Kokurai's Story

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Suki felt sick to her stomach. She always felt sick to her stomach when they had to drain the excess charge from her body. She felt weak and a little shaky as she was given a granola bar to eat. She sat there, her hands shaking, and took bites out of it. It wasn't anything fancy or delicious. It was specially designed for the alloys to eat after they've had testing sessions and need a boost. She rather hated the bland bars but it took the shakes away quicker than anything else.

"Very good Suki, you did well today." The lab tech smiled at her and she merely nodded. Her face was a bit green as the nausea swam through her body. "That's all I have for you, but Dr. Tadoshi wants you to meet him in observation once you're finished." She nodded to the granola bar and Suki began to take slower bites. Meeting with Dr. Tadoshi was never a good thing. The first time she had ever really interacted with him was when he had signed off on the deprivation experiment.

A chill ran down her spine. She remembered that little black box. It felt like her coffin. She felt her heart begin to skitter in her chest at being forced into that small black space again.

"Hurry Suki, he won't be happy if you're late."

"I know Dr. Kashi, I'm going." She hopped down from the seat. She felt better and a smile danced up to her face. She walked towards the door and tapped the outlet socket and felt the energy pulse into her body. The lights flickered and one sparked.

"SUKI!" Dr. Kashi reprimanded harshly but all he got in response was giggles as Suki then broke into a run and darted down the hall.

Suki hated sitting still. She loved to move. She felt the energy ripple through her blood and it invigorated her. She continued to dash forward, nearly careening into a lab cart in the hall, and finally made it to the observation win of the laboratory. She calmed herself enough so her heart wasn't skipping like a humming bird in her chest.

She reached for the door, the bubbly smile on her face.





Dr. Tadoshi looked up as Suki entered the room a little breathless. The girl never seemed to sit still. She did everything with an insane amount of energy. He knew she had probably ran the whole way there. "Come in, sit down Suki," he gestured to the seat next to Hiro.

Dr. Tadoshi had been reading some stats early in the week. An anomaly had cropped up and it had risen new questions. Suki and Hiro's parentage was classified. He doubted they knew that they were siblings. Kokurai had figured it out by chance and it was a bit of an annoyance since the first gen photo liked to stick his nose in business it didn't belong.

"I've been running your numbers." He addressed the two alloys sitting before him. "We want to run simultaneous tests on you two." He looked between them. Both Hiro and Suki had wicked tempers on them. It seemed to be a common trait among pyros and photos. He wanted to see how their abilities would react when pitted against one another.

Before he could get into too many details and get things arranged so they'd be able to get the tests underway, the door burst open and a very irritated and frazzled Kokurai barged in. He still had sensors sticking to parts of his body and it was obvious he had left mid-test.

"Now is not the time for your opinions Kokurai," Dr. Tadoshi used his smooth and calm doctor voice. He discreetly moved his hand over to the little white button. One push of the button and he'd have all three incapacitated. He was not in the mood to deal with three alloys.

Suki felt the spike in her energy as Kokurai forced his way into the room. She couldn't stop the smile from splitting her face to see her friend rush in despite the anger laced in his posture. Whenever the two were around each other it was like a magnetic charge and she loved it. He was the only other one who pulsed with the same energy she did.

Hiro hated being experimented on. At best, he felt woozy afterwards and had to chow down for thirty minutes straight. He didn't like the bland, cardboard "granola" bars they gave them afterwards and refused to touch them, opting instead to eat a lunch he prepared beforehand. As he waited in the office, he busily ate at a bento he snuck in, knowing that it would eventually be confiscated. He ignored Dr. Tadoshi. The bastard was a sadist and he didn't deserve no more acknowledgement beyond the bare minimum he was required to give him. Still, he grinned when Suki entered the room.

"Hey, Suki-chan! You want to eat the rest of my lunch before Tadoshi-teme takes it?" he asked with a grin on his face. Chidishly, he stuck his tongue out at said doctor. He was quite proud to be immature for his age. Still, he turned and winked at Suki. She was cute and he wasn't above flirting with older women, particularly since she looked a bit younger than himself.

As Kokurai entered, he smiled at the guy. Sure, he treated him like a little kid sometimes, but it was nice to have someone always on your side all the time. He was a little like Mori-chan but different somehow. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Perverted? I knew it!!! He spends far too much time at the morgue!!!" Hiro shouted triumphantly.

Kei was a little tired. He had been awake all night reading a series of interesting books about the Anatomy of the human body. He had read it a dozen of times already as new books were quite hard to come by in this facility without specifically requesting one and then hoping that the people in charge were in a good mood. Yet it was always good to freshen up what you had already learned a few days ago. That way it would be easier to remember it later and so he read the books. Forgetting about the time and before Kei knew it, it was morning. He knew this, not because of their rooms having windows or something allowing their mornings to be greeted by sunlight but because he had an alarm clock going off every morning. Confused at it suddenly going off he looked at the clock in a daze. "It's early" He though. Time sure moves fast when you immerse yourself in something. unsurprisingly Kei loved to read so it wasn't that hard for him to fully forget about his surroundings and his situation when he was doing so. He quietly moved from his desk to his clock to turn the alarm off and soon the room was filled with silence instead of an annoying beeping sound originally meant to wake kei up yet instead of waking him up it just interrupted his reading session. Kei didn't see much of a point in going to sleep now. The chances were high he would be interrupted before long anyways. As an alloy at this god forsaken place you could never really know when you were going to be tested on or how. The scientists would just rudely enter your place, not taking into account the time or situation you are in, and declare that you had to come with them to be tested on. It was awful but it didn't take long to get used to. Most likely because Kei had never lived anywhere else then here in this facility. You can't really miss what you haven't experienced yet. Still Kei felt a little sad that he would never live one of those normal lives he read so much about when he was a kid. But there was no use being sad about that now.

With some difficulty due to him being in a wheelchair, Kei started undressing himself. Last night he had made an effort to dress himself into his nightwear thinking that he would go to sleep early for the occasion but that didn't really go as planned once he began reading. Once he was ready undressing himself and stood in front of his mirror he could clearly see the ugly crystal like substances which had been growing around his right arm, shoulder and face. It was not a welcoming sight and it was only one of the lesser symptoms of his dire illness. He sometimes wondered how long he still had. Probably not that long. He had already reached the age of 18. An age most other Aeros would dream of achieving as they usually barely made it into their 17s. It quickly made him the oldest Aero currently alive but for how long the alive part was going to be was still something to be questioned.

Kei picked his clothes out of his closet. A black coat, red scarf, white t-shirt and black pants. Those were the clothes he was going with today. With some difficulty he finally completed dressing himself. Even though he actually can move without using his wheelchair, which would make it a lot easier for him to get dressed, it was far too exhausting and on top of that no one actually knew that he could do that. Well actually, no one knew except for one person. Dashure. As his training partner Kei was forced to occasionally get out of his wheelchair if they seriously wanted to achieve something in these sessions. But no one else knew and Kei wanted it to stay that way for as long as possible. Not only does it take far too much energy but he also wants to keep as much of his real power a secret from the scientists as possible. At this moment of time the scientists see Kei as a weak person ready to drop dead any moment now. In the official tests Kei makes an effort to only use a small amount of his power which quickly led to a huge drop of actual tests he was forced to go through. Yet they were still interested in Kei because of his age. Maybe he could be key in the improvement of an Aeros life expectancy and by extension an advancement in the scientists research. Kei doubted that however. He just thought he was 'lucky' (If it was any luck at all) enough to have somehow survived until now.

