FURINKAZAN ~ A WBW Production [it starts!]

[Bulbasaur4]

Kasai Akio
ACCESS INFORMATION: [ M | Kazan Student ]
MUSIC START: "I'm Waiting" - The All-American Rejects
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Down, don't you know... don't you know where I'll be?
'Cuz I'll be here on my own... waiting.
So I'll be waiting, when I'm waiting...
I've been here before and I don't care where I'm going,
And as long as you're gone, I'll stay..."

~*~*~


It had been a particularly odd day- although, Akio had a sneaking suspiscion that he was in for a long duration of 'odd' days. In the matter of what seemed like minutes, he had witnessed both Cho and her boyfriend, Ryuu, call forth some strange powers and attack the strange creature-students. While Akio showed no visible signs of shock or fear, he was quite impressed. It was amazing how fluidly the powers were called forth... and the adorable thing that Cho brought forth packed quite a punch.
After it was said and done, Dai and his sister were safe. A few words were exchanged, one of which was Akio hugging Dai tightly in happiness that one of his childhood friends was safe. This was followed by Aria-chan yelling at Akio to let Dai breath and so-forth. Akio had let go soon after, and then heard as Cho asked Ryuu to come to her house.
A sharp prickling sensation rose upon Akio's back... as if he were being watched- he and others. His sharp golden gaze looked about for a moment, before he came back to reality. Smiling brightly at everyone, he gave a light bow.
"I must be going..."
"Are you alright Akio?" Dai questioned, although Akio was quick to answer.
"Oh of course! I just forgot I have... well, some papers to take care of. Mustn't let them wait!"
And as common as Akio was around, he was gone.

*****


"Akio-sama... are you alright?" A small, timid voice rose from the illuminated hallway. Akio lifted his head off of his silken pillow to see the frail form of Taguri. With a weak smile rising from his lips, Akio gave a staggering nod.
"I'm alright Taguri-chan... don't worry about me. I'm going to bed early." Silence filled the air for a moment, as she took a step back and hesitated.
"Akio-sama... are you lonely?"
If Akio had been a cat, his ears would have perked up immediately. Swiftly he sat up from his bed, the smooth sheet falling from his naked chest under the glow of the setting sun through his window. Taguri blushed instantly, looking away but Akio laughed.
"I'm just shirtless Taguri... it really is alright. You go swimming enough to know that." Taguri turned her head and nodded, her demeanor still quite timid. Akio patted the spot upon the bed next to him and she quickly dashed to the spot, sliding up upon the tall mattress.

The room itself was quite spacious and seemed oddly circular in shape, although a closer inspection would show the small flats in the wall. A few curved bookcases molded themselves into the walls, their wooden color flooded with orange light, giving them the color of pottery mud. Akio's own bed was actually a canopy bed, the semi-transparent cover a light golden color that glowed with an enchanting fiery look with every sunrise and set. Beyond that upon the ceiling were star constellations... intricately aligned with glowing star stickers and intricate glowing dots for atmosphere.

"I'm not lonely Taguri-chan... why would you ask that?" Akio questioned, bringing his legs up upon the bed in a pretzel-sitting fashion, his back arching inward towards her with his relaxed posture. Akio's pristine skin molded with each position, especially along his shoulders and abdomen. While he was not extremely muscular or beefy, he was well-toned and proved the fact that size was not everything. In fact, his broad shoulders and elegant yet powerful stride was due to his earlier years when he was on the city swim team. With the demand of his studies however, Akio left the team and on weekends would swim on occasion- although every 'swimming' excursion was by no means relaxing.

"Because... you... you never bring any friends here." Taguri said quietly, her eyes looking everywhere but at Akio. Akio merely smiled.
"That's because I have so many other places to take them!"
"Then why are you here so early... so often?" She questioned, her eyes peering at him for a moment. Akio paused.
"Hmmm... I suppose I get tired quite often."
"Really?" She asked. It was at that moment that Akio realized that while she was a child, her questions were rather startlingly perceptive. Akio however smiled, taking his large hand and patting her on the head.
"Yup. Plus tomorrow I have a lot of studying to do."
With this, Taguri smiled broadly and leapt upwards.
"Yay!!! Does this mean you'll teach me Chinese?"
"Yes yes... of course. I'll have plenty of breaks tomorrow."
Taguri nodded, dashing out the bedroom and giving a small 'goodnight' before eagerly leaving the room.

I wish I didn't have to study tomorrow... Akio thought with a sigh, collapsing backwards upon his bed. His hair splayed over the pillow and he found himself staring through the canopy top and at the stars upon the ceiling.
I wonder what Dai and Hotaru are doing... Akio found himself day dreaming about the two. Dai's strong, bold gaze and his strikingly clear-chiseled demeanor. Hotaru's graceful and elegant movements, his bright warmth that always seemed to rush over Akio like a cool wave.
"Uuuuhhhhhh... I bet Hotaru is smothering Dai..." Akio mumured to himself, rolling over on his side. His eyes stared at the glowing sunfire window, the sun slowly diving into the darkened horizon.
Cho's probably eating dinner by now... Akio's mind darted to Cho. He could feel her strong playful jab to his shoulder and her fingers licking through his hair for good luck. He had been so proud of her when she had protected Dai and Aria... working so fluidly, so confidently...
Akio's chest began to boil from within.

Like a seasaw, Akio's mind swiveled back and forth between them all. At one point, he randomly remembered that he still owed a picnic to Satoshi... which led him to wonder if he should have a big picnic and invite lots of people. That led him to remember that most people find it sociably unacceptable to mix Furin with Kazan, especially with his position on the Student Council. That THEN reminded him that he had a late meeting with the Student Council... which meant that his studying would be cut off early.
"I wonder how the cram sessions go for everyone else..." Akio said absently, the darkness spilling over the sky.

Akio did not go a cram school. He was instructed, by his father, long ago that Akio was to be an independent person and study on his own using their resources. For three years, Akio had studied not just for school but also for college. He despised it, but obediently he did it on the days his other friends were at "cram school."
"Cram... what a crude yet to the point word..." Akio thought absently, sighing as he rolled over onto his stomach and shoved his face in the pillow with a mopey moan.

"I'll go to the cafe tomorrow..." Akio then decided, when it was two hours past when he had talked with Taguri. The night sky was in full and the moon's piercing rays ricocheted into his room, the stars upon his ceiling glowing like a continuation of the sky.
His mind occasionally trickled back to his earlier thoughts of a few of his friends... and that little ache in his chest came back to him as it had before. Firmly closing his eyes, Akio forcibly tried to think of something to lull him into a sleep, but for some reason he was restless. Sleep alluded him despite how heavy his eyelids felt and how much his eyes burned.
"What's wrong with me...?" Akio thought, biting his lip absently as his chest continued to splinter.

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Kurasawa Mishio, Satou Yuki

I twist, I hold tight

11/9

Morning, and the skies were cruelly clear, spitefully blue. Mishio had spent the previous night curled up in a ball on her bed, thinking of her hate. The hate was by no means new, but now it was overwhelming her, such that it was hard to think of something that was not the hate.

She had classes today. Her homeroom teacher, Umezawa-sensei, had been adamant that she turn up; Kurasawa, your math grades are terrible, she had said, her voice rankling in Mishio's memory; Kurasawa, I'm sure I can help you out with this particular set of problems if you turn up tomorrow. It had been said fondly, in a joking manner almost. The version now playing in Mishio's head bore almost no resemblance to her teacher's good-natured chiding of the day before.

Mishio was convinced that her teacher was making fun of her. Lately, everyone was. She was trying her best: couldn't they see?

Her very best...

(under the blankets the form of an axe flickered)

...not to kill them.

*

Yuki sat hunched in a chair, as near to the prone boy on the bed as he could get. Matsu was all over casts, the white bandages obscuring his thin form like a cocoon. It ached, to see him like that. Since he was very young, since the Satous had taken him in, he had held that the greatest bond someone could have was family. You could break up with a lover, you could leave a job, you could be betrayed by people you thought were friends; no matter what you'd always have family.

Well, that view of his had changed after Rika was born.

But old habits were hard to break, and even though he knew this boy in a coma before him was not his brother in biology or in blood, he still suffered just as much as if he had been.

Damn Rika. Where is she? She should have been here half an hour ago. Doesn't she know our time's limited because Matsu's in intensive care?

He could not begin to describe the feeling that bloomed in his chest. It was dark, and it burned? Something like that. He had a teaching degree in languages, and he thought words useless and ineffectual. How very ironic, said the shadow of the feeling that was now sending out great black tendrils probing and curious, and laughed.

The door opened, and a nurse, neat and spruce in her white uniform, motioned to him. "I'm so sorry, Satou-san, but visiting time is up."

Yuki rose, all apologies. "I know, nurse, but my sister Rika's not here yet, there's a holdup in traffic, and she wanted to see poor Matsu so badly..."

Beneath his wistful stare, the nurse wilted. She was young, after all, and something in Yuki's tone of voice, his turn of head, his eyes brimming with tears, made her wish he was hers to comfort. "Well... all right then..."

"I'll be right back with Rika, I promise." Yuki gave the nurse a small bow, and strode out. Where the hell was Rika?

(an eye blinks then, red and reptilian)

If she was playing around, if she could leave Matsu just like that, if she cared so little for family - he would see to it that she learned otherwise.

*

Mishio had the bad fortune to run into the gang of one Mihana Ami on her way to school. Considering the current state of the previously defenseless girl, however, it was hard to say whether it was really Mihana Ami, Kanama Chidori, and Hoshino Kira with the bad fortune that day.

A whisper, stuttered, escaped Mishio's lips as she saw the three girls looming over her, blocking off every chance of escape. "O... Oni..."

"Well, well, well," smirked the most imposing of the three, clad in a long back gakuran. She tapped the steel pipe she was holding against her shoulder, in a way that suggested she was debating whether to use it in the next five seconds, or not. "At least you know who I am. Not bad, for a piece of Furin trash."

A dark girl with an extremely large bust spoke up. "Hey, Ami. Let this one live for a few minutes longer. Kira's gotta practice her trash-talk, remember?"

Ami raised an introspective eyebrow. "Right. Yeah. Can't let our victims laugh at us right before we kick their asses just because Hoshino can't threaten 'em properly... like last time. She's all yours, Hoshino."

The last person Mishio would have expected to be in a gang was pushed forward, protesting mildly, but submitting in the end and sighing. "Ah.. I'm no good at this kind of thing. Uhh. I.. I'm gonna hit you so hard you'll kiss the moon!"

There was a significant pause as the other two members of the gang facepalmed. Kira blushed and laughed sheepishly.

Mishio twitched. She was being underestimated, again. And by Kazan students. Kazan... they killed senpai...

I'll make them pay... I'll make all of them pay.

An uncontrollable shuddering took hold of her. When it stopped, she was cradling her axe in her arms. It had grown; it couldn't be called a hatchet any more, and what drew the eye most was its head, double-edged like a labrys.

She lunged at the closest girl, the one she'd thought couldn't possibly fit in a gang.

Kazan scum... I'll make you all pay for senpai's death, if it's the last thing I do...


TAG Shizo, TAG CT. I apologise for a truly craptastic post, am yet again needing sleep badly. Hope I RPed everyone okay. D: BTW, in case Box didn't make this clear enough, there is a 'new' rule: if another RPer tags your character in such a way that you WOULD die unless you responded, and you DON'T respond within 5 days, that RPer can deal with your character however they wish. Chop chop, people.

[Shizo]

Yay! Tagged! Time to work out a fight scene.

Name: Mihana Ami (family name first)
Age: 16
Gender: F
Appearance: She's standing at an impressive 5'7" with shoulder-length light brown hair and roughly cut bangs. Her eyes are a steely grey, and her skin is a pale tan color. Her expression is usually set in one of general distaste and loathing for the world and most of the individuals she's forced to share it with (more for the latter than the former). Her outfit outside of school is actually the boy's gakuran. She's occasionally tried wearing this during school as well, but is usually forced to change back to the girl's uniform. Her shoes appear to be fairly fashionable boots until you get kicked with them and learn they have steel toes.
Personality: She is a gang leader, a brawler, a person who loves getting into fights. She lives in the moment and rarely, if ever, considers consequences. She despises those weaker than her, but holds steadfastly to the bond she shares with those she chooses to trust.
School: Kazan
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
Power: Magic
Power Description: Besides an odd manifestation of ram horns on her head when her battle lust has reached its height, she has the ability to alter friction. This means she can have traction on oil-slicked ice or slide across asphalt. Initially, she can only affect herself or the things she touches, but she should soon be able to turn a room into a place where only she has sure footing.
Background/History: Her parents divorced when she was young, and she lives with her mother, who is usually so busy working that she barely had time to be with her daughter. Ami's reaction to this was to become a wild child, getting into fights and spats for the fun of it. She did try to make sure she got passing grades, but she has little to no respect for most of the faculty. In middle school she teamed up with her now BFF Kanama Chidori, earning a reputation of being one the toughest pair of fighters you could run into, girls or not. Most students fear her, and even teachers keep a respectful distance. After all, if she behaves at school, she's not their problem, right?
She rescued the third member of her impromptu gang from another group that had kidnapped her for her boyfriend's money (not out of any sort of altruism. She had just decided to kick their asses that day). She took her in to teach her to fight and stick up for herself, as Hoshino Kira was a rather timid and shy girl who couldn't even dream of raising a hand against someone before. She's still against just fighting someone for no good reason, but she'd definitely learning enough self-defense that you don't want to tangle with her.
Other: Has earned the nickname "Oni."

Open Music File: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - "Bad Reputation"

Mihana Ami
***************
The world was bright and cheery, the air crisp and clean. Birds sang, children played, and if there was a brook nearby, it'd be babbling. It was a beautiful wondrous day to relax and wonder at the glories of the world.

Now ask me if I care.

For any geniuses out there, I don't.

The three of us were leaning against a fence on the edge of a small side street, a nice quiet place that wasn't frequented at this time of the day. Chidori, my right hand man, was on my right, her short cropped black hair sharply defining her face. She was dressed in tan pants and a shirt that seemed to be straining to keep the DD's in. She was staring into space, just watching the world. Kira-chan stood to my left, dressed in a loose spring green skirt and a cream-colored top that accentuated her long reddish hair. She had found an ice cream vendor and was savoring her vanilla cone. Chidori and I had finished ours. Sitting on the fence, I tapped my fingers on the metal bar at an unsteady rhythm. "I'm boorrrred." I finally moaned.

Chidori checked her watch. "You lasted eight minutes that time. A new record."

"Well, I am. Everyone from every school refuses to do anything anymore," I moaned in frustration.

"Well, aren't you a bit frightened about the murders?" Kira asked, looking up from her cone shyly.

"Huh? Why should I be?"

"Well, one of the students was from Kazan." She looked back at her cone.

"I didn't even know the guy! Why does everyone insist I care?" I growled. Kira had finally stopped acting scared when I spoke like that. She knew now it was just general frustration that drove me. "Besides, what about the other gangs? You'd think they'd be up for a scrap."

"They're probably scared you'll add to the body count," Chidori laughed. "Huh?" she said, looking up. Kira and I looked where she was staring. A girl was heading toward us; her hair was kind of a greyish blue, her face was one contorted in concentration, and...

"Isn't that a Furin uniform?" Kira asked.

"Yep," I smiled. "Perfect. With that school feud going on, all Furins're up for a fight." I hopped off the fence, giving a grin that Kira once described as "creepy."

"Hang on," Chidori cautioned. "She looks like a wimp. Is she even worth our time?"

"I'm so bored I don't care." I leaned down and opened up what to the casual observer would call a bag for a baseball bat. Zipping it open showed a lead pipe I had found a while ago. I picked it up and slapped my palm with it. It made the best "ding" noise. "We just rough her up a bit and go looking for bigger prey. Think of it as a warm-up." I turned and started walking. Chidori followed: Kira after disposing of her cone in a trash can. Before the girl had realized it, we had herded her against a wall, the three of us hemming her in.

I don't like beating up on wimps, but it does give you a rush to see them cower and whimper. I try not to make a habit out of it, but boredom had its say. It's time to play.

A stutter escaped her trembling lips. "O...Oni...."

I grinned. "Well, well, well," I said, tapping the pipe on my shoulder. "At least you know who I am. Not bad, for a piece of Furin trash." Now, where do I hit first? The arm, the leg, the gut? Maybe the arm.

"Hey, Ami," Chidori said, interrupting my thoughts. "Let this one live for a few minutes longer. Kira's gotta practice her trash-talk, remember?"

I raised an eyebrow, remembering what happened before. God, that was horrible. She had called the thugs we fought "Poopyheads." I had to knock the everliving crap out of them just to stop their laughing.

"Right. Yeah. Can't let our victims laugh at us right before we kick their asses just because Hoshino can't threaten 'em properly... like last time." I glared, then motioned with my pipe, then shoved her forward when she didn't take the hint. "She's all yours, Hoshino."

"...But..."

"C'mon, Kira. If you can't trash talk her, how are we going to handle the Eighth Street gang?" Chidori said.

Kira finally surrendered with a sigh. "Ah.. I'm no good at this kind of thing." Then, putting on her best angry face (Which was much improved, no matter what you may think) she said with a small amount of menace, "Uhh. I.. I'm gonna hit you so hard you'll kiss the moon!"

Perhaps we should give her an A for effort. For Kira, that was pretty good. For Kira. However, it was still so pathetic Chidori and I both facepalmed. Kira tried to laugh it off. Well, at least it was just in front of a Furin weakling. No extreme harm done. That's when movement caught the corner of my eye. The Furin girl shuddered, her face twisted. Then, she clutched an axe. Where that axe came from, I could not say for the life of me. She certainly wasn't hiding it on her person. It was big, double-headed, and its owner looked crazy enough to use it. She gave no warning, no threat, no battlecry. She rushed ahead at the closest target. Thanks to me, that target was Kira. Shit.

"Kyaaaaaa!" Kira screamed at an incredibly high pitch. I never told her to stop that, because most opponents would stop and cover their ears in pain at that siren. This girl didn't, but Kira was already moving. She dropped and swept her leg, knocking the Furin girl off her feet. She fell hard, but was soon standing again. I could barely hear her muttering something. "...You killed sempai...you killed him....you'll pay..."

"Holy shit, we have a crazy on our hands," Chidori said.

"Yeah," I grinned, my eyes lighting up. "Take her sideways if need be, but right now, she's mine." I licked my lips in anticipation. Yes, she was crazy and had a giant magic axe, and I was only armed with a lead pipe and two back-up partners in crime, but now I had a challenge. One I wasn't just going to pass up.

After all, I'm bored.
***********


This is long already, so the rest'll be later.

As a general FYI, Ami doesn't really care about the rivalry. The only reason she pays attention to it at all is because she loves how she can insult almost anyone at Furin and be guaranteed a fight. It's great.

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Doumeki Yumi, Sakamoto Dai



"I was behind the desk, crouching on the carpet and trying to breathe solely through the pores."


11/9, morning

There were a whole bloody lot of leaves fallen on the cobblestones of the courtyard that morning, or so it seemed to Yumi, attacking them with her bamboo-handled broom with the single-minded purpose of shepherding them into neat piles. The trees seemed in a hurry to disrobe themselves of the bright colours of autumn.

Maybe they think red and orange make them look fat, thought Yumi sourly as the wind dislodged more leaves, drifting down lazily to land on a spot she'd swept not ten minutes before. If only the kami in trees weren't so close-mouthed, I'd let them know exactly how I think they look.

Tadanobu padded to a pile of leaves and sat down heavily in the midst of it, scattering them. He yawned elaborately when Yumi scowled her displeasure, showing all his teeth, the canines sharp and distinct even in human form, and was cut off abruptly mid-yawn when she smacked him with her broom.

"Aaah, miss," he drawled, "can't you take a joke? So violent, so early in the morning."

More leaves floated downward, even as Yumi raised her broom to hit the kitsune again. She slumped, gave up her lot to Fate, and flopped down in the middle of another pile herself.

"I hate autumn," she announced, to the world in general.

Tadanobu shrugged. All seasons were the same to him. After eight hundred years or more, you got used to anything. "You've got a visitor - or rather, you'll get one, soon."

"Ye-es. Aria-chan? Ushichibi? He turns up on Saturdays regular as a clock."

"Mmmmnnn. It's the chibi... because I don't smell any food. Damn."

"It's not as if we starve you."

"That girl cooks better."

"True. Tadanobu, clean all this up or I'm not giving you any of what Aria's bringing today."

"What?! Why do I have to do it?! Where are you going, miss?"

"Going to stop Granny from smothering the chibi, that's where. Never mind if it's not proper grammar. Go on, get moving or no whatever Aria-chan's bringing today!"

"Aaaaaoow, miss!"

*

Dai woke up in a sprawl of sunshine, spilling in through a crack in the curtains. Upon closer inspection, there was also a significant amount of sprawl de Hotaru. In the course of the night, Hotaru appeared to have moved from the floor up to Dai's bed, and in the process, wrapped himself around Dai, presumably emulating some organic variety of clingfilm.

Dai sat up, Hotaru still hanging onto him, and threw open the curtains. The brightness of the day penetrated even into Hotaru's sleep, causing the tow-haired boy to yawn and blink, and what was worse (or better, depending on your view of things), burrow his head into Dai's chest and snuggle up to him as if he were a (very hard) pillow.

"Oi, Hotaru-"

That was when Aria opened the door. And promptly went ballistic.

"Ani-sama, I'm heading off to- AGH! HOOOOOOOTAAAAAARUUUUUUUU!"

Twenty minutes later, she was still nagging her brother about not letting his friend stay the night any more. Dai saw her out the door, while Hotaru recovered in the bathroom, pouting and examining his face in the mirror for any sign of scratch marks that might have been sustained during his so-called sister-in-law's chastisement.

"Hey, Taru, I have kendo club today. You've got classes, right?" Dai's brow creased as he remembered something... a very important something. "Oh yeah. Akio's been weird lately."

"My dear Dai, you mustn't frown or you'll get wrinkles," said Hotaru, fussing over Dai like a very beautiful mother hen. "Of course I noticed that about our darling Aki-chan. The poor dear pet. Vice-council-presidenting your school of ruffians must be taking its toll. Give him a call. I'll make him all better."

Dai accepted the proffered cellphone (a very sleek model oozing style and distinction; somehow, the incongruous brightly-coloured bell charm attached to it did nothing to diminish its elegance in any way) and looked up Akio's number. The dial tone rang about three times before Akio answered with a boisterous "MOOOOOORNIIIIIIING TARUUUUUU!"

Taking care to hold the phone several inches from his ear to avoid splitting of the eardrums, Dai answered: "It's Dai, actually. Hotaru stayed over... again."

"Aaaawwww, you should have invited me to the sleepover party!"

"Uh... I wasn't planning to let him stay, but special circumstances- ow! Stop that, Taru!"

(Here, Hotaru took over.)

"Dai-kun is so mean! Saying he won't even let me have a roof over my head unless it's special circumstances! Isn't he, Aki-chan?!"

"Yeeeeeah! Especially since he didn't call me over toooo!"

Opting to ignore all this, Dai stalked off to get breakfast and prepare for kendo club. When he got back, Hotaru was in the concluding stages of drumming up an appointment with the ever elusive third member of their party at his favourite cafe that afternoon.

"...oh, yes, and do you know I noticed Dai's still using that bunny-shaped toothbrush his sister gave him that we scoffed at-"

....Among other things.

Dai put on his shoes and headed out, not heeding the cries of "WAIT FOR MEEE!" that rang out through the open window of his house.


Taggy tag tag Akio and/or Hotaru! or maybe Aria if Box feels like posting. I screwed up my post halfway and had to rewrite it which is why it is so short and blah now.
....PJBW if you don't post I am feeding Ushitaros to the kitsune.

[Weasel Overlord]

Forgive the blather at the beginning. That (and George RR Martin) is the reason it wasn't up MUCH earlier.

Also, LENGTH WARNING!! Long post is SUPER UBER LONG.

Inoue Hotaru
kono yo no owari ni kirameku
Saturday [at] Furin cram school

Saturdays certainly weren’t Hotaru’s favourite time of the week. Not to say that he didn’t like school - quite the contrary. He just didn’t like school on days when school had no right to be. Weekends were for lazing around and drinking tea, and definitely not for studying until it felt like his brains were falling out, even if his thoughts were still on the sweetness of another sleepover at Dai-kun’s house the night before.

But for the time being, Hotaru had to study up on his English, and not to mention Japanese History. He laid his head down with weariness, smudging bright blue ink all down his cheek. Rubbing at it ruefully, he glanced at the clock again. It was only an hour til cram was over, and he could retire gracefully and ink-smeared to the club rooms, where the Furin Investigation Committee would be convening to discuss any new evidence and what it might mean.

He was looking forward to this intensely, since he, Inoue Hotaru, had first-hand experience of the attacks. He began to contemplate exactly how he would tell the story, when the tall sensei striding between the rows of neat desks suddenly rapped him over the head with her fan.

“Inoue-kun, stop that daydreaming at get on with your exercises,” she snapped.

Hotaru winced and rubbed his head, painfully aware of a snigger coming from the back of the class. He scowled down at his notes and picked up his leaking pen with resignation. One hour left. Just an hour! He glanced at the clock again and sighed. The clock was most likely set extra slow, just to keep them all in cram school for longer. Sasagako-sensei would probably love that. Endless Japanese History exercises… the thought made Hotaru shudder.

When Sasagako-sensei finally sat down at her desk and did her little cough, Hotaru grinned with relief. It was precisely 3pm, and that meant club activity time! Rustling his exercises into an untidy pile, he dumped them on sensei’s desk and scarpered before she got it into her mind to give out homework.

On his way to the club room, he met Sayuri in the corridor, clutching a thick brown stick to her chest as if it was a lifejacket and she was drowning at sea.

“Sayu-san! How did you hold up in charge yesterday? Sorry I ran out on everyone like that…”

“Oh, Taru-san… it’s you!” Sayuri looked around shiftily, slipping the stick into her bag as if she was trying to hide it. “Yeah, um, it was fine! Don’t worry about it. Shall we get going?” She linked arms with Hotaru and literally dragged him into the club room, throwing open the doors and diving onto a sofa.

“Sayuri-san, I hear that you had an investigation yesterday?” Hotaru sat in his favourite armchair and swung his legs over the side casually.

“An investigation, uhh, yeah, we sure did!”

“Who did you talk to?”

“It was Mizukaze Ryuu-kun, um, do you know when Kalah-chan’s getting here, Taru-san?”

“You’re her friend, Sayu, I’d have thought you’d know when she’s getting here. So what did Ryuu-kun say, exactly?”

“He said mostly nothing, actually… apparently he used a tree trunk to defend himself against the two Kazan boys.”

“A tree trunk…hm. Lots of people seem to be using tree trunks as weapons lately.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s wait for Kalah-chan to arrive, Sayu, then I’ll tell you everything! I have some rather exciting stories, you know…”

Sayuri clapped her hands in excitement and beamed. “Stories! Oooh!”

“But in the meantime, let’s have some tea!”

*

Hotaru had finished his renditions of his hellish yesterday to a rapt audience, although he was dismayed to see both Sayuri and Kalah looking dubious on their sofa.

“So Rika conjured up a gigantic black light that made you feel sick and remember loads of bad things and at the same time, she used some sort of demonic wind to kill all three the Kazan bastards who were attacking her brother? And then after, as if that wasn’t enough, two weird zombie-type things attacked Aria-chan and her brother, and they were both saved by Mizukaze Ryuu-kun and some Kazan girl he was with? Forgive me for being sceptical, Hotaru-san, but you have to admit, it does sound…”

“Far fetched?” Sayuri chipped in.

“Yeah, far fetched. What were you doing during all this?”

“Me? I’ve told you already, Kalah! I was incapacitated on the ground! And anyway, the wind was so strong no-one could have done anything in it.”

“Huh.”

