Description: Staying at Hotaru's has been a blessing for the supernaturally sick Shurui, though she can't abandon her schoolwork. Thankfully, Kenji's here to save the day, was well as unwittingly give Shurui the inspiration to fight her illness, as well as look forward to the hopeful possibilities her immediate future will hold.
It's hard telling what Kenji may think to see a girl's number on his cell phone. What complicates this further is the fact that the number comes from one girl in particular who has been missing the last couple of weeks.
Shurui's been making it to school when she can, and, despite the setback caused by the NESTS attack on the YFCC and various personal obstacles, she's been coming to class, no questions asked. However, not long after her and Kenji had their SNF fight against Alex, Shurui had disappeared, with the excuse of a family member having been gravely injured when a gas leak in the apartment had erupted. Since then, nothing. Life went on, of course, and with that, homework.
And that seems to be the exact thing Shurui's calling about. "... Need you to get my homework." Her voice sounds tired. "I'd try to treat you to something in return, but... I'm not really feeling good right now. I'd explain, but, uh. You'll see when you come see me." Instructions to Hotaru's home, and a time to meet, and that was it.
True to her word, if and when Kenji shows, Shurui's waiting there, in front of the gates of Hotaru's 'house'- which in reality is an epic mansion. Nothing foretells doom in Shurui's profile from afar- no third arms or gaping wounds. No even a bandage. Closer and he'd see tired eyes and a slumped figure, as if the girl hadn't slept for days. And further still, if Kenji was astute to notice, Shurui doesn't react to his aura at all, no matter how much he draws near.
It's like she couldn't see him at all, except through her own physical eyes.
It'd be a lie to say that Kenji Ashima hasn't noticed the absence of Shurui for the last couple of weeks. No, he keeps an eye on everything-- especially friends of his that he has to go rescue from the depths of a casino and it's secret dungeon full of horribles. Friends that he stood by when the strange organization of men and women wearing too much leather showed up on the doorstep of the YFCC and threatened the safety of everyone inside!
So when it's a call about something as minor as homework, there's only one way that he can reply: A cheerful, "Sure thing!"
Fortunately, living in the village and going to another house in the village isn't that big of a deal. With the cold weather, he's not skating his way to the house of Hotaru Futaba for once, though he does make note of the address. A house... house... house...
Whoa.
As he walks up, closer, and Shurui's form comes into his view, Kenji has to start marvelling at the size of the location and wonder just how he somehow missed a building like this in all of his time in Southtown. Futaba lives -there-? One question answered, forty more springing up... but Shurui! Kenji picks up his jaw and advances, waving his arm over his head. "Oiiii~!"
He's dressed lightly, his usual-- a t-shirt, jeans, and sturdy shoes with a wool jacket on to buffer against the cold. A manilla folder sits snugly under his other arm, the responsible Gedo student jogging up to meet the girl in hopes of getting there before she decides to come walking forward. "Here y'go!"
And then he squints, the boy with the stupidly bright aura squinting one eye. "Are you alright? I mean, you said on the phone, but ... everythin' okay?"
Yep, right to the point.
Indeed, it seems that trouble only seems to follow the short girl, whether it be insane men aspiring to be god, creepy demon women, or gas fires called Geese breaking into her apartment. This time? The trouble is simple: she needs her homework. No need to rush into any battles or save her from any obstacles. Just go to the named teachers, get homework, deliver.
The greeting gets Shurui's attention, turning her head towards the oncoming Kenji with a small smile. "... Hey," she croaks out, walking towards him. "Yeah, I was kinda overwhelmed too. ... Don't feel right, sleeping there, but Hotaru makes sure I'm okay." She glances towards the foldier, not seeming, for once, to be at all bothered by Kenji's insanely glowy aura. If at all.
