Description: During morning martial arts practice, Edge explains his encounter with a strangle woman that calls herself 'the Empress'. Their little discussion is interrupted by the sudden appearance of the new girl, Rocket, who makes quite a remarked entrance.
Despite Gedo High's reputation as a school for delinquent, the roots and fundation of this school lies mostly in teaching discipline and focus through the martial arts. Considering how most of the students of the school are young men with a lot of vigor and energy to spare, the teachings method rely a lot on physical activities to wear them out and clear their spirit to make them more receptive to other kind of lessons.
The schoolyard is currently boiling with activity : lots of young men and young women training, sparing against each other. It was a good way to solve problems between students, through a good and 'rough' fight. A few rotten apples in the lot often make things go out of hand. As of sort, teachers were always supervising those kind of activities.
Fortunately, those accidents were less and less common when Daigo's presence was around. His silent presence was enough to calm the students... Or rather, the troublemakers knew enough about Daigo's reputation not to dare to awake the dragon that sleeps within him.
Daigo was not sparing with anyone, though that did not mean he was not active in his own way. His single valid eye closed, the tall man performs a kata against invisible enemies. He almost looks graceful while hurling his fists in the air and kicking randomly. During those practices, Daigo was clad only in a stretched sleeveless white shirt and a pair of worn-out weans.
"... so then I was like: whaaaaa? bitch you crazy!"
Edge is standing behind Daigo at this moment, bouncing around from white boot to white boot, telling a story it would seem like. He's not too worried about doing this kata business or preparing for battle because he's always prepared for battle. Because he's armed. And his lack of disregard for anyone's safety only adds to everything, making him also dangerous.
Edge stops and goes into his pocket, yanking out a knife. "So then I was throwin' knives at her right? And doncha' know this chick did some kinda' voodoo wingardium leviosa shit? Sliced me up with my own shit!" Edge's face fades from angry storyteller to something a bit more nostalgic. He reaches up to wipe away a tear that has begun to roll down his cheek. "It was beautiful." Edge sniffs away the remembering and finally turns to look at Daigo. "I'm tellin' you, you need to either kill this chick or let her join. I'm tellin' ya', Boss, I would /not/ mind havin' this Empress under me. If you know what I'm sayin'!" Edge starts in with the laughing and the smacking of his bubblegum at the same time. Eventually, he leans back against the nearest pole because he's too lazy to keep standing up straight and blows a pink bubble.
==*== YESTERDAY, KOBAYASHI RESIDENCE, SOUTHTOWN, JAPAN ==*=="Yeah, of course. All of the girls at Gedo wear the same uniform. Don't worry," her cousin reassured her as she frowned into the mirror. Rina O'Reilly had never worn a uniform in her life. Let alone something that looked like it belonged on Sailor Moon. Is this really what they make people wear at reform schools in Japan?
"I look like an idiot."
"Well, there are some things that even a nice uniform can't cover up, princess," Sadao says with a slight sneer, tugging on one of his cousin's many-hooped ears. In a moment one of Rocket's arms is wrapped around his neck, pulling him down into a side headlock.
"Shut up, smartass! I can still kick your butt!"
"Augh! Moooom!"
==*== PRESENT DAY ==*==
Eventually, Rina had decided to compromise. She's wearing the official uniform - or at least, what she's been told was the official uniform - but decided to accessorize. In addition to the navy blue skirt and scarf, white shirt and red tie, she's wearing a backward navy blue and red Rockets ballcap, fingerless black gloves and a pair of black rollerblades. The effect of the look overall is almost pure wannabe.
And Rocket is running late today. Not just because of the usual delinquency, but because the directions she got from her cousin ended up taking her to a fish market. And so now she's skating up the walkway to the school, smelling faintly like fresh sushi, the headphones around her neck blaring Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's 'Good Vibrations.' The bubblegum she's blowing only adds to her dangerous demeanour.
There's a small crowd watching the scene unfold : no one seems to dare to disturb the towering giant, except Edge... Everyone remains silent and stares almost in sadistic delight, half-expecting Edge to eventually anger Daigo. Some of them had missed the epic battle between one of the new girl and Daigo and no one wanted to miss another fight from him if they had the chance.
