Description: Sie Kensou has decided to hold tryouts for his very own King of Fighters team representing Justice High... despite his existing ties to the Psycho Soldiers (and Athena Asamiya). However, one of his Psycho Soldiers teammates -- and fellow Justice students -- decides to crash the tryouts. What he finds is a deeply conflicted Kensou... but perhaps Haru Sakuraba has an opportunity to help him in an unexpected way. (Winner: Kensou)
"Gragh!"
That was the sound of Yanai Hiroshi, a rather athletic student of Justice High, recieving a fast, driving knee straight into his abdomen. Groaning in pain, the student curls up into a ball, sullying the conservative black Justice High Uniform upon the open green of the Justice High courtyard as he just... surrenders. The bystanders are silent, watching the boy collapse in a heap. The giver of such a gift recovers from the assault, glaring down at his victim.
"Get out of here." Sie Kensou states coldly.
The Chinese student is garbed in a Justice High uniform as well. Turning his back to the defeated boy, he heads over to the table he had set up for himself. Stacked upon is a heap of steaming baozi; underneath it, a sign hangs with the characters making it clear what this is. Tryouts, for the Justice High team. The postings were made across the High School, the internal newspaper had made the announcement, and word had been given to each classroom. Sie Kensou had gotten an invitation for the King of Fighters tournament, and with it, he was organizing a team within Justice High. Only the best could approach, and he would judge them specifically to see if they were worthy to uphold the Justice High name.
WHich was mostly the truth.
Sie Kensou, having defeated his last opponent, breathes heavily as he reaches the table. With deft agility, he grips a single baozi, and with no grace, stuffs the meatbun into his mouth. Chewing it carefully, he could feel the energy returning to him. The truth was, the invitation had gone to him... along with the rest of the Psycho Soldiers. But Kensou... Kensou didn't feel like going to the Psycho Soldiers. He felt that it was... so distracting. No. His proper duty was to take the invitation, and use it to form his own team. Not his own team. No. Not his own team.
A team for Justice High.
A team worthy for its name.
Where... has Haru been all this time?
The last time anyone of note saw him, he was having dinner in the company of a rather ecclectic group of individuals at a Chinese restaurant in the village. They talked about various things... suggested the idea of becoming a team, a collective of individuals united in a common purpose. It had been a scary whirlwind of things but there had been something pure and clear at the center of it. Haru had agreed. And that had been that. Then? Well...
Nobody'd seen him since.
That's maybe an exaggeration. He was clearly present in his classes at Justice High, but as for the fighting circuit where he was starting to acquire at least some notoreity, nothing. Definitely no concurrent appearances with the other "Psycho Soldiers," as they'd been dubbed. But what he had been doing was training, by himself, alone. Secretly nursing the fear that compared to Athena or Kensou, or their mysterious friends, he was the weak link, the straggler, the tag-along. And he didn't want that. But then, well... something forced his hand.
It had been after classes one day recently, heading back to the dorms. The poster, on some random bulletin board. 'TRYOUTS' for a Justice High team. The student paper, saying it was headed by none other than Sie Kensou... and with no word of anyone ELSE being involved. Didn't he... have a team?
Wasn't HARU on that team?
Confusion and curiosity are why, even as Hiroshi's friends help him limp away (if not literally carry him out), Haru makes his way across the green. He's next. And the youthful, cute face and demeanor don't do him any favors in terms of looking dangerous, but he DOES look... serious? His gold Justice uniform jacket tied around his waist, the dark black of his long-sleeved shirt, gloves, and slacks a stark visual comparison.
For a moment, as he sees Kensou, Haru's memory flickers back to the time they 'trained' together... wherein Kensou beat the hell out of him.
"Hello... Kensou-san," Haru offers at last, cautious.
Something seems wrong.
Something was wrong.
As Kensou recovers himself with the meatbun, the presence of the boy was... conflicted. The same Kensou was there, that aura was there. But something was clouding his aura, his soul. Something, some kind of influence was over him, hanging like a smog over him. Swallowing the remains of the meatbun hard, he turns around, ready to face his next opponent.
And the teenager looks dead on his 'little brother' in the Psycho Soldiers.
For someone who was so harshly driven by proving himself to Justice High, for someone who had so much bile and venom in private about his fellow members, the expression that flashes across his face isn't contempt. No, it's fear, clear as day. Kensou stares at Haru, and a flood of memories come to him too. He remembers when he had faced Haru in training him. The accidental... zeal of Kensou being a little too harsh on him. Sad memories, happy memories, shameful memories. Memories that seemed so far ago, so long ago. Something had opened up, that was clear on Kensou's face.
