rakuen | Battle! [day four morning!]

"You've got a lot of guts to challenge me."

Zoro, with a gaze as savage and chilling as ever, locked his eyes upon Suzaku as he urged aside the light doors leading to the gym. If asked, he would've admitted that he'd been surprised by the issued challenge - afraid that he would have to be the one doing the challenging, with many of the other students seemingly too afraid, someone calling him out was a welcome wonder.

Not once did his view leave Suzaku as he approached. The entire time, Zoro watched him, sizing him up, taking in the young man's strengths. Clearly, by the ferocious expression he wore, Zoro was hungry for a challenge, and he was ready to devour his opponent.

He stepped up to Suzaku in the center of the gym, tilting his head down as they met. "I have to warn you, though...I don't feel like playing easy today. If you still want to do this..."

As if to show his conviction, Zoro untied the cloth around his left arm, unfolding the bandana, then tied it firmly around his head.

"...I'm going to tear you apart."

Suzaku's head whipped around at the voice. So far everyone he had met in this strange world he had been kidnapped to had been polite, friendly even. Hearing an unfriendly, challanging tone shocked him, not that he let it show on his face. Not in a way that anyone who didn't know him would be able to tell. But he didn't bother with the forced smile that he usually wore and he didn't bother giving an answer.

He did give a polite nod though, Suzaku was perfectly capable of being polite. He didn't mind the rudeness, he was used to it it was familliar and therefore comforting in a strange sort of way that he didn't quite understand.

At the final words Suzaku nodded again, unfailingly polite. He did not expect anyone to ever go easy on him, would be insulted if they did. If he lost any pain that he felt because of it would be deserved, it was deserved anyone for all he had done.

For failing to protect Nunnally, again. That was the reason he had challanged Zoro (as well as the fact he wanted another weapon), he needed something to take his mind off what had happened. He didn't like hurting others, he didn't believe in violence for the sake of violence but he knew Zoro would be hard to hurt, he had listened to peoples rumours and so he didn't worry.

Suzaku couldn't actually use Theta's weapon as a weapon and so she was in no danger either. The normal polite friendly facade was stripped away and he was determined. His eyes cold and empty; the eyes of someone with very little left to live for though not even Suzaku understood why.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," he nodded again and turned to Theta, "Ready?"

He already had his glove on so he reached towards her chest to pull out the marbles, then put them safely in his pocket out of harms way.

This would be his first time using Shoryu as a Weapon; not likely a smart idea, to be using something completely unfamiliar to defend himself, but now was as good of a time to learn whether or not he would be reliable!

Reaching for him quickly, without so much of a word of warning, Zoro used his glove to summon the bulky cutlass that came from the good King of En. The moment that it appeared in his hands, Zoro made a faint grimace, certainly unused to a sword with such a different feel, but rather than complain, he simply tightened his grip around its hilt, then return his gaze to Suzaku.

"Ready," he replied quickly, and this was an understatement. In the blink of an eye, Zoro was already running - no, sprinting towards Suzaku with grim intent. He wasn't as fast as he normally would be, not after his strengths had been so drastically reduced upon arrival, but the amount of time it took him to close in on his foe was still frightening.

His strong arms sweeping fluidly through the air, Zoro started off with the full aim of symbolically taking Suzaku's head clean off, making a quick, hard slash for the young knight's neck.

Theta nodded grimly. She didn't particularly like the idea of being used in a serious fight this time, not after seeing that her own weapon was pathetic compared to the others that might appear. Nonetheless, Suzaku seemed to believe he had a plan, so she was going to let him go for it.

She leaned forward a bit, not sure if that actually helped or not, but as soon as he had his hand free and she saw the man charging at him with a sword, she decided it was time to get clear of the area.

Leaning heavily on her cane, she limped away, hoping that she'd get clear of the area before she got hit by a stray blow. She'd let Suzaku deal with this as if it wasn't even her problem. If he lost, then she would deal with that then, though she honestly hoped that he didn't.

Zoro was fast, very fast but Suzaku was not Knight of Zero for nothing. His instincts were honed finely from fighting in a Knightmare, though he was less used to fighting outside of one of the Britannian fighting machines the same principles applied. Think and act simultaneously, take everything in, react to attacks before they happen.

He stepped sharply to the side and forwards, so that he would be on the outside of Zoro's sword arm too close to Zoro's body for his oponent to merely swing the sword again. A quick jab at the arm and Suzaku had darted back, not actually bothering if the strike hit or not. The important thing was staying out of range of the sword.

As Zoro's sword sailed through the air, inches away from Suzaku as he stepped to safety, the force of the spirited slash was such that it sang, emitting a gentle hum across its arc.

Zoro grinned as he reacted to Suzaku's quick dodge, apparently pleased that his foe was at least so capable. He did not stop smiling even as Suzaku struck back with...a punch? Now that was unexpected, but nothing he couldn't handle. Zoro simply swatted Suzaku's fist away with the thickness of his forearm, just as he would with a second sword, and rushed towards his opponent again.

Zoro was a high-pressure fighter - once he began to attack, he didn't quit of his own volition. Just as he was with Suzaku, he kept right in his enemy's face, staying too close for comfort; thrusting forward with his strong legs, Zoro dashed in, aiming a charge with his strong shoulder towards Suzaku's chest, followed by a deep plunge forward with the sword towards the knight's gut.

