The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Welldrinker Cult
A shadowy group is gaining power, drawing in people who are curious, vulnerable, or malicious, and turning them into Mystics. They are recruiting people into their ranks to spread the influence of magic in the world, but for what end goal?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on Sept 13, 2009 0:39:18 GMT -6
X-Men
Team Leader of the X-Men Mansion Math Teacher Japanese Language Teacher
Married to Kealey Shinbo
2,684
36
May 10, 2024 18:44:58 GMT -6
Mugen
"Er... careful!" The pyramid vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. Shin drew in the mental geometry, dashed it to zeroes, and gave a weak laugh. "Sorry... they're sharp! And entirely mental... I couldn't make one for jewelry and sell it, since it'd be gone the second I walked far enough away... or stopped thinking of it." Though maybe that'd fly if shard jewelry was like Leprechaun's gold. Sell it off, walk away, let it vanish. If he'd been a more unscrupulous individual, he'd of said 'there's money to be had'. As such, the thought never crossed his mind.
He took a deep breath and continued. "No, it doesn't hurt. At least, not unless I bust a blood vessel concentrating on a difficult task. As it seems, what I can do is... mentally create a series of triangular razor-sharp barriers with a hardness akin to diamonds... or at least, that's what I've figured out so far to be the truth. I can make funky geometric shapes with them, and I've been practicing doing more."
He held up his right hand and focused on the tip of the index finger. Three inch-long triangles hung a hair's breadth over his digit. Shin closed his eyes. Swear beaded on his brow as he focused, drawing the shapes smaller and smaller, smaller and smaller, smaller and smaller... until finally, he stopped at 7mm with an outward breath. He dismissed them with the flick of a wrist. "Whew... making them tinier takes a lot out of me..." He swayed pointedly, then locked eyes with her, serious. "So you see, my power's complicated, and... as for why I haven't told you. I haven't even told anyone in the family yet. You're the first to know."
Posted by Deleted on Sept 13, 2009 11:13:15 GMT -6
Deleted
"Oh...." Kokoro stared at the shards shrinking at Shin's mental command. Seriously...her cousin made diamond-like shards. They could make a fortune off of those! Ah, but they only exist as long as he willed them to and if he was around for a certain amount of distance. Well...that pretty much smashed Kokoro's hopes of creating a new line of shard jewelry. Life was always a bust...
"I feel honored to be the first to know, but errr...are you going to tell anyone else? I mean you'll have to eventually..." she said closing her eyes. Raising her arms in the air, she began to produce strenuous grunts. While one would might have thought she was trying to go poopie in her pants, what she was really doing was trying to make her own power come out. "Dang...why isn't it working!? Where are my shards!?" she wined. She cracked open her left eyes...nothing had appeared. Just the scene of the two cousins sitting face to face, and the younger looking like an idiot."No...this totally sucks! I want to be a mutant! I want powers! Nothing is happening! Tetsuya-san, why isn't it working!" she whined falling over to curl herself in a ball. "I have been forsaken...."
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on Sept 13, 2009 12:27:18 GMT -6
X-Men
Team Leader of the X-Men Mansion Math Teacher Japanese Language Teacher
Married to Kealey Shinbo
2,684
36
May 10, 2024 18:44:58 GMT -6
Mugen
"Maybe..." Shin replied with restrained silence. "But I've seen how some families react to this sort of thing... I'm not sure how mom would respond. There's no need to trouble gran and gramps about it... I'm pretty sure Sasami would be fine, but..." He paused, blinking at Kokoro. "Er... what are you..." Oh. She was trying to control her power, and... wait, her shards? Nope. No. Nuh uh. Shin shook his head territorially. "It doesn't work that way. I'd have one power, you'd have an entirely different, yet awesome other power. And..." Another blink. She actually wanted them? Shin patted her on the back. "There, there."
He took another deep breath, looking at the closed door. Was she really a mutant, he wondered, or was it another of her attention grabs. 'Mom, Dad, I'm a mutant. This is horrible. Buy me stuff. He'd hope she had more sense than to joke about this sort of thing. It was no laughing matter.
Shin recalled the first time his powers activated. There'd been no headaches leading up to it, only a brutal moment, a flash, and... the pain of everything he knew being shattered before his very eyes.
