RPG Of Cats and Dogs [PG-LS, maybe some V]

[Onix]

Zeos was not pleased. He was not pleased at having nearly been expelled from his school. He was not pleased at being forced into a union with his arch-rivals, the Stray Dogs, particularly their leader, Inuki. He was not pleased at losing in House of the Dead III. He was not pleased at tying with Inuki at KoF 2002. He was not pleased at not being able to punch Inuki's face in. Least of all, he was not pleased at being woken up from his pieceful slumber by the sound of drums. Loud ones. Off-tempo. "Kimi!" he roared. The drums stopped immediately, and a squeak could be heard. "[I]G-Gomen, Nii-chan[/I]!" she called. "Keep it down and on-tempo, okay!" he replied. "H...Hai! The drums started up again a few moments later, quieter, but still off beat. Only slightly, though. Zeos tried pressing his pillow against his ears, but that didn't work. Neither did locking the door, shutting the window, or putting on headphones. [I]Kuso...[/I] Slowly, reluctantly, he got up off his bed and staggered out of his room, grabbing his leather jacket off the coat rack and slipping on his shoes. "Kimi! I'm going out!" "Okay!" Her tempo was almost right as he shut the door. Maybe she'd have it by the time he returned...if he was lucky. Or took long enough. Or became tone deaf. Any of those options would be good. Well, not the tone deaf one. That'd make it rather hard to sing. A loud rustling attracted his attention as he stepped into the fairly empty street. Looking around, he saw a figure emerge from the shadows of an alley. Inuki. "Come back for some more punishment, eh?" Zeos snarled, smirking slightly. "[I]Urusai[/I]..." Inuki said coldly, all but ignoring the Wild Cat. "What are you doing around here, Mutt?" "I said, be quiet." "Fine. Be surly and secretive." "I will." "Fine." "Good." "Yeah." The two stood in uneasy silence. Inuki seemed focused on one direction, Zeos staring intently at the other. The tense silence grew and grew, only broken by the occasional stacatto beat of Kimi's drums. Zeos slowly gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, growing angry at the standoffish Stray Dog. "That's it! I'm...outta here. Have fun doing nothing, Mutt," Zeos shouted. [I]I'll go to Bunto's,[/I] Zeos thought. [I]That should be easy. Maybe he can settle my nerves...[/I]

[COLOR=SlateGray][SIZE=1]And lo, of Cats and Dogs begins. Have fun, introduce your characters, and try to not cause too much of a ruckuss...yet. There will be plenty of time for fighting, arguing, and meeting rivals soon. But, for now, let's keep it a little on the calm side...but not TOO calm, of course.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Sakura]

[color=Navy]Sakura sat in her swivel chair at her rosewood desk as she tapped her foot on the floorboards, she was gnawing on the corner of her bottom lip as she dreaded when her father got home. He was a pretty easy guy and let her go out, play in the band, be in the gang, etc. as long as she didn't get into any serious trouble. Herself, the rest of the Stray Dogs and the members of their rival gang, the Wild Cats had almost been expelled from school. And now they had to make a truce of some kind and play in a band together.

Sakura heard the sound of a car pull into the driveway and the quiet grinding noise as the automatic door to the garage lifted. She took a deep breath and stood, exiting her bedroom. Her father had been away on a conference for a while and didn't know anything about her almost being expelled.

As Sakura walked along the hall and down the stairs, she noticed how much she loved her house, the floor was all polished oak floorboards, the walls were all creamy white except in her room and her father's. The walls in her room were a navy blue colour, her father's were crimson. She had pretty much everything she had asked for, since her father had a lot of money, working for a well paying surgery as one of the head doctors and surgeons. She never noticed how well of a life she lived.

The door rattling as her father opened it, snapped her from her reverie. Sakura stood in the hall and waited as it swung open.

[b]"Tadaima." [/b]he said as he slipped his shoes off.

[b]"'Tou-san, okaerinasai." [/b]Sakura said, putting on a half fake smile.

