Description: Objective: Passing idle time stealing from Seijyun girls. Obstacle: Quiet little Crow Girl. Alias: None. Summary: Having not learned her lesson before, Ayame is back to being up to no good at Seijyun High. But her antics are put to stop decisively by one of the less popular girls at the elite academy!
Winter. December. Often a time of family get togethers around the holidays... finals just before school breaks.... the occasional frosty afternoon snow... It's a season where hearts are softened and generosity abounds. Folks smile a little more; tend to be a bit nicer than usual. But where there's charity to be abused, one is sure to find a certain young bandit as well.
Ayame is no stranger to the concepts of customs, traditions, and the power they have over people. Having been raised in a very traditional household, she understands all about how mind numbed people can be when their childhood past times are toyed with. And of course, she's going to manipulate them.
Dressed in a very festive, holiday outfit of red and white, Ayame stands next to a hanging black kettle, merrily ringing a bell. A traditional Santa hat sits atop the girl's head, leaning to the side a little, its own small little bell ringing in time with the dangling part of the hat's movements. The rest of the girl is clad in a form fitting red and white top and a matching red skirt with a white, fluffy bottom hem.
Shamelessly, Ayame rings her bell, pulling any passing students over to gesture at the sign over the black donation pot: Sustentation Troops. Readily launching into encouraging speeches about the virtues of donating to a good cause like the Sustentation Troops, she's managed to get even reluctant Seijyun girls to toss in some yen here and there. Of course, it isn't the yen she's interested in...
*ring* *ring* "Hello there," Ayame beams, grabbing hold of one wealthy girl's hand to pull her off to the side to show her the sign. "... good feelings of peace and..." The red-head eventually coughs up some yen and hurries on her way before the eagerly insistant Ayame can get anything else from her purse. Or, so she thinks. Holding up her hands as the girl leaves, Ayame twirls the two rings, the watch, and the bracelet she made off with from the last 'donator', smiling happily before tossing them in the pot along with the rest of various nicknacks and jewelry she's, ah, unlawfully appropriated for a 'Good Cause.' "I love this time of year," the girl remarks cheerfully before she goes back to ringing the bell in her hand. It's Santa Ayame. Fear!
But what about the students that don't look as opulent? That don't carry themselves around like god's gift, the ones that look like they just walked out of the pages of some horror manga, the creepy ghost child that follows people around with no aim or purpose in the world. One such person walks through the courtyard of the school, wearing a rather beaten coat with her usual skirt and et cetera. A thin black cord runs up to a pair of earbuds crammed in to keep her from hearing the usual chattering and goings-on of the students around her, leading back down to what is perhaps the most expensive-looking thing she's carrying: A -very- nice messenger bag that is slung over one shoulder and resting at her right hip.
Miu's ears are deaf to the sounds of the ringing bell, and her odd purple eyes are turned down to the ground while she walks, mind on other things-- not that she has a long list of things to worry about. But she does seem a little more positive than usual, perhaps, from the meeting she had with that odd blonde girl from another school. It's taken the utter stillness from her features, added a little more of a spark to her eyes and even forced the corners of her mouth to quirk up into the smallest of pleasant expressions.
On the face of Miu Kurosaki, this can be taken as either "good" or "oh god she's got a knife."
In Ayame's mind, anyone with the money to attend Seijyun has got to have a pocket book full of incomprehensible amounts of money. And that's just for their lunch budget. Granted, not every girl looks that way and a few of the unfortunate ones she's accosted refused to cough anything up nor had any obvious items of interest to swipe. Ayame was certain they were just being cheapskates though. Humbugs! All of them! Bah!
If Ayame were a student she would recognize Miu based on reputation alone. If she spent more time gossiping and less time stealing, surely she would know of the quiet girl in black that nearly everyone invariably shies away from. But in Ayame's eyes, she's just another rich brat, much like any other. An expert cusory scan of the dark clad girl and Ayame is surprised to find a lack of jewelry visible at first. Maybe some bracelets beneath those turtleneck sleeves? The girl isn't sure, but she certainly isn't going to pass up an opportunty to check out that bag slung over her shoulder. That's bound to contain something nice, right?
Oblivious to the noises around her as she may hope to be, that's not going to keep her safe from the arm suddenly slipped over her shoulder as Ayame drops next to the shorter girl. The bell ringing arm is lowered though the strawberry-blonde gives Miu a bright, cheerful, beaming smile, voicing something difficult to make out with those earbuds dulling Miu's hearing. The bell ringing arm waves toward the kettle and sign, however, the girl clearly trying to get Miu to stop for a second.
The sounds of some random J-pop song fills her ears, dulls her senses-- and it lets her focus. Sure, even on things like her new, scant few friends! But when an arm is pulled around her, when the sudden contact is felt, the sense of alarm within Miu rises-- as well as the odd power she carries. She startles, and for a moment, it's almost like a sting of static electricity transmits between the confused little urban legend of Seijyun and the would-be good samaratan taking alms for the poor.
But Miu's wide eyes grip the small plastic earbuds and pulls them out, mouth open a bit and looking somewhere between confused and apologetic. "I-- what?" she asks, eyebrows scrunched up. "Can I help you?"
