1893/Feels like burning

Feels like burning
Date of Scene:	01 September 2016
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown
Synopsis:	A youma managed to catch Alex, Naru and Yuzuki outside a coffee shop, much to Alexis' confusion, Naru's irriation and Yuzuki's quick dispatching of the poor feeb coffee youma. What a waste of coffee.
Cast of Characters:	Naru Osaka, Yuzuki Amemori, Alexis Raskoph

---

Naru Osaka has posed:
It is a beautiful late summer afternoon. The sky is blue, the clouds are poofy and white, the temperature is warm without being hot, and the breeze holds comfortable temperatures rather than just more steamy summer tempertures. School break is still in progress, making sure that there's plenty of people out and about enjoying the weather, even downtown.

Naru turns to walk backwards a few steps, sending a bright grin to Alexis as the pair walk. "It's not /that/ far, it is not worth trying to find a parking spot downtown just to go to the coffee shop. The walk isn't going to kill you." Her tone is affectionate, teasing as she laughs.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori is already at the coffee shop, mostly hunting down more caffeine, she looks like she's pulled an all nighter and guessing by the number of cups set out to her side, she's been here long enough to go through at least 3 cups of the stuff. There's also a few crumpled wrappers around her laptop at the table there in the corner too.

At least she doesn't have her music up loud or anything, so that she can hear people walking about, which she checks on regularly. Definitely to that slightly jumpy level of tiredness

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"It's not that I have a problem with walking," protests Alex in a grumble while he follows along after Naru -- and for once, he's actually wearing his brown leather jacket properly instead of wrapping it around his waist, since it's not *that* hot today. His hands still go sticking into the pockets of his jeans instead, though. "...I just really like my bike..." he goes on grumbling further, and just barely resists the temptation to stick his tongue out at Naru.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"If we're being honest, I really like your bike /too/." Naru has to admit with a grin as she turns to walk forwards again, as not to trip and land on her butt.

As predicted, today is not the day for sleeveless, fortunately it's cool enough not to die in the warm of being covered up.

The coffee shop is a new one, all hipster and funky and a little bit out of place in the downtown. It's tucked away down a side street, and it's onto that quiet side street that they turn. It's probably not coincidence that another somewhat shuffly figure turns down that side street as well, following the pair of teens. Not /too/ close yet, but gaining on them.

"Hey neat, we're being followed." Naru comments quietly to Alexis, her voice more resigned than distraught.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"I could have probably just parked it by the wall or something, honestly, it's not a *car*," Alex goes on in his further insistence, indignant pain in the ass that he is.

"Eh?" Since Naru's pointed it out, he shifts his head sidewards, jst far enough in an angle that he can peek back over his shoulder at the figure down there, but... he doesn't seem particularly concerned. "..Or just going the same way," he suggests. "You know. To get coffee."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"He could be." Naru agrees with a little nod. "But perhaps as someone who gets mugged as much as I do, I really /really/ doubt it." She leaves aside the comments about Alex's bike for the moment, her attention upon the scruffy guy.

To a mundane eye, he probably looks like a homeless guy. To a magical eye, today's youma fits in well with the coffee theme, dark energy spitting out like black coffee from a vaguely humanoid creature. To any eye, it is headed straight for Alexis and Naru, rather than heading for the coffee shop. Arms outstretched, trying to grab for Naru.

Naru turns and pauses just next to the coffee shop window which is when Today's Youma decides to make a grab for her. She darts back away and calls out to Alex. "Called it! Don't let it .. him.. grab you!"

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori drinks the last dregs of her drink, whatever unholy concoction it may be. She's about to stand up and head for yet more when something else catches her attention. THat doesn't look right at all. Snapping her laptop shut and flipping the lock, she carries it outside with her. She waves to Naru and Alexis, calling out, "Hey you two, how surprised to see you here." as the door closes behind her she adds, "Hey it's kind of busy in there, do you two want to go down the street, see if there's another one?"

She's gone from watching the two mundanes and is instead watching the strange guy, even as she walks to put herself between them and h-... it. "How's your nose Raskoph- your art Osaka-san?"

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
Alex is... Much less alarmed than he should be. Perhaps it can be justified by him being woefully unaware of what is *actually* going on, the poor mundie. Instead, he sighs out when he tosses a look back to the scruffy figure again and mutters in a tone more of annoyance, "So it's like *that*."

The first bit of surprise that hits him for this particular encounter comes mostly in the form of Yuzuki, really, when he pivots himself around with the initial intention to face the man/thing instead. That particular surprise is pushed away quickly when he stomps forward and goes past the girl with an actual apologetic murmur of "Excuse me a second," and...

