Description: Sie Kensou has been a jerk to everything and everyone. With the mind control broken by Haru, he sulks in his room alone. But the rest of the Psycho Soldiers aren't gonna let Kensou suffer alone. They are going join him and help him suffer. Haru, Momoko, and Athena all show up to fix Kensou, or at least eat cake. Also they form a King Of Fighters team.
Haru changed everything.
Kensou had it all. He was getting straight As in school. He was beating everyone, and was even on his way on being a Neo-League champion. It seemed like a natural progression to start his own King of Fighters team; he had even expected the likes of Hyo himself to show his face at his team. Kensou felt he was finally worthy of Justice High, that Justice High was ready to go to new greatness. And then he met Haru. And Kensou... Kensou realized something, after Haru hugged him.
He's been a colossal asshole.
In the depths of the Justice High dorm room; boys of course, Sie Kensou was sitting in the dark of his room. He was crying, still crying as he hugs a pillow alone in the dark. He used to have some big fluffy stuffed animals, but he had decided to get rid of them all at some point. Not just give them away, but throw them away. Along with that he had even... even gotten rid of his whole Seito Shokun! collection. Alone, and without friends, and without anything that he had once enjoyed, Kensou just forces himself to cope in the depths of his darkened dorm room, on his bed...
With all the empty ice cream containers scattered across the dorm room floor.
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... a little girl in the boy's dorm?
Ignoring the many questioning stares and confused callouts that follow her through the long halls of Justice High's fancy living quarters, Momoko darts forward at breakneck speed. She weaves with practiced grace through the people that stand in her way, darting between bodies and bouncing off the walls in a high-speed race to reach her destination.
"Gangway, comin' through! MOVE IT OR LOSE IT, FELLAS!"
She rebounds off the waist of a student who is too slow or dumbfounded by the commotion to move in time giggling wildly as she careens in the opposite direction like a ping-pong ball without slowing down in the least. This continues for a couple of minutes as she works her way around the unfamiliar territory in search of her quarry.
It's been quite some time since she was able to spend time with her new friends. School work and chores have kept her quite busy and most of her free time has been devoted to extra-cirricular club activities and training. Then there was the matter of sorting through the incident that happened during her match with Athena on Zack Island. That hasn't been an easy journey but time heals all wounds and it's hard to keep a free spirit such as her down for very long.
Today, however, marks the beginning of her first real chance to participate in something big as a part of the Psycho Soldiers team. The invitation she received from Athena is clutched tightly in her hand as she dashes from room to room seeking out the number that designates the accomodations of one of the other members of the team. While she hasn't really gotten to know Kensou beyond a few short encounters, he seemed like a pretty nice guy and, more importantly, someone who is really easy to tease! A dastardly plan is already forming in her mind. He won't even know what hit him!
Another couple minutes of running around in a mildly lost state eventually forces her to stop and ask for directions which earns her some new strange looks but proves fruitful. With her path now set before her, Momoko zips through the last few halls and, having reached her target, practically tackles the door open with a resounding thud. She leaps into the room and throws her arms wide, seeking out something Kensou-shaped to hug.
"Darling, I'm heeeere~!"
Oh god the door is busting open.
Kensou promptly sits up, holding the pillow to his chest, his eyes still puffy. Standing up instinctively, he squints his eyes at the light pouring into the room. Kensou was garbed in heart-imprinted white pajamas; on his feet were big fluffy puppy slippers. Shielding his eyes, he was still flat-footed as suddenly and frightfully, the intruder pounced, latching around the teenager's form with a full form hug. Dropping the pillow, his first instinct was to judge if it was Athena.
He noticed that there wasn't certain pressure on the hug.
He quickly decided it wasn't Athena.
Still groggy, he blinks hard, looking down at the figure that was latching on him with the second hug he's had to put up with. This time, instead of Haru, it was... Momoko. Tears well up in Kensou's eyes. Great heaving sobs come, and then, Kensou pushes- okay more like struggles with the latched on Psycho Soldier. "G-go away! I don't deserve a hug. I don't deserve anything-"
And the snickering comes.
