Fooling Around after Class (Akira)

[Luka Kurokawa]

It was the late afternoon about right now in the Student Council office. From the window, one could see the sun nearly out of sight, simply projecting a red hue across the sky. It was clearly past school hours already, yet there were two students still slaving away at work. Naturally, these two were the two active members of the student council. From within the room, the Vice President Luka was completely focused on the large stacks of papers situated in front of and around her. The room itself was extremely quiet except for the systematic ticking of the clock above the door and the clean embrace between writing utensil and paper. It was a peaceful situation, but unlikely to be pleasant for either of them. The two of them had been working on this paperwork for quite some time now, with the end only within a focused eye's sight.

All of this work set before them had been a result of the highly damaged school auditorium from a bit earlier. Funnily enough, the both of them were there when the auditorium was wrecked. And again, they had a hand in solving the issue before it got even worse. Yet as they sat here going through paperwork, it became hard to believe that their fight was anywhere near over.

Luka had been highly focused despite the mental strain that so much paperwork in one sitting could put on someone. Going paper by paper, the girl simply filled in what needed to be filled, expertly placed completed papers in their appropriate pile and moved on to the next paper in the rather intimidating stack. It was hard work, but she knew that it was getting done faster than if it was just one person. This was why she was glad that Akira was willing to stick it out until it was all said and done.

It was funny to Luka how her carefree days in high school had suddenly become some sort of time-management game. She needed to carefully decide when to study, when to go out and exterminate shadows, as well as when to get social with people. And of course, she always needed to keep a bit of room for those unexpected events that could throw off her plans at a moment's notice. In a way, it was nice, if one could get past all of the awful things happening around them. After all, what point is there in protecting something if nobody is going to enjoy it?

Taking a small breather to allow her hand to rest, Luka stretched a bit letting out a satisfied noise. Then, placing her elbow on the table and using her hand to hold up her head, she looked over at Akira for a moment with a small smile. Well, we should be done soon at this rate. We'll finally have this taken care of. This workload had been looming over the both of them since they both realized what they were in for during the night of the full moon. Though, I do hope the next one that shows up picks somewhere else to terrorize. She was happy that she saved the school and all, but she could really do without the extra work.

[Akira Nakajima]

Akira was one to work confidently, capably, and with great ease, but there was a limitation to every human's mental endurance when it came to soul-rending boredom and something that should have never occurred in the first place. Namely, the boy's concerns were with the whole “auditorium fucking ruined, please help!” issue. The issue the boy wanted to drink himself to sleep the night of the major fight, failing to do so because Unshaken Will was a total and complete bitch and rendered him entirely immune to alcohol poisoning of every level. He had never had a drink before, either, so he couldn't even go in, hoping for a placebo effect to save his ass- it was a complete and utter failure, and he did, in fact, lay in bed that night, staring at his ceiling and crying.

At one point, the boy entered a state of zen, completing his work with great precision and speed. It was graceful in a way that exceeded common sense. Why was this different from his normal efforts? It was because his mind had completely shut down, allowing his body to react to the papers purely on honed reflexes. As if he were in a battle, with Heat Riser maxed out, the boy was moving on instinct. Some small fraction of his head obviously still functioned, but, when the girl- his partner and Vice President, Kurokawa Rukako- spoke, she shattered that serene state of emptiness. The boy's eyes twitched. His senses came back to him. He realized he was no longer dead on the inside, and that the boredom had returned, claws extended, with the sole intent of clawing what remained of his mortal soul to shreds.

”Somewhere else sounds good.” He responded after a few moments. When he said that, though, he hadn't meant the Shadow appearance. He meant getting out and going somewhere else. Anywhere else was fine. Finding smokers on campus, checking on clubs, investigating he newest couple spots, or just anything that didn't include another piece of paper. Lacking a full council sucked. Completely. His standards were high for the sake of the school, sure, but this was just abuse to him. Sure, Luka was doing it, too, but there were some things that only he could do as the President. In other words, this event was especially trying on the boy. And “trying”, in this case, meant “soul-rending”, as covered before.

That was why the boy stood after a moment. And, without a word, outside of that “somewhere else sounds good” before, he started to make his way towards the door. If not for the fact that it was normally within his personality to announce, annoyingly, that he was heading for the bathroom, one could have assumed that was his destination. In truth, his destination was still “Anywhere not there”.

