Match of the Millennium

Description: Raiza receives a mysterious note in her locker inviting her to a lunchtime rooftop rendezvous! What intentions lie behind this invitation...?

[DAISUKE]
It's not long since that brawl near the dried up riverbed. Since that day two certain students of Taiyo High discovered some things about one another.

A few days since Lis-... Sorry, Raiza, has seen that red-haired boy again.

But on this particular morning, there was something waiting for her in her shoe locker. A letter.

Meet me on the roof at lunch.
There are things I want to talk to you about.
-Daisuke

There's probably more than a few other students nearby when she fishes that letter out. Hushed, amused voices whispering rumors and theories over the letter left by one transfer student for another. Probably more than a few giggles.


Life as a high schooler just isn't easy, is it?

Come lunch hour, the red-haired boy has already found his way there. Surprisingly, there isn't anyone else there to be seen, despite all the potential it holds for a secret hangout spot for the students.

No, there's just Daisuke Kubo there now. Standing by the edge of the roof absently looking off over it while awaiting the girl he called here.

[RAIZA]
Liza had been looking to meet up with Daisuke herself, but between the other transfer student being seemingly scarce, 'tennis' lessons, and her disastrously successful mission in the Howard Arena during a recent Lucky Chloe concert, she hadn't had the opportunity yet!

The note in the locker brought a smile to her face; aside from the fact that Daisuke was a superhero, she had her own news to share. When some nosy students nearby started to snicker, though, Raiza was able to read the room - and quickly crumpled the note and threw it into the garbage, looking slightly embarrassed about the whole thing.

Come lunchtime, though, the door to the rooftop opens, and the expected schoolgirl slips through, sporting her summer uniform and carrying a pink Lucky Chloe lunchbox. Her brown eyes scan the roof before settling on Daisuke; upon spying the boy, she hurries over with a smile.

"Heeeey! Daisuke-san! You haven't been avoiding me, have you?" she calls over, her tone one part teasing and one part uncertainty. "I got your note! You know half the girls in Higashikata-sensei's class think you invited me up here to make out? He was handing out detentions like candy. Not that I said anything about it - he just doesn't like people talking in class."

[DAISUKE]
Raiza's approach is actually *felt* before it is seen or even heard. The few benefits of his psychic senses, even if they are at large still uncontrollable for him.

And so the boy turns to face her with a lift of his hand, and an akward smile.

"N-no," he tells her immediately over the teasingly-accusing question. "It just... It's been complicated, I guess..." He claims further, while his fingers knead to the side of his neck pensively.

...And come the information on the kind of rumors that resulted in his choice of method for calling her here?

Daisuke just kind of... stares at her first. And then, his face suddenly *explodes* with bright, nearly-glowing red color.

"Wh- I-- uh, um, I mean--" He bumbles over his own words first, eyes quickly taking to twitching this way and that in futile effort to focus on literally anything else for a moment. "I wouldn't do th-- er, I mean, I wou-- uh, er... I wouldn't insult you by doing t-t-that! By thinking I even... could do that, I mean... Uh..."

The red-haired (and -faced) boy forcefully turns his head to the side to keep his eyes averted from the brunette for a moment, swallowing nervously as he does. Damnit. He was supposed to be all cool about this whole talk they were about to have!

"...I guess I could have... handled that better... um, look-- anyway!!"

A huff of air, and he stomps away from the edge of the roof, catching a bagged bentou from the ground to bring with him to sitting down on the floor, back to the guard rail seperating the space of the roof from a certain fall down across several stories.

"...I guess we kind of have some things to talk about though."

[RAIZA]
Raiza's hands fold behind the back of her skirt, her ponytail bobbing as she tilts her head either way, observing Daisuke's awkward answer in a manner much akin to a bluebird - expression almost illegible until he finally gets his words out, stating that he could have handled the situation better. At that point, her face breaks like a cloud into a burst of tinkling laughter.

"It's okay! I knew why you wanted to see me, of course. I just didn't really choose to correct them, 'cause it's better than explaining what we were really going to swap up here, right?"

The brunette smiles awkwardly but openly as she runs her fingertips along the back of her neck, then brings her Lucky Chloe lunchbox back around to her front. She plunks herself down across from Daisuke, back to an air unit, and opens the box up to reveal a sushi roll lunch. There's still a bandage around one of her hands - the one that had caught a ninja star intended for her fellow Californian, Rafferty Stewart, the last time that she and Daisuke saw each other.

