Jurano accompanied Lucy back downstairs, relieved at the fact that he managed to get to her in time, he offered her support, but she walked past. He felt bad for her since she didn't seem to have anyone living with her. He also was a little disappointed that neither Morgan or Seth had decided to help them out that day. They're all talk, the bloody dimwits... he thought to himself. His curiosity got the better of him and he asked what seemed in his mind was very apparent.
"So, you live here by yourself?" For the size of the house you'd expect at least one other person living there.

The question was nothing new, and Lucy was surprised he hadn't asked sooner. Walking back to the small guest room, she began to sort her files into neat individual piles. It took a few more minutes of silence before she answered, "Yes. I live here alone. It's been this way for quite some time now." Her eyes continued to focus on her notes and papers. "There was once a family. Not big, not too small. Just me and my parents. I wasn't actually born in this household. As I'm sure by rumor now, you know that I've had to move continuously since I found myself. . .alone in this world."

This time she did glance up at Jurano, but no emotion reflected in her eyes. It was nothing but a dead stare. Combined with her monotonous voice, it was enough to give someone the chills. Just how long had she'd been alone? But the red head shrugged it off as if it didn't matter. "The lack of people don't bother me," she said, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm free of any idiots, and the silence helps me think. Helps me plan. Besides, anyone else would just get in my way. . ." her voice trailed off, and she decided to end the conversation there.

She promptly returned to scanning through her various files.

Jurano was on the verge of bursting into laughter at the irony in Lucy's reply.
"If that's so, then why did you ask me to join this rebellion of yours?" He knew being a smartarse was rude but he couldn't help it. "And if you have what I presume to be a heart attack again and you can't find those pills of yours then what's gonna happen?" He knew this would annoy her but he felt he made a pretty good point. He grabbed his phone and noticed the time.
"Well I've got to be going, my step parents are probably worried that I haven't come home yet." He said picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.
"I'll see you tomorrow in class then?"

If Lucy felt at all offended by Jurano's statements, it certainly didn't show. The stoic girl gave him a look before saying, "Obviously I can't hope to take down something as powerful as the Ultimatum myself. This realization has forced me to consider. . .alternative methods. And that included recruiting people like you." Seeing that he was about to pack up and leave, Lucy did the same and began cleaning up the messy piles of paper. "Furthermore, if I do happen to be put in an unfortunate situation, then my heart will stop completely. When that happens and there's no one around, I'll die. Simple as that." Well that was a mood killer. Seeing him walk out the house door, Lucy gave him a tiny nod of acknowledgement. "Yes. Until tomorrow then Jurano Darklight." Once more, she found herself alone in the empty house with nothing but her own thoughts to keep her company.

---

As any high school setting would be expected of, rumor and speculation ran rampant the next day at class. Lucy ignored the constant chatter of her peers, instead focusing on the school work at hand. But she had to admit, there was some truth to those words.

"I heard she did it because she's an escaped mental patient."

"Really? No way! I heard that she broke all the windows at the last school she was at. This must've been nothing to her."

"Maybe she didn't like the school lunch?"

"I think it was a political statement."

Regardless of what her classmates thought, none of them had pressed charges against her. Not even the school, though this was to maintain the reputation of a safe and learning environment. Not even a cop had spared the time to bring her in and interrogate her. While this prospect greatly pleased Lucy, it was still a constant reminder that her efforts were minuscule in the light of the Ultimatum. Whatever. At least she had a partner now to share the blame.

She refused to look in Morgan or Seth's direction, thinking them more as hindrances and a waste of time to her. They had proven themselves alright, and Lucy was more than happy than to pretend they didn't even exist.

Jurano exited the house waving behind him and called his step-parents.
"Yeah sorry I haven't called, I've been busy with a new club I joined...the club? well It's a club for people who don't like joining clubs I guess...yeah I'm on my way home now...cya in ten minutes or so." He hung up, the walk was about thirty minutes but instead Jurano ran and in ten minutes he was home. He walked up stairs and dumped all of his stuff and looked in the mirror.
"Today's been crazy."

---

Jurano decided to go to school earlier than usual, he heard the obvious rumors about the previous day and held back his grin at how stupid some of them were. He walked into the classroom and noticed Lucy, it was obvious she was ignoring the two that were boasting yesterday and stood at her desk and placed his phone on it.
"We should probably get each others numbers."
The sudden outburst made people start wondering and whispering things to each other like:

"Did Jurano ask her out or something?"

"Well I did see him run after her yesterday."

"Looks like Jurano finally fell for someone, and she's the complete opposite of him."

"You know what they say, opposites attract."