“Well, you can disbelieve all you like, but that’s what happened, Kalah-san. And I’m sure if Rika was here today, she’d tell you too. And now, I’m afraid as much as I’d simply love to spend more time here with you disbelievers, I have a prior engagement to keep. Do try not to hit people too hard with that stick, won’t you Sayu-san?” Hotaru smiled at Sayuri’s outraged look, swung his blazer over his shoulders and picked up his schoolbag. It was time to go meet Dai and Akio-kun, at last! Ever since they’d arranged to meet that morning, Hotaru had been almost hopping around with excitement. Akio-kun wouldn’t laugh at his story. He’d listen and act appropriately shocked at the right moments and he’d comfort Hotaru. And Dai, well, Dai would just sit there, listening quietly, waiting until the end of the story before he spoke out.

It didn’t take Hotaru long to arrive at the café which was Akio’s favourite. Since he was first there, he got a table and ordered three large portions of melopan – one with chocolate, for himself, one with custard and the third with caramel – ready for Dai and Akio’s arrival, and a cup of hot green-and-mint tea for himself while he waited.

As it happened, Hotaru wasn’t waiting long and as soon as Dai and Akio walked through the door, he almost spilled his tea down him in his eagerness to greet them.

“DAAAAIIII-AND-AKIIIOOOOO!!!” Hotaru leapt through the air and Dai neatly sidestepped, leaving Akio to take the full force of a Hotaru-special-super-glomp-hug-with-kisses. Which he did, with great pleasure, judging by his excited squeals.

Dai, however, said a quiet “hi Taru” and sat himself down at the table, ready for when the glomping was over. After about five minutes, Hotaru and Akio had clearly tired themselves out with all the squealing and hugging and they plopped down in the two seats to either side of Dai.

“I bought melopan!” Hotaru exclaimed. “But the chocolate one is mine. You two lovely men can squabble and wrestle over the caramel and custard ones for my entertainment,” he waved a lazy hand like a Roman emperor of old. “At once! Chop chop! My royal personage won’t wait all-oomf!” Even Dai had to laugh (albeit quietly) as Akio shoved a lump of Hotaru’s melopan into his wide open mouth, silencing him as effectively as if a handsome boy had just torn off his shirt and flung himself into his lap.

It took a lot of chewing and frustrated glares before Hotaru was finished, by which time Dai and Akio had ordered. Dai was nursing black coffee and a grumpy expression and Akio had...

“Akio-kuuun, I already bought you some melopan! Why did you buy more?”

“It’s not just melopan, Taru! I got a drink too, but it takes a long time to make. I bought you one, too!”

“OOOOHH what is it, what is it!?” Hotaru bounced up and down in his chair, seemingly oblivious to Dai’s not-so-subtle attempt to shuffle his chair further away from the flailing.

“You’ll have to wait and seeee!” Akio chanted.

“Well, whatever it is, it’s probably more exciting than Dai-kun’s boring old black coffee.”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with black coffee, Taru. At least it’s not like,” Dai paused, his eyes widened fractionally and he shook his head in disbelief. “At least it’s not like those hideous confections you two are going to be quaffing.”

Hotaru turned to look and beamed near fit to break his face in two. Teetering towards the table under the weight of a large tray was the waitress, and on top of the tray were two towering sundae-glasses filled with a sugary-pink coloured substance and topped with cream and a cherry.

“What’s in those?” Hotaru’s voice was almost reverent.

“Cherry milkshake whipped up with cherry ice cream, a dash of cherry syrup in the middle and topped with squirty cream and a sugared cherry.” Akio’s smile was nearly as big as Hotaru’s as he picked up a long straw to start on his milkshake.

Dai, meanwhile, looked almost ashamed to be sat with Hotaru and Akio as they slurped exceedingly loudly at the towering milkshakes. “Do you have to make so much noise?” he nursed his coffee with a scowl. “Your drinks are as pink as an eight-year-old girls’ dress and you squeal louder than a yaoi fangirl with a new doujin.”

“Aaaw Daiii-kuuuun you love it really,” Hotaru said between gulps of milkshake.

“Taaaaruuuu, you have cream on your nosie,” Akio reached out and skimmed the cream off, sucking his finger with enthusiasm to get every last drop of cream.

“And you have ink on your face,” Dai said.

“Daaaaai, you’re as bad as okasan,” Hotaru pulled a face as he scrubbed at his cheek with a napkin. “Better?”

“Hm, I suppose so. At least you’re presentable now.”

“OH! I almost forgot,” Akio nearly spat out a mouthful of milkshake in his haste to speak. “I always go to Cho-chan’s martial arts matches, would you two like to come along today?”

“Oooh, that’d be fun!” Hotaru giggled, “we could be her ouendan!!”

“No ouendan,” Dai’s voice was flat and ominous, and Hotaru pouted in disappointment.

“Aw Daii, you’re so meaaaan. You have to come!”

“I’ll go, but no ouendan Taru.”

“Yaaay!” Akio clapped his hands together happily and beamed. “There’s time for one more drink and melopan before we go!”

“Oooh let’s have more milkshake, Akioooo-kuuuuun!! And then I can tell you all about my terrifying experiences in the front-line of investigation!"

Dai rubbed his eyebrows wearily and ordered another black coffee with a sigh, as Akio and Hotaru bounced up and down in their chairs. They were probably going to be high on sugar for the rest of the day...

[Shizo]

Open Music File: Pink Floyd: "Learning to Fly"

Mihana Ami
***************
"Huh," Chidori said as we reached our destination, a rather nice looking Shinto temple. "So there is a shrine here."

"Actually, there's two," Kira said, indicating a second, smaller one across the street. "I've never been to either, so I don't know which is better."

"Let's go to the bigger one," I decided, heading that way. "More traffic there, probably, so less chance for us to be remembered."

"I hope you realize we're going to stand out no matter what," Chidori said, falling in step beside me.

"Meh." That was a moot point. We entered the gate and stood just within the complex. "So..." I said slowly. "What do we do now, Kira?"

"Huh?" she asked.

"I only really come here for New Year, so I don't really know the procedure. What do we do?"

"....I only go to shrines on New Year's Day, too," she confessed.

"Yeah," added Chidori. "Me, too." She glanced up toward the largest building. "There's someone over there. We should be able to ask them."

"We'll look like idiots," I mumbled.

"No, we'll appear ignorant. Going along like we know what we're doing when we don't will make us look idiotic."

"Alright," I resigned, but immediately regretted it. Sitting on the porch, writing on a piece of paper, someone from school. Keto. He looked up an immediately blanched at the sight of us standing in front of him. I looked around again, hoping there was someone else to talk to. There wasn't. "Dammit Kira, I told you someone from school’d be here." I stared at Keto. Great, we needed to ask him for help, one of those people that certainly wasn't going to give it to us.

"Don’t worry Ami," Kira said, trying to wave it off. "We’re just here to pray for Tatsuo remember? What harm could there be in that?" She turned to the wimp. "Don’t mind us." Oh, yeah, our cover story. Keto certainly couldn't kick us out for that. Did he live here or something, or was he just volunteering? I suddenly realized I didn't care.

Thoughts seem to spin rapidly through his head and then...there was a look in his eyes. It didn't last long, but it was one she never expected to see in him. It was one of power. There was a flash of fear with that power, but it was a fear of what he was capable of, not fear of her. Something had changed with him, something that put Ami on edge and cause the adrenalin to kick in again.

My grandfather, the priest, is away right now," Keto finally said. "But you are more than welcome to use the shrine to pray for Tatsuo...Let me show you to it and if you need anything else, I can try to help you as best I can."

There was awkward silence. "Keto," I said in harsh tones, "don't think--"

"Of course not Mihana-san," he interrupted. That cinched it. Something had happened to him. No idea what. Maybe his grandfather had taught him some supersecret ninja techniques, maybe he enrolled in martial arts classes. Or maybe....

He put down his homework and stood, leading us up the steps to where the shrine rested. We walked under the red torii and stood before the altar and the offering box. Keto watched us a bit as we looked around, then I heard the sounds of him walking off.


"So, we're not asking what to do?" Chidori asked.

"We're not asking him," I growled. "It can't be that different from New Year's. Anyone have a coin?"

Kira rifled through her pockets and shook her head. Chidori pulled out a fine, brown leather wallet. "Is that..." Kira asked quietly.

"Yep," Chidori smiled. "Let's see if he has any spare change." She opened her pickpocketed gain and shifted through the various folds and flaps. "No coins," she said.

"Is there anything in there?" I asked.

"Yep, three ten thousand yen bills. Oh, happy days. There's a cute mini-skirt I saw that I can finally get now, and that top..." She trailed off when she saw my look. She turned pale when she spied my outstreached hand, palm facing the sky. "No way," she said, "You don't mean."

"Yes, I do," I said. "We both have some pretty heavy karma to offset, so cough it up." She sighed, groaned, but surrendered in the end. We each took a bill and put it in the slot of the offering box. "Bye, Fukuzawa triplets," Chidori said mournfully.

Kira took the wallet. "And I'll turn this in to the police," She said. Chidori could only nod. Together we raised our hands and clapped twice. That's when the revelation hit. Why am I asking for forgiveness? Why do I feel guilty? Sure, it's bad that I killed that girl, but she was, as Chidori said, crazy, and she would have killed us and who knows who else if I didn't stop her? "I feel better," I said, lifting my head and grinning.

"That was fast," Chidori said. "And you're taking the murder thing pretty well, Kira."

"I guess I've been hanging out with you guys too long," she said, giving a small grin. "But, aren't you wondering about her? About that axe?"

"Yeah, and your horns," Chidori said to me.

"Like I know? I didn't grow them on purpose. And that headbutt wouldn't have been fatal if I didn't, but let's face it, she was crazy, and--" I heard a small noise behind me and turned. Keto was standing there, staring at us from outside the Torii gate. How long had he been listening? From the look of his face, too long. I seperated from my friends and stalked toward him. He didn't move, either out of fear or bravado. "Keto," I said, quietly, calmly, menancingly. Grabbing the front of his shirt, I leaned in close. "You'll forget everything you've heard, and you'll repeat it to no one. If you do, I will set fire to your testicles and forcefeed you the charred remains of your manhood." His eyes flashed that strength once again, and suddenly, I wasn't grasping fabric. I was trying to grab smooth, cool metal, and failing. I let go to see his chest covered in what seemed like high-tech armor. It vanished as suddenly as it appeared.

"Wow," I heard Kira say behind me. "Those rumors about a mech at school....That was you, Keto-san?"

I took a step back, studying him. "Again."

"What?" he said, bewilderment clouding his eyes.

"Do that again before I thrash you." I loved my powers, I realized. I wanted to use those horns again and fight with abandon, like I had with the Furin girl. But she also taught me that I can't do that with the usual suspects, not anymore. But if Keto had somehow aquired similar powers....

Show me your superpower I thought, feeling a grin starting to cross my face. Show me yours, and I'll show you mine.
*****************************

TAG to either McNinja or anyone who wants to stop this fight before it starts.

Why is Ami picking a fight with Satoshi? Because she wants to. She needs no other reason.

[Shizo]

So, how are Ami & Co. doing? Let's ask Kira.

Open Music File: Sweeny Todd soundtrack - "Worst Pies in London"

Hoshino Kira
**************
"Maaaannnn..." Ami said, scuffing her feet on the asphalt. "That was going to be a real kickass fight. What the hell was with that bitch interrupting it?"

"...You did hear the part about the laser beams, right?" Chidori asked, leaning against the wall of the old warehouse we've retreated to. I remained quiet. I didn't have anything to add, really, except things are getting weirder and weirder. This morning I was eating ice cream. Since then, Ami's killed someone with magical powers using her own magical powers, and we found two more people with similar abilities. For some reason, I found the most surprising moment of the day was how Ami was disappointed about not fighting Keto-shan, someone she barely looked at before.

"I coulda handled it," Ami replied to Chidori's question. She had her hands in her pockets, and she was staring at her feet. She was scuffing them back and forth in the dirt.

"No, I don't think so." Chidori started rubbing her head in frustration. "What is with today? What the hell is going on? You get ram horns. Furin girl has a super axe that she can call out of thin air. Keto has a robot suit, and what was with Itou's freaky doppelganger? Seriously, can things get any weirder?"

Ami's shuffling had been building up speed during Chidori's speech and, at its culmination, smoothly slid to the side for several feet.

"Wow, that was cool. How'd you do that?" I asked as Ami repeated the maneuver a few more times.

"D'you notice how Monster Itou started sliding around?" Ami said, partially to herself. "That got me thinking..." She suddenly slid backwards, put down her left foot, pushed it to effortlessly switch directions so she was moving to the right. With no shift in her body posture, she stopped. "When I was fighting Furin girl earlier, I grabbed her axe and ripped it out of her hand."

"Well, that would have been easy," I said. "I don't know how she was holding on, myself. It was super slippery."

"Slippery?" Chidori said.

"That's why I almost dropped it. It was like it was covered in lotion."

"Serious? Cool, I'm right!" Ami grinned.

"How are you right?" Chidori asked, then her face became deadpan. "Wait, are you saying you..."

Ami grinned. "When I grabbed that axe, I was just thinking to getting it to 'slip' from her grip. I think I did that by making the axe itself slippery."

"Bullshit." Chidori called.

"Fine." Ami reached down to her bag and pulled out her lead pipe. It was kind of embarrassing how proud she was of it. "Kira," she said as she concentrated on the pipe.

"Hai!" I trotted over, and she pointed the pipe toward me. I took it wordlessly.

After giving it an experimental tug, she turned to Chidori. "Alright," Ami said, giving my shoulder a friendly shake. "Take the pipe."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"You look like you. That can mean anything."

"Just take the pipe," Ami said.

"Fine." Holding the pipe in both hands, I turned uncertainly toward her. I really, really, wasn't sure what Ami was planning, but if she wanted to see if she could make it slippery again, I wasn't sure why she was using this experiment. The pipe didn't even feel smooth. Chidori grabbed the pipe and yanked. I jerked forward with the pull, but the pipe didn't budge, and neither did I. Chidori's efforts became more and more aggressive, but the pipe and my feet still didn't move. "What the hell?!"

"I figured if I could make something slippery, I could do the opposite, too!" Ami grinned.

"I should have knocked her over and been dragging her around the yard, then!"

"I tried it on Kira, too. It worked." Ami's face was one of a cat who's enslaved an entire fishing crew for her pleasure. I lifted my feet and found I could still walk. They just refused to slide. I was glad she had done that. Being dragged about didn't sound very fun.

"So you have some sort of magic over friction," I concluded.

"On top of the horns?" Chidori asked in disbelief.

"Cool," Ami grinned. "I've gotta practice. Kira, Chidori, let's go."

"Hai!" I said with a salute.

Chidori cast her gaze to the side. "I'll pass for now. I'll get lunch."

"Excellent idea. Okay, Kira, we'll work on dodges for now. Laser beams mean nothing if they can't hit you."

Which we did, then mobility drills, then starting and stopping almost instantly, then taking blows - I wasn't very thrilled about trying to hit Ami with planks of wood, but it was slightly satisfying - and when Chidori came back with sandwiches (I did not ask how she paid for them) she saw me rolling a formerly lost football to Ami, who was starting at the black and white sphere with a look of concentration that bordered on constipation. Whenever it reached her foot, she sighed and kicked it back. "What are you doing?" Chidori asked.

"Oh, well, Ami wants to try and affect friction at a distance, so she's trying to get the ball to stop before it reaches her." I said as I rolled the ball again. It may had just been me, but it seemed that the ball was beginning to slow sooner than what my gentle push would account for.

"Uh huh." She dropped the bag on the ground. "She's gone."

"Who?" Ami said, not taking her eyes off the ball.

"Furin girl. She's gone. I mean utterly. There's no girl, no bag, no axe, no blood-"

"The axe disappeared when I....Well, it was gone already." Ami kicked the ball back.

"Doesn't matter. Someone cleaned it up."

"Lucky for us." Ami watched as I rolled the ball again.

"Don't you get it? I knew something was up with all the superpowers, but now there has to be someone as well. There is someone behind this, and they don't want anyone to know about whatever's going on. You aren't listening."

"If I reply to that, will it ruin your hypothesis?" Ami asked. She trapped the ball under her foot. "What's the point of this?"

Chidori gave me a look before continuing. I stood and began walking behind Ami. She didn't notice my movements or the look. "We need to go back to the shrine. Not to fight. We need to talk with Keto and Itou and figure out where these powers came from."

"Who cares?"

Chidori only blinked for a few minutes. "You don't? You accidentally killed a girl because these powers came out of nowhere, and you don't care?"

"Look, she went after Kira with a battleaxe. She was going to kill us. I hate that I killed her, but I've decided not to shed any tears for her. Now I know how to pull my punches and with a little more practice-"

Chidori nodded. A swift kick to the back of her knees caused Ami to collapse with a cry. I grabbed her arms and twisted them around her back, pinning her into an awkward position where even my slight weight and strength had the upper hand. "Nice," Chidori said. "I'd give you a high five if you didn't need both hands."

"Actually, I don't." I shifted my hands and held one up. "High five."

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

Chidori knelt down to be closer to eye level to our struggling leader. "Ami, stop struggling. Turns out Kira's got a gift for holds. My cousin's been giving her private lessons."

"The one with, like, eight black belts?" Ami asked.

"Five, and yes. Now, you're going to go quietly with us to the shrine so we can talk - just talk - with Itou and Keto. You can sulk, you can grumble, you can not be happy, but you will be compliant. Otherwise, we'll tie you up and drag you to the shrine in a little red wagon."

"Y'know, with my magic, I can probably slip out of any bonds you use." Chidori whapped her.

"I'll do it, y'know. We'll find a way to keep you still, even if we use handcuffs that cut off your circulation. We're going. Will you go quietly?"

Ami stared into Chidori's eyes, a few at the angle she was due to Chidori's bust size. "You would, wouldn't you?" Chidori nodded. Ami sighed.

"Alright, let her go, Kira, and grab the sandwiches. We'll eat when we get there."

"Hai," I said, standing and trotting over to the bag Chidori had abandoned. Ami and Chidori still argued, but Ami already lost. I doubted I would have ever thought of even touching Ami the Oni before I had joined these two, much less pinning her. I also knew if I ever breathed a word about this again to anyone, I would not be a very happy person. But it seemed Chidori had gotten some really good looking sandwiches, so I couldn't wait for us to get there, but I doubted Keto-san would be thrilled to see us again.
******************

Yay for usurpation! So, yeah, they're heading back to the shrine. Chidori will be the one talking, probably, since she's better at diplomacy. More fun for Satoshi! Yay!

Why are my posts always so long?

[Dr.McNinja]

~Keto Satoshi~

The sun was setting over the gates of the shrine, a sight that Satoshi rarely saw as he did his work inside yet one that he cherished whenever he happened to. This time however, it was only secondary on his mind as he stood in the courtyard of the shrine. He had shut the main gate that led up to the shrine, meaning that there would be no more visitors this day and his grandparents had called to tell him that they were staying with a friend of theirs for the night. Satoshi was alone and that was what he needed. He stood in an odd set of clothes for him, a simple shirt and loose pants, his uniform stowed away, the clothes he wore at the shrine laid neatly on his bed. Sweat glistened on his forehead in the cool night air from the anticipation of what was to come.

Could he control it this time?

Could he even call it?

And if both were true...what was he going to do then?

He had almost gotten into a fight with Ami the Oni that day however, and once again Cho had arrived in time to avert catastrophe. As grateful as he was for such things he could not rely solely on her, could not hope that all conflict would be avoided, especially as more people rose with odd powers of their own. He needed to be able to defend himself. He needed to be able to be the one helping others, not being helped himself.

He needed to actually take action for once.

He closed his eyes, the sunlight glinting off his glasses. Searching inside of himself. He found the power quick enough, even without emotional provocation he had materialized parts of it before but always it had been restrained as it was now, like a flame in a lantern, contained behind some invisible barrier. How would he control it once it was released, he wondered. He imagined the same type of containment around his body, outlining his form, and he half-believed he felt a slight tingle as though his power had responded. He sighed, he could watch this little light forever or he could release it. Awaken it. His own Oni. His Demon Heart.

Satoshi’s voice was soft but firm as it floated across the courtyard, “Tenma Chuushin....”

The double-arched gate of the shrine flared in green flame and was almost instantly consumed, completely disappearing in the flare. Satoshi felt himself lifted as armor slammed into place around his arms, his legs, his torso, and lastly his head. Cloth fluttered around his shoulders and face, covering the bottom half of the familiar’s face. Black patterns snaked over crimson metal as two white eyes flared into existence. From inside the familiar, Satoshi’s sight was suddenly filled with a view of the outside, patterns and words scrolling across his sight as systems came online. His mind filled with the knowledge of the familiar, the basic operations for the almost countless switches and buttons he could feel at the tips of his fingers in the arms of the thing. Such knowledge would be worthless without practice however.

