152/Self Defense 3

Self Defense 3
Date of Scene:	24 July 2023
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Kyouko, Wako and Takuto attend self-defense class.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouka Inai, Kyouko Sakura, Takuto Tsunashi, Wako Agemaki

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Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Every Wednesday at 3:30, one end of the Sports Pavilion is given over to Inai-sensei's Self-Defense Class. This is a normal class, considered a PE class, which is on the school schedule and open for any student to take. As such, around that time, a good fifty or so students show up in gym clothes and are paired off on large gym mats which have been laid out over the wooden floor.

    Kyouka herself is there, in a red-striped school jacket and track pants over a white tanktop. She leads the instruction, which varies from week to week but is generally about how to defend yourself if you ever find yourself in a dodgy situation. She covers things like how to break holds, how to restrain people without severe injury, and how to best disable someone who might be attacking you so that you can escape. She focuses on the first priority always being to get away and get help, repeating that you should only resort to fighting when you have no other choice.

    Students are set to practicing holds, breaking holds, and other forms of non-lethal defensive martial arts. The lessons last for about an hour, and are usually fairly active, such that a sweat is worked up and occasional bruises are inflicted, though anything more series than that is very unusual.

    It's when this mundane class ends that the 'special lesson' can begin. Those who have been invited know who they are- or should do, anyway. Kyouka can tell, anyway. Who is magic and who isn't is obvious to her due to her inherent ability to sense magicals. So she waits while all the mundane students head off to change, and hopefully the magical students stick around. Once she's sure that no mundane students remain, she calls out, "Alright! Time for the special lesson. Now look, I know some of you are a bit cagey about your secret identities and such, so here's what we're gonna do. Everybody leave the room. Go find somewhere to henshin. Do it, then come back. You have five minutes, okay?"

    While people are doing that, Kyouka sets up her Barrier device. A neat little thing given to her by the Headmistress for this class. It doesn't look like much- a little cylindrical silver thing with some bleeping lights on it, and little feet that stick out so it can stand upright on the floor. But a few button presses, and suddenly a slightly off-color energy square is expanding outwards. It's perfectly sized to encompass the gym and nothing beyond it. As the students return, now hopefully in henshin, Kyouka addresses the group with a grin.

    "Thanks to this barrier, we can practice all we want and nobody will be the wiser. Nobody outside can see or hear anything, and any damage inflicted will reverse once the field is taken down. Nobody who isn't magical can get in, either. It's great for this sort of thing."

    She glances around. "Now, as this is the first of these classes, let me say a few things. First of all, this is MY house. Alright? Kyouka Inai Rules. You follow instructions or you go home. And don't think you can just leave without my foot up your ass on the way." A glare at several students in particular. "That said, this is about learning. I don't want anybody to feel like they need to restrain themselves. If you're holding back, it's harder for me to assess your abilities and pinpoint areas where you might improve."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "I'm going to split you up into groups. Since this is the first class, it's gonna be kind of arbitrary, but we'll work on getting you into groups that compliment each other later on. Oh, and one more thing."

    "I've given a bunch of you kids business cards. Hang onto those. They're magic." She grins. "I mean it. If you get into trouble, you can use the card to call me for help. Just call out "Inai-sensei, I need help!" or something.. The words don't matter. It's the intent. As long as you have the card on you, I can find you. Anyway.. Probably should have said that earlier but this way I only have to say it once."

    "Now, let's get you into groups, and get practicing. Those monsters aren't going to fight themselves."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
About two thirds of the way through Inai-sensei's Self-Defense Class, a lone figure slinks in the back. She's wearing the school uniform with the blouse untucked, the ribbon half-tied, and long bike shorts under the skirt, and she's eating an apple. The crunch of her teeth in the apple is the only sound she makes, but she does watch the students with a very pointed scowl on her face for the rest of the lesson--and then, afterwards, right up until Kyouka tells them all to go transform. She looks a bit puzzled at that--maybe she isn't a magical girl after all? And then she leaves.

