23rd Extras/Episode 03: A little less conversation

Opening music - WONDERLAND

All my brothers and sisters

All in all over ten billion listeners

Lend me your ear when you want to hear

The hypest and ripest sound of the year

Up and kiss the body

Boy, then pucka...

Body body

Ok, y'all, this is it now bust it

The mic will sing soon as I touch it

Do this smooth and easy like

So we might get hyped in here tonight

Be nice, relax, MC's further back

If you ain't with that

I'm-a have to attack you with a bad rap

That can smack the smile off your face Jack

So don't start no crap

Givin' a little bit of heart and soul

As we do it to you in your earhole

Huh, I ain't going out like a sucker

And if you think so, boy, then pucker up

And kiss the butt of this lyricist

Blow on the mic, word up

This groove is set to soothe, move you

Party people now it's time to...

Dance, boogie boogie

Dance, boogie wonderland

Ha, boogie...

Aesop had followed orders - to a tee. Monitoring Sam's routine and finally one day cornering the eagle. The encounter had mostly been a stare-down up to the point where Aesop's hands threatened to cast a spell on his book. Because of this, Sam's glance peeked down at Aesop's book.

"An English dictionary?" A question which most certainly caught Aesop off guard, but he wouldn't let it keep him that way for too long! Almost breaking a sweat the boy adjusts his glasses by their frame. "Fool! This is my augment!"

"Oh yeah? Augment for what? Your reading ability? Y'know I'm like totally American, right? I can read the whole thing."

"Silence!" A shot of lightning, one which seemingly went nowhere. There was already a crowd forming around the commotion but Aesop's recklessness had only brought on more, including Nozomi Akagawa of the Extras, who grew concerned for the eagle she'd met just over a week prior.

Sam didn't seem particularly bothered by the failed attacks, he was just unlucky enough to end up in ambushes like this and so he was used to it, but Nozomi did think that he looked mildly uncomfortable while he was dodging and flinching from all of the amber strikes of lightning which all seemed to miss so consistently that Aesop's sheer lack of aim seemed admirable.

Nozomi glared at the rest of her peers, who seemed to be enjoying this interaction thoroughly, and looked back into the action.

''That boy... that's the one Kaneko-san brought in... I wonder what's up with...--''

She bit her tongue. But curiosity lingered. Lingered, lingered and crawled. It would only be a matter of time before it engulfed Nozomi.

And just like that, she stormed through the crowd, a few "excuse me"s and "coming through"s uttered as the barged through each and every student crowded around the two.

"Theeeeere you are!!" She cheered. Sam simply looked at her with a look of confusion.

Beat.

Sam simply hummed. "Hm?"

"I said... there you are!" Tug. "There I am for what?"

Nozomi smiled. Deep down she was fuming.

"Our date, obviously!"

...

The crowd looked in awe at the two. Murmurs started to rumble across the area. "Nozo-chan's got a BF?" Murmur. "A college student too. Scandalooouuusss!!" "Is that even allowed?" "Bird boy's in trouble~!" Grumble. "See? She's totally out of your league, Takeshi-kun!" More noise. Nozomi couldn't take it anymore! Bracing herself for whatever might have come her way, she shoved Aesop with one hand, took Sam in the other and sped off! This did not satisfy the crowd, which made running away all the more difficult.

After a half-hour later it seemed like every onlooker from earlier had either given up or gotten lost from the chase. Right now, the two were in a park, the mid-spring sun glazing gently over them. Sam sighed, starting to glare at the Nozomi who still held his sleeve. "I totally had that guy, why'd you step in with all that girlfriend mumbo-jumbo?"

"Heat of the moment, blah-de-blah, sorry." Nozomi hummed, finally letting Sam go as she approached a vending machine. "Hmmm... I wonder..." "You know, you're not exactly supposed to leave your 'date' on his own while you pick your drink?" "Well maybe I'm getting drinks for two." "Well maybe I'll take a coke, then."

Beat. "America's national drink?"