Uncomfortable.
Huh, that was kinda weird. Ayame notices the tingling in her arm and she just about withdraws to find someone a little less... eletric. But Miu pulls out the ear buds and the long haired festive looking girl brightens. Nope, this will do! "Well, maybe not me per se," the girl remarks, holding up the bell and ringing it in front of Miu's face pointedly.
"But you can definitely be a help to the unfortunate many who have nothing but an impoverished holidy season to look forward to. With your small donation to this worthy cause, you can make a little child's Christmas a better one. Every little bit helps, ne? Ne?" She rings the bell again. That thing is kind of obnoxious. She's lucky no one has tried to shove it down her throat yet... But it is rather distracting, which is kind of the point.
For the same time Ayame's right hand is waving the bell in the poor Crow Girl's face, her left hand has slipped off her shoulder, though she remains uncomfortably close... so that her left hand can snake around and try slipping into any outside pockets in the messenger bag. Nimble fingers seeking anything she can get a grip on.
The ding-ding-ding of the bell in her face serves as a potent distraction, her eyes squinting as she her head shies away from it ringing in her face. "I-- I see, I -- um-- maybe I have ..."
While the distraction is there, while the bell is in her face, it allows Ayame to slide that hand down from her shoulder and to the bag itself. A flap covers the bag proper, though it has numerous easy-access pockets just below the coverage. It seems like she has little in her possession that would be of -value-, however. There's a small keychain with a little mascot character in one, pens and pencils in another. In the only one that is secured by a small snap-button, however, is that player-- a large, clunky model of what may be an old, old iPod that's taken the place of the walkman she used to have-- the one that's been beaten, crushed, and destroyed by Marisol, along with her old bag.
And still taken by the distraction, Miu leaves the cord for the earbuds around her neck, so she can grab at the edges of the bell and try to silence it so she can better speak to the girl, oblivious to what's being done to her bag. "I-- hang on. I ... I don't have much on me, but I'm sure I have something I could give you."
And then her eyes are about to drift away from Ayame and toward her pockets...
An expert at this routine, Ayame is able to make out the contents of many of the smaller bags with minimal effort, even if the results are less than encouraging. Nothing taken so far. Even the electronic music player is borderline not worth her time, she muses, figuring out the make and model simply by touch. "Oh?" Ayame beams, her expression so disconnected from the conniving going on around Miu that it would be easy to understand why anyone wouldn't suspect a thing.
But now the girl is looking toward her pockets and Ayame gives her a little bit of space. Miu may pick up on those minute traces of disappointment. The young con artist isn't impressed with this latest mark. There's gotta be more to her than this. How else could she be at this expensive school, Ayame muses. "That is very generous of you to impart a small part of what you have when you may not have much to begin with..."
Brown eyes study Miu further, but she also becomes vaguely aware of the looks the duo are catching by some of the girls. Why do the natives think it's so interesting, ponders Ayame. What's it to them if she talks to the teeny goth girl? Still, she's curious enough to stick next to Miu even if it is drawing a little bit of untoward attention. Curious enough as to not notice one of her earlier victims making her way back through the crowd. An 'unsatisfied customer', perhaps.
From those items alone and the condition of her coat, it may become a little more clear as to why she isn't carrying much-- either she's riding some sort of scholarship, or she has just enough money to spend to come to a school like this. The truth is a little more distinct-- minus a small amount kept for herself and some for tuition, any money she's made from tournament fighting and television appearances on Saturday Night Fight is being sent back home for her family-- and for another, more important reason.
But that's not something you can tell from a few pats and touches.
But why did her expression change, Miu wonders? Why did the cheerful girl suddenly frown? Ruffling around in the pockets of that old, sturdy coat, she pulls out a small palm-sized coinpouch-- as black as her hair, with an aged metal rim and fixings. Pulling a thin, small fold of bills from the safety of the pouch, she holds it in her teeth while she counts out. Enough to be charitable, but still a modest amount of cash, something that could help a little bit. "Here..." she says, offering out somewhere around a thousand and four hundred yen. "I hope this helps."
By now, the likes of Miu Kurosaki has been able to shove the glares and angry looks out of her mind. She knows she'll be stared at, left 'outside the box.' Hell, Zaki outright blurted out she didn't think Miu was a real person, just a story whispered around the halls of Seijyun! But aside from her pale pallor, the purple eyes, and the long side-set ponytail set at her head, she seems very normal-- if not very dark, like some sort of weight were hanging onto her back.
The pouch is clicked closed, tucked back into her coat while the money is offered, trying her best to keep up a calm, small smile.
The money is accepted, Ayame clasping the bills with both hands as if treating the offering with the utmost respect. Miu isn't worth pursuing any further, the girl has decided. Compared to the much more valuable prey wandering around Seijyun without a care in the world, Miu is simply 'adequate'. Were they alone somewhere, Ayame would simply attack her and find out what she /really/ had on her, just to be 'safe'. But here at Seijyun, Santa Ayame doesn't seem to think she's quite worth it.
"Thank you for your generous offering," the girl states, her smile firm and cheerful. She doesn't let on that she's not happy with the outcome. Not on the outside at least. On the plus side, there's many other options to go for here, so there's certainly no need to dispair, the holiday cheer girl decides!
