She's just a fraction of herself [closed]

[flight_15]

Characters: Ichigo, Rhyme, and Beat
Content: Really, who wouldn't be suspicious of a 20-something guy leading a little girl around a festival? If it were anyone but Ichigo, it'd be sketchy as hell. Trouble is, Beat doesn't know Ichigo, and isn't happy with some guy perving over his sister.
Setting: The more carnival-like parts of the festival

Comments

[reaperbait]

Rhyme was currently clinging to the stuffed animal Ichigo had won for her, tucked under her arm. She had been having a blast. There's been a few snacks, tons of performers and stalls with all sorts of games and food.

She'd tried her hand at a few of the games, including ring toss and the one where you scoop up goldfish but she hadn't been particularly lucky - she wanted to win something for Ichigo.

It was alright that she hadn't won anything yet, though. For the first time in a long time she felt like she had a big brother there with her. Beat was nice, of course, and great at brother-things, too, but Ichigo was ... here. He also wasn't trying too hard, which made it better, somehow.

[curry_ramen]

It had been pure luck, good or bad it didn't matter, that beat had been in the same area as the two. After finding out about Kambei and that odd conversation with Gin over the journals... fun and games were very low on his list. In fact, he hadn't been intending to come here at all. His feet had just kept walking as he thought swirling things in his own little world, going over everything Gin said, everything he could have done wrong to make Kambei leave so suddenly.

So he was almost on top of the pair when he looked up, finally.

"Rhyme? What the-?" He finally saw Ichigo. Guy looked older then him, and... holy hell was this some kind of date?!

"Who the hell is dis guy!?"

[flight_15]

Ichigo looked at him in surprise. "That's my line! Rhyme, you know this guy?" He eyed Beat. Punk looked like trouble, all right, but Ichigo knew better than anyone that someone who looked like trouble wasn't necessarily looking for it.

It wasn't surprising, he supposed, that Rhyme would run into someone she knew here. Heck, Ichigo was surprised he hadn't run into any old buddies at an event this big. If he was an old friend of Rhyme's, that wouldn't be a problem. But if he did start any trouble....

[reaperbait]

"Beat!" Rhyme waved with her free hand at the boy. "Ichigo, this is my brother, Beat." She'd already told him about her own uncertainty about Beat's identity, so she didn't think she needed to rehash it. Honestly, it was safe to say that Ichigo knew more about that than most of the others on the crew anyway.

"Beat, this is Ichigo! He got me a King Lizard claw, for the mage!" She was, as always, a ball of excitement and enthusiasm, but she was extra excited for that. It was one step closer to a cure for her.

She laughed a little, what were the chances of her real big brother and her other friend - who she'd come to think of a lot like a brother as well - meeting like this anyway?

[curry_ramen]

Rhyme's enthusiasm always made him feel better, and for a moment he forgot the dark feelings of the last two days. He pumped his fist a little, grinning.

"Awesome! I got the Cactaur Needle, so dat's two, yo!"

But soon the joy faded and he looked Ichigo over carefully, suspicion heavy on his face. "Ichigo, eh?... DOn' dat mean Raspberry or som'ing?"

[flight_15]

"I didn't get it for you," Ichigo muttered quietly, "I had it and wasn't using it." He felt a little embarrassed by Rhyme's glowing enthusiasm. Really, it had been nothing.

"So, this is your brother, huh?" Ichigo looked Beat over just as carefully. "Something like that," he replied to Beat. Explaining the precise meaning of his name wasn't important right now. What was important was figuring out her big brother's character. He'd seemed like a decent sort, from what Ichigo had heard from Rhyme -- at least he cared enough to go around to find a cure for Rhyme's memory loss, even if Ichigo didn't like how he'd left her on a ship to fend for herself.

And Rhyme still didn't know for sure if they were related. Well, time would tell.

[reaperbait]

"Well, you still had it for me," she shot back at Ichigo. She headed over and gave Beat a big hug, too, in greeting. "And, yeah! Thanks, Beat. We're gonna go all the way. Slow and steady wins the race!"

She could feel the tension, of course, but she was mostly happy to ignore it in favor of staring at another stall and ordering a puffy funnel cake to carefully eat while still clinging to the stuffed animal.

She watched her two 'big brothers' watch each other.

