Dilemna

[Raizen Toshira]

A hair's breadth. Raizen's back was pressed backed to it's extent as he leaned under the arm of his foe, the blue glove which belonged to the challenger nearly bursting into his face. Oh, this guy was good. He stumbled backwards upon realigning himself to his full height, regaining his bouncing rhythm. But how much did it matter? No matter how good anyone was at boxing, he could never be beaten. Which was why he was the red corner's deity.

Then it came, another right straight from the blue corner. Oh well, the fun had gone on long enough right? Toshira tilted his body to the left and crouched forward, at the same time bringing his right arm towards his opponent's face, the soft of his elbow wrapping about his opponent's retreating arm. A cross-counter...and the most dangerous kind, a right-cross. In a flash he had buried his fist into the opposing corner's face. There was a moment of hesitation as the opponent tried to register what was happening. He had lost, both athletes heard the jaw shatter, and both felt it. But Raizen wasn't so forgiving, he wasn't done. He allowed his opponent to begin to sink before unleashing the flurry of red that he was known for. There was no need for a ten count, there never was. Bout over, one-minute twelve seconds. As his eyes looked at the clock he realized he could do better....much better.

No one cheered for him anymore, he had many fans but he was losing them. He had a perfect record, but he was just too good. His matches weren't even interesting any more, even if he tried to give them life by getting hit a few times. Nothing could hurt the amateur boxing champion which stood prominent in the ring. He raised his right fist up solemnly, for the seventy-second time in a row, he was victorious. He looked back to his bloody-pulp of an opponent, his vision obscured by medics as they placed the unconscious man upon a stretcher and carried him away, he'd never be the same again.

[Hanshin]

Seventy-two straight wins. That was the man's record. Perhaps it was about time people began to suspect the boxing champion. No normal human could be that good. But if they uncovered the truth, just what would happen? A modern-day witch hunt; complete with torches and pointy-sticks. Of course for Hanshin, he wouldn't let that happen. He didn't know much about the young man known as Raizen Toshira, but he knew enough to say that he wasn't your average human.

His back against the wall with his arms crossed, the young Musha sighed lightly, as he waited for the whispering crowd to move along. It always seemed to be the same; Toshira nearly kills his opponent, and his popularity goes down a peg. After the first couple of times, Hanshin had simply lost interest in even eavesdropping on the gossip and floating opinions. The two men were a lot alike. They were both their respective clubs juggernaut; their ace in the hole. They both were undefeated in what they did; Raizen and his boxing, and Hanshin and his kendo. So that said, why was he the one whose popularity usually grew with his wins, while the other's diminished? Maybe it was the fact that his boxing acquaintance went over the top, leaving his opponents as a bloody mess... Or the fact that none of Hanshin's fights were ever the same, each with its own twist in the swordsman's style or approach. Whatever the case was, he enthralled in finding out the answer to that mystery.

With nearly everyone gone except for him and Raizen, Hanshin grinned as he clapped his hands together, beginning his own solo applause for the winner. "And he wins again, I see." Walking forward and placing his hands in his pockets, he raised an eyebrow. "You're not in the Pro Circuit... Why exactly?"

[Raizen Toshira]

Out of habit Raizen was wiping his body down with a towel, though this would seem a very awkward action, as he hadn't perspired in the least. He had joined boxing in the hopes of honing his own exceptional hand-to-hand skills, though he had failed in that regard. With a reason he began to box to establish a name for himself, almost as if to attract those that could compete with him. Or so that had been the initial plan, he had found none yet.

The sound of applause reached Raizen's ears and he froze. It was a noise long foreign to him. More importantly....he had thought he was alone. He glanced at the man briefly before returning to his school uniform. A glance was all he needed, at least for this one person. Hanshin was, after all, one of the school's shining stars. He had little interest in him however, he had been approached by many club scouts in his recent days of glory and he didn't want to consider any other club. He was dangerous enough with his fists padded.

"Boxing is just a hobby, I don't do it for sport." That was his answer to Hanshin's question. An odd one indeed, but an answer none the less.

[Hanshin]

"If that's how you go about a hobby, then I'd hate to run into you when you're on the job." Hanshin laughed, although it was a bit of a hesitant laugh. He didn't actually know the guy too well, so he was still unsure how well he took jokes. Pulling his hands out of his pockets, he crossed his arms once more, carefully avoiding the Evoker hidden underneath his blazer. A keepsake from a friend, he never went anywhere without his Evoker. It wasn't because he used it and found it necessary for summoning his Persona, but because of its sentimental value. It had belonged to a dear friend of his, and that Evoker was now proof that the guy had existed.

"Oh come on, Raizen. I just stopped by to congratulate you on your victory. That's all." Though he said this, it was doubtful if he would be believed. But it was worth a try, no?

[Raizen Toshira]

A small laugh escaped Raizen's throat. "I'm sure you would." He chuckled, shaking his head and running his hand through his hair, checking it for sweat. He couldn't say he wasn't suspicious of Hanshin, there was something odd about this meeting. For instance, why had he waited until everyone left the vicinity to approach Toshira? Certainly he didn't waste his time just to congratulate Raizen on a stale victory. He twirled the string of his boxing gloves with his index finger, after the match he had tied them together.

