Persona- Burn On, Shining Souls!

[Blivsey]

Sigmund Okonkwo
Bellow High Dorms [Thurs, Early Evening]

Russell piped up first: "I'm going to get a haircut," with a further explanation on how it was getting in his way and that he didn't have any better ideas. Halberd gave his support, and Sigmund nodded along, remarking, "Yeah, better now than in a month or two when it starts really getting cold." He'd felt a bit of chill himself across the top of his head on the way back, himself. Hopefully his hair would grow out at least a little bit by winter. As Halberd made a note of his own plans - nothing huge and concrete - Sigmund tossed his apple cores and came around to the couch, where Halberd was setting down the teapot, sliding across the armrest into a corner seat.

The older student was proposing a toast, hoping that they would beat whatever the Court had up its sleeve.¹ Of course, they were all still around to talk about it after more than two months, which was impressive enough, but now they knew that Apathy Syndrome was totally curable and exactly how to do it. A positive outlook was definitely something they could manage. They just had to keep on living and fighting, like they had already proven they could.

"Yeah - let's not let this thing get the better of us," he agreed, lifting his mug of tea² to match Halberd's. The gesture almost looked like the classic three musketeers sign, until the three broke it off and started into their drinks, Sigmund downing half of his at once. This immediately turned out to be a terrible idea, as to be expected from pouring near-boiling water into one's mouth, causing him to spit it back out - mostly into his cup, though a small amount of the spray ended up on the table.

Sigmund cleared his throat, trying and failing to salvage his composure, before answering Halberd, "Dunno what I'm gonna do about the weekend, though. Got nothin' planned, just went home last week, so I'll probably just take this one as it comes." Taking a drink from his mug³, Sigmund leaned back in his chair. He was planning on doing something else, but he couldn't exactly remember what. Which, honestly, probably meant that it wasn't a huge deal either way.

At that moment, Ciara walked into the lounge, making a bee-line past the three and making a production of sticking a poster to the notice board. Then, just as quickly as she had come in, she disappeared back up the stairs. Curious, Sigmund took off his glasses briefly to try and read the poster from the couch. He mainly just caught a few words - Chinese takeout, free food, evening tomorrow, fun - but those were plenty. He'd definitely have to show up after -

Oh, that's what he wanted to do!

Jerking himself back forward, nearly spilling his drink for the second time and pushing his glasses back up, he added, "That's it - I was gonna go visit, ah, the girls in the hospital sometime in the next couple days. Probably tomorrow, before Ciara's thing. You guys wanna come?" He looked to Russell and Halberd in turn before setting his mug down and slid himself back over the armrest to return to his near-boiling rice.

---

¹ Though Halberd said it much more eloquently.
² His interest in herbal tea had faded over the last two months, though he still appreciated that Halberd made a good cuppa.
³ A much smaller sip this time.

[niedude]

<//JP- Lovers Arcana//3
<//About to become a Eunuch//3

I name thee Sonya the Butcher, slicer of genitals, maker of holes, and shooter of scrotums. By thy will shall true love find physical consummation as thy wacko brain does devote itself to bring about sexual joy to two mad lovers.

By the process of blowing out JP’s manhood with a shotgun.

As lovely as the thought was (and is it not the thought that counts...?) JP didn’t take too kindly to having his most precious thing blown out in a matter befitting a Saw movie and the shock almost made him forget that, for some reason, Sofiya apparently thought that he and Mana were some sort of couple. And, being unfamiliar with the process of “the homosex”, the girl took it upon herself to spit in the face of whatever maker she held sacred and gruesomely defy the body of one of the two teenage boys so the other could have some very explicit fun.

Wasn’t she sweet?
I mean, she’s completely and utterly insane. No f*cking doubt about that! But… there’s some kindhearted sweetness in there. Somewhere. Buried beneath the body horror and homo-erotic fantasies.

JP, however, failed to see it.
“MANAAAAAAAA!” he said as he jumped over multiple obstacles in the classroom. He approached Mana and, with all the grace in the world (not), pinned him to the wall.

“WHAT SICK PRANK IS THIS?”
JP dug his forearm further beneath the smaller boy’s chin, inadvertedly putting a little too much pressure over the kid’s throat.
“Don’t try to deny it, this has your doing written all over it. She thinks we’re gay and she wants to blow my balls off just so you can **** me! THE HELL MAN?”

JP regretted saying that loud almost immediately after he’d shouted it. He looked around the room and through the open doors where a number of passing students (along with whoever was left in the classroom) stood wide eyed staring at the two.

“Where the hell are you looking at? **** OFF!”

Most students cleared right away, but a few let out a burst of laughter before scramming away from JP’s incoming rage. Now embarrassed more than he was outraged, JP finally let go of Mana, telling him:

“This on totally on you.”

[Zincspider]

Izzy Simone
With the rest of the band.
Lost track of time

Snow turned off his phone and shook his head. It seemed like Josh wasn't coming. Phil and Ned seemed to agree.

“So he's not coming? Lame.”
“Super lame. Like... Izzy's love life lame.”

Well... that was rude.

“Hey! What's that supposed to mean?”

Phil and Ned took a small look at each other than began to laugh. Ned decided to speak up first, allowing Phil to bend over his drums in hysterics.

“Dude, let's put it this way. Snow get's more tail than you do. Hell, Randy gets more tail than you do, and he doesn't even get any.”

Deciding to join in on the fun, Phil picked his head up. “Like, totally man. At least Randy's has a girl who wants him. You have a girl who thinks you're an 'ok' way to pass the time.” Finished with their little observation, the twins exchanged a quick fist pound, and offered one to Snow as well.

“Just- Just get back to writing a song about poison.” Izzy mumbled, trying to get the subject off his 'Love' Life. “'Bout all that stuff is good for, more likely to kill ya than help ya...”

This sentence seemed to catch Phil's attention. He picked up his can of Mad Bull and squinted hard at the label, as if the action was hurting him.

“Wait, this stuff ain't good for you? But... it's got energy in it!”

“No, it's not. Just to start, the level it increases your heart rate to is downright dangerous.”

A spark seemed to emerge in Phil's brain. Looking at his face scrunch up you could practically feel the gears turning, knocking off years of rust and gunk from years of misuse. Namely, not being used at all Phil raised his drink and cleared his throat, before speaking once more with a mock British accent... or all he could muster, barely noticeable beneath his normal 'dude' front. Ned quickly joined in.

“Ned-”

“Yes, Phil?”

“Kickstart Your Heart was written after Nikki Sixx overdosed and was pronounced dead, before being revived with two adrenaline shots to the heart. I think I have an idea!”

“In all due respect, Sir Dude, I do not wish to overdose on Mad Bull tonight.”

“You mistake my intentions, Baron Von Bodacious, it simply made me realize we may write a song about Mad Bull... without writing a song about Mad Bull. Only on how you feel after chugging it!”

“Your genius knows no bounds, my brother! Then we won't be a commercial!”

“EXCELLENT!”
“EXCELLENT!”

“What's excellent? You guys that happy I'm late?”

In the excitement between the twins, Izzy hadn't notice the door to the back room open, and a breathless Randy walk in. He was more worked up that usual.

“We're writing a song about how it feels to drink Mad Bull!”
“Totally!”

“... This is what happens when I leave you two alone with the quiet guys for a few minutes isn't it?”

Randy shook his head then walked over to Izzy and punched him on the shoulder. The act, however, required Randy to take his hand out his pocket. And when he took his hand out of his pocket, a small plastic package slipped out. A small, square, plastic package. With the word 'Spartan' written clearly across it.

Randy froze in place looking down at it. His face grew red as Izzy, Phil, Ned, and Snow all looked down at his 'property'.

“I take it back, Izzy. Seems like Randy's getting more than Snow.”

[Vivian_Bloom]

Lace Condor
Cozyin' up with Shinai

Lace had been testing her partner's patience from the moment she sat across from him. The conversation grew as relaxed as it was going to get and every now and then Lace would glance and smile at Amissa, wishing to bring her in the banter. Lace was getting ready to demonstrate her views on what she really thought about the school's sugar-freesnacks when Amissa tapped Shinai on the shoulder. Lace shut up and slowly slid back in her seat as Shinai raised his finger to be quiet.

