Description: Objective: Petty larceny. Obstacle: Fiery red-head. Alias: None. Summary: Unemployed like usual, Ayame is up to no good over at Pacific High to make some money. Her attempts go south fast when she's just about finished and she finds herself in an unwanted scuffle with one of those annoying students they keep shipping in around here.
10:00pm. Most respectable students have gone back to their rooms or to their apartments long before now. It hasn't been dark long, thanks to summer's long hours of daylight, but it still feels late. Why? Because this semester Pacific's higher-grade high school and college-level performing arts people are putting on a play. "Into the Woods," in fact; one of the more ambitious and demanding musical projects done here in quite some time. It's a book known for its clever wordplay and complex songs; for a multicultural place like Pacific, getting the diction down on that sort of thing is actually quite a challenge.
Cherry Aguirre likes a challenge.
The rehearsals today actually only ran until 8pm or so, with many weeks to go in the schedule. This particular meeting was to work with the set design people for the first time, and even in the mostly dark auditorium, lit with the faded orange of house lights, the brightly-lit stage is littered with the in-construction pieces of the play's world: Rapunzel's tower, the home of the Baker, the ballroom of the Prince. Pretty much everyone is gone; only one person stayed behind in order to work with the book a bit, test the waters, see what she thought of the songs.
Thus looking for all the world like an incongruous splotch of red-black-green on the bright gold-finish wood of the stage, Cherry is standing next to a boom box, singing along with the soundtrack. Broadway cast (naturally); the song is the Witch's big solo, "Last Midnight"... and though Cherry lacks the precise, elegant delivery of the opera singer, she more than makes up for it with the fire and passion and (let's face it) projection of the Broadway diva.
"You're so nice..." she sings, volume a little low to build for the eventual crescendo. "You're not *good*, you're not *bad*, you're just *nice*. I'm not good, I'm not nice, I'm just *right*... I'm the WITCH... yooooou're the wooooooooooooorld!"
It's been a while since Ayame has had cause to go to Pacific High. Most of her trouble causing had been at Taiyo up until she crossed the wrong student in the form of Roberto Miura. So furious at the trouble she was causing, he went to great length to post her pictures all over that campus. That, coupled with the fact that if Iincyo ever sets eyes on her again, she'll probably issue a scream so loud every tough kid in a mile will mob Ayame in an instant, has been a good reason to stay away from Taiyo.
Pacific? Well, she did cause that big scene with a particularly rugged shop teacher a while back. But... who cares about teachers, right? She was actually around campus earlier. It's not that hard for her to mingle at Pacific. The only people that would recognize her as a trouble causer would be Luc or Marisol... and who would believe Luc anyway? As the evening came around and Ayame was done swiping lunch from the food services court, she noticed activity around the auditorium and slipped into the building earlier on.
Sticking to the walls and shadows, she had kept herself out of sight and out of trouble, trying to spot anything of interest. A few backpacks might find themselves bereft an iPod or cell phone the next time a few of the students at Pacific go to look for them. Rich brats, Ayame is convinced. Even if Luc didn't have the decency to have any money on him when she mugged him, she's pretty convinced everyone that attends Pacific is just loaded with way more money than sense. They probably won't even miss a thing!
The crowds dwindled, however, and the young theif watched as one by one students began filing out. One young man stops at the door, hand in his backpack, "Hey." Lurking beneath the stage at that point, Ayame freezes. "Where's my-... oh, I must've left it at my room." The student continues on his way out and the girl goes back to slinking around, having finished her tour of the dressing rooms and filled a bag full of nice things.
One girl has the misfortune of being the last one left in the auditorium, however, as Ayame crawls out from under the crawl space on one side of the stage and rises to standing, brushing herself off with her right hand, her left hand gripping the satchel of goods. Staying near the far wall, she pauses to glance toward the lone singer, shaking her head slowly. Looks like another spoiled brat to her. Foreigner at that. Of course, that means she might have something worth hanging around for...
Dropping the satchel on the floor, Ayame hops up onto the stage, making her presence hard to miss. "Don't mind me, just here take a look at the lighting setup for the play." she states with a wave of her hand toward red-head. "No one important like you performing types." Ayame finishes with a teethy grin. She makes a show of it even, walking around the various props on the stage, nudging them a little, glancing behind them as if she's actually checking out the wiring. As if she's actually supposed to be there. Of course what she's really looking for is anything else left behind. Or maybe even a school bag belonging to Cherry herself!
Prophecy delivered, in the form of Cherry giving a good, Ethel Merman style belt to the final lines of 'Last Midnight'... as the Witch sees doom for everyone at the hand of the giants. o/~ "Give me claws and a hunch! Just AWAY from this bunch, and the glooooooom... and the DOOOOOOM... and the BOOOOOOOOOOM... CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!" The boom box cuts off with the final, defiant note of the song. It's a warning. Work with others. Don't judge on appearances. Otherwise a pissed-off giant widower will totally stomp your ass off-stage.
There's a moment as that last note fills the hall's impressive acoustics (the best American money can buy, and I guess some Canadian and Spanish and Japanese and whatever other random countries are represented here BUT MOSTLY AMERICA), and then Ayame completely ruins the resonance effect by speaking up. The redhead raises an eyebrow, walking a few steps over to hit the stop button on the boom box's CD player and giving Ayame the once over.
Then the twice over. Maybe a third over. Each successive over sends one dark red eyebrow higher.
Eventually, the Idahoan gives a helpless laugh, crossing her arms over her chest. "Wow. Amazing. I've been in Japan a whole two or three months, but you take the CAKE, chica. I didn't see you at rehearsal but perhaps you were out auditioning to be in a hentai game?" Cherry steps closer, moving confidently. Not angrily or belligerently, not yet... but curious. Even SHE knows she's not really supposed to be here at this hour; what's the person she doesn't recognize doing here too?
"Well, that or you're the Christian-themed candy raver from hell. Did the Big J do you wrong dying for your sins? I know it's driven more than one man to wave glow sticks."
She tries to ignore Cherry at first even though she's quite aware that the other girl is scrutinizing her. Maybe she'll just stare for a minute then buzz off. Or maybe she'll go back to signing again, providing musical accompaniment to Ayame's tour around the stage. Nothing stands out to her at first glance as being interesting as she finishes her first circuit. She's also made a decent haul with what she's already pilfered. Which means she should book it. She really should.