He ignored them and simply waited for her to respond. He felt weird and remembered that he always was so just kept at it.
"Well? are you gonna exchange numbers or what?" A student next to them asked.

Lucy gave the student next to them a death glare that could have killed. For someone with a critical heart condition, she sure knew how to stop other's from beating. The student instantly turned around, the area around his chair suddenly getting wet. "E-Er, that's ok! You two can go at your own pace if you want! I-I'll be running to the restroom now!" The student raced out of the room, leaving a trail of stares behind them. The whispering didn't stop, but this time it was much quieter and less distracting. Lucy flicked her crimson locks and sighed.

"How annoying." She took her own phone out and began writing her number on a slip of paper. Handing it to Jurano, she said, "Don't expect to use this number freely. Only contact me if you are in trouble. That's all." This caused another ruckus of noise around them to occur.

"Whoah! She sure is cold!"

"It's her second day here and she already has a boyfriend? I'm jealous!"

"Hey, so it's one of those kinds of relationships?"

Lucy let out another sigh before placing a hand on her chest. The thumping of her heart was normal, and it looked like the ongoing gossip did nothing to disrupt it. "How do you tolerate such irritating noise?" she asked Jurano.

Damn this chick is cold. Jurano thought to himself after seeing Lucy's reaction to all the rumors.
He smiled at Lucy and pulled a pair of headphones out of his bag.
"It's simple, simply drown out their voices with the sweet sound of music." He pulled out the spare set he always kept with him and set them on her desk.
"Take them as a thank you."
More rumors started and he walked to the front of the classroom, he cleared his throat and made an announcement.
"Lucy and I are not dating, we simply knew each other from our orphanage. We were best friends then and she saved my life once so why don't you all just shut up already!"
As he finished the teacher walked through the door and Jurano sat down at his desk giving a thumbs up at Lucy.
Then he looked back at the front and groaned loudly as the teacher started his presentation. Jurano simply laid on his desk and went off into a sort of mindless state.

Lucy groaned, but for a different reason all together than Jurano. Now people were whispering things about their background and how they grew up together.

"So they're best friends?"

"That's so cute! Best friends going out with each other!"

"He said something about an orphanage. . .did something happen to their parents?"

"I bet the Ultimatum had something to do with it."

Lucy wished the Ultimatum would swoop down and rain fire on these mindless idiots. If anything, Jurano's little stunt only made things worse! She looked at the set of headphones he had given her. They were a dark crimson color. Were these supposed to match her hair? And who listened to this kind of music anyway? Holding in a large sigh, Lucy placed the headphones in her backpack before deciding to pay attention to the lesson of the day.

It didn't take long for lunch to roll around, and Lucy was grateful to get a break. It would be nice to go over strategies with Jurano. Deciding to do just that, she stalked over to the boy's desk and clasped a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to discuss more important matters now," she said dryly. "Let's go." As she headed over down to the library of all places, the sound of rumors continued to chase her.

"Where are they going?"

"I bet Jurano's gonna get to second base!"

"You idiot, he still has to get to first!"

Lucy so desperately wanted to set that class on fire.

Jurano sighed at how stupid his classmates could get, but still he couldn't help but smile his way through the day. When the bell rang he couldn't be happier and started packing his stuff when Lucy asked him to discuss some stuff. He followed her out the door and sighed again at his classmates reaction. He could tell Lucy was ready to burn the school down and was contemplating the consequences of doing it himself. They reached the library and sat down at one of the tables.

"So, what's the plan?"

Lucy produced a small notebook she had apparently been keeping in her pocket. It didn't have as many scribbles and notes as the larger one she showed him the night before, but it still had its share. Opening it up, there was a doodle or a rough sketch of some kind of. . .thing. It looked like a cross between a dragon, knight, and some sort of machine. Scratched in large letters underneath the picture were the quotes, "New War Machine?" She flipped to a new page then, ignoring the drawing all together. Whatever it was, it looked downright intimidating.

"Now then. We need to discuss how exactly we plan on taking down The Ultimatum. I've tried many various tactics including sabotage, direct engagement, and even shoe bombs." That last statement should have been funny but Lucy remained stoic. A couple of seconds passed and she finally said, "That was a joke Jurano Darklight. You're supposed to laugh." Ok then. So she did have a sense of humor.

"This will be the first time I've planned a strike with someone other than myself," she continued. That much was obvious. "Now is the time for you to voice your thoughts on the matter. Any suggestions?" She had just asked him how to effectively bring down a nigh omnipotent government. A government that could very well be listening to them now. Lucy knew enough to keep her voice down, but still. It was like asking a toddler to find a tooth in a minefield. Next to impossible.

