Where Will You Go?

[sou_kigetsuki]

Who: Sou "Kit" Kigetsuki, and anyone who happens to cross his path.
What: Sou's recovery was a swift one that wasn't without consequence.
When: After the Shadow Event
Where: Cafeteria.
Format: Prose but I'll match.
Warning: violence (tentatively)

Sou pretty much had forced himself into one of the fastest recoveries from a broken ankle ever by putting a bullet in his own head. He wasn't about to let anything stop him and he certainly didn't want anyone's help or pity.

Like the natural actor he was, he pretended that nothing bothered him. At least publicly. He raised his brow at the display of energy bars and it reminded him sorely of those bars he had back at the lab during his refinement which brought to the surface terrible memories of the harsh experimentations he endured.

It was almost disgusting how the Administration would think that they are nothing more than rats and even worse, he was starting to see the big picture. It was enough to make him lance the festering wound of discontent and maliciousness through violent action. His hands at his sides in tight fists, the heat in the general area of about ten feet was becoming increasingly unbearable.

"STOP MESSING WITH ME!"

Comments

[provenworth]

Slowly, the layout of the Tower as well as familiarity of the different floors was coming to Elena and she was becoming more capable of navigating around without trouble. And the route from her room to the cafeteria was so properly ingrained into memory she could walk it blindfolded. While it was never good to have a routine, Elena's habitual and necessary cup of coffee would at least dictate where she could be found in the early morning.

Having made perhaps the third trip to the cafeteria for an additional cup, Elena stood parallel to the great spance of the room, not once offering the entirety of her back. She was learning quickly to never remain exposed or be seen as unaware. So as she finished adding the creamer and sugar to her cup, she turned to head back to the library and her growing tower of books.

She had, of course, noted the other individual in the room, and could swear she could feel some sort of angry heat coming from his direction. Whether it was actually coming from him, or a vent, or if it was just her imagination, she kept a wide berth initially, keeping eight feet between them both as she strode past.

Hot...

Pausing, Elena stopped, a sudden heatwave burning her straight through, beads of sweat forming almost instantaneously. Turning her head back to the man sitting, she shifted, adjusting to face him to ask if he felt the quickly increasing heat as well. To which she was greeted with his outburst, sending her to shuffle back several steps and her coffee being dropped, the hot liquid splashing against the tile floor.

"W-What the hell?!"

[sou_kigetsuki]

Sou retracted that heat just as fast but his anger was still apparent. The energy bars on the counter was left naught but ash. He turned his head to regard the shout and scowled. "Hell is right."

With the retracted heat, he looked at the floor at the spilled coffee. If he was in his right mind, he would have felt guilt for such a waste. Instead, he scoffed and pushed the dust and ash away with a concentrated blast of heat from his hand to drive the horrid things away from his sight.

It was a stupid thing to be reminded of and he certainly hated his past more than the people that caused it. "This place, how long have you been here in this place?"

[provenworth]

Ifrit's balls, it was hot. Blazing. Scorching. It made her wonder if she continued to stay there, whether or not her uniform would eventually catch fire. But, for the time being, she remains still, yet on guard. With what she's seen the last few weeks, she's not stupid enough to make the first move. Even if the potential threat can exude a strong level of heat to burn everything to a crisp.

Lips pressed together into a thin line, eyes moving from facial expressions to the body movements, gauging and watching. A power like that, if it truly was him and not some abnormality, was very deadly. Honey colored eyes narrow slightly at his question, his angle not quite obvious, but if it kept his temper cooled, then perhaps it was best to entertain him.

"Not very long. A few months, at the most. I take it you've been here for quite some time?"

[sou_kigetsuki]

"No." He didn't see Elena as a threat and since she made no move to attack, he saw no point in keep up with the heat. She wasn't the cause of his provoked anger even if it was passive.

"I arrived here earlier this month." Dark blue eyes held intense anger behind them. His fit wasn't completely over, it was pacified for the moment. Attacking someone that was just simply passing through was not something that he preferred to have on his head at the moment. He had enough problems dealing with the annoying voice that liked to torment him from time to time.