"We totally have things to talk about! And that, like, nobody else should know about. The cool part about you being a ninja too is that I can tell you about other secret stuff too! Like how I'm secretly friends with Lucky Chloe now. That's how I got this lunchbox!"

She holds it up for Daisuke to get a better view - revealing the front, which has the blonde twin-tailed idol holding up a pink paw next to her face and winking with the words 'LUCKY CHLOE' and, below, the phrase 'PRETTY KITTY' in italics. It looks like it's signed, too - and not just as part of the print. Of course, this doesn't necessarily corroborate Raiza's story anymore than it suggests that she might be a deluded catgirl fan.

"What did you wanna talk to me about exactly, though?" she asks as she flips the box back down and takes out a pair of chopsticks to start on her lunch.

[DAISUKE]
Raiza's laughter-filled response to *his* reaction doesn't really make Daisuke feel significantly better about this whole ordeal. At least the flush of color is fading by now, but it does still persist in the wake of it drawing out a measure of self-consciousness in him.

"Y-...yeah, I guess..."

Of course this kind of flustering and embarrassment has to be what scrambles his senses, too. He probably isn't going to be getting any kind of read on her while they're there.

His eyes roam over her in the meantime, while she's talking. Taking note of the lunchbox (and the strange, vaguely familiar idol on it), her bandaged hand... At least some things he can still perceive even without psychic abilities.

"Oh, that's actually kinda cool..." He murmurs then with a faint smile, over the revelation of her secret friendship with the aforementioned idol, and her proud presentation of the lunchbo-

"Wait, wait, that's not what I called you here for!?"

The redhead immediately lets out an embarrassed cough after that, and poitnedly focuses his gaze down on his homemade bentou -- opening it to reveal the katsudon pork over rice within. ...Actually, that boxed lunch is kind of... big, isn't it? And a lot? There's no way a guy his size should be eating that much just for lunch, right?

"I mean... You absolutely have to tell me about that later, but like... Mmmh. I guess I wanted to just make sure you were all on board the fact that I kind of... want to keep that whole running around in disguise blasting muggers with magic a secret, but... suppose keeping secrecy for things like that is natural for ninja, isn't it?"

While he fiddles with his chopsticks, he peeks back up to her, leaving a pregnant pause in between while he considers the girl... the secret ninja in front of him.

"Not that... *I* am really one, you know. I'm just some guy who woke up one day with... I called it 'magic' but honestly, I'm not really in any way or form sure *what* it is. I mean, I kinda took the look from this one videogame about a ninja, sure, but... You're way more the real deal compared to me, from what I saw."

Emerald eyes quickly sweep to her hand again-- like just saying that reminded him of how their previous encounter ended all over again.

"How's... your hand, by the way?" He asks then, while scarlet brows knit closer to each other in a faint frown that mixes equal amounts concern and... maybe anger? Anger at the one responsible for her getting a throwing knife through her palm, perhaps.

[RAIZA]
After carefully applying wasabi and soy, the girl plucks one of the salmon rolls out of her box and stuffs it into her mouth with her chopsticks, chewing it eagerly. She pauses, blinking a couple of times, when Daisuke shifts from the tangent she's veered onto back onto his own intended conversational course. She resumes her maceration once he starts to speak, swallowing before she replies.

"Oh, of course I'm on board! Masayoshi-sama would totally kill me or something if word of my secret ninja lifestyle got leaked, so it goes both ways, right? I mean, Edo-ryuu isn't one of those celebrity ninja schools like Shiranui-ryuu or something."

Though she seems cool about it, there's a faint edge in Raiza's tone - a bit of jealousy, maybe?

"So, are you saying that you're not a real ninja? Do you mean you don't even have a teacher or anything? That must be hard. I could see if you can train at our school. I'm still kind of probationary, myself. Is that really magic that you use? I mean, I use ninjutsu - at least, that's what my sensei calls it. It's like ninja magic, kind of! Lightning's my specialty - but you mighta already figured that out."

She's partway through another roll when Daisuke inquires after her hand. She holds it out, turning it over.

"Mmm. *gulp* Oh, this? It's a lot better! It'll probably leave a scar, but it's no big deal. I just have to re-bandage it every day. Hisashi-san felt really bad about it. I mean, he didn't say so, but I could tell."

