You'll need to be careful with this.
Doing what you can to appear non-threatening you take a single step forward while staring Agano down, "Look I'd like to avoid a fight here if I can."
"Good for you," Agano responds while waving her knife towards the school entrance, "Then you should take my advice and leave now."
You ignore her words and continue, "But, I can't walk away from this. Not while my fellow students are getting hurt right behind me."
Agano narrows her eyes, "Oh, so you are one of those Raijin students."
"Yeah, but I mean everyone over there. Kirin and Raijin," your words silence her reply and you don't waste the chance to press your advantage, "What school we go to is irrelevant. What matters is the fact that at the end of this, regardless of who 'wins', a lot of people are going to the hospital. Some will leave fine, some will leave with scars, and others won't leave at all. And the longer this goes on the worse it will get.
You take another step forward, your eyes never once leaving the young girl as you speak, "I'm not asking you to surrender. I'm not asking you to say you lost. All I'm asking is that you get your people together and leave. So we can all go home, lick our wounds, and make sure this doesn't go too far."
You go silent and wait for her response. Sweat drips down your head as what feels like minutes of silence pass between you. Her face remains a mask of impassivity as she weights your words. Hiroko has remained still the entire time, her sharp eyes seeming to stare through you to the battle going on right behind.
You're making a huge gamble here. It's clear there's no love lost between her and Raijin Academy. You could guess that from what she said before and her response to learning that you attend this place. While you don't know the origin of that hate, you do know that appealing to her empathy regarding simply the Raijin Students wouldn't get you anywhere. If anything, you'd likely just piss her off. You've been asking Yato for help here, but he's just been saying you should charge the two while their guard is down.
Yeah, you're gonna ignore him for now.
So instead, you're appealing to her empathy for her fellow students...if she has any. If she doesn't then...
Agano doesn't answer you, turning to Hiroko instead and asking, "What do you think, Hiroko? You are apart of this, too."
"In truth, Agano-sama, I hardly gave the ones who chose to follow you on this endeavor any notice. They have made their choices, and thus will suffer the consequences of those choices," you flinch at the Kumiho's answer. But as you prepare a retort, she shrugs while nodding her head, "However, having anyone's death on my hands would leave a sour taste in my mouth. And the chance of that increases every minute the battle goes on for."
Agano nods to the Kumiho then turns back to you. She seems to take a moment to mull over her words before she finally replies:
[Feelings + Diplomacy Check: 35 + 36 = 71/50: Success!]
"...Alright," Agano shrugs with indifference, "I'll call my guys off. Last thing I need is the death of someone uninvolved in this on my hands."
You feel the ball of tension in your chest unwind. A sigh leaves your lips as you get ready to go give Hose and Ritsuko the good news...
"Hiroko, grab those three and take them with us."
...Then Agano's words make you stop in your tracks. You turn around and, very carefully, ask her what she means. She looks at you and raises an eyebrow before gesturing at the three girls on the ground next to Hiroko. Two have gone into a fetal position as she speaks, "I mean these three. We'll leave the rest of the school alone, but they are coming with us."
"But, why those three?" you ask as that ball of tension starts to return.
Agano goes silent for a moment. Then she walks over to the girl still kneeling, the one with pink highlights, and yanks her up by the collar of her shirt. The girl doesn't respond, even when Agano holds the knife she wields to the her neck. The leader of Kirin High start speaking while staring directly at you, "This one is named Iwani. The other two are Eri and Akemi. They go to this school, too. And they decided that it'd be a good idea to bully Hiroko just because she was the new girl."
Agano turns to Hiroko and gestures for her to take over. The Kumiho wraps her tails around the girl with a red streak through her hair, Agano called her Akemi, and lifts her to her knees. She starts explaining to you while her tails caress Akemi's face, making the girl shake with fear at an unseen terror, "Yes, I remember them well. I had taken on the appearance and history of a girl who came to the school through a Scholarship, and these three were in the class where I was introduced. They cornered me on the way to my second class and tried to threaten me with their familial connections. I believe they said they were 'establishing the Pecking Order' or something to that effect. I quickly dissuaded them of that notion, and convinced them that I would not take any part in their attempts to intimidate me."
