Politics of Mice - Making Friends

I was totally-not-a-delinquent Hei, and I was about to face the first hurdle of the plan.

The medic looked me up and down.

"Are you going to fight like that?"

Read as: are you going to keep up the disguise in the arena.

I flipped the staff up on my shoulders, resting my forearms on it.

"Yeah, is that going to be a problem?"

Read as: are you going to out me?

She shook her head.

"It should be fine, what do I call you?"

I smirked.

"You can call me Hei."

I knew I wouldn't get around fooling any experienced ninja yet, so step one, see how the ringmaster feels.

Now why aren't you working against me?

I doubted that it was just professionalism, so another clue was added to the court record.

So far this was going better than I expected. There was something relaxingly disconnecting about playing a character. It almost made me feel like an observer watching the events unfold before me. Hei would be cocky, so he smirked, but I felt only echoes of that.

Someone else arrived.

I recognised him as one of the kids from before the clan influx.

Brown haired, green eyed kid. No real notable features.

Time to actually put the deception to the test.

I waved.

"Yo."

Kid cocked his head a bit.

"Hi."

I made a face.

"'Hi', I'm going to be the new coolest kid on the block and that's the greeting I get. Geez. Name's Hei, what am I supposed to call you?"

Contrary to me being excessively rude, the kid actually smiled.

"Motoe, do you actually know how to use that thing?"

I laughed, and double dipped into that arrogance with a smirk.

"Yeah, you could say I do."

His face scrunched up.

"So you're from one of those clans."

There's that animosity.

"Pft, nah. I'm self taught."

I said with a dismissive wave. It was actually kind of true in this case.

Motoe seemed less miffed and more befuddled at the statement.

"Really?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, and then shrugged.

"It's not that hard to swing a stick at people."

His shoulders sagged. He was probably thinking I was some kind of idiot. Good, Hei was supposed to be a bit of a knucklehead.

"So what's your gig? Do you hit things? Spit fire?"

He scratched his ear and seemed to be looking up at the ceiling somewhere.

"Um I…"

God, he's got nothing.

Which meant he was worse off than I was. It almost made me feel bad for the guy. I figured I could at least save him from embarrassing himself.

"What's the gig here anyway?"

Again, the incredulous look came out.

"You don't know?"

I shrugged.

"I just heard I'd get to fight people."

"He's actually an idiot…"

If I hadn't been practising my hearing I probably wouldn't have caught that mumble. I pretended not to notice anyway.

Motoe coughed into his hand.

"You're not wrong. Teacher pairs us up, we fight, and she gives us feedback to improve."

"Nice."

He cringed.

"Not unless you're strong."

Oh?

"You saying I'm weak?"

He looked angry.

"It doesn't matter, compared to the clan kids and Yumika, we might as well just be practice dummies, and none of them can even touch Kin. They should have just gone to their own practice, why'd they all have to butt in on ours huh!?"

He deflated.

"It's all Yumika's fault, he brought them here."

I kept my gaze away towards the gathering crowd.

So that's what these guys think about me…

I wanted to ask about myself further, but to stay in character, I needed a different reaction.

"So that's who I need to beat right?"

"You can't be serious."

I gave him a feral grin.

"Oh yeah I am."

"Alright everyone, pay attention."

The crowd dimmed.

"Alright, first up, Hei."

I gave Motoe a wink, then strode up.

"That's me."

The medic gave me an acknowledging nod.

"You'll be fighting against Motoe."

Shit.

I'd been working on getting through to him.

Motoe stepped up, I smirked at him, but he just walked with a grim focus.

I gave him a pat on the back and headed down, with him following closely behind.

We took positions facing each other.

He really has nothing.

Nothing to go on at all.

My left hand slid up the staff, as my left foot circled anticlockwise forward. The tip of the staff pointed down in front of me.

"Begin."

The fight was on, and my brain turned off. With the staff, I could attack or block. No tricks. No fancy moves. Just the very basics. It was incredibly freeing.