Jurano was appalled at how lame the joke was, in fact he almost took it as an insult. Let it slide just this once.. he thought to himself. He continued to listen and when she asked him about any suggestions he took a good minute to think of one.

"Well, we could go to their robot facility and stop the manufacturing of Inquisitors, an old friend from my orphanage showed a hidden entrance into the facility but we never entered for the fear of getting caught." He stated quietly while remembering the specific route to take to get there. He grabbed a tablet out of his bag and pulled up a map. He stared at the screen while looking for the address of the facility and pointed out the small gap between the fence and the house next to it.
"There, that's the entrance inside. Apparently it leads straight inside, or that's what a child said four years ago but to my knowledge it could still be there."

Lucy began nodding to Jurano's words."Yes, that sounds like the best option we have so far. A direct strike would prove meaningless, so we might as well stick to the shadows," she said robotically. It was almost like she was just talking to herself with Jurano there to confirm words and pitch in new ideas. "And what if the entrance is boarded up and locked away? We'll have to find a new plan of action. . ." Her voice trailed off, and she looked up at Jurano suddenly.Her eyes met his, and a new light of seriousness was now see.

"Jurano Darklight," she began calmly. "I'll ask you once again. Are you aware of the potential danger you now face? Do you still wish to continue this life of rebellion." The red head began tapping her pencil on the table, lost in its rhythmic beat. "There will be trials. And you risk putting all those around you in immediate danger. There are possibilities that you will be captured and interrogated." She looked off into the distance now, no longer meeting his gaze.

"It will hurt. All of it. And they will interrogate you because you are a nobody. Just another face to mangle and tear apart." She said this without flinching. "I do not have reason to believe there are others like me. There is a high possibility that it will just be the two of us."

"So I inquire you Jurano Darklight. I want to know how willing you're able to go for your freedom. This infiltration will prove your devotion to me in all of its finality. That's all."

Jurano smiled but it was one of his more serious smiles. He looked at Lucy and moved his hand towards his scarf.
"I know what pain is, and I know what kind of dangers there are that come included with this rebellion," he said removing the scarf to reveal a large scar that starts halfway down his neck and continues down into his shirt, "But I lost my family once, and nothing was done about it. So I'm going to make sure we get inside." He said his happy smile coming back as he placed his scarf back on his neck. He grabbed the tablet replacing it in his bag.
"So when are we going to do this?"

Lucy nodded, as if fully expecting his answer to be exactly that. "Good. I had a feeling you would agree with me." She closed her notebook, pushed her chair back, and began packing up her things. "We need to strike as soon as possible. Tonight sounds like the best time out of any other. Once we meet up at the given location, we can discuss our point of entry and go from there."

As she put the notebook away, Lucy glanced in Jurano's direction. . .and did something completely unexpected. She smiled. It was small one, barely noticeable to be honest. But there was no denying it. Lucy Bastion had just smiled. "Had" being the correct form of the verb, for she immediately wiped the smile away into her traditional stoic look.

"I am most appreciative of your assistance Jurano Darklight. That's all."

Well that was something. Soon enough, the bell rung, signaling the end of lunch for the day. Lucy turned and motioned Jurano to follow her back to class.

"Let's go. We need to be fully charged and refreshed in order to perform in topmost condition tonight." Or as a normal person would say it, she'd rather not be late to class.

Jurano nodded and started walking to class, understanding what she ment, or so he hoped. He walked behind her, headphones at the highest volume and banging his head soflty to the beat. When they arrived at the class he removed his headphones and sat down, and for once he actually payed attention to what the teacher was saying. He was explaining different power types and this always interested Jurano. He took in every word about how to use beam magic and was scrawling down notes like a madman.

Lucy followed Jurano's example, taking notes vigorously and devoting the utmost attention to the lesson at hand. Some students still gave her curious looks, under the assumption that her and Jurano were some kind of couple, but she payed them no mind and continued going about her day. Or rather, she could go about her day if the pain didn't start to act up again.

It was dull and distant, nothing too serious to worry about. Still, it was present enough to distract her mind on the task at hand and dwell into...much darker things. She stopped writing and placed her pen down, clutching one hand at her chest descreetly so no one would notice. She didn't need to bother anyone with her...weakness. No, she would handle it by herself. Alone. Like she had always done before.

Trying to distract herself until the day ended, the red head turned to stare at the window and looked over the world outside. But all that served to do was remind her of where exactly she lived. A world ruled by the Ultimatum.

The thought almost made her throw up right then and there as her mind wandered over to memories that were best left forgotten...

(No problem)