Just as clear as when those memories are shut up by someting within.
"Haru." Comes the word as the look of nervous fear is replaced with a scowl. "What are you doing here?" He states, grabbing another meatbun as he looks across at his... former teammate. "This... This isn't for the Psycho Soldiers. This is for Team Justice High. This is for my team, Haru. My team, seperate from the Psycho Soldiers." While his face struggles to act 'tough' the words of the teenager couldn't hide a sense of uncertainty. In spite of this, Kensou manages a scoff; not a scoff from the heart, but the kind of scoff made by a boy trying to imitate scoffers. "And lets be honest Haru."
"You aren't worthy of the Justice High name."
COMBATSYS: Kensou has started a fight here.
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Kensou 0/-------/------=|
'You aren't worthy of the Justice High name.'
Even then, at that last time they were together, sparring... even then, Haru had a hunch, that something was bothering Kensou. The extent of it, or the source of it? No clue whatsoever. But much as the power of the Dragon flows through Kensou's veins, and the goddess Athena through her namesake's, a similar being has residence in Haru's soul, and perhaps through her eyes, he could see that something wasn't right. But that was then. Now?
Now it's painfully obvious, goddess spirit or no.
"I... I wondered why you might be doing this," Haru says, trying his hardest (and not entirely succeeding) to keep a calm tone in his voice, as he very, very slowly walks toward Kensou. "I'd thought maybe... maybe you and Athena-san were hoping to find some new people. I know I haven't been around much, and I haven't been a fighter long, so..."
There's a pause. He can feel it: the voice in his head that kicks in, that says: you don't belong here. He's right. Turn around and go home. His steps falter; he almost gives in.
And then, like a drop of cold water on a searing hot day, a voice asks: Is that really what you want?
"I guess maybe we're not... 'friends'," Haru says cautiously, continuing his advance. "But I still want to be at your side. I have so much to learn. So if I need to prove my worth to you to do that..."
...and to discover just what's going on here...
"...then that's what I'll do!" And with that, he kicks off the ground, leaping at Kensou. His hand whips out and with it, the silver and block shape of his weapon, his yo-yo, thrown low before it suddenly takes a swift and abrupt journey upward, looking to slam right into the bottom of Kensou's jaw like an uppercut.
COMBATSYS: Haru has joined the fight here.
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Haru 0/-------/-------|>------\-------\0 Kensou
COMBATSYS: Haru successfully hits Kensou with Obsidian Serenity.
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Haru 0/-------/-------|>>>----\-------\0 Kensou
Kensou shouldn't have been struck.
He was a trained martial artist. Simply evade the attack, even as an ambush. It wasn't even a real ambush, Kensou should have sensed it coming. And yet, the young man comes forward, to make that challenge. And yet, the yo-yo comes in low. And yet, the yo-yo surges upwards as Kensou lowers himself down.
And the blow lands squarely into his chin.
Kensou staggers back, his jaw swelling as the blow lands true. The table flips, knocked over by the surprise attack. As the meatbuns fall to the ground, tears well up in Kensou's eyes as he looks away. Teeth gritted, his body trembles. Inside himself he thinks hard. 'So be it.' A violence comes over him, as he turns back towards Haru.
"Athena has -nothing- with this!"
Locked away emotions boil over the teenager as he throws himself straight back at Haru. The pattern was predictable. The words, however, may not be. "Athena isn't worthy of Justice High either! None of you are! Not Momoko, not you, and above all Athena! She's wasting her time on useless things, distracting herself, keeping herself away from serving her school properly! She... .she disgusts me! She disgusts me!" The words turn into a mantra, an obsession, as the shadow over Kensou darkens. Anger comes out as Kensou takes to the air, a furious resolve diving down with an aerial kick, an aerial knee, and an aerial elbow. Three blows, attempting to overwhelm Haru with pure, physical assault. Memories flood his mind with images of Athena. But most pressing was a memory not of Athena.
But of Hitomi, dangling over the edge of a rooftop.
And how Kensou wanted it to be Athena, and wanted her to fall.
COMBATSYS: Haru blocks Kensou's Ryuu Renga.
