Description: Giving Pacific High another shot, Hotaru ends up trying her skill against a veritable mountain of student in the form of the oar-weilding Preston. Once again, Hotaru finds out just how tough Pacific High kids /really/ are.
Until now, Hotaru has been pretty good at picking out students to challenge at the various schools in Southtown. There's usually something about fighters that sticks out. Either she recognizes their faces from their successes in the fighting circuits, or she's met them somewhere before, or when all else fails, she relies on that ol' 'fighters instinct' for picking out proper opponents to challenge.
But it would seem like her instincts for such things could use some serious tuning. The present scene is Hotaru, dressed in her simple but refined traditionally Chinese styled outfit, bearing no particular school insignia. Opposite of her, looking both annoyed and a little scared, is a young man dressed in a way that /might/ pass for a school uniform - white shirt, dark slacks, fancy shoes. At his feet is a bag on its side, a number of envelopes of various colors spilling out onto the grass.
"Look kiddo, I just deliver the mail around here! Don't try to drag me into whatever little school kid vendetta you've got going on against this campus!" he yells back at the pig-tailed girl who is just now dropping the fighting stance she had a moment ago.
Hotaru's face pales a little and she lifts her hands to wave them back and forth as she shakes her head, "O-oh, no, I'm sorry, I thought that- I mean, you're not a student here? You looked like..." She takes a second look over him, at the postal-service logo on his breast pocket, then looks at the mailbag on the ground, her expression becoming more sheepish by the moment.
And with such a small campus, with barely a hundred and change students in attendance, it really shouldn't be that difficult to pick out the potential fighters in the crowd -- even going by instinct! Take for instance, the lad who watches the little scene amidst his peers; it's a spectacle after all, so naturally a small crowd has developed nearby.
Standing at the back of that crowd is a youth who towers over everyone else though, and he's armed, if the oar that's resting against his shoulder is any indicator. He also happens to be built like a damn wall of muscle, and it shows even through the school uniform he wears. Slacks and blue blazer, he simply shakes his head at the reversal of situations, the mailman now being fussed over by Hotaru.
"And there I was thinkin' there'd be somethin' worth fuckin' watchin'," the tall lad says, his voice carrying over the murmur of the crowd as it dissipates from around him. Thus, he's left standing there by himself, tall and proud.
Preston raises the oar higher, slanting it across his broad shoulders, and turns in turn to depart like his fellow classmates. There's to be no action here, it would seem, and thus... his attention turns elsewhere.
Still looking somewhat mortified at her mistake, Hotaru steps forward, attempting to help pick up the spilled mail, but the man shakes his head, waving his hand at her, "Get along now, you've already wasted enough of my time as it is." He bends down and begins shoving the envelopes back into the bag, crushing and bending letters and documents without a care in the world.
"Sorry, sorry," Hotaru tries to apologize again but only gets a grunt of annoyance for her attempt. Right, okay, he clearly wants nothing to do with /her/. Great start, she chides herself, turning around to look anywhere BUT the victim she had selected erroneously.
It's then that she notices the last student to turn away. It would be impossible to NOT notice him. His height and stature alone are noteworthy, but the oar really jogs her memory of something Tenma had said a week ago. '...gotta watch out for... a big guy with a boat paddle.'
"Hey!" Hotaru calls after him as Preston turns his back on the scene, "I've heard of you. I hear you're a pretty tough fighter!" Unfortunately, Tenma didn't provide a name, so he's just 'you'. But he definitely said the oar-bearing one was someone to watch out for. And unless there's a whole club of guys that match that description, she's pretty sure this is the guy.
Luc enters the hall.
And if Preston ever hears about that, he's going to shove his oar so far up Tenma's...
As the youth attempts to leave, he's called back. And sure enough, the 'hey' is enough to draw his attention, the lad with the oar ceasing his movement to glance back over a shoulder. "What the fuck do you want?" he says in typical British, or at least Preston, fashion.
Rounding, he stares quite down at Hotaru, despite the distance between the two. What is it with Asians being short? He could start a standup routine with those kind of jokes, he really could; pity the Yakuza would likely cut him to shreds. Plus he lacks a red brick wall to stand up against.
"A pretty tough fighter? Well at least whoever the hell is talking about me has their fuckin' facts right. Are you quite done trying to pick on our bloody mailman?" Ah yes, he's quick to point out the rather obvious mistake that the girl has made, almost as if to draw attention away from the fact that he's a fighter!
Then again, as if that oar could deny the fact though. He shifts it across his shoulders, and then lifts both arms up to loop over the bar. The way he looks down at her with those clear hazel eyes, and the smirk on his face, it's clear; he doesn't think she's much of anything, particularly worth his time.
