150/Self-Defense Class 2

Self-Defense Class 2
Date of Scene:	24 July 2023
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Ami, Madoka, and Cho attend self-defense class.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouka Inai, Ami Mizuno, Madoka Kaname, Cho Konishi

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Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Wednesday at 3:30 in the Sports Pavilion is Inai-sensei's self-defense class! It's an actual school class, listed as a PE class with her as a special instructor (since she is not actually a PE teacher). One section of the massive pavilion has been set up with a bunch of soft gym mats on the floor, and students have arrived for the class. It's a large class, as PE things tend to be, with at least 50 students in their gym clothes showing up after normal classes have finished for the day.

    Kyouka herself is here waiting, wearing red workout pants with white stripes down the legs and a similar jacket, unzipped, showing a white t-shirt underneath. She watches the students trickling in with hands on her hips, a mild grin on her face. "Alright, alright everybody. Line up on the mats. You'll need partners eventually, so think about that now if you want, but for now just come over here and be quiet while we go over the basics!"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno looks around the group of students shyly, eyes wide. She arrived shortly after the last class let out and changed into her gym clothes--a white tee shirt with blue shorts that reach her knees. She makes sure to be in the back of the class right now despite wanting to learn everything she can until she sees a familiar face. Madoka gets a smile, and Ami begins to slowly move in that direction.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka has come to realize that there's really no escaping combat in her life right now. Despite not even being a proper magical girl, she has already had to protect herself using power that others have temporarily lent to her. She's very aware that she can be put in danger at any given time, with almost zero warning. Taking self-defense classes is the bare minimum. So that's why she's in her gym clothes, at a class that she never would have seen herself taking no less than a month ago.

    When she sees Ami, she smiles and waves. At least that's someone she's spoken to before. Madoka doesn't have any reason to suspect that Ami is anything other than the ordinary girl she appears to be, so partnering for her is probably for the best. It's more even that way.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi nodded and made her way towards the mats. Yup. She knew people. She definitely knew people here. Totally. That was why her whole talk with Kyouka was about 'How do I bribe someone to go to the dance with me?' Because she was a totally hip and happening girl who desperately needed help with like. People. But yup. She knew people. Totes.

So, obviously, she didn't have a partner. Eh, she'd figure it out, though. And hey, there was a pink haired girl and a blue haired girl. That was like, pretty cool. And one of them looked like a total genius! After all, not just anyone could get their pink hair in those kinds of double ponytail things. And the other one looked like a friendly, outgoing girl. After all, bright blue hair just SCREAMED 'I wanna know EVERYBODY!'

Cho was not the best judge of character. But, soon enough, she found herself drawn towards Kyouka, by those two... and gave them a smile. "Hi! I'm Cho Konishi," she said with a big smile. Besides, she'd met pink haired and blue haired magical girls already, maybe these two were two of them! That'd be awesome!

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka goes on addressing the group, unaware of what might be playing out between Ami, Madoka, an Cho at the back of the crowd. "Welcome to Self-Defense Class," She says, still grinning that lopsided grin of hers. "The point of this class is to learn how to take care of yourself. That doesn't mean how to beat people up. It means how to de-escalate and escape from bad situations with a miminum of fuss and muss. I'm going to say this now and I'll say it over and over again- fighting should be your last resort. However, there are times in life, unfortunate as it may be, where you need to put somebody on the ground in order to ensure your own safety. And I aim to teach you all how to do that."

    She nods again, gesturing. "If you would get into small groups, two or three people, that would be ideal! I'm going to start by showing you some simple techniques to break holds, like if someone grabs your wrist, how you can get free and hopefully discourage anything further from taking place."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
    Ami nods to Madoka, relaxing a bit. "Hi, Kaname-san," she says with a smile of relief. "How was the rest of that soda?" she asks, before Cho comes over to them. The other pink-haired girl comes over and introduces herself. Ami is about to reply when the instructor speaks up, and instead turns to focus on that.

Ami listens, taking mental notes as Kyouka speaks. A slight frown graces her features, and she reaches for a non-existent pocket. No way to take notes. Mmph. Alas.

