[BitP:R] Mortal World

[Tackyhillbillu]

Ava looked at him oddly, and then shrugged, and went and sat in the back seat, obviously rather annoyed.

[InyutheBeatIs]

Rosa headed towards the car, bearing witness to the spectacle unfolding around her. Donovan beat her to the punch on calling Shotgun, although it didn't really matter to her. She then noticed that...did Viatrix just jump in the trunk? Turning around, she noticed Donovan making efforts to shake Ava off of him, with Ava returning the efforts to cling to him like a child clings to their mother's leg. Which is kind of ironic, considering that Ava was indeed clinging onto Donovan's leg. What, exactly, did I get myself into? If her cold, machine-like mind could express itself, you would probably find it facepalming at the sheer ludicrousness of the situation. Of course, no sign of it shows on Rosa's face, acting as though it were completely normal for everything to be going on as it is. The following events will be interesting.

Just as she gets to the car, she sets down her briefcase and takes an object out of her pocket. The object was an old rosary, somwhat faded in color, with an ivory crucifix dangling off of it. She wraps this rosary around her left wrist similar to a bracelet, giving a brief prayer of protection as she does so.

She then picks up the briefcase and calmly climbs into the back seat, buckling herself up and placing her briefcase on her lap, or anywhere she can fit it without causing problems.

[Shades of Gray]

Eirene Klossner

Eirene is the last to get into the car. She puts on her seatbelt and adjusts her mirror, looking at Rosa and Ava with it. "Everyone comfortable back there?" She puts the car into reverse and pulls out of the parking lot. The car is running pretty smoothly, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of traffic in the area.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Cemetery]

Spoiler

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Sora growls, and glares at the shrimp.

"What the hell are these things? They don't even look like bugs..."

He holds up his hand, and grins wickedly.

"Well, might as well... Cero."

A dark circle forms in his hand, crackling with energy, slowly growing larger until...

It's released, straight into several of the annoying little shrimp things.

The cero blasts into the melee between the old janitor and the shrimps assaulting him, blasting a top off of a headstone and throwing some of the ugly critters away from Souta. Badly scorched, the ghost stumbles up... and notices the blast has cut through his chain, reducing it to half its lenght.

"Oh", the janitor sputters. "Jolly." He then turns tail and begins running as fast as he can, forgetting for a moment he led a life of smoking very much and exercising very little. On purpose or not, he's heading to the gate closest to the school.

In that wierd woman's room

Spoiler

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After ushering the staff out and closing that stupid window, Hnery turns back to the woman on the bed after closing the door for the sake of confidentiality. "Apologies for that disturbance ma'am. I have a few questions to ask you, but I'll start with the question of what just happened..."

Elder is sittng on the bed again, hands on her lap. She's swaying from side to side a little and stretching her neck to peer past Henry, to see the door is closed good. No doubt the staff are still just outside. She motions the detective closer and begins speaking with a hushed voice.

"That's a good question, with a really interesting answer", she whispers, smirking. "The abridged version would be that a young girl came here, masquerading as my niece, threatened to kill me and then jumped out of the window when I cried for help. Do you really want to know the details?"

Then, a thought crosses her mind and her smirk vanishes. How could I forget? She darts up from the bed, her posture changing to overly formal, and she bows. "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself!", she says with a loud, clear voice. "My name is Õta Yui. Nice to meet you!" She is blushing from embarrassment... which in her case means her cheeks are now of rather sickly, purplish color. It is sincere, though.

[Steilos]

Henry nods as he listens to her story, and is just about to speak up when she darts up, bowing formally. Deciding to roll with it with nothing more than a raised eyebrow, he offers a hand. "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Ota. But I think it's better that you didn't make any sudden movements for a while." Maybe even brush up your acting skills? You're remarkably unfazed for someone who was 5 foot away from an explosion that'd destroyed a building. "Indeed, you're a very lucky woman. It isn't very often that a building-levelling explosion doesn't kill anyone." Sitting down next to the bed, he speaks once more. "Now, I'll come back to the hospital incident later. For now, I want you to take me back to the alleyway, before the explosion. Was there anyone suspicious entering that alleyway? Had you seen anyone going in or out, apart from you, the boy and the girl?"

