FalloutJack

Innocence Lost - A Science Fantasy RP [v.03]

NERO KAYAKOS

So...as things went on, their little discussion had hit upon the idea that if the pirates had any sense at all, they'd be using a little shuttle in any place that was civilized, not their main pirate vessel. And that's as maybe, considering that they were out here on a little tugboat to take them basically unawares. Then, there was the comment that pirates were just bad assassins, and this might've erupted into an actual argument if Ki'Tlex hadn't made a comment that just made Nero bust out laughing.

"Oh no! An assassin who's killed people on their own side is bad!"

Take it from his perspective for a moment: Nero had never been on the Ascendancy's side. They forced him through this mess they called a war, and he'd killed a number of people who rubbed him the wrong way or that he simply didn't give a damn about, so he let them die at the very least. Now, after the Rau've had been technically good hosts after capture, they were all fighting against the Ascendancy, big time, since...you know...they were always the bad guys. But anyway, planning continued because there wasn't much else to do around here, and since Nero didn't hate anybody on this boat, he wasn't planning on stuffing anybody in a ventilation shaft.

But then...disaster. A message sent to their ship, along with news of apparently civil war, the mission had been called off. The pirates had been 'dealt with', which could've meant they fled or were killed or anything. This immediately put Nero in a bad mood, making one of the access panels at the rear of the ship the sufferer of the end of his boot.

"Goddamn fucking kill-stealing bastards! I just wanted to stick it to those assholes for making life shitty for us, and now we don't have that! Can't even get a simple mission without something going wrong!"

This went on for a bit, at least until someone reminded him that announcements of whole planets going up in arms to attack the Ascendancy meant that he'd be seeing the most serious action he'd been in since the last war. That would probably calm him down.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

From The Field...

The message regarding the pirates had to come from somewhere, of course, and who better to tell that little ship to get back and regroup than those who had done the deed, and now stood with among the dead? It was hard to tell if they got 'em all. Probably not, but you could definitely say for certain that this particular group of pirates was done for, a glorious mess of blood and bodies. She watched the message go out on her Omnitool while the others checked things out, one hand still wielding a very heavy blade while other implements of gory destruction remained on her back. She read the message again, their rebel band's marching orders, and let off a vicious grin.

"He'll hate it. It will absolutely infuriate him. But he'll love it, after that."

Mary, the Berserker of Squad 0, was like an incarnation of war. They had seen a temper and a lack of restraint in her, and they decided 'Let's run with it', creating the war child that grew to be this dark-haired killing machine with eyes like fire and a delight in pushing forwards into combat and coming out the other end covered in blood that was not her own. She didn't care about the Ascendancy and its politics, only the glorious sensation of battle, the delightful sounds of flesh ripping and bones crunching in her ears, and the freedom to just cut loose and think of nothing...but kill.

You can see, then, why she saw something in another, saw such potential and...kinship...in another among the squads. He was perfection. He hated the war, but instead of making him a whining coward, he exceeded expectation and killed every single person who ever crossed him, taunting them all the way. It was keen workmanship too, such skill with so small a blade... She was hardly sloppy with her own weapons, but it always impressed to see him slip in and out of danger like water. That was why it actually hurt when they had to betray the other squads, the other marines. Most of them were nothing to her, but Nero... She'd told Crowley they shouldn't have left him, that he had a place among them.

That corpse, Ophelia, agreed, but that's because she wanted to possess him, keep him like a pet. Pathetic... May as well try to own fire, but that witch muttered about the boy at every opportunity, and if she thought for one minute that she was going to take him away- ...No. Not now. Not like this. This was a good day. They could finally show their faces again, and some of them might even understand. Nero would, because what he wanted was the same exact thing she hungered for. And in her secret dreams, she would be by his side as they happily killed everyone on Earth...

Not so unrealistic as that, of course. War is coming, Nero. They'll look on in envy as we carve the battlefield apart, and then we can take our time putting them all out of their misery...

「 Persona: Reflections 」

Hakuro Kuroda

Elsewhere...

"I warn you, brother. To not contend with forces you cannot understand. Make peace with your ills and repent thy deeds. It is only a matter of time before they catch up to you."

The figure stood away from the lantern light, symbolically cast away from all that is good and proper. He waited for this very line, and turned with sudden ferocity towards the light, turning against the light, as it were.

"My works are my own, and my family need not concern themselves! What have I, a great warrior to fear from this thing? I swear to you, I shall conquer it as all things!"

