[Rail IC] Academy City III: Abusive Physics Never End!

[AnimeKid]

Crocell was also really getting into the match. Kin really was giving him a run for his money. He was pressing buttons and initiating combos and cancels as fast as he could, exploiting Taokaka's triple jump skill to the utmost effectiveness. His brain was going a mile a minute trying to anticipate her moves and correlate her fighting style. Eventually he found the opening he was looking for. His own health bar was taking a beating, but he was having the time of his life. Seeing the rapid sinking of Kin's own health bar he decided to try to finish this with one blow. "If you think this is a blast Kinniekins then hang onto your skirt, cause it's about to get wild."

He initiated another combo eyes like a hawk to watch for her inevitable counter. Once he saw it he used a cancel to back of. While she was in the middle of her combo he activated Taokaka's Astral Finish, the Attack Meow Pow. If she didn't manage to dodge it this brutal looking finish would bring him the win.

[Anyr]

The plan went off without a hitch. Earlier in the match, Kin might have seen through a trap like this. But alas, her previously sharp concentration had gradually dulled. By the time she noticed the danger, it was too late to do anything but sit back and watch the fireworks. Her squirrel avatar was soon bouncing around the screen like a high-powered superball, before being cruelly dispatched by a final, decisive blow. For a few seconds, Kin just stood in awe of this spectacular victory. Then:

"That. Was. Brilliant!"

The admiration in her eyes had reached dangerously high levels. Now Crocell was not only a champion of justice to her; He was also a champion of Blazblue.

[Felyndiira]

There are over twenty-seven people standing on this side of a relatively minor street, waiting for the stoplight.

This is the face of Academy City as the normal people would see it; a populous city, modernized beyond its time, and perhaps one of the most beautiful landmarks to hit modern day Japan. The crowd of over twenty-seven, in which I stand now as a tiny figure, was not on a major crossway by any stretch of the word; on a quiet day, the round intersections of District 6 would draw a crowd of about a hundred to the stone fountains and quaint little flower fields. Above it all was a clear sky and unblemished towers of glass and perfectly-layered brick towers arranged as a monument of the coming age. This was the place where so many of my happiest memories were nurtured and raised: quietly bemusing myself with the antics and unique powers of the students at Kirigaoka; braiding the hairs of a kindly young university student; watching the clouds and the sky atop the roof of the Kaiou research labs. Everything was touched by that unique brand of Academy City magic, and became like a majestic cadenza to an easily-impressed youth.

This was the city where I grew up, amidst the researchers of the City of Unrestricted Science and Experiments. As a AIM-affecting esper and a so-called "researcher" of the Level 6 Shift project, I was a direct participant of some of the blackest of the city's academic pursuits and some of the worst of the city's trades. I've watched the lifeless gray machinery and the human-sized test tubes - sometimes empty, sometimes serene, but often filled with degrading cells and remnants of a Child Error that has lost her life in the name of glorious progress. I've paraded around in that mock-white lab coat that the city gave me so that I would remain a good little test subject for the often-conflicting academics. Yet, it is easy to get yourself lost amidst the marble stairs while a flock of adult students - a sea and swarm of black and gray - march into the lecture halls like a cluster of gaseous molecules. The city's scenery is too serene for its purpose - too faultless and impalpable for a labratory, and too white and gold for a butchery. Even now, even as the walls begin to dull and the glass displaying its evanescence, I cannot call the city of experiments anything other than my beloved home.

My purpose here was to be a test subject. AIM Resonance, as they called my ability, was singled out when I was seven as an unique power. Even when I was only a lowly level two with the ability to barely identify a few AIM fields around me, they would not allow me to attend elementary school as an otherwise normal girl of my age, and instead I found my companions amidst the researchers and professors of varied universities. They wanted to study how my abilities affected the AIM fields of other espers; I remember how they would bring in some level 2 child that happened to be abandoned and ask me to just "play" with their personal reality while they watch behind a glass window. These experiments were mostly safe. I had an esper or two explode in my career, both at the labratories at Dangai University, although the . I was too important to just throw away in a careless experiment, they had told me; the professors ensured that I had the best education that they could offer to counterbalance my lack of formal schooling.

