Episode 7 - Fighter/punk type from a different school turns up, looking to start a fight with Tsuchi for challenge/revenge/reputation/whatever. Not knowing that Tsuchi's a girl, he introduces himself by sucker-punching Ken, who's -obviously- the biggest and most dangerous person there (which is true, but not for -any- reason he'd suspect). Ken picks himself back up, glares a bit, then says "Tsuchi's over -there-, dumbass. Braid, tan, paper-bag lunch? -Her-." Punk is very embarrased. "Oh, sorry man. Er, no hard feelings, right?" Ken smiles and nods, "Sure. No hard feelings," then knocks -him- flat on his ass.
'Not a fighter' only goes so far when it's describing someone who's 6' 2" and 230 lbs. -before- lunch.
Then, accounts having been settled, he leans down and picks Punk back up onto his feet and takes him over to introduce to Tsuchi - who's thrilled at the chance for an interesting match. Cut to after school, and it's not as entertaining as Punk -or- Tsuchi thought it would be - he's good, but she's a -lot- better. Finish the fight, then commercial break.
Come back, find Punk angsting about being such a pushover - Lieutenant #2 (this is the one that replaced the guy who Ken chomped in Ep. 5) shows up and offers him an edge, if in return he'd be willing to do his benefactor A Little Favor. Cut to Punk-vs-Tsuchi, round two, which he -dominates-. Punk is in a bit of a berserker-fugue-state, but Miyou interrupts him before he can do something permanent. She confronts him over cheating magically and its consequences - which L#2 -didn't- tell him about. Punk turns around a tells L#2 to go to hell then gets caught by what's basically a form of magical mind-control-as-contract-enforcement. Miyou goes for L#2, which turns into a long running battle through the tree-lined streets of the city before he eventually gets away. Ken distracts (read: gets clobbered by) Punk until Tsuchi wakes up and Layeth The Righteous Beat-Down Of -Wrath- Upon his cheating ass... at which point, since he didn't beat her, -L#2- is in violation of contract, and the mind control is broken. End with an 'I've learned my lesson, but that doesn't mean I won't be back to beat you fair and square!' from Punk.
Episodes 11 & 12 - Jounin-guy isn't the sole autocrat of his clan; he's one of five field commanders serving under a central council. Because of this, he can't just off and whack somebody he's suspicious of, although he -is- fanatical enough to do something like that. However, if he's going to get enough evidence to hang Miyou out to dry, he can't just trust her reports - he has to get another source, and obviously the two monsters she's been consorting with won't do. So he kidnaps Tsuchi, then tries to turn her. Since Miyou's been talking more than she probably should, Tsuchi knows enough to call him on the fact that this isn't SOP for his clan, and he admits that even though the ends really do justify the means, he'd probably be declared a missing-nin if this incident got out outside of his circle of loyalists.
She deliberately mishears him, and spends the entire rest of the series referring to him as 'Uke-nin-san.'
Meanwhile, the rest of the team has to 1. track Tsuchi down; 2. rescue her without killing so many ninja that they get themselves declared a clear and present danger; and 3. fight their way through one of Maeve's assaults in the bargain - all the while without revealing their various secrets or letting 'Karru-sensei' get eaten by one of those red-capped... -things-, since she was around when the assault started.
Episode 15 - Maeve and Keiu have a tutoring session; Maeve catches herself wondering what Keiu's lips taste like - Keiu catches herself staring down Maeve's blouse. The kids get formally introduced to the Queen of the Winter Court of the West, which -neither- side particularly enjoys.
Episode 16 - Britva tries to upstage Maeve by grabbing the Third Claw by himself, but is distracted by his own sick fun long enough to get bitchslapped by a half-stone-dragon. Tsuchi and Miyou tease Keiu about having a crush she won't tell them about, and Maeve angsts over, well, half-a-dozen different things.
Episode 17 - Summer has arrived! Annnnnd now.... THE BEACH EPISODE! Maeve and Keiu kiss. Ken and Miyou Do It. Tsuchi shows up with a hickey at the very end of the episode.
Episode 18 - The Directions find information leading to where the Third Claw is hidden. Maeve has a revelation, and manages to tip the kids off in time to have them fight Britva for it... but it vanishes in the confusion. An Liu chews out turtle-boy and stares after M. suspiciously as she leaves.
Episode 19 - Maeve and Keiu confess their feelings. An Liu tricks Maeve into 'tipping' the kids into a trap before he blows her cover right in front of them, then half-kills her with a single spell. Keiu -flips- and we get to see our first dragon-on-dragon fight... as well as giving Maeve the shock of her life, since before now, she hadn't -known- about Keiu being anything but a relatively normal human mage.
Episode 20 - Ninja attack! They're trying to get the Second Claw away from Maeve, and, since Uke-nin-san's in charge, are willing to resort to kidnapping, murder, blackmail, and various other underhanded deeds to accomplish that goal. Miyou goes to appeal to a higher authority (ie, the Clan Council) while the others try and hold off the sneaking horde.
Episode 21 - An Liu's magic locates the Third Claw, and he does heavy damage to Miyou's clan compound retrieving it, messily killing quite a few lower ranked nin and the worst of the reactionary all-supernaturals-are-evil crowd and also coincidentally pulling back the forces that had been besieging Our Heroes. Miyou is left as heir apparent to the Clan Elder, her grandfather. She calls Ken & co. on her cel phone, but they only arrive in time for rescue and cleanup in the wreckage.
Episode 22 - Britva unseals and takes the First Claw, in the process reestablishing his psycho-badass credentials. Meave's having kept the Second is now all that stands in An Liu's way. Britva tries to get it himself and gets his ass summarily clobbered, then An Liu steps in personally and hits everybody with a magical whammy. They fall down out cold, he walks over and takes the sword, then leaves.
