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[12:27] <Karo> Karo slouched down the stairs of Lion Hall with his bag carelessly slung over one shoulder. It had gotten late; classes for the day were long over, and the buzz from the kids who had stuck around for their silly club activities was starting to die down a bit too. -
[12:30] <Karo> He'd spent a lot of time in the library this afternoon, taking light little dozes over an open math book while the student library assistant on duty became increasingly annoyed. Now, his whole body was stiff and he needed another form of entertainment. -
[12:35] <Karo> So, his mind drifted, back to the cool thing he'd discovered on campus that Monday just before the sun had gone down. He'd watched it yesterday too, curiously, from the safety of a ground floor classroom window, right up until the sun had set; and he'd lingered for a while after that, just thinking about things. -
[12:40] <Karo> No one had spotted him. Maybe he'd take advantage of the nice weather and go outside to watch it today. Hell, why not? His feet carried him to a nearby exit. Beyond it, he could hear distant cracks and explosions peppering the air.
[12:44] <Minaplo> Shooting was not, perhaps, a traditional Japanese school club sport.-
[12:45] <Minaplo> But this was Katashiba, one of Japan's oldest gun-making cities.-
[12:45] <Minaplo> It was also part of Owari, the traditional homeland of the Oda clan. Gunpowder flowed through the veins of the people here.-
[12:47] <Minaplo> The shooting club had three parts- the clubhouse itself, where they stored the firearms and uniforms. Then beyond that was a shooting gallery, where they fired at targets; and finally an area for shooting clay pigeons.-
[12:47] <Minaplo> It had been this that Karo had seen from his window, clubmembers gunning down clay pigeons- which exploded in the air and fell in pieces.-
[12:49] <Minaplo> There weren't, however, that many spectators, and the club itself was moderately sized- smaller than archery, but definitely larger than culture club. Unlike culture club it was more boys than girls, although there were more girls than, say, in kendo.-
[12:50] <Minaplo> The clubhouse door was open. But in an attempt to gushy up the 'authenticity' of the club, someone had placed a life-size tacky plastic painted statue of a matchlock-wielding ashigaru out front. The feudal soldier glowered outwards, his musket pointed at the world at large.
[01:02] <Karo> Karo scowled back at it. Like he would be intimidated by a thing like that. No. Something else entirely was keeping him out of the clubhouse. Mostly the voices of happy, well-adjusted students coming from inside. He strode quickly past it for a glimpse at the two shooting ranges. Of course, he didn't go too close. There was always a danger of being struck by a stray shot.
[01:05] <Minaplo> Each area was fenced off from the outside world for that reason.-
[01:06] <Minaplo> The shooting gallery consisted of ten lanes, each with a track at the bottom. Targets were moved back and forth along this track. The targets could be set to sway sometimes in order to make it harder to hit. The gallery was full, students with rifles opening fire, wearing earmuffs.-
[01:10] <Minaplo> The clay pigeon area was far less populated, if only because it could hold up to three shooters at once.-
[01:11] <Minaplo> A launcher would fire a pigeon across an arc, and each shooter would line up, aim and fire, hopefully knocking it out of the sky.-
[01:13] <Minaplo> It was here that Karo would notice something… Or someone, rather. A middle schooler out there, rifle in hand, scoping out pigeons…-
[01:13] <Minaplo> Someone from his class. Zhao Yi!
[01:14] <Karo> Zhao Yi! Of course he would be there. Being all cool and stuff… Karo watched him in awe. How was his aim?
[01:22] <Minaplo> A clay pigeon went up. Zhao Yi aimed…-
[01:22] <Minaplo> Hit!-
[01:22] <Minaplo> A second… This one he missed.-
[01:23] <Minaplo> A sour expression crossed Yi's face and he missed the next one, too.-
[01:25] <Minaplo> Overall, he missed four of the next eight clay pigeons… When he left the shooting ring, it was with a surly slouch of the shoulders.
[01:33] <Karo> Karo wanted to wave, but he didn't dare. That would draw attention. Besides, if he put himself in Zhao Yi's shoes, he probably wouldn't be happy about there being an audience for his mistakes.