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Haru 0/-------/-----==|>>>>---\-------\0 Kensou
'Athena has nothing to do with this!' shouts Kensou, shortly before going into an extended rant about Athena.
Let's just file that under 'suspicious'.
Compared to most other fighters of his caliber, Haru is decidedly average. He's not particularly strong, or fast, or tough. But he IS smart and observant, and he knows how to plan. He expected Kensou to snap out of the way of that opening shot, but knew that even if it landed, the Psycho Soldier would prrrrrrrobably leap immediately onto the counteroffensive. So, he kept a little something in reserve.
Thank god for that, too; even as Kensou screams at Haru, diving directly at him, he whips his other arm swiftly into place on the defensive, just in time for the first of Kensou's blows to slam into his guard painfully. The silver and black-haired fighter is holding his ground, but it's almost like he shouldn't have bothered; Kensou knows how to land his blows and each strike on his forearm aches with pain.
"How can you say that?!" Haru has time to demand, between strikes. "Isn't she your--"
The final blow clips Haru's cheek, providing that rare moment of skin-to-skin contact that the psychometric youth goes out of his way to avoid, and for a brief second he, too, sees a girl about to tumble off the side of a tall roof; feels the conflicting burst of anger and fear that Kensou felt.
Stumbling backward, the yoyo-using fighter looks... shocked. He was about to say 'of course it involves her' but... does it?
He doesn't counterstrike, not just yet. He needs to process this.
"Kensou-san..."
COMBATSYS: Haru calculates his next move.
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Haru 0/-------/-----==|>>>>---\-------\0 Kensou
"She isn't my girlfriend."
The words come out so easily, so naturally that Kensou didn't even have to think. As the final blow comes, and he is shoved off, Kensou rolls back, standing fast as he looks dead on Haru and just... speaks. "She'll never be my girlfriend. That's so obvious to me now. She's just a distraction, just like the rest of Psycho Soldiers. Just like you, Haru!" The shadow was still over him, but with it was... was something not that shadow. Something pure and from the heart. Something more real than anything else.
And Kensou felt it.
"I can't believe I considered you all my friends!" Kensou states, an anger being released, taking flight as Kensou just balls up a fist, as he rubs his jaw. "Friends are a waste of time. They take and take and take from you, and never give anything you want in return. They just mock you and tease you, and you are forced to just suffer inside. No, friends are worth -nothing-. The only thing that matters is Justice High, and the betterment of Justice High. I don't need Athena anymore. I don't -want- her anymore." Closing in on Haru, he draws back his balled up fist.
"And I'll never have to waste anymore time with someone who was never interested in me in the first place."
"Ever again."
And with that, Kensou just attempts to backhand Haru across the jaw.
COMBATSYS: Haru fails to counter Strong Punch from Kensou with Moonstone Tenacity.
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Haru 0/-------/=======|>>>>>--\-------\0 Kensou
What do you do in the face of that?
It's hard, so hard, to keep the voice in his own head at bay. The one that says he shouldn't be doing this fighting thing at all; that he was wrong to throw away his old life to come to Justice High in the first place. That it was hubris to think he could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kensou and Athena. It's not a voice powered by some external force trying to brainwash him; it's just that normal everyday voice of self-doubt that people who grew up capital-d Different™ have to deal with, all the time.
And when Kensou says all of that stuff he sounds so *uncertain*... but weirdly, it's that uncertainty that makes it scary. The force with which he is clearly trying to convince himself sounds... intense. It's difficult to describe, even more difficult to deal with.
There's also the minor matter of being about to take a punch in the face.
Steeling himself, Haru tries his best to focus his power, which he feels like might be his only real chance in this fight at all, thrusting his hands forward. "That's not true!" he shouts, staring Kensou down. "Friends are..."
What are they? Who are YOUR friends, Haru? Is it ANYONE here?
Again, though, the quiet woman's voice in his head asks: Do you really believe that?
Grey eyes widen. The air around Haru distorts, a spherical shield of opalescent white snapping into place. For a brief and terrible moment, Kensou's fist connects with it, finding some resistance...
But psychic power is based on emotions, and no matter Haru's resolve, right now... right now, Kensou's emotions are stronger.
The blow literally lifts Haru off his feet, sending him down on his back in the grass, looking up at the surprisingly grey sky for just a moment. His eyes are wide as he tries to process what he just felt, because at the moment when Kensou SHOULD have struck with all of his anger and hurt, what Haru saw was... Athena's smile.
He stands up.