Episode 23 - An Liu's whammy was one of the 'illusional world' types, and our heroes have to survive, figure out the local rules, find each other, then find their way out in time to stop the summoning. End on them enacting the ceremony/spell that'll let them break free.
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
'Not a fighter' only goes so far when it's describing someone who's 6' 2" and 230 lbs. -before- lunch.
Then, accounts having been settled, he leans down and picks Punk back up onto his feet and takes him over to introduce to Tsuchi - who's thrilled at the chance for an interesting match. Cut to after school, and it's not as entertaining as Punk -or- Tsuchi thought it would be - he's good, but she's a -lot- better. Finish the fight, then commercial break.
Come back, find Punk angsting about being such a pushover - Lieutenant #2 (this is the one that replaced the guy who Ken chomped in Ep. 5) shows up and offers him an edge, if in return he'd be willing to do his benefactor A Little Favor. Cut to Punk-vs-Tsuchi, round two, which he -dominates-. Punk is in a bit of a berserker-fugue-state, but Miyou interrupts him before he can do something permanent. She confronts him over cheating magically and its consequences - which L#2 -didn't- tell him about. Punk turns around a tells L#2 to go to hell then gets caught by what's basically a form of magical mind-control-as-contract-enforcement. Miyou goes for L#2, which turns into a long running battle through the tree-lined streets of the city before he eventually gets away. Ken distracts (read: gets clobbered by) Punk until Tsuchi wakes up and Layeth The Righteous Beat-Down Of -Wrath- Upon his cheating ass... at which point, since he didn't beat her, -L#2- is in violation of contract, and the mind control is broken. End with an 'I've learned my lesson, but that doesn't mean I won't be back to beat you fair and square!' from Punk.
Episodes 11 & 12 - Jounin-guy isn't the sole autocrat of his clan; he's one of five field commanders serving under a central council. Because of this, he can't just off and whack somebody he's suspicious of, although he -is- fanatical enough to do something like that. However, if he's going to get enough evidence to hang Miyou out to dry, he can't just trust her reports - he has to get another source, and obviously the two monsters she's been consorting with won't do. So he kidnaps Tsuchi, then tries to turn her. Since Miyou's been talking more than she probably should, Tsuchi knows enough to call him on the fact that this isn't SOP for his clan, and he admits that even though the ends really do justify the means, he'd probably be declared a missing-nin if this incident got out outside of his circle of loyalists.
She deliberately mishears him, and spends the entire rest of the series referring to him as 'Uke-nin-san.'
Meanwhile, the rest of the team has to 1. track Tsuchi down; 2. rescue her without killing so many ninja that they get themselves declared a clear and present danger; and 3. fight their way through one of Maeve's assaults in the bargain - all the while without revealing their various secrets or letting 'Karru-sensei' get eaten by one of those red-capped... -things-, since she was around when the assault started.
Episode 15 - Maeve and Keiu have a tutoring session; Maeve catches herself wondering what Keiu's lips taste like - Keiu catches herself staring down Maeve's blouse. The kids get formally introduced to the Queen of the Winter Court of the West, which -neither- side particularly enjoys.
Episode 16 - Britva tries to upstage Maeve by grabbing the Third Claw by himself, but is distracted by his own sick fun long enough to get bitchslapped by a half-stone-dragon. Tsuchi and Miyou tease Keiu about having a crush she won't tell them about, and Maeve angsts over, well, half-a-dozen different things.
Episode 17 - Summer has arrived! Annnnnd now.... THE BEACH EPISODE! Maeve and Keiu kiss. Ken and Miyou Do It. Tsuchi shows up with a hickey at the very end of the episode.
Episode 18 - The Directions find information leading to where the Third Claw is hidden. Maeve has a revelation, and manages to tip the kids off in time to have them fight Britva for it... but it vanishes in the confusion. An Liu chews out turtle-boy and stares after M. suspiciously as she leaves.
Episode 19 - Maeve and Keiu confess their feelings. An Liu tricks Maeve into 'tipping' the kids into a trap before he blows her cover right in front of them, then half-kills her with a single spell. Keiu -flips- and we get to see our first dragon-on-dragon fight... as well as giving Maeve the shock of her life, since before now, she hadn't -known- about Keiu being anything but a relatively normal human mage.
Episode 20 - Ninja attack! They're trying to get the Second Claw away from Maeve, and, since Uke-nin-san's in charge, are willing to resort to kidnapping, murder, blackmail, and various other underhanded deeds to accomplish that goal. Miyou goes to appeal to a higher authority (ie, the Clan Council) while the others try and hold off the sneaking horde.
Episode 21 - An Liu's magic locates the Third Claw, and he does heavy damage to Miyou's clan compound retrieving it, messily killing quite a few lower ranked nin and the worst of the reactionary all-supernaturals-are-evil crowd and also coincidentally pulling back the forces that had been besieging Our Heroes. Miyou is left as heir apparent to the Clan Elder, her grandfather. She calls Ken & co. on her cel phone, but they only arrive in time for rescue and cleanup in the wreckage.
Episode 22 - Britva unseals and takes the First Claw, in the process reestablishing his psycho-badass credentials. Meave's having kept the Second is now all that stands in An Liu's way. Britva tries to get it himself and gets his ass summarily clobbered, then An Liu steps in personally and hits everybody with a magical whammy. They fall down out cold, he walks over and takes the sword, then leaves.
Episode 23 - An Liu's whammy was one of the 'illusional world' types, and our heroes have to survive, figure out the local rules, find each other, then find their way out in time to stop the summoning. End on them enacting the ceremony/spell that'll let them break free.
Ja, -n
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."