Toaru Kagaku no Railgun (Role-Play)

Ayane's day started with - as usual - school and classes. Being a role model in Nagatenjouki, or so her peers claims her to be, Ayane has an added pressure in her shoulders to be diligent and focus on her studies. This is why Ayane only flipped out her phone only when the classes were over for the day. Ayane also believes that checking her phone while at lunch break could bring over unnecessary thoughts to her mind, that would take her mind off of classes. She has a special ringtone which was programmed to play out with vibration on her phone only when her grandfather or Judgement would call, otherwise it wouldn't even vibrate.

Since her school understands Ayane's position, they can only give her frowns when her phone rings in class. Ayane would feel rather liberated and leave class. A serious senior who only uses legitimate excuse to ditch class; that's how Ayane is. While walking out of the gates of Nagatenjouki Academy - the school that is supposedly known to the best, she took out her phone from the right pocket of her skirt, and hesitatingly checked for missed calls or emails. Turned out there was a list of mails. Along with a mail from an unfamiliar sender. She looked through the message.

Ayane then reminisced, Oh, right. It's that boy who couldn't control his power? she then figured that maybe he seeks advice. It was a bit depressing to her. Her true feelings fluttered about in her mind. A woman who failed in her own goal, giving advise? What bitter irony is this?

Ayane then drafted her reply to Jun, saying that he should just name the place since she has some time before getting busy again.

(This is a joint post between Montacia and Cinia Pacifica.)

Misaki sighed, class seemed boring. So she retreated to the library instead, where her clique members came along with her. Except that she wasn't reading books, she was lazing around. Her head down to the brown, smooth wooden table, she pouted, "I'm so bored!" she muttered. Other clique members started thinking of various ways of entertaining the queen. But no one could particularly think of anything. Food came to mind, but it wasn't lunch break just yet, and the Queen has a habit of eating too much sometimes...

Just as the thought of lunch break came to mind, the bells rang, specifying that the lunch break had just started. The members sighed. Shokuhou Misaki flew off to the cafeteria, the other members panicked. They *had* to regulate her intake of food, otherwise she'd gain weight.

"Well, you guys are free to go have lunch." The teacher packed up her materials and ended the class, just as the bells rang.

Fuyuko thanked the girl beside her for her textbooks and wondered what she should do. It was lunch break supposedly, but she had no lunch. She quickly glanced sideways at her neighbour, wondering if there'd be any chance of recieving help, however the girl did not return her eye contact and left as soon as she packed up. "What should Fuyu do now?" Fuyuko wondered out loud.

"Fuyu-chan, do you know where the cafeteria is?" A girl in glasses with her hair tied up in plaits seemingly appeared from no where.

Remembering that she had been introduced earlier as the class representative, Fuyuko sighed with relief. "No, Fuyu doesn't know anything about the school. Please show Fuyu the way?"

Feeling a sense of fulfillment from being relied on, the class rep gladly agreed and told Fuyuko to follow her. Fuyuko was led out of the building and into another, where more students were gathering around. Having completed her job, the class rep left after Fuyuko had said her thanks. There were many students in the cafeteria. At first Fuyuko was worried whether she'd be able to grab some food before lunch break ended, since the crowd was so large. However as she utilised her small size and slipped through a wall of people, she saw that there wasn't anyone lining up in front of the lunch lady. Most of the people were crowding around another table. Well, at least that means Fuyu can easily grab some food! Fuyuko grabbed a platter and walked towards the lunch lady.

The one who stood behind Fuyuko was The Queen of Tokiwadai, Shokuhou Misaki, who silently brought her lips close to Fuyuko's ears; "Hey Fuyu-chan, would you like have to lunch with me~?" was the first thing she asked. Although Misaki didn't have particular tastes, she decided that anything would be fine as long as it helps her kill time. Fuyuko also needed to know that she'd be taken to a facility today anyway.

Fuyuko jumped up in fright at the sudden voice close to her ears, almost dropping her platter of food. She turned around to find her room mate, Misaki, standing behind her with a large grin on her face. "Waaah! Shokuhou Onee-san! Suddenly appearing like that is scary!"

"Hmm~! But your reaction is so cute that I can't help it~" Misaki did find it amusing, to the point that she decided that she'd do stuff like this from now on just for her amusement. "So, wanna have lunch with Onee-san?"

"If you don't mind, then sure! Fuyu still hasn't really had the chance to make any new friends yet," Fuyuko pouted, slightly disappointed in herself, "but Fuyu will definitely try harder in the afternoon!" She huffed, trying to show her determination.

Misaki actually assumed that she'd make way too many friends, just because she is cute. But reality seemed to say otherwise, "Mnm... well, if you can't make friends, you still have me! ★" Misaki then patted Fuyuko's head for a moment, then continued, "Otherwise you can just get to know members from my clique and make friends there~! ★" she then got a plate, and seemed to take the same food that Fuyuko got.

"Cleek...?" Fuyuko tried to figure out what the word meant as they looked for a place to sit.

Misaki replied, sitting down on a chair beside a table, "C-l-i-q-u-e, a word that refers to a group, there are quite a few cliques on Tokiwadai, mine is the biggest one~!" Misaki flaunted an air of pride as she announced that to Fuyuko.

