Match of the Millennium

Description: Gedo High is well known for being a hot-bed of miscreants and thugs. That's why Ryuko likes it so much! It's the perfect place to smack some losers around and not feel bad about it. But is that always the case? Everyone has a story and no one grows up with the express purpose of becoming a low-life... right?

[HENCHMAN]
Gedo High.
To the outside world, a school for terrible children with no real hope to go on to higher education. A place for the roughest kids to go, to be sent to futures in the work sector (which, in fairness, Japan has a strong need of). If they are to have any future at all, those worthless, lazy delinquents.
The truth averts this, if only through the careful guidance of the legendary gang leader Daigo Kazama. A serious young man who has fought long and hard to unify Gedo's gangs into a cohesive whole, to transform the environment from one of lowlives to hard workers that will go on to learn practical skills and be righteous souls in the fight against Southtown's spreading corruption and underworld factions.
...
There's still a small number of first-year students who slip through the cracks of Daigo's watchful eye, believing themselves to be more of the former. These are the kids that need a special brand of TLC. Some may even have dangerous ambitions to become the biggest boss at school, which the vast majority outgrow in the face of reality (mostly, that Daigo is that much stronger than almost anyone his age).
The latest such incident involves a small group of tough kids trying to get up to mischief just outside of the school's walls. It's an overcast afteroon. Dreary, threatening to rain. Most people just want to get through their daily business and head home before any storms hit - this is the season for that sort of thing. A few street lights have already been turned on early to counteract the growing darkness of the skies.
"There's a toll to go through here," says one such Gedo kid among four others. One of them looks like a foreign student? They're blonde, with blue eyes, wearing a flu mask that obscures a good number of their facial details. He seems an odd fit, but no one there's asking any questions.
"But... I don't have that much money," says an aging woman, who probably couldn't defend herself given that she hasn't already thrashed them, "what kind of racket is this? Kazama wouldn't stand for it...!"
"Kazama this, Kazama that," says another kid, "well, he ain't here right now, so looks like you better pay up..."

[RYUKO]
The dour overcast skies have long since cleared out the vast majority of the usual riffraff that tend to linger around the walls that surround the large school, miscreants and mundanes alike scurrying off to other more well sheltered places to conduct their business. Normally, there would be atleast a few of the more virtuous students around to keep an eye out for just such deplorable activity, but even Daigo's gruff charisma can't convince people to stand around in the rain without good reason. Thus the scene that unfolds today. Without the watchful gaze of the self-appointed constabulary to keep them at bay, the jackals for which Gedo is so well known have come out to prey upon the weak.

As the small pack of bottom-feeding predators encircle their newest victim, another figure steps into view at the end of the narrow street. A quick glance would reveal her to also be a student, though one far better dressed than the four hostile thugs. Infact, dressed in her well-kept designer uniform, it's hard to imagine that the girl might even be associated with Gedo at all. Perhaps she's from another school, just passing through on some bit of business. Such thoughts might occur to someone casting their gaze upon her for the first time.

Ofcourse, most of those who attend the school for outcasts and misfits would likely have heard atleast rumors or stories of the one-eyed swordswoman by now. She's made quite a name for herself as a troublemaker and skilled fighter, often picking fights with those she can goad into action, seemingly going out of her way to stir things up to the point where fists start to swing. Ryuko, she is called, the one-eyed dragon.

Ryuko stalks into the open some few dozen paces down the road, slipping through the narrow opening of the large iron gates leading into the school's main entrance. They swing closed with a dull boom behind her and she gives a casual wave to someone on the other side, smiling as she turns to make her own way home for the evening. The day has been a slow one thus far, no real excitement or events of note to pique her interest. Being bored is one of the worst experiences in the world, as far as she is concerned, and her mind had long ago drifted into the recesses of her imagination to make up for the slack. She can't remember a single thing that happened this day, her classes a giant blur of watching the hands of clock on the wall tick agonizingly slowly forward in their eternal march.