"I still remember the glint of the bullet as it flew at my eye..." He stared onwards, trancelike. "The way it hit a wall of force and dented inwards. Didn't do anything. Pressed against glass diamond, spent force. Plinked to the pavement..." His voice dropped. "It just sort of happened. Didn't do anything to control it at the time..."
Posted by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 11:35:47 GMT -6
Deleted
"Wait...it just happens?" Kokoro blinked and flipped over on her back to stare up at Shin. A bullet eh? Wait...a bullet!? "You get your arm broken...and you get shot at....and you have powers...and you live in the land of fastf ood, horrid reality television, horribly drawn cartoons, songs with no substance and meaning to them, and a country that elected a hick twice and started to loathe him after he had wrecked the country in his 8 year reign. Tetsuya-san...I envy you." Kokoro sighed. There was still the incident about the bullet that lingered in her mind. From what it sounded like, Shin's power activated when he was in mortal danger. "I get it now! Being a mutant is like being a digimon! They evolve when they're in danger. So All I need to do is get in trouble and my powers will activate! Yes, that is the master plan!" she said slamming her right fist into her left palm.
" Tetsuya-san, you are a genius! I just have to figure out how I'm going to do this. Walk in front of a bus and I'll survive if I get phasing powers! Or jump off of a bridge and gain flight! Drown myself and find out I have fish gills? So many possibilities...."
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on Sept 17, 2009 12:17:05 GMT -6
X-Men
Team Leader of the X-Men Mansion Math Teacher Japanese Language Teacher
Married to Kealey Shinbo
2,684
36
May 10, 2024 18:44:58 GMT -6
Mugen
"Eheh~ --Wait, envy?! Kokoro, don't--" But it was too late. The idea was already planted, working its roots into her head like a weed. No amount of hair-pulling would yank this idea from its depths. He'd have to cut to the quick. "I don't like where this idea is headed... no. Don't throw yourself in harm's way hoping you'll get protected by some unseen force... that's how kids imitating masked webslingers end up sidewalk pizza. How kids watching Naruto get the idea they can control sand, and bury themselves head first in sandboxes (which makes no sense, by the way. Those times Gaara even uses Sand Coffin are on enemies, not himself. The most he's ever done is-- doesn't matter)." He shed the thought with a hand-sweep across his face.
"The point is, don't think that way. If I'd of thought that way, I wouldn't be here today. And if you think that way, I'll be here tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that, stalking you to make sure you don't think that way until the day I go back to New York. So," he bent forward to tweak her nose. When he pulled his hand back, his thumb jutted out between fingers like a snout. Shin shook his head with a half-serious eye. "Don't."
Posted by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 12:47:01 GMT -6
Deleted
"Well that's easy for you to say. You have your powers..." Kokoro defended sitting back up and straightening her hair band. As much as her cousin pleaded her not to do so, Kokoro's mind had already been made up. The idea had already spread and poisoned her mind. Now all she could think of was various scenarios and the various super powers out there, anyone of them could become her own. She glanced back at Shin with a seemingly innocent smile. Oh she could be a good girl and obey...but that just wouldn't be Kokoro if she did that.
"I..." she paused and let out a sigh as her smile melted back into her troubled expression. "I'm sorry Tetsuya-san. This is just something I have to do. I need to know if I have powers or not. I already get called a freak at school, I just want to confirm that I'm a freak evolved from just a normal girl. You have to understand. " she said bowing her head and then hopping up to her feet, sprinting out the guest room down the wooden floor boards of the hallway, and into her own room. She closed the door shut, making sure to lock it to keep away any unwanted older cousin's attempts to spoil her plans. The teen strolled across the pink carpeting towards her closet, a hand reaching into a gallery of various outfits. She clutched a certain pink garment and immediately yanked it out of the closet. She discarded her school uniform and dressed herself in an blue vest embroidered with gold yellow, a blue unitard and white athletic shoes with golden yellow laces, as well as studded wristbands.
"Ready to rock! Oh yeah!" she cried doing a back flip and delivering a thumbs up in her finishing pose.
