Description: The remaining contestants continue on to round two, the Talent segment! As one would expect, no two talents are alike; and hostess Wanda Fulday continues to do a great job of mildly alienating, rather than charming, the girls and the audience.
During a brief intermission, the girls have been brought to the backstage again, while the stage crew quickly starts setting up (and getting ready to set up) whatever each individual needs for the upcoming segment. During all this time, everyone's favorite curley-haired brunette soccer mom hostess is singing; much like a ringmaster does between acts. It's impressive because it's freestyle. It's terrible because she really isn't a great singer. But thankfully all of that comes to and end, and following a very very hestitant round of applause, Wanda sets the microphone back on its stand and speaks to the audience once more, "Thank you, thank you you are much much too kind. Before we continue, I regret to inform that due to a family emergency and unforseen circumstances, Miss Mizuki Kamigawi, and Miss Ninon Beart respectivly had to withdraw."
There's a brief round of curious murmurs, but Wanda is quick to continue, flashing a brilliant smile, "However the show must go on, it is time to move on to the second portion of the pageant and that is the talent segment!" she passes a glance to her index card. "Most of us are quite aware of how talented these girls are in martial arts, but what other talents do they possess? The first to show us will be Miss Sakura Kasugano, please give her a round of applause!"
Which obviously, they do.
Sakura still feels she did horribly last round -- she -expected- to lose points with Yurika, but she even failed to impress the rowdy punch-it-if-it-moves Tenma! Kasugano's top priority may be fighting, but running a very close second is her need to make a great impression on people!
And that might explain why she's dressed in a French maid outfit for this round. The dress itself is a dark blue, falling to about mid-thigh -- that is, no longer and no shorter than the school uniform that'd made Sakura Kasugano a household name. On top of that is a white cooking apron... for when she makes her appearance on stage shortly after Wanda's announcement, she's rolling out a small cart, with a gas stove on top and a Chinese wok in the center section.
"Thank you, thank you!" calls out the Ansatsuken Angel, beaming brightly at the crowd as she makes her appearance. Her hair, short though it may be, is tied back with a salmon-colored bow, matching the wide ribbon tied neatly in front. Sakura has been known to pull off the 'cute' look when she wants to; cooking only amplifies the effect.
As she rolls to center stage, she withdraws the wok, firing up the grill -- it's already niiice and hot from her preparation backstage. She shows the wok to the judges -- her ingredients are already in there, for sake of expedience. Cooking takes a while, after all! "My folks say I'm alright at cooking, so I figured I'd share two of my favorite dishes with you folks tonight!" Returning the wok to the burner, she continues, the meat and spices simmering away. "What we have here is negimaki -- broiled strips of beef marinated with teriyaki and my secret blend of herbs and spices!" Smells delicious, doesn't it?
Meanwhile, an assistant starts rolling out a second cart -- this one has a gas griddle and several unmarked containers. Phase two?! While one camera trucks up to get an overhead view of the meal, no doubt there's a camera covering the lower angles as well. This /is/ Japan, after all!
Mr. Rust over from Pacific High's back for another day in that incredibly uncomfortable suit with that choking tie that he has magically not suffocated underneath. Life as an adult is hard when you have to be on your best behavior and at your most presentable where even one wrong signal in the wrong place can cost you your job. He wouldn't have seen himself wearing one of these over ten years ago, no doubt about it. But it's really hard to be nostalgic when you're in a hot, uncomfortable suit and having to politely sit through Wanda's singing. That applause the first time? That was applauding the end of it!
At least the competition hasn't gotten into the 'kill everyone' phase yet. He reaches up with a hand to scratch at the side of his sore neck when Sakura's name is called, remembering to politely applaud. He grimaces at the itch that is more than just taking advantage of all the time to strike when his hands should be occupied with things like 'polite clapping!' Damn you, itch. Damn you, necktie! Damn you... oh, hey. Something smells really good about now. The tension and discomfort quickly turns to curiosity when Sakura takes to the stage and shows off the wok, leaning a bit closer to both get a better view of the ingredients and another whiff. Oooh. That smells gooooooooooooood.