[b]"Sakura, daijoubu desuka?[/b]" he asked, sensing something was wrong.

[b]"Ano.....we need to talk." [/b]Sakura said nervously.

Sakura and her father sat in the lounge room, he took the maroon velvet recliner, while Sakura sat on the matching sofa. She turned so she was facing him and told him about what happened. When she finished he looked angry and Sakura prepared herself.

[b]"I really don't approve, Sakura. You used to be such a good student before you joined that gang, what are they called, the Street Dags?" [/b]he guessed.

[b]"The Stray Dogs, 'tou-san." [/b]Sakura sighed.

[b]"Hai, hai. I'll let you off this one time, only because you've kept up your work so far until now. But if I hear of anything like this again, I [i]will [/i]ground you, and I [i]will [/i]make you quit the band and gang." [/b]he said firmly.

[b]"Hai, gomen-nasai, arigatou." [/b]Sakura said, sensing the dismissal.

He nodded and Sakura went back upstairs and flopped on her king sized bed. She heard her cell phone ring and pulled it out of her pocket. She flipped it open.

[b]"Hai, Sakura here." [/b]she sighed.

[b]"Sakura, daijoubu?" [/b]the voice asked.

Sakura smiled, the second person to ask if she was alright.

[b]"Hai, daijoubu Jin, just told 'tou-san about almost being expelled."[/b] she replied to her fellow gang member.

[b]"How'd it go?" [/b]he asked.

[b]"Not too bad, he's threatened to make me leave the gang and band if I get expelled or close to it." [/b]

[b]"Sou...Not too bad at least..." [/b]

[b]"So, what's up?" [/b]Sakura asked Jin.

[b]"Uh, do you know if we're having rehearsal tonight? I didn't write the schedule and I can't contact Inuki at the moment."

"Matte." [/b]she said, getting off the bed and searching through the drawer at her desk. She pulled out a piece of paper with times and dates written on it in her writing.

[b]"Today's date is off the schedule, we need it updated. If Inuki calls, I'll let you know. Same for you?" [/b]Sakura asked, scrunching the paper into a ball and throwing it into the bin.

[b]"Of course. Arigatou, ja."

"Ja." [/b]they both hung up at the same time and Sakura fell into the swivel chair and picked her electric guitar up, resting it on her lap. She put the fingers of her left hand on the finger board and strummed one of her favourite songs, humming along quietly.

[b][color=Black]OOC: [/color][/b][color=Black]Hope that's ok, Starrstruck. If you want me to edit let me know. Couldn't really think of much to write.[/color]
[/color]

[Pumpkin]

[CENTER]

[SIZE=1]Michiko had got up early for school as usual, or so she thought. She was actually late by almost a half an hour, which is rare for someone who has always been on time and got the best grades. Michiko picked up her bag and began to run to school, when she passed someone she knew. She stopped. [b]"Ohio Senpai"[/b] she said while bowing to Kagami Imi, of the Wild Cats. She looked frustrated but gave Michiko a friendly wave. [b]"What seems to be the trouble? Why are you running?"[/b] she asked but she didn't seem to be paying much attention. [b]"Um..I'm late for school. What about you?"[/b] asked Michi but she already knew the anwser. [b]"Mind if I walk with you? We're late anyways, might as well have some company"[/b]muttered Imi, she had her bag slung over her shoulder and looked as if she wished she could sleep in some more. She muttered some words under her breath while Michiko was too happy to have someone to walk with to school. She felt like a kid again. [b]"How come your so happy going all the time Michi? I don't see how you do it, argh."[/b]asked an annoyed Imi, it must have been a rough mourning for her. [b]"Eh? I don't know what you mean?"[/b]replied Michiko, she was clueless as always. [b]"Nevermind..."[/b] exclaimed Imi, she didn't feel like talking much anyways. Michiko and Imi finally reached the school grounds. [b]"Well this is it...see yeah around"[/b] said Imi walking away with a wave. Michiko admired Imi for her courage, for she could never be as brave as her. She hoped one day she would fit in with the Wild Cats.

