[It's friday night, the moon is bright. Or it will be in a little while, anyway. Give the girl a hand, she can keep a man occupied for hours doing nothing much at all. Now, though, they're at the gates to the school just about to head down to the city for a little more fun, and there ain't no t-bird for daddy to take away.] [Session... START!] * Ao-Lang stretches. She's still wearing that velvety dark green shirt with the clingy, then flaring sleeves at the elbow. And she still has her tight black jeans on, and her shiny leather boots. Her hair's still in a ponytail. And she's wearing make up. "Finally got out of there." What, so eager to be out of there? * Ao-Lang grins at Ryo. "Not that I don't like spending time with you or anything, but there's no telling when they'd be back." She grabs his hand and starts making her way down the mountain. * Ryo allows himself to be tugged along, taking his time to let the mountain work his legs a little. And I'm really not looking to spend more quality time with them. Even if Karasu's back. How're you guys getting along? Pretty good, actually. When we talk at all, anyway. It's almost like we've only got three team members. Yeah? Yeah, Tanisha and Ikea hardly say a thing. And Rowan's not much better. So mostly it's just Artie and me. * Ao-Lang laughs. "And you guys check out chicks all day, or what?" Nah, there aren't many chicks here to check out. There are a few. And I thought Tanisha talked more. She sure seemed to like Karasu. Yeah, she does. But then he disappeared. * Ao-Lang shrugs with one shoulder. "Well, he's back now." Really? You saw him in the cafeteria, Ryo. That was Karasu? He looked kinda... off, y'know? * Ao-Lang blinks at Ryo. "What do you mean? Because he was eating?" No, he looked like he hadn't slept in days. * Ao-Lang rubs at the back of her neck and squeezes Ryo's hand. "Yeah, about that. We have no idea where the hell he's *been*. Not in school, that's for sure." You're kidding. He just up and disappeared for days? And he won't tell you where the hell he's been? Yup. And if you believe him, he can't remember a damn thing. I wouldn't believe it. * Ao-Lang shakes her head. "The last thing he said he remembers was walking up the mountain back to here." I dunno. Karasu's totally fucked up. Yeah, I've been hearing strange things about him. * Ao-Lang laughs a little, then takes a breath and kicks a pebble farther down the mountain. "Yeah? Like what?" Like somebody saying he's in league with that bastard Tulpa. I dunno if "in league" covers it. He hates him. So he didn't fork over a living soul to Tulpa? That's a relief. Uh... no, actually, he did do that. * Ryo stiffens a little. "You're kidding." * Ao-Lang looks at Ryo for a moment, then she faces forward and keeps dragging him down the mountain. "I was there when it happened. He traded Max's soul so we could get Kai back." * Ryo forces himself to relax, it's easy to tell. "That's... not a nice thing to do. What's he doing with living souls, anyway?" Who? Tulpa? I mean, none of them are *nice*. Max isn't nice. If you start looking at fighting like a war, you won't be nice, either. I hope I never have to. And I meant Karasu. I -expect- Tulpa to have souls. He's evil. Shops at the Gap and everything. Maybe Karasu's less evil than Tulpa, but he's sure got something evil in him. * Ryo takes three quick steps down off the mountain as they reach the bottom. * Ao-Lang is dragged along after him, since she didn't let go of his hand. She stumbles before she regains her balance. You okay? Yeah, I'm fine. * Ao-Lang lets go of his hand and brushes mountain dust off of herself. You guys having trouble living together, or something? I can see how living with Hope might be a problem. She seems kinda... well, an awful lot like that girl Kento rooms with. * Ao-Lang snorts. "Hope? She hates me." Ao-Lang cracks her back. "Just because I told her she makes an awful leader." Why is she the leader, anyway? You'd be much better. Or even Mariah. And I thought Kai was the leader. * Ao-Lang shrugs. "I dunno about before, but Hope's been the leader