Uncanny Resemblances

[mugenginga]

Few words had passed on the way back to the hotel. Cain hadn't seemed to be paying attention to the group, but any one of them that believed that was more than fooling themselves. He was holding back from the group, his usual slight smirk present on his face. The expression was unreadable as a result. Seth had remained quiet, a grim expression on his face. He was forcing his steps to be as stable as he could, and was doing an almost perfect job of it.

Seth was wearing Cain's cloak to conceal the tear in his shirt. The Samarecarm had sealed up the tear in his back, so the way it was clinging to the teenager's back was from the moisture due to snow. Atsuro was likely fairly scuffed up from the electricity that had been forced to course through his body. The group was putting out a serious and dangerous air, even more than usual, and people were giving them a wide birth.

Cain sped up just enough to reach Abel when they reached the steps of the hotel. Seth stopped and looked towards Cain as he leaned over towards Abel.

"I'm going to go retrieve Kaido," Cain stated. It wasn't a request, but a statement of fact.

The fact was, they needed to pick up some more COMPs. The experiences on the Island had informed Cain that they would need some better accesories for protection as well. COMPs were rare back in their homeworld after the Lockdown. It had been fortunate they had found this dimension as a result. It would be easy to get more, and it was a method no human could duplicate. It was simple enough to retrieve Kaido on the way out, although despite his comment to Abel it was a secondary consideration. It was not in Cain's nature to be straightforward, after all.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Atsuro was walking a bit slowly compared to the rest of the group, mainly because of his wounds from earlier. For once, his expression mostly matched Seth's, only lacking Seth's unfocused gaze. Every now and then he'd look over toward Seth with a bit of concern, but he wouldn't say anything.

For most of the walk, Abel had been staring at the cracked screen of his MP3 player. When he wasn't staring at the limiter, he was walking with a hand on his head. He was just so stressed out these days... he needed a real vacation. He needed a vacation from his vacation. And one that wouldn't end in his week-long coma, this time.

He looked over toward Cain as he made his announcement. Abel gave an affirmative nod. "Alright." He continued up the steps on his own.

---------------

Akina looked down at the map he'd managed to pick up, and then back up at the hotel. Yep, this seemed to be the place. It seemed a bit shady, too. He could feel some rather intense spiritual energies coming from this place. There were a couple of really strong demonic presences, too....

These thoughts were all pushed from his mind as he saw someone heading his direction. It was a face he could recognize anywhere. It didn't even occur to him that the man coming his direction lacked Gin's antennae.

"Enjin!"

[mugenginga]

Seth didn't move forward until Abel did again. There weren't any more words. Cain waited for the three teenagers to enter the hotel before turning around. It was rare for him to be seen without his cloak, but that was the case today. In fact, he was dressed a fair bit more casually then he tended to go around as well.

The shirt was a blood red light sweater with long sleeves, a thick black stripe at the collar and a far thinner one at the bottom. The sleeves had cuffs held closed with a single black metal button. His pants were black and seemed somewhat pressed. The material was unclear, but not as weak as cotton tended to be. A rectangle outline could be seen faintly from his right pocket. A pair of magnifying glasses were clipped to his collar and a red string, the latter of which went around behind the back of his neck.

He'd paid no more attention than usual to the black haired teenager approaching the hotel. That was to say he could have given a concise description of him the next day if it had come up. It wasn't readable he'd noticed the teenager for that exact fact, he noticed everything. The teenager had a passing resemblance to Atsuro, in a way. He had stopped when the teenager opened his mouth and his smirk only widened when Akina let out his shout. He seemed almost like he was holding back a chuckle as he shook his head.

"I'm afraid you're mistaking me for a relative of mine," Cain stated, his grin wide enough to reveal his teeth, "I wouldn't feel bad, it happens all the time."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Akina blinked at the man. Wait, it couldn't be Enjin, now that he saw the man's head more clearly. No ears. But when he spoke again, Akina took a shocked step back. Relative?!

There were a couple ways that could be taken, but only one seemed feasible. That didn't mean it made sense to Akina. This guy looked way too much like Gin; hell, his hair was even silver like a satori's, though he lacked the ears, and he certainly didn't seem to be hiding them under anything like Ao usually did. Plus, he'd reacted to the name Enjin. He had to be a Hiizumi. But there was no way a Hiizumi could look that much like Gin, right?!

"Who are you?" Akina yelled back. He was immediately suspicious of this man. Akina was the only living Hiizumi on his side, and Enyou's family (who were his enemies) were the only living ones in the Afterworld. That didn't leave too many options for who this man could be...

