Everday Katsu Life: Kick the Can [Open]

It was one of those days. Class hard just let out and for once Katsu! didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day. Wearing his school uniform, and his usual yellow and black cap, he'd be making his way out the front doors of the Academy and heading down the path towards the front gates. People ran past him, gossiping and speeding home to work on homework. Others were just socializing about random things that happened in their day. It seemed the fact a pop star was going to school with them finally became moot, and the young Katsu! was no longer being bombarded by his fellow classmates. Though someone would be upset by this, he had a toothy grin on his face. This meant more free time to be "himself" though in reality no one really saw the real Katsu!. As he continued down the pathway, he'd be playing with his cellphone while giving a few giggles to himself. However, soon something caused him to stop in his tracks. Taking a step forward, he felt it. Yes, he felt his foot hit something solid, yet easily movable. Looking down with his round amber eyes, he saw a can rolling across the pavement. His toothy grin became even toothier as he pressed his cellphone in his blazer and let out a loud laughter. "Hahaha! The Demon Lord has placed a curse on this area, and the only way for our hero, VINCENTUU, to break it is by playing a game of LIFE or DEATH!" Katsu! flipped onto his hands and then did an over dramatic dive tackle towards the can. Flailing his legs, he'd kick it into the air and hop to his feet. Before it'd hit the ground, he'd catch it with a firm grip and give a wide grin. "YOSH! Kick the Can!!!" Students walking by would simply stare at his with confused eyes. Who could blame them? He was being over enthusiastic about a can. However, his amber eyes began to search the area for any potential players for the manliest game of all time.

Lorielle yawned as she approached the doors to the courtyard of the school. Finally, being a good day to end school on. she could not wait to get home, she actually had something to do, namely, ignoring her homework for a nice dose of sleep. She really needs to start doing her assignments, as her grades were barely hitting average. What did she even want to do? Too many questions, she practically needed something to take her mind off of it. She would continue to walk down the walkway to the gates, though stopping to hear quite an exaggerated laughter. And in fact, the voice was a bit familiar. She would walk, a bit hastily towards the source of it, which happened to be none other than KatsuKatsu!. 'The celebrity goes here too?! Is he even that old?' she thought, practically out loud. Her face could hardly hide it, she was more than surprised to see the big celebrity at Kizuna Academy. The boy didn't even look puberty-worthy and he goes here?

Lorielle would shake her head, trying to get over the cold hard fact that this boy was probably around her age. He may not have looked that young, but he was a bit on the shorter side, so that just seemed to overshadow everything else. She really hasn't seen anyone at school as short as he was. After getting her head straight, she would hear him challenge a game that meant "life or death". It sounded a bit serious, though given Katsu, she may not really expect that from him. He didn't seem to give off the cold-hearted image that others mi-'And it's Kick the Can...' she thought, nodding as if fully expecting that. Though once he stopped, a smile would spread onto her face. The bo-student; she would never get over that, really knew how to entertain and be fun, something that Lorielle admired in a strange way. She would make a step or two closer to Katsu and wave out at him. "Hoy! I'll play!" she would call out to him.

Class was a killer. Gabby hated sitting in a room all day with nothing to do but stare up at a teacher giving them a lecture on something she already understood. It was just turning out to be one of those days where she wanted to do nothing but go home early. Maybe fry up some tuna and go to bed right after finishing her homework. Yeah, tonight was going to be qui- Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice yelling, babbling like a prepubescent child. To her horror, she looked up to see Katsu! She couldn’t believe that school had just gotten out and he was already up to something. Why didn’t he just go to a private school or have on set tutoring like normal celebrities? Her plan was to ignore him and just walk past. She had already been dragged into one of his shenanigans, and she wasn’t ready to be pulled into another. Besides, no one over the age of ten played kick the can.

