Tu Shanshu

[ Despite the Dojo's mostly-fixed state following the hurricane, it hasn't been opened since, and today Bakura's elected to at least make that official. ]

The Jade Dojo will be staying closed for the rest of this month. If that's inconvenient... I really don't care.

[ Contrary to the indifferent words, he doesn't seem angry or even annoyed at anything, certainly not to the level of closing the doors for a while. ]

There are a few other places you can use in the meantime.

[ The console displays the addresses for two other gym-like establishments -- one in the Fire Sector and one in Earth -- that are kedan-run and while both smaller than the Dojo, are certainly serviceable. ]

[ Grouchy thief seems extra grouchy today. ]

Does anyone want a short ticket home, because apparently hiring anyone to do the Dojo's paperwork is a guaranteed way to disappear from this place.

[ He managed to lose not one, but both of his bookkeepers inside a week. ]

And why does it feel like the damned turtle has stalled?

I've been paying Enjolras to keep the paperwork for the Jade Dojo in order, because frankly I can't be bothered to do it myself. He's left Keeliai now, and I haven't gained any new incentive to take it up.

[ He considered adding more to that; Enjolras had been here a long time, far longer than Bakura has been. Ultimately, he decides to keep it succinct. ]

If that's something you can do competently once or twice a week, say so here.

[ Set the day after Valdis' vision hits all the Foreigners, but Bakura doesn't address it, instead appearing slightly bored. ]

Anyone else feel like getting paid to keep records? I was paying that Accelerator kid to do them for the dojo, but he's disappeared. I can do them, but they're boring as hell, so I'd rather not.

However if you'd feel compelled to ask where every deposit comes from, don't bother volunteering. Sometimes you're just going to have to write in, "sudden windfall" and leave it at that.

[ Bakura doesn't seem like a person who just lost a hatchling turtle. There's no evidence of lack of sleep or absence of focus... if anything, the thief looks equal parts busy and, as usual, antagonistic. ]

It's about time this place got interesting once again.

Has anyone bothered to ask the kedan whether they're happy to be out from under the yoke of tyrants? Other than that of the Foreigners, of course. Eshai at least had some sat-khert ib... but Evandau was just a waste of breath.

Though I suppose if we're trying for the trifecta of terrible rulers, we could always crown Malic--

[ Before he completes the name, jagged static begins to creep along the corners of the console screen that is visible to he and the viewers alike. Bakura stops, studying it for a moment. Then a sly grin appears and he speaks again, though this time it doesn't seem to be addressed to the Foreigners listening to the broadcast. ]

Hm, I knew you hadn't gone very far. What do we get if we guess where you really are?

[ Look who's not cranky today? Someone's enjoying the heat (though less the humidity) like any desert-born. ]

So who do I have to bribe to keep the turtle on this trajectory?

[ The remark is followed by a loud mental burst of DO NOT WANT from Emily-Helen, to which the thief laughs and amends: ]

Just for a few more months.

[ Other turtle parents or anyone the hatchlings feel like talking to may get the sense of an unhappy wail. ]

[ He keeps it short and to the point, audio only for the chance that someone might respond with decent advice before they realize by his voice who they're talking to. ]

How does one go about undoing a sudden interest in guardianship that a certain shelled someone seems to have found in me?

[ Someone's been trying to ignore Emily-Helen's insistent mental summons of her new papa, and it's getting to a point where it's becoming near-impossible to hear himself think over her in his head --and he's used to some pretty chatty ghosts already stuck up in there. ]

I know this might be a bit of a strange request, with this being such an unfamiliar place to all of us but I find that I've really been missing attending school. Is there somewhere in the city where... that would accept a Foreigner as a student?

[ Because this is just the sort of mundane thing his host would be focused on; Bakura could almost count on his host's predictability. And while he had not quite completely written off the possibility of Ryou's actual presence here, pretending to be the teen still served him well and the persona needed to be seamlessly maintained for as long as the thief deemed it beneficial for him. ]

It's just... so very odd feeling, not to have homework or anything.

[ He laughs a little, as though sheepish of the admission. ]

Not that I've been bored, the work at the dojo has been very enjoyable! I just haven't much to fill my time when I'm not there.

[ Yes, Bakura thinks. That sounds suitably boring and unassuming. ]

[ The face that greets console users this morning is offering a polite smile, laced with a touch of sheepishness as though he feels that he is troubling them by asking questions. ]

Everyone I've spoken to so far has been very helpful but I wonder if anyone had time for a few more questions? Has anyone here heard of a game called "Duel Monsters"? Or know of such companies as KaibaCorp, or Industrial Illusions?

Another thing, I've noticed quite a bit of... well, fire around the residence they've assigned me. It's like nothing I've ever seen before, not being hot at all. It's almost as though it's-- ah, it seems silly to say, forgive me. But it's rather like magic in stories, isn't it?

[ He seems embarrassed to bring it up, looking pensively away from the screen but continues after a moment. ]

Though, I suppose given everything that's happened here... perhaps it's not so strange?