Description: Momo decides to sneak into Justice High to find Kurow, but a wandering ninja wizard bear lurks in the forests just outside. A chase ensues! Can everybody's favorite Momo escape from the wicked clutches of the evil Raizo!?
It's a quiet afternoon in Southtown, an afternoon much like any other. While the city itself enjoys the hustle and bustle of everyday life, however, a certain adorible little girl appears to be seeking more... unique areas. "Justice High's main gate is up that way," Momo says to herself as she walks along a forest path. "Which means the way over the fence is THIS way..."
You heard that right, sports fans, the littlest tennis player seems to be intent on breaking into the most prestigious school in town. What nefarious purpose could the girl have there? Perhaps she intends to perform some manner of school prank in the name of Taiyo! Or intends to rendezvous with someone in secret... the world may never know!
Unless, y'know, she gets caught.
There is something in the woods.
Something dangerous, and powerful. Something vast, and terrifying! Something--
STANDING ON THE TREES!!
"HELLO THERE, YOUNG LADY!!" comes a decidedly ursine bellow, and then leaping out of the heavens, a terrifying, monstrous being, a creature right out of nightmares, it's, it could only be--!!
...Raizo Imawano, principle of Justice High School! The old man, dressed in his business attire and laughing like a half-crazy old man, lands neatly not far in front of Momo, arms crossed and grinning, which looks a little terrifying considering he is six foot a lot and almost as far across and probably weighs three times what Momo does /at least/, and also his face looks kind of like a lion or a tiger or a wolf or something. "How can I help you, young lady?" says the principal of Justice High. "You seem a little lost!" By which he means she does not look lost at all but /did/ look like she was trying to sneak onto /his/ campus.
"WHAT!?" Momo squeals as a bear roars from the trees. She thought bears couldn't climb trees, that's why you were supposed to tie your food up in them! But when the figure leaps to the ground, blotting out the sun for a moment before impacting the ground with a force almost strong enough to make the girl stumble, the source of the roar is revealed to just be Raizo.
WAIT THAT'S WORSE.
"Um," the little pink girl says, clasping her hands together behind her back and rocking on her heels. "I-I think I'm alright, thanks." She carefully scoots back a little with every rocking motion, trying to casually put a little more distance between herself and the beast of a man who can't possibly have a teaching degree.
Raizo bellows a laugh at Momo's discomfort, because he's the principal of these grounds and she is small and probably tastes like cotton candy, and he likes being a big teddy bear, too. "You're sure?" he asks, squatting down to put himself more on her level, except this way she can see the BIG SCARY NOSE and the TERRIFYING SUNKEN EYES and the GLIMMERING CRIMSON IRISES and OH GOD THE TEETH. "There's nothing but Justice High this way, young lady, and I'm pretty sure you're not from there!"
His eyes glimmer, and he grins a mischievous look that looks a little hungry on his odd features, and he says, "Or is it prank season again...??"
"U-uh, well," Momo begins to say, except that Raizo is suddenly IN HER FACE. Those crazy eyes that stare into your soul, so frightening! The girl takes a jerky step back instinctually, clearly unsettled by the monster man's presense. "I-is it? I d-didn't know."
Wide eyes scan the surrounding forest, looking for something that she can use to draw away Raizo's attention. There's no way she can get to Justice with the principal staring at her with those eyes!
And Raizo's crazyman eyes are solid - unmoving! "Well, neither do I!" he laughs. "I'm the Principle, if I knew about prank season before hand, I'd be disappointed!" And then he stands back up again, and starts pacing around Momo like a DEADLY RAVENOUS LANDSHARK. "Don't worry!" he chimes. "I won't hurt you! But I /would/ like to know what you're doing here, young miss. Are you here to see someone, maybe?"
He may or may not be trying to bait her into attacking him.
"N-no, nothing like that," Momo says, standing still as a statue as Raizo begins to pace around her. The way he tromps around with that hunch of his, she really does feel like she's being circled by a beast about to strike. There's no way the tennis player is getting out of this one. "It's just, you see..."
