Hisakawa Koukou - Hard Reset IC

[Karyra]

[fieldbox=Rei Saionji, purple, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / Hisakawa Academy - Corridors]

"Screw you, Rei," Kira says, and Rei tried not to appear startled. "Go ahead and play dumb if you want, but Nyoko told me about what happened when you visited our little club. That's right. I'm a Red Panda now. And thanks to them, I haven't had a hard time at all. I've been super fine. I've been walking on sunshine!"

Rei was going to kill Nyoko. How was a mystery right now, but so far the plan involved strangling the bird first, even if it was just a hologram or whatever.

"You don't need to keep up the charade any more, Rei. I don't care what you do. If you want to exclude me from your life, that's fine. Kiss whatever you want to kiss," Kira continues on and Rei tries not to appear hurt. "We don't have to pretend to be best friends. It's not a fun game anyway. I guess we both picked the wrong person."

"Well, I keep picking the wrong person, then. I keep ending up friends with people I should be opposing, like Michio and his dumb Social Morals crap and don't forget I'm friends with the guy who hates anything criminal or wrong. How about we top it off with the fact that I get along with my bodyguard? I have a history of picking people who are pretty awful for me." Rei said, picking up on Kira's slumped shoulders. There was way more to this than just the hospital thing.

Rei circled around Kira's back to face her head on.

"I'm not pretending. And I think it's time to retire the pity party act, both of us. I'm still going to hold on to this friendship. You want to know why I kissed that Raptor girl? Because I've been dealing with a stalker who has been putting stickers on my bag for weeks. I thought a tech expert was necessary, but I was an absolute idiot and she hacked me and blinded me. She promised not to to anything worse if I kissed her, so I did."

No running. No letting this friendship go anymore. If she let Kira go like this, whatever had been happening to her would get worse and whatever Rei or Kira had to deal with would only intensify by themselves. There was no way to keep it contained now that Yuuki and Michio and Ayame knew, so there was little harm in saying it out loud.

"This week has probably sucked colossally for both of us, which is the understatement of the year, probably."

Rei wouldn't flinch.

"But... I don't care that this friendship seems pointless to you, because I miss eating ramen with you. I miss trying to understand the references to music you make, and I miss hanging out and playing shogi. Because I knew that I could lean on you without worrying about you trying to leverage me for something."

Friendship was important, and all those that she let go of without a second thought about how much it hurt was a stupid move in itself. This was important.

"So, if you're still mad you can hit me as hard as you can. I hear it's cathartic, and god knows that I can take being hit."

That I deserve it, too.

@Wen @HallwayPals
[/fieldbox]

 

[Skyswimsky]

[fieldbox= Kyouko Himura, #3DA3C2, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / Student Radio Corridor ]

No, sorry, I've flown to the moon. I got tired of this earthly existence. (Yes, obviously, duh. I'm at the student radio.

Kyouko hurried down the hallways as she read Nyoko's message. Rather surprised that she was indeed at the student radio, despite the music playing, the blonde paid it no more mind. After all the only thing that mattered right now was her planned, blunt confession to Kira. Actively trying to ignore any kinds of 'What if'-scenarios coming to her mind the pirate knew she had to do it before the blazing flame that symbolized her will inside her would be blown out once again.

Instead, the blonde concentrated her thoughts solely on that single purpose she had right now, bordering some sort of self-hypnosis. Going down some stairs from the second to the first floor Kyouko now noticed that the music stopped playing. Unimportant.

Slowly, but surely, however, every step the one-eye took became heavier and heavier. Every step Kyouko got closer to the place she expected Kira at the doubts that corrupted her mind became more vivid and wild. 'Don't stop' the pirate told herself as she got closer and closer. She knew if she really wanted to do this, it had to be quick and dirty. But what if Kira liked it all romantic?

Shaking her head as she heard some similar voices around the corner, Kyouko knew that Kira was under that group of people! She had to be! Fuck. Better turn around. It was now or never. Despite feeling like dying the pirate knew that once she got that off her chest she would feel better. Regardless of the outcome. This was harder than anything she had done before, and Kyouko was a danger seeker.

Now. Or. Never.

Closing her eyes the blonde turned around the corner.

"KIRA OSHIRO! YOU ARE MINE! ... For now and ever." Open. Unexpected. Blunt. Weird. Totally Kyouko style!

Kyouko yelled as time came to a stop. ... Silence. It felt like multiple minutes what had just been mere seconds before Kyouko finally opened her eyes.

Kira was nowhere to be seen.

Kyouko mustered up all her courage for the biggest challenge she had yet to face but...

Kira was nowhere to be seen.

"..." Nyoko was there but...

Kira was nowhere to be seen.

'Kill me please.'

"..."

Speechless. No words. It was rare for the one-eye wishing that she'd just turn invisible. That the earth would bury her. All she could do was turn around and pretending nothing of this ever happened. Her 'image', destroyed.


@Wen
@Raven Haruka
@LowDefinition
@_AnyoneIMissed[/fieldbox]

 

[Weracious]

[fieldbox= , white, solid]
[November 9th, Afternoon / Library]

"E-excuse me. I was here last week, and I think I've lost something. Do you have a wallet in your lost-and-found?"

The man behind the library counter perks up when Ryuu approaches him, putting a finger on the page of the book he's been reading. He shakes his head at the student's question. He can't remember a wallet, but of course, there is a possibility someone found it without returning it.

"Sorry, but I don't think so," he says, as his reading glasses slides down his nose. "You're free to check, but it seems likelier one of those girls who brought you here has it. I think Ishikawa-san spends time near the back of the school, where they dispose of the garbage. She's probably crying all by herself back there. Poor girl."

The man waits for Ryuu to ask another question, but he doesn't have the answers he seeks.

@Eruantien
[/fieldbox]

[fieldbox= , white, solid]
[November 9th, Afternoon / The TTC]

Raptor watches the camera feed of the TTC. There are at least ten Sharks outside, but they are simply standing there in plain sight. They want to be seen. They are waiting for something to happen, and it is unnerving.

Their leader is among them, checking her extravagant gold wristwatch every now and then. Raptor can't deny that the girl with piercings is gorgeous, yet she doesn't think she is a match for Nyoko. She doesn't have her personality for one.

The leader of the Sharks is known to a few as the Lady in Black, due to the fact that she almost always wears black and has a morbid sense of humour, yet a greater number of people know her as the Great White. She is rumoured to have disposed of members of other gangs permanently, eaten them like a great white shark might do if threatened. Raptor has a little information on her, but it's not as much as it should be. It's evident that the girl is a member of the upper class, so why does she choose to waste time in the dirty alley outside the TTC? She could have sent members of her clan without showing up herself.

Raptor swallows the lump in her throat, returning her attention to Nyoko and the incident at the student radio.
[/fieldbox]

[fieldbox= Morita Nyoko, magenta, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / Student Radio Corridor]

Nyoko doesn't believe in ghosts, so she assumes Chiyo is joking, but then she approaches the door as if she is addressing this ghost. Nyoko decides to not pay too much attention to it. This didn't feel like a game to her, and she is growing more and more worried that something serious might happen. Maybe she shouldn't have gotten Chiyo and Yuuki involved, but they'd been the closest people to ask for help. Who knew how long it would take for a couple of Red Pandas to arrive? Probably not too long, but events may escalate out of control if they did show up. They weren't always the most reliable. Besides, they are at school. Nobody had ever dared to attack another clan at school.

"Umm, how about I use both my hands on the door handle? Then, each one of you guys can grab onto one of my wrists, and we'll all pull together!"

"Sounds like an idea as good as any, but maybe I should…" Nyoko stops herself. No, she'd asked for help. It was better that they got the door open as soon as possible rather than argued about the details. "Sure, let's do it that way."

Nyoko lays her hands on Chiyo's wrists, waiting for Yuuki to do the same before she begins to pull. This would have been a lot easier if someone strong had been nearby, but Nyoko was more of a mage than a warrior. However, the door swings open easily, as if no one was holding onto it at all.

"KIRA OSHIRO! YOU ARE MINE! ... For now and ever."

Just when Nyoko thought she couldn't look more ridiculous herself, Kyouko shows up to prove her wrong. What is she even doing screaming stuff like that in the corridors? Were they playing tag…? No, knowing those two it had to be something perverted, especially if they were getting along well enough for Kyouko to scream Kira's name. Nyoko suppressed the mental image that thought gave her.

"She's not here, Kyouko-san," Nyoko says, rolling her shoulders. "She's probably returned home to practice her drumming by now, or any other of the numerous hobbies she's got. You didn't consider messaging her on her chip? I've got her number if you want it."

Admittedly, she still had Kira's number blocked after the most recent incident. It was calmer if Kira wasn't able to communicate with her through the chips. If Nyoko wanted to contact Kira, she'd do it quickly before blocking her again.

Nyoko turns her attention back to the student radio. At first, she hadn't noticed anything different when the door had swung open, but upon closer inspection there appears to be red letters written on the ceiling. She has to tilt her head a bit to be able to read what the graffiti even says.

NYOKO IS A MURDERER

It is an offensive message, meant to scare her, but what actually worries her is what the teachers might think if they see the graffiti. She might lose her status as leader of the student radio if they find out.

"Sharks?" Nyoko whispers to herself, not daring to enter the room. She should be able to detect her enemies, even if they were cloaked, yet despite her initial efforts nobody was revealed to her.

