RP Log: Tomo, Yamato, Ryoma
Nov. 11th, 2005 10:09 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
perfect-synch.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
tenipuri_xpDate: Backdated to Monday, Nov. 7 (If I'm wrong, one of you poke me. ^^;)
Rating: G
Summary: Tomo wants help with her powers, so she enlists Yamato and Ryoma for a training session. Sparklies abound!
Added bonus! :D Download the songs here:
http://www.streamload.com/Gundam_Pilot02/Music
(Just check the box next to the song and click "download" <3)
The last time she went out of Ryuhana, Tomoka had purchased a box of white rubber bands. In Japan, using a white headband while training in martial arts mean that you were determined to hone your skills through training and not give up ever.
She didn't want to use a bandanna or a headband since they looked kinda silly in her opinion, so she chose to use white rubber bands and ribbons to tie her hair in the usual ponytails. The symbolism was there - she was determined to protect not only herself, but her family, her friends (be they human or mutants) and her school. The first step would be to start improving her own skills, of course. And since Yamato-sempai had mentioned that he also had discovered a new side of his own powers and needed to train... what better than training together?
The girl stood in front of Yamato's doorstep and knocked on the door. When he didn't immediately reply, she knocked on it again. No, she was not going to storm in again, but it didn't mean she'd just stay by the closed door for a while...
It had not been a particularly good week for Yamato; he was prepared to admit that at this juncture after losing too much sleep to work and subsequently the interesting complications that continued to arise with one student in particular. Then, of course, said student had appeared at his door on Sunday needing a place to stay the night (to make room for the new student to steal his bed) and they had to address the issue of titles and names once more in a whole new sort of context... and for the first time, all weekend, he had managed a few winks of sleep curled peacefully around the younger boy, his head leaned into Kirihara's neck and Luis batting at his ear.
But, now it was well into the afternoon, and he was back to work on the field trip, when there was a knock at the door. He was a bit surprised at the time, when he glanced at the clock -- he had agreed to meet with Ryoma and Tomoka at some point to train, and it was a perfectly reasonable time to do just that... and Luis was chewing on the end of his pencil. With a sigh, he lifted her off the desk as he settled his sunglasses over his nose with the other hand, and answered the door, met with Tomoka. Luis, apparently used to the girl, spared her little more than a glance before settling into Yamato's arms with a purr.
"Good afternoon, Tomoka-chan." He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. With a silly grin, he added, "Thanks for knocking." Quickly, he amended, "Thanks for coming by, actually. I'd lost track of the time. I'm supposed to meet Echizen-kun for training in just a bit -- I assume you're here to join us?"
"Good afternoon, sempai," the girl politely greeted him. She preferred to ignore the last part; damn, she was still embarrassed whenever she remembered what had happened. Tomoka, of course, had kept her promise to both Yamato and Kirihara, and had not said a word to anybody else. Not her business, they'd deal, she hoped they knew better.
She reached for Luis and scratched behind the kitty's ears, and was rewarded with a purr from the cat. Then, she looked up at the man.
"Yeah, sempai," was the reply. "I... I was pretty disgusted with the Halloween stuff, so I don't want to be caught off-guard or anything by anybody else. So... I thought you could help me to improve.”
With a small nod, Yamato agreed, "Of course. Let's go find Echizen-kun."
They walked together in silence to Yamato's normal meeting spot with Echizen -- he had yet to arrive, but then again, Yamato and Tomoka were also early. The man allowed the kitten to the ground where she explored a bit, but never wandered too far. As she was getting older, she was beginning to understand (or so it seemed) that Yamato needed her to be close at certain times -- when he left the room, when he was in the big chair at the desk... and other times he needed to be alone, like last night. He needed to stop dwelling on that, however.
As they settled back to wait for Echizen, Yamato asked, "Did you have a good day in classes?" Still dwelling upon the morning that had been filled with laughter as Akaya had realized how late it was, scrambling out of bed -- flushing when Yamato offered to write him a note to excuse his tardiness.
Ryoma glanced at his clock, realizing he was going to be late for training if he didn't leave now. And Osakada was supposed to be there today, too. He sighed and pushed his homework away, standing up and definitely thinking he was glad this session was with Yamato and not Hanamura - he didn't have to wear the stupid training uniform for Yamato. He gave Karupin a quick scratch behind the ears and left, heading down the hall to where he usually met with Yamato for training.
As he approached the two waiting figures, he nodded in their direction. "Hey," he said, finally coming within earshot. He hoped this wouldn't take longer than a normal session - or end up turning out badly, like half his synchs did. But Osakada had an energy-based power - light, if he recalled correctly - so he could at least hope that wouldn't have any adverse side effects. Though in his opinion, there always seemed to be adverse side effects. Life, it seemed, was not often on his side.
"Ah, class was fine. Let me show you..."
Tomoka was just about to open the small bag that had the books and papers she had used in the morning classes with the other first years (as well as two or three music sheets and her CD player; Hanamura-sensei had told her to always keep it with her as a constant source of sound energy) but Luis suddenly mewled. The kitty usually did so to greet someone else she knew, so the girl stared around to see who that person was, and she saw Echizen coming towards them. Judging by how he moved, it seemed that his injured arm was practically healed. Good thing.
"Hey there," she told the boy, smiling. Heh, Echizen seemed to always be grumpy and all. Pfft, she had her own problems (worrying for her friends and family, Kawamura being gone, the odd foreigner boy who had injured Echizen, her quirky non-relationship with Wakato-kun), but she was already determined to stop whining and focus on making it all better...
And all of a sudden, she dropped one of her plastic folders to the floor. Several notes on photonic energy and music sheets fell at their feet.
"Ah, Echizen-kun. Good to see you." Yamato said with flourish, giving a low chuckle as he did. It was easy enough to shove aside any thoughts of a certain temperamental boy or his relationship therewith. "It looks like your arm is healing nicely." The small black kitten padded up to Echizen and rubbed against his ankle before turning back to Yamato and curling around the man's leg affectionately. "Has Niou-kun re--" Mid-inquiry, the sound of the files hitting the ground cut Yamato off.
"Allow me," he offered, borrowing Luis' sight to scoop up the files, though she was more interested in looking at his shoelaces, unfortunately. Once he had collected the files, he remained crouching, extending the documents up to the girl. "Here you go, Tomoka-chan."
"Yeah," Ryoma said, returning the enthusiastic greeting with a nod of his head. He reached down to pet the kitten circling his ankle before glancing back at Yamato. "... It's fine," he said warily - it hadn't been that big of a deal, and it wasn't obvious Kevin had hurt it, was it? Niou hadn't noticed for a week - because Ryoma hadn't wanted him to.
