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

[Anyr]

"Sounds great, Sensei. I, your loyal student, shall follow this training regimen to the letter!"

Kin immediately dashed off to do just that. Then, ten seconds later, she dashed right back again.

"Sensei, a thought occurs: Are you sure I won't get in trouble for hanging upside down from branches while wearing a skirt? The authorities can be awfully touchy about things like that."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal smiles and nods. Sounds like a plan to me. In all honesty, she used that method for training anyways, but she wasn't gonna say anything. Didn't want to hurt Crocell's feelings.

She chuckles at Kin's comment. Good point. But, you could always go get some shorts on under the skirt. Might be a little uncomfortable, but I don't think they'd get you in trouble.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Kouta chortled throatily.

"Well, it's...Tough, at times. Mei-chan can be pretty bossy and, well, difficult. She's really just being nice to me because she feels bad that I, you know, got shot a couple of days ago. And aaah, I wouldn't be so sure about that; being a pair of siblings in a manga, I mean. But then again, I don't read much manga. I don't really have the time for it."

He looked out the window and yawned somewhat sleepily, before scratching at his bandage and grunting at the sharp spike of pain.

"Still, she is a wonderful sister and I'm proud of her."

After letting Tobio speak, or after a few minutes of silence, through which the sound of running water could be heard, Tobio would have finally gotten the reply from Shougo. This time, it read simply;

'The girl. Green eyes. Ishimaru?'

[Anyr]

"*Haaachoo!*

Oh great. On top of everything else, I'm getting a cold."

Ishimaru Moroe grumbled quietly as she walked. Over the last two hours, she'd been searching the city, in vain, for a suitable distraction. The park had quickly worn thin; The arcades were too crowded; The comic shop reminded her of Souji; Even the shooting range no longer held its old appeal. By now she was just walking aimlessly. Her feet carried her along on automatic pilot. It was a while before she bothered to glance up from the ground, to see where she'd ended up.

"Huh, that's a weird house. It looks just like some ancient martial arts dojoh no."

Oh yes. This was his house. Moroe's treacherous feet had betrayed her. Was she really so weak? Well, she'd worry about that later. Right now, she needed to get out of here before any damage was done. With an urgency which bordered on panic, she turned to run...

...only to trip straight over the droid which she'd assigned to watch the house. One solid 'thump' later, and Ishimaru Moroe was lying unconscious on the ground.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Purely by coincidence, Shougo had decided to eat his lunch out on the front deck of his house, albeit concealed behind a hedge. Hearing a faint 'thump' nearby prompted him to put down his onigiri, stand up, and look. What he saw made him sigh, rub his head, and half-consider going back inside.

Some girl had apparently tripped and fell nearby his house, and judging from the small pool of blood that was quickly forming beneath her, she had injured herself in the process. Closer inspection revealed some passing familiarity; he was almost certain he had seen this girl before, most probably at school. With another somewhat-weary sigh, he turned back to the house and yelled.

"Mother, can you please get the first aid kit? Someone fell down over here."

Picking up the strange girl with a certain degree of ease (and noting how skinny she was), Shougo felt a strange and somewhat guilty twinge upon looking at her face. She was beautiful, he thought, and the thought of that was somewhat unusual. While he was quite willing to acknowledge the good looks of others, he had never thought of anyone as being truly beautiful before. He resisted the urge to brush away a strand of her hair (why did that feel so natural?) and made his way inside the house.

And the second his mother looked away from the mat and various first aid equipment that she had conjured up and to their recent guest, Shougo knew something was wrong. His mother clearly knew this girl and was apparently very surprised to see her. Nevertheless, he hid the apprehension he was feeling and helped his mother treat her wounds; nothing serious, just a grazed brow and a somewhat-bruised knee. A moment of silence passed between them as they disinfected the wound and applied a band-aid over it, and before Shougo could open his mouth to make some banal comment that he had not quite decided on yet to try to alter the mood, his mother stood up and smiled shakily.

"I'll...Get the smelling salts, okay, Shougo-kun? You watch over her for now."

