Aikuro Mikisugi smiles at the young man across from him, taking drinks from a cup of coffee. Gone is the facade of the dull homeroom teacher he adopts during the day, when undercover. Undercover - as in, the layer beneath the clothes, the skin. It pains him to have to go to such measures - subterfuge and espionage are long, and not the most interesting jobs at times - but, once in a while, items of interest crop up. Ryuko Matoi is one, but also a new candidate, the scruffy-haired, muscular boy lounging in one of the desks. Mikisugi thinks, with some amusement, that if anyone could be a poster boy for delinquency, it would be this scowling youth. He figures that's a good thing; Nudist Beach is a rebel group, after all, and anyone who deviates from the standard imposed by the Kiryuins is welcomed. Tsumugu is monitoring from some distance away and regarding the boy with his usual suspicion, but even Mikisugi can sense his approval.
"Nudist Beach is more than an organization," Mikisugi says, slowly undoing his tie. "We are a statement. A declaration of war, if you will, against the tyranny of Life Fibers. Against clothing itself. We bare ourselves to the world, proud of our nakedness, for it is that nakedness which truly displays the human heart in all its glory. Clothing confines and restricts us, turning us into sheep to be devoured by the Kiryuins and their empire."
He spreads the tie across his desk, smoothing out the creases with a look of calm. Deftly, he unbuttons the shirt next, popping the row of white buttons exposing a narrow strip of muscled flesh. "Those who submit to the Fibers submit to the Kiryuins. They are, as Satsuki Kiryuin is so fond of saying, no more than 'pigs in human clothing'."
Running a hand through his hair, he continues, "We have invited you to this interview because you have attracted the interest of our group. Your methods are unconventional. Your powers are..." He stares at his coffee, which has now frozen over, and lets out a small chuckle. "... intriguing. Your outlook on clothing greatly differs from the propaganda spread by the Kiryuin dictatorship. In other words, you are the sort of person Nudist Beach wants among their ranks. A free thinker, uninhibited by the constraints of clothes. You have bared your heart to us, and we have taken notice.
"Gray Fullbuster, we would like you to join Nudist Beach as an active member in the fight against Life Fibers. Do you accept our offer?"
Gray grins, rising from the desk and tearing off his t-shirt, discarding it on the floor. He cracks his knuckles and stretches, the air around him suddenly clouded with vapor, a steady field of cold forming in the classroom. Mikisugi can feel goosebumps rippling across his chest, a strange sort of wonder filling him. He thinks to Ryuko Matoi, of her own capabilities, and finds that this Fullbuster character may even match their Kamui-wielding fighter in skill and determination. The skin of Gray is the skin of a true revolutionary.
The mage laughs. "Count me in."
a/n: reviews are my brain fuel