"Does she have to be your girlfriend... to care about you?" Haru asks, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.
Kensou remembered Athena's smile.
He remembered how she would smile sweetly when he made those stupid jokes. How she would have his back when he was ready to fight for her. He remember once, he accidentally choked on a meatbun during a fight, and she was worried about him instead of laughing about it. He even remembered when he first met Athena, when those bullies were picking on her, and he went ahead and scared them off. He remembered her smile. He would always remember her smile.
But none of that mattered.
Because the only thing that mattered was Justice High.
Kensou stands fast as he knocks Haru away. But a look of apathy and banality was over his face. "If she cared about me, she would be." Kensou states bitterly, as the distant memories cloak over him, twisted by the perceptions of anger, of pain, of dedication to Justice High. There was an uncertainty. He remembered so many things that his friends had, flooding over him. And yet, instead of inspiring him, it only hurt him deeper and deeper. He didn't want to hurt anymore. And the only way to stop the pain within, was to glorify Justice High.
And he steadily approaches Haru, to glorify.
"Get up." He growls. Kensou suddenly picks up speed, a flood of anger coming over him. Surging towards Haru, he simply tries to kick him squarely in the ribs. "I said get up! If you want to be part of my team, then you better get up!" It was about his team. And if Haru was going to waste his time... then he would have to hurt him.
He would have to hurt all of them.
COMBATSYS: Haru dodges Kensou's Medium Kick.
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Haru 0/-------/=======|>>>>>--\-------\0 Kensou
For a moment, as Haru's body leans to the right and Kensou's kicking leg shears past the distance between them through empty air, a fractional part of an inch from striking true, the two young men's eyes meet. Kensou should expect to see frightened, shocked eyes, glassy with surprise and hurt. At least, that's what HARU expects Kensou to see, since that's more or less how he feels inside, but...
It's Guanyin looking back.
Not even Haru actually knows it, not really; he feels her presence mostly as hunches, flashes of insight, a need to express kindness and mercy. But a fragment of a bodhisattva resides in the young man and she is watching the whole world through his eyes.
As the two pass each other, in an instant that feels like an eternity, Kensou can feel the Merciful Goddess's presence watching him from behind those eyes.
And then the spell is broken; Haru, having poured every ounce of energy in him into a desperate forward dash to avoid taking another of Kensou's rage-fueled blows, stumbles past his opponent and lands in a forward crouch, swiftly spinning to face Kensou in case of a followup, but finds nothing for the moment.
His voice is marred by a need to take serious, deep breaths, but Haru speaks anyway, gasping between sentences. This is wearing him down, and fast. "I didn't... think of you as... that kind of person... Kensou-san..." he says, snapping a hand out, yoyo in place. "If she doesn't want to be your girlfriend, then she... doesn't care about you?!"
Hurling himself forward, Haru twirls and tries to snap-snag the yoyo around Kensou's forearm, leg, anywhere he can get a grip. If he does, with a two-armed heave, he swings the other psychic through the air in a vertical circle directly into the ground, the arc of the swing including continual bursts of Psycho Power, a series of lotus flowers blooming into scattering petals. "That selfish wish... is all about YOU!"
COMBATSYS: Kensou blocks Haru's Amber Grace.
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Haru 0/-------/-======|>>>>>>-\-------\0 Kensou
All about you.
The words are like a hammer, each one landing squarely between Kensou's eyes. He didn't think of Kensou as that kind of person. A selfish wish. That was the crux of the uncertainity, the only thing keeping the control from completely consuming him. The truth of the matter was that Kensou only knew too well that it was truth, the consuming and penetrating truth.
It was selfish.
No matter how much Kensou would try to justify it.
"It isn't about m-me at all!" Kensou states with all the faux courage he could muster. "It is about Justice High! If she... if she cared about Justice High, she would be my girlfriend! She would love me just like how I love her!" Gibberish. Utter inane gibberish. And yet, Kensou was choosing that to be his motivation. As the yoyo is lashed out to catch his arm, Kensou... lets it catch it. As the pivot comes, Kensou goes with it, his own innate acrobatic talents serving him in defense as well as offense as he lets himself get swept off his feet. "She doesn't care about Justice High! She only cares about herself! Why does she get to be selfish, and we have to serve her!" The biting, bitter babbling comes as he is slammed hard on his feet. He could handle the slam. But the bursts of psycho power at point blank comes ruthlessly. Body burning, he keeps his grips on the yoyo as he surges forward. Lunging in fast and hard, elbow out... and burning with psycho power as well.