With the door wide open, several of the other students were peeking in, and watching the upperclassman getting glomped by the tiny girl. While wearing the heart pajamas. With the big fuzzy slippers. A few wolf-whistles come as Kensou sighs, and with Momoko still latched on, drags them both to the door. Turning on the light, he shuts the door... to the howls of the other boys. Groaning, Kensou returns to shoving Momoko off.
"Uuuuugh why are you here Momoko!"
Despite his best efforts, Momoko's grip appears to be practically vice-like and she stubbornly clings to his waist even as he drags her across the room to shut out the embarrassment being heaped upon him by his fellow dorm mates. His cries of protest are countered by fits of hyper-active giggling and it isn't until she finally looks up from nuzzling his stomach that she notices his state of distress.
The small girl's already large eyes become positively puppy-like as she takes in his disheveled appearance and the puffiness around his face from extended crying. Now that she's keenly aware of the fact her powerful empathy latches on to the sadness and distress putting a quick dampener on her energetic mood. Rather than let go, however, her grip on him gets a little tigher.
"H-hey...Kensou? What's the matter...?"
Oh god she was only getting tighter.
Squeezing Kensou like some kind of Squid Girl, the teenager struggles a bit more, before just sighing. He wasn't gonna get her off. Another sniffle comes, and Kensou wipes his eyes with the back of his hands. "What's the matter? What.... What's the matter?" He repeat. "The matter is... What the matter is.... the matter with what it is... is..." And then, he just gives a great, heaving sob aloud as he staggers around the room.
"I've ruined everything Momoko! "
And now KENSOU was the one hugging. Squeezing back at Momoko, the teenage boy hugs back. "I've been a jerk for, oh god, how many months now? I've been putting school in front of my friends, and ruining my friends, and being the worst person in the world. And now I have no friends, nobody wants to see me, and Athena, and Athena, And... and... AND...." And at that point, he goes into crushing mode of hug strength, as he just BAWLS.
"AWaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!"
Well, she wasn't quite expecting that. Usually when a grown man cries it's over something fairly serious like a relative's death or their girlfriend dumped them but this display reminds her more of a little kid who's decided that the world has turned against them.
Momoko lets out a little whuff of breath as Kensou clamps down onto her but her own hug intensifies as well and she toughs it out like a champ. Sometimes you have to suffer for friendship. Her little hand pats him on the back in a soothing fashion and she makes soft reassuring noises. Concentrating a little, she extends her psychic aura and attempts to quell the negative emotions with some cheerful energy, a trick she picked up soon after her original awakening to the power lying dormant within her mind.
"Hey, hey, it's alright, big guy! I'm sure it's not as bad as all that. I'm still your friend! And I bet Athena is too!"
The soothing sensations... work.
Kensou's sobs turn into whimpers, as he gives a squid-like grip on the young girl. Calming himself down, he still couldn't shake the sheer terror running through him. It was more than an aura of negativity, it was guilt, pure guilt. Kensou felt horrible about -something-.
And he was going to tell Momoko just what.
"No, Momoko. I don't deserve to be your friend anymore. I have been awful. I've been bullying other people, I've been violent and cruel. I once knocked a girl off a building, and was happy, and... and I thought about if it was Athena, it would make me happy, and I've been greedy and selfish and rude and bossy and hurting people! I've been horrible Momoko, and was proud of myself! I haven't been a Psycho Soldier. I haven't been a defender of justice and the weak; I've been the ENEMY of Justice and the Weak! I've been bad, Momoko. I've been so bad..." The teenager loosens his grip on Momoko a bit.
"And I don't deserve to be part of the Psycho Soldiers anymore."