Luc heads to the athletics fields.
Pas heads to the athletics fields.
His... uncouth reply earns him a blink from the much smaller girl. Hotaru's heard as much bad language as any normal student could expect, but it's usually reserved for when someone is pissed off or hurt and not typically part of a cordial greeting! But she's not deterred by simply Preston's choice of words.
As he mentions the, ah, mistaken identity crisis of five minutes ago, Hotaru glances over her shoulder. The mailman lifts his bag to his shoulder then immediately walks off with a hurried pace. Even he can see the makings of an incoming fight, and after having avoided getting beat up once already, he's not about to stick around.
Looking back toward Preston, Hotaru smiles weakly, "Ah, well, yes, I just got a little over zealous, I think... I'm usually better at picking someone out to fight..." Then again, picking a fight against the tall lad doesn't seem to indicate that she's really all that good at it in general. "But yes," she continues, "I am here to find out what kind of fighters this school has so I can tell if it's the right place for me!" she finishes, pointing back at herself with her thumb. "But if you don't think you're up to it..." she insinuates, perhaps detecting the skepticism in his smirking expression.
Tenma heads to the athletics fields.
Tenma comes up from the main campus.
The skepticism only grows as Hotaru explains her reasons for being here. "Let me get his straight then, sunshine," Preston begins, and those who know him should know that it's the beginning of one of his rants. "You've come out of bumblefuck knows where, to pick on a mailman to start with, in some fuckin' lamearse attempt to find the 'right school for you' by fightin' people?"
He doesn't wait for a response. He lifts a hand away from the oar, and presses it to his chest. "Now I, in all my years of wisdom, am left somewhat stumped as to why the fuck that is even something to consider when attemptin' to find the 'right school for you.' You're going to what, visit all the schools of Southtown, engage in the random, senseless violence that kids your age seem to enjoy, and... based on whoever kicks your fuckin' arse the best, join that school?"
The oar comes away from his shoulder, and he heaves a mighty sigh. "Well, sunshine, I'm not going to lie to you. You're fuckin' crazy if that's the reason you're goin' around pickin' fights with people. I'd spend the time to consider just why it is that this town attracts so many violent little kids, but honestly; it's Japan, and violent videogames are no doubt the cause.
"But don't get me wrong here, luv," he adds, as he hefts the oar up into one hand, the weight of it balanced just so. "I really don't care what your reasons are, and I don't really give a fuck period, but..."
In one smooth motion, he heaves the oar right at her, blade first! "Catch!"
COMBATSYS: Preston has started a fight here.
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Preston 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Preston
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Preston's Large Thrown Object.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Preston
She actually tries to interject quick answers as Preston pontificates rather undiplomatically. "Seijyun," is where she came from. "Accidentally," picked on the mail man. "It's important to me," to find a school with the right spirit in its students. "Kind of," go around and fight the students at the various schools and make her decision based on what she finds. "I'm not that young!"
Okay, so Preston here is probably not a chairman on the Intercampus Good Will Committee. But he does raise a good point and it makes Hotaru begin to second guess this crazy school-crashing tour Takuma has sent her on. "Well, for someone who doesn't care, you sure had a lot to say-"
She leans her head to the side, the oar flying past her. Good thing the mailman got the heck out of here, or he'd end up being Preston's victim too! Well then. Deciding that the oar-spear is Preston's way of accepting her challenge, Hotaru up and sprints directly toward him as if trying to take him down with some kind of suicidal imaginary brute force. She isn't running blind though, as she'll attempt to weave around any retaliation as she tries to grab hold of his arm. If she gets a tight grip, she'll use the leverage to land a series of kicks, each one higher than the previous, as she'll run right up the front of the tall student, only to leap from his shoulders in the end into a backflip through the air.
COMBATSYS: Preston endures Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Preston
It's true that Preston had a lot to say, but whether or not he cares is another matter; he truthfully doesn't, he just enjoys speaking a little too much. The oar he throws is easily dodged though, as it turns out, and the girl shows a remarkable lack of fear for the flying object. He notes that. He observes, those clear eyes analytical even as she charges towards him.
And he lets her come, doing little to stop her advance. Even as she grabs his arm, and then sprints up his chest, feet stomping the entire way, he simply stands there and takes it. A tower of muscle, each heel slams down into a steel wall, and the lad barely staggers despite the ferocity that Hotaru shows.
"Cute," he declares, as she backflips off his shoulders -- but it presents an opening, and he's all too happy to take it.
Stepping forward, he gains momentum quickly as he brings one of his brutish arms to bear against the petite Asian, attempting to rather viciously clothesline her right out of the air as he trundles past in search of his oar! Words can wait; he wants his weapon back.