"Waah that's amazing! Shokuhou Onee-san is amazing! Fuyu will make lots of friends too and then we can have a huuuuggggeee..." Fuyuko struggled to remember the new word she was just taught. "Uhm..." She shut her eyes hoping that the word would come back to her, "Clique!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Ahaha... it's great to dream big~!" Misaki smiled, but that's all she did. "That said, we're going to a lab today, Fuyu, we'll be taken there by car."

"Eeeh... A lab trip.... I hope there won't be any needles." Disregarding her irrational fears about labs, Fuyuko dug a spoonful of Chawanmushi and chomped it with delight.

Jun didn't receive Ayane's reply until sometime after class. He was a little anxious about a few things. Did he send his message to the correct address? Was she too busy to respond? Did the way he word it perhaps make her get the wrong idea? These aren't questions Jun usually thinks about, but he didn't want to ruin a good opportunity to learn from someone more powerful than himself, and also, potentially make a new friend.

As Jun spoke with his peers at the end of class, his phone vibrated. He separated himself from them for a moment to check for any messages. It was Ayane, asking him to name a location for them to meet. "By a hospital at the border of District 7 and District 18, there's an open field. Is it alright if you could meet me there?" Jun mumbled the words as he typed them, before sending this text.

There was no other reason for choosing this location other than convenience. That hospital is nearly in the center of the high schools and universities. Jun could tell Ayane was older than he is, but didn't know exactly which college she attended. With her power, however, he could assume she was a student at Nagatenjouki Academy. "She definitely deserves to be there," Jun thought.

After sending the text message, Jun packed up his belongings and bid his classmates farewell. One student asked where he was going, to which Jun responded, "I've got a date with college girl!" before walking out of the classroom. It stirred up quite a commotion from the students, which made Jun chuckle. "I didn't think they'd go so crazy over that," he said internally. They could easily be heard from the other side of the door.

Before heading over to the designated location, Jun went to a vending machine to pick up some canned beverages, both to consume and to use for practice later on. He took care to avoid a certain vending machine near Tokiwadai. It had taken money from him on several occasions, without dispensing a drink. It was the only machine that he has had that kind of trouble with, and he hasn't found a way for it to pay what it owes.

School bell rang, Hono stretches his tired arms and legs and said, ”Lunch time~”. Hono rushed to the cafeteria because of his hunger. A melon bread for breakfast wasn't enough for him. Hono tried to walk fast since he didn't want to hear a teacher yelling at him for running on the hall ways.

Uppon ariving at the cafeteria, he quickly took a tray and waited in line. The line was still short since most people are on their way. Hono just didn't want to be late to eat a nice tasty big bowl of ramen. He was still mad since he didn't get to finish the previous bowl at the mall because of a certain event happened there and made the cafeteria's ramen as a substitute for it.

Ohhh, nice tasty ramen Hono thought to him self as he received his premium sized ramen and walked to the nearest table from the counter, in case he wanted more. He took his chopsticks and begins eating slowly, since he wanted to savor the taste Oh my god, so good~

There were two girls chating near his table, he didn't quite know what they're talking about since most of it was about being cute and all, but he did get something about a lab. Hono ignored this since he didn't want to get involved and finished his ramen quickly. He stood up and ordered another premium bowl.

On his second bowl, he ate it fast since it's almost time to return back to class. ”Thanks for the food! He said as he clapped his hand. He stood up and returned to class. That reminds me, I need to practice on the park today.

By the time lunch came around, Li was bored and had a slight scowl on her face. It seemed half her class didn't have much of a drive as they barely stayed awake or hardly paid attention to the class. She couldn't help but make some honest and snide commentary when she was called on by the teacher by adding in a matter-of-fact tone after answering the question, "And, of course, this material is fairly simple as long as people actually pay attention."

That got an awkward pause in the class as some students scowled while others shifted in their seats. The teacher cleared his throat and thanked Li for answering the question correctly before resuming the lecture. She promptly did so without another word.

During lunch, Li weaved through the lunch crowd and bought a yakisoba bread and a juice box. She left the cafeteria and was quickly followed by two female classmates.

"Uh, hey, Zhen-san, where are you heading to have lunch?"

"I'm heading to one of the benches outside the lobby," Li replied as she noted the timidity of both classmates, as if they were struggling to say something. She gave them a slight smile as she added, "You're free to join me, if you'd like."

That seemed to ease them a bit so they headed over to one of the benches outside the lobby. Li wasted no time in removing the wrap and took a moderate bite. She waited until the two classmates had a bit of lunch before asking, "It seemed you had something you want to ask me. What's up?"

"Well, we've always wondered how are you able to talk with such confidence? What you have said in class multiple times aren't wrong, but they're things people generally don't like to admit aloud."

Li smiled at the two classmates, both of whom tend to be on the shyer side, as she replied, "Well, part of it is just personality. I've always openly pointed out faults, both my own as well as others, as a way to encourage everyone to constantly improve ourselves, not as a way to degrade anyone. As for the confidence, you just have to work at the real thing, not some inflated sense of pride. The things you do, like your studies, clubs, or esper development, you should apply the best that you can. As long as you get some sort of positive result, that would verify your self-confidence."

The two classmates listened attentively and almost seemed ready to take notes. Then one of them asked, "But that's not easy to do, is it?"

Li shrugged as she replied, "It never is. I don't think you can change your personality overnight, but you can change how you feel about yourselves by slowly starting to apply yourselves more." Then she munched on the the rest of her yakisoba bread and washed it down with juice.