This is probably the first time, at that very moment, that Wanda wanted to be a judge. She isn't a glutton or anything, but who can resist free food, and things so far already look pretty good! The woman gives a light applause to the Ansatsuken Angel, and then looks curiously over the wok and ingredients. "Oh wow, two? That sounds great! I wish I could get my daughter to cook." she says with a small shake of her head. "So this 'negimaki'.. Does it have any trans fat? Wait, secret blend of herbs and spices too?? Oh woooow, that's really mysterious, what's in them?"
Now this time around, Yurika actually isn't anywhere to be seen at the judges table, it's two others this time.. Which is probably a good thing. Probably.
And unexpectedly, a new judge has appeared for this stage of things...AN ANGRY BEAR.
...no, it's Principal Raizo Imawano of Justice High. He is seated at the judges' table, hands folded, watching Sakura's work with some interest. The outfit strikes him briefly as rather scandalous, although he concedes it is no more shocking than the Taiyo uniform itself, after a moment's observation.
At about the same time, he decides that this was a good time to be present for judging, to judge by the smell of things.
Many Japanese dishes are light, and cook fairly quickly -- negimaki is no exception! It's not hard for Sakura to continue cooking away, stirring occasionally with long wooden chopsticks as she responds to Wanda, grateful (like most present) that the singing part is over. "Mmm? Trans fat? Nah, this is all-natural, and 100% healthy!" Percentages may vary! "And I can't very well tell you what's in it, or else it wouldn't be a secret, right?" It's not hard for a cook to identify scallions, a dash of garlic, or the very obvious teriyaki sauce, but that's beside the point! Smiling at the nearest camera, she winks, "If I get enough demand I'll put the recipe up on my website, though, hmm?"
By this time, the negimaki's more or less on cruise control, and Kasugano lets the wok simmer on low heat. "Now, I'll let that simmer for a bit so you folks don't burn your mouth off, while I work on my next dish..." She steps sideways, opening the unmarked containers on the griddle cart. One container houses shrimp, neatly beheaded and de-veined; other containers house finely chopped carrots, raw eggs, grated nagaimo (Japanese potatoes), flour and cabbage. As most cooks would know, this stuff takes forever to cut up and prepare -- Sakura isn't about to waste the judges' time by doing this /all/ on camera!
Sakura sifts the nagaimo, flour, and a bit of water into a big metal bowl. "Now, I know it's not really a -local- tradition or anything, but I'm a big fan of okonomiyaki!" Mixing vigorously, she folds in eggs, then the cabbage -- in fact, there's almost more cabbage than anything else in the mix. "I just like how all the ingredients mix together, and out of it, you get a totally new product that tastes like something different altogether!"
The rest of the ingredients make their way into the batter, as Sakura spreads it into a series of small pancakes upon the griddle. While the batter sizzles away, she continues, "I'm not sure if everyone's tried okonomiyaki before, but I hope you like it! In the meantime though..." By this point, the more traditional negimaki meal is ready, and the maid-outfitted Kasugano dashes forward with plates for each of the judges. Mindful of the cameras and the hundreds of watchful eyes, she ladles out equal portions of broiled beef and rice for each of the judges -- sure, they might not be able to -finish- the meal right then and there, but that's not going to make her presentation any weaker! "Please, I hope you enjoy it!" It... may be a bit richer in flavor than most Japanese meals, but that's what the glasses of water by each judge's place settings are for!
Wanda is clearly quite interested in the negimaki, and while she's never had it in her life it looks pretty good. It smells pretty good! And while she can identify those things, she's quite convinced there's a secret about it that's being hidden from her eyes. Appropriate 'oohs' and 'aahs' are given on occassion as well of course. "I've heard of sukiyaki and yakitori, so it must be a combination therof, right?" she asks with a wink.
Que awkward laughter from the audience, with a groan somewhere in there.
And when that's pretty much done and the plates are set out by Miss Kasugano herself, Wanda addresses the audience once more. "It looks pretty impressive from my point of view! However it will be up to the judges from this point, whom I believe will give their score just shortly after trying Miss Kasugano's dishes! We ask that you be patient and keep your stomachs quiet during this time." Another wink.
Oh hey, she has a website? (He's behind the times as he is not a teenager, which is to be expected.) The Pacific teacher present over in one of the judging booths should ask her when he's not in the middle of salivating over free f-- he means judging. Yes. A lot of the local dishes around here are pretty good, and this looks like a real treat! Honestly, it makes sitting next to a true mountain of a man in charge of the toughest school in Southtown (...academically) slightly less intimidating now that food arrives.