COMBATSYS: Preston successfully hits Hotaru with Running Rigging.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Preston
The downside to high-flying acrobatics is the inherent risk of your opponent not being stunned enough by your previous attack. Arms out at her sides, Hotaru is in the middle of coming back down to the ground when Preston charges by with his arm out. He strikes her in the stomach, flipping her over completely in the middle of the air before Hotaru comes to a bad impact, landing on the ground on her back. "Ugh..." she groans, curling up a little as she rolls onto her side and then pushes herself back up to her feet. The downtime will have been more than enough for the Pacific High student to reclaim his weapon of choice.
They sure make them /tough/ wherever he's from, Hotaru muses, turning to face the direction she last knew him to be running in. She's never been very good at placing accents. Okay. Mustn't get hit like that again. His physique is studied. He's tough enough to take her hits and strike back without the normal delay most targets have. She'll have to keep that in mind.
In fact, she decides to keep her distance for a bit, rolling her arm back, a blua aura appearing along her forearm as she concentrates a small ball of force into the palm of her hand. Once it is sufficient, she swings her hand forward, sideways style, lobbing from the end of her fingers a blue, shimmering sphere of pure force directly for Preston's stomach.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Preston with Hakki Shou.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Preston
Having the time to collect his weapon of choice doesn't help too much in the end, for even as Preston collects the oar and lifts it back into position, he's turning around in time to see the Asian keeping her distance -- and summoning a ball of power!
It hurtles through the air and strikes the lad square in the center, causing him to hunch over momentarily. But even still, despite the pain it MUST have caused him, he shows little sign of it. Instead, he brandishes the oar in front of him, the impressive length of it held firm in a show of strength. "So tell me then, are you enjoying your little visit to Pacific High then, girl? Is it everything you had hoped for?"
Words mean little of course, but they give him a chance to gather his wits. She's a fast little thing, there's no denying that; he'll take a moment to simply watch her, and wait on her next move. She can't keep up the ranged game forever, and if she does... well, he has a couple nasty tricks of his own to dish out, if need-be. "Thus far, I'm finding your style a little lacking. Stomping your heels and throwing balls; what is this, the playground? Show me something good."
COMBATSYS: Preston focuses on his next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Preston
As the chiball leaves her fingers, Hotaru lowers her arm, the blue aura that washed over it a moment ago fading away. Her other hand squeezes against her forearm a bit, as if there is a latent ache from throwing the projectile. There's a quirk of a frown at the way Preston reacts to the attack. She put a lot into it and for it to not really seem to lay him out at all is mildly disappointing. He would probably be glad to know she doesn't have it in her to keep throwing balls at him over and over again.
"I'm not sure yet," she replies, grinning just a little at his first question, "I've fought two others here before you, and they were pretty tough too." She can't help but wonder how it is that all those 'imported' students hit so hard. Then again, comparing them to Seiyjun's prissy girls is probably part of the problem. "My name is Hotaru," she states firmly.
As he takes a jab at her style though, Hotaru tightens her hands a little. She should know better than to let taunts get under her skin, but he manages to provoke her into doing something rash all the same. Huffing, the smaller fighter sprints toward him again, this time a bit more carelessly. Once she's in close, though, she'll leap into him with a rising, spinning shoulder tackle, putting all of her weight and momentum into it. It's really not the smartest thing to do against an opponent like this, but if it connects, he can't say that she's just been tapdancing through this fight at least.
COMBATSYS: Preston blocks Hotaru's Tenshin Shou EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Preston
The name is given, but Preston does not give his in turn. In fact, he has precious little time to say anything, as the girl comes charging in towards him after he makes his jab at her style. As expecting, he's applied verbal pressure to the correct point -- and it brings her in close, where he can do the most damage.
Thus, even as she comes barreling in towards him, her shoulder meets the blade of his oar instead. Even as the momentum behind her forces the weapon back into his chest, he maintains his ground and simply smirks down at her. "Not the smartest idea there, luv," he advises her simply, giving her the slightest of pushes back before he retaliates.
And retaliate he does; by pushing her back, he gives himself enough room to employ the oar. The shaft of it slides in his grip as he thrusts the majority of the length back behind him, taking a stern hold of his weapon about the blade. In one fell swoop, he stabs the oar forward like a spear, in an attempt to catch Hotaru square in the middle, just as she caught him.
And should she be unfortunate enough to be caught, she'll find herself hoisted high into the air, before being unceremoniously slammed down into the ground, the Brit's strength showing.
COMBATSYS: Preston successfully hits Hotaru with Bunting Tosser.