The two classmates were deep in thought as they absentmindedly worked on their own lunches. Li checked the time and noticed lunch period was nearly over.

She cleaned up the refuse and got up before saying, "I gotta head to the dojo locker room to pick up something. I'll see you in class."

"Ah, okay, thank you very much for your time, Zhen-san,"
"Yeah, thanks."

Li waved briefly before she headed over to the dojo locker room,
"I should grab my PE shorts at least, if I'm going to practice at the park after school," she thought as she entered the dojo...

As Sadao flashed in he smirked. The man wasn't able to keep up with his movements at all. Striking him three times his last hit connected the mans head and knocked him out cold. The man crumpled to the ground dropping a few needles that he was holding. Sadao pulled out his gloves from his back pocket and slipped them on. Picking up one of the pins he examined it. 'This is alot like the stuff that Kuroko girl uses. So this guy might really be from judgment.' Sadao thought before dropped the pin back down. Over looking the body he saw he had a wallet chain. Pulling on the chain he removed his wallet and opened it up.

The name read "Tsubame Shou" and he was about 4 years Sadao's senior. Besides that there was nothing that would let him know who he really was. Grabbing Shou's arms he dragged him to an area not as easily seen by people coming to the roof. Flipping out his knife he thought about ending the man's life there. It would eliminate any future problems, but this man had only made the mistake of being curious. He treated even crazed homeless people better than that. Flipping his knife away he ran back to the fire escape choosing to spare the man's life. Jumping off into the alley he started down the street, and called up Maria.

"I dealt with the tail come pick me up two blocks west from where you were before." he said before closing his phone. Crossing the street quickly he made it to the spot he just mentioned, and climbed into the car.

"Do I need to call in clean up?" she asked. Sadao shook his head.

"It was just some over curious boy." answered Sadao. Maria started driving with a serious look on her face.

"Don't get soft. Next time finish him off." she said. "Did he get a look at your face?"

"No we are still in the clear Maria. You don't need to worry so much." he said looking out of the passenger window.

Maria took that as the end of the conversation, and focused on her driving. She trusted his judgment most of the time. But with things like this it was sometimes better to be sure they wouldn't come after you again.

They got back to the apartment in about an hour. Putting his gun back into the case he slid it into the glove box. Since he wasn't allowed to have it putting it in his house was a risk. He only used it when he went out on missions and he kept it with Maria. Stepping out of the car he thanked Maria for the ride, and headed up to his apartment. Sitting on the couch he sighed. He had little intel to give Gensei, but he had no deadline on this. It was more of a "when you can" type of thing. And honestly he had her reason for fighting. She was a child that liked to fight. End of story.

Flipping out his phone he called up the woman and told her exactly what happened.

"I see...and this man that followed you. You killed him right?" she asked.

"No he didn't see anything. He won't be an issue." Sadao answered. He was a bit nervous from the way she was acting.

"Hmmm? I'm sure you know what must be done if he repeats this mistake." she declared. "Still most things are left to your discretion. Don't make a habit of risking your cover." she said hanging up the phone. Sadao tossed the phone to the side and grabbed the remote. Turning on the T.V he tried to find anything that wouldn't bore him to death, and would take his mind off things.

Sana stood there, stunned. Normally she'd have been amazed on all the attacks Misaka Mikoto was unleashing upon the boy, but what truly amazed her was how the boy just blocked all of Mikoto's electrical attacks as if they were nothing. "Just who is that person? I've never heard of anyone in Academy city who could block off attacks like that," Sana pondered about Mikoto's opponent from a distance while watching the battle.

Suddenly, Mikoto unleashed a beam of electricity at the boy. Even though she had never seen anything like it before, Sana knew exactly what it was, it was Misaka Mikoto's signiture move - the one which she is known for - her Railgun. "Wait, is she crazy, there's no way he can..." as Sana thought this, she was awe struck, at what she witnessed. The boy stood there, hardly fazed at all with his right hand in front of him blocking the Railgun. "Touma, even though I'm seeing this with my own eyes I can't believe what just happen," Sana spoke to her stuffed rabbit doll, as she stood there amazed at what the boy did.

Suddenly, she heard Mikoto screamed out something that definitely caught her attention. "Did she really just say that? That's his name?" Sana continued to observe, seeing what else would happen, her cell phone suddenly rang. Quickly she started looking through her bag looking for her cell phone, though when she finally found it the person calling her had hung up already. Sana quickly turned to see if they had heard her cell but with all the attacks and the storm that seem to have been created it nothing can be really be heard apart from Mikoto's attack and screaming.

Looking at her cell, Sana was struck with anguish. She hadn't noticed that time flew, from being ahead in schedule she was now really behind. "Touma this isn't good, we're really late now," Sana waved her hands at her duffles bags which then seemed to have started to float, she then started running into the bridge while sticking to the sides, hoping that she'd be able to get past by them without any problems.

Shou knew his enemy was fast, so he had mentally prepared. With his metal pin in hand, but sheathed in his pocket; he was would let his opponent make the first move and take it from there. However, nothing could have prepared Shou for how fast his opponent rushed him, and it was over in a flash. The man rushed him with a speed that was even faster than when he was chasing him in the alleyway. As Shou attempted to quickly throw his metal pin backwards, it was already too late. His opponent was already right in front of him with a low stance and an arm strung back, and in the next instance, Shou suffered two blows straight into his abdomen, followed by one more that knocked him out.

