Though there were many things that weren't policed in Seiryuu, for some reason, a majority of the student body still properly wore their assigned uniforms. Maybe because getting blood on their normal day to day clothes was a pain, and maybe because it was easier to get jumped when you weren't exactly a prominent figure in the school and not wearing a uniform-- whatever the reason, a hefty majority of the school brandished the school's brand. Reiji was no exception, but unlike students that wore their spring uniforms, he sported his all black gakuran, with embossed brass dragons on the buttons-- a sign of his school's background.

While he wore his uniform dutifully, however, he wasn't exactly the most well-behaved student in Seiryuu. Black school regulated shoes stepped over broken glass as the blank faced senior walked along the halls, his bat dragging behind him and making a scratched path against the floor. Graffiti streaked walls painted the school full of life, and Reiji admired the disarray that the East had compared to his school at the West. Sure, he thought as he poked past either a wounded or dead student lying beside a broken classroom door, his mother wasn't exactly happy with his transfer, but when was that lady ever happy with anything?

Making his way down the stairs, he passed by a few more students harassing the locked door of the women's rest room. They coo'd and hooted-- "C'mon, unlock it you shit"-- though were obviously getting a bit bored waiting around. From the sounds of it, it was probably a guy stuck in there as opposed to a girl, prolonging only the inevitable. How unlucky, thought Reiji as he continued past, scratching his nose lazily while making his way to the cafeteria. It was a mess, the staff not having fixed it from the fight last week, students sitting where the tables were upright and not bothering to fix it.

Just as he wanted to order Set A, the student before him got the last one, to which Reiji did as what a Seiryuu student was only to do. Grabbing the student's shoulder, Reiji leaned in:
"Switch your fucking set."

Shiro wasn't very lucky.

He felt the hand on his shoulder and he knew, again, that this was fact. He wasn't very lucky. Seiryuu, and every painstaking day it brought Shiro, reminded him. Every found fight, near-death experience, and rugged glare reminded him. Shiro Ishinuma was unlucky, and that would never change.

Honestly, the kid was just trying to get lunch. Set A was (arguably) the most edible lunch plan in the whole cafeteria, so of course Shiro would order it. He got it everyday, it was routine, he had no reason not to get it. So, he ordered, waited, and then felt it. The unforgettable weight of flesh on flesh, hand on shoulder, student on student.

"Switch your fucking set."

Shiro turned around all too suddenly, back pressing hard against the counter as he tried to form as much space between himself and Reiji as possible. The lunch lady behind them faltered at Shiro's sudden outburst, and he cast a worried gaze over his shoulder at her. His silent plea for help was unanswered as she instead avoided eye contact. "A-ah, Ishada-san," He stammered, eyes narrowed to two anxious slits, "Oh– did you want this set? I'm so sorry, here, take it! I-I'll even pay, if that's what you want just..."

Shiro curled tightly around himself, breathing quickly as he tried to ignore the fear of getting hit. God, couldn't he be blessed with one uneventful day? Shiro Ishinuma was unlucky, and this, of course, was just another reminder.

Eyebrows furrowed for a lightly breath at the mention of his name, especially given he didn't necessarily recognize the kid. Then again, this wasn't the first person that referred to him by name that he didn't know. It was just weirder given that it was his actual last name, politely with a suffix, and not just his title. Whoever he was, Reiji thought, looking over the kid, he reminded him of a hamster. Which only made him that much more dangerous-- no one that looked that innocent could actually really be in Seiryuu. "Yeah, I wanted it," he said, nodding his head lightly at the mumbled rambling, leaning closer as the boy got away, having a hard time hearing his voice. Just as he heard the mention of a free meal, someone walked up behind them-- "Get a move on, fucking fa-"

CLANK

Metal echoed loudly against bone as Reiji shoved the end of his bat into the other student's face, crushing their nose and releasing a flood of blood. "Thanks," he said, his eyes not having left the fair haired hamster in front of him. Looking towards the cafeteria lady, he commented, "He'll take Set C," before looking back down. "Since you paid mine, I'll pay yours," he explained, face expressing nothing but pure seriousness, pushing himself back away from the stranger's face and making sure he was audible enough that they didn't have to lean in as well. In return, he demanded one thing:

"Name."

