Description: Aranha and Horatio party like rock stars and completely destroy a hotel room and a couple's romantic moment. In the end Horatio puts forth a possibility that never occured to the Capoeirista. (Winner: Horatio)
It was odd that so soon after the repairs to the casino that they would not only open it up to a fight but that they would likewise open it up to a fight in a hotel room as opposed to the perfectly servicable arena down in the lower levels. Perhaps the blood splatters down there would send the wrong impression. It's not like Neo League fights haven't taken place in weirder places.
As much as Aranha didn't like coming here, he still agreed. To this place where his enmity with Blackjack began, the place where his sister had been held prisoner and where he had fought in the same blood splattered arena for her freedom.
Aranha objected to being here on so many levels. Only two things were able to get him to agree to come here. The fact that Blackjack wouldn't see a majority of the money from this fight and that he'd be in a position to wreck everything. Unfortunately, he missed out on the festivities. Damn Guardian Kings beating him to the punch.
As he waits for the other fighter to arrive, he adjusts the music on his mp3 sunglasses and plans how each object in the room is going to meet its demise.
Surprisingly enough, the 'other fighter' due to arrive was likely not what Aranha was looking forward to. He didn't look like a fighter, didn't act like a fighter, didn't walk or talk like a fighter either. He seemed more like some kind of school kid. And those blue denim pants, red overalls hanging down around his knees and well manicured nails with that button up shirt and t-shirt combination didn't help things. Likely neither would the well kept orange hair with those two long streamers running down from in front of his ears in hair tassels that moved with his every gesticulation. He couldn't have been any older than seventeen.. and with his posture, it was obvious he was one of those Private School types. Stand up straight, eat your broccoli, do the right thing, enjoy your Justice Bread<tm>.
Nevertheless, Horatio makes his way up through the Casino, and takes -a long time- at that, stopping to glance or look or just plain stare at all the neat things buzzing and whipping about on the floor. Kino girls -- oohhh, Kino Girls. - Servers, waiters, waitresses, people laughing, joking, some crying because they'd lost everything. The sound of dice rolling, music playing, hundreds of glasses of liquid being sipped at the same time. He'd never been in a Casino. Never been -allowed-, really. So finally, when the opportunity showed up for a match here inside of one, he couldn't help but jump at the chance where other, better known fighters had simply passed it on for a more challenging match with a bigger name competitor.
Not at all wanting to disappoint Hyo, he'd come in a clandestined fashion, leaving no evidence of his brief escape behind. He'd rather not hear the lecture about running off to join a wreckless fight scene when he had work to do and Hyo's clothes to dry clean. This is what got him in trouble before. -- Finally making it up the short few of stairs into the hotel lobby, he looks around and a small production crew points him to the emergency stairs. He takes them at an even pace, a little nervous about the camera in his face, blinking into it before stepping out onto the floor where the match was to take place... Instead of striking some type of stance... making a statement... seeming bold. He just throws two peace-finger-signs into the air and smiles at Aranha, "I'M HERE!"
Surprised? Perhaps. But Aranha would probably be one of the last people to sleep on a person who doesn't have the look of a fighter. Aranha has fought a high school kid who wields Lacrosse sticks, and barely avoided losing that fight. On the streets of Metro and especially so in Southtown, assuming someone is not a fighter, is a good way to get yourself beaten up or killed
Of course Horatio's announcement is what draws his attention to the door and so he gets himself ready to fight, allowing to just naturally go into ginga. Dancing as he watches the orange haired Justice student before launching himself into a cartwheel that stops in an open legged handstand and then whirls around with a series of from the handstand as he becomes a human tornado.
