Description: Every teenaged super crime fighting team has its origin story. Some might involve epic encounters with alien lifeforms, others may involve alarming mutagens responsible for super powers. Still, some involve things far more mundane, such as a day at school, a long walk, and some run of the mill Ninth Grade bullies.
For nearly every person who has lived, is current living, or who will live some day, the story of their sojourn on the planet Earth begins with the day they were brought into the world with their birth and continues forward from there. But this story starts at a different point. For all intents and purposes, as far as anyone has been able to determine (and plenty have devoted an unhealthy number of hours in the attempting), Athena Asamiya's chronicle commences on the day she claims to be her twelfth birthday (no one can prove otherwise).
There wouldn't have been anything terribly unusual about her first day in school. She showed up mid-term, which in and of itself is also hardly unprecidented. Students move in all the time as their parents' careers force them from location to location. She introduced herself as Athena Asamiya when instructed by the classroom teacher, she seemed to pay attention in class, answer questions when called upon, occasionally raising her hand when the teacher was looking for volunteers to answer... She fit in with the girls, was eyed a lot by the boys, and generally went throughout the day much like any other student would be expected to.
Yet while acting every bit much like any other mundane student, there was something peculiar about the girl. It would be hard to put one's finger on - a certain aura, a presence that couldn't be missed. When she left a room, it felt like a celebrity had taken her leave, as if the room as a whole had become just slightly less exciting or that some of its energy had left with the violet haired girl. In conversations, she never mentioned anything about family, parents, what school she had transfered from, or what her hobbies were. She seemed comfortable in talking with anyone that would aproach her, but she also seemed a very private girl.
The end of the day game and Athena collected her backpack from her locker - a pink colored one with the image of a classic-styled rabbit arted on the back of it. Only a complete freak would know it to be an authentic Peteter Rabbit backpack! And after bidding farewell to some of the girls she had met in class, the newest student in school turned to head out for the street just like pretty much most of the student body!
Some people have their beginnings like Athena. Others, however, begin not where they are first discovered by others, but when they first discover themselves. The moment where, struggling through a cloud of ignorance and childhood, finally pierces through with the moment of preeminence. When meaning comes into life, insight, true purpose etched forever into one's mind. A memory that last a lifetime, that forms a lifetime. The most memorable day.
That day, for Kensou, is when he first saw that strange girl walk into the school.
Kensou always lurked in the back of the class. A lazy student, to be certain, he was much more content hanging around his friends, following the latest in the trading card games, and sometimes just goofing off. As the beginning of class came around, Kensou was doing all three; playing a round of Dinosaur King with his friends in the back corner. He hardly noticed the new girl until the teacher scolded them.
And that was when Kensou remembered for the first time who Athena was.
It was impossible to describe the first feelings Kensou got. Certainly, most everyone in class liked her. But there was just something about her aura that made her click with Kensou. The boy didn't understand what it was. Suddenly, he was curious about who she was. What her hobbies were. Whether or not she played Dinosaur King. He was just another face that eyed her, intermingled with the boys. But where they eventually stopped as the novelty wore off, Kensou kept his attention on her. And, well, he hadn't actually talked to her yet. But as he peaked around the corner, at the end of class, he kept watching her. Nosy. Curious. And hopefully, hidden out of sight so she doesn't think he is some kind of weirdo that was stalking her...
"Hey! Kensou!"
One of his friends called out ot him, as Kensou was peeking around the corner. Wang Koh-San, a round, glasses wearing friend with a love of art, caught Kensou as he called to him from behind. Kensou jumps, turning around with a finger to his lips. "SSSSH" The pre-teen hisses, shushing his pal. The beglassed kid turns up his nose. "Whadda shushing me for, Meatbun." The kid states as Kensou shakes his head. The young psychic just lowers his hands, whispering. "Keep it down! I am trying to follow someone!" The bespecticled boy peeks around the corner, tilting his head. "But that's a girl, Kensou. Why would you be-"
A glimmer of insight overcomes him.
A wicked smile spreads over his face, as Kensou begins to grow white pale. "Kensou, you don't have a crush, do you?" The paleness turns into a bright red, as Kensou shakes his fist."SSSSSSSH! It's not a crush! That girl just has something very odd about her. Can't you feel it?" The friend, however, cannot suppress his snickers. "You have a crush, dude! You totally have a crush!" Kensou was still bright red as he sneaks back against the wall, peeking around the corner. Hopefully, Athena wasn't overhearing this.
Right?
Wang's interference in Kensou's attempts at subterfuge came particularly close to changing the course of destiny. In the time it takes Kensou to extricate himself from trying to defend something he doesn't have a good case against and peek around the corner, Athena could have easily passed along the permiter of the school yard with the brisk pace she had upon exiting the building. It might have been hard to pick up her trail from there as she disappeared into the rest of the student body pouring out of the campus and dispresing throughout the neighboring blocks...
But when Kensou peeks around the corner to check on his quary, she is still standing there, not too far off. Her uniform is a navy blue, her hair a mysterious violet, long enough to come to rest in the middle of her back. He would've noticed earlier that her eyes were a similiar hue as her hair, a slightly darker purple. Other than a pair of small, purple-crystal teardrop earings, the only other jewelry that adroned the girl was a red band in her hair decorated by a yellow star over her right ear. Her school supplies are stowed in her pink backpack except for a book she's hugging to her chest. Everything about her seemed simple and hardly ostentatcious. Why, then, did she seem to stand out so much?
The cause for Athena's delay becomes apparent the moment he looks, the new girl stopping as a raven-haired girl by the name of Kokoro runs up to her, apparently having flagged her down. "Which way is your home?" she chirps, clearly intending to accompany Athena for as long as their paths intersect.
Young Asamiya blinks at her potential new friend, seeming to take a long time to answer such a simple question. Finally, she smiles back and waves her hand off toward the North, "Down that way some." The response seems to be the opposite of Kokoro's route, as the dark-haired girl audibly 'awhs'. "Other way then. I'll see you tomorrow!"