...He makes to throw a punch at the man. Clearly he is not very good at listening to Naru in this particular occasion. His general state might speak of more nonchallance, but the punch itself isn't any limpwristed thing in spite of it -- it's a sharp motion that has his whole body twisting to send his fist right for the person-secretly-youma's face.

This is probably an IMMENSELY BAD IDEA.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Art is going great!" Naru replies even as she moves around Yuzuki just a bit, clearly planning on not being a passive observer in this confrontation. "Other than some unexpected colour quirks, which are keeping things interesting."

To say that a lack of orange is an 'unexpected colour quirk' is one way of putting it.

This is not the world's most effective youma, and it feels as if it is in a target rich environment. It hadn't really banked on getting smacked in the face by one of those targets, and it stumbles back as Alex punches it.

Punching /people/ shouldn't feel vaguely like burning, but somehow.. kinda like burning. Must be some sort of skin condition thing.

Naru isn't about to let Alex get the only shot in, but she at least has some inkling on what it might take to knock this one down, and she aims a kick at it's legs, trying to knock it flat. "Dude. I am getting super sick of this, I'm just /saying/." Naru is informing the youma.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori is stepped around and is rightly confused as both of them attack the strange leaking guy. "Hey you two, back over here, he's leaking something. Wash your hands and let's go!" Sure she's sure there's something off about him, but she doesn't know they can't see the weird part!

She walks over to catch up to them, trying to maintain the idea of being calm. Just calm. Then Alexis punches him and Naru tries to sweep his legs. "H-hey don't do that!" as she tries to get over to the two of them. She doesn't deck the guy yet because they're crowding him and... she kind of wants an excuse to duck away if it goes bad enough.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"...Huh?" Alex takes half a step back after bashing the thing (that he still thinks is jsut some normal creepoid human) in the face, and peers down at the fist guilty of the act -- all with his face twitching ever-so-slightly.

Why does it feel like he just punched a lit stove?

"What?" He goes on to toss to Yuzu's way, then, all while he's reaching his hand to grab Naru's shoulder in an effort to urge her back away from the thing (mostly because he's convinced from the stumble that the guy's gotten more he was expecting to have to handle in human standards). "Sure, he's *gonna* leak blood if he tries some shit again, but... I guess he kinda looks like he didn't shower."

Ignorance is so not a bliss in this case.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Yeah. I have not had terribly good luck with just walking away. That just means I get followed for the rest of the day and that sucks /more/." Naru notes to Yuzuki and then glances to Alex as she notes him looking at his hand. "You okay?"

The tug on her shoulder gets a shake of her head from Naru and she shakes it off gently to turn back to the dude.

Coffee Youma does seem fairly determined to get back up and make another grab for Naru and gets kicked for its troubles, keeping his hands away from landing on her.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori looks at Naru in a very confused manner, "What do you mean followed all day?" Moving back for now to keep an eye on the surrounding area, mostly because two teens attacking a homeless guy, the kind that aren't supposed to exist, might look bad with witnesses. "So Osaka-san, what exactly are you planning to do, can you even-" she frowns, how does she phrase it anyway?

"Come on, you two go on ahead, I'll call the police and we'll get your creepy guy thing taken care of." No witnesses, better right?

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
Alex gives Naru an equally *confused* look, all of a sudden. MAybe this is just not how he expected *her* to be reacting, of all people.

He might match the category of a street thug way more often than he would like to admit, but apparently, he's not *entirely* into beating up people with prejudice.

"Hey, enough!" He barks out, and snaps his hand onto NAru's arm, grabbing on and using the limb as leverage to forcefully yank the girl back away from the 'homeless man' and to where she will have at least him in between her and her current target. "You don't need to start breaking bones. That ain't you." Apparently he has a very specific image of NAru in his head, but nevermind that for now. "He should get the message already. Yuzu..." He doesn't really look to the other girl, but he waves his hand to her. "Do it. You--" And the waving hand turns down to point at Mister Grabbyhands. "Sit down. I *really* don't want to have to explain to the cops why you're barely breathing when they get here." Eyesquint.

This tactic of intimidation might work with Alex when it comes to your typical street fights. Unfortunately, the main flaw in his plan here is that this *isn't one of those*.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I don't know." Naru answers Yuzuki's question that she hasn't asked. "I hope so. And yes. Followed all day. Which I tried one day, to see if it seriously would follow me all day. /All day/. Creepiest and lamest and longest game of tag /ever/."