COMBATSYS: Aranha has started a fight here.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Horatio has joined the fight here.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Horatio
COMBATSYS: Horatio fails to interrupt Inverted Tornado from Aranha with Ten O'Clock Sunrise.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Horatio
What with the celebrations of arrival and all. Well, not really celebrations, but his ritual, he failed to pay much attention to Aranha. Not that he disrespected him as a fighter, but because he had ... a juju if you will. And he didn't want bad juju... or to better put it, karma maybe. Thus, he pauses for the niceties. Waving once to Aranha, he closes his eyes, draws a rosary across his chest with his hand and says a small prayer, "En nomine padre, et fillet, et spiritus sancti..." -- Eyes opening, it's just in time to see- NN!? "HEY!" He yells out, his right hand moving quickly.
He wanted so badly to try and stop that oncoming attack, but something threw his understanding and perception of it off. Aranha was moving in a way that he'd never really seen a fighter move before. This was some unorthodox style that he wans't rightly prepared for. So as he moves to channel energy and attempt to throw it, the movement is stopped completely, not even being able to propertly start before he's batted with whirling kicks and sent stumbling back a step to recover. "Ow! ... - Hey!"
Mid attack Aranha realizes that he probably should dial back the exhuberance a few dozen notches. So into getting the hotel room wrecking underway that he forgets to let his opponent prepare. After all, it's not like the guy had did anything wrong to really. "Sorry about that. I guess I was so eager to get the show on the road."
Aranha then backs off a bit as he speaks a large grin plastered on his face, "I'll give you some time prepare and then we can continue where we left off. Sound like a plan?"
After that, Aranha starts to study Horatio again carefully analyzing him to make his own preparations. All the while Aranha continues to sway to the beat of the music played in his Oakley Thumps. And then he remembers his manners. "I go by Aranha."
COMBATSYS: Aranha focuses on his next action.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Horatio
A plan
curse. you. enter key.
[OOC] Aranha-Man considers leaving that in the log.
[OOC] Horatio says, "Sure. Go ahead. n_n v"
A plan? That sounded like an excellent idea. Turning his attention up to Aranha after rubbing his stomach, he wrinkles his nose a little bit, "That kinda hurt... like... bad.. -- But yeah, hey, thanks anyway." He nods, seeming somewhat distracted for the moment, but eventually finds his stride and falls into an easy stance, upright with his fists clenched before him. He allows Aranha his space while he takes his own in preparation. There's a long, still moment between them where Horatio just watches and waits, waits for the right moment to feel out a strike. When it comes, he nods his head to let Aranha know he was coming, "Alright! Let's go."
Pushing off of his right foot, he again whips his right arm forward, this time much faster than the last, a swift, orange ring of energy cut through the air, it rolling in the air out towards Aranha as Horatio brings his arm up through the full motion of the swing and drops back with a short hop, watching it fly through the air, eating up the distance between them and seeking to collide with his chest. It appeared as a perfectly circular buzzsaw... or a cartoonish drawing of the sun itself.
COMBATSYS: Aranha fails to slow Ten O'Clock Sunrise from Horatio with Web Shot.
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Aranha 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Horatio
Aranha knew that he was taking a risk by letting him do this but wasn't the type of fight that was for keeps. It was more about over coming obstacles and he wasn't going to see what obstacles that were in store for him unless he let him show what he could bring to bear.
Horatio whips his arm around sending an orange ring of energy at him at high speed. Aranha spins as the energy rockets in towards him hoping to meet Horatio's energy with his own. Aranha's hand just barely forms a blue energy web before he's blasted off of his feet and sent flying into a chair. "I think... No, I know that hurt more than what I did to you."
Aranha slowly picks himself off of the ground smiling the whole time. He doesn't look angry at all in fact, he seems relatively laid back about things. "Let's see what else you've got."
The boy whines as Aranha gets back up and says he wants to see what else he has. "Whyyyy?" Odd question. Lifting his hands slowly, he crosses his wrists and sets them atop his head in a restful fashion, his eyes downcast for a moment before he looks up at Aranha. "Everybody says that... I dunno if that's really what you want though... I mean.. that attack hurt you that bad.. Are-- are you sure you want to see the rest of it?" Sighing, he drops his arms to his sides and his shoulders slump. "Okay but... I'm still gonna take it easy, just in case. Hyo would be mad at me if I hurt somebody really bad and the match wasn't about anything important. I don't want to have to go through explaining myself to him if you end up injured or something... He doesn't like to discipline with words if you get my meaning."