A nod from Athena and then she runs off. Left alone once more, young Asamiya turns to walk out to the street. Oddly, while she had mentioned North to Kokoro, she turns to the left - toward the East - upon exiting the gate. She never looks over her shoulder, never glances around her, simply striding forward with patient purpose. She stops at the first major intersection, waiting for the Walk signal to come up, then crosses, continuing along her way.
Toward the East is a more run down section of town - blocks of tired buildings, broken windows, and unmaintained streets. Surely, she can't be from that part of town, can she?
Sometimes, Kensou just can't stand his Wang.
Peering over the corner, he finally lets loose a sigh of relief. Turning around, glaring at Wang, the boy is sneering. "Wait until EVERYONE hears about this!" The chinese kid narrows his eyes, utterly and completely IRATE with his friend. Well, hopefully he wouldn't get the reputation of a desperate stalker.
And now back to following Athena without her knowledge.
Kensou made a note of how Athena had so much purple. Those eyes. Those earrings. Purple might be her favorite color. Maybe some day, he could ask her that. But it was too dangerous to ask her now. It would be wiser to wait until he knew EVERYTHING about her, before asking her questions. That way, he would know exactly what the outcomes are.
And that is what romance is all about.
As the conversation with Kokoro continues, Kensou grows more anxious, face turning red. Why.... he might even learn where she lived! He imagined surprising her with a big purple stuffed dolphin, hiding at her window. Growing dreamy eyed, she finally splits with Kokoro... and Kensou, tilting his head, immediately figures out what is off.
Did she lie to Kokoro?
Ducking back into the shadows, Kensou lowers himself down to a crouch as he trails the girl. Keeping his distance, he just continues to act as Athena's long shadow, flitting and drifting. At the intersection, he waits until Athena fully crosses... before bolting for a run across the street Fortunately, the car just barely misses him, with a loud honk and cursing. Gasping for air and PRAYING that Athena did not notice, and keeping guage of the part of town. This was a dangerous part of the city. What was Athena doing here. Was she the product of a poor family? Or.... Kensou suddenly thought of something terrible.
Was she actually an alien, just like in Dinosaur King?
It seems, in spite the couple of close calls that almost get Kensou spotted, fate is on his side. When the honk echoes down the street, Athena stops and whirls around, hair trailing split second behind, a slightly worried expression on her face as she looks back down the sidewalk, but there are still enough kids on the sidewalk in this stretch for him to blend into the crowd with no further notice. Athena cants her head to the side, waits for a heartbeat, then turns forward to continue along the way.
The third block still has a fair number of kids, but with each passing street, they fork off in groups of two to four, heading down the routes to take each of them to their homes. But Athena presses on, her path a seemingly certain thing. It takes a few more blocks before the lower income nature of the district becomes clear. Broken street lights, unswept litter and dust, the cars along this stretch are either up on blocks, left to rust away, or have boots over the wheels from whenever their owners stopped making payments on them.
There are still younger kids about, playing a game of street hockey. From the looks of it, they've been at it for a while... there's a pretty good chance they ditched class that day. Many of the street lights are broken though it seems like it won't matter for about another hour or so. The sun is low enough in the horizon that street is cast in the shadow of the buildings, but it isn't particularly dark yet. The girl Kensou has taken interest in doesn't seem to fit in at all, but she doesn't seem to be deviating from her path. Some of those loitering about would take notice of first Athena then the boy following her, but no one would do more than watch so far.
Athena turns off the street about then, into an open lot surrounded by a chainlink fence. Piles of junk and tall, uncut field grass occupy the field, with scraps of discarded paper and plastics caught in the blades of grass. On a stack of girders on the left side of the field are seated five kids. "Hey!" one of them calls out to Athena and the girl comes to a stop, turning to blink toward them.
One of the five, wearing the ultimate sign of rebellion - a baseball cap worn backward - hops down off the girders and approaches the girl. "What're you doing here?"
"Yeah!" pipes up a chubby kid in a baggy white T-shirt covered in food-grease stains, trailing behind the ball-cap-kid. "This is our turf. You lost or just dumb?"
The subject of their inquiry doesn't answer them, merely blinking at the group of five as they close in around her, taking a step back but not retreating. Kensou would realize the young menaces for what they were: the ultimate terrors that every eighth grader feared. They may be the bottom of the picking order when caged within their own schools. But out here in the wild? They were little devils without leashes, bullies looking to prove themselves by preying upon unfortunate Junior High kids. They were...
- High School Freshmen! -
It was almost as if fate wanted them to be together.
Kensou continued to recall the details of Dinosaur King. In last week's episode, it was heavily suggest that the Shadowsaur Scientists were actually a group of aliens who had integrated themselves into society, in order to accumulate the technology to rebuild their ships. Athena DID seem pretty unusual. Perhaps she was an alien. Or even a clone! Or perhaps a clone that has clone DNA put in, and turned into a robot. Kensou mulls about this possible theories, nervously passing glances to the younger kids. This was a dangerous part of the town. But as he hears those threats, he realized that this was not just a dangerous part of town. It was the hive of some of the lowest, scummiest, most desperate human beings in all existence.
HIghschool freshmen.
There was a lot said about poor students trapped at the bottom of the heap. Freshmen were the victims of three grades above them, having just fallen from the grace of being the top of the heap as 8th graders. They were a feral, hungry lot, and remember all too well of the 7th graders once under their heel.
And from the looks of things, Athena would be their power trip.
Kensou's heart sank to the pit of his stomach as he clutches the chain link fence, looking in horror at the gang of Five turning on his stalking victim. Everything in his being was afraid for Athena right now. These were hungry, feral bullies. Desperate. But how incredibly foolish would it be for him to open up giant can of worms. What would it mean if Kensou stood up to them? Why, it would mean that he was following her. Perhaps even those feelings he had suddenly had would immediately be questioned. He would be forced to take the full frontal of all the bullying. Second thoughts were sinking into Kensou, flickers of cynicism cutting like a knife. Athene was still a stranger to him. Was he a fool to chase after her? A fool to follow to the dangerous parts of the city? She didn't even know his name, know who he was. A fool goes chasing distant specks of lights, infinite stars like Athena. The Chinese Kid had played the part of the fool for so long. Fools don't risk their lives.But Kensou simply watches, his face turning bright red.
