"Heh, so are these Noises strong? What're their ranks like? Don't tell me I got them right!?"
"Close, but not quite." Dan stopped his pencil, lingering on Gojo's eyes, carved in glossy graphite. His hands rested on the table, tapping the coarse plastic. "By the way, may I ask a question?"
Leaning back into his chair, Gojo whistled a tune. "Sure, sure, just let me ask something too. Nothing special. I'm also curious about that ranking thingy of yours." Gojo shifted his head, his neck cracking softly, eyes under the sunglasses glistening with a faint blue glow.
"Fair trade. Then, shall I ask first? You seem to always be covering your eyes with those sunglasses of yours. An eye condition?"
Gojo let out a mock laugh, his head bobbing up and down, before settling back into his lax position. "Hey. Don't compare the Six Eyes to some lousy condition. These beauties are the prime jewels of the Gojo Clan. They only manifest every 500 years. Guess who got lucky."
"You, I assume. Fascinating, may I take a look? I'd like to see it, after all, if it appears sparsely, I'm quite lucky to see them myself."
Gojo smirked, tilting his head downwards, revealing a glimpse of the Six Eyes. "You sure? People who've seen my face have always been charmed. Not like you'd get charmed too, right?"
"Heh, I'm not so confident myself. But my curiosity exceeds me."
A puff of air came out of Gojo's nose. "Suit yourself." He took off his sunglasses using his head, revealing a pair of ocean-blue eyes, dotted with little white grains of sand-like particles. His eyelashes caught the harsh light of the trembling LED, framing his eyes with a glass-like purity.
"Amazing."
"I know, right?"
Dan picked up his pencil and started to draw again, Gojo humming to pass the time. But it was too much time.
Gojo let himself spread on the hard chair, the metal legs screeching as they skidded back. "So, where's your end of the deal? What? Don't tell me you'll stay silent? Tch, I knew you had the air of a scammer. Once a fraud, always a fraud."
Hikaru stepped in, banging his hand on the table. "Brat, get your head outta' the gutter. I won't allow such disrespect. You're way out of your depth here, talking to Dan like that."
Hikaru immediately regretted it. Ow, why'd I do that? Gah, just thinkin about this kid is making me pissed off!
"Now, now, Tetsukawa, no need to get violent." Putting a hand on his shoulder, Dan patted the crumpled sleeves. "Say, Gojo, is that how your eyes see me?"
Gojo stopped. Raising his head to look at Dan, his eyes seemed to glow brighter, his smile faltering. Huh?
He knew? How? Since when? No, he probably knew before he even came in. If what's in that folder is observations about me, then he probably knew. But I only revealed my eyes to that rookie. He wouldn't know what my eyes meant. Then...
"Hey, what did you draw?" Gojo straightened, his cuffed hands on the table, his gaze cold. His feet were tapping the concrete floor, drowning out the humming AC.
"Nothing much, a portrait, a sketch. Nothing more, nothing less." Dan closed his eyes and smiled. Putting his hands together under his chin, a snarl came from Gojo's throat. "Cut the crap. I've noticed it since earlier, but that damn smile of yours is way too ugly. Is that why I feel weak here? Huh? You hideous loach?"
"Hah, please don't get unsettled, Gojo. I did not mean to unsettle you; it was merely an observation. Like yours. Forgive me."
Before Gojo could speak, Dan cut in. "Though I'll reveal my hand as an apology gift. Please, won't you settle down?"
Gojo stared at him, his Six Eyes moving at maximum capacity. He doesn't seem to be lying. With a huff, Gojo leaned on his hand. Hand? Looking at his hands, he found the handcuffs to have fallen off, resting on his lap. Looking at it again, a faint beeping light seemed to be on the handcuffs. Remote-controlled? Not like it matters. "So, let me ask again, what did you draw?"
"Hm, didn't you ask for the classifications and rankings of the Noises?"
"I ain't got time for that!"
"A shame, though I would still like to tell you. Well, not me. Hikaru." Dan waved over Hikaru, Hikaru swiftly leaning in. "Please, won't you explain the Noises to our guest? You seem to be more competent than me in this area."
Hikaru grumbled, but still obliged. Coughing into his hand, he looked at Gojo. "Well, if you say so. Hey, kid. Listen closely."
"All ears."
