The slap had finally gotten Mei to be quiet, and after a moment to collect himself, her father went back to his usual cold, imposing posture.
"You do not have classes this week, I am informed," he continued, "So you will be going back with me."
Her mother, who had been standing there in shock, trying (futilely) to mediate the fight, gave her a pleading look - she knew all too well who he'd take out his anger on if they fought any more. Still, Mei didn't respond, and her father reached over to pull her to her feet in frustration. "You are coming."
She flinched at just how strong his grip was - when had he gotten this violent? Did something happen after she left? And if it had, and he was this angry, then going home-- "No."
"What?" He gave her a glare, and her mother turned away, not wanting to look at it any longer. Her mother - Mei knew that if she said anything she would be the one to get the brunt of his anger instead, but the fact she wouldn't defend her children from that man left a bitter taste all the same.
"I said I'm not going!" Mei struggled a bit to pull away from him, unsuccessfully. "I'm not a pet for you to order around!" She knew this would get her nowhere, but that had never really stopped her, had it...?
Her father scowled, and raised his hand again. "How many times more until you understand?!"
Kazuki had been given a wide pathway as he veered out of the side doors of the hall, outside where the smirky faced Lezard had directed him. He almost didn't see them, Mei half sitting on the ground, hand on her face, but he'd heard the familiar words of Japanese from the older man standing over her. The few seconds that he overheard was enough to touch a sore spot in his chest, an old bitterness at his grandmother's abandonment by his grandfather, however unwilling it had been. The idea that the man would dare strike her, strike any child, made his blood boil. It was one thing to hit someone the same size as you, someone able to defend themselves or fight back. It was another to treat someone half your size as chattel.
Even as he strode with a cold half smile, his light brown eyes darkened by the anger he felt, he saw the man raise his hand again. He wasted no time at all and let the glass in his hand fly true.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope that wasn't dry-clean only." He almost snarled in Japanese as he reached the man.
Mei just stared at the glass, then at the stain left on her father's suit, and then at Kazuki standing there. What... was he doing there? And more importantly why had he just-
Her father remained surprisingly stoic even with the surprise of a glass flying out of nowhere at him, and when he noticed Kazuki's presence - and his sarcastic remark - he released his daughter's arm, and cast a cold glare at the younger man. He looked asian, but not quite asian enough, and with light-colored eyes - probably another half-blood. "And you are?"
"Kami-sama", he said sarcastically as he stopped right next to Mei, turning from him so that he could offer the girl a hand to pull her up. The smile at his lips was cold.
"Are you alright, Sakuragawa-san?" He addressed Mei, pointedly ignoring her father.
She was very obviously perplexed that Kazuki had interrupted. "I--"
"Hiroko," her father called, sternly, as if warning her against ignoring him in favor of the other man. "Do not forget who allows you to stay here."
The words hit her - hard. If he stopped paying the tuition for her, she wouldn't be able to study there anymore, and would have to go back home whether she wanted to or not. That... was the one thing he could've said that would get her to follow him, and she gave Kazuki a small frown, then fell silent.
"Better." He once again took her by the arm, this time forcing her to her feet, pointedly ignoring Kazuki.
Oh hell no. Kazuki was not one to be ignored and the sight of the man's hand on Mei's upper arm, forcing her up was enough to make him lose what little politeness he had left.
"Ah, sorry." He said, switching smoothly over to english even as he "accidentally" left his foot out, catching Mei's father as the older man turned away from him.
Her father eyed Kazuki from the corner of his eye, his expression unchanging. "Oh. You're still here? I hadn't noticed."
Mei's frown deepened, and she gave her father a half-angry, half-pleading look. "Father, please, that's enough..."
"You continue to cross me?" He glared back at her, his grip on her arm tightening.
She flinched, gritting her teeth. "Stop that. Please." The last word was added as an afterthought, as it tended to be. "You're hurting-"
"Please, let's go home," her mother softly intervened, in an attempt to end the discussion. "Others are watching..."
He glared at her this time. "Let them watch. She is my daughter, and I will not allow anyone to interfere with family business. Is that understood, Mr. 'Kami-sama'?" he asked, turning to Kazuki once more.
"Father-"
"Silence."
"But-"
"Silence!" He raised his hand yet again, and this time he wouldn't have a stranger interfere - the slap was swift, landing on top of the redness from the first one. She yelped, and could feel tears welling up from both the pain and the shock of the second impact. What was that for?!
In his head a voice that sounded suspiciously like Morpheus' told him he was going to regret this, but the punch was thrown out even as the slap had sent Mei yelping. Kazuki was not a particularly large man, in fact he was quite thin thanks to years of forgotten meals and long hours but he'd learned in his English prep school the correct ways to beat the crap out of someone. And so the full force of his shoulder was behind the blow as he swung with the full intent to break Mei's father's face. Or at least his nose.
And that did it. What was left of the man's composure was thrown out the window as he responded in kind, if only to put the younger man in his place, and it was only a few moments before the two were throwing punches back and forth.
