To say the mission hadn’t gone according to plan was an understatement. It was supposed to be a straightforward one: figure out why people were going missing from a cruise. Shiho had volunteered to be bait and to be lead investigator, her appearance and her powers making her best-suited for both those roles. It should have been simple and Kaoru knew Shiho was strong and they were, as a team, unstoppable.
But instead she had to deliver the news, trying not to let her voice shake and not to let her emotions get the best of her, trying to be cheerful, to give him hope. Yes, they’d lost all contact with Shiho. Yes, Shiho had back-up at the time but she’d disappeared right from behind them without being able to make a single sound. Yes, she had her weapon with her and Kaoru believed, believed with all her heart that her best friend was trying to make their way back to them, to him. Aoi wasn’t present because she was trying to locate Shiho using her teleportation powers, they had every person possible on the job.
Shiho would come back to them. She had to. Kaoru holds tight onto his hands,
“...It would help if you were there with us, too. If she knows you’re there too, I bet she’d come running back faster.”
Kaoru tries to smile, “Shiho always says that she needs to get back to you first after a mission and if anyone gets in her way she would make them regret it.”
Which really was exactly what Shiho was thinking as she was wracking her brain trying to figure out how the pocket dimension worked, how she could overload it, that she couldn’t remember what day it is or how long she’d been here. Tetsu would worry. Kaoru would worry, everyone would worry but they had each other. And her mind keeps going back to Tetsuo, who had said he’d lay the world at her feet, who cherished her and put her on a pedestal more than she’s sure she deserves as she once again probes at the edges of the dimension. She needed to get back.
Tetsuo knows very well how swift Shiho is to get back to him, so he was already a bit puzzled that it was Kaoru who'd shown up to see him, instead. That surprise hadn't taken long to shade into dread once he'd realized she wasn't really her usual cheerful self, even before she'd brought herself to say anything about Shiho. At least her simply vanishing without a sound implies she's probably more or less okay, wherever she is--or at least she was when they lost contact. He does his best not to turn his scowl on Kaoru, since she's not the object of the anger that boils up over that initial spike of fear, and he runs a hand through his hair, almost palpably tense.
"...oi, 'course I'm goin'. Tch, couldn't keep me 'way if y'wanted to. ......an' if some sonovabitch hurt'er..."
He trails off at that, glaring off to the side, and shakes his head. Cheerful, friendly Kaoru probably doesn't need to hear the kinds of things on his mind at the moment. As much as he's usually an easygoing ray of sunshine eager to help out, there's another facet nearer the surface right now that matches very well with Shiho's ruthlessly protective side.
"...anyways, y'ain't gotta ask twice. Let's get goin'."
Kaoru smiles softly despite the situation, because there's something very "Shiho" about the way he looks to one side gruffly and she can guess that he's trying to take her feelings into account. And just like she would with Shiho, with a friend she gives him a supportive pat on the back. Pat, pat and then he'll feel a sudden weightlessness as Kaoru activates her powers and his feet leave the floor. Sure, she knows he could get them there fairly quickly on his bike but probably not faster than with psychokinesis. She gives him a moment to orient himself first,
"Let's go then. And if Shiho-chan doesn't kill them first, they'll have both of us to answer to."
Meanwhile Shiho is quiet, a frown on her face as she thinks. Since she wasn't where she'd been earlier, this must be some sort of teleportation. And the way her vision was fuzzy around the edges, the way the place she was stuck in didn't feel physically real meant that it could also be some sort of ESP power and something or someone was probably feeding this image directly into her thoughts. The fact that she was still alive also meant she was more useful to them that way.
He's startled for a second at the sudden levitation, but he huffs and nods curtly, just a little impulsively indignant at basically getting picked up and carried. There's no really obvious way to be tough and cool dignified while being flown about by someone else's psychokinesis, but he buries that grain of irritation, focused on the matter at hand.
"...kh... yeah."
He's really not sure what he's going to do to help, no matter what the details of the situation end up being, but he's damned well gonna do something. On the bright side, even is he's not especially used to dealing with espers, he has loads of experience with jumping into a hazardous situation without much of a plan and improvising his way out the other end with latent precognitive metakinaesthesia intuition, agility, stubbornness, and a fast-burning fear-to-anger metabolism. He's fine letting the others who know more point him in the right direction, and figuring out the rest on the fly.
Kaoru, who is more perceptive than most people give her credit for gives him a good-natured slap on the back after she sees his nod, then in a move that is not perceptive at all, says, "Don't worry, I'll tell Shiho you were really cool the entire time. And because I'm a level 7 just like her, she won't ever know the truth~"
Though Kaoru suspects Shiho would know because it's Shiho they're talking about. She also has no doubt though that Shiho would probably cuddle him into not worrying about how he'd looked while flying. Shiho is powerful in that way, she thinks as she picks them both up and starts flying them at high speed toward their destination: a cruise ship that's been cordoned off on all sides at an abandoned dock. There are other people that Tetsuo will recognize from the Catastrophe, the ship that Shiho lived on. They're alternating between discussing how they'd like to crack this ship open like a box and whether time and space really needed to be in one piece when Shiho's life was potentially on the line.
