[Last Time, On Battle High:  Having just escaped from the collapsing pool
building, the group were confronted by several people who wanted to know just
what had happened.  Ao-Lang had some boys make eyes at her, one of whom
challenged her to a fight, but ended up having to chase a goat.  They all went
and showered, and then the new rankings came out.  Our Heroes are number six out
of eleven, dead center in the rankings.
There was an aborted celebration by both teams of Alexander the Great Hall,
since Greg, Kento, and company were one rank above Our Heroes, just in the top
half of the class.  Aborted because Marcie, our favorite little firebomb, went
off when she discovered that her archnemesis, Atsuko, had been spirited away in
the night by her mother.  She decided to burn a large hole in the front
courtyard and front doors of Battle High...
...and once she was stopped, her team was rewarded with a week of detentions.
[Now lunch is over and so are classes, and Our Heroes (along with their erstwile
comrades in Detention), are just getting out of finishing the work on the
cafeteria.  There are still a few minutes before dinner, and Ao-Lang still has a
challenge to fight.]
[Last Fight of This Day... FIGHT!]
* Ao-Lang walks along, rubbing the back of her hand against her forehead. "Why
did we have to do this again?"
<Hope> Atsuko was an idiot.
* Greg leads his team wearily out of the cafeteria.  All of them seem to be able
to walk under their own power except for Marcie, who is being carried over
Greg's shoulder.
<Mariah> It was... yeah, it was Atsuko.
* Ao-Lang eyes Marcie, but doesn't say anything.
* Mariah sighs and wipes her brow with her hand. "Man, wonder why we're still
doing it without her even here..."
<Alan> Because the cafeteria still needs to be built.  Have a nice sleep.
<Ao-Lang> Sleep, sleep.  Oh yeah.  That thing you do after dinner.
* Alan closes the newly repaired doors as the last fighter leaves the room.
* Ao-Lang looks at the rest of her team. "Speaking of which, where do we go for
dinner? I'm starving. Must've been all those rocks."
<Mariah> ... oh, duh.
* Hope yawns. "Man, stupid Atsuko. I can't believe this."
* Luckily for everybody, it's a short walk back to your rooms.
* Waiting for you in the middle of the commons is a six pack of the wondrous
Senzu Bean Soda.
* Mariah will crash on the couch the moment she gets home. "Man... this just
isn't my day."
* Hope grabs and sips. She's almost staring to not hate the flavor. Almost.
* Ao-Lang flops on the other couch, not caring about getting it dirty with her
boots (which were returned to her).
* Mariah picks up a soda and chugs it, apparently ignoring the awfulness.
* Karasu finds a nice wall to lean against.
* Ao-Lang reaches out for one, almost falls off the couch in the process, and
finally manages to grab it. She sips and nearly spits it out. "Damn! I forgot
how nasty this stuff is."
* A note flies out of the darkness in one corner of the room and attaches itself
to Ao-Lang's forehead.
* Ao-Lang crosses her eyes.
<Mariah> ... hey, check that.
<Ao-Lang> Sure.  Get me a mirror.
* Hope reads the note for Ao-Lang
<Hope> Formal Duel.  Ao-Lang Shen(Alexander the Great 103) vs Ryo
Wildfire(Musashi 103).  Tonight.  <Time> 1 hour from now</Time>  * This duel
registration brought to you by the Student Dueling Association.  This is not for
school rankings.
<Hope> Wacky.
* Ao-Lang grins. "Well, that boy doesn't waste time."
<Ao-Lang> It have a place?
<Mariah> I don't think so... but hey, cool.
* Ao-Lang bites her lip. "Well, mebbe I'll run across him at dinner." She plugs
her nose and quaffs the rest of the drink. "Bleh."
<Karasu> Sounds like it's right after dinner.  Don't eat too much or you won't
be able to fight.
* Ao-Lang makes a face. "Yeah, but I'm not gonna fight on an empty stomach."
<Ao-Lang> Then I might try biting him or something.  That'd be simply unethical,
y'know?
