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Post by Rylux on May 18, 2014 19:44:49 GMT -5
The rumor going around the school was a mystery to the teachers but after so many students had asked them about it they couldn’t help but go along with it. What became the problem however was that no teacher wanted to take the time out of their day to humor such unlikely rumors. Seeing as one was that the steps counted differently up and down they saw the opportunity and made it a NOT mission to give a team some practice. A little workout for the team and not too much of a hassle for the teachers, a great compromise.
Near the base of the stairs one of the teachers had set up a makeshift table and was busily going through papers. He didn’t really stand out as far as Shibusen attendants went with common brown hair cut short and attire that one would expect a teacher to wear. He didn’t seem to be paying much attention to what was around him and his focus was on the papers he was going through. As to not waste the time being out there he did put a piece of paper on the end of the table that read Step it Up mission so the team would know to come to him.
Waiting for the team to arrive he simply sat and did his work while the sun shone down and the life of Shibusen went on. Students passed with mild confusion but went on with their day normally after, many knowing of the rumor and putting two and two together. The cause of the rumor, the insane steps that led to Shibusen, towered over the teacher waiting for someone to appear and challenge the rumor that had been started about it.
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Lior Menke
Meister
Screw Technician
You can't control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.
Posts: 107
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Post by Lior Menke on May 18, 2014 20:06:48 GMT -5
Their third mission, and hopefully an easier one from last time. Lior was already glad that no children were involved that would potentially compare her to a spirit from the beyond. She didn’t need to lose her focus and her composure like that again, not that she intended to. For one it was embarrassing, and she also felt terrible having made Rhett do most of the work. She wasn’t going to do that again, and she was also determined to pay him back somehow. The walk to the school was as usual. Lior cut through the shopping district like usual, attempting to avoid anyone and keeping her head down, eyes flitting between the sidewalk and was in front of her. Parasol held squarely over her head, Lior squinted slightly in the bright light. She really needed to find a good pair of sunglasses at some point. Thinking ahead, she wondered how this mission would be for her and Rhett. It was only walking up steps and counting, which should be easy enough. Perhaps one of them could keep tally marks somehow, or count by tens. Lior would have to ask her Weapon how he felt, of course, but he was another worry in the back of her mind. Rhett had asthma, and merely traversing the mediocre flight of stairs on their first mission had required his inhaler. The albino couldn’t help but be concerned as to how he would handle the Shibusen steps, not to mention wondering if that wasn’t why he usually turned up to class looking a bit out of breath. As she left the throngs of people in the morning crowd behind her, Lior took a deep breath and continued forward. The emptier streets were always less stressful for her. Less eyes to follow her, more room for her to move, better wind breezing gently past her as she walked. Adjusting her parasol so it rested against her shoulder, she saw the steps to Shibusen come into view as well as a teacher seated at a make-shift table. Noting the odd looks the rest of the students heading up were giving, Lior flushed just a tad but noticed the piece of paper with Step It Up written upon it. Good to know she was in the right place. Pausing near the table, Lior waited silently for her Weapon to join her, worries pushed to the back of her mind for the moment.
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Post by Rhett Minsky on May 21, 2014 21:56:37 GMT -5
Heading toward the school Rhett took his time and prepared himself for the mission at hand. So far the NOT missions he had gone on hadn’t been too rough for him but the current one worried him. The steps that led to Shibusen were meant to help students train their bodies so they were exceptionally numerous and exhausting. The thought of walking up all those steps and then down right after while counting them already had him feeling tired. Dressed in his usual school attire without the jacket he saw the steps looming above him as he walked to the base of them.
Normally Rhett took a bit of time getting up the stairs, noticeably more than the average Shibusen student at least. Getting up the steps and counting all of them both ways without dragging Lior back was going to a challenge. The steps began to tower over him as he drew closer to the base that began the steps. Near the base he spotted a table of some sort and the bright colors that indicated his meister. She had made it to the meeting spot before him but that wasn’t really much of a surprise.
With his meister in sight Rhett walked past the other people around and walked over next to Lior. Now with his meister he noticed the teacher at the table and the papers on it. He figured the teacher wouldn’t be too happy about having to wait for two kids to literally count all the steps up and down. Hopefully they could finish this mission quick so they wouldn’t take too much of his time, somehow. As plans started to form he smiled at Lior to greet her without startling the teacher. To get his attention instead Rhett quietly spoke.