since I got here. I have no idea how they picked her. Maybe by drawing straws or something equally stupid." She's a strong fighter, but that doesn't mean much. Yeah, she's plenty strong. I just hope she realizes people are gonna be gunning for her now. She'd be stupid not to. Hell, I bet people are gonna be gunning for the whole team. * Ao-Lang claps her hands. "So! Talk to me while you take me somewhere to eat." Okay. You got a preference? * Ao-Lang grins. "Anything but cafeteria food." Can do. Right this way, milady fair. * Ryo sorta rolls his eyes. "I tell you, I hate medieval lit." * Ao-Lang laughs. "Yeah, talk about your Western bias." She brushes her ponytail off of her shoulder, heading in the direction Ryo indicates. I can't believe anybody ever did things that way. They were afraid of new ideas, I guess. I don't see why people are afraid of new ideas. I mean, if I stopped moving forward for an instant, I'd get passed up by all the other fighters. You know what I mean, you're a real fighter. * Ao-Lang rolls her eyes in amusement. Which is different from fake fighters, right? * Ryo nods. "Exactly." You mean like Mariah. Yeah, though word is she's getting a bit more serious lately. Yeah, I talked to her about that. It's not happening fast enough. * Ao-Lang looks away from Ryo and combs her fingers through her ponytail. * Ryo drops back a step and reaches his arm around around Ao's waist. "What's wrong?" * Ao-Lang sighs and leans into Ryo. "Can I join your team? You can trade someone for me. Tanisha. I bet she wouldn't mind going." Hell, if leaders could trade members, I bet Hope would ditch me in a heartbeat. I wish. I'd have traded Arthur away ages ago if I could. * Ao-Lang snickers. "But he's the only guy you talk to." Yeah, but if I could get you in return, that'd be so much better. They'd have to be stupid to take that trade. * Ryo slows down a bit and pulls open a solid wooden door, made from actual wood. It's pretty dark inside. * Ao-Lang tsks. "C'mon, you do wanna win. Arthur's more powerful than I am." Her expression darkens. "Just about everyone is." * Ao-Lang looks in. * The wondrous smell of authentic italian food wafts out on a light breeze. * Ao-Lang sniffs. "You know how to please a girl." And she heads in. Yeah, I get it from my dad. You can thank him someday. Gonna take me to meet your parents now? Should I be worried? Let's just say if you wanted to come meet them on break, I wouldn't complain at all. * Ryo takes a seat at a nice cozy table for two, off in a shady corner. * Ao-Lang tags along, since Ryo's probably been here before, and sits at a side next to his. You ever have wine? * Ao-Lang grins. "You think there's a drinking age in China?" * Ryo shrugs a little. "No idea, really." There isn't. How about Japan? That's where you're from, right? Yeah. Technically I'm not legal until I'm twenty, but hey. Doesn't really matter. * Ao-Lang tilts her head. "Yeah?" Yeah, it's just wine. It's not like I'm doing... what did they call it... um... jelly shots? * Ao-Lang laughs. "Something like that. I'm not really an expert on liquor." Me either. Fire and alcohol don't really go together. * Ao-Lang sets her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand. "I guess this means I'm not gonna see you drunk?" I thought I was supposed to get YOU drunk. But if you really want to get me drunk, go right ahead. Yeah. Then we can wake up tomorrow to find out we're not virgins anymore. I can think of worse things. * Ao-Lang laughs. "Yeah, but not remembering? We'd have to do it again just to make up for it." * Ryo mock motions for the waiter. "Waiter, cancel the wine. We'll have vodka instead." * Ao-Lang just grins. * The table itself is very small, just barely big enough, if you try real hard, for four people, it's definitely more suited to two, and is covered in an actual nice REAL tablecloth. Lighting is provided courtesy some very realistic candle-lamps overhead. * Ao-Lang starts tracing a finger along the tabletop. "So, what'd you do before you came here?" * Ryo grins lopsidedly. "I fought, mostly." * Ao-Lang