And then her thoughts were interrupted again by another familiar voice. She looked at the girl who had just volunteered, “Lori, you go to school here too?” She didn’t realize it until she had already spoken, but the volume that her words came out was loud enough to be heard from quite the distance away. She was just in too much shock to be any quieter. What was it about these two that kept making her run into them? Lori, she didn’t mind at all, but Katsu!... Her mind slipped into a wicked thought. She leaned her bag against a nearby tree and rushed over to where Katsu! was, “I’m a servant of the Demon Lord, and you will not break his curse.” Before she spoke, she had made sure her face was well enough hidden so any random onlookers wouldn’t be able to tell who she was. Though all she cared about right now was beating Katsu! at whatever game he was playing. It was becoming a sort of hobby for her. She then looked at Lori, “As for you, miss, I suggest you join me. Joining this lunatic will only bring demise for you both.” She had never been this bold before. Maybe her new hobby wasn’t such a bad thing. It was certainly embarrassing though.

"N-Nani?!" The round eyed boy would look at the two females he had recent ran into for a commercial. Putting a hand on his hip and placing the other on his cheek, he'd give a curious expression. "Don't tell Katsu! Katsu!, that you're following Katsu! Katsu!, Mmm! St-Stalkers after my chastity?!" The spontaneous boy would cover himself with his arms as his face lit red. Suddenly he turned his back to the females while crossing his arms. A low chuckle came from his lips as he looked over his shoulder with a grave expression. "You've done quite well to make it this far, but this is where your journey ends...!" Did he just switch characters like that? Turning back to the two of them, Katsu! would throw his arms up behind his head and shift his weight to his left foot. "Annnooo.. Kick the Can is a very intense game for the manliest of men, ya know? Maybe we should make some ground rules before playing, Mm? Liiike no hits below the belt or eye gouging! That sounds good for round one!" What kind of game was this?! It seemed more like a death match than an actual game high schoolers should be playing during their free time. And even though Katsu! was saying such violent things, that innocent childlike grin never left his face. "Hummm, but this is no fair. Katsu! Katsu! can't hit girls. I wish we had one more guy so we could split up the teams evenly!" He suddenly got a grave expression upon his face once again. "The Demon Lord seems out to get me, but I shall not lose to him and his evil deeds!"

Well. Well, well, well, well, well. Things were certainly interesting about Katsu! Katsu!. Kurei Katsuro, pop idol, up and coming actor, notorious daydreamer, and the instigator for the Satoshi Massacre. Well, the last wasn't his fault entirely. And though it was called a 'massacre,' she hadn't read that many people had gotten hurt. Just forced people to go to a different town for a while. Kinda like that other famous one in America. It was something equally as catchy. Masstitcusits Massacre? Something like that.

Nanami Himura came out of the school with 'dossier' in hand, and not really paying attention to what was going on around her when she heard something that caught her ears. A set of familiar words, cried triumphantly with a familiar voice. 'The Demon Lord.' And suddenly, that dossier wasn't really that important anymore.

"Hey Vincent!" Ma'ar Silverwind called out to her screen buddy, opening her worn out bag and shoving the two pages into it as she looked about the area. It didn't really matter if they got crumpled or torn or what. She had the information on her jump drive. She could always retrieve it later. The healer spotted him and two others and trotted over as she latched her bag closed, eyeing the girls. "Agents of the Demon Lord?" she asked, grinning though her tone was serious. "If so, they shall not best me!" She took a defiant stance, shifting most of her weight to her left leg as she cocked her body sideways, hands curled very loosely into fists before her.

She would prepare for the sudden giving of the rules, if there were even rules to 'Kick the Can', when along called a familiar voice call out, which actually sounded close by. She would turn to see Gabby, who turned out to be a distance from the two. It caught her off guard, her shout was quite noticeable. She would turn her attention to Gabby and wave as she ran over. Though she would run past her to Katsu! missing her entirely. She was happy to see Gabby. She may have been able to guess she went to Kizuna Academy. Though her train of thought would be broken when she started speaking in a very...over the top kind of fashion. She would then look at Lorielle asking her to join her. "Birds of a feather dear madam," she would say, before moving up to her looking at Katsu. She would be ready for this intense game. "Rules good sir!" she would call out, a bit embarrassingly actually. But if everyone was doing it, who was she to judge?

