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Blinding Cross [Closed]
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Post by Redgrim on Jan 1, 2013 12:39:05 GMT -5
Miller wished he had sunglasses that were adjusted to his eyes’ sensitivity. Unfortunately commercially available glasses were not made for his eye type. There might be a place somewhere in the world that made such a product given that a minority of people had some sort of mutation, but Miller didn’t know any. Perhaps he could make his own pair some day, but that would require knowledge on something which was not a strong point for him.
Miller was glad to know that he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t understand human nature. That may not be what Jiro implied when he said he found others strange, but Miller assumed that was the case. Sure this person was probably nothing like him and he probably didn’t grow up in a test tube like he did, but Miller always liked finding common ground with other people. His common ground was usually something he did not understand, but it was relatable none the less.
The strangely speaking man asked where the school was from their location. This was an easy question to answer for Miller, finally he was the one who was more knowledgeable about something. It was moments like these that rarely came along. He quickly turned his head back to the vendor he saw earlier and began to hand out directions. “Well, we turn at the vendor over there between those two street lights and continue down that street until we reach the end of it. Once we are there, there should be a building with a large sign labeled ‘storage’ from there we turn right and continue down that street until we reach the jewellery store. There is an alley way in between the store and an apartment that will lead us to the main road and we just keep walking until we reach the school.” Miller moved his hand away from his face and held it out in front of him in an ‘L’ form to reassure himself which way is right or left. “Yeah, it won’t takes us too terribly long.”
Miller was off put by Jiro’s comment on him being able to outrun Jiro. “Why would it matter who’s faster than who?” He asked quietly as he twisted his head to see what Jiro was pointing at. He noticed the greater amount of guards circulating the church as of now. It must have been a very slow day for them if they needed that many cops in one place. “I was already given this ticket thing, I thought I was relieved from any further punishment?”
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2013 16:02:54 GMT -5
Jiro frowned as he saw Miller's gesture. "That rearry wourdn't work in Japan." He copied the same thing, searching for anything that might work. He realized he had side-tracked a little bit, and quickly repeated the directions to make sure he had them memorized. Jiro looked back over his shoulder, as Miller asked his questions, checking the officers' progress. "Wow. Srow news day, huh. How many officers do the kachan have to spare?" He was a little concerned by the numbers. If something happened chaos would ensue. And besides, if a place this small could warrant that many officers to go on something that petty, they must get some pretty crazy things happening. But then, there was a huge school for KenSai not very far away, so crazy things would be happening a lot. ”It doesn't matter who's faster, just if you are srower than me, we're in a bad situation when they count the bibres. Assuming they care, but they probabry do, otherwise there wourdn’t be so many officers out. "And it's "than whom"." He hadn't noticed that he was just saying what he was thinking until then. Jiro shrugged. After how slowly they were walking it was weird that Miller hadn't considered that his running might be equally appalling speed-wise. "I doubt theft would be crassified as using Gifuto accidentarry." He tried to give the other student a knowing look. "I would suggest that you were probabry rereived from any further simirarary accidentare crimes committed by your powers, not from any given offence. He didn't seem to notice the book. Besides, I wourdn't calre that punishment." Jiro’s fingers were still moving around crazily in his pocket, but at least his earlier idea seemed to be paying off a little now. He was able to think more clearly now, which couldn't hurt. Jiro couldn't resist his curiosity much longer, so he just asked what was on his mind. "So, Miller-san, how did that" He looked down at the blade. "Happen to you?"
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Post by Redgrim on Jan 1, 2013 21:42:01 GMT -5
The large crowd of police men made Miller a bit skeptical about having a simple way back to the school. If they were looking for him as of now, being within the compounds of the streets was not a wise idea. As soon as he got the idea of getting out of sight he immediately remembered the alley way near the kiosk he pointed out earlier. He could probably pick up another path from there and find a way to return to school once they were hidden. However his knowledge of the small paths between buildings was not nearly as strong as the main walkways. He believed he probably could adapt though.
