cocktailparty | they hatin, patrollin

You haven't read the guide.

[Not an insult, merely an observation. She's read it through by now. Most of it makes little sense to someone accustomed to an ordinary life...but Juri is from Ohtori, which is far from ordinary.

If anyone could do this, it would be the Rose Bride. She sees no Himemiya Anthy in the contact list, but that meant nothing.] I would want to know the purpose behind such a thing.

[She looks off to the side. This has the double effect of appearing dismissive as well as cool and collected.] In any event, this Kiryuuin isn't the one behind this. It's someone else.

[ The thing is, what she's saying is logical — her answers might be short, but they aren't rude or aggressive. But first impressions mean a lot to Ryuko, and every little thing Juri does can be interpreted as an insult, so that's exactly how she takes it.

Her half-sneer quickly turns into a frown. Maybe tall ~~attractive~~ women and her are just doomed to never get along. ]

Tch, like you'd know! You obviously haven't met her. [ And good luck to her, if that's — through some kind of miracle — actually true. ] Who cares about the purpose, anyway? Just punchin' whoever's responsible in their fat face is enough for me.

What gave you the impression that I had?

[The aggression is noted, and ignored. She has dueled Utena Tenjou, and would have felled her twice were it not for the intervening of fate or whatever sick logic guided the duels. Her world collapsed and then was changed because of that girl. Her locket was broken and cast aside.

There is nothing else that moves her now other than her own two feet. She isn't even bound by Shiori now. This stranger's words and her insults are like fists pounding against stone. She won't yield to them.] This isn't the world you know.

You plan to fight without purpose or direction? Hm.

['Hm.' That's all she's getting. Juri returns her attention to her phone again. She will respond if spoken to, but nothing's she's heard so far seems worth the effort of acknowledging beyond a minimum. Even Tenjou had more sense.]

[ The last shred of Ryuko's patience evaporates with an almost visible spark. She doesn't have much at the best of times, but on a different day, she might have reacted with slightly less aggression: but Mako isn't here to calm her, her mind is full of Satsuki Kiryuuin, and the scale finally tips over.

Back at Honnouji, she'd already be at the other girl's throat. The only concession she makes to this new environment, to a person who's only rude instead of trying to kill her, is to settle for clenching her fists instead of using them. ]

The hell's your problem, huh?! [ She doesn't even try to actually answer the questions. ] Don't screw with me! You obviously don't know shit about this place, so quit actin' all high and mighty!

[A mistake has been made.

Juri's eyes flick up again from the phone, and her expression doesn't change from mild disinterest, but her eyes slowly frost over. They called her a leopard in the halls of Ohtori. The principal had turned tail and ran at her word and her orders.

That weight doesn't hold here, but her rage still does. It builds, slow and silent, but she doesn't give this away. She rarely does.

...]

I never claimed to know anything. Your impressions are your own. I gave you my information.

[It's a calm dismissal, but a dismissal nonetheless. The manufactured warmth in her voice slips away, syllable by syllable.] I won't repeat it.

[ If nothing else, Ryuko finds satisfaction in getting some kind of reaction. Maybe this girl isn't so much like Satsuki after all — she rarely gets a rise, even a small one, out of the eyebrow queen, and it only seems to spur her on. ]

What good would repeating it do? It won't be any less useless the second time around. [ Says the girl who hasn't read the guide, or even checked inside her assigned house yet. Her hands go to her hips, and she straightens up to make the most of her (average) height. ] Are you always this much of a bitch, or am I gettin' some kinda special treatment?

[Quiet, musing:] And such a filthy mouth. Are you always so rude to people you've never met?

[There's a tiny cough into her fist, the beginning of laughter. The gall. She isn't angry at the insult, but she is a little thrown, and the rage that had been churning almost turns to a vague sort of amusement. Ohtori was much less direct.

It would take more than the words of a delinquent to get her riled. (In Ohtori, the insults were gentler, not seen or felt until it was too late, and that made them worse.)]

Information not absorbed is useless, isn't it. If you don't care to pay attention to it, then I won't bother repeating it. So what else do you want?

Screw you.

[ That answers that question. The temptation to actually hit this girl is strong, but in the absence of patience (and common sense, but she never had that to start with), only the vague desire to not disappoint Mako keeps her under control.

Without her best friend here in person, there's no telling how long it'll last. ]

What I want is to punch your face in. We'll see how smug you can be with two black eyes. [ ... Not long at all, apparently. ]

[Juri doesn't say anything to that, but it earns a minute raise of her eyebrow, less surprise and more exasperated, Really? She isn't about to have a fistfight with a stranger.

A ridiculous, foolish stranger. She ignores it entirely this time, leaning against a convenient wall and continuing to look through her phone. It looks really cool and unconcerned, and if she was in the shoujo she originated from, a breeze of rose petals would have fluttered by at this point.]

Edited 2014-03-26 23:30 (UTC)

[ Oh my god.