[/SIZE][/CENTER]

[CENTER][b][SIZE=1]OOC : I hope this was alright, I tried to fit Imi's personality from her profile in the signs ups, if I need to change anything just tell me. [/b][/SIZE][/CENTER]

[Ezekiel]

[SIZE=1][B]OOC: You got Imi down excellently, but she isn't leader of the Wild Cats. That place belongs to Zoes.[/B]

Imi sighed as she walked into class, ignoring the disgruntled look from her teacher, and slung her bag on the desk with a loud 'thud!?
[B]"Kagami-chan, so good of you to-"
"Kagami-[I]san[/I], sensei, I prefer 'san'."[/B]

The girl sat down and knocked her bag off the desk after taking out her notebook, blowing some hair out of her eyes before looking up impatiently, [B]"Please, continue."[/B]

The teacher stood there, shocked for a moment before blushing with anger and turning around to the board, carrying on with the lesson. Imi smirked to herself and started taking notes, while she was an arrogant and overly confident student who frightened a good majority of the teachers, she was in actual fact a hard worker and a very intelligent one at that.

Teachers knew by now that, on a bad day, Imi would come in late and act very commanding before settling down. There was no point in giving the gang member a detention or sending her out the room, she'd just ignore them anyway.

Eventually, Imi's thoughts drifted to Michiko and she sighed inwardly. The girl was a bit ditzy, yes, maybe had her head in the clouds a little too much.... but she did seem like a good kid who could actually help the gang in the long run. She'd just need a little...fine tweaking.

While Imi was not the strongest or the wisest or the leader of the Wild Cats, she held a great deal of influence over the whole situation. She seemed to be able to bend Zoes' will to suit her own needs. The reason for this she didn't know, but as long as it didn't change, the teen didn't much care.

She then thought of Raidon, someone who she got on with surprisingly well. Both seemed to be rather quiet at times, and serious...with a terrible tendency to explode when angry. Also, he was a hard worker who agreed with most of Imi's ideas, and visa-versa. They had both decided that it would be a good idea to get the Cats out, away from the town for a day...and most of all, get Zoes away from Inuki because if they weren't careful, one of them would be ending up in hospital soon enough.

Of course, neither Imi nor Raidon were too keen on telling their gracious leader their plans as his heart was set on the arcade for the whole weekend, spending all his money (and even some of Bunto's) and trying to beat that damn game. Yes, it was definitely time for the Tiger to take a break.

As the lesson went on, Imi slipped back into reality and didn't think much about the Wild Cats, but one thing did seem to resurface in her mind....Inuki. Something about him frightened and intrigued her at the same time and before long, Imi's subconscious had made the definite decision to pay the Stray Dog a visit.

[B]OOC: Bah, you know me, I like a bit of a plot twist. =)[/B][/SIZE]

[JJ]

[Size=1]Taiki was bored. No, wait, he was tired and bored. It wasn?t a good combination for it being only seven at night. He had left band practice at the regular time, but someone on the way home distracted him, and so he didn?t actually get home until closer to seven anyway. His sister had been waiting in her PJs again, and Taiki had brought her a new plush that she had seen the day before in a store window.

Taiki knew her shouldn?t spoil her so much, but he just sometimes couldn?t help it. She always had a smile on her face, and only cried when the situation seemed necessary. Taiki loved her to death, and if, no, when, she died, he wouldn?t be the same. Thoughts like that seemed the farthest thing possible from his mind as he picked her up and hugged her.

It had seemed like this had become a ritual since the band had started up. It was something Taiki treasured. Another thought hit him, what would happen when she died? Would he still expect to see her smiling face at the top of the stairs? Would he open his arms and pick up an imaginary girl and hug her?

Taiki shook that thought off to as he picked up the phone. He needed to hear the voice of someone before he went crazy. He dialed in the number, and waited for the other end to pick up.