”Um…hello.”
His voice was meant to just get the man’s attention so they could begin the mission.
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Post by Rylux on May 26, 2014 19:20:07 GMT -5
If there was one benefit of the ginormous stairs that led to Shibusen aside from the physical benefits to the students is that the stairs acted as a massive wall to the wind. It only worked if the wind came at the right direction but luckily that was the case at the moment so the papers didn’t end up flying everywhere. Chasing down papers would have made grading them even more difficult than it already was with some of the students less than ideal assignments. He could only expect so much when plenty of students focused on the more physical aspects of the school than the academic.
He heard the footsteps approach him but didn’t look up to see who it was. There were multiple students around so he wasn’t going to look up for every set of footsteps that he heard, If someone wanted his attention they could get it easily enough by addressing him. Pulling up a new paper he sighed when he saw who the student who had written it was. The assignment was to write a mock report to Shinigami as practice for real mission, it was great for NOT and new One star students but those that had already completed missions tended to be less motivated to put effort into it.
Hearing a voice however let him know someone was there and probably the team that was taking the NOT mission. Looking up he saw the two students waiting for some response from him so they were most likely the team he had been waiting for. Smiling at the two he organized the desk a bit so he didn’t look as sloppy and turned his attention to them. They certainly looked like a NOT team just by how they appeared but were making steps to move up the ranks.
”Hello, you must be the NOT team. Well your mission is straight forward enough, count the steps up and down and report your findings to me and you’re done.”
With that said he returned his attention to the stack of papers he had to grade. Once the team was done he could go to an actual office to work but that wouldn’t reduce the amount of attempted witty remarks he had to read through.
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Lior Menke
Meister
Screw Technician
You can't control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.
Posts: 107
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Post by Lior Menke on May 27, 2014 13:12:33 GMT -5
Lior didn’t wonder for long about possible ways to traverse the steps. Her mind had wandered to the relieving knowledge that it was steadily easier to climb them herself each morning. The first day had been murder, particularly in heels.
With movement all around her in the morning rush, Lior didn’t catch sight of Rhett until he had almost reached her. The albino returned her Weapon’s smile with her usual timid one. Now that they were both present and accounted for, they could begin. She let Rhett go ahead and get the teachers attention, both hands clasping the handle of her parasol as she checked out of habit that it still covered her for the most part.
Their instructions were clear and to the point. Lior was almost glad that this seemed far simpler than their past missions. Less rascally raccoons and no scared eight year olds. Much easier, however that was perhaps more in theory than in comparison. The climb would be easy, but that only applied to her. How to keep count also was an immediate concern. There were so many steps, and they had to count them once on the way up and then again on the way back down. Lior knew her memory was good, but she doubted she could count that long, that high without losing track along the way.
Muted red shifted off the teacher to stare at the center of their mission looming over them. Lior appeared pensive. The counting had her stumped and her worry over Rhett was making her fidget, turning the handle of her parasol in a way that had the canopy over her head and shoulders spinning. Catching herself after a moment, she cut the nervous habit and finally looked to her Weapon for suggestions. “What do you think, Rhett?” Turning fully on her heel to face him, her features held a look caught between concern and thought, “To be honest, I can't think of any easy ways to count our way up and then back down again that wouldn't be terribly tedious or prone to error. Those are an awful lot of steps and…”
Lior didn’t want to bring it up. Given her upbringing and inherent lack of knowing how to bring up these things, she considered it rude. He never really mentioned or lingered on it, so she didn’t want to either for fear of making him uncomfortable. Lior knew herself what it felt like to be treated as though she were made of glass, and it wasn’t a feeling she appreciated. She would hate to do that same to her partner. Maybe not ask or state clearly, but allude to it. Yes, that she could do. Casting a glance over her shoulder, Lior spoke again softly to pick up where she left off. “I don’t mind if we take this slow. Pacing ourselves may actually help us count with greater accuracy; however you want to do that.” Tuning her eyes back on Rhett, Lior regained that timid smile of hers.