He wasn't foolish enough yet to start fires before they start.
"I do not think so." Athena speaks up at last, answering the fat kid's insult-biased question with patience. "This is the route I am supposed to take." The girl seems to stay composed in the face of the approaching bullies. "Just through this field and out the other side where there is a missing section in the fence."
Behind the ball-cap kid stands a tall, lanky teen. He moves awkwardly, likely experiencing a growth spurt that has set him apart from his peers as abnormally tall. He doesn't seem to like the girl's answer. "A shortcut, huh? No punk kid is going to take shortcuts through our territory!" He holds his hands up, thumbs and forefingers extended and facing each other to form a square. One presumes it is supposed to indicate the fairly square-shaped lot. One also probably questions why he felt the need to remind everyone that it's square. Maybe it is a gang sign for the group of five?
Athena fixes him with calm, violet eyes, "There were no advisories posted at the entrance to indicate any form of official ownership over this parcel of land."
"Oooo," replies a sneering kid in a jacket. It looks like it originally belonged to a school uniform of some kind, but it has become faded, tattered, and stained beyond recognition. "Big words for a little baby. You're some kind of girly dork aren't you!" He lurches in close to Athena and the girl backs off a step, only to find the way behind her blocked off by the fifth of the little gang.
A short, stumpy youth that seems to be the antithesis of his tall friend. There's a chance that he secretly prays for his own growth spurt to happen any day now. She almost stumbles into him while backing up, but catches herself quickly. The near-impact seems to amuse the rest of the kids anyway who start to laugh.
"Please step aside, I just have to-" Her protest is cut off as the stumpy kid decides to demonstrate the average maturity for Ninth Grade Delinquents and takes the opportunity to flip the girl's skirt from behind! Startled, Athena whirls around on him, her right hand snapping out to issue a well deserved cheek-slap that echoes across the lot. Stumpy recoils with a loud "Ow!" and starts rubbing his cheek while the other four start laughing, finding the exchange hilarious. The surrounded girl's cheeks hinted at a slight blush.
Ballcap-thug reaches out and grabs the book Athena has been hugging, pulling it away while her right hand isn't holding onto it. She makes a quick lunge for it but isn't able to stop him from getting away with it. "What's this nerdy stuff?" he asks and begins to flip through the pages with the kind of ambivalence one would expect from someone who might not even know how to read.
"A tome on birds," Athena replies, staying put for a moment, perhaps worried that if she tries to get the book back the neanderthal might tear a page or something.
Stumpy seems put out about the face smack that left one of his cheeks a bright red and decides to advance on Athena once again from behind. With the way his hands are raised, it seems like he's intending to go for her hair like all high tier brawlers would, but as soon as he gets within range, Athena whirls around and smacks him with her left hand, making sure his other cheek matches in color now. "OW!" stumpy yelps, staggering back a step, once again earning a laugh from the other four kids.
"We sure got a slapper here!" Lanky chortles.
Ballcap tosses the book over his shoulder with a frown then smacks his fist into his palm. The fingerless leather glove he's wearing doesn't fit right - looking to be a few sizes too big. "Yeah, still, a slap against Ruffles is a slap against all of us..."
"Yeah!" Chunky exclaims on Athena's right. His meaty hand swings out as she turns toward him and smacks her on the cheek, causing her to reel a step from the force. Her own hand goes over her cheek, violet eyes fixing on the culprit.
"You will regret-" she starts to warn with a tone that almost sounds like she means to menace the kid but she never gets the chance to back it up when Lanky punches her shoulder from the other side. The jacket wearing kid shoves her from behind by punching into her backpack, sending Athena stumbling forward.
"Shut up, bitch!"
Martial Arts were for self defense.
The chinese boy ran this through his head as he gazed upon the encounter that was unfolding. Kensou, outside of his classes, did have his own special training. Secret training, under the mysterious Master Chin. Not just to train his mind, but his body. While Kensou was still very much a neophyte, he was still practiced, and a natural prodigy at the explosive northern-style Kung Fu. Despite this strength, Master Chin made it very clear that it was an art of discipline, of self control. Anger was the mindkiler. To fight out of rage was to fail to darkness. Strength was only fighting when it was necessary. To keep your composure in the face of threats, to hold your power with dignity, with restraint.
But when he sees what those boys do to Athena, he had never more wanted to be free of that restraint.
Sie Kensou's eyes were wide, his gaze furious. Clutching the fence, he lowers down, staying out of sight. Anger was running hot in his head, in his heart. Master Chin told him that when he was angry, when he was about to lose his temper, just count backwards from 10. ".. 10... 9... 8..." He mutters quietly to himself. When they surround her, he flinches. When they take her book, his grip on the fencing turns his knuckles white. "... 5.... 4... 3" When the slap comes, his face turns bright red. When she is shoved, he trembles in rage. "...2.... 1...." Kensou was a beast, held by Master Chin's words, by his own fear of the bullies, his own insecurities with talking with girls. He was a mad dog, held back only by the chains of restraint.
And those last three words is when that chain breaks.
Kensou is roaring across the lot, his face red, his eyes shot. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!" Was the scream as builds up more and more speed straight for the freshman named Lanky. In a single, fierce dramatic moment, the chinese kid takes to the air into a flying kick aimed straight for his face. Bringing in so much righteous rage, so much righteous power, he hits to break him. To stop him. As he finally lands on the ground, Kensou throws himself in front of Athena, spreading his body as wide as possible as he brings his arms before the young girl, sheltering her with all his body. Facing the bullies, chest puffed out with hot-blooded righteousness, he bellows out not a threat, but an omen for the highschoolers that dared lay a hand on the most interesting girl he had ever seen.