"You guy's goin' out to run some errands?" she said, ignoring his request. She slapped her hands on the desk and pushed out her chair. She had her bag slung over her shoulder and started to walk backwards to the door. She looked over to Shinai. "If it's cool with you, mind if I come in here again later? Just to talk about, whatever, you know?" Lace waved to the both of them and finally found the doorknob behind her. Just as she was about to disappear, her finger stuck back out and pointed to where she guessed Shinai was in the room. "We'll take more about that sugar-free stuff, alright? That's -" she popped her head in the room. "That's the one thing in this school that we are not going to change!" Finally the door closed. "Oh," she whispered from outside, "and I'll have my forms and stuff here for you tomorrow, 'kay? Thanks!"

Bellow High Dorms
Common Room - Entrance

Lace threw her bag to the side, completely missing the rack as she shut the doors behind her. She made her way over to the kitchen sink and was leaning back on the counter staring at the cupboards. "Today, we're having something special," she said, more to herself as she ran her hands over the counter. "Whatever it is, it's gotta be instant. I know that." Lace had her own personal plastic bag of goods in the fridge with her name across it in big permanent marker. She was ripping off the Styrofoam top that had served as a barrier for her next meal. "Ramen," she said, backing up pointing to the two cups sitting scared in the sink, "chicken-flavored!" They were quick, easy to make, and full of vitamins and protein, and, well -- the important ones anyway. She put them both in the microwave and carried a 2-liter bottle of Cream Soda sitting with her on the other side of the bar.

In between drinks she finally noticed that a few of the guys already made themselves comfortable. Sigmund and Halberd were there with Russell. The timer on the microwave went off, but Lace, still full of soda, just stared at them for another minute when jerked back around. She jumped up and got a tray by the refrigerator and placed her two cups of noodles, the drink, and an apple just 'cause. Closing the door with her heel she teetered her way over to the table close to Halberd when Sigmund piped up with an invitation.

Clarise and Terri? Tomorrow? "We're really going to go see 'em?" she asked Sigmund. "It's been forever! I'll go!" Lace was just about to set her tray down when she stopped herself and looked over to Halberd. "Oh, sorry! Hey, Russell... Halberd, mind if I sit with you guys?" she nodded to her steaming cups of shriveled chicken, "I'll share some with ya if you want."

[Zincspider]

Garret Wulfgard
Bellow High Stadium
November 1st - 10:25 PM

“You know I'm not happy about this... I mean, I wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me, but part of me still wants to be angry.”

“Really now, Testa? How's that make you feel?”

“Kinda itchy. It's not something I like, I know that much.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, at least you know I'm not shootin' hookers and stealin' cars.”

“I never thought you were, Garret. Maybe just going out to meet Halls...”

“What? Nah, Halls is more like a buddy than anything. We go drinking on Fridays, and that's it. She's not my type anyway.”

“What's that supposed to mean? What's your type, Gary? I'll have you know I'm happily married-”

“Oh, shut your trap.”

“Aaaaand, done. And not a minute too soon. The kids should be arriving any minute, right?”

Jones stepped back from the field and took in his and Garret's handiwork. They had only gotten out there a short while ago, but they'd already pulled out all the practice dummies that Jones used for archery practice... as well as throwing a javelin at here and there.

“Yeah, ten thirty... it's quite a bit earlier than usual, ya know.”

“It's necessary. I have to see what they can do, and what I can do to help.”

“Well, don't work them too hard we-”

“We don't need them gasping for air when fighting for their lives, yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“When they all get here, have them tell me how they fight. I'll go from there.”

[Kiruria]

OOC: I couldn't have picked a better time to post!
IC:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Halberd
Bellow High Commons

A visit to the hospital, eh? Halberd kind of liked that idea. He hadn't seen Terri in forever, and though he didn't know Clarise that well, it might be nice to visit her too. But more importantly, he liked the idea of hanging out with a group of people in general. One of Halberd's worries before coming here to Bellow High, after all, had been feeling detached from the school and not being able to make any friends there. When things first started out, it had been this way, with him living in an apartment just off campus and remaining on the computer in communication with the other Black Cat Bandits in his free time. But then the Court of Miracles had to come in and change everything. Though most of those changes were negative, it did give Halberd an excuse to be more involved with the school, as well as an excellent opportunity to make new friends. Here were two very good friends to Halberd sitting right here with him, having tea with him. How nice.

Make that three, actually. For just then, Lace entered the room. Immediately she made a beeline for the kitchen area, preparing some instant ramen noodles and grabbing a big bottle of soda. Yup, sounded like the typical Lace all right. Heck, he was surprised that she could still be hungry after having just had all that pizza and such for lunch a couple of hours ago. Despite her being a third or even a fourth his size, she probably ate just about as much as he did on a typical day, except most of it was junk food (but hey, at least she brought an apple this time!). It probably wasn't a problem though--for now, just another thing on Lace's crazy characteristics list.

"Oh, hello Lace!" Halberd greeted just after she had already sat down. "I was wondering if you'd join us. And thanks for offering the soup, but even though I had to skip lunch today because of that meeting, supper will be in just another hour or so anyway. And besides, I have no more tea to exchange for it. Pirates like me'd be stickin' to ye olde barter system whene'er thar be no good treasure to loot," he decided to add for the fun of it. After all, the most significant time he had had with Lace recently was on Halloween where he was a pirate for a day.

"Anyway," he continued, this time to everyone present, "I like the idea of visiting Terri and Clarise. Ciara's party on the other hand... Well, on one hand it sounds fishy to me and on another I don't really like Chinese food, but on the third hand if I had one, I have not yet had a proper opportunity to wish Ciara a happy birthday, and this even may be the only time I get to see her outside of Court anytime soon. So I guess I'm going."

After Halberd finished the last of his tea, he got up and brought the tray back to the kitchen, where he also grabbed some paper towels to bring back to the table to clean the spilled tea up with. As with his appearance, he liked to keep things in his immediate environment clean whenever possible. And speaking of his own appearance...

"I'll be back in a bit," Halberd added as he was cleaning up. "I would like to get out of this uniform as soon as possible."

Halberd had never been a fan of school uniforms, especially since this had been his first school in which he had to wear one. And also because white and blue weren't really his colours. It was his opportunity to go back to the old style of dress he preferred when he was in his tweens, with a woolly sweater and baggy shorts and knee-high socks, but nevertheless, in most of his school days here, the first thing he did afterward was change out of his uniform. Especially since with his long braided hair, it would make him look like a gigantic schoolgirl with overly hairy legs whenever he was out in public. Today was probably the day he had been in his uniform the longest, for he was thinking so much about what was discussed at fencing practice earlier that he forgot to change when he first got here.

On the way back to his room, Halberd passed by the door to Joshua's room, wondering whether he was in there doing homework or something, or on another date with Ciara. Knowing how Ciara was, it was probably the latter. He heaved a sigh. If only that stupid relationship between the two of them hadn't gotten in the way, he would have a much easier time talking to both of them. Every time he thought of that relationship (if it even was an offical one), he wondered what they could possibly see in each other, how deep their relationship really was. It seemed to him that it was mostly all fun and frills, but was there a deeper component to it? He could only wonder.

And he wondered, all the way until he was back in the common room in his proper red and black attire, kilt and all. The only thing he didn't bother changing was his socks, for he liked the way the navy blue trim looked above his boots. Except he didn't put on his long coat yet; he typically saved that for an evening outing or the Court of Miracles nowadays. It had become his battle coat, pretty much. Though he did put on a maroon pullover sweater as well, in light of the somewhat chilly weather outside. And just for the heck of it, he brought his physics homework down with him as well. Nowadays the homework from that class was his favourite to finish, as he always dreaded writing papers and trying to remember historical events on the other side of the world. He just had to hope Ciara wouldn't come back anytime soon to make another scoffing remark about his thing with physics, like she had done on their first training session with Wulfgard-sensei.

After no more than about five minutes, Halberd was in his seat in the common room again, though he probably missed a bit of conversation already. After a quick check of his planner to see which problems were assigned that day, he opened his physics textbook and laid it on the armrest beside him, pulling out a notepad and a scientific calculator as well.