"An' he's not back yet. Think he should be soon though," he said in response to Yamato's half-asked question. "Said it was just gonna be a coupla days." He had to admit, it had been kind of strange living without a roommate for the past week. He hadn't even realized he'd been so used to the other's presence until it was gone, but for the tiny part of his mind that now augmented his power's sense of "Niou" through the telepathic link.
He was about to pick up Osakada's notes for her when Yamato did it, so he opted instead to lean against the wall, glancing at the papers as they were handed back. Looked like music and notes on... energy or something.
Osakada sure seemed to have a lot of music with her all the time. Hadn't she said something about how it helped her control her power? ... Damn. They'd better not make him sing.
With all the music and photonic energy notes back to the folder, Tomoka wordlessly thanked Yamato for his help, and placed the folder itself back in the schoolbag. She then noticed Echizen looking at her... or more exactly, at what she had just tucked in her bag.
"Oh no, Echizen-kun," the girl quickly said. "We're not gonna sing. Actually, it's just a coincidence that I have music notes among my stuff. But the CD player... it's also a part of training. Can't lack anymore of a constant source of sound energy, to use it in the moment of need"
As soon as the three were sitting around a table (and Luis was on it, staring around and sniffling at the girl's bag), Tomoka put on an unusually serious face.
"You see," she started talking, slowly and clearly, "I actually asked Yamato-sempai for this session, wanting to get some help concerning my own progress... which isn't enough for my own standards. And since Echizen-kun is able to synch with other mutants and use their abilities as his own... I would like, among other things, to see which kind of use he could give to my mutant powers, so I can see what I can expect from them and myself."
Tomoka had a brief mental image of how she failed to stop her boyfriend's Other half from beating her up, and how she couldn't help Echizen when he was cornered by Kevin. With mechanical, nervous movements, she raised her hands to adjust a slightly loose rubber band that was holding her hair in her usual ponytails, and unbeknownst to her the others caught a brief flash of a small scar on her temple that would usually be hidden behind her bangs.
"So, Echizen-kun," she concluded, staring at her classmate. "Do you agree? Would you help me to train by synching with me, huh?"
For a second, her hazel eyes gleamed with challenge.
“Good," Ryoma muttered - because no way in hell he was going to be singing. He nodded, half-watching Osakada speak, half watching Luis's antics; he'd figured the training session would be something like this. He was more than aware by now of his "use" as a powers-gauge for anyone who wanted to know what they could and couldn't do. He wondered idly if maybe he should start charging.
He shrugged as she finished. "I guess it sounds fine with me." After all, it had gotten him out of a training session with Hanamura. Maybe it would get him out of future ones. And it wasn't like he really had a choice in the matter in the end. As long as there weren't any horrible side effects.
Since Yamato didn't seem to have any complaints, Ryoma figured that was as good as a go-ahead. The sooner they started, the sooner they'd be done. He wasn't really sure he wanted to synch Yamato, and they appeared to be sitting for the moment, so he turned to Osakada. "Just stay there so I c'n synch you without getting him."
He slowly extended his shields, trying to nudge them in one direction only without having any part of their boundary cross Yamato. It was hard - harder than just growing them in a bubble like he'd practiced up until now - but he was finally able to mostly direct them toward Osakada without hitting the man across from them. As she slipped within his range, his power synched hers and...
The first thing he noticed was the little faerie lights that sprung up around his head (mostly because he was too busy concentrating on other things to bother keeping them under wraps, he figured). His skin itched underneath just the smallest bit with energy - but nothing bigger than the few small sparkles erupted - not enough energy stored to make anything larger.
"Got it," he said. "Just don't move without telling me," he said, addressing both of them equally. He turned back to Osakada. "What now?"
What? What NOW? Oh, dammit. Tomoka had rarely trained specifically with someone else, just like now; and even in the times she did, such training was more centered in reactions and the moment itself, more than dissecting all the effects. So...
"Concentrate," she started, trying to keep herself calm. "My powers consist of absorbing any kind of sound-related energies and transform them into light. So, try to concentrate in what's surrounding you... the noises and sounds, and their sources..."
Hoping she wasn't screwing up, the girl took her CD player. "Here. Good thing I brought a source of sound. Let's try... I'll go and move towards you, Echizen-kun!"
Slowly, she walked up to him. She put the headphones on him, then got ready to turn the device on.
"Try experimenting with the songs that the CD has,” she told him. "I usually try to coordinate the sparkles and effects with the rhythm of the music to begin, then move into experimenting with the powers in a bigger scale..."
Then, she pressed the "play" button and turned the CD player on.
Ryoma nodded - concentrate on the sounds? Okay, no big deal. He could feel the small hum of energy grow slightly as the girl spoke, but not enough to do anything other than make the sparklies around his head dance a bit. He eyed them, wondering how easy or hard they were to control, when she got up and put the headphones over his ears.
He nodded, and she hit "play" and -
"Shizuka na, kono yoru ni~!"
Holy hell. Okay, so it sounded like your typical bouncy-bright Jpop, but as soon as the sound flooded his system, Ryoma felt the energy under his skin buzz and beg for freedom, even as the lights around his head decided to twinkle in time with the music. This was weird. The buzz of power grew until he had to do something with it - and blinding them all (no offense to Yamato) was not the solution. He closed his eyes, trying to let it go slowly... His skin felt warm, and there was light he could see even behind closed eyelids. But slowly wasn't going to cut it for long - this song was way too bouncy and the power kept building. He needed something slower or he really was likely to let it go in one big flash; he opened his eyes, ignoring the soft golden glow ringing the edges of his vision, and hit "next," hoping it would be something slower.
Oh, great. The CD she had picked was, apparently, the one that started with one of the bounciest songs she had been listening to. The power was just building TOO fast, and apparently the volume was also quite high in addition to the fast rhythm.
Tomoka tried to listen to the small bits of sound that the air brought her. "Shizuka na yoooru niiii....!"
Rie Tanaka's Shizuka na yoru ni - Meer's version. One of the bubblier, poppiest songs in that disk. Oh, shit!
"Hit 'next' as soon as possible, Echizen!" she thought with all of her strength, hoping that Ryoma still had some bits of telepathy coming from the sessions with Hanamura-sensei. "Hit next, next...!"
She then quickly went towards Luis, trying to keep her away from the boy who was starting to morph into a sort-of walking light show. Once the kitty was safe in Yamato's hands, Tomoka came back to Ryoma's side. And judging from the weak sounds coming from the CD player, he had already hit "next", and the song that came after it seemed to be much slower.
The girl identified the theme itself and decided to join Ryoma, trying to help him to gain more control. She then started to sing quietly, following what she remembered of the song itself, while some golden and silver sparkles followed the rhythm...