She takes a sip from her juice box.

"So I lied to Master Masayoshi about it. I didn't want to get him in trouble - or get in trouble myself. I mean, he wasn't even trying to hurt me. It was my fault for getting in the way - but I wouldn't change that either. So really, it all worked out for the best!"

She flashes a smile.

"So, tell me more about how you're secretly Batman after all! Does anybody else know? Do the police have a signal for you? Have you ever caught any real big-time criminals?"

[DAISUKE]
"...Right. Yeah, we kind of have secrets to keep for each other now."

He pauses for a good few seconds there to shove a bit of rice and fried pork into his mouth while she levels her questions at him. He... might actually seem a bit surprised over the amount of questions she's levelling at him now. He didn't realize she was going to be this eager to talk about it all!

"Uh... No, I'm not a ninja by any measure of definition at all, I would say. No teacher, I kinda just... Figure things out on my own I guess. It's really hard and... kind of scary ,honestly."

His expression turns much more wry at the suggestion he come along to train in the art sof the ninja proper. He might even entertain that notion for a split second, but in the end...

"Nah, I... probably wouldn't make for a good ninja at all."

He brings his free hand up then, leaving the boxed lunch to be balanced on his thighs. Fingers spread lightly, palm held towards Raize but at an upward angle. "It's... I honestly have no idea." A faint shimmer of blue-green energy resonates around his hand for just a brief few seconds at those words, purely for the sake of demonstartion. "A friend of mine who knows about... what I do, she thought it's some manifestation of 'Chi'. But I dunno... It somehow... Seems and feels different from what I've seen of people who are said to use it. And I never trained in that stuff either."

The outheld hand is clutched into a fist before it's drawn back to rest onto his knee, when his eyes focus on her bandaged hand with a frown. "...I mean, I feel like that would still be his fault for throwing it at the guy just for some reason like that, but..." His lips purse. Maybe it's better he keep the rest of his feelings on that matter at bay for the time being.

"B-...Batman?"

A rapid series of blinks comes from Daisuke over *that*, and he suddenly finds himself looking off to the side again. "I, uh... I think you're probably overestimating my worth in all that a little bit. It's not like I am... an *actual* superhero either."

[RAIZA]
Raiza listens with inquisitive eyes as Daisuke speaks. She cocks her head a little to one side when Daisuke claims that he's not a ninja by any measure of definition. Isn't wearing bright red scarves while lurking around totally what ninjas do? She's already having an internal debate over her own ninja dress code's lack of a bright red scarf. Maybe when she's more elite she'll broach the subject with Master Masayoshi.

"Well, I think you totally could be a good ninja! Even Batman had ninja training in like, at least a few of his origin stories, even if he's not traditionally recognized as one. Maybe learning ninja techniques would mean you could get the drop on more people and get your butt kicked less."

There doesn't seem to be any hint of sarcasm or intentional digging in Raiza's tone, just matter-of-fact enthusiasm.

"I think it's really cool that you'd stick up for people and use your powers for good. That's what I wanna do, once I finish my training! Right now I'm trying not to get into too much trouble, though."

She punctuates her dialogue by downing another roll, this time a crunchy one.

"I mean, there was no way I wasn't gonna help Rafferty, even if I hadn't already known him. It would've given me a tummy ache for days. It happened one time back in California, where my friend was getting bullied, and I was too scared to do anything..."

Raiza frowns, suddenly seeming disinterested in her sushi. She sets her chopsticks down in her lunchbox for the time being and raises her eyes to Daisuke.

"So, if you're not an 'actual' superhero... how come you're doing what you're doing? Does anyone else know about it? I mean, my mom and dad have no idea I'm even a ninja, even though it's kind of a family tradition..."

Apparently not secret enough a tradition to withhold information about it from a fellow student she mostly only kind of knows, though.

[DAISUKE]
Even Daisuke can't really deny that ninja training would help him with... well, everything. But...

"Look, truth be told, I have like... zero actual training in any of this. Fighting included. Any ninja would probably just laugh in my face if I tried to ask them to teach me."

Nevermind that the ninja in front of him seems to be taking him very much seriously in spite of everything.

But come the question that strikes at the core of the whole matter, and Daisuke falls silent for a moment. Much like Raiza's interest in her sushi faded away just a moment earlier, Daisuke's appetite seems to similiarly get washed off, and the box on his lap is even set off aside for now.

