[SS] The Dirty Job

July 12th;

A typical summer day for Academy City. Bright and sunny, warm, yet not uncomfortable. One could go outside and enjoy the nice weather, there was nothing denying this joy, at least for most of the students. Of course there were always cases of some being caught inside of school or being forced to do something they wouldn’t want to do. But still, there were many out on the streets today, just like any other day. Walking around, enjoying the weather and doing whatever young people do. Peaceful days, peaceful moments, at least for the great mass.

In order to ensure such great days, there always had to be other people doing the dirty work. Keeping peace and order on the streets of a big city always needed someone to do things nobody wanted to. Thinks like cleaning the streets, getting rid of the trash, that’s what their task was for today.
The two figures stood on the sidewalk, the tall guy armed with a broom, sweeping empty cans, plastic bags and leftovers onto one pile. This was literary the job they were assigned to do, cleaning. How long have they already been doing that? At least one hour for today’s task. Gou didn’t even need to look around, in order to find out just how much was still ahead of them. What kind of picture did that even build up? A guy like him, thug like and clad into a not so casual school uniform, proudly wearing that green armband, known everywhere throughout the city, sweeping the floor like some janitor. But that’s what that green armlet brought over them. A member of Judgement was supposed to do anything to benefit the city’s order after all. So even cleaning would prove to be a righteous deed.

Many people would have questioned Judgement’s use and abilities seeing him and his partner work like this. However that was only the perspective of an outsider. Indeed, it wasn’t the greatest task given to someone who was supposed to defend justice, but did that matter? It was just another thing he had signed himself in for. Another – maybe not so challenging way – for him to support justice. Denying such a task would have been impossible either way. Like he could ever deny one of that person’s wishes? ”We should be done in this area in half an hour. Then we may take a break of five minutes.”, the boy said showing not even a trace of an emotion, not losing focus. Work, work, work, that was all his mind cared about in that situation. For him there was no reason to be excited about a break, no reason to hope for a second where he could simply catch breath and relax. Such thoughts would only become hindrances for someone that had a job to do. So it was to him, silently helping the pile of garbage to grow into what seemed to become a mountain.

”To think that someone would even laugh about this task. Ridiculous.”

Chisa felt the warmth of the shining sun on her skin, as she looked up to the bright sky... What a gorgeous day... It would have been perfect to walk slow-paced through that little park in School Garden... Or to eat a Cream Chocolat Cake in Pasticceria Manicagni... Even a patrol would have been decent. Many things would have been better than the task they got, Chisa thought slightly irritated. She was there, in her Tokiwadai-Uniform and with a green band around her arm. She held a dustpan in her left hand and an hand brush in her right hand.

“Yeah, absolutely ridiculous.” She answered Gou with a sharp tone in her voice. The air was full of sarcasm... That guy sure had some spirit... She, as a student of a prestigious school, an ojou, member of the elite, must appeared pathetic in this situation! How she crawled on the ground, digging up dirt... Disgraceful! She sighted theatrically, but moved on with her work.

After some time she looked up to Gou and asked: “Do you have plans for later?” This was more a rhetorical question, as she knew the answer beforehand. He never did. “We should go eat something after we finish. What do you think?“ Another rhetorical question. She will drag him along anyway. “As you aren't allowed to enter school garden, I looked up some other good places to eat. There should be a decent restaurant close to the Seventh Mist. We should probably try it out, shouldn't we? I'll treat you.” She said and smiled, distracting herself from work.

Work was something misunderstood by many people. Chisa could be called one of the ideal examples of that case. The way she responded was enough to show Gou her usual way of talking about such matters. But what else was to be expected of a spoiled Tokiwadai princess, living in a place so secure and well-protected? ”You’ll never get it, huh?” Why did he even respond? He knew that it was pointless. She would never understand his point of view regarding all that hard everyday work, yet he’d never give up on trying. Maybe some day, maybe after learning a few more lessons about what really mattered in life, she would understand what great deed they did today.

Back to work then. The boy simply decided to ignore his thoughts for the time being. Sweeping all that dirt away just like the responses he considered to give, yet never would even turn into words to be spoken. At least a little hint of a conversation was left there, preventing silence from taking over. ”After work is done?”, he repeated the question using his own words, while lifting his head up for a second, expressing signs of thinking. Was there anything he had planned? He could lie, couldn’t he? That wouldn’t make him seem all to weird. Not that he cared about what others – especially Chisa – thought of him. It was just that…what was it? Thought denied.
Rustling and rattling, sounds of empty metal and plastic being pushed into one direction and piled up, that was the music their work created. Any other sound wouldn’t matter anyway. People’s fun was something way too far away from serious work, so was the end of the work day. ”Don’t you think that it’s a little bit too early to make plans for that?” A reply trying to pull her focus back to earth, trying to give her some motivation, as even the image of a free moment was enough to lead her off the right path. ”Eating sounds fine, though.”, he added a moment later, lowering his head. A good meal after work was the best a diligent deserved, surpassing any kind of wage. That was actually a rule life had to offer, one of the best ones even in his eyes. First the work, then the pleasure.

