#creativeoutlook

This one was a lot of fun to write, thanks for the prompt hehehe!

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It starts out innocently enough, but these things usually do.

Ritsu ends up at Reigen’s office, somehow, but that occurrence is becoming less and less surprising as the summer wanes on. Sometimes it’s Shou who drags him there, sometimes it’s Shigeo, and sometimes Reigen calls all on his own, on days when Shigeo and Teru aren’t around to help out and Serizawa’s out of the office.

This time around, it had been Shou, but without any real work for them to do, they’d ended up on the office floor with a pack of Uno cards scavenged from the dark recesses of Reigen’s office cabinets scattered between them. Shou had roped Tome into the game as well, even though she’d technically been there to work, but thus far Reigen had made no move to intervene.

“Bam! I win again, suckers!” Tome exclaims, slapping her final card onto the top of the pile with the biggest, most shit-eating grin Ritsu’s ever seen.

“What? No way, you didn’t even say Uno!” Shou argues, staring at Tome’s empty hands in shock while Ritsu sets down his cards in defeat. “There’s no way you didn’t cheat, where are you hiding them?”

Tome just cackles, turning out the pockets of her uniform skirt as if to prove she hasn’t been methodically tucking away her cards. “You losers were so busy trying to sabotage each other that you didn’t even notice,” she teases with a self-satisfied smirk. “Always keep your eyes open, Suzuki! You can’t win if you’re not even paying attention!”

Ritsu sighs, flopping backward onto the office’s tile floor. “Face it, Shou, she got us good,” he laments, and maybe he’s being a little dramatic, but it’s all in good fun, anyway. He catches Reigen’s eye from across the office, who’s watching them with an amused half-grin on his face.

Shou groans, long and pained, and starts gathering up the cards he’d dropped in the moment of his defeat. “Dammit, we can’t go out like this, Ritsu. One more round,” he insists, pointing a finger in Tome’s direction.

Tome just laughs, pushing herself to her feet. “Sorry, no can do. Dad’s making dinner tonight, so I have to be home by five-thirty,” she says, smoothing out the pleats of her skirt. “You’ll have to wait another day to take on the master.”

“You can’t call yourself the master if you’ve never beaten me,” Reigen pipes up from across the office, fixing Tome with an unimpressed glance underlaid with amusement. “Or have you forgotten already?”

“You’ve beaten Tome?” Ritsu echoes, pushing himself up off the floor enough to properly address Reigen again. There’s suspicion in his gaze as he does, clearly disbelieving of his claim.

At the same time, Shou exclaims, “Shit, is it that late?” He scrambles to his feet, hastily scooping up his school bag. “I promised Mom I’d come home early tonight, I gotta run too. Ritsu, you coming?”

Normally, Ritsu would walk with Shou up to the corner where their routes move in opposite directions, but today he’s tempted to hang back. “No, don’t wait up for me, I’ll head home in a bit,” he replies, taking over Shou’s clean-up attempts as he shuffles the Uno cards into an organized pile.

“If you say so, dude,” Shou says over his shoulder. “See ya tomorrow, then.” That said, he follows Tome out of the office, tugging the door closed behind him.

“Shouldn’t you be heading home soon too?” Reigen asks, glancing down at his watch. “You shouldn’t be late.”

Rather than directly answering Reigen’s question, Ritsu walks over to the desk with a purpose and slips into the chair usually reserved for clients. “One round,” he states, sliding the deck into the empty space between them.

Reigen glances down at the deck, then back at Ritsu. “Kid, it’s almost closing time--”

“I thought you were the master,” Ritsu interrupts, not bothering to hold back the challenge in his voice. “You have time for one game. You have no clients right now, and I know you’re not going to do anything once you lock up for the night.”

“Hey, I detest that.” Reigen shoots Ritsu a pointed look, but his words have the intended effect. Reigen pulls the cards the rest of the way across the desk and starts to shuffle them, his movements deft and obviously well-practiced. Ritsu watches, partly curious and partly impressed (though he’d never show it) as Reigen executes a perfect bridge and starts dealing out their hands. “One round,” he relents, raising a brow at Ritsu, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

There’s a teasing edge to his voice, a sense that he’s putting on a bit of an act for Ritsu’s benefit, and Ritsu rolls his eyes in response. “Whatever, old man, you can brag if you can beat me,” he shoots right back, glancing down to examine his cards.

