Come up if you've got the guts!

Hey, name's Lee Moon Young, A-Class boxer over at Wild's High School. I dunno what that means to you, but I'm sure we'll get along fine. Unless I hear you're messing with my friends. Then you're dead.

[senboy-blog]

Sen turned immediately at the sound of her voice, walking towards her rather quickly and not taking a single look around the gym. Nope, not him. His eyes were totally glued to Moon Young— his teacher for the day. Er, afternoon, or whatever. He reached her and listened closely to what she had to say.

Damn. Who woulda thought that there was so much behind a little pair of gloves? Not really little, he corrected himself, as he took them and yanked them over his hands. They made them feel all bulky and strange. He clenched and unclenched his hand to the best of his ability, before holding them up to his chest in what he hoped looked like a pose one would use to start with the punching.

Right, okay. Now he just had to… hit the bag. Which still seemed kind of silly to him, but he wasn’t about to question Moon Young. Maybe if he just pretended it was that one stupid kid who beat up Richie back then, or some bully messing with Sachiko, or something, he could get into the swing of things and be able to put some force behind his punches. Alright. That was what he’d do. Pretend it was some big… stupid kid… who really needed to be smacked… he squinted a bit to try and create the picture in his mind, but as he swung, he stopped half way there and dropped his hand. Nope, it still felt weird.

“That’s all? Just punch the bag?” What was this thing even made of? He furrowed his eyebrows at it. It hadn’t really angered him, hadn’t really done anything to deserve a beating. It wasn’t even an animate object. Alright, he could do this— after all, he’d been the one to ask to tag along, he’d been the one to ask to learn, and he wasn’t about to turn back on that. But, uh, “What’s the point of punchin’ this thing if it didn’t even do anything in the first place?”

[astroboylegs]

Moon Young couldn't help but smirk a little at Sen's stance, it was definitely one of someone who didn't have a lick of formal training. But from a guy his size, it was still very intimidating.

She watched and waited, eager to see what Sen was capable of, but he didn't punch. She gave a little frown, motioning for him to start, but apparently, something was wrong.

“That’s all? Just punch the bag?”

"Yep, that's it. Like I said, I just want to see where you're at, what you're capable of. I don't expect anything fancy, and that's fine."

“What’s the point of punchin’ this thing if it didn’t even do anything in the first place?”

"...Pardon?"

Who punched a bag because it deserved it? It was a punching bag, it was made to be hit! It was like asking if it was okay to eat food because it deserved to be eaten. Moon Young gave a short laugh, wondering if, maybe, Sen was joking. But no, she thought, he probably wasn't.

"Sen, it's... It's a punching bag. You're supposed to hit it, that's what it was made for. You're not going to hurt its feelings or anything, if that's what you were worried about. Unless you don't want to train or something, that's fine too. Just wish you said it a bit earlier..."

The girl knocked her fist against the punching bag a few times, pursing her lips. "If it makes you feel better, you can pretend it said something nasty about your mother or something."

[astroboylegs]

Sparring [Boxing Club Open]

[iamaboxer-blog]

Mi Nam couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the lack of volunteers from the crowd. They must’ve seen her on the punching bags already or something, because they all looked terrified. He on the other hand, wasn’t afraid. Sure, the last time they’d fought she’d threatened to cripple him, but that was all in the past, under different circumstances. This spar was going to be a little more friendly, after all.

He chuckled at the look of surprise on her face, merely shaking his head as he adjusted his gloves and rolled his shoulders, limbering up for their spar.

“As soon as Wild’s got one, so did Goo Ra. Not really a surprise, but yeah. Thought I’d come here for a change of scenery.”

Mi Nam only chuckled again as she referred to what they’d be having as a “real fight.” He was glad to know that she saw him as a boxer one could respect, despite what their first meeting and fight had consisted of. He really admired her skills as a boxer, especially after what she’d shown him the first time. Her punches weren’t as strong as his – naturally, since he had that male strength – but what she had was speed, and that was something he lacked.

“Spar sounds fine, two rounds is fine. Whenever you’re ready, Moon Young.”

As soon as she called for the spar to begin, he dove into action. He knew what her moves were like (somewhat anyway), but he also knew that since this was strictly a boxing ring, he couldn’t pull out the kicks he had last night. He only had his fists, but that was more than enough.

Mi Nam began with a jab to her gut, and if that hit, he’d take the moment to defend from whatever blow of hers came towards his upper torso. Afterwards, he moved for a headshot, but it was a feint, for another blow, this time to her side. How many of his hits actually landed depended on her ability to dodge them.

[astroboylegs]

Moon Young rolled her shoulders as well, taking several deep breaths. It'd been far too long since she had a real match; most of her time was spent helping Jae Gu train, so she didn't have much time for herself. But having Mi Nam here was almost too good to be true. Here was someone who actually knew how to box, and how to do it well. She'd make him co-captain if she didn't think people would guess she was playing favorites.