The door of his room opened slowly as kei used his wind powers to open it. Theoretically he could just open it like any normal person and use his hands but even Kei liked the ease of using his powers for trivial tasks. It was just so much easier. He made his way outside and before long the screeching sound of his old wheelchair could be heard throughout the corridor. Maybe Kei should fill in a request form for some oil to get rid of the horrible sounds this old wheelchair made whenever Kei tried to move but he doubted he would actually get some as oil could be used in a lot of other ways and with there being so many Pyros present around here it could quickly turn dangerous for the scientists. In that case he should just go and ask for a better wheelchair but even that could take some time. The scientists weren't particularly eager to fulfill one of their test subjects requests. Well not that it mattered anyways. Kei would just have to deal with it like he always did.

Kei slowly moved through the corridor heading for the dinning area. It was a little early but he was already heading for breakfast. At least some way to replenish some of his energy. Kei usually skipped breakfast as he usually wasn't that hungry in the morning but today was different. He hadn't closed an eye and had pulled an all nighter which caused him to be quite tired. He had to get a bit of energy somehow so he strategically made the decision to force himself some breakfast. Once he made his way inside he was greeted with the usual tasteless rations. Like you could guess they didn't really taste like anything and were quite hard to eat actually because of their hardness but they did serve the purpose of replenishing energy. Kei quickly took some food of the shelves and made way to one of the tables so he could start eating. The dinning room was empty. Maybe it was still to early for the others to eat. He didn't really mind though. Kei loved the silence. It helped him relax and made the perfect scenario to start reading and studying up on something again. For this reason alone Kei always had a book on him. Luckily his coat pockets were big enough to actually carry a big book around. He swiftly took hold of the one he had prepared today. 'A study on vacuums and the void' was its tittle. "This would surely prove to be an interesting read" Kei thought while he opened the book to start another of his reading sessions occasionally eating some of the foor he had placed on the table.

Time passed and before long the dinning room was filled with other figures. Kei hadn't realized he had been reading for so long. His food had grown cold and the place was getting noisy. He sighed and put the book away before he disposed of his leftover food in one of the trash bins. "Well I guess it's time to get out of here" he thought while he swiftly made his way to the exit of the dinning room. On the way there he awkwardly had to maneuver around the people waiting in line for some food. Being in a wheelchair made it awkward for him to constantly ask people to get out of his way. It wasn't easy for Kei to move through a crowd like this. nonetheless it was yet another thing he had grown used to. Yet another one of the many annoyances his illness contributed to. Kei finally reached the exit.

Suddenly what seemed like a mad-man with broken sensors attached to his face dashed through the hallway. It was one of the older Alloys. It surely was a strange sight to suddenly see someone like him dash away as if his life depended on it. Kei looked perplexed before deciding he should not think to much of it yet. There was bound to be some talk about this circling around the scientists so Kei was sure he would find the reason for this strange occurrence once he would listen in on the small talk of the scientists during one of his own tests. With this in mind Kei settled with going to the common room. Even though it could be quite noisy there and it would take its toll on Kei's concentration when he tried to read, there were a few people he knew in this facility and it could never hurt to go and have a friendly conversation with one of them. Maybe he could even get to know someone else. You could never know.

As Kei advanced inside the common room he made his way to his usual spot. A small table in one of the corners of the room. That's where you could usually find Kei when he was in the common room. It was a little isolated and one of the better places in the room to start reading. There was also a very small bookshelf present there with books taken out of the public library of this facility. It had a few interesting titles but due to Kei's reading habits he had mostly read all of them already. Oh well nothing you can do about that. Kei took the book he had been carrying around out of his pocket once again and continued reading from where he left off in the dining room.

Dashure was a bit more tired than usual today. He blamed it on the scientists trying to push him too hard. He didn't mind the experiments when they related to his powers and exceeding limitations since he got to learn more about his abilities and move past previous expectations. It came with a cost however. He didn't have the stamina of the other alloys though he had worked on building it. He and Kei often practiced together after all. He had improved remarkably but once he had reached the end of his built up stamina, he began to fade just as he had that morning. The scientists had been asking him to build up a tornado in the special wind room and he had gotten up the speed of the wind to 45 mph but when asked to maintain it, he had been able to hold it for maybe 4 minutes before his body had started to shake. He had tried to keep it up but a sharp pain had spiked through him, dropping him to his knees in a shaking heap. Blood had started to drip down from his nose, a migraine that he was sure would split his head, following it. The researchers had quickly brought him back to his room to let him rest with a portable heart monitor to check on him, just in case.

Dashure lay in his bed, sightless eyes closed. He had managed to sleep for about an hour before he woke but he still didn't want to get up. His whole body felt bruised as if he had been run over by a big-rig truck. Moving sent pain through him so he found it better to just lay still. It made him a bit sad. It meant that he couldn't get up and hang around the others too much today. He would be confined to his bedroom based on his fatigue. He had wanted to see how Kei was doing but he didn't think that was an option today unless Kei visited but he didn't think Kei would. He sighed softly to himself and very slowly rolled onto his right side to face the door. All throughout the movement he groaned and curled up. He buried his face in the pillow and willed himself to go back to sleep where there was no more pain.

That didn't last for much longer however. He heard Raelyn's secret knock and he smiled lightly. She had come by after all. He had wondered if she was detained somewhere since she wasn't on time today. She heard a thump and then Raelyn talking. He opened his eyes and stared blankly in the direction of the door. Oh, Griswald was here to see him to. That made him feel a little better. He did like seeing the two of them even if sometimes he was quite sour with them. He loved them both dearly. He closed his eyes again and listened for a moment.

"Raelyn, you're late," he called out though he wasn't actually angry with her. He just liked to tease her when she wasn't on time. "I hear you both out there. Are you going to come in and say hi or just admirer my door all day? I am a very busy person after all. I am going to be laying her all day."

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"Now is the perfect time for me to voice my opinions," Kokurai growled. "I will not let you do to them what you did to me, you sadistic fuck." Kokurai would probably do well to curb his tongue but he couldn't help himself. He was in frantic papa-bear mode and he didn't have much of a filter beforehand anyway. His hand turned into fists and he glanced at his children. They didn't look harmed just yet. That was good. That meant that maybe he could actually save them from this. If he got Dr. Tadoshi mad enough, he would be exhausted and perhaps post-pone the testing to deal with him instead. One could only hope. He knew that Tadoshi wasn't often flustered by his antics but maybe he could find a way to bargain with him. Dr. Tadoshi knew that Kokurai never gave anything up for free so maybe that was his key.