"... I kinda of know how that feels," he murmurs eventually, eyes drifted down and a voice little lower. "Not being able to help someone in trouble, I mean. It's... It wasn't really the exact same thing for me..."

Static. Memories left clouded in an impenetrable haze. Save for sight and heat of fire. The smell of ashes and--- *things* burning. Even if he can't remember much more of that day, or anything at all from before it, one thing still carried over. The guilt of survival.

"...But I still understand it."

With his lap cleared away from the still-mostly-full bentou, he draws his knees up, gathering up his legs within the encirclement of his arms while his chin is drawn down to be propped atop the perch created by his knees now.

"When I... I guess started feeling that change, of whatever that power is to start coursing in me, it... It was scary. It was even after my body adjusted to it. Not just because it hurts like hell whenever I consciously use it, but because... I guess I figured people would think I'm a freak. You're only the third other person to know about it so far exactly because of that. But just letting it be? That didn't... feel right, either."

The red-haired boy's eyes close for just a few seconds -- and when they open again, those nearly-unnaturally-bright green orbs turn to meet Raiza straight on.

"So I do what I do because it *does* feel right."

[RAIZA]
Raiza returns the green-eyed youth's gaze for a long moment, almost like a deer in headlights. After that spell of silence, though, she smiles brightly back at him.

"That's such a cool line! Do you mind if I use it for something?"

Her cheeks look ever-so-slightly flushed moments after making the request, though the smile doesn't disappear.

"I'm sort of hoping to become a writer someday. Like, after I'm done with school and everything. I guess that would be my secret identity when I'm not doing ninja stuff, or something. Did you say that it hurts when you use your powers?"

Raiza fishes her chopsticks back up out of her lunchbox and starts to decorate the next roll for consumption, a sympathetic little frown on her lips.

"I guess I'm lucky - I can get zapped with my own lightning without getting hurt by it, really."

Another piece of sushi is savoured and swallowed before she speaks up again.

"I totally don't think you're a freak, though, and I'm sure you're even better than I was when Master Masayoshi agreed to train me. Even if you don't want to officially join, maybe I can pass on some tips and tricks I learn from my own ninja training! Just, if we do that, don't tell anyone. I don't wanna have to commit harakiri or something."

It's hard to tell whether or not she's serious from the friendly way in which she posits the possibility.

[DAISUKE]
That's... not at all what he expected to hear her responding to him with. Even after such a long period of serious silence, Daisuke finds himself looking at the girl with some measure of bemusement again.

"Uh... Sure, I guess?"

Her dreams of becoming a writer clear up some of his confusion, at the very least. And now, Daisuke finally offers a faint smile over to her way.

"That's... actually pretty cool. What are you thinking of writing? Have you already written something?"

The followup question on his 'powers' makes him grow visibly more hesitant, though, and he glances down at his own hand. "Yeah... I don't know why. It hurt a *lot* when it started developing first, too. Maybe because it developed so suddenly without any training to prepare for it, my body's not handling it very well?"

And come an akward laugh from him at the compliment, eyes turning off to the side while some color flushes over his cheeks. "Aheh, I mean... I appreciate the confidence, but I don't know if that's the case. I think I'm pretty weak, personally. I just kind of... cheat, when need be."

Guess he doesn't have a very high opinion on the 'validity' of those particular powers either. But indeed, with how straight she gives him the potential option of her being forced to... take responsibility over sharing in ninja secrets, Daisuke proabbly ends up taking *that* seriously too! At least judging from how quickly color fades away from his face now.

"U-uhm... M-maybe we shouldn't, uh... do that, then. I don't... I don't want someone to die because of me. Especially not one of the few friends I have around here."

With an akward little soudn in the back of his throat, he tries to shrug that particular notion off. ANd instead, he reaches for the bentou, drawing it up from the ground and scoots a bit closer over while holding it out in apparent offer.

"You want to try some of this? In hindsight it was kind of obvious you'd be coming here with your own lunch, but I guess I wasn't sure so I made plenty more just in case, uh..." His gaze drifts off akwardly, but he still holds the box of fried and breaded pork in sauce over the rice bed to her. He even wiggles it lightly. "...And I definitely can't eat all of this all on my own. I have my own mix of seasoning in the breading!"

[RAIZA]
Raiza gives an awkwardly apologetic laugh about the subject of harakiri.