Alas, Daigo remains unphased by Edge's yelling and his antics and carries on his kata. It might seem like he is ignoring Edge, but he's carefully listening to him. It's easy to hear him with how loud he is. After one last punch, Daigo slowly straightens himself and opens his eye. He remains silent for a moment, still meditating on what Edge had told him. He finally turns his gaze back at Edge and lets an audible and thoughtful hum out of his throat, "I'm wary of someone who proclaims herself Empress,"
Daigo reaches out for his towel to wipe some sweat from his face and he asks, "What did she want from you exactly? Not just show you how good she was with your knife, I hope?" Daigo asks, a faint smirk spreading on his lips. His gaze turns away for a moment, off at the distance, lost in his thoughts... But also staring at the girl who is skating her way up into school. Another new face it would seem.
Unlike the Boss, Edge doesn't really have many fans. In fact, there's probably more people in Gedo that hate him than like Daigo. Either way, though, being the Second-in-Demand when it comes to running Gedo High has got to come with some perks. And one of those perks is being able to bother Daigo whenever he wants. It just comes with the territory of being the lieutenant. Apparently, so does getting beat up by Empress Crazy Hot but that's neither here nor there.
~ ~ Daydream Select: Edge & Honoka.
Edge: Dayum gurl. You is so fine.
Honoka: I know.
Edge: Be mine?
Honoka: No. I only have eyes for Daigo.
Edge: ... I'll let you play with my big blade.
Honoka: ... maybe just this once. ~ ~
Edge has to shake his head to come out of his own daydream, pulling his attention back to what is going on. Like Daigo actually talking to him or something. "Huh? Wha?" Edge pops his gum once more and then realizes that words have been spoken. He goes into his back pocket and pulls out a huge folded stack of binded papers that may or may not have 'RS' on the front of it. Flipflipflipflipflip. "Hol' up." Skiiiiim. Skiiiiiiiim. Edge is mouthing something as he reads whatever that is in his hands. "Aha! Hahaha!" And then the stack is tossed over his shoulder and into a random trash can. Just because he's a violent delinquent doesn't mean he enjoys littering. Littering is bad, okay?
"She jus' wanna' meet you, Boss. Why? I dunno. Probably wants your hot, sweaty bod. Personally, I don't see the appeal. I mean, you got the brains an' you got the brawn but me? I gots the winnin' personality an' the sharp as cheddar charm!" Edge flashes a big smile.
P - A - U - S - E
"... wait. Ya' really think she wants t' handle my knife?" Edge shivers. "What a woman."
Something is fishy here.
Rocket is pretty sure of it, even if she can't put a finger on what it is exactly that's bothering her about the situation. Maybe it's the fact that there are so many kids out in the yard, doing karate on each other. Then again, it is Japan, right? Despite her heritage, Rocket's cultural knowledge is relatively limited. She's only visited the country a couple of times before. But no, it's not that. Something else. Rocket's brow is furrowed, the turning of the wheels in her head almost visible behind her eyes as they're matched by the turning of her rollerblades on the concrete.
And then, abruptly, both stop turning.
The uniforms! Nearly no two students in the entire yard seem to be dressed the same. The realisation hits her at about the same time and with the same impact as the walkway coming up at her does.
And suddenly there's a peal of laughter around her, both from the rough-looking male student who just put a foot out to trip her up and the boys standing around behind him. It's unfortunate for her modesty that she happens to be wearing a skirt when she takes the spill.
"Ow! What the fuck, dude?! Sherioushly?"
Rocket pushes herself up to her feet, wiping the dust and grit from the front of her uniform and smoothing down her skirt. Then, turning her head to spit her bubblegum out on the sidewalk, she whirls on the group, hands clenched into fists.
"You better tell me that wasn't on purpose, asswipe!"
Daigo stares off at the distance and waits silently for Edge to look through his files. Thanks to his incredible height, in those moments of silence Daigo was able to observe the rest of the schoolyard with relative ease and now his attention was turned on this new face.
"Really, just meet me?" Daigo dubiously replies. He folds his arms against his chest, still lost in his thoughts, his attention divided between various things : this Empress, Edge and this new girl.
Edge's wisecrack earns a short laughter from Daigo. He lifts his hand up to pat his back, "She doesn't know what she's missing, Edge," He replies calmly, his lips curling into a gentle smile. "I'll have to pay her a visit then," He says sternly.
His thoughts wander away from the Empress for now as something more important happens not too far from him. Looks like the new foreign girl was getting her welcome to Gedo High the rough way. "Looks like we've got another new girl around..." Daigo comments to Edge. The tall man doesn't move or approach the scene : he could easily watch everything from his standpoint. It appears Daigo was not going to interfer for now, he prefers to simply watch how this girl will deal with the situation.
After all, clashes like that between students happened all the time in Gedo High. He just wanted to make sure it did not get out of hands.