"I do apologise," he mentioned to everyone, "but from now until supper is pretty much the only time I'll have to do homework tonight, as I have plans to be out and about tonight before Court. But hey, maybe tomorrow if we have time leftover between the hospital and Ciara's party, we can maybe hit the mall again or something. We'll figure it out I guess."

And then he started working on the first homework problem, regarding projectile motion. For a second he thought how appropriate it would be if the Shadows they fought in tonight's Court specialised in firing projectiles as well. Especially if he would be too busy attempting to calculate their horizontal and vertical velocities and approximate landing positions to hurry up and fight the Shadow already.

[Ysavvryl]

Snow
afternoon-evening
around school

Band practice for the Crimson Beasts went on longer than usual, but it had been one of the most fun sessions so far. Randy wasn't being broody and it seemed like they'd at least get a loud and energetic song as a result. Afterwards, they had gone out to eat together and argue (in a jesting manner) about what the lyrics for the song-about-Mad-Bull-but-not-really should be. It might have gone into the evening, but three of them needed to be back to school for another practice of a very different nature.

On getting back to the dorms, Snow made sure he was prepared for tonight. He had a couple of hours to kill. For a moment, he thought of just taking a nap or doing something else. Maybe going down to chat with the others. But he needed to keep up with his schoolwork, and he hadn't even gotten around to the studying for the Court he wanted to do. There was too much to do and not enough time to do it all in. He opted to study for that time.

As it was getting close to ten-thirty, Snow took his things and headed out with some of the others to meet up with Wulfgard and Testa at the school. He noticed a new paper on the corkboard, a note about a dorm dinner party tomorrow. That sounded like it could be fun (although the fact that it was on red paper with big lettering and that it insisted that it would be fun in a way that suggested having fun would be enforced as mandatory, that was ominous). He'd have to make sure to be here on time for that.

The stadium was set up like usual for their practices, today with various target dummies set out (including one with a spear completely through its torso). Snow wondered what he should do tonight. Usually he just worked on his running or boomerang; it wasn't easy for him to spar with one of the others. But as they came in, Wulfgard told them to talk with Testa.

He wanted to know how they fought. “Mostly I hang around in back and heal others,” Snow answered. “That's what my Persona is best at; I can even wake up those that have been knocked out now. I do have this boomerang, which goes through most Shadows but isn't that strong.”

[Wordy]

Ciara H. Wright
9.45pm

After the film had finished, the two of them sat and talked for a while. Time seemed to completely melt away, until a point where Ciara casually checked her phone and was shocked to notice that it was already 9.45pm. It felt like it had been hours... or was it minutes? It had been one of those happy, forgetful times where imperatives and the outside world had been completely cast aside. Sadly, when she told him he had said that he had to go but he would see her later at the stadium. Obviously. But oh well. It was better that they had noticed rather than arrive late. That would give a wrong impression.

She lay on the bed for a while, just thinking contently about how nicely the day had gone. Far better than she would have thought even a few weeks earlier. Maybe things really were on the up-and-up. It was better to think that they were, better to think that than wallow in bleak depression. These nights just seemed to be getting worse. She had tried to move past last night's events, but was still finding it more difficult than she was expecting. Ugh. She needed a rest.

No, she wasn't going to think like that. Tonight would be fun. But first, she would need to get dressed ready to go out on the town. She wouldn't dress out of vanity, or to prove anything to anyone. She was going to move past the whole intimidation and cold sarcasm thing, and try to be kind. Indirectly, of course. But still. Every little step would help her become more.... well, more something. A better human being, how about that. As good a target as any.

As she pulled various items out of her wardrobe, she thought about what she liked, and not about what would be the most eye-catching or present a certain image.

After a certain amount of searching around, she got together a decent ensemble and dressed herself extra-carefully. She wanted to look nice today. A blue long-sleeved blouse (buttons done up to the top, for once), red-and-pink spotted neck-scarf, worn but strong jodhpurs and finally a smart sensible pair of shoes went on and were quickly assessed as appropriate. She found that she looked very posh and probably like a schoolmistress, but the look actually suited her far more than she could have dreamed. Plus, it was far more comfortable than some of the things she had squeezed into in the past. Her make-up was gentle colours, more muted than previous choices. Light blue nails, faded pink lips... it felt like she was almost making a new her. In a good way.

Walking out of the door, she felt as if she was making the steps of a better person than the one who had stumbled in in the middle of last night.

As she walked down the stairs, she pondered going to check up on Joshua, but decided against it. Everyone deserved some alone time. They were going to meet up at the stadium later anyway. No point now.

When she arrived at the stadium, far earlier than she would have liked otherwise, Wulfgard pointed her to Jones, to tell him about how she fought. She looked at a point over his shoulder, as looking directly at him would probably make her brain break at some level due to the combination of the mundane and sheer weirdness, and recited mechanically, "I'm one of the main heavy-hitters, I would probably say. Like, direct attacks, not magic. I suppose it's difficult to imagine without my Persona. It's very... capable. Personally, I favour agility and evasiveness. Best offence is a good defence. I have butterfly swords most of the time, but I'm trained at hand-to-hand using acrobatics just in case I get disarmed."

[Son_of_Shadows]

Joshua Sands - Tower Arcana - Dorm 213

It was time to suit up for the Court once again. Honestly, it was getting sad now. When was it all going to end? Oh, no time for all this woe-is-me crap. It was time for action soon. An early meet up too, but why? Extra training? A talk from Jones? Oh Lord, a lecture at that time of night would probably kill him. Unless it was about history. Or theatre. He liked those things. Wishful thinking of course, but still... He pulled on a thin sweater and a black leather jacket over it. His tan one had been torn apart by last night's shadow bear. He made a private note to replace it this weekend... Then again, why bother? If the shadows had torn it so easily, what protection was it offering? What protection could a simple leather jacket offer him? ... What kind of protection could he offer? He shook that thought off. He was useful damn it. He was one of the only ones with a full-party healing spell, not to mention his ability to literally protect others with Shiva's magic... He needed to shake off this doubt about himself. Only by recognising his strengths would he be able to develop them, right?

Well, that was what he was going to keep telling himself at any rate. For now, he just decided he was going to stay away from things with stupidly sharp claws. Probably good life advice anyway, all things considered. Bears = bad. He was amazed he hadn't been following this anyway.

Joshua really wasn't getting anywhere with his train of thoughts tonight. His brain was still just scrambled. He'd just have to sleep on it...

---

Stadium

Once down at the usual meeting place, Joshua grabbed his usual saber from Wulfgard's van. Apparently the reason Jones had called them here early was to see how they all fought. Seemed reasonable, if he was going to be fighting alongside them. "Well, I prefer to hang back and support the team with my Persona's magic skills. I have a strong healing spell, but I can fall back on my swordplay when I need to defend myself. I don't have as much offensive power or skill as some of our other comrades though..." he admitted, a little sheepishly. He acknowledged his strengths, but not to be aware of his limits? Suicide...

Next, he made his way over to Snow, to apologise for letting him down. "I was busy, that's all. Helping Ciara celebrate her birthday. Couldn't exactly leave her high and dry, you know?" He scratched his head and averted his gaze. "So what ended up happening?"

[Blivsey]

Sigmund Okonkwo
Bellow High Dorms [Thurs, Early Evening]


Walking into the kitchen, Sigmund passed one Lace Condor going in the exact opposite direction. Jury's out on how he'd missed her coming in - probably some combination of routine and that he was focused on their toast. Hmm, toast did sound good. But rice first - then he'd see if he was still hungry.

Oh, hey, toast.

Well, a toasted bagel, at least - left right by the toaster. Looks like it'd been sitting out since breakfast. Probably abandoned, then. His now. Sigmund stuffed one half in his mouth all at once - stale, but totally edible. Still a drop in the bucket. How working people managed to totally fast for an entire month way back when was totally beyond him. Must've been a tougher breed of people back then. The rice was tough, too - could use another couple minutes. In the meantime, maybe get it some sauce or something.

He turned around, and what should he get but a face full a' Lace? The redhead zipped by again, nabbed a few items from the microwave and fridge, then zipped right back out of the room carrying more items than she had hands. Standard for her. And as distracting as always, too - whatever he had turned to go grab, it had already left his mind. Most likely something for his food or something. Which was probably done by now. Taking a spoonful, it looked pretty soaked and pretty hot. Well, that was the point of boiling it, so close enough. A quick strain into a serving bowl, add a spoon and a liberal drizzle of hot sauce, and toss the dishes in the washer¹, and he was right back in the living room with the others just in time to hear a few words of assent.

