236 Posts
0 EP
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Total
18 Years
Male
"Ivory"
Student-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Naoru Kehai on Sept 11, 2018 12:17:50 GMT -4
Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith Is when it's tested again and again everyday I'm still comparing your past to my future It might be your wound but they're my sutures As the military finally decided it was time to get to know the increasing number of quirkers better, and they set up camp to welcome the superpowered part of the population, more and more people were inclined to check them out. Naoru was no exception. On his own, he might not have even thought about waltzing into military ground, but with encouragement from his family – especially from his father – he decided it was better to help his nation, and receive help in return. He did realize that his father’s enthusiasm in sending him to Semper Fi was only that Naoru could further prove the worth of quirkers to his grandfather, but he continued to try and ignore that fact in hopes of actually improving himself. Honestly, he was starting to lose faith in the support of his own family. Instead, various faces from his class and other U.A. students’ surfaced in his mind when he thought about people he can rely on, and while this realization broke him just a little bit, it also filled him with hope and longing. Shaking his head to clear it, he chased away the depressive thoughts and instead looked up at the facility in front of him. He entered the area of Rescue and Logistics, as the sign standing to the side told him. Various military personnel were trying to give instruction to the civilians gathered, who were roaming the place and tried to learn of exactly what could be done around this part of the facility. Rescue operations were nothing new to them, as Cian-sensei made sure they would be prepared for such occasions. Maybe it was the familiarity that made him beeline to this particular set for a start. At least he knew what to expect here. Some of the military personnel was standing around talking with each other, some was instructing the rest, but Naoru was careful not to make eye-contact with anyone, lest someone would try and rope him into a conversation. He did not need to be directed anywhere, and honestly, he would feel more embarrassed talking to a soldier rather than looking around and finding what he wanted to alone. Especially since he had no idea what he wanted to do yet. Wearing his summer school uniform he was at least easily recognized as a U.A. student. There was the usual black, long-sleeved glove on his left arm to hide his mutation and the shorter half of the pair to cover his right hand to avoid physical contact. His schoolmates didn’t even bother to ask about that anymore, but strangers might be inclined. He preferred to keep a low profile, and since he could barely do anything about his appearance, he would instead pull his shoulders in and try to appear as small and insignificant as possible. No one started talking to him so far, so he seemed to do a good job at that. He sneaked to the side, reading the signs and catching fragments of conversations where a few civilians were told details about the carefully covered obstacle he was staring at. A labyrinth? And one with low visibility, it seemed. That caught his attention. He wasn’t the kind to be worried about darkness or hindered sight due to the special properties of his mutation, but he knew that wasn’t exactly a common feat among others. Maybe it would be a good idea to try his luck in this maze and see if his Aura’s sensing ability could be fine-tuned and used in unusual environments as well. With his hand raised to his chin in contemplation, he wouldn’t notice if someone was approaching him to blow him out of the role of the insignificant background character. words: 620 @alexander monochrome, because their quirks are black and white. get it? get it? OTL I am horrible with thread titles MADE BY VEL OF GS
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2018 14:30:23 GMT -4
It was that time of the week where pushing well beyond where any reasonable person would top came and bit the delinquent in the ass. Getting out of bed today was excruciatingly painful, and it was only through sheer stubbornness that he was even able to make it to the military camp that day. While the searing pain had been reduced to a dull and aching soreness throughout his body, it was still enough that he walked with a slight limp and his movements were unusually sharp and jerk-y. He couldn’t go back to the combat area, not today, and since Aki was doing something with Yumi today he was just kind of left to wander around the camp and be a tourist for the day.
He wasn’t dressed up in his school uniform, but instead in a nice light grey polo underneath a leather jacket with some black slacks on with some more comfortable slip-on leather dress shoes. This was another layer that helped Alex avoid going to the combat arena, because his shoes weren’t suited for it and he would fuck up a good outfit. He couldn’t exactly afford more of these at the moment, even with Mari being nice enough to give him a bit of an income. He needed all the money that he got from that, spur of the moment bets, and his fledgling online store selling wooden figurines for the real necessities in life – Darkshine merchandise.
Red eyes surveyed the new area he had stepped into, the Rescue Area as he hoped to spectate some people going through some runs to hopefully learn something. He did the same thing at every area he went to, first he scanned the area for people that he recognized and then saw what they were up to and how they were using the camp for ideas on how to better improve his own training. In the absence of people he recognized or cared to talk to, he would just observe some training and try and learn what he could from watching rather than doing for once since his body was failing him today. He still needed to use his time effectively, after all, because it wasn’t like Rin was going to just sit on the couch and eat potato chips all day while he recovered and he needed to close that gap.
Luckily for him, sometimes he didn’t need to look very hard because his classmates had a tendency to wear their uniforms even outside of school grounds. A quick adjustment of the aviators on his face to ensure they were positioned correctly as he stepped into the crowd, he recognized a white haired guy in a U.A. school uniform rather quickly. He hadn’t had a one on one conversation with him since the Vice President vote, which was something that honestly he regretted. It wasn’t that he was avoiding Naoru, it was just that since the incident at the Tokyo Hospital and the introduction of student rankings Alex simply didn’t have much of a social life anymore. What time he did have, he usually spent with Aki because that was the highest priority on his list of people to spend time with. As a result, though, he had neglected to spend time with some other classmates outside of the mandatory classroom hours and he felt like this might be a good time to rectify that and get some of that prized social interaction in with someone that Alex both liked and respected.
”Hey, Naoru.” he said with his usual swagger and confidence while striding up next to his classmate like he owned the entire damned base. Poor current physical condition or not, the sheer confidence that first bordered and then catapulted through pure arrogance shone through in his body language and tone. His posture was impeccable, and his head was held high despite the amount of times he had gotten his shit kicked in the past few days. ”They open up a new area? I haven’t been to this section a lot, granted, but I haven’t seen this one before.” he asked, automatically assuming that since Naoru was smart he knew what was going on. After all, he wouldn’t simply be standing here for no reason. He was an exemplary hero candidate and was definitely one of the smartest students in the class, it simply wouldn’t fit his modus operandi. He was simply far too clever for something like that.
While his classmate didn’t make it in the Top Ten listing, Alex knew it wasn’t for lack of ability so he didn’t hold it against him like he did for others. Naoru simply didn’t like the spotlight for whatever reason, and didn’t really care about the perception of others as evidenced by the fact that he actively conceded the tied Vice Presidential vote even with Alex trying to convince him to do a revote to determine a clear winner. The American’s win wasn’t absolute, which still irked him more than a little and he felt the need to take Naoru’s opinions and views more seriously than he otherwise might have and give them more weight due to that fact. Despite his shunning of the spotlight, he had it thrust upon him against his will so he must be doing something very right in the eyes of his peers. The issue that Alex had was that he needed to find out what that was and see if he could replicate it for his own quest to be the number one ranked student at U.A.