The level 6 Shift project was relatively new, I think. I'm not quite privy on its origin or why it was even organized in the first place, but Academy City apparantly had a bit of a fetish for creating a powerful level 6 esper. I was displaying a bit of control over messing with other esper's AIM invocations now, and they wanted to make me a level 5 in hopes that I can breach the level 5-6 barrier that the other, parallel teams are still mulling their heads over. Some of them did, at least; the researchers were themselves clueless on how to use me, so I ended up splitting my time between the various schemes of different universities and labratories. They apparantly remembered my childhood interest in being a scientist (I was such a silly girl back then!) for some reason, gave me a lab coat, and apparantly listed my name as a researcher instead of an experimental subject. It didn't make a difference, though; Academy City wanted me to listen to the adults, and I played the part of a perfect guinea pig. They gave me books to read, money to buy sweets with, games to play, and the researchers - abhorrent cooking aside - were generally nice. I had no real reason to do otherwise.

I am a level four now; two years ago, to be precise. I demonstrated enough control over another esper's power uses enough to bridge the gap between a level four and a level five, and the scientists received more money from the city. I've been told that AIM-related powers are often the most difficult to master, and after two years of stagnation, based on some silly theory made by a research assistant, they sent me to Tokiwadai in hopes that I could develop my abilities in a more amicable environment. I was told - and the books confirmed - that the academy was intended to be an elite middle school for powerful espers. Now, the light has changed and the crowd is beginning to disperse; there is not a single Tokiwadai uniforms amidst the crowd; I tugged at my jacket rims and made sure that my green vest and blouse was hidden from the crowd: I imagine that displaying the uniform would be akin to standing in the middle of the street with a tiara and declaring "I'm the Princess of France!" in the loudest voice one can muster; it would be so much less embarrassing if I could wear something else.

My attention thusly diverted, I instinctively began to follow the crowd into an arcade.

[Terry576]

((Assuming that everyone went to sleep and no harm was done to Hajime and Moroe))

[Saturday]

They awoke to silence. Blissful, peaceful, silence.

That alone should have warned them that something was awry.

Where there should have been some sort of logic, some sort of substance - there was a note.

Spoiler

Show

Dear Onee-chan and Onii-chan,

Time for hide and seek! Come find me! Here's where I am:

in the place where evils play
and where few see the bright of day
i hide
i hide
i hide away
in this place where the games all stay

((awww yeah time for hide and go seek))

[AnimeKid]

Crocell gives Kin the peace sign along with a grin as he says, "Hey, I can't take all the props you were the best opponent I've had in a while. It got boring fighting Midbie's that like using Ragna. You really gave me a run for my money. Anytime you want a rematch just ask."

Crocell stretches his arms towards the ceiling in an attempt to pop any joints. After hearing a few satisfying pops he stops as he says, "Alright then, you guys want to play something else or do you guys want to practice pow-ers? Am I the only one that sees the Bang Shishigami replica out in the courtyard?"

[Anyr]

"You have got to be KIDDING ME!"

This was the last straw. First Katashi had completely failed to get himself killed; Then Shougo had almost given her a heart attack; And now Shiki had surpassed all previous stupidity by kidnapping herself! While muttering a string of decidedly unfriendly words, Moroe waited for her faithful clone to come running. With the way things were going, she half-expected Hajime to arrive with yet another complication to go with the rest. Maybe one of his horrendous cooking experiments had gained sentience; Or perhaps he'd invented yet another way of being both endearing and creepy at the same time. Whatever it was, hopefully it wouldn't keep him from helping with this latest headache. Even with a squad of drones at her disposal, Moroe had a feeling that she'd need every eye she could get.

"Alright then, you guys want to play something else or do you guys want to practice pow-ers? Am I the only one that sees the Bang Shishigami replica out in the courtyard?"

"No, I see him too."

Having settled this point, Kin paid it no more heed. Right now she was much more concerned with the horrible new nickname that Crocell had suddenly given her. But in recognition of his recent achievements, she decided to overlook it for now.

"Care for another game or sixty?"

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Mei sniffed, then looked away.

"N...No, Tobio-kun, it's nothing...And it's fine. We've all been busy lately...I understand."

She glanced at the window, then back at Tobio. An awkward silence passed before she finally broke down and thrust a scanned copy of an email at Tobio.
It read 'Invitation to the Combat-based Esper Power Analysis Program Trials', and it was apparently addressed to Ren. At this point, Mei looked more upset than sad; angry in a way.

"That...That dumbass...Always lets himself get used...He knows...He knows they're going to treat him like a lab rat, but he insists on doing it anyway...Why is he such an idiot? He's done enough as it is, why can't they just leave him alone?"

Her jaw immediately clammed shut, the look in her eyes revealing that she'd already said more than she should have. Nevertheless, she didn't try to cover up her mistake, merely directing Tobios' eyes to the letter. It looked like a fairly standard experiment, with the promise of recompensation, the dates of testing, what would be involved, etc, etc. After Shougo had finished reading the document, Mei spoke again.