“I’m not exactly interested to find out. I think we should take another passage, through the allies we’ll be better hidden there” Miller replied as he forced his walking movements towards the line of buildings to his left. Escape was the best option available and given that the church was well behind them Miller had a good feeling that freedom was not too far off from here. Once they got into that ally way all their police issues would be solved. At least that was what Miller had expected to happen.
Jiro had once again corrected Miller’s grammar. He was beginning to question whether or not he actually had issues with the English language because something as trivial as the correct usage of ‘who’ or ‘whom’ seemed to bother him so much that he had to verbally address it. Personally Miller had no clue of what the difference between them was, the same was with ‘affect’ or ‘effect’, in his opinion it was absolutely purposeless to care which one was the correct one because they both had basically the same purpose. He supposed they were mainly put into place so that grammar snobs could point it out.
Jiro mentioned the bible again and that caused Miller to wonder something as he looked at his only hand, where was the book in question anyway? It was no longer in his hand and it certainly couldn’t be felt in his pocket. He looked over his shoulder and to the ground below, it was nowhere to be found. Miller’s mind went blank as he slowly shook his head in his own stupidity. He wasn’t going to go back and find the thing now, so his efforts brought him nothing. Of course it was better than punishment, but leaving that church empty handed was not what he had in mind.
Jiro questioned the blade, which of course was the inevitable question that always came up whenever he met a new person. It was always the question he dreaded as it always made him think back to the darker points in his life. He gave off a weak grunt as he pulled the blade and held it close to him with his hand. He looked down at it and began to explain what felt like to be the fiftieth time to date. “It didn’t really happen, I was just ‘born’ with it. That is if you could say the way I was created was known as born. I don’t exactly enjoy explaining beyond that as I don’t like the memories that come with it.”
(OOC: do not take Miller’s opinions as my own. I do not have problems with grammar snobs as I am largely one myself)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2013 7:11:04 GMT -5
Jiro was a tiny bit hurt that Miller didn't want to know. In his past there had almost always been someone around who wanted to learn stuff, much like him, and it was disappointing that his new acquaintance didn't want to. It was bad enough adjusting to a new language; he did not need to adjust to a totally different mind-set too. Jiro followed Miller as they changed direction. "You said before you were curious about that church, and now you don't want to know stuff?" This was the kind of thing that made him think people were weird. They were so inconsistent, especially those teenage girls in cheesy romantic movies. One minute they hate a guy, then they adore him, then they hate him, then they love him again...Come on. If you've got to have an opinion on something, stick with it. Jiro mostly noticed the book was gone because Miller was looking around. In truth, it made him feel a little better that it was gone. Now if the kachan noticed the book was taken, they wouldn't have any evidence that either of them had actually pilfered it. "Okay." Yep, that was probably going to be dark if he went further down that road. Jiro could see Miller didn't like that route of conversation either, so he apologized for asking. He felt almost as if he should repay the older guy with information, as he usually would, except that he'd already said he wasn't interested in knowing. "I don't rike the memories with my powers either." He subconsciously rubbed a few of the smaller scars across his hands. He was lucky, really, that he'd been able to recover so well, and that he hadn't got any whopping great burns across his face. Heck, it was lucky that he'd even survived. "Which way are we going now?"
(OoC.; Snap. I mean, about being a grammar snob. He did make me laugh there though.)
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Post by Redgrim on Jan 2, 2013 20:27:31 GMT -5
Miller may be curious, but that did not mean he needed to know how many police man were possibly pursuing them. The church was visually appealing, while a squad of officers was not. A curious person does not have to show interest in everything at all times, besides consistency is boring. As well, humans are basically inconsistent by nature, but technically Miller isn’t human so that excuse is invalid. However he was created by human tissue so whatever he is was still debatable.
Miller’s body gravitated toward the building quite subtly to avoid standing out from the crowd. He latched onto the side of the neighboring building of the alley he had pointed earlier and he quickly sidestepped into the shadows of the two buildings’ crevasse. His eyes felt rejuvenated once he sneaked into the shade, the darkness provided was much needed. He still didn’t take off the sunglasses as they would not be within the confines of the crease of two buildings for all too long. It almost seemed purposeless to sneak around as the item the police men were assumed to be looking for was already gone, but Miller did not like the chances of being caught otherwise.
