The afternoon passes quickly, especially after your long journey and with the winter still being just a few weeks past. Soon, you all retire to the guest quarters Master Oa has assigned you. These guest quarters are little more than a few rooms in the mostly vacant noble barracks. Thanks to Matsumoto, you have all stayed in a better place, but it's far from bad - just appropriately spartan.
Yukio and Toshi have shacked up in one room, Kagemaru and Toshiba in a second, and Kiara shares her room with Kasumi. The universal constant between all three rooms seems to be that everyone is fast asleep.
Then, there is the faintest sound from outside. A cracked twig, a pebble bouncing off a stone, a groaning wooden plank - it does not matter. It snaps Toshiba awake, and his stirring in turn wakens Kagemaru. For a ninja, it always pays to be a light sleeper.
Toshiba reaches for his weapon and motions for Kagemaru to do the same. Whoever is out there, the two of you might just be able to get the drop on them. Kagemaru follows his lead.
Avoiding a noisy floor tile he noticed earlier, Kagemaru slips up to the window, chancing a look outside. It appears that there are at least two figures in the dark, though one is only barely visible. They are both slowly moving towards Yukio's and Toshi's room, weapons drawn.
[1d20+11 = 16 + 11 = 27] (Kagemaru's Sneak)
[1d20+8 = 12 + 8 = 20] (Kagemaru's Athletics)
[1d20+4 = 17 + 4 = 21] (Assassin's Athletics)
Kagemaru easily exits through the door and manages to get the drop on the rear assailant while his partner attempts to quietly open the door to Yukio's room. Kagemaru brings his garotte up and slips it over the assassin's head - it's only the assassin's lightning-quick reflexes that save him as he just manages to slip out before Kagemaru can tighten the noose. Wordlessly, the assassin pushes Kagemaru back and starts running away. It is only now that his partner turns around and sees Kagemaru and Toshiba standing outside, ready for a fight.
Kagemaru sprints after the assassin, hoping to quickly close the distance. But the assassin is clearly not evading his first pursuer; he skips over the carriage parked outside the barracks and up onto the roof. Kagemaru tries to match him, but his own jump ends just short of the roof's edge, and he loses valuable seconds pulling himself back up and regaining his momentum.
For his next trick, the assassin hops onto a series of vertical poles , hoping to quickly increase the distance between him and Kagemaru. However, the assassin isn't as surefooted as he'd like; he bleeds momentum when he needs to catch himself a few times, and barely manages to hop from one pole to the next. Kagemaru, however, can run the Ayami jumping course blindfolded. He skips over the poles without looking down, his eyes fixed on the target. The assassin actually evades him by slipping up; he falls from a pole just as Kagemaru is about to reach him, and lands in an uncomfortable sounding roll.
[1d20+10 = 19 + 10 = 29] (Kagemaru's Acrobatics)
[1d20+11 = 12 + 11 = 23] (Assassin's Acrobatics)
Dazed and off his game, the assassin runs along, allowing Kagemaru to keep up by jumping between more poles that dot the space between the two buildings. Kagemaru is almost in position to tackle the assassin from above when the man in black reaches the next building and just runs up the exterior wall, jumping up at the end of his movement to reach the roof. Kagemaru's already at the same height, so the daring jump to this roof goes well for him; he rolls and gives chase, now almost right behind the assassin.
Kagemaru is just about to try for a tackle when they come upon the end of the roof; a path beneath runs through the building, with the second floor passing over it like an arch. Kagemaru can only register with disbelief that the assassin sets foot against the wall to his side and keeps running. Not one to abandon his momentum, Kage instead jumps down onto the path, rolls and scrambles right up to the roof on the other side, watching the assassin pass overhead. By the time Kagemaru is on the roof, his prey has a sizeable lead again.
[1d20+10 = 19 + 10 = 29] (Kagemaru's Acrobatics)
[1d20+11 = 3 + 11 = 14] (Assassin's Acrobatics)
It becomes steadily clearer that the assassin's big advantage is that he can simply cling to walls when he wants to; his technique leaves a lot to be desired. He reaches the end of the roof and jumps down, but miscalculates his landing and rolls right in front of a waist-height wall which he then has to vault. Kagemaru sees more poles ahead, instead - and uses his proven technique to skip along those. For the next few seconds, he's on top of the assassin - if he could only gain that final edge...