She would listen to his simple, yet fairly obvious rule and nod. "Alright then, but breaking bones is fine though?" she would say giving a laugh. She found it a bit cute how the boy didn't want to hit the girls. Wait....since when does 'Kick the Can' involve hitting? 'This is gonna be rough...' she said. Normally she would back out, but this was just a silly game. Plus, she had to mess with Katsu's head some more. In any case, being hit by a boy was just a thing, something that should just be accepted and move on when it is necessary and move on, and this obviously epic game would be no exception. "Go for it. Hit me if you have to. I don't bite too hard," she would say, recalling Katsu's words on the stage that day. She would prepare herself, soon seeing another girl that she did not know walk by, and issue a challenge. Lorielle would point at her with a grin. "New challenger!" she would shout  before pulling her arm back, at the ready for the game.

“They must stick together.” Gabby would comment after Lori’s first statement to her, “Good to see you’re on the right side.” She waited to hear the rules of a usually ruleless and simple game. After hearing them, she couldn’t help but tilt her head in confusion. Those were very basic and simple rules. She didn’t even think they applied to kick the can. Unless ‘kick’ suddenly meant ‘stab with’. As if Lori had a similar thought upon hearing the rules, she spoke up and Gabby laughed.

Hearing Katsu!’s concern about the uneven teams, and about not hitting women, Gabby smiled, “What do you expect? We’re serving a Demon Lord. Fairness is overrated.” She had to learn to stop thinking in absolutes, because as soon as she said that, another woman walked over and seemed to join Katsu!, “Well, she’s definitely female, but that evens the teams out. Is that good enough for you?” For once she brought her hat higher so it didn’t cover her eyes, “If not, just think of me as a guy." She certainly looked like one, "I won’t get angry if you hit me.” She dropped her hands to her knees, like she had seen some football/soccer players do. She didn’t know how practical it was for kick the can though. ‘But don’t expect that I won’t hit you back.’ She thought afterwards.

W-what was going on here? When did the manliest sport of kick the can become a chick magnet?! Well Katsu! couldn't complain cause this was turning into a harem! The young pop idol gave a goofy grin as he began to daydream about it. The first day dream was of Loreal, hohoho! "Katsu-kun, let's have fun right here~ Oh but Loreal-senpai, people are near! No not hereeee, Bwheheh~" The perverted celebrity went to the next scenario, this time thinking of Gabby. In this scenario she was wearing a female academy uniform. "H-How do I look, Katsu-kun? I know you wouldn't want someone so androgynous like me, when there are much prettier girls. No way, Gabby-chan! Katsu! Katsu! likes you the way you are. You're totally beautiful! *smooch smooch smooch* Bwheheh!" He giggled to himself as he continued to fantasy in his mind. "Nanami-chan, I need you to act sexy for me! Oh, really, Katsu-kun? I-Is this okay? Oh yes, Nanami-chan, prize shot sexiness! Bwehehe~" Little did Katsu! know throughout all of these day dreams, he was actually talking out loud, revealing each scenario back to back. Snapping back to reality the young boy would give a wink towards the girls while wagging a finger. "Okah! So it's going to be us, the Lone warriors of Wutai versus the terrorizing lieutenants of the Demon Lord's army! And Loreal and Gabby-chan, Katsu! Katsu! would never hurt you~ Though if Loreal-chan and Gabby-chan are a masochists, Katsu! will bite hard!" The enthusiastic boy pumped his arms and gave a wide grin. With this all done, he'd reach into his pocket and remove a 1 Yen coin. "Okay! Heads, you guys protect the can first. Tails, we do! Just incase you don't know the objective of this game, let me tell ya! One team must protect the can from getting kicked by the other team by any means necessary. However, the team can not move the can themselves and can only protect it, Mm! The team that can protect the can the longest wins!" With the rules spoken, Katsu flipped the coin in the air and let it fall towards the pavement below. Depending on how it landed would determine who was playing what side the first round of the game.