"Thank you," Mr. Rust bows his head as the meal is delivered, but foolishly he goes for the glass of water first! He is thirsty from near-dehydration but at least has the foresight to only have half the glass. Is he aware of the finer subtleties present in the dishes? He's not sweating little details because frankly, he's pretty hungry. Being FROM AMERICA where food portions are rather large and out of control, adjusting to the smaller sizes in local restaurants was quite a challenge when moving here to teach. Oh... and chopsticks.
Look at the smile on his face as he rubs his hands together, shakes them out (with a somewhat unsettling crack from one of his wrists), and picks up the chopsticks. It's easy to tell he is not from here as he fumbles a little with the little wooden sticks, grunting from impatience as his fingers are probably not as hungry as the rest of him. They'd /better/ be in the next few seconds.
He cuts the distance he has to hold it in the sticks for by leaning forward a liiiiiitle more to actually get it in his mouth, where he gives it a good chew. His eyes start to wander, making a number of incidental head movements while trying to discern its flavors for himself. Maybe he intends to reverse engineer this by nefarious means.
The question is, is he going to remember to write a score?
The groan may have been Raizo, but he wouldn't admit it if you payed him.
However, with Kasugano now ladling out portions, the titan of a man offers the girl an acknowledging nod, a small smile because he does in fact know her, and then the meal is right there. She's right; finishing it before judgment is necessary would require eating at a lightning pace. But he can taste, at least.
And taste he does, grasping a pair of chopsticks, inevitably upsized to fit those titanic hands, and using them with the same bizarre dexterity that those who've seen him in everyday life have come to expect.
He chews ponderously. Unlike Rust, who shows visible thought as he tests Sakura's creation, Raizo eats and debates the flavoring with an expert's poker face, hand sliding toward his scoring board when he's satisfied.
Sakura laughs back at Wanda, feigning politeness as she responds, "Haha, yeah! Something like that!" She pauses, grin fading as she flashes a skeptical look at the audience: "... Kinda! Just... totally different, right?"
Of course, by this point she's returned to her usual, somewhat cocky smirk. "You're more than welcome!" comes her response to Rust. She notes how much water the man's downed, and hurries to pour him some more water from the communal pitcher. Can't have him getting thirsty before he gets to the okonomiyaki, after all!
She turns back to her griddle, ever mindful of the swish of her skirt. She's personally not too fond of uniforms, preferring to stick with shorts and t-shirts if she can get away with it, but she's got to keep her fans happy! She does make a point to keep her strutting from being -too- showy though -- this is more about the talent than the show, right?
Returning to her griddle, she flips each of the pancakes with a large metal spatula. She smiles bemusedly at Raizo's enjoyment of the meal, glad the big teddy bear can get something out of it.
After another few moments, the okonomiyaki have turned a lovely golden-brown, so Sakura pulls out the special fruit and vegetable sauce she'd prepared. She was careful to put it in a different squeeze bottle, but it's basically store-bought okonomiyaki sauce with a small dose of ketchup and mayonnaise mixed in for flavor. Using the sauce, she paints intricate designs on the okonomiyaki 'pancakes'. One gets the Justice High logo, one gets the Pacific High logo, while the remaining ones receive a Seijyun cherry blossom. "Sorry for the delay, I'm almost done!" Presentation is everything in Japanese cuisine, after all, and Sakura's sure to get every last detail in place. Drawing out a few more of the flat spatulas, she distributes the pancakes to their own plates. Dual-wielding the spatulas, she slices the okonomiyaki up into pieces -- the Pacific one that gets left before Rust is in a bit -smaller- pieces as she'd noted his difficulty with the chopsticks. Raizo of course gets the Justice logo, and Wanda one of the cherry blossom logos.
"Usually these are a big hit on holidays, but they take -forever- to cook! I hope you enjoy them!" Bowing gratefully to each of the judges in turn, Kasugano then hops back to the stage, rolling out the grill off while the assistant from before rolls out the griddle. "Thank you!"
