properly delivering - the duck back to where it needs to go. He's mystified at the idea of Aigis being an animal handler. She just doesn't seem the type, but... uh... "Ehh." Yoshiro sighs as he looks back somewhere in Souji's direction. "Um, I guess it's... kind of what happens to me a lot on the job." It's probably not that far from the truth! "Anyway, we'd better get it back." He reaches over, reluctantly, to try and take the duck. Whether it's still in Fumiya's grasp or enjoying the creature comforts in someone who understands its plight (Aigis), in the end... Thora shouts. Yoshiro flinches visibly even without it being aimed straight at him, ouch, that shouting. The situation has gotten just a tad bit confusing, so Fumiya is just kind of going with the flow. Having a frantic fowl in your hands isn't helping him either. Though at least Souji is kind enough to drop Aigis's name, it helps keep things a bit straight. He doesn't even mind that she makes terrible puns, it's all good. "You're good with animals, Aigis-babe?" Fumiya asks, not wasting any time with his usual naming habit. Between her, klutzy Yoshiro, and the potentially edible Souji (the duck seems to think so), Fumiya thinks Aigis might be the best choice. "Well, I guess I can let you take him, but watch it. He's a little..." He doesn't get time to finish his sentance. He's caught by Thora much in the same way the duck is caught by him. Saying 'Aigis-babe' probably didn't help him out either. The roar is enough to blow his hairsprayed 'do back, but it springs back into place afterward. It's enough to make 80s kid a little dizzy. "...can I help you, Thora-babe?" He asks, bewilderedly. In the midst of Thora's angry bellow, though, Fumiya drops the duck. OH NO! THE DUCK! Aigis practically throws herself forward to catch the duck before it falls on its little duck bottom! She'll use one hand to catch it's duck butt and the other to protect its head. Her grip won't be particularly tight, meant to protect rather than capture. Will it go ballistic? Will it try to kill Souji Seta?! "Be careful." She grumps, pulling it back slightly and away from THE WORLD'S DEADLIEST MAMMAL: MAN. "Thora-Chan," She manages finally, "It is good to see you again. Is that unusual humanoid causing you trouble?" Souji continues to watch the theatre of interest, flinching when Thora comes in like the goddamn Batman. He watches wide eyed, hoping she didn't kill Fumiya if only because that would look bad for the KDA...and because killing people was wrong. He sighs again, looking at Yoshiro. "Just let Aigis handle it. She's pretty good in this sort of thing." Souji says, sighing as he wonders how far this is all going to go. He meets eyes with the duck. They stare into each other's eyes. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcKORO8S6m8) The Camera keeps moving from one gaze to another, getting slowly closer. The Duck's eyes narrow just as hate fills them. Souji's eyes widen with fear as sweat runs down his forehead. The Duck snaps at the grey haired teen, causing him to jump back. Thora resists the urge to shake. Oh does she ever resist the urge to shake him until his head starts to rattle. She's glad she finally has his undivided attention now and is quick to take advantage of it. She draws Fumiya close, amber-colored eyes boring into his. "Don't call me that." she says harshly before adding, "You call me Thora-/san/ or nothin' at all, you got it?" At Aigis's voice she reddens again. Man, why did Aigis always seem to show up when she was harassing some helpless guy? How'd she end up picking on so many guys lately anyway? (Well...Rumika aside.) "Yeah, you could say that, Aigis." Thora snorts and releases Fumiya, allowing him to choose whether or not he lands on his feet. He better pick fast though, gravity isn't very nice. She turns away, bristling a little nonetheless. "Seems the duck thing's wrapped up, huh?" She doesn't want to kill a guy in front of everyone either, to be honest! What kind of suffix is 'babe' anyway?! Yoshiro's eyes widen a bit as the duck is dropped, oh sh-- whew, Aigis caught it. Though, he wonders how she's gotten to know so many people. It's like almost everywhere he goes, she knows just about everyone he's in proximity of, it's... uncanny. Does she know the duck too? He flinches alongside Souji as the duck snaps at them, passing the older boy kind of a nervous look. To say nothing about the exchange between the oddly colored guy and Thora! "Ahh, uh," Yoshiro clears his throat a bit, "wh-while we're here. I'm Yoshiro Yoshino, I live over in Port Island... that's what you guys call it over here, right?" After all, as far as Yoshiro knows, Souji's just another country boy. Another country boy with white-ish hair. Babe is a perfectly cromulant suffix, thank you very much. Thora drops Fumiya. Through some cosmic amount of luck, and maybe just a little bit of skill (no seriously) he lands on his skateboard. Well, one foot does. The other foot hits the sidewalk and manages to keep him balanced. He adjusts his collar and stares back up at Thora for a good few seconds, considering what would be the best thing for him to do. "Whatever you say, Thora-san." Self-preservation instincts finally kicked in, most likely. His head turns in Yoshiro's direction as he mentions Port Island. "No kidding. I'm from the city too, my parents sent me out here to go to school at Yasogami this year. Name's Fumiya Watanabe---" He barely has time to finish his introduction when the duck quacks loudly. It's at Souji, but it's enough to make him jump, he WAS just holding onto the thing not three minutes ago. His jump causes his skateboard to start rolling down the slight incline of the street, and like so many things in life Fumiya decides to just go with it. It might be best to put some space between himself and Thora anyway. For now. "I'll catch you all later! But don't forget you two..." He says, pointing at Souji and Yoshiro. "..I won that race!" Getting away from the group, Fumiya skateboards towards his grandparent's place. This was certainly an interesting adventure. At least it was enough to get his mind off of things. Aigis watches after the fleeing Fumiya. What is that being, she wonders, but he seems to not have a robot name but a human name. She has never met a human with such a bizarre appearance. She may have to /observe/. "Ssh, ssh." She tells the duck, wondering how someone with Souji's charisma has been able to get REVERSE. Perhaps Duck isn't in the social link faq. Frown, frown, frown. She pays little mind to the ominous soundtrack, at her own peril?! She does seem to have a knack for running into Thora when she's about to kill someone. Perhaps Thora...is like the duck? She considers, and then after quacking once more, guides the duck towards Thora, maybe they can be friends. Souji watches Fumiya flee into the distance, blinking. Something told him he was going to see a lot of that strange boy. The introduction kinda gave him that idea. He tries to ignore the evil duck, looking at Yoshiro. "So...yeah...Lets let Aigis handle the Duck transfer..." Lest the duck kill Souji and use his skin as a nice human suit to pick up ladies. Wait. WAS THAT DUCK LOOSE?! HE'S GONNA DIE!

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