When he lands, more than one pair of eyes turn to him but it's Kagari who comes up first, "Well, Sannomiya will definitely get through this now that you're here."
It's well-known that whenever Shiho comes back from a mission, she always disappears to Tetsuo's place and spends if not a couple of days then at least a night. She's got a soft spot for him, and teasing Tetsuo (and by assocation, Shiho) is a kind of comfort in this situation. It was easier to think of a solution when everyone was hopeful.
That distinction just means she's calling him uncool! Rude! Anyway, besides being able to distract him very effectively, it's not like it'll take Shiho very long to read off of him anything she wants, so good luck keeping her from knowing about whatever happens around him. That, and she knows him well enough she could probably guess.
Tetsuo glances around at the others gathered there when he lands with Kaoru, and nods to Kagari as he approaches. Even with the serious mood he's in, he can't help but reach up to ruffle his hair, a bit flustered by the suggestion that his presence has that kind of effect, and runs a hand back through his hair.
"Yo. I, uh... I ain't no psychometer or nothin', but lemme know if there's anythin' I can do. Hell, even if it's just a fresh pair'a eyes."
She definitely just called him uncool but it's fine, she thinks. Kaoru is fairly certain Shiho doesn't just like him because he's cool. If anything, what Shiho is probably weak against is his honesty and straightforward personality. That's her best friend's type, after all.
Aoi is the first to speak up, pushing her glasses up, "...Want to take a look at the site?"
At this point, they were up for any kind of solution. Kaoru could feel that Shiho was still there nearby, so they were all certain that Shiho had to be trapped in some kind of pocket-dimension, somehow tacked on to their own current dimension. But finding the exact position had proven to be difficult and the dark circles under Aoi's eyes tells the story of someone who has been pushing herself and her teleportation powers to their limit.
The site itself is the atrium of the cruise ship, now eerily empty and quiet. Most of the decorations and furnishings have been removed after they'd been thoroughly examined and all that's left now is the big fountain in the middle surrounded by marble built-in planters which had also been emptied. There's a still stuffiness to the area but Tetsuo might notice a weird shimmer at the edge of his vision when he nears the fountain as the group of teenagers wander around, Aoi's brow furrowing as she once again fails to find even the smallest trace of Shiho.
Tetsuo nods in answer to Aoi, although he ruffles his hair sheepishly at that explanation of their working theory that kinda goes over his head, beyond "she's kinda here and kinda not." He looks around as he follows their lead, not really accustomed to the fancy environment and without any idea of what he should be looking for. What the heck does a "pocket dimension" look like??
As he gets closer to the fountain, though, something definitely feels off about it, and he scowls, looking puzzled and uneasy. It's almost like a phantom limb, or hearing something he can't see; the space around the fountain doesn't feel the same way it looks, somehow, although he's not sure how he'd put it into words, much less what it is he's actually feeling.
"...huh... izzat whatcha meant by 'pocket dimension'?"
He assumes if he can feel something weird, the obvious espers must be feeling it even more clearly, right? Pacing around the fountain, he impulsively reaches a hand out to see if there's something he can touch or reach into, wherever it feels like the "wrongness" is centered.
Aoi has never been good at breaking down theory into something non-teleporters could understand. Mostly because she, herself, isn’t incredibly well-versed in what Shiho and Kaoru always lovingly call “nerd stuff” and all she knows is that she thinks of where she needs to be and she’s there. There’s no deeper thought that goes into it because being able to be somewhere and then somewhere else is as normal as breathing for someone who has been doing that since she was five years old.
But when Tetsu points, she jerks her head over to look, pushing her glasses up her nose for what feels like the umpteenth time since Shiho had disappeared, about to warn him to not touch it when the shimmer reacts.
It moves, bulging outwards like something has just kicked it hard from the other side. At the same time though, they can all hear a voice, booming out over the ship’s intercom which, cleared as the ship is, should not be possible. Espers are splitting off into groups with serious expressions, some being instructed to go for the bridge, another going incorporeal and heading into the wires.
Greetings, little espers~ It sure took you a long time to find your friend. I must say I thought she’d run out of time before you even got to play my little game.
The expression on Kaoru’s face immediately darkens, “What do you mean, game?!”
Hide-and-seek, of course. Your Miss Teleporter against me. Will you find me first and free your friend? Or will you fail and lose her forever? Fun, right?
Tetsuo jumps in place, startled at the sudden, visible distortion, then looks up and around at the voice suddenly breaking out over the intercom. He bristles immediately and growls under his breath, searching in vain for something to lock his eyes onto.