"You signed up for an exchange program? I would've thought you'd stay back home so you could keep training. I mean, I didn't even know I was signed up for this thing, but hey, might as well give it a shot, huh?"

She couldn't help but wonder if Mi Nam had another reason for joining the program, but decided not to pry too much. At least, not yet.

"Oi, I need someone on the bell!" she called, not taking her eyes off Mi Nam. "Two rounds, three minutes each! And I want a start in 20 seconds! Come on!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see one of the other students move towards the bell, picking up the little mallet. But she smirked at Mi Nam, lowering her head and spreading her legs, ready for the fight. "Oh, I'm ready, Mi Nam. I just hope you got a little training in since our last fight."

She was just taunting the boy, trying to get him off balance, but she really had nothing but respect for Mi Nam. He wasn't like those other Goo Ra kids, he could manage not being an insufferable jerk for a few minutes.

And then there was the bell.

Mi Nam moved first, and Moon Young let him come to her. First he aimed at her gut, easily dodged, and she responded with a jab of her own, aimed towards his head. She knew he'd block it, and then there would come the counterattack. She raised her hand to block his next punch, but something was off.

No, not a headshot, the side, the side!

Moon Young moved her arm to block it, but it certainly wasn't graceful. Mi Nam's blow caught her on the arm at an awkward angle, and she grunted in momentary pain. The watching students reacted too; they knew enough to be able to tell which direction things were going, it seemed.

But Moon Young smirked again. "Looks like you've gotten a little faster, Lee Mi Nam. At least you've been keeping busy," she said in a low voice. Now it was her turn.

There was a flurry of jabs from Moon Young; they weren't particularly strong, but they were fast. And they were everywhere; the head, the shoulder, the chest, the side, there was no place she didn't aim for. But she wasn't trying to hurt him, not yet. She just wanted to see how fast he was.

[astroboylegs]

Sparring [Boxing Club Open]

[iamaboxer-blog]

His arrival at Tancho Academy hadn’t been that long ago. Lee Mi Nam had spent most of his first days at the school walking around and trying to get a feel for the place. If he was to be here for an extended period of time then he was going to know exactly where everything was. Well, he wanted to at least have a general idea.

Today’s destination, however, was the most exciting. He remembered of course, when he’d applied to the school in the first place, how they had asked him which extracurriculars he wanted to join. He knew this school didn’t have a focus on fighting like Goo Ra or Wild’s, but he hoped they’d have sports clubs that were to his liking.

When he saw Boxing Club on the list, he smiled. When he read the name of the captain, he could only laugh and shake his head. It was to be expected of course, but he didn’t think he’d run into all the kids from Wild’s so soon. Now, he stood at the door of the Boxing Club’s meeting place, and cracked it open to take a peek inside.

There she was, pink-haired and strong as ever, up in the ring and watching over the rest of the club. He thought to wait until practice ended to talk to her, but then—

“First one in the ring gets to spar against me, Lee Moon Young! Come on, any takers? I promise I’ll go easy on you!”

Mi Nam smiled to himself as he watched the crowd look at each other – no one wanted to challenge the ever so talented captain, after all – but he just walked through them, climbing into the ring from the side opposite of which Moon Young was facing. He grabbed the nearest gloves and pulled them on.

“Hey, Lee Moon Young!”

“How about you try me on? I’ve been dying for a rematch, after all.”

[astroboylegs]

Moon Young frowned, letting out a hiss that sounded like a deflating beach ball. She was a bit disappointed that no one stepped up, but not entirely surprised. She was the captain after all, but if no one would even step up and take a chance...

"Come on, no one? I know you're intimidated and all, but you're not gonna learn anything if you're too afraid to take a punch." She shook her head, retreating to the other side of the ring. "Part of fighting is getting beat! You're going to lose, might as well do it in a place where we'll help you learn, you know?"

Another sigh escaped her lips, and she leaned against the ropes. "Well, if no one's going to step up-"

“Hey, Lee Moon Young!”

That voice. It was familiar, but not Moon Young thought she'd be hearing for a long time. A smirk appeared on her face as she turned around, watching Mi Nam, of all people, climb into the ring.

“How about you try me on? I’ve been dying for a rematch, after all.”

"Mi Nam? Sheesh, aren't you a sight for sore eyes? I didn't know Goo Ra had a transfer program too, but I guess I can't complain. Better you than Han Gyul or something."

She turned towards the other club members again, any trace of disappointment gone from her face. "Alright, better watch closely. Me and Mi Nam here are gonna show you what a real match looks like, and what you might learn later on."

"But your rematch will have to wait," she said, turning towards Mi Nam. "I just want a spar, to give everyone a taste of boxing. Two rounds?"

[senboy-blog]

Sen grinned an awkward sort of grin, like he wanted to laugh, but couldn’t quite. His thinking about being with a girl at all somewhat weighed him down, but if he could just get over that initial awkward stage, he’d be all in the clear. Well, not really, seeing as getting over that stage seemed that, in any course of action, it would include him learning to box, and that wasn’t the clear at all… yeah. Not “in the clear” per say, but in a way…? Sen shook his head. Now he was just over thinking.

