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 Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 6:51 pm
“So it turns out I’m bad at bowling,” Misha told his camera as he and Yuuri stepped out of a bowling alley into a cold winter’s night.
He was doing a series of videos in which he tried common hobbies or activities he’s never done before. Bowling was the second on the list, directly after pottery, which had made a horrible mess in the apartment. (Lev was still giving him hell for it over a week later.)
“But it was fun, so I give it a ten out of ten, would do it again.”
Was his overall score very high? No, not at all. Did the ball end up in the gutter more often than not? Yes. Yes, it did. But he got to hang out with Yuuri for a while, and Misha wasn’t the type to worry about making a fool of himself anyway. The footage would make for an amusing video. That made the night more than worth it, in his opinion.
After turning the camera off, Misha turned around to walk backwards down the sidewalk, smiling at Yuuri as they made their way to the closest form of public transit. It was a cold night and there weren’t very many other people out, so the area they were in felt almost deserted.
“Thanks for coming with me,” Misha said. “I’m not keeping you from anything, am I? I feel like we’re always doing what I want to do. Aren’t there things you like doing? I don’t mind coming along. Or leaving you alone, if that’s what you want.”
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 12:28 pm
Going out and doing things that didn't include Negaverse stuff was… weird, but very welcome. Yuuri may not have the enthusiasm to match Misha's about nearly everything, but he appreciated his friend's bright personality.
Were they friends? Was there a minimum time limit required? Yuuri had thought about this before and was still afraid to ask, not wanting to disappoint himself. Maybe he was just there to be Misha's assistant as he did his filming. If so, that was fine as well. At least Yuuri was doing something other than being stuck in his own thoughts.
"Of course," Yuuri said, happy to be there even if he didn't smile as freely as Misha did. "I'm not sure those shoes were very… sanitary, but I enjoyed it."
Yuuri had bowled before, but it had been a very long time. He was about as bad at it as Misha was, but luckily he could cut out any of his efforts from the footage.
"You're not keeping me from anything. I don't really have much to do. I enjoy your company, so if there was anything I would let you know," he promised, feeling his cheeks warm a little at the confession. Even though Misha had done nothing to indicate he was bored of Yuuri's presence, he still worried that he might be too bland and boring to keep Misha entertained.
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 2:02 pm
The great thing about Misha was that it didn’t matter how boring anyone else was. He could easily entertain himself.
Not that he thought Yuuri was boring. Just quiet and reserved and a little shy. Misha had been trying to encourage Yuuri out of his shell over the last two months, but his efforts didn’t seem to be working as quickly as he intended them to.
That was okay. They had plenty of time. There wasn’t a deadline on learning to be more extroverted.
“Okay, but I don’t know if I believe you,” Misha said. “I’m starting to think you’d do whatever I want, no matter what.”
Fortunately, Misha wasn’t the type of person to take advantage of that.
Well… maybe he was, but it really depended on the person he was dealing with. He’d feel too guilty taking advantage of someone as nice as Yuuri.
The nearest public transit stop was about two blocks away. They turned a corner onto another street, but before they’d covered even half the distance, Misha heard a strange scraping noise coming from a darkened alleyway — which probably should have clued him in to the seriousness of the situation right away; nothing good ever happened down a dark alley. He glanced down the alley in question, but saw nothing at first except a couple of large, overflowing dumpsters.
The scraping noise was followed by a long, breathy sound, almost like slow panting, or hissing mixed with a low growl.
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 5:52 pm
Yuuri nodded in agreement, not hiding the fact that he really would likely do whatever Misha wanted, no matter what. He was half joking of course, and the twitch at the corner of his lips was enough to show that he didn’t think negatively of doing whatever Misha wanted. It was easier that way. At least for now. Maybe when he was more comfortable he would try suggesting things that Misha hadn’t thought of doing.
It was all for the views, right? Or so Yuuri told himself.
He was bundled up against the cold and wasn’t really looking forward to parting ways with Misha once they reached the public transit. The warehouse was… cold… and empty… but Yuuri had no reason to leave it. Leaving would be like he was giving up, right?