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Post by Rhett Minsky on Jun 1, 2014 17:30:30 GMT -5
The teacher explained their mission and it was exactly as he imagined it would be, which was the problem. He didn’t expect the mission to be anything different but there was that little chance that he could be wrong. Of course he was right though and they would have to ascend and descend the stairs while counting the number of steps both ways. The counting wasn’t exactly something he was concerned about but he had difficulty climbing the steps as is, and that was each way individually. At least normally he had a break between each attempt to rest and not completely exhaust himself.
Now that they were ready for the mission to begin Rhett began to start thinking about possible solutions to his problem. All of this stemmed from his asthma so he had to think of some solution to it so he wouldn’t be holding Lior back. Looking at the stairs he tried to think about what would be best. Normally he just slowly progressed up the steps and he did have his inhaler so he could use that if he needed to. If he saw another student he sometimes asked if they could toss his up in his weapon form and that helped but…wait.
Lior asked him what he thought but he remained silent as the specifics of his thoughts worked their way into place. She was thinking of her own ways and how they could both count the steps which sounded good in theory but dividing the work would probably work best for them. There was also the comment about pacing themselves which felt directed at him but he didn’t mind, he knew well enough to try and go beyond what he was capable of. If his plan worked however then there wouldn’t be any need to slow down their progress.
”Actually Lior I have an idea.”
Now it still had some flaws and he wasn’t positive how to properly phrase things but it was far enough in his mind to probably work.
”What if you walked at a normal pace but carried me in my weapon form? Then I can focus on the counting, and I’m pretty confident that I can do that well. The only issue is I would need you to carry me with the screw head facing the ground so your hand would have to grab the sharp part of my weapon form, and I don’t want you cutting your hand from this.”
Doubt crept into his voice at the end as the flaw in his plan revealed itself. This was a NOT mission so there was no need for either of them to be getting hurt, let alone his meister from holding him. If she could hold him properly and he could still count this wouldn’t be an issue but as it was he wasn’t sure what to do next. With his idea said he waited to hear if Lior wanted to go with it or if the risk was pushing her away. They could walk but it would take him so much longer, Lior’ answer would determine what they would do.
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Lior Menke
Meister
Screw Technician
You can't control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.
Posts: 107
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Post by Lior Menke on Jun 1, 2014 20:35:46 GMT -5
Lior waited patiently for her Weapon’s reply. Her nerves were getting to her the longer he was silent, the hand that wasn’t holding her parasol finding a lock of white hair and twisting it around and around. The albino worried she may have phrased her concern wrong, but his expression made it clear at least to her that Rhett really was just thinking. Lior herself knew she wasn’t the best at strategy. As NOT students they got a little bit of everything in the way of what they were taught, but strategy always seemed to confuse her to some extent. Perhaps it was a confidence issue, which wasn’t unlikely given her mindset.
Hearing Rhett speak up, muted red eyes focused on him again, having slid down to hers shoes after going off on her own little mental tangent. “Yes?” The look on her face was vaguely expectant, obviously listening carefully to Rhett’s suggestion.
Of course! If she carried him, that would make much more sense! It saved Rhett from a potential asthma attack, and Lior wouldn’t have to be concerned when he grew short of breath. It got rid of having to pace themselves, and would certainly speed up their pace in completing the mission. But apparently there was an issue with that. As Rhett continued on, she at least found out a new scrap of information in that he could only see out of the top of his screw form. Interesting, but not what she was really listening to.
A threat of cutting her hand? Lior adopted a pensive expression, honing in on the doubt in her partner’s voice and not liking the sound of it one bit. The corners of her lips tugged down just enough to form a vague pout, her brows completing a look of concern in how they came together. Tentatively, she took a small step forward, speaking in a calm tone of voice. “I’m sure it will be alright…I mean, there has to be a way to avoid it, and I truly don’t mind a small nick or two if it means you won’t need to strain yourself. I could use my left rather than my right and keep a careful grip s-“ Lior halted very suddenly, hit in the face with a solution that would better assure them both, she was certain.
With her eyes widening a bit and her lips staying vaguely parted, her expression turned from one defining the word ‘eureka’ to one of more serious thought. Optimism stayed only in how determined she suddenly looked. In a rare display of tossing caution to the wind, she spun her parasol off of her shoulder and exposed herself fully to the harsh Nevada sun. Propping one hand fully under the canopy, light gleamed off unshaded white strands, her skin standing out even more starkly from the colors she wore than normal.