Even now, as she struggles to shake off the haze of the past several hours, her focus is not what it should be. It takes her several long moments before she catches sight of the activity ahead of her and when she does she pulls up short, surprised momentarily by the sudden shift as her brain attempts to go from idle to fifth gear in the span of a few seconds. Her mind whirls as she scans the scene, taking in details at a obscene pace, churning through data like a computer.

Four students, clearly Gedo by their worn clothes and laughable attempt at intimidation. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Curious. Foreigners, obviously. Hmm. Perhaps not Gedo at all. Pacific students attempting to get away with a little petty theft in the abscence of the guard? Or simply some unfortunate immigrants who got swept into the wrong crowd? Thoughts for later.

She scans them for weapons, finding none out in the open but that was no guarantee. Gedo students rarely came unprepared to a fight. They would likely have something up their sleeves or concealed in pockets. Knifes, brass knuckles, chains, bits of pipe or wood. The low-lifes here are nothing if not industrious when it comes to such things. Unless, ofcourse, they were from another school. She will find out, she supposes, her smile returning.

Ryuko resumes her approach, hands in the pockets of her skirt. The familiar weight of her bokken rests at her hip, the specially crafted sheath for the wooden weapon thumping against her leg with each confident step forward. Unlike Daigo or his merry band of peace-keepers, Ryuko has no interest in cleaning up her school. Infact, one could say that her efforts lie precisely in the opposite direction. There is no grand motive behind her desire to promote conflict. She has no youthful beligerence towards the presence of authority, no need to lash out at society with uncontrolled anarchy for casting her aside. Nor is her motivation that of an idealogical nature, a desire to see the strong rule over the weak in its most base form. No, her motives are far more simple than that.

She just enjoys the challenge.

"Kazama, Kazama, Kazama..."

Ryuko repeats the name of the gang leader in a chanting monotone, intoning it as if it were the words to a spell of summoning as she draws within earshot of the small gathering. Her approach is casual and slow but she shows no signs of concern for how helplessly outnumbered she is, nothing present in the expression on her face that indicates anything except eagerness for the coming fight.

"They say if you repeat his name enough times, he'll appear from the shadows to deliver terrible justice to those who draw his wrath."

Ryuko comes to a stop a few feet away and shrugs. Her lone eye sweeps across all four boys one at a time, lingering on each of them for a moment or two, gaze sharp and focused like a hawk that has spotted potential prey. Her smile shifts to a smug grin, lips cracking slightly apart to reveal her teeth.

"Buncha superstitious nonsense, if you ask me. So, instead of worrying about him," she says, tilting her head slightly to the side like a curious cat. "Maybe you should worry about the person right infront of you."

[HENCHMAN]
Kazama's name may well be that of a boogeyman to these four. Two of them jump startled with the single-woman chorus chanting the name. The other two - the blonde one being one of the two slower to react - turn their heads to regard the thrill-seeking swordswoman who lays her challenge bare.
The foreign kid(?) doesn't ring a bell visually, but there's a number of little movement tics unique to Gedo's culture. The sorts of touches that a Pacific infiltrator couldn't possibly pick up on and apply convincingly in a short amount of time. The pigmentation differences aside, he seems like he belongs with the other three bottom-feeders. It's all curious, but seems only a small part of the greater scenario unfolding before the big sister of Gedo, and a bunch of snot-nosed freshmen who have yet to learn better.
"Y-You don't scare us!" Says one freshman who totally is. "There's four of us... only one of you!" The would-be mugger stammers into reason, not quite believing in the math he's putting forth. "One-eyed dr-dragon nothing! I mean, we have eight eyes to your one!" That's a low blow.
The tallest among them - taller than the foreigner, even which is a feat because he is already rather tall by student standards - clearly the most ambitious (or most deluded?), keeps his hands in their pockets as he makes a good attempt at staring down the battle-ready one-eyed lefty.
"You know, I'm tired of hearing Kazuma's name," he says, "he could take over the town, but he doesn't. He's weak," oh hell no he's going there, "so I'm going to take over. Big sister's disapproval be damned."
He doesn't look like much, but those goals are awful lofty. He might need to be reminded of reality. He might've somehow scooped up these three off of a miniscule intimidation factor on his own. He is pretty tall. They might just assume he's a good fighter because he's tall.
The old woman they're harassing just continues on down the road with a 'hmph.' She knows Ryuko, she'll thank her later. She just has better things to do than to get caught up by a bunch of know-nothing punks who don't know their place, like not get caught in the rain.
"Get her," he says, crossing his arms, looking down slightly as if to avert his gaze from Ryuko, "we'll make this a message to Kazama."
The two shortest freshmen seem extremely hesitant to try their luck, which should surprise no one. Ryuko is already famous among the locals for her strength and love of a challenge. One of them was even saying they weren't scared - put to the test, they back down.
Only the foreigner chooses to step up, fists raised in a reasonable facsimile of a boxing stance. Those hands are constantly moving. His eyes lock to hers as he starts to circle around the cracked concrete of the sidewalk just outside of Gedo High that no one has yet bothered to pave (maybe because it's been only two days since someone got slammed).
He doesn't seem to have anything of importance to say. Ryuko might see it fit to strike before he thinks of some sort of fancy quip.