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236 Posts
0 EP
EXP
Total
18 Years
Male
"Ivory"
Student-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Naoru Kehai on Sept 12, 2018 14:39:36 GMT -4
Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith Is when it's tested again and again everyday I'm still comparing your past to my future It might be your wound but they're my sutures His thoughts were flying a hundred miles per hour after he heard the instructors mention the maze. He had theories about what his quirk could develop into in the long run, and with his mutation mainly changing his nerves, it was obvious his senses were different than that of others. But what exactly that meant, not even he knew. True enough, he had lived with his Aura for as long as he could remember, repressing it willingly still set his understanding of it further back than other mutations. He was hiding behind the farce of being an emitter or a transformation type, and that also hindered his development. It took half a year at U.A. for him to be comfortable enough to “wear” his real form outside during everyday activity, and he still decided to hide his quirk from time to time, like he was doing right now. Old habits die hard, but he was trying. As he was still rather open to ideas as to which way to develop, he swore to try his luck with various things, even if he could see no use in specific trainings. But a maze with low visibility... That sent his mind flying, and he could already see it being used to fine-tune his Aura’s sensitivity. He was just a tad bit too absorbed in his racing thoughts to notice a familiar face drawing near. He had his hand held against his chin, and he only looked up with a few seconds of lag upon hearing and registering his name, as if he was a glitch-y video game character. Like an NPC that was too slow to react to the call of a party member. When he found himself face-to-face with a classmate, not to mention his vice president, his brows shot up in surprise. “Deraine-kun, it is nice to see you.” Alexander was casually elegant, discarding the school uniform for simple wear instead, but above all, he still had the proud and confident posture that Naoru lacked. He seemed obviously familiar with the area, and rather comfortable in his own skin as he stood there in front of the mutant boy. Naoru wasn’t even sure why his classmate decided to start a conversation with him. Naoru was never the one people went up to for small talk, he was actually rarely approached aside from assignments where his partner was usually forced to interact with him anyway. Whatever the reason was, Alexander was probably trying to be polite and fitting for the role he was given by the class, and decided to go out of his way and converse with Naoru. He hoped Alexander wasn’t mad about what happened during the voting for vice president. It must have been a little irking to get the same amount of votes as someone as insignificant as him, but hopefully the boy was over that disappointment. Naoru wouldn’t want to take on the role anyway, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he was also a little suspicious it might have just been a big prank to see how he would react. No, he shouldn’t let his mind wander unnecessarily. His class was too nice to pull pranks like that anyway. He really has to put a break on his thoughts and turn back to the present before his mind spirals out. He glanced around toward the building where the military set up the so called maze as he heard Alexander’s words. “Probably.” He said, uncertain. “I am not sure what is new and what is not. I have not been able to come here before.” He hugged his left arm to his side with his right, grabbing his elbow lightly. He was still trying to appear small, even though he was now talked to. “But you do seem to be familiar with the area. Have you tried what the military had to offer? Do you recommend anything?” Naoru was still worried about what Alexander must be thinking after the voting, especially since none of them were seeking out the other to talk about it. Naoru was barely on school grounds the last few weeks anyway when he wasn’t in class, but still, now he was ashamed he hadn’t had the chance to talk to Alexander before. “I am contemplating trying the maze but... I am not yet sure.”MADE BY VEL OF GS
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2018 0:01:06 GMT -4
”I’ve mostly just been hanging around the combat area so far. Did one rescue thing with Risaka and Kirk, but water isn’t my strong suit so I was mostly just kind of dead weight.” he said bluntly, shrugging his shoulders as he did so. While he oftentimes projected confidence past the level that defines arrogance, he was no narcissist and was fine with just stating the facts as he saw them even when they applied negatively to himself. ”The military guys over there are some pretty big jerks, but it’s good experience for as long as your body can handle it getting the crap beat out of you for a while.” he continued, grimacing a bit when he shifted position due to a new wave of pain shooting through his body unexpectedly. ”You’re probably smart enough to learn things without the whole ‘getting beat up part’, though.” he added with a short laugh, going a bit farther than he normally would mostly to lighten the mood a bit and distance himself a bit from the super violent mindset that someone like Darren might have. He didn’t really enjoy beating people down so much as he enjoyed the competitive aspect of fighting and the feeling of progression as he felt and saw himself getting better and better as time progressed.
Losing a couple of meaningless fights wasn’t going to hurt the delinquent’s ego. He was taking his lumps now so that he could step up when it mattered and take the wins that mattered. Training was just training, there was no stakes unless it was someone that he really hated for some reason and it was a matter of pride. It was when it really mattered, when there was an actual fight to the death with a villain so truly vile they wanted to achieve their ends through the death or mass injury of innocents that a fight would truly have high stakes. Win or die, or win or watch other people die. It was for that eventual match against the real evil here and ensure the safety of everyone. When that eventual showdown with Rin happened, he needed to have as much experience as possible so that he would actually win that confrontation because losing was simply not an option.
When Naoru mentioned trying out the maze, the American nodded his head. ”Why wouldn’t you do it?” he asked casually, more as a way of goading him to do it than anything else. ”This place is only here for a bit longer, so it may be now or never.” he continued, a cheeky grin spreading across his features. ”Plus, you never really explained how your quirk works. I’m barely able to walk, so you might have to use it to carry me through this. Let’s go, call it a teamwork building exercise.” he offered, more than ready to follow through on that threat on being completely useless in any attempt go actually go through that maze. First of all, he wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed and didn’t have a lot going for him in the whole figuring things out department. He would be useless in actually trying to figure out a way out, and secondly if there were any obstacles he would have to use his quirk to go around them because his body was more useless than it normally was today due to the immense soreness and dull, aching pain coursing through his body. Yup, Naoru would have to do all the work and Alex would just sit there and look nice while he provided emotional support. They were basically the perfect team, all things considered.