Wanda had actually been staring at Raizo's chopsticks for a little while, but she was pretty oblivious to Sakura's jab even before all of that, simply smiling as she does best. When you see those chopsticks, it sort of just opens a flood of other questions about the mans life, doesn't it? She wonders if he gets extra large newspapers in the morning, for example. But all of that is pushed off to the side once presented with the oko, "Oh that's adorable, it has the school insignia on it." and she fumbles just a bit to take a bite. A pause and her expression just lights up instantl. "Mmn! I give it a ten! No, rather a ten point one! This is very delicious, your parents must be quite proud." she declares. It's just too bad her score doesn't actually count. And while that's going on, the stagehands are already making motions to start taking things off stage for Sakura.
It's pretty good that Sakura's on the ball with the water and other such niceties. Really, given one Howard Rust's luck with curiously powerful teenage girls attacking him out of nowhere (and leaving him in various states of serious injury), this is pretty nice. He nods his head again at the refilled water glass, which is good because it turns out he needs to down another half as soon as he swallows the first piece of the negimaki. It is very strong, probably made moreso because he let it sit on his mouth a lot longer than he usually would. Does he have time to finish this before he has to put up a score? Definitely not (unless he inhales the whole thing and risks choking even more than he already is now with that damned tie), but he has a very good taste of the first course.
Then next comes the okonomiyaki! He has a little laugh at the Pacific High logo, that's... that's some pretty good skills with the sauce, there. Kind of reminds him of the time he tried to write his dad's age on a birthday cupcake way back when and ended up getting colored frosting all over the place.
He raises his chopsticks briefly as Sakura takes her bow and goes offstage as he decides to take in a piece of the okonomiyaki with exactly the same lack of expert grace (and the same little eating shortcut) from the previous. The leafiness kind of predominates a lot of it. There's a heck of a lot of little tastes in here to the point he's not sure if he's tasting what he saw being prepared, or if there were other things put in here... hm.
If there's one thing missing, he thinks, it's that this isn't being eaten outdoors. Despite there being hardly any difference in composition between whatever's made indoors and outdoors, there's just something about when you make, share, and consume food outside that Pacific High's shop teacher greatly prefers. Maybe it's from the years of having to eat a sort of stale sandwich out in the middle of a bad rainstorm, but dammit, it was food you /earned/ and it made it great.
But... can you really dock someone for that? Especially someone who is world renowned for being one of the absolute best of her generation in tournament fighting, more capable than even many older hands at it?! Besides, if he's going to have to come here wearing this uncomfortable suit and labor under the constant threat of suffocation for the sake of niceties, this is food well earned, is it not?!
Once he's done with that first piece of the second meal, he holds up a finger with his free hand and picks up whatever writing instrument is appropriate for whatever sort of thing these score cards are written from. He's not ambidextrous, so his hand is a little shaky writing the number but he doesn't want to put the chopsticks down.
He holds up a '9.4.' Or rather, a blank, because he's holding it the wrong way. He coughs twice at this embarrassing little mistake, flips it score-side down, then lifts it up again so that the crowd can properly see this poorly scrawled 9.4.
Now you know that Howard Rust does not write left handed.
Haw haw, she thinks she can get extra points for a Justice High logo!
...she's probably right.
But the question of the magnitude of Raizo's newspaper must go unanswered, as the massive man turns his attention back upwards, toward the final moments of Sakura's performance. The care she takes in her movements catches his attention, as does the care of her cooking! Even ninja bears can be distracted with a good meal.
Raizo helps himself to the water he's been provided, apparently at ease with the taste of the meal. The okonomiyaki arrives, and Raizo helps himself. He takes longer to score than Rust does. Perhaps he's accounting for things UNSEEN, or using secret ninja powers to assess something Rust missed! Or, perhaps, he doesn't get home-cooked meals often and he is taking his sweet time to enjoy it.
Once satisfied, however, the titan reaches over to a pencil and score card. Some suspense is good, but keep people waiting too long and horrible things happen. Which is why he scribbles a quick, efficient 9.5, and holds it up for all to see.
Sakura beams back at the judges -- of course, she's been grinning ear to ear for nearly the entire time! (Well, at least when Wanda's not trying to make jokes...) She bows gracefully in response to the scoring, chirping out, "Thank you, thank you! I'm glad you like it!" Maybe -that- will make up for her costume, she considers, as she scoots off stage to make room for the next contestant!