Thankfully, it hasn't started up again. The floor was still too hot to stand on by those that couldn't tolerate it. He moved to pick up her dropped mug as a silent gesture of apology.

"I hate energy bars." Perhaps it was a random statement. After all that he had gone through, he didn't need to drag her into his drama in such a terrible way.

[provenworth]

The decreased heat is felt immediately, sweat that had formed across her forehead cooling against her skin and the pressure of the heat inside her suit slowly releasing. Her decision to wait and read his body language had worked so far, which encouraged her to continue with her passive posture and behavior. Leaning back against the nearest table, she lightly gripped at the edge, eyes scrutinizing every detail.

"I don't know about you, but I'm having to learn fast that this is a very hard place to live in."

By Gaia, it was taking all her willpower to not sit on the table. The heat she could withstand through her clothes. But the lava-temperature floor, which she hadn't picked up on initially thanks to her on internal temperature, was eating through the soles of her shoes.

Fingers twitched when he moved, leaning forward to pick up the mug. Picking up on the cue, she extended her hands and gratefully took the empty cup back with a little nod. "I have yet to have one that doesn't taste like cardboard."

Pausing for a moment, she leaned forward slightly after resting her empty cup on the table beside her. "If you don't mind my asking, just what were you yelling at earlier?"

[sou_kigetsuki]

Her question was enough to make Sou sneer. He pushed down the rising anger with his eyes closed. It took a few breaths to open his eyes again and his face changed to a more pleasant one with his hands behind his back.

"I was sorely reminded of a past that I want to forget. I'll simply state that I don't want those reminders to become the reason to my reactions. I'll make no excuse for my behaviors other than it was unjust and uncalled for." He stepped forward, lowering his hand to absorb the heat from the floor to make it more comfortable.

Once calm, Sou wasn't all that unpleasant. He was just as confused and scared as anyone else with the biggest difference being his powers often showed his temper that wasn't all that pleasant when it surfaced.

[provenworth]

Fingers tighten around the edge of the table, knuckles whitening, watching his body language carefully. Clearly she had touched a sensitive subject, one she'd be sure to steer clear of until his mood improved.

"That's understandable. And a little admirable that you're able to acknowledge an area of improvement within yourself." Her head tilted slightly to one side, blonde bangs lightly brushing against her cheek, eyes jerking from his feet that brought him closer to the lowering of his hands. She was now almost 100% sure that he was the source of the heat and had control over it.

"That being said, perhaps we should try again with proper introductions." Despite common sense, and driven by a sense of curiosity, she offered a hand. "I'm Elena. And you are?"

[immortalia]

One thing that Joshua stressed was when someone made a mistake, they should apologize while they had the time. And, boy, did she have plenty of apologies to make still and so many wrongs to right.

The recent event was still very fresh in Sertoria's mind and she knew of one person that her shadow had hurt before going berserk: a redhead man with fire based powers. Thus, she made her way into the cafeteria and saw him there.

She was careful to not get near the flame, lest her silicone texture would melt. Thus, she bowed and went on one knee before him.

"Sir, I would like to formally apologize for any harm or strife I have caused you during the recent event. Please, if there is anything I can do to make it up to you, just tell me what it is and I will perform it."

[sou_kigetsuki]

"What the...?" That voice. That irritatingly calm voice of hers and that gesture of submission...something was definitely wrong.

He recognized her as a threat immediately and moved quickly from in front of the counter to face her in a twisting motion of attack. He recalled that break to his ankle that caused him to shoot himself in the head so he could find her again and kill her. He didn't understand the apology other than complete submission but it didn't soothe his anger.

"Get away from me!" He waved his hand in front of his body in an effort to push her away. "I don't want your apology! I want real food, dammit!" Which was true considering that he wasn't about to consume those terrible energy bars again.

[immortalia]

Sertoria's own hands went up in front of her so as to say she wasn't about to harm him by any means. Had she met him earlier in life, she wouldn't have given a second thought of causing him pain. But, those days were long behind her.

