To Thine Own Self Be True

[Kiara]

NOTE: This may be somewhat Persona-rip-off-ish. Please ignore that fact.

Note that Japanese names are written traditionally. That means surname first. Keep it that way. Honorifics, however, are optional; if someone isn't using them because s/he is lazy or doesn't know how to use them, don't acknowledge it. If it's a character trait, then of course you should acknowledge it. Just mention whether or not it's a character trait if you don't use honorifics, for the sanity of other people.

Feel free to shove whatever the heck characters you want in here; just keep it human and non-Persona. xP Also, keep your characters somewhat believable. I don't think a giant animated suit of armor can fit in here, but a human Alphonse Elric without alchemy would be just fine. And no, Ed Elric can't have his automail, sorry.

You can turn your furries human and give them believable names. It's really not hard. ;P

Some things aren't going to be explained in the proceeding part of this post, mostly cuz I'm too lazy to put it in a semi-interesting format.

Mineto can see wings on every living being (no, not plants, bugs, or microscopic organisms... and winged things just have an aura or something; who cares). These wings are pretty much "auras", but the colors are different. They go by light wave frequency... You know, red is a shy person, purple might be outgoing, that kinda thing. Shape matters too, but... Y'know, it's complicated, so PM me a character personality so I can give him/her his/her wings.

Mineto has crystal wings. In other words, they can change to whatever he wants. That creates limitless possibilities, and he can use different Spirit Shadows, depending on his chosen wing type. It takes a lot of concentration to switch, however, so he tries not to need to.

Spirit Shadows show up as black with colored wings to everyone but Mineto. He sees them in color. In other words, really-brightly-colored wings make him dread the appearance of Spirit Shadows. Luckily for him, it takes a lot of energy to summon them. They're powerful, but when a character uses one, s/he is left exhausted.

Magic can be used in Manala. Overusing any magic causes fatigue, and the more powerful it is, the more energy it uses. DON'T ABUSE THE MAGIC OR I WILL DO BAD THINGS.

If any questions are raised, ask me.

Enjoy.

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SETTING

October 15, 2010
Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan

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The demon smelled his blood. He could feel it.

Everyone has a face they show to the outer world and a repressed side. That is just how it is these days.

It moved in to attack. It craved his life's blood... His soul.

Sometimes this repressed self struggles to the surface, begging for air... But we refuse to acknowledge it. The shadowy part of the soul is one no one wants to admit, to acknowledge, to think about.

He ducked. Narrowing his eyes, he retaliated. Bright red wings flickered to life; his body faded into a shadowy wolf. He brought a giant claw down on the demon.

Once a day, every day, all time ceases to move forward. Living things turn to stone; electrical devices seem to turn off, though they are simply frozen in time. Everyone is oblivious to this time.

The demon screeched in pain, reeling back before parting its jaws and allowing a flurry of flame to race towards him.

A small group of teenagers, however, has the ability to separate soul from body in this "time". They are aware of all that goes on, and choose to fight the demons existing in this realm, dubbed Manala.

He jumped out of the way, allowing the flames to pass harmlessly.

Manala, while not completely attached to this world, can affect it. Demons roam it, and can destroy things at will - which can, if the damage is great, cause problems in this world. Those with the power to enter this realm try to prevent that.

He pounced on his enemy, allowing electric shocks to race through his body and harm the demon.

These people have the ability to control their Shadows, or the forms their souls can take. There are two types: Original Shadows and Spirit Shadows. The Original Shadow appears as the person normally is, though with wings that are determined by the person's personality. The Spirit form, meanwhile, is an animal or being whose form is taken by the soul, and is also determined by personality.

The demon screeched yet again, then grew silent and unmoving, aside from twitches caused by the electricity.

Spirit Weapons are weapons forged by the soul, and can be used while in Original Shadow form.

The demon faded away, and he reverted back to his human form.

Normal people sometimes fall into Manala. They are the ones who fall prey to the demons. When someone's soul is taken by a demon, they fall comatose until it is recovered.

Another demon lurked nearby. He braced himself.

The mysterious comatose patients have been appearing all over Hachinohe lately. Doctors have been unable to find the cause.