The rumours had not lied, Zoro was a terrifyingly good swordsman. Suzaku hadn't doubted them, since this man had beaten Gino and Gino was a good fighter; even if, like Suzaku, he was more used to fighting in a knightmare then anything else.

The shove hit, Suzaku hadn't been expecting that and he berated himself for the lapse. Always expect the unexpected, it was one of the first rules.

He tried not to think about the fact that because it wasn't the sword, and therefore wasn't going to kill him he didn't care about getting out the way. Because it was just pain, and he deserved pain.

The sword was coming towards him now and although really he wouldn't mind if it hit him, killed him; because he deserved that as well. But he still had something to live for, he had to help Lelouch rescue Nunnally from Gino, he had to help Sora beat this game and he had to carry out Zero Requiem, he couldn't die yet.

Or ever, his mind fuzzed at the thought just as Suzaku began to dive roll out of the way of the sword. The sword did not hit his stomach though, merely grazed his arm as Suzaku crashed to the floor, rolling but badly.

Ignoring the pain Suzaku stood up, went back into a ready stance and waited for the next onslaught. No more thinking, concentrating on the battle and only the battle. On the now and Zoro and not being stabbed.

For the briefest of moments, Zoro actually paused; once he'd connected with his shoulder, forcing the brunt of it squarely into Suzaku's lungs, he could sense something from his opponent - a feeling of resignation. It was a flutter in the knight's heartbeat, a small falter in his spirit, as if his very soul was flinching. This made Zoro wonder to himself if Suzaku's heart was truly in this fight, and it almost made him want to stop.

Almost.

Still on the move, Zoro moved in for another attack. Less linear this time, Zoro ran at Suzaku from an angle, building up speed in advance. In addition, he pulled the sword in close to his body, and then just as he was in striking range, lashed out with it swiftly in a very wide, sweeping arc.

By this time Suzaku's mind had cleared, the fuziness leaving him and he once again was ready for Zoro's onslaught, he remained very still as Zoro rushed towards him. Ready and waiting but not wanting to move before it was necessary.

The sword came towards him, an arc of death and metal. Once he was sure that Zoro was dedicated to the swing he sprang forward aiming for Zoro's sword arm with a kick, trying to knock the swordsman over.

Aiming for Zoro's reserved arm was smart; even the one on the receiving end would agree. The move even brought a smile to his face, enlivened by the idea that this knight hadn't disappointed him yet.

However, therein was the problem: Zoro saw it coming. The wanted pirate was used to fast moves, being a swordsman, and to make matters worse, he was accostomed to fighting with two swords - today, using only one, that left one hand open, a hand he could use for other things. Other things like grabbing at Suzaku's foot, for instance, as it snapped towards him. Hopefully, as Zoro let out a deep, monstrous, roaring cry, Suzaku would be just as quick to draw his leg back before Zoro grabbed hold and used his powerful body to whip the knight clean out of the air and toss him aside.

Unfortunatly it had been an all or nothing move as Zoro's sword was effectively blocking Suzaku's escape now. Zoro was stronger than Suzaku had expected, not that Suzaku had expected him to be week, but he had expected to be able to move him with his shove at least.

It went without mention that Zoro being as fast as he was was always thinking ahead and so Suzaku felt very little surprise as he found himself flying through the air.

Luckily for him the gym was large and so Suzaku fell to the floor and skidded instead of being thrown into a wall. He had to move quickly and though he was in pain he had landed as correctly as he could, hadn't hit his head and nothing seemed broken.

Nothing he couldn't handle, he lept to his feet moving quickly this time. Defending against a sword was difficult, but attacking first was something he hadn't tried yet. He leapt at Zoro with a focussed expression, turning in the air his limbs almost a blur as he aimed a kick for Zoro's chest.

He'd be lying if he said the sound of Suzaku's feet skidding across the hard gymnasium floor didn't please him; Zoro, tilting his head back and looking at his foe with a rather cocky look in his smoldering eyes, held up Shoryu's sword and rested it up against his shoulder.

"You alright there?" he asked loudly, watching Suzaku quickly collect himself. "Anytime you feel like giving up, go ahead. You won't hurt my feelings any."

Clearly taking the opposite route, Suzaku rushed towards him with impressive speed. Zoro stood his ground, though, and watched his opponent close in quickly. With a completely open stance, his shoulders out and his chin squared, he opted to wait, watch, and see if he could take a nice, hard shot - call it a test of his own abilities, but he needed to see just how much punishment he could take with these diminished abilities.

Suzaku didn't disappoint; his foot crashed deep into Zoro's ribs, sending him staggering backwards. The pain shot straight through his lungs, giving him a bit of a shock.

After taking a few steps back, however, he brought a foot down hard against the floor and stopped himself forcibly. His head had flown back from the force of the blow, but as he came to a halt, he brought it back down again, treating Suzaku to a rather crazed, beastly smile.

"Heh!" he chuckled sharply. "Good shot, kid. Got any more like that?"

Suzaku ignored the offer to give up. If there was one thing that was totaly alien to him it was giving up. He had quickly realised he had met his match in Zoro but he was not going to give up.

Suzaku felt at first pleased that his kick connected, but then as his brain caught up with his body he realised that Zoro had just stood there, hadn't even tried to defend himself. Did he think Suzaku some weakling? Was he just letting Suzaku get a shot in, he had said he wouldn't go easy on him but...