...which the assassin denies him by - of all things - jumping into a well. Kagemaru has to cancel his momentum and jump off the poles, hitting the ground just in time to watch the assassin bound back out of the well like a springloaded toy.
Stop cheating! Kagemaru thinks.
[1d20+10 = 18 + 10 = 28] (Kagemaru's Acrobatics)
[1d20+11 = 15 + 11 = 26] (Assassin's Acrobatics)
Kagemaru and the assassin now pace each other through an actual obstacle course designed to teach young recruits how to keep their balance and surmount obstacles on the battlefield. For every move Kagemaru pulls from his lifelong training, the assassin comes up with a counter that exploits his uncanny ability to stick to surfaces. Kagemaru's getting closer again...but he doesn't know how much longer he can keep this up before he takes a spill.
[1d20+10 = 14 + 10 = 24] (Kagemaru's Acrobatics)
[1d20+11 = 10 + 11 = 21] (Assassin's Acrobatics)
The assassin zags left, out of the course. Kagemaru instead chooses to stop trying to match the assassin's moves one to one, and goes Third Time's The Charm on a long vertical pole. With a final hop onto the pole's top and a looooooong jump, Kagemaru manages to angle himself just right. The assassin, after all, runs away straight - and that makes him predictable enough that he is where Kagemaru thought he would be.
Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to count for much, because Kage doesn't actually impact with his flying kick - it's like his leg passes right through the man.
[1d20+10 = 12 + 10 = 22] (Kagemaru's Acrobatics)
[1d20+11 = 6 + 11 = 17] (Assassin's Acrobatics)
But that doesn't stop our intrepid ninja; he turns the kick into a bouncing landing and springs forward - and this time, he grabs the assassin and tackles him to the ground!
The assassin blocks Kagemaru's fist but gets his other elbow to the masked face as the two tumble along. As they come to a (relative) stop, the assassin doesn't even try to fight - he just grabs for the cobblestones, as if to drag himself away from Kagemaru. However, the ninja is on top and has the assassin by his clothes.
[1d20+8 = 19 + 8 = 27] (Kagemaru's Athletics)
[1d20+2 = 2 + 2 = 4] (Assassin's Athletics)
Before the assassin has time to trick his way out of this, Kagemaru's garotte wire slips over his head again - for good, this time. Kagemaru tightens his grip, and within the second he's got the assassin right where he wants him. He tightens further, choking the man without - he hopes - inflicting permanent damage. The assassin's left hand reaches up in what Kagemaru assumes to be a futile effort to grab the ninja and get him off. Halfway through the move, Kagemaru briefly wonders if the assassin is trying to slip a poison pill into his mouth - but before he can free up an arm to grab the assassin's, the man's hand reaches his face - and yanks the mask straight off.
The problem with this is that there is no face beneath the mask. Or a head, for that matter. Instead, something - Kagemaru can't make it out clearly - slips out, and within a second, the body beneath him collapses into a pile of clothes and gear. Kagemaru looks up just in time to see...a splotch of, well, *darker* darkness float away into the night. With a deep breath and a sigh, he gets up and looks around. He's tired, he's hurting from the effort and the impacts, and his quarry just disappeared into thin air, literally.
But at least this way it'll be easier to carry back.
Toshiba and the second assassin size each other up in front of the barracks. The rising commotion inside of Yukio's room indicates that the shouting has woken up someone inside. Still, the assassin shows no inclination to run.
"You can't stop us," he says to Toshiba.
"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure I can stop you," Toshiba replies, darting in for a quick end to the fight.
(Toshiba spends one half action to enter Wicked Dance and then attacks.)
[1d20+5 = 3 + 5 = 8] (Toshiba's attack)
Toshiba's blade flicks forward, trying to stick the assassin square-on with his first attack, but the ninja sees it coming and has just enough time to deflect Toshiba's knife hand with his left arm.
The assassin's first counterstrike is haphazard and flies past Toshiba's chest, but the ninja deftly reverses the weapon and rakes the blade over Toshiba's chest, leaving a nice scratch in the woodman's armor.