If Misha hadn’t paused, Yuuri might have missed the panting hiss of a growl. He’d been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to realize how much they were in danger until it was too late.
Yuuri grabbed Misha’s hand and pulled him backwards, away from the alley, just as several eyes caught the glow of the streetlight. His heart felt as though it would escape his chest as he pushed his friend ahead of him, placing himself between him and the youma.
“Run. Misha, run,” he choked on the words, having no idea what to do. He wasn’t Kamacite. He couldn’t just teleport them away to safety. Depending on how hungry the youma was… Yuuri didn’t want to think about what could happen to them.
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 6:37 pm
As soon as he heard the noises, Misha was very much aware that running would be in their best interests. There was a small chance they were dealing with a hungry stray, or maybe a particularly large rat, but any doubts were put to rest when he caught sight of the the glinting of several eyes.
Several eyes? As in more than one creature, or…?
It was one of those monsters again! A youma!
Misha cursed in Russian, but there was exhilaration in his voice instead of fear.
He ran as instructed, pulling Yuuri with him with a hand around Yuuri’s wrist, just as the youma tore out of the alley with another low, menacing growl.
It didn’t just have several eyes, but multiple heads. Like Cerberus, Misha thought, only the heads were practically skulls, great expanses of bone exposed beneath missing patches of mangy fur. It looked more like some sort of deformed, undead, three-headed saber toothed tiger than an undead, three-headed dog. Its tale boasted a thatch of impressive spikes, and its large paws ended in long, curved claws that scraped against the ground with its every step.
Misha did not know whether to be fascinated or terrified.
“I’m sorry, I’m recording this!” he called to Yuuri, fumbling with his camera as they ran.
Hey, at least if they died, the authorities would find evidence of what happened to them.
Misha’s priorities were totally reasonable.
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 7:21 pm
Yuuri let out a squeak of distress as Misha grabbed onto his wrist to pull him along, his eyes widening in horror not only at the three-headed youma, but at Misha’s attempt at recording what they were running from.
“Misha!,” he gaped, unable to comprehend how he could be thinking about recording at a time like this.
Okay, so this would probably be the perfect time to record, since Misha was all about getting more views. But still, Yuuri didn’t think it was worth dying over.
Even as they ran, Yuuri could tell it was pointless. The youma was fast for being so big. It disappeared into the shadows only to reappear from the alleyway in front of them, dropping down from where it climbed either over or around the building.
Yuuri yanked his wrist away from Misha as the youma swung its tail down at them, pushing him out of the way as spikes tore through the sleeve of Yuuri’s down jacket, sending feathers everywhere.
He yelped in pain, his right hand grabbing hold of his left arm, which was already scared from the incident with the forest monster, but planted himself firmly between Misha and the youma.
This… was not ideal. He felt dizzy from the fear of being eaten by this youma. The fear of Misha being hurt or killed. He could power up and teleport them away, but Misha was recording and while he didn’t think Misha would purposefully do something that would hurt him, he cringed over the idea of Misha convincing him to let him post it for the views.
The youma lunged, and Yuuri jumped back to try to avoid it -- but had already forgotten he was still just a civilian so his leap barely cleared the distance of the youma’s several sets of teeth, and he stumbled backwards onto the pavement. He just hoped that Misha was taking the opportunity to run.
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:51 pm
At this point, his recording wasn’t about the views. Most of the footage would be garbage anyway. In their rush to get away, he couldn’t get a good shot of the youma, and by the time it caught up with them, Misha was more concerned with not getting eaten than he was with getting a clear view. The most he’d have to work with was a shaking screen, a few yelps, some panting, and a lot of monster growling.
Which he could make work, but people would also accuse him of faking it.
Then again, they’d probably accuse him of faking it anyway. Only people who’d been to Destiny City understood that he wasn’t exaggerating when he talked about it.
Misha yelped as he was pushed out of the way, taking a stumble to the ground. He barely managed to save his camera, catching it before it could fall and shatter. Disoriented, Misha quickly rolled out of the way, then surged to his feet to find Yuuri confronting the youma.
