Free Period Liberties (Open)

[Leon Loire]

OOC: Something of a sequel to the board's first thread, "And So It Begins...", this sequence will be explained as taking place in Leon's fourth period during days one, two, and three of the school week, allowing for any other threads I'm requested to join to have some ample effect later on. The section of this thread that will be roleplayable by others will be occurring on the fourth day. In advance, I apologize for the length. If you wish to ignore most of it, go ahead and jump straight to the "fourth day" section, and you can begin roleplaying. The rest is here for explanation and filler.

IC: ~"...You did not rebel against this so-called 'system', you rebelled against a weak mockery of what the reforms should be like. Take a walk around my campus, Leon... talk to some of the students. Allow yourself to see what a school looks like when this 'system' is well-adhered to. Then ask yourself what you prefer."~

The voice of Darren Blayne, Hircine High's acclaimed and esteemed Captain, continued to resonate irritatingly through Leon Loire's head like an echo of shattered rock in a cavern. The thought of "The System's" success went against everything Leon had come to follow for the past two years, yet here was the Hircinian Captain: proud of that very success.

Leon scoffed at the thought, 'What, demeaning your fellows through bloodshed is a success now?'

Yet even still, Darren Blayne had a point. Leon could not be a simple fool and make assumptions; after all, that led to losing far more than gaining.

So, Leon decided that taking the Captain's advice would not be a bad idea after all. He'd take a walk around the school campus throughout his free period during fourth block, and get to know his fellow students - Hircine and Varron both.

After Leon had gone through his first day of AP U.S. History and AP Lang-Comp with an eased back cover of the basics of the course, Leon found himself easing back in Band III, listening to his teacher moan on and on about the same things the Varronian instructors spoke of. "Teamwork," "Synchronizing," "Conformity," et cetera, et cetera. The dull and rather Anti-Liberal ideals would have typically aggravated the young man, but he was already used to them from last year; besides, he was too busy keeping an eye on his classmates.

While some were definitely Varronites, there were still an outnumbering force of Hircinian students in each of his classes. Their personalities, their postures, their clothes... it all brought an eerie sense of the past upon Leon.

'Is this how we all acted at #2337? Just... that obedient?'

In a sense, Leon actually liked it. The idea that his fellow students - while they seemed to occasionally glare and turn away from their Varronite classmates - were actually courteous and intelligent brought a bit of joy into the Senior-plus man. No more worrying about some random student starting a riot; no more fear of a fight just outside the hall; no more distrusting teachers.

For his first day, Leon was overwhelmed by evidence that Darren may have been right. While they seemed uncontent with him at first, every Hircinian student Leon spoke with in all three classes - when he could, of course - responded without insult, rude gesture or ignorance. They answered his questions, laughed at his jokes, and even shared words with him. Sure they were still distrusting of a dangerously dressed Varronite, but hell, they held their courtesy!

Fourth period didn't help the day's findings one bit. As Leon comfortably inched himself through the halls, his Saxophone leaning against his shoulder, Leon found a smile lift over his face as he listened to the positive, laid back conversations between his Hircinian classmates; a few that Leon talked to in class even threw occasional words to him. While he was still a bit of an outcast, and his fellow Varronites were being outcasted as well, such things were typical, as if they were all literally just normal new kids. The students listened comfortably to their orders from teachers, who were far from as bloodthirsty as those in Varron; some even smiled and laughed with their pupils. Leon actually felt a bit at ease, almost enjoying the place.

Once outside, Leon strolled the courtyard sidewalks for a while, watching the various cliques meet together and relax, the Deans patrolling without need to make scenes, the teachers planning their next days without interference. The scenes of ease began to worry Leon, however; after all, he was trying to find evidence of the school's fall to the System's corruption...

And so far, he was failing.

*****

Now on day two, the three periods went no differently. Leon learned more on the 'native' Indians of America in the time before Columbus in AP U.S., wrote exceptional essays in his Language and Composition course - something that seemed to amaze the Anti-Varronites into a stutter - and spent Band III again wondering what would happen differently that day.

By Leon's free fourth period, something different did happen, something that gave him some hope.

