Charles Patricius

The brunettes and their looping conversation wasn't resulting in any forward progress. If there was one thing Soma could not abide, it was failure to progress. Addressing the matter of exposing others to magic was something that could affect his own growth and plans. If they continued to impede his plans by not getting to the important topic, he'd actually consider the pair detrimental to his goals. Slamming their heads into each other was just the quickest and easiest solution to get his point across. "Attatatataa─!" Kazuhiko chattered after recoiling from the impact. He rubbed his forehead and just barely avoided falling back. "What was that for? We were eventually gonna─" Soma was quick to interrupt. "Eventually isn't quick enough. I was going to let things continue, but then it all became stupid. Are you going to let her tell people about magic or not?" he asked, clearly not accepting any deflections. "That doesn't have anything to do with me! I'm not in charge of who gets magic stuff and who doesn't. If somebody wants to bring somebody else to the other world, who would I be to stop them?" Kazu countered to answer both of the others. In that moment, Soma raised a brow. This wasn't making much sense. "You would be... the leader? Making a decision for your followers?" he said as if questioning, looking to Miko thereafter. "You all have the strangest criteria for what determines leadership."

Speaking of determinations, Yugi was finally bringing himself to an answer. There were less options than he initially thought. Beyond that, it seemed he had little choice but to take a very powerful form ─ one that had pale skin, purple-shaded slit eyes, pointed ears, and waist length white hair with a single lock that has a blue underside. He also has what appears to be two bright, blue horn- or feeler-like accessories at shoulder length. There was little to be done about making this one's appearance more normal. The most he was able to manage was a dark blue pinstripe suit. Sure, he'd probably catch quite a few eyes while he waited. Sure, it may be a bit strange for such a specimen to appear in front of this group at all. Some sacrifices of reason had to be made at times.

The brunettes were spiraling, yes, into a conversation about missing memories and ways in which to retrieve them. Both of them as individuals had things they wanted to remember and both had allowed their guards to go down enough. Just enough for someone like Soma to slam their heads together. Oddly enough, he proved the futility of their earlier thoughts but also tried to steer the conversation back to something he deemed as more important. "Ahtatata~ I was wrong, I was horribly wrong. Damn, Kazuchii's head is hard," she mumbled to herself as she rubbed her temples with her fingers. A few seconds later she was holding Kazuhiko's temples and getting a feel for him to make sure he didn't actually have a concussion. The gentle warmth of her magic seeping into her finger tips which was more plentiful than before, likely because of the infusion she'd so recently received. "I just let my guard down, if you're going to to give me a headache it should come with dick, Soma-chan," she said before her own eyes widened. "Inside voices on the outside again," she mumbled. As for why Kazuhiko's confusion surrounding his decision making on magical extras, "Because what if I bring someone along and they become a super villain or you have already seen them or something? This is your adventure and extra help is one thing, but it has to be your terms that's only fair," Miko claimed.

She knew what it was to lead a group and she knew what kind of tasks individuals could be trusted with and what kind others couldn't be. "This team as it exists minus the kids, has been your combination. If we are adding pieces it should be you who okays them at base before we add the weirdness of extra magic. I trust my own ability to figure out if people are too sketchy for me, but I wouldn't make any problems for you if I could avoid it," Miko clarified her point. To answer Soma's actual question, she shrugged, "He's one of those people you come to understand by living with him. Current horny brain as an aside in a complex situation or a combat one, or a social one, I can trust in his experience and in his ability to choose what is best for as many people as possible," she expressed directly, for Soma. She understood his confusion and knew that he wouldn't really get why someone like Kazuhiko was in charge of the group. But he'd only seen him within the microcosm of him being a human teenager. He didn't know about Charlemagne. He didn't have a thirty year adventure with him, or 300 years of companionship. "Also, I probably should have realized the heads together thing wouldn't work. If we could unlock each others memories the sex would have done it," she remembered her earlier lessons. Whatever the case, they were taking a step closer to the end.

Of all the times to fire a random shot, Miko decided to do so after a third-party-induced headbutt between Kazuhiko and herself. "Oi, party foul!" he announced. Seeing the possibility of another relapse, Soma raised his hands again, as if to repeat the process and drive the point home further. Between Kazu focusing on the comment about his head's hardness and Miko commenting on being given a headache, he was fully prepared to strike again. "Woah, time out!" Kazu yelled to halt the lad. Still rubbing his forehead while Miko apparently applied a soothing magical touch to his temples, Kazuhiko considered the girl's stance. "Why did you go straight to supervillain? If I thought any of you guys would invite somebody like that, I wouldn't hang with you in the first place," he argued.