Suddenly, the girl's yelps in surprise, and points out into the forest. "OH MY GOD, LOOK! A DISTRACTION!"
And with that, she RUNS THE HELL THATTAWAY, coincidentally in the direction of Justice High.
Raizo laughs a little. "You're sure? Because otherwise you may want to go somewhere else, young miss. Justice is in session, and--"
And then she points off in the direction of THE FOREST and shouts about distractions and TAKES OFF.
The problem with Momo's otherwise ingenious plan is the fact that Raizo is a ninja, and thus, highly adept at catching other people when he puts his mind to it--
...at least, when those other people aren't ULTRAFAST LITTLE GIRLS. Raizo watches her run for about a second, glancing first only vaguely in the direction of her point, and mutters, "Fast little bugger. Alright, miss, let's see what you're doing..."
And then he takes off after her. He is VERY FAST for a man the size of a Mac truck.
Momo didn't really expect that to work. Sure, maybe she'd a head start from saying "HEY LOOK!" but Raizo is a friggin' bear ninja wizard. And sure enough, it doesn't take long before he bolts after her, eliciting a cry of surprise from the Taiyo student. "Off of my tail, old man!" the tennis player says as she grabs a fallen tree branch, dragging it into the middle of the path behind her. YOu may be able to climb, Raizobear, BUT CAN YOU JUMP?
COMBATSYS: Momo has started a fight here.
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Momo 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Raizo has joined the fight here.
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Raizo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Momo
COMBATSYS: Raizo dodges Momo's Light Kick.
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Raizo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Momo
Answer is........yes!?
Raizo doesn't even slow down, as the old man bounds over the branch in his path in one smooth motion, and...picks it up in one massive hand as he passes! But he doesn't use it yet, instead simply shouldering it like a soldier would a rifle.
"I'm just trying to help, miss..." he doesn't know her name, uhm, "...miss! But I'm afraid you ARE trespassing and also you might secretly be evil, you never know in this rotten and corrupt society, so I must respectfully ask you to stop and explain yourself!!"
Raizo doesn't actually have any idea if Momo is evil or not, he's just making it up. But he's not making what he does next up - as he reaches up to his monocle, takes it off, fiddles with it very carefully in one hand, and then ...
...throws it like a shuriken!? Hey, it's sharp all of a sudden!
COMBATSYS: Momo dodges Raizo's Thrown Object.
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Raizo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Momo
Glancing back to see if Raizo tripped over the branch or not, Momo is horrified to see that he's picked it up and is wielding it as a club, like some sort of ogre. "Eek!" she cries, trying to run faster. "I'm not tresspassing! I don't see your name on this forest!" the girl calls back. Glancing at the ground, she spots a pine cones from autumns past, and scoops them up. In a a single motion, she lobs them all over her head in a shower of plant matter, hopefully hitting the principal of Justice in the face or something.
"And it's not nice to call people evil!" she adds, disregarding the fact that she's defending herself from his accusations immediately after throwing pine cones at his head.
COMBATSYS: Momo successfully hits Raizo with Thrown Object.
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Raizo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Momo
"Ah, but you're /going/ to trespass, aren't you!?" Raizo laughs, and then a pinecone gets lodged in his mouth. "Mmmf!" he says. "Mmmfmfmf!"
PATOOIE!
The pinecone, against all probability, goes SOARING at the back of Momo's head, while Raizo cackles, "That tasted downright horrible! By the way, isn't it a little suspicious to run away from the principle of the school you're trying to sneak into? You should learn a little subtlety!"
COMBATSYS: Raizo successfully hits Momo with Quick Punch.
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Raizo 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Momo
"I'm running away because you're chasing me!" Momo calls back, glancing over her shoulder to see the bear's progress. Unfortunately, she doesn't manage to make it through the whole sentence. About halfway through, the pine cone nails her in the face, causing the girl to stumble and letting Raizo catch up that much more.
