Description: Haru meets up with iincyo! THEY TALK. ALOT. And it's something more interesting than you'd expect! S'truth. Watch as young Haru shows his :( at the world, and watch as Iincyo refuses to accept it, then watch the watching!
It's been an interesting few weeks for Haru Izanami. Meeting with Marisol, meeting and fighting Howard Rust... for the first time in a long while, he's stepped outside Gedo's walls to see what makes the fighting school types of Southtown tick. The results have actually been quite enlightening; both people he's encountered have had their own ideas about why they fight, and participate in *public* fights, at such a young age... or why they don't fight because of an older age. But there's five major schools in Southtown, and Gedo and Pacific are only a small sample.
Perhaps the most iconic of Southtown's schools is Taiyo, however; bastion of stout-hearted, energetic and passionate students determined to be the best at whatever they do, be it fighting, sports, or in a few cases both. The heroes of the Justice High debacle of years past are Taiyo students; Sakura Kasugano, despite moving on to Seijyun's university, is a Taiyo graduate. And so it's Taiyo that Haru sets his sights on next. It could be any of a number of the famous fighters in the school he might run into...
...or so he thought. Despite Pacific's hostility to Gedo because of rival teams, Taiyo is somehow scarier to Haru. Why? Because of its students' reputation for brightness, optimism, and -- for lack of a better word -- GUTS. So instead of approaching the campus, he's in Southtown Village, a few blocks away, sitting at an outdoor cafe recently aired for spring and sipping soda from a glass, eyes trained on the distant, tall buildings of Taiyo's campus, trying to work up the steel to actually head there and see who he can find.
It's true. Taiyo High has a reputation. People such as Nagare, Batsu and Sakura have fought, graduated, or are still in the school system in some way or another. Yet while there are some that exceed expectations, through combat as well as other paths, there are always that are slightly different from the normal expectations.. yet somehow follow the same. One such example is actually moving closer to Haru, carrying a bag or two of this and that in her normal.. and yet odd outfit.
A jacket drapes off of the girl, not actually being worn, yet not falling off somehow. Equally important is the white shirt, emblazoned on it's front the Taiyo school marking. Her shorts are not the gym shorts one would expect her to wear, this time, but actually a pair of black shorts that /actually/ cover some leg. The gym shorts are great for working out, but there's no way that she'll wear that outside that much.
Going to pass by, something catches Chairperson's eye. For her age, she's pretty perceptive. She's had to be out of everything.. she sure isn't strong, and she sure isn't as smart as some of the members in Taiyo either.. but everyone knows her 'name'. At least. Chairperson is a hard name to forget, when the position actually is the very same.
Noticing the gaze on Taiyo High, passing through the gates, Iincyo actually heads over to Haru. "If you're waiting for someone, I'm sure I could try and find them for you." She starts with, for one thing. "Unless you're just viewing.. I apologize then for bothering you."
The only real response to Iincyo's comment is a slight slurping noise, as Haru sips his soda, head turning toward the sudden words directed his way, eyes blinking a few times in surprise. Remembering his manners, the Gedo senior sets down the soda and brings his hand to his mouth, coughing once before giving the young lady in front of him an appraising glance. His fingers absently wander to the chair next to him, fingering the buttons on the neckline of his otherwise-unadorned class jacket, the stylized skull/mask identifying him as a Gedo third year.
Finally, he seems to lighten up, switching from an analytic to a sociable mode. He gives a tight smile, genuine, but as if his face were unused to it; he means it, but to an outside observer it might still suggest the sense of being forced. "I don't know I'm waiting for a particular person," he admits, putting his chin in his hand and leaning forward on the table, swirling his straw in his drink for a moment. "I really don't know WHAT I'm waiting for."
Pausing for a moment, eyes looking into the half-full glass of soda, he pauses and then turns back to Iincyo, brows knit in concentration. At first he hadn't noticed, but a second glass proves that there are distinguishing marks that separate this girl from other Taiyo students... the jacket, the headband, even her bearing. He raises an eyebrow at the sudden realization, and asks in a conversational tone, "You're... Taiyo's student body chair, aren't you."
