Sakura - Ambush!?!?! or What's In a Lie?

Description: Sakura is out having ice cream! Marz decides to approach her and asks for a fight... but the circumstances are skewed. Marz, at least, gets what she wants... maybe?



Shadaloo has been bloodied, it has been battered, but, even without its leader at the helm, the organization has not completely faded away. Like a bad nightmare that one just can't shake, those tendrils that have been extended into the rest of the world refuse to die just because the head has been cut off.

Southtown has also been tough to break into. The most fought-over territory in the world, the interests here do not suffer interference lightly. But Marz knows that to lose all influence in Southtown is not something that can be condoned. Now that she has 'caught up' with Daniel, and ensured that he will not be interfering - even if he won't be assisting as she had privately hoped... it is time to try and 'make friends and influence people'.

Shadaloo's surveillance network is far from perfect, but it has - according to Marz's orders - identified one Kasugano Sakura in the quiet area colloquially known as Southtown Village. And so the Doll has come down herself to see if she can identify the young woman.

She is wearing relaxed clothing, for her. A denim jacket, pink t-shirt with a teddy bear on it, torn jeans, heavy metal boots... and a Hello Kitty backpack send a wide variety of mixed signals from the Doll. Perhaps she'd been thrown a little more by Daniel than she would like to admit. But she has her mission objective; now it is just a matter of seeing it through.

Indeed, it is the one, the only, Sakura Kasugano. Fear her towering height! Despair over her bulgingly taut, over-shaped muscles! Cry when her hard, evil red eyes seek yours and mark your soul for death!

... or just, you know, mark her off as almost an ordinary teenager. Because that is what she is, totally, aside from the headband, and the gloves. She's got one of her favorite shirts on, a snug pink belly tee with a smiling, anthropomorphized sunflower in a pot on it, and olive-drag cargo pants cut like capris, exposing slender lower calves, and of course, her traditional white socks and red sneakers.

Is she being watched? Surely. Does she know it? Probably not; she's occupied with wandering around, a nice break from training, which she certainly does quite enough of. No friends with her, no pet, just her, going from store to store idly, eating an ice-cream cone, not thinking about anything in particular. An ordinary day.

It doesn't take Marz long to spy out her target. It takes her longer to compose herself in something approaching a smile. She wants to look earnest; cheeful, enthusiastic. This is not a state which she finds it easy to achieve. It doesn't come naturally to her, she just sort of looks... fake. She's smiling too wide, even as she rushes over to intercept Sakura and her ice cream cone.

"Ah, Miss Kasugano!" She exclaims, "Miss Kasugano! Over here!"

When she gets close enough, she exhales. "Phew! Ah, Miss Kasugano. I hope I'm not bothering you. I saw your performance in the recent tournament, and you were an inspiration! I was hoping I could get your autograph." Her eyes ARE red, and that alone could be a bit unnerving, even if she wasn't so... too-chirpy.

"Huhwha?" An intelligent response, moderated by a mouthful of really rich, sweet, and deliciously cold butter pecan ice cream. She lets it melt, swallows, and then licks up a dribble of ice cream that was threatening to drip over her fingertips, before answering. The red eyes -are- a touch disturbing, but she's fought people with pink hair, people who can lift cars one-handed, people who can use the fire in their soul to throw someone roughly half the length of a football field. So she doesn't really think that much of it.

There is something off about the girl, but... what is it? Sakura's no psychic, and in this case, at least, her natural friendliness and openness work against her. "Oh! Autograph? Uh, okay. Uh, just a sec," she says, swapping her cone from right hand to left, the better to free up her writing hand.

She flexes her fingers back and forth and then smiles. "Got a pen, something for me to sign?"

Marz swings her backpack from her shoulders. Opening it up, there is a /very/ expensive-looking laptop... but also a notepad, and a Hello Kitty marker pen. These are what she brings out, and she holds them out with a bright smile. "I just thought you were really great." She gushes, "Your style is a bit like Ryu's, isn't it! That's just amazing!"