After third period, Leon strolled into the halls to begin hearing chatter of the various fights breaking out throughout school all day. Since yesterday, a number of Varron's "Elite" were being confronted and attacked by Hircine's local fighters, and suddenly broken apart by the Captain and his Pillars. The scenes were usually told by the Hircinians as their classmates attacking the "Stubborn Varronites" out of defense or provoked word, but from what Leon could pick up, the pieces were made clear.

Varron wasn't the enemy here; it was Hircine's ignorant students.

The interesting circumstances of the day began to unfold, and Leon quickly found himself outdoors, thinking of the events on a bench. Leaning back, his breath releasing from his body with a cold air, yet as he turned his head, his eyes caught sight of a girl around the age of a Junior student passing by. Quickly leaning up and looking to her, Leon prepared to follow up on his ideas.

"Hey, could I ask you something?" Leon questioned naturally, no sheepishness, no nervousness.

The girl quickly looked him over, seemed to frown, but nodded, "Um... sure, what is it?"

Leon placed his Saxophone on the far side of the bench, giving the girl some ease that he would not be able to use it as some sort of twisted weapon, "If you haven't noticed, I'm new here, and I was wondering if you happen to be veteran of this school."

The girl seemed to raise her eyebrows a bit by the simple question and nodded; her figure was still cautious, but at least uplifted a bit, "I am actually; been here since I was a Freshman. My parents sent me here after hearing of Hircine's security record, as well as its dorms and education."

Leon leaned forward, a small smirk rising in him, "So I assume you like it then?"

She allowed a pearly white smile to show, her cheeks actually lighting up, "Of course! This place is great. The Captain deals with any troubled students we have, and it lets the rest of us just stick to getting out of school. I mean... it is school, so of course I'd rather be doing other things..."

"But you'd rather be here than Varron Academy, for example?" Leon suddenly added in, Leon back a bit, his eyes now watching her movements carefully.

'This is it...'

In bluntness, the girl was caught off guard. She let her head press back a bit, and her smile quickly became a frown, "Well, yeah; of course. Varron Academy was nothing but a bunch of teens who never grew up. All they lived for was bloodshed and ignorance."

Leon allowed a grin of satisfaction to rise in him, "Is that so?"

The girl suddenly stopped, watching Leon carefully in response, "Yeah... everyone knows about it. We all heard about it from the news. They never listened to the teachers, and their Principal was too weak to ever bring up a strong enough Captain to run things. It was a real lose-lose situation. The system never..."

Leon tilted his head, a smirk pleasantly floating over his lips, "Never what?"

Now the girl seemed a bit frightened, and slowly treaded back, "You're... you're one of them, aren't you?"

Leon laughed a bit, leaning back against the bench, keeping his eyes on the girl's surprised face, "If so, would it matter? What, now that you suspect I'm a 'dangerous Varronite,' that makes me different in your eyes?"

She suddenly looked back with a cold gaze, her lips like stone, "It would actually! We all know about how you all lived. How you never listened to your teachers, how you rebelled and sent them to the hospital simply out of arrogance! You wouldn't accept what the world is like, you'd just go on thinking that you were better than them, better than the rest of us!"

Leon wasn't offended; in fact, he was delighted to see the girl's reply. One mind had now confirmed a part of the truth: someone, somewhere, was lying to the world about Varron Academy.

"What if we weren't fighting our teachers just to spite them, but to defend ourselves? I must imagine even your teachers abuse all of you when you don't complete a question correctly, or talk to a friend when not asking to. What makes you think our rebellion against them was 'arrogant?' Perhaps we were defending what we believed in, defended our friends, even ourselves."

"And for what? What's it going to get you Varronite? Do you think the system will change just because you fight back?"

"Ah, and there's the answer I seek!" Leon yelled, standing up now, grinning happily, "Now I see you all do understand, it's simply you see things differently then us! You're afraid to rebel, afraid to fight back, afraid that your efforts will be worthless, or won't gain you the result you need now."

The girl was surprised, very surprised. She had jumped a small bit when Leon had stood up, but his speech seemed to throw her off.

"We're not afraid, we simply accept how it is... we accept that they're right..."