There are about five or six of them - R4PT0R

Nyoko was about to slam the door shut again, lock it tight, as she doesn't doubt Raptor's information one bit. She doesn't get the chance to do it before a tall woman materializes several metres ahead of her. Stepping out of thin air, the cloaking her chip provides her with falls away in glittering pieces. The woman looks as if she'd been torn from a western movie, with her poncho and her hat. She is coming straight for Nyoko.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9chF9gYZqI
A new song begins to play, but it only plays in the student radio, not in the entire school. Acting fast, Nyoko launches an attack at the woman's chip, intending to blind her. It doesn't even slow her down, yet Nyoko must have blinded her.

"Motherfucker!" The woman shouts, cracking her knuckles, running towards her.

"Run!" Nyoko orders Chiyo and Yuuki, trying to push them away, as the woman raises her right foot and kicks Nyoko across the corridor. The Red Panda leader isn't as big as her virtua-ava implies, so she doesn't weigh a whole lot. Still, there was beastlike strength behind the kick which sent her flying. Her virtua-ava blinks as she slides down along the wall, fading, and Nyoko is shown in her true form. A short little girl.

@Raven Haruka @Skyswimsky @LowDefinition
[/fieldbox]


[fieldbox= , white, solid]
[November 9th, Afternoon / The TTC]

Raptor jumps to her feet in her room at the TTC as she watches Nyoko go flying. They had a secret connection, which no one knew about, which Raptor wasn't allowed to abuse. She could ride along with Nyoko, when she had permission, and she could see things through her eyes. Nyoko thought it was useful, and Raptor could technically be at school even if she wasn't at school.

This was not the kind of thing she wanted to see.

"Are you okay? Are you okay?" Raptor asks over and over, biting her lip so hard it bleeds. "Talk to me, please."

There is no immediate response, and it frightens her. Nyoko is down, and there are sharks waiting outside… As she glances at the camera feed of the TTC once more, she notices that the sharks are no longer waiting. They are trying to break into the TTC. The Great White waves at the camera before they destroy it, and the feed becomes static.

Nyoko is down, and the TTC is under attack. They've planned this attack well. Raptor has no choice but to sound the alarm. Nyoko had given her orders for these kind of scenarios, and she'd incorporated a red alert in the Red Panda program at her behest. Raptor writes the password into her master account, activating the alarm. Every single Red Panda would hear a loud screeching noise, and their chips would display a bright red interface. It effectively shuts down any other apps they might be using.

Soon, they would all turn to her for answers, as if she was remotely capable at answering them. At least they should know to head for the TTC if they wanted to remain a member of the VR clan. Nyoko wasn't fucking about when it came to situations like these.

"Come on, come on, come on," Raptor repeats over and over, sending the message directly to Nyoko and no one else. She wipes her eyes on the back of her hand, as it is becoming difficult to see when they tear up.

@Skyswimsky @Luma
[/fieldbox]

[fieldbox= , white, solid]
[November 9th, Afternoon / Student Radio Corridor]

The woman ignores Chiyo and Yuuki, even though they are practically standing next to her, as she looks at the people in the corridor. She refocuses her attention on the limp form of Nyoko, raising a hand to point at Kyouko.

"Capture her," she growls, before striding in Nyoko's direction.

Another five Sharks became visible inside the student radio, though they are more concerned with those right outside the door than their leader is. A couple of them carries steel baseball bats.

"Don't get in our way," one of them says, as they don their stealth cloaking once more. They had their orders, and all five of them would go after Kyouko without hesitation. Their leader wanted to handle Nyoko herself.

A sixth invisible Shark slaps a baseball sticker on Ayame's forehead, laughing to themselves. "I'm going to hit a homerun," they say, and the sound of a baseball bat being knocked against the wall can be heard.

@Skyswimsky @Raven Haruka @LowDefinition @RedArmyShogun
[/fieldbox]

[fieldbox= OSHIRO KIRA, #ffa938, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / 2nd Floor Corridor]

Rei's comment about how she keeps picking the wrong people as friends doesn't exactly convince Kira that she has any worthwhile to say. In fact, it makes it sound like she agrees with Kira that they shouldn't be friends at all, so if that wasn't where she was going with her argument she was certainly headed in the wrong direction. Kira doesn't particularly care about any of her other friends either. She wanted to be as special to Rei as Rei had been to her, but if she was just another friend… Surely, Rei could settle with those she managed to hold on to.

"I'm not pretending. And I think it's time to retire the pity party act, both of us. I'm still going to hold on to this friendship. You want to know why I kissed that Raptor girl? Because I've been dealing with a stalker who has been putting stickers on my bag for weeks. I thought a tech expert was necessary, but I was an absolute idiot and she hacked me and blinded me. She promised not to to anything worse if I kissed her, so I did."

No, Kira doesn't want to know why she'd done it. She wants to know why Rei had wanted to keep it a secret from everyone, including her, and why she'd had to find out through Nyoko. Besides, she already knew about the stalker. Rei's version of the truth doesn't exactly match up to what Nyoko had told Kira earlier, so she isn't certain who she should listen to. Rei is the obvious choice, but Nyoko seemed genuine when she came to visit her at the hospital.

"But... I don't care that this friendship seems pointless to you, because I miss eating ramen with you. I miss trying to understand the references to music you make, and I miss hanging out and playing shogi. Because I knew that I could lean on you without worrying about you trying to leverage me for something."

Even if Rei's argument isn't the best, at least it ends on a note which makes her smile for a second before she hides it. Kira laughs, rolling her eyes.

"So, if you're still mad you can hit me as hard as you can. I hear it's cathartic, and god knows that I can take being hit."

"Should have kissed me instead if you wanted to try what it was like," Kira giggles, laying one arm over Rei's shoulder, as she leans her head against hers.

Staring at her own feet, Kira smiles to herself. She punches the fist of her other arm straight into Rei's stomach, not holding back for a second. It's like being hit by a steel pipe, since Kira is an athletic girl in general, and she spends 90% of her time training her arms by drumming.

She hugs Rei tightly after she's punched her, mainly to keep her on her feet, keep her from collapsing in the middle of the hallway. If she is lucky, no teacher has seen what she's done. Even if Rei had told her to do it, they won't accept that as an excuse.

"I guess you'll never think of me as I thought of you," Kira whispers, with a somber tone. "That's fine. I didn't exactly have a lot of female friends, so I guess I valued you higher than I valued my male friends because of that alone. Maybe it was wrong to do so."

"I'm not sure it's a great idea for us to remain friends anyway. You're still a future english teacher, and I'm a rockstar," Kira whispers, using their codeword for the yakuza. "I don't want to end up dead because someone thought it was a good idea to attack me to get to you. I think—"

Before she has the chance to say what she was going to say, a screeching noise invades her mind, and her chip's interface pops up. Kira visibly cringes when it happens. It's the damn Red Panda program which Nyoko forced her to install. If she knew she was going to install malware on her chip, Kira would never have joined their silly club. It seems to be some kind of emergency protocol - an alarm, of sorts.

"The Red Pandas wants me to go to the TTC, apparently," Kira says, reading the text in the red interface. "Better be important, or I'm going to punch Nyoko as well. Maybe I should suggest your solution to relationship problems to her, so we can punch each other."

Kira lets go off Rei, spinning a drumstick around, uncertain what she wants to do now.

@Karyra
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox= , white, solid]
[November 9th, Afternoon / The TTC]

"Please, Nyoko… I really don't want you to die," Raptor mutters, locking the door to her room, barricading it with whatever she's got. If the Sharks at the TTC breach her sanctum, they've more or less won. She can still organize the Red Pandas retaliation efforts as long as she's got access to her computers.

[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox= Morita Nyoko, magenta, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / Student Radio Corridor]

"I'm… I'm not so fucking weak," Nyoko mutters, blinking against the pain in her body. She couldn't have been knocked out for more than a few seconds. The cowgirl hasn't killed her yet after all. She's striding slowly towards her.

Nyoko staggers to her feet, spitting blood at the other girl. She doesn't a functioning body to fight her. Her first attack may have been ineffective, but blinding someone is a cheap parlor trick compared to the illusions she can create. She's considered the greatest for a reason.

"I'll fry your goddamn chip if you hurt anyone other than me," Nyoko says, falling back on the language she was more prone to using when she was younger, doubting she can do it if this girl has a real security app installed on her chip.

"Oh, I'm not interested in anyone else than you. They're all small fry," the girl says, baring her teeth in a menacing grin. "Insignificant."

"Great." Nyoko sighs, baring her teeth as well in a smile. They look much too alike in that instant, like wolves trying to appear imposing so they won't have to fight each other. Nyoko chooses the only logical course of action available to her. She runs, and The Angel follows.

@Raven Haruka @Skyswimsky @LowDefinition @RedArmyShogun
[/fieldbox]

 

[Karyra]

[fieldbox=Rei Saionji, purple, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / Hisakawa Academy - Corridors]

"Should have kissed me instead if you wanted to try what it was like."

There was no trying anything, Rei was just thoroughly uninterested. It was blackmail and desperation that Rei did that. It was embarrassing knowing that Kira knew that now too. Still, the close contact was nice.

The punch nearly took Rei off guard, but at least Rei was somewhat ready since she asked for it, basically. Still, she'd forgotten how strong Kira was with her arms and drumming and all. Feels like a steel pipe, but Kira's still holding Rei up. Whether by choice or fear of punishment is unclear, though. At the very least Kira doesn't seem as mad anymore.

"I guess you'll never think of me as I thought of you," Kira whispers, and Rei feels bad for Kira. "That's fine. I didn't exactly have a lot of female friends, so I guess I valued you higher than I valued my male friends because of that alone. Maybe it was wrong to do so."

Well, at least they talked about what she was mad about.