"It's got to involve more than that. It...It always does. He still has the scars from all the previous 'tests'...And he refuses to talk about them. He thinks I don't know, but I do! Why does he..."

She wiped her eyes, on the verge of tears.

"Sorry for unloading on you like that, Tobio-kun...I mean, I worry, he's a dumbass and all, and he'll most likely be able to look after himself...But he's my partner. You shouldn't worry about it...Ah...Well, to change the subject, what brings you here today, Tobio-kun?"

Mei made a great effort in trying to drop the subject and change her tone, but while what she had said was worrying...What was more worrying was the similarities between this and the Cadet Recruitment letter that Shougo had received yesterday. They had same places, the same dates, the same times, and much of what they said was, when you read between the lines, very similar in nature. And judging from what Mei had said earlier...

[AnimeKid]

Tobio looks at the letter worriedly at the paper that he was reading. The similarities were too much...He had to show this to Mrs. Nimori, but first Mei needed him. So putting his worries aside for a moment he attended to Mei, pulling her into a hug and gently rubbed the back of her head. He concentrated on his powers to chill a section of the building and pull the subtracted heat into himself to make this hug as comforting at he could.

"It's okay to be worried Mei-chan, you care about him so it's natural. I mean I would be worried about you if you went. So even though he can take care of himself I'm sure Taichou would greatly appreciate the fact that you worry for him. However some people, well they feel like they have to take the world on themselves. But they don't do it because they don't think they need help most of the time. They do it because they don't want to worry or burden the people they care about. Taichou probably doesn't want to to get hurt if there is anything suspicious going on. So don't cry Mei-chan. I'm sure Taichou wouldn't want you too. I came here for training but that can wait for a minute. If you need anything just tell me okay?"

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal very much enjoyed watching her friends go at it. They were out of her league on this game. Bit, she was fine with that. She was confident she could destroy them in other games.

At the mention of the lookalike outside, Krystal turns to look for herself. Well...there's something you don't see everyday.

[AnimeKid]

Crocell shrugs his shoulders as he says,"Okay Kin, you and Krystal just got here so we can play some more games. Just let me know when you want to start training your powers, that goes for both of you. After all we can't have our Defenders of Justice lacking in the skills department now can we?"

With that Crocell would allow the girls to pick the games they wanted to play. Crocell was pretty much King of the Arcade except for a few games that Kin could probably tie with him at. If she tried it should would actually beat him at DDR by a few points. If she did she would notice him glaring at the machine's ridiculously high score. This BOT person must have been pretty good. And that ticked Crocell off.

[Anyr]

Kin took full advantage of this wonderful opportunity. She danced, drove, fought, fished, fired and flew her way from machine to machine, determined to sample every gaming flavour that the arcade had to offer. When playing against Crocell, she exulted in being pushed to her limits by an opponent of his calibre. Against Krystal, she (as always) took pleasure in coaxing her friend's inner child to the surface.

At some point in this competitive gaming binge, Kin forget all about the training session that was supposed to follow it. If left to her own devices, she would happily spend the whole day in this electronic wonderland.

[Felyndiira]

Shiho has been to the arcade before - well, perhaps once or twice, when some the elder university students were kind enough to take her around the city. She never was that much of a gamer, preferring reading and television over guiding an avatar of the hero through mazes of polygon caves and ice dungeons. Many of the games here, she has only played about once or twice in her life: fighters, shooters, a Kirugumar lying on top of a toy house...

Wait, Kirugumar? The girl was instinctively drawn to the glass box housing dozens and dozens of plush toys, her gaze transfixed on that adorable little medi-bear that she definitely must possess at any costs. She'd seen a few other students operate the claw apparatus before - it did not have enough force for a direct assault, and oftentimes, even if the claw successfully latched on to a toy, it could very easily loosen its hold before the claw could return to the dropping area. The players that were successful maneuvered the claws at a distinct angle and took care not to depend too much on the weakened lower-right prong. Strike at the toy's blind angle and maximize the grip area, project the path of the coaw downward and calculate the points where the grip meets the mountain of toys. It's all ultimately just a game of mathematics, and if that's the case...

"The Kirugumar will be mine, of course," she reassured herself. The girl was already standing before the crane game; her arms moved as if they were possessed, and the claw followed with perfect precision. Her eyes were still glued to the bear toy and its surrounding points of optimal attack - that crevice where the strongest prong is sure to land, a perfect angle between the two toys for the second prong to strike. Had the game been a battlefield, littered with heavy forestry and mines, one might mistake the girl's focus as that of a perfect guerilla fighter; the crane stalked the bear plushie as she slowly nudged it into position, and before it could even react, a hail of bullets from her AK-47 showered the back of her enemy. The hand of the Gods themselves has come to deliver the Kirugumar doll into the girl's hands.