But Cherry starts laughing and the strawberry blonde has no choice but to stop and look toward her to see what her deal is, her left hand going to rest at her waist, jostling one of the multiple belts she's sporting there. "Huh? What's your deal." the teen snaps only to have Cherry go on to explain exactly what she finds so funny. The mention of auditioning for a hentai game provokes a faint eyebrow twitch but Ayame doesn't do anything noteworthy as Cherry starts to walk toward her, other than to tense up slightly. But that's probably because she's looking just a little /annoyed/.
"Excuse you?" she snaps back, hand coming up, fist clenched, black leather fingerless glove creaking. "Do you SEE any candy colored bracelets here?" She glances to the side at her left hand at the small chain and locket there. Then pauses, contemplating the chains with crosses around her neck. Or... even the small silver cross earing in her right ear, a Christmas gift from one of the very few people in the world that both know her yet DON'T scramble for the phone to call the police when they see her...
Grunting, she lowers her arm to rest against her side. "I can't work on stuff with all the ruckus you people make during the day," she responds with a shrug and wave of her right hand, turning her back to Cherry completely as she throws her hands up in the air over her, "Anyway, didn't mean to derail your practice. If that's what you were doing. You can get back to it."
It's at that point that a cell phone begins ringing in the satchel Ayame left lying off to the side of the stage. Blinking, the girl glances toward the dropped back. Huh. No big deal. What IS a big deal is when a second phone goes off at the same time. And then another, with a third distinctive ring. It sounds like the kids have gotten back to their dorms to find that they DIDN'T just collectively leave their phones at their rooms and are now borrowing cell phones from those who still have them to call their phones!
"Eh heh." Ayame grunts, "Sounds like I have a lot of work to do tonight," she declares, sounding immediately sheepish as she walks over to the edge of of the stage to hop down off the side right as a fourth ring goes off. "Oh good grief."
Oh, she's even got fingerless gloves. No matter how perturbed Ayame might look, Cherry just keeps on smiling. It's not a pleasant smile. It's not exactly *predatory*, per se; it is not the smile of the cat eyeing the mouse. It IS the smile of the cat eyeing the roll of paper towels, however. Oh, what fun we shall have together, the smile says. What joy. You poor fool. "Oh, I'm done," she singsongs cheerily, continuing her advance. "Been done for hours, just wanted to see how the acoustics sounded in here. Completely badass, by the way."
Anything else she could say is cut off by the sudden symphony of phones going off.
There's a pause for a moment, as Cherry takes this in... and then without missing a beat, she brings one hand up to her ample chest and then swirls it around, as if a sommelier swirling a wine glass, or a party host sampling something out of a brandy snifter. "Ah, there's 'Toxic' by Britney Spears, a classic. 'Low' by Flo-rida, that's someone trying to be way cooler than they are... some Usher..." She pauses, stops, and then grins. "Ah yes, and that last one must be the Sailor Moon themesong. '96, wasn't it? An excellent year for dork, if I do say so myself."
With a shrug, Cherry fixes her eyes on Ayame. What she lacks in superscientific intelligence, she more than makes up for in good old fashioned common sense and born-and-bred American reactionary tendencies. "Unless you're running a really, REALLY elite escort service -- a possibility I'm not discounting, the plaid 'schoolgirl gone bad' skirt isn't helping -- I'm just DYING to know why you're carrying four cell phones PLUS," she says in one breath, adding at last, "...five. I think that one's playing an MC Hammer song. It's like being in a tinny, MIDI time machine."
One by one the phones chime in, each one doing its part to contribute to a migraine Ayame feels building behind her right eye. And to make it worse, Cherry seems to KNOW what each one of those personal cacophonies IS. In spite her perhaps not terribly effectively assembled attempt to look like a street tough girl, Ayame has never been one to follow culture as it pertains to music, movies, or television. Though she samples them all from time to time, and is able to cite details down to the letter about some things she's seen in full, her interests have always been elsewhere.
As the second one rings, Ayame hops down off the stage, glancing over her shoulder, her annoyed expression replaced with a painfully forced smile, her left hand resting against the back of her neck, "Oops, forgot I had the spare-" The third one goes off and even her forced smile falters, the girl twirls back toward the bag, taking another step forward to drop down to her knees, hands opening the satchel, brown eyes glaring into its maw.
Her arm darts in, only to come back out with an iPod instead of a phone. The expensive music player is returned as she darts her hand in a second time, coming up with a phone that... ISN'T ringing. At least not at first. Before she drops it back into her bag it chirps with a distinctive noise that means nothing to Ayame but any fan of the popular TV show 24 would recognize. The entire unexpected scenario has the girl looking just a tad aghast for a moment. She wants to just pick up the bag and run, but she can't go running across campus with a bag of ringing noisemakers. That would be the worst escape attempt in the history of criminal bloopers ever!
She's going to have to turn them off. Whirling around to face Cherry, Ayame is all smiles once again, slipping back into her 'confidence' game where she tells herself she's the smartest person ever to grace the face of the Earth and that everyone else is an easily duped chump. "I fix them." Ayame declares helpfully. "The lighting here isn't the only electronics that I work on - I have a part-time job at the RadioHut down the street." For the moment she's going to let the remarks about her 'rebel girl outfit' go. FOR NOW.
At first, the redhead American says nothing. She just fixes Ayame with a bit of a blank stare. It's not actually an angry, amused, or even ironic expression. She seems to be digesting that story carefully. Yes, it makes perfect sense that a local RadioHut cell phone repairperson carries them around dressed like someone straight out of 'Love Bondage 4: This Time It's Personal' and also JUST HAPPENS to work tech in Pacific High's school productions, especially when she is clearly Japanese and most of Pacific is clearly Not Japanese.
The smile comes back. 'Oh, the fun we will have.'
"Man, you have a pair and they are *brass-bottomed*. I like it. It's like being on 'The Mole'." There's a short hop as Cherry jumps off the stage -- in partial heels no less -- to head over toward Ayame and her satchel. The fighting diva travels light; everything of value she has is either in her pockets or in her apartment. But something about thieves ticks her off. Especially because...