She looks back to the other two, Madoka and Cho, and gives a timid smile. "Would... you like to be partners?" she asks softly.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "The soda? Oh! From last time. It was good!" is Madoka's cheery response to Ami. Then she sees anther pinkette coming and, well... Madoka isn't really the kind of person who likes to exclude people. She tries to figure out if she's seen Cho before, and she probably has since they're at the same school, but if so it was probably in passing.

    When Kyouka's lecture begins, Madoka pays attention. She gets the impression that Kyouka is saying some of this stuff because, as a responsible adult, she has to; on the other hand, if this was nothing more than a 'beat people up' class, Inai-sensei likely never would've convinced Madoka to be here.

    Glancing between Ami and Cho, Madoka says, "Sure! Let's be partners!" After all you can't really make friends unless you're open to doing stuff with them.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi listened intently. Kyouka... Kyouka MIGHT be magic. Maybe. She was beginning to suspect she knew things. But... maybe? Maybe not? She certainly knew... something. And Cho... had to try and figure it out. Maybe she did? Was that her job? Okay, probably not. But she had to at least consider trying. But, for now? Self defense.

Also, awwww. Did that all mean they wouldn't learn how to DDT someone? Laaaaame.

And then, her hypothesis proved correct. Ami was the outgoing one, initiating the 'lets be partners!' idea. Truly, Cho's brilliance and identification abilities amazed even her. "That sounds like fun!" Just one thing remained...

... "Uhhhh... so... ummm... your names?" she asked.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
    Ami blushes as she realizes where she messed up. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she says quietly but in horror, hands flying to her mouth. "I'm Ami Mizuno." The bluenette gives a little bow, polite more than formal. Glancing to Madoka, she allows the pinkette she's met before to introduce herself. The poor blue-haired girl has a very shy smile on her face, and holds the hem of her shorts so she doesn't wring her hands.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Madoka Kaname!" is how she introduces herself to Cho, with a soft friendly smile. She forgot to introduce herself, which she feels pretty silly about, but she's a bit distracted since this kind of thing is really new to her. "I don't normally take classes like these, so I'm a bit inexperienced." Her hand goes to the back of her head as she laughs a bit awkwardly.

    She starts doing a few simple arm stretches, partially to warm herself up but also partially to work out some of the nervous energy. Even if she's one of the more friendly people in school she also gets shy sometimes.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi blinked. Wait. AMI was the shy one? Oh. Oh wait! They were BOTH shy?! Wait, were they the quiet, delicate girl types? Then as a--

Oh, wait. No. She wasn't that girl anymore. She didn't HAVE to protect everyone. Especially not from things like this. "Well, Mizuno-san, Kaname-san, trust me! Even if it's your first time, I'm sure it'll be fun. Besides, I'll be gentle," she said with a wink.

"... though, admittedly this is my first time, too. I've like. Watched wrestling on TV, but... this is *definitely* not the same thing. I don't see any tables to tackle people through at all." That was, obviously, a joke.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Perhaps if she was allowed to have tables to tackle people through, Kyouka would definitely have had some. But the school gets fussy about putting students through furniture, especially the non-magical ones, so this portion of the class is pretty straight forward. As people begin to split into groups, Kyouka moves around the room, greeting and encouraging people.

    Happening eventually upon the trio of Cho, Madoka, and Ami, she gives a grin to them. "Hi guys... Konishi-san, Kaname-san. You two I've met. What's your name?" She asks of Ami, her easygoing demeanor and casual confidence making her seem easy to speak to equally casually, despite being the teacher of the class.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami blushes crimson at Cho's words. Stammering, she falls silent, looking between the two with really, really wide eyes. She can't tell if Cho's joking, more from her own inexperience in social situations than Cho's mishandling of things. She looks at Madoka, pleading for help.

Kyouka's arrival is not timed well, but... well... Ami breathes out, straightens a bit, and then bows to the teacher. "Ami Mizuno, Inai-senpai," she says. Or, well, squeaks. This little mouse apparently needs all the help she can get!

