[Mushverse, open to anyone] Yet another rider joins in...

[halfboiledjoker]

This place seems just like any other city. Maybe a bit more hustle-and-bustle than Fuuto, granted, but it doesn't seem like the sort of place to be rife with crime and underground activity.

Then again, I never thought Fuuto could be that way, either.

I park the bike in a spot and pull off my helmet. It's weird, somehow, to think that those rumors of caped dopants could have drifted all the way from here. If it were any other sort of crime, I wouldn't have even been tapped. But the rumors had gotten even Jinno a little nervous, and I owed him a favor or five anyway.

Now if only I could find my way to this high school he wanted me to check out. What was the name again? I check my notes - ah, Amanogawa. It's late enough in the day...I wonder if there are any students wandering about?

Comments

[halfboiledjoker]

I nod slowly. Best not look too eager. "That sounds great. I could use something to eat, anyway." I glance around briefly, but I don't see anything obvious nearby. With one smooth motion I take my hat off and bow with a flourish. "Lead the way?"

[surprisingwolf]

I take him to the Little Fish cafe, keeping a careful eye o him in case he tries something. Sitting down at the cafe table, I barely glance at the menu. I know they make a good, relatively cheap curry.

I try to think of a way to warn him away from the school. It's not safe. "The curry's good."

That's the easiest thing to say at the moment.

[halfboiledjoker]

He keeps an eye on me the whole way over to the little cafe, as if expecting me to suddenly turn on him and attack. And maybe that's not such a bad thing - a little paranoia can be healthy. Too much, however, and things go bad.

Real bad.

I sit down across from him and notice that he already knows this place well enough to not need the menu. He recommends the curry, so I order one for each of us. Now maybe we can get down to business.

"So, is there a specific reason you don't want to stand out?" I try gently. "Something you're afraid of, maybe?"

[surprisingwolf]

I raise my eyebrows. I know he means well, but... Ithe last time a stranger asked me personal things, I was tied down on a table. I still don't remember it all.

Hoping that doesn't reflect on my face, I try my best to answer. "Being an engineering geek isn't always a good thing."

[halfboiledjoker]

Ack. Too much, too fast. He's closed himself off. But I don't buy his excuse. Maybe that's part of it, but there's more there.

"Is bullying bad at Amanogawa?" I try a more casual tactic. School bullying is a big deal overseas right now, but things are mostly unchanged here in Japan. It shouldn't be too big of a deal if I go in from that angle. "My...cousin was thinking of taking the exams there. For next year."

Akiko could probably pass as my younger cousin. If needed. Maybe.

[surprisingwolf]

So he does have a relative thinking of going there! I shudder, though I try to hide it. "It's more like an American high school in some ways. I mean, we still have clubs and everything, but...."

I look at him, still debating what to say. I don't want to scare him, but his cousin needs to be safe. "The only reason I'm still there is because it'll be easier to get into college." Or at least that was my original reason for going there.

[halfboiledjoker]

He tries to hide it, but something about Amanogawa frightens him when he talks about it. Or upsets him. There's something fishy in Amanogawa, and hopefully this boy can help me figure out what it is.

"Ah, we never did introduce ourselves, did we?" I take off my hat and hold it to my chest politely. "Hidari Shotarou. I'm visiting here from Fuuto."

I peek up and give the kid a slightly inquisitive look. Hopefully he'll feel enough at ease to introduce himself as well.

[surprisingwolf]

Sometimes I hate having a distinctive given name. "Fudou Leo," I tell him, bowing slightly. I feel so bad for him coming here to look at such a dangerous school.

I wish there was a way to tell him to stay far, far away without it sounding like an overblown reaction to bullying or exposing something that shouldn't be exposed.

"What is your cousin interested in, Hidari-san?" I can figure out a better way to warn him if I know more about his cousin, maybe.

[halfboiledjoker]

"Leo-kun," I say and give him a nod back in kind before putting my hat back on. Can't go long without my hat.

What area of study should Akiko be interested in? I rack my brain, trying to remember what I'd read about Amanogawa before driving out here. "Astronomy," I say with the slow uncertainty of an older cousin (hopefully). "She's heard it's Amanogawa's area of expertise."

[surprisingwolf]

I nod. That makes sense. "It is," I tell him. "The last head of the Astronomy club had... problems. I'm not entirely sure what, but the club itself hasn't done too well. Maybe with a new president this year, it'll be a good club."

What can I do to protect his cousin, if it came to it? I'd hope that she wouldn't come here, but if she does.... "My brother's interested in astronomy, but he couldn't stand the current club members, so he ended up in the library club with his girlfriend."

[halfboiledjoker]

Alright. We can skip around the point all day long, I'm sure, but our curry arrives and I drop the subject long enough to take a few bites. It's actually pretty good.

"I have to admit," I say slowly, not wanting to jump into this part of the conversation too abruptly. "That I'm a little more nervous than most might be about her going to Amanogawa."

I pause to take a few more bites, and see what Leo's reaction might be. Little by little...

