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

[Lady Serpentine]

Tobio looks at Alia for a moment before he says, "Really? I-I mean no o-offense Alia-san but y-you don't really seem like the type to be a t-troublemaker. I-I mean your so nice. P-Plus getting kicked out s-seems a little extreme to me. N-Not that I-I trying to saying anything b-bad about your parents. I-I'll just shut up now." With that Tobio sips down the last of his soda, most likely the first one to finish his meal.


(OOC: Anyone want to run into Crocell? If not I'll probably just have him finish his parkour training and go to bed.)

((Well, Ryuu is always open for interaction, as long as she's not involved in other stuff... Who's Crocell again?))

"Don't want to say anything bad about my parent, you mean. My mother died exactly three-hundred-and-sixty-four days ago, the same day I was kicked out. Speaking of which," Alia continues, with the wicked grin that usually precedes one of her odd, often darkly humorous, twists in perspective. "You're all invited to my birthday celebrations tomorrow."

She pauses for a moment, eating some of her eel, before continuing.

"That's also when I found out Johnathan is actually my half-brother, which I suspect had something to do with my rather precipitous exit; turns out my mother was already pregnant when she got married, and that I'd been pretty much simply tolerated by everyone but her."

[Mina Kobold]

School Garden - Krystal and Kin's dorm

Nakamura Yua looks nervously from building to building as the not-prestigious Esper leans against the wall of Krystal and Kin's dorm. Closing her eyes tight and slowly opening them again to make sure it was all real.

Yua had been near the School Garden less than ten minutes ago, but the unnoticeable kid was quite sure that even Awareness Control should not be able to get anyone into the elite area without permission, and it veyr much hadn't. But something had, without Yua even having time to see what it was.

As a responsible student, Yua should have immediately gone to the proper authorities and gotten it sorted out. To do otherwise would mean staying in a restricted area. An area frequented by the elite, the best of the best.

And thus it is that Yua finds herself overhearing Krystal and Kin's discussion. Distracted by the picturesque view, the out-of-place Esper speaks up before thinking.

"Hongakuteki Nihon Ryouri's burgers a-"

Quickly stopping herself, Yua quickly tries to hide from the two other students' awareness. Although, she might not have been quick enough. Perhaps they would electrify the intruder for interrupting them.

[KerfuffleMach2]

School Garden - Krystal and Kin's dorm

Nakamura Yua looks nervously from building to building as the not-prestigious Esper leans against the wall of Krystal and Kin's dorm. Closing her eyes tight and slowly opening them again to make sure it was all real.

Yua had been near the School Garden less than ten minutes ago, but the unnoticeable kid was quite sure that even Awareness Control should not be able to get anyone into the elite area without permission, and it veyr much hadn't. But something had, without Yua even having time to see what it was.

As a responsible student, Yua should have immediately gone to the proper authorities and gotten it sorted out. To do otherwise would mean staying in a restricted area. An area frequented by the elite, the best of the best.

And thus it is that Yua finds herself overhearing Krystal and Kin's discussion. Distracted by the picturesque view, the out-of-place Esper speaks up before thinking.

"Hongakuteki Nihon Ryouri's burgers a-"

Quickly stopping herself, Yua quickly tries to hide from the two other students' awareness. Although, she might not have been quick enough. Perhaps they would electrify the intruder for interrupting them.

Krystal letting a comment slip by? Not likely. Upon hearing it, Krystal looks for the source. She seems a little excited.

You know where a good burger place is?

Ah, yes. The important question of the moment.

[Anyr]

Kin looked over at Krystal in surprise. She'd just been pondering the best place to start their search, when her friend suddenly repeated herself for no apparent reason.

"What? No, I don't. I just said that, remember?"

[KerfuffleMach2]

Kin looked over at Krystal in surprise. She'd just been pondering the best place to start their search, when her friend suddenly repeated herself for no apparent reason.

"What? No, I don't. I just said that, remember?"

Huh? Krystal looks to Kin, slightly confused. Then she shakes her head and looks around again. No, I heard somebody start to say something about it. Like they knew a place.

Huh. Wonder where they went.