“Right. Yes, sir. I mean, ma’am. Yes ma’am.” He stuttered this out as he managed to direct himself into the vague direction of the boys’ locker room. Upon arriving, he changed quickly and reported back to Moon Young… or, he reported back to the gym in wait for her to retrieve the punching bag.

It wasn’t a well known fact that when Sen set his mind to something, he would most certainly followed through with it. His grades wouldn’t have shown such a trait, but it did in fact exist. He just chose not to put his mind to a lot of things. Especially schoolwork. Which was boring. Right.

Anyway… he could have been worried about this practice, but it was just a punching bag. It wasn’t even a real fight. But could he really get into something that wasn’t a real fight? With nothing really fueling him? He really wasn’t that angry of a guy, until someone pissed him off or rubbed him the wrong way or something. And a punching bag couldn’t rub anyone the wrong way. Then again, Moon Young fought. But she seemed like she was always rubbed the wrong way, no matter what the case was. He decided that it wouldn’t be hard to start boxing, but it might be hard getting better.

Still. Punching a bag seemed kind of silly. He furrowed his eyebrows and turned to look for Moon Young.

[astroboylegs]

"Just 'Moon Young is fine," she said with a chuckle. The girl watched Sen go for just a moment before heading towards the punching bags, pressing her hand against each one in turn as she walked past them. Might as well start on a heavy bag, because she didn't exactly expect much speed from a guy his size. She couldn't move it, but she leaned against it as she waited for Sen.

The thought of taking off her own tracksuit top crossed Moon Young's mind, but she dismissed it pretty quickly. Seeing her in a tank top would probably send Sen into a blushing, stuttering fit, and that wouldn't be any good for training. Not like she'd be working up much of a sweat right now, anyways.

"Let me think, see how he punches, see how he takes punches, see how he moves... Basic stuff, I guess," she said, listing off the things they'd be doing. Just a little of each, so she could get an idea of where Sen was at. He probably had some good, raw power, but not a lot of technique. A guy like that would be more used to taking punches than avoiding them.

"Oi! Over here!" she said, calling out to Sen as he emerged from the locker room. "Here, got you some gloves, hopefully I got the size right. Now, boxing gloves protect your fists in a prolonged fight, yeah, but their main purpose is to protect the other guy. People get hurt in boxing, that can't be helped, but without gloves, people would be going to the hospital after every fight. Cushion the fists, and the other guy won't get hurt as bad. Might take a bit of time to get used to them, but hopefully you won't have much trouble."

She stepped back, putting her hands in her pockets and nodding towards the punching bag. "Alright, go ahead. I want to see how you punch. A guy your size, should be pretty strong, right?"

[astroboylegs]

Sparring [Boxing Club Open]

Punching bags can only keep a person's interest for so long.

It wasn't that landing endless punches wasn't satisfying, it just didn't have a point. A punching bag was just an object, it couldn't react, it couldn't fight back, it couldn't dodge, it couldn't do anything. And yet, Moon Young had found she'd been using them a lot recently. Maybe because she wasn't quite sure of how the other club members would measure up. She was captain of the team, and she didn't even know how good at boxing her partners were. Some captain.

In only a moment, she was up in the ring, leaning over the side ropes. There were a fair few people in the club at the moment, all doing their own thing. Working on the punching bag, dodging the double-end bag, talking to one another... Constructive, sure, but there was a lot more they could be doing.

"Hey! Listen up!" said Moon Young. Suddenly, all eyes in the room were on her, not that she was a stranger to that. "Alright, we've all been training on our own, and that's fine and good, but there's only so much you can do boxing alone! And what kind of captain would I be if I didn't help out the other members of the club? Maybe some of you have never even seen a real boxing match, but I'm gonna fix that! So come on! First one in the ring gets to spar against me, Lee Moon Young!"

"Come on, any takers? I promise I'll go easy on you!"

[mercury-lining-blog]

astroboylegs started following you

[mercury-lining-blog]

“Why would it be a trick question? What about it seemed tricky to you?

It’s straightforward. There is a raven and there is a writing desk. What makes them similar?”

[astroboylegs]

It had to be a joke. It was a joke, right? Might as well play along.

"Err, people ask weird questions about them?"

[senboy-blog]

Sen listened to her in earnest, loving how dang passionate she seemed about the whole thing. Boxing, you’d think it was the world’s greatest treasure from the way she talked about it. He couldn’t help but grin a little, just because her excitement was nearly catching.

Sen followed behind her, holding the door open for himself before rushing up so that he could at least walk next to her. Really, he didn’t like feeling like a dog, trailing behind its owner or somethin’. Looking at her as she boasted, he cocked an eyebrow. “You sure you can teach a beginner like me?” he asked. Didn’t want to weigh her down or anything… especially if he had trouble with it. Specific styles often gave him a hassle, which was one reason he’d never bothered to learn any. “Dunno about joining the boxing team— I’d probably just lose matches or whatever… but I could go for learning it.” Yeah, that was good. Learn it first, then think about the club.