Satoshi could feel his breath rasping, his heart beating in those first few moments as the foreign presence entered his mind. But as control remained his, as no voice whispered at him to kill his friends he calmed slowly and began taking stock his surroundings. Standing about eight feet, the familiar stood ready as his hands. Tentatively he lifted his own leg, the familiar following suit, and felt the hydraulic and spring response beneath him. He flexed his arms and felt the same, the suit magnified his movements properly and he realized that such movements gave him great strength. He gave a testing hop and launched himself almost a dozen feet into the air. A smile sprang unbidden to his face, the power was amazing. The landing was a different matter however, although the familiar absorbed the impact, Satoshi reacted clumsily, not shifting his weight to minimize the landing and cracking one of the courtyard’s stones in half with the things knee as it was forced into a kneel. He winced; he would have to explain that later. Coming out of the kneeling position he turned himself around and began practicing.


~~~~

He landed and immediately threw himself backward, grazing the ground with his hand as he flipped over backwards and slid a dozen feet to a stop. He had been practicing for an hour now and was almost confident in his ability to maneuver the thing. He hadn’t broken any more stones at least. The familiar’s construction made such movements easy as long as he didn’t think about them, his usual clumsiness seeming to disappear as relaxed. He stood and began perusing the information scrolling across his faceplate. Tenma Chusshin could be voice operated his had found, changing power supplies and displaying information at his voice. He asked it to scroll up other functions of the suit and was struck by the first item on the list, “Phase Cannons”. He went through the information. The cannons that the familiar could materialize on its hands were vivid in his memory and he wanted to know how to control him. They could vary the wavelengths and compositions of the waves, allowing him to fire varying types of energy he read, but to learn to do so would be somewhat time consum....

“Yeah...this was a great idea Chidori.”

Those voices. Ami...Chidori...they had jumped the gate and had returned. Satoshi reacted on instinct, swinging himself around with frightening speed, not noticing the cannon materializing and rising as he did. The three girls stood barely ten yards away from him at the top of the shrine’s stairs. They stared down the barrel of the cannon on his left arm, a light quickly growing within its depths as a whining noise accompanied it.Chidori’s eyes were wide, Kira’s as well. Ami stood with a set expression on her face. Though through his sight Satoshi could see the sweat on her face her eyes were firm, almost daring, as the ram horns extended from his head. Satoshi squinted his own eyes though she could not see him, not knowing that as he did so the familiar’s own glowing eyes flared red. The light was almost blinding, the noise deafening as the cannon charged and all four individuals stood still. A soft wind blew through the shrine, fluttering his familiar's covering and blowing the girls' hair lazily.

This isn’t what this power is for...it’s not for petty revenge...its not for getting back at someone.

His own thoughts penetrated his mind and Satoshi blinked away the hatred that had clouded his thoughts. This power was his, it did not control him and having it did not make him some god fit to pass judgment. The whine of the cannon ceased and the light vanished and, with a flash of green flame, the suit dematerialized, causing the gate to spring back into existence and causing Kira to yelp slightly as it reappeared right next to her. Ami stared at Satoshi where he stood, the horns slowly retracting back into her head. She opened her mouth to speak but Chidori quickly stepped forward.


“Satoshi-san...we didn’t mean to surprise you. We came to talk.”

Satoshi looked at her, pushing his glasses up in the glare of the now-prominent moonlight, “About what?”

Chidori gave a small smile, “These powers...you have them, Ito has them, Ami has them too as you can tell...we just want to know what’s going on.”

Satoshi’s eyes flickered to Ami who was still staring at him but not seeming as though she was going to launch herself at him anytime soon. He gave her a small smile that seemed to surprise her, with the advent of his power he suddenly came to realize why she might be as she was. Even when she had confronted him at school, she was always different from the others who just wanted a cheap thrill and the self-assurance that they were superior to him. She squinted at him even as he replied to Chidori, “Okay. Um...why don’t we go inside and have something to drink. I just got some new tea yesterday that you might like.”

He waited to see if they would follow him before turning, his heart still beating quickly.

[Shizo]

Hi! I'm here to post!

Open Music File: Korn - "Y'All Want a Single?"

Kanama Chidori
****************
If someone were to tell me last week that I'd go over to Keto Satoshi's house for some tea, I wouldn't have believed them. Heck, if they had asked me this morning. I would have laughed in their face, kicked them, and continue on with my day. If they said that now, I'd stare at them for an uncomfortable amount of time, after which I'd say, "Yes, I know." And if you mentioned anything about gaining and losing thirty thousand yen, there's a high possibility I'd break into tears.

"Itadakimashu," Kira said, smiling gently, a small cup of tea cupped in her hands. Ami just stared at Keto like he owed her money. Keto, to his credit, was matching her stare for stare. We sat on opposite sides of the small table, my legs cramping from having them folded under me (Kira looked disgustingly comfortable kneeling, and Ami wasn't bothering). "So," he said to Ami, "What's this about?"

It's common knowledge that Ami is the leader of our outfit, and I rank as her second in command. The reasons proposed for this are varied, but most conclude that she is the strongest of us, and, as a gang whose main goal is to promote violence, fought her way to dominance. Common knowledge is some of the worst knowledge there is.

In truth, Ami's the leader because she wants to be the leader. I could be, I suppose, but I prefer promoting the idea that she's the real head of the operation, which is true for the most part. The only reason Kira's with us is because of her, for example. Actually, I'm the better fighter. I just don't bring up the fact that I won that encounter because it upsets Ami too much. Poor girl still hasn't accepted the loss. Let them think I'm not as dangerous if Ami's not around. Since I'm a creature of deceit, it actually works out better for me.

"Satoshi-san," I said, figuring diplomacy would be best in this situation. "Are you at all disturbed about being able to turn into a robot all of a sudden?"

"I don't actually turn into a robot -"

"Irrelevant. And from the way you were practicing outside, I'm guessing the answer's no. So, to get to the actual question -"

"What's your top speed?" Ami suddenly asked. I glared at her.

Keto just stared. "I...never actually timed myself."

Ami just smiled in return, the sort of smile a shark gives to potential meal (one that can shoot laser beams, I added in my mind). "Bet you've got a lot of momentum once you get up to speed."

"I suppose..."

"Ami, shut up. Satoshi-san, you aren't the only one with these powers. Ami doesn't care where they came from, as you can see, but I do. They're dangerous, and it's possible that someone unscrupulous is going to get them."

"Like Ami?" he asked.

"Like an Ami with ambition." I retorted.

"Basically, Keto-san, we're trying to find out how you and Ami and Itou-san received these powers," Kira said. "This tea is delicious, by the way."

"Thanks," Keto said. "But, I really don't know where I got them."

"Fine," I said. "What was happening when you got them."

"You tell me first."

"We were in a fight, what do you think?" I didn't feel it pertinent to get into the details.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I was getting bullied at school, and I almost killed them." It was amazing how brave he was getting around us. I guess having one of us complement his tea put him at eased. It was good tea, and I think I understood what interested Ami. Ever since getting robot morphing powers, Keto had changed.

"And Itou-san?" I prompted. "Where'd she get the weird double?"

"It was a cat before." Silence prevailed, in which Kira asked for a refill and Ami munched on snacks.

"And it came from where?"

"I think from trying to stop me when I..."

"Huh, so all three were from fighting?"

"It comes out in self-defense?" Kira asked.

"Ami?" I said.

"Oh, yeah."

"So...that answers...little."

"Like where it came from, right?" Keto asked.

"Hey, what if those other murders were because of people with these magic powers?" Kira asked. "I mean, there are a lot of fights between Kazan and Furin, so some people with these powers could have had them activated in the fights and they got out of hand."

"Other murders?" Keto asked, paying attention to the wrong words.

"So you're assuming that Ami and Satoshi-san had these powers before? You're sure they weren't given to her?" I asked.

"Whoa, no one messes with me," Ami said, "not even to give me superpowers. Wait, how do you know I haven't had these powers all along?"

"I can't, and you can't prove that someone didn't give them to you."

"Who'd go around giving magic powers to high schoolers, then?" Keto said, pointing a finger (Subject changed! Yes!). "And why?"

"Yeah, what he said!" Ami said. Amazing, they're tagteaming. Best not to point it out.

"Well," Kira said, putting down her teacup with a quiet clink. "I was wondering how many other people have these powers. Isn't that something to worry about? I mean, one of them might be an Ami with ambition."

"I have ambition!" Ami yelled, slamming the table with a fist.

"Yeah, you're pretty ambitious about fighting for no reason," Keto said.

"Exactly!" The sarcasm sailing over her head made a loud whooshing noise.

"I know!" Kira said. "We can have Ami pick fights with people and see which ones use magic!"

Keto and I went silent. A clock ticked nearby.

"I second that plan." Ami said.

"No," Keto and I said simultaneously. At least we could agree on something.
******************

Did that make sense? Just hoping I did Keto okay.

Also, we need someone to wonder "WTF?" and Chidori's perfect for the job. Being Ami's best friend, it technically is her job.

[Weasel Overlord]

Inoue Hotaru
私を気違いにしなさい
Saturday night [at] Taru’s place [&] Sunday morning

Dai had declined Hotaru’s offer of a sleepover, and Taru had no idea why. Although… he had looked somewhat furious when he and Akio had brought along pompoms to Cho-chan’s match. That was beside the point, however. Hotaru had grabbed Akio, and they had almost run all the way back to his house, which luckily wasn’t too far from where the match was held. A brief detour on the way home took them to a late-opening cake shop, where they picked up melopan in all possible flavours before finally flopping down in Hotaru’s quiet attic room at the top of the house.

His mother had grumbled slightly at the arrival of an unanticipated guest, but Akio’s friendly hyperness soon wore down any protests she might have had, and she provided a spare pillow with apologies for the lack of sleeping blankets in the house.

“Don’t worry about it, Inoue-san. I can share Taru’s cover!” Akio chirped, clutching the pillow to his chest happily.

“Akiooooo come on let’s go eat melopan and stay up allll night! Good night okasan!”

“Hotaru-kun, I know it’s Sunday tomorrow, but you are not staying up all night, do you hear me?” Inoue Hina wagged her finger at Hotaru, all the while knowing how little he would take heed of her commands. She walked away sighing inwardly. At least they were at the top of the house.

“Come on Akio-chaaan, race you up the stairs!” Hotaru dashed off leaving Akio laughing and breathless as he ran to catch up, traversing the spiral staircase with some difficulty, as he’d never actually been to Hotaru’s house before.

Once at the top, he hit Hotaru full in the face with his pillow. “Oof!”

“Curse you, Taru, making me run like that!”

“You need the exercise after all that melopan you’re constantly scoffing, Akio-chan.” Hotaru grinned from under Akio’s pillow and raised his own in a challenge. “So you think you can beat me in a pillow fight, eh?”

“Damn right you tea-drinking wimp! I’ll take you any day.” Akio sprang into action, swinging his pillow at where Hotaru was stood - a second ago. He spun around with the force of his swing, right into Taru’s, which caught him full on the nose and knocked him to the ground.

“Hey, foul play! You’re not meant to do that.” Akio pouted from the floor and Hotaru pulled a victory stance. His pillow dangled from his hand, most of it bunched up in one end of the case while held the free end, which is what had given the blow such force.

Hotaru flopped down next to him with a grin. “Sure I can. All’s fair in, um, love and pillow fights?”

“Love?” Hotaru blushed.

“Yeah, you know, it’s a famous saying. All’s fair in love and war? Is that how it goes?”

“How am I meant to know? Gimme that melopan you big fat cheater.”

“Am not a cheater.” Now it was Hotaru’s turn to pout as he handed over the paper bag containing the melopan. “Can I have the chocolate-strawberry one? Winners rights?”

“Pssh, winner,” Akio peered inside the bag eagerly and passed Taru a brown melopan streaked with pink and chunks of red. “One chocolate-strawberry for the,” he made air quotes, “winner. Three maple syrup for me. Do you want the other chocolate one, Taru-san?”

“Gimme!” Hotaru made grabbing motions with his hands, stuffing the chocolate-strawberry into his mouth to make room for the others.

“You’re a greedy swine, you know.”

“Takes one to know one,” he stuck out a chocolate-coated tongue.

“Disgusting. No wonder Dai didn’t want to come if that’s how you behave.”

“You love it really, Akio-saaan, and don’t try to pretend otherwise!”

“Oh fine, you’ve caught me out,” Akio said between mouthfuls. “If you were any different it’d just be weird. Anyway, how are we working out this sleeping thing?”

Hotaru pointed at his bed. “There’s my bed. Only one blanket, so we share the bed. Is that ok?”

Akio’s nods through a gigantic mouthful of melopan told Hotaru that it was indeed fine, and he beamed in response. “I’ll fetch the mattress onto the floor! That way it’ll be like a proper sleepover and everything!” He hauled and tugged and huffed until the mattress slid off the low bed and then he positioned it in the middle of the floor, in the remaining space left in his room. Arranging both pillows on top and tucking in the sheet again, he threw his blanket over the top and sat back with a look of satisfaction. “There!” He dusted his hands off and flung himself belly-down onto the makeshift bed.

Akio pressed the last morsel of melopan into his mouth and joined Hotaru with a contented sigh, patting his stomach comfortably.

“No school tomorrow! We can get up as late as we like, Taru-san, isn’t that great?”

“It sure is!” Hotaru wriggled under the blanket and gathered it around himself like a cocoon.

“Hey hey, I hope you’re not going to steal the blanket all night.”

“Of course not,” Taru pouted. “As if I would do that to my Aki-chan!” He flung an arm over Akio’s stomach, making him groan with the weight of it.

“Oof, get off, Taaaaruuuu!” Akio turned over and prodded him in the side.

“Argh!”

*

Akio-kun was awakened rudely at an ungodly time in the morning by the insistent ringing of his mobile phone. He groaned, turned over and shoved Hotaru’s arms off him as he groped blindly in the direction of the heinous noise.

“’hayo? Oh, gomen, hai, it’s Akio. What? Oh, alright then. I guess I’ll be there soon. Hai. Hai. Sayonara.” He rolled back over and prodded Hotaru.

“Taruuu-saaaan!” Akio bellowed in his ear. “TARU-SAAAN!”

“Gnuh-whassup? Don’t you realise what time it is, Aki-chan? Go back to sleep.” Hotaru gathered the covers about himself, drawing them up to hide his face. Akio shook his head and stood up slowly, so the blood rushing to his head didn’t make him go dizzy.

He stretched, the bent down and snatched the covers clean off Hotaru, who instantly shrivelled up into the tiniest ball possible with a growl.

“MEANIE!” His eyes nearly glared daggers at Akio, who just giggled to himself as he got dressed. Hotaru tugged the blanket about himself, shivering from the rush of cold air that had hit him. “Where’re you going anyway?”

“I’ve gotta go to a council meeting. Something’s up, but they wouldn’t tell me on the phone,” Akio sighed. “So much for a sleep-in, eh? Oh well, you stay here Taru, and I’ll meet you for dinner later on, how’s that?”

“I wanna come with you, Akio-san.”

“You can’t come to Kazan, silly.”

“But Akiooooo-saaaaan what about all the murderers and rapists and pillagers! They might pillage you. And then what would I do? I’d have to turn to Dai and he’d probably kill me himself,” his lip trembled slightly. “Let me come with you?”

“I won’t be long, Taru. And it’s not that far to Kazan, I’ll be fine.” Akio pulled on his coat and walked to the top of the stairs. “See you later on? I’ll call you!”

Hotaru pouted and dragged himself from his bed. He certainly was not willing to let Akio go to Kazan all on his own. What if something happened to him? He’d never forgive himself, that’s for sure. He staggered downstairs, had a shower as quickly as he could, dragged on some clothes and shoes and set off from the house in the direction of Akio and Dai’s school.

He was running so fast that he didn’t notice a pair of other students walking purposefully at either side of him, and then one minute there were two, the next he had run dead-on into a tightly knit group of three, who knocked him to the ground with a thump.

He rubbed his head and looked up blearily. Where had these five people suddenly sprung from? He’d never seen them before in his life, and he couldn’t help wondering just why they had such hostile looks on their faces.

“Um, hello. I’m-”

“We know who you are, Hotaru.” Taru gasped at the blatant use of his first name. “You’re An Akio’s friend, and for that, you’re coming with us.”

“Going with… you? Where? I don’t want to!” Hotaru tried to stand, but the tallest boy, clearly the leader of the group, stuck out his leg and kicked him to the ground effortlessly. Hotaru had never been any good at things which required strength, and now he was beginning to regret it. “Grab him,” the leader said imperiously, waving forward two of the more brutish-looking boys.

They bent down and picked Hotaru up by his collar, dragging him to his feet with less compassion than they’d show a piece of fruit discarded on the roadside. Hotaru struggled feebly, but to no avail, and he had almost given up hope when he espied a familiar and lovely figure across the road.

“Hey. Hey! You’re from Furin! Help me!” One of the boys who had hold of him punched Hotaru in the mouth, leaving him bleeding from the lips.

The boy who he’d called out to looked around as if to see whether there was anyone else around to help, then he started across the road with some hesitation.

“Don’t even try it, boy!” The Furin student stopped in his tracks, right in the middle of the empty road. “This here’s our leverage against the council, so don’t even think about getting involved!” This time the leader swaggered over to Hotaru and gave him a resounding slap across the cheek. “Doesn’t mean you need to be in one piece though, leverage.” He spat the last word, his saliva hitting Hotaru full in the face as he slapped once more, backhanded this time, leaving a ripening bruise in the exact shape of the signet ring he wore on his middle finger.

Hotaru tried to look up, but the leader slapped him again - this time so hard that he blacked out, a single word on his lips.

“A…Akio.”

[Crystal Tears]

The Road to Ruin – Rika and Yuki Satou – Sunday, 9:30AM

"And where were you during all of this?"

"At school."

The voices sounded tense, and strained. But to the girl lying in the hospital bed, they were also distant. So far away in a world that she hadn't entered for quite some time. Rika didn't want to come actually; somewhere in her core she wanted to stay in the darkness that she could warp into dreams of everlasting hope and happiness. Fairies and butterflies some would say. But anything would be better than the horror that she had witnessed. Some dark power she couldn't fully comprehend had completely murdered three Kazan students and probably her brother.

Hate... Misguided hate... That's all it had been and look what it has done... She thought, flashes of the dark moment appearing before her eyes like a movie. Rika held in an uncomfortable moan that was threatening to escape her. Where was I when all this took place? How could I have a memory that... Didn't Hotaru say something about me?

...

MASSACRE

...

Rika's eyes snapped open, and suddenly the dim lights of the room flooded her vision. She had never been in a hospital before (not that she could remember) and being a patient was completely different. Of course, she doubted she was a serious case. Slowly her head turned and her gazed was fixed on the cast-ridden Matsu who had numerous tubes and what not attached to him. Rika looked down at her arms, and frowned. She didn't have anything, just a warm blanket and stiff pillow.

"Yuki I cannot believe how irresponsible you are!" Rika looked up at her mother, who obviously hadn't clued in she was awake. In fact, none of them had. "Why did you take Rika with you?"

"I'm sorry mother." He bowed, but Rika could see the sorrow and anger in his face. "I-I wasn't thinking."

"You never think!" Their father bellowed, and raised his hand to smack Yuki across the face.

"It was my fault." Rika spoke up, and all three of them looked suddenly horrified. "I ran off, I lied to Yuki saying I would come back."

Why is she helping me? Yuki pondered in his head. Does she understand what I've done?

"Is that how it went Yuki?" His father looked at him with a cold gaze.
"Yes father."

"Rika..." Mother sighed, sitting down next to her daughter. "Why on earth did you lie to your brother?"

"I was upset." She answered, looking down in a shameful manner. "I didn't want for him to see me cry again, so I ran away."

"Again?" Father sighed, and just shook his head. "That's right, Yuki said he found you with Matsu."

"He did." She agreed, and was on the verge of tears again at the thought she had almost killed her little brother. "He help me, and probably saved Matsu."

“Do you remember what happened, with Matsu and the three Kazan boys?”

Rika faltered, straining to think back to when she had lost control and her anger had taken over. It was hard; she never really thought about it much, she didn’t want too. Rika felt as if something in her also didn’t want her to remember, maybe it was for her sanity’s sake. That would make sense, a lot of sense really. Rika shook her head, but she doubted that Yuki believed her, Yuki could usually see right through her lies like they were crystal clear water. Which was something she hated about him, you couldn’t lie to someone as smart as him.

. . .

BITE AND SHRED HIS FLESH

. . .

Rika blinked, and looked over at her brother sulking in the corner. Not really sulking no… Just emotionless, the memory of what had happened when Yuki found her was a blur as well. She had been exhausted, and all she could remember is that Yuki had been rather angry with her when she had been found. But that was understandable. But what had Yuko done? She vaguely remembered her friend running and disappearing. To the woods? Maybe, but everything was such a blur.

And why did she remember seeing white smoke?

“Right well, we have to go…” Her mother spoke reluctantly, but her father was already out of the room.

“Bye.” Rika sighed as her mother gave her a tight hug.

“Yuki, please look after these two.”

He nodded, but stayed in the corner. It wasn’t like him to be so quiet, usually he’d come up with some reply that would no doubt get her riled up, but nothing came. Rika watched him for another minute before letting out a deep sigh, Yuki looked at her. Something twisted inside both of them, a deep, built in wariness that made the two feel more like enemies then ever before. Rika bit her lip nervously as blurry visions passed over her eyes. Yuko, Yuki and her, that white smoke… Nothing made sense.

“Do you remember what happened?” His voice came to her, floating in an almost ominous fashion.

“No.” She answered, breaking off the stare that had made shivers run up and down her spine. “Should I?”

“Hmmm…” He thought back to it. “No… Nothing really happened; Yuko ran off, I tried to find her… But, well she’s good at hiding.”

“Why do I remember white smoke?”

Something passed over Yuki’s eyes as she said that, but whatever it was, his expression didn’t change. “You could be crazy.”

“Thank you, Yuki. I’ll make note to turn to you for your divine guidance.” She retorted, her words dripping with sarcasm. She watched a small smile creep onto his face, and she just had to laugh. Yuki moved to sit beside her, making her smile. “Thank you, for coming for me and Matsu… And again, when I ran off.”

“Hmm..” Was his reply. “You don’t remember, but I did promise I’d come for you.

“Stay here, I'll be back for you…"

“And thank you for that.” She placed her hand on his shoulder. Yuki didn’t really know what to say, so he only let the small smile grow a bit larger and he looked down. “It’s nice to know you’ll be there for me.”

“Oh…”

Both Yuki and Rika looked up at the door and saw a timid girl standing in the doorway. It was Naoko, Rika immediately smiled and Yuki stood up seemingly instinctually. But Rika couldn’t help but notice that flash over Yuki’s eyes that seemed to linger a bit longer than it should have. Something about it wasn’t human, it seemed evil.

“If I’m interrupting...”

“Not at all.” Yuki spoke, making his way to the door. “I need some air, would you mind looking after my sister and brother for a minute or two Naoko-san?”
“Oh… Um… Alright.”

Yuki bowed and disappeared out the door as Naoko entered, taking her brother’s seat next to her bed. Rika grinned at her friend.

“Oko-tan!” She exclaimed. “You came to visit me! Thank you!”

~ ~ ~

Tag Toxicity!

[Bulbasaur4]

Forgive the longness of this post. ^_^ I was bored and had fun!

An Akio
The Cardinal Fire: Ares
ACCESSING INFO: [ School: Kazan | Gender: M ]

Akio stopped short of the large, freshly-polished Student Council door with a large gasp of air. Pressing his palms into his knees, he stood there for a while- trying to inhale the sweet air around him as quickly as possible for maximum recovery. He had sprinted as fast as he could out the door, for two very unnerving reasons. One, he wanted to get the meeting over as soon as possible so he could return to Hotaru so that he wouldn't be so rude to leave so early. Two, he had several foreboding senses floating about his mind. The first was that Student council did NOT hold impromptu meetings on the fly, especially upon a Sunday, unless something was extremely wrong. The second ominous feeling was the fact that Akio had a very strange dream during his sleepover night with Hotaru- it involved Cho and an overall 'none happy' moment (although Akio couldn't recall exactly what it was.) The very last reason he felt rather dreading, was because he had a sneaking suspicion that Hotaru was NOT going to follow his advice and stay put.

"An-kun! Hurry up inside!" The door swung inwards, and Akio snapped his head up to see the pretty-faced, round-headed Takura-chan.

"Gomen, gomen..." Akio flashed a smile, taking a few steps into the room and giving a low bow. "I ran here as fast as I could."

"No matter... sit down." Reusbucks-san said, reading a newspaper very thoughtfully as he motioned his hand over to Zenigata-san, who seemed to always be well-informed on things of security. This caused a lump to form in Akio's throat.

Akio's vision seemed to blur as sat hunched in his chair, his ears desperately trying to cling at the words in the air as Zenigata-san spoke. Akio couldn't understand exactly what he was saying, but yet he knew what had happened. Ryuu... Cho's boyfriend... his body had been found... near school grounds... dead. Akio bit his lip absently, bringing his large delicate hands to form into a fist as he pressed his forehead against them. His mind was swimming as he heard his own heart resound unsteadily through his entire body.

"Although this does not directly affect us, we believe that it would be appropriate to caution the students to be wary of their actions. No doubt the Furin Student Council will believe that it was our school that..." Akio seemed to waver back and forth between hearing anyone on the Council speak and hearing his own desperate thoughts.

Did Cho know yet? What would she think? How would she take it? How is she going to feel?

"I... I must go." Akio stood up abruptly, the chair sliding back a few feet with a squeak upon the tile floor.

"An-san, it is most important that you stay to be properly briefed." Reusbucks-san said, not looking up from his paper.

"I can't. I have urgent business... connecting to this matter." Akio began to head towards the door.

"If it truly has anything to do with the dead of this Furin Student, you should notify us any further information you may have."

"I... I will, if there is any." Akio opened the door, turned back with a nod and walked out. With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes for a brief moment right outside the door. "I lied..." He whispered, before pressing his foot into the tiled hallway and taking off yet again.

~*~~*~

Akio's mind was completely blank in the fact that his mind couldn't wrap around a single idea. Too many questions swirled about his mind and the only real, concrete thing he could clasp was the lined pockets inside of his jacket. The sickening feeling that had buried into his stomach was growing with every step that he took.

"Oh Cho... " Akio whispered to himself softly, his eyes glistening as he fought back the urge to choke a tear. Was it terribly horrible of him to be more sincerely sad at Cho's emotions when dealing with Ryuu's death, than Ryuu's death itself? "It's logical. I only met him a day or so ago..."

"You didn't see anything!" A large shout came from the forested area, surprisingly close to the Kazan baseball field that Akio was running by. At first Akio continued to take a few swift steps, but it was then he heard more shouts... most sounding like pleas than anything else. Another sickened claw grabbed at Akio's stomach, twirling it about and wrapping it into knots. Stopping his run, Akio peered into the forest to make out what seemed like three or four figures. Whatever was going on... someone was getting beat up or was about to.

"Hey! Cut it out! It's a Sunday!" Akio called out loudly, jogging over to the large group. By the time Akio reached them, he had already assessed the true situation, or at least he thought he had...

Three Furin students were beating up another, darker-eyed Furin student. As this happened, another one was watching- perhaps the leader. As the three punched and kicked the other Furin student to the ground, there was a flash of white- like armor, forming on the kid's arm. It reminded Akio for a second, of Satoshi's own powers that had manifested. Yet, as soon as the white armor appeared upon his arm... it faded, because swiftly a hard kick to the head caused the student to pass out.

"Ah! A Kazan Student Council member..." The leader sneered, causing the three guys to stop beating on the unconscious student for a moment. "Who are you to tell us what to do?"

"You're on Kazan grounds. I suggest you leave." Akio grew firm, his confident business-air overcoming him. Although, he was a bit shakier than usual- Cho was still on his mind, and Akio secretly wanted to rush over to her house as soon as possible.

"But we WANT to be here... you see... there was this Furin student killed..." The leader swayed slightly, his body movement becoming more suspicious as he spoke. "And we know it was you Kazan dogs. But yah know... we realized we can't reach Kazan by randomly kill'n them. So a group of us decided to, yah know, attack one of the more popular students... like yourself, Akio-kuuun..."

"I'm not hear to fight you. I don't understand why you're beating up your own classmate... but please, just leave. There is no sense resorting to vio-"

"Oh nooooo Akio-kuuuun. We're not going to hurt you physically... we've thought of something far better!"



The sight of a bleeding, passed-out Hotaru on the ground caused Akio's jaw to clench as silence grew in the air for a moment. Akio's hands bawled up into fists as he held them stiffly at his side while he made an effort to breath normally.

"He has nothing... to do with-"

"I know that. But you see, if you just follow our demands... we'll take good care of him. We'll just need some of your power and cooperation..."


Akio closed his eyes, the image of Hotaru's beautiful, fragile body stained upon the ground still imprinted upon the back of his eyelids.

"Are you listening?" Akio's eyes opened up as the leader gave Hotaru's unconscious body a little kick.

"Stop that!" Akio growled, his yellow eyes narrowing slightly.

"Or what? What yah gonna do? It seems we've got you outnumbered..."

Music Start: "Nightwish" - Everdream

Akio's face began to grow flushed as he felt his heartbeat thrum increasingly faster against his ribcage. His teeth bit absently at the back of his lip as he desperately try to focus, to calm his own emotions. (He was none to used to such a vile bubbling of anger trying to squeeze its way out of him). The air around Akio was growing quite hot, enough to cause Akio to sweat heavily beneath his coat, but his attention was far too focused to have him bother at paying attention. A third, sickeningly hot claw tore at his stomach.