"I have to wonder, you come here -- the rich bitchiest place in this entire city except for that first-year debutante wholesale warehouse over near the park -- and... of all the things to palm, you palm phones. My god, that's depressing." The redhead indicates the satchel by inclining her head. "If you open that up, is there going to be silverware from the cafeteria in there too? Because that would be BEYOND depressing."
It's really hard to make anything of Cherry's initial reaction. Ayame is pretty good at reading people, and so far those smiles have her starting to prepare backup plans because plan A is not working on this one. But for a moment all she gets is a blank stare. And it's really hard to read something that's not there. But then that smile comes back and Ayame's own smile falters as the American begins to speak.
"Look, Rosy," Ayame replies at first, finger on her right hand raised, "This isn't any of your business!" She has to raise her voice to be heard over the Devilish Bag Of Din that is her satchel right now. But Cherry keeps on speaking, advancing closer to Ayame and then goes so far as to make fun of what she's swiped in her afternoon at the auditorium?! "They pawn easi-" she snaps back, her smile replaced with an irritated look only to cut herself off lamely. Well, she tells herself, that was dumb.
She asks about silverware and Ayame is... oddly silent. She can tell she's not going to like this foreigner in the slightest. She's like a lot of others from the West. Brash, bold, unafraid whne they damn well /should/ be. Maybe she should give her a reason to be, as thus far she's tried to avoid a direct conflict with the healthy looking girl. "You know, you have a lot of gall," Ayame replies, taking a step forward toward Cherry, making sure she's standing between her and the noisiest bag in Southtown on the floor. One by one the rings begin to die off as the students calling them start to give up on that approach to figuring out what happened to their electronics.
Her right hand comes up, palm forward, "Don't bother wondering what's in there," she remarks, taking a second step forward, that facing palm shifting into a pointing finger, "I didn't come here with plans to hurt anyone, but I can't say the same about you with that caterwauling you were doing." It doesn't matter that Cherry's actually any good at signing. That didn't stop Ayame from mocking Yurika's violen playing either! "But if you don't just take this opportunity to walk back out-" There's a rattle of metal, a flicker of something shiny near her left hand as she draws and opens a thin butterfly knife in one smooth motion, holding the sharp weapon out to her side to make the weapon easily scene. She's posturing, sure, but she's talked her way out a lot of scuffles in the past. "- I'm going to have to change my plans."
She'd been playing a hunch. A little bit, anyway; it's not easy to guess Ayame's age, and lord knows she could just be a local girl stealing for kicks. If she acted ashamed or red-faced, well... take back the phones, let her get on her way. The young weapon fighter's reaction is totally NOT the shy embarrassment Cherry was expecting, and thus this leads to conclusion two: she really is a one and a half bit thug working on her 2 bit merit badge. Thus the redhead opens her mouth to say something...
This is when the knife makes an appearance.
There's another pause, another unreadable expression... and then Cherry grins. Totally unaccountably, too. "I got a lot of things," she says evenly, making an effort to tug on the amply-filled cups of her bikini top through the gauze camisole as she does so. Yeah, mock my singing, girly. You're jealous 'cause you can't project. "What can I say. It's my inner Bruce Willis, only with a clear complexion, a full head of hair, and better costume design. But I want to tell you two things. One is, stealing is wrong. And two..."
This is when the redhead darts forward with unholy speed, swinging her right arm up and around in a stiff-armed, Bruce Lee-style backfist right to Ayame's face. "Don't pull a knife on an American girl!"
COMBATSYS: Cherry has started a fight here.
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Cherry 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Ayame has joined the fight here.
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cherry
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Cherry's Strong Punch.
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cherry
Truth is, these days, it practically is stealing for kicks. She has enough money left over from her time employed by the mercenary outfit she... helped take down to last her a while yet without picking up any legitimate line of work. But old habits die hard, and there's no habit with a stronger draw for Ayame than satisfying her kleptomaniacal tendencies. It's still a game to her, as it always was - it's just the stakes are lower if she fails to make off with any loot in the end. For now, anyway. The money she has stashed away will run out /eventually/.
'Rosy', as she's decide to call Cherry, clearly basing the moniker on her dark red hair, goes unreadable at the sight of the knife. Not precisely what Ayame was looking for. Cherry draws the petite Asian's attention to her chest with that tug, only to provoke a mixture of irritation and bewilderment. Who the hell points at their chest when being threatned with a knife!? "What the-"
It's enough to keep her from striking first just to make a point, as she damn well was inclined to do if the American sweetheart didn't turn tail and run. Perhaps it works out for the best, leaving herself uncommitted to an attack as Cherry snaps forward, her right arm up, aiming to backfast the strawberry blonde for her impudence!
She slips out of the way of the fist, ducking low and slipping around Cherry's side. It seems she's got someone with at least a modicum of talent. Or maybe she's just watched too many damn Hong Kong flicks and is about to get in DRASTICALLY over her head trying to attack Ayame. "All right," the young rogue grins, taking advantage of that position at her side to lash out with that knife. Time to test what she's dealing with here. She's going for anything too savage - a shallow, garmet-ruining slash against Cherry's side before ducking back swiftly. Make her bleed a little and rethink the consequences of her brash actions, "And why is that exactly?" she asks regarding the warning about not pulling a knife on her, "Do they tend to prompt reckless disregard for their well being?"
COMBATSYS: Cherry dodges Ayame's Quick Strike.
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Cherry
Surprisingly, Cherry has NOT watch a lot of kung fu movies. She had something better: a lifetime of kung fu TRAINING. Though lately she's been into early Jackie Chan movies solely for the camp value. She'd love City Hunter, for example, had it ever been made, but it hasn't because there's a Street Fighter reference in it and if that movie existed in this continuity and someone like Chun-li saw it the fabric of reality would destabilize and we'd all disappear.
She thought 'The Tuxedo' was kinda cool, though.
Commentary aside, as Ayame comes in with the knife, the redhead makes a seemingly effortless pivot on one foot and slides out of the way, in one smooth motion from her initial punch. To an outside observer it's as if she never stopped moving at all, the interesting hallmark of Meihuazhuang. Cherry's style might be a little more flashy and offensive than the original, but she's American so that's to be expected. And her grin is considerably wider now, because the girl decided to fight back AND she has a knife which means it's okay to break her face. "No, usually alcohol prompts reckless disregard for well-being. All knives do is make us want to smash knife-wielding Sukeban Deka rejects." A pause, and Cherry adds: "I saw the movie version. For the fight scenes."
