Description: Though the deadline for the first round draws near, two of the final contestants finally meet to determine which master of karate is the greater! The exchange is short and brutal but a winner is decided in a dramatic exchange of incredible power! (Winner: Hitomi)
A red bicycle, powering down the street with a steady wrm-vrm-wrrm. The German born exchange student following meticulous instructions to get here by a certain route, skidding to a halt outside the school gate she almost missed spotting and near locks the breaks creating a racket and still passes by the gate; she slowly walks the bike backwards into shot at the front gate. The newly arrived Taiyo kid outside just sitting there taking a photograph of the front of the school with her phone and then twiddling away typing out a text with both thumbs, fixated on the screen and oblivious to the looks she was beginning to receive.
Pedalling in the front gate the girls lifts a leg to step off the bicycle even as she remains standing on the pedal and leaning over the bike while coasting it over to the bicycle racks. She doesn't belong here! Everything about her is off, energetic and preppy seeming in an environment everything but.
Hitomi acts the complete tourist, taking three further snapshots of the buildings and even running over to talk to a couple of the students and asking them to stand together in a picture, she hardly seems off-put by being rebuffed and the tough guy act they try and throw back at her. Completely no sense for the mood she is creating and the looks turning her way. But she's part of the main attraction and the brown haired Japanese girl is already here for a fight, someone else already has claims on fighting her.
The sun is shining brightly despite the cold, if anything it was a blessing because it was warm enough to fight outside and good enough for the pictures to turn out great. The -=HOT! PINK!=- backed smartphone buzzes at her and emits a chirpy snippet of the default pop music ringtone as she recieves a text, smiling delightedly at the result she now casts her eyes left and right over the assembled students, those present for the fight and official representatives of the Inter-High tournament. There's even a few students hanging about on the rooftops, The buzz of conversation fills the air as people are talking quietly to one another or getting ready for the match itself. Now beginning to get a sense for the mood and stares... What was going on? She half turns her head to look behind her.
Double checking the time; she was still ten minutes early for the match so she wasn't late. There doesn't appear to be an arena all picked out for the fight and Hitomi still hasn't caught sight of who her opponent was. If this Makoto guy was from this school then he was sure to be plenty strong!! They made them strong at Gedo, not that it looked like there was any shortage of strong people here.
Rather than wilt under the stares she seems to be even more energetic and prone to grinning right back, she was fired up! And that seems to be even more inflammatory towards the restless natives. But not quites as bad as if she had-
'OHAIIII-YO GE-DOOOO!"
That.
The silence that follows the intruder's cheerful greeting is even louder than Hitomi's shout. All eyes in the area that weren't already on the Taiyo student swivel to aim unpleasant glares and scowls in her direction. No one speaks for several seconds but the mass of gangsters, thugs, and outcasts seems to have a quiet unified mentality of disdain that comes pressing down on the girl from all directions.
The tension grows thick enough to spread with a knife. Even the judges look a little uncomfortable by the sudden shift in mood but none of them volunteer themselves as a new focus for the student's enmity by speaking up. No one makes any overt moves of aggression but the hostility present is palpable like a slowly simmering pot about to boil over.
The atmosphere is shattered by a gruff voice as a small and slender figure emerges from the crowd. "Alright, that's ENOUGH of that." Makoto elbows past a pair of heavy-set students and steps into the open, ignoring the glares that they give her. These looks become begruding looks of respect once they lay eyes on the culprit, however, and the circle of onlookers slowly relaxes and takes a collective step back to give her more space.
Dressed in her generic karate gi, Makoto doesn't cut a particularly imposing or memorable image on first glance. Though her body is composed of well-toned muscle and a fair share of battle-scars these are hidden beneath the loose folds of the uniform which leaves only her messy tomboy haircut and the stern glower she seems to sport at all times to present a first impression. Ofcourse, the fact that the other Gedo students, some nearly twice her size, appear to be giving her a wide berth might also be worth noting to an observant individual.
The karateka pads into the yard with a casual grace and comes to stand before Hitomi. Her arms cross over her chest as she gives the other girl a once over, eyes narrowing appraisingly. "You must be my opponent," Makoto says after a moment. "Can't imagine why someone like you would be here otherwise."
"-Eh?"
