soul_campaign | 01 { feb 13: mid-morning } { video+text }

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01 { feb 13: mid-morning } { video+text }

[The video starts with the camera shaking around. Through the shakiness, one can make out Hughes' knees and feet and possibly the floor.]

Here we go!

[The feed suddenly jerks up and the floor can be seen clearly, but the video starts moving around again soon after. The communicator is being waved.]

Record this! Record this!

[A hand takes the device, and it stops shaking excessively. Bakura replies.]

Okay!

[The communicator gets turned around and positioned properly. One can see Hughes is bandaged up and sitting in a wheelchair. Behind him is Amaterasu who is standing on her hind legs with her front paws set against the handles of the wheelchair. Bakura talks to the two of them.]

Everybody wave!

[Amaterasu grins and raises a paw to motion a wave. Her tail is wagging hard. Hughes grins and waves too.]

Look at what Ammy can do!

[Hughes jabs his thumb in her direction. Bakura speaks up and positions the camera so it's easier to see Amaterasu.]

Pretty impressive, ne?

[Amaterasu barks a couple times and pushes the wheelchair forward. Hughes starts laughing really excitedly and jokes between his laughter.]

Don't mind us! Just out for a stroll!

[Bakura laughs from behind the communicator and follows after as they move along. After a few more seconds, Hughes turns and waves his arm at Bakura for the communicator. He chuckles as he speaks.]

Okay, okay, that's enough of that. I think we all can see how talented Ammy here is now.

[He grins at Amaterasu. The camera shakes a little before the video feed is cut off. There is a text note beneath the video.]

Whoops.
Sorry! I was so distracted after that I forgot to post it up on the network yesterday. Thanks so much for helping me out, Bakura and Ammy!

[It seems the video was recorded some time in the afternoon the day before.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hehehe! It's fine, it's fine! Don't worry! I'm pretty resilient! [He was pretty much always like this anyway.]

Oh? You'll have to tell me about it some time then. I don't plan on making her carry me around any more though. That'd be too much like a chore considering how heavy I am!

Nice to meet you, Kotestu! Yeah, I figured that was the case. Oh! You have a daughter too? You understand what I feel than! I want to call her so badly, but I can't, haha! But yes, it does save an expensive bill. What's your daughter like? [He loved learning about new people. It was especially wonderful to meet a fellow dad!!]

Oh? We'll just have to see about that eventually. Get back to me after you're able to walk up those Shibusen steps and we'll see how resilient you are. [Not that it was a fair challenge, seeing as he was unsure on whether he could make it up those steps himself. He was far from weak but... those were a lot of steps.]

Story's for next time then. Can keep my word on that!

[Admittedly he could have attempted his own explanation of Ammy and her magical wolf goddess... ness, but Kotetsu was never one to deny an offer to sputter useless adoring nonsense about his daughter and so the topic change was very swift and enthusiastic.]

Kaede! Her name's Kaede! She's just about eleven now. Aah, she keeps growing up so fast. She has short brown hair and big brown eyes and the cutest face ever-- she ice skates! And she's amazing at it! She's really good at math too! And smart, really smart! And really kind and thoughtful and caring and cute and she's suuuper tough, just like her papa~!

Hahaha! I'll race you! [He was not quite sure if he could make it up there either though.]

Great! I'll remind you if you forget, hehe.

Kaede! That's such a cute name! Wow, she's eleven, huh? My daughter's only three, but I'll bet she'll be just as cute when she gets to your daughter's age! Ice skating! That's pretty tough stuff! I tend to fall over a lot when I try it myself...
Hehehe! You sound like a good man, Kotetsu! I feel like we'll become great friends!

[Hughes feels like he's met a kindred spirit...for obvious reasons.]

[They've barely started talking and they're bonding fantastically. This conversation might never even end.]

Oho~. That's a real big challenge to make while in a wheelchair, but you've got it! Just make sure you can get outta that thing first. It kinda ruins the fun.

Gosh, you're kid's tiny. I still remember when Kaede was that age. Better be prepared though, they always get big really fast. --ah, but you seem like a great guy too! You should try meeting someone I know, name's... hmm, what was it? Spritz? Spin... Spirit! He's got a kid himself, but haven't ever met her. All three of us should go out for a drink some day! Oh, that's if ya drink. No pressure though! [Smother the entire building with nothing but daughter talk.]

[Why would there ever be a need to end such a wonderful conversation about daughters though?]

It would! Hahaha. Don't worry, I would much prefer using my own two feet anyway!

She's an absolute darling! Hehehe, I take lots of photos so I can keep as many of those moments as I can. But yes! She's growing up so fast! Spirit, huh? Sounds familiar. I think someone else I talked to mentioned him. Yeah? Oh! Oh! That sounds fun! Of course I drink! We should definitely do that some time!

