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

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

The receptionist looked at Tobio briefly before putting away the clipboard that she was writing on. She had a somber look in her eyes, and spoke to Tobio as though trying to comfort him. The poor boy, she thought, to have to face a friend in such a state. It might have been better if he had just died; it would have been better than becoming a vegetable.

"You're a friend of his? I'm...Sorry. I'm not sure you'd want to see him the way he currently is. But you obviously skipped school to do so, so I don't think I can turn you away. He's on floor four, ward A13."

__________________________________________________ _______________

When Tobio got there, he would have seen Shougo in...Well, a terrible condition. Hooked up to multiple machines and swathed in bandages, he was clearly comatose, totally unaware of the beautiful day just outside his window. A woman was sleeping slumped down on the bed next to him and a doctor doing yet another checkup routine was in the room, watching what appeared to be Shougos' vital signs. He did not turn as Tobio entered the room, merely murmuring softly to him as a greeting.

"I take it you are a friend of Nimori Shougo? Well, I won't lie to you, he's in a bad bind at the moment-I'll spare you the details, but I don't think he'll be able to 'hang out' with you for awhile. I'm sorry."

[AnimeKid]

Tobio steps slowly forward as the doctor works. He patiently goes over to one of the chairs that was in the room and sits down as his legs seem to collapse from underneath him. He has clear tears in his eyes at the fact that his friend is in such bad shape. He also is appalled by the brutality of the of his injuries. Why would anyone do such a thing, and to a 14-15 your old kid too!? What kind of monsters would want to hurt Shougo like this?

Looking over at the woman sleeping in the chair Tobio feels another tug on his heart strings as he realizes that she must be Shougo's mother. For a mother to find her child in this kind of state? It had to be heartbreaking. Deciding to be as supportive as he can he goes off to find the hospital cafeteria. Once there he makes a couple of purchases getting himself some riceballs as well as some for Mrs. Nimori, as well as also getting her some hot cocoa and some noodles. He then heads back to the room and waits for her to wake up. Later when she does so she will see a very polite looking boy dressed in the Onizuka uniform.

He would look at her and say, "O-Oh, hello Mrs. N-Nimori. I-I'm a friend of S-Shougo's from school. Well, a very r-recent friend th-that is. H-He and I only became friend y-yesterday. H-However I heard that he was h-hurt, p-possibly even d-d-dead. So I r-rushed over hear as s-soon as I could. F-For the little that it's w-worth. I'm sorry for you. N-No mother sh-should have to see her child l-like this. H-Here, I thought you w-would be hungry so I-I bought some thing's f-for you from the c-cafeteria. I-Its a little cold but its s-still good."

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Nimori Koizumi said nothing at first, Tobios' words and indeed his presence going unnoticed by her. She finally responded after what, to her, felt like an eternity of consideration, Tobios' consolation being run and re-run through her mind as she struggled to accept what had happened to her son. The effort sent her into tears again. It really wasn't fair-For her son to finally have started to make some real friends; to find a girl, even, and for this to have happened to him...To tell the truth, she did not want to say anything, or even acknowledge Tobios' presence, but she knew that would not be the right thing to do.

"Thank you...I'm...Not hungry, though. My poor, poor Shougo-kun; I can't lose him, not after I lost my husband, not like this..."

Another sob forced its' way through her throat.

"There must be something ....Something that could be done. Someone to help..."

Please, save my son! Someone, anyone....

[AnimeKid]

Tobio sees the woman crying over her son and it strikes a chord within him. He had to do something. Not just for Shougo, but also to stop his mothers tears. With a nod of resolve Tobio clasps her hands as he says, "Ma'am I'm with Judgement. I'll do my best to see I we have a regenerative Esper within our ranks. I'll do my best to help Shougo I promise you. If I find the person who did this they will be brought to justice. For now just hold on ma'am." With that Tobio runs out the room and out of the hospital.

After he is out of the hospital he reaches into his backpack and quickly straps on his skates. He waited a while for Mrs. Nimori to wake up so everyone should be out of school right now. With that thought he skates off towards the Judgement Office at high speed. If he manages to get there without any interruptions he looks for Mei or Ren to ask them if they know any healing Espers. If they are not there he goes through files in Judgement to see if any of their officers have a healing ability.

