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

[KerfuffleMach2]

Sunset Motel

The building was small for a motel. One story, only ten rooms for guests. It was created just before the area became the designated spot for ESPers, and went out of business shortly after. The city council wasn't concerned with the building being abandoned. It was towards the edge of the city, so it wasn't in the main area.

Which meant Ivaz found it a choice spot to operate from.

Most of the rooms were still useable. Hell, they still had running water and electricity. Naturally, Ivaz grabbed the best room for herself. The one that belonged to the old couple that ran the motel.

It's here that she is now, carefully showering. The wound was still fresh, so she had to be careful. She didn't want to open it again.

As she washed her short hair, she found herself thinking on yesterday's events. She couldn't believe that an ESPer almost beat her. Most of them relied on their abilities too much, and didn't know how to fight. But that one did. Stupid bastard.

Ivaz stood there under the water for a few minutes, letting her hair get rinsed out. She thought about what led her to where she is now. She reflected on those events. On that one day...

Ivaz turned off the water, drew back the curtain, and slowly stepped out of the shower, using the wall for support, so she didn't put too much weight on her bad knee.

Leaning back against the wall, she dried her hair, thinking of ways to get vengeance on that ESPer.

Heh...wonder how well his knife can block a bullet...

[Cole10000]

carver take sin this new infornmation and decides to compile what he knows about the two so far on his phone, as well as adds a picture of souji from the cameras..

Primary Target- Fushichou, Souji
Appearance- Fairly tall, Gray hair and eyes. Wearing a middle school uniform.
Age (presumed) 15-16
Personality- Aparently "crazy" in the sense that he does comepletely unorthodox actions without fear of repercussions.
Ability- Electrokenisis
Level- Unknown.
offiliation- Unknown

Personal observations- I have no idea as to why someone would want infornmation on someone like this, he has taken over the faculty lounge of Onizuka Middle school and has created a contest as to who can come in the room and "party" with him.

Secondary Target, (last name unknown) Moroe?
Appearance- unknown
Age- Unknown
Personality- based on comments by primary target, doesn't take jokeingly comments lightly, presumed to be a serious person.
Ability- Unknown
Level- Unknown
Offiliation- Unknown

Personal observation- Contact has not yet been made.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougo sat in his English class with a few of his peers who had not absconded to the faculty lounge, totally unimpressed. Sure, he may have been a sub-par student, but at least he had discipline. Even his teacher had left, ostensibly to force that young hooligan out-So he never got the chance to tell him about that 'Carver' fellow.

Shougo knew that phone calls in class were against the school rules, but he supposed this was a fair enough exception to them.

He called the police.

That is, after spending about five minutes trying to remember how that blasted little chunk of plastic and metal worked, and another minute asking around for the Academy City equivalent of 911.

[Anyr]

From her new hiding place inside an empty (and lockless) room, Moroe could hear Souji's words far more clearly than before...Unfortunately. While she was certainly grateful to him for not using her real name in the broadcasts, that didn't excuse the horrendous pseudonym he'd chosen to replace it. Momo; Why Momo? She could just imagine him giggling every time he matched that name to her face. And worse yet, Momo was a given name! Why wasn't he calling her by her imaginary family name instead? Ah well, at least there was no way to connect it to-

Souji grins widely.

"Aaaaand one vote for Moroe-chan! If any of you know where Moroe-chan is, send her over! I'm sure she wants to kill me for not using the proper term for her as is~"

He sounds almost musical in that last bit.

...Perfect. Just perfect.

[Terry576]

Souji frowns. He didn't want Moroe-san to be anti-social, god no. If he was friends with her and she was so paranoid about him she must not have any friends at all.

This simply would not do.

"Moroe-chan is about... lemme think... She's about average height-ish, so not as tall as me, has some fantastic green eyes and short black hair..."

He rolls his eyes. "Ara.... this isn't helping at all is it? I'm sorry... Wait... Oh yeah! And she wears pants instead of a skirt. Hope that helps!"

There was only one student in the school who wore pants instead of the skirt.

There were approximately forty people looking for her now, simply because Souji was so damn charming. And a bishonen.

Seriously, meeting a real life bishonen? That's a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Even just a glimpse would do.