[mugenginga]

Naoya's grin didn't lesson as Akina gave his reactions. It would seem his family hadn't been the only ones harassed by the satori. There was panic, but it faded quick enough to anger and most prominently, fear. The teenager was trying to hide it, but fear was the most prominent by far. Naoya's accented fangs were showing as he took a step forward to compensate for the distance Akina had made.

"My name is Naoya, I see no need to tell you more," Cain seemed rather amused, "My, but you're a frightened bird, aren't you?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Akina's eyes widened at Naoya's words, and he took another step back. This man was dangerous, and the way he was speaking implied he was going to do something very bad to Akina. Akina's mind lept to the one thing he could think of, and his eyes widened further.

"Stay away from me..." Akina warned. If he had to fight, he'd do it. If he had to tune this man, despite his apparent humanity, he'd feel bad about it later, but he'd do it.

[mugenginga]

There was something about Cain that a lot of the people who knew him didn't realize. He did treat his family an allies differently than he treated everyone else. There were tricks his observational skills allowed him to pull, tricks that he had learned over his countless lifetimes. As Akina's panic rose and he warned "Naoya" to stay away from him, Cain went into one of those rarely seen tricks.

He'd observed several things in Akina. At the top of the list, he was terrified of Enjin. The mere fact of relation seemed to be enough to set him further on edge, so the odds were high Akina had an issue not just with Enjin, but with his bloodline. Cain had omitted his surname for a reason, the name of this life seeming a suiting pseudonym. The teenager's eyes were portraying that he had hit fight or flight. Not running meant he hadn't decided, as his stance hadn't quite made it to fight yet. Cain had a feeling that if he could just lead the teenager along further in thinking he knew more than he actually did, a slip up that revealed the holes in the facts he knew would happen.

"You seem very frightened for having never met me," Cain stated, taking a single step forward once more, "Is there a reason a Hiizumi should frighten you so?"

And that was the trick. Enjin had given his surname. This teenager had reacted towards the appearance similarity. He had reacted even further to the claim of relation. If Cain was good at nothing else, it was guiding a situation by his uncanny observational skills. How would the teenager react now...?

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Akina took another step back as Cain spoke again. Shit, he'd been right. This guy was a Hiizumi too. It was possible this guy could tune. It was possible he could do whatever Enjin did to force Gin's spirit out, too. What was he going to do?

"Yeah, a very good reason," Akina growled. "You're another one of Enyou's descendants, aren't you?"

It wasn't like Akina had been on the best of terms with the one of Enyou Hiizumi's descendants that he'd met so far. And Enjin had implied that whole side of the family was extremely vengeful against the human world that had forced them to be made into sacrifices.

[mugenginga]

Cain allowed his grin to drop to more normal levels. Enyou? No, he couldn't say he knew that name. Akina had hit growling now, was the teenager inching towards fight? Well, Cain was more than capable of handling himself if it got to that point. He lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug at Akina's question. What bugged Cain the most now was why Akina had an issue with the Hiizumi line. There had to be a way to fish for that while keeping Akina on edge. The silver haired man took a step to the side, keeping his focus on Akina but seeming to look away.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," Cain stated. He was prepared to turn and plant a dagger in Akina if he rushed him, "You really should be more polite. You're not making a good 'first' impression."

If it was anyone but Cain, one would think he was reading Akina's mind. It was just more educated leaps. Given Enjin's nature, it was very probable these two weren't on good terms. If the teenager had an issue with the entire bloodline, then it was also not unlikely that the entire bloodline had an issue with him. Meaning they knew him, which was the entire reason Cain had emphasized the word first the way he had. It was a further attempt at gaining a reaction... in a way, it implied Cain knew Akina far better than he actually did.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Akina flinched at Naoya's words. Yeah, he should have been being more polite. The way this guy kept dodging around his questions was annoying him, though, and Akina was getting the distinct feeling Naoya knew him already. Very well, in fact. Naoya may not have answered his question directly, but Akina had already figured out the answer. This guy was from Enyou's bloodline too.

"I'm sorry, I've had a bad day," Akina said. "But I've got every right to be nervous around you. How do I know you're not just going to take me to Enjin and let him take over my body?"

If Naoya rushed him, he'd go into Oyakume mode, despite the pain it caused. He could fight without it, but he wasn't taking any chances right now.

[mugenginga]

Cain's expression shifted to something a bit less aggressive as Akina spoke. Not that he'd been truly aggressive before, but there was more a feeling of empty neutrality then there had been before. Akina would still very likely be on edge, Cain didn't run around looking "neutral" very well. The teenager had said some rather amusing things. Take over his body?