"I can hear your voice... in that glowing wind..." Tomoka sang, concentrating as hard as she could. "Pray don't break up peace forever... In that brightness, I believe..."
Luis jumped from the table, curling in Yamato's lap... not particularly useful, really. But before she did, Yamato could see that there was a lot of light... and sparkling. That was Tomoka's power, as far as he could tell there was nothing special that Echizen had discovered by synching with her. It did not seem like a particularly... frightful power, or anything. It seemed like there ought to be more to it. There probably was.
Calming the kitten, Yamato leaned across the table, placing a hand atop Echizen's on the CD player. "Let me sync with you before you do that again."
Over the (much quieter, thank God) second track, Ryoma heard Yamato and finally settled for hitting "stop," taking the headphones off, still feeling warm - it made sense, he realized, considering his entire body was glowing now. It still wanted to release the rest of the energy, though, and he had to think about it very consciously to keep from doing just that. But it might be a good idea before letting Yamato hook into his senses, in case it did anything funny.
"Yeah, but hang on. Close your eyes," he told the girl, "and cover Luis's," to Yamato. He waited until they'd done what he'd asked before closing his own and letting the rest of the energy go with a flash that was near-blinding, if the spots he saw after opening his eyes were any indication.
"All right," he said, and turned to face Yamato. "Should be okay now."
Using Echizen's senses was not difficult -- there was nothing that tried to fight him like when he linked with Hanamura or tried to crush his power entirely like what happened with Kirihara, but there was still a wavering feeling of unease at the shields that protected Ryoma's own power from causing issues with the whole lot of them. Immediately, spots danced in front of Yamato's eyes, his skin tingling from warmth -- Echizen's sensations trying to override his own. "Alright, let's try that again... carefully." He kept the kitten balled in his lap, settling a hand on her head.
He sat back comfortably, this time just along for the ride for whatever happened when Echizen pushed that play button again. He noted to himself that Echizen had not latched on to his power -- a good sign. That meant that his control of his shields was getting stronger; or, at the least, more exact. Desperate times breeding desperate measures, and all that.
Ryoma nodded, this time slinging the headphones around his neck (it would give him some kind of a buffer zone) and making sure the disc was already on track 2 before hitting "play." The music started again, but much more removed, and it was indeed the slower song.
The energy grew again - he channeled as much of it as he could into the lights around his head and the heated glow of his skin, but all the same, the power was still backing up in his system and it wanted to get out. He glanced to Yamato, then Osakada. "You wanna know what else you can do? Or you just wanna see how to control it?"
He doubted there was really much more he could do to control it, though, short of turning down the volume and upping the amount of lights around his head. His skin was getting hot and the only way to really discharge it was through a bigger burst. He had a hunch that flashes weren't the only thing he - or Osakada - could do. He wondered if he could channel the energy into light only, or if there was anything else he could do with it. Like convert it back into sound. That might be another way to discharge it, and possibly a safer one.
Tomoka's eyes had adapted to the light really quickly, since as soon as she opened them her sight was practically normal. No dizziness, no blinking dots, nothing. She supposed it was a part of her powers; since she had been working for almost two months in controlling light and sound, it was logic that her body was starting to adapt itself to
her mutation.
However, Yamato and Luis may have more difficulties, and she wasn't sure if Echizen was able to fully control the powers he had "borrowed" from her. So...
"Try releasing it slowly, or in more complicated effects if you feel really sure you can do it," she told him, trying to keep her cool. "Whether it's sound or light, do it slowly, or you'll hurt yourself and us around you..."
Tomoka still kept her guard and was ready to shield Yamato and Luis, if it was necessary...
"I am releasing it slowly," Ryoma said flatly - or as flatly as he could while stripping some of the power off and putting it into his voice, just to test. And it did seem to be working. "S'really building up, though. And I think it could be pretty powerful."
There was something odd going on with Echizen's voice, Tomoka noticed as she heard him talk. It felt like the first times she had trained with music and songs - the energy that came out was more raw than the usual light, and it kinda lingered in the air. Maybe it was sound energy - it did feel similar - so she decided trying to absorb it and see what happened.
But then, she looked at Echizen. While the body glow had quite subdued, it didn't die completely, and he was surrounded by a soft light.
"Echizen-kun... you okay?"
He tried to talk, but then he hiccupped... and the air was suddenly full of sparkling, rainbow-colored tiny bubbles.
". . . Eh?!"
Perhaps not the most professional reaction, but Yamato laughed -- a deep belly-laugh of delight. Though he was seeing what Echizen was seeing (and experiencing the very odd sensations that were a mix of internal heat energy and... sparkles), he had also heard the odd tone to Echizen's voice with his own ears. He did not have the power, like some mutants, to sense energy; but his over-active sense of hearing (anal-retentive with detail after a lifetime of blindness) caught on right-quick.
He had to remind himself that it was not his own throat oddly full of sparkly bubbles in order to speak normally -- it felt to him like a tickling sensation just under the larynx; he coughed by reflex to the boy's sense of touch as he tried to speak. "Tomoka-chan, has that ever happened before?" He covered his mouth in an attempt to be polite, but the sensation would not subside.
"Bubbles? When talking, never." Despite the situation (and the alarmed expression in Echizen's eyes), Tomoka couldn't suppress a giggle. "I used to release that energy constantly into tiny bubbles in my first days here, and took me lots of training to fully suppress them..."
She then turned to Echizen. "You'll have to work on concentration to release the rest of the energy in a safe, subtle way. So, try meditating and being in a quieter environment. That's how I got rid of the constant release of sparklies, and it should also work for..."
Echizen opened his mouth - and both another hiccup and more sparklies came out. Tomoka had to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Ryoma would have made a face, but he was too busy coughing. And trying to avoid creating more bubbles, in vain for the most part. Okay, that had not been the way to handle it. And what, he was going to have to get rid of this stuff slowly? Just great. He'd much rather use it to blow something up and get rid of most of it at once - because he had the very distinct feeling he could. But he'd have to do it before he unsynched Osakada, or he wouldn't be able to channel it like that.
"Yeah well, got a lotta energy here," he finally managed to say, only barely suppressing the urge to just use telepathic speech so he wouldn't have to open his mouth again anyway. "S'not just concentration. Got that. Anything in here they don't need anymore?" He didn't really expect to be able to just... discharge the energy that way, but it would be nice. Maybe he could make it outside... He hit "stop" on the CD player, realizing that was only making it worse. The silence cut off the energy buildup for the most part, though the ambient room noise still had some small effect.
Tomoka wasn't exactly fond of the idea of seeing her classmate leaking light constantly, especially since she knew first-hand how... uncomfortable that situation was. She also didn't want him to go through the risk of causing unwanted reactions on other persons around him, so...