"GET!"
"AWAY!"
"FROM!"
"HER!!!!!"
It's the yell that gets their attention first. Athena is stumbling forward from the solid smack against her backpack. The weight of the backpack plus being unprepared to be shoved in that direction causes her to trip, landing on hands and knees in the grass. Her head bowed, she shakes it twice as if trying to ward off being dazed by the fall, and for a moment, she doesn't look up. The jerk in the jacket laughs, "Awh, is the little girl going to go crying home to mommy now?"
Stumpy starts to close in on the girl, perhaps glad to finally have someone down on his level, when the alarming yell is heard that causes all five of the hooligans to freeze in place and turn toward Kensou. Lanky is a bit slow to look and that flying kick, as unrefined or rough as it may be, collides firmly with his face, knocking the High Schooler over onto his back with a loud, "OOOOW! OW!" His hands are over his face. "Phaf affhole fiffed fe!!" he manages to get out from between rapidly swelling lips. The tall, skinny kid writhes a little while the other four kids look back and forth between him and the boy that has suddenly placed himself between their bullying and the strange girl that seemed to wander into the wrong place tonight.
The rebel with the backward ballcap goes from looking flabbergasted to pissed off in an instant, his hands clenching into fists. "The hell we got here? The next karate kid?" He's just guessing, because like most delinquents his age, he doesn't know the slightest difference between Chinese and Japanese martial arts.
Stumpy stumped back away from Athena as Kensou exploded into position, hands raised, looking afraid of messing with him at all. "I- I- I- W-w-w-we were just-" he stammers.
The jacket wearing juvie seemed the least shocked by Kensou's arrival, his hands in the pockets of his unkempt, dirty old school uniform jacket. "Nah, it just looks like our little princess here has a boyfriend. That it?"
Chunky looks confused by the arrival of another stranger to the mix and seems to be looking to the kid in the ballcap for a lead. "What should we do?"
Lanky rolls around on the ground a little before getting back up, his hands over his face, a trickle of blood seeping through his fingers, "Fu fant fet em fuu fhat!!"
Athena has slowly pushed herself to her feet while staying behind Kensou, saying not a word, violet eyes studying the boy that has placed himself at such great risk. "It's just another baby from Taiyo Junior High," ballcap kid replies, clenching his fists. "Kick his ass!" All four besides Lanky charge Kensou then. These aren't the organized mobs of elite ninja fighters that know to only engage the protagonist one or two at a time. No, these kids all charge in at once with intent to dogpile in an uncoorindated storm of fists and kicks!!
Kensou felt a funny feeling within him, now that he was close to Athena.
He could sense that strange aura closer. A strange, almost psychic connection. He had felt the glimmers of her presence before. But so close... it was overwhelming. Keeping his focus, the alien feeling was tirring within.
Maybe it was fate.
"I SAID LEAVE HER ALONE!" He roars. When the accusation of being her boyfriend comes out, he turns somehow even brighter. Blushing fiercely, he just shakes his head angrily. Maybe Athena couldn't see how red he was. Or maybe she could only see that blush as anger. All Kensou hoped for right now was that Athena would NOT see his true feelings. But Kensou had to admit.
Boyfriend.
It had a nice ring to it.
Passing a glare from Stumpy to Chunky to Lanky. An intense eyebrow twitch, he tries to stare them down. He was ready to fight them, one by one. He could do it. Holding his ground, he focuses on Lanky, looking back at Athena over his shoulder. "It's okay. Just stay behind m-"
Wait no they were supposed attack him one by one.
Kensou snaps back forward as the frenzy begins. He reacts with lightning speed, throwing up his guard. He couldn't bring himself to get too acrobatic, too aggressive. He had hoped that roaring in would have frightened the bullies off. Instead, they were standing their ground. Now Kensou had to hold his ground. He couldn't let them go to Athena. Not one of them would be getting past him. Kensou blocks one strike with a instinctive parry with his arm, and evades a second. But he would not leave his point. Three, four and five land true, catching his flanks. Kensou begins to hurl out punches of his own. But as he got pushed away... he falls back.
Protecting Athena.
The counter jabs cease, as Kensou's body begins to burn. He couldn't fight back, no. Every blow opened him up for 5 more. Now, he was simply staying in place, blocking as many blows as he could, doing everything he could to keep Athena safe. He falls to his knees, the blows begins to land away from his body, and slipping through to his face. Falling to the ground, he finally looks back at his ward. He couldn't protect Athena now. As he winces on the ground, growing weaker and weaker, he finally gasps out to the strange girl he sacrificed so much for in so little time.
"Run. Please, Run! I'll hold them off!"
No witness to this moment can deny Kensou's bravery as he solidly places himself as a champion between the bullied girl and the five future dropouts. But bravery unfortunately isn't enough in light of relentless spite and superior numbers. The boy's initial defenses prove solid. Chunky goes stumbling as his punch is deflected with remarkable prowess. Stumpy kicks toward Kensou's shin, but misses as the trained youth weaves out of its path. Just having his kick avoided is enough for Stumpy to stagger to the side.
It's clear the kids don't have martial training on their side. What they do have is numbers and the kind of ruthless lack of fear that can only be inspired by having a small mob of likeminded individuals. But his defenses can only hold up for so long before the sheer tenaciousness of the aggrivated bullies lets them start piling onto the besieged Kung Fu student. "Where's your karate now!!" ballcap kid exclaims, still completely clueless about martial arts as he was thirty seconds ago.
Staying true, Kensou doesn't move and, simply by virtue of existing, he seems to have garnered the full attention of the young bullies. If he wanted to keep Athena from suffering any further abuse at their hands, for this long, at least, he has certainly pulled it off. "He's not so tough. Come on, pound him into meat!" Chunky exclaims. Even Lanky comes forward and stomps on Kensou's foot once, his hands still occupied with trying to keep more blood from flying out of his nose at the moment.