Kokurai started to gather up his energy then, a pale blue glow rising around his body and electrified the air but he didn't unleash it. He couldn't exactly help the surge of energy since it was reacting to his emotions. He knew the doctor could press that little switch and all three of them and any other alloy in the near vicinity would drop to the ground. If he didn't take up an aggressive stance, maybe he could prevent the doctor from pressing that evil button. "All of this is about limits right? That's why you want to test them? I'll submit to it. If you don't test their limitations and fears, I will submit to your damn tests. Every single one of them. I will give you the answers you want and comply like a good little dog. As soon as you turn your attentions to them and try and test their limits, the deal is off and I'll come after your ass. Deal?" he asked quickly.

Dr. Tadoshi always had tried to do tests on him but Kokurai fought him so much that he never had the chance to truly test him. If Kokurai now submitted, there wouldn't be a need to test Hiro or Suki. Especially Suki considering she was just another photo alloy like himself. What more could Dr. Tadoshi get from her that he couldn't get from Kokurai? It seemed like a perfect deal for the bastard. Dr. Tadoshi would still get his answers and Kokurai... Kokurai would be able to keep his children safer for just a bit longer. He wanted their lives to be as stress-less and harmless as possible.

Suki's bubbly smile faltered as Kokurai was lashing out at Dr. Tadoshi. She had never understood why he hated the head doctor so much. Whenever the two were in close vicinity she knew that fire sparked. More often then not it ended in Kokurai incapacitated from the little white button. Suki hated that button. It always split her head and made her skin feel as though it was being separated from her muscles with a branding knife. She hated it. She felt the panic spike through her as she saw Dr. Tadoshi's finger hover over it.

Kokurai's body began to glow a pale blue and she sensed the danger in it. She knew what it meant. It meant Kokurai was close to losing his temper. Her stomach twisted over and she got to her feet. She placed her hand over his arm and felt his angry energy spike up her arm. Her soft glow flashed as their two energies were mixing and she felt his anger settle in her stomach. She was struggling to stay in control now. "Kokurai, please," she pleaded with him but he was already speaking up. Each word he spoke caused the concerned bubble in her chest to grow. Kokurai hated the tests more than any of the other alloys she knew, but that wasn't saying much. She wasn't allowed to interact a whole ton with the other alloys, especially with the air alloys.

"Suki, Hiro, you are dismissed." His words made her frown and she tightened her grip on Kokurai's arm.

"No Kokurai, you shouldn't have to take these tests for us." Her bottom lip was pouting a little. Why was he taking their place so easily? She didn't understand.

"I will not ask again Suki." Dr. Tadoshi's words were firm and left no room for argument. "I will have you removed forcibly, and we both know you hate that." His eyes narrowed and Suki pouted more but acquiesced.

Suki frowned and gave Kokurai one last look before the door was shut behind them. She kicked the ground causing sparks to bounce across the floor and she let out a strangled grunt. "It's not fair! Why is he doing this?" she asked Hiro as they had to walk away. The thought of Kokurai being put through tests meant to push his limits caused anger tears to glisten in her eyes. She turned them down the hall that would lead to the common area.

Dr. Tadoshi's lip twitched as Kokurai was riling up Hiro. This photo alloy was becoming a nuisance and his worth was beginning to dwindle. He was tired of constantly fighting the photo alloy. Kokurai put up road blocks at every turn and this needed to stop. "What I do to them is none of your business Kokurai. You keep thinking you have this right to meddle in their business, but you don't. You hold no claim to them." He knew these words would cut through Kokurai. Suki and Hiro would not understand the underlying meaning. They did not know Kokurai was their biological father. It would do no good for them to have that knowledge. Dr. Tadoshi did not like it when his alloys formed close connections. He didn't mind if they developed relationships, but when they began to borderline love it made things difficult. Kokurai was his prime example. If Kokurai did not know he had sired both Suki and Hiro he would not be such a burden constantly buzzing around.

Kokurai's body began to glow signaling his power was sizzling just under the surface. Dr. Tadoshi touched the white button. He was prepared to press it. Suki shot out of her seat and grabbed Kokurai's arm. Dr. Tadoshi frowned as he watched her aura respond to the other photo. The anger rippled into her and he saw her energy feeding off of Kokurai's. Why wasn't she wearing her gloves? Dr. Tadoshi was poised and waiting. It would take only one false step and he would push this button. He needed to remember to put in her chart for her to wear her gloves again. She had the worst control out of most of the alloys and a hot temper to boot.

Before he had a chance to hit the button Kokurai was offering something he had never even brought close to the table.

Total compliance.

One of the reasons Dr. Tadoshi had wanted to pull Suki into this experiment was to try and uncover the limits of a photo alloy. Kokurai had fought hard against all of the scientists his whole life. It was worse than pulling teeth. Dr. Tadoshi had been pleased when Suki had been born as it meant he had a new subject with far less animosity towards him and the experiments.

Desperation was the key he had been searching for. Desperation would unlock Kokurai.

"Suki, Hiro, you are dismissed." His words were curt and Suki instantly piped up. "I will not ask again Suki. I will have you forcibly removed and we both know you hate that." His eyes flashed dangerously and Suki deflated. One they had left the room he turned his attention back to Kokurai.

There was so much anger in the photo alloy. Dr. Tadoshi knew he could use this anger. He could finally break Kokurai. He was done playing games with the meddlesome subject.

Never before had Dr. Tadoshi been able to see what would happen if he had placed an umbra and photo alloy in the same room. They had an instinctual hatred towards each other and avoided interacting at all costs.

Kinjuro.

Dr. Tadoshi could not have asked for a better situation. He had curbed the young boy and brought him under full control after the boy had lost control. Kinjuro was Dr. Tadoshi's favorite subject out of all the generations because he had total control and the young boy followed every order without a second thought. He worked with the young boy personally for almost all of his tests. One reason was because he responded poorly to the other scientists, but he mostly worked with the boy because he was the first subject to give complete obedience.

No other subject had hated Dr. Tadoshi like Kokurai had. Dr. Tadoshi had been trying to come up with a way to get rid of the meddlesome photo. This was his perfect chance.

"This is a two way street Kokurai. The moment you resist or fight back during these experiments, the deal is off. I will return to using your children and it will be your fault." His words were cold and detached. There was a great deal he wanted to explore with Hiro and Suki, but this price was worth the delay. He was more interested in eliminating Kokurai and unlocking the demon inside Kinjuro than pushing Suki and Hiro's limits.

Besides, once Kokurai was out of the way it wouldn't even matter. He could return to their experiment and Kokurai wouldn't be able to do a thing. This would work out perfectly.

"I want to pit you against Kinjuro." There was no use hiding what he intended to experiment Kokurai with. It also would give him a good sense if Kokurai would truly bend his will to Dr. Tadoshi in order to save Suki and Hiro. Dr. Tadoshi wanted to see Kokurai's reaction. Part of him wanted Kokurai snap so he would have the satisfaction of making Kokurai watch as Suki and Hiro resumed their tests.