[Mina Kobold]

Yua looks from Krystal to Kin and back, a curious look returning to the ghostly Esper's face. Clearing her throat, Yua slowly turn up her presence. Just enough that her voice will be noticed.

"It was me, sorry. I just overheard you, I was not eavesdropping."

If Krystal or Kin spots Yua behind them, the blue-haired girl will take a step back. Giving them a cautious look as if they could suddenly turn her into a fox for daring to speak to Tokiwadai students.

"Hongakuteki Nihon Ryouri does sell burgers, and it's usually good."

[Anyr]

"GYAAH!"

Kin spun 180 degrees with a panicked (yet somehow still graceful) twirl. Her eyes darted over Yua, hurriedly taking in every detail of this mysterious intruder. The shock quickly faded when she realised that said intruder was not, in fact, a 7-foot tall demon, but an embarrassingly ordinary girl with blue hair. Feeling a little silly, Kin gave an embarrassed cough and tried to regain her composure.

"T-that's all right. It's my fault for not noticing you. Er, Hongakuteki Nihon Ryouri, you say? Thanks for the tip."

[AnimeKid]

((Well, Ryuu is always open for interaction, as long as she's not involved in other stuff... Who's Crocell again?))

"Don't want to say anything bad about my parent, you mean. My mother died exactly three-hundred-and-sixty-four days ago, the same day I was kicked out. Speaking of which," Alia continues, with the wicked grin that usually precedes one of her odd, often darkly humorous, twists in perspective. "You're all invited to my birthday celebrations tomorrow."

She pauses for a moment, eating some of her eel, before continuing.

"That's also when I found out Johnathan is actually my half-brother, which I suspect had something to do with my rather precipitous exit; turns out my mother was already pregnant when she got married, and that I'd been pretty much simply tolerated by everyone but her."

Tobio looks ashamed of himself at hearing that Alia's mother was dead as he says, "I-I'm sorry I didn't know. I-I didn't m-mean, w-well you know. Although I do thank you for the invitation. It was kind of you to invite me even though you haven't even known me that long." Tobio is now sipping at his leftover Sprite. As he sits waiting for everyone else to finish.

(Crocell is the pyromancer character that I made a little while ago. Rather calm-headed if you don't mention his height but he does have his limits He is very well versed in boxing, Parkour/Freerunning, and his pyrokinetic powers. He is rather short, about 5'3. He also goes to Azabu.)

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

There was a brief moment of silence as Moroe yelled, followed by a confused patter coming from two pairs of startled feet at different intervals. Within the barest handful of seconds, Shougo was already at the foot of the stairs, a long kunai (kunai?) drawn and held in his right hand and a long red scarf in his left, stance wide and eyes both wild and searching, ready to snap out with lethal force. Were the Pure Streets waiting for him?, he wondered, struggling to contain the panic rising at the base of his throat.

"Who's there!?"

Were they waiting for him to show up here? Weren't they having a party at Daisukes' penthouse? He must have underestimated them...How could they have known he would be here at this particular moment of time? This was truly a bad time for them to show up; if they attacked now, they would easily be able to corner both Moroe and himself, and his mother-

"What? Who's got company?"

His mother also dashed down the stairs, bumping into Shougo in her haste. Like the house she was in, she was also not in a particularly good condition, although at least she was not hungover today. Still, she looked just as tired as she did yesterday. As she took in her surroundings, she involuntarily heaved a sigh of relief followed by resignation as she took stock of the mess that her unwanted guests had left even as she noted the fact that she had bumped into Shougo, who was supposed to be in hospital, as well as Moroe standing by her front door.

And by then, the mysterious interloper hiding in the rafters had all but disappeared from sight.

"Shougo-kun, what are you doing home!? You're supposed to be in hospital, young man! Don't tell me you just sneaked off -"

"Mother, please, I am fine; the doctors released me today. Apparently, my injuries were not even half as bad as they appeared to be and-And-I just decided to stop by home with Ishimaru-senpai, and..."

"...And why are you holding a kunai in your hand?"

"Uh, I, uh..."