He was taken aback, but as he was the man's brother, he dared press on.

"But this is no ordinary threat. Even you must see it by now. The black fortune, the sounds of some creature, even now stalking towards you..."

There was the sound of growling in the backdrop. It had been worked on considerably to sound decent enough for the play. Yes, play. This was the Drama Club room, and they were going through one of the latter scenes of a three-act script, in which a man - a samurai - is haunted by the deeds of his past and is thoroughly unrepentent. As a result, a creature had been stirred by all the woes and sorrow against him, one which had formed from his beloved pet. Even now, the growling began to sound more...cat-like. The male lead - Hakuro's friend, Roshi - pushed Hakuro back now, forcing him to drop the lantern - a prop they rigged with a false flickery flame that they could turn off remotely - and cause the light to falter.

"Away with you! I face my demons alone! Come out, beast! Come out, and face your master!"

"Aaand done! Okay, this is good. We still need to make the monster, and I know that it's going to be difficult, but I know we can do it."

This was an idea that the Drama Club head had had last year with members, back when he was just a member. Since he had been put in charge this year, he'd been working on a script over the summer, and was proofing it out now with the others. Hakuro was the main supporting lead while Roshi, probably the best actor in the group, was the main role. Both had been in costume from a previous play still stored in this place, and the backdrop had been a sheet, but there was great confidence that this would work out. People love a horror tale, although some people wanted to do the Shakespearean tragedy that was the Legacy of Kain game series. A good tale, and well-written AS play, but very confusing. All that time travel...

At this stage, though, the hour groweth late, and they needed to clean up and get home. Here, there was the problem. In their enthusiasm, they'd run a bit long, and several of the members needed to go NOW. In a sudden solution to this, Hakuro held up his hand and said "No problem. I've got this. My hat is at your service.". This was met with uncertainty, but he said he had no other plans, so he'd do it. The others thanked him, and they were off. Truth be told, there wasn't much else for him to do today. In fact, as his investigations were starting to get into his head, he thought of taking a break to ease his mind and, in fact, stave off any suspicion anybody might have of his activities. A paranoid thought, but one he entertained for his own sake. If anyone was looking around for trouble, he was backing off so they wouldn't find any. If there wa none there, then he still needed a little break.

This stuff isn't as troublesome as it looks. Captain runs a tight ship.

He got to work, putting things away as he listened to some music via phone.

「 Persona: Reflections 」

Hakuro Kuroda

Mentionings: @Serei2477

I mean, it's not that hard for the site manager alone to find out that you are the one who did a thing. It's even easier if a guy known for a bit of sleuthing didn't even have to look very hard! Still, her reaction was puzzling, and the girl's next words seemed to confirm that...nothing at all was meant by it. He'd thought it was something like a smack in the face, or some kind of trolling. He'd responded to it in a funny way in order to show that he was taking it as some sort of funny challenge, and that would quell things better than directly taking it as insult. Really, the whole thing had confused him, and the timing...well...he explained.

"People say and do weird things, sometimes. That wasn't the issue at hand. I thought it was a bit of troublemaking because...maybe you noticed there's been a little grumbling on the site."

He began to make some emphatic gestures.

"'Hatto-san should talk about the Prime Minister's death! Everyone else is, so why won't he?', but I don't want to. It isn't something I know any better than anybody else or can do anything with, plus I don't want to be seen as just grabbing attention for it. Unfortunately, the other end of that is someone making it look like I'm just going 'Deal with it', which is what I thought the picture was about."

Now, he shook his head.

"It was just bad timing. I don't want you to take it down. That might make things worse. I just thought I'd ask, since I knew you were around."

He doffed his hat then, as he smiled...

"Hakuro Kuroda. You can call me Hatto-san, if you like, but I have a real name too."

...before remembering something, in regards to the picture.

"Also, I should warn you: Nagi brought the picture to my attention, as well. I...don't know exactly how she feels about it. I think she actually would've preferred if I was like that. It's kind of weird. She might ask about it too, though."

Yup, the *CoughTotallyNotYakuzaButYesSheReallyIsCought* tough girl was in on the act, too!

Innocence Lost - A Science Fantasy RP [v.03]

NERO KAYAKOS

Later On...