He grinned.

A small team of teenagers fights in this realm, trying to keep some stability in this messed-up world.

He could defeat any demon.

And so...

He was Daichi Mineto, bane of demons!

...it begins.



Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrrring! Brrrrrrrr- *click!*

"Mmmm... Damn..."

Mineto sighed, his hand still lingering over his alarm clock. He did not want to get up. It was too early... School was too early, and it ended too late. Why he couldn't just put his head on a book and learn through booksmosis was beyond him.

The purple-haired youth stood up, stretching. There was no use in complaining. He quickly dressed in his uniform and grabbed a comb, walking over to the mirror. One green eye stared back at him, the other being hidden behind purple hair. He pursed his lips, thinking about his other eye... His blind eye. Mineto gingerly lifted his hair, giving him a clear view of the cloudy blue orb, his reminder of his "problem".

The truth was, he wasn't going to live long. He had a genetic illness that hadn't actually surfaced in his family for many generations. First, it would blind one eye, then the other; then it would give him asthma; then it would put him in spastic comas; then it would kill him.

My life is a goddamn mess.

Mineto sighed and combed his hair. What a vibrant purple it was... Even better, it was natural. He had no idea how that was even possible. Why the hell are all of my problems genetic, anyway...?

He shook his head and headed out his door and down the stairs to the dorm's lounge. There was still some time before his friends awoke, so he began preparing breakfast for them. It was one of his obligations as leader and best chef to make breakfast every morning.

"Mrrow!"

Kyoko rubbed up against Mineto's leg. He smiled and bent down to scratch the cat behind her ear. He had a soft spot for cats.

Mineto looked up as he heard voices from upstairs. Mitsuki, Fumiki, Yuki, and Akihiro were walking down the stairs, engrossed in some conversation.

"...cults. I think this new one is just weird," Yuki was saying.

"It is, kind of. I don't really have time to research it, so I don't know much," Akihiro replied.

They're talking about that new cult... Mineto turned back to his work in the dorm's small kitchen, leaving his face blank. The cult had been underground for a time, but it eventually became the talk of the city. Mineto was tired of it.

((Note: I still need a name for the cult. ))

It was a charismatic doomsday cult. Mineto didn't know the full details, but he did know that half of the school was "secretly" a part of it. He wouldn't be surprised if some teachers were members. The cult believed that the world would be taken by demons in ten months, and it had some sort of Christian background. Mineto had heard a few snatches of their sermons (they were preaching in the street), but that was all he really noticed.

Mineto plopped some eggs on a plate. "Hey, cultist dweebs. Do you want breakfast?" He busied himself with making more food while the others came to him.

Mitsuki took the plate and handed it to Akihiro. "I find it disturbing... With a cult like this, chaos may follow."

Akihiro accepted the plate and headed to the nearby table. "Let's just hope they don't get the bright idea to start attacking people," he said. "They think the world's gonna be destroyed by demons, right? Doesn't that sound weirdly familiar?"

"Yeah, it sounds like they're thinking of the demons we've been fighting," Yuki agreed. She took up a plate offered to her by Mineto. "But... Maybe it's just a coincidence. It's not like that's never been talked about before."

Mineto served breakfast to Mitsuki and Fumiki, then got to work on his own. "Personally, I don't care if Raptor Jesus suddenly parades around town making it rain holy water. I'm bored of all the cult talk."

Yuki smirked. "That's why we talk about it!"

"I think I'm gonna stop--"

Mineto was interrupted by a loud crash. He sighed. June again... With that thought, he turned in time to see June getting up and brushing himself off after a fall down the stairs. "No one saw that, right?"

"No one saw a thing," Akihiro told him. This was more or less June's daily routine: come down late, screw something up, steal Mineto's breakfast, go to school - and that was exactly what he did.

After breakfast, the small group exited the dorm and began heading to school. Mineto's sensitive ears picked up some conversations around him.

"So, that cult's pretty cool, eh?"

"Yeah, I hear they're talking about demons destroying everything, or something like that. Isn't that scary?"

"I dunno, it might be kinda cool to see the end of the world. Besides, they say that..."

