[Rail IC] Academy City II: Electrokinesis Is Love~

[AnimeKid]

Tobio curses as well from the heated water and the shock he just took. He knew that he should have froze the water like he was thinking of doing before. After a few seconds he says, "I'm sorry Mei-chan I let him get away. At the very least I can track where he exited. After all, heat always flows from a higher temperature to a lower one." With that he starts leading Mei to the exit that Souji took. However it would be hard to find him once again. He had to wonder though...

Where the heck was Carver?

[Atrum-Persavor]

"Pointless."

The air above the water and the roof of the sewer twists, as the light within is refracted heavily.

A "skin" of concrete from the top of the tunnel vanishes, appearing just very slightly above the heated water and landing onto it, causing the steam to hiss loudly.

"Keep running. Up the cover. They stay closed unless maintenance is being carried out. He went that way."

Ren presses on his headset.

"Cleanup and repair over to sewer pipe 54F4."

Not that it already mattered, as Academy City already had a sophisticated array of sensors to track structural damage, but it was more polite to mention it.

"This one is an amateur. Pure power, nothing else. I've seen Jin do better. If this child keeps causing damage, we'll get him eventually."

[Terry576]

((Yes, but Ryuu was counteracting against Tobio, remember? The temperature was fluxuating (sp?) ridiculously. Also, Souji's about as subtle as a brick.))

The 'rank amateur' whistled as he walked towards a pa- oh my god they had soda.

Glancing around to see if anyone would notice, he lightly flicked the vending maching, a small charge in his hand.

He didn't expect to get three soda cans, but hey, two for his hands, one for a pocket. Putting one in each pocket, he opened the final one, before taking the most roundabout route possible to a decadent building.

"Clothes. Different ones. Hoods preferable. Avoid dark colors, Fuschichou Souji wears dark colors. Name. Not Nakamura Rei - he's being searched for."

The building had a basement that Souji used for his hideout from time to time. Not so much anymore, now the building was used for Souji's disguises. Tossing the Nakamura Rei ID card carelessly, Souji went through everything - a jacket here, contacts there... he needed a different identity now, Nakamura wouldn't be feasible for at least a few days, and Fuschichou was who he was.

Bingo. Tetsuya Rin was the most commonly used one. brown hair, striking blue eyes... Despite Souji's inability to change his facial structure, a few freckles and a mole right near his left eye did wonders for a different appearance, as did the platform shoes he was going to use to add a few inches of height. The glasses helped as well. And everyone knew about Rin's 'spectacular eyes'. Rin was a Level Zero - no abilities to speak of. Souji knew someone who worked at the offices - helped him juggle his identities.

What, you thought he hid from Judgement in plain sight? God no. He was merely Fuschichou Souji for a while because there was a lull in the otherwise constant search for Astraphobia. Fuschichou Souji never attended a school.

Tetsuya Rin, on the other hand, was registered at Onizuka, albeit was frequently ill, sometimes for months, and couldn't attend often. He was quiet, avoided the company of others. It suited Souji. Made sure people didn't get attached. He couldn't afford attachments. Too many masks. Too many possible worries.

Uniform, put it on. ID, replace it in the wallet. Good. Good. Wig, slight dash of make up, pale is good when you're an ill student. Contacts. Glasses. This was the only way he could survive in Academy City - a mask within a mask within a mask.

Now, he was Rin.
A few minutes ago, he was Souji.
Years ago, he had been 2796. And despite 2796 looking exactly like Souji, albeit a few years younger, he was nothing like Souji.

The disguise was nearly complete, apart from a few strands of silver hair sticking out. Souji sighed, Souji mind you, not Rin. He wasn't Rin yet, had to change his personality first.

Rin was easy to be though. Shy, nervous, didn't like talking to others... the hardest part was the stutter - it had to be juuust the right balance of 'oh what should I say?' and 'St-stop it!'

Souji liked to think he was good at it.

After around five, ten minutes, Rin exited the building, and opened his cell phone to call Onizuka.

"H-h-hello? Onizuka? It's Tetsuya Rin, and I um... I think I m-might be able to attend today... If that's alright..."

Souji cringed at the performance Rin was giving. But Rin swallowed his pride and shoved Souji down farther, farther away from the normal boy. Souji wasn't normal, how many eleven year olds had been classified as deadly criminals? Tortured people to near-insanity?