* The dinner bell rings!
<Hope> Then we eat!
* Ao-Lang jumps to her feet. "And away we go!"
<Mariah> I dunno, it's kinda anything-goes...
* Hope heads for dinner.
* Ao-Lang grins at Mariah. "Then I'll make you my first victim." She winks, then
chases Hope.
* Mariah frowns.
* Mariah chugs the last of her soda and stands up.
* Mariah follows. .oO(What's that supposed to mean?)
* Karasu heads to dinner.
* By the time you slowpokes get out to the courtyard, there's an immense line
snaking around Marcie's crater.
<Ao-Lang> Aww, man!
* Ao-Lang gets in line already. Food!
* Hope is in line. Food!
<Mariah> Ehh... it'll be okay, I guess...
* Mariah follows. Yes, FOOD!
* A few people are murmuring exictely and pointing at the main doors into the
school, which have that marcie-shaped hole in them.
* Karasu gets in line. Food... eh, whatever.
* It takes about twenty minutes for you to finally get some food.  Pity the few
people that came AFTER you guys.
* Ao-Lang does not pity them, for she is mean.
* Food today is unidentifiable light brown stuff, dark brown gravy, rice, and
some unidentifiable meat product in patties.
* Ao-Lang sniffs at her plate. "Mmmm, tasty." She looks for a seating spot.
<Hope> Better then the food at my old school.
* Hope sits where is available.
<Ao-Lang> Yeah?  Must've been some school.
* Ao-Lang walks along, looking for a seat and idly munching on food while she's
at it.
* Ryo pipes up from just behind Ao-Lang.  "Did you get the duel registration?"
* Ao-Lang yelps and spins. She blinks. "Oh, hi!"
<Ao-Lang> Yeah, I did.  Right on my forehead.
<Ryo> Cool.
* Ao-Lang grins. "Sure is. Where is this s'posed to happen?"
* Karasu finds a seat and eats.
* Ryo takes a seat a short distance away and digs into his food.
* Ao-Lang shrugs and goes to have a seat with the rest of her team. Assuming
there's room.
* Mariah sits down and begins eating, apparently with appetite, oddly enough.
<Hope> So, what'd he say Ao?
<Ryo> Wherever.  Doesn't matter, really, 'long as we don't do anything to get
detentions.
<Mariah> Yeah; we should watch, right?
<Hope> Of course. ^_^
* Ao-Lang nods at Ryo, then digs in. She's starving.
* Ao-Lang munches. "Don't see why ya can't watch."
<Ryo> My whole team'll be watching.  We all joined the the Student Dueling
Association.
* Hope digs in to her food.
<Hope> Student Dueling Association?
<Mariah> Okay... might as well come out to support our own, y'know?
<Ryo> Yeah, s'one of the clubs.  We fight, that about sums it up.
<Hope> Interesting.. how does one sign up?
* Mariah blinks. "... huh."
<Ryo> There's a temporary meeting area in room 101 Fight Tower.  Just until the
auditorium gets repaired.
<Hope> So, ya just go and sign up then? Neat.
<Ao-Lang> Formalized dueling.  Cool, cool.
* Ao-Lang frowns at her food. She's not eating it as quickly as she'd like.
<Mariah> That could be cool... although we fight a lot as it is.
* Hope grins at Mariah. "You can NEVER fight too much."
* Ao-Lang watches Hope use her fork and knife.
<Ryo> Well, it'll slow down soon.  The first week is placement battles, to make
sure everybody is in their proper ranking.
* Mariah nods. "I guess you've got a point. It's getting better!"
* Ao-Lang tries to imitate Hope, but looks rather awkward doing it. She grumbles
in frustration.
* Hope finishes with record speed. "Ya gotta stab more Ao."
<Ao-Lang> Stab?
<Hope> Besides, we're not doin' half bad!
<Hope> Stab.
* Ao-Lang pauses, then stabs at the meat stuff with her knife.
<Ryo> You're not doing half good, either.