Suzaku ignored the comment, he was no kid, even if this swordsman was a couple of years older than him. He hadn't been a kid in a long time, definitly not since joining the army at fourteen, in fact he hadn't been a kid since his fathers death when he was ten.

He came closer, kicking towards Zoro's left side meaning to follow it up with a punch to the ribs before hopfully getting out of the way of the sword before it hit him.

Sorry, but no more free hits, Zoro thought to himself, his unnerving smile disappearing with disturbing speed. In its place crept up a grim, serious frown, and up with it rose Zoro's level of intensity, the palpable level of heat and fury that seemed to radiate from his body like an open furnace.

At the very moment Suzaku moved towards him again, ready to strike fast and hard, Zoro leapt away quickly, landing several feet further back with his legs bent and ready. Taking En, Shoryu's cutlass, he held the blade down at his side just as he would with his katana; Zoro stopped completely and drew in a deep, calming breath, and the world around him seemed to slow down to a crawl.

"Stop the stream valiantly..." he began, speaking softly aloud. His lean arms tensed, and his fingers curled more tightly around the blade's hilt.

"...drive away all desire..." he continued, his eyes shut to the world. Zoro's body bent down a little further, just as Suzaku was mere inches away from landing his initial kick.

"...and I will fly through my aggressors."

As Suzaku's kick closed in on his left side, Zoro seamlessly twisted his body around the tip of his enemy's foot, then rolled in towards Suzaku. The follow-up punch would have to be fast, as Zoro was already moving in underneath Suzaku's reach and weaving the edge of the blade straight towards his chest.

Suzaku ignored the words, once he realised that Zoro was talking to himself and not to Suzaku. He let them flow over them, as he pushed on with his attack. The fact that Zoro was speaking of course had warned him to the face that the swordsman was going to do something but he was not going to let it stop him from attacking. A smarter person might have withdrawn, waited.

But Suzaku was dedicated to the attack now so he pushed forwards, he saw the sword coming and moved. But his momentum was already going forwards and so he was neither quick enough nor did he move far enough. The sword plunged into his chest; missing, Suzaku noticed even as he fell backwards, his heart. Not that these weapons could kill you anyways, unfortunatly.

His pocket emptied as the marbles dissapeared, signalling the end of the match. Suzaku scowled and he stood up and bowed to his oponent. "I'm sorry sir," he said, not to Zoro but to Theta who was still there watching.

Theta had bitten her tongue to keep from crying out when the sword plunged into Suzaku's chest. A real man didn't panic in public like that. Though she considered herself both, the last thing she wanted to do was show her feminine side to the world and get told that it was 'proof' that she wasn't what she was.

"I'm sorry, too. I thought you were stronger than that...I never should have agreed to this." She took a deep breath and let it out as a hiss, her expression going cold. She wanted so much to stay with Suzaku, his easy acceptance of her touching her in places she hadn't expected it to. She hadn't even been properly grateful for that and it was being snatched away, and her upset at seeing him lose a match and lose her was making her lash out at him instead.

Why couldn't things go the way she wanted them to? Couldn't her silvered tongue turn this to her advantage somehow? She took another deep breath, her hand tightening around her cane as she limped over to Zoro. There...was a transfer system, wasn't there? She looked up at him seriously.

"My weapon's useless, you saw. I'm no use to you, so you might as well transfer me back." Everything about her bearing was arrogant, but her words were serious. And, one who was good at reading people might just catch on to how hard she was focusing on acting. The whiteness in her knuckles as she gripped her cane too tightly, the tension in her back, the tightness of her tone, so focused to keep it from shaking, all conspired to tell the world that she wasn't as happy about this as her gracious-seeming acceptance let on.

Simply out of habit, as Zoro stepped away from Suzaku's shaken frame, the swordsman held the sword in his hand out as far as his arm would reach, then flicked it sharply, as if to rid the keen metal of the blood that stained its well-polished surface. No sooner had he performed this purely symbolic action, the Weapon disappeared, unneeded now that the exercise was over.

His face was emotionless, as was the only honorable thing after delivering a killing stroke, with the dignity a duel between men deserved. For a minute, Zoro's stoney visage made it look as if he really thought Suzaku to be dead - or at least nicely maimed - but he turned towards the defeated, his eyes still narrowed and sharp, and gave the knight a nod of his head. He knew full well that Suzaku's apology was not to him, but the meaning was not lost on him.

"You fought well," he said, brusque as ever. "In better circumstances, you might've won."

And then there was Theta, who approached him shortly. Zoro had never really even laid eyes upon her before, to his short-sighted knowledge, let alone ever been introduce. He didn't know quite what to say at first; maybe then it was good that she did.

Zoro immediately shook his head. "Can't do that. I have to win five Weapons to win this Round, and you're the second," he began, tilting his head back slightly as he spoke.

He seemed to be studying her as he spoke, but only in Zoro's own way; it had nothing to do with her appearance, her behavior, or things like issues of gender - these things didn't matter to him. Zoro saw only strength, the will and the spirit to fight for your goals, and Theta's defeatist attitude, facade or not, wasn't winning him over.

"I don't know what the rules are about giving a Weapon up are, either, so you're staying with me for now." Perfectly serious, Zoro's steel-tempered arms folded neatly across the soft curve of his chest.

