demiglace | a psychometer and a latent telekinetic-precog walk into an alleyway...

a psychometer and a latent telekinetic-precog walk into an alleyway...

Characters: Tetsu & Shiho
Setting: AKIRA AU

Staying had never been an option, Shiho had known that since the first day she'd set foot in the facility that adults had been so intent on telling her was a place to nurture her, protect her.

She'd certainly never felt nurtured or protected, not by the caretakers assigned to her who feared the child that could read all their secrets and thoughts and not by the administration who did their best to placate her but could do little in the face of governmental pressure. Her only bright spot had been Kaoru and Aoi.

And then one day when she'd quietly slipped out with a stolen key-card and some clever use of psychometry, he'd become another bright spot. A boy, for all intents and purposes, who was utterly, frustratingly, adorably normal. Or who thought he was at any rate, but who he really is is no secret to a psychometer. At that age though she'd tucked that bit of knowledge away and with a look on her face that was much too jaded and much too sharp for a child of five, she'd demanded to know what he was doing. And maybe he was lonely, perhaps he needed a bright spot in his life too but he'd answered, even offered to let her join despite the fact that she'd visibly hesitated when he reached out. He shouldn't touch her, she'd said, holding her hands in tight fists and as close to herself as possible, making herself small and inoffensive. He would regret it because she wasn't normal, she'd said. And he'd shaken it off like nothing. Didn't need to be normal to build a fort, after all.

That thought surfaces in her mind now, ten years later. Time has softened the sharpness and the wariness in her and she is in the very bloom of youth. Her eyes, her hair, her body, her clothes are all carefully calculated to be soft. Because when you were soft and sweet and pretty and cute, no one expected you to have a knife and a gun in a thigh holster. As the esper in her group who had the least physical ability she had of course weaponized her greatest asset.

But that definitely means she's annoyed over having to run, pressing her body into a dark corner and probably getting smudges on her clothes.

The facility had honed its strengths over the years, especially after that incident ten years ago when too many powerful espers had banded together to escape, taking with them every other esper they could find: the locked up, the shock-collared, the threatened, the beaten into submission. It had been a huge blow to their research and Shiho had remembered pantomiming a "boo-hoo" at a particularly vicious researcher when they left, her body and heart light while they'd all flown away buoyed up by Kaoru's psychokinesis. But of course they'd never have been allowed to leave and now she's being hunted by other espers. Ones who'd never known the taste of freedom, who didn't know anything other than perfect obedience. She hears a footstep and a hand moves to the wall and the face of that boy she'd known years ago comes to mind so clearly that she reaches out almost by instinct, perfectly snagging his arm and pulling him into the alleyway with her in one fluid motion, hiding them from view as she hisses at him, knowing she has no time, knowing he might not even recognize her but knowing she needed to keep him safe regardless,

"Not that way."

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As child, Tetsuo had been nothing if not accepting, just a cheerful, gentle soul. A cinnamon roll too good for this world--exemplified by his way of seeming to not even notice when he was doing something dangerous, a tendency only reinforced by the way he almost always got away with it unscathed. For example, despite having been told not to countless times, he couldn't resist stopping on the way home from school to play in the ruins of the old Olympic Stadium. Growing up in the ring of newly-renovated city always spreading slowly outward from Downtown, he saw the huge wreck of a building as a wondrous place, like the pyramids or a ruined castle from a story book, but practically next door; plus, his friends insisted it was haunted.

He'd almost started to believe it when he first met the strange, pale-haired girl lurking in his ruins (or so he thought of them), seeming to not quite understand the idea of playing (or so he interpreted her attempt to interrogate him after his business there). It did make some sense to him that a ghost might be a bit standoffish and serious. Even before he'd entirely convinced himself she wasn't a ghost, though, with a sheepish ruffle of his messy hair, he'd invited her to join him--even if it was just in throwing rocks, or knocking over already-half-broken concrete, or dragging debris around to put together a makeshift play fort, or exploring the dark maze of crumbled tunnels inside the carcass of the stadium.

And he hadn't hesitated to help her whenever she needed a hand clambering over the uneven terrain--or whenever she had to brace herself against the psychometric impressions there. Psychic events of phenomenal power had taken place there, before either of them was born, she could surely sense that much, but trying to understand what exactly had happened was like trying to look at the sun. It's not hard to tell that it's bright, but good luck getting more detail than that.

If she'd feared that he might find her strange... well, he did find her a bit strange, but that obviously didn't stop him from enjoying her company. As they met again and again, he'd always have something from the outside world to bring her--either something he liked and wanted to share, or something she'd asked him about. For about five years, he'd always either be there to meet her, or have treats and/or notes stashed away for her in one of their forts.

And then he'd disappeared.