Shougo looked at the ground sheepishly, in what was either genuine, civilian embarassment or an act so convincing that it would have fooled just about anybody, before murmuring in a tiny, quiet voice.

"I was...I wanted to show Ishimaru-senpai some of father's ninjutsu..."

Shougos' mother sighed gently, before glancing knowingly between Shougo and Moroe, before settling on the latter and addressing her a warm if rather tired tone whilst attempting to shake off the worst of her exhaustion.

"None of that, now...You are Ishimaru Moroe-san, yes? I apologise greatly for the mess, I have no excuse save my laziness...I apologise for not greeting you earlier as well, would you like to have some tea?"

If Moroe looked out the corner of her eye, she would have seen Shougo glancing alarmingly at a pair of rafters overhead, bathed in shadows. He had seen something, and judging from the look of mild panic in his eyes, he was not at all pleased at what he thought he saw.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Yua looks from Krystal to Kin and back, a curious look returning to the ghostly Esper's face. Clearing her throat, Yua slowly turn up her presence. Just enough that her voice will be noticed.

"It was me, sorry. I just overheard you, I was not eavesdropping."

If Krystal or Kin spots Yua behind them, the blue-haired girl will take a step back. Giving them a cautious look as if they could suddenly turn her into a fox for daring to speak to Tokiwadai students.

"Hongakuteki Nihon Ryouri does sell burgers, and it's usually good."

"GYAAH!"

Kin spun 180 degrees with a panicked (yet somehow still graceful) twirl. Her eyes darted over Yua, hurriedly taking in every detail of this mysterious intruder. The shock quickly faded when she realised that said intruder was not, in fact, a 7-foot tall demon, but an embarrassingly ordinary girl with blue hair. Feeling a little silly, Kin gave an embarrassed cough and tried to regain her composure.

"T-that's all right. It's my fault for not noticing you. Er, Hongakuteki Nihon Ryouri, you say? Thanks for the tip."

Krystal also reacts in surprise. Though, not quite as vocal as Kin. She just jumps and turns. At the sight of Yua, she smiles. The blue haired girl was just so cute!

That's okay. I'm glad you did.

My name's Krystal. Nice to meet you. Krystal holds out her hand to shake. Her mannerisms and accent suggest that she isn't native to Japan. Yua might note that she isn't the only one with oddly colored hair. Krystal's is white, as are her eyes.

[Anyr]

A flurry of calculations and simulations started flying at breakneck pace through Moroe's head. With practised speed she distilled the key factors of this predicament into a neat, simple package. Room size, positioning of participants, weaponry, and anything else she could think of were all reduced to numbers on a mental screen. In the time it took for Shougo to stall his mother, Moroe selected what she believed to be the best route for winning this level. As casually as possible, she let her hand drop away from her concealed gun. Then she gave a slight bow to Mrs Nimori and spoke to her in the same tone she'd used when they'd first met.

"Yes please, some tea would be nice. I'm sure Nimori-kun will be able to keep me entertained while we wait."

"I hate 'protect the civilian' levels. No matter how good you are at them, one stray shot is all it takes to fail the mission."

Starting a firefight simply wasn't an option with Mrs Nimori in the room. She needed to be got out of the way before this situation got out of control. Normally Moroe liked having idiots as her opponents, but today she really hoped that she was up against a smart one; Because if they were some trigger happy moron without the sense to stay quiet, then things were about to go very, very wrong.

[Mina Kobold]

"GYAAH!"

Kin spun 180 degrees with a panicked (yet somehow still graceful) twirl. Her eyes darted over Yua, hurriedly taking in every detail of this mysterious intruder. The shock quickly faded when she realised that said intruder was not, in fact, a 7-foot tall demon, but an embarrassingly ordinary girl with blue hair. Feeling a little silly, Kin gave an embarrassed cough and tried to regain her composure.

"T-that's all right. It's my fault for not noticing you. Er, Hongakuteki Nihon Ryouri, you say? Thanks for the tip."

Krystal also reacts in surprise. Though, not quite as vocal as Kin. She just jumps and turns. At the sight of Yua, she smiles. The blue haired girl was just so cute!

That's okay. I'm glad you did.

