2025-10-30: Ice Cold
- Log: Ice Cold
- Cast: Isabeau Fontaine, Kanae Fuyuki
- Where: Shujin Academy - Practice Hall
- OOC Date: 2025-10-30
- IC Date: Friday, August 03 2012
- Summary: Isabeau and Kanae are hard at work practicing for an upcoming tennis meet... but Kanae has some sneaky tricks to get the upper hand over Isabeau's power, and Isabeau, in turn, has some icy retribution for Kanae. Kanae gives as good as she gets, though -- in both insults and roughhousing. They both speak French, but they just can't see eye-to-eye...
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
It's Summer Vacation, but don't think that means you get a break. No: they have a tennis meet coming up in two weeks, and that means that members of the Tennis Club are still coming back to Shujin's practice building on the reg to perfect their form.
Right now, that's Kanae and Isabeau, and Isabeau is serving. As always, she's an absolute nightmare about it; knowing Kanae is right-handed, she deliberately serves onto the left side of the court, just so she has to work harder to reply. (This trick would be more devastating if she weren't so predictable about using it.) She holds her racket -- a fine piece made from real animal gut -- in a backhanded grip, though of course she had to shift that grip from the Continental grip she needed to serve, adding another hand in the process; it's an unusual technique, but given her ambidexterity, she's able to make full use of it.
The last game went to Kanae -- and that means Isabeau cannot possibly lose here, playing to competition standard of best-of-three. If Kanae wins this set, that means she's victorious, and Isabeau has no intention of letting that happen.
To wit: the way she lobs, "`You're already getting tired!`", over the net alongside that spinning tennis ball. (She says this in French; she doesn't particularly care if the rest of the club can understand her.) "`Why don't you let me handle the tournament and go have a nap, sleepy Kanae?`"
Whether or not Kanae is actually tired isn't really important to the insult. It's about getting in her head.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Summer Vacation is not Slacking Vacation. Kanae is not here to slack off. Her own racket is polyester strings instead--she prefers it that way. And she doesn't have ambidexterity...
But she is good. She's very good. That's why she won the last one!
So when Isabeau lashes out with her words, Kanae smirks. She's sweaty; her long hair is in a ponytail because of this, out the back of her hat, while she's in the gym uniform of Shujin. But the rest of the club?
The ball slams towards her, and--Kanae rushes to it and slams it right back over the net as it spins.
"`Wishful thinking again?`" Kanae replies in French too.
"`Perhaps you think you'll do better without the competition?`"
Not this time. ...Though she is actually a little winded, she's not about to let that on.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
The ball bounces, once, and Isabeau backhands it back in a powerful swing; operating from a closed stance isn't even necessarily what's best in a competition, but she always ends up falling into it when she's fighting(?!) Kanae, as if pointing her body towards her opposite the court is simply too much to ask.
(That's not to say she can't operate in open stances, of course. The mark of an expert is the flexibility to move between them based on the reply of your opponent. ... and if that's indicating a little inflexibility in Isabeau's mind regarding Kanae, no it isn't.)
"`You're the wishful one!`" Isabeau issues back to her, as she strikes the ball. "`You must know I'm going to out-compete you effortlessly! You've always known that -- it's why you were begging me to join back then! Not that it doesn't do you credit... you know you need the best to win!`"
Being a bigger girl, of course, means that Isabeau has bigger lung capacity... which means she can hide being winded a little easier than Kanae can.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Bounce. Back. Kanae darts backward to accomodate the extra length of the next bounce, given how powerful Isabeau's swing was. Kanae, as it happens, is very flexible; she dives almost like a ballerina to knock the ball back over the net again.
She favors the semi-open stance as a rule, to accentuate that flexibility. This is one of the times that works out. She can easily bend and shift to Isabeau's movement.
...The audience is kind of puzzled by the 'foreign' exchange, probably. But at first, it stays that way. "`Effortlessly?`" Kanae taunts back. "`You wouldn't swing so hard if it were effortless.`"
"Besides," she switches back to Japanese, "Who wants to not even try?"
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"`How else am I to crush you?`" Isabeau demands, as once more she slams that ball back over to Kanae's side of the court, with the kind of spin which would threaten to do wretched things to a novice's wrist.