It's about then that the girl from before approaches the two, looking rather irate. Ayame turns around just in time to face her, eyes widening a little. Uh oh. "Where is it?!" the bright golden blonde demands of the thief. "You stole my watch, didn't you!" she snaps.
Ayame's expression shifts, becoming more neutral, reserved. "Now, now. No refunds," the states, lifting her hands up, palms forward as if trying to calm the other girl down. One of those hands still has Miu's donation in it and the other girl's hand snaps out and tears the bills from Ayame's grip. "What's this? Someone else's money you've stolen?!" Ayame's neutral expression slips into a faint scowl. This girl is becoming bad for business!
"I don't know what you're talking about. Please be on your way." Turning her back on the other student to walk away, Ayame is surprised to find her hand clamping down on her shoulder, intending to stop the thief on the spot. Lifting her own hand up to slap down atop the blonde's, Ayame leans forward, pulling the girl up off her feet, slamming her down on her back on the walkway with a thud, drawing even more attention from the crowd at large. Hm. Time to commence an exit strategy, the girl decides, turning to the right to make a dash toward her little pot of already aquired goods!
Somewhere along the line, Miu's started to progress along on her array of emotions-- moving from the confusion to the desire to help to somewhat pleased with herself. The money's going to be taken, put in that pot, and used for what is ultimately a good cause. Causes like she's riding on, the whole reason she's saving her prize money and sending it home.
Except she's not.
One of her seniors storms up, taking the bills from the cheerful red-and-white clad girl with a snap of paper-fabric bills and shouting in her face, shouting about stolen money and watches. She's accusing the girl of being a thief.
And Miu Kurosaki's emotions take a hard shift, eyes half-lidded and her mouth drawing into a flat line.
"... Thief?"
That upperclassman is suddenly manhandled in a most violent way, spiked to the concrete walkway and left to lay there while she makes her attempt to flee. Miu isn't a person to go on about justice, to go on about saving the weak or people that she's never met-- even associating with the vast majority of the school that talks behind her back-- but there's something to this that drives her to being very mad.
So mad, in fact, as Ayame runs to the collection pot to get her stolen bounty and flee, Miu unshoulders her messenger bag and drops it with a heavy collision of books and ground, toes of her left foot digging in to the ground while she takes a short step forward. Her right arm whips upward, a black feather screaming away from her hand as if she had just cast out a throwing knife-- a speedy, short, powerful burst meant to strike the supports of the donation pot. It doesn't cut or slice on impact so much as generate an odd burst of off-color blue light: A short and sweet *PANG!* that tries to tilt the pot over and spill the contents on the ground before the wayward thief can reach it.
Having flipped the girl to the ground that didn't know better than to just keep her mouth shut, Ayame is ready to be on her way. It's been a profitable day and while she would have liked to milk some more time out of this scam, she can recognize that the gig is up.
She doesn't make it to the collection pot before the thing gets knocked right over, the support struck by something she only barely made out. It looked far too soft to do that... Sliding to a stop, the girl is too late to catch it before the container drops to the ground, spilling coins, bills, rings, watches, bracelets, necklaces, expensive hair ornaments and other odds and ends all over the walkway. Brown eyes widen as her ill gained goods are now a mess on the walkway. "Che," the girl grunts, glancing over her shoulder to figure out what in the world is to blame for this.
Her eyes fix on Miu quickly, the girl in black standing alone from the crowd, like always. She did this? Well, well. She's going to have to scare the little quiet girl off, the thief decides, right hand slipping beneath the white, fluffy forearm covering of her left glove, withdrawing a small, sharp kunai. "You really shouldn't have done that!" With a shake of her head toward Miu, the strawberry-blonde sends the little blade spinning through the air, aiming to strike the other girl in the shoulder. That'll teach her to interfer in matters over her head!
Without even watching to see if the weapon connects, the red and white dressed girl reaches for a white sack sitting next to the upset kettle. A backup container, perhaps? Except the bag looks to have weight to it already, and the girl is busily reaching inside of it...
COMBATSYS: Ayame has started a fight here.
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Miu has joined the fight here.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Miu blocks Ayame's Sudden Fling.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
The jewelry spills-- and no doubt, all the girls that have stopped so far to watch the crow girl suddenly get close to the miko swindler get an eyeful of what's -really- going on here. Kurosaki certainly does-- and it's enough to make her the maddest she's been in a very long time. She shouldn't have done that? Then things are going to get a whole lot worse.
The kunai flipping at her through the air is seen, though she turns her tiny frame to the side and brings up an arm, the blade slicing across the thick wool sleeve of her old coat and the sleeve of the turtleneck beneath, snagging fabric and providing enough padding to make only a shallow scrape-- and minimal damage is better than getting a blade in the face.
Her hands are already in her coat pocket as that strange aura about her only intensifies... -dramatically-. Pulling on a pair of what look like kyuudo gloves, a decent pair of archery thimbles with protection only for her thumb, middle, and index fingers, Miu looks up while Ayame's at her bag-- and she leans forward. That strange power becomes almost tangible, albeit invisible, and the short girl -lunges-. As she does, the most interesting part of all happens:
A burst of feathers, black and white, explode from under her feet-- almost as if they were accelerating her charge.
