Are You INSANE?

AN: Another chapter! I should really get on to writing some of my other fanfics…

BTW, I want to know, how many of you feel that I should put OCs in? Like, major OCs. OCs with big parts to play. The results will change the plot a lot (Oh, hey! A rhyme!) as well as the abilities of the characters and OCs.

Too lazy to reply to reviews through PM, so…

Thanks to everyone who reviewed (celtic27fionn, Guest, BlackCatAnimeGirl, TheSnarkyAuthor, Guest and Rambunctious Guest (Such a perfectionist… What's with you and typos? XD)!) and/or favourite/followed (BlackCatAnimeGirl, TheSnarkyAuthor, mangopudding, tat16, FranscoiseLaraLapis, HypnoPlatupus and tennisgirl16 :D) and I'm grateful for your support!

Also, partially in response to the question from one of our Guests, there will be no definite pairings in this, except MomoXAnn and the Idiot pair (if I ever get to the point of putting them in there). However, I will leave little hints here and there. Unless a pairing gets a LOT of support/requests. If so, I will either make this into a romance fanfic or I will make a sequel centered around one of the pairings.

Ryoma: *glares* Oh no you will not. I've had enough of that. Do you know how many fanfics have me with buchou or Fuji-sempai or some other person? It's so… disturbing.

*evil chuckle* Don't worry… Soon you'll find yourself head-over-heels for someone… And thanking me for it. That is, if the readers want you like that…

Ryoma: *turns glare on readers*

Suzu: *walks over and smirks* Now, now… Be nice, kay, Echizen-kun? You'll scare them away with that glare of yours.

Ryoma: *stares at Suzu* Who are you?

Suzu: *looks thoughtful and grins*Well… Now… Let's see, where to start? *claps hands together* My name is Suzu. Suzu Tamura… Age fifteen, Blood type AB, birthday 3rd of May, codename Bell, I specialize in…

*coughs* She's the cameo appearing in this chapter. More specifically, Rambunctious Guest's cameo/OC. Originally, Runa (HypnoPlatypus' cameo) was going to appear first, but I got impatient and RG was a step ahead of HP. (Don't kill me, HP)

Ryoma: Ah.

Anyways, on with the story! Let's see which characters appear first now, shall we?

EDIT: I made an edit on typos

Chapter 1: The Talented

It was a pretty normal day as Takeshi Momoshiro strolled through the park. Ah yes, very normal. He hummed along to the song booming from his white earphones which were connected to an iPod in his pocket. His loose, bright yellow t-shirt and unzipped, bright red jacket contrasted perfectly with the green grass and blue sky. There were barely any clouds floating overhead today, and the morning sun was beating down on the park in full glare. Luckily, the cool wind made sure that no one suffered in the heat, not that Momoshiro was bothered by the heat anyways. A jaunty smile was spread widely over his face and there was a slight spring in his step. His sneakers, gold with red markings, were polished and new; his long pants were just the right shade of dark grey to match the light grey road beneath him.

What a perfect day!

He could hear the mockingbirds singing their innocent and melodic song in the trees, smell the fresh grass dripping with morning dew, taste the cool and refreshing air on his tongue, feel the soft tug of his wind in his hair, and see the bushy-tailed squirrels scampering about. Not many people were out this early, but the few who were, were going about their usual business with an air of tranquillity. You know, a person taking a morning fly in the skies, a few kids nearby making differently shaped bubbles with their telekinesis, some elderly folks sitting on a bench and using their fire-generating powers to light their cigars, the usual.

Despite the day being any ordinary and boring day, Momoshiro couldn't help but feel as if something was going to happen, something extraordinary. He was looking forwards to today, but that wasn't the only reason for his cheeriness. Yesterday, he had been with An Tachibana and had finally gathered his courage to ask her out. And, guess what? She said yes! Reliving those few moments over, Momoshiro gave a cheesy grin, a slight chuckle, and a small cheer in his mind. In fact, he had been so excited about it that he didn't sleep at all last night. Well, that was an exaggeration, but he had gotten up very early this morning since they were going to meet up in this very park, though the meeting wouldn't happen until three hours later. Who in their right mind would meet up in the park at 6:45 am anyways?

