Description: K9999 decides that he'll go to Taiyo High on his first unsupervised day out. Nameless and Eve follow to make sure he doesn't blow anything up. K9999 is a dick. The beginning of NESTS' groundbreaking new high school drama begins now!
Seven A.M, waking up in the morning.
Gotta be tested, gotta kick a guard in the nuts.
Gotta have my meds, gotta have genetically altered food that keeps my body from exploding.
Seein' everything, the time is goin'.
Tickin' on and on, everybody's rushin'.
Gotta get down to the garage.
Gotta get on my bitchin' bike... I have no friends!
It's Tuesday.
The sound of a roaring bike echos through the quiet area of Southtown village. On the back of this mighty red steed and its large bumper stickers is one K9999, blue haired and wearing a simple grey Taiyo High uniform.
He skids to a stop in front of the school itself as students enter, reving the engine of the slick and futuristic looking custom machine. He steps off of it and begins to walk in, smiling wildly in a kind of scary and arrogant way. He still wears his mechanical blue glove, and the black bandages still wrap around his left hand, but everything else about him seems fairly legit. "High school... let's see how these people with souls live."
It's a morning just like any other school morning for Hinata Wakaba. The energetic schoolgirl is running through the streets toward Taiyo as if she was desperately late and trying to avoid getting in trouble.
...And yet the bell isn't even close to ringing. No, apparently the whirlwind girl actually is excited to get to school and see all of her friends. She also has to help out the girl's soccer team with practice afterschool, which should be a lot of fun.
There it is, Taiyo High, just as she turns the corner!
...And for some reason there's a motorcycle just sitting out front. She was pretty sure that was against school rules. She actually slows down to take a closer look, peering it over. Maybe it belongs to a courier service? Although it looks a lot fancier than the scooters they usually use.
If K9999 thought he was going to be alone, he was sorely mistaken.
It was barely subtle how he was being followed. Not by an awesome motorcycle, of course. But by a little red convertable. The top was down. There wasn't even a backseat to sit in. But as the experiment comes to a stop, the car pulls to the side. The driver narrows his eyes.
J Primehad a reason to be worried.
When he heard that his brother was going to explore a high school, he was terrified. He was convinced, on good personal experience, that K9999 had serious impulse control issues. Whatever school he decided to go to.... might end up a crater in the ground. Getting the car was not hard. But what was more important was the disguise. The teenager was not dressed in his boylita outfit of rubber and leather. Instead, it was a sports jacket, bearing the emblem of Taiyo High, with a popped collar. Wearing a pair of jeans, the boy's hair still had the white and black split. Resting his hands on the wheels of the car, he turns to his passenger.
"You see him, Ashley?"
J prime had to have some backup on this! Eve was always more than eager to join him in any sort of mission... And this one was quite a particular. Where she's taking the role of Ashley, a cheerleader in Taiyo High.
Sitting right by his side is Ashley : a fitting sight in the red convertable beside Jason. Ashley wore a vest with the Taiyo emblem on her right breast, a blouse underneath and a matching skirt. She has a little bit of makeup and green and blue highlights in her blonde hair.
Ashley chews her bubblegum and her lips curl into a grin as she hears the loud noise and notices the motorcycle, "Yep, I think I've found him, Jason.." She glances over to Jason, her lips curling into a wide grin as she gestures over the motorcycle, "Looks like he likes being noticed, we should hurry.."
It's still a weird feeling, living half-way across the world. Even if it was one of the world's prominent sports schools, it was a far way away from Duluth. Sure it was a huge name for the resume if he hoped to get into any serious junior hockey teams back home, but Brett Neuer still couldn't help but experience some culture shock, living in a big city like this. It was seriously different even from visiting someplace like Chicago. As he rolled down the street in his Gorin High polo, the transfer student couldn't help but gawk as he sped by, the sprawl around him. Enough that he nearly finds himself colliding with a convertable's side as he passed by Taiyo High's gate like his usual path took. "GAH!" Barely able to stop himself with his hands upon the side of the car, he pivoted himself away before coming to a stop, gawking both at the car and the ornate motorcycle nearby. "....wow," he muttered. This must be one of those yankee bikes or something, he thinks to himself.