Hooboy. This is a lot heavier of a problem than she was expecting to deal with today. Ignoring the problem that she doesn't really know Kensou very well and thus how to console him properly, as the newest member of the Psycho Soldiers she's now in the awkward position of trying to convince one of its long-standing members that they're still worthy of being a part of the team. This is way past her pay-grade!
Still, she can't just leave him in this state. Continuing to press her aura of positive energy against the powerful self-loathing consuming Kensou, she takes a step back and chews on her lip for a few silent moments. What to do, what to do.
"Well... everyone makes mistakes sometimes. We all have mean thoughts or say things we're not proud of. But that doesn't mean everything you've done in the past is wiped away."
The recent fight between Kensou and Haru ended with the Chinese fighter feeling a little out of sorts and his Japanese opponent... uh, unconscious on the grass at the Justice High athletic field. It was kind of a weird afternoon for everyone involved.
By the time Haru came around, most of the students who had been planning to 'try out' for Kensou's Justice High-only KoF team (read: were going to get sackbeat by someone with 10x their experience and power) had left. A few of them stayed, wondering what to do... and honestly, out of respect for Haru. Before his debut in the fighting world, the Justice 2nd year was basically unknown among his classmates outside of a reputation for being an excellent (if quiet) student. After, however, he started to make real friends. Slowly, at first, because of natural shyness, but it bears out that when his eyes opened, a wide-eyed freshman was standing next to him. "Sakuraba-senpai! Are you alright?"
Once Haru got the story of what happened, he decided... maybe it'd be best to avoid Kensou for a little while. You know, let him sort things out.
But it's been at least a week and now he's kind of worried about his classmate, who has been... let's use the word 'scarce'. And so, armed only with good intentions and his cooking skill, Haru whipped something up in the Home Ec kitchens, slapped it in a container, and marched through the boys' dorm to Kensou's room in order to check in on him. What he finds are... well, a couple other Justice boys hovering outside the closed door, making what look like attempts to maintain a Very Controlled Expression despite their emotional sense implying otherwise. And... sobs? The sound of crying?
Haru's resolve hardens. He must be having such a hard time!
Tucking the container of food under one arm, Haru raps his knuckles on Kensou's dorm room door, totally oblivious to the people behind him straining not to starting laughing like mad. "Ah, Kensou-san? It's Haru. Are you alright?"
Everyone does make mistakes.
Kensou looks down at Momoko, her positive energy flowing into him. As she pulls away from him, he keeps his hands on her hips, looking down at her, his eyes still puffy. Sniffling hard, he looks at Momoko as she chews her lips. "I know, Momoko. But I've made the biggest mistake of all. I've turned against you, against Athena, against Bao, and against everything we've stood for. How can anybody forgive me for mistakes that... that I can't forgive myself for-"
And then Haru knocks.
Kensou turns to look at the door. He looks back at Momoko. He looks back at the door. He looks back at Momoko, and then down at his hands. Kensou lets out a girlish scream as he flings himself back, ripping free of Momoko. Twisting in the air like a cat, he lands squarely on the bed. "AAGH! AAGH! EVERYTHING IS FINE!" He pauses as he lays on the bed.
"COME IN HARU!"
"BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS FINE."
"..."
"MOMOKO IS IN HERE TOO!"
The knock on the door catches Momoko off-guard, her mind focused on dealing with the wayward emotions flowing through the room. She jumps a little as the hard rapping sound pierces the aura of tranquility she'd been establishing, squeaking mousily at the interruption to her concentration. She glances back towards the door then up at Kensou, meeting his gaze in shared confusion. For a moment, she's not quite certain how the distraught boy will react and she braces herself for a resurgence of negative energy.
What she gets, however, is far more unexpected and entertaining.
The diminuative teen peers at the shaken Kensou in confusion for a moment but almost immediately those deviously wicked thoughts she'd been entertaining before stumbling across this mess come surging back to the fore. A spark of mischief twinkles brightly in her eyes as she peers back at the door and then slowly returns her gaze to the bed.