And then she's moving again, but this time not on the ground... rather, in the AIR. With a loud, stereotypical "WATAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the Fighting Diva LAUNCHES herself off the ground foot-first at Ayame's head, one leg extended... and suddenly surrounded in a blaze of white-blue flame in the rough shape of a dragon's head.
COMBATSYS: Ayame full-parries Cherry's House of Ninja!
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Ayame 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Cherry
Cherry is decidedly NOT bleeding as Ayame draws back, brown eyes narrowing as she studies the area she had slashed for and finding herself disappointed. She hadn't intended to make this into a big deal, hence why she had only pulled the single knife when she normally uses two when actually fighting for blood. But the red-head isn't making this that easy!
"Che," Ayame grunts, annoyed that this easy job is turning into something entirely NOT. And to make it worse, she's got to deal with an endless stream of sass coming from the foreigner to boot. Cherry flings another culture reference and gets... nothing from Ayame, the reference flying right over the Asian's head, much like many other things she's said so far. "Let's see you smash then," she taunts back, "Because you don't seem tough enough to back up your talk to me."
And then it's on, Cherry launching off the ground, springing at Ayame with a foot aimed for the lithe bandit's head. But Ayame's been shifting mindsets the longer this goes on. Playfully sheepish at first with a touch of annoyance, she's rapidly becoming more grave, mouth pressing tightly, eyes taking on a somewhat cool regard for Cherry. One moment she's standing there, that blade in her left hand, her right hand down near one of her belts...
And in the next moment she's a red and black blur of activity as she shifts to the side, slamming her right arm up to hook under the American's leading leg right at the knee, seeking to send her off course on her trip through the air. And then she's charging in behind her, aiming to pounce the instant Cherry comes out of the air. A second metallic rattle announces the arrival of a second knife as Ayame lunges, a glinting blade in each hand. The attack is simple and not friendly in the slightest as she aims to stab Cherry from behind in the back with both knives. Unlike the shallow 'warning shot' from before, these are real injuries she's going for now. And should those blades find their mark, she draws them back out, taking one step backward in the process, before delivering a swift kick toward the other girl's posterior. "Not impressed so far. I hope you can get a refund on those Teach Yourself Kung-Fu tapes!"
COMBATSYS: Cherry parries Ayame's Assault and Battery EX!
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Ayame 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Cherry
Ayame may have a brief moment of satisfaction, noting the sudden surprise in the redhead's eyes as her kick -- one impressively FAST kick, if she says so herself -- not only goes wild, but the thief actually sends her OFF TARGET, completely cutting through the aura of flame in the process. The surprise doesn't last long, though, because it also comes with Cherry giving some grudging respect for Ayame's skills at this point.
This is going to be FUN.
As the knives come in at her back, however, there's a moment of instability in the combat... which is to say, the expected value 'IS_CHERRY' at location 1 is undefined; the Idahoan has in fact valuted BACKWARDS in anticipation of such a sneaky move... because it's what Cherry would have done. With a whoop, the Fighting Diva actually lands *on Ayame's wrists* for a moment, legs apart, before she flips AGAIN off the girl's body to get behind Ayame, using the girl's own sneak attack against her.
She's also singing "Dancing Machine" the whole time.
Watch her get down.
Watch her get down.
Landing from her flip, Cherry brings her hand to her lips and kisses them, sweeping her hand out... and creating a roiling mass of red-gold flame. "Careful!" she says cheerily before suddenly ramming her fist, palm-first, into the flame... which sends the fire in a rough ball shape, swirling through the air at Ayame unpredictably. "I'm hot!"
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Cherry's Burning Love Breakdown EX.
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Ayame 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Cherry
She's got her now, Ayame's convinced, going in for that aggressive stab and kick combination. A little blood letting, and a swift kick to the rear to drive home the point, and she expects to have taken a lot of that defiant spunk right out of the other girl. But Cherry has other plans, leaving Ayame stabbing into nothing but empty air, the whistle of knives missing their mark the only audible indication of what she had just tried to do.
Out of no where there's pressure on her extended arms. Only it isn't because she's going for a reverse grapple or anything normal like that. No. She's /standing/ on her arms. For an instant at least. Ayame is already drawing her arms back, trying to destroy Cherry's temporary perch, but the red-head has sprung off to land behind her.
The young menace is quick to react though, quite familiar with trying to slip in attacks from someone's blind spot the moment they're confused by her own distressing bursts of speed. She's spun around on her heels just in time to watch the Pacific U student unfurl a swath of those red-golden flames. That looks unpleasant to say the least, but it isn't clear how they will be turned into something dangerous if she keeps range...
That uncertainty becomes clarified as the punch comes, driving the fire directly toward the 'school girl gone completely wrong' Ayame. She makes it out of the way, leaping to the side into a dive that allows her to roll down the aisle between the seating and the wall, coming up into a crouch, her back toward Cherry for a moment as she mentally 'whews', having only gotten a sense of the power the flames packed as they flew by her. That's twice now the girl has gone after her with chi laced strikes. And twice she's avoided her attacks - rather drastically at that. Begrudgingly, she's forced to reconsider her initial dismissal of the foreigner, "Real cute," she mutters, flicking the knife in her right hand closed and sliding it into its sheath.
"Nice circus tricks, Rosy," she continues, slipping her right hand beneath her left wristguard. In the partial lighting of the auditorium, it's still easy enough to see her lift her hand and flick her wrist, sending a small throwing knive twirling through the air toward Cherry. What might NOT be quite as easy to discern is the second blade zipping in second place, its trajectory concealed by the blade in front. It might just be to stall, because no sooner are the blades sent flying than Ayame is already darting for her satchel, perhaps deciding to book it and spare herself this unscheduled brawl!
COMBATSYS: Cherry dodges Ayame's Medium Fling.
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Ayame 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Cherry
One eyebrow goes up at that. Rosy? Doubtless, the thought process in Cherry's brain goes something like this: 1.) Am I a grand dame lesbian feuding with Donald Trump? 2.) No I am not. 3.) Bitch did NOT just throw knives at me! 4.) OR COMPARE ME TO ROSIE O'DONNELL.