Problem is: Kanae knows a thing or two about that, too. For instance, switching to Japanese, which of course Isabeau has to answer like for like -- anything else would be tantamount to admitting weakness -- despite the fact that Isabeau came to Japan much older than Kanae, and it takes her long, labourous moments to sort out how to say her thoughts at all.
"At least you will try," she huffs, as if it were as effortless as her last insult, but of course it isn't.
And that's the opening--!!
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae never had the illusion that Isabeau isn't both good at this and very strong. But... Kanae does know a thing or two about that. And she knows that Isabeau isn't going to back down from challenging her.
So Kanae dives, this time going for the ball as she springs back up and slams it right back.
It's an opening, and she isn't going to pass it up! So Kanae's hair whips in the sunlight, sweat sparkling...!
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
Isabeau is a terror on the tennis court; ever since Kanae introduced her to the sport, she's practiced tirelessly to not just improve but dominate, with the same lack of chill she applies to everything else in her life.
The problem is -- she's not a superhero. (Yet.) Trying to Speak Japanese Properly is a mentally taxing task on top of focusing on the ball, and it takes some of that all-important focus off the ball, which means --
-- her racket doesn't even manage to strike the ball, as it bounces off to the far reaches of the practice hall.
Isabeau says something terrible in French we won't repeat, on Kanae's victory -- particularly as it's announced by the coach. She stalks off the 'court', a stormcloud over her head as she beelines straight for the water cooler.
Rrrrghhhhh...
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
A terror indeed. But that's what our brave heroine is for! ...nevermind that she helped bring her around in the first place.
Kanae's approach is generally not to dominate; she's friendly about it, encourages her peers to improve and get on her level. She's kind.
...And sometimes she's really sneaky, like this.
"My," Kanae says, "It's a good thing nobody else understood that one. You might've gotten in trouble."
Kanae rises to her full height (not that tall) again and stretches, casually walking towards the cooler too.
"But it was a good match! You're definitely not slacking."
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"`Frarghlgragrmrgl,`" Isabeau grumbles, and it's French-accented but it's actually pretty clear to anyone listening that that wasn't anything coherent.
"I was easy on you," she insists, entirely sore about it, and her Japanese is accented too but it is at least exacting. A touch too exacting, in fact; she speaks formally, without daring to use and potentially mess up a contraction, saying all her phrases fully instead of cutting corners with a shorter statement. Formally, that is, except for this: "Kanae, you are lucky I am being considerate."
She's yobisute! Isabeau addresses everyone yobisute, stubbornly, as her one last holdout against Japan.
Isabeau can be considerate, though. For instance, as she takes a water bottle from the water cooler and steps over to Kanae, even loosening the cap...
... before she uses her extra three inches of height to just upend the bottle over her head. "Here," she tells her, dryly (and dry!), as if she were doing her a favour.
(Which, well, it IS a hot summer day, and they DON'T get to rest between serves...)
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Isabeau insists on it, and Kanae smiles more widely at her grumbling. She was easy on her. Of course, no contractions; she's not surprised that she talks like that. She's used to it. "I'm sure," Kanae answers. "Very considerate. Like you usually are."
A beat. The water cooler, the water bottle--
"SHRAAAAI!"
Kanae SHRIEKS at the sudden cold despite the fact that this is a totally nice favor and despite her efforts to stay calm--
"Oh my GOD."
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"Ooohohohohohohoho--!!"
Isabeau tosses the water bottle aside (LITTERING! I bet she doesn't even SORT HER GARBAGE PROPERLY!), because of course she needs her hand free to hold it flat by her mouth, as if she's sharing a joke with someone who isn't Kanae. (It's everyone else. Kanae is the joke.) "You should see your face! Did you really think I would let you be so lazy as to not get your own drink? You fool!"
Tragically, Isabeau is too busy laughing to be paying too much attention to Kanae, having established how foolish she is.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
That laugh!!! Kanae scowls. But of course, Isabeau has to laugh like that, and Kanae bets her face was pretty silly because she is blushing furiously now, though Isabeau may not recognize it. (It may be harder for some of them to spot, but her cheeks feel like they're burning.) She says nothing at the moment, instead letting Isabeau laugh... and...