Motoe rushed me. He'd probably gotten the jump on some of the less experienced guys before.

That won't work on me.

Exhale.

Block, whack.

Motoe fell back on the ground to avoid my counter, drenched in a cold sweat.

"Match."

I offered him a hand and a smirk.

"So those clan kids and Yumika, was it?"

"You're crazy."

Bridge is burning. I repeat, the bridge is burning.

I shrugged.

"I just have a stick."

He got up on his own and went on ahead.

The bridge is literally on fire right now.

I followed.

We both stopped in front of the medic.

She addressed Motoe first.

"A very poor performance, you need to take your opponent's weapon into consideration."

She turned to me.

"Good job Hei."

It's like she's trying to make us hate each other.

Motoe stepped away in shame.

"Next up…"

I pondered a moment, then followed after him.

"That was shit advice. She was all like 'take your opponent's weapon into consideration' like that's supposed to mean something. What's next? 'The key to dodging is not getting hit'?"

Motoe grumbled.

"Of course you'd think that, you didn't make mistakes."

I could taste the venom.

"I didn't exactly do anything complicated either. Anyone could do it if they tried."

"Sure."

He didn't believe me.

"It won't be enough to beat any of them."

I growled a bit.

"Fine, if that's what you think. Next time I'll beat one of those stupid clan kids you're so scared of. Then when I do…"

"If you do."

I grabbed him by his collar.

"When I do!"

I let go.

"I'll teach ya. Then you'll do it yourself."

I left Motoe alone where he was, and went into observer mode.

That promise had been part Hei's pride being challenged, and part sympathy.

I get it, not having anything to go on…

Anywho, observing.

I had a suspicion that I wanted to confirm.

Of all the people here, I was put up against Motoe, and the 'feedback' the medic gave…

I kept an eye on who seemed to get along.

…and I kept an eye on the Medic in charge.

I was right!

The matches weren't arbitrary at all. They were set up to have us all turn on each other. Arrogance and animosity was fed, while empathy and friendship were stomped out.

From the two classes, the clan kids facing each other always seemed evenly matched, same with the regulars, but when they were put against each other, the matchup always favoured the clan kid. Not just in the difference in ability, but the matchup as well.

…and seemingly in a class of her own was Kin.

Some of these kids should be able to give her a fight under the right conditions, but they never match up in those. She is always given the win.

Is that why we haven't been matched up since last time?

That's right, I hadn't fought Kin at all since I killed Mitsutada.

This whole thing was a lot more fucked up than I thought.

I was wallflower Rukia, about to see whether I could sneak this transformation past the classroom teacher.

I found a seat near the back and tried to make myself as small as possible.

Maybe he won't see me?

Hei was made up of contrasting traits that made it feel like I disconnected. On the other hand, Rukia took some of my traits and exaggerated them.

The result? I actually felt really nervous right now, because the character and the person blended. Where did I end? Where did Rukia start?

Either way, my reason made sure to keep me in character, even while emotions were very lost.

Someone sat nearby.

Alright, let's start!

I turn and open my mouth-

I can't do it!

I recoil back in on myself, my heart beating a thousand beats a minute.

This shouldn't be so nerve wracking! It was easy as Hei!

Right, but Hei wasn't like me.

I was bad at making friends, which Rukia took and cranked up to 11.

The teacher started, and I missed my opportunity.

There's still the break…

Throughout the whole lesson, I kept glancing at the person, trying to psych myself up for it.

Hi I'm Rukia, can we be friends?

It would be that simple.

Nothing to be afraid of.

I glanced over again.

Our eyes met.

I immediately looked back to the front, my face red to the ears.

It's over, this whole thing is doomed! Why did I do this, this was never going to work?!

Who's idea was it to make Rukia an insecure mess of a person!?

…right, mine.

The break finally came.

Alright, take two!

I shuffled up.

Excuse me, I'm Rukia, can we be friends?

"E-"

I can't do it!

The girl heard me.