Either way, this was better than he could've planned.

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┊"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. "

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||Speech Color #8293A6||✦ ||Thought Color #6e5274||

♪The Crooked Kind

Faceclaim ✦Kuroyukihime|Accel World✦

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It wasn't long after Kimiko had begun her casual stroll that Kinjuro appeared, the small boy was one of the only males she could tolerate. She thought of him in an odd way, she enjoyed showing him her way to do things. Perhaps it was a motherly bond? Although she reasoned she'd have to love him for that and she wasn't entirely sure she felt that deeply for him, he was a male after all.

"Miss Kimiko, good morning! Do you mind if I walk with you to your test?" The boy asked his voice wavering in the way only under-developed voices could. This was enough to cause Kimiko to chuckle, her dainty hand covering her mouth. He certainly was excited today and it seemed Sweet Kinjuro was in charge, sometimes Kinjuro's darker thoughts controlled him. Because he was so young and already so powerful. However Kimiko did not fear the boy, their abilities were tied. They'd simply combine the shadows if they fought, truly a horrific sight for whomever was watching but it would be a stand still of wisps of darkness.

The young woman's eyes drifted to the boy and she smiled. "Of course Kinjuro, you're always welcome by my side. You know that." She too began ignoring the staff. However as she glanced at the man he was receiving orders from the top, to which the man confirmed that he already had Kinjuro with him and that the boy would arrive shortly.

"Change of plans Kimiko, Kinjuro's test is first. I'm to take him to Dr. Tadoshi at once." Kimiko's features twisted as they changed direction. Her hand went down to take Kinjuro's. Odd. I thought they only tested him at night, especially because of his age and frailty. Then again, they were about to test me as well. . . But something about this isn't quite right.

As they walked Kimiko noticed bulked security as they got closer to the Doctor's location. The nurse leading them knocked on the door and told the nurse that cracked the door open he had brought both Umbras. The other nurse nodded and disappeared once again. Kimiko looked down at Kinjuro and whispered so the nurse wouldn't hear them. "Stay sharp. This is unusual. I feel like they're planning something Kinjuro, be careful in there. If you need me signal and I will come to your aid." They had worked out an unassuming signal if either one needed each other, it had to do with slight shadow manipulation. Similar to hand signals but with shadows. Kimiko felt a sense of caution rising in her. She wouldn't allow them to hurt Kinjuro.

She'd die first.

As he wheeled quickly around the corner to Dashure's room, he collided with something soft yet solid, giving him quite the bump on the nose.

After a moment of wincing and clutching his nose, he looked down and saw Raelyn. Immediately the rest of his face flushed red. How could he have been so careless? Reaching down he quickly caressed her arm with his hand, offering her assistance to her feet, though she practically sprang up as if she were made of rubber, gripping him into a tight hug.

He held her close for a moment, savoring the smell of something that wasn't the sheets of his bed or the stale, stagnant aroma that wafted throughout the lab. "Sorry I ran into you like that, it was a mistake, honest." Pulling away, but still keeping his hands lightly at her arms, he smiled. "Yes, I'm here for Dashure, but I guess seeing you can be the added bonus." Offering a silly grin, he turned his attention toward the door, as his brother called out to them.

Making his way in, he saw his brother, still in bed. "As busy as you are, I'm honestly surprised you find the time for us sorry folk." He teased, taking a knee at the bedside, resting his hand by his brother's side. "How are you feeling today, Dash? Honest." His brother's physical condition often worried him, especially with how often they were testing him as of late, and he wanted to make sure he were around in case he needed anything.

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Before Kinjuro had a chance to continue his conversation with Kimiko, the nurse informed the two of them that instead of her, the head doctor required him for some kind of testing. Immediately his heart sank to the pit of his stomach, and he was hardly able to stay stable as he prodded his walking stick out in front of him, making his way along with the others toward the testing room. Instinctively, he gripped for Kimiko's hand as they walked.

He walked in silence for the most part, not wanting to ask what type of testing they were going to be doing today. "This is it...I can smell the fear in the air...they are bringing us to Tadoshi...he will ask us to kill....." Momentarily overcome by doubt, his mind flashed with the dark, tempting rage that boiled beneath his service, gripping Kimiko's hand tighter for a moment, his breath still. He could smell it...

The walking stick tapped several times in front of the door when they had arrived. Judging by the fact that Kimiko and the nurse remained still, they had reached their destination. He tried to maintain his composure, until he heard the nurse open the door with a loud clack!

Suddenly, his ears began to pound, it all that could be heard was a ringing in his ears. He could smell the doctor, and an unfamiliar scent that sent an odd chill down the back of his neck. The ringing continued, until slowly the garbled mess of Kimiko's voice began to make sense. He heard her say she should signal him in the way they knew should things become unsafe.

"Miss Kimiko...everything will be alright. I'm not afraid." He offered a smile that he hoped was reassuring to her before slowly letting go of her hand, reaching forth with his walking stick as he made his way into the room.

Instantly the door was shut behind him. He winced, pausing for a moment where he was. The unfamiliar scent was just to his right, and he could hear breathing. Tadoshi however, was on the other side of the room. Without a word, he made for where the doctor was seated. "You...wanted to see me, Dr. Tadoshi. Please, how can I help?"

Should his eyes have been capable of displaying any sort of emotion, it would have been noticeable that once childlike glimmer had been replace with a blank, cold stare.

Hiro hated this. This puny little man shouldn't have the slightest bit of power over any of them, but he still walked all over them. He clenched his fists, unable to just let this go. Throughout the lab, random objects caught on fire as Hiro pointed his finger at the made scientist angrily.

"Don't you order us around like that! You're not the boss of us!" he ranted, refusing to accept the reality he was in. Tadoshi's words troubled him for a moment, but he ignored them for now. He didn't have time for the old man's mind games. He wasn't going to be treated like a mutt, to be ordered around and sent away at his owner's leisure. He turned to glare at Kokurai.

"And you, don't act all cool sacrificing yourself like that! It's not like I'm going to allow it!" he yelled, this time noticing a boom as set of beakers filled with unknown liquid exploded. He grinned fiercely at the damage before he noticed the kid that walked in. Kinjuro... What the fuck did they do to him to make him so creepy? He turned his gaze at Tadoshi.

"Come on! If we all gang up on him, he can't take all of us down."

---

Kokurai glanced at his children when the doctor actually agreed to his proposition. He had not expected him to agree to something like this so easy. It was a scary thought. He knew Dr. Tadoshi hated him just as much as he hated the 'good' doctor. What did he have planned up his sleeve? It was never anything good. He knew the tests were going to be worse for him because of that but he would take all of the pain in the world if it meant that his children were spared. This could end up biting him in the ass though. He couldn't let the doctor kill him. If he died, his children would have no protection. He would need to stay strong for them. He sighed softly to himself as the doctor dismissed his children. At least Sukoshi was beginning to leave without a fuss. He didn't want to have to deal with them freaking out.