[Nothing like sharing a couple of brews with a couple of other dads.]

Drinks it is then! Uh, when you can get outta that wheelchair first. Drinking's not as enjoyable when you've gotta wheel yourself around everywhere. Makes it harder to get home too-- but at least you don't have to worry about falling over from too much! Unless you fall over in that thing, and, that's a lot of weight to come crashin' down... can always just wait!

Though, you lucked out on the photos. I had all of mine on my phone and that's all the way back home. I can't even look at my sweet, adorable little Kaede every morning and every night... not fair.

Hahaha! I dunno' if that'd happen. Never tried it before. I think that means it's worth a try though! I wonder how well I can navigate in a wheelchair while drunk... I think it'd be hard to tip it over, but, again, I have no clue if that's going to be different when I'm drunk, hahaha! Just to be safe, I guess I should wait until I'm better though...and then bring the wheelchair with me, hehe.

Oh! I actually have some of mine! Hehehe. They're um...not in shareable condition though. I'll redraw them on paper and show you! Maybe you should try drawing a picture of her on paper too? It's closer than nothing!

You actually thinking about keeping it? You're either playing it real safe or this is more of a habit than it should be. But hey, your decision and all.

[Drawing... now that was something he'd never thought of doing, as eager as he always was to display his almost never-ending love for Kaede.] The drawing thing sounds like a good idea. If you can draw, which I kinda can't. Not really. I'm good at a whole bunch of other stuff! Just not that. And, I dunno, a drawing doesn't really cut it. You just don't get the right picture with it. Last thing I need to do is mess it up, and then go showing off a drawing of her that just don't do Kaede a single bit of justice.

Hahaha! Well, I'm friends with Ammy, and she works at the clinic. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I borrowed it a little longer. I certainly won't need it for anything, but what's the harm in having it a couple more days?

Yeah, I'm not that great either, but what can you do? Hehe. Yeah, that'd definitely be the downside. Not many other options though, sadly... [Siiiiiiiiigh.] No one understands how tough it is to be a loving father.

Regardless, I'm getting a camera as soon as possible.

As long as you don't go gettin' into any trouble for it. Or, don't go taking it for joyrides. Not that I'm saying you will but uh, I'd try not to. Those sound pretty fun though. Never ridden a wheelchair...

'ch, you're tellin' me though. I mean I've got no complaints, not at all! But it ain't all that easy. ...ah, forgot tomorrow's Valentine's day. I can't get Kaede's special chocolates for papa. [All the pouting. Even if he most likely wouldn't have gotten any chocolates at all, or maybe yes but only a few. And Barnaby would have gotten multiple bags. He sees it now. One chocolate for Wild Tiger and fifty boxes to Kaede's super awesome favorite hero, Barnaby Brooks, Jr. How horrible.]

Hahahaha! It's really fun to ride a wheelchair! [He leaves it at that so that Kotetsu can guess what he means.]

Yeah, it's not... Oh, right. It is, isn't it... I can't get my present from my daughter either! Oh! This is frustrating! [He did not really do much for Valentine's, but his wife usually made a special dinner, and Elicia always tried to make cookies with her.] Ahhh~...why...

[Seeing as he's a hero, Kotetsu should most likely be a little concerned about what that confession entails........ but instead all he is is a bit jealous. Not his fault he's never really been injured enough to be in a wheelchair for long.] Huh...

Yup, tomorrow. You're not gonna hear the end of it around here. Seems like it's all people are really talking about. I don't mind but, when you get older the day kinda loses some of its shine.

[Not to mention when you have a deceased wife, those sorts of things aren't really part of your priority anymore. Aha... ha.]

[Success!] Hehehe.

Yeah, I suppose. I never really got into it, hahaha. As much as I am a romantic, I prefer sharing my feelings with the people I care about as much as possible. It's silly to make any one day more special than the rest of their lives.

[As ridiculous as he feels, Kotetsu can't contain the knowing smile at Hughes' words. Yeah, definitely a sap. He certainly agrees with him on the feelings-- heck, he can clearly remember having thought the same thing many times before. But... it's not really something he's all that eager to talk about anymore, which is exactly why he's kind of at a loss on how to reply.]

Can't argue with that. ...besides, between you and me, the only real big use Valentine's Day gives you is all the stuff they put up on sale the next day. Even if you're not up for what the day's all about, it's hard to say no to half-priced chocolate.

Hehehe, yeah. Gotta' love those sales. That's usually when I stock up on sweets, but my wife usually scolds me some since my little girl loves to eat them. [...not that he would ever see them again.]

...but, yeah. It's...interesting. [All aboard the angsty doting fathers train.]

[Toot toot... good thing Kotetsu knows better than to push a convo that's obviously failing, so he decides now is as good a time as any to get some life back into them.]

--y'know, I'm pretty sure that it'd be real easy to notice a talkative guy like you around, so I've got a feeling that you're one of the new people we're startin' to gather up again.