[1d6+1 = 5 + 1 = 6] (Assassin's damage, reduced to 4 by armor)
It's not bad enough to even grunt at; Toshiba stays his ground, looking for an opening to slide his blade in.
Not to be outdone, the assassin rolls into the landing, sets foot against the nearby wall and pushes back off, lunging for Toshiba again - but all he gets is the ninja's sleeve.
[1d4 = 1] (Bleeding damage)
Toshiba tries to direct the ninja's momentum back into the floorboards, adding a stab to the torso for good measure. (trip + stab)
Toshiba throws the charging assassin to the ground again and leaps on top, hoping to seal the deal right there. Unfortunately, the assassin - still surprisingly sprightly for a man with a sucking chest wound - rolls out of the way and slashes back at Toshiba for good measure.
With the second, the assassin is back on his feet, grinning madly behind his mask.
[1d4 = 4] (Bleeding damage)
Toshiba glances downwards and sees that the jumping and ground-fighting have opened the man's chest wound further. He's not gonna be in the fight for much longer - the question is, does he know that?
"Bleeding man smiles," Toshiba prepares a haiku as he comes in with another sweep n' stab combination. When it works, it works well.
This isn't fair anymore. Even if the assassin could once match Toshiba's speed, he's almost ready to black out; pulling him off his feet is no challenge.
[1d20+5 = 2 + 5 = 7] (Toshiba's attack)
Hitting him is.
[1d20+4 = 11 + 4 = 15] (Assassin's attack)
[1d4 = 2] (Bleeding damage)
The assassin lunges up for Toshiba once more, but overextends himself and falls, obviously unable to stay on his feet. He hits the ground and stays there, breathing hard and slowly bleeding out.
"Victory celebration..." Toshiba groans. "...Taken all too soon."
The door to Yukio's and Toshi's room flies open. Yukio comes running out, chest armor slung over her sleeping gown and sword in hand. Toshiba can just make out Toshi behind her, looking extremely sleepy and uncomfortable.
"Where are they?" Yukio shouts. "These honorless dogs will pay for their cowardly attack! I will kill every last one of them!"
"You'll need to sleep lighter then," Toshiba replies. "This one is dead. Kagemaru is no doubt finishing off the second as we speak. You're welcome, by the way."
"Oh," Yukio says. She looks around, still hoping to find an army of assassins waiting in the shadows. "Well, I did hear them, but I had to put on my armor and grab my weapons. I did not think they would show up with only two people...or that you would be able to kill them so easily."
She looks at Toshiba intently.
"Did he seem...competent?"
"Competent enough that I doubt he would have waited for your ladyship to do up your hair and tie all those ribbons on your pauldrons there." Toshiba checks his wounds. "Yes, competent enough."
"Hey!" Yukio protests. "You're wearing your armor, aren't you?" Her voice drops lower as she mumbles to herself. "Always had plenty of warning before, too."
"Mine has less ribbons," Toshiba says gently. "Next time I shall hold one down for you until you are ready."
Yukio glares at Toshiba for a second, but finally laughs and shakes her head. "That would be nice," she says, and nods her head at Toshiba. "Can you...carry him away a little?" She looks around. "It seems wrong to just leave him lying there."
"Of course." Toshiba slits the assassin's throat, then looks around in confusion for a moment. Where do nobles dispose of bodies, anyway? Hung somewhere or nailed to the gates would make a nice warning, but it was late and Toshiba's wounds were discouraging such late-night shenanigans. Middle of the parade grounds, then. Toshiba drags the dead man off, away from their bedrooms.
The commotion outside wakes Kiara and Kasumi. Kasumi's still beat from her talk with Master Oa, but Kiara's reflexes make her eyes snap open quickly - quickly enough to see a black-clad figure balancing on the beams above their room, heading for Yukio's quarters up in the rafters! Kiara's eyes meet those of the attacker, and the assassin jumps down into her room, twin blades drawn!
The thud of the assassin's feet on the floor and the brief glimpse of drawn knives is all the prodding Kasumi needs to immediately awaken on a wave of adrenaline. Rolling to her feet, Kasumi grabs her sword and takes a step back. She didn't anticipate having to use her father's gift to her quite so soon, but now's a good a time as any.