The girl who returns in her place is a Puella Magi, complete with cute frilly dress and gigantic spear hoisted on her shoulder. She spends most of the introductory speech time suspiciously eyeing the other remaining students, the barrier device, and occasionally Kyouka herself.

Only once they've finally separated into groups does she speak. "OK, listen. First things first, here's how it works, you two losers are gonna try to fight me, and I'm gonna kick your ass. Got it?" Without waiting for a response, she goes on, complaining, "I really misjudged this whole thing. That stupid teacher--she brought a bunch of newbies here and now I'm stuck with a couple of them until she brings out the food."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto, who also... sort of... really didn't care about apprivoising in front of god and everyone, but didn't want to be the lone lightshow in the middle of an empty gym, is walking back in as he brushes stardust off his sleeves. "Sensei, what kind of ba--" rrier is this, he starts to ask and then Kyouko, whose hair is just like his but LONGER, how DARE, is rude.

His face lights up in delight.

The Ginga Bishounen puts his right fist over his heart. "STAR SWORD EMERAUDE!" he calls out as he draws a big green light-sword out of the center of his chest. And then his left fist over his heart, and the same thing but blue: "STAR SWORD... SAPHIR!"

Dual wielding handle-free lightsabres. Okay.

"We can start now, right?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Ta--" Wako begins, only just catching herself before she actually says his name out loud. Her uniform is nearly a match to his, only white and gold instead of white, red, and gold, and with a pleated skirt and capelet. Her metaphorical sweatdrop is almost visible. She can already tell where this is going.

Letting out her breath in a sigh, she shakes her head and ranges herself beside and a little behind Takuto and his lightsabers to settle her attention onto Kyouko. "Newbies, huh...? All right," she says, and raises both empty hands in front of her. A faint pink light shimmers into being around her, like she's standing in the center of a giant soap-bubble. "All right, if that's how it is." She does not seem properly intimidated.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Once the mahous have gone and henshined and returned, Kyouka smiles her lopsided smile. "And hey, that means I get to do this." She holds up her hand, twists it- and suddenly that silver zippo lighter of hers is between her fingers, appearing as if by... well, magic. She rolls it back and forth across her knuckles skillfully, then flicks it open with a musical *ping* that seems to echo through the room far louder than it shoulder. The flame flickers into life, suddenly so bright and mesmerizing that it seems to take up all of the vision of anyone who looks for just a moment, until there's a metallic *snap* and the lighter closes again. And Inai-sensei's outfit has changed.

    She's now wearing a long white coat trimmed in gold, with a faintly militaristic styling, large folded-back lapels and a split tail. Formal-style buttons hold it closed across her chest, and beneath she's wearing black leggings or tight pants, and big thick-soled white boots with gold clasps down the sides. She flicks her fingers and the lighter is gone again, and she performs a small bow of her own. "In this guise you all may call me Stellar. Or, Stellar-sensei, I guess." That lopsided grin again, showing a little fang.

    Having done this in front of the entire class with zero shame, she then drops down to start wandering among the students. It isn't long before she finds Kyouko and the two she is facing off against. She idly wanders directly between Kyouko's speartip and Takuto's dual sabers as if nothing is going on. "Oh hey, kid," She greets Kyouko, "Glad you showed up!" Then she turns around, presenting her undefended back to the Puella in order to look the Ginga Bishounen over. "Nice coat." She tells him, unironically.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
For just a second, as Takuto pulls out his swords with such aplomb, Kyouko's face goes blank. That was *not* what she expected.

Then *her* face lights up too. "Heck yeah, we can start now!" And she grips her spear more firmly and falls into a fighting stance--

Just in time for Kyouka to wander in between her and Takuto. Once again her expression goes slack for a moment before she recovers. "Sensei, what the hell! Get out of the way so I can beat this jerk up!" She shifts impatiently back and forth on her feet for a second, then scowls. "And where's the food? I'm hungry, you better not expect me to do this crap on an empty stomach."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"That's Takuto-jerk to you--" says the Ginga Bishounen indignantly, but then his attention's back on Stellar. He blinks, then gives her a bright and lopsided grin. "Nice coat yourself, Stellar-sensei."

