[@Crimmy] [b]Shiroyama Alliance[/b] I... [b]"Makes sense, at least..."[/b] For a given value of making sense. I couldn't find fault in the statement, though. Being huge, blunt, and not to mention primarily made for construction, the lexicon of techniques for an I-Beam was probably always going to be rather short. And me still being thoroughly poleaxed by how bluntly [i]superhuman[/i] people with awakened Auras were, honestly, just said more about me than it did everyone else. I'd lived in a home with up to three of them, after all. Did I have reason to be so taken aback? Probably not, but I still couldn't help myself, sometimes. [color=ffcf40]"Hey, Nii-chan!"[/color] To speak of living with [i]those[/i] three, there was two and a half of them now. The door swung open wide, as the elder of my two sisters mercifully didn't [i]kick it[/i], as she had the door to my poor bedroom so many times, and all but dragged in the psychedelic-shirted and scruffy form of our elusive, wayward "uncle". For his part, he was taking this predicament about as well as ever, sporting that frivolously casual, slightly amused smirk on his face. The one he always had. [color=aba000]"Yo, Luke. You're up bright and early, did something good happ—?"[/color] [color=ffcf40]"Do you know anywhere we could grab a snack? We're all feeling a bit peckish, and Tanner doesn't know if any of the old joints are still around, he says!"[/color] The one that survived getting his catchphrase cut off and spoken for, apparently. Also, how in the hell did [i]anyone[/i] believe that?! It was [i]Tanner "Rain, Wind, Shine, or Snow, I'll only Clue You into Half of What I Know" Oshino[/i] we were dealing with, here! He definitely knew. He knew better than me, I was certain. In fact, I would have even gone so far as to say he knew which I did and didn't know about. ... I looked down to the table, at the now-finished bit mechanism. A spike of aura through... A high, distinctly mechanical keening filled the air, and I confirmed that we did indeed have rotation, ladies and gentlemen. Reverse-engineering successful. And now, I had a whole bunch of nothing else to do with the snacks ball squarely in my court. Pinned beneath two expectant gazes, one entirely blank one, and one that thought it already saw my response coming, I basically found myself coming to one conclusion. [b]"Yeah, I know a little coffee shop. Shouldn't be too far."[/b] [hr] [@Plank Sinatra][@Ayazi][@Silvan Haven][@Write][@LokiLeo789] A short time later, our squad of Shiroyama representatives managed to get there without much conflict, scene-causing, or real incident of any kind, which I would count in my list of small miracles for the day right alongside the tiny piece of machinery I'd shoved into my pocket. It was a quaint place, with a relaxed atmosphere that I could appreciate— [color=ffcf40]"Oh hey, that's Bianca!"[/color] That April promptly shattered into a million pieces, crowing her discovery as soon as she noticed my new teammate. She waved eagerly to draw her attention— [color=00aeef]"And, unless I'm mistaken, that's the Atlesian guy you met on the ship, right?"[/color] Dawn chimed in, tugging my sleeve as if I wasn't already well aware of their presence. [color=00aeef]"The 'secret agent'?"[/color] I shook my head with a weary sigh. [b]"Yeah, that's Jericho. Just don't flood him with too many— eh?"[/b] I had opened my eyes again to cast a stern, authoritative, older brother-esque look upon the two, but I was shocked to find only dust clouds in their wake. How in the heck did they manage that in a place with a whole bunch of booths, tables, and waitstaff milling about? [b]"Eh?!"[/b] [color=ffcf40]"Hi there! We're Luke's sisters!"[/color] [color=00aeef]"It's nice to meet you, Bianca-san, Jericho-san!"[/color] How?! How'd they do it?! Teleportation?! Jack assisting from the sidelines?! The World?! I looked to Tanner for an explanation— And he was gone too. I scanned the room— [color=aba000]"And I'll have a latte for myself, Miss. A shot of espresso in there to wake me up would be great, too. As you can see, I've got some [i]exuberant[/i] company."[/color] I... I was, once again, left in the dust, with only Galla there to just kind of exist stonily near me for comfort. I don't know why I even bothered deluding myself that they'd have done any different. All I could do now was head over and ensure that they didn't do too much damage to our good family name with their antics... [b]"Hey. Fancy meeting you guys here."[/b] And so, I pulled up a seat between my sisters and did just that. [b]"Especially you, man."[/b] I continued, giving a pointed, but hopefully not confrontational look to Jericho. [b]"I thought you were rid of us after the [i]Sleipnir[/i]?"[/b]