Description: After somewhat losing control in his battle against Makoto, Daigo decides to pay her a visit at the infirmary to see how well she is recovering. He comes to her with an offer and tries to understand her reasons behind her fierce desire to fight... And discovers just how stubborn and headstrong Makoto truly is.
Rumors have been spreading like wildfire across of Gedo High. Not only did the new girl hot tempered girl had the guts to challenge Daigo, but she has also managed to take and return the punches from him until there was only one person standing. In the end, even if Daigo had won this clash, Makoto's name was on everyone's tongue as the tale of their battle echoed through the entire school. After all, what she had accomplished was quite a feat, she managed to daze and stagger this behemoth.
As Daigo strode through the school's hallways, he could hear the whispers the students whispers about this event. He did not ignore what they said, but he remained unphased by all of it, like water off a duck's back.
In fact, Daigo had other things on his mind. He feared that he had lost control of his himself and that he might have injuried Makoto with his great strength, especially considering how their fight had ended, leaving them both fight like mindless berserkers.
The day after their battle, right after morning classes, Daigo makes his way to the infirmary. His large hand gently pushes the door open as he pokes his head in and walks in there. He knew where Makoto was -- he had brought her here after all after their fight. He glances around to see if the nurse is there. Perhaps she was out for lunch? Not seeing any sign of life, he walks in and heads for Makoto's bed.
The bed in question is positioned towards the rear of the small office cordoned off by an array of tall curtains mounted on steel poles that create a barrier against curious eyes. The curtains are all pure white, sterile and smelling of disinfectant like the rest of the room. Perhaps here, more than anywhere else in the school, care has been taken to ensure that the facilities are up to standards; after all, there isn't a single day that goes by at Gedo where /someone/ doesn't get a broken nose or mild concussion. This is a place of healing and it lacks the general rough-and-tumble appearance that the rest of the school carries.
Daigo's entrance into the nurse's office goes unchallenged, the nurse and her small array of student helpers that usually haunt the place all being out to lunch at the moment. Makoto isn't difficult to find since none of the other beds are occupied or thus shielded from view so the lumbering gang leader has little difficulty in figuring out where to go.
Unfortunately, the heavy curtains do their job of shielding the activities of the person behind them a little too well. The small girl sits on the edge of the simple medical bed with one foot already on the floor as if she were just rising to go and do something. Several ugly looking bruises are visible on her body from where the terrible slug-fest has lefts its marks but they are mixed with a veritable smorgasboard of scars, callouses, and marks which are much older. Most of them have blended into the dusky tan of her sun-kissed skin but the evidence of her tomboyish nature is plain to see.
And Daigo can see these ancient wounds because Makoto is currently wearing nothing but her underwear.
A simple red bra is wrapped tightly about the girl's slender bust, almost more of a tube-top than a brassiere. It isn't difficult to see that she doesn't have a whole lot going on in that department but she's not quite so crass as to let it just hang out. The slender curves elsewhere on her body, however, are very feminine in their nature and even the toned muscle wrapped about her slender frame can't hide that completely. A simple pair of generic white panties protect her modesty but even those cling to her hips in a strangely appealing and girlish fashion.
Makoto's head tilts up as her visitor rounds the corner, one eye pinched closed in apparent discomfort as she drags herself out of bed. "I already told you, I don't need help getting dressed!"
Daigo approaches the only bed that appears to have someone in it : the one surrounded by the white curtains. The soft noises of activity behind the curtain makes him curious and as Daigo approaches the corner, he lifts one of his hand up, fingers reaching for the edge of the curtain and pulling it open so he can peek inside.
Once his fingers have made a little opening in the curtains for him to peek in, Daigo's eyes widen a bit in surprise and he just stands there silently staring at Makoto as she dresses up.
Daigo silently spies on Makoto from behind the curtain, like some kind of voyeur. He stares at her body, assessing the various bruises and injuries he had caused her, but he also observes the various older scars and marks over her body, proof of the many rough fights she must have been through and that shows physically a part of her life experience.
He watches and studies her, the way her body move and out she tries to move out of bed so soon after their battle. Her voice is the only thing that seems to snap him out of his careful observations. He tall man doesn't try to hide his presence, taking a step foward so Makoto can see his towering frame.
"I am sure that you don't," Daigo replies to her, his deep voice probably alerting of his presence before she even realized he was there. His eyes frown a bit as he keeps on staring at her : he is not looking intensely at her mostly naked body (well, okay, maybe, who wouldn't?) but more at her apparent injuries, "but are you certain you should get out of bed, so soon?" He asks with a bit of concern in his voice.