"Oh, nice, you actually got something." An ally on the battlefield? Of course not; it was an arcade, of all things, and the speaker was just an ordinary student - the girl that she had replaced in front of the crane game, and who had lost countless quarters on this demon of a machine. "Oh! Don't let me distract you, but the timer's going to tick down to zero if you don't get back to the game!" she suddenly exclaimed; the timer on the machine had somehow reset, and every second was another precious moment that the enemy could advance. An extra play if you win...Shiho felt as if she was standing before a tank, capturing those silly elusive plushie animals with impunity. No, not a tank - an artillary strike of cranes and hands, raining down on the unsuspecting toys that so foolishly believed themselves save inside their glass prison. Her hands motioned for a second strike, and the heavens replied with a resplendent roar. It was a rush of pure, ecstatic power...

The crane finally missed its target; the girl had drawn quite a crowd by then, with the dropbox now littered with plushies of various childish mascots. Some of the kids stared in amazement at the feat of extradimensional crane game playing; a few moved to help her extract the mountain of toys from the machine, and one or two children grabbing the first plushie that they could find and bolting towards the door at maximum speed. There were at least a dozen in the pile when they were finally counted; a bit difficult to carry around with Shiho's dainty hands.

The fighting game aisles stood between the crane game and the door. One of the particularities of these games is the sheer number of anime art titles out there: Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, Street Fighter, Tekken - titles that very often appealed to male animation fans. There was a small group of people there now; a boy and a girl on Blazblue, another playing SC5 on single player, and standing just a few meters before them, a group of boys related their most recent digital combat with mock punches and fake sliding kicks. It needs not be said how dangerous such actions are in a confined area, but some fault lay with Shiho for not paying any attention to her surroundings. The Kirugumar plushie lay squarely on top of the others, commanding full attention from the girl to the exclusion of all else, and the girl collided straight into one of these low kick gestures and was quickly sent to the floor, her toy mountain now scattered around the arcade.

"I'm really sorry! Really, really sorry! Are you alright, miss?" The boy was a bit spooked by the incident - or, perhaps, at the trickle of blood from Shiho's forehead. He looked to his companions for advice, and found them quickly helping to gather the scattered toys, a similar perplexed expression on their faces.

"Oww, I think so." Her forehead stung just a little bit and her legs were in quite a bit of pain, but she was able to stand with a little assistance from the boy. The scene drew quite a spectacle around the arcade; a few onlookers just stared with restrained interest, while many were returning what they could find of the scattered toys. Most of them didn't matter, though - the medical bear, where did he go? Why could she not find it anymore?

This is an absolute disaster to leave a comrade-in-arms in the midst of a battlefield. She must located Mr. Kirugumar.

(OOC: The bear plushie, by sheer accident, is currently flying in Crocell's direction. If he doesn't react, he'll probably find a teddy bear on his head in a second or two.)

[Atrum-Persavor]

"Heeeeeeyho! I came to copy!"

Jin bursts through the Judgment room door, inch-thick file in hand.

"Hey guys, I got a lot of work coming up next week, soo... Where's Ren's stuff? I know he leaves his notes here, and that he's at Judgment HQ, so I need some of his stuff-"

Jin's face stiffens when he sees Mei's expression. He places his file on a nearby table, then walks over.

"'swrong with Whitey's computer?"

Spoiler

Show

T/N: Whitey = Shiro-chan

Gotou's voice can be heard from a distance, whining "How the does he still know the password?!"

OOC: 214C! Musou SenshouZAN!

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Mei eep'd and backed away from Tobio nervously as Jin barged, loudly and conspicuously, into the room.

"Ahhh-Uh, nothing, Asakura-san! Nothing at all!"

She coughed, trying anxious to disguise the level of worry that had been in her voice earlier, glancing at Tobio out of the corner of her eye. Tobio would have been able to tell that she didn't particularly like Jin overmuch; quite possibly due to his influence over Ren (and the fact that he was a shameless slacker). Nevertheless, her voice was cordial and polite, at odds with the red in her face that she was trying hard to suppress.

"Well, the dumbass does leave his notes around. They're probably somewhere on this desk over here-I don't exactly know what goes where. I'm not his keeper or anything."

Meanwhile, various people who had seen the hug were murmuring behind their backs-Something unsavoury as usual, not having really understood the situation nor the intent behind Tobios' and Meis' actions.