Miu's body rotates to the right, turning a full circle as her right arm rises high. A broad white feather emerges not from her sleeve, but her -knuckles- -- and in a massive downward swipe, she aims to rip the 'blade' of energy across Ayame's back, dealing less physical damage and feeling more like a direct blow to the nerves.
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Miu's Shubatsu.
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Miu 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Ayame
If Ayame has any clue about how bad she's irked a normally unflappable girl, it doesn't show. The Santa's Helper gone bad is in constant motion. Pulling out the throwing knife and tossing it at Miu... scooping up the white sack and shoving her hand into it...
A last second glance is cast over her shoulder, just in time to see a flurry of black feathers accompanying a charge from the maddened Crow Girl of Seijyun. Hn. "Guess the warning shot didn't clue you in enough, did it," the long haired girl states, taking a step forward and whirling around just in time to avoid the gout of energy that would have tormented her nerves on a level she can't even begin to understand. As-is, it's an interesting visual effect, but the caught thief doesn't look too scared by it.
"Not bad," she notes, mouth curling up in a bright smile, "You must be really popular at funerals with those black feathers of yours." There is a nagging query in the back of her mind as to why she couldn't sense the build up of energy before it manifest. But she doesn't have time for that right now!
Her hand comes out with a small reel of wire-thin cabling that she slips into a pocket in her skirt. She'll save that for later. Another hop back and she pulls out a thin, metal weight. That gets slipped into her other pocket. Something else for later. The sack is dropped at her feet then, as Miu deciding to press an attack has changed Ayame's game plan a little. "I'm only going to give you one warning to leave," she growls. Not that she's scared of the girl at this point, but a full blown fight would cost her valuable Running Away time!
Her hands freed, she slips her right hand down to the wide, black belt around her waist, slidding out from a hidden sheath a metal object. With a blur, she flicks open the butterfly knife and rolls it across her hand lazily as she grins at Miu. "Here's your warning!" When she steps forward next, the knife has been gripped tightly, the girl swinging out toward Miu with a horizontal arc at about stomach level. Swift and shallow, she's not aiming to maim. /Yet/.
COMBATSYS: Miu dodges Ayame's Quick Strike.
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Miu 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Ayame
The white feather narrowly misses the intended target, but that isn't to say that Miu isn't going to keep trying-- if anything, she remains a persistent little one. But a knife-- a knife that's intended to cut her open across the belly? It isn't something that she would like to try to explain to the on-campus physician, nor would she like to try to explain it to her parents on the phone. Her arms throw outward while she sucks her belly in, pushing off with both feet and narrowly backstepping from what could've potentially hurt a lot.
Miu makes a short hop into the air, her knees spread a bit but ultimately getting herself a little more than eye-level with Ayame as she twists-- and then her leg lashes out like a whip were cracking, trying her hardest to plant a quick-yet-sturdy kick in the girl's chest! But the strange part about it is... her leg trails more of those two-tone feathers, and even with a kick she may just feel a jolt of the crow girl's energy transmitted through it...!
Perhaps the strangest part of all, her face has since become completely unreadable-- no emotion, not hate or joy-- just a dead stare, her mouth contorting in slight angles as she puts efforts into her manuvers.
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Miu's Medium Kick.
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Miu 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Ayame
The sharp bladed butterfly knife misses its intended target, but it was a shallow swing - not one the red an white clad thief was too aggressive with, which leaves Ayame better able to duck down and under Miu's hopping kick aimed for her torso. The other girl's foot swings harmlessly over Ayame's head, the pesky bandit proving just as hard to hit as Miu is it would seem.
"Not bad," the girl remarks. But that's all she says, going immediately on the offense again, lunging up from her crouch toward Miu, "But playtime is over." A knife just like the one in her right hand now occupies her left, having slipped it out of its sheath while she was avoiding Miu's strike.
Now she's going for blood. Or, well, moreso than at first. The two weapons are a metallic blur as Ayame stabs them both toward the Seijyun student. Show her a bit of her own blood and surely she'll take off, the girl reasons. Then she can collect her Stuff<TM> and high tail it before any more of the uppity girls decide to try and play the hero. She hates heroes.
The two knifes are aimed to strike Miu in both of her sides, just below the rib cage. If Ayame sinks the wounds, she'll finish by jamming her knee up into the poor girl's stomach before pulling the knives out and taking a step back to inspect her handy work.
COMBATSYS: Miu blocks Ayame's Medium Strike.
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Miu 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Ayame
Yes-- playtime is over. It's figured out quite quickly by the black-haired student as the knives are brought out, hooked out to the sides and jammed in toward her own tender sides. Her elbows pull back and her arms return to her sides in what seems to be a last minute, perhaps supremely lucky manuver... but the edges still dig against her arms, piercing her coat and the sleeves of her turtleneck. Her jaw tightens, a visible wince of pain on her face-- but she doesn't cry out. Even as Ayame's knee drives into her stomach and she steps back, Miu doesn't cry out or collapse.