Edge is not exactly going to interfere either. But that's not going to stop him from laughing his ass off. Because that is exactly what happens. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" and more come from the direction of both Daigo and Edge. Though, the only one that is laughing is Edge. He's cracking up, hanging onto the pole he's been leaning against and waving his knife around as he takes in the sights of someone else's misfortune. Which, for the record, is always as hilarious as it needs to be.
"When did we start openin' our doors to every homeless schoolgirl in the city? I mean, I ain't complainin' because sometimes the view ain't bad but... this ain't Taiyo!" Edge is still cracking up at Rocket's predicament. While also trying to keep the conversation with Daigo going. It's really some kind of wonderful talent that Edge can keep this going like such. Maybe it has something to do with the voices in his head.
The Gedo schoolboy that tripped Rocket up is seated on a bench at the moment, which is the only reason that Rocket manages to be capable of looming over him the way that she is at the moment. The glare in her green eyes is so fierce that the youth seems to be given pause, his laughter stopping and his lips pursing. The laughter from his compatriots dies down along with his own, and the area seems intensely silent for a moment. And then, the boy speaks.
"Nice panties, princess."
And then the laughter roars back to life, twice as loud as before. Rocket's eyes widen a little, and she rolls backward for a moment as if buffeted by the taunt. Her fists unclench at her sides. And yet, oddly, she doesn't appear to redden or wilt. Instead, her expression remains fierce, but relatively calm. An expression of concentration, even.
"Fine. If that's how you want to play it, then you leave me no choice."
Suddenly, her hands begin to glow a pale blue at her sides. Stretching them back behind her as the energy gathers, her petite frame trembling a little with the force, she inhales a deep breath.
"SUUUUPPPEEERRRRR -"
The laughter is cut short again as the students behind the bench start to scatter. Meanwhile, the offending youth seems paralyzed with shock, his eyes turned to saucers.
"- ROOOOOOCKKEETT SHOT!"
The cyan-haired girl's arms swing forward, and she pops off the ground a little as her palms connect. Then, in a flash of blue, the energy between her hands erupts into a bright blue blazing bolt of chi that flies toward the student on the bench. He's quick enough to dive for cover before the fireball can consume him, leaving that fate to instead be suffered by the bench. Splinters of wood fly everywhere from the rounded gap burnt through the back of the bench, and the blast scorches a short trail along the schoolyard before burning out, leaving the grass smoldering.
In the meanwhile, Rocket herself is launched backward into the air, apparently by the recoil of the sudden outburst of chi. She's flying at surprising speed, and heading right in the direction of Daigo and Edge...
There were no delicate flowers in Gedo High : the girls who wanted to survive this rough enviroment had to earn the respect of the other boys. It was a simple law of domination. If this girl was showing any form of weakness, any sign of submissive or a meek behaviour, the others would use and abuse her (boys and girls alike). It was an unchanging and implicit rule in Gedo High, one that Daigo, with all of his good will, could never change.
This was Rocket's test, her trial, and Daigo wanted to see this through the end. Unlike Edge, he was not amused by this necessity and just stood there stoically watching. Had he done anything to interfer at this point, it would have just made things worse.
The sudden surge of energy in Rocket's hand unsettles the towering man. His cold expression is turned into one of surprise and Daigo quirks a brow.
When the girl's blast of energy sends her flying in his direction, Daigo barely has the time to react. However, a fraction of second was all he needed to brace for impact, slightly parting his legs so Rocket doesn't knock him back, allowing him to open his arms to catch her mid-flight with his massive hands on her shoulder.
Though this isn't what everyone saw. To everyone else, the setup was much more simple : Rocket just collided with Daigo and he just stood there and stopped her with his pectoral muscles and now he was holding her shoulders with his massive hand.
Everyone was holding their breath. Oh boy! Was this going to be another Makoto? At least every students was more or less hoping they would witness this, hoping Daigo would just crush her with his hands.
He holds her for a second or two, but it seems to last for an eternity. Daigo leans down a bit, perhaps to whisper something to her but... No, he just inhales her scent before he sets her down.
"Careful there," Daigo says as he slowly sets Rocket down on her feet.
Oh look. There's a knife. And it's brought right up to attempt scare the living gum out of Rocket, since Edge is pushing off the pole and rushing her with controlled aggression and speed. Of course, with how high his hair is, she probably had the displeasure of seeing him coming from the half-step away that he was.