"... well..." She reaches for the folder. "... Can't say I'm okay, but everything else is. Got attacked by some psychic thing, which is why I didn't go to the dorms. Didn't want to involve Stasya- I dunno if it can spread that way..." She gives a tired shrug. "It's taken away my powers, so... not really wanting it to spread, if at all."
A pause. "But that doesn't excuse me from homework... How did your injuries heal after that last fight, Kenji?"
He reaches out, not far. After all, he's closed the gap and gotten himself into proximity, almost as if he's trying to push and infect Shurui with his rampant smiles and good cheer, but it seems as though it isn't working right now. He notices her condition better at this range, too, holding out the folder for her to take. Most importantly, he's listening to what happened.
Psychic thing? Powers taken away? ... Wait, what?
Looking somewhat confused, the young man shifts his footing and tilts his head while trying to piece this all together. Psychic ... attack? Shurui doesn't use chi, but she's got some kind of ... powers? Part of him remarks on how absolutely cool it is that one of his friends wields some kind of super power that isn't within the norm of everything else, but the other half of him is worry. It ... what?
"Oh, I'm fine. It was awhile ago, anyway! Besides," he proudly proclaims, driving a thumb into his chest, "I'm invincible." Still maintaining his grin, his proud posture, the fellow Gedo student breaks into his own line of questioning.
"Is there anything I can do? I mean, what did it look like? Who was the guy? How hard can I knock 'im in the face?"
It takes Shurui a while to realize Kenji's inability to immediately follow her logic; her mind, running solely on low momentum to function rather than actively thinking, fails to realize that her information was presented without a real context. Kenji doesn't know about Shurui's powers, though it wasn't due to any of that information secreted away from him.
It just never came up.
Shurui looks at Kenji blindly (no pun intended), then apologetically down at the ground, scratching her cheek. "... er. Yeah. That's why that demon woman wanted me and S...." Did Stasya tell Kenji about any of this? Should Shurui of all people be the one to tell Kenji that one of his teammembers doesn't use chi? Her hazy thoughts fail to make sense of whether or not this would be something to make an issue of or not- normally, the girl wouldn't think much of it at all. "Yeah... whatever power I do is psychic. Stuff. Some people have it, but not a lot. Dunno if it really is psychic or anything- I can't read minds or anythin'." She waves vaguely. "It's usually not the sort of thing that gets someone in trouble, though... Spent most of my life thinking it was chi, if that tells you anything."
The line of questions make her frown deepen, a crinkle appearing in her brow. "You can't do anything. But it means it can't attack you, either." She lifts her head, turning towards the Guardian King. "I was attacked in my dreams. Almost beat it, but it got me in the end... It stole my aura away. ... I think that's what it was. Something. .... I can't see anything now. The seeing thing- that's why I always squinted when you were around..." Did she tell Kenji about that? Shurui can't recall.
There's a long moment where Kenji has to let this all sink in. So not only does she have special powers, they're special PSYCHIC powers. Moreover, they're apparently ... stealable? Or sealable! This was just like one of a manga that he had read, and there's always a way to get powers back when they're taken away like that! Yeah, always...
"That's ... cool!!"
Maybe not the reaction she was expecting, but he corrects himself. "I mean-- not the way that you can't do anything and that you got attacked, but. I didn't realize it was like that! And your eyes were ... okay, I see now! Er-- I mean. I understand!" His face is a whole lot brighter, his stance a little straighter. He doesn't even catch the stumble at the start of Stasya's name-- he's just glad he knows what's going on with one of his friends!
Rubbing his chin with a fist piled into his hip, the Missile Fist looks deep in thought. "Well, if ... if he took it away in your dreams, then maybe you could get it back through your dreams! I mean, is he the kind of thing that gets stronger when he takes powers? 'Cause those sorts always got a weakness of some kind. -Always-." With a nod, his confidence is assured. "And hey, if he comes into your dreams again, just ... like. Visualize me! And Tenma, and Hakuya, even. Even if it's a dream and not really us, we'll still come whoop the guy's backside for ya."