Mineto blocked out the conversations. As always, everyone was talking about the damn cult. Their lure to get people in was the whole "those who believe will be saved" crap. Why do they get so much popularity with that? It's not like anyone can really know what the future holds.

School passed as normal, aside from a transfer student (or ten) moving in. Lunchtime came along, and Mineto and friends moved up to the roof of the school to eat lunch, as always. A few more people than normal were up there, but it didn't bother the group.

((Feel free to interact with Mineto and friends. I give you all free roam. P: You can be an average high school student, a Shadow-user (the new users should awaken over time... Though you can be a free-roaming user, if you really want), a cultist... Just make sure it'll fit in with the role-play.))

[Elf]

Ah, the roof. Such a wonderful sanctuary. It always had been Kensi’s ideal place to haunt, no matter where she lived—though the house in Utah had been particularly wonderful, as her bedroom window screen required almost no effort to open, and the roof held a gentle slope, perfect for sitting on and watching the sun set over the Wasatch Mountains…

She’d missed that. Her house in Orange County had had a much steeper roof, with tiles so old and unkempt that she was surprised the Fire Marshall hadn’t beaten down their door, not to mention that her windows would never open more than a crack. Stupid 70’s house. Whoever had designed and built that place must have been on something.

Kensi couldn’t help but wonder why the school would allow their students to even get on the roof. Roofs had always been something of a ‘forbidden zone’ in the teenager’s mind; that was, of course, a large part of their allure. But the main reason why she always loved sitting on top of a roof, other than that and the wonderful views they offered, was that on a rooftop, she could find both solace and solitude. Even though a roof was in plain sight of the street below, no one ever bothered to look up. The only person who’d see a rooftop dweller was another optimist like her, another dreamer with their eyes on the sky.

When she opened the door to the school’s roof, lunch in hand, uniform skirt rumpled, backpack hanging off of one shoulder from her dash up the stairs, the optimistic smile on Kensi’s face crumbled and fell. Over a half-dozen people were already eating up here. So much for being alone.

But she didn’t want to look like an idiot, either, turning around and leaving again as if actually deterred by the presence of others up here. She needed to look like she was dead set on being here, like she’d ‘meant to do that.’ Humiliation wasn’t something Kensi liked to live with, and live with it she did—every little moment of embarrassment was the girl’s constant torture, and she had a very good memory.

So she marched right onto the rooftop, shrugging her shoulder to try to straighten the backpack, unsuccessfully. She kept her head held high and her face set, blue eyes staring forward with a grim, defiant look. I dare you to say something, the look said, pointedly avoiding the eyes of the other students seated on the rooftop. Go on; I dare you. See what happens.

Nothing happened. She got to the slatted bars making up the far edge of the roof without getting a greeting from the others. Kensi found an unoccupied spot, enough of a distance away from the other students for your typical standoffish Orange County girl to feel perfectly comfortable.

But the moment she put down her bag, the moment she lowered herself to the concrete ground (not without a few silent curses at her skirt for the umpteenth time; GOD she hated uniforms), Kensi remembered that she was not your typical Orange County girl. She was an extrovert to a tee, craving social interaction like no other, but agonizingly aware of the way modern society frowned upon saying “HI!” to just anyone. Her shoulders hunched as she leaned against the slats, enjoying the feel of the breeze at her back, not enjoying the way she felt tunnels rising up on all sides of her, swallowing sound and thought. She pulled her auburn-brunette braid over her shoulder, letting it hang down the middle of her petite chest, and pulled her lunch into her lap.

Meh. She bit down on her sandwich. At least I have honey mustard.

[Kiara]

((Feh... Someone else had better join up soon; two people just ain't enough for me.))

The small group was fairly quiet, with only June's usual comment of "Damn, Hachinohe's way too cold for this!" to break the silence. Mineto was sleeping on the ground nearby, up against the fence that stopped clumsy students from falling off the roof, and Fumiki and Yuki were watching him. Mitsuki was reading a book; Akihiro was reading over her shoulder.

June was hurriedly doing his homework. He poked Akihiro's shoulder. "Hey, you got a calculator on you, Akihiro?"