Suddenly, something caught his attention. He blinked once and then blinked twice. What was that? He turned his head just in time to see something white flash by and disappear into a narrow gap between two buildings. It looked like… a cat? A very rare one at that, a breed he had never seen. Feeling unusually curious, Momoshiro decided to follow. He jogged towards the dark space and peered into it.

He could see the white cat in the dim light, its tail swishing from side to side. It seemed to be sitting next to a bundle of cloth. He frowned, running a hand through his black, spiky hair before cautiously stepping into the alleyway. The cat turned to look at him curiously, cocking its head to one side.

"Meow?" The cat seemed to be asking a question. Then it got up and padded over to Momoshiro, purring. Cracking a smile, Momoshiro bent down to stroke the cat as it rubbed its soft fur against his leg, letting Momoshiro get a closer view of it. The cat had brown fur on its paws, tail tip and face, but white fur everywhere else.

"Hey there, little guy," he muttered to the cat, scratching it behind the ears. It purred in bliss for a moment before suddenly turning around and walking over to the bundle of cloth. It meowed once more before beginning to paw at the cloth. Furrowing his brows in curiosity, momoshiro got up and walked over, joining the cat and bending down next to the bundle of black cloth. There seemed to be something beneath it. He was getting a bad feeling, but his curiosity got the better of him and he stretched out his hand to grab the cloth. His eyes narrowed in concentration and he gulped before slowly drawing the covers off…

"GAH!" Momoshiro fell back, startled at what was there. There was a person under there, he wasn't moving. His dark emerald fringe splayed over his face and scratches all over him. Was he… dead? Calming down from the shock, Momoshiro reassured himself that this kid was alright, silently cursing himself for freaking out. Well, better think positive and make sure he's fine, right? It'll be alright.

He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Hey, you alright?" he asked, giving the boy a small shake. After a moment's pause, Momoshiro was thinking about giving him a harder shake, but the boy stirred. He turned to give Momoshiro a sleepy golden stare. Momo stared back.

"… Erm… Hey," Momo greeted, giving a small grin.

The boy's eyes widened and he made a sudden movement, scrambling to get away from Momo. Startled, Momo fell back blinking as the boy crouched some distance away in a defensive stance. His golden eyes were narrowed into a suspicious glare and his cloak was wrapped around his body, fluttering slightly in the cool breeze. He was tense, as if expecting Momoshiro to suddenly try to assassinate him or something. However, the older boy just sighed and stood up, dusting off his clothes.

"No need to be so tense, are you alright?" he asked, smiling in a reassuring way.

"… Who are you?" The question came so quickly and suddenly, Momo had to take a moment to muddle over it.

"Huh?"

"Are you one of them?" The next question was asked with the same sharp and rapid tone, spiked with suspicion.

"One of what?"

"… The I.N.S.A.N.E.…" The boy tensed up some more as he said this, eyes narrowing to slits.

"The I.N.S.A.N.E.?" Momoshiro scratched his head, thinking for a moment. Then his eyes widened in understanding as he hammered one fist into the other, "Oh! The Insane, you mean?"

The boy smirked and relaxed his posture, straightening up. Then he looked around, seeming to be searching for something. "It doesn't seem like you're smart enough to be one of them anyways…"

"Hey! Why you little…" That got Momo angry.

The boy ignored his anger and cut him off. "Have you seen Karupin?"

That caught Momo off guard. Contrasting to his tone before, the boy now spoke with casual ease as if he were talking to a close friend. He blinked, forgetting his anger. "Karupin?"

"My cat. He's white and brown, a Himalayan Cat," the boy explained, turning around to look the other way. Momo was slightly surprised at the sudden change in attitude. One moment, the boy had stared at him as if losing a moment's concentration would cost him his life, now the boy had either seemed to trust him enough to turn his back on him or had deemed him unworthy of his attention. Momo hoped it was the former.

"Oh. I've seen him. He's…" Momo looked towards where he last saw the cat, but it was nowhere to be seen. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

The boy rolled his eyes, having turned back to him. "With all that noise you were making, it's no wonder you scared him off."

"You were making an awful lot of sudden movements, too," Momo protested. Then he cleared his throat, "Anyways, I'll help you find him." He flashed the smaller boy a smile.

The boy's eyes widened as if he couldn't believe his ears, ands no, he couldn't. Momoshiro knew he didn't believe what he had heard because a moment later, he asked, "What?"