He sighed, placing the broomstick in his left, looking at the scene around them. Every now and then someone walked past them. ”Sounds nice. Do they have burgers?” A simple break taken to answer a simple question. And once there was nothing to say anymore he continued to do what he had to do, walking some steps into another direction, heading towards his new target. ”Don’t you think that Judgement needs better cleaning equipment?” Gou really was a genius when it was about finding a topic for a conversation, wasn’t he? At least that’s the only thing he had on his mind for this session of work, looking at that broom he was using. It was old, a little bit old fashioned even. Made out of wood, a material not seen that often when walking around futuristic academy city. Most of them were usually made out of plastic or even metal, weren’t they?
”At least something that could withstand more than a few hours of being used…”, he mumbled while staring at the number of visible cracks on the broomsticks surface. Not too long until he had to fetch another one. Just how good was he at breaking these things?

Kazuki was a bit upset as he walked down the sidewalk through District 15. He had to used all four of his portals for his job today, meaning the one he normally left at his dorm was no longer there. Now to get back, he had to walk.

"Who the hell wants a swimming pool filled with salt water" Kazuki thought as he reflected on that day's job "Well it's not that bad, it's a pretty nice day out at least".

Kazuki continued walking down the sidewalk while sipping on a drink he'd gotten from the machine down the street. As he walked he spotted two people cleaning. They appeared to be members of judgement from the armbands on their sleeves. They were holding brooms and dustpans while picking up cans and other trash from the ground. This seemed a bit strange considering this was Academy City. Surely there was something better then a broom available. Kazuki took one last sip from his curiously named beverage and attempted to toss the can into the trash can near the two judgement members. The wind had other ideas however and snatched the can from the air and flinging it in the direction of the Judgement members.

"It's never too early for something like this. Free time is important, Gou-san~" she answered, while rising her finger in a scolding way. Tokiwadai was rather strict sometimes and Chisa was often stressed about the schedule. It was relaxing to spend time with friends. ”They wouldn't break that easily, if you would handle them with more carefulness.” The little girl answered sceptical, as she looked up to her partner. Klutz.

Suddenly, she saw a drinking-can, flying towards their direction... What? How disrespectful! The can rolled to Gou-san's feet and Chisa looked up to locate the culprit. It was a black-haired boy, wandering along the streets of the shopping district. The blond girl raised an eyebrow, stood up and left her dustpan on the ground. Chisa sent a little spark to the can; She used electromagnetism to let the can fly in the direction of the, how she would call him, delinquent, and made it float in front of his nose.

"My, My. Tossing garbage on the streets falls under administrative offence.” she said. ”But I will forgive you, if you throw it into the trash can. Nice of me, isn't it?”

Gou didn’t pay further notice to what Chisa said about free time. To him it was nothing he considered important. No, actually he would use most of his free time to work anyway, running away from that one state he hated, that state that many youths would actually enjoy. Maybe all of them, except him: Being free to do whatever he wanted. He just couldn’t stand those times, never knowing about what he wanted to do or how he’d do it.

Back to work. The broom wouldn’t be enough. Whatever Chisa said, it didn’t matter. No matter how carefully he would treat an object, in the end it would simply be broken, as natural. Due to his ability? Sometimes he really thought that something like that would be his curse. However he didn’t wish to find out if that was actually true or simply his own misfortune. Furuhashi Gou didn’t care, he didn’t have the time to care. So back to sweeping the street, pushing garbage from one direction into the other. The same old pattern, over and over again.
It would have been a peaceful moment, not to be disturbed by anything. Just the sun shining and the two of them doing their work in their respective ways.

Clonking on the ground an object landed next to a trashcan. It landed right next to it. Not in it, but right next to it. There was huge difference between these two cases. Once it would have hit its real target, simply landing on top of the pile of garbage there wouldn’t have been any problem. Everything would have been fine and everything would have gone on just like before. The two Judgement members would have continued cleaning the sidewalk until there wouldn’t be a single impureness left.
However the outcome was different in this very case. The can hit the ground and so the silent boys eyes were twitching. Just a moment later he had found the culprit, walking casually along the street, a boy dressed just as casual as his own walking pattern seemed to be. Target confirmed, preparing lecture.

As usual Gou was too slow. Just when he had taken the first step heading towards the culprit, his beloved partner Chisa had made her move. By using her ability she made the empty can float in front of the boy’s face, obviously gaining his attention. The words she spoke were too kind.
”Hold it Chisa.” Interrupting their conversation with a rather cold voice, Gou was standing there presenting one of his most frightening glances: That of a devoted Judgement member punishing the criminal. ”You know what you just did, don’t you? Then I should let you know that I am not as merciful as my partner over there. No. Not at all.” It was obvious from his facial expression that the grey haired boy was not amused at all. Building his body as tall as possible by pushing forward his chest, the – at least from the Japanese perspective – tall boy blocked the further path for the stranger.
”Your action was not only a crime, but an offence towards us. No towards all members of Judgement. Even to Kono-…even to common sense.” Just realising what he was about to say in the final moment, Gou changed the words he was about to say into something that didn’t really make sense, only hiding it behind his dead serious expression, which totally reminded of a bully prepared to beat the crap out of someone he considered a small fry. Oh well, he had a slightly pinkish tone around his nose.