Kiara had rolled out of bed the moment her eyes met that of the assassin's, her ninja-to already at hand as she knelt on the ground. The ninja paused in her initial attack when Kasumi slid her blade forward, mentally adjusting her fighting style. She was so used to Kage as her partner that it was strange to have someone pull the blade and take first stand. It probably didn't say much for Kiara's head-first personality. Still knealing, Kiara's eyes followed Kasumi's movements, noting the defensive pose before flicking them back to their visitor.
While she was ready and willing for a full out attack, Kiara did have a (albeit relatively short) life time of ninja tactics that kept her at bay. Her form was silent and still, her foot sliding to the side as she began to pull away from the frontal view and attempt to sneak towards the side, hoping that Kasumi was enough to keep his attention.
Kiara's movement is silent and swift, but the assassin's eyes are keen. The assassin decides that, faced with two targets and wielding two blades, a split attack is preferable.
...and uses the other to give Kiara a *very* close new haircut.
Kasumi's arm stings with the cut, and with the scabbard tucked into her waistband, she quickly draws her sword, her feet forming the long-remembered stance of their own accord, and she moves in for the attack, a quick cross-body downward slice.
[1d20+6 = 18 + 6 = 24] (Kasumi's attack)
CRIT ACTIVATED!
[1d10+4 = 1 + 4 = 5] (Kasumi's damage)
The assassin may not have taken Kasumi fully seriously, but the downward swipe passes through the defense and slashes the assassin's leg, leaving a nasty wound. This is getting serious, fast.
Kiara would have stuck her blade in his ribs when he had arched around to reach from Kasumi to herself, had he not surprised her with his own blade dancing across her cheek. She had pulled back so that it was no more than a flesh wound, though as shallow wounds tend to do on the face, blood welted around the slice, trailing down to her jaw line which made it look worse than what it was.
She ignored the flare and took advantage of his newly gifted leg wound by pushing forward, hoping to make him lose his balance as her blade swiped forward, cautious that he still held both of his own blades that were longer than her own. She noted to ask the kindly fellow about his purpose for the late night visit and to whom she should send a return gift to.
[1d20+7 = 18 + 7 = 25] (Kiara's attack)
(Assassin is flanked.)
[1d8+4+2d6 = 4 + 4 + 4 = 12] (Kiara's damage)
The assassin takes Kiara's swipe to the arm, but deals with the more immediate threat first. The assassin's right blade whips around and - blasts a vapor cloud in Kasumi's face.
[1d20+2 = 8 + 2 = 10] (Kasumi's Fortitude save)
Kasumi coughs and chokes on the quick distraction while the assassin springs the next attack on Kiara.
[1d20+9 = 5 + 9 = 14] (Assassin's attack)
The blade goes wild as Kiara deftly avoids the razor-sharp edge.
Kasumi's eyes burn from...whatever it was she just got blasted in the face with, but she presses her attack. Her slightly off-kilter stance keeps her feet free enough that she's easily able to attempt to hook the assassin's leg and drop him to the floor, before attempting to cut him wide open.
Kasumi tries to hook the assassin's leg, but the assassin easily shifts balance and steps over Kasumi's sweep. The momentum carries her into an attack -
[1d20+6 = 2 + 6 = 8] (Kasumi's attack)
- but the assassin evades that, too. Everything is suddenly so slow...
[1d20+6 = 2 + 6 = 8] (Kiara's Fortitude save)
Worried that the assassin might have more of that powder trick stuff, Kiara took a moment to step back from where Kasumi and the dark clothed figure did their dance, frowning over Kasumi's sluggish movements. What was in that powder? Her throat began to burn and she realized that the cursed powder had managed to waft it's way to her own position.
She wondered if he would comply if she politely asked him to hold still for her to knock a sword out of his hand. Still wanting the fiend alive (though 'wanting' in this case was more of a necessity than an actual want; she was ready to kill the powder-fluffing fool), Kiara aimed for his other leg as he floundered away from Kasumi's last attack, fighting against the effects of the powder as best as she could.