The Blowfish is a small craft, and therefore not much room in it to do anything, so what you should do in a ship like this is a whole lotta nothin'. Specifically, what Nero had been doing for the duration was taking up one small nook or corner of the interior and lying against it. Was he asleep, or vibing to the music his Omni-Tool was putting through his mask? Well, you couldn't tell because, of course, the mask...but the fact is that he did doze off at some point during the journey. Fact is, there was a pretty good chance of this, since he'd taped a sign to the wall, stating that 'Nero.exe has stopped working for the moment. Wake up when we're actually there.'. He obviously didn't want to be bothered for most of the trip if he didn't have the luxury of moving around much. Even the vents didn't offer him much to go on...or go IN.

Ah, the vents of a small cruiser... That reminded him...

Nero Flashback!

Back During The War...

"...and then, we'll move on with the left flank of the main battle group- Kayakos, are you getting all this? HEY!"

A smallish vessel, on its way from a bigger one to a planet that might detect the big one, but not the little one...somewhere in outer space. A strike time was harbored within, and they were discussing their plan of action while they waited. While they did, though, their secret weapon - a certain Star Marine - had stolen a marker and taken up residence in one corner of the room, writing 'Nero's Corner. Fuck off.' before going to sleep. It wasn't on a ship exactly like the Blowfish, but accommodations were about as terrible, and the company was worse. Nero was resolved to ignore them for the journey, but the commanding officer turned and found him slasking off, and with a grumble he pulled him up by the scruff of his neck and took his mask off so he knew he was looking at him.

"Listen, kid. You're a soldier in this army, and that means having to learn a little strategy, especially so you know what your squad is doing, got it? So, get over here and study this map!"

He was pulled over to the map of the region they'd be attacking, with pushpins being used to represent their forces and the markers having been used to crudely draw in locations and plans of attack. Nero looked this over, and then pulled out his own marker as he pulled out one of the pins and put it in away from everybody else. He then wrote 'BAIT' with a circle around the group, and wrote 'ME' with an arrow pointing to the lone pushpin, before tossing the marker in his CO's face and turning away with a smile. That caused the man to shove him into the wall, hard.

"Stupid kid! You think you're invincible? You need to learn how wars are FOUGHT! Alright, let's go over it again. Fucking kid's useless..."

There wasn't any immediate reaction from Nero, there, but as the men were three hours into their rest later, the CO suddenly found himself garrotted in his chair, with the last words he ever heard being "Wars are fought by killing, dumbass.". Nobody heard any struggle, and they didn't even find the body, afterwards, which was a shock when you consider there wasn't much anywhere to go. He'd been pulled into the vents, of course. Operating an airlock was NOT quiet, and he didn't want to wake anybody up. When the other men asked him if he'd done in their captain, he said...

"Well, that depends. Do we all go on that planet and kill some folk, or do I have to go and do it alone?"

From then on, the rest of the men decided to obey the sign and kindly fuck off.

Nero was a bit kinder, these days, because he'd had significent time enough to relax, and because he didn't actively hate the people around him. So, that was why his note on the wall was just a piece of paper, and not even rude. Furthermore, he didn't silently want to kill Alan when the boy asked his question among those that were here.

"Oh, it'll be the ship that has the most speed and guns you can put on it without compromising it too much. Pirates like surprise attacks, so they wanna move in with speed and gunfire so fast that you don't have time to react, and not very much left to react WITH once you get around to it. Well...it's what I'd do, anyway. I could be a pirate. Pirate is just assassin with more drinking involved."

「 Persona: Reflections 」

Hakuro Kuroda

Mentionings: @DJAtomika @Serei2477

To be honest, Hakuro didn't like people selling themselves short either. It was just that he felt the need to point out that some people aren't interested no matter how good you are. He would follow up on that matter as the other girl did, saying "I agree. You're probably fine, just not for this setting. Somewhere that actually takes auditions, maybe, in a bigger town.", although he was 90% sure the music he'd been hearing on the way up wasn't Akira's own. Nevertheless, Hakuro read the 'room' and decided to remain encouraging. Why not? It couldn't hurt to try. Just take the act somewhere else, somewhere that the people might...hmmm. A thought came to him, just then. He'd've brought it up, if not for the hard rocker here addressing him now.

"Well, I'm not exactly new, and unless I'm mistaken, you've seen my face before. Long enough to draw it, anyway."

The Hatto-san stepped forward, tapping his phone a few times to bring up an image and show it to her. It was, naturally, the image that the 'Metal Chick' account had posted online that he found very weird, the one of himself as some kind of Thug Life nutjob, complete with sunglasses.