Miko went on to explain the existing team and his say on its overall structure. He never gave it so much importance, personally. If one of his comrades had a comrade, he had two comrades. That was the sort of math Kazuhiko applied to team structure. "Dude, just invite someone if you want. It's a few hundred years too late for the trust conversation," he said, knowing his faith in Miko had developed through Anais. Someone she decided to bring along wasn't something he would question. He and Soma were of a different breed, as Soma himself questioned that mentality... in addition to Kazuhiko's leadership ability. "So we're all delegating based on trust, huh? Whatever gets you two off, I guess. That's more than I need to hear. You two should get to the shop before I start hearing something about the power of friendship and have an aneurism," Soma said with a deep sigh. All the while, that white-haired version of Yugi was patiently waiting around the alley's entrance. Whenever Miko stepped out, he'd be 'conveniently' bumping into her as a random passerby.

"I can't get in trouble for telling the truth!" Miko shot back. Still, the looming threat of Soma was enough for her to skitter just a little. She was trying not to end up with a headache today. She didn't need to add physical stimuli to her already existing mental problems. Whatever the case, it would be easy enough for the pair to keep up their regular conversation so long as their heads weren't forced to collide again. Moving on, there was a very reasonable question about why she thought to jump straight to accidentally creating a supervillain. Miko gave it a bit of thought and shrugged soon after, "I'm extreme... that's the most extreme thing I figured could happen if I was too impulsive which I have been a lot lately," she managed after removing her hands from his temples, sure of his wellness. Beyond that point Kazuhiko claimed that they were too deep in their friendship for a conversation about trust. "I guess that is pretty true. I don't have a list or anything but there is at least one I don't want to live without again. And the other because I am about to ask him for a lot and he's already potentially in magical trouble," Miko uttered. "I'll introduce you when the time is right then," she confirmed.

As for Soma it seemed he was not one to enjoy the power of friendship as a trope and also didn't want to deal with it. He also surmised that they were delegating tasks based on trust. "I suppose that is the cut and dry of it... you had to have taken some weird things from Kaguya to say it like that~" Miko thought about his thoughts about friendship. Whatever the case, they did need to head to the shop, before she left she'd give a better timeline to Soma, "I'm planning to make that call within the next hour or two. I'll text when I have what I promised you~" she offered fully planning to do exactly that. Moving on... "Does your head feel okay? Ready to play card games, Kazuchii♪~" Miko asked seemingly excited to get on the move. She was fully prepared to head with him out of this alleyway and in the direction that Soma had come from...

"Extreme? That's way beyond extreme! Well... there's still Ganelon, so I'll concede to the possibility. That one's more my fault than anyone else's though," Kazu surmised. From the sound of things, Miko had a grand total of two others she intended to spill the beans to. He didn't have any assumptions as to who they might be, but that didn't matter at all. Some people had enough of his trust that they could bring along veteran criminals, and he'd believe said criminals had a full change of heart. "Looking forward to it. Hopefully we can also make the other world more awesome for when they get there," he added.

Finally, Soma had his answers. There would soon be other people to inspect and consider adding to his growing list, which currently had only three firm targets... Well, four if he counted two halves. With a timeline given, he could rest easy about the gun he'd been waiting for. Solid plans were good. What wasn't good, was the fact that these two continued diddling about when Soma 'kindly suggested' they progress to the shop. Instead of moving right along, Kazuhiko was patting himself down, and Miko was doing a wellness check. "Yeah, I think I'm good. I think it'll─" Suddenly, Soma cleared his throat. There was a smile on his face, but it held no warmth ─ only menace. "Oh, was that not clear? I'm banned from that little shop. The longer you take, the longer I have to wait around for the rest of you. 'You should go' doesn't mean 'make sure you're ready to go' last time I checked. Move," he demanded of the pair. What an antsy day-old lad this was, Kazu thought. "Yeesh. How much to buy three seconds, dude..." the brown-haired male muttered, taking those initial steps forward. "Fine, fine! Card games, ho!" he announced, marching forth with a fist in the air. The version of Yugi waiting outside heaved a sigh of relief. He, too, tired of the wait. Once Kazuhiko exited the alley, he was on the move ─ seemingly at the perfect pace to 'accidentally' have a run-in with the next person out.