It really is a wonder that nobody's died yet. When Ryuko's ignored, a few seconds tick by in silence — she's waiting for a response, any response, and when she doesn't get one she bristles. She can't stand people who don't rise to meet her challenges. ]

Hey, I'm talkin' to you! [ ... Yelling at, same thing. One hand leaves her hip so she can jab a finger in Juri's face. ] Do you get off on being a massive bitch, or do you not even notice how fucking annoying you are?

[The silence drags on, indifferent. Juri looks up briefly, but only to let it be known that she isn't afraid. She wants it to be clear that she is not backing down from a fight so much as not allowing it to happen at all.

The rage tightens like a vise. It aches to be let free, but Juri holds it close.

She had struck the Rose Bride for getting this close to her, but that conversation and this were the difference between a dog barking, held by a leash, and a vine of thorns tightening at her throat. She would be petty if she let herself be riled up. She's past that kind of behavior.

She thinks.] Mm. Talk at the wall instead. Find your answers there.

[She pulls back from the wall, neatly sidesteps Ryuko, slips the phone in the pocket of her uniform jacket, and calmly walks off.]

[ Nobody walks away from Ryuko Matoi without getting yelled at. The wall would probably be a better target for her aggression, but she can't switch so easily. ]

Get back here! [ She doesn't make a very imposing figure, chasing after Juri in her pajamas, but she does it anyway. ] You might have a stick up your ass already, but you're about to have my foot up there too! [ Wow okay. ]

[Sorry, Ryuko. You know that song about boots being made for walking and so on and so forth. Juri folds her hands behind her back, but other than that, she doesn't break stride. Doesn't speed up as if to run away, but doesn't slow down to listen to this diatribe either.

A strange world, she muses. The sky was the same, but the people were very different. Was this a life without the pull of the Student Council?

She would manage without that backing, but it would be work, if this was the sort of behavior she was going to be dealing with.]

[ To be fair, Ryuko's not exactly the most riveting conversationalist right now. Being ignored makes her angrier than any confrontation would — if Juri had actually taken the bait and yelled back at her, things probably wouldn't have gone this far.

Instead, she hits her boiling point as she stomps along, and her hand claps down on Juri's shoulder. If yelling won't get her the reaction she wants, maybe getting physical will. ]

Oi!

[Juri stops, but she doesn't turn to face Ryuko. So far, all of this has been posturing, and she's not going to bend to it. This girl just wants a target, but Juri is no Rose Bride.

She's not going to lay herself out as bait.]

Yes?

[ At least getting a word out of her is something. She doesn't have her scissor blade — but she wouldn't use it even if she did. Her fists are enough for this. ]

Fight me. Right here. [ Problem solving with Ryuko Matoi. ] I'm gonna punch your face in anyway, so you might as well make it fun for me.

[Long, long silence. The wind blows by, ruffling Juri's hair. She appears to actually give this demand some consideration, then shifts slightly, on one foot.]

No.

[Another pause.]

I won't be used as a distraction, and I've never fought without reason.

Who says it's a distraction? [ It sort of is, but... ] You just piss me off. That's reason enough.

[ She squares up behind her, for once looking every bit like the stupid hooligan she is. There's no real technique in her stance, but she still looks like someone who's survived her fair share of fights. ]

[She does at least glance over her shoulder, unimpressed and (still) not frightened. Her own posture is relaxed.

She manages to sound patient.]

That's your reason.

If it isn't a distraction, what is it?

I already told you! You remind me way too much of that stupid bitch, so I can at least think of her stupid face while I'm beating yours in!

[ Ryuko you mentioned that approximately zero times out loud, she can't read your mind. ]

You didn't tell me anything. Perhaps you imagined it.

[Gently shrugging the hand off her shoulder now...]

Your quarrel with the woman you're looking for has nothing to do with me. If you want to fight, find her.

I'm trying to!

[ And failing. Miserably. She clenches her hand into a fist and angrily punches it down at her side. ]

But you speak the same way she does! Even if you're not Kiryuuin, you still need to be taken down a peg!

...

[She'd been mistaken in even her vague mental comparison of this girl to Utena Tenjou. She wasn't like Tenjou after all. Not even close. This one was a brute.

She's beginning to think that this Kiryuuin is the logical one, here.]

Unfortunately, that task isn't yours to take on. Please excuse me.

[She's walking away again...]

It is mine! I've spent my whole life takin' on people like you!

[ For someone who prides herself on being such a delinquent, Ryuko sure hasn't thrown any actual punches yet. That doesn't change, but when she reaches out for Juri's shoulders this time, it's less a grab and more an attempt to throw her down on the ground. ]

Don't look down on me, dammit!

[The grab doesn't set her off. It's the words. Juri barely thinks about what she's doing — she only sees herself begging Shiori to let her help, and being told she had only shown up to gloat.

She had never looked down on her.

Her fencing skills serve her well today. Juri jerks her shoulder away lightning-fast and elbows Ryuko hard enough in the stomach to pull the air out of her lungs. She steps forward once, then again, faster, and turns to face the girl who has made herself an opponent.

When she speaks again, her voice is lined with steel.]

Don't presume to know anything about me.

Edited 2014-03-28 06:44 (UTC)

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