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236 Posts
0 EP
EXP
Total
18 Years
Male
"Ivory"
Student-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Naoru Kehai on Sept 14, 2018 5:40:08 GMT -4
Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith Is when it's tested again and again everyday I'm still comparing your past to my future It might be your wound but they're my sutures Naoru tilted his head to the side slightly as he listened to Alexander talk more about his experiences in the facilities. He wondered how much of his words were true, and how much were just humble misinformation. Quite honestly, Naoru couldn’t imagine Alexander to be a complete deadweight, or absolutely useless in the situations he mentioned. His confident aura must have had a base, instead of it being just for show, and he quickly assumed Alexander was just trying to be kind and shine spotlight on his classmates in favor of Kirk and Risaka instead of himself. Naoru was a little bit surprised by that revelation, and that must have been obvious from the way he was intently listening. “I am sure you did great, even if you feel like you were weighing your teammates down.” He mentioned, and if he knew enough of Kirk, he was sure at least the boy wasn’t beating Alexander for not giving his hundred percent during a rescue training. The boy was great at Cian’s classes, and not all environments were fitting for everyone anyway. That is why the more aquatically developed quirkers were here too. He frowned when he noticed the wince of pain and the sluggish movements of his classmate. When he arrived, Naoru could see no indication that he wasn’t entirely physically fit, but now it was becoming obvious. He chose to ignore the praise coming from Alexander in favor of the boy’s experience. Even though he tried to lighten the mood, Naoru saw through that to the pain. “Were you beat up? Should you not be resting then? I know you probably will not go near the combat area anytime soon, but it would be best to focus on getting your energy back.” Even if Alexander wasn’t near combat today, Naoru was still worried about lasting injuries. Not everyone could replace a limb like him, so he had increased worry when it came to everyone else, Alexander included. He still couldn’t help but smile though. “I mean. How will you get revenge if you tire yourself out again?” He added, mimicking Alexander’s way of lightening the mood with a joking tone. Looking back toward the facility, doubt filled him yet again. “I do not know if it is fitting for me. And I do not want to waste their time in case the maze will not benefit me or them either.” Even he knew his reasoning was weak. The whole point of opening up the base was for quirkers to try out as many things as possible while being evaluated by the instructors. Naoru had his own opinion of that though. This whole thing felt like an experiment as well, non-quirkers watching them like hawks to gather information to use against quirker villains what they could find here. He had enough of that when he was a kid. He had enough of that when his father decided to push him to prove the worth of quirkers. He shook his head, and looked up at Alexander. “I can not really explain my quirk, maybe that is why...” He had to do a double-take when he realized what Alexander implied with his last sentence. “Wait.” He almost panicked. “Wait a moment! You mean you would want to come and try the maze with me?” He had to take a step back, raising an arm, which must have been a rather comical sight. The last thing he expected was for Alexander to so casually offer to go with him, or rather, take it as an obvious fact that he will go with him into the facility. Naoru blanched. Was that how this worked? Will it really be alright? He had so many doubts that he wasn’t even sure how to voice them. “I do not want to weight you down with my inexperience.” He added, giving Alexander a way out in case he changed his mind, even though he was fairly sure that someone like Naoru wouldn’t be able to do that. Whatever Alexander decided to do, he would go through with it. “But how do we start?” He almost stuttered. “Do we sign up, or just walk in, or...?” He glanced helplessly between the instructors, the signs and Alexander in hopes of getting an answer somewhere. MADE BY VEL OF GS
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2018 21:54:42 GMT -4
The revenge comment was so unexpected that the delinquent responded by half-laughing and half-coughing in surprise. ”Oh come on, I’m not that bad, am I?” he complained half-heartedly, for the first time something approaching self-doubt creeping into his voice. As quick as it came, however, it was gone. ”Resting is what a smart person with self-control would do, but I’ve never exactly been the type. This place is only around for a few more days, so I need to take advantage of that time as much as I can.” he continued in a matter-of-fact tone, as if there was simply nothing else that he could be doing right at this moment than being right there.
Past that point, he just let Naoru talk. It was becoming increasingly clear that he had some self-confidence issues for reasons that the American couldn’t begin to fathom. He had that standard pretty boy look with the nice longer hair and slimmer build. The facial marking was unique, and girls went nuts over unique shit like that. The dude could join a boy band tomorrow and be drowning in girls by this time next week with a look like his, so the lack of confidence was really kind of bizarre to Alex. It wasn’t like his quirk was useless, either, from what little he knew about it. It wasn’t exactly a flesh sack on his back like poor Kirk was stuck with. It was some type of emitter, surely, from what little he had seen in the tag game. What that substance was, though, he had absolutely no idea.
Red eyes stared coolly at his classmate as he proceeded to freak out at the prospect of going into the maze, making up some horseshit about weighing Alex down like he wasn’t in much better physical condition at this very moment. He was too smart to not realize that he could absolutely wipe the floor with the delinquent if they squared off right that moment, so the American was really just confused as to what angle Naoru was playing at. At first he thought he was being fucked with, but the stutter and the lack of self-confidence seemed real. It was bizarre, really, but maybe this would be a good experience for the boy and a way to boost up his confidence. Either his classmate’s opinion of his class representative was way too high or his opinion of himself was way too low. Either way, the brunette knew damn well he was too dumb to figure out a maze all by himself so he was more than willing to play off that to help his buddy get some of that confidence if possible. It was the least he could do, especially because if he was being real he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that he would have won in a revote with only the two of them running. It was very possible that Naoru was the rightful class rep, and only declined due to that same lack of confidence. If that was the case, next year would be very interesting to see if he came up and took that spot from him.
”Hey,” Alex started, raising his voice as he suddenly and seemingly randomly walked up to the guys who seemed to run the maze. ”Me and my buddy both want to run through the maze. We’re both emitter type quirks so both good in terms of observable shit you can study.” he continued, his tone leaving no doubt as to the confidence that his demand would be taken care of immediately. His detached but polite tone was similar to one someone might use to a cashier, seeing the other person in terms of what they could do for them instead of as an individual. The soldiers didn’t seem to mind, though, and instead perked up when the delinquent mentioned that both he and Naoru were emitters.
”We just got this section completed a few hours ago, so you can be our first emitter run through.” the guy said cheerfully, perhaps a bit too cheerfully. ”The visibility inside is very low, and we got a hard ceiling that we’ll ask you to not break as you make your way through. We also ask that you don’t break down the walls, so that we can get data on other participants as well.”
”Can do, boss.” the American replied quickly, easily. The maze looked like it was made of solid stone, and breaking through would be a shit way to go through it. They didn’t want their hard work destroyed, which was easy enough. ”No destruction of anything, just a nice walk in a maze thingy. Got it.” he added in what he meant to be a reassuring tone but it came off much more flippant. The soldier didn’t seem to get pissed, however, and happily opened the gate and gestured for the students to come right in.
The gate itself seemed to be some sort of synthetic material, probably hardened plastic honestly so it could be moved away and used again after the event was over. Inside, though, a substance that seemed like artificial fog started pouring out and it was clear that the inside of the maze was dark. While Alex could still manipulate shadows in pure darkness and he was technically at maximum ability to do so… he still couldn’t actually see while in pitch blackness. With no ability to just go upwards due to the ceiling, this was going to likely be harder than he thought. There were also likely to be obstacles along the way, so maybe volunteering for this was a bad idea in his condition…
But at this point he was already committed. He walked forward into that maze without a shred of hesitation, projecting all the confidence in the world because that was what he was supposed to do. It was who he was as a person, because one of his best traits was that he was extremely decisive and willing to follow a course of action until the very end. Nobody at U.A. could hard commit to even the worst plans with half as much confidence or rapidity as Alex, for better or for worse.