Or at any rate, he'd stopped showing up. It wasn't exactly without warning. He'd been absent for a few weeks, before, although usually it was with some warning that he was going on a family trip; but that last visit, he was uncharacteristically withdrawn yet high-strung, pacing constantly, combing his fingers through his hair with the agitation practically rolling off of him, starting to rant about something and then cutting himself off again without completing the thought. It was the first time he refused to let her touch him, and when he couldn't quite find the words to explain himself, he'd ended the visit by insisting he had to go and running off, skidding recklessly down the side of the stadium.

Years later, he still wasn't really sure why he'd run away from her at that point, except that he was running away from everything at that point, including home and school. Everything but the gang where he was welcomed in. Maybe the loss was too raw, and he didn't want to share it; maybe he was terrified of her seeing him as damaged as he felt; maybe he was already too agonizingly vulnerable, like an open wound, and he needed to be someplace he could feel independent and tough for a while. Either way, he never quite brought himself to go back--at least, not for more than quick peek at his old playground. It was a sentimental place for him, and he tried not to let himself get too sentimental about the past. After all, he had a tough image to maintain (or at least he wanted to have a tough image to maintain), and bailing on the gang to look for a little girl who was maybe a ghost ~~or an imaginary friend as far as everyone else was concerned~~ wouldn't help with that one bit.

His mind is on entirely other things than his surroundings when he's grabbed suddenly out of nowhere. As good as he was in a fight, it always seemed like his reflexes imploded into useless flailing whenever he was merely startled by a friend, and rather than defending himself from being grappled, he just staggers along with it--and freezes, finding himself suddenly awkwardly close to a startlingly pretty girl. If asked, he'd have to admit, pretty girls dragging him bodily into alleyways is really not a normal part of his life, and however serious her expression, it's going to take him a moment to get past that.

"...e-eheheh, yo, uh... y'sure y'got th'right guy, 'nechan?"

...still, he does keep his voice down to match hers, even if he lacks her tone of urgency, sounding more perplexed than serious, and obviously a bit flustered, even though he tries to keep his composure. Mistaken identity seems like the best explanation for the situation (ronically, perhaps, since the way he ruffles his hair and grins sheepishly, there's no mistaking it's the same Tetsuo).

Although... he can't quite put a finger on it, but she does seem awfully familiar, somehow...

Shiho has always been weak to good people, to kind people who gave everything and asked for nothing in return. Partly because she was fascinated by them, drawn to them like a moth to a flame. And partly because she couldn’t imagine herself being like that, giving so freely, being so bright and beautiful that the world couldn’t look away.

Though she had absolutely told him once, tiny, pale-haired and sharp-tongued that she wasn’t a ghost. Ghosts were scary and she hated them, ergo she couldn’t be. Did it stick? She wasn’t entirely sure but while she couldn’t be honest to his face and if anything, always complained that the games were silly, boys were silly as a child barely six years old was wont to do, she came every day when she could and played his so-called silly games with a slowly growing, brightening smile. And she wrote him notes right back on tiny stolen scraps of paper, her writing much prettier than a six year old could manage if said six year old hadn’t borrowed an adult’s pen and used their psychometry to mimic their handwriting.

Until the day she had crept into the fort to find her note still there, their fort now abandoned and feeling for the first time in five years like a haphazard pile of debris and not like the sanctuary it had been.

Understanding why he had to go, knowing that he’d been restless and uncomfortable, that nothing ever stayed the same and all things ended was one thing.

Forgiving him for leaving without even saying goodbye and never coming back except for once because he “had to be tough” was an entirely other thing. She’s a powerful, powerful psychometer but even without it she’d have recognized him anywhere, recognized the way he ruffles his messy hair, the way he grins and she’s struck dumb for a millisecond over just how much she’d missed him.

Before she narrows her eyes and reminds herself sternly that she was also mad. Very, very mad! Sufficiently worked up again, her eyes nonetheless dart to the opening of the alleyway before she draws him deeper into the darkness, then further until they’re moving away from it entirely. If she was going to keep him safe (despite being angry at him) they had to keep moving.

“Of course I’m sure. Tetsuo Usada, sixteen years old, Japanese citizen-”

And she goes on, listing his current address as well as one favourite food before cocking an eyebrow at him in a way that she had definitely done when she was six and not just content to be right but for him to know that she was right.

She couldn't really be blamed for her uncertainty as to whether he really understood she wasn't a ghost, since it was one of his favorite ways to tease her about. Did he think she was a girl and lightheartedly enjoyed teasing her (just as she scoffed at his games but still played along), or did he think she was a ghost (not a scary ghost, but a mysterious ghost, and maybe a lonely ghost) but was perfectly happy to play with her anyway? Either way, when she scolded him for calling her Rei-san and insisted her name was Shiho, he'd only given her a pensive look before declaring that he understood perfectly--it must be Shi-ho, like an assistant shinigami, and he had a manga to show her about that sort of thing.

However, she could tell without reservation that, whatever he thought about her, he sincerely liked when she showed up, and the way he wore his heart on his sleeve, she didn't need any amount of psychometry at all to work it out. At least, until that one day when he'd kept it hidden as best he could.