Then again, that was Hyo. Horatio had been on the receiving end of quite a bit of his jurisdictional 'discipline' and it was never fun. It often ended painfully or in bloodshed of some kind-- quite usually his own- so he liked to keep well within the limits of his position and function at Justice High. Any time he stepped out of line he was swiftly kicked down a peg and forced to recite his mandates over and over again while suffering an either most humiliating punishment or a most painful one. That's why he was so very dedicated to excellence. ".. Well... here goes, I guess." At that, he was off. Rushing in on Aranha, his body leaning fully forward, feet charging across the carpet of the hotel room. He takes a around about course however, leaping from the ground, hopping off of the top of a table and coming down with his body whipping around once in a quick spin, launching one, then another windmill kick with both legs, a cutting arch of orange energy behind each like billowing waves of firework explosions. As he lands, his body shifts, throwing his flank to one side as he launches a hard back kick at stomach height. The explosion of energy that follows that kick is hard enough to push him back a bit, and force him to hop back onto his feet again.
COMBATSYS: Horatio successfully hits Aranha with Crazy Priestess.
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Aranha 1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0 Horatio
When Horatio asks why, Aranha has a bunch of answers. Perhaps he's... Okay he's definitely crazy. Perhaps there's a part of him that knows that he needs to be humbled after the incredible run he's had. The ones he chooses to answer with is, "Because, I need to learn more about myself."
And then Horatio shoots forward to leap off of a table to deliver a series of energized kicks the final one sending him through a wall. There's a scream of female voice from inside the followed by Aranha saying, "My bad man... Hey..."
Aranha then steps back through the giant hole and to who ever was in there... "Play on playa!" Luckily for both them they're both under the covers and they don't plan on signing the release for permission to use their likeness on T.V.
It must be one of those cases where Aranha must've completely lost his mind. He's still cheerful even if he's hurt and losing badly but he still seems to be moving okay.
Aranha dances into close range and then he slips a leg behind Horatio in an attempt to throw the orange haired fighter down to the ground by popping his hip upwards. Then if he should get that far, he's lifting him up to slam him again in a modified version of a capoeira take down.
COMBATSYS: Horatio dodges Aranha's Strong Throw.
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Aranha 1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0 Horatio
"Oohhh..." Horatio groans, his arms lifting again to rest atop his head. He crosses his ankles, reclining almost in a standing position, watching Aranha fly through the wall behind him with a grimace... "I ... think I over did it a little..." He says. And then there's a great deal of commotion coming from the other room. "Huh? ... Hey, what are you doing in there!? ... Hello? ... HELLOOOOO!? ... -- OH, hi... Play on -- wh--hm?" He's obviously confused by this. But then again, considering that Italian accent and the fact that he was in Japan of all places.. confusion was something that was easy to come by for him. He was only just now getting to a point where he understood what people were saying. For the most part, he couldn't help but feel kind of like a dumby for not understanding a lot of it. But that aside, this what Aranha was doing baffled him because he'd never heard anyone called a 'playa' .. at least outside of television.
When the other fighter springs back into action, Horatio uncrosses his ankles, his hands coming down to his sides as he rushes at the boy. Orange hair whips to one side as he turns to examine his surroundings. Table to one side of him that he'd just hopped over... then the chair Aranha had landed in on the other. Drastic measures, drastic measures... The leg slips behind him, but Horatio, instead of staying put, hops up and backwards, right over it. Coming down on his feet, he skips back a number of steps to avoid Aranha all together, orange energy building from the ground up, whirling over his form and quickly coalescing at his chest where it bursts outward and fades away. "Wow.. hey. You're kinda fast. You almost got me with that one."
COMBATSYS: Horatio gathers his will.