Shou awoke to a massive surge of pain that made him instantly grip his chest and stomach as he writhe and rolled for several moments. After about 30 minutes of coming to terms with the damage his body suffered, Shou propped himself against the edge of some machinery that was on the roof and looked up to see that the sun was already coming down. 'Looks like I've been out for quite a while… assuming this is the same day.'

Shou noticed a couple of his metal pins were lying nearby. Then, Shou attempted to piece together the events that were still slightly fragmented in his mind. He recalled a scene at the bridge with a lackluster electromaster. He recalled tailing some strange figure. Then, he remembered that his tailing had turned into a chase. Shou cursed aloud as the scene of the man rushing towards him flashed in his mind. "Who the hell was that guy? What kind of ability was that?" Shou muttered, "Not only was he fast, but those punches were exceptionally and unexpectedly powerful." Shou tried to recall what the man looked like, but to no avail. When he was chasing, the man had a hood on, and even when he was face-to-face, the storm clouds blotted out the sun and made it difficult to focus on the man's face, especially given the heated circumstances.

After pondering the events and several more attempts of trying to figure out who the man could possibly have been, he gave up knowing that, once again, he had no concrete evidence, or even circumstantial evidence, to help himself. Shou let out a deep breath and the tension from his body loosened. He got up slowly, walked over to the edge of the roof, and sat down with his legs hanging on the side of the building. He gazed out at the sky once again and with another deep breath, the energy drained from his body once again. 'Weak… So. Very. Weak. Even after all this time...' Shou thought with a face mixed with disappointment, sorrow, and dejection. Then, Shou clenched his fist. He'd already known he needed more power, but he also knew that he likely could've fought the man from before if he didn't underestimate him so much.

Suddenly, a memory flashed in Shou's mind:

He was in Judgment and was pursuing a group of robbers with his squad right behind him. The robbers turned a corner into an alleyway...

Shou violently shook his head, forcibly bringing himself out of the flashback he was having. He already knew what happened next, he didn't need a reminder. His squad members died because Shou underestimated the armed robbers, and now he'd almost got himself killed for the same reason.

"The same thing won't happen." Shou said in a cold, serious tone, "I swear it."

Sitting on a bench, the young woman, started to sigh-see with her beautiful, gem-like violet eyes; entering a daze. A hospital was the first, tall standing building, which caught her line of sight. It was between district 7 and 18, she hadn't a clue that such a place existed in Academy City. She wore a uniform which had navy blue in majority over white in minority; navy blue being pleated over white, from the chest, down to her skirt. It was the Tornado Hand user - Shirayuki Ayane. The emblem proving her to be a student of Nagatenjouki laid on the left of her chest, it was enough to make other geniuses from other schools look pale in comparison to herself.

She tried to keep her hair from being fumbled as her hair fluttered about, caressed by the gentle breeze as she waited. Ayane silently pondered, as to the exact reason why such a boy would invite her to a place like this. A park beside a hospital, of all places, there were more spacious parks out there, definitely. She thought up many reasons that the boy could present, in order to pass time. She had around two hours before she'd have to pay a visit to a certain facility. It was a certain old man's order, she had no choice but to obey. Ayane yawned. Waiting sure is painfully boring, she thought. She wondered if she had come way too soon.

Ayane then looked up to the sky, her face riddled with grief and worry, Just what could this project be about? Artificial anti-aging..., she then shook her head, saying to herself not to mess her mind up over an experiment, as this city is full of them.

"Damn it, not again..." Jun cursed as he dropped the canned beverages on the way to the park he specified. There were 6 total assorted beverages, three for himself, and three for Ayane. He didn't know how long they'd be training for, but he figured this much should be enough to keep them hydrated for a few hours. Once he had a good grip on the pile of cans again, he continued walking, mumbling, "C'mon, I'm almost there... I don't wanna keep her waiting..."

Jun could see Ayane sitting on a bench when he arrived. She seemed lost in thought. "Oh, crap... I did keep her waiting..." He cursed under his breath again. However, this did open up an interesting opportunity; she hasn't noticed him yet. Jun sorted through the cans, finding the coldest one. Slowly, he snuck up behind Ayane and pressed it against her cheek.

"Did you wait long?" Jun asked Ayane with a smile, hoping that she isn't upset he was a few minutes late.

Snapping back to reality, Ayane's face stuttered as the ice-cold metallic object leaned against her cheek, but it did felt rather pleasing. Ayane slightly looked up to the boy. The glasses, combined with the headset visibly covering portion of his head, seemed familiar; it was that boy she met right outside the mall. He held so many cans, for what reason, she didn't bother to take a guess. She gave a light smile to his presence. "Oh no, I just got here," it was her usual reply, she had actually been waiting for over ten minutes. This is because she had nothing better to do on her way to the location. It also seemed as though Jun wanted to meet her immediately, so she expected him to be here before her, much to her belief that wasn't the case.

Ayane had been wondering why Jun called her here of all places, albeit her line of thought had ended when Jun intervened with the can, she had already reached her conclusion.

"So, I've been thinking of the reason why you may have called me here of all places... a park beside a hospital that is mostly deserted," she looked with a contorted face filled with suspicion, "Is it because y-you want to do something dirty?!! This park may not have others besides us, but there are abundance of people on this city! Jumping on my frail figure like that wasn't enough for you, was it?!" she came to the conclusion after thinking through regarding the location and past incident, the boy jumped to her body and his face had surely landed on her chest. A pervert who desperately desired more than just that, had become what seemed like Ayane's impression of the highschool student.