As Haru finally responds.. Iincyo's just been waiting for him to. She doesn't move much, standing for the most part in place and still.. hey, she has some patience. Some pretty good patience, actually. Her eyes move to the chair with the Gedo styled mark on the jacket betrays his allegiance! A HERETIC! No. Chairperson looks closely, and then finally he responds in a way beyond staring.
A smile? Responding to it, Iincyo leans on a chair nearby, putting the bags on it for the moment, as he speaks. And then he mentions .. what? "So you're just here and are looking over there? .. Sorry to bother you then .. " But then as she begins to turn away.. leaving Haru to whatever he came here for, he finally speaks up.. "Hmm?" Turning around once more, Iincyo nods. "I am actually.. Chairperson, I'm called. Or Iincyo." Whichever they want, really.
"So you've heard of me? I can't believe that would actually be too hard if you go to Gedo... but I am surprised all the same." She smiles herself. "Generally I do tend to stick with Taiyo more than the other schools, but it's always good to try and keep them together instead of letting them all stick to their own." Minus justice. Those stick in the muds.
"SO what brings you nearby Taiyo, other than the pop?"
So he was right, and the change in expression to one of pensive consideration proves it. Iincyo's question actually elicits a little laugh from Haru, but like his smile, it's... not entirely right, as if it's a skill he doesn't use much and is only now airing, like practicing. "Good question. Curiosity, maybe," he says, once again swirling his straw in his drink. Certainly she's consistent with his vision of Taiyo students... friendly, cheerful, helpful. Maybe a little nosy. "That's probably the best way to say it. Curious."
It finally dawns on Haru that he's sitting while another stands, but rather than offer Iincyo a chair he pushes his back and stands up, turning to face her and leaning against the table. His hand goes into his pocket, then comes back out with, of all things, a metal-grey and black yoyo, which he lazily lets drop toward the ground, then pulls back up again per normal for a yoyo, over and over again. His expression remains curious; the yoyo seems more like a nervous gesture than anything else. "Your reputation precedes you," he says simply, and it's the truth. Haru's been a Gedo student for three years; how could he not hear about this young woman? "Not all of it bad. You'd be surprised how many Gedo kids have a high opinion of you." Probably, he muses to himself silently, out of sheer envy.
Up and down the yoyo goes, an absent-minded movement, while Haru examines Iincyo a little bit more. Well, if an opportunity presents itself, why not take advantage of it? "I hear," he says guardedly, "that you're self-taught? Or something like that. Is that just... a requirement at Taiyo? I mean, Gedo students know how to fight, but I bet our reasons are... a little different." And mine more different than most, he adds to himself silently.
While able to make note of things .. Iincyo isn't a psychic, nor a mind reader.. and her ability to notice smaller things only applies really to emotions and perhaps a bit of other things.. she can't, for example, figure out anything in the heat of battle. Fighting is hard enough.
"Well, if you're curious about anything in particular I'm sure I can help clear the water, and your mind, and give some answers." The Taiyo Chairperson goes on to say. But as Haru stands, and turns to face her, that's a bit odd. But she doesn't mention it. Only odd if he approached her. A yoyo? .. Huh. Guess he has a few tricks to show? Maybe something about the club, or perhaps even yoyo trick offs!
"I guess it does, but that's not troubling." Especially if she gets to be some sort of good example or the like. Not all of it bad.. Oh .. oh good? IIncyo smiles, but is just a bit curious about there. "I'm actually surprised about many having that.. I made a few mistakes with one.. Adira." She mentions.
But the yoyo keeps going up and down. Why? Oh well. Maybe he has trouble just plain talking to girls. But then that comes, about hearing a few things. What else are they saying? "Hmm.. Self taught? Well the teachers do a great job of... oh you don't mean that." She mentions, it dawning on her. "Fighting.. right? I had to learn myself.. and no, it's not a requirement. Not all of us are fighters.. but those that are.." She goes on to say, "Most of those that are are skilled in it already. The reasons are probably.. but I learned myself." She adds.