The scores recorded and a round of applause given upon being revealed, it seems that things are looking up for Sakura! "And thank you as well, Miss Kasugano!" she replies, taking the microphone once more, and seems to just need a moment to get herself settled again. Where did her plate go? It mysteriously vanished.. "It's too bad that was the first event, the next break isn't until a while from now."
Awkward laughter.
"But seriously, ladies and gentlemen there's still plenty of awe lined up! Our next contestant will be Miss Sada Asai!" and she steps off slightly to the side while gesturing in the other direction; another round of applause following.
Sada steps out with a slightly more energetic walk! She's still - in costume? Well, it's hard to tell, really; she's taken off the shoulderpad and the incorrectly tailored jacket, replacing it with a proper Seijyun one. She steps forwards, to the end of the platform, and bows deeply to the audience again...
Before presenting the yo yo she'd been holding with her costume? "I know it's a little unusual," Sada says, "but I felt that demonstrating the tricks I had learned with this device will be a great deal more remarkable than my musical abilities... after all, everyone here at Seijyun recieves a thorough musical education. It's not strange at all!" Her voice, while a bit low for a schoolgirl, says this very melodiously; perhaps she should have sung, instead.
Maybe someone else gave her advice on this matter.
Once the applause settles, and Sada has spoken her piece, the woman looks a bit taken aback. She had heard Sada speak before, of course, but she thought the tone was part of the character. On the other hand if anyone could actually figure out what was going on in her head right now, the expression might make a little more sense. But afterward she's smiling brightly again, as if nothing unusual had happened at all. "Oh! You know, yo-yo's were pretty popular in my neighborhood when I was a child. You don't see too many people using them these days.." she notes. "I can certainly see it from your point of view too, of course. Well then feel free to demonstrate for us, though I do have to ask.. That yo-yo does seem a little bigger than your standard toy. Is that for any particular reason besides showmanship?"
The expected polite applause from at least the Pacific High teacher follows. This is an incredible act of willpower on his part because the food given previously is pretty good, but there's always the off chance that... somehow... the dishes may have disappeared. Let's worry about that piece of (delicious) reality as it pertains to continued existence in the present space-time continuum a little later.
He recognizes the yo-yo thing from when she showed up in costume for the first segment. The culture shock then was to be expected. And yes, it does seem like she could carry a tune, he almost thought she was going to start singing on the 'after all' part. He straightens up a bit in his seat to await the display proper with all the typical attention expected of a judge. It's kind of boring to put it that way, but there's not much else to say about it as one hand fiddles a little with the tie to see if he can get away with loosening it a little without appearing unkept.
"It's partly to take advantage of my physical training, but also," Sada says, "so that the results are clearer. Besides, I'm not a small child - a standard one would be too easy!" She smiles, then, her cheeks dimpling as she takes a step back --
She casually tosses the yo-yo into the air several times, explaining as she does, "The origin of the yo yo is in the wooded areas of the Phillipine islands, where they had to hunt in the jungles." The throws get increasingly farfetched, going up to nearly ten feet in the air before Sada catches it, finally, behind the back and with an artistic twirl of the skirt. "Since then, of course, there have been developments past 'a rock with string on it' - "
Now she twists it around, the string hanging in the bright lights for a moment as Sada performs several moves which may come from the kusarigama. But then she twines her fingers up, catching the string and twirling it around into complex patterns. "And we know how it became a famous toy, of course! But you have to be careful -" She draws back, hurling it at her finger again, letting it bounce -
Until it suddenly seems to wrap around her, tangling her arms in a slightly awkward, though dynamic, position. "Or else, you can get all wrapped up." She flicks her wrist - and the entire wrapping-up unspools backwards, before the yo yo finally flips back into her hand with an audible 'pap'. She bows, then, letting the yo yo out to spin on the end of its string by her side as she does.
As one might expect, Sada is in complete awe. These aren't the simpler tricks she's used to doing, after all! Of course she has to get in her comments too! "Physical training? I'm not entirely sure I follow but it sounds impressive! Oh, I didn't know that either, that sounds pretty graphically violent.."