And now she starts to move towards what she was actually here for. She sounds just as exuberant, but her voice does drop a touch.

"I've been dabbling in fighting myself." She says, "I'm not very good though. I'm still trying to find my style."

The smile is returned, bright and open and cheery. Ansatsuken is an incredibly potent and famous style, but actually gathering data on it? That is much tougher. There are recorded fights, basic information, of course, but she couldn't run up to Ryu and hope to last long enough to learn anything meaningful. If she can talk her way into a fight with Sakura, however...

"Oh yeah?" Sakura does sound interested, even as she takes the pen--noting the notebook computer, but, that kind of thing isn't -that- uncommon, particularly in a town like Southtown, which is pretty flush what with all the revenue that the masses of fighters bring in. She poises the pen, then pauses.

"Yeah, he's my inspiration. He's the -best-." Arguable? To some. To Sakura, not at all.

"So I took a few lessons and I just... taught myself, too. I guess you could say I'm living proof that if you want something enough..." She smiles again, then turns her attention back to the autograph.

"So, what's your name?" Already she's writing, at least some of it... okay. So she wrote 'To:', and now she's waiting for the rest.

"Gertrude. Gertrude Leith."

Marz's apparently /horrible/ name given, she clasps her hands behind her back. Rocking back on her heels, she makes a show of thinking carefully before she continues speaking. She's definitely not going to disparage Ryu! That man is undoubtedly one of the strongest men in the world, even if her loyalty lays elsewhere.

"I'm actually moving to Southtown, for work." She says, her eyes focusing quite... intently on Sakura's. Creepy and red - but the world /is/ full of people with creepy eyes. "I know you're probably just out relaxing today. But maybe we could spar some time. I'd love to see you in action... first hand."

Right. "To Gertrude Leith," murmurs Sakura, under her breath, as she writes, "Good luck with the fighting career! Sakura Kasugano <3 d^_^b" And yes, she -does- add the emoticons. After she puts the pen back onto the notepad, Sakura holds up her right hand, index finger up, and then jams the rest of her ice cream cone down. Munch, munch, gulp.

"Ahh. Sorry about that. So, what style are you learning? There's a lot of them out there. Something direct? Something flexible? Hard or soft?" Sakura's pretty knowledgeable about the martial arts, as is typical of her. She might focus on, and have modeled herself on, Ryu, but, in her desire to emulate her hero, she's done much the same as him--she's learned.

Oh. She wants to spar? Sakura considers it for a moment, then grins. "Sure. Why not right now?" Playing into Marz's hands? Perhaps. Sorry, Gertrude's. But.. Sakura's been a fighter for so long, in the public eye, there's not much about her style that isn't fully revealed... externally, at least.

"I don't... really have enough expertise to claim I use any style at all, really." Marz replies, and that much, if nothing else, is definitely true. She glances down at the signed paper, and her lips quirk upward when she notices the emoticon. That is cute.

"I've taken some lessons in boxing, aikido and various kung fu styles. It is difficult to find the style which feels like it is for me. I do have some talent with energy, though."

Sliding the notepad back into her bag, along with the pen, she carefully moves the pack over to the side. Standing back up, she smiles. Her arms hang down by her sides, and she nods her head. "I would like that!" She says, stepping around so that she can stand back in front of the slightly-younger girl. "If you are sure it wouldn't be a bother, I'm sure I could learn a ton."

"Hm, well." She glances around, spotting a clock, just checking the time, really, and then she nods. Yeah, she's got the time. And the street is relatively clear... The Blossoming Flower of Ansatsuken tosses the remains of her ice cream into a trashcan then gestures out to the street, smiling, before walking out there.

"Well, then," she says, brown eyes friendly but her expression otherwise settling into more of a 'game' face. Of course she stretches and limbers up, first wrapping her left arm around her right and bracing with her right wrist to the outside, then swapping to do the same, windmilling her arms, loosening up.