My name's Krystal. Nice to meet you. Krystal holds out her hand to shake. Her mannerisms and accent suggest that she isn't native to Japan. Yua might note that she isn't the only one with oddly colored hair. Krystal's is white, as are her eyes.

Yua begins to reply to Kin when Krystal suddenly hold out her hand. A surprised look on her face, Yua shakes it. Still not sure they would not call down fire and ice on her.

"I-I am Nakamura Yua. I am honoured to meet you, Krystal-sama."

The now-noticeable Esper replies politely, bowing to both of the pair.

"I apologise again for surprising you, it was not on purpose."

Although it was funny to see the two elite students jump, but Yua probably shouldn't say that. Probably.

[Anyr]

Yua wasn't the only one who was taken aback. Kin looked pretty shocked herself when the newcomer gave her a full-fledged bow. A peculiar half-focused look briefly passed across her face, as if she was looking at something only she could see.

"Man, that brings back memories. I haven't been on the receiving end of a greeting like that since I left home. Those overzealous servants always insisted on bowing and scraping, no matter how much I wished they'd stop. Please, I'd be much happier if you didn't put me on a pedestal; And I'm almost certain the same goes for my friend here."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal nods in agreement with Kin. Yeah, I'm not a fan of being formal. I try to avoid it as much as I can. I think it's stupid.

She looks to Yua with a smile. So, you wanna join us for burgers? Kin here hasn't had one. And I want to change that. She grins.

[Mina Kobold]

Yua seems quite surprised by this reguest, but nods.

"OK, I think I can do informal."

The young ESPer replies, sounding much less restrained now that she is sure that there is no danger from Krystal and Kin.

"I would. If it's no problem."

Yua replies to the offer of seeing Kin try new foods.

(Sorry if this post seems messy, it is very late. ^_^')

[Anyr]

"Then it's decided! The three of us shall venture forth into the lands beyond, to see what rich bounty can be harvested!"

Having overcome her shock, Kin switched right back into hyperactive mode. Coincidental meetings had been working well for her lately, so she embraced this one enthusiastically. She took up a position between the other two girls and sent a pointing hand dramatically forward.

"Onwards!"

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal grins at Kin's enthusiasm. She'd only know the girl for a few days, but she could tell she picked a good friend.

She gestures to Yua. Lead the way!

[Mina Kobold]

Yua looks quite surprised that Kin suddenly is so hyperactive, but nods and takes a moment to tell the direction of the restaurant. Which happens to actually be in the exact direction Kin pointed, is her ESP power a compass?

"Oh, it is this way. It's shorter than I thought."

The School Garden had always looked like a huge place far from most of the other things in Academy City to Yua, but it seemed much less scary already.

[Duos]

Yori sits in a corner booth of a slightly greasy-looking hole in the wall at the edge of the industrial district. He stares down at the sheets of paper in front of him, alternately slurping down pieces of pork from a hot pot and laboriously filling out paperwork. His attache case lay open on the table beside him, neatly labeled folders and files peeking out from within. He sighs, taps the current stack of forms against the table, and slides it back into its folder, exchanging it for yet another portion of an endless load of paperwork.

"I should get an intern or something for this. It's going to take ages to work through all this."

He flags down a bored looking waitress and orders a soda and another bowl of pork and some noodles. Well, at least the paperwork wouldn't last much longer.

[Terry576]

A bemused, suit-clad silverette was dragged into the diner Yori ate at by the hand of a clingy little girl.

"C'mon oniichan, I wanna get some food! I've never been anywhere like here before, pleeeaaaaase?"

She pouts, he sighs and inclines his head. It was near where they had gotten his clothing, so he supposed it wouldn't hurt to allow her this, just once.

[Duos]

Yori sighs in irritation as the child pleads loudly with her guardian. So much for finishing his paperwork. He could tell, that brat was going to spend the next hour loudly asking vapid questions and complaining about diner food. His sullen gaze bores into the back of her head as she points excitedly at the menu posted over the counter in chalk. Yori hated small children.

Then his PDA beeps. Yori blinks twice and looks down at it.