Rei, if you can keep your schedule freed up today if you can, maybe some time after depending. I have to look into something for now, once I find out what I need to there is something important I need to get both of you into, might be going in over my head here, but if both of you are serious about this it could help you both out. ~Ayame

"I'm not sure it's a great idea for us to remain friends anyway. You're still a future english teacher, and I'm a rockstar, I don't want to end up dead because someone thought it was a good idea to attack me to get to you. I think—"

Kira winced and Rei moved to try and help, somehow.

"The Red Pandas wants me to go to the TTC, apparently. Better be important, or I'm going to punch Nyoko as well. Maybe I should suggest your solution to relationship problems to her, so we can punch each other."

Rei laughed. "Well hey, it worked, didn't it? Er, kind of anyway."

Rei would pay money to punch Nyoko in the face as hard she could right now. Nyoko or Raptor. Whichever told Kira would probably be on the end of Rei's wrath.

"How about I go with you? I need to talk to Nyoko-san anyway."

That envelope and the music certainly seemed to indicate something. Not to mention the fact that they wanted Kira, a new Red Panda at the base right now. And the fact that they used something that grabbed attention quickly and harshly.

Something about this all felt off, and not just her still being a little dazed from the pain of Kira punching her. Kira probably could have held back at least a little... this was going to bruise and Rei was going to have to shuffle around for a while.

"Besides, I have a bad feeling about this. Today's been really weird, both with the radio and that I got a letter. Well... technically it's mine because my name's on it but Iwasawa-kun got it on his desk," Rei said.

Then she realized it sounded a little off.

"I-I didn't give it to him! It-it's not a confession or what you think! I promise!"

Smooth. Rei certainly feel like a smooth criminal, right now. With that outburst, Kira would probably think that it actually was.

I'll be available tomorrow. Stay safe, there's something strange going on. Keep an eye on Michio if you can. -Rei

@Wen @HallwayPals
[/fieldbox]

 

[RedArmyShogun]

[fieldbox= Ayame Sayato, maroon, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon Student Radio Corridor]

What happened next most certainly was not under control, while she could not see what was going on in the next room, the fact Nyoko went flying out and then landing in a heap was a good sign it was bad. Half tempted to just let them take Nyoko she had no reason to be loyal to her, if the gangs ripped each other apart then the Yakuza could just kill the stragglers, problem solved. But Nyoko was her co-host and kidnappings in the school...

Either way her mind is made up when the arrogant gang leader is shown to be a small girl, never mind the cowgirl was just trash that offended her sense of aesthetics. What a crude mainly thing to wear, lacking in any form of elegance or function.

"Ora, ora, The hell do you punks think you are? If anyone kicks her around it's gonna be me. And you got a lot of balls to fuck with me you little shit." Having shut off most of her sensors the days prior Ayame had spent her time getting closer to her non-visual senses, while it was true she could not see the figure thanks to his invisibility, he made three fatal mistakes. Though rather than being scared she seemed, rather happy..

One, he touched her.
Two, he clinked his ballbat to the wall and spoke.
and three, he just really, really pissed her off.

All her frustrations, anger and hate, he caused them all, feeling the sticker on her head, Ayame wastes little time carrying out a plan so simple and so base that only the Gorilla Ninja Girl would have came up with it. Reaching into the pocket of her jogging suit with her left hand this was a plan that took her two days to come up with, one in which no civilized person would have considered or see coming.

"HIDDEN NINJA TECHNIQUE! POCKET SAND!" Throwing a handful of sand, mixed with salt, wasabi powder, bits of glass and small rocks in a wide arch towards the source of the sound she follows up with her left, bending in with a punch from her right as she watches where the improvised eye blinding attack would land, carrying on with this embarrassment she screams;

"FALCON PUNCH!" These people had given her a run around, now they were right in front of her, in a narrow hall, as if she were simply going to let them walk away. Vision be damned...

And if her improvised attack hit, well she would have a baseball bat and it would be just like old times again, smiling for a reason that escaped her, she had a particularly blood crazed look about her, then again considering the plan she had carried out it wasn't like she was all that sane to begin with. Hopefully the other two there had sense enough to go get help.

[/fieldbox]

@Wen @Raven Haruka @Skyswimsky @LowDefinition

 

[Skyswimsky]

[fieldbox= Kyouko Himura, #3DA3C2, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / Student Radio Corridor ]
What. What What?![

All of a sudden the situation went from zero to hundred. Nyoko got beaten up and some weird people suddenly entered the scene. Added to that the infamous and very annoying sounding Code Red, as Kyouko decided to call it just now, she suddenly found herself in a rather dangerous situation.

Wasn't she just trying to do a love confession mere seconds before?! Just how... did that happen. And now... to the TTC? Well, Kyouko clearly wouldn't have minded that if not for Nyoko being in trouble. Technically speaking, Kyouko had her hands rather full right now - even if there was the possibility of running away. Kyouko wasn't the kind of person to do that.

Even as Nyoko decided to scram it, Kyouko was set on fighting. In fact, she wanted to do anything but run right now. Considering her own hobbies and the fact that they all seemed about similar age the blonde wasn't even too worrying about being outnumbered. Alas, the fact they had weapons that could be deadly even in the hands of a stupid wannabe thug made this situation just that much more exciting dangerous.

Then there was also the possibility of them messing with her VR. She could only hope that the Code Red gave her some sort of super secret firewall thing that would protect her well enough from those.

Regardless, Kyouko was looking forward to those. Outside of her sparring fights with Ayame the one-eyed Lion had been rather tame the past months. Just as she was about to mock the group of Sharks however, they turned back invisible.

Great. Just great. Not only were they ganging up on her but they also had to exactly use the VR shenanigans that Kyouko hoped they wouldn't employ. The kind of tactics that turned Kyouko's prospect of victory to a near impossibility.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. While she was by no means a 'deluded little schoolgirl that pretended to like fighting' she was also aware that her skills were nowhere close to being able to fight an enemy 'blind' simply through sensing their presence and hearing their sounds and just going for counter attacks. Maybe one, or even two, but they were five! With weapons. This was a losing battle. Kyouko refused to just give up.

Kyouko had to do something. And quick. There wasn't even time to mock them properly! A quick glance around her surroundings revealed something that might could just work... somehow. A Fire-extinguisher behind her. For all she knew the 5 opponents were all still in front of her.

Grabbing the red object she quickly released the safety the safety pin before aiming forward. Actually... couldn't that thing maybe kill people? Nah. "EAT SHIT!" Aiming the fire extinguisher roughly at the height of their faces Kyouko hoped it would make them lose focus and make them cough enough that she could pinpoint their location to give at least one, or two, of them a punch strong enough to knock them out. Who knew, the reason they went to such underhanded lengths might have been precisely because they were physically weak while Kyouko was not.

@Wen
@_AnyoneClose[/fieldbox]

 

[Accelerator]

[fieldbox= Kamijou Michio, plum, solid]

Once he was done with his performance, Michio was glad that Mana found it to be quite enjoyable. Hearing from her that his skill has not deteriorated one bit since the last time he played. To be quite honest, he also missed playing as a whole, specially for an appreciative audience. Ever since he had decided to "seriously consider" the position of boss, he had been far too busy for "mundane" activities like this.

After spending time with Ayame, he had learned to properly schedule his activities so as to not burden himself too much and actually have some time to vent off some stress. Even so, he would normally use that time to get some much needed rest so he could proceed to his other duties feeling relaxed and refreshed.

Speaking of refreshed, Michio couldn't help but notice the blue haired girl looked different than usual to say the least. For starters, he noticed that her hair was done a lot neatly than usual and he could smell the scent of cherry blossom perfume coming from her. Though he appreciates the girl putting more attention to her appearance instead of putting it all in her hobbies, he does find this abrupt change as highly unusual.

Did something good happen to her perhaps? Although he knows a good deal of information about everyone in the class, he has limited knowledge about each student's personal lives save for the people he is particularly close with. So he has no way of knowing what brought this welcome change to Mana's habits.

His expression went grim when Mana took notice of the bandages adorning his body. Of course she would have noticed it. Mana must have just been considerate enough not to mention it right away when she approached him in class. Fortunately it seemed that she had a misconception regarding the origin of his injuries. Certainly she doesn't know the truth behind them and just twisted her interpretations just to be considerate right?

Truth be told, despite the pain that had initially assaulted his body, he still tried his best to fulfill his duties as a handymen for the Yakuza. Nowadays, his father would tend to say that "Pain is a test to see how much one can endure hardships." Still, no matter how much effort he exerted, he knew that one does not become a master overnight, specially with the variety of fighting styles his parents had decided to include in his training, the most taxing of which is their focus on "Blind Combat". And for that reason, Michio appreciated Mana's advice. Nothing good can come out of his routine if he doesn't exclude some time for proper relaxation.

"You mean these things? Heh, the thing is, I don't actually do much sports. My parents were just former martial arts practitioners so they wanted me to inherit their skills and thus, they've been training me with martial arts ever since I was a kid. Lately, I've found out that they've been holding back all this time with their teachings since I'm their son and all. So I insisted that they don't cut any corners with my training and this is the result." He explained nonchalantly as he began cleaning the Piano once again, a condition he readily agreed to in exchange of getting to play the piano in the music room whenever he wishes.

Michio's explanation was the truth but it wasn't the entire truth. He, of course left off the Yakuza bits from what he told Mana but all believable lies have a hint of truth attached to them. He wasn't exactly lying to Mana but he was also keeping her in the dark regarding the true nature and reason for his training.

He was, however, surprised to here the perky blue haired girl asking to him to hang out with her all of a sudden. Although after several days filled with nothing but work and training, the idea of having a relaxing afternoon with a friend definitely sounded appealing. Once he made sure that he actually had some free time before his shift starts, Michio decided that spending time with Mana would actually be possible.

