[Haruko's off to find Ryuji! Wherever he may be.] [Start] * Haruko heads to the kendo club, seems a reasonable guess. * Haruko still is moving on her crutches, so she's not that quick about it. [Haruko reaches the room. Unfortunately, it looks like Tuesday isn't Kendo day. It's Karate day! Roughly seventy students are in the gym, the majority of them girls. Must be because the handsome principal is instructing the class. Haruko spots Riko Tokuzawa amongst the lot.] * Haruko waves at Riko, checks out the principal (discretely), and watches her fight for a moment before heading off to check the roof. [The journey to the roof is a long, trecherous one. What with crutches and all.] * Haruko pauses a few times on the way up to catch her breath. [But Haruko arrives eventually, finding Eriko and Ryuji up there. Eriko's sitting on her backpack, smoking a cigarette. Ryuji's standing, holding his sword. They're talking about something; God knows what.] * Haruko catches her breath again for a moment and then looks over to the two with a cautious smile. "Hi." [They react quickly and kill Haruko.] [Ok, that's not what happens.] (;_; Wait, no, yay, not dead!) [They do look over at Haruko. Ryuji bows and Eriko pulls out her cigarette long enough to offer a, "Yo."] * Haruko bows in return to Ryuji with a smile. * Haruko then hobbles up to the two. She brushes away hair from before her right eye as she looks up to him. "I'm afraid I come bearing bad news." [Ryuji looks questioningly at Haruko. "What happened? Are you alright?"] * Haruko nods slightly. "Oh, this?" She says gesturing to a leg. "I'm fine, just a few fights and then I drove into a field. I'm no worse than the rest of us, I just can't heal myself." * Haruko hikes her skirt slightly, showing a bandaged but otherwise in quite fine shape leg. "I've kept in practice with first aid though, so it should be fine soon." "Are you certain?" * Haruko nods. "Although if I feel threatened over the next few days, I'll probably just have to drop everything and run for a grating." * Haruko puts an ever so slight emphasis on everything. Ryuji nods. "Don't push yourself." I won't. ::she then frowns:: I saw Takeo yesterday. The band is down to just him and Sumire now. [Ryuji nods.] But Takeo is looking to avenge Shingo. He hasn't figured it out yet, but he may eventually. I have Sumire's number and I've been trying to get in touch with her. If you want, we may be able to get a hold of her and explain before he finds out on his own. Eriko grumbles. "That'll will end well." Ryuji shakes his head. "Thank you for telling me." * Haruko nods. "You're welcome." She smiles. "It's the least I could do considering that you came to save us. If you want Sumire's nuumber, or would like me to proceed or hold off, just say so." Ryuji: "Perhaps for the time being it is best to wait." Eriko chuckles. "Yeah. Telling them you killed their friend isn't going to blow over well." [Ryuji looks down. Eriko stops chuckling. "Hey. I'm sorry, that was-" But Ryuji cuts her off. "No, you're right. I can't change what happened. I killed him."] * Haruko reaches out a hand to Ryuji. "You were almost dead, I was terrified for you. He was consumed by rage, he had no qualms about leaving Eriko and I with Tenjirou, he wouldn't have stopped." [He nods. "I think I told you before, but I don't regret what I did. Only that it had to be done."] You did. We've come to the same point with Tenjirou. I think all we can do now is do our best to try to protect Natsuko. Eriko: "Protect her how?" * Haruko sighs. "When we took on Yushiro, I made a big mistake. Fuyuko, his sister, didn't respond to my powers, so I thought she had none of her own. She was around when we fought him, she became a weapon for him." She looks down. "If I had planned better she wouldn't have been hurt at all, and now she's missing." Ryuji nods. Eriko: "What does that have to do with the other one?" Natsuko cares for Tenjirou, or used to care at least, it might be pity, might be love, I don't understand it. If Chariot decides he's not worth it, she's the only one he can go to. If we fight him while she's around, she can get hurt, and she'll be all the more likely to come after us for vengence. Eriko: "She'll probably do that anyway. * Haruko sighs and looks down. "You're right, we probably can't avoid that. But if it's just her it'll be easier, it'll be harder to keep her from getting really hurt while we're dealing with Tenjirou." Eriko: "If you say so." * Haruko looks up. "I've got to hope." Ryuji nods. * Haruko looks over the two of them. "And speaking of perhaps futile hopes, we were considering going to talk to the Jackals. Saki keeps getting hurt, but she's angry at us when we intervene. Maybe they can restrain him." Ryuji nods. "Yes, she frequently mentions Toshiro. However..." He stops and side glances to Eriko. Eriko turns her head and looks down at the school grounds.] * Haruko looks to Eriko. [Eriko looks back at Haruko and says, a hint frusteration in her voice. "They way she talks about it, it's like she looks forward to him coming here and getting in a fight.] * Haruko nods. "So it isn't just on his end?" Eriko shakes her head. "I don't know. But I don't like it." * Haruko nods sadly. "Sometimes the people we care about do foolish things, but the fact that we care doesn't make it easier to change them, just harder on us." She sighs. "I've tried, but all you can do is be ready to help the person they are, not the person you'd like them to be." Ryuji nods. Eriko doesn't say anything. I don't pretend to understand her, or that we're really friends, and I'd like to say there's some easy solution if she wants this, but I don't think there is. But she is a friend to both of you, so I can't speak for our gang, but if either of you think I can help in anyway, even by staying out, just tell me how I should act. ( They're officially a gang! XD ) ( * Haruko. "Yay!") Ryuji: "Right now... It's best to do nothing. Just keep your eyes open." Eriko: "And try not to piss her off any more than you already have." * Haruko nods. "I'll do the first, and if the Kami choose to smile on me I may manage the second." * Haruko then smiles sheepishly and looks up to Ryuji, playing with her hair slightly. "I wouldn't want you to think I can't do anything well. If you feel merciful, perhaps you could give me an opportunity to show otherwise." Ryuji nods. "I'd be delighted." Eriko rolls her eyes. * Haruko smiles. "There's a ceremony this weekend at the shrine, I've been practicing the dance for it for a while. I think you may enjoy it, if you like traditional displays." "Are you well enough to do such a thing?" * Haruko smiles. "If I take good care of myself until then. I also have good people watching my back." He nods again! * Haruko then grins slightly. "As really, as fond as I am of traveling by the power of machines, I'd really prefer to avoid this sort of thing." She looks to her crutches. Eriko: "Who doesn't?" * Haruko chuckles and nods. "So, you to were talking before I interrupted, I'll let you get back to it. Unless I can do anything for either of you?" Ryuji shakes his head. "Try not to push yourself too hard." * Haruko laughs. "Only because you ask so kindly." She then bows in preparation of leaving. [Ryuji bows back. Eriko stamps out her cigarette. "See ya."] * Haruko smiles to Eriko. "And as always, if you ever want a quick buzz, just bring me a bottle of fruit juice or something fermentable." She then hobbles away. [End here!]