"Cool. Club ends for me at five-thirty tomorrow, so I guess I'll meet ya there as close to six as I can," he suggested, plopping down in a table chair. "That oughta leave time to get back for Ciara's shindig if you wanna do that." Of course, he wasn't sure that getting back in time was any worry - most of the group was a bit uneasy around Ciara anyway, and he couldn't really claim to be much different given her attitude². Still, they were probably going to be around the dorms tomorrow night, so there was no reason not to give it a shot.

Halberd excused himself to get changed, prompting Sigmund to admit that, "The man's got a point," and throw his jacket and dress shirt over the back of the chair. First time he'd been out of those since before class, and it felt refreshing. Doubly so because he was now free to shovel oversized spoonfuls of rice down his gullet without abandon. Which he did. And so the rice was already half-devoured when Halberd came down the stairs, leaving Lace to chat with Russell in the meantime.

Time kept passing, as it always did - a few people stayed up in the common room to do homework and chat and the like. Sigmund wasn't one of them. He talked idly for a while while he still had food, and afterwards disappeared up into his room to get changed into more appropriate attire. A worn-through pair of canvas pants, a black sweatshirt vest and a thick white shirt, plus sturdy gardening boots and minus his glasses. The same outfit he'd been wearing to the Court of Miracles for some time - it had stood up well so far, and the individual components were easy to replace when they got ripped through.

He gave himself just enough time to knock out a writing assignment due the next day³ and tend to the garden on his windowsill one last time. The latter felt more like spinning his wheels than anything. His plants were already receding - there was no way that they would last the weekend outside. He'd have to figure out something or dump them. But he'd cross that bridge later. It was already way past dark, and he needed to get going. Throwing a maroon track jacket on and a bag over his shoulder, he walked out of the apartment, giving the others each a wave in turn.

It's that time again.


Bellow High Stadium [Thursday Night]

In all honesty, Bellow High having its own sports stadium always seemed weird to Sigmund. The other area high schools mostly just used multipurpose fields with old bleachers or, in West's case, borrowed from the nearby community college. That was kind of an apples-and-oranges thing, though - North didn't have student dorms, either. Well, if they could afford to basically build a boarding school in the middle of the city, then they could afford to give it a proper sports arena, he supposed. And put it all on top of a nest of monsters.

Eugh.

Back to thoughts less terrifying, tonight's meeting was pretty early by most accounts. No surprise there - the teachers probably were going to fix them up with some new strategery now that everyone knew what was going down. Sure enough, before Sigmund had even gotten there, Wulfgard had already set the place up with dummies and archery targets, and Jones was interviewing some early arrivals about how they fit into the group as far as fighting went. Probably the best way to bring him up to speed.

...how long had Mr. Jones been in on this, again? Well, he was here now, and he was calling for Sigmund. Tossing around ideas for something clever to say, he strolled toward the teacher while rummaging through his duffel bag for his gauntlets in the middle of all the towels padding them. Of course, doing three things at once almost always ends in none getting done well, and so it took until around the time he hit a witty opening to finally pull out one of his gauntlets and realize that he had slowed his pace to a crawl. Immediately picking it back up, he put himself in about as serious order as he would get after that and took his turn in front of the history teacher.

"Pretty straightforward. I hit things. Sometimes I hit things with fire. Magic helps me hit things harder," he stated. Then, jokingly, he added, "Well, there's a bit more to it than that, but that's the idea. I pretty much do close-range grappling, and my Persona packs fireballs and beefs up my strength. I usually end up in front-ish, keep the bigger shadows held back. That kinda thing."

When Jones was done talking with him, Sigmund wrapped up his hands and strapped on his gauntlets, punched the air a few times for good measure, and started going through kata forms. All the while, he kept one eye on the door in case JP joined them for the first time in weeks.

---

¹ Leaving a dirty kitchen would be an invitation for Mama O. to chew him out.
² The "statue" of Theresa from last night was the worst offender to date, and all but confirmed to be her work.
³ A page and a half opinion essay on school uniforms. Not too nasty.

[niedude]

<// JP – Lovers Arcana //3
<// Stadium //3

Oh, the horror. The nights he’d spend waking continuously reminiscing the horrors he’d narrowly evaded. Eldritch Abomination made cute bubbly teenager Sofiya, if you’re Russian weirdness factor had yet to be made apparent, it had just now been made completely manifest.

JP would never **** with that girl again. Or attempt to **** that girl again. Any and all possible interpretation of such verb in relation to said girl would not be attempted again. There is no stressing this enough. No matter how perfect that little *** may be, it’s attached to the same body the most gruesome little mind JP’d ever met was. So, he told himself, remember this: do not even attempt to tap that, no matter how much vodka, tequila, beer or wine you ingest. Remember that, boy! For your own damn good!

It was with these grim thoughts weighting his mind and spirit that JP approached the usual meeting stadium. The one he’d been avoiding for close to two months now… He hadn’t been here since… When was the last time? Honestly, he couldn’t even remember. Neither could most everyone else, most likely. That made this appearance even more important. THIS was his official return to the group; it demanded something awesome, a big, memorable entrance that would remind everyone of how badass he was.

Sadly, he couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t completely ridiculous by the time he entered the stadium. Damn feet having a mind of their own, not letting his brain come up with a plan… Though, in hindsight, it was probably a good thing that JP’s body didn’t trust the decisions his brain made. After all, the thing had had a pretty lousy track record already. Instead, the body directed the decision making to JP’s instincts, who, in turn, just said one thing: “Use your charm, JP.”

And so he did.

With the poster case concealing the sword strapped to his back and the small white sheathed dagger hidden inside JP’s trademark leather biker jacket he marched in, each step powerful and confidant. His stride was that of a leader, and his posture was one of defiance. He’d arrived a bit late it seemed, but everyone seemed to be just getting started. From what he gathered, they seemed to be demonstrating their roles and strengths to Jones.
“Oh, sweet,” he whispered, seeing the perfect opportunity to show off being presented to him on a silver platter.

“I’m the biggest hard hitter here,” he said, addressing the man but making sure his voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone. This was much more a statement of his power and hierarchical position than anything. “I usually hit with a combination of my sword skills or martial arts prowess. If I’m disarmed, I can defend myself pretty well, and I have this dagger here as a secondary weapon that really lets me be creative with some of my finishing blows. It also nudges itself quite nicely in between the masks or the armor pieces of some Shadows.

“My Persona is like me, but bigger, faster and much more powerful. It’s a giant knight of a sort, and it carries a sword that is three times my side and pretty much my width, and he can swing it like its nothing. It’s also got some buffing and darkness aligned spells, but those are mostly situational.”

He set the poster case down and removed Wulfgard’s sword from inside it.
“Care for a demonstration?”

[TheSequelReturns]

(OOC: Finally back in commission)

~ Miyuki Tachibana ~
~ Miyuki's Room - Evening ~

Jones? Seriously? I totes knew Wulfgard was hiding something, so obvs! 10.30? I'll try for 11.30, how's that? Love you xxxxxx
PS. I will never forgive you for ruining the moment I was having :D xxxxxx
PPS. Girls' Night is sooooo cancelled xxxxxx

Miyuki read over the text once again as she sat on her bed doing something she hadn't done in quite a long time. She was cuddling one of her larger plushies, a penguin half her size in a top hat and monocle, and up until she had received Ciara's reply she had been enjoying some new game show on TV.

She had ruined a moment? Miyuki frowned and hugged the gentlemanly penguin a little tighter. That was exactly the opposite of what she wanted to do! And now Ciara had gone and canceled Girl's Night. Was she mad? But there was a smiley there... was it for her or was she smiling because of the moment? Darn it Ciara, why did you have to be so hard to read sometimes? Ciara enjoyed messing with her, that had to be it.

Miyuki almost typed up a reply, but then another thought hit her. What if Ciara was having another moment RIGHT NOW. Would she ever forgive her for interrupting her twice? No, better to just not risk it and ask her about things later. Operation: Cupid's Arrow wasn't going to fail on her watch. Besides, unless her plan worked way too good, she'd run into Ciara at the special meeting tonight, which was another concern.