[Frozen_Feet]

"Yui" shakes Henry's hand vigorously, and smirks. She sits as well, putting her hands behind her back. "No to both of your questions, I'm afraid", she chirps, before changing her speech to a silent hiss coming from between clenched teeth. "Look, we both know you noticed the barrier. The real question is, do you want to know what really happened, or are you content with both of us lying our asses of for the remainder of the day?"

[Steilos]

Listening to the explanation patiently, Henry opens his mouth to ask another question, but is stopped dead by the Yui's next words. Smirking slightly, he drops his voice to a whisper. "I thought you'd never ask. Yes, I did notice the barrier, and more besides. Please tell me everything, ma'am, if you would."

[Rebonack]

[Cemetery]

Thankfully The Coat Man managed to get himself rather beautifully swamped under a swarm of Shrimps whilst still a rather decent distance away from the melee. Outside of the range of the Cero, for certain. Which is always a positive thing if one doesn't feel inclined to be blown up.

Probably wouldn't be very kind to his wooden body if such an attack detonated atop him.

Roy continues his rather futile effort to fend off all the various shrimpy Hollows that are at present stopping him from... doing much of anything, really. Aside from working rather hard at getting them off. But for every creature he slays it seems as though there's yet another to take its place.

And he would really rather not...

Blast it all. At this rate they're going to damage his body...

Tendrils of snow white mist and tar black fog wreath his frame in a spiritual miasma moments before violently coalescing into a number of meter long spikes, hopefully impaling the lot of the nasty nuisances. "Heavens me what a bother..."

[Draken]

Cemetery

Gralster grunts as Souta dashes off, and fades back into the Void between planes.

His shrimp remain, but they should be easy to mop off since they stop "respawning" once Gralster leaves.

[Frozen_Feet]

[Hospital]

"I tracked the boy down because I sensed there was something wrong with him. Specifically, I sensed he was a lot like me. But when I confronted him, he went berserk. I taught him a little lesson, but not before he decided to blow up half the estate and ruin my suit", Elder says non-chalantly. "Say, do you have the faintest idea what a Hollow is?"

[Callos_DeTerran]

Michiko

Soshi would wake up to find himself stuck between the handlebars of a sports bike and Michiko herself, though it might be a little difficult to tell it's her at first with the helmet and grogginess. She wouldn't even speak to him at first as she speeds away to the secret meeting place of her little gang. It was an old shipping warehouse that hadn't been abandoned but...was no longer in active use, owned by her father so there was little trouble with her hanging out there as long as she promised to vacate if it was put into use once more. As she pulls into the middle of the ware house, where a couple pieces of furniture were strewn about for comfort though it couldn't be called lavish by a long shot.

It was to one of these couches that she carries Soshi and dumps him on it before wrenching off her bike helmet with a scowl on her otherwise pretty face.

"You wanna explain what the hell happened baka?!"

[Innis Cabal]

Soshi continues to groan and whimper in obvious pain as he shifts against the couch, trying to find some modicum of comfort against the furniture.

"I-I lost control...c-couldn't keep it in."

He shifts, blearily looking up at Michi-chan, one eye still showing signs of his hollow infection.

"C-Can't seem to g-get full...t-that woman...dangerous. Away...stay...away Michi-chan..."

He slumps against the couch, falling unconcious.

[Steilos]

[Hospital]

"I tracked the boy down because I sensed there was something wrong with him. Specifically, I sensed he was a lot like me. But when I confronted him, he went berserk. I taught him a little lesson, but not before he decided to blow up half the estate and ruin my suit", Elder says non-chalantly. "Say, do you have the faintest idea what a Hollow is?"

Henry pauses for a second. "No, I can't say I do. Although over the past-oh, 40 years, I've probably seen one. Care to give me a physical description?" Sitting back in his chair, Hery puts his hand on his chin as he speaks.

[Frozen_Feet]

Elder snorts at Henry's request. "Evil ugly things. Wear white masks. Or not, it depends. There isn't a singular description I could give you - we're a varied bunch." A coy smile spreads over her face. "I can show you, some other time, if you're so inclined. But what matters more is our nature - the short version would be that we're vengeful ghosts of the dead. Demons, if you will. The less controlled ones, like the boy, tend to eat people for the kicks." Elder tilts her head side to side, measuring Henry carefully as she waits for her words to sink in.

