An Advantage - Open

[Haley Shapiro]

Self-defense class.

You would think having a destructive power like super strength would be enough for Haley to feel safe. But no. She had to think about what would happen if her powers stopped working, if she was caught in a compromising situation.

So yes, that was the reason why she had enrolled herself in Miss Shao's self-defense class. That was the reason why the participants in the class were all eyeing her like a hawk. That was the reason why she was alone in a corner as she listened to Miss Shao talk about the importance of self-defense.

The boy just a few feet away from her looked a bit perplexed as to why he was there. "Least you got your game face on." She teased half-heartedly.

[Kanda Shao]

Kanda had planned and practiced this class carefully. Since it was all about being able to defend yourself while out and about rather than discipline and control, she'd chosen the movements very carefully from the different styles she knew. In doing this, it was also helping her move forward in creating her own style, one she would be completely comfortable in. Which was pretty exciting, and it was amazing that she managed to keep composed instead of turning into a giggly motor mouth.

"...Now I don't want you all thinking that it's a super dangerous world out there," she said, continuing on from her ramble about how danger could easily be right around the corner, or behind you in the dark. "It can be, and what I want to teach you is awareness, alertness, and how to defend yourself if you're ever put in the position where you have to fight. Fighting should always be the last option; you can't just rush into it head first." So said the woman who was once an aggressive little brat who loved kicking hell out of the other kids in her martial arts classes.

She couldn't help but notice that the others seemed to be staying away from one girl in particular. What was her name? Began with an H, she was sure. Though she thought it was kind of unfair of the other kids, she was sure the explanation would come by the time they had to pair up.

"...so, I'm just going to show you some basic moves today that you'll need to know before you can move on to kicking some real butt." Pausing for a moment, she smiled and shook her head. "If other teachers ask, what I actually said was 'move on to more advanced movements'. I'm aware that there are some of you already who have been trained in martial arts of some kind, so when it comes time to pair up, I want those of you who are trained with people who are not trained. And be nice. You do not want me to have to break up fights in here." Oh, they didn't even know how true that was. "So, if anyone wants to volunteer to be my partner for this, we can get started."

[Jordan Scholl]

After having come out of a school where he was bullied on a regular basis, Jordan had some plans to make sure he wouldn't have the same problems now that he was at Hammel.

Plan A) Avoid confrontation. Fly under the radar and hope no one will notice you.

Well, that one was shot deader than a fat human caught in zombie territory. After all of his trouble with Izzy, Jared, Mia...there was little chance of him not having to deal with some sort of higher confrontation at some point or another.

Plan B) Hide from everyone. Or maybe just move schools.

Possible only to a degree, and he couldn't switch schools again. His parents were understanding, but they wouldn't transfer him to Kocher just on a whim.

Plan C) Become able to beat people up so they leave you alone.

That one, he knew was a long shot--he wasn't exactly able to see himself fighting others. That was why it was Plan C. But it was still worth a go, he figured.

Which explained why he was standing in the self-defense class, trying to understand what all was going on. And reasoning with himself again why he was even in the room. Publicly. Instead of, you know, hiding in a corner just watching. He'd put himself in the back of the room on purpose, to stay out of the way, but he wasn't the only one who'd had that idea, it seemed.

"Huh?" he said, glancing over at the girl standing next to him. His perplexed expression stayed firmly in place. "I don't...who are you?" And why was she bothering him?

Then he looked up at the teacher, who was asking a question (recognizable by the slightly stunned silence that occurred any time a teacher asked a question) that he had not heard at all. "Crap," he muttered. "Did you hear what she just said?" he asked the girl standing next to him. She looked a bit familiar, probably from one of his classes, but he hadn't yet attached the face to a name.

[Haley Shapiro]

Miss Shao was asking something and Haley was almost dozing off. She didn't mean to. She just didn't have the attention span. Or the patience.

The boy beside her asked if she had heard anything and she grinned, the conniving cogs whirring in her head. "Oh yeah, she wants to know if you are paying attention to her." Haley nudged him and jerked her head up to the teacher.

