People Who Make Good First Impressions Usually Suck

[shikomizue]

Who: Takasugi Shinsuke + Lavi, Kanda | Koon, and Lancer
Where: Sugar Point | Upper Class Leith School
When: 10 years ago | 20 years ago
Summary: Catch-all for Takasugi's pre-game prompts. Feel free to hit me on the BSM or on plurk (fromgilbo) to plan something out!
Restrictions/Warnings: Alcohol, Very mild violence

Comments

[lotusmesenpai]

[There's something definitely off about this man - of that, Kanda's sure. He hadn't really expected to catch the man off-beat, but still - he was quick on his feet, and quicker to adapt. Kind of like his real dad, actually. Not that the two are anything alike, really, but much as the stranger sets him on edge a bit, he's long since lost sight of his mother and sister, and there's a challenge on the table that he doesn't quite feel like walking away from.

Especially once the gun was in his hands.

Small, sure fingers adjust the mock-weapon as he casts one last glare up at this stranger, his 'dad' for the moment, before his head tilts down.

Breaths slow and steady, he closes an eye and sights down the barrel just the way his dad had taught him. Faint traces of the scowl linger as he finally squeezes the trigger with a steady force, aiming not at the center of the stacked target, but the lowermost edge of the top one.

Way he figures it, is the base looks thick, heavy, so hitting the top won't have enough force to knock it down. He's going to have to take his shots to force that top one back, until it unbalances off the other two.]

[shikomizue]

[The boy's participation was sealed long before the gun was placed in his hands, Takasugi was sure. A challenge of skill - in demonstrating his marksmanship, but - in meeting the stranger's pressure without faltering the boy could prove himself.

To himself.

He watched the child plan his shots, eyes trailing from the target to the tip of the gun to the way breath filled and emptied from the other's chest. Even. Focused. A light note of exasperation was taken when the boy closed his eye - depth perception wasn't to be underestimated.

But the target was hit as intended, and Takasugi figured he could give the child some encouragement.] Ah. You missed. [It was so much more satisfying to prove someone wrong than to hear praise for something simple.]

[lotusmesenpai]

[Depth perception, says the man with one eye. There's a moment of satisfaction, before the stranger had to go and ruin it. ]

Bastard, I didn't miss. [Glaring up at the man, Kanda actually sticks his tongue out at the stranger before turning back to take aim once again.]

It's called strategy.

[That said, he takes the shot a second time, striking the same spot as the first and sending the base of the topmost bottle kicking out, falling between the other two to knock them over as well. Triumphantly, he half turns to smirk up at the man.]

See? It worked, dumbass!

[shikomizue]

[You don't know what you've got til it's gone, kid.

Eyebrows raised in mock offense, Takasugi is genuinely amused to see the kid's tongue peek from between his lips. As tough as he tried to sound, he was enjoying this, at least a little.

Even if he wouldn't admit it to himself.] Ah, right. [With absent acceptance of the correction, Takasugi pulled himself from his leaning posture, standing with hips forward to observe the final shot.]

So it did. [He turns to the vendor, gesturing to the panda but not taking it when presented.] Will you need help carrying that? [No congratulations, only another incendiary question to keep the boy from puffing his chest in victory.]

[lotusmesenpai]

Of course not!

[Clearly, Kanda plays right into the man's trap, because he's all too quick to shout rather than brag. He does, however, step up to take the oversized stuffed animal, only to realize it's quite nearly the same size as he is.

Even so!

The glare he shoots up at the man makes it clear that he's got this. No need to help. He'll just have to walk blindly through the crowds to find his mom and sister...]

She better a'preciate the shit I do for her. Damned brat.

[He hesitates, small face twisting in annoyance before he looks up again. ] ... thanks, old man.

[shikomizue]

[The boy's predictable rejection of any help was only met with a smile, which only splayed wider on his lips as the panda nearly overtook the child's size. Not that Kanda could see, with the plush fur in his face.]

Aa. [He'd done nothing other than use the boy as a distraction to keep vendor eyes from lingering. But he supposed he was being thanked for his patience, the ability to guide a no-good kid through his pride well enough to have some fun.] Brats need to look after each other-

Find her quickly. [With that, he watched the stuffed animal bob through the crowd, before he turned from the vendor and to linger between two extinguished stalls.

Remorse was far from him as Takasugi's blood ran hot, the only sign of the adrenaline that was coming to a boil under his skin. The first explosion lit up the sky with fire and ember only minutes later - for the first time that night his breaths came easy.

Among the flames that rose, weaving their path through the festivities, people in their stampede to escape blurred, but for a boy. Not the obstinate youth of moments before, but someone far more familiar. A ghost of himself - he supposed he'd killed another of those memories tonight, sent off with the bang of a pellet gun.]