Very few. His message to Onizuka delivered, Souji decided to have Rin deliver a message - no, a misdirection to Judgement.

"J-judgement! I-I don't know wh-what happened! I w-w-was just w-walking to sc-school and this silver haired p-p-person ran right by me! I th-think he was going to Sec.. um... Sector seven...? S-s-sorry! I'm not m-much help.."

Once more, Souji winced at the performance, but he was less of a person and more of a presence right now - a corner of Rin's mind, telling him "Go for it! Don't belittle yourself anymore, try your hardest! You can do it Rin, it doesn't matter!"

But sadly for Tetsuya Rin, he didn't exist. He was just another facade - not allowed to be the best, only decisively mediocre, a quiet, above average student, at an above average school.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

((OOC: Yeah...But how would Souji know that Ryuu was counteracting Tobio, and for that matter, how would Ryuu know that Tobio was even using his ability in the first place? It's not like you have to be able to identify their abilities to do stuff-You're just negating the effects. Also, why has time stopped for the duration it takes for Souji to do all this stuff? Lol))

[Anyr]

And thus Moroe's run of good luck came to a sudden stop; So sudden, in fact, that she could have sworn she felt some mental whiplash as her karmic train slammed on the emergency brake. Apparently her mask of indifference had been jolted off as well, because the approaching group was treated to an expression of pure, undisguised shock. Moroe prided herself on her ability to plan ahead, but the idea that this group of adults would contain a telepath hadn't even crossed her mind; What an amateur mistake. She of all people should have known that Academy City churned out anomalies by the sackload.

The important thing here was not to panic. There was no way of knowing whether the telepath had actually seen anything incriminating when he'd scanned her, and the only thing he'd see if he tried again would be multiplication tables; Okay, so the fact that she was trained in mental blocking techniques was suspicious, but plenty of people feared telepaths. Right now Moroe's best bet was to try and bluff her way out with a healthy dose of righteous indignation.

"What am I looking for? You're the ones that are going around reading the minds of strangers for no reason! I was just standing here, and all of a sudden you started feeling around inside my brain! Now don't try to deny it; I've taken classes, you know!"

[Terry576]

((Time never stopped. Souji's walking with people now - unless Tobio's tracking his specific heat signature they only have a vague idea of his location - based on where he exited the sewers.

I don't play Ryuu, but I'd notice rapidly fluctuating heat, wouldn't you? And considering that Souji knows he's being tailed, he's actually carving the letters into the floor.

...I should be more specific about these sorts of things.))

[AnimeKid]

(OOC: Very true Lord Cao Cao. Also the there was a crowd between the Judgement team and Souji's group. That was why Tobio couldn't locate Ryuu. Plus it was only rapidly fluctuating around Mei. A general aura of coldness was in the store but there was no way to track it to Tobio as there would be no reason for him to conceivably do that to the naked eye.)

Tobio nods as he says, "Thanks for the help Ren-taichou." With Ren leading them the group comes out into the sunlight in no time. With a disgusted look on his face Tobio shakes out his wet pants leg. Looking at the crowd he sighs as his shoulder slump. He then says under his breath, "Mabye if I was a level 4 like Astraphobia or Ren-taichou, he wouldn't have got away."

[Cole10000]

((OOC: Uh yeah I guess Carver is just tagging along right now, I've been kind of busy so... i'll say hes with the other judgemnent members))

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Kensuke laughed heartily.

"Calm down, little lady! Hiroshi here just heard my name and Koutas' in your head...Look, if you want an autograph or something or whatever, since ya went through the trouble of finding me, I'll give it to you. In faaaact, if you're up to it-and old enough- you're even free to join us for a night out in town."

A accumulated groan rose from among the ranks of Kensukes' gang.

"C'mon guys, she looks cool. Even if she does look a bit young. And speaking of which, Hiroshi-Why were you taking a peek inside her head? You know how many times I've told you not to do that..."

The shaggy-haired man in a purple hoodie scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, I was checking for an attempt on your life-My duty as your friend, after all-"

He ceased his speech in the face of Kensukes' disbelieving, one-eyebrow-raised stare.

"Uh, she looked suspicious-"

"Hiroshi."