Miller analyzed the setting of the alley before he went further. The first thing he picked up on was the dreadful odor of garbage and what smelt like sewer gas. Luckily he did not have enhanced senses like he wished he would. It was completely void of any people so it was most definitely safe to pass through, for now anyway.
He stuck his head out to search for Jiro, considering he wasn’t too far away he was easy to spot. “We go down this way until we reach the storage building and continue down the same path as planned earlier.” Miller retracted back into the shadows of the ‘safe zone’ and waited for Jiro entrance. He also spoke of sour memories about his powers, even though his powers were still quite vague. It made Miller curious about what happened to him and what his ability actually was, but knowing that he himself was not fond of speaking about his origins he knew the same would go for Jiro. Besides it was not information that Miller needed to know. Not that he is cold hearted and doesn’t care to learn anything about anyone else, it was just the more preferable course of action for either of them.
(OOC: Should we end it soon?)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2013 7:23:52 GMT -5
Jiro nodded at the older guy’s answer. He knew another way back now, but based on what he was about to see, he probably wouldn't be coming down this route again soon. Iiro peeked cautiously into the gap between the buildings, and recoiled a little at the stench. Still, it was bearable, and he’d been to several areas of Japan where it was this bad for weeks in the spring, so he followed Miller into the alley. It was dark in here and his eyes struggled to adjust properly, but he managed to spot Miller by his shadow, and sidled over. It was safe to assume there was a blocked sewer or drain somewhere round here, and a lack of bins too. He’d seen that enough to be able to recognize it. All it meant was he should watch his step or he might end up standing in a heap of litter; or worse. “They should rearry phone a prumber,” he muttered. He started to move forward, being careful to avoid slipping. He was a little grateful that he couldn't see very well in here. His feet were still bare and the less he knew about that wet stuff between his toes, the better. Jiro didn't want to use his Gifts very much, but it was preferable to getting gunk all over him by a long shot, so he concentrated and formed a thin layer of dark, almost black, metal across his feet. His powers were always accompanied by a faint whirring, which he wasn't sure whether he felt or heard. Jiro glanced around behind them, making sure no-one was trailing. He couldn't see any officers nearby, and he would have been pretty surprised if he had; that would mean they could teleport or fly or something and that probably wouldn't be the best thing in their situation. Besides, he doubted most people would want to come down here. Hopefully they’d realized they didn't need what had seemed like half the police force of the island for such a trivial thing. “How far down here?” Judging by the way he was still wearing his shades, Jiro decided that it might be a better idea to just let Miller lead now. He clearly had better night-vision, and that couldn't be a bad thing. He gestured for this to happen, and stopped, waiting for Miller to continue.
(OoC.; I think so. It seems to be nearing a close now, anyways. If they reach the school grounds before we've finished, which is evidently going to be soon, we should just end there.)
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Post by Redgrim on Jan 3, 2013 11:04:49 GMT -5
The thick smell in the air did not bother Miller too greatly. It was a strange and new smell to him, but not one he could recommend anyone else to take a whiff of. The alley was not too dark, but it was the perfect amount of darkness required for Miller to see properly especially with the darker toned glasses on. Luckily the area’s smell did not match the cleanliness of the place, there was a large absence of anything. True there were some garbage bags here and there, but overall nothing too horrendous. Though one would question where it was the stink originated from.
Miller kept at a very cautious pace as he did not want to hurry through. It was not for any personal reasons that he wanted to stay within this passage way, it was more that he didn’t want to run into any thugs or like-minded criminals. He didn’t want to be caught off guard because most of the time he passes by these sort of allies he could usually spot a shady looking person. Then again it was usually at night when he noticed them, but he didn’t want to take his chances especially today since he was escorting another person.
“Unfortunately… er or fortunately only a couple more buildings down before we exit, I’d say about two more then we enter the streets again.” Miller change in views upon exiting this crevasse came when he was reminded of the smell. There were some good aspects of this area and others he could do without, but he kept on his path anyway.
