Description: Zach's quest to rid himself of his collar continues when he runs into the Justice High Elite Hyo Imawano. The two talk about recent events, and despite the aloofness of the Elite Swordsman, Zach manages to learn something about himself and regain a glimmer of hope in the process.
It looks like a bomb went off out here.
It's just outside a particular warehouse owned by no one, where a gang of squatters have formed a little gang around some pendant or another which had some particular power that elevated their fighitng ability by just enough to become one of the more dominant gangs in the area.
Truly unfortunate.
It didn't raise their fighting ability enough.
Men, some unconscious, some wishing they were, litter the ground like so many rag dolls. There are around a score in all, and over them stands a single form in a mercilessly red uniform. From the looks of things, the fight was brutally efficient--the blood patterns are surprisingly muted for the slash marks some of them seem to carry. In fact, the only one seeming to have taken any damage at all is the most decorated of their number, a young man with quite a few piercings. Or rather, quite a few points where piercings used to be. Most of them are scattered around one area just in front of him, split into pieces. Though hardly mortally injured as it seems, the boy is struck through with a huge cross-slash in his middle, splitting open his leather coat and reducing his undershirt to tatters.
A pendant hits the ground briefly, before it is crushed by a black boot.
"Hrmph..." Hyo Imawano comments, tugging at the edge of his white gloves each in turn. "If Asamiya didn't have such a sense of mercy, I'd end all of your fighting careers right now. Relying on false abilities. Disgusting."
His pants haven't even lost their crease.
His gloves aren't even dirty.
There was precious few sounds emanating from the altercation, however brief. A person could have walked past it and not noticed. But the icy strength that radiates from him--and the dark forces he just crushed under his boot--make the scene around him all too clear.
Something told Zach that there were things happening. Perhaps it was his gut, or maybe the choker clasped around his neck gave him a disturbing wriggle. Either way, the psychic wanderer decided to check it out. He approached from the rooftop, not really all that stealthy, but you would be surprised how few people really think to look /up/ during situations like this.
Zach scowls as he watches the last few moments of the scuffle. The guy in red is just far too strong for the group he just faced. It almost wasn't fair, Zach thinks, before Hyo mentions relying on false abilities. Emerald eyes expand a bit as eyebrows raise. A lead? Another cursed artifact like the one he bears? Maybe. It has to be checked out; this opportunity too good to be passed up.
Zach picks a spot where Hyo may not feel all that threatened by the sudden appearance of a fighter before lightly vaulting down to ground level. "Excuse me," he says as politely as he can manage in his rush. Hyo just /feels/ dangerous. No need to set him off. "Can I see what you just stepped on? It..." Zach takes a deep breath. Pennies and pounds, it seems. Not much ground between. "It might help me with my own problem."
Hyo might recognize Zach under the layers of dirt and grime that have accumulated, from the shorter man's fights or perhaps the work at the YFCC. Or maybe not; Zach looks pretty dingy right this moment, with the singular exception of the short sword just behind his left hip.
Imawano just raises an eyebrow when Zach makes his landing.
Luckily, Zach didn't attempt to drop in on him closer, picking his spot just right so as to merit the council president's attention but not his blade. Still, the look that he gives Zach is beyond cold. For a moment, it seems like Hyo is looking through him. The ninja steps forward, the loud crunch of jewelry underneath his boot leaving a slight green-tinted mist in the air as Hyo takes a few thoughtful steps towards Zach.
Of course he recognizes Zach. Though Hyo is young himself yet, the man is blessed with unearthly ability in many ways--one of them is a near-eidetic memory, his perception going quickly to see past Zach's dirt. "You're the man from the community center," Hyo notes. He approved of that particular social movement, however ill-guided it may be. "... has it fallen in my absence? Hrmph.." Unfortunately, as to Zach's current questions and condition, Hyo has little choice but to refuse his proposal.
"You have the airs of an addict about you," Hyo notes quietly with an edge of derision, feeling some enmity in his spirit--not towards Zach, but the aura he has about him. Despite the clear detachment from mercy he expresses in his voice, Hyo seems to not be overtly hostile towards Zach. However, there is no doubt whether or not he'll let Zach pass him.
The Imawano's scion strokes his chin thoughtfully.