__________________________________________________ _______________

Shougo felt an uncomfortable prick on the back of his neck; he knew he was being watched. His eyes briefly wandering to the tiny window through which bright light was flashing, he then realised why. Of course he was being watched; he was practicing ninjutsu in public, next to what looked like a video arcade, no less! His face colored in shame and he coughed in embarrassment, tugging on his scarf as he did so. Of course he looked like an idiot.

Walking out of the courtyard (and noting with a little curiosity the cleaning droid that appeared to be there...Cleaning...Nothing.), Shougo turned the corner with the intent of going home, stopping, on a whim, to glance through the window of the arcade. It looked like quite a scene; a girl had apparently been tripped over, a crowd was forming, and, to Shougos' great surprise, a large, brightly colored picture of what appeared to be his father was present on the side of an arcade machine. Against his common sense and against his nature, Shougo entered the arcade as if in a trance, with its' bright lights and crazy flashing machines (that he had never understood), pupils dilating and ears ringing, to stand just by the side of the BlazBlue machine.

The similarities really were uncanny. The only difference was that his father did not have a pair of ridiculous gauntlets, nor did he have that cross-shaped scar on his face. He reached out to touch it, certain that its' likeness to his father was no coincidence.

"Tou-san...?"

And then he blinked, realising where he was.

In all honesty, Shougo looked hideously out of place, with his old, outdated clothing, long red scarf, and, if one looked closely, a kunai and three bo shuriken tucked into the sash at his waist (seriously, who did that?). He made a display of being startled and then attempted to exit the store, taking much longer than an ordinary person would have, in no small part, due to a combination of his embarrassment and his general aversion to crowds. When a trio of teenagers blocked his way, Shougo coughed uncomfortably and turned away, determined not to be noticed. His eyes inadvertently wandered to another unoccupied BlazBlue machine, where Bang Shishigami was dashing back and forth on a screen fighting Iron Tager. Even the fighting style...

Unconsciously, his body moved to adopt a similar position, earning a few hearty guffaws and a round of snide laughter from a number of the boys present. Shougos' face flushed an even brighter shade of red as he turned back and forth, trying to find a way to leave the Arcade, but never managing to get beyond twenty feet of the machine with his fathers' image plastered on the side of it.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio lets Mei go as he looks at Jin with a blank look on his face. "A-Ano, I don't think I-I recognize y-you. Um A-Asakura-san was it? As Mei-chan said I don't know where Ren is. However if you have his c-cell phone number y-you could p-probably call h-him."

Hearing the whispers around them Tobio ducks his head shamefully knowing that while he was trying to be the best friend he could, the only thing he seemed to be doing was making more trouble for Mei. Trying his best to slip away from the whispers that would inevitably trouble Mei, Tobio tries to head quietly to the training center.
__________________________________________________ ______________

Crocell wipes a bit of sweat off of his forehead as he turns towards the endless ball of energy that is Kin. "Okay Kin, I hate to rain on your parade but we did say that we we're going to practice our powers remember. Oh yeah! I actually wanted to show you guys something!"

While he checks his pockets for the letter that he had gotten in the mail Crocell feels something soft land on his head. Reaching up to see the object he pulls down a medical bear plushie. With a deadpan look on his face he turns towards the rest of the arcade and says in a surprisingly loud voice, "OI! DID ANYONE LOSE THEIR KIRUGUMAR!?"

[Atrum-Persavor]

Jin scratches his head.

"Who was that kid? Anyway, let me see that. It's funny that he left his computer on... Shoo, shoo. By the way, your ears are red."

Jin makes a waving motion with his right hand as he places his file on Ren's table, his expression completely serious.

[Felyndiira]

"OI! DID ANYONE LOSE THEIR KIRUGUMAR!?"

"Ah!" Shiho moved towards the voice, her arms and chest barely keeping the reclaimed pile of stuffed animals from falling a second time. She took a moment to briefly nod to the other residents of the arcade and thank them for the trouble before; her legs still carrying her towards that voice. When she finally reached the boy, she greeted him with a deep and rather unnatural-looking bow. A few toys took this chance to escape her clutches and returned to the cold tiled floors of the arcade; the girl sheepishly scratched her hair and began to pick them up anew, careful not to allow any additional toys to escape her grasp.

"Thank you very much, sir!" The girl finally collected herself, careful to maintain an air of respect and courtesy to the boy with the Judgment armband and subconsciously shifting to a taineigo rather than normal speech. A single match at an arcade would otherwise be a small matter for a normal person, although Shiho had never really known the difference. "I am most embarrassed at causing so much trouble with my the carelessness. Please, allow me to pay for the next game."