"That sound's good though I'm not really sure what your definition of fun is. What do you have in mind, Kamei-san? If I may suggest something, how about watching a movie then getting dinner afterwards? I should still have some spare time before my shift starts at my part time job." Michio replied as he smiled fondly at Mana.

At around the same time, he received a message from Ayame informing him that he may need to meet with her and Rei later. Though not an issue, he would have to inform the manager in advance that he'll be starting his shift late or would fail to come at all depending if this meeting does go through or not. Though what caught his attention was the part of Ayame's text wherein she hinted at a certain blue haired girl in class is "into" him.

There are only three blue haired girls in Class A and he was fairly certain that Rei isn't who Ayame was talking about since she's already head over heels for Iwasawa Yuuki. Even if hell were to freeze over, Nyoko Morita would still unlikely develop any feelings for him. Heck the human race would go extinct if he and Nyoko ended up being the last people on earth. So by process of elimination, she must be talking about Mana. That would certainly explain the changes he noticed about her earlier.

Although he was happy at the thought that this seemingly innocent girl has developed feelings for him, in the end, unless he hears a confession coming from Mana herself, then everything would just be speculation based out of baseless assumptions. And even in the event that she confesses, there's no denying that his current situation would make it difficult, if not impossible for the two of them to be in a relationship.

But, the girl only did ask Michio to hangout with her so he really shouldn't be jumping into any conclusions. He'd just cross that bridge if he gets there, and then he'd test her resolve. He would have to, after going through several failed relationships in just a manner of two weeks. If pain was a test to see how much he could endure hardships, then frankly, he doesn't want to experience it in this particular manner again so he needed to tread carefully.

To: Ayame Sayoto
Subject: Another Meeting

"My schedule's a bit full today. While I could take a sick leave from work later, I'd rather not do that so if we can re schedule this tomorrow, it would be for the best. And, I understand why you did what you had to do. It was selfish of me to go after you at the time but I'm still grateful that you've supported me and helped me get back on my feet. Also, I'm not gonna jump into conclusions until this certain bluehead does confess to me. I don't want to make an ass of myself by assuming Kamei-san likes me and all. Though thanks for the tip."

- Michio

He deletes Ayame's message as well as his reply after sending his own message to his bodyguard. The habit won't die out any time soon.

He had also noticed a much earlier message from Taigi asking him when he would be free. Generally speaking, the weekends should be ideal since he gets those days off from work.

To: Taigi
Subject: Schedule

"I'm usually free in the weekends unless something comes up. Why do you ask?"

--Michio

He quickly typed in a reply to Taigi before deleting both his reply and Taigi's message as soon as he made sure his own message had been sent successfully.

@Luma

@RedArmyShogun

[/fieldbox]

 

[LowDefinition]

[fieldbox= Yuuki Iwasawa, #339966, solid]

November 9th / Afternoon / Hisakawa Academy - Student Radio Corridors

"Earlier…? Did something else happen?"

"No... I was asking about the weird song that Kira would play but she's not the one playing it."

Yuuki watches as Nyoko tried to get the door open. She tried to slam the door open, it was open for a few moment before it closes again. Seriously who's inside the student radio, Yuuki thought to himself.

"Can you help me get this door open? I'd really appreciate it."

The music stopped after, Chiyo was the first to try to help open the door. Trying to communicate with this 'ghost' that is inside the student radio room. She turned to the others after looking at the door handle.

[COLOR= #fbceb1]"Umm, how about I use both my hands on the door handle? Then, each one of you guys can grab onto one of my wrists, and we'll all pull together!"[/COLOR]

"Wha…?" Before Yuuki asks any questions, Nyoko agreed to the plan and grabs onto Chiyo's wrist. Yuuki hesitated for a moment and decided to do the same as well. They pulled the door together, but strangely the door swings open easily. As if no one was holding it.

"KIRA OSHIRO! YOU ARE MINE! ... For now and ever."

Yuuki turned and see a fool making a fool out of herself. "What… are you doing?" Yuuki asked, tilting his head as he looked at Kyouko with a questioning look. But that's just a minor thing that Yuuki shouldn't be questioning. He turned his attention to the student radio room, looking at what was done there.

At first, he doesn't see anything strange happened to the room, but when he looked at the ceiling. He could see a red graffiti that says…

NYOKO IS A MURDERER

Yuuki widened his eyes in surprise. What in the world did he just get himself involved into? Then he heard another song starting to play, which made him look away from the ceiling and saw a woman that came out of nowhere.

"The fuck…" Yuuki said to himself, stunned at everything that happened as he saw the woman charges forward.

"Motherfucker!" The woman shouts, cracking and running forward. He then get pushed away by Nyoko.

"Run!" Nyoko ordered before she got kicked by the woman, sent flying towards the wall. Her appearance faded out and reveals that Nyoko is actually shorter than she looks like.

The woman that kicked Nyoko ignored both Chiyo and Yuuki even though they stood besides her, she pointed at Kyouko before commanding "Capture her," and walks to the downed Nyoko.

Yuuki looked inside the student radio once again, noticing a few more people inside. A couple of them holds a steel baseball bat. "Don't get in our way," one of them says as they vanished from sight. He looked at Chiyo and immediately run up to her and get in close enough to whisper her without anyone close by noticed what he was whispering, "Chiyo! You're in the Social Morals commitee right!? Call for help here please!" but considering his panicked state, one could probably tell what he was whispering as he doesn't seems to be whispering but more of screaming in a hushed tone.

He continued to look as the scene unfolds, when he saw Nyoko fled the scene with the woman immediately following her. Something crazy pops up into his mind and decided that it would be the best thing to do. "Godfuckingdamnit!" He yelled in a hushed tone and ran as well, following Nyoko and the woman, if he catches up with the woman, he'd hold the woman from moving any further.

@Wen @Raven Haruka @Skyswimsky @RedArmyShogun @_PLSHELPANYONE

[/fieldbox]

 

[Illin]

[fieldbox= Narita Taigi, Grey, solid]

[ November 9th, Afternoon / Hisakawa Academy - 3rd Floor]

("Sho-")

Taigi processed what she said and looked down. He frowned at the sight, trying to remember when it could have happened.

("Lunch? No, don't think so. When I was taking a dump? Hmmm, no…")

Giving up, he shrugged his shoulders and remembered that he didn't say anything to Sagawa yet.

"Ah, thanks. Didn't notice."

He put his hands in his pockets to take out his handkerchief, but found it to be missing.

("Weird. Did I forget to bring it?")

Taigi mumbled under his breath.

"Damn, might as well just clean it at home."

He didn't want to touch it with his bare hands. With that decided, he went down the stairs...

@Ehb
[/fieldbox]

 

[Calypso Major]

[fieldbox=Chiyo Imada, #fbceb1, solid, 10]

[November 9th, Afternoon / Student Radio Corridor]

Of course, Chiyo almost fell backwards when the door easily swung open all on its own.

"KIRA OSHIRO! YOU ARE MINE! ... For now and ever."

"Kyouko-san, what--" Stopping herself, Chiyo could only let out some sort of half sigh, a smile remaining as she shook her head at her friend's antics.

However, such jokes soon came to an end when she walked into the student radio, only to read the graffiti marked onto the wall. But, before the peach could truly comprehend much, a person appeared from thin air!?!

"Motherfucker!"
"Run!"

Kicking Nyoko into a wall, Chiyo's brain managed to process two things in the timespan it took for Nyoko to wake back up.

1) There was now at least one hostile intruder in Hisakawa, focusing on Nyoko as a target (possibly).
2) As a member of the Social Morals Committee, it was her job to protect the students from potential threats. Didn't they say something about a certain color...?

A few moments later, five more people had appeared from thin air, some even carrying weapons! Chiyo remained standing, stuck in the place she had been pushed aside to as they engaged Kyouko and Sayata.

"HIDDEN NINJA TECHNIQUE! POCKET SAND!"
Open contacts, Michio-san.

"FALCON PUNCH!"
Subject: Code Maroon

"EAT SHIT!"

Subject: Code Maroon
"Student Radio. 6 hostiles. Reinforcements Requested (Please)."

Hopefully, if Chiyo did things correctly, Michio would have a message appear on his chip with a code that was only used when any form of hostile intruders were found on campus.

Soon enough, Yuuki ran up to the peach. "Chiyo! You're in the Social Morals commitee right!? Call for help here please!"

Sending message...

Chiyo focused back in on her situation, catching a glimpse of Nyoko taking off before a small notification popped up in her vision.

Message sent.

"Godfuckingdamnit!"
"Ah, Yuuki-kun!" Hesitating for a moment, Chiyo tried to decide what the best course of action would be.

She could stay here and help contain the mess--but then there would be the assumed-leader-of-mentioned-hostiles out there, alone with Nyoko and Yuuki. Not to mention, Kyouko had a fire extinguisher, and Sayata looked like she was having way too much fun.

She could also run after Yuuki and Nyoko--hopefully apprehend the leader with a Virtu-Ava Battle, similar to what had happened with Lisa a while back. Besides, wasn't it her duty to protect her friends?

"Kyouko-san, Sayata-san! Take care of things for a little bit, please! Reinforcements should be coming any moment now, so don't worry!" Yelling at the top of her lungs and waving, the peach didn't wait much longer before bolting after the trio.
[/fieldbox]
@Accelerator
@Wen
@Skyswimsky
@RedArmyShogun
@LowDefinition
@ALLTH'RESTOFYA'IFORGOTABOUT.

 

[Weracious]

[fieldbox= OSHIRO KIRA, #ffa938, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / 2nd Floor Corridor]

Rei displays the emotional range of an ice cube when Kira tells her she's sad she doesn't think of her as her best friend, and she wishes she'd punched her in the face instead, knocked her out. Rolling her eyes, she sighs, wondering how she ever was so blind that she considered this girl her best friend.

