[SS] Shenanigans

This place will do

A mischief glint appeared in the boy’s eye as he opened the door to MocRonall’s and stepped inside. The restaurant wasn’t crowded but it wasn’t empty either. As he entered a few customers looked over at him with curiosity before they turned back to their friends at the table. As he moved towards the counter he could hear them whispering about him and new eyes falling on him as he was brought to their attention. None of it was new to him, it had happened before and it would happen again due to what he chose to wear. He was wearing a blue tracksuit, a black watch that seemed to be measuring something other than time, and a pair of blue sneakers but what was catching people’s attention was the red ribbon eye mask and red cape he wore.

Superhero cosplay, that what it looked like to the people in the restaurant. Yet a hero was the furthest thing from what Nori was. He wasn’t benevolent, merciful, or even kind. Any thought of heroics has been purged from his mind long ago and was replaced by villainy. After getting to the counter and placing his order he scanned the restaurant around him looking from person to person.

I wonder who a good target would be

By the time his food had arrived the whispering had come to a stop. Things seem to have returned normal within MocRonall’s as Nori looked for a table until someone decided to open their mouth as he walked by.

“What’s up hero? Save anyone today?”

There was a obvious mocking tone in the voice and it only took a moment for the villain to find its source. The questions had come from someone who seemed to be about Nori’s age. He had a single metal earring decorating his right ear, a couple of scars decorating his face, messy black hair, and his clothing was dirtied up as if he had recently been in a fight. His appearance just screamed thug. Sitting across from his was a girl who looked just as rough though her clothing was relatively cleaner than her companion’s and it was fairly obvious that the thug was trying to impress her.

Congratulations! You’ve official made yourself my entertainment

“Not today. Though while we’re asking question when was the last time you took a shower? Got quite the scent on you”

The masked villain mockingly pinched his nose as he finished his sentence. It was childish but his goal was to get on the thug’s nerves and it worked. His target began to get to his feet and his face had contorted with anger.

“What did you say?!”

Too easy! He’s got a short fuse, couldn’t pick a better target even if I tried

“Hitoshi, sit down now”

The girl suddenly spoke up and immediately Hitoshi obeyed. The masked villain hid his disappointment as he made eye contact with the girl that had ruined his fun. While her friend was hot headed he could tell with that she was far more level headed. So after making one last comment he walked away and took his seat own table.

“You’re friend here is a lot wiser than you are”

The eyes in the room that had begun watching him again during his confrontation with Hitoshi moved away from him as he took his seat. The girl had ruined his fun but there was still time to cause a bit more trouble. He would just have to be more careful this time and move the attention away from himself. As such his attention moved towards a plastic bottle of soda sitting on a table within his ability’s range. It only took him a moment to begin freezing the soda inside causing the pressure inside the bottle to rapidly increase. A second later the bottle exploded soaking its previous owner as he looked on it shock. Back at his table the masked villain tried to look as surprised and shocked as possible while he laughed maniacally on the inside.

Ah, MocRonall's. The de facto gathering place for all manner of unimportant side characters. Plus, the cheapest burgers this side of Academy City. Not that he had any intention of paying for them in the first place.

His name was Takamiya Jin, and he was a pain in the ass.

In comparison to certain other parties among the day's visitors, Jin didn't particularly stand out. His reputation had spread further than his name, and even that was more well known than his face- And, being in the midst of summer, it was far too warm for the troublemaker's signature jacket. Instead, he could be found in a tee, the inexplicably misspelled English words "BLEW BOLT from the" emblazoned on the front.

I wonder who a good target would be

Unknown to either, the same thought crossed their minds at the same time. What a shame, for if either had known, the race to find some wood to knock on should be quite the sight.

As a villain and a punk squared off for the timeless game of "fifth grade insults," Jin sidled into the crowd of spectators wishing for a good show.

"C'mon! Knock 'is block off!" cheered(?) one such spectator, who insisted on pronouncing his short ŏ's as long ō's.

Alas, the good fun was spoiled as the punk had a companion with (pssh) sensibilities. But all was not lost, for, as much as Jin enjoyed watching a good show...

He much preferred to be acting in one.