The silence is deafening but seems to do little to deter the girl at the epicentre of it. Folding her arms back and clasping her hands behind her she looks right back at the assembled crowds quite fearlessly. Her attention diverts to the emerging figure in a white Karate Gi; and she begins to regret not having brought her own. Even before they have closed enough to speak to her he already seems to have the crowd's attentions and that crowd and made way for them or been parted by them. It would have been fun to meet this Makoto dressed suitably; and respectful as it looks like he is a fellow karateka.
Dressed as she is instead all in Denim, a daffodil-yellow belly shirt and boots she feels like she let the side down not treating the match more traditionally. She thusly takes Makoto's comment as such a reinforcement of that belief, looking chagrined and more than a little uncomfortable before opting to perform an abrupt waist deep bow. She truly doesn't look like she belongs her though, even a pink plastic hairband in her hair visible during the bow.
"I'm sorry for the trouble. I'm looking forward to our match though!"
Makoto was the same height as her, sun darkened as much as she was fair-skinned and with his short boyish black hair. Thick strong looking arms folded across her chest; Hitomi was finally getting a sense for just how much of a fight she had on her hands. Glancing at the phone still in her hand and tucks it away in one of her pockets, starting to shrug out of the jacket and look for somewhere to put it and keep it safe. She is by no means as muscular as Makoto, arms not as thick but she certainly gets some more positive attention from the crowd. There's less definition as the physiques of the two figures are hardly comparable. But as someone finally offers to take her jacket form her Hitomi smiles and half bows to the Gedo Student. She slams a fist into her opposing palm with a leathery crack, there is power here. She has already had enough of a workout cycling down here and quickly jogging back to Makoto the girl excitedly asks a question as though they were friends, familiar addressing with a tone that doesn't quite suit the honorofic she luckily remmebers to use.
Z"Yoshi! Ready to get started!! Makoto-san, where are we fighting?"
The bow and apology are accepted with a faint grunt of acknowledgement but Makoto's frown only lets up a little. The overtly friendly attitude that Hitomi seems to be possessed of is not shared between them and the 'boy' just shrugs it off with a casual roll of 'his' shoulders.
"Right here." Turning her head towards the ring of students, Makoto bellows with a voice that belies her short size, practically blasting the clustered bodies away with a wave of raw sound. "HEY, BACK THE HELL UP AND GIVE US SOME ROOM!"
The reaction is immediate. Gedo students quickly retreat from the pair of fighters until a large circular ring has formed around them giving them free reign of a large portion of the school yard. The judges also jump in their seats at the sudden outburst but they recover themselves more quickly than the teenagers. One man stands up, lifting a hand into the air.
"The Inter-School First Round Match - Gedo High's Makoto VERSUS Taiyo High's Hitomi - will now begin! Fighters, begin when are you ready!"
Makoto was born ready and she looks like it too. Even before the announcer has finished speaking the small karateka has dropped into a short warm-up stance, fists tucking tightly against her sides as she exhales all of the unnecessary tension and distractions from her mind in a slow steady breath. Afterwards she turns and moves into an obviously combat oriented stance, one hand extended forward with the other becomes a tight menacing fist just waiting to strike.
Makoto's scowl shifts into a cocky smirk and she flashes her teeth. "Whenever you're ready, cupcake."
COMBATSYS: Makoto has started a fight here.
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Makoto 0/-------/-------|
'Right here.'
Hitomi is perhaps just as surprised as judges by the loud bellow and actually retreats a half step herself as if trying to give makoto room, but she was part of the 'us' room was being allowed for. The Schoolyard huh? This would be rough; there wasn't much in the way of green grass or anywhere to land safely. This wasn't ideal and it'd probably get them both pretty beat up almost as much as traded blows. This was the spirit of Gedo huh?
Students scatter to make room for them to fight, be it respect? The urgency involved in getting a good seat or-place to slouch; Or by command? they certainly had the space to fight now.
Lifting her own arms into a similar stance, gradually raising and settling into position whilst setting her feet as she rocks back and forth, lowering herself just a little and settling into position. Both hands are held up with palms facing forward, a gentler form with no such extremes in her version of the stance Makoto is taking, feet closer together, both hands open and closer to her body, not extending so much.
A very different matchup of karate styles is about to take place.
"Mhmm, here I come then!"
A scrape of sole grating across pavement warns as the boot ascends. A rap directed at the torso as her back leg comes up and sweeps around at Makoto's side, two snaps of a leg extension rather than the full kick as Hitomi raps against Makoto's defence to see it's grade and calibre. Prodding the bull! to perhaps create an opening for a spinning back heel kick by feinting right twice, or so see what her opponent was capable of.
