[BitP:R] Mortal World 3

[Wahrheit]

Izumi nods, and sits down next to him. "I do... everything that's happened so far, right?"

"Yeah... I knew I'd find new stuff here in Japan, it's why my folks sent me here, but... it's all really strange. I'm used to dealin' with Hollows, not with... with whatever the hell that woman was. An' I can't shake the feelin' that I've just seen the tip of the iceberg here."

[horngeek]

Izumi nods. "And I just can't shake the feeling that something's up..."

While she's speaking, she eyes the drawing book.

[Wahrheit]

Rex had been working on a half-finished sketch of five people. One looked a fair bit like him, and the others were resolving into a slightly older boy, probably in his very early 20s, a middle-aged couple, and a teenaged girl.

"I can't either. It's like somethin's just waiting, an' we're gonna have to deal with it when it finally shows up." Rex shook his head and chuckled. "Ma always said I was bad at waitin'."

[horngeek]

Izumi nods. "Calm before the storm? Does feel that way...

Who are they?"

She motions at the book.

[Wahrheit]

"I know we'll be able to handle it, but I hate the waitin'." Rex looked at his drawing. "Huh? Oh, that's the family. My parents are in the back there... That's my older brother Marcus, an' my little sis Tory. Victoria. Figured I'd send it home with my next letter when I finish it."

[horngeek]

Izumi smiles. "Your drawings are really good..."

[KnightDisciple]

Too close to be explosives. No, his opponent is undoubtedly mad, but not suicidal. Hakusai manages to draw and ignite his black light swords and slash at the two rubber chickens, and realizes almost too late that they were a distraction.

Whoever this man was, he was in a completely different level than anything he'd faced before.

Bringing the sword up, he manages to parry the blow, but his arm quivers under the strength needed to not buckle under.

Strong...!

A slash of pure, black "light" arcs upward towards his foe, though it didn't come from Hakusai's current weapon.

"Who ARE you...?"

The slightly insane mane pushes his crowbar against the sword, and shoves his feet against Hakusai's chest. Though, one wonders how he didn't fall as soon as he impacted...

These actions catapult him out of the way of the slash of blacklight, and he does a couple of midair twists to land perfectly on the rooftop. He takes a bow, then handsprings back a few paces.

"Who am I, you ask?"

He leans against his crowbar as if it were a gentleman's cane.

"I'm a man with wealthy tastes and tasty wealth."

He tosses said crowbar in the air, catching it in the other hand as if it weighed nothing, and made a mirror pose of a moment ago.

"I'm a guy who like consequences of consequence."

He points the crowbar forward, now holding it like a fencing foil.

"I am your self-appointed arch-nemesis! The man who will kill you! The most extraordinary person you'll ever meet! I have man names. Madman. Loony. Murderer. Fabulous dresser. Wonderful kisser. But you can call me..."

He sticks the crowbar an inch or so into the roof and flourishes into an even more ridiculous pose.

"Cackling Oni! Hahahaha! Gotta love it! Oh, and catch."

Two spherical objects fly towards Hakusai. About 10 feet away, they'll go off, revealing themselves as flashbang grenades.

Cackling Oni is already running for the next rooftop, crowbar in hand.

[Wahrheit]

Izumi smiles. "Your drawings are really good..."

Rex grinned. "Thanks. It helps pass the time, an' Dad always said learnin' fine hand control helped with all the rest of the stuff my family does. 'Sides, I like it. Not gonna make a career out of it... artists are always too Serious Business about it fer my taste."

[horngeek]

Izumi chuckles. "Our family tends not to be that good at arts stuff... although Chiyoko's a pretty good writer."

[KnightDisciple]

[On the Way to Fusichou High]

Kaito had spent nearly an hour just burying himself in a couple of books. It got his mind off of things. Now, he was walking to school, having insisted he not be driven like some prince. There were lines that couldn't just be crossed, after all. Besides, it wasn't far.