"Thank you very much." He spoke in a mockingly humble tone. "Where were you the other seventy-one matches?" With this he rolled his eyes. Congratulations wasn't why Hanshin was here, that much was obvious for sure. His eyes scanned the area, looking for others just in case something had been planned against him. It wouldn't be the first time affiliates of his opponents had schemed against him. After finding no one he allowed his attention to rest upon Hanshin again.

[Yuhei]

He should have looked again, for Yuhei had appeared on the scene. it didnt take a genius to figure out that Raizen wasn't normal. Yuhei had a sixth sense for those kinds of things. he could tell from a glance with about 80% certainty whether or not a person was human or not and so far he had been right. "Hello..shadow" Yuhei was right behind Raizen when he said that, whispering it in his ear before taking a few steps back. "Hanshin sorry I'm late bro, I got called to the office to take care of soem StuCo business. SO he's the one you told me about huh, I don't see anything impressive about him"

[Raizen Toshira]

"Shadow?" Raizen yawned, feigning ignorance. He placed a complex look of confusion upon his face as he allowed his body to shudder. He wasn't shocked by the arrival of another, like he had thought earlier, it wouldn't be the first time this sort of thing had happened. "You know...." Raizen began, his speech slow and dull, "...You talk a big game for a lackey." He grinned toothily.

Yes, a lackey. The President of Student Council was before him, calling him names and insulting his skill. Surely the school could've picked a better leader to represent the student body. "And how could you possibly see anything impressive about me?" He was grinning now, placing his hands in his boxing gloves, "You missed my match." And the gloves were on, Raizen nudging his head to the arena.

This was what his life was about, the thrill of defeating trash talkers. He knew what this was all about now, they were oppressing him because he was different, for he was in fact a shadow. But one thing was sure, he was a shadow like no other. The invitation to brawl had been thrown to Yuhei or Hanshin, for that matter, whoever took it up. If they were planning to take him down, as their dialect hinted, then he may as well be in his own domain as they tried.

But why did it matter? The fists of a challenger could never impress the champion.

[Hanshin]

"Where was I during your other matches? Kendo practice or I had a match. One of the two. It just so happened that I had neither today." Hanshin shrugged, ignoring Raizen's mocking of him. When he saw Yuhei arrive, he raised an eyebrow. Why was he here? Late? Shadow? What on Earth was he talking about? Glancing back to Raizen, he could see that he was misinterpreting Hanshin's purpose for being there. Wonderful. What should have been a peaceful chat had become a challenge.

"I didn't come here to fight or ridicule you, Toshira-san. Just to talk." he said firmly, giving a bit of a glare to the Student Council President.

[Yuhei]

"Neither did I, just pointing out that no human could do what you do, I've seen your matches Toshira" Yuhei smiled, "I'm actually impressed to tell the truth. We actually came here to invite you to be a member of the Student Council"

[Raizen Toshira]

"Not here to fight or ridicule me?" Raizen started, removing his gloves again. How boring, right? "Well then....with your goon there whispering in my ear, there's only one thing left." He shuddered at the thought of what this meant, slowly backing away from the couple. "Sorry, but I'm not interested in sodomy, I'll pass."

[Hanshin]

"That makes two of us." Hanshin laughed before hesitantly looking over to Yuhei and sighing. "You don't have to join Student Council itself if you don't want to. But that's not why I'm here... Have you ever heard of a group called Kiyomaru?" Toshira was a Shadow alright... But the question was; Was he allied with his brother? If he wasn't, then he'd be a valuable addition to Libra.

[Yuhei]

"No that makes three of us..and yes that is why we came here to ask a few questions regarding that group of vagrants, like are you a member of them and if not will you side with us?"

[Raizen Toshira]

"You know what I like about you guys?" Raizen queried, craning his throat as he placed the tied boxing gloves behind his neck, letting them hang to his chest. He was looking at Hanshin as he spoke, his first comment directed at him "one of you is incredibly indirect and the other...." his eyes shifted towards Yuhei, glaring at the homosexual, "the other is.....just TOO direct." Raizen sighed and shook his head, as if disgusted. "But I guess that's what makes a perfect couple ya know? Being opposites, they do attract in an uncanny fashion ya know?"

Oh yes, he was mocking the two now. But only because Yuhei had insulted him first, and also revealed his true nature. "Kiyotama?" He purposely said the name wrong, "Yeah, I heard of them, and I got a bone to pick with those losers. What of it?" He ignored Yuhei's question about siding with them, some people were just direct to a fault.

[Hanshin]

Once again, Hanshin laughed at his joke. "Unfortunately for him, I don't swing that way." Luckily, it seemed that he was aware of his brother's group. That saved him a lot of trouble of going into a monologue about them. "Since you don't like them, I guess we share a common goal, don't we? On the outside, we're but the Student Council. At the same time though, we're also a group called Libra. Dedicated to take down the man known as Tenjin Musha and his group Kiyomaru. I can see that... you might not want to explicitly join us, correct?"

Scratching the side of his head, Hanshin went ahead and continued talking. "If that's the case, would it be possible to create an alliance of sorts between us?"

[Yuhei]

"Hey, not funny Han, I don't swing that way ether" Yuhei sighed hsi cell went off and he picked it up, "Shadows..I'll take care of it hanshin, you deal with this guy" and Yuhei briskly walked off