Face set in concentration, Lior ran her free hand over the material of her parasol, plucking at the holes between the lace and pressing as thought testing its pliancy. No. It could be cotton from the feel, but with such flimsy needle work it would shred too easily, and there are too many gaps. Sighing, a small frown found itself hanging from her lips until another option made her once again appear focused. Still keeping her gaze on the parasol, she moved her right hand currently used for testing to one of the capped sleeves of her dress. Feeling it between her thumb and forefinger for a moment, s slight smile appeared. Likely a mix of polyester and rayon. Easier on the skin and less irritating than other fabrics. It can be a pain to cut…but should be simple enough to be torn. Glancing down again and raising a single white brow, she noted the cut of her skirt. The main piece of the dress halted at mid-thigh, but the flare that went to her knee was sewn in as a separate peace.
Setting her parasol down on the ground, she ignored how foreign the sunlight felt prickling against her skin and bent slightly at the waist. There was a sheer layer of pale grey chiffon underneath the pink anyway. Switching back to appearing utterly dead set on her idea, Lior was sure she had enough muscle to apply the force needed. She wouldn’t have Rhett worrying over her so, and she wouldn’t force him up the stairs to make things easier for her. Taking the front hem of her skirt with both hands, she pulled in opposite directions as hard as she could.
The fabric stretched more than she expected but then gave easily with the addition of her nails straining through it. Tearing an initial line up to the original hem that curved at mid-thigh, she steadied the main body of her dress with one hand and yanked with the other, pulling the bottom layer free of the seam from front to back, following around until it was completely off. Sure, she was left with a much shorter skirt, but at least the edge wouldn’t run with how the garment was sewn. Now with a visibly layer of chiffon hanging like a ghost of the additive layer, Lior folded the bright pink fabric until it just passed the border of her right hand. Sighing and nodding at her work, she looked to Rhett and tilted her head slightly to the right. “If we put a barrier between skin and metal, then there’s no need to worry, is there?” The timid smile was back. An odd picture to see her standing openly in the sunlight for the first time in who knows how long, but at the moment it didn’t seem to bother her. For the moment, her only concern was Rhett.
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Post by Rhett Minsky on Jun 3, 2014 20:45:55 GMT -5
Rhett wasn’t completely sure how Lior was going to react to his suggestion so he didn’t try to think about any future step to the plan until he had an answer. Seeing the pout on her face however didn’t exactly fill him with confidence about it. He would understand if she didn’t want to follow through with his plan and maybe come up with another that could work better, Rhett couldn’t think of any off the top of his head but that didn’t mean there weren’t any. When she went to talk Rhett focused on what she said to see what they would be doing.
Alright she was agreeing with his plan! Lior did have some good points about his plan as well. Chances are she could probably avoid getting cut and even if she did it probably wouldn’t be anything serious. Rhett was just being overly cautious in his planning and had imagined more of a worst case scenario instead of what was most likely. At least they had figured out a plan that would work for them to complete the mission but the sudden pause from Lior concerned him. What did she think of that caused such a sudden halt in her thought process?
It wasn’t obvious what was going through her head and Rhett watched in mild concern as the events of his meister unfolded. When she dropped the parasol Rhett almost made a move to retrieve it for her but was stopped when he saw her hands going over the former sun guard. What on Earth was she doing? She shouldn’t be exposing herself to the sun like that, it would be horrible if she ended up getting some sort of bad sunburn. Not sure how to respond but not wanting to interrupt his meister Rhett watched to see what she was up to.
Watching Lior run her hands against her parasol and then her sleeves only confused Rhett more. She clearly had something in mind but Rhett couldn’t wrap his head around exactly what she was going for. Her hands moving to her dress did nothing to clarify things for him and only added to the confusion that he had about the situation. As long as he waited everything should clear up though, he had at least that much faith in his meister to know what she was doing.
As soon as the fabric began ti stretch everything made perfect sense to Rhett. It was so obvious now what she was doing it was almost shocking to him that he hadn’t gotten it earlier. He never would have expected Lior to rip the fabric from her dress though for a few reasons, firstly it looked way too expensive to ruin like that and the whole thing just seemed so very anime. If he wasn’t in the situation himself he could easily imagine it happening in one of his shonen mangas. Secretly thrilled by the development he couldn’t not be ready to give this mission his all now!