He doesn't seem to grasp at all the significance of her giving him that stunned look, or the angry one that follows, and nearly yelps as she just drags him deeper into the alley, whispering a little louder after her.

"O-.. oi! C'mon, 'nechan, y'can't just-"

He falters as she addresses him by name, and then continues rattling off more and more details. Of course, being the kind of dork he is, he first thinks maybe she's some kind of superspy lady who's been watching him for some improbable reason out of a manga... but when she gives him that look, it all clicks together, and he nearly trips over his own feet, gaping at her wide-eyed.

"Ee-..?! R- Rei-san..?!"

...of course that's what pops in his head first.

"E- that- I mean, sh-Shiho-san?!"

Being a psychometer, even a powerful one doesn’t mean she knows everything. After all, reading all the way down to the core of what made a person was not just dangerous for her because of the possibility of falling too deep and losing her mind but also because it was just plain rude. He was her friend. He was sincere and sweet to her and the last thing she’d want is for him to hate her because she went too far.

If anything though, the very familiar feeling of his thoughts, of the beat of his heart and everything that made up the boy she knows is comforting.

And distracting. She doesn’t realize he’s going to be that loud until he is and then she’s pushing him to the wall, one hand covering his mouth moments after he says her real name, panic in her eyes as she settles another hand on the concrete behind him. It’s only when she’s certain they’re not being followed yet that she lets herself relax, giving him a look that’s just a touch exasperated both a little with him but mostly with herself for being distracted. But under that exasperation there’s definitely a touch of fondness, the corner of her mouth quirking into a little smile.

“Wow, and it only took you two guesses.”

But she releases him after saying it, pulling away to look up at the darkening sky before she shrugs, “Isn’t it a bit too late for you to be out?”

Never mind that she is out too or that she’s tense, one hand against the concrete to keep track of their surroundings, “It could get dangerous soon, you know. You should probably go home.”

He has no notion whatever that he might be distracting to her, or really having any effect at all, until she pushes him against the wall and claps her hand over his mouth. He stares at her a bit wide-eyed, caught off guard--not afraid, but surprised, and a bit obviously flustered at a beautiful girl pinning him to the wall and touching his face ~~even if it's just to shut him up~~.

But mainly still astounded at seeing her again, suddenly.

Tetsuo blinks at her as she lets him go... and huffs, giving her a sort of petulant look and crossing his arms.

"E- oi, whaddayamean too late?"

Even if he's feeling a bit combative, he still keeps his voice down at least close to her level.

"This's my turf, yanno, an' it's always dangerous. 'specially ta cute ghost chicks. So I oughtta take you home."

...in the midst of his ruffled feathers, though, he doesn't really notice the ambiguity of his own statement.

Any other time and she’d have had lots of fun teasing him about all this, from the obliviousness to a cute girl maybe also finding him cute, to the flustering as said cute girl pins him to a wall. But that’s for another time when she’s not being hunted by what she can’t help but to think of as fellow espers. After all, that’s what Kaoru would have called them, what Aoi would have called them and while she would never forgive the hunters, she couldn’t help but sympathize with them a little too. They’d never even been given a chance to be something other than mindless soldiers.

But she shakes herself out of that train of thought quickly to focus on Tetsuo who is... hardly a boy anymore now that she thinks about it. They’re about the same age, after all and he’s already got two inches on her. Though that combative, petulant look is all boy, she thinks as a sixteen year old girl who has already decided she’s an adult. So he gets another cock of her eyebrow because of course she’s noticed the ambiguity in his statement and has noticed that he hasn’t noticed.

“It means it’s late enough that good children should be going home and going to sleep.”

He’s lucky he called her cute and that she knows he thinks she’s pretty. Startlingly pretty, even. Because even with the fact that he called her a ghost, it’ll still leave him with one point in his favour and that tempers her own reaction somewhat,

“And is this the part where I’m supposed to say ‘your place or mine’? Because I’m sorry to disappoint you but I don’t have a place of my own.”

To his place though... it could be a good idea, she thinks. For one, it’s hopefully still squarely in Old Neotokyo and therefore harder for people to find her. For another, he’s enough of a wildcard that perhaps it could confuse the Facility precogs whose job it had become in the past weeks to find the esper fugitives. That’s why they’d all split up, after all. They became too many separate loose ended possibilities. But still... adding Tetsuo while helpful would also bring him into their problems too, wouldn’t it?

She sighs and then makes to pull away.

Tetsuo huffs at the good children line, ruffling his hair frustratedly.

"Oi..."

He pauses at the bit about her not having a place, though. Despite being a bit salty about the previous dig, he barely hesitates long enough for her to pull away, before he jams his hands into his jacket pockets and scuffs his shoe on the ground--meant to be an demonstration of indifference, even if it probably comes off more childish and bashful--and grumbles his reply.