The pink tennis racquet is removed from Momo's back, and a tennis ball is pulled from god only knows where. "I wasn't trying to sneak in, I was just taking a walk! It's a free country!" Twisting around and jumping, Momo drops the tennis ball and thwacks it in Raizo's direction. Her momentum carries her through a 270, and with only the slightest of stumbles as she lands the tennis player resumes running again.
COMBATSYS: Raizo parries Momo's Whale Serve!
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Raizo 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Momo
Tennis racket--wait, what did Hotaru say about--
Raizo's eyes narrow a little, but the old man still keeps dashing after Momo, keeps running. He can FEEL something important happening here, but...can't tell what. Maybe Momo here can tell him something! And if not, well, he'll give her a coupon to the ice cream parlor and send her on her way with a stern lecture not to run away from bears.
He tries to keep up the facade of near-mania, however, saying, "Actually, young lady, that statement typically applies to AMERICA more than Japan, and furthermore--!!" He lashes out with one clawed hand, brushing the ball into the air and away with practiced ease. "--it is HIGHLY impolite to hit tennis balls at people who just want to ask you a few questions!"
And with this advice, Raizo HURLS the branch Momo left behind her earlier, aiming not to hit her, but rather to plant it right in front of her, and trip her up with it.
COMBATSYS: Raizo successfully hits Momo with Trip Slam EX.
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Raizo 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Momo
Momo glances back at Raizo again. "Japan's been just as free since we lost the war!" she counters. Unfortunately, in the process of staring backwards she missed the tree branch go overhead, and thusly does not see it in front of her. Needless to say, Momo goes down with a WHAM.
"Owwie owwie," the girl says, rubbing a cheek as she gets back to her feet. "...you've made me all dirty now, you mean old man!" But there's no time for more insults, because HE'S COMING RIGHT FOR HER! Once again the tennis player takes off, but not before grabbing a rock from the ground and hurling it back at Principal Ninjabear.
COMBATSYS: Raizo full-parries Momo's Quick Punch!
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Raizo 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Momo
Raizo keeps running after Momo! Run run run! And then she throws a rock at him. "Yes, because you're running from a nice old man who just wants to ask you a few short questions, young lady!" he says, and then lashes out with his claws and CUTS THE DAMN ROCK IN QUARTERS, sprinting through before the fractured rock hits the ground. "Now if you'll please stop...I'll stop as well! And then maybe I can get you some tea! You'd like tea, right?"
He leaps into the air, slashing a tree's limb so that it falls off, and then hurls it like a spear at Momo, trying to trip her up again, before he even hits the ground. "So please stop? I have some wonderful green tea!"
COMBATSYS: Raizo successfully hits Momo with Quick Throw EX.
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Raizo 0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1 Momo
"My mommy warned me not to stop for creepy old men!" Momo yells back, just in time to get knocked clear off her feet by Raizo's hurled branch. For a moment, the gap between the two actually INCREASES as the tennis player is knocked forward hella' far, tumbling across the ground and muddying up her tennis outfit even more. A squeal of displeasure echoes through the forest.
Stumbling back to her feet, with Raizo practically on her heels, Momo actually grabs the branch that's on the ground and picks it up herself, quite a feat for a girl of her size! ...and probably a little suspicious to Raizo, if Hotaru mentioned the perplexing strength of that badminton player.
But there's no time for suspicions, Principal Ninjabear, because with a mighty spin that branch is suddenly headed in your direction, and Momo is sprinting off again! "I bet your tea is made up from the ground up bones of little kids!"
COMBATSYS: Raizo dodges Momo's Giant Swing.
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Raizo 0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1 Momo
Principal Claw cackles, a little crazily, and then says, "Aww, but I'm not creepy! I promise I won't even eat you!" HAW HAW HAW he laughs, and then adds, "Besides, you look far too much like cotton candy for my tastes!" And then--such strength, he marvels, losing a step as he marvels at Momo's spectacular might, and then she's THROWING the branch, and Raizo says, "Wow! You're pretty strong, young lady! I'm impressed! HA HA!" He ducks down, rolling under the branch. "And no it's not!" he adds as he rolls to his feet, picking up a rock the size of Momo's head as he does so in one massive hand. "That's what the teacups are made of!"