Akihiro shook his head. "Sorry, I don't. Maybe Fumiki-san can help?"

Fumiki snapped to attention. "What is it, June-kun?"

"I'm dying of math!" June showed Fumiki his homework. "What's the square root of 81?"

"Weren't you supposed to memorize this? It's nine," Fumiki told him before turning back and watching Mineto again. He was muttering incoherently in his sleep.

June blinked. "Oh." Before resuming his work, he cast a quick glance around, immediately noticing Kensi. He put a big grin on his face, setting his book down. Yuki sighed and shook her head; typical June.

"Heyyyyyy!" June walked over to Kensi. "I haven't seen you around before! I'm June. You wanna hang out?"

"Idiot..." Mineto mumbled, still asleep.

[Elf]

Kensi blinked, blue eyes growing wide behind her glasses. She certainly hadn’t been expecting the exuberant greeting. She didn’t mind the slightest, but before a sunny, grateful grin could overtake her face, a realization did instead. This kid’s Japanese was…a little tilty. In fact, she might even say that he possessed an American accent…

No way.

Kensi burst into laughter.

“Hi there!” the teenager giggled, trying to stifle her chuckles and cover for herself. “Nice to meet you, June! You haven’t seen me cause I’m new here—my name’s Kensi Kane. Sorry—I was just—” She paused to take a deep breath, the last of the giggles receding even though the smile did not. “I wasn’t laughing at you or anything. I was just noticing your accent—you’re American, aren’t you? So am I! I never thought I’d meet a fellow countryman in a teeny town like this. Heh. Ironies.”

By this time, the girl’s face had flushed bright red. But she was on the spot, now. When you make a fool of yourself on stage, go on with your lines anyway. If you’re good, no one will notice.

“Or Kane Kensi,” she backtracked reflectively, “since a proper Japanese-speaking person would put surnames first. But we’re both American, so I figure I can get away with it just this once, right?” She laughed again.

God it was good to talk to someone.

[Kiara]

((this is short post.))

June laughed. "You called it! June Stephen Radley, hailing from Hell, Michigan! Nice to meet ya."

Suddenly, an eraser came out of nowhere and struck June in the head. He whirled around to see Mineto, armed with a pencil case, watching June coolly. June gulped.

"Uh... I-"

"No. There is no excuse." Mineto's face adopted a vicious glare. "You know better than to steal my pocky..."

"I-I didn't mean it!" June hid behind Kensi. "SAVE ME!"

"There is no escape..."

[Elf]

Kensi snorted a laugh, a bright grin overtaking her face. "Hell?" she chortled. "Since it's the Midwest, I wouldn't be surprised if that was ACTUALLY the name of the town...I lived in Ohio for a few years, y'see. I lived in Orange County before I came to Japan, though--"

The girl blinked blue eyes bemusedly as an eraser whizzed past her nose. She, too, whirled towards the source of the projectile--and froze at the look on Mineto's face.

She stiffened at hearing the boy's crimes. Her brown braid nearly cleaved June's nose off as she craned her neck around towards the other American, who'd already scrambled behind her. "DUDE!" The English interjection left her lips before she could stop it. Californian birth had its residual effects, after all. She dismissed the slip and switched back to Japanese without missing a beat. "You DIDN'T! You NEVER get between a man and his Pocky! Hell, I'm as White as they come, and even I know that!" She was just barely exaggerating, too; in the dead of winter, the Irish-blooded girl could scarcely have a more pale complexion unless she were Undead.

Kensi turned back to face the oncoming danger, only to find that the murderous countenance of Mineto had grown closer. She swallowed, wrestling a stricken look away from her face.

Thinking quickly, Kensi fumbled for her bag and snatched something from it. She stood, straightened, and thrust both hands forward, displaying the peace offering and a bright, hopeful grin.

"...Pudding cup?"

[Kiara]

June whimpered. "It- It wasn't my fault!" It wasn't his fault the pocky jumped off the roof! He was innocent! Everyone else just had the wrong idea. He watched with wide eyes as Kensi offered Mineto a pudding cup - that was just asking for trouble.