"Okay, fine! She was hot and I wanted to know what she thought of me."

An exasperated sigh left the mouths of every member of Kensukes' group, closely followed by a synchronised eyeball roll. Apparently, this was something he was quite infamous for. Hiroshi responded by raising his hands in a defeated gesture, then thumbed his chin as he remembered something, face tensing as he concentrated on a pilfered thought.

"Oh, and she mentioned something about Nimori-someone."

Kouta suddenly snapped to attention, the happy-go-lucky glint in his eyes vanishing in the blink of an eye, suddenly becoming all-business, and then some. Now, he resembled the Kouta Moroe saw on his photos. Lurching out of the crowd with hands in his pockets, he approached Moroe in long strides. Up this close, Moroe would be able to realise that he had dark bags under his eyes, and his breath reeked of coffee and energy drinks. Clearly, he had spent many a late night doing research on this case.

"Did you say Nimori?"

He then placed a hand on Moroes' shoulder to lead her away, waving away Kensukes' protest with an assurance that it would not take long and he would meet up with them later. If Moroe had decided to follow him, he'd have taken her just out of earshot, underneath a set of stairs.

"This wouldn't happen to be about a certain murder, would it?"

__________________________________________________ ________

Mei crinkled her nose as she breathed fully-for the first time in what felt like forever-Upon exiting the sewer. Understandably, she had found the situation disgusting, and when she returned home she had decided that she would probably end up throwing these pair of clothes away and taking half a dozen showers in quick succession to wash the scent of filth off her. Nevertheless, that was not her main concern at this point of time-Chasing Astraphobia was, although she was certainly very relieved that they were out of immediate danger-Hence her somewhat-predictable relapse into calling Ren 'dumbass'.

"Don't worry, Tobio-kun; this man is used to running from the law, and you're still new. Hell, the dumbass couldn't catch him and he's a level four veteran of Judgement."

She pulled out her phone, shaking water out of it, and began calling up headquarters.

"HQ, Kamakura Mei here. Astraphobia exited a manhole in District Six, block 112 if the signage is correct. Check camera footage-Or lack of it-And send a few teams in to look for eyewitnesses. We'll stay on his trail somehow. Kamakura out."

A sudden breeze swept through the street, causing the inundated Mei to shiver with cold as she turned to Ren for instructions.

"So what now, dumbass?"

[Atrum-Persavor]

"Shaddap, -rookie-.I would have, but it'd have involved too much property damage to be worth it. Civilians first.

Ren surveys the area, then checks his watch.

"Well, we're lucky I'm quite free today. Training's suspended because Anti-Skill is having their regular marksmanship competition. Anyway, Tobio, civilians first. So long as nobody's dead or injured, you've done your job. Minimizing property damage is a strong secondary."

After a few more minutes of looking around, Ren seems to come to a decision and points down an alleyway.

"Cameras there are powered down. This way."

[AnimeKid]

Tobio perks up at Ren and Mei's words and nods to himself. After all Astraphobia was but one criminal. A dangerous one, but one none the less. He had joined Judgement to protect people. Not just to catch Astraphobia. So as long as people were safe he had done his job. With that weight lifting off his heart he turns towards Mei and seeing her shiver chills the air above himself to transfer the heat to her so she could warm up. Tobio follows Ren down the alleyway as he contemplates what he could do to contribute. As he thinks to himself he realizes something. Souji had one thing that could lead to his capture. Before when he saw him Souji had a Bokken. Wood was naturally much colder than the human body. If he searched for a human heat signiture along with a colder signature that was cylindrical in shape he might be able to find him as that would cut down the number of people significantly. As they head down the alleyway Tobio extends his senses to try and find that signiture, making sure he informs his allies of what his thought of and what he is trying to do.

[Anyr]

Kensuke laughed heartily.

"Calm down, little lady! Hiroshi here just heard my name and Koutas' in your head...Look, if you want an autograph or something or whatever, since ya went through the trouble of finding me, I'll give it to you. In faaaact, if you're up to it-and old enough- you're even free to join us for a night out in town."

A accumulated groan rose from among the ranks of Kensukes' gang.

"C'mon guys, she looks cool. Even if she does look a bit young. And speaking of which, Hiroshi-Why were you taking a peek inside her head? You know how many times I've told you not to do that..."