Kazuki was about to move on, letting the wind take the can where it wanted, however he had only taken a few more steps before the same can was floated back right in front of his face. At first he thought the wind had brought it over, but it didn't fall back to the ground. Instead it just floated there.

"What the..."

Kazuki stood their stunned until he heard the voice of the short Judgement girl. Based on her uniform it seemed she was a student at Tokiwadai.

"My, My. Tossing garbage on the streets falls under administrative offence.” The Tokiwadai said. ”But I will forgive you, if you throw it into the trash can. Nice of me, isn't it?”

"I'm just going to assume that this floating can is her doing" Kazuki thought to himself.

”Hold it Chisa.” The other Judgement member said.

"So her name must be Chisa" Thought Kazuki.

The boy walked over and blocked his path.

”You know what you just did, don’t you? Then I should let you know that I am not as merciful as my partner over there. No. Not at all.” The boy spoke in an authoritative tone ”Your action was not only a crime, but an offence towards us. No towards all members of Judgement. Even to Kono-…even to common sense.”

"My apologies", Kazuki said in a sarcastic voice as he grabbed the can out of the air. Kazuki felt a bit wound up, maybe he could use this opportunity to let off a bit of steam. "I didn't realize it was such a big deal, but I'll make sure this can gets in the trash". With that said, using his ability (breaking more rules) Kazuki opened a portal next to him and over the trash can and simply dropped the can through.

"Two Points!" Kazuki said as the can fell into the barrel. "But wait, as atonement for my serious crime, I'll help you clean up all of those cans and bags littered around here that you've been picking up".

Kazuki dispelled the portal next to him and created one under the pile of trash that the Judgement duo had been sweeping up, dumping it all into the trashcan. This surplus of trash causing it to overflow scattering trash around for the wind to blow in random directions. Kazuki smirked.

//”You know what you just did, don’t you? Then I should let you know that I am not as merciful as my partner over there. No. Not at all.” // Her judgement-partner said in a somewhat threatening tone, as he build himself up in front of the other boy. Chisa sighted. "There we go again...” she said and shook her head. Well, better do something, before the situation escalates..."Gou-san. Please don't act like some delinquent, that's... Oi!” She interrupted herself, as she saw the thin boy using his power. A portal? He created one next to him and... ”Don't use that! You can't just...” But he did it another time. But this time with gruesome results. Chisa startled at the sight of the garbage dispersing in all directions. All their work... Gone!

Chisa's facial expression changed in one instant. Her eyes were full of rage, as she glared at the grinning boy. She pulled up her sleeves and her former oujou-aura vanished. Without another word, she made a dash at him...

"Gou-san. Please don't act like some delinquent.” What? He never did such a thing! All he did was defend their pride! The moment he heard these words, he turned his head towards his next target already showing a rather grim expression. But wasn’t she right? It seemed like he was overdoing it a little bit, again. How often did that happen? He took a breath, trying to calm himself down. A member of Judgement had to be less agitated, so it would be fitting if he returned to a somewhat more relaxed state.

That stranger however didn’t seem like someone that wanted to avoid trouble. No, he was asking for it. Simply creating a plate like circle in the air and throwing the can into it, which then disappeared until a clonking sound could be heard from the trashcan, where another plate like creation appeared. Was it some kind of portal? Gou had heard of such abilities, similar to Teleporters yet something that was more effective on distance.
No, that didn’t matter. The important fact was that the boy just now used an ability. Furuhashi, who knew Academy City’s rules quite well, not to say close to absolute perfection, turned his gaze towards that guy. Another one of his portals was opened, right on the ground, underneath the pile of trash they had built up sweeping the sideway for the last few hours. It simply disappeared.
Now he had done it. From the look on his face you could tell the grey haired boy was about to snap.

Once again however he was too slow. All of a sudden a the blonde dwarf made her move. Simply trusting his intuition, Gou could tell that Tokiwadai’s dwarf was once again going to turn into the tinyy berserker he had met countless of times during the last few months. He knew exactly what that meant and could already tell the way she was going to move and attack.
Right when she was about to make her move, her partner’s hands would grab her upper body from both sides, building up some strength, lifting the lightweight girl into the air, so that her feet wouldn’t be unable to touch the ground, making it seem like she was floating, reminding one of a father lifting their child up to play airplane. ”Calm, Chisa. Calm”, the boys voice spoke in a rather relaxed tone, reminding of someone trying to tame a dog or little child that just had started crying out loudly.

Still holding her up, his eyes focused on the “criminal” that still needed to be dealt with. ”So what do we have to do about you, Mr.? You broke more than just one rule and that in front of Judgement members. What do you expect your punishment to look like?” Back to a more serious tone, not filled with anger, but with a cold feel to it, Gou tried to corner that boy. ”You could for example help out for the rest of the day. Of course we don’t have enough equipment for additional support. But I suppose a toothbrush would work as well.”
Chisa was still up in the air. Had Gou forgotten about her?

"The name's Kazuki" said Kazuki, while trying his hardest not to burst out laughing at the scene he had just caused and the sight of the taller Judgement member lifting his partner into the air. "And a punishment," Kazuki continued "Why, I was just helping you clean up. I'm sure at least a third of that trash actually made it into the barrel. That's got to be at least 100 points."

