- Posting Speed
- One post per day
- 1-3 posts per week
- One post per week
- Slow As Molasses
- Online Availability
- Afternoons to midnight-ish (EST)
- Writing Levels
- Give-No-Fucks
- Intermediate
- Adept
- Adaptable
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
- Female
- Genres
- Hard Scifi, Psychological, Generally weird stuff, fantasy is cool, modern fantasy is also cool, crime/film noir
Pre-festival
---------------
"Phhh-"
It was a quiet morning drifting into midday, the sun climbed higher as Iniji sat up and stepped off of his hospital bed, opening the curtains. It's been a few days since the operation, the one where he passed out immediately after rendezvousing with the rest of the team. Perhaps the woman with the villains was right, he overexerted himself, without her help it would've been much worse.
"Yeah…Oh right..." The boy mumbled as he looked over on the cabinet beside the hospital bed, on it sat a battle report clipped to his medical case book. Even with medicinal quirks it appears he requires some time with rest, it appears the fluid and air that built up in his lungs while he fought could've been fatal, and they had to cut out a part of the organ to reset the ribs...or something. Iniji didn't really care, it was all a tool anyways, his organs or whatever. What weighed on him more than the dull aches that came with each breath was the truths that the whole operation revealed. It appears that every organization has its traitors, ANVIL or HA isn't exempt from that. It was very hard to keep people happy, Iniji knew that well.
A gentle knock on the door came with a female voice of a nurse. "Irokei-kun? Are you well? There's visitors looking for you, if you are fine with that."
"I'm fine. It would be impolite to decline visits of good will if I am in the condition to reciprocate." He replied while still seemingly spacing out while looking out the window. The outlines of the building tops and clouds were a bit hazier than usual.
Among if not the first to enter was Mari, though unlike the previous meetings she didn't seem to be all business with this one. Her own wounds had long since been tended and she had spent some time with others, be it as in her capacity as the leader or not, she had come to check up on Iniji all the same.
"Ah, you do not seem any worse for wear at this point at least."
"Yes, Naoko-san. The surgery has gone well, there will likely be no long term hindrance to my performance." Iniji replied, with a certain robotic tone in his words. In his understanding of his relationship with Mari, that was for the best.
"INIJI BRO HOW'S IT GOING," Agi called out loud and proud as he busted in a little after Mari's more calm entrance running up the boys other side he offered Iniji a high five as he gave a big wide smile. Agi was still quite covered in bandage, but not as bad as when he had first come to the hospital.
"Good morning, Mizushima-san." Iniji didn't really understand Agi's gestures, he just knew the other had a penchant for doing such eccentric things. Although Mari wasn't exactly wrong and he wasn't that much worse for wear, a certain weariness still followed the boy as his face lacked colour more so than usual and he constantly fiddles with his IV drip. It has a weird itch the whole time.
"I am well enough, as you can see. As I was mentioning to Naoko-san, it may take some time before I recover from the surgery fully, my constitution is lacking even in the context of being a receiver of recovery quirks."
"So it seems. But are there other visitors here besides us?" Mari seems to both say and ask as she glances back towards the doorway, offering some encouragement for the rest to come in.
"Don't leave me hanging Iniji," Agi suffered as Iniji had yet to give up a high five. Slowly Agi starts to sink from Inijis view as he is quickly defeating the nano boy with the power of ignoring.
"Oh...please excuse me if my response was insufficient, I am still quite fatigued. Formalities are hardly my priority at this moment...Mizushima-san?" Iniji was slightly confused at all of Agi's actions, he knew the other was an eccentric person, he always had trouble reacting to people like that.
"Ah, I apologize, Naoko-san, it wasn't my intention to upset Mizushima-san...I…I am unsure what course of action I should currently take." He was mostly at a loss for words, this was an entirely new experience, even the presence of Mari didn't ease Iniji up much.
"Agi.. High fives may be asking a bit too much for now. Not everyone has energy the same as you do."
"Fair… fair enough," Agi said in defeat, letting his hand drop to his side with a sigh of defeat as he basically kept to his corner on the matter.
"No...uh….I'm sorry, Mizushima-san, I wasn't aware of your gestures as a method of requesting a high five." When Mari spoke to Agi, Iniji suddenly realized why the other boy had his arm up like such. Body language like that were all faded distant memories to him, even before his disastrous detours in life his reclusiveness made him oblivious to these motions.
"Thank you for your help Naoko-san, please don't be too harsh on him, it was my lack of ability to interpret…" Words trailed off as a sharp pain came from Iniji's side, he paused a bit and looked up this IV drip, slightly adjusting the roller clamp. "I am quite inadequate at reciprocation…" He continued to say, half to himself as colourful irises stared at the dripping liquid.
"Given how shy the others are, I think we'll take our leave, I promise you the next visitor is much more quiet." With that she takes Agi arm in arm and subtly tries to lead him from the room.
Ren just missed someone with a tail, as he moved through the hall to figure out how this hospital worked. He had never been much for hospitals before. When he visited Isa, a nurse was able to bring him to the right place. But this time he wanted to try and do it on his own. It wasn't long before he was completely lost. But with some luck, he ran into Haya who knew exactly where they should go. As Ren knocked, he poked his head in before opening the door. He wanted to make sure Iniji was there. "Hey, we never got the chance to really meet on the mission. Just thought we should and to check to see how you were." Ren said as he walked in.
"Hi, Iniji-san, how are you feeling?" Haya said as she walked in after Ren. She was used to finding Iniji now that she had a chance to be near him and it was important for her to know if he was okay. He was part of her team and he was the only option she had to go after the scientist, but she could feel something was wrong on the mission and smell the blood coming from him too.
"Oh...Abiko-san, Kimura-san." Two of his teammates on the mission entered after the president and the noisy one left, it made sense for them to come around, after all he did pass out in front of his team, the amount of blood that was around then was perhaps startling. "My condition is passable at the current moment. There is no need to be overly concerned about me." He said while quietly adjusting the roller clamp again to fix the dosage dripping from the IV.
Ren smirked, "Well, that is not what it looked like. But you look better. You did a really good job on the mission." He added with a smile, "How is the hospital been for you?"
Haya smirked, She was glad that he seemed to be okay. She agreed, he didn't feel like he was okay on the mission. It was concerning and she was worried if he would make it. "Are you planning to join the festival?" She asked.
"...Thank you, Abiko-san, I was simply doing what I was instructed, it is my fault that I ended up in such a predicament." Iniji's eyes darkened as he mumbled towards the other, it was true that he felt inadequate at least of his performance, even his ability to heal his own injuries were lacking compared to his peers.
"And...I do not do well with crowds, festivals are not events tailored to me, I am afraid to say." The boy continued softly. In reality, Iniji has never been to a festival barring one where he was barely a toddler, it was another thing that was far-fetched for him, another thing where non-engagement would be more comfortable for him. "...I...Perhaps I am in need of attending to more important matters."
Ren smirked, "Well, to be fair, I got there pretty late. I am used to fighting as a team over doing things on my own." he stated before he turned to Haya, "Not that your plan was bad, it was actually a very logical plan."
Haya smirked, "It's okay, my plans are pretty bad in some aspects, but they usually work." she told Ren, who blushed from embarrassment at the way it sounded. But Haya turned to Iniji, "Well, I should be back at the dorms before the fireworks, if you want to hang out. Maybe you can read to me? I have been curious about the books you read."
"O-Oh, uh, well, you may find what I read awfully dull, Kimura-san. It is not the most thrilling material to be listened to." Iniji leaned over to pull over his book on open channel hydraulics, it's full of diagrams and example systems that won't be of any interest to most high school hero students. He quietly flipped through the pages while scanning the words, which only further solidified his theory.
Haya smirked, "Well, we won't know until we try. I have been read science manuals before and they were not bad." She assured him. She had no idea what any of the books really added up to. "Plus, it might give me ideas or information to help with missions." She figured that if they were dull they might have stategies that could work or give her ideas for their next missions.
Ren smirked, "So it's not just me that trains a lot." He teased as he chuckled and turned to Iniji, "What kind of books do you read?I am not much of a reader, but it sounds like they might be helpful to improve. I might be interested in learning about them myself." He wasn't sure how he would do with reading big books, but he was more then willing to try anything once.
"Ah...I-I'm not sure if I have what you are looking for, Abiko-san...it's…" Iniji caressed the book he had by his bed side and pulled it onto his lap: Hydraulic Principles of Open-Channel Flow was etched on the cover. He opened the book to a page with a folder corner, traced down the paper to a paragraph and tried reading it outloud in a calm voice.
"...The fundamental equation of motion for steady flow may be derived by applying the principle of conservation of energy to individual fluid parcels. At this point it will be assumed that an ideal fluid exists for which no shearing stress occurs. In such a fluid there can be no frictional effects between moving fluid layers…" Iniji's voice trailed off as he knew his studies likely didn't interest any person in this room, or at the very least will spark no discussion of substance. "...Y-Yeah...It's not very...interesting."
Ren and Haya listened to Iniji read and thought about what he was reading. When he finished they were silent for a moment. Ren thought about it for a moment and smirked, "Hmmm, I think it might make a little more sense to me if I knew the paragraph before. It flows through some information but I am not sure I am getting the information completely." he pointed out, "When you are done with that, can I read some of it. It sounds like it might have some properties that can be used." he pointed out. The flow made some sense to him, but the idea kind of seem to form but got lost in the additional information that he got lost in.
Haya smirked, "Well, that actually was helpful. I think I might be able to try something soon, when I think of how to use what that kind of saying. Can you read a bit more? I want to be sure I understand it enough." she asked curiously. She had been following most of it, but some parts felt like when Iniji stopped it was in the middle of a thought. "Do you think you can read a bit more, or should we let you rest?" Haya asked, the idea still working its way to completion, but it could wait.
Iniji's multicoloured eyes lit up slightly at the other two's reactions, he wasn't expecting them to actually be interested even if it was just a feinted polity. "Oh, t-this was actually the first paragraph already, it's an introduction of ideal fluids in a chapter about the Manning equation used to calculate varied flow in open conduits! I've been studying it because hydraulic engineering is the principle basis of all the equipment I use to-" He cut himself off before he could say much more, after all it wasn't anything pretty or to brag about. It appears he's gotten too excited, it was rare for Iniji to talk about his interests with another person.
"Ah, I apologize for startling you." Iniji cleared his throat, though it was just a dry cough from his injuries. "As I said, this is a chapter regarding the Manning equation, used to calculate flow resistance. It's derived as flow velocity equals a unit basis coefficient over the Manning coefficient multiplied by the hydraulic radius raised to the power of two-thirds, then the friction slope to the power of one-third. In order to properly deduct a Manning coefficient from the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor and Chezy resistance coefficient...ah, it's not the most beginner friendly method of derivation, there's quite a lot of modification values based on the various resistance factors."
Ren smirked, "It's cool. Sounds like you are really into this kind of stuff. I think it sounds interesting, but I have to actually go do something. So, when you are done with the book, it would be cool if I could borrow it. Maybe we can bounce some stuff off each other when I am done with it." he said as he moved towards the door and paused, "It is really good to see you doing better Iniji-san. I won't be late next time." he promised. Ren still felt bad about not being there for Iniji in the fight, but he would do his best not to let that happen again.
Haya smirked, "I still have some time, if you want to keep going. I think it's really interesting, and listening to how you spoke about it, it means a lot to you to have the information." she stated. She was curious about the rest of the book and about what else it talked about. She had never been able to read something like that before and when someone read to her, she actually liked it a lot better. It made her feel special and made every word mean so much more.
"Ah...Are you interested, Kimura-san? I been questioning the accuracy of the sheer stress and friction coefficients that are up upon the infrastructure so it would be great to hear another opinion, there is a table listing the types of environmental factors...but I think it's somewhat outdated. Although it's not a big deal for me since I only use it on a small scale when dealing with flow resistance. In controlled environments boundary friction isn't actually that big of a deal, hmm, actually I'm not sure of that...oh, sorry, was I speaking too much again?" Iniji averted his gaze once he realized he was rambling on again, he wasn't supposed to speak this much to his peers anyways.
"Um...If you are interested, there are open lectures from the University of Tokyo that are available for listening, and if you are comfortable with English, a lot of resources from America exist as well, UC Berkeley is one and there's others..." Seeing that Haya was interested but unable to read, Iniji suggested some other methods of studying if she was interested in this information.
Haya smirked, after letting out a giggled, "It's nice to hear it from you, though. You have a lot of passion for the information you read about and it is important to hear it from someone you trust that has that passion. I might look them up, but I would rather hear it from you." she stated, as she heard the door open and close as Ren left the room. "You are my friend, and you seem to get excited on explaining it. It's actually a really interesting topic when you do that. So, I would rather you read to me. But if you don't want to, I will look it up as you have told me." she assured him. The topics were very interesting and she thought they could help her be a better leader, but at the same time, listening to Iniji ramble on about it in his own way, made her happy to listen even more.
Iniji tilted his head, sort of like a confused animal. He was just a self taught hobbyist student who barely had formal education out of middle school, he must have given Haya the wrong impression with how much he talked. "I...I'm not the most trustworthy source of information, there's many more experts in these fields that possess years worth of experience and peer reviewed research." Iniji felt a little bad, maybe Haya was just here to humour him, as much as she seemed to act interested she didn't really say anything in regards to the particular topic or ask specific questions. Maybe she's just being polite...Iniji thought, as he had towards many of his colleagues in the past.
"I...perhaps I've overdone it, it's not really a passion, it's just something to pass the time." The boy's voice went back to its usual calm, even slightly chilling tone. "Sorry if I have led you to misunderstand anything. I would not want to keep you if you have other matters to attend to, Kimura-san."
Haya smirked, "I don't and you are not. Learning from an expert is a good way to understand if you are interested in it. But when you listen to someone with a passion fro it, it helps you want to know more. For example, although not on topic, the first part you read made me think of my quirk. If I apply the flow of sound in a steady way and since I already use it as an energy source for my quirk, there is a way for me to use it in a blasting way. The information is interesting and the way I understand it, it could help me improve my quirks abilities and add to what I can already do. Also, since I use my leadership in the same way, I think that it could be a lot of help. But I won't be able to recall it by memory, especially in combat if I am just listening to some expert instead of someone I trust and had a passion for it. I hear it in your voice, the passion. It is how the words stick with me and how I will be able to get a handle of them, even in the field. That is why I would rather you read it to me." she explained. She was sure that what he read was not exactly how she used it, but that was even more reason to have him help her. After all, she was learning about romance with Kuroi as her partner, why not learn Iniji's books the same way.
"Hmph." A little scoff came out of Iniji after hearing the words. Passion, passion, what a beautiful word. A tempest driven by naught but the desire to achieve something, to push on without a single thought of retreat, and eventually to burn up yourself and all around you. "Passion...huh? I apologize for my callousness, please forget that ever happened, Kimura-san." Ah, he was doing things without thinking again, he was talking without thinking again. How despicable, being unable to control yourself just because someone showcased a pinch of interest in your bullshit. Iniji's head hung slightly low, a few strands of multicoloured hair covered his darkened eyes.
"...Sound does not flow, Kimura-san, sound travels in waves. Passion is not a reason to believe that information will be useful to you, expertise is always more reliable. I apologize for leading you on, please do not take what I said as advice, I am ill fitted to give such consultations." Closing the book slowly Iniji kept with the calm, and slightly melancholic tone.
