Wide Awake (Open)

[Steven Lagenski]

Benzodiazepine, knockout gas, or just some type of roofie, he wasn't sure how they had gotten him, but they did. The chatting of the few passerby only served to cause slight migraines, as if this wasn't irritating enough, they were the annoying voices of kids that were obviously going through puberty. He raised his right hand to his face and made his way up out of the bed he had been placed on. He was wearing the same black shirt and jeans he had the night before, or however long it had been since he had been dragged to the school.

"At least I'm away from dad." he groaned while trying his best to laugh at his own joke. His movements were slow, as if he had just been on a heroine binge and was slowly recovering. He dragged his foot against the tiling below, it had fallen asleep, but whether it was because of the drugs or the way he had been sleeping he couldn't tell, either way it didn't seem to be rising. He eased his way through the door of what he assumed to be the nurses office and stared at the blurry image of a map in front of him, most campus had small plated little sketches of the layout of buildings, but his vision was a bit to hazed to process it all.

He made his way passed the group of children and walked in what he believed to be the direction of the main office. He let his left hand dangle while he placed his right firmly against his chest, it wasn't hurt, but it was just a way for him to feel more in control of things, as for why he wasn't sure. He smiled licking at the ring piercing on the right corner of his lip, he realized that he'd have to clean it before it got all nasty and puss filled soon, if it hadn't already. He leaned his body forward as he finally got to a doorway, his hand slammed against the frame of the door though he made no attempt to actually go in. He turned his head toward an oncoming student and sighed, his vision was still fuzzy and the black words on a grey plastic plate to the left seemed illegible.

"Hey, I'll give you a shiny nickel if you tell me what those words say."
he didn't feel to happy, but it was in his nature to joke, if anything it at least helped him feel more like he was home, then in some random building with words that were far to fuzzy to read.

[Karashi Usaki]

The girl was new to the school. Sure she had been there for about three months, but getting used to a school that was in a different country, and a different language had been hard. Sure, she had studied English in the Japanese Institute, but it had been hard with her, especially with her ADD. She struggled with it, and so it made every day things hard for her. She had gotten accustomed to it, somewhat. She was still working on it.

She was walking through school, clutching her favorite book, Where The Red Fern Grows close to her chest. She kept her head down. She was very shy, and she hadn’t made any friends yet. She hadn’t made contact with them, and wanted to avoid it, just in case. She didn’t really know why, but she felt safer if she didn’t have any contact with people. She couldn’t shake the feeling of always being watched, so she just avoided it.

She heard a harsh voice, and her nature couldn’t resist the urge to look up. His nature seemed very hostile, almost as if any little word or sentence would set him off. She did not wish to anger him, but he already seemed enraged. She put her head down and continued walking, but she suddenly heard him ask the question. Her nice nature again could not resist, and she stopped, turning to him. She then read the sign. “It says main office.” She turned back to him, wondering if he had anything else to say.

Words: 256
Muse: Ok

[Steven Lagenski]

The footsteps seemed loud, even though they probably weren't, he was at least sure that it was the drugs that made it seem that way. Whatever it was the side effects were pretty similar to a hangover, though he couldn't remember if he had just been drinking the night before. Either way he was sure he would be praying to the god called toilet at some point in the day. Her voice sounded muffled as if she was hesitant to speak, perhaps she thought he was strung out, cause he damn sure felt like it.

"Chinese? Oh snap, I'd like some sesame seed chicken and some white rice." he opened his mouth to laugh, but a splitting headache had served to bring him to silence, if only for the moment. He gripped his hand tighter to his head and sighed as he realized that the girl's accent was probably why she didn't sound so clear. Apologies were clearly in order, "My bad, still want the nickel?" he had almost forgotten why he had asked the mysterious Asian to help to begin with , but the thought of storming the office still lingered in his mind, it just seemed rude to let the girl get away without him fulfilling his end of the bargain.

It dawned on him that he lacked any actual nickel but he rifled through his pockets in an effort to stall before he finally told her that the government or the school or whatever had stolen his money.