COMBATSYS: Henchman has started a fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0         Henchman

[RYUKO]
Ryuko's confident grin doesn't flinch in the face of the, admittedly, weak threats. She doubts there'd be any but a few who attend Gedo that would be cowed by such a pathetic display, which is probably why the other two goons remain silent rather than waste their time with pointless threats. People like her don't pick a fight just to back down, outnumbered or no. This might be the worst school in the city, maybe even the whole country, but even these goons know she can do simple math. The equation just works out in her favor, in her mind.

The One-Eyed Dragon doesn't show any signs of outwards annoyance either at the cheap insult. She's heard it before and worse besides. Far worse. It'll take more than a swipe at the obvious to get under her skin. However, the idea that beating her up would be some kind of message to Daigo does cause her to pause. Did they think she worked for him? Amusing. If anything, he probably considers her to be one of the wild elements that needs to be reigned in, but keeping her fights contained to the people who are actually worse than her might explain why he hasn't bothered yet. Who knows?

"You seem to be operating under some mistaken perceptions." Ryuko shakes her head slightly from side to side, standing her ground even as the large boy steps forward to challenge her. Alone, she notes. Guess his minions aren't quite as confident in their chances. Funny how a little reputation can change the odds. "I don't work for Daigo. Never even met the guy. At best, if you managed to beat me here, you'd just be warning him that there's some upstart punks who need to be put back in their place. But let's not get ahead of ourselves," she adds, her grin growing wider. "You'll have to beat me first to find out."

Ryuko watches the little display that her opponent puts on, noting his boxer's stance and immediately starting to work out her possible avenues of attack against the youth. Her weapon gives her a huge advantage in range though, as has been the case many times, it also creates a weak spot to exploit should she allow him to get in close. The obvious solution is to keep him at bay but that often proves easier said than done.

"Now," she turns her head as she speaks, shifting her attention to the boy who had commented about their advantage in eyes, "since you have such an advantage in eyes, you'd better watch closely. It might help you a little when your turn is up."

The moment that the last word escapes into the air, Ryuko is in motion. Her left hand drops to the hilt of her blade, body hunching slightly into a lower profile as she whips her head around to stare directly at the leader of this rag-tag gang, fixing him dead in her sights. Her eye narrows slightly and she takes a slow breath, drawing upon the deep well-spring of her intense concentration. When she strikes, the attack is almost too fast to see. The bokken explodes into motion with a rasp of polished wood, snapping out in a sharp cut at the boxer's midsection. It isn't a powerful blow but rather one mean to dazzle her foe, to catch him off-guard and unprepared, to show just what lies in store for him.

"Senjin!"

