a certain scientific kuroko

"There's this horrifying Teleporter in Judgment who'll tear apart your body and soul if she catches you... and there's another that rules over even that Teleporter's body and soul - the strongest Electromaster." spouse: ciel phantomhive housed in: orphanage

[scientifickuroko]

the weather outside is frightful [event || closed: ciel phantomhive]

[arrogantyoungphantom]

“That’s because I don’t seem to be from your time period.” Ciel chuckled darkly. Kuroko had probably figured it out for herself by now, but Ciel was still struck by a certain disbelief for this predicament he found himself in. Time travel was a myth. At least, he had believed as much until he found himself huddled under a blanket next to his Japanese fiancee.

“I see.” said the noble as he nodded in understanding. Technical terms aside, he picked out what he knew from what she had said and slowly pieced together the information. “So Academy City is a sort of private institution for people such as yourself?”

That would certainly explain a lot. It still sounded rather fishy, but with no other explanation as to how she had entered his room without him noticing when the Phantomhive boy had been on high alert, he supposed he could accept it.

“So is this how I’ve been brought here?” It would’ve probably been a little too much to hope that all of these issues were some how tied together and related in some neat little way, but he couldn’t deny the possibility. “Does any of your classmates have the ability to time travel?”

He wondered vaguely if Doctor Ivers was an ‘ESPer’.

A sideways glance to Kuroko told him that she was feeling the chill. He shuddered slightly and wrap the blanket closer around their form. It was getting colder and help didn’t seem to be coming any time soon.

With a huff of determination, he reluctantly pulled away from the blanket’s warm embrace and hurriedly crawled over to the desk.

“There should be something that could warm us up here.” he mumbled, trying to ignore just how frozen he felt. Pulling open a drawer, he rummaged through the standard issue pencils, papers, colour pencils(just how old did Doctor Ivers think they were?) and erasers. His search yielded nothing and he slammed the drawer shut in irritation before starting on the compartment above it.

Pulling the wooden drawer out, he couldn’t help but cry out in delight as his small fingers closed around a matchbox.

[scientifickuroko]

"It may be easiest to think of it in that way," she agreed, "but many non-ESPers do inhabit Academy City as well." Most of the instructors and scientists have never undergone the power development curriculum themselves, and there are many students who can't seem to develop their powers despite their best efforts."

Pondering Phantomhive's theory, Kuroko was surprised she had not thought of this herself. There were many anomalies known to occur from the interactions of AIM Dispersion Fields. One ESPer's AIM field was harmless on its own, but many gathered together created unexplainable phenomenons. Maybe the people and their other worlds that Kuroko assumed them to arrive from were one of those phenomenons brought into existence by the highly concentrated AIM fields, existing simultaneously yet separate from Academy City.

"If there is anyone with power over time, I have yet to come across them." she answered to satiate his curiosity. As a member of Judgement, she had access to the records of all the residents of Academy City, including specifics on their ability and skill level. There had yet to be anyone registered with any sort of control over the flow of time.

Though, if she thought about it, there were many who possessed power over the mind- different levels of mind control and telepathy. It was possible that various forms of memory manipulation played a part in this civilization she had yet to make sense of.

Kuroko watched the boy move away from the security of the blankets and begin to rustle through the desk drawers. "Are you certain there aren't any ESPers where you come from?"

If Academy City did not exist in his world, Kuroko could understand how ESPers were not in abundance, but there were natural born ESPers as well. It was due to these natural ESPers that Academy City had come into existence. The city could also be described as a giant research facility to discover the science behind how ESPers worked, what conditions were necessary to develop powers that were considered super natural. Though, those natural born ESPers were rare and few in number.

But, she soon cared little for Phantomhive's response as his hands withdrew a matchbox from a compartment within the desk. She instantly stood, the blankets still tightly wrapped around her form. Kuroko could have almost squealed in delight for all the joy she was feeling, and the excitement was clear on her expression. "If you had something like that, why didn't you bring it out earlier?!"

[when-i-am-no-longer-deactivated]

//Something's Up with You and Crowds...

[when-i-am-no-longer-deactivated]

The girl’s efforts in pronunciation were more than humorous, Lacie did her best to hold back an amused laugh. Kuroko did a rather nice job though…! “Thank you!” the woman returned, smiling as she took a step forwards, standing next to the girl in a quiet sort of manner. 

“I would love to join you! To think some of your friends are also lost, well, it’s a little unsettling to me. We can look together, who  knows, maybe we’ll find the people we’re looking for.” Lacie smiled, moving forwards with the girl as they started on their journey through the town. 

Her chances of finding her older brother seemed in increase with each step, a sort of new found hope beginning to emerge in her mind. “I shouldn’t be this worried about my brother—he’s older than me, not to mention smarter and more skilled…but he’s not the best with people. Maybe that’s why…” she exclaimed, a little more to herself than to Kuroko. 

[scientifickuroko]

The older woman moved to join her in a refined manner, without so much as a rustle from the ample material that made up her regal styled dress. Though Kuroko was plenty graceful in her movements as well, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy at the other's delicate poise.

She listened to Lacie's remarks with a certain feeling of affinity. "I completely understand that feeling."

"Onee-sama is surely stronger than Kuroko. She is one of the handful of level 5's and can certainly hold her own in any situation, but Kuroko can't help but worry. Onee-sama's always getting into some sort of trouble when I'm not around, after all." There was always some sort of trouble brewing in Academy City, and Kuroko wasn't all too convinced that Civilization 9 would be much different. At least in Academy City, there had been Judgement, of which she had been a part of, and Anti Skill to keep things slightly more peaceful and less chaotic. There was no such disciplinary or law enforcement system in place in this new territory other than the scientists led by Dr. Ivers, and they had yet to prove themselves to be any bit of trustworthy.

"Where shall we go in continuation of our search? Obviously there is no more need to look in this area."

[gingerpuzzler-blog]

A change of plans?

[gingerpuzzler-blog]

Even though he’d rambled on just a tad with his complaints about the transport system, it felt pretty cool to know at least someone else agreed with him and his point of view. Then again, who didn’t complain about the scientists and the way they’d set things up? He had yet to find a single person who was entirely ’happy’ about how the white coats had gone about all this. 