Mineto blinked bemusedly at this new offering. "Wha... Pudding...?" This girl was obviously not from around here. Crap, I screwed up my first impression. He straightened, relaxing a little. He could get back at June later. "First of all, pudding is disgusting. Secondly, who are you?"

June let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. That Mineto was way too unpredictable; had Kensi been anyone else, he might have bitten her head off.

The rest of the group had already stopped all activity and was watching Mineto and Kensi intently, trying to make sure Mineto wouldn't do something stupid.

[Elf]

Kensi blinked at Mineto's bemused look, just as confused at his confusion as he was confused. She tilted her pudding cup sideways, inspecting it. Why was he looking at it that way? Was there something wrong with the pudding cup? Was it broken, open, or oozing? No; inspection said it was a perfectly intact chocolate-fudge-layer pudding cup...

Blue eyes blinked owlishly up at Mineto. Kensi's face fell, horrified.

...Disgusting?

The teenager felt torn between anger, pity, and horror. How could she say such a thing about her beloved pudding?! And how could he have lived his WHOLE LIFE without knowing the joys and wonders of pudding? But even worse than these incredulous thoughts was the sobering fact that her peace offering was utterly ineffective.

What color remained in the girl's cheeks--summoned there by the bitter winter chill--drained from her face at the realization. It didn't help that she suddenly noticed all of Mineto's friends staring at the two of them, not raising a finger, not saying a word. Probably waiting to see if the purple-haired guy would pounce. His posture might have been casual, but everything else--his demeanor, his expression, his very aura--was WAY too intense for comfort.

Kensi pulled back the pudding cup and plastered on her best sheepish grin. "Sorry," she chirped heartily, "I didn't know you didn't like pudding. Um...I'm Kane Kensi," she answered lamely in response to his brisk who are you? "I'm a new transfer student...my little sister Lea and I moved here from California--from the U.S."

Make up for your slip who cares that it's not your fault he doesn't like pudding MAKE UP FOR IT SOMEHOW HE'S GOING TO KILL YOU JUST LOOK AT HIM-- "Um...I like your hair. Very striking."

She could have punched herself. STRIKING?! What's WRONG with you?!

[Meryck]

Thankfully, Kensi was saved from utter embarrassment by a small, spindly, pixie-cut red-head trotting up to the table, panting and not noticing any of the others standing around.

"S-Sorry, Big Sis!!" She dumped her backpack by the chair she chose to sit down on, snow-pale skin just barely revealing the veins underneath. She ran a hand through her bangs, trying and failing miserably to keep her right side of her face from being obscured by the ratty, ruby locks.

"Blasted teacher wouldn't let us out...some idiot blew up a beaker, and we had to clean it up!" She adjusted her trademark goggles, still not looking up, and STILL trying to catch her breath. "And what's worse- it wasn't ME!! I tell ya, pyromaniacs just can't catch a--" She finally glanced up, blue-grey irises circled with black, and the dark rings marking an insomniac under her eyes. She blinked. "...What's with the face?"

Then and only then, did she notice the others. Lea blinked again, surprised and curious.

"Oh. Um....Hi?"

[Kiara]

Mineto blinked. "Yeah, it's striking. It strikes me in the face all the time. I'm Daichi Mineto." He could tell not only from her posture, but from the tension in the girl's aqua-blue avian wings that she was somewhat freaked out by him. "...I'm harmless, if you're wondering."

The purple-haired wonder looked over at Lea when she entered, chattering to Kensi like no one else was there. He arched an eyebrow. They're sisters, huh? It's not hard to tell they're American.

"Yo!" June, having recovered from his nearly-fatal encounter, was back to chattering to new people. "So you're her sister? Sweet! I'm June Radley, the awesomest awesomecake on the planet!"

Akihiro stared at June, arching an eyebrow. "The... What?"

"Has your IQ gone down?" Yuki sighed. "I swear, you're more dumbed down than an American children's book..."

"Hey, I resent that!" June huffed. "Care Bears are AWESOME!"

[Glyph]

Unfortunately, the idiot from science class decided to seize that moment to burst through the door and stomp unevenly onto the scene, a cloud of fuming rage roiling in his wake.