She wasn't pushed back thanks to her terrific strength and noticed the telltale signs of someone being irritable thanks to hunger as well as stress.

"I can offer you real food. Just please calm down and I will be able to provide you this in due time. I only want to make sure that anything between us can be settled."

[sou_kigetsuki]

"Settled? You broke my ankle! You know how much pain that is? Not that you would know anything about that. I shot myself in the head!" He's definitely irritated on both fronts of that situation. One was the humiliation he suffered and the second was much more primal to take care of his immediate needs. He showed this with a stomp of his foot to the singed floor.

It took a few moments of this energy wasting display of childish behavior before he finally began to understand the ordeal and think rationally. He sighed and calmed down just enough to stop the heat and drew it back in. "Fine. If you do this, I can be civil."

[immortalia]

He was right. How could she understand and know pain on a physical level? The thing was, she did to some degree - especially after her mass murdering spree. Killing herself would only go against what Doc had done to improve her way of thinking and referring to herself as nothing but a machine would be erasing the progress her friends have reinforced in her mind.

Whereas she didn't understand physical pain, she had years upon years of mental and emotional pain only recently brought to the surface. She really was more human than she gave herself credit for...

"I am sorry for that. They say actions speak louder than words, so..."

Her hand moved into her robes and she produced a jar of honey and some crackers. "It is not much, but it should help to some degree."

[sou_kigetsuki]

He looked at the jar of honey and the crackers only to take the crackers and leave the honey. "I'm allergic, but thank you."

At least he was sane enough to offer some polite response. The refining process nearly stripped away what was left of Sou's natural demeanor and nature. Instead of being a controllable weapon to be used by the government, he turned on his handlers and wiped out the entire installation, killing everyone inside including the visitors and potential backers of the project. To keep the secret from getting out, he destroyed the Facility and everything that pertained to the creation of Alter Weapons, which was the only good thing he did.

He had very little humanity left. Only the basics remained. "Your apology is accepted."

You know, rabid dogs get put down…

[fifth_kazekage]

Just before items in the vicinity started exploding – there was nothing to stop plastic materials from melting – a thick trail of sand quickly sliced through the air and struck Sou right in his chest, sending the man flying back into the wall behind him.

Unfazed, Gaara walked through the area with flaring embers surrounding him, walking straight forward. He took note of the other’s condition, but assumed Sou had received medical attention, rather than commit suicide to escape his suffering.

With the recent events that had unfolded, he wasn’t in a particularly forgiving or nurturing mood. If Sou was going to act like a dangerous threat, then he would be treated as such.

“What the hell are you trying to accomplish?”

He needs this. Believe me. He's throwing a fit over nothing.

[sou_kigetsuki]

"Oof." Before he could react to the sudden onslaught of sand in his direction, which was enough to stop his searing rampage, he was tossed directly at the wall, his back pressed against it by...sand?

He recognized Gaara through his struggle but the sand was almost too liquid for him to get out of its grasp. "Let me go!"

He was already off the ground and therefore cut off from any means to create any more heat. The acrid scent of plastic and the burned smell of the energy bars that were on the counter clung in the air from his tantrum.

He needs to be put down, or he needs to throw a tantrum?

[fifth_kazekage]

The redhead frowned at hearing his demand. “So you can burn the remainder of this room? Hmph.”

While holding Sou against the wall, he sent out some of his sand to investigate the other flames, testing the strength of their heat. He wanted to know if they were as powerful as fire techniques from Sasuke Uchiha, which he was capable of deflecting.

He folded his arms over his chest and coolly asked, “What is it?” Obviously referring to whatever problem was making Sou behave like a pyromaniac.

No, Kit is throwing the tantrum and needs to be put down.

[sou_kigetsuki]

He fell silent for a moment. Disconnected from the source of his power, he had nothing left to do but to think. He couldn't absorb the heat to stop the flames and since his power was caused by him through his body from the ground itself, it was more natural than created by a technique.