In less time than it takes for her to call out the name of her strike, the faux-sword has danced back into its sheath. Only a sharp blue contrail, glimmering in a sharp line as it lingers in the fading evening light, leaves any visible indication of the strike.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ryuko            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0         Henchman

COMBATSYS: Ryuko successfully hits Henchman with Tenryuko Senjin.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Ryuko            0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0         Henchman

[HENCHMAN]
Regardless of her feelings towards Kazama and the general politics surrounding Gedo and its place in Southtown, Ryuko is strong. To be able to overcome someone like her would be a message - if they could defeat her, they're on the map somewhere.
"Tch...!" The seeming leader of the lot hisses his disgust - at the retort, at the cowardice - but otherwise begins to back off the verbal assault in favor of watching the one minion he has fighting... fight. He might be following Ryuko's ace advice attributed towards another.
Her opponent does not appear to be, too slow to react - maybe even notice - when his abdomen compresses under the impact of the blue streak of slicing light, doubling over and clutching his stomach like he might vomit (wouldn't be the first time Ryuko would've seen or heard it), or clutch his organs, or whatever.
One of the other minions look like they're ready to just cut and run, knowing that maybe taking on a wild element like Ryuko is a terrible idea no matter the advantage in numbers they seem to have.
The foreigner catches themselves against the uneven, damaged concrete with a crouch, and seems to take off from there into a forward lunge, throwing his entire body around waist-level to Ryuko in what does not appear to be anything more than a barely-skilled tackle punctuated by a loud grunt - whether he's properly identifying a weak point in Ryuko's technique or is just being desperate against a superior opponent, it's not too certain.

COMBATSYS: Henchman successfully hits Ryuko with Tackle.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Ryuko            0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0         Henchman

[RYUKO]
Ryuko's grin practically drips with smugness as she delivers a punishing blow to the guts with the desired results. The large boy goes down from the single strike, barely even able to understand what happened. She turns her head to peer over her shoulder at the rest of them, both to ensure that she isn't about to get smacked from behind and to gauge their own reactions to the blinding quick assault, pleased to see that they are already beginning to re-evaluate their priorities.

Ofcourse, taking her eye off the prize as it were, ends up being a bad idea. The blondie recovers faster than she expected and lunges at her, catching her in the midsection with his deperate tackle as she turns to respond just a little too slow.

Ryuko lets out a soft 'oof' as the air is knocked out of her lungs and the pair of them tumble to the road. She is quick to recover, however, and lifts her knees up like a wedge, jamming both of her legs between the larger mass of her attacker and herself before he can use it to his advantage.

"While I appreciate the sentiment, big sis isn't in the hugging mood today!"

She thrusts outwards, driving her feet directly up into the air like a spike in an attempt to hurl the foreigner up into the air and back over her head in an improvised tomoe nagi, hopefully flinging him off her far enough to get her feet again.

COMBATSYS: Henchman blocks Ryuko's Medium Throw.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Ryuko            0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0         Henchman

[HENCHMAN]
Their characters are all lacking, but Ryuko has chosen well in terms of positioning. Her posturing, even sees the rest of them seem hesitant to approach. Even the apparent boss, for their lack of balls, appears unwilling to act until this all plays out however it will. There's a brick wall that's easy to put one's back to in order to prevent sneaky back attacks. The One-Eyed Dragon probably won't need to find another eye to borrow to lodge behind her head, or anything like that.
All the better to heft up and toss her attacker a ways away to put herself back into her favored range with the same expressed confidence she came to these four with. He doesn't seem that skilled in taking a good fall - he appears to manage any sort of mitigation from hitting the concrete by landing against the damaged infrastructure on a decline rather than through any real technique or knowledge of how to best catch one's fall. If the terrain were flatter, he'd... also be flatter than he'd be now.
He staggers in a half-circle on the way back up, right hand scooping up a chunk of rock from the sidewalk that ought to get a new paving.
"She's going to murder him," murmurs one of the would-be thugs.
Their leader stands silent, hands in pockets, leaning forward a little more as though waiting for some sign, some /idea/, that the one person who has the balls to stand and fight among them might break through.