She remembered something that had just happened to her in the last training session. Hanamura-sensei had told her to release little bits of energy through her feet, very slowly... So, she pulled a pen and a piece of paper from her bag, and scribbled a note. She then held it up so that Echizen could see what she had written:
Try doing this, Echizen-kun! Maybe it'll help and you won't need to blast it all away!
The girl closed her eyes and started to concentrate, releasing the energy gradually, and soon the effects were obvious... as she was starting to levitate. Soon, Tomoka's feet fully lost contact with the ground, with the energy under her serving as a sort of light-based cushion.
She took the pen and paper and wrote another message for Echizen (and by gum, Yamato; she had deduced from his attitude that he was linked to Echizen's senses and not to Luis'): I'll throw something at you, Echizen. Try blasting it! And be careful, Yamato-sempai!
Then, Tomoka crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it at the boy...
Ryoma read the notes, shrugging. Levitating seemed relatively harmless - he'd accidentally done it once or twice, a year or two ago, by synching a passerby without even realizing it. This would be a little harder, though, seeing as he had to actually control it...
But when he put it to the test... it wasn't that hard. He didn't even need to release the energy through his feet alone - he could release it nearly anywhere and create enough lift to get him a good ten centimeters off the floor, though he could tell the side effect was sharper sparklies and a much brighter glow at the edges of his vision - his entire body must be glowing brighter.
Then she tossed the paper at him, and in the split second he had to think, he concentrated all the energy, trying to get it to hit right there and nowhere else -
The paper was gone in a bright - very bright, "Damn," he swore, shielding his eyes - white flash of light. His feet hit the ground and he stumbled a bit, but came up standing in the end.
Tomoka didn't need to cover her eyes against the bright flash that destroyed the paper ball she tossed at Echizen. As she thought, after synching with her he was capable to use the light energy as more than merely blinding flashes - that was definitely a laser beam. She would need to train hard in the Energy class and on her own, if she wanted to not only be able to use them, but to use 'em well. After the latest events, she would need more than flashes...
More than flashes... flashes... Oh shit! Wakato-kun! She was supposed to meet him after training! But she couldn't leave until the training was done, it wouldn't be fair for Echizen and Yamato-sempai...
Getting herself back to the floor, Tomoka went towards Echizen and helped him to get up. "Echizen-kun," she told him happily, "you've been a great help. But you have to rest and release whatever's left of energy in a more subtle way now... Can't risk getting you tired, eh?”
The reply was some more coughing and more sparkling bubbles. Tomoka shook her head, then turned to Yamato. "Yamato-sempai, should we finish here, then? Was this helpful to you, too?"
With a thoughtful tilt of his head, Yamato replied, "Tomoka-chan, you have been very helpful -- I hope you learned something from Echizen-kun." Really, he was more interested in Ryoma, at this point, so politely, he added, "You may go; I need a moment with Echizen-kun." The poor boy had a bubble or two slip out of his nose when he kept his mouth clamped shut. It tickled -- Yamato could feel it tickle his own nose -- and it really made him want to get this over with as soon as possible for both their sakes.
With the dismissal of Osakada, Ryoma figured it was safe enough to unsynch her; he pulled his shields back in, and immediately felt better. The last few bubbles popped halfheartedly in the air, and although his skin was still warm and tingly, the glow faded from his vision. Thank God. He coughed once more, but no more bubbles appeared - just a lone sparkly that floated about his head for a few seconds before dimming.
Great. He'd probably be leaking sparklies for a while, what with the way his skin still felt. But at least he wasn't building up any more energy. "What d'you need?" he asked Yamato a little hoarsely, throat feeling slightly raw from the energy (not to mention the coughing.)
Tomoka still wasn't sure if just leaving them was a good idea. After all, it was *her* power that had Echizen like that, sprouting light in different manners. But then again, Yamato had far more experience than her, so he would be able to handle it much more professionally. Also, dammit - she had to get ready for the meeting with Wakato-kun. Tomoka herself was the one who asked him for the encounter, so she could NOT afford to be late.
She politely bowed at Yamato. "Sempai, you don't know how grateful I am. Really. I've seen the extent of my powers through synching with Echizen-kun, I'll make sure I can use this information to everyone's behalf."
She scratched behind Luis' ears, then placed her stuff in her bag (and carefully closed it before grabbing it from the table), and went towards Echizen to retrieve her CD player. "Sorry for the inconvenience, Echizen-kun. But really... thanks a lot!"
With the CD player in a hand and the school bag hanging from her shoulder, she left the room. Now, she had to RUN!
Yamato withdrew his powers from Echizen, allowing the kitten in his lap to wander about on the table again, this time going immediately to Ryoma and pawing at his sleeve. "There was something I wanted to test, and I was hoping you would be willing to help me, since you're here, anyway." A small smile met his lips, "This is going to sound like an odd request, but I promise I don't mean anything by it. Would you take my hand?" He held out his hand in the boy's general direction, now that he could not calculate perfectly where the boy was without the second set of senses. Luis took it as an invitation to rub her body against Yamato's wrist, and nip at his thumb.
"... Eh?" Ryoma blinked, but he guessed the request was simple enough, if not a bit strange. He shrugged and sat back down again, reaching tentatively across the table as Luis went over to rub against her rightful owner's wrist. He took Yamato's hand, wondering what the other wanted from that. "M'I supposed to do anything?" he asked, watching the other's face, peering at the dark glasses as if that would give him an answer.
"No," replied the older mutant, waiting for the familiar pull of his senses toward the person he was in contact with. "Just hold still, I want to test this." It never came; perhaps it was because Luis was so close? He quashed his powers, tucking them deep inside to give himself a clean slate... and then let them wander -- he linked up with Luis immediately, not Echizen. But... with Kirihara (and with other people before him) an intimate touch... granted, holding hands was not exactly intimate. Maybe he was looking at this the wrong way? He spent about thirty seconds trying to convince himself holding hands was an intimate gesture before the fact that it was Echizen and this was training set in and all hope was lost.
Perhaps it really was just Kirihara; maybe it was because of his power or the fact that his power seemed to strongly reject Yamato's... negative and positive, or something like that. The man released his student's hand, shaking his head. "Well, Echizen, you either taught me something very valuable about my powers or nothing at all. I'll have to test with someone else, as well." Scooping up his cat from the table as he came to a stand, Yamato said, "See you." And was out the door before Echizen could get in a word edge-wise.
... Okay, then. That was weird. Ryoma sighed - people were all weird, it seemed, and there was really no helping it. "Yeah. Seeya," he said to the empty space across from him, standing up and shoving his chair back under the table, leaving the room and hitting the lights as he did so. He might as well go back to his room and finish his stupid homework, he supposed. And ignore the sparklies trailing him down the hall. Maybe then they would go away.