?Hello??

?Hey, Tsutomu, it?s Taiki, you planning on going to school tomorrow?? Taiki said, turning the phone cord in his hand.

?Yeah, probably, why??

?Well, I wanted to take my sister out for the day. I was wondering if you wanted to come along.?

?I?m not positive. How?re our attendance records anyway??

?Like I know.? Taiki said, rolling his eyes.

?Look, I?ll check it out and call you back later, ?kay??

?Sure.? Taiki said, hanging up the phone. His mother probably wouldn?t approve of it, but he knew that she wouldn?t object either. Or at least, that was his plan.

He walked down the hall to his mother?s office and knocked on the door. ?Mama can I take Yukicho out tomorrow??

?You got school?? She asked, swiveling around in her chair.

?Maybe, but it?s a Friday, and I?m not missing anything important.? Taiki said, quickly covering his tracks.

?You?d better not be using this as an excuse to get out of a test.? His mother said, looking at him. ?I?m not covering for you this time. You?re on your own.?

Taiki just smiled and gave his mother a hug. ?No worries. You want anything, I?m gonna go for a walk??

?Sure, pick up some milk, please.? His mother said, handing him a bill. ?I?m not expecting perfect change, but please keep in mind where the money came from.?

Taiki smiled, took the bill, and headed towards the door. He grabbed his jacket, and opened the door. He shut it quietly, and walked down the stairs. The light night air always had something in it that made Taiki calm.

He passed his favorite signpost that he had decorated when he was younger. It had a sticker asking about Peace. The message wasn?t important, but the picture was always funny. A pig running from a human. Taiki chuckled, and entered the store.

He picked up the milk and headed back home. Before he opened the door to the apartment, he took one last deep breath, and entered. Taiki loved the night air.[/size]

OOC: I hope everything?s OK in the ?using Tsumotu? department MistressRoxie.

[Ozymandius Jones]

[B][I]First came the drums...[/I][/B]

Raidon lay flat on his back on his bed, his bass across his stomach. Right on cue, the machine-gun-fast beat came pounding from his stereo. He'd spent most of his paycheck - most of many, many months' paychecks - on a stereo system that rivaled that in the school auditorium. The drums sounded as if Kimi - albiet a much more on-tempo Kimi - were right in the room.

[I][B]Piano and bass start at exactly the same time.[/B] [/I]

His eyes still closed, he listened for that millisecond of piano, hitting the bass strings the second the player's fingers hit the keyes. The second the piano began, the bass [i]roared[/i].

The tune was deceptively simple; highly repetative and easy at first. The skill was keeping it [i]exactly[/i] in time with the piano. Which he did - for all of thirty seconds. Then the piano sped up - and he hit the wrong chord. As was often the case, he was instantly lost. He growled, grabbing for the remote. It wasn't where he left it. His eyes snapped open just in time for him to see his half-brother run out of his bedroom, laughing like a maniac and clutching the stereo's remote. He sighed.

[B]"Bring it back when you're done doing whatever stupid thing you need it for!"[/B] With the remote gone, he just stayed on his back, staring at the ceiling. The stereo shuffled itself, and - as if to mock him - stopped on "Bungle in the Jungle." He growled again. He didn't really [i]want[/i] to think about tigers...not when he was trying to relax.

Work had been a nightmare. He was a messenger for a local office, running papers here and there on his bike. He'd been trying to figure out the best way to get Zeos out of town, rode right into the middle of an intersection and missed getting hit by a car. He hadn't told anyone. He needed this job. The close encounter, however, had left him tense. Imi's "Get Zeos Out Of Town" plan only added to the tension. He glanced at the clock. Still an hour or so away from practice.

[B]"...bored..."[/B]

[4815162342]

[COLOR=Indigo][I]Act Fifth

Scene 1

The King's camp near Shrewsbury

Enter the King, the Prince of Wales, Lord John of Lancaster, Sir Walter Blunt, and Falstaff.

