Description: Shingo, and then Igniz, decide to bug Kyo on Taiyo High's rooftop.
Rooftop
Accessible from a single stairway, the rooftop of Taiyo High is often
fairly quiet. Flat and wide, it provides a large venue for students who wish
to try out their fighting skills. Not that Taiyo teachers officially
encourage such activities on such a dangerous platform, of course...
The rooftop of Taiyo High is Kyo Kusanagi's "turf" here at the school, that is when he bothers to show up for classes at all. Even then, he generally skips a good amount of them to come up here to enjoy the solitude and stare aimlessly up at the sky. These unscholarly activities have been curtailed somewhat by his girlfriend's rather insistent demands for him to improve his grade-point average, and as Kyo well knows, she can be VERY persuasive.
So today, instead of just loafing off and using his two hands as a pillow while he daydreams, he uses one hand as his cushion as he looks up not at the blue skies above, but a small Cliff Notes-esque publication that breaks down some ancient work of classic literature for those who can't be bothered to study the book in-depth themselves.
However, even with the "abridged" study material, Kyo doesn't seem to be pleased in the least. His expression often sours as he peruses the study guide, and the occasional grumble escapes his lips during his reading. "This stuff is really bothersome..." he mutters.
Of course, the rooftop being Kyo's 'turf' is hardly a secret to most of the students at Taiyo High - least of all to Kyo Kusanagi's number one (and only) student, Shingo Yabuki. Thankfully for Shingo, this is a free period for him, so a small trip up to the roof to check on his teacher isn't really a trouble at all - well, not a trouble for Shingo. Whether or not Kyo is expecting a visit (or interruption) from Shingo at this time is anyone's guess.
"Kusanagi-san!" Shingo calls out as he finally finishes climbing the steps to the roof and pushes aside the heavy door. Smiling his usual overly gleeful smile, the young student of both Taiyo and Kusanagi-ryuu jogs over to his mentor, but stops short a few feet when he sees the other man reading as opposed to relaxing.
"Kusanagi-san, is everything alright? I mean...I don't think I've ever seen you with a book. Not that there's anything wrong with that! It's just...different." For the level of displeasure Kyo is surely displaying, Shingo is displaying an equal amount of confusion. Kyo? Studying? At school? Is this even the real Kyo?
His reading interrupted, Kyo pauses for a moment to look over his shoulder to see who's arrived on the rooftop, as if Shingo's trademark cries for his sensei didn't give him away already. The brief glance Kyo gives to Shingo can only be described as "blase". Kyo returns to looking at his study guide, only to close it a few seconds later, placing it beside him then returning the hand he was holding it with back to it's normal position behind his head.
An airplane passes over Taiyo, seemingly miles up in the sky, barely visible save for the needle-thin trail of vapor it leaves in it's wake.
"So, did you bring it?" Kyo says. It being Shingo's usual payment for the privilege of being "trained" by the legendary Kyo Kusanagi; that is to say, being allowed to be around him.
Did he bring 'it'? When has Shingo ever NOT brought 'it'? Of course, as Shingo sometimes does when he's not ENTIRELY sure if Kyo is up here, he leaves the goods in the stairwell in a small bag. It's not as if anyone else really comes up here, and if they did, they'd probably think twice about nabbing a bag that potentially belonged to the great Kyo Kusanagi.
Wordlessly, Shingo merely gives Kyo a soft bow, and with a few large strides makes his way back to the stairwell, grabs a small plastic bag, and takes a few quick strides back to his clearly disinterested teacher. His head bowed somewhat low, Shingo extends the bag towards Kyo, smile slowly crossing his face as he does so, his voice when he finally speaks, extremely cheery - grateful even.
"Here you go Kusanagi-san, your favourites! Two sandwiches, and a carton of milk! I ensured they made the sandwiches fresh, and the milk was ice cold when I got it. Hopefully this is acceptable tribute for today." Shingo far too cheerily states. Clearly he takes great pride in fighting his way through cafeteria lines daily to get Kyo lunch. All the same, whenever the bag is taken, Shingo's posture immediately straightens up, his smile growing ever wider as he peers at the book Kyo is reading for but a moment. Only but a moment. Not wanting to waste a precious second of his mentor's time, Shingo quickly pulls out his ever trusty notebook from within his school coat, thumbs over to a blank page, and whips out a pencil. If anything, Shingo is now ready for his notetaking.
