[Day: Monday, March 3rd. Time: 5:00 p.m.] [Everyone is on their way to the jail to see Yurika Miataka, the girl from Seiryuu who happens to be a drug dealer. Or maybe I should say, was on their way. Instead, everyone except Kyon and Kaede find themselves somewhere very different: outside a train platform in a small town somewhere in the countryside.] [Session Start!] * Katie blinks. She looks around. "" * Taki looks around and blinks, "I...don't remember trying to go here..." * Satoshi stares. "O... kay..." * Haruko scratches her head. "This is almost starting to be normal." Jin? Did you do this? I'm not sure. * Satoshi sighs. "That's what I thought." * Katie spins to face Jin. "Do you think you might have done this?" .... I'm not sure. * Haruko starts to scan the area, looking for landmarks. I'm pretty sure I didn't, and hello Katie. * Katie sighs. "Can you take us back?" She looks at the others. "Hi." Back? * Haruko gives a small wave and keeps looking. To where we were. I kinda need to know where I am and where I'm going... I could go a few miles that way. ::points:: but there's no telling what I'd land in. * Satoshi starts looking for some sort of sign, or map, or train schedule... something that might tell them where they are. I don't know. Yeah. I thought so. * Taki looks for the stations nameplate. * Katie looks for an indication as to where they are, too. * Haruko keeps looking for landmarks. [The sign on the trainstation says: "Chichibu station"] Chichibu? * Katie looks for the schedule. "Satoshi, try calling Kaede or Kyon." * Haruko gives up on her search. "We're probably here for a reason... We may want to wait to find out what it is before we teleport away." Chichibu, huh. Not familiar at all. * Satoshi pulls out his cell phone. Sure thing, Katie. * Taki digs her phone out of her bag and looks at is as Satoshi dials. * Satoshi looks at his phone. "Dammit. No coverage here." He sighs. * Satoshi puts his phone away and resumes looking for some sort of map or train schedule. * Katie sinks onto one of the benches. "Great." * Taki pushes a few buttons on her phone and it beeps at her, she then puts it away. [There is a map of the city, and a map of the immediate area, and a scheduel.] [The next train to Tokyo is 6:20 p.m.] * Haruko glances at Katie for a moment and frowns briefly before looking away. * Satoshi starts reading the schedule. "Well, if we're willing to wait-" He checks his watch. "A little over an hour, there is a train going to Tokyo. So we're not completely stuck." * Katie nods. "Good." Well, that's good...kinda puts a damper on our plans to visit the jail. Kaede's probably having hysterics right now. We can do it tomorrow. Or tonight, if we get back before visiting hours. Kaede and Kyon would be- yeah. * Taki nods, "Hopefully they'll find eachother and visit the jail." No. * Katie looks to Taki. "They'll find each other and look for us." No? * Satoshi sighs and stands next to Taki. "Yeah. They'd look for us first, I think. Well, Kaede would." ( If you guys want, gimme a Navigation roll. ) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6) and gets 6. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6) and gets 5. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6) and gets 2, a CRITICAL SUCCESS!!! "Hey, a crit! Remember this next Christmas." (O.O) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 11. (Yeah, Taki wins.) (Why can't you give me thoes when I NEED them?!) [Everyone who made it realizes Chichibu isn't TOO far from Tokyo. Taki figures out the exact distance (don't ask) and realizes that the train ride back ought to take a bit more than an hour.] * Haruko rubs her forehead briefly and then smiles. "They'll probably look for us, and in an hour we'll have a train. There's little use in stressing out, perhaps we should just enjoy the scenery a bit." Yeah, but I'll still be another hour before we get there. But you're right, there's nothing to do here. * Haruko nods and then grins and walks up to Jin. "I'll bet you don't have a choice in the matter, but next time it'd be nice if we're transported to a new car or something, we'll get back faster." * Jin nods. "That would be nice." * Taki walks over to the map of the town and looks