Plus, if he did join, he’d get to spend time with Moon Young, which he kinda wanted to do. Maybe. If she didn’t beat him up when he got good enough to face her, that is.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he’d never even seen two people box, much less at a high school. It wasn’t really a big sport around where he was from. Hand to hand stuff, sure, but Sen didn’t ever get to see a chance of that being measured out in a gym. He smiled. Well, he was a pretty good fighter, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad?

[astroboylegs]

It was a little embarrassing, to be caught rambling like that so often. Sure, boxing was great, definitely one of Moon Young's favorite things, but some people might not be as passionate as her about it, she knew. It was only because Sen seemed to enjoy listening to her go on about it that she did it at all.

But was he interested in boxing, or...?

Moon Young made a displeased sound, grinding her teeth together for a moment. It wasn't like she didn't like how Sen was interested in her, it was just... weird.

"Yeah, I can teach you, definitely. You've already fought a bit, right? So you have the intent, and you've got some good muscles, so as long as you're willing to learn, yeah, you could definitely do it. Lucky for you boxing is pretty easy to learn, so it shouldn't take long at all! And I think you'd be pretty good at it, Sen. Even if you just show up to train every once in a while, I'd be glad to help you out."

He already had that natural male strength; that sort of thing was hard to overcome. Sure, he was a bit big, which meant he might be a bit slow, but one solid punch, and his opponent would be in real trouble. And he'd probably be able to take a fair amount of punishment too, so a pretty good boxer all-in-all. 

"Ah, here we are." Moon Young hadn't even noticed they'd arrived at the gym; she was too busy thinking about Sen. And what a good boxer he'd probably turn out to be, of course.

Moon Young fiddled with the keys, unlocking the room the school had provided her. A nice, spacious place, already fitted with mats, punching bags, and even a ring in the center. The girl gave a happy sigh, ambling towards a rack filled with rows of boxing gloves. "Come on, go put on your gym uniform, and I'll get you some gloves and find you a punching bag. An actual bag, I mean."

[mercury-lining-blog]

astroboylegs started following you

Hatter stands behind the girl, looking sternly at her. She must’ve done something wrong. The only logical explanation.

“Young lady!

Why is a raven like a writing desk?”

[astroboylegs]

Moon Young gave a little jump; where did this guy come from? And how had she not noticed him behind her?

"Err, I don't... Is that a trick question, sir?"

[senboy-blog]

“Oh, that’s great,” Sen said, moving to fall into step behind her. He felt kinda lucky that she hadn’t finished that question, because he really wouldn’t have known how to respond. Boxing? Not so much. Moon Young boxing? Yeah, a little bit more. Still… it would be rude to say that. Wouldn’t it? Probably. She might box him to death or somethin’ if he did.

Sentarou had never really bothered to learn anything about boxing. It hadn’t ever been his forte. Not like the type of fighting he did played by any sort of rules, anyway. Something that structured was bound to get very boring very quick. There had to be some sort of fun in it, right? Since people kept doing it, and all that but… what the fun was, Sen had yet to discover.

His knowledge on the subject pretty much stopped there. He thought for a minute. Wasn’t professional boxing fake? Or was that wrestling? Right, okay. Boxing didn’t have all the costumes or anything. So there was that. He took a deep breath. He didn’t even like studying things for school, so he hadn’t ever thought about studying anything unrelated. He felt kinda bad for letting on about that, but uh…

“No, not really,” he admitted. Now what would he say? ‘I’ve never boxed in my life, but I kinda wanna hang out with you, so I’ll do it?’ She wouldn’t respond very well to that. Sen wouldn’t even respond well to that, if it had been him someone had said it to. He was the kind of person who thought that it wasn’t worth doing if you didn’t put all your passion into it, but yet, here he was.

[astroboylegs]

"There's actually a pretty decent number of people in the club already," Moon Young said with a smile. "I mean, when I first got here, there wasn't a boxing club at all, and now we've got a full lineup! Almost makes me wish there was a tournament or a league we could compete in or something.

"Sure, they could use a bit of training, but that's part of the fun, I think. I've trained up a few novices before, and seeing people grow into full-fledged boxers is just a really good feeling." She gave a contented sigh as she moved her hands into her pockets. "Ah, sorry, I'm rambling again. Boxing tends to do that to me, heh."

She could've gone on for hours about boxing, probably. It was just so great, how could anybody else not see that? Sure, other fighting styles were good too, but no amount of finesse was gonna help if someone landed a solid hook to your jaw.

“No, not really.”

There might've been a flash in her eyes, and a small chuckle, too. "That so? Well, good thing you know Boxing Captain Moon Young then, eh?" They reached the end of the hallway, and Moon Young pushed the door open without breaking her stride.

