It was a familiar sight by now. Ten or so boys gathered impatiently in the front courtyard wearing protective gear. They stood there tall, ready for battle. They knew that this could very easily go so very badly for them, they knew that their chances of success were slim to none. But they had to try. Such was their devotion. Such was their love (though that was merely the way they justified it to themselves. Lust was the true emotion driving them each day into this rather foolish action). It was a smaller crowd than it had been when this had all started, numbers seeming to dwindle daily. By now there were only the most determined left.
"She's coming!" one yelled, and as one they braced for impact. Just down the street a dust cloud was gathering. At the centre of it was the girl barelling towards them, long blue hair trailing behind her. It was almost time for battle.
"I'm so late!" Akane yelled as she stepped into the school grounds. As one, the crowd of boys charged towards her. Each vying individually for the right to date her. Each desperate for the chance, just a chance to in spite of all this morning fight nonsense they were nice people down underneath. But just as the first of them reached her, something happened. Something unbelievable, utterly incredible and almost beautiful in execution.
Akane Tendo tripped over absolutely nothing, falling to the ground with nothing more than an "eek!" But as she fell, her head collided hard with the protective gear on his chest. She grabbed his shoulders and turned her head up, saying "Thank you" as she did so... incidentally striking him on the chin with the top of her head making the poor boy see stars.
Two others made their attempt next, attempting to grab her from either side. Only trouble was, Akane turned around to pick up her bag, which she'd dropped on the ground just at the very instant that the two dove for her. Some may be imagining that the two of them collided in mid-air and bounced away but that is a rather ridiculous thought. Instead, the two toppled onto Akane's back, and when she stood back up they somehow managed to topple over onto the other side. For good measure Akane let out a yawn, clipping two others with her outstretched arms, effectively clotheslining them to the ground.
The remaining five all charged at her at once. Just in time for Akane to trip on one of the legs of a fallen boy. Her hands fell out flat, striking the ground, and the next thing anyone knew Akane was sitting in the middle of five semi-conscious boys who all had foot marks on their faces.
"Whoops!" Akane winked, sticking her tongue out while playfully rapping a fist against her head. "Clumsy me!" She stood up, dusted herself off and made to run towards the entrance to the building.
"A fine display as always, Akane Tendo. But my eyes are not so easily deceived!"
A rose shot out of nowhere, barely missing Akane's head as she turned around seeming a little confused about where the voice was coming from. Kuno stepped out from behind a tree.
"Oh, there you are! Hello Kuno! Sorry! I'm running a little late today. Could you do this tomorrow instead?"
"You are always running late!" Kuno declared, waving his bokken at Akane. "Today, I shall prove that you are more than you seem! I know the truth, Miss Tendo! You are a formidable martial artist that, for whatever reason, hides your true self behind a curtain of deception! The same curtain that masks your true feelings for me! I shall lift this curtain today, and then we shall date! Defend yourself!"
The bokken swung through the air, and Akane let out a high pitched eek, and she instinctively raised her arms just as anyone would in such a situation. But surely her arms could not prevent a well placed strike with a bokken by one that is proficient with it? At least, not without causing some rather significant pain in the arms afterwards. Right?
That would only be the case if the blow ever struck the arms. In this particular instance the arms were safe. Her hasty attempt to block had a rather odd side effect of causing the bag she was carrying to raise in the air, wrap itself around the bokken mid-strike, and for the sudden additional weight to completely throw Kuno off balance. Thus when Akane followed the next instinctive reaction - to duck - she wound up quite accidentally giving Kuno a picture perfect back body drop.
With all of her obstacles removed at last, Akane barely made it into class on time. But the question remains: Why is this Akane behaving in this manner?
Sun Oct 09 23:05:54 2011
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