Shougo nodded in compliance, noting the fact that his mother had made a show of looking for the smelling salts when he knew for a fact that she was quite familiar with its location. She clearly meant for him to greet this strange, pants-wearing girl upon her reawakening. The thought of this sent shivers of apprehension down his spine. Was she someone that he knew but had somehow forgotten? Was she a family friend? Was she dangerous? All these worrisome thoughts caused him to press two of his fingers to his forehead. It was all too much.

Yet, unbeknownst to him, his other, traitorous hand moved to brush away a strand of Moroes' hair, gently caressing her cheek as it did so.

Naturally, this was the perfect time for Moroe to come to.

And if she did, Shougo would freeze, both in horror of his apparently inappropriate action...

And in awe of how beautifully green her eyes were.

[Anyr]

The first sensation that Moroe felt upon waking was a throbbing pain in her skull; The second was the soft caress of someone's hand on her cheek. After that, the journey to consciousness happened very quickly. Moroe's eyelids went straight from 'closed' to 'open' without bothering to occupy any intermediate states. A previously limp hand shot out to grab Shougo's own, with a grip so tight that it threatened to break bones. Her lungs drew in ample amounts of air, so as to shout an unprintable insult at whoever had dared to touch her in so intimate a fashion.

Then she saw him. Their eyes met; And time stopped.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio texted back a quick yes to Shougo before saying to Kouta, "Well I'm glad for that. But really shouldn't you be resting? I mean, like you just said you did get shot. Not that I'm trying to nag or anything. It's just a little worrying that your moving so much."
__________________________________________________ ____________

Crocell blushes a little as he says, "Um, yeah Kin. I kinda just thought that you come to that conclusion on your own from the time we all went free running together. Sorry I wasn't more clear. My bad."

[Anyr]

"A good student should always double-check these things. Back in a minute, sensei!"

Kin ran off again, this time to don some shorts. For the sake of her school record, she reluctantly bowed to society's arbitrary laws about modesty. It never occurred to her that there might be good reasons for such laws: Like, for example, stopping Crocell from becoming a human lobster. Soon enough she was back, properly attired, and smiling down at her friends from the underside of a tree branch.

"How's this?"

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal chuckles a little at the sight of her friend.

You really had to come out on a branch, huh? You goof.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

There was a long, long moment of silence (that was only mildly ruined by the sound of his phone going off) as the gears in Shougos' head whirred and his heart thumped incredibly loudly. He was aware of the frenzied and confused presence leaping about in his head, and he kind of wished it would stop. He could not shake the feeling that...

"...Have we ... Met before?"

He could not shake the feeling that he had. But he was also sure that he could not possibly have forgotten that face...
__________________________________________________ ______________

"Naw. It wasn't that bad; the round was so powerful, it went clean through me. No bullet fragments or anything, and the doctors of Academy City did a wonderful job of patching me up. And honestly? I've had worse. I can't say when or how, but I have."

Kouta winked conspiratorially at Tobio before cracking his neck loudly as Mei, after what seemed like an eternity, finished having a shower, got dressed and walked into the living room. She did not, however, have her trademark multicolored beads in her hair-That would have taken far too long.

"My, my, my kawaii imouto-chan actually hurried with her morning rituals today? Could it be that she's into little Tobio-kun? Ooh, how scandalous~"

Mei responded immediately by picking up a nearby cushion and throwing it at his head which Kouta took stoically and without even batting an eyelid.

"What are you implying, Kouta-nii? And I see you've drunk my tea, as usual. I apologise for my stupid brothers' antics if he's doing anything stupid, Tobio-kun."

She then sniffed the air and gave Kouta a gentle shove (on his injured shoulder), which earned her a muffled yelp of pain.

"Go take a shower, Kouta-nii! You reek!"

[Anyr]

Moroe had just started to recover from her paralysis, only for Shougo's question to freeze her right back up again. Her finely honed analytical faculties, which had been trained to operate even under the threat of imminent death, promptly punched out their time cards and left for an unscheduled lunch break. When she finally managed to form a reply, it was less than inspired.

