maskormenacelogs | I can move mountains, I can work a miracle [OPEN]

[Ikki's words strike into him like knives, although they're nothing to what Kaneda's giving back. If a fight was the only way to protect Kazu, then that's what he'd do. His weight shifts again, ready to take whatever blow Ikki was going to pummel him with...knife at the ready...

But the gust of wind that happens is not what Kaneda expected at all. His grip on Kazu wasn't the greatest--he'd only just finished dealing with Pan after all, so it's almost pathetic how easily he loses his grip on the kid. Eyes shoot wide with horror as he watches Kazu's broken body fly over to the other two, neatly caught like a prize from a crane game.

Okay. One-on-one it is.

Twirling the knife, it's deposited back into its holder as his hands immediately reach up to just under his armpits, swiping out blade for bullets and firing at Ikki. His legs aren't going to hold up for long, he's sure of it--but if this is how he has to get Kazu back, then he'll do it until his bones are ground into powder.]

YEAH? I COULDN'T TELL!!

[Ikki's expression changes when the guns come out. There's a little shock and a little electric surge of panic before it is drown under anger. He was sure THESE weren't the rubber bullets from back home...

He twists in midair, both making himself a smaller target. His kicks slam enormous gales against the sides of the nearby buildings, causing the streetlamps to sway and shudder... and the heavy crosswinds throwing the bullets off course. Only one grazes him.

He circles, away from the girls and Kazu, looking for an opening to dart in and end this.]

The hell is some Peter Pan shit using guns?!

[One more quick adjustment to get into position—and the wind goes right out of her when she catches Kazu. She instinctively wraps her arms tightly round him and tucks him in close even while she stumbles to keep her balance under the added weight.

Unfortunately, even though she manages to keep herself upright, she can't quite manage to stop the slide towards the edge of the roof.]

[ And it's not like it would be a long drop, but with Kazu in that kind of state . . .

She can't calculate paths and angles like Ikki can, and she's never envied that ability more than now. But she knows A-T, and bodies, and—

The sound of the gunshots causes her whole body to wince, it's the first time she's heard that noise in six months and it's too soon. Ikki-kun is fine. Concentrate on this! ]

Yayoi-san, it's okay! Just keep your wheels below—trust me!

[Sorry, did those gunshots UPSET you, Ikki? Because he's out of fucks to give. Kazu's in their possession, and Ikki said he'd lay it all down on the line. He'd BETTER be prepared to own up to that.

Because this is for his group too. Tetsuo was one of the Capsules, he always had been. And protecting Kazu was a branch off of that.

That's what happens when you take someone under your wing.

The guns, one blue and one green, are fired alternatively to get Ikki back, get some distance between the two as his legs are pushed into action. They were tired, and practically screaming for Kaneda to let them rest. But like hell he was going to walk back to Tetsuo with empty arms, a bunch of broken promises. He'd failed to protect him, failed to kill Pan...

He wouldn't fail in bringing Kazu home.]

MY NAME IS KANEDA.

Compare me again to that sack of SHIT and I'll fire right at your damn head!

Bullshit!

[It's in Japanese, bellowed over the growing howl of the winds. Ikki isn't forced back, but he IS slowed down. With a blast of air from his hands, heavy, almost an opaque wall of wind is thrown between them. The air resistance isn't enough to stop the bullets, but when they slam into Ikki, they're only going fast enough to bruise, not tear through him.]

And what is KANEDA TO KAZU?

TAKE ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS THEM AND I'LL RIP YOU APART, SHITBRAIN!

[Yayoi gives up trying to stay on the roof, letting herself slide off and down to where Kururu's waiting. She keeps her A-T down as instructed, only shifting to shield Kazu from the shock as much as she can.

Under her breath, she's counting off the number of shots being fired. How many bullets do the guns hold? What kind were they even? Why doesn't she know more about them? They ran into guns often enough!]

[ Amid the hurricane and the reverberating gunshots, Kururu . . . actually relaxes a bit, focusing entirely on Yayoi's descent.

It's not a soft one; the air cushions take most of the shock, but balancing a limp body would challenge even an experienced rider (let alone one on their first flight). But that's why she's there, hugging them both and falling back as she lands, the three of them going down in a tangle of limbs.

Here's where time slows.

One arm to wrap around Kazu's head, cushioning him as they go down. Concussion. That's why he's out. Her other hand to Kazu's A-T, coaxing the wheels open, wincing as the hot metal scorches her fingers but this is important, the internals need to cool—

—and they hit the ground. ]

temee...!!