"It's only..."
"It's only fair!"
COMBATSYS: Kensou successfully hits Haru with Ryuu Sohgeki EX.
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Haru 1/----===/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\1 Kensou
'Why does she get to be selfish, and we have to serve her?'
Kensou is moving quickly, powered by something unknowable and fierce. But even if he weren't, Haru's defense against the attack that slams into his torso would have been shattered by the realization of what his opponent had just said. Of course, he doesn't have time to throw a rejoinder out; despite the yoyo user's attempt to arm block the worst of the attack, Kensou's momentum and added psychic force send the comparatively light Haru flying, the rotation of the fight making it so that the tryout table is behind them... or was, because Haru just landed on it in a shower of splintering wood.
Groaning as he gets to his feet, Haru looks at Kensou, brushing his hair out of his eyes and wiping another tiny trickle of blood from his lip. And he looks, really LOOKS, with every part of him. What are the odds that Kensou actually cares more about Justice High than he does about Athena Asamiya? Does that make sense? What are the odds that the person the public knows as Kensou would harbor such selfish thoughts?
Pretty unlikely. Something... something's wrong.
"Do you... do you think she'd want that?!" Haru suddenly shouts, voice becoming vehement, heated. He lurches forward, obviously in pain, but for whatever reason, his resolve redoubled. "I admit, I don't know either of you that well. But Athena-san... do you think she wants you to 'serve' her? I think hearing that would make her extremely sad."
Around the black haired fighter's body, a pearlescent glow begins to form, like a slow flicker of faerie flame that grows in intensity with each passing second. "I don't know what's making you act this way, but this isn't you. Even I can tell that." With a burst of wind that expands outward through the grass, the halo of white explodes outwards and Haru points a finger at Kensou. "Open your eyes!"
Kicking off the ground with surprising speed, he whips one hand around, attempting to snag Kensou with the yoyo a second time around whatever appendage he can reach. If he gets his grip, Kensou's slung into the air for a fraction of a second before Haru snaps the *other* yoyo-holding hand up, literally snagging Kensou out of the air and right into the ground.
COMBATSYS: Haru successfully hits Kensou with Jade Turbulence.
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Haru 1/---====/=======|=======\===----\1 Kensou
Do you think she'd want that.
Do you think she wants you to serve her.
Hearing that would make her extremely sad.
It was like air being let out of a balloon. Kensou could imagine many things about Athena in his obsessive madness, his driving bitterness towards a greater Justice High. He could imagine . But all it takes is a moment to imagine Athena being just that, extremely sad. Not simply crying, not simply hurt, but... consumed by sadness. A distant memory of Athena sitting alone, silent. You could barely see the tears, she didn't want anybody to see her crying. And in that moment, there was no selfishness, no feeling of greed, of take. But empathy, human empathy to comfort Athena. Kenosu remembered that time before, in the past. There was many things that his state could make right now in his memories. There were many things he wanted from Athena.
But he didn't want that.
Where there was strength and drive, there was now pure weakness. Kensou stumbles out of his diving assault, dumbstruck at the very thought of it. Justice High, for a moment, seemed so... distant. Would he drive Athena into extreme sadness over Justice High it... it seemed so wrong. The shadow was gone now, suppressed. And in its place... would be pain, as Haru seemed to get his second wind, and ultimately lash out to snag Kensou. This time, Kensou could only muster an instinctive block, half-considering as the lash snaps around his arm and a leg. Whipped up into the air, he is sent smashing down with only the barest of recoveries. He was stunned at Haru's words, that much was clear. But as he rises back up from a face-down smash, he looks up, wrath across his face.
And then the shadow returns.
"How -dare- you!?" Kensou spits out, tears filling his eyes. He rips off the yoyo strings, a hot-blooded rage overcoming him. "How -dare- you!?!" He practically screams as he throws himself at Haru. And there, he begins to throw punch after punch, blow after blow in a wild, uncontrolled fury. There was skill, because how could there be anything else for Kensou? But gone was the precise, swift blows. In its place was raw anger, raw pain. "This is me! This is what I am! And what I am!" He would call over the assault. And just as the edge of the fatigue began to grace him, Kensou would finish the assault with a staggering, two-handed overhead smash, to drive Haru straight down.
"Is Justice High!"
COMBATSYS: Kensou successfully hits Haru with Shouryu Renken.