"I, uh, think that's bourbon. Y'know what, just forget I asked, I can pay for myself. That and you're not the best at idle chit-chat." A deep sigh as Sam steps towards the machine, and a long one too. "So what was with the girlfriend act back there? Trying to play the hero?" "What, don't like my methods?" Nozomi huffed. "It worked, didn't it?" "You come off more as the 'punch first, jeopardize popularity later' kinda girl is all."

Clink! Thud! "Kaneko-san taught me to be more spontaneous. That's all there is to it." Nozomi stood proudly while Sam knelt down. "Okie-dokie, Princess JoJo. G-wiz. I can't escape you Extras guys, y'know that? It was Kurata-chan and Kaneko-chan last week too. Are you guys coming after me on purpose?"

In response, Nozomi shrugged. "I didn't even know they were coming after you. Some crazy coincidence I guess. Unless you believe in fate or whatever." "Not a chance," Sip. "I wouldn't put any kind of stock in something like that. That's why I thought you guys were total creepers. Anyway, we got them away from us pretty fast, I'd say. How'd you do that?"

"Oh, that? I left clones everywhere."

Spit--

That's going to be a runny beak.

"Huh?" "Well, that and I know the city well. I grew up in Tokyo and always liked to find weird ways to my destinations and whatnot, so I just know the shortcuts." Nozomi explained while Sam sighed, wiping his beak with his jacket sleeve. "...You're a strange little JoJo." "Oi!!" "Right. Sorry. Anyway, backtrack. Ability, what is it?"

Suddenly before Sam appeared not one... but four of Nozomi Akagawa.

"Oh, so we're Naruto too, huh."

In unison, each Nozomi pouted, two stepped forward and took a foot of Sam each to stomp firmly on.

CRACK-!!

"O-OKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY, I'll stop!!"

"So your ability is Quadruple, was it?" "That's it's name alright." "Cool. I don't get it though, what's the use in multiplying yourself if every single one of you is tangible?"

Nozomi huffed. "That's kind of the point of Haruka's gang. Those who are looked down upon - those whose abilities are looked down upon. She took me in because I was fed up of having such a basic ability...!"

"...I never thought of it that wa--" Before Sam could finish speaking, Nozomi turned on her heel. "How about yours?"

...

"Mine? Like, ability? Nada."

"Nada?" "It... It means 'nothing'. That's my ability, my ability is that I have no ability. Preeeeetty gucci, right?"

"C'mon, Yamada-kun. You have to have an ability, right? I mean, those headphones are totally an augment."

"Nnnnope. These are just headphones that I like to wear."

"Are you sure? You gimme vibes like someone who would have a sound related ability!"

"Yeah, because I wear headphones, right?"

"...!"

Nozomi ignored Sam, instead immediately turning her attention to a chain-link fence. Behind it, a puppy. Cornered by a few delinquents wearing a vivid yellow. That was gaudy even for Sam, who had just begun to see the situation unfold for himself.

One of the three snarled. "So, what do you think? Should we teach it a lesson?" Suddenly, the boy brandishes a switchblade from his pocket. "Sending us telepathic messages... distracting little strays like you need to be put to sleep!"

The sight caused Nozomi to gasp under her breath. "They're gonna hurt that puppy... Damn Hivers. Yamada-kun, what do we do?" She turns to face Sam... who is already vaulting over the fence. "Yamada-kun, wait...!!"

But it was too late! In a matter of seconds... WHAM!! A clean clothesline straight to the leader's face. The other two look in awe... of course, an eagle did just come out of nowhere and deliver a full arm to the one who was seemingly the leader of their clique. It hurt - hopefully a lot, Sam thought as he watched the boy tumble to the ground, which was harsh and ragged in this area of the city.

"Man, you guys with powers just kinda think you can do what you want without any downside, huh? That cramps my steez." Sam scratches the back of his neck. "Can't believe I had to dirty my hands. Maybe that'll teach you a lesson."

The boy gets up, wiping what appeared to be blood from his nose and grabbing the knife up from the ground. "You rotten...--"

"Hold on there, mon amie!" Coming from the opposite direction Sam and Nozomi came from, a high school girl wearing copious amounts of yellow. Curvy in her body type, and with fair skin. To describe her as 'stereotypically attractive' would be apt. "Bonjour! I hope there is no trouble!"