Those odd purple eyes narrow the slightest of measures, not giving the thief the time and satisfaction of admiring her handiwork. Even with deep gashes against her elbows, even in pain, her small body twists around in a hard circle, doing a near-pirouette and whipping her right arm out. A black feather is cast out like the kunai thrown at her moments ago, flying in a direct path toward Ayame. The second it leaves her hand, she twists in a long swirl of black and maroon, her long side-set ponytail lashing about. Only partially facing the strawberry blonde, she lashes out with a second feather on a slightly different trajectory-- but still ultimately aimed toward her!
And like the feather that struck the kettle, should it strike... the feather bursts more than jams in, a strange force trying to smack against Ayame and jolt her senses once again.
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Miu's Kakure Amagakeri.
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Miu 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Ayame
Her knives don't sink in how she intended, so the girl forgoes following up with the knee to the stomach and instead commits herself to backing up. There's something strange about Miu and the more time she spends looking at her, the more she slowly starts to realize a couple things that disturb her.
First of all - The girl is unreadable. For an expert in reading nearly everyone she attacks, staring at the blank visage of the girl kind of sets Ayame off. How is she supposed to know if her taunts are getting beneath the girl's skin? How is she supposed to figure out what words or actions will break her focus and leave her easy prey?
Second of all, she has a lot of that power she's throwing around, yet the thief can't sense any of it like she can with most other fighters. She has to trust purely on eyesight, like she does now - The feather flies out at her like a dagger meant to inflict pain on a different level than Ayame's sharp weapons.
A precarious weave to the side lets the first one fly past her, grazing the fabric of her outfit but not managing to sink beneath it. The second one requires Ayame to resort to a backflip to avoid it as well, landing a few yards off after the backflip in a half-crouch. Jeez. What is it with that girl?
Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Ayame flicks the two knives closed and slips them back in the sheaths hidden in her belt. "Is this really worth a few yen to you? Just let it go before you get yourself even more hurt," the girl warns... while simultaneously charging back in to close the distance between them. Falling back on a technique shown her by a professional in wrestling not many days ago, the girl swings as if to strike Miu's unreadable face...
But it's a feint as Ayame swings early and tries to spin in behind the other girl, bringing her arms up to lock around her neck from behind and grip her tightly in place. "You brought this upon yourself!" she yells as she charges.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Miu with Medium Throw.
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Miu 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Ayame
But it isn't about the thousand-four hundred yen she had given up, it isn't about the watch-- it's that she was taking advantage of these people, and doing it so freely, so cheerfully-- all under the guise that it was for a -good cause-. That is perhaps what gets under the girl's skin the most, annoying her to no end.
Ayame's avoiding the feathers is likewise met with that deadpan expression, the only signal of her demeanor that slight narrowing of the eyes as she tries to keep her focus on the thief while she darts about, narrowly avoiding her strikes. That focus is broken, of course, as she leans her head to the side as to dodge it completely-- and giving Ayame the ample room she needs to pull back and get the step behind her. It may please her to hear the shorter dark-haired girl let out a gasp, her air supply being sharply cut off all at once. She struggles, flails, and her face starts to flush red before hooking an elbow back at Ayame's ribs, trying to dislodge her grip just a -little- bit.
Grabbing at the offending arm, Ayame will be treated to the sight of Miu literally -throwing- herself over Ayame's head, her own head slipping out of the thief's grip and using her arm as a hinge. Her target? The blonde's back.
If Miu can get a good grip on the girl's shoulder, her right fist cocks back with another white feather bleeding out of her knuckles-- and then with a -hard- punch down, slams it into the back of Ayame's head. This one seems to actually have 'edge' to it, enough to cut a shallow gash while it bursts, jolting in a rather angry manner!
And if she's successful, that strike transmits enough force to blow Miu back through the air-- an impressive ten or twelve feet high, getting about an equal length distance of distance in a smooth arc to let her land lightly on her feet.
COMBATSYS: Miu successfully hits Ayame with Psi-Launcher.
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Miu 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Ayame has saved the state of this fight.
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Miu 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Ayame
What's this?! The girl manages to pry herself out of Ayame's grip and slip in behind her, getting a grip on her shoulder and holding the long haired thief still for enough time to slam her in the back of the head with the feather imbued fist. She isn't even sure what the heck just happened - the impact of the hand, the gash in her scalp... none of that compares to the pain wracking her body on a deeper level than either of those components.
Dropped to her hands and knees as Miu flies back some distance, Ayame lifts her right hand up to press against the back of her head, squinting as she tries to bite back pain she has almost no defenses in coping with. The gaggle of girls gathering around the spectacle begin to murmur at the fight Miu is giving the miscreant, but Ayame tries to pay them no mind.
Gritting her teeth, the girl pushes herself back up to standing, whirling around to fix her gaze on Miu. Her left hand slips into the pocket of her skirt and comes out with three cards tucked between her fingers. Decorated with holiday symbols and pithy seasons greetings, the girl swings her hand forward, sending the cards hurtling toward Miu. Roughly the size of playing cards, it might be easy to miss the fact that their edges are razor sharp!
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Miu with Sudden Fling.