The redhead barely moves; she leans to the left to let the first knife go by, and has about a half a second to realize the second knife is coming right at her face... so, with snakebite speed, she reaches out and catches it, while the first one clatters to the floor behind her. "I just want to ask," she says evenly, throwing the knife in her hand up in the air and catching it by the hilt, as if observing some petri dish containing a sample of scientific experimentation, "Have you considered the irony of complimenting my 'circus tricks' when you... just threw knives at me?" It is a simple logic. It is AMERICAN logic.
And without warning the Idahoan flicks her wrist and throws the knife right back at its originator. True, she doesn't have the precision to throw it at JUST the right spot that Ayame does... but odds are that she's throwing it a hell of a lot harder and faster. "Catch."
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Cherry's Thrown Object.
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Ayame 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Cherry
Ayame wasn't really watching to see if her knives struck home. She was more interested in bailing on this potential disaster. No doubt the clock is ticking before some of those disgruntled students make their way back from the dorms. And while she's certain she could handle any three or four of them at once, a mob of them plus this unexpectedly capable girl? Not so much.
But where yelps of pain were the desired sound, all she gets is more trash talk! She stops, just shy of scooping up her bag. She freezes in that position, one foot forward, back toward Cherry, only to spin to the side once the knife is airborn, leaving it to imbed itself in the wall. "Thanks," she remarks, pulling the knife out and tucking it back into the sheath beneath her wrist guard.
The knife in her left hand gets flicked closed and sheathed as well. "Well," she notes, eyes narrowing as she turns to face Cherry directly, standing straight. "You've forced my hand. And you're annoying. And I don't like you. So-" Her left hand slips into the pouch affixed to one of her belts, drawing out a shiny, metal tube, six inches in length which she tosses into the air over her head into a lazy spin. "I guess I'm going to have to main you a bit before I head off."
By the time the tube comes back down, however, it has telescoped out to a full length, six foot long titanium staff that Ayame catches out of the air easily, spinning once around her and then tucking under her shoulder. "All right, sweetheart, if you want to prove just how serious you are, let's see what you've got," she remarks with a smirk. "It seems to me, given your attitude, that you haven't been properly introduced to Southtown yet. Guess it's up to me to rectify that."
COMBATSYS: Ayame focuses on her next action.
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Ayame 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Cherry
And yet, Cherry watches all of this with that same smirk on her face, arms crossed just under her chest (and having the disconcerting effect of pushing her breasts up and together) and shaking her head, as if she had just been listening to someone speak in Esperanto about the long-term health benefits of the plantain. "Wow. I mean, *wow*." She actually sounds impressed! And indeed, the sudden deployment of the staff does make her a little cautious. But man... there is something deep in Cherry's soul that cries out to her. You cannot let this stand! You must fight the evil that it represents!
That *dialogue*.
"Please tell me you practiced that at home in front of a mirror," the redhead says, letting her stance loosen a little bit and tapping one booted foot against the floor, toe-first... like a bull preparing to charge stamping its hoof. "Because the mental image is too precious to give up. Twisting this way and that, trying to look mean, while you've got 'Scarface' playing in the background for inspiration to be a TRUE badass."
Then with a sigh, she shakes her head, red locks brushing back and forth across her shoulders as she does so. "That would be too good to be true. But man, I mean really... 'we don't cotton to your type 'round these parts?" And then she's moving forward, a black and red blur before hopefully getting inside Ayame's guard and driving a fist right into her nose at speed. True, Cherry might be about to receive a lesson in why you don't try to DO that with an armed individual... but she doesn't typically let things like 'logic' get in the way of a good punchinating.
COMBATSYS: Ayame interrupts Quick Punch from Cherry with Harvest's Reaper.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Cherry
Ayame has braced herself, that staff tucked under her arm, her mouth a straight :| line as Cherry starts talking again. She asks her if she practiced her lines and Ayame's eyebrow twitches. What IS it with this girl. Clearly she's only talking that way because Ayame hasn't put the fear of PAIN in her yet. One solid beat down and that ought to take that sass out of the pesky foreigner's mouth.
A deep sigh followed by a very exaggerated sigh and roll of her eyes is Ayame's answer at first. "No. No I don't practice lines in front of a mirror. I'm not desperate for the adoration of audiences like some attention whore of an actress." Her right hand goes to rest at her hip as Cherry's position shifts a little. And while she looks relaxed, her eyes have narrowed slightly. She's ready to retaliate, to put her destructive weapon use to work the instant the other girl gets in range.
And the American gives her that chance, coming in with that fist aimed to pop her on the nose. But Ayame is already stepping into the strike, taking the blow to the cheek instead, sweeping the low end of that staff of hers up into the stomach of the other girl. It's a stopping blow, taking the momentum out of Cherry's charge, but primarialy opening the way to deliver the rest of Ayame's most practiced technique. The other end of the staff comes around secondly, but as it does, the entire weapon flares to life with red, flame-like chi, only lacking the actual heat thereof. The real threat is in the energy that trails behind the blur of titanium, however, forming a sharp scythe-like blade that adds an energy slash to the attack intended to drive Cherry off her feet.
Ayame rides the momentum of the second strike, taking her up into the air, hefting the long weapon up over her head before she brings it crashing back down for the top of the red-head's, well, head with enough force to try and drive her into the floor. The street rogue lands secondly in half a crouch, her staff out to her side, the red energy conjealing along its surface, taking on almost liquid properties as it drips off the low end of her staff only to vanish before reaching the floor.
It's all for show. For all the effort she makes at impressing people with her technical expertise, she can't help but show off her chi manipulation either. Of course that doesn't mean it doesn't /hurt/ while she's doing it either. "There." she snaps, "You had enough now? I'm feeling mildly merciful at the moment if you're ready to just get out of my face."
Important fact: Cherry is not Cherise, though they do share a number of vowels and consonants.
Fact: Functionally speaking smacking Cherry in the face is only going to help if you take her down with the very first shot.
The chi-bearing staff smacks into the redhead with a powerful *CRACK!*, and the second downward strike sends her hurtling toward the ground at meteoric speed; only some brief quick thinking on Cherry's part at the last second sends her hand palm down onto the floor with an almost equally loud *THUD!* sound. Rebounding backwards in a low somersault, Cherry lands in a crouch, slowly rising to her feet and training her expression on Ayame.
And grinning.