for a way to kill an hour. * Katie closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths, then goes about opening her satchel and extracting wood and a knife for carving. * Haruko walks to near the edge of the platform and stares out for a minute, she looks like she's thinking something over. [Taki finds locations for restaurants and movie theaters and parks and... well, not much else.] * Satoshi thinks. "Well... unless we can figure out a way back, guess we're waiting here. As soon as my cell phone service picks up again on the way back, I'll call Kaede." Yeah. You know, this compleatly ruins that idea I had about whatever it was teleporting you around didn't work on me...and they've probibly got a payphone around here someplace. * Katie grumbles. "" She turns the wood in her hands a few times, then starts on it. * Haruko puts her hands behind her head. "Yeah, we could take a walk anyways. Trains can be fun, but stations are boring." Just so long as we're back in time to catch the train. What about... ::points at the closest park:: here? * Haruko sighs softly then turns around. "That seems as good an idea as any." * Satoshi shrugs. "Sure, why not?" Who knows, we might find a working phone on the way. * Haruko starts walking. "And if not, hopefully we can have a nice walk. Walking isn't terrible, when you don't have to actually be somewhere, and so long as you don't have to do it all the time." Oh! And, um... you still have your birthday present from me, right, Taki? * Satoshi blushes slightly. * Katie is carving fairly quickly; the block is already taking a rough shape in her hands. "A walk, then? I guess..." * Taki checks her bag, "Yeah, yours and Chikako's...I'll tell you what, I'll open them when we get to the park." * Satoshi nods. "Okay." * Jin is, you suddenly realize, not there. * Katie looks up. "If-" She blinks, then frowns. "Jin?" * Taki nods back, "Let's grab Ji...and..." Uh-oh. Did he just wander off somewhere, or do you think he might have warped away? * Haruko bites her lip for a moment she doesn't actually seem to notice the absence. * Taki looks around and calls Jin's name. I think he does both at once. That's true. * Haruko looks around. "Oh.. again.. huh. Well let's keep going, he always seems able to find us." * Haruko looks over to Katie. "So, what were you saying?" * Taki shakes her head. * Katie blinks, then shakes her head. "Never mind." She gets to her feet and carefully puts the materials away. Okay, so everybody who is still here is going to the park right? * Haruko keeps walking she twirls a strand of hair around her finger for a moment and then lets her hand fall to her side, she nods at Taki and then turns back to Katie. "I actually have a question for you Katie, its nothing that can't wait, but not much is happening now, so if you don't mind..." Her tone is a bit uncertain. * Satoshi sighs. "I guess so. Jin's probably as likely to find us there as he would here. We just have to keep an eye on the time." * Katie turns to Haruko. "What is it?" I think I'm out of my league with figuring out most of the complex stuff going on around us and... * Haruko pauses for a moment. "I think you're better at it. I'd like it if you could maybe let me know what your thinking sometimes. I need to have some feel for what's going on, but most of my attempts aren't panning out. * Katie studies Haruko for a moment before softening. "I think we're all out of our league. But... I really do try to make things as clear as I can." * Taki nods, "It's just that sometimes we don't listen..." * Haruko gives a faint smile. "Yeah... it's hard to remember, and put it all together." I... it's just... very frustrating. That's all. * Katie takes one of the brochures, checks the location of that park, and starts walking. * Haruko nods. "I think I may know how you feel. I can imagine trying to solve a complex transmission problem while at the same time trying to explain it to someone else. I don't envy that." * Katie mmms and nods, but doesn't respond otherwise. * Satoshi follows along, keeping quiet. But we're all in this together. Kyon will tell us what he choose to tell us, and that's his right... * Haruko pauses between statements, you can almost hear the gears clicking