[Karashi Usaki]

The girl looked at him. He surely seemed high, and she wanted to help, but something was nagging her in the back of her head, telling her to just leave the man alone. Getting into a mess was exactly the opposite of what she needed right now, and she wanted to avoid it in all possible way. She wanted to walk on, but something was keeping her there, although she couldn’t figure out what it was. She looked at him.

She was appalled at what he had said. First of all, she was Japanese, not Chinese. Second of all, how rude! She balled her fists up, controlling her temper. She rarely got mad, but there were four things you never insulted that revolved around the girl. One was her ethnicity. She was Japanese, and proud of it. She was not afraid to hide it. Second was her culture. She loved her culture just as much as her country. Third was her family. They had done so much for her, and she would never know how to thank them enough. Lastly was herself. She had come a long way from what she had endured in her past.

She walked up close to him, narrowing her eyes at him. As if they weren’t narrowed enough. Ugh, another stereotype. She hated them, but she knew that they would never stop. She was about an inch from his face. “First of all, I’m Japanese you moron. If the drugs or whatever you’re on can’t make you think straight, then don’t even think at all. Secondly, doing that for you was not worth even a dollar.” Her voice was cold, and was heavily accented. If she was going to make do with this school, then she had to learn to stick up for herself, and this was the perfect opportunity.

Words: 305
Muse: Good

[Steven Lagenski]

The boy smiled. With their faces so close it was very easy to make out her features. He was right about her being Asian, but apparently he had gotten the region wrong. The girl needed to lighten up, he hadn't even finished his order and already she was spouting something about Japanese people on drugs. He slowly dropped his hand from his face and stared into the small slits he assumed were her eyes. They were beady and were reflecting lights, the drugs weren't wearing off much, but he was at least able to string sentences together.

"A kind gestures, worth many thanks, one thanks is worth a million words, but words don't mean much." He grunted and licked at the inside of his mouth swirling his ringed piercing around once more. He had taken a shot at a Japanese proverb, sort of, he felt the need to be a bit more eastern as not to offend the bitchy chapanese girl. Before she could be hurt and swing a samurai sword at his head or something, he stepped back, "You're right, it's priceless." his smirk grew wider and slowly formed a smile. He was doing his best to desist the situation, after all he had just gotten there and he was in no need of being kung fued to death before he could rant about being drugged.

His head was still doing a lot of pulsing and the migraine was shifting back and forth in the back of his head like the tides on the beach. If the throbbing and brain splitting pain wasn’t enough he couldn’t help but feel a slight throbbing feeling in his stomach, though whether it was because of fear of getting his ass kicked by what very well may be the reincarnation of female Bruce Lee or if he just had to vomit.

[Karashi Usaki]

The girl could smell the drugs coming from his breath. It was disgusting. She almost wanted to step back and cough, but then that would show her backing down, and she never did that. Especially when she was angry, and had been insulted. She had to stand up for her country and her ethnicity, and she wasn’t going to fail without a fight. She almost laughed when he got the proverb completely wrong. She now knew why he had been such an ass. It was the drugs talking, and not him.

“Idiot. You said it completely wrong.” She narrowed her eyes at him, and then said the next thing in perfect Japanese, her accent perfect with every word. “Shinsetsuna jesuchā wa kachi ga aru ōku no okagedesu. Hitotsu no okage de man no kotoba ni kachi ga aruga, kotoba wa amari imi ga arimasen.” She smiled. She hoped that would give him a headache. If not, then at least him having to figure it out would give him a headache. She did not like the way he was acting, and she resisted the urge to slap him. He had made her very angry, but not angry enough to provoke her using her power.

She backed away from him, shifting her weight to one leg. This guy was an asshole, and if he insulted her or her country one more time, she would slap him, and wouldn’t care about what consequences followed. She was sick and tired of being picked on, and she wasn’t going to take it anymore. She was going to stand up for herself if it killed her. She just hoped it didn’t resort to her using her powers. She didn’t have much control over her powers yet.