COMBATSYS: Hitomi has joined the fight here.
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Makoto 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hitomi
COMBATSYS: Makoto blocks Hitomi's Nami Gashira.
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Makoto 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Hitomi
Makoto's brow raises slightly when her opponent drops into a familar stance. She's seen a few new fighting styles during her short term as Rindou-kan's master but karate is something she's intimately familiar with. It raises the bar a little to know she's fighting against someone of a similar art. Which of them will prove stronger?
The first blow is struck by Hitomi and the powerful leg snaps are met by a swift movement from her opponent's arm. Makoto grunts as the impact rocks her slight frame but she plants her bare feet flat on the pavement and digs in, weathering the pair of crushing attacks without moving. There is definately a lot of power in those legs, she notes. Good to know.
But, now that she's taken a measure of Hitomi's strength, the karateka goes on the offensive herself. Both of them are about the same size which means their reach is close enough to be a none issue when it comes to advantages. However, Makoto possess speed as well as power, something that a lot of people don't expect from a bruiser like herself.
Batting the offending leg aside, Makoto rushes forward in a burst of motion and reaches for Hitomi's throat with both hands. Powerful fingers seek to clamp down on the soft flesh and if she gets a hold of her, they'll lock on like vices and squeeze, choking with enough force to render her breathless for a few moments even as she is lifted bodily into the air.
COMBATSYS: Hitomi blocks Makoto's Karakusa.
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Makoto 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Hitomi
Balance badly affected by having her leg knocked aside Hitomi has little chance of avoiding the lunge in and grab, it's almost panic inducing to have your throat seized and even more so to realize you can't breathe. Thrusting her own arms inside and between Makoto's she presses against the others physical strength with her palms against their shoulders and pushing her elbows wide to try and release some of the pressu-nope that's not going to work!z
Switching tactic on the fly she sizes fistfuls of the cotton Gi and locks eyes with Makoto even while she is still struggling.
A fierce blue the belies the candy coating the girl seemed to have at first, Hitomi isn't afraid to get dirty! To suffer damage to win! She could be dangerous even if she isn't overpowering. Ora! The cry can't escape her lips but the kiai is there in spirit. She kicks up into Makoto's gut at the same time she tries dropping her body to the ground while continuing the momentum and lift; throwing upwards, intent on driving Makoto in the pavement behind her if they don't break the grip on her themselves.
COMBATSYS: Makoto fails to interrupt Combo Grapple from Hitomi with Tacchuu.
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Makoto 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Hitomi
Makoto's expression is as fierce as her grip as she lifts her victim into the air with almost supernatural ease. She grinds her fingers against Hitomi's throat, seeking to stun her with raw power but at the last moment the girl's swift reflexes and quick thinking see her through.
The body blow blasts the air out of Makoto's lungs and with it most of her strength. The grip loosens long enough for the rolling manuever to flip her up and fling her bodily into the air. There is an unpleasant thud as the Gedo student crashes onto her back several feet away earning a collective wince from the crowd of onlookers. The judges remain impassive to this turn of events but they pause to scribble some notes.
Makoto groans in pain from the extemely unsoft landing but she quickly rolls back to her feet and turns to face Hitomi again, shaking the blow off as best she can.
Likewise Hitomi was also lying on the pavement after her fall, a sharp cough while clearing of her throat, hands reflexively cupped around it and the memory of how strong that grip had been imprinted in the reddened flesh around her neck. Even then she rolls onto her side to better keep an eye on Makoto, hip pressed to the cold tarmac and picking up plenty of grit and small stones off the pavement (pray that's all there is, there's not time to check.) She doesn't even notice the gum stuck in her hair. Not the time to be resting or calling a timeout.
She rises deliberately, setting a gloved hand against her thigh she climbs back to her feet perhaps even markedly slower than Makoto's roll out, it's a measured and watchful approach as she keeps her eyes fixed on the figure in the Gi to the exclusion of all distractions!
Beginning her advance with a surge she accelerates with every step, arms pumping as she starts running right at Makoto, leaning right into the short sprint that separated distance between and as she leaps at the last moment and extends that leading leg toward she arrows right in at Makoto, intended to power through through the other fighter with a flying kick. The heavy work boot treads aiming to stamp tread right down into centre mass.
It's a brutal fight so far, and the audience is starting to get into the mood begin to call their support to their own champion.