Kyo sits up and snatches the plastic bag away from Shingo. As Shingo is explaining the contents of said bag, Kusanagi is carefully examining the sandwiches with a dubious expression lying across his face. "Hmpf..." is the only reply he has to his so-called student before he takes a huge bite of the first sandwich. Kyo chows down for a few minutes with Shingo ardently standing by, waiting for his sensei to drop a pearl of great fighting knowledge.
Instead what he gets is Kyo, his mouth full of food, remarking disparagingly, "This food tastes terrible."
Nevermind the fact that Kyo is devouring everything given to him like it was going to be his last meal.
Shingo's initial reaction is to merely take notes of what Kyo's doing. Granted, with him not really doing or saying anything that Shingo hasn't taken notes on before, the notes are at best sparse. In fact, more of a log entry than anything else. Kyo's commentary regarding the food however gets an appropriate reaction as Shingo is taken aback.
An eyebrow raised, Shingo places his pencil inside his notebook, closes the notebook as calmly as he can and with a somewhat saddened expression, cocks his head as a dog would, and looks at Kyo for a few lingering seconds. Then, as if Shingo had just offended the Emperor of Japan, he begins bowing profusely, vigourously.
"Many many apologies, Kusanagi-san! If you'd like, I can go back to get you something more agreeable... but I swear, I watched them make the sandwiches myself, *AND* just the way you normally like them!" Of course, with the apologies come more bowing, and with the bowing comes more apologetic mumbling. Nothing Shingo hates more than disappointing his idol.
Kyo just keeps chewing, polishing off the second sandwich even as Shingo is apologizing profusely for them. He downs the milk soon afterwards with a satisfied, "Ah!" and lays back, one hand on his stomach. "Well, they say hunger is the best spice..." he muses out loud. He takes a moment to look around the rooftop, then to the empty plastic bag and milk carton, "So is that all you brought?"
Shingo's bowing and apologizing stop in their tracks the moment Kyo finishes. Partly because there's no need to apologize after Kyo's finished off the food, and partly because if he kept apologizing and bowing it'd make it difficult to answer Kyo's question. "Yes Kusanagi-san. I brought the usual...wasn't aware you were more hungry than normal--" not that Shingo would think that possible, "--so yes. That's all. Is it sufficient for at least some sort of lesson today?" Shingo attempts to intone the latter part of the question as humbly as he can without sounding desperate. It's not as if Kyo doesn't know of Shingo's deep desire to learn more and perfect his abilities... but if he's ever going to be anything like Kyo, he's gotta start being a little more neutral.
Kyo sighs slightly, this is the difficult part. The "lessons," if you could even call them that, aren't something Kyo enjoys doing, nor has he ever been very good at them. The fact that Shingo has progressed to his current level is amazing considering the low level of teaching Kyo has afforded him. Every so often, such as right now at this moment, Kusanagi feels a pang of guilt that he isn't able to give Shingo more thoughtful instruction, but they quickly fade away when he reminds himself that he is no sensei, something he made painfully clear to Shingo the first time the younger boy asked to be taught.
Still, he does enjoy free food...
Kyo makes a lazy gesture through the air with one hand, asking Shingo a rhetorical question, "How are you flames coming out?"
Of course Kyo's question is incredibly rhetorical, however that doesn't stop Shingo from answering it with all he's got. Thrusting a gloved fist in front of his own face, Shingo grins momentarily, before slowly dropping the gloved fist to his side, smile fading as the fist descends. "Well, as you can see, I've still got the gloves. No flames yet...but I'm still trying my best. Maybe one day! Maybe. Hopefully." Shingo's optimistic look causes his smile to beam brightly again as he once again whips his notebook out and prepares yet again to take some notes.
"So Kusanagi-san, what'll today's lesson be?" Much like Kyo's rhetorical question, Shingo's is in a way rhetorical as well. He knows that the lessons aren't at all 'lessons'...but at least he learns something through observation.