"..... Not really." Shurui visibly frowns at Kenji's audible excitement. Then, shoulders dipping, she lets out a sigh. ".... Really, I don't know what's going on. Whether my power's stolen or kept down or what. I can still sense things like I used to, but it's... different." Kenji's words seem much more excited now, more rushed- she almost wonders if it's more due to figuring something out about her.
She *has* been rather unhelpful in that, she supposes, even if the questions needed never came up. He doesn't even know why NESTS is after her, either, for that matter, but, then again, were they really after her when they attacked the YFCC? How can she be a valuable item when she's no longer that easy to convince? Either way, it's best for Kenji not to know. Or for anyone, for that matter. K' and Whip could possibly really be the only people she could have talked about it with, and now? They're gone. The reminder makes Shurui's frown turn sad, aiming her gaze down to the pavement below.
Kenji's words manage to bring the girl back to the present, causing her to smile slight, as wrong as Kenji's theory might be in reality. "... I can't sleep. I need drugs to stay under, and even then, it really does nothing but keep me sane. Body still feels weak." She looks down, slumping against a wall. "I'm looking for answers, though. I don't think I'm the only one out there- I feel others here, like me. In this city."
"It's funny." She turns her head upwards, looking towards the sky. "I had a hard time being near you because you had this aura that was too bright to look at. Now... it's like someone turned the sun off. I dunno if I miss it or not."
"Well... if ... you can feel that much, maybe it means your powers aren't gone permanently? Maybe it means there's still something you can do about it? Or maybe they'll come back on their own! There's gotta be any number of ways that it'll happen, I'm bettin' ya."
But still, the Guardian King isn't without a little bit of a sense of humor. Bringing up his left hand a little bit, focusing intently on the air over his open palm, Kenji draws in a short breath before a bright burst of white-blue energy ignites into a small pillar. No more than four inches high, it's just a small upward blaze that seems like he doesn't need ... -too- much focus to maintain. Maybe it's all the training and fighting alongside Hakuya, Tenma, and Stasya, but channeling his energy has become a whole lot easier than it used to.
Enough light is shed from the surprisingly warm manifestation of chi to see better by even in this evening hour, casting lights across his face and revealing an expression a little more serious than he's been letting on. He's trying to keep the special powered ultra-girl's spirits up, but at the same time, he's worried-- worried about this happening again, or getting worse.
"Hey. Just remember, we're all here for you."
"Maybe." Shurui muses on this, closing her eyes. "I don't know. Life's sort of strange, y'know...?"
While the upward blaze wouldn't be impressive compared to what Shurui knows Kenji to be capable of, the expression she displays makes it clear he's broken her dour mood. "...." Shurui looks up at the small blaze of light, mouth agape. Strange, how something she so took for granted- the sight of chi manifesting, that is- could now amaze her. And yet, everything she's seen the last few days has been that way, she supposes. The way it was when she first walked the streets of Southtown. It wasn't her third eye that made her lose that wonder, of course- it's just that she had to think of those blobs of energy now as people. People make that energy, not the way around. It's a sign of their conviction, their dedication, their impulse, much like a hug or a quick kiss.
She nods, finally smiling. "... Mn. Right. Maybe..." She looks out as flakes of snow begins to drizzle down, lightly spinning in the air. "... Maybe that's what it takes to beat this. Faith in others. Faith that I'm not alone." She holds out a hand, showing it towards Kenji, and, quietly, she concentrates. Snowflakes gather in the shaking palm, a grimace forming on the girl's face until they melt away, hazy energy melting them away before flickering off like a gas light in a hard wind. ".... Yeah." She opens her eyes, letting out a breath. ".... A small step."
"I'll try my best to get better. And then... I'll come back to school. See you, and Stasya, and Hakuya, and Tenma. Unless I think Hotaru needs me here, I'll go back to the dorms too. We could spar again, like we did." The idea seems to make Shurui cheer up, as if she never had properly considered the idea before. "Until then, I'll need you to get me my homework. Can you do that?"