On the way, he decided to call up Nakahiro.

[strawberryman]

Chiyoko starts at the sound, and takes a few steps back, then trips and falls to a sitting position. What... what is that?

I can hear it... and I can feel the energy around it...

But what is it?

"Go where?"

"You don't need to know, child."

A vine shoots for Chiyoko, aiming to wrap around her. The creature has yet to notice Kazari.

[On the way to Fushichou High]

Kaito soon finds himself joined by Valeria, examining the lost phone with some curiousity.

She notices he's on his own cell, however, and doesn't bother him just yet.

[Dorizzit]

The phone rings twice before Nakahiro picks it up.

"Hey. What's up?"

[KnightDisciple]

[On the way to Fushichou High]

[On the way to Fushichou High]

Kaito soon finds himself joined by Valeria, examining the lost phone with some curiousity.

She notices he's on his own cell, however, and doesn't bother him just yet.

Kaito gives Val an almost-smile and a single nod.

The phone rings twice before Nakahiro picks it up.

"Hey. What's up?"

"I'm on my way to school now. Let's see, I'm at..."

Kaito stops and gives the street intersection they're at.

"Felt like taking a walk, and we've got some time yet. Funky stuff's going down...Where are you at?"

[Dorizzit]

"Huh, I'm just a couple blocks away from there. Hang on for a moment..."

There is a pause of a few seconds. With a scraping noise, Nakahiro appears a short distance behind Kaito and Valeria. The white aura of his powers slowly fades back into his body.

"Ah, the convenience of...oh, hi Valeria."

Nakahiro folds his hands behind his head and smiles, his umbrella hanging from the crook of one arm. He turns to look at Kaito.

"So yeah."

[horngeek]

Chiyoko starts struggling as the vine wraps around her, trapping her arms to her sides. "HELP!"

Cliched, but the only thing the terrified girl can think of right now.

[KnightDisciple]

"Huh, I'm just a couple blocks away from there. Hang on for a moment..."

There is a pause of a few seconds. With a scraping noise, Nakahiro appears a short distance behind Kaito and Valeria. The white aura of his powers slowly fades back into his body.

"Ah, the convenience of...oh, hi Valeria."

Nakahiro folds his hands behind his head and smiles, his umbrella hanging from the crook of one arm. He turns to look at Kaito.

"So yeah."

Kaito blinks, then shrugs as he puts away his phone.

"Handy trick. And yeah, hi Valeria. Sorry about the bad timing of greetings a moment ago."

He focuses on the phone she's holding after a moment.

"What's up with that?"

[strawberryman]

[Abandoned House]

Cassandra sighed to herself quietly. Odd. I don't have any memories of crimes worthy of being punished by this rainbow-haired imbecile. Cassandra thought to herself as she listened to Cha-Cha's rambling.

"All right, here's the deal." She said after the rest had said their part. "I don't know how long you've all been here, but you all need to get yourself acclimated to the area. I need to return to the Valley and resupply myself, I've used up most of the Blanks that I brought with me. The rest of you will stay here and familiarize yourselves with the layout; important landmarks, hiding places, places where humans gather. We'll need to know all of this when we begin. But once again, do not draw attention to yourselves. If you meet with humans then be discreet, do not reveal yourselves for what you are, and do not kill anyone. Do I make myself clear?" She finished, and waited for their responses.

"I've been doing that." Magnus shrugs.

[Fusichou High]

Mayumi tensed a little when the girl mentioned who her mother was. Oh. That would explain why the little girl was wandering alone, and why she seemed so oddly mature for her age. "Are you looking for her? I can bring you to her office, if you want." Mayumi offered, smiling. The idea of going near the principal was never a pleasant one, but if the child needed her help...

"...Um, okay." The girl shows a fair level of timidity. "You're a teacher here, right?"

[Agent 09's Lab]

When the phone rang, Vincent sighed inwardly. It was always when he was making the most headway that interruptions appeared. He placed his tools on the table and moved to phone.