"Kh--th'fuck d'yamean run outta time?! Th'fuck you after?! You just want yer ass kicked up inta yer neck, I got two feet ready ta fuckin' go!"
He might not have powers that he knows of of tracing the use of the intercoms or searching the vessel or any of that, but he sure does have anger, vulgarity, and readiness to throw down.
The shimmering distortion shifts abruptly like it's been yanked away, as if it were something that needs to be hidden better. No one ever said villains had to play by the rules.
Shiho doesn't feel the jerk of the dimension moving as she gives her prison another solid kick with her leg. She doesn't know exactly why she'd kicked it, only that something about doing it had felt right. Like she'd felt someone familiar nearby. And besides, nothing helped her frustration as much as applied violence.
Outside though, there is a slowly rising hum throughout the ship as Kaoru tries her best not to let her anger get the better of her. Aoi is the one who answers Tetsuo, "....if they were going to take her away, they could have just done that."
The voice finishes, But you know, you have all been just so annoying to the higher-ups. Wouldn't it hurt, if she was just inches away and you couldn't get to her?
Out of the corner of his eye though, if he chooses to look, Tetsuo will see the shimmer again as if it's trying to get back to him.
Tetsuo growls under his breath, any reassurance he might have felt quickly beaten back by another round of taunting from the disembodied voice.
"C'mon out here an' I'll show ya somethin'at fuckin' hurts, asshole!"
Bristling with anger, he's still looking around for something besides just a voice to fix it into, and he moves to pace around the fountain restlessly. He's not sure why, himself, rationalizing that he's just trying to get another line of sight--but impulsively lashes out with a hand as he gets close to the distortion, feeling like there's something there he wants to grab onto and hold, whether it's an unseen enemy or something thrown at him or whatever else. To him, it's just the familiar feeling that it's where his hand ought to go, and those feelings usually turn out right for him.
The voice says with an audible smirk, a real cheshire-like smile spreading along a wall, Are you sure you want to waste your time on me when you could be-
A ghost of a hand brushes against Tetsuo's. Shiho tries to hold on, reads him for a moment through dimensions and blinks back tears over that feeling of protectiveness, of care, of worry, of dread and she throws herself against her prison.
Hey, stop-
The shimmer is yanked away again but this time Kaoru's eyes glow. She can never adequately explain Queen Sense, only knows that whatever it is that Tetsuo sensed something that must have been Shiho, knows that Tetsuo knows where Shiho is. Tetsuo will feel that familiar weightlessness as Kaoru picks him up with her telekinesis and she shouts at him, "Where?"
Because she's going to throw him, faster, hopefully than the asshole trying to take Shiho away from them. The asshole who grits his teeth and then materializes. And materializes again, multiple copies of a rather normal-looking man wearing a sleek black uniform who immediately puts out a hand and makes a whole chunk of the floor disappear. But confusion doesn't break out, not among the practically-kids of Shiho's group. They're well-versed by this point in psychic fights and Tetsuo will see them get into formation, splitting into groups to take on the copies.
Kaoru, winds back, Tetsuo going ever so slightly backwards as she prepares to throw him as soon as he tells her where.
For that brief moment, Tetsuo knows something brushed his hand, and he's pretty sure it was another hand gripping his. He's confused for a couple seconds, but between the improbability that their enemy would try to hold onto his hand and the alarmed response of the voice that had just been taunting them, he's sure it has to be Shiho, and he grins fiercely as he looks around. He's got some idea what's going on, now, and the enemy's showing hints of fear. Before, it was a scary situation, but now he's ready for war.
"Heh, look who's talkin', chickenshit! I ain't never gonna stop, and yer gonna be beggin' way nicer'n that 'fore we're through with ya!"
He startles at the section of floor disappearing, but he's already primed for a fight--that, and he's being lifted up by Kaoru, so he doesn't really have anything to jump back from. He glances toward her at the question, taking a second to realize what she means and hesitating briefly before he just huffs and points to... he couldn't really explain where, just wherever it feels like he should be going.
He's got no idea what the feeling means, but following that impulse for him in touch with Shiho (he's pretty sure) and surprised their enemy, and he's more than ready to YOLO a tactic he doesn't understand on instinct. He'll figure out what he has to do there when he gets there.
Shiho tries to throw herself against her prison again, her helplessness in this situation only serving to fuel her anger. She could cry after, she promises herself as she wipes tears away roughly with the back of her sleeve. She could cry when she was back in Tetsuo's arms, when he was holding her tight so no one else could see, when she was back where she belonged. So she reaches out, stretching as far as her arm can go, pushing it through with only the singular thought of him being on the other side.