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Ehehehe." Madoka laughs at the idea of putting someone through a table. "I don't quite we're at that point, no." That isn't the kind of thing that Madoka's family tends to watch. When she sees Ami's plea for help, Madoka holds up her hands in front of her to make a sort of 'it's okay! it's okay!' gesture. Kyouka's arrival is almost a relief, though Madoka does feel a little sorry for Ami at the moment.

    "Hello, Inai-sensei. So... what should we do?" Madoka's first response to awkwardness in this situation is to move on from it. Surely things will smooth out when they start actually doing something, right?

    ...Maybe?

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi turns and bows politely when Kyouka approaches! "Hello again, Inai-senpai! I uhhh... I saw your card the other day and, well, I thought I'd give it a try. You know? Because... well, uhhhh... yeah. So ummm. I'm here," she said sheepishly.

"... So ummmm... I think traditionally I think I'm supposed to like. Say 'I'm super tough, I don't need this', and then you like, throw me across the room with one hand in some kind of special momentum tossing maneuver. But I'd like to avoid that and just defer to your training?" she said. She was nervous. So she was making terrible jokes.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka, for her part, seems perfectly at ease despite the awkwardness thrown her way from multiple angles. She just inclines her head to Ami, saying, "Nice to meet you, Mizuno-san," Before giving Cho a bit of a Look, with an eyebrow arched. "Well, normally you'd be right, but last time the school threatened to let me go if I tossed any more students across the room, so we'll just do the regular version this time." She's joking, right? Has to be.

    "I'm going to show you all how to break a simple wrist hold, then have you practice on each other for a while." She says, moving closer. "Konishi-san, since you seem so eager, how about you grab my wrist? As if you wanted to stop me leaving, or something." She holds her wrist out towards Cho, waiting expectantly.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami glances to Cho anxiously, but forces herself to take a breath. Everyone here is nervous, it seems, and that finally filters through the traffic of being so awkward into Ami's social-awareness center. Another breath, slow and sure. Another.

"The pleasure is mine," she says after that last deep breath. Then she blanches again, unsure of Kyouka's joking. She forces herself to take another deep breath, and takes a half-step back to watch Cho and their teacher, forcing herself into analytical brain.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka's starting to form an impression of Cho that... isn't exactly bad, but she does have to wonder how much she's joking. Inai-senseis response gives her pause, because Madoka is aware that Kyouka might actually be strong enough to pull that off.

    Welp, there is awkwardness all over the place, and there's not much she can do about it other than be supportive and commiserate. At the very least, no one is bullying each other or anything, so maybe it'll be a positive experience?

    Madoka takes a step back as Cho is approached by the teacher. Whatever Kyouka ends up doing, Madoka doesn't want to end up in the splash zone.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi nodded. Right, she could do this. Oh, this was going to suck. Then started to reach towards her wrist, but then paused. This wasn't... Some of Wuwu's advice came to her mind. Alas, she didn't have a tail. She then shook her head again, frowning, over thinking things. What if she--

SHUT UP STUPID HEAD VOICE! She just reached out and grabbed Kyouka's wrist. "Hey! Where, um, do you think you're going? Ummmm... lady?" she tried. Attempting to play a role.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka rolls her eyes, though she's still grinning, so it comes off as playful rather than judgemental. "No need for that," She says of the expertly-delivered roleplay line, "Besides-" and she does /something/ with her wrist, a quick turn and tug and suddenly Cho isn't holding onto it anymore, and she holds up both hands, waggling her fingers. "How ya gonna stop me?"

    She grins again, then holds out her wrist. "Again, and I'll do it slower this time." She does, demonstrating the technique which is mostly about leveraging the angles of force to make it impossible for the other person's grip to stay tight, then pulling your arm at the right time to simply slide it free. "See that? This is hold-breaking 101. Sometimes even just this is enough to convince the person that you're not someone who should be messed around with, if you're lucky."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami looks impressed, despite herself--or maybe because of something deep inside. Her gaze intensifies, and she watches very closely. "I see," she murmurs. "Easy physics." She blinks and looks up at Kyouka, studying their teacher. She shakes her head after a moment and looks to Madoka. "Would you like to go first?" she asks, offering her slender right wrist. Cho's gotten some practice in. Why shouldn't the other two?