[Steilos]

Henry tilts his head as he listens. "Yes... I think I know what you mean, now. Pretty sure I've seen one or two of that type. Eat people, you say?" Henry is frowning slightly as he says this, although it's a rather underwhelming reaction. "That's.... a problem. I'm going to have to look into that one, certainly." Henry turns his gaze straight back onto "Yui", writing something down on his notepad. If she looks, she can see quite clearly the following: 'Memo: look for any recent cases of disappearances.' It's off to his side a bit though, so don't be suprised if he notices. "Was that girl in the alley the same one that tried to kill you just now?"

[Frozen_Feet]

Elder shrugs. She looks honestly perplexed at the thought. "Haven't got the faintest idea. Didn't even think about it, really. But I guess not. The girl who came here, she was eager enough to kill me just because I'm me - I doubt she'd have saved another of my kind."

Content with her appraisal of the man, "Yui" throws her legs on her bed and lies down. "Besides, I've never seen a Quincy make a pink cube like that", she muses. "Not without a Ginto capsule... I'm sorry, you don't have the faintest idea what those are either, do you?"

[Tackyhillbillu]

Aki made it home before her parents, having time to take a shower and get changed before they got home. She had done her best not to show it... but there was something strange about that Hollow. Well, many things were strange. But Aki would bring backup when she confronted Ms 'Yui' again.

"...and there will be another time."

However, Aki smiled at her parents as they entered the home, obviously straight from work. Despite how frustrating they could be, she did care for them.

"Mom, Dad, we have a problem."

Aki's face dropped the smile as she explained her encounter. Her parents listened, nodding themselves. Her parents were both Quincies as well, her mother coming from a rather well established clan two cities over. They were easily more powerful then Aki. And if they really needed backup, there were her brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles to call on as well. She was certain they could deal with it.

"A Hollow that knows about Quincies. I'll have to speak to Dad about that." Aki's father ruminated slowly. Her mother turned to her smiling. "That reminds me, Grandpa Daichi got some new neighbors. They have a daughter your age. Her mother invited you to come to a party they are holding."

"...I'd much rather hear what Grandpa Daichi has to say about this Hollow."

"I know you would, but he won't let you. You haven't completed your Seele Schneider yet, and that means you aren't an adult. If you really would prefer not to go, Grandpa Daichi has been asking for someone to come over and pick the plums..." Aki hated picking the plums. It was back breaking work, and using her Quincy skills would get a long lecture about how she had no respect for traditions, and she needed to be more careful.

"...fine, I'll go to the party."

"Thats nice. It is a Pool party, so wear a swimsuit. If you need a new one, just ask for some money."

Aki turned away, muttering about a great deal of injustices.

[strawberryman]

Valeria [Home]

As Val is preparing to go to bed, her phone rings.

Immediately recognizing it, she picks up. <Dad!> Her face is instantly alight with a smile. ...not that she doesn't usually have one.

<Hey, how's my princess?> A bemused, calm, and slightly tired voice speaks from the other end of the phone.

<Good! I made some friends! We're even going to have a party on Saturday!> Val is, of course, as enthusiastic as ever about her day.

<Oh, good!> The voice responds with a chuckle. <Well, I was just checking in on you. I knew today was the day you and mom were going to move. I still have some business to attend to; we can talk more later in the week.>

Val frowns slightly, but figured that was the case... <Okay... I miss you, dad. When will you be here?>

A sigh... <...Not sure, Vally. I'll try to stop by in a few weeks, no guarantees, though. Sorry... You know how important my job is.>

<Yeah... well, I was just going to bed, so... Talk to you later, dad.> Val recovers a wane smile.

<Later, Vally. Tell mom hi for me.> And the other line goes dead.

Val continues her preparations for bed, putting on a pair of red pajamas before she settles in, falling asleep in a matter of minutes.
...pREpaRe yOurSElF... tHIngS wILL aLl cHANGe SooN...
It was an exciting day, after all.

