132/Fight! Fight! Fight!

Fight! Fight! Fight!
Date of Scene:	04 July 2015
Location:	Uminari City - Seishou Public School
Synopsis:	Fight in the schoolyard! Makoto intervenes, and in the process begins to get to know a certain Naota Uneme...
Cast of Characters:	Hannah Sharpe, Makoto Kino, Reiko Touyama, 72, Naota Uneme

---

Naota Uneme has posed:
Seishou Public school, mid-afternoon. Classes are out and students are starting to trickle away from clubs for home. Most students, anyway. "I said take it back!" POW!
The speaker and puncher is one Naota Uneme, a scrawny, rangy middle-schooler with unruly black hair only barely tamed into a ponytail. The punch wasn't bad. The kid who just got punched is Junichi Terada, a student one year his senior, bigger and with close-cropped hair. "You little- who do you think you are? You need to learn who your betters are!" He takes a swing, which Naota barely ducks away from.
Of course, this would probably go better for Naota if it weren't for the fact that Junichi has two friends with him.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Most Seishou students tend to have one of a couple of reactions when a fight breaks out. Some might run to get a teacher, or just withdraw to stay out of the way lest the violence spill over onto them. Others might gather around to cheer or catcall.

And then there are those few who see a fight in progress and without hesitation head straight into the fray.

"Hey!" It's a girl's voice that rings out, clear and carrying and a bit lower in pitch than most other middle school girls'; the tall girl in the out-of-place transfer student's uniform is already marching briskly across the grass toward them. The rumors about Makoto Kino have died down quite a bit since she first came to Seishou at the beginning of the school year, but someone may possibly remember hearing how she was suposedly expelled from her previous school for beating up high school boys, or something like that.

As she gets closer, Mako pushes right past one of Junichi's buddies and moves to get in between the two scrappers, looking between the both of them with sharp, stern eyes. "What the heck do you think you're doing?"

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama is drawing on a bench in one of the many school yards-- Anime Club wasn't meeting, and the Art Club president had to get home early today. This does not stop Reiko Touyama from suddenly looking up at yelling. She head tilts in confusion. At the same time, an orange koi materalizes about a foot from her head, tilting itself and putting it's flippers in a thoughtful chin rest postion, similar to Reiko's own the moment. She looks over to the right, eyes go wide and she leans over the bench to scoop up the fish and make it dissapear into her clasped hands. It pops away inside the darkness. Reiko peeks in between her hands and wheeeews as it dissapears.

Getting used to magic is weird.

Netherless--- there was that commotion that piqued her intrest in the first place! She puts her sketch book away and puts on her backpack and meanders over towards the fight. She watches with wide eyes as boys argue with one another. She's about to say something but then---

Makoto Kino intervenes and she takes a deep breath, hopefully she can stop this!

Ichirou Hashimoto (72) has posed:
...Hey, wait a minute. That guy coming out of Seishou's building. That's not a Seishou uniform he's got on. That's a Verone Academy uniform! The pink blazer jacket is unmistakeable. But /is/ it a guy? The face looks too feminine, the hair very long and not really a boy's style. But it's definitely a boys' uniform. Curious.

That would be a boy, yes-- that would be one Ichirou Hashimoto, whose after-school club decided to meet with a similiar club here at Seishou. Either way, the Verone student pauses at the fight, blinking as if surprised. And when a girl intervenes in the fight, Ichirou brings a hand to his mouth in concern. He also starts to head that way, though. Just in case. Someone might need picked up.

Naota Uneme has posed:
Junichi's eyes widen when he hears Makoto's voice and sees her approach, being someone who's heard the rumors. His cronies pale a little and don't try to stop her. "This kid started it! He attacked me out of nowhere!" He's pointing at Naota, who is still in a loose and amateur fighting pose: he hasn't and he doesn't want to drop his guard yet. "I'm just defending myself!"

Naota isn't growling, but it seems as though he might like to. "He was bein' a jerk about one of my classmates! I'm not gonna let him get away with what he said!" He's not attacking again just yet, though, so apparently the arrival of others has put his aggression in check for the moment.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Infinity's Iron Lily is here! Hannah isn't for once around for her Kickboxing Club, but rather is here to tutor a few students in English!

She stumbles upon the fight, Boris leading her along, after waving to her 'students'. There's an ooooh of excitement from the girl, still clad in her Infinity uniform, as she realizes its' a fight.