__________________________________________________ _____________

Ryuji exited Azabu High school as the day ended on a rather pleasant note. His usual throng of female admirers watched him from afar as he walked down the street. 'Hmm, mom was going out with Jin-san tonight, so I have a couple of ours to burn' With that thought in mind Ryuji slows his brisk pace to a slowly more relaxed pace as he decides to have a a little walk about of Academy City. (If anyone would like to interact with Ryuji fell free to do so.)
__________________________________________________ ______________

Crocell impatiently tapped the eraser of his pencil against his desk as he sat in detention. He was serving with Meahara-sensei and man was he a sadist. He didn't even have him writing lines or something. He was just sitting in a room with nothing visually stimulating and he couldn't just go to sleep either. He looked at the clock. One more our to go, he sighed. This was H*ll.

[Mina Kobold]

[Near Azabu]

As Ryuji leaves the school, a blur suddently passes. Breaking to a halt, it solidifies to another Azabu student, this one with disorderly long hair and slightly creased uniform.

"Hiya! I'm Katsu, d'you know peeps are spying on you?"

Smiling curiously, the speedster nods in the direction of some of Ryuji's admirers.

"Are they waiting for you to do something? D'you make giant trees? That'd be specatular!"

Speaking rapidly, the Azabu Esper skips carelessly along next to Ryuji.

[Duos]

Yori sat in his office, head buried in his hands.

"So, to make it clear why you are here in my office: you left a folder full of HIGHLY SENSITIVE documents, containing information that will DISSOLVE THE PROJECT if the wrong people found it, on the BUS. Where it was then found by, as luck would have it, one of Crowley's PERSONAL ASSISTANTS."

The junior researcher standing in front of his desk wrung his hands together and stared nervously down at his feet. Yori felt like screaming, crying, and tearing the man's head off. Instead, he sits up, slumps back in his chair, and massages his temples.

"Words cannot begin to describe how FIRED you are. I want you to pack your things and be out of the building in half an hour."

The scientist swallows nervously and shuffles towards the door. As he leaves, he pauses for a fraction of a second before speaking up, his voice quiet and meek.

"I'm sorry, sir, I really am. I feel like an idiot, and I know I screwed up. But I have to know how you know about the folder in the first place...I mean, it only just happened this morning. I didn't even realize it myself until I got into the lab..."

In response, Yori swivels his computer monitor around to face the hapless researcher.

"It's probably because I got an Email from the Board this morning asking me to not be so careless with one of their pet projects. Also, we're getting audited now, because they want to know exactly what we're doing with all the money they keep dumping on us. So yes, good job, even when you're gone you will still be a worthless pain in the ass."

Yori spins the monitor back around and leans forward, staring at the man, who shrinks back under Yori's cold gaze.

"Now get out."

[Anyr]

The poor employee soon tarnished his reputation even further, by proving himself unable to obey even a simple command to leave the room. Then again, this was due to the door exploding off its hinges and knocking him unconscious as he approached it, so perhaps he deserved some leniency. A slouching figure stepped over the debris and across the threshold.

"This had better be the right office. I'm running out of doors."

The newcomer's appearance could be described in one word: Scruffy. He was unshaven, with messy brown hair that came down over his eyes (which were hidden by a dark blue visor); His posture had a slouch so pronounced, that it made him look as if he were on the verge of falling over; He wore an unwashed school uniform which might once have been of great quality, a very long time ago; And his facial expression was permanently set to that of someone who'd just woken up. Upon catching sight of Yori, he heaved a sigh of relief which sounded vaguely like a yawn.

"Finally."

[Duos]

Yori doesn't bat an eyelash as the slovenly dressed young man blasts down his door. He folds his hands over his desk and leans forward, giving the man a withering look of contempt.

"From your blasé attitude and SPECTACULAR disregard for property damage, I can only conclude that you are GATE's Katashi, and are here to act as auditor of the G.E.A.R. program, on behalf of the Board of Directors."

Yori sighs, stands up, and grabs a fedora off of the hat rack on his desk, tugging it down over his bald, scarred pate. He walks around his desk and looks over the man standing over the bent mass of metal that WAS a door. Disgusting...Nobody should look like they had just rolled out of bed at four in the afternoon.

"You can always, you know, knock next time, genius. Or just follow the signs in the hallways, unless you can't read."