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka takes yet another step back as Cho grabs the teacher's wrist. She expected a throw, but what she saw instead was a slippery Kyouka. "Huh..." She taps her chin. That was... a lot less violent than Madoka was expecting. Actually, seeing that makes her a bit more enthusiastic.

    "So... yeah, it's like simple physics." She agrees with Ami, having thought something similar. It looked so effortless when the teacher did it.

    Madoka nods her head at Ami, and then quickly grips the offered wrist. She doesn't have any magic strength or anything, and she doesn't have any exercise routine other than normal everyday school stuff, so her grip isn't exactly super strong.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi nodded, watching the wrist. "So that's how it works..." she said softly. It explained a lot. She'd always... well... Cure Wukong was MUCH better at maneuvering out of holds and the like than she was. "Are there... other ways to escape it? Like... well, if they're not letting you maneuver your wrist in different directions like that?" Since her grip was looser. "Or if they grip you with both hands?" she asked. She uhhhh... was obviously overthinking it. Already. They'd only JUST started.

But then. her overthinking things was kiiiiind of one of the things she did. A lot. "Or if they grab you by your sleeve, not the wrist, will it work on that?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka seems pleased by Cho's questions, rather than annoyed by them. "There are," She says, nodding her head. "But we'll get to those in time. For now, practice this one until you can do it without needing to think about it too much." She glances over to see that Ami and Madoka have already begun to practice, and she nods again encouragingly, "Yes, great you two."

    She shows Cho the manuver one more time, then says, "I'm going to go help the next pair. You guys practice this for a little while. Take turns." She tells them, indicating Cho, Ami, and Madoka, "And I'll be back in a short while to see how you're doing." With that, she turns and meanders over to the next pair, leaving the three to their own devices for a short while.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami blinks and looks over at Cho with a gentle smile, even as she demonstrates the move Kyouka just showed them. It's not perfect, but her wrist is free and unbroken. That's a win in her book. "Slow down," she advises Cho gently. It's from a place of... not confidence, not at all. But a place of understanding where the other girl is coming from, if nothing else. "One step at a time." She looks to Kyouka, nodding a bit. "I'm sure Inai-sensei has much more to show us. The class is more than one move long, after all." However, she looks to Kyouka, blushing and nodding in deference to their teacher. It seems that her analytical brain has overriden her anxiety, at least for a bit, and she nods to Madoka with a smile.

After watching Kyouka go, Ami gestures to the other two. "May I?" she asks, waiting for one of them to offer their wrist. If both do, she'll take the first one offered. Holding onto it with a typical bookish teen girl's grip, she nods to the owner to indicate she's ready.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    As Cho asks questions, Madoka thinks 'What if they grab your hair?' A part of her suspects that Homura might have an answer to that one, considering how long it is. When she hears Kyouka tell Cho they'll get to other situations later, she lets the question pass. She smiles at the encouragement in a way that seems genuinely sincere rather than sycophantic. Madoka's happy to be doing well!

    She nods brightly and offers her wrist to Ami when asked, but also she turns to Cho and says, "I'm guessing you want to try the other side of it too, huh?"

    She waits for Ami to grab her before trying anything else. Unless Ami wants to try it on Cho instead.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi nodded. "Oh, you two go ahead, first, I figure like... hmmm... five times each?" she offered. "Mizuno-san grabs Kaname-san's five times, then Kaname-san can grab mine five times, then I can grab Mizuno-sans five times. Then we can reverse it, I'll grab Kaname-sans, Kaname-san can grab Mizuno-san's and Mizuno-san can grab mine. That way we all have a chance to observe the motions, practice them from both sides and experiment on different sizes and heights."