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Aranha 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Horatio
The confusion is understandable and hell the audience at home would probably get a bit confused themselves. However, Aranha has by this point has already moved on to the next topic. The fact that Horatio has managed to move out of the way his takedown to slam attack.
"Thanks, though I have to say you're probably the faster of us right now." He seems to then add as an afterthought, "As a matter of fact, it's rare for me to see someone move at that speed. It's quite inspiring."
After that Aranha slides in forward scissoring his legs about Horatio's in an attempt to take him down, with a twist to attempt to drop Horatio on his back hard.
COMBATSYS: Horatio endures Aranha's Medium Throw.
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Aranha 1/----===/=======|=======\==-----\1 Horatio
"Huh? ... No..." He comments back dryly. "Only on the weekends... I mean, my offdays are pretty sketchy, but usually just the weekends." - What!? ... How did that make sense. He clarifies. "I mean, when I'm fast. I'm usually only fast then. Any other time I'm kinda slow. I don't get much sleep these days... mm." Odd thing to say in the middle of a fight. When Aranha comes rushing in again, Horatio expects an attack high but it comes low. He considers moving out of the way of it but instead, he takes a single step back, allows Aranha to ensnare one of his ankles and lay him low.
Grimacing from the pain of impact, he smacks into the ground hard, body jarred slightly but doesn't stay down long. Instead, he bends his small body in two, feet leaving the ground and moving upward before quickly unfolding himself, his hands pushing off of the ground over his shoulders, kickflipping back to his feet. Hopping back long enough to anchor his right foot, he pushes off of it and throws himself towards the other man, spinning once in the air before throwing his foot back and downward, trying to drill down upon him with a downward angling jump kick.
COMBATSYS: Aranha blocks Horatio's Light Kick.
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Aranha 1/---====/=======|=======\==-----\1 Horatio
Aranha didn't have time to respond verbally and he barely had the time to respond physically especially considering that Horatio was up quicker than he originally had planned for. Aranha windmills his legs to spin himself back to his feet before the kick comes down upon him. His marm moving to intercept the kick while he spins away from the blow.
And then Aranha's back on his feet again whirling around with a series of spinning kicks each one glowing with blue chi before he finishes with something a bit more familiar to the other fighter. That same open legged handstand tornado but it's sustained for a longer period of time and also glowing with blue chi to aid in impact.
[OOC] Aranha-Man says, "Damn the enter key."
[OOC] Horatio says, "YOU TOO! HA! C.C_"
For those watching at home familiar with the way Aranha moves, they'll notice that Aranha is moving faster seeming to draw on inspiration from Horatio. While he's fast, he's not usually /that/ fast. Atleast not on move delivery.
COMBATSYS: Aranha successfully hits Horatio with Royal Flush.
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Aranha 0/-------/-------|=======\======-\1 Horatio
As he comes down from the air, his body at an almost perfect angle for impact, Aranha has the wherewithall to move out of the way. But then again, as the saying goes, you move when you see trouble coming. Nevermind that though, Horatio comes down out of the air and strikes only Aranha's arm. And for a moment it's a bit of a frustration for him, as he's forced to push back to land on his feet. But landing isn't exactly all he does. As his feet touch down, Aranha is upon him. With surprising speed in fact. Horatio's head is snapped to one side as a spinning kick lands hard on his jaw. Then another. Then another. The third spins him around completely, a ring of blood tracing the path his head had flown like the rings around a planet, centrifugal force sending it out from his mouth. As he comes around with the complete 360 degree spin, he's doubled over by a kick that slams into his midsection.
They keep raining in and Aranha keeps spinning, stumbling, checking and gut-flowing Horatio until he's left to stumble back, the last kick blasting into his midsection and throwing him off of his feet. He flies across the suite, crashing through an end table, breaking it to kindling, his legs catching the top of an arm chair and knocking it over backwards, the impact sending him into a violent spin that slams him into the far wall and crumples him to the floor... That looked like it hurt. And it did.
