Atlantis

[Bloodedge]

"Non-binding, huh? Riiight~" Kou replied whilst rolling his eyes playfully, a grin plastered on his face. "Should I be prepared to grill him? You know, make sure everything's alright, do my brotherly duty and find out if I should be fending him off or not?" It seemed he had waited years for this moment, and in fact, he had. It was finally his turn to be in this position against his sister, and he couldn't have been more elated to have the chance. No, it was more than that. Beyond vengeance for the years of his sibling's teasing nature, he was generally and genuinely satisfied. He couldn't have missed this day. Times he'd long since thought lost to an aborted future were upon him, and as Kou, as Akashi, as Yugi in all forms, he would milk them for every last drop of what they had to offer.

"No telling, really. Finding out why it sank might require finding out where it actually was in the beginning. Rumors in game lore usually wind up being true, so... it was probably actually a floating island, as weird as that sounds. Whatever magical source made it float probably gave out, and they couldn't keep it at the surface of the ocean either." At some point, Kou would have an interest in discovering the mysteries of Atlantis. That was the goal of many, after all. So much lore across so many forms of media addressed Atlantis as a concept, and it was always steeped in wonders. For now, though... he would enjoy this time. "Anyway, what catches your eye? Food? Rides? Ideally not in that order. Trust me, it's a bad idea to start off with carnival food," he said, even though his own stomach demanded sustenance after not consuming a bite since Parent/Child Day.

[Apollymi]

This lad's sarcasm wasn't missed by Hikari. In fact, one could almost call such a use of words familiar to her, or rather native to her. Instead of being upset about this she had a bit of a chortle. Her brother, teasingly threatening to do his duties as a brother and scope out the potential suitor was beyond hilarious to her. "Uh, no. I think you're good. Can't really trust your eye on something like that... as you know, you seem to be blind~" she said in an off-handed manner. "Besides, you're like a thousand years off from knowing those things about people over me. You're really good at puzzles and the big pictures. Leave the nuances to professionals," she chimed, knowing that she was indeed much better suited to match-making or breaking than her brother would ever be. Still, this moment was quite enjoyable to her, she'd quite missed her chats with her big brother in her time since coming to this world. She'd be sure to enjoy him as much as possible. Besides all of that, he was quite an info-dump of things which made it into game lore, which she wouldn't know because she'd only gotten to play the beta herself before ending up here. Given this, his insight was still worth hanging on to, especially about what he thought may have happened to the Kingdom of Atlantis. "Sugoi. If it just fell out of the sky, it must have been on a downward spiral. Might be worth looking into, there's no telling what kinda good stuff they could have hidden here if they technically started off in a more advanced part of the world," she said seemingly excited by the prospect and enjoying the banter.

Speaking of enjoying things, the look of this carnival was absolutely amazing. There were rides, food, games... literally everything one could potentially want to participate in. She looked up at all of the rides and grinned widely. "Uh, rides... actually... those... those right there!" she said pointing happily at what looked like bumper cars but were instead small magically controlled little boats that other teens were either racing around a set track or.... running into each other in the middle of a large pit. This looked like fun, and perhaps... she'd gotten a bit better at controlling vehicles. "Oooh, I'm getting excited come on!" she said as she immediately hopped in line and after confirming she met height and magical requirements was assigned one of these little boats which she strapped herself into.

[Bloodedge]

Kou scoffed in the wake of Hikari's rebuttal. "Please," he said. If he set out to do so, people and puzzles were one and the same. His lack of commitment to the former not withstanding, such was the case regardless. "Don't even try underestimating me like that. You're about as much of a professional as an infant at university." Even though he'd manage to pull the focus away from tiredness for himself, Kou couldn't resist the yawn which escaped him after his retort. Meanwhile, Hikari expressed some amount of interest in the lore of Atlantis. Kou thought it would have been interesting if they had been able to play Age of Eternity together, knowing now that she had such interests. That wasn't something he intended to bring up, though. Those times were long gone.

What wasn't gone, was the enjoyment to be had at this event! Speaking of, Hikari had a ride in mind for her first activity of choice. It seemed to be an interesting one, which Kou thought he would enjoy quite thoroughly as well. "Really, that? You know I'll destroy you, right?" he asked while being checked for entry as well, making his move thereafter to take an adjacent boat for the ride. "It's no bike, but... whatever."

[Apollymi]

It was quite funny to her that her brother managed to scoff at her rebuttal. He seemed to be laboring under the impression that he could and would figure out people the same way he did puzzles if he set out to do so. How mistaken could he be? Even if she would willingly excuse him as not being interested in such activities, his lack of self application would always leave him a step behind. "You can say that, but there is subtlety to being an infant in things. You really wouldn't understand~" she said with a musing smile. Hikari wouldn't deny being a novice at most things, but there was a certain advantage given to those who were new at something, the ability to question things and get straightforward answers, and it couldn't be denied. She'd fully taken advantage of her time being a child again in this world. And it had given her a bit of joy she wouldn't be able to explain for quite a while. Even in dealing with her brother, being a proper kid again had quite a few benefits and gave plenty of insights. That being said she wasn't ready to give up all that information yet. What she would take note of, was the yawn her brother let off, even while they were on their way to the sort of activity they would both enjoy.

Oh the activity... boat racing was about to be a great deal of fun. In fact, it started off with a bit of trash talk from her brother even as he settled into the contraption. "Bet." Just that one word, hanging in the air as the challenge to the lad. This was far different from the simple kinds of games they normally played. And she had a pretty good feel for using magic now, as such she was fairly confident she could easily control this little boat. As soon as her brother was also settled, a pair of lights on either side of the track would begin counting down. Red. Yellow. Green. As soon as it was green her magic flowed forwards, propelling her at great speeds through the first straightaway as she prepared to immediately drop her magical boost and drift through the curve, hugging close to the inner wall.