[surprisingwolf]

I work on my curry, making sure it stays in my sight at all times. What he is telling me could mean one of two things: one, that he's heard rumors - which is kind of bad - or two, he's an overprotective older cousin.

Or he got volunteered to check it out for her.

"I had a good first year." I think of how to try to warn him more without saying anything really obvious. "But the atmosphere's changed. I'm not the only one that's had problems this year." I'm just one of the most injured, mentally.

[halfboiledjoker]

I lean back against my seat and deliberately avoid eye contact with Leo. I'm going to have to play this cool if I'm going to gain his trust.

"Thing is...back home, I've got friends in the police department." Not really a lie. "And there are...rumors. Of things going on here."

I risk a quick glance back at Leo's face. "I was kind of hoping to find someone who'd let me know if there were...certain kinds of problems here. For Aki-chan's sake." Oh boy, I brought her into this by name now. Hope this doesn't backfire.

[surprisingwolf]

I try to think of what would interest the police. Certainly, there's a lot of wounded students, and that's what he might have heard. I'm sure my name is on the injured list.

He wants to protect his cousin. I can live with that. I don't want the school shut down, really, but I want her to be safe. "I don't know what you've been hearing," I tell him cautiously. "But I'm not sure this is a good place for your cousin right now. There are a lot of... student and staff injuries."

[halfboiledjoker]

...this might be futile. Either he doesn't know enough - although he's already confirmed quite a bit - or he's too afraid of retribution to squeal. Which might mean that, even if dopants aren't at Amanogawa, I'll still need to get involved.

I just can't let a kid live with that kind of fear.

"Listen. This might sound crazy, but...there are rumors. Of strange things. Monsters. I'm not here to shut the school down, but...I just want to know if the rumors are true."

Oh hell, there is no way this is going to go over well.

[surprisingwolf]

I just stare at him for a second before regaining my composure. I don't want him going into danger, but I don't want unwanted attention on the school. Gentarou has enough on his hands as it is.

"Human monsters." I sigh. I think I've heard that the various Zodiarts are human. I've been paying a lot of attention to that kind of thing since my... accident. I'll let him take that as he pleases.

Thinking fast, I pull my jacket sleeve up and unbutton the cuff to my shirt, pulling it up. There's a scar there, vaguely in the shape of an SD card. Technically speaking, the sensor that was there didn't burn me and I shouldn't have a scar, but both doctors and family think that my state of mind turned it into one, somehow. "She might want to go to a different high school."

[halfboiledjoker]

I'm fully prepared for him to make a quick, hasty exit, so when he sighs and confirms my suspicions, my elbow slips out from under me and I almost bang my chin off the table in surprise.

What flattens me even more is when he rolls up his sleeve and shows me the scar. It's not...exactly...like the data ports for Gaia Memories, but it's close. Almost like the kids who were sharing the Bird memory.

Dammit. I'll be here for a while.

"What...what happened?" I ask quietly, trying to regain my composure. Hopefully Leo is willing to tell me more.

[surprisingwolf]

He's surprised for some reason, and I'm not sure why. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't this. I slip my shirt back over the scar and push the jacket sleeve back down. "Someone thought it would be a fun idea to torture the engineering geek."

Admittedly, it wasn't because I was in engineering club. But that's not something he needs to know. "People don't need to be supernatural monsters to be evil." My hand falls to my bracelet, and I have no appetite anymore.

[halfboiledjoker]

This boy is a closed book, locked down more tightly than a bank vault. It's a shame something like this has to happen to someone so young, especially since it doesn't seem to have been voluntary.

"Listen," I say quietly, catching his eyes at the most non-threatening angle possible. "You don't have to tell me now. You don't have to tell me anything at all, if you don't want to. But..." I reach into my pocket and pull out one of the fancy cards Akiko made for the agency. I scribble down my cell number on the back and hand it to Leo. "I do have some...background in things like that. Those sort of...marks." I gesture at his covered arm. "If you want to talk, or if you need anything at all, please. Give me a call."

[surprisingwolf]

Marks? What is he talking about? Unless he's a doctor and he knows about scars that shouldn't be.

I take the card with both hands, quickly reading it. He's from a detective agency. Was the whole thing a lie, about his younger cousin? I take a deep breath and force the rising feelings of panic down, at least until I can run and get out of here.

There's always the possibility that he is telling the truth, that he has connctions to the police because of his work, and he really came here to check out the disturbing rumors because he wanted her to be safe. I want to ask if she's real, but I don't think I could face it if she wasn't.

The magic swirls within me, reacting to the panic, but I don't let it out. I'll just have to think of a way out of this as calmly as possible.

With trembling hands, I put the card away. "Thank you," I tell him, and try to not run away right now. That would surely give away what I don't want to.

[halfboiledjoker]

He's panicking, just taking the card from me. I desperately want to run and punch whatever's scared him so completely, but losing my composure now isn't going to help anything. I fight the fuming down and give him a simple nod and a small smile.

"You're welcome. You can call anytime, night or day, I'll answer. Take care, Leo-kun. Do what's best, okay?"

I go pay the bill for both of us. Hopefully that's not the only thing I can take care of while I'm here.