Haya looked at him with some concern, "I don't believe that. If there is any advice I won't take is that expertise is more helpful. Passion is a drive. It's an infection that can be good and bad. I rather listen to passion in the sound than the expertise in it." she sighed, "Expertise can't teach, they can only command. To be honest Iniji, I could listen to them for information, but I carry my friends with me, in every situation. The information would be pointless coming from anyone else but you." she told him before she bite her lip. "You don't have to read to me. I am sure the information will happen one day for me. You should rest, but just to be clear, I don't believe you understand passion and friendship the same way that I do. It means everything to me and one day, I hope it will to you too."
"...Truly said like a hero." Iniji looked up at Haya for a moment while he muttered under his breath. He didn't really have anything to say about that, he was just someone from a different world, that is all. Of course there are many things he didn't understand, and at this point, he didn't deserve anyone to teach him anymore. That is the fate of someone who's passion burned too many bridges.
Haya smirked, "You are also a hero, Iniji. You should remember that." she commented. "I will leave you to rest. And we'll see each other after the festival." she added.
A gentle rap upon the door preceded Kikyo's entrance into the room. In truth, she had struggled with whether or not she wanted to pay him a visit. Not for a lack of caring or interest, simply because she second guessed whether or not her visit would be fruitful at all. She afterall was never particularly gifted at cheering people up. Least of all one of her most stoic peers like Iniji. Nonetheless, she decided if for no other reason than for the sake of attempting friendship, she would stop by and wish him well.
"Hey, Iniji!" Kikyo called excitedly as she entered the room. She was a bit caught off guard when she realized he still had company there, but shook it off quickly, adding; "...oh, I didn't realize someone else was still here. My apologies."
"Anyway! Uhm, looks like your mission was rough, huh? How is your recovery going?" Kikyo asked with a cautious step towards him, hands folded behind her back and a warm smile on her face.
"...Asuka-san, good afternoon." Iniji's voice was back to it's usual stoic tone as another person entered, he struggled to figure out why so many would be interested in visiting him. "It was nothing of note, my injuries were due to my own missteps. The surgery last night went well, thank you for your concern." He sighed slightly while looking at her and putting away his book, unsure of what to do.
"Well, i'm glad you're recovering, Iniji. We all make mistakes in the field, right? But, uhm, I may have overheard a little bit. I"m sorry. Do...do you think that you aren't a hero?" Kikyo nervously added, a little uncertain about just how deep she was willing to pry into his head. After all, the last conversation they had seemed to weigh on him. She worried that she had bored or annoyed him.
"No, I don't." It was a simple answer without hesitation. "In fact, it is quite troubling when others so fervently suggest so, at least to me. It troubles me a great deal." Iniji added on, explaining his more than usual deal of melancholy.
"I think, in a way, I feel that way too. But, it's because I feel like i've been useless and some part of me is trying to get out that doesn't care about doing the right thing. I-I know that probably doesn't make any sense, but maybe if I can get an idea on whatever my problem is, maybe I can understand yours? I don't mean to trouble you, though. But I do think that you at least have the potential of being a hero, Iniji." Kikyo replied, crossing her arms in front of her.
"No, I do not, Asuka-san." Iniji said,even with a faith smile this time. "I have no interest in proving myself worthy as a hero, and inadequacy is the least of my problems. Those of inadequate skill can improve, but somethings will never change no matter how much you work." He averted his gaze from the girl once more. "I suggest you do not emphasize with me too much, those who stare into the abyss should be prepared for it to stare back, perhaps even to be swallowed whole."
Kikyo frowned as he responded, looking to the window when she noted that he looked away. "Well, you don't have to be a hero to do good. Some of the best people that have ever lived were very, you know, mundane in the lives. No great destinies or powers, no fan base, no glamour or anything like that. Just hard working people that help others. Sometimes those people are also troubled. It doesn't make them less valuable or....good for that matter. I just think that you're capable of being that kind of person. Doesn't darkness just make light brighter too? I also don't think it's possible for anyone to be completely swallowed by darkness. There is at least a little light in everyone. It's all about which one you feed."
"Of course, Asuka-san, of course." Iniji said quietly, almost like a whisper, acknowledging the other's words. It appears that his penchant for mingling metaphors gets turned on him more than often, vagueness is a gift and a plague when it comes to speaking with others. "Very well said." A thing about heroes was that they often talked about friendship, passion, and fighting against the dying of the light, but concepts were concepts, actions were actions. Iniji wondered how many of his peers wouldn't hesitate to cut him down if they witnessed the person he was years ago, and he couldn't help but laugh a little.
"I hope you will hold onto that light then, do your best, and fight for all the good people in this world."
"Thank you, Iniji. I hope that so long as you are an ally that you do the same. Uhm, also...do try to make sure you rest up enough to get better? It's no good to push yourself to the point that you don't heal properly. Have a good night, okay?" Kikyo sighed softly, walking back over to the door to head out for the evening.
Iniji sat back on the hospital bed and closed his eyes, hearing the sound of footsteps outside and going abouts of car engines. He didn't think much, as the previous interactions had already drained him of those thoughts.
"My peers are certainly...all a bunch of…" The last parts of the words were drowned out by the wind razing the curtains.
It was a quiet morning drifting into midday, the sun climbed higher as Iniji sat up and stepped off of his hospital bed, opening the curtains. It's been a few days since the operation, the one where he passed out immediately after rendezvousing with the rest of the team. Perhaps the woman with the villains was right, he overexerted himself, without her help it would've been much worse.
"Yeah…Oh right..." The boy mumbled as he looked over on the cabinet beside the hospital bed, on it sat a battle report clipped to his medical case book. Even with medicinal quirks it appears he requires some time with rest, it appears the fluid and air that built up in his lungs while he fought could've been fatal, and they had to cut out a part of the organ to reset the ribs...or something. Iniji didn't really care, it was all a tool anyways, his organs or whatever. What weighed on him more than the dull aches that came with each breath was the truths that the whole operation revealed. It appears that every organization has its traitors, ANVIL or HA isn't exempt from that. It was very hard to keep people happy, Iniji knew that well.
A gentle knock on the door came with a female voice of a nurse. "Irokei-kun? Are you well? There's visitors looking for you, if you are fine with that."
"I'm fine. It would be impolite to decline visits of good will if I am in the condition to reciprocate." He replied while still seemingly spacing out while looking out the window. The outlines of the building tops and clouds were a bit hazier than usual.
Among if not the first to enter was Mari, though unlike the previous meetings she didn't seem to be all business with this one. Her own wounds had long since been tended and she had spent some time with others, be it as in her capacity as the leader or not, she had come to check up on Iniji all the same.
"Ah, you do not seem any worse for wear at this point at least."
"Yes, Naoko-san. The surgery has gone well, there will likely be no long term hindrance to my performance." Iniji replied, with a certain robotic tone in his words. In his understanding of his relationship with Mari, that was for the best.
"INIJI BRO HOW'S IT GOING," Agi called out loud and proud as he busted in a little after Mari's more calm entrance running up the boys other side he offered Iniji a high five as he gave a big wide smile. Agi was still quite covered in bandage, but not as bad as when he had first come to the hospital.
"Good morning, Mizushima-san." Iniji didn't really understand Agi's gestures, he just knew the other had a penchant for doing such eccentric things. Although Mari wasn't exactly wrong and he wasn't that much worse for wear, a certain weariness still followed the boy as his face lacked colour more so than usual and he constantly fiddles with his IV drip. It has a weird itch the whole time.
"I am well enough, as you can see. As I was mentioning to Naoko-san, it may take some time before I recover from the surgery fully, my constitution is lacking even in the context of being a receiver of recovery quirks."
"So it seems. But are there other visitors here besides us?" Mari seems to both say and ask as she glances back towards the doorway, offering some encouragement for the rest to come in.
"Don't leave me hanging Iniji," Agi suffered as Iniji had yet to give up a high five. Slowly Agi starts to sink from Inijis view as he is quickly defeating the nano boy with the power of ignoring.
"Oh...please excuse me if my response was insufficient, I am still quite fatigued. Formalities are hardly my priority at this moment...Mizushima-san?" Iniji was slightly confused at all of Agi's actions, he knew the other was an eccentric person, he always had trouble reacting to people like that.
"Ah, I apologize, Naoko-san, it wasn't my intention to upset Mizushima-san...I…I am unsure what course of action I should currently take." He was mostly at a loss for words, this was an entirely new experience, even the presence of Mari didn't ease Iniji up much.
"Agi.. High fives may be asking a bit too much for now. Not everyone has energy the same as you do."
"Fair… fair enough," Agi said in defeat, letting his hand drop to his side with a sigh of defeat as he basically kept to his corner on the matter.
"No...uh….I'm sorry, Mizushima-san, I wasn't aware of your gestures as a method of requesting a high five." When Mari spoke to Agi, Iniji suddenly realized why the other boy had his arm up like such. Body language like that were all faded distant memories to him, even before his disastrous detours in life his reclusiveness made him oblivious to these motions.
"Thank you for your help Naoko-san, please don't be too harsh on him, it was my lack of ability to interpret…" Words trailed off as a sharp pain came from Iniji's side, he paused a bit and looked up this IV drip, slightly adjusting the roller clamp. "I am quite inadequate at reciprocation…" He continued to say, half to himself as colourful irises stared at the dripping liquid.
"Given how shy the others are, I think we'll take our leave, I promise you the next visitor is much more quiet." With that she takes Agi arm in arm and subtly tries to lead him from the room.
Ren just missed someone with a tail, as he moved through the hall to figure out how this hospital worked. He had never been much for hospitals before. When he visited Isa, a nurse was able to bring him to the right place. But this time he wanted to try and do it on his own. It wasn't long before he was completely lost. But with some luck, he ran into Haya who knew exactly where they should go. As Ren knocked, he poked his head in before opening the door. He wanted to make sure Iniji was there. "Hey, we never got the chance to really meet on the mission. Just thought we should and to check to see how you were." Ren said as he walked in.
"Hi, Iniji-san, how are you feeling?" Haya said as she walked in after Ren. She was used to finding Iniji now that she had a chance to be near him and it was important for her to know if he was okay. He was part of her team and he was the only option she had to go after the scientist, but she could feel something was wrong on the mission and smell the blood coming from him too.
"Oh...Abiko-san, Kimura-san." Two of his teammates on the mission entered after the president and the noisy one left, it made sense for them to come around, after all he did pass out in front of his team, the amount of blood that was around then was perhaps startling. "My condition is passable at the current moment. There is no need to be overly concerned about me." He said while quietly adjusting the roller clamp again to fix the dosage dripping from the IV.
Ren smirked, "Well, that is not what it looked like. But you look better. You did a really good job on the mission." He added with a smile, "How is the hospital been for you?"
Haya smirked, She was glad that he seemed to be okay. She agreed, he didn't feel like he was okay on the mission. It was concerning and she was worried if he would make it. "Are you planning to join the festival?" She asked.
"...Thank you, Abiko-san, I was simply doing what I was instructed, it is my fault that I ended up in such a predicament." Iniji's eyes darkened as he mumbled towards the other, it was true that he felt inadequate at least of his performance, even his ability to heal his own injuries were lacking compared to his peers.
"And...I do not do well with crowds, festivals are not events tailored to me, I am afraid to say." The boy continued softly. In reality, Iniji has never been to a festival barring one where he was barely a toddler, it was another thing that was far-fetched for him, another thing where non-engagement would be more comfortable for him. "...I...Perhaps I am in need of attending to more important matters."
Ren smirked, "Well, to be fair, I got there pretty late. I am used to fighting as a team over doing things on my own." he stated before he turned to Haya, "Not that your plan was bad, it was actually a very logical plan."
Haya smirked, "It's okay, my plans are pretty bad in some aspects, but they usually work." she told Ren, who blushed from embarrassment at the way it sounded. But Haya turned to Iniji, "Well, I should be back at the dorms before the fireworks, if you want to hang out. Maybe you can read to me? I have been curious about the books you read."
"O-Oh, uh, well, you may find what I read awfully dull, Kimura-san. It is not the most thrilling material to be listened to." Iniji leaned over to pull over his book on open channel hydraulics, it's full of diagrams and example systems that won't be of any interest to most high school hero students. He quietly flipped through the pages while scanning the words, which only further solidified his theory.
Haya smirked, "Well, we won't know until we try. I have been read science manuals before and they were not bad." She assured him. She had no idea what any of the books really added up to. "Plus, it might give me ideas or information to help with missions." She figured that if they were dull they might have stategies that could work or give her ideas for their next missions.
Ren smirked, "So it's not just me that trains a lot." He teased as he chuckled and turned to Iniji, "What kind of books do you read?I am not much of a reader, but it sounds like they might be helpful to improve. I might be interested in learning about them myself." He wasn't sure how he would do with reading big books, but he was more then willing to try anything once.
"Ah...I-I'm not sure if I have what you are looking for, Abiko-san...it's…" Iniji caressed the book he had by his bed side and pulled it onto his lap: Hydraulic Principles of Open-Channel Flow was etched on the cover. He opened the book to a page with a folder corner, traced down the paper to a paragraph and tried reading it outloud in a calm voice.
"...The fundamental equation of motion for steady flow may be derived by applying the principle of conservation of energy to individual fluid parcels. At this point it will be assumed that an ideal fluid exists for which no shearing stress occurs. In such a fluid there can be no frictional effects between moving fluid layers…" Iniji's voice trailed off as he knew his studies likely didn't interest any person in this room, or at the very least will spark no discussion of substance. "...Y-Yeah...It's not very...interesting."
Ren and Haya listened to Iniji read and thought about what he was reading. When he finished they were silent for a moment. Ren thought about it for a moment and smirked, "Hmmm, I think it might make a little more sense to me if I knew the paragraph before. It flows through some information but I am not sure I am getting the information completely." he pointed out, "When you are done with that, can I read some of it. It sounds like it might have some properties that can be used." he pointed out. The flow made some sense to him, but the idea kind of seem to form but got lost in the additional information that he got lost in.
Haya smirked, "Well, that actually was helpful. I think I might be able to try something soon, when I think of how to use what that kind of saying. Can you read a bit more? I want to be sure I understand it enough." she asked curiously. She had been following most of it, but some parts felt like when Iniji stopped it was in the middle of a thought. "Do you think you can read a bit more, or should we let you rest?" Haya asked, the idea still working its way to completion, but it could wait.
Iniji's multicoloured eyes lit up slightly at the other two's reactions, he wasn't expecting them to actually be interested even if it was just a feinted polity. "Oh, t-this was actually the first paragraph already, it's an introduction of ideal fluids in a chapter about the Manning equation used to calculate varied flow in open conduits! I've been studying it because hydraulic engineering is the principle basis of all the equipment I use to-" He cut himself off before he could say much more, after all it wasn't anything pretty or to brag about. It appears he's gotten too excited, it was rare for Iniji to talk about his interests with another person.
"Ah, I apologize for startling you." Iniji cleared his throat, though it was just a dry cough from his injuries. "As I said, this is a chapter regarding the Manning equation, used to calculate flow resistance. It's derived as flow velocity equals a unit basis coefficient over the Manning coefficient multiplied by the hydraulic radius raised to the power of two-thirds, then the friction slope to the power of one-third. In order to properly deduct a Manning coefficient from the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor and Chezy resistance coefficient...ah, it's not the most beginner friendly method of derivation, there's quite a lot of modification values based on the various resistance factors."