* Hope eyes Ryo. "Don't make me hitcha boy. Considering we're down a man, it's
not terrible."
<Ryo> Yeah, yeah, whatever.
<Karasu> There is that to consider, yes.
* Ao-Lang pulls the knife from the meat and peers. "Don't see the point." She
shrugs.
<Ryo> If you're that good, you'll fight my team sooner or later.
<Mariah> Oh...
<Ryo> Then we'll see what's what.
* Hope cracks her fingers. "We'll see what we see."
* Ao-Lang tries stabbing with her fork instead, picks up some of the meat, and
then it falls off. "God damnit, why do you people insist on using this...
thing?"
<Hope> Well, ya could always ask for chopsticks or somethin'.
<Ao-Lang> I already looked for them.  I think I'm gonna have to take a trip into
town or something.
<Karasu> Easier just to learn how to use a fork.
<Ryo> Don't bother, not if that's your only reason.  Most of what's down there
is clothes, food, and arcades.
* Ao-Lang sighs. "Go figure. Clothes, though?" She eyes Karasu.
<Hope> Oh no, this isn't gonna end well.
* Karasu doesn't seem to notice. :P
* Ao-Lang grins. "Aww, c'mon, Hope. One day and already you're assuming things
concerning me aren't gonna end well."
<Hope> I judge quickly. If he ends up in a leather loincloth, I'm blaming ya.
* Ao-Lang goes back to trying to eat. Too bad she holds the fork all wrong.
* Hope reaches over and moves the fork in Ao's hand "Like this. Geez, you never
used one before?"
<Ao-Lang> Dude, he'd be hot in a leather loincloth.  We could take pictures and
sell them to Cryptic Bishounen Monthly.
* Ao-Lang blinks. "Thanks. And, uh... nope!"
* Ao-Lang tries to eat again, but the fork nearly falls out of her hand. "Gah!"
<Ryo> Yeah.  Clothes.  They've got... *counts on fingers* one... two... three
Gaps, a Banana Republic...  and a couple others I can't remember."
* Hope eyes. "Screw fightin' practice, you need eatin' practice."
<Ao-Lang> Yeah?  I'd like to see you use chopsticks.
<Hope> Well, I've used em.. once or twice.. kinda. I can eat meat, but I don't
see how the hell ya can eat rice with 'em.
<Karasu> Neither is particularly difficult once you get the hang of them.
<Ao-Lang> Well, the secret there's to get it in a bowl.  Y'don't eat rice off a
plate.
<Hope> Well, I suppose you get quite a bit of practice with sticks, 'eh Karasu.
* Ao-Lang does a bit better with her fork, manages to get some food in her
mouth, just to nearly cough it up at Hope's comment.
<Karasu> Probably.
* Ao-Lang clears her throat and swallows. "Hope, I have underestimated you." She
goes back to eating. Or trying to.
* Hope grins.
* Karasu shrugs. "Hope can't even eat rice with them. It's obvious she hasn't
had any experience."
* Ao-Lang cracks up.
* Mariah just keeps eating and watching the others, apparently a little
confused.
* Karasu finishes eating. He stands up and goes to deposit the tray somewhere.
* Ao-Lang laughs until it peters out, then gasps, "Bad Karasu, distracting me
from food."
* Ryo stands up and goes with Karasu to toss his scraps.
* Hope tosses her scraps too.
* Ao-Lang goes back to eating. This is taking her forever.
<Mariah> ... man. Never thought I'd be watching a funny conversation about
chopsticks.
<Mariah> My school before this wasn't *half* this interesting.
<Hope> Join the club.
* Ao-Lang doesn't stop eating. "Didn't have many conversations in the last one.
Well, not many that didn't lead to fights."
* Ryo comes back over and looks down at Ao-Lang.  "Whenever you're ready."
<Ao-Lang> Yeah, yeah.  Let me finish.  I almost got the hang of- gak!
* Hope stands up and streaches. "Kick his ass Ao!"
* Ao-Lang grabs her fork to keep it from falling. "Eheh." She scoops up the rest
of her food, stuffs it in her mouth, then runs off to deposit the tray.