He brushes past the visored ESPer and makes a sharp beckoning motion with his right hand.

"First stage is this way. Follow me."

Yori sets off, stalking down the hallway at a brisk pace, silently fuming. Honestly, Yori seethed, they could not have sent anybody less professional. At least the visit would be short, and they could get back to work as soon as he was gone.

[Anyr]

Katashi (for it was indeed he) shrugged off the scorn with an actual shrug. He opened his mouth as if to reply, but then closed it again, having apparently decided that it would be too much trouble. Instead, he just followed Yori out of the room, at a much slower pace than the one his guide had set. Katashi clearly expected everyone else to either slow down to his preferred speed, or patiently await his arrival at the finishing line.

[Terry576]

Moroe returned the glare with interest. She followed the two into the dining room, thankful that she wasn't the one who had to carry Shiki. Hajime really was useful to have around at times like thi-NO; Don't think that way. He was a free individual, not a servant. No matter how happy he was with that role, she needed to stand firm and not take advantage of him.

She sat down to breakfast at a table which was much more crowded than usual. The dining area hadn't been designed for group meals, so the three of them didn't have a lot of room to spare. Nevertheless, Moroe tucked into her meal with the first enthusiasm she'd shown all morning. With her stomach rapidly filling, she was able to use a slightly warmer tone when she next spoke to Shiki.

"See, there are compensations to getting up early. Just think; If you'd slept in like you wanted, all this tasty food would have gone cold."

Of course, the only reason this food tasted good was because Moroe was making it taste good, using her ability. Still, hopefully it would satisfy the brat for a while.

Shiki happily gobbled up her food, blissfully ignorant of her surroundings. She was just pleased that there was food on the table.

Hajime, on the other hand, was mysteriously absent. After laying out the food, he had vanished mysteriously, claiming "A lack of hunger, my apologies Master," before removing himself from the atmosphere without a word.

Not that it really mattered, even if Moroe pretended it did. Hajime would do whatever she said, no matter what - any command would be taken and completed with brutal efficiency, and any orders would be completed, no matter how difficult.

----

Moving.

Building.

Recreating.

He was a man who was always in motion, his glasses shining wildly as he stared at his latest, and by far most disturbing, creation.

"Removing the head isolates the perimeters of the isometric field, but the extrapolations of the electromagnetic discharge is too high, causing the brainwaves to fluctuate and then vanish... Not finished! Never finished! Fix it fix it fix it!"

The project was thrown to the side, and a new one began, the man working more and more feverishly towards completion.

Because his army could be killed.

But a Dullahan - a headless man - could not.

[Anyr]

Moroe was a little disappointed when Hajime left. She'd been hoping to ask him some more questions about the people who'd attacked him yesterday. She resisted the urge to call him back, since she was trying her best not to treat him like a servant (hard as that was). Instead, she tried questioning the other witness.

"When you've finished eating, I'd like to ask you about the (erm) 'bad guys' from yesterday. Do you know who they are? Why are they after you? Do you have any abilities that might be helpful in stopping them?"

[AnimeKid]

[Near Azabu]

As Ryuji leaves the school, a blur suddently passes. Breaking to a halt, it solidifies to another Azabu student, this one with disorderly long hair and slightly creased uniform.

"Hiya! I'm Katsu, d'you know peeps are spying on you?"

Smiling curiously, the speedster nods in the direction of some of Ryuji's admirers.

"Are they waiting for you to do something? D'you make giant trees? That'd be specatular!"

Speaking rapidly, the Azabu Esper skips carelessly along next to Ryuji.

Ryuji smiles as he keeps up his pleasant Katsu demeanor. Of course the blur would be Yamamoto Katsu. His fellow schoolmate was well known for being easily excitable. So he probably stopped out of well meaning intentions instead of trying to snipe at Ryuji.

"Hello, Katsu-san my name is Matsuda Ryuji. Sadly now I can create giant trees my power is a bit more simple in nature." With that he makes a slight hand movement and three coins move from his pocket and into the air making several acrobatic manuvers before going back into his pocket.

He smiles at Katsu as he says, " I can control any and all metals with my mind. It can be quite handy I assure you. As for the girls, they are some of my admirers. They usually tend to follow me since we mostly live in the same directions." He turns to look at the girls that were following them. A tall and rather curvacious red head seemed to be the senior of the group with the other two members being a slender but well formed blue haired girl and a shy looking girl of average height and proportions with mousy brown hair.