Though there is one thing that makes her frown slightly. And that's that Sada's joke actually got a better round of laughter than from anything she had said! So her laugh is a bit forced in a strange twist of fate! And then applause follows with the young womans final trick; leaving some to wonder if it was real or if the contraption had some sort of auto return function. "Well then, we'll let the judges do their part now.. Um, would you mind terribly if I gave that a little try myself? It's been a while but I can still do a pretty decent 'walk the dog'."
Having helped design the set, Mr. Rust gets a cold sweat and a wince when the yo-yo comes close to striking some of the overhead lights a few times, as in, 'whoa whoa don't hit any of those!' Luckily, the lights appear to be spared of the random acts of ludicrous yo-yoing that is, in itself, inherently pretty neat to watch for anybody else. Boy, she makes that look effortless.
A low, nearly inaudible whistle of relief later, he recomposes himself somewhat by running a hand over his brow and getting some of that sweat that forms not on, but around the no hair's land of desolation otherwise known as his combover which might count as a talent were he a teenage girl and eligible for taking part. Seriously, going bald as a teenage girl would be a sure sign of skill.
The applause that follows after the final, skillful wrap around the arm brings the teacher back into line with the rest of the program. A polite applause for a good show. He might be the only one here to legitimately claim being on the edge of his seat - maybe he should have set the lights just a little higher, in retrospect. Maybe he shouldn't have based the final placement of those lights around one of the stagehands' professed fear of heights.
A deep breath later and once more rubbing his hands, stopping after the fourth movement to rub his wrist gingerly for a moment, he stares down at the score card. What to write? He takes the appropriate writing instrument in hand and scratches something down, then abruptly stops as he realizes that he was writing with one of the chopsticks. Oops!
Grumbling, he puts it down, gets the proper item in question, and writes a much cleaner, easier to read '8.9' that he holds up over his head.
Raizo, being a ninja master, would probably be the main source of disappearing plates.
But when Sada gets on stage, he puts off his diabolical plan to kidnap Rust's food, and instead applauds with the others. He pays careful attention - the outfit is interesting, his eyes taking note of her movements as well for anything particularly noteworthy--
The yo-yo catches his eye. Yo-yo tricks? It seems like a young person's diversion, but Raizo expects this should be interesting. He does note the swing of her voice, but doesn't ponder it too deeply. She has chosen to show her skill, and he is prepared to watch!
And he is intrigued. It's not quite the rather showy display Sakura made a point to put on, but Raizo is pleased, nevertheless, and nods sternly in appreciation at her understanding of the history as well as the mechanics and methods of her art. And to be able to speak while doing it is no small feat either, he understands that all too well. He even smirks, at Sada's final demonstration, both the intentional wrap-up and the /de/-wrap.
Impressive indeed. He reaches a hand over to begin scribbling a score, and in mere moments, flips up a 9.3.
"You're all very flattering to my small skills," Sada says as she straightens up from her bow with another of those cheek-dimpling smiles. With a tug of her hand, the yo yo returns to her hand, and as she raises a hand to wave, she turns to walk back down the way she came...
... and where she can get a drink of water. The spotlights, the prominence, all of it! It can get to you, especially when you are a delicate and fragile flower of young womanhood.
Wanda raises her hand slightly as if to say something but decides against it, particularly after seeing the scores. In fact she even nods her head, as if that were what she has expected the whole time. She has an eye for these things you know, "And thank you for coming out again, Miss Asai!"
As for the water, Sakura probably has plenty of it! .. Maybe. Applause fills the air after the schoolgirl gives her thanks, and the microphone is taken once more by the hostess. She actually doesn't follow up with a joke this time around, it's a miracle! A glance to her card and she continues, "And next in the competition, our third contestant for the second segment is Miss Alexis LaCoeur!" a gesture to the side as she takes a step back in the opposite direction, followed by; you guessed it; another round of applause.
There's applause on the young Asai's way out from Mr. Rust as she makes her way out. Sakura going first might have set the bar rather high, as the fastest way to a man's heart is often through their stomach. The virtue of her talent with yo-yos is certainly undeniable, even if the presentation may have been plenty more subdued in comparison.
Well, other than the whole 'oh crap I knew I should've set the lights higher' factor on his end, even though none were hit. The fact that it was even possible doesn't speak well to himself about his ability to really account for what these young ladies would do out there.