"You! Normal looking girl!" K9999 suddenly points at Hinata, turning to immediately march toward her. "I'm new at this school. Kei Kusagi. That's my motorcycle." He points at it, smiling as if expecting her to be impressed. "Show me how this school works."
He looks around, then starts to walk toward the gates. "I'll allow you to share your bento box with me. And also I'll need you to explain what it means to have a senpai notice you. Oh and if someone bothers you let me know, I'll throw them out of a window."
Okay, so that's a lot of weird shouting. The bike is interesting, but it looks an awful lot like its own just decided to buy a replica of Rider K's bike or something. Maybe this guy is a huge otaku, which is why he's acting so weird right now.
"I'm Hinata Wakaba and..." she glances from the new boy over to the school, "It's pretty much the same thing as any other high school. Or even middle school, really. If you don't have a schedule already, you should probably go to the main office to pick it up."
"...And I just buy lunch from the cafeteria most days."
"You're right Ashley!"
%'Jason' turns the ignition, the car sputtering to life. He did have back up on this, naturally. He needed backup to contain and control his brother, just in case he went insane. As he spies the student, his face becomes flush. This was already going horribly, horribly wrong. He nearly puts the car into drive, to pull on up.
And then Brett hits the side of the car.
'Jason' turns to look at the strange boy, eyes wide. Was he under attack? The quicksilver glove on his left have trembles for a second, before becoming still. Jason just stares, wordlessly. He looks at 'Ashley.' And then back at Brett, the boy who ran into. He had to think quick. "Hey you! Uh." He pauses a moment. What would a sports person like himself say right now, in this exact same circumstance?
"Hey, fag, what are you doing to my car, homo?"
Time to focus on the reason why they've come here. Until Brett hits the car. The sudden impact causes Ashley to blink a few times, turning her head rapidly in Brett's direction. She stares at him, wide eyes, mouth agape, dumbfounded. She glances back at Jason, who seems in a similar state of astonishment, then back at Brett.
Ashley shakes her head and snaps out of it, glancing back at Jason, "Hush, it's okay, sugar.." She lifts her hand up and pats Jason, "Don't waste your time on this loser.." Ashley opens up the door of the car and she gets out. She glares up at Brett, resting her hands on her waist. She seems to snob Brett though after a moment, reaching out for her schoolbag.
Looking up, Brett spots a familiar face, one he's seen during a few of the baseball games. He's not quite sure about her name, but the energetic presence seemed to stand out even amongst the rowdy atmosphere most Gorin vs. Taiyo sports matches result in. Sure, not as bad as Gedo vs. anyone, but still there. Of course, his curiousity is quickly dampered when he's called out, presumably by the owner of the car. The poor, almost meek foreigner looks dumbstruck at the words used to call him out. "...w-what? I'm sorry, sir, I'm just...trying to get to class. I didn't see your car here, usually no one parks here and...I'm sorry," he says, rubbing the back of his neck as he apologizes profusely. The accompanying girl calling him a loser seemed to make him duck his head a little bit more. "S-sorry again."
"So you can -buy- food here? On TV, the Japanese schools always have people bring bento boxes, or they go to the store and have to bring their food in, but the Japanese schools don't have a cafeteria on TV!" K9999 is learning new things, then rubs his chin as he looks down at her, considering... "Alright, Taba-chan, I've got a big fat allowance right now, so lunch is on me!"
Then he hears 'Jason', looking over and squinting at that hair color. There's a smile, then he looks back at Hinata. "You see that guy? He's a total fuckin' playboy. He went to my old school. He makes girls think he's in love with them, then after a while calls them his 'glove'. Stay away from that douchebag, Taba-chan."