Before this 'Haru' can open the door, Momoko throws herself at the bed in an graceful belly splash landing right on top its prone occupant. She quickly twists the covers around herself and vanishes beneath them becoming an obscured but distinct lump around his midsection as she latches onto him in another hug.
"But Kensooou, we aren't done yeeet..."
Haru's hand hovers over the doorknob. Did... did someone *shriek* just now?
Behind him, approximately seven Justice High boys crowd behind their grey-eyed classmate, practically peering over his shoulder.
"Ah... alright?" Haru ventures, carefully. He closes his hand around the doorknob and the onlookers behind him hold their breath. There's a brief moment where he tries to work out who Momoko is -- clearly a girl, given the conventions of Japanese proper names -- before he adds, "I'm uh, opening the door," and then, well, opens the door.
JUST in time for every onlooker in the hallway to observe... well.
There is a really long, leaden pause. NOBODY in the tableau is moving or saying anything. Haru's hand is still on the now-open door's knob, meaning that it's impossible for 1.) anyone to get inside or outside the room and 2.) the door to be shut until he decides to shut it.
After a too-long period of silence, the Ryukyu native says, in a distant tone, "I brought a cake."
"MOMOKO- HUUURGH"
That is the cry from Kensou as Momoko bounds on top of the Kensou, and wraps herself up around the covers. Kensou tries to fight, tries to do SOMETHING to defend himself. But there is no time, for Haru, almost immediately, opens the door. And in full view of everyone peering in, Kensou is laying on his bed, with an underclassman size lump hidden under the covers on top of him. His puppy-slippered legs hanging over the bed, Kensou stares owl-eyed at the doorway.
The silence endures.
Kensou is quiet, jaw slack, staring. The lump wiggles around of its own accord. Kensou seems to lose all the color from his body. His pupils were pinpricks. His arms trembles. Haru was the first to speak. And Kensou, swallowing the dry lump in his throat, shuts his eyes once, before reopening them. "Yes. Cake. Cake is good. Haru." Kensou states, sitting upright. Placing his hands right on the lump on him, he acts like it is perfectly natural to have a lump. "Haru. Bring cake in. We can share cake. Close the door as you come in so we can share cake in private." Kensou stares blankly at Haru.
"Please, Haru."
Tears begin to well up in the corners of his eyes.
"Please."
The ominous creak as the door swings open is music to her ears. She can feel it as every fiber of Kensou's being goes taut and rigid at being caught in this compromising situation. The silence as the gawkers hovering outside the door get a view of something completely unexpected sends a surge of elation down her spine that almost makes her giggle.
Mission successful.
And to top it all off, someone brought cake.
The joke complete, Momoko immediately forgets about Kensou and sits bolt upright at the mention of sugary pastries, tossing the blanket off with a great upwards heave the reveals...nothing indecent going on whatsoever. She scampers off the bed and literally hops over towards Haru in several short bounds to unleash the potent weapon of her big puppy eyes upon him at short range.
"Caaaaaaake..."
"Hehe, 'share cake in pri'--OOF"
The other dorm boys look on in shock as Haru has not, in fact, turned toward them, but as soon as one of them was about to make a crass joke, the black and silver-haired student had rammed the tupperware container full of cake directly into his stomach without looking. The rest of them promptly take an almost involuntary step backwards, because this situation is getting kind of unreal. Kensou's got a girl in his room and his bed. Sakuraba just basically elbowed a stranger in the gut.
Haru turns his gaze on Momoko (who he's never met before) in surprise, and then smiles gently, handing her the container. "It's technically not cake. It's tiramisu. There's, ah, paper plates and plastic forks inside," he says carefully, handing the container to Momoko before pivoting on his heel, gripping the door knob with the opposite hand now that he's facing the other day, and slowly closing the door in the face of (now six) gaping onlookers.
Apparently it's gonna be that kinda day.