He tries to sneak in another taste of that first dish when Alexis is called onto stage, causing him to drop the food clumsily back into the plate and hastily get to clapping.
Cooking? Yo-yo? Two talents Alexis has never seen used in pageants before, and... and she watches them like /all/ the time! Okay, she watches them like maybe once a year whenever there's a big to-do about them. Still! She's coming to appreciate that things are done very differently here, and it almost makes her second guess the use of her 'normal' talent because of it.
Well, maybe she can pull off a decent score by just using a bit of ingenuity and flair. Here's to hoping!
Instead of wearing her Super Girl costume, she's taken a little bit of time to change -- and what she's wearing now is likely just as showy as before. A shimmery seafoam colored velour leotard clings to her body, a micro-mini skirt hanging at an angle accenting it. As with the first time, she picks a very unconventional way to enter the stage. Making her way to just beyond the edge of the curtains she springs toward the center of the stage with a powerful roundoff back-handspring which launches her into the air, about twenty feet of green and blue silk ribbon trailing behind to mimic her movements. Flipping nearly the height of the lights in a 180-spin, she twists her body into a frontsault, then lands mid-stage with her legs slipping into a graceful and perfect split before she glances to the side and offers a radiant smile to the judges.
Tossing the ribbon up into the air, she settles both hands to the stage and pushes her body upward, flips around then backsaults again before getting to her feet, just in time to catch the stick which holds the ribbon and begin to swirl it around her body in a pattern reminiscent to a butterfly.
"Rhythmic gymnastics is an internationally recognized sport which has been around since the late nineteenth century, but only gained full recognition in the Soviet Union in the nineteen-forties. It became a recognized discipline in nineteen-sixty-one, and was seen in the first Olympic games in the nineteen-eighty-four Summer Games in Los Angeles, California."
As she continues to speak the ribbon shifts a little, dancing behind her in a series of waves and spirals each turn of the material accenting a word -- but the ribbon never stops moving.
As Alexis goes to the same school that Mr. Rust teaches at (if not within the same classes), he is already familiar with her gymnastics even though he hasn't ever really watched her perform them at length due to the difference in schedules. Adults and children often do lead very different lives. Sometimes in the modern era, it seems like there is a further and further disconnect outside of providing for the needs of the latter.
And he gets yet another scare with Alexis showing off that uncanny jumping height more and more teenagers appear to be able to achieve, leaning forward with another grimace as his worst fears about the flaws of the runway design become rea-- no, no, it's okay, she landed fine. He waves back, a nervous smile.
That's right. Sit back, relax, enjoy the show. She does create some pretty designs - she definitely has skills, probably owing to how much time she spends practicing. The lecture is listened to passively, largely because his heart is beating so fast after a second scare. He rubs his chest with his left hand. C'mon. This all should be enjoyable to watch, not a big pile of pure, distilled culture shock like the school surrounding it.
It's really amazing how fluid her movements are. He really should stop by and watch her practice a bit more often. He claps politely as the crowd does.
It looks like this is going to be one of those times when Tenma is really going to be wishing he were around for this segment, isn't it? Let this be a lesson to him! Wanda stays FROZEN in place when Alexis makes her dynamic entrance onto the stage; the 'traditional' focus of Alexis isn't entirely lost on Wanda either. But there's just stunned silence for a good moment or two, and then further applause as the gymnast shows off rythmic skills.
Finally after all that, the mention of California results in some cheers in the back! "Oh wow, w- wow.. I- You know I have to ask, about the split thing, after the flip.. Is that uncomfortable at all? Or is it like sitting in a really odd chair?" Obviously she's not very limber herself nor has she ever really been. "I can understand how it'd end up an olympic event, the whole shebang seems pretty physically taxing. Are you tired at all?"
A soft, saccharine smile is offered to Wanda as she twirls the ribbon to her front, shifting it back and forth in a steady figure eight pattern. "Oh! Well, it's not uncomfortable for me, but it's not like sitting in an odd chair either..." Maybe it's one of those 'don't try this at home' type stunts? "You're right," she says with a nod, the figure eight patterns becoming wider and wider. "It can be physically taxing and requires balance, flexibility, coordination and strength, but I'm not tired at all yet!" She does practice with the ribbon for several hours a day, so she's not even broken a sweat yet!