"That is, if you're willing to learn. You interesting in joining the boxing team, Sen? Maybe give it a try and see how it goes?"

[child-of-fate-no-2-blog]

0 1 . 運命の子たち・果実

[child-of-fate-no-2-blog]

Shouma found himself sighing in relief at the girl’s response to his sudden act of brashness. He was worried that perhaps he had come off as too harsh.

“E-eh? Oh, uh, sorry. Guess I still got a lot to learn, huh?”

“Don’t worry about it. I probably should have told you earlier, huh…” And here came the self-blame game again. It was something incredibly minor, he was aware, but it was something that made him feel incredibly incompetent and useless, really. (And then he realised he was getting upset over rice. There really wasn’t any need for him to get worked up over it. Luckily, he had the good sense to keep his angst over rice internalised.)

Moon Young moved to set the tableware on the countertop, and as she spoke he took another appreciative sniff of the curry stewing in the pot. …Again. (He was a little vain in that sense.) “Oh, it’s fine. Don’t worry about paying me back.” He managed to dredge up what he thought was a kind and gentle smile — there was no point in making promises, he realised. Especially since he was fairly sure he’d be too chicken to actually participate in any sort of physical activity that could harm others.

“Mmm. It’s just right, too.” After staring at the pot for a few more moments, he took one of the plates and began dumping rice onto it. “The timing is perfect.” Spooning an appropriate amount of curry over the rice, he set it back down on the countertop and set to fill up the next plate. “I hope it actually tastes alright, though…”

[astroboylegs]

"No, really, it's fine! There's only one person in this room who knows what they're doing, and I don't wanna mess things up." Moon Young gave another laugh, only slightly forced.

Sure, it might've been a bit of an overreaction over something like rice, but she wasn't going to hold it against him. Maybe Shouma just really, really liked rice. Enough so to freak out over it when something went wrong? She didn't know the full story, and hey, she kinda liked the kid, too. So what if he was passionate about rice preparation?

His hesitance over accepting her offer was expected, though. Some people just didn't like fighting, and they'd need a really good reason to want to do it. Like Jae Gu.

"Ah, well, if you say so. I won't refuse free food, heh." Her glittering eyes watched Shouma as he began to scoop the curry and rice onto the plates, she could practically taste the food in the air. As soon as the boy put the plate down, Moon Young snatched it up, still leaning against the counter. It was probably really hot, fresh off the stove, but she just couldn't wait anymore. The fork moved to her mouth, and...

And...

"...This is really good."

[senboy-blog]

Ah-hah… it was an opportunity that Sen wasn’t really willing to pass up, as much as he could practically hear Richie telling him to. He really wanted to get to know her, for some reason that he couldn’t put his finger on, (what was it about this school that did such things to him?) and he couldn’t just let her leave.

“Hey, uh…” he discarded the sheet on the chairs, not bothering to clean them up in his haste, and ran up to catch her. No. He wasn’t gonna just let her walk away, that was… it wasn’t what he was gonna do. That’s all. Once he managed to catch up to her, he quickly blurted out an explanation. “Hey, uh… mind if I come check out your club or… somethin’?” Yeah, real smooth. He sounded like an idiot, yet again. He sounded like that a lot as of late. “I mean, if it’s okay… d’you let non-club members in or anything?”

He’d always kinda believed that when people had a passion for something, it was when they were doin’ that thing that they were at their best. And he kinda wanted to see Moon Young at her best, but then… she seemed kinda standoffish, so it would make sense if she said no, and… Ah, he really just wanted to make a good impression, and her finding him under the sheet had kinda ruined his chances.

[astroboylegs]

What kind of guy spent his time sleeping beneath sheets in the middle of a hallway, anyways? Sen probably just didn't care what other people thought of him, which was both good and bad, in a way. At least he wouldn't be changing himself to please anyone. Certainly not her, she hoped.

“Hey, uh… mind if I come check out your club or… somethin’?”

Moon Young stopped mid-stride, turning around on her heel. She cocked an eyebrow, opening her mouth for a moment. Sen already said he wasn't interested, didn't he? He wasn't trying to butter her up or anything, was he? Make her think he was interested?

No, no, he wasn't that kind of guy, was he?

"Of course you're welcome to come. What kind of club would it be if I only let in people who were already boxers? But are you coming because you're interested in boxing, or-... Actually, nevermind, it doesn't matter."

Moon Young shrugged, beckoning Sen to follow her as she turned around. She was already itching to get some training done, but if Sen was watching... Well, it might be nice to have him join the club. Maybe a bit of extra effort was needed, to really impress him.

"You know anything about boxing?" she said, not turning her head. "I mean, besides from things like gloves and the ring."

[senboy-blog]

Hearing her last words, Sen scrambled a bit to get his sheet back, and tried to hide his blush. What was it with this girl? Always makin’ him wanna stutter an’ stuff, it was like he was with Yurika all over again; except, you know, Richie wasn’t around to help ‘im out and this girl was all feisty and not feminine and pretty like a little doll… Sen shook his head. Hadn’t she said something?