On a more serious note, the Judgement boy had him cornered there, a position that Kazuki was not very fond of being in. The space around Kazuki began to shimmer similarly to a heat haze as he readied and executed a short teleport. It took about 2 seconds to complete and he could only travel a max distance of about 5 meters with it, so he didn't use it often but it served nicely to get him out from being cornered. Kazuki reappeared next to the pile of cleaning supplies.

"And speaking of your equipment," Kazuki shouted over from his new location "This is Academy City, the most advanced city in the world, and Judgement members are forced to use wooden brooms and dustpans. Somethings just not right about that".

"How about I treat you both to a refreshing drink of water to make up for the small mess I made" Kazuki said with a smile on his face. He still had one portal at the source of the massive amount of salt water he used to fill the swimming pool for his job earlier today. That could make for an amusing situation Kazuki thought to himself.

Before Chisa could go in her full “berserk-dwarf”-mode, she was lifted up by her way taller partner. She looked like some angry puppy, as she glared at the boy in the black hoodie with her big, golden eyes. "At least 100 points...? Gou-san, let me down. I want to beat him up.” He wouldn't, of course. Instead, he tried to calm her down with a soothing tone. She sighted.
All the sudden, the boy disappeared in front of their eyes and teleported few meters away. ”A side-effect of his ability...?” she asked herself, while looking a bit surprised.

"How about I treat you both to a refreshing drink of water to make up for the small mess I made" She let out an arrogant “Tse.” after Gou let her down, and added: "Oh, don't make me laugh, please~ As you can see, I'm an Ojou-sama. Don't think you can comfort me with ordinary water.” she said and flipped her blond hair. She sneered at him and crossed her arms. ”But judging from your shabby appearance, that's the only thing you can afford anyway~”

So Kazuki was his name? At least that guy made it easy fort he two Judgement members. Now they didn’t have to check the database on someone fitting his description. A few minutes or maybe even hours of work spared. At least something. Gou sighed upon realising that this whole thing would get a lot more annoying than it already had been.
What should he say? The boy’s words left Gou without many options. He was provoking, even an idiot could tell that. Restraining his own anger, the grey haired boy left the words without a comment, already preparing for another lecture or even the simple actions of arresting him. That Kazuki was cornered after all, wasn’t he?

However they once again were allowed to see a certain phenomenon. Unable to describe it for himself, the only thing Furuhashi noticed was the other guy disappearing into thin air and then noticing his voice coming from behind, still talking way too relaxed. Was that guy even taking them serious? Fooling around just like before, there was no change in his behaviour. ”So what?”, he replied trying to keep his cool, which was getting more and more difficult. Breathing slowly, closing his eyes, Furuhashi tried to shut as many emotions up as possible, before that whole scenario would end up in a catastrophe. In the end he even went war enough to let Chisa back to the ground, knowing that she had calmed down a little.
All this seemed to be like a worst case scenario. Where were those people that were showing respect towards authorities nowadays? Was every single brat on the streets of this city thinking that they were that much of a big shot so that anyone else was simply inferior to them and they just could walk around harassing anyone that was bound to some concept like rules? He felt as if his pride was hurt. It actually even was. Anger.

”That wouldn’t make up for anything. But I suppose some drops of water wouldn’t hurt.” Blinded by the boiling anger building up within him, the Judgement boy fell for the trap. Maybe he even deserved it. ”You shouldn’t be too picky, Chisa. Someday you’ll end up in a desert and the only one offering you something to drink may be a guy wearing his underpants on his head while dancing around a statue of Magical Powered Kanamin made from toilet paper.” What exactly was that kind of metaphor supposed to be? Gou didn’t know himself. That was just the only thing he had come up with.
Then he took a few steps towards the other guy, waiting for the drink he had to offer. Did he even carry some with him or would he bring them to a convenience store? Something felt off. Could it be that…?

"Oh, don't make me laugh, please~ As you can see, I'm an Ojou-sama. Don't think you can comfort me with ordinary water.” Chisa said with a sneer across her face ”But judging from your shabby appearance, that's the only thing you can afford anyway~”

"Well Ojou-sama, I'll have you know this is a limited edition hoodie. It has extra pockets and such." Kazuki replied. "It's anything but shabby".

”That wouldn’t make up for anything. But I suppose some drops of water wouldn’t hurt.” The Judgement boy said "You shouldn’t be too picky, Chisa. Someday you’ll end up in a desert and the only one offering you something to drink may be a guy wearing his underpants on his head while dancing around a statue of Magical Powered Kanamin made from toilet paper.”

What a strange analogy Kazuki thought to himself.

"Well then, one dose of Kazuki's SUPER MEGA ULTRA DELUXE SPECIAL HYDRATION BOOSTER!" Kazuki said while throwing his arms in the air as if presenting some sort of fabulous prize. In the sky above the Judgement duo a large portal appeared, and out of it poured a massive amount of saltwater, as if it were some sort of demon raincloud.

"Actually now that I think about it," Kazuki said more or less to himself but still loud enough for the others to hear him "This is all salt water so it wouldn't really help with hydration at all. It needs a new name."

Kazuki paced around talking to himself as the water surged towards the Judgement duo.

"Maybe I should just call it the DE-hydration booster. Nah, that doesn't have a nice ring to it..."