(OOC: Shiho is using language a tier more polite than she really should have in an arcade.

For this post, Shiho is referring to Crocell as a senior "senpai". Her default honorific when she's not familiar with someone is "-sama", which is also much more polite than necessary. Also, I do not speak Japanese, so please correct me if I said something wrong =p).

[AnimeKid]

Crocell waves her off as he says, "Hey don't worry about it. Seriously it's cool, you just have a lot of toys your carrying. Besides you should probably get those home before you lose them. Plus I'd feel bad for taking advantage of you kindness. I didn't even really find it, it just sort of landed on my head."

He bends down to pick up one of the stuffed toys she had missed and hands it to her as he says, "Also, you really don't have to be so formal. Your making me feel more important than I am, names Shiota Tsubasa, but everyone calls me Crocell. What's your name?"

[Felyndiira]

"Crocell-sama? It is a great pleasure to meet you. I'm Shiho. Akiyama Shiho - a transfer student for Tokiwadai..."

It's now painfully obvious that her unusual speech pattern is catching the attention of some of the other students at the arcade. The girl was a bit flustered; she was not used to having this much attention directed on her, and her mind struggled to focus on something else and to ignore the confused stares that are now fixed on her. The toys! Of course, how is she going to make it home with that giant pile of stuff around her arms? Besides, she only really wanted the Kirugumar...

It never occurred to her to use a bag, or to seek out the attendants that are now purposely avoiding her gaze and not being helpful - likely because they were still angry at her improbable crane game winnings and deduced, however incorrectly, that her powers were at fault. She felt a bit silly now for going overboard with the machine, and quickly placed the rest of her pile on the window, hugging only the bandaged bear close to her chest.

"These toys...I guess I was really only aiming for the Kirugumar bear, but when I found out the game allowed replays on a win I embarrassed myself by going overboard. Erm, I can't really take this many toys home, so I'll probably have to leave most of them here; if you'd like, please feel free to take one or two or all of them if you or your friends wish for it, Crocell-sama."

Shiho looked around, as if impliciting extending the offer to the others that helped her at the arcade, taking some time to briefly analyze the very real-looking weapons that the other boy is carrying on his sash.

[Anyr]

The toys remained unclaimed for precisely 1.4 seconds; That was the amount of time it took for a roughly human-shaped blur to reach the window and scoop up all of them in a single, smooth motion. Its prize safely acquired, the blur then skidded to a halt in front of Shiho.

"Snugglies! So many snugglies! Thank you very much for the snugglies, oh generous master of the crane game!"

The claimant turned out to be a grinning, shining-eyed girl who (judging from snatches of uniform visible between the toys) might have been a fellow student of Tokiwadai.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal wore an amused smile as she watched Shiho's little toy adventure. She was about to introduce herself when a gust of wind alerted her to her friend's movement. Seeing Kin with all of those toys, and her reaction towards them, was too much for Krystal. She burst out laughing.

Kin! You can be so crazy sometimes.

Once she finally stopped, she resumed with her earlier intent, though now with a much larger grin on her face.

Nice to meet you. I'm Krystal, and the girl who might worship you for a while now is Kin. We go to Tokiwadai, too.

Based on her mannerisms, accent, and name, Shiho may be able to deduce that Krystal is likely to not be from Japan.

[AnimeKid]

Crocell puts the back of his hand to his head as he theatrically says, "Oh dear, it seems my lady has abandoned me to worship another. Why Kin? I thought I was the apple of your eye, was I simply not good enough for your ever so flattering devotion? Such a heartbreaking experience" He ends his little show with a sinking motion onto his knees as he pulls the palms of both of his hands to his chest, his head hanging to the side.

He keeps that position for a few minutes before springing back up as he says,"Ah I'm just messing with you. In all seriousness though you don't have to call me Crocell-sama, Crocell-san is more than respectful enough. I personally don't usually bother with suffixes myself. Anyways don't worry you didn't embarress yourself, you just showed people that you have amazing skills and luck. Besides you made a life long friend in Kin by choosing to give those toys away. Plus any friend of Kin's is a friend of mine, nice to meet you Shiho" With that Crocell puts a hand forward to shake Shiho's.

[Anyr]

Unusually, Crocell's theatrics provoked no reply from Kin. No matter how much he overacted, she didn't give him so much as a giggle. From his position behind her, it was easy to believe that she was simply entranced by all the toys. Shiho, however, would be able to see Kin's warm eyes suddenly freeze over. Something had struck a nerve.