Kiara manages to slash up the assassin's other leg with her first blow, but she too feels the effects of the powder quickly, and the assassin rolls past her second strike.
Kiara stumbles to the ground, barely able to stay on her feet. Kasumi's leaning against the wall, likewise robbed of her strength. Her eyes meet the assassin's, and she glances at the blades - and the assassin throws himself against the door, smashing out of the room and stumbling away, trailing blood.
Kiara made a noise that could be equivalent to a hoarse chuckle, but as she pushed herself out the open door to pursue the world decided at that point to spin it's orbit a little faster. Her back fell against the wall, her face stinging in the chill air and her body shuddering. The assassin's trail was obvious, but her unfocused eyes couldn't seem to spot him. She shook her head, but kept safely to the wall, "Hey, Kasumi, still alive in there?"
Kasumi's whole body feels like her foot after it falls asleep, all pins and needles. She peels herself away from the wall and charges out the door, sword in hand and a war cry out of her lips.
"Guess that would be a yes." Kiara mumbled at Kasumi's yell, her head ringing from the combined power of powder and scream. Pushing herself upright, Kiara stumbled after the other woman, trying to take deep breaths of the fresh outside air, "Perhaps," She huffed between each word, "We can pursue another time."
Rubbing her forhead, Kiara frowned to herself, "I love a fight as much as any, but we need to get backup. His trail won't be hard to follow if we hurry, and he may have backup on the outskirts that we aren't in any condition to handle." Kiara attempting "rational"? Perhaps evolution does exist afterall. "But if you insist.." Perhaps not.
Kasumi looks around, sword in hand.
The surroundings show no obvious movement. The bloody trail from the wounds you inflicted on the assassin snakes away from the door, a few feet along the wall, and then straight up. The assassin must have gotten back onto the roof and continued from there. That you didn't hear any steps above you while the assassin made his escape must stand as testament to light steps, but it's not very helpful for figuring out where the assassin went.
You do see Yukio in her armor, holding a sword and still looking ready to defend herself.
"He went up onto the roof," she says. "Toshiba got another one, and Kagemaru chased after one, and..."
She trails off.
"There was no warning," she says. "If they'd gotten further..."
Kasumi sheathes her sword, and dabs her fingers on her cut shoulder. "That's why we're here, Yukio. Oa-sensei will have a lot of explaining to do in the morning, believe me. So much for being always safe."
"Well," Yukio says, "you were here."
She smiles a little.
"I was safe."
Kasumi returns the smile, surprising herself a bit. "I made a promise, Yukio. I keep my promises." She takes a look around into the barracks courtyard, hand on her sword. "You and Toshi go back to sleep, we'll be doing the same once we get some of the Academy guards posted down here, okay?"
"Yes, that - that sounds like a good idea," Toshi says.
The rest of the night passes without further incident. Maybe the assassins have given up, maybe it's got something to do with the twelve guards standing around your quarters. It's not especially quiet - twelve old men grumbling about the lousy hour and the weather aren't -, but at least you can sleep safely now.
All things considered, the night is way too short, because the guards wake you just a few hours later. It's not even quite sunrise, but if you want to catch the morning drill, that's how it goes.
After a quick break for hygiene and getting dressed, the guards accompany you to the parade grounds. Yukio looks especially perky, presenting herself in full armor with her lance; Toshi looks much, much worse for wear, but figures he's got nothing to worry about in that department. You are led to the small wooden platform that is built a few feet off the ground, allowing the instructors to watch the recruit ranks from above and in turn be seen by all. The man who greets you there introduces himself as Shimazu - he looks to be about 60-ish, but with a good build and impeccable grooming of his white hair. He's definitely got a venerable look to rival Master Oa, but unlike the headmaster, Shimazu looks like he could kick your ass even without adjusting for the whole "wizened old master" image.
As you settle into place, you hear calls in the distance. Shortly, the recruits appear, being marched from their blocks in formation by their block guards. You recognize the guard from last night marching what must be the denizens of block 4. The formations converge into one single group of students, while the guards filter off to the sides. The parade grounds are barely a third full, and you get the impression that those guards used to march much larger formations to training and drill.