And there, Leon laughed again, "Right? Right?! You're kidding me... right? Hah! The thought that their abuse of us, just to prevent them from expelling us for not cooperating, is an excusable and acceptable process? That's it then! It's simply that in the rest of the world, while our school was the final ground of all unstoppable students throughout this world who did accept this system, the rest of you are too afraid to fight back, and therefore merely accept it's wrongdoing to you! It makes more sense now; truly, I thank you my fellow student, you can leave now."

The girl was shaking now, her eyes frozen, her face a shock. She had never expected this in any of her experiences, and with a sudden turn, she was charging off, yelling for the name of her friends.

"Splendid day, I love being an Idealist!" Leon murmured, a grin spreading across his cheeks.

Yes; splendid day.

*****

If the second day hadn't been rewarding enough, the third day was the final round-about.

Throughout his first two classes, Leon was mostly ignored by his classmates, the whispers of his clear intentions against arguing the system now known. The Hircinians still talked to him as normal students would talk to their classmates in work, but in simple social chatter they would not even look to him.

Of course, his Varronite fellows were different. Upon hearing the word of his confessed intentions to continue fighting the system, they all looked to him with pride and the respect of a rising new community. Already Leon was regaining a place of respect amongst his comrades.

In third period, however, Leon came to be witness to the Band teacher losing his temper with a Bassist, and after the poor Sophomore boy suddenly missed a particular note for the fourth time, the teacher took his rather large book of music and struck the musician straight across the nose, sending him to the floor in a bloody heap. He moaned in pain, begging for help, and Leon wished to be that aid...

"Leon, sit down!" suddenly whispered one of his Hircinian classmates, their arm shooting toward the Senior's shoulder to promptly prevent him from inevitably standing, "You can't help him; he deserved what he got!"

Leon quickly glared back at his classmate, "No one deserves that! Is this the acceptance I heard about? When all of you just sit here and watch each other bloodied and broken for a simple missed note?"

The classmate sat quiet, letting go of Leon, turning his eyes to the teacher, who now held the fallen Sophomore in his grip.

"Do it right this time, and don't let that broken nose of yours bleed all over the composites!"

The boy seemed to choke up in pain, but nodded in defeat. Throwing him to the boy's seat, the Sophomore quickly dragged his shaking body to his chair and quickly replaced his fingers, attempting to correct his inproper note.

He didn't.

*****

OOC: For those of you too lazy to read all of that above, go ahead and start here, you'll be fine for RPing a first post.

IC: The fourth period of the fourth day had finally come, and Leon Loire now found himself already returning to his former thoughts from the first day. After witnessing a normal student suddenly blubber up from Leon's simple questions of the school, another innocent student beaten just as harshly as those of Varron - only with a different reaction: nothing at all, and a few sighted battles between Hircinian and Varronite students both, Leon quickly began to regain his confidence once again in his views that Hircine High was no better than any other school in the nation.

'It's just another place of oppression...'

Finding himself again at the bench, Leon now find himself waiting. Since first block, he had been spreading rumors between the Varronite students for any and all of his former compatriots to meet him here.

~"Whoever feels the need to see me, tell them about the bench."~

~"Why's that?~

~"Because even they would have heard of the things I've seen, and I'm sure they'll need someone to console to. Just tell whoever you think fits, and have them meet me there."~

Leon was responded to with the same proud nod, and now waiting, Loire had to wonder how many familiar faces he'd see soon...

And in truth, how many Hircinians that would arrive from overhearing it.

'I better be ready... this is for intelligence, but some Hircinian may have heard of my latest actions and come after me. I'll have to be prepared... for anything, in truth.'

And so, there he was; Leon Loire: waiting.

[Alkaiser]

Damn. You sure have faired quite well in the first couple days, haven't you?

There stood Steve Barzahd, at the edge of the entrance, bandages displayed proudly on his chest and leg by him wearing a red button-down shirt buttoned to about the middle button with the sleeves rolled up, as well as a pair of black shorts. To tell the truth he looked like hell, but if anybody asked all you would've gotten out of him was "you should've seen the other guy."