[Luka Kurokawa]

Luka's eyes focused on Akira for the time being, watching how he reacted to what she had said. It took him a few moments, but he soon answered her. Though, something seemed odd about the way he answered her. She felt like asking him what was wrong, but that seemed like something silly to do. It was quite obvious, especially from his face that he was just trying to get through this paperwork as quickly as possible. He didn't want to be here. Heck, she felt the exact same way. She also noticed that she may have broke his focus when she first spoke. Her smile disappeared as she decided to simply return to her work for the time being. It was probably best to speed up the process by preventing any idle chatter. After all, the sooner they were done, the sooner they could rest.

And so, she returned to her work if not for more than a moment, trying to find the spot in which she left off. She heard the moving of Akira's chair to which she turned her head to again, watching him head out the door. Normally, someone might believe that Akira was going to the bathroom or something, but Luka felt otherwise. He would usually announce when he was going. That, coupled with the mood he seemed to be in? Something was up.

Quickly rising from her seat she caught up to Akira before he could leave, tugging on the back of his shirt. It was a weak tug, only meant to grab his attention. Is something wrong? She spoke in a quiet voice with her head partially lowered, but eyes focused on him. She kept her question vague simply for the fact that even though it was likely just him being tired out, she wasn't dismissing the possibility of something else. Akira wasn't the type of person to let stuff bother him, after all. Nor did he seem like the type of person to get depressed at all. Whatever the case, Akira seemed out of it. Luka was simply worried.

[Akira Nakajima]

The claw of Satan settled on Akira's shirt in the form of the girl's hand. Truly, there was no escape from neither hell nor purgatory. To get to heaven, or even reach the land of the mortals once more, was a dream that was quickly drying up. Slowly, he turned his gaze over his shoulder and just smiled slightly at the girl. Ah, how to respond, what to say? There were many ways to go about it. Because of that, the boy had to stop and really consider it for a moment. Fortunately, his mind moved a bit more quickly than his body, so the actual pause was barely noticeable. Slowly, he twisted his upper body around and raised a hand. It was balled up into a fist. And then his thumb extended. It was a thumbs up. After all, he had no reason to punch her. Why would anyone think that a fist automatically meant violence was coming?

”Everything is fine, Ruka. I'm just done working on my paperwork.” He responded, that smile never fading. ”I have to thank you. You said something that resonated with my soul. 'Somewhere else'. So, I decided to go 'somewhere else'. Preferably where there was no paperwork.” His explanation was simple, to the point, and clear. There was no way she could have misunderstood, so his escape would, he believed and hoped, proceed with minimal difficulty. Slowly, his hand dropped back down. ”So, as you can see, there's nothing wrong. I'm just done.” He nodded, reaffirming his words.

[Luka Kurokawa]

Luka anticipated his response, keeping her focus on his face when the boy did turn around. Rather than giving an immediate answer, the boy smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She could only blink in response to such an act. He made the claim that he was done his paperwork, even though it was highly unlikely that he was. She wanted to say something to him right there, only to hear him continue mentioning how she said something that resonated in his soul. She gave him a dull stare when he said that. Honestly? She was somewhat disappointed in her president. Here she was getting worried over him, and yet all he was trying to do was get out of doing work!

He then continued on, affirming that there was nothing wrong with him, giving a slight nod to her. Nope. Not going to work. Huuu. . . I see how it is. She narrowed her eyes at him with a gaze that was clearly judging him, not unlike the Yama of the afterlife. That gentle, and somewhat careful grip soon became a serious tug at the boy as to prevent him from escaping. I'm afraid I can't let you do that. We have a duty as the student council. I understand that you're tired, but bear with it, okay? Her tone started off serious, but soon drifted off into sympathetic territory. After all, she could legitimately sympathize with him on this issue. She was dealing with it too! Not to mention if he left, she would simply have to carry on the burdens that he left behind. That wouldn't be any good for either of them, especially him. Luka would make sure of that.

Come on. Back in you go. With a few light tugs on his shirt, she began to coax him back into the student council room like a puppy that had escaped the yard. And like any good owner, Luka decided that she would reward him should he return.

