[For Gaims, but especially seeking Takatora(s) and Micchi(s)]

[warintheextreme]

[otherwise known as: I'm in ur tower, creepin' on ur baby brother]

I'm not saying I had even a pinkie finger in organizing the field trip that brings this high school class to the Tower for a tour. I'm definitely not saying that I had any idea that the class in question also happened to contain Takatora's little brother, his pride and joy, the one he's got a picture of on his desk (and not even his parents have that distinction)...

And also, notably and somehow completely outside of Takatora's notice, one of my favorite little test subjects.

I slink towards him, hanging back and looking utterly bored by the proceedings. I'm not surprised- he's a Kureshima. He could come here any time he wants to, he just, presumably, chooses not to. Probably because he spends all of his free time with that Team Gaim.

"Kureshima Mitsuzane-kun?"

Comments

[warintheextreme]

I chuckle at that, shaking my head and rolling my eyes towards the ceiling, spreading my hands and shrugging- the picture of helplessness. "Spoken like a true Kureshima."

I narrow my eyes at him slightly. "Mitsuzane-kun, if you don't mind me asking... You said your brother never told you about his Driver... And yet you knew about it."

[ryuugen]

An insult, from some people.

I just smile. Happy little brother. Dutiful little brother. Obedient little --

Oh. Oh, no.

"I do, yes," I say softly. "I saw the suit. And I saw him with the Driver. It wasn't too hard to work out."

[warintheextreme]

His smile alone has so many layers. In just this short amount of time I've been talking to him, I've seen at least four different smiles, some of them nearly genuine, and at least one of them- this one- overwhelmingly plastered on, forced, completely failing to reach his eyes.

"Well, now, that is odd." I look up, meet his eyes, and laugh a little.

"Ahh, Mitsuzane-kun. I think maybe we should start being honest with each other. Would you forgive me, if I admitted to having stretched the truth?"

[ryuugen]

...I wish I knew him better. He's making all sorts of little tells, but I can't even work out if they're on purpose to mislead me. I can't read nii-san all the time, not on every level, and he's VERY good. This Ryouma-san is also very good. Most people are a lot easier to read...

I manage a more honest smile, and a statement that's both quite true and intended to be misleading. "I think if we were entirely honest, we'd have to kill each other."

[warintheextreme]

I laugh again, this one is no more or less genuine, but the tone is certainly different. More like honestly amused. "Don't say things like that Mitsuzane-kun. If you believe nothing else that I have told you or do tell you, believe this: the last thing I want is for anyone to be hurt."

I move closer to him again, crossing my arms over my chest and standing over him. Making him look up to meet my eyes.

"May I see your Driver, Mitsuzane-kun? Or rather, Ryuugen?"

[ryuugen]

He keeps saying that. Maybe he really does believe it.

I'm doing my best to ignore the tiny surge of hope deep inside me that says that maybe he can be trusted, a little, and says maybe not just as a business partner, and also says, maybe as someone who cares a little.

He steps closer. I look up, eyes bigger than I'd like them to be. I don't need to play the innocent schoolboy just now. Not entirely, at least. But he's so *close*...

I inhale, but manage to mostly keep my expression still. No point in denying it. "Why, Ryouma-san?"

[warintheextreme]

I'm glad we've so rapidly moved past the point of playing games. He has so much potential, in so many ways.

Like I said, my favorite little test subject, even if I do question Cid's decision to give him a Driver in the first place.

"I swear to return it." I inform him nonchalantly. It's true- what would I do with it?

"I would just like to see it. I designed it, built them all from scratch, but I have only ever handled one that has been Initialized."

[ryuugen]

I don't move my eyes off his, but I take in what I remember, what I can feel, of the space around me. It's a fairly big place. Probably has all kinds of security built in.

If I transformed, I could probably deal with it. Or most of it. And get away, one way or another.

...or I could get killed.

Maybe I'll just see where he's going with this. "All right," I say softly, producing it. I hold it out to him.

[warintheextreme]

I wonder what he's thinking. There's something sparking back there in the depths of his eyes- a form of defiance. Could he really be considering transforming right here?

"Mitsuzane-kun." I say softly. "I'm no threat to you. I'm just a scientist. An intellectual."

I grin, a proper grin, when he pulls the Driver out, and offers it to me. I take it carefully in both hands, and move directly past him to sit down at one of my desks, flipping on a lamp and bringing it around to get a better look. "You carry it with you everywhere, then? Even here, even to school- where I imagine your extracurricular activities with the Beat Riders is not common knowledge?"

I run my fingers over the Initialized face plate.

"What do you think of it, Mitsuzane-kun? The transformation?"

[ryuugen]

He's very definite about this business about not being a threat. About not wanting anyone hurt.

I'm not making any decisions about him just yet, long term, but for now? Well, we'll see.

He takes my Driver, and I clasp my hands behind my back once more so I won't be tempted to reach for it. I follow him, though.

"I do. I'm not about to leave it lying around where someone else could find it." I frown, just a little. "How do you mean, Ryouma-san? The physical effects of it?"

[warintheextreme]

"By someone else, I assume you mean your brother." I say softly, reflexively checking the smooth action of the pivoting part of the cutting blade, and the connections in the drive bay.

I glance over my shoulder, catching his frown before he can wipe it from his face. "The physical effects? Yes, I suppose that is one aspect. But what about the innate power?"