Mei's mother went to help her daughter at first - a moment of compassion upon noticing that her husband was too busy to notice. She tried to reason with the two men, but her words were either ignored or unheard, and it wasn't until a really large man came out of seemingly nowhere showed up and pried the two apart that they stopped.
"Gentlemen, this is a place for learning, not violence, yes? If you two don't stop I will be forced to throw you both out so you can take it outside, yes?" the man said, rather easily keeping the two men away from one another, one with each arm.
"We are outside", Kazuki snarled at Enma in clipped perfect English even as he glarred at Mei's father who bore a still bleeding nose. His cheek was burning hot where he'd been clipped and it'd probably bruise in the morning. Hell with that, he thought angrily even as he tried to get out of the huge man's grip.
Out of the corner of Kazuki's eye, he caught a glimpse of pale skin and long black hair- Morpheus had arrived.
Enma gave Morpheus a quick nod and a Calm the man down, yes? before letting Kazuki go and turning fully to Mei's father.
"Now, Mr. Sakuragawa, I believe you have overstayed your welcome, yes? Family business as this may be, this campus does not tolerate violence against its students, yes? If you would prefer to keep the police out of this I would suggest that you leave now." He then let go of Mei's father, who cleared his throat and straightened himself in spite of his bleeding face.
"We will talk later, Hiroko," he remarked angrily before taking his unfortunate wife by the arm and walking off, escorted by Enma who wasn't quite willing to risk having the man come back or something. What a total jerk! Poor Mei-chin and her mom.
"I'm fine! And don't fucking start with me!" Kazuki growled at Morpheus' whisperings, the spirit dressed in a standard tuxedo, hair covering his face as his hand rested on Kazuki's arm. Kazuki fumed even as he turned away from the spirit, jerking his arm away (although Morpheus put it back right after).
"Will you be safe to go home? Do you need a professor to stay with? I can call one of the female professors to stay with you. Sharif is free tonight, I know." He made no sign of acknowledging the disheveled look of his clothes or the quickly bruising side of his cheek. Instead, he raised a hand upwards, frowning as he touched Mei's red cheek.
"Ice. Get ice on it. Morpheus!" The spirit left and quickly returned with ice in a cup and a cloth napkin. Kazuki wrapped the ice and held it out to Mei.
Mei tried to say something, but the best she could come up with was a strange hybrid of 'uhh' and 'er', and when he touched her the redness on her cheek got considerably worse (though for other reasons).
Had he really just - okay, he was a total mess, and his own cheek looked like it would bruise, so he definitely had just gotten into a fist fight with her father. For her sake? Why would he - anyone - do that? Maybe there was something else behind it. Probably. ...Most likely.
She took the ice pack but did nothing with it at first, still blinking up at him in shock, and after a few moments of staying that way she put the ice on his cheek instead of hers (whether she'd misunderstood him, not heard him, or was deliberately disobeying was anyone's guess). "Don't get in trouble because of me, Sensei."
He starred at her strangely, almost like the sentence caught him off-guard. Taking the ice from her briskly, he held it back to her face where'd he originally intended.
"Don't talk about shit like that." He muttered almost angrily before turning to Enma. "Watch her. I'll go tell one of the female Professors to come walk her back to her dorm." With an aboutface he turned to stalk off without a backwards glance, menacing as he headed back for the main hall. Morpheus brushed Mei's hair back from where it'd gotten caught by her ice pack before exchanging a non-verbal agreement of some sorts with Enma. The larger spirit moved in protectively even as Morpheus glided smoothly away on long legs to follow Kazuki.
She watched him leave in a bit of confusion before turning to her spirit with a sigh. "Did... I say something wrong?"
Enma shrugged with a puzzled look, himself. Kazuki was one difficult human, that was for su-- oh. Oh no. She was going to--
Oh, that jerk! The least he could do if he was going to meddle was finish the job! But no, stalk off instead, leave the girl to cry. Fine. Fine. He could comfort her just fi-- auuugh he couldn't stand to see a girl cry. Oh, she was so small that he was almost afraid to smother her, but took her in his arms all the same.
"You do not have classes this week, I am informed," he continued, "So you will be going back with me."
Her mother, who had been standing there in shock, trying (futilely) to mediate the fight, gave her a pleading look - she knew all too well who he'd take out his anger on if they fought any more. Still, Mei didn't respond, and her father reached over to pull her to her feet in frustration. "You are coming."
She flinched at just how strong his grip was - when had he gotten this violent? Did something happen after she left? And if it had, and he was this angry, then going home-- "No."
"What?" He gave her a glare, and her mother turned away, not wanting to look at it any longer. Her mother - Mei knew that if she said anything she would be the one to get the brunt of his anger instead, but the fact she wouldn't defend her children from that man left a bitter taste all the same.
"I said I'm not going!" Mei struggled a bit to pull away from him, unsuccessfully. "I'm not a pet for you to order around!" She knew this would get her nowhere, but that had never really stopped her, had it...?
Her father scowled, and raised his hand again. "How many times more until you understand?!"
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Even as he strode with a cold half smile, his light brown eyes darkened by the anger he felt, he saw the man raise his hand again. He wasted no time at all and let the glass in his hand fly true.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope that wasn't dry-clean only." He almost snarled in Japanese as he reached the man.
