Hiss13

48

31

29 @Iron That sounds eerily like my Advanced Calculus II final~

27

24 Meh, I finished finals last week so I'm practically doing nothing at this point~

21 All these people still taking finals~

19

10 Chespins/10

13

Nagi sighed. "Well, that's nowhere near the best answer I could have heard but it's good enough for me. Honestly, if I hadn't heard your reasoning, I would have walked away right there." She then gave a relaxed smile. "My reason for leaving the Protectors in all honesty has nothing to do with ideological differences. Kanade-nee would always say 'If you don't try to save the people right in front of you, then how are you so sure you won't be willing to abandon the next group?' She was always the type of person and leader who always prioritized protecting the people right in front of her. If anything, she was always and still the ideal type of hero and an older sister figure of sorts to me. In the end, even if I share those ideals, a villain like me has no place calling herself a part of that band of heroes." At that moment, she realized she was divulging much more about herself than she really wanted to. Perhaps her lingering sentiment towards the Protectors was causing her to let her guard down. Whatever it was, she cut herself off. "But, that's enough about myself. I'm the type of person who dislikes formalities but seeing as we're going to be working together, it's only right that I give you my name. I'm Nagi." She reached her hand out, beckoning a handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

@pyon Ruri's a nag queen?! *pouts*

37 Safe~

34

Alleyway Quick, resourceful, and resolved, huh. Though, I wouldn't say strength is directly proportional to experience but more a variable function of experiencebut there's no point in rambling about pointless things like that. She thought as she listened to and processed Noriko's words. "Good. You understood exactly what I am getting at. That'll make things go a lot more smoothly. With regards to the risk, don't worry about it. I don't mind it at all. The faster we can deal with this issue, the more lives we can prevent from being lost." She then looked straight into Noriko's eyes. "That being said, Noriko-san, I have one last question for you before I make a final decision. Philosophies of how to get the job done vary even among the Protectors so I just want to make sure I'm allying with a person I can agree with. If you had to choose between protecting a life and annihilating a beast and there was no way to do both, which would you prioritize?"

It was not the best answer she had heard but at least the other girl had decided to acquiesce to not complaining about sharing a room so it was a start. Still, Ruri did not like the tension that she felt in that elevator. Once the others had finished their introductions, Ruri started her own. "Last, but not least, I'm Izayoi Ruri. Call me Ruri. I love stargazing. If anyone else is interested, let me know and I'd be happy to help you get started. It's nice to meet you."

My bad. I figured that so long as I didn't have Ruri mention or think her name, it would be okay to use her name in the narration over some epithet.

Ruri looked towards Ringo. It was so obvious she was trying to manipulate the rest of them into pushing her into her own room. "No. First of all, how are you even sure that there is a room for a single person? Even if there is, what makes you deserving of that room? Having annoying habits is not the way to be deserving of that. Learn to live with others and be more accommodating. If you're messy, then take this opportunity to start being less messy. If you stay up too late, then learn to go to sleep earlier. If you snore loudly, I came across a WebMD page for that once, actually. If you can't do any of that, then you're absolutely unfit to be an idol."

Nagi watched as Bark started to walk away. "Maybe so, but it's not that they're leaders because they're strong but that they all tend to be strong. Even back in my time with the Protectors, I never came close to beating Kanade-nee." She sighed. "Well, it doesn't matter. Let him go on with running a wild goose chase on his own if he wants to. I take it you understand what I am insinuating, right, Miss…what's your name?"

18

13 Goddammit, Tacos...

"YOU DUMBASS!" Before Nagi could even respond to Noriko's own proposition, she lost it and started shouting at Bark. "Faction leaders are not the type of people you want to provoke! There's a reason they became the leaders of their respective factions. Dammit, I've never met someone stupid enough to realize at how much of a disadvantage he is in." She sighed it off before she began to get too passionate and noticed the signal flare. "That's most likely the person who fired the ice attack earlier. I wouldn't worry too much about it but keep your guards up just to be safe." She addressed everyone with that. She then turned back to Noriko. "I'd be willing to assist you only as part of a temporary alliance. I have multiple personal reasons behind that but having an ex-Protector Deviant return to the Protectors may not be the best idea. Not to mention, I personally feel that a villain like me has no place being a part of a band of heroes. That being said, the prospect of someone controlling beasts is dangerous. If this ends up being correct, the factions will end up being placed into a precarious situation. There are multiple reasons I can think of for controlling and releasing beasts into a populous city. The first is obviously that it's a sadistic maniac. However, the second and more dangerous one is that it could be someone attempting to worsen tensions between the factions. If the attacking magus or magi end up being part of another faction like the Preservers or span across multiple factions, you risk the possibility of starting a war between the factions and frankly, I don't like that possibility considering the amount of innocents who would end up caught up in it. In other words, the Protectors need to tread cautiously. You can see what I'm getting at, I assume."

Dammit, Bark! Don't run your damn mouth off like an idiot! She wanted to say that to the man next to her but was rendered unable to by Noriko's retort. Nagi could feel the killer intent seething out of Noriko's words and broke into a cold sweat. There was a confidence to her threat. Nagi could tell from her own personal experience with the Protectors that people like that tended to be leaders of the group. In other words, it was likely that the woman in front of her was the leader of the Protectors in the city. If that was true, then Bark likely did not realize at how much of a disadvantage they were in at the moment. Luckily it seemed that all of them had decided it would be best to disengage. Nagi let her hand down back into her jacket pocket and gave a deep sigh as she listened to Noriko. Nagi was surprised she did not notice it until Noriko had mentioned it but in the end, she had been focused more on going after the beast when she saw it escaping. "Well, there are a few reasons I can pull of the top of my head. The first and least likely is that our knowledge of beasts and their patterns are partially incorrect with respect to this. The second is that it was being drawn away by something else like another source of emotional energy. The third is the possibility of a beast being controlled by another magic user. While the last one does seem far-fetched, it's definitely not something I would say is outside the realm of possibilities." Nagi then paused. She had realized that now would also be a good time to try and confirm whether the teenage girl standing in front of her was the Protectors' leader. "Is that what you're insinuating, leader-san?"

166 Hurry~!

150

(12)^2=144