Then, with a hearty laugh, he HURLS the rock at Momo, with terrifying speed!!
COMBATSYS: Momo reflects Large Thrown Object from Raizo with Rocket Return.
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Raizo 0/-------/--=====|=====--\-------\0 Momo
COMBATSYS: Raizo endures Momo's Reflected Large Thrown Object.
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Raizo 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Momo
"I don't want to impress a creepy old man!" Momo shrieks, sparing a glance over her shoulder to see if the branch impacted... only to see Raizo roll underneath of it. Arg! No wonder Kurow's so careful around the guy! And Justice High can't be much farther, either, at the rate they've been running, so Momo had better find a way to loose the ninja bear wizard-- and fast!
It's at this moment that she looks back again, and sees a HUGE ROCK COMING RIGHT FOR HER! A yelp of surprise escapes the girl, who knows there's no way she can dodge a rock that big-- and it'll knock her straight to the ground if it his! There's no time to think! The tennis player skids to a stop and whirls around, riveted tennis racket held out...
The net hits the rock, springing back in a way that shouldn't be possible... a normal racquet ought to have broken at this point, but those bolts along the rim are there for a reason!
An audible *TWANG* echoes through the area as the rock is flung back.
Momo doesn't even bother to watch what happens, she's lost too much ground by launching that boulder back. Now is the time to RUN RUN RUN!
Raizo is pretty sure the girl's got some skills, at this point. He wouldn't test her with a rock that big, if he wasn't - that could really hurt an ordinary person! But not someone with fighting ability, they'd just get...well, hurt.
.......or do that.
"What--!?" Raizo squawks. "Such..." A small grin. "How /INTERESTING/!" he laughs, and then RUNS RIGHT AT THE ROCK LIKE A BEAR HOUSE NINJA WIZARD FREIGHT TRAIN, and it smashes into his chest. It hurts, but he doesn't stop, instead charging onward toward Momo. "Well, you should! Your elders are an important part of your life, young lady! Especially elders who have lunches with your school's administration!" Raizo keeps running, keeps on coming...and looks around, trying to find something, anything...
...hmmm. There's...nothing around. And they're coming up on Justice soon...he may need to find a way to end this. If she actually GETS IN, this will be a much bigger problem than just chasing a young girl through the woods...!
COMBATSYS: Raizo takes no action.
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Raizo 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Momo
Momo hears the sound of the impact-- it's hard NOT to, big as that rock was. She also hears the heavy footfalls continuing to stomp behind her like a freight train. "What are you made of!?" pants Momo, the extended run starting to wear on her. "You've got to be some kind of robot! A creepy old robot man!"
Another tennis ball is pulled out, once more batted at the Justice principal. If she can just make it to the fence, she should be safe... at least unless he can jump over the friggin' wall.
COMBATSYS: Momo successfully hits Raizo with Whale Serve.
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Raizo 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Momo
"Ma'am!" Raizo laughs, though it sounds a little less enthusiastic now because holy CRAP this girl is FAST, "I am composed entirely of the corpses of young girls I have cornered and eaten!" He laughs like a giant ninja bear pirate, and then Momo nails him in the nose with a tennis ball, and he says "Ow!! That hurt!" No question - this girl wasn't half bad. Not on his own level, not even close to his own level, but...if Kurow had enough young women of Momo's talent, it would prove highly troublesome.
He's not SURE Momo's with Kurow, no moreso than at the moment he suspects anyone who acts suspiciously around him to be a spy for the Kirishima assassin, but...it would explain a few things. He wonders, when he catches up to her, if she'll have a viable explanation that isn't 'mind controlled by Freddy Kreuger T. Ninjapants.' Should be interesting!
However, at the moment, Raizo has other things to worry about, and has to react quickly--so as the ball ricochets forward from him, his hand whips out, catches the ball, and WINGS it back at Momo! "I am also--!" he says, mid-throw, "made of JUSTICE!!"
COMBATSYS: Momo reflects Thrown Object from Raizo with Racket Return.