[01:37] <Minaplo> And an audience there was, at that. No one said anything, but Karo could tell that people were looking and talking about Zhao Yi… A girl nearby gave him a pitying look behind his back.
[01:45] <Karo> Karo could piece things together. A slump? It didn't really seem possible. He drifted a little closer to the students, trying to pick up a little more information.
[02:00] <Minaplo> There were a few of them, two boys and a girl, sitting off to one side, near enough to the fence for Karo to approach. They were chatting, their eyes on Zhao Yi…
[02:07] <Karo> Karo casually drifted closer. Blend in and keep your ears open, he told himself.
[02:17] <Minaplo> And now he heard snatches of sound…-
[02:18] <Minaplo> ("… Really gotten bad…")-
[02:18] <Minaplo> ("Yeah…")-
[02:18] <Minaplo> ("Hasn't been the same since he lost his eye…")
[02:20] <Karo> That startled him. There was a -reason- why he wore that eyepatch? He was staring at the group openly now.
[02:46] <Minaplo> ("Did you hear how he lost it…?")
[03:00] <Karo> Karo craaaaned his head, trying to listen in more closely.
[02:32] <Minaplo> The girl glanced at him- looked away- then looked back, frowning. "What?"
[12:26] <Karo> "Uh," Karo replied. "…" -
[12:26] <Karo> He turned and began to walk away. A dignified retreat.
[12:27] <Minaplo> "Hey. Get back here." The girl stood up. "Were you spying on us?!"
[12:34] <Karo> He paused. "What?! No! Why would you even think that?"
[12:44] <Minaplo> "Because you look like a spy." Said the girl, eyeing him up and down.-
[12:46] <Minaplo> "Or if you're not a spy, you're just a weirdo. Why aren't you at your club?"
[12:48] <Karo> "Who says I have to be in a club?"
[12:48] <Minaplo> "Wouldn't you rather be in a club than watching people have fun?"
[12:50] <Karo> "You sure like to jump to conclusions." Karo nonchalantly folded his arms. "I was just walking by."
[12:52] <Minaplo> "To your club?"
[12:54] <Karo> "There's no club."
[12:56] <Minaplo> "So you're just a clubless loser!"-
[12:56] <Minaplo> "HEY."-
[12:57] <Minaplo> Zhao Yi had, unnoticed by the noisy arguers, walked over, his arms folded. "Do you know who he is? This is Karo Nakajima, the guy who nailed Kamiya in the eye."-
[12:57] <Minaplo> The three gossipers' eyes widened.-
[12:57] <Minaplo> "Weren't you just complaining about him the other day, Shiori?" Said Zhao, shaking his head.-
[12:58] <Minaplo> "O-Oh…"
[01:00] <Karo> "Yeah," said Karo smugly, the presence of Zhao Yi filling him with righteous courage. "Who's a clubless loser now?"
[01:01] <Minaplo> "W-Well I still do have a club."
[01:09] <Karo> "Are you sure it's this one? Maybe you're a spy."
[01:12] <Minaplo> "Who're you calling a spy, you punk!?"-
[01:12] <Minaplo> "Alright, that's enough." Said Zhao Yi firmly. "Yo. Nakajima. What up."
[01:19] <Karo> "Nothing much. Just passing by, like I said."
[01:22] <Minaplo> "You done for the day?"
[01:24] <Karo> "Yeah, I think so. What about you?"
[01:27] <Minaplo> "Yeah, Yeah I think I'm done. Let's go get some grub."
[01:28] <Karo> "Nice. You like burgers? I'll shout."
[01:29] <Minaplo> "Cool."-
[01:29] <Minaplo> A few minutes later, Zhao Yi had put his gear away and was out of the clubhouse.
[01:44] <Karo> Karo walked along with him, almost happily. "So. I didn't know you were into shooting."
[01:51] <Minaplo> "Yep."-
[01:51] <Minaplo> "You don't have a club?"
[01:51] <Karo> "I mean. I have Culture Club. Kinda."
[01:52] <Minaplo> "No shit? What's it like?"