What a weird guy… Is offering to help such a weird thing to do? "I said I'll help you find him," Momoshiro repeated, hands on his hips and smiling a friendly smile. The younger man blinked and then smiled a genuine smile. Hey, he smiled! I think we're getting somewhere… "I'm Takeshi Momoshiro, you?"

The boy tensed again and looked at the ground. Momoshiro's spirits fell, but kept the smile on his face. Crap. Is it that hard to make friends with this kid? Looking at Momoshiro once more, the boy shifted uncomfortably for a moment before staring into Momoshiro's eyes. "E-Echizen. Echizen Ryoma." Momo could tell that he was uncomfortable with the thought of another knowing his name, but at least they were getting somewhere. "But, Momoshiro-san, why would you- Arg!" His question was cut off as Momo caught him in a friendly headlock.

"Heheh! Now, Echizen-kun, let's go find that cat of yours! Oh yeah, and, just call me Momo." Momo gave the boy a wink and let go.

"Yeah… About that… I was wondering, why would you want to help me anyways?" Ryoma asked, rubbing his neck and looking up at Momo with a blank expression.

Momo blinked in surprise. Ah, he should've seen that one coming. "Echizen!" he exclaimed with surprise.

"Wh-what?!" Ryoma was startled by the sudden outburst.

"You can't ask that, na, you just can't, yo!" Momo exclaimed, giving Echizen a rough pat on the back which made him go, "Oof!"

"Why not?" Ryoma inquired, mildly curious and very confused.

"I mean, who wouldn't help a friend?" Momo rolled his eyes.

"Friend?" When Momo nodded to the question, Ryoma smirked, pulling his hood a little lower. "I guess… I could consider you one. That would be nice. I'd like to have a friend…" he admitted.

"Atta' boy! Now come on, we got a cat to find!" Momo began walking towards the exit of the alleyway only to stop and turn to see Ryoma hesitating. "Hey, Echizen, aren't you coming?"

"I think Karupin wouldn't be out there, he likes cooler places…" Echizen explained, face impassive. His tone was slightly strained. He turned to walk further into the darkness. Momo blinked before following.

"Karupin! … Karupin! … Karupin, where are you?"

As Momo whistled for the cat to come out, Ryoma went on calling the cat's name. He was starting to get pissed by the whistling, but decided not to comment. As if whistling would actually bring the cat out.

"Ah!"

A shout from Momo startled Echizen and he gazed at the older boy questioningly.

"Mamushi (1)!"

That startled Echizen even more. Mamushi? Viper? What?

"Hey! That's Echizen's cat! What do you think you're doing!?"

Karupin! Ryoma turned to see this for himself and gasped. There was a scary, snake-like, thuggish dude with a bandana and he was… he was… playing with Karupin, using Karupin's favourite cat toy, a cat chaser (2), and Karupin looked as if he was thoroughly enjoying himself. What the-? Before he could do anything, Momo had already run over and the two boys started a fight.

"Huh? What did you call me, baka (3) Momoshiro?!" The viper guy got up and grabbed Momo's collar just as Momo grabbed his. He even sounded like a viper, making a little hiss.

"Shut up, Mamushi! You aren't much smarter!"

"You want to fight, baka Momoshiro?!"

"Bring it on, Mamushi!"

"… I'll just leave that to you two then…" Ryoma muttered going over to pick Karupin up and smiling as the purring cat cuddled up to him. "How simple-minded…" He hadn't meant for them to hear, but that Mamushi person heard and snapped his head round to face him, pulling away from Momo.

"What did you say, brat?" He glared down at Echizen. This time, Echizen wasn't so cautious about this person being from the Insane. After all, he had seemed perfectly at ease with Momo… wait. No. They were not perfectly at ease with each other, but at least they seemed to know each other very well. So, Ryoma smirked, staring right back without backing away from the scary glare. "Say that again, I dare you… Fsssshhh…"

"Why should I?"

"Haha! Kaidou, Echizen is on my side!" Momo cheered triumphantly.

"Shut up! He was talking about you, too, baka Momoshiro!" The taller, scary, snake-like Kaidou person turned back to Momo and continued their fight, pressing their foreheads together and growling/hissing like wild animals. Ryoma sighed. What on the Earth…?