"Besides, I don't care if your Weapon is a glass of water!" he suddenly bellowed, his chin clentching tightly. "Maybe the reason why he lost was because you didn't lend him your strength."

Suzaku looked down at his feet shame flooding his features. Theta was right, he should have fought harder, should have protected her better. Shouldn't have risked losing her to this stranger. Though he bristled at the insinuation that he was not strong enough.

But she was right, he had not been strong enough to beat this man. He had failed and he felt bad, "I'm sorry Theta," he said again quietly.

He nodded at Zoro not quite believing him, he had not fought well, he had lost. He was not surprised that Zoro was refusing to transfer her back though, he had not expected that.

He just hoped that Zoro was a nice enough person, he hoped he had not lost Theta to someone who would be horrid to her.

He was about to turn and leave when he heard Zoro bellow, he frowned and turned, "Now that's not fa..." He blinked as something interupted him.

Edited 2011-04-19 21:22 (UTC)

Romeo had been watching the fight from around the corner. He wasn't really meant to be here, Zoro didn't need his weapon today. But he had wanted to watch Mister Zoro fight. Especially since his oponent was one of Miss Sora's friends.

The fight had been scary, even though Romeo knew that no one was going to get permemently hurt or die from the fight it still scared him to see people in pain. He wanted to help but knew that he couldn't.

As the fight ended he began to step into the room but paused as the girl spoke. She didn't seem happy but Romeo thought she was probably upset and a little bit frightened because she had been lost to someone she didn't know.

He winced as mister Zoro bellowed at the girl, taking a deap breath he decided he had to do something. Before his courage could desert him he dashed into the room.

"I think she's scared boss," he flashed a grin at the girl and looked at Zoro with wide eyes, hoping his friend and teacher wouldn't be mad at him. "That was a scary fight and it was so fast, I don't think she could of helped!"

She snapped her head to the side, eyes closed as she listened to Zoro's decision. She took a deep breath, and was about to say more when he bellowed at her. She stumbled backwards, barely managing to keep her balance. She snarled at him, teeth gritted and her face screwed up in an angry expression. "I couldn't have done anything! Didn't you see it? My weapon is a joke!"

It was so painful to admit something like that. She'd always been the best. What would father say if he could see her weapon? Would he stop calling her his son? She couldn't show weakness now, only anger. Couldn't let them see the part of her that really was just a weak woman, that wanted to run back to Suzaku and cry. He'd accepted her so easily, and that meant so much to her.

She turned to look at the boy that had just come running up, at first just surprised, but quickly forcing outrage onto her face before she got caught being too weak. "I'm not afraid," she snapped. "I'm not afraid of anything." But how obvious was it that she was lying? Zoro seemed outright nasty, and she doubted he would accept her as what she was.

Unyielding, Zoro didn't back down for a second, even when Theta began to bare her teeth at him. Instead, he stepped up even closer until their faces were merely inches away, and there he squinted his eyes at her intensely, radiating heat.

"Your Weapon's only a joke if you let it be one," he replied shortly. He paused then, continuing his sharp gaze for a moment longer, then turned and stepped away.

Looking down at Romeo, he placed his hand on the boy's thick hair and ruffled it a little. "This kid?" he continued, speaking to Theta yet keeping his back to her. "His Weapon is a broom."

His head turned slightly, looking at Theta from over his thick shoulder. "A broom. But I just beat someone with it the other day, and they weren't weak."

"Sure, I had a suitable Weapon today, but you think it's just because of me that I won? It doesn't work that way here!" he suddenly said, raising his voice for the end of his sentence.

Turning towards Theta again, he stepped towards her again, fiercely glaring at her like some scolding teacher. "Weapons here, they're not just some hellogram," he continued, accidentally pronouncing the unfamiliar word incorrectly. "It's the person we're partnered with. Just like any good real sword, Weapons have a soul - the stronger the person, the stronger their Weapon. Doesn't matter what shape it takes."

Suddenly, he pointed towards Romeo. "This kid...well, he's a total chicken, but he wants to help his friends, so he makes himself stronger for it."

Throwing his arms up, as if to admit some symbolic defeat, Zoro started to back away again. "But if you want to give up and let your Weapon stay weak, fine - be a joke. I won't release you, though."

Romeo didn't even flinch when Zoro ruffled his hair, even though he thought the man was going to be mad at him for interupting. This was more because he would not show weakness in front of the swordsman who was teaching him then in any trust that the swordsman wouldn't hurt him. After all if Zoro wanted to hurt him he would, and Romeo wouldn't be able to get away.

He kept quiet though, turning to grin again at Theta, trying to reasure her it was alright because really Zoro was not as scary as he first seemed.

Romeo's chearful smile faded a little when Zoro told the girl that he was a chicken. He had tried so hard to be brave, especially around Zoro and to hear that his teacher still thought he was a coward made him sad. He would have to try harder! Do something to prove to mister Zoro that he was brave!

When Zoro had finished speaking, almost giving up on the girl Romeo piped up, "Mister Zoro can make you become stronger miss! We will protect you don't worry!"

Theta continued to glower and all but hiss as Zoro went on, though she did look over at Romeo more critically when he was pointed out. She gritted her teeth, though she wasn't up to meeting anyone's eyes, she growled out, "Perhaps it will get stronger with a few upgrades. At least you can use a broom like a staff. What is it you intend to do with those, roll them under someone's feet?"