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on Sept 17, 2009 21:50:49 GMT -6
X-Men
Team Leader of the X-Men Mansion Math Teacher Japanese Language Teacher
Married to Kealey Shinbo
2,684
36
May 10, 2024 18:44:58 GMT -6
Mugen
"......................." Well that was fine. Just great. She'd come to him for advice and he'd opened his stupid mouth. Now she'd probably wind up hurt or dead. Could this vacation be over soon? Stop the crazy train, he wanted off.
And what did she mean 'called a freak at school?' She wasn't a freak. If anything, she had her quirks. They made her special and unique, and damn it all if the other kids didn't see how good she was. They should know better than to judge a person by how they-- ugh, he needed to lie down. She hadn’t listened to a word he’d said. Disregarded his orders, ran off… Shin flopped back on his futon with an overpowering sigh.
“FML.”
She was a big enough girl. She could handle her self. For now, he felt bitter and severely pissed off. Hazel eyes drew shut. He took a deep breath.
Kokoro sat down on her bed legs crossed and eyes closed, hands pressed to her knees. She figured a little meditation would be good before she went out on the town in search of danger. Her mind needed to be clear and focused to that she would be able to concentrate of her techniques. What was planned to be a 10 minute session of meditation turned into 5 hours. Yes, the 15 year old had fallen asleep but it wasn't a big surprise. It had become a habit. Kokoro became so relaxed, she drifted off into a deep sleep. Soon she awoke, face planted in her mattress and a nice little wet spot of drool on her sheets. That's how you know she had a good nap...but she wasn't supposed to have fallen asleep! She should have been out there laughing in the face of danger.
"...Damn." she muttered groggily rubbing her eye. Afternoon had become night, that was just great. Seriously, it was because night time was far more dangerous than day. She turned to glance at the time on her Hello Kitty clock. Seriously, 9pm? She had missed dinner!? Oh well....she could sneak in the kitchen for a snack later. This would be around the time she would climb into bed, but not tonight. Tonight she was on a mission to discover what she really was. The window to her room was opened and the 15 year old wiggled her way out...and fell on her face on the outside.
"Uguu ~" she whined sitting up to spit the dirt and grass that had gotten into her mouth. Hopping back up to her feet, the young teen had begun slow and steady foot steps to creep across the lawn before breaking into a sprint and dashing off into the night.
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on Sept 24, 2009 11:04:04 GMT -6
X-Men
Team Leader of the X-Men Mansion Math Teacher Japanese Language Teacher
Married to Kealey Shinbo
2,684
36
May 10, 2024 18:44:58 GMT -6
Mugen
"Kokoro-san..." Shin's fist hovered over the wooden door. Five minutes had turned into five hours, and his brood session had been as uneventful as flicking between Hello Kitty and GARO. A new show had been on TV Asahi too. Some sort of cooking show... they'd made tamagozushi. The egg-based dish had looked so good, Shin had been inspired to break his vow of grumpy anger aneurysm time to talk to Kokoro. Maybe he'd invite her out to dinner for peace talks... or an apology. Food made the best apologies.
And she was such a big fan of food from his recollection... silence, from beyond the partition. Shin knocked another time. And once more. Twice...
"Ko. Ko. Ro-CHAN! I was thinking we could go eat sushi. You like sushi. Sushi ga daisuki! Sorry for earlier, and... hey, are you even listening to me?"
The wind whipped a window blind against the side of the wall. The fan in the hallway whirred away. A cat yowled in the alleyway. Beyond that, there was naught. Shin waited one second too long on Kokoro’s reply, and then… the door swung open with a kick.
“Kokoro, this is TOO FAR! You shouldn’t ignore your cousin! That’s just—!! … Rude.”
The room was empty, save the Usagi plushie. It stared at Shin vacantly from the floor. Shin shot forward to glare out the gaping window. His foot crunched down on the plushie with a stifled squeak. “KO KO RO!!”
A suspicious Chun-li silhouette skittered off into the shadows of the street. “Aww, hell. I’m telling your…” Shin-feet touched down on the dirt outside Kokoro’s window. Shin landed in a crouch. “…Mom.”