By the time Kensuke had got halfway through his spiel, Moroe's look of indignation was no longer quite so fake. Just like with the girls from earlier, she felt as if she'd met this man before. The patronising voice, the demeaning little nicknames, the gracious invitation which came far too early; Oh yes, 'Mr Nice Guy' was definitely back in town. Ah well, at least infiltrating his group would be easy. All she had to do was follow along and pretend to be one of his...one of his...

Fangirls. Oh no.

"Okay, fine! She was hot and I wanted to know what she thought of me."

Oh no. Was there even a way for her to feel any more uncomfortable about this situation?

"Oh, and she mentioned something about Nimori-someone."

...Yes. Yes there was.

"Did you say Nimori?"

...He then placed a hand on Moroes' shoulder to lead her away, waving away Kensukes' protest with an assurance that it would not take long and he would meet up with them later.

Moroe may not have had any experience in playing a fangirl, but she had plenty of other roles in her repertoire. For this occasion she decided to go with 'child who's been caught with their hand in the cookie jar'; In other words, guilty, but only of something minor and possibly cute. As Kouta led her away, she shot Kensuke and his friends a slightly nervous look which said 'Oh dear, am I in trouble?'.

If Moroe had decided to follow him, he'd have taken her just out of earshot, underneath a set of stairs.

"This wouldn't happen to be about a certain murder, would it?"

Instead of replying immediately, Moroe twiddled her fingers and glanced around for a bit first. She was 'clearly hesitant' to speak, but eventually she 'plucked up the courage' to do so.

"...Yes. Look, it's nothing suspicious. I'm just a friend of Nimori Shougo-kun. I...care for him a lot and..well, his father's death seemed...strange. So I've been doing a bit of poking around. There's nothing wrong with that, right? Anyway, I saw on the Net that you and Kensuke-san were going to be here, so..."

[Terry576]

Unfortunately for Tobio, Souji's bokken was, for one, designed to conduct electricity.

Ergo, it insulated heat.

Besides that, it was left at Souji's disguise house. He wasn't Fuschichou Souji - he was Tetsuya Rin.

Rin bumps into someone on the street, and babbles out an apology. "I-I-I'm so s-s-sorry! I w-w-wasn't p-paying attention..."

The man just looks away, muttering about 'damn brats'.

[Atrum-Persavor]

Unfortunately for Tobio, Souji's bokken was, for one, designed to conduct electricity.

Ergo, it insulated heat.

OOC: Physics does not work that way.

Electric-conducting objects, by their nature, are good heat conductors due to the properties of electron flow.

It's yes to both or no to both.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Kouta sighed.

"Damn. Nimori Shougo, huh? Poor kid...Good to know he had friends, though. No, nothing wrong with it at all. Bah."

He looked away, a look of great irritation on his face. He hesitated for a brief moment, mouthed the words 'to hell with it', and then continued.

"You're right, it was strange. We suspect a telepath tampered with the murderers' memories, because they're all the bloody same, our own telepath even said so, but we don't have any evidence. I know this case isn't as simple as this-Even Skill-Out gangs don't normally bash specific people to death in carefully planned ambushes-and I have a hunch as to who the underlying culprit is, but without proof..."

He scowled in frustration.

"If only we had an eyewitness that'd give us a warrant to search...Like the last member of that gang, gah; he'd be able to prove that those memories were tampered and what really happened, but he's pretty much dropped off the face of the planet, and we don't have much time before we have to close this case and..."

Kouta trailed off, shaking his head resignedly.

"I really regret taking this case...Looked like fun at first, but...Bleh. Sorry about that, by the way. I should be relaxing, shouldn't have unloaded all of that unto you. It's probably irrelevant to you anyway. Maybe Mei was right; I do work too hard."

He then gave her a wan smile, before turning back and waving to Kensuke, who was already traipsing down the road with his friends. From several scattered conversations, they were going to go to some Chinese restaurant, followed by a pub crawl and then perhaps some movies whilst pretending to be sober. And then, whatever. Overall, a very unprofessional night; the thought of which caused Kensuke to laugh audibly, commenting about how good it was to be able to let down his hair and chill out with old friends for once. Rubbing his sleep-deprived eyes once again, Kouta turned to her and offered her a wry grin, a knowing look in his eye.