Beyond extreme was apparently Miko's thoughts about accidentally creating a super villain. "Hm, yeah, I don't think that's really anyone's fault..." she said of Ganalon. If that man chose not to be reasonable while being a part of Charlemagne's group, he was just going against the grain. That was his own weirdness, and Miko was sure of this given the conversion of people like Fierbras. As for the introductions promised, it seemed Kazuhiko was looking forward to them, as well as making the world a better place for them. "Hai, I'm sure they'd help with that in some cases..." Miko said knowing what these two individuals were like and extrapolating their motivations. Meanwhile, the wellness check was apparently unappreciated by someone like Soma. In fact, that one was rather cranky already, there was nothing but pure menace in that face and voice and Miko looked at it, feeling a strange sense of dread, wrapped up with a nice bow of arousal. "Of all the things you got from Kaya, why that?♪~" she bemoaned as she moved on. "We're going, we're going. That's actually super hot on a guy though, box it..." she ended skittering past him and just behind Kazuhiko. She'd claimed she follow him anywhere and fully intended to do so.

Except, after he stepped out of the alleyway, she was oddly enough bumped into instead. The part of her that was always a Japanese school girl at heart, immediately apologized seemingly upset that she'd not noticed someone there at first. "Gomennasai!" she said immediately. It always felt weird bumping into people. And even beyond that she'd developed different life habits when things like this happened given her own experiences in the magical world. She didn't immediately look up, there was a lesser acknowledged fear there but still there was no need not to be polite. She wanted to avoid conflict more often than not, and Osaka wasn't the safest city on the planet according to her own father. It'd be a shame to accidentally run into an angry Yakuza boss or something and then ahve to do something way more extreme than the regular world was ready for. Yes, that was an extreme thing to think, but she'd not even looked up yet.

One stepped out of the alleyway, and another stepped right into a white-haired man's path. He was larger than Miko by more than a fair margin, and virtually unmoved by the impact. The speed by which she apologized for it, though, was strange... as he'd undoubtedly been the one who walked into her. Ah, Japan; he hadn't been back in quite some time. "Oh, don't worry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," the man spoke, his voice flowing between his lips like a calm river. He didn't waste any time before reaching out, calmly as he spoke, aiming to tilt the girl's head up by the chin. "Are you alright? You could have had quite the fall. That wouldn't be good," he said while Kazuhiko, still walking ahead, slowed and turned just slightly. "Oi, you good back there?" the lad asked. In the meantime, Soma was approaching slowly from the alley. He would be busying himself with other things, but this brief meeting was... strange.

Within the card shop they were encroaching upon, there was a silent uproar that had been building for quite some time. Eight impossible girls were seated in the shop presently, alongside two males who could just as easily pass as models or celebrities of some sort. The shop regulars were upset, confused, aroused and... in some cases afraid after witnessing what happened to one particular boy ─ the one Soma promptly beat to a pulp and dragged outside. "I can't believe that one was a guy! It had to be a tomboy who took fighting classes!" one boy whispered aggressively in a huddled group. "Fuck it; who cares? There's eight more over there. Who's got next? I wanted to try the one with the little sister, but that foreigner's got cannons I wouldn't mind being blasted by!" said another lad. "It'd probably be better to just talk normally? You know, like Kakihara-san did! Get their guards down, play a couple of rounds, do some teaching and... well, you know," suggested a third member of the huddle.

Ah, right. Miko wasn't a beast-kin hiding amongst humans, she was just a teenage girl. As long as she didn't encounter a criminal, it wasn't likely she'd get an aggressive response. And, that voice came out so smooth a little shiver moved up her spine. She'd been walking beside Kazuhiko, but was losing track of most things as that voice flowed into her ears and stirred her heart beat. So quickly did he reach for her chin, tilting her face up and her eyes open as they were seemed to show a dancing flame for just an instant as she took in this males visage. He was beautiful in a way she couldn't rationalize, but somehow still quite manly. She opened her mouth to speak, a bit of drool immediately pooling at the left corner as she studied that face. "I'm... fine," she managed. "I'm not hurt... are you okay?" she managed quickly. She didn't imply that she could hurt someone without trying, but she still didn't wish to have caused someone unnecessary pain. "Though if I had to choose something to walk into, you are definitely on the list," she concluded. her brains inner functions and speech mixing together. As for Kazuhiko's forward trek, she heard him as she always would. "I'm... thirsty, but good..." she muttered. Too honest, was one like Miko. Thirsty, hungry... these were words of arousal to her. Still, she wouldn't be turning her gaze away from this man. Could she talk to him? Maybe get his number... she was quite busy but there was no reason she couldn't add this to one of her days right?