It doesn't take her long to go from 'relaxed' to 'ready', and so, soon enough, she's tightening laces and headband, then bringing her hands up to guard position, starting to bounce on the balls of her feet, keeping her center of gravity low-ish, the spark of interest flaring in her eyes. "C'mon, show me what you've got!"

COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.

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Sakura           0/-------/-------|


Marz nods her head to Sakura, watching with interest as the girl loosens herself up and prepares for the fight to come. Marz herself... does nothing. Not a single thing. It is difficult to tell whether this is because she doesn't know /how/ to do such things, or because she doesn't think it is necessary. The truth is the latter, but she isn't lying about a 'lack of style'. Her actual style relies upon analyzing that of the opponent and responding. Opening is not her strong point.

But... Sakura insists, and that means that she really ought to do something. "Alright. I will do my best." She says, and starts to walk forwards.

The attack, when it comes, is not particularly imaginative. Sakura is bouncing and guarded, so Marz intends to grip her by the left shoulder and her right hip, and swing back and down in a quick toss to the dirt.

COMBATSYS: Marz has joined the fight here.

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Sakura           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Marz


COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Marz's Quick Throw.

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Sakura           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0             Marz


Sakura gets dragged forward, but the toss to the dirt, that doesn't go quite the way Marz--Gertrude--might expect. The Ansatsukenka rolls with the impact, quite adroitly, and pops up a moment later, having mostly dirtied her shirt (a state of clothing that she's somewhat used to), and grinning a little bit still.

"Not bad," she says, offhandedly, before snapping out a couple of left jabs, 'caging' her opponent to freeze her before Sakura takes a quick step forward and lifts her right leg up, looking to put a quick knee into Marz's stomach. It's a move taken from kickboxing--sort of--but Sakura incorporates a lot of little bits of other martial arts in her stylings. It's a natural consequence of having so little formal training to 'set' her style.

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Marz with Light Kick.

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Sakura           0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0             Marz


Marz raises her arm to try and block the two jabs, but doing so leaves her quite open to the kick when it comes. The knee connects, and she is sent stumbling backwards by it. The motion is genuinely surprising, but she does not actually fall over. Instead, she skids to a halt, and nods her head.

Now that she's fighting, her smiles have disappeared, and she looks far more serious. Her brow furrows just a slight amount, and she narrows her eyes, meeting Sakura's directly, noting her movement and motions. "I didn't see that coming." She says, which... might be the first thing which is absolutely true she has said to the girl. "I was correct. Fighting you is very different to watching you on the television."

COMBATSYS: Marz calculates her next move.

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Sakura           0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0             Marz


"It always is," replies Sakura, with a nod. "There's only so much you can learn from watching someone fight, and there's so much more you can learn from fighting them for real..." She does note the expression change, but doesn't think much of it right now. Maybe the girl's just getting a little serious. That's good; fighting is a serious thing, not that Sakura is always serious...

...but she's always serious about fighting. The Blossom of Ansatsuken preps her next attack, sliding her left leg back, crouching slightly, twisting to her left... and then unleashing all the stored, potential kinetic energy in a low, twisting leap, her right leg snapping out at waist height as she arcs through the air, revolving around several times.

Though she herself calls this attack 'Shunpuu Kyaku', this time, she doesn't shout it, just cries out a sharp, focused kiai.

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Marz with Shunpuu Kyaku.
Glancing Blow

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Sakura           0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0             Marz


This time, Marz attempts to move around the attack, sliding past it. The foot catches her across the front, but it isn't nearly as painful as the unprotected boot had been earlier. She listens to what Sakura is saying, but it isn't anything she doesn't know. Being in the fight yourself you can pick up on emotional responses, the subtle energy that fighters tend to bring to their environment, the moments where logic and probability is tossed aside by emotion.

Elements which, no matter how hard she tries, she is unable to account for mathematically.