He is not letting up on his stance, despite Inai being in the way, because what if she sidesteps suddenly? He doesn't expect the small bitey one to actually take an interruption as a reason to reset. He does, however, ask over his shoulder, "Wako-chan, you think I should call out Tauburn?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako lets out a startled little laugh. "You ask me that," she says, "but I'm pretty sure as soon as sensei says go, you two are going to be chasing each other all the way across the gym and back like you're in a martial arts movie. Are you going to make Tauburn fly around after you like that?"

She doesn't protest his use of her name, or his own. Barn doors and horses, and so on and so forth. Nor does the transparent curve of the energy shield around her falter. Stellar has put herself fully in between Takuto and Kyouko's lines of sight on each other, but from her slightly angled vantage she keeps a watchful eye on the red-clad girl and her spear.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar reaches into the pocket of her coat, half-turning to face Kyouko. "Here," She says, tossing the girl an apple. "I brought that specifically for you, Kyou-chan. Because you're going to be my star pupil, right? You're gonna show this pretty boy how it's done, ain't ya?" Ash-grey eyes flick the other direction, that mischievous lop-sided grin still on her face. "You think you can handle this, Boyfriend-kun? Or do you want me to tell her to go easy?" Her tone isn't mocking precisely, more like she's good-naturedly egging on the competition.

    "Just remember what I said- obey the rules. The rules are "nobody dies" and "if I say stop, you stop". That's all the rules. Also try not to get in the way of any of the other groups." Finally she moves, stepping out of the way and a bit closer to where Wako is standing in her pink bubble. She leans over towards the girl (not close enough to risk touching the pink bubble though), and stage-whispers, "Two on one might not be fair.." Far too easily overheard.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
One hand still on her spear, Kyouko snatches the apple out of midair in one gesture and brings it to her mouth to take a bite in the next. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear you call me that, 'cause I've got this flashy guy to beat up right now!" Chomp, chomp. Even as Kyouka steps aside, she's still eating that apple--although her other hand is solid on her spear, and her eyes don't waver from her opponents.

And she gives a huge, just slightly fanged grin. In her eyes it's just a smirk, though. "Takuto-jerk, huh? My name's Kyouko. I'm the magical girl on top of the food chain around here, and by the end of this you're gonna think twice before you get in the way of me and my prey." That's a normal way for magical girls to talk, right? They're apex predators in the magical ecosystem, or something like that. It's normal.

It's amazing how fast she finishes that apple down to the core--which she tosses rudely aside as litter (Kyouka deserves to have to clean it up for that "two on one" comment). And then, without even saying anything further, she's launching into action, hurling herself directly at Takuto, spear thrust forward.

It's half real attack and half feint. A split second later as she hurtles toward Takuto and his swords, her spear segments into a chain and she throws it, attempting to entangle Takuto's legs.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
With a sound almost like what would happen if light were something one could touch, and something that could be ground against itself like stone on stone or metal on metal, Star Sword Emeraude parries the spear, and Takuto's flipped himself up in the air with a flaring burst of a blue nimbus around him to get out of the way of Kyouko's momentum.

When he looks down and sees the segments instead of spear, he deliberately drops that way, on top of it, Star Sword Saphir point down to try and pin the spear-chain to the floor between links.

This isn't necessarily fighting, per se, this is a lot closer to 'ooh what does THIS do?'

--except that even as 'what THIS does' turns out to be 'the part you landed on is still moving, genius,' Takuto's whipped Star Sword Emeraude around and grabbed the blade in a gloved hand to throw it like a javelin.