Rating: G
Summary: Tomo wants help with her powers, so she enlists Yamato and Ryoma for a training session. Sparklies abound!
Added bonus! :D Download the songs here:
http://www.streamload.com/Gundam_Pilot02/Music
(Just check the box next to the song and click "download" <3)
The last time she went out of Ryuhana, Tomoka had purchased a box of white rubber bands. In Japan, using a white headband while training in martial arts mean that you were determined to hone your skills through training and not give up ever.
She didn't want to use a bandanna or a headband since they looked kinda silly in her opinion, so she chose to use white rubber bands and ribbons to tie her hair in the usual ponytails. The symbolism was there - she was determined to protect not only herself, but her family, her friends (be they human or mutants) and her school. The first step would be to start improving her own skills, of course. And since Yamato-sempai had mentioned that he also had discovered a new side of his own powers and needed to train... what better than training together?
The girl stood in front of Yamato's doorstep and knocked on the door. When he didn't immediately reply, she knocked on it again. No, she was not going to storm in again, but it didn't mean she'd just stay by the closed door for a while...
It had not been a particularly good week for Yamato; he was prepared to admit that at this juncture after losing too much sleep to work and subsequently the interesting complications that continued to arise with one student in particular. Then, of course, said student had appeared at his door on Sunday needing a place to stay the night (to make room for the new student to steal his bed) and they had to address the issue of titles and names once more in a whole new sort of context... and for the first time, all weekend, he had managed a few winks of sleep curled peacefully around the younger boy, his head leaned into Kirihara's neck and Luis batting at his ear.
But, now it was well into the afternoon, and he was back to work on the field trip, when there was a knock at the door. He was a bit surprised at the time, when he glanced at the clock -- he had agreed to meet with Ryoma and Tomoka at some point to train, and it was a perfectly reasonable time to do just that... and Luis was chewing on the end of his pencil. With a sigh, he lifted her off the desk as he settled his sunglasses over his nose with the other hand, and answered the door, met with Tomoka. Luis, apparently used to the girl, spared her little more than a glance before settling into Yamato's arms with a purr.
"Good afternoon, Tomoka-chan." He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. With a silly grin, he added, "Thanks for knocking." Quickly, he amended, "Thanks for coming by, actually. I'd lost track of the time. I'm supposed to meet Echizen-kun for training in just a bit -- I assume you're here to join us?"
"Good afternoon, sempai," the girl politely greeted him. She preferred to ignore the last part; damn, she was still embarrassed whenever she remembered what had happened. Tomoka, of course, had kept her promise to both Yamato and Kirihara, and had not said a word to anybody else. Not her business, they'd deal, she hoped they knew better.
She reached for Luis and scratched behind the kitty's ears, and was rewarded with a purr from the cat. Then, she looked up at the man.
"Yeah, sempai," was the reply. "I... I was pretty disgusted with the Halloween stuff, so I don't want to be caught off-guard or anything by anybody else. So... I thought you could help me to improve.”
With a small nod, Yamato agreed, "Of course. Let's go find Echizen-kun."
They walked together in silence to Yamato's normal meeting spot with Echizen -- he had yet to arrive, but then again, Yamato and Tomoka were also early. The man allowed the kitten to the ground where she explored a bit, but never wandered too far. As she was getting older, she was beginning to understand (or so it seemed) that Yamato needed her to be close at certain times -- when he left the room, when he was in the big chair at the desk... and other times he needed to be alone, like last night. He needed to stop dwelling on that, however.
As they settled back to wait for Echizen, Yamato asked, "Did you have a good day in classes?" Still dwelling upon the morning that had been filled with laughter as Akaya had realized how late it was, scrambling out of bed -- flushing when Yamato offered to write him a note to excuse his tardiness.
Ryoma glanced at his clock, realizing he was going to be late for training if he didn't leave now. And Osakada was supposed to be there today, too. He sighed and pushed his homework away, standing up and definitely thinking he was glad this session was with Yamato and not Hanamura - he didn't have to wear the stupid training uniform for Yamato. He gave Karupin a quick scratch behind the ears and left, heading down the hall to where he usually met with Yamato for training.
As he approached the two waiting figures, he nodded in their direction. "Hey," he said, finally coming within earshot. He hoped this wouldn't take longer than a normal session - or end up turning out badly, like half his synchs did. But Osakada had an energy-based power - light, if he recalled correctly - so he could at least hope that wouldn't have any adverse side effects. Though in his opinion, there always seemed to be adverse side effects. Life, it seemed, was not often on his side.
"Ah, class was fine. Let me show you..."
Tomoka was just about to open the small bag that had the books and papers she had used in the morning classes with the other first years (as well as two or three music sheets and her CD player; Hanamura-sensei had told her to always keep it with her as a constant source of sound energy) but Luis suddenly mewled. The kitty usually did so to greet someone else she knew, so the girl stared around to see who that person was, and she saw Echizen coming towards them. Judging by how he moved, it seemed that his injured arm was practically healed. Good thing.
"Hey there," she told the boy, smiling. Heh, Echizen seemed to always be grumpy and all. Pfft, she had her own problems (worrying for her friends and family, Kawamura being gone, the odd foreigner boy who had injured Echizen, her quirky non-relationship with Wakato-kun), but she was already determined to stop whining and focus on making it all better...
And all of a sudden, she dropped one of her plastic folders to the floor. Several notes on photonic energy and music sheets fell at their feet.
"Ah, Echizen-kun. Good to see you." Yamato said with flourish, giving a low chuckle as he did. It was easy enough to shove aside any thoughts of a certain temperamental boy or his relationship therewith. "It looks like your arm is healing nicely." The small black kitten padded up to Echizen and rubbed against his ankle before turning back to Yamato and curling around the man's leg affectionately. "Has Niou-kun re--" Mid-inquiry, the sound of the files hitting the ground cut Yamato off.
"Allow me," he offered, borrowing Luis' sight to scoop up the files, though she was more interested in looking at his shoelaces, unfortunately. Once he had collected the files, he remained crouching, extending the documents up to the girl. "Here you go, Tomoka-chan."
"Yeah," Ryoma said, returning the enthusiastic greeting with a nod of his head. He reached down to pet the kitten circling his ankle before glancing back at Yamato. "... It's fine," he said warily - it hadn't been that big of a deal, and it wasn't obvious Kevin had hurt it, was it? Niou hadn't noticed for a week - because Ryoma hadn't wanted him to.