This conversation isn't really getting any more normal. This new kid seems a little bit sheltered... or maybe schools where he came from are a lot different from they are here in Southtown. Well, even if he is strange, he's going to Taiyo now, and he's at least trying to be nice. "Sure, you can eat lunch we me and some of my friends if you wa-"
And then shouting happens. It doesn't take long for Hinata's ears to perk up (figuratively) once rude language starts being thrown around. She notices some Taiyo uniforms and a Gorin uniform, as well as a real fancy car. She might only be a freshman, but she's not one to just stand around.
"HEY!" Shouts the smallest figure on the scene, apparently finding Kei's warnings a lot less important than a sense of right and wrong. "There's no excuse for being that mean to somebody, even if they don't go to your school. It was an accident, and you were probably not even watching where you were going!"
The girl's shouts are starting to draw the attention of a lot of Taiyo students now. "You can't go around acting like a jerk, because you're going to make our school look bad, so apologize right now!"
It's become pretty well known by the student body that Hinata's been practicing martial arts recently, and after the fight she had with Sakura during lunch the other day, it's also become well known she's pretty good for a new fighter. None of the students know who these other kids are, but from the murmurs its pretty clear there's some favoritism for the energetic girl.
Jason was lucky.
Not Brett. But Jason. He was only guessing about what he should say. He only could do so much research before reaching the high school. The fact that the boy was reacting in a submissive manner was encouraging. His partner's follow up was equally positive. They had both so flawlessly seized the role of upperclassmen, that they had blended in.
What came next, was to save this school.
Turning off the ignition, Jason takes the keys, letting Ashley pat him. Stepping out on the passenger side, he emerges, adjusting his jacket as he looks down at Brett. "You are lucky that Ashley here is sticking up for you." He pauses a moment. "Asshole." The teenager takes another long pause, as he finishes walking around the front of his car. Casting a look towards K9999, he frowns. "We got more important things to do than pound a loser like you." He holds his jacket, staring blankly ahead.
He then puts a hand around Ashley's waist, awkwardly.
It is not the hand with the strange quicksilver glove on it.
The interchange is interrupted by shouting. 'Jason' turns and looks, wide-eyed, at the school girl now yelling at HIM. He didn't understand why she was yelling at him. He was here to HELP her. And now she was mad at her? If the nameless clone did not have such exceptional self control, he might have responded by setting her on fire. But he had his character to stay in. Turning back to Ashley, then Brett, he finally returns to looking at Hinata. "Listen, babe." Jason pauses.
"I don't talk to fat chicks."
Ashley glares at Brett for a moment, one hand resting on her waist, as if she was taking a pose. His meek behaviour was enough to put her at ease, much like Jason, into her assigned role. Her lips curl into a wicked smile. She chews her gum and and blows a bubble that soon bursts and gets back into her mouth. Ashley takes a step aside to let Jason walk out and she glances at him.
Ashley seems to squirm a bit when Jason wraps his hand around her waist but she leans in against him after a moment of hesitation, "Don't worry babe, he wasn't worth the time anyway..." She whispers, but loud enough for it to be audible.
Ashley frowns at Hinata as she barges in and tries to scold her and Jason in front of everyone. The girl glances around, noticing the few students that slowly masses up around them, "Look, girl, we ain't got that for that, so just stay out of this, okay? This is none of your business,"
Sticking up doesn't seem like quite the right word for it. But Brett still seems suitably chided. He's not exactly one for confrontation, at least not off the ice anyhow. He looks over the car, hoping he didn't leave any marks on it, but before long, one of the actual students here chimes in to his defense. "It's ok, it's ok, I should've been watching where...." he starts to apologize, before noticing it's the same girl he had noted before. "Umm..." And then the fat jokes come out, and while Brett is fine with invectives directed toward him, he isn't one to overlook it thrown at others. "Hey, that's not right, she didn't do anything wrong, leave her out of it!"