"Well Ojou-sama, I'll have you know this is a limited edition hoodie. It has extra pockets and such." Kazuki answered her. "It's anything but shabby".

Chisa gazed at the slender boy, still with an arrogant smile on her lips. He was messing with them the whole time. Fresh water... Kazuki was smirking like some monkey after this offer, the little girl thought. No way he was serious about that either. Surely, another prank with his Portals... Portals... Water... Wait... The little girl seemed startled for a moment. Did he plan to...?

”You shouldn’t be too picky, Chisa. Someday you’ll end up in a desert and the only one offering you something to drink may be a guy wearing his underpants on his head while dancing around a statue of Magical Powered Kanamin made from toilet paper. “ … Oaf.

Then, Kazuki raised his hands and water started to pour out of a portal, like a salty waterfall. A prank. Chisa was used to people making fun of her. May it be because of her height or because some people thought it was funny to play pranks on judgement-members. However... It didn't mean she accepted such things easily.

"Maybe I should just call it the DE-hydration booster. Nah, that doesn't have a nice ring to it..." As Kazuki paced around a bit and talked to himself, suddenly the trash can from before flew in his direction and crashed right next to him with a loud noise. Of course, it was her Electromastery. Chisa stood there, in front of the waterfall and crossed her arms. Strangely, she was nearly dry. Just a few parts of her school-uniform and her white stockings seemed to be wet. How did she managed that?

”I want to be honest with you: I'm quite impressed by your ability. Really, I am.” The little girl said, and nodded at him praisingly with a smile. But then her kind voice made a huge shift and started to sound more serious: However...” The blonde began to walk up to him.
”If one can predict where your portal-holes are going to open, it isn't that difficult to avoid your pranks.” She has used electromagnetism to shield herself with the trash can, and so, was able to avoid most of the little deluge. Electrical flashes started to emerge from her tiny hand, as she smiled at the boy in the hoodie. It was a rather sinister smile, though.

”Since you like to joke around... Hear out that one: What does someone say after being struck by a massive, electric shock?”

When it rains it pours. Somehow these words were fitting for this situation and somehow they weren’t. Startled upon realising the portal opening up in the sky, the grey haired boy couldn’t even twitch. For him it was too late to be saved, when the huge masses of water come pouring down towards him, giving him a through and through shower, covering him from the top to the bottom, flowing through his clothes down into his shoes. It seemed like the water went through absolutely anything, just as if he was thrown into the ocean itself.
The water’s taste didn’t make things better. Salt as it was, Furuhashi was able to realise soon enough what kind of liquid that was. That damn boy. Startled by this surprise attack, he was simply standing there. Wet, everything was soaked by water. His school uniform, his underwear, his pockets, everything inside of them, his Judgement armband and even the socks within his shoes. Everything. There was no exception.

”You…” It was cold, a slight breeze made it feel even colder. She shivered, still standing there, his head sunk, staring at the walkways concrete. Reminding one of a drowned rat the boy stood there, doing nothing, only breathing. ”You damn…” Words kept building up, as his voice was raised slowly, something seemed to be drawing closer, something very terrifying.

On a short glance to the side he noticed the trashcan floating in the air above the small girl’s head, while she seemed rather dry. Another one to curse.
Breathing. Finally he started lifting his chin, allowing Kazuki to see those two eyes. They had lost their cool, becoming two dark grey moons filled with a certain fire, a fire able to express more than any word, more than any gesture. It was the fire of anger. And the person that was going to get burned was rather obvious. Kazuki, that was the black haired boys name, that was the name of the dead body soon to be found.
Before the words could be spoken, once again the small lightning stepped forward, cancelling all of his attentions just as usual. Her words were smart, showing a lot of self confidence, but he didn’t care. Why should he? This time he wouldn’t leave it to Chisa alone. This person had done to much. One could feel Gou’s body trembling, as his angered gaze grew even darker. He took a step forward, only a small one, yet it seemed to be of a great significance. This situation was becoming really dangerous. Once again a cool breeze. It would become even more dangerous.

”You. You shouldn’t even consider running. I will not let you escape. I will not rest. I will not stop. I will get you.” A threat, cracking his knuckles, showing an easy to understand sign for upcoming violence. He would be beaten, he would be shocked, he would feel the wrath of two Judgement members. And then the obvious conclusion would wait for him. Not even thinking about the effects of being soaked, the boy only had one thing his mind was focusing on. ”You will definitely come with us. Insulting Judgement members is one thing. Attacking them however – yeah that can most definitely be considered an attack – is something you won’t get away with.

Prepare to be arrested, Kazuki-san.”

And then he leapt forward, right at the culprit, quick and skilful like a wild animal attacking its prey. The plan was to grab him with both his arms, just as if he was trying to hug someone, using his strength to block any kind of movement, while using the momentum to push him over, violently forcing him to the ground.

”Since you like to joke around... Hear out that one: What does someone say after being struck by a massive, electric shock?”

"Hmmm, I don't think I know the answer to that one," Kazuki replied with a sly grin on his face.

”You damn…” The Judgement boy started.

"Hmmm," Kazuki glanced over in his direction.