”There shouldn’t be. And you can use your other hand to carry your parasol.”
Rhett matched Lior’s smile with one of his own before looking at the fabric in her hand. That should protect her from accidentally cutting herself with him and she could protect herself from the sun with her other hand. Amused by the whole situation Rhett wasn’t sure what else to do so he held out his hand towards Lior and his body began to dissolve into gray light that seemed to pixelate as his body transformed. Turning into his weapon form he managed to control his transformation well enough to land on the ground in front of her on the head of the screw, that way she could just pick him up with the fabric covered hand and they could begin.
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Lior Menke
Meister
Screw Technician
You can't control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.
Posts: 107
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Post by Lior Menke on Jun 4, 2014 12:32:28 GMT -5
Lior felt proud of herself. Maybe not the best idea or the most well thought out, but certainly creative. Even so, seeing Rhett smile after sounding doubtful before would make up for any sunburn she possibly developed in the last few minutes. At his remark about her parasol, Lior blushed a bit. She’d forgotten she’d let it drop to the side while she tore up her skirt and was now lying forgotten by her side still. The heat of the weather was familiar, but the feeling of the sun along with it was not. It felt odd standing without shade.
But that was why sunscreen was developed. Lior all but bathed in it daily before leaving the house. Her parasol was more to guard her scalp since there was no way sunscreen was getting in her hair, and her face always could use a little extra protection. Sun hitting her skin was not a feeling she was used to, one that made a dull burn prickle wherever it touched. It was uncomfortable, but not pressing. She could leave the parasol for a moment longer to pick up her Weapon from the ground. Holding the bright and folded cloth in a way so that it wouldn’t slip with her right hand, Lior crossed the few feet that separated them.
“That I can, but in a moment.” Lior carefully knelt down and grasped the twisting edges of the Demon Screw, making sure the layers for wrapped fabric wouldn’t slip or slide before actually lifting Rhett from the ground. “I’ll not leave my Weapon lying in the street like some forgotten tchotchke for my own comfort. A few moments of sun won’t kill me,” she stated with a small smile, “that’s what copious amounts of sunscreen are for!”
Standing once again, Lior turned gracefully on her heel towards her fallen parasol. After straightening out the chiffon that had crinkled a bit around her knees, she picked it up by the brim. Tossing it up, she caught it by the handle on the way back down and set it over her shoulder. The shade cooled the strange burn from that sun making her skin crawl. A soft sigh left her without Lior meaning it to as she began walking.
Pausing at the front of the steps, she looked up at the challenge for a moment. “Up we go, then.” To be fair, it wouldn’t be much of a challenge for her. Sure climbing the steps was still no easy feat, but Lior could traverse them without much trouble. She liked to think her choice in footwear had sped up the process. Navigating so many stairs in nothing but heels for the first week had been murder, but she’d done it regardless. It was only getting easier now, though she was still breathing a bit hard whenever she reached the top.
Remembering her curiosity as she stepped up at her usual pace past other students of the morning crowd, she glanced down at Rhett, though she assumed he couldn’t see her face currently. “By the way,” she started gently, “I never did ask. How exactly are you counting the steps?”
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Post by Rhett Minsky on Jun 8, 2014 19:07:24 GMT -5
Lior’s concern was appreciated but not really needed. There had been much worse scenarios that ended with Rhett in his weapon form on the ground so he really didn’t mind waiting a moment for her to pick him up. He was more concerned about her and her being out from the protection of her parasol. Sure she couldn’t have it with her all the time and it would be more of a hassle on later missions but for now it was a nice guard against the sun. Rhett was no expert on albinism but he knew enough about it to know direct sunlight was bad, at least the sun screen would help with that.
With the fabric over Lior’s hand Rhett’s concerns were dispelled and the mission could begin! After she had picked him off the ground Rhett’s face appeared on the head of the screw and he gazed down at the ground that would soon be stairs. It wasn’t so much that he couldn’t see out of his weapon form any other way but it was far easier for him to see clearly out of the top. The sensation of Lior walking was odd but not distracting or too uncomfortable, he chalked that up to not being held in as sturdy a way as normal.