Stumpy comes in from the side, ignoring the girl right behind Kensou to take a swing for the back of the brave young man's head, but Chin must have taught Kensou a little about such underhanded tactics, because he pops Stumpy right in the face without having to pause his counter-assault. Or maybe that was desperate flailing. Either way, it works. "ARGH!"
The jacket-wearing kid kicks for the back of the young knight's knee and finally Kensou's stance is broken, the boy driven toward the ground. "YEAH!" hollars one of them, though the culprit is easily lost in the chaos.
Ballcap kid has circled around the fallen Kensou as the boy glances back toward the girl he has stepped into harm's way to protect. She is staring back at him, violet eyes locked with his, her hands clasped together in front of her in almost a prayer-like gesture. She has a hopeful look in her eyes, but also a fair amount of visible concern for the beating he's taking.
He calls out for her to run while he, well, occupies them as a punching bag for a little longer, but before he can see if the girl complies with his demand, ballcap kid moves between Kensou and Athena, blocking his view. He seems to have picked up a tire iron from the debris in the lot. And he looks like he intends to use it. The damage could be severe - it wouldn't take too many swings to break bones or worse!!
"Hold him down!" the budding young brute commands as he lifts his weapon of choice up with both hands, ready to bring it crashing down on Kensou. He doesn't get the chance.
The gallant chevalier would feel it then - that aura, that resonating link he detected when close to her - a sudden surge in energy most would consider so foreign yet to him would seem familiar, and then the ballcap kid goes flying forward, as if hit by a truck. His course takes him spiraling into the other four crowded around Kensou, toppling Lanky and the Jacket wearing kid to the ground, while stumpy was too short to be hit and Chunky has inertia on his side. Ballcap kid, Lanky, and Jacket thug crashes to the ground in a heap, a tangle of limbs, a cacophony of pained shouts, and some spatters of Lanky's nose-blood.
Athena is still where she was when Kensou last saw her as if she hadn't heard his desperate plea that she go while he kept them busy. She looks calm, one hand extended, palm open, arm slightly extended. If she laid a hand on ballcap kid, it would be hard to tell with how composed she seems, pristine but for her red cheek from where she got slapped. Stepping toward Kensou then, she bends down a little and offers her hand to him in order to help him to his feet. "No." she replies. Her voice is stern and accompanied by the warmest smile Kensou has possibly ever seen in his life.
"We will never run."
Dismayed but not out, the other kids start to extricate themselves from the pile, slowly getting to their feet, glaring at the two Junior High Students, realizing there's more to what's going on here than they originally estimated. Chunky looks nervous and Stumpy looks pissed off. Lanky... well, he's still rolling around on the ground. The jacket wearing punk and ballcap kid are glaring daggers at the two, however. "She just got a cheap shot in on me. I'll take care of the bitch. You guys work that guy over some more!"
Their battle plans declared, the four charge back toward Kensou and Athena, determined to make sure these two interlopers know never to stray this way again!
Kensou is on the ropes.
He was neatly turning into hamburger as the bullies rail into him, hitting him again and again. He wanted Athena to run. He wanted to protect her, no matter what. As the one bully comes for the tire iron, he chokes back the tears. "PLEASE! RUN!" He pleads to her.
But she does not run.
The blast is felt by Kensou, the pierce of the aura. The respite from the beatings give Kensou the sweet, soft release. Gasping, he curls up on the ground for a moment longer, wiping his face with his arm. Gingerly, ever so carefully, he begins to rise up again. Staring across the field, he looks at the fallout of the blast. Wiping his bloodied nose, he goes wide eyed. That was not him. That was Athena. Turning to stare at the girl, his eyes remain wide, as a startling thought slips into his mind.
Does she have the power?
Kensou gasps as he struggles to regain his center. The weight from his shoulders is instantly lifted, however, once he catches that glimpse of that smile. The pain was gone. The weakness was gone. And in its place was righteous strength. Raw inspiration. Returning with his own goofy grin, he keeps it up when he turns back to those trio. Side to side, he stands with Athena. If she would fight... well, Kensou would still protect her. Five against one was impossible for the kid. But three against one?
Those were more his odds.
As the one boy chases after Athena, Kensou instinctively cries out. "Be careful! I got these three!" He exclaims as he launches himself wildly into the trio. Fighting a crowd like this was difficult even for a trained fighter. But despite his inexperience, Kensou had both natural talent and an impassionate drive forcing him along "YO!" He exclaims as he ducks down low, tumbling to the ground into the midsts of the bullies. As he rolls into the fray, he suddenly handstands. Launching straight up, he launches right for Chunky. Aiming his feet right for his face, Kensou fires a short hop into the air with a kick, an acrobatic fake out aiming to bring the big boy right to the ground!
"Athena! Are you okay!?"
Once Kensou is back on his feet, Athena is at his side, just slightly behind him, well within his peripheral vision. Her arms are lifted in front of her, hands closed into fists, but it doesn't look like she's adopted any kind of stance so much as simply lifting her guard in a fairly instinctive, 'I'm worried about getting punched in a second, maybe holding my arms somewhere in front of my face will help' kind of way. Which, given how riled up the High Schoolers still are, and their previous demonstration in having no conscious against attacking a girl, it is certainly likely possibility.
She's glancing at the boy at her side, then back to the kids, then back at him. Her smile has waned a little from the moment she helped pull Kensou to his feet, and for how resolute her declaration may have been, she does look legitimately concerned. "I'm sorry that you have come to harm," she pauses then, focus shifting back to the hooligans that accosted her to begin with. "But it seems this is how it was going to turn out." Her second statement is more thoughtful, as if she's mulling something over rather than focusing on the part that they're about to be charged once again.
He calls out for her to be careful and Athena nods her head, "I will be." She still doesn't seem to have a stance of any kind, and she's holding her arms up defensively, like someone who's never really been in a fight. But there would be no time to find out if she can actually take care of herself before Kensou would find himself under siege once more!