For the first couple of minutes, the game is mostly quiet, neither Ritsu not Reigen communicating anything aside from occasional thoughtful glances or challenging looks. Ritsu throws himself deep into the game in a way he hadn’t done when he’d gone up against Shou and Tome, doing his best to think ahead and play strategically with the goal of usurping Reigen’s alleged throne.

“Lose a turn,” Ritsu declares, dropping a red “skip” card to the top of the pile. he and Reigen are getting down to the ends of their hands, and Ritsu’s prepared to pull out all the stops if it means he can beat Reigen at his own game.

“What? You can’t do that in a two-person game!” Reigen argues. “It’s in the rules.”

Ritsu leans forward in his seat. “Prove it,” he challenges, knowing full well that Reigen’s can’t. He lays another card on top of the pile to continue the game, giving Reigen the smuggest look he can muster as he holds up his single card. “Uno.”

Reigen holds his stare for a moment, practically glaring, then leans back in his seat almost casually. “Fine, you want to play dirty? I can play dirty,” he says with a grin, plucking a card from his hand. “Skip, skip, draw four.”

Ritsu’s train of thought stalls as Reigen empties his hand all in one go, leaving the cursed wild card staring back at him, mockingly. “W-Wait, that can’t be it,” he sputters, desperately staring down at his single remaining card. “How did you…?”

Reigen’s expression is the picture of smugness, and he leans back in his chair as though to bask in his victory over his thirteen-year-old opponent. “Tome isn’t kidding when she calls me the master,” he brags, and Ritsu can’t even snark at him for it because he’d been cocky enough to bet on Reigen’s failure. “You satisfied now, kid?” Reigen adds, pushing himself to his feet. “Because it’s past five now, and I haven’t had a bite to eat since lunch.”

Ritsu sighs, knowing he’ll have to accept his defeat, even if it pains him to do so. “Yeah, I should probably go home before it gets dark out,” he sighs, scooping up his bag and hefting it over his shoulder as he heads for the door.

Reigen pauses as he’s retrieving his keys and suit jacket, looking thoughtful for a moment before his expression turns more conspiratorial. “You could do that, or you could let me treat you to ramen on the way home,” he offers, fishing a ring of keys out of his pocket and searching for the one to his office.

Ritsu turns to face him, unimpressed. “Hmm, I wonder what I should pick, a home-cooked meal with my family or cheap street ramen,” he deadpans, not tempted by the suggestion in the slightest.

“I’ll teach you how to beat me at Uno.”

This catches Ritsu’s attention and appeals to his competitive side, the side of him that’s a very sore loser, and he hesitates for a few seconds before saying, “I’ll text my mom and let her know not to wait up.”

The Blau Monuments are a pair of inscribed stone objects from Mesopotamia. They are commonly thought to be a form of ancient kudurru.

It has a certain power to it…that’s why I believe we artists have a responsibility to what we put out. I’m not saying I’m an advocate of censorship, no way. What I’m saying is we should be mindful of the material that we put out….give thought to not only REception but PERception. No?

Just the same way a good painter picks different canvas materials or someone who draws is choosy about lead sizes and textures, so should we also be adamant about being true to our art. I always admired Tupac because he had a RARE ability to talk about all the things we KNOW go on in the hood without glorifying them. We have to look at the message that being put out.

It is my personal opinion that what’s missing from music…is LOVE. Am I sounding like a hippie right now? Put your judgement aside and walk with me for a minute. When I say love, I don’t just mean it one direct aspect such as sex or relationship or self empowerment. I’m talking about a love for the craft. I’m talking about taking the time to put out quality music. Just because it’s commercial ready doesn’t mean it should be lacking in quality. I’m talking about artists that take time to look over lyrics and really see what it is their saying. Artists that learn even a little bit of music theory. Loving your craft so much that you take time to perfect it and learn the ins and outs; so much that you work at it and look for areas to improve.

You see this type of love is the love that’s missing from music. Never mind even loving the people that are going to be consuming your art. Loving them enough to give them something more valuable than vanity.

One of my favorite artists and easily a top 5 vocalist (for me) said it best, and I’ll end on this…

My beautiful followers, could you please vote for my piece to be on the cover of "Creative Outlook"? It literally takes less than five seconds; just click the link and click the thumbs up!