"You better say yes." She egged him on, hiding the smile threatening to split her face in two.

[OOC: Jordan, I am sorry. But Haley isn't.]

[Jordan Scholl]

The name was starting to come to him...but it was too late now to do anything.

Jordan looked up to the teacher and nodded politely. It was usually what you were supposed to do when a teacher caught you out.

He listened to the girl's advice, then gave a huge smile to the teacher. "Yes, absolutely!" he said, still nodding. He didn't want to get beat up on his first day of class.

But then the penny dropped, and as he realized what had just happened, his eyes opened wide. "Oh, um...well, see, I don't know that...I'd be so good...on my own. Couldn't you use someone else? I mean, I'm just new here, so I don't know what I'm doing..."

Remembering what had got him stuck in this situation, he pointed a finger behind him toward the other girl. "What about her? You could use her, right? That'll be...cool...." And he trailed off, feeling the weight of the inevitable.

[Kanda Shao]

As she'd expected, the class gave her this collective blank stare, as though she'd just asked them to grow beards and fly away while singing Mexican folk songs. It wasn't like she was asking them to come up to be turned into pretzels. Only if they really ticked her off... then she might have to. You know... asserting her dominance and whatnot.

Folding her arms impatiently, she pushed that thought to the back of her mind. "You came here to learn this stuff, didn't you? Anyone at all?" A boy suddenly barked an affirmative answer, but quickly looked as though the girl everyone was keeping away from had grown horns. She couldn't help but smirk. Well, they'd been talking so it made for an easy 'punishment'.

"Great!" she said, beaming at the boy and gesturing to the mat in front of her. "If you come up here then we can begin!"

Of course, he began to protest. Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "Too late, kiddo; up you come. But since you're so fond of her, we'll make you two partners for this." She would have to learn their names at some point; that was sort of a must.

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley stifled a laugh when Jordan's realisation kicked in but by then Miss Shao had already taken him prisoner. The younger girl burst out with a snort, only to gape at the teacher when she said they were to be partners.

"What? Wait no. I don't even know him! Honest!" She made a gesture of crossing her heart, holding the same hand up while the other hand smacked her chest twice before stilling over it. "He's not fond of me, ew. You better not be fond of me, tell her you're not fond of me!"

By then, everyone was snickering at her and she turned to glare at them. Most of them thought she looked like a puffed up chipmunk so they laughed even more so she turned back to Miss Shao. "Miss, seriously...I'll crush his puny a...I mean...his uh..." Haley gestured to all of the boy in front of her with a scrunched up face.

[Jordan Scholl]

"What, no! No, I'm not fond of her!" Jordan agreed with Haley. He wasn't willing to do that whole weird cross-your-heart bit, though. He didn't have to make some fancy swear, surely the teacher would see that he was completely sincere.

He looked worriedly from the girl to the teacher, eyes wide with new fear. Why had he come again? And why wasn't he bolting for the door now?

"Wait, you'll crush me?" he asked Haley, suddenly realizing what her likely power was. "Aw crap. No, miss teacher, please don't. I'm more of a duck and cover guy, can't I just practice running away really fast or something? I don't want to go against a crusher."

Almost against his will he was stepping forward to the front of the room. He didn't want to do this, but he wasn't precisely sure if he'd be able to get out of it. The only advantage seemed to be that if he was going down, he was dragging that other girl down with him.

"I'm not going up alone," he said, frowning at the girl. "Are you going to come up or not? Because otherwise I'll...I'll..." He cast his eyes around the room, trying to think of a good reason, but he couldn't think of anything. "Well, it won't be good," he finally said.

[Haley Shapiro]

"See! He's not fond of me. He doesn't even know my name!" Haley stressed, annoyed that her plan had backfired completely. Now she had to pair up with him? It didn't help that the teacher was already moving on to another pair and helping them out.