Ren smirked, "It's cool. Sounds like you are really into this kind of stuff. I think it sounds interesting, but I have to actually go do something. So, when you are done with the book, it would be cool if I could borrow it. Maybe we can bounce some stuff off each other when I am done with it." he said as he moved towards the door and paused, "It is really good to see you doing better Iniji-san. I won't be late next time." he promised. Ren still felt bad about not being there for Iniji in the fight, but he would do his best not to let that happen again.
Haya smirked, "I still have some time, if you want to keep going. I think it's really interesting, and listening to how you spoke about it, it means a lot to you to have the information." she stated. She was curious about the rest of the book and about what else it talked about. She had never been able to read something like that before and when someone read to her, she actually liked it a lot better. It made her feel special and made every word mean so much more.
"Ah...Are you interested, Kimura-san? I been questioning the accuracy of the sheer stress and friction coefficients that are up upon the infrastructure so it would be great to hear another opinion, there is a table listing the types of environmental factors...but I think it's somewhat outdated. Although it's not a big deal for me since I only use it on a small scale when dealing with flow resistance. In controlled environments boundary friction isn't actually that big of a deal, hmm, actually I'm not sure of that...oh, sorry, was I speaking too much again?" Iniji averted his gaze once he realized he was rambling on again, he wasn't supposed to speak this much to his peers anyways.
"Um...If you are interested, there are open lectures from the University of Tokyo that are available for listening, and if you are comfortable with English, a lot of resources from America exist as well, UC Berkeley is one and there's others..." Seeing that Haya was interested but unable to read, Iniji suggested some other methods of studying if she was interested in this information.
Haya smirked, after letting out a giggled, "It's nice to hear it from you, though. You have a lot of passion for the information you read about and it is important to hear it from someone you trust that has that passion. I might look them up, but I would rather hear it from you." she stated, as she heard the door open and close as Ren left the room. "You are my friend, and you seem to get excited on explaining it. It's actually a really interesting topic when you do that. So, I would rather you read to me. But if you don't want to, I will look it up as you have told me." she assured him. The topics were very interesting and she thought they could help her be a better leader, but at the same time, listening to Iniji ramble on about it in his own way, made her happy to listen even more.
Iniji tilted his head, sort of like a confused animal. He was just a self taught hobbyist student who barely had formal education out of middle school, he must have given Haya the wrong impression with how much he talked. "I...I'm not the most trustworthy source of information, there's many more experts in these fields that possess years worth of experience and peer reviewed research." Iniji felt a little bad, maybe Haya was just here to humour him, as much as she seemed to act interested she didn't really say anything in regards to the particular topic or ask specific questions. Maybe she's just being polite...Iniji thought, as he had towards many of his colleagues in the past.
"I...perhaps I've overdone it, it's not really a passion, it's just something to pass the time." The boy's voice went back to its usual calm, even slightly chilling tone. "Sorry if I have led you to misunderstand anything. I would not want to keep you if you have other matters to attend to, Kimura-san."
Haya smirked, "I don't and you are not. Learning from an expert is a good way to understand if you are interested in it. But when you listen to someone with a passion fro it, it helps you want to know more. For example, although not on topic, the first part you read made me think of my quirk. If I apply the flow of sound in a steady way and since I already use it as an energy source for my quirk, there is a way for me to use it in a blasting way. The information is interesting and the way I understand it, it could help me improve my quirks abilities and add to what I can already do. Also, since I use my leadership in the same way, I think that it could be a lot of help. But I won't be able to recall it by memory, especially in combat if I am just listening to some expert instead of someone I trust and had a passion for it. I hear it in your voice, the passion. It is how the words stick with me and how I will be able to get a handle of them, even in the field. That is why I would rather you read it to me." she explained. She was sure that what he read was not exactly how she used it, but that was even more reason to have him help her. After all, she was learning about romance with Kuroi as her partner, why not learn Iniji's books the same way.
"Hmph." A little scoff came out of Iniji after hearing the words. Passion, passion, what a beautiful word. A tempest driven by naught but the desire to achieve something, to push on without a single thought of retreat, and eventually to burn up yourself and all around you. "Passion...huh? I apologize for my callousness, please forget that ever happened, Kimura-san." Ah, he was doing things without thinking again, he was talking without thinking again. How despicable, being unable to control yourself just because someone showcased a pinch of interest in your bullshit. Iniji's head hung slightly low, a few strands of multicoloured hair covered his darkened eyes.
"...Sound does not flow, Kimura-san, sound travels in waves. Passion is not a reason to believe that information will be useful to you, expertise is always more reliable. I apologize for leading you on, please do not take what I said as advice, I am ill fitted to give such consultations." Closing the book slowly Iniji kept with the calm, and slightly melancholic tone.
Haya looked at him with some concern, "I don't believe that. If there is any advice I won't take is that expertise is more helpful. Passion is a drive. It's an infection that can be good and bad. I rather listen to passion in the sound than the expertise in it." she sighed, "Expertise can't teach, they can only command. To be honest Iniji, I could listen to them for information, but I carry my friends with me, in every situation. The information would be pointless coming from anyone else but you." she told him before she bite her lip. "You don't have to read to me. I am sure the information will happen one day for me. You should rest, but just to be clear, I don't believe you understand passion and friendship the same way that I do. It means everything to me and one day, I hope it will to you too."
"...Truly said like a hero." Iniji looked up at Haya for a moment while he muttered under his breath. He didn't really have anything to say about that, he was just someone from a different world, that is all. Of course there are many things he didn't understand, and at this point, he didn't deserve anyone to teach him anymore. That is the fate of someone who's passion burned too many bridges.
Haya smirked, "You are also a hero, Iniji. You should remember that." she commented. "I will leave you to rest. And we'll see each other after the festival." she added.
A gentle rap upon the door preceded Kikyo's entrance into the room. In truth, she had struggled with whether or not she wanted to pay him a visit. Not for a lack of caring or interest, simply because she second guessed whether or not her visit would be fruitful at all. She afterall was never particularly gifted at cheering people up. Least of all one of her most stoic peers like Iniji. Nonetheless, she decided if for no other reason than for the sake of attempting friendship, she would stop by and wish him well.
"Hey, Iniji!" Kikyo called excitedly as she entered the room. She was a bit caught off guard when she realized he still had company there, but shook it off quickly, adding; "...oh, I didn't realize someone else was still here. My apologies."
"Anyway! Uhm, looks like your mission was rough, huh? How is your recovery going?" Kikyo asked with a cautious step towards him, hands folded behind her back and a warm smile on her face.
"...Asuka-san, good afternoon." Iniji's voice was back to it's usual stoic tone as another person entered, he struggled to figure out why so many would be interested in visiting him. "It was nothing of note, my injuries were due to my own missteps. The surgery last night went well, thank you for your concern." He sighed slightly while looking at her and putting away his book, unsure of what to do.
"Well, i'm glad you're recovering, Iniji. We all make mistakes in the field, right? But, uhm, I may have overheard a little bit. I"m sorry. Do...do you think that you aren't a hero?" Kikyo nervously added, a little uncertain about just how deep she was willing to pry into his head. After all, the last conversation they had seemed to weigh on him. She worried that she had bored or annoyed him.
"No, I don't." It was a simple answer without hesitation. "In fact, it is quite troubling when others so fervently suggest so, at least to me. It troubles me a great deal." Iniji added on, explaining his more than usual deal of melancholy.
"I think, in a way, I feel that way too. But, it's because I feel like i've been useless and some part of me is trying to get out that doesn't care about doing the right thing. I-I know that probably doesn't make any sense, but maybe if I can get an idea on whatever my problem is, maybe I can understand yours? I don't mean to trouble you, though. But I do think that you at least have the potential of being a hero, Iniji." Kikyo replied, crossing her arms in front of her.
"No, I do not, Asuka-san." Iniji said,even with a faith smile this time. "I have no interest in proving myself worthy as a hero, and inadequacy is the least of my problems. Those of inadequate skill can improve, but somethings will never change no matter how much you work." He averted his gaze from the girl once more. "I suggest you do not emphasize with me too much, those who stare into the abyss should be prepared for it to stare back, perhaps even to be swallowed whole."
Kikyo frowned as he responded, looking to the window when she noted that he looked away. "Well, you don't have to be a hero to do good. Some of the best people that have ever lived were very, you know, mundane in the lives. No great destinies or powers, no fan base, no glamour or anything like that. Just hard working people that help others. Sometimes those people are also troubled. It doesn't make them less valuable or....good for that matter. I just think that you're capable of being that kind of person. Doesn't darkness just make light brighter too? I also don't think it's possible for anyone to be completely swallowed by darkness. There is at least a little light in everyone. It's all about which one you feed."
"Of course, Asuka-san, of course." Iniji said quietly, almost like a whisper, acknowledging the other's words. It appears that his penchant for mingling metaphors gets turned on him more than often, vagueness is a gift and a plague when it comes to speaking with others. "Very well said." A thing about heroes was that they often talked about friendship, passion, and fighting against the dying of the light, but concepts were concepts, actions were actions. Iniji wondered how many of his peers wouldn't hesitate to cut him down if they witnessed the person he was years ago, and he couldn't help but laugh a little.
"I hope you will hold onto that light then, do your best, and fight for all the good people in this world."
"Thank you, Iniji. I hope that so long as you are an ally that you do the same. Uhm, also...do try to make sure you rest up enough to get better? It's no good to push yourself to the point that you don't heal properly. Have a good night, okay?" Kikyo sighed softly, walking back over to the door to head out for the evening.
Iniji sat back on the hospital bed and closed his eyes, hearing the sound of footsteps outside and going abouts of car engines. He didn't think much, as the previous interactions had already drained him of those thoughts.
"My peers are certainly...all a bunch of…" The last parts of the words were drowned out by the wind razing the curtains.
Once again, it was another sleepless night for Kaizen. Despite his best efforts to try to get back to his normal routine, nothing has been the same ever since the incident. He couldn't enjoy his food anymore, everything was always tasteless no matter how much spice he added. His garden had been neglected, and he had been spending much of his time either alone in his room or training in the gym with his newly revealed human body.
Tonight, he decided to get a bit of air on the rooftop, hoping that it would give him some peace of mind and eventually allow him to sleep. The moonlight shines onto his garden, showing some overgrowth and weeds. He slowly made his way to the railing and sat on the edge, feeling the cool night air on his face. His recent visit to Vitalis gave him a lot to think about.
A haunting soft light came on the horizon on the opposite side of the dimming moon as the first break of dawn began to show itself in the early morning. Iniji picked up the porcelain mug that reflected the dim white light and took a small sip, before going back to his morning routine of reading and staring out at the city. The pains of his injuries subsided, though breathing felt a bit more tedious than before. His eyesight was noticeably more blurred now, a side effect of the overt usage of his quirk in the past months.
The breathing troubles made Iniji wake up earlier than usual, as it was barely past 4:00 in the morning. That was nice though, there were less people bothering him at times like this, sleeplessness was common enough for him for the morning dew to be a regular companion. But there was something unexpected today, as he heard the familiar sound of ruffing clothing and footsteps.
"...Shinkami-san. Good morning." Iniji simply acknowledged the newcomer, it was still somewhat unusual to see his ally as a full human, but it wasn't a major thing of note. He knew from the reports and debriefings of what happened. Iniji was never good at comforting people, thus he resorted to nothing, nothing other than the most basic politeness a civil person would muster; he was no hero.
Kaizen immediately recognized that familiar voice, as Iniji. He hasn't talked to him much lately but has heard of his recent success in the most recent missions. He was happy for him. "Kaizen… " he said in reply. "Just call me Kaizen or bug, whichever you prefer." He often found it strange how he would still refer to him as such. Kaizen gave a small smirk to him, secretly happy that he wouldn't be alone up there. "What brings you up here? Admiring the sun rise perhaps? The cool breeze?" He answered while staring at the horizon.
"I am here everyday, Kaizen-san. It is a rare occasion for others to be here at this hour, thus I use it as my escapade." Iniji closed the hardcover heavy duty book on his lap and set it aside, picking up the porcelain mug again, feeling the temperature of the beverage get slowly carried away by the wind. He didn't know why the other was here at this hour, of all the occasional run-ins he had with others, Kaizen was not one of those he deemed likely to do such a thing. Perhaps it had something to do with the recent incident, early morning is always in style for a soul search.
"Hmmm I guess I am kinda doing the same thing as well…" he thought outloud. In a way, he was using this place to escape his sleepless night. "Say, Iniji, you wouldn't happen to have any tips on falling asleep would you?" Iniji seemed like the type that would know this. " I've been having a hard time sleeping lately.." he clarified, waving his feet at the edge of the railing. "Maybe I just need to tire myself out or something.." he added, while looking down.
"No." It was a simple answer, Iniji didn't have any ideas on the likes, his circadian rhythm was by no means normal, it wasn't something he knew how to give advice on. "Perhaps medication. But no, I don't." He concluded, with a voice as dull and emotionless as ever, almost fading into a whisper like the dim white daybreak light. It was clear Kaizen was very troubled, whether by the recent events or anything else, Iniji didn't want to speak of the troubles of others. He had no right to after all.
"Medication...most stores aren't even open right now and I'd hate to bother medical staff this late." He sighed in defeat. As he stood up to admire the height of the building. "Hmmm… yes I think this is high enough…" He took a good look downwards before standing up, balancing himself on the railing. He looked to Iniji and gave him a sly smile before taking a step back, allowing himself to fall off the edge. Seconds, Kaizen would somehow return to the edge of the roof. "Tch, not quite high enough…" He complained before revealing he had shot out a strand of webbing from his insectoid arm. "If I can't sleep, guess I might as well exercise a bit you know?" he said to Iniji, trying to lighten his own mood.
Iniji blinked a few times as he saw Kaizen hop off of the roof, but his surprise only lasted for a few seconds. He's seen this gimmick before, Agi had pulled it on him once at the resort. Perhaps hero students had this need for grandiose gestures to thrill seeking, Iniji wasn't the type to consider it, but he stared at the other for a moment nonetheless.
"...An interesting course of action, Kaizen-san, however I do respect it." Picking up his hardcover book again Iniji looked at the other, oddly coloured eyes swirled with the reflections of the white horizon. "Mizushima-san had done such a thing in front of me in the past, please do not be offended by my lack of reaction."
Kaizen sighed upon hearing Agi had done the same thing as him. Of all the people, why did it have to be him? "Hmm guess we are more alike than I thought...explains why we always butt heads with each other." he placed a finger on his chin, acknowledging the similarities between them. "Although as much as I dislike him, I can't deny the fact he's closer to being the ideal hero than I am..at least for now.."he admitted.
"Ideal hero...huh?" Iniji whispered, the words came out in a fashion similar to a scoff, as if he was making fun of something. It was himself, he was making fun of himself. Unlike Agi, or Kaizen, he had no hopes in becoming an ideal hero. He wasn't delusional, he lost that qualification long ago. "A most excellent goal to pursue, Kaizen-san. I wish you the best in regards to your endeavors." He replied calmly, perhaps even apathetically, with words accompanied by the sound of rustling paper as Iniji flipped another page.
Kaizen raised his eyebrow towards Iniji's response. It was strange, almost as if he didnt share a similar goal despite being in the same programme. "What about you Iniji, what are your goals for joining suppression?" He always wondered what went through the head of the most quiet member of his class. Now was his chance to find out.