[Anyr]

For the first time in her life, Moroe found a reason to regret her intense hatred of skirts. While there weren't many students who actually knew her, every single one of them would instantly recognise Souji's description. Forget the school; As far as Moroe knew, she might have been the only girl in the city whose uniforWait a second. How did Souji know about that? He'd never seen her in uniform. Unless...

"He went through them last night. When he was in my house. He rifled through my clothes! Oh kami, did he touch them? Did he smell them? Did he manhandle the ones I'm wearing right now?! Un. For. Give. Able!"

All at once, Moroe's desire to destroy Souji returned in full force. Up until now she'd been cowed into submission by his high power, but no longer. Now she realised that waiting things out had never been an option. If she wanted to avoid having her entire life systematically destroyed, she needed to fight back. And that's exactly what she was going to do.

Right after she finished evading the mob of his worshippers that were roaming the halls. Oh, and a bit of backup from Judgement or Anti Skill would be nice, if they ever got around to arriving.

[Cole10000]

Carver simply leans back in his chair and smiles, this was just perfect. Not only did he now have infornmation he could use to Identify "Moroe-chan" but he also had the school body doing his work for him.

Wacthing the cameras he could see the school body roaming the halls, when watching this however he notices a girl wearing jeans atempting to avoid the group.

Hmm, that must be her.

Looking more closely he gets a good look at her face, and His eyes widen when he realises it's the same girl he got locked into the closet with earlier. Of course! That's why she was in the closet, she must have been hideing from this madman, must have given me a fake name too, just who is this girl?

At this point Carver's personal curiosity takes over and he's not even iunvestigteing for the job so much anymore, he simply wants to make sense of all this

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

After a confused five minutes of not understanding how 'being forwarded or put on hold' worked, Shougo finally managed to explain to the authorities-To Judgement, in particular, the utterly out-of-control situation that was occurring in Onizuka Middle School. They would be here any moment now, and this whole problem would be sorted out promptly.

Good.

Placing his old, battered phone into his pocket, Shougo let out a sigh of relief. That was far more difficult than he thought it would be. With nothing to do at this point of time, he simply stared at the ceiling, listening to that moron on the loudspeakers blabber away about some nonsense involving a certain 'Moroe-chan', who apparently possessed green eyes, dark hair and a pair of pants.

He paused, letting that information sink in. Now, where had he seen someone like that before...? Glancing over at the few remaining girls in his class, he noted that they all wore skirts. And thinking back, none of the girls he'd seen earlier today wore pants...Bar one. Ishimaru-senpai?

Of course, it could always be someone else. There could always be another green-eyed girl, dark-haired girl of average height who wore pants-Ah, who was he kidding, knowing the way things worked around here, it had to be her. And judging by the ruckus outside, it would appear that things would not bode well for her if she were caught. He could simply leave her be; it was none of his concern, after all, but he could already hear his fathers' commanding voice, exhorting him to heroic and often extremely foolish deeds. What was that one quote he was quite fond of, again?

'Quicker than the wind as as still as a forest, hotter than -'

No, not that one, as much as his father loved it.

'As long as there is a cry for help, a hero will emerge!'

Something like that. And his father was always pressuring him to step up and 'become the hammer of justice and the helping hand of compassion' and whatnot. He figured that now would count as such a time; whilst he figured Ishimura-senpai would be the sort to never cry out for help, no matter how dire the situation-It was help she needed, and he could already feel his fathers' overzealous grip on his shoulders, urging him to do the right thing.

Oh, kami, how he missed him, he thought, forcing back a wall of tears. Even if he was about to look like an absolute buffoon, he could not abandon what his father had taught him to do his whole life. So he stood up and left the room quietly, largely unnoticed by his few remaining classmates.

He knew a place where he was almost certain she would not be found.

The question was, could he find her before the mob did? He hoped that she hadn't moved far from where he found her, as illogical as that would have been-She had class, after all. But regardless, it was a good place to start, so he began making his way down there...

[Anyr]

Moroe had indeed not moved very far, though that wasn't by choice. With so many people roving the halls looking for her, even moving short distances was risky. The only reason that she hadn't already been caught was that, despite their numbers, her pursuers were basically amateurs. Moroe on the other hand had been specially trained to deal with situations exactly like this; Well okay, maybe not exactly like it, but close enough.