[Akira Nakajima]

The gaze she gave him was filled with the air of judgment. That was fine. Her judgments only made him more excited. So, more! By all means, increase the judgments, the punishments, and the sentences! Then she voiced her opposition to his plans. Nope, nope, nope! Couldn't bend, wouldn't bend. There was no desire to bend. Sympathy was all well and good, but the boy had been handling the job entirely by himself until the other two had popped up. Naturally, when a flux of paperwork like that came in, he had every right to want to get the hell away from it. The grip on his shirt became a bit stronger. Rather than a grip, it became a pull. It was as though the hands of death itself were trying to grab his soul and drag it into the netherworld. Nope! Just as her hands pulled him, his hands gripped onto the nearest thing they could get- the windowsill. Shit was real. He wasn't going back! Not there, not then!

”Dun wanna!” His voice was especially high-pitched. This was because he figured that it was only the two of them there at that point. His words, uttered in Japanese, and tone, combined, made him sound like a little girl refusing to go to bed, or something along those lines. The fact that he gripped onto something in firm opposition of the girl only further solidified that fact. ”Don't wanna. Refuse. Nope. No sir. No ma'am. Not gonna. Don't wanna.” He shook his head in firm opposition to the prospect, as well. He did not want to. He could not stand to. Therefore, he would not. If this girl refused to accept his ultimatum, then they would. . . have to clash over their wills. Such was just the fate of humanity. They clashed over ideals over the ages! This war would just be. . .

. . . on a much smaller scale.

[Luka Kurokawa]

Now, Luka had expected some minor resistance from the boy. Minor, being some grumbling or a little bit of pouting. Minor, being absolutely no physical resistance. What she did not expect was the whole deluxe meal of a tantrum that she had received. The first thing he did was grip onto a nearby windowsill to prevent himself from going with her. In response, the girl strengthened her pull on him. Knock it off. She was slightly annoyed at this point, fully believing that he was likely just messing with her. But then came the girlish cry against her notion. Auuuu. She was getting a bit more agitated now.

She began to pull with both hands now, attempting to free him from the windowsill so that he could be dragged back into the room to do his work. Come. On! She began to pull with all of her might. Unfortunately, Akira was much more stronger than her physically leaving her unable to pull him away. Again came another slew of cute, but somewhat annoying words from the boy. By this point, Luka was just about ready to hit the boy. They were in school of all places and he was making this kind of scene? What if some staff walked by? As the girl's agitation grew, her will to keep pulling at him began to shrink until it finally disappeared.

Too bad! Rather than pulling him towards the door to the council room, Luka lunged forward at the boy putting all of her weight on top of him. She had essentially wrapped her entire body around his upper body in hopes of pulling him down with her. She had been left no choice given her laughable upper body strength. And so, there she was. In the middle of a seemingly empty hall in the school after school hours clinging to her student council president in an attempt to pin him to the ground. Pulling her head over his shoulder to make eye contact with him, she left the boy with one last remark. If I'm going down, you're coming with me.

[Akira Nakajima]

Upon realizing that his method of resistance was effective, the boy, still facing away from the girl, developed a smug grin. He was greatly amused. Almost re-energized from her reactions, the boy just kept his grip tight and steady. Eventually, the tugging subsided, and the grip faded. He started to turn and look to see just what his Vice was doing now, but, rather than receiving an interesting or amusing expression, he received body. Lots of body. A whole body. That is, he was assaulted by Luka's full body. In what was enough to confuse him, the boy slid against the wall, down to the floor, as the girl collided with him and pulled him down. She coiled around Akira like some sort of half-snake woman. While it was interesting and amusing, and arousing on some level, he was a bit surprised that she had become so forward. She then uttered something silly about taking him down with her.

”My, you certainly are a forward thing, clinging and coiling around my body like this.” He noted in a light-hearted tone. He was in an entirely different mood now. She had fixed his issue, if only for the time being. That didn't mean he was willing to return, though. ”But, ah, if you wanted to take me down and get on top of me, that's one thing, but please don't make excuses like 'I'm taking you with me!' or something equally silly. You only fell because you attacked me. Likewise, I only went down because you attacked me.” He laughed, sounding more boyish than his earlier protests.

”Of course, if you want to go down on me, that's perfectly fine. I'd just prefer a bit more heads up next time.”