And then his little Hiro. He was so angry, so ready to take on the scientists. He was so young. He didn't realize that even if they killed Dr. Tadoshi, nothing would change. There were still plenty of doctors here. They would not be able to get out in time before someone pressed the damned neutralizing button. He needed to calm his son down before he did something to change the doctor's mind about the situation. He reached out and squeezed Hiro's shoulder. It was touching that the boy did care about him this deeply even though he did not know that he was his son.

"Hiro, not now. I wanted this option. I will do anything to protect you and Suki. Calm yourself. I will see you later," he offered with a smile. "This isn't the end. I am stronger than that," he winked. "What I do need you to do, however, is take care of Suki, all right? I am sure she's pretty unnerved to right about now." Kokurai than forcefully pushed both of his children outside of the room and closed the door just as Kinjuro appeared. He let the boy enter before he fully shut the door to keep his children from trying to barge back into the room. Hiro truly did get his defiant nature. That was going to both help and hinder him in the future. He hoped he found a way to keep himself under control.

Kokurai sighed as he stared the at the door that separated him from his family, his hand tightening on the handle. Kinjuro. Kinjuro was here and he knew the boy was an umbra alloy. Kokurai had an inkling of what the doctor was planning for him. It wasn't going to be pleasant. He needed to psyche himself up and get ready for the pain he was about to endure. He closed his eyes and took a few steadying breaths to calm both his anxiety and rage. If he snapped at Tadoshi, the deal was off. The man did say it rather plainly. He wasn't going to be able to fight back. The thought that he was about to endure the shadows again made his anxiety flair up. His heart was fluttering in his chest like a caged humming bird trying desperately to flee. His breathing was getting haggard to. Of course Tadoshi would force him to face one of his greatest fears first. Once he was stable enough, he let go of the door and turned around to face the doctor and the little umbra alloy. He did feel sorry for him. A child his age should never have to face something like this. He was about to become a party to what amounted to torture.

He turned his full gaze to Tadoshi then and squashed down his fear so that his voice would remain even and unaffected as he dealt with the man. "Fine. We have a deal then. I'll submit to your experiments and you leave Suki and Hiro out of it. If I refuse, the bargain is off." he would have to be very careful about what he said. "You said something about pitting me against Kinjuro. Are you talking about an actual fight?" he asked to clarify. If it wasn't a fight and he attacked, it would be like he was going against the doctor's wishes after all. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

Dr. Tadoshi frowned as Hiro piped up and a few beakers exploded as his temper was starting to rise. Tadoshi truly disliked Pyros for their abdominal tempers and defiant personalities. They were all this way, and it had bled into the Photos. He took a breath to compose himself as his patience was wearing extremely thin. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Hiro's attitude on top of Kokurai's demands.

The door opened and in walked Kinjuro. Dr. Tadoshi was pleased to see him. The young boy was a remarkable specimen. He was rather surprised and raised his brow in response as Kokurai spoke up and told Hiro to let it go and go with Suki. It was a pleasing turn of events. Kokurai was fiercely protective of Suki and Hiro and Dr. Tadoshi was pleased to see just how much this parental instinct was driving Kokurai's actions in the moment.

"Yes Kinjuro, thank you for coming." His tone was different with Kinjuro than with all of the other alloys. It didn't take a genius to pick up that Dr. Tadoshi favored Kinjuro above all the others. It was common knowledge that he had bent the young boys will to his own and the split personality was under his control. It was a disturbing relationship as Kinjuro had a great deal of power and Dr. Tadoshi was waiting for the right time to use it. The time had come and the prospect of this new experiment had the corners of his mouth turning up. He was only bothered that it took this long to push Kokurai's buttons to force him into compliance.

Would the other alloys apart of the breeding program show such willing sacrifice if they were aware of their children?

Dr. Tadoshi would have to explore this idea at a later point.

"Very good, then that is settled." Dr. Tadoshi rose from his chair and looked down at Kinjuro who was waiting patiently. He eyed Kokurai as the man tried to clarify what exactly the test would be that he had just signed up for. As tempted as Dr. Tadoshi was to force Kokurai to stand helpless against Kinjuro's attacks, he really needed results from both alloys. "I merely want to see how an Umbra and Photo's abilities react when placed together." He said innocently enough. It was for the benefit of Kinjuro, not Kokurai. Kokurai would see straight through Dr. Tadoshi's pretense.

"All you will need to do is react to Kinjuro, that won't be too hard for you, will it Kokurai?" there was a mocking edge in his tone. "Now if you'll go wait in the testing room while I speak with Kinjuro, that would be best." He was firm and waited until Kokurai had left before he turned to the young boy.

Dr. Tadoshi looked at the young boy. They had nearly lost him when his personality had split in two. It had been a very difficult psychological battle and Dr. Tadoshi had used methods he had only hypothesized about. When it had all been said and done, he had locked away the dominant and blood thirsty monster living inside Kinjuro. As part of the harsh mental conditioning, he had locked the dominant side away with a code word.

As Dr. Tadoshi stared at his perfect subject, he muttered the code word just loud enough for the boy to hear. He waited patiently until he saw the other personality emerge.

"Make Kokurai bleed." It was his only instructions before Kinjuro was taken to the testing room to face off with Kokurai and Dr. Tadoshi moved to the observation window with his clipboard in hand. He fully expected Kinjuro to kill Kokurai and he held no remorse over that thought.

Kinjuro remained silent as the boy known as Hiro began getting more and more upset, insisting the group rebel against the doctor, making a valid point that there was no way the old man could possibly fend off all of them at once, noise or not. Shortly after this, wiser words were spoken from the Photo alloy called Kokurai, he pleaded the two other alloys to leave willingly, accepting whatever lie ahead for him.

Standing still as the other alloys were escorted from the room, a bad feeling welled within him, forming in the pit of his stomach, convulsing his innards until he tasted bile in the back of his throat. "It is as I predicted...the good doctor has summoned your power, and you will not prevent me from reveling in this moment..."

Trying to push the horrid thoughts from his mind, he tried focusing only on what was being said by others. A fight? They wanted the two of them to fight one another? It seemed like a barbaric task, even by his standards, but he remained silent.

He could hear Kokurai being escorted to the testing room, and his attention snapped back to the doctor as he heard him stand and make his way toward him. "This is it....now is the time!" A chill shot down Kinjuro's spine as the doctor's footsteps came to a halt before him. Before Kinjuro had a chance to muster his voice, the doctor spoke a word that resonated within him to his core. His eyes that were once twitching with anxiety became level and emotionless, his shoulders slumped, and an evil grin played across his lips. A noise escaped him, a squeaky mixture of excitement and insanity, as he was instructed to make Kokurai bleed.

Filing into the room after Kokurai, he heard the door close behind him with a 'snap'

He shuffled into the corner, keeping his back to the wall, his sightless gaze piercing Kokurai's form. He remained silent a few moments longer, letting the man take him in. Drawing in a shallow, raspy breath, he spoke. "You're frightened..." His tone was icy and menacing, not something anyone would expect from a boy his age. The thin grin that was once plastered across his lips contorted into a snarling smile, his teeth clenched and his brow furrowed. "Though, I'm not sure why....you haven't even started to bleed yet..."