[Felyndiira]

Kin's glare didn't escape notice, although Shiho was still a bit flustered at the unwanted attention to pay much note to anything but the most obvious of distractions. She giggled at the dramatic acting from the boy, although she was still periodically turning her attention towards the lethal weapons on the other boy. Was such things really allowed in Academy City, and why throwing stars?

When Crocell offered a handshake, the girl took it without much hesitation. She had noticed that the confused stares have now dissipated; the other students in the arcade had already returned to their games and their chattering, some gossiping quietly about the use of taineigo, but most already losing interest in the scene. The thought of this made her much more comfortable than before; she spoke with slightly greater confidence, although still keeping to an excessively polite speech pattern.

"It's a great pleasure to meet you as well, Crocell, Kin, Krystelle." Her English was certainly not perfect by any stretch of the word, although she did gave her best effort in pronouncing Krystal's name.

(OOC: It feels a bit weird typing honorifics in English, so I'll skip it from now on. Shiho's still using -sama though.)

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal is used to her name not being pronounced right here. She may not like it all that much, but she's used to it.

She doesn't happen to notice Kin's expression yet. Her attention is on Shiho at the moment.

So, did you just move to this area?

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shiho wasn't the only one in the room who noticed the weapons that Shougo carried in his sash. Around him, a half-dozen boys suddenly backed off, cursing softly, hands raised in the air. Shougo didn't quite understand why, but he raised his hands in defence nonetheless, already on edge as a result of being in a place he was not comfortable in; for him, the arcade was virtually another world, the flashing lights and loud noises so unsettling for one used to quiet and meditation.

"Oh, what the hell, man...?"

"I am sorry, what did I do, ue-san...?"

A terse silence occurred as a small standoff emerged, eventually being broken by one of the more foolhardy boys attempting to reach into Shougos' sash to withdraw the weapons. Interestingly, Shougo spoke in the same formal tone as Shiho; albeit in a distinctly archaic manner. If any of them were familiar with Japanese history, they would recognised his manner of speech as being some 150 years out of date; he sounded like he came right out of the Late Edo Period.

"Man, I bet these aren't even-"

"Don't touch them!"

Reflexively, Shougo grabbed the boys' hand and yanked it down and away from himself, unconsciously transferring the tension he had built up in the past few minutes in the form of kinetic energy. The force of this sent the boy sliding and painfully crashing face-first into the side of a machine. Shougo winced internally, knowing he had made a mistake. A moment of stunned silence reigned amongst the arcade-goers, and Shougo attempted to move towards the door.

"M...My apologies, I shall take my leave now."

He was stopped by the boys' friends, the boy himself rising to his feet, spitting out a loose tooth in the process. Shougo groaned to himself, already knowing what was going to follow and building up potential energy in his fists and feet in preparation. Nearby, the store manager was hurrying to the scene, phone in hand and already calling the police.

"You little brat! You're gonna pay for that!"

Shougo wasted no time and promptly landed a flurry of blows, lighting-quick, to chests of his would-be assailants, stunning them with the force of a man twice his size, before grabbing one and throwing him in the way of his charging compatriot, causing him to topple over. This left an opening for Shougo to escape through the door; an opening which he eagerly took, dashing for the exit on feet which suddenly seemed to grow wings. Behind him, his erstwhile-opponents gathered themselves off the ground to the loud protests of the store manager before chasing after Shougo, who had, in this time, leapt up and over a building on the other end of the street in a series of jumps that could only be adequately described as 'truly ninjaesque'.

A number of the boys were halted in their pursuit by the store manager, who, red-faced and yelling, had grabbed them by their collars.

By now, many of the arcade-goers had left-partly to avoid the commotion, and partly out of a desire not to be in the same area as the police, who had just arrived on the scene, sirens blaring.

__________________________________________________ _______________

"Oh...Uh...This...?"

Mei spontaneously clutched the paper close to her chest as if unwilling to relinquish it, before hesitatingly handing it to Jin.

"It's...It's nothing, really. And my ears aren't red. Why are you here anyway, Jin? Come to copy homework again?"

[AnimeKid]

It would not be neccessary Crocell waved the store manager off and strode forward towards the boys and Shougo. Before they or Shougo could launch an attack he said, "Well, well, well you guys have to be well and truly the stupides people I have ever seen. I mean really making such a scene in front of a Judgement officer? Punks like you guys sure are getting bold." He was tapping his Judgement armband for emphasis.