Kaoru snarls at the normal-looking man in his black uniform, no longer relying on his disembodied voice, his words echoing as every doppelganger speaks at once. "Don't think you scare me, you're nothing but some kids, thinking you're so great! Thinking you're so powerful! You're nothing, nothing and once the Facility is done with you, your little friend will be wishing we'd finished her off here too-"
His body goes flying at the wall as Kaoru points at him then with a blue glow courtesy of Aoi, he goes straight through it, his legs the only thing still showing as he kicks madly at the air. Another doppelganger is wrapped up in tendrils of smoke, the air slowly choking him out. There's a flash of fire from Kagari's side as he fights another doppelganger.
And Tetsuo is flung at exactly where he'd indicated, the weightlessness of psychokinesis coupling with the blue glow of Aoi's teleportation briefly adjusting his position so he's launched to where he'd pointed and then another glow: faintly purple and coming from what looks like a crack in the very air itself. A hand reaches out from it with a familiar bracelet around its wrist, grasping even as the crack seems to be trying to close.
Tensing in readiness for a fight, Tetsuo braces himself as all hell breaks loose just as he's yeeted through the air, still not really sure where he's going or what he'll find there. A (very loud) part of him wants to take a length of pipe to this guy's knees and hoping he can feel what's done to each of his copies, but he grits his teeth and focuses on his own task. He doesn't really understand it, but if he's somehow sensing Shiho...
He's startled to see that bizarre split in the air in front of him, as if something had stretched it too tight. Before he's fully aware of what he's doing, he grasps at that hand with his, and kicks out to try and jam his foot into the crack followed by his other hand, straining to try and pull it open wider. He really has no idea if there's even anything there he can push against, but he's damned well going to try with all his might if he gets any kind of purchase at all. At the moment, he's ready (at least in spirit) to rip the world in half if that's what it takes.
"Shichan?! Khh, c'mon, I ain't lettin'ya go fer nothin'!"
Shiho would have recognized the feeling of that hand gripping hers across universes. Gone is the oppressive silence of the pocket dimension she had been trapped in, replaced instead with the sound of his voice echoing through her psychometry as Tetsuo grabs her hand and yells in another dimension that he wasn't letting go for anything.
In reply, her hand grips tighter onto his. She braces her feet against the space as best she can and pushes too, another hand emerging and scrabbling around for purchase until she feels another pull. Doppelgangers are disappearing into dust as they're dispatched, weakening his ability to fight and backing him into a corner. He had to have something to show for this, he had to... because he knows the price for failure.
So he pulls at the pocket dimension, determined to take at least something back, to do some damage. But Tetsuo, as he's kicking around at the air will feel something to push against, a fine but solid mist under the soles of his shoes courtesy of Kagari's girlfriend as Kagari himself throws a wave of fire at another doppelganger. The invisible hand that was Kaoru's psychokinesis is replaced by two very real hands as Kaoru grabs onto him and starts to pull too.
"Give, Shiho, back!!!!"
Without hesitating, Aoi teleports one of the heavy planters through the esper's head, the weight of it sudden and painful on his shoulders thanks to having to support an extra load of weight. Unbalanced, he flails and the pocket dimension stops zipping around, Shiho's head emerging until with a sudden pop of air she's launched out and into Tetsuo's arms with a gasp, discombobulated at the sudden light and sounds.
Shiho's other hand easily finds Tetsuo to grab onto, and she can feel how he's straining with everything he has to hold on to her as the pocket tries to pull away with Shiho inside it. He knows intuitively where it's going to try going, so he's well braced for every pull once that solid surface is provided.
"Rrgh!! No ya--fuckin' don't!"
Shiho can feel him wobble a little as he struggles against the esper's increasingly desperate attempts to withdraw his pocket dimension, but the addition of Kaoru grabbing on as well helps him keep stable until the esper's concentration slips and Shiho suddenly pops out of the air. He yelps with surprise, catching her in his arms and cushioning her as she bowls him over, landing with a grunt.
"Guh! F-fuck... Shichan..?! You--you okay?!"
One arm stays wrapped around her, his other hand reaching up to brush her hair back to he can get a look at her and make sure she looks okay, his head still a whirling tumult of worry, relief, and anger.
who has opposable thumbs and posts tags before they're done? meeee
Shiho's grip doesn't loosen even as she pops back into the real world, her world. Made all the more real and hers at the feeling of his arms around her and the comforting presence of his thoughts, of dizzying relief and worry and anger.
It's well-known by this point that the first thing Shiho always does when she's back from a long mission is to go to Tetsuo's place. He was home, a reminder of everything she had to lose and everything she had waiting for her once the world was safe. She takes a breath and feels herself tearing up out of relief that she was back here with him, out of worry that she'd caused him any amount of anxiety. She nods, trying not to sniffle as she turns to press a kiss to the palm of his hand before pressing her hand over his.
She doesn't look hurt, but definitely looks much less put-together than she normally does, her hat askew, hair messy and her throat dry because she'd conserved what water she had.