Ugh, if she had taken to the streets he’d never catch her stopping to alert the mother unit to the matter at hand. The night was theirs. He’d play her game of shadow tag. But dammit… Shin hoped this didn’t end poorly on his part.
He broke into a hectic sprint down an alley. She’d gone that way…
Posted by Deleted on Sept 24, 2009 11:44:51 GMT -6
Deleted
She caught the echo of her cousin's scream, but she didn't bother to look back. She vowed to never look back ever again because she hoped tonight would be the beginning of an awesome future. Her sneakers pattered against the ground as the teen in her Street Fighter Alpha Chun-Li costume continued running in the night. A few blocks of sprinting, she made a sharp turn down an alley behind a bakery. She leaned up against the wall and placed a hand over her chest.
"What to do..." Kokoro placed her right index finger to her chin and pondered on the first course of action to take. The thought about scaling a building and then jumping off of a roof. Then she thought about running off into traffic. Hm, yeah both were very hazardous things to do that would result in her death if her powers didn't come out to aid her. Perhaps Tetsuya-san was right about this whole looking for danger idea. But pffft, he had cool super powers. Hm, she wanted to do something that wouldn't result in her death should mother nature screw her over and not give her mutant abilities. She slid down into a crouching positing and lowered her head.
"Well well well..." a gruff voice spoke, the founds of foot steps nearing her, Kokoro looked up to spot a group of 4 men looming over her. Decked out in dingy jeans, black leather jackets and red bandannas. Tattoos decorated their arms and they bore several piercings on their faces. Hm, gang members. Just what she needed. No really, it was perfect! Now she was in danger! This was the typical scenario of how a person's powers surface. Being bullied and they activate their superhuman abilities just in time to save them from being beaten into a bloody pulp.
"Hello!" Kokoro smiled hopping up to her feet and smiling. "Let me guess, you guys are street scum and you have nothing constructive to do, so you've decided that you're going to pick on an innocent little girl? Because picking on little girls just screams bad ass!" she said clenching her fists.
"Are you mocking us?" one of the thugs asked with a devious smirk. "That's not a smart thing to do. That's how you get hurt little g-"
"HYAH-SEI!" a size six foot had connected to the groin area of the thug speaking. His works cut off in favor of a high pitched squeal while cupping his crotch and falling over onto the ground. "Less talking, more fighting! Come on, show me what you've got!" Kokoro demanded. And they complied. The 15 year old now stood frozen as she suddenly found herself staring at three pistols aimed at her head. "Guns...you people have no honor in a clean fight..." she said gulping.
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on Sept 24, 2009 12:32:44 GMT -6
X-Men
Team Leader of the X-Men Mansion Math Teacher Japanese Language Teacher
Married to Kealey Shinbo
2,684
36
May 10, 2024 18:44:58 GMT -6
Mugen
It seems like the moments in life that are the longest are the ones where one's consumed by worry. Standing in line for lunch, waiting for a loved one, running against the clock... always, endless. Time drags its heels. As Shin's feet rose and fell, the moment hung over a precipice. It was a bad dream, he was lingering on the edge. All it would take was one good push...
As he wheeled around the corner, a hand left an impression on his back. He was tumbling into a trash can. All it took was a good push. He hadn't needed a shove.
"Bow to me." The slicked back gangster hairdo muttered. Shin scraped himself off pavement as he got to his feet.
"Kinda busy here, buddy..." He grumbled. Ugh. What was in that trash can. His head felt all funny. He patted his knees, clearing a smear of yakisoba off his good pants, then looked up at the thug. He stood slightly taller than your average grizzly bear, wearing a knee-length coat, white muscle shirt, and school uniform pants. His eyes were white and soulless, like a comic book anti-hero lifting a car. Hair slicked back like Phoenix Wright, but manlier than Edgeworth's cravat... this guy. This guy was a leader. A real badass bancho. And Shin was... a large gulp welled in Shin's throat. He was in trouble.
"Where're you from? This is Aoyama territory! Punks like you have no honor! No honor!"
"Please. You don't understand. I'm not trespassing. No misstep. My little cousin. She's..."
"Make excuses all you want! I'll make you cry, you sack of spit."
"You don't understand!! I AM crying. Or will be, once they find her body... listen, please."