"Tiramasu. That sounds."
"Lovely."
The shapeless lump rises up, erect as Haru closes the door. And promptly afterwards, bursts out Momoko in full Momoko glory. Kensou himself was rigid, jaw tense, body frozen. He was covered in sweat now, still shaking. "Haru. This is Momoko. She's new in Psycho Soldiers." He speaks, repeating things like a robot. And finally, Kensou's frozen state of fear is turned into anger, as he furrows his brow at the suddenly bounding girl.
"She's -evil-"
That is what the teenager fumes. Burst out of the bed himself, he lets the covers tumble to the floor as he balls his hands into fists, "And she is just a friend Haru! I swear! She is playing miserable tricks on me! Making it look like that I am... I am... unfaithful..." The anger dies down, as the defeated presence of self-loathing returns. It's like being a dick was being replaced by angst. Well, psionic healing can be more of an art than science. Kensou plops right down at the bed.
"Well, I think it's pretty telling that Athena has come by in all this."
Kensou pauses a moment.
"Hasn't. Athena hasn't come by. But I want her to come by. Not to see... this." Kensou motions at Momoko and the bed. "Not that there is anything to see." He stares dead on at Haru.
"Because there isn't."
Athena Asamiya had a serious problem. It wasn't with school - she had redoubled her efforts this term to prioritize academic needs over other distractions. It wasn't really with fighting - after straining to comply with Master Gentsai's demands that she not participate in events that would make a spectacle of herself, the increasingly famous fighter started to withdraw from the stage of battle. And it wasn't even with most of her social life - she remained popular in her circles, charismatic and friendly as always.
But in spite her successess elsewhere, it wasn't missed by her that things were not going well with the people that were closest to her. Something was horribly off with Kensou. Even cursory viewings of his public matches were uncomfortable and he had been nothing but distant for some time now. The reasonable response would be to confront the young man about it directly. But what if this was just some kind of part of growing into manhood? Maybe it was supposed to go this way? Who was she to interfer with Kensou's life?
And so she buckled down on school and school-related extracurricular activities and tried to pretend nothing was wrong even as the Psycho Soldiers as a group remained fractured.
But then an opportunity came along and Athena got a new idea. What the Psycho Soldiers clearly needed was a team building exercise! And what could be more team building than a team based battle event! That would be the perfect way to get everyone back together without any uncomfortable confrontations, right?
Momoko was invited and it was time to round up Kensou. An inocuous King of Fighters invitation would be just the thing to break him out of his mood, right? With him on board, it would be a simple matter of getting Haru as well, and their Team Building Adventures could begin!
She can't help but turn the heads of the small crowd of male students gathered outside of Kensou's dorm room. What has them snickering and laughing with each other is beyond her, but as she draws close, she does pick up phrases like 'little girl', 'nice pjs', and 'new girlfriend'.
Slipping around the gathered group, one of whom is busy rubbing his stomach for some reason, Athena offers them a friendly if slightly confused smile, still uncertain as to why there's such a crowd. Realizing that the Justice High rolemodel is here to see Sie Kensou of all people, some of the boys' demeanor begins to change from bemusement to a hint of jealousy, murmurs of '...is there some kind of party...?' '...why that guy...?' '...can't believe...' 'Sakuraba too...?!' detectable among other comments.
"Excuse me," Athena ahems, turning to face the closed door proper, even more perturbed by the way the guys start leaning in as if expecting something else worth seeing inside the room of one very ordinary student. Sucking in her breath, she recites the words she had been prepared for this moment in her mind. She doesn't want it to sound awkward, even if that's how she's feeling, and it will be important to transition immediately to talking about the tournament to skip past any, well, uncomfortableness...
Yet another knock for Kensou's door this afternoon, "Kensou, it's me. Do you have a second?"
"Caaaaaake..."