"So, which one of us did you really come for, miss? Don't be shy; I won't take offense if you say Ken. And don't worry about the cost of anything-It's Kens' shout tonight, and he's not exactly poor."

((OOC: BTW, Terry-Atrum is right. Conductivity of electricity and heat are almost always strongly correlated, thanks to density/electron transfer mechanics.))

[Anyr]

It took serious effort for Moroe to avoid letting out an expletive in response to Kouta's none too welcome news. No matter how much she ramped up her paranoia on this mission, it never seemed to be enough. Seriously, the kid had admitted that his entire gang could tell the same story as him, and that they were all in police custody, and that telling the truth wouldn't have helped anyway; If even that wasn't enough to make him a safe kill, then what would have been?

Ah well, no sense in dwelling on the past. It wasn't as if using the police had ever been a very appealing option; Moroe had seen too many sharks slip through their nets to have any real faith in them. For now she'd just treat Kouta as a convenient information source and work out how to handle the Pure Streets herself. Keeping up her act, she returned his smile shyly as she walked along beside him.

"Mostly you; Meeting Kensuke-san is just a bonus. I know I'm just an amateur who's got no business poking my nose into these things, but if you can spare a little time, I'd really like to hear your perspective on this case. It...It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. T-That thing about the mindwipe has already made coming here worth it. How many people are there who could do something like that, anyway? It sounds like a pretty high level trick..."

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Kouta chuckled.

"I'm flattered-really, but I'm not really good boyfriend material. Neither is Ken. You deserve someone much better, seriously."

He then dusted off his shirt and re-arranged his tie, the flushing in his face from his previous exertion fading away in the cool night air. The way that Kouta moved, to an eye used to fighting, would be very...Unusual. Like a tiger-Even when relaxed, he appeared ready at any moment to spring into action, and a good look at his knuckles would reveal old, worn callouses. Nevertheless, he walked alongside his prior group, linking up with his previous gang.

"In any case, we're heading off to some Chinese place that my mum always gets food from because hey, everyone else wants it. In all honesty though, it's pretty good. Even if you're not 20-Which I'm pretty certain you're not-You can join us for this at least, even if you can't go out for a drink with us. Oh, and it's just the memories of the murder itself...It'd take a level five to rewrite someone's entire memory. This job could be done by Hiroshi alone if you gave him enough time, and he's a pretty crappy level three."

"Hey, Kou-I resent that. I'm a pretty solid level three, thank you very much. I can replicate patterns and designs that my customers imagine right down to the finest detail-I'm a tatooist by the way-And nobody has complained so far-"

"Cool story bro, in any case, we've got quite a number of telepaths who can do just that, too many to put any down on the 'suspect' list just because. And like I said, I don't want to reveal my hunch, because it's a hunch and those things aren't normally very reliable."

There was a pause in his speech as Kouta didn't know how to continue. As they walked, the trio in the back perhaps in silence, Moroe would be aware that they were entering a street full of restaurants, several of them Chinese. Bright neon signs glared out everywhere. For this part of District Six, this was normal. What was not normal, on the other hand, was the number of three-man Judgement teams on patrol here; over perhaps five hundred meters, they'd have come across no less than four. This did not bother the group overmuch-They had every right to be here, and strangely they did not seem too concerned about physical danger, even laughing about the possibility of running into some. After they passed a fifth Judgement team, Hiroshi finally spoke.

"You know, if you'd like, I could fool them into thinking you were 20-"

"Hiroshi...Ugh. I apologise for his behavior, miss....Ah, I don't think I actually got your name. Would you be so kind as to give it to us?"

__________________________________________________ ________

"And bam, he got so mad over that statement, just like that! Couldn't handle that I'd managed to totally destroy his case. Got so mad he threw a chair at me in the courtroom before the guards could restrain him."

Kensuke laughed boisterously, its' keenness piercing the otherwise tense night air. A fellow of his in a green jumper laughed in return.

"Man, I'd say that sounded fun if I understood half of what you said, bro. Too clever for us. Too clever for us."

They exchanged a fist bump and walked past Souji as they did so.

Souji would probably swear he'd seen that before, from somewhere.

And if he passed them, Hiroshi would flash him a very odd look-He wasn't looking into his mind, per se, but his electrokinesis made him stand out to him, even unintentionally. He'd probably swear he'd seen this shaggy-haired man before, too...