"Tch... I mean... y'can crash at my place. It ain't fancy or nothin', but, yanno... I got runnin' water an' video games, an' shit."

The basic necessities of life, right?

"I mean, if y'ain't got noplace else ta be, an' y'need a place fer the night, or.. whatever."

It's not as if he'd turn her away if she wanted to stay more than a night, either, but no need to come right out and admit to that.

People who always know exactly what to say while conceding exactly nothing are not to be trusted. She's met plenty of adults like that. Maybe it's naive of her but she really is only a girl regardless of what she looks like, how she dresses and how difficult she is. And she knows she's difficult, because she goes out of her way to be. Yet here he is still being exactly like the boy she'd cared so much for all those years ago.

If she weren't so weak to his honesty she'd find everything he does highly unfair.

But right now she has stopped, pulled away from him only be a short distance, looking at him with violet eyes that allow themselves to be vulnerable for a moment before she looks away.

"You didn't forget about me being a psychometer, did you? I could be dangerous."

And could put him in danger. As she says it though she looks at him from the corner of her eye, not touching him but definitely trying to gauge his reaction, trying to be difficult and prickly on purpose to see if he'd push her away like so many people in her life had.

Tetsuo glances over as she gives him that look, and pauses, puzzled for a moment--then blinks and laughs, grinning and ruffling his hair.

"Eeh..? Eheheheh, if y'wanted ta sound dangerous, y'should'a gone with 'ghost' instead, Sh-.. uh, 'Rei-san!'"

He did at least pick up that she seemed uncomfortable being addressed aloud by her own name--so he grins proudly at his cleverness in calling her by the "Rei-san" nickname instead of "Shiho-san" as if they're secret agents.

Up to her whether it's cute or exasperating.

It's probably not exactly what she wanted to hear, but obviously he doesn't seem remotely put off by her "warning." To the contrary, any sign of his hackles having been raised by her teasing him are completely gone, once she's expressed (in her own way) concern for him.

"C'mon, my bike ain't far'way, an' it's a pretty short ride."

It's not so much her name aloud but the "loud" part that she takes issue with. But it's nostalgic to have this discussion that always makes her cross her arms, pouty in a way she'd have considered childish with anyone else.

"Ghosts aren't dangerous, they don't even exist."

It's another of her go-to arguments about ghosts that he's probably heard more than once, of course.

Though really, what worries her more is the fact that once again he has chosen to be too kind for his own good. She should say no and also briefly contemplates running away. But... being able to take a real bath does sound good as does being able to spend time with him little as she could afford it. Who knows when she'd next be able to see him. Biting her lip, she sets her hand on a nearby wall, eyes briefly unfocused as she sees beyond her immediate surroundings, picking out.... nothing, it would seem.

It's suspicious.

It's convenient.

"...Fine. But just for one night. And don't call me Rei-san."

Whatever it is, she knows he's probably already embroiled in this thanks to her and when someone is too kind for their own good, when they turned that kindness to her... there's only one thing she could do, wasn't there? She would protect him, she vows to herself as she holds out her hand for him to take.

Tetsuo chuckles and waves a hand cheerfully at her dismissal. You can't dismiss his argument if he dismisses your dismissal!

That is definitely how it works.

"Yare yare..! Eh..?"

He blinks at pauses at that look she gets, then huffs and chuckles at her reluctant reply. He reddens a little, though, at her holding her hand out like that. It would be weird for her to want to shake hands with him (however much he might have been exposed to old American movies and media, he's under no illusion that applies to everyone), so he can only assume she wants to hold his hand, which...

Doing his best to push any thoughts he has about that completely out of his head, he grins and ruffles his hair with his free hand as he reaches to take her hand. Nope, it's fine, this is totally a thing friends do all the time, and nothing to be awkward about an exceptionally pretty girl wanting.

Pay no attention to the "holding hands with a pretty girl" thoughts behind the curtain.

"E-eheheh, w-well, c'mon, then, Shiho-san, my bike's this way..!"

Unsubtle as his train of thought may be, he also doesn't shy away from her at all, guiding her down the alley, 100% willing to hold her hand if that's what she wants, and doing an A+ pro job of shooting down any kind of embarrassing train of thought before it forms completely. He may not be shutting her out, but the boy has gotten good at policing his own thought process, for someone with (as far as she knows, at least) no training at all.

Shiho can’t exactly pout any more than she already is, but she makes an attempt anyway. Especially when he takes her hand and she simultaneously notices both the fact that his hands are bigger than hers now and that she’s everywhere in his thoughts. And that he’s shooting those thoughts down fast. Which really, she should have realized he would.

And she doesn’t begrudge him that, letting him try and guard his thoughts from her and all the while acting as if she hadn’t even noticed and that he’s absolutely getting away with it. She’s almost a little docile, maybe a little embarrassed and more than a bit shy as she lets him lead. Though a part of her definitely keeps track of their surroundings, probing gently at his thoughts and taking advantage of the latent precognition to somewhat attune herself to what’s going on around them. Of course she also uses her psychometry in other ways which are immediately evident as she raises an eyebrow at his back,

“So... you think I’m pretty?”