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Miu 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Ayame
As she flips in the air, her arms are thrown out wide, her knees, heels, and toes together. A picture-perfect backflip in every way, especially with the height and distance involved. But once the slow arc but fast travel ends, once she lands lightly on her feet, Miu finds herself with a whole new problem coming her way-- cards. Not that she can ascertain their nature from looks alone, especially flying the way they are, but Miu's experience so far leads her to believe 'dodge' is the appropriate action to take.
Not that she succeeds.
Hopping and twisting, her intent was originally to turn away from the slashes and roll 'with' the toss, to narrowly sidestep. The cards get a good bite of her stomach instead, ripping at her old coat and the shirt of her uniform.
Hurrying ahead, she runs at Ayame and leaps into the air, her legs folding under her body and flying in at Ayame knees-first. But just when it looks like she intends to drive her legs into the thief's face, the crow girl turns with another surprise-- a hard overhead punch, her fist arcing to smack the girl over the head. Feathers trail from her hand as she swings, and more may just burst out if she makes contact...
COMBATSYS: Ayame interrupts Medium Punch from Miu with Harvest's Reaper.
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Miu 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Ayame
Miu is left to deal with the cards as the no good swindler makes a dive back toward the bag she left sitting next to the upset pot. Her left hand hefting it up, her right hand digs in, the girl's back toward Miu as she frantically searches for something she thinks will help her better handle the power the feather-spewing girl seems capable of conjuring up.
And she finds it, though a bit later than she would have preferred. Unable to stop the other girl from cracking her on the top of the head with another fist full of Psycho Powered feathers, Ayame is bent forward a little, looking like she might face plant a second time as she hisses back another painful shock from Miu's energy.
But the girl doesn't quite fall, managing to lunge back up with her new toy. It would be easy to miss at first, since when she pulled it out of the sack it was only a half foot long, two inch diameter metal tube. But as she starts to swing the weapon up into Miu's stomach, the tube expands remarkably fast into a full six foot long metal pole, flaring with a violent, angry red aura.
The upward strike is followed by a second one capable of launching both of the girls into the air as Ayame follows through the momentum of the swing, a small discharge of chi creating a red explosion at the point of impact. At the apex of their ascent she hefts the entire pole over her head, holding it like an executioner's axe, before slamming it back down to crack the poor girl on the shoulder. Red chi trails behind the end of the weapon, forming almost a sharp blade of energy that will gash flesh and cloth like a slightly dull scythe might.
Ayame drops to the ground into a low crouch, staff out at her side, her hair falling down over her shoulder as she bows her head, exhaling slowly from the energy exerted by channeling so much power into her weapon for that attack. "I hope by now you realize you should just not get up again..." the girl mutters.
Though she has feathers, and depending on who you talk to, supposedly -wings-, the small Miu cannot change directions mid-air, nor prepare for the dangers that follow a lunging, mid-air attack. The tube extends into a staff-- and the weapon slams harshly into her stomach, halting her controlled descent. The second strike brings her back into the air, given the little added 'oomph' of the burst of energy.
Spiked down with the overhead swing, Miu plants face-down into the concrete walkway. Though she bounces-- the slightest of amounts-- she falls still. It feels like she's bitten her tongue, and the whole world is a twisted swirl of colors, black, and white. The crow girl isn't about to listen, though-- not a chance.
So she stands up.
Slowly, carefully, she puts her hands down and pushes up, scooting up to her hands and knees to catch her breath. Her weight rocks back to let her squat for a moment, and then finally stands fully. Miu says nothing, gives no indication to her mental or physical state-- she only waits.
And runs at Ayame.
The energy within the small girl rises to a new level than before. Feathers start to grow and bleed out of her arm through the sleeve of her coat, some sticking right out of the coat's sleeve itself. Once she gets within arm's reach, Miu turns hard on one heel and lunges, thrusting her fist out-- and the feathers burst into a large cone, the feathers along her arm surging ahead to drill at Ayame and strike her as hard as she can. It's virtually raw, crude energy being thrown at the blonde girl... and if it hits, probably strong enough to send -her- tumbling.
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Miu's Yomosugara.
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Miu 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0 Ayame
Uh oh. Ayame may not be able to sense the nature of the power Miu is drawing upon, but she'd have to be blind to miss the massive surge in its presence. It looks like the smaller girl isn't about to let up in the slightest as much as the scoundrel girl wishes she would. This is becoming a really big hassle here! "Hey now," Ayame retorts, her right hand releasing her staff to lift, palm forward, waving it back and forth as if trying to get Miu to calm down, "I didn't attack you. You could have avoided this whole mess, but noooooo."
The problem is, Ayame is pretty fresh, in spite the injuries she's coping with. The energy leaves a mark, and has her head aching and her ears ringing, but her body's strength is still nearly at full capacity. As Miu attempts to devestate her with a massive onslaught of power, the long haired pest steps aside at the last possible second.
And in the process, she swings her leg out, aiming to strike the girl in the stomach as she runs by with her arm full of feathers. Her staff swings down at the same time, attempting to trip Miu up at the level of her ankles. "Now let's all just have a Merry Christmas and be on our way before someone really gets hurt," she snaps. "You can't handle me, little girl."
COMBATSYS: Miu blocks Ayame's Light Kick.