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Raizo 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Momo
"That's not making me want to stop!" Momo yells at the revelation that Raizo is made of adorible little girls. The impact of a ball hitting flesh comforts her for a moment-- the second impact, not so much. "Huh?" A quick glance back reveals that he's caught the ball... AND IS THROWING IT BACK.
The girl doesn't even bother spinning this time. She drifts to the right and swings her racquet over her shoulder, bouncing the ball back perfectly without even looking for what she's aiming at. Clearly, the girl knows how tennis works, though it doesn't take much research to learn that she's the star of the Taiyo team, so it's usually not much of a surprise.
COMBATSYS: Momo successfully hits Raizo with Reflected Thrown Object.
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Raizo 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Momo
Raizo will do the research LATER. Right now, he is running FACE FIRST AT THAT BALL ONE MORE TIME. "You know, you're right! Sorry! That was rude of me! Ha ha ha! You see, actually I am a teddy bear, composed of joy and love!" It nails him RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES and he goes "Ow! You hit very hard, miss! You should..."
The trees part - and there is the wall of Justice High School, looming tall! Momo will have plenty of time to react, because she isn't distracted by a baseball to the face, but Raizo...
Oh crap, wall! Momo was hoping to lose Raizo long before this, BUT THE MAN HAS NO MERCY. "You should leave me alone!" the tennis player practically sobs. She's surprised she's still running, even the longest of tennis matches don't need this much endurance. The only thing keeping her going, in all likelyhood, is the fear of having to go to Raizo's tea party if she gets caught.
As the trees give way to grass, Momo begins to pull tennis balls out of wherever, dropping them all over the ground. Hopefully the bear of a man hot on her heels will trip over one of them, they're really easy to get underfoot!
COMBATSYS: Raizo successfully hits Raizo with Strong Punch.
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Raizo 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Momo
COMBATSYS: Raizo endures Momo's Thrown Object.
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Raizo 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Momo
Raizo laughs, "I should stop you before you get into my school and get up to some absurd shenanigan or another, is what I should do!" and then "whoa whoa WHOA" and then "WALL!"
There is a loud THUD as Raizo impacts the wall...and doesn't move for a few seconds.
"Jumpin' jehosephat," the old man mumbles. "That stung!"
COMBATSYS: Raizo takes no action.
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Raizo 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Momo
Success! You mess with Momo, you deal with her balls, and she's got a lotta balls for a little girl. With a brief woop, the girl runs along the length of the wall, to a tree some distance away that someone forgot to prune away while it was still a sapling. It's far, far too slender for any normal man to climb-- must be a soft-bark tree --but for the featherweight Momo the task is easy!
With a leap, a pull, and a swing, the girl is up and over Justice's fence. Consider your campus infiltrated, Raizo!
Momo lands, and on the far side of the wall, not too far away...
"Reiko..."
"Oh, Junichiro!"
Two high school sweethearts making some time off together between classes! How cute, how touching, how "HOLY COW THERE'S SOME LITTLE KINDERGARTNER WHO JUST JUMPED THE WALL!"
"Y...yeah, Reiko, we should--"
"BWAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA!!!"
The wall cracks.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA!!"
The wall bulges.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"
The wall SHATTERS INWARDS, revealing Raizo Imawano, headmaster of Justice High School, covered in dust and laughing crazily!
"EXCELLENT, young lady! You really do whoever the hell tauhgt you proud indeed!!" he cackles.
"H---head master!?" squawks the romantic duo in unison.
"Ah--oh, Miss Mizuno, hello! And...oh, good heavens, I apologize for the intrusion, do you mind if I borrow your boyfriend for a moment?"
"Wha--HEY"
And then Raizo grabs poor Junichiro by the face, laughs, and says "anyway as I was saying YOU DO YOUR MASTER PROUD, SO NOW I WON'T HOLD BACK ANYMORE!! BWAAAHAHAHAHA!!!"
And then he THROWS HIS OWN STUDENT LIKE A SPEAR RIGHT AT MOMO'S SPINE.