Finding it all in working order, I stand again, turning to hand it back to him. "Forgive me for saying, but I can't imagine Cid chose to give this to you entirely out of the goodness of his heart." I hold it out, and wait for him to take it. "Would you put it on for me?"

[ryuugen]

The way he handles it is really interesting. Not like someone who's used one, but he's so very familiar with it.

Of course he is - he designed it - but it's just interesting.

"Nii-san or anyone else," I say cautiously. I can't imagine trusting this to the 'safety' of my room, or my schoolbag, or anything like that. What does he know about the relationship between me and nii-san anyway?

"Ah, the innate power," I nod. "It's good. Took me a little while to get used to it. Makes me feel more able."

I can't see a reason not to put it on. He hasn't asked a question about Cid so I'm not answering it just yet.

[warintheextreme]

"Anyone else." I hum at that. "I suppose you have a point, though you must know by now that it won't work for anyone but you, now. Though if you consider the other users your enemies, I suppose you wouldn't want to leave it somewhere for them to find and perhaps break it? For that I should thank you- I don't really have time to make another."

He activates the Driver and I smile, crouching briefly to get a better look, then standing up again.

"I imagine you appreciate something like that, at your age."

I lean back against my desk again. "You can take it off if you like, I'm not about to ask you to transform for me."

I meet his eyes for a moment. "You know, I imagine, that you brother has no idea of your involvement in this."

[ryuugen]

He doesn't have time to make another, but he hasn't been monitoring what's been happening with these?

...though I suppose part of that was a lie. He knew about me, after all.

I nod. "I don't want it broken. It's been too useful."

I remove it, and let it go back to where it was. "I don't think he does, no." Artlessly, "Are you going to tell him?"

[warintheextreme]

"I'm glad you find it so." I tell him, quite honestly. The fact that he finds it useful means he uses it regularly, which provides me with more data by which to shape the parameters for future projects in the same vein.

He removes it, and I pointedly turn away, so as not to see where it is he hides it when he's not wearing it.

"No." I say, equally artless. "I am not going to tell him."

[ryuugen]

"I do," I agree immediately. "Might I ask, while I'm here, if you could please run down all the features? In case there's something I'm not using that I could be?"

His back to me, he tells me he's not going to mention it to nii-san.

I give him a short, polite bow, little more than an incline of the head. "Why not? What is it that you want from me?"

[warintheextreme]

I chuckle at that. He's incredibly clever.

"Perhaps I could do that. Though I imagine you have figured out much of it on your own, have you not?"

I glance over my shoulder again, face impassive but my gaze serious, focused. "I can't say I want anything in particular from you, specifically, Mitsuzane-kun. It is more a concern of what I want from your brother, which is his continued focus on our work here."

[ryuugen]

There's no point keeping too much back here in terms of what I do and don't know about the Driver. Might as well brazen it out, because I could learn something. We all put the Drivers on and just rely on experimentation and the inbuilt knowledge that comes with it, but there's probably a lot more...

"I don't know how much," I say cheerfully enough. "Quite a few things, yes, Ryouma-san."

...that's interesting. Does he mean nii-san hasn't been focusing enough? Or that he's worried about distractions in the future?

Am I a distraction?

"You don't want him to worry about anything else in his life?" I ask softly.

[warintheextreme]

He's awfully chipper. I shrug at him. "There's not much to know, though if you've seen your brother fight, and compared it to the popular fights your friends have involved themselves in, you might well see the difference. But still, there is only so much to know. Your own strength and knowledge of combat is increased, exponentially, by the suit. The only inbuilt functions are the, ah, you might call them finishers. But you must have figured that out, by now."

I watch him carefully as I continue. "I didn't say that, Mitsuzane-kun. But even you must admit there is a marked difference between your brother worrying about you in generalized family matters, and your brother worrying about you getting involved in these potentially quite dangerous battles."

[ryuugen]

I listen intently, politely, because I might actually learn something. And because manners are important.

A nod. "I'm aware of the finishers, yes, Ryouma-san. Ah, I agree. However, I could say the same in reverse, and I make my own choices."

[warintheextreme]

I smile, gently, and incline my head slightly.

"You make a valid point. But, Mitsuzane-kun, you are not yet an adult. I respect your desire to make your own choices, I have certainly made enough of my own, even at your age. But you must be cautious of those who care about you." I chuckle softly. "And I must be cautious of my project manager. I am not going to tell him that you have that Driver. But you would do well to avoid needlessly putting yourself in his path."

[ryuugen]

He's right. And oh, it's oddly satisfying, if nervewracking, to have someone in authority be so gentle but firm. Which isn't to say that I'm going to just bow down to Ryouma-san, but if I told nii-san any of this he wouldn't understand my position. Ryouma-san actually seems to. At least, a little.

"I agree," I say quietly. I have no intention of confronting nii-san.

...until the time comes where I have to declare where I stand.

[warintheextreme]

I pass by him on my way back to my desk, and pick up the file on all of the Driver users that Cid gave me. I flip it open, and the second page after the dossier on Takatora that I added myself, is the person in question. I flip the attached picture up so Mitsuzane-kun can see it without seeing what all information I have on them.

"This Kazuraba Kouta is a friend of yours, then, I take it?"