"I can't... I'm so..." Akio thought to himself, biting further into the back of his lip as his nails dug into his palms. Ryuu was dead. Cho was going to be so devastated. This bastard kept interrupting Akio... and dear, innocent Hotaru was lying beaten on the ground, being kicked by the bastard...

"Yah gonna listen to us now?" The leader grinned, giving another kick to Hotaru's stomach.


"I SAID STOP IT NOW YOU BASTARD!"


A deafening roar erupted in an instant around Akio as a bright red flash ripped into the air. Fire clawed threateningly at the air as it billowed from Akio's entire body. Akio felt the searing pain of the intense heat of the fire, but in the midst of the burning pain he felt the hunger of the flames. While the rest of his body was masked beneath the glow, his yellow eyes glowed from within.

"Shit! Run!" The leader yelled, screaming slightly as terror gripped him and the rest of the gang. Akio knew what was happening and yet at the same time, he could not fathom what was happening to him. The fire roared again like a dragon, spiraling around him like a pillar outstretching towards the sky. Outstretching, the fire itself reached outwards and snagged the Furin gangsters, biting into their flesh with burning teeth. Their screams pierced the air and then gurgled into silence as their internal juices were boiled and their flesh melted.

I don't want this... stop it!

Hotaru's eyes slowly fluttered open as he groaned, pushing his hands into the dirt to hoist himself up. His head swiftly snapped up however, at the deafening roar of the flames and the burning heat which pricked at his skin. Hotaru was near the pillar of fire... although he was not close enough yet to be consumed. Yet the swirling pillar continued to twist around Akio's body, growing larger like a tornado with the joy of being free to the air.

"A... Akio...?" Hotaru's voice cracked, perhaps he did not understand how he knew who it was but the familiar golden eyes behind the fire were still so clear.

"Akio!" Hotaru yelled, taking a step back away from the flames but yet still remaining near.

Help me Hotaru!

The collapsed body of the Furin student was slowly consumed. The fire nipping at his pant leg before growling with fierce vigor as the flames washed over and consumed his body, burning him in silent death. Akio's gaze flickered to this, and his mind screamed at the horror of his sight and the pain that carved into every inch of his flesh.

No! Not this! Stop! Stop!
The flames wanted more, but a silent groan from within caused them to shrink back. Akio's source had been exhausted, and with a protesting moan the flames folded in upon themselves and hissed back into Akio's raised body. As swiftly as the flames had erupted out, they now seemed to violently implode in. The aftermath was a splintering silence, followed by a thud.

Akio's naked body collapsed in a crumpled heap into the ground. His skin was flushed but virtually untouched by the flames, although he felt had felt the pain. His vibrant hair also remained the same, familiar Akio-style, but the headband he wore had vanished with little trace then a few flecks of ash within his hair.




FYI: When you hear the definite 'pick up' or forte part of the song is where the fire explosion happens. I think it suits it nicely. ^_^

[classy_cat18]

Itou Cho - Finally back home
Listening to: "I Will" by Sowelu (4th Fullmetal Alchemist ending)

"Another fight, Cho?" my mother asked me as she sat across from me at the table.

I felt my face for any scrapes that I could've forgotten about. "No. I was just hanging out with friends."

Itou Kasumi paused in her chewing as she looked at me with a curious look. "Cho, I have yet to see any of these friends. Although...that boy that walked you home looked friendly. Did you finally take an interest with boys?"

The surprise of her statement had me do a spit take with my tea. "Okaa-san!" I shouted. My face was hot with embarrassment as Mom laughed. She finally calmed down to hear my explanation. "He's...my boyfriend."

"But the uniform is from Furin, right? Isn't there that rivalry going on?"

"You know I don't really care about that." I held a piece of pork in my chopsticks. "I wanted to have him over tomorrow."

I could tell from her widened eyes and growing smile that she was about to go ecstatic. She never acted this way toward anyone else. Her little baby was finally growing up, she was so proud of her, blah blah blah...

"No gushing. And please don't be nosy." Her serious face had me quickly apologizing for trying to give her orders. "Sumimasen."

Dinner went by quickly as I wolfed down the rest of my dinner and went upstairs for homework. "So glad I don't have cram school this time," I mumbled. "This alone is almost too much."

An hour passed before the words in the textbook started to get blurry. I closed it and looked out the window. For a brief moment it was almost like I missed the action that happened today. Luckily Mom was outside earshot so she didn't have to hear me talking to myself. A warm feeling built up in my chest. I extended my right arm and felt the energy burst out in a fireball. Fuu popped out of the fireball and landed on my bed.

Wow, I'm getting better at this. I smiled at the cat, giggling when she blew a puff of smoke in reply. "Sorry, I don't really have anything for you to do," I told her. I looked around the room until I found my stress ball. "Play with this."

"Yay!" Fuu exclaimed as she chased after the rolling ball. After a few minutes of pouncing and batting at it, she held it still between her back paws. "You have gotten stronger."

"Stronger, as in magic wise?" Fuu nodded. "Cool, but you're the one that fights."

"Fuu gets stronger as you get stronger." She let go of the ball and jumped back on the bed. "Fuu will show you something new."

I stared in amazement as she glowed like she would when she transformed into her bigger form. But this ball of light was shaping up to be something else. Now I had a clone sitting on my bed.

With a few differences.

"You look like me," I said in wonder. "Except...I don't have yellow eyes. Or a forked cat tail."

Human Fuu pouted. "Fuu cannot do a perfect transformation the first time! I have to keep something!" She stuck her tongue out and disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

I sighed in defeat. My magic power was a weirdo. But if she could get that transformation perfected it would be helpful. But I couldn't worry about that now. I had a match tomorrow with the team and Akaryou-taichou didn't seem to want to kick me off yet. Afterwards would be more studying to compensate for not going to cram school. I got off easy because I was so focused on my after school activity. And because Mom thought that cram school was for people who wanted their brains to rot early.

I squeezed in another hour of homework before I decided to quit before I dropped dead. My bed looked so nice...if I could stay awake through my bath...

How does Akio-kun do it? Vice president of the Student Council, top marks in the class, object of all girls' desire...and he manages to smile every day. As I thought about it, I noticed that I didn't hang around with him a lot after school. He was usually studying. He didn't have cram school either, so that meant he also did his extra work at home. He couldn't have been happy about that.

"Stop worrying about him," I grumbled to myself. He had Dai-kun, and that Furin student. The guy that was hopefully straight. They seemed like good friends. But I still sent Akio an e-mail so he would have something to read in the morning:

Akio-kun:

I thought I'd just put down some words of warm fuzziness. First of all, thanks so much for your support. Everyone needs a reasonably sane friend like you. And thank you for looking after me. I feel kind of responsible for the burn on your back. If you want, you can exploit that and have me treat you to your favorite ice cream.

I have a match with another school tomorrow, so I'll have to tell you how badly I beat my opponent. Better yet, show you a picture of the loser! So wish me luck, especially since I won't have access to your hair!

But most of all, don't get discouraged. You seem so strong, but sometimes I can't help but worry about you. You have a lot under your belt and I know I haven't been making it any easier. I can help you lighten the load if you want me to.

...Okay, so that last one wasn't warm and fuzzy. But Fuu is, and she says hi!

Your friend with the mismatched eyes,
Itou Cho

"Time for bed," I announced as I turned off the computer.

[Shizo]

Now that I won't be doubleposting, here's the rest.

Open Music File: Hoobastank - "Without a Fight"

Mihana Ami
***************
This is insane, and I like it.

I had to laugh as she swung again and I barely dodged it. I was way out of my league. She knew how to use that axe, and she was in total berserker mode. This was good for me because her entire focus was on the most obvious target. This was also bad for me because her entire focus was on the most obvious target. Next was an overhead swing that I threw up my pipe to block. It caught underneath the curve of one head. I grabbed the shaft in the split second she tried to free her weapon. If only I could use the leverage to yank it out of her grip....

To my amazement, it suddenly slipped free as if her hands were coated in butter. She yelled in frustration as I threw it behind me. Well, "yelled" may not be the best word. It was way too feral to be a "yell." "Howl" maybe?

"Got it!" Kira yelled, scooping the axe from its skid across the ground. "Whoa!" she yelled when it almost dropped again, but she was able to squeeze it close to her with both arms. Berserker girl got past me trying to reach her weapon, but Chidori gave her an elbow to the gut and a kick to sent her back. That didn't stop her, though. She closed her eyes, and there was a small gasp as the axe disappeared from her arms. A moment later, it reappeared in Furin girl's hands. It seemed bigger this time, and now it had a spear point on the end of the shaft.

"Okay..." Chidori said. "Don't bother disarming magic axe from crazy girl. Need our help now?"

"Hell, no!" I grinned. This was getting better and better. Now she was trying stab me as well as chop me in half. I was able to dodge most of the blows; the others were knocked aside with the pipe. I probably should have been worried because I was getting tired and she was still on her first wind, but that just made the adrenaline pump more. This was living! This was life! I thought I might actually be getting the upper hand when I dodged an upward swing, but I had forgotten an important fact. The bladed end of the axe wasn't the only potential weapon. She quickly changed the momentum of her weapon, cracking me over the head with the wooden shaft. The world spun and faded at the edges. I collapsed to my knees and tried to keep the world in focus. Behind me I could hear the concerned voices of Chidori and Kira, though their words were lost to the buzzing in my ears. Looking up, I could see bringing the axe high above her head, her eyes gleaming with pain, rage, and utter psychotic joy. She was really meaning to bisect me with that thing. She had stunned me just to gain this opportunity to end this. She was good.

I was better.

All the potential energy in my folded legs uncoiled into pure kinetic. She might have blinked. She might have realized what was about to happen, but I got to her before she could do anything. I heard a sick cracking sound as my skull connected with her face. My mind wasn't entirely clear from the minor concussion; I could barely feel us connect. I felt something wet in my hair as I regained my balance, breathing hard and feeling more alive than I ever had before. Those pitiful scraps with those other petty gangs? They were nothing to this!

I looked down at my fallen opponent. I knew I must have broken her nose, but I felt dread when I saw the damage I had done. It wasn't her nose that caved in. It was her entire face. It was all a bloody pulp. The axe was gone, but I was hardly worried about that. I didn't even have to check her pulse to know she was dead. "How the hell....Did I do that?" I turned back to Chidori and Kira, who were looking at me with....what? Awe? Fear? "What?"

"Uhh..." Chidori said. Kira dug through her pockets and pulled out a compact mirror. Quickly stepping toward me, she opened it and handed it to me. "Your head," was all she said. I held the small mirror up, repositioning it to see what they were staring at. There was blood speckled on my face. I tilted the mirror more, and I understood why they looked so stunned.

I had horns. Ram horns like you'd see on one of those big horn sheep. They were beautiful, sleek and black. They were also covered in blood, the same blood that was coating my hair and slowly dripping down my scalp. It was a very good thing Kira brought the mirror. It was something I had to see to believe. And I still didn't believe it. "What...are these?"

"Like we know?" Chidori said, stepping toward me to look at the Furin student. "She hit you, you went down, and those horns appeared just in time for you to headbutt her and implode the front of her skull." I stared, feeling slightly sick at the alien appendages. However, they suddenly started shrinking and vanished completely. "Ami, we need to get out of here." Chidori said. Kira nodded, handing over her handkerchief.

"Thanks," I said, taking it and wiping the worse of the blood of. "Dammit, I wasn't out to kill her..."

"She was out to kill you," Chidori said, though I knew she was just saying what needed to be said. We weren't killers. Hit someone too hard, you can only fight them once. Hit them just hard enough, you can fight them every week. "Alright, ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's get moving."

We left the Furin girl where she lay. We couldn't do anything for her, and someone would find her eventually. We didn't leave any clues that we were there. My pipe was back in its case, Kira's bloody handkerchief was in my pocket. We managed to reach an empty park where I was able to wash out most of the remaining blood at the water fountain. I wiped my head dry with my own 'kerchief.

"Well, it seems you've finally earned the nickname 'Oni,'" Chidori said, trying to liven the mood. It didn't work.

"Sure, stand there and be ironic. I feel like crap." My head snapped around to look at Kira. "Okay, Kira. This is more of your arena. What should I do if I really fuck up like this and I regret it?"

"....I don't think getting forgiveness for killing someone is my arena," Kira said. Great, another comedian.

"No, no," I said, waving a hand to dismiss her statement. "I'm serious. Call me what you will, my victims always live. Maybe they need to go to the hospital, but I've...."

"We could go to a shine or something," she suggested, her sweet little face concerned for my odd behavior. "There's one near the school we could go to."

"Yeah, and what if someone from school sees us there?" I asked, staring at the last of the water dripping down the drain. My head was still soaking wet, but that was better than sticky.

"We could...Oh!" Her eyes lit up. "We could say we're praying for Tatsuo!"

"Who?" I asked.

"The student that was killed? Tatsuo?" Chidori said.

"....Oh yeah, him!"

"You had no idea what his name was, huh?"

"Not a clue!"

Chidori sighed. "C'mon, so what if they question why we're there? We don't have to answer them, and if they don't believe the Tatsuo story, screw them."

"Well, I'll try it," I said. "No harm in it." Anything to get this sick feeling from my stomach, and to forget about the part of me that thrilled at seeing her so thoroughly dead.

"And I can pick up a charm while we're there," Kira said with a grin. We stared at her a moment, then sighed. Kira, it seemed, no matter what we did, would stay in her heart a sweet little girl.

"Yeah, why not?" Chidori said. "I'll pay for it, even."

"Pickpocketing again?" I said.

"Pervert salarymen are just too perfect as targets to leave them be," Chidori said. "And if they catch me in the act..." Her face became one of teary eyed, youthful innocence. "Oh, let me go! Help! Please no, sir!" Her face returned to normal and she grinned. "He soon forgets about the busty girl and worries about police."

"...I'll just pay for it," Kira said. She looked up at me. "You're really sorry about what you did?" she asked.

"Yes," I said with sincere finality. She nodded, the gloom in her face lifting a little. We headed off, following Kira to the shrine.

Maybe boredom isn't as bad as I originally thought.

What am I thinking? Of course it's bad!
*****************

This was even longer than the first one. Wow.

[Dr.McNinja]

Keto Satoshi

Satoshi sat in his room, working on a paper that was due at the end of the week. If he could finish it today he might have some free time to go find Akio and Cho later...of course he could also get started on his Physics homework but...no! His hand reached down to pat the tiny bag by his desk as if checking to make sure it was there. Cho should like it...he thought...and then he would have paid her back for the delicious onigiri...and apologized properly for attacking her. He smiled a bit at her imagined reaction but the smile quickly faded as he began questioning how exactly she would respond. What if she hated it and...

“Satoshi-chan?”

He turned form his desk to regard his grandparents outside his room, their smiling faces always a comfort. He gave a proper bow and upon raising his head asked them what they desired from him. His grandfather responded, his deep voice protraying wisdom proper for a Shinto priest.

“We have been called to do a purification on the new hospital. If anyone comes while we are away make sure to make them feel welcome.”

Satoshi nodded, he was often set to watch the shrine while his grandfather went away. Many people simply came to find peace and those that required a priest were usually willing to wait until grandfather came home. Gathering his things, Satoshi bowed to his grandparents and made his way to the front of the shrine, setting himself up outside in the fresh air where he could see the gate of the shrine. He worked for about an hour until before he finally looked up again, completely forgetting the existance of the shrine. It was the sudden presence in front of him that caused him to look up and blanch in sudden horror. Mikhana Ami, the Oni, was standing right in front of him with Chidori and Kira just behind her. It was pointless for Satoshi to list in his head what those three had done to him before at school, all four of them knew it. Why had they come here then, how did they know that they lived here, and for what reason was she going to try and pick a fight with him today? She must be bored. Even as his instinct of fear kicked however, something else in the background began working as well, something far more calculating and...severely less afraid. Satoshi recognized it and hoped fervently that pieces of the suit would not start appearing on him.

For her part, Ami looked around the entrance to the shrine briefly before fixing her eyes on Satoshi, “Dammit Kira, I told you someone from school’d be here.”

Satoshi was confused yet even in that confusion relief seeped in, they weren’t here for him, he was just an inconvenience...how nice. The least intimidating of the three spoke up, ,”Don’t worry Ami, we’re just here to pray for Tatsuo remember? What harm could there be in that?” she looked past Oni to Satoshi, “Don’t mind us.”

Tatsuo, the boy that had died a few days ago? Satoshi had completely forgotten about that what with everything else that was happening but suddenly the memory came back and a suspicious feeling fell over her stomach. A random death right before all of this weirdness had started? It didn’t feel right, but as always Satoshi wasn’t sure what to do about it. He was no detective, he had no training in how to deal with these things, and what would he do even if he...Satoshi suddenly stopped his thoughts as a new one occurred to him. A death, that meant that someone had actually likely died from whatever was going on...he thought of his rampage the other day. He could have killed people then as well. This wasn’t something that was affecting just him and Cho. This was larger and he was doing his best just to forget about it and ignore it. What if it didn’t ignore him. In his mind a decision was made and Satoshi suddenly found himself with new plans this evening. He could give the gift to Cho the next day at school.

Ami peered at Satoshi, at a look on his face that she had rarely seen on one of the “weaker” kids at school, the one who were so easy to mess with but who weren’t even worth the effort unless she was having a really boring day. It was a fleeting glimpse of some sort of strength that made her wonder if this kid was going to try to get some revenge for what she had done to him before. She half-braced herself, it wasn’t like he would actually be able to hurt her but I didn’t hurt to be prepared.

Satoshi blinked his way past his musings, suddenly remembering that he had visitors. Visitors who were looking at him oddly and, in one case, seeming to be getting ready for a fight. He paused, he could get back at her...he had the power now, a power that most others did not...no...he couldn’t do that. Beating up someone else just for the pleasure of it...he couldn’t do that knowing what it was like. Instead, he put down his Physics book and gave a small smile and a bow, “My grandfather, the priest, is away right now but you are more than welcome to use the shrine to pray for Tatsuo...let me show you to it and if you need anything else I can try to help you as best I can.”

There was a moments pause before any of the three responded, finally Ami spoke up, “Keto, don’t think...”

In a moment of ill-advised bravery, Satoshi interrupted, “Of course not Mihana-san.”

Ami regarded Satoshi for a moment longer before the young man turned and led the three into the shrine.

[Crystal Tears]

Rika & Yuki - Sorrow

Rika whimpered, hearing Hotaru's answer had certainly thrown her over a loop. And she couldn't do anything about it. People were beginning to gather, Furin and Kazan, separated only by a girl clinging to a young boy who had been bashed in the head by a log. The world around her was going to crazy, and even as she realized there was no wind, she couldn't help but feel like it was still here, whipping around in some frantic attempt to make her run for it. The urge was strong, she couldn't doubt that, but leaving her brother to die here on this dirt path wasn't something she was too keen on doing. Slowly she glared up at the Kazan students and gritted her teeth, she wished whatever had happened to these three students would happen t them. They all deserved it. Their school had attacked a boy who wasn't even included in the feud, and that had boiled her over.

But at what cost? Rika looked behind her and saw all the Furin students ready to defend her at a moments notice. Whatever had happened, it hadn't spared her brother from the chaos, and that was worse than anything before. In some sort of sick way, she was helpless. The memory of what was happening was blurry and confusing, but she knew she was responsible for most of it. Rika had tried to destroy the Kazan bullies and in doing so, harmed her closest friend. Sniffling she clung to the silent body of her brother and looked around at the crowd in a daze.

"Help me!" She cried, not knowing where Hotaru had disappeared too. "Why won't any of you help!?"

No one moved.

Breaking through the trees then, was a figure she instantly recognized. He was tall, black haired, and looked at her with an angry, and than suddenly a worried face. It was Yuki, and unlike the others, the Kazan man leapt to her side, ignoring the bodies of his own schoolmates. Either side of the group of students gasped, did Yuki know this girl? And did Rika know this man?

"What happened?" Yuki question; looking over at the body of the Kazan student. He was dead alright, and so, he wouldn't mind if…

The man heaved, pushing against the log that had half of his little brother trapped. Rika joined in, straining in some desperate attempt to get the trunk off Matsu. She was surprised when, a few of the Furin students moved forward and helped. In one giant push the trunk moved, grinding on the Kazan man and lifting off Matsu.

"He.. I… I don't know…" Rika cried, cheeks red from the tears, and her nose slowly changing to a red shade as well. "They… They just…"

To her great surprise, Yuki hugged her. It was a warm, comforting hug that blew the whole world away for a second. She knew she'd be asked questions about it later, but at the moment she didn't care. Yuki was warm, he cared about her and Matsu, and that was more important than anything else. "Stop crying…" He whispered into her ear. She whimpered, wiping away the tears she knew would return moments later. "He'll be alright..." Yuki pulled away and looked her dead in the eyes. "We have to get him to the hospital."

* * *

This entire scenario was playing out to be one, rather large problem. Yuki didn't even know what time it was as he dashed down the dirt road leading towards Furin Highschool. He had, in fact, checked everywhere in his frantic search for his little sister but had failed each and every time. The only place she could at all be was at her school, but why on earth had she gone there? Perhaps she was frightened? She definitely had been before, but something about when he raced to her side, she had begun to get her head back.

Rika wasn't one to blow off anything, no… Not her brother, not like this. Meaning it was someone else was holding her up. Someone else wanted Matsu to be alone and die like that, certainly a dark perspective to look at it. But something about it felt so true, and that began to brood anger deep down on Yuki's soul. Who would want that? And why would Rika not see it? She'd have to be taught a lesson, that's for sure, but it wasn't nothing compared to what the other person would receive if he found out it was indeed true that he or she was holding up his sister.

Furin was about the size of Kazan, though its layout was somewhat different. Yuki rounded a corner, receiving odd and curious glances from the few students still hanging around at the time. He could see the entrance doors, he remembered them slightly from the time his parents had insisted on bringing him just encase he wanted to transfer out of 'infernal' Kazan and go to a 'real' school. Funny, the both seemed pretty real to him, and both seemed capable of harming each other. Though he had to admit, Kazan had been in the wrong when they decided to attack his little brother.

Matsu's alone… He thought coldly, though it barely seemed like his thought. You don't want him to suffer in the darkness alone do you? Yuki shook his head; whether it was to answer his strange thought or to shake it away eluded him however.

Out of the door came Rika, and some other Furin student. Yuki's eyebrow lifted slightly, curiosity running a muck with a deep centered anger. His eyes seemed almost to calculate them both in a cynical manner, sizing them up. It was strange, Yuki never really sized anyone up before, and fighting wasn't really his thing. He had always believed that violence solved nothing and caused more problems, of course, many students disagreed with him at the moment with the feud going on. But if he hated violence so much, why did Yuki know how to fight? The information was practically being put into his brain.

"…Rika."

She turned, that voice sounded familiar but the shock of who it was, and how he looked startled her. Rika blinked at Yuki, something seemed off about him. Something in her, just like with Matsu, was warning her. But it wasn't about her little brother this time, it was telling her to run, and run now.

"Yuki?” came her reply, the dreadful feeling switched suddenly. The warning was for her and her friend Yuko now. She gulped, and whipped away more tears. "Are you-"

"What are you doing here?" He questioned the edge of his words as cold as ice. "Who is she?"

"I had to get… She's my friend Yuko…" Rika stared at her brother. His eyes… She thought. What's wrong with him? "Onii-chan?"

She wants Matsu to die… Came the thoughts again. And she's going to turn Rika over to her side… You'll get blamed, you always get blamed.

Over Yuki's head, pure white smoke began to appear from seemingly no where. He reached up, his eyes glazed over with rage and blind sorrow. His hands clasped onto what looked like a strange two and half foot long pole, but as he touched it, something else formed. It was massive, easily the size of a six foot person, it was what looked like a sword. It was black for the most part, the larger circular end near the hilt seemed to have a bunch of gears and such on it that slowly began to spin until claw like teeth on the blade began to move around and around.

Oh my god… Rika gawked, as her and Yuko took a step back. It resembled a sword for the most part, but the revolving teeth shook and turned like a chainsaw, letting out almost the same sound as such a tool. It had a sword blade, but you'd only feel that part of the weapon if the teeth of sword didn't tear you to pieces first. "Yuki what are you doing?!" She cried.

The anger exploded, and Yuki leapt forward, sword high above his head and roaring as he came down towards Yuko…

~ ~ ~

TAG CEB. Oh, and don't kill Yuki… He is still needed…. *toddles off* Oh and thanx to Wen for the help with the post (and approvingness)

[Bulbasaur4]

An Akio
ACCESSING INFORMATION: [ Real Last Name: Kasai ] [Gender: Male ] [ School: Kazan ] [Sign: Aries]
MUSIC START: Look After You - The Fray

"AKIO-SAAAMAAAA!!! WAKE UUUUUUP!"
....
"AH-KI-OH-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMAAAA!"
A large object nailed Akio in the chest, startling him awake as he jerked himself upwards and looked about the room in a panicked fashion.
"Whowhatwhenwhere?" He exclaimed, eyes wide before suddenly realizing he had a rather large encylopedia on top of him. His gaze then flickered to see Taguri-chan giggling at the doorway, scampering off. With a large and dramatic yawn, Akio pushed the book off of his bed and slid out from the covers. He shut his door and stripped down, grabbing a towel as he took a rather long shower. This was soon followed by teeth brushing, a simple hair brush-over and a tiny sprit of some European cologne that his mother had insisted was a 'must have'.
Upon leaving his bathroom, a smile formed upon Akio's soft lips as he recalled that today was a non-school day. This meant there was no obnoxious Student Council jacket NOR was there any stuffy uniform to confine his shoulders (they always seemed to pull somewhat). With great enthusiasm, Akio swiftly pulled his favorite black shirt over his head and hobbled into his jeans with a quick zip. Opening his swinging closet doors he then grabbed his green jacket and tossed it over his shoulder- planning on hanging it up near the doorway incase he went out.
"Mmm... what is that delicious smell!?" Akio proclaimed as he entered the kitchen doorway, only to find Ito, their cook, grinning widely. Ito was a rather large man with an extremely plump face and an infectious smile. The man loved food almost as much as he loved gardens, so in turn he also tended to many of the plants with a signature hum.
"Akio-sama, today we have a special dish that I dared to delve into! A cheese omelette accompanied by some freshly marketed fruit! And of course, your chocolate milk."
Akio grinned and sat down eagerly, saying thanks and then immediately he enhaled the food. Akio was a rather big fan of two things: chocolate milk and melopan. Somewhere in his childhood he had been exposed to both things and ever since, it was a tool used by many to get Akio to do many things that perhaps he usually would hesitate to do.
"That was amazing... Ito-san, you are quite the cook!" Akio exclaimed, patting his stomach area.


Shortly after breakfast, Akio made little hesitation to delve into his studies. He shut the door to the study room and sat in the large chair. After several hours, it seemed papers were strewn everywhere and books were stacked in various places. Akio was leaning into the back of the chair with a pencil between his teeth as he held an internet-ordered workbook, and he puzzled over it for a while before taking the pencil from his mouth and marking a few areas down intently.
Beepbeepbleebubeep! His cell phone chimed, causing Akio to jump in shock as papers magically took flight from his disturbance.
Taking his slim red phone from his pocket, he flipped it open to see that it was Hotaru-kun calling him. It was then Akio noticed that it was indeed, about 8 or 9 in the morning and that he had been up for about three hours already. A little ball of glee formed within his chest as he answered it eagerly.
He was quite surprised shortly after blaring 'MORRRNIIING TAAARRUUU!' that it was actually Dai-kun, using his phone. A flash of disappointment embedded itself into Akio at the mention of a 'sleepover', but it soon passed as Akio chattered away with Hotaru about things- mostly Dai-kun. It then was arranged that later that afternoon (or earlier that evening, depending on how you looked at it), they were to meet at Akio's favorite cafe (it made the best Melopan).

Akio flipped his phone shut and felt the small morsel of glee grow. Today perhaps was NOT going to be such a boring day after all! Akio grabbed his matching red laptop (Akio liked that color for electronics) and opened it. He opened his studies folder and prepared to mark off a check upon his list of studying to make sure he was on track, when his laptop spoke.
"New Mail Akio-sama!" It said, when in fact it was a recording of Taguri-chan's voice. (His parents thought editing little bits of the computer would be most hilarious.)
Akio accessed his mail and soon discovered that in fact, the Student Council meeting was canceled but rather would be done the next day when school was in session. A few more emails from a few classmates ensued, but one stood out more than the other.