[01:58] <Karo> "They've got great tea and snacks. Mainly, it's a bunch of people just hanging out and talking, and practicing ettiquette and stuff."
[01:58] <Minaplo> "That your thing? Etiquette and tea?"
[02:03] <Karo> "No one said that. It's just nice to relax that's all. You get it, right?"
[02:06] <Minaplo> "There a problem with etiquette and tea?"
[02:20] <Karo> "Some people might think so. But like I said, it's relaxing. You wanna join?"
[02:35] <Minaplo> "Already got two clubs."
[02:56] <Karo> "Damn. What's the other one?"
[02:58] <Minaplo> "Social Justice."
[03:09] <Karo> "Shooting and social justice. Sounds… revolutionary."
[03:09] <Minaplo> "There a problem with revolution?"
[03:10] <Karo> "Nah. Revolution is where it's at."
[03:18] <Minaplo> "And what kinda revolution are you into?"
[11:06] <Karo> "If you mean historically, those Russians had a pretty good handle on things at the beginning of the 20th century. Before they started treating their own citizens like dirt, anyway." -
[11:07] <Karo> "Seems like things are getting kinda crazy around this school too. Although you can't really call it a revolution."
[11:09] <Minaplo> "Do you want it to be?"
[11:15] <Karo> "I dunno. I think we could benefit from one. Look at what's going on with the high schoolers. Why does the Administration think it's cool to replace elected student body representatives with their own puppets?"
[11:19] <Minaplo> Zhao stopped. "So that's what you think happened, huh."
[11:21] <Karo> "You see it differently?"
[11:23] <Minaplo> "Nah. I think you're right. What I wanna know is what you're gonna do about it."
[11:24] <Karo> "Complain a lot?"
[11:24] <Minaplo> He frowned. "That it?"
[11:25] <Karo> Karo frowned. -
[11:25] <Karo> "Don't underestimate the power of complaining. You complain often enough and loudly enough, and soon other people start thinking about it, and they complain too."
[11:27] <Minaplo> "Did Lenin complain a lot?"
[11:29] <Karo> "Well… no," Karo admitted. "He organized. He joined a movement, and he drew a lot of unhappy people into it."
[11:31] <Minaplo> "So are you gonna do that?"
[11:33] <Karo> "Maybe I will!" It did sound like a lot of work, though.
[11:33] <Minaplo> "You can't change the world with maybe."
[11:39] <Karo> "Are you doing anything about it?"
[11:44] <Minaplo> "Of course I am!"
[11:47] <Karo> Karo looked mildly surprised. "What's going on, then? Is there a protest movement?"
[11:49] <Minaplo> "Well… Actually, people are getting quiet these days. But that's only because of exams!" He cracked his knuckles. "Once everyone realises Liu can't change anything? I'm gonna take 'em down."
[12:02] <Karo> "You want some help?"
[12:02] <Minaplo> "Yeah. Yeah, I do." He turned to face Karo full-on. "I'm gonna want your help. But I want you at your best."
[12:04] <Karo> "What do you mean? This isn't my best?"
[12:04] <Minaplo> "You've got potential, but you can be better. You should join shooting club."
[12:07] <Karo> "Sell me on it. Your fellow club members are kinda high strung."
[12:09] <Minaplo> "We just finished exams. Everyone's high strung."
[12:10] <Karo> "Ugh. Fine. Good point. Are they all part of your revolution too?"
[12:16] <Minaplo> "I can't confirm nor deny who is or isn't."
[12:17] <Karo> "Hmph. Well, whatever. I'll join for a while. I wanna see what we can do."
[12:27] <Minaplo> "Cool." Zhao grinned, and held out a hand.
[12:27] <Karo> Karo gladly shook it. "Good to be working with you."
[12:30] <Minaplo> "Welcome to the revolution… Comrade.""-
[12:31] <Minaplo> ...
[12:31] <Minaplo> Thou art I; I art thou. Thou hast glimpsed a new path of thine heart, with which to rewrite your story. The first draft of the Justice Arcana has been written; its refinement will bring you new power in the world to come.

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