Miyuki fell over sideways, her hair flying out in all directions as she hit her bed, the penguin still in her arms. It had been a little while since she'd had a haircut, so her hair actually went past her shoulders now. If she had her hood on right now her hair would probably be brushing on her neck or trapped in a fold, but her jacket was currently tossed in the corner. She never wore her hoodie in her room.

The TV droned on in the background, but the situation with the meeting tonight was occupying her full attention now. So Jones knew about everything now, that much was certain. And the whole thing with Wulfgard-sensei... Why hadn't any of that been made known to them before now? Was he worried they would repeat his group's mistakes? Was he worried they weren't strong enough yet? Was it his fault that they had lost friends, or would have more people have died if he had told them sooner?

And then there was Shinai's friend, Amissa. There was something odd about that girl. She seemed nice enough, but... Miyuki couldn't put her finger on it exactly. Something just seemed... amiss.

Miyuki sighed. There was so much they didn't know. Every time she thought she was starting to figure things out, more surprises revealed themselves. Hopefully they would learn more in tonight's Court. And hopefully that knowledge wouldn't have too steep a price.

-+-+-+-+-

~ Bellow High Stadium - Night ~

Miyuki arrived at the stadium to find it decked out for what looked like another combat training session. Only difference this time was that her homeroom teacher was present. No, not just present. He stood there with authority, like he had every right to be here. His stance and presence was no less than that of Wulfgard's. Just what all did Mr. Jones have hidden up his sleeves?

Jones was drilling everyone on their strengths and weaknesses, whihc to Miyuki meant he was probably going to be leading tonight's little lesson. She wondered... if Mr. Jones got dragged into the court as well, then was he going to awaken to a Persona? And if so, then what would it be? She couldn't help but remember some of the crazy tales from his lessons and the characters that populated them.

Finally, her turn came. Mr. Jones wanted to know about her abilities in battle, as well as that of her Persona and the strategies they used. Miyuki, sadly didn't have a lot to fall back on in either regard. She was more or less entirely dependent on Astraea for protection... May as well start off with her strong points.

"My Persona is best suited to a support role." Miyuki said. If felt so weird to be talking about this stuff with a teacher who until just yesterday she was supposed to hide this from. It took a little getting used to. She tugged at her hood a bit. "She's got a strong light magic attack as well as a few defensive abilities. She can block physical attacks and cure any clouded emotions, and even slow enemies down. And she can detect lies, so when we deal with Shadow Selves they can't trick us as easily..."

She started fidgeting. "But... other than Astraea, I just carry this shield." She held up her now scratched and dented shield. The little disk of metal had saved her life more than once, but it wasn't much good for attacking. "I'm not so good with blades or anything, so I carry this to protect myself. I have to rely on my Persona to attack, but Astraea is well rounded. She can adapt to any situation."

[Kiruria]

Streets of Quartermain
Evening

It was about eight o'clock, and Halberd had just left the drugstore with a small bag, containing various essential items and also three non-essential ones (or maybe they are essential, depending on how you view it): a birthday card for Ciara and two "get well soon" cards for Clarise and Terri. As he walked away, he took another glance inside the window at the checkout cashier, whom he had just told he was getting these cards for three girls at school. He remembered the guy laughing and asking him if he was some sort of pimp or something, to which Halberd had jokingly replied, "Do you honestly think a guy in a skirt could ever be a ladies' man?"

He began to head back to his car, ready to drive back to Bellow High in time for Court training, when something caught his eye. It was a store, just a couple of doors down from the drugstore. A store that looked exactly like the kind of place Terri would shop at regularly, with all its gothic-themed clothing and jewelry and the perky heavy metal music playing in the background. But there was something specific in this store that caught Halberd's eye, something that looked a little out of place in this store even. The second he laid eyes on its bright amber surface, he knew...

Yes. Ciara will absolutely love this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bellow High Stadium
Night

Halberd arrived just in time for practice, dressed pretty much the same as he was before, except with his long battle coat on, as if he was actually going to fight shadows in the Court now. The coat just barely concealed the hilt of his rapier as he walked over to where the other Court-goers were gathered. After a quick look around, he decided to stand right next to Joshua, for such was his best hope of actually interacting with him lately. And also, he looked around at the stadium floor, where there were the standard training dummies scattered about. These were less satisfying to attack than actual Shadows, Halberd had to admit, but at least they didn't run the risk of injury or Apathy Syndrome if things went wrong this way.

Testa started off the session by asking everyone about their fighting style. An odd question, Halberd thought, given the number of training sessions they'd had before and how much of a chance the teachers had had to observe everyone's style. He thought a showcase or something might have been a better option, but he decided to go with this anyway. At least it was interesting to hear about everyone describing themselves and their Personae all of a sudden. And he could tell everyone's attitudes showed as they explained everything. Ciara sounded as confident and feisty as ever, Snow and Sigmund sounded more calm and level-headed, and Miyuki sounded modest yet seemed to know what she was talking about. And JP was outright arrogant, his role as the big guns of this outfit being as plain as the muscles on his buff physique.

Wow, guess he's back to his old self, Halberd thought as he shook his head.

And then Joshua described his role as a supporter and also a competent swordsman if necessary. And then, in classic Joshua fashion, he ended it with saying that he didn't have as much power or skill as some of the others. Immediately after he stopped, Halberd placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's not about being the strongest or most skilled," he said to him, "but about being satisfied with the skills you have. And I personally have seen how much skill you have with that sword."

Naturally, Joshua seemed rather sheepish at this, and thus went over to talk to Snow instead. More people announced what they could do, and then it was apparently Halberd's turn.

"Well, I too prefer direct attacks over magic, obviously," Halberd began. "Scathach has a bit of darkness magic and a healing spell, which helps in a tight spot, but other than that we're both melee fighters, and we work best when we fight together. I myself am more suited to power and defense than speed and agility, and I usually do best against other ground-based physical attackers like those bears from last night. Although I carry no shield, I'm pretty good at blocking and maneuvering around other melee weapons with my own sword. When up against a very powerful Shadow I can't fight on my own, I stand guard and carry people to safety if necessary, while Scathach fends the enemy off."

There. That seemed to cover everything.

[Vivian_Bloom]

Lace Condor

Bellow High Dorms (Evening)

11/01

Lace was fanning herself and breathing hard into the table trying to cool down. Her eyes started watering and her tongue was a dark red. There wasn't enough in that bottle to put out this fire. She squeezed her fists in her seat and tried her best to keep a straight face with the others, but couldn't hold out. Just as Sigmund and Halberd left out Lace launched out her seat and had her head under the kitchen faucet. "Spicy shrimp with peas and corn," Lace said, her face and arms now resting in the sink. She pushed herself up and splashed water in her blood-red eyes stumbling out the kitchen.

She jerked away from Russell's table and picked up speed running towards the stairs. "Sorry!" she shouted to him, still rubbing her eyes. "I'll see you at the stadium Russell!" Lace had a good layout of the dorm in her head and didn't need to see where she was going -- mostly. The door slammed shut behind her and hangers, shirts, books, and everything else started to whirl around her room in a rush.

Outside, Lace was halfway to the stadium. She had clear eyes and a dry winter outfit; yellow beanie, a red sleeveless-jacket with a loose yellow shirt, dark pants and white boots. Her daggers swung around her neck in a strap she'd made in the dorm. The stadium grew into view as Lace stopped to look at the moon, rubbing her mittens together. Her leg was good enough to move on thanks to Snow's magic, but this wasn't something she needed to make a habit of. "Hope everyone d-dressed up tonight," Lace stuttered as she sneezed her way down. "Why do we have to do this in November? AAAGH!"

Bellow High Stadium (Late-Evening)

Wulfgard and one of the other teachers were with the others. Lace stopped at the gate rubbing her hands as she glanced at the group. "Least I'm not the last one in." She shuffled into the group and spotted Mr. Testa. She paced feverishly back and forth as Ciara and the others told him their skills. Come on, come on...

"I stand guard and carry people to safety if necessary, while Scathach fends the enemy off," Halberd finished.