The boys who previously crowded the puppy got on their knees, they bowed, bowed and bowed again. "N-No! None at all, Désirée-sama!!"

A pause, "Good!" Her small-talk offset the others quite a fair bit, with the three boys who seemed to be in her clique throwing out all manner of compliments, flirts and an overall peppering of adoration that would make even Sam and Nozomi feel claustrophobic.

"Y-Yes, ma'am!! You're so fun and pretty!!" "Fun and beautiful!" "Fun and breathtaking!!" "We wouldn't want to upset you with our violence!!" "Not our violence!" "Anything but the violence!!" The trio seemed... oddly in sync. Sam was put off by this, but Nozomi seemed more than knowledgable about the situation, as such she raised her voice. "Still meddling with other people's brains, Mishima?" She, seemingly Désirée Mishima, would scoff in return.

"Didn't you learn before that I'm the Queen Bee?"

"The Queen Bee!" "She's the Queen Bee!" "And don't you forget it?"

Sam glanced at the boys, still clambering for the Queen Bee's attention. "Okay, they're starting to get a bit irritating. What's the deal?"

"Fairytale." Désirée smirked, stepping very, very, - uncomfortably, - close to the eagle. "Fairytale?" "My ability. I'll show you." Following her promise, there came a few moments, drawn out moments, where Désirée held herself close to Sam. Sam on the other hand, wasn't too enthusiastic about this - especially not the way she looked into his eyes.

Silence. Nozomi broke a sweat... Nothing. Désirée pouted. Nothing.

"That's strange... Fairytale doesn't seem to be working..." She seemed a bit desperate, but Sam shrugged in return. "If this is your way to ask me out on a date, I'm not interested. My kind of girl's the kind who wears converse and punk rock fashion, so, err... not you, ehehe~." Her pout only grew at this remark and she turned around with a harrumph. "Fine, then. You're absolutely a weird one... Very well, those I like the look of don't escape Fairytales for long. I shall see you again soon. Au revoir, Shooting Star and the bird, fuhuhu~!"

With the snap of her fingers the three boys dressed in similar colors stood up, carrying her from either side and her back.

"Au revoir!" "Au revoir!" "Err... bye!" With that, off they went. Sam folded his arms. "Friend of yours?"

"Friend?" Nozomi grumbled. "More like total un-friend. She's my worst nightmare, and a big bully at that!" "Yeah?"

"Yeah." "So what about that Fairytale thing? What was that jazz all about?" "It's... well, it's her ability, she can process and send out unlimited amounts of information. When she sends it out, the cliquey students she has around her get all like a supercomputer." "So it's kinda like... hypnosis?" "That's one way to put it. She's called Queen Bee for a reason - her gang, Hive, are kind of like her own bees who just do her bidding to please her. I hate people like that."

Sam hummed in response, "You sure do know a lot."

"She's my classmate so... anyway, we should get this puppy somewhere safe."

Nozomi had found a nice comfortable rooftop to take the puppy too. Sam, naturally wrapped up in everything, had decided to follow to help the two recuperate.

There was a few moments of silence before Nozomi spoke, "He doesn't have a name." "Hm?" "The puppy!" "Oh."

Sam wasn't good with names either, though it wasn't something he'd admit so openly. "Maybe... pfft, Sirius or something?"

"...Sirius? The 'Dog Star'? That's so cheesy, Yamada-kun. So you." "I...I was being... seri- n-never mind. It's a nice name at least, yeah?"

Bark, bark! With it, Nozomi nodded. "He loves it. We'll call him Sirius-chan from now on. ...Oh! Sirius-chan also wanted to say thanks." "Thanks? Can't he just... say that to my face?" Nozomi shook her head, and not even moments after nodding. "He says he can't speak to you like he does to me, that's why he had me do it! Honestly, Yamada-kun... when you went in there to save Sirius-chan, you actually reminded me of Kaneko-san.

"I know she can be hard to understand, she's the kind of girl who sees a hurdle and just jumps as far as she can, not to prove she can do it, but to prove that anyone can do it. Sure, she's reckless, but she's never reckless enough to put anyone else in the way, you get me? That's kind of like what you did earlier. Just diving that fence to save someone with reckless abandon.