"Leon Loire?" he asked timidly, making sure it wasn't indeed another Hircinian looking to pick a bone with the self-proclaimed ex-captain. "It's a pleasure to meet you. The name is Steve Barzahd, and I've got a few stories for you."

[junpei]

Junpei Lee calmly steeped up behind the bench Loire sat on, not making a sound. The boys brown hair clung to his forehead as he looked up at the sky and then looked back down suddenly, looking at the back of Leon. Leon had been... an ally. Never really a friend, never really a brother, never anything more than a common ally. Sure Junpei had devoted his Knights, before their disbanding, to the protection of this man and his liberalism ideals. Now however Lee wondered if the rumors he heard of Loire were true.

"You never cease to amaze me Alex Thompson, oh, sorry, Leon Loire as it were..."

Junpei smirked slightly and hopped over the back of the bench and landed in a sitting position next to Loire, his feet planted on the ground, boots making a soft click as they set down. His familiar black trench coat hung loosely from his shoulders and came down to his wrists, hiding an Armitron watch and his printed T. His black slacks stayed folded nicely in front and Junpei let them fall to just below his ankles, covering the leg of the boot.

"I hear you're once again the fighting liberal eh?"

Junpei said jokingly and leaned his head back, not really looking at Loire. They weren't close, allies yes, Junpei had been at his side a time or two before, nothing big.

"So why did you want us all here Leon, why now?"

His arms rested lightly on the back of the bench, his right extended all the way to it's full length, almost hanging off the end of the bench, his left bent at the elbow so as not to touch Loire. His head stayed cocked back, looking up at nothing, just tracing imaginary lines as he often did. His right index finger tapped lightly on the bench, creating a soft thump, thump, thump on the surface.

In all honesty he did wonder why Leon had asked any Varronite here today, was it a plot to overthrow Hircine. No that wasn't Leon. Was it a plot to take the captainship... maybe.. Leon had always been one to shake things up at the right time. Well for now he would sit and wait, and find his answer when Loire answered.

A kid stood across the way, in the entrance to the area, seemed he was... not one for words.

[Pain Killer]

"Hey man, Varron students are gathering at a bench. You comin'? Maybe they're planning something!"

The self-proclaimed Pain Killer said nothing in response, though still he found himself being interested nonetheless. There were very few that he actually would be interested in seeing from Varron, but the few that he was interested in finding were more than worth the effort. Sighing, he picked himself up from the bench he had been sitting at already, following the Hircine students to another cluster of mostly vaguely familiar faces. Though, there wasn't the one that he wished to see the most.

Damnit. Where is she?

Scowling, Adam walked closer to the group, his gloved hands jammed in the pockets of his jeans. Out of all those present, he knew only Junpei and Leon, each of which he'd had questionable encounters with. Still, for some reason, he felt slightly more at ease with the group that had gathered thus far. Much moreso than the Hircines he'd been forced to deal with. Their discrimination was quickly getting under his skin, reaching well past his already low tolerance for such matters.

Still, he said nothing, preferring to remain on the fringes of those gathered. Still within earshot, but farther than would implicate that he was associated with them. Not out of fear of reprisals, but as more of a personal choice as to keep those he didn't know from getting too chummy with him. After all, he was here to listen for the reasons why they'd been gathering, then continue on his own plans for the school. His hands withdrew from the pockets, his arms crossing in front of him. This surely wasn't all the students who'd transferred. More would come.

Hopefully.

[Leon Loire]

The sound of Lee's content voice, Schanburg's demand, Barzhad's request, and even the four arrival's shy ears were enough to bring about one thought in Leon Loire's mind.

'Show time.'

With a slightly nervous smirk, Leon Loire brought his head from its leaning leverage to scan over the three men before him; with a quick glance to the side, Loire saw Junpei there, leaning forward in additional wonder.

'They all flocked - as expected. Now that I have the help I need, it's time to detail the things I need...'

Standing up, Leon Loire inserted his raw hands into the pockets of his jeans, the navy gaze quickly overlooking the surrounding area. There was still a relatively light number of Hircinians, and thus far no other Varronites... good; Leon was going to need a bit of time alone to explain the situation to his listeners before allowing any extra arrivals to become an audience.