The blood roared in Shiro's ears as he watched the student in front of him knock another flat on his back with a single thrust of his bat. Danger! His mind cried, fight or flight instantly willing his limbs to clench and unfurl. There came no chance, nor reason to escape, however, as Reiji returned his blank stare to Shiro and instead offered to pay for his meal. Shiro blinked once, twice, not trusting his own ears. Why would someone in Seiryuu offer to pay for his lunch? Sure, he did the same not even a few moments before but that was for a boon; an escape to not get pummeled to near-death or worse. But no, Reiji ordered him another set and offered to pay, and suddenly there was an odd weight lifted off his chest and he could finally suck in an even breath.

"Uh," He started back again as Reiji leaned in and requested his name. Shiro swallowed a gasp, instead squeaking out, "I-Ishinuma Shiro!" As casually as he could muster without bursting into tears. Behind them, the lunch lady coughed, and he turned slowly to see two lunch trays all set up and ready to be devoured. Shiro dug through his back pocket until he found a few bills and paid for Reiji's lunch, staring down at his feet. The roar of his heart was now just white noise, along with the clatter of other people in the cafeteria and the gurgling moans of the broken student just a few inches away from him.

What a day it's going to be, huh?

Shiro reached for his lunch and scooted over slightly to give Reiji access to his. The student just below Reiji was curling onto his side, glaring up at the two with wild eyes. "You hanging out with Glasses now, Blank Slate?" His laugh was a choked gasp, "What a fucking joke!" Shiro's eyebrows twitched at the nickname and his eyes narrowed to dangerous, though otherwise harmless slits. Fucking Seiryuu kids, his mind growled.

"So, uh... Thanks? I guess? For lunch, uhm--"

Ishinuma Shiro.

The name was unfamiliar, but given there were at least three hundred kids in school-- give or take those that barely attended-- it wasn't much of a surprise. He decided to keep the name in the back of his head, reaching into his pocket and paying in exact change for Shiro's meal, placing the amount on the surface. With ease, he reached over the fair haired student, them moving aside allowing Reiji to grab his lunch. Shiro was truly overly polite, and the delinquent couldn't help but find it suspicious. He decided to keep his eye on him, especially now while they were close together, more on guard than usual. If he was gonna be polite, then Reiji was gonna be twice as polite, because two could play at whatever mind game was being played right now.

Reiji's eyes glanced towards the student at the ground when he was addressed, before turning back to Shiro. Glasses, huh? That was a shitty title, especially given there were other students in Seiryuu that wore glasses. Of course, it wasn't recommended given shards of broken glass could cut your eye open-- is that it? His brows furrowed slightly as he looked at Shiro more closely-- of course. There was something to be said about how he wore glasses despite contacts being a slightly safer option-- or was it something else? Did he collect glasses? Were there poor sighted students ambling about in Seiryuu now due to Shiro-- no, due to Glasses' cruelty?

"So, uh... Thanks? I guess? For lunch, uhm--"

His attention being called for again, the taller delinquent straightened. "Reiji is fine," he said curtly before nodding his head to the side and, one hand full of lunch and the other full of bat, he urged Shiro, pushing him towards the door. "We need to talk. Follow me."

---

---

Light blonde twirled on a pale finger, nails decorated with a humble clear coat and 3d stickers. A group dispersed as the Student Council finished putting the jumper onto the stretcher, leaving only one girl behind, her face primly coated with enough makeup to say "I'm a slut", but not so much that people expected anything less than a well payed slut. She sat on a blanket under a half blooming tree, a dirty sledgehammer leaning against the tree the only thing ruining an otherwise serene view, the peers that surrounded her having their interests more taken in by the possible first death of the school year.

"How gross," she commented with a furrow of her nose, sipping on strawberry milk as she leaned back on her free arm. There was something about the way her eyes glinted and her brow arched as she glanced up to the rooftop however, that showed she was anything but grossed out. The person on the rooftop, held up an OK sign that Lily caught just as she glanced down at her phone on her lap. Despite the brand name and the well decorated casing, it was pretty fucked up and shattered. Through the broken glass, messages from a group chat buzzed in, numbers and other offers on whether or not the kid would live or die piling in, and just as Lily put down her strawberry milk to grab her phone---

CRASH!!

