[Day: Wednesday, March 26th. Time: 7:30 p.m.] [It's a cool, drizzly night. Looks like Haruko just sped up what was going to actually happen earlier that day. Takeuchi Bike Repair's closed up, and we find Kaede doing... whatever he's doing. Let's watch!] [Mini Start.] * Kaede is doing whatever it is he's doing. Which currently happens to be TAKING OVER THE WOR--or simply working on his computer. Hey, it could look the same from afar, couldn't it? [It could, but it isn't! And even more annoyingly, the phone rings!] (Substitute GM never lets me have any fun ;_;) (Mwehehe.) * Kaede starts at the phone and fumbles for it a bit. Rubbing his forehead he puts it up to his ear. "..hello?" * Taki is on the other end and sounding a bit nervous, "Aah, Kaede? ...Uhm...I need to ask you a question." * Kaede blinks and tilts his head at the phone. "A what? Who is this?" Og. This is Taki...or I suppose I should say The Knight of Cups. And I wanted to ask you about Katie.... * Kaede starts again on the other side of the phone and is silent for a bit before responding. "...look, I'm already bad enough after what happened earlier today. If you're calling just to tell me what an idiot I am.... No, nononono. ( You are an idiot, but that's not why I called!) I...aheheh. Aheh. No, no. Go ahead. Tell me how much I screwed up. It won't matter. * Taki babbles into the phone, "See....I know I don't know what I'm doing, and I've been trying to do what seems like the best thing to do...but I realy don't know if it or it isn't and I thought you might have known...only you don't..." * Taki slaps her hand into her forehead loud enough for Kaede to hear, "That's not how I ment that to come out." ...so how did you mean for it to come out? * Kaede sounds a little bit calmer after Taki's response. * Taki sighs, "I'm trying to find out what we're supposed to be doing, I figured with your computer and everything you might have looked allready...but I guess not... or maybe it said the wrong thing." Looked into what? Katie...she's not...well sometimes she is...I... she's... * Kaede is just stony silence on the other end. Like rock. Are we supposed to pretend nothing happened? Do we try and talk about it? * Taki sighs, "...I don't even know what I'm trying to do anymore." * Kaede is silent for a bit longer and then response quietly. "...acting like nothing happened at all isn't being fair to Katie." * Taki nods, "...Right." * Kaede rubs his head. "If we try to get lax about this, then it could very well happen again. We can't treat it as if it's a problem that will just go away anymore. You get dealt the hand you're dealt, but it's up to you what you end up doing with the cards, right? * Taki sighs, "Yeah...and I screwed up with them." It's a bit too early to say that, wouldn't you say? * Taki falls silent for a bit and then, "I ...should have KNOWN...in a way I did know, the real Katie would have never have asked me to do that. But I was so buisy trying to ... Argh. I can't even put what I was thinking into words because I wasn't thinking." Look, Taki. Is the fact that there's another Katie trying to personally screw up Katie's life the only explanation for Katie's odd behavior a week ago? No, it's not the Katie impersonator trying to screw up her life a week ago that I'm talking about. It's the one that screwed up her and my life a MONTH AGO! ...what? * Taki takes two deep slow breaths. I've had to tell this story three times now... when I met her at the Tower Reversed. ...Wait wern't you there at the hospital when I told everybody else? I...yeah. * Kaede rubs his forehead. "With everything just piling on us recently, it's so easy to forget.." * Taki lets out another sigh, "I know, I know." All we have to do is keep an eye out for anything of the ordinary, Taki- san. You can't be reliant on Katie or me or, well, anyone anymore. ( But deffinately Kaede :P ) ...That's...not what I wanted to hear...but it's probibly true. * Taki sighs, and falls silent for a bit. * Kaede sighs. "Look. I'm not saying we don't look to each other for advice. But unless we can come up with a way to ourselves that will convince us we're talking to the right person. Or to try and figure these things out on our own... * Taki groans, "Like if I find myself thinking, 'Hey, Kyon's being nice' again I'll know it's the fake?" Will you? Are you certain he is and always will be an utter bastard? Ye....no. Or if he's a bastard, that's no guarentee either. Now the question is, what do *you* feel? Confused and worried mostly. Well...that's a start You say that as if it might be a good thing. Worry isn't necessarily bad. It keeps you cautious. * Taki sighs again, "I'd rather not have to be." No, but it's useful to know when you *do* have to be... And there's no way for me to learn that without screwing up again is there? I suppose not. * Taki lets out a short laugh, "So I'm going to screw up again, hopefully not as bad this time...and you've gotten me totaly side tracked from what I called you about." Which is what? * Ardweden is now known as Ardle Give me a second to straighten this out in my head, the whole reason I got sidetracked was I didn't quite have it right. Right...First off, Katie can't be the first person something like this has happened to right? It's possible she is actually. Although I see what you're saying. You think there might have been someone earlier who'd been replaced? Or attempted to be replaced. * Kaede leans back in his chair. "That'd be hard to check though. If they were successful, then who would know the difference between the copy and the original? If they failed, who would believe them?" ...Or just locked in a closet untill they went insane. I don't think Katie's gone that far. Not yet at least. Besides, if you're in that long... I think that's only a little part of it...but it's a bit normal people might have delt with so there's probibly something written somewhere about dealing with it. Mmm..I can check. * Taki nods, "That's actualy what I was calling about...But now I'm wondering what all of us did about the reversed cards last time around...The old man said they were created at the same time." (One of these days she's going to realize that people can't hear her moving her head around.) That I don't think there'd be anything on the computers about. Yeah. It was just a thought. And we could ask the old man, and maybe if we keep at it long enough he'll tell us. And thanks. * Ardle is now known as Ardweden For what? For the first time in days I'm not thinking in little cirlces about what I did wrong. Thinking in circles is never healthy. Yes, which is why I'm talking to you. You seem to think in straight lines. ...I think that's the closest to a compliment anyone short of Katie or Nanami has given me. (It amuses me that Remi and Akemi, his two love interests, aren't on the list.) ...You're welcome? (Isn't it amusing? Well, Remi has. Akemi hasn't actually complimented him on anything. Other than not minding if he's a raging pervert or not) Was there anything else? Nothing that can't wait untill after you've done a bit of looking around. Alright then. Have a good night. Good night Kaede, and thanks again. * Taki hangs up the phone. [End it! End it now!]