Then she blinked and her cheeks turned bright red. "O-oh. S-sorry, that was... that was a bit... dorky... wasn't it?" she asked sheepishly. "I just.... uhhhh... tend to oberate... better... with lists. M-maybe it's a bad idea."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami nods at Cho, agreeing with her. "No," she says with a soft smile. "I was going to say the same! It's good." She nods again, before gripping Madoka's wrist.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka shakes her head emphatically at Cho. "No, it's not a bad idea at all! We need the practice. I'm okay with doing it like that."

    With Ami's hand on Madoka's wrist, she tries to repeat the exercise. It's a little awkward but it's easier than it looks. Just a simple turn, pull away from the palm, leverage against what has to be the weakest part of the grip. It's not something that she could easily put into words but the intuition is there.

    She gets ready to repeat the process, and also trade places with Ami. Keep doing it until you can't get it wrong.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi nodded and watched. She even practiced the motion a few times with her own wrist, while watching them. It didn't look that hard. "So, um. What made you two decide to start taking these lessons? Have a run in with delinquents or something?" she asked with a small smile. "Or is Kyouka secretly one of your aunts and you're trying to silently support her throwing teenagers like us around?" she joked.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami nods at Madoka happily. "Well done," she says, bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet. Despite her social awkwardness, she's excited. And Madoka and Cho are so nice, she's relaxing.

Practice continues, with Ami mastering the maneuver by the time they're done practicing. She pushes her bangs out of her eyes afterwards and beams, unable to hide how proud she is of herself.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Er... Well..." Madoka hesitates when asked why she's here. "I mean, you never know what could happen right?"

    Very quickly she goes back to practice while trying to think of a reasonable answer that isn't exactly spilling all of the tea but also isn't really dishonest.

    "I've gotten in trouble a couple times recently. Things can get rough really quickly around here. Actually, I kinda wanted to ask if there are any tips for improving situational awareness, since I don't want to get ambushed or snuck up on."

    'Again' is the word she leaves out of that sentence. There are things she's comfortable saying around Kyouka alone that might not be suited for non-magical ears.

    She practices with Ami for a bit, and after a while she thinks she has it down. By the time she gets to Cho, she's a little more confident. Madoka might want to practice this a bit more at a later time, just to make sure that she doesn't forget it, but for now she thinks she can break this basic grip.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi was correct! It WAS easy for her! The ease she'd pull off the maneuver, you'd think she'd done it a million times in the past.

Gotta love having that magicalness in her.

But the gripping part she struggled with, in fact she was... fairly awful at it. Nervous she might hurt the other girl. But by the end, she felt pretty proud of herself, too.

"Sadly, I don't know how to improve awareness like that. I'm... a bit flaky, too, admittedly. I've uhhhh... been snuck up on more times than I can count. I've kind of managed to get out by the skin of my teeth, but... I'd like to... not have to depend on everyone to save me when I get in over my head, you know? I mean... it's... really nice knowing there are people who have your back. But it still feels pretty awful needing to be saved all the time when you're used to being the dependable one."

She then blinked. "That... probably sounded weird when I say it out loud. It sounded way better in my head, I swear," she said sheepishly. "Wish I could offer more advice aside from like... make sure to stay near people you trust."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka is approaching just as Cho is speaking, and she smiles, tilting her head at a bit of an angle as she does so. "Don't downplay that advice, Konishi-san." She says, her tone pleasant but somehow grave at the same time. "Staying near people you trust, having people you trust to watch your back, is often the most important part of self-defense. You can't /never/ be alone, which is why learning this kind of stuff is important. But you can certainly minimize the need for it by sticking with your friends when you're out at night, or something like that. Very often just the fact that there's a group will dissuade someone will ill intentions from trying anything."