Based on what he knew of Yuuri, he hadn’t expected that. Yuuri was sweet but nervous, and perhaps a bit over-cautious. Misha wouldn’t have thought he’d willingly put himself in the path of danger.
Not that he thought Yuuri would leave him there either. Misha assumed they would keep running and either make a miraculous escape or die together.
One thing was for certain, he wasn’t about to let Yuuri fight this thing alone. With little else at his disposal, Misha gripped his camera by the long neck strap and brought it down on one of the youma’s three heads like a makeshift meteor hammer. When it let out a startled yowl and wavered for just a second, Misha kicked its flank as hard as he could, sending it skidding to the side before it could lunge at Yuuri again.
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 3:44 pm
It turned out that Misha wasn’t running. Which Yuuri honestly wasn’t surprised about. Misha had more energy than anyone Yuuri had known, and he was kind and friendly. Although it had only been a couple short months since they’d met, Yuuri was pretty sure his life would be completely different without Misha in it.
The same went for his unexpected other friend, Jonah. Had he not saved Jonah that one time from a youma (unbeknownst to him), Jonah might not have been able to return the favor when he found Yuuri injured and in need of help.
Yuuri had been surprisingly lucky in the past couple months, which was a huge change from the miserable, terrifyingly lonely year he’d had before that. He was still half hopeful that one day everything would be as it was less than two years prior, but each day he was closer to acceptance, and mourning the loss of those he’d had in his life.
But Misha? Misha was helping him to change that. Yuuri knew he was still miserable to deal with, but Misha had been incredibly patient with him, and always invited him along even if they weren’t doing something for Misha’s social media posts.
He pushed himself back to his feet as Misha used his own camera to hit the youma, and then kick it away from lunging.
There was no way they could escape like this, and it didn’t seem as though there were anyone in the area willing to help them. Misha’s camera was probably already busted and wouldn’t be able to fend off such a large youma for much longer. Especially now as it turned its six eyes on Misha, drool dripping from sharp teeth from its skeletal heads, claws cutting into the pavement.
Reaching into his jacket pocket, Yuuri’s hand gripped around his pen, and the sudden light around him shed any semblance of the awkward, skinny young man that Yuuri was, and transformed him into Kamaite. Long black hair pooled neatly behind him as though by design, and long, bright flowing robes replaced the bloody down jacket.
Kamacite knew how dangerous it was for him to reveal his identity, especially since there was no guarantee that Misha wasn’t part of the White Moon. He knew Misha had been approached by General Jet, and was pleased to know the General let him be after that, but it didn’t mean Misha wasn’t their enemy.
At this point, if Misha was the reason for Kamacite’s death, he would be okay with that.
“Misha, cover your eyes,” he said over his shoulder as he once again placed himself between Misha and the youma. He held out his hand as he mumbled, “Solar maximum.” Quote: Super Sailor Scout Attack: Solar Maximum
There is a brilliant flash of light causing temporary but immediate disorientation and blindness that fades into horribly spotty vision; can last upwards of thirty seconds. Additionally, devices with an electrical or magnetized charge (street lights, phones, cameras, etc) suddenly do not work during those thirty seconds. There have been cases of street light bulbs bursting from the electromagnetic surge. The attack does not cause physical damage and is intended as a diversion or distraction, as well as a hindrance. Has an effect radius of 10 feet (although the flash can be seen as one would see any flash), and can be used three times.
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 7:22 pm
If Misha was not expecting Yuuri to confront the youma, he expected a magical transformation even less.
Obviously he knew strange things happened in Destiny City, just as he knew there were strange people to go along with all the strange events. There was that secretive military organization called the Megaverse (or something like that) with oddly young Generals like that Jet guy, but Yuuri was the last person Misha expected to be involved in any of it. He was too quiet, too nice, too meek — which Misha didn’t think was a bad thing at all, he just wouldn’t have thought quiet, nice, and meek would be magical war material.
Not that he knew anything about magical wars. Maybe people like Yuuri were exactly what magical wars called for.