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Miu 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Ayame
Miu's expression still doesn't change-- she doesn't laugh, cry, or look angry. Miu's eyebrows are furrowed at that same constant amount, her mouth in that same line, her eyes as hard as ever. Yomosugara nearly rips into Ayame, but at the proximity and opting to dodge at the last moment, she can no doubt feel the ambient energy, the tingle in the air that feels like static electricity. And as her arm thrusts by, there's a hard gust of wind added to it, causing that attack to roar in ears.
But she still missed.
Ayame's staff hooks down and tries to take Miu's legs out from under her, but she holds steady-- her heel turns outward, the muscles in her slender legs tense and take the strike in stride. It makes her knee bend, lowering her a bit toward the ground. Miu does her best not to react, but even she's prone to feeling pain.
The energy inside her sparks, rising in a manner so sudden and abrupt that Ayame may notice even if she doesn't see the physical signs-- the feathers that seem to seep out of her shoulderblades while she near-kneels before the thieving miko. More seem to seep out of her arms, behind her knuckles, up her wrists-- it's an awkward growth, hard -not- to notice.
Miu stands up quickly, hooking her hand up into a small fist to clip Ayame right up the jaw with a harsh burst of black feathers and a stinging strike to the jaw. "Urgh!"
COMBATSYS: Ayame parries Miu's Medium Punch!
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Miu 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Ayame
In at close range is a place where Ayame shines... though not usually with her staff in hand. The long weapon plays best at medium ranges where she can defend and attack with it in single strikes. But Miu's defense leaves the two fighters close together and Ayame has no time to prattle off anything else annoying as she's faced with dealing with that energy laced punch.
Her reaction is desperately fast as she leans backward, holding her staff horizontally in front of her while lifting it up vertically in order to bump Miu's arm upward at the last possible second to avoid getting her face melted. And it's in that instant that her staff flares a bright red like before - a warning that retaliation is forthcoming!
Bumping Miu's arm up a little further than necessary just to try and tip the girl off balance, Ayame quickly goes back on the offense, swinging the red, glimmering weapon toward each of Miu's sides, before an upward jab is aimed at her stomach. The girl finishes with a leaping, overhead slam of the staff in an attempt to smack the Seijyun Crow Girl on the top of the head at the cost of leaving herself open. Should her strikes connect, with each impact a small explosion of bright red chi sends sparks flying into the air, raining down around the girls with each of the strikes.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Miu with Requiem For Fallen Blossoms EX.
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Miu 1/--=====/=======|=======\-------\1 Ayame
Finally, Miu lets out a reaction to something in this fight-- Ayame's movements, the quick strike, and her arm being sent off-course. Her eyes widen, her sullen expression reeling with what amounts to sheer surprise. Her arm keeps going up and up-- and up more, with the guidance given to her by Ayame's weapon.
Miu gasps as the staff slams into her stomach, reeling forward over the weapon while she still goes up-- and driven back down with the powerful strike to the back of the head. The bursts of chi and light are the worst of it-- and she hits the ground with another noise, smacking the concrete and rolling onto her side.
Breathing hard, reaching out, Miu pulls herself up to all fours and sucks in a deep breath.
She mutters something unintelligable.
The energy in the girl -surges-, more than it ever did before. The feathers start to seep out of her arms as blue light starts forming under the whole of her body, some sort of underlit aura of power that gathers while she's regaining her focus. Thick, full, and both black and white, they spill out and across her back, run down her arms. What little skin exposed of her hand starts to get lost in the coverage.
She mutters something again, a bit of blood dripping into a scattered arrangement underneath her.
Standing up, with Miu's eyes obscured through the thick veil of bangs, her right hand balls up hard into a fist. A thick white feather bleeds out of her knuckles, and Ayame will-- in the most literal of senses-- have a tiny ball of psychic fury suddenly -right there-. Her movement again warrants a burst of those feathers out from under her feet, rocketing ahead in a well-practiced form. Her right arm is up high and across her chest... and comes down with a massive sweep, looking to slash-- and actually physically cut as well as administer a shock with that strange power-- and stagger Ayame from the force.
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to reflect Psychic Secrets from Miu with Bright Renewal.
COMBATSYS: Ayame can no longer fight.
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Miu 0/-------/-----==|
The first slash is only a precursor, a step before the main show. The first slash leads into one of Miu's small feet touching the ground for only a second. The ground hisses with her step, a mix of dust and dust crushing under her tread. The next hop allows her to close that gap one more time-- and slash. Slash, and slash, and slash, and slash-- a seemingly countless flurry of blows, her small frame whipping around in circles on each swipe of her arm. Miu's focus seems to have returned, back to that same deadpan expression-- and all the while, the black feathers upon her left arm grow thicker and thicker, consuming the whole of her arm and the coat she wears-- even onto the back of her coat, spreading across almost like some sort of wing.
With the final, violent slash, the white feather shoots out of her fist and pierces the ground like a knife. Miu's left arm rears back and those feathers start to surge through her arm and sleeve and onto her fist-- and with a thrusting, hard lunge much like a punch, the feathers -explode- into a massive cone, tightly-packed and drilling hard and consistently into Ayame. Feathers scatter on impact, an impossibly loud sound of what seems like flapping wings fill the air, and though her fist never touches the miko, the force continues on-- before providing enough force to send her, quite literally, flying away at high speed.