There's no words from the girl this time, however, as she steps up to Sakura's back. Her stance is deceptively open and relaxed, still. Barely a stance at all, but the punch she throws pivots her entire body, aiming for precisely halfway up Sakura's center mass. It is a punch she has practiced countless times. It is too good for a mere novice.

COMBATSYS: Marz successfully hits Sakura with Calculated Strike.

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Sakura           0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0             Marz


The strike hits true, and Sakura knows. She -knows- a well-thrown punch... and that changes the texture of the fight considerably. "So," she says, lightly, as she recoils from the hit, "just a novice, hmm?" She doesn't really let on what she's thinking, as she fades back, but it's clear to her that 'Gertrude' hasn't been entirely truthful. But if Sakura weren't confident in her own abilities, she wouldn't've agreed to this in the first place.

Behind those pleasant brown eyes, her mind is racing--thinking, subconsciously, folding through mutations and permutations of the fight. She isn't even aware she's doing it, it's just a skill she's developed as she's fought and learned...

...and then she nods to herself a bit, and takes two steps forward, feinting a low kick, and then snapping a higher one out, looking, perhaps, to plant the top of her shoe into Marz's head.

COMBATSYS: Marz dodges Sakura's Medium Kick.

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Sakura           0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0             Marz


Marz steps with Sakura, and she sees the feint for what it is. When the real attack comes she turns to the side, and the heel drops down through where she had just been, hitting the ground instead. "That's right." The purple-haired martial artist replies. "But I have picked up a few tricks."

And quite suddenly, she is moving forwards. Back onto the offensive, her knee comes up in the same style of blow that Sakura had hit her with at the start of the fight; a rising knee is easy to mimic, but the key difference is that she's trying to hit... the same point that she'd managed to connect with once already.

COMBATSYS: Marz successfully hits Sakura with Light Kick.

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Sakura           0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0             Marz


Sakura once again finds herself stumbling back, and now, well... now she's not being so 'nice'. Because it's -abundantly- clear to her that she's stepped into some sort of... trap? Her eyes are not the friendly browns that they were at the start of the fight, but rather, a far more dangerous look is in them. "Don't know what you're accomplishing with this," she says, "but it's pretty rude to come on like you're some sort of newbie..."

Setting herself, she does not come at Marz with an attack. Energy starts to flare around her, invisibly and visibly, a swirl of wind ruffling her in a brief cyclone as she clenches her fists. "But if you want to try and do that to win, well... that's your deal..." she says, through the low sound of that wind, her jaw set in a pugnacious look.

COMBATSYS: Sakura brings her inner strength to bear!

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Sakura           1/------=/=======|=======\-------\0             Marz


Marz smiles, but it is not a pleasant smile. It is thin, and dark. She figured this would probably happen when she began to fight; she did not think so little of Sakura or of herself that she thought the Flower of Ansatsuken would fail to recognize she is a legitimate fighter when she began to fight.

"I am not looking to accomplish anything." She says, "Other than to test my skills. I train, but I have very rarely fought accomplished fighters. I did not deceive you there."

The purple-haired doll raises her hand, and it is immediately alight with burning purple energy. She has been deceitful, but this is the first hint of what and who she is. Whether Sakura is accomplished enough to pick up on it, as she lunges and brings the razor-sharp power slicing around, is going to be a fascinating experiment all on its own.

COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Marz's Psi-Ripper.

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Sakura           1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0             Marz


Sakura's expression doesn't change. Clearly she's already not thinking much of Marz. Sorry. Gertrude. When that psionic power comes in--and she's seen, and felt, it enough to know it for exactly what it is, Sakura responds in a -time honored- heroic fashion.

She punches it. Literally--she imposes her will in the form of a bashing right, not meant to hit Marz but to disrupt that power--which it does, partly.