Note to self: Find a new best friend, as soon as possible.

"Sure, it worked…" Kira agrees, even if she thinks Rei certainly did her best to undo the progress within seconds. Maybe Kira joining the Red Pandas was the greatest decision she'd made all year. If she stopped provoking Nyoko, they might even become friends. It was difficult to stop provoking someone when your mere existence pissed them off though.

"How about I go with you? I need to talk to Nyoko-san anyway."

"I don't think that's a good idea. Hardwired's probably pissed at you for kissing her girlfriend," Kira jokes. "Might be why she told me what happened. I'm glad she did though."

I won't have to waste unnecessary time on someone who might get me killed.

"Besides, I have a bad feeling about this. Today's been really weird, both with the radio and that I got a letter. Well... technically it's mine because my name's on it but Iwasawa-kun got it on his desk. I-I didn't give it to him! It-it's not a confession or what you think! I promise!"

"What did the letter say?" Kira asks, wondering if Rei is making a mountain out of a molehill. Has she even read the letter yet? "Besides, no offence, but I don't give a shit what you do with Yuuki."

That sounded a lot more offensive than she'd meant, but on some level it was nice to get it off her chest.

"Erm, I mean…"

Kira had said she'd stopped pretending when it came to their relationship, so she may as well tell the truth - the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

"Listen, Rei, it's great if you find a boyfriend, but I just want to say…" Kira hesitates, biting her lower lip. Oh well, here goes nothing. "Yuuki looks like a girl. I thought he was girl for years until someone said he was a boy, so you claiming you're 100% straight is some of the funniest bullshit I've ever heard in my life. There's an expression for girls and boys like you. Narnia Gay. I don't know if you know those books, but basically, it's called that because they're so deep in the closet they're in Narnia."

Kira grins to herself, a little shocked. Wow, she'd thought this thing about her childhood friend for the longest time, yet this was the first time she'd dared telling it to her face.

Kira turns around, heading for the entrance of the school, ordering a couple of taxis. If time was of the essence for the Red Pandas, then she'd offer to get them there as fast as possible. Such an action may get her into Nyoko's good graces. She'd prefer not getting in the taxi herself, but she sent a message to Raptor informing her about the taxis. Raptor forwards the message to everyone else.

She gets her drumsticks out of her pockets to mimic the beat to the song which her headphones begin to play. Dancing through the hallways, she mouths the lyrics.

When the day comes and you're down, in a river of trouble and about to drown~

"Come on, Rei!" Kira shouts, beating her drumsticks against the wall, moving a lot faster than she usually does while dancing through the school.

Just hold on, I'm comin'. Hold on, I'm comin'~

@Karyra @Luma
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox= , white, solid]
[November 9th, Afternoon / Student Radio Corridor]

Ayame acts like the worst ninja ever, dishonouring the very name, boldly exclaiming her attacks before they happen. Even if the attacks themselves may have been surprising to say the least, the fact that she screams them makes them a lot easier to dodge than they might have been if she'd shut her mouth.

She doesn't get any reaction by the shark, and as far as she can tell none of her attacks connect with him. Not a single one. Because unlike her, the shark actually knows how to be stealthy and quiet, even if he'd been hit.

While Kyouko's idea with the fire extinguisher may have been clever on some level, she only manages to trap one Shark in its range. She hits him, and he staggers, but there are four of them left. She's on the floor within seconds as they knock her legs out from under her with their baseball bats. A couple of swift kicks to the head after that, and Kyouko is knocked out cold.

They pick her up, as they were ordered to capture, not kill. Anyone nearby can see Kyouko's unconscious body disappearing in mid-air, as they make her invisible as well. They hadn't expected it to be this easy to capture the last Red Panda lieutenant, but it doesn't seem like anyone will actually be able to stop them now.

Yukimura steps out from behind a corner, concealing her smirk as she decides to help Ayame. She'd arrived when Nyoko had decided to lead the bear away, but she didn't exactly want to help Kyouko. Sure, she could have done it, yet with Kyouko out of the picture she was more or less guaranteed a position as lieutenant. Besides, if Kyouko was this dumb, she was doing Nyoko a favour by letting them grab her.

"What's going on?" Yukimura shouts, acting nervous, breathing as if she'd run to get here. She was a much better actor than most. "Do you need help Ayame-san!?"

The last shark laughs, clinking his baseball bat against another wall. He's put some distance between him and Ayame, but he's still not leaving.

@Skyswimsky @RedArmyShogun

[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox= Morita Nyoko, magenta, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / Corridors]

What the bloody fuck is the point with sacrificing yourself to protect others if the dumbasses decides to run after the bear that's chasing you!?!

Nyoko notices Yuuki and Chiyo pretty quickly, further behind her enemy, but they don't seem to grasp the severity of the situation, or the fact that they're actively messing her plan up.

The Angel realizes that she will be able to stop Nyoko from running, if she attacks them instead, so she stops, removes the shotgun from her back.

"I don't want anyone else than you, Nyoko," she says, as she fishes a couple of shotgun shells out of her pocket, sliding them into the shotgun as it clicks. "If you surrender, I won't have to shoot these innocent children. It's time you stopped with the innocent act yourself. This is all your fault, and you know it. They're deluded if they think you're any better than me."

The Angel kicks Yuuki away from her as he tries to hug her…? He goes flying in a similar manner to Nyoko, so she trains her shotgun on Chiyo, who's still on her feet. "Just so we're clear, when Nyoko told you to run, she meant as far away from me as you could possibly get. Moving to another country would have been closer to her actual command than what you're doing."

Nyoko doesn't have a weapon herself, and if she'd brought a gun to the school, certain people would have been on her within seconds, so... Well, she's not going to gamble when someone else's life is on the line. She has to protect Chiyo and Yuuki somehow, even if they are suicidal to the point where she begins to worry for them. Maybe she needs to have a talk with Yuri, tell her how Chiyo and Yuuki may be seriously depressed.

"It's me you want," Nyoko says, sighing. "I don't know what I did to provoke this grudge between us, but—"

"Don't worry, Nyoko, once I've destroyed everything you hold dear I'll tell you who I am. It will all make sense to you, sooner or later."

"If there's no way to resolve this peacefully, I'll give you what you want," Nyoko says, launching another attack at The Angel's chip, but this time she's not using a cheap trick.

A number of virtual clones of Nyoko appears to disorient The Angel, running around, keeping her from being able to tell who's real and who's not. Chiyo and Yuuki have Nyoko's appearance superimposed over them as well, but they actually have to move if they want to be able to disappear in the herd. If they don't, The Angel can easily tell they're in the same spots.

"How about I just start blasting away wildly, eh?"

@Raven Haruka @LowDefinition
[/fieldbox]

 

[Luma]

[fieldbox=Kamei Mana, #ccffff, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon - Music Room -> Hisakawa Entrance (Taxi)]

Mana was unsurprised at Michio's negative reaction to pointing out the bandages. His explanation made sense: martial arts would probably be pretty useful for a gang member. Obviously he was still withholding that key piece of info though. Maybe partially for her sake. Still: bandages meant that whatever he was doing was pretty extreme.

"Well, just don't take it too far, 'kay?"

Mana smiled as Michio seemed to approve of a date. Though his own suggestions was completely different from the absurd things her mind had fantasized. Probably for the best. A movie and dinner could be romantic. Definitely. "Sure, that sounds great," Mana agreed with a grin. "I like action, and anime, and maybe romance, sometimes. Oo, and sci-fi!"

Mana considered the idea of inviting Michio to her house to watch an anime with her voice instead, but her father might not approve of it. The both of them had kinda reached an unspoken understanding: don't talk about love. Plus, that might be more awkward than romantic. Best to just stick with the regular theater idea.

After a short moment of silence, presumably spent reading messages, Mana came to realize something: she'd come here with a purpose. A goal. Get a definitive answer! Yet here she was dodging the whole confession thing like the plague.... cause it kinda felt like the plague. What if she wasn't interested? Wasn't this all a little sudden? What if he really was evil incarnate? No! Now was not the time for these doubts. It was the time for an answer.

One long, deep breath later and Mana was ready: "But um.... there was another reason thing I and err...."

Or not.

"Well.... you're here, 'kay, and I just kinda wanted to ask if maybe I--"

Suddenly, Mana jumped in surprise and let out a 'yip' as she was assaulted with a loud screeching warning and a bright red warning notification, courtesy of the Red Panda program. Seriously!? Now?! She really wanted to pass it off as an emergency meeting, but Mana had heard the stories: there were real bad-guys out there. This could be serious. It probably was.

Turning to Michio apologetically, Mana hastily spewed out an excuse to leave, "I'm sorry, I really have to go. A friend needs help with something. Maybe I'll see ya later for that movie, 'kay?" Without waiting for any response, Mana rushed out the door and straight towards the school entrance.

Another message, relating to taxis, promptly appeared in her vision, followed shortly by the yellow car itself. Fear gripped Mana with every passing moment, as she approached and hopped in. This whole ordeal felt really serious. Meanwhile, Mana reached in her satchel, confirming Kazami was still resting in there. Feeling the drone calmed her nerves a bit. Her beloved fairy familiar. "Wait like half a min, 'kay? I might have a few friends coming." Mana continued running her finger over Kazami, clearly in distress despite her attempts to hide it.

@Accelerator
@AnyoneUpForAJoyride[/fieldbox]

 

[RedArmyShogun]

[fieldbox= Ayame Sayato, maroon, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon Student Radio Corridor- 2nd floor landing]

"Grrr" While she wasn't too surprised the attack had missed that didn't mean she was alright with it, but the following events were more concerning.