”You. You shouldn’t even consider running. I will not let you escape. I will not rest. I will not stop. I will get you.” The Judgement boy shouted ”You will definitely come with us. Insulting Judgement members is one thing. Attacking them however – yeah that can most definitely be considered an attack – is something you won’t get away with. Prepare to be arrested, Kazuki-san.”

"It looks like their both getting serious," Kazuki thought to himself "Maybe I might of taken this a bit too far. Oh well, too late to stop now and the fun is just beginning."

The Judgement boy charged at him, quickly closing distance. Kazuki smiled. Not fast enough. Directly in front of Kazuki a large portal opened up and the charging Judgement boy ran right through it. The other exit right behind his partner. The judgement boy was on a collision coarse with the tiny Tokiwadai girl.

"Oh, so close," Kazuki said tauntingly

Kazuki charged up a teleport and disappeared and reappeared directly above where he left, just about 5 meters in the air. Kazuki quickly created a portal beneath his feet. It looked as if he would fall through the portal but instead he landed on top of it, as if it was some sort of floating platform. In reality however, he had gone through the portal. It just appeared as though he hadn't because the exit portal was only about an inch from the ground. His feet were actually touching the ground.

"Your move."

Charging at someone was one of the few things that seemed to be pretty stupid, yet in the moment when used it always felt like the most promising kind of approach. A failed attempt could be pretty painful, while a successful one would pretty much be the so called ‘ideal situation’. For Gou, however, this seemed to become another painful attempt not even leaving success at range. No it just lead to, what it would always lead to considering this ‘enemy’.
Speaking of an enemy? Could this already be considered a battle? Painful as this thought was, it was actually quite fitting. This prankster over there really had become an enemy both of the Judgement members wanted to get rid off…

Unable to stop the tall boy rushed right into the unknown space opened before him, in and out, just within the blink of an eye, now aiming at the little girl that was standing behind him just a moment ago. ”Ack”, was the only sound the tall boy could emit, when seeing what his fierce attack was currently aiming for. And just as he was trying to regain balance, in order to stop his charge, Chisa had already taken a step to the side, escaping the straight line of his movement and shifting the target, which now was the hard, unappealing and slightly wet ground.
Absolutely unprepared the boy’s fall already seemed to be destined, as well as the pretty harsh impact.
Yet it never came. Only a few centimetres above the concrete, his face had stopped, just like his body. Now presenting a rather weird stance, Furuhashi was still standing on both his legs. It seemed like he had regained his balance somehow. Not unexpected considering his great skill at balancing. Worst case scenario prevented. Not that he wasn’t used to greeting this kind of surface. Even if he had fallen, it wouldn’t have ended up as extreme as it would have in some cases.

Soaked, freezing and yet boiling from within he returned to his normal stance, yet relaxing a little bit more than the other party would expect. He was breathing slowly for a moment, turning his head towards the one that pissed him off the most right now, presenting an even angrier look on his face than he had before. ”What are you standing in my way you little…!?” His shouting wasn’t directed at the other boy, Kazuki, no it was aiming at Fuyuki, his partner!
”Either you keep standing in my way, or you’re just being useless! Whatever you do it never is helpful! Just like right now! Instead of preventing my fall you were just jumping out of the way, leaving me in such danger!
And even if you did so! You didn’t even consider roasting that goddamn prick over there! No you would just leave him be, even though that was the perfect moment for you to strike! But no! Miss dwarf Ojou-sama just doesn’t want to dirty her fine clothes!” Letting it all out on his partner, Gou didn’t even care about the other guy standing by the side. Indeed, he simply ignored that person for now, taking care of the more important things. Swinging his arms making aggressive gestures, he tried to underline all he was shouting.

”Look at me! I’m all soaked! And you? You once again only saved your own ass! Of course you do! That’s so like you!” Starting of with a fight, just like an old married couple the two of them would once again sink into their own world. This wasn’t the first time. The ones that have been lucky enough to witness those two when doing their work, could tell that this was actually as usual as a bus stopping at a bus stop following his daily routine.
And just now this routine had returned once again, simply building an own space surrounding those two.

That stupid...! He was running right into a trap! Kazuki will probably... A portal opened up in front of Gou and the other opened behind the little, blond girl. However,  Chisa was able to dodge Gou's Attack with light-footed swiftness, as she threw herself out of the way
“Don't think you can get me with those stupid tricks!”  she snapped at Kazuki and intended to shoot a little bolt at him. However, he disappeared out of her sight for a short moment and Gou approached her.

For a moment, she just stared at her taller partner with disbelief. But then, her face became angry. “Excuse me?!”  she also started to shout. “Useless? I'm always the one saving you! You can't do one thing without me! You can't even speak with our chief properly, Oppaicon.”  The electric dwarf started to forget her surroundings, her only goal seemed to be to badmouth her partner. “You can thank your own stupidity for being in this situation. Who would charge at a portal-user like some brainless thug? Think about your actions beforehand, moron.” She flipped her blond hairs arrogantly, but still with an irritated expression on her face.

Kazuki sat cross legged on his "floating platform" watching the two judgement members bickering. If he wasn't one of the topics of their argument Kazuki would have thought that the duo had forgotten him completely. Kazuki wondered what best way to get their attention might be. He was all out of salt water unfortunately and the trash pile was gone. Eventually he decided to just yell at them.