"YES, you fantastic fanboy wet dream, yes! You're getting warmer!" Is she... bothered by being called an attention-seeking whore? If anything she actually looks amused by it. Hands come up, dusting off her shirt, and she whistles a little, unrecognizable tune. "You've even got the 'scythe'. Oh man, it's too good to be true."
Cherry does not apply logic. Instead she kicks off the ground and dives at Ayame with a no-holds-barred, entirely telegraphed grab for her arm. If she can get it? She pivots on one foot and shoves the thief to the side... before unleashing a blistering, high-speed barrage of hand strikes to the chest and torso, finishing it off with two distinct blows: a palm strike to the stomach, and spinning roundhouse to the face. Of course, a technical fighter like Ayame will see a number of openings in such a bizarre and overaggressive move... but if she missteps, it's not going to be pretty.
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to counter Wild Cherry from Cherry with Requiem For Fallen Blossoms.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Cherry
Cherry recovers fairly well from the strikes delivered by the staff user. And she's STILL talking, twisting every last detail of Ayame's behavior, appearance, and mannerisms into one fetish reference after another. Mouth twitching slightly, Ayame's hands grip her staff tighter, knuckles turning white. How in the world does ANYONE put up with this insufferable foreigner?! "Warmer, huh? Maybe whore wasn't a strong enough word," she replies.
The opportunity to consider a better option doesn't exactly present itself, however as Cherry aggresses and Ayame moves to retaliate preemptively. Expecting a strike, however, she reads the other girl's movements wrong, swinging her staff up at an angle to deflect the red-head's incoming arm only to deliver her own right arm right into her grip. Yanked to the side unexpectedly, she releases her staff with her right hand, flailing wildly to try and regain balance.
This desperate bid for balance, of course, does nothing to try and help her defend herself in the slightest, leaving her open to the series of strikes the other girl tears into her with. The palm strike to her stomach crumples her in the end only to have the roundhouse that follows send her spinning to the side and crashing to the floor hard with a pained gasp.
A choking cough shuts her up for a brief moment as she crawls forward, keeping her left hand on her polearm. Retreating a couple of yards, she at last takes the moment to push up into a crouch and rise to standing, twirling around to face Cherry directly, teeth gritted tightly, expression maintaining a fixed glare. One highlighted by the welt on her cheek from the foot she just took to the face.
There's an obligatory moment of slow hand movement from one stance to another for Cherry, just like in kung fu films. They have a practical purpose, actually; if the opponent suddenly recovers from whatever the hell wrecking ball you just smacked him in the face with, your hands are already moving to deflect, for example. Thankfully Ayame and her hard-hitting staff are on the other side of the room at this point, and thus it's mostly for show.
Cherry doesn't stop, though, not for an instant. Part of it is her personality: she is aggressive, demanding, flashy, and illogical. It's in her nature to just keep going, relentless, over and over. But a more practical concern is that her particular brand of kung fu is focused around shifting patterns of footwork; even when she's not attacking, the goal is to keep moving, adjusting position, and reading the opponent for the right time to strike or evade.
It's also great for monologuing.
"You seem to think I care about being called a whore, which is absolutely precious," the redhead purrs, throwing a hand through her hair as she advances on Ayame carefully. "The truth is I am a shameless attention whore. Mostly because I'm a red-haired sexbomb who knows how to get people's attention. Why hide it? When ya got it, flaunt it."
Dropping into a run, she doesn't let up for an instant; a quick hop brings her leg straight up in a sort of perpendicular full split, before she slams her heel back down right at Ayame. "Watah, motherfucker!"
COMBATSYS: Cherry successfully hits Ayame with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Cherry
On her feet again, Ayame isn't in any hurry to come chasing after Cherry. Fact is, she already tried chasing her down before, and that didn't work so hot. So even once she's back on her feet she doesn't budge. To some degree, she's still trying to clear her vision after the beatdown she just took. For all her talk she can't really back it up if her ability to avoid getting punched and kicked doesn't carry her through.
Squinting for a moment as Cherry answers, she finally speaks up again, "Are you for real?" Which is perhaps the exact same reaction the foreigner has had to /her/ the whole time. But while her vision is clearing, her ability to contend with the incoming kick hasn't caught up. Shifting the staff to the side to lead the way, the long-haired girl tries to scoot out of the dropping heel only to take a thunk to the top of her head that serves to force her back down into a crouch, right hand planting against the floor to keep her from falling again. "Oof." She shakes her head once, not sparing much time to add with a mutter. "Typical American."
Growling beneath her breath she doesn't come up swinging but rather stays low, swiping out with her staff in a wipe sweep toward Cherry's legs before springing up, following the momentum of her sweeping staff by trying to bring her knee up hard into Cherry's ribs.
COMBATSYS: Cherry interrupts Medium Strike from Ayame with Black Cherry.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Cherry
Always keep moving. That's the secret. And while Cherry finds Ayame unbelievable -- and a little weird -- she is actually enjoying herself. Or so the wide grin that hasn't left her face this entire time suggests, at least. At heart she's a hedonist, and even the adrenaline rush of getting smacked in the stomach with a staff or kicked in the face has its own appeal, to an extent. She might like whips and chains but that's really a controlled scenario sort of affair.
Don't mention handcuffs.
Landing from that kick leaves the Fighting Diva a little unsettled in terms of balance, but in its own way Ayame's comment actually snaps her back into continuing her fancy footwork. The redhead lands on *one* leg rather than two, which the staff does indeed sweep out from under her, connecting with Cherry's shin with a resounding *CRACK!* in the echo-y auditorium. However, as Ayame springs up to follow, Cherry does NOT try to recover; instead she turns her fall into another impressive near-full split as the Japanese girl's knee and body go upwards.
Then *Cherry* goes upwards, with her hand extended, palm upward (almost like a waitress carrying a tray)... and her whole body carries the force of her rising from the split, in combination with her own impressive physical power. The result is an open-palmed uppercut to Ayame's chin that connects with crushing force, likely sending the weapons fighter skyward even as Cherry responds: "Oh, no. Atypical all the way."
Her staff strike connecting leaves her confident in the following lunge, intending to stay in close, kneeing the other girl hard then perhaps using the opportunity of close proximity to dish out another attack before the foreign girl can recover. But it doesn't quite work out that way at all, Ayame's leg meeting air, her balance threatened by having committed to the follow up that isn't going to connect.
