pinnedbangs | 9th Struggle | [Action/Video] | Back Dated [2/13]

[Action]

Work, work, work… was that all Yukio ever did? They were in Johto – scratch that, they were in Goldenrod City! There were way more things to do than sit back and look at formulas or poking berries, like Yukio. Sure, it was one thing for Rin to work with new ideas for Pokemon food – it was food, (duh) but it was sort of part of his job? And that was way more important and about a thousand times more interesting than – than –

What the hell are you doing? Was a question that needed to be asked but Rin wasn’t willing to wait for an answer. There was something far more important that voicing an obvious question – and it was a simple thing that lay in a medium sized bowl between them. Yukio was closer to it with his – tools? Or. Y’know. His doctoring toys. Whatever those things were. Rin stood close to the table, one hand hovered over the bowl. He was ready to reach into the bowl to grab another cheri berry for the recipe he was working on (which was going to be awesome by the way) but… but…

His brother looked far too content. Far too engrossed in his work. Far too OLD and BORING and if Rin wasn't careful, Yukio might actually age faster by just sitting there.

“Hey, bro.”

Yukio made a noncommittal sound, barely glancing up from his – whatever Frankenstein thing he was tinkering with. This was going to be almost too easy. And there was no doubt that this was The Best Idea Ever.

“Betcha can’t eat five.”

That time Yukio looked up over the rim of his glasses. He glanced between Rin and the bowl and back to Rin again, as if he had really considered it (okay, maybe he didn't but it looked like he did!).

“That’s stupid, you’re just going to hurt yourself.” He said softly before glancing back to his work. But Rin would not be dissuaded. Oh no, not with an answer like that.

“You’re just chicken.”

Yukio glanced up again, a frown on his face. “Am not.”

“Bawk bawk baaaaaaaaaaaaaawk!!”

He made a pretty damn good impersonation of a chicken, if did say so himself. That was all it would take. This spoken-unspoken challenge was on!

[Video]

Airi fluttered around both boys, her arms flapping about as she flounced between them with nursing supplies in tow. They were still seated at the table where their challenge began, except the bowl of freshly picked cheri berries was suspiciously empty.

Yukio had a large wad of tissues latched to his ruddy face. He pointedly ignored his brother as he did his best to hold his face in one piece. Rin lay his head on the table, a distinctly nauseous look on his equally flushed face. He would have made a quip or two if it didn’t feel as if he would suddenly hurl at any given moment.

The younger Okumura reached over, his hand waving in the air to bat away the Gear's camera which seemed to be held above them. "Kizamime... why are you... turn that thing off." he groaned, managing to wipe his face with the tissues. Behind the camera is the chirp of a rather cheery Noibat, almost splitting his sides in amusement at the sight.

But Yukio managed to straighten himself up before digging into his wallet and handing Airi a few pokedollars. "Airi, run to the store and get us some milk. I think we'll probably need..." he began before turning his attention to a groan from nearby.

"I think I'm gonna be sick--"
"Rin, no!"

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[There's a loud groan from Rin. He's surprised to find himself with the gear in the frist place, until he realizes that Mickey the Dedenne is the one holding it up for him. He peers at his pokemon with bleary eyes. Mickey stares back with the sweetest expression it could muster. That was way too suspicious... When did his cute little static gerbil become such a little devil?

Rin props himself up a little so that his voice isn't as muffled. Speaking on the phone with one's face pressed to the table isn't the best idea. Even so, he can only mumble out a few words.]

Cheri berries...

[HIS TONGUE IS STILL BURNED UGH. There needs to be more milk in the world... But it doesn't stop that self-congratulatory tone in his voice. No way. If this guy could see the look on Rin's face.] ...I'm sure I ate the most.

[ He has to hand it to them. They were equal parts stupid... and equal parts brave. But ah, they're probably at that age. You can practically hear the disapproval in his voice though. ]

You guys ever thought you'd get hurt doing that?

[ Meanwhile, he's slightly concerned about the kid in the back who's breathing through his mouth. ]

Who's he?