Forcing himself up, Horatio gets back to his feet and wipes the blood from the corner of his mouth a smirk and a little masochistic chuckle... After all, one had to be slightly masochistic to get up smiling after someone had thrown that much pain into your body. "... I didn't want to make you feel bad or anything... but I could have ended this a long time ago. I was trying to go easy on you... But I see that was my mistake for underestimating you. I won't do it again. I apologize." The energy he had been building from the moment he had begun to charge his power... he looks on Aranha then with a completely serious stare, his orange eyes like two shining pools... light reflected off of the surface of stained glass windows. He lifts his left hand, palm up... and a brilliant light flashes into being inside of it... it was no bigger than a mustard seed. And that was all. All of that charging and that was it. Lowering his hand, the bead hovers beside him and he slowly begins to march, walking towards Aranha, closing the distance, stepping through the rubble his body had made of the end table after stepping around the chair all together. Some ten feet away... he stops... But the bead does not.
It fires forward with a sudden quickness that's all together astounding. And then it -stops-... right in front of his face. A small, insignificant ball of orange energy... That in the next milisecond explodes into the 4th of July. It's a massive, concussive blast, the sphere just -suddenly- being a ball of energetic mass. The size of a small car and growing before it ruptures into streaming blasts of energy similar to a chaotic fireworks eruption at the last 30 seconds of a parade. It was as terrible as it was breathtaking... And Horatio stands still with his hands in his pockets, energy washing past him, throwing his long hair streamers over his shoulders and billowing his clothing from the concussive backlash.
[OOC] Aranha-Man says, "I'm about to do something nucking futs."
[OOC] Horatio shrugs. "Might work."
[OOC] Horatio says, "I'm sure I've seen stranger things happen."
[OOC] Aranha-Man says, "Actually it's not so much whether it'll work since it's my highest probability action. It's just doing it defies all logic."
COMBATSYS: Aranha endures Horatio's Orange Julius.
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Aranha 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Horatio
[OOC] Horatio shrugs. "Again, I reiterate. I'm sure I've seen s-- that was just gooftastic."
[OOC] Horatio says, "That... is /not/ the attack to endure. o.O;"
When the last of his kicks finally stops, the glow only now dying out from his Timberland boots. Aranha dances backwards as he attempts to gain more room for himself watching as Horatio rises back to his feet. Smiling as he gets up, apologizing to Aranha as he moves towards him. Aranha decides to stay silent though. He gets the feeling that whatever happens will require his full attention.
And Aranha is right. The seedling of chi stops right in front of his face and Aranha just barely has the presence of mind to take off the shades and fling them to bed before the orange energy practically fills most of the room with the horrible energy. Aranha can't cover himself up, can't move out of the way... All he can do is charge through even though tactically it was a bad idea, but he pretty much was manuevered into the situation.
Aranha barrels through the energy running through the intense attack screaming in a combination of agony and determination as he pushes through stopping right in front of Horatio. "I wouldn't have felt bad, I knew I had lost after your second attack had landed. I could tell." He taps his finger right next to his eye. And then he launches his final gasp by leaping to the bed to grab his Oakley Thumps. His body glows with blue chi as he bounces all over the room like Tigger after drinking a Jolt and consuming pixie sticks. Everything in Aranha's path gets destroyed. Lamps, end tables, drawers nothing is safe from his wrath except maybe Horatio if he manages to avoid his multiple attacks from a variety of angles and launched from varying pieces of furniture.
And then Aranha collapses on a pile of broken furniture too tired to go on.
COMBATSYS: Aranha can no longer fight.
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Horatio 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Horatio interrupts Joker's Wild from Aranha with High Driver.