Ah! She's looking at me.

"Ex-"

Deep breath Ru-mika, you can do this.

I took a deep breath, hands tucked together over my heart.

"Can I be your friend!?"

My hands immediately shot up to cover my mouth.

I said it!

Shouted it actually… good job (sarcasm).

"Sure, I'm Beniyo, this is Waho. What's your name?"

Beniyo was red eyed and a redhead, while Waho was a grey eyed and very faded blonde.

"Ru-"

You can do it!

"Rukia."

I bowed.

"Nice to meet you."

Beniyo waved her hands pleasantly, somewhere between abashed and pitying.

"There's no need for that, we're friends now right? Come on, sit down."

"Yes!"

I cheered, quietly, before sitting down.

We talked. Well, they talked, I chimed in every now and then when I managed to work up the courage, or when they asked me something. It mostly went into hobbies, what they did with their free time, and what other people were up to.

[...]

"So Rukia, what do you do for fun?"

Umm… I haven't really done anything for 'fun' this life so far…

"Um… I…"

They gave me a look. Like I was a kicked puppy or something.

I'm not that pathetic I swear!

I mean, I've spent time with Kin!

Who left me 7 months ago.

I play music!

Which I stopped 7 months ago.

I do archery!

Which stopped being fun when Kin left me, 7 months ago.

"Do you have any friends?"

I prodded the tips of my index fingers together and looked away.

"I- I have two now…"

I seemed to have upgraded from kicked puppy to kicked puppy left out in the rain.

"Parents?"

I've seen Father a total of 6 times, and never seen mother.

"I… don't remember."

What's this? Your drenched kicked puppy is evolving… dun dun, dun dun… Congratulations, your drenched kicked puppy has become a starving drenched kicked puppy!

I was saved from the pity when the teacher continued the lesson.

…

"Beniyo, why did the Hidden Sand village ally with the Hidden Leaf?"

"Umm… because it was useful?"

"Wrong. Yumika would have gotten it right. Waho, do you know?"

Okay? Where did that come from?

"The reason is…"

Beniyo looked sour at that.

…

"That's all for today."

Beniyo, Waho, and I had already packed up our things.

As soon as the words were said, Beniyo grabbed my wrist and got up, pulling me along.

"Wha-?"

"Come on, we're going to go have some fun."

Waho followed, nodding along in agreement. It seemed their joint pitying of me had completely flooded away whatever little feud the teacher had tried to plant.

They took me to a space that they'd clearly used often. We played hopscotch, skipped jump ropes, talked, I learned cat's cradle, and generally just played around.

It was honestly a lot of fun.

"I… have to go."

It actually hurt.

Oh god, it must have been showing on my face, because the pitying looks were back.

Beniyo grabbed my hands and tucked them in close.

"We'll play again, don't worry. Right, Waho?"

Waho nodded, confidently.

I waved bye, and almost skipped out.

I learned practically nothing…

This was a complete waste of time…

…I'm definitely coming back.

I knocked on Doctor Manami's door.

15 minutes ahead of schedule.

Someone came and opened the door, Isae.

"You're early."

Passive aggressive, she still didn't like me, and was that a glare? Yes it was.

I shrugged.

"Better early than late."

She went inside and I followed.

"Well, since you're here…"

Isae went to fetch something, before coming back with a card.

"...here."

What's this?

I looked it over.

YUMIKA NOGAWA

Rank: Student

Affinity: None.

Bloodline: None

STATS

Ninjutsu: 0.5

Taijutsu: 2

Genjutsu: 0.5

Intelligence: ?

Strength: 0.5

Speed: 0.5

Stamina: 0.5

Hand Signs: 0.5

Databook style stats.

If I was right, they scaled up to 5.

While you might be thinking: 'Oh, 0.5 is 10% of 5, that's not too bad', I'd have to inform you that that's where it starts.

So that was what all the tests and questions were for.

I cringed a bit.

"This might already be out of date."