She looked even more critically at Romeo when he spoke up again. "It's not 'miss', it's 'sir'," she corrected, but her heart was hardly in her words. She turned and started to stalk off, or at least as best as one could stalk with a limp. She didn't want to deal with this, didn't want to deal with these people. Maybe she could ask Sherlock to challenge Zoro, he'd be strong enough to beat him surely.

She didn't want to think that it was a weakness in her heart that made her weapon useless. She'd had to face so much already, she refused to accept that it was a flaw in herself that kept it from being useful. No matter what was in her heart, it wouldn't change the fact that her weapon was just a useless weight in someone's pocket. Unless the topic was clockworks, the strength of one's spirit just couldn't affect the real world.

Or could it? She didn't know anything about these 'holograms' or how they worked. Maybe she ought to start working on taking things apart to find out how they worked. That would be a wonderful idea, she figured, but it could be time-consuming. Either way, standing around talking to these people wasn't going to help her any, so she had every intention of clearing the area before they got her upset enough that her façade cracked.

With the duel complete and ownership transferred from Player to Player, Zoro could've simply ordered Theta to hold her ground - well, he could've issued the order, at least - but despite his disapproving look, he said nothing to her as she walked away.

Instead, he turned to Romeo; he didn't smile, as was usual, but he seemed to be pleased to see him.

"It'll be fine," he said firmly, watching as Theta left the gym floor.

He said so, anyway, but Zoro knew he couldn't continue to indulge this person so long as she was his Weapon. A firm believer in matters of duty and responsibility, Zoro had to do what was truly best for his Weapons, however brief his time as a Player was, but he also had to have their loyalty, and this kind of attitude was unacceptable.

Whether she liked it or not, Zoro would be using Theta in his next fight. Hopefully, he could earn her trust by proving himself, or their relationship through the rest of the week would be a rocky one.

Suzaku had stood quiet and forgotten during the exchange, he didn't mind; after all he had lost. But he had not wanted to leave Theta when she was obviously distressed about being lost to Zoro. When she stormed out he followed her, half nodding half bowing at Zoro as he left the room.

"Theta wait..." He hurried to catch up with her, "I'm really sorry, but I'm sure Zoro is alright once you get to know him..." After all, the kid who had turned up was one of Sora's friends and Sora would not stand for any of her friends to be partnered by anyone who might hurt them in any way.

Edited 2011-04-20 20:27 (UTC)

Theta was quickly losing her composure, and her anger was giving way to tears. She tightened her free hand into a fist, and reached up to rub the back of her hand across her cheeks, trusting in the many magnifiers of her glasses to hide her eyes. She looked at Suzaku, not sure what to even say to him, but then the words started tumbling out haphazardly, not nearly as eloquent as she was used to for her lack of planning.

"I never should have agreed to this fight. Fighting him unarmed was a stupid thing to do, you should have known better! How could you lose to someone like him? I don't want to be his weapon, I wanted to be yours!" She'd not really had friends as a child, so finding someone she got along with so quickly, who had accepted her without another word, had been something amazing. She barely knew Suzaku, but she already knew that he was someone she wanted to like.

But that wanting to like him was stinging now, and Theta didn't want to deal with that sting. So she did what came naturally to her in such a situation--she lashed out. "Just go away. There's nothing else you can do here, there's nothing else I can do here, so it seems that's the end of that."

Suzaku knew she was upset but was still a little surprised at the anger that came from her. He deserved it, of course. She had trusted him and he had failed her. He looked at his feet and said nothing, of course he would go away if thats what she wanted. As usual when faced with situations like this Suzaku's posture became very formal, like he was a soldier being chatstised by a superior.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said again and then, as being told to go away was like a dissmissel he turned and left feeling horrid. What had he done? Theta was right, it was a stupid thing to do. Stupid decisions that's what Kallen said, and Suzaku agreed. Stupid decisions and hurting yet someone else.

He left quickly and silently, leaving Theta alone. For about all of three seconds.

Romeo looked between mister Zoro and the new girl who was being so rude. She had said that she wasn't scared but she was acting scared. At least she was acting scared in the way that Nikita would, or some of the Black Brothers. Acting all big to prove they wern't scared when really they were the most scared of all.

As she stormed out Romeo had an idea. He didn't want her to leave, because he didn't want her to not be friends with Zoro. That wasn't right because they had to work together and if they were friends then it was team work. Like the Black Brothers, like him and Alfredo. They could do anything together!

"I'll be right back boss!" He ran off after Theta, he would keep his promise and come right back no matter what happened with Theta.

But if she didn't like them, if she wanted to not be on there team and Zoro was adament that she was his weapon. Well Zoro owned her weapon, and that meant that she would be just that, owned. Just like Rossi had owned him, and the God of Death before Rossi. That would make Zoro like those bosses, like Alfredo's boss...

Even though Theta was an adult and not a child, it was still the same because here the rules were different. But he had vowed to Alfredo, he had vowed to Alfredo as he was dying that he would help create a world were all children were free and no one was owned.

If Theta was their friend, and wanted to work with them and help them win fights then it was different and so Romeo was going to show her that they only wanted to help her!