Weeeeell. That was interesting. It was only supposed to go off when it pings on a nearby ESPer whose A.I.M. field was compatible with the G.E.A.R. program. Yori pulls the PDA out of one of his many cargo pockets and scrolls through the information presented.

Hmm. Well, odds were good that it was just some level one or a skill-out punk wandering nearby, not super-useful, but worth testing at least. He'd have to take a look.

Standing up, Yori rubs the accumulated grease and dust off of the window his booth is next to and peers outside. There was light foot traffic, so there were only a few potentials. Probably not worth the effort to track down, though. He'd know soon, however-the triangulation program running on his PDA would eventually pin down a name, face, and power to go with the hit. Yori slides back down into his seat and sighs as the waitress swings by with his order. Oh well. Not much to do but wait. Maybe he'd have a chance to grab them after dinner and the rest of this wretched paperwork.

[Terry576]

The duo sat down, across the room from Yori, and Shiki stared around the room with her strange eyes, which slowly widened to the size of dishpan.

"Oniichan, look look look! They've got noodles and fried food! Can I get some!?!? Can I can I pleeaaaase?"

He merely stares at her, unsure of how to react, and arches an eyebrow at the small girl, who blushes immediately, glaring at him with a pout on her face.

"Stop bein' so mean oniichan! C'mon just lemme get some fried food okay?!"

He nods, falling to her demands with ease once more as he waves down a waitress. The girl walks over, a faint flush covering her cheeks at the pretty teen, and awaits for him to say something, something like "Oh darling, I can no longer resist you" or

"Noodles."

She frowns slightly, it marring her pretty features, and writes it down. Shiki babbles off a list of food, the girl scribbling it down rapidly before she leaves.

"You shouldn't be so mean oniichan! Smile or something, that way people can know you like them! I wouldn't think you liked me if we hadn't done all that stuff together!"

She smiles happily, and his stare remains blank.

[Anyr]

Yua looks quite surprised that Kin suddenly is so hyperactive, but nods and takes a moment to tell the direction of the restaurant. Which happens to actually be in the exact direction Kin pointed, is her ESP power a compass?

"Oh, it is this way. It's shorter than I thought."

The School Garden had always looked like a huge place far from most of the other things in Academy City to Yua, but it seemed much less scary already.

It took a while for the three to reach their destination. The Hongakuteki Nihon Ryouri was a long way from the School Garden, in more ways than one; This fact bothered Kin not a jot. She remained content to walk between the others and point out interesting bits of scenery along the way. If allowed to do so, she'd also take the opportunity to get closer to Yua; Literally. As the newcomer would soon learn, Kin regarded personal space as something which happened to other people. Unless strongly dissuaded, her natural clinginess would bring them steadily closer together, until Kin's arm eventually became firmly anchored around Yua's shoulders. Regardless, the other arm would be ensnaring the (probably more willing) Krystal, thus possibly linking the them all in a strange, three way walking hug.

"So, what's this burger place like, anyway? I don't think I've ever been in this area before."

[Mina Kobold]

Yua seems at least slightly confused about what happened to the space between her and Kin, but is caught by surprise by Kin's arm before having a chance to contemplate this mystery further. Yua does not try to get free, however, merely wondering how much stranger this day could be.

"It's not very high class, but it is a nice place to eat and catch up."

She says, still a bit distracted by the walking hug. Almost as an afterthought, she adds.

"Though, it can get a bit weird sometimes."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal waves her hand a little. The best burgers are never in fancy places. I don't really care about that.

And, do you mean weird for this city? Or just weird in general.

In a city full of ESPers, you do need to specify what degree of weird you're talking about.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Mrs Koizumi Nimori (Or Nimori Koizumi) sighed and smoothed her hair, simultaneously relieved by her sons' sudden return to health and embarrassed by the fact that their home was in such a disheveled condition in front of their new guest. Of course, there was nothing to do but grin and bear the pain. She was also surprised and a little pleased-and nervous-at the same time. She hadn't realised Shougo had...

She shook her head, trying her best to hide her fatigue and then smiled, bowing slightly as she walked up the stairs, trying desperately to remember where the best tea was...After all, she absolutely could ill-afford to not do her best to impress the girl which her son had most unexpectedly chosen.