"Noises. Supernatural phenomena that started appearing after 2001. Well, they appeared rarely, but that's beside the point. We don't know where they come from or how they form, but most, if not all of them are a threat to human society. We at SPID and the other government agencies devised a ranking system based on how they impact society. You got all that?"
"Yeah, yeah, so it's like the power levels in Dragon Ball?"
"Haven't watched it yet, but yeah, close enough. The Noises have 6 distinct ranks and 2 miscellaneous ranks.
The lowest ranked Noise is Neumond. These guys only, like, can affect one or two people max. Most of them are just objects with weird effects, or monsters who stalk people.
Second is Crescent. With the power to reach a household's worth of people. This is where it gets interesting, as the Noises in this rank and above can likely kill you, directly."
Gojo raised a hand. "Question! Why is it in German?"
Hikaru looked at him, a small drop of sweat on his head. "Hell if I know."
"Moving on to the next rank, Quarter. You remember that stairwell? Well its ranked here, potentially influencing a small town. Then, Waxing. This rank is weird, as it says in the guidebook that Noises in this rank can affect a city, but Noises in the shape of items usually get placed here."
"Wait, Noises can take the form of items? I completely missed that in Neumond!" Gojo raised his hand again, waving it around in the air.
"Oh yeah, forgot to mention that. Noises are supernatural phenomena, but don't treat supernatural phenomena as just monsters. Noises are like, everything. They can be your regular ol' monsters, then they'll be a toothbrush, a park, a radio frequency, even rain."
"Damn." So they're even more varied than Curses.
"The ones after this are the big ones. Gibbous, affecting a region, most of the time requiring significant SPID manpower."
"They're that strong?"
"Not strong, more like widespread. I'll give you anotha' piece of info. Food for thought, as Dan would say. Imagine a super strong Noise, like country-busting strong, manifests. But it's trapped in a cave, unable to get out. Then this cave is located in the Himalayas or somewhere far from human society. It's most likely gonna be ranked Neumond. Now imagine again, this time, a phone virus where it makes you really, and I mean really want to call other people. That's ranked Gibbous."
Gojo leaned back, holding his head. "You guys here rank things weird."
"Not weird, only bureaucratically."
Hikaru cracked his knuckles, then his neck, before looking at Dan. "Hey, Sir Dan, this should be enough right? This much exposition will only bore that brat over there."
"Just to make it clear, I am invested! Dan, don't listen to him!" And besides, he's still drawing? No, it seems like he's just about to finish it. Might be better to cut the explanation early. I've got a rough understanding now, most likely the next rank is going to affect an entire country based on the patterns of the Noise rankings. And its probably rare too.
"Hm, you're correct, but let's ask Gojo for his opinion first."
"No need, already got the gist of it. But just tell me the last rank of the six."
"Purnima, kid."
"Now its Sanskrit?"
"Hey, I didn't name these. Anyways, the two extra ranks aren't important right now."
Gojo turned to Dan, his voice lowering. "Now about that sketch, what did you draw?"
Dan chuckled, covering his mouth with his long white sleeves. "Seems you're quite curious. Sure." Putting his pen down, he grabbed the edges of his sketch pad before holding it out, not revealing it to Gojo.
"Well? Where's the sketch?"
"Shush, I'm adding some final touches. Hikaru, would you mind?" Hikaru went in and grabbed it, holding the pad in front of Dan's face. "Now, let's reveal more, shall we?"
Holding his hand towards the pad, he let his index touch the pad, a shimmer of something wrong emanating from it.
Gojo looked at Hikaru, his eyes looking at the energy of Dan. It was moving. What's he doing? An ability similar to a Cursed Technique?
Dan said out loud, his voice echoing in the room. [Dead Rose Canvas]
A strong wind welled up inside, fluttering and throwing their clothing into disarray. The LED lights overhead swung side to side from the wind, their flailing causing their shadows to twist and turn. The glass on the side seemed to crack, and the people behind it frantically covered and saved themselves. The index of Dan seemed to light up with a golden light, focusing on the sketchpad. Gojo covered his face with his hands, only revealing his eyes. Ah, so that's what it is! It really is the equivalent of a Cursed Technique!
As Dan looked at the sketchpad, his robes fluttering in the gale, it dropped into a confused open mouth. "It's... empty?"
The wind died down, the lights slowly steadied themselves, and the light coming from his fingertips disappeared, leaving only the paper, blank.