"To be honest, I have no idea if my clan even does that kind of thing! I just know we're supposed to keep the clan a secret. Hisashi-senpai said we shouldn't even tell Master Masayoshi that you and Rafferty and that mugger all know who we are. He's the one who brought up the harakiri thing, so I think it's one of those 'grain of salt' situations... I kind of get the feeling he trolls me, sometimes."

She scoots over beside Daisuke with an intrigued 'Oooh' sound as he offers to share some of his pork with her.

"Nice! You can have some of my sushi if you want to try it," she says, offering her own Lucky Chloe lunchbox in exchange as she accepts the offering and starts to dig into her portion with her chopsticks.

"By the way - who are the other people you were talking about who know about your secret crime-fighter moonlight lifestyle? Is it anyone I know from school? I mean, unless it's a secret that they know, too. Like, do you guys have a secret vigilante club, like the Justice League, or something?"

She appears hopeful that this might be the case.

[DAISUKE]
"Let's... Let's not try to find out for sure though, okay?" Daisuke suggests with a bit of a pensive tone on his part.

The boy blinks a couple times over when she comes scooting to sit next to her. Well, he did offer some goods, so he can't complain, can he? And for that matter, he lowers his knees back down, legs stretching out across the ground so that he might settle the bentou on his lap again. In easy reach of her chopsticks.

"Just one-- like I said, I kinda made too much here, so... don't wanna load up too much."

And for the record, the pork is utterly *delicious*. Daisuke doesn't really make much of a point of it himself when he talks to people, but he is still a pretty fantastic cook, for being so young.

"Mmm... Two people. Neither of them go to our school," Daisuke explains then -- though he pauses there both to snatch one offered bit of sushi from her lunchbox with his chopsticks, and to give her a bit of a bemused look to the girl. "...But nnnoooo. Nothing like that. They're both kind of... experienced fighters in their own right though. They were both in that Rising Star Tournament a while back. But I don't think they're as keen on the whole vigilante lifestyle as I am."

Chomp goes the sushi at that point, before he continues.

"Sendo Tsugumi from Gorin was the first one to find out. It was... kind of an accident, really. It happened when I kind of... accidentally set off with it when she pulled me into a spar. Tenjin Ryuko from Gedo kind of ended up figuring out something weird was going on with me and she would *not* let up until I spilled the beans."

[RAIZA]
"Mmm -- this is /so good/!"

Daisuke can keep it to himself all he wants, but that's not Raiza's style - even going so far as to make her declaration before she's even finished the first mouthful. Maybe the enthusiasm of the compliment makes up for the rudeness??

She swallows before saying anything more, at least.

"Did your mom make it or something? It's totes delish!"

The sushi, on the other hand, seems to be from a market - decent, at least, but not particularly special. She was saving a couple of spicy crab rolls for last, though whether Daisuke ended up with one of those or a crunchy salmon roll depends on his own decision. She won't be offended, either way! She did offer, after all.

"So, neither of them goes to our school, huh? That's too bad. We could totally start a club for secret... uhh..."

Raiza scratches at the top of her head with her free hand as she tries to think of a unifying theme for herself and the established non-ninja.

"I dunno! Crime stoppers, maybe? Do they stop crimes? I was gonna say superheroes, but I guess that's kind of a stretch. Oh!"

She's already got some more pork and rice in her mouth by the time that she elucidates her epiphany.

"You were asking what I write about! I'm actually hoping to become a manga writer, to be exact. I've kind of been writing a sort of... manga journal, I guess. Or a doodle scrapbook, depending on how you look at it. Obviously, I can't really publish something like that, but... I figured it's a place to start, at least!"

[DAISUKE]
Raiza's reaction is, at least, pleasing to Daisuke, obviously. He smiles with a notable measure of warmth to her--

Though that fades away briefly when she asks if his mom made it.

"A-ah... No, I live alone..." He murmurs with a scratch to the side of his neck, eyes turning off to the side to peer off absentmindedly. He doesn't elaborate on that further -- he figures it's better not to dampen the mood with the particular revelation on his parents' status right now. "I cooked it myself though!" And just like that, his mood brightens up again with that statement, in time with his eyes finding their way to the pony-tailed teen girl again. "The pork's breaded with my own seasoning mix! And I made the sauce from scratch too. I... probably didn't need to go that far with it, but I kinda got lost into it, you know?"