His enthusiastic grin faded a little as he rounded the corner to hear the last bit of the exchange with the man who was Sora's friend. "That wasn't very nice m...sir!" He said, remembering that she had asked him to call him that. He didn't understand why but she was an adult so he would do as she asked.

"I'm sure he tried his best, mister Zoro was just stronger!"

A little uncertain, Zoro looked down quizzically at Romeo. Before he could respond, though, the eager boy was already off, leaving Zoro all alone to quietly shrug his shoulders.

Still, so long as he was at the gym, he could get in a bit of time to train while the others worked out the 'discussion' aspect of their problems; he had his own intentions on how to ultimately deal with things, and those would come in time. For the now, Zoro left the open floor and adjourned to a small, private and wide-windowed room adjacent to where the action had taken place - when the others were done, they could spot him inside.

Romeo had her quite figured out, but Theta wasn't about to admit that she was bluffing. That defeated the whole purpose of it. She sneered when he said her words weren't nice. Yes, he had her well figured out, down to the blindingly obvious parts. She turned to face him, but her sneer was obviously hastily pasted over something much more human, much weaker.

"Of course it wasn't nice. He made a bad decision." Just like she wanted him to think he'd made a bad decision by coming to talk to her. She didn't want company, didn't want to be reassured that everything was all right. She wanted to not belong to someone like what little she'd seen of Zoro. Of course, it wasn't really fair to judge him by just a few minutes, but she didn't care about what was fair and what wasn't.

Still, Romeo had her attention for catching himself and obediently calling her sir. She appreciated that, though she wasn't ready to back down. "He shouldn't have fought someone stronger with that much of a disadvantage. I didn't want to be lost!"

"But he tried his best sir, and anyways this way you get to meet more poeple and make more friends! Mister Zoro is really nice!"

He was still a little confused, because he had thought this person was a woman but you said sir to men. So maybe he was like Nikita, after all Romeo had known Nikita for weeks before Alfredo told him that she was really a girl. But that didn't really matter, what matters was that he had been rude to that other man.

But Romeo understood that he was frightened and didn't know them. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an apple, it was a little grubby and a little bruised but it was still definatly edible. It was his last one, he had to go pick some more but he handed it to Theta after rubbing it on his shirt to clean it. "Here sir, eat this and you will feel better!"

"We'll see how nice he really is soon enough, surely," she huffed. She didn't want to find out the hard way that not everyone was as open as Suzaku had been, and Zoro seemed exactly the type to do something nasty to her if he didn't approve of her gender identity. Perhaps she was reading too much into it, but Theta preferred to be careful when it came to this matter. True enough, it would have been safer still to hide her gender identity, to bow her head down and try to blend in, but the thought of doing such just made her absolutely sick.

She blinked in surprise, though, when she was presented with an apple. She reached out to take it, completely stunned by his approach. Then again, from his word choices she was guessing that he was lower class, and she'd heard that getting fresh food was nigh impossible for them. Was this, then, something he'd gotten from the cafeteria as an extra special treat? It wasn't as if it would be difficult for him to get another while he was here, so turning it down would probably be a cruel snub.

"It's a fine apple, thank you." Again, her words were a bit hollow, this time simply for the fact that she was speaking while highly distracted with surprise. "I'm not really hungry right now, but I'll save it for tonight," she mused, tucking it carefully into her pocket. "How nice do you think Zoro is? Will he believe his eyes or his ears?"

Romeo was glad that the apple was taken and smiled slightly as the man seemed to calm down a little. Romeo was glad, he wasn't used to dealing with adults like this but his experiance of adults here at this school was that a lot of them were just as confused and frightened as children. They wern't automatically cruel to him, and since he had been here a long time now he was beginning to realise that a lot of them were just the same as kids he had known back in Milano.

At the mans question Romeo blinked, not quite understanding what he meant. "He's really nice sir, even though he is sometimes scary!"

He had no idea what he meant by the second part, "Both... I think... he told me that a swordsman has to trust all his senses, what you see and hear and smell and... is that what you mean sir?"

She sighed, shaking her head. "That's not quite it. But I suppose there's nothing for it, and I have to face him eventually..." She didn't want to. She wanted to run off and hide in her room, to avoid having to do this at all. That wasn't how she did things, though, so she stood a little straighter and moved to head back in.

"We'll see how accepting he is, but if things go badly..." If things went badly... Actually, she knew someone who was stronger than Suzaku, who had won despite being essentially unarmed. She'd face Zoro, but if things didn't go well, she'd just ask Sherlock to challenge him for her. For that matter, even if things only went passably well, she was certain that things would go much better if she was a weapon for someone she really rather liked and who shared her dorm room besides.

At any rate, it was a plan, and so she finally felt up to giving Romeo a bit of a smile as she headed back towards where Zoro was. "Are you coming as well..?"

Romeo was really confused but he nodded, "Of course I'm coming sir, I promised mister Zoro I'd be right back!" He had and Romeo always kept his promises.

He was still not sure why this man did not want to be on there team. He knew mister Zoro sometimes seemed a little scary; Romeo had been terrified when he first met him, but this man didn't seem to even want to give them a chance! "It will be alright sir! Anyways like miss Sora always says, we all have to work together to get out of here, we're not really enemies. We're all in this together, so being on our team is just like being on mister... Suzaku's team," he said, remembering the name of miss Sora's friend.