[Gears turn in his brain as the air gusts up, creating a makeshift forcefield for those bullets. It doesn't stop them, but the trajectory and power that was behind the bullets was altered, now only hitting Ikki enough to bruise, if they hit at all.

He takes this moment to favour the blue gun over the green. It was more powerful--less accurate--but certainly more powerful, much like the person it was designed after. Right now he needed something to hit through that wall of wind.]

NONE OF YOUR -DAMN- BUSINESS!!!

EXCEPT THE ONE THING THAT SAVED HIM FROM PAN'S STUPID-ASS CURSE.

[And almost defiantly Kaneda takes that step, no hesitation. His dark eyes completely fixated on the boy behind that wall, practically asking him to move forward.

Make a move, Sky King. HE SURE DID.]

Edited 2016-01-11 07:22 (UTC)

[Ikki is still, eyes locked with Kaneda's across the halflit street and gusting winds. The gales shriek, buffeting the other teen, as if in response to the Sky King's surge of anger at the open defiance. And for a moment, Kaneda might see a flash of something enormous behind Ikki, a monster of pure malice, metal wings and blades stretching out and up into the sky.

Then Ikki lowers his hands, the winds don't so much still as escape, blasting every possible way into the freedom of the sky. The barrier between them is gone.]

Edited 2016-01-11 14:46 (UTC)

[After the roar and shudder of the air, the silence is almost as loud. Ikki leans back in his skates, crossing his arms.]

You owe me a rematch. [A jerk of his chin up towards the girls and Kazu.] He'll officiate that one.

[Yayoi recovers as quickly as she can, hurrying to get her feet under her and to keep Kazu in her arms with Kururu's help.

—And then the wind races away. She spares a surprised look at Ikki for a moment—was he sure about this? He must be to stand down, which means . . . Her attention shifts to Kaneda, tensing while she waits to see what kind of response he has for this.]

[ The cross beside Kururu and Yayoi gleams as the shriek of Ikki's shadow echoes, the pale figure of a skeleton reflected on its black surface. Kazu's wheels shiver with the same call, wind whipping through the vented motors, spinning the etched foxes into stylized rings of flame.

No real flames though, that was the important part. Just the quiet hiss of cooling parts.

As Ikki and Kaneda stared each other down, as Yayoi kept careful watch, Kururu gently felt down Kazu's face, and neck, and hands.

It wasn't too bad, he was safe enough to move (and he'd been through worse, so much worse, they all had), but . . . Makigami-sensei's voice echoed helpfully in her head. Level Two Alert. Sustained and long-term wear on Regalia and King from lack of compatibility or overuse.

Not important now. Later. Important was patching up the little things she could—what had he even punched to sprain his wrist like that? ]

Concussion.

[ It's soft, mostly meant to reach Yayoi, but there's nothing to stop her voice from carrying in the sudden quiet. ]

And . . . he's burned himself out, but not like last time. He'll be okay.

[The moment lasts for what seems like forever, his foot slamming onto the pavement practically echoing in his ears. He's done turf wars before--the Clowns and the Capsules put rubber and metal to the test every week. Ikki's challenge was calling out the same competitive streak in him that he showed Joker. And just like it was there, he wouldn't back down. Even if his legs felt like collapsing at any given moment.

He watches Ikki's every move, his body language the louder than the winds that surrounded them. He can feel it piercing his skin like knives, burning the frostbite he'd gotten and hitting the bruises like iron. Ikki's will was as strong as his own, and all it took was for one of them to break.

One to show a crack in their armour.

But then, Ikki lowers his hands, the wings scattering like sheep and whipping around him like a hurricane. If his feet didn't feel like lead, he would've thought he'd be swept away by it, the piercing gales screaming in his ears as they weave around him.

And then, as quickly as they'd come, they vanished, leaving nothing but silence between the two.

"You owe me a rematch."

Kaneda's eyes cast down, looking at his own feet for a moment, and then slowly trailing them back up to the owner of those words. A challenge, but not the same kind as before.

A glance to the girls, and then back to Ikki.]

Wait.

What?

[There's no handy explanation coming from anywhere. Almost as if they hadn't LITERALLY SECONDS AGO been ready to kill each other, Ikki's body language changes. His shoulders drop, tension draining out of him, and expression more ~~dumb~~ one of vague worry than dangerous determination.