He does shuffle just subtly closer, angling himself so that she can reach the offered pork more easily from her eon out, since she seems eager enough for tasting more of that. And while shes stuffing her face, he considers her... uh, suggestion.

"I... maybe? I dunno if they would be all for that kinda thing. Though I guess..." The boy's nose wrinkles in idle consideration there. "There is... that one girl. She's... kinda super weird, but she was talking about putting together a group to fight against crime and what have you not... Er... I dunno if I took her seriously enough."

There's a brief consideration of Raiza herself while she's scarfing down on the bounty of pork, and... decides to quickly fish out some napkins from his school bag, holding them out. Not that she might *necessarily* need them *right now* but... Just in case, you know.

"So... You would need an artist to put those writings into reality in other words. I wish I could help with that, but I don't know anyone who draws and, uh... I definitely don't do very well at that myself..."

[RAIZA]
The napkins are accepted graciously - Raiza isn't a particularly messy eater, but between loose rice, pork and sauce, it's handy! She goes ahead and dabs her face with one before swallowing. She seems to be pretty hungry, considering that she's already made her way through most of her own sushi rolls as well.

"It's really good! Sorry, I didn't realise you were a chef yourself! You could definitely work in a restaurant! ...Do you work in a restaurant already? Sorry, I hope I'm not putting my foot in my mouth."

The kunoichi quirks her lips in consideration for a moment.

"Who's the super weird girl who was talking about putting together a crime-fighting group? That sounds really cool! I'd be way into that, as long as everyone was cool! Like, not going to blab or whatever, I mean. We could be like a Sentai team, or the ninja turtles."

She tilts her head a little to one side at Daisuke's suggestion that she'd need an artist.

"Oh! I draw, actually. I mean, I don't have any of my stuff here right now, but I could show you later, sometime - as long as you promise not to leak anything. I mean, I'd be pretty embarrassed for it to get out in public or anything."

[DAISUKE]
"O-oh, I don't know if I would call me a chef, aheh..."

There's definitely a bit of a trend here with Daisuke, wether he realizes it or not amidst his own akward reactions.

"Um, now that you ask that, I'm... not sure if she would want me just outright saying that..." Daisuke considers this with a briefly-deeper frown on his own part, complete with his hand rubbing lightly at his chin in thought. "...I could ask her next time I see her if she wants to team up with a ninja, if you want? See how things go and such. Though..."

An akward sidelong glance back to the half-american girl.

"Um... She doesn't really know about... the magic or the masked shenanigans yet, so if it comes to it, you mind... not telling her either? And for that matter--!"

A quiet gulp in the redhead's throat, and his hand thrusts quickly to hold it out before his face, fingers held up and thumb towards his nose while he dips his head downwards slightly.

"P-please definitely don't tell her I called her super weird!"

[RAIZA]
Raiza smiles reassuringly at Daisuke as he expresses concern about having his words repeated for this unknown audience.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't tell her that! I don't even know who she is, anyway. Besides, 'weird' is just another word for 'interesting,' in my opinion. I mean, even in Hiroko-sensei's case..."

The kunoichi appears pensive for a moment, before her own face reddens a bit.

"N-not that I'd call Hiroko-sensei weird, either! She's just a little eccentric, I guess. I bet she'd like you!"

Raiza sets her chopsticks down, her seemingly-boundless appetite finally surrendering to the tide of Japanese cuisine. She raises her napkin up to dab at her lips.

"I know I already said it, but that was great."

Her brown eyes turn to Daisuke's as she turns and lies back on the rooftop with her arms folded behind her head.

"So, what do you think is next, then? I mean, do you wanna practice fighting sometime or something? If it's not too painful for you to try, that is. I mean, I wouldn't want you to have to hurt yourself just for some friendly training. Oh! I should show you my new Lucky Chloe costume sometime. It's pretty cute."

[DAISUKE]
The look of gratitude on Daisuke's face over Raiza's assurances turn quickly to confusion when Hiroko-sensei is brought up. Her sudden change in disposition in particular brings the red-haired boy to tipping his head sideways in a manner not unlike that of a curious puppy.

"I mean... I'm kind of used to eccentric, I guess...?" Still, he looks on to the girl with a faint measure of suspicion. Suspicion brought on just by the fact that she is reacting like that over the person she brought up herself while *also* saying this person would... like him? "Er... What is she like, exactly?"