"You have an account on my site with an artist's rendering of your face in the profile and Fujihama listed in the public info. I didn't even need the IP address, 'cause I'd seen you around."

He pocketed the phone now.

"Now, I'm not angry, and I'm sure as hell not gonna be like Okamoto about it, but I would like to know why...because I had to dance, and I didn't feel like dancing."

Yes, it was important to note that he wasn't pissed off. He was mainly confused. People have made doodles of him before. It happens. But this was kind of 'out there', and it made him seem like a bad person, especially at a time where he was putting his foot down about not talking about the Prime Minister.

「 Persona: Reflections 」

Hakuro Kuroda

Mentionings: @DJAtomika @Serei2477

Good-News/Bad-News time. The good news was that, after alot of searching, Hakuro was about to search out the information he was looking for. This wasn't to say that the news he had found was good. It made for a grim read. There were a host of flunked-out students whom Okamoto had treated like garbage, in which some of them were in a bad way and...some of them had succumbed to pressure in the worst way. Let's just say that if Nagi really had plans to make that woman disappear, he wouldn't argue with the girl's methods. And yes, some of the failures had disappeared... The bad news, though...was in the successes, the ones he'd been warned about. Some of them were unfamiliar to him, just names listed among a series of achievements. However, some of them... The Student Treasurer, Room 3-A's Class Rep, Rina's older brother... Hakuro's eyes widened especially at that last one.

No wonder you were trying to warn me. You knew about the fanaticism from the start, and that put you onto the fallout of the fail-outs.

There were others in the vicinity of him, but the main threat was that the most-successful were in the places where being aware and in control of things surrounding them worked hand-in-hand. No wonder the Pricnipal liked the results. These were achievers probably at any cost, and they had a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome. Hakuro stepped back from the computer and headed out of the school library. He needed time to think, to reflect on this. Putting on some music, he started to head to the roof while composing a text to Rina.

I see now why you warned me so quickly.
It must've been rough for you, at home.
I'm sorry if my investigation caused you grief.

Heading up the floors, he was getting close to the roof, looking to get some air, when...something interrupted. He stopped his phone a second. Was there...? Yeah, someone up here was already here, playing music. It was different from the track he'd been playing, which was from a show. It was more up-beat, even. Hakuro decided to open the door to the roof and have a listen, seeing two girls, both of whom he knew, but not personally. That is, one was the Metal Chick, and the other was the very-much-into-pink girl, Akira. The music played itself out, and then the Metal Chick - who was the one that drew that picture of him, most likely - asked a question that Hakuro was all too happy to answer as he stepped out into the open.

"Unfortunately, there isn't really much in town that would be alright with that. Closest things would be either the mall, and Komatsu Karaoke, and Shimazu-san doesn't like minors hanging around the bar. Believe me, I tried."

For the record, Hakuro was not mispronouncing Shimizu Aoi's name. He was equating them to the Shimazu of history, a clan of war and profit. So, these two had a Hatto-san on their hands now. What do?

「 Persona: Reflections 」

Hakuro Kuroda

Mentionings: ?????

April 25th, 2025. For real, this time...

The events of last night had been entertaining, and before he had to turn in for the night, Hakuro had purchased some quick half-priced bento that his watchers and listeners wanted him to fight some people over, all because of that one anime. What they didn't understand was that life did not work that way. In order to even fake a choreographed fight in a public place, you have to have alot of permissions and consents, along with waivers to cover the damages or possible injuries. And if you just spontaneously tried to make a real food-based Fight Club things, the police would be all over you in seconds, even in this small town. It wouldn't work, and he told his fans to stop trying to make it work.

So, the next day at lunch time, he was reviewing the online submission as he ate from his bento box, not initially noticing Nagi as she came in, but then becoming aware of her once she called him out by name. He didn't know what it was she wanted - He hadn't actually done anything to her - but there was always that tone that suggested you were in trouble. It was a natural enough reaction, and she was also prepared to throw down if he didn't make himself known. That was what bade Hakuro to stand up and follow her to discuss...well...nobody in Class 3-A would know. Anyone, like Kenzan, who'd placed bets on him getting beaten up would find him unblemmished. You, the viewing audience, know what really went down, but anybody asking - and a couple of his classmates, including the Class Rep, DID - would receive the same answer, that "She was consulting me about a rumor she'd heard, and asked about this weird drawing of me she'd seen online.". Honestly, the picture thing caught him by surprise, and what even more surprised him was that Nagi seemed disappointed that it wasn't a real thing. Honestly, did she want him to be some kind of street-talking, full-of-themselves kind of person? Apart from not being his style, he'd sound just like every single influencer out there on the internet trying to sound tough and cool, when it's all just an act, and even if you don't enjoy the Hatto-Show, at least he was FUNNY.