Momoko repeats the word with an almost religious reverence as she peers up at the unfamiliar man. Her tiny hands stretch out to accept the offering of sugar that shall be sacrificed to the fathomless and eternal void that is her stomach and she happily turns on her heels to cart the hapless pastry away, never to be seen again.
But then the one thing that could draw her attention even more than delicious mouth-watering goodness comes a-knocking in the most literal fashion. Momoko pauses mid-stride, her eyes going wide and whirls around to once more tackle the door, practically throwing herself through the wooden barrier in her efforts to get it open. Ofcourse, it swings /inwards/ so the only thing that happens is a door-rattling THUMP echoes through the hallway outside. A few seconds later the handle slowly turns and the door swings /in/ just wide enough to allow the tiny girl to explode /out/ into Athena's midsection, one hand looping around her waist while the other clutches the cake to her side. It's not like she was going to give that up.
"SEMPAAAAII~!!"
Kensou open his mouth, face caught silently in mid-scream.
Kensou falls over on his bed. For a moment, in fluid harmony, he goes through the Kubel-Ross model. He quickly hides his head under his pillow, pretending everything wasn't there. A quick boil of anger comes over his face, the piercing presence coming as a surge to Haru and Momoko. As Momoko, in a Athena and Cake fueled esctasy, goes for the door, he quickly tries to think about what he could give Momoko to stop this from happening. Tears flow down his cheeks as he realizes nothing would work. He looks at Haru, a frown on his face. He takes a deep breath in. And exhales.
Acceptance.
Standing up from his bed, he goes to the door afterwards. He was afraid still. His heart was afraid. With Momoko assaulting Athena, he just... stays on his side of the door, in his room. He didn't think he could actually look at Athena. "He-hey Athena." He mutters, looking down at her and Momoko's feet. "Haru, and I, and Momoko are here. In my room. We were talking about. Stuff." He stares down. He thinks about the try-outs he held. How he almost implicitally called out that he was doing his own team, seperate of PSycho Soldiers. Kensou shuts his eyes tight, as he says what he expects this was for.
"A-are you here about that King of Fighters thing?"
Having wisely stepped to the side, Haru is thankfully not in the way when Momoko has a little trouble operating the door and is instead standing off to the side. Of course, the voice that came with the knock sounded kind of familiar, and then the door is thrown wide -- and a peach-colored hug bullet shoots through it at speed -- Haru can see for himself who it is, and his head tilts the side a little bit. Could this be fate that brings all four of these people together here in this... uh, most unlikely of places? Is it destiny?
For a brief second, Haru turns to look at Kensou, and murmurs to him: "Or maybe you're cursed?"
Por que no los dos, Haru?
A Surprise Momoko was the last thing Asamiya had expected in coming here and at the initial thump, she recoils from the door slightly. She wasn't sure what kind of welcome she would get, but she didn't expect her long time ally and training partner to react by throwing heavy objects at his door in greeting! When the door finally opens and the cause of the commotion becomes more apparant, Asamiya brightens, arms sweeping around Momoko's back as the younger girl clings to her. "Wha- well, wow, this is a pleasant development."
What in the world she was doing here she couldn't begin to imagine, but maybe it would help make this process easier overall. "Did you already get the..." And then she hears Kensou's sullen voice and glances up toward the young man as he arrives in his doorway. A glance is cast over her shoulder at the tenacious dorm-guy-crowd, a hesitant smile offered the voyeurs of this attempted bridge building exercise.
Trying to ignore the extra company, she focuses her attention back to his words. Oh, Haru is here too? Well, that's even more convenient. "That's- that's good- Really good-" Her rehearsed conversation has gone completely off script now, leaving her reeling for a brief moment as she struggles for the next words to say.
But Kensou makes it easy, even if he hadn't expected as much. That's right, that's the topic she came to talk about. "Wow, yeah. How'd you know- I mean, I guess- well..." One hand slips off Momoko's back to rest behind her head as she finds herself feeling far more sheepish in this moment than she could ever remember.