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Her father remained surprisingly stoic even with the surprise of a glass flying out of nowhere at him, and when he noticed Kazuki's presence - and his sarcastic remark - he released his daughter's arm, and cast a cold glare at the younger man. He looked asian, but not quite asian enough, and with light-colored eyes - probably another half-blood. "And you are?"
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"Are you alright, Sakuragawa-san?" He addressed Mei, pointedly ignoring her father.
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"Hiroko," her father called, sternly, as if warning her against ignoring him in favor of the other man. "Do not forget who allows you to stay here."
The words hit her - hard. If he stopped paying the tuition for her, she wouldn't be able to study there anymore, and would have to go back home whether she wanted to or not. That... was the one thing he could've said that would get her to follow him, and she gave Kazuki a small frown, then fell silent.
"Better." He once again took her by the arm, this time forcing her to her feet, pointedly ignoring Kazuki.
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"Ah, sorry." He said, switching smoothly over to english even as he "accidentally" left his foot out, catching Mei's father as the older man turned away from him.
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Mei's frown deepened, and she gave her father a half-angry, half-pleading look. "Father, please, that's enough..."
"You continue to cross me?" He glared back at her, his grip on her arm tightening.
She flinched, gritting her teeth. "Stop that. Please." The last word was added as an afterthought, as it tended to be. "You're hurting-"
"Please, let's go home," her mother softly intervened, in an attempt to end the discussion. "Others are watching..."
He glared at her this time. "Let them watch. She is my daughter, and I will not allow anyone to interfere with family business. Is that understood, Mr. 'Kami-sama'?" he asked, turning to Kazuki once more.
"Father-"
"Silence."
"But-"
"Silence!" He raised his hand yet again, and this time he wouldn't have a stranger interfere - the slap was swift, landing on top of the redness from the first one. She yelped, and could feel tears welling up from both the pain and the shock of the second impact. What was that for?!
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Mei's mother went to help her daughter at first - a moment of compassion upon noticing that her husband was too busy to notice. She tried to reason with the two men, but her words were either ignored or unheard, and it wasn't until a really large man came out of seemingly nowhere showed up and pried the two apart that they stopped.
"Gentlemen, this is a place for learning, not violence, yes? If you two don't stop I will be forced to throw you both out so you can take it outside, yes?" the man said, rather easily keeping the two men away from one another, one with each arm.
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Out of the corner of Kazuki's eye, he caught a glimpse of pale skin and long black hair- Morpheus had arrived.
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Enma gave Morpheus a quick nod and a Calm the man down, yes? before letting Kazuki go and turning fully to Mei's father.
"Now, Mr. Sakuragawa, I believe you have overstayed your welcome, yes? Family business as this may be, this campus does not tolerate violence against its students, yes? If you would prefer to keep the police out of this I would suggest that you leave now." He then let go of Mei's father, who cleared his throat and straightened himself in spite of his bleeding face.
"We will talk later, Hiroko," he remarked angrily before taking his unfortunate wife by the arm and walking off, escorted by Enma who wasn't quite willing to risk having the man come back or something. What a total jerk! Poor Mei-chin and her mom.
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"Will you be safe to go home? Do you need a professor to stay with? I can call one of the female professors to stay with you. Sharif is free tonight, I know." He made no sign of acknowledging the disheveled look of his clothes or the quickly bruising side of his cheek. Instead, he raised a hand upwards, frowning as he touched Mei's red cheek.
"Ice. Get ice on it. Morpheus!" The spirit left and quickly returned with ice in a cup and a cloth napkin. Kazuki wrapped the ice and held it out to Mei.
"Hold it on your cheek."
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Had he really just - okay, he was a total mess, and his own cheek looked like it would bruise, so he definitely had just gotten into a fist fight with her father. For her sake? Why would he - anyone - do that? Maybe there was something else behind it. Probably. ...Most likely.
She took the ice pack but did nothing with it at first, still blinking up at him in shock, and after a few moments of staying that way she put the ice on his cheek instead of hers (whether she'd misunderstood him, not heard him, or was deliberately disobeying was anyone's guess). "Don't get in trouble because of me, Sensei."
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"Don't talk about shit like that." He muttered almost angrily before turning to Enma. "Watch her. I'll go tell one of the female Professors to come walk her back to her dorm." With an aboutface he turned to stalk off without a backwards glance, menacing as he headed back for the main hall. Morpheus brushed Mei's hair back from where it'd gotten caught by her ice pack before exchanging a non-verbal agreement of some sorts with Enma. The larger spirit moved in protectively even as Morpheus glided smoothly away on long legs to follow Kazuki.
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Enma shrugged with a puzzled look, himself. Kazuki was one difficult human, that was for su-- oh. Oh no. She was going to--
Oh, that jerk! The least he could do if he was going to meddle was finish the job! But no, stalk off instead, leave the girl to cry. Fine. Fine. He could comfort her just fi-- auuugh he couldn't stand to see a girl cry. Oh, she was so small that he was almost afraid to smother her, but took her in his arms all the same.
Jerks, all of them. Poor girl.
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