"What's what?" He asked as he gave an icy stare. "The fires? I can't stop them if I'm up here, idiot. They're only flames created by the earth itself. I just control them."

Don’t tempt me~

[fifth_kazekage]

Gaara released a tense exhale of exasperation, and then worked to extinguish the fires himself, smothering them with his sand.

“No. What is your reason for allowing your flames to run rampant?” He clarified, “If your intention was to attack someone, your opponent has long since left.”

He could feel Sou struggling within his hold, but he didn’t relent. All he had to do was close his fist and… He shook his head, regaining focus on the situation at hand.

I just might~

[sou_kigetsuki]

The reminder of his past in the lab and how he was thought to be nothing more than a tool for domination to be used by the Japanese government surfaced quickly that manifested in a vengeful shout.

"They can't think to control me like this! I will not be used as a weapon again! They can take those energy bars and shove it up their ass as far as I care!"

[xroyal_bratx]

Ishtar couldn't really stand to see injured people running around, so hearing someone scream so loudly, made her jump and move in that direction. She wanted to know what was going on and why they just screamed. She didn't know who it was, but she certainly hoped they were okay.

The voice came from the cafeteria and she bolted into the cafeteria looking a worried, "Hey, are you okay?" she mused rushing over to the person. She could see that he was not in any shape to even be moving, and even though she sported a couple of injuries of her, they weren't as bad as this guy's injuries.

[sou_kigetsuki]

Sou twisted around in a flash at the sound of Ishtar's voice. That face...

His eyes widened and withdrew the flames and heat leaving on the smoking, charred remains of melted bottles and ashen bars. The floor was nothing more than glue-like and blackened from his previous rage.

"You...I saw you..." He was more astonished than anything now and he had become passive for just a moment. "I know you." He whispered.

[xroyal_bratx]

Ishtar looked highly confused when he reacted the way he did. She didn't even know why it sparked that...or did she? What if that thing got to people here and to people she didn't know no less? Ishtar was worried about this meeting right now. She tried to ignore the fact that there was melted glue like stuff on the floor and paused.

"What...you saw me?" she mused...not sure what else to say, "You know me?! But I've never met you before," she replied with a soft tone. Well, crap, it must have been the Shadow, "What...what did it do to you? Did it hurt you?" she started to panic. That Shadow was a terrible thing and it took all her strength to actually get rid of it. She was so mentally tired right now.

"I'm sorry...if anything happened back there. I didn't expect it to...are you okay?"

[sou_kigetsuki]

"I'm fine." Sou said coolly.

"I met your shadow. It doesn't matter anymore." He looked away and rubbed his neck subconsciously. He wasn't sure why he remembered that encounter so vividly. Usually, he would dismiss anything like that as just another encounter and move on to the next.

The fact that she never knew him personally meant that all of that time he spent talking her out of her delirious state meant absolutely nothing but instead as a fleeting feeling of wanting and regret.

"I don't need any help."

[xroyal_bratx]

"You looked like you were in pain earlier," she mused, her voice lowering a little. she didn't mean to make him feel uncomfortable, but it seemed like he knew something that she didn't know and she also wanted to know what the Shadow told him. She knew it was throwing all her business out in the open.

"My...Shadow? So you met her but it matters. She didn't hurt you or anything did she? What...what did she say to you?" She hoped not that it wasn't anything too revealing, but it was a Shadow. Who knew what it said. She took a small step forward, "Ahm..well I still want to help you. You look like you went through a lot. I can heal, so..." she added a little awkwardly but she didn't want to jump into his space. They didn't know each other after all, but anyone that was in contact with that thing must have been hurt somehow, right? They were violent things.

[sou_kigetsuki]

Sou turned to look at her with his jaw set and his brow in a scowl. "I said I don't need your help!"

He took a deep breath and settled himself down before he caused another reaction. "Since you're insisting I tell you, I suggest you listen. She told me that she was a denied part of your existence. That she was everything that you pushed away. You should know the rest."

He stepped away to prevent himself from getting in too close. He held the shadow and it was that he wanted to hold on to.