"Well gentlemen, good to see you come..." Leon quietly commented, ignoring their questions, keeping the subject on one focus; it was a simple technique of leadership, reminding the listeners of the main subject, while reinforcing who the speaker was meant to be.

"Now, clearly you've all shown up because of the rumor I had spread about school since this morning, so first let me congratulate you and your sources. Now, to the point, as Kai here hoped for."

Spreading his eyes around the radius of the local area again, and crossing his arms across his chest, Loire continued, "As you heard, I've been keeping to my typical business; you know, politics and the like. I've been very uncomfortable with the awkward position of why we're all here, why the most dangerous youth of this country were suddenly invited to one of the nation's most prominently peaceful schools. It caught my eye that all of us were outnumbered by our new classmates by a ratio of ten-to-one, so after a brief discussion with our new Captain, I came under the fear that perhaps we'd end up being the underdogs. So, accordingly, I've spent the last three days investigating..."

Looking to his fellows with a slightly sullen look, Loire noticed a small number of Hircinians keeping on the boundaries, their ears to the conversation; any other Varronites may have also been out attempting to catch notice without interrupting, but Leon couldn't be sure.

'Get to it Leon; be blunt and honest.'

Looking to his first arrival, Steven Barzhad, Leon stated his intent, "What I've found is something I'm sure all of you have obviously noted: this school's system is no better than ours. The thing that bothers me, however, is that the student body here does nothing to fight it. I intend to help them change that... eventually."

Leon turned from Barzhad, and now glanced to Lee, speaking lighter in tone now, "So Junpei, don't worry; I'm still the same as always. Just don't be surprised if our methods of being the 'good guys' is a bit subtle."

Turning his gaze to both Kai and Adam now, Leon allowed a frown to drop across his face, "What I need from you - Kai - is some help. At the current moment, those of us clearly known as 'Varronites' are under ridicule and danger. The normal Hircine students fear us, and the more rugged Hircinians seem intent on running us all out of here. What I'd like to accomplish is to collect nearly all of the former Academy students into one place, away from the Hircinians, and try to make some connections - some alliances. Our small cluster of this school needs to become a community if we're to survive this school year and beyond; we can't just revert to our natural 'lonely' lifestyles. We need to be smart. We need to unite."

With another glance, Leon seemed to frown even more: the eavesdroppers were growing in slight size. A few pairs of Hircinians seemed to be perched on fences or benches, their eyes glaring at why five Varronites would be in one place - of course, thankfully, they seemed only within enough of a range for a slightly obnoxious volume of Leon's voice to reach them. It seemed they were too fearful to come any closer. The only others closer than that were clearly Varronites - after all, any Hircinian that had the balls to come any closer would have most likely run to their Captain by now, complaining of 'Varronites planning something'.

Lowering his voice significantly to prevent any possible interpretations from outside the source, Leon motioned the four men to lean inward, before continuing.

"What I want you four to do for me are two things: one, help me spread the word through the Varron ranks when I give the word of the meeting; tell every Varronite you know in secrecy about the location of the meeting, the time, and the necessary means to get inside. Keep this subtle, keep this quiet - we cannot allow the Hircinians to threaten the security of the location, although honestly, I'm sure that won't be a worry, right? Now, with favor two, I ask you to fill me in on any events that have happened in the past four days that seem important regarding the clashes between Hircinians and Varronites. The fights, the quarrels, the school's Hierarchy, and any betrayals on either side. I'll ask you to tell me in a few minutes; for now, simply reply to me, make a bit of small rumor regarding the school to throw off the listeners, then meet me out the new bar 'Legion' tonight at eight o' clock. Just show up there, and I'll find you; okay?"

[junpei]

Junpei’s eyes flickered from Kai, then to Adam, both of whom he barely knew about. Adam he had seen once, when he first moved to Varron long ago he had been there when Dain beat him, not only physically but mentally as well it seemed. That night Junpei had been introduced to the name Leon Loire, as a mere mention, but his opinions of the man had grown quickly, and now here he was, sitting beside that very man.

Kai made demands, Adam did not say a word, Junpei kept his lips sealed and watched all the three of the ‘others’.