"Yeah. Careful. Ya' might end up dead." Edge flicks his tongue and immediately goes into one of his psychotic grins. His eyes are wide and jittery, while he's just waiting on this girl to make a wrong move so that he can make her bleed. It has actually been a while since he's made anyone bleed and this would be the perfect time to be doing such. He's really been needing a little bit of violence in his life.Y'know, violence that he's managed to exact on others. Not the other way around.
"Boss? Jus' say the word an' I'll make this girl /beg/ us to let her transfer. /Beg/." Edge waggles his creepy eyebrows.
The feeling of flying backward, out of control, not knowing where you're going - for some people, it would perhaps be terrifying, but for Rocket, it's exhilarating. Right up until the moment where she's caught up by Daigo's hands on her shoulders. The wind rushes out of her, even with the controlled impact, and she's already panting for breath by the time that she notices him sniffing her. It's probably because she smells a bit fishy right now, but still a little weird, right? She immediately starts to push away from the guy, reaching up to adjust her cap -
And nearly running into the knife being brandished at her by Edge.
"What the fuck dude?"
She backpedals - well, back-wheels, really - back against Daigo, still not having looked to see who exactly was responsible for arresting her flight. And then her hands come up, both held low in an open-palmed Kenpo stance.
"I'm from Metro City, motherfucker! You think a knife is gonna scare me? You want some of what he got?"
Not that the other student really 'got' anything, other than maybe a few moments of terror, and not that she really could just muster that kind of energy up again on command - her body is already starting to shake from the exertion of that attack. She tries not to let that show, though, keeping her gaze threatening as she stares at Edge. Only for a moment does she let her eyes flit down to the knife in his hand, a shiver running through her body...
Once he has put Rocket back on her feet and made sure she was steady, his grip on Rocket's shoulder loosens enough for her to easily push away. Daigo thought his nostrils caught a draft of fish and now he knew it came from this new girl. Though now was probably not the time to tell her about her weird scent.
His hands stop her from running into him again, his palms resting on her shoulder once more as she rolls back into him, "Easy there," Daigo replies to Rocket's claims with a stern and authoritarian as he tries to calm her down. His gaze shifts from Rocket to Edge and he lifts one hand up to him, gesturing up and down with it for him to lower his knives. "Not yet, Edge... This shouldn't be necessary," Daigo says to him.
"You're a new girl around here," Daigo asks, though his intonation lacked the question, "My name is Daigo Kazama, and this is Edge," Simply Edge. Easier that way. He pats Rocket's shoulders gently and he pushes her away from him, figuring she might not want to stay lean against him like that for too long. His lips curl into a wide grin as he adds, with a bit of irony in his voice, "Welcome to Gedo High,"
The girl keeps her eyes on Edge and his knife for a long moment as Daigo speaks. She tenses a little at Daigo's hands on her shoulders, her hands tightening into fists. When the gang leader pushes her away, she spins around on her skates to face him, not leaving the stance she's in.
"Do I look like I give a -"
And finds herself staring at his chest. She has to tilt her head back in order to see the man's face. The sight seems to pull a lot of the bluster out of her, and she blinks a couple of times, before quirking an eyebrow. Her arms lower to her sides, surreptitiously silencing the Funky Bunch with a slip of her thumb.
"Whoa. Are you even a student here? Or are you like, the gym teacher or something?" She reaches up to scratch at the back of her neck below her ponytail braid. "I'm Rina. Everyone back home called me Rocket, though. I have a cousin here who needs to be punched."
She shifts her eyes back over toward the crazy-eyed knife-wielder, still keeping some distance. "What's up with this guy's hair?"
Daigo rests his hands on his waist as Rocket stares at him. His brawny and massive frame was quite imposing, especially so up close like Rocket was. His valid eye stares at her from afar and he contemplates her silently.
"I am one of the student here," Daigo says with a slow nod of his head. He lifts his gaze up toward Edge and hums softly, than back at Rocket, "I like his hair," Daigo replies simply to close the matter.
"Rocket," Daigo muses, taking a pause as if he was lost in his thought. He shakes his head slowly and says, "You have a thing or two to learn around this place if you don't want to get in trouble too much,"
While the somewhat explosive display earlier may have drawn the attention of some of the other students - and probably faculty too, there's a man's voice yelling from off near the entrance to the school - it's also caused them to give a bit of space to the girl as she's confronted by Daigo and his lieutenant. Especially since whatever fight seemed to be brewing initially seems to be dying down, at least at the moment.
"Is this about the uniform thing?" Rocket presumes, grumbling a little as she tugs on the hem of her skirt. "'Cause that's my dickhead cousin's fault. He told me all the girls here wear this uniform." She looks around as she says this. "I don't see a single other girl in this outfit. In fact, I'm not even sure that I see another girl period." She squints her eyes a little as she looks closer. "Oh, yeah. There's one."