King: How bloodily the sun begins to peer
Above yon Busky...[/I]

[B][I]"Is that even a word?" [/I][/B] Jin rolled off his bed and grabbed his dictionary from his desk. Flipping through it he came upon the definition.

[I]Busky: Old English for "Bushy"

[B]"Heh. Wonder why they didn't say that in the first place..." [/B][/I] He picked up his book and still reading headed towards the kitchen.

[I]Above yon busky hill! The day looks pale
At his distemperature.[/I]

[B]"His...what?"[/B] He dashed off towards his room again, picking up the dictionary and heading towards the kitchen once more, knocking over the hall table as he did so.

[B][I]"Ah. His...disordered condition...?"[/I][/B] Jin rubbed his hand accross his eyes. He'd been reading "King Henry IV Part I" since he'd gotten home from school. The only reason he was allowed to stay by himself was if he kept his grades up. It worked out well for him and his family. He didn't destroy the house and blow his top at his five younger siblings, that was the benefit his parents got, and he got his own place, his benefit.

He grabbed a soda out of the fridge and threw his book onto his bed before grabbing his jacket and heading out the door. He decided it would be a good thing to see if his boss had a job for him helping other people move...[/COLOR]

[Revelation]

Absentmindedly, Inuki began to walk down the road opposite of the Cat?s path path. He took out his cigarette and lit it as he walked down the road, walking where his feet would lead him. The puffs were sweet and delicious, making him crave for more, just asking him to finish it, to kill it off and take another. Just as he came to his bike, the phone rang and he picked it up after the third ring. ?What?? His voice was cold, almost threatening, though it had a hint of warning within it. ?It?s Jin. Are we having rehearsal today or what?? Inuki checked his watch before answering. ?Tell everyone to meet in three hours. Regular place.? ?Arigatou, ja ne.? Hanging up, Inuki placed his phone back into his pocket and put on his helmet. He then seated himself on top of the bike and rode off, leaving a trail of dust behind him. He wasn?t keen on the fact that he now has to cope with the Stray Cats and create one band, nor was he keen on the fact that Uchiyama and he must fight to gain place as Lead singer. [i]Iie, I won?t allow that to happen. Not while I?m standing.[/i]

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]^.^ - you're doing fine. (I'm not precisely certain of what I'm doing myself so even if you screwed up Tsutomu, I wouldn't mind. lol) I hope I'm doing okay with your character. [/color]

[size=1][color=blue]He added a few last scribbles to the paper, then looked over them again. Perfect. Well, for a first draft at least. There was a score for the bass, drums, melody, and two for the guitar. Tsutomu would show everyone the scores at practice tonight. The band would fiddle around with it tonight, and Inuki would add some lyrics to it, too.

Though he was in his room, the melody to Tocatta and Fugue rang out, and Tsutomu scrambled to flip open his cellphone.

"Moshi moshi," he said. Taiki was on the other line. "Yeah, probably, why?" "I'm not positive. How're our attendance records anyway?" "Look, I?ll check it out and call you back later, ?kay?"

Tsutomu snapped his phone shut and casually sifted through the papers on, in, and around his desk. Why he was looking for their attendance records was a mystery to him, so he eventually gave up. Taiki was going to take his sister out no matter what. He probably had somewhere between 10 and 20 anyway. Ten unexcused absences got you academic probation. After 20 absences you got a suspention, which was rediculous because it meant you were out of school even more. 30 made you loose credit for major classes like Japanese and Math, and 40? Repeating a grade. Tsutomu didn't particularly care how many he had - he was going to school tomorrow anyway.

"Hello?"

Tsutomu leaned back in his chair, ruffling his hair slightly. "Taiki, it's me. I can't find the records, but go ahead and take your sister out for the day. It's not like you wouldn't, even if you had over 30 missing days."

On the other end, Taiki smiled, "Yeah. You're right. You comin' then?"