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236 Posts
0 EP
EXP
Total
18 Years
Male
"Ivory"
Student-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Naoru Kehai on Sept 21, 2018 6:50:19 GMT -4
Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith Is when it's tested again and again everyday I'm still comparing your past to my future It might be your wound but they're my sutures Naoru just smiled. Alexander certainly didn’t seem too bad, but he learned that in certain cases, people liked to enact sweet revenge upon others, even though he himself didn’t see the appeal in it. But then again, he just thought back about the accident from almost two years ago, and then decided that there are reasons that can validate vengeance. “Enthusiasm can always fill in the blank that smartness leaves.” Naoru commented as a matter of fact, not at all intending to be rude, but somewhat jab playfully at how Alexander mentioned he isn’t exactly smart. Naoru didn’t see him as stupid, if the things he said at the vice president voting was any indication. Rather than that, he was someone that liked to push his limits, it seemed. As Naoru talked and nearly freaked out when help with the maze was offered so casually, Alexander remained suspiciously quiet. The white haired lad had no idea what his classmate might be thinking about him, but he was sure it was nothing pleasant. There was barely any answer given, and Naoru was surprised when Alexander immediately walked up to the inspectors and asked to run the maze in a pair. Naoru nearly freaked out, though not only for the sudden action and the fact that there was no turning back now. He felt a little bit bad, as Alexander mentioned both of them having emitter type quirks when Naoru was anything but. A mutation in the disguise of an emitter, Naoru pulled his neck in and stared at the ground, as if afraid the military people would notice his quirk’s attribute just from a glance, even though he had not yet let it seep through his skin. Alexander’s casual tone was a wonder. Such confident and easy-going attitude made it seem like he must be a popular guy, completely in tune with himself, in peace with his own shortcomings and still living life brightly. Naoru was somewhat envious of that attitude, as Alexander made it seem like being confident was really easy. He wondered if he can pick up some of that trait while spending more time with the vice president. The explanation concerning the maze was easy to follow and commit to memory. No destroying the walls. Got it. If there was no fighting going on, there also was no reason to break anything, so that was an easy enough rule to follow. He also saw no reason for him to go nervous or berserk inside a maze for any reason, so there was no danger of his Aura acting up either. This will be a nice and quiet little game. He nodded, working himself up for the challenge now that it was inevitable that they will have to complete it. The gate was opened for them and they headed inside, being left within the walls of low visibility. It was dark and foggy, and Naoru automatically looked around as if he could gather anything of his surroundings by sight. He could only see so far as the wall on either of his sides with clear certainty, so the visibility was as low as two meters at maximum. That might prove to be a problem, especially if he got separated from Alexander. He glanced at the boy and saw the same confidence as before, his posture never waving despite the fact he was not in top form, as he previously mentioned. He felt bad for roping the boy into this, after all. Also, he wasn’t sure if there was a point in telling Alexander he was not an emitter type, but maybe keeping quiet was a little worse... it would seem like he is a liar who doesn’t want to tell anything about himself to his friends, which was, in a certain way, true. Still, it was a bad habit he had to get rid of, so he had to start being honest. He pulled his shoulders in to appear as small as possible. “Um, Deraine-kun.” He called out. “Just to clear things up, I am not an emitter type. I thought it would be better if you know that. My apologies if it was not clear.” He explained quietly, and somewhat hoped that the soldiers couldn’t hear them anymore. He would hate himself if Alexander was assumed to be a liar just because Naoru wasn’t giving enough information to a teammate. He glanced back toward the route they will be taking. He wasn’t worried about low visibility, as he could always have his Aura branch out and feel the area around effectively. That was the main reason he was interested in going through the maze, as it would help him develop his Aura’s sensitivity more. Because, really, nerves are best at feeling things, so he has to grab every opportunity to train them. He wasn’t sure about what Alexander’s standpoint on this situation was, though. He knew only a little about his quirk, just what he saw at the introduction class and at the rescue operations training. Manipulating shadows to make constructs. But Naoru was curious if he could feel the constructs after making them...? “Okay then, let us go.” He took a deep breath and experimentally took a few steps ahead in a slow but steady pace to scout out the area. His white Aura, much sturdier and more solid than the fog, starter to manifest around his shoulders and arms as it seeped through his skin and clothes. Even his posture changed, his back straightened, his face appeared calmer. Now that he had a clearly set goal to reach, and could think about a plan to follow, his nervousness eased down. “Simply walking through a maze with low visibility would be too easy, so we can expect traps or a few tricks to the labyrinth.” Or he is just overcomplicating things, and it really is all about just walking through it. That would be a little anti-climactic. “But we do not know enough yet, so for a start, it is better to proceed with the left-hand rule of every labyrinth, until complications arise.” That meant, to hug the left wall while walking, that way they can eliminate the unpredictability of the labyrinth. He looked back over at Alexander to gauge his reaction. The white, tangible shroud already settled around him, and it looked more like cloth than a fluffy cloud now. Only his left hand deformed into claws along with the Aura’s appearance. “What do you think?”MADE BY VEL OF GS
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2018 16:04:59 GMT -4
”Well, you said you couldn’t explain it so I just said emitter.” he shrugged his shoulders indicating that he didn’t take any of it personally. ”If you really can’t explain it, try going to medical and see if they can. They ran all sorts of weird tests on me and Aki to find out the biology and crap behind our quirks. Like apparently my blood isn’t the same thickness as normal people’s and that’s why my quirk makes me go cold after a while.” he added, still not quite sure what all that stuff meant. Apparently his eyes were weird too, but they couldn’t really pinpoint exactly what it was at the time aside from him reacting a bit more strongly to brightness changes when those brightness changes included more direct light. It was something to do with the parts of his eye or whatever, really the science-y medical bits went way over his head and he didn’t remember anything useful except for the blood bit and there was a super hot blonde nurse in the area. Only the important things, right?
Alex was the first to get into the maze, exuding as much confidence as ever. It was at this point where the delinquent would normally begin barking out a game plan, but this time he refrained. Not because he didn’t have any ideas, mind, but because he wanted to actually let his classmate experience the maze as he originally intended to and not have his experience hampered. When Alex first entered the maze, he confirmed what he already assumed rather quickly in sliding his quirk along the walls to see if he felt anything. That, of course, was a negative and he dissipated the constructs immediately after double checking. He had no sensory capabilities in his quirk, which was unfortunate for this particular instance but perfectly fine otherwise. He debated for a moment creating a cane or something to tap along in front of him, but quickly decided that would be obnoxious and probably unnecessary.
When Naoru began the game planning, Alex nodded along instinctively even if the visibility was garbage. ”Sure, that makes sense.” the delinquent agreed, nodding along and holding his left hand towards the wall as he surged forward confidently as the door closed behind them. ”Plus I’m sure we’ll be able to ha—ANDUL!” his voice raised an octave in surprise as he walked directly onto some sort of that that opened the ground underneath of him that he immediately fell through. Instinctively he spread out his arms and if he was any weaker physically he would have definitely gone down into whatever was at the bottom. Water, it felt like, because even with his instinctive pulling up of his feet his shoes were still somewhat submerged in some sort of liquid. Pain immediately shot through the boy’s body as he brute forced his way back up from the sudden impact to his elbows and the sudden exertion that he was hoping to avoid. A sharp exhale of breath was the only indicator of that immense surge of pain, however, because Alex wasn’t one to go around yelping and screaming when things starting hurting him physically. He was getting much better at handling physical pain without losing his cool, and really he had worked on it so much he could honestly consider it one of his strengths at this point.