One that's almost being broke up! How sad!

"Yeah! No need to go easy on a bully! Come on, shape up, and kick his butt! Legs a foot apart, keep your fists up! Protect your face and concentrate on your footwork! Remember one-two, then an uppercut to the jaw!" Hannah is /not/ helping here. She giggles in excitement.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto hasn't yet noticed that the scuffle is drawing attention from more than just herself. She's busy staring hard at Junichi as he tries to argue his case - a look that turns, equally severely, to Naota when the younger student says *his* piece.

"All right, all right!" She raises her hands to one side and the other, palms out in a quelling gesture. "That's enough." That sharp-eyed look turns back toward Junichi, not impressed: "Even if he did hit you first, does it take three people to defend yourself against a kid who's smaller than you?"

--hearing Hannah egging the fight on, Makoto looks up, incredulous. "Hey! That's not helping!"

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama listens to the two sides. Looks at Naota and then to Junichi. She frowns. Fights are never fun to watch, or be a part of. She's lucky that Hiroko hasn't decided to become as violent- as many times it did feel like she was close to slapping her in the face.

"Hey---- what..could possibly be so bad that you need to hit each other!?" the younger optimistic elementary student says.

She looks over to Hannah. and blinks! "Hey!" she says, placing hands on her hips!

"Don't encourage behavior like that! It's wrong!--and--and stuff!" she says.

Ichirou Hashimoto (72) has posed:
Ichirou happens to catch the tail end of the conversation of what the fight's about. Though he doesn't say anything yet, but he looks towards Hannah when she 'helps'. The look on his face says about the same thing Makoto just did. Except much more flatly.

The concern that had brought him over to the site of the ruckus doesn't seem to be there on his face anymore. It's a very flat look. 'Cool', one might call it. He looks a bit annoyed, that's about it. Ichirou crosses his arms at his midriff and raises one hand to his chin. Just after Reiko's comment, Ichirou addresses all the participants of the fight, noting, "...Surely you can find something better to do with your time than hitting each other. There's no need to act like barbarians."

Naota Uneme has posed:
Junichi feels like he's losing the sympathy here and takes a step back, as do his friends. "Fine! You deal with him, then! He needs to know how to treat his upperclassmen and not be a little savage." With that they back off with as much machoness as they can muster before turning around and storming away.

Naota remains tense, although a certain reluctance is starting to show. "Ch. They're just gonna do it again: nobody's gonna stop 'em. But I guess doing anything about it would be barbaric, right?" He tosses his head and takes a second to undo and reset his ponytail, the moment clearly passed. "Why'd you have to go stomping in on this?" This to Makoto. "I was fine an' now everyone's watching: that's why they left."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah gets generally hosed upon for encouraging the fight. Hands go to her hips, and she tries to glare at various directions: Makoto gets one full on, Reiko gets one slightly to her right, and Ichirou's look is completely missed. Boris does woof at him though!

She walks over to Naota, and tries to throw an arm around his shoulders. Her accuracy is highly questionable.

"See? He understands! I know guys like that. They are actually the weakest kind of person. A cry for help! And the only way they are going to understand anything is through pure physical force! They might leave with bruises, but some of my best friends I earned through stopping them bullying me or other classmates." See, Naota? You have support!

"Good going. Hannah Sharpe, nice to meet you! Have a name? Not many people actually have the guts to fight back against three people like that." She sounds a little giddy and impressed.

Makoto Kino has posed:
A sigh leaves Makoto as the bullies storm off, and some of the indignation leaves her posture, shoulders dropping a little as she lets her hands fall back to her sides. Expression softening into a smile, she turns to face Naota fully.

"Sorry," she says, and there is something genuinely conciliatory - if unrepentant - in the apology. "I just can't stand by and watch three people ganging up on one like that."

The pleasant warmth of her expression cools considerably at Hannah's commentary, but Mako doesn't say anything further just yet. Folding her arms in front of her chest, she turns her eyes back to Naota, brows lifting a little in curiosity as she waits to hear how he answers.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama huffs and looks at the boy, and Hannah again. She seems contemplaing these words. But she frowns and hurmphs! "No one should fight like that!" she says "Over silly reasons! Respect shouldn't be demanded--it's earned!" she huffs. "Those other three guys were jerks!"