in her head as she thinks. (metaphorical gears, to be clear, she's not a cyborg. :P ) * Katie walks in that almost-daze of hers, letting Haruko think. * Taki nearly speaks a few times but she keeps lapsing into silence. * Satoshi walks behind them, keeping one eye peeled for Jin, and half-listening to Haruko. [After a brief walk, they get to a park, where they find a... less than heart-warming scene. Four people (two guys, two girls) are taking turns kicking another one on the ground between them.] * Katie snaps out of it instantly. "Hey!" But maybe if you lead us on this... Oh hell. Hey, what's going on here? Stop that! * Haruko runs forward. "What are you doing?" * Taki runs after Haruko. * Katie runs, too. * Satoshi is running as well. [One of the boys is speaking as you approach. "Maybe this will teach you not to... eh?" He looks up as you run there and motions to his collegues, who stop beating on the poor girl (you realize now that it's a girl) to regard you, though one of the female assailants keeps her foot poised on the victim's hand.] * Katie slows, but snaps out angrily, "What do you think you're doing?" * Taki slows as well, "What'd she ever do to you?" * Haruko slows closer to the group. "Leave her alone, we'll call the police." This is just wrong! [The man who was speaking is apparently elected the spokesperson. He's rather large, with a thick chin, but he (as well as the others) all look to be about your age. "Who the hell are you?"] That isn't important, What you're doing to her is. One of the girls says: "Never seen those uniforms before." * Haruko stops once she's a few feet away from the gang. We're not from around here. * Haruko then tries to look over the girl and see how badly she's injured. * Satoshi folds his arms and glares at the guy. "Doesn't matter. Lay off her. Whatever you *think* she did, it doesn't deserve that." The other guy, a skinny, lanky guy with an Elvis-ish haircut smirks. "Then stay the hell out of our business." [The girl is very bruised and battered.] I don't think we will. Leave her alone. * Taki nods. * Haruko seems to be seething. "No!" She turns back to Satoshi. "Call for the police and an ambulencec, she's badly injured." * Katie holds her hand out for the phone. "I'll do it." She keeps an eye on the teenagers. * Satoshi nods and pulls out his cellphone. He hands it to Katie. [The guy says again: "Man, how annoying."] * Katie takes and dials the Japanese equivalent of 911 (what is that, anyway?). ( 110, I think. ) ( It's 110 in Shenmue ^^ ) Don't pick on people and you don't have to worry about things like this happening. * Satoshi glares at the guy. "I'd rather be annoying than be like you." * Haruko tries to get through to the girl, hoping to get there by audacity if not strength. [One of the gals picks up a stone and lobs it at Katie. "Better hang up, now."] 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6-2) and gets 6. (DR1) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6-2) and gets 6. [Katie gets hit with the stone. Ouch!] * Katie grimaces as the stone hits her chest, but doesn't stop holding the phone to her ear. * Satoshi stands in between Katie and the girl. "That was uncalled for." [The man frowns. "Damn. Guess they're really going to do it." He punches the other guy in the face.] * Taki blinks in confusion. What the hell? [The other guy takes the blow and smirks, punching the first one back. "Ouch! Look what these out of town kids are doing to us!"] * Haruko tries to pull the girl out from the group. One of the girls takes the cue and rips the sleeve off of her shirt. And when Haruko goes to do that, the other girl brings her foot down cruelly on the victim's hand. * Katie yells, "Stop her!" [Meanwhile, Katie gets through to the police.] * Satoshi runs over to the second girl and tries to grab her. "Oh no, you don't." * Katie turns her attention to the phone, doing her best to tune this out. * Taki runs forward and tries to shove the girl off of the other girls hand. * Haruko keeps trying to pull while Satoshi and Taki distract the attackers. ( Gimme init rolls. ) d6+5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (d6+5) and gets 7. d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (d6+7) and gets 9. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (d6+6) and gets 10. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (d6+6) and gets 8. (Dicy likes the number 2 today ...) (No kidding.) [Harko, Man1, Taki, Girl1, Katie, Satoshi, Man2, Girl2] [Haruko's turn!] * Haruko does her best to pull the victim to safety, while at the same time blocking further blows. (blocking with her body, not martial arts or something) ( Gimme a body roll, -2 bonus ) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6-2) and gets 1. [Haruko succeeds in dragging the victim away before the girl's foot comes down.] [The first man hits the second again.] [Taki's turn!] * Taki tries to push the stomping girl to the ground, "You wanna try that against someone who can still fight back?" 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-2) and gets 5. [Taki pushes her down. She doesn't resist. In fact, once on the ground, she rolls slightly, getting her clothes dirty.] [Katie's turn!] [And she gets through to the police by now :P] * Katie speaks into the phone. "Hello, police? Some friends and I were walking through the park, and we found a group of kids beating up a girl." [Satoshi's turn!] * Satoshi walks over to Haruko. "Give her to me, if you think she's okay to be carried. And let's go. We'll only be playing into their hands if we stick around." * Katie gives the name of the park. "No... I- I don't know, we're not from around here. But she's hurt really bad." [Man2 grabs at the girl. "No you don't! We won't let you awful people try to hurt our friend anymore!"] Okay. Thanks. * Katie hangs up, looks up at them, and coldly says, "Give it a rest." Or at lest get us some popcorn. The last girl smirks. "Give what a rest? Who do you think they're going to believe? Us, or some kids who just showed up from out of town? The kids who showed up from out of town. The first man snorts. "Fat chance." * Katie takes a few steps forward. "Tell me, do you have a spotless record? Is she going to vouch for you?" The other girl pokes the victim. "Well, Fuyuko? Are you going to rat on us?" * Haruko tries to help Satoshi carry the girl away. * Satoshi gently picks up the girl and starts walking a short distance away. [The gal Haruko and Satoshi are carrying sobs, "No..."] * Satoshi mutters. "Dammit. I *hate* people like this..." The goons smile smugly. * Haruko glances back. "Well, knowing Satoshi's phone and it's " she technobabbles a bit. "The police heard that interchange, so you four may want to be leaving now." * Katie grits her teeth for a brief moment. "We stay here. Haruko." She reaches into her satchel and tosses the first aid kit to her. * Taki nods at Haruko, " I guess you're just out of luck." * Haruko nods and stops. "Here, help me put her down over here Satoshi, we'll that's a smooth patch of ground." They shrug, and the second man says, "We were walking along when we found you beating on our friend, so we tried to help her, and you attacked us!" You're a horrible liar. * Satoshi sets the girl down gently and pays no attention to the thugs. So why on earth would she have something to "Rat you out" on? One of the girls nods. "They figured they could get away with it because they're from out of town." * Haruko stops with the cleverness and concentrates on helping the victim. * Katie walks over and turns her attention to the girl, too. * Haruko turns to the girl. "We'll help you even if you're too afraid to tell the truth, you're going to be alright." [She's bruised and battered, but it doesn't look serious.] [The first man sighs. "Oh well. Guess we may as well leave. See you tomorrow, Fuyuko." The mean nasty people walk away laughing.] * Katie turns her attention back to them, watching them carefully. * Haruko glancecs up to Katie. "Let me try for a moment." She takes the kit (if Katie lets her) and applies her healing at partial strength. * Taki looks at the departing jerks and tries memorize their faces. * Satoshi watches them go. "Bastards," he mutters. [The bruises are still present, but the larger ones get a bit smaller.] * Haruko glances at Katie and flits her eyes and Katie and then the smaller bruises. She proceeds to trat Fuyuko using conventional maethods while looking