”Okay, new plan.” he conceded as he forced his body over to the other side of the trap. ”You lead the way, and I’ll follow.” he hissed out between his teeth as his body continued to be wracked pain that hadn’t quite had enough time to subside just yet. ”Turns out I rely on my sight more than I thought.” he conceded, more than willing to step back a little bit so Naoru had a clearer shot over the obstacle and to wait until his classmate passed him up. ”With any luck, your quirk will be a bit better at feeling out traps like this than mine is.” he added to soften the blow of embarrassment just a bit by making a joke. It was his instinctive response to situations like this where things were just plain humiliating, and he wanted to save a bit of face. There was no other word to call a failure to recognize a trap literally ten steps into the maze.
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236 Posts
0 EP
EXP
Total
18 Years
Male
"Ivory"
Student-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Naoru Kehai on Oct 5, 2018 11:16:23 GMT -4
Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith Is when it's tested again and again everyday I'm still comparing your past to my future It might be your wound but they're my sutures It was at least reassuring that Alex didn’t mind him not being an emitter type. His logic was sound, but as soon as medical camp was mentioned, Naoru visibly tensed. He didn’t want anything to do with nurses, doctors and experiments, thank you! He had enough of that up until now, so he could do without seeing medical staff and a hospital for about the next thousand years, preferably. “I will consider it, thank you.” He said, voice tight. Of course he won’t consider it at all, but Alexander was nice enough to offer a possibility. The least he could do to be polite and thank him. Within the darkness of the maze, Naoru reached forward with his Aura cautiously after it manifested. Forming it into rope-like durable and thin threads was easy. Five threads reached forward and toward the wall left of him to keep mental track of his surroundings and mapping the place in his imagination. With the left-hand rule, mapping the labyrinth will take long, but at least it will lower the possibility of them getting lost. Once Alexander agreed as well, the fifth thread would have closed around the other boy’s wrist so Naoru could navigate both of them easier. It would mean he had to keep prolonged physical contact, but if Alexander was completely sightless in this fog, it was better to tie them together in case one of them wandered further than two meters. But just as his Aura would reach out, he heard Alexander’s voice crack and rise in volume when the ground opened under him. The Aura wasn’t quick enough to grab the boy when he fell, but Naoru was at the side of the hole in an instant, ropes of white substance feeling around after sight was failing. “Are you alright? Did you injure yourself?” He asked, because really, a fall like that could be pretty uncomfortable. A faint sloshing could be heard, and when he reached down with his Aura, he met with the coldness of water. Right. The whole rescue area was structured around water as a theme, so it made sense for the maze to have it be implemented in one way or another. Alexander was able to climb out and regain his composure, so Naoru found no use in offering his hand to help him. As of yet, he wasn’t sure if the vice president was the kind to appreciate help, or prefer to deal with his own problems himself. Carefully stepping around the hole, he walked past the other, Aura feeling the route ahead for any more traps. “Hopefully it will be. I will test the waters with my quirk as we continue forward.” In movement, one Aura rope was ready to snake itself around Alexander’s wrist in a loose grip, not at all intent in hindering the boy’s movement. “It is easy to get lost and lose each other. If you do not mind, is it alright if I tie my Aura to your wrist?” If given permission, Alex would feel the solidified substance around his skin, as if cotton-coated metal was forming around him. It was complicated to decide if it was soft or hard. “Most people rely on sight, so it is no wonder a challenge like this would get, well, challenging. That was mainly the reason why I wanted to try my luck.” He walked carefully, Aura touching and pushing the ground and the walls to feel out traps or activate them before they would reach it so they could maneuver around it. “I assume you are unable to feel what is around you then, right? This completing this maze might be more beneficial for you then.”There was another trapdoor in front of them as indicated by its different surface, similar to the one Alexander fell through just before. It wasn’t as hard as the ground underneath, hastily covered up so it wouldn’t be noticed in the low visibility. The Aura ropes pushed at it but it wasn’t triggered – it probably needed a standard human weight to open. Naoru pulled Alexander to the side as he himself stepped close to the wall as well, walking around the trapdoor. For a while, Naoru was quiet, but mainly to gauge the setting they found themselves in. Navigating the maze didn’t require too much concentration, so he thought it would be best to get to know his vice president a little bit better. He was horrible at small talk, but he figured it was okay to try it once in a while anyway. “Deraine-kun, can I ask you something?” A fork was in the road, and Naoru turned toward the left and continued that way. “I am sure you have heard this question countless times, but why did you enroll in U.A.? Why do you want to be a hero?” It was a curious question he liked to ask from fellow students while searching for his own reason, as he had yet to find his answer. MADE BY VEL OF GS
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2018 17:46:08 GMT -4
”Nah, I’m good.” was the immediate response when Naoru asked if he had hurt himself. Just a little teeth rattling, nothing that would do any permanent damage. The delinquent let his classmate take the lead from then on, simply because it made the most sense. An unfamiliar feeling snaked around his hand, but Alex did not pull back because he figured it had to have been Naoru’s quirk – the military having traps in the maze that simply felt weird was probably a huge waste of money. This was confirmed moments later when the white haired boy asked for permission to ‘tie’ his ‘aura’ to the American’s wrist. ”Yeah, go ahead.” the brunette responded matter of factly, ”I got no problem following someone else’s lead.”
That, strictly speaking, wasn’t completely true. What was more true was that he trusted Naoru enough to not question any directions given to him, and even if the delinquent could see that likely wouldn’t change. He did, however, have a huge problem with authority in general that wasn’t exactly a secret either. The truth was, Alex was one of those annoying little shits who needed to feel respect and trust to someone before he blindly followed their directions and thus found himself barking out orders far more than following them. Once that fundamental trust was established, though, he had no issue following directions to the letter like he did with Glave-sensei or Naoru now.
If that fundamental trust was not there, he would resist and fight against the authority figure much like he did with their ‘angry blueberry’ as Hayley had called her of a teacher during their first days together. She had nothing but an empty title and a very clear tendency to absolutely hate young people in general, and was probably honestly forced into teaching by having such a crappy quirk for being a Pro Hero. She then took out the anger of being inadequate in that field out on the students, because the number of Pros was so low that she could definitely get a spot teaching as long as she put in her application early no matter how much she hated the kids themselves. That was what he assumed happened, anyway, and the mental picture that he had constructed in his head to make sense of that woman.
At the point that his classmate made about Alex not being able to feel anything, that confused the hell out of the delinquent so much that he didn’t speak for several seconds. ”I thought your quirk was the aura bit, you can see in the dark too?” Alex asked, trying to process what the hell his classmate meant by being unable to ‘feel’. Like, of course he could feel the wall with his hand – couldn’t anyone? Surely he meant something else, but whether it was the fact that most of his focus was following the directions and nudges that he was given by the uh, aura, on his wrist and trying to follow the footsteps of his classmate or something else the solution didn’t click in the delinquent’s head. This better not be one of those damned mathafors that people kept using to try and confuse the students who didn’t have the sort of great education that some people had going in – which Naoru probably had as well, seeing as though it was pretty clear that the white haired boy certainly wasn’t stupid to anyone who talked with him for more than a few seconds.