"Atten-hut!" one of the guards calls, and the students straighten up. Shimazu nods to you and steps forward.
"Good morning, recruits!" he shouts.
"Good morning, Shimazu-sensei!" they shout back.
While Shimazu gives his morning pep speech, the guard from block 4 walks up to the podium and climbs up next to you.
"Well, here's me," he says. "Now what in tarnation are you folks looking to do here?"
"Everyone here from your block, sir?" Kasumi asks.
"Yes'm," the guard says, "every last bellyacher and too-good-nik present and accounted for. So, what's the plan? You gonna ask them all to drop trou, too?" He looks at Kagemaru. "Boy, let me just repeat myself here, my woodcuts aren't expensive at all..."
"I don't know how woodcuts would help us find wounded legs though." Kagemaru responds. "Aside from what our smooth talker made you believe, we're looking for one of the assassin's that attacked us yesterday. His legs were quite cut up when he fled from the scene."
"Oh, is that what that was?" the guard says. He looks Kagemaru once over and looks almost...disappointed. "You wandering folks, you can't never be straight with us regular types, can you?"
Kasumi buries her face in her hands. "So much for discretion. I apologize sir, but we couldn't know if you were the assassin we sought."
She turns to Shimazu and bows. "Shimazu-sensei, we request an addition to today's morning exercises."
"The test of burdens?" Shimazu asks quietly. "Yes, Master Oa informed me that you would ask to see this before he left."
Shimazu turns to the assembled students - who are still executing his last command in their morning workout - and switches back to his command voice.
"Soldiers, burden yourselves! One minute - for the Emperor!"
"For the Emperor!" the students shout back. They quickly begin to load canvas sacks filled with stones onto their shoulders. On Shimazu's command, they squat down and try to hold the position.
Your eyes are on the block 4 students, as helpfully pointed out by the guard. (Who still hasn't quite given up on selling woodcuts to Kagemaru, but has at least stopped talking about them.) Overall, you see...well, it's a bit of a pile of fail.
The Kirayoshi triplets don't really seem to get what "squat" is, given that they can't seem to really bend their knees due to their bulk. When a nearby guard "encourages" them, they drop to their knees, but at least they quietly pick up their weights and try again. You find it highly unlikely that anyone in that shape could be admitted on his own merits to this academy, much less play a ninja. Koru is a tree of a man, high and thin, and tries his best to keep a stiff pose as he squats down, but continually sinks lower until his butt hits his heels. Zarki, a compact bruiser-type, actually seems to be weathering the exercise quite well, though it's clearly more will than muscle. Holumi, a wild-looking girl with more muscle than the guards is in perfect form for a few seconds at a time, but can't quite resist the temptation to kick the student in front of her and make him fall down.
And finally, there's a girl with an unremarkable face who has her teeth set and is sweating profusely, trying to stay in position against what must be incredible pain. After a few seconds, her legs give out completely. She falls and drops the weights, and for a second, she looks directly up at you on the podium.
"Nagi," Yukio whispers. Then, louder, she almost shouts "That's Nagi! I know her!"
Shimazu turns to face the interruption; the other students cast off their weights, too, and stare at Yukio. You can see the girl she pointed out working her way through the ranks, trying to hobble away and clear of the crowd.
"Oh, damn it to the hell where people can't keep their damn mouths shut," Toshiba spits, glares, and takes off after Nagi. "Let's see you run on those sticks!"
Kasumi starts to move as soon as Yukio fails to keep her damn mouth shut, and vaults off the front of the platform, using the jump to gain forward momentum for the chase.
Kagemaru immediately picks up the girls stare at the podium and a few seconds later, he hears Yukio's words.
Damn it Yukio, NOT helpful! he thinks to himself as he steps on the edge of the Podium and takes a giant leap down at the ground, where he lands in a perfect roll and starts running with barely any delay.
"A chase, now we're talking." Kiara grinned and swung down, ready to bolt. She didn't actually have any idea why they were chasing the other girl. Kiara thought she had looked the same as any other huffing and puffing student, but Kiara was always ready to jump to the front.