"I know you're really busy with, ah, school and..." She moves her hand from behind her head to hold it in front of her, pivoting it at the wrist back and forth, "stuff, but..." Sucking in her breath, holding it for a beat, she finally blurts out, "I was really hoping that you would want to participate in the King of Fighters with Momoko and I and you too Haru because we haven't done anything fun together in a long time and it would be a really good chance to test our training and apply it against some really strong fighters and I couldn't imagine going into such a major event without my best friend and of course that means you and I'm sure Master Gentsai will be okay with it because it's not like I've been distracted with every fighting venue to come along and he would want us to work together as a team to accomplish something awesome, right, so yeah, will you, ah, join my team, if, I mean, you know, it wouldn't be too distracting from, you know, stuff... please?" she finishes, clasping both hands together in front of her, fingers knotted together white-knuckle tight. Okay, so probably not her best speech ever.
Momoko happily buries her face into the older girl's midsection, rubbing her cheek against her like a cat that hasn't seen its master in a long time. Everyone else ceases to be relevant to the current situation for the moment and she simply indulges in soaking in the pleasant sensations of Athena's potent psychic aura and warm presence as she's pulled into an embrace. If this were a cartoon there would be little hearts floating up around her at this point.
Eventually the murmur of conversation draws her back to the present. Momoko pulls away from her death-grip just in time to catch her idol's impromptu verbal onslaught and her eyes widen a little in awe. Wow, that might actually be a contender for her own run-on sentences! Athena's good at everything!
Noting the somewhat awkward slant to the conversation, however, she quickly takes it upon herself to dispel some of the tension. Tossing aside the lid to the container that Haru handed her, Momoko hefts it up over her head like some sort of forgotten treasure, putting the platter between the two older students in an effort to distract them.
"Guys, guys! Caaaaake..."
Kensou blinks exactly three times in a rapid sequence.
He heard what Haru had said. Maybe he was cursed. But someone once said that on a long enough timeline, every blessing becomes a curse, and every curse a blessing. And right now, right here, with Athena's most incredible timing in making Kensou regret living forever, she had come and saved the day. She had come and saved Kensou's dignity. As she speaks, Kensou looks up her body, up her legs, up her... up past her straight to the eyes. Kensou's sullen appearance was fading to shock, to surprise, and then, a kind of joy he had not felt in months. A joy of Kensou, old Kensou, comes to full force by JUST being around Athena again, as he blurts out his response.
"Yes!"
Kensou just blurts that out. And magically, just magically, he forgets everything. Dark Kensou? Just a bad dream. Beating up Natsu so she has to be wheelchaired to Volleyball practice? Unimportant. Momoko diving under the covers in Kensou's bedroom just a few seconds ago? Might as well be ages ago. Because Athena has come in here to encourage everyone to work together in being part of a King of Fighters team. And right now, Kensou would MUCH RATHER be dealing with that, than.... anything else that had just happened in the last few minutes.
Hell, at this point if Athena asked if everyone could give Master Gentsai a sponge bath Kensou would be the first to say yes.
Kensou, still in full pajama wear, throws his hand forward. "I think that's a great idea Athena! We should all take part in this King of Fighters tournament! I should be free, because my grades are the best they have been in a while! I know the school will give me slack to fight with my friends! And Haru! You proved yourself a worthwhile fighter! And Momoko! You can grapple like nobody else!" Momoko isn't renowned as a grappler. "I think us teaming up together for this next King of Fighters tournament would be the greatest!" He glances his eyes from Momoko to Haru, and then Haru to Momoko. "What do you say? All for one, and one for all?" He looks back to Momoko.
"We can have some cake with it, too!"
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeelp.