She's uncomfortable about the reason. Perhaps because she was helpless when the reason occurred. "Why?" A stupid question.
Curiously enough, Haru himself IS a psychic... but a 'blind' one, totally unable to read Iincyo without touching her first, and even if he didn't have issues with his power, grabbing random girls in public is a big no-no, even for a socially awkward type like Haru. The yoyo stops its up and down movement; with a sound that's half clap and half metallic snapping noise, it leaps into his waiting palm, held just in front of his face so that one of the plain, unadorned faces of the yoyo is facing Iincyo. It's as if he's holding the toy up like a badge, Sukeban Deka style, but thankfully it doesn't flip open to reveal his police credentials.
Sadly, Haru either doesn't notice or doesn't care about Iincyo's possible discomfort, otherwise he might not simply charge ahead like he does. "Because I am, too... self-taught, I mean. But I have this feeling that our reasons are probably a little different. You might be able to guess what mine was," he says, voice suddenly tinged with bitterness about that. Even if fighting has started to become important to him, it's still built on unpleasant memories of his early days at Gedo, a transfer that none of his fellow new freshmen recognized, and with his own eccentricities.
"I've been trying to figure this town out," he says carefully, hand going down and the yoyo bobbing up and down again, absently, without direction. "One piece at a time, I guess. Taiyo's number just came up today, but like... I'm not very good at this whole talking to people thing," he admits with a rueful grin.
That's certainly to put a sour on her day alright, if he were to touch her like that. It'd be very bad for all involved. And then the yoyo is held like a badge. That was a new way to do it. She wonders what the yoyo is there for, but moves on when something else grabs her attention. Mainly, how Haru goes on. "Oh? Well .. I could guess." The Chairperson exclaims.. but stops the second part. Could guess that he was beaten up by his own members because he was a wimp or something? There's always a chance, but her beliefs have nothing to do with Gedo.
"Mhmm." She finishes, as she takes a few steps. "Still trying to figure it out? Well, you are somewhat new to Southtown still.. I actually live nearby, so it's been my home for my life. That probably helps."
"I'd honestly try to understand it .. but I've never been anywhere else, actually.. so that might make it a bit of a problem .. and you're doing better articulating your thoughts than some have around me, I'll admit. You're not growling or screaming like I've seen a few do." Oh boy, Luc is pretty damn articulate with words isn't he.
Pushing off from the chair, she nods. "Perhaps, one at a time.. what's with the yoyo, anyways?"
For the first time, Haru seems to actually *notice* that he's swinging the yoyo around; his gaze dips down and to the right, where his hand is indeed still pulling away; his eyes, one blue and one green, narrow a bit as he gives it some thought. What IS it with the yoyo? A complex question and one he can't easily answer. In fact, Haru's mouth opens a bit, as if he's about to speak, and then it shuts again just as the yoyo rises back into his hand. Reflexively, he curls his fingers around it and the motion stops.
"We're... partners," he says finally, smiling a little bit. Does he mean himself and the yoyo? The fact that he brings his right hand out, palm up, to display the thing lying cold and grey in his hand, suggests so. "I've been through a lot with this thing. It's a reminder, I guess, but yeah... my partner." He pauses, then shrugs; his next statement is matter of fact, a sort of blithe statement dropped into the conversation carelessly. "My only friend too, maybe."
There's a moment while Haru studies Iincyo a moment, and then his hand goes back into his pocket, putting the yoyo away as he continues to speak. "Three years. I've been here for three years. And as for being articulate... thanks for the compliment."
Perhaps she shouldn't have asked about the yoyo. It seems to stall Haru and cause him to stop moving altogether. Something off, that's for sure. But she doesn't mention it, nor let it get to her, as she looks on to Haru. Something about him, that's for sure. But she doesn't know at all. It's just how it goes sometimes.