Several cloaked gang members, her friend had gotten a brutal beat down then taken, the one she attempted to take had backed off using the music as safety. Then off all things a shotgun, in a school, broad daylight middle of Japan. Not even the Yakuza was so bold.

The Yakuza...

Gasping a bit, checking on the other two, or at least keeping the upper floors blocked off was of the upmost importance. Nyoko had been of limited help and more of an annoyance as of late. While Ayame enjoyed a good fight, she wasn't suicidal.

"Fucking hell.. I should steal some infrared goggles from the JGSDF..." At the very least to deal with this she needed some sort of weapon, or to summon the police. The Yakuza also needed to be alerted, the gangs were becoming more than an annoyance and should be wiped out till they could cause more chaos.

Gritting her teeth there wasn't much she could do and ultimately the Red Panda's were temporary allies if not a threat sooner or later, plus recent failure aside and ninja or not, a human body could not stand up to a shotgun. While she was sure this would destroy her remaining on the radio show, that wasn't so bad all things considered.. Though she hoped Rei wasn't off doing something on her own again.

"Fuck!" Looking at the newcomer, something about her struck Ayame as off, more a feeling than anything, but rather than giving anyone a chance to act further the girl ducks low and spins on her heels, taking off for the steps. Her goal was fairly simple, pull a fire alarm, from there contact the Police, while it was possible the shotgun was some sort of VR weapon there was no point in taking chances, the baseball bats sure as hell weren't fake. This wasn't something that school kids should be trying to deal with, and Ayame hoped to see graduation this year..


Barging up the stairs now was the time to find help and get the word out. Just what in the hell were these gangs doing to go to these lengths.. Suddenly and to some surprise Ayame runs directly into Yuri. Considering all the problems going on her early conversation wasn't exactly at the top of her mind. "Yuri! Things are getting out of hand downstairs, we need to send for the police!"

Panting a bit she was a little exhausted, she had ran the distance faster than she would normally have ran in track to say the least. Being a bit flustered she try's offering an explanation to what was going on, though it likely would make little to no sense.

"VR Gangs bullshit! Kyouko knocked out! Stealth guys with baseball bats, cowboy with a shotgun, trying to kidnap Nyoko, need police, pull fire alarm!" Huffing and trying to catch her breath she still needed to check on the two heirs as well, but at least she found someone with a little authority, even if the better part of it was illegal. Given the nature of all of this it was likely best to hear some form of orders from Yuri while she was at it.

[/fieldbox]

Technically @Wen / @Ehb

 

[Rithas]

[fieldbox= Leo Kane, #666699, solid]

[ November 9th, Afternoon / Town of Hisakawa, Fifth Street Overpass ]

"Where to start, Kane..."
"I dragged you over to this place because today's a special day."

Leo's tensed up, it couldn't be...

"I dragged you over here since I don't know where Umeko's family ended up storing her ashes away. From what I understand, they just locked the jar away in an attic or threw out the ashes altogether."
"So, this is probably the closest thing I can do to pay respects. Aside from going over and tearing Fujibayashi's home apart. But, even I'm not that inconsiderate."

Another disappointment after another, did she think he didn't understand?

"You do know just how bad it was with Umeko and her family, right?"

"Yes, now, I do. At least to the best I can possibly grasp."

He scratched his wrist. Damn! It wasn't like he had actually forgotten right? It had just been so hetic lately that it had snuck up on him. Still, he somehow felt guilty. Gah, he didn't come here to be shamed again.

"Even if I was..." Leo paused, struggling to find the right word. "Apathetic, about it back then." He remembered how he could tell she wanted to fix it. Of course, he unintentionally shrugged it off. He wasn't exactly one to priotise the right things. He had always meant to ask her about it fully...but.

Another regret to the list.

He sighed, looking at the scar on hand. Perhaps he was starting to become apathic again. That how it was supposed to go right? That inevitably time heals everything? Or at least, covers over the cracks.

But that scar would always be there, reminding him.

He was supposed to remember her...right?

He looked towards Kokoro again. It was strange, but seeing Kokoro like this helped dampen the feelings of the mall incident.

But it still made him irritated, this entire situation. He sat down, "I..."

What, did she just want the two of them to stay there in silence? For rememberence. It was always like this, subject to her whims. Just for once he would like to be able to say something. To not have to avoid a thousand spikes that she layed herself.

So many hateful things....all directed towards him.

Him! Out of all people!

Oh, paying respects. After everything. Now was the time to pay respects?

"Doesn't matter now does it?" Leo blurted out, his eyes looking at his hand.

"We're the only ones who even remember anymore."

He thought of Chiyo, wondering what the hell he was supposed to have done. Just let it be a mystery for the rest of her life. Just let her dance on the cliff. She was hurt...betrayed. But was not telling her also betraying her trust? Every decision always seemed the wrong one to him.

He sighed.

"What do you feel right now Kokoro? What emotion is swimming around in your heart?"[/fieldbox]

 

[Accelerator]

[fieldbox= Kamijou Michio, plum, solid]

"Hm...so she likes animated films with action, romance, and sci-fi, huh? There's this mecha anime movie Taigi recommended me the other day so maybe she'd like that one. As for dinner, I guess the Ramen Shop would do. I'm still on a tight budget after all." Michio thought as he began planning his "date" with Mana later.

It certainly looked like Mana had something else she wanted to say, and from how much she stuttered as she formed her words, he could guess by now that a confession was ineviatable, but she was cut short when she suddenly... had an emergency? Mana profusely apologized to Michio before leaving in quite a hurry. Whatever emergency her friend is having seems to be quite urgent for her to rush off like that.

But not long after Mana left, Michio received a message from Chiyo. Upon opening it and reading the contents, his eyes widened in shock. A Code Maroon? No. If this was just a Code Maroon, then Chiyo should have used the term "intruder" instead of hostile. Hostile intruders would automatically register as a Code Red and if it what he thinks it is... if these intruders breached their security and had been undetected until now, then these intruders are potentially hackers as well.

Michio quickly fished his old phone out of his pocket. Ever since the hacking incident that transpired a couple of weeks ago, Michio suggested using "outdated" mobile phones as a means of communication between Social Morals officers in order to avoid a complete information black out. That way, even if hackers invade the school, the communications system between SMO's wouldn't be completely compromised.

He first dialed "Overseer" the eyes and ears of the Social Morals Officers in charge of watching the surveillance system of the entire school. Even if he has a hunch that there are hackers in the midst of it all, he needed solid evidence before making any drastic decision.

"Overseer, this is Ruler 02. Request to monitor situation at the hallways by the Student Radio. Possible Code Red incident taking place there as we speak as reported by Imada-san." Michio spoke in a calm yet stern voice as he barked at the guys at Overseer.

"Ruler 02, this is Overseer 01. It's a negative here on our end. I repeat it's a negative. The hallways are clean, deserted even. " A bored sounding guy replied with a lot less enthusiasm and urgency in his voice than Michio.

Hearing Overseer's report more or less confirms his suspicions. Michio knows very well that Chiyo takes her Social Morals duties seriously, and is not one to call out false reports like that. With a heavy sigh, he began barking orders again at Overseer.

"Overseer, we have a Code Black incident taking place. Your camera feed is displaying false information at the moment. Hackers have infiltrated the school. Contact any and all Social Morals Officers in the premises. Send Saber, Archer, and Shielder squadrons to the Student Radio hallways. Tell them to proceed with caution as hostiles may be armed and dangerous. The rest are to evacuate the students in a Deductive formation starting with the classrooms farthest from the Student Radio. Also, contact Sakuradamon, and tell them to bring their Tech Experts here. We're going to need all the help we could get. Use your phones as well. Who knows when they could cut our comms via our chips." Michio ordered.

Saber Squadron was the main melee fighting force of the Social Morals Officers. It is led by the Captain of the Kendo club and all its members are proficient with Kendo or any other form of melee combat.

Archer Squadron is the ranged fighting force led by the Captain of the Archery Club. They are instructed to use non-lethal dull wood-tipped arrows to engage enemies.

Shielder Squadron is led by the Captain of the school's Football team. Needless to say, these guys are buff and can deal and take a good hit at the same time. They are tasked to assist the offensive squadrons and protect other students from attacks.

There are only two "Rulers" in the Social Morals hierarchy, the first being Nozomi Yuri and the second was himself. Though technically he still reports to Yuri.

"Roger that, Ruler 02. Over and out."

Afterwards, Michio dials Nozomi Yuri's number to inform her of the incident.

"Nozomi-san, possible hackers have infiltrated the school. Last known location is the student radio. I've already told Overseer to call the cops but I fear that they won't get here in time." He said to her before hanging up without waiting for a reply.

He then used his interface and after learning that it still functional, started typing a message to the one person he never would have expected he'll contact again after the end of their friendship. It was an emergency so he didn't hesitate to contact that person despite

To: Sagawa Mizunohara
Subject: Hackers and Chiyo

Mizunohara-san, I know for a fact that you would never wish to receive a message from me again but right now, your friend, Imada-san is in grave danger. Hackers have infiltrated the school and they are presumed to be armed and dangerous. I can do nothing against hackers, but if you really want to protect your friend, then come to her aid as soon as possible. She is by the hallways at the Student Radio. I've already sent a bunch of Social Morals Officers as reinforcements but they can't do much unless you find a way to deal with those hackers' abilities.

Then he contacted one last person that he felt should know about what's going on in the school.

To: Amane Kokoro
Subject: Home Invasion

"Amane-san, a bunch of possible hackers have infiltrated the school. They are presumed to be armed and dangerous. I've already contacted the cops but I fear that they may arrive late as usual. Request to send reinforcements to the school."