"I tell you, such an attempt will result in you ending up on that hospital right there!" she pointed towards the hospital that stood beside the park.

(This is a joint post between Montacia and Cinia Pacifica.)

It was 5:00 pm, Misaki and Fuyuko casually walked out of the School Garden; heading south east. It was a not a long walk, but Misaki suspected that Fuyuko may be tired out. The car surprisingly didn't come today, and that's because Misaki said contacted via cell phone saying that they can't travel to the institute on their own. Misaki guided Fuyuko, albeit not too directly. They made their way toward a bus stop, from which they'd take a ride to district 10, where a certain facility would be the base of operations for the project. There were many questions swirling around Misaki's head about what exactly the project is meant to achieve. Answers given normally by researchers there are usually lies. Misaki has yet to use her Mental Out on them as they're only contacted through phone.

Fuyuko yawned, trying to wake herself up from the woes of having math as her last period. She was terribly bad at calculations, the teacher always sped through the explanations and she never really could keep up. She used to try doing extra problems afterschool to stay on track, but lately it's been getting harder to understand. Sighing inwardly she asked herself, why does maths have to be so difficult? Fuyuko kicked a pebble on the street to vent her frustrations.

Misaki reached the bus stop, along with a frustrated Fuyuko who had a rather pouty-face. Misaki leaned towards her face, and flicked her forehead with her index finger. "We're at the bus stop now, let's get on the bus~!" she then walked up to the bus, waiting for Fuyuko to enter it first.

The flick startled Fuyuko and she let out a squeal of surprise. "Shokuhou Onee-san! Please don't do that so suddenly!" She pouted, rubbing her forehead with her hands. Realising that the bus driver was waiting, she quickly grabbed for her wallet and paid for the bus fare. While waiting for Misaki to pay, Fuyuko caught sight of the empty back seat. Back seats were known to be the best seats on the bus, not only because you could sit there with lots of friends, but also because it was the part of the bus that was most exciting when going down a slanted road! Fuyuko had never gotten the chance to sit there before though, as she was always one of the last ones to get on the bus. She turned around to face Misaki with pleading eyes. "Onee-san, can we please, please, pwetty please go sit in the back seats?"

"Aw, Fuyuko, you should have let Onee-san pay for you instead, payed her fee for the trip and followed up to Fuyuko, "Hm? Backseats? Sure, I guess," Misaki walked towards the backseats. The seats were comfortable, she could see few other girls aboard the bus. She assumed that the girls were from School Garden too. She was too lazy to inspect the uniforms, but in reality, they were indeed uniforms of the schools from School Garden. After Fuyuko took a seat beside her, she took the liberty to ask, "So, how'd you like your new school, so far?"

"Tokiwadai is amazing! School Garden is amazing! But Fuyu hates maths! It's always so difficult." Fuyuko couldn't help but rant about maths. "Oh! But Fuyu did make a friend! In physical education class! Rumi-chan is amazing at dodgeball and is super nice! Rumi-chan was paired up with Fuyu for warm up exercises and it turns out she also likes Gekota-san!"

"Math hm~? I kinda like it and kinda don't like it~! it was her honest thought on it. However, upon hearing gekota, the first thing that came to mind was... Misaka Mikoto. That person who she allowed to let her be drowned with all the public attention. Although she ended up doing the opening for the last Daihaseisai. She figured that Fuyuko and Mikoto would definitely get along well... but she wouldn't allow that. As she decided to be number 1 to Fuyuko! "A-Ah... I see.... " even though she felt the determination, she is very much not a fan of gekota. She couldn't relate to it at all. In fact, it seemed so childish that she'd see gekota franchise's products are any other frog-faced items. Such a thought would most likely enrage Mikoto.

Fuyuko thought that something was off in regards to Misaki's last reply, however she dismissed the feeling thinking that it wasn't too important. She was about to talk more about her new found friend, when suddenly a white building came into sight. "Ah! We've arrived!" Fuyuko quickly pressed the stop button and double checked that her bag was still there. As the bus slowed to a stop, the doors whooshed open allowing Misaki and Fuyuko to get off the bus.

oh come on, how much longer? I can't wait anymore and this subject is so boring! Hono was impatient to leave school. He looked around anxiously and got thrown by a chalk to his head by the teacher. “IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE JUST WAIT FOR 10 MINUTES!” Hono looked at the teacher and smiled, “Sorry, teach.” Hono leaned back and waited.

The school bell finally rang, Finally! Hono put his books back in his bag and walked out. He looked outside, the sun shine bright, the skies were clear, and the park is not so crowded. A perfect day for practice. Hono walked down the stairs and happily walk to the main hall.

The students were chatting. A lot of people were chancing their school shoes with their own and hono looked down. Oh yeah, when was the last time I wear the school shoes? Oh well, it doesn't matter anymore. Hono scratched his head and walked out of the school.

I should get something to drink first, don't want to get thirsty. He stopped at a vending machine and bought 3 cans of the famous Popoca Sweet. He put it in his bag and continue to walk to the park.