"...It's just what she would do. I was almost used to it just now. The Gang Wars suck. We all know it. But people like you and Kaneko-san - if you worked together, maybe you two could end this. Ability or not, sometimes all you need is a good heart and a steeled resolve, y'know?"

Sam took that tangent to heart, clutching at his scarf. "...I never really looked at it that way. At the end of the day our goals're totally similar, but I still don't get what fighting will solve." Nozomi couldn't help but giggle. "Says the guy who brute forced those Hivers at the first opportunity he could."

Sam pouted. "Ya got me there."

BEEP! BEEP! It had caught everyone off guard, but Nozomi quickly retrieved what was her own phone.

"Hello hello? ...Oh! Momma, hi, what's up?"

Mumble, mumble.

"Huh!? That late? Oh crap, oh crap! I completely forgot, I'm so sorry! See you soon--" Beep. That hangup seemed awfully sudden. 'Momma' was still speaking!

Sam smirked. "That your mommy?" "Yeah. I forgot about my curfew. Sorry, I gotta go!" Nozomi jumped from the rooftop, using her ability to maneuver herself smartly and break her fall gently. Of course, Sirius came right along behind her. The eagle was about to turn away, but--

"One last thing!"

"Hm?"

"My name... Nozomi Akagawa, first year at TAG! You'll have to remember that for when I become the strongest banchou in Tokyo!"

"..." Sam's smirk only grew. "Yeah. I'll remember that. You take care running home, Akagawa-chan."

Ending music - Over the Time

Lyrics

We have just heard somebody's voice

Uniting us from the world

Over the fence in the park of the night

There's a breeze we felt together

You had tried to say something to me

Holding my hands so tight

That feeling and your touch still fill up my heart

A part deep in my soul

Over the time, ever since then

Is there any way we couldn't trust each other

I open the window just a little

There, coming a cold, cold winter wind

 

I feel sad of being alone

Will this feeling of sorrow ever go away?

The mist from my sign

Of grief lingers for a time that disappeared

Over the time ever since then

Is there any way we couldn't trust each other

Are we now livin' the world we imagined at that time?

Not everything is going well as we dreamed it would be

I wonder if this routine of days will keep going on and on

A crispy night's sky with stars

That I look up through the window

Over the sky, so deep in the night

There waiting, a bright tomorrow for us

When the moon had risen, Aesop showed up around the area once again, with the intention of meeting a particular someone... Sure enough there she was.

The Queen Bee.

"Bonjour! I suppose there's a good reason for you bringing me out so late? I'll accept it anyway, since you're so cute, but..." "No need to worry. I've something you might want to see."

Without further ado, he brought out a...

Her trademark pout.

"A laptop? My lackeys have plenty of these, boy!"

"It's what's on the laptop that counts." Aesop shook his head, continuing, "The Solars gained access to an Envoys database, one which contains the many residents of Tokyo and their abilities."

"And I assume... the gentleman from earlier?"

Suddenly, a shark-man towered from behind Aesop! "Smart girl."

Not wasting another second, the Queen Bee looked down at the laptop. There, the visage of Sam, a photo he'd probably knowingly taken for a college lanyard.

NAME: SAMSON P. YAMADA

D.O.B: JULY 4 1995

SEX: MALE

GANG AFFILIATION: NONE

ENROLLED: SEVEN SEAS INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE

The standard information, but her eyes weren't focused on that.

ABILITY: "THE SAINT"

'''DESIGNATION: That which restores the order of the universe - reverting all back to its natural law. In other words, the host "SAMSON P. YAMADA" cannot make contact with other abilities.'''

THREAT LEVEL: C

The shark grinned. "Sound familiar?"

"Compared to yours..." Désirée shrugged. "...it's the opposite, no? Judging by the Threat Level, it doesn't seem like a big deal."

"Dumbass!" Roared the shark. "It's untapped potential, just like mine! If any gang gets their hands on him, our plan for Tokyo and the Envoys is fucked!"

"Afraid of a little competition, hm? Comme vous voulez, friend. I'll do my best to win him over. But without Fairytale..." Desirée glanced back to the screen.

"Well, it may be a little hard. But I like hard catches."