“I know I kinda don’t have the right to complain, seeing as I’m still alive an’ all, but seeing as we’re apparently expected to spend the rest of our lives here, you’d think those dumb science guy would have put a bit more effort into stuff like that. As if I needed any more proof this whole thing is incredibly stupid, psssh!!!”

Shaking his ginger head at that, his scowl brightened to a more agreeable expression at Kuroko agreed to pay, but an utterly shocked expression crossed his face at the ‘mister’.

“I’m only eighteen! It sounds like I’m really old when you call me mister, geeez! I’m not really one for formalities, myself, so call me whatever you feel like at the time!”

Though he’d been shocked at the formalities, his surprised look didn’t last long. Seemed a cheerful look was almost always on his face despite the serious circumstances. 

“You’re welcome! Hey, if the scientists aren’t going to be ‘gentlemen’, I should at least try to be, heh.”

With that, he made sure the other maps he was going to sell were (somewhat) safe in his pockets before waiting for the other to give him the ten dollars. This city’s currency still confused him, but he was getting somewhat used to it. Another thing those dumb white-coats needed to work on, in his opinion!!

[scientifickuroko]

She gave a sigh at the inadequate effort put forth by the scientists. "You would think this community would be more efficient when one considers the technology that these scientists have been shown to be capable of."

Civilization 9 was impressive enough by itself for an underground city with its man-made weather and simulated sky, but - if one did know know they were underground - this civilization would seem completely normal, if not a bit lacking in Kuroko's opinion. Compared to Academy City, which was said to be thirty years ahead of the rest of the world (pre-nuclear bomb era), Civilization 9 almost seemed a bit primitive in comparison.

She shifted through her wallet until her fingers brushed against the desired bill. Kuroko was not one to boast of her financial status, but before this incident, she had had no monetary troubles to cause her concern. Her family had been rather well off, and the allowance they allotted her had always been quite a hefty sum. She was coming to realize, now that this was not so, how important money really was in life, no matter which world.

"Though you may still be quite young, you are nonetheless older than me," she chuckled lightly. "It would be rude to call your name with such familiarity when we have only just met, but if you prefer, I will stop addressing you in that way."

She presented the money to the ginger haired man for him to accept, making a profit from the work he put into drawing up the map and thus completing their transaction.

[scientifickuroko]

the weather outside is frightful [event || closed: ciel phantomhive]

[arrogantyoungphantom]

It seems Kuroko wasn’t done with her ‘rant’, judging by how she continued to ramble on and on about this ‘Onee-sama’ of hers.

“Mikoto Misaka?” Another strange name to add to the list. First Kuroko Shirai, then Kamijou Touma, and now, Mikoto Misaka? “Again, not that I know of. I’m assuming that this ‘Mikoto Misaka’ is the same person as the aforementioned ‘Onee-sama’?”

Ciel decided it was best not to comment on the fact that the person that was the subject of Kuroko’s deep infatuation seemed to also be a female. Maybe they had less strict laws upon these sort of things in this era. Either way, Ciel didn’t really care.

“Rest assured, I have no intentions of pursuing your ‘Onee-sama’,” said Ciel in an attempt to pacify the girl. It was the truth, considering Ciel by this point already had two fiancees. He didn’t plan on adding a third.

“Japanese, huh.” he repeated slowly. From the time period he was from, Japan had been 20 years or so out of it’s isolationism. The Funtom company didn’t have any trading partners in the East besides the Chinese, so he hadn’t much information on the country itself. With the added wild card of an anachronistic timeline, he wasn’t sure if the Japan he knew about and the Japan Kuroko was referring to were the same thing. “Does Britain still exist where you are from? That’s my home country.”

Academy City didn’t sound the least bit familiar to him. If anything, it sounded like a book store.

He was slightly surprised Kuroko hadn’t managed to figure out his nationality based on his accent. It shone through as he spoke and he did little to disguise it.

And another thing he should probably ask about.

“ESPer?” Kuroko had mentioned it a few times, but made no move to explain it to him. He had been trying to disguise his ignorance as much as possible, but it seemed that his inexperience about the age she was from was revealing itself. He wondered if he should come clean and inform her of his rising suspicions of him being uprooted from his time period and randomly thrown into another.

[scientifickuroko]

The boy's denial of any interest in Onee-sama was enough to placate her for now, and so she let the topic drop. It was a great misfortune that he had not heard of any news of Onee-sama, but that didn't mean that Onee-sama wasn't alive and well within this new society.

"So you are from Britain?" Now that she thought about it, his mannerisms and style did exemplify a certain English air. "Your style of dress does certainly have a distinctly English taste to it." But it was an older style of English fashion. It was a style that most modern day Europeans no longer donned, and it solidified her notion that Ciel Phantomhive was not of the same time frame as she came from. If he were, he would definitely have more awareness of Academy City, of the existence of ESPers.

"An ability user," she explained, redefining the term ESPer. Maybe he would understand it better this way. "People such as me who have undertaken Academy City's Power Curriculum Program, thus leading to an emission of an AIM dispersion field and the development of a certain power."

She wished she could demonstrate to drive her point in further, but as they conversed, the temperature continued dropping. The stabbing pain of the cold put her thoughts at disarray and allowed for little focus on current happenings let alone for the calculations required for even a simple teleportation. Kuroko clung to the blankets tighter, trying to seal the little warmth within her body.

But, at least Phantomhive seemed more willing to believe in her ability now as opposed to before when he had blatantly denied her very logic. ESPer derived abilities were a scientific phenomenon unlike the illogical hocus pocus magic that laymen loved to believe in.

[suchmisfortune]

Unlikely alliance [Closed@Kuroko]

[suchmisfortune]

[It was to be expected. The hard-working Kuroko would go as far as possible if it was for Misaka and the proud tone in her voice was just proof of it but for her to be looking in this place, it showed that she really had no more clues left.]

“What are you doing here?”

[When asked with the same question, Touma realized he had no real reason to be in this place and she would either not believe it or plainly laugh at him.]

W-well… I decided to take a stroll through the city and somehow I ended up walking into this place.