"But they just couldn't leave well enough alone. Guess Hiroko got under their skin since she didn't cow-tow to them," Agano interrupts, "Everyone in the school knows each other, you know? So they started to 'advise' their 'friends' to not interact with her. Clubs wouldn't take her, she'd be picked last for team sports in PE, people would actively avoid her at lunch, standard bullying really."
"Of course, it wasn't everyone," Hiroko continued while letting Akemi fall from the grasp of her tails, "But enough to make me feel unwelcome at the school. Though it didn't prevent me from living my life, it was enough of an annoyance that I elected to leave the school...which is when Agano and I met."
"And we decided to get a bit of payback for what they did to her. These three and the rest of the school. Hopefully, it'll teach these rich assholes a thing or two about messing with people who aren't as well off as them. But these three have got more to answer for. So, we're gonna take them with us, and finish up their punishment."
You ask them, "And what are you planning to do to them?"
"You can see that, can't you?" Agano waves her hand in front of Eri, the girl with green highlights, face, "Hiroko's got them all locked up in a little illusion. Nothing too crazy. Just something that should scare them straight...and maybe freak them out so much that they won't want to come out of their homes ever again. All depends on how strong they are mentally."
Hiroko giggles as Iwani lets out another horrified scream before Agano lets the girl drop to the ground.
[Feelings + Motives Check: 35 + 33 = 68/40: Success!]
You grit your teeth as your hands curl into fists. This is bad. You can tell they're serious about this. Neither their eyes, nor their body language gives off even a hint of hesitation nor uncertainty. This is the one thing that they will not easily budge on.
However, maybe you can make it easier.
"Are you sure Yameko would agree with that, Hiroko?" the Kumiho goes still, as if she was struck by a bolt of lightning. Her fur stands on end as her eyes widen in shock and surprise.
You use that to your advantage, "What do you think she would say if she knew what you were doing right now? Using your powers to harm humans, the very thing you're trying to become? Do you think she would be fine with you torturing these three girls, even after all they've done? That there is nothing wrong with what you're doing?"
You seem to be getting through to her. Her head swivels from the three girls on the ground, to you, to her own hands as she mumbles something about "Yameko" and "wondering where she is". You get ready to press on...but Agano steps in.
During your conversation Agano's voice has been...quiet. Not so quiet that you couldn't hear her talk, but enough that it gave off the impression she wasn't really paying attention to the current situation. She was participating but cared very little about what you were saying to her.
But, as she stomps her way in front of Hiroko, her anger is clearly expressed in her yell and the furious glare she sends your way, "And what the hell do you or she know?! Where were the two of you when this was happening to Hiroko, huh?! What right do you have to judge the two of us for giving these bitches their just desserts?!"
Damn it! And just when things were starting to calm down! You refrain from adopting your fighting stance, lest you bring the tension to a fever pitch. As you stare Agano down and prepare a response, Yato, of all people, speaks to you in your head.
"My Lord, if I may suggest a course of action; I propose we attack now."
"What!?" you silently respond to him, "Why?!"
"It is clear neither the Kumiho nor the Enemy Commander plan to back down without taking those three women with them. And, despite their transgressions, we can not allow such loathsome people to take them. It would insult not only the honor of your school, but our own for allowing the enemy to escape with one of our fellow students."
"Thanks for the advice," you say while rolling your eyes. While you might not agree with the part about "honor" and such, Yato is right when he says these two are set in their decision...or at least, Agano is.
But Hiroko seems to be faltering after you mentioned Yameko. You might still be able to get through to her, though that might piss Agano off.
And then there's still the question...should you try to save those three girls? Do they deserve it?
[] You're not letting this end in a brawl! Keep pressing Hiroko! If you can get through to her, then maybe she can get Agano to back down, and get them to let the girls go.
[] Keep working on Agano. Maybe you can get her to back down, and convince her to let the girls go. Bad Idea.
[] ...Fine. You'll back down and they can take the girls. At least the fighting will stop, and it's not like the three don't deserve it.
[] Yato's right. Negotiations have failed. It's time to pull out the fist.
[] Don't bother going for any particular goal. Instead, try to stall them. Yamato and Yameko should show up soon, and they should give you the advantage.
[] Write-in....