Words: 390
Muse: Ok

((Translation: A kind gesture is worth many thanks. One thanks is worth a million words, but words do not mean much.))

[Steven Lagenski]

Being under the influence of narcotics was something new to him, but it didn't seem much better then being drunk with all the side effects and none of the positives, besides he spoke his mind any way beer would only serve to make him sound dumb. He raised his brow as the girl spat off fluent Japanese accented with a hint of anger. He had at least got her to say he was dumb, that was better then getting kicked in the crotch. "Okay Okay, I get it..." his head was pounding even worse as it was pounded with syllable after syllable of a language he failed to comprehend, he was at least able to make out that it was Japanese, though this was because of what the girl had said before and not off his own comprehensive skills."

"Aye aye Lucy Lu, lets be nice now." He held his tongue as he remembered an episode of family guy where he had seen peter squawking about being a big strong American man. He couldn't help but crack the same dumb smile that had been popping up since the conversation started. "Before you go all angry on my ass that was a compliment. And stop spitting whatever it is your saying, head hurts, to much to hear.. your voice is pretty and all, but speak slower." he raised his hand back to the top of his head, the girl had served to make his head hurt even more then it had before. His fingers ran in small linear motions, they trailed up and down the top of his head making small lines in the process.

His breathe smelled like ass and though he was aware of he had more important things to do than brush his teeth and swig Listerine. "Alright, now slowly, explain to me who is in charge of this place, cause I don't feel like yelling at the wrong person, my head is hurting enough." he dropped his hand in hopes that the girl would be kind enough to help him, if not he would just have to storm in there and shout his brains out until he had an aneurysm.

[Karashi Usaki]

She was glad that he got the message. She was not to be messed with, especially when insulting the four things mentioned before. It was a good thing that she didn’t get mad easily enough to use her power. That might cause some problems, and that was the opposite of what she wanted right now. She could tell that her Japanese had caused him pain, and she smiled in triumph, glad that he was suffering. She wanted him to suffer for what he had said to her.

Lucy Lu? Who the hell was she? The girl had never heard of this ‘Lucy Lu’ he spoke of. Was she famous? Did she sing or act? The girl shook her head, trying to get rid of frivolous thoughts. She couldn’t let her mind wander like that, otherwise this boy might catch her by surprise. She never let her guard down, and was certainly not going to stop now. She narrowed her eyes at him. This man was getting on her last nerve, and she didn’t like it. “I don’t know who this ‘Lucy Lu’ is, but I am certainly not her. My name is Karashi Usaki. I’d appreciate it if you told me yours.” Her voice was again accented with her Japanese accent, and was layered with coldness.

She wasn’t sure how to respond to his comment about her voice. Was he trying to get out of her yelling at him? Or did he actually mean it? She decided to shrug it off and answer his last question. Hopefully he would watch his words this time, because she wasn’t in the mood to be insulted again. Then again, the one comment he had made had been a compliment, and she hadn’t known it. Considering she didn’t know this boy, she decided to take caution and just answer his question. “The person in charge is the Headmaster, otherwise known as Claude Harris. Why do you ask?” She spoke slowly this time so that he would understand her.

Words: 334
Muse: Great

[Steven Lagenski]

The girl's voice was still heavily accented, but it obviously annoyed her, though he would love to play on this a bit later he realized that messing with her would only cause more pain and he didn't feel like blacking out at the moment. The girl calmed down, but her body was still tense, it was obvious that the compliment had only served to quell the girls rage enough to get her to speak english. He nodded as she made an effort to talk slow, which did wonders for not agitating his already throbbing headache.

As the pain in his head settled down a few notches he turned his attention back to the ring below his lip. "Stevey" he wanted to keep his words short and low, any other way and it would only agitate his head. Whatever it was he had been under was slowly weeding its way out of his system and he was able to think a bit more rationally. She told him who it was he had to scream at and the smile returned to his face. "I didn't ask to be here, and I'm telling that guy to send me back home or suck a dick." he put a bit of emphasis on the last word which caused the pulsing to return to his head.