"...To bring upon myself some sort of value as a person, whether it's as a hero, or something else." Without even looking up, Iniji said as his fingers caressed the slightly reflective book pages. Many people have asked him this question before, perhaps his enigmatic demeanor perks some of those curiosities. But curiosity is not always something good to adhere to, he had very little to say about his career at Suppression or as a hero, because it was all trite in the end.
"Always the mysterious one aren't you?" Kaizen was amused by his response. Specific enough to answer the question but vague enough to reveal almost nothing about him. "Something else huh?" He thought about what he had said and interpreted that as something outside of hero work. "You'd make a good architect. I recall you spoke about a complex type of structure with regards to how our pro hero opponent achieved her gigantic form. Additionally, your quirk would be useful in preparing the building materials as well." he shared his opinion on how Iniji's quirk could be used outside of combat.
"Perhaps. I always dreamt of being an engineer when I was young." Iniji replied blankly, Mari had said something similar to him, albeit in a less encouraging way. "But my quirk would be quite useless in the realm of material preparation for architecture, its limitations too great. Anything denser than vertebra would have me struggling quite harshly." It was a strange comparison, Iniji always knew that his quirk was more useful snapping necks rather than doing any sort of construction, if he truly dedicated himself to that sort of life, he would likely be blinded in months. Although that doesn't sound like a bad deal now.
"It would likely not even match up to a fraction of your's." Kaizen's quirk, Iniji knew, is much more useful than his in nearly every way, from combat to utility, perhaps he would only outpace the other in assassination. That was his and his quirk's fate, to be outclassed in everything other than drawing blood.
"Hmm that's an oddly specific limitation." Kaizen's eyes narrowed at Iniiji specification. Perhaps he has seen his share of violence. "You give me too much credit. I'd probably be the labourer while you'll be the guy who does all the planning." He made note of Iniji's advance knowledge of physics. "Well, you can always try cutting fruits. I'm sure people would appreciate clean cuts." His attention turned towards his garden. "Hell you could probably do some gardening as well." He added, finding more amusing ways his quirk could be used.
"I would love to." Iniji looked up again and at the horizon, the distant shape of the skyline was blurred a bit in his eyes. He blinked and squinted, then rubbed his eyes, before pulling out a pair of eyeglasses from his pocket. "Though I would hesitate to use my quirk in such callous ways, not out of pride or the likes." Iniji didn't even know why he was explaining that, it was because he was looking for excuses for himself. Regardless, his mind was set, and nothing can stir him from his path.
Slowly unfolding the eyeglasses, the boy set them onto his face. The formerly slightly blurred horizon became crisp and clear again. It wasn't severe, it was normal nearsightedness that can be seen on almost any regular glasses wearing person, but it only took a few months to get to this point. "My quirk, when overexerted, pressures my optical nerves." Iniji said while wearing a weary but slightly unsettling smile.
"One day it will blind me."
In a second he paused and looked at Kaizen, realizing what he had just told the other. "Sorry. This has no bearing on you, it must be awfully uninteresting." The smile remained, although in a more apologetic fashion now as Iniji looked onto the sunrise.
Upon hearing about the reason why he wouldn't be able to use his quirk so casually, he couldn't help but sympathize with the boy. "That would explain why you don't use it as often." Yes it all made sense to him now. Apart from its sheer strength, his quirk was also dangerous to himself. In many ways, those two were very alike, as even Kaizen can't use the full extent of his quirk without negative repercussions. "Believe it or not, I can't use the full extent of my quirks as well. I have a form that has unmatched combat prowess, but it is not without it's drawbacks." He explained before going back to the original topic. " That being said, I think that limitation also makes you stronger, making you less reliant on your quirk, allowing you to diversify the tools of your trade.' Kaizen slowly walked towards Iniji, his curiosity getting even stronger. "On the contrary, I find it extremely interesting. In just a matter of minutes, I've learned more about you than the last few months. I wonder what else you have to share?" He felt Iniji was someone who was more than meets the eye, and he just hit the tip of the iceberg
"...Is that so? I have very little to share about myself, my apologies for such disappointment." Iniji stared blankly into space, he didn't know how to cope with these sorts of situations, he wasn't as shaky as the beginning of the school year, but it was not something he was comfortable with regardless. "My quirk only damages me when used excessively. Yet, I do not need to use it excessively to obtain this 'unmatched combat prowess' that you speak so fondly of. In fact, I have little interest in it." His smile faded while talking about it. He didn't know if Kaizen would figure out the most extreme tactics he is able to employ, he is able to easily dispatch almost any villain with those methods: the easiest way out. They were polar opposites in that regard.
"We both use violence. In a way your quirk is always at its strongest for the most part. While I always have to "charge" myself up to reach my full potential. We both have negative repercussions when we overexert our quirks. You'll slowly go blind. And I shorten my lifespan. But not everyone has to know that, am I right?" Kaizen smiled at him, trusting them both to keep each other secrets. "And I have a feeling based on what you told me so far… I am not the only one with a violent past, am I?" he added. In truth, he wasn't really sure, he had scars so those had to come from somewhere, in his quirk of unparalleled strength and flexibility in combat situations.
"I see, you are going through a great deal of thought to relate yourself and I." Iniji said calmly as usual, but his voice was slightly more chilling this time, the polite phrasing and tine remained, yet an air of condemnation could be felt. "I have no interest in violence, in some ways you can say I lack the ability to even properly identify what constitutes as violence. It is merely a means to an end. I can see the ends only." Violent? Could his past even be described as such? Yes the bloodshed and death piled up, but it came about in such a apathetic, unfeeling way that Iniji often failed to even recognize it as violent.
Slowly, Iniji leaned a little towards Kaizen, it was unusual to see him in his human form. Perhaps for the both of them. Although he refrains from indulging in such emotions, Iniji can't help but feel irritated, at the other's tendency to ask such inconvenient questions, and fruitless efforts to close the chasm between them. He reached out a hand with his index finger out, and placed it on the other boy's neck.
"3.8 centimeters," Iniji said, his voice still the same puddle of still water. "The central carotid artery." He pushed into the other's skin a bit, feeling a pulse, Kaizen was still a human after all. "Once cut, it will bleed uncontrollably. Resulting in death after 6 to 15 seconds." Incandescent eyes blinked a few times as Iniji retreated his arm, the chilling frost also melted from multicolored irises.
"I did not consider such a thing 'violent' for the vast majority of my life. It would be a poor choice to discuss such matters with me, Kaizen-san."
Kaizen could feel the chill in the air, a sudden shift in tone. His touch felt incredibly ice cold, the hands of someone that dirtied their hands many times. He stared into his eyes while he talked about his vulnerable artery. He has seen those eyes before… they were the eyes of a killer. There was a brief look of distress in Kaizen's face before it slowly turned into a smile...followed by laughter. He amused...very amused by all of this.
"Hahahaah….HAHAHAHAHA…"Kaizen chuckled turned into a full blown brief but hysterical cackle. "And you dont even deny it...that….I can respect." he smiled, having a newfound appreciation for his friend. "I dont know what type of situation you grew up in, or what led you to such a path. But I am not one to judge…" In many ways, he could have ended up just like him had he not receive the help from the right people. "All I know is this… out in the field, I'll have your back and in return I hope you have mine." he smiled giving him a thumbs up. "And dont worry, I won't let anyone else know about the "interesting bits" of your story." He put a finger on his mouth indicating that he'd keep quiet about it.
There was a certain resonance between people with the capacity to kill, and an even stronger one between those who are true killers. Iniji did not know which category Kaizen falls into, though he hoped it was neither, as the other spoken of a desire to become an ideal hero. An ideal hero had no business to even be remotely on the same wavelength as him.
"Of course, Kaizen-san. I am not a person who is apt at lying, thus, I prefer not to. I have not lied to anyone about what I am lest they make inquiry, even if Naoko-san may desperately want me to do so." The tea had lost most of it's temperature, but Iniji picked the cup up nonetheless. He reacted little to Kaizen's laughter or compliments, those who stare into the abyss should understand that the abyss will stare back. Even in his lack of ability to read the air, Kaizen at least understood that.
"Hmm so Mari is in on this secret as well. I wonder who else has such interesting secrets…" he though about how he didn't really know the background of most of his classmates. "This has certainly been a very fruitful escapade. I guess I might as well tend to the garden while I'm up here." Kaizen's brandishes an insectoid blade as he began cutting down the weed and overgrowing. It seems finding out about Iniji true colors have reinvigorated him. In no time at all, he managed to clean up his entire garden. He even harvested some fruits. "Hey Iniji. Catch!" He threw the boy an orange. "You won't find a fresher harvest!" He boasted.
"I am glad you are receiving these facts well. Many throw out questions only hoping for answers they wish to hear." Iniji was used to being a disappointment, so there was no stress in answering honestly. He caught the orange and held it in his hand, looking at the shape, texture, taking in the existence of this round, citrus-tinged "thing" that existed in his hand. Kaizen was an interesting person, the part about the other's lifespan was certainly interesting. Perhaps other people would have mentioned it, but Iniji didn't, he had no right to lecture others on whether they should or shouldn't throw their lives away for something.
Encircling the fruit with his fingers in the middle, Iniji looked down at the orange and blinked a few times. The fruity sphere didn't change at first, but then broke into half with a cut that went right down the middle. A cut so clean that it seemed surreally unnatural, as if a homegrown fruit just turned into an artificial looking CGI rendered model. "A good clean cut, huh?" Iniji mumbled under his breath glumly.
"Hah! Told you you'd be a good fruit cutter!" Kaizen took note of how clean his cut was, just as he expected. He threw his orange in the air before slicing it apart with his retractable blade. "Hmmm.. zesty." He savored the freshly sliced fruit before turning to Iniji. "What are you reading anyways? You definitely look like the bookworm type." he made note of his relatively reserved personality, someone who only speaks when spoken to.
Looking down at the fruit and fiddled it, taking out a slice and biting into it in a reserved way, Iniji silently showed the book cover to Kaizen as per requested while the citrus favour spread out inside of his mouth. 'Principles of Hydraulic Systems Design' was printed on the cover with a fractal design background.
As a loner himself, Kaizen knew when someone preferred to be left alone but nonetheless was happy about what he had learned about Injinji. "This truly has been a "fruitful" encounter." he joked as moved ever to the edge once more. As the sun finally rose, he took one more look at Iniji before saying goodbye to him. He had something else to attend. "It was nice talking to you Iniji. Who knows, I might see you again up here soon. Until then, farewell." And with that, he backflipped off the edge, seeing it as a much more interesting method of descending.
"...Yes, farewell, Kaizen-san." Iniji whispered under his breath as he watched the other leave, once again flipping open the book. The sun also rose today.
Tonight, he decided to get a bit of air on the rooftop, hoping that it would give him some peace of mind and eventually allow him to sleep. The moonlight shines onto his garden, showing some overgrowth and weeds. He slowly made his way to the railing and sat on the edge, feeling the cool night air on his face. His recent visit to Vitalis gave him a lot to think about.
A haunting soft light came on the horizon on the opposite side of the dimming moon as the first break of dawn began to show itself in the early morning. Iniji picked up the porcelain mug that reflected the dim white light and took a small sip, before going back to his morning routine of reading and staring out at the city. The pains of his injuries subsided, though breathing felt a bit more tedious than before. His eyesight was noticeably more blurred now, a side effect of the overt usage of his quirk in the past months.
The breathing troubles made Iniji wake up earlier than usual, as it was barely past 4:00 in the morning. That was nice though, there were less people bothering him at times like this, sleeplessness was common enough for him for the morning dew to be a regular companion. But there was something unexpected today, as he heard the familiar sound of ruffing clothing and footsteps.
"...Shinkami-san. Good morning." Iniji simply acknowledged the newcomer, it was still somewhat unusual to see his ally as a full human, but it wasn't a major thing of note. He knew from the reports and debriefings of what happened. Iniji was never good at comforting people, thus he resorted to nothing, nothing other than the most basic politeness a civil person would muster; he was no hero.
Kaizen immediately recognized that familiar voice, as Iniji. He hasn't talked to him much lately but has heard of his recent success in the most recent missions. He was happy for him. "Kaizen… " he said in reply. "Just call me Kaizen or bug, whichever you prefer." He often found it strange how he would still refer to him as such. Kaizen gave a small smirk to him, secretly happy that he wouldn't be alone up there. "What brings you up here? Admiring the sun rise perhaps? The cool breeze?" He answered while staring at the horizon.
"I am here everyday, Kaizen-san. It is a rare occasion for others to be here at this hour, thus I use it as my escapade." Iniji closed the hardcover heavy duty book on his lap and set it aside, picking up the porcelain mug again, feeling the temperature of the beverage get slowly carried away by the wind. He didn't know why the other was here at this hour, of all the occasional run-ins he had with others, Kaizen was not one of those he deemed likely to do such a thing. Perhaps it had something to do with the recent incident, early morning is always in style for a soul search.
"Hmmm I guess I am kinda doing the same thing as well…" he thought outloud. In a way, he was using this place to escape his sleepless night. "Say, Iniji, you wouldn't happen to have any tips on falling asleep would you?" Iniji seemed like the type that would know this. " I've been having a hard time sleeping lately.." he clarified, waving his feet at the edge of the railing. "Maybe I just need to tire myself out or something.." he added, while looking down.
"No." It was a simple answer, Iniji didn't have any ideas on the likes, his circadian rhythm was by no means normal, it wasn't something he knew how to give advice on. "Perhaps medication. But no, I don't." He concluded, with a voice as dull and emotionless as ever, almost fading into a whisper like the dim white daybreak light. It was clear Kaizen was very troubled, whether by the recent events or anything else, Iniji didn't want to speak of the troubles of others. He had no right to after all.
"Medication...most stores aren't even open right now and I'd hate to bother medical staff this late." He sighed in defeat. As he stood up to admire the height of the building. "Hmmm… yes I think this is high enough…" He took a good look downwards before standing up, balancing himself on the railing. He looked to Iniji and gave him a sly smile before taking a step back, allowing himself to fall off the edge. Seconds, Kaizen would somehow return to the edge of the roof. "Tch, not quite high enough…" He complained before revealing he had shot out a strand of webbing from his insectoid arm. "If I can't sleep, guess I might as well exercise a bit you know?" he said to Iniji, trying to lighten his own mood.
Iniji blinked a few times as he saw Kaizen hop off of the roof, but his surprise only lasted for a few seconds. He's seen this gimmick before, Agi had pulled it on him once at the resort. Perhaps hero students had this need for grandiose gestures to thrill seeking, Iniji wasn't the type to consider it, but he stared at the other for a moment nonetheless.
"...An interesting course of action, Kaizen-san, however I do respect it." Picking up his hardcover book again Iniji looked at the other, oddly coloured eyes swirled with the reflections of the white horizon. "Mizushima-san had done such a thing in front of me in the past, please do not be offended by my lack of reaction."
Kaizen sighed upon hearing Agi had done the same thing as him. Of all the people, why did it have to be him? "Hmm guess we are more alike than I thought...explains why we always butt heads with each other." he placed a finger on his chin, acknowledging the similarities between them. "Although as much as I dislike him, I can't deny the fact he's closer to being the ideal hero than I am..at least for now.."he admitted.