Suddenly, a bottle exploded. Some unfortunate soul was, without warning, drenched in a syrupy liquid. Only a fool would think it had nothing to do with the previous, nearly avoided scuffle. Not that Jin cared all that much, as he munched on his burger.

Blech, pickles

Casually casting the offending chow in the nearby trashcan, Jin maneuvered for a better position to act from. The masked youth had made himself a target, and for no reason that had to do with the narrowly avoided kerfuffle.

It was just that his outfit stood out, and caught the eye of a certain nuisance.

Wouldn't it be funny, when he tried to pick up his food, if the tray was glued to the countertop? Bonus points, if it were to come free at the perfect timing, sending mister mask tumbling along with his lunch.

He shouldn't have made the mistake of standing out more than Takamiya Jin.

The masked villain suppressed the urge to smirk as he looked at the shock on his victim’s face as the content of his soft drink splashed all over him. If one looked close enough they would also notice that inside the remnants of the bottle was frozen soda. It was a simple trick though it’s effectiveness as a distraction would only work for a moment. After the initial shock of the explosion wore off people would look for the person responsible and after the scene he caused earlier he would be one of the first suspects.

He was going to need something to move the suspicion on to someone else or find a way to make him look innocent. Until he figured that out he was in no position to pull off anymore pranks. While causing trouble was his goal getting caught so quickly would just be pathetic.

So what do I do?

As Nori contemplated this he took a bite out of the burger he had ordered. How was he supposed to get someone else to cause a commotion without bringing attention to himself? By the time he had finished up his burger he still hadn’t come up with a plan and the shock off the explosion had definitely worn off. If he didn’t figure out something soon he was definitely going to be found out.

Fortunately just as he was getting up to get rid of his trash a solution presented itself. His tray didn’t move at all as he attempted to slide it towards the end of the table. Considering his own attics he had a pretty good idea what was going on here. He had become a target for some other esper looking to be a nuisance. The villain couldn’t judge the perpetrator since he came here to do the same thing but regardless he still found it mildly irritating. At the very least he could take advantage of the scenario. You can’t be the culprit of the pranks if you’re one of the victims, right?

So he began to pull at the tray trying to move it from its place despite knowing it was under the influence of an ability. Needless to say people began to look as the false hero struggled to move the tray. If the ability was deactivated the force the boy was currently putting into the tray would sent it flying into the air along with his drink, which would drench Nori’s pants and shoes as it crashed landed into the ground next to him. Embarrassing himself was infuriating but now he had killed two birds with one stone. He had made himself a victim, thus hopefully taking him off the suspect list, and by looking through the crowd for their reactions he could find the culprit.

A lesser man would have broken out into uproarious laughter upon seeing his plan work to such perfection. But Takamiya Jin was no lesser man, and it would only ruin the fun to give away the game so quickly. He sipped at someone's drink while they were distracted by laughing at the boy made fool. Ooh, cola! Lucky!

"Are you okay?" A voice asked, seemingly sincere as a hand was offered to the fallen 'hero.' Who could the hand belong to, but that eternally helpful soul, Takamiya Jin? No trace of his own fault in the matter could be seen on his face, making him seem just another good samaritan.

But to those who knew Takamiya Jin, it was clear that he was definitely up to something.

It was unlikely that his helpfulness would give him away, of course. Why would a person who had just hurt someone, try to help them? And to say that it could be a trick to throw off suspicion, that the perpetrator knew it would look innocent to offer to help and so proffered a hand to cast off suspicion, the opposite is also true. The perpetrator knows that a person could be suspicious of that exact scenario, and so not offer to help!

Although really, even if the masked boy figured it out, Takamiya Jin wouldn't care. The game was only a game, after all. He would go crazy inside the damned walls of this infernal city without doing anything!

Of course, it was far too late for that.

The plan failed miserably. While the masked villain had succeeded at making a fool of himself he had failed at locating the person responsible for prancing him. There were plenty of people laughing or holding in a laugh but none of them looked as if they had seen the prank coming. Though one person in particular took particular joy in it.

“Serves him right”

The sentence was muttered but it was still audible enough for the Nori to hear it. The comment had come from the thug the boy had tried to pick a fight with earlier. Hitoshi had a reason to go after the masked villain, Nori was fairly certain that he was just some level zero from a skill out gang. He simply wasn’t capable of the prank.

