Lemme Lookit Your Old Crap [Raphael/Shouhei]

Shouhei Kagawa stepped foot inside the Royal Explorer’s Vault, the museum Raphael Gatsby owned.  There was a stillness in the air, a steady silence that lingered throughout the building.  His footsteps echoed loudly, bouncing off relics of the past and throughout nearly empty halls.  The last time he set foot in a museum was for a school field trip, and Mariko nearly had to physically drag him along every exhibit.

Even now, he would be hard pressed to step foot inside a museum, but could definitely appreciate the sights and pieces of history once he was there.  Instead of stupidly shouting out for Raphael, he used his brain this time to text his friend.

Shouhei: Yo raph i’m @ ur museum  
Shouhei: Lemme lookit ur old shit lmfao    
Shouhei: Where u @ bro  

With those messages sent, Shouhei went to inspect a suit of armor that caught his eye.  He wondered how Take-Minekata stood up to it...

Meanwhile...... in the annex...

Raphael was currently showing a presentation through his phone, forgetting a flash drive at home that had the Genghis Khan armor showing and possible oriental exhibition. He was even trying to see if he could get one of the district leaders involved if they were interested in attending.

"Completely legitimate, battle-torn in some aspects of the armor itself, but not only do we have the armor still intact, but we recreated a visual hologram of what it used to look like as well. The Kahn expedition would go into many descriptive details of the Kahns in the past, I really think that ..."

*Vrrrr...vrrr*

It was at that moment that Raphael text messages would show on the screen with everyone to see.

Shouhei: Yo raph i’m @ ur museum  
Shouhei: Lemme lookit ur old shit lmfao  pirat  
Shouhei: Where u @ bro  

"Oh shit...."



Shouheu's timing was amazing, but more than that, Raphael quickly unplugged his phone and snapped his fingers at his secretary to take over.

"Where is he....."


-Text line-


Raph: Was at a meeting, the texts showed. *Facepalm*
Raph: I was getting bored anyway, meet me at the closed-off section with the red rope. SAys coming soon, can't miss it.

Twin buzzes of Shouhei’s phone vibrated in succession of a message, undoubtedly sent by Raphael.  He winced upon reading it; he didn’t mean to interrupt Raphael’s meeting with his texts.

Shouhei: My fault man i dun fucked up    
Shouhei: Pls forgive me    
Shouhei: Kk c u there in a bit bro    

The intrigue of a closed off section of the museum spoke to the inner delinquent within Shouhei, that mischievous side of him that sought to ignore rules and boundaries set to him.  As he found the area, a coy grin spread on his facade.  With a small whistle to act as if nothing was wrong, he ducked underneath the red rope and entered the forbidden zone.

Just as he had done so he saw Raphael approaching.  Hands up like he had been caught by the police, Shouhei jokingly said, “...This is a set-up!  You tricked me, evil twin Raphael!”

"Ah, why do I have to be the evil twin all the time? Should I get an eyepatch to show the difference even more?"

Totally wasn't foreshadowing or anything.

" I figured if you were bored enough to send me a message like that, I would change your enthusiasm in regards to how you look at my place of work. There are alot of things that a place like this has to offer. It's either you are looking for it in the first place, or that something random comes along and inspires you. But I have no time to gauge your tastes right now, I'm giving you a sneak preview of what I was working on this week."

Raphael started to lead the way to the closed off area, going a few paces as he started to show the front section of the Kahn exhibit. This section of the museum was always geared towards the exclusive exhibits, and Shouhei was the first one to see the actual armor of Genghis Kahn.

"It belonged to Genghis Kahn himself, there is also a plethora of mongrel weapons that they utilized in their military exebitions. Take a look, but becareful. "

“...Ya think you’re the good twin?  I dunno, Gabe was like a goddamn saint.  But fuck yeah, eyepatches are rad as hell.  That makes ya look like a million times more bad ass,” Shouhei said, as he thought about his manager at the host club, Kon Nakajima.  Eyepatches would definitely be one of Shouhei’s fashion accessories, if they didn’t completely mess with one’s sense of depth perception.

“...Ah, my fault, that’s just how I talk.  I wasn’t callin your shit shitty.  History’s important too, yeah…” Shouhei trailed off, until his eyes widened at the sight of Genghis Khan’s armor.  Giddily, he hopped towards the set, getting as close as possible without physically touching it.  His eyes soaked in the details eagerly.

“...Holy shit!  This is a dude I actually know about!  He conquered a buncha lands, banged a buncha chicks, and had some of the best archers and cavalrymen at the time!”

"A saint huh...... no.... I guess I can't compete with that. I would have to be the sinner...heh..."

Once again, it seemed as if the shoe size of Gabriel Gatsby was getting bigger and bigger for Raph to fill. But it didn't matter at this time, or better yet, Raphael chose not to think about it. This wasn't something that he could control, so he tried not to think about it.

"You are on the ball with that description, Genghis Kahn was such a person to have so many events in his life. But with someone so great, no one knows how he died. OR no one wants to accept the idea that someone as great as him died of natural causes. You know, expectations and all that. When people expect more of you, you feel like the challenges are harder to overcome as they continue to increase. Know what I mean?"

“...Competin’ with your bro sounds stupid.  You’re you, he’s him.  You’re two different people.  But if you’re talkin’ ‘bout sinnin’, we’re all fuckin’ guilty.  Gabe included.  So who gives a shit.”  Shouhei bluntly stated, as he moved around the armor to fully inspect it.

“...Heh, I’ve always been kinda an underachiever so I have no idea.  I ain’t got many accolades under my belt… but I work pretty damn hard though, so that’s somethin’ at least.  If you’re consistent and reliable most people don’t give a shit, I’ve learned.  But this dude… I bet… went out… with a bang,” unable to help himself, Shouhei burst into fits of laughter as he made a terrible pun of Genghis Khan probably killing himself during on of his historically accurate sexual escapades.