Fortunately the fight, such as it might be, has shuffled and slid away from the coffee shop and the windows and the witnesses and into a slightly quieter part of the street. To provide confusion and questions for all three of them (the youma isn't confused, it knows what it wants.)

Naru is yanked back out of the fight, put behind Alex and she erks softly. "No no no.. bad.." She reaches to try and further yank him back out of the path of Mister Burny Grabbyhands.

There is probably some sort of psychological trauma going on with Mister Grabbyhands. Cause while Alexis' request is very sensible, and reasonable and pragmatic really, Mister Burny Coffeegrabbyhands turns fairly dead looking expression onto Alex and makes a grab for him instead, reaching a hand that feels more like hot coffee than a normal touch for the admonishing Alex. That feeling, that's not a good feeling. That feeling of energy being stolen is never much fun even when you're expecting it, and less fun when you're not.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori puts her hand to her forehead and mutters to herself, "Every day, just a little weirder." She tries once again and says, "Well, if it's a creepy stalker, you two hurry along, I'll distract him, I run enough. Just uh- get around the corner there, keep going and call the police or something."

Then Alex and Naru switch places and she please, "No seriously you two, let me handle it." She's trying to keep it somewhat easy going, since frankly if the thing was getting beaten up by those two, she doesn't expect it to take too long, even as new as she is.

Then Alex is grabbed. She steps past him and tries to shove/kick the youma away from Alex while he's grabbed.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"Look--" Instead of being swayed by Naru's yanking, Alex stands his ground like a stubborn idiot and just looks back over his shoulder at the girl. "Don't worry, I can--"

THis is his second horrid mistake. Not paying attention to the opponent. HE realizes it immediately when a hand comes grabbing at him, and albeit his instincts immediately set his attention back there, it's already too late.

The german boy's eyes snap wide open, and a weak sound of whimpered surprise whines somewhere deep within his throat. His instincts still work enough even then to defy the unfamiliar, horrible sensation of life energy draining away to feebly reach a single hand towards the youma...

...And thankfully for all involved Yuzu pushes in to intervene before it's too late. This leaves Alex stumbling back with wobbling, weak steps, and for just a split moment, it seems threateningly like he's about to fall over backwards and onto NAru. A hand goes to the spot where he'd been grabbed during that same stumbling motion. Fingers dig into the fabric of his clothing, and clutch at the burning skin below in confusion.

"...Wha...?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
Not paying attention to the enemy is a classic mistake.

Yuzu kicks the youma away and it lurches back away from Alex and Naru, its attention settling on that attacker and ignoring the other two for the moment. It looks a bit perkier, not that it managed to take all that much energy out of Alex, but enough to make it a little more interesting for Yuzu.

Although honestly, if it was getting beaten up by Naru and Alex, it really isn't much to write home about.

"No no no!" Naru pulls on Alex to send him in her direciton and tries to ensure he doesn't fall, taking a few steps away from the youma and Yuzu and hopefully bringing Alex with her. "I know." She replies to him at the whimper. "It's a horrible feeling. I'm so sorry." She tries to draw him away, to get a look at his hand and keep his attention on her and not on Yuzu and the youma. "Let me see?"

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori just looks aggravated as she looks back over her shoulder for a moment, listening between the two. Naru's comment and attempt to shift the focus gets a wry smile from her. "Maybe we need some kind of way to just stomp these small ones out." Since seriously, these two were giving it trouble. Still, it needs to be taken down!

She reaches out, grasping at something only she can see and whispers, "Grasp the cord of fate!" Trying to keep it low enough that Alexis doesn't notice it, but she's pretty sure she's out of luck. Better than trying to vainly keep pushing them away. The red cord surrounds her in a whirlwind of cord, then fades away as though blown by wind, leaving a heavily armored girl in samurai armor, grey for the time being and weilding a rather large sword, dark in color. Gesturing at the Youma, she grins and says, "Ready then?" Before lashing out with a savage overhead swing with the blade.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"Ah..." Alex is wholly confused in his stupor, more or less. Any other situation, he might try to push away from Naru's tugging and attention and try to focus on the de facto opponent present here instead, but... Well.

So ultimately, the German ends up slumping against a wall after Naru's directing pulls. "...What?" He asks of her, but he doesn't stop fher rom takin his hand to study it over -- which, really, is mostly because he doesn't have the mind to stop her at the moment. The sounds nearby caused by Yuzu register SOMEWHERE in his head, too, but at least in the immediate moment they are foregone completely.