Anyway, that whole business was neither here nor there, and the main issue - the one that kept Hakuro in that club room until the end of lunch - was what he and Nagi had been talking about. It was clear as soon as she'd asked that Nagi had been planning to move against her teacher, assuming she hadn't already. Okamoto hadn't been met with any sort of violence or been threatened, as far as Hakuro was aware, but everything pointed toward some unspecified action to take place, and that she didn't want him to worry about it...which was street code for 'I don't want you sticking your nose in that part.'. However, she DID want to hear more information, if he came across any, and to that he had an angle ready and waiting. Words were not said in direct confirmation, but Hakuro definitely got the impression that Nagi was saying Okamoto was in deep with something.

She has a number of success stories, of Third-Years and Graduates singing her praises. I wonder... Is there a common thread among the failures? Flunked out, perhaps, but I'd better make sure that they're not DEAD or something.

After school, he was going Hatto again, as per usual. This time, however, he was hitting the library to just cross-reference some names. Thanks to Rina, he'd gotten a list of some of the names of Miss Okamoto's successes. A bit of computer work and looking at school records for a 'comparative look at the greatest test scores throughout the year' would reveal who it was essentially suffered at her hands...and then he would try to find out what happened to them, what she did to them...

「 Persona: Reflections 」

Hakuro Kuroda

Mentionings: ?????

He awoke sometime later, as evening properly approached. Hakuro sat up on his bed and looked at the time. Huh... That late, already? Well, if he was going to do anything special tonight, now was the time to decide, as the curfew would be in like a couple of hours. As stated, he didn't really like having his potential hours cut short, but Katsuragi had engrained in him a fair understanding of the why. Casually looking over his notepad, he considered writing an entry for her like he did other people, but as he'd decided to let this be a bit more organic in getting to know her, maybe knowing her full name should come first. Hakuro set the pad aside and got onto his computer instead, checking out a bit of news - nothing new - and then the Hatto-Site. It was pretty much the norm, but then...

"What the...?"

There was this picture that...

"Whaaat?"

Someone posted this on the forums. He sometimes got art of him in various situations. There were even Deep Fakes of him in place of Inspector Zenigata from Lupin The 3rd. Those were always funny, especially the episode 'Zenigatacon'. Hakuro immediately posted a Jackie Chan reaction pic, followed by 'Oh, it's on, now.'. He liked to leave dangling comments like that. It let the forum stew on that while trying to imagine what it is he was going to do in response. This might've been connected to his statement that he wasn't going to talk about the PM's death, and that some might've taken his attitude as some Thug Life 'Deal with it' kind of thing. Hakuro resented that. He had class. He had style. Just look at that hat! Look at that coat! Look at that swagger! Donning them both, he stepped out and shouted "HATTO LEAP!" as he jumped from the stairs leading up to his apartment outside to the ground before taking off in a run. He was going to the arcade for a little fun time...

On the way to the place, he pulled out the Go-Pro he'd taken from his room and set it up. It was a fairly-decent model that he sadly didn't treat as well as his phone. As is with the things, sometimes, that when you toss it around, it gets bumps and knicks and scratches. But after seeing the channel How Ridiculous, Hakuro figured it would be alright, in the long run. If three Aussies could drop it from on high and it still works, then his would probably be fine. Anyway, he got to the area of the Fujihama Game Centre and started recording the walk-up with a serious expression on his face.

"This is what happens. This is your fault. You drove me to this."

He stepped into the arcade and looked around, pausing only slightly at his intended target before focusing on someone to give him a hand.

"Adult-Man, player of games! Are you busy?"

There was that one guy that was known for coming in sometimes to play 'cause he's basically bored. Hakuro had made his acquaintence and given him the heroic title he was now addressed by, mainly for laughs. The man turned around at this point.

"Ah, Hatto-san! You recording?"

"I am, but I need your help. It won't take long."

"What do you need?"

"My honor is impugned. They have taken my image and done this!"

He showed him the image on his phone.

"I mean, it's not bad, but the comments are...you don't talk like this, do you?"