"Cho!" Akio said happily, clicking on it to read.

Akio smiled widely- his day sure was cheering up. But a flash of worry suddenly seemed to crack through his brain. Cho had a match!?
"Aaahhh! Cho-chan has a match today!! My attendance record is at riiiisk!" Akio quickly shut his laptop and ran over to his desk. Opening a drawer he rummaged through it until the sport schedule was finally found. He hummed and hawed over it slightly, trying to find the proper date.
"Ahah!" Akio found the date and place, which ironically was not too far from school or Akio's house. Eagerly, Akio pulled out his cell phone and programmed it's alarm to go off approximately a half an hour before Cho's match, allotting him enough time to get there so that he may see.
"Hmm... it's about two hours after I meet with Dai-kun and Hotaru-kun.." Akio thought, and then he shrugged. "Perhaps they will want to come!" He thought, grinning as he shoved his cell phone in his pocket. If they didn't want to come, two hours would still be a lot of time... although, Akio knew he usually wanted the time he had with all of his friends to last a little bit longer.

"Akio-sama! Do you have time?" A little voice spoke up, causing Akio's head to jerk up from the desk he was rummaging through. Taguri-chan was standing in the doorway, a large elementary book in her hand as Akio nodded with a smile.
"Yes! Chinese time, correct?" He asked, to which Taguri-chan nodded but then suddenly gasped.
"A-a-akio-s-sama... the... room!" She gaped, and Akio suddenly realized the mess he had caused.
Papers were strewn about not only on his chair, but upon the floor. Books were stacked around is rather disordered patterns along with a few random doodles and pens. It look perhaps like a studying hurricane had gone through.
"Eh heh heh..." Akio laughed, absently scratching the back of his head. "Perhaps we should study in the living room?"

[Crystal Tears]

On the Raggedy Edge - Yuki Satou


The world was such a blur to the man with the sword that he barely recognized the still framed picture of his sister. Horror was stricken across her face and in that instance where the world could no longer remain even semi-realistic with the colors; he watched the body of his sibling move from her spot and into the path of his sword. It was sort of dumbfounding, watching her join the everlasting tornado of colour. But her body moved with grace and even with such a weapon; swiveled around. The roaring blades of the sword facing away from her sister so only his side slammed hard into her.

Rika coughed, slowly getting off the ground as she tried to gather what was going on. Yuki… He had a giant sword, and wanted to kill Yuko for whatever reason. She gulped, shaking in fear as her got up. Her brother was standing there, his eyes burning with an emotion the girl was unfamiliar with. She was exhausted, whatever power she had had before wasn't coming; not that she wanted it too. For all she knew, that dark entity would return and kill Yuki just for the fact he was there.

"Onii-chan…" She whispered harshly, black spots beginning to infect her vision. "W-why?"

"I…" He paused, noting how Yuko had recovered from the tumble she took when Rika had roughly shoved her out of the way. Yuko… She wants Matsu to die; she wants to take what little family you have away… "She…"

Rika felt her gut-wrenching feeling of terror come screaming back. Instantly she launched herself at her brother, though she wasn't going to put up much of a fight due to her extreme lack of energy. But she couldn't leave her friend to die, not at the hands of a brutal sword such as that. "Run Yuko!" Rika cried. "RUN!"

She was high-tailing it, dashing towards the dense shrubbier that separated the two schools. Not the wisest choice, but it was better than nothing. Yuki's eyes narrowed, and in one, hard push; Rika tumbled to the ground again. He reached down dragging her over to the wall and leaning it up against it. Yuki looked at her, some of the intenseness falling away to reveal something of twisted affection. "Stay here, I'll be back for you…" He turned, the sword fading away into smoke. "Then we can go see Matsu…"

Rika collapsed than, unconscious against her school wall.


Yuko was in trouble, and she knew she was. Somewhere behind her, a madman with a giant sword was chasing her down. She darted in between the trees, hoping to evade him until she could get help or purely out run him. The girl rounded another corner and stopped dead.

There he was, standing in a small opening in the trees. He was looking at the ground for a moment, before slowly he looked up. There was a silence between her and Yuki; it was haunting and ominous, digging itself in as the man turned towards her. You… He thought as his eyes narrowed and his expression changed from nothing to something on the lines of loathing. Deep down, he knew that something was wrong with him, such actions and things he was going did not make sense, Yuki Satou never wanted to hurt anyone.

But here he was, on the edge of sanity… About to commit murder…

"W-what do you want?" The girl called her voice shaking as he took a step towards her.

"You wanted Matsu dead, so you kept Rika here…" He growled, the girl look appalled and deeply confused. "You knew I would come looking for her, and no one would be there for the boy…"

"You've got it all wrong!" She cried, watching as the horrible white smoke began to appear again. "I'm sorry for whatever you think I was intending but that's not true!"

Yuki huffed, taking another looming step; Yuko stepped back, tripping over her own two feet in the process. The boy thought about it for a long moment, but even if what she said made logical sense… She was lying, she had to be. It was so clear in his mind what she had intended and wanted, so there was no way he could be wrong. I stand on the line between the right mind and insanity… He thought, his expression changing only a hint.
"P-please…" She begged, obviously seeing the new emotion in his face. "Please don't kill me..."

She wanted Matsu dead… He thought; his eye twitched a little as he reached out to the left and the smoke intensified. You're not going insane; you know that's what she wanted… If Matsu dies, you'll get blamed… Disowned, hated… The sword appeared again, and slowly began to turn alive. The rotating blades crawled across the track until they were just a blur.

Yuko turned than, getting to her feet as fast as she could. Yuki's eyes grew wide at the shock. Leapt forward, the sword tearing through the trunks of trees and branches as it neared her back.

"YOU LIAR!" He roared, everything in his mind snapping at once.

The shredding blade caught the girl's leg, ripping her calf open, spewing blood and pieces of flesh everywhere. Yuko screamed, hobbling a bit. Yuki growled, getting firm foot, he swung the sword again, bringing it down on the girl's shoulder and forcing it through diagonally; shredding the poor student into two bloody and rather disgusting pieces. The sword slowed, and so Yuki's anger dramatically decreased. In that very instant, the sword disappeared, and only the boy was left as a rather gruesome scene.

Blood was sprayed everywhere, along with flesh. On the ground: a body torn in half by what looked like an oversized chainsaw.

I can only assume… He thought, paling as he made his way out of the woods. Nothing how he himself was been relatively sparred from the spray of blood and flesh. That is this what insanity feels like… He broke through the trees and headed towards where he had left his sister. He paused, turning back to the forest.

"I am sorry, Yuko…" Yuki's face lacked any expression. "That I had to destroy what future you might've had."

Deep down, he could feel the terror there. He was a murderer, and there was no going back from that. Someone would eventually find the body, and someone would be horrified by the way it looks. Eventually he would break from the guilt, the horror he had unleashed today. But… Yuki looked down at his hand, watching some white smoke dance around it. As long as I have you, I'm safe…

[classy_cat18]

Another long post.

Itou Cho - Warming Up
Listening to: "GO!!!" by FLOW (4th Naruto Opening)

(Saturday morning)
"Ugh, math. History. Too much to think about. Too bad Ryuu's busy now." I looked at the nekomata that was perched on my bed again. "Hey Fuu, aren't you getting tired? Why don't you disappear for a while?"

Fuu didn't disappear. Her eyes were trained on the open window. Her fur stood on end with excitement that I also felt. Before I could ask what had her on edge, she jumped on the windowsill and then out the window. As if my whole body was shocked, I jumped up and ran out my room.

Mom was almost bulldozed on the stairs. "Cho, what has gotten into you?" she demanded.

I didn't look up to apologize as I put on my shoes. "SorryforgotsomethingwithmyfriendsI'llbebacksoonby e!" I said in one breath. I flew out the front door and promptly started searching for Fuu.

"Cho..." Fuu sat in the middle of the street, still housecat-sized. "I sense magic." She started running without another word after she turned invisible.

I followed her without worrying how I was able to do that while I couldn't see her. It made sense that creatures like Fuu could sense magic; it was how we found the transformed students yesterday. But was this another attack?

She appeared again, standing in front of the entrance to a shrine. "It's here!" She seemed hesitant on going any further. I ran past her but stopped when I saw the trouble.

On one side was Satoshi, covered in metal but still at his human height. He stood still and waited for his opponent to attack. His opponent was Mihana Ami, a Kazan student that I had the pleasure of dealing with once or twice. She was sporting a pair of ram horns on her head. Her two cohorts stood on the sidelines, their mouths hanging open. I could already see how this matchup started. "Satoshi-kun! Over here!" I called out.

Both him and Ami turned to me. I got closer when Satoshi started to drop the armor, some of it turning back to the bells that hung at the shrine. Ami grunted in frustration, knowing that her fight was cancelled. "Who is she?" Hoshino Kira asked her leader.

"Wait, aren't you part of the Kazan martial arts team?" Chidori asked me.

"Yeah, I am," I answered.

"This was none of your business, so don't get all goody goody with me," Ami said.

I put on a smirk just to show that I had no intention of getting goody goody. "I just wanted to warn you not to attract any unwanted attention. People tend to notice a girl with horns or a giant mech that shoots lasers."

Ami's eyes grew as she looked at Satoshi, but she quickly pulled herself together. "I could've taken him."

"This still is a shrine. At least honor those that run it."

We glared at each other until I caught something in the corner of my eye. Fuu was standing there in human form, yellow eyes shining and a forked tail swishing behind her. The gang's look transferred from Fuu...to me...and back to Fuu. The way we stood made us look like twins, but they could tell that Fuu was no human.

"Another monster?" Hoshino asked.

Fuu growled and formed a fireball in her hand. "Leave," she said in my voice.

"You can take 'im," Chidori told Ami boldly.

Ami charged for Fuu with horns lowered. Fuu got rid of the fireball and stood her ground. I motioned for her to move out the way until I watched her stop the girl's charge barehanded. She slid back a little but was able to grab her footing. How? That charge could've put a dent on the side of a car!

"Cho! Fuu doesn't know what to do next!" she shouted.

"Throw her!" I commanded. "Throw her to the side!"

She grappled with the struggling Ami. Then she slid backwards as if the ground was made of ice. Her legs gave out from under her body, making her fall on her back. Somehow she was able to pull Ami with her, kick her torso with both legs, and then toss her overhead. Ami fell on her back with an "oof".

She's strong...but what was with her slipping like that? And it seemed like Fuu was still having trouble standing up. Ami sat up with a groan, her horns fading. When they were fully gone, Fuu stood on her feet.

"Okay...I've had enough for now..." Ami grunted. She started walking off, the other two girls following.

"You haven't seen the last of us," Chidori threatened.

"Yeah!" Hoshino agreed.

Satoshi sighed and rubbed his forehead when the coast was clear. "I never get a break," he said to himself.

I smiled and patted his shoulder. "You're getting one now!" I said brightly. "I don't have anything to do right now, so I can help you out some." Fuu stretched and giggled before disappearing.

A couple of hours later, I left the shrine. I thanked Satoshi for the maneki-neko keychain that he gave me as a gift (especially since it was red like Fuu). "Akio-kun will like that I have something else as a good luck charm!" I told him before I left. "It'll come in handy for my match later today!"

After an afternoon of intense study (if you count studying the back of your eyelids), I had Fuu practice transforming into me. This time there was no tail, and only one of her eyes was yellow. "Funny. It would be easier to transform into a normal cat," I mused as she twirled in a replica of my school uniform.

Fuu yawned in boredom. "Fuu doesn't think that's fun. Plus you can use Fuu as a substitute." She changed back to her cat form.

"Maybe you can fight like me. You definitely have the strength." I shrugged and shouldered my sports bag. The team had a match with Mori Gakuren, and that was a fair distance away. I wanted enough time to meet up with Ryuu halfway. Ryuu had cram school but no matches today. I told him that today would be safe to attend my match since it was on "neutral ground". Even Akaryou didn't let his petty resentment towards Furin ruin the team's matches.

I left the house at as the sun started to go down, Mom saying that she had a little more business to do before going to the match. Ryuu met me at the chosen spot, making the trip more enjoyable. He was wearing a black hoodie to sort of disguise his look. I told him about the incident with Ami and Fuu's new power. "This is getting too strange," he commented.

Ryuu stayed a block behind so it would look like we weren't together. I changed in the locker room away from the guys. "Hey, Cho! I saw your cheering section out there!" Ken shouted from the other side.

"Cheering section?" I walked out with the others and Ken pointed it out in the audience. Akio, along with the Furin student from yesterday, were jumping up and down with excitement. And they had pompoms. Poor Dai had to sit with them and pretend like he didn't know them.

"Go, Cho! Knock 'em out!" Akio cheered.

"Knee 'em where it hurts!" his companion yelled.

"Check it out! Cho-chan has her own ouendan!" Ishida crowed while he elbowed Akaryou. I turned red with embarrassment but managed to wave to them. After a little scanning I found Ryuu blending in with the audience. I just smiled and turned my attention to my captain.

"Itou-chan, keep in mind that I only keep you on this team because you are an asset that would be hard to replace," Akaryou informed me coldly.

"Of course." I stepped onto the mat as the referree called my name. My first opponent was a boy of my own size. We bowed to each other and waited for the signal to start.

"Start!"

I took a defense stance as the boy threw his first punch. I dodged it then blocked a kick aimed for my stomach. My palm met his chest for my first hit landed. Kind of clumsy. I always get the newbies in the first round.

It picked up after that though. I had to block multiple blows from my opponent, but the cheering had me psyched. I caught a kick that the boy threw and pulled, hitting his chin with a palm thrust while doing so. The opponent fell to the ground in pain. "The match goes to Itou!" the referree announced.

I bowed to my opponent again once he got up, and bowed once more to the referree. The observers applauded. Akio and his friend both hugged Dai. Mom stayed silent and smiled. I saw Ryuu in the corner of my eye clapping.

"I'm not third seat for nothing," I told Ken as I returned.

OOC: I hope that was good.

[EngiMatikul]

AkaiKami
=====11:50 AM=====
"Kurasawa Mishio."
In the deepest areas of the foilage, hidden away from light, a dark presence was watched over the the finished gruesome massacre induced by the newly released Zodiac. Once again one of her pawns have fallen for the sake a new, better, stronger power. One by one the powers have been awakened and defeated the menances Akai had put forth, a slight disappointment to Akai but not completely unexpected. She had to get them before they became too powerful, she knew. She needed stronger sources... more power to overwhelm the newly fledged zodiac mortals...
"Acknowledged. I know it is probably futile to ask, but the accumulating deaths are becoming quite bothersome. It would help if you minimized the casualties as much as possible." A cold, businessmanlike voice emitted out of a moderately sized, glowing, transparent, purple orb. Because Akai was not completely familiar with the new technology around the era, a glowing magic comminication ball works well as a substitute for a cell phone.
"For the sake of the power, their fates have been decided. The result is inevitable."
The voice sighed. "It's going to be very difficult to cover up a whole school of students missing." With that the orb flashed and blinked into nothingness, and all Akai was left with was the empty corpse that was under her. With a little wave of her finger, she conjured up another brighter purple energy orb, which she then pointed toward the body. The orb flew towards the target and instantly engulfed the body in a luminous purple light that took shape of the body itself, then slowly began dissolving into thin air, taking the body along with it. By the time it was finished, not an atom of Mishio's presence was left. An orb from the sky then flew down and landed on Akai's chest near the centerpiece bringing together her manteau, then slowly became absorbed into the snake-eye jewel.
"Though they are quite weak, their powers are still quite useful." With a fluttering of her cape her presence disappeared in the area.
=====1:43 PM=====
It was quick this time, and Akai almost did not make it in time to see it. The power she had given to the anguished boy was strong, his desire and despair exceeding beyond those of normal humans. It was someone like him she needed. Someone like him who was able to take on...one of them... before they can even unleash their power to the fullest strength.
It was the first success.
The dead body of the first zodiac caused Akai to make a small yet chilling smirk, had anyone noticed or seen her. She watched, carefully, as the murderer walked away, laughing a maniac laugh, walking back to the unconscious, alive zodiac as if to pick up his trophy for his victory. Akai would have preferred that he dispose of the other zodiac as well, but due to the pawn's own circumstances it seems he will not do so... yet.
It was then that it appeared.
Out of the mutilated half-body of the former Furin girl emerged a small, marble like sphere, glowling brightly with the zodiac symbol for Cancer inscribed onto it. The small orb, as if having a mind and soul of its own, moved a bit to the side, as if looking around in the hallway, then down onto its former host, before calmly moving up and out to the world...
A swift, plasmalike projectile suddenly flew directly into its path, and the orb, startled, sharply turned and moved in a sideways direction to evade the attack. Noticing the attacks from the shadows and quickly realizing it was in danger, it flew at amazing speed into the forest, disappearing from public sight.
"Shimatta!" Akai lept off the branch she was on and began flying at a remarkable, graceful speed, chasing after the newly released power that had emerged from Yuko. However, the orb was small and easily maneuvered through the forest while Akai continuously had to work around the branches and the orb was slowly getting out of her sight...
She launched a few more small projectiles which immediately cleared all the branches surrounding her and the path to the orb. She increased her momentum through her newly created path and had almost reached her target before...
The orb flew straight up, back into the open sky and through the foilage. However, Akai was not going to let the damn thing get away from her this time. She launched a larger, glowing violet sphere which blasted through the foilage and hit the orb straight on, engulfing it and keeping it set like a container.
"Finally..." Akai thought to herself, but the trouble was not over. The orb, glowing even more brightly now, began vibrating violently, trying to break through the container it was in until...
It's prison shattered, and the orb sped away.

It seems Akai will have to do things a bit differently, she thought.
======
OK WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!? (Well for those who skipped over my post you guys probably didn't even notice anything happened)
CEB's character has died, therefore a zodiac spot has been freed up. Now is the time to give that Zodiac to someone else! There are few issues that must be addressed here:

1. Obviously, if you're a Zodiac already you can't take in another power, therefore only nonzodiac characters may acquire a new power.
2. As long as their nonzodiac, ANYBODY can take up the power, whether it be an NPC or not. NonNPCs generally have priority since they're actually being played, but for the overall case anyone can really take the power as long as they get to it first. (Since only dt and ChikoSai have "regular" student nonNPCs anyway)
3. When you obtain the Zodiac, you can either stick with the power that was chosen or choose a different one, but you can't choose a power that's already been chosen for the element. For example, whoever wants to take up the Cancer Zodiac can stick with a familiar power (you can of course change your familiar) or choose a summon power since no one in the water group has that as their power, I think.
4. POST how you get the power first, then rewrite your form with the zodiac power in the signup topic.
5. EVEN THOUGH I SAID NONNPCS GET PRIORITY IT IS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE, SO TECHNICALLY, JUST LIKE ANYONE "TAKING THE BALL" IN AN RPG AS LONG AS THEY TAG THE ORB AND GET TO IT (weather its an NPC or not) THEY'LL GET THE POWER IMMEDIATELY.
6. ...But even thought I said that, we all might want to fight over discuss who gets the orb in the lounge first.

[Bulbasaur4]

Name: Chiba Yuuto
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Appearance: *droolz* Yuuto looks like Frey from Alice 19th. His hairstyle is exactly the same, except instead of being blonde in color, his hair is a light sky-blue color that turns to a tiny bit darker shade of blue at the tips. His eyes are a striking sea-foam green, and seem slightly feminine with Yuuto's thick dark lashes. His skin has a faint flush of tan, so he's a little bit darker than the average person would be at school but not by much. Yuuto himself is quite tall, being about 6'4 in height with an athletic build to accompany it. (Again, Frey's body type.)
Reference photos (enjoooy...):
Ignore the clothes
Face Cover Close Up
WEESHOWER
FACE

Personality: Yuuto is what he would call, "a free spirit." He is quite blunt in everything he says and has very little tact when it comes to almost anything. You can always count on him to get into some sort of trouble, and always never care what trouble he's in. He's not the type to bully anyone for 'that sort of trouble', but he is the type to gamble some sucker out of his money and such. He's very relaxed about things, which often annoys anyone who tries to 'discipline' him for whatever minor ruckus he causes, because he never shows any real fear or any ounce of caring. On the plus side, he's generally a nice person who doesn't try to hurt anyone's feelings.
School: Kazan
Background/History: Yuuto grew up in the rough part of the city, and his parents only recently came into enough money to move to a nicer part of the town. They decided to put him into Kazan, merely because the school was far more promising than Yuuto's old school and they hoped that Yuuto wouldn't get into nearly as much trouble as he used to. (Yuuto had gotten into a lot of fist fights and such... although Yuuto is more a of leg-user.) So, in that light Yuuto has been at Kazan for a year and a half, and already has quite the reputation of being the 'slacker' of the school and the troublemaker. Yuuto is not involved in any extra curricular activities, but usually stays a short while after school for some apparent reason.
Oddly enough, Yuuto has a huge fondness of alcohol and any sweet-tasting alcoholic beverages. One of the primary reasons he gets in trouble at school is because he always has a large bottle of some sort of alcohol with him at school- either in a pack or blatantly slung about his waist. Yuuto has a fast metabolism and an adaptive nature however, so he never seems drunk unless he brings two bottles of hard liquor to school.
Other: His favorite thing to drink or bring to school is Ouzo.

Chiba Yuuto
ACCESSING INFO: [ Kazan | M | 17 ]
MUSIC START: [ the WORLD - Nightmare ]

~*~*~*~*~*~

The stadium had quite the ruckus with the loud cheering coming from three men in the stands- well, mostly the two with the pompoms. They cheered at anyone who did anything good for Kazan with quite a boisterous roar. It had been after the fifth match that things started to die down a bit, perhaps the stands cheering them into exhaustion. Yet, it was at that precise moment between the fifth and sixth match that the entrance door flung open with a loud slam.

"AAAYYYEEEEE!!! I SWEAR IT WAS PERFECTLY LEGAL! SORE LOSERS!"

The quiet of the stands only enhanced this loud, roughly-edged yell as none other than Chiba Yuuto charged in. His eyes didn't even seem to register a glance at anyone in the area, but rather he shot a glance backward. Three other men erupted from the same door, causing the same slam against the wall. They were students who were vaguely known to be on the track team, and that was all that was notable about them. However, they swore and cursed as they yelled various things back at Yuuto.

"GIVE BACK THE MONEY YOU THIEF!"
"YOU CHEATED YOU BAKA!"
Etc.

Yuuto ran through the lower half of the stand, mumbling vague pardons as he leapt over the few people who sat in the front row. At the very end he leapt out of the stands and quickly opened the exiting door to the building and dashed outside with yet another resounding slam. This was only mirrored as the three boys from the track team did the same.
This left the match in a great deal of silence.


Yuuto absently swore at himself as he ran, remembering that he had finished the bottle of Ouzo that he had brought earlier to school. The thirst he had worked up from all the running could have easily been quenched by a sweet, satisfying gulp of the precious liquid. There was no helping it now, he realized. He had figured he could outrun the three guys chasing him by now, but it seemed that he had chosen the better three of the track team.

"WHAT THE HELL? WHAT EVENTS DO YOU GUYS DO?!" He swore back at them, but they called back at him that they did the mile, which then made Yuuto realize that running would not be the best option.

"Meeehhh... this is such a pain.." Yuuto thought with a grumble, digging his tennis shoed foot into the pavement as he slid to a stop at the edge of the football field. There now was a very large chained fence in his way. He could climb over it, but he figured the three guys would chase him forever. He had won about 10,000 yen from them... and Yuuto thought it was perfectly legal, but apparently they disagreed.

Whirling about, Yuuto turned to face the three who huffed and huffed as they stood in a semi-circle across from him. Yuuto sighed, wishing he had worn different clothes today. Long blue jeans and a loose-fitting button up black shirt was not the best choice for any of this. Especially since he had no Ouzo.

"Give back the money... Yuuto-baka!" The particularily daring one yelled.

"Ehh... I don't feel like it. Yah see, I need to buy sum'more Ouzo.. And I was plan'n on use'n that money."

The three of them started to smack their fists into the palms of their hands as they took a few steps closer.
"We're gonna have rough you up a bit then and just FORCE it from you!"

Yuuto sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He had promised that he wouldn't get into any fights at Kazan... and after the fifth time of breaking that promise, Yuuto decided that he'd have to break it one more time. Just once more. After all, he HAD won the money fair and square. It wasn't his fault that his opponents were being unreasonable.

"Yah see... that's not gonna work..." Yuuto said calmly, shoving his hands into his pockets as he lowered his head very slightly. An eerily confident grin grew upon his face as he took a step forward at them. This caused the track men to hesitate for a moment, but they had already committed themselves to this confrontation. So they charged.

The lead guy charged at him, taking the usual approach with a side punch aimed straight at Yuuto's face. For a moment, Yuuto had an inner sigh because it seemed any guy who didn't know what they were doing always started with the side punch. First of all, a side punch was hard to hit and secondly, if you did hit... it hurt like hell on your fist. A head had a skull for a reason.
But, he missed.

It was almost as if Yuuto's own body was naturally lazy in any situation as he seemed to barely breeze around the fist with a seemingly slow lean to the side. The other track guy on the right aimed a punch at Yuuto's gut, but once again Yuuto seemed to just barely move out of the way in a yawning fashion- almost as if he were dodging in slow motion.

"What the hell?!" The last track guy said, seeing this as he hesitated to get into the fray.

Yuuto took the opportunity to use his own leg power to leap into the air to give him a decent amount of hang time. Just as he reached his climatic hang time moment, he used a split kick. His shoes went each way- one smashing directly into the leader's face and the other smashing into his back up's chest. The two were sent sprawling in different directions as Yuuto landed calmly on the ground.

The back up guy managed to get up first, staggering slightly as in blind range he tried to punch Yuuto again in the face. Yuuto reacted by taking a step past the guy's fist so that he was aligned on his side. Yuuto's knee then rose up swiftly, pounding into back up guy's chest with a sickening thud. He coughed abruptly, spit flying from his mouth with a gasp as he struggled to breath and collapsed to the ground.

The leader came to his wits as his hand cupped his nose, which was bleeding profusely and most likely was broken.

"Get him!!" The leader roared, snapping a violent gaze at the last guy who had yet to make a move.

"N-no way man! He came f-from that one sc-school and... look at him!"

The leader hesitated for a moment as Yuuto stared blankly at him, his eyes half-open in an emotionless stare that waited for his move.
"Let's go..." The leader grumbled, taking a few steps back before he turned and decided to run with his other track friend.

"Maaannn... talk about lack of loyalty." Yuuto tsked, looking down at the abandoned track member who was catching his lost wind. "Tough break, eh? See yah tomorrow!" Yuuto walked away lazily, his hands still shoved in his pockets as he headed home.

[darktyranitar]

Bass solo, take one.

11/9/??
Sakaki Hideo
[Cliff ‘em All]

A man has once said that “all truth goes through three phases. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self evident.”

For Hideo, he was truly past the first and the second phases, but he was yet to arrive towards the final phase of truth. That is, if it was indeed the truth… and not just one of those tricks by those ever-annoying spirits.

He helped himself to another bottle of fizzy drink (not alcohol, for he was determined to break his addiction), and took out a packet of Pocky (not cigarette). Ah, some old habit just doesn’t go away so easily… But come to think of it, perhaps no amount of alcohol or cigarette is enough to get rid of the dreadful gloom that he had experienced yesterday. Yes, he still felt insignificant and useless, even now…

Every book on the subject of occult, as well as any instruments related to occult elements was now neatly stacked at one corner of his office, except that they have now becomes ashes of their former state. This all happened shortly after he saw… well, the thing that should not be; he dread to even think of what he saw yesterday. The girl, and that thing… And to his amazement, he found that no help came out from every exorcizing mantra and charm that he had used. Every single one of them.

And thus, he then tore books to pieces with his bare hands, before proceeding to smash items to pieces… why, he even ate a book (it was a thin one, fortunately) out of frustration. He then set them on fire, before proceeding to sit at one corner, where he remained therein.

Until now, that is. Something was coming his way, and he was totally unaware of its arrival.

It was only when the said thing prodded him on the shoulder. He waved a hand, muttering an inaudible “what is it? Buzz off, bugger.”

He then paused. Hang on… what could possibly be smooth, small and… (he flailed his hand before he felt something) round in shape? He didn’t bother to ponder long on that, and instead turned around – with one hand forming a fist, and the other one gripping the spherical object tightly.

The object stayed still in his grip. Slowly, he released his grip… to reveal a small orb that is slightly larger than a typical marble. The orb glowed, and on closer inspection, he could see the unmistakable Cancer zodiac symbol inscribed on it.