"Ideal hero...huh?" Iniji whispered, the words came out in a fashion similar to a scoff, as if he was making fun of something. It was himself, he was making fun of himself. Unlike Agi, or Kaizen, he had no hopes in becoming an ideal hero. He wasn't delusional, he lost that qualification long ago. "A most excellent goal to pursue, Kaizen-san. I wish you the best in regards to your endeavors." He replied calmly, perhaps even apathetically, with words accompanied by the sound of rustling paper as Iniji flipped another page.
Kaizen raised his eyebrow towards Iniji's response. It was strange, almost as if he didnt share a similar goal despite being in the same programme. "What about you Iniji, what are your goals for joining suppression?" He always wondered what went through the head of the most quiet member of his class. Now was his chance to find out.
"...To bring upon myself some sort of value as a person, whether it's as a hero, or something else." Without even looking up, Iniji said as his fingers caressed the slightly reflective book pages. Many people have asked him this question before, perhaps his enigmatic demeanor perks some of those curiosities. But curiosity is not always something good to adhere to, he had very little to say about his career at Suppression or as a hero, because it was all trite in the end.
"Always the mysterious one aren't you?" Kaizen was amused by his response. Specific enough to answer the question but vague enough to reveal almost nothing about him. "Something else huh?" He thought about what he had said and interpreted that as something outside of hero work. "You'd make a good architect. I recall you spoke about a complex type of structure with regards to how our pro hero opponent achieved her gigantic form. Additionally, your quirk would be useful in preparing the building materials as well." he shared his opinion on how Iniji's quirk could be used outside of combat.
"Perhaps. I always dreamt of being an engineer when I was young." Iniji replied blankly, Mari had said something similar to him, albeit in a less encouraging way. "But my quirk would be quite useless in the realm of material preparation for architecture, its limitations too great. Anything denser than vertebra would have me struggling quite harshly." It was a strange comparison, Iniji always knew that his quirk was more useful snapping necks rather than doing any sort of construction, if he truly dedicated himself to that sort of life, he would likely be blinded in months. Although that doesn't sound like a bad deal now.
"It would likely not even match up to a fraction of your's." Kaizen's quirk, Iniji knew, is much more useful than his in nearly every way, from combat to utility, perhaps he would only outpace the other in assassination. That was his and his quirk's fate, to be outclassed in everything other than drawing blood.
"Hmm that's an oddly specific limitation." Kaizen's eyes narrowed at Iniiji specification. Perhaps he has seen his share of violence. "You give me too much credit. I'd probably be the labourer while you'll be the guy who does all the planning." He made note of Iniji's advance knowledge of physics. "Well, you can always try cutting fruits. I'm sure people would appreciate clean cuts." His attention turned towards his garden. "Hell you could probably do some gardening as well." He added, finding more amusing ways his quirk could be used.
"I would love to." Iniji looked up again and at the horizon, the distant shape of the skyline was blurred a bit in his eyes. He blinked and squinted, then rubbed his eyes, before pulling out a pair of eyeglasses from his pocket. "Though I would hesitate to use my quirk in such callous ways, not out of pride or the likes." Iniji didn't even know why he was explaining that, it was because he was looking for excuses for himself. Regardless, his mind was set, and nothing can stir him from his path.
Slowly unfolding the eyeglasses, the boy set them onto his face. The formerly slightly blurred horizon became crisp and clear again. It wasn't severe, it was normal nearsightedness that can be seen on almost any regular glasses wearing person, but it only took a few months to get to this point. "My quirk, when overexerted, pressures my optical nerves." Iniji said while wearing a weary but slightly unsettling smile.
"One day it will blind me."
In a second he paused and looked at Kaizen, realizing what he had just told the other. "Sorry. This has no bearing on you, it must be awfully uninteresting." The smile remained, although in a more apologetic fashion now as Iniji looked onto the sunrise.
Upon hearing about the reason why he wouldn't be able to use his quirk so casually, he couldn't help but sympathize with the boy. "That would explain why you don't use it as often." Yes it all made sense to him now. Apart from its sheer strength, his quirk was also dangerous to himself. In many ways, those two were very alike, as even Kaizen can't use the full extent of his quirk without negative repercussions. "Believe it or not, I can't use the full extent of my quirks as well. I have a form that has unmatched combat prowess, but it is not without it's drawbacks." He explained before going back to the original topic. " That being said, I think that limitation also makes you stronger, making you less reliant on your quirk, allowing you to diversify the tools of your trade.' Kaizen slowly walked towards Iniji, his curiosity getting even stronger. "On the contrary, I find it extremely interesting. In just a matter of minutes, I've learned more about you than the last few months. I wonder what else you have to share?" He felt Iniji was someone who was more than meets the eye, and he just hit the tip of the iceberg
"...Is that so? I have very little to share about myself, my apologies for such disappointment." Iniji stared blankly into space, he didn't know how to cope with these sorts of situations, he wasn't as shaky as the beginning of the school year, but it was not something he was comfortable with regardless. "My quirk only damages me when used excessively. Yet, I do not need to use it excessively to obtain this 'unmatched combat prowess' that you speak so fondly of. In fact, I have little interest in it." His smile faded while talking about it. He didn't know if Kaizen would figure out the most extreme tactics he is able to employ, he is able to easily dispatch almost any villain with those methods: the easiest way out. They were polar opposites in that regard.
"We both use violence. In a way your quirk is always at its strongest for the most part. While I always have to "charge" myself up to reach my full potential. We both have negative repercussions when we overexert our quirks. You'll slowly go blind. And I shorten my lifespan. But not everyone has to know that, am I right?" Kaizen smiled at him, trusting them both to keep each other secrets. "And I have a feeling based on what you told me so far… I am not the only one with a violent past, am I?" he added. In truth, he wasn't really sure, he had scars so those had to come from somewhere, in his quirk of unparalleled strength and flexibility in combat situations.
"I see, you are going through a great deal of thought to relate yourself and I." Iniji said calmly as usual, but his voice was slightly more chilling this time, the polite phrasing and tine remained, yet an air of condemnation could be felt. "I have no interest in violence, in some ways you can say I lack the ability to even properly identify what constitutes as violence. It is merely a means to an end. I can see the ends only." Violent? Could his past even be described as such? Yes the bloodshed and death piled up, but it came about in such a apathetic, unfeeling way that Iniji often failed to even recognize it as violent.
Slowly, Iniji leaned a little towards Kaizen, it was unusual to see him in his human form. Perhaps for the both of them. Although he refrains from indulging in such emotions, Iniji can't help but feel irritated, at the other's tendency to ask such inconvenient questions, and fruitless efforts to close the chasm between them. He reached out a hand with his index finger out, and placed it on the other boy's neck.
"3.8 centimeters," Iniji said, his voice still the same puddle of still water. "The central carotid artery." He pushed into the other's skin a bit, feeling a pulse, Kaizen was still a human after all. "Once cut, it will bleed uncontrollably. Resulting in death after 6 to 15 seconds." Incandescent eyes blinked a few times as Iniji retreated his arm, the chilling frost also melted from multicolored irises.
"I did not consider such a thing 'violent' for the vast majority of my life. It would be a poor choice to discuss such matters with me, Kaizen-san."
Kaizen could feel the chill in the air, a sudden shift in tone. His touch felt incredibly ice cold, the hands of someone that dirtied their hands many times. He stared into his eyes while he talked about his vulnerable artery. He has seen those eyes before… they were the eyes of a killer. There was a brief look of distress in Kaizen's face before it slowly turned into a smile...followed by laughter. He amused...very amused by all of this.
"Hahahaah….HAHAHAHAHA…"Kaizen chuckled turned into a full blown brief but hysterical cackle. "And you dont even deny it...that….I can respect." he smiled, having a newfound appreciation for his friend. "I dont know what type of situation you grew up in, or what led you to such a path. But I am not one to judge…" In many ways, he could have ended up just like him had he not receive the help from the right people. "All I know is this… out in the field, I'll have your back and in return I hope you have mine." he smiled giving him a thumbs up. "And dont worry, I won't let anyone else know about the "interesting bits" of your story." He put a finger on his mouth indicating that he'd keep quiet about it.
There was a certain resonance between people with the capacity to kill, and an even stronger one between those who are true killers. Iniji did not know which category Kaizen falls into, though he hoped it was neither, as the other spoken of a desire to become an ideal hero. An ideal hero had no business to even be remotely on the same wavelength as him.
"Of course, Kaizen-san. I am not a person who is apt at lying, thus, I prefer not to. I have not lied to anyone about what I am lest they make inquiry, even if Naoko-san may desperately want me to do so." The tea had lost most of it's temperature, but Iniji picked the cup up nonetheless. He reacted little to Kaizen's laughter or compliments, those who stare into the abyss should understand that the abyss will stare back. Even in his lack of ability to read the air, Kaizen at least understood that.
"Hmm so Mari is in on this secret as well. I wonder who else has such interesting secrets…" he though about how he didn't really know the background of most of his classmates. "This has certainly been a very fruitful escapade. I guess I might as well tend to the garden while I'm up here." Kaizen's brandishes an insectoid blade as he began cutting down the weed and overgrowing. It seems finding out about Iniji true colors have reinvigorated him. In no time at all, he managed to clean up his entire garden. He even harvested some fruits. "Hey Iniji. Catch!" He threw the boy an orange. "You won't find a fresher harvest!" He boasted.
"I am glad you are receiving these facts well. Many throw out questions only hoping for answers they wish to hear." Iniji was used to being a disappointment, so there was no stress in answering honestly. He caught the orange and held it in his hand, looking at the shape, texture, taking in the existence of this round, citrus-tinged "thing" that existed in his hand. Kaizen was an interesting person, the part about the other's lifespan was certainly interesting. Perhaps other people would have mentioned it, but Iniji didn't, he had no right to lecture others on whether they should or shouldn't throw their lives away for something.
Encircling the fruit with his fingers in the middle, Iniji looked down at the orange and blinked a few times. The fruity sphere didn't change at first, but then broke into half with a cut that went right down the middle. A cut so clean that it seemed surreally unnatural, as if a homegrown fruit just turned into an artificial looking CGI rendered model. "A good clean cut, huh?" Iniji mumbled under his breath glumly.
"Hah! Told you you'd be a good fruit cutter!" Kaizen took note of how clean his cut was, just as he expected. He threw his orange in the air before slicing it apart with his retractable blade. "Hmmm.. zesty." He savored the freshly sliced fruit before turning to Iniji. "What are you reading anyways? You definitely look like the bookworm type." he made note of his relatively reserved personality, someone who only speaks when spoken to.
Looking down at the fruit and fiddled it, taking out a slice and biting into it in a reserved way, Iniji silently showed the book cover to Kaizen as per requested while the citrus favour spread out inside of his mouth. 'Principles of Hydraulic Systems Design' was printed on the cover with a fractal design background.
As a loner himself, Kaizen knew when someone preferred to be left alone but nonetheless was happy about what he had learned about Injinji. "This truly has been a "fruitful" encounter." he joked as moved ever to the edge once more. As the sun finally rose, he took one more look at Iniji before saying goodbye to him. He had something else to attend. "It was nice talking to you Iniji. Who knows, I might see you again up here soon. Until then, farewell." And with that, he backflipped off the edge, seeing it as a much more interesting method of descending.
"...Yes, farewell, Kaizen-san." Iniji whispered under his breath as he watched the other leave, once again flipping open the book. The sun also rose today.
---------------
Kikyo strolled along the street, glancing around in earnest at the variety of games and stalls set up in the city. The festivals were wonderful, a chance to cut loose and have some fun. Not to mention all of the delicious foods! Humming to herself, Kikyo picked up her walking pace a bit more, suddenly stopping when she noticed a certain scent in the air. Grilled squid? How long had it been since she had been able to indulge in that? Too long, frankly. Of course, considering what her diet had been for most of her life, food stapes and simple recipes were quite literally her bread and butter. It was rare she had the opportunity to indulge in more fancy foods, or even just less commonly basic home meals.
The young woman walked up to the stall with a hungry look in her eyes, almost salivating from just the scent. As she stepped up she gave a couple of gentle tugs at her skirt to readjust the fabric so it was more comfortable, her school uniform now back in proper order. It was only about to get more interesting though as she raised her gaze up behind the stall, seeing a familiar face. The young man behind it had a familiar face, even though she had only met him once so far, it was during her last mission. This was perfect! Great eats and if she were lucky she could get to know another one of her classmates a bit.
"Oh wow! Amon?! Hey, I wasn't expecting to run into you here! How are you doing?" Kikyo asked with a broad excited smile, stepping directly up to the stall.
"Alrighty! One rice and parsley stuffed grilled squid, Italiano style, order up." Amon picked up some sauce packets and a pinch of bonito flakes, sprinkling it on the chubby stuffed squid sitting in a thin coated cardboard take out container, handing it to a student in front of the stall. Ever since he got dragged into the school festival at Ketsubutsu in his first year by some nosy people (cough cough), it appeared that his ability to grill and season nearly any street food stall regular recipe had become valued. And that hasn't really changed even at Suppression and after everything that happened.
"Ohya? Kikyo-chan? Welcome welcome." The boy glanced over at a cell phone sitting on a table on the side. "It's almost my break time, but I'll take one more order for you." Seeing it was his own classmate, Amon didn't see a reason why not to work maybe a few minutes overtime, and pointed up at the menu. "Feel free." He added with a smile, and a tone of voice almost completely the opposite of seriousness he exhibited during the mission.
Kikyo was happy to see one of her classmates. The fact that he was working the stall and providing goods and services was great too. The way he was behaving was definitely different from how he was on the mission. She couldn't help but wonder if he had the tendency to act differently from one scene to another. After all, there are a good variety of reasons to be more or less stoic or what not.
"Oh, really? I mean, uhm, I don't have the, uh, m-money. I'm a broke girl. But! But, uhm, I appreciate it nonetheless." Kikyo replied with a slightly nervous giggle, looking over at the boy and admiring the handy work of all the food he'd been making.
"Hmm-" Amon thought about putting whatever Kikyo wanted to order on Agi or Yori's tab for a moment, but eventually decided against it, it's not like he knows her too well, he didn't want to pressure her with any favours of that sort. "I see I see, then does that mean you dropped by just to see me?" He said with a small laugh in a joking manner, though seeing what happened in their previous mission together, it wasn't too big of a stretch that Kikyo would want to speak to him for whatever reason.
"Alright alright, please be patient we're doing a shift change!" With a small clap at the crowding line in front of the stand Amon wiped his hands on a towel nearby and waved to Kikyo. "Wait on the side for a bit, I have to pack up and get changed and stuff." He pointed to a clearing nearby with a flick of his wrist and stepped back, retreating into the backend of the stall tent.
Kikyo laughed nervously, rubbing her arm in a nervous manner as she swayed on the balls of her feet at Amon's question, a faint tint coming to her cheeks as she diverted her gaze. "I mean...yeah...but, it's like...uhm...that mission was intense, you know? I wanted to see how you were holding up after it and...stuff."
The young woman cursed at herself inwardly. Why was she suddenly so damn shy? Well...duh. She was always tripping over her own tongue and saying silly stuff. He didn't mean anything by it, obviously, so, just relax. Kikyo sighed briefly and shook her head, stepping aside as he had requested so he could finish up.
"Oh, yeah, sure, no problem. Hehe...Sorry about that." Kikyo responded with a slight smile, watching him work happily. It was always nice to see people providing something for others, especially with a smile.