Now that he contacted the people on his priority list, he then contacted his friends and pretty much everyone in his class

To: Everyone

Several intruders, presumed to be hackers have infiltrated the school. Their last known location is the Student Radio Hallways. If you currently are not in that area, please evacuate the school immediately. If you are in that area, please remain calm and do nothing that would spark the ire of these intruders. Your priority is to get out of that situation alive. Hold tight until help arrives.

- Michio Kamijou

Afterwards, he could do nothing but assist with the evacuation. Blindly charging into the fray won't do him any favors when there are hackers involved. Even if he is one of the best fighters at school, the fact remained that he is in no condition to fight right now. So instead of contributing to the problem, he chose to distance himself away from it and instead do his best to provide Chiyo some much needed help. He would instead help with the evacuation procedures until either the Yakuza or the Cops arrive.

@Luma

@Ehb

Technically @Everyone

[/fieldbox]

 

[Ehb]

[fieldbox= Mizunohara Sagawa, turquoise, solid]

[ November 9th, Afternoon / Hisakawa Academy, Third Floor Hallways ]

The boy acknowledged the gum on his pants and summarily walked off in a hurry after excusing himself.

It was hard to get a sense what kind of person Narita was exactly. Sagawa was pretty sure this was one of those few rare exchanges they ever had. Regardless, 'a mildy sudden' encounter was all that their exchange could be described as. In yet, even that was it's own form of hyperbole.

Regardless, Sagawa couldn't help but notice. For some reason things somehow seemed rather abuzz all of a sudden. And it was not just because of the echoing music coming from the speakers elsewhere in the school.

A plip coming from Sagawa's Chip interface let her know a message was blocked. It was strange, she had blocked all sorts of other messages for Spam lines. Unfortunately for Michio, Sagwa had truly meant that she'd cut ties with him. He would have to rely on his own assets.


"Mizunohara-san! So sorry to keep you waiting! We were wondering what all that music over the radio was all about just now. You said you'd help me with a programming assignment, right?"

Sagawa nodded. Feeling uncertain about what was going on, floors below her.

@Illin
@Accelerator
[/fieldbox]

---

[fieldbox= , white, solid]
[ November 9th, Afternoon / Town of Hisakawa, Fifth Street Overpass ]

"Even if I was..."
"Apathetic, about it back then."
"I..."


"Doesn't matter now does it?"
"We're the only ones who even remember anymore."

Kokoro's turned away from Leo. Looking downwards, his words seemed to have had a disheartening sort of truth to them.

"What do you feel right now Kokoro? What emotion is swimming around in your heart?"

"Seething anger, I guess?" Kokoro turned back to Leo amiably. "I guess... I feel like I still haven't gotten anywhere. Back then, when they said I'd have to start working for the Yakuza, I thought that there was no way that I'd ever want to join something like that. But... after what happened here, I thought... that right away I could have the power to get revenge."

Kokoro pushed aside the fringes falling over her eyes.

"It was probably a bad choice. I think. I don't think I'd want Ume-chan to see the kind of person I am now."

Ume-chan. Hearing the girl call her by that nickname really brought him back. Even for just fleeting a moment.

Kokoro changed her positioning, shifting her arms away, she rested her palms against the ground and leaned back.

"You know, Kane? I used tease Ume-chan be saying that you got confessed to by a girl." Kokoro smile and closed he eyes. Seeming to envision that amusing memory. "I wonder why she'd get so worked up over something like that? Hmmm?"

Kokoro teased the implications in front of Leo.



In her interface, Kokoro had revived what seemed to be an urgent message from Michio. The only question she had was whether Yuri was there to handle it.

Thankfully, she was. At that point, having Yuri there was about the best that could be done. Kokoro had to leave her faith in her most capable of bodyguards.

@Rithas
[/fieldbox]

---

[fieldbox= , white, solid]
[November 9th, Afternoon Student Radio Corridor- 2nd floor landing]

"Ayame-sa..?"

"Yuri! Things are getting out of hand downstairs, we need to send for the police!"
"VR Gangs bullshit! Kyouko knocked out! Stealth guys with baseball bats, cowboy with a shotgun, trying to kidnap Nyoko, need police, pull fire alarm!"

"W-wh...?"

In truth, Yuri had heard pretty much hall she had needed to hear from Michio a moment ago. But, the additional jumbled amount of information was overwhelming when thrown so suddenly.

Yuri was stuck trying to make through the doublespeak that Ayame had managed to throw at her. She knew there was something going on about the school, but this was-... It was at that moment, Yuri felt it. An approaching presence... the approaching clatter of footsteps that she singled out through the other notices.

It was coming right in her direction. She had to...!


"Fuuuach! That hurt!"

A body slammed into a wall. Crashing in after being thrown off balance. Ayame had heard his body thump into the ground, and the clatter of something like a metal pipe to go along with it. All of it had happened so quickly, Ayame was only now seeing Yuri drawing back her leg. No way... was she able to see through what the attackers were doing?

"It's dangerous to be running through the halls like that."

Yuri said, looking in the direction of where the voice had come from.

"Ayame-san. I suppose the people who've been attacking invisible like this one correct?"



"Crap! Where is it... where...? There!"

The sound of metal against the floor. The invisible thing had found what it was looking for.

"You're going to pay for that!" The 'voice' proclaimed. Clearly stating it's intentions for hard retaliation.

Steps began to clatter towards Nozomi Yuri.

@RedArmyShogun
[/fieldbox]

---

[fieldbox= , white, solid]
[ November 9th, Afternoon / Hisakawa Academy, Library Building ]

"Oh really? So what kind of retardacon goes around shoveling shitty lies out of their mouth?"

Behind Ryuu, a very amused looking redhead. Not in the sort of disposition he was looking for, but the person he was looking for regardless.

"I need you to renew my library card. Just get it done with. But I swear if you give me any smug assed remarks I'll screw you over seven times past sunday."

Right past his shoulder the girl slammed her palm onto the desk,. Lifting it, she left behind a plastic library card. Good for this library and other non-vr environment libraries across town mind you. Her remarks didn't make much sense when spelled out, but they were also rhymed, strangely.

As the bespectacled clerk went through the motions of renewing her card, Ryuu was given this opportunity to ask. Still, that angry disposition of hers made the prospects a little intimidating... maybe he had to approach it a bit more carefully if he wanted to get anything but get yelled at like the clerk.

@Eruantien
[/fieldbox]

 

[Skyswimsky]

[fieldbox= Kyouko Himura, #3DA3C2, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / Student Radio Corridor ]

It...seemed to work? Kyouko wasn't too sure how many of the thugs she hit but it was def-

Pain. A sharp feeling ran through her body as she felt some sort of impact on one of her legs. It came from behind. If there had been any mistake in her makeshift plan then it was not considering the movement of her invisible foes. Just when - and how many - did get behind her that easily? Kyouko had been paying way too much attention on what was in front of her to realize what had been going on behind her.

Now, she had to pay.

Even so, Kyouko was adamant on not giving any of those cowards the pleasure of her scream. After the blonde already decided to not do the smartest thing, running away, maybe it would have helped to at least scream now - for help. In her situation it would have made the most sense?

But what was common sense anyways? Calling a Fool on a power trip rather than the police? Deciding to help anyone but Kyouko who was clearly outnumbered? In the end Kyouko's choice wouldn't matter. In the end, she was always alone, had always been alone. If she were to get through this it had to be on her own.

As the blonde hit the cold and merciless ground she could feel another source of pain running through her body. This time it was from the back of her head. Shit. There had been a window of opportunity to still defend herself. To still make right what was wrong. Kyouko wasn't just some pushover.

Alas, as fate wanted it to be, the strong feeling of dizziness followed by her unfortunate fall incapacitated the pirate long enough that the next thing she knew was simply a single note. More pain. The blonde wasn't even sure how often they had hit her, or how strong. All she could do was trying to though it out. Trying to move her body by now was out of the question. Sending some sort of message to anyone? Not possible. Just because they didn't meant to kill her didn't mean they wouldn't hurt her. Very badly.

By now, however, as her consciousness was slowly drifting away. As her resolve to stay awake weakened with each following hit. She had to wonder. If she wasn't to die on the spot, clearly shortly after? At least they had the courtesy to leave her pretty face alone save the one bleeding wound she already had... .

Ah... regret. Leaving the playing field as pathetic as that. Without a boom. Without a firework. Simply lame. She wasn't too sure if she had minded dying if it was in a more awesome manner... but right now? Please... no. Not to mention, as her vision became darker and darker, wasn't that Yukimaru... just standing there and grinning like an idiot?

"F-Fuck...you..." Where the only words Kyouko whispered under all this torture. The only amount of pleasure she might had given those Foolish fishies. Even so, it wasn't directed at them.

Then, only dark silence followed... .

@Wen
[/fieldbox]

 

[Illin]

[fieldbox= Narita Taigi, Grey, solid]

[ November 9th, Afternoon / Hisakawa Academy - 2nd Floor]

While going down the stairs, Taigi took out a thermos from his backpack, filled with a chocolate protein shake mixture, and started to take sips from it. It was rare for him to start drinking his shake during these hours, but ever since he quit his substances, it was a necessary distraction and snack for him to curb his cravings. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and took it out. Michio had responded. Taigi stopped walking and thought.

("Hmm… Judging from this, he's not completely certain he'll be free on this weekend, right? Well that's only natural I guess, considering what he's going through. Speaking of, I forgot to thank Sagawa for saving Lisa… A bit late but should I have brought it up? Oh, that's right there should be a sale on the bread for that store…")

Taigi's thoughts wandered off into random directions. He might have stayed there in contemplation for several more minutes if a distant yet frantic sound didn't interrupt.