The feathers in the 'lance' scatter, and leave Miu with her arm at full extension. The small girl falls to one knee while those feathers scatter around the courtyard-- some landing and fading, some disappearing in mid air, others likely falling around the other girls in the courtyard of the school. Miu's head is lowered, her shoulders shifting as she breathes -hard-. And her fist, still trembling, hangs in the air.
"A-aaahh... ow..."
Landing after her finishing slam, Ayame rises up to her feet, her glowing staff still tightly gripped in hand. She extended herself hard to deliver that combination of strikes, however, and as the red chi pours down around the two girls, she's slow to recover her footing as well as she needs in order to respond quickly. As Miu comes at her again, Ayame stands her ground, gritting her teeth as she tries to test her power directly against Miu's. No more running around, no more games with momentum and rediction of force. Just raw energy verses energy.
Her staff held out in front of her, the red chi coursing along its surface changes... becomes slowly translucent, glimmering, shining, almost like the reflective ripples of liquid mercury. With gritted teeth, she slams the weapon out in front of her on an intercept course for Miu. But when the collision comes, her defense doesn't hold water in comparison. The power washing over the smaller girl's arm in the form of the multicolored feathers smashes through Ayame's defense easily...
When she lands in a tumble several seconds later, she's perfectly still, arms out at her sides. Her staff, dropped moments before while in mid-air, catches up, rolling over to bump against the top of her head as the girl stays put. Gone are the mirthful jabs, the amused taunts. Replaced with pain; blinding agony that keeps her from being able to move for a moment, gasping for breath as she tries to fight back the tears shimmering in her open eyes.
"Damnit," Ayame hisses, rolling over, hand coming down to clamp against her staff as she tries to push herself up in spite the protest of trembling arms. Slowly she makes her way back up to standing, leaning heavily against her trusty titanium staff. With tear streaked cheeks she glares back at Miu. Her torso is covered with gashes, the left shoulder of her top shorn off, leaving a bloody gouge visible there as well.
She isn't unconcious, but she can't possibly fight back any longer. And given what she just went through, she doesn't really want to see what the girl would do if she were to press another assault. When push comes to shove, she just can't keep up with the power Miu controls - her endless flurry of feathery energy. "Che," she spits to the side, right arm coming up to wipe her mouth while her left hand continues to cling to her staff desperately. "Guess you're some kind of hero now." A warning look is cast at all the girls that have come to watch the spectacle before Ayame stands up a little bit straighter, lifting her staff off the ground and starting to back up. Even in this condition she could take any of them on their own, she's certain, but a mob like this? Not if they all decide to jump her at once.
Her breathing rough, Ayame applies pressure to a point near the center of her metal staff and with a hydraulic hiss, three blades extend out of the top end, unfolding to ninety-degree angles of each other, forming a small bladed cross at the top. Whirling the staff around once over head as she turns her back toward Miu, Ayame turns to make a slow, painful run for the Seijyun gates, hoping that the sharp bladed polearm will be enough to keep the girls not quite as bold as Miu at bay!
Rising slowly to her feet, Miu holds her wrist while her left hand still shudders-- shoving that much force through her at once hurts, especially with the untold amounts that spill out from her in almost everything she does. The energy extending from her stems off in a slow manner, tapering away-- and tapering away a little quicker in the air around them. Ayame's loss, her victory...
Miu walks toward Ayame, but stops as the blades are revealed-- and takes a step back as the weapon is whirled around over her head and used as the means for her getaway. Sure, the "charitable person" is getting away, but at least she didn't get to take all the stolen stuff with her... and hopefully, it's taught her quite a lesson. But, of course, if any of those other girls watching are calling security or police, all the better!
Walking over to the girl originally put into the concrete-- the first and only real victim to Ayame's brutality, she lowers down into a kneel next to her and offers out her hand. "Are you okay?" she asks, her voice once again small as seems to be regaining control over her wild energy.
Ayame's gait picks up speed the further she gets, finally lowering her bladed weapon and collapsing it back down as she slips off of the campus and out into the city at large. Security shows up moments later. With so many startled, fightened, chattering girls, it takes a while for them to get to the root of what happened. The fake charity, the pile of spilled over stolen items that will all need to be carefully returned, the weapons strewn across the ground, left by the swindler...
The valiant defense on the part of Miu and the deceptive, manipulative ruffian she chased off at great personal peril. Little by little the story comes together, though the theif herself is gone for now.
The girl Miu offers her hand to accepts it with wide eyes. A cautious glance is cast around at the other students - being friendly with the quiet loner has never been the path to popularity or influence there at the elite girl's school. But after a moment she shakes her head, stammering a quiet, "T-that was incredible... thank you for taking a stand."
A couple girls turn their snobbish noses up to the sky at the sight of Miu and the blonde speaking. Hmph! Dismissing Miu as just some kind of creepy freak, most of the girls begin to wander off, gossiping amongst themselves about the afternoon's strange sight. But some of them won't forget the brave stand she took in righting a wrong. It would've been so easy to just look the other way.
Log created on 00:22:57 12/12/2007 by Ayame, and last modified on 19:23:02 12/26/2007.