__________________________________________________ ________

As soon as the footsteps receded quietly up the stairs, Shougo re-brandished his long kunai and turned to face their unwanted guest, heart pounding in his chest, before motioning his head slightly towards Moroe as if to say 'cover me'. He didn't know who it was, nor why they were here, but as surely as his fathers' word, he would not allow them to threaten him and his family in their own home, as inconvenient as his unwanted appearance was. It might well disrupt their plans, and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finally topple Daisuke.

He clenched the cloth-wrapped handle of his kunai tightly. The thought of missing that chance made him so angry, he felt he could drive the kunai straight through the throat of this intruder in vengeance, breaking his fathers' teachings to never take a life.

"Who's there? Come down, before I make you come down."

Shougo was firm, but not particularly loud. While his mother was some distance upstairs, he still did not want to make her aware of a potential scuffle. That would not be good.

((OOC: Sorry for lateness, I was on holiday for five days with a friend.))

[Anyr]

Moroe breathed easier once Mrs Nimori vanished from sight. Though the poor woman would still be in for a nasty shock if a corpse ended up in her living room, at least now she didn't risk becoming one herself. Now that the witness was out of the way, Moroe's hand once again shifted to her concealed gun. She also put some more distance between herself and Shougo, so that the intruder couldn't take them both down in a single surprise attack. She continuously scanned the ceiling for signs of movement, while also addressing their hidden enemy.

"Come on, let's not do anything rash. I'm guessing that you don't want a fire-fight any more than we do. If you surrender now, I promise that you'll leave here alive. You might end up a prisoner, but being captured is a lot better than being killed."

[Atrum-Persavor]

"Number one, you're facing the wrong direction. Number two, never run with a knife. Number three, the only rash thing I've done so far is to trespass in here and bug the place with a considerable number of audio recording devices and cameras." A voice casually speaks from the shadows behind Moroe and Shougo, just as Shougo's hands tightly clench around... Nothing.

The bladed edges of the Kunai fall, as if a cylinder was neatly cut out of the weapon.

"I'm on your side. If I weren't, I would have lit this place on fire already. Anyway, why would a coward trespass on somebody's house alone, much less remain for long?"

The owner of the voice steps out from a shadowed corner. Dressed in light, dark-brown colored clothes with all loose ends tied down, the man standing before Shougo had definitely prepared to infiltrate the Nimori Dojo- but for what purpose?

"So, Nimori Shougo. What do you plan to do with the Pure Streets?" The man crosses his arms, and stares straight at Shougo and Moroe.

[Anyr]

Moroe whirled around to face Ren. With her mind still running in overdrive, it didn't her two seconds to recognise the 'enemy'. Even so, she didn't relax much. The banner of Judgement had been almost worthless in her estimation even she'd learnt about the Pure Streets. Under the circumstances, she placed more stock in the fact that he'd announced himself before stepping out; If he hadn't, she'd almost certainly have fired.

"We're asking the questions here. Judgement or not, you're trespassing in a private residence. So, is this an official visit, or a personal crusade?"

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougo responded immediately with a smooth lie that would have fooled any casual observer, nonchalantly disregarding the now-useless piece of metal that recently dropped onto the floor.

"Nothing. I can't do anything, anyway."

Inwardly, his guts were clenched with fear. Who was this guy? And how did he manage to effectively disarm him of his weapon? If he could remove a chunk out of it so casually, could he also remove chunks of his enemies with the same ease? No doubt he was a powerful Esper, and the thought reminded him of the insurmountable gulf in personal power between him and Daisuke. Nevertheless, his face was calm and impassive as he addressed someone who was in all likeliness capable of toying with his life effortlessly.

"Why are you even here? Trespassing on peoples' property is illegal, much less the placing of cameras. I assume you know about me and the Pure Streets. Why involve yourself in anothers' business? I do not even know you."

He glanced behind himself involuntarily as he stepped slowly around Ren, trying to position Moroe behind him. His mother would be returning at any moment. Then he really would have a situation on his hands.