"Hey, douchebag! Don't call Taba-chan fat, she's pissed at you for being rude to that guy! And I told her all about how you're a total playboy, here to ravage all the cute girls in this school!" K9999 reaches over to place the mechanical gloved hand on Hinata's shoulder. "But Taba-chan's innocent, not like that corrupted 'glove', as you like to call her, that you're always wearing! She won't fall for your pretty boy crap. Her awesome thighs aren't for you!"
He leans over to whisper to Hinata while pointing at 'Ashley'. "That's one of his 'gloves' who thinks she's the only one he's with. I don't know how to talk about all of that girl crap, but you should give her a talk." He sniffs lightly. "You smell nice."
This is... really weird. For one, Hinata doesn't recognize any of these people, except possibly the Gorin boy. She's pretty sure he was on one of their sports teams. Those two are... well, they're honestly acting a lot like American school students; nobody that rude is actually popular at Taiyo, except maybe among a few small lackeys. Kei... Kei is weird and really getting creepy.
"Of course it's my business, you buttheads! You're walking around wearing your Taiyo uniform and giving us a bad reputation in front of a student from another school. We can't have people thinking we're a bunch of inconsiderate jerks like some of those Gedo kids." She steps forward, doing her best to not be overly obvious that she's trying to get out from under Kei's hand.
"Now, since I'm pretty sure you're both new students, you have an opportunity to correct your behavior before you ruin your reputation here... and if you don't." Suddenly Hinata throws a hand up in front of her and bright red chi flames sheathe her forearm, as she grins. "Well, let's just say I've been studying martial arts and am getting pretty good."
The crowd behind her lets out a large number of cheers in support of Hinata.
"Thanks."
Jason pauses.
"Nummie numkins."
Jason looks at Hinata, putting contempt on his face. Not even turning to face Brett, he responds after a moment. "Shut up. Arr-Tard." He bites dully, looking at the furious Hinata with escalating frustration. This was the trouble with the common people of the world. Could they not understand how much of a blessing it was that the nameless teenager was here, trying to save their lives? And what was she doing, but treating him as a common thug?
And then K9999 steps up.
How DARE he! Jason shakes with restrained anger, burning eyes locked into his brother's own. "I only have 'one' true glove." He responds icily, tightening his grip with his gloved hand. And with that glove, he could have destroyed them all. There was just one problem, as Hinata brought up.
His reputation.
His cover wasn't blown yet. And he was in disguise. While he could very easily drill his icy glove straight into Hinata's entire skeletal system, ripping out her bones piece by piece, the fact of the matter is that, according to his research, this is not what High Schoolers do. He had to do what high schoolers do, if he was to keep his 'cover' while keeping an eye on K9999. Thus, as Hinata takes the stand, as the students cheer, as he watches his own brother, he responds.
"Whatever."
That was the response. "Come on Ashley. We don't have time for these losers. I have to win at football, and be the champion footballer." Holding on to Ashley, he begins to walk away.
But he doesn't stop looking at K9999, warningly.
Ashley lifts her eyes up at Kei and she glares at him, then back at Hinata. The way the crowd reacts to Hinata's words seem to surprise Ashley. She glances up at the various other students in the background, as if threatening them with her gaze, then back at Hinata.
Eve would have been more than happy to answer Hinata's challenge but Ashley... Ashley wasn't supposed to be that kind of girl. She lifts her hands up and shakes them at Hinata, "Woah, let's calm down a bit here, shall we? We're just kidding," She answers.
Apologize though? Not something she'd want to do! Ashley gives a shrug to Hinata as Jason holds on to her and begins to walk away. She follows. She looks at Hinata and smiles at her, "No hard feelings, ya?"
The more the strange students talk, the more Brett gets some weird vibes from them. He isn't sure if this is something to do with Taiyo students or not (which incidentally makes Hinata's internal fears totally valid ones). And at least he's not the target anymore, but the fact that someone else is raises his hackles a bit. Of course, the girl soon proves she doesn't really need any kind of backup, not with the chi surrounding her arm. "Wow...."