The orb then made a small movement, and in a blink, it was hovering just beside Hideo’s temple. It then made a movement, as if it was asking if Hideo would mind if it could just strike his temple with a relatively high velocity (despite being an orb, it does have a way of getting its message heard).

“Sure thing. Go knock yourself out,” Hideo said dryly.

It was only a microsecond after the orb had struck him – and a nanosecond before he passed out – that he realized that it was a stupid thing to do. But he managed to laugh at what he had just said though.

Well, almost.


*When a man lies he murders some part of the world
These are the pale deaths which men miscall their lives
All this I cannot bear to witness any longer
Cannot the Kingdom of Salvation take me home


The first thing that Hideo noticed upon his awakening from his stupor is that he felt somehow… different. It was as if his inside had been taken out, washed thoroughly, and then inserted to their respective place. He had never felt so fresh… so wonderful.

And the second thing that he noticed is that a crab was perched on top of his head. A blue, metallic crab at that. And it was humming a tune.

“‘sup, man?” the crab greeted him.

Hideo stood up, pried the crab off his head, and placed it on top of a charred table. “Um. I feel good, thanks,” he replied uncertainly. He was about to go off with a series of questions – regarding to the origin of this crab, his intention etc – had he not noticed the stains on his hakama.

…as well as the stain on the wall, the floor, the ceiling, and the window. And the hole on the bookshelves.

“No one,” he said with as much self control as he could muster. “Mess this room. No one but me.”

“I can’t stay still and gotta let off some steam and all, I can’t help it! And the room was already a mess, to begin with.”

As the crab says this, Hideo couldn’t help but laugh. He would never have thought that a crab could talk in a normal human voice, and not in those squeaky cartoonish voice.

“And what the fuck are you laughing at, man?” the crab growled, irritated.

Oh, and it can swear as well… wow.

“Well, actually,” Hideo said (with a sour face) “When I imagine a talking crab, I would… ahh, actually, I was going to ask you-”

“Who am I?” interrupted the crab. “Clifford Lee Burton. What am I? I am Cancer. Why am I here? Well… actually, I’m not so sure… probably because of some ‘great plan by the people up there-’”

“Clifford Lee Burton?” Hideo scratched his chin. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that-”

“Yup. That’s the guy… and he’s back, I’m telling you! Me! Only in a different form, that’s all. Now, where was I… ah, yes. When-”

“Wait, wait… Cliffy, you said you’re cancer? Cancer? The zodiac? Or cancer, as in the disease?”

“Both, actually. I’m the cancer, and I am The Cancer. You got me?”

“Sure thing, Cliffy.”

“What! What did you-”

“So, Cliffy. What are we supposed to do now, eh?” Hideo had said this before Cliff could have the chance to interrupt his interruption; deep inside, he was satisfied with himself.

Cliff raised one of his pincers up in an intentionally slow manner… and sighed. “Like hell I know, man. Like hell I know…”


*To Live Is To Die, by Metallica/Lyrics written by Clifford Lee Burton.

[EngiMatikul]

Aria
====?????=====

It seemed rather dark.
The scenary around her appeared to be familiar but for whatever reason, the atmosphere hung with a heavy, anxious feeling. It was dark and she couldn't see very well, but Aria could make out branches swaying in a eerily howling wind, and a place not too unlike a forest she walks through every day... except... why where there no leaves? Why is she alone? She looked around, suddenly realized she WAS alone. She looked for her brother, her friends, any signs of other people, but could not find any.
But then, down a trail that lead deeper into the forest, shone a bright light. The light shone brightly, then began running away from her.
Feeling that it must have some importance, Aria began running after the light herself. She steadily began catching up when she realized the light had taken the appearance of her classmate Mishio, however, not as the Mishio she had seen these last couple of days. This was Mishio, laughing and cheerful, eager to run towards her destination wherever she might be. Then, as if Mishio had noticed Aria's presence, she turned around and looked at Aria, then smiled.
"Thanks for all your help, but I'll be fine now." Mishio bowed towards Aria, then ran off into the distance, disappearing from sight.

====1:30 PM====
She must say so herself, the chocolate peppermint slices she had made for everyone tasted wonderful. She ingested another without shame or guilt.
Although she was somewhat bothered by the strange dream she had the night before and even more bothered by the sight she had to see when she went to wake up her brother, she was absolutely satisfied in her latest creation. She had to, of course, wake up early in the morning, much earlier than others, in order to try any type of new dessert she wanted to make, so that if it turns out well she can deliver them to her friends and family throughout the day, whereas if it ended in failure she can scrap it without anyone noticing. Indeed, both Yumi-chan and Ushitaros-san enjoyed the pastry immensely. Aria would have spent a longer time at the shrine had she not been eager to share the rest of her dessert with those at her Cooking Club, so shortly after lunch she rushed over to school. Rushed over, in fact, a little too fast...
"waahh!!" Aria and another being collided upon reaching a corner, both having been going at a speed slightly above a typical walking tempo. Aria had a signficantly smaller mass compared to the other figure, so by general laws of momentum she ended up the one on the ground.
"Owowow-- I'm so sorr--"
"I apologize! I had been rushing over to class and wasn't watching where I was going-- Oh! Hey, you were that person from yesterday...Sakamoto-san, am I correct?"
"Aaaahh!!" Aria exclaimed as her eyes lit up. "Mizukaze-kun! Thanks for rescuing me yesterday--" (Insert many bows by Aria here) "--And I'm sorry I was in your way, um, um... would you like a peppermint slice?" Aria reached into her bag to pull out a snack, but then realized she no longer had her bag... rather, the bag had found itself onto the floor, with many untensils, books, and peppermint slices scattered all accross the floor. Aria appeared dejected.
"Aww..."
Mizukaze-kun scratched the back of his head, and, despite claiming he was late earlier, offers to help. "Since I ran into you, It's partly my fault so I'll help clean up..."
"Nono!! You have class to go to, you should really attend--"
"RUN!!!!"
From a distance, the two could hear a shreik of fear, and like moths attracted to a pretty light, their attention was immediately diverted.
"What was that?" Aria asked, looking towards Mizukaze-kun.
"Not sure, but it seems like someone's in danger." As if an obvious statement could not be stated any more obviously.
"YOU LIAR!!!"
"It's that way!" Mizukaze-kun pointed in a particular direction. "Hey, you stay here, I'll go check out what's going on..."
Of course, saying "stay here" is the last thing any character would listen to, so, much to Mizukaze-kun's discontentment, Aria followed shortly after.
"I want to see what's happening too," Aria said with a sweet yet serious face.
Before Mizukaze-kun could say anything back, they stopped. They were now facing a very angry looking Kazan student holding a familiar Furin student in his arms. Upon their arrival he looked up to them, his infuriated face filled with rage.
"You...guys..."
"What have you done to her!!" Mizukaze-kun stated without hesitation. "Put her down at once! Or else..."
"Or else... what?" Dropping the Furin student down gently (which Aria has now determined to be Rika-san), the boy summoned a incredibly large sword. "Another one huh?" the boy grinned rather maniacally. "I must admit, I hadn't had this much fun since the last I could remember..."
"STAND BACK!!" Mizukaze-kun commanded to Aria as he summoned his own zodiac weapon...
-----

Outlaw JT has been officially tagged. Unless he makes some indication that he's alive in the next 5 days, after time is up he will be classified as deceased. If that time does come, anyone may post his death if they wish to. In fact I'd rather have it someone else posting since I'm going to be bogged down with final projects soon and Aria needs to be rescued somewhat, anyway.
Also, I THINK CT doesn't want her brother char to die yet, so don't kill the guy off. :V

[EngiMatikul]

Thanks to Shizo for not making me look like a double poster!

AkaiKami
=====Sept 12, Sunday. 1:34 AM.======
Once again night falls upon the school with an evil presence, only this time rather than the moon shining luminously on the window, it is instead shrouded deeply within the ominous clouds floating over the educational institution. The author figured a change of weather would be a good break from the ever so cliche scenario the readers are forced to go through the last two times they were here, and also because there is possibly change and danger in the air.
Possibly.
The clouds seemed to emphasize with the dark man in the shadows within the interior of the school, whom was quite agitated at (what he determined to be) the patheticness of his servant, having let one of the zodiacs free...
"...The pure form of the zodiac power is extremely unstable and cannot be contained in such a form." Akai continued without acknowledging her master's agitation. "It is clear that this method will not succeed. We will need an alternative, one that can be used before the powers of the zodiacs within the hosts become too strong..."
The man in the shadows sighed. Perhaps he should have known it wouldn't be this easy, but he still had thought that, maybe, with the powers of this mysterious being the task could easily be done. Akai looked up at him with blank staring eyes. There was a moment of silence before she decided to speak again.
"...You should at least be satisfied to know I have captured one zodiac."
"...Oh?" The man perked up. Akai closed her eyes nonchalently and snapped her fingers. The doors to the room opened with a thunderous clap and at the doorway, Akai's master can barely note out...
"The boy who had died earlier!"
"Shortly before I had arrived it appeared that some Kazan gang members were attacking a Furin Zodiac leaving their grounds. After a short power boost the zodiac was overwhelmed and defeated. It was then I decided to try a trick, a trick where the zodiac will find a body... a body with no soul..."
"Excellent!" The man exclaimed. "You never told me you can revive the dead! Excellent indeed, we'll just create an army then--"
"Impossible." Akai stopped him in midsentence. "Because the body has no soul, the energy required to keep the body alive and moving must come from another source, most notably myself. I cannot maintain so many bodies and capture zodiacs simultaneously. It is, in fact, best to keep Tatsuo... here. Where no one can see, and the zodiac safe from stray attacks, and, as a last resort, serve as part of your bodyguard."
Akai bowed, and the man look slightly dissatisfied. "So, then... what do you say we do...?"
"We must use other living hosts. But we require their cooperation." Akai held out her hand and in the palm of her hand, a small, purple levitating flame began to burn in midair. "I have... a skill, but it will require time."
"How long until completion?" The man asked.
Akai looked straight at her master with her ebonyblack, soulless eyes. "Three days."
======
Next up for Zodiac Powers is kalad1 and Bulbasaur4! You guys know the drill already.

And new NPC will be up momentarily. :V

[classy_cat18]

Itou Cho - Unprepared for a Rude Awakening
Current song: "Not Ready to Make Nice" by Dixie Chicks

"Cho!"

One of my eyes opened and glared at my mother standing in the doorway. "Hm?"

"Don't forget that you're helping me in the studio today. If I can't sleep all day, neither can you!" She winked at me and closed the door.

I looked up at my ceiling and laughed despite my drowsiness. I rarely slept through Sundays anyway, even if I had a match the previous day. What to do today? My body stretched out catlike, nails clawing at my pillow. Akio-kun went off with Dai-kun and that Hotaru guy last night. Who knows what he's up to today. Maybe Satoshi would like to hang out. Or Ryuu. Ryuu shouldn't be busy today.

Another giggle escaped my lips while I slid out from under the covers. I could still feel Ryuu's lips on mine. The congratulatory kiss that he gave me in secret last night lingered longer than I thought. My warm fuzzy feeling grew until I shook it out of my mind long enough to get dressed.

"Cho, your captain is at the door," Mom announced from the end of the hallway.

"Akaryou-taichou? I didn't even know he knew my address," I muttered to myself. He was probably just here to remind Mom of the next match or something. Nothing to ruin my mood.

"Itou-chan, ohayou," Akaryou greeted when he spotted me coming to meet him. Okay, so I was taken aback by the small grin that he was wearing as he waited by the front door. He always smiled like that for Mom. It just proved how lowdown he really was. "I need to discuss something important with you. May we take a walk?"

Something in the back of my mind was begging me to sucker punch him, even if Mom was just a couple feet away. Instead I nodded and walked outside with him. The house was still in sight when I asked the first the first question. "What the hell are you doing at my house?" I asked him angrily.

"I was getting concerned about you. This whole business with Furin has had you so distracted." His smile never changed, but I could sense something wrong with him.

My eyes narrowed in a vicious glare. "Everyone is. What's your point?"

"The murders are even affecting the school teams. Furin suffered a loss of one of their martial arts team members."

I stopped abruptly, not missing the chuckle he added. Any warmth that I had minutes ago was quickly replaced with a wave of nausea. It had to have been a sick joke. "Stop beating around the bush," I growled. "Who was killed?"

He whispered the name but I could read his lips clearly. "Mizukaze Ryuu."

A harsh gasp was ripped from my mouth. A feeling not unlike a sledgehammer hit my gut, causing me to drop to my knees. I struggled to breathe but also to keep the contents of my stomach down. "You dare...joke...like that?" I panted.

"Have you ever known me to joke of such things? Both the Furin and Kazan student councils are discussing the matter as we speak."

"Ryuu-kun..." I didn't even recognize my voice. It sounded so soft and weak, like the pieces of my shattered heart. Tears dripped on the clipping, the sounds so loud that it drowned out Akaryou's voice while he chattered.

"...couldn't even find the body," he finished. I heard that part.

The pain was too much. I threw my head back and cried out. "RYUU!" I wailed. Something had to be done to make the pain go away. Who would do such a thing? He didn't hurt anyone, didn't pick fights. But Akaryou...he hated him...he used others to hurt him...to kill him.

Rationality flew out the window so I could find the anger to plant a fist in Akaryou's stomach. The attack was fast enough to take him by surprise, but he wasn't in enough pain. He just stumbled back with a long groan. "Itou..." he forced out.

"You bastard. He just pushed you too far. You had to have killed him." Another one of my unrecognizable voices, this one like a cold snarl. I wasn't even looking at him, but at my feet.

Another cold laugh. "Your poor dragon is no longer with you. I'm not disappointed, but I can't take the credit for this. I have alibis; even you won't be able to pin this on me."

He wasn't lying that time. The rational side came back so fast it made my head spin. I felt too weak to be angry anymore. Something caught me by the collar as I fell back. "Too much for you, Itou?" Akaryou asked me.

"Ryuu-kun," I whimpered. I could still feel his kiss...it was too much...

"Pathetic," my captain hissed. One of his hands wrapped itself around my neck. "Third seat Itou Cho, howling for her forbidden love. What made you fall for such trash? Surely you could've done better."

"Ryuu-kun." My eyes refilled with tears.

"Everything I did was for Kazan, for my team. He stuck his nose in our business, stalked us, tried to use you. I wasn't lying when I said you were an asset that I didn't want to lose."

I struggled as his grip tightened, enough of me intact to still defy him. "I'm nothing but an asset to you. I should've quit the second you ordered Ikage and Hideo to attack Ryuu."

He stayed silent. For a second I felt immense relief when my feet touched solid asphalt. Then he moved like lightning, striking the same spot I hit him with an open palm. I doubled over and emptied whatever I still had in my stomach.

"You're weak, Itou-kun. You could never learn to stand on your own two feet. You always had Kasai Akio pull you out of trouble." He yanked my hair antennae harshly. "He's the perfect person to hide behind. Just think how strong you'll be if you'd just stop hanging onto him."

My mind was more intact at that point. The pain that he gave me kept me from completely giving out. Akio? Kasai? Did I hear him correctly? I thought about how he saved me from the mech. And when I saw Ryuu's unconscious body on school grounds, I looked to him for comfort. Even now I craved his attention. He's my friend. It's natural. I wasn't being weak. I don't need him.

"I don't need him," I whimpered.

Akaryou just scowled and kneed me in the ribs, earning a sharp cry from me. "Doesn't sound like it to me." He pushed me to the ground. "Maybe a couple of weeks away from the team will help you."

I played possum until I knew he was gone, then slowly rose to my feet. I echoed the same words unknowingly until I was back inside the house. "Don't need him...don't need him...don't need him..."

My mom found me leaning on the wall just a minute after I got in. She didn't hesitate to scream and hold me as if trying to keep me in one piece. But I didn't need her either. I pushed her away and started towards my room. "Cho, what happened? You need to get to the hospital!" she cried out.

"Don't need to," I mumbled. I tripped halfway up but stood and wobbled the rest of the way.

I don't really remember what happened for a while after that. Mom tended to me myself, saying that my eyes look dead and that she demanded I tell her what happened. She seemed horrified at whatever I said. I think it was the same words repeatedly:

"I'm not weak. I'm not weak. I'm not weak."

Damn classes. Damn sun!

[darktyranitar]

Random post... call it a mandatory post lest someone is having any idea to kill of ol Hideo, eh?

Posted under the inspiration of Box, heheh

12/9/??
Sakaki Hideo

I feel unsettled, now I know that I've done wrong.
I've messed around with mystic things and magic for too long.
I feel I'm being paid with this nightmare inside me,
The devil's got a hold on my soul and he just won't let me be.
[Prodigal Son|Iron Maiden]

“There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.”

“Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie. Lieeeeeeeeeee.”

“Love is the law, love under will.”

“You say, love is a temple, love a higher law; love is a temple, love a higher law…”

“Tcth. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

“Hey. I fought the law and… I won.”

[i]The old man held out a shaky finger; had he was fitter, he would have surely flew in a fit of rage. “Curse you! Curse you!”

Hideo sighed, exaggeratingly. “Many have, sadly… it goes a long list, do you know that? Aye, I remember that one time when I woke up with my brains in my… well, arse. Do you know that?”

The old man sighed. “Sometimes I hate myself."

“I’m sure you do,” was Hideo nonchalant reply.

The old man took a deep breath… and held on for a short, but painful, one minute. It wasn’t long before the infection will consume him… well, he suppose he could show this man some trick off his sleeve.

“Farewell, for I’m about to leave this world. But listen! My son…” The old man then sniggered. “Nay… Oriental scum…”

“Hey, look at this… the old man is but a terrible racist!”

The old man ignored the remark. “It is only fitting that I send yer this terrible curse…”

“Har-har.”

“Oh, this curse will indeed consume every inch of your soul… your mind, your spirit, your body… until Death does greet you; aye, I can assure you this. ‘tis be my final curse, boy… don’t wet your pants over this.” He paused – probably for dramatic sake (or a more plausible reason would be that he was a sorry old man that was on the verge of dying) “By the name of-”

“Yesssss?”

The old man face twisted to conjure a pain-ridden face; you could say that he is holding onto his last breath. Not that Hideo was bothered: after seventy two cursed year, the wickedest man in the world was going to die right here: on a sorry looking bed, in this sorry looking house.

But surely, the old man wasn’t called ‘the wickedest man in the world’ for nothing.

On his dying words, he cursed the man that is yet to come; cursed the man named Hideo Sakaki.

Shocked and in disbelief, Hideo muttered this:

“Nanda deska? Crowley-ojiisan…”

For the first time, since the last ten years, he spoke the language of the Japanese.


If there was anything that Hideo had learned last night, it was this: never argue with a crab. Especially if said crab could actually talk back to you.

But, ah, that doesn’t matter… a crab is a crab – to be eaten, and no more than that – and he was still himself. And there’s a good chance that it was just one of his crazy dreams: he was used to them by now.

“Hey.”

Except for this one.

“Would you believe,” Hideo said between a wide yawn. “That I dreamed that I was talking to a crab… and the crab actually talked back to me?”

Cliff snorted. “‘course you did.”

“And would you believe, if… if…” Hideo raised one finger – as if he was about to say something either smart or downright obvious – but then decided to dismiss it, as he noticed how the sun was now casting a nasty glare upon him.

In addition, Cliff was discretely whistling.

“…what?” Cliff said, noticing the sceptical look on Hideo’s face.

“You weren’t excreting chloroform last night, were you?”

“Well…” Cliff scratched what would appear to be his chin. It certainly makes him look somehow intelligent. “Yeah, maybe, I did… actually, I did, heh… but SO WHAT!” The last part was shouted just right next to Hideo’s eardrum.

“Hmpff. The crab’s got a point. Good thing today’s a Sunday, eh?”


This Sunday was somehow different from any other Sunday. For starter, it was the only Sunday – and perhaps the only day – Hideo had woke up late. Very late, it might be added (Hideo woke up even before it was dawn… or so it seems).

And secondly, he had this strange feeling… nothing as scary as a vision, but still… the weird feeling at the pit of his stomach must be a sign of something. It is unlike a stomach ache; no… it was, well, something else.

“Would you believe,” Hideo said, totally at unease at the monotony of his surrounding. “If I were to tell you that I have talked with the brethren of Satan?”

Cliff exhaled a chemical fume. Hideo recognized it as some kind of ester. “If it makes you any better, I envisioned that there’s going to be some despair going around the area. Oh, and… umm…”

“Death?” Hideo guessed.

“Yup, that’s it. Hey. You know well how it goes, yeah?”

“Well, yes, I think it’s kind of predictable. But, listen… umm, well you know.” Hideo snapped his fingers, and he was tapping his feet uneasily; he was trying to get out the words correctly. “What I’m going to say is that the world has taken a wild turn, right? First, it’s about the student over that other school, the one who is dead now, you know? And then there was some… well, let’s just say I’ve never heard – or seen – anything weirder than what I’ve seen recently. And then, then… there’s you!”

Cliff seemed rather offended. “Hey. You think you’re any better than this crappy crab?”

“And… and…” Hideo waved his hand frantically. “Why do I have this feeling that I’m about to be caught up in a real deep shit, with the really oh-so-fucking-cliché story of saving… the…? Uh-uh… no shit, did I just said that? No sh… wait, wait. Shhh. Hold on. No, SHUT UP!”

Cliff nodded approvingly, as Hideo immediately made a miserable face. “No shit, we’re finally on the same wavelength! Hey… look who’s looking like a crap now. Can’t be all bad, right? Hey, hey, where’re you going?”

Still looking rather miserable indeed, Hideo slowly got up – and breaks into a run. If it has come to this…well, there was only one sensible thing that he should do.


Running his head against the wall was definitely not what he had in mind.


“…stupid place for a wall…”

[EngiMatikul]

Well I had both a Thomas and Aria post going but the Aria one isn't finished because I've been slacking lazy playing EFZ busy tonight. But since I kind of promised and didn't do anything much for the RPG I'll post the Thomasy thing.

And I promise after me and Yi get through with the plot advancement stuffs that most of you don't take notice of we'll get on with the day.

Hmmm. I should really do more interaction. Moar people discuss moar interactions! Thanks B4 kind of for interacting with my NPC part of the time.

Thomas
=====
It was really quite a tedious task, holding sudden emergency meetings due to unexpected circumstances, but it must be done. Well, at least according to Zenigata-san, who had, without a doubt in his mind, been blamimg Thomas's apathy for many of the mysterious and incriminating deaths even though it was clear that any security ideas Zenigata had tried have not worked to this day and any ideas he haven't tried yet would still not work. The circumstances were unusual, Thomas had acknowledged that; in general, despite Zenigata's loudmouthing he does a fairly well-rounded job in keeping the Kazan students in order. Therefore, this was a case outside of the student council jurisdiction.
However, any information provided by the council members may still prove to be useful. Especially those directly involved with some of the mysterious instances.
For a short moment Thomas took his eyes off the newspaper and watched An-san hastily rush through the door, then settled down as the briefing commenced. It was only a short time into the meeting that An-san, last one to arrive, interrupted and stated he must be the first one to leave.

As An-san left the room, Thomas put down and folded up the paper he was reading. "Well then, I suppose we shall be ajourned, then, shall we?"
"Wait, What?!?" Zenigata stated with a look of incredulity on his face.
"Everyone knows what had happened now, correct? And the only other issue you have to go over is enforcing school conduct codes more stringently, which is what you always try to bring up. You will be allowed to conduct your actions with limitations, however be aware that many students are already tense due the past incidences we've had these last several days. Punishing them will not make them any happier."
There was silence in the room. No one had anything else to say, since what Thomas said is true, and what Zenigata was planning to say had already been said.
"So..." Takura-san spoke up after a few minutes. "Would this meeting have been over right then if An-kun hadn't left right then and there?"
"Who knows," Thomas spoke nonchalantly. "Perhaps he would have had something interesting to tell us. It's a disappointment that we can't voice our opinions and thoughts as a unified student council due to more 'urgent business' matters than school security, but it can't be helped."
"It's not like you're doing anything about this crap, either," Zenigata mumbled as Thomas walked out the door. Thomas heard him, but made no indication of it.
======
"Ok, what you're saying now is that us three, three fully obvious Kazan students, are going to pretend to be from Furin and be the dear caring friends of a Furin girl we never knew?!? What kind of plan is that?!?" Wolf shouted as if this was some kind of heretic behavior.
"Just read the personal data sheet of this Mishio girl and pretend you were in love with her, or something, all right?" Yumi slapped a sheet of paper onto Wolf's chest while munching on some peppermint slices.
Perhaps it would suffice to give a brief outline that was supposed to have happened the day before but was not indicated previously for whatever particular reason. It was determined, yesterday, that Thomas had conducted a similar experiment regarding Tatsuo's parents and concluded that the parents had no recollection of their former son, a unusual and vexing discovery. Since information about the deceased may lead to motives and reasons behind these cases, Thomas had decided that today they will approach another more freshly deceased student, a student by the name of Kurasawa Mishio. Curiously enough, her death had been mostly unknown yet Wolf had managed to overhear some rumors about her death running around through the Kazan Gang Network (KGN). Deeming this event a worthy enough case to investigate and significantly less of a hassle (the KGN and rest of Kazan were all over the Mizukaze Ryuu case therefore investigation into him would require a lot more work; besides why do more work when everyone else will find out information about him anyway?), Thomas called his fellow detective sleuths to undertake a great mission.

To have tea with Kurasawa family.

"I apologize for taking you two out on your holiday. As you can see already, this task may prove difficult for some people..."
"Yes, Wolfy here obviously doesn't know how to have tea..." Yumi smirked.
"THAT'S NOT THE ISSUE HERE!! Well, ok, it is! We're having tea! With Furin school parents! On a Sunday!"
"I am sorry, Wolf, but not every mission will require an enemy you must physically take down--"
"I am NOT looking to beat someone up, I'm just saying this is...wierd!!"
"What's wrong with interrogating relatives for information? Oh yes, Rippou-kun, they are expecting us, right?"
"I sent out a request earlier about their daughter. Apparently they are still aware that they had one and are currently anxious to know her whereabouts. Ah, that's their house right there, Yumi would you mind introducing us? Since some do not feel particularly comfortable with my welcome speeches, for whatever particular reason..."

======


GOOD LUCK TO YI ON HER PROJECT

[Weasel Overlord]

ARGH THE DELAYS!! THE PROCRASTINATION!! *dusts off the RPG* I do declare the schools once again OPEN! *throws confetti* Let the carnage begin. XD

Inoue Hotaru
一体何の為に生まれてきたのか
Sunday

Through the haze of smoke and blood, Hotaru had woken to see Akio, his dearest Akio, lost to flames. What Hotaru could see of his eyes through the smog were blank, as if he’d gone somewhere else inside his mind to escape the horror of what he was doing to the Furin students.

Staggering to his feet, Hotaru reached out his hand to Akio - poor lost Akio - and staggered step by painful step towards him. The fire was hot; its heat searing recent wounds further into his skin. His voice cracked painfully as he called out.

“A-Akio,” he managed. The combined effects of the smoke and the previous beatings were taking their toll, and Hotaru felt as if his live would never be back to normal again unless he somehow managed to snap Akio out of whatever he was going through.

“Akio!” His throat felt raw, now, as he stepped back from the flames slightly. He probably couldn’t talk, even if he could find the words to say. It was as if a wave of dumbness washed over him at the sight of his attackers being burned… no, being eaten alive by those flames. And Akio… poor Akio was doing this. His Akio who had never hurt anyone else in his life…

Tears came, then, into Hotaru’s injured eyes. He saw through salt-blurred vision the flames go out, finally and thankfully. Akio, completely naked now, slumped to the floor as if he were a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Though Hotaru felt as if his entire body was aflame, he knew that he had to reach Akio before the pain overwhelmed his senses. He tottered that final distance to where his friend lay and knelt, breathing ragged, over him. His hand reached out as if controlled by someone else and he carefully brushed a piece of hair out of Akio’s eyes. Slumping to the ground, Hotaru curled himself around Akio protectively, although in his state, he didn’t really know what he’d do if anyone tried to threaten them.

Hotaru felt Akio stir as he wrapped his arms around him, and he snuggled closer, burrowing his nose into the red hair at the nape of Akio’s neck.

“It’s okay, Akio…” he whispered. “It’s… it’s okay now.”

*

Taru’s eyes opened and his vision centred on a face he never thought he’d see again. A tired smile flickered on his face and he sighed in relief.

“Daiii,” he croaked. “You’re late.”

In his delirious state, he couldn’t be sure what the tangle of emotions was on Dai’s precious face. Was it anger or fear? Either way, it felt good when his strong arms lifted Hotaru from the pavement and set him gently down again, leaning against the low wall. He did the same for Akio, and as he stirred in Dai’s arms, he whispered something in his ear before leaning down for Taru.

They staggered down the street - a strange, six-legged creature, Dai the pillar of strength for the both of them.

Hotaru didn’t know how long it took to get to the hospital, but he knew that once he was there, he sure was glad of a bed. He turned his head and was relieved to see Akio in an identical bed next to him, sound asleep. The only sign of the horrific day they’d had was in the slight crease of his brow as he dreamed.

TAG WENNY'S POST!!

EDIT: HAHAHAHAH POST 69!!

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Collaboration post. I think I'm failing lately, all I can write is dialogue. At the end there is a somewhat desperate call for OK WHO STILL THINKS THEY WANT TO PARTICIPATE GO AHEAD AND SAVE OUR ASSES.

Sakamoto Dai, Sakamoto Aria

The things that don't matter are the things you can't forget.