COMBATSYS: Makoto dodges Hitomi's Strong Kick.
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Makoto 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Hitomi
Holy telegraphs, Batman.
When Hitomi starts her slowly escalating run she makes her intentions pretty obvious. Still the speed that she puts on in such a short amount of time is impressive and even with a couple of seconds to respond it is only barely that Makoto manages to twist out of the path of the dangerously powerful flying kick. She almost gets close enough to read the brand name imprinted on the bottom of those boots.
But life on the edge is where she's the most comfortable. Those intense moments where skill and training determine the outcome just get her blood pumping and she wastes no time in turning that energy around. Gritting her teeth against the dull ache running through her back, Makoto turns and tries to capitolize on her momentary advantage. Pivoting on her heel, she spins in place and snaps a leg out at other karateka's back, driving her heel towards her as if it were a battering ram.
COMBATSYS: Hitomi fails to counter Fierce Kick from Makoto with Bukyoku.
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Makoto 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Hitomi
Sailing past her opponent Hitomi flies through the air but the way she arches her back suddenly and snaps her legs back down to the ground starts bringing her trajectory to a surprisingly fast terminus. She's already pivoting on her still sliding heels and bringing her arms down right at the leg that just half a second before was streaking toward her back. Trap?
Instead to be Rocketed further along the same path the girl continues her slide and to a more natural stopping point, where she drops to one knee with a sudden forward heave, the crowds starting to roar it's approval. Only Makoto is close enough to see the grimace twisting her lips and sweat forming on her face; that had hurt immensely! The escape had been narrow, her fingertips brushing the leg of the gi just short of actually seizing hold of it.
Hitomi pushes back to her feet with some effort, the residual pain in her core hasn't magically vanished and the fight is still in progress. She forces a smile despite the pain and raises her arms back into a guarded posture. She's likely winded now if she wasn't already before.
Makoto's foot comes down hard on the pavement after making contact with her opponent. She doesn't gloat or smirk about her success upon seeing the damage that she has inflicted and hearing the cheers that rise up in response. That was close. Way too close. But damn what a rush.
A faint smile that looks almost friendly touches her face in response to Hitomi's quick recovery despite clearly struggling from that hit. Most people don't get up from a blow like that; Rindou-kan is not a kind art and Makoto is not a weak girl.
"Not bad," she says, giving the foreigner a moment to recover herself. Or so it seemed at first. However, as Makoto drops back into her combat stance the air around her begins to stir and shift. An invisible breeze ripples through her, setting her messy black hair and loose uniform into gentle motion. The invisible energy quickly begins to build in intensity and within a couple of seconds even the long flowing hachimaki, tied around her neck of all places, begins to flutter like a flag in a strong gale.
"But this next one is going to really sting!"
COMBATSYS: Makoto focuses on her next action.
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Makoto 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Hitomi
A deep cleansing breath, rolling and moving her abdominal muscles as she shifts, it helps with the pain and her breath is recovering just fine; both recovering with time. The compliment had caused her to turn up the wattage on that smile she had been forcing, despite the beads of sweat starting to roll her cheek and jaw. Just a little brighter but infinitely more natural, she was taking the threat afterwards as seriously as the compliment.
What would it be? Would it come in high or low? Hitomi is poised to receive the attack but has an operpowering sense of impending danger growing in the back of her mind and no actual idea what is coming.
Another deep breath but this time she opens up her stance a bit, flowering as she opens an already tight defence ready to defend high and low; to meet whatever comes by shifting her stance just a little more toward the extreme. While the air around Makoto flaps and flutters just feet away by Hitomi it is a calm breeze that buffets long light brown hair and sets it to swaying gently while the girl waits and observes for this inevitable stinging attack.
She doesn't doubt Makoto's sincerity in his warning, but she has no intention of being moved or defeated.
"Shobu!"
COMBATSYS: Hitomi gathers her will.
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Makoto 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Hitomi
Hitomi's exclamation acts as a catalyst for the impending assault. The moment she exhales the word into the air Makoto explodes into a blinding blur of motion. The whirling power lingering in the air condenses into her body at the speed of thought and it lends even greater alacrity to the already skilled martial artist's attack.
Bringing her fist forward, Makoto slides along behind it as if propelled by some hidden rocket booster and she becomes a smear of blurred colors as her body blitzes across the short distance between the two fighters. There is mere instants to react to her move; those who blinked at the wrong time might not even see what happened.
Regardless of whether or not Hitomi is able