What comes next is predictable enough. With an unremarkable fastball pitch - this guy couldn't make the baseball team - the foreigner hurls the rock reasonably on-target towards Ryuko, which seems like it might pelt her around the thigh.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko blocks Henchman's Small Thrown Object.

[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Ryuko            0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0         Henchman

[RYUKO]
Quick as can be, Ryuko uses her newly created opening to roll over and hop back to her feet, seeming not to care too much about the amount of grime from the dirty street that this manuever deposits on her formerly pristine outfit. The clothes are nice but they aren't worth getting too upset over, in her case atleast. There's probably more than a few families with children who attend this school that couldn't even afford one of these dresses, much less the closetful she has back home. Strange behavior for a student of Gedo, in any case.

The hurled bit of concrete comes sailing at her in a lazy arc but she isn't quite in a position to move out of the way. Instead, she lifts her hand up and simply catches it. The impact of the rough projectile stings her palm a bit but otherwise she hardly notices anything other than the weight. Ryuko bounces the rock in her hand a couple of times as if thinking about throwing it back, smirking at the boy, but instead she just tosses it over her shoulder to clatter to the ground.

"That's good! Thinking on your feet, improvisation. Your technique is awful though."

She drops back down into her combat stance, hand on the hilt of her blade as she stalks forward dramatically, her approach casual but ready. She gives her opponent a fair chance to get prepared himself, to look around and maybe grab another weapon to even the odds a little. This is hardly a fight. Might as well have some fun with it.

When she feels like she's given him enough of a break, Ryuko darts forward and her blade dances through the air once more. There is no searing streak of chi, however, just the plain old whoosh of air as the wooden stick comes snapping out in a solid horizontal chop at his side.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko successfully hits Henchman with Medium Strike.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Ryuko            0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0         Henchman

[HENCHMAN]
Hadly a fight, indeed! He's proving easy to overwhelm, in terms of physical strength, fighting technique, and even personality, and yet, of all four present he's the one who seems willing to put up a fight at all.
Based on how fidgety that one freshman over to the left once looked like he was ready to run, and the other noticeably keeping distance, he might be the only one...? The would-be new boss seems to only just keep up appearances of being credible in the background of complete garbage.
They're not stepping up, either. Could he fight at all?
Maybe the only credit worth giving - beyond Ryuko's unsolicited advice praising his quick thinking - is just how determined he seems to be to continue being as awful as he is, raising up his fists again and seemingly undeterred from the ease in which the rock is caught. His left hand has a bruise on it. He must've hit the concrete a little harder than first imagined.
The blow from the southpaw swordswoman comes in to his side just under his elbow with as little capable resistance as displayed from before, a loud wheezing that's muffled by the flu mask he's wearing. (Is he ill? He's not sniffling...)
"Stop fucking around!" Yells the boss, frustration at last getting through an exterior that was almost cool, but now seems more desperate.
Is that a cue, some codeword for 'stop being garbage?' This question is worth asking, as moments after the foreigner goes to a kneel again, he's moving inwards in an attempt to wrap an arm around Ryuko's left and jerk upwards to lock it in a hold that is, all things considered, rather good!

COMBATSYS: Henchman successfully hits Ryuko with Surprisingly Effective Arm Bar.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////              ]
Ryuko            0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1         Henchman

[RYUKO]
Stop being garbage indeed. Ryuko almost finds herself wishing it would be true. After a day like this one she could use an actual fight rather than this pantomime. Well, ask and ye shall receive. Whether or not her opponent is actually getting serious or just earns himself a bit of pity from the goddess of luck, the sudden surge into the swordsman's arm manages to catch her as she leaps back to avoid the obvious attack.

Pain lances up her side as the big lad twists her limb about in a most unpleasant manner and she grimaces with the sudden pain, hissing sharply through her teeth. Well, that wasn't exactly what she wanted to happen. Letting her sword arm get twisted off would definately prove something of a challenge to overcome.

"That's...not bad," she says with some effort, forcing a grin at the blonde.