He smiles at them charmingly causing them to blush as he says to them and Katsu, "However I do wish that you lovely ladies would join me in my walk home. After all the more the merrier they say. Plus I would love to get to know you." The girls blush again before talking amongst each other as Ryuji turns back to Katsu to continue their conversation.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Mei had had a long, troublesome day at school, largely thanks to the rumours that several of her peers had spread regarding a certain blue-haired boy. While it had largely died down by the time it had finished, she figured she would probably have a lot of explaining to do to Ren. Eventually. For now, she was doing her usual routine in the Judgement HQ, albeit trying desperately to remain hidden from Ren. She'd get around to it. Eventually.

To be honest, she wasn't even sure why she felt like she needed to explain things to Ren; they weren't even...Even, well, you know, going out, and it was his fault for being an idiot and not getting her text. Stupid, stupid Ren. If only he'd just picked up his phone and said 'okay', none of this mess would have happened. Of course, the thought of those same people talking about her and Ren together was one that she refused safe harbour in her mind: like she'd be caught dead on a date with that dumbass! Even if he was ....Even if he was .....

She was busy forcing down a blush when she was interrupted by a murmur from one of her colleagues.

"Hey...Light blue hair?"

"Isn't that Ishida Tobio-san?"

"Wait, was Mei going out with-"

Mei promptly whimpered and ducked beneath a desk. Unfortunately for her, she hit her head on the way down, effectively announcing her presence to Tobio.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio looks up from the files he was pouring over to see his (in his mind) best friend as his eyes widen in relief as he skates over to her, having forgotten to take off his skates when he got into the building. He gets there fairly quickly and sees Mei crouched from her attempt to hide under her desk along with her no doubt rubbing the spot where she had hit her head.

Raising an eyebrow at Mei's peculiar behavior and not knowing the reason behind it he shrugs before saying, "Hi there Mei-chan. First things first, are you okay you look like you hurt yourself. Second of all, are there any Espers capable of healing withing Judgement? If not are there any that you know of? Maybe at your school? Or maybe Azabu since it and Tokiwadai are so close together? It's really important. You see a friend of mine, named Shougo, was badly hurt by someone or something. His mother is crying her heart out in his room and the doctors aren't sure what's going to happen to him."

Tobio clasps his hands together in a pleading gesture as his eyes look deeply into hers with utmost sincerity. "Please tell me if you know anything or know someone who would know anything Mei-chan."

[Terry576]

Moroe was a little disappointed when Hajime left. She'd been hoping to ask him some more questions about the people who'd attacked him yesterday. She resisted the urge to call him back, since she was trying her best not to treat him like a servant (hard as that was). Instead, she tried questioning the other witness.

"When you've finished eating, I'd like to ask you about the (erm) 'bad guys' from yesterday. Do you know who they are? Why are they after you? Do you have any abilities that might be helpful in stopping them?"

Before Shiki even opened her mouth, Hajime floated in, like a leaf on the wind, his form silently slinking through the doorway as Shiki speaks in between bites.

"Ummm... No nee-chan, sorry! I can only heal stuff, can't do anything 'bout the enemies!"

[Anyr]

A piece of food dropped soundlessly from Moroe's hand. Inside her carefully compartmentalised mind, a locked door suddenly sprang open again. When she next spoke, it was with a voice filled to the brim with urgency.

"Heal?! As in, healing other people? How well can you heal? Can you handle critical injuries? Brain damage?"

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

"Did you hear that? He called her 'Mei-chan'...."

"So they were true? Kamakura Mei is cheating on..."

"Haha, hey there Ishida-san! What a coincidence to see you here today! It's been awhile since I've seen you, I was just tying my shoelace when-..."

She stopped her frantic rant and let Tobio finish upon hearing the note of urgency in his voice. A healing Esper? She didn't know of one-The closest she knew of was Ashikaga Kensuke, and he had already explained to her that he didn't really 'heal' wounds, he just sped up the bodys' metabolism. She racked her mind for more people who could repair bodies and came up with a couple-But even their abilities were more likely to harm someone than help them. If Academy Citys' own doctors couldn't help this 'Shougo', then who-

"Hey, Mei-chan, is that your new-"

Her string of thought was severed by a prod from one of her curious companions, causing her to reflexively leap into the air and stammer, grabbing Tobios' wrist as she did so.