"Damn... Dammit."

An pair of burning eyes, bright as the sun--though currently overcast--swept across the rooftop, taking in the wintry chill, the murky sky and, oh yeah, his classmates, milling about like sheep. Several of the meeker underclassmen cringed under the force of his presence, though that didn't come as much of a surprise; one didn't have to look too hard see that those golden eyes not only beheld, but captured and analyzed, picked apart and rearranged, producing a stare that could easily bite as harshly and as deeply as cold steel through flesh.

Contorted with rage as it was now, it was perfectly capable of being absolutely terrifying all on its own... had its owner not been the stocky, round faced, rather short teenage boy he was.

It would have also helped more if the tip of his golden braid hadn't been faintly smoking.

"Who in the bloody Hell does that bastard think he is giving me detention?!"
-------------

(OOC: My very first attempt at any incarnation of Edward Elric... I'm pretty sure it's going to kill me.
L-lemme know if I butcher him... ._. )

[Elf]

Striking. Yep. Definitely a bad choice of words with a guy like this. He had the face of a natural snarkster. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Kensi drooped a little at Mineto's comments, carefully keeping the apologetic grin intact.

But sheer relief visibly flooded her form as the door to the rooftop swung open to admit the red-headed pixielike girl: her sister. "Lea!" Fully aware of the stares of the rest of their peers as Lea rambled obliviously, Kensi kept her attention focused on Lea anyway. Her smile quickly changed from cringing and apologetic to warm and grateful--grateful for nothing more than Lea's presence.

Alone, she was an awkward extrovert: a shrimpy, bespeckled, braided geek girl with a crooked grin, a loud laugh, and a positive outlook regardless of--or because of--whatever was thrown in her face. But whenever Lea walked into the room, Kensi became something else entirely: an older sister. Her happiness was gauged first and foremost by her little sister's happiness. Her confidence shot through the roof whenever Lea was nearby, because suddenly, she was in the presence of someone who would respect and love her no matter what. She sponged off the unspoken acceptance, the automatic camaraderie, like a Psy vampire off of strong emotions. Kensi was truly a textbook extrovert. Other people's opinions and feelings validated her existence. And she, in turn, devoted her existence to those who cared enough to validate her.

It showed, too. When Lea barreled onto the rooftop and started ranting about Chemistry class, the sunny grin wasn't the only thing that changed about Kensi's countenance. Her sagging shoulders straightened, her hunted look vanished, and the tension in her general demeanor slowly bled away.

Thus, when she looked back over at Mineto, a true and studying smile lit up her face. "It's nice to meet you, Daichi-kun." A chuckle. "Harmless, eh? Not when it comes to Pocky, though, right?" She let out an ironic laugh, though her friendly grin was wide enough to offset any sarcasm in her tone.

Harmless? She doubted it. Extroversion she could handle; extroversion she knew. If Mineto had come at her with his proverbial guns blazing, she'd have immediately countered with proverbial guns of her own. Confrontations powered by sharp words and adrenaline were easy to deal with. It was the slow anger, the kind of wrath that built steadily, quietly, in the back of someone's eyes before they lashed out, that unnerved Kensi the most. Experience had taught her that it was, indeed, 'always the quiet ones.'

But the friendly smile showed that Kensi didn't really mind anymore. Mineto's Pocky-induced wrath had already been forgotten--or at least forgiven. So what if he didn't like pudding? At least he was an honest guy. That, more than anything, made him someone well worth knowing.

Unfortunately, Kensi didn't have time to portray these thoughts in much more than a look, as suddenly, the door to the rooftop opened again--this time so hard that it bounced off the opposite wall before shutting again. Kensi visibly flinched. Though her earlier timidity had dissolved, Kensi's jumpiness did not. She blinked bemusedly at the fuming mass of newcomer...and upon getting a good look at him, blinked several more times.

The first thing she noticed were the bright eyes, like burnished gold reflecting firelight. Never before had she seen eyes like that. Once, she'd had a friend whose eyes were an odd shade of hazel that was closer to amber, but nothing like the lion-like tawny that plowed over the student body now. Striking was really an adept adjective, this time. She felt suddenly captured by those eyes, drawn in rather than chased away by the rancor therein.