At the moment she was crouching in the space under a large staircase, with the thunder of footsteps echoing above her. Eventually the small mob of Soujites passed by on their journey to the second floor, with the exception of one girl who'd paused to catch her breath. She ended up pausing a great deal longer than planned, owing to Moroe stepping out of the shadows, knocking her out and dragging her unconscious body back under the stairs. This accomplished, she abandoned her current hiding place and began the perilous sneak/sprint towards the next stop on her long journey towards freedom.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

A gaggle of Soujites rushed past Moroe, forcing her to duck and hide once more. Fortunately, these particular fangirls seemed to be even more hapless than usual, literally coming within two feet of her without detecting her. As they pass, however, Moroe would probably have noticed a certain boy she'd recently met looking around for something.

In contrast to the Soujites, he stood at alert, eyes constantly scanning the area; focused. As it were, he may well have spotted her given a little time. He didn't look like a Souji-fanboy. He was alone, for one, and the serious look on his face, at odds with the various Soujites running all over the place, may mean that his intentions did indeed differ from his...

"Ishimaru-senpai?"

[Anyr]

Moroe of course recognised the polite young man who'd saved her from the supply cupboard, but made no move to answer him. After everything that had happened today, Moroe wasn't about to put herself in the hands of yet another stranger. Oh yes, he certainly seemed nice; But so had Souji, Carver and many others. So instead she remained perfectly still and silently hoped that his eyes weren't as sharp as they looked.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougos' eyes swept the area, looking for Soujites. Seeing none, he paused and took a deep breath.

"Ishimaru-senpai? I'm here to help. I know somewhere where you could hide, at least until Judgement gets here. Which should be quite soon-I just called them.

Having finished speaking, he looked around again-And his eyes stopped for a moment at the shadow Moroe had positioned herself in. Or, to be more precise, at a length of shoelace that just barely trailed into the light.

Despite this, he remained where he stood.

[Anyr]

He'd seen her. He'd seen her, but he hadn't called for help. That was a good sign, right? With her cover obviously blown, Moroe reluctantly stepped into plain sight.

"I really wasn't looking to put my trust in another stranger, but it doesn't look as if I have much of a choice. Okay hero, let's see if you can save me one more time. Lead the way."

She then moved to follow Shougo, making very sure to stay within striking distance of the back of his neck. After all this time her hopes of finding an honest ally were very slim, but it wasn't as if she had anything to lose at this point.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougo nodded, apparently relieved to have found her.

"It's not too far from here, senpai. Just up a floor and on the balcony."

He began to climb some stairs, pausing once he heard the thundering of feet pass right over them. A moment later, he motioned it to be 'all clear' and continued ascending. Just as he said, a balcony was there, just across from the landing. He stepped across the hall and onto the balcony and then pointed 'up', shortly before climbing up a series of conveniently-placed pipes. View of his ascent from the ground was blocked by a copse of even more conveniently-placed trees. He promptly disappeared onto the roof.

If Moroe decides to follow him, she would note that, from this place, they really could not be seen as long as they do not hang close to the edges-And there is no other visible way up here, barring a locked maintenance door.

[Anyr]

Moroe was impressed. Despite casing out the school very carefully over the course of her attendance, she'd never noticed this route before. She quickly followed Shougo's example and climbed the pipes, now genuinely hopeful that he did indeed know what he was doing. Maybe the third time really was the charm after all.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

"If you do not mind me asking, Ishimaru-senpai...How do you know that buffoon in the faculty lounge?"

He walked closer to the center, and sat down next to a square block of concrete. Curiously, he clutched his side as if in pain as he did so. His face spasmed briefly, but it is quickly suppressed.

"This is where I go when I need to think, by the way. It's quiet...and they shouldn't be able to spot us from here."

And it was true. All you could hear clearly up here was the wind.

[Anyr]

Moroe looked around this new haven and gave it her personal seal of approval. It was well hidden, hard to reach and blessedly spacious. The amount of room was so refreshing that she she'd already started to pace across it. Whatever Shougo's intentions, he'd definitely delivered on his promise. And since he had, maybe he deserved a truthful answer in return; Well, as truthful as she could afford to make it.