Upon entering the park, he immediately walk to the large pond located in the middle of the park. He unbuttoned his school shirt and fold it neatly and put it on a bench nearby. He took one can and drink it quickly. He then put the can on a stump of a tree nearby and walked a few steps back. He raised his hand and took the usual amount of water clump and compressed it. He concentrated his attention to the can while focusing to keep the clump of water compressed. He quickly “punched” forward and he hit the can with the compressed water clump. The can flew back because of the impact. Hono walked to the can and picked it up, a whole opened on the can's body. “PERFECT! But I need to make it flew faster, maybe I can pierced the can. Hono put the can back and continued the same thing over and over again.

Dust subsided. Blocking Mikoto's final attack, Railgun, his fist was right before Mikoto's face, who looked down with her arms covering her head in fear. She hadn't a clue how strong Touma's 'power' is. Someone who is strong enough to even disintegrate her signature move, Railgun, would most likely have some kind of a powerful ability that would hurt even more Railgun, is what Mikoto assumed. However, Touma's right hand didn't move an inch further to knock Mikoto's face with it's hard knuckles. Instead, he flicked her forehead.

"Don't get scared now, Biribiri."

"W-W-W-Who'd be scared of you?!!" with this came another barrage of sparks from Mikoto's bangs. Her face was as red as a rose. The battle had ended. It was taken as a draw by Mikoto. While Touma didn't seem to care regarding the victor, he wouldn't hit Mikoto, he'd rather have Mikoto win if it meant that he could go back to doing whatever he was doing before finding Mikoto.

An unfamiliar figure seemed to be walking silently in the sidelines. "Who's there?!!" Mikoto shouted, "... Huh?" it seemed like a girl with silver hair, carrying a bag, and a stuffed doll. Her eyes had the condition known as heterochromia. Whereas both her eyes had distinctive colors. Mikoto felt that she saw her somewhere before, but couldn't exactly pin the memory down in her mind.

"A... weirdo?" it was sheer irony, a 'gekoer' calling anyone else weird.

The girl seemed to also be a curious onlooker, most likely. That's what Touma assumed, "You're going to scare her with all those electricity around you, Biribiri..."

"D-Don't call me that!! That said, our fight is yet to be over."

"It's another draw right? Can I go now?"

(This is a joint post between sardaukar58 and Gahald_Mills)

Li yawned lightly as the school bell rang to signal the end of school. But before she left, she changed into her PE shorts and running shoes. After a quick stop by a vending machine to get a bottle of water, she made her way over to the park. It was still quite early in the afternoon, so there weren't that many people at the park. As warm up, Li jogged into the park until she was near the pond. After she found a good, flat patch of ground, she limbered up and stretched out briefly before settling into a basic stance, with her feet shoulder-width apart.

Then Li moved into an ordered flurry of extended kicks and quick strikes based on Changquan style martial arts. There were very few blocks as it was a more aggresive style as Li continued to perform a near-continous stream of punishing blows and sweeping kicks. Then Li finished the routine with a roundhouse kick into the nearest tree. Soon after, Li could hear a metallic impact hitting another tree nearby. Curious, she walked softly toward the source of the sound and peered around another tree. She saw a young man wearing the Certain Highschool uniform, minus the shirt, manipulating what looked like a clump of water in order to hit a can perched at the tree next to where she was at.

She grinned as the young man reset the can again. She eyed the range and figured it was barely in range. She held her right index and middle finger together and started up a small flame as she watched the man prepare another water shot. As soon as he loosed the shot, she launched her dart-like flame at the can. The dart shot right at the intersection of the can and water clump, causing part of the shot to steam out while the rest of the water impacted against the can.

"Whoa what the hell? Steam? Who's there?" Hono diverted his attention to the tree where the fire dart came from. A young girl with a PE shirt was hiding there, with a grin on her face. Cute, oh my god she's so cute! Hono gazed at the girl and imediately walk to her cautiously with a compressed clump of water on his left hand in case something bad happened. "Did you just shoot a fire dart at my clump of water?" Hono asked the unknown girl with the clump of water aiming at her.

Li's grin remained as she walked out from the tree even as her eyes remained alert and limbs slightly tensed. The young man didn't seem to know how to react, but then moved toward her cautiously while holding a clump of water. Then she made a realization, "Certain High School student, clumps of water, and this pond? Oho..."

"Yeah, guilty as charged, I couldn't help it. I'll admit I was intrigued by your practice, but then again," she said as her grin turned sly, "It may be better than raining water on random people at night."

How did she know about that? Wait, that means that she knows about me practicing that night! Hono threw the water clump back to the pond and pull her right hand with his right hand. "You were there that night? Also, I can't help but notice that you're wearing the same highschool PE uniform as the girls at the certain highschool. And lastly, my name is Kazuki Hono. What's yours, pretty lady?" Hono blurred out happily as he asked her and smiled. "Maybe I could do a combat practice with her," Hono thought as he held her hand. Her hand is so soft~

Li smiled as she replied, "I just happened to pass by that night. And yes, I'm also a student there. Li-Hua Zhen, first-year." She 'ignored' Hono's aggressive grab and shook his hand. Then she deftly slipped her hand away and lightly took a step back as she added, "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Li." Hono scratched the back of his head nervously. "Oh, I'm on the second year by the way." Hono continued. "Sorry for grabbing your hand suddenly. Just being cautious since I'm a bit paranoid sometimes, ahaha." Hono laughed lightly and remembered something and ran to his bag. He grabbed 2 of his energy drink and offered it to Li. "Want some?"