The palm striked uppercut against her chin easily sends the featherweight flying into an arc through the air until she comes crashing back down, not taking the landing well at all as she simply slams down against her upper back right on the raised stage itself. Arms sprawled out at her sides, her fingers of her left hand losen, nearly releasing what tenuous hold she's maintaining on her staff as she struggles to shift into a seated position only to flop right back onto her back.
Staring at the bluring lights overhead, she tries to remember what in the world she's even fighting for. A bag of stupid electronics? Sure, she can unload it for another two months of rent, but she's already got the next little while covered anyway... And she definitely isn't fighting for fun, rarely finding the activity more than a tool to accomplish her goals. Oh, right, she reminds herself, she's fighting to /get away/. This isn't like those silly exhibition matches where she can just feign unconsciousness and get off easy at the end of a match not gone well! The panic of getting caught is enough to force her back onto her feet, using her polearm for support at first until she's fully standing.
Shaking her head, both hands clamp down on the weapon as she tries to regain her focus. "That does it!" It's time for one last surge of strength, one last burst of energy, she decides. The energy she pulls to her is visible as she draws it out of the environment. Red whisps at her ankles, swirling up around her feet and over her shoulders, mirroring her only slightly subdued temper; blue whisps encircling her torso, a refection of the cool detatchment she struggles to apply to her present circumstances.
Panic leaves the sharpest mind a fool's psyche as far as she's concerned. The chi reinvigorates her, soothes some of the aches, and restores some of her confidence as it whips around her tossling her hair and rustling loose bits of clothing and chains.
COMBATSYS: Ayame gathers her will.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 1/=======/=======|==-----\-------\0 Cherry
Cherry's recovery from her strike is just as flashy and exhibitionistic as the attack itself was; snapping her legs back together, she spins backwards and does another slow hand movement, though for the second time it's unnecessary with Ayame a good distance away. The redhead is breathing heavy now, though, and sweating... it's taking a lot of effort to make this fight happen, and she's still quite wary of closing the distance between herself and Ayame thanks to that staff. As one might expect of someone with her personality, Cherry's a little better at meteing out harm than she is about mitigating it.
The lightshow, however, gets a raised eyebrow, and it does put her constantly-shifting footwork pattern to a halt. While she can certainly use chi, Cherry doesn't understand it very well; she knows that when she's really feeling it emotionally, the energy makes an appearance. As to the finework of what Ayame's doing? It's a mystery. But if there's anything that even an idiot knows, it's that a big lightshow combined with a statement like 'That does it!' means that we have officially entered the last few episodes of the story arc in DBZ Time(tm).
Then why is she still grinning?
"Py-ro-TECH-nic!" Cherry gushes enthusiastically, terribly amused. Why shouldn't she be? Unlike the thief, she's fighting for fun. What would probably piss Ayame off the most is that Cherry *does not care* about those cell phones or their owners. Serves you right for not carrying it on you. But she doesn't attack, instead curling her fingers into her palm in the universal gesture for 'bring it'. "Groovy. I love fireworks."
COMBATSYS: Cherry focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Ayame 1/=======/=======|==-----\-------\0 Cherry
Left alone but for the verbal taunting, Ayame is able to take in the energy. It literally seems to soak into her skin or be inhaled with her next breath before she relaxes, unclenching her jaw, loosening her hold on her staff just a little as she closes her eyes for a half moment. She's letting the other girl get her riled up, and she knows it. And it only makes her MORE annoyed that she KNOWS it. Normally so very much in control of her emotions to the point of being able to fool even the best empaths, she isn't sure what it is about this attention mongering red-head that has her so riled up. All she knows is that she /does/.
Brown eyes open, narrowed, focused on Cherry as the other girl admires the flashy colors that begin to die down around Ayame, the rest that she was unable to draw in collapsing to the stage and vanishing. She returns the remark about fireworks with a slightly malevolent grin. "Good, because that's all you're going to be seeing in a moment!" Ayame declares, springing forward, leaping down off the stage to speed toward the Fighting Diva.
If she's enjoying the color show, she might briefly get a kick out of that metal weapon of Ayame's as it comes to life with all manner of colors, each one punctuating a different attack from her as she goes after Cherry with a flurry of swings. A setup-slam from the side offers blue while the crushing forward jam for her stomach bears green. A violet hue takes over as Ayame spins around with another smash aimed for Cherry's head and when she leaps, hefting that staff up like an oversized hatchet to bring it mashing back down for the American's shoulder, it shimmers every bit as red as her target's hair.
In the end, Ayame lands exhausted, staff flat against the floor, chi melting off it as it fades away, her right hand planted to keep her upright as she recovers in a low crouch, releasing an exhausted sigh.
COMBATSYS: Cherry interrupts Final Solstice from Ayame with Hot Legs.
[ \\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Cherry
It's a secret strategy! If asked, Cherry would love to say that. Yes. Get them so riled up and distracted they have no idea what they're even doing anymore! Then, you can pounce with the greatest of ease while their guard is down!
The fact of the matter is, Cherry's just sharp-tongued and annoying.
Whatever that strike was, it's about as fast as Cherry had anticipated. No, scratch that: it's considerably faster, but that only whets the redhead's appetite for destruction. You can almost hear the BGM in the background full of sweeping horn lines and crescendoes as these two nimble fighters look to bring this fight to a close... and with the speed and shininess of that complex staff strike, the smart money might be on Ayame.
Cherry never bets on a sure thing, though.
She can't do anything about the swing to her side, nor to the slam to her stomach, so she doesn't try; instead the Fighting Diva simply works to minimize the pain, to work through it long enough to make this work. The swing toward Cherry's head meets unexpected resistance, however, in the form of her raised forearm, the metal ringing against it with a loud echoing sound. But even as her arm is going up, Cherry's body is going *down*. The hatchet strike from overhead gives her the perfect opening, and she takes it.
Inverting as if to do a handstand, Cherry suddenly does a quick split kick, smacking one of her feet into Ayame and pushing *upwards*, even as she also pushes off the ground with her hand. The result is, as Cherry brings her legs back together, a series of upward-directed kicks, repeated blows to Ayame's body, before a final flip to right Cherry for the fall back to earth ALSO smacks the staff-using fighter away.