Kaoru is on them in a matter of moments, throwing herself at Shiho too so she can hug her for however briefly before with another wave of her hand she sends a clone coming to help the esper into the wall with a thud loud enough that the wall itself cracks. But the clones themselves don't seem to have as much substance anymore, not with the main body struggling on the floor with a flower pot teleported onto his head. He wriggles on the floor, flailing and pushing as the clones start to wink out of existence.
That brush of her lips against his hand flusters him as much as it immediately soothes him, and he can't help blushing and grinning bashfully at the tender, intimate gesture in spite of the situation they're still in the middle of. Not that he has long to be distracted with her before Kaoru pounces on them, and he's startled by the THUMP of the esper's duplicate getting smashed into a wall. That at least helps to bring his attention back to their surroundings, and he huffs a breath, glaring toward the floored esper, doing his best to suppress the thought of taking a swing with a length of pipe and ringing that flower pot like a bell.
"Tsch... looks like you guys got a handle on this asshole."
Shiho holds onto him tighter in response, burying herself against him while her other hand reaches out to take Kaoru's, squeezing tight. Kaoru gives first Shiho then Tetsuo a grin, ever-so-slightly watery over the fact that Shiho has been retrieved safe and sound.
And that's all the warning they get before Aoi is tackling the three of them in order to pull Shiho into a hug as well.
Kagari walks up now that the last of the clones has disappeared, "Yeah, we'll hand them over to the authorities after this."
The way she shelters against him is as heartwarming as ever, drawing Tetsuo's attention away from their downed enemy once more--just in time to get nearly toppled over by Aoi leaping into the huddle as well.
"Geh?! E-.. aheheh..."
Despite the urge to be greedy with Shiho and keep holding her tightly to him, he reluctantly loosens his hold enough for her friends to get their hugs in without him getting in the way. That reminder of how many people she has watching her back and protecting her who obviously care deeply for her is reassuring, as well, especially since they definitely have the means to back it up when needed. One arm stays loosely curled around her, though, unless she pulls away from him, the other hand raised to ruffle his hair as he glances over to Kagari.
"Eh..? ...yeah, guess that's th'way, ain't it..."
He doesn't exactly adore the idea of having to trust in the authorities to handle this sort of thing, especially when he's pretty sure some "authorities" are tangled up with the badguys, but he doesn't really have a better idea of what Shiho and her friends could do. Running their own esper prison or whatever else would probably be a huge mess and terrible in ways he hasn't really thought through.
"...is, uh... ev'rybody else a'right?"
He takes a second to sit up a little more and look around. Now that Shiho's safe, he can remember that, oh yeah, other people exist and may have been in danger or something.
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The Not as Happy But I Promise It Works Out One
But instead she had to deliver the news, trying not to let her voice shake and not to let her emotions get the best of her, trying to be cheerful, to give him hope. Yes, they’d lost all contact with Shiho. Yes, Shiho had back-up at the time but she’d disappeared right from behind them without being able to make a single sound. Yes, she had her weapon with her and Kaoru believed, believed with all her heart that her best friend was trying to make their way back to them, to him. Aoi wasn’t present because she was trying to locate Shiho using her teleportation powers, they had every person possible on the job.
Shiho would come back to them. She had to. Kaoru holds tight onto his hands,
“...It would help if you were there with us, too. If she knows you’re there too, I bet she’d come running back faster.”
Kaoru tries to smile, “Shiho always says that she needs to get back to you first after a mission and if anyone gets in her way she would make them regret it.”
Which really was exactly what Shiho was thinking as she was wracking her brain trying to figure out how the pocket dimension worked, how she could overload it, that she couldn’t remember what day it is or how long she’d been here. Tetsu would worry. Kaoru would worry, everyone would worry but they had each other. And her mind keeps going back to Tetsuo, who had said he’d lay the world at her feet, who cherished her and put her on a pedestal more than she’s sure she deserves as she once again probes at the edges of the dimension. She needed to get back.
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"...oi, 'course I'm goin'. Tch, couldn't keep me 'way if y'wanted to. ......an' if some sonovabitch hurt'er..."
He trails off at that, glaring off to the side, and shakes his head. Cheerful, friendly Kaoru probably doesn't need to hear the kinds of things on his mind at the moment. As much as he's usually an easygoing ray of sunshine eager to help out, there's another facet nearer the surface right now that matches very well with Shiho's ruthlessly protective side.
"...anyways, y'ain't gotta ask twice. Let's get goin'."
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"Let's go then. And if Shiho-chan doesn't kill them first, they'll have both of us to answer to."
Meanwhile Shiho is quiet, a frown on her face as she thinks. Since she wasn't where she'd been earlier, this must be some sort of teleportation. And the way her vision was fuzzy around the edges, the way the place she was stuck in didn't feel physically real meant that it could also be some sort of ESP power and something or someone was probably feeding this image directly into her thoughts. The fact that she was still alive also meant she was more useful to them that way.
no subject
He's startled for a second at the sudden levitation, but he huffs and nods curtly, just a little impulsively indignant at basically getting picked up and carried. There's no really obvious way to be
tough and cooldignified while being flown about by someone else's psychokinesis, but he buries that grain of irritation, focused on the matter at hand."...kh... yeah."
