Day 56: Main Street (Early Afternoon)

[predictator]

[From here]If Villiers was going to join him, Izaya was going to make the most of the time. He'd mentioned an interesting piece of information just a moment ago, so now was as good a time as any to find out more

Comments

[the_prosecutor]

The investigation was not going well.

After warming up and sharing a meal with Ushiromiya Battler, Edgeworth had immediately taken to Main Street once again, this time with a resolved sense of exploration. If it would take asking every person in town about the institute, he would do it...or so he thought.

There seemed to be a recurring trend after he had made his decision - after striking up a conversation with a local, he was turned away the moment that he so much as brought up the institute - and after a while the small crowds of people walking down the street were ignoring him completely. It wasn't enough that he couldn't get any direct answers; people were outright avoiding him. It occurred to him after a few instances of this that they might have good reason to - the dog tag under his shirt declared him to be a member of some sort of militant group for the insane, and even if he lacked answers as to why and how he had arrived there he could see the local's rationale for avoiding any contact with him

[gald_digger]

After parting ways with Ilia, Anise had made her way to Tasty Burger, where her coupon was put to use. She ate by a window, looking at the nearby stores and watching people go by

[the_prosecutor]

After nearly a half-hour of consistently receiving the cold shoulder from the locals, Edgeworth was startled by the sudden presence of the young girl, his eyes widening slightly as he dropped his arms to his side. A certain amount of dismay hit him then, the fact that the only people in this town willing to engage him on the streets were apparently young girls (and as helpful as Ema had been, her age and naivete had both made it so that she hadn't exactly been as comforting of a presence as he had wished for), and Edgeworth's features tensed slightly, the corner of his lip twitching as he suppressed a frown at the girl's openly displayed glee at his misfortune.

"They seem to be more in the business of scaring themselves off, it seems," he replied tersely, his gaze holding the girl's teasing expression before he turned away and towards the path before them, determined not to be baited by it. "Are you lost, or have you not been taught to not to speak with strangers?"

[gald_digger]

Normally, Anise might have taken offense to being treated like a little kid, but the fact that she got him twitching like that was funny enough that she couldn't bring herself to get angry just then

[heroesdontshave]

Snow followed Izaya out the door and back out into the cold. As much as he really liked getting to see the snow, he still wasn't accustomed to being exposed to temperatures like this at all. He'd been trying his best to ignore it and focus on other things, but it was hard to ignore your fingers and nose going numb. Not that he was worried about it. It was just cold, right? Nothing that could hurt him. Just that it was distracting, was all

[predictator]

Izaya drew his arms closer to his body as they walked through the cold. It didn't seem quite as cold as earlier in the day, but it was still snowing... Izaya wished he'd at least been given a coat, but at least he wasn't going to be outside for long. He and Villiers had already passed the edge of T&M, and the doors to Bill's Hardware were fast approaching

[not_rly_fai]

Even if he hadn't expected Kurogane to be at the bar at the same time, it hadn't kept him from getting a couple of drinks. Though the staff wasn't keen on letting him take the bottle of wine with him when he left. While he'd certainly had more, a couple glasses was enough to get him pleasantly numb and enough to bring an easy smile to his lips as he walked out of the bar.

It'd been a long time since he'd had a drink in this place, and on an empty stomach, he was more than pleased with the effect. Food did sound good though, and even if his card was out of money, he still had his coupons. There was a bounce in his step as he made his way toward the other restaurants. He didn't whistle, but hummed quietly to himself as he walked along the street.

[Chise!]

[cryingweapon]

After chatting with Kibitoshin on the bus (and informing him more than he should know about her), Chise spent the rest of the morning by herself. With her current state of mind, she was bound to blabber off her secret to anyone that conversed with her.

As soon as she turned around the corner, she spotted Fai, who had a pleasing look on his face. She called out to catch his attention and quickly walked over.

"You're pretty cheerful today, did something good happened?"