When Naoru asked why he wanted to become a hero, though, it took him a second to process. Once he did, though, the answer came out with lightning speed. ”Freedom.” he responded without thinking to Naoru’s question on why he wanted to become a hero. The answer that he normally gave was different, or he dodged the question entirely more like. Now that he had opened his big mouth, though, there wasn’t really any going back. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, though, because his real reason wasn’t some closely guarded secret that he couldn’t tell anyone or anything. It was just a nonstandard response, because his path into U.A. in the first place was nonstandard. ”It was go to U.A. or go back to the orphanage, and I chose to go to U.A. instead.” he explained simply, content to leave it at that for now.
All he had was a good quirk, and he finally got an opportunity to do something with that quirk. The alternative was clear, going through and being expelled into a society which would never accept him with the triple handicaps of being a foreigner, being raised in an orphanage, and having an extremely substandard education level would make doing anything other than manual labor jobs damn near impossible goals for the delinquent to reach. It didn’t take a genius to figure out taking a shot in the dark at seeing if he could make it through a hero school was the best option that Alex had at the time and would ever likely get. His performance in all of the actual hero work and physical activity classes was stellar, but it was always the academic portion that would drag him down and potentially end his time at the school. Thankfully, he had at least one guaranteed good grade on that end in English to boost his GPA – the question was how long would the school stand for his atrocious scores in the other subjects?
Oh well, it wasn’t a good time to dwell on what horrible things could happen to him in the future. He was here now, and that was what mattered. He couldn’t control what happened with that, not really. What he could focus on, currently, was ensuring that he followed directions and didn’t fall into another trap and became even more dead weight than he already was. He would need to get some way to deal with darkness like this before he went pro, because what the hell use was a shadow manipulator who couldn’t see in the dark?
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236 Posts
0 EP
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Total
18 Years
Male
"Ivory"
Student-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Naoru Kehai on Oct 14, 2018 4:43:05 GMT -4
Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith Is when it's tested again and again everyday I'm still comparing your past to my future It might be your wound but they're my sutures Naoru believed it and not at the same time when Alexander answered he was alright. He decided to trust his classmate’s judgment and didn’t press further, only nodded. With a smile, Naoru took the lead, Aura rope tied to Alexander’s wrist to help him navigate through the fog and darkness. “I must admit I am surprised. I always pegged you as one who dislikes following the lead of others. My apologies.” He cracked a smile that went unnoticeable in the fog. The boy seemed much more hard-headed, stubborn and confident for that, even though he was way too quick to give Naoru the initiative in the maze. As the next question came, Naoru nodded, but then remembered that Alexander might not see his movement. “Yes. My Aura is a physical part of my body, and it has nerves running through it just like any other part.” He wasn’t actually sure how many nerves he was talking about, but he knew his Aura was much more sensitive than any other parts of his body unless he lessened its sensitivity willingly. “I always know where it is, or what it is touching even when I am not looking, or my sight is hindered. That is also why I tied my Aura to your wrist, so I know where you are, and can lead you safely. I... sometimes assume others can do the same, and get surprised when I am proven wrong.”As they walked, they reached the previous fork where they turned left before, and Naoru continued forward on the right-side route this time. The left fork ended up being a dead end, but now they could walk closed to the maze’s end, hopefully. He didn’t like the unknown spreading before them, but if he concentrated on solving this problem, he wouldn’t be getting as nervous as he normally would. “Freedom?” He echoed, pulling Alexander to the side from the way of another trapdoor. Hearing the word ‘orphanage’ was a surprise though, and even his Aura responded with a slight shudder at that. “It is understandable you chose the school instead. Actually, it doesn’t seem like there was a choice at all. I apologize if I brought up unpleasant memories with the question.” He didn’t feel particularly awkward by the conversation’s turn. Countless times, he had accidentally touched upon subjects that were too sensitive, and by now, he was more or less used to how different his schoolmates were. Everyone had their own reasons, and good ones at that. All he could do was accept them as they are, instead of being embarrassed if something unpleasant was mentioned. Not everyone had a family like he did. Alexander must be aware of how prejudiced this country was to those who grew up without parents, in orphanages or foster care, so he was brave for saying that out in the open so calmly. “Thank you for telling me.”Another intersection came, but before that, Naoru noticed a sturdy, heavy rod right in front of them. It was painted dark, to make it even harder to notice. Whoever tried to run through the labyrinth instead of walking steadily, would probably have tripped on it easily, injuring themselves in the process. “There is a horizontally placed bar in front of us, about knee-high. Step over it.”MADE BY VEL OF GS
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2018 15:39:03 GMT -4
A sharp exhale of air that wasn’t quite a laugh but nevertheless still audible escaped the delinquent’s lips when Naoru admitted that he assumed that Alex was the type of person who resisted or rejected having the role as follower. ”You’re not wrong.” he admitted easily, seeing no shame in the fact. ”Different people are best at leading at different things, though. Seeing as though I can’t see and fell into the very first trap in the maze, I think it’s clear the best person isn’t me for this maze.” he continued, just stating facts. His ego wasn’t so far gone that he refused to be led in any situation, but he was more than confident enough to take charge in situations where he either reacted first or thought he was the best person to do so. He reacted first in this situation, but quickly realized that he wasn’t the correct person to lead it, and it was really as simple as that. He didn’t hate Naoru or anything, so he had no problem taking orders without question.
When the subject turned to his quirk, the American was extremely interested. ”You have nerves in your aura? Doesn’t that mean it would hurt like crazy if you ever tried to use it to hit something or something hit it, though?” he asked, not quite understanding exactly what that meant. He knew for a fact it was different than his own quirk, though. ”I’ve never heard of someone who had like, feeling as part of their quirk that they controlled. Like, I just kind of assume that everyone’s works like mine I guess. I don’t need to see my quirk to move it, but like I also don’t know if it hits anything or does anything useful if I can’t see it.” he admitted, still mentally processing what the ability to feel would do in terms of versatility of Naoru’s aura.
During this time, Alex was following the nudging of the aura on his wrist without question or complaint. He wasn’t really focused on the maze at all, anymore, with all of his limited mental processing focused on the new idea of nerves in a quirk that could be projected like his or his white haired classmate’s. That was really interesting, actually, and it brought up a whole bunch of cool things that he could do with it like reach around corners and stuff. On the subject on the orphanage, though, the delinquent stayed quiet. He said everything that he was willing to say on the subject for now, because there was nothing left to say that was relevant or he wanted to share. He trusted Naoru enough with a bit of information, sure, and he didn’t regret it.
But he also didn’t want his classmate’s perception of him to be colored by what essentially amounted to a sob story. One of the things Alex hated the most in this world was being the recipient of pity, because it was so demeaning. He had overcome obstacles, yes, but that did not mean that he wanted to be defined by those obstacles. To be defined by those obstacles would always introduce a qualifier. He’s a good hero, for an orphan. A good student, for someone with less than five years of actual schooling. None of his accomplishments would ever be his own, because they would be defined by earlier struggles or deficiencies. He much preferred to have people generally assume that he had similar opportunities to them and chalk up him fucking up as just that – being behind other students because of a personal issue like being dumb or whatever. The delinquent was fine with that, because it meant that any success that he would be praised for would be praised regardless of who did it.