"Are you okay?"

As the boy attempted to cleaned up the mess created from his flying tray and his failed attempt at finding the culprit his attention was grabbed by a simple question. Looking up he noticed a boy with unkempt hair and goggles who seemed to be about his age. The goggles were a bit strange but considering the fact that Nori was wearing a cape and an mask he couldn’t judge.

”I’m fine though it seems I’ve made a fool of myself”

The masked villain chuckled as he finished his last sentence. Nori had no problem laughing at himself and considering how the events in the restaurant had unfolded it was true that he had made a fool of himself. While he still wanted to get revenge he had to respect how the prankster had carried out their plan. Yet the respect he had for the prank wasn’t going to save them once he found out who it was. An eye for an eye, a prank for a prank. Little did he know that he had just taken the culprit’s hand

”Thank you. The name’s Kinoshita Nori, though you can just call me Nori. What’s your name?”

As far as the blue haired boy could tell Jin was just someone offering a helping hand. While his cynical nature told him that his goggle wearing peer was looking for something out of him the masked villain had no reason to suspect him of anything else.

Jin pulled the fallen fool to his feet. If the gig was up, the masked kid showed no sign of it. "Haven't we all been there? This city is filled with brats with more power than common sense... I mean, just look at that exploded soda, over there? What kind of monster messes with a man's drink?"

Asked the monster who had messed with many, many drinks in his lifetime.

"Why, this one is Ta-" He paused mid name, turning his head to the side and placing his fingertips to his forehead in what was clearly a dramatic pose. "-Keuchi Sora, nice to meet you, Kinonon!"

But before letting Nori react to the oddly cutesy nickname he had been saddled with, Jin, no, Sora would  break his unnecessary and continue. "So, what's up with the mask? Second year sickness? No wonder they made a target of you- To their kind, that's as much a crime as being a level 0! I tell you, It's getting old to not be able to get a bite to eat without some Joe getting his rocks off by burning my bread! I paid good money for that! Ah, but that's besides the point."

Jin's entirely falsified rant was not without point- It planted the suggestion that Sora was a level 0, and as such, could not possibly be the culprit.

"So what's your plan now? Revenge? Or clean pants?"

More power than common sense, huh. The masked villain couldn’t deny the fact that he definitely wasn’t the most sensical of people. He did go around dressed as a superhero while deliberately causing trouble for others. As his new acquaintance began talking about the exploding soda Nori showed no sign knowing anything about it. If he made any comment on the incident his guilty would quickly become obvious. He was a horrible liar after all.

”Sounds like you’ve been the victim of an exploding soda before.”

Nori raised an eyebrow as the man who had helped him began his introduction. This ‘Keuchi Sora’ was truly quite an eccentric character to be hanging around. However, what had truly caught the masked villain’s attention was the apparent ‘mistake’ Sora had made at the beginning of his introduction. He had started to say a name that started with a T but had paused and changed it completely. Nori had no idea why he was being told a fake name but it made him curious. What did Sora have to hide from him? Yet before he could question the false name or his new nickname he was questioned himself.

”Oh, the mask? It’s just some memorabilia from my childhood. It also helps cheer up a friend who’s been sick.”

He wanted to question his new nickname as well but the masked villain had a strange feeling that he was going to be stuck with Kinonon whether he liked it or not. Regardless, Nori’s interest had shifted from finding the prankster to investigating why Sora was hiding his real name. Little did he know that Sora and the person who pranked him were the same person. For now the only information he had gathered about his new target so far was that Keuchi seemed to often be the victim of esper pranks. Though you can’t always believe the words of someone who is hiding their true name.

”Well I already tried looking for the culprit by observing people’s reactions but that didn’t work out. Making more of a scene isn’t really going to help my cause either. At this point getting a clean pair of pants seems like the best option. Unless you have a better idea on how to get the culprit.”

Jin couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Aye, once or twice. What more can I say? Add a bit of heat, or too much cold, maybe some pressure... Heck, some people can just make it explode in a more literal manner! There are two types of people in this city, Kinonon. Those who can explode a soda, and the level zeroes. Small wonder that more Skill Out gangs appear by the day."