[not_rly_fai]

Though last night had been something of a nightmare, right now it was nothing but tickle in the back of his mind. People were missing, possibly dead, everyone close to him was vanishing, new ones arrived only to disappear days later... but it was a far away thought right now. He smiled back at Chise, waving as she caught up to him.

"Chise!" Now there was a face he hadn't seen in a while! When she was close enough, he leaned down to give her a squeeze. Some people were missing, but look! She was found! The bite that was returning to the air and the sun beginning to wind down to afternoon hardly seemed to matter. He was just thrilled to see her, alive and well.

"I got to go drinking with Kuro... gane," he managed, in response to her question. "It's been so long!"

[cryingweapon]

"Oof! Y-Yes, I suppose it has been a long time..." she replied while hugging him back. The last time she talked to him was at least a few days ago. She wondered if he found any clues on how this place operated, as well as the cause of the sudden switch in rulers.

Stepping back, she noticed that Fai was in fact, a little tipsy, on top of his cheerfulness. "You were out drinking with Mr. Kuro? Do they even allow patients to consume alcohol here? A-And you didn't get into another fight with Mr. Kuro, did you?!" Concerned, Chise quickly glanced at Fai, who sported no signs of a scuffle, than checked behind him for any signs of an angry rampaging ninja.

...

Nope, no signs of him. They were still safe.

[rolling_go]

Ippo ignored the strange looks he was receiving from the locals. Apparently this place was not used to athletes, which was such a shame. A nice gym would have made his day, but after a few laps around the whole town, there were none to be found. So shadow boxing had to be made public; damned if he was going to slack off in his training because of a few perplexed looks.

The main street light turned red before Ippo could cross safely. It was as good a place as any to take a rest while he waited. The boxer's heavy panting came out in thick clouds, but only his face was chilly. All that running had chased the frigid feeling from his bones. In fact, Ippo wouldn't be surprised if he was steaming.

The light turned and the young man crossed the street in a swift walk and leaned against the nearest store wall to catch his breath. His head was throbbing in time with his heartbeat, which either meant he got punched in the face a few times or he was hungry. Oh, what he would give for a few sucker punches to his face. Instead, he had to settle

[oneman_onekill]

Ah, that had been fun, talking with Badd again, but now Niikura really needed to eat. And by "really needed to eat" he meant "unless they wanted him gnawing on the seats when they drove back, he needed to eat". A muffin and some fruit just didn't cut it--but that was the point, wasn't it?

And between that Twin Pines restaurant and Tasty Burger, well, it was really a no-brainer. So he wandered down Bohr Street and then turned onto Main, licking his lips in anticipation of the burger (Yes, it would only be one burger, but it was still not pink slop) that would soon be his, oh yes

[rolling_go]

Ippo didn't see the danger either until it was too late. With the cloudy sky, there was no shadow to alert him of near death! He looked up just in time to see the same panicked face he wore before the man made a fabulous faceplant into the slush-covered sidewalk. That had to hurt.

"Ahh--! Sir!" Picking up the last of his fallen items, Ippo jumped to his feet and began his usual overreactions. "I'm sorry! I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean to trip you! Please forgive me!" He looked like a spastic dipping bird, the kind you find on glasses of water.

"I was just--I mean I ... accidentally dropped something--It won't happen again, sir!" His hand found the back of his head where he scratched his chaotic black hair anxiously.

[oneman_onekill]

--oh good, the bag was still there. Niikura breathed an inward sigh of relief: his burger was safe. He cleared his throat and readjusted his cap, wincing as it brushed over the banda--

Oho. Bandage. That gave him an idea.

Never one to miss an opportunity , he yanked the cap off with a flourish and pointed dramatically at the bandage wrapped around his head. "It better not! I'm already losin' half my brain, no thanks to ya!" Now to milk things to his satisfaction..."Ah, this world is so cruel, ya have no idea. Yesterday I suffered an injury in the line of duty tryin' to protect innocent civilians from gettin' eaten, and today, I guess they just wanna add insult to injury..."