What they don't expect, however, is Kensou to go on the offense. Before, he was defending Athena with his well being and they managed to overwhelm his guard by sheer numbers. But now? He's charging /them/? The unexpected aggression doesn't completely halt their attack, but it does make their already unorganized chaos even more erratic, their punches less accurate, and their kicks more clumsy.
Kensou's handstand-launched kick devestates Chunky, the kid knocked clean backward off his feet into the grass with a loud, petulant whine. The display of acrobatic talent makes the Jacket kid and Stumpy reconsider all the mistakes they made in life that have brought them to this singular moment in time where they decided to pick a fight with a surprisingly badass Junior High Student. "Holy shit, did he just-"
When Kensou lands and takes a split second to check on the violet-haired girl, he'll find that so far, Ballcap kid is somewhat chasing her around, swinging his tire iron with intent to bash the girl in the head if only she would hold still long enough. But Athena doesn't seem to be cooperating in the slightest. In fact, Kensou might notice something peculiar. While she is fast, she isn't so fast that she could avoid those wild swings purely by reacting to them...
In fact, it seems like the menaced girl is actually starting to move a half-second /before/ the future Southtown Synidicate recruit even starts to swing his arm, as if she knows exactly the path it will take and where she needs to not be. The narrow escapes are being met with frustration on the part of the dangerous bully, but so far he can't seem to catch Asamiya off guard. On the other hand, she doesn't seem to be even trying to attack back either, as if not really sure how to engage someone actively attacking her! "I- I'm fine!" she shouts back, skipping out of the way of another attack.
"Hold still!!" the boy yells. Meanwhile, Stumpy and Jacket punk are backing away from Kensou, his demonstration more than enough to make them rethink actually attacking him. "Uh... we could use some help with the karate kid!" they whine.
It is hard for Kensou to not notice Athena.
The more and more she with almost supernatural speed, the more and more he decided that there was much more in Athena's appearance than what lead on. Certainly, her form was unrefined. But her supernatural agility spoke volumes. It was almost funny how the ballcap kid was catching nothing but air with her. Almost funny, but dead serious if he landed that blow. He would be taking the time to deal with that l clubbing jerk later.
But first, these two rapscallions!
Puffing out his chest further, he stomps a foot to the side, spreading out his frame wide. "I told you to leave her alone, you jerks!" Kensou boasts, looking fiercely at the two. "But now you are really going to get it now! Get ready to face my Chinese Kung Fu!" He belts out. "YOOOAAAAA!" He roars, as he finally forward with a sharp thrusting kick towards Stumpy's chest...
And shooting well past him.
Kensou fires around Stumpy, keeping in motion. Where Athena was almost natural in her evasions, Kensou bore the evidence of his training. But he was not going to knock him out. An intimidated opponent was a weakened opponent. But as Master Chin had instructed his chinese student, when you have frightened your opponent, that is when you must stay your hand. A villain strikes down a cowering foe. A hero, however, will let them make their retreat. As he lunges behind Stumpy, he vows to not strike him down.
Instead, pants him, of course.
"Ah ha!" Kensou cries out as he tries to tug the pair down to his knees. Leaning back, he keeps his chest out as he just laughs out loud. "Hahhaahahha! Get out of here, you kids! You can't handle the pair of us. We are crazy! Yeah! We are like a pair of..." Kensou glances back, keeping up his stupid grin.
"A pair of Psycho Solders!"
Jacket thug and Stumpy have Kensou beat by a couple of years in terms of age, but he has them beat by a landslide in terms of experience. The training he has already been receiving from his secret Kung Fu master puts him way ahead of these kids when it comes to a one on one fight. And as their numbers slowly dwindle, it's starting to get closer to that by the moment. It would be easy to see it in their expressions now. Kensou went from being just another little kid ripe for bullying to legitimately frightening to them. Only the weight of peer pressure and fear of future ridicule keeps them from just turning and running for it!
And when the Chinese youth makes his move, they get that extra little nudge they need. His yell causes them to freeze, glancing at each other with wide eyed uncertainty as to how to deal with this newly discovered threat. An when he flies forward, Stumpy curls up while staying on his feet, arms over his face, body turning away in desperation to try and not get face-kicked! Of course, this haphazardly maladroit response ultimately leaves him completely defenseless to the attack all Ninth graders know to dread - The Pansting.
"AAAH!" Stumpy exclaims, arm flailing then stepping forward and tripping to the ground face forward. It is an entirely uncouth display which will take a life time to live down among his peers. He spends the next several seconds trying to both right himself and pull his shorts back up.
Meanwhile, the young hoodlum in the jacket has seen enough. Stumpy is down, Chunky is rolling around, and Lanky is on his knees, trying to stop his nose from bleeding. Demonstrating the kind of cowardice not uncommon to bullies that have had the tables turned, he turns around and runs for it! 'Leave no man behind' is definitely not his motto. The morale break is enough to get the others moving too as Lanky jumps to his feet, "Phun fon!!" and becomes the second to flee. Stumpy starts hopping after them, his panicked state giving him more trouble with his shorts than any kid really should be having. And Chunky takes of running, only to trip over a rock, get back to his feet, and resume running.
The ballcap wearing kid becomes acutely aware that his tough guy gang of elite parental disappointments is scattering like rats. He makes another desperate swing for Athena with the tire iron, to no avail. "Screw this!!" Hurling the thrown object toward the girl, she's already moved three feet to the side before he completes the motion, and the projectile flies on harmlessly. And with that ineffective act of frantic defiance, he turns to join as well, leaving the two Junior High students behind!
Athena breaths in then exhales, then turns toward Kensou to check on him. Her expression is neutral at first as she looks him over, perhaps trying to get a sense of how bad he might've gotten hurt in all this. Slowly, however, a smile works its way back into her features, her cheeks flushed by the fatigue of running in circles for so long. "Psycho Solders? That is a good name. I am sorry that things turned out this way." She starts to glance around the field as if looking for something.
"Ahahahhah!"