Misha took several steps back, mostly to get away from the youma, inching his way behind Yuuri, who apparently knew what he was doing after all.
There was so much to take in. The hair? Gorgeous. That kimono? Stunning.
The magic?
Oh, s**t, the magic!
So distracted was he, Misha barely had time to throw his hands over his eyes. It seemed a dangerous thing to do since he wasn’t able to see the youma. Stupidly, Misha peaked between his fingers and caught the last few milliseconds of a flash of bright light, which left him with spotty vision and a bit of disorientation.
After cursing in Russian, Misha said, “I’m sorry! I looked!”
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 8:56 pm
The youma howled as it was disoriented by the flash of light, and the streetlights around them went out, but Kamacite knew it wouldn’t be for long. He let out a breath of concerned exasperation when he heard the Russian curses and Misha’s apology.
“Go back to the Rift. Shoo,” Kamacite tried with a wave of his hand, but youma had never been fond of Senshi, even if that Senshi was an Eternal. A giant paw was rubbing its faces, obviously trying to unblind itself so it could attack again. But Kamacite wasn’t going to allow it to chase after him or Misha any more.
He turned to where Misha was standing and reached out to take hold of his hand, before teleporting them both to an empty lot he knew was just a block away from Misha’s apartment.
What Kamacite wanted to do was to take out his communicator pen and tell someone to come and take care of the youma that was terrorizing civilians. Unfortunately, without a team he was left with few options on who to contact, and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone giving him grief for not wanting to allow a youma roam free.
“There wasn’t anyone else in the area. It’ll leave once it realizes that,” Kamacite told Misha, not powering down yet so he could try to sense the aura of anything nearby. He also needed to make sure Misha wasn’t going to tell anyone.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about… this…” Kamacite said with a sad frown. “It’s… very important that no one knows… so… could this be kept between us, please?” It was not easy for Kamacite to trust people, even though he wanted to trust Misha, who had given him no reason not to trust him. So at that moment, he was basically putting his life in Misha’s hands.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 1:43 pm
Misha could see just well enough to notice the change in their surroundings. One second they were still on the street with the youma, and then Yuuri grabbed his hand and the street with the youma disappeared. Vision slowly clearing, Misha glanced around and saw that they were close to his apartment.
He uttered the first thing that came to mind.
“If you can do that, why were we going to take a bus?”
Misha gaped at Yuuri. He didn’t often gape at things, but Yuuri looked so… different. His hair was longer, his clothes were brighter, and was that a hole in his forehead? And his chest? What in the world was that about? He almost looked more confident like this, but Misha supposed it was easier to be more confident when you had magic.
“I… yeah…” he agreed, surprised and confused in equal measure. “I won’t tell anyone.”
He stepped closer to get a better look, examining Yuuri’s clothing. There were flowers and starbursts, and the colors were so rich and vibrant.
Yuuri looked different than that General Jet person had, but chances were they were involved in the same thing.
“Since when have you been… like this?” he asked. “Is this recent, or… were you just pretending not to know what I was talking about when I mentioned the youma and the aliens and the…” Seriously, what was it called again? “... Metaverse?”
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 3:10 pm
Some of Kamacite's tension eased as Misha gaped at him. He couldn't exactly say he had many reactions like that, so the sudden attention had his cheeks turning pink. Usually when people saw him they could have cared less, or they were trying to kill him.
"Bus is more inconspicuous," he gently humored Misha, amusement in his voice, but not to the point where he was making fun of him. Kamacite would like to teleport over taking public transportation, but things were a little more complicated than that.
As Misha stepped closer, obviously with the intention of looking at his outfit, Kamacite held still, although moved the fabric based on what it seemed like Misha was trying to look at. It wasn't a traditional kimono, but Yuuri wasn't full Japanese either. Whatever the universe had in mind for him, he'd grown to appreciate the different applications his outfit provided.
Now if only he could keep his short hair, that would be incredibly helpful.
"Four years…" he admitted, his voice quiet with guilt. It wasn't as though he intended on lying to Misha, it was just important that he kept his identity secret. He couldn't exactly go around telling people he was a Negaverse senshi.