To her credit, Makoto doesn't panic or flinch upon hearing the deep rumbling voice of the gang boss instead of the snippy tone of the over-protective nurse. Her head turns in his direction, tilting back until she just barely glare up at him from the corner of her eyes. The girl's frown lingers on his face for a couple of seconds but she doesn't comment on his staring. Instead, she just grunts in reply to his question, half in annoyance and half in pain.
"You're kind of tall to be my mother."
Her feet make the short drop to the floor and Makoto pads across the room towards a lone sink set into the wall. She doesn't bother trying to cover herself or look particularly annoyed at being caught in her skivvies. Most of her attention is spent on keeping her back straight and covering up the faint limp in her step out of pride.
She sets about washing up, splashing the cold water onto her face with large two-handed motions. She hardly seems to notice when it runs down her chin to dribble onto her torso in thin rivulets that leave dark stains where the liquid touches her undergarments. Daigo is given about as much consideration as a statue or a poster on the wall and it isn't until she finishes, dabbing the extra moisture from her skin with a small towel that Makoto finally looks at him again.
"You want something or did you just come to stare?"
Her reply causes a faint smile to spread on Daigo's lips. He turns his gaze away and folds his arms in front of his chest, as if to offer Makoto some sort of intimacy despite his presence, though Daigo was watching her out of the corner of his valid eye so he can see her painful steps.
"Is it wrong you show concern for someone else?" Daigo replies to her first comment, though he doesn't really expect an answer from her. He waits there silently, until she's through washing her face. When she speaks to him again, Daigo shifts his posture and turns on his heels to face her once more.
"I came to see how you were going," Daigo says with a slow nod of his head, "But also to talk to you, since you seem to have recovered at least enough," He adds a few seconds later. Daigo's eyes venture down back and forth as he stares at her. The look in his gaze obviously shows he disapproves of her reckless behaviour, but he's not going to boss her around.
"Why is it so important for you to prove to yourself that you're the strongest?" Daigo asks her.
Makoto's scowl returns and she drapes the towel around her neck, resting her hands on either end. The bruises on her face look a lot worse with her face scruntched up like the negative emotion in the gesture is channeled into the dark welts. Fortunately, most of the blows she took were aimed at her body but she's got a pretty nice shiner on her cheek that creeps towards her eye as her brows furrow.
"I would have thought word would spread quickly around here. You're the one in charge aren't you? Don't you have people who report to you about this shit?" She shrugs after a long moment, rolling her shoulders nonchalantly before folding her arms over her chest. "My father was a master martial artist. He passed his art on to me. But when he got sick, everyone forgot about him. I made a promise that I would restore his pride and honor by displaying the strength of Rindou-kan to the world."
Her frown deepens and her jaw works as she ponders quietly, as if chewing on something sour. Eventually, she looks away and sighs. "Guess I still need more practice."
Daigo shakes his head slowly to Makoto, "No, not for that kind of thing," The man answers. He straightens himself up a bit and adds, "I am not 'in charge' here, it doesn't quite work that way," Makoto might learn the difference as she spends more time around, but Daigo doesn't insist on the matter for now.
The tall man watches Makoto and listens to her. Much like his sister, Daigo was a man of a few words and carefully weighted every words he said, preferring to listen to others. He fails to fill the growing silence with any reply though, merely staring back at her with his arms folded against his chest. When Makoto finally completes her thoughts, Daigo arches a brow and says, "Before morning classes, students have mandatory practices and spares. Many trains in various martial arts... I am still looking for a sparring partner, if you're interested,"
"Oh yeah?"
Makoto offers a non-commital shrug towards Daigo's counter-assertion that he isn't in charge completely here. She's always assumed that the thugs here operate like at typical gang, one guy calling the shots with a stair-stepping heirachy of sub-bosses underneath passing orders down the chain. Maybe it does and he just doesn't want to admit that. It doesn't much matter to her either way.
Now that she's dry again, the wrinkled clothes discarded at the foot of her bed are turned to and she starts to slip into them with the same lack of concern for propriety displayed thus far, hiking one leg after the other up into the small skirt. A fresh grimace comes to her face as she does so, the wounds peppering her body in dark blotches giving loud internal protest to her brusque movements, but she quickly supresses it withouth looking up and gets dressed in short order.
"Maybe I'm interested."
Everyone could tell Makoto that Daigo's the boss. He's been proclaimed leader and boss by the other students, through the various feats and display of strength he had pulled off over the past years. Not that he denies his position in Gedo High, but he deeply believes he's different than the other self-proclamed boss and gang leader her fought over the years to change Gedo High.
After his cursory evaluation of Makoto's condition, Daigo has come to the conclusion that she'll survive the injuries he's given her. Her injuries are much more apparent than his, even though he didn't come out of this fight unscathed, but he's been good at concealing his pain ever since he's been in Gedo High. Her pride, on the other hand...