"Agent 01? Project Shift is doing marvelously, especially since my latest," he paused and glanced at Sereg's leg, currently being analyzed, "acquisition. I expect to be testing a fully-functioning prototype within 4 days. Progress is therefore 64% ahead of schedule." Reports to Agent 01 should always be succinct, Vincent was told. But in his experience, the man appreciated some detail.

"Excellent. I won't deign to waste any more of your time with meaningless conversation, then." And with that, he hangs up.

[On the way to Fushichou High]

Valeria blinks and waves, then holds up the phone. "I found it in the park... Either of you recognize it? It... smells sort of familiar, and has a few of our classmates names."

[KnightDisciple]

Kaito looks at the phone for several moments, before sighing and shaking his head.

"Yeah, I do. It's Sora's. I've seen him texting in class with it a few times. Probably has Izumi's name; they hang out a lot."

There's no real venom in his voice; and if the others think back, they'll realize he's probably never called the teacher's attention to Sora's texting.

Suddenly, Val's words fully sink in, and he frowns in confusion.

"Wait. It "smells" familiar? What's that mean?"

[Kuroimaken]

The slightly insane mane pushes his crowbar against the sword, and shoves his feet against Hakusai's chest. Though, one wonders how he didn't fall as soon as he impacted...

These actions catapult him out of the way of the slash of blacklight, and he does a couple of midair twists to land perfectly on the rooftop. He takes a bow, then handsprings back a few paces.

"Who am I, you ask?"

He leans against his crowbar as if it were a gentleman's cane.

"I'm a man with wealthy tastes and tasty wealth."

He tosses said crowbar in the air, catching it in the other hand as if it weighed nothing, and made a mirror pose of a moment ago.

"I'm a guy who like consequences of consequence."

He points the crowbar forward, now holding it like a fencing foil.

"I am your self-appointed arch-nemesis! The man who will kill you! The most extraordinary person you'll ever meet! I have man names. Madman. Loony. Murderer. Fabulous dresser. Wonderful kisser. But you can call me..."

He sticks the crowbar an inch or so into the roof and flourishes into an even more ridiculous pose.

"Cackling Oni! Hahahaha! Gotta love it! Oh, and catch."

Two spherical objects fly towards Hakusai. About 10 feet away, they'll go off, revealing themselves as flashbang grenades.

Cackling Oni is already running for the next rooftop, crowbar in hand.

"This is the first time I have met a man who professes joy in his future as a corpse."

The flashbangs apparently go entirely unheeded by Hakusai. They detonate right on his face, yet he doesn't flinch; less than a couple of seconds go by before he's doggedly in the Cackling Oni's heels.

Black wings form on his back as he takes off after his self-appointed nemesis. Holstering the sabers, Hakusai next draws his characteristic handguns, squeezing off a half dozen shots in his enemy's direction.

This time, however... the projectiles curve, out and about.

[strawberryman]

Valeria's look turns somewhat self-conscious. "I dunno, it's just how I... sense this stuff. More than anything else..." She shakes her head.

"...Well, I guess that's good, anyway, I'll be able to give it back."

[KnightDisciple]

Valeria's look turns somewhat self-conscious. "I dunno, it's just how I... sense this stuff. More than anything else..." She shakes her head.

"...Well, I guess that's good, anyway, I'll be able to give it back."

Kaito's oblivious enough he misses the self-conscious look. Instead, he looks aimlessly into the distance while tapping his chin.

"Hm. It kind of makes sense after a moment's thought. I mean, it sounds like your extra sense, or senses, are more subtle than vision or hearing. Smell's the next logical choice; it really sticks in our memory, and it's still sharp enough we can distinguish things. I just didn't realize you had another superpower is all. Me, I'm stuck with a whopping 1 power. Handy that it might be. You and Nakahiro over there are practically a whole superteam at this rate."

He gives both his friends more genuine smiles.