[As he raised his right hand to scratch his head, this one bumped into the smaller totem-like statue that was embedded on the bigger one and it made a cracking noise. Touma wondered if the statue was so old that a slight bump like that was enough to crack it but as he turned around, he saw it not just cracking but slowly crumbling into dust. Instinctively, he turned around and took a step backwards to get away from the statue. At first, only the smaller thing crumbled away leaving a round hole on the bigger statue until suddenly, a black matter started oozing out of the hole and a sudden gust of wing enveloped the statue in what seemed to be a black miasma. The gust of wind violently dissipated outwards, revealing the true nature of the statue: A real Grim Reaper.]

Oi Oi, this is some kind of joke… right?

[And almost as if to respond to his question, a scythe materialized on the hands of the spiritual being as it swung it vertically to where Touma was standing, just to be avoided by a mere instant out of reflex and started running away from the Reaper in a random direction, possibly further into the forest as the thing started following him.]

AHHH FUKOOU DAA SUCH MISFORTUNE!!!

[scientifickuroko]

Kamijou Touma's answer had been less than satisfactory, but when has he ever been one to give meaningful responses? Regardless, Kuroko doubted she would have accepted anything that came out of this man's mouth as trustworthy, and she was prepared to voice her suspicions if it were not for the events that followed.

Her face morphed into an expression of pure skepticism, her mouth opened as she prepared to speak out but was silenced before she was able to utter out a sound. Kamijou Touma's right hand knocked against the oddly eerie statue he had been observing with great intensity before Kuroko's appearance. This in itself would not have been too startling of an occurrence under normal standards, if one were to not know of the history behind the man that is Kamijou Touma. Kuroko, herself, derived from the same city as he had (and had flipped through his file once out of curiousity) and was fully aware of this right hands ability to void all powers it came into contact with.

The statue spontaneously developed cracks as the hard outer shell began to crumble. Outer shell? The statue had certainly looked to be solid, but its outer coating was definitely peeling away to reveal whatever had been imprisoned inside. From the fissures of the shattering stone, fumes began to seep out, and the rest of the casing crumbled away to reveal something that was completely disapproved by the logic of science.

Chills ran down her back as she faced what she could only assume to be a Grim Reaper, the harbinger of death. A gust of wind followed as Kamijou Touma zoomed off, screaming his what had long become his catch phrase. She was left looking flabbergasted in his wake. Logically speaking, Kuroko would have no problems escaping, but the fact that he would abandon her without a second thought offended her. Concentrating on her destination, she teleported herself to that man's side as the creature masked in darkness began to ooze its way in the direction that he had dashed off to.

"How dare you - " She disappeared again before reappearing by the mobile Kamijou Touma's side. Rather than run, Kuroko was using continuous teleportations to keep up. " - run off without me!"

Another teleportation.

"What a dishonorable man! Or - "

Another.

"Would it be best to put you on the level of a worm!?"

[scientifickuroko]

the weather outside is frightful [event || closed: ciel phantomhive]

[arrogantyoungphantom]

To say that Ciel was bowled over by the sheer passion in her words was an understatement. He felt as if her words were yet another snowstorm threatening to bury him under it’s power. Were her eyes sparkling? He was pretty sure they were, and Ciel was becoming increasingly terrified.

Ciel blinked at a number of terms that passed over his head.

Tokiwadai? Level 5? Onee-sama?

Was she still speaking English?

“I… er… see?” was all he could manage as soon as her mouth stopped moving. Were girls all this talkative? Sometimes it was a bit of a chore to shut Elizabeth up as well, and Nina was so overly passionate about clothing, and little girls, and little boys, and Mey Rin, that it was hard to get her to stop after starting on one of her rants too. Ciel knew all too well, considering he had been at the centre of both rants from aforementioned women.

There were exceptions. Like Ran Mao, who rarely spoke unless spoken too, and sometimes, not even when spoken too. But even Madame Red—

Okay, let us not venture into that territory.

“I can’t say I have?” said Ciel slowly. It was almost a first for the young boy to have seen such… scantily clad women, that is. Elizabeth had always hidden her body under layers and layers of silk, cloth, and frills. Especially frills.

Such a short skirt was unheard of in Victorian Era England. Those that did wear short skirts were usually either rebels(Nina Hopkins, who firmly believed that restrictive attire such as those worn by Elizabeth, should be banned), foreigners(Ran Mao, who was by far, the woman with the shortest skirt he had seen), or peasants(Beast, for example. She didn’t even wear a skirt. The circus had certainly opened Ciel’s eyes to what passed off as normal in certain unusual parts of England).

“This ‘Onee-sama’ of yours doesn’t sound very… local.” Ciel didn’t even know where Civilisation 9 was. He could’ve been the foreign one for all he knew, but he just had to ask. “Where are you from, anyway? Kuroko Shirai is not a name that sounds very common.”

[scientifickuroko]

It was easy to see that Phantomhive was overwhelmed by her small spiel about Onee-sama. It couldn't be helped. Kuroko supposed that Onee-sama's greatness was something one had to witness in person to fully understand. She, too, had been the same type in the beginning - in a time when she had not met Onee-sama in person.

"Onee-sama is an outstanding individual that few could rival. Not only is she top class as an ESPer, but as a human being as well. You will understand if you ever meet her, but I warn you against falling for her charms. That spot by Onee-sama's side and in Onee-sama's heart belongs solely to Kuroko."

"You haven't seen, or at least heard, of a Mikoto Misaka around these parts? Kuroko so longs to rejoin her soon." Realizing that she had not mentioned Onee-sama's name beforehand, she did so now. Onee-sama was the type of person who's mere attendance could generate news, and if Ciel had not yet seen her, maybe he had at least heard news of her status in this civilization.

"But of course we aren't very local. No citizen here is local. We've all been ripped away from our original homes, forced to now live in this ridiculous society. From my perspective, your name is the one that isn't very common."

Where exactly was this boy from anyway? He had adamantly refused to believe her, was even outrageously shocked, when she had mentioned that she had used teleportation as her means of entering his room. Kuroko was fairly certain that - even though Academy City was a unique society found only in Japan - the rest of the world had at least heard of the ESPer development project taking place.