"Ah! Kaidou! Momo! Don't fight!" Suddenly, another voice rang out. Ryoma tensed at once, narrowing his eyes as a guy with an egg-shaped head came running into the scene, attempting to pull the two apart. Ryoma relaxed. Another one of Momo's friends…

"Oshi-san!" Momo sounded surprised, "What are you doing here? It's awfully early." Seems as if this Oshi person had successfully broken up the fight and was currently fussing over them. An egghead with a mother-hen personality…

"I could ask you the same thing, Momo. Kaidou and I both had the idea of taking a morning run today," Oshi said. Then he noticed Ryoma and went over. "Ah, sorry if my friends caused you trouble…"

"Kinishinaide (4)," Ryoma said, eyes on his cat.

"Who is this brat?" Kaidou asked.

"Kaidou!" Oshi warned.

Suddenly, Momo came over and glomped Ryoma, making him go, "Oof…" again. "This is Echizen Ryoma! My new friend!"

"Ah… Yoroshiku (5), Echizen-kun. I'm Oshi Shuichiro and this is Kaidou Kaoru," the egghead said. Ryoma merely nodded in reply. Suddenly, he felt something, someone approaching them with killing intent and he tensed up, panic creeping at the edge of his mind.

"Ah, excuse me…" He then dashed past them.

"Oi! Echizen!" he could hear Momo calling him, but he had already turned the corner. He couldn't stay; he didn't want to get caught. He didn't even stop as his cloak was ripped away by some pole sticking out of the wall. Cursing under his breath, he knew that they had found him and they were gaining on him. He held Karupin close as the cat mewed in protest at being carried so uncomfortably, but Ryoma kept going, running faster. He could hear shouts behind him and, suddenly…

Bang!

A bang from a gunshot rang through the alleyway, a flash of silver approaching Ryoma head-on. His eyes widened. Blood splatter the walls as Ryoma swerved and ran round the corner, crimson liquid running down his injured arm. Had he not turned, he would have received a bullet to the shoulder. He cursed under his breath and skidded to a halt as he realized he had hit a dead end. Karupin dropped from his arms, hissing as several figures moved in to block the exit.

Shit! He was trapped… The men were armed, talented men while he was a defenceless talentless. The men in black suits began approaching him, smirks on their faces. They knew he was lost and powerless. No matter how much Ryoma glared, they already knew of his talentlessness so they were not afraid. Ryoma backed away so that his back was against the wall, gritting his teeth as watched one man, the leader supposedly, raise the gun to aim at Ryoma's head.

"Come quietly and you'll be spared."

"Humph," Ryoma smirked, "Make me." The challenge was issued.

"Echizen! You cheeky bastard! You're in a pinch, it seems!" Momoshiro?! Ryoma's eyes widened, not expecting them to have followed him. Then he began to worry. Pitting himself against these Insane people was alright for him, but if his only friend was hurt in any way… However, he had worried for nothing.

Momo had managed to surprise the Insane minions and, a moment later, some sort of air explosion took place, blasting the Insane grunts aside, making the wind nearly sweep Ryoma off his feet. Momo skidded to a halt beside Ryoma. "Don…" He threw a smug smile at the grunts before turning back to Ryoma. "Echizen, you alright?"

"Che… I could've taken them on…" Ryoma merely muttered, giving a little pout.

Momo blinked. "Yeah, but, you're a Talentless, right?" Ryoma gave him a startled look and Momo chuckled. "Be thankful I came to the rescue!"

"Bastard! Don't underestimate us!" The Insane were already getting up from the surprise attack. A wooden crate was being levitated above the men-in-black-suits' heads. Momo cursed as the crate flew at them, but it was knocked aside a large dog. Another surprise to the Insane minions.

"Baka Momoshiro! Didn't Tezuka-buchou always say to not let your guard down?!" Kaidou yelled from behind the crowd of Insanes. A large snake was hissing at his feet and he fought his way to them, Oshi with him, having followed, too. Luckily, the Insane minions were too stunned by surprise at the fact that there were people actually helping a Talentless and going against them to react properly.

"Echizen, let me see your arm…" Oshi ordered, looking concerned. The older man checked the wound made by the bullet. It wasn't too deep, but still bleeding heavily. Oshi narrowed his eyes and let his hand hover over the wound. The wound then slowly began to close up until there was nothing but a thin white line left. The pain dispersed, not that Echizen minded the pain much, but he suddenly felt very light and rested.

"A-arigatou (6)…" he managed.