Grumbling, she joined the taller adolescent and rolled her eyes at his idea of a threat. "Oh no, I'm shaking in my tattered old boots." She mumbled before facing him and held her hand out to shake his. "Let's just get this over with. Don't opponents have to...I dunno...shake hands out of prosperity of the duel or something?" Haley frowned a bit, shaking her hand in the boy's face.

"Look, I'm not gonna be responsible for any bruises you get, aite? I may not mean to hurt you but if I do, don't you go crying to your mommy." Haley smirked. She didn't know that he was connected to the Campbells and were she to know that, she probably wouldn't even warn him, though.

[Jordan Scholl]

"What kind of an argument is that?" Jordan asked, throwing up his hands. "You don't know my name either. And you don't have to know someone's name to like them. Most people are just like, 'Wow, she looks nice' or whatever and they like them. But I don't like you. But I'm just saying, your argument is really dumb." Then he instinctively took a step back. Because you didn't call someone with super-strength dumb.

He glanced down at her shoes. They were looking a little tattered. He was busily trying to work out who this person was. Super strength, about his age...would he have heard about her? He tended to hear a lot less stories now that he was actually at Hammel. People usually watched their tongues more.

Jordan hesitantly reached out and grabbed her hand, gripping it very loosely in hopes she'd do the same. "Yeah, right, prosperity. Look, if you hurt me, I have friends, and they're not going to be happy. You could get in trouble."

When she warned him, his whole body stiffened. Was she...challenging him? No, she was telling him not to be a crybaby. Jordan was not a crybaby. He was just sensible about not wanting to get hurt. But now he wasn't going to let this...this girl intimidate him.

Raising his hands up to his head he growled at her. "Fine. Bring it. I don't need any help." He tried to run over all the things Mia had taught him, as well as all the other self defense moves he'd learned throughout his life.

[Haley Shapiro]

"The best kind, so shut your face." Haley spat at the boy, suddenly wondering what his power could be. What if he was a shapeshifter? Who turned into a pterodactyl? Are they allowed to use their powers?

Haley followed the boy's gaze down to her shoes and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, eyes up here, bub." She snapped her fingers in front of the other student's eyes before cautiously taking his hand for a shake. She actually did try not to squeeze his hand at all but when she heard the threat, she squeezed. Just a little so he knew what he was in for. "Nobody threatens me, you dig?"

Holding her hands up, keeping her elbows locked tight by her side, she slowly backed away from the boy and started to circle around him, much like how she was taught back at the orphanage.

[OOC: WHY DID I NOT SEE THIS??]

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan tried not to wince too much when she squeezed his hand. But it was hard. "Dig? Who even says that anymore?" He couldn't seem to stop himself from making comments like that. One of these days, he promised himself, he'd stop having such a smart mouth. "Besides, that wasn't a threat. Just a...a warning. So, you know. Consider yourself warned."

He could've slapped himself for such a bad line, but he was too busy watching his opponent to make sure she didn't punch him.

Hands up, he followed her movement with his eyes. And when she started to circle behind him, he spun to follow her movements. Never let your enemies get behind you. "Why are you circling me? What, do you really think that's the way you're supposed to fight?" He knew the drill. Get in, make a few punches, get away. Simple, really. Why was she making it challenging?

After a few moments, he dropped his hands. "Look, do you even know what you're doing?" Because from here it just looks like you're doing some sort of tribal dance."

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley rolled her eyes and ignored the boy's comment. If he thought he was too cool for her simple vocabulary, that wasn't her damn problem. She did, however, snort at his words. "Impressive."

She continued circling the boy, trying not to find his questions tiring and annoying. So far not too bad. She needed to concentrate on her reathing anyway. It was key to suppressing her powers just enough to not injure anyone she touched.

His comment on her circling was met with another eyeroll before she edged closer to him and jabbed quickly at his arm, darting away just as quickly. She wasn't sure if she made contact or not but she had to get to a safe place anyway. "Do you? Because from where I'm standing, you look like you're being chicken."