And for now.. "Partners?" She asks in response, as she view the yoyo.. oh. Now she understands. "I see.. so it's something that's been with you all this time in the trying times that occur when you have to adjust." And examining the yoyo, she nods.
But that statement drags her ire right into the open. "Wait, what?" She's breaking her normal routine for a bit as she goes on to put the yoyo away and speak. "You're welcome for the compliment, and I see .. but really. Your only friend? You have all of Gedo High, and there's enough people around .. you can't be serious. If you have not made any friends in three years.. why would you think that is?"
Haru's laugh is short and sharp, trapped somewhere between annoyance and amusement. After all, it IS funny when people seem to not understand reality, or at least his vision of it. Shaking his head, he shrugs as well as he replies. "'All of Gedo High'... haha, Madam Chairperson," he adds, suddenly almost mockingly formal, "have you spent much time in Gedo? It's not a very friendly place." A pause, and then Haru shuts his eyes, breathing out slowly through his nose, and presses his fingers into his temple for a moment.
When he does open his eyes, it's to look away, off into the distance... toward Gedo, in fact. "It was exaggeration, somewhat. I have... a friend. A teacher, that's all." The only one, although Haru does not add, the only one he's allowed himself to have. "And I don't know why I haven't made any friends. Maybe because people are messed up, and don't like anything new or different, for the most part. Especially at Gedo."
Haru's laugh somewhat bother Chairperson, and looking on to him, raises an eyebrow. "Hmm? Yes?" She asks, crossing her arms now infront of the jacket, as he begins to be mocking in his actions. "I've met a few. I can't say I know all that much of some of them, but I realize it isn't. I also realize that Daigo is most of Gedo High's morality." This much she is sure of, in the end. What else can be said about it?
Looking towards where he looks, Chairperson's smile is replaced with a somewhat non-expression, not happy, sad, or angry, or any of the above, looking over. "A single friend after three years. I'm certain you had a few more chances that what you're telling me .. but if you wish to instead try and explain to me just your problems, instead of blaming the others for disliking you, we would cover more ground than if you just exclaim, 'It will never change, it'll always be this way'."
She keeps her arms crossed. "Now if you would like to actually make some friends, you probably should avoid saying you'll never have friends, to start."
In stark contrast to Iincyo's suddenly neutral expression, at her statement's Haru's face hardens considerably, his jaw setting and eyes flashing with momentary, if suppressed, anger. "Is blaming the victim a Taiyo thing too?" he asks, voice sharp, consonants so crisp that his voice sounds like the staccato sound of gunfire, or perhaps rain on a metal sheet. "I'm not going to be told that how my classmates treated me back then was somehow just some... backhanded way of trying to make friends. I didn't make friends with them because they were jerks who wanted to hurt me for not conforming."
For a moment, he continues to stare daggers at Iincyo, before shaking his head and turning away, pulling out his chair, and sitting back down. His finger drifts absently, again, to the straw in his abandoned soda, now flat and saturated with melted ice. "The only time I found anyone different were fighters, and even then it wasn't a guarantee. So I've tried to talk to a few, I've done my part."
"Oh. I don't blame victims. And I don't believe that what they did to you was right, either." Chairperson goes on to say, smiling for some reason now. "You see.. no, that's not what I meant. I meant of course, with a down look that you won't, you probably won't make friends. But that's really not it." She doesn't bother explaining though, as she looks to him. "So you didn't like your situation, and you didn't conform.. so you were stuck within Gedo High with no where to go at all." That's what she's getting, at least. "Except stay there."
Poor family or something, she has no idea why someone would go to Gedo willingly. "Continue to stare at me like that if you will, but still.. of course, the fighters were different. I'm sure you've met quite a few, right? Because you were with Nagare in a fight before .. I saw it." She goes on.