She can hardly keep the amusement out of her voice, her face lighting up in a bright, teasing smile.

He may be stifling those thoughts before they can become fully formed, but it doesn't stop her picking up on the general themes, and there's certainly no mistaking that they're all centered on her, and definitely positive. The only other train of thought competing at all with those is a vague annoyance with himself. After all, he should know better than to have a lot of nonsense in his head about her.

He also doesn't seem to register at all that she might be a bit embarrassed. After all, she's the constantly self-possessed ~~there's a ghost pun in there~~, confident girl with superpowers. What's she got to be embarrassed about?

Tetsuo nearly trips over his own feet at that question, glancing back at her wide-eyed. The immediate unspoken answer is a burst of obviously and more like fucking beautiful and shit fuck I didn't SAY that did I?!, until it clicks half a second later that she must be messing with him, and he huffs, turning his attention forward again.

"Kh-... c'mon, it ain't like y'need me ta tell ya that..."

Not only is he sure she doesn't really need his input on the subject, he's confident she'd just be uncomfortable if he admitted to anything more than the most casual awareness. After all, she doesn't need some rando she used to know hitting on her, right?

He ruffles his hair with his free hand, a reflexive, comforting fidget, and keeps leading the way. ...well, no harm in making sure she doesn't think he was just trying to brush her off, right? Something sincere but not so fawning it makes her think he's trying to butter her up or anything.

"...I mean, yanno. Don't think I know nobody who wouldn't think so."

There, it can't sound like flattery or flirting if he's just stating a well-agreed-upon, objective fact, right?

Shiho doesn't need anyone to tell her she's confident, clever, a powerful psychometer and cute to boot. She knows. But when he turns around to look at her, all wide-eyed like he's been caught red-handed or whatever the thought equivalent of that is, she's reminded that she doesn't need anyone to tell her what she is.

But she likes hearing it.

She wants to hear him say it though that burst of thought is something she hadn't expected and it's a good thing he turned around so he didn't see the sudden blush on her own cheeks. Fucking beautiful, he'd thought and her fingers tighten just a touch around his. They were friends before, childhood friends that explored ruins, built forts out of what anyone else would think of as rubbish. And she doesn't know what they are now, years later, both of them grown up and awkwardly aware that the other is no longer a child.

But hey, she may be tsundere (which she'll never admit to) but she isn't so tsundere as to think that any kind of relationship, friendship, whatevership that they had could survive on the psychometer not throwing him a bone sometimes. 'Honestly, boys,' she thinks as she quickens her step a little to put herself beside him, still running one hand along the wall as they walk,

"You know, as your beautiful and super cute childhood friend, I feel like I should tell you that girls don't need anyone to tell them they're pretty. But-"

And here she leans in, eyes turned up so she can look at him through her lashes, a smile curled on her lips, "Sometimes when we think the guy is sweet and we know and trust them... we might want to hear them say it out loud. Just a thought."

Is she teasing him? A little but there's definitely a lot of truth there too as she follows. Well... maybe follows isn't the right word for that since she can read their final destination through the hand she's currently holding. Thanks, psychometry.

Sweet?!

That's the word that snags more than any other in his head--followed immediately after by trust--and he almost stumbles. She trusts him and thinks he's sweet..??? It takes him a half second to recover, but he huffs and laughs it off as best he can, scratching the back of his head as he reddens.

"E-eheheheh, i-I, uh.. th-.. that really ain't fair, yanno... ..I.. I mean, y'are, but it still ain't fair..."

That's about all the objection he's going to voice to her reading him, though. Even if it's a bit inconvenient, he still doesn't seem to actually resent or fear her powers at all. At least, not on any point that's come up between them, so far.

Nor did he disagree in the least about "beautiful and super cute." Nothing to even common on, there, just facts.

He keeps walking the whole time, as well (even when he nearly trips over his own feet at that first surprise), and it's just a matter of seconds longer before they reach his motorcycle. It's not hard to tell at a glance that it's a custom job. He releases her hand as he hops on, leaving room for her behind him.

"Hop on, Shiho-san, an' hold on tight!"

Once she does touch it, there'd be no doubt that it's his, of course--that it was build by hand from cast-off and modified parts by someone close to him (a big fellow but jovial and well-meaning) and that it's one of Tetsuo's most precious things (that, and his jacket), that he habitually drives fast and in a manner that would be absurdly reckless for pretty much anyone else.

When Tetsuo almost stumbles, he should feel Shiho’s hand, holding just a touch tighter and ready at a moment’s notice to pull him back out of any kind of fall. She is, after all, a psychometer and what better use is there for psychometry than to keep him from falling, right? (That is one of the most polarizing things about psychometers in the end: that ability of theirs to be so in-sync with anyone they touched that it enabled them to speak the same language, dance like an extension of the other’s body, play duets like they shared one mind.)