"It would do you no good in its current state," he notes. "There is no reason to let you handle it."
"More like those of a desperate man than an addict," Zach says with a trace of amicable agreement, "Though a shower would probably help," he admits with a follow-up. "Though the Center still stands. It just needs a new janitor for right now." Another stinging reminder of what his rash actions in Africa have cost him. He scowls as he leans around Hyo to regard the wrecked amulet. /Damn/.
"Not any more, I guess," he admits, this time a little vexed. He deflates just a bit at this. "Looks like I'll have to look somewhere else." Zach considers, trying to find the half-full glass. "Though if they are getting handed out like this, then maybe it won't be all that difficult."
He looks at Hyo for a bit. Hyo identified him pretty quickly, and with a look like Hyo's, one would think Zach would not forget him... "I'm sorry," he says. "I think you have me at a disadvantage. I'm Zach Glen."
"In the right light, the two are the same," Hyo mentions off-hand.
The comment is mostly a feint. Because Zach didn't make a grip for the pendant he just crushed anyway, Hyo can rule out addiction. He cannot yet rule out ambition, but the boy in the community center didn't seem to be that type, last he observed him. Still, his glance is not particularly pardoning by any measure of the term.
"Hyo... Hyo Imawano," he responds, flatly. Though he sees little point in, and thus does not make any show of declaring his station, it wouldn't be hard to connect the name as the current council president of Justice High and alleged mastermind of the Justice High Incident, where he and his army of brainwashed students attempted to take over Japan. Though he was later absolved, the actions taken have left Justice High much maligned.
Though that's not the only reason Justice High students are feared.
The silver length of steel rakes slowly from his hilt with a sinuous hiss that resonates somewhere between the ears and the base of the neck, seeming to hum audibly as Hyo draws his katana slowly to level the razored blade on Zach. "A pleasure, I'm sure. But I've no time for tea and parlor games. You have the foul odor of the snakes upon you... if you are desperate for more of it, I'll free you by cutting you down where you stand."
Hyo doesn't mince words. He wants to know what's going on with Zach, pretty plainly.
Zach grunts. "I fought alongside an Imawano once," he says. "Raizo was his name. Big bear of a man. Your uncle, I think?" Zach takes a half-step back from Hyo, almost reflexively in the face of that naked steel. It takes an effort of will not to reach for his own blade, for all the good it would do him. Adrenaline is already flowing through his system, a familiar reaction to a familiar platuea.
"Desperate... for more?" Zach says incredulously, laughing a bit at that idea. "More? I think I want /more/ of that shit?" Zach says in irate disbelief. "I'm desperate alright. Desperate to get rid of what I already /have/." He yanks the collar of his hoodie down to reveal a serpentine choker around his neck. "I want this thing off of me," Zach says as he releases his tug before pointing at the pendant Hyo crushed, "And I was hoping that thing, or these guys, could point me to the person who gave me this.
"Hrmph."
Hyo peers at Zach critically for a moment. There is the sense that one takes their own life in their hands from lying to him. Any moment of weakness, any slightest revelation would be cause for combat. He definitely doesn't seem to be the type of guy to hesitate. But it's not the fearful and defensive attitude of a liar caught that Zach faces Hyo with, but the bold aggression of a man scorned that Hyo is faced with.
Good. That's good.
The offended are those least likely to lie.
"I see."
A moment's thought.
"Then you would have stood with him in the Strolheim tournament," he reasons absently, though the exact details and circumstances are beyond even the reach of even a perfect memory such as his. Those types of tournaments gain his attention. Hyo is actually one of the few people who bothers to study those events and commit them to memory. One of his many studies. Unbuckling his saya from his belt, he sheathes his sword slowly. "If you have stood with Justice High in the past and are still alive, there is no reason to believe you have an evil heart." Hyo glances at the choker about Zach's neck, dark memories flooding to mind. "If that's the source of the evil surrounding you, there is no reason to fear."
Sheath settling behind him, Hyo settles into a battojutsu stance, his eyes steady, his gaze completely dedicated.
"As long as you don't move."
In the next instant, Hyo is behind Zach.
His blade slides back into his sheath with an even click.