[curry_ramen]

The oversized teenager yelped a little when she hugged him, blushing and grumbling, though he eventually gave in and rubbed the top of her head, shifting her hat around a little before she pulled away again. That close it was pretty obvious they were related, even with the size difference. And it wasn't just the blonde hair and blue eyes that gave it away. A similar nose, a certain angle of the cheekbones... it was odd that anyone couldn't see it after at least some time.

But once she went for her snack, Beat turned back to Ichigo. "So yer on'da Way, eh? Don' think we met while I was staying there..."

........ffffffff, matching icons

[flight_15]

"Must've missed you," Ichigo replied simply, tone and posture were nonchalant. So, he was telling the truth about being her brother, but what kind of guy was he? If he was going around Reial to get Rhyme's memory back, he couldn't be that bad a guy.

Besides, even if he had seen Beat, Ichigo had a terrible memory for names and faces. He wouldn't remember, not any more than any other crewman he didn't talk to on a regular basis. He'd been on the ship for nine months, and still only knew the names of less than half the people on the ship.

"Don't worry, she's doing all right."

aww I don't have one!

[reaperbait]

Rhyme grabbed a funnel cake and paid for it before immediately scarfing down one corner of it, nearly burning her mouth. She fanned her mouth in the universal gesture for 'I just ate something really hot'. That meant, however, that she was ignoring the boys for a moment.

Her only thought on the matter was that her big brothers would hopefully get along. Finally, she scraped her tongue along her teeth, trying to get rid of the ouch from her over-eager noshing.

She waved at them both. "Do you want to do something all three of us? I bet there are all sorts of rides!"

/poor Rhyme doesn't match ;_;

[curry_ramen]

"Good." He grumbled at Ichigo. He wasn't meaning to seem aggressive or anti-social... it was just a bad time for him and Rhyme deciding to stay with the Way was a wound that still hadn't fully healed. "She's smart... I know she can handle herself a'ight."

Then Rhyme came back, and Beat paled. He wanted to hang with Rhyme, but with Ichigo too? It never occurred to him that -he- was the one who was the third wheel here.

"Er.... if ya wanna, yo..."

[flight_15]

Ichigo looked at Beat, unconscious of the wariness in his eyes. Beat was Rhyme's brother. Normally, Ichigo would back off and let them hang out, but he wasn't quite ready to let Rhyme wander around on her own in a place like this, with someone Ichigo didn't know at all. She was only thirteen, and this guy....something about his manner set off alarm bells. Beat was happy to see Rhyme, yeah, but something was bothering Ichigo, making him cautious.

"Sure," Ichigo said. The three of them going sounded good to him. He'd get an idea of what Beat was like, and maybe figure out what was behind Rhyme's amnesia.

[reaperbait]

She slid in between the two of them and grinned up at both, a small bit of powdered sugar on her nose from eating too fast - a Bito tradition. She sighed, content. She knew, intellectually, that Beat was her brother, and she liked him well enough, but she did know the whole situation made them both uncomfortable, so she was happy with a buffer. It let her be -- more distant. She was usually an involved and friendly girl, but on this issue it was difficult for her to just accept Beat, not yet anyway.

"Well, we can't go on a ride because I have this animal and food and so -- yeah. Let's play a few more games! You can throw darts and shoot out paper targets and everything! I'll play too." She pointed at another one of the stalls where it was set up to have darts thrown and pop balloons.

[curry_ramen]

Even a thickheaded guy like Beat noticed the distance between himself and Rhyme, and it hurt, a little. He understood, at least a little... but after having her clinging to his shirt-tails almost all his life, the loss of her cut deep.

But he tried his best to distract himself by what she was saying.

"Games? Heh, why da hell not! Maybe I can win somethin' for Haine..."

[flight_15]

"Don't eat so fast," Ichigo muttered. "You've got sugar on your nose." He reached up to swipe it off, thumbing her nose in a casual, familiar gesture. Kids, he thought, scowling to hide the fondness he felt. Rhyme could be so grown-up, talking about wanting to be a doctor, but really, she was just thirteen. She was one of the people on the ship that Ichigo wanted to protect most.

But enough of that. "Sounds good to me," he shrugged. He liked games, and if Beat was all for it....what was the worst that could happen?

[reaperbait]

"Slow and steady wins the race," she reminded herself. She frowned down at the rest of her funnel cake and then offered it up to the boys to take pieces if they wanted. She wasn't going to be able to finish it anyway.

After that she dashed up to the table, payed her money and took her three darts in hand. Her first dart went almost completely wild and she giggled a little at that.

"Oops." She looked at the boys. "Why don't you guys go first?"