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Horatio 0/-------/-======|
Standing stark still with his hands in his pockets, there is no smirk, there is no smile... he'd just let loose his strongest attack, but thankfully for Aranha, he hadn't used it's full strength. Had he put everything he had into it, the other man would likely be dead. It wasn't the first time he'd seen something of the sort happen... Wasn't the first time that attack had accidentally taken a life. That's why he was so weary of using it. For Aranha's sake, he'd had the mind not to put every ounce of force he had behind it... The damage it would have wrought.... Shaking his head at the thought as the orange energy continues to storm about the room, tearing furniture apart, breaking chandeliers, shattering glass, sending shrapnel rocketing about... there was very little for Aranha to bounce off of when the attack finally faded.
But that wasn't the part of it that had Horatio's attention. What got him slightly ... confused was the fact that Aranha had come out of it still standing... -- Or was he? "Wow... You're tough!" He says with a smile. "For a second--" and he stops his speech as Aranha closes in. As he leaps into the air and bounds off of the first piece of furniture, Horatio dips out of the way, spinning on his feet out to his left. Standing to his full height, he finishes, "For a second I thought you were gonna die!" -- Whiff! - the next attack passes by him as he leans out to his left. Leaning back at the waist, the next attack passes cleanly over his face. As he turns to stand up again however, he's taken in the back by a hard kick and sent rolling forward. As he turns over, one palm anchors on the ground and he throws his legs upward, shoving one leg out at an angle hard, the other cocking back to support the move, slamming his heel into Aranha's chin and ending his momentum entirely.
Skipping back down to his feet, he slings his arm down, throwing his suspender that had come up over him out of the way, determination painted on his face for just a moment before he pulls a small smile... "You've got a lot of potential... Wonder why you don't go to my school..."
COMBATSYS: Horatio has ended the fight here.
Aranha doesn't put any effort into moving, "I used to go to school here in Metro." There's a cough before he continues. "Considered going to school Southtown but I wasn't sure I'd fit in with any of them." He takes deep breath again. I'm curious anyway. What school are you talking about. Heh. Potential." He smiles again continuing to stare at the ceiling concentrating on one particular spot.
For the most part he was talking to himself, he figured Aranha would be out cold after a kick like that. He was even looking off into dream space, considering his thoughts as he rubbed his chest, still sore from getting his ribs nearly kicked in by Aranha... But then he hears his voice, "Huh? Oh! ... Hah- wow, your eyes are open." Dropping down immediately to sit indian style beside him, he looks at the fallen fighter, rests his elbows on his legs and drops his chin into his hands, "Well... I go to Justice High School... JHS? ... Yeah. I'm nobody special or anything.. actually, I'm a lower classmen and I've been asigned to Master Hyo Imawano.. He's my mentor, my guide and Campus Companion, sorta kinda... -- Some people get a mentor off the wham if the school things they'll be trouble or need guidance."
"I was ... in a bad way when I first got there. Hyo's helped me out a lot. I mean, if you can look passed his controlling nature... endless disciplines..-- and basically being an indentured servant. I get his dry cleaning, do clean stains out of his shirts in an emergency, I get his breakfast.. his lunch... -- he usually takes dinner at home though, so I'm free then. But from the hours of 4am to around 6 noon, I'm usually working for him monday through friday... I mean, it wouldn't be like that for anyone else. I was a special case. They seem to think I have the potential to be dangerous or something." Shrugging his shoulders, he goes on, "But other than that, Justice High is a great place to learn and grow. You set your own class schedules and as long as you keep your grades up, you can remain... It's hard work though. I have to study a lot. I'm pretty smart with books, but even I have trouble keeping up with some of the other kids. I was quick at my other school, but when I got here... compared to a lot of them, I'm kinda stupid... But it's good discipline."
As Aranha listens to Horatio talk about Justice High, he remains silent. If his everything wasn't hurting right now he'd be nodding. But then when mentors are mentioned Aranha begins to cringe slightly. The Dancing Spider already knows right off the bat that he'd be a prime candidate for a mentor. Especially considering the fact that he had once fought along side Raizo in this very casino as well. He can just tell he's gonna end up one of those 'special cases.'
