Phantasy Star Portable – Kotone
Chapter 9
On Tonnio's smart mouth: The first time I played, I misread his 'yeah sucker' as 'Yeah Fucker'. Oops.
June Dia Oerba: The name June came from Avatar the Last Airbender, and Dia Oerba from Final Fantasy XIII
Kotone eats a lot. Just sayin'.
On Wednesday, June Dia Oerba stepped off the plane at six-thirty in the morning, rubbing her eyes. Blue eyes landed on a steaming mug of hot chocolate, held by a pretty, slim little Newman. The girl offered it to her with a silent smile. She mumbled thanks and downed the hot drink gratefully.
"Are you Ms. Oerba?" The girl, Kotone or something, asked politely. June snorted sardonically.
"Hon, you make me sound respectable. Just Miss June is fine." The girl nodded, bowing politely to her.
"Alright Miss June." She answered shyly back. "I'm Kotone, and I'm supposed to show you to the training room." Kotone waited for her affirmative nod before leading her to the training room. Hyuga was inside the room already, setting out a plate of toast and eggs for them both, along with some oatmeal for his student. Kotone eagerly dug in, humming to herself. June ate her plate thankfully.
"Done?" June asked the purple-haired girl wryly, who turned crimson. Damn, the girl was one hell of a big eater! Kotone nodded, ignoring her teacher whose lips twitched affectionately. Hyuga ruffled her hair softly, murmuring something in her ear. Kotone nodded and flushed a bit. "Good. Now I want to see your aiming skills." She handed the girl her spare Card, Primera Fiore and had her aim at a target Hyuga had so helpfully put up. Kotone didn't miss, hitting the inner ring every time, but she only hit the bull's eye five out of thirty times, which wasn't bad for a novice. Kotone was better with the Longbow she was given, hitting the bull's eye eleven out of the assigned thirty. June had her practice how to use a Card, because she was worse with it.
"You hold it this way," June instructed, tilting her hand one way. Kotone obediently followed, angling her body to match her temporary teacher. "That's good. Now hold it so I can show you how to adjust to the height of the target." Kotone froze obediently and June took her time to adjust her form, maneuvering her body slightly. June quietly cursed her height, which made her an entire two feet taller that the tiny slip of a thing she was teaching. As she taught, June mused on Kotone's lack of mastery on ranged weapons.
For a Newman, it was almost unheard of to be so unskilled at distance weapons, and almost suicide. However, in the small TECHNIC harvest grounds on the other cities of the globe, it wasn't that uncommon to have no skill in ranged weapons, but have ridiculous amounts of TECHNIC power. In fact, she'd bet her other eye that Kotone was from one of the small towns. Fierce fighters they were and a hell of a lot deadlier than their city counterparts. You could cross a city Newman and survive as long as you knew the streets. In the wild? You offend them; you die, and die quick if they're feeling merciful. Scary people.
"And break," She announced at the stroke of twelve. Kotone looked grateful, stretching out her hands and body with a series of standard stretches. She glanced at Hyuga, who shrugged as he got out lunch, and started on a set that only the crazies pulled off. "Did she learn those from you?" June squeaked at Hyuga, who grinned shamelessly at her shock.
"No. I learned them from her." Hyuga corrected, setting the table, while Kotone practiced pretzel maneuvers behind him. Mm. Country-fried Koltova with tempura and dipping sauce. Yum. He loved Kotone's cooking.
Three platefuls of food and a container and a half of water later, June had to reattach her jaw. Oh, Newman had perfect table manners, but seriously?! Where did that chick put it all!? June frowned at Hyuga, who was snickering at her with something akin to amusement. Kotone was blushing, looking between her teachers with embarrassment.
"Oh don't worry dear," Hyuga told her affectionately, ruffling purple hair. "You're training eight hours a day. You deserve to be hungry." Kotone nodded, her cheeks lightening slowly. June tried not to stare. Eight hours?! Even Aaron hadn't done so much! Hyuga laughed at her again. "I'm a bit afraid to let her run loose. She might flirt with the boys older than her that comes by." Kotone scowled at him, lips twitching. Oh crap. Another Hyuga. Doomed! At her expression, they both burst into laughter, clutching their sides. June's mind caught up to her, and she realized they were messing with her.
"Um, well, let's start on Longbow work." She muttered, deciding not to push the subject.
This moved smoothly after she adjusted her form. Archery was not as bad as Card work, thankfully. Her grip and stance were fine, but her execution left quite a bit to be desired. It was to be expected. She was pretty damn good as it was, and Newmans weren't perfect by any means. Even City Newmans.
"Well, that went better than I expected." June drawled casually as she walked away from the Training Room, Hyuga in tow. Kotone had left to wash up, leaving the two to stand and chat while waiting for the plane to drop her back to Moatoob. Hyuga hummed, waiting for her verdict. "I guess I can teach the little brat." Hyuga gave a sigh of relief.
"That's good," Hyuga sounded relieved and a bit pleased. June blinked.
"Did you seriously think I was going to say no even after teaching her?" June sounded incredulous. Hyuga gave her a sheepish smile.
"Yes." The white-haired teen admitted a touch wryly. "You have no love for kids or teaching June." June conceded the point.
"Fair enough." June grumbled, embarrassed. "So in another month I'll come back. If she slacks, I turn you both into human – and Newman – pincushions." Hyuga nodded, promising that she'd study with a faint note of panic.