Dai was not a frequenter of the local hospital. In the seventeen years of his short life, he had not the occasion to. His grandparents had lived and died in a suburb of Tokyo, and the rest of his family were notoriously healthy. Their pet diseases were confined to very occasional fevers and the common cold.

Watching the prone bodies stark against the white of the beds, Dai sat down heavily on an ugly plastic chair (chairs in hospitals everywhere seemed to be ugly and made of plastic; it was probably a ridiculous health protocol, though some might argue that interior designers and all those with innate good taste might be driven mad by the sight of them) and began to think.

His thought processes were not hard to follow. About ten minutes ago he'd delivered his friends, two people he'd almost consider brothers, into the ministering arms of the nurses, having salvaged them from the pavement where they'd been left by - left by what? Akio had been naked and smelling of sulphur; Hotaru had been merely badly hurt. And he'd cleaned up, as per usual.

This time they'd not been causing the trouble, however. He'd forgive them, this time.

Wicked things afoot. Would they come for him? Logically, they might.

And if they came for him...

...Aria?

"Ah! There you are, anii-sama!! When I asked Mom where you were she told me you ran off to the hospital!!" Aria, appearing apparently out of nowhere like the demon king in a pantomime, grabbed hold of her brother's sleeve with one hand and began pulling him away.

"What are you doing here? I thought we were supposed to go shopping today, are you trying to get out of grocery shopping with me--" Aria stopped, as if she had only then sensed the severity of the situation. A hospital would mean either prescription medication, or... Aria gasped as she turned around to find Dai's two friends on the patients' bed. "Oh my-- What happened?!? Are they okay, is anything wrong--"

"Be more quiet, they're sleeping."

"...Oh. Well, that would explain why mom told me to deliver this bouquet of roses to you..." Aria placed the roses on a cabinet beside the beds. Dai's brain briefly registered that the roses were large, and very red, and the suspicious side of it wondered why his mother would choose that particular shade of rose instead of the more discreet varieties usually presented to invalids, before his sister began again to speak.

"Eer... so are you going to stay here?"

Dai ruminated. He did not ruminate long before his sister continued, in a breathless spiel:

"...although if we don't go shopping we won't have anything to eat tonight..."

"...okay, okay, let's go."

-----

"Fish, and onions, and... hmm... Ani-sama Ani-sama!! What else would you like to eat?!? Ani-sama, are you listening to me?"

The obvious answer, and the answer that Dai would give if he was listening to his younger sister, was no. Still ruminating over recent issues, he appeared to be browsing the shelves of the instant noodle section with a blank look on his face. Aria looked up at him, and then sighed. She supposed you could get brothers to obey you in word, but not necessarily in spirit.

"Ani-sama, would you like to have pasta for dinner tonight? Meh, regardless. If you're just going to stand there pretending you're interested in instant ramen, I'm going to go off and get a few more things. Wait here Ani-sama!!"

It was a few moments later before Dai noticed that his sister was gone, and instead there was a rather young girl that was browsing the same aisle he was in. She was dressed plainly, yet seemed to have a sort of appeal that he could not quite put his finger on. She appeared to be eyeing something on a shelf much higher than she was. Indeed, a short moment later she began stretching to reach her desired item. However, despite standing on her toes and extending her arms as much as she could, she couldn't get what she wanted.

Dai watched for a few seconds. On the one hand, it wasn't his nature to interfere with things outside of his own concern. On the other hand, perhaps ignoring this pitiful situation was just too... well. His sister wouldn't approve. After reassuring himself that he was only doing this because it was a proper action in society, and that there were no extraneous and mistaken emotional concerns involved, he grabbed the item (instant kitsune udon, apparently) the girl was reaching for and handed it to her.

"Here."

"Ah! Thank you, onii-chan!" The girl smiled warmly at him. Dai nodded and was just about to walk away when (to his slight dismay) his sister returned. And, naturally, she interpreted the situation in her own way immediately.

"Waaaah!! Ani-sama, who is this cute little girl?!? Do you know her from somewhere? Do you perhaps meet her in other places that aren't so public? Hmmmm??" Aria slitted her eyes a bit and coupled it with a mischievous grin.

"I don't know, no, I don't, and no, I don't." Dai replied mechanically, disinterestedly and with a hint of irritation. Couldn't he just go about playing the good Samaritan sowing good deeds about town without his every move being misconstrued?

"Geez, I was just asking a question. Mou, you're still worried about those two, Akio-san and Taru-san, aren't you? You're so readable even with your permanently serious face..."

The girl, who had been relegated to the sidelines for the moment (she had fortunately not caught the gist of what Aria was saying and might not have understood even if she had), came back into the conversation again at the mention of Akio's name. "You know Akio-sama?!"

The siblings turned, in a fashion which made them look suddenly alike despite the discrepancies of build and colouring. Dai raised a questioning eyebrow. Aria, being possessed of far more advanced communication facilities than her brother, latched onto the younger girl's arm and exclaimed, "Oh, you know him too?"

"Ah, yes! I work for him, at his home." Here she paused. "If it is not impertinent - where is Akio-sama? Usually, he would be home much earlier than this..."

"Alive," said Dai laconically. He was not in the mood to socialise. "Hospital."

"He got into an accident, but he seems fine to me, only out cold," Aria translated. "We've only just come from the hospital ourselves. I'm Aria, this is my brother-"

"Dai-san," finished the girl. "Akio-sama talks about him a lot. And Hotaru-san as well. But I remember that Dai-san was the large one with the scowl. My name is Taguri."

Both girls took to each other, and were chatting in an amiable manner all the way to, through, and out of the checkout. Dai, whose job as the only male it was to carry the shopping, automatically headed towards the path they normally took home.

"Ah, wait, ani-sama. Taguri-chan." Aria tapped the side of her nose. An idea had occurred to her, and she was keen to follow it up. "Where does Akio-san live? I mean, we've known him for so long, and yet we've never been to visit. Could we just have a look-?"

"Of course!" beamed Taguri. She was evidently houseproud. "We've done a great job to the mansion grounds lately! There was a major relandscaping, and master installed a koi pond! You must come!"

There was no time for Dai to make any grouses about koi ponds, for the next moment, there was an all-too-familiar flash of red, and then a growl that turned into a roar.

Dai's first instinct was to facepalm. The second and more pressing one told him to drag the females out of danger, or at least draw attention away from them. Of course, the third instinct, the one in his gut, was screaming deja vu.

[classy_cat18]

Itou Cho - Not Herself
Current song: "Gravity" by Maaya Sakamoto

I could've stayed in bed all day if it wasn't for my empty stomach and pounding headache, the latter of which probably being caused by the former. I attempted to sneak to the kitchen for a bowl of instant ramen only to be caught by Mom as she came in from the studio. "Hungry?" she asked me.

My dry and sore throat forced me to nod in response. The past few hours had me switching from restless sleep to miserable consciousness. And both times had me screaming and crying. Now my frustration and anger had burned out, leaving me with depression.

Mom nodded back and gave me a small smile. "I'll make some tea. Just sit down and relax."

My bowl of ramen was completely devoured by the time that the tea was ready. It relieved Mom that I got my appetite back. She sat across from me with her own tea. "Do you...remember the night those thugs broke into our house?" Mom slowly asked me.

I tested my voice before answering in a sarcastic tone. "Don't see how I could forget. I lost an eye."

She laughed a little but I could see a tear run down her cheek. "When the police got to us...you were acting the same way. Like your mind was gone. You scared me, Cho."

And like last time, I don't even remember being moved anywhere. One minute I was in the house, the next I was in the hospital. My finger traced the rim of the cup as I stared into my tea.

"The thing that surprised me is that you bounced back so quickly," Mom commented. "Like the whole thing never happened. There was a part of you, I believed, that refused to stay down. I think it's that same thing that gets you into fights."

I sighed and stood from my chair. "I guess."

"Don't go to your room just yet. I think a breath of fresh air will be good for you." She handed me a piece of paper. "Here's the grocery list. We both need a good dinner."

I huffed and took it. She glared at me for a short second then smiled. "I better not see you in less than an hour, Two Tone," she mock-threatened.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My eyes were red, my hair was slightly messy, and every joint in me ached. Not to mention the bruise that Akaryou gave me earlier. I didn't want to leave my room for a few days. But neither did I want to miss too much school. The best thing I could do was to not think about the tragedy too much.

Why does it feel like I'm so alone now?

"Ryuu-kun..." I whispered, feeling the tears come back.

An unearthly roar pulled me back to reality. Not again! I ran, not knowing why, just that I had a bad feeling and that I was acting on instinct.

It was just like the rat creatures, only this time it looked a lot like a dog. And it had chosen Dai and Aria as its targets, along with another girl. The creature was slowly walking toward its prey and ignoring me as I got closer. My fist clenched. Anger boiled within me. "Dammit...why can't you leave us alone?" I growled. "FUU!"

My summon appeared beside me fully grown. "What is your command?" she inquired.

I froze momentarily when the weredog creature turned to us. "ATTACK!" I roared.

Fuu unleashed a roar to match the one of the dog creature and charged it, knocking it to the ground. The two tumbled around in a ball of flying fur. "Dai, get them out of here!" I cried out.

"Behind you!"

I turned my head back to see another monster trying to sneak up behind me. How did I miss that one? I gritted my teeth and stepped back. The thing crouched to attack...Fuu was still busy with the first one...

Then an explosion knocked the second one far away from me. My legs gave out as I saw a familiar suit of armor. "Sa...Satoshi!"

[Dr.McNinja]

After his talk with Chidori, Ami, and Kira, Satoshi felt the need to clear his head, to get away from the temple and stretch his legs a bit. Showing the girls out, he carefully checked the lock at the gate before turning and walking down the hillside road to the town below. His thoughts were inward as he moved from street to street, his path less important to him than the simple act of moving. It let him think, it let him air out his thoughts and leave them behind should they prove less than fruitful. It let him stumble across Cho, Dai, and the odd girls as…creatures manifested around them. His feet stumbled to a stop and in a moment he watched the creature move for Dai, saw Cho’s summon roar and leap for the thing, saw the second one emerge and begin to move for Cho, saw her undefended and stepping away. His hand was up before he realized it, the armor slamming into place as a nearby car burst into green flames. The energy crackled around his hand before the rest of the armor had even formed and Satoshi didn’t wait. The sound of the pulse cannon firing was a mix between a screech of steel on steel and that of lightning. A lance of rippling light shot out and slammed into the ground by its feet, Satoshi’s shot wide from his lack of practice and quick action. Rock and dust exploded from the shot and the thing flew over a dozen feet before landing awkwardly in a heap. Tenma Chuushin’s helmet formed then, bathing Satoshi in its soft glow of information.

He stepped forward, his armored foot touching lightly against the ground, belying it’s strength, the armor’s veil revealing only two softly glowing eyes. Satoshi’s voice emerged from the armor, modulated such that it was as if three Satoshi’s spoke, one normally, one at a lower tone, and one at a higher, “Cho, are you alright? My blast didn’t hurt you did it?”

Cho coughed a bit from the dust that was settling before responding, “No, I’m alright. But that…thing is still alive. Are you….can you control that thing now?”

The sting of remembering her image of the last encounter with his armored form stabbed deep but Satoshi shook it off for the moment, “I am in control now. Where did they come from?”

Cho started to respond but the creature, having regained its feet, bent slightly and leapt through the air at Cho with amazing speed. Satoshi gritted his teeth and pushed, his enhanced legs sending Tenma Chuushin through the air just as fast, intersecting the monster in a flying tackle that send them both to the ground in a whirling, punching, storm. Satoshi could hear Cho shout something at him but his concentration was elsewhere as the monster’s teeth gnashed inches from his visor. He wasn’t sure if it could breach the armor but he didn’t want to wait to find out. His left hand reached out to snatch at the monster’s jaws, catching hold of the open maw. The other moved up and pushed at the upper jaw to prevent the thing from chomping down on his left hand. He struggled for a long moment, pushing back and forth, the thing’s strong legs bracing it so that Satoshi could not get the leverage he needed to get it off of him. His arms strained against the controls in his hand, the feedback from the armor pushing his strength almost as if he was holding this thing back alone. Suddenly, Tenma Chuushin’s voice echoed in his head.

Deploy close-range melee countermeasures

Satoshi shouted his affirmative and watched the fins that bordered his pulse cannons when they were formed spring out from the sides of his arms, turning sideways and locking into position. Their edges glinted razor sharp in his sight and he grinned despite himself. His left hand came away, and twisted, the sudden release driving the dog-monster’s head forward. His free hand pulled back and sideways, presenting one of the blades directly in front of the thing’s path even as his right hand pulled to add to the force of the monster’s descent. Blood splattered on his visor as the blade dug home deep in it’s mouth, emerging from the back of its neck covered in blackish fluid. He pulled his blade free and shoved the thing off of him, twisting to his feet as gracefully as he could. He felt a presence behind him and his rear-cameras showed Chu’s summon Fuu standing with her flanks to his back, her mouth covered in similarly black gore. He spoke without turning.

“Are there anymore?”

“I do not see any…”

“Where’s Cho?”

Both looked and found the girl a few yards away. A little of the tension seemed to drain from both even as Satoshi’s visor flashed with lights, searching for more hostiles.



I left it open as to Dai’s condition ^_^

[Bulbasaur4]

AN AKIO
Accessing Information... [Male][Zodiac: Mars][Real Name: KASAI AKIO][Location: Hospital]
Accessing Music... START. [Boats & Birds - Gregory and Hawk]

There was nothing but darkness suffocating him. At first he hadn't been sure if he were awake in the black, but then the pounding of his heart and the sound of his shaky breath began to deafen his ears. He could feel the clammy coolness of his palms, the bead of sweat that was lining his brow and the density of something against his feet.

"Hello?" Akio's voice cracked dryly as he tried to take a step forward, but found that he couldn't move. "Is anyone there?"

"I'm HeRe." An eeriely familiar voice called to him distantly. Akio strained to see through the darkness until his eyes began to water, but the darkness didn't yield.

"Who is it?"

"HoTarU."

Akio paused for a moment, straining to listen to the distant voice against the sound of his shaking breath. He then narrowed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head.

"You're not Hotaru."

A pause. "YoU'rE rIgHt. I'm NoT."

"Then who are you really?!"

"I'm ChO."

"No."

"I'm DaI... oR mAyBe SaToShI!"

"NO! Stop with the games! Who are you?"

"KeKeKeKeKeKeEeEeEhaAhaAhAaAhAa...!"
Then there was a shrill of maniacal laughter that pierced the air until it sounded as if the source were coming from right behind Akio. He felt his heart stop pounding against his chest for a moment, as he felt a deathly chill run along the back of his neck as realization settled into his mind. He knew who the voice was - the twisted, morphed voice...

"WhO dO yOu WaAaNt Me To BeE... a-Ki-Oo~"

It was him.


Akio's eyes fluttered open swiftly and he found himself staring straight at the face of a shocked Nurse. Twisting his head about with wide, yellow-eyes, it took him a while to gather in the vision that was around him. An IV, a monitor, bright lights, pale walls...

"Why am I here?" Akio thought to himself.

Firefireburningfirefirestudentsfirefirehotarufiref iredeathfirefiresmellfirefirelosingfirefiredeathfi refire

The images smashed into Akio like a tidal wave against a crumbling shore and instantly nausea overcame him. That smell... the burning flesh... he could still remember that smell. Akio lurched over as Nurse quickly grabbed a bedpan and Akio heaved.


A few minutes later, Akio had the bed motored up so that it sat more upright, allowing him to be in a more comfortable, upright position. He had been informed that he had been brought to the hospital with Hotaru. Dai was the one who had brought them, and had only recently left. Hotaru's empty bed was next to Akio and apparently he had woken and was being checked over by the doctors.

"You still have a very high fever, although we're not sure if it is due to an infection or illness..." The nurse rambled on, but Akio's mind was elsewhere.

He was focusing harshly on anything but the memories of what had happened earlier. The faces of those students... their screams... the sound of the fire... and a plea, Hotaru's plea- he could remember bits and flashes of it. Yet it was enough to get the picture and the memory of the hunger and pain of the fire...

"Akio?"

Akio's head snapped up to look at the entrance to see a tender, worried-face Hotaru walking in. His eyes still had that sparkling charm, but they looked incredibly tired. His hair sagged a little where it usually didn't, and his frame looked delicate- more delicate than Akio was used to seeing.

"Hotaru..." Akio's voice cracked, a slight fiery burn at the back of his throat.

"Drink some water, Akio-kun." Hotaru said quietly, a gentle smile coming to his face as he sat on his bed next to Akio.

Akio found the small cup of water and the Jell-O that was next to his bed. Ignoring the Jell-O, he took the cup and swiftly drank the water- coughing as he did so, the liquid feeling rather... foreign to his throat. Yet it did its wonders, and Akio found his voice returning although he couldn't help but feel a heavy tiredness weighing upon him.

"Are you okay?" Akio examined Hotaru thoroughly, his not-too-often serious expression and nature taking over his features. "You look a little banged up." He noticed the few bruises and guilt clawed at his mind.

"Oh I'm fine!" Hotaru flashed a smile, his cheerful expression brimming through. "The doctors said I passed out from exhaustion and have some bruises... but nothing that some delicious tea and mochi can't take care of." Hotaru's eyes sparkled, but the weariness behind them gave him away.

"I'm sorry Hotaru... if I could have been there earlier- if I had waited up for you.." Akio began but Hotaru suddenly stood up and immediately a cool finger pressed against Akio's lips.

"It's not your fault. None of it was your fault."

"Those students... the fire..." Akio's lips softly murmured against Hotaru's finger, his throat tightened, his head throbbing. Swiftly two hands gently cupped Akio's feverish face and Hotaru lowered his head so that his nose was a mere inch from Akio's.

"H-h-hotaru..." Akio stammered lightly, his already flushed face reddening further.

"My dear Akio-kun, listen to me. It was not your fault. Don't blame yourself." Hotaru whispered quietly, his sweet breath filling Akio's senses.

Akio's chest tightened for a moment as his throat eased up and there was a significant pause between the two. What could he say? He wanted to know what the hell happened- how did fire just... erupt from his body? He wanted to tell everything to Hotaru and at the same time he didn't want to talk about it at all. He wanted to run, to hide, to yell or to shout. He wanted to apologize over and over again to Hotaru, to thank Hotaru, to hug Hotaru and with Hotaru right there he wanted to...

Hotaru smiled gently as he let his hands slide from Akio's face and frowned as he went to fill up Akio's glass with more water. "You have a bad fever, Akio-kun... you need to rest."

Akio was silent for a moment as he rubbed his eyes, trying to snap himself out of his own thoughts. It was probably best that he stayed in the hospital and get some rest- perhaps send a call to the mansion to have them bring him some clothes. He'd probably miss school- no doubt his household would keep him studying at home for a few days. That would be the downside- to not attend school to see Cho, Dai, Satoshi or...

Cho

"I can't." Akio said suddenly, pushing off the blanket that was resting upon him.
"But you must!" Hotaru declared, confusion flooding his features as he hurried over to Akio.

"I can't, I have to talk to Cho... I have to find her..." The IV tugged at his wrist and without a second thought, Akio grabbed the tap and ripped it off hastily, painfully pulling the needle from his arm. Hotaru almost could have squealed in fright at the action, but managed to hold himself together as came to Akio's side.

"You're going to make yourself sicker... you reall-"

"Hotaru." Akio lifted his head up and his focused eyes burned with that inner determination. He had made up his mind, he had something he had to do...

Hotaru sighed lightly, shaking his head. "Akio-kun, I demand a very large order of chocolate melopan and at least two double cherry shakes after all this."

Akio's features softened as he smiled at his dear friend as he stood up.

"I will buy you a super large order of melopan and all the whipped cream you want for your shake." He grinned.



It took quite a bit of effort for the two of them to "escape" from the hospital. The nurses had a fit in finding out Akio had ripped himself free of the IV and an even greater fit when they found the feverish red head was going to leave. However, after much determination and their combined charming efforts, the nurses were wooed into letting them go.

Walking down the sidewalk felt good to Akio- the air was cool, crisp and felt good against the radiated warmth of his forehead. Hotaru's persistent giggles were enough to keep Akio from his darker thoughts, and for once Akio was glad he was making a fool of himself. He had managed to 'borrow' scrubs from one of the male nurses- billowing pale blue pants and shirt.

"Akio-kun, I feel faint...will you do a check up, Dr. An-kuuuun?" Hotaru laughed lightly, as Akio grinned wickedly.

"Why of course, as soon as we return to my luxurious private studies-"

A flash of red billowed into the air, followed by a huge roar. The earth almost shook slightly, as the two of them stopped dead in their tracks.

"What is that?" Hotaru gaped as Akio's brow furrowed.

"I'm not sure..." Akio began, but suddenly a shriek pierced the air.

"Taguri-chan!!" Akio exclaimed, turning to look at Hotaru. "Are you well enough to run?"

Hotaru opened his mouth, perhaps to protest and point out that Akio was breathing heavily from the fever and most likely was not in condition to run himself, but before the protest could come Akio had started a surprisingly spirited run, with Hotaru in tow.



Mwhaha! I will post for Yuuto later. I realized that I imagine Akio's "yelling" voice to be the same as Ichigo's when he yells. xD *listens to the "ORIHIME!" yell* So sexy. xD

[classy_cat18]

Itou Chou - Falling Hard
Current song: "Will of the Heart" by Shiro Sagisu

"Fuu doesn't sense any more monsters," the nekomata telepathically sent to me before reverting back to her cuter, smaller form.

I gave a little sigh of relief before leaning against the tree. The adrenaline from earlier had drained, leaving me with almost no energy. "You can go now. Good work, Fuu." She nodded and meowed, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Satoshi's giant armor shook and broke into individual parts. I poked at a part with my foot but yanked it back when it flew off and transformed into a bike. A bigger chunk became a car door and hood. So the pieces of his armor are made up of metal objects around him.

"I'm glad I got here in time," Satoshi said once his armor was completely gone.

"So am I," I said.

Dai and the girls came out of their hiding places and joined us. Dai had an annoyed expression that almost made me smile. "This has to stop," he groaned.

The new girl ran to me when she saw me sliding down the tree and sitting on the ground. "You're Cho, aren't you? Mismatched eyes and antennae hair..." She drifted into silence as I looked up at her. "You don't look well."

"I didn't get much sleep," I told her in a low voice. "How do you know about me?"

"My name's Taguri. Akio-sama told me about you."

My eyes flicked up to hers. "Akio-sama?"

"TAGURI!"

All of our heads jerked to a yelling Akio and an exhausted Hotaru. "Akioooo, I can't make it..." Hotaru whined as he slowed down to a stop behind Akio.

"Akio?" Satoshi and I said together.

"Akio-sama!" Taguri called out.

"What the hell...?" Dai started angrily.

Akio was dressed in scrubs and looking weak and feverish. Hotaru had a few bruises on him. What happened to them? Did they get attacked too? They both looked like they escaped from the hospital! My temper flared, giving me another burst of energy. Why is he here?

"Are you okay, Taguri?" Akio asked her breathlessly. The girl nodded. Then his attention turned to me. "Cho-chan?"

I managed to pull myself to my feet without falling. "I should get to the store. Okaa-san's waiting for me back home," I said harshly. I started to walk away, going towards home since Akio was in the direction of the store.

"Cho-chan," he repeated more firmly. I instinctively stopped but kept my back to him. "Ryuu-san is--"

"DON'T FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" I screamed in rage.

He stayed quiet for a minute. "Mizukaze-kun? He helped me the other day," Aria said. "What happened to him?"

I tried in vain to keep the tears back. "He's dead," I choked. "And I bet whoever made these monsters had something to do with it!" I kicked the corpse of one of the dog creatures. All I wanted to do then was to get away from everyone.

"Gomen nasai," Akio said. His voice was closer now. "I know how much he meant to you."

I growled in frustration and refused to look at him. Why does he have to talk about him? His arm came into view, prompting me to step away from him before he could close me into a hug. "What are you doing here?" I demanded while looking him over. "You look sick!"

"I-" he started.

My hand shot out and grabbed one of his wrists. "These look like IV needle marks!" I touched his forehead with the back of my hand. "And you have a fever! You got out of the damn hospital before you recovered, you dumbass!"

"That's not nice!" Taguri shouted.

"I DON'T CARE!" I stepped away from Akio again as he raised his arm. "You risked getting worse just so you could apologize? That's so stupid! What good will that do if you had collapsed on the way here or...or..." I broke out into sobbing, barely catching another attempted hug by slapping his hand away.

My feelings were surging and they needed an outlet. Shouting at Akio was the only way I could think of. "Baka, baka, baka! I'm supposed to be the reckless one! I should've been the one who died! Damn you, Ryuu!" I stopped abruptly. It was like I was shouting at Ryuu instead.

"It'll be okay, Cho-chan," Akio said calmly.

I wobbled and fell into his arms, feeling even weaker. Despite being exhausted, he gave me a brief squeeze. I felt relaxed by hearing his heartbeat. "Let go of me," I told him lamely. "I'm still mad at you. Once you get well...I am going to kick your ass."

His hold on me loosened enough for me to pull away, but my legs could hardly support me. "I feel like crap," I moaned as I leaned against a car.

[Bulbasaur4]

Chiba Yuuto
Accessing Information.... [M][Kazan Student][Location: Near a Park]

"Hmm... " Yuuto stared at the dice upon the ground, his sea-foam eyes surveying the numbers with great intensity.
"Well?" A rough, older man, perhaps in his forties, sat across from Yuuto impatiently. His hair was graying quite vividly, although he was clean-shaven and looking very well kept. Yuuto had noticed the man's finely tailored black shirt and the way his pants had seemed to be cleanly pressed with professional care. He also noticed that the man seemed down on his luck- the way he had been knocking back the sake. It was a good opportunity... too good for Yuuto to pass up.
"Hmm..." Yuuto played with his dice- letting the smooth surface glide between his fingers as he rolled them about. His eyes were fixated on the numbers before him.
"Any day now kid! Just roll the dice already!" The man was agitated, his face beyond flushed. Yuuto had been thoroughly been mooching off the guy's money for an hour. He started small- small to give the guy just enough bait where he wouldn't say no. Then the price began to increase steadily, until now it was a sum that would cause Yuuto to lose all of his money, including the amount he didn't have but stated that he did.
"Tch, fiiiine..." Yuuto said finally, huffing enough hair to blow a few strands of light blue hair from his eyes. He tossed the dice into the cup and began to shake before releasing them onto the mat.
Six. Six.
"WHAT?!" The man roared, staring at disbelief as Yuuto quickly helped himself to the pile of money that was resting near the man. He had slapped it down for emphasis, damn near determined to win on his last bet of the night.
"Ahhh... I must be so lucky today." Yuuto said with a mocking air, dramatically rising to his feet as he reached to his waist to grab the bottle of Ouzo tied to his waist. With a healthy gulp of the liquid, he gave a slight salute to the man. "A pleasure."


Yuuto hummed to himself softly, his hands plunged back into his jeans. It was a pleasant late afternoon and the fact that he had a new stash of money and a fresh bottle of ouzo had a great deal to do with it. A casual day for him, which was something he enjoyed for the pure fact that he didn't have to dress in his school uniform and sit through the hours of droning. Deep blue jeans, a grey patterned black muscle t- the mere definition of comfort for him.

Walking down the sidewalk, Yuuto was lost in his own lazy thoughts. Should he hit up another sucker this late afternoon before the sun officially went down? Should he head to the park to laze about in his favorite tree? Or perhaps-
"OOMPH!" Suddenly Yuuto felt someone collide into his body, causing him to stagger backwards but even with the shock, his hands still were plunged into his pockets.
"Huh?" Yuuto said lamely, looking in front of him to see a girl with black hair, cut in a rather unique, uneven way. It was an unusual cut- at least, something he didn't see everyday. Of course, his own light blue hair wasn't exactly normal either...
"You're not going to apologize?" She said, looking up at him with a mixed stare. Yuuto laughed lightly, giving a loose shrug.
"I wasn't sure if I ran into yah or if yah ran into me. Either way, gomen. Usually I dun pay attention... 'cuz no one walks 'round here." He added, taking out his hand and offering it to her to at least be kind enough to help her out.
A flicker of recognition hit him, as if he had met her before but he couldn't be sure of it. Perhaps he had gambled money off of her? Nah.. that couldn't have been it. But there was something... something that made him think he had seen her before.


TAG CT! : D

[darktyranitar]

Yeah, first post in 4 month. Yay =)

Posting this 'cause I'm too stressed studying (exam in only 2 days, what!!). Hahaha =D

12/9/??
Sakaki Hideo & Cliff

Scanning the scene
In the city tonight
We're looking for you
To start up a fight
There's an evil feeling
In our brains
But it's nothing new
You know it drives us insane
[Seek and destroy|Metallica]

Somewhere outside the Furin school compound; approximately the same time the battle was taking place someplace else in the city

“Come on, come on, come on; let’s get out, get out, get out there! And when I said now, I mean NOW!”

“Uh… no thanks. I like being here… I think I could stay in here all day long.”

Cliff sighed deeply. “Dude…”

“In fact… I think I could even spend my whole lifetime in here…”

“Dude, if you’re not coming with me…”

“Yeah, that’s me. Hideo Sakaki. The old, useless bum that-”

The last word was promptly cut off by a faint hiss, and one that left a hole on the wall beside Hideo – with the latter remaining as defiant as ever. Above him, Cliff hovered as naturally as a metallic crab can hover – bearing an uncanny resemblance to a creature known as Metagross – his pincer sizzling with some highly corrosive chemical.

“Now see…” Cliff began, but Hideo had already gone through the hole.

Shortly followed with a scream (that goes: “AIIIEEEEeeeeeee….”).