"Nope. Can't. I've got a test tomorrow in a class I'm practially failing, and I won't be able to make it up if I skip. Okaasan will flip if I get a D or something." [i]Actually, mother might have a mental breakdown,[/i] Tsutomu thought, biting his lip. ?Have fun taking your sister out for the day.?

?Alright, I will. Ja ne?

"Ja."

Tsutomu snapped his phone shut again. Getting up out of his chair, he wandered toward the TV in the other room where his sister was watching some shojo designed anime show.

"Hey, oniichan. When's mom going to be home?" she asked.

"I don't know. Probably sometime later. Don't worry, just watch your show." He messed up her hair affectionately.

"Will you watch with me? It's 'Tsubasa Reservior Chronicle'."

Yep, something girly alright. "I have to study for a test, but I'll watch and study at the same time, okay?" Tsutomu pulled out his textbook from his bookbag next to the couch, and sat down next to his sister, listening and reading at the same time.[/color][/size]

[Engel]

[color=darkslategray][size=1]In his room, sat Kauybe, fingers running down the neck of his current love. His guitar. Eyes closed, he strummed out a few chords, before opening his eyes again. He sighed, and got up, slinging the red and white Gibson, imported from a small factory in America, on his back. The Japanese remakes just didn't cut it for Kauybe.

Going down the stairs, careful not to bump against the wall with his guitar, he simply walked out, ignoring breakfast, his family all asleep again, leaving him to his musical self. Kauybe sighed in part disgust, and partly faking care. Closing the door behind him, he pulled out a small cellphone, and called up Zeos.

[b]"Wanna get together for a little practice?"[/b]

[b]"Eh. Heading to Bunto's."[/b] Zeos had grunted.

[b]"Feh, go then."[/b] Kauybe laughed into the small piece of voice technology, as Zeos hung up. Kauybe began calling everyone that he thought might want to practice. When he was done, he realized he hadn't told them where to meet. Quickly, he called everyone back.

[b]"Uhh...meet me at...umm...My father's garage. There's plenty of hookups there."[/b] Snapping the cellphone shut after the calls, Kauybe headed for his father's standalone garage that he sometimes used for practice, as his guitar swung lightly on his back, the neck still high in the air. Kayube didn't care if someone else had told them to meet here. They'd come anyway.[/color][/size]

[Kamuro]

[SIZE=1]Ichi sat quietly in class, he tried to pay attention but often found himself drifting off into thoughts of other things. A slap to the desk brought him back to the classroom abruptly where he saw the teacher standing before him, her hands on her hips. "Welcome back Ichi," she spat at him. Mrs.Yuri was definitely the most annoying teacher he had, and he found himself grinding his teeth almost the whole class, trying his best not to physically harm her. "Instead of being totally oblivious, why not just act like you're paying attention so I don't have to waste the rest of the classes time disciplining you?" she spewed.

"Whatever" was all Ichi could muster, he wished nothing more for then the teacher to just leave him be, however, she continued her attempts to embarass him. "I'm really not sure why you come here, couldn't you just sit around at home?" she asked following with an evil chuckle. Ichi stood from his desk, he was tired of everyone complicating his life, and he'd heard enough of Mrs.Yuri's insults. "I'm not sure why you come here either, wouldn't your time be better spent exercising?" he said with a laugh. The rest of the class burst into laughter. Mrs.Yuri was definitely not the most "fit" teacher and her face was blush red as she turned to see Ichi walking from the room.

He knew he'd pay for it later, but the satisfaction was well worth the trouble he'd be in. As he walked the school hallway he threw his jacket into the trash and swung open the door, sighing with relief as the cool air brushed across his face. Mrs.Yuri's class was only second period, so he had the rest of the day to do as he chose before returning home to his mother, who wouldn't pleased with the schools phone call he was almost sure they would make. He walked along the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets until he heard a loud shout from behind. "Hey punk!" was all he heard. No doubt another event to worsen his day...[/SIZE]