"You see? You see?! I can't let this go unchallenged. Please help me. I need you to record while I dance the dance of doom."

"The...? Oh! You want to use the machine?"

"Yes."

The machine had various nicknames, but Hakuro called it the Dance Dance Revolutionary. It was the Game Centre's best dance machine, and sometimes his arch-nemesis on harder levels. He stepped on as 'Adult-Man' recorded, and set it for a hard track.

"You did this to me. Now...here is my retort."

It was hard to keep up the serious face for long, especially when the music picked up, so Hakuro gave it up once he had to really move with the beats, his feet dashing from spot to spot in rapid succession. He wasn't perfect, but he was scoring high! Hakuro had originally started doing this when he received a challenge from a dancing accountant who regularly used these kinds of machines to unwind. The man's name was Hito Fuyunaito, and he could bust incredible moves all while wearing a nice salaryman suit. He could Gangnam Style down the street or do anything, and Hakuro admired that, so he took the challenge to try and best his high scores. So far, no dice, but he had gotten good, as you could see right now. He was just finishing up as he shouted out.

"I'm not a disaster! I'm a dancer, I'm a romancer, and I'm a repaster!"

"What's that mean?"

"It means I forgot to eat! Aaaaaggghhh!!!"

This was gonna be funny as hell, once he got it online.

「 Persona: Reflections 」

Hakuro Kuroda

Mentionings: Katsuragi Yuri

It had been a long day for Yuri, one filled with tons of work and more rumors than she liked to hear. Word of a so-called Miss Okamoto’s transgression against Class 2-B made her a bit spiteful; if what people were saying was true, then she was pitting teenagers against each other in an attempt to preserve her own self-image. Though, more than anything, she was curious. She had a good idea of who had created the cursed drawing that had caused so much chaos, though how would the whole situation play out?

The flash of a coin caught her eye as she reached the bottom of the steps that led up to the school. Yuri turned to see a boy who she swore was familiar. Hey, wasn’t that... “Oh, you’re that third year who’s asking all of those questions,” Yuri commented. She stared at him with a small quirk of a smile, waiting for his next move.

The coin landed- ”What?” He grabbed it from the air as his head turned, distracted, as a girl he was...neither familiar nor unfamiliar with...addressed him. It was an either-or situation because, of course, he’d seen her in school, but he had yet to put down information regarding her into anything. The familiarity was there because he’d seen her around with Asumi, whom he DID know more about. The thing she said, though, was ummm...how to address this? Well, he’d made a toss prior, so why not...?

“Huh? Who said that? Oh wait, everyone did. Unless I didn’t. In which case...no?”

He was being a bit coy. Hakuro had never spoken with her before, and he was riding on the wings of a warning about making his actions a little too known...but he didn’t want to be unfriendly to someone trying to hold a conversation with him. He flicked his hat once with a smile.

“It’s the hat. Hiding in plain sight. Uhh, which questions were those, though? I kinda’ have a habit of this.”

Yuri cocked her head to the side at Hakuro’s response. Her eyebrow quirked a little, almost as if she pondered him or if she was a bit frustrated with the way he looped around her statement. “The ones you’ve been asking more recently,” she answered, though her smirk only grew into a fond smile. “You mind walking me to my job? With all of the disappearances, I’m starting to get scared of heading there on my own.”

He gave her an “Oh those questions.”, which was pretty much confirmation to her inquiry, but in good humor. This may have been a bad move, but he’d rather know up-front where the conversation was going, in truth. His evasiveness was merely a choice of approach toward this end. Perhaps the girl was curious about him, as well, because she asked if he would escort her to her place of employment.

“Sure, I don’t mind. No problem.”

He made a ‘Lead the way’ sort of gesture for her, then proceeded to walk alongside as she essentially led. It was only after a mental pause and a blink that he followed up with...

“...what disappearances?”

Yuri nodded at his gesture. A long, tired sigh left her lips as she set off for one of the busy roads of town. “What, you didn’t know? That’s why we have that curfew,” she replied as she shrugged the loose strap of her backpack onto her other shoulder. “People’ve been vanishing from town. The girls in my class are scared, they think it’s a kidnapper or serial killer or something. But I think people might just be running away.”

She yawned as she rubbed an eye. “So, why are you asking so many questions about that teacher? Miss Okemata? Miss Okumuta?”