The next thing she noticed was his countenance--his height, his build, his face. He couldn't have been older than fifteen or sixteen, but he carried himself like no teenager should, more like a panther on the prowl than a grumpy young man. And his face, though still round with youth, held a quality that suggested he had seen things. What things Kensi could only guess, but she found she could not look away.

Many girls would have found him attractive. Many girls would have also been deterred by the steel in his gaze, or by his excruciatingly challenged height. Kensi, ever the would-be empath, was drawn to the boy's extroversion like a moth to the flame. What was more, short was a good thing in her book. She was so over tall guys.

And thus, while the would-be chemist stomped around and raged, Kensi had only two coherent thoughts: Good God he's cute. Her gaze flickered to her sister. If Lea steals him, I'm gonna have a fit.

A slow smirk started over Kensi's face. "Hey there, Short Stuff," she called, perfectly amicable, "your hair's on fire."

[Meryck]

The red-head blinked and June's introduction, giggled happily, and offered a wide grin. "Ah, another American! Lea Kane, nice to meet you." Despite her rather pale and scrawny form, the girl seemed to be giving off a megaton of life and sun, unable to be doused or hidden.

And then she blinked at the door slamming, looked over, and scowled. She had absolutely no intention of stealing that boy. "Oi! That's the idiot that got us all in trouble!!"

[Kiara]

"This school is getting more dysfunctional every day," Mineto muttered. "I'm starting to feel... Normal."

Akihiro laughed. "You? Normal? Perish the thought!"

June blinked when he saw the new guy walk onto the rooftop. Unlike some of the people cringing under the intimidating stare, June spoke his thoughts (and possibly the thoughts of most other people) aloud: "Dude. The hell's his problem?"

At this point, Fumiki was brushing her hair. When the new blond youth came into the scene yelling about something or another, she dropped her brush, and it landed on Yuki's hand, making her jump and bump into Mitsuki, making her drop her (actually rather large) book on Akihiro's foot, making him jump and hit Mineto, who stood there, rather dazed at the sudden series of unfortunate events.

Yuki blinked a few times, picking up the brush and handing it back to Fumiki. "...What just happened?"

Fumiki picked some of the blue hairs out of her brush nervously, avoiding any gazes that might be directed toward her. "S-Sorry..."

Mitsuki looked rather peeved at the newcomer for disrupting her entertainment. She picked up her book and set it down next to her - it was hard for her to get back into a book after being interrupted. What was with people and shouting their misfortunes, anyway?

"I sense a disturbance in the force..." Mineto muttered. "Too many weird things are happening today... Too many transfers, too many accidents in laboratories, too many people on the roof, and, possibly worst of all, too many words coming out of my mouth."

[Glyph]

While vertical ineptitude may have been a plus in Kensi's book, it was a negative infinity in Ed's, a taboo never to be mentioned; he rounded on her in an instant, pinning her with those blazing tawny eyes, though he didn't seem to be paying any honest attention to who he was bellowing at. His rage seemed an almost automatic reaction, as if she'd pulled a well-thumbed trigger and set him off.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT THEY NEED A LADDER TO CLIMB THE--AW, DAMMIT!"

The way he blew his top was almost spectacular, if a bit overdramatic, and the teen would have likely kept at it, too, if Kensi's observation hadn't sent him whirling on the spot to hastily thump out his hair before it ruined his jacket. (His favorite red jacket--against school policy, but why the Hell should he care? He already had detention.)

When Edward Elric finally looked up, soot-smudged and shoulders heaving, it was from beneath mussed bangs and tightly drawn brows; he sent a well-practiced deathglare June's way, and another at the younger Kane, fists clenching at his sides.

"And who the Hell are you calling a bloody idiot?" As his voice rose in pitch and his face reddened under all the stares and mutterings, the previously American rasp tinted with something harsher; it wasn't his fault the damn teacher was so damn boring; it wasn't his fault the beakers he'd been "experimenting" with had been labeled incorrectly. "You're not gonna pin that on me!"