"Oi, Chisa and nimrod," Kazuki started to yell. He was sure he had heard the girl say the other judgement member's name, but he couldn't remember what it was. "While you two seem to be content screaming at each other in a big mud puddle, I'm getting a bit famished, so I'm going to get something to eat. Feel free to come with me if you like, you can tell me what kinds of punishments you've thought up for me while we walk. Depending on what they are, I might just do some of them." The whole time Kazuki was speaking there wasn't a sign that this was another practical joke. In reality, Kazuki was starving because he had skipped breakfast earlier that day. His job filling swimming pools with salt water had started early that day and he didn't have any time to eat.

Kazuki teleported down from his platform and started to casually walk away. As he did, he turned back to look at the two.

"Well, you coming?" He called back at them. "I know a really good pizza place not to far from here."

“O-oppaicon…!? How can you dare to call me that lacking girl!?” Now she’s done it. Shouting back right at her, Gou prove once again that he had lost control over himself, as well as he had forgotten about everything going on around them. Right now his choice of words didn’t match anything he would use in public, simply exploding just like a bomb. Who was there anyway? The grey haired boy didn’t care anymore and just let everything out.
”I’m useless?! Moron!? Who’s the moron here!? I didn’t do anything half as stupid as you would have done!” Defending his pride, that was obviously hurt by the words she had used, the grey haired boy was fighting back with everything he had, furiously shaking his arms, staring at her and even stressing his face strong enough so that the veins could be seen, building up a typical anime like image of anger. At least he wasn’t spitting while shouting. ”You don’t even have the slightest idea of what I did just now, don’t you?! Oh wait, how could you! You don’t learn such stuff at your precious school! You only learn how to push others around like spoiled little princesses, don’t you!?” It wouldn’t end. Even though he wasn’t talking that much in usual situations, right now it seemed like the words were simply flowing from his mouth. One working at the same Judgement office as him would really wonder, only knowing him as the silent guy sitting in the corner, avoiding most communication for most cases…

Breathing. Calming down. He tried his best, however it was difficult for anyone caught in such anger to get back down to a peaceful state. Right now he really felt like jumping at Chisa any second, just as usual. Wasn’t that their usual way of fighting? Those two sometimes even had quarrels that would last half a day, yet in the end they would walk out of the office together like nothing had ever happened. Would that be the case today as well?

Suddenly something even more annoying tried to gain the attention of both of them, speaking out to them directly. ”Nimrod?!” Right when he was about to calm down a little, his fierce gaze hit the guy floating in the air, using some kind of trick Gou didn’t even try to understand. He actually would have forgotten about that Kazuki guy, if he just had decided to stay silent for the rest of the moment. However that guy once again tried to gain attention and his portion of anger he pretty much deserved. To Furuhashi it felt like he hated the other boy from the deepest depths of his heart, so obviously any wrong word would have made things even worse.
The thing the Judgement members faced was a hit straight to both their faces. What was that supposed to be? An invitation for lunch!? He couldn’t understand it. Even in a thousand years he would be unable to see through that guy. Was he dumb or something? To provoke people like that, only to invite them for lunch a second later? Speechless, that’s the ideal word to describe how Furuhashi felt at this very moment. All his anger had disappeared, so that he would just stand there, staring at the other party. ”What…?” Words couldn’t describe it anymore…

And then that black haired boy simply walked away, acting casual. Still unable to understand what was going on, Gou simply stood there, staring at the boy’s back. What should he do? Jump right into his back, knock him over and then carry him all the way to the next Anti-Skill station, leaving everything to them?
No, there had to be another solution. What would Konori Mii do in such a situation? He closed his eyes, trying to imagine the great and loveable chief of Judgement’s 177th office facing this very situation. And suddenly he had an intuition! Imagining something like this wouldn’t help at all! He would only think about her and not the way she would solve it! Blushing, he had lost all of his options. This guy had broken him, defeated him. Kazuki was a monster.

After all this, the culprit that had showered him thoroughly, possibly had ruined his cell phone and would maybe even responsible for Gou catching a cold was just walking away, as if nothing had ever happened. What about Chisa? The boy didn’t care for once, as he made his own decision. ”Wait up!”, he shouted upon taking a step forward. The plan was to trap this guy. Furuhashi Gou wouldn’t back down that easily. As long as there was a chance for him to succeed there was no way of stopping him. Not even the fact that he had to change clothes.

A true man of justice, so to say.

"Ara ara? You think you have the right to badmouth Tokiwadai? I can show you what kind of things those 'spoiled princesses' are learning...-" Their quarrel was suddenly interrupted by Kazuki, as he tried to get their attention. Chisa glared at him firstly, but her expression started to soften a bit, while Kazuki was talking. He wanted to eat with them? Pizza? The little girl looked up to Gou with a surprised look, as he said "Wait up." and followed him. "...Eh?" Chisa said. After this whole thing... They are going to hang out?! And Kazuki wanted to invite them! ... Thats what the ojou assumed, though.  The girl walked up to the black-haired esper and started to pull his hoodie, like a child would attract their parents attention. She wasn't tall enough to just tap his shoulders.  "Kazuki-san... I will have eggplants on my pizza, please." she said and looked up to him, with a little smile on her lips.