Meanwhile, the card shop and an influx of young women and a couple of young men with them. At the table, they were organized in a clustered group. with the males sitting at the end, between them and the 'regulars'. Kaguya was seated next to Yuuya and managed to chuckle just a little, "If Mi-chan was here, she could tell us what they are whispering about. I'm getting bad vibes," Kaguya mentioned casually. "I suppose that is true, I can say they aren't actually physically threatening. Any of us could crush them, though I'd rather play the game," Ai mentioned, keeping her eyes on that group and taking a position which left no openings for approaching her at the table. "I'm on protect the baby duty! Mi-chama and Kazu-chama will come... I have a good feeling about it!~" Chika mentioned as if there was nothing to worry about. "Eh? they better, we're saving them seats. Not like any one is worried about them or anything~" Kei uttered huffily sitting at the center of the table. "This is somehow worse than those weird barracks places. If they come up I could just punch them. Maybe slap, they look a little weak..." Angelica mentioned firmly. Apparently most weren't a problem. Still, Anya sat in Chika's lap and looked at the whole of this place. Emirie remained quiet but her nose was twitching given the scents of the humans in this building. Sena kept her eyes peeled, no one would be allowed to approach.. She was willing to go the way of Soma if she had to... though she didn't say that.

Kazu stopped long enough to check Miko's wellness and... apparently discover the existence of someone who didn't look like they should exist in this world. Well, that could be said about many people ─ perhaps the sort Miko had been talking about inviting. As everything seemed fine, he kept moving forward, albeit at a slowed pace. While that happened, the male standing in front of Miko was seeming... oddly unfazed by her strange behavior. When asked the same question he'd presented her with, the man answered plainly. "Of course. It would take something with the strength of a meteor impact to bother me," he mentioned calmly while swiping at that bit of drool with his thumb. Miko's words about walking into him seemed to be ignored, but only for a moment, as he was content to comment on her thirst first. "You should be mindful of thirst. As luck would have it, I can quench that for you now," he offered. Just then, the man's other arm rose, holding in its hand a goblet filled with sparkling water. It looked silver, but... something more. Whether it was there and missed, or was never there originally... well, that didn't matter. "For starters, you can drink this."

Within the shop, the chatter of boys was not coming to an end anytime soon. Moment by moment, a decision was being made to approach any number of the girls new to the shop. There were a couple of males will them, but neither of them was intimidating enough to deter the group as a whole. "I think I could bag the blonde that looks like she belongs in a library. The short-haired one! You know, since I shower unlike Hanabira-kun," one commented, much to another's distaste. "Urusai! It's card games with the boys; I don't need to shower for this! Besides, what's that got to do with it?" the one called Hanabira wondered. "Dude, you didn't see those nose wrinkles? She obviously got a whiff of your ass crack from three days ago! Wash your balls before you start thinking about somebody lickin' 'em!"

Kazuhiko paused just long enough to make sure she was safe. She adored that part about him, willing to let her do what she wanted, but also still friend enough to look after her. It was quite an odd thing for her to notice at a time like this. A little smile appeared on the corners of her lips, but still her eyes hadn't moved. No, this white haired man was a bit too commanding for her to dare to look away. "Meteoric impact, I could manage that maybe..." Miko muttered. Maybe she could bounce her ass like a meteor, even just a little would be enough to keep her happy against a man like this. She should apparently be watching her thirst and he rubbed that drool away from her lip. The movement of that thumb below her lip, "Sorry, I'm really weird," Miko murmured. Of course, he claimed that he had something for her thirst. There was a cup suddenly in his hand. Not a cup, wrong word, goblet... "Offering a strange girl a drink?" she mused but... "Common sense says not to accept but I really want to... going with instinct then. I'll take it, thanks for offering," Miko consented. She'd mentally worked through it, and still the worst that could happen was being drugged. But she didn't get that feeling from this man... no, not at all.

While men plotted the large group were on the look out. "You can't punch anyone... they'd probably explode..." mentioned Kaguya. "This place is horrific on the senses... why anyone would leave their house in such a gross state is completely unreasonable," Emirie claimed softly, she was sorting through her own deck of plant based entities. While she wasn't necessarily violent, she could be considered brutal on the ego. Ai for her part in this sighed, "They will likely keep trying a single act of violence isn't enough to properly stop a group like that. If nothing else, they are going to try and use the games as an in at some point," Ai acknowledged in a straightforward way. Kei huffed, she was boiling under the surface. She had a plan to give up her seat when Kazuhiko and Miko returned and take the opportunity to make up with him properly. But... they were taking quite a while to get back. There was hardly any worry for their safety and more of a concern about how many of their group would end up banned from this establishment. "It'd be a shame to lose any of the other guys at this point," Kei mentioned. There was a certain buffer presented by having men in a group of gorgeous women. Whatever the case, Sena was assessing who the next most likely threat was, keeping her attention up.