Suddenly, as if a large bottle filled to burst had it's cork removed, darkness billowed from the base of his feet, exploding forth in a menacing shroud that engulfed his being. It resembled a thick fog, but pitch black. His corner had been filled with darkness in only a couple of seconds. They appeared then, hellish, bloodshot red eyes sprang open, dotting various spots of the cloud, the pupils lolling lazily for a moment as they appeared, suddenly shooting their attention to focus on Kokurai. Thin, twin tendrils shot forth, not toward him, but to the ceiling, ravishing the light fixture above them with deadly accuracy, a light hail of broken glass clinked to the floor. This was in case Kokurai had planned on overloading the light within the room as a counterattack.

As if they acted on a will of their own, the tendrils lurched from the fixture, straight at Kokurai, as several more sprang from the cloud itself, which now encompassed nearly his entire half of the room. The tendrils pierced the wall behind Kokurai like freshly sharpened daggers piercing the flesh. They remained rigid, two tendrils fixed on either side of Kokurai, several inches between them. Again the red eyes rippled along the tendrils, only this time the ones lower in the wall adopted mouth like features, filled with teeth filed to fine points.

A crude, evil face now on either side of Kokurai, they simultaneously gaped their maw, a pink tongue playing across the teeth as if they were hungering for something, quivering now and again with the anticipation of bloodshed.

Hiro was rude as always as he spoke bitterly to the strange man. She glanced warily at her friend. If this man was truly going to be a scientist here it would not do good to get on his bad side. Suki knew the consequences of getting on the wrong side of one of the scientists. If they disliked you, then your tests and experiments were always far worse and more painful than they needed to be. She didn't want Hiro to make the wrong impression if this man turned out to be important.

"I am sorry, my control is slipping right now," she grimaced as her hair rippled from the electrical current that was running rampant through her body. It was searching for an escape. She was a bolt of lightening and the electricity wanted to ground itself. She looked at Hiro with concern written plainly on her face as he told her that Kokurai would be fine. "It's not Dr. Tadoshi I'm worried about," she bit her lip and a shiver ran down her spine as she felt the current in her body stutter and flicker. "He called for Kinjuro. Kinjuro can hurt him." She froze as she felt a disruption in the energy field from the testing room. She couldn't sense any light from the room and her worry increased tenfold. She turned around, ignoring Takami, and stared at the locked door. What had Dr. Tadoshi done?

Suki danced back and forth on the balls of her feet. There was a void in the room and that could only mean one thing; darkness. As a photo alloy she was petrified of the darkness. It was their born instinct to fear and shun away from it. She closed her eyes and tried to sense for Kokurai's signature energy but it was clouded and only a dull pulse. Something was wrong.

"Hiro, something's not right." She mumbled with her eyes still closed. There was no way to get into the room but she could feel the battling energies and she was sick in her stomach. She prayed Kokurai would be all right.

The man didn't seem too bad, but Hiro knew better than to instantly let his guard down. His experience with scientists like this amiable-seeming guy was one of pain and mistrust. Thus, he felt more than a little justified in his mistrust of the man before him. Still, he managed to force himself into nodding at Tadoshi politely. Or as politely as he could manage.

"Yes, it's an observatory," he told him. He frowned at the thought of what was going on in there. As he listened to Suki, he nodded in agreement. There was definitely something wrong happening. Kinjuro's and Kokurai's powers didn't mix well. Even he knew that. He cursed.

"Stupid old man... We have to do something," he said. He eyed Takami. It was a long shot, but maybe....

"Can you get us in? We can show you what really happens."

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┊"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. "

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||Speech Color #8293A6||✦ ||Thought Color #6e5274||

♪The Crooked Kind

Faceclaim ✦Kuroyukihime|Accel World✦

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Waiting outside would get her nowhere. She heard some clamor from where Kinjuro went. She went to enter and a nurse stepped up to stop her, glaring she whipped her hand in his direction, using his own shadow Kimiko tied his ankles together and he crumpled to the ground as Kimiko brushed past into the Observatory.

Once inside, it was quite crowded. People were standing around but no Kinjuro. She stepped up to Hiro and winced.
"Hiro. . . Where's Kinjuro?" She asked, ignoring the man who wasn't familiar to her. Darkness at her feet, her own shadow twitched disliking being near Hiro. "I came because I am worried about Kinjuro. He. . . He is dangerous to those not like us. Not bathed in the shadow. He might get carried away and. . . Harm someone." She looked around the room, she was never called out of her small area. Th scientists could never get her to fully release her abilities. Nor would she. The full extent of her abilities would warrant extreme measures on their part. Her powers weren't as direct as Kinjuro, no her powers crept into someone, like a disease. However they'd never know that until it was time.

"But first, tell me what's going on. I am unfamiliar with this area." Again her shadow twitched, however this time it was because she was fully stocked with energy and it was aching to be used. Her full powers wanted to emerge. It whispered over and over, attempting to sway her to killing them all. She tucked it away for now. It wasn't time to use her abilities. For all they knew all she could do was turn off lights, move from shadow to shadow, and shield herself. Best keep it that way.

Kokurai wished that the umbra alloy that the doctor had pit against him was someone around his age. He felt down right awful that he had to fight a child and that this child had to essentially break him. And of course, all the favors were fore the kid to win. This room was big enough for a battle but the corners and the lighting provided Kinjuro more shadows to utilize. Kokurai only had a single light bulb he could use besides his stored up energy. It was far too dim for Kokurai. He may be able to use the electricity surging through the door to keep it locked but the rest of the room was padded with rubber so electricity wasn't going to go anywhere.

The older photo alloy could already feel his heart palpitating against his chest rapidly. He hated the dark. Better that he suffer through this than Suki. He had to keep reminding himself what he was fighting for here. If he lost sight, he might succumb to the tests and he couldn't do that. He wouldn't be able to protect his children and their friends if he was out of commission. The doctor would win. He never wanted the doctor to win.

Kokurai narrowed his eyes on Kinjuro when he mentioned the fact that he could sense his fear. That sent a ripple through his body. This kid... he changed. He didn't look this eager when they were standing outside of this room. What had the doctor done to the poor child's mind? His heart went out for him but he didn't get much longer to contemplate the dilemma. The boy released his shadowy tendrils and immediately he snuffed out the only light in the room. Kinjuro had to shield his eyes least the shards get into his eyes. He felt a whoosh around him and rapidly blinked his eyes trying to adjust to the new darkness in the room. He tensed and a small gasp escaped past his lips as two shadow tendrils slammed against the wall and pinned him between the projectiles. The shadow eyes and illusion of a mouth and lulling tongue were rather successful and made Kokurai shirk away. He ducked away from the tendrils to get away from the trap. Damn his fear of the dark! He was already wheezing. He needed light. He desperately needed the light. Kokurai rushed to the door and gripped the handle and absorbed the electricity coursing through the electronic lock.