Slowly Amon hobbled out of the back of the stall while adjusting his yukata sleeves, Kikyo was sure a caring person, and not just in the normal hero student way. Perhaps he got disillusioned by all the brutalness that their class' missions had the misfortune to face, or perhaps he was always this disillusioned. Anyways, caring about one's teammates was a good trait regardless.
"Right right, I almost forgot about that, haha, most of our missions were crazy, it is how it is." He walked up to Kikyo with arms folded inside of yukata sleeves. "How about you then? You must be holding up fine if you have the attention to spare others, no?" Amon asked with a soft smile, of course he knew that selfless people exist who neglect themselves for others, it was just the question of whether the girl in front of him was that sort of person.
Kikyo nodded at the boy as he approached her, only just now really noting that he was wearing a yukata as opposed to his uniform. Which made sense, really. She wondered if she could pull off more traditional styles of clothes, but, again, pushed her wandering mind back into the correct frame when she noticed he was speaking again.
Yeah, I'm definitely getting the impression that the program is usually pretty rough, hehe. But, me? I'm doing okay, you know? I mean, I have my problems, but, if I'm being completely honest, it's a lot easier for me to just focus on how other people are doing. The less time I spend stuck in my head worrying about my own stuff, the better." Kikyo responded with a polite smile, chuckling a bit at her own mentality of basically just ignoring herself.
"Is that so? Haha, spoken like a hero, that sort of selflessness is a noble trait, hard to come by these days." Wearing his usual gentle smile Amon looked at Kikyo while complementing the sentiment, 'complementing' at least on the surface. The girl was wearing her usual clothes, uniform and all, unlike some others that got dressed up or at least casual for the occasion. "Phew-" Amon took a deep breath, pretending to take in the slightly cooling night air, but was just taking a moment to think about how to deal with the uptight sort.
"Although we all have to take care of ourselves from time to time, just an unfortunate part of being human." He said with a chuckle while walking a bit closer to the girl, his yukata sleeve slightly brushing on the other's shoulder.
Kikyo tilted her head a bit, glancing at Amon as he responded. "You think so? It doesn't feel like a heroic mindset. Sure, I care about other people and I hope they're doing okay, but, sometimes I think it really is just because I don't want to worry about myself. Sometimes I just don't want to think about what i'm dealing with because it's painful. Sometimes because it's...scary."
Kikyo shrugged a bit at his comment about them just being human. She supposed that it was completely normal to be selfish sometimes because everyone had to. Part of the human condition. Maybe that was true. But there were times, in her darkest moments, that she questioned her own humanity. Usually, these moments involved her being alone. Conversations with her reflections. Even if she were still completely human, she must have been at least a bit off her rocker.
"Your yukata is nice, by the way. I don't, uhm, I don't own one. Don't own a lot of clothes in general, if i'm being honest. But that's fine. Besides, these uniforms are pretty neat, right?" She responded with a quiet laugh, looking at him again before returning her gaze in front of her.
"Yep yep, the uniforms are neat, whoever designed it sure has some interesting taste...sort of like the designer of my hero outfit…haha." Amon returned the comment with a similar soft laugh, mirroring the girl's tone and wording, it was a cheap trick to get someone to trust you more during talks, not like he exactly needed to build trust at this point.
"Most of my clothes are pretty old, second handed or whatever, but you know what they say." Amon leaned forward a bit and looked at Kikyo, "good looking people look good in anything." He straightened back up after giving a sly smile to the girl, she sure lacked confidence, it wasn't like one or two phrases would change that. "Looks are a part of heroism nowadays too, don't put too much hope on a mindset or whatever, too many people just go around putting on shows or are raised in a greenhouse of idealism."
"Sometimes heroism is like a disease." The boy's tone of voice got deeper as he finished up the statement, a bit more stoic than before, with a strange sense of powerlessness to it.
Kikyo chuckled a bit at his words, shaking her head. When he leaned in and spoke to her, the blush returned and increased a bit in intensity while she averted her gaze for a moment. He was clearly just messing with her, or, at the least, making a pass at flirtation. She supposed he had a pretty good point. With heroes tending to be attractive and many of them even paraded around in one manner or another because of their appearance just as much as their heroics.
"That's a fair point. I guess I hadn't really thought about it before. Not that I'm, uhm, one of those people. You know?" Kikyo replied with a faint smile, looking ahead again. Then something strange happened when his voice changed. This kind of thing was fairly subtle usually, but tone was something she had always been the type to pick up on.
"A disease huh? I don't think I understand what you mean, Amon. Isn't heroism a good thing?" Kikyo asked with a curious glance, a slight pout forming on her face.
"Well well...selflessness leads to self sacrifice, heroism is the same logic. It's something that requires you to burn so brightly until it one day hollows out your soul, and will eat away at you until it leaves you with absolutely nothing." Amon paused a bit before snapping out of whatever he was thinking about, he berated himself wordlessly about being influenced by the girl's gloominess.
"Umm...I just mean that heroes need to take care of themselves too, or else it's too easy to stray yoru course, and if people learned to take care of themselves better, maybe the world wouldn't even need that many heroes." He followed up the statement with a chuckle to dispel his gloomy metaphors from before, his voice regained that cheeriness from before as if nothing happened. "You seem awfully thoughtful all the time, must be exhausting, haha."
Kkyo's eyes watched Amon as he replied to her question, her eyes narrowing slightly. There was a strange sense of darkness in his words. She couldn't help but feel like she understood what he meant, as though even with her still being as young as she was that she was already burning out. Even if her soul were still intact, how much longer would that remain so? The more she felt like she was changing inside, every sideways glance that her reflections gave her made her worry for the future. But, this wasn't the time for that. This was a festival, damn it. She sighed softly, shaking her head.
"I think I get what you're talking about, Amon. I hope i'm not bothering you." Kikyo replied with a slight shrug.
"I suppose I do get lost in my head a lot. I think you're right though. I'll try and stay more in the present."
"No, not at all." I'm used to being bothered. It was what Amon wanted to say, but he halted himself before he could say it outloud. That would be a bad thing to say in this situation, almost anything would be a bad thing to say in this situation. Crimson eyes rolled around and looked at the stalls nearby, then to the sky and the bustling crowds.
Something that sparked a bit caught his eye, it was one of the stalls run by some of the more handicraft orientation students. Hana kanzashi, various flowery and fan designs lined the racks, with some small signs noting price and its handicraft. His eyes narrowed as he approached the stand while walking with Kikyo, a bit abruptly the boy stopped and turned to the stand, pulling what seemed like a sheet of paper from his yukata sleeve.
[Handicraft Club - Kanzashi Voucher] was written on the sheet, along with a flowy signature: something that someone who didn't pay their tab used to bribe Amon with at his earlier shift. Not every person with long hair was into those accessories, and he was never into hair styling anyways...though Yori might've liked one. Seeing Kikyo around Amon decided to maybe give it to a person who needed it rather than that showy bird who gets professional haircuts for free.
"The white hydrangea one." The stand worker was the student who gave him the voucher, and seems to recognize him as the guy they paid with coupons, thus working much faster fetching the item. Amon looked back and found Kikyo before she caught up with him. He didn't really understand girls, but this sort of stuff is supposed to be universal, and she did mention she didn't have much clothes.
"Yeah, the present." He calmly resumed their previous conversation while fastening the kanzashi on the black part of Kikyo's hair. The white fabric stood out against it. "Go watch some fireworks or something."
Kikyo admittedly struggled a bit to keep up with Amon as she watched him walk ahead. He was fairly tall, at least in comparison to her. Curse her short stature. He had gone to a stall, but, she hadn't really seen what he was getting. At least until he turned back to her and situated the flower into her hair. Her eyes looked at his, wide with surprise. It took some effort, but, she managed to maintain a decent degree of composure. It was a very nice gesture, especially considering they basically just met. What's more, he definitely didn't seem like the type to really get into this whole kind of thing.
"Uhm...thank you, Amon. It's lovely." Kikyo responded with a smile, looking at him briefly before averting her gaze as she pondered on what he said.
"Fireworks huh? Yeah, that would be great...uhm, it was great talking with you, Amon. Thanks again for the gift. I hope the rest of your night goes well." Kikyo offered a polite bow before moving off, seeking to find something else to do so she could enjoy the festival and remain in the present. Her fingertips played with the material in her hair, almost entranced by the gift.
"Phew-" Amon took a deep breath as he watched the girl walk away. "That was harder than expected…"
The young woman walked up to the stall with a hungry look in her eyes, almost salivating from just the scent. As she stepped up she gave a couple of gentle tugs at her skirt to readjust the fabric so it was more comfortable, her school uniform now back in proper order. It was only about to get more interesting though as she raised her gaze up behind the stall, seeing a familiar face. The young man behind it had a familiar face, even though she had only met him once so far, it was during her last mission. This was perfect! Great eats and if she were lucky she could get to know another one of her classmates a bit.
"Oh wow! Amon?! Hey, I wasn't expecting to run into you here! How are you doing?" Kikyo asked with a broad excited smile, stepping directly up to the stall.
"Alrighty! One rice and parsley stuffed grilled squid, Italiano style, order up." Amon picked up some sauce packets and a pinch of bonito flakes, sprinkling it on the chubby stuffed squid sitting in a thin coated cardboard take out container, handing it to a student in front of the stall. Ever since he got dragged into the school festival at Ketsubutsu in his first year by some nosy people (cough cough), it appeared that his ability to grill and season nearly any street food stall regular recipe had become valued. And that hasn't really changed even at Suppression and after everything that happened.
"Ohya? Kikyo-chan? Welcome welcome." The boy glanced over at a cell phone sitting on a table on the side. "It's almost my break time, but I'll take one more order for you." Seeing it was his own classmate, Amon didn't see a reason why not to work maybe a few minutes overtime, and pointed up at the menu. "Feel free." He added with a smile, and a tone of voice almost completely the opposite of seriousness he exhibited during the mission.
Kikyo was happy to see one of her classmates. The fact that he was working the stall and providing goods and services was great too. The way he was behaving was definitely different from how he was on the mission. She couldn't help but wonder if he had the tendency to act differently from one scene to another. After all, there are a good variety of reasons to be more or less stoic or what not.
"Oh, really? I mean, uhm, I don't have the, uh, m-money. I'm a broke girl. But! But, uhm, I appreciate it nonetheless." Kikyo replied with a slightly nervous giggle, looking over at the boy and admiring the handy work of all the food he'd been making.
"Hmm-" Amon thought about putting whatever Kikyo wanted to order on Agi or Yori's tab for a moment, but eventually decided against it, it's not like he knows her too well, he didn't want to pressure her with any favours of that sort. "I see I see, then does that mean you dropped by just to see me?" He said with a small laugh in a joking manner, though seeing what happened in their previous mission together, it wasn't too big of a stretch that Kikyo would want to speak to him for whatever reason.
"Alright alright, please be patient we're doing a shift change!" With a small clap at the crowding line in front of the stand Amon wiped his hands on a towel nearby and waved to Kikyo. "Wait on the side for a bit, I have to pack up and get changed and stuff." He pointed to a clearing nearby with a flick of his wrist and stepped back, retreating into the backend of the stall tent.
Kikyo laughed nervously, rubbing her arm in a nervous manner as she swayed on the balls of her feet at Amon's question, a faint tint coming to her cheeks as she diverted her gaze. "I mean...yeah...but, it's like...uhm...that mission was intense, you know? I wanted to see how you were holding up after it and...stuff."
The young woman cursed at herself inwardly. Why was she suddenly so damn shy? Well...duh. She was always tripping over her own tongue and saying silly stuff. He didn't mean anything by it, obviously, so, just relax. Kikyo sighed briefly and shook her head, stepping aside as he had requested so he could finish up.
"Oh, yeah, sure, no problem. Hehe...Sorry about that." Kikyo responded with a slight smile, watching him work happily. It was always nice to see people providing something for others, especially with a smile.
Slowly Amon hobbled out of the back of the stall while adjusting his yukata sleeves, Kikyo was sure a caring person, and not just in the normal hero student way. Perhaps he got disillusioned by all the brutalness that their class' missions had the misfortune to face, or perhaps he was always this disillusioned. Anyways, caring about one's teammates was a good trait regardless.
"Right right, I almost forgot about that, haha, most of our missions were crazy, it is how it is." He walked up to Kikyo with arms folded inside of yukata sleeves. "How about you then? You must be holding up fine if you have the attention to spare others, no?" Amon asked with a soft smile, of course he knew that selfless people exist who neglect themselves for others, it was just the question of whether the girl in front of him was that sort of person.
Kikyo nodded at the boy as he approached her, only just now really noting that he was wearing a yukata as opposed to his uniform. Which made sense, really. She wondered if she could pull off more traditional styles of clothes, but, again, pushed her wandering mind back into the correct frame when she noticed he was speaking again.
Yeah, I'm definitely getting the impression that the program is usually pretty rough, hehe. But, me? I'm doing okay, you know? I mean, I have my problems, but, if I'm being completely honest, it's a lot easier for me to just focus on how other people are doing. The less time I spend stuck in my head worrying about my own stuff, the better." Kikyo responded with a polite smile, chuckling a bit at her own mentality of basically just ignoring herself.
"Is that so? Haha, spoken like a hero, that sort of selflessness is a noble trait, hard to come by these days." Wearing his usual gentle smile Amon looked at Kikyo while complementing the sentiment, 'complementing' at least on the surface. The girl was wearing her usual clothes, uniform and all, unlike some others that got dressed up or at least casual for the occasion. "Phew-" Amon took a deep breath, pretending to take in the slightly cooling night air, but was just taking a moment to think about how to deal with the uptight sort.
"Although we all have to take care of ourselves from time to time, just an unfortunate part of being human." He said with a chuckle while walking a bit closer to the girl, his yukata sleeve slightly brushing on the other's shoulder.
Kikyo tilted her head a bit, glancing at Amon as he responded. "You think so? It doesn't feel like a heroic mindset. Sure, I care about other people and I hope they're doing okay, but, sometimes I think it really is just because I don't want to worry about myself. Sometimes I just don't want to think about what i'm dealing with because it's painful. Sometimes because it's...scary."
Kikyo shrugged a bit at his comment about them just being human. She supposed that it was completely normal to be selfish sometimes because everyone had to. Part of the human condition. Maybe that was true. But there were times, in her darkest moments, that she questioned her own humanity. Usually, these moments involved her being alone. Conversations with her reflections. Even if she were still completely human, she must have been at least a bit off her rocker.
"Your yukata is nice, by the way. I don't, uhm, I don't own one. Don't own a lot of clothes in general, if i'm being honest. But that's fine. Besides, these uniforms are pretty neat, right?" She responded with a quiet laugh, looking at him again before returning her gaze in front of her.
"Yep yep, the uniforms are neat, whoever designed it sure has some interesting taste...sort of like the designer of my hero outfit…haha." Amon returned the comment with a similar soft laugh, mirroring the girl's tone and wording, it was a cheap trick to get someone to trust you more during talks, not like he exactly needed to build trust at this point.
"Most of my clothes are pretty old, second handed or whatever, but you know what they say." Amon leaned forward a bit and looked at Kikyo, "good looking people look good in anything." He straightened back up after giving a sly smile to the girl, she sure lacked confidence, it wasn't like one or two phrases would change that. "Looks are a part of heroism nowadays too, don't put too much hope on a mindset or whatever, too many people just go around putting on shows or are raised in a greenhouse of idealism."