He was a bit embarrassed to find that he’d missed that. It should’ve been something his mind was focused on instead of this business of the Prime Minister, like everyone else, or trying to straighten out his site in regards to that matter.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize the situation was that serious. I should’ve known, but all I heard was ‘No more late-nights’ and was completely bummed out thereafter. As for Okamoto...”

He looked her over for a second, parsing together what little he knew with the fact that she didn’t even bother to pronounce the teacher’s name right. She wasn’t in that class, or even much associated, save for one, perhaps.

“You heard from Asumi what happened, didn’t you? It’s one thing for a teacher to seek discipline towards a student disproportionately, and for that to be in question. But for a whole class? Unprecedented... I checked. There isn’t a cause for it in the book. Alas, I’ve heard that that may not stop her, and that has led my abrupt questioning to a halt, at least until I try an approach that won’t step on too many toes.”

“Oh.” Yuri’s smile melted off her face. She turned her gaze down the road once again and rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah... I heard about that.”

After a few seconds of pondering, she shook her head. “It’s pretty bad, but if I were you, I wouldn’t get involved with it. Don’t even ask any questions.” Yuri gave him a pointed side-long glance so she was sure she could get the point across. “You’re gonna graduate soon, so I don’t think it’s worth getting into any sticky business... there’s gotta be a reason why she’s been around for so long, right?”

He nodded, saying ”I know.”. His questions might’ve gotten him close to being burned, as she suggested, but fortunately he’d been given fair warning.

“One of my Drama Club friends told me about her having people in her corner among the Third Years...and also the Principal."

He let that sink in, as if to say that even on a bad day, the Hatto-san still gets his intel. His own expression had gone rather solemn, or maybe into a Deep Thought kind of mode.

”I’m very lucky. I might just be able to survive her, even if I’m targeted, though it might hurt in a different way. The point is whoever else might get damaged in my wake, hence the sudden caution...but give in entirely? I know what she’s doing, and it’s sickening. In future times, I don’t wanna look back and regret doing nothing on this one.”

Now, he looked over her way with a smile.

”I think I’m alright telling you this because you’re clearly not one of her followers. What do I call you besides ‘Asumi’s friend’, though?”

Yuri paused for a second when Hakuro mentioned what he heard. Her eyes widened and her lips pursed into a straight line. “Damn, so it runs that deep, huh...” she murmured as she dropped her gaze down onto the floor. “I guess I’m really lucky I don’t have her as a teacher. Still, poor Asumi...”

After a brief pause, she glanced back up at him and offered him a weak smile. “Y’know, this town needs more people like you, standing up for things that are right. Too many people stay to the side when something bad’s going on. It’s sad...but hey, thanks for the compliment. I’d hate it if I got labeled as one of her followers...” Then, with a sly smirk, she teased, “and what’s with calling Asumi by her first name? You must know her really well if that’s the case.”

She let out a dry chuckle, which was quickly punctuated by a long sigh. “You can call me Katsuragi, by the way.”

They would both laugh, because it seemed like they needed it after being sobered by the Okamoto experience. Yes, Hakuro was prepared to roll with that one.

“I don’t, but she’s so outwardly friendly that I don’t think she’d even mind.”

In keeping with the theme, though, the girl was just going by her family name, so he doffed his hat with a smile and a nod and went “Kuroda.”. He’d considered doing the ‘Bond, James Bond’ routine, but that was neither his style, nor an effective means of segway into his alter-ego as the Hatto-san.

“Hey... Is it alright if I asked about these disappearances? I know the reasons you said were just theory, but...is there a pattern to ‘em at all?”

“Nice to meet you, Kuroda,” Yuri affirmed with a smirk. They walked for a bit more as she pondered his next question. “I don’t think anyone knows about a pattern except for the police, and that’s a huge maybe...they can be kind of dumb sometimes.”

“All I do know is that people need to be careful,” she finally added. “Especially the kids from the high school.”

The young man seemed to ponder that himself for a moment, wondering if...nah, it’s probably nothing. Unless it isn’t. Let’s just say that it was going in the suddenly-pulled-out notepad before the thing was replaced in his coat pocket.

“Thoughts for later. Where do you work, anyway? I’ve been in this town about a year, and I’m pretty sure I only ever saw you a handful of times, mainly at school.”

Yuri didn’t mention anything about his sudden quietness, instead choosing to answer his next question. She nodded down the street at a bookstore that was tucked in close against the residential district. “I work at Kudo’s today,” she replied. “I’m a pretty busy gal, need to pay the rent to my place, so I work odd jobs here and there. You know what they say, money makes the world go round.”