COMBATSYS: Raizo successfully hits Momo with Ningen Taihou.
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Raizo 0/-------/------=|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Momo
"Aheheh, don't mind me!" Momo says cheerfully to the pair of startled lovers, wiping the sweat off of her brow and brushing dirt off of her dress. She should probably find a locker room to wash up in before she goes to find Kurow--
The wall cracks.
"Huh? What was that?"
The wall bulges.
Momo glances back at the fence she just vaulted over, eyes widening. "He couldn't...!"
A very startled tennis player stumbles back as the wall is BUSTED THROUGH LIKE THE KOOL-AID MAN. "Holy cheese doodles!" she exclaims, for lack of anything better to swear by. She turns and begins to run. But it is already too late. Raizo has finished exchanging pleasantries with his students, and one of them is now headed straight for the poor girl.
She glances back just in time to see his wide-eyed expression of fear and surprise as he crashes into the invading student.
There is a literal explosion of tennis balls as, somehow, Momo's hidden stash is jolted loose by the impact, the boy from Justice and the girl from Taiyo going tumbling down the walkway.
COMBATSYS: Momo takes no action.
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Raizo 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Momo can no longer fight.
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Raizo 0/-------/------=|
Raizo cackles a little to himself, walking over - very careful of the tennis balls this time - and helps Junichiro up, patting the boy down. "There y'are!" he laughs. "You're fine! Ha ha! Now, go back to whatever you were doing! And...report to Miss Segawa later, I have something for you." Free water park tickets for two! Never let it be said that letting your principal throw you at someone else is not in your best interests.
And as Junichiro shrieks in terror and skitters off, Raizo's face...darkens, except for a tiny, half-mad grin, while he squats down next to Momo to see if she's awake.
"I seem," he says, "to have caught you, young lady. So what brings you here again?"
Momo groans, in too much pain from having a dude twice her size thrown at her to put up further fight. "I was runnin' away from a crazy old man who was tryin' to eat me," she mumbles. "I don't taste good, really. I'll give you diabetes." If you can say one thing about the tennis star, it's that she's good at keeping up a charade under pressure.
"No," Raizo says, with a surprisingly tolerant smile. "That's how you /got/ here, inside the walls. What I'd like to know, miss, is what /business/ you had here that made you so inspired to sneak onto my campus in the first place. I did hear you talking about that, you know."
His eyes are narrow, his gaze watching her every move. She won't be getting away...and it'll be pretty tricky to lie to Raizo Imawano when he's paying attention.
COMBATSYS: Raizo has ended the fight here.
Uh-oh. Momo really should learn not to talk to herself when planning out notorious schemes. At least she can think reasonably well under pressure, even if she doesn't act like she can most of the time. He'd mentioned prank season, right? It does seem a little early for it, but it could make a good story.
"I was scouting," the tennis player says. "With summer break ending, I thought it'd be a good time to do something funny, and you guys are so uptight here that you could use a good joke... but I didn't know what the campus was like, so I wanted to look around."
Somewhere in that testimony is a contradiction, though whether Raizo is quick enough to spot it... after all, even Momo doesn't realize she left an opening.
Raizo watches, quietly, thoughtfully. "So it was just prank season?" he says, slowly. "Yes, yes, I suppose that could just be it..."
But then his grin hardens, his eyes narrow. "Except you're lying to the principal of the finest educational institution in Japan, young lady. If you don't know what the campus is like, you could hardly have had any idea of just the right location to get over the wall at...so why don't we try this again?"
He settles back on his haunches, looking ready to eat Momo alive for a second lie. "What business brings you here, Miss? And come to think of it - what is your name?"
Momo winces as Raizo catches her lie-- that was an amateur mistake! She slowly draws herself up into a sitting position, covering her head with her hands, as if it will protect her from the angry principal. "...alright, alright, just don't yell at me!" she begs, nevermind that the man is growling and not yelling. It's a very childish thing to say. "There's a boy I like who goes to school here, but you don't let anyone off-campus, so I have to sneak in to see him."