"Are you sure you haven't heard of Academy City? There aren't many that aren't aware of Academy City and its purpose. I assume you've at least heard of Japan."

Kuroko definitely didn't believe in alternate universes or worlds on principle as there had yet to be scientific proof confirming that matter, but Phantomhive's dress was not a modern day fashion she knew of - nor were the wardrobes of the people she had seen in passing within Civilization 9. And if this conversation could be any indicator, it would seem that his knowledge of the world differed at least slightly from hers. She didn't want to believe it possible that the scientists could have pulled people of all different universes into this civilization, but she highly doubted any of these citizens were from the same world she lived in. (And did that mean nuclear bombings happened simultaneously throughout all these different universes? The words of the scientists were becoming more and more doubtful...)

[suchmisfortune]

Unlikely alliance [Closed@Kuroko]

[suchmisfortune]

Hm? I didn’t expect to meet you here either.

[For a brief moment, his reply was almost automatic, as if his mind was only following the flow of the words received and not really processed the situation since the voice was one he knew already.]

WAIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!

[It might’ve been the fact that the eerie feeling that the statue gave off, or the fact that there was most likely no one around the area for quite a distance that Touma was off-guard and the sudden appearance of the girl, even if it was a familiar face, made him almost jump once his mind realized he wasn’t alone.]

[scientifickuroko]

"I can be wherever I want to be," she replied dismissively. "But, in all honestly, I'm still searching for Onee-sama."

From the looks of things, Misaka would not be found here. The forest was currently devoid of all life except for this man and her. It appeared to not be a very popular spot for the citizens of Civilization 9.

"But the same could be asked of you. Your reaction was a bit of a suspicious one." Though, when considering that from Kamijou's point of view Kuroko had literally just appeared out of thin air, his reaction was a completely commonplace one.

"What are you doing here?" Leaning closer, Kuroko glared at him skeptically, scrutinizing his face for any hints of a lie or of something he could be hiding from her.

[gingerpuzzler-blog]

A change of plans?

[gingerpuzzler-blog]

Randall grinned enthusiastically (then again, was there any other kind of way he grinned?) at the other’s praise regarding his map, the chipper expression not even faltering at hearing his handwriting wasn’t the easiest to understand.

“Hah, that’s funny, my old high school teach used to say the exact same thing!”

The ginger couldn’t help the spirited little laugh that tumbled from his mouth soon after, before he cut himself short, saying:

“Thanks for the advice, though! Glad the map’s of good enough quality to help others in the city, really.”

Well, the reason he’d wanted to make these maps to sell in the first place was not just to ‘get money’, after all. It was to support and assist the others in the city and keep their spirits up in the best way such an adventurous fellow such as himself could do. The most important thing in this dumb place was to stay positive about what the future may hold - that everything would be rebuilt and fine in the end, yes!!

Nodding at the other’s name, he said: “Kuroko, huh? I’ll keep that in mind! As for exploring being the only thing you’ve been doing - this place is so big it’s hard to walk easily from one place in it to another! Those scientists should really get some better transport up, but that’s just my two cents.”

A shrug after that, before an eager expression flickered to his face like a moth would to a flame.

“You’re interested in buying it, then? Awesome! I’m not asking much - just ten dollars. After all, I’m doing this as a gentlemanly act, but at the same time, if I don’t make money, those dumb scientists will be on my back.”

A pause then, before he mused:

“If you don’t have the money, then just pay me back when you can, no rush!”

[scientifickuroko]

If he was aware of his poor penmanship, why had he not worked to improve it? With a quick glance back to the map, Kuroko noted his hand writing once more. Or, maybe he already had been working to better it and this was the enhanced result. If so, she shuddered to think of what his hand writing had been like before.

Kuroko hummed along to Randall's spiel in what sounded to be like an agreeing tone. A more efficient transportation system would have definitely be a great benefit to many of the citizens of this civilization, but, really, it would affect her little. As long as she knew the coordinates of her destination, she could easily teleport herself to wherever she desired - though there were a few limitations. This map would be quite handy when taking that into consideration.

And he was only asking for ten dollars.

"My budget has been a little tight lately, but don't mind it. I can pay for it now. Kuroko's not one who likes to pile up on debts, after all. Though, I appreciate your considerateness, Mr. Randall Ascad."

She folded the map up neatly so as to free up her hands and wedged it under her arm. Pulling out her wallet from her pocket, she shuffled through its contents, searching for the exact change. The currency in Civilization 9 had been different from what she was used to, and it had taken her a while to be accustomed to this change. She was constantly converting prices within her mind into the Japanese yen. America had been considered a strong world power back in a world before the nuclear bombs had hit, generating a need for these underground civilizations. Value was constantly measured by the American dollar, and Kuroko could only assume that this was the reason that Civilization 9 ran on this currency.

[haiirou-blog]

... it's cold. [event/open]

[haiirou-blog]

The look on her face seemed to give off the impression that she was frustrated with him; and he couldn’t blame her. Houtarou looked away sheepishly, but returned his gaze to Kuroko. Her expression had not changed, however, and the boy felt increasingly uncomfortable with the way he’d answered.

“I am.” he replied calmly. There was no denying that he was concerned, so he wouldn’t bother hiding it.

“I just can’t do anything about it.”

Ordinarily, Houtarou wouldn’t bother with caring about other people, let alone voicing it, but he got along quite well with his current partner and would rather not have her die or something like that, leaving him to be bothered by someone much worse. 

He had little interest in the relationship between her and her partner, but began to wonder how exactly these spouses were chosen. He’d never had any problems with his spouse, so for something like this to happen was news to him. Recalling that partners in the orphanage lived apart, though, it wouldn’t seem to be much of a problem as long as they didn’t have to see each other.

But why is she all the way out here? Judging from the bags she’d brought in, she was probably off on an errand of some sort. He wasn’t about to offer to help carry them home for her, nor inquire as to what they were inside, but he hadn’t much else to carry on the conversation with, and he wasn’t very good at socializing like this for a long time either.

There was a dead silence for some time, but Houtarou began to shiver. The temperature was dropping even further, and there were no signs of the heater being repaired. If this went on much longer he might even freeze to death.