Cliff sighed, and rushed through the hole – just in time before Hideo would land head-first from a thirteen meter fall.


“Please, please, PLEASE! I’m begging – BEGGING! – you… don’t go any further!”

Laughing madly, Cliff continued to cruise at a leisurely speed, his left pincer lifting a bicycle (with a scared-to-death Hideo on it), as if the thing was as light as feather.

“Look man, I know that you don’t like the idea that it will be us – you and me both – that will be fighting them… but hey, who the hell can stop the two of us?”

“Yeah, there’s you… a dangerous metal crab (that cuss a lot – he added this in a whisper). And then there’s poor old me.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up. Don’t act like you haven’t received a mandate from heaven to kill off any evil being from hell… cause the last time I checked, you have.” Cliff’s facial then changed into that of serious (or so it appears) “Besides, it’s not that I’ll let anyone kill you off or anything. So don’t worry.”

“Oh. Oh. I didn’t know you actually care-”

“Hey, hey. Don’t misunderstand me. It’s not that I love you or anything. It’s just that I don’t feel like finding another host… can’t stand being chased around by that bitch again, if you know what I’m saying.”

“Oh. All right. Now that sounds just like you.”

“Heh.” At this, Cliff slowed down considerably. “You speak as if you’ve known me forever. Well, whatever. Now that it’s all settled, let’s go and kill off some, eh?”

At this, Hideo replied with a grunt.

“Ah-huh, is that a ‘hell yeah’?”

“Nah-uh, that’s a ‘hell no’!” snapped Hideo. But before Cliff could retaliate, he went on. “You don’t know about me. At all. You don’t know half the things that I saw when I was young, and, and… some of the things I went through. You don’t care about me; you never asked what my problem was. All you wanted was to drag me into a fight with some enemy I don’t even know, without knowing that I will… I will…”

He nervously gulped, while Cliff listened attentively.

“OK… now I ask you: what’s your problem, anyway?”

Summoning his courage, Hideo shouted – or at least tried, but what came out was only a wheeze: “I would die if I were to go out of the school!”

Cliff whistled. And laughed. “Phew, that’s a crazy thing you just said there. Who told you that, man?”

“A guy!” This time, Hideo was actually shouting.

“Alright. A guy. What kind of a guy?”

“An old guy.”

“OK, an old guy. How old are we talking?”

“An old guy that died 60 years ago!”

At this, Cliff whistled again. “Man, I didn’t know you were that old…”

“No! Look, it’s not that simple… this man, see… he cursed me shortly before his death. And you don’t know – YOU DON’T KNOW – who this man is, and what he is capable of. And now, and now, if I were to leave the school, I will… I’ll die”

“Then die,” Cliff said in a nonchalant tone. “OK, I don’t claim to be a mister-fix-it-all, but I think that can be fixed. Look here, how far have we travelled?”

Hideo looked behind, and then mentioned that it was probably a kilometre or two.

“ALRIGHT!” Without any warning, Cliff sped off with a speed that was comparable to a bullet train. Hideo didn’t even have the time to scream – he had already bitten his tongue.

“FUCKIN A!” Over the whooshing of the wind, Cliff shouted, “well, hell if I know about this guy and the so-called curse… but so far, you appear to be alive. Unless, of course, I’m talking to a zombie right now. Or, we have the 2nd option: the whole curse thing is a bullshit, and the old guy did a good job of scaring the hell out of ya. See, I told you I won’t let anyone kill you off – even if it’s only some dead guy that’s now six feet underground.”

“Nggghh,” Hideo moaned, not paying attention whatsoever. He was trying his best to not throw up.


Somewhere down there

“Oh. Hm. Uh-huh.”

The boy and the girl looked up… and what they saw was something that is totally unacceptable to the mind of a few.

There was a man on a bicycle – a flying one at that – and he was shouting “WHAT THE…!” at the top of voice; and shortly after the shouting, there was a long, shrill scream: one that lasted for a good one minute.

That was enough a time for the boy to stare at the girl – and vice versa – as they mentally began to question each other’s sanity.

“Yah know,” the boy said, scratching his head. “Did yah just see what I’m seein’?”

The girl nodded.

“Well, well, well,” the boy shook his head. “Never thought that yah be the drinking type too.”

“But, I’m not drunk,” the girl protested. “You are.”

“What? Oh, no, no, no… I aint drunk! Nah, I aint drunk. What gives yah that idea?”


“What, you mean we missed EVERYTHING?!”

“…I’m too… old for all this, you know,” Hideo remarked.

And he then threw up.


I think this is the first time they actually went (or at least tried) into a fight. Didn't make it in time, the monsters are already killed, everyone's leaving etc.

It'd be cool if any someone was to interact with Hideo (or Cliff) (cause they haven't met any other character yet at the time being (directly)), thanks =)

I think I should go to sleep now. ZZZzzzzzz

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Thomas Reusbucks, Doumeki Yumi, Gou Ookami

12/9

The Velvet Glove

"What an awkward tendresse. Humankind never grows tired of the tendresse. They are reused, recycled, reinvented; and as I am human, I suppose I am partial to them as well. Curious."

The manager looked up from the piles of proofs deluging his desk. He was middle-aged and strait-laced, and a consummate example of that very Japanese phenonemon - the salaryman. "Doumeki-san? What is it?" And then, in a not entirely unbased accusation: "Have you been watching videos at Work?"

Doumeki-san smiled. She had not been speaking to him, of course, but it wouldn't do to upset your superiors. "Of course not. Satou-san, if I could humbly request the rest of the day off? You will find that I have completed all the tasks set to me today and a portion of the ones due tomorrow as well. It is family trouble I am requesting leave for. My younger sister will shortly- my younger sister has been involved in an incident."

"Indeed? Well, as long as you haven't been slacking off. I expect everything to be in order, and if something isn't-"

The smile stayed. "Thank you very much, Satou-san. But then, you were human once, weren't you?"

For a brief moment, the eyes of the daruma that the manager had put on the alcove in the wall for luck flickered. Doumeki-san bowed, and excused herself.

*

Kurasawa Mishio's home was exceedingly normal. A lace tablecloth, family photographs on the mantelpiece, patterned pastel curtains - Yumi's own home contained none of these things, and that was how she could tell that the dead girl's home was normal. They had come in the afternoon. The worried father was quiet, and sat brooding in his chair for the entire length of the interview; in comparison, the worried mother was voluble, wrung her hands, gesticulated, wanted answers that the three of them could not quite provide, at least without upsetting her sanity.

Ookami, being the most compassionate out of the trio, symphathized with them, although his limited conversational abilities served to aggravate the mother's hysteria more often than not. The other two seemed less concerned about the parents' mental states, one idly analyzing the data while recording the interview, while the other threw in an occasional word or two when she felt that the conversation was getting out of hand. Tadanobu was, of course, laughing, callously and invisibly.

"...Well... it seemed she was fine only a couple of weeks ago," Mrs Kurasawa said, amongst sobs, "but recently she had been a bit more... distant... and... I didn't think it would come to this point, where... What did we do wrong...?"

"Now now, its alright, nothin' you guys did wrong at all..." Ookami patted her on the back reassuringly.

"Excuse me," Thomas interrupted, "I'm just wondering... have you heard any news about the school conflicts? Such as the rivalries between the two local schools Fuurin and Kazan."

The father spoke up suddenly, in a skeptical tone: "Conflicts? Do you mean the accidents that have been occurring in those schools?"

"We had thought they were just unfortunate events, but do you mean to say that our daughter has... has..."

Yumi's eyes narrowed a little, and she slid her gaze to the window, where Tadanobu was already perched, his nostrils twitching. He gave her just the slightest nod of assent. She, in turn, communicated as much to Thomas that their target was indeed present.

On their way out, Thomas raised an eyebrow as Yumi stated the obvious: "So, they don't know about the two schools. I wonder what planet they live on?"

"Or maybe this whole rivalry thing is more insular than you think," said Ookami, vaulting the gate. "Or, you know, Mishio didn't care about the rivalry thing enough to mention it to her parents."

"Uh-huh," Yumi made a surreptitious hand movement. Behind them, someone cursed sibilantly. "Gotcha."
------

Akai had been watching carefully within the foilage, both curious and bothered by the unintended obstruction that had arrived on her targets. Initially it seemed not a problem since Akai thought she could wipe the intruders' memories along with the parents, but it didn't take long until she realized something was strange. A sense of purity surrounded the small house, an aura that seemed to be emitted from the young girl that had entered the house. She could not take any action unless she directly encountered with the group... but that could cause complications...It seemed to Akai that her presence was yet to be discovered, so she opted to wait it out until the group, finally, left. So she could take action...
"Gotcha." Caught completely off guard for the first time in a long time, Akai was bonded by a weak purification spell. Startled, Akai glared menacingly for a second at the group that had just exited the house and was approaching her quickly, before dispelling the spell and running away. However, the remnants of the spell still lingered and slowed Akai down, allowing ECDA to trail from not too far behind.
"Stop it!!" The larger, more physically built man yelled out. "Yer the one behind all of this, aren't ya!" Being the most physically fit, Ookami ran ahead and was quickly shortening the distance between them.
"Tch." Akai just kept on running, but not without doing something about the trailing nuisances. Silently, under her breath, she began mumbling a chant, and a mysterious purple mist, invisible to the two men but noticed by Yumi, began emitting from her body. As it trailed down to Ookami, Ookami began to slow down, holding his head slightly as if he were in agony. Thomas, a second too late in realizing Ookami's condition, approached the purple mist as well. Showing no physical signs of weakness except sweating (which was unusual in his case) and gritted teeth, he pulled out a miniature cube and threw it towards Akai. Akai turned around immediately and slashed through the cube, destroying the device before it could even be activated.
Yumi stopped and stood in front of her fellow disabled club members, alongside her fox companion, glaring more serious than he has been for a while. The purple mist has now completely surrounded the area; Yumi was unaffected only due to her own aura negating the effects of the mist around her.
"...Looks like we're in a bit of trouble," Yumi stated, while shifting her eyes for solutions.
Akai, without giving any response, thrusted out her hand and summoned a series of long, plasmalike whips to finish off the group...

-----

Before the red-haired girl could fully complete the termination of the trio of annoyances, however, a hefty, Western-style broadsword slammed itself into her arm. In quick succession, it hit her other arm, her chest and both legs, before returning to the grasp of its wielder. The snake-girl fell to one knee, seemingly part-paralysed, but the look on her face was more of grim amusement rather than anger at the thwarting of her plans.

"You can't expect to kill me with that mere-smear object, made of the pulp of dead trees," she said to her attacker. "But you didn't mean to, did you? What did you soak it in? Wine?"

Doumeki Kazuko shook her head, calmly and smilingly, incongruous in a tailored suit and kitten heels. The sword in her hand reverted to a carefully folded piece of paper. She tossed it to the wind. "To be exact, the only thing I could find in the convenience store at such short notice was beer."

"You can't change fate. Your kind should know."

"True." Kazuko produced three paper figures from her pocket, and held them out between the fingers of her left hand. She threw them into the air, and snapped her fingers. The figures began to burn; as they disintegrated, so movement returned to the three members of the amateur detective agency. "We cannot change fate. Others can, however. As for myself, I am here only to extricate my little sister from a sticky situation."

She bowed. "We will now take our leave, Yamata-no-Orochi."

Five minutes later Akaikami straightened up and stretched. At first she was inclined to pout; but then the red light came into her eyes and she set her face into an expression that could have been a smile or a smirk. Suffice to say, she'd had an idea.


The Satou-san in this post may or may not be related to Satou Rika (her dad, maybe?), but as Satou is one of the commonest surnames in Japan, he could be someone entirely separate as well.
Co-authored by Box, because I was a lazy ass, deliberated about editing his bit for about a month, then in a fit of true laziness gave up and decided to post this as is so I can stop holding up other people and get other posts out that involve other people.

This is the ending post for the current day (12/9, Sunday). The next day (13/9, Monday) has power-awakening-thingy for Dai and Hotaru and some actual plot advancement beyond power-awakening happening. For people who still pay attention to this RPG, thank you, thank you very much. I've hit the holiday season and should be producing more crap- er posts. I am now going to assume that non-posting-people-whose characters-are-not-dead's characters are ours to post as and with as we please.

[Bulbasaur4]

Sorry for the length! I was just excited to post!! I will make a Yuuto one later as well, interacting with Faiz's character.

"An Akio" AKA Kasai Akio
[ M | Zodiac: Ares | Currently: Near some shops, monster corpses and surprisingly not a lot of spectators!]
MUSIC START: Slide - Goo Goo Dolls

Akio's mind was strangely calm and clear at Cho's bundle of emotion, rage and anything inbetween said emotions. He didn't mind when she had yelled at him or when she had slapped his hand away. He had been shocked at first at the hand-slap, but then his intuition kicked in and the shock was replaced with a healthy round of guilt. His golden eyes softened in an apologetic way, as he watched her stagger and then lean into a car.

Cho... I'm so sorry... I can't imagine what you must be going through. I only wish I could have done something... anything... Akio absently bit the inside of his lip, before looking away from Cho to look at the others.

The initial shock over Cho's outburst had died down and it seemed now that she was leaning against the car, thoughts to herself, and everyone else was shaking their thoughts loose about the current situation. Hotaru was fussing over Dai and his near-death-experience while at the same time, Dai seemed thoroughly perturbed at the fact Hotaru had left the hospital. Of course, Dai's "thoroughly perturbed emotion" seemed to be transmitted by a slight twitched of the eyebrow, which unfortunately Hotaru seemed blissfully unaware of it or was purposefully ignoring it. Dai's sister, Aria, was nearly in between the two and insisting Hotaru not stand quite so close to her brother and that Hotaru was insane for leaving the hospital. Satoshi was a little bit near Cho, but seemed quiet and to himself.

"Kasai-san, I believe I need to head back to the temple." Satoshi stated quietly, giving a light bow and excusing himself- as if suddenly something had dawned upon him.

"Eh... good bye then! See you at school!" Akio waved, blinking away his slight confusion at his sudden leave.

"Akio-sama!" A tugging at Akio's shirt caused Akio to turn around to see a very teary-eyed Taguri-chan staring at him. "Why were you in the hospital? Are you alright? The m-monsters... and... are y-you okay? I-I-I..." She stammered, tears suddenly flooding her eyes as she began to cry. Akio immediately knelt down and pulled her in closely, hugging her to his chest as he absently stroked the back of her head.

"It's okay Taguri-chan.. I'm alright now and you're safe too. No more monsters are going to hurt you, okay?"
"I feel so scared!"

"It's okay to be afraid, but you have people here who will protect you. I'll protect you, alright?" Akio pulled away, placing his hands gently upon her shoulders as he looked her in the eyes. She sniffled slightly, wiping away a few tears from the corner of her eye.

"Akio-sama... is surely alright?"
"I'm fine. You know me, I just outdid myself a little. That's all." Akio smiled.
"Can we go back home, please?"

Akio stood up only to feel as if he bashed his head into an enormous stop sign. That being, of course, in a figurative sense as Akio was no where near a stop sign, but rather the realization that he was surrounded by several complications. His mind began to spin with such complications as he began to over think- a common occurrence for Akio.

The first one being, that Hotaru had been attacked earlier in the day and still did not look well. Sending Hotaru home in such a condition would only make his family worry more and Akio wasn't sure he was ready to let Hotaru leave until Akio was absolutely, positively one hundred percent sure that his dear friend wasn't hurt or dying. (An overreaction, of course.) Staying with Hotaru or perhaps going home with him was the best option, or better yet- all going over to Dai's house would be even better.

The second conflict- going over to Dai's house was not a good idea. Dai's sister, Aria-san was sure to object and after her own near-death experience of monsters, she perhaps wasn't in the right mind frame as well. She might go talking of horrific monster events to her family, which in turn would make her look crazy and who knows what things could happen! Dai, well, Dai just had a near death experience and Akio was sure Hotaru would agree that Dai was in no condition to be left alone as either. (Hotaru's voice arose in Akio's mind, "He needs counseling! Group counseling!") Also, it would be very rude to show up and demand to stay at Dai's. Akio didn't like such rude behavior... or at least, he tried not to resort to it.

The third conflict was no doubt, Cho-chan. She was emotionally distraught and she looked absolutely horrible. Akio didn't feel comfortable just separating ways from her and letting her traipse off. Plus he felt as if he needed to say something more or as if there was some strange, hovering blanket over her mind that he hadn't figured out yet. Simply put, it felt wrong to have her by herself. Even at home, Akio knew, one could feel very, very alone.

"AKIO-SAMA!!!" Taguri suddenly squealed, causing Akio to snap out of his very rushed and jumbled thought process. She was pointing at Akio's shoes, which were now sizzling horribly and the rubbery soles seemed to have melted halfway upon the sidewalk. Steam was rising from them and a small puff of flame had started upon the shoe laces.

"Is there something wrong?" Aria-san said, turning her head to look over along with Dai, who raised a brow.

"OH MY IS THAT A MONSTER?!" Hotaru suddenly exclaimed, pointing very dramatically behind Dai and Aria, making an effort to gracefully leap in front of their line of vision. This very easily caused Dai to whirl around protectively in front of Aria, peering towards the direction that Hotaru was pointing.

Akio swiftly bent over, untied his shoes and slid out of them quickly. With great effort, he grabbed the shoes and unstuck them messily from the ground and ... well, did the first thing that came to mind. He threw the shoes. They landed away, near one of the monsters. It was notable at this time that Cho was watching Akio with a rather wide-eyed look, although she didn't speak.

By this time, Hotaru had apologized- "I must have seen things! All jittery from that incident!" Dai did not look amused, nor did Aria. Aria was ready to go back home by this point, but Dai's keen gaze flickered to Akio.

"What happened to your shoes?"
"His shoes, they-" Taguri began, but Akio quickly pushed Taguri to his side in a seemingly possessive way and patted her on the head.
"Oh nothing! I think I stepped in some monster acid you see, my shoes were getting all... acid...y... and so I had to take them off and throw them away!"
"I see..." Dai did not seem amused. Cho raised a brow.
"Oh, oh yes! I almost stepped in some myself!" Hotaru chimed in.
"I see." Dai now seemed less inclined to believe the story.

"Let's go home..." Aria prodded her brother, as Taguri tugged at Akio's scrub shirt. Cho also slowly heaved herself off the car and stumbled forward a bit, seemingly read to leave. Hotaru looked rather lost and Akio suddenly grew panicked. No! Wait! Everyone is splitting up! Ack! This doesn't feel right! This whole ordeal feels rather awkward... I don't want to face them at school after this!

Then, a glorious epiphany occurred.

"Wait... " Akio held out a hand towards Dai and Aria and then flickered his gaze to Cho and Hotaru. "We've all just experienced something very... odd, strange, ano... "
"Traumatic?" Aria offered.
"Yes! Traumatic! With that in mind, I don't think it is very good if we all split up and went home. I mean, we all look rather ragged and tired and it'll only cause worry on our parents and such..."
"Spit it out!" Cho growled.
".. why don't you all come to my house...?"

Then there was silence.
Akio squirmed inwardly.

He had never asked anyone to ever come to his house before and perhaps a realization had hit some that well, he had never even mentioned his home really.

"Oh yay! That sounds fun!" Taguri said happily, "Akio never has guests!"
Thank you for stating the outloud....Akio mentally winced.
"Having so many people over would be rude...your parents wouldn't appreciate that, I don't think." Aria said, her eyes wavering between Hotaru, Dai and Akio. No doubt various disasters were running through her head.

"Oh no, they're not home. Away on business." Akio commented absently, his head swirling slightly from the realization that he was actually having people over and any worried feelings he was having before was now magnified by several digits. Butterflies, bees- all insects were squirming in his stomach now and his heart was angrily pounding against his chest. The fever was not helping either, nor was the fatigue.

"I'll make tea! We have plenty of rooms!" Taguri-chan was trying her best to sweet talk everyone as well, perhaps realizing with some eternal wisdom that having people over would in the end, do a great deal of good for Akio.

People... over... seeing my home... oh lord, they'd realize An isn't my real name...
"I think I'm going to be sick..." Akio moaned quietly to himself.

[classy_cat18]

Itou Cho - A little stunned
Currently listening to "Innocent Sorrow" by Abingdon Boys School

I wanted my bed. Forget the store, forget dinner, I just wanted to soak in a bath and curl up in my bed. Forget school, forget martial arts, just sleep.

No matter how well he thought he was covering it up, I saw the whole thing. Acid wasn't involved; those shoes burst into flames. While they were still on his feet. And I briefly sensed the same magic that was involved with summoning Fuu. Not him too. He shouldn't get dragged into this! And Hotaru played along, getting me to suspect that he knew about this too.

I really should've said something but I didn't feel like stressing myself with the whole magic thing again. I'll talk to him about it tomorrow, when we're both feeling better.

My plans started to change, however, when he extended an invitation. He's inviting us to his house? That's unexpected. He's never done that before. But I remembered Akaryou's information. He was a Kasai, part of a powerful and wealthy family. And it was just like Akio to hide his true lineage to help others see how normal he was.

His little friend excitedly tried to convince us to accept. Although I really wanted to creep away while everyone was preoccupied, a small part of me paralyzed my body with curiosity. It would've been interesting to see where Akio lived. "How about you?" I snapped out of my trance to Taguri's voice. "Are you coming?"

"Ano...I really should be going home..." I hesitated.

"But Akio-sama's worried about you and he probably won't be able to see you at school tomorrow!" Tears once more were on the brink of spilling from her eyes. "I don't want him to worry!"

My heart felt a pang of guilt. "Me neither but--"

"You can take a relaxing bath and sleep in a soft bed!"

I glanced at Akio's pleading face. "Sounds nice but--"

"You can eat a nice snack."

"Again, sounds nice but--" This time my growling stomach interrupted me. I blushed in embarrassment. I didn't get to eat dinner. Now the offer was too tempting. "I'm too hungry to resist anymore."

"Yay! We got Cho too!" She jumped up and down in excitement. I could've sworn I saw Hotaru hold up a victory sign. I groaned to myself and hung my head.

"Before we go, there's something I have to tell you," Akio spoke up, sounding shaky.

"Is it about your family name really being Kasai?" I blurted out a little too loudly.

There was a moment of silence. Taguri wasn't affected that much since she hung out with Akio, but Hotaru, Dai and Aria were shocked. Akio's jaw hung down before asking, "How did you know?"

"Akaryou-taichou...no, Akaryou-san told me earlier today when he informed me of Ryuu-kun's death. Satoshi-kun knew it too. Didn't you notice him addressing you as Kasai before leaving?" I leaned back against the car as my legs started shaking again. "You don't act like a Kasai, though, so you're still An Akio as far as I'm concerned."

[Weasel Overlord]

Inoue Hotaru
サンクチュアリ
Sunday [at] post-battle ** then [at] Akio’s house

As soon as Akio extended the invitation to his house, Hotaru pretty much couldn’t keep still. He bounced around, as much as his poor bruised self would let him, almost all of the way back to the Kasai place, which he supposed was a manor or a mansion or maybe even a castle! He didn’t know much about the Kasai’s, just that they were super uber rich, and that he didn’t know Akio was one. He felt slightly indignant that his Akio had never mentioned this fact before, but the feeling soon went away, replaced heartily with thoughts of hot chocolate and marshmallows and Akio’s (most likely) gigantic bed and a new house to explore and everything.

Taguri-san seemed lovely, offering tea and snacks and baths and general niceness, and Hotaru quickly decided that he liked her. Anyone who offered him sugary snacks was good in his eyes.

“Taguri-san… um, will there be tea?” Hotaru ventured.

“Of course there will, Taru-san!”

“Could I help you make it?”

“You certainly can not! You’re a guest, Taru-san, no helping for guests.”

Hotaru pouted, but he was pleased secretly. He did love making tea, but being a guest was so much better!

“Akioooo-saaaan,” he grabbed Akio’s arm and clung to it. “Where will we sleep? In your room? Is your bed big? Is it comfy!? Do you have curtains round it?” He chattered away, hugging Akio’s arm as if it was a comforter. Turning to Dai, he grinned. “Daiii, you have to sleep in the same room with me and Akio! It’ll be like a real sleepover and everything!”

Taru was completely oblivious to Dai’s disapproval of this idea. “I’ll stand guard for you, Taru.”

“No-one will ever get past if you do, Dai! You’d be the best guard in the world.” Hotaru poked Dai in the chest, to emphasise his point. “Akio, how far away is your housie? I’m sort of tired…”

***

“Akioooo your house is soooo big!” Hotaru gaped from the gateway. “It’s like a mansion! Akio went red, and pulled Taru into the grounds quickly.

“Shh Taru-san,” he said, hurriedly.

“No, he’s right Akio. Your house is pretty large,” Dai nodded in agreement, looking slightly impressed. “Maybe now you can both get changed,” he gave a significant glance at their overly-baggy, stolen clothes. “Not that you don’t look dashing in nurse outfits…” he trailed off with a smile.

Taguri stared at Hotaru and Akio, as if noticing for the first time that they were both wearing scrubs, and Cho laughed quietly in the background.

“We must sort this out immediately, Akio-san! How could you… oh never mind. I will iron you some nice warm pyjamas. And Hotaru, Dai and Cho, I’m sure I can find you some nice spare ones from Akio’s old things!” Tagari bustled off in front of the group, presumably to stoke some fires and press some jimmies*. Cho pulled a slight face, probably at the thought of wearing boy’s pyjamas and Dai just looked disapproving.

“As long as they don’t have duckies on, or bears sitting on marshmallows or something,” Dai commented, as they entered in through the huge oaken door.

“Funny you should mention bears sitting on marshmallows, Dai-kun…” Akio grinned, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“Oh joy,” Dai groaned, “if this gets out, I will kill you!” He turned sharply, as his coat was taken by a smartly-dressed butler type. “Akio… you have butlers.”

“Yeaaah…” Akio looked highly embarrassed, but smiled at the butler anyway. “They sort of come with the name. Anyway! My room’s this way! We can all sleep there!”

Taguri came sweeping out of one of the many corridors, a disapproving look on her face. “Akio-sama, I do hope you’re not planning on letting Cho-chan sleep in a room full of boys!” She grabbed Cho by the hand, and led her off up the staircase directly in front of the doorway. “You can sleep in the room opposite Akio-sama’s, Cho-chan. Come along now Akio-sama, don’t leave your guests loitering around in the cold doorway.” Akio looked at Dai and Taru ruefully, and then followed Taguri up the wide staircase.

“How many staircases do you have in this house, Akio-kun?” Hotaru felt slightly daunted by the amount of stairs, but the thought of a bed at the top of them gave him the energy to power through. “Whereabouts is your room? Is it big?”

“Taru, you’re repeating yourself,” Dai said.

“I’m tired Daaai-kunnn, don’t be so mean.” Taru pouted.

“It’s ok, we’re here now Taru!” Akio stopped outside another large door.

Stopped here for convenience or character interaction or something. Will post again (after Wenny, most likely) with actual sleepover content. XD

*jimmes = pyjamas. Shh.

EDIT: OOOH YEAAAAH PAGE 3

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Sakamoto Dai

12/9

Shinagawa Double Suicide
(Lead-in)


"Oh, isn't he precious!"

"Now, mother, stop gushing, we've had four days of it already and I have certainly had enough."

"But he's such a stiff. As a corpse. And inside - all fluffy."

"The hag has a point, mother."

"Ah, sisters, you're so callous."

"We'll soon be seeing enough - far too much, even - of the boy."

"He isn't even good with the ladies."

"Much less ladylike men."

"Like now."

"Exactly."

"Exactly."

"This should be entertaining."

*

The main thing that Dai noticed about Akio's house, no, mansion, was the size and scope of the kitchen. This fact was none too discreetly hammered into his brain by his sister's exclamations of wonder and delight. She flitted about the cavernous kitchen, accompanied by sparkles and a houseproud Taguri-chan, examining the fittings, the cabinets, the custom-made sinks and an actual, real, working hearth. It was when they started talking about different sizes of moustache spoons and their uses that he made a surreptitious escape to Akio's room.

Where they were playing dress-up. Hotaru, making his famous moue, was pretending to be a geisha with what looked like Akio's silk dressing-gown, a scarf, several clothes-pins and a decorative folding fan.

Dai, stone-faced, reached for the doorknob to make yet another escape (this time blatant), but was stalled by Akio (with his hair in a towel, turban-fashion, perhaps trying to emulate Sindbad the sailor) catching hold of him and chivvying him to the dressing room. Like everything else in the mansion, it was vast, large, gargantuan, and any other word that comes to mind that vaguely recalls the adjective 'big'; Dai was directed to the sleepwear section.

There was indeed a set of pajamas patterned with bears and marshmallows. The rest weren't much better. They ranged from ducks to smiley-faced onigiri to tooth-achingly cute rainbows.

Wordlessly, he stalked away from his flailing friends down the seemingly endless rows of clothing until he found something that looked relatively normal: a nondescript yukata that Akio wore when he went to his family's private onsen. To Dai's biased and unfeeling eye, the unassuming folds of cotton were an oasis in a sea of unremitting, embarrassingly patterned dunes.

When he emerged from the dressing room, they were on the bed having a pillow fight. Two people who'd just sort of checked themselves out of hospital that same afternoon were now engaged in some kind of childish brawl - and now that he came to think of it, Akio hadn't so much as a scratch on him. Also he could smell the secret the two were keeping between them a mile away, even if he didn't know exactly what it was, yet.

He ignored their entreaties to join in and settled down by the door, perfectly determined to hold good his promise of standing guard.

Did they think they would worry him with whatever they were holding back? What a laugh, I've been having these albatrosses round my neck for as long as I can remember, I'm immu-

A pillow hit him in the face.

With commendable composure, he threw it back to the duo on the bed.

Four pillows later, the inevitable happened.


I know, I know, it's short, but I swear I can't even think of Dai getting stripped by the merry duo without convulsing (in a good way). GO GO WEASEL POWER~