Fortunately, Ryuko's been in situations like these before. It's not like 'go for the blade' is a difficult or uncommon tactic. She's trained to get out of these kinds of things. Now the question is, how to go about it without hurting herself further. A quick inspection of her situation indicates that some somewhat risky acrobatics are in order. On the plus side, her opponent doesn't seem like the sort who will be expecting that. On the other, if she messes this up she's going to be in a world of hurt. Well, can't live without a little risk...

Sucking in a sharp breath, the one-eyed warrior crouches slightly and then leaps straight up in to a standing backflip. The motion unwinds her arm and she jerks it clear of the foreigner's grip in mid-air, moving it down to the grip of her sword. The blade explodes into motion as she begins to fall, snapping out in a wide crescent at the back of the bully's head with enough force to simply floor the punk. She's not taking any chances that he'll be able to round on her fast enough to catch her before she lands.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko successfully hits Henchman with Tenryuko Kanzan.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Ryuko            0/-------/--=====|=======\======-\1         Henchman

[HENCHMAN]
"Not so fast."
That's the first time he's said something. This something should be distinctive, dramatically appropriate, or at least some sort of clever wordplay. Instead, the best she seems to get out of him following her admission of the surprising uptick in competence is thus, in an almost flat tone that seems to be a concession that such words be simply obligatory...
"I got her." That's... it.
It might be a precusor to him asking what they want him to do with her. Could he manage more? She got in some solid blows to his mid-section.
He may not get the chance, as she throws him off-balance with the backflip, seeing him stumble backwards alongside her path as his head turns to follow the grace of her movement - free of hesitation and weakness! - as she draws her sword anew to strike.
As he's looking back at her, it doesn't go to the back of his skull.
The tip of the blue crescent ends between the eyes, which go wide and unfocused to a sharp cry of pain as his entire upper body jerks downward into the concrete with a loud 'thud!'
More of the concrete underneath splinters. They should re-pave this part of town more often. Maybe make that into an extracirricular activity among the students...
That looks like the blow to settle it, even if he seems to be stirring. At what point would Ryuko consider a fight over? When they stop moving? When they verbally concede?
Someone else has different plans.
The would-be boss actually steps up, but his fists aren't raised to Ryuko. No, he seems to heft the foreigner up by the collar, turning him to face her.
"TAKE HER DOWN YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" He's screaming. He's afraid. In his panic, he just shoves the foreigner at Ryuko as though he were someone he could freely shove about without consideration for their well-being.
This is cowardly.
That is the hallmark of a bully.
That is also a human body larger than Ryuko's being thrown at her, but through her keen insight, past that she can see the truth about the wannabe boss who makes up the bottom rung at Gedo.
Not one of these punks would be a match for her.
He might go down even more easily than the one that's put up only a rudimentary fight against her!
Once the battered foreigner being shoved at her is out of the way, anyway.

COMBATSYS: Ryuko dodges Henchman's Self Projectile.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////                       ]
Ryuko            0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0         Henchman

[RYUKO]
It's rare for Ryuko to feel sympathy for the people that she fights. The vast majority of them are bullies and jerks, people who prey on others simply for the thrill of lording it over those less strong than themselves or, worse, actual criminals seeking to steal from or harm others. This lot fitting into the latter category, it's even less likely that she would show them much in the way of mercy. She pulls no punches, even when the hapless blonde dolt turns his face right into her sucker strike that had been intended to knock him out.

She land gracefully, sword already sheathed neatly at her side, one hand stretching out to catch the ground as she falls into a three-point crouch. Ryuko rises back to her feet, waiting to see how the large youth's comrades react to the telling blow she just delivered, her expression settling once more somewhere between amused and excited.

"Wow that... probably hurt, huh?"

She directs the question to the three standing off to the side, guessing that her opponent is likely either unconscious or something close to it. She has little need to smash him around further, the fight is over. Or, it should have been.