He's really not sure what he's going to do to help, no matter what the details of the situation end up being, but he's damned well gonna do something. On the bright side, even is he's not especially used to dealing with espers, he has loads of experience with jumping into a hazardous situation without much of a plan and improvising his way out the other end with
latent precognitive metakinaesthesiaintuition, agility, stubbornness, and a fast-burning fear-to-anger metabolism. He's fine letting the others who know more point him in the right direction, and figuring out the rest on the fly.no subject
Though Kaoru suspects Shiho would know because it's Shiho they're talking about. She also has no doubt though that Shiho would probably cuddle him into not worrying about how he'd looked while flying. Shiho is powerful in that way, she thinks as she picks them both up and starts flying them at high speed toward their destination: a cruise ship that's been cordoned off on all sides at an abandoned dock. There are other people that Tetsuo will recognize from the Catastrophe, the ship that Shiho lived on. They're alternating between discussing how they'd like to crack this ship open like a box and whether time and space really needed to be in one piece when Shiho's life was potentially on the line.
When he lands, more than one pair of eyes turn to him but it's Kagari who comes up first, "Well, Sannomiya will definitely get through this now that you're here."
It's well-known that whenever Shiho comes back from a mission, she always disappears to Tetsuo's place and spends if not a couple of days then at least a night. She's got a soft spot for him, and teasing Tetsuo (and by assocation, Shiho) is a kind of comfort in this situation. It was easier to think of a solution when everyone was hopeful.
no subject
That distinction just means she's calling him uncool! Rude! Anyway, besides being able to distract him very effectively, it's not like it'll take Shiho very long to read off of him anything she wants, so good luck keeping her from knowing about whatever happens around him. That, and she knows him well enough she could probably guess.
Tetsuo glances around at the others gathered there when he lands with Kaoru, and nods to Kagari as he approaches. Even with the serious mood he's in, he can't help but reach up to ruffle his hair, a bit flustered by the suggestion that his presence has that kind of effect, and runs a hand back through his hair.
"Yo. I, uh... I ain't no psychometer or nothin', but lemme know if there's anythin' I can do. Hell, even if it's just a fresh pair'a eyes."
no subject
Aoi is the first to speak up, pushing her glasses up, "...Want to take a look at the site?"
At this point, they were up for any kind of solution. Kaoru could feel that Shiho was still there nearby, so they were all certain that Shiho had to be trapped in some kind of pocket-dimension, somehow tacked on to their own current dimension. But finding the exact position had proven to be difficult and the dark circles under Aoi's eyes tells the story of someone who has been pushing herself and her teleportation powers to their limit.
The site itself is the atrium of the cruise ship, now eerily empty and quiet. Most of the decorations and furnishings have been removed after they'd been thoroughly examined and all that's left now is the big fountain in the middle surrounded by marble built-in planters which had also been emptied. There's a still stuffiness to the area but Tetsuo might notice a weird shimmer at the edge of his vision when he nears the fountain as the group of teenagers wander around, Aoi's brow furrowing as she once again fails to find even the smallest trace of Shiho.
no subject
As he gets closer to the fountain, though, something definitely feels off about it, and he scowls, looking puzzled and uneasy. It's almost like a phantom limb, or hearing something he can't see; the space around the fountain doesn't feel the same way it looks, somehow, although he's not sure how he'd put it into words, much less what it is he's actually feeling.
"...huh... izzat whatcha meant by 'pocket dimension'?"
He assumes if he can feel something weird, the obvious espers must be feeling it even more clearly, right? Pacing around the fountain, he impulsively reaches a hand out to see if there's something he can touch or reach into, wherever it feels like the "wrongness" is centered.
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But when Tetsu points, she jerks her head over to look, pushing her glasses up her nose for what feels like the umpteenth time since Shiho had disappeared, about to warn him to not touch it when the shimmer reacts.
It moves, bulging outwards like something has just kicked it hard from the other side. At the same time though, they can all hear a voice, booming out over the ship’s intercom which, cleared as the ship is, should not be possible. Espers are splitting off into groups with serious expressions, some being instructed to go for the bridge, another going incorporeal and heading into the wires.
Greetings, little espers~ It sure took you a long time to find your friend. I must say I thought she’d run out of time before you even got to play my little game.
The expression on Kaoru’s face immediately darkens, “What do you mean, game?!”
Hide-and-seek, of course. Your Miss Teleporter against me. Will you find me first and free your friend? Or will you fail and lose her forever? Fun, right?
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"Kh--th'fuck d'yamean run outta time?! Th'fuck you after?! You just want yer ass kicked up inta yer neck, I got two feet ready ta fuckin' go!"