He turns over to the strange, insulting students though, a frown at them, backing up to give their car plenty of room. "I'll let Roberto know you said hello," he says toward 'Jason', ice in his own voice as they decide to get going. He turns back toward HInata in turn though, his demeanor quickly changes to his usual overly nice attitude. "Thanks for sticking up for me after all that."
"Yeah, fuck you guys!" K9999 starts to laugh, then, following Hinata's social cue, takes his hand from her to hold it up, forming chi flames himself. Though they only last briefly, flames are hard. "I was homeschooled for my entire life, until I tried to go to school with you guys and you bullied me out! Then Taba-chan was like, totally patient and didn't yell at me for not being good at being around other people! Those probably aren't even real uniforms, you're probably just here to bully me some more!"
He falls to his hands and knees, head hanging low, shaking his head from side to side. "I'll never have a normal high school life... they'll follow me where ever I go, just because his old girlfriend liked me... I can't control how other people feel!" He raises his head, tears streaming down his face quite rapidly.
Just open the tear ducts and let them flow, it's not that hard! "I'm not as strong as a guy like him, or as popular, or good at sports, and girls usually don't like me because I'm weird. So just because it happened that one time, he just... he won't leave me alone!"
At this point, by the end of the day there's going to be a whole lot of new rumors going around the school. For one, Hinata's clearly super strong to scare people off. Second, there are two transfer students who are total jerks. Third... well, there's going to be a lot of different rumors about this other new transfer student.
Kei gets a slightly surprised look when he manages his own flames, but fighters aren't exactly that uncommon anymore, so Hinata starts by attempting to clear up the interschool problem before trouble starts to build. "It's not problem, I don't like it when people pick on others for no reason... and Natsu is one of my best friends, so I can't have her thinking that I'm going to school with a bunch of jerks."
Then it becomes really difficult to keep trying to handle that issue when the original one starts to get... weirder. "...Kei-san, it's alright, I swear most of the people who go here are really nice and... well, you can't be that weak, because you learned how to use some chi stuff."
Hinata moves in a bit closer, putting a comforting hand on the new transfer's shoulder. "Just because you're a little awkward is no reason to get people bullying you, and once you spend some time in this school and get more comfortable around people, I'm sure you'll be able to make plenty of friends, alright?"
"Also... it's Hinata."
A light brightens in Brett's eyes at the name 'Natsu'. Brett knows of the Volleyball star for sure, though clearly not personally unlike HInata. "Oh wow, you know, Ayuhara? Cool," he says, rubbing the back of his neck as he tries to think of what else to say....and the weird student crying suddenly doesn't make things that much easier. "Um...oh, right. I'm Brett. Neuer Brett...or...Brett Neuer..." He's still not sure whether he should be using his first name last or first around here, another bit of culture shock he's still trying to get over. "Glad to meet you both," he says with a bow of his head. At least THAT came naturally.
And then he looked at his watch. "Shoot, class is starting soon. I need to get going. Um...nice meeting you, hope everything turns out ok!" he says, before adjusting his back on his shoulder and sprinting down the road again, skate wheels scratching all the way.
Jason walks back within the school grounds, heading out of sight as Hinata and K9999 and Brett converse...
And ducks behind a bush.
Letting go of Eve, he peers over at them. "I am sorry I grabbed you like that, Ashley." He says, whispering. "It is what an 'alpha couple' should do, apparently." He sighs, focusing on Brett. "I hope that I did not hurt his feelings too much. The common people have such sensitive emotions. They lack disipline, and control." Carefully, he shifts his gaze back over to Hinata and K9999. And silently, he watches in amazement. K9999 was crying, but...
He wasn't murdering innocents while doing so?
"Look at this, Ashley!" He says, pointing at K9999 from the safety of his cover. "It is K9999. He is weeping, and gaining the sympathy from the other students. This is... amazing. He isn't murdering them, or threatening to fornicate with their mothers. He is actually acting like... people!" He looks back over at Ashley, eyes wide. "He..."
"He is actually learning how to socialize!"