"Barely at all; We only met yesterday, outside a shop. I tossed an offhand comment his way while I was walking past, and for some reason he followed me. And then he kept following, even when I told him to stop. When I still insisted on getting away he turned nasty and started giving off a seriously dangerous aura. I eventually got away, but somehow he tracked me down and has been stalking me ever since.

It turns out that he's a wanted criminal and a powerful Electromaster. At the moment he's more interested in playing twisted games with my life than trying to take it, but that could change at any minute. Up until now I've just been trying to stay one step ahead until I can think up a plan.

...Still feel good about bringing me here?"

So saying, Moroe gave Shougo a half-hearted smile. She honestly felt a little guilty about having got this apparently innocent person involved in her personal problems. It didn't help that he was obviously hurt; A fact which she studiously ignored. Hopefully the two of them would just be able to stay here until the whole thing blew over, and then go their separate ways.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougo gave what Moroe said a briefest moment of thought, and then replied.

"Yes, senpai-More than ever. You were in need of help...And I wish to help as best I can. I cannot spurn what my father has taught me my whole life. I will not. But...Are you sure you should be here, at school, and not seeking refuge with Anti-Skill, Ishimura-senpai? A dangerous criminal and an Electromaster...If I were stronger, as my father was, I would take him down myself. To abuse such power...It is an affront to justice."

He paused, as if debating with himself, and then continued.

"I ...Do not know if I should tell you this, senpai, but I am in the same boat...So to speak. I too am the plaything of a powerful Esper and his group of cronies. I know what it feels like. If it is within my power, I gladly offer my assistance."

He stopped again and gave her a questioning look, as if unwilling to say it out loud. Still, it would be pretty easy to read-"Just who are you, really?", to put it bluntly.

[Anyr]

Moroe couldn't help but give a chuckle at Shouga's earnest sincerity. His clear desire to stand up for good and to protect the weak was very sweet, but to her cynical ears it made him sound naive. She'd met people like him before, and had seen what happened when they tried to take on the darker side of Academy City. Normally she'd have told him in no uncertain terms that he was out of his depth, and that she was better off handling this alone; She probably would, in due course. But before that she wanted some answers. Was there really another person in her school who was going through the same thing as her?

"Hiding behind Anti-Skill would only make things worse. I can't give many details, but let's just say that this man has a way of destroying me no matter where I am. The reason that he hasn't used it is that it would put an end to his fun; But if I escape his reach completely then there'll be nothing to stop him.

And besides, doesn't the same question apply just as well to you? Why are you still going to school instead of running for your life?"

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougo closed his eyes briefly.

"That sounds like a problem, senpai. Quite a large one. But there must be information on him-criminal, and powerful Electromaster. There aren't too many like him, senpai. Judgement, or, failing that, Anti-Skill should be able to track him down and bring him to justice. Unless...?

And I cannot run away from him, senpai. I have my pride, my fathers' memory, his dojo, and my mother to look after. I cannot run...Yet I cannot fight back. And he does not want to kill me, only step on my pride and make me grovel. He thinks I am pathetic, and weak...

Which might be true.

You see, senpai, you may not believe this, but the ones who killed my father weren't Skill-Outs; they were Espers. Worse still, they're in Judgement. I cannot even fight back...It's a long story, senpai. But long story short, my father's killer is the one paying our bills, just to rub salt in the wound."

He gave a bitter laugh, the tone in his voice having betrayed his words. What Shougo said before-That might not necessarily have been what he himself would have wished, but merely a principle that he felt obligated to act on; likely from his father. He then proceeds to raise his shirt, revealing a few bruises on his lean, wiry torso-and a burn-not just any burn, but a cold-burn, if Moroes' eyes are capable of distinguishing between them.

"I endure them because I must, senpai. Perhaps one day I will be able to extract my vengeance upon him, but I am not holding out. Does that answer your question, senpai?"

He stopped suddenly, having realised he was ranting.

"I apologise, senpai-I shouldn't have unloaded my troubles onto you, you have enough as-is. I wish I could help; and I know my father would never say this, but if he is so much of a threat to you...Perhaps you could have him arranged to be killed? I mean, if you could convince Anti-Skill that he was dangerous enough? Or...you could hire a hitman, I suppose, or...

He trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"I apologise again, Ishimura-senpai. I think I may be out of my depth here."

Edit: Whoops. Confused Souji with Carver for a bit. My bad.

[Cole10000]

Watching the two of them make their way to their hideing place Carver decided he wouldnt learn anything else untill this madman caught Moroe. He admitedly felt bad about handing her over like this, but he remembered that she did lie to him, which he didn't take very kindly to. He had watched their progress very closely on the cameras, and while he doesnt know exactly where they are at the moment he does know how they got there.

Putting his finger on the button again he says.

"Attention, all students searching for The girl named Moroe. She is currently in the company of a male student in a well hidden hiding place, Moroe sorry about this, but I don't like being lied to."

From there he procedes to relate the directions of their location to the "Shoujites".

He also thought about how the kid was uninvolved in this and decided if things got out of hand he would try and help him out.

Carver then goes back to watching the monitors and waiting to see what happens with the forces he set into motion.

[Crafty Cultist]

Frank was nearly at the school entrance when he heard the voice over the PA system.

"So he's still here."

Frank takes off down the corridor as fast as he can, lighting a cigarette as he runs.

"As much as I'd like to deal with him now, it sounds like this Moroe girl is in trouble." Frank chuckles "And I just can't help myself when it comes to damsels in distress."

He heads toward the location given over the PA

[Cole10000]

(Crafty, Carver can do impressions and he's still talking like an adult japanese male, it was in an earlier post so I forgot to put it in, but the point being Frank wouldn't be able to tell it's actually him)

[Anyr]

By the end of Shougo's speech/rant Moroe's opinion of him had changed drastically, though she wasn't sure whether it was for better or worse. She couldn't decide whether he was strong for bearing such a heavy burden, or weak for being so indecisive and uncertain. Only two things were clear in her mind:

1) Shougo was definitely not the simplistic young knight errant that he appeared to be.

2) She had absolutely no idea what what she should say to him.

Moroe really wasn't good at comforting people. For her, personal tragedy was something to be brooded over in private and never allowed to see the light of day. In the end she just gave him what she hoped was a reassuring look and said:

"It's okay. You just needed to vent. And for the record, I do believe you."

----------------------------------------


Now that Souji had sent his impressionable minions out on a quest, the door to his 'office' was finally clear. Even the teachers had decided that their time would be better spent trying to restore order in other parts of the building, as opposed to standing around being periodically electrocuted. And so when Kiyoshi Jirou finally decided to enter the scene, he had the stage almost all to himself. He stopped in front of the door and regarded it with indifference, totally unintimidated by its unyielding surface. Like the heroes of old he didn't retreat an inch, even when the doorknob shocked his poor, defenseless hand. Instead he simply gave said doorknob a withering glance, and seconds later it was no more. Both hinges suffered the same grisly fate, though they had done nothing to provoke him. Seconds later the now untethered door toppled and fell inwards, leaving Jirou's bulky figure dramatically silhouetted against the new opening. He paused for but a moment, then stepped into Souji's domain.

"Yo."

[Cole10000]

For awhile Carver was much more interested in what the mob of stidents were doing, as well as he noticed that anti-skill agent heading there as well.

Then glanceing back over to the monitors around the lounge to make sure Souji hadn't gone anywhere, he noticed that a new actor had stepped out onto the scene.

Well, well well, if memory serves that is the shabby bouncer who was outside of the front door.

Seeing how this shabby person had somehow managed to take the door off it's hinges without too much effort Carver thought it prudent to look for another woy out of his little fortress. seeing as how a locked door wasn't likely to keep out this new player for very long.

While there weren't any other doors, there a vent up towards the ceiling, it would be a tough squeese, but he thinks he could be able to fit if needed.

He goes over and stands on the chair to unscrew to vent, and leaves the screws on just enough to make it easy for him to pull it of, and escape through the vents.

That being done, Carver sits back down into his chair at the monitors and watches what is about to unfold between the two young men at the faculty lounge.