"No! I mean, yes. Slightly. That is, we don't really know each other. But we go to the same school. I-I think we might have met a couple of times. In passing. Maybe."

Kami, his hand was still touching her cheek. How was she supposed to concentrate under these conditions?

[AnimeKid]

Tobio chuckled at the brother-sister pair and how they interacted. Addressing Mei first he responded with a smile, "Don't worry Mei-chan Kouta-san and I were just having a friendly conversation. You really should try to endure his antics a little more. After all he's quite proud of you. It's always nice to have someone who can take pride in who you are." As he finished Tobio's smile turned slightly wistful before he forcfully perked himself back up.

"So I actually didn't have any ideas about what to do today if you did want to hang out. I mean the arcade is certainly always open. Actually..." A thoughtful look crossed Tobio's face before a genuinely delightful smile broke out across his face. "We could go ice skating! It's been a while since I've gone ice skating, and I've never had a friend to do it with. What do you say Mei-chan!"
__________________________________________________ ____________

Crocell nodded up at Kin as he said, "Good job Kin. Now then try to stay there fore about 3 minutes before consciously releasing your power. The point of this exercise is your control. By spending and extended period of time upside down the blood rushing to your head will make it harder to focus. If you can pull it off we will gradually increase the time in increments of 30 seconds. This will allow you to release your power on command in optimal condition more easily. Yell if you can't do it after about a minute and I'll help get you down."

Turning to Krystal he says, "Alright you know your training so I can't really help you there. So you get on that while I train. I'll be working on my control a little ways away." With that Crocell head a few meter away so that he wasn't near Kin's tree before conjuring a fire ball and extends and forms it into a length of fire that he extends to his maximum range and tries to push while maintaining control.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

"No. It was not quite that. It was..."

Shougo paused, a rush of colors and sensations blasting through his head at a breakneck pace, before staring at his hand, realising where it was and recoiling in horror, almost falling flat on his back in his haste. His face colored a bright red and mumbled several apologies nearly incoherently before eventually forming a somewhat-intelligible sentence.

"M...My eternal apologies, it was not my intention to-It was not my place-"

Meanwhile, out of the corner of Moroes' eye, she would be able to make Nimori Koizumi returning slowly, pointedly without the smelling salts. She looked somewhat concerned; clearly she had not expected this turn of events.
__________________________________________________ _________________

Mei stopped to consider this a moment. Ice skating? Well, as fun as that was, she remembered the last time she went out ice skating and ... Ummm...

"I'm...Not very good at ice skating, Tobio-kun. But - No laughing, Kouta-nii!"

Kouta hadn't even said anything before Mei punched him on the shoulder again, completely ignoring what Tobio had to say about her brother, earning an indignant yell, before glancing out of the window and considering her options. Last time, she'd, uh, made a fool of herself, to say the least, and her face went a faint red at the memory. Tobio would probably have been able to pick up the gist of it.

"But, if you're willing to teach me, Tobio-kun, I'd be happy to go with you."

[AnimeKid]

Tobio nods to Mei with a smile on his face, his hair shifting slightly so that only one eye is covered in stead of both of them. It probably has to do with the fact that he stands a little straighter with his head a little higher these days. Mostly around friends, either way the way his hair parted allowed a single pupil with startling silver irises sparking with joy to be seen.

"Of course Mei-chan! I would be happy to help you learn how to Ice skate. I've been doing it for years now so it'll be a cinch. Let's see...they best place for ice skating would be the lake that is near the park. That also happens to be my favorite spot for skating. If your ready Mei-chan we can go right now."

[Anyr]

Kin treated Crocell's training with a dedication that would have shocked her teachers, had they been present. Had any of them asked her to hang from a tree branch for three minutes, she'd have thought they were idiots. But when a fellow 'prisoner' suggested the same thing, it suddenly became a great idea. Kin had even thought to bring a watch, which she used to time herself. As she watched the minutes tick away, it wasn't with the desperate impatience she showed when glancing at the school clock; But rather, the dutiful focus of a dedicated student. When exactly three minutes had passed, she released her power as instructed. She did so with perfect control and complete success.