The disruptive strike doesn't make her falter in the least as she pulls her right ahnd back, it joins her left, and she shouts, suddenly and sharply, "HADOUKEN!" To match action to words, her hands thrust out towards the body of the Doll, blue-white energy flaring into sudden life, a hissing projectile of pure life energy that roughly encompsses the size of Sakura's torso...

COMBATSYS: Marz parries Sakura's Empowered Medium Hadouken!

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Sakura           1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0             Marz


Marz feels the energy that Sakura is gathering; she knows that it is there, and, having watched the girl fight often enough, she suspects that she knows what is coming. When it does, the roaring hadouken is met with a backflip. This takes Marz up and over the extended girl, whose fireball sears through where she had been a moment before.

Behind Sakura once again, Marz shifts onto the offensive as neatly as she'd defended. Aiming to grasp her by the hips, if she can get the firm grip that she seeks, she'll lift the girl up and over her head, and bring her crashing into the ground behind her, before backing up a pace. No matter what happens, she is sure to try and explain;

"Your style is fascinating. I hope you weren't taking it easy on me to begin with. After all, isn't Ansatsuken a killer's art? I assumed it would not effect the outcome of the fight."

Which probably just goes to show how /little/ Marz has really grasped.

COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Marz's Fulcrum Shift EX.

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Sakura           1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0             Marz


This girl is definitely proving to be more of a pain than Sakura would have expected. Got taken in, girl, she grumbles to herself, watching her opponent sail overhead--but adjusting, quickly, twisting, following her, and, when Marz reaches out, taking a quick backstep.

"That is -not- what Ansatsuken is about," she retorts. The suggestion seems to inflame her, not adding anything positive to her disposition at all.

Those hands clench again and she moves forward, aiming a quick, jabbing left elbow for Marz's sternum, following up a moment later with a quick right cross aimed for the chin. Her reaction is remarkably similar to Ryu's... not that she's ever touched the Satsui no Hadou...

COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Marz with Medium Punch.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Sakura           1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1             Marz


Again, Marz attempts to bring her guard up. Once again, she fails to intercept the strike neatly. The first catches her, but the second, the blow to her chin, knocks her backwards with a bloody lip. That aggravates her, and she narrows her eyes. It is the anger, she suspects. If she is incorrect then she is incorrect; getting aggravated about it in such a fashion makes little sense to her. It isn't as though she impugned the good name of Lord Vega, or any other such unforgivable blasphemy.

She exhales slowly, and then shakes her head. "Then what is it?" She asks, "If it is not a killer's art, then what sets it apart?"

She's genuinely interested in the answer... but not interested enough to fail to press the attack. The girl comes in far quicker this time, and ducks around as she does, leaving one foot extended and intending to simply roll Sakura down over it, to put her on the ground with Marz standing above her - not particularly damaging, but... perhaps she is going for a psychological edge.

COMBATSYS: Marz successfully hits Sakura with Fast Throw.

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Sakura           1/--=====/=======|=======\==-----\1             Marz


Sakura does indeed go down, so to speak. But she does not allow that psychological advantage--because she continues her rolling motion, going about three yards before popping back up. "If you don't know," she says, shortly, "then I won't be able to tell you." In truth, it's the person wielding the art that makes it unique--not, perhaps, in technique, but in temperament, in attitude, in philosophy.

But she's not saying that. She has to think about this--what to do, how to do it--she needs just a moment... and so she slows her pace again. No theatrics this time, really...

...she just stares at Marz. Not quite a glare, though there's definitely some hostility to it. But a measuring gaze, as Sakura brings her fists back up.

COMBATSYS: Sakura looks beyond her fist.

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Sakura           1/--=====/=======|=======\==-----\1             Marz


Marz lets both hands drop to her sides, and steadies herself, placing each foot evenly apart on the ground. The glaring doesn't seem to faze her much, but instead of pressing the attack when the girl is staring her down, she extends her gifted power inwards.

Purple electricity crackles across her body for a moment, and then the wind swirls about her, just as it had done around Sakura before. The girl's fists clench, even.