"Hey, you-- you did it!" It may not have been much, but it was a -step-, at least, and a step in the right direction. Kenji grins brightly, closing his hand on the fiercely-burning ball of chi at his palm and crushing it into nonexsistance.
Shurui has a breakthrough of sorts, and there's only one thing to do: Grin ... -more-. Kenji' sseen that kind of thought and theme reflected so many times in the manga he's read over the years, and yet... it does seem to have some kind of parallel to his own life and his friends, amusingly enough.
Though in the case of Kenji, it's more about the times that he gets the snot beat out of him by girls due to a misunderstanding. ... Usually started by Tenma.
Still, bouncing on the balls of his feet, the Missile Fist nods confidently. "I'll take y'on any day of the week, you just gotta ask! I mean. Unless I'm in the student council room, because then I have some issues, ... well, that, or I'll have someone barge in the window on a motorcycle up on the second floor," he says, letting that thought sink in for a second.
Extending his fist toward Shurui, the brawler nods. "Anything y'need me for!"
"... Well, to be honest... never thought of trying," Shurui says, idlely rubbing a shoulder. "I've avoided fighting as a whole, so... maybe it was just there the entire time. Just... very weak." She nods slowly, then laughs. "Thanks. I guess that weird attitude of yours *is* good for something." No beatdowns here; just a mildly surprised and appreciative girl. Of course, if she wasn't effected by this psycho malady at all, things might have been different, but in this dopey, dull state, Shurui looks.... happy. Because she's found something to go for.
There'll always be time for misunderstandings and comedic bawlings at school, of misintended words and... well. Tenma. Oy, Shurui has been lucky enough only to run into Tenma a few times. "... Right." She rubs at her eyes, presenting the Guardian King with a momentary glint of sharp interest. "Next time, if we have to team up, you'll just have to stand back. I'll take care of everything myself." A wry grin, and she holds out her fist, bumping it against Kenji's own. "Maybe, you'll come to depend on -me-."
.... This, said by the short girl in a loose winter coat two sizes too big for her. But, when it comes to Gedo, one thing's for certain- no one's as they first appear.
"The time for hiding's over."
Did she face her other self? Gain the facade to overcome hardships and ... well, you get the idea.
Kenji lowers his arm after the fist bump, sticking his hands in his pockets and nodding. "Probably. You know me-- I'm much more of a lover before a fighter." He follows up the line, of course, with his usual roguish grin and a slight lean forward, head turning at just such a slight, rakish angle. "Well. As much as I would rather be, considering the way Tenma drags me into things. Rose-colored student life, out the dang window." he says, laughing.
Turning a bit from Shurui, Kenji throws a hand up over his shoulder to wave, glancing back at her as he starts taking his first steps away-- away, to leave her to figure things out for herself, now that she's got a whole new approach for the whole mess. "See ya. Call me up if you need anythin' else at all, okay?"
Kenji Ashima feels pretty good, right now.
Facing your other self here doesn't grant you any real boons, unfortunately. No TV backdoor to get inside, either.
"Nn." Screwing up her face, Shurui sticks out a hand to push Kenji back slightly back, though not enough to push him over. "If you wanted to get like that with me," she begins, suddenly annoyed out of nowhere, "you were doing better a few seconds ago." As Kenji turns a bit to throw a wave at the short girl, she waves him off, then stuffs her hands in her pockets and turns around. "Rose-colored student life, my ass!"
The last comment almost makes her turn around, but, just before she manages to, she stops herself, quickly turning back away from the walking Kenji. "R-right. See you later," she mumbles, walking away.
God. How annoying. She's blushing.
Log created on 23:00:51 01/22/2009 by Shurui, and last modified on 20:48:48 02/12/2009.