Yet even as she nimbly drops back into her stance, the Fighting Diva grips one elbow with the opposite hand, gritting her teeth. That stung a HELL of a lot, and she's praying more than anything that the thief has had enough. This is fun, but it's also going to bruise, and she does so enjoy showing skin with her typical outfits. "Happy Fourth of July," she grumbles, too fatigued to even joke.
She doesn't let Cherry's defense against the head strike slow her down. She expected the girl to fend off a strike or two. She's proven to be quick on her feet with solid reflexes. It would be a sure thing for a swing or two to not get through. What she hadn't banked on was the swiftness with which she capitalizes on that single block, however, ducking out of the way of the immediate follow up swing.
Her staff hammers against the floor with a metallic, jarring ringing noise and in the next instant Ayame finds herself being kicked. A lot. The first one stops her short, provoking a pained gasp that sends the wouldbe theif stumbling backward, leaving her an easy target for the rest that follow. The final strike takes her off her feet, sending the strawberry blonde crashing to the floor, a rattle of chains and metal staff as she thuds. "Ugh," she gasps, sitting up halfway, bracing herself with her right arm, her left hand finally releasing her staff to leave it sitting next to her on the floor so that it can come up to rest against her forehead.
She isn't going to be able to get up. Not for a moment. She can tell that much. And the next move she makes is more out of spite than striking her as anything particularly useful to her current circumstances. Maybe it's just to get the satisfaction of smacking the other girl. Or perhaps a cursory inspection of Cherry leaves her thinking that the other girl's not got anything left in her either and this last attack on her part will stall her long enough for Ayame to leave.
Either way, she reaches for her neck with her left arm, hand plunging just a little into her blouse as she unclasps one of the chains dangling there. What comes out is actually not one chain but three, all linked at the center by a ring. Two of the ends have small, dense weights while the third just has one of those crosses of hers dangling from it.
And then the whole thing is sent spinning through the air Cherry's way! Not seeing entirely clearly, Ayame isn't even super particular about what she's targeting. Hoping to wrap it around the girl's neck? Catch her in the legs and trip her to the floor? Coughing again, Ayame draws her hand back, wiping it across her mouth as she rolls onto her side with another wince. Bloody hell, she needs to get a job again, she muses. Plunging head first into international 'problem solving' at Elle's behest hurt WAY less than running into the wrong High School kid at the wrong time.
COMBATSYS: Ayame can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Cherry 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Cherry blocks Ayame's Hijacked.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Cherry 1/-------/=======|
Ayame is proving to be quite adept at the unexpected throwing of various objects. The redhead has just pulled herself to her feet, landing from that flurry of inverted kicks, when she raises her head and finds the triple chain projectile flying through the air at her at... a pretty fast clip, even given Ayame's injury and fatigue. And let's not forget *Cherry's* injury and fatigue, which are pretty prodigious themselves.
Frowning, the Fighting Diva isn't exactly sure how to handle this, so she goes with her gut. Reaching out, she snags the end that looks the easiest to actually catch -- the cross -- and assumes that this will be the end of it. This... is not so. Instead the force of the chain causes it to whip around in a decreasing arc, wrapping the chain around her arm... and then one of the weighted ones... and then finally the LAST weighted one. Without more chain to keep it winding, the last weighted end instead flaps free and slams into Cherry's stomach with the force of a good, strong punch, making her suddenly exhale a sharp breath and wince in pain.
But standing, she remains.
For a second she just stands there, looking incredulously at the actually quite innovative weapon wrapped around her arm, the final weighted chain dangling there like a perversion of a hunting falcon. "Man," she says carefully, in tones of disbelief. "Why does every encounter I have with a Japanese schoolgirl type end with whips and chains?"
...what.
Wasting no time, the Idahoan steps across the floor to where Ayame's currently recovering, and unwraps the chain from her arm before throwing it down on the floor. "Well, that was fun. And a good workout. You've got the messed up gothloli thing going on and your attitude sucks but that was a fun fight. I think I'm gonna head home and get in a shower, myself." And then she's... walking away? No word on the cell phones? What the hell was all this FOR, anyway?
Nobody will ever know.
COMBATSYS: Cherry has ended the fight here.
She isn't able to see where her little bolas ends up, lying on her side in pain as she is, but she is awake enough to hear the other girl approaching, her foot steps making it clear that whatever happened it wasn't enough to knock her down for good. Ayame tenses, hands closing as she musters the strength to roll onto her back, propping herself up with her elbows, glaring at Cherry with all the annoyed vigor she has left in her. Which isn't all that much, really. She looks just a little bit loopy at the moment as her head nods twice before her eyes finally lock on the other girl.
At first she isn't sure what's worse. Stubbornly clinging to consciousness only to have to listen to the American prattle again or just give up and succumb to blessed unconsciousness even if the end result of that may very well be the minor setback of incarceration. Oh no, she's talking. Her voice sounds distant in some way, and Ayame has a hard time making sense of it. It sounds something like her saying she had fun and that she's off to shower, which makes no sense. But then she's walking away as if that actually pretty much WAS what she said.
Left to lie there blinking, Ayame is dead silent for the longest time. "The hell," she mutters, bringing her hand up to rest against her forehead again as she finishes sitting up entirely. She's slow as she collects the dropped chain, bringing it up to loop around her neck and closing the clasp around the center ring. She grabs her staff next, collapsing it down and tucking it away as she rolls forward onto her hands and knees for a moment, "Whoa-" she mutters, about ready to flop forward as she catches herself.
"I hate that girl," she declares finally forcing herself to a wobbly stand with the help of a wall someone had the foresight to put right next to her. A quick study of the auditorium reveals that she is in fact alone, left with all the stolen items she had put up the fight to keep in the first place. She closes one eye as she stares at the satchel, hating it and the damnable cell phones it contains even more than that sassy red-head! Annoyed, she huffs, pushing herself off the wall to turn into a wobbly step away from the bag.
She isn't going to take it! She isn't interested in anyone's charity!! She's not going to walk off with it just because that stupid American deigned to let her keep what she took! She has her pride, after all, her dignity to maint-... oh, who's she kidding. Ayame twirls around and scoops the bag up to her shoulder with a weary grunt. "I hope one of those brats at least had the decency to have the new iPhone." One of those babies will make this whole ordeal aaaaall worth it!
Log created on 23:31:25 06/14/2008 by Ayame, and last modified on 01:37:16 06/16/2008.