Li raised an eyebrow at Hono's sudden 'familiarity' but relaxed a little at his lightened attitude. "Nice guy and he seems dedicated to development his esper abilities, though I'm not sure what to make beyond that, at the moment," she thought as she took the profffered drink and replied, "Thanks, Hono-senpai." She took a sip of the drink and pondered for a moment about this encounter.

"You're welcome~" Hono took a sip also and continued, "Don't throw away the can. Since I'm still using it. Ahahaha~"

Then she said on a more serious note, "I think it's fine to be cautious, but you shouldn't think you are doing wrong by practicing, as long as you are careful and aware of your surroudings. I know that we, as students, are supposed to be discreet, given supposed restrictions at public use of esper abilities, but you shouldn't try so much to hide such practice."

"Oh, here I go again, directly criticizing what little I picked up. I'll probably scare him off at this rate," Li thought with slight scorn at herself as she added, "Speaking of which, I...I think I'll be going back to my practice." She finished the drink and left the can next to the tree before heading back to her practice area.

"Well, you're not wrong. I've been trying not to be paranoid sometimes and raising my awareness as I work. But then again, actual practice has to be made." Hono rubbed his cheeks. "ah, okay. I think I should practice too. You take care and see you soon, Li-chan." Hono waved at Li as she returned back to her practice. He realized something and facepalmed. I forgot to ask for her number. . .

Sadao starred at the ceiling fan blades as they spun around. Closing his eyes he thought about everyone's opinions about killing Shou. He called it having a soul, but who was he to fight what he ultimately was going to become. This whole time he trained his body and mind for what? To become the garbage man for this corrupt city. 'It is too late to change.' he thought to himself. If he was going to survive in this world he couldn't have a conscience.

To work off some stress he decided to work out a bit more. Walking to his exercise room he took off his his casual clothes and put on his shorts he trained in usually. Then he started by doing his warm up stretches. After that he ran on the treadmill before doing free weights leading up to his real training. Focusing his power to his feet he walked up the wall slowly until he was on the ceiling. Then crossing his arms he began doing crunches while hanging. Not only did it work his abdominal it helped with his focus. After doing twenty of those he swung himself up before using his powers to make his hands stick to the ceiling. After he was ready Sadao began doing push ups off the ceiling. The real work was pulling himself up using the nitrogen to keep himself up.

After those were done he slowly lowered his legs towards the ground and did ten pull ups before releasing himself and landing on the floor feet first. He felt that doing this regularly helped him to focus his powers for longer periods of time. Walking over to a locker he pulled out some wrist wrap and wrapped up his hands, Last thing he needed was to injure himself before getting called out for a mission. Walking up to his punching bag he steadied his stance and began assaulting the bag with rapid punches. Moving around the bag in quick side steps he hit it in different angles. Grabbing the bag he kneed it three consecutive time before letting go on the last on and letting the bag fly. Straightening out his hand he covered it in nitrogen. Focusing his power to a point he jabbed it into the bag stabbing it clean through.

"Just another thing to add to the list." Sadao said to himself.

Ripping his hand out he spun swiftly kicking the weakened bag in half as sand spilled onto the floor. Noticing he was breathing hard he focused on calming down. He was getting far to worked up for his own good. Taking a deep breath he stabilized his breathing and did his finishing stretches. He would clean up the mess and order a new bag later. Walking out from his workout room rubbing the sweat of with a towel he just couldn't stay still. He was still full of energy despite his workout. He decided a walk would do him some good. Staying in the apartment was getting him nowhere.

The sun was setting and the street lamps were starting to flicker on. Walking down the street to the store he decided to pick up the eggs early. Heading into the store he bought another carton of eggs. He was sure the store was happy to take more of his money. Not that he cared, he had more than he knew what to do with. Blood money was a great was to pay the bills. Heading back home there were no incidents this time. Perhaps they truly did learn their lesson. That or they know to find weaker targets. Entering his apartment he put the eggs away, and headed to his room to try to find something to do. Sharpening his knives had become almost therapeutic and he needed to relax a bit.

When he finished up sharpening his knives, and making sure all his equipment was in working order it was about time to turn in. Turning off the light on his desk he walked over to his bedroom window. Looking outside he could see people making their way home. Seeing a man carrying some bags he knew what would probably happen. Two men rushed him beating him to the floor. Taking his bags they left him for dead.'This is the type of world we all live in' he thought looking on at the scene. The weak were meant to be devoured by the strong.

"I will become stronger" he said almost reassuring himself. Closing the blinds he went to sleep shortly after.

A loud voice resounded in the bridge, Sana stopped to take a quick glance to see if Mikoto was about to do something, but it seemed that Mikoto was simply taken aback by the presence of an onlooker running by, Even if she attacks me now, for any reason, I can't stop! Sana thought, her legs started to move again. This time, before she ran, she took a good look at the face of the boy who Mikoto fought against.

Reaching the other end of the bridge, Sana called Miss Komeiji with the use of her cell phone, "Hello Komeiji-san, this is Sana. I'm just calling you to let you know that I'm gonna be a little late since I ran into some trouble on my way there, I'm really sorry. And if you can do me a favor, then please set up the puppet stage for me. I don't think I'll make it there on time to set up the other stage. Again, I'm really sorry for the trouble, Komeiji-san!"