Even if Haru knew what to say -- which he doesn't -- trying to get a word into this situation would be like trying to get two opposing artillery teams to stop firing with a tiny semaphore demonstration on a cloudy evening in November. But then the cannon fire (as it were) dies down and he realizes... he doesn't have to say anything. For a moment he looks between Athena and Kensou, and beyond all expectation, he suddenly understands it. All of it. Or at least, he thinks he does. Something about the (to date, in his experience) unflappable and even Athena pouring everything out in a single awkward burst, the sudden light switch-like flip of Kensou's mood.
He smiles a private little smile to himself. They probably don't know it, either. Perhaps to everyone's confusion, he smiles and gives a little chuckle to himself.
Clearing his throat, he rubs the back of his neck. "To be honest..." He pauses. Might as well be honest. Looks like it's a night of healing here at Casa de Kensou, anyway.
"I was hoping you'd ask that. I realized, when Kensou-san and I fought recently, that I... don't really know a lot about my power." He looks between the three people in the room with him, and clears his throat in embarassment. "I hoped I could ask you if you'd... help me understand it. Right now I'm doing everything on instinct, you know? But I promise, I won't be a burden in the tournament! I've been training very hard!"
With every ounce of her active concentration focused on what Kensou's answer will be, Athena isn't even conscious of the help she is getting from Momoko's radiation of happiness or what role her mere presence might play in ameliorating the tension surrounding present circumstances. She doesn't even realize she's holding her breath until the appearance of upheld cake causes her to blink and finally exhale. Why is there cake here? Well, why SHOULDN'T there be cake here? Hopefully it can celebratory 'everything is going to be fine' cake and not consolatory 'everything is awful but at least there's cake' cake. "W-"
But Kensou's answer drowns out whatever she might have been about to say, her eyes darting to her hoped for teammate, immediately brightening at his exuberant 'Yes!'. The uncertainty washes out of her immediately, the student's expression warming as Athena's fingers un-knot and her hands clasp together in a more excited gesture.
"That's great!"
She unclasps her hands to wipe her right arm across her forehead, "And a relief, because, ah, I had already filled out all the paperwork! And I would hate to have to redo it."
A supportive smile is cast Haru's way with an accompanying nod, "I think this can be a learning experience for all of us. Everyone here has a lot of room to grow yet and by working together, I know we can do much more than any of us can do alone."
While not entirely intentional, Momoko's exhuberant psychic energy seems to amplify the positive waves flowing through the room as the two stars of the Psycho Soldier team realize that they had nothing to be afraid of after all. The smile on her face manages to get even wider and her eyes sparkle as she shifts her glance between all those present like a hyper-active chipmunk.
The dialogue becomes exceptionally cheesy for a few moments but Momoko doesn't mind that at all. She's said far more Hallmark worthy nonsense in her efforts to cheer people up in the past and this new vibe is far better than the sorry mess that she found a few minutes ago. She grins back at Kensou and rises up to her tiptoes to hoist the platter of tiramisu a little bit higher.
"All for one and cake for all!"
Releasing her grip on Athena, the tiny girl reaches up and snags one of the tea cakes and snarfs it down in two quick bites. "Or cake for me, if you guys don't hurry up! Hehe!"
She already filled out the paperwork?
Kensou looks around quickly, as Athena joins in him in the group hand off. "Wow Athena! That was really resourceful!" He says, looking around. "And don't worry Haru! I'm sure we'll all do fantastic together, all thanks to the power of teamwork, friendship, and love! All for one, and cake... for... all?" Kensou looks at Momoko, as she raises up the Tiramisu.
"Oh Momoko, you really love your cake!"
And Kensou begins to laugh. "Ah ha ha ha! Ah ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ah ha! Haha."
He looks around, to see if the others are joining him in the laughter.
****************
[OOC] Kensou says, "Well Haru, I think now is time to explain"
[OOC] Kensou says, "Our team isn't gonna be Psycho Soldiers"
[OOC] Kensou says, "But Athena and Friends"
[OOC] Haru, already gone
Log created on 21:00:46 05/21/2016 by Kensou, and last modified on 11:32:36 05/23/2016.