He might not have powers
that he knows ofof tracing the use of the intercoms or searching the vessel or any of that, but he sure does have anger, vulgarity, and readiness to throw down.no subject
Shiho doesn't feel the jerk of the dimension moving as she gives her prison another solid kick with her leg. She doesn't know exactly why she'd kicked it, only that something about doing it had felt right. Like she'd felt someone familiar nearby. And besides, nothing helped her frustration as much as applied violence.
Outside though, there is a slowly rising hum throughout the ship as Kaoru tries her best not to let her anger get the better of her. Aoi is the one who answers Tetsuo, "....if they were going to take her away, they could have just done that."
The voice finishes, But you know, you have all been just so annoying to the higher-ups. Wouldn't it hurt, if she was just inches away and you couldn't get to her?
Out of the corner of his eye though, if he chooses to look, Tetsuo will see the shimmer again as if it's trying to get back to him.
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"C'mon out here an' I'll show ya somethin'at fuckin' hurts, asshole!"
Bristling with anger, he's still looking around for something besides just a voice to fix it into, and he moves to pace around the fountain restlessly. He's not sure why, himself, rationalizing that he's just trying to get another line of sight--but impulsively lashes out with a hand as he gets close to the distortion, feeling like there's something there he wants to grab onto and hold, whether it's an unseen enemy or something thrown at him or whatever else. To him, it's just the familiar feeling that it's where his hand ought to go, and those feelings usually turn out right for him.
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The voice says with an audible smirk, a real cheshire-like smile spreading along a wall, Are you sure you want to waste your time on me when you could be-
A ghost of a hand brushes against Tetsuo's. Shiho tries to hold on, reads him for a moment through dimensions and blinks back tears over that feeling of protectiveness, of care, of worry, of dread and she throws herself against her prison.
Hey, stop-
The shimmer is yanked away again but this time Kaoru's eyes glow. She can never adequately explain Queen Sense, only knows that whatever it is that Tetsuo sensed something that must have been Shiho, knows that Tetsuo knows where Shiho is. Tetsuo will feel that familiar weightlessness as Kaoru picks him up with her telekinesis and she shouts at him, "Where?"
Because she's going to throw him, faster, hopefully than the asshole trying to take Shiho away from them. The asshole who grits his teeth and then materializes. And materializes again, multiple copies of a rather normal-looking man wearing a sleek black uniform who immediately puts out a hand and makes a whole chunk of the floor disappear. But confusion doesn't break out, not among the practically-kids of Shiho's group. They're well-versed by this point in psychic fights and Tetsuo will see them get into formation, splitting into groups to take on the copies.
Kaoru, winds back, Tetsuo going ever so slightly backwards as she prepares to throw him as soon as he tells her where.
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For that brief moment, Tetsuo knows something brushed his hand, and he's pretty sure it was another hand gripping his. He's confused for a couple seconds, but between the improbability that their enemy would try to hold onto his hand and the alarmed response of the voice that had just been taunting them, he's sure it has to be Shiho, and he grins fiercely as he looks around. He's got some idea what's going on, now, and the enemy's showing hints of fear. Before, it was a scary situation, but now he's ready for war.
"Heh, look who's talkin', chickenshit! I ain't never gonna stop, and yer gonna be beggin' way nicer'n that 'fore we're through with ya!"
He startles at the section of floor disappearing, but he's already primed for a fight--that, and he's being lifted up by Kaoru, so he doesn't really have anything to jump back from. He glances toward her at the question, taking a second to realize what she means and hesitating briefly before he just huffs and points to... he couldn't really explain where, just wherever it feels like he should be going.
He's got no idea what the feeling means, but following that impulse for him in touch with Shiho (he's pretty sure) and surprised their enemy, and he's more than ready to YOLO a tactic he doesn't understand on instinct. He'll figure out what he has to do there when he gets there.
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Kaoru snarls at the normal-looking man in his black uniform, no longer relying on his disembodied voice, his words echoing as every doppelganger speaks at once. "Don't think you scare me, you're nothing but some kids, thinking you're so great! Thinking you're so powerful! You're nothing, nothing and once the Facility is done with you, your little friend will be wishing we'd finished her off here too-"
His body goes flying at the wall as Kaoru points at him then with a blue glow courtesy of Aoi, he goes straight through it, his legs the only thing still showing as he kicks madly at the air. Another doppelganger is wrapped up in tendrils of smoke, the air slowly choking him out. There's a flash of fire from Kagari's side as he fights another doppelganger.
And Tetsuo is flung at exactly where he'd indicated, the weightlessness of psychokinesis coupling with the blue glow of Aoi's teleportation briefly adjusting his position so he's launched to where he'd pointed and then another glow: faintly purple and coming from what looks like a crack in the very air itself. A hand reaches out from it with a familiar bracelet around its wrist, grasping even as the crack seems to be trying to close.