[Bloodedge]

"You'd be surprised," he countered. He knew all about being a virtual infant in the world of adults, from being a parent figure to the very lass he spoke with, to... other things related to the parents who weren't around during those same times. If only she knew the things he'd dealt with in her absence. Dark thoughts aside, he situated himself in the boat to prepare for the race.

Once let loose, Kou applied his Mana to the boosters as well, tearing out of the entrance with maximum acceleration. Upon reaching the first curve in the race, he let off the booster as well, driving on the outer edge of the turn. He didn't slow nearly as much though, resulting in more of a slide toward the outer wall. However, before reaching the wall, he initiated a second boost to rocket himself forward along the next straightaway. "Good luck catching up~" he called out as he zipped by.

[Apollymi]

Her brother made a claim that she'd be surprised at the things he knew. "Yeah yeah," she said seeming to be in disbelief. That being said, it wasn't that she didn't believe he knew what such things were like. It was simply that she knew he was bad at applying them to situations at hand, especially when it was himself in conflict. Nothing made this more obvious than his budding/not budding relationship with the girl she now knew to be Ashikaga Kimiko. Whatever the case, there was a race to be had, and as such the lad would be aiming to do what she knew he would. Pulling out in front with his superior skill in driving. A chuckle escaped her because though she had less understanding of the skills required to drive well, luck was usually on her side.

"Yare yare, old habits die hard Nii-san~" she mentioned as a kick in her own magical output allowed her to roll up closer after the sharp curve, but beyond that her hand on the wheel let her channel a single orb of wet energy forward which would explode beneath the lad's boat, potentially causing a major spin-out as such things were prone to do. 'Ah, shit this is really Mario Kart!~' she thought happily. As she aimed to push her speed up and pass him while he lacked control over his weapon.

[Bloodedge]

Indeed, old habits did die hard. Among these habits, one could count Kou's competitive nature. Out ahead, he was suddenly forced to deal with a burst occurring underneath his vessel. Spinning out was unavoidable, but he was nothing, if not capable of thinking on his feet in reaction to games and game-like mechanics. A turn of the wheel preceded the use of another Mana-related ability, unleashing a torrent from beneath his ship to launch it into the air. Following this, it was a simple matter of Kou using the keen eye he gained from his Saber Class to determine the time of his next boost. He would be jettisoned through the air, passing Hikari from above after being overtaken so recently. Before landing, though, he'd be sure to apply another skill to drop a magical mine in the girl's path. "Be better tomorrow!~"

[Apollymi]

There was quite the slew of things happening. She had indeed managed to influence the lad's spin. She'd even managed to take the lead as she aimed to take the next turn. Of course as soon as this turn became a straightaway she noticed her brother flying overhead. "Ugh, you suck!" she exclaimed. But she didn't realize how much he actually sucked. The placement of a mine would cause her boat to explode and spin, though she spun the wheel along with it she was still basically stopped before she could start up again. Her brother's competitive nature was something she was quite used to, and even falling behind like this, she was having a pretty good time. Her wheel spun and she righted herself kicking in to gear, her use of magic would propel her forward but if she had any chance at winning the race in the final stretch she'd have to time her last use of material very carefully. So, after taking the straight away and having her brother come into her sights again, she'd let up off the accelerator, and kick her magical boost in the middle of the curve releasing a torrent of water behind her and allowing her to shoot forward from the curve as she aimed to overtake her brother at the straightaway. This would have her cross the finish line either first or second.

[Bloodedge]

Victory was in sight. Having managed to bring Hikari to a halt, he hardly had a thing to do besides make the final push toward the finish line. Of course, that was exactly what he set out to do. He'd have even managed to accomplish that easily, if not for Hikari boosting her way toward him in the end. She was making some insane headway in this catch-up, and the sight of it brought a grin to Kou's face. He realized, though, that there was another player of this game encroaching upon her at the same time. There was a simple decision to be made based on that knowledge.

Kou's boat swerved, spinning 180 degrees before he unleashed his final booster. In doing so, the vessel would rocket past Hikari and crash into the individual who held third place at the time. Where was Kou in the meantime? Of course, he jumped out of his own vehicle, and onto Hikari's during the moment of passing. "Looks like a win to me~" he said cheekily, choosing a technical team victory over anything else.

[Apollymi]

Her ability to catch up, was not to be underrated. Even so, the person behind her was gaining on her with swiftness, she couldn't handle both that individual and the one in front of her. She had to hedge her bets on simply moving forward. Strangely, her brother's vehicle did a 180 and was sent careening off and into the third boat, leaving it behind as she crossed the finish with her brother on her own vehicle. "Sugoi! I changed my mind. You suck less..." she mentioned with an equal amount of cheekiness. Soon after she'd get out of the vehicle with a huge grin on her face. She'd won, and that was amazing to her she strutted happily over to the race runner who gave her a prize for coming in first. This prize was rather strangely something which looked a bit like a trinket but in the shape of an anchor with a boat wheel attached to it. It had an innately magical sensation but seemed to be a light charm of some sort without any deeper meaning. "Sugoi! It's nice... it's like a weapon charm~" she said, knowing that she could attach it to her sword for an extra effect to be added to it. Whatever the case such a thing was more than enough right now. "Alright then, next thing... uh," she looked around some more and continued to pick an activity or two until she'd done everything she wanted and a great deal of time had passed. As this part of the day drew to an end, she walked around with candy on stick eating and talking to her brother. "So, anything you want to do before we call it quits. I've done enough for the day, and I probably shouldn't eat any more of this stuff~" she mentioned while continuing to stuff her face.