He came to a stop a little ways a way from them. No doubt the boys were taller than Crocell, however for some reason the boy was still very intimidating. It probably had to do with his golden eyes, which for a moment in the light appeared to be slitted. Probably just a trick of the light. "Now then, I agree that it sucks that you got your face smashed sir. While ninja boy may have overeacted he did say sorry. Also you didn't exactly make things better. After all trying to take something off of someones person without their expressed permission is called stealing. Plus trying to gang up on the kid is just out of line. Now then, why don't you gentlemen go back to your games and let the kid go. After all, I'm sure no one wants any...trouble."

[Mina Kobold]

Hearing the police sirens in the distance, a curious head turns unnoticed. Worried eyes looking for signs that a terrible event had passed before a sigh of relief is breathed. The arcade was not close, but it was visible and notably absent of panicked shrieks from the location of this curious ghostly Esper.

Nakamura Yua shakes off the surprise and returns to watching the surrounding buildings. Paying close attention to landmarks that may lead the way, but also observant of strange things. The events of the last few days had left the unseen Esper a little bit on edge and perhaps had opened a gate to a hidden curiosity.

___________

Uncharacteristically far from trouble, Yamamoto Katsu sits calmly at a table in Hongakuteki Nihon Ryouri. Flipping quite quickly through what appears to be a school textbook to the amazement of those who had seen the hyperactive super-sonic Azabu student before.

Perhaps Katsu was waiting for someone? A planned meeting, or an unsuspecting victim.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

With a relieved sigh, the man began putting away his phone as the boys muttered darkly under their breath. The one with the smashed face, in particular, spat a gobbet of blood at Crocells' feet before leaving the building, shortly followed by his friends. Shougo said nothing, and when they had finally vanished from sight, bowed deeply to Crocell in a very traditional manner.

"Thank you, Judgement-san. I am in your debt."

He looked relieved that he did not have to fight, and yet he bore a somewhat displeased expression on his face. Inwardly, it was due to the Judgement band sitting on Crocells' shoulder. Berating himself for his ungratefulness, he changed his expression into a smile. Judgement couldn't be all bad. After all, Tobio was Judgement, wasn't he?

"I am Nimori Shougo. If there is anything I could do to repay you...Please, let me know."

Realising that much of the arcade was still staring at him, Shougo tugged tightly on his scarf, making an all-too-transparent attempt to hide whatever was on his neck. By now, the four would have realised that something was not exactly right with Shougos' voice-It flanged, echoed a little as it left his throat, and Shougo knew that they knew. He was clearly uncomfortable with it; and the look of curiousity, slight wonder and expression of worry as he took in Krystals' clearly Caucasian appearance clearly told them that he was not used to dealing with foreigners. In fact, just about everything about this guy spoke of being a relic of the past, from his speech, from his mannerisms, from his clothing and most tellingly from the fact that he carried apparently carried archaic ninja tools as he went about his daily life. He obviously did not desire to be here any longer than he had to, and judging by the slight alarm of the store manager as he took in Shougos' weapons, he probably would not be there for much longer.

In fact, if it weren't for that fact that he now owed a debt to this particular Judgement agent for allowing him to escape what could have been a lot of trouble, he would already have fled the scene altogether. Never again, he decided. As interesting as that drawn likeness of his father was, the arcade was another world altogether, and Shougo knew that it was probably only right that he stay out of it.

[AnimeKid]

Crocell puts his hands in his pockets as he says, "Don't worry about it. Just try to control your reactions a bit better. After all if I know tough guys like that they might be waiting to ambush you somewhere. Anyways, you look like you have places to be so I won't keep you. See ya later pal. Oh yeah, the names Crocell nice to meet ya."

With that Crocell walks back over to his groups. With his new position he is able to Kin's cold eyes. It startled him as he had never seen Kin with that kind of look on her face before. With concern discernible in his voice he puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "Hey Kin you okay? You don't seem to be your usual bubbly self."
__________________________________________________ _______________

Having slipped away without anyone going after him Tobio goes to the training center to practice his powers. He uses the recording equipment to make sure to maximize his effectiveness in training. He also works on creating his ice ball projectiles from the moisture in the air at a more efficient rate and size. His range was just fine, the increase in his level appeared to have enhanced it. In the back of his mind he idly wonders if he could ever make it to level 5. He didn't feel a block like most people who reached level 4 said they felt. So maybe that meant he had the potential to do so. However maybe he was just to inept to feel it. That conclusion would certainly agree with some peoples opinion of him. He often wondered, if he made it to level 5 would people respect him more or would they just say that they couldn't believe that a stuttering spineless person like him lucked into power. These depressing thoughts clouded his mind as he practiced. If it was possible there would be a raincloud over his head to symbolize his inner turmoil.