[Anyr]

The word 'boyfriend' caused a noticeable twitch in Moroe that she couldn't suppress. Luckily, with her current act it was more likely to seem like embarrassment than annoyance. But it was Kouta's second comment which really got under her skin. So she 'deserved someone much better'? How would he know that? They'd known each other for all of ten minutes! Even if he wasn't being serious, that sort of superficial assessment had always annoyed her.

It was a good thing for Moroe that she wasn't required to speak for a while after that, because she might not have been able to keep the irritation out of her voice. By the time Kouta actually asked her another question she'd got her impulses more or less under control again.

"K-Kimiko. Tanaka Kimiko. A-and yes, I'd like to come along."

After that she walked in silence along with the group, observing them as discreetly as she could manage; So far, though, they seemed almost disappointingly ordinary, except for the strange look that Hiroshi was currently giving a random bystander. Perhaps it was time to steer the conversation in Daisuke's direction and see how his brother reacted.

[Atrum-Persavor]

[English]"... Damn."

Ren stops running abruptly as the alleyway opens into a street, turning around and facing Tobio and Mei with a strange look on his face, as if he'd taken a punch to the face.

"Slow down. Relax. Standard sweep pattern. We lost him. Too many possible retreat paths from here."

He turns around, and suddenly stands up, completely straight and alert, before drawing the knuckledusters off his hands and placing them into his jacket. As Mei and Tobio catch up to him, he mutters a single name, staring down the street.

"Kamakura Kouta."

[Terry576]

((What the - I swear I posted like four times. Yeah, I dunno much physics.))

Unfortunately for Tobio, Souji had left his sword at his home.

Tetsuya Rin, on the other hand, is quietly shuffling through the Sixth District when he stumbles, and nearly runs into a group of three people.

"Oh s-s-sor-"

He froze. Oh come on. How likely was it that out of the hundreds, if not thousands of possible places she could be, she always ran into him? Sure, the last two times were his fault, but she'd never even met Rin, and now she could probably connect his facial structure to Souji.

Damn. He'd been Rin for ages, and didn't want to lose that cover.

"O-o-oh! I'm sorry Ishimaru-senpai! I-I wasn't looking where I was g-going, and I d-didn't see you there... my apologies..."

Meanwhile, Souji was chanting in his head, praying to all the gods above.

Buy it buy it buy it buy it buy it

He hadn't meant to see Moroe ever again. She didn't want to see him, and he was perfectly happy to oblige that, at least as Fuschichou Souji. However, she went to school with Tetsuya Rin, the quiet shy boy who sits in the very corner of every class he attends. And if he lost the cover of Tetsuya Rin, he'd need a brand new identity, new papers for school, and a new cover story for why he rarely showed up to class.

[Anyr]

Unbeknownst to Souji, a similar litany was echoing through Moroe's head. Seriously, what were the odds of meeting someone who blurted out her real name barely three minutes after she'd given an alias? For a moment she did some freezing of her own, as she stared at this interloper and tried to process what had just happened. She hadn't paid any attention to him before, and even now she didn't recognise him. Oh, he looked vaguely familiar, and it seemed as if he was a schoolmate of hers, but that was as far as it went. Maybe if the situation wasn't so tense she'd have been able to put a name to the face.

All right, time for some damage control. Putting on her best 'cutely flustered nervous girl' expression, she bowed her head to the stranger while casting her eyes to the floor.

"I-Ishimaru? S-sorry, I think you have me mixed up with someone else. And really, it's no trouble. It was p-probably my fault..."

To a bystander who didn't know the background of this situation, the whole thing might have looked rather adorable: Two shy, retiring teenagers apologising frantically to one another over nothing at all.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

"Well, look who it is! Shirogane Ren and his girlfriend, ore no kawaii imouto!"

He grinned at the predicted explosive reactions from his incredible volatile little sister-Once for her being called Rens' girlfriend, and another for being called 'Ore no kawaii imouto'. Kouta liked to think that he was a good older brother to Mei, and as a good older brother he never tired of teasing her over a variety of things, laughing as he ducked a thrown shoe.

"You! KOUTA-NII! I AM NOT THE DUMBASS'S GIRLFRIEND! NO WAY! HE WILL DIE ALONE AND UNLOVED, AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE ANYWAY!"