"Yuri! Things are getting out of hand downstairs, we need to send for the police!"
"VR Gangs bullshit! Kyouko knocked out! Stealth guys with baseball bats, cowboy with a shotgun, trying to kidnap Nyoko, need police, pull fire alarm!"

("…? That voice… Sayato-san? Oh, and when did the music stop? And where-")

He stepped towards the second floor and saw Yuri Nozomi kick air. Taigi was confused until he heard the sound of something metallic clattering and remembered Ayame's words.

("Wait. Invisible people with bats? Huh?")

At that moment, the phone in his hand vibrated. He glanced at it, read it, put the thermos back in his backpack, then grit his teeth.

("Multiple?! Not one or two, but several?!")

Taigi cursed internally.

"...like this one correct?"

He took a glance at the two girls and quickly moved to...

Run away from them and escape the school as fast as he could.

This was an odd choice for Taigi; normally, he would jump at the opportunity to look good in front of two girls. But, there were several factors that led to his decision. The first important one was that the assailants were hackers. If so, he was useless at best and a hazard at worst. Lisa reportedly had punched Yura, and forced to almost jump out a window; it was easy to imagine a similar fate waiting for him. But unlike Lisa, Taigi's body was well-trained. And ironically, in Hisakawa, that seemed more like a curse than a blessing. If he was controlled like some RC car, he could cause trouble for Yuri and Ayame. Also, it seemed that from the kick Yuri performed, she would be fine. Though it could have been dumb luck, Taigi felt it wasn't. Finally, police should be coming if he interpreted Michio's message correctly; Michio didn't outright state it, but from the tone of the message Taigi assumed it was to deliver the distressing news as evenly as possible without causing a panic.

("Even if the police don't come, Sagawa should be able to do something. How will the school handle this…?")

While running, he spotted a taxi in the distance and hopped into it. Taigi didn't know why it was there, but he guessed it was because of Michio. He was about to praise him in his mind, but became concerned.

("Wait a second, two students got in a car accident. Shouldn't I just run away on foot?")

For a few seconds, he weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

"No… This isn't safe…"

He murmured that, got out of the vehicle, and immediately broke into a sprint. All the while not even realizing that his blue-haired classmate was sitting on the opposite end of the taxi the entire time.

("God, Buddha, Zeus, whoever. Drop an EMP on this damn school please...!")

Taigi complained and cursed as he ran home.

@Ehb
@Luma
@RedArmyShogun
[/fieldbox]

 

[Karyra]

[fieldbox=Rei Saionji, purple, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / Hisakawa Academy - Corridors]

"I don't think that's a good idea. Hardwired's probably pissed at you for kissing her girlfriend," Kira jokes, and Rei tries not to flinch at it. "Might be why she told me what happened. I'm glad she did though."

Definitely gonna kill Nyoko. Wasn't her secret to spill. Rei wasn't interested in hurting anyone there.

"What did the letter say?" In all the chaos Rei hasn't had a moment to sit and read it. "Besides, no offence, but I don't give a shit what you do with Yuuki."

"I haven't had the chance to yet. Things keep exploding. Or blasting music. It's been a busy day... And week and month."

"Erm, I mean…"

"No, it's fine. It's-"

"Listen, Rei, it's great if you find a boyfriend, but I just want to say…" Kira hesitates, but eventually continues and Rei listens quietly. "Yuuki looks like a girl. I thought he was girl for years until someone said he was a boy, so you claiming you're 100% straight is some of the funniest bullshit I've ever heard in my life. There's an expression for girls and boys like you. Narnia Gay. I don't know if you know those books, but basically, it's called that because they're so deep in the closet they're in Narnia."

What? That was... actually pretty rude. Rei could understand some of it, but it still kind of set a resentment in her heart. Rei had dealt with the same thing for years. People claiming her to be a boy when she was not. Hanging with people like Taigi until they figured out she was a girl and had been the whole time and then losing that. It was unfair for Kira to use that argument to Rei.

Rei had to fight to look like a girl in her free time, Rei had to dress male-like to be taken seriously by the Yakuza, she had always been told to be something and people expected expected expected. Expected her to be a guy. Expected her to fight and to be able to do certain things. Rei was always expected to be male by the people around her, and Yuuki could kind of understand that. She loved him because he understood on some level and they were set in the same boat, somewhat. He never gave up who he was, either. It was always a stance against people's assumptions on her, and citing Yuuki being a boy she she loved but looked female hurt. Deeply.

But Rei wasn't the type to leave everything to someone else and this affected Rei too.

So Rei marched forward and was ready for war.

There was one song that reminded Rei of this situation, and it was fitting as Kira had her own song for it.

Convinced me to please you
Made me think that I need this too
I'm trying to let you hear me as I am

This was toxic for both of them, but Rei wouldn't just ditch Kira. She knew how to fight, and she knew how to deal with people with big guns and gang-like situations.

"Come on, Rei!"

And yet.... she hesitated.

Several intruders, presumed to be hackers have infiltrated the school. Their last known location is the Student Radio Hallways. If you currently are not in that area, please evacuate the school immediately. If you are in that area, please remain calm and do nothing that would spark the ire of these intruders. Your priority is to get out of that situation alive. Hold tight until help arrives.

- Michio Kamijou

She couldn't abandon Michio and the other students either. Rei had taken Michio's advice on the old tech button cameras, and while she hadn't put them up yet...

"I'm sorry. I can't leave here yet. I want to help Michio-san. I know it's not something I can do alone, and I'm not invincible, but if I can help them here, I will."

There was a look in Rei's eyes. Determination.

"Call me if you need help, Oshiro-san." and Rei turned back into the school, moving carefully into empty rooms. What would be a good meeting spot?

What about messages? Would the hackers get access?

To: Michio
Subj: Got Something For You

Hiya, Michio-san! :O I visited that old tech shop you recommended a while ago! ^v^ They had a wide selection I was surprised! Maybe sometime we can go together? By the way, was that message serious? Scarryyyy!

^o^ Anyways, I'm not sure I can get out of the AV room! :S I was messing around with that tech and now I'm stuck in there until I know nobody's nearby... ◑.◑ Think I could make it to something nearby without getting ambushed? ヾ( •́д•̀ ;)ﾉ

-Rei Saionji
P.S. :( I can't seem to convince my mom to get that old phone you suggested either... if they're hackers it's not like they can read my messages can they? I hear they can do that even if you delete them! I can hardly believe it! O.O I bet hackers could even turn the whole school invisible too! Hackers were supposed to be myths though...\
P.S.S 工ｴｴｪｪ(;╹⌓╹)ｪｪｴｴ工 I seem to end up in the middle of things. Sorry if I'm causing you trouble. 〣( ºΔº )〣

If they knew her, they'd see that she was typing different. The emojis were hopefully supposed to draw Michio's attention to the sentence they surrounded, but... anyone non-important would probably brush it off, and if her stalker was among these guys...

They'd know the message, but hopefully she'd have some luck here. If not, she had a way to tell him to look elsewhere if Rei wasn't in the room she mentioned. But that was still risky. Hopefully, Michio would get the message. He was definitely a good fighter, but it would be better for them to work together. Michio wasn't badly injured but he was looking more and more like a mummy these days. Rei could feel the punch from earlier start to blossom into a bruise and silently she wished that Kira hadn't punched quite so hard.

Rei made her way quietly towards the AV room, moving carefully and wary of any sounds or anything that could give them away. Footprints, noise, anything.

One slip up and she could end up dead. Or worse.

@Wen @Accelerator @WhoWantsToGoStealthPutUpCameras
[/fieldbox]

 

[Weracious]

[fieldbox= OSHIRO KIRA, #ffa938, solid]

[November 9th, Afternoon / 2nd Floor Corridor]

"I'm sorry. I can't leave here yet. I want to help Michio-san. I know it's not something I can do alone, and I'm not invincible, but if I can help them here, I will."

Kira had received Michio's message as well, but he'd told them to leave. She wasn't going to disobey, even if it may be cowardly to ditch everyone, including the girl she'd thought of as one of her closest friends for the longest time.

"Call me if you need help, Oshiro-san."

Kira stopped in her tracks, as her music continued to play.

Oshiro-san, huh? Not Kira, or anything else. Rei must be upset with her, and normally, she might have rushed after her, but the crossroads she'd arrived at was too obvious to miss. She could run after Rei, remain the person she'd always been, or she could follow Nyoko into the unknown.

She knew Nyoko was unlikely to appreciate her as much as Rei would, but… There was more to this choice than two people. She wasn't picking between Rei or Nyoko. She was picking between a decaying past and certain death, or an uncertain future with someone else who followed their dreams. Someone who'd already achieved more than Kira had. Someone who knew how to inspire others, who knew to be there for them when it actually mattered, even if they didn't like the individual in question.

It was a question of ideals. Kira wasn't picking Nyoko. Kira was picking herself and her dreams over a friend which she was growing increasingly distant to. Nyoko intended to pave the road to the future, so Kira would walk with her as far as it would take her. Rei would remain in this town, and she'd likely die or be incarcerated before she reached thirty. There was certainly no room for Kira in Rei's yakuza life. Kira would have loved to save Rei from all of it, but she knew Rei didn't want to be saved. She had no way to help her friend, and she accepted that she valued her own life and dreams more than Rei.

She might have apologized for what she'd said under different circumstances. However, if Rei couldn't take Kira's honest opinion, that was her problem. It was not Kira's problem.

"Bye, Raaaay," Kira muttered to herself, smiling, as she changed songs and headed outside.


Young hearts be free tonight. Time is on your side~


Don't let 'em put you down. Don't let 'em push you around~~


Don't let 'em ever change your point of view~~~

@Karyra
[/fieldbox]