"An' he's not back yet. Think he should be soon though," he said in response to Yamato's half-asked question. "Said it was just gonna be a coupla days." He had to admit, it had been kind of strange living without a roommate for the past week. He hadn't even realized he'd been so used to the other's presence until it was gone, but for the tiny part of his mind that now augmented his power's sense of "Niou" through the telepathic link.
He was about to pick up Osakada's notes for her when Yamato did it, so he opted instead to lean against the wall, glancing at the papers as they were handed back. Looked like music and notes on... energy or something.
Osakada sure seemed to have a lot of music with her all the time. Hadn't she said something about how it helped her control her power? ... Damn. They'd better not make him sing.
With all the music and photonic energy notes back to the folder, Tomoka wordlessly thanked Yamato for his help, and placed the folder itself back in the schoolbag. She then noticed Echizen looking at her... or more exactly, at what she had just tucked in her bag.
"Oh no, Echizen-kun," the girl quickly said. "We're not gonna sing. Actually, it's just a coincidence that I have music notes among my stuff. But the CD player... it's also a part of training. Can't lack anymore of a constant source of sound energy, to use it in the moment of need"
As soon as the three were sitting around a table (and Luis was on it, staring around and sniffling at the girl's bag), Tomoka put on an unusually serious face.
"You see," she started talking, slowly and clearly, "I actually asked Yamato-sempai for this session, wanting to get some help concerning my own progress... which isn't enough for my own standards. And since Echizen-kun is able to synch with other mutants and use their abilities as his own... I would like, among other things, to see which kind of use he could give to my mutant powers, so I can see what I can expect from them and myself."
Tomoka had a brief mental image of how she failed to stop her boyfriend's Other half from beating her up, and how she couldn't help Echizen when he was cornered by Kevin. With mechanical, nervous movements, she raised her hands to adjust a slightly loose rubber band that was holding her hair in her usual ponytails, and unbeknownst to her the others caught a brief flash of a small scar on her temple that would usually be hidden behind her bangs.
"So, Echizen-kun," she concluded, staring at her classmate. "Do you agree? Would you help me to train by synching with me, huh?"
For a second, her hazel eyes gleamed with challenge.
“Good," Ryoma muttered - because no way in hell he was going to be singing. He nodded, half-watching Osakada speak, half watching Luis's antics; he'd figured the training session would be something like this. He was more than aware by now of his "use" as a powers-gauge for anyone who wanted to know what they could and couldn't do. He wondered idly if maybe he should start charging.
He shrugged as she finished. "I guess it sounds fine with me." After all, it had gotten him out of a training session with Hanamura. Maybe it would get him out of future ones. And it wasn't like he really had a choice in the matter in the end. As long as there weren't any horrible side effects.
Since Yamato didn't seem to have any complaints, Ryoma figured that was as good as a go-ahead. The sooner they started, the sooner they'd be done. He wasn't really sure he wanted to synch Yamato, and they appeared to be sitting for the moment, so he turned to Osakada. "Just stay there so I c'n synch you without getting him."
He slowly extended his shields, trying to nudge them in one direction only without having any part of their boundary cross Yamato. It was hard - harder than just growing them in a bubble like he'd practiced up until now - but he was finally able to mostly direct them toward Osakada without hitting the man across from them. As she slipped within his range, his power synched hers and...
The first thing he noticed was the little faerie lights that sprung up around his head (mostly because he was too busy concentrating on other things to bother keeping them under wraps, he figured). His skin itched underneath just the smallest bit with energy - but nothing bigger than the few small sparkles erupted - not enough energy stored to make anything larger.
"Got it," he said. "Just don't move without telling me," he said, addressing both of them equally. He turned back to Osakada. "What now?"
What? What NOW? Oh, dammit. Tomoka had rarely trained specifically with someone else, just like now; and even in the times she did, such training was more centered in reactions and the moment itself, more than dissecting all the effects. So...
"Concentrate," she started, trying to keep herself calm. "My powers consist of absorbing any kind of sound-related energies and transform them into light. So, try to concentrate in what's surrounding you... the noises and sounds, and their sources..."
Hoping she wasn't screwing up, the girl took her CD player. "Here. Good thing I brought a source of sound. Let's try... I'll go and move towards you, Echizen-kun!"
Slowly, she walked up to him. She put the headphones on him, then got ready to turn the device on.
"Try experimenting with the songs that the CD has,” she told him. "I usually try to coordinate the sparkles and effects with the rhythm of the music to begin, then move into experimenting with the powers in a bigger scale..."
Then, she pressed the "play" button and turned the CD player on.
Ryoma nodded - concentrate on the sounds? Okay, no big deal. He could feel the small hum of energy grow slightly as the girl spoke, but not enough to do anything other than make the sparklies around his head dance a bit. He eyed them, wondering how easy or hard they were to control, when she got up and put the headphones over his ears.
He nodded, and she hit "play" and -
"Shizuka na, kono yoru ni~!"
Holy hell. Okay, so it sounded like your typical bouncy-bright Jpop, but as soon as the sound flooded his system, Ryoma felt the energy under his skin buzz and beg for freedom, even as the lights around his head decided to twinkle in time with the music. This was weird. The buzz of power grew until he had to do something with it - and blinding them all (no offense to Yamato) was not the solution. He closed his eyes, trying to let it go slowly... His skin felt warm, and there was light he could see even behind closed eyelids. But slowly wasn't going to cut it for long - this song was way too bouncy and the power kept building. He needed something slower or he really was likely to let it go in one big flash; he opened his eyes, ignoring the soft golden glow ringing the edges of his vision, and hit "next," hoping it would be something slower.
Oh, great. The CD she had picked was, apparently, the one that started with one of the bounciest songs she had been listening to. The power was just building TOO fast, and apparently the volume was also quite high in addition to the fast rhythm.
Tomoka tried to listen to the small bits of sound that the air brought her. "Shizuka na yoooru niiii....!"
Rie Tanaka's Shizuka na yoru ni - Meer's version. One of the bubblier, poppiest songs in that disk. Oh, shit!
"Hit 'next' as soon as possible, Echizen!" she thought with all of her strength, hoping that Ryoma still had some bits of telepathy coming from the sessions with Hanamura-sensei. "Hit next, next...!"
She then quickly went towards Luis, trying to keep her away from the boy who was starting to morph into a sort-of walking light show. Once the kitty was safe in Yamato's hands, Tomoka came back to Ryoma's side. And judging from the weak sounds coming from the CD player, he had already hit "next", and the song that came after it seemed to be much slower.
The girl identified the theme itself and decided to join Ryoma, trying to help him to gain more control. She then started to sing quietly, following what she remembered of the song itself, while some golden and silver sparkles followed the rhythm...
"I can hear your voice... in that glowing wind..." Tomoka sang, concentrating as hard as she could. "Pray don't break up peace forever... In that brightness, I believe..."
