[Day: Saturday, February 15th. Time: 4:00 p.m.] [Haruko made a quick stop at the mechanic club's garage after school, then hurried to meet with everyone else. Unfortunately, they seemed to have left for somewhere early, so she must have missed them. Instead, she headed home and, an hour later, is helping her dad clean the shrine.] [Mini Start] * Haruko brushes the steps of the shrine, cleaning off the dust and refuge left by the day's visitors. [Haruko's father is in the back of the shrine, conveniently out of harm's way :P] * Haruko finishes up on the steps and organizes and puts away the tokens that are available for penitents to purchase. [Haruko hears a low rumbling behind her as she works.] * Haruko blinks, puts away the item she's holding, and glances behind her. [Behind her, Haruko sees about twenty boys of different sizes and ages, all dressed in white karate gi. They're grinning and panting. Those who have any breath left manage a, "Afternoon... Haru-chan..."] * Haruko gives a gentle smile, "Hey Guys. Seems like everyone's still walking, always a good sign." [They give enthusiastic grins. "Yeah..."] [A few of the weaker ones decide to sit down about now, almost regretting rushing up here so fast.] * Haruko quickly finishes up her task, talking as she goes. "So how's everybody doing?" [They grin and nod enthusiastically. "Very good, thanks." Of course, whether or not they're telling the truth on that...] [From behind them wafts a female voice. "...Seems like any other shrine. What's so special about it?"] * Haruko grins a bit. "Sure you are guys." She's almost done with her job and doesn't respond to the voice. [A woman comes up from behind the martial artists. She's about your age, wearing the pants from a gi and a black tank top. She's pretty attractive, with violet eyes and long, curly hair, but none of the boys seem to pay much attention to her. Haruko gets the feeling she's seen this woman somewhere before.] ( And make a mind roll at -2 to see if you recognize her ^^ ) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (2d6-2) and gets 5. (That'd be a success) [Haruko realizes it's Riko Tokuzawa, from her own school.] * Riko walks past the boys, who are all still staring at Haruko, looking around. "I just don't see why you guys were in such a rush to get over here, when-" Her eyes fall on Haruko. "... Oh." Hello, Riko isn't it. Nice to see you again. * Riko peers at Haruko. "Have we met? Wait, you go to my school, right?" * Haruko finishes with the tokens, they're now neater and in there proper place ready for sales. * Haruko nods, "Yeah, though only once I think, don't worry about it." She then proceeds to look over the guys, concentrating on the panting ones. [Some of them are finally starting to catch their breath again.] I thought you looked familiar. * Haruko nods, but pays more attention to the guys. "So what brings you here? Can I get anything for you, I try not to let the guys distact me too much from my duties." * Haruko then turns to the guys just catching your breath and grins. "I keep telling you guys the shrine will be here even if you don't run." * Riko jerks her thumb towards the men. "Well, I just joined the martial arts academy near here -I'm into that kind of thing-, and after class they all wanted to come over here for some reason." "We know." * Haruko giggles, "Yeah, they tend to do that, nice to see this many people our age so spiritually motivated." [The boys all nod in agreement, with nice big smiles.] * Riko changes the subject. "So you work here? That's interesting. Volunteer?" Yeah, my Dad's a priest. I mean I get an allowance, but I don't really think of it as a job. * Riko nods. "I see." * Haruko suddenly frowns and slaps her forehead. "That reminds me, I haven't introduced myself, Haruko Kinsha." She bows properly afterwards. * Riko returns the bow. "I'm Riko Tokuzawa." * Riko looks around. "Well, this is a pretty nice shrine." She sounds like she's looking for some way to offer a quick compliment. * Haruko smiles widely. "Thanks, my family has helped maintain it for some time, so I'm glad you like it. So, have you been doing martial arts long? You seem quite comfortable in the uniform." * Riko nods. "For a few years now. I started with karate. Mixed in a few other styles, too, but I mostly stick with that." * Haruko then smiles over at the guys, "Shouldn't you make some offerings in hopes a good week or for success in one of your tournament things?" [That causes a confused ruckus amongst the boys. It follows with them all getting up and hurrying to the shrine to make donations.] * Riko ignores the guys, continuing. "The schools got a karate club, too, but an hour a week just isn't enough for me." * Haruko grins. "Know how you feel, if not for karate, how is the club at the school?" It's pretty good. * Riko grins. "It's taught by principal Nagawa himself. I can't believe how handsome he is." (Riko likes older men.) ( Lotsa girls like Quentin. He's bishonen :P ) (That just makes me want to STAB.) ( Cool ^^ ) * Haruko giggles. "Yeah, sort of takes the sting out of visits to the principal's office." * Riko giggles herself. "They can send me there anytime." Oh, did any of the guys take hard hits today at the club? The idiots tend to try to hide it to show off." Although, she say idiots with a great deal of affection. (Last bit not meant to be said of course) * Riko waves her hand passively. "Yeah, but they can take it." Course they can, but I do try to look after them, no need to deal with unnecessary pain. I doubt any of it was unnecessary. * Haruko laughs. "Right then, any ways the whole school isn't so bad, fair number of cute guys, shame that so many seem need therapy." You noticed that, huh? Like the VP, Kyon. Who in the world elected HIM for student council? * Haruko continues to laugh. "Is it possible to miss it. Dunno who elected him, although he seems pretty popular with some of the girls." Yeah. I don't know what they see in him. * Riko folds her arms. "Hmph. With people like Principal Nagawa and Ryuji Hazuki, who needs Kyon?" * Haruko shrugs. "Ryuji?" She thinks for a moment to all the time's Saki's crew has passed by. "Yeah, he's cute. But really its nice to have variety, and from what I've seen the council seems to actually get resources to the students." But