"Why...?" HE manages to murmurs quietly, in question. "...Why is it burning?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru Osakaaru puts herself between Alex and Yuzuki, to be able at least listen closely to what's going on over there while she's looking at Alexis' hand, mostly as an excuse to keep a hold of him. "I'm not sure why it's burning. Probably some sort of thing he's got on his skin. He's a creeper, who knows what weird stuff he's done." She tells him, quietly, close to ensure that he doesn't slump right off the wall. All 155 cm of her, keeping him upright. Totally working out here.

"Caffeine and sugar helps." Naru explains to him. "I've got some energy gels in my bag." Because of course she does.

The youma is so not prepared for Yuzuki in armour with a giant sword. It makes a lunge for her, but there is little it can do in the face of tht overhead swing but collapse into heap of steamy puddle.

Seriously feeb youma.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori actually manages to look disappointed as her sword kind of smashes it into goo. She nudges the goo with her foot a few times, huffs in aggravation and looks around quickly for any witnesses before she slams her sword into the ground and drops the henshin, switching from a grey armored samurai (It's supposed to be orange!!!) and resumes looking like a sleepy caffeine addled teen. "You two okay?" she asks, walking over to the two of them, acting like nothing at all happened. Nothing at all.

The commentary about what helps gets a worried look from her. "What happened? Are you going to be okay?" sidelong to Naru, "That used to that?"

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"...What?" Alex repeats over Naru's offered explanation. For just a few seconds, he... seems not very convinced, somehow, but fortunately he doesn't go on to actually *question* it.

"I... don't know..." he murmurs quietly back to Yuzu, without even looking to her yet. "He did something. I... I think I'm okay, I just..." His weight shifts back further against the wall. "...I think I want to sit down for a minute if that's okay." Incidentally, his hand is being held out to Naru's general direction, palm up. Silent request for the offered fudz.

While he's letting himself slump downwards along the wall, his gaze eventually turns to look past Yuzu, with a slow blink, and then up over to Yuzu herself. "What... happened to the guy?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Yeah." Naru nods with a touch of rueful at the question about just how used to getting drained she is. A quick dig into her bag to be able to offer the gummies that /usually/ are sold to long distance athletes for quick energy over to Alex. Youma energy drain is kinda like marathon running, right?

"I'm fine. He barely touched me." Naru doesn't add that she's been drained enough that she doesn't even really /notice/ it for a little while. "Caffeine helps too." She pauses a moment and then adds, thinking back to some of her early drains. "So does sleep, ultimately. And food. Real food."

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori leans against the wall and chooses not to say anything about the draining, she actually has no idea about any of it to be honest. Arms crossed, she looks at Naru and says, "Really though, he'll be fine right? He's broken a nose already, if we need to rubber pad him out..."

His question, that gets a shrug, "He ran off after spilling something. You can see the puddle there- don't touch it. Probably cause chemical burns."

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"...Really...?" Alex lets out quietly, and blinks his eyes in confusion. Somehow Yuzu's explanation seems a little odd, too, but he elects not to question things right now. Instead, he snaps the gummy thing given by Naru into his mouth to chew and swallow down.

"...I'm not *that* bad," he insists indignantly at Yuzu then, and sticks his tongue out. Well. He's getting back into alright spirits at least. "I just... got caught by surprise, I guess. I coulda still beat him down." He actually puffs his chest out briefly. I am man, hear me roar, et cetera.

Aaaand then he turns his eyes down to hihs hand. The one held by Naru. Still. "Um." His lips curve into a sheepish smile. "...So did you plan to keep that hand to yourself or...?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Really. He'll be fine." Naru is confident on this point, and while she can't precisely detail out the level of authority she brings to energy drain recovery, her voice holds no doubts.

Alex proves her point by being all Alex again and she snorts softly. "See? He'll be fine."

Naru glances to the hand she's still claimed and then grins. "Yep. Keeping it. You don't mind, right? I could /totally/ use a spare when I'm drawing and stuff." She snickers softly and then sighs with a full degree of melodrama. "I /suppose/ I could be generous and let you have your hand back." She doesn't manage to keep a straight face, her teasing trying to distract from the general post fight concern.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori sighs and rests her head against the building and asks, "So- I'm not familiar with goo leaking weirdos that leave chemical burns Osaka-san, what do you know about them, since you seem to know something?" She smiles over, arms crossed.

To Alexis, she shakes her head and leans forward, "You look like you've been run through a wringer Alexis, it is that bad. Stop getting hurt, just run away next time when someone tells you!"

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"You know, I might have to start talking about some rent fees for that hand," Alex goes on continuing the back-and-forth teasing with a rise of his brows in amusement.

