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Post by mariescott on Sept 17, 2020 12:59:06 GMT -5
"Hi," Kumiko said softly. "I'm sorry to show up like this," she said as she stepped inside. "I went for a walk to try to clear my head and suddenly found myself in front of your apartment." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I'll understand if you want to be alone."
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Post by FangZeronos on Sept 17, 2020 14:35:04 GMT -5
"It's alright. I've just been sitting here on the floor and letting my mind go to dark places," Mayumi said, putting her hand on Kumiko's shoulder. "I keep...running it all through my head. The cocky arrogance, the self agrandizing bullshit, and...I contrast that with the man we saw yesterday, and I'm having trouble putting them together. I want to believe he's really Aaron, but...a nagging in my stomach is keeping it from being real in my head."
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Post by venomizer on Sept 17, 2020 20:38:22 GMT -5
Davis heard his name and as he turned around he saw Uryuu. "Yeah?" Davis said as he then put two and two together. "No, I'm not looking for Aaron, I was actually hungry and I noticed he was here and figured I'd try to talk to him about things. I get the feeling that he's a little overwhelmed..." Davis said as he continued to wait for the waitress to sit him at a table."True," Uryuu took a quick glance at Aaron before focusing on Davis. "I want to check on him. To see if he's accommodating so far." He blew a low sigh, eyes now staring at the ground. "But also I like to get to know him a little better so he doesn't feel too left out." "Agreed. Like starting from ground zero." Davis said as the waitress got his attention and Davis politely asked to be sat at Aarons table. As he got to Aaron's table. Davis sat down. "Hey, me and Uryuu wanted to check on you. See how your handling things." Davis said as he waited for the waitress to make her rounds so he could order.
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Post by Mr.Silver on Sept 17, 2020 23:58:38 GMT -5
"Agreed. Like starting from ground zero." Davis said as the waitress got his attention and Davis politely asked to be sat at Aarons table. As he got to Aaron's table. Davis sat down. "Hey, me and Uryuu wanted to check on you. See how your handling things." Davis said as he waited for the waitress to make her rounds so he could order.
"Sure you can sit down there!" Aaron looked up and provided Davis with a snarky response since he failed to ask him directly if he wanted to sit with him. "I'll be fine. It's everyone else acting weird." He turned his full attention back to his meal, foregoing additional eye contact.
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Post by jedibloo on Sept 18, 2020 1:28:11 GMT -5
"Sure you can sit down there!" Aaron looked up and provided Davis with a snarky response since he failed to ask him directly if he wanted to sit with him. "I'll be fine. It's everyone else acting weird." He turned his full attention back to his meal, foregoing additional eye contact.
"Sorry for barging in like that Aaron. That was not our intention." Uryuu apologized before tentatively sat across from him. When the Gold Ranger mentioned about everyone else around him, he simply averted his eyes. "Well can you not blame them. Their reactions are almost similar to ours." He said before staring at him. "By any chance have you spoke to your parents?"
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Post by Mr.Silver on Sept 18, 2020 1:47:06 GMT -5
"Let me be clear, when I said everyone, that includes the team." Aaron enjoyed another forkful of rice. Upon hearing of his parents, the Gold Ranger let his guard down slightly.
"No. I haven't had time since most of it was spent being interrogated like I'm some traitor or criminal. The folks are next on my list as soon as I finish eating."
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Post by jedibloo on Sept 18, 2020 3:07:20 GMT -5
"I see. Well good luck." Uryuu said before staring at the table, carefully formulating his next words. "Look, I'm not here to interrupt your meal time. I'm here because I just want to get to know you. Not matter the circumstances, at the end of the day, you're still my friend."
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Post by venomizer on Sept 18, 2020 20:31:15 GMT -5
"I agree. We aren't here to cause any trouble. We wanna support you but we also wanna get to know you, but if you want us to leave, I understand, I'll get my food to go." Davis said as he went to get up from the table.
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Post by Mr.Silver on Sept 18, 2020 22:59:38 GMT -5
"I see. Well good luck." Uryuu said before staring at the table, carefully formulating his next words. "Look, I'm not here to interrupt your meal time. I'm here because I just want to get to know you. Not matter the circumstances, at the end of the day, you're still my friend."
"I agree. We aren't here to cause any trouble. We wanna support you but we also wanna get to know you, but if you want us to leave, I understand, I'll get my food to go." Davis said as he went to get up from the table.
"That's the part neither of you get." Aaron put his fork down, using a napkin to wipe his mouth. "You say you're trying to get to know me.... but you already know me!" Aaron's voice elevated momentarily before he crouched down a bit in his chair and dialing the volume back as to not draw too much attention.
"We've all known each other since we were kids. Whether it was Uryuu trying to be a stickler for the rules and following behind the Jounins to soak up as much knowledge as possible or Davis for always trying to one up me....unsuccessfully because I've always been awesome to other shinobi in the village getting their jokes in because we were older than most genin. We've been through it all and now because of the actions of someone else, you have to get to know me?! I haven't changed. I toughed it out so that I can get back to you guys and as my reward for survival, my closest friends treat me like a stranger after they let themselves be polluted by an impostor."