[Terry576]

It's almost like Souji was caught in the act. He has a bowl of miso in front of him, is busy carefully manipulating a test tube filled with some... red stuff into it. He looks up guiltily, then his eyes brighten. "Ah, you figured out the trick? See, the clever part of electrocution is that nobody ever tries touching any part of the door that isn't the doorknob. I'm babbling aren't I? Sorry, it's just that I find interactions like this absolutely fascinating. You presumably know my name, so what's yours?"

He's grinning the entire time, and has finished pouring a dash of the red stuff into the soup. The soup bowl is now bright red and did... did a dragon just fly out of that? How hot is that soup bo

oh god hes eating it he must be insane

[Anyr]

"Jirou. Kiyoshi Jirou."

With the introductions made, Jirou invited himself into the room and availed himself of one of its many comfortable chairs. He then resumed the conversation somewhat absent mindedly, while devoting most of his attention to searching for snacks.

"Been waiting for a chance to meet you. This stunt of yours has had me splitting my sides, and these days there's not too much that can do that. Great stuff man, great stuff. 'Course, you're probably only doing it because you're a selfish little punk looking for attention, but still; Thought I should come along and thank you anyway."

[Terry576]

Souji scoffed. "I've got enough attention as is. Your stunt kind of ruined mine though," He gives a pointed look to the door. "But that's alright. I was almost done anyways, considering that Moroe-chan never showed up, so I couldn't initiate the final phase of my brilliant plan as is. I made a list even!"

Souji's list had three items:

1. Get into school, buy ramen.
2. If no ramen, hijack PA system.
3. Once PA system has been taken, use it to invite Moroe to something entertaining that will make up for all the psychotic crap you put her through you *******.

It wasn't a good list but it was decent enough for Souji to want to go through with it.

[Cole10000]

Carver decided, although it did get him alot of infornmation so far, it was time to leave the secuirity room shortly after the two began talking. The infornmation he needed wasn't going to just fall into his lap anymore.

So he shuts off the cameras throughout the school, so as to not record any footage of him (having already destroyed previous footage), Carver then heads directly to the staff lounge.

He arrives and knocks on the doorframe before entering the room.

"Pardon the intrusion, I wanted to meet face to face with the kind of person who would go into a school to buy ramen and then when there isn't any ramen decides to hijack the PA system. "

looking at Jirou he says.

and hello again to you, we've met already.

[Anyr]

Spoiler

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Souji scoffed. "I've got enough attention as is. Your stunt kind of ruined mine though," He gives a pointed look to the door. "But that's alright. I was almost done anyways, considering that Moroe-chan never showed up, so I couldn't initiate the final phase of my brilliant plan as is. I made a list even!"

Souji's list had three items:

1. Get into school, buy ramen.
2. If no ramen, hijack PA system.
3. Once PA system has been taken, use it to invite Moroe to something entertaining that will make up for all the psychotic crap you put her through you *******.

It wasn't a good list but it was decent enough for Souji to want to go through with it.

Jirou gave an understanding snort, in between mouthfuls of complimentary delicacies.

"Brilliant plan gone down the drain? Been there, brother. No matter how well you plan things out, something always sends the whole thing crashing down, usually right on top of your aching head."

He was about to continue, but paused, a thought having suddenly occurred to him. After rolling it carefully through his mind, he decided it was good enough to meet the outside world, and voiced it.

"So you say all this was to throw a party for a girl of yours? Hmm. I don't know much about women, so take this next bit with a pinch o' salt: But it seems to me that if you need to send out a mob of guys to drag the lady kicking and screaming to her big treat, then you might justa made a miscalculation somewhere down the line."

Spoiler

Show

Carver decided, although it did get him alot of infornmation so far, it was time to leave the secuirity room shortly after the two began talking. The infornmation he needed wasn't going to just fall into his lap anymore.

So he shuts off the cameras throughout the school, so as to not record any footage of him (having already destroyed previous footage), Carver then heads directly to the staff lounge.

He arrives and knocks on the doorframe before entering the room.

"Pardon the intrusion, I wanted to meet face to face with the kind of person who would go into a school to buy ramen and then when there isn't any ramen decides to hijack the PA system. "

looking at Jirou he says.

and hello again to you, we've met already.

Jirou seemed a little put out by the new arrival, but nonetheless gestured him towards an empty chair.

"Sure sure, come in. The more th-Wait a second, when did you come back? I've been at that front door almost the whole time up until now..."