Suddenly a man in a trench coat entered their pathway not too far ahead of them. He strolled causally in a direction that suggested he was coming towards the two. He had both hands within his coat pockets and he kept his head lowered to mask his face within his collar. Shadows engulfed his face making his countenance hard to read to the ordinary human eye. Luckily Miller’s eyes were more advanced toward seeing in low light so he easily could pick up his face. The man was eyeing the two with a sinister glare, reading their bodies. What motivated him was unclear which made him a danger to them both.
The coated man began a faster paced walk as their paths were closer to crossing. Miller raised his blade and placed it into his other hand once more to give the man a much clearer image of it. His intimidation tactic must have worked because a look of shock radiated from his face. He quickly attempted to return to the place he originally came from afterwards.
(OOC: I’m a little skeptical on how interesting the two walking back to school is going to be)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2013 17:11:32 GMT -5
“Okay.” The less distance before he could see, the better, in Jiro’s opinion, and from Miller’s description, it couldn’t be too far. “As rong as it’s not too many meteru.” “Unfortunately?” Judging by what I assume he was about to say, and I think it’s a pretty safe assumption, I’d say he’d prefer to stay in here. What seems to me to be the most plausible solution is that it was still too bright despite the sunglasses. After all, he does still have his shades on in here. I wonder how he’d cope in the Chugoku region. Probably quite badly. Jiro could just roughly make out the silhouette of a man who, unsurprisingly, was quite a bit taller than him, and appeared to be wearing a trench coat. He couldn’t make out any more about the guy. Jiro wanted to ask if he needed help, because if he was down an alley like this by choice, he probably did, before the guy stopped and retraced his steps to what looked like a back-entrance to one of the buildings. “What was that about?” Jiro didn’t bother commenting on why the shady figure had gone; it didn’t take a genius to realise the potential uses of a blade-arm. He’d have to remember that though; if he could produce a similar weapon with his powers, he could use the same technique. “What did he want?” Jiro continued down the alleyway, and to his relief, he could quickly see the gap at the end, where daylight poured in, still a short way away. It was weird, really, that it could illuminate the entrance, or rather exit, but not any further through. Now Jiro thought about it, a lot of things people take for granted are pretty strange. He shook his head. He was getting side-tracked again. Judging by how clear that little area of light was, the alley seemed to be pretty clean and he had probably only stood in a puddle before. Jiro hurried up now, wanting to get back into the sunshine, starting to jog, but he was so unfit he was about as fast as his walking pace, and he was out of breath very quickly. He gave up on that then, and progressed at the prior pace again. He considered for a second whether it might actually be a good idea to start doing exercise, but dismissed the idea almost as soon as it entered his head. He knew he’d never be able to keep any up for more than a week, and a fat lot of difference that would make. “I guess we’re nearry there now.”
(OoC.; It was a big “if”. Should we wrap up then?)
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Post by Redgrim on Jan 5, 2013 13:35:03 GMT -5
After the trench coated man left, Miller had a bittersweet sort of attitude toward his method of choice. Sure using his blade non-violently to end a possible confrontation before it even started was a nice change of pace compared to how it could have ended, but there was just something about using it as an intimidation tool he didn’t enjoy. He did not want his appearance to be what judged him, but a bladed arm was sort of difficult to overshadow. If a man had a bladed arm how would one begin to imagine its origin without thinking the man is a psychopath? It was just unheard of.
Jiro began to question the man in the trench coat and honestly Miller had no clue about anything concerning the man unless he went into stereotypes. He does not enjoy the notion of stereotyping so he was just plain unsure. Miller let go of his bladed arm and let it dangle at his side because he was sort of tired of carrying it. The largest problem he had with long walks was that his left arm always got sore due to the large chunk of metal that held itself there. His mind got side tracked by the subject of his arm again, but he did eventually answer Jiro’s question regarding the man from a couple seconds earlier. “I not quite sure what he wanted, but I assure you it was probably nothing with good intentions.”
Miller noticed the light not too far from his position that signified their escape of this alley. He was sort of begrudgingly satisfied with their exit being a near arrival. It was good that this meant their walk to school would almost be near over and the stench of sewer gas would be far behind them, but this also meant that he would be returning into the light of day.