“Ah, that’s not…” he began, standing up. The chairs squeaked on the floor beneath his movement. “The gym?” Oh, of course, because she was captain of the ‘intense fighting but only in the ring’ squad. What a bunch of nonsense. What good was it fightin’ in a ring if you never got to use your skill anywhere else? If some killer was comin’ Sen doubted they would ask anyone for a boxing match.

He made to reach for the sheet, hoping that he could at least put it back, if she was gonna leave just like that. Maybe he’d go back to sleep, but then again… he’d have to deal with this sort of scene all over again, if what she’d said was true. People wantin’ to just yank it away. If it were up to Sen, nobody’d yank away anything that wasn’t supposed to be yanked. That would make handling the kids a lot easier, too. “Can I… uh… have that?” he asked, pointing her hand. “If you’re gonna leave.” He didn’t want her to leave, but it’s not like he was about to admit that. Besides, maybe Richie was right, he couldn’t ‘handle himself alone’ with girls. He would just say somethin’ stupid, and they’d laugh and think of him wrong and… man, he really did need to get back under that sheet. Stuff was better under there.

[astroboylegs]

The boy's reaction elicited a chuckle from Moon Young, despite the twinge of guilt she felt. It was kind of cute, in a weird way, that she could make him flush red like that so easily. But Sen was a nice guy, so she couldn't help but feel bad for playing with him like that. It was just a new feeling for her, one she couldn't pass up so easily.

"Yeah, the gym. You know, boxing club and all that. I know you're not too interested in that kind of stuff, so I won't ask if you want to join me. I'm sure you'd rather take a nice nap, right?"

She couldn't tell if Sen's short words were because he'd just woken up, or if it was because she was around, but he did make a grab for the sheet. Moon Young pulled it away, not quite done yet. "Eesh, you in that much of a hurry to go back to sleep? You look like a corpse in a mortuary covered with the sheet. It's kind of creepy, but... Ah, no, sorry, I shouldn't."

Moon Young tossed the sheet back to Sen, frowning a little. With great power comes great responsibility, right? She didn't want Sen to think she was mean, manipulative, or anything like that. 

"I shouldn't judge, you do what you want. And if you want to sleep in the hall covered with a sheet, go ahead, I won't say anything. Other people might, but..." She trailed off, shrugging. "Well, you can deal with them, I guess."

She turned towards the exit, giving Sen a short wave as she walked. The boxing club was waiting, after all, and Moon Young couldn't let its members go without their captain.

"I gotta go, but it was nice seeing you, Sen. We'll have to catch up sometime."

[dailishdaisy-deactivated2012072]

Not Getting Lost.

[dailishdaisy-deactivated2012072]

The elf gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. “Oh! I-I didn’t mean… you shouldn’t be sorry! It all happened a long time ago and it wasn’t here anyway!” Creators, why did she always manage to do things like this!?

“Everyone I’ve met so far has been so nice.” Even that big, terrifying guard. “It’s sort of… scary. I keep expecting someone to attack me or something.” Oh, well done. Now you seem perfectly normal.

She gave a nervous little giggle, then bobbed her head in something like a bow. Had she forgotten about classes? Yep. She was not a very good student. “Thank you so much! I’m sorry to have been a bother!”

With that, she was off. She’d had a lot of practice scampering away. Now, at least, she had some idea of where she was going. And was feeling a lot better about being at Tancho.

[astroboylegs]

Moon Young laughed again, still a bit forced. She'd told herself countless times already; the girl was weird, but at least she was nice. What was the word for it? Quirky? Yeah, you treat the weirdness as if it was a good quality. Then again, she'd never met an elf, so maybe Merrill was normal by their standards.

"Well, I don't think you have to worry about anyone starting any wars or trying to sell you into slavery here. Just your studies, but I'm sure you won't have any trouble with that." Weren't elves smarter than humans? Something about being wily tricksters who lived in the forest, or something like that.

Moon Young still have trouble with that; this girl was an elf!

"Nah, no bother,"  she said, waving away the girl's thanks. "I'm happy to help! And if you're still lost the next time we meet, I don't mind helping again. It's just proper manners, right?"

She looked up again, smiling and ready to lead Merrill all the way to her doorstep, but the elf girl was already running off towards the student dorms. Moon Young took a few steps forward, holding out her hand and considering calling out to the girl. But she stopped, giving a shrug and a sigh before turning around. Better to let her explore a bit on her own, right? Maybe it'd help her get less lost.

Or maybe she'd never find her dorm, thought Moon Young, laughing in spite of herself.

[senboy-blog]

Sen hadn’t really expected Moon Young, of all people, to be the one pulling the sheet. Sure, a familiar face was nice and all, but… Sheesh, no need to go around pulling sheets off people who didn’t ask you to.