Kinjuro's evil grin widened as the tendrils lurched forward, grasping at Kokurai like flailing hands desperate for something to cling to. They struck the wall again and again as Kokurai eluded them, making his way to the door. [color=#9B2C6D ]What are you planning?[/color]He thought, several more tendrils lashing out, slicing into the wall before retreating back to the mass of shadow. At this point nothing of Kinjuro's personal being was visible behind the cloud, just the massive, bloodshot eyes that pierced their target

Kokurai tensed as the electricity gave him a bit of a jolt of energy that he needed in this dark room. Once he had just enough energy, he extended his hand and a blast of light erupted around to stave off the shadowy tendrils that followed him towards the door. Good timing to. The shadows almost managed to grab him. The door at this point was his life line. He didn't have any other source of energy after all. He gripped the door for dear life and kept the light pulsing outward to keep the shadows away from him.

By the time Kokurai had reached the door, he was pressing yet another assault of shadow before he threw up a barrier of light to shield himself. Kinjuro cursed himself for not thinking of the door lock's electric current. He had been sure of himself destroying the light fixture, cocky even. No matter...he'll short circuit it before long...

"You think to prolong the inevitable?! You're efforts are pointless. Mindless thrashing like the animal you are! DIE!" His voice escalated in both ferocity and volume before he bit off the last word with as much menace as he could. For a moment the tendrils seemed to retract, but only for an instant, for they gathered together to form a single, larger tendril before it crashed into the barrier with renewed vigor.

Kokurai siphoned a little more energy from the lock and created his own light whips to lash out and break the tendrils apart. This seemed to work well at first as he cut through the darkness but the kid wasn't about to give up. Kinjuro still had the advantage since he could literally draw his power from the entire room and Kokurai only had a small locking mechanism he was using. Kinjuro continued to lash out against him and used his shadowy arms to whack at his small protective light barrier. The kid and the shadows were hungry for the light and Kokurai had to press back into the door to keep up enough energy just for the barrier. It was starting to crack.

Kinjuro winced, feeling the light dissipating the shadow a little at a time, but not so much to give Kokurai any ground, only managing to stave off for the next second, and the next. Not wanting to disappoint the doctor, he tried thinking of a way to undermine his opponent's strength. His flesh was willing, but young, and the man's age gave him more endurance then the small boy he was stuck inside. He would have to resort to other methods.

"The others...in the observatory...they shared your scent. Could that be a coincidence? I truly think not. I know how separated the lot of you are, you don't spend nearly enough time with each other to share such a scent. No...the doctor mentioned alloys had been bred from previous generations...." A malicious giggle filled the air. "They must be yours...." This seemed to trigger a reaction, for at that time, the barrier ceased for a moment in exchange for a counterattack, how pathetic.

Kokurai narrowed his eyes on the little bastard. He would resort to using his children just like the doctor? He growled and sacrificed his barrier for a moment to unleash another spark and try and get the darkness to back off with a wave of light but as soon as the light passed, he didn't have a chance to pull up his barrier again. The shadows lashed out and coiled around him. The light didn't last long, and the tendrils were waiting. As soon the pressure was released, the shadows surged, swirling around Kokurai until they fully enclosed him, a small flicker of light now and again, but nothing strong enough to fight back. Kokurai's eyes widened in surprise and sent low scale shocks emitting out of his body to dislodge the shadows but it was no use. Within seconds he was enveloped in the darkness and his connection to the door was severed.

Kinuro could feel the man's strength waning, and quickly too. It wouldn't be much longer. "After I'm done with you, perhaps I'll pay them a visit...I'm sure they are just dying to hear about their father!"

"No no no no!" Kokurai hissed under his breath as he fought against the darkness wrapping tighter and tighter around. He was starting to hyperventilate at this point and cold sweat clung to him in his fear for both himself and the fate of his children. Without any source of light, Kokurai had nothing to pull from and the shadows were draining his energy, and truth be told, he had been at the disadvantage from the start. The doctor never intended for an even fight. The photo alloy was getting light headed. He had to squeeze his eyes shut to try and center himself. He was starting to feel cold and his body was shaking. Memories of his first experiment like this came flooding back; the horror of not having any light for days, the lethargic state, nightmares and the pain that occurred when the scientists tried to revitalize him.

The tendrils tightened around him and Kokurai couldn't see any sort of light anymore. He was completely lost in the inky abyss. Unbidden tears escaped his eyes as he searched wildly for something to pin his gaze on but he had nothing but the shadows. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe and everything was so dim. Was he fainting? He felt his energy leaving. He wasn't going to have much left soon. He needed to find a way to stop this. He knew that using his own energy to cast the light could kill him but at this point, he was going to die anyway. He'd rather die in an instant than take any more of this panic and pain.

Kinjro prepared a final assault, time to snuff out this light, enough playing around. However, his last bit of jostling must have struck a nerve, for against all logic, a light burst from within the shadow, illuminating the entire room, momentarily dissipating all shadow, causing Kinjuro to attempt to shield his eyes.

Kokurai inhaled as deeply as he could and tried to curl up as he gathered up the last bit of energy he had before he quite literally exploded; a brighter light than he had ever produced illuminated the entire room. It was of course stronger around his form and immediately disintegrated the shadow tendrils as it moved out.

A concussive force kicked into Kinjuro's chest like a mule, knocking him back into the wall behind him, all his breath escaping his tiny frame. Such...a fool... was his last thought before he tasted blood, and fell unconscious.

When the light finally receded, Kokurai dropped to his knees before completely collapsing unconscious.

Suki could the energy rippling. Her stomach was twisted over and she was restless just standing there. Kokurai had submitted fully to whatever nightmare Tadoshi had concocted for him. Suki's skin crawled as Kimiko had appeared. She ignored the girl for the most part because she had more important things to worry about. She waited hopeful as Takami said that he would get them into the observatory. Suki was shifting from foot to foot as she felt the energy pulsing. She could feel the darkness and how it threatened to choke out whatever light in its path.

Takami had moved forward and opened the door. Suki darted forward as soon as the door was open and entered the observatory just in time to see Kokurai's energy field explode and burst out of him light a bomb. The tendrils of darkness were shredded and forced to retreat. Suki cried out knowing how dangerous it was to push so much energy. The explosion of light was impressive and more than Kokurai had ever exhibited before. Suki watched as Kinjuro had been thrown to one wall and then collapsed unconscious from the force of it.

Her face grew horrified as she saw Kokurai fall to his knees and then slump over. "No!" she screamed and the glow around her intensified as the panic pulsed through her body. She forgot everyone and darted over to the locked door. She gripped the handle and surged an intense amount of energy through the electronic lock. There was a loud crackle, a pop, and then the lock clicked open. She shoved the door open with her shoulder and stumbled into the room.

She stared at Kokurai and her eyes glistened. She always could feel the energy of his aura. Even as she stared at him there was only a void. She saw his body but there was no indication of life.