"So. Um. School today. I managed to get all my homework done. Think it'll be a nice, boring day?"

[KnightDisciple]

"This is the first time I have met a man who professes joy in his future as a corpse."

The flashbangs apparently go entirely unheeded by Hakusai. They detonate right on his face, yet he doesn't flinch; less than a couple of seconds go by before he's doggedly in the Cackling Oni's heels.

Black wings form on his back as he takes off after his self-appointed nemesis. Holstering the sabers, Hakusai next draws his characteristic handguns, squeezing off a half dozen shots in his enemy's direction.

This time, however... the projectiles curve, out and about.

The first bullet is simply dodged via moves that are downright contortionist-like.

The next couple, he rolls to one side at the last moment.

The fourth and fifth are side-stepped. By which we mean he literally blurs from average vision, reappearing to one side.

The final bullet is smacked away by the crowbar as Oni turns to face Hakusai...already firing a submachine gun.

"Isn't that cute? You think I'm dying today, Haku-kun! You're so silly! And you said you weren't someone who used theatrics!"

The gun's magazine is emptied, and it is subsequently tucked away, along with the crowbar.

"Of course, you're tougher than even I thought you might be. You should feel really special. I've barely shown this thing to anyone!"

He begins to reach into his jacket, clearly intending to withdraw another weapon...

[Terry576]

[Sora]

Sora pays for his coffee, and leaves, rather late. And then he checks his pockets for his phone, so as to discover the time.

...

...

"Oh you have got to be kidding me."

The boy sighs, realizing he lost his phone. He begins the dreary walk to school, stopping by his hideout to get his bag, and continues on his way.

[nothingclever]

Ken
Ken too went on his way to school. Unlike the others he only intended to walk with Sayaka. During the trip he thought about how fortunate he was to have someone he could talk to along the way everyday. He never had such a luxury before. As pleased as he was with how things were he also hoped he'd end up going with Kina too someday.

[Kasanip]

Kazari

The giant tree creature landed in front of Kazari and Chiyoko. As the vines came out, Kazari's mood changed instantly.

Her eyes glowed a dark red, and the air around her shimmered in a violet and black intense feeling.

She stepped in front of Chiyoko forcefully, an inhuman expression on her face.
At least Chiyoko couldn't see this, Kazari was pleased. She didn't want to scare her friend.

But this was a feeling...she hadn't felt before.
Alive.
Very very Alive.

For a necklace youkai, it was a wonderful feeling. A dangerous and wild feeling. The vine wrapped around Chiyoko is grabbed in one hand of Kazari, to keep it from retreating.

"This one is under my protection, you rude tree. Go back to the forest and sleep like you're supposed to."

She said in a warning dangerous and dark voice.
Or maybe to humans it was a frightening sound from a young girl. For the large hollow, maybe it was like a dog's warning growl.

Sayaka
[to go to school]

Sayaka was somewhat talking this morning.
For Ken, it was a habit of Sayaka he noticed when she did not sleep very well. Maybe because she could speak to him while they walked.
But it was certainly different than the Sayaka before, who was cold and quiet in class to him.

Sayaka was fixing her uniform and hair clip as they walked.
"Hey, are you listening , Ken?" She called to the [what is word for such a person?] classmate who stays at her house.

The unexpected phone call last night of Nakahiro caused her to worry a little. But there was going to be another meeting of the students today, and that was a good thing.
"I was saying, we have another meeting today with our other classmates. I'm hoping we get something more accomplished."

[horngeek]

[Chiyoko]

Chiyoko could tell her friend had changed. Somehow.

How, exactly, she didn't know. In the years to come, she would be able to identify it, but her sister was the only one she knew to be spiritual in nature before that moment, so she didn't know exactly how.

But...

...it was still her. Her friend was protecting her.

That, Chiyoko knew, as certain as anything.

[Kuroimaken]

The first bullet is simply dodged via moves that are downright contortionist-like.