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1 Preston
Again she fails to really budge the powerful student much. Coming back down on her feet, she's pushed back easily enough due to not really being in a position to stop him. She does recover her footing though just before the oar comes for her, but not well enough to avoid it as she tries to do. Underestimating its length, her lean backward doesn't take her far enough and the wooden weapon strikes her in the middle, bending the the girl over it as she gasps. It makes it easy to hoist her up and slam her back down into the ground before she can wriggle her way off the oar. "A-ya!" Hotaru cries out as she hits the ground again hard. Rolling over onto her side, she presses her hand against her stomach while using her other arm to push her up off the ground and back up to her feet.
After the two attacks he's landed, she's already looking a bit worked over, and right now she looks like she might be a little sick from that last blow to her stomach too. Taking several quick steps backward, it seems that he took the fight out of her for the moment and she's going to catch her breath. "Your style is pretty simple," Hotaru replies back neutrally. He felt it fair to comment on hers after all. "All you have going for you is that big stick and brute force."
COMBATSYS: Hotaru gains composure.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Preston
It's a rather dizzying height to which Preston lifts the girl, using the full length of the oar itself to help her three yards into the sky, before the fall begins. In the end though, he's left standing there with a smirk on his face, while she's busy thinking that she may be about to throw-up.
"If you want to think the style is pretty simple, that's your choice, sunshine," the Brit replies, the smirk momentarily becoming a grin. He isn't about to go telling her the secrets of his heritage, or the art he's the heir to now; there's no point, not in the middle of a battle. And not when she's his opponent.
Instead, he lifts the oar overhead, giving it a lazy twirl before again brandishing it out in front of him. For all the brute force he employs, it's clear where the origins of the style come from; stick fighting. Only, no stick has ever been that long. It's a ridiculous length, but the Brit utilizes it with an ease only his size could allow for.
With her so far away though, he considers his next option carefully. And seizing on a decision, he takes a small leap into the air, crashing down with the oar at full range -- it sweeps down in a vicious overhead, to once more strike at Hotaru, this time to pummel her into the ground!
COMBATSYS: Preston successfully hits Hotaru with Medium Strike.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|=======\==-----\1 Preston
Even though she seems to have dismissed his style as being nothing but cave-man tactics, Hotaru is still watching Preston carefully, observing how he really weilds the oar. It isn't an overside clubd in his hands, but more like a bo-staff in her eyes. Longer than any one she has had to try and deal with before. And as he spins it around with ease, she begins to identify his style as being something along those lines.
When he takes to the air, the girl braces herself. Trying to dodge early when some has that kind of reach will just give him the time to adjust his aim. So she has to wait until late - unfortunately, too late in this case. As Hotaru attempts to take a step to the side and get out of the way, the edge of the oar comes down right on her shoulder, driving the small statured fighter right down into the ground. "Ah!"
She catches herself with her hands, in spite the sharp pain in her collerbone, and then leaps right back up at Preston now that he's in close. She'll try to plant her hands on his shoulders. If successful, she'll flip up into a hand stand for just long enough to swap her hands to opposite shoulders, thus turning her around so that she can then drop down and drive both of her feet into Preston's back in an attempt to knock him down at least once.
COMBATSYS: Preston blocks Hotaru's Ten Ranku-Tou.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|=======\====---\1 Preston
Time and time again, it seems that Preston's size more than counters the fleetness that Hotaru is in possession of. And all the while, that smirk remains on the Brit's face. After all, he may have a right to be a little plumed; she came into his turf, his school, and attempted to pick a fight. Well, she's certainly received one.
And again, the girl utilizes that speed to her advantage, leaping onto his shoulders with her hands and twisting about. Comparatively, the Brit seems an oaf as he attempts to react, to swat her from his shoulders like a lumbering giant -- but he cannot, and those feet threaten to come crashing down.
Only, once more, the oar somehow intervenes. Holding it behind his back, over the shoulder she departed in exchange for the other, the plank slides in to catch her feet, absorbing most of the force as the oar crashes into his back instead.
There's a heavy grunt from the lad nevertheless though, as he stumbles forward. An awkward place to be struck at the best of times, she may well have been on her way to knocking him down, if not for the timely assistance of his favored weapon.
"You're fast, I'll grant you that," he says as he rounds on her. "And you'd probably be an asset to Pacific..." the Brit adds, as his grip shifts on the oar. In one smooth motion, he steps forward and pivots sharply, spinning his entire body about.
The oar extends out from his clenched fist as he does so, and he gains speed, momentum and force as he brings his massive body around in a tight spin. The blade of his weapon is kept flat, cutting through the air as he brings it about.