When the motion stopped he knew they were about to begin the ascent of the stairs and he needed to pay attention. He couldn’t get this anxious about such a simple mission or else One star rank was going to be completely overwhelming. Relaxing he waited for Lior to start walking up the steps and kept his eyes ready. With Lior’s words she started walking and Rhett started counting. Using his fingers he separated the steps into groups of ten which made it easier to remember the number and keep a steady count.
Hearing Lior’s voice some of his concentration went towards listening while the rest stayed on counting the steps. How was he counting them? That was a question he didn’t really plan out an answer to. His method wasn’t terribly complex so telling her wouldn’t distract him too much.
”I’m counting them in groups of ten and just seeing how many there are at the end. I can remember all the groups and then put them together at the top then remember that number and do the same on the way down.”
It was pretty simple as far as Rhett saw it. With his memory he wasn’t concerned about miscounting or forgetting so it was just an easy matter of continuing until they reached the top and doing it again.
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Lior Menke
Meister
Screw Technician
You can't control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.
Posts: 107
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Post by Lior Menke on Jun 9, 2014 13:56:34 GMT -5
Continuing up the steps, Lior threw brief glances of to the city as they ascended. The views always astounded her. In part the sheer thought of just how high they were was impressive but then there was also just being able to see how beautiful Death City really was from all the way up there. Lior kept her own pace, though. A few students seemed to be keeping up with her while others she assumed to be One stars or higher were able to race past them. Others continued at a much slower pace behind them. Suddenly Lior didn’t feel so bad about how she traversed the steps with Rhett in hand. Not slow, but not too fast, though she could certainly try. But she didn’t need to wear herself out yet knowing they would be going right back down.
Looking down briefly to the screw in her hand, Lior nodded before realizing Rhett couldn’t actually see her doing so. The albino fixed her gaze to watch where her feet landed before managing to answer. Tripping on the steps would be terrible, but at least up would be alright. Pitching backwards though… Lior shook her head at the very thought. “Ah, I see,” she said slowly, thoughts of how death would be near certain if one were to fall backwards down the white steps, “better than any of my ideas by far. I’m impressed.” And she meant it, but then Lior never said things she didn’t mean.
Lior managed to make it three quarters of the way up before beginning to feel tired. The albino slowed a bit to avoid breathing too hard. She didn’t want Rhett worrying over her, especially since this was still around where she normally started having difficulty. It was certainly an improvement from when she first arrived, but she wasn’t quite to the point of making it all the way up without running into at least a small amount of fatigue and being short of breath by the time she reached the top, and the heat never helped either. She couldn’t imagine Rhett having to make it up each day with his asthma. It must be truly awful, and Lior felt nothing but sympathy and a twinge of disappointment if only because there wasn’t really anything she could do to help.
Certainly feeling strain in her legs by the time they reached the top, Lior paused and let out a relieved sigh. Even if they only stopped for long enough so Rhett could add up the numbers, it was a welcome break before they started back down. As the albino slowly regained her breath and adjusted her parasol, she also adjusted her grip on the screw a bit. She didn’t want to go dropping him if the fabric slipped. “Well, there’s the ascension done,” she said, still sounding a bit out of breath though certainly less so, “let me know when you count up the numbers. Then we can start heading back down, unless you want to wait and do that at the very end.” It always felt like going back down was easier than going up, but given that they would accomplish one right after the other, Lior wasn’t so sure it would be that easy. Either way, it had to be done.
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Post by Rhett Minsky on Jun 14, 2014 19:20:22 GMT -5
Being carried up the stairs instead of walking on his own Rhett was genuinely impressed by the speed in which Lior moved up the steps. It wasn’t that she moved exceptionally fast or anything but that compared to himself there was such a major difference between the two. The difference was to be expected though; Lior didn’t have asthma like he did and that made a noticeable difference. Maybe she had been closer to his level when she first came to the school but that just meant she had improved all the more. He had made some progress since coming here but seeing how much farther Lior was just meant he mad to keep getting better.
A bit late but Lior seemed to think that his method of counting the steps in sets of ten was a good idea. It was the best idea he had for counting the steps other than standing and trying to get all the steps into view and count them that way. If those were the two choices having Lior carry him up was by far the much better idea as far as Rhett was concerned.