Random number (1,2) :

2

1 - Heads

2 - Tails

Nanami blushed at Katsu's words. She wasn't going to pose for him, no way! And when did kick the can turn so violent?! "Woah, woah, woah, can we agree to no hitting?!? I'm not going to pose for you Katsu and I'm not going to hit people!" She backed down, uncurling her hands and holding them in a non-threatening posture. Mostly, in a posture of surrender. "Can we sit and talk about this? A nonviolent way of stopping people?" She had never really played kick the can, and the way she played it was by freezing people by touching them. She looked to Katsu and whimpered a bit when she saw that they were going to be protecting the can first. She wasn't sure that she could do it. She was panicking a little bit. What was she going to do?

Lorielle would smile, nodding at Gabby before turning to Katsu and the other girl, ready for battle. She was concentrated and read to go, until Katsu seemed to act quite like a...."Perv!" she would shout out to him. There was no way he didn't mean what she was thinking. But the worst part was, if he was not, then Lorielle would be the perverted one. In spite of herself, she would laugh at Katsu, eager to meet his challenge. "There's plenty of rooms Mr. Katsu!" she would say, moving her hand to her face, and flattening it so it was level with her chin, as if blowing a kiss to Katsu. Though she would see the girl next to him not take hers as smoothly as Lori did, turning into a noticeable shade of red. She would give her a smile, trying to convey as much sympathy as possible, in case she had never seen this particular part of Katsu. Because if there was any doubt that Katsu may have been an old man inside, here it was confirmed, along with the fact that he is far from subtle.

And he was still going! The boy was almost intimidating in how he does not even try to hide his flirting. 'Does he even mean what he says? Should I even question that?' she thought. She was about to respond with some fun comment back, but her moment came too quickly and left too quickly as Katsu pulled out a coin, explaining who was heads and who was tails. They would have to g for the can if tails, and defend it if it was heads. The whole time as the coin was flipping, she was hoping for tails, so as to not try to defend the can with her toothpick of a body. Luck would end up being on her side as it landed on tails, casing her to give a small fist pump of victory into the air. Lorielle would get ready, looking at the girl in the process who was now panicking. "Hey, don't worry! No weapons!" she said giving an evil sort of grin. 'Am I having too much fun...?' she pondered. She would wait till Gabby was ready, and when she was, she would charge to Katsu and the girl, ready to swindle the can from the evil warriors of Wutai.

For a split second, Gabby was honestly worried about Katsu! She wondered if he was suffering from severe delayed head trauma from being dropped on his head as a baby. It was actually a terrifying thought. Her worry ended very quickly though when he started voicing his fantasies out loud. Her face turned bright read and she hid it again. She looked at the girl who had decided to be on Katsu!’s team, “Do you want to join us, because I’m worried for your safety now.” How anyone could have as many disturbing thoughts as he did, she was unaware. All she knew was that he needed professional help. As for being a masochist, she was definitely not one.

As the coin came up tails, she smiled and whispered, “Hey, Lori, think two lieutenants of the Demon Lord can steal a can away from those two Wutai warriors?” She laughed after the statement. She then nudged her head toward them. It was her way of saying ‘let’s kick their butts’. As if on cue, only moments later, Lori was charging the two head on. Maybe they should have discussed a plan before the battle had begun. Gabby thought Lori’s strategy was a bit brutish, but she at least had a strategy. As for her, she had a different plan. She wouldn’t run at them straight on. Instead she would try to sneak around them, and catch them off guard so either she or Lori could steal the can while they were distracted by the two girls coming at them from different sides.