"AUUUGGGHHH!"

She had, however, forgotten to grab onto anything before doing so; Thus causing her to plummet towards the (worryingly solid) paving below. Maybe she shouldn't have picked such a high branch...

"No. It was not quite that. It was..."

Shougo paused, a rush of colors and sensations blasting through his head at a breakneck pace, before staring at his hand, realising where it was and recoiling in horror, almost falling flat on his back in his haste. His face colored a bright red and mumbled several apologies nearly incoherently before eventually forming a somewhat-intelligible sentence.

"M...My eternal apologies, it was not my intention to-It was not my place-"

Shougo's frantic scrambling gave Moroe a chance to recover. While he was stammering out apologies, she gathered what remained of her wits. Thinking hadn't really been an option when Shougo had been tenderly caressing her face. Accordingly, priority one would be to stop him from doing that again.

Moroe may have been new to love, but she was an old hand at pushing people away. She'd developed a whole host of techniques to use against the various people who bombarded her with pick-up lines, selfish requests, and (worst of all) genuine offers of friendship. For this particular situation, she selected 'Rejection Look #23': A mixed bag of offence, disapproval and disgust, designed to make its targets feel like complete scum.

"That's right. It wasn't your place. Do you always take the opportunity to be so intimate with sleeping strangers? On second thought, don't answer that. Just keep your distance from now on."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal nodded to Crocell and followed Kin to the tree, sitting at its base to concentrate on her abilities.

She could sense and produce various microwaves without too much trouble, but she hadn't quite gotten good enough to start messing with infrared light yet. That would be her next major step. So, for now, she worked on microwaves some more.

She spent the first part of her time simply acting as a receiver for any microwaves in the area. There were some, as a lot of newer cell phone have started raising the frequency of their transmissions, pushing them out of the range of radio waves and into microwaves.

So, for the first few minutes, Krystal sat there listening to various cell phone transmissions in the area.

Then came Kin yelling.

Krystal snapped her eyes open, then immediately regretted it. Cutting off her abilities so fast always gave some feedback in the form of a very large headache. She pushed that feeling aside and saw Kin falling. Being at the base of the tree already, Krystal could get below her friend in time to catch her. Though, it's more likely they'll both end up on the ground.

[AnimeKid]

Crocell heard the screams first as his eyes snapped open and he turned violently towards the sound of Kin's voice. He didn't know she had picked a branch so high up. putting his pyrokinesis on overdrive as jets of flame shot out of his feet to shoot over and catch Kin. The thing is he didn't see Krystal attempting to do the exact same thing. Luckily for both of them Crocell's psuedo flight put him as a slightly greater height, perfect catching Kin and just barely soaring over Krystals head so that the two of them could tumble into the softer grass that was nearby.

[Anyr]

The next few seconds were rather chaotic. Kin flailed wildly as she fell, trying (and failing) to grab onto something. Below, Krystal rushed to a rescue that probably wouldn't have ended well for either of them. The plummeting girl closed her eyes and braced for an impact which, as it turned out, was a lot less painful than expected. Maybe that had something to do with the pair of strong, warm arms which caught her in the nick of time.

Once safely grounded, Kin cautiously opened her eyes. She seemed to be lying amidst a tangled mess of limbs.

"Owwww. Everything huuurts. What just happened? Why is this concrete so soft? And, for that matter, whose leg is this?"

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal notices Crocell's quick reaction, and sees that he's gonna catch Kin. She comes to a stop just a little bit after the pair of them land. She'll turn direction and rush over.

Are you guys okay?

[AnimeKid]

Crocell doesn't groan like Kin does but his is a little sore from the landing. He has taken worse before as he says, "In order: You picked a branch a little too high up, because we are on grass and not concrete, finally that would by my leg Kin."