"N...No! He is not! Eheheheh...Well, uh, Ishida-san, we should probably talk elsewhere, like on the rooftop!"

She promptly dashed to the rooftop, dragging Tobio along. After a few moments of 'trying to calm herself down', she was finally able to speak.

"Ehhh...Phew...Sorry about that, Tobio-san, but could you, uh, please refrain from calling me Mei-chan around here? People might ... You know, come to the wrong idea. And as for your question-I don't know. What are the nature of his injuries? My brother has a friend who can accelerate the bodys' natural metabolism-and that's the closest I can get to true 'healing', but..."

She placed her index finger on her temple, deep in thought.

"If the doctors don't know what to do with him, though...I...I don't know. There might be someone who can, if you check the Judgement profile network. Who is Shougo, anyway? He sounds familiar; I've heard that name from somewhere before, I just know it."

[AnimeKid]

It was a rather comical sight to see Tobio in his 5'9 glory being pulled along by a 4'10 girl. Tobio actually almost trips as his is dragged along. Once they get to the roof Tobio tilts his head a little in confusion at Mei's first statement. However once she continues he rubs the back of his head in embarrassment with a light blush on his face as he says, "G-Gomenasai. I-I didn't realize that I was making trouble for you Mei-san. Please forgive me!" He finishes of his statement with a very low bow, almost bending at a 90 degree angle before coming back up.

When he hears Mei's answer he sighs in sorrow his head pointed downward. "Okay Mei-san, thank you for your help, and once again I'm sorry for causing you trouble. As for who Shougo is, he is my newest friend. I only befriended him yesterday in fact. His full name is Nimori Shougo. I think he said that his father used to run a dojo that taught a martial art style called Nimori-Ryu. He has another friend named Ishimaru Moroe, she goes to my school actually. Oh, and he is horrible with technology. Does that help?"

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Mei sighed.

"No, no, Tobio-san. It wasn't your fault at all-You were being the perfect gentleman. It's everyone else who's at fault; they can't see anything platonic between a boy and a girl is all."

She paused once she heard Tobio describe Shougo, and Tobio would be able to see her jaw visibly clench. She had heard of him before-Yesterday, on the rooftop if she remembered correctly. More importantly, she knew who had done this to him.

"I knew I'd heard the name before."

She let out a little growl that was rather uncharacteristic of a small, petite girl like her-A growl that was extended unnaturally via means of her psychic power.

"Ashikaga Daisuke. Ashikaga Daisuke did this to him, if I'm not wrong...My brother handled his case, actually."

[AnimeKid]

Tobio looks shocked for a moment. He looks at Mei instensly and can see the conviction in her eyes when she stated her accusation. Tobio's features harden instantly as he clenches his fists tightly and says, "Daisuke...that, that...that yarō! Why would he do something like that to Shougo. What did he do to him!"

It is at this time that Mei can get a glimpse of Tobio's anger. He seems to literally be shaking in indignation. His eyes, and what she can see of them through his hair, almost appear to be glowing from his anger. "What possible reason could he have to beat Shougo until he was comatose!!!" Tobio's shaking increases but Mei would realize that this time it was due to tears making their way down his face.

After a while he stops as he says, "Thank you Mei-chan. You have helped me a great deal" However I need one more favor from you. I know that you might be worried about my mentality after what happened last night but please listen to me." He looks at her as he brushes his hair from his his face and tucks it behind his ears to allow he to fully see his shining silver eyes as he stares into hers with the utmost determination and conviction.

"I'm going to still find a healing Esper for Shougo and I am going to do my d*mn best to get him out of that coma. But please...I need to see your brother."

[Mina Kobold]

Ryuji smiles as he keeps up his pleasant Katsu demeanor. Of course the blur would be Yamamoto Katsu. His fellow schoolmate was well known for being easily excitable. So he probably stopped out of well meaning intentions instead of trying to snipe at Ryuji.

"Hello, Katsu-san my name is Matsuda Ryuji. Sadly now I can create giant trees my power is a bit more simple in nature." With that he makes a slight hand movement and three coins move from his pocket and into the air making several acrobatic manuvers before going back into his pocket.