Hitting number one, for example, was an example of that. Anyone would be praised for getting that spot, and it would never be an achievement that would be qualified except by jealous wannabes who would insult and minimize anyone better than themselves. He didn’t think Rin was incompetent, far from it in fact. She was the premiere ranged emitter of the school, and for Alex himself to be the best he needed to prove that he was better than both Rin and Miku in their respective shared role as such. Neither of them would drop very far, and it was likely that the American would be fighting against both of them for his own spot in the rankings for as long as they were all in the school as well as with a few others like Yumi who had an absolutely devastating quirk that very likely outstripped Rin, Miku, and Alex’s own quirks in terms of sheer power.
The ability to feel with his aura came in handy, because Naoru was able to sense obstacles long before actually hitting them with his physical body thanks to that aura. The delinquent stepped over the bar that he was very clearly warned about after reaching out to touch it to verify its exact position. ”So what about you, Naoru?” he asked, perhaps a bit more gently than he would almost anyone else partially due to the complete lack of being able to perceive his environment making his personality much more muted than usual. It’s hard to be beaming with confidence when you actually couldn’t even see the hand in front of your face at any distance, after all.
”Why did you come to U.A.? You’re smart enough to be in a top flight private school somewhere learning about astrology or whatever, and people naturally seem to look up to you so you could really make it anywhere with that combo.” he noted, again speaking as if these were just simple facts. He had gotten a group as diverse as Class 1-C to vote for him despite the fact that he did not run at all to the point where the vote was actually tied – and Alex would argue that if it came to a recount he would have lost without being overly upset about it. Naoru was going to be class rep, it was just a matter of when he would finally accept it.
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236 Posts
0 EP
EXP
Total
18 Years
Male
"Ivory"
Student-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Naoru Kehai on Oct 15, 2018 16:21:47 GMT -4
Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith Is when it's tested again and again everyday I'm still comparing your past to my future It might be your wound but they're my sutures Naoru was looking at Alexander’s direction to gauge his facial expression that must be matching with his airy laugh and words. He barely saw much of the boy even though they were only meters apart, but it was still obvious he was speaking honestly. “Then we might be similar in that regard. Though... if I think an order is plain stupid, I will just do what I find fitting.” With that, Naoru himself was admitting that he could only take to authority if it had a clever and reasonable source. He wasn’t naïve enough to head into a trap just because a superior asked him to. Unless there is a good reason behind it, he would veto any lead. Alexander seemed to be a realist, who was willing to set his pride aside if the situation called for it. He was less hard-headed, and more intelligent than he seemed. Street-smart, if you please. Naoru found it interesting that the first thing Alexander asked after hearing about his quirk was, if attacking anything was actually painful. Strangely enough, people usually didn’t connect “pain” to “feeling”, and considering Alexander did just that, he already proved his instincts were good. “It does not hurt more than you trying to hit someone else with your bare fists, normally.” Naoru nodded and hummed. “But I can control its sensitivity and hardness by will, so I won’t feel as much pain as I would with the nerves fully active. Does that make sense?” He paused for only a moment before continuing. “This Aura is a part of my body. I know where it is, just like how anyone else knows where their legs or arms are without looking at them. For me it is... unusual to hear that this is not the case with every other quirk.” He was born like this, so this is what was natural. He grew up with an extra generated “bodypart”, and it was always weird that others didn’t have it like him. He wouldn’t press Alexander for answers on his past anymore. It was enough to know his reasons on top of all he knew about him to gauge at his personality. His past was only one thing, but the present was the most important part. Whether Alexander was an orphan or not, it meant little if he became a great hero, or the most despicable of villains. Naoru was trusted enough to be given this information, and he would keep it to himself, unless Alexander was openly admitting this information to others as well. He only belatedly noticed that in exchange for the information, he failed to give something up as well. That was the usual back-and-forth nature of conversations, and Naoru always ditched it whenever it was possible. Rather than trying to appear mysterious, he disliked talking about himself, especially about things that involved feelings. Discussing his quirk was more or less normal by now, as people grew curious of that in school. It was natural, something he was used to. But he didn’t remember telling anyone about his familial situation or his reason for coming to U.A. But considering Alexander shared something really personal, it was only fair for him to do the same, right? That was how conversations worked. Right? “Me?” He asked back quietly, as if trying to buy some time. The Aura covering Alexander’s wrist trembled just slightly before settling again. His voice was soft, matching the gentle tone Alexander seemed to have gained in the darkness. “I... really have no idea where all these expectations came from.” He said, breathing a laugh when the vice president continued to make his views on Naoru’s personality public. He looked up toward the ceiling, toward the sky, as if he could see right through at the stars for answers. “The standard answer is that I want to save people, right? Actually, I was enrolled, because someone else wanted to set an example and silence a racist.” He rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment, but his voice stayed steady. There was a little shake to his Aura though. “Being at U.A. made me think I could achieve something, but of course, certain people were never satisfied, no matter what I did.” He didn’t go into detail, and purposefully left out who exactly he was talking about. This was enough, and already more than his closer friends knew about. It was also a hint at what caused him to have as low self-esteem as he did. He couldn’t feel satisfied in his own skin if others never praised him for achievements. And by now, every praise just made him angry, because he didn’t feel he deserved them. “I do want to help people, do not get me wrong. Helping others is fulfilling. There might even be a certain villain I would like to arrest.” He added with more strength to his voice, before softening back down. “But. Being pushed around is getting just a little bit annoying, and I want to do everything to gain might right of staying here.”MADE BY VEL OF GS
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2018 20:34:42 GMT -4
The explanation of Naoru’s aura and how the nerves worked was really interesting. ”That’s super cool. Like, with my quirk I can change the hardness and texture of it. I can make anything from like water-y slippy goo to rock, but I can’t feel it. Like, it must be easier for you to exert like fine control over your quirk. Like using it to write on a piece of paper or something, but that shit took me years to get down because I either kept breaking it in half or dropping it accidentally after a few words.” he responded after his white haired classmate finished explaining, his voice lower in volume and lacking the edge of seriousness or intensity that it normally had in tone.
When the topic shifted as to why Naoru had joined Yuuei and the delinquent was uncharacteristically silent and slow to speak up afterwards. It wasn’t often that he was at a loss for words, and normally was known for talking without thinking no matter the consequences. The fact of the matter was, though, that he didn’t have enough information to really judge. Both of them had dealt with some shit, obviously, and Naoru much like himself wasn’t keen to get into it overly much in the details. Alex respected that, but he also felt like he should say something.