[Luka Kurokawa]

As Luka clinged to Akira, he seemed to collapse, all according to plan. Though, the girl didn't really plan what to do past that. Truthfully, she just felt like taking him down. He was seriously pissing her off! Doing a lot of paperwork like that can make someone quite testy, after all. Though, the fact that it was this guy played an important role in it too. Regardless, as she brought the boy down to the ground she stopping clinging to him and rose to an upright position, essentially straddling him. Told you. She simply looked down at the boy laying under her with a slightly annoyed look.

As for him? He seemed to be effectively enjoying it, going as far as to tease her again. Well, wasn't that great? She managed to cheer him up. Only. . . he still had no intention of heading back in to do work. Part of his teasing managed to muster a small smile and a barely noticeable laugh from her. Though, the last statement caused her to frown once more; she was annoyed again. With a playful jab to the boy's stomach in response to that last statement, the girl sighed then looked over him for a moment. She knew that it would be unlikely for her to convince him at this rate. They would just be wasting time. Fine. You win. We'll take a break for now. BUT! We're finishing that work all up tomorrow! No ifs, ands, or buts! Just when did she suddenly have to start taking care of him like a child anyway? So. The girl found herself playing with the boy's shirt a bit as she spoke. Where shall we go?

[Akira Nakajima]

The girl straddled him. Well, that was certainly interesting. It'd take a bit more to get a very physical reaction, though. Something like this was casual rom-com tier! She went on to concede her defeat. She said they could take a break 'for now'. That would mean heading back eventually. Hell no. But he'd play along for the time being. For a few moments, the boy just watched her, noticing that she was tinkering around with his shirt. Well, frisky today, wasn't she? With a warm, playful smile, the boy closed his eyes and let his head rest on the hard floor. How to proceed? How to go about this, indeed.

”Well, we could go somewhere. We could do something. But, with everything that you're doing, I think you have something in mind already, don't you?” In truth, he doubted it seriously. He was just using the little details as justification to bother her and drive her into the emotional corner known as embarrassment. His eyes opened. His arms folded underneath his head. He fixed her with a stare. ”How about we take a trip to imaginary places, just you and me?” The meanings behind his words were myriad- and some were innocent, while others were completely off the deep-end. How would this girl respond? Would she even get the finer nuances of his words?

. . . he doubted it. It was probably going to be a wasted effort. But he could still enjoy himself, all the same.

[Luka Kurokawa]

The girl simply tilted her head in confusion when the boy suggested that she already had something in mind for what they could do. What exactly was she doing? Fighting him? She doubted that he was referring to having a spar or something like that. Though, he seemed to have that smile again. She knew that it wasn't a good sign.

She shifted around while on top of him subconsciously to get a bit more comfortable as he continued talking. Then came a stare directed at her. Imaginary places? She blinked, not exactly understanding what he could be referring to. And just what did he mean by "just the two of them?" Either he was asking her on some sort of bizarre date, he was talking about playing video games, or he was teasing her in some way that went straight over her head. Well, I suppose that could be fun. Where do we go for this "imaginary place?" And just what would we do there? She was either walking herself into a trap or had already fallen into the endless abyss to her certain demise. Emotional demise, that is.

Actually, going somewhere she had never been to before sounded somewhat interesting. For a second there, the girl had completely forgotten about the duties of the student council as she gave into her innocent curiosity over the boy's suggestion. Maybe after they had some fun they would be a bit more relaxed and refreshed. Something to let out their frustrations.

[Akira Nakajima]

And it seemed that, once again, the boy had met with a certain type of total and complete failure that transcended everything that he had when he first set out to complete his goals. He and failure- failure and defeat both- had become intensely intimate as of late. Oddly enough, or perhaps “as could be expected” was more appropriate, it was only when he dealt with Luka that he ended up finding his efforts were totally and completely thwarted. Her innocence was something that needed to be grown out of naturally, and, despite that, he had every desire and urge to corrupt it just to see how it would end up. Ah, such were the troubles of a perverse cretin like himself.

”It would seem that you are not yet ready to enter imaginary places.” He calmly declared with absolutely zero hesitation as his arms stretched out. His hands reached towards her face before pinching her cheeks and tugging at them. All the while, he maintained a pleasant expression. If he could not tease her, then perhaps he could give her a topic that she could participate in? Rather, one that she would be interested in while simultaneously understanding just what it was that was slithering from his mouth.