His once certain look is troubled. Because, if Zach didn't fall/dodge to the side like Hyo specifically instructed he not do, a white hot line indicates where Hyo's sword would have clipped the choker right off of Zach's throat. If it were normal. Not even a centimeter of skin would be so much as nicked on Zach's neck. Not even his hoodie, something even an accomplished sword user would have butchered, would be missing a thread.
"....hmph."
Zach doesn't so much as twitch. He doesn't have time to. Hyo's movements are so fast that Zach's brain may have time to process everything, but not nearly enough time to send any signal to the body to /do/ something. Zach blinks once the whole thing is done, carefully reaching for the place on his neck where the collar sits.
Hyo learns, in that moment, that the choker around Zach's neck is far from normal. Glen lets out an explosive breath. "Yeah," Zach says with the barest of politeness, "Tried everything short of power tools and explosives. Same story. The best idea I can come up with is finding the person who gave it to me, and getting the answer out of her."
"So I'm trying to find Tomoko Kimura, who supposedly leads the Cult of Gaia."
"There is no thing that my blade cannot cut in time," Hyo assures Zach, his eyes narrowed.
It's a different 'level' of arrogance than one might be used to from standard run of the mill megalomaniacs. Then again, if you've ever met any Justice High students, they all tend to be that way, in some shape or form. When Hyo says it, he not only believes it as an absolute truth, but intends to prove it. Ambition without limitation, morals without compromise. Hyo seems almost personally affronted by the thing attached to Zach's neck, as if allowing any shred of evil to persist in his sight loathsome.
Given the kind of reputation he carries, it's not hard to wonder if he's already considered beheading Zach and taking the choker the hard way.
"Really." He asks no question, instead looking over Zach briefly. It's hard to tell if he already knew what Zach speaks of or not. "Then pray you find her before I do, because I will cut her down." His words are simple, and truthful--Hyo seldom finds reason to lie or mislead. When he does, it's seldom he's discovered. He is younger by years than Zach, but his confidence knows no age.
"In any case, defeating any technique is a matter of having the necessary skill, and the necessary willpower," he mentions, giving the reason for why he is pretty sure that cutting the collar off is only a matter of time. "Unfortunately, you seem to have neither," he observes. He's definitely hard to be polite to, but there's something in the boy's words that seem not to denote any sort of hostility at all. He's just speaking his mind, without any mistruths. "... There is a blade hanging at your back. If you fought alongside my uncle, then you must be of some use. Did you think to destroy this cult before they could fit you with that loathsome thing.."
Zach takes Hyo's comments in stride. Part of it is a learned response to many /many/ people underestimating him. The rest of it can be chalked up to the fact that Zach is completely aware that there are people on a totally different level than he is. "Maybe not yet," Zach says with a frown, "I was lacking a great deal of information regarding this thing. It... was not the wisest decision I have ever made."
"I wasn't even aware that this group existed, let alone that they had designs on me. I may be a psychic, but I hardly know everything," he says with a raised brow.
"The sword... is awkward for me. Before, it would have been better for me to rely on my own spark of talent than to attempt to use a clumsy blade. But I have, in my rush to help a friend, made that route far less safe." Nevermind the fact that Zach simply feels uncomfortable with the idea of throwing the Miraitou away. It was won not only with his blood, but that of others.
"I see," he repeats.
Hyo discerns what Zach says, sorting out the meanings behind his words. "The type of technique used to seal that band isn't something one can force upon you," he surmises. "It must be willingly accepted." He makes a brief noise of irritation, hanging his blade upon his belt. "Do not make the mistake of thinking that simply because you are not responsible for the energy in that band that you are not complicit in its presence."
Hyo doesn't mince hairs--whether it be by lack of foresight, lack of insight or just simple lack of skill, he holds Zach responsible for the band on his throat.
"It is meant to cause only evil ends. Because of that, it is your duty as a citizen to contain it by any means. If that so-called clumsy blade of yours is insufficient to defeat her expression of power, do you really think this supposed leader will provide you with any answers you could use? You will only end up harming innocent people."
"I don't have a ton of choices in this situation," Zach says. "The collar has to come off. Otherwise," ...I can't properly face what I have done. "I can't do the things that I need to do." Zach shrugs a bit as he turns to face Hyo. "So regardless of whether or not my current strength is sufficient to the task..."