"Talk with your fists!" Thug-thug loomed. Shin sighed. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this. He rose to meet the slicked man's eyes. Lighting crackled in glare-meeting-glare.
"LISTEN HERE, YOU SACK OF GARBAGE! I AM CHASING MY COUSIN DOWN BECAUSE SHE GOT THE FOOLISH IDEA TO COMMIT RITUAL SUICIDE THINKING IT'D GIVE HER SUPER POWERS, AND NO THUG, SLICKED HAIR OR NON—” Shin’s fist connected to the overmuscled man’s gut in a crunching uppercut. The man crumpled over Shin’s fist. “Is gonna get in MY WAY! Now are you gonna keep bothering me, or are you gonna help me find my cousin!?”
“I…” He started weakly with a groan. This guy… had beaten him in one punch. That kind of strength. And his eyes spoke truth. “I’ve got a little cousin of my own. This is a baaad neighborhood. If thugs ever stepped up trying to hurt her, I’d…” He trailed off.
Shin’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “So, you understand?”
“Yeah! I’ll help you. Come on.” The thug began to lead. Shin followed him down an alley, and around a few bends. They stopped behind a group of four men… Shin’s stomach dropped. And Kokoro. He opened his mouth to speak. The leader cut him off. “Hey, you’se guise! Cram it. Get your selves in gear. That’s a little girl you’re messing with there!! She’s your cousin, right?” He added the last sentence in a whisper. Shin nodded slowly in response. The thug smiled. Good. “I don’t want you four messing with little girls in back alleys any more tonight. It AIN’T MANLY! This here guy.” He jerked his thumb towards Shin. Shin waved weakly, still holding his stomach from where the trash can had connected. “Is more manly than any of you’se!! SO CRAM IT!!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Three of the thugs lowered their guns. The one clutching his gonads narrowed his eyes into a squint.
Who was their leader to order him around!? “DONNY, THE LITTLE SHIT STEPPED UP! I AIN’T PLAYIN’ HERE! I hope you’ve had time to make peace with you’re favorite gods, girly.” He whipped out his gun. “Because you’ll be seeing them shortly.”
And fired.
Shin only had time to drop jaw and scream. The bullet moved too fast.
Posted by Deleted on Sept 24, 2009 13:27:36 GMT -6
Deleted
"Come on...work....please...help me, damn it work!" Kokoro pleaded to herself. She had shut her eyes and hand once again gone into constipation mode, eyes shut tightly and grunts being let out as the girl attempted to activate her powers. This time she was dead on serious about doing it because if she didn't, she would die. Then again, she would still die if her powers were something lame like talking to fish. She started to feel the space around her change. Almost as if the air around her body had become thicker in a way. Then it became extremely thick like gel. It was familiar, this same force that had occurred before that made her skeptical about being a mutant in the first place. What the hell was it? She lifted her hand and poked the air out in front of her...it wiggled a bit. Wait...the air wiggled? This was freaking weird. Maybe it was some kind of special plasma attack forming that she could use to do epic finishers on her opponents. Either way, she kept focus, trying to keep the stuff in tact.
“Hey, you’se guise! Cram it. Get your selves in gear. That’s a little girl you’re messing with there!! She’s your cousin, right?”
Kokoro turned to see the gang's bancho and...."Tetsuya-san?" her cousin had followed her? Oh great...not she would never heard the end of it. Especially if he told her mom. All hell would break loose. The bancho ordered his gang to leave her be. Picking on little girls wasn't manly. Damn straight, especially if the little girl could have taken all of them out had they not decided to hide behind their fire arms.
“DONNY, THE LITTLE SHIT STEPPED UP! I AIN’T PLAYIN’ HERE! I hope you’ve had time to make peace with you’re favorite gods, girly.” He whipped out his gun. “Because you’ll be seeing them shortly.”
"Eh!?" Kokoro turned back around. The guy she played nut cracker with had his gun aimed at her and he fired. She stood with a look of terror on her face and she heard her cousin scream...this was the end...
*BOINK*
The bullet suddenly stop inches from Kokoro's face and ricocheted off to the left and shooting into a near by dumpster. She blinked. The bullet hit air and bounced off. What had just happened? She reached out a few inches in front of her again...and the gel was still there. Mushy mushy, just like jello.