Oshi just smiled and nodded before turning to face the Insane, a serious expression on his face. "Don't you feel ashamed to be picking on a defenceless person like this!?" even though Ryoma felt surprised, relieved and happy for the help, he really wished they'd stop referring to him as a 'defenceless person'.

The Insane grunts didn't seem to care for this much. They had recovered, it seemed. "Move aside and you won't get hurt, kids. Why are you even bothering to defend a Talentless anyways?"

BOOM!

Another explosion of air erupted, blasting the man who spoke into the wall. Momo gave a wide grin. "Don…" he said again. Echizen was impressed. There was a lot of power in that attack and he doubted that a teen not much older than himself could pull off such a thing.

"Fsssshhh…" The viper attacked as one of the remaining men pulled out a handgun and Kaidou grabbed a random pole lying harmlessly on the ground. "Stupid Momoshiro, taking the spotlight…"

And that was when all hell broke loose. A chaotic fight broke out between the two teens and the many minions. They were doing quite well and Oshi had put up a barrier to protect Echizen. Blasts of flame and bullets rocketed off the invisible shield. As Ryoma observed, he felt more and more powerless. He could tell that Momo was using a form of areokinesis, namely, air compression. He was using the air like a bomb. Slowly compressing it and then releasing the pressure to cause an explosion of force. Meanwhile, Kaidu had control over animals, seeming to do better with the viper than the dog. Echizen was surprised he could control more than one animal at a time and attack with that metal pole of his as well. Oshi was holding well against the attacks with a psychic barrier it seemed. That meant that Oshi must be a psychic, with more than one basic ability, too. Health Optimization was the only healing ability in psychomentry. But Ryoma, he could do nothing.

All he could do was watch and wait.

While they might have been good, the opponents had the advantage in numbers, unfortunately, and the three teens couldn't take on so many. They were exhausted and out of breath, cracks were starting to appear on the barrier, but there was still 8 standing opponents. "Give up yet?" one asked. Ryoma couldn't take this felling of powerlessness anymore. He took one step forwards and suddenly, froze. It was as if someone had chained them in place, no one could move. The Insanes and his three friends were frozen, too.

The temperature had dropped.

"Ne, are you Echizen Ryoma?" An innocent, childish, feminine voice came from behind him as Ryoma strained to look at the source of the voice. The voice chuckled. "Don't even try; you're all trapped in my web…" A gun came into view, right next to Echizen's head, pointing past him.

Kel-Tec P-32 (7)

Suddenly, hysterical laughter caught everyone's attention. One of the grunts had broken down. He wasn't moving the rest of his body, just laughing a high-pitched crazy laughter. Expressions of horror were visible on everyone's faces as the man began twitching uncontrollably and twisting his arms into different poses that looked very painful. Then the man fell to the ground, unconscious, that creepy smile ever present on his face. His eyes had become beady and unfocused, staring sightlessly into the sky.

"Ah… The dangers of paranoia and mental instability…" The finger pulled down on the trigger of the gun next to Ryoma's head. Seven gunshots rang in his ears and he pulled away, breaking free of the frozen state. Each bullet hit with pinpoint accuracy, killing each of the Insane grunts with a headshot directly between the eyes. Whirling around, Ryoma looked to the attacker in alarm. His eyes widened.

The girl now in front of him couldn't have been much older than fifteen years of age, her delicate fingers not at all suiting the gun. She was just about the same height as the fourteen (8) year old Ryoma in front of her. Her mid-length black hair was accompanied by a long fringe, pinned back with bobby pins. She wore converses, pedal pushers, and a denim-blue hoodie over a white t-shirt with a cat on it. She smiled an innocent, disarming and immature smile. "Hello there~! I'm Suzu Tamura!"

AN: Wow... This came out so much longer than I intended it to be...
(1) – Mamushi is 'Viper' in Japanese, but you already knew that, didn't 'cha?
(2) – Cat Chaser: Don't ask me, I just randomly got it off a list of toys for cats!
(3) – Baka is 'Idiot' or 'Stupid' in Japanese.
(4) – Kinishinaide is 'Don't worry about it' in Japanese
(5) – Yoroshiku is 'Nice to meet you' in Japanese
(6) – Arigatou is 'Thank you' in Japanese
(7) – A type of pistol
(8) – Here, the characters are all two years older than in the actual thing

Please read and review, thanks! No review, no update, btw.