What do I do…? 

[scientifickuroko]

Those sentiments she could understand. If she, too, was aware that an acquaintance of hers was caught in this, her options would have been limited in that she would have had absolutely no idea of what to do in such a case. This cold wasn't any normal sort of winter time weather that she was used to, and the temperature only decreased as time went along.

The cold was even interfering with her ability to teleport. The persistent cold hurt her head, and it had even been painful simply moving around. This physical torment was too distracting, and she could not focus on the level of concentration needed for her teleportation ability. This was what led Kuroko to seek refuge in an unfamiliar man's home. At least indoors they were protected from the heavy winds and snow fall, but that did not mean it was any less freezing.

"Yes, I suppose all you can do at this point is hope she is safe."

Kuroko released her grip on the cup of tea that had long gotten cold. It was of no more use to her and was instead bringing more of a chill to her fingers. She drew her coat tighter around her and fiddled with the price tag still attached to the sleeve. It really should be removed, but Kuroko didn't want to bother with locating a trash receptacle nor would she have felt like moving from her seat at the table to throw the tag away. She supposed moving around would have been a method to fight against the cold as opposed to simply sitting around, but the intense cold did not put Kuroko in the most active of moods.

[scientifickuroko]

the weather outside is frightful [event || closed: ciel phantomhive]

[arrogantyoungphantom]

Nothing at all?

No normal person would’ve laughed at nothing. Or at least, that was what Ciel would’ve liked to retort with, but she had already moved on, so he sat there listening attentively.

“Ill-mannered man?” echoed Ciel, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Kuroko’s expression had morphed into something akin to distaste, which he could only guess was directed towards this ‘Kamijou Touma’ person. Judging by her words and body language, it was clear to Ciel that she wasn’t exactly fond of this man. Then again, if Ciel had woken up to find that the only person alive was that imp of a boy, Alois Trancy, he’d have been equally disgusted.

He found himself unconsciously nodding in agreement as Kuroko continued on with her spiel. He supposed he could relate with being suddenly thrown into a new world considering that about 7 years ago, he would’ve laughed innocently if he had been told that in the near future, he’d have become an orphan and slave to an insane cult.

Perhaps this feeling of being uprooted shouldn’t have been so foreign to him.

He couldn’t help but grin sarcastically.

“Mm, I hope so too.” Ciel began, cradling his chin within his open palm as he cast a sideways glance at the orange-haired girl. He was fine with it either way, so long as his fiancee did not get in the way of any of his plans. It would’ve been nice to see Elizabeth again, but he had learnt not to get his hopes up.

His current fiancee though, seemed fairly enamored with the idea of splitting up with him. Ciel wondered vaguely if she had someone she was waiting for too.

He voiced his question to the pigtailed girl. If he was going to spend god knows how long in a room with her, he might as well get to know Kuroko.

[scientifickuroko]

He displayed little compassion on the subject of his past acquaintances, but Kuroko payed no mind to it. It was not her business to pry into, nor did she particularly care. This past fiance of his must not have meant all too much to Phantomhive based on his dismissive, nonchalant attitude. Nor did he seem to be stuck on the fact that all others he knew in his life before the nuclear bomb were all most likely never to reappear before him again. He must have been quite the lonely child. Kuroko briefly wondered what his past life must have been like, but she quickly pushed the thought from her mind. It would bring her no benefits to become too involved with the person this civilization would force her into marrying.

That being said, Kuroko didn't much mind answering harmless questions about herself. Especially when it allowed her to ramble on about her beloved Onee-sama.

"Yes, Kuroko absolutely will not accept being the fiance of another for my heart belongs solely to Onee-sama." Not that she would have been any more pliant towards the idea if Onee-sama was not in her life.

"Tokiwadai's ace and third strongest level 5 of only seven level 5's. She's both powerful and humble - an all around perfect existence! Though Kuroko does wish Onee-sama would realize her standing as one of Tokiwadai's finest and cease wearing those ridiculous, un-lady like shorts under her skirts, but that's simply another one of her charms as well." The cold did little to hamper the overly affectionate way she sang praises of Misaka.

"Maybe you've seen her? Another girl donning the same outfit as I am currently wearing?" If she had so far only been allotted nothing but copies of her school uniform, Kuroko didn't see why Onee-sama would be any different.

She later realized that this Phantomhive boy had probably not gotten a decent view of her uniform as she had been cloaked in blankets from the time they had met, and she was now additionally swaddled in his clothes. But, there was nothing she could do about that at this point. She certainly was not about to strip herself of the little warmth provided by the additional layers to parade around within freezing cold room just for the purpose of modeling her current wear.

[suchmisfortune]

Unlikely alliance [Closed@Kuroko]

[After work, Touma decided to take a stroll and perhaps get to know better a few zones in Civ9 since, besides being an underground city, it was quite huge, enough to get lost in it if you didn’t know where you were going. He wandered past the sector he was accustomed to and noticed that there was actually a forest as well. “Why would there be a complete forest in this place?” He thought. Whatever the reason, he was curious enough to venture into it to find out, which was probably the worst mistake he could’ve done.

As he wandered through the forest, he realized that there were statues of all sorts abandoned and reclaimed by the earth all over the place. The sight was truly mystifying and perhaps even enjoyable.

He wondered why he hadn’t noticed this forest before but didn’t pay too much mind to it now that he was here. He only tried not to lose sight of the small trail he had been following so far so he could come back at any moment and he then noticed a small totem-like statue that was embedded on the chest of a larger statue that frightening enough resembled a grim reaper. It seemed almost as if the statue was “alive” and could move at any moment so Touma wasn’t very eager to try touching the statue. Still, the eerie feeling coming from it was so huge that it almost made him freeze right in front of it as he gazed into what seemed to be the empty face or where it should be it’s face at least.]

Whoever made this statue sure was some crazy artist…

[scientifickuroko]

The forest was one of the few areas within this underground civilization which she had not yet investigated. It seemed unlikely to her that Onee-sama or the others would be found camping out in the natural setting when they couldn't be found in the orphanage or any of the more populated parts of the city, so Kuroko had not given it much thought. Overlooking this possibility, no matter how small a possibility it was, could not be afforded, though. If there was even the slightest of chance for hope, she would go after it.