He smiles at Katsu as he says, " I can control any and all metals with my mind. It can be quite handy I assure you. As for the girls, they are some of my admirers. They usually tend to follow me since we mostly live in the same directions." He turns to look at the girls that were following them. A tall and rather curvacious red head seemed to be the senior of the group with the other two members being a slender but well formed blue haired girl and a shy looking girl of average height and proportions with mousy brown hair.

He smiles at them charmingly causing them to blush as he says to them and Katsu, "However I do wish that you lovely ladies would join me in my walk home. After all the more the merrier they say. Plus I would love to get to know you." The girls blush again before talking amongst each other as Ryuji turns back to Katsu to continue their conversation.

"That sounds great, could you also control a robot? I met someone who could once. I wonder if she gets admirers?"

Katsu says, looking back at the blushing admirers before suddenly snapping back.

"Are they staying back because we've iron in our blood? I don't think you're supposed to manipulate that."

Despite trying to be responsible about the dangers of magnetising hemoglobin, Katsu cannot quite hide being curious.

[Duos]

As Yori and Katashi (finally) arrive at a large window that looks onto a room filled with large, glass tanks, full of a pale green liquid, and bustling scientists, Yori turns and faces the young man he's been guiding.

"The first step in the process is the blanks are grown in these vats. It's a process that shares a remarkable number of similarities with cloning,since it's essentially the same thing; however, the main difference is that the blanks are grown from a DNA composite that leaves them rather mutable. They're rather like empty glasses that need to be filled. You can see one near the end of its gestation period in that tank over there, actually."

Yori gestured at a glass vat near the window where one of the almost-clones floated. It could barely be called human-it's skin, tinted as it was by the green fluid it was marinating in, was a sickly green-grey, and held a dull, rubbery texture. There were no distinguishing features on the body of the blank; No hair, no sex, no navel, as if something had wiped clean the slate of the human body. The face, though, was a different matter entirely. It was grotesquely enlongated, and the eyes didn't exist-there were simply sunken blotches of skin covering the sockets. The nose was simply a pair of slits, and the lipless, toothless mouth was contorted open in a silent scream as a tube snaked out of its throat and disappeared into the control bank near the top of the tank.

"They're useless as is, though. It would be like trying to sell a blank canvas to an art expo. The next phase is where the interesting stuff start happening. Follow me."

Yori spins on his heels and marches off down yet another of the endless corridors that made up the complex.

"Get a move on; we have a schedule to keep and I have far more important business to attend to afterwards."

[Anyr]

Katashi dutifully listened to Yori's explanation, though it was hard to tell how much of it he actually took in. He walked up to one of the vats (though not the one which Yori had indicated) and peered inside with tired eyes. No trace of pity, disgust or even interest could be seen on his face; He simply stared at the blank for a while and then moved on. His aura wasn't that of an inspector, but rather that of a bad method actor trying to play an inspector. He knew that inspectors were supposed to peer closely at things, so that's what he did. It was as if the higher ups had deliberately selected the individual most likely to drive Yori insane with frustration; Given their inscrutable 'wheels within wheels' mentality, there was a chance that that was exactly what they'd done.

As requested, Katashi picked up the pace on the way to their next destination...slightly. He still wasn't anywhere close to Yori's preferred speed, nor did it seem likely that he ever would be.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Mei said nothing as Tobio spoke, tears streaming down his face. She said nothing; but she pulled Tobio tightly in a hug. She didn't know. Didn't know why Daisuke did the things he did; Didn't know why he was so unlike the Daisuke from her childhood. It was...Beyond her. All she knew was that the Daisuke she remembered was dead-And that the one that stood there today was a travesty, an insult to his memory.

But she did not cry; the tears had stopped years ago when he almost forced himself on her-When Mei had thought of him as her only friend in Academy City; when she had thought of him as the only person she really needed. When Tobio had finished speaking, she pulled away from him and answered him sincerely.

"Kouta-nii is usually busy...But since this involves this case, I'll try to contact him, okay? And I'll...I'll see if Kensuke-san or his friends can do anything; they're Espers too, or a lot of them are, and many of them have abilities I don't know of."

She then retrieved her phone from her handbag and searched through her contacts list, passing it to Tobio once 'Kouta-nii' came up.