"No, no, no," she mumbled over and over until she ran across the room to where he had crumpled. She fell hard to her knees and heaved him up. She touched his face but the charged spark that usually passed between them was gone. She shook her head, the tears leaking out of her eyes unrestrained.

"Kokurai, please, no," her voice was strained and desperate. Her hands traveled over his body in a hopeless attempt to feel any sign of life. There was none.

Suki screamed at that point. Kokurai meant the world to her. He had always been there for her. He always stood up for her. He was the only one the scientists never had to worry about her accidentally electrocuting.

She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't. She was not going to let him leave her like this.

She looked around with wide eyes. The glow around her began to shift and ripple. Suki knelt over him and placed her hands on his chest. She sent a powerful current through her hands and into his chest. She pulled her hands up, rubbed them together, and then jolted his chest again. Each time she sent a very powerful surge through his body and straight into his heart. She was desperate to bring him back. She could not let him die for her and Hiro. Tadoshi was the monster behind this and Suki was not going to let him win.

"Come on Kokurai, come on, you're not gone. You can come back!" she kept charging her hands and then pushing the current into his body. She had to make this work.

After a good solid five minutes, Suki felt a spark. She pulled from her energy even more this time. Her whole body was lit up as if she had been struck by lightening. She pressed her hands against his chest and sent one final bolt through him. The intense light energy around her body was quickly pulled to her hands and then pushed into his body and engulfed Kokurai. His body quickly absorbed it and that was went Suki felt the soft pulse beneath her hand.

His heart was pumping.

She very nearly collapsed from relief. The glow that she always gave off was gone. She was utterly spent and completely exhausted from pushing so much of her power and energy into his body--it was worth it.

Suki's chest was heaving from the exertion and she laid down on the ground to collect her breath. She could hear Kokurai breathing next to her and it was enough. She closed her eyes and focused on making her own breathing even.

Kokurai was safe.

"Yeah. I know what you people do to 'problems'," Hiro told Takami darkly as he and Suki led the new doctor to the laboratory. Before they could get far, however, Kimiko appeared and he came still. If even she was worried that Kinjuro would lose control then.... He didn't want to think about it. Damn that bastard, Tadoshi. They needed to hurry.

"We'll stop this. Don't you worry, Kimiko-chan," he told her with as wide a smile as he could manage. He ran as quick as he could, not caring in the slightest about Takami being able to keep up with them ore not. Whenever he ran into a locked door, he simply forced it open with an explosion of his blue flames, his emotions fueling his powers. When they got to the observation room, Hiro felt himself freeze.

"Damn it, old man..." He thought. He sented a burst of flame at the glass and jumped into the observatory. Along with Suki, he approached Kokurai.

"Is he okay?" he asked her.

Dr. Tadoshi stood in the observation room with a clipboard in his hand. He was scribbling notes as Kokurai was facing Kinjuro. Dr. Tadoshi had been trying to work out a way to pit an umbra alloy with a photo alloy. This could not have worked out better for him. The situation was perfect. Kinjuro was out for blood and he could get the pesky Kokurai out of his hair after so many years of putting up with the troublesome alloy.

The large fighting room had been outfitted with the latest technology and it was tipped in favor for Kinjuro. Photo alloys relied heavily upon energy they could draw upon. Since there was only one light fixture in the large room, there would be very little that Kokurai could absorb. Dr. Tadoshi scribbled a note down as Kinjuro shot dark tendrils to the only light source and plunged the room into darkness. It didn't matter for Dr. Tadoshi, he had high tech cameras installed in the room. He turned away from the observation glass and to the monitors that showed what was happening in the darkness.

Kokurai look terrified. Dr. Tadoshi recognized that primal and instinctive look on Kokurai's face as he tried to dodge and push back at Kinjuro. It was the look of utter survival. Kokurai's flight or fight instinct had kicked in and he was pushing everything he had into defending himself from the incredible black darkness that was threatening to devour him whole.

A grin slipped onto Dr. Tadoshi's face as he watched Kokurai make a dash over to the door where there was an electric lock. It didn't matter. There wasn't enough energy to do much.

The grin began to falter as Kokurai began to glow. This wasn't the plan. This wasn't what Dr. Tadoshi had anticipated to happen. A steep frown came to his face as he watched Kinjuro wrap more tightly around Kokurai. The light that pulsed from Kokurai was growing. Dr. Tadoshi clenched his teeth together. Kokurai wasn't supposed to have this much energy left inside of him. He let out a startled cry and Kokurai exploded and shredded through the darkness. Kinjuro was flown back into the wall where his skull cracked and the young boy slumped to the floor unconscious.

Dr. Tadoshi felt anger towards Kokurai who finally collapsed. Kinjuro was Dr. Tadoshi's pride and joy, and now he was injured more seriously than Dr. Tadoshi had anticipated would happen with the fight.

"Send a medical team to the observation wing." He pressed a buzzer and spoke into an intercom before the door to the observation room burst open. A tall and dark haired man entered and was quickly followed by Suki and Hiro, and then Kimiko. Dr. Tadoshi looked disapprovingly at the alloys.

Suki dashed past him and quickly overloaded the electronic sensors breaking the lock and running into the large room. He folded his arms and watched with a keen eye as she dropped at Kokurai's side. There was a part of Dr. Tadoshi that was disappointed the two were biologically related. If Suki had a different parentage he knew that they would've been perfect for the breeding program to create incredibly powerful offspring.

Dr. Tadoshi ignored Takami's outstretched hand for the moment as something more important was taking place in the room. He watched in complete fascination as Suki was sending a charge through Kokurai's body. He had never seen her, nor was there any record, of Suki ever using her ability this way. He was too fascinated to even scribble on his clip board as Suki acted as a crash cart and was trying to jump start his heart.

The determination and will that Suki demonstrated was sending Dr. Tadoshi's mind in over drive. There was a new potential here and ideas flooded his mind on how to unlock it.

Suki began to glow bright like the sun and Dr. Tadoshi had to shield his eyes. She looked like a star as all of her energy was pulled together and then she pushed it all into Kokurai in one last desperate attempt. Kokurai glowed for a moment from the impressive energy pushed into his body and Dr. Tadoshi's eyes widened as he saw Kokurai's chest suddenly rise and fall. It was very shallow and difficult to see, but Kokurai was alive.

At this point the medical team arrived. Kinjuro was quickly placed on a gurney before rushed out and the remaining staff was assessing Kokurai. Dr. Tadoshi tapped his pen against his clip board as Suki lay still. Her glow was gone and it was the first time she had lost it.

Kokurai was carefully placed onto a second gurney and Suki stumbled to her feet. She latched onto Hiro for support as Kokurai was taken away. Suki looked positively sick but there was relief in her eye.

Dr. Tadoshi turned to Takami finally and there was a ravenous look upon his face. Kokurai was alive which wasn't the plan, but this new development with Suki was exciting.

"I am pleased to meet you. As you can see there is a great deal of work we have to do. I hope you are prepared to work." He peered over the rim of his glasses at Takami to assess him. It had been a great while since he had had a personal assistant. He hoped Takami would live up to the job.