"Just chillin' with an old friend-Huh?"

He stopped as he caught sight of Mei staring at Moroe intently.

"Ishimaru? Weren't you that girl from earlier today, at Onizuka?"

"Do you two...Know each other...?"

And by now, Kensukes' group had stopped and were staring at the odd, chance meeting of souls in the middle of the street-Of two apparently shy teens apologising to each other over nothing. A few girls commented on how cute it was. It was then that Hiroshi totally killed the atmosphere with one badly-placed comment which he delivered whilst tearing wildly at his hair, the electrical impulses produced by Soujis' brain causing the inside of his head to itch furiously.

"E...Electrokinetic! Driving me nuts....!"

[Terry576]

Rin's eyes widened rapidly as she apologized. While outwardly he still looked just as shy, inwardly it was a battle between Rin's covering personality and Souji's well...

More obvious personality.

"Awww, c'mon! Flirt with her a little!"

"W-w-what?!? No!"

"Dooo it! It'll be fun! Like an adventure!"

"Sh-shut up! It's a terrible plan!"


Rin shook his head quickly, waving his hands at about the same speed. "N-n-no! I-Ishimaru-senpai, it's m-my fault for n-not looking where I w-was going! I-I'm just not u-used to being outside again..."

He looked down at the floor, rather despondent. Then suddenly it looks like the gears turned in his head and he turns bright red.

"Y-you're not I-Ishimaru-senpai? O-oh. I-I'm really s-sorry I g-guess I j-just wanted to see someone I knew..."

Rin shuffles his feet awkwardly, staring downwards as he blushes furiosuly.

Then Souji inwardly paled, cursing.

Hell. A psychic? Now? God dammit. He couldn't deal with a psychic who could see his talent right now. He needed to get that under control, except, well...

It was one of those things he couldn't control. He'd just have to hope that the man had a rather large range for his ability, otherwise Souji's cover as Rin would be blown wide open.

[Anyr]

No matter how good a person was at thinking on their feet, there was always a limit to the amount of curve balls they could handle; For Moroe, it felt as if this limit was fast approaching. A lot of things were happening all very quickly, and she was having serious trouble keeping up. She was still in the middle of placating the nervous stranger when, out of nowhere, another person who recognised her appeared. Moroe didn't even have enough time to start thinking of a counter strategy before the Judgement member pointed her out. Okay okay, no need to panic; She'd just...admit to being Ishimaru Moroe and think up some perfectly normal reason why she'd been using a false name? Er, all right, problem...solved? Maybe? Well, it was worth a try anyway.

Then Hiroshi spoke, adding yet another distraction for Moroe to process. Honestly, didn't he know that she needed to concentrate? Well, no, he didn't; But it was still annoying to have her frantic planning derailed by his complaints about an Electro...kin..et..ic...

Within the depths of Moroe's memory, something clicked. In one brief instant, a lot of hazy recollections suddenly came sharply into focus. Her eyes shot up from the floor and, all thought of pretence abandoned, she took a long, hard look at the stranger whose gaze she'd been avoiding. Then, with a dawning look of equal parts horror and rage, she spoke.

"Fuschichou...SOUJI!"

[Terry576]

What.

What.

Oh come on

Great. His cover as Tetsuya Rin was nearly blown. Fortunately, he was wearing a wig, a pair of glasses, and had completely different eye colors. He had twelve different people who could confirm his location as witnesses over the course of the day, and had the fake doctor's reports for his 'condition'.

"Wh-what? Isn't that th-the r-really dangerous criminal on th-the loose? I-I'm s-sorry to h-have tr-troubled you sempai. I-I'll j-just go away..."

Turning around slowly, Rin began walking away, for all intents and purposes looking like he was about to cry.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio laughed gently as he walked over and placed one hand on Mei's head and another on one of her shoulders as he says, "Calm down Mei-chan. I'm pretty sure that the he was just teasing. After all the more you react the more teasing you invite." However he is smiling at the bond that he can sense between the two siblings. It was kinda funny to watch them both. Then he looked over at the girl who was called Ishimaru. Ishimaru Moroe was often called a loner at Onizuka middle school. He couldn't say anything about her himself other than the girl liked her privacy.