- Power hit! -
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Haru 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Kensou
There's a very good chance that some of Haru's tactical acuity is, in fact, a very limited but genuine gift of foresight into the immediate future. And when Kensou dives at him with something to prove -- or maybe something to work out? -- he braces himself, and thinks this over, trying to think of what he should do. And a tiny voice in his head says:
You're going to lose.
That knowledge is, in its own weird way, freeing. Because even though he's in a defensive position, knowing that it might all be for naught lets Haru's mind race with the other possibilities. Lets him plan for what's coming after. Blow after blow after blow lands and the yoyo-using fighter tries his damndest to shut out the screaming messages of his literal body, trying to block out pain and hurt just long enough to think of a plan.
And just before Kensou's final hammerblow connects, he might notice that Haru's eyes, glassy with pain and distraction, finally open wide in that split second, staring into the distance.
Pain and hurt.
It's long, long moments after Kensou's final strike happens that Haru is on the ground, seemingly unmoving, still surrounded by that nimbus of white light. Until finally, at last, he gets himself off the ground on all fours, then on bended knee. "You're confused. And... and I've been doing this the wrong way. I think you're hurting. Maybe nobody knew that you were. And maybe I'm not very good... at knocking sense into people, but..."
He finally rises, facing Kensou, smiling despite the obvious and vicious toll that repeated blows have taken on his body. "Maybe there's... another way."
Suffused with light, he steps forward and... tries to hug Kensou. Honest and true. And with that, comes the gift that Haru had forgotten about this whole time, wrapped up in his confusion and hurt: the power to heal. The true gift of the Merciful Goddess soul within him.
COMBATSYS: Haru can no longer fight.
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Kensou 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Haru successfully aids Kensou with Ruby Warmth.
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Kensou 0/-------/---====|
It's hard to say what, precisely, is going on with this. Definitely, Haru's power is a warm, literally healing light... but maybe the truth, beneath the surface, is that Kensou just... needed a hug? Or maybe it's a little of both.
"You sound... really lonely," Haru says quietly, in the last moment or so he can stay upright. "I've been there. And it hurts a lot. So I'm... sorry."
And then he can't keep himself up anymore, let alone in an actual hug. Haru pitches forward, falling past Kensou, and lands on the grass face-down, unconscious.
The watching students don't know if they should intervene, or not.
Kensou was hurling himself into Haru with a blind rage, an anger to crush, to break, to destroy. "Justice High... Justice High..." He mutters to himself as he unleashes the final smash, the driving overhead blow to smite him. And he looks squarely into Haru's eyes. He sees those... he sees them. And as his heart aches, he drowns the pain with a righteous fury. "Justice High..." He says one more time. But Haru... Haru would let that happen anymore. As he stands over the downed Haru, breathing harshly, he stares at him, as the cloud of energy builds. And Haru rises again. Kensou prepares to break him. To leave him in a wheelchair, just like how he did with Natsu. It was necessary. He prepares himself for the teenager's final blow.
But he couldn't prepare himself for a hug.
The hug comes, and Kensou fills with the light. The shadow clings to him, fighting, struggling, BURNING against it. Kensou is in intense pain, burning pain, churning pain. And suddenly, the pain stops. The shadow was gone. And suddenly, Kensou didn't care that much about Justice High. He didn't care about good grades, getting into a high-quality university, and competing in sanctioned events. He only cared about eating meat buns, goofing off, reading cheesy romance mangas, and his friends. And... and...
And Athena.
"What... What have I... done?"
He lets Haru fall. Kensou looks around him, body trembling, eyes wide. Everything surges back to him. Every single thing. Every thing he had done. Ever bridge he had burned. Every cruelity he had thought, he had mustered. And how... how he had treated... how he had treated.... Kensou sniffles, falling to one knee beside Haru. He grabs his head. He sobs hard, as the full bear of the truth hits him.
"What have I... DONE!?"
He was running, tears streaming down his cheeks. "There is no more tryouts! No more! I'm done!" He sobs, as he forces himself past the watching students, leaving Haru... leaving Haru behind. He was confused. Terrified. He didn't know what was happening, and why. But one thing was driving him, driving him to his dorm room.
Guilt.
Pure, undiluted guilt.
COMBATSYS: Kensou has ended the fight here.
Log created on 20:23:41 05/07/2016 by Haru, and last modified on 23:51:13 05/08/2016.