to Katie for guidancec. * Jin approaches you! He's carrying a chicken sandwich, and being followed by Kaede. * Katie sighs, sounding resigned. "Hello, Kaede." She goes about helping Haruko. * Taki waves at Jin and Kaede, "Hi, where were you five min ago?" * Fuyuko looks up at Haruko. She's rather short, fairly pretty (bruises aside), with short brown hair parted down the middle. She's wearing a tattered blouse and knee-length skirt. .... I'm not sure. * Satoshi looks up. "Um. Hi, Kaede. Welcome back, Jin." * Kaede looks around for a moment, but not too long. He's used to it now. He swivels around immediately to Jin and glares, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him forward. "...What do you think you're doing?? * Haruko keeps glancing up to Katie with a questioning expression as she works. Although all she asks is "Are the police coming?" * Taki blinks at Kaede. ... Eating a chicken sandwich. * Jin takes a bite out of the sandwich. * Fuyuko sobs. "Why did you have to do that?" Yeah, they are. How are you feeling, Fuyuko? * Kaede growls under his breath and lets go with a hmmphs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Where did..." He stops and looks over everyone else. "...I was wondering where you went off to.." Help you? You shouldn't have done that... It'll just make things worse. * Taki turns around and takes a few steps twords Fuyuko, "Because we're the sort of people who can't let something like that just happen." * Kaede looks very irritated still. "...this is ridiculous...just as we start to get somewhere.." * Haruko looks down. "We don't want to make things harder, I'm sorry if our interference did that, but we couldn't stand by while someone was getting hurt." * Satoshi looks over at Kaede. "Yeah. We tried to call you, but my cell phone doesn't reach Tokyo from here." Doesn't reach... * Kaede blinks and gives Satoshi a steady look. "...where exactly ARE we?" * Haruko glances up at Kaede. "We've got a more pressing matter at the moment." * Jin eats his sandwich. I'll explain. * Satoshi shrugs. "Or, at least, I couldn't get it to work. And we're in Chichibu." * Katie gets to her feet and turns, walking over to Kaede. She pulls him aside and starts speaking in low tones. * Kaede snorts and looks over at Haruko. "Right. I'm supposed to get to the police station and suddenly I'm no longer in Tokyo. I very much see why I should just forget all that and concentrate on "more pressing matters." * Satoshi sighs, and kneels down next to Haruko and Fuyuko. * Fuyuko pulls herself into a sitting position. * Kaede gets pulled/dragged off. (Look on the bright side, now we get to go to the police station in Chichibu instead.) * Haruko glares at Kaede before turning back to Fuyuko. Please, talk to us, we can't help you unless we understand. * Kaede looks up for a moment at Haruko and narrows his eyes before responding to Katie. * Taki sits down near Fuyuko, "Anyway, I'm Taki Shimiru. And I'm sorry if we've caused you any trouble, is there any way we can help?" * Katie shakes her head and keeps talking. * Kaede 's irritation is expressed with confusion and his expression seems calmer as he replies. * Fuyuko shakes her head. "You shouldn't have done anything. It wouldn't have mattered. I'm moving to Tokyo on Wednsday anyhow..." * Katie lets out a long sigh. This is followed by her half-whispers. Oh? Where in Tokyo? You might live near one of us. * Satoshi shakes his head. "No, we really couldn't just leave you there." ( Like I know where anything is in Tokyo :P ) You should have. ( She'll live within 15 minutes of us! ) We couldn't have. I'm sorry. (if she does just say she names a place near one of us, or a place far away.) Don't apologize, please. It was our choice to get involved. You didn't do anything wrong. [A squad car arrives, and a single officer gets out and walks towards your location.] * Kaede shakes his head at Katie, and whispers back. * Taki nods at Satoshi, "I just wish we'd gotten here sooner so you wouldn't have gotten as hurt." * Fuyuko shakes her head. "No, no... I really, really am sorry." * Haruko sighs and keeps tending to Fuyuko. I believe you. It's okay. Whatever they've done to you in the past, they wont' be able to do it to