"You fought very well, Makoto. Everyone in school is talking about it," His lips curl into a gentle smile, "I think you've managed to achieve a part of your goal, you impressed everyone," He doesn't mention more about what the students say about her, but she certainly got everyone's imagination going.
He gives Makoto a shrug of his shoulder and adds, "Think about it, Makoto, there's no hurry," Daigo takes the time to look at her, from head to toes before he slowly turns on his heels, "Oh... One last thing," Daigo says, "I have no problem with you challenging students for a fight on the school ground but..." He takes a pause, thinking on the words he'd use next, "Think you could try not to beat up more than a student or two every day?" He asks, "With a bit of moderation, I am sure you will get a lot more people talking about you and have a lot more students striving to challenge you,"
An unlady-like snort flares her nostrils at that but the expression on her face is one of wry amusement not anger. Makoto shrugs into her loose school shirt a little more forcefully than necessary, practically welding the buttons together up the front with raw force rather than deft finger movements.
"Not well enough," she growls. "Not until I've beaten everyone. I have to prove that my art is superior! I made an oath and I won't go back on it."
Now fully clothed save for her bare feet, Makoto relaxes a little, letting her posture sag. She takes a deep breath and exhales hard, resting her hands on her hips and giving the gang boss a long look with her trademark frown.
"No promises."
Her voice is hard and firm with no signs of the casual dismissiveness present in her tone from before. She glares and the line of her jaw becomes set squarely as if she expects resistance.
"Anyone who steps up to me accepts the consequences. Your boys don't want to end up in here as often, tell them to train harder."
Daigo's brows frown and his forehead furrows a bit. "Careful there, Makoto..." Daigo replies, "You do not have to beat everyone up and constantly seek a fight to prove that your art is superior," Daigo lowers his arms to his side, "Your speech is not unlike the previous gang leaders in Gedo High who wanted to prove their supremacy by beating up anyone who opposed them,"
He ends his last sentence with a grunt, his intonation a bit harsher this time to match up with Makoto's own. He lowers his arms and heaves a soft sigh and shakes his head slowly, "I think your strength is a great assess to this school, and you'll probably become someone many students will look up to. You could even teach your art and discipline to some of them, if you wish to,"
His lips curl into a smile and he adds, "Your actions will lead them to train harder and fight harder, they'll look up to you and they'll strive to become like you, follow in your footstep, Makoto," He pauses and adds, "If you make the right decisions... I know you have that potential,"
"Someone like you can help restore a bit of the pride the students have for themselves and this school," Daigo says, gesturing with one of his hand, as if to explain his point, "It's a small request I have, to ask out of you," Daigo says, "Go to the other highschools and challenge their students to fight, just as you did here,"
If Makoto she does the same than she did, words will surely spread about Makoto's martial art, but also the strength of Gedo High's students.
"I'm not interested in being this school's wet nurse."
Makoto growls and brushes past the larger student but she doesn't simply slam into him with her shoulder like she might some of the other students; partly out of a gruding display of respect for the one person who has managed to stand up to her thus far and partly because she's still really freakin sore and trying to push that mountain of flesh aside would take a lot of effort even for her.
She collects the rest of her belongings which includes her in-door slippers and satchel, sliding the former onto her feet and slinging the later over her shoulder as she heads for the door. Before she leaves, however, she pauses and glares up at Daigo.
"I don't give a damn about this school or its reputation. All I care about is rebuilding my family's honor. I'll do whatever it takes to accomplish that, nothing more, nothing less. And anyone who gets in my way is gonna be /sorry/."
Her gaze lingers for a few seconds before she turns and steps into the hallway to head towards the nearest exit. It takes about half a minute before the first dinstinct feminine battlecry echoes back his way followed by the dull explosion of a body rocketing through one of the walls.
This girl was definately full of surprises. It had been a long time since someone actually stood up to him like that. The towering man seems a bit unsettled by Makoto's reaction but when she approaches him and tries to move past him, the tall man takes a few steps back to allow her to pass through.
He simply stares at her as she makes her way toward the exit of the infirmary. When she looks back at him, Daigo arches a brow and straightens himself up a bit and listens to her silently. He had nothing else to say, it seems, or at least, he doesn't speak until she leaves.
THis lips curl into a smile for a moment, until he actually hears the echo of her battlecry. He heaves a sigh and shakes his head slowly. Headstrong, reckless and independant. It was hard trying to keep some cohesion in Gedo High, it was a wonder how the school hasn't imploded on itself yet. "Maybe one day you'll see that both of these aren't mutually exclusive goals,"
Daigo makes his way out but this time, he has no intention on following on her or see if she's getting into more trouble. After all, he was a little tall to be her mother.
Log created on 09:38:00 11/14/2014 by Daigo, and last modified on 13:52:42 11/15/2014.