Her eye narrows as the apparent leader of this troupe of fuck-ups steps in. Not to fight her directly - no, he's too cowardly for that - but to hurl the barely functional thug at her once again. The attack is beyond pointless. Even someone completely untrained and off-guard would have had enough time to see it coming and move out of the way, which she does with a soft sigh. Rather than letting the poor lad tumble face-first into the pavement once again, however, she catches him in her arms as he stumbles past.

"Wooooah there, big fella!"

The sheer size of the guy causes her to stagger a little. She's pretty strong for her age and gender, her constant fighting and daily exercise keeping her trim and shapely, but nothing really worth being called exceptional. The girl struggles a little as she fumbles with his weight but she manages to lower him to the ground, resting him back against a couple of stuffed garbage bags still waiting for pick up by the local services.

"Just... relax for a while," she says, giving him a couple of pats on the head and a big dopey grin. "Big sis has a couple more things to take care of."

When she turns back to the 'boss', her expression is decidely less friendly. Rising to her feet, she begins to stalk towards the remaining trio, her gaze firmly fixed on the freshly painted target of her ire.

"You know, I get it," she says. The tone of her voice is mostly neutral but there is a faint hint of annoyance behind her words. "Life can be rough. Unfair. Sometimes we have to become people we'd rather not be to survive. That's why I was going to let you off with a warning. A gentle beating, probably way softer than anything you would have given me."

As she draws closer, her hand goes down to the sword at her side and she draws it forth, bringing the dark curved surface of the wood out into the open. For the first time, it lingers where they can see it, visible for more than the few fractions of a second that it takes for her to unleash it upon her foes. It is polished and well made, though not particularly remarkable in any way, and yet it adds an air of menace to the girl that was not there before.

"But you." She points the tip of her weapon at the weasley cretin, glaring down its length at him. "You are something else entirely. I don't know how you managed to earn the trust of these boys, if that's even what keeps them at your side, but no one worthy of respect treats other people like that."

She flicks her gaze to the other two members of the gang, her head tilting to the side briefly as if telling them they really should be somewhere else, and soon. That's the only chance they get to move. Drawing her weapon back over one shoulder, Ryuko takes up a samurai's stance, blade held vertically at her side for an insant or two.

"Seppuken!"

The clarion ring of her battle cry echoes through the narrow street as the One-Eyed Dragon unleashes her fury upon the gang leader. She whirls around, snapping her blade about in a full three-sixty arc as she turns, and the air infront of her explodes into a violent maelstrom of raw power. A tornado erupts from the tip of the blade and dives directly into the bully, the sheer force of the gale lifting him off his feet and casting him about as easily as if he were one of those bags of old garbage lying nearby.

Ryuko waits for him to land, falling back into her stance once more. The moment that he falls free of the grip of the first whirlwind she strikes again, summoning up a second with equal vehemence. It sweeps him into the air, battering him against the side of a brick wall with a dull thud and again he drops to the street where yet another of the terrible twisters is waiting to catch him. This one catches him up in its center, spinning the teen around and around for several seconds until at last it too spits him out, no longer able to stomach the foul taste.