"What the? Oh, your one of them freaks with the powers!?" the thug yelled firing again, and again, and again. Each bullet ricocheted off of the gelatin invisible force in front of her.
"STOP SHOOTING AT ME!!!!" she screamed, a burst of anger exploded from the young girl's body, as did an invisible wave washing away the thugs and Shin out of the alley, the one with the gun had been washed into the side of a brick wall and laid unconscious on the littered alley ground. "...I...d-did it...." she whispered to herself and fell over onto the ground as the invisible gel dissipated. She suddenly felt her body go numb, exhaustion had taken over and her vision faded to black. 15 year old Kokoro Shinbo had the newest mutant to join the ever growing populous of homo-superior. It was an honor...and very tiring. She fell asleep with a pleasant smile on her face and of course, there was drool.
Posted by Tetsuya Shinbo on Sept 25, 2009 16:19:02 GMT -6
X-Men
Team Leader of the X-Men Mansion Math Teacher Japanese Language Teacher
Married to Kealey Shinbo
2,684
36
May 10, 2024 18:44:58 GMT -6
Mugen
Shin woke from a dream of cavemen chipping at skulls with palmed rocks. Click click clacking away at some barrier of bone between brain and brawn. Muscular hands, swept shoulders.
The scent of acrid alley way and gun powder. Mahogany eyes turned deeply to stare at him. Eyes... angry. Thick-necked. A guttural grunt. The whole world turned as Shin rolled to the floor. As his arm stretched out a highway of twisting veins and bone, Shin finally opened his eyes.
His neck pounded.
"... Where?" The line of someone's back lay horizontally directly in front of him. Hazy. Murky. Were they in a swamp? Hazel eyes opened and closed a couple more times, clearing away a fog of tears. Revealed alley. Okay. Maybe not. The last he'd remembered, Shin was standing. Screaming.
And the bounce. He slouched to a seated position, head swung around. Enemies on all sides. A hint of red on one guy's nostril. Was he dead?
... No. The contented smile gave him away. Probably a nosebleed. A whole different set of issues arose. Ugh. Shin swayed forward, holding his head. Of all the... okay. He was alive. And Kokoro? His eyes swung to search the scene again. The scene slowly pieced itself together as he caught sight of the happy drool. She actually did it, didn't she...? Something about the realization made his stomach drop.
Kokoro-san was a mutant. As was he. In Kyoto, in an alleyway, surrounded by bad news. Were all the thugs out-cold? He couldn't tell. Another glance.
A hand on his shoulder set him closer to the edge.
"They're all alright. I checked. Little thing like that couldn't stop me. But damn... I guess those super powers your cousin wanted to activate actually did. Geez. I'll have to scrape the guys' egos off the floor later... You're alright... aren't ya? The bleary-eyed look you're giving me... you look like you're high."
"...Sorry, what?" Shin glanced back at the leader from earlier, eyes dazed. The man's eyes were soft with sincerity. It didn't fit his persona of hard fists and slicked-back hair. "And Kokoro..."
"Out cold. You should probably take her back home before the others wake up. I did what I could earlier, but some of them can be real idiots..."
"I... noticed. Thanks..." Shin muttered. He pushed off one knee gruffly as he got to his feet. He walked over to Kokoro, and bent down to lift her over his shoulder with a sigh. She was snoring. Loudly. He turned to face the leader with a 16-year old girl slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. For a moment, the scene got weirder, if that were even possible. A passerby might wonder, 'Just who was the criminal here?' “… I never got your name.” Shin made a face.
“Kuwabara.” The thug replied silently. “Aoyama Kuwabara. And you?”
“… Yusuke Urameshi.” Shin shrugged. He turned to walk his cousin out of the alley, and down a street.
~*~
Nobody in the house asked anything when Shin walked through the front door, Kokoro in-hand. Nobody asked when he hauled her off to her room. Set her gently down on her bed. Returned to his own room. Nobody asked.
He flopped on the futon, kicked off his shoes. Watched Beyblade. Quickly turned it off. Slept.
They were sure to ask some time. It wouldn’t be tops.