Not that she’ll bring attention to that fact, grinning up at him like she wasn’t ready to catch him as she says lightly, “Psychometers don’t play fair, you should know that.”

But she’s all smiles, all cheerfulness and so very like a sixteen year old in this instant, buoyed up by him thinking that her being beautiful and super cute was a fact of life. The bike once it’s within view gets a long look because she knows next to nothing about bikes and nothing about his bike, not even just from a glance.

The moment she touches it though, she knows it’s a custom job, the schematics of it, who built it, which parts are cast-offs, which parts are modified, who they’re modified by. And she sees the many, many (very very fast) miles it’s already done. And she sees the love it has in it, the careful way Tetsu has treasured it. She is careful too then when she gets on behind him, looking for all the world like she’s ridden bikes before, her stance and movement practiced.

Though really all she’s doing is reading the information from him and holding on in a way that she knows will keep her on and not falling off. Okay and maybe she kind of enjoys this, looking up at him, her arms wrapped around his waist, “Like this?”

The way she climbs on behind him as though she was a biker herself catches his attention in a way he barely contains. The thought of her being a Hot Biker Chick on top of everything catches him off guard for a moment. Distracted with that, he's entirely unprepared for the feeling of her arms wrapping around him--not to mention her softness pressed against his back. Even through his bombardier jacket it's hard to miss, just as she can hardly miss the thrill that shoots up his spine.

He might have done a bit too good a job shutting down any more-than-friendly thoughts, judging by the effect her suddenly increased proximity has on him.

"E-.. yh- y-yeah, that uh.."

He'd just tilted one of his rearview mirrors to give himself a view of her face, and it gives her a view of how red his face becomes, and how wide his eyes are for that moment.

"Yeah, I'm- it's, that's fine..!"

He huffs and laughs sheepishly, starting the bike and revving the engine. Best to focus on the driving--one more thing to keep his mind off of her.

"Yer, uh, yer really a natural, Shiho-san..!"

Since she's already holding on plenty tight (about which he certainly has no objections at all), he wastes no more time opening up the throttle to surge forward, roaring out onto the street. Right away, he accelerates quickly, obviously not exactly preoccupied with worrying about things like speed limits. He shouts over the sound of the wind and the engine to her as he banks, drifting into a crossing road at full speed.

"Anyway, don't worry, it ain't a long ride!"

...at least, not the way he drives.

It speaks to how she was raised that while her first thought is to slide her hand along his chest and lean in close like she hadn’t noticed any of what he was thinking, her second thought is that he’s supposed to be driving and she shouldn’t be too distracting. So Shiho settles with filing all that away to bring up later, her hands gripping onto his jacket, her chin resting against his shoulder. And when their eyes meet through the mirror she smiles at him, bright and sweet.

“Well, this is my first time though.”

Because everything come naturally to psychometers, really. Something that could take someone seventy years to learn was the work of a moment for a psychometer that borrowed their tools. But while she could ride a bike on her own, there’s something to be said about letting him be the one instead and her smile widens as she snuggles in against his back, her laugh breathless as he opens up the throttle, the engine roaring to life as they go out into the street. She can read him perfectly like this with one hand pressed flat-palmed against his chest, reading the beat of his heart, the breath in his lungs and then reading more than hearing the shout over the wind. The breeze feels good in her hair and she tucks her chin against his shoulder again to speak against his ear,

“What, you don’t want to take me on a nice, long, scenic ride, Tetsuo-san?”

She grins at that, teasing as always.

The way she smiles at him helps draw his attention away from the distractions she poses, even if it does represent another kind of distraction. She can surely feel his confidence controlling the bike, the minimal effort it takes for him to make it move how he wants... although it does take enough of his attention that he can't really focus on quashing down all the other thoughts she inspires, the way he usually would.

"E-eheheh... w-..well, y'seemed like, uh.. like y'wanted ta.. get outta sight quick, before, s-so..."

Part of the truth is also that he just enjoys the sense of freedom of going fast, feeling the wind in his hair--and even more so, as long as she seems so pleased and nestles so close to him. It takes him a moment to wipe away the thought she pops in his head about taking her for a long, scenic ride, with her snuggling against his back the way she is, nuzzling so near to his ear--and there's no mistaking it's an attractive image to him.

He's confident she's just teasing him, of course, but the thought of her really liking it makes him just a bit giddy.

Would she want to hang out with him more often?

Would she actually become a Hot Biker Chick?

...would she keep leaning so close against him...?

He shakes his head, trying to clear it as he dashes down the road. He was definitely going to get distracted, if he actually entertained the thought of just riding around with her for the sake of riding around with her, appealing as it is. There's not a whole lot of traffic in the area where they are, but he weaves around it casually at high speed as though it was all standing still, seeming wholly unperturbed by the honking of car horns as he drifts through another turn.