It took a while but Rhett noticed Lior was starting to slow down her pace and was probably growing rather tired from hiking up all the stairs. Luckily they were close to the top when her fatigue set in and she could probably make it the rest of the way up without much difficulty. While she focused on walking he put his attention on counting the steps as they passed. Each set of ten was filled away in his mind and grew from sets of ten to sets of twenty to sets of fifty and so on. Reaching sets of hundreds wasn’t surprising but the number came sooner than he would have expected, either way he kept them all counted and continued with the numbers in check.
A verbal cue confirmed that they had reached to top of the steps and the mission was half way done. If Lior had looked into the top of the screw she would see Rhett’s face but his eyes would be closed in concentration. Shibusen certainly made it obvious that they were funded by the world governments with how many steps there were and how much money it probably took to make them all, the rest of the school excluded. In his head Rhett organized the numbers and combined what he needed, it took him a couple of minutes in silence before reaching an answer.
He couldn’t say he was surprised by the number of steps he counted but also not blown over by the number, which only made him think he had done it right. With the total in mind he kept it in the back of his head and cleared the rest of his thoughts so he could start over. If he just used what they already counted that would defeat the purpose of the mission, even if it was the most logical.
”Alright, I got it. I’m good to go whenever you are.”
His face in the screw had eyes open and he was ready to begin counting. This was a mission and he was going to try his hardest and do his best! It might only be B+NOT level but he was going to form the habit of going 110 percent for missions so he would be ready for One star.
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Lior Menke
Meister
Screw Technician
You can't control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.
Posts: 107
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Post by Lior Menke on Jun 15, 2014 17:03:30 GMT -5
Lior took Rhett’s initial silence as a sign that he was focusing on something. Since the only thing she could imagine he would be thinking so hard on were the number of steps, she kept quiet though she did adjust very slightly to gaze the Demon Screw just to be sure. His face reflected in the metal showed his eyes were closed. Ah. Even more reason to not disturb him. Lior would hate for him to lose count because she was overly inquisitive.
Part of her wanted to know the answer, to be quite honest. The number of steps had to be immense, though they certainly served their purpose in training the students on their way up and down every day, growing stronger with each passage to and from the school. Then again, Lior also was perfectly fine being kept in the dark as to the actual number of steps. Knowing just how many stairs she’d just climbed had the potential to add to her fatigue via realization and disbelief. That in mind, Lior didn’t ask when Rhett answered her at last, letting her know he was ready to go.
The albino smiled down at her Weapon even if he couldn’t see it. She still felt the fatigue beginning to drag on her, but it wasn’t too bad yet. The trip down was always easier than the trip up. Taking a few more breaths, she walked to the edge of the steps and nodded to herself gazing down the incline on past to the city below. “Alright Rhett,” she started, letting him know it was time to begin again, “Away we go.”
As she began to walk, Lior kept a steadier pace this time around. Down may be easier, but down still begged an insane amount of steps for her to descend. The last thing she wanted was to tire again before reaching even the halfway point. Not only would it be terribly embarrassing but it would also drive the point home that she really wasn’t quite there just yet. The climbing up and then back down again of course probably didn’t help in that at all. Usually she attended classes which gave her time to rest. There wasn’t time for that for now.
Lior managed to make it halfway down the steps before she let herself speed up a bit, though not by much. Vaguely quicker if only out of knowing they were past the big checkpoint and closing in on the end of their mission. Just as she’d done during their ascension, the albino kept glancing to the side at the view of Death City. She couldn’t help it. From such heights, she would never tire of how gorgeous it was under the desert sun.
At last they reached the bottom again. Pausing at the foot of the Shibusen steps, Lior let out a breath and leaned forward, resting her free hand on her knee and letting her parasol shift a bit with her shoulder moving forward, though it still covered her. If she hadn’t been too tired at the top, she certainly was tired now. Her legs felt like noodles, what she could still feel of them anyway. Yes, she did indeed have a ways to go still. Taking a moment to regain her breath, Lior soon straightened and slowly walked on vaguely wobbly legs towards the teacher’s desk. Once she was near, she shifted Rhett around in her hands. She carefully removed the fabric from around the twists and held him upright in the palm of her hand by the head of his screw form holding him slightly away from her so he could transform back. “We did it,” were her rather relieved sounding words, a rather weary looking smile tugging at her lips, “I’ll leave reporting the numbers to you, after all you did count them.”