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He's startled to see that bizarre split in the air in front of him, as if something had stretched it too tight. Before he's fully aware of what he's doing, he grasps at that hand with his, and kicks out to try and jam his foot into the crack followed by his other hand, straining to try and pull it open wider. He really has no idea if there's even anything there he can push against, but he's damned well going to try with all his might if he gets any kind of purchase at all. At the moment, he's ready (at least in spirit) to rip the world in half if that's what it takes.
"Shichan?! Khh, c'mon, I ain't lettin'ya go fer nothin'!"
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In reply, her hand grips tighter onto his. She braces her feet against the space as best she can and pushes too, another hand emerging and scrabbling around for purchase until she feels another pull. Doppelgangers are disappearing into dust as they're dispatched, weakening his ability to fight and backing him into a corner. He had to have something to show for this, he had to... because he knows the price for failure.
So he pulls at the pocket dimension, determined to take at least something back, to do some damage. But Tetsuo, as he's kicking around at the air will feel something to push against, a fine but solid mist under the soles of his shoes courtesy of Kagari's girlfriend as Kagari himself throws a wave of fire at another doppelganger. The invisible hand that was Kaoru's psychokinesis is replaced by two very real hands as Kaoru grabs onto him and starts to pull too.
"Give, Shiho, back!!!!"
Without hesitating, Aoi teleports one of the heavy planters through the esper's head, the weight of it sudden and painful on his shoulders thanks to having to support an extra load of weight. Unbalanced, he flails and the pocket dimension stops zipping around, Shiho's head emerging until with a sudden pop of air she's launched out and into Tetsuo's arms with a gasp, discombobulated at the sudden light and sounds.
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"Rrgh!! No ya--fuckin' don't!"
Shiho can feel him wobble a little as he struggles against the esper's increasingly desperate attempts to withdraw his pocket dimension, but the addition of Kaoru grabbing on as well helps him keep stable until the esper's concentration slips and Shiho suddenly pops out of the air. He yelps with surprise, catching her in his arms and cushioning her as she bowls him over, landing with a grunt.
"Guh! F-fuck... Shichan..?! You--you okay?!"
One arm stays wrapped around her, his other hand reaching up to brush her hair back to he can get a look at her and make sure she looks okay, his head still a whirling tumult of worry, relief, and anger.
who has opposable thumbs and posts tags before they're done? meeee
Shiho's grip doesn't loosen even as she pops back into the real world, her world. Made all the more real and hers at the feeling of his arms around her and the comforting presence of his thoughts, of dizzying relief and worry and anger.
It's well-known by this point that the first thing Shiho always does when she's back from a long mission is to go to Tetsuo's place. He was home, a reminder of everything she had to lose and everything she had waiting for her once the world was safe. She takes a breath and feels herself tearing up out of relief that she was back here with him, out of worry that she'd caused him any amount of anxiety. She nods, trying not to sniffle as she turns to press a kiss to the palm of his hand before pressing her hand over his.
She doesn't look hurt, but definitely looks much less put-together than she normally does, her hat askew, hair messy and her throat dry because she'd conserved what water she had.
Kaoru is on them in a matter of moments, throwing herself at Shiho too so she can hug her for however briefly before with another wave of her hand she sends a clone coming to help the esper into the wall with a thud loud enough that the wall itself cracks. But the clones themselves don't seem to have as much substance anymore, not with the main body struggling on the floor with a flower pot teleported onto his head. He wriggles on the floor, flailing and pushing as the clones start to wink out of existence.
almost as eager for your tags as i am <3
"Tsch... looks like you guys got a handle on this asshole."
Sorry for the lateness!! <3333
And that's all the warning they get before Aoi is tackling the three of them in order to pull Shiho into a hug as well.
Kagari walks up now that the last of the clones has disappeared, "Yeah, we'll hand them over to the authorities after this."
no worries at all ever <3
"Geh?! E-.. aheheh..."
Despite the urge to be greedy with Shiho and keep holding her tightly to him, he reluctantly loosens his hold enough for her friends to get their hugs in without him getting in the way. That reminder of how many people she has watching her back and protecting her who obviously care deeply for her is reassuring, as well, especially since they definitely have the means to back it up when needed. One arm stays loosely curled around her, though, unless she pulls away from him, the other hand raised to ruffle his hair as he glances over to Kagari.
"Eh..? ...yeah, guess that's th'way, ain't it..."
He doesn't exactly adore the idea of having to trust in the authorities to handle this sort of thing, especially when he's pretty sure some "authorities" are tangled up with the badguys, but he doesn't really have a better idea of what Shiho and her friends could do. Running their own esper prison or whatever else would probably be a huge mess and terrible in ways he hasn't really thought through.
"...is, uh... ev'rybody else a'right?"
He takes a second to sit up a little more and look around. Now that Shiho's safe, he can remember that, oh yeah, other people exist and may have been in danger or something.