Dried foliage crunched under her shoes as she traversed across the uncultivated land. Old statues and relics, many of which were partially concealed with mosses, were scattered throughout the terrain, suggesting that an ancient civilization once inhabited this territory. This made little sense when one realized that this was part of an underground society, and the current population was likely the oldest civilization to dwell on this earth.

Kuroko placed her hand on a thick tree as she moved to walk around its wide girth. She was not entirely out from behind the old tree when she something in her vision made her retreat behind it.

She sighed. There was Kamijou Touma observing a rather odd sculpture of what looked like a cloaked God of Death. What was he doing here? Most people had no reason to enter the forest, and that was proven to her when she met with no people upon entering this wild land. Or, until now that was.

Turning away and continuing her search on a different path was her initial thought, but in the time that she had not met up with this man - maybe he had discovered some new useful information. This was for Onee-sama's sake, she told herself and teleported to that unfortunate man's side.

Kuroko appeared in a flash at his side with her fists propped against her hips and a vexed expression.

"Didn't think I'd meet you here."

[gingerpuzzler-blog]

A change of plans?

[gingerpuzzler-blog]

Ah, he’d successfully gotten the unfamiliar face’s attention! Then again, he could be pretty loud when he wanted to but that wasn’t exactly the point right now, was it? He wasn’t sure, but this young miss with orange hair he’d approached didn’t look like anyone he’d seen before, so logically they were either new to this city or this city was so big there were a lot more people here he didn’t know than first expected.

“Oh, ya want to take a look before you consider getting one? Sure thing! That’s a reasonable enough request! You might want to check before thinking of buying one, after all.” Cheerily trusting the stranger wouldn’t just run off without paying, Randall was about to hand a map to the miss but it was clear she was very interested in the maps or just as hasty as him because she had snatched one before he could even hand it out!!!

“Haha! Do you like exploring, too? Or are you just really in need of directions about this big confusing city? I’ve seen a lot of people getting lost or askin for directions so I figured if those scientists weren’t going to do anything, I should! So I used my exploration skills to scope out the city and make an accurate and easy-to-follow map! That way less people get lost, right?” 

His explanations about why he had these maps in the first place aside, Randall paused to consider that not all people liked him being as chatty and enthusiastically friendly to complete strangers. Some people liked their space, and Hershel himself had told him off for it several times.

“Uhm, at least, that’s what I’d hope to be able to do for the city. Sorry about mouthin’ off like that.”

Rubbing his dark orange hair sheepishly, there, he grinned hopefully at the miss’s expression upon looking at the map - taking in the gobsmacked expression to be a positive one due to his hasty nature. “Wow, I had no idea the maps were that good! That’s really awesome!!” 

That trademark smile so common to his expression broadening, he then mused: “Oh, wait…as a gentleman, I think I should introduce myself before I try to sell one of these maps. Randall Ascad’s the name! Archaeological enthusiast, at your service! Are you interested in buying one of the maps, maybe?”

[scientifickuroko]

So, this man had composed this map himself. That would explain difficult to read text that served as labels for different parts of the city. It should have been obvious to her that the scientists of this civilization would not likely put together a map of Civilization 9 for its citizens any time soon.

"Well, your penmanship certainly needs work, but the map itself is commendable."

In a way, a map created by a citizen of this society would be more valuable for her needs, as opposed to one that would have been put together by those suspicious scientists. He called himself an explorer, and he must have been a mighty fine one to put together such a detailed map of the civilization.

Not having been able to gather any satisfactory bits of information on the whereabouts of her loved ones, Kuroko was beginning to consider that it was now time to begin her search through the other underground civilizations surrounding Civilization 9 - where they currently resided. It didn't look like, from the map, that there were any sort of noticeable pathways connecting the different civilizations together, otherwise this Randall Ascad would have surely noted them down and investigated them. But, maybe if Kuroko scrutinized the map further, she would be able to make out any inconsistencies that could lead to a possible secret passageway out of Civilization 9.

"I'm Kuroko Shirai," she answered in reply to the other's self introduction. This man was evidently quite the jabberer, and she honestly only retained bits of his monologue - having been concentrated mostly on the map. Lowering the map, Kuroko met his gaze. "I can't say I'm much of an explorer, but that does seem to be all I've been doing lately." So, yes, she would like this map, thank you very much. But...

She thought to her dwindling expenses.

"How... much are you asking for it?"

[scientifickuroko]

the weather outside is frightful [event || closed: ciel phantomhive]

[arrogantyoungphantom]

Ciel couldn’t help but smirk at the reaction he had gotten out of her. That is, until he saw her taking what looked like needles out. His eyes widened and he instantly tensed, backing into a wall. He knew danger when he saw it and things didn’t look very good for him.

“Se… Sebastian!” he cried, pressing himself against the cool plaster of the wall as he regarded her with frightful eyes. To be brutally honest, Ciel disliked relying on his butler to protect him, but in this situation, defenceless and exposed, he really would rather be alive than proud and dead.

He tsked slightly when he received no response from the demon, but he couldn’t say he wasn’t expecting this considering he had seen neither head nor hide of the perpetually black-clad demon in days.

He pressed himself further into the wall as the girl crawled towards him and shut his eyes tight, preparing himself for the worst. It never came. Instead, he flinched slightly as he felt something warm wrap itself around him.

Cautiously opening his eyes, he blinked slowly as realisation dawned and he found Kuroko huddled close, but not too close against him under the blanket as she continued conversation.

“I see…” he sighed. Well, he had not seen the blonde girl around the civilisation either, so it wouldn’t have been too far-fetched to imagine the worst. He thought of his perky fiancee, or maybe she would be considered ex-fiancee, and he felt a small pang in his heart. “Well, I guess it wasn’t a very good idea to get my hopes up… And you? Have you found anyone that you know?”

It wouldn’t do to imagine the worst though. Ciel had braved through many tragedies. Elizabeth’s purported ‘death’ was not the first, and definitely would not be the last. Besides, there was no definitive proof that Lizzy hadn’t been rescued. He had to have some measure of faith in her.