Try to disprove that! Momo has just used one lie that can't possibly be revealed: the truth. Sure, there's more to the story than just that, but she's not done anything to give away an ulterior motive to any clandestine meetings that might occur.
"M-my name is Momo," the girl continues. "I go to Taiyo... oh, please don't tell anyone about this, I'll be in so much trouble... we've got a big tennis match against Pacific coming up soon, and if I get suspended for misbehavior..." Tears start to well up in Momo's eyes, and she chokes back a sob.
Raizo's grin grows softer, but not down to the easy smirk he offers people who demonstrably not evil. He nods, slowly. "Well, that's alright, then." He doesn't stand just yet, though, instead, watching her a second more, and adding, "Momo...Taiyo, eh? Nice school, not bad at all. You're on the tennis team there?" What, hasn't he seized on the boyfriend thing? "Well, I wouldn't want to make a young lady cry, now. I won't tell anyone..."
The sunlight glints off his monocle ominously which wait didn't he throw that thing earlier!?
"...provided you cooperate and answer my questions honestly!" He actually is pretty much out of questions. See, Momo, you could've just lied from the start and this would've been a lot easier!
Momo didn't get a good look at what was thrown at her earlier, so she doesn't make the connection between the shurinocle from earlier and the current eyepiece. "Okay, I-I promise," she sniffles, removing her hands from her head as her mind races to think of all the possible things Raizo could ask. The most obvious would be about her story. She can't give Kurow's name as her boyfriend-- after all, he's supposed to be dating Sada right now! But she doesn't have any other contacts inside of the school who would play along with her. She'll need to do something about that soon.
Raizo starts with the obvious one. He WANTS to call her on Justice never letting people off campus - it's one of the few things they /encourage/ people to do, as long as it's productive - but isn't quite sure how to ask it, or really what he'd gain other than 'yes, she's lying' which he knows already.
It's kind of creepy, actually, to think that so much deceit could come out of those big watery adorable eyes.
"So your boyfriend's name was what again?" Raizo asks, with a grandfatherly smile. "Maybe I can get you a pass to see him more regularly." And so that he can WATCH YOU LIKE A HAWK
And there it is. The million dollar question. Her options are few and far between: she could make up a name, and hope to god that Raizo doesn't have the entire student directory memorized. She could name Kurow, and hope that he doesn't know the white-haired youth is already 'involved', or maybe it would be better if he did... no, that's impossible. Any thoughts that it would be to her advantage to go the route of the misled child are quickly dismissed, as that would put Kurow in a bad light. Plus, she's already got Raizo sworn to secrecy, but if she brings up Kurow's name than he'll undoubtedly be told, and find out how badly she messed this one up.
Sometimes, there just aren't any right answers.
"Well, er, that is to say..." Momo begins, then dissolves into unintelligble mumbling. Maybe she played the pity card too early, she must now look like a cornered rat instead of frightened child.
Raizo laughs, a little, because in a kind of horrible molester way this is a little funny. It's not his fault he enjoys the tears of potential evildoers! Especially laughably incompetent ones...
...no, Raizo. Don't get overconfident. This girl is incredibly dangerous. She is cunning, she is more powerful than half the people on the planet, and she is so damn adorable that you are the only bastard on the entire planet who is liable to actually believe she is evil without evidence that could convict God.
He takes a breath, puts that grin back on, and supplies, "It's not Kurow Kirishima, is it? I hear he's pretty popular..."
It's a gamble, saying Kurow's name. It shows he knows things - could be read to mean a lot of things by an intelligent person, and he has no question that this young woman is positively brilliant, in a terrifying, machiavellian kind of way. But if he can get her to react to that name...then he'll have what he needs.
A million thoughts flood into Momo's head. The first, and definitely loudest, is: He knows about Kurow. Of all the students in Justice High, to single out Kurow without any justification whatsoever means that he suspects the boy of SOMETHING. Whether that something is trying to take over the world, trying to create a harem, or just trying to have a girlfriend who's not known and thus not subject to public scrutiny, the tennis player has no idea.