There is a bit of steel in Zach's voice, in his eyes. "This is something that I have to do, even if it kills me." Frankly, he thinks, this is likely to kill him /regardless/. At least this way he'll have some say in how.
It seems like Hyo can almost read your mind.
"What /of/ your life?"
The council leader's imperious look is a little infuriating to look at for most people, honestly, but it's not something that students like Imawano Hyo are at all interested in softening for the likes of others.
"So you wish to endanger the lives of others because of your lack of will?" Hyo observes, his voice carrying with it an icy edge. From his perspective, he only cares about justice, specifically Zach's obligations in taking care of his problems with as minimal an impact to innocent lives as possible.
"Absurd."
But there's still something about that boy's plight.. that Hyo is not entirely unfamiliar with. "If you possess the will, then you will achieve your aims, but at cost to others. An unforgivable oversight. I won't allow you to take another step away from this battlefield without proving your skill is sufficient."
He holds up a finger.
"You have one chance to hit me. Only one."
And then Hyo splits into five seperate entities, all of whom settle into their battojutsu stance. This time he's clearly not going to be aiming for the choker. "If you hit me, I will show you how to focus. If you hit any other, I will show you what focus means."
COMBATSYS: Hyo has started a fight here.
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Hyo 0/-------/-------|
Zach raises an eyebrow at the bushin trick. That just seems unfair. He wishes, for a moment, that he were like other psychics in general. Then he could pick the right one out from reading surface thoughts. He considers for a moment, realizing that A) wishing for something he does not have in the first place is a waste of time and B) Hyo is one frosty dude. Iwamono's mind is (most likely) in an imposed state of blankness of some kind.
His best bet, he decides, is to pay close attention to his environment for a moment. He picks through a number of details, trying to pick out which one is the real Hyo. He picks a target, then takes another long moment, to decide upon the manner of attack that he should use. The smart money would be to bust out some of that vast soul power at his disposal. If nothing else, there would be a good chance that the wildness of the blast would simply hit all five of the Hyos.
Such a thing, however, would run counter to what he was trying to accomplish: to become stronger /without/ relying on the temporarily uncontrollable talents at his disposal. Once that decision is made, he decides something else. Since his unarmed combat is only slightly more schooled through experience than his swordplay. He settles into a stance that resembles a boxing stance while picking up a short weaving pattern, bobbing his upper body left and right.
He leans forward slightly, coiling his body a bit to build up some tension before springing forward at a decent speed towards the second Hyo from the left. He lands directly in front of his target, driving his right hand forward while twisting with his upper body. His form is decent, but gives all indications of being self-taught. Oddly, no psychic energy erupts from his fist as might be usual for Zach.
COMBATSYS: Zach has joined the fight here.
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Hyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Zach
COMBATSYS: Zach still bears the choker, which shimmers an odd color.
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Hyo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 [E] Zach
COMBATSYS: Hyo parries Zach's Medium Punch!
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Hyo 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 [E] Zach
Smack!
"An honest form.."
The truth was, even one of Zach's strongest techniques had little chance of ever successfully hitting Hyo like this. That much was not in contention. The test was.. to see if Zach had the necessary raw focus. As Zach comes in towards him, Hyo simply straightens in an instant and catches his right cross by the wrist in one glove. An honest style. "But easy enough to read."
"Still. You have the focus, even if your style is like a braying mule."
As Hyo stands there, the other duplicates flicker away, leaving only the one that Zach struck--the second from the left--as the one holding Zach's wrist still. The student's arm flexes, and then he tries to just flick the older one straight back and away from him.
"But with technique like that, you won't be able to do a thing against the woman who put that drivel on you!"
He dusts a bit of errant dirt off of his uniform.
"Regardless. You should be thankful. You get to keep your legs. That's a start."
Wait, what? What was Hyo planning to do if Zach got it wrong!?
COMBATSYS: Zach endures Hyo's Weakened Imawano Nage EX.
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Hyo 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 [E] Zach
Zach feels the push coming, figuring that some kind of throw was coming. He rolls with the movement, landing on his shoulder blades while bringing his knees to his chest. "Again," Zach says as he rolls back and onto his feet. His posture is still coiled like a spring as he comes up in a low crouch. "I don't exactly have a lot of options," Zach says as he regards Hyo carefully.