[Terry576]

A piece of food dropped soundlessly from Moroe's hand. Inside her carefully compartmentalised mind, a locked door suddenly sprang open again. When she next spoke, it was with a voice filled to the brim with urgency.

"Heal?! As in, healing other people? How well can you heal? Can you handle critical injuries? Brain damage?"

Shiki shrinks away, staring wide eyed at the girl in front of her as she tries to move. she barely notices Hajime, and quickly skirts behind him, peeking out from the side of one of his rather long legs, answering Moroe with,

"M-m-maybe oneechan... I dunno, it's just my ability!"

[Anyr]

'Maybe'. That one word echoed through Moroe's mind, growing louder every time it did. In the space of a few seconds, it had washed away all the hastily constructed barriers she'd created to keep the events of yesterday out of her thoughts. Now, once again, those thoughts were completely centred upon the fate of Nimori Shougo; A fate which she now had a chance to change. With new-found vigour, she leapt to her feet and advanced upon Shiki, heedless of how scary this made her look.

"I need you to listen very carefully, because this is important: Do you remember the boy who you met in the hospital? The one who I wanted to save? Well, he's sick now. Really sick. I...I'd like it very much if you would try to heal him. The price doesn't matter; Just name your terms and I'll meet them. I just...I just need you to save him. Please."

Her voice had started out firm, but by the end she was practically begging. She didn't care, though. The only thing that mattered right now was saving Shougo.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio returns her hug gratefully and lets it go when she steps back. He is grateful for her trust and it shows on his usually expressive face. Looking at the phone that she shows him with her brothers name on it he nods his head as he takes the phone and dials the number, memorizing it so that he can put it in his phone later.

__________________________________________________ _________________

Ryuji chuckles a little at the high speed espers naivete as he shakes his head. He then says, "No, no. I is just that those girls are a bit shy to approach me because of my good looks. Besides I can't manipulate the iron in the blood. There is too little of his and it is all spread out within a liquid. If there was more then I could do it, but no. As for your other question, yes I can robots are made of metal are they not?"

It is at this point the curvaceous red head that leads the group of girls walks up to him along with the slender blunette and the average brunette. The red head blushes as she says, "Ryuji-sama, if it's not too much trouble could we please walk home with you?"

Ryuji looks her over with the speed of a pro as he thinks to himself, 'Hmm, measurements 93-58-89 score!' This all happens in a split second as he says, "Of course you an, all you had to do was ask Miss..."

Getting the hint the girl blushes as she giggles and says, Kikio, Kaoru Kikio. The blue haired girl is Rumia Ringo, and the brunette is Hanafuta Seko-chan." The respective girls wave shyly as their names are called.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

The phone rang for a good minute before someone picked it up.

"Mei-chan? This better be important, I'm really busy."

From the noise in the background and the strained sound in his voice, it appeared as though he really was busy. Still, while he sounded stressed, he also sounded anxious-Excited, even.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio nervously licks his lips as he says, "Ano, Kakamura Kouta-san? My name is Ishida Tobio. I'm a friend of Mei's. She told me that you guys were investigating the case of Nimori Shougo? She said that his current condition is due to one Ashikaga Daisuke.

I want to help you and your friends any way I can. You see Shougo-san was a friend of mine. I want to see the one who did this to him brought to justice. Moreover though I saw Shougo-san's mother. She was heartbroken, she was almost completely desensitized to what was going on around her. I couldn't even get her to eat.

She shouldn't have to see her son like this, not after she lost her husband. So I need your help finding a healer for Shougo, he is in a coma so we will need a high level on. Also I want to help you bring Daisuke to justice. I don't want Mrs. Nimori to have to cry like that because her son was a victim of Daisuke again. So please... please let me help you!"

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Kouta chuckled grimly.

"Don't worry, Ishida. Daisuke will be brought to justice soon, let me assure you. By tonight, in fact. It's about time that the stain on the Ashikaga name was purged..."

He paused then, unsure of how to continue without seeming insensitive.

"As for Nimori Shougo...I am afraid I cannot help you there. As far as I know, there is no such thing as a 'healer' Esper-At least, not in the form that Nimori requires. The damage was pretty extensive. I have a friend who can simulate the effects of healing, but the damage the poor boy took is too extensive for him to even begin to heal. I am sorry. I wish I could do something...But I can't. But rest assured that Daisuke and his gang of thugs will not be assaulting anyone again."