sticks her tongue out at Ryo. "Duh. Where?" Oh, I went to Yoritomo Middle School. Northern Japan. Nice place, but a little calm for a fighting school. But hey, it's the only one near enough to my family's place, so there I went. Really? * Ao-Lang folds her arms, leaning on the table and looking at Ryo. "There were fighting junior high schools? I guess that makes sense." Yeah, there are fighting schools all over. I'm really surprised you didn't go to one. You'd have done great, and probably have made it into Battle High without a problem. * Ao-Lang shrugs. "I was with my family. We traveled a lot." And I bet those schools were all full anyway. I don't think any of the middle schools are ever really full. It was probably the moving thing. THey're not big on people transferring. Yeah, so I transferred all the time and got into fights with the students there. But you always won, right? Yeah. Always. Exactly. If it weren't for the moving thing, you'd have started out pretty high in BH. They try not to take chances with people that aren't from accredited fighting schools, you know. Nah, but that makes sense. It doesn't sound like anyone on my team's from a fighting school, either. I'm almost certain Mariah isn't. Nope. I think you're about the only ones, though. * Ao-Lang chuckles, looking down at her finger as she traces on the tablecloth. "I knew they were shoving people that they figured were the same level of ability together, but that's something else." -> *nickserv* identify whatfour Yeah, it's kinda odd that they don't try to balance the teams at all. Oh, here comes the waiter. You like spaghetti? * Ao-Lang nods. "Yeah." Good. They've got great spaghetti here. Um, you allergic to mushrooms? I hope not. Otherwise I would've broken out in hives ages ago. Great. * Ryo leans back and whispers to the waiter for several long seconds. * Ao-Lang looks at the waiter and Ryo curiously. * The waiter nods and walks off for the kitchens, jotting down the order. * Ao-Lang goes back to tracing on the table. "Anyway, yeah. They don't balance them. I'm still trying to figure out why." You could always ask Principal Nagawa. You think he'll tell me? I'd give it fifty fifty. * Ao-Lang grins. "Care to bet on a side?" Sure. * Ryo digs a coin out of his pocket. "Heads I bet on yes, tails I bet on no." He flips the coin. * Ao-Lang watches it flip! * Ryo snaps the coin out of the air and slaps it down on the table. He lifts his hand, revealing tails. I've got ten bucks on him not telling you. Ten bucks? Deal. * Ao-Lang holds her hand out to Ryo to shake. * Ryo shakes Ao's hand. [Session... restart!] * Ao-Lang shook Ryo's hand! She drops it and picks up her fork. "Y'know, I still just barely know how to use these things." Same here. It's easier when you use the spoon at the same time, though. * Ao-Lang looks at Ryo curiously. "How do you do that?" I'll show you when the spaghetti gets here. It's easier to demonstrate. You have to be good with your fingers, though. I think we've already demonstrated that *you're* good with them. * Ryo grins widely. "You're not so bad yourself." * Ao-Lang smirks. She leans onto her elbows, peering at him. "You really think so." * Ryo grins wider. "Absolutely. Pure magic." I don't know. Maybe I need more practice. Did you have any girlfriends before me, Ryo? * Ryo shrugs a little. "Nothing really serious. Just school dances and stuff. Kids stuff, y'know?" * Ao-Lang sighs. She leans back into her chair, removing her elbows from the table. "Yeah. I guess we're technically doing kid stuff now too, though." * Ryo slouches back in his chair a bit. "I'm not going to worry about what adults say it is. We're having fun." * The waiter comes back and carefully pours two glasses of wine. Oh, I'm not *worried*. It's not like they'll do anything here anyway. * Ao-Lang smiles at the waiter. "Thanks." * Ryo nods happily to the waiter. * Ao-Lang peers into the glass before having a tentative sip. Yeah, I really like this place so far. Middle school was a real drag, the teachers would jump all over any fight that just sorta happened. * Ao-Lang