Kyo thinks for a few moments. He's really drawing a blank here. Eventually he shrugs hopelessly and decides to try and impart some of his "personal philosophy" to the younger boy, having failed to come up with anything inspirational or educational to say.
"You need to not think about it so much. If you go into your training each day trying to make flames come out, it will definitely never happen." Kyo extends a hand and produces a small flame in it's palm, the crimson flame roiling around in a small fireball. "Take a look at this, there's no set pattern, the flame isn't predictable and it never looks the same from moment to moment, right? One instant it's just a tiny spark..." He dulls the flame down to illustrate his point, then lets the flame erupt over his entire hand, "-The next it's a blaze, do you get what I mean?"
Kyo looks up at Shingo with an expression on his face that makes it pretty clear that even Kusanagi himself isn't exactly sure what the hell he's talking about.
While Shingo might understand what Kyo's saying, that doesn't make the concept any easier to grasp. Still, he takes notes diligently, at points murmuring words repetitively as if to acknowledge that he's paying attention. "Don't think. No pattern. Unpredictable. Got it."
Of course, Shingo's face is buried too deeply into his note-taking to notice Kyo's expression. Even if Shingo DID see it, he'd probably dismiss the expression more for Kyo being frustrated with Shingo's slow progression than anything else. When it comes to Kyo, Shingo doesn't think it's possible for the man to not know what he's talking about. He IS Shingo's idol afterall.
Notes taken for the time being, Shingo looks up finally and gazes intently at the blazing flames engulfing Kyo's hand. He's seen it many times before, but each time is as wonderous as the last if not moreso. "One day--" Shingo silently mouths mostly to himself, "--one day." Some way, some how, he'll figure out the flames bit. Oh sure, he's training night and day as is, but maybe if he can just push himself that one bit harder, and for a change not think about it, maybe it'll all click. Not that he really thinks about it while training, he just pushes himself as hard as he can, but still. Kyo's words will definitely stick with him. Just don't think about it.
"A guy like you can't be counted on to have really precise techniques, so you'll just have to put everything you've got into your strikes and hope to get the momentum going on your side." Here Kyo is basically stating the obvious and telling Shingo to do what he's basically been doing already.
To be honest, Shingo only repeated the abbreviated note version of what he wrote. In fact, he wrote down every word, and described the creation of flames in full detail - but far be it from him to waste the great Kyo's time by repeating it all. All the same, Shingo continues to write down every word and every action of Kyo's, even jotting down Kyo's advice to, in short, continue doing what Shingo's been doing.
Shingo nods to each word, and when he finishes writing it all down, looks up at Kyo at smiles a very proud smile. In a way, what Kyo just said was about as close to a compliment as Shingo would get from his mentor, so might as well eat it up. "Kusanagi-san, I won't let you down! I'll double my efforts, and work even harder than I am now! No matter the situation, I'll always give it everything I've got." Shingo adds a few minor notes in the margins of the notebook, accounting for a few little nuances he didn't write the first time, before placing the pencil down in the notebook so that he can give Kyo his full undivided attention again.
"So, Kusanagi-san, will that be all for the lesson today...or...?"
Kyo away from Shingo, out towards the skyscrapers of downtown Southtown, the huge towers dazzling his eyes as the glitter in the midday sunlight. Too much is on his mind, chiefly his need to impress Yuki with his grades for this quarter, which won't be easy when considering that in addition to being a student, Kyo is also a globe-trotting street fighter currently in the semi-finals of one of the biggest fighting tournaments in the world.
"Yeah, well, don't strain yourself..." Kyo murmurs back in reply to Shingo's passionate speech about hard work and effort, two things that are pretty much alien concepts to him. He doesn't specifically say that the lesson is over and done with, but by the distant look in his eyes, it would appear that Kyo doesn't have very much else to say at this point in time.
Kyo looks away from Shingo, out towards the skyscrapers of downtown Southtown, the huge towers dazzling his eyes as the glitter in the midday sunlight. Too much is on his mind, chiefly his need to impress Yuki with his grades for this quarter, which won't be easy when considering that in addition to being a student, Kyo is also a globe-trotting street fighter currently in the semi-finals of one of the biggest fighting tournaments in the world.