They were almost at the gym now and Romeo hoped this boy was not going to be all angry again, "Oh I'm Romeo sir! What's your name?"

Again with people acting like this place was a terrible travesty that needed broken free from! Theta had to struggle to not snort derisively at the idea. It was only a school, and she distinctly remembered agreeing to, er, something. Surely it was her enrolment, and the terms surrounding that had to be one of the memories she'd lost.

Those memories, though... That was a more difficult topic, and one she was inclined to agree with the general consensus about. She'd finally gotten the full story from Grenn, and she was far from pleased. Not that she'd let on at the time. No, she'd been thinking about it since, and she didn't like it one bit. Grenn had called it something like 'pieces of our personalities', or whatever the direct quote was. Theta couldn't be bothered to recall it exactly. 'Pieces of our personalities' sounded about right. Was that what they were on about with wanting to break free of the school?

She held firm on her idea that simply graduating would be more than enough to free up the remaining memories. Yes, she thought that perhaps completing her coursework and winning a round as a player might just unlock everything. When she graduated, she would come home with prestige, she was certain. Though it was troublesome not having a clockworking workshop to work in. Surely she needed to keep up her skills. The last thing she wanted was to get rusty as an ergaleomancer simply for the sake of the other skills this school would be teaching. ...Though it was a very, very welcome break from the judgemental cruelty of her classmates back home.

Romeo's introduction startled her back out of the thought-tangent his words had sent her on, and she blinked in surprise, turning her attention back to him. "Elizabeθ Buckley. ...And it's 'Miss Buckley' when you say my name. I'm male and female, so there's a bit of word juggling." It felt strange to announce that so directly. Strange but good... He'd taken to calling her sir, how would he take to this? Belatedly, she remembered her manners. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Romeo." She paused, offering him her free hand to shake.

Romeo blinked. She was male and female? Well he had never heard of that... But that only meant that people wern't like that in Italy; because Doctor Casella had never mentioned it and he knew everything. But that didn't mean it wasn't like that in different countries, or different worlds like Miss Sora said people here came from.

But he could remember that, saying sir when speaking to him but saying "miss" before her name. "Alright miss Buckley!" He grinned at her, "It's nice to meet you too," it was strange being called mister anything, as he was only a kid and being called by a name was good enough for him, especially since Elizabeθ had two names and had asked him to call her by the second. That meant that she was a nobleman or the equivalent in her world.

It was also strange to shake hands with an adult, but a lot of adults here expected it of him. He liked that; it made him feel grown up.

"Let's go and talk to mister Zoro then, sir!" He started to lead the way with another smile.

She nodded and moved to follow him, letting him head on ahead. That and her leg hurt. Walking so fast hadn't really been a good idea, but she'd really wanted to get away after seeing Suzaku lose.

Romeo didn't seem like a bad person. Lower class, obviously, but... Who knew, apparently they did have their charms. He was being good to her, and it felt nice to have someone work so hard to get her to smile. This was how people were supposed to treat her.

"All right, all right. I'm coming." That didn't mean she was any less wary about all of this. She didn't like the way Zoro came across, it made her thoroughly nervous.

((Moving to another thread - this one's getting too squished!))

When the pair of them returned, they'd spot Zoro through the windowed wall, already off in his own little world.

The man was, for one reason or another, shirtless as he went through the motions of a thorough workout. His body was practically a machine, thickly muscled despite how lean his overall frame was built; constructed piece by piece over a number of years spent training, Zoro's regiment apparently involved performing vertical push-ups, his powerful arms lifting his entire weight away from the floor. Once he was satisfied, he removed his left arm from the equation, holding himself upright with only his right.

Running diagonally down the length of his chest, the two might notice an immense scar, deep and messy; it had since been cleanly stitched, but a keen eye might notice that it had been done once previously, and not very well. Various other battle-earned cuts and knicks dotted his skin, but this, as well as a series of odd scars around his ankles, was the most noticeable.

As they entered, Zoro stopped, lowering himself gently back down to the floor. Not to be rude, but he remained seated there, folding his legs beneath him as he grabbed a fluffy, school-issued towel and dabbed it against his skin.

"Ah, you two get everything settled?" he asked, smiling lightly as he looked up at them.

Romeo led Miss Buckley back to the gym room where the fight was and looked around in the rooms until he found Zoro. They didn't get bothered, the adults who watched the gym to make sure that discards didn't get in knew him on sight by now. He was here every day with Zoro, and they had probably seen miss Buckley go in with Suzaku. He found the room finally and with another encouraging smile towards his hopefully new friend he opened the door.

He had seen mister Zoro train before, and had seen his scars before, they all looked like they hurt. But nothing seemed to hurt mister Zoro; nothing at all. Romeo hadn't asked about them, he wasn't that brave.

"Yes boss! This is miss Buckley and she has agreed to be on our team willingly and help us fight!" He grinned up at her with another smile. "Isn't that right, sir!"

Theta was just a bit scandalised when she saw him practising with his shirt off, and as such she made a point of looking anywhere but at Zoro. Having found a spot on the ceiling to feign fascination with, she turned her eyes there, waiting for him to get the hint and make himself decent.

At least she was listening to the conversation, and she nodded in confirmation to Zoro's inquiry. He didn't sound that bad now, maybe she was just getting over-dramatic about Suzaku's loss. But she had wanted Suzaku to win!