Right. Lectures are boring, and they really don't need a full history lesson, do they? So as she pirouettes, she drops her ribbon free hand toward the ground. The entire weight of her body balances upon it as the hand that holds the ribbon continues to make soft, silky patterns beside her. A leg comes up over her head, angling down toward the stage before it lands gently. There she balances momentarily, bringing the ribbon up around her body before her other foot flips forward and she leaps from one foot to another in a small jete.
"But! Rhythmic gymnastics isn't just a boring history lesson! It's been seen in a lot of manga and anime, such as Hikari no Densetsu!" Whipping the ribbon back toward herself, she catches the very edge of it and sends the stick portion flying high into the air (though more than low enough to avoid the lights). When the cane comes crashing down toward her, it's followed by sparkling butterfly shaped sequins, and the soft fluttering of silk-ribbon wings as several small fake-butterflies flutter toward the judges and audience.
She's showy. It likely won't be as good as the cooking show Sakura provided, but at least she hopes it's entertaining for those watching!
With the little parlor trick complete, she begins to spin the watery-colored ribbon in a vortex around her body. As the ribbon continues to move around her, she releases the stick and leaps straight up into the air before executing a precise half-twist flip that has her landing in a crouch in front of the still-moving ribbon. One hand shoots up into the air and she takes hold of the stick just as the ribbon begins to fall, to ensure it keeps moving until she's able to bring herself to her feet once more. Slowly exhaling, she arches her body back slightly and raises her arms up above her head in a brief finishing display. This is, of course, accompanied by a bright, tooth-pinging smile, and a bow of her head before she holds her breath and waits patiently for her score.
The teacher's following every movement he can, because really, she's quite good. And, actually, he has to brush his face because some of those fake butterflies come close to having a crash course against his face and he doesn't want any of it getting in his eyes (or on the delicious free food!).
He doesn't follow the anime/manga thought largely because he doesn't read nor watch the stuff! ...or is it watch and read? Point of the matter is, he's unaware of what it is she's referencing and he's making sure not to miss any more of the show aside from whatever flourishes he had to pass up from ensuring he didn't get a fake butterfly to the eye or wherever else on his person.
When the routine ends, he's the very first one to clap - unlike the time it was a little premature during the first segment! He smiles, even if the worries about the runway design haven't quite left his mind, but damn. He makes sure to get down his score as soon as possible, rotating his right arm by the shoulder once to loosten it up with a loud 'pop' before writing down his final score.
According to the shop teacher, this one clocks in at... a '9.2.'
Showy isn't an understatement at all! And while it may be a little tough to really drill information into Wanda's head at times, even she doesn't mind a bit of edutainment, which she thinks Alexis balances quite well. She also balances well on her hand!
Though she can't think of a way to use that joke at present, much to her dismay. Though she's perhaps a bit more focused on making sure she isn't going to get accidentally clobbered by Alexis during her demonstration, never mind the fact the Pacific student isn't really -that- close to her. And then upon the acts end, and the bow, Alexis recieves yet another round of applause, as Wanda speaks up again. "That was fantastic. Perhaps they should consider renaming it to Rythmic Gymtastics!"
Very brief, awkward laughter and a single cough follows.
"Well then, lets move on to the the judges score, the first one's appears a high one!" Mary finishes without even missing a beat. She's convinced they thought it was brilliant.
What is Raizo thinking about? He hasn't really spoken or shifted much this entire segment, merely watching Alexis' show with that calm, vaguely approving poker-faced smile.
Finally, the time comes to make votes, and Raizo writes down on his big ol' score card. Good execution, not a ton of uniqueness, but she demonstrated not only knowledge of the art's history - important, for an old bastard like Raizo - but proficiency, and not too much flare.
He nods, firmly, and produces a score: 9.1.
With the scores having been given, Alexis sets the ribbon to twirling once more. Instead of a bow, she offers a little curtsey this time accompanied by a bright smile as the ribbon twists into a soft pattern at her side. Though the talent portion for herself is done, she can't resist performing a half-pirouette that spins her around to face the back of the stage. Flicking her wrist, she sways the ribbon behind her so that it makes a small trailing pattern as she makes a graceful exit off to the side of the stage once more.
Log created on 17:56:47 06/30/2008 by Yurika, and last modified on 18:13:57 07/28/2008.