As Horatio further explains his situation, Aranha's inwardly cringing, now that he's actively asserting control over his exterior. Putting on a poker face as it were. Considering that he was a former cat-burglar he just assumes that he'll get that treatment as well. No one gets called to the Seventh Circle, be it by Rugal or Blackjack without reason.
Through it all Aranha maintains his silence and when Horatio finishes Aranha finds himself saying, "Justice High, huh? I didn't think that school was in the business of taking High School Drop-outs."
Kinda funny how Horatio had the ability to be present and not be present at all. After he finishes speaking, his eyes drift closed, his mouth moving just slightly... breathing a small prayer, if for no other reason than to give thanks. When they drift back open he smiles again as if coming out of an absence seizure, "Excuse me.. huh? -- Oh, right.. Well.." He shakes his head a little, "I don't see how that would be a problem... I mean, a lot of the students that go to Justice High are there for that very reason. They won't go to any other school. There's no challenge for them so they stop going.. or leave... The fortunate ones who go to JHS right out of middle school or junior high are the fortunate ones. Like I said, compared to a lot of them, I'm not that smart. I get called stupid sometimes." He chuckles, smiling. "I get good marks in most classes, okay marks in others, but ... well..."
"Suffice that... you could say that Justice High is almost encouraged to take people like you. If you left for all the right reasons anyway. Most people that leave school... they go and do silly things like act out or fight or cause trouble.. steal.. -- It's usually just a sign of their real boredom. They act out for no other reason than being mad at their station in life and knowing they're better than that... I wouldn't too much worry about it. Maybe you should come talk to Master Hyo or the faculty... It might do you some good." Then suddenly he laughs a bit nervously.
"You know... I could honestly go get in another fight today. I feel alright! Not bad... not that you didn't hurt me or anything, just... Unfortunately you're not enough for me. If that makes any sense at all. You're a good fighter and by and by I respect you, but- I'm used to going to a school where I'm considered one of the weakest."
It's almost disturbing how Horatio manages hit upon almost every item of his laundry list of sins that he committed. If he didn't know better he'd suspect Horatio was given some type of profile on him or something. Raizo probably would be able to get ahold of something like that.
Aranha finally has it in him to rise back to his feet a bit wobbily but everything seems so hard to digest. Taiyo and Gedo didn't really give him the time of day as far as tours and having Justice presented as a viable option seems kind of shocking to him. It's really mind blowing to be honest. He's not exactly sure he can answer right away and so he looks over to Horatio and says in almost a whisper, "I'll consider it. Thank you for both the fight and the suggestion." After that, Aranha walks out of the hotel room satisfied with its destruction even if it was mostly Horatio's doing.
If only Aranha knew just how Horatio knew so much... It couldn't be helped at the moment. And thus when the other young man rises, Horatio watches him with an even tempered expression, nods to his words and watches him walk away. "You know..." He says... getting to his feet finally, stopping Aranha at the door before he goes with his words alone. His hands slowly fall into his pockets, head turning to look out of the cracked glass window. The long, pregnant silence is finally broken when he says, "... Aranha..." -- How he knew the boy's name was anyones guess. He'd not been privy to who he was fighting... he was a last minute name thrown in to fill a spot and that was pretty much it. "I once knew a really wise man..."
"He was a minister... he was brave... and noble.. and righteous. Possibly the best man I've ever known. A better man than I could ever be, even if I grow up and live up to the ideals of Chorinthians... I'm sure you've heard it before... When I became a man, I put away my childish things? ..." Smiling, he goes on. "That man... I came to him with tears in my eyes one day... wondering why things had to be so hard.. why it seemed like nothing would ever get better. Do you know what he said to me?" Turning to look back at Aranha, he says,
"That when you go through a lot... you're supposed to be better..." Lifting a hand, he waves it in a little goodbye. "I'll see you around."
Log created on 12:29:31 04/21/2008 by Aranha, and last modified on 12:56:01 04/22/2008.