Zach regards Hyo carefully, uncertain about his next move, or even if there will /be/ a next move. "But it is something I have to do," Zach says. "Without taking out any innocent bystanders," he says honestly enough.
COMBATSYS: Zach takes no action.
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Hyo 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 [E] Zach
Hyo nods slightly, absently.
"Then you understand the consequences for failure."
In Justice High, there is no option but success. Mediocrity is not tolerated in the school of super elites, where even failures are magnificent and without flaw, if such a thing can be comprehended. The consequence for failure is to be cast aside as weak, a pit that only ambition can cause one to crawl from.
"Then I will hold to my word. Draw that steel of yours, and tell me what you see when you look into its edge."
Zach pulls himself upright, and almost respectfully pulls the wakazashi free from its sheath. He examines it carefully, grasping the hilt in his right hand and placing the blade across his right palm. He holds it carefully, as if perhaps it were a bit heavier than it seemed. He stares at it for a long moment before speaking.
"It is a weapon," Zach says after his consideration is done. "Or a tool. Something that I use, or don't, as I see fit. It's only purpose, the only thing it is made for, is to cut. I decide what it cuts, though." He is fairly thoughtful; he has not really considered the question before now. He is not sure what answer Hyo is seeking, specifically, so he gives the one that he has.
"Hm.. a perceptive answer. But the answer of an amateur. One who only begins to see what is necessary."
Again, when Hyo speaks, it is not with any dissatisfaction, or really much of anything at all. Hyo isn't very readable in that way; he speaks matter of factly, as if he does not make an opinion, but an observation.
That saya of his clicks as he disengages it from his hip, lifting the black lacquered curve to hold before Zach. "This is the sword. As you mention. This is the tool."
A whisper and the blade is drawn--Hyo flicks the razored steel through the air as if air were nothing, and one could swear they hear the steel sing, humming as he brandishes it. He holds the point sideways towards Zach for only a moment, before he lifts the blade straight up, slowly rotating it in front of Zach, turning the blade edge on, until the sharpness of the blade reduces it to a line, causing it to disappear as Hyo holds it in front of him.
"When you stare head on into the edge of a blade, you do not see it at all. It does not exist. There is only you."
Zach considers the statement for a moment, along with the display. The wheels are turning at a decent clip, by all appearances. He witholds the comment that in a lot of ways, he /is/ an amateur. He tilts his head to one side, as if trying to find the right words for it.
The it hits him. "So it's an expression of self," Zach says in comprehension. "Hadn't really thought if it that way." He considers another moment. There is, one might suppose, a bit of slight insult in that statement. The blade is clumsy, therefore /he/ is clumsy. Would make a certain amount of sense.
Remember, this is the person who just called your style a braying mule.
It's probably for the best he doesn't have too much ammunition.
Discretion, after all, is oft the nigh of real skill.
Satisfied with Zach's comprehension of the basic principle, he continues. "It is not about your tools or tyour power. The most powerful man on earth is a weakling on the day his clan is destroyed. Power, and strength, are secondary. Compared to the will to use them!"
Suddenly Hyo's just right there, trying to cut Zach down suddenly and without warning. The young man moves like a tidal wave of white steel.
COMBATSYS: Zach blocks Hyo's Crushing Strike.
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Hyo 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 [E] Zach
Say what one will about Zach's style, or lack thereof, his reflexes are pretty sharp. His own blade comes up quickly in response, giving only enough to prevent Hyo's blade from cutting into his shoulder. However, Glen stands firm under the strike. His eyes sharpen appreciably as he considers his options at a far greater pace than before.
Zach steps in towards Hyo, shoving Imawano's blade away as violet sparks blast away from the crossing of blades . Zach doesn't wait for Hyo's response, before throwing a quick, if crude horizontal slash at Hyo's midsection!
COMBATSYS: Hyo blocks Zach's Second Stance.
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Hyo 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 [E] Zach
Hyo's nameless sword rings out as Zach's own collides with it when he flips the blade, causing the Justice High leader to smirk faintly. Ambition is something hard to come by in a devastatingly uneducated world. Attempting to strike him was proof of ambition, and perhaps of the vaguest sort of comprehension neophytes could withstand.