[One moment, sudden wave of nausea rolling through... Rin has to press his forehead back to the table again to compose himself. That time it really hurt and he could almost ............ uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh, why.... ]

No...? [He didn't mean for that to sound like a question. It was supposed to sound way more assertive. Why did he have to sound like some little kid? He didn't want to hear disapproval from some stranger.]

That's my brother... Who're you?

[ Because compared to Mikoto, you are a kid, Rin. ]

Name's Mikoto. Just got here.

[ He's a bit both parts concerned and amused. ]

You kids bit off more than you could chew with those berries.

[Rin has a lot more bite to him, really. He's just trying to hold down the berries. He wants to just nod and same something like "Nice t'meetcha!" or maybe something cooler like "Yeah? I've been here a while." -- but all he manages to garble out is --]

-- R-Rin Okumura. [Which is more than he really wanted to say because the pain just intensified. He is not going to hear the end of this from his brother...]

Not again... But now I know j-just how spicy they are... [THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING NEXT TO MAYBE WINNING]

[ Okumura. Not exactly a common name. Not one he's heard at least but he sounds like a good kid. Then again, he's probably at that age where he's prone to doing dumb things.

But Mikoto has to question the kid's testing methods. They're pretty... unorthodox... but what does he know about cooking? ]

What'd ya need to find that out for?

[He does not sound like a good kid! What is this nonsense...

Rin speaks this as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world.]

If it's too spicy, then Poochy won't like the meal. ...It's hard enough to cook when I can't taste what goes in it. [How is his mouth not numb? That's the most he's spoken this whole conversation.]

[ When you head a group of hot blooded Japanese youths you eventually figure out who sounds like a good kid and who sounds like a troublemaker.

And that sentence just makes him totally sound like a good kid. ]

Your brother's a picky eater?

[ Suoh his brother is NOT named Poochy. ]

[...the hell? That doesn't even make sense.

He sounds like a bad boy! A bad, baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad boy! With a bad case of "too stupid to die".

He's making faces at the gear now. BECAUSE MIKOTO CAN TOTALLY SEE HIM.]

Poochy's my poochyena. My pokemon? My brother's Yukio.

[ Oh. Okay. That makes sense. He'd feel sorry for the poor kid if his name was Poochy. ]

So you cook for the pokemon?

[either Rin's nausea is dissipating or he is being a stubborn mule. It's most likely the latter.]

'Course. What else would they eat? ...'nd I cook for people too.

[ See? Good kid. He knew someone who liked to cook for everyone too and he ~~turned out dead~~ was also a good kid.

But hmm... pokemon food. ]

Dunno. Dog food?

[.....s-sure...]

I mean. They could. But it's not the same. You wouldn't eat instant ramen everyday.

[ ...well.... ]

That's all my guys eat sometimes.

[ They used to eat better when Totsuka was alive... ]

[It's a hard knock life, bro. Rin has been in Johto for far too long, to have become used to eating as well as he is now. Being the breadwinner is strange...]

Your guys? You're not talkin' about your pokemon.

The guys I left back home.

[ There may be an amused little 'heh' there. ]

You would've fit right in. Shit like this used to happen all the time.

[-- Uhm. Wow. Okay, that was oddly one of the coolest things to happen so far. It was like he was given a seal of approval from some important guy.]

Did you take in a bunch of kids or something?

[...like Father Fujimoto?]

Heh...

[ Well that amused him. Now that he thought about it, it kind of did seem that way, didn't it? Eric... Yata and Fushimi... Even though not everyone could be labelled "kid", they were all lost some way or another. ]

Yeah. Guess I did.

[What a cool guy! This was the real deal! Like, a guy who could probably make it onto the list of Cool Guys that Rin always kept nearby. He hadn't used it in a while but Mikoto was quickly earning his respect.

He is going to say something about it when his stomach reminds him of WHY IT IS IN PAIN.

Give him, like, twenty minutes...]

9th Struggle | [Action/Video] | Back Dated [2/13] | What had happened was...

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