you any more. * Haruko nods. * Katie nods. She looks over at Fuyuko before murmuring to Kaede. No... No... I meant for you. * Taki nods again, "And the worst they can do to us is a night in jail untill we get this cleared up." [The officer gets to you. "All right. Are you the ones who called?"] * Katie turns, walking to the officer. "I called, sir." * Satoshi looks at her. "You don't have to lie to protect them." * Kaede nods and gets up, pushing his glasses up, a slight grimace on his face. "I see." He looks down to Fuyuko. "Hmm..." * Haruko turns to Fuyuko and quietly comments. "Yes, I know you mean for us. Do what you have to, we'll be OK." * Katie winces slightly, but otherwise waits as the officer does his thing. "Well, she's beaten pretty badly, but it doesn't look serious. Do you know who did this?" I don't know their names, but... * Katie closes her eyes and starts describing them as best she can: clothes, faces, and all. * Taki nods at Katie and throws in more info where she can. [He nods and turns to Fuyuko. "Okay, we'll profile some people, and you can identify them..."] * Kaede just finds something he can lean against and close his eyes and does that. Not like he can really say anything to help. * Haruko keeps talking to Fuyuko. "Everything can change for you once you're in Tokyo. You can cover up for them, or you can perhaps keep this from happening to the next innocent girl." * Fuyuko shakes her head. "No. I don't want to." * Katie doesn't look surprised. Disappointed, rather. * Taki shakes her head, but doesn't comment. * Satoshi frowns, and stands up. But he doesn't seem terribly surprised, either. The officer blinks a few times. "Well, I'm afraid I can't do much about this, then. Are you sure, miss?" * Fuyuko nods. "Yes. I'm sure." * Katie looks to the girl. "Why?" * Fuyuko doesn't respond. * Haruko stands up and looks at the officer. "Could we put in statements and descriptions anyways? I don't know what's going on here, but that gang might not stop with Fuyuko, and extra information might help next time." He nods. "I'll take them, sure. But if the victim isn't willing to press charges, there's really not a lot that I can do." * Jin looks at the officer. "Chicken is good." Officer: "... Um, Okay." (That's a universal truth right there. Chicken *is* good.) (This is true.) How long does she have? ::Haruko turns to Fuyuko:: You may change your mind later, you may want justice. Or they may get caught for something else and you'll be able to speak up then. "The sooner, the better." * Kaede shakes his head slowly and mutters just in earshot. "...don't press it..." It doesn't matter. "Well, if you like, I can drive you home." * Fuyuko nods and gets to her feet. * Haruko kneels down next to Fuyuko. "Its your choice ultimately. Your decision on whether you are willing to let fear control you. Either way I wish you the best of luck in Tokyo." * Kaede frowns a little as Fuyuko goes. "Actually, could we talk to you for a bit?" * Fuyuko stops and looks back at Kaede. * Kaede looks up at the officer. "We'll make sure she gets home alright, if she's willing to stay for a bit." [The officer waits politely.] "Very well." [He waves and goes back to his car.] * Taki blinks at Kaede. * Haruko grabs something from her bag and quickly writes out a with some contact info. * Satoshi thanks the officer before he leaves. Thankyou for your time. * Jin finishes his sandwich. * Katie thanks him as he leaves. * Kaede thanks the officer and frowns, pushing up his glasses and looking at Fuyuko. "...now then..I hope you don't mind.." * Haruko runs over to the officer and gives the information. "If it ever comes to a case, here's how to get a hold of me, I can contact the rest." [The officer nods to Haruko.] Thank you for coming so quickly. * Fuyuko doesn't say anything. * Haruko bows politely and then rejoins the group. * Kaede gestures to Katie, keeping his eyes on Fuyuko. "I heard it from her. But I want to hear it from you. What happened?" Officer: "Of course." I ate a chicken sandwich. ... Nothing. * Kaede frowns. "If you're going to lie, you've got to actually come up with a back story. Otherwise people will suspect..." * Haruko walks over to Katie and whispers rather quietly. "She's