<Mariah> -- oh, there he is!
* Mariah finishes quickly and goes to deposit her tray before rejoining her
team.
* Ao-Lang hurries back. "Okay, ready. Where do you want to do this?"
<Ryo> Flamin'.  There's a clearing around back of the school we've been using.
<Ao-Lang> A clearing?  That'd work.  Lead the way, m'dear.
* Hope follows.
* Ryo waves eagerly to someone across the courtyard, and before long, the rest
of the Musashi 103 team has joined you guys.  Rowan, the strange quiet boy known
as Ikea, Tanisha, and Arthur.
* Ikea stares at Karasu.
* Karasu stares back at Ikea. Ok.
* Ikea stares back at Karasu.
* Karasu stares back at Ikea. Possibly unblinkingly. He's wearing shades, so
it's hard to tell.
* Ao-Lang edges over to Hope. "Any bets on who blinks first? No, Karasu's
wearing shades. That's just cheating."
* Mariah waves to those from the Musashi team she knows and stands back to
watch.
* Hope grins and waves at the guys and gals she knows.
* Arthur, who noone has met yet, is one of the tallest boys you've met thus far
in the freshman class.  He's closing quickly on six feet tall, and wears a
shining chain shirt.  Slung over his shoulder is a large shield, and at his
waist is a longsword.  Notable features include what might be called a noble
nose, bright blue eyes, and well groomed black hair.
* Ikea stares back at Karasu.
* Karasu stares back at Ikea.
* Ikea stares back at Karasu.
* Karasu stares back at Ikea.
* Ao-Lang watches them stare, then turns to Ryo. "So! Shall we go?"
* Ikea opens his mouth and speaks! "You seem... familiar to me."
* Mariah tries hard not to stare at Arthur and *barely* succeeds. .oO(... ooh.
-- He'd never give you the time of day, Mariah, c'mon...)
* Arthur seems to be paying attention to Ao-Lang right now.
* Arthur walks confidently up to Ao-Lang and offers his hand.  "Arthur
Magnusson, at your service."
<Mariah> .oO(-_-)
* Ao-Lang blinks and turns to him, then smiles. She shakes his hand. "I'm
Ao-Lang Shen. Nice to meet you."
<Karasu> I don't recognize you.
<Hope> Hm.
<Ikea> I am called Ikea.
<Hope> Like the store?
* Mariah seems to be closely examining the ground.
<Ikea> ...yes.  Like the store.
<Karasu> Yeah.  Why, does he have a chair strapped to his back? :P
* Arthur, having introduced himself to Ao-Lang, turns his gaze to Karasu and
narrows his eyes a bit.
<Karasu> I don't recall meeting you before, I'm afraid.
<Ikea> Very well.
* Mariah is still staring at the ground. Woe is her.
* Hope looks over at Mariah and frowns. She walks over and patpats her on the
back.
* Hope watches.
* Mariah does a credible impersonation of Karasu.  Well, as credible as someone
can without actually being emotionless.
* Karasu is still more attractive, though.
<Ryo> Well, enough talk.  Let's get it on.
* Ryo heads off at a strong clip around the castle.
* Hope follows to watch.
* Ao-Lang snickers. "Make it sound like a boxing match." She walks after him,
though, stretching as she goes.
* Karasu waves. "Good luck." He heads in a different direction.
* Ao-Lang glances at Karasu as he walks off, frowns ever-so-slightly, but keeps
on her way.
* It doesn't take long at all to get around the castle, fortunately, in spite of
its size.  Around back is a small field that has obviously been used for real
fights.  The ground is torn up in patches, there are circles burned into the
grass, and a few unseasonable icicles hanging from one corner of the castle
wall.
<Hope> Yow. We musta missed one helluva battle.
<Ao-Lang> No kidding.
* Ao-Lang peers at the icicles.
<Ao-Lang> (If Karasu ever indicated that he had feelings, maybe I'd care more.
;P)
* The icicles seem to be slowly melting.