His thoughts were interrupted by a stifled giggle. He turned to see his current fiancee holding the back of her hand to her lips in an attempt to stop the laughing sounds coming from her mouth. It was admittedly, the first ladylike act Ciel had seen her carry out.

“And just what do you find so amusing?” he deadpanned, his face set in it’s default expression of unamused. He wasn’t generally a very merry person, so the fact that he had somehow made her laugh despite not having said anything amusing was curious.

[scientifickuroko]

Ah, so her attempt to disguise her laughter had been a failure. If that were the case, then there was no need to hide it. Despite the offense he had taken to her earlier show of amusement, she let out a chortle. Regardless of how mature he tried to make himself seem, he really was only a child. Well, Kuroko would agree that she was the same in that aspect for now.

When her light giggling had subsided, she placatingly responded, "Nothing, nothing at all." as if he were a small, pouting child.

Kuroko had already decided to act as amiable as possible toward Phantomhive, at they very least until they were out of this baneful situation. And so she left that topic at that, continuing the conversation before he had a chance to retort and demand a more legitimate answer from her.

"Keh, no one of importance." she answered the earlier question he had put forth in an irritated tone - as was how she spoke whenever the topic of that man arose. "No one but that ill mannered man."

"Honestly, Kuroko hasn't had a very good run of luck lately. Between waking up to a completely different world and so far only knowing that cursed Kamijou Touma has survived," And being expected to get along with and eventually procreate with a strange child, "I don't expect it can get much worse."

Unless another string of misfortune followed, things could only get better - as the saying goes. Once she found Onee-sama and the rest of their friends, and she eventually would, Kuroko could make some semblance of peace with this Civilization. Reflecting back, Civilization 9 was not that much different from the Academy City she knew. The scientists were equally creepy, the citizens just as odd. If not for the fact that she had been informed beforehand, it would have taken quite some time for her to realize that this society had been placed underground.

"Well, I certainly hope I am mistaken and that you do find that other fiance of yours. Maybe then we can petition the scientists to break us of this unwilling bond." And then nothing would stop her from joining her heart and body with Onee-sama~♡

[gingerpuzzler-blog]

A change of plans?

Randall let out a small huff of annoyance to himself as he paused to glance once again at the envelope the scientists had sent to him - what did they want now, after stuffing up the weather like they had? He wasn’t exactly thrilled to get a personal letter from them at this point. Maybe he should just throw the envelope out and pretend like he hadn’t gotten it? Nah, that wouldn’t work. The letter had been sent to the Orphanage itself, and they’d passed it on to him. So if he didn’t open it now, he’d be getting them in trouble!

Curse those infernal scientific minds! They probably knew that as a ‘self-professed’ gentleman, he couldn’t willingly get a place that looked out for him (in a way) into trouble!! Well, as satisfying as complaining about the scientists was, it wasn’t going to sort anything out. Thus, he resigned himself to opening the letter. Wait - what? WHAT??

He didn’t have to live in the orphanage any more? What had happened there? Reading on, it seemed he was ‘married’ to someone else now.

Really? Man, he hadn’t even met the first person these idiots had ‘set’ for that sort of thing, and now they were changing their mind and marrying him to another complete stranger! When were they going to realize that Sharon was the only person he wanted to marry, yeesh?! However, on the bright side, at least he wouldn’t be classed as an ‘orphan’ any more, right?

Tucking the letter into his jacket pocket, he decided to get around to finding this new apartment - maybe he could even do some of his unoffical job while he was out here? Hey, that person seemed unfamilar! Seizing the opportunity up, the ginger fearlessly approached.

“Heeey there! You wouldn’t happen to be interested in a map of this city, would you?”

Okay, so he made the maps himself and the handwriting was a little hard to understand, but they were very accurate maps! He wasn’t a good explorer for nothing!

[scientifickuroko]

Glancing around the area exasperatedly, Kuroko let out an aggravated sigh. Civilization 9 had been larger than she had primarily thought it to be, and she no longer knew where she had or had not yet investigated in search of her friends.

Not to mention she had departed from the orphanage without a decent breakfast. She had risen with the sun, leaving shortly afterwards, and was now regretting that decision. She supposed she could stop at a diner for refreshments and a short rest, but she was starting to become tight on expenses.

Oh, how Kuroko lamented her misfortune! In Tokiwadai, the staff had served luxurious, high class cuisine for every meal, and her parents had allowed her a rather gracious allowance for other expenses. All in all, she had lived a comfortable life in Academy City. Here in Civilization 9, however, she wasn't even allowed to work as she was not of working age as classified by this society. This was a ridiculous notion as Kuroko had been working as part of Judgement since her primary school days. She could only rely on the meager expenses allowed to her by the orphanage she resided in.

“Heeey there! You wouldn’t happen to be interested in a map of this city, would you?”

"...?" Was someone calling out to her? Turning toward the direction of the voice, she was met with a rather enthusiastic looking man. Had he mentioned a map? That certainly would be a useful asset for Kuroko's situation.

"Let's take a look at one of these maps, then." Spreading out the map she had grabbed from the unfamiliar man before her, she inspected its contents. The map itself was very detail oriented and easy to follow. Kuroko could recognize a few of these areas as locations she had visited prior, but...

What was with this handwriting?

[when-i-am-no-longer-deactivated]

//Something's Up with You and Crowds...

[when-i-am-no-longer-deactivated]

Ahhhh….so this girl had no idea either. A pang of sorrow touched her heart, making her glance away from the other female before speaking up, a soft sigh escaping her.

“No, sadly not…I’ll try to keep an eye out for your friends though!”

It was the least that Lacie could do, right? Upon hearing the other’s words, a sigh of relief escaped the woman, her body visibly relaxing a bit more. What a relief it was to know that someone else would help with her search…!

“Thank you, I seriously can’t thank you enough…!”

Wait…what was the girl’s name? Queue a raise of the eyebrow. It sounded Chinese, perhaps Japanese to the woman….strange, a lot of people seemed to be like that. Just how many English people were there here?