Soon Leon was up and talking, making his usual redirect speech about uniting as one and joining together, instead of being a house divided as it were. He addressed the guy in the doorway first, talking of how this system was the same, Junpei already knew that. He had seen more than one teacher beat a student already; it was almost sickening. Junpei respected the authority that Darren and his pillars had brought, even if by force. After near a week however that confidence had faded as he watched teachers beat students and no one come to their aid. Where was that sense of pride one took in standing up for themselves? Junpei did not know but he was not near as impressed as he had been when he first showed up, not after a week here.

Leon turned to Junpei and mentioned not changing but going about a different method, playing the bad to do the good, in a sense. Junpei could only shoot Lorie a grin and nod, he knew what was coming and he was prepared.

Finally, Leon turned to Adam and Kai, he addressed Kai first and Junpei memorized the name to the face, a possible ally in a longer run. Loire listed off what he would need help with, what he was trying to do, and what he wanted form the others. Junpei could only shift slightly at the idea. Unite all of Varron under one banner? Some personal problems would have to be set aside, and Junpei wondered if some of those difference COULD be set aside. Ex-Legion members and Hand members would be at each other’s throats for sure, you did not just ignore a fire bombing.

What Leon asked next, was almost enough to make Junpei flinch. Spread the word? Now, already, tell every Varronite that Loire wanted a meeting, and a prelim meeting tonight with the five of them? Junpei questioned if Loire was going in over his head for a second, his mind trying to wrap around the possible outcomes. On the one hand, this could lead to the biggest ‘gang’, any school ever saw. Two hundred people revolving around the word of Leon Loire and a few higher ups, which was a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, was this going to form into a coalition, all of the Varronites together but separate…? Junpei prayed for the latter.

Leon asked for information, but in a tone that would make it sound as if these Varronites were only hear to discuss rumors and nothing more. No grand meeting, no nothing, just talking.

No one perked up so Junpei took the lead, starting with only a couple rumors he had picked up.

“Well Gilsin managed to get himself into a fight on day one, put down three football players, or at least they looked like football players.”

Junpei grinned inwardly, this was actually fun. He could pass completely true information to Leon, who knew exactly what to pick out and no one was the wiser.

[Pain Killer]

No more noteworthy Varron transfers showed, though some of the more common students began to gather at a distance. None of them were worthy in Adam's eyes of being acknowledged, and passing glances were all that were given as he began to listen to Leon's words, watching the fellow Senior over his left shoulder.

The system isn't better than ours... So it's true. But it seems to work here...

In truth, Pain Killer was torn over his feelings regarding his newest school. Unlike Varron, the system was successful from what he had seen, giving him very little to complain about in that respect. However, he had little patience for the Hircine-natives' attitudes, and in a system governed by fear, the Pillars as well as the School Captain would have to be exceptionally skilled in order to keep the population in line. Certainly, taking the title away from one of them would be a large step in the right direction in cementing Adam's legacy, the thought making him lick his lips in anticipation. Absently, he realized that he'd blanked out from the conversation, and began listening again just as Leon was motioning for the four to come closer.

Rolling his eyes, Adam simply took a step back, bringing himself within the distance he would need, but refusing to take place in some sort of group huddle. This way, he could also keep his eyes open for any signs of trouble brewing, which was always possible when multiple Varron students were in one place. Upon hearing Leon's favours, the tall Senior let out a sigh of annoyance, not even bothering to turn around. Junpei spoke first, giving his news about Ein, which had actually managed to make Adam smirk before he gave his own input.

"Don't tell me the big bad Hircine students have got you scared, Leon."

The self-proclaimed Pain Killer turned around, his arms still crossed in front of him. His gaze travelled across those present, gauging their abilities for his own interest before finally settling on Leon himself.

"Ein's got the right idea, it seems. These students are weak, they deal with the normal riff-raff that usually runs through here. But now that the school of misfits was shut down, they've got an entirely new breed to try and comprehend, and they just can't compete. I don't see why you're so eager to try and make everyone work together, when these students aren't a danger in the slightest."

The corner of Adam's mouth rose, a smirk of superiourity and arrogance forming on his face, before he spoke for a final time.

"This is a perfect spot to start all over again."