Luis jumped from the table, curling in Yamato's lap... not particularly useful, really. But before she did, Yamato could see that there was a lot of light... and sparkling. That was Tomoka's power, as far as he could tell there was nothing special that Echizen had discovered by synching with her. It did not seem like a particularly... frightful power, or anything. It seemed like there ought to be more to it. There probably was.
Calming the kitten, Yamato leaned across the table, placing a hand atop Echizen's on the CD player. "Let me sync with you before you do that again."
Over the (much quieter, thank God) second track, Ryoma heard Yamato and finally settled for hitting "stop," taking the headphones off, still feeling warm - it made sense, he realized, considering his entire body was glowing now. It still wanted to release the rest of the energy, though, and he had to think about it very consciously to keep from doing just that. But it might be a good idea before letting Yamato hook into his senses, in case it did anything funny.
"Yeah, but hang on. Close your eyes," he told the girl, "and cover Luis's," to Yamato. He waited until they'd done what he'd asked before closing his own and letting the rest of the energy go with a flash that was near-blinding, if the spots he saw after opening his eyes were any indication.
"All right," he said, and turned to face Yamato. "Should be okay now."
Using Echizen's senses was not difficult -- there was nothing that tried to fight him like when he linked with Hanamura or tried to crush his power entirely like what happened with Kirihara, but there was still a wavering feeling of unease at the shields that protected Ryoma's own power from causing issues with the whole lot of them. Immediately, spots danced in front of Yamato's eyes, his skin tingling from warmth -- Echizen's sensations trying to override his own. "Alright, let's try that again... carefully." He kept the kitten balled in his lap, settling a hand on her head.
He sat back comfortably, this time just along for the ride for whatever happened when Echizen pushed that play button again. He noted to himself that Echizen had not latched on to his power -- a good sign. That meant that his control of his shields was getting stronger; or, at the least, more exact. Desperate times breeding desperate measures, and all that.
Ryoma nodded, this time slinging the headphones around his neck (it would give him some kind of a buffer zone) and making sure the disc was already on track 2 before hitting "play." The music started again, but much more removed, and it was indeed the slower song.
The energy grew again - he channeled as much of it as he could into the lights around his head and the heated glow of his skin, but all the same, the power was still backing up in his system and it wanted to get out. He glanced to Yamato, then Osakada. "You wanna know what else you can do? Or you just wanna see how to control it?"
He doubted there was really much more he could do to control it, though, short of turning down the volume and upping the amount of lights around his head. His skin was getting hot and the only way to really discharge it was through a bigger burst. He had a hunch that flashes weren't the only thing he - or Osakada - could do. He wondered if he could channel the energy into light only, or if there was anything else he could do with it. Like convert it back into sound. That might be another way to discharge it, and possibly a safer one.
Tomoka's eyes had adapted to the light really quickly, since as soon as she opened them her sight was practically normal. No dizziness, no blinking dots, nothing. She supposed it was a part of her powers; since she had been working for almost two months in controlling light and sound, it was logic that her body was starting to adapt itself to
her mutation.
However, Yamato and Luis may have more difficulties, and she wasn't sure if Echizen was able to fully control the powers he had "borrowed" from her. So...
"Try releasing it slowly, or in more complicated effects if you feel really sure you can do it," she told him, trying to keep her cool. "Whether it's sound or light, do it slowly, or you'll hurt yourself and us around you..."
Tomoka still kept her guard and was ready to shield Yamato and Luis, if it was necessary...
"I am releasing it slowly," Ryoma said flatly - or as flatly as he could while stripping some of the power off and putting it into his voice, just to test. And it did seem to be working. "S'really building up, though. And I think it could be pretty powerful."
There was something odd going on with Echizen's voice, Tomoka noticed as she heard him talk. It felt like the first times she had trained with music and songs - the energy that came out was more raw than the usual light, and it kinda lingered in the air. Maybe it was sound energy - it did feel similar - so she decided trying to absorb it and see what happened.
But then, she looked at Echizen. While the body glow had quite subdued, it didn't die completely, and he was surrounded by a soft light.
"Echizen-kun... you okay?"
He tried to talk, but then he hiccupped... and the air was suddenly full of sparkling, rainbow-colored tiny bubbles.
". . . Eh?!"
Perhaps not the most professional reaction, but Yamato laughed -- a deep belly-laugh of delight. Though he was seeing what Echizen was seeing (and experiencing the very odd sensations that were a mix of internal heat energy and... sparkles), he had also heard the odd tone to Echizen's voice with his own ears. He did not have the power, like some mutants, to sense energy; but his over-active sense of hearing (anal-retentive with detail after a lifetime of blindness) caught on right-quick.
He had to remind himself that it was not his own throat oddly full of sparkly bubbles in order to speak normally -- it felt to him like a tickling sensation just under the larynx; he coughed by reflex to the boy's sense of touch as he tried to speak. "Tomoka-chan, has that ever happened before?" He covered his mouth in an attempt to be polite, but the sensation would not subside.
"Bubbles? When talking, never." Despite the situation (and the alarmed expression in Echizen's eyes), Tomoka couldn't suppress a giggle. "I used to release that energy constantly into tiny bubbles in my first days here, and took me lots of training to fully suppress them..."
She then turned to Echizen. "You'll have to work on concentration to release the rest of the energy in a safe, subtle way. So, try meditating and being in a quieter environment. That's how I got rid of the constant release of sparklies, and it should also work for..."
Echizen opened his mouth - and both another hiccup and more sparklies came out. Tomoka had to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Ryoma would have made a face, but he was too busy coughing. And trying to avoid creating more bubbles, in vain for the most part. Okay, that had not been the way to handle it. And what, he was going to have to get rid of this stuff slowly? Just great. He'd much rather use it to blow something up and get rid of most of it at once - because he had the very distinct feeling he could. But he'd have to do it before he unsynched Osakada, or he wouldn't be able to channel it like that.
"Yeah well, got a lotta energy here," he finally managed to say, only barely suppressing the urge to just use telepathic speech so he wouldn't have to open his mouth again anyway. "S'not just concentration. Got that. Anything in here they don't need anymore?" He didn't really expect to be able to just... discharge the energy that way, but it would be nice. Maybe he could make it outside... He hit "stop" on the CD player, realizing that was only making it worse. The silence cut off the energy buildup for the most part, though the ambient room noise still had some small effect.
Tomoka wasn't exactly fond of the idea of seeing her classmate leaking light constantly, especially since she knew first-hand how... uncomfortable that situation was. She also didn't want him to go through the risk of causing unwanted reactions on other persons around him, so...