She looks back towards Naota. "Are.. you gonna be okay? I can go get a first aid kit from the nurses office!" she offers.

Ichirou Hashimoto (72) has posed:
"You don't fight stupidity with barbarism," Ichirou replies to Naota's statement, once Junichi and his friends are out of range. It's true! But maaaaaaybe not all that helpful. It's advice nonetheless. Boris's 'woof!' gets little more than a raised eyebrow from Ichirou. A dog dares 'woof' at Ichirou?! Actually he might be amused about it. Hard to say, since his expression is so completely flat. Otherwise, like Makoto, he remains quiet so Reiko can fret over Naota.

Naota Uneme has posed:
Gah! Naota flinches when Hannah attempts (and manages!) to put an arm over his shoulder. Weird American girl is being touchy! The dog's a bit odd, too, but Naota isn't investigating. "Th-thanks?" He blushes a little: now that there isn't a fight going on all of this attention is a bit overwhelming. He settles on giving Makoto a highly casual head-bow by way of greeting. "W-well, I understand that: I guess if I'd walked in on that I'd want to step in too. Because that's what you do when people are being jerks," he adds, again casting an eyes-narrowed glare at Ichirou.

But when Reiko offers to help him the expression softens considerably. "It's okay! I'm fine, see? He didn't manage to hit me." Despite the tension of the moment Naota grins at that, trying to put the younger girl at ease.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama smiles back! "Well.. as long as.. you're okay..." she murmurs. She sort of taps her fingers together in front of her. "So what were those jerks aruging about with you anyways. Or are they just jerks looking for a fight to pick. I know someone like that, she's pretty horrible!"

"But.. she just says things. She hasn't slapped anyone yet I don't think...." she ponders.

"She also has a jerk squad. Like that boy did." she says looking off into the direction of where the upperclassmen went.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Weird, weird Americans! Reiko and Ichirou get a /look/! "Darn right kiddo! Sometimes you have to earn things with your fists!"

Hannah frowsn at Ichirou! "Barbarism, or bravery?" She fires back! Boris gives a doggie whine of agreement!

Finally, Naota is let go.

"Heh heh, welcome! Keep up that attitude! You will go /far/ with it!" AGain, Hannah seems intent on giving the worst possible advice. Then she gives the young man some room, sitting down, and petting Boris.

Ichirou Hashimoto (72) has posed:
Ichirou returns the narrowed-eyes look from Naota with a smug smirk. Nope, he doesn't seem at all put off by Naota's glare. But notably, only once Naota assures Reiko that he's all right does Ichirou note, "Well. I'm afraid I must be off. I have a mountain of work waiting for me at home."

He does however, pause for Hannah's statement. "Barbarism, clearly. We mustn't stoop down to that level. It's rather unbecoming." That /might/ have been a dig at Hannah. Maybe. But either way he's heading off. Snooty brat.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Anyway," Makoto puts in, in a fairly transparent attempt at changing the subject or at least getting it back on track - Ichirou is leaving, it seems, but she'd still rather not see this turn into a whole other argument. Chuffing out a breath, she reaches up to push her hair back from her face and looks to Naota again. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Saying this, she puts forward her hand to him as though in invitation for a handshake. "I'm Makoto Kino, in the eighth grade. Nice to meet you...?" She still hasn't heard his name, after all.

Naota Uneme has posed:
Naota shakes his head. "They were just sayin' some stuff about one of my classmates. I shouldn't repeat it, though, 'cause it was mean stuff." He doesn't bother to respond to Ichirou's retort as he leaves, but gives Hannah an uneasy grin: why is having her agree with him making him think that maybe he's off-base here?"

Naota accepts the offer of a handshake. He's still blushing a bit: poor boy's kinda flustered by this point. "Naota Uneme, seventh grade. It's nice to meet you too. I mean. It'd be nicer if there wasn't the fight, but yeah."

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama smiles a little, things seem to be calming down! "Well, you gotta stand up for your friends! But.. I'd hope they'd be a better way." she grumbles a bit and crosses her arms again. "Um.. my name's Reiko Touyama." she says. I'm in the fourth grade!" she says spreading her arms upwards.

"And star member of the Art Club!" she insists.

That may or may not be true.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
At this point, Hannah mostly just pets Boris! She does grumble a bit though as introductions are picking up!