He kicks off of the ground, the jump soaring past Kaneda- almost impossibly long - circling to a wide, easy stop by Kazu...

Notably, not blocking Kaneda's view or path to Kazu.]

Ehhh?! The old shellfish is going to wrap him up and eat him for sure for doing that again so soon.

[There's an easy undertone of familiarity here, full of better him than me.]

[Yayoi lets out a breathless sigh of relief, relaxing her grip slightly as if expecting Ikki to take Kazu from her. . . . She probably is.]

Mm . . . but she's not here. [Probably.] We need to get him somewhere safe now.

[ Unbidden, the words 'I wish Makigai-sensei was here' burn themselves into her mind like some sort of curse, and she shudders—the deep, full body kind of shudder that only comes from reliving personal trauma.

She'd be exactly what Kazu needs, though. Not just as a doctor, but as a tuner . . . ]

And if Kaneda-san doesn't have ice, we should stop and get some, too.

[Kaneda's eyes dart as he tracks Ikki's movements, still lost in amazement at the past thirty seconds. What was just a battle between what felt like life and death now had become eerie silence as the boy leaps past him and over towards his fallen...what did he call him? Minion?

That word struck a chord with him, but he'd bite it down for now.

But from the girl's speech, Kazu didn't seem like that--more like a friend. And whether or not they were putting on a show to trick him or showed genuine concern, they were right. Kazu needed to get somewhere safe. WHICH IS WHAT HE WAS DOING UNTIL THE ASSBUCKET ON YOUR RIGHT DECIDED TO FUCK IT ALL UP.

Speaking of which.

Don't mind if he storms over, heading not for Kazu, but for the person he'd just been fighting not too long ago...

-THWAP-

And whacking Ikki upside the head with that gun.]

THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!?

[His foot pushes up, kicking him right in the leg for good measure.

Sorry, were you looking for maturity?]

[PERHAPS ALL OF THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED BY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN RATIONAL HUMAN BEINGS, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? NONAH IS ALL OUT OF OF THOSE. TRY AGAIN LATER.

The pistol hits with a satisfying crack... Though the armor stat on Ikki's skull is godlike. Only one HP down and LOOKS MORE PISSED OFF THAN HURT.]

OW! FUCK THAT'S M-

[And the leg pop sends him right over. He rolls once, rebounds off of a townhouse wall. GOING FOR A HEADLOCK ON THIS DOUCHECANOE!]

TREASON!

Edited 2016-01-12 05:38 (UTC)

[. . . Well, this is happening. Yayoi shoots a long suffering look at Kururu and shifts her weight on her A-T, rolling backwards a few yards to get Kazu out of range of the follow-up squabble.]

[ She meets Yayoi's look with an open smile, and follows with a warmly fond look at the tussle pile, tucking the blanket around Kazu again as they move.

This is good. Kazu-kun has good friends. ]

[Kaneda watches as Ikki spirals back, hitting against the wall and...a bit impressed at how well he takes that hit. Much better than Kazu did. Seeing the roll as the end of it, he puts that gun away and starts to head over to the girls, about to ask them if they could help him carry Kazu--SON OF A BITCH.

Ikki's back, and this time with a vengeance as he feels an arm go around his neck. Your typical headlock scenario.

Well, if Ikki wants to try and get him this way, he better be prepared for a fight, because Kaneda's going to launch himself back into that wall, hopefully smushing Ikki against it in the process.]

Son of a BITCH!

[STAGE ONE IN HOW TO TRAIN YOUR IKKI!]

GRK!

[The impact leaves little spiderweb cracks in the brick wall between the two of them. Ikki's grip loosens as a little reaper swirls down for his punished soul.]

[About time. Yayoi shifts her grip on Kazu slightly while Kururu's tucking the blanket in, adjusting for the change, but her main focus is on Kaneda now.]

Thanks for subduing him. He never calms down as quickly as he should.

It's . . . Kaneda-san, right? Can we go with you? I can't do much for Kazu-kun's legs here.

[ A completely ordinary question, asked in a completely ordinary tone—as if Kaneda and Ikki hadn't just been on the edge of a serious fight, as if she had no reason at all to worry about the kind of person he might be, or doubt his intentions.

She didn't, though. It had been all through his run: whoever Kaneda was, whatever had happened, he cared about Kazu. That was enough. ]

Ikki-kun, Kazu-kun needs to go home. Can you carry him?

I can move mountains, I can work a miracle [OPEN]

Jan 8th

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