A body slammed beside her, kicking up dirt and her blanket, and now she looked genuinely disgusted, spitting out bits of leaf that got in her mouth-- "What the shit?" she demanded, glancing at the obviously unconcious body, as though blaming it for where it chose to land. Long blonde lashes fluttered as she glanced around for where the perpetrators were, finding a group of delinquents either ganging up on someone or having an in fight or whatever. Lily didn't care. Grabbing the sledgehammer from behind her, she used it to prop herself up, kicking dirt off of the blanket. "Watch where you're throwing bodies, shitheads!!" she shouted, in a tone that was as though merely telling off children, throwing a well-manicured middle finger their way.

"Sorry!" Cried an accented voice, which was quickly muffled by the weakest war cry any delinquent could muster. Ai Somng stood in the middle of an attack, knuckles already bruised and bloodied by teeth and noses and hard, hard weapons. She was used to things like this already, the ambushes, the curses, the angry, angry losers. Most couldn't understand her unbridled strength (and that was fine; Ai didn't really get it either), others were just so adamant about getting her rank. Either way, Ai wasn't going to let these silly school boys knock her down-- not yet.

Wind whistled above her head as a bat swung just a bit too close for comfort. Ai lowered into a tight crouch and then burst forward, tackling her assailant down into the mud. A windpipe squeezed under her fist, and once the choked gasp of her enemy burst forward she freed him and dodged to the left. A pipe nailed her shoulder, knocking away the little balance she had collected. It struck again, this time burrowing into her stomach, and Ai held back a grunt of pain.

"Fucking bitch!" Screamed the pipe-wielding student, raising his arms again, and Ai took his moment of set up to twist over and knock him off his feet. She was up a second afterward, grabbing one end of the pipe to get the student into a choke hold. He was practically lifted off his feet as she straightened and turned to the remaining three boys, eyes dark and dangerous beneath the brim of her Adidas hat.

"Are we done playing yet? I'm getting a bit bored." She whined, hearing a stuttering gasp from the body before her. She let him fall without even a passing glance, and twisted the pipe around to lean on it. Her eyes were bloodthirsty and vaguely amused, and the rest of her face was shrouded behind uncertainty thanks to her medical mask and hat.

Lily barely heard the apology over the scuffle and the accent and the mask, but she heard it. Not to say it was enough for her to be less than mildly miffed about the body bleeding all over her blanket-- it was a new one, too, goddamn-- but it was enough to satiate her from shouting more obsceneties. In a fluid motion she pushed the body further away with her sledgehammer, the student groaning something wild probably from some broken parts. Out of sight, out of mind, Lily lived by, however, and decided sitting without facing the kid would solve that much of her problems.

As she was making her way back from kicking away the body-- kicking was easier than using her sledgehammer-- her eyes caught sight of the perperator from before. It was an unfamiliar face, but a familiar enough description that Lily knew who she was. Gorilla Girl. Mask and hat? Definitely had to be her.

"Oi, Gorilla Girl," Lily called, folding up her blanket as the girl got clocked on the shoulder followed by an aim to the stomach without lookin a bit hurt. Brutal. She liked that. And if she remembered right, Gorilla Girl was both a transfer and a first year-- Lily decided then, as she finished folding up her blanket and tucking it under her arm: this girl was gonna be her new champion. Making her way towards the first year, Lily offered her smiles, easily lifting the large sledgehammer despite her small frame, with enough control to simply lightly tap the choking delinquent's chin. "Playtime's over."

"I'm Lily," she continued, looking up to the Gorilla. It was quite a sight, really, two tiny girls with a half dying teen between them. "Why're you causin so much trouble?" she asked, maneuvering her sledgehammer so the end hooked onto the pipe, lightly pulling it. It's not to say that Lily had superhuman strength-- she had enough for a girl that needed to survive at Seiryuu, and then some-- it was enough to say that she could swing her sledgehammer with ease, with only one hand. When she lightly pulled on the pipe however, it barely budged, and her small smile faltered before plastering on automatically. "Don't call you Gorilla Girl for nothin," she piped with a small, slightly stressed laugh. Looking up, her light green eyes shimmered:

"Why don't we be friends?"

"Uhm," Ai blinked at the smaller girl dreamily, seemingly caught by those green eyes of her's, but the attraction faded when Lily made at attempt at grabbing her pipe. Of course, she wouldn't let go so easily, and she tensed when Lily pulled back with a light laugh and a tiny little smile. No blow came, only an offer Ai hadn't heard from anyone else in Seiryuu. "Uhm, I'm sorry-- did you say 'friends'?" The body in her choke-hold finally grew heavy and limp, and Ai barely had enough mind to let him go until she heard an agonized plead from a student behind her. Ai mused over the boy's condition once before letting him drop, and she watched curiously as he sucked in a sputtering breath and sobbed.