Aaron took a deep breath, thankful to get that off of his chest. "And to add insult to injury, it feels like nobody even gives a damn about what I went through as Proto's prisoner or what he did to me. Y'all can call me cocky and arrogant all you want but I would have never treated any of you like that if it was one of you stuck in Orochimaru's lab or Proto's cell. But it is what it is. I guess I have to live with the new normal now." Aaron went back to enjoying his meal, eating a bit faster so that his food didn't get cold.
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Post by venomizer on Sept 20, 2020 0:36:32 GMT -5
"Your right we've known each other since we were kids, not as rangers, but as kids." Davis said trying to keep his composure. "When Proto snatched you up....How could we have known you were snatched up in the first place? There was so much chaos that day with Proto and Orochimaru trying to take on the last hokage that the only thing we were focused on was trying to save the other students and protect the Hokage. Yeah, we knew each other as kids and until that day that's when everything changed. That's when the Aaron we grew up with that one being you was switched with the one that became the ranger and that we fought alongside that became the red ranger. The guy that died saving us. And you know the old saying "If It walks like Aaron, talks like Aaron, and acts like Aaron, it must be Aaron." And your right, we were wrong for not asking what went down in Orochimaru's lab. I'm guilty. Hell, Uryuu's just recovering from his experience. I'm sorry for not taking your feelings into account. I really am. That's why I'm here." Davis said as he let all his feelings out on the table.
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Post by jedibloo on Sept 20, 2020 2:15:53 GMT -5
Uryuu blew a deep sigh as he listened to Aaron's rant. He's right. They all knew each other almost their entire lives until that fateful day. Had they known that Aaron was absent on the time of coronation, then they would search for him right away. After Davis replied back, it's the Blue Ranger's turn to chime in. "It's true. We should've been considerate of your feelings after everything you went through. Hell, I empathized with you because I had to deal with Orochimaru too. For that I'm truly sorry." He said, feeling remorse of his actions. “I know we cannot change the past, but we can change the future. Just by... relearning each other... and be friends again."
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Post by mariescott on Sept 20, 2020 17:09:51 GMT -5
Kumiko smiled sadly. "I want to believe that he's really Aaron as well but I keep remembering the Aaron we fought with. The Aaron who died for us." She sighed and sat down. "There is a part of me that is happy that he's back. I want to hug him and tell him how sorry I am about what happened to him because of Proto and Orochimaru." She twisted her hands together. "It's just lost underneath the fear I have that this is just a trick to get us to trust him. That he's going to show his true colors at any moment and betray us." She looked up at Mayumi, her eyes tearing up. "If that's the case and we have to fight him that just means we've lost him twice. I don't think I can handle that."
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Post by FangZeronos on Sept 20, 2020 18:26:20 GMT -5
Mayumi nodded, sitting beside Kumiko and taking her friend's hand. She understood the Pink Ranger's mindset, feeling the same way. "I know," she said softly. "I can't help but think like that too. I do feel bad for him. I feel bad that we aren't trying to understand and help him move past what Proto did. We're all looking at him like he's a fake, and...that's got to be worse then anything Proto or Orochimaru could have done to him..."
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Post by Mr.Silver on Sept 21, 2020 22:34:23 GMT -5
Uryuu blew a deep sigh as he listened to Aaron's rant. He's right. They all knew each other almost their entire lives until that fateful day. Had they known that Aaron was absent on the time of coronation, then they would search for him right away. After Davis replied back, it's the Blue Ranger's turn to chime in. "It's true. We should've been considerate of your feelings after everything you went through. Hell, I empathized with you because I had to deal with Orochimaru too. For that I'm truly sorry." He said, feeling remorse of his actions. “I know we cannot change the past, but we can change the future. Just by... relearning each other... and be friends again."
"Friends again?" Aaron finished his meal and pushed his plate forward. "For us to be friends again that would mean at some point within these last few months, our friendship ended... because of some impostor that had nothing to do with me. Good to know." Aaron pulled some money out of his pocket and tossed it on the table to pay for his meal before walking past the other guys and walking out of the restaurant.
Fortunately for the Rangers, there wasn't much time for the walkout to marinate. In the far distance outside of the village there was a chilling mixture of screams of terror and explosions. Aaron jumped to the rooftops to get a better view and saw the explosions.
Like many others, Asuma also heard the commotion. When he went outside, he noticed the sounds become more clear, meaning that whatever was happening was closing in on the village.
"Rangers!" Asuma yelled into his communicator. "Get to the front gates. We need to figure out what's going on out there." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two communicators still sitting on his table. One that belonged to the dead Aaron and the other presumably being a spare, neither of which were given to the returning Aaron thanks to all of the commotion surrounding his return. "And if someone can find Aaron on the way, that would be appreciated."
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Post by venomizer on Sept 21, 2020 23:34:15 GMT -5
Davis jumped to his feet from the table when he heard the screams from the village. He then ran outside and found Aaron hearing those same screams from the rooftops nearby and heard his communicator go off.
"Rangers!" Asuma yelled into his communicator. "Get to the front gates. We need to figure out what's going on out there." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two communicators still sitting on his table. One that belonged to the dead Aaron and the other presumably being a spare, neither of which were given to the returning Aaron thanks to all of the commotion surrounding his return. "And if someone can find Aaron on the way, that would be appreciated."
"Davis here. Aaron and Uryuu are with me. We are headed their now." Davis said as he then ascended to he rooftops. He looked at Aaron who was a rooftop away and nodded before he headed towards the front gates.
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