It also raises the question of: Just what can Momo say that will keep her in the least amount of trouble? One of her greatest assets to Kurow is that she's not associated with the Darkside Student Congress. There's a reason she contacted Hotaru in disguise, after all, instead of calling her out. Momo has a spotless image to maintain, one which is at risk of being thoroughly tarnished thanks to this chance encounter with Raizo. The girl is sure that she can convincingly feign ignorance of Kurow-- or at least to only know of him through his appearances in Saturday Night Fight. But that still leaves her the question of naming her boyfriend.
Of course, there's always plan C: Fake him out. For a moment, the tennis player entertains the thought of trying to throw the principal a screwball. Maybe, just maybe, if she said the reason she's been so unwilling to part with details is because her secret boyfriend is actually a secret girlfriend, he might be sufficiently shocked to allow Momo to escape. Raizo seems to have a built-in lie detector, however, not to mention he's likely expecting her to pull out a lie. She's lasted this long because she's dropping grains of truth, to go to left field like that has far, far too many risks.
In what seems like a lifetime of thought, but is really just a moment, the girl drops her head a little and makes an uncomfortable sound. It should be obvious what the answer is from her non-answer.
Justice High School's esteemed headmaster watches the interloper's thought process play out. She's good, he thinks. She's very good; her face doesn't give her away at all. That's the disturbing part about all this, in the end; for all that this girl is an adorable ball of fluffy bunnies, that she's able to hide her feelings so well, keep a poker face up that not even Raizo can read through readily...
...scary. Was she always like this, or is this Kurow's work? Hmm.
Still, in the end, Momo succumbs to Raizo's interrogation. Part bluff and part gamble, but it worked, and Raizo now knows for sure that Momo is connected to Kurow. Excellent. The old man grins, standing up. "Well, then. Sorry, Miss, but I'm afraid Kirishima is off-campus right now on some business I gave him."
Said business may or may not have consisted of Raizo "accidentally" replacing Kurow's windows and doors with triple-barred iron.
Off in the distance, someone shouts, "WHOA! HEADMASTER'S GONNA EAT SOME KID!"
"LET'S WATCH!"
A crowd starts hurrying over, and Raizo looks down at Momo with a surprisingly paternal look. "You should get going for now. You'll have a hard time sneaking around later, if you're spotted, right?"
He winks, slyly.
Was naming Kurow the right decision? Probably not, Momo is going to be hitting herself for it later. But in such dire circumstances, what else could she have done? That wicked grin of his makes the tennis player doubt her choice far earlier than she would've wanted to, though... and Kurow wasn't even on campus right now in the first place? So she's lost her cover for nothing! Things couldn't possible get any worse.
Wait, nevermind, now other students are starting to flood the area as they notice that Raizo had been giving her that hungry bear look. "Eek!" cries the girl as she quickly gets to her feet, tired legs and sore back be damned. She can't get caught in this embarassing situation by so many students, it'll wreck havoc on her social standing! Momo doesn't even wait around for the fatherly look or the wink before sprinting back out the hole that the principal Kool-Aid Man'd through. "Ooh, this sucks!" she pouts as she darts back into the forest.
Crimson eyes watch Momo go, follow her path as she darts back into the forest...and then the old man that owns them glances over at the approaching crowd, which is already dispersing because the kid is gone.
"Headmaster!" someone shouts, approaching. "What happened!?"
Raizo snorts a laugh, and slaps the kid on the back hard enough to send him flat. "Nothing important! Just a little lovestruck schoolgirl, that's all. Do you know where Kirishima is?"
The male student squints, puzzled. "...nnoo? He might be in class..."
Headmaster Imawano nods. "Good...good, that's all I needed to know." He turns on his heels and begins to walk away.
After a few seconds of walking and being gawped at, he adds, "Ten points extra credit to whoever organizes the repair of that wall!"
Silence.
"...in every class!"
Riotous clamor.
Log created on 21:42:57 08/15/2007 by Momo, and last modified on 18:32:04 08/16/2007.