"Sometimes heroism is like a disease." The boy's tone of voice got deeper as he finished up the statement, a bit more stoic than before, with a strange sense of powerlessness to it.
Kikyo chuckled a bit at his words, shaking her head. When he leaned in and spoke to her, the blush returned and increased a bit in intensity while she averted her gaze for a moment. He was clearly just messing with her, or, at the least, making a pass at flirtation. She supposed he had a pretty good point. With heroes tending to be attractive and many of them even paraded around in one manner or another because of their appearance just as much as their heroics.
"That's a fair point. I guess I hadn't really thought about it before. Not that I'm, uhm, one of those people. You know?" Kikyo replied with a faint smile, looking ahead again. Then something strange happened when his voice changed. This kind of thing was fairly subtle usually, but tone was something she had always been the type to pick up on.
"A disease huh? I don't think I understand what you mean, Amon. Isn't heroism a good thing?" Kikyo asked with a curious glance, a slight pout forming on her face.
"Well well...selflessness leads to self sacrifice, heroism is the same logic. It's something that requires you to burn so brightly until it one day hollows out your soul, and will eat away at you until it leaves you with absolutely nothing." Amon paused a bit before snapping out of whatever he was thinking about, he berated himself wordlessly about being influenced by the girl's gloominess.
"Umm...I just mean that heroes need to take care of themselves too, or else it's too easy to stray yoru course, and if people learned to take care of themselves better, maybe the world wouldn't even need that many heroes." He followed up the statement with a chuckle to dispel his gloomy metaphors from before, his voice regained that cheeriness from before as if nothing happened. "You seem awfully thoughtful all the time, must be exhausting, haha."
Kkyo's eyes watched Amon as he replied to her question, her eyes narrowing slightly. There was a strange sense of darkness in his words. She couldn't help but feel like she understood what he meant, as though even with her still being as young as she was that she was already burning out. Even if her soul were still intact, how much longer would that remain so? The more she felt like she was changing inside, every sideways glance that her reflections gave her made her worry for the future. But, this wasn't the time for that. This was a festival, damn it. She sighed softly, shaking her head.
"I think I get what you're talking about, Amon. I hope i'm not bothering you." Kikyo replied with a slight shrug.
"I suppose I do get lost in my head a lot. I think you're right though. I'll try and stay more in the present."
"No, not at all." I'm used to being bothered. It was what Amon wanted to say, but he halted himself before he could say it outloud. That would be a bad thing to say in this situation, almost anything would be a bad thing to say in this situation. Crimson eyes rolled around and looked at the stalls nearby, then to the sky and the bustling crowds.
Something that sparked a bit caught his eye, it was one of the stalls run by some of the more handicraft orientation students. Hana kanzashi, various flowery and fan designs lined the racks, with some small signs noting price and its handicraft. His eyes narrowed as he approached the stand while walking with Kikyo, a bit abruptly the boy stopped and turned to the stand, pulling what seemed like a sheet of paper from his yukata sleeve.
[Handicraft Club - Kanzashi Voucher] was written on the sheet, along with a flowy signature: something that someone who didn't pay their tab used to bribe Amon with at his earlier shift. Not every person with long hair was into those accessories, and he was never into hair styling anyways...though Yori might've liked one. Seeing Kikyo around Amon decided to maybe give it to a person who needed it rather than that showy bird who gets professional haircuts for free.
"The white hydrangea one." The stand worker was the student who gave him the voucher, and seems to recognize him as the guy they paid with coupons, thus working much faster fetching the item. Amon looked back and found Kikyo before she caught up with him. He didn't really understand girls, but this sort of stuff is supposed to be universal, and she did mention she didn't have much clothes.
"Yeah, the present." He calmly resumed their previous conversation while fastening the kanzashi on the black part of Kikyo's hair. The white fabric stood out against it. "Go watch some fireworks or something."
Kikyo admittedly struggled a bit to keep up with Amon as she watched him walk ahead. He was fairly tall, at least in comparison to her. Curse her short stature. He had gone to a stall, but, she hadn't really seen what he was getting. At least until he turned back to her and situated the flower into her hair. Her eyes looked at his, wide with surprise. It took some effort, but, she managed to maintain a decent degree of composure. It was a very nice gesture, especially considering they basically just met. What's more, he definitely didn't seem like the type to really get into this whole kind of thing.
"Uhm...thank you, Amon. It's lovely." Kikyo responded with a smile, looking at him briefly before averting her gaze as she pondered on what he said.
"Fireworks huh? Yeah, that would be great...uhm, it was great talking with you, Amon. Thanks again for the gift. I hope the rest of your night goes well." Kikyo offered a polite bow before moving off, seeking to find something else to do so she could enjoy the festival and remain in the present. Her fingertips played with the material in her hair, almost entranced by the gift.
"Phew-" Amon took a deep breath as he watched the girl walk away. "That was harder than expected…"
Taking time off from another performance, Isa holds a bottle of water into the air and pours it down into her mouth and a little over her face. Still early into the night she was taking a break for another act to go up and was thinking of what songs to do next, she had a few in mind, but for now it was a time for something much more important.
A break! An actual break, that was, she wanted to get some snacks or visit a few booths, she had been doing so on and off throughout the night and there was still time to go! In her modified Yukata and with her piercings and messy hair, she stuck out a bit, but even with her more as of late usual cleaned up appearance she would have stuck out.
"Hm...I wonder where they all went…" Amon walked along the stalls while nibbling on a light soy sauce grilled squid on a stick, he wondered where all his friends would be around while he was being dragged to man a grill himself. Now finally on break he managed to find the time to change into a much more traditional and long yukata and wander around the festival grounds.
Looking around Amon was searching for anyone familiar, or maybe just something else to snack on, though his wallet felt a little empty just by looking at the various signs and lights that littered the path. "Oh, Isa-san?" There indeed was someone familiar, as red eyes caught a glimpse of one of the girls in his class. They weren't exactly that close, but at least it was a decent classmate relation. "I heard you were performing, haha, sorry I couldn't come around, ikayaki stand." He waved around the skewered squid a bit explaining. "Say, you've seen Agi-kun or any others around?"
"Huh?" Turning her head to see who it was; "Oh Amon!"
Listening to his question she shrugs off his mention of coming over. "Nah, you're busy and so was I, I'm just happy to have a few breaks like you do right now to look around. But yeah, I did see him off around the central plaza or whatever you wanna call it, waiting on Mari it seemed. Surprise'n huh?" She says of that then thinks about the others. "And yeah, I've ran into a few of the guys of the class off and on, haven't seen any of the girls yet though. A few of them are doing things for the Festival too, and ikayaki eh? That might be nice for a snack but don't wanna drag you right back to where you've been held down at." Isa says in a rather lengthy reply.
"Anyone of note yah trying to pin down?"
"Nah, not really." Plucking off the last bit of squid off the skewer Amon tossed the bamboo stick into a trash bag nearby, and huddled his arms into the sleeves of his yukata. "You know, it's a festival and stuff, the point is to do whatever you run into, whatever catches your eye, stuff like that, right?" He shrugged while saying it with a soft smile, "I just been snacking, and besides, I'm sure I'll run into those guys eventually."
Tilting his head and thinking about Agi's recent reactions and plans, Amon decided maybe it wasn't the best time. As airheaded as he can be about that sort of stuff, he understands that even friends don't appreciate third wheeling. "I see I see. Perhaps it's best not to bother them then, Agi-kun sure have nerve though, the pres seems hard to impress."
"Eh, doesn't concern me what they do really. Get the feel'n Agi boy comes from one of the big.. Well no I know he comes from one of the bigger or err, important families. Doesn't matter to me none."
Listening to his explanation she nods. "Yeah gotta enjoy it, I get the feeling we will be busy a lot here soon. As to snacking, not a bad idea are worse ways to spend the time. Might tag along with you if that is what you are plan'n, least till it's time to head back up. Well if you don't mind me tagging alone. Not like it would stop me if you did. Keheheh!"
"Hmm...you're not wrong about that." Amon blankly looked around lost in thought for a moment, "Agi-kun is from, well, it's basically a generational hero family, it's not aristocracy but I suppose it's something, better than my situation at least." What Isa said was unnerving, the part about them being busy was ominous if she was right. In this line of work business often meant bad news.
"No rest for the righteous, except for today I guess." With a yawn Amon nodded as a gesture of confirming the validity of Isa's attempt to follow him, it's not like he knew what he wanted to plan anyways. "So...Okonomiyaki? Or maybe crepes? Are you the sweet or savoury type?" He asked, naturally referring to food taste. Not like it could be interpreted as anything else in this context.
"Huh, well sweet or savoury is good. Just not sour." Isa says in response. Thinking back to the family situation she laughs a little at that.
"Can't be no stranger than the rest. Plus I still like to think we all have some means to move away from that with how we'll be.. Hmm.. what about seeing if there is any senbei or maybe there is some an-donatsu around the place, have a bit of sweet and savory, I wouldn't hold my breath on a chinese sweet and sour chicken stall.. Though I'll need to ask someone to do that next time… Though I dunno why it's sweet and sour, it never tasted sour to me, or I just haven't added somethin.."
"Oh, Tso chicken and the likes? The original is actually made with much more vinegar, but the more widely used recipes were made in Taiwan and America, so the sweetness became more dominant. There's also a lot of variants of sweet vinegar..." After Isa asked the question Amon decided to go on a tangent on the various types of vinegar used in the orientals to explain it, he picked it up from seeing the sheer amount of seasonings that lined the shelves at the big supermarkets.
"Ah, did I go off again, haha." Noticing his self indulging mutterings Amon chuckled and looked around. "I remember there's a place that is selling super sized shoyu senbei, though I prefer nori myself."
Following along, Isa sorta tunes out most of his lengthy tirade about the types of vinegar and how the ones she likely had here were made by Americans or Taiwan. Partially following along she gives some automatic replies and nods of her head till they read the end of it all. Though it seemed he had gotten some of what he wanted from a supermarket, maybe he had something planned for it?
"Ah, yeah the bigger stores have a lot more stuff. And uh, nori would be fine, but I dunno if they have that here, well by itself you know, maybe they have Onigiri or some veggie and tuna rolls, yah know some cheap convenience store sushi.. We could make that the goal of this visit, to find nori or anything that makes use of it." She offers.
"Mhm mhm, but the charisma of night festivals is in the freshly prepared food isn't it?" Amon himself wasn't a huge fan of convenience store food, it was cheap but not that much cheaper than ingredients, and he didn't like the dry chucky texture of the rice. "Takoyaki! Yakisoba! Oden! Warm food that cuddles your spirit in the night wind." He did a few slightly unusual arm motions as he listed the wonders of night festival food choices.
As they spoke the senbei stand drew close, Amon hopped up to the place and surveyed the options. "One super sized nori wrapped senbei please." He pointed at the large sized biscuits hanging in the back of the stand for display before looking over to Isa. "Have anything you prefer?"
Following alongside Amon, Isa hears the hawking of various wares and in short order they had found what they were looking for. "Damn, I was hoping for a little bit of an adventure there. Ah well, all's well that ends well, ain't that the saying?"
Getting a more normal sized senbei, Isa nods at what he asked. "Same as you, though not too crazy on the nori. I suppose an event like this is a great one for you ehh? I'm sorta enjoying it when I get moments like this to look around. Though having limited time to do it isn't new. I spent a lot of time helping out with the temple stuff to be able to just run around."
Nibbling on the senbei Amon's ears perked up when hearing about a temple, he found it interesting that someone with a rowdy personality like Isa helps around with a temple of all things. "Well well, I'm always pretty stripped for cash, so making choices is always the hardest part. I'd even call it pure suffering." He said with a chuckle and a sigh.
"You work at...a temple? What sort? I always went to the honden of this shrine when I was younger, my family did that kind of stuff…" Looking a bit lost in thought Amon tried to remember what he did at the main family house, it all felt pretty faded to him due to its blandness compared to later years of his life.
"Eh?" Listening to what Amon had to say, he couldn't have not known, could he? "Yeah, those robes I wear time to time, my Family runs a Shinto Temple out in the West. Rural area, Gramps is technically the head of it but we all for the most part help out at it and at the other villages, traveling services and the like, but anyways in the biggest thing that counts for a town we tend to host the local festivals, that was where I learned to play the drums, but I can't slam out with those like I can here unless we are playing O-daiko or something with the group, my other siblings mostly, that's pretty fun and hard work. And really, your family did huh? But yeah our temple houses the spirits of mountain and river gods plus some Tengu or so I've been told, some of the older people never liked when I went around in a Kishin mask, what with the horns I got and my forms, still was funny to me. If the Gods don't know how to laugh, not my problem."
"Ah right, now that you've mentioned it." Recalling the few times he brushed shoulders with Isa, Amon did remember her religious attire from time to time; it was evident enough that she came from a family with traditional practice. "Is that so? Haha, my family never liked me period." With a laugh Amon flinged his tail to the front and pointed at his own horns with it. "Seeing these always made the elders go crazy, me being part foreigner and all, too bad it was also what made my quirk the strongest, some people just need to be more open minded." Looking up at the darkening evening sky the boy continued. "I don't feel like a foreigner though, even if they kept calling me one, I even learned how to do this."
Pointing his tail tip upwards Amon generated a slightly curved red blade: an odachi blade to the learned eye. "Although those oldies were always still annoyed I can't do it from my hands like the rest of them."
"Huh, didn't know that about you. And don't let em get to you, though hell with making that you should have joined the Kaizen and Vigridis show. I'm gonna watch that but I'm still expecting it to go poorly somehow. Maybe I'll be wrong, rather hope I am."
Stretching a bit Isa yawns. "Though I wish I knew that we could have done a special side show to make the kitty happy."
The red blade dissipated into a few white sparks that floated up into the night sky and vanished. "Kaizen-san and Viggie-san huh? Indeed, they sound like a handful to coordinate with, but they're capable."
"I was never really interested in making weapons with my quirk, I got good at it because I wanted to make my family happy, but when I realized they'll never be satisfied I just decided to do that makes me happy." Amon smiled, then twirling conjured a fully constructed, detailedly modeled folding chair with that signature red glow. He sat down on the construct he made, though it was even less restful than just standing around. "Kitty? You mean the pres? She has this sort of interest?"
"Handful to coordinate? More like I don't trust them to not blow up the fucking stage. It's a hell of a thing sparing against them, do it one day when you have a lot of food." Isa says in response before rolling her eyes a little at the later question. "Well what sort of Politician have you known that doesn't want some wholesome event like that put on? Though the Kitty, or President isn't so bad.. I gotta admit that."
"Ah...politicians are a bunch of showy bastards, I knew enough of them in my life. I don't mind the traditional sort of stuff, but showy nationalism isn't my thing. I don't know if that's suppose to be wholesome or whatever." Amon got up with a shrug and dissipated the constructed chair, the extraordinary sized senbei was now conspicuously gone.
"What were Kaizen-san and Viggie-san performing anyway? I didn't know those battle nuts were into improv."
"No idea but they said a light show and they needed people he trusted to not get hurt. So my money is on them doing an old fashioned play but for real." Isa says in response to the later bit. "Eh I dunno about the nationalism, but both of my parents are ANVIL, so we get a lot of that at home, I just don't like how dishonest a lot of them are, can't trust em to be straight with yah."