"Yeah, well, don't strain yourself..." Kyo murmurs back in reply to Shingo's passionate speech about hard work and effort, two things that are pretty much alien concepts to him. He doesn't specifically say that the lesson is over and done with, but by the distant look in his eyes, it would appear that Kyo doesn't have very much else to say at this point in time.
Even if Shingo knew about Kyo's school trouble, he wouldn't want to hurt Kyo's pride by offering to tutor or assist him. Granted, if the older boy asked him directly to assist with his studies, Shingo would hardly refuse. Just not exactly an easy topic to broach with your idol and mentor. Still, as Kyo turns away from Shingo, Shingo opens up his notebook to quickly study the notes of the day before putting the notebook back in its safe spot within his school uniform jacket.
"Don't worry Kusanagi-san. I won't strain myself...or I'll try not to at least..." the last few words are almost whispers at this point, Shingo trailing off completely as he too begins looking out across the skyscrapers of Southtown. If Kyo is going to do the silent thing, Shingo too can do the silent thing! Better yet, he too can appreciate the beauties of downtown! Besides, when Kyo gets like this after a lesson, it's usually his cue to hang around a moment or two just in case something occurs to Kyo, and then to high-tail it back to class.
"There is something to be said for actual effort and practice, scion of Kusanagi." Huh? Where did that come from? There is a whipping of wind, as from behind the pair, hovering a good half dozen feet off the edge of the roof in midair, is a familiar face to Kyo. Igniz floats there, his chi whipping about him like a miniature windstorm, a smile on his face. He tilts his head slightly, as if noticing Shingo for the first time. "Oh? And is this one of your friends, Kyo?" He chuckles slightly, and gives a nod to Kyo's #1 fan. "Still, I suppose one must make do with what they have... Though some make better do than others..."
"That voice..." Kyo's demeanor changes immediately from a distant, daydreaming expression to one of undisguised ferocity. He immediately shoots up to his feet and whips around to glare straight at Igniz. His eyes narrow dangerously as he looks upon the NESTS chairman floating there in the middle of sky but yet, a small smirk grows across his lips, giving him a sort of aggressive-cocky expression. One that fits in perfectly with what he starts saying.
"I see you've recovered since that beating I gave you at World Warrior... I have to say I'm pretty surprised that you'd show up here though! It takes a real character to put one foot in their grave like you're doing right now, freak!"
At his side, tendrils of crimson flame start to emerge from the knuckles of one of Kyo's hands, practically begging to be let loose with impunity upon Igniz.
In fact, if not for Kyo pretty much indicating that the floating fellow isn't really a friendly face, Shingo might've even continued being pleasant. As it stands, Shingo's eyes flit between the flames forming around Kyo's hands, and the inevitable reaction from Igniz. The temptation to pull out his notebook to take notes is great, but for the moment, Shingo holds back that urge to see what might be going on.
Of course, he could just ask, but it'd be VERY rude to interrupt what seems to be a continued conversation between Kyo and 'floating man'.
Shingo seems to be such a /nice/ boy. Igniz makes a mental note to check up on him in the near future. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shingo." He replies with a polite smile. "My name is Igniz."
The demands of civility met, Igniz shifts his full attention to Kyo. The leader of the NESTS Cartel doesn't appear to be discomfited by Kyo's anger and rage, and in fact, drifts a bit closer to the edge of that rooftop. "You mean recovered since I last measured your progress? Absolutely. If you thought you had inflicted anything resembling permanent damage, you would have been sorely mistaken..."
Igniz's eyes narrow ever so slightly as Kyo makes his threat. "Did you really think that was the last you would see of me, scion of Kusanagi? Our last conflict simply proved that I was /far/ from finished with you. Really, you should be thanking me!"
Stepping to the edge of the rooftop, Kyo stares at Igniz with that same fierce yet confident look on his face. "That's funny you should mention that, because I was just about to say the same thing-" he raises a flaming fist up in front of his face, "-Just beating the crap out of you once wasn't nearly enough to settle things between us!" He flashes his trademark infuriating cocky grin now, "I'm gonna make you pay for what you did to me!"
The swirling winds generated by Igniz buffet the rooftop, and make the fires trailing off Kyo's hand whip around wildly, like a serpent emerging from his fist. For his part, Kyo just stands there with his arm extended, almost like he's inviting Igniz. It's the NESTS chairman's move now.