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Post by Rhett Minsky on Jun 27, 2014 2:58:23 GMT -5
The more he thought about it the more the number seemed less imposing. It was a sizable number to be sure but it didn’t feel as overwhelming like the rest of the school. Rhett decided that was mostly to do with clever architecture and so students didn’t literally die from walking up the steps. Knowing how many steps made up the stairway might actually help him make it up them on his own in the future but he didn’t want to tell Lior in case it had the opposite reaction. Remaining silent on the number Lior said she was ready and they started on the way down.
On the way down Rhett realized that the stairs were actually divided into sections that made counting them loads easier. Every twenty steps were sectioned off by one that extended into a sort of platform instead of a normal stair. Keeping that in mind the counting went quicker as he only had to count each section and use those to keep track of the stairs. Dividing the staircase into fragments of twenty allowed the eventual combining all the simpler. Five of the segments made a clean hundred and including the platform step everything fell into place.
Near about the half-way point if Rhett was correct it seemed like Lior was starting to speed up her pace. If anything slowing down seemed like the appropriate response but speeding up would help them reach the bottom sooner so she could rest then. Keeping the majority of his attention on the actual counting of the steps Rhett was determined to not mess up so they could both relax after they had reached the end. They were so close to finishing the mission and then it would only be two more NOT missions before they could take on the real One star missions.
With a last step they had reached the end of the staircase! Quickly Rhett ran the numbers through his head while Lior was catching her breath after that feat. It took a moment but he added up all the numbers and, it was the same as the way up. That seemed obvious but that was the point of the mission and probably why the teacher didn’t seem to be taking the mission too seriously. A grin spreading on his face he let the exhilaration spread over him, they had finished it! Lior walked over to the teacher and it was time for him to put an end to it.
Once Lior moved the fabric Rhett took the cue and transformed back into his human form to report his findings. The screw recomposed itself into the boy and he landed on his feet, only slightly unbalanced from the transformation. He still needed to work on his transformation control but he was getting the hang of things well enough. Facing the teacher he let out a breath of relief before speaking.
”The steps are the same up and down, 1000 each way.”
And with that the mission was over. Leaving the teacher he walked back over to his meister who deserved to take a break from walking. Giving her a grin he responded to her comment from earlier.
”It’s over, one more mission down.”
His voice carried the same relieved tone that hers had albeit without the exhaustion of just walking up and down two thousand steps. Now they could both rest and prepare for whatever NOT mission came next, and then the eventual advancement to missions that would be much more difficult than walking up a bunch of steps.
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Post by Rylux on Jun 30, 2014 1:00:18 GMT -5
The team was off to take care of their mission which meant more work could be done. It shouldn’t take them too long to go up the steps and return, even if it was a rather daunting task. A few minutes or so should be enough and then he could go back to his office and finish his work there. At the least the mission would promote some sort of physical and mental exercise along with teamwork to help prepare the team for future missions. It was less the mission and more the premise that he was annoyed by, how could the stairs count differently up and down? It was preposterous but a NOT mission was a NOT mission.
Papers were moved between different piles as he graded as many as he could before the team returned. He cast a glance toward the steps to see the girl with something that resembled a screw in her hand. While it lacked the physical training aspect it did seem to work well enough, the boy did look like he was still adjusting to the stairs after all. With a small smirk he returned to the papers in front of him and let the team focus on the mission. As long as they completed the task they were good to go.
Finishing a pile he organized the papers so he could put them away and transport them when the team was finished. Taking a glance at their progress he saw that they were descending so probably near completion. Sorting his things he put all of his stuff where he could quickly file it away and waited for the team to be done. When the boy approached him he looked up and awaited the response. There it was, the number that was on the school blueprints so they didn’t just make a number up, good. Nodding to the boy he gave a reassuring smile and started to pack his things up.
”Alright, I’ll report your completion back to Shinigami. Good work.”
And packing his stuff up he took his things and headed up the stairs. Soon he could be done with his work for the day and prepare for future lessons.
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