<Ryo> Yeah, there are battles here all the time.  You were kinda busy during
them, though.
* Ao-Lang looks over at Ryo. "Hrm?"
<Arthur> It's an excellent opportunity to build your strength outside the
regulation fights.
<Ryo> Yeah, yeah, build strength, whatever.  It's fun to fight.
* Hope grins at Ryo. "Boy knows what he's sayin'."
* Ao-Lang laughs. "Which boy?"
<Tanisha> Yes.
* Ao-Lang grins at Tanisha. "My thoughts exactly."
* Tanisha takes up a position beside Hope and nudges Ao-Lang out onto the field.
* Ryo stamps eagerly out onto the field.
* Ao-Lang oofs as Tanisha nudges her.
<Ao-Lang> I'm goin', I'm goin'.  You don't need to nudge so hard.
* Ao-Lang walks after Ryo.
* Ryo drops into a loose unarmed fighting stance.
<Hope> Go Ao!
* Ao-Lang stops a decent distance away from Ryo and puts her hands at her sides.
* Ryo gestures for Ao-Lang to bring it on.
* Ao-Lang blinks at Ryo, then mentally shrugs. She closes her eyes for a moment,
and a faint blue, wavering aura with gold flecks appears around her.
* Ryo rushes forward, throwing a quick punch at Ao-Lang's gut.
* Ao-Lang spins easily to one side, a smile appearing on her face as she flicks
a tessen out of her left sleeve and brings it, closed, towards Ryo's head.
* Ryo flings up a forearm to block the tessen.  There's a loud crack as the
armor and the weapon meet, but both appear undamaged.
* Hope grins and watches.
* Ryo ducks in towards Ao-Lang and crouches, rocketing upwards a moment later in
a vicious uppercut.
* Ao-Lang takes the uppercut right in the chin and falls backwards, rolling to
her feet. She snaps the tessen open and throws it at Ryo, followed quickly by
the other one (which, yes, wasn't even in her hand a moment ago).
* Ryo brings both arms up in a cross to block the first fan, but the second is
lower and slams into his midsection before they both return to Ao-Lang's waiting
hands.
* Ao-Lang catches them and snaps them closed.
* Ryo slides backward and drops down into a classic energy-gathering stance,
hands clasped together at waist height.
* Ao-Lang narrows her eyes, then runs at Ryo. As she runs by, she opens her
right tessen and slashes it at Ryo's shoulder. "Falling Star Strike!"
* Ryo doesn't move at all as the strike connects, not even flinching.  It's hard
to tell if he was blinded by the light, though, since his eyes are closed.
* A strong white glow blossoms in Ryo's cupped hands.  "WHITE!"  His eyes snap
open and he pivots smoothly to face Ao-Lang, thrusting his cupped hands forward. 
"BLAAAAAAAAAAZE!" From the light emerges a swiftly growing tiger composed of
white-hot flame that "runs" across the ground leaving smoking paw-prints.
<Hope> Holy..
<Tanisha> You ain't seen _nuthin'_ yet.  He hasn't even called his real power.
* Ao-Lang hastily brings her open tessen up, shielding her face and chest, but
the rest of her gets burned *badly*. She weathers the attack moves in towards
Ryo, bringing both tessen down towards him with a vicious slash. "Chaos Stream!"
* Ryo brings both arms up once more in a cross-block, but still is pushed
backwards by the steam of electrified water.  His feet dig furrows into the
loose earth as he is pushed backwards, but in the end, he keeps his feet.
* Ryo lowers his arms and blinks wildly, shaking his head in an attempt to clear
it.
* Ao-Lang follows up, pivoting around Ryo and pulling Wave to meet him. This
time, however, the tessen is open and glowing blue. "Strike of Flowing Water!"
* Ryo takes the tessen full in the chest and is flung back to land at Hope's
feet.
* Ryo waves a hand in the air, then slams it twice on the ground.  "Enough, I
surrender!"
* Tanisha STARES at Ryo.
* Arthur goes positively bug-eyed.