not an Arcana, I healed her all I could." * Katie nods. * Taki sigsh at Kaede, "She's allready been given a back story....'We're the ones who beat her up.'" * Kaede blinks at Taki then looks at Fuyuko. "Is this true?" * Fuyuko nods. * Kaede walks slowly over towards her, but stops a few feet away. Are you going to tell them this, Fuyuko? But you didn't tell the officer that. * Katie looks to Kaede and smiles faintly. Which reminds me...We're going to have to do a very very good job of getting you home. * Haruko writes out another contact information note. * Kaede lets out a deep sigh and pushes his glasses up his nose "I'm not going to tell the police. I just want to find out just exactly what happened here. I detest being left in the dark.." I ate a chicken sandwich. It was tasty. * Satoshi looks at Taki. "I don't think anyone's going to try and mess with us." * Kaede ignores Jin again. He's getting good at that. It won't matter. I'm moving to Tokyo on Wednsday. It'd poke a hole in their story of she gets home allright after being left with the people where were supposed to have beaten her up. Exactly. So if it doesn't matter, what's the harm in telling me? * Haruko walks over to Fuyuko and offers her the note. "Let's get you home, we can talk as we walk. If you need a friend in Tokyo you can call me, even if you don't tell the truth." Ahh. I thought you meant that those bastards might come back. * Fuyuko walks. "I am telling the truth. Everything else is lies." * Taki looks at Satoshi, "I did." * Kaede walks with her. "Telling what truth? Nothing doesn't tell me anything." * Katie watches her walk. She squints her eyes shut for a moment, then lets out a quick breath before heading after them. Well, if they do or if they don't, either way she'll get home safe. * Satoshi follows Kaede and Fuyuko. * Taki nods at Satoshi and then walks with him. [As you near the edge of the park, you discover a boy waiting for you. He's wearing a hakama and ancient-Japanese coat (whatever they call them). His hair is black and falls to his neck, hanging low in the front, well past his eyes.] * Fuyuko halts about fifteen feet away from him. * Kaede looks up as he reaches the edge of the park, glancing at the boy, then watching Fuyuko. * Katie stops, too. She looks up at the boy. * Satoshi looks at the boy, but says nothing. * Taki continues for a few paces after Fuyko stops. * Haruko looks up at the boy, surprised by his appearance. * Taki walks up to Fuyuko and asks her if she knows him. * Boy walks fowards. "Fuyuko, you've been injured." He says it like a point of fact, without much emotion. * Satoshi eyes the boy warily. * Haruko narrows her eyes a bit, but doesn't intervene just yet. ( It's interesting to wonder how he can see, with all that hair in front of his eyes. ) (It's an Arcana power.) (It's not that hard to see through ones hair) (The Laws of Anime Hair are interesting, aren't they?) ( He has an owl somewhere. All the kids are doing it.) Yushiro... (*snerk*) * Kaede 's still watching Fuyuko. He's frowning a bit. But he's always doing that. * Yushiro walks forwards slowly and puts a hand on her shoulder. Then he turns to face the majority of you. "You..." * Katie looks at him evenly. Yes? * Haruko waits. * Fuyuko shuts her eyes as tears start building. ( If this were MC, he'd follow that up by asking Haruko for a date :P ) (Yes!) ("...wanna go out with me?") * Kaede looks up at Yushiro, speaking calmly. "We're helping her home. That's all." And how did she get injured? A gang. Two boys and two girls. They were kicking her. * Taki nods. * Kaede looks steadily at Fuyuko and starts to speak, but stops when Katie talks. He frowns a bit more. * Haruko nods in agreement. "We stopped them, called the police, and bandaged her up afterwards." * Katie looks at Fuyuko. "Hey," she says softly, "it'll be okay." You stopped them? * Haruko nods. "Yes." * Fuyuko grimaces as Yushiro tightens his grip on her shoulder, scowling. "How dare you." What? Hey! Go easy on her, she just got beaten up! * Katie 's eyes widen, and she moves, her hand on Yushiro's. "Let her go." * Haruko steps forward. "You're hurting her. We stopped them because no one deserves what they were dong to her." * Kaede blinks