"Negaverse," Kamacite corrected with a small grimace. It wasn't exactly the best name. "I'm sorry, I did know. I didn't want to get you involved if I didn't have to." And yet… here they were.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:24 pm
“Four years?” Misha said. “That’s so long! I’ve only known you two months! Which I guess explains why you didn’t tell me, but… I’ve always thought I look pretty trustworthy.”
He didn’t have the most trustworthy family, of course, but Yuuri didn’t know his family. Well, Yuuri knew his brother now, and he knew what his family did. That tended to turn people off. No one wanted to get involved with things that were so… messy.
Magic wars seemed pretty messy, though.
“Negaverse,” Misha repeated. Hopefully it would stick in his brain this time. “How can I not be involved? I mean, those youma things show up all over this city, apparently. I’d probably end up getting involved whether I wanted to or not. Too bad I don’t get magic and a cool outfit.”
That was probably a good thing. Lev would hate it if Misha put himself in danger.
Not that Misha didn’t do enough of that without the magic.
“You look pretty,” Misha continued. “Or… sorry, I know being pretty isn’t exactly a look most guys go for. And it’s not like you don’t look cute when you’re not like this. What’s this on your chest?”
The tips of Misha’s fingers brushed against what looked like a small chasm at the center of Yuuri’s chest.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 6:46 pm
“You look too trustworthy. Makes you kinda sus,” Kamacite softly teased, repeating one of the phrases they’d used together to joke around, a small smile pulling at his lips. Misha was… definitely someone he wanted to keep safe. He was kind and patient, and somehow managed to find ways to distract Yuuri from the things that troubled him.
He knew Misha was right. Living in that city it was difficult to not be involved in some capacity. But it was still dangerous to be on either side in the war. Kamacite didn’t want Misha on either side. He didn’t deserve to be swept up in this hostile world.
“Thank you,” he graciously accepted the compliment, shaking his head when Misha apologized. “I don’t mind,” he promised, although any hint of a smile faded when Misha’s fingers brushed at the crack in his chest where his starseed had been pulled. Misha wouldn’t be able to reach inside, but there was definitely some kind of opening there, as though to another dimension.
“The price of having magic,” he guessed. “Others like me have holes like this too,” he said, gesturing to the one on his forehead as well. “Although… there’s not many others.” It wasn’t often that Kamacite crossed paths with another Senshi of the Negaverse. He’d been told before that they were rare, and why they required a General Sovereign to awaken.
“General Jet…? He doesn’t have the same abilities I have. I can use magic, like you saw,” he explained, and then paused with a wince. “Sorry.” He couldn’t imagine being blinded was very fun. “They call me a Senshi. Those aliens you mentioned…? Those are Senshi who aren’t part of the Negaverse.”
He knew it was a lot to explain, and he glanced around to make sure they were still alone. His arm hurt as well. It was difficult to see the blood soaking into the otherwise bright fabric, but he could feel it sticky and wet dripping down his arm to his fingers.
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:13 pm
Misha tried to keep track of all the information, but it was a lot to process. He took his hand away from Yuuri’s chest, glancing at the hole in his forehead too. It looked painful, in a way. Misha wondered if Yuuri felt anything when it happened, or if he felt anything still.
“Senshi,” Misha said, looking over Yuuri again.
His dark hair was long and luxurious. How did that happen? Magic, probably. That seemed to be the answer for a lot of things. And were those wings at his back? They were sort of… bat-like. Between the hair and the kimono, they didn’t stand out much. General Jet hadn’t had those either.
Speaking of which…
“So… are you a General, too, or something?” he asked. “I don’t know much about your ranking system.”
Before Yuuri could answer, Misha’s caught sight of his wounded arm. He took it gently into his hands, inspecting the ripped fabric and the blood oozing through.
“This doesn’t look so good,” he observed. “Maybe we should have someone check you out. That youma’s claws were no joke. I can’t believe you put yourself in its way! It was actually kind of cool. Does it hurt?”
Gingerly, Misha prodded his fingertips against the edge of the injury, checking its severity.
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