He had forgotten to answer her question about Lucy Lu at least in the order she had asked it , but the thought crossed his mind abotu where he could go with it. Because she was oblivious it might be fun to make a game out of it afterall she had hurt his head, but perhaps in the first act of good judgement the boy had ever taken he chose to tell the truth, "Lucy Lu is like.. the worlds sexiest asian.: he rubbed his templed and removed the smirk on his face just to show how serious he was. He knew he could probably make it sound more like a joke than a statement, but he would have to do that when his head was not killing him.

[Karashi Usaki]

She didn’t really like his name. It sounded like a five year old’s name, and it wasn’t right for a boy who looked to be about her age, maybe a year younger or older than she was. She frowned, shifting her weight again. Something seemed…off about this boy. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she knew that something was definitely not right. She wondered what it was. She frowned at his language. She really didn’t like profane use of language, but she didn’t want to make him mad, so she kept quiet about what he said. She would have to live with it for now.

She chuckled quietly at is comment about getting out of the Institute. She knew he wouldn’t be able to. The people were very trained, and would find him again if he tried to run away. She had seen others do it, and they had been found within a week. ”You can try. They’ll always find you.” She hugged her book closer to herself, wondering what he was planning on doing when he ran away. She knew he wouldn’t get very far anyway, so why bother? She didn’t even see the reason in running since they always found you.

She frowned, wondering if she should take that as a compliment or as an insult. His language was a bit confusing, but she would have to manage if she wanted to make friends. She wondered how she matched up to this ‘Lucy Lu’ girl. “Well, since I’m Asian, am I as sexy as this ‘Lucy Lu’ girl?” She watched him rub his temples. Maybe he was sick, and that was the off thing that she couldn’t figure out. She pondered that thought for a moment, keeping an expecting look on her face. She was very good at keeping expressions while thinking about other things. She shook her head, deciding that that wasn’t it. She waited for his answer, hoping it was the right one. If it wasn’t, then her mood would get worse, and that would be bad for him.

Words: 346
Muse: Great!

[Steven Lagenski]

Steven raised his brow, he was now in familiar grounds. it made it somewhat hard for him not to smile. "Maybe, I've seen Lucy in a bathing suit, but you might be in her league." It was never smart to feed into people who fish for compliments, even if they were angry asian girls. Regardless of how she felt about his statement he was pretty sure he had done enough to diffuse the situation, afterall who could hate a compliment.

His smirk came to a stop when he thought about the catching you statement, "Wait so they can just kidnap people and hold them hostage and they are not being jailed for this? Where the hell is Obama on this" he let's this shit just slide?, he was fuming and he knew it, he was able to keep from yelling and had even pushed a joke in there, but his agitation was evident. If he didn't have a reason to hate schools before he definitely had one now. He didn't intend to run away, he assumed they'dw just let him go, the fact that they didn't just seemed inhumane.

[Karashi Usaki]

She narrowed her eyes. Wrong answer. “How can you even say that when you don’t even know me? Figure, a guy who takes drugs can’t even piece together a decent conversation.” She was very angry now, but still not enough to invoke the use of her power. She had figured out what was wrong with him. Him rubbing his temples, him not thinking straight, and his god-awful breath. She knew it was drugs because her biological mother reeked of them when she got home from the bars due to the fact that people smoked drugs in the bars. She hated that smell, and she didn’t like it coming from him either.

She did not find it funny at all that he would judge her before he even knew her. She hated it when people did that. It was like the stereotypes that she always heard about Japanese people. One was they were supposed to be smart. Well she proved that wrong by being diagnosed with ADD, or Attention Deficit Disorder. She hated it when people said that she was smart, when she really struggled with her studies every single day. She hoped that this boy was not one of those who stereotyped her.