"That guy must store his fat in the spring, I know it," she mumbled coming up to the teacher. "H-Hello!" She raised her hand in front of him and placed the other over her mouth. "Sorry, teeth're chattering'. Okay!" She buffed up and spun her neck around letting the daggers fly up before catching the strap in her hand. "I got really powerful fire magic and I love just getting' in close with the enemy, real close, with -- these!" she spread out her arms with a dagger turned down in each hand. "I'm not a big hard-hitter like the others are up close, but I'm definitely the fastest!’Cuz when I build up enough speed it won't matter how big they are," she said, thrusting her fist in the air. "I'll run tornadoes around them and kick 'em into next week at a thousand miles 'n hour!"

She lowered her arm and gave Testa a quick nod before moving out. She felt hot and ready for tonight and couldn't keep still. Halberd finished up his talk and Lace quickly made her way over to him. She snuck up right behind him, gently grabbed both of his shoulders and shook him awake. “It’s almost winter, Cap’n Hal!” she let out in his ear before swinging around to face him. “You got a minute?”

[Zincspider]

Testa Jones
Bellow High Stadium
11/1/11

Shortly after Lace gave Jones her... enthusiastic exposition on her abilities, another of the students from his homeroom walked up to him. Randy... something or other. Crownwall? Coppenheimer? He should remember this, didn't he come to his house earlier in the year to talk to Wulfgard? Well, now he knew what that was really about.

“Randy.” Testa acknowledged his approach, giving a small curt nod and a smile. Randy returned the gesture. The boy seemed as if he had already had a good workout that night. He had slung his jacket over his shoulder, his own body heat keeping him warm in the November air. Testa could even see the sweat stain on his tees' pits.

“So, Randy, what can you do?”

“Well, sir, I'm not really sure about that.”

Wait. Something seemed familiar here.

“I haven't really been able to pick up a fighting style like everyone else. I've used a shovel... and I think it's doing alright, but it's not really an art. I kinda swing it around until what ever I'm fighting isn't moving anymore. Persona wise... it's kinda random. I don't just have one like everyone else here. He kinda changes depending on the situation. I think I've racked up three so far.”

“Well... I think I have an idea.” Jones began. “But I'd have to see you in action first.”

Randy gave a quick nod and walked over to the rest of the group, giving JP a quick punch on the arm. Next in line was a student he often saw trailing after Randy. He was pretty sure he was in Halls' homeroom.

“M-Mr. Jones.” The kid stuttered for a second, the quickly picked himself up. Unlike Randy, he seemed to be perfectly affected by the cold, huddling up in his blue jacket. A pair of goggles was pulled over his eyes, and light poured from their lenses. Upon looking up at Jones, he had to turn away from the blinding flash.

“S-sorry. I used them to come over.” He quickly pressed a button on the side, and the light dimmed away to nothing. “Anyway, I'm not so much for combat. If I have to, I have this-”

Izzy reached into the drawstring bag he was carrying over his back and pulled out a grey and silver contraption the size of a football.

“It's a pneumatic stake. It's like a miniature jackhammer. It's not very powerful, and takes a lot of electricity to power, but it can pierce the armor of most of the shadows. You know... if I have to.”

Testa's intrest was peaked.

“I thought Garret said things that run on electricity didn't work during this Court. How do you-”

“Oh, right. During the Court I kinda... produce electricity?” Izzy explain, cautiously, acting almost as if Testa would get angry at him. “I guess it's my Persona. Lately, I've been trying to fuel walkie talkies for everyone to use, but the charge doesn't last long. I almost have to be holding it all the time for it to be useful.”

Well, that was good to know. But his lack of a real combat skill was... no, he couldn't think like that. These were kids. They were still in High School. He really shouldn't be trying to push them to fight. But, it was for their survival.
He'd probably have to see how this Persona thing worked first. All the kids were talking about it, but it was still a foreign concept to him. Admittedly, it was a bit too far fetched for him to truly believe. Until he saw it again with his own eyes, part of him still thought this maybe an elaborate prank.

During his pondering, Izzy seemed to have scampered off. He was standing about five feet behind Miyuki, and looking around like a lost puppy. Yeah. They were still kids.

“Hey, Garret, is that everyone?”Testa asked, pulling a new box of cigarettes out of his pocket. Popping one into his mouth, he pulled out a lighter and quickly set the tip to burn. It was cold and windy, the wind was facing away from the kids. This should be fine.

“No. We're still missing Liza, and Levin. Come to think of it, I didn't see Levin today in the meeting.”

Well, that probably wasn't good. Maybe he was just sick? But even that could be dangerous if what Garret was telling him was true.

He didn't have to wait long for Liza. He definitely recognized her, when she strolled into the stadium, comfortable in the weather with her jacket. She'd been working as Garret's assistant during final period for a while now. And with how often he went and bothered him, he'd seen plenty of her.

She stopped and talked to Izzy for a second before finally walking by Jones.

“So, Liza-”

“In all due respect sir, I find this idea of putting us in pairs to train completely different skills asinine. But go ahead. I don't fight. Not in the physical sense anyway. Do as you will.”

It was like her words drilled into his soul. She didn't change her tone while speaking, but he could just feel the intent, even beyond the loaded words... she was not in the mood for this. What had she been doing before hand?
-

Not too long after Liza's shutdown, Testa walked into the equipment room, and came out with a large box. Placing it on the ground, he began to do what he had set out to do.

“Alright, I'd like to see you guys pair up now! Keep in mind this isn't just for tonight. This is a long term thing. I don't expect this training to just work in an hour. Lace, you're with Randy. I want you two to get some laps in. Lace is, from what I hear, more spry than you are, Randy, so just try to catch up. This is mostly stamina practice for you though, Lace. Don't go easy on him.

Next, Sigmund, you're with Miyuki. I'm not sure if you're used to the mitts, Miyuki-” Testa began, he dug in the box and pulled out two cushioned circle pads with belt grips. “,You put one on each hand and where you move them, Sigmund is supposed to punch. You have to keep your arms strong and steady though. Don't give in. Sigmund, I want you to wear real boxing gloves for this. It's good for weight training, and protecting your hands.”

“Halberd, you're working with Wulfgard. It'll be sparring with wooden swords. Don't be afraid to go all out on him... you'll need to if you want to land a hit. He might look like a goof, and smell like a goof, but he's been working with that thing for a long time.”

“Ciara, I want you working with Snow. But mostly, you'll be training him. If he's not suited for fighting close range, I don't want him getting hit. Focus on acrobatics. We don't really have equipment for complex stuff, but at least get him on a stretching regimen.”

For Sofiya, Testa simply looked at her, remembering how she acted when talking to him. He simply pointed towards Russell and ordered “Whip him into shape, Commander.”

“Izzy, you'll be working with Mana. Help him retrieve his arrows. If you don't have anything to do, run a few laps. Don't just sit around.”

“Josh, you're with JP. If you're both new to being swordsmen, I want you to work together here. But first, I need to talk to JP, if he doesn't mind. It's about something he said earlier today.”

“And Liza-” Testa began, looking around until he fixed eyes on her. She stared at him for a few seconds, her expression unchanging. “Just, uh, keep up the good work”

-

(OOC: Alright guys, get to training! I know Sofiya, Mana, and Russell didn't actually introduce themselves, so I worked with it how I could. JP, Testa's asking you about what you saw with Shinai the night before, he basically asks you to elaborate on your outburst.
Any other questions, ask them in the DT.)

[InnerFlame]

Russell Wilton
Late Afternoon- Bellow High Dorms Lounge Area

“Yeah, better now than in a month or two when it starts really getting cold.” Was Sigmund comment after Halberd. That didn’t really bother him really that was the reason they made hats and he a bunch of those to keep him warm through the wintertime. Russell had already taken a sip of the tea before Halberd suggestion for a toast Halberd said his then Sigmund, though Russell had nothing to add. There really wasn’t much for him too add even though there was sometimes they learn about the court they were still stun lock and couldn’t take out a special shadows without some kind of causality. So even if they knew how to help the one with Apathy Syndrome, would they really be able to do anything about it? The freshman was just being realistic though it felt like he was just pessimistic.