”I ran into some interesting things during my outings. If you ask nicely, I'll share the info with you.” He stuck his tongue out, still gently tugging on the girls soft cheeks. They reminded him of putty. He wanted to squish them together.

Screw personal space.

[Luka Kurokawa]

Wha-. . . What do you mean I'm not ready? He seemed to be fully interested in taking her to imaginary places just a moment ago. At least, that was how he seemed. Did something she said change his mind somehow? She attempted to puff her cheeks out of annoyance, only to have them tugged on by Akira a moment later. Auuuauuauuu. She closed her eyes out of surprise as the cheek onslaught came. Her single greatest weakness. Besides light.

Luka felt that she was more than ready to handle whatever he was going to give him. I'm more than capable of handling any imaginary place that we would go to together, I'll have you know! Her words were somewhat muffled thanks to the cheek-pulling that was happening. Yet, she knew that asking again wouldn't yield a better response. She would have to accept his words. For now.

Akira decided to change the subject to something that she would supposedly have interest in. He then continued on to try and tease her by suggesting that she ask about it nicely, then proceeded to stick his tongue out at her. Well, wasn't that counterproductive? Why on earth should she now? Pulling the boy's cheeks, Luka leaned in close to him. Then, in a purposely louder voice, she uttered a single drawn out word with a deadpan expression. Paaaaaasssssu. She then returned to an upright position, still straddling him, mind you. More seriously, what's up? She let go of his cheeks for the moment to allow him to answer.

[Akira Nakajima]

The girl closed in after her denials of his words. Her face was so close, he could have tried something. If not for the fact that she was pulling his cheeks, anyway. No, actually, he could have still done it, just to bother her, even if it did hurt. She sat straight. She then requested a proper answer. The boy gave an exaggerated sigh before letting go of her cheeks. She certainly had to be difficult, huh? Too innocent, not willing to submit to his whims. Such a difficult girl. Then again, that was probably part of the reason that teasing her was such an enjoyable activity. Tease, bother, harass, and otherwise stimulate her for personal growth- these were all justifiable actions he had taken with her. He supposed, once again, he could compromise and give her what she sought without compensation. It wouldn't have been the first time.

”I guess I can tell you. Even though you're not asking politely. Even though you're just expecting me to tell you entirely free of charge, without so much as a 'please' or a 'thank you'. But, all right. I guess I can share with you some tid-bits.” He was building it up plenty. Slowly, though, his smile faded. His expression turned very neutral. His eyes never left her face, though his arms did, again, form a pillow to put something between the floor and his hair. ”Like I said, I've encountered some interesting things while out.” He again brought them to the point at hand.

”Sentient Shadows. Three of them. Got definite identification on one, almost definite identification on another, and a location for the third.”

[Luka Kurokawa]

Akira started off with an exaggerated sigh as he finally let go of her cheeks. She began to rub them a bit since they were now free. It would seem that her plea worked. Akira may have been a tough person to crack, but at least she could manage something small like this against him. Though when he began to speak, he decided to drag out the "introduction" to his information. In response, Luka simply flicked him in the forehead before letting him continue. It just felt like the right thing to do at the time.

His expression changed very quickly before he began, which only made Luka more interested in this topic. It seemed like something serious. And serious it seemed. I see. You mean like the one we saw in the chasm? One that could talk. She recalled back to the shadow that seemed to target Akira throughout the battle. In the end, it retreated mostly unharmed. But Akira had mentioned finding three. All three of them are new ones I'm assuming. And from the sounds of it, he had gathered quite a bit of information on them. Somehow though, she wasn't really that surprised.

Actually, since you brought it up, I ran into one as well. A female that can transform into a. . . naked woman with a snake. Her expression turned deadpan for a moment as she thought back to it. We had a rather interesting conversation, actually. Well, it was mostly me interrogating her. But I did learn quite a bit on them. Sentient shadows, that is. She continued on for a bit. From the sound of it, they don't actually know the cause of the barrier, nor are they truly allied with whoever caused it. This seems to be especially true since they cannot come and go from the barrier as they please. Aside for that, they seem to possess two forms, being their shadow and human forms. And as it would seem. . . the human forms can walk around the city naturally. She had essentially dumped out most of the information that she had learned from her past confrontation. And what of the ones you found? As it would seem, the both of them were already making strides in tracking down these shadows. Though, Luka would have preferred to be not be so far behind him in terms of findings.