The next couple, he rolls to one side at the last moment.

The fourth and fifth are side-stepped. By which we mean he literally blurs from average vision, reappearing to one side.

The final bullet is smacked away by the crowbar as Oni turns to face Hakusai...already firing a submachine gun.

"Isn't that cute? You think I'm dying today, Haku-kun! You're so silly! And you said you weren't someone who used theatrics!"

The gun's magazine is emptied, and it is subsequently tucked away, along with the crowbar.

"Of course, you're tougher than even I thought you might be. You should feel really special. I've barely shown this thing to anyone!"

He begins to reach into his jacket, clearly intending to withdraw another weapon...

He's certainly hanging on to that point.

He's quite fast, and his strength is far above a man of his build. He has the advantage in close range...

But naturally, he's been able to see every single attack of mine coming.

As Cackling Oni reaches for a different weapon, Hakusai decides to adopt a different tactic. His figure visually vanishes - yet five replicas of shadowstuff take his place. It's up to his self-appointed archnemesis to pick out where he is; depending on how finely tuned his spiritual senses are, the task might not be so easy.

And he might not have the time for it.

The figures blur in shadow as they seek to surround and strike at the man in the white suit from different angles.

But they are a distraction.

Two lances of shadow suddenly form from behind, seeking to thrust at the height of his shoulderblades, to keep his arms from moving.

[nothingclever]

Ken with Sayaka, on their way to school
"I'm always listening..." said Ken, his voice trailing off. He suddenly stood still, turned to face her with an intense gaze and emphatically added just for fun, "if it's you." A moment later he started walking again as abruptly as he had stopped. "I sure hope so too."

[Nicklance]

Cuerva de Sangre - Outside Venti Buon Cafe

Contemplating throwing her shoes at that tall man who bumped into her without apologizing, Cuerva manages to hold back from doing so. Picking up the broken heels, she beings to walk down the streets looking for a cobbler, and to marvel at the sensation of walking barefooted as a mortal.

[Dorizzit]

Spoiler

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Valeria's look turns somewhat self-conscious. "I dunno, it's just how I... sense this stuff. More than anything else..." She shakes her head.

"...Well, I guess that's good, anyway, I'll be able to give it back."

Nakahiro interjects after Valeria declares her intent to return the phone.

"Um, would you mind if I gave the phone back to Sora? I was meaning to talk to him anyway, and this would give me a nice lead-in. It's fine if you want to return it personally, though."

Spoiler

Show

Kaito's oblivious enough he misses the self-conscious look. Instead, he looks aimlessly into the distance while tapping his chin.

"Hm. It kind of makes sense after a moment's thought. I mean, it sounds like your extra sense, or senses, are more subtle than vision or hearing. Smell's the next logical choice; it really sticks in our memory, and it's still sharp enough we can distinguish things. I just didn't realize you had another superpower is all. Me, I'm stuck with a whopping 1 power. Handy that it might be. You and Nakahiro over there are practically a whole superteam at this rate."

Nakahiro shakes his head.

"Don't be so sure. I've been looking at everyone's power levels, and at this point, I've come to a conclusion. People with greater numbers of abilities, like myself and Valeria, tend to have limits to balance this out compared to singularly empowered individuals. For instance, I'm pretty much useless without some tools. Moreover, most of the objects I combine with my abilities don't get any more durable. If an opponent targeted them instead of me, I'd start running out of options very quickly. On the flip side of that, people such as you and Ken may only have one power, but generally such abilities are both more well rounded and have a higher overall level of raw power. So in some situations, our range of abilities may be more useful, but in others, we'd be helpless. It all depends."

He pauses.

"Or I could be wrong. Or it could vary from person to person. This is just what I've noticed."

Spoiler

Show

He gives both his friends more genuine smiles.

"So. Um. School today. I managed to get all my homework done. Think it'll be a nice, boring day?"

Nakahiro breaks into a grin.

"Hey, man, don't curse it."