He sat up and shook his head. He’d been gettin’ pretty close to falling asleep there, what with how quiet it was and stuff. He was actually pretty surprised that anyone was even around, ‘cause wouldn’t they all be at their own little clubs now? What kind of students used their free time to wander around deserted hallways?

“I got tired,” he told her, like it was the most natural thing in the world to go and grab the sheet from over the drums just to lie down under it. Maybe he was sort of waiting for someone to come along, or maybe he wasn’t, not like he knew. Sen had always used sheets like this, and chairs like this, when he’d needed to relax. And if she wanted to break in this new school, there was only one way to do it. He wasn’t about to drop old habits just like that. “Why’d you bother me? Got a problem with people takin’ breaks?” From what little idea he’d gotten of her so far, she kinda seemed like she would. She hadn’t been exactly happy with him skippin’ out on school, but… school was over now!

[astroboylegs]

Being tired was one thing, but napping on a bunch of chairs in the middle of the hallway? People didn't normally do that, at least, not the ones Moon Young knew. Maybe it was a Japanese thing.

"Fair enough, I guess. Sorry if I interrupted your nap, though I'm not sure if in the middle of a hallway is the best spot to catch a few winks. I mean, if people see someone under a sheet lying in the hall, it's pretty tempting to yank it away..."

Oh-so tempting. And kind of fun, too.

“Why’d you bother me? Got a problem with people takin’ breaks?”

"Hey, calm down. How was I supposed to know it was you, Sen? I mean, you were covered by a sheet. And I really don't have a problem with people taking breaks..." She trailed off, giving a small cough. What did Sen need a break from, anyways? Was skipping class really that tiring?

She held the sheet up, laughing a little. "I was just heading over to the gym, figured I'd take a little detour. Didn't know I'd find you here, but I'm not complaining. If you'd like, I can tuck you in again~"

[child-of-fate-no-2-blog]

0 1 . 運命の子たち・果実

[child-of-fate-no-2-blog]

Grasping the pan in one hand and a spoon in the other, he scraped the roux into the pot, taking an appreciative sigh at the wholesome scent of meat and vegetables. Admittedly, this was one of the better batches he’d made — maybe it was the equipment, or the ingredients they had here. (It only occurred to him then that it might not have been a good idea to raid the pantry. Were they even allowed in there?! There was nothing he could do about it now, though.)

He made a face at her mention of microwaved meals. Sure, they were quick, but…

“But that stuff’s expensive, and it doesn’t even taste that good!” It wasn’t like he had frozen meals often, but… (he was never buying ready-made sui mai. Again. It tasted more like a sausage roll than a dumpling…) “If you can cook, then you can make a few decent meals…”

“But one of my… friends, Dal Dal, her dad is a Korean food researcher, and her mom is a great cook.”

…It was probably best if he didn’t ask what a food researcher was. (Why did food need to be researched? Sure, there was stuff like nutritional value and all that, but was it really an occupation all on its own? He’d assumed it was simply something scientists took care of.) “Really? Sounds nice…”

He didn’t want to talk about parents. He was thankful for the fact that Moon Young could change the subject so quickly. (And for the hissing that cut through her little tangent.)

“The lid! Put the lid back on!” A little more hurriedly than what was necessary, he took the lid out of her hands and stuck it over the top of the pot again. Once he was sure that he had trapped any remaining steam, he sighed and gave himself the task of stirring the roux through the condiments boiling in the pot. “Sorry, I just wanted to make sure that all of the steam didn’t escape… If you leave the lid on, the steam cooks the rice a bit and stops it from getting gluggy, that’s all.”

The curry was more or less done now. Shouma dipped a spoon into the pot, tasting it to make sure it was alright.

“Hmm…. I think we’re about ready to dish up.”

[astroboylegs]

Of course Shouma wouldn't think too highly of those trashy microwave meals, he was a cook. Moon Young wasn't too fond of them either, but they were darn easy to make. "Well yeah, you don't hear me singing the stuff any praises. I mean, we don't eat them all the time, just when we're busy. Mom's an alright cook, but me and dad-"

“The lid! Put the lid back on!” 

The girl gave a little start, glancing from the lid in her hands back to the pot. But before she could do anything, Shouma took it from her hands and put it back in its place.

"E-eh? Oh, uh, sorry. Guess I still got a lot to learn, huh?" A halfhearted chuckle escaped her lips as she rubbed the back of her head. It was a little embarrassing, but she was learning here, right? Everyone made mistakes, but soon she'd be cooking just fine, and then she'd go show Dal Dal, and Pinky would be shocked, and it'd be one more thing Moon Young was better at than that annoying little-

“Hmm…. I think we’re about ready to dish up.”

"Ooh, I'm looking forward to that! All this work is making me hungry, you know? I wanna taste the fruits of my labors, heheh."

She picked the plates up, ambling towards Shouma and setting the tableware on  the counter. "I owe you one for this, Shouma. I mean, we only just met and you're cooking for me! If you're not interested in boxing, maybe we can figure out something else."