Came the laughter from Kensou as finally, finally, as he successfully pants the bully, they break into a full-fledged retreat. Scattering like rats, he puffs out his chest, ignoring his own bloody nose, countless bruises, and black eye.Stumpy, Chunky, and Lanky are making a run for it now, while Jacket thug, doomed to lacking a proper nickname (or possible because Jacky sounds terrible), makes his own run for it. Standing tall, he held himself with the stance of a conquering hero,
But what about Athena?
Kensou turns to see Athena utterly driving the man away. "Hahaha! Yes! YES!" He exclaims, shaking a fist at them. "That's what you get for messing with us! You better run home to your mothers! DORKS!" Kensou curses, before covering his mouth. Looking towards Athena to apologize, she just.. compliments on the name. "Wh-what? Th-th-anks!" He grins, rubbing the back of his head. "I kinda got the idea from Kamen Rider.."
And then he notices she is looking for something.
The book. Kensou slaps a palm on his forehead. "Oh! I mean! Oh jeeze!" He begins, rushing over towards Athena... before stopping halfway. "I mean, well, I..." He stammers, starting to look around the surrounding field. He didn't know what to do. He ran up to save her, and essentially saved her. She seemed so tired though. That would mean that, according to his shonens, this was the part where she fell utterly in love with him. Maybe it just took a while. Or maybe he had to find a quest item, like that book. "H-here! You take a rest!" He begins, redoubling the intensity he begins to search.
"I will find your book of birds!"
They had the run down, grass-covered square lot to themselves now. The cries of retreat from the bullies fade into the distance and a certain calm falls over the site in the aftermath. As Kensou speaks up, Athena's focus shifts from whatever she was glancing around for to settle back on him. She returns his apologetic expression with a bit of a grin. Perhaps she's enchanted with his cagey insult. But when he stammers out his reply, he only gets a curious look back.
She remains quiet, however, as he continues to trip over what to say to the strange girl. It's hard to tell if he's making headway or not when she lifts her hand to her mouth and giggles. He encourages her to take a rest and she shakes her head, "I don't think this is a good place to sleep." He begins searching the field for the missing book and she does nothing to stop his endeavor.
It won't be too hard to find from where the jerk tossed it over his shoulder earlier. One corner of it is dirty-damp from landing at the edge of a puddle, and there's footprint crunched into the cover as it appears to have fallen under step during all the commotion.
Clasping her hands together in front of her, she observes Kensou's diligent questing, "What is a Karmen Rider?" she asks after half a minute of watching "Is it a soldier?" She glances back toward the entrance to the sidewalk she had wandered in this way from. "How did you come to be out here? Is your home this way?" she adds a moment later, violet eyes focusing back on Kensou as he finds the stolen book.
"No, no, not Karmen Rider, haven't you heard of-"
Kensou stops, turning bright red again. NO, of course she wouldn't know. Her comment about sleeping her was strange. But maybe she was just frightened and confused. Nobody would sleep in a lot, right? "It is Kamen Rider Kuuga, it is about a hero that fights bad guys and monsters. It is really cool!" Kensou states, wiping the blood from his nose. "It is a TV show, but you probably don't watch it." He nervously states, scratching the back of his head. He feels weird about her watching him find the book. Was she... judging him? Kensou's face doesn't stop turning red, as she keeps asking. "Oh? Where I live? Oh, no, I live way in the other side of town with my, uh, uncle." Master Chin was essentially his uncle, right? "He taught me all those really cool moves. He is a martial arts genius!" Kensou pipes up brightly. As the dimming twilight begins to approach, he finally spies the stolen book.
"I found it!"
Kensou lifts up the book at the corner, frowning at it. He struggle to wipe away the footprint, looking gingerly at the water stain in the corner. "I'm sorry, um, I hope it isn't ruined too much. But at least you found it, right?" Kensou goes quietly, looking away nervously. Swallowing a bit, he looks back at Athena. And looks away again. "So, um, uh." This was a dangerously foreward question. Too dangerous for most kids his age. But Kensou had done so much so far, he had to have the courage to ask this piercing, penetrating question.... albiet in the most indirect way possible.
"... Wh-wh-where do you live? I mean, this is a pretty dangerous neighborhood?"
She's quiet as Kensou explains more about this mysterious Kamen Rider, nodding her head emphatically when he says that he's a hero that fights bad guys and monsters. "It sounds really good!" she exclaims when he says that it's a TV show but shakes her head a second time with far less emphasis when he admits that she probably doesn't watch it. The sense of being watched never passes but if she's judging him, it doesn't show outwardly, her expression every time he glances at her possessing a quiet smile. She seems not to be in a hurry, giving him all the time he needs to answer her questions as well as search for the missing book.
He speaks about his own place with his uncle on the other side of town and Athena cants her head to the side a little. He adds that he learned martial arts from the uncle he dwells with and then gets another strange question in return. "Are you happy there? It seems very nice." she states, expression beaming a little. "Does he teach other people cool moves too? I wish I knew some cool moves too..." It's the first time she's looked away, somewhat sheepishly even.
She blinks when he finds the poor stomped book and brings it over to present to her. Extending her hands she accepts the offering and nods her head a few times, taking a look at the damaged tome, "Don't worry, it has served its purpose." Okay, so she doesn't seem broken up about the book. She hugs it against her chest all the same, looking back at Kensou as he nervously presses boldly forward with another question.
She doesn't rush him, just staring quietly until he finishes asking. "It is." she agrees readily, glancing around, back toward the buildings lining the lot then out toward the street. "We should get out of here. It's getting late." She turns to walk toward the sidewalk and, unless otherwise slowed, turns to start heading back toward the school. "I don't live in this neighborhood." she adds, seemingly not following how that would be quite incongruous with everything that had lead up to this point in time. Once on the sidewalk, she would start to slow down as if trying to let Kensou take the lead? If he insists on following, however, she'll continue to retrace her steps right back the way she had come after school.
What a strange, strange girl.