at that, looking steadily at them. "I bet this is nothing too...?" He does not seem amused. * Yushiro lets go brushing off Katie's hand at the same time, still scowling. "Whatever happens to my sister is my concern, and mine alone." No, it isn't! Somebody getting beaten up is the concern of everybody. Not if you're just going to stand there and let her get beat up by a bunch of punks! What good can possibly come out of that? Whatever good I say. Why? * Haruko steps up staring at Yushiro. "Obviously it isn't your concern alone, obviously you aren't looking out for her good, because you failed to protect her." * Taki glares at Yushiro, "And what do you say?" * Kaede pushes his glasses up, looking at the situation calmly. "Tell me. If they beat her to a bloody pulp and left her for dead, would that be your concern alone too?" I didn't even notice the scene and I'm already sick of it. Welcome to the twenty first century, those that are poor stewards can no longer claim the rights you presume. * Yushiro raises his chin and stares down at Haruko. She finally gets a good look at his eyes: brown, with small irises. Crazed. * Fuyuko turns to the others. "It's okay." * Katie storms forward, glaring up at Yushiro. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she snaps, nothing but anger in her voice. "Do you *care* about your sister? Do you want her hurt? Why-" She falters when she sees his eyes, then tries not to laugh. "Oh, great." It's not okay. It is. No it's not! No..no it isn't. Of course I care about her. Then why were we the ones who stood up for her, and you wern't? * Yushiro grabs her arm. "Fuyuko means everything in the world to me." Alright. Fine. We're sorry we didn't let her get kicked more then. * Kaede throws his hands up in the air and walks past. You're Sakuragaoka students. * Haruko doesn't back down. "What right do you have to claim her as only your concern? Those days are past, and your failure here shows you don't deserve them anyways, one acting as a father must protect, not abuse his charge." * Kaede stops suddenly..."...what did you say?" * Satoshi blinks. "And what?" * Katie narrows her eyes, a faint breeze ruffling her hair. * Yushiro smiles. "I'm going to remember you." * Taki nods. "Yes we are. That doesn't change anything." * Katie bites out, "Same here." I don't think we'll be forgetting you, either. * Haruko nods, but her eyes never break contact with Yushiro. * Fuyuko looks at her brother. "Yushiro, let's just go." * Kaede rubs his forehead. "...yes of course. Why else would anyone moving to Tokyo other than to target us personally? I swear our school has a homing device on it." * Yushiro turns and starts leading Fuyuko out. "I look forward to this." You haven't gotten rid of us yet. I said I'd see her home, and I don't want to leave her with somebody who let her get attacked. * Haruko nods in agreement with Taki and keeps walking. * Fuyuko turns to look back at Taki. "It's okay. Please, just go." Just...leave it. * Haruko stands next to Taki and whispers over to her. "She catch more abuse from him if we follow, we can't protect her once we get there." * Katie watches them go, the anger giving way to helplessness. * Kaede walks over to Katie and lowers his voice. "Are you alright?" * Satoshi just sighs. * Katie says, almost in a daze, "Is anybody?" I am... I think. * Kaede smirks slightly. "As good as anyone can be dragged so far from home without a clue..." I'm close enough, I think. We should probably head back to the station. Although we might have missed the next train... * Katie nods. She glances at her watch before getting to walking. * Kaede ruffles Katie's hair and stands up before he goes. "Right." * Haruko walks over to Katie "Let me tend to your injury. That's something I can fix." [Time: 6:10 p.m. You can make it if you hurry!] On the train, Haruko. Come on. * Haruko hurries. * Satoshi starts walking quickly in the direction of the station. * Katie straightens her hair and sticks her tongue out at Kaede. It's half- hearted, but it's there. * Kaede looks at his watch and gulps a little, picking up the pace. * Taki follows Satoshi, but she looks more than a little upset. * Jin follows! "I can fix a chicken sandwich." [Session End]