* Ikea twitches.
* Ao-Lang looks at Ryo with mild disbelief, but closes her tessen and flicks her
wrists. They're gone.
* Rowan facepalms.
<Ao-Lang> You surrender?  What for?
<Ryo> I've seen enough.  You're good enough.  Yep, yep.  You really do belong
here.
* Ao-Lang blinks, then smiles hesitantly. "Thanks?"
* Ryo smiles goofily.
* Tanisha smacks her forehead this time.
<Hope> Yow.
<Hope> Nice work Ao!
* Ao-Lang laughs.
<Ao-Lang> I dunno about that.  I bet Ryo here could kick my ass any day of the
week.  Ow, that hurt.
<Ryo> Hey, just because you can't hang with the most powerful teams yet doesn't
mean you don't belong here.
<Ryo> I AM the number one ranked freshman in the Student Dueling Association.
* Ao-Lang rubs at one of her arms. "Yeah? There some rule saying I can't 'hang'
with you guys? You're a helluva lot cooler than the people we fought this
morning."
* Ao-Lang snickers. "I believe it."
* Arthur grumbles, "Only on a technicality.  I'll take it back soon enough."
<Ryo and Arthur> Hey, you're welcome to hang with us anytime!
* Ryo and Arthur glare at each other.
* Ao-Lang blinks at the guys, then rubs at the back of her head. "Right."
* Mariah glares at the two for a moment, then turns and walks away.
* Hope grins. "Gotta join this dueling club. Looks like fun."
* Ao-Lang nods at Hope. "Definitely." She flicks her eyes to Mariah as she walks
off, and some of her smile leaves, but she doesn't follow.
* Ao-Lang glances up at the sky, checking for the time.
* The sun is just beginning to set.
<Ao-Lang> Shit.  How much homework do we have, Hope?
<Hope> Quite a bit.
<Rowan> What, did y'all get stuck with one of the workaholic teachers?
<Hope> Guess so.
<Ao-Lang> Hell yes.  Miss... um... Sallah?
* Ao-Lang thinks. "Yeah, Sallah."
* Rowan shudders.  "We've got her for Sex Ed.  Like she'd know anything about
it."
* Ao-Lang snickers. "Us too. I only had one day of it, and it's already awful."
<Arthur> Only SHE could make the subject so utterly devoid of humor and fun.
<Ao-Lang> I think she puts effort into it, really.
* Karasu appears from the school!
* Ao-Lang waves at Karasu.
<Hope> Of course she does. Nobody could be that boring normallu.
* Karasu nods to Ao-Lang.
<Tanisha> Hey, prettyboy.  Welcome back.
<Tanisha> You missed a halfway decent fight.
<Karasu> What was the outcome?
<Ryo> I surrendered.
<Hope> He surrendered, but.. man, he had some powerful moves.
* Karasu looks from Ryo to Ao-Lang. "So I see."
* Ao-Lang blows upwards, her bangs flipping up and then back onto her face. She
looks down at her singed clothes. "Can't imagine what gave it away."
* Ikea wanders off.
<Karasu> Where's Mariah?
<Ao-Lang> I'd better start on my homework.  It was nice meeting you guys.
<Arthur> Who?
<Hope> She went bacta the room I think.
* Ao-Lang shakes her head. "I dunno. She wandered off."
* Hope ponders decking Arthur.
<Arthur and Ryo> Nice meeting you, too.
* Arthur and Ryo glare at each other.
* Ao-Lang decides to ignore it. This is getting way too complicated.
<Karasu> Perhaps we should return, as well.
* Tanisha sighs and turns to Hope.  "Nice meeting your team, all of you."
<Hope> Same to you.
* Karasu nods.
* Hope grins. "See ya all later, I think we should get back."
* Ao-Lang nods and waves with a grin. "Thanks for the fight." She starts back
for the room.
* Rowan waves silently as the other group walks away.
[And so the group retired in order to do homework, lest they fail their
classes.]
[Fight... Win by submission, Ao-Lang!]