”Yeah.” was all that came out of the delinquent’s mouth for a while. Probably ten or fifteen seconds of silence before he opened his mouth again, because quite frankly he was pretty shit at this whole emotional situations thing that he seemed to be encountering more and more now that he was surrounded by others his age. He wanted to help, and he wanted to say the magic words or whatever that would help but… he didn’t have experience with this. With Aki, he was close enough emotionally to just wing it without worrying about the consequences but this… this was a whole different ball game and he didn’t quite know how to react. This was practically uncharted territory for him, so he was going to have to tread carefully if he didn’t want to ruin any relationship he had with Naoru by overstepping. Once he opened his mouth, though, all that planning went to the wayside in an instant because sometimes word vomit just happened.
”Hey, Naoru. Sorry if I’m overstepping, I’m not exactly, uh, practiced with this but…” he paused, voice audibly unsure for a moment before continuing with his usual tone of confidence. ”If you’re stuck on what others expect of you, you’ll never be happy. It’ll never be your choice. If your goal is to prove quirkers can be part of society peacefully, go for that. Make that your goal. If it’s to take down a villain, great, I won’t ask for details but use that as your benchmark. If your goal is to help others – figure out who. Is it other students? If so, there’s another election here near the New Year that you could win and help them out a lot.” he pointed out, his voice stating this last bit with complete and utter certainty because in his mind there was zero worry or question that Naoru would get elected the minute he actually wanted the position. After all, he almost won it when he was actively trying not to and tried to convince people he wasn’t suited for the job. If he went up and was even neutral about it, he would have beat Alex in a landslide and there was no other way of putting it. Eli put forth the effort, but didn’t have the natural sort of charisma that Naoru had despite his best efforts to the contrary for whatever reason. It wasn’t on Alex to decide how or why that charisma existed, only to recognize it and make sure that the white haired boy was aware of a skill that he possessed but refused to exploit and take advantage of for whatever reason.
”It doesn’t even matter if they’re realistic goals, as long as they are yours. Like, I want to be number one student. That’s my most immediate goal that I want to hit for the next student ranking. There’s a very good chance I don’t make it to that spot in the entire three years I’m at U.A., because the competition is so high. Even if I miss and top out at three or something, though, it’s way higher than I would’ve been if I didn’t work my ass off trying for it. If someone else was forcing me to do it, I wouldn’t be putting in half the effort I needed to. You need to find something you want to do and just go for it regardless of what anybody else thinks.”
”The second you decide you want to lead, you basically got it. If you tell me beforehand, I’ll even drop out of the race and support you, because I think you deserved it over me this go around. You can think it’s dumb or unwarranted or whatever – but let’s be real for a second here, a good chunk of the class looks up to you in a way that they’ll never look up to me. You can disagree all you want but uh, it’s true. I’m not exactly, uh, the most respected member of the class if you haven’t noticed.” he admitted easily, but his volume trailed off towards the end there. He would admit it, sure, but that didn’t mean he felt good about it by any stretch of the imagination because it still frustrated him to some extent. He could act like and think like he didn’t care all he wanted, but the fact of the matter was no teenager liked the feeling of isolation or the feeling that they were disrespected or hated by their peers. It was only natural for them to recoil and tell themselves they didn’t care or whatever mantra that worked for them in order to deal with the unpleasantness of reality… which is exactly what Alex did.
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236 Posts
0 EP
EXP
Total
18 Years
Male
"Ivory"
Student-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Naoru Kehai on Oct 16, 2018 5:47:09 GMT -4
Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith Is when it's tested again and again everyday I'm still comparing your past to my future It might be your wound but they're my sutures “Yes, controlling hardness can come in handy in various situations.” He liked that there was some similarity between Alexander’s quirk and his own in the end. Where the vice president ruled over shadows, Naoru controlled a feathery white substance. Black and white, complete opposites, but the similarity was still there. The observation concerning fine-control and the ability to write with his quirk was strangely on point as well. “Well, you are not wrong. I can write with my Aura, yes.” Naoru glanced down at his left hand, the one that was made of Aura instead of flesh completely. That was his dominant hand, and then he lost it, along with one of his most preferred hobby, drawing. Although at least he could regain his ability to write by now. A kind of silence fell around them after that, once Naoru finished talking about his reason for being at U.A. Idly, he wondered if he said something wrong. Was his reason too silly or too despicable? It shouldn’t be surprising enough to catch someone’s voice, so the few moments of silence made him a bit worried. Maybe he really shouldn’t say things like that out in the open, but there was no way for him to retract his words. Before his thoughts could spiral further down, bringing his mood with it, Alexander started talking. He couldn’t help but just keep listening. Compared to the previous few minutes, he heard Alexander talk more than ever before. There was only the vice president voting where he heard him talk for that long. Despite appearances, Alexander was surprisingly worried about the well-being of his peers, at least that was what Naoru gathered from him trying to better Naoru’s mood. He wasn’t actually sad or repressed, he thought. His time in the school, and his relationship with Sutetchi was actually teaching him to stand up for himself, so by now, he had his goals set even if they were somewhat different from how he started. Different from what his father wanted for him. The problem probably wasn’t that he wanted to measure up to his father’s expectations anymore. It was that he himself had such high expectations, that he never felt satisfied. Praise fell flat, because he didn’t think he deserved them when he achieved nothing. He was just too much of a perfectionist in that regard, and that set him back. But the worry and the wish to make Naoru feel better, be better, was there behind Alexander’s words, and he couldn’t help but find this all too endearing. “With all due respect, Deraine-kun” he looked back toward the vice president, “you suck at motivational speech.” There was a smile in his voice, obvious even in the low visibility. It wasn’t Naoru’s style to joke around when a problem was arising, but the mood was becoming much more serious, and he thought it was better to somewhat lighten it up. There was no intention of hurting Alexander’s feelings, just a reminder that they were conversing, and weren’t here to change the world and their views of life. Not yet, anyway. “I still do not think I am fit to lead anyone, either as class president or otherwise, although the offer and your trust is still flattering. You have the passion, and a firm goal set as vice president. About half of the class seemed to share my opinion, hence why they cast their vote on you. You must take pride in that.” He was still lightly conversing, and stating facts, smiling still. He could talk about nearly anything without emotional investment when needed, and it felt like Alexander was a good conversational partner, not afraid to voice his thoughts. He sidestepped another trap door, pulling Alex with him, and headed left on the next fork in the road. “Please do not worry, I am doing what I actually like, even though I would not have had the guts to enroll in the school by my own accord. I might look unmotivated and depressed half the time, but I am not. The trust our class seem to have in me already made me a better person compared to how I was. You were transferring in a bit later, but believe me, in the first few days of school I was even more of a panicky mess than I am right now.” There was a little embarrassed laugh there as he remembered the first day at school. Incidentally, that was also the first day he met with Aki, the day she accidentally let loose a big chunk of lightning in the middle of class. That was a memorable first day, for sure. “I feel like I am on the road to find my meaning, all thanks to you and the whole of 1-C.” It feels like he is finding his will to live, and no one would be able to break that down anytime soon. “So you should also listen to what you are saying, and not berate yourself so much. You do have a certain personality, but that doesn’t mean people would instantly hate you. To me, for example, you have been nice and helpful even when you were not using the best choice of words.” He paused for a moment. “It feels like we are trying to one-up each other with praise.” MADE BY VEL OF GS
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