Once she's drawn herself down to lying down, Daisuke himself is given enough space to actually dig in to the remnants of his lunch -- which seems much less of a daunting task now that his friend has helped make away with a good chunk of it.

He does not, however, look back to her when she asks that question.

"...I'm not sure," he admits, with a bit of a far off look. "I thought about that, I mean. I've learned to manage the feedback with focus and keeping the... I guess 'output' of it all at a controlled level, if that makes sense? But I'm also kind of... I don't really like hurting people, you know? It's one thing to punch a thug like that guy the other night to protect someone else, but otherwise, it's not something I have a taste for. So I guess I'm kind of afraid of possibly hurting you, too."

A slow roll of shoulders under his school uniform jacket, and he quickly fishes the remaining biteful of breaded pork up to his mouth.

"I did also think about, like... teaming up or something sometime. If you felt up to it."

Beat.

"Wait, hold on. Back up."

And *now* he actually turns to look down at her. Not just by turning his head, he actually scoots his rear where he sits so he can turn his whole body more towards her while his slightly-widened eyes find their focus on her.

"Your... *what* costume?"

[RAIZA]
"Oh, Hiroko-sensei is one of my Edo-ryuu teachers - the specialist in, um, 'kunoichi training,'" Raiza explains, laughing somewhat awkwardly from her prone position. "I think you'll know her if you meet her!"

She turns her eyes up to Daisuke, then adds, "If it makes you feel better, I'd be trying to hurt you, too! Obviously not, like, trying to cause permanent damage or whatever. Just practice fighting! I mean, maybe it would be better to wait till my hand's a little better, anyway..."

Her face lights up.

"And I'd totally be down for teaming up sometime!"

She sits up, propping herself up on one hand, as he scoots around.

"My Lucky Chloe costume! You know Lucky Chloe, right? She let me have one of her costumes!"

She holds up the lunchbox she's brought to the rooftop, showing the picture of the catgirl-themed fighter - complete with headphone cat ears, a pink jacket with sleeves ending in paws, black tail, pink and black dress, stockings, knee pads, and sneakers.

"I might even be able to get you a chance to meet her, now that I'm kind of friends with her and stuff."

[DAISUKE]
"Kunoichi training...?"

Raiza might very well have expected that her explanation would just leave the poor boy even more confused -- and his expression definitely reflects that. Like a computer caught processing some calculation that it's hardware is suddenly no longer able to handle.

"Would that be like... general studies for you then, or something? I don't get it..."

He is left to considering her counter-argument on the prospect of sparring. Though it *does* leave him looking a little dubious at first.

"I... *guess* that makes it a little better...?" He murmurs, though he doesn't seem entirely convinced on that particular point necessarily. "...To be fair, you do have all that energy stuff of your own, going biribiri and everything. You'd probably be much more likely to deflect or soak it up over someone who doesn't have anything like that..." A glance down towards her hand. "But later. Definitely later if at all. I don't want to make that worse."

When she sits up, and gives her answer to him over the costume, he narrows his eyes for a moment. Staring at the idol depicted on the lunchbox again, and...

"So... she gave you a catgirl costume..."

Another few seconds pass, and-- then, with a cough, he suddenly casts his eyes away, looking *much* more akward now. "I- I, uh, it probably looks really good on you..."

HE shakes his head quickly to force himself back into focus, so that he might look right back to her right after without making an utter fool of himself again. "But nevermind that for now! How'd you make friends with an idol, anyway?"

[RAIZA]
Raiza lifts one shoulder and looks askance past it awkwardly as Daisuke questions the idea of 'kunoichi training.'

"Well, you know, there are different traditions for kunoichi training in some schools that don't necessarily apply to shinobi training... and I'm gonna try and master both! Hiroko-sensei was apparently quite the kunoichi back in her day."

The schoolgirl looks around, as if expecting the elder ninja to appear from behind a wall to correct her.

"I mean, still is!" she says with an apologetic look to the shadows.

"I'd trust you not to explode me! And I'm sure you'd be okay, too. We're both real fighters, right?"

Raiza seems confident of the fact, even if she's only a genin at best, and probably technically just a ninja student.

"It does! I mean, it's just a little tight or whatever, but it's not too bad," she says of the costume, perhaps taking Daisuke's point the wrong way. "I made friends with her after I tried to sneak into her dressing room on a secret mission and she caught me. We had a fight, she beat me up, and then she said we were friends now and we'd get sushi sometime and I can replace one of her backup dancers! She said she was going to have to kick them. I'm presuming she means off the team. She's actually pretty nice!"