The implication there was easy to guess at, although Cain found himself not confirming either way. The mistaken relation was likely a result of how similar they looked. It wasn't impossible that Enjin's original host had looked like him (even more, it was likely. Enjin had reacted oddly when Cain had first met him), but there was no need to jump to conclusions. Akina had taken the signs in the way Cain had assumed he would.

So now he had to think how Enjin would react with these assumptions. It was very likely these two would run into each other again. Enjin had picked the wrong Court to mess with, but Cain had a feeling they would have had a tense alliance in better circumstances. The way the man thought seemed to reflect his own patterns of dealing with things. So... well, the worst that could happen if Enjin challenged the illusion was for it to shatter. And there was no guarantee the man wouldn't use it to string this teenager alonge futher... Cain turned towards Akina again as he spoke.

"You can't know. However, I believe there is a saying about keeping your enemies closer than your friends. Enjin chooses to observe things in his way, I choose to observe them in mine," Cain was now acting on certain behavior patterns he had noted in Enjin before, "You know you could have the decency to introduce yourself. It's only polite."

Cain had enunciated that last bit very carefully. He wanted to imply that he already knew Akina's identity. The facade he had set up did imply it. What it would come out was merely a way of chastising Akina for his lack of manners. He had his standard smirk on, and he clearly expected an answer. If Akina was watching his stance, he'd realize Cain had both his hands in his pocket, and his left hand seemed to be twitching.

In truth, Cain was adjusting the moves set on his COMP. The man before had sparked with electricity, and there was a slight chance the Hiizumi line had similar powers. He could give an illusion, if nothing else, if it came to a fight. That was still an option, but it was shrinking fast.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

The expression shift had done nothing for Akina's nervousness. The man still had a bit of a smirk on his face. Once again, Akina got the feeling that Naoya was fully in control of this situation. Was he talking to an illusion? It was entirely possible considering things.

He ground his teeth as Naoya chastised him about his manners. At the same time, he noticed that Naoya was doing something with his left hand, though what it was, Akina couldn't tell. Finally, he sighed.

"My name's Hiizumi Akina," Akina finally said.

[mugenginga]

Cain's expression didn't shift, but he now felt very smug with the situation. Hiizumi, huh? So it was some sort of familial rift that had occurred. Part of the Hiizumi clan was at odds with another part. Given Akina's reactions to just the fact that "Naoya" was a "Hiizumi", it was likely that Akina stood seperate from the entire rest of the bloodline.

That also created some interesting potential problems. Did Akina have some of the powers Enjin did? Cain considered Enjin's appearance for a moment. Most of what he had pulled in the lobby could be blamed on a Satori's potential powers. About the only thing he couldn't attach to that was what he had done to Nirad. Abel had said he'd used the term 'dropped'. A power Cain was more than convinced Akina had by his reactions. There was something he needed to test here...

Cain pulled his hands out of his pockets and let them hang to his side a bit. Time to push Akina a bit further, see how far his assumptions went. Cain spoke at the instant he let the charge of a Mazio dance across his finger tips, a few static strands spiralling around his wrist and going a bit up his arm.

"So you're a Hiizumi after all. You should no I won't hesitate to kill you if it comes to that..." the sparks faded, almost as if they tracked backwards before vanishing in a small burst of energy, "But for now I see no problem with a truce."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Akina took a step back as he saw the electricity dance across Naoya's hand. Shit shit shit shit shit. He'd been right, Naoya had those same tuning abilities. There was little solace in the fact that they were weaker than his own, even weak tuning abilities could hurt someone badly, especially if you didn't tune the whole body.

"A-Alright..." Akina said. He started walking toward the hotel, but he was putting a fair bit of distance between him and Naoya as he did so. No need to take chances right now... though at this point, Akina was considering searching out a different hotel. He didn't like the idea of staying in the same hotel as Naoya.

[mugenginga]

Cain made sure Akina was aware he was watching the teenager. This amounted to a hard but flat look, and it still seemed amused. He didn't move from where he stood as Akina took a wide path around him. That encounter had been more than a bit useful in filling in a few facts about Enjin. It wasn't a great loss if Akina ran into one of the Bel Court inside and they contradicted what he had said.

"Well, as long as you're aware of your position in the situation," Cain stated.

He turned away from Akina and continued in where he had been going. The mall. Kaido, for all his posturing, wasn't all that special in regards to his interests and hobbies. It was likely he was at the Arcade, but it was pretty much guaranteed he was at the mall. It worked, that was where Cain needed to be for the COMPs, anyhow.