"No Shouhei, I don't think he received a heart attack during sexual intercourse. He was 65-year-old man, I think he would have still had some left in him if he was conquering nations and things of the sort."

Raphael had a small smile on his face, even though he said that line with a serious tone. He was always amused when Shouhei was around, he was an interesting guy. Kind of reminded him of the time that he went to Egypt and went to meet a guy who knew a lot more about the tombs he wanted to explore.

"Well, I guess I can tell you this. My foster family...well..those who have taken care of me this entire time.... big time archeologists and always venturing out into the great beyond. Basically places no human being would dare to go due to the dangers of getting hurt or lost. I've always had this feeling that this "next item" would be a chance to find something sustainable in the sense of achievement. It does, believe me, but it's never exactly what I feel as if I'm looking for. So Endymion.... maybe it's a place people go to look for something or running away from something... which is what I came up with. I don't know which type I am."

Raphael then turned to Shouhei.

"What of you?"

Shouhei listened intently to Raphael explain himself, after sadly debunking the joke.  Of course people always wanted to look for more, to find a reason for themselves in this world full of nearly endless possibility.  Raphael simply took it to a more extreme manner.  Shame that after all that time, he still couldn’t find a reason.  Finishing his study of the armor, Shouhei faced Raphael.

“...I ain’t as complicated as ya.  I grew up with a childhood friend that introduced me to music.  She taught me to sing, and dance, and I wasn’t half bad at it.  It was enough to get me a scholarship at Seven Stars.  I actually like doin’ it, so it ain’t a bad goal to work for.  It’s reason enough, I think.”

"Ok....you came here to see if you could make your dreams come true, the dreams of being an amazing performer with what you learned. I can respect that.... heck....maybe your pants that you ripped on stage or some kind of famous event you were a part of will be right here in this very museum. The great items and artifacts of the past, present, and future. I might even spread a story that the pants give magical idol powers or something. "

Raphael would laugh a bit at the idea, it sounded ridiculous, but it was those kinds of ideas and dreams that made him move forward, in spite of his expectations and thoughts of how it would turn out.

"You know, I do have famous musicians and performers within my vault. OR better yet, some of the items they left behind and the significance of them."

“...You for real?  Magic pants?  If that’s the case you better gimme a cut’a the profits,” Shouhei laughed at Raphael’s ludicrous scheme.  People would buy into anything, and in a world full of demons and otherworldly magic, it wasn’t as absurd as it sounded.

“...Yeah man, I came here for a tour, lemme see whatcha got.  I ain’t too fluent on music history, so I’d like to buff up my knowledge on that shit.  Gotta respect your craft, yeah?”

"Well, we are in the Genghis Kahn era.... so I'm giving you the very best I have to offer. I'm giving you a tour of an exhibit that people aren't even going to see until tomorrow. For free too, so you should consider yourself lucky. Or heck, I deserve some praise... "Raphael you are so, considerate. I'm glad to have a friend like you!" Or something...."

Raph smiled as he walked over to a map.

"I'm joking... but come over here. This is a hand-drawn map of the Mongol empire of one of the advisors of Genghis Kahn. Not a notable name, but what makes this special is the marking and apparent additions to the paper. They added things as they went, starting at a little part of territory while tracking their growth. "

Whether or not Raphael had joked about it, Shouhei respected the working man and would pay his just dues.  He reached into his pockets, and forcefully shoved a wadded up bill of cash into Raphael’s open hand.  “...Friend or not, I’m payin’ for your services.  I’d expect ya to do the same for me.”

With that said Shouhei followed suit and peered at the map that was explained to him.  There was something to appreciate about the trailblazers of the time, forging their own path into the unknown, recording their progress along the way.  

“...Ya think he kept a tally of all the chicks he banged,” Shouhei offhandedly said, his lewd thoughts brought out into the open.  “I mean all that shit’s impressive… lookit that territory.  This dude was the epitome of badass.”

"Oh, look... just enough money for lunch at blue lobster and a little bit to spare for drinks. You shouldn't have! No really, you shouldn't have. At least take the gifts I give you in stride, I do everything for a reason. A simple thank you was sufficient Shouhei, but if this is how you do it... I'll counter that and take you to dinner, stretching this as much as I can. Heck, bring an extra person if you want."

Raphael had a way of expressing himself, but towards people he felt that he could be a little more comfortable with, the facade starts going more and more into his casual speak. Well, gutter speak. He wasn't always the charismatic enigma he made himself out to be, all it did was bring him a long way.

"Do you think you could have survived in a world like this? Things were simpler, well...the way to live life back then was a lot simpler than now. You could say that with all the advancements that we have, there was also a paring advancement of troubles that came with it as well. "

“...I toldja man, I don’t like owin’ people anything.  Ya don’t hafta gimme a meal… unless ya really wanna.  Not like I’m gonna fight you over it.”  Truth be told Shouhei would, but if Raphael was so adamant about it, who was he to refuse a gift in turn.  The question Raphael posed next caused Shouhei to rub his chin in response, as he thought about it.

“...It was a lot simpler, but that don’t mean it was any easier.  No hospitals and all that shit, no real science or technology… my ass prob’ly woulda caught a stray arrow or some shit and died of infection.  ‘Sides, I prob’ly wouldn’t’a had someone like Mariko to keep my ass in check either…” Shouhei paused, realizing his thoughts were too vocal, and that he had brought up a subject he was very touchy about, so he wanted to change it.

“What about you?  Ya think you’d be better off then?”