He doesn't even seem to be breaking much of a sweat as their weapons bind.
In the rarest moment of clarity, Hyo seems to mull over his next words. "Forgive me if I speak out of my age. But the teachings of our beyond elite school transcend these puerile barriers. Normally I wouldn't bother. But your plight peripherally involves the utmost of our concerns. If you do not know how to use that focus of yours, you will commit more injustice than justice. And then Asamiya would have to mourn your corpse. But perhaps.. perhaps you might be of use. If we leave you alive, then you might yet learn what justice is."
"To that end. Focus is the only lesson someone like you will need to learn for those purposes."
And then Hyo moves to bat Zach's sword away, and in the same instant (!) try to throw him across the field on the edge of his blade like a ragdoll. Zach probably won't stop until he hits something solid if Hyo actually lands the geometrically perfect blow.
COMBATSYS: Hyo successfully hits Zach with Juumonji Giri.
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Hyo 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 [E] Zach
Zach is flung by Hyo's deft use of the blade, slamming into a far wall. He lets out a loud grunt, before sliding down said wall. He lands in a low crouch. He eyes Hyo carefully, holding the violet Miraitou in a high stance as violet energies surge through the blade. Zach, luckily, had done simple reconnaissance before entering the building. The area is fairly deserted; the gang had driven off the vagrants in the neighborhood. "I'd like that," Zach says.
The blade crackles with Zach's power, shaking slightly under the force as Zach prepares to express his focus one more time as he locks his eyes on Imawano. The blade sweeps down, striking nothing but air with a roar. A second roar accompanies the large, crescent-shaped blast of violet energy hurtles towards Hyo!
COMBATSYS: Hyo blocks Zach's Burst Stream EX.
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Hyo 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 [E] Zach
Hyo extends his fist, still bearing the blade in it. As light trails down the weapon, it hums faintly with the resonance of Hyo's chi. As Zach's crushing purple energy smashes into Hyo's fist, the energy crescent flays and chews the ground beneath it as Hyo's long white hair blows back in the aftershock. Against that level of force, even Hyo is forced to concede the slightest inch of ground, his boots buckling concrete as he skids back.
A violent lash of his sword cuts through the crescent, sending rivulets and swirls of force twisting through the air.
"A shame, then, that the basic principles have already been laid before you," Hyo observes passively, dusting off his coat. It would seem that Hyo is little the worse for wear despite the absolute strength of that attack--a lesser opponent would have just been crippled. Hyo's uniform is singed, his gloves scuffed, and his arm is still richly smouldering, crackling with power. Against someone like Hyo Imawano, that might be considered an accomplishment.
"There is nothing that can be taught to you now save that. Your will is sufficient to hold focus. Understand when I say this. Whether it be a preoccupation with your own affairs, or a refusal to dissemble your aims, the result will be the same. Attempting to mix any of that decidedly American selfishness into your ambition when you face the Orochi will only result in your imminent demise. Either by their hands, or mine."
The blade clicks back into its sheath.
It seems Hyo doesn't imagine Zach to be ready right now.
"If you accomplish anything good through that much... then perhaps you might be useful to society yet. I will allow you to visit Justice High's campus on those conditions only. Bring your victory, and one good deed, and perhaps you might get the barest tastes of what an absolute focus is.."
Without waiting for anything specific from Zach--after all, why would he be interested in anything the young man can -say- as opposed to do?--Hyo simply leaps up into the air, and back.
And you know what?
It's hard to actually tell where he comes down at.
Zach's breath is a little rapid at this point, watching and (more importantly) listening to Hyo. The Justice High student warns Zach not to get caught up in his own troubles, and not to conceal what his aims are before leaving. The blade shakes in the psychic's hand, fatigue along with spent adrenaline making his grip a little less than perfect.
Then Hyo... disappears. So, he thinks, victory and a good deed. Well, the one condition was more than clear. The second one, well, while it was not exactly open for interpretation... it did leave some possibilities. Zach shakily resheathes his own blade before simply walking out of the building. He had work to do.
COMBATSYS: Zach has left the fight here.
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Hyo 0/-------/-======|
Log created on 07:33:06 04/17/2011 by Zach, and last modified on 22:14:52 05/02/2011.