    Of course, that doesn't really apply to youma, but she's not about to say that right now. That's for the latter half of the class. "Let me see you guys do the thing." She watches each of the three demonstrate breaking the grip, using her own hand, gripping each wrist in turn and then allowing them to break the hold. "Great. You guys are doing awesome." She says, seeming pleased. "I know this sort of thing isn't necessarily in all of your wheelhouses, but I really do think it's important for everyone to know at least the basics of getting out of a bad situation. Hopefully you never have to put it to use. But better to know it and not need it, than need it and not know it."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami blinks at Cho, a bit blankly. She can't tell if the other girl is being metaphorical or literal about situational awareness. She doesn't say anything, just smiles politely. Then she remembers that Cho asked something before that lead to this topic and she flushes. "Oh," she says with a shy shrug. "I just thought it might be good to know this kind of thing." A faint smile, embarrassed. "It's good for a girl, you know?"

Kyouka comes by and Ami nods thoughtfully. Of course, she thinks nothing of youma, because she simply wouldn't! She nods agreement with Kyouka though. She smiles to Madoka then, and nods.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka tilts her head at Cho's response. Does Cho live in a rough part of town or something? The Veil is stopping her from thinking 'magical girl' so instead her thoughts go towards gang violence or something. Madoka tries not to draw too many conclusions too quickly and instead just nods at the feedback.

    "Having people I can trust around? That makes sense." It is, after all, what's saved her in the past. Granted people were magical, and not all of them were people she knew. It does answer the question in a different way though. More eyes on a situation probably does improve awareness.

    She nods at Ami in agreement, saying, "Right? It's important to stay safe these days. You never really know."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
It takes a few more minutes for Ami to notice the time, and she blinks. "I'm sorry, Inai-sensei, Kaname-san, and Konishi-san," she apologizes, "but I will be late for an important appointment if I don't leave now. We're close to the end of class, I believe, anyway?" She smiles nervously and ducks away from the crowd of students before dashing off.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi nodded, her cheeks burning at the praise. "T-thank you, Inai-sensei. Friends... really are the best," she said, her cheeks going a little red. She had friends now. She actually had people willing to call themselves her friend. Hee!

Especially magic friends.

She, of course, was actually enjoying these lessons. It was kind of like what Wuwu said. He spent decades mastering his techniques... but a lot of it was repetition. Doing it on instinct. Because if someone grabbed her wrist, she doubted she could just 'get away'. She'd likely tug. But if she learned this technique, this skill? Then... escape could be instinctual. It wouldn't matter if she knew it or not.

Also, these two girls were cool. She liked them. And Madoka seemed like she knew how to handle pink hair...

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."

    "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."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "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."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka stays for the magical lesson, and takes a glance around at a lot of the faces who are here too. When she hears the call to 'go henshin', she hesitates for a minute and then leaves.

    When she returns, she is actually still not in henshin. She didn't leave to go change into combat clothes. She left to get a bag full of first aid kits, water bottles, sports drinks, towels and other things she thought might be necessary for such a thing.

    The big overstuffed bag looks way too large for her to be carrying around, but she's not super strong. Aside from the drinks, there isn't anything all that heavy in it. She sets it down next to a wall and squats down next to it. Madoka is clearly here to watch and not participate, but she still hopes to maybe learn something.

    Knowledge might save her life, or the life of someone she cares about, after all.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi headed off when she was told, nodding and... Ami was gone. But Madoka was still here? So it was true. Pink haired girls WERE magic!

Of course, when she came back as Cure Wukong... Madoka was still here. But with first aid kits. Oh. She was a teacher's aid. Maybe... pink haired girls WEREN'T magic by default? Still, she nodded and listened intently to Kyouka's words. Then happy to follow as she was directed.

Her strengths were obvious. Monkey bullshit. She was, clear and simple, durable and made of bullshit. But... She was too impulsive, had almost NO defense, didn't think things through. she was a building sized hammer that slammed on things, either with numbers and/or just monkey stupidity.

She was utterly helpless against someone who knew how to strike when she was vulnerable, when she was distracted, when she showed off. And how much of that was her, how much of it was Wukong and how much was just her power was... hard to say.

She did, at least, follow the rules. And didn't... hold back. That. That was something she made sure to not do REAL quick. She probably learned to 'stop holding back' faster than any student she'd ever had.

Wukong gonna wukong.