But, it's Yuzu who ends up taking most of his attention there. He tips his head up to look right at her, and for just a moment, his brows shift down into a faint frown."Hurt happens. I can sleep it off. Besides..." His free arm shifts to pressing onto the wall behind him, to help him start pushing up onto his feet. "...What would it say about me if I just sat back and watched when some creep came at a friend? That ain't me."

He wobbles ever-so-slightly when he does manage to stand up, but sheer stubborness alone keeps him from falling over. "...Was he seriously dripping that much? From his nose or something?" He asks then, in genuine confusion. "...Was that what burned me?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I'm sure we can work out some sort of time share arrangment." Naru comments with a smirk. "Cause I mean, I'm not silly enough to try and borrow it when you're riding, cause that totally needs two hands."

"He was a weirdo creep." Naru replies to Alex with a nod. "Yeah, some sort of chemical I think. It doesn't look too bad at least."

There's a soft erm to Yuzuki and a rueful look. "There are a lot of creepy weirdos who apparently find me /fascinating/ and I get followed a lot. I spend a lot of time feeling much like Alex does, or I did before I got used to it a bit more."

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori just shakes her head and says, "Why do I get the feeling if it had been a boy you wouldn't have jumped so quick hm?" She looks to Naru while asking, "What do you think that heroism all for the excuse to hold your hand?"

The chemical, "It may have been a cleaner or something. Or oil? I don't know, just uh, don't touch it right?"

Finally she sighs and asks Naru, "Tasers don't work I'm assuming? Call me if something tries to be weird around you again." Even if it was disappointingly weak. All that effort to keep the two safe and she probably could have helped them just stomp on it.

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
"...You've had this happen to you before? People who... I dunno, secrete toxics are *common* here?" Things are not getting any less confusing for Alex. Definitely more worrisome. "...Is this like an epidemic? Should I go see a doctor?"

However, in an instant, all of that goes away from Alex's expression, and he turns a faintly-frowning look Yuzu's way. "Are you done insulting me like you actually know me, now?" He pushes away from the wall, then, and even snaps his hand awayw from Naru's in favor of sticking both into his pockets. "Whatever. Not like I was expecting anything anyway." He tosses a glance to Naru and tips his head slightly. "You weren't kidding about the gangers. ...Look after yourself. I should... probably go sit down at home. Or the doctor's. I'll come get my bike later." Since actually driving it might not be the best idea right now.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Technically, I was holding his hand, rather than the other way around." Naru points out almost absently. Technically correct is the best kind of correct!

"Sometimes I can out run them, sometimes I phone a friend. I'm pretty resilient, and I have a lot of friends who keep an eye on me cause I'm a creeper magnet." Naru gives a little shrug and then smiles a touch to Yuzuki. "But thank you. I appreciate the offer. I'm sorry that Alex got snagged too, though, it really does suck."

Naru takes the few steps over to walk with Alexis. "If you dont' feel better by the morning, then go to the doctor. I'll walk with you."

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori watches Alexis and says flatly, "Oh stop it, this is the first time you haven't tried to stammer your way out of it when we teased you. Well, we as in myself and Haru, not Osaka-san who is much more likely to not enjoy a bit of teasing."

Looking to Naru, she shrugs and says, "What can I say, he took the teasing before better." Though maybe she had pricked his pride a bit after today. Oops. "Do they usually come in groups Osaka or should you two be alright on your own?" What, Naru knows why she's asking even if Alex doesn't

Alexis Raskoph has posed:
Alex's foot stomps down to stop his own steps. ...Which actually *almost* results in him wobbling over again, but he somehow returns his balance back to normal. "Teasing," he repeats, and tosses a *look* at Yuzu. "There's teasing and then there's insulting my integrity as a person. Take a guess which one I take worse." His nose wrinkles once, and he turns to head out of the alleyway all over again, all with an insistance of "I'll be fine," to Naru. "You're probably better off walking with her right now in case that creep comes around again."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"If he was going to have buddies, we'd know already." Naru replies with a little shake of her head as she replies to both of them and adds after a moment. "He won't come back today, that I can say for certain."

He wont' come back at all, but that's covered by 'not today'. Technically correct.

"Thanks for the back up, Yuzuki." Naru comments quickly to her as she hurries after Alex to come up alongside him, to be /that/ kind of pain in the arse friend who will stalk him home if she has to.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori calls out to Alexis, "There was no insult to your integrity-" well there was, but that's not how it was intended. Oops again. "Take a deep breath and let Osaka-san walk you home before you pass out. Don't let teasing upset her." Then she waves to Naru and says, "Sorry about that, didn't think- too tired. Too bad that thing wasn't d- a good wakeup."