Part of Shingo would like to think that this Igniz fellow is a nice polite man. At least he seems to be, as long as he's not talking with Kyo. Then again, there's the 'Kyo's #1 fan' part of him, which tells him that thinking Igniz is a nice guy when Kyo looks a SMIDGE irritated (and that's putting it mildly) at the floating gentleman, may not be the best of ideas. So, with things at a relative momentary standstill of sorts, Shingo whips out his trusty notebook, and begins furiously jotting down various notes. Not only taking down everything Kyo's saying and doing, but making note of Igniz as well. Could come in handy later.
Oh sure, Kyo's enemies are in a way Shingo's enemies...but to be honest, Shingo isn't all too sure of what's going on just yet. That fact has yet to change. Best as Shingo can tell, there's some sort of hostility or rivalry between the two, but nothing on the level of Kyo and Iori. And thusly, Shingo stands about, taking notes. If Kyo wants or needs him, it's not as if Shingo'd hesitate to assist...but Kyo is Kyo.
"You are so confident, Kyo!" Igniz's voice is tinged with subtle mocking tones. "Do you even understand what you are?" Smoothly, he drifts along the edge of the roof, setting down at the edge of the roof approximately a dozen feet away, and watching Kyo intently. He makes a deliciously taunting target. "You are full of assumptions, so brash and unthinking of anything beyond the moment."
Igniz rubs his chin idly, and stands there with arms outstretched and seemingly at rest. If Kyo's going to go for him, he probably isn't going to get a better chance. Shingo, for the moment, is relegated to a minor issue at the moment. If he gets involved, it could get messy, but for the moment, he thinks he has judged this correctly...
Now to see how Kyo reacts.
Kusanagi pivots to keep his eyes on Igniz while the blonde battlesuit-clad fighter drifts along the edge of the roof, continuing the taunts. Deciding he's had enough, Kyo slices his hand through the air, creating a crescent of flame that /nearly/ reaches Igniz before it dissipates into harmless cinders. The meaning behind the gesture should be painfully clear, but just in case Igniz didn't get the point, Kyo loudly exclaims: "I couldn't care less what you 'think' I am, because I KNOW who I am..." He cracks a smirk.
"...I'm the guy who's sick of hearing you talk!"
Kyo starts dashing straight at Igniz, hand held out to the side, flame trailing behind him as he prepares to blow Igniz straight off the roof.
Scribble. Scribble. Scribble. Shingo's notetaking is taken up a notch as Kyo, being the hot-headed hero he is, lashes out at Igniz. Shingo's eyes bounce between writing his notes, and observing the actual verbal and emotional battle being waged. Something begins nagging at the back of Shingo's head though - this little voice that's telling him that something isn't right with this picture.
And then it hits him.
Not literally of course. Simple logic. Igniz can fly, or float. Kyo cannot. Igniz is drifting along the edge of the rooftop, and has goaded Kyo into running straight at him. Chances it's some sort of trap to get Kyo to leap off the roof? Pretty good. Unfortunately for Igniz, Shingo can't have that. Oh sure, Shingo might be wrong, but it can't hurt to call out to Kyo and hope for the best...because getting in Kyo's way would be a 'very bad thing (tm)'.
And so, Shingo does the one thing that makes sense to him at the time. I mean, it seems like a good idea. Sort of. Kind of. "Kusanagi-san! Be careful of the edge of the roof! If he moves, you might fall, and then..." Pause. Beat. Shingo doesn't need to finish that thought out loud. He's got a fairly good idea that Kyo can't hear him about the hot-headed rage, but on the same coin, he doesn't know EXACTLY what's going on, and he's not about to jump in-between Igniz and Kyo. To help Kyo? Perhaps. To get between the two? No way.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is what is commonly called the 'setup'. Let's take two people, called, oh, 'Person I' and 'Person K'. You see, first Person I shows up to speak with Person K. Person K is known for having a lack of patience and anger management issues (Which might explain some of the problems he's had with K9999, but this is besides the point. Could THAT be genetics too? Hrm...). Person I says various things to increase Person K's state of agitation, and then positions himself in an optimal position. Person K, as predicted, behaves within expected parameters, and approaches Person I's position at high speed with intent to attack.