The pipe had left one, rounded indent in his neck. How ghastly.

Ai watched his two friends grab the boy and they scampered off together in a weakened crowd, throwing back glares and curses whenever they realized Ai was still watching. The thrill of the fight slowly began to simmer, and the gorilla girl visibly seemed to cave in on herself, taking a step back as she eyed Lily up and down skeptically. "I was not causing trouble." She said simply, reverting back to the girl's first question, "I was defending myself! Students here are quite rude, as you saw." She pulled the brim of her hat further over her eyes and glared at the small girl, frowning indignantly behind her mask.

She had heard rumors of a gambler within the school A lovely girl with a western name and a western gaze. Ai was slightly enthralled by Lily's eyes in particular as she stared her over; green eyes had always been the most interesting to see whenever she traveled out of Asia with her father. Green like the sea, green like grass, green like moss and jade and magic. That is what Ai saw in this small girl's eyes, magic and mischief.

Did she want to befriend a girl with such dangerous eyes?

"What is it you really want, miss?" Ai hissed, taking a half step back as she seemed to burrow behind her hat and mask again.

Lily didn't miss the dreamy gaze the Gorilla had, and she wasn't too surprised either. Blonde, and green eyes, for some reason fate chose her to embody the recessive genes that had long disappeared from her grandmother's side. It was a power, however, from kindergarten to Seiryuu-- a breath of a pause overlooking her appearance was usually enough for her to take the upper hand. Then again, in the past few years, the number of wilder students grew and her appearance was starting to be something barely glanced at. In Seiryuu, anyways.

At the question, without missing a beat, Lily kept her small smile on her face as she lightly tilted her head forward. "Yes. Friends," she repeated, only to be disrupted by the short gasp of near death between them. Lily allowed her eyes to glance briefly at the body as it dropped on the ground, the shape of the delinquent's neck causing her nose to twitch slightly in disapproval before focusing back on Gorilla Girl. There was nothing to earn from weaklings. While the taller of the two distracted herself with the delinquents, Lily continued to look over her form-- she was lithe, nothing special other than the tell tale mask and hat.

Their eyes met again.

"Quite rude, I agree," nodded Lily, her smile coming back up realizing too late her face had fallen slack. "But no reason to be tossing people willy nilly, disrupting lunch picnics, hm?" Her sledgehammer no longer holding onto anything, she let it's head rest on the ground, her two hands placed over the end as though resting on a cane. She was anything but leaning on it, however, her form straight and polished, with her back aligned and her chin even. As the Gorilla stepped back, Lily's grip lightly tightened and loosened, expecting to be able to fight back at least briefly if she needed to, but overall hoping to not have one at all.

She is, after all, thought Lily as she thought back on her earlier attempt at tugging at her grip, quite strong.

"I meant what I said, you know," said Lily, lightly picking up her sledgehammer and inching it forward, taking a half step as well to match the Gorilla Girl's step back. "I need friends. Girls are especially hard to befriend in Seiryuu-- have you noticed?" She took another small half step forward, resting the hammer in front of her, dust and dirt mixing with metal, "They'll expect me to defend them, but I don't want to play knight. So, I decided I'll only make friends with strong girls." Every bit of word that came out of her mouth was true, albeit a little stretched. While she felt as though beign honest with Gorilla Girl was good, she also felt like twisting it a little bit wouldn't hurt either.

Her eyes having been on the ground and focused on her hammer, Lily finally glanced up, offering a sad glance, practiced to perfection from childhood, "Unless, you don't like making friends with strong girls?"

Ai seemed to scoff at the accusation. Strong girls were the best type to befriend! Not only could they hold their own in battle, they were also free to give the very best hugs and share the very best gossip they hear off of their opponents. It was a win/win when befriending someone like that. Her eyes traveled up and down the body of Lily, taking in her tiny frame. Of course she didn't look strong from here, but the sledgehammer at her side and Ai's own height was enough incentive to believe her power. Her mind also pinged over the fact that this girl could be strong in other ways. Mind games, wit, a motuh sharp enough to cut-- they were all forms of warfare in a way.