"Let's see if you're fast enough for this!" he roars as he completes his spin, bringing the oar slamming towards Hotaru with a blinding speed. The wood snaps out, the blade coming flat as it threatens to pulverize the Asian well off of school property, if not right into last week!
COMBATSYS: Preston successfully hits Hotaru with Man Overboard!.
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Hotaru 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Preston
Landing after the timely defense on the part of the man who's speed she underestimated, Hotaru doesn't back off like she probably should've right about then. When Preston winds up his next attack, the lithe fighter makes the mistake of trying to just block the attack, arms coming up to intersect the incoming blade of the oar. It's probably to her benefit that she's light enough weight to get thrown completely off her feet in spite her attempt to block, or else the sheer force of impact could have been enough to shatter bone.
It sends Hotaru sailing to the side backward until she hits the ground and tumbles several times over before coming to a rest face down in the grass. That's just about light's out for her, but she digs deep enough to get back up one last time and charge back toward Preston. She hasn't even regained the ability to breath yet, so she's literally running on fumes. Fists balled, she hops into the air, swinging her arms in at Preston in two windmilling strikes until her feet touch the ground. She'll keep swinging rapidly though, attempting to poke one last hole in his defenses so she can deliver a strong final attack.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru can no longer fight.
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Preston 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Preston blocks Hotaru's Sou-shou Tenrenge EX.
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Preston 0/-------/----===|
But when she fails to find a hole in his defenses, running without breathing finally catches up with her and finally Hotaru gasps for air, falling forward.
Alas, poor Hotaru! Bards will sing her tale both far and wide, as the latest victim of an oar-wielding maniac. He's British, therefore a maniac. Even as he knocks her for six, the Brit simply watches as she so swiftly comes back to her feet -- and goes on one last suicidal attack!
As she leaps for him with those arms of hers in synchronous windmills, he throws the oar aside and goes into a pure defensive clampdown; his arms come up tight, and he hunches his body over, presenting little but a wall of meat and muscle for her to bury her fists into. And while she tries, and tries valiantly so to pierce his defense, there's no hole to be found by the time she runs out of steam.
If only she had lasted a little bit longer, she would no doubt have battered her way through his arms and found his weak point, but alas. Instead the girl capitulates, and Preston catches her rather neatly, swinging her about before she hits the floor.
In short order, unless she protests, he'll have her up on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "You've got spunk, kid. Today just wasn't your day. You should consider Pacific though, if you can afford the tuition."
Is she even conscious to hear his advice? Either way, he's intent on collecting his oar, kicking it back up into his free hand, before stomping off towards the nurse's office. She may as well see the kind of medical treatment she can get, if she wants to join the school.
COMBATSYS: Preston has ended the fight here.
There's really nothing she can do to keep him from slinging her over his shoulder like that. Even the jostling of his steps manages to remind her of the bruises she's going to be enjoying for a good while. Given the type of opponent she decided to take on, she's at least lucky she isn't coming out of this with anything broken. Sometimes being so light weight has its advantages, even if it means trying to topple giants like Preston is a real uphill battle.
As he walks her along, Hotaru just sort've hangs there, cheeks a tinge of red from ending up in this predicament. Inspite the incredible difference in size, she's pretty sure she isn't too much younger than him. She's a summer way from her last year of High School herself, so unless the Brit has been held back (Bloody impossible, considering he's an elite Pacific High student), she guesses him to be about the same age.
But Hotaru can't really so much as squeak out a word at the moment so the trip is a mostly silent one. His words are noted though. Pacific High students are /tough/. This is the third time she's been clobbered by one. Only further along does she finally murmur a bit of an apology, easily heard while hanging over his shoulder. "Sorry I called your style simple..."
"Well, you'd be surprised how simple it is, for the most part," Preston says, his smirk going without witness as he trundles into the main building and off towards one of the wings. The apology is paid no further heed; he's one for smack-talk as well, although she never intended it that way.
As far as the Brit is concerned, whatever is said during the heat of a battle is best left there. Even if certain German's consider it to be pointless whining, the Oarsman remains unconvinced. Goading has a way of unsettling even the most stoic of opponents into making mistakes.
All the same though, it isn't long before he deposits her off at the nurse's office and disappears as well, perhaps never to be heard from again! He isn't the type to hang around while a chick gets her bruises looked at. And besides, while he doesn't show it, she did a real number on him. A long hot shower is in order for the Brit, and that's a story best left for another day.
So with a simple: "Get better" he leaves her in the capable hands of the nurse and departs.
Log created on 22:04:07 06/01/2007 by Hotaru, and last modified on 01:36:23 06/02/2007.