“Ahh, you rotate around. That makes sense. Well, most of the employs seem nice in this town, so I imagine you have a fine time of it.”

Huh... That was interesting. Rent implies that she lived in an apartment of her own, as well. That didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t local, but she was working to possibly strike out on her own while still in high school. Hakuro felt the itch to inquire further about that, but he had a feeling that it would be overstepping his boundaries...and we’d already had enough of that happening already. Best to keep that one for later, maybe.

“They’re alright, I guess,” Yuri replied with an indifferent shrug. As they approached the bookstore, she waved at him and gave him another smile. “I’ll see you around. Get home safe!”

And with that, she trotted down the street and slipped inside the small bookstore, leaving Hakuro alone once again. He had, to his credit, waved back, saying "You too!" as she headed off. He wasn't far from his place now, so he could just take her advice and head right there...or he could keep an eye on things externally to make sure she doesn't run afoul of anyone...or he could look up who it was he was dealing with-

What am I doing? Haven't I had enough for one day?

He really overdid it, sometimes. Why not just meet someone without secretly finding some background information and learn about them the normal way? Katsuragi seemed nice, after all. A down-to-earth sort of girl with realistic expectations of the world, maybe, and she liked his attitude. These were good points that he just shouldn't spoil, so yeah... Home. He'd had a day, and she could surely look after herself if HE was the one not fully-informed about the disappearances, like he should. Hakuro went back to the apartment and shrugged off his coat, putting it up on a hook with his hat nearby. He pulled out his notes that he'd been taking all day, wandering to his bed and falling back into it.

"I should talk to them direct, with or without finding these 3rd Years and graduates. There's no telling what that teacher is really capable of. No telling..."

He turned over and decided to take a snooze, leaving the notebook open on his bed to a particular page...

Okamoto Hina - History Teacher (Class 2-B)
Disproportionate Response
Gets Results, Principal Impressed

Fraud?
Extortionist?
Kidnapper/Murderer?

Innocence Lost - A Science Fantasy RP [v.03]

NERO KAYAKOS

The problem, on the whole, was that Nero wasn't treating Nirrti as some kind of walking weapon, so he didn't think of it as that when trying to equip the machine. He heard 'I need a large weapon of some kind.', and immediately thought of a big ole' plasma-flamer. It wasn't a terrible idea, per se. It's just that Nirrti knew their own capabilities and what worked better in the field. So, when the eager Marine heard that the flamethrower wouldn't work, he was naturally confused, and then a little dejected. He kinda' wanted to see what the action in the field would be. Maybe Nirrti could've made recordings? It was actually kinda' disapointing, and as he lowered it, you could see that on his face.

"Eh...I'm not that great with guns. And I haven't pulled any special ones off of anyone, lately, so this was all I really got. And you can't have my chainsaw. I'm taking that."

Yes, that's right. The Jaws-of-Slice Super-Cutter was coming with him. It was actually on his back, right now, as he'd hoisted the strap on the way out of storage. It was time for that to get its field test too, you see. Still, as he was about to put the flamer off to the side, Nero spoke up to Nirrti again with a smile.

"After our missions, let's meet up again and talk weapons. Who knows? Maybe I'll get something off of the pirates, and we can watch fight recordings for fun."

Go figure that Nero would be holding a decent conversation with a killing machine. It seemed pretty much up his alley, instead of a normal human being, or even average alien being. Normal people just weren't that interesting. Speaking of which, and most unexpectedly, Blackbeard's Ship Queen Anne's Revenge suddenly chimed in. Of course! The black market mechanoid! The perfect choice! Nero renewed his savage grin as he held it over.

"Well, alright, then! You try that thing out, and tell me if it works out. I mean it. I want recordings from both of you, and we can talk fighting tactics over popcorn or whatever the hell you eat."

It was at this point that he actually noticed Ki'Tlex, who was mostly silent, but had interjected in the middle of QAR's boisterous opening, which Nero didn't really care about, since the machine had said the right things.

"And your the fourth member coming with me, Flame, and other flame-boy. Whadya think the pirates are gonna try while we're tracking them down? I'm thinking space mines with magnetic grapplers or a whole asteroid just set to blow. They like the unexpected and the 'boom'. Any thoughts on that before we take off?"

He was enjoying this just a little too much. The opinion Ki'Tlex had of the Star Marines was likely to get colored funny be the likes of Nero.