"He's about the friendliest person you could meet. Or was he a bit too focuses that time? I forget.. I just know Nagare is quite the person." Iincyo goes on. "And while I don't go to Gedo, do you really expect me to understand the minute details?" Chairperson goes on to say. "I can assume it was horrible .. but that is life. Sometimes you have to work to change things, and it's never going to be easy. I can't ever let down Taiyo .. yet sometimes I'm sure I have."
A flood of words fill Haru's head, try to force their way out his mouth and find the way entirely blocked. The answers to all of Iincyo's questions, of course: why he left Nagasaki, why he enrolled at Gedo, why he doesn't trust people. All his secrets. But the same survivor instinct that told him to learn to fight if he wanted to stay at Gedo tells him not to reveal these things either, and thus he stays silent... but it is obvious, for just a moment, that effort's being expended holding the stories back. The muscles in his jaw twitch just a bit, the eyes glint with the energy of sudden emotion. And like a flicker of spring thunder, it's there one second and gone the next.
"You might be right," Haru concedes, "about a 'down look'. But I have my reasons why I don't think people are trustworthy. It's the world's job to get my trust back, Miss Chairperson," he says with a look of ardent defiance, "and not the other way around." Her statements make memories flicker through his head: jeering students in middle school, the girl at the dance, his father, all laughing at him, all intent on hurting him...
He decided he won't be hurt like that again.
"I'm not really looking for sympathy, though I appreciate the thought," he says at last, calming down somewhat. He pushes the soda away, presses his fingers to his temples and rubs them somewhat. "Is that why you learned to fight?" he suddenly asks, turning the questioning around. "So you wouldn't let down your school?"
And Chairperson will never know.
"It's hard to not notice, I'm sorry to say." He has his reasons? And it's the worlds job to get his trust back somehow. The defiance is noted, but she is somewhat unimpressed. Oh? Really. So he's bent on a bad look on the world, and refusing to change it until.. until.. WHAT?
"Oh, alright. I understand that." She responds, hands now down, one at her hip as she leans away from the chair, tilting it over, on one or two feet and balancing the chair.
"Hmm.. No. No, I really didn't learn to fight for myself or my school." IIncyo responds, looking over to Taiyo. "I learned to fight because of the School Incident a few years back. I wasn't able to do anything. Despite all the 'power', I had as the Chairperson, I was helpless. So I learned to fight for the students of Southtown.. even if I'm never going to be as strong as any of those who were involved." She says, turning away.
On a way, it's slightly pathetic, or sobering. She learned how to fight to help, yet she'll never really be a help beyond just another fighter.
The school incident. Mention of it makes Haru's features cloud over to unreadability for a moment, before he shrugs and leans back in his chair, looking up at the sky for a moment. "I didn't get involved," he says airily, not in the least bit sorry or ashamed to say it. "The only thing that makes Gedo even halfway tolerable is Kazama's influence. When he went missing... let's just say even though I'd learned to defend myself, staying home seemed a smarter option." He only knows rumors about what went down under Edge and Gan's temporary leadership... and even those rumors are more than he would have cared to experience.
Thus Iincyo's response is expected, at least in terms of logic. Taiyo must have had its own problems, so learning self-defense seems reasonable enough. Yet something about the response strikes Haru as curious, and it shows as he slowly turns his head toward Iincyo, still lolling backwards across the back of the chair so that he's almost looking at her upside down, his blue-streaked black hair tumbling down despite its relatively short length. Haru's scrutiny continues for a moment or two before he speaks again.
"Not the answer I was expecting," and that's the truth from the tone of his voice, nearly a murmur, as if trying to puzzle something out. "But do you think it's done you any good? You don't sound like you think very much of your abilities."
Didn't get involved. Selfish, a bit, perhaps? Either way, Chairperson doesn't respond to him quite a bit immediately. Gedo is tolerable? Staying home seemed like a smart option. "I never had thought Gedo was that horrible." She answers, "And the students seemed to be nicer. The ones I have met, at least."