Kensou just tilts his head a bit, mirroring the cant that Athena brought herself. "Well, uh, he only teaches certain people, with a certain gift. Only special, gifted people are taught by uncle." He states, looking at Athena as she takes the book. A special gifted person like Athena, Kensou was thinking to himself. He could imagine, training alongside her, every day! And Athena slowly growing acustomed to him...
Kensou turns a notch redder, for no clear reason.
Kensou didn't understand why he felt so impassioned about this girl, but he had a few theories. She had that strange aura, just like what Master Chin was seeking. She was a cute girl. Maybe they were bound by destiny. Maybe she was destined to join him to fight crime! Kensou wanted to show her to Master Chin. To take him back home. Of course, there would be a lot of problems with that. But Kensou had to try. He had to ask.
But then she was walking away.
Kensou turns brighter AND redder. This was it. He had saved her, and he was about to miss his chance. Athena would be walking out of his life forever (well until home room tommorow) unless he acted RIGHT NOW. Rushing forward, he chases after Athena... who slows down. Swallowing hard, he nearly trips as he shoots infront of Athena, looking her in the eye."Then, uh, where do you live! Wait up! I mean." He begins to turn purple at this point. "I mean. Uh. If you don't live in this neighborhood, you must be far away. By my solemn duty as a genteman, I must ask you!"
"Let me walk you home, to make you sure you don't get jumped by those bullies again!"
Now they're walking along the sidewalk together, but the destination seems so unclear. Right now she's headed right back the opposite way she had come. Why come all the way out to this field in the first place if it wasn't toward her home? She doesn't seem to mind his company at least, which Kensou may find to be a small relief. She glances at him as he catches up and walks along with her, giving him that same supportive smile she has time and time again.
But the focus never lasts long before she looks forward again, seeming to have so much purpose yet not to be in any hury to get to it. But then he finds his courage and scoots in front of her, and Athena comes to a stop so that he isn't forced to walk backward. It's the chance to ask whatever he would like to as he has her undivided attention and the one he settles on is certainly the most reasonable given everything that's happened so far.
It's hard to tell if she's even listening to him though, because as soon as he finishes stammering out his question, the girl muses a soft 'Hmmm.'. Inhaling, she crouches down, swinging her pink Peter Rabbit enblazoned backpack off of her back and zipping it open before stuffing the book she had been hugging against her into it. Zipping it closed, she hefts it back to her shoulders and stands up to face Kensou, leaving him with no answer to his questions throughout the whole process.
"Are you okay?" she asks. Maybe the change in face color is getting to be a bit too alarming. Athena reaches out with her hand, intending the rest of the back of it against his forehead, a look of concern in her eyes. "You're not looking well. I'm worried about what those bullies did to you." Wait, when did this become about him?
She pulls her hand back and taps her chin in a moment of thought. "Maybe I should make sure you get home okay, it wouldn't be any trouble. Your uncle will know best." she offers. "Just lead the way!"
How did this become all about him?
Kensou was pretty sure this was supposed to be about Athena, not him. After all, he was a HERO that saved Athena. Unless, of course, you consider the fact that Athena blasted the bully off, shook off the bullies from Kensou, and effectively distracted the last one as her saving Kensou. And actually, Athena wasn't THAT badly hurt. Really, if ANYONE was going into a coma after the adrenaline rush, it would be Kensou.
But Kensou was still her knight in shining armor, darn it!
Kensou waits awkwardly for Athena's reaction. Hoping. Praying. Begging within him that she wouldn't just start laughing. ANd then, all her new friends show up laughing. Instead, she puts away her book... and says nothing. The silence was the most frightening thing that Kensou had ever experienced. Sweat was pooling on his brow. The kid was trembling. And finally, she speaks. Was he okay? And then, the words that would change their destiny forever.
Was.... was she following him home?
Oh god she was following him home.
Kensou face loses all color. He focuses hard in the air. He becomes unnaturally calm. "Y-y-yeah! And you can meet Master Chin! I mean my uncle. He can cook you up some of his world famous baozi! You could even stay for dinner! But, uh, once you are done, we better get you back home! Yeah. I don't want to be a bad influence!" With the night quickly approaching, Kensou suddenly flinches. "And it is getting dark. We better hurry and run back to my place." Kensou looks down at her hand. He swallows hard. And he reaches out, getting ready to run, leading the way. Reaching out for Athena, beckoning her quietly.
To take his hand.
There was something terribly off about her as the girl seemed to waver between knowing what she was doing and seeming completely oblivious to details such as which direction to walk in order to get home. She seemed so sure when she walked into that field, yet once their entirely unnecessary business there had concluded, she was headed just as suddenly back the other way as if she had no interest at all being in the East district.
But one thing was sure, somehow, by some miracle, Kensou had the pretty new student following him back to where he was staying with one eccentric Chin Gentsai - a master of a previous generation, he was hardly the stature of man he had been at one time. But what he lacked in physical presence he possessed in insight and wisdom, shared in rare moments of sobriety whenever his preciously few students needed it most.
The events that followed this evening were a matter of fairly public record. Biographies and newspaper articles aplenty were written about the teenaged idol singer once she became famous. They covered the years of staying with Chin and the training the old codger put her and Kensou through. They talked about how other children eventually joined the strange family - a young orphaned boy, a determined young girl. They covered the tournament fights Kensou and Athena entered with their sensei in attempts to discover the dark secrets behind the orchestrated events. The clippings covered Athena's break out moment, seeing at a tournament related event, and how her voice moved the crowd.
All that is history. But what is never covered in any of the books or articles, what is left purely to fan speculation and furious forum debate, is how one Athena Asamiya came to be at that school that day, where she had come from, or who her family was. No missing child posters were ever posted, no parents ever came forward to claim her.
Of course, in that moment, Kensou would have no idea of the adventures they would have down the road. All he knew is that he was asking a new friend over for dinner and offering his hand. That same quiet smile returns to her lips as he beckons and then her hand reaches out to take hold of his.
"That sounds wonderful. Thank you, Kensou."
Log created on 22:46:24 06/25/2012 by Athena, and last modified on 00:06:53 07/02/2012.