"Well, I'm here, at any rate. Fair is fair, even if I'm unhappy about it."

Zoro did pick up on Theta's consternation, but did nothing immediately about it; perhaps he found her discomfort a little bit funny, judging by his faint grin, or perhaps it was a good sign that he didn't care much about Theta's sex. Instead, slinging the towel over his shoulders, he steadily lifted himself from the floor, rising up to his full height and posture and approached them.

"Alright then," he said, sounding fairly casual about the development. Getting too excited about a new ally just wasn't his style. Still, he was secretly pleased that Romeo had managed to convince her not to stubbornly storm away, and gave the young lad a nod of his head in approval.

As for Theta, though, Zoro looked at her closely while wearing his usual 'frown'. "Sorry you're so unhappy about being stuck with me. I'll try to make this as painless as possible for you, at least, but I need your cooperation while I'm a Player this week."

Finally, as a show of some good faith, Zoro picked up a loose-fitting shirt and slipped it on over his head.

"So. I'll make you a deal. You lend me your strength and I'll fight anyone you want - maybe they'll beat me, and you won't have to put up with...well, whatever it is you don't like about me," he began, ending with a shrug of his shoulders. "Either way, this will be a good test for myself."

Naturally, this likely sounded like a lot of ego, with Zoro simply wanting to act macho and show off his big, manly muscles; if that's how it came across, Zoro didn't argue against it. However, he actually meant that this would be a chance to earn Theta's trust; he could fight, using her Weapon, and prove to her that no Weapon was a joke. By his own sort of demented logic, that would force her to trust herself and thereby become a stronger Weapon for the future - an absolutely foolproof plan.

Romeo tried not to beam when Zoro nodded at him, but he had been around the swordsman enough to understand that that meant that Zoro was happy with what he had done, and that made Romeo very happy indeed. As it was he started to look a bit more confident, ready to step in if the two seemed likely to get angry at each other; because he didn't want that to happen at all.

He kept quiet though and listened as Zoro explained about the deal he would make with Miss Buckley. It sounded like a good plan, except that Romeo did not think there was anyone in this school that could beat Zoro! But since Miss Buckley seemed angry that the other man had lost surely she would be happy if Zorro won with her weapon. Romeo glanced at her watching and waiting quietly.

When Theta heard the rustle of fabric, she glanced back at Zoro, and was relieved to find he'd gotten himself decent again. It had nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with the fact that her society didn't particularly approve of nudity. For anyone. She listened to his challenge, and immediately nodded.

"Sherlock Holmes. I don't know what it is you want me to do, but I'll support you in fighting him." She didn't read his words as particularly arrogant, but rather she supposed he was a lot like her. How were those who had great skills meant to act, after all? Lie about it out of some false sense of modesty? No, she thought those that were simply boasting reeked far more of desperation than he did.

"Hmmm," Zoro grunted simply. 'Sherlock Holmes' - maybe he'd only just seen that name when all of the week's Players were announced, but something about it seemed otherwise familiar. Unable to immediately place a finger on its significance, Zoro simply shrugged, then gave Theta a nod.

"Fine. I'll fight him as soon as he's ready," he said. "Ehh, but maybe one of you can help me with that; those...er...campters? - conporters? - the things with the little letter buttons - I'm not so used to them."

Now that the towel was no longer needed to cover his shoulders, Zoro used it to dab away a bit of sweat from around his brow and temples, then politely deposited it in a provided hamper near the room's door.

"Well, I'm done here. I think it's about time for lunch, too...Romeo-kun, you hungry?" he asked, heading for the door. He stopped short, though, and looked back to Theta. "And...well...you too. If you want to."

Romeo grinned as well, though he was a little worried that his two friends were going to fight each other. Still he was happy that Zoro and Miss Buckley had finally came to an agreement. He would have offered to use the comutes, or whatever they were called but they were strange. Strange even than the mirrors that talked or the booths were you bought things from.

Lunch! Romeo was hungry, he was hungry most of the time though he was eating more than he had ever eaten in his life before. "I'm coming boss!"

When Zoro extended the invitation to Miss Buckley Romeo was surprised. Not that he had invited her but that there had ever been any question of her not joining them. She was their friend now. "Do you want to sir?"

Theta frowned at that request, shaking her head. "I could have a look at one of them, but we don't have anything like them in my world. I couldn't promise anything." Still, she followed along as they headed out of the gym, walking quite a bit more slowly than she had initially. Yes, lunch was a good excuse to sit down, and goodness knows she needed to sit now.

"I'll come along to lunch, yes, yes." She turned her attention to Zoro and cleared her throat. "It's Elizabeθ Buckley, and your name was Zoro?" She'd heard his name, but she wasn't sure if he'd heard hers. Better to check and confirm and be polite, if they were to work together.

"Good. Maybe we can talk things over," Zoro replied, once Theta had agreed to join them. Hopefully, he thought, she wouldn't be off-put by his usual silent demeanor at a meal.

"Ms. Buckley. Right." Calling her by her first name so soon just didn't feel right, especially since she seemed so hesitant to work with him in the first place. As they walked, he glanced at her from over his shoulder, offering her something halfway between a scowl and a smile. "Zoro Roronoa. Pleased to meet you, after the fact."

Battle! [day four morning!]

Suzaku Kururugi vs. Zoro Roronoa

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Part 1

Part 2

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