An hour and a half had passed since Sana frantically ran into the orphanage. When she arrived, she quickly headed to the playroom of the premises. "Damn it! I really screwed up today!" Sana cursed herself for making the mistake of watching the battle. She saw that the stage she had asked Miss Komeiji to set up was ready to go, however, it was smaller and not what she had planned originally, but it was better than nothing to her at this point. "Okay, I believe I have everything ready now. Okay Touma, let's get this show ready," Sana happily told her stuffed rabbit doll.

A hour into the play: "Khu Khu Khu! Did you actually believe a weak attack like that would defeat me?!" Sana performed voice acting in her performance, playing the role of a witch, as she pointed at one of her floating dolls. "I shall not falter, you accursed witch! I have come to far! I have lost too much! Your reign of darkness will end today!!" the stuffed rabbit responded. "Foolish hero! Your journey shall come to an and end here," as soon as Sana - the witch of the play - spoke the lines of her role in the play, some of the children started screaming, "Don't lose hero! You can beat her!" soon, all her audiance started cheered for the hero - they were really into the show. "I can hear them! The cries of all those who have supported me!! I can't lose here, I must make their wishes come true!!" the hero - a stuffed rabbit doll - continued, "Here I come you accursed witch!!" the stuffed rabbit doll charged with a warcry towards Sana, and she herself ran towards the doll. The clash of two caused Sana bend down on her knees, "Tch, to lose to someone like you..." the witch muttered, slowly falling down completely and then a cloud of smoke suddenly appaered around her body, which soon disappeared. "At long last, my long journey has come to an end," the hero doll said as it slowly moved away from the stage. Soon, a round of applause could be heard and Sana came out from behind the puppet stage. "I hope you all enjoyed our little show!" Sana bowed. "I am also very sorry for arriving late, but I hope you will all continue to allow me peform for you!" she bowed again, this time, in order to apologize.

After enjoying some food and playing with the children for a bit, Sana waved goodbye and headed back to her dorm. "Today sure was an exhausting day, don't you think Touma? Though, you were an excellent hero today also!" Sana lifted her stuffed rabbit doll up. "We also got to see someone interesting today, didn't we?" Sana smiled as she continued her way back to her dorm to head to sleep.

"Oh... my... god..." Jun dropped the cans he was holding due to the shock. "She... she thinks I'm a pervert..."

He recalled the day he met Ayane. Jun had knocked her over, fell on top of her, and he recalls a soft sensation as he landed on her. He was just excited and curious from seeing another Aero Hand user in action, and wanted a closer look, and perhaps learn from her. However, it seemed to Jun that she was thinking that he tried to assault her, and intended to go further today.

He quickly snapped out of this daze and collected the scattered cans, placing them on the bench, then sitting beside them. He made an attempt to calmly explain himself. "I only called you today to ask for advice in controlling my esper power. Thanks to your inspiring words, yesterday, I finally managed to actually use my power willingly, not just involuntarily!

"However, I can't do it consistently, and I figured you could help me, since you're an Aero Hand user as well, and a powerful one at that." Jun looked at Ayane with pleading eyes. He recognized her uniform; it's the uniform for Nagatenjouki Academy. He was even more impressed, since Nagatenjouki is a rather prestigious school.

"Also, please don't hurt me again... I'm not a pervert, and I won't do anything dirty, I promise!"

What seemed like a barrage of excuse- or more like, a frantic state which came with a flurry of reasoning, the boy gave away his reasons for calling Ayane out. It would've been fine if he just said in the mail in the first place, Ayane felt, but she didn't say anything. Stricken by guilt - a grievous expression surfaced on her translucent-skinned facial features - feeling truly sorry for how much the boy was hurt. Ayane was too gentle a person. She too, not knowing how to apologize, slightly panicked with the thought of how to cheer the boy up, "A-Ah! I'm so sorry, I didn't think I'd hurt you like that for making such an accusation," she immediately bowed slightly to further express her words, "I was just taking a guess, I'm sorry!"

Ayane sighed. She had hurt a soul once again. Looking at his pleading eyes, Ayane couldn't just help but take her guard down for a moment and leaned towards him on the bench, gently putting her hand over his head and rubbing - patting him. "Oh dear, don't look at me like that... now, getting back to business. According to you, you've improved in your usage of powers, mnm? Flattery will get you no where, but I'll comply to help a fellow Aero Hand user, and I'll refrain from calling you a pervert... for now," she added a smile to further help calming him. "Though... I keep forgetting your name, for some reason, what was it again?" she felt that she just ruined the mood with that. But she couldn't help it either, she really forgot again. She's been bad at remember names of males, for quite some time now. Rumors about men crying due to her for some are never-ending.

When Li returned to practice, she shifted to Nanquan styles by going to a low, balanced stance before launching few, but powerful hand-based blows and uppercuts. She tried to keep her focus on the katas, but she could tell some of her strikes were imprecise or overextended. She launched into a flying cross-leg kick as she scythed the air about 1.6 meters above the ground before hitting the ground. Then she went supine, kicked her legs up toward her head, which allowed her body to arch up so that her shoulders were set as the main pivots. She then immediately spun her legs and shifted her momentum until she was back up standing on her two feet.

She breathed heavily as she thought about Hono, "I didn't actually have anything against him (or his flirting), but I had to ruin it by being a serious critic. I usually don't have any reservations about speaking out like that, so why does this bother me?!" She shook her head furiously, grabbed her things, and then jogged back to her dorm room. She took a quick shower, threw some stuff together for dinner, and attempted to study for the rest of the night. Soon, she admitted defeat and turned in early for the night.