“That's it - I was gonna go visit, ah, the girls in the hospital sometime in the next couple days. Probably tomorrow, before Ciara's thing. You guys wanna come?” Sigmund statement pulled him out of his train of thought. He looked at the two of them and thankfully he didn’t forget about his food. Going to the party hosted by Ciara after visiting the Hospital tomorrow… That just left the redhead to think; it wasn’t that he didn’t care or even that he didn’t know them well enough but because this all took place in the middle of the week. He spent most of his weekdays worrying about school related stuff so his grades wouldn’t suffer. Also was the fact he was not the biggest fan of Ciara. He tended to avoid being near her; and the feeling seem to be mutual. Lace joined him with food, she seem all for the visit to the hospital. Halberd seemed to show an interest in going to Ciara party, mentioning it to be her birthday. Was she really doing that, she really didn’t seem like the type that care.

Halberd excused himself from the group then Sigmund, leaving the two redhead freshman sitting there for a moment. They actually didn’t get much of a conversation in before Lace exited herself leaving him alone in the lounge. He really wasn’t feeling his best today but he still had work to do. Days like this made him wish the Court took a holiday.

At Bellow High Stadium: A bit late

The three shadow court proved to have been too rough for him. Russell was late get to the stadium as he fell asleep doing homework and awakened fairly late in the night… It might have been the adding hours of missed sleep over the months but whatever the reason he was late and that seriously bothered him. Next thing he knows he’ll be sleeping through classes and his grades would drop down to B’s and C’s. That was one thing he could not let happened. Finally arriving to the Stadium, everyone was there already… Was that JP, even frickin’ JP was here before him? This couldn’t be happening now.

“Must be more tired than I thought, I seeing JP” He lifted his glasses and gave his eyes a rub, and sure enough he was still there. This would be the first time in two months since he appear at one of their group meetings. He almost seemed like same overconfident, jerk that threaten him day one. Wasn’t this night special? Testa asked about his way of attacking; it didn’t seem like it was helping much anyway against anything major. “I attack close range with an axe typically though I do occasionally use a rapier. I’m not really that strong… My persona Eros is good at long range attacking, he uses wind magic and he occasional ‘turns’ enemies into allies and fight for us. He’s not all that strong either.”

After that everyone was paired up and who had he gotten, Sofiya. He didn’t hold any ill feeling toward the foreign girl, it just she kind of in some general area as Lace. As in, they were both on their on separate planet. The girl just wasn’t the type of person he generally went to for a chat… Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any repeated actions of last night; he would like his nuts to remain unsmashed. Though where this was going was a mystery, since she supposed to ‘whip him into shape.’ Somehow he felt like this wasn’t going to end well.

“So…what do you want me to do?” Russell asked since it seemed he was supposed to do whatever she told him to do. Sofiya was a bit of a change from his usual people to hang around; she was close to his height while most of the others tower over him. Though he could tell she was still a little taller… The freshman stood at a kind of attention waiting for her to get him started.

[Niihyl]

<OOC> Pfft, I still can't write. On the other hand, first post in months. Yay.

Mana Shizuko
Auld lang syne

They say that repeated exposure to trauma numbs you to the effects. Seeing that ‘they’ were most often correct, the mention of imminent shotgun castration elicited only a raised eyebrow and a noncommittal grunt from one Mana Shizuko. Of course, Captain “Soon-to-be-lacking-in” Manhood was not quite as calm. In fact, he became possessed with supernatural dexterity, parkour-leaping over several hapless schoolchildren to pin Mana against the wall, screaming terrified obscenities.

Charming.

Of course, no one asked JP about the situation. Nope, even the braver louts weren’t quite so brave as to needle an angry, six-plus foot berserker. Nope, they came to him. Some contented themselves with inquisitive looks, others had words. It was as if they had never seen a girl threaten to castrate someone with a shotgun before. With a sigh, Mana began to wade through the student body.

“I assure you that our relationship is strictly platonic… dude, that’s not what platonic means.”

“Hey, it’s not gay if it’s a three-way.”

“No, I wasn’t in the ‘emoboy’ porno your cousin showed you. Yes, I’m sure.”

“Album? What album?”

“The hell do you mean, ‘do you look good in a minidress’?”

“Girl, you’re just jealous because I have a better figure than you.”

“Nah man, I’m definitely on top. Stop laughing.”

“I am perfectly content with my gonads, thank-you-very-much.”

“Yes ma’am, I’ll get that homework assignment in. No, I won’t be too busy, ah, playing with JP.”

“Yes, I look glorious in a minidress. Now go away unless you want to end up a pincushion… goddammit, that’s not what I meant.”

Mana pushed out onto the grounds, leaving his bemused classmates behind. He took in a breath of cold, fresh air. After finding his car and struggling with the door for a moment, Mana slipped inside and quickly locked himself in. He collapsed into the driver’s seat, muttering, “I am so sorry, Josh.”

***

Nighttime
For meeting lovers

A delightful Q&A was going on at the arena, with Quarterman Jones as the ringleader. While Mana found it rather unlikely that the man could know more about combat than their own Wulfgard-Sensei, it couldn’t possibly hurt.

Everyone described their combat skills in more or less detail. JP’s masculine posturing brought a sly grin to Mana’s face. “Oh yes, darling, demonstrate,” Mana drawled. “You know how much I love it when you swing that big sword of yours.”

And then it was his turn to share. “Hey all, my name is Mana and I haven’t had thoughts of self-harm for – nope, wrong support group. Er, I hunt things with a bow. Arrows can really screw over littler guys, but the bigger shadows seem to shrug off the shots pretty well. My Persona is Alice – she kills things too, via application of heavy-duty death and darkness nuking. We’re good at that.”

With that through, Testa paired them up, playing to their strengths. Sigmund’s offense to Miyuki’s defense; Halberd and Wulfgard’s swordsmanship; Josh and JP the same; Ciara getting Snow combat-ready; etc. Mana glanced at Izzy, his assigned partner. The poor kid looked frozen, though his goddamned flashlight eyes were probably producing enough heat to light his hair on fire.

Mana set his bow case aside, stretching slowly. “Yo Izzy! I’m sure you don’t want to retrieve arrows all night. Why don’t we get a little bit of sparring in? A little close-combat practice would help us both.”

[Ysavvryl]

Snow and Ciara
evening, school stadium

Mr. Testa had considered their statements and split them all up into pairs for tonight's training exercises. Snow ended up training with Ciara, which made him briefly nervous. After all, she had been cold and harsh before (although not quite on the level her Shadow had been last night; maybe that's what she'd be like if she let that side go unrestrained). But he told himself that he'd try to get along with her. She was a part of the team too, and Josh really liked her so she couldn't be all that bad.

Since they were supposed to work on his ability to avoid hits (or even acrobatics?), the two of them went to a grassy area, out of the way of the other sparring groups (and Mana practicing with his bow). Ciara decided to start him off with an exercise that twisted the torso and stretched the far arm across to chest. “If we're going to help you dodge, then it's not only important to be quick on your feet,” she said. “You'll want to be flexible too so you can move exactly how you want. Especially in the core part of your body, it's good to build a strong core first.”

“Okay,” Snow said. Deciding to try talking and being friendly, he added, “I didn't know you were into gymnastics.”

“Just a bit, but my instructor would drill that kind of information into our heads,” she said. She paused for a moment, then chuckled before going back to stretching. “Oh, but this is hilarious.”

“What's hilarious?” he asked, puzzled. He glanced around the field, but nothing particularly funny stood out to him.

“Right now. If I was to tell any other girl in school that I was out doing gymnastics with that guy Snow Fields, they'd be absolutely green with envy. Smoke coming out of their ears rage even.”

“Huh, why's that?” It didn't seem like anything to get jealous about, at least he thought so. Maybe she was just teasing him.

Ciara shrugged. “Isn't it obvious? Most of them have a crush on you. I'm surprised you haven't run into any stalkers.”

Stalkers... that reminded him of some rather scary stories he'd heard about people being obsessive over stars like his mother, doing anything from digging through trash or learning a person's schedule to get closer to them. “I hope I don't have any stalkers,” he said, shivering at the thought.

“No need to be humble about it,” Ciara said. “Or serious. Come on, we can have fun with this even if it is practice for the serious stuff.”

Snow raised an eyebrow. True, he didn't know her all that well, but it seemed odd to hear that from her. “Sure, but... you seem a bit odd tonight. I mean, I don't mean anything bad about it's just...”