She remembered something that had just happened to her in the last training session. Hanamura-sensei had told her to release little bits of energy through her feet, very slowly... So, she pulled a pen and a piece of paper from her bag, and scribbled a note. She then held it up so that Echizen could see what she had written:
Try doing this, Echizen-kun! Maybe it'll help and you won't need to blast it all away!
The girl closed her eyes and started to concentrate, releasing the energy gradually, and soon the effects were obvious... as she was starting to levitate. Soon, Tomoka's feet fully lost contact with the ground, with the energy under her serving as a sort of light-based cushion.
She took the pen and paper and wrote another message for Echizen (and by gum, Yamato; she had deduced from his attitude that he was linked to Echizen's senses and not to Luis'): I'll throw something at you, Echizen. Try blasting it! And be careful, Yamato-sempai!
Then, Tomoka crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it at the boy...
Ryoma read the notes, shrugging. Levitating seemed relatively harmless - he'd accidentally done it once or twice, a year or two ago, by synching a passerby without even realizing it. This would be a little harder, though, seeing as he had to actually control it...
But when he put it to the test... it wasn't that hard. He didn't even need to release the energy through his feet alone - he could release it nearly anywhere and create enough lift to get him a good ten centimeters off the floor, though he could tell the side effect was sharper sparklies and a much brighter glow at the edges of his vision - his entire body must be glowing brighter.
Then she tossed the paper at him, and in the split second he had to think, he concentrated all the energy, trying to get it to hit right there and nowhere else -
The paper was gone in a bright - very bright, "Damn," he swore, shielding his eyes - white flash of light. His feet hit the ground and he stumbled a bit, but came up standing in the end.
Tomoka didn't need to cover her eyes against the bright flash that destroyed the paper ball she tossed at Echizen. As she thought, after synching with her he was capable to use the light energy as more than merely blinding flashes - that was definitely a laser beam. She would need to train hard in the Energy class and on her own, if she wanted to not only be able to use them, but to use 'em well. After the latest events, she would need more than flashes...
More than flashes... flashes... Oh shit! Wakato-kun! She was supposed to meet him after training! But she couldn't leave until the training was done, it wouldn't be fair for Echizen and Yamato-sempai...
Getting herself back to the floor, Tomoka went towards Echizen and helped him to get up. "Echizen-kun," she told him happily, "you've been a great help. But you have to rest and release whatever's left of energy in a more subtle way now... Can't risk getting you tired, eh?”
The reply was some more coughing and more sparkling bubbles. Tomoka shook her head, then turned to Yamato. "Yamato-sempai, should we finish here, then? Was this helpful to you, too?"
With a thoughtful tilt of his head, Yamato replied, "Tomoka-chan, you have been very helpful -- I hope you learned something from Echizen-kun." Really, he was more interested in Ryoma, at this point, so politely, he added, "You may go; I need a moment with Echizen-kun." The poor boy had a bubble or two slip out of his nose when he kept his mouth clamped shut. It tickled -- Yamato could feel it tickle his own nose -- and it really made him want to get this over with as soon as possible for both their sakes.
With the dismissal of Osakada, Ryoma figured it was safe enough to unsynch her; he pulled his shields back in, and immediately felt better. The last few bubbles popped halfheartedly in the air, and although his skin was still warm and tingly, the glow faded from his vision. Thank God. He coughed once more, but no more bubbles appeared - just a lone sparkly that floated about his head for a few seconds before dimming.
Great. He'd probably be leaking sparklies for a while, what with the way his skin still felt. But at least he wasn't building up any more energy. "What d'you need?" he asked Yamato a little hoarsely, throat feeling slightly raw from the energy (not to mention the coughing.)
Tomoka still wasn't sure if just leaving them was a good idea. After all, it was *her* power that had Echizen like that, sprouting light in different manners. But then again, Yamato had far more experience than her, so he would be able to handle it much more professionally. Also, dammit - she had to get ready for the meeting with Wakato-kun. Tomoka herself was the one who asked him for the encounter, so she could NOT afford to be late.
She politely bowed at Yamato. "Sempai, you don't know how grateful I am. Really. I've seen the extent of my powers through synching with Echizen-kun, I'll make sure I can use this information to everyone's behalf."
She scratched behind Luis' ears, then placed her stuff in her bag (and carefully closed it before grabbing it from the table), and went towards Echizen to retrieve her CD player. "Sorry for the inconvenience, Echizen-kun. But really... thanks a lot!"
With the CD player in a hand and the school bag hanging from her shoulder, she left the room. Now, she had to RUN!
Yamato withdrew his powers from Echizen, allowing the kitten in his lap to wander about on the table again, this time going immediately to Ryoma and pawing at his sleeve. "There was something I wanted to test, and I was hoping you would be willing to help me, since you're here, anyway." A small smile met his lips, "This is going to sound like an odd request, but I promise I don't mean anything by it. Would you take my hand?" He held out his hand in the boy's general direction, now that he could not calculate perfectly where the boy was without the second set of senses. Luis took it as an invitation to rub her body against Yamato's wrist, and nip at his thumb.
"... Eh?" Ryoma blinked, but he guessed the request was simple enough, if not a bit strange. He shrugged and sat back down again, reaching tentatively across the table as Luis went over to rub against her rightful owner's wrist. He took Yamato's hand, wondering what the other wanted from that. "M'I supposed to do anything?" he asked, watching the other's face, peering at the dark glasses as if that would give him an answer.
"No," replied the older mutant, waiting for the familiar pull of his senses toward the person he was in contact with. "Just hold still, I want to test this." It never came; perhaps it was because Luis was so close? He quashed his powers, tucking them deep inside to give himself a clean slate... and then let them wander -- he linked up with Luis immediately, not Echizen. But... with Kirihara (and with other people before him) an intimate touch... granted, holding hands was not exactly intimate. Maybe he was looking at this the wrong way? He spent about thirty seconds trying to convince himself holding hands was an intimate gesture before the fact that it was Echizen and this was training set in and all hope was lost.
Perhaps it really was just Kirihara; maybe it was because of his power or the fact that his power seemed to strongly reject Yamato's... negative and positive, or something like that. The man released his student's hand, shaking his head. "Well, Echizen, you either taught me something very valuable about my powers or nothing at all. I'll have to test with someone else, as well." Scooping up his cat from the table as he came to a stand, Yamato said, "See you." And was out the door before Echizen could get in a word edge-wise.
... Okay, then. That was weird. Ryoma sighed - people were all weird, it seemed, and there was really no helping it. "Yeah. Seeya," he said to the empty space across from him, standing up and shoving his chair back under the table, leaving the room and hitting the lights as he did so. He might as well go back to his room and finish his stupid homework, he supposed. And ignore the sparklies trailing him down the hall. Maybe then they would go away.
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