Sitting up a little Crocell shakes his hair free of the loose pieces of grass that had gotten stuck there. Looking over at Krystal he says, "Yeah I'm alright. I don't know about Krystal though.

[Anyr]

"Ah. I see."

Kin had the decency to look suitably sheepish. She went to sit up, then winced and lay back down again. For the moment, she seemed content to lie face-up on the grass, avoiding eye contact with her friends.

"Er, sorry about that. Slight miscalculation. But hey, at least I didn't get stuck! My power released exactly on schedule. That counts for something, right?"

Kin gave a somewhat shaky smile. It was the smile of someone trying their best not to think about certain things: Like how close they'd just come to cracking their skull.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal seemed greatly relieved that they were both alright.

She chuckled a little at Kin's comment.

Yeah, but I don't think it really makes up for the lack of future planning on your part.

[AnimeKid]

Crocell rubbed the back of his slightly sore head as he said, "Yeah, be a bit more careful next time Kin. However it is great that you released your power exactly on schedule. It means that you do have the control needed for your power. And now when the System scan comes around you can show everyone what you can really do! Alright then one more time!...Just on a lower branch please."

[Mina Kobold]

[Outside Tokiwadai Dorms]

Rounding a corner not far from Krystal, Kin and Crocell, a blue-haired Esper appears. Slowing down from a panicked sprint and leaning against a wall, it is obvious that this person has been running for a while, nearly collapsing from the exertion. Once paused, Krystal and Kin may recognise Yua, the Onizuka student they had met a few days ago, though she looks a lot less calm than she did then. Uncharacteristically, it seems they could notice Yua before the usually discreet Esper notices them.

[Above Ryuu's Garden]

A light tapping sound begins growing noticeable in Ryuu's garden, slowing down to the sound of fast footsteps quickly and finally stopping just on the roof by the little courtyard. If Ryuu looks up, she'll see that they actually belonged to one of Academy City's students, who strangely seems to have decided to take a lunch break on a roof.

"Hiya! Sorry to disturb, watcha doing?"

Katsu calls, momentarily forgetting how rude it can be to shout greetings at strangers.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougo staggered back as if struck violently, the strangely joyous dancing of the little voice in his head (for lack of a better description) suddenly stopping, causing the mental sensation of a wall of glass shattering overhead and showering him with shards of glass. One of them cut him across the cheek, and he raised his hand to check and - Was he crying? He didn't even-

"I knew you'd say that.."

He blurted this without meaning to or, in immediate retrospect, in a tone that was quite unlike his own. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he stammered yet another apology, his normally steely sense of self-composure crumbling like a sandcastle before the waves. With a devastated expression that might have reminded Moroe eerily of her own, Shougo hurried up the stairs into his room, inexplicably ... Heartbroken? But he did not even know the girl. Why was he so...

"I'm so sorry, Ishimaru-san, did my son do something wrong? I-I just thought ... I'll talk with him later. If you wish to leave, please..."

Above them, Shougo did something he had never done before, no matter how dire the situation seemed in the past.

He sulked.

__________________________________________________ _______________

Mei thumbed her chin, thinking things through for a brief moment. Sure, she had quite a bit of study to go through, but that could wait. Ice-skating with Tobio-kun sounded quite fun, even if she was sure she would no doubt make a fool of herself. At least nobody would be looking, and she knew that Tobio would be too polite to laugh.

Oh, Tobio. He really was too nice for his own good.

"Hmm...Just give me a little while, okay, Tobio-kun? I need to get my hair done, then we'll go. I'll make it extra-quick today."

She then went off to presumably put her signature multicolored beads in her hair, and, true to her word, she took no longer than five minutes, entering the living room with no more than two braids full of beads, along with a pink jumper that was very characteristically 'Mei'.

"Alright, let's go, Tobio-kun. I'll need you to teach me, okay? Sorry if I'm not very good."

[Anyr]

Crocell rubbed the back of his slightly sore head as he said, "Yeah, be a bit more careful next time Kin. However it is great that you released your power exactly on schedule. It means that you do have the control needed for your power. And now when the System scan comes around you can show everyone what you can really do! Alright then one more time!...Just on a lower branch please."