Miller watched as his companion began a pathetic run to the exit. It was a tad bit disturbing how out of shape the man was, he could barely run two meters without almost collapsing from exhaustion. He tried to reason what it was that could be his problem because that seemed fairly below average for human standards. Perhaps it had something to do with his abilities or maybe he just eats too much of that sugary substance within that canister from earlier. Miller completed a speed walk that covered most of the distance the other student had made in much less time and barely even drained a quarter of his energy. He looked down at the smaller man.
“You don’t get out much do you? Hmm.. You know what, I could probably give you a few pointers if you’d go to the school’s gym? I’m just saying, your cardio is pretty awful.” If there was anything that his scientists taught him well, it was definitely how to be in the best physical shape humanly possible (or clonely possible in this situation).
(OOC: I suppose we could close after your next post)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2013 11:27:46 GMT -5
Jiro nodded. He wouldn't be prepared to judge like that without further information, but he trusted the older guy enough already to accept his judgement. He knew he already needed to replenish his energy, so he reached into his bag again, and brought out a bar of chocolate. It really was strange that he wasn't on a constant sugar high, or particularly overweight, given how much of the stuff he consumed daily. It didn't surprise him at all as to how quickly Miller caught up. “I thought you were better than me at running.” He took the wrapper off his food, broke a chunk off and chewed on it. Jiro didn't need to be particularly observant to have noticed the difference between their physiques, especially with simple logic on the part of the blade’s clear weight. “Cardio? I rearry have no idea what that is.” Jiro wished he’d paid more attention in his English classes in school- that way he could have just taken a course for more advanced vocabulary, like that, instead of starting from near scratch. “And I don’t think me going to a gym is too rikery. I find I don’t gain weight as rong as I burn the sugar using my brain.” He wasn't intentionally being offensive, or patronizing, but it must have sounded that way. “I get out enough just fine. I’m out now, am I not, and I courdn’t care ress about that.” Okay, I could care a little less, but not enough to motivate me into attending a gym. “However, I am thankfure for your… thought.” As they continued on route Jiro could quickly make out a large building between the buildings ahead, which he recognized as the academy. Once Jiro could see the school, he knew he could find his way back from there. “See you ‘round?” he asked, as he swung his bag off his shoulder and pulled out his manga again. He wasn't too sure if he would just go straight back to school, but he wanted to finish his reading now, and he'd be able to find his way back at any point he wanted. He firmly re-directed his line of sight into the pages and turned to walk off.
(OoC.; Cool. I don’t mind if you want to write the last post or just leave off here, but I've finished.)
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Post by Redgrim on Jan 6, 2013 13:16:49 GMT -5
Miller did not take any of what Jiro answered with in any sort of offense. Maybe he was a bit too dense to pick it as an insult, but overall he saw it more as a better alternative for him. Miller wasn’t certain whether or not using your brain to burn off sugar really worked, but he took the man word for it since Miller was never one to have a sweet tooth. He was a bit disappointed that he refused his offer however, he would have preferred picking up a workout buddy because doing it alone was not nearly as enjoyable. Besides the other students in the gym were prone to pick fights with him for some reason, some sort of back up would also be nice.
Cardio was a term that Miller was only somewhat familiar with and whether or not he was using it correctly was something he was uncertain about. Due to the fact the other person did not know the word entirely, he was never going to get an answer for that. He wasn’t sure if that was a small victory or if it was setting him up for failure when he next spoke of the word. Either way he was overly thinking about something that truly didn’t matter.
“Yes, another time I suppose…” Miller replied to the small man’s farewell. He watched as Jiro walked away, eating something once again. “…My offer still stands…” he continued in a somewhat loud tone, but he was certain the man was too far away to hear over the echoes of the crowds’ conversations. He scratched the back of his head as he adjusted his line of sight towards the school that loomed over the town. It was not too far as of now.
Miller began another walk through the alleyways to get to the school quicker. He began to plan the rest of his day for when he reached the school grounds. He decided sleep was his best choice and perhaps tomorrow he could search the library for the book he had labored hard for this day because apparently that was the only place where books were free to take. The sooner the better, he wanted to put this whole legality issue behind him.
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