"Uneme-san, if you /ever/ want to work on that form of yours, or help keep bullies in line, Infinity's Kickboxing Club is there for you!" Griiiiin. More shameless self promotion from Hannah. She giggles, and scritches Boris' ears!

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto's lopsided smile warms; she gives Naota's hand a firm shake, then takes a step back as she lets go, giving the poor guy a little more space. "Well," she says easily, dipping her head in acknowledgement of his words, "I guess it couldn't really be helped, under the circumstances." As Reiko introduces herself, Mako glances her way, grinning. "Nice to meet you, too, Reiko-chan!"

And then a beat, and Makoto makes a face as Hannah says what she does about 'help keep bullies in line.' The girl really does seem a little too enthusiastic about this, but then again, given her own history Mako's hardly in a position to comment. "Ah, Sharpe-san," she says instead, looking toward the other girl, "I should apologize for the other day."

Naota Uneme has posed:
"Nice to meet you, Reiko-chan!" Talking to the little girl helps take out the tension, apparently, making him seem less like he's ready to bolt at any second. "I'll, uh, keep that in mind," he says to Hannah, "but I don't know if I'd be all that welcome at a place like Infinity." He grins when he says it, at least. "What about you, Kino-senpai? Are you in any clubs?"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah doesn't seem too put out after the argument, and instead just smiles to Makoto. Helps that she can't see that look!

A wave of the hand. "No worries! I punished Chiba-san for you, since he obviously was being a jerk!" When in doubt, blame it on Mamoru. There were revenge noogies, indeed!

"You can stop by whenever you want, though. I really hope you come to the next study session!" Comes the girl, a little more chipper here.

Then she just laughs. "Oh, you would fit riiiight in!" Not exactly a glowing review of her club, that.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama spins in place for a moment. Why, because meeting new friends is exciting. She only does it once though! She thinks.. Infinity. Such a nice, awesome school. She'd be there--- but she isn't leaving her friend behind in the dust! That's wrong. "I wish that you don't get bothered anymore Naota!" she says gleefully.

"At least for today!" she adds. She looks over to Hannah and frowny faces a bit. Though says nothing.

Makoto Kino has posed:
An awkward laugh hitches out of Makoto and she shakes her head, not that it serves much purpose to do so when Hannah can't say it. "You didn't need to do that. It wasn't Mamoru-san's fault..." Okay, technically it was, but never mind. "Anyway, I'll do that, thank you."

Then she looks back toward Naota, brows lifting a little. "Not yet!" she answers cheerfully. "I just transferred here this year, so I'm still sort of settling in. Cooking Club sounds like fun, though, if we have one. Or gardening, maybe..."

Naota Uneme has posed:
"Oh! Well, you should think about trying out for baseball: you look like you've got a good arm, Kino-senpai." There's a beeping noise and he fishes into his pocket for his cell phone, then pales. "Ack! I'm sorry, I have to go! It's time for me to pick up my little sister." Bowing happens and then with that the boy is off and running for the bicycle stands near the entrance.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Reiko isn't ignored either! Hannah gives several nods. "Like the kiddo says! Heh, if you stay strong, no one will bully you!" Comes the girl, utterly twisting up Reiko's message. At least she means well?

Hannah pffft's at Makoto. "Great! Ooh, mind bringing some snacks or something though?" Hannah has no idea how right this question is.

And then Naota's off!

"Take care!" Hannah waves, then sighs.

"Heh, pretty energetic. Anyway, Kino-san, kiddo, I should get back to my own school. See you!" She offers warmly to the duo, and is off as well, Boris leading the way!

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama blinks. and huffs. "T..that isn't what I meant at all!" but Hannah is gone and she stamps her foot and looks over to Kino. She bows a bit, as she murmurs. "Ah--sorry about that...." she says gently as she fixes her glasses. "I..I should be going too- I need to finish.. a drawing." she says.

"That's what I was doing until that whole commotion." she admits. "It's a gift for a friend." she nods matter of factly.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"...haah..." As first Naota and then Hannah head off on their own separate ways, Makoto lets out a sigh. Ah, well. When she looks over to Reiko, her smile is one of rueful commiseration. "Don't worry about it too much, Reiko-chan," she says. "Sometimes people are just like that."

The bow gets an answering nod of understanding. "I definitely shouldn't keep you, then," she says. "I'm sure that I'll see you around! Good luck with your drawing - I hope it makes your friend happy."