"As you command, Sensei!"

Kin leapt to her feet with newfound enthusiasm (and another wince). A few aches weren't going to stop her from obeying Sensei's instructions. She rushed off across the grass, in search of a more reasonable branch from which to hang.

Then she saw Yua.

"Oh look: It's that girl we met a few days a-Kami, she looks terrible! Do you think she's all right? Hey, are you all right? What happened to you?!"

[Anyr]

Shougo staggered back as if struck violently, the strangely joyous dancing of the little voice in his head (for lack of a better description) suddenly stopping, causing the mental sensation of a wall of glass shattering overhead and showering him with shards of glass. One of them cut him across the cheek, and he raised his hand to check and - Was he crying? He didn't even-

"I knew you'd say that.."

He blurted this without meaning to or, in immediate retrospect, in a tone that was quite unlike his own. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he stammered yet another apology, his normally steely sense of self-composure crumbling like a sandcastle before the waves. With a devastated expression that might have reminded Moroe eerily of her own, Shougo hurried up the stairs into his room, inexplicably ... Heartbroken? But he did not even know the girl. Why was he so...

"I'm so sorry, Ishimaru-san, did my son do something wrong? I-I just thought ... I'll talk with him later. If you wish to leave, please..."

Above them, Shougo did something he had never done before, no matter how dire the situation seemed in the past.

He sulked.

Moroe didn't respond. She was too busy staring at the stairs. The stoic mask she'd worn a second ago had completely vanished. Now she looked as if she'd been punched in the gut. With just a casual insult, she'd somehow managed to wound Shougo deeply. It felt like knocking someone through walls with the flick of a finger. When Moroe finally spoke, her voice was quiet and shaky.

"I hurt him. I hurt Shougo. That wasn't supposed to happen. We're strangers now. He shouldn't care about me any more. Why is this happening?
...
The memory wipe failed. It must have done. That's the only explanation."

Like a true professional, Moroe didn't stay dazed for long. Now that the puzzle was coming together, she transitioned into a more active state: Namely, boiling anger.

"Damn that worthless Jounouchi! He couldn't even make it strong enough to survive one meeting?! How much is still in there? Is it just stray feelings, or are the actual memories going to come back? How am I supposed to fix this?!"

Moroe ranted without any regard for Mrs Nimori. She seemed to have forgotten that anyone else was in the room.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal smiled a little and made her way back to where she was sitting, rubbing her head a little. She wondered how hard it would be to get back to where she was with this headache.

Then Kin notices Yua. Krystal looks up and sees the girl. She'll smile and wave to her. Then she notices that Yua seems...well, not at ease, that's for sure. She'll wait for her answer to Kin's question.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio nodded happily at Mei as she came back and said she was ready to go. He gives her a kind smile as he says, "Don't worry Mei, I would be happy to teach you. Just as long as you make sure to have fun as well. So don't worry about embarrassing yourself so much. Just have fun! Besides, embarrassing yourself is my territory remember?"

With that Tobio would escort Mei to the park. The lake there was quite large, with only a few people walking up and down the nearby sidewalk. The crystal blue waters of the lake were soothing to Tobio as he took a minute to gaze at them with warm eyes.

[Mina Kobold]

[Outside Tokiwadai Dorms]

At Kin's shouting, Yua seems to nearly jump, head turning with a jolt to see where the voice came from. Seeing familiar faces, the blue-haired and wide-eyed Esper brightens up and hurriedly traverses the space between them. Taking a moment to breathe, Yua speaks.

"m-my greetings and apologies if I worried you. I... Nothing has happened to me, but I-I saw..."

Pausing for another breath, Yua tries to stop the stutter and regain composure. Continuing as calmly as possible, the usually-composed student speaks with a grave tone.

"-I saw a fight, people were killed and... The survivor was killed by someone. I followed him, but he, I think he could see me."

Yua shudders, clearly not entirely all right, if much less unconscious than might be expected.