"Yeah, that's kind of expected, but I doubt you've gotten stronger, faster, tougher, or more skilled since last time, or enough to change your rating at least."

It might be easier to show than tell…

Dog-Boar-Ram.

A puff of smoke, and Isae seemed to be looking at herself.

In her voice, I spoke.

"I've been practising…"

"Oh… that is a big difference."

"Indeed."

We both turned to see the good doctor standing in the doorway.

"Though, it is outside the scope of this experiment, so a hasty update will not be required. Let us begin."

We moved into positions.

The doctor took a glass of water, and mixed some powder in it, before handing it to Isae.

"This blend should reduce or negate motion induced nausea."

Huh, if that worked I'd have to rework the 'dizzy corkscrew kick girl' label.

"This is a test of mixture N-15 applied to subject A1-Isae in use against variable X-Yumika."

"Test 1, proceed."

Isae was a mess in the first fight. She kept stumbling and wobbling.

Did the drug negate one's sense of up and down as well?

In which case it would make sense that Isae would need to adjust.

I won, quickly.

She got gradually better over the next three fights, until finally she seemed in control of herself.

"Test 5, proceed."

I was on guard. I had a feeling she was going to try something now that she was stable.

She stepped close, and gave a hooked right footed kick, which I backed away from.

This is familiar…

Then she jumped, corkscrewing into a round right footed kick, which I barely managed to duck under.

She was on her feet and swinging before I'd bounced back from the duck.

I need to turn this around.

I saw an opportunity, and stepped into a hooked punch, catching it by the elbow with my shoulder, and grabbed her wrist with my other hand. Then I turned my back to her, so that her arm was held straight, her elbow right in front of my shoulder, and her palm facing up. All in one swift motion.

Then I pulled down on the makeshift-lever, slightly.

She was forced to stand on her toes to prevent her arm from snapping.

"Test concluded, reset."

"Test 6, proceed."

We fought.

Partway through, she stepped close, and gave a hooked right footed kick, which I backed away from.

Here it comes..

Then I caught the following round kick by the heel. Without any feet to stand on, she fell.

"Test concluded, reset."

Other than that one move, the rest of the fights were similar to last time. I had the advantage in skill, but I was eventually tired out.

It took me a few minutes to get off the floor after the twentieth spar, but soon enough, I was seated by the table eating a bowl of instant noodles with Isae.

"So the idea is to negate motion sickness and use that to gain an advantage?"

Okay, not the greatest icebreaker, but it was something.

"Yeah! Isn't it great?"

Ah, right, this was Isae. Anything nice about the doctor was a good icebreaker.

I nodded.

"Yeah, but you're not really managing to take advantage of it yet right?"

She deflated immediately.

"Yeah.."

I could…

"I could teach you a move."

She regarded me suspiciously, but hopeful?

"Just like that?"

I shrugged.

"I'm trying to help aren't I?"

Then I swallowed the rest of the broth.

…

"Alright, I'm not good at explaining, so I'm just going to show you."

I stood with my left foot forward, right foot back.

I kicked round with my right leg, then faced backwards, left foot forward, right foot back. I turned forwards again, raising my left knee up to waist level, before jumping and kicking round with my right leg again. Then I landed, faced back, and did it again.

In short, I became a bey blade.

I stopped after the third kick, any further and dizziness would actually impede me rather than be annoying.

That wouldn't be a problem for Isae.

"In theory, if you get the balance right, you could keep kicking indefinitely. Wanna give it a go?"

The hungry look in her eyes was clear enough.

…

"Nice, you've got it…"

"Now try it with your left."

…

It wasn't perfect, but it was enough that she could practice on her own.

"You've got any other moves?"

"No…"

My mind jumped to Sanji from One Piece, and an assortment of other things.

"...but I have ideas, if you want something to go on?"

Now how did capoeira work again?

She seemed a lot more friendly now.

If I had a nickel for every time I bribed a kid with martial arts, I'd have two nickels. Which is not a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.