"Then show me." She says, quietly. "I want to see it."

COMBATSYS: Marz gathers her will.

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Sakura           1/--=====/=======|=======\======-\1             Marz


A short, -almost- sardonic smile from Sakura. Not a nice smile, but not the growling baring of teeth that it could be.

"... you haven't earned it."

But Marz has earned -this-...

... Sakura lunging at her again, aiming a quick two left jabs for Marz's stomach, looking to fold her over a bit--

--to follow up with a grab of Marz's head, and a twisting, hurling release to trip the girl over Sakura's own outstretched leg.

COMBATSYS: Marz fails to interrupt Combo Grapple from Sakura with Orbital Crush.

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Sakura           1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0             Marz


Marz's foot burns with bright purple power, and as the jabs come in, she twists. For a moment, there is bright and flaring energy carving a path through the air.

And then the jab connects, and she is bent over, choking. The next thing she knows, she's connecting heavily with the ground, and bouncing off the floor. Her head rings, and she sighs.

"Believe it, or not. I did not, mean, to offend you."

That actually gives her pause, time to consider her response. "It isn't that," she says, finally. Ryu's words echo in her head. <<I can't teach you, Sakura. I'm still learning, myself.>> "It isn't something I know how to teach, yet." That initial flood of anger is gone now, transmuted into the combat fervor for which Sakura is well-known, and which is very familiar to her.

She sets herself, but does not approach. "You want to fight, I'll fight... but it's better to challenge people openly, instead of using subterfuge. You'll get a more honest fight that way."

COMBATSYS: Sakura takes no action.

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Sakura           1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0             Marz


Marz picks herself up from the ground, and reaches into the pocket of her outfit. A small handkerchief is used to wipe at her lips, mopping up some of the blood there. She folds it neatly before she slides it back into her pocket.

"I did challenge you openly." She says, mildly. "And I didn't lie about my techniques or my skill set. I do not have a set style. I have had little experience fighting people like you."

She sounds genuinely curious, cocking her head to the side and raising an eyebrow. "How would you have liked me to approach you? I have no interest in tournaments or public attention."

COMBATSYS: Marz takes no action.

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Sakura           1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0             Marz


Sakura makes a gesture, a slightly frustrated one. "I don't think I can explain what I mean. Just..." She lowers her guard, somewhat, though she isn't so foolish as to approach her opponent, her expression still a touch wary.

In all likelihood, Marz is way more versed in the language of deception than Sakura will -ever- be, and Sakura doesn't deal with this kind of thing enough.

A sigh.

"Just be honest. It's easier." She is frustrated that she can't put into words what she's really feeling, but... she's a fighter, Jim, not a writer.

COMBATSYS: Sakura takes no action.

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Sakura           1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0             Marz


Marz drops out of her 'stance'. Which mostly means that she straightens up a little more and stands at a slightly more relaxed angle. "We will fight again." She says, nodding her head. There's no intent to attack the girl any more; there is nothing to be gained. She's already exchanged enough blows to know that Sakura outclasses her... but the difference is not entirely insurmountable.

"But there is no further point to this. Thank you for your time. And your autograph, Sakura." She smiles, which, looks a bit creepy with blood smeared across her teeth. "I really am a big fan of yours. Until we meet again." And she moves to go and retrieve her bag.

COMBATSYS: Marz has left the fight here.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Sakura           1/--=====/=======|


She watches the girl leave, and Sakura shakes her head. It was interesting, but she can't exactly say it was -fun-... a little too charged, emotionally, in the wrong way. But she drops her guard too.

Sakura, however, doesn't leave until Marz is out of sight, and she turns around to go back to the ice cream shop...

...still shaking her head. "Don't understand people sometimes..."

COMBATSYS: Sakura has ended the fight here.

Log created on 09:53:35 07/28/2012 by Sakura, and last modified on 14:18:39 08/04/2012.