Now, with all this said, Igniz does back slightly away as the flames singe towards him. You can never tell if Kyo's decided to try to take pages from other styles. simply stands there, watching serenely as Kyo charges the leader of NESTS, who happens to be standing at the edge of the roof. Every motion, every minute detail of Kyo's actions are considered, as the approach vector and velocity is calculated. Shingo's warning brings him a moment of irritation, but he is unsure if the hot-headed (ha ha ha) Kyo will realize what Shingo has said in time. Nevertheless, Igniz works with his original plan. As soon as Kyo reaches the optimal point, he blurs to one side, his cape whipping out to lash at the outstretched arm... And add merely a touch more impetus than Kyo might be expecting. It should be enough to cause Kyo to take a 'little' trip, even though he's probably going to need to put his cape out from those Kusanagi flames. "Perhaps you should pay more attention to what your friends and senses tell you, Kusanagi. Perhaps you might have avoided this, otherwise."
Hotheaded? Sure. Impulsive? Perhaps. Rash? Occasionally. All these things could be attributed to Kyo Kusanagi. That's why he liable to do something like run off a rooftop in order to get to his opponent. In that respect, Igniz's plan works: Kyo finds himself grasping at a cape right before he takes a step off Taiyo's roof. Whoops.
He disappears off the edge, and when one looks down off the roof, one might expect to see a nice Kyo-sized crater in the parking lot below. However, just because Kyo is able to be baited to take a three-story stumble off a rooftop, doesn't mean he's actually going to let it happen! He's clinging to the coping of Taiyo High's rooftop by one hand.
Even if he wouldn't be severely hurt by the drop, and might even land on his feet, he's not going to sacrifice more cool points than he's already lost. "Dammit..."
"KUUUSSSSAAAAAANNNNAAAGGGIIIII-SAN!!!!!" Shingo belts out at the top of his lungs as Kyo seemingly plunges off of the Taiyo High roof. Without more than a second thought (the first thought of course was to keep eyes on Igniz, just in case), Shingo sprints over to the edge of the roof where Kyo apparently fell off. Much is Shingo's amazement, when he looks down at what he expects would be a Kyo-sized crater, his vision is pleasantly met with an injured, at least physically, Kyo hanging off of the side of the rooftop with one hand.
Without hesitation, Shingo kneels down upon the rooftop, watching Igniz out of the corner of his eye, as he stretches a gloved hand downwards towards Kyo, clearly offering his mentor a helping hand up. "Kusanagi-san! Just grab my hand, and I'll help pull you up!" is what Shingo says. What Shingo thinks, is that if he helps Kyo up, he certainly hopes Kyo'll be a bit more careful...and maybe even explain what the deal between him and Igniz is, so that he doesn't have to stand around being confused about the situation.
Igniz turns, looking down to see what happens to Kyo, and arches an eyebrow in mild surprise when he sees that Kyo managed to grab the edge. "Not a total loss." He smiles, and backs away, giving Shingo plenty of room to go save his bestest buddy. Is he not merciful?
Of course, considering now that Kyo might technically 'owe' Shingo one, it might not be as merciful to the scion of Kusanagi as it might first appear.
Igniz also knows exactly what's going to happen as soon as Kyo gets back onto the roof. "Well, I suppose that is enough time to be reacquainted for now... Ah, but I had hoped for better, but nothing is perfect... yet." He walks away, boots rapping rhythmically on the rooftop as he crosses to the opposite side from Shingo and Kyo. "Farewell, Shingo, Kyo Kusanagi. I look forward to our next meeting." He turns away, but where could he possibly go? Hell, where did he COME from?
Kyo hangs by one hand for a few moments, then grabs onto the ledge with his other arm, ignoring Shingo's outstretched hand. Still grumbling about the fact that he was baited like that by Igniz, he hoists himself back onto the roof proper with a string of expletives that describe exactly what he's going to do Igniz and the entire NESTS organization once he gets ahold of them!
Log created on 20:21:13 05/20/2007 by Kyo, and last modified on 04:23:57 05/21/2007.