[Steilos]

Elder shrugs. She looks honestly perplexed at the thought. "Haven't got the faintest idea. Didn't even think about it, really. But I guess not. The girl who came here, she was eager enough to kill me just because I'm me - I doubt she'd have saved another of my kind."

Content with her appraisal of the man, "Yui" throws her legs on her bed and lies down. "Besides, I've never seen a Quincy make a pink cube like that", she muses. "Not without a Ginto capsule... I'm sorry, you don't have the faintest idea what those are either, do you?"

"I'm afraid I don't... But I'm not concerned much about that." Nope, not taking the bait, sorry dear. "I'll deal with this young 'hollow' fellow first. Did he mention any names?" Henry flips open another page of his notebook while he waits for a reply.

[Frozen_Feet]

"No", Elder replies, stretching a little before putting her hands behind her head and closing her eyes. "He only growled at me like a wild beast and sputtered some nonsense about eating me. He was so out of it, it wasn't even funny. Did you get a good look at him, or will I have to describe him to you?"

[Steilos]

It seemed he'd have to do it the hard way, as usual. "No, I got a good look at him. I'll probably be able to find him given enough time." Getting up from his chair, he headed back towards the door. "That wraps this up for now. I may come back to ask more questions, but you've been very helpful." Even if you've probably skewed things horribly in your favour.

Closing the door, Henry headed back to the lobby, and noticed the girl who asked him something earlier. As he walks past, he looks sideways at her. "You were the one who wanted something earlier. Did you need anything?" He pauses, narrows his eyebrows slightly and continues. "I mean, apart from going into the room I've just been in."

[KnightDisciple]

Saturday Morning, Outside Val's House

Timestamp: Not quite 10AM.

"Are you sure you'll be alright? I could always come in and chat with her mom or something."

"Mom, it's fine. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you when we're wrapping up. Don't worry. Besides, I'm sure all you mothers can just use that weird psychic sense you have and confer sometime later on."

Kaito reached over and gave his mother a somewhat awkward hug in the car.

"Love you, mom. You and dad have a date day or something; I'll be fine."

He exits the car, then pauses before closing the door.

"Just promise you're not going to try running 50 background checks or something on my new friend!


"I love you too, son. I promise, dear. Now go have fun."

Kaito shut the door with a smile, then walked up to the front door of the house.

He was currently dressed in a pair of khaki shorts, a dark gray t-shirt, and wore sturdy sandals over his socks. The bag slung over his shoulder likely carried his swimming "gear".

"Right, here goes. Hope I'm not too early..."

With that, Kaito rung the doorbell.

[Sucrose]

Spoiler

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Saturday Morning, Outside Val's House

Timestamp: Not quite 10AM.

"Are you sure you'll be alright? I could always come in and chat with her mom or something."

"Mom, it's fine. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you when we're wrapping up. Don't worry. Besides, I'm sure all you mothers can just use that weird psychic sense you have and confer sometime later on."

Kaito reached over and gave his mother a somewhat awkward hug in the car.

"Love you, mom. You and dad have a date day or something; I'll be fine."

He exits the car, then pauses before closing the door.

"Just promise you're not going to try running 50 background checks or something on my new friend!


"I love you too, son. I promise, dear. Now go have fun."

Kaito shut the door with a smile, then walked up to the front door of the house.

He was currently dressed in a pair of khaki shorts, a dark gray t-shirt, and wore sturdy sandals over his socks. The bag slung over his shoulder likely carried his swimming "gear".

"Right, here goes. Hope I'm not too early..."

With that, Kaito rung the doorbell.

After a few moments, the door opens, revealing Claudia, wearing a white T-shirt over a navy blue bikini. She's still wearing her cross pendant. She looks Kaito over for a moment, then smiles, and steps aside to allow him in.

"Oh, hello. You would be one of Vally's friends, right? I guess it's getting pretty close to party time. Would you mind helping me prepare the watermelon? I know Vally said she'd gotten caterers, but I would be remiss in my duties if I left everything to them!"

[KnightDisciple]

After a few moments, the door opens, revealing Claudia, wearing a white T-shirt over a navy blue bikini. She's still wearing her cross pendant. She looks Kaito over for a moment, then smiles, and steps aside to allow him in.