Kazuki kept walking. He had only gotten a few more feet before he felt a tug from behind. He turned around and saw the short Tokiwadai girl.

"Kazuki-san... I will have eggplants on my pizza, please."

"Sure thing," Kazuki said with a smile while thinking about what a weird topping eggplant was.

***********************************************************************

A few minutes later they arrived at the pizza parlor. It was a relatively small shop with only a few other people there. Kazuki went up to the counter to place the order. One sausage pizza, one eggplant pizza, and... what was it that Gou wanted? Kazuki asked the boy and he simply pointed at the most expensive thing on the menu. Surely this was the first part of his punishments yet to come. One Super meat lovers double extra cheese pizza. Kazuki took a seat at one of the booths to wait for the order.

The two judgement members at this point were probably very confused as to his motivations for inviting them to lunch. Kazuki had multiple reasons for this. One would be if he could befriend them then any punishment they gave him might be less drastic. The second and much more important reason was that now, Kazuki had a way to escape if they should still try to arrest him. His portals were all back at the area they had just left. If the fight had continued there he would have had no where to run. However, now that they had moved locations, he could easily make a portal back to there to escape. After eating his pizza of course.

Ordering the most expensive pizza was of course only one of the things Gou had planned on their way to said restaurant. Of course it was punishment, no matter how childish it may seem. But did that Kazuki really think he could escape without pain? Even though it wasn’t physical pain, it would still hurt his wallet, a pain most youths in this city couldn’t endure that easily. However this guy sure was special, as he took it lightly.
The pizza wasn’t all that surprising as well. For Academy City something labelled as the most expensive thing on the menu, one would expect something truly fancy, something like a pizza decorated with the rarest vegetables the world could offer, or some special scientifically created hyper health pizza that would have a thousand tastes, only leaving it all to the consumers interpretation what taste was the most dominant one, or which was build inside the mouth.
But a pizza filled with mountains of meat and cheese, was actually something too ordinary. Yet Gou wouldn’t complain. It would still fulfil its purpose.

So after the orders were done, the three of them sat down. Gou couldn’t help but sigh the moment his legs finally came to a rest. After walking around for the whole day, his clothes being soaked by water and the few other things that had happened today, he was relieved to finally take a break. A break was good, wasn’t it? Well, he could as well have stayed on his legs for a few hours, cleaning, working and doing all the things to support peace and order, however he also had to take a rest.
Staring at the black haired boy sitting right opposite to him, Furuhashi’s facial expression didn’t change. It was as if he was observing every little movement that guy would do, any little reaction, absolutely everything. This shouldn’t feel like any ordinary dining scene together with some friends, rather like one of these hardcore interrogations seen on TV shows and in movies.

Piercing Kazuki with his eyes, the grey haired boy waited for his meal silently. He wasn’t the most talkative guy after all. And what kind of reason was there to talk to someone like that? That guy’s only purpose on this world was to cause trouble. And trouble was something that Furuhashi simply couldn’t enjoy, as it would only hurt the rules of society or rather Academy City. How many of them did that boy break anyway?

A question that could only be answered after deeper investigation. Even if he would run away, Furuhashi Gou had already decided what he had to do. ”Don’t even consider running away.” Underlining this rather dangerous atmosphere by his cold words, the Judgement boy sat there, watching him…

Chisa sat down next to the grey-haired boy and noticed how he observed Kazuki with a serious expression. The blonde girl seemed pretty cheerful by comparison. Good cop, bad coop-routine? “Ara ara, Gou-san... You shouldn't be so rude to someone inviting us.” Chisa said to her taller partner, after they sat down and started to wait for the pizza. “Even if he wants to run... There is no way he can escape. We know his name and we know his ability. It won't be difficult to find him in the data bank. We can hunt him down aaaaany time...” The little girl smiled scarily friendly, but her tone sounded somewhat sharp and showed her true intentions. “So... lets enjoy our meal, should we? Tehe~” She said with a giggle.

Kazuki stared out the window, a blissful look on his face, as Chisa took a seat at the booth next to Gou. After a few minutes their pizza was ready. Kazuki walked over to the counter, paid for the pizzas (an injury to his wallet), and brought them back over to the table, handing Gou and Chisa their respective pizzas as he sat down with his own. Kazuki's stomach growled as he placed his pizza on the table in front of him. The second he sat back down he began tearing into the pizza like there was no tomorrow. It only took about two minutes for Kazuki to devour the entire pizza.

"Wow, I sure was hungry," Kazuki said, letting out a huge sigh. "Didn't have time for breakfast this morning." Kazuki stood up from the table "If you'll excuse me, I have to go use the restroom, be right back." Kazuki began to stroll leisurely towards the bathroom. Once inside the bathroom, Kazuki planned to open a portal back to where the three of them had just come from. Now that he had a portal at least a few minutes walk away, he was confident in his ability to make his escape. As much as he wanted to escape however, he was having fun tormenting these two, maybe he could find out what judgement branch they were members of and randomly show up at their headquarters. That should make for an amusing situation Kazuki thought to himself.

"By the way," Kazuki called back to the two who were still seated at the booth "what judgement branch are you from?"