Ah, it seemed his pause had not gone unnoticed. A glint appeared in "Takeuchi Sora's" eye as curiousity showed in Kinoshita Nori's. Curiousity was good. Curiousity killed the cat, and apparently was no less effective on seaweed. Curiousity would keep Kinonon hooked- It was far simpler to keep an eye on his target, if said target thought they were following him. All according to plan.

"Oh, I see." Jin responded, his voice holding far more sincerity than he felt. "That's truly terrible! I do hope they feel well soon." Not. What did Jin care about some sick dude in a bed somewhere with a superhero fetish? That wasn't getting him anywhere closer to the outside of those damned walls.

An astute observer may comment that neither would messing with this masked man, to which Jin would say, "Nyeh."

"Ah, say no more. Follow me, I know a place nearby where you can get a clean, well, mostly clean pair. One that won't look, ahem." Jin clicked his tongue and made a meaningful glance toward the unfortunately placed stain on Nori's clothes.

Their destination, a dark alley around the corner. A worthless cum of worthless trash- The aforementioned skill-out. Now, I don't know if you're a level 0 or not and I'm not going to ask, so don't tell me. These guys, uh, don't take kindly to that, if you catch my drift."

Fortunately, this particular gang was more than familiar with Jin's current identity. "Eyyyyy, Sora, my man! What's the word, baby?" Case in point, NPC A, a loud blustery man with no concept of personal space, who was more than happy to grab the shoulders of both newcomers, if they let him. And, if not, to try again! "Brought a friend, man? Hah! Well, a friend of Sora's is a friend of mine!"

Causally brushing off the older boy in a manner suggesting he'd done this before, and often, Jin replied. "Hah, yeah. Kinonon here had a bit of an accident in the MocRonall's down the road, you know, of the E. S. P. variety- I brought him here for a change of clothes, savvy?"

The boisterous guy let out a laugh while shaking his head, clearly familiar with such happenings. "I got you covered, bro! Damn espers, thinking they own the place."

Grumbling, the Skill-Out member would disappear off, presumably to pick up some clean clothes for Nori. Jin gave the other boy a wink- "Told you I had it covered."

Sora was definitely trying to sell Nori the fact that he was a level 0. Being completely honest, after spotting the fake name the masked villain had very little trust in the rest of the story the goggle kid had to say. However, calling him out on it now just wouldn't be very interest. If he was going to get the truth out of his new acquaintance he was going to do it in a more subtle matter. Who knows if he was lucky maybe he could find some blackmail to use on him. It was always useful to have other people at your disposal.

The blue haired boy's malicious planning was unfortunately cut short after he heard Sora's comments about his pants. A look of dread spread across his face as he looked at the only spot goggles could have been referring to. Why did it just have to go there? Was this some kind of karma for blowing up the soda? Hadn't the tray prank been his punishment?

"You've got to be kidding me."

The masked villain did not look amused but after taking a deep breath he recomposed himself. There was nothing he could do about his pants now or at least he didn't think he could til Sora spoke up. His new 'friend' did have his uses after all it seemed though Nori had to wonder where in the world the new pants were going to come from.

"That would be great. Thank you."

The goggle wearing boy's idea of help was definitely not what Nori was expecting. A bad feeling spread through the boy's body as he followed Sora into the dark alley. He had a pretty good idea what kind of people they were going to run into especially after the comment that was just made. A Skill-Out gang was the last type of people the masked villain wanted to run into. However, if he was going to learn about his new companion he couldn't just leave now.

To make matters worse the new arrival didn't seem to mind instantly invading the personal space of newcomers. While Nori hadn't dodge or shook off the skill-out member, there was definitely an ominous aura coming off the villain. There was nothing particular menacing about his facial expression either but if the new person was paying close enough attention that would realize the boy's hostile discomfort.

Put simply, further contact with Nori would be like trying to pet a very angry cat. He had taken jobs that required crushing rising Skill-Out groups before. He didn't like him and they definitely didn't like him, as such the blue haired boy was not relaxed at all. The only thing keeping him there was his curiosity about the goggle wearing kid and the promise of new pants.

"Wasn't expecting to get a new pair of pants in a dark alley. Doesn't this feel weird at all to you?"