Ashley follows Jason, like the good girl she is. Once they're out of sight though, Ashley lets a sigh escape her throat. This whole cover wasn't as easy as it first seemed.
She hides with Jason and spies over the other students, "Don't worry," Ashley replies, "It's part of our cover after all... I hope I did well, didn't I?" She asks to Nameless, with obvious concern in her voice.
Ashley blinks at Jason's surprised, at his reaction to K9999's behaviour. She tilts her head up over the bush to glance in their direction, and then back at Jason. She rests her hands on his shoulder, as if to snap him out from his reverie, "Don't forget why we came here for! So far so good, but this is just the beginning, don't let your guard down..."
Ashley frowns and says, "We have to constantly keep an eye on him, just in case he does some breakdown, so one of us can control the situation.."
"I thought Taba-chan was cute, but... alright. Hina-chan!" K9999 suddenly stands up, wiping his face on his sleeve. Then he smiles wide, which actually looks more predatory than anything else. But he tried! "Let's go to school! And I can fight a little, I wanted to be strong when I went to school, so I practiced a lot, but I'm not sure if I'm that good yet."
He reaches out, offering the mechanical gloved hand to Hinata. "Sorry about the glove, I've got a medical condition. But me and you, Hina-chan! Together we'll have the best school day. We can join a club, prove we're the best school, have a beach episode. You can ride on the back of my motorcycle later if you want."
As Brett makes his exit, Hinata offers him a quick wave. "Sorry again about those guys being jerks, Brett. I hope you don't end up being late!"
With the whole situation involving the potential for an interschool riot (those have been known to happen in Southtown), she turns her attention back to the new student and gives his weird metal hand a firm shake. "Well, it might be cute, but it doesn't really sound that much like my name. When you're giving someone a nickname, especially when you've just met them, you want to make it easy to tell that you remember who they are."
She pauses for a bit thoughtfully at his enthusiasm for the day. "Well... I don't know about whether or not we'll have any classes together. You look older than me, and even in one year there's multiple classes. If this is your first day, you're also going to need to check in with the main office to get your room assignments and schedules, if you don't already have those."
"You were amazing, 'Ashley'"
That is what his reponse is, turning away from his brother to smile at Eve. She was the perfect recruit to help him keep tabs on his brother. But as she warns him about K9999, he can only nod in agreement. "You are right. Just because he is tame now, doesn't mean he is domesticated. He is still a time bomb, ready to go off." He holds up his blue-gloved hand, clenching it into a fist. "And if, or as the case is most likely, when he lashes out against that poor, chubby girl, I have to be, I mean, we have to be there to save her." He nods to his partner, before peering back over the bush. He was a hero, and he had only the school's best interests at heart.
Jason narrows his eyes at Hinata.
"... She better not get on the motorcyle with that jerk, though."
"You think so?"
Ashley's lips curl into a wide grin, beaming proudly a bit. She nods to Jason and then pats one hand on Jason's shoulder, "You're on watch this morning then," Ashley says, rising up from behind that bush.
She adjusts her vest, straightens up her skirt and sweeps off some blade of grass away from it. One student passes near the bush, and Ashley glares at him, "What you looking at?" She says, taking her role back, "Scram!" She says, slowly walking out of the bush.
Nothing to look at here, nope, nothing has happened behind that bush.
"I'll go do that! You can meet me on top of the school. And I say fuck a lot usually but I'm being nice 'cause this is your school and all. And you don't suck as a person." K9999 walks off toward the school entrance, raising a hand to wave without looking back. "I'll see you at lunch. We'll trade squid and talk about your senpai who hasn't noticed you yet."
"You... don't want to swear too much. You'll get in trouble for it." Even for being as energetic as she is, trying to help this new arrival is sort of tiring. At the very least he seems to be really excited about going to a normal school and making some friends, so she's willing to put in the effort to help him.
"I'll see you at lunch."
Log created on 20:51:25 10/28/2014 by K9999, and last modified on 00:32:00 10/29/2014.