She grabs a handful of ice from the cooler and, walking up behind Isabeau, drops it down the back of her shirt.
"I guess that was really `cool` of you," she says, peppering in a little French again.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"Ohohohohohoh--HYAGGGHHH?!"
Isabeau yelps, jumping up and whirling around to face the criminal Kanae. "`You little--!! How dare you?!`" She snaps, as at once she has to do the flail-wiggle of something unpleasant being trapped in her clothing, though at least it's cold and not creepy-crawly. "`Ugh, that's COLD! You wretched little SNEAK!`"
She ends up having to pull her shirt out from where it's tucked in to actually get the ice out, which is, of course, an indignity. What kind of miscreant goes around with an untucked shirt?! (It is fair to say Isabeau cares far more about this after having absorbed a thing or two about fussiness from Laurent.)
So, of course, she replies the only way she can, by taking a handful of ice and LOBBING it at Kanae --
Anyway, that's how the two of them get thrown out of the practice hall together.
(That isn't an unusual turn of events.)
"`Pfah,`" Isabeau huffs, putting one foot on the bench as she leans into it rather than sitting on it like a normal person. "`You got us kicked out again! I can't believe you.`"
She started it--!!
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
That's a much more satisfying noise. Kanae beams sweetly at Isabeau, and then the ice is thrown at her and--
Well. It's fine. She was done practicing anyway!
And now they're out here, and Kanae is actually on the bench, instead of just putting a foot on it, and lifts an eyebrow as she looks up at Isabeau.
"`Did I?`" She's back to French, of course. Because she's more considerate of Isabeau than either of them is going to admit. "`I seem to recall it was you who started throwing things...`"
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"`You were about ready to overheat in that getup,`" Isabeau sniffs, haughtily, a hand on her hip. "`I was doing you a favour.`"
She was being a dick!!!
Rocking back and forth into that foot on the bench, she tosses her braids behind her shoulder again. "`Hmph. You have at least made some effort to practice between all your distractions,`" because she can't just say something nice about how good Kanae is. "`You might not even be the one dragging us down most during the meet... wonders never cease!`"
Isabeau isn't bitter, of course, that Kanae has friends who she goes out with instead of practicing tennis sometimes. Why would she be mad about that? The worst girl in the world wants to not make her day worse??? That's clearly a win!
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"`I was NOT`," Kanae counters. "`You don't do favors.`"
That's her own little jab about Isabeau being so unfriendly, though. It's fair enough, considering Isabeau's bitterness over distractions. "`Right. Next time I'm out with Touma-kun, I'll be sure to tell him about tennis techniques.`"
Dragging them down. "`But you know I won't. And they won't, either. Everyone's doing their best. You just don't want to see it.`"
She stands up from the bench at that, and shakes her head.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"`No duh! Favours only make you weak,`" Isabeau sniffs. "`It's nothing but a nicer way to talk about covering for someone who can't hack it. So really, you should be glad it's not a favour.`"
She scoffs, leaning an elbow on her knee. "`Touma this, Touma that! Do you even have a personality beyond Touma any more? You must be so proud of being a conversation piece.`"
And with another sway into the bench, Isabeau pushes off from it, folding her arms. "`Their best can't keep up with me,`" she insists, bitterly. "`Even trying to catch them up is pointless! Besides, I tried once, and the brat just cried about how cruel I was. As if it was my fault she kept moving from open to closed stance mid-stroke like an amateur!`"
She flips her braids, with a gesture outwards from her hand. "`I don't need them,`" she insists, bitterly. "`I don't need anyone.`"
And with that, she starts stalking away.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"`Have you managed to be nice to anyone in the entire time you've been here?`"
That one stings a little, though--a 'conversation piece'. Kanae scowls again. "`At least I have someone interested in me`," she counters. "`When was the last time someone even tried it with you?`"
Isabeau pushes off bitterly, and Kanae... remembers that incident, but isn't generous enough today to try to talk Isabeau through it, instead. So when she starts to stalk away with the note that she doesn't need anyone--
Kanae keeps scowling at her back.
...Then, softly, when she's sure Isabeau won't hear it:
"Well, I do."