“My name is Lacie—Lacie Baskerville. It’s a pleasure meeting you by the way, Kuroko was it? Yes, I think that’s how you say it!” a short laugh escaped the woman’s lips.

[scientifickuroko]

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Ms. Lacie Baskerville." She enunciated the foreign name with great care in an effort to minimize the horrible pronunciation that was sure to follow.

"Well, I suppose I should get back to searching." Lacie Baskerville had not been able to give her any answers, but at least Kuroko had acquired a new ally in this way. She wondered briefly if she should extend to her new found comrade an invitation to accompany her on her continued search.

"Would you like to join me?" Yes, the company wouldn't hurt, but she did not want to on Lacie. If the older woman had other plans already decided on, Kuroko would gladly be on her way. She was anxious to find out the status of her friends, after all.

[scientifickuroko]

the weather outside is frightful [event || closed: ciel phantomhive]

[arrogantyoungphantom]

“In case you haven’t noticed,” panted Ciel, as he leapt about the bed trying to keep his position under the blanket, “I’m trying to not freeze to death.”

Honestly this girl was beginning to get on his nerves. First she comes into his room without permission, shelters under his blanket, and now,  steals his only source of warmth? Ciel was beginning to consider kicking her out and just leaving her to the elements.

Ciel crawled over as the blanket was swept off his form yet again. Huffing in mounting irritation, he once again dove under the covers. The young boy began to pant harshly, his breathing growing more and more laborious. This amount of rigorous exercise couldn’t have been good for him, and the escalating cold was doing a number on his body. He wondered just how long it would take before his asthma acted up and left him breathless and dying. Between being a gentleman and not dying, Ciel would most definitely choose the latter, so no more Mr. Nice guy. Standing up, he got off the bed and trudged to a corner of the square mattress as he did his best to ignore the cold. Taking the bed sheets firmly into his small fists, he yanked as hard as he could, sending the girl atop the bed tumbling down the mattress.

With the fabric in hand, the young Phantomhive cocooned himself in it and plopped down onto the floor with a satisfied smirk on his face. The bed sheets were made of a lot thinner fabric than the blanket, but it was better than nothing.

“I have another fiancee, for your information. Elizabeth Middleford.” said the young Phantomhive. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard of her, or seen her in the nearby vicinity, have you?”

Ciel was decidedly unimpressed with his ‘new fiancee’ and the way she was treating him.

“In terms of age and maturity, I’d definitely classify you as a child.” sneered the cynical boy. “Treat others how you’d want them to treat you. Do they not teach you that in school?”

What was the doctor even thinking, setting him up with some… some… peasant. And one without manners, if he might add. He didn’t know much about the time period he had landed himself in, but he was fairly certain that the behaviour she was exhibiting was nothing short of rude.

[scientifickuroko]

The force with which the bed sheets were yanked out from under her sent her toppling over the edge of the bed. There was a soft thud as she met the floor, but she hardly felt the impact, thankfully, due to the blankets cushioning her fall. Landing in a tangled mess of blankets and the extra layers of the other boy's clothing, she lay there for a moment, disoriented. Had he just- How dare he?!

She struggled to untangle herself so that she could push herself up. Kuroko managed to loosen the tightly wrapped blankets so that her arms were no longer plastered against her sides. Her fingers immediately swiped across her upper thighs where her metal needles lay strapped. She would teleport them into the edges of his clothing, pinning him to the floor, the bed, whatever. Maybe she would even teleport one into the wall, dangerously close to his head.

But, when she still felt the smooth coldness beneath her hands, she realized that she still wasn't able to make use of her teleportation powers.

She sighed deeply as she began to calm down, reasoning with herself. Kuroko grudgingly accepted that acting hostile under these conditions would do no good in furthering them along with their mutual goal of keeping warm.

Crawling over to where Phantomhive had situated himself on the floor, wrapped in the thinner bed sheets, Kuroko maneuvered her second layer of blankets (rightfully his blanket) around the both of them. The only barrier between them now where his bed sheets and her own blanket.

"No, I can't say I've heard of her. If you were betrothed prior to this whole devastating turn of events and she was not assigned to be your fiance in this Civilization, then she must not be here." she bluntly stated. It was a simple trail of logic she followed. Why would the scientists bother to split up an already formed pair, a couple more likely to produce offspring as they would have been more acquainted with the idea? It would only make sense in the case of the other half of the partnership not being present.

And, did he really just quote the "Golden Rule" to her? As in, he who has gold rules. It was a bit of respectable Kantian ethics, and surely he had not meant it to sound as childish as it... well, did.

Kuroko stifled a laugh. It was a line that parents and educators alike spoon fed to their small children in an attempt to instill more ethical behaviors into their personalities. Kuroko, herself, remembered lecturing more violent members of Skill Out, a gang of Level 0s whose wilder members' sole purpose was to terrorize all other decent leveled ESPers, with those lines when she was first being trusted with these missions, but that had been quite a while ago - a distant memory. All in all, Phantomhive sounded much like a five year old admonishing his fellow classmate for knocking over his carefully constructed tower of blocks.

[scientifickuroko]

sound judgement will prevail [intro/open]

[finalwill-deactivated20140224]

her: but even those from really obscure series small areas can have their hope. kuroko believes wholeheartedly that onee-sama and the others are still alive! it’s just a matter of when i find them.

me: yeah, you go ahead and believe that. i kinda do too with some of my more stubborn friends. but i dunno if they’re gonna end up here or in another one of the civilizations.

it’d suck knowing that your friends are all alive, but you never get to see them again. imagine what a cockblock that would be. but, like, for friendship instead of sex.

me: so is your hometown big or what?

[scientifickuroko]

"If they're in another civilization, then all we'd need to do is search through those other civilizations." she stated simply. She had though this to be obvious enough. If her friends could not be found within this Civilization 9, Kuroko would search through Civilizations 1-8 as well.

Her hometown. Was it okay to think of Academy City as her hometown? She wondered when she'd naturally started to associate Academy City with "home." Judgement work kept her busy, and so she had hardly ever visited her own home, her birth town, since she entered middle school.

"It's roughly a third the size of Tokyo," she informed him. He could decide whether that was large or not based on his own standards. "What about your hometown?"