[Hughes is glad for the topic change. He would have done it himself, but nothing had come to mind.]

Hehehe, yeah. I came here a couple days ago. I'm guessing you've been here for a while, then?

Aah, another new one then. At least it looks like you're settling in okay enough. --oh right! A while now... actually... uh, lets see. [A couple seconds of mumbled counting.]

...huh. Been a month already. Didn't even know.

Hehe, yep.

Woah, a month? And you didn't notice? I'm guessing you've settled in quite well, then. I'm doing okay mostly because I've been moved around in battle a lot before. Sudden changes of environment aren't exactly new to me. The people I've met so far have made me feel very welcome too, haha. Yourself included of course. That aside, it's easier to just adjust and go with it rather than fretting, don't you think?

Well the thing is that the more you notice then the more it gets to you, and it kinda doesn't really help to remember that you're trapped in some other world that's nowhere near where you're supposed to be and that no one knows how to get you back home, and it doesn't really matter what kinda people or things you've got waitin' for you. All of that just needs to wait. ...and, I've got bad patience too so that's all sorta hard for me! But, you just gotta deal and try to make the best of things. --I didn't end up here alone either, so, can't really complain much. Or I can but, that's a whole 'nother story. Basically, just try not to worry about it all too much! That's what I think helps.

[And in his whole mini-tirade (which was partially to ease any worries Hughes had as well as all the ones he still continues to have even after a month), he remembers one odd little thing about what he had mentioned.]

--wait, you said battle, right? You some kind of soldier then?

Right. The most logical thing to do, anyway, hahaha. [Hughes had not actually expected such a long-winded response, but it was comforting to hear someone else say what he was thinking so that he knew he was not alone in his insecurities.]

Yep. I was in the military—Investigations division. I did a lot of things, like investigating incidents, developing strategy, etc etc. There was a lot of paper work I had to do, hahaha.

Before that, I had fought in a war though—with a couple of other people that are here, actually. We were placed in the battlefront, and we constantly had to move due to the front shifting and changes in squadron strategy. You never really got the chance to settle down because you would probably have to move within a day or two. It was pretty brutal on a lot of people since there was hardly any consistency, even with the people that you were fighting with. It was war, after all—there are always casualties.

[The silence this time around was half because Kotetsu was actually somewhat intrigued by the details, while the other half was... well, Kotetsu is good at listening, but not that good at understanding information. Especially complicated information, and all he really gets out of this is that Hughes sure happens to be good at giving details. Which he most likely won't remember after this. But hey, at least his question was answered.]

It's not gonna feel all that different for ya here then, is it? --I mean, aside from the obvious of course. Where and whose war and all that. ...not that, that's really anything to get used to in the first place. All of this really.

[Casualties especially, which... he won't touch the subject, because he refuses to. Not his strong point of discussion.]

[Hughes likes talking, so details, details, details!]

Well... Actually, it's quite different. Aside from circumstances, there are so many children involved with this war. It concerns me a lot, actually, but... I don't really have any right to tell them not to get involved. It's definitely different... At least back then, it was of my own prerogative. Here, BREW pulls people here against their will and immerses them in the problem at hand. Anyone with a decent sense of justice would feel guilty for simply withdrawing from trying to defend a place like this... That's what I think, anyway.

[Each of which shall be going over Kotetsu's head in an amazing show of coherence. Suddenly feeling more uncomfortable than before, he reached up to rub at the back of his neck in order to get rid of the sudden chill he'd felt go up his back.] Aah, I get what you mean. I... can't stand it myself either, but even if I tried I couldn't do much of anything about it. They'd still keep coming in, things would still go to hell around here and... there's only really so much you can do.

[ It was one of the many things that ate Kotetsu up about this place, that there were kids here barely older than Kaede that had been expected to do just about the same kind of work he'd been held responsible for back home as a hero. None of what he did was meant for children, especially nothing like a war. As desperate as one could be in a situation like this, kids didn't need to be involved. Never. And he couldn't do a thing about it. Not as a hero, barely as a regular human being at that. It was almost enough to make him disgusted in himself but self-pity would get him nowhere. Harder, he just had to try harder, until he couldn't anymore.]

I wouldn't ever wanna give up just because of how messed up it is. It could be ten times worse than this and I'd still keep going. Hasn't ever changed before and it won't change now.

You're right. If anything, that's just even more of a reason why we can't give up. Even if they don't recognize it, as adults, we should be protecting them. They shouldn't have to be put in danger like that. So I want to do my best as well. Even if that means I'll be the unsung hero that they don't even know about.

[He pauses.]

Anyway. We shouldn't worry too much about it, I guess. It's a fact that it's going to be that way, so... Let's just do our best, Kotetsu.

01 { feb 13: mid-morning } { video+text }

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