She nodded at his comment. “They don’t necessarily kidnap you. They just bring you here so that you can master your power, and control it so that you won’t hurt those around you. They will release you when they feel you can control your power completely.” She had done her homework. She wanted to know everything about the school, so she always made sure to read up on it. She leaned against a wall, looking at him. “I honestly don’t know what Obama is doing. I don’t like politics in general, so I don’t pay attention to them.” She crossed her arms over her chest, still clutching her book close to her chest.

Words: 316
Muse: Great!

[Steven Lagenski]

The girl definitely did not fit the stereotype, she was either dumb or still did't fully understand the language she spoke. "I said you're sexy...and i have to know you..?" his head was hurting, but now for different reasons.

He shook his head and returned to a deadlock gaze on her chinky eyes. "One it's not my fault I'm on drugs it's the damn schools, Two I don't have to know you to say you're pretty, i look, i saw, i complimented. Three I got taken against my will, seems like classic kidnapping to me." he was angry, but not at her and the one thing he had learned in his house was not to vent his frustration out on people who didn't deserve it. It didn't dawn on him that the girl had mentioned powers or training until after he finished.

His curiosity had been peeked, his hand returned to his waist while his eyes turned toward the sign that read main office, the text was discernable, it seemed that whatever it was that had messed with his system had finally run its course. "And what the hell are you talking about with powers, I'm not a mutant." his eyes shifted to the top left corner as he tried thinking back to any incident that might have been seen as freaky, the only thing he could come up with was the time he slammed the kid into a locker. He bit down on his lower lip and brought his head toward the cieling.

"Fuck!"

[Karashi Usaki]

She still wasn’t sure whether she should trust what was coming out of this man’s mouth. She frowned, shifting her weight to her other foot again. She didn’t understand what he meant when he said that the drugs were on account of the school. She hadn’t been drugged when she had been ‘kidnapped’ and taken to the institute in Japan. Who knew? Maybe the way they recruited people was different in America. She had been transferred from Japan, so she hadn’t been recruited, even though that’s what everyone told her to say. She didn’t understand why, but she didn’t question it either. She found it better just to go with the flow. She avoided bad situations that way.

She frowned and shook her head. “You weren’t kidnapped. You were recruited, just by force. They only use it when you resist.” She felt smart, despite her ADD, and it made her feel good. Apparently this guy didn’t know he was a meta-human, or a human with a ‘gift’. She preferred to say powers, because it sounded cooler, but that just made her sound like a nerd, so she referred to it as a ‘gift’. She chuckled lightly at his comment about not being a mutant. Again, she saw meta-humans as heroes, not ‘mutants’ as this boy referred to them. “If you did not have powers then you would not be here, whether it was your choice or not. So you must have powers. Hammel only recruits those with said ‘gifts’.”

She arched an eyebrow in sudden surprise as he dropped an f-bomb. She honestly wasn’t expecting that, and especially not such vulgar language. She hated using it, but sometimes even she slipped. She wondered why he was saying that. “What’s wrong? Did you hurt someone? Kill someone?” It wasn’t unlikely for a student at Hammel to accidentally kill someone. If they didn’t have control over their power, then an accident as easily as that could happen, and according to the Hammel history book, it had happened at least once.

Words: 338
Muse: Great!

[Steven Lagenski]

He couldn't stop thinking about the day that his parents had told him that he would be going to the institute. He was under the assumption that the instute was a mental institution. They had talked about gifts, he figured it was just a paraphrase for his ability to get in trouble. Regardless of what they had done it for the institute had kidnapped him. His parents had given them conscent, but in the end he would be the one who had to attend. She was curious about what had gotten him in there, he had indeed hurt someone but he wasn't entirely sure if it could count as a power.

"Listen..." he hesitated, he didn't want to mispronounce her name but he didn't feel like getting her pissy, she seemed to get agitated over compliments, it was a sign of insecurity, he felt the need to make fun of it or perhaps even help her out a bit. But now he had to focus on the name, "Does Constant suspension count as a power?" he smiled as he recalled his track record of trouble, he wasn't completely oblivious to his ability, but he wasn't entirely sure what it was.