From where he's fallen on the floor.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Sensei..." That's a very aggrieved sound from Wako, a tone of voice that says she can see exactly what Stellar is trying to do and doesn't especially appreciate it. If she has a more specific complaint to tender, however, it is put on hold, because the go-ahead has been given and neither Kyouko nor Takuto is the type to hesitate.

It's not really a surprise that the girl with the spear has homed in on Takuto and apparently dismissed Wako as a threat. All things considered, she's probably entirely right to do so. But Wako didn't come here just to stand on the sidelines and cheer Takuto on.

As spear and Star Swords clash, Wako's feet lift off of the gym floor, the bubble of her shield lifting her into the air in a corona of pink light. She brings up her hand in front of her, taking aim along the length of her arm in order to strafe Kyouko with a series of bright pink energy bullets fired from her fingertip. "Just where do you think you're aiming, hmm?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar smirks to herself at the response she gets from Kyouko, though as the apple core is tossed aside, she casually walks over and picks it up, just as the clash behind her begins. She sleight-of-hands it into nonexistence, turning halfway around to observe the interaction between spear, chain, and swords.. and Wako shooting into melee with her energy bullets. She sighs a little bit, but doesn't interfere. After all, the first step of teaching is to let the students make mistakes, then teach them how to do better.

    Not that anything going on just yet really qualifies as a mistake. The point is just that she is refraining from giving advice until the dust settles- or at least until there's a natural lull. "Usually we fight on our feet, Boyfriend-kun." She calls out good-naturedly as Takuto ends up on the floor, which doesn't count as giving advice, or at least so she tells herself. She steps back, making sure she's well out of the way, keeping an eye on the confrontation until she decides it's safe to move on to another group.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
Kyouko's already trying to dodge away as she releases the spear. Her eyes widen as she hears that sound, as she sees that aura of light--who does this guy think he is, having so many special effects? But she doesn't let it distract her for long, because the next thing she knows her spear is pinned with one sword and the other is flying RIGHT AT HER.

After that she moves very fast. She dodges by dropping close to the ground, and in almost the same motion she's grabbing her segmented spear at the end to yank it back, which shouldn't *work* because there is a stupid handle-less lightsaber stabbed through it. But--the chain just snaps. It just snaps, and then the whole thing shatters, and then it reforms in Kyouko's hand, no longer segmented. Which is good because it's right about then that Wako shoots her with pink energy bullets. The first few whoosh by her close enough for her to feel the force of them, and her eyes narrow, and then she...stabs the bullets? No, she's trying to *deflect* them with the side of her spear. Not at Wako, though. At Takuto.

"What d'you mean?" She smirks. "I'm taking out the undefended target first before I tackle your shield."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Who's undefended?" yells Takuto, propelling himself up off of the floor with a twist and another blue light burst, even as Star Sword Emeraude is reforming in his hand (while he's dodging deflected bullets -- though one definitely goes through his coat). "Wako!" he calls out, ducking into a roll that lets him yoink Star Sword Saphir out of the gym floor and only get shot by one more coat-bullet. One that makes him hiss, but still only one.

Emeraude gets lobbed up in the air towards the floating Wako, and he calls out gleefully, "SPIKE!"

In the meantime he literally pirouettes to slice at Kyouko with Saphir, his coat flaring out dramatically behind him and the sun through the upper windows glancing off the shining buttons and enormous star on his front.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako get like a split second to try to decide if she's alarmed or indignant at Kyouko's responses. "What makes you think--?" she begins, but then her deflected light-bullets hit too close to home and that hiss from Takuto makes her wince and hesitate in her assault.

Then he's tossing her his Star Sword and her eyes go huge. "Eeeh?!" she yelps, acting on his shouted prompting more by reflex than anything else. As the blade of shimmering green radiance reaches the apex of its arc, another sphere of rosy light forms around it, adding speed to its spin--

--and hovering in the air over the clash, Wako hauls back with both hands and slams the bubble like she's spiking a volleyball, sending Star Sword Emeraude rocketing down at Kyouko from above. "--CHESTO!"