Appearances meant nothing here in Seiryuu. Ai nodded once at that thought and in an instant her posture became more lax, more inviting. She leaned back and let her eyes gleam with a less-serious light. "I have nothing against strong girls." She said simply, cracking her knuckles idly in an attempt to not fuss with her appearance, "I am one, after all. It would be foolish to not like myself."

The sad gaze she received from Lily made her falter entirely, heart pounding suddenly with regret. Ai wasn't a fan of making anyone upset unless they upset her first. This girl had done nothing terrible yet... And Ai had so clueless stomped over her emotions that she spawned such an upset stare like that. "I-If you..." She began, slowly, tripping over her own words, "If you want to be my friends I would not be... Against it, just--" She side, pulling off her hat easily to run a few hesitant fingers through her pale hair.

"I am not very talkative-- or-or nice, I guess. I am bad with friends."

In the neatly packaged offer Lily made, the gorilla seemed to have latched onto the key words-- strength and friendship, apparently. The shorter of the two kept this information in the back of her head as Gorilla Girl stumbled over her words. Apparently she was a sucker for a pretty face as well, Lily mused, unable to help but find her a bit... cute. There was something about such a strong person stumbling over their words that made them seem so much more human and therefore so much more vulnerable-- and Lily liked vulnerability. It was her whole image, after all.

"No worries," responded Rain Maker, her eyes lighting up at Gorilla Girl's hesitant response-- "I sometimes talk too much, so we can balance it out." A small smile crept up over her lips as she took two steps forward, pushing herself past the bubble of comfort people tended to have, putting her at an even step away from the taller girl. She wasn't as tall as some of the other kids in Seiryuu, and she wasn't ripped to shreds, but she had to have something, because she took on a group of students with no problem, with an added hint of morality enough to let one of them live. She was going to be Lily's new best friend. And, as her phone vibrated by her hips, her new betting champion.

Switching her sledhammer to her other hand so that she both held her blanket and the weapon in one, leaving the right free, she started to introduce herself. "My name's Lily Li," she started, reaching her free hand over for a Western handshake. "Around these parts they know me by Rain Maker cuz of my money. Though, I'd rather have something akin to Gorilla Girl"-- lie-- "There's nothing more annoying than being known for your dad's money than your strengths"-- that was one parts true. Realizing she'd somehow started rambling all on her own and her face had started to fall a little slack, she offered her small smile once more, tilting her head.

"You can call me Lily, no surnames necessary. What's your name?"

"Gorilla Girl is an embarrassing name. My father would laugh at it." Those, though they perhaps meant nothing to Lily, made the corners of Ai's lips sag down. Her father was a careful and precise man and her name was nothing but something for him to scoff. Good thing he never asked about school days anymore. As Lily lifted a hand, Ai was quick to take it and give it a hearty shake, hoping her grip wasn't too tight for the smaller girl's easily breakable fingers. "My real name is Song. Ai Song. You can call be whatever you wish."

Ai stared down at Lily, testing the girl's two names in her mind silently. Lily. Rain Maker. Lily. Rain Maker.

Something new had come out of another mundane day. A friend. Ai stared down at this girl before her and felt a small glimmer of hope in her chest. Perhaps school wouldn't be so awful from here on out. The inkling of a smile slid up her lips, and, to show her new friend, Ai pulled away the medical mask and tilted her head back. Oh yes, this year was bound to be interesting.

---

---

The school roof was usually bustling. On sunny days, when classes were drawling and fights forming, many students came up into the warm air to smoke and talk and bet. Kei had always enjoyed the festivities, though they rarely got up to participate with the others. The masked person found much more joy in watching everything play out. Idle conversations were much more interesting than words and books could be, even if they didn't work their way into them.

Today, however, wasn't much sunny or interesting. Kei was mostly alone on the roof, curled up in their corner. The spot pressed against the outlet into the roof and the high, high fencing that kept the students enclosed was quiet and easily guarded. Kei set up shop there, showing off knife twirls and selling silent glares and twisted words for only a few payments of existing, but today business was slow. The clouds above and chill in the air had sent away any of those who appreciated the roofs warmth, and a fight down on the first floor had seemed to attract a bigger crowd than the calm space could hold.

But that was all fine. Kei was good with peace and quiet too. They smoked in silence, staring off at the campus through their mask's eyeholes. Loneliness crept up and was snuffed easily. It was just another day for them. Nothing was bound to happen if this kept up.