The area he's moving into is clearly terribly run down, and traffic pretty much disappears with another couple of turns, and before very long, he's approaching what looks from the outside like an abandoned building. He pivots the bike under them, skidding to a stop inside the sheltered attached garage.

"There we go!"

He’s so honest that Shiho can’t help but to smile, knowing that it’s probably unfair to him that she could read his thoughts so easily but it isn’t as if she could turn her powers off. She could no more stop reading him as she could stop breathing. It’s always a careful balance between letting them know she could read it all if she wanted and letting them know she’d never do so. But for now she indulges in his bliss, subconsciously leaning in close at just a stray thought from him, fingers tightening in his shirt a little.

In theory she knows that distracted driving is dangerous. But when she was the source of the distraction, it’s hard to stop entirely and behave. After all, for as long as he’s known her, she’s never been the kind of person to behave and just do as she was told or as she ought. That’s how they met, wasn’t it? So instead she lets her own thoughts drift, sinking into his, into the skillful way he handles the turns, the bike, into becoming a Hot Biker Chick. Not that she could in this world where she was too powerful to really dump all her responsibilities, all her friends and all that she was for a boy.

She’s still lost in that as they start pulling into the more run-down part of town. If she didn’t know him and trust him, this would probably be the part where she tased him and stole his bike. But she does trust him and so she just holds on tighter, reading the environment through his eyes, following their path until they make their stop inside a sheltered garage.

With a quirk of her mouth, she leans against him again, not quite letting go yet, “...You really do know how to pick the most romantic places, huh?”

If she had to pick a single word to describe Tetsuo, that's probably not a bad one.

At least, on nine out of ten subjects, anyway. For all the things he doesn't even think to hold back, there are some he does his best to keep in. Any hint of a attraction or affection that's not merely platonic, for example, he tries to keep to himself (even if he's not very good at it), even if it is mostly just to avoid making things awkward.

...and then there's that one locked box in the back corner of his mind, shut up so tight she can't tell what might be in there. Even Tetsuo probably isn't aware of it.

At least, not actively aware.

Especially when he's so complete preoccupied between high-speed stunt driving and the way she leans into him, clutching him tighter. Just the thought of her holding onto him is electric in his thoughts, and he has to keep reminding himself she's just holding on for safety, she's only clinging so tight because of the way he's driving. Maybe to tease him, for fun, too--something he doesn't begrudge her at all. It's hardly the first time a beautiful girl has teased him to get a reaction, and as long as it's someone he likes, he doesn't really mind it. It's not really any different from any other sort of teasing, after all; sometimes getting a reaction out of someone is just too much fun to resist.

It's obvious to her that he knows the area like the back of his hand, regarding it as his turf. This neighborhood, a preserve of street gangs where the police rarely show up, is where he's been for the last six years. Whatever its dangers, it's where he feels most secure and at home.

A second or two after they've stopped and the engine shuts off, when she's still holding onto him, pressed close against his back--pressed even closer?--alongside a faint shiver of excitement, she can feel his confusion uncurling in him. It takes him a moment to find his voice as he chuckles bashfully.

"A- e-eheh, haha, w-wha.. c-.. c'mon, Shiho-san..."

He knows, with absolute concrete certainty, that she's just teasing him... but for just a moment, he's warmed intensely with the thought of actually bringing her somewhere romantic (never mind that he's not even sure what that would constitute, so it's a fairly abstract thought) and her being pleased and hugging him tightly. He studiously shoves that impulse back down--and hesitates. He knows he should invite her inside, but he kind of doesn't want to rush to give her a reason to let go. He knows he's being ridiculous, though, and huffs, collecting himself.

"W-we, uh.. d'you wanna.. go inside, or uh..?"

As she sees it, humans are made up of layers: layers of experience, of thought, and of memory. With her powers, anyone could be an open book. That is, if books would unknowingly present pages for her perusal with some specific prompting. And if books themselves could hide secrets deep within their pages, covered in layers and layers of safeguards and denials. Minds, especially the minds of other espers, were devious places and if she could help it, Shiho never looked very deep without due cause so she doesn’t see the secrets he has locked up tight, unaware they’re even there because she isn’t looking for them. Besides, she has enough to look at already just with his beguiling surface thoughts where she features so prominently.

Though she will still file away that map of the area she can see in his mind for another time. It could be useful, she thinks, even as she sees that he’s been here for the last six years. Ever since they’ve been apart, huh. Couldn’t he have picked a safer spot to make his home? She keeps her own worries hidden as she lets the next thought wash over her.

She’s always had a weakness for honesty. Maybe it’s because she’s a psychometer and she’s certain she knows better than anyone that people are good at lying even to themselves. Maybe it’s because she’s still young and innocent in some ways and can’t help but to look for good in a world that had shown her at ten years old that there were adults out there who would put a shock collar on a child. So she hugs him tighter as he’d imagined, tilting her head and looking pleased (with herself, with him) as she walks her fingers up his chest to stroke a fingertip along the bottom of his chin, her lips curling into a pleased, cat-like smile,

“Mmn... well... you did make it sound so fun in there. With running water, your company and all. Besides...”