The smell of the curry was too tempting, and Moon young couldn't help but lean over to peer into the pot, almost child-like in her curiosity. "So it's ready now, right?"

[senboy-blog]

Sentarou inhaled. If drums had noses, this would be what they were smellin’, like, fifty percent of the time. (His case was kinda different, because he was with his drums over fifty percent of the time, but he’d just call it fifty percent for now.) The smell of a white sheet draped snug over ‘em, so that they couldn’t see the world, and the world could only see the essence of ‘em.

Yeah, that was a good way to think about it. If someone walked by right now, they’d only see Sen just barely there, outlined by the white fabric. Out of sight, out of mind. He thought back to his first meeting of Richie, with the kid findin’ him tucked under this thing and asking diligently for the roof key. He almost laughed out loud, thinkin’ of it— that’s what’d made him like Richie. His not backing down from the key, even though Sen was big and scary. He’d had a lot of good fun with that kid. Sen missed Richie a lot, maybe that was why he was replayin’ it with his mind. But nah, he wasn’t under the sheet because of him. Sen needed to relax. And it was after hours, anyway. There was only a cover and some wimpy tan sheets in his room. They couldn’t be tan. He’d taken the sheet off the drums in the band room— he felt bad for anyone that was actually playing those; they might miss it and have to come back to dusty drums— and now he was there in front of some doorway down some hallway, stacked up on some four chairs and beneath said sheet.

He breathed in its smell again. Nothing was more relaxing. He longed for his drums, for the sound of drums, for the sound of jazz, Moanin’ ringing out in his ears though there was nothing and no one who could be playing it…

And then things were bright. Someone had gone up and lifted the sheet off of him; he could hear it swish out into the air, and he looked up, and he saw…

[astroboylegs]

If class was finally out, it could only mean one thing for Moon Young; time for boxing club. There was already a fair number of people signed up, a promising start so early on! Maybe some of them would already be seasoned fighters who could pose a challenge to the Wild's welterweight boxing champ. If not, she didn't mind teaching some newer fighters the ropes, either. So long as people were boxing.

Normally, Moon Young would've made straight for the Gym, but today, for whatever reason, she felt like taking a detour. There was still a fair amount of the school she hadn't seen, so maybe she'd find something interesting? New people, at least, maybe even someone who'd be interested in boxing?

Or someone who liked sleeping under sheets.

The contour of a person lying atop a few chairs and covered in a white sheet. In the middle of the hallway. To be fair, it wasn't a very busy hallway, but they were still in Moon Young's path. Tough luck for them.

She swished the sheet away without any difficulty, ready to give a stern talking-to with whoever was lying in the middle of the hall. But instead, there was someone a bit familiar. It took Moon Young a moment to find her voice.

"Sen? The heck are you doing? With the sheet in the middle of the hall... And can you move, at least?"

[dailishdaisy-deactivated2012072]

Not Getting Lost.

[dailishdaisy-deactivated2012072]

“Is it, though? I mean… Back home, humans tried to kill or enslave all the elves twice. And dwarves think they’re superior to both. So do the Qunari, but that’s different, I think.” The elf bit her lip, fidgeting with her fingers. “And… well, I’m not really sure, but a lot of your wars have been because people were different, haven’t they?” 

She might have been naive and more than a little dense on occasion, but sometimes Merrill was spookily wise. 

She shook her head, smiling again. “I used to think I’d never meet a human, you know. The Dalish aren’t very… sociable. And now I think I’m the only Dalish here!”

“Why would I think you were going to bite me?” Realisation hit like a ton of bricks, and she blushed violently. Creators, you’d think living with humans for so long would have helped her get a handle on metaphors and sarcasm, wouldn’t you? “Oh. Right. Not… Right. Um. I-I think I’m in… M-2? I-I can probably find my way there, if you’re busy.”

[astroboylegs]

Humans killing and enslaving elves? Fighting with dwarves? And what the heck was a Qunari?

Moon Young rubbed the back of her head, trying to think of something, anything to say in response. "I... guess? I didn't even know those wars happened. So, uh, sorry?"

What else could she say? It wasn't like the wars were her fault if humans from... wherever Merrill came from were starting wars, so she wasn't exactly apologizing for that. More like, she was sorrowful to hear such things.

"Hopefully the people here aren't so bad? I think they'd be a little amazed to meet an elf, actually, so you might make some friends. And hopefully none of them try and start any wars, right? Heheh.... Sorry, that wasn't funny."

She gave another chuckle at the girl's mistake. If anything, it was kind of cute they way she realized her mistake. Yeah, this girl would have no problem making a few friends, people loved things like that, usually.

I think I’m in… M-2? I-I can probably find my way there, if you’re busy.”

"Eh? Oh, yeah, sure. I mean, no, I'm not busy. Still got a bit of time before class, and you don't want to be wandering around all day, do you? M-2's easy to find, second floor, and just keep walking 'till you find it. Won't take five minutes."