“Don't worry about it, kid,” she said, snapping a finger. “I am on a mission to be a better and more fun person, so I'm going to get you in shape and make you smile. Got it?” She even briefly struck a post, one which could be easily imagined with some dramatic sound effect flourish.

He ended up laughing at that, which made him stop with the stretching exercise. “Sure! That's a good thing.”

Ciara put her hands on her hips. “Of course, how much I'm joking and how much I'm serious is up to others to decide. Now let's get back to the work-out, on the double!”

“Yes, m'am,” Snow said, happy that this was going to be more lighthearted than he expected.

Still, he hoped she was exaggerating about the stalkers...

posted with Wordy's approval.

[Vivian_Bloom]

Lace Condor

Bellow High Stadium

Evening - 11/01

"Okay, this guy knows what he's dealing with it!" Lace said, before seating herself on the ground and tightening her fist. "I'm going to be the team's eyes and legs! It's--," she snatched off her hat and ruffled her hair to think. She breathed in the cold air and tried for ten-seconds an excersize she'd read about in the library.

- Take a few deep breaths and let the tension flow out of your body. Count from "one" to "ten" in a steady rhythm.

Begin the next cycle and keep your eyes closed. Hey Sam! You said I could stay over your mom's, right? I'mma really enjoy her cookin', know what I mean? She's makin' grits, dude! Gritz! - OOHHEEZ!@11 -

"Alright, I'd like to see you guys pair up now!" Wulfgard? Lace had her head tilted back and poked an eye out over at the samurai. She scrambled up and looked over at Randy with a wide smile. She'd get to run with the captain! It took a second to jog over.

"Oh, Randy! What's up, bossman?" she raised her hand up to high-five and hung it. "I'm not on the track team, but I do want to start running, especially at night when everyone else is knocked out asleep!" she inched closer to his face and cupped her mouth in his ear. "I'm tellin' you 'cuz you're the Persona-guy, but, you see that street lamp over there?" she pointed over his shoulder, "bet if I skate into it with Saturnus and stretch my hand out I can whirl up to the top of that pole and shoot off over the gym gate!"

Lace backed a bit and nodded for herself and Randy's approval before resting her arm. "We can do that after laps." She kneeled on the track. Come on and get next to me!"

[Blivsey]

Sigmund Okonkwo
Bellow High Stadium [Thursday Night]

Kata forms were designed to practice the body's movement without being overly strenuous - great for most martial arts. The problem was, to Sigmund's knowledge, none of them were designed with two-pound gauntlets in mind. And while two pounds doesn't sound like a lot, having it strapped to each arm really changes your movements, so much so that by the time that Testa called the group in, all Sigmund felt that he had accomplished was replacing his arms with lead posts.

Sigmund gathered around the others, and looking around found everyone to be present, including JP¹ but sans Levin². Testa wasted no time into placing them all into apparently calculated match-ups so that they could get the most from each other, the second of which being:

"Sigmund, you're with Miyuki. I'm not sure if you're used to the mitts, Miyuki -" Testa declared, giving Miyuki a quick rundown of how to use punching mitts before turning to him and adding, "Sigmund, I want you to wear real boxing gloves for this. It's good for weight training, and protecting your hands."

Sigmund clenched his teeth and nodded. He had just worked on his weighted movements - his gauntlets even weighed more than standard boxing gloves - but sure, he could go along with more of that. Still, Testa had just given him directions to start punching an underclassman who was about two-thirds of his weight, most of a foot shorter than he was, and worst of all, a girl. Even if she was used to using a shield, there was a difference between that and just an bit of padding on her hand, as evidenced by how uneasily she was moving them around already. It would be a small miracle if he didn't end up spraining her wrists.

But it wasn't his decision. Take a deep breath, Siggy boy, he told himself. He'd just just have to go really light on the punches. Testa knew what he was doing, from the sound of it. Sigmund nabbed a pair of boxing gloves from Testa's box and headed off to the spot on the inside of the track where his bag was sitting.

"So, eh, keep a wide stance and, um, lemme know if I'm comin' on too strong," he said to Miyuki as he strapped on his padded gloves.

"Like this?" Legs spread and a bit staggered, hands braced, she had it pretty much down, or at least as well as he could expect her to. Taking a loose stance with his hands held staggered in front of his chest, Sigmund looked back at the girl to check that she was ready. Ready for him to start throwing punches. Crap. All of the match-ups he had been given in the school club were against guys. He was mentally unprepared to be fighting a girl. Already his mother was nagging at him from the back of his head.

Boy, you ever lay hand on a woman and I'll see you get it back double.

No, he told himself, aiming his first jab just a second after Miyuki had moved the pads into place.. This was different. She was protected, and it wasn't even serious or in anger, and-

Oh God oh God I can't do this.

His arm stopped short, just bumping against the circle pad. Almost quicker than he had thrown the punch, he withdrew his arm and dropped his gaze. Dammit. He couldn't look at her in the face while he did this. This time staring intently at the mitt, he tried again with his opposite hand, but he could still see her arm behind the circle pad. Stick-thin, completely breakable. This time, his arm went completely rigid within the first foot. Sigmund's eyes jumped back to Miyuki, who was just staring back, utterly confused. Of course she is - I'm seizing up like an idiot.

"Sorry, just let me... get my bearings," Sigmund asked, nibbling at his own lip and burying his eyes in his gloves. Miyuki made an affirmative answer - he didn't catch it, but it was enough to know that she wasn't suffering from some sort of second-hand embarrassment. Which she had good reason to. Not being able to fight her would be one thing, but boxing drills? This was just kinda sad. Knocking his head against his fists, he wracked his brain for a good way around her.

"Hey, is this okay?" he heard her ask.

"Nah, you're doing fine," he answered, not even bothering to look. Doing so would just help put her face on those mitts.

Maybe he should give 'em a different face?

Worth a shot. With a quick hand motion signaling that he was ready to continue, Sigmund resumed his first position and waited for Miyuki to brace her arms again. As she did, Sigmund locked on to the circle pad - only the pad. Not even a pad. In his mind's eye, he superimposed over it the image of a shadow - the first one that jumped to mind, one of the shadow bears from last night. He gave the beast a good pop on the nose - not a full strike, just enough to make it back off. Pleasantly, it did just that, retreating, though another one came up to take its place on the right. Catching it with a crossing blow from his left hand, he knocked it back, as well.

But they both just kept coming back, one after the other. Slowly, he started hitting them harder - giving them follow-up hits, a good hook across the snout to push them back. Driving them away every time, but never doing anything real damage. Like whack-a-mole, but with the shadows. He was already finding himself in a rhythm. Right, left, left, right, up-right, up-left, down-right, up-right. But obviously he wasn't applying enough pressure at this rate. Someone was saying something off to the side. Ignore it. He gave the left bear a straight-arm blow, sending it to the ground - letting out a very girlish and un-bearworthy³ scream. It just lay there, knocked out and... attached to an arm? Sigmund looked up and the pit of his stomach sank - he had successfully knocked one of Miyuki's arms completely away, it now hanging loosely at her side.

Oh God oh God I've sprained something.

"Jeez - sorry about that, you all right?" Sigmund asked, containing his panic to just reaching out with one of his gloved hands.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay," she assured him. Of course, she wasn't entirely - he had definitely just knocked her wrist sore with an hour to go until the court, judging by how gingerly it was moving now. Her right wrist, too. But she seemed to be able to move it all right, and was insisting on keeping going. Girl was sturdier than she looked. "Just, um, go a bit softer on me, please?" she requested, almost immediately correcting herself in turn to "just don't hit so hard," and "Never mind."

"Yeah, I'll, um, do that," he nodded. New goal: focus on her left arm this time, and for the love of God do not break anything. He wasn't about to completely shoot her down if she wanted to keep at it, though, even if her right elbow was wincing dangerously.

"If you're sure, five minutes. But then we're getting some ice on that," he said adamantly, motioning to her right arm. Getting back into a good pose, he started again, eyes completely focused on her left-hand mitt and starting back into a few lukewarm strikes.

---

¹ Apparently he had arrived and started throwing his weight around while Sigumund was preoccupied. At least he was back to normal.
² Though, last night having been Levin's first Court night, he couldn't really blame the guy for bailing.
³ Which, despite not being a word at all, was the best word Sigmund could think of at that exact moment.