He just .. looks at her? It's an oddity. She takes a few steps before he answers. "It's not always going to be what you expect. I'm sure some of the students in Gedo, as well, expect they have to keep a hard attitude towards others." And then he asks that one questions, Iincyo turning. "My style.. I should mention. You've probably heard of it. Saikyo. But while I am .. not as strong as the others in Taiyo, I've been able to keep myself incredibly versatile as well. Able to change everything I do on the fly." And it's true.
"It's not that I don't think of my abilities.. I have just been in many a situation .. that raw skill or strength made sure it didn't matter, in the end."
"There's always going to be someone stronger," Haru says quietly as he sits up, then stands up, picking up the soda cup and walking it over to a trashcan before throwing it in. Turning back, he takes the few steps back to the table, picking up his black class jacket from the back of the chair and tying it around his middle, oversize sleeves knotted at the center of his waist. "Or smarter, or more talented, whatever. It doesn't mean the work you put in was for nothing." Something he has to believe firmly. Every fighter to date he's met has been stronger or faster, more skilled. Haru, in a nutshell, is a total failure as a fighter. Yet he keeps bouncing back. Maybe he's just too stupid to know it.
"I don't blame you for wanting to see the good in people," he says at last, stepping toward the street and speaking to Iincyo over his shoulder. "It's a useful skill, though it's one I never quite got the hang of. It appears to be working for you, though, so I hope it keeps working."
"Did I ever say it was for nothing?" Iincyo immediately responds, turning around to face Haru. "If anything, I don't think it's been a waste ever since I've met someone especially.. and I know this. I deal with people smarter than me, as well as prettier, nicer, all of different things. Taiyo is rather varied at times." She's honestly had plenty of time to think about this, so what Haru decided to say right there wasn't perhaps to her liking.
"It's just how I am. And I understand how you are tends to be somewhere within the 'world must somehow make itself up to me'. It's never going to. You think it will, or you think you might be waiting for something to change. But I believe you're only going to keep disappointing yourself." Chairperson exclaims, grabbing the bags of stuff she has had with her.
"Because the world doesn't keep tabs. You might be, but it'll keep spinning wether or not you have a grudge against it. You're going to have to fix it for yourself... I now I had to fix something."
He's taken a few steps to leave already, but Iincyo's words halt Haru, and he simply stands for a second before turning back to her. He's smiling, and for the first time since the conversation started it doesn't seem forced or artificial... but it does seem tired, or at least Haru himself seems a little tired in spite of the smile. "The world doesn't keep tabs, but people do. I'm not waiting for the whole world to change, I'm waiting for my opportunity, that's all. Fighting might be it. I don't do it because I want to... or at least I didn't do it because I wanted to. I do it because I have to. And you know, I'm probably not very good at it."
With a shrug, the right hand goes into the pocket, and again out comes the yoyo, bobbing up and down, Haru's one discernible nervous or energy-burning reaction... and the reason why he doesn't play poker, for example. "It gave me the chance to meet people that aren't like all the rest, the expectation, though. That's why I'm going to keep doing it. Fighting might be my chance, my 'opportunity'. But I've already put everything on the line once and got hurt, bad. So I'm gun shy and I'm waiting to see what happens before I put myself out there again."
As Haru stops, turning around, smiling, Iincyo doesn't stop. She walks slowly backwards. It's some sort of a skill. "People do.. Yeah. They do. An opportunity. I think you might be better than you think." Iincyo responds, as he takes out the yoyo. "Yeah? So you're waiting to see about it.. well. I can't help but think just because something went wrong once is a reason to stop it .. I thought that too, but I'm still trying. Maybe you just need a bit of help." She exclaims.
"And you can help yourself in this too.. if you want to, you'll continue it. So I guess you'll just stick with it if you need to, or prefer to. Otherwise, you might want to stay away from it." She exclaims, before turning around.
"Anyways.. it's getting late and I should be going. Nice meeting you.."
Whoever he is.
Log created on 18:21:28 04/22/2008 by Iincyo, and last modified on 22:51:58 04/22/2008.