When he heard the girls outbreak and the boys reaction he walked over as he said and said, [COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]"Hey kid, you don't have to be so upset about this just because of a little mistaken identity."[/COLOR] While he says it with a gentle voice the gears inside his head are turning. After all Souji had proven himself capable of disguising himself so nothing is impossible. After he reaches them he towards Moroe and whispers, [COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]"Moroe-san, are you doing something that requires your identity to not be known? If so I wil try not to reveal you true identity. It is the least I can do. Now are you sure that that boy is Fushichou Souji?"[/COLOR]

[Terry576]

Rin continued walking away, a set of tears running down his face. He wasn't Souji. He was completely and utterly seperate from Souji. Souji was brave, willing to do anything, and fun-loving, always smiling. Rin was quiet, shy, soft-spoken, and was above all else, afraid. He was a Level Zero, he couldn't fathom using Electrokinesis as an actual weapon, or even use it at all.

Then he heard Tobio speak, and slowly turned around, his head facing down.

"...Okay. I-I'm really s-sorry sempai. I d-didn't mean t-to get s-so upset about wh-who you thought I was, b-because I did the s-same to you..."

He bowed low, wiping the tears off his face, trying to look like he hadn't been crying, that he was ready to be mocked and insulted, sort of like he had been at school. After all, who wants to befriend a sick, quiet boy who's only at the school once every few days?

Rin hated Souji for that. Souji could have created any kind of persona he wanted - and it would have been fine. But he picked the one that made Rin feel like he was worthless, even though he was the most common cover identity Souji used.

[Anyr]

When he heard the girls outbreak and the boys reaction he walked over as he said and said, "Hey kid, you don't have to be so upset about this just because of a little mistaken identity." While he says it with a gentle voice the gears inside his head are turning. After all Souji had proven himself capable of disguising himself so nothing is impossible. After he reaches them he towards Moroe and whispers, "Moroe-san, are you doing something that requires your identity to not be known? If so I wil try not to reveal you true identity. It is the least I can do. Now are you sure that that boy is Fushichou Souji?"

If Moroe hadn't had more important things to worry about now, Tobio's arrival might have been the breaking point for her already strained patience. Even now having yet another familiar face show up, call her by her given name and lean into her personal space wasn't exactly welcome, but that sort of thing was no longer anywhere near the top of her priority list.

"Yes, I'm absolutely, 100% sure. Now stop wasting time and destroy him!"

[Atrum-Persavor]

Ren immediately vanishes from sight, upon hearing what Kouta said. Immediately as he recovers from dodging the shoe, a fist shoots out from behind him.

Dodged.

The arm snaps back, as Ren launches his left fist forward.

Dodged as well.

What Kouta did -not- expect, however, was for Ren's knee to shoot up and hit him, in quite an... unfortunate location.

"She is FIFTEEN, you sick pedophile."

The grin on his face was hardly concealed by his attempt to shoot Kouta's recoiling body with a contemptuous glare. As he helps Kouta up, Ren catches sight of Kensuke. He bows slightly.

"Ashikaga."

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

"Yo, Shirogane! Long time no see. Are you still wearing that jacket from Kami-knows-how-long-ago?"

"Gah...Ren...You....!"

Kouta writhed on the ground in agony, cursing loudly as both Mei and Kensuke laughed at him. A moment later, after being helped to his feet by Ren, he immediately snaps to attention as Moroe yells out Soujis' name, assuming a fighting stance immediately. Seeing this, Kensukes' entire group quickly follows suit, and eyes not focused squarely on Souji might be able to note that a handful of these adults were holding things like fire in their hands, or the wind whistling around them unnaturally; hallmarks of Esper abilities. Meanwhile, Meis' eyes immediately fall squarely on Souji...Or Rin, trying to match his face with that of Astraphobia, her heart racing again.

"H...Hey you! Stop right there! On your knees and hands in the...The air! Judgement investigation!"

Kensuke, by contrast, was more confused than anything else. Having only arrived in Academy City that day, he was not aware of the whole Astraphobia issue, and he immediately tried to defuse the situation, waving his hands in the air.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah! What's going on!? Why are we accosting that nice kid over there, just because he's an electrokinetic? Hey, hey, come back! I'm sure they don't mean any harm!"