still... Have you ever spoken to Kyon? What a jerk! * Haruko nods. "Yeah, I wouldn't date him. But aside from the way he enjoys smirking and insults I haven't seen him really do wrong by someone." * Haruko doesn't count crazed murders as someones. (murderers rather, that reads a bit different with out that extra er) You'd be surprised. We're from the same hometown, you know? Aomori, in the north. He's even more rotten than he seems. * Haruko shakes her head. "No, I didn't know. I take it you knew him back then?" Well... No. Not personally. oh? But I heard a lot about him. Trust me, he's a jerk. * Haruko takes up her broom again to clean up after the stampede of guys. "Really, do tell. A lot of people make mistakes when they're younger." [The guys are still around, but not really doing much besides watching Haruko.] Well.... Let's just say he was real mean to my cousin. * Haruko occassionally waves and smiles at the guys, just enough to let them know she doesn't really mind their presence. * Haruko frowns at Riko's comment. "Oh, I see. It always hurts to have someone be cruel to the people you care about." Yeah. * Haruko finishes sweep up and stands by the tokens in case any normal worshipers come by. "I actually do have some dealings wih Kyon, if you're willing to tell more I'd appreciate it. Knowing what people are really like can be rather hard." Well... It's not something I like to talk about... * Riko looks Haruko over, as though she was trying to decide if she could be trusted. * Haruko nods. "Don't do anything you aren't comfortable with, I'll figure it out on my own sooner or later." * Riko frowns a bit and looks down, nibbling on her index finger. * Riko looks up again. "Well, if you promise to keep it a secret, I guess I can tell you." * Riko eyes the boys. "But, uh...." * Haruko nods, "Trust me, I'm quite capable of keeping a secret, and we can leave them for a minute. They're trained to stay when need be." * Haruko waves to the boys, "I'm going off for a minute. Stick around if you want, I'll be back later." She then runs back to tell her dad that she'll be taking a few minutes off. [They cast longing glances and give moans of disappointment.] * Haruko returns from the back and shows Riko to a more private area. * Riko follows. * Riko says, once she thinks nobody else will hear, "Hmm... Well, it all started back in Aomori, like I said." * Haruko nods, and then indicates a pillow that Riko can sit on, she kneels on one of her own. "Tea?" * Riko sits down too. "No thanks." * Haruko settles in to hear the story. * Riko continues. "Kyon and my cousin, Souichirou, knew each other. Kyon did something to him, which made his family move to Hokkaido. Kyon came to live here not long after." And then Souichirou ran away from home. Whatever Kyon did to him, it must have been horrible. Has Souichirou been in contact since he ran away? So trust me when I say he's a jerk. You shouldn't get too close to him; bad things might happen to you. * Riko shakes her head. "No." Well, not with me. * Haruko frowns. "Oh? He's talked to someone else. Glad to hear that, running away can be dangerous, even in Japan." Well... I'm not sure it's a good thing. I mean, it's just a rumor, but still... A rumor? What have you heard? * Riko frowns nervously. "I heard, well..." * Riko sighs. "I heard he might have spoken to Saki Morikawa." I hope it's just a rumor, though. From what I know about her, he might be better off lost. * Haruko narrows her eyes. "That's strange, I mean she attracts guys, but not from different provinces, you may be right." If it was anyone else, I'd ask, but... * Riko shakes her head. "I don't wanna die. And from what I've heard about Saki..." If you like, I may be able to ask for you, with a bike like hers I'm sure some people in the mechanics club would know her. Just a manner of asking her in a safe place. * Riko shudders a bit. She changes the subject and points to a scar on her shoulder. "Anyhow, another reason you should stay away from Kyon. He stabbed me here a few weeks ago. With a sword, for god's sake!" (safe defined as near Taki. ^_~) ( ^^ ) * Haruko nods, "Over reaction is hardly out of character for him, maybe you intimidated him or something, you seem to be quite the martial artist. But that's no excuse." Well... * Haruko looks at the scar. Presumably nothing left to heal, but sometimes people pick at these things. * Riko smiles guilty. "I sorta was going to beat him up for what he did. But I wasn't gonna do anything like that!" [Riko's pretty much fine now. It's been long enough.] * Haruko laughs. "Not so strange to want to avenge a relative. I take it you disarmed him or something?" * Riko shakes her head. "Actually... You're not gonna tell anyone, right? Right. Well, I sorta ran away." Like I said, I don't wanna die. * Haruko nods understandingly. "No point in fighting someone who is better armed. Life's a great thing." I know. I'm just a bit embarressed. I could've snapped his sword like a twig if I'd tried. Of course, but you didn't expect him to draw it and were caught off guard. Has he tried to attack you since then? * Riko shakes her head. "No, but I've mostly been avoiding him." * Haruko nods, "Just as well, Vice president or not, if he attacks you without provocation that's a good excuse to talk to the principal." ^_^ * Riko nods. "Yeah." Well that happy thought aside, I'll keep what you've told me a secret. If I get the chance I could try to find out what Saki knows, but only if you'd want me to. You don't have to put yourself in danger! * Haruko laughs. "I don't intend to, I'd only do it if I could figure out a way it'd be safe." * Riko grins. "Hire a helicopter and yell at her from the air." * Haruko looks whistful, "Would that I had those resources. Might be easier if I brought along a couple friends as backup. No one like Kyon of course, and I wouldn't give them any details other than I heard Saki might know about another missing person. But only if you were alright with that." I guess. Just don't tell them what happened, okay? * Haruko grins. "Nothing about you're cousin's history, and nothing about exercising the better part of valor. I promise." Thanks. Well, shall we rejoin the boys? Can't have them moping around and disturbing other visitors. * Riko nods. "Sure." [Mini end]