The ninja not-twins bolt after Nagi with explosive power - the two of them have run down a target or two. Kasumi's jump is well-meaning but puts her right in front of the student crowd, while Toshiba realizes he's not quite awake yet when he almost slips on a wet wooden plank, forcing him to slow down. Either way, Kiara and Kagemaru are nose-to-nose for a few seconds before the nimbler Kagemaru - not weighed down by gear *and* better rested - pulls ahead and finally tackles Nagi to the ground. Seconds later, the girl is surrounded by you, the guards and a few concentric rings of other students. Grim faces, weapons pointed, the whole enchilada. She looks absolutely furious, and blood is seeping through the legs of her pants.
"Get away from me!" she shouts. "Don't you know who I am? You will all pay dearly for this!"
"Oh, I know exactly who you are! You're one of the people that tried to kill friends of mine last night." Kagemaru says, as he grabs her collar and pulls her close to his face. "And I want to know why," he adds through gritted teeth, his grim tone leaving no doubt that he's dead serious.
Kiara had a small pout on her face, perhaps the only telling that she wanted to be the one to do the interrogations. With a sigh, she cast her eyes around at the crowd, "Well, perhaps some place more private, to begin with?"
"Because I follow orders!" Nagi spits back at Kagemaru. She looks at Yukio, who's making her way through the crowd. "They just happened to be about killing this bitch!"
"Told you we'd hold the next one down for you!" Toshiba says to Yukio like he didn't totally flub his chase start. Then to Kasumi, he says "I would have pressed the hunt last night, but this was a good plan." He nods in respect.
"Whoa, let's just slow down here, alright?" Kasumi says. She walks up next to Kagemaru. "Let's hold off on the shouting and the...the knives, alright? Could you put...Nagiko, is it? Could you put her down, please?"
Kagemaru takes a quick look at Kasumi, before letting Nagi fall back into the dirt. "Somebody should take care of her wounds."
Kasumi takes a knee next to Nagi. "May I?"
Nagiko doesn't answer, but she also doesn't fight. Kasumi pulls her clothes aside to look at the wounds.
[1d20+4 = 8 + 4 = 12] (Kasumi's Medicine check)
Nagi seems to have stayed on her feet through raw stubbornness. The ragged wounds in her legs are bleeding through the crude bandages she applied to them, and when Kasumi removes them to get a better look, she finds that the wounds haven't even been cleaned properly. Nagi needs more medical care than you can administer here in the dirt.
"Oh, that's not very good. We'll have to get you to a room to get those looked at." She offers her hand to help stand Nagiko up. "Kasumi Kagawa, and I'm sorry about last night, it's just, well, you were trying to kill me."
"No, I was -" Nagi says. "I wasn't trying to kill you."
"You and you!" Shimazu shouts to some students. "Get a stretcher! We need to carry her inside. You! Alert Wu that we need her help!"
"No, of course you weren't," Kasumi says. "But we will need to talk about why you wanted to kill...her," she says, flipping her head back towards Yukio disdainfully. She looks back at Nagiko. "After we get your leg looked after, of course," Kasumi says with a wink and a slight smile.
[1d20+13 = 14 + 13 = 27] (Kasumi Impress check)
"She didn't..." Nagi says, but the strength is draining from her quickly. "She didn't tell you?" she moans. There are a few seconds of gasping, and then she passes out. Kasumi feels her head and finds a fever going. Nagiko needs medical attention. Fortunately, you can already see two students push through the crowd with a stretcher to carry the injured assassin away.
Toshiba sidles up to the others and whispers, "As perverse as it may sound, we must protect Nagiko now. If Kasumi can coax truth from her, others might try to silence Nagi - an easier target than you right now - in order to stop that truth from coming out."
Kasumi nods. "I agree. Shimazu-sensei, Nagiko needs to be protected, as there might be an attempt on her life. Can you guarantee her safety?"
Shimazu steps through the crowd of students, easily parting them and making a way for Nagiko to be carried away.
"Before last night, I would have guaranteed your safety," he says. "For now, I think it is best if you go with her."
He motions for the two students who brought the stretcher to step away from it. Shimazu's plan seems to be to keep everyone but you away from Nagiko. You'll have to carry her yourself, but this way no assassin can get close under the guise of helping.
Gatac