[HENCHMAN]
Silently, the foreigner - the one who fought among them - goes limp in Ryuko's grasp with a clenches fist as she keeps him steady for as long as it takes to gently lower him onto the comfort of filled trash bags.
The foreigner appears too concussed to respond one way or another to the sisterly consideration given. The flu mask hides some key facial language, though the eyes seem to roll up over to Ryuko as if... bewildered, maybe? She can turn her back to him safely, as it seems he's still nursing that blow to the head. It's easy to disregard his presesence. He seems the sort of fellow that elicits that.
There are others that warrant more thorough attention. The three remaining wannabe gang-bangers find themselves up a metaphorical wall. One of the more timid freshmen, off to the side, might even be putting an indent into the nearby wall with just how hard they press up against it without seeing a clear way away without having his running path intersect with the others, should any of them bolt.
The 'boss' stammers so pathetically that it is not worth even transcribing the repeated consonants that hum through their teeth as he is given the run-down about the disapproval of the big sister. He could probably see himself cower within that one eye of hers...
The one freshman with the back against his wall just goes for it, and leaves a big trail of dust in his wake. The other dives off out of view, maybe to cower or play dead in the street or who knows what. Their whereabouts no longer matter.
The 'boss' proves helpless before the vengeful winds of Ryuko's Seppuken. Tears pollute the streams of air that represent the energies of the world made manifest through her, screams for help lost to the first tornado.
The second and third... his means of handling the first prove so pathetic enough that inscribing how all that goes would merely repeat what is already known.
Instead, there is a shadow that Ryuko will catch moving - well, moving is too strong a connotation, more like lurching - towards where the pathetic wimp of a would-be gang leader should be left to collect dust and grime for his dishonorable conduct.
The one Ryuko had shown kindness to. That foreigner, whose scalp sports an open wound with blood going down their face, already kneeling down to help him up.
...
Help him up?!
"Come on." He says, flatly. "We're going."
The boss' face is full of tears. Only a few words of theirs comes through with any clarity, but those that do should be sweet, sweet music.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The 'boss' blubbers. "I won't do it again! I promise! I swear! I'll be good!"
The foreigner stops and draws back, as if to allow the beaten bully to lean over and grovel pathetically at Ryuko's feet (which they do).
The foreigner, who may have been the closest thing to a loyal henchman left, gives Ryuko a look as he brings one head against his forehead.
"Never mind," he says, followed by a simple, non-commital shrug, and just turns to leave down Gedo Street to parts unknown. Maybe he's going back to wherever he's living during his study here? He doesn't seem too eager to pick back up where the two left off.
Who would blame him?

COMBATSYS: Henchman has left the fight here.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ryuko            0/-------/--=====|

[RYUKO]
The sword slides neatly back into the sheathe at Ryuko's side once the deed is done, wood rasping softly against wood. She does not approach the miserable boy as he blubbers and flops on the ground, merely stares with a cold look of disgust and disapproval. Pathetic. She thought men were supposed to have some pride.

She opens her mouth, about to say as such to the whimpering pile in the road when she senses movement behind. Her head spins around, hand reaching for her sword, but she pauses when the lumbering form of the fallen foreigner hoves into view. Ryuko stares in surprise as he makes his way over to the battered youth, offering his aid to the very person responsible for getting him battered around like a hackey sack, the one who attempted to use him for a shield rather than face any sort of risk to himself. She says nothing, unable to understand why he would do such a thing. An old friend? It certainly didn't look like the sort of behavior friends would express for each other. Some misguided sense of loyalty, perhaps. A person with no where else go.

Ryuko's face twists into a grimace as the former boss hurls himself at her feet, sobbing apologies into the dirt. She looks away, embarassed and annoyed, scratching at her cheek with one one finger. Could this get any more ridiculous? Now she's actually starting to feel bad, ugh. Even worse, the large blonde wanders off, leaving her alone to deal with...this.

Her eye narrows as she frowns, looking even less pleased, starting to think that even boredom would have been preferrable to the mess she's created. Eventually, however, she sighs and turns to look down at the scrawny mutt of a teen still hunched over by her feet.

"Hey. Get up."

She grabs him by the collar and hauls the boy upright with a firm tug. Once he's gotten to his feet, her hands seek out his shoulders and she grips him firmly, looking him dead in the eyes. Was this the face of a ruthless bully? Someone who stepped on others to get their way? Her expression slowly softens, stern glower becoming a sympathetic frown, and she tilts her head back to mutter up at the sky.

"Ugh, I'm getting soft."

Her face drops back down and she gives the boy a thoughtful look, the kind that an older sibling might use on a brother that had messed up and made some bad choices, understanding but firm.

"Hey, stop crying, alright? I'm... I'm not gonna hit you any more, okay? Just get yourself together." She takes a deep breath and smiles, wrapping an arm around his shoulders in a friendly fashion. "How about we start over, yeah?" She glances around, noting the lack of other people around.

"You look like you could use a friend."

Log created on 21:26:08 09/05/2016 by Ryuko, and last modified on 04:58:55 09/06/2016.