laughs. "Well, you went to a fighting school. Where I went, they'd jump over any fight." She pauses. "Not that they could stop me, but... yeah, I got in trouble." * The wine is a deep, fruity red. That musta sucked. How'd you get any real practice? Especially enough to get you into Battle High? My family fights. If they all fight as well as you, it's a wonder you haven't had more family members drafted. * Ao-Lang looks into the wine. "And I've gotta carry on the school. That's gonna be my job." She shrugs, setting the glass down. At least you know what you're going to do once you're done with school. Nah, I'm one of the best we ever had. Aunt Tou-Rui said I might be as good as my grandma. I was gonna train under her, but... * Ryo nods. "I understand." * Ao-Lang shrugs. "Well, she's dead now." * Ao-Lang traces a pattern on the tablecloth. "So they took the invitation to Toriyama from the mail and sent me there instead." You must've been cleaning up. I can't see anybody of Toriyama quality being anywhere near your league. Yeah, I was taking on seniors, no problem. It's different there. Everyone for himself. No teams? I suppose that makes a strange sort of sense. Why's it strange? Seems sorta natural to me. Really? Plan on being alone a lot? * Ao-Lang looks at Ryo for a moment, then she turns her attention down to the tablecloth again. "Well." She pauses, then continues, softly, "When you get down to it, even with family... In the end, all you've got to count on is yourself." That's kinda grim. * Ao-Lang laughs. "But it's true." She looks up at Ryo. "You know about games? Games are like life. In games, the only variable you can really set is yourself. Same's true in life. It's the only thing you've got control over." yeah, but you can count on me, now. * Ao-Lang grins suddenly. "We're not even on the same team." Well, you can count on me as long as our teams aren't up against each other. * Ao-Lang 's eyes twinkle. "And then I can count on you to do your level best to kick my ass." Exactly! Hey, spaghetti! Huh? * Ao-Lang looks. * The waiter walks up with a fairly large platter of spaghetti. * The waiter sets the platter down in between Ao-Lang and Ryo. Wow, that smells great. How'd you find this place anyway? I followed my nose. * Ao-Lang laughs. She picks up her fork and spoon. "Okay. I can barely hold this." She demonstrates with the fork. And I know I fight with two weapons, but I don't really have the dexterity to hold the spoon normally with my other hand, so... * Ryo picks up his fork and spoon. "Watch carefully. I am about to demonstrate the legendary, five thousand year old Japanese Fork and Spoon technique. * Ao-Lang blinks. "There were forks in Japan for five thousand years?" I don't think Japan has actually been around for five thousand years, actually. The *islands* have been there for five thousand years. * Ryo shrugs and holds the spoon securely in his left hand, then reaches the fork through some spaghetti and thrusts the tines of the fork into the bowl of the spoon, then twirls the fork to wind up the spaghetti. * Ao-Lang watches. Fascinating! That's how you do it. You just have to be dextrous enough to twirl the fork with one hand. * Ao-Lang nods. "I think I can do that." * Ao-Lang tries it out, putting her spoon in the spaghetti and twirling the fork above it, picking up noodles. She does a fair job of it. Not bad at all. Thanks. * Ao-Lang lifts the fork. Spaghetti comes up with it, though some noodles slip off. "Oops. Uh... yeah, this is gonna be messy." Toldja you had magic fingers. * Ao-Lang laughs. * Ao-Lang carefully brings the spaghetti to her mouth and bites down onto it. She ends up slurping some up and getting sauce on her chin. * Ryo stifles a laugh. * Ao-Lang chews and swallows. "What?" She looks down at her shirt. It's spotless. * Ryo points to his chin. * Ao-Lang blinks, then brings her fingers up to her chin. "Gah." * Ao-Lang scrambles, grabbing a napkin and wiping it. You've gotta be careful, it can get messy. * Ao-Lang hrmphs. "Fine." * Ryo smiles. [This is continued offcamera, for great justice]