Here she raises an eyebrow at him, “I can’t beat you at video games if you keep me out here, right?”

Her flirtatious smile is a cheerful grin in half a second as she makes to get up and off the bike, hand sliding along to brush smoothly along his jaw before she clasps both hands behind her back, “Come on.”

Edited 2019-12-15 06:02 (UTC)

The way she responds is completely over the horizon of his expectations, far beyond anything he could have taken in stride. It sends a shiver up his spine when she clings even tighter, and he stiffens in place, his breath catching in his throat momentarily, the feeling of her fingers making their way upward scattering his thoughts entirely. Vaguely, he knows she's teasing him and offering to challenge him at video games, but it's going to take him a few seconds to collect himself enough to have opinions about that.

"Shuh-... sh-Shiho-san..."

His voice is hushed, and the intense blush is hard to miss in the rear-view mirror as he watches her hand, wide-eyed. He can't quite put a (metaphorical) finger on exactly why such a seemingly innocent touch is so overwhelming, but somehow that sort of tenderness and intimacy leaves him not sure what to do or think.

He manages to collect himself enough, at least, to stay still as she climbs off the bike, even if he almost leans toward her at that caress of her hand. However skillfully he may have driven them there, he nearly trips over the bike as he goes to hop off, although he does at least recover immediately, doing his best to look natural.

"E- y- y-yeah, I'm- let's, uh, let's go on in..!"

After she's been leaning so close against him, he definitely has to avoid thinking about what clasping her hands behind her back does to her posture. He'd managed not to think about her figure when they first ran into each other, but now... he does his best to laugh it off as he jogs his way up to the door, unlocking it and heading inside, holding it open for her.

Inside, despite the obviously run down slummy exterior, it actually looks fairly decent. Very much the home of a bachelor who wasn't really expecting guests, but reasonably clean, furnished (albeit with very well-worn furniture), with heat and electricity and water and basic appliances and so on. The main living area's a living room (with a fair sized TV and game consoles), small kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, with some storage space and laundry facilities as well.

If Shiho said she had no idea the effect her entire person had on boys (and on Tetsuo in particular) that would be a bald-faced lie. Though most boys tend to find her both pretty and pretty terrifying in equal measures, she could be charming when she wanted to be.

And with him, she wants to be. A little bit of it is because he's her friend, she knows him and likes him, wants him to like her. A little bit of it is in that dizzying rush of exhilaration she feels whenever he reacts to her. Has another psychometer ever figured out just how heady it is when someone you were starting to like, maybe sort of like you back too?

But her smile does turn somewhat into something that was part pout and part laugh. Boys she thinks, exasperated and fond. Her hands skims delicately along the side of his wrist, just to make sure he really hadn't hurt himself tripping over the bike before she enters. It's nice, nicer than she'd really expected and her expression is openly curious even as her hands stay firmly behind her back.

Then turning to him, she smiles, "Aren't you supposed to say 'Welcome to my castle' or something?"

The automatic thrill at that unexpected, chaste yet intimate touch (holding hands is already a lot, but stroking his wrist is something else again) is certainly far greater than any sign of hurt. He may be a little bit of an idiot, but he clearly has the same knack as ever for somehow not getting himself maimed or killed, just like when they used to play on the wreckage of the stadium.

He's still blushing as he laughs sheepishly at her quip.

"Eheheh, w-well, Idunno if it's a castle, but I guess it is kinduva fort..."

Maybe it's a weird association, but it is a building someone else abandoned, that he's tried to renovate for his own use, and there's something sentimental (at least, to him) about rhyming with their first meeting. Then again, he hasn't really thought through the implications. Does the implied symmetry mean she's supposed to stick around and add her own contributions to the "fort," as she used to do? That she's welcome to come and go as she pleases, as though it's her place as much as his?

Give him a minute or two and he might realize he (sort of, implicitly, and probably accidentally) invited her to move in with him.

"Can, uh.. can I getcha anythin'? I got some sodas an' snacks an' stuff... or, uh, we can order a pizza, or somethin'..?"

give him a minute, he'll figure it out eventually...

Poor Tetsuo, Shiho is going to be so mad...

...tbh this soft dork really would try to befriend actual ghosts, too...

He’s a good boy. (But don’t go befriending ghosts, she’ll tell him. They’re mean and scary.)

...he should stick to the psychic tsunderes that he's used to? *ducks*

Asdlklgkjh. Maybe.

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ngl I am kind of enjoying writing out his thought process more explicitly, for her sake XD

It's fun, right? I honestly really love writing Shiho using psychometry so I'm excited for this!

Caught red-brained...?

We could go with that!

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...he should stick to the psychic tsunderes that he's used to? ducks