A beat.
"I think."
Daigo arches a brow and spares a glance at the other students when Rocket mentions the uniform, "There is an uniform," He replies. He pauses, as if trying to find the right words to explain this to Rocket. After a moment, he adds, "As you can see though, few students actually wear it. It is not mandatory," Daigo explains, waving his hand up dismissingly through his explanation.
Daigo's lips curl into a smile and he says, "Rocket, Gedo High is a school focused on discipline through martial arts. There are some girls but... Most of the students are boys," Daigo explains. Daigo turns on his heels, glancing over his shoulder at the many other students who were sparring and fighting in the background.
"There's lots of testosterone about," He says with a slow nod, "You have to earn your place around here, but I think that little display you did helped your cause," Daigo adds, "... But if I were you, I'd use some deodorant or you'll be made fun of," He seems to hesitate a moment and says bluntly, "You see, you smell weird,"
Rocket's arms fold across her stomach as she listens to Daigo speak, her head cocking a little to one side. Her posture is casual enough that one might even forget that she's balancing on rollerblades the entire time. Discipline through martial arts? She hadn't even been told about that part. Actually, it sounds a bit less lame than she was thinking. The corner of her mouth twitches upward in just a slight smile, her eyes seeming a little brighter...
And then he makes the comment about her smelling weird. Her jaw drops, and this time her face actually reddens quite a bit.
"What?! Is that why you were smelling me earlier?? I do -not- smell weird, I smell like - like -
She takes a moment to actually inhale deeply through her nostrils. Her nose crinkles as her face twists into a grimace.
"Oh, fuck. It's from that goddamn fish market. I'm gonna kill Sadao next time I see him."
This was the bright side of Gedo High : its mission promoting excellence in academics and martial arts, striving to educate young boys into being fine citizens through perseverance and discipline. Alas, as of late, the laxity of the school and the increase in delinquents who needed to be reformed had tarnished this image a lot.
Daigo tries to restore Gedo High to its former glory, a mission he carries on his shoulders and deeply cares for. He stares at the many students sparring and his lips curl into a pleased smile.
Rocket's exclamation brings him out of his reverie and he lets out a deep thunderous laughter out of his throat, "Ahah, yes, that is why, I thought I had smelled fish and I was not wrong," Daigo says. He lifts his massive hand up and gives Rocket a few pat on her back.
"I think you'll fit in nicely in Gedo," Daigo finally concludes. "You seem headstrong and I don't think you'll let others step on your toes. That's a good attitude to have around here," He admits.
Daigo folds his arms against his chest and then adds, "You'll see, Rocket, but the students in Gedo High are like a big family : no matter what happens here, in the end, we always look after one another,"
Daigo takes a few steps away, reaching out for his school jacket as well as a small gym bag, "Come around after school if you want to learn some more about the gangs in Gedo," Daigo offers with a slow nod, "I'm going to take a shower before the second class," He looks at her, a teasing smile curling on his lips as he adds, "Perhaps you should do the same,"
Rocket doesn't tense up quite as much this time at the hand on her back, although her posture is still just a little bit defensive. She reddens a little more at first at the laughter, but eventually a faint, somewhat apologetic smile reaches her lips. She glances off to one side, taking in the schoolyard with a thoughtful expression when Daigo starts to talk about Gedo as a family.
"Well, my dad is in prison, my grandparents shipped me out here 'cause of a little misunderstanding, and my cousin's been lying to me ever since I got here to make me look like a dumbass," she remarks as she adjusts the sling on her bag. Calling trashing a celebrity's car may be a bit of an understatement. "So I dunno about treating anyone like family, but maybe I'll make some friends."
She looks back at him with a wry smirk.
"Thanks for the advice. That'll give me a chance to change clothes, too. I gotta change of clothes in my bag. Got directions to the girls' locker room...?"
The tall man nods his head slowly to Rocket. She wasn't the only one around here who shared a similar background. No parents or parents in jail, sent to Gedo because of some mischief they've caused in the past. Gedo High was their chance to develop some sort of feeling of belonging.
"Take your time," Daigo simply replies to all of this. He then gestures with his hand in some direction, "In that building, at the end of the first hall," He instructs. "I'll see you around, Rocket," His lips curl into a smile and he says, "Try to survive until then..."
Log created on 15:04:19 11/12/2014 by Daigo, and last modified on 22:01:51 11/13/2014.