"Ah, I see I see. Your family probably treated you much kinder than mine, but that stuff is awfully dull for me anyways." Amon ruffled his yukata sleeve and laughed a bit, "Politicians have dishonesty written on their job description, that's sort of the point. Though a light show? Stage play? Wasn't it them that left the crater in the field a few months ago?" With Isa's description, the whole ordeal with the show from Kaizen and Vigridis felt more concerning by the second.
"Eh, I would say I love my family yeah, but I doubt your family put you through a wall or made you drag a tractor disk through a field by hand. I mean I don't blame them but you know it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. I am the daughter of the Guard Dog of ANVIL and that carried over to home a lot.. Still doing all this has me seeing ma a bit differently.. And uh."
Pausing to think on this, Isa grins a bit at the crater remark. "Yeah they did and we caused some damage when I fought both, why I kinda worry with it. Might not be any stage left for a closing show."
"I suppose we all have our own problems, seems common enough in this class at least. I was actually supposed to go to UA, family got me a recommendation and all, but I jumped to boat to Ketsu." Speaking of problems, it was currently unknown (though probably obvious enough for anyone in their class) whether or not that light show would become a problem.
"Good grief, I just hope our class don't get saddled with the responsibility for any gratuitous property damage...this isn't training…"
"Well yeah, though we got a few stars as well, like bird boy. And eh, wouldn't be the first time we got saddled with that. Just consider it a group effort to fix it all up… The group being Kaizen and Vigs, the rest of us can stand around for Moral support. Kaheheh!"
"Khuhu, that sounds like something I could get behind." Amon's tail crawled in front again and generated a shape that looked remarkably like a cheer glow stick used at concerts. He had a sneaking suspicion that Isa's 'moral support' is more along the lines of 'watch and laugh', but who is he to critique that line of thought? "...Should we go...check it out at least? Maybe we'll even have to do some impromptu hero work, heh!"
"Oh I already promised to go, though I think it's about time for me to head back to the stage, you had anything else to talk about Amon?" Isa says after she checks her phone, not that she was bored of him at least. "But yeah I dunno if I'll be out where you guys are or behind the stage when it happens."
"I was just wandering around anyways, guess I'll see if I can catch the show, sounds like something wild might go down." Amon gave Isa a little wave, it's not like he had a lot of plans this night. Barring something extremely unexpected and distracting circumstance happening to him later it sounded like a good pastime to see whatever those blood-thirsty peers he had been planning. "Catch you around then?"
"Sure!" She says with a shout and polite laugh before hurrying off on her own. "See yah Amon! Well, unless I'm backstage!"
A break! An actual break, that was, she wanted to get some snacks or visit a few booths, she had been doing so on and off throughout the night and there was still time to go! In her modified Yukata and with her piercings and messy hair, she stuck out a bit, but even with her more as of late usual cleaned up appearance she would have stuck out.
"Hm...I wonder where they all went…" Amon walked along the stalls while nibbling on a light soy sauce grilled squid on a stick, he wondered where all his friends would be around while he was being dragged to man a grill himself. Now finally on break he managed to find the time to change into a much more traditional and long yukata and wander around the festival grounds.
Looking around Amon was searching for anyone familiar, or maybe just something else to snack on, though his wallet felt a little empty just by looking at the various signs and lights that littered the path. "Oh, Isa-san?" There indeed was someone familiar, as red eyes caught a glimpse of one of the girls in his class. They weren't exactly that close, but at least it was a decent classmate relation. "I heard you were performing, haha, sorry I couldn't come around, ikayaki stand." He waved around the skewered squid a bit explaining. "Say, you've seen Agi-kun or any others around?"
"Huh?" Turning her head to see who it was; "Oh Amon!"
Listening to his question she shrugs off his mention of coming over. "Nah, you're busy and so was I, I'm just happy to have a few breaks like you do right now to look around. But yeah, I did see him off around the central plaza or whatever you wanna call it, waiting on Mari it seemed. Surprise'n huh?" She says of that then thinks about the others. "And yeah, I've ran into a few of the guys of the class off and on, haven't seen any of the girls yet though. A few of them are doing things for the Festival too, and ikayaki eh? That might be nice for a snack but don't wanna drag you right back to where you've been held down at." Isa says in a rather lengthy reply.
"Anyone of note yah trying to pin down?"
"Nah, not really." Plucking off the last bit of squid off the skewer Amon tossed the bamboo stick into a trash bag nearby, and huddled his arms into the sleeves of his yukata. "You know, it's a festival and stuff, the point is to do whatever you run into, whatever catches your eye, stuff like that, right?" He shrugged while saying it with a soft smile, "I just been snacking, and besides, I'm sure I'll run into those guys eventually."
Tilting his head and thinking about Agi's recent reactions and plans, Amon decided maybe it wasn't the best time. As airheaded as he can be about that sort of stuff, he understands that even friends don't appreciate third wheeling. "I see I see. Perhaps it's best not to bother them then, Agi-kun sure have nerve though, the pres seems hard to impress."
"Eh, doesn't concern me what they do really. Get the feel'n Agi boy comes from one of the big.. Well no I know he comes from one of the bigger or err, important families. Doesn't matter to me none."
Listening to his explanation she nods. "Yeah gotta enjoy it, I get the feeling we will be busy a lot here soon. As to snacking, not a bad idea are worse ways to spend the time. Might tag along with you if that is what you are plan'n, least till it's time to head back up. Well if you don't mind me tagging alone. Not like it would stop me if you did. Keheheh!"
"Hmm...you're not wrong about that." Amon blankly looked around lost in thought for a moment, "Agi-kun is from, well, it's basically a generational hero family, it's not aristocracy but I suppose it's something, better than my situation at least." What Isa said was unnerving, the part about them being busy was ominous if she was right. In this line of work business often meant bad news.
"No rest for the righteous, except for today I guess." With a yawn Amon nodded as a gesture of confirming the validity of Isa's attempt to follow him, it's not like he knew what he wanted to plan anyways. "So...Okonomiyaki? Or maybe crepes? Are you the sweet or savoury type?" He asked, naturally referring to food taste. Not like it could be interpreted as anything else in this context.
"Huh, well sweet or savoury is good. Just not sour." Isa says in response. Thinking back to the family situation she laughs a little at that.
"Can't be no stranger than the rest. Plus I still like to think we all have some means to move away from that with how we'll be.. Hmm.. what about seeing if there is any senbei or maybe there is some an-donatsu around the place, have a bit of sweet and savory, I wouldn't hold my breath on a chinese sweet and sour chicken stall.. Though I'll need to ask someone to do that next time… Though I dunno why it's sweet and sour, it never tasted sour to me, or I just haven't added somethin.."
"Oh, Tso chicken and the likes? The original is actually made with much more vinegar, but the more widely used recipes were made in Taiwan and America, so the sweetness became more dominant. There's also a lot of variants of sweet vinegar..." After Isa asked the question Amon decided to go on a tangent on the various types of vinegar used in the orientals to explain it, he picked it up from seeing the sheer amount of seasonings that lined the shelves at the big supermarkets.
"Ah, did I go off again, haha." Noticing his self indulging mutterings Amon chuckled and looked around. "I remember there's a place that is selling super sized shoyu senbei, though I prefer nori myself."
Following along, Isa sorta tunes out most of his lengthy tirade about the types of vinegar and how the ones she likely had here were made by Americans or Taiwan. Partially following along she gives some automatic replies and nods of her head till they read the end of it all. Though it seemed he had gotten some of what he wanted from a supermarket, maybe he had something planned for it?
"Ah, yeah the bigger stores have a lot more stuff. And uh, nori would be fine, but I dunno if they have that here, well by itself you know, maybe they have Onigiri or some veggie and tuna rolls, yah know some cheap convenience store sushi.. We could make that the goal of this visit, to find nori or anything that makes use of it." She offers.
"Mhm mhm, but the charisma of night festivals is in the freshly prepared food isn't it?" Amon himself wasn't a huge fan of convenience store food, it was cheap but not that much cheaper than ingredients, and he didn't like the dry chucky texture of the rice. "Takoyaki! Yakisoba! Oden! Warm food that cuddles your spirit in the night wind." He did a few slightly unusual arm motions as he listed the wonders of night festival food choices.
As they spoke the senbei stand drew close, Amon hopped up to the place and surveyed the options. "One super sized nori wrapped senbei please." He pointed at the large sized biscuits hanging in the back of the stand for display before looking over to Isa. "Have anything you prefer?"
Following alongside Amon, Isa hears the hawking of various wares and in short order they had found what they were looking for. "Damn, I was hoping for a little bit of an adventure there. Ah well, all's well that ends well, ain't that the saying?"
Getting a more normal sized senbei, Isa nods at what he asked. "Same as you, though not too crazy on the nori. I suppose an event like this is a great one for you ehh? I'm sorta enjoying it when I get moments like this to look around. Though having limited time to do it isn't new. I spent a lot of time helping out with the temple stuff to be able to just run around."
Nibbling on the senbei Amon's ears perked up when hearing about a temple, he found it interesting that someone with a rowdy personality like Isa helps around with a temple of all things. "Well well, I'm always pretty stripped for cash, so making choices is always the hardest part. I'd even call it pure suffering." He said with a chuckle and a sigh.
"You work at...a temple? What sort? I always went to the honden of this shrine when I was younger, my family did that kind of stuff…" Looking a bit lost in thought Amon tried to remember what he did at the main family house, it all felt pretty faded to him due to its blandness compared to later years of his life.
"Eh?" Listening to what Amon had to say, he couldn't have not known, could he? "Yeah, those robes I wear time to time, my Family runs a Shinto Temple out in the West. Rural area, Gramps is technically the head of it but we all for the most part help out at it and at the other villages, traveling services and the like, but anyways in the biggest thing that counts for a town we tend to host the local festivals, that was where I learned to play the drums, but I can't slam out with those like I can here unless we are playing O-daiko or something with the group, my other siblings mostly, that's pretty fun and hard work. And really, your family did huh? But yeah our temple houses the spirits of mountain and river gods plus some Tengu or so I've been told, some of the older people never liked when I went around in a Kishin mask, what with the horns I got and my forms, still was funny to me. If the Gods don't know how to laugh, not my problem."
"Ah right, now that you've mentioned it." Recalling the few times he brushed shoulders with Isa, Amon did remember her religious attire from time to time; it was evident enough that she came from a family with traditional practice. "Is that so? Haha, my family never liked me period." With a laugh Amon flinged his tail to the front and pointed at his own horns with it. "Seeing these always made the elders go crazy, me being part foreigner and all, too bad it was also what made my quirk the strongest, some people just need to be more open minded." Looking up at the darkening evening sky the boy continued. "I don't feel like a foreigner though, even if they kept calling me one, I even learned how to do this."
Pointing his tail tip upwards Amon generated a slightly curved red blade: an odachi blade to the learned eye. "Although those oldies were always still annoyed I can't do it from my hands like the rest of them."
"Huh, didn't know that about you. And don't let em get to you, though hell with making that you should have joined the Kaizen and Vigridis show. I'm gonna watch that but I'm still expecting it to go poorly somehow. Maybe I'll be wrong, rather hope I am."
Stretching a bit Isa yawns. "Though I wish I knew that we could have done a special side show to make the kitty happy."
The red blade dissipated into a few white sparks that floated up into the night sky and vanished. "Kaizen-san and Viggie-san huh? Indeed, they sound like a handful to coordinate with, but they're capable."
"I was never really interested in making weapons with my quirk, I got good at it because I wanted to make my family happy, but when I realized they'll never be satisfied I just decided to do that makes me happy." Amon smiled, then twirling conjured a fully constructed, detailedly modeled folding chair with that signature red glow. He sat down on the construct he made, though it was even less restful than just standing around. "Kitty? You mean the pres? She has this sort of interest?"
"Handful to coordinate? More like I don't trust them to not blow up the fucking stage. It's a hell of a thing sparing against them, do it one day when you have a lot of food." Isa says in response before rolling her eyes a little at the later question. "Well what sort of Politician have you known that doesn't want some wholesome event like that put on? Though the Kitty, or President isn't so bad.. I gotta admit that."
"Ah...politicians are a bunch of showy bastards, I knew enough of them in my life. I don't mind the traditional sort of stuff, but showy nationalism isn't my thing. I don't know if that's suppose to be wholesome or whatever." Amon got up with a shrug and dissipated the constructed chair, the extraordinary sized senbei was now conspicuously gone.
"What were Kaizen-san and Viggie-san performing anyway? I didn't know those battle nuts were into improv."
"No idea but they said a light show and they needed people he trusted to not get hurt. So my money is on them doing an old fashioned play but for real." Isa says in response to the later bit. "Eh I dunno about the nationalism, but both of my parents are ANVIL, so we get a lot of that at home, I just don't like how dishonest a lot of them are, can't trust em to be straight with yah."
"Ah, I see I see. Your family probably treated you much kinder than mine, but that stuff is awfully dull for me anyways." Amon ruffled his yukata sleeve and laughed a bit, "Politicians have dishonesty written on their job description, that's sort of the point. Though a light show? Stage play? Wasn't it them that left the crater in the field a few months ago?" With Isa's description, the whole ordeal with the show from Kaizen and Vigridis felt more concerning by the second.
"Eh, I would say I love my family yeah, but I doubt your family put you through a wall or made you drag a tractor disk through a field by hand. I mean I don't blame them but you know it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. I am the daughter of the Guard Dog of ANVIL and that carried over to home a lot.. Still doing all this has me seeing ma a bit differently.. And uh."
Pausing to think on this, Isa grins a bit at the crater remark. "Yeah they did and we caused some damage when I fought both, why I kinda worry with it. Might not be any stage left for a closing show."
"I suppose we all have our own problems, seems common enough in this class at least. I was actually supposed to go to UA, family got me a recommendation and all, but I jumped to boat to Ketsu." Speaking of problems, it was currently unknown (though probably obvious enough for anyone in their class) whether or not that light show would become a problem.
"Good grief, I just hope our class don't get saddled with the responsibility for any gratuitous property damage...this isn't training…"
"Well yeah, though we got a few stars as well, like bird boy. And eh, wouldn't be the first time we got saddled with that. Just consider it a group effort to fix it all up… The group being Kaizen and Vigs, the rest of us can stand around for Moral support. Kaheheh!"
"Khuhu, that sounds like something I could get behind." Amon's tail crawled in front again and generated a shape that looked remarkably like a cheer glow stick used at concerts. He had a sneaking suspicion that Isa's 'moral support' is more along the lines of 'watch and laugh', but who is he to critique that line of thought? "...Should we go...check it out at least? Maybe we'll even have to do some impromptu hero work, heh!"
"Oh I already promised to go, though I think it's about time for me to head back to the stage, you had anything else to talk about Amon?" Isa says after she checks her phone, not that she was bored of him at least. "But yeah I dunno if I'll be out where you guys are or behind the stage when it happens."
"I was just wandering around anyways, guess I'll see if I can catch the show, sounds like something wild might go down." Amon gave Isa a little wave, it's not like he had a lot of plans this night. Barring something extremely unexpected and distracting circumstance happening to him later it sounded like a good pastime to see whatever those blood-thirsty peers he had been planning. "Catch you around then?"
"Sure!" She says with a shout and polite laugh before hurrying off on her own. "See yah Amon! Well, unless I'm backstage!"
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