One can practically see the sparkles in her eyes as she speaks of the idol in glowing terms.

[DAISUKE]
"I.. see...?" Honestly, Daisuke *doesn't* actually see. Raiza's mannerisms while she's talking about 'kunoichi training' and Hiroko-sensei are increasingly more confusing still. But somehow, he is suddenly getting the hunch feeling that he should not try to press her further on that particular line of curiousity. The kind of hunch feeling that says that will backfire horrible, one way or another.

Might be a good time to listen to that hunch for once.

Everything else put aside, he does listen eagerly for the story of her encounter with Lucky Chloe (and trying very hard to not think about the implications of the costume being tight)... but still ends up with a bemused look in his eyes yet again.

"...Okay, that's cool but, like... *why* exactly were you on a mission to inflitrate her dressing room? Did one of your teachers put you up to that for training's sake? And... are you, uh, actually going to go dance with her on concerts or whatever?

[RAIZA]
Raiza's response to Daisuke's inquiry about the Lucky Chloe situation is a simple nod, followed by a smile.

"Uh huh! I mean, Hisashi-senpai said that Masayoshi-sensei needed me to collect Lucky Chloe's tail. Then when I got the whole costume, he said that it was a training exercise! Of course, I didn't tell him that I actually got caught or made friends with Chloe, 'cause that probably would have meant I'd get in trouble with my ninja training... so please don't tell anyone! I'm also not really supposed to work in Japan on a student exchange visa, officially - so I'm volunteering in exchange for free Lucky Chloe merch! So, if you ever want any Lucky Chloe memorabilia, let me know!"

The teen ninja seems delighted with the dubious arrangement. She takes her phone out to check the time, eyes flitting to the screen, then back up to Daisuke's face.

"So, when do you wanna hang out again? Or do you wanna text me when you have time? I have training and homework and stuff most nights, but I can figure things out as long as I know when! Not to mention we can have lunch together whenever!"

[DAISUKE]
"... That definitely sounds like something someone would put you up to just to prove you can do it..." Daisuke murmurs on a sliiiightly quieter tone in response to the explanation. "Uh... No, don't worry, I'll stay quiet... You already agreed not to talk about... er, a lot of my things."

Just Raiza taking a look at the phone aloen seems to be enough of a hint for Daisuke that they're starting to near the end of lunch hour-- so he quickly shovels a bit more of his food into his gullet, before giving up and closing the box. He'll just have to reheat it at home.

"Uh...We can try that training thing whenever you are free? Otherwise I can... Bring share some food on lunch tomorrow too, if... you want. Or you know, whatever..."

[RAIZA]
"Sounds good to me!" Raiza declares - though, before she has a chance to clarify which specific point sounds good, the bell goes off in the school below, signalling the end of lunch period. The brunette quickly packs her lunchbox back and slaps it shut.

"I'll see you in shop class, then! And let me know about that mystery person who wants to be superheroes together!"

That last point is shouted maybe a bit more loudly than it ought to be in order to be heard over the bell - but it's /probably/ fine. Surely there's no high school paparazzi in Taiyo lurking nearby to get the scoop on the transfer students and their clandestine encounter on the school rooftop for lunch.

Raiza gives Daisuke a wave and one more smile as she makes for the door back inside.

"See you soon!"

[DAISUKE]
"Ah--?"

The clarification is lost both to the bell and Daisuke's own need to pack up his bentou in a bit of a hurry. Time ended up kind of getting away from the two of them, perhaps.

"I'll... see what I can do," is the least he can promise back to the brunette at least, and by the time he's up on his feet, she's probably already closing in on the door pretty fast. Only getting the chance to toss one last look her way just in time to see the wave that comes with the final parting words.

"Y-yeah, I'll, uh--" He ends up stumbling on his words right there, too. Long enough that she's surely right through the door before he finally manages to add in (with a slightly defeated tone): "...Make curry for tomorrow."

The redhead doesn't even make the effort to extract himself from the roof right away at that point, either. Instead, he turns over and-- swings his head over to bonk his forehead agains the safety fence at the edge of the roof.

"What are you doing, you dumbass...?"

Log created on 13:28:40 07/31/2021 by Raiza, and last modified on 22:40:05 08/08/2021.