"Oh, hello. You would be one of Vally's friends, right? I guess it's getting pretty close to party time. Would you mind helping me prepare the watermelon? I know Vally said she'd gotten caterers, but I would be remiss in my duties if I left everything to them!"

Kaito blinks, shrugs, and steps inside. He kicks his shoes off in the entryway, then follows Claudia further into the house.

"Yes. My name is Watanabe Kaito, ma'am. Valeria invited me today. May I guess that you are her mother? I hope I'm not too early...I'd be glad to help. Where should I put my bag?"

He's obviously not a social butterfly, so being inserted into such a new situation leaves him a bit on the overly talkative side.

[Sucrose]

Claudia blinks, and winds herself back a few steps.

"Ah, right. Well, it's good to meet you, Kaito-kun. I'm Mrs. Abel, but you can call me Claudia if you like. You can just leave your bag by the poolside."

Claudia walks toward a translucent glass door, through which a large blue rectangle, presumably the pool, can be seen. Opening the aperture revealing a substantial pool with several chairs scattered around it, along with all manner of beach toys along the water's edge.

[KnightDisciple]

Kaito nods and walks to the poolside area, looking around for a moment, before settling his bag off to one side.

He turned to face Claudia.

"Mrs. Abel, you asked me to help with the watermelon? I would be happy to assist you, if you just guide me there. I'm not much at food preparation, but my mother has made sure I can at least follow directions well enough."

He had a slight smile on his face, his eyes glancing around, taking in the large and somewhat unique house.

'So big...' he thought to himself.

[strawberryman]

Valeria [Home]

Kaito may notice on his passing the pool that Valeria is doing laps; she's wearing a fairly cute pink side-tie bikini. As she moves to backstrokes, she notices Kaito, stopping almost immediately to wave to him ecstatically.

"Oh! Hi, Kaito-san!" She's in a good mood as always.

[KnightDisciple]

Val's House

Kaito smiles and waves, then bows quickly to Val.

"Hello Valeria. Thank you again for inviting me. I will likely be out shortly, but I promised to help your mother with the watermelon first."

Claudia will notice what Val likely does not: a slight blush to the boy's cheeks.

He then turns to Claudia again.

"Shall we, ma'am?"

[Sucrose]

Claudia nods, and wraps one arm around Kaito, quietly guiding him through the house, and to the kitchen. When they arrive, she ushers him through, then follows after, closing the door quietly behind her.

There is a large watermelon resting atop a cutting board on one of the counters, with a large plate beside it.

"I'd just like for you to arrange the slices in a nice pattern while I do the cutting, Kaito-kun. It'll save me some time while taking care of this."

She then draws a large knife out of a drawer, and begins slicing through the melon, creating nice discs of fruit, then cutting them into eighths.

"...So, I saw that you were excited by our pool. Do you like our house, Kaito-kun?"

[KnightDisciple]

Kaito lets Claudia guide him, though he does seem a bit stiff; he's likely not used to being led around like this by people he's just met.

When she explains his job, he relaxes a bit, taking his place at the plate. As the 1/8 slices are produced, he carefully grabs them and places them. It's not a fancy design, but they are evenly spaced, for maximum room and easy reach.

"I think I can manage this with no trouble. And we don't have a pool at our house. I've been to the public pool a few times, and used the school one sometimes in gym class and such, but it's still a new thing to me. And you have a very nice house. It is quite large and spacious; the design is not one I'm familiar with, but that's not a bad thing."

He shrugs as he arranges fruit.

"Valeria told me your husband runs a pharmaceutical company. I would imagine that allows for a bit of extra spending. I don't know if she told you, but my parents work in law enforcement. It's fulfiling for them, it pays our bills, they enjoy it, and I'm proud of it...but we've never been tremendously flush with cash. It's been better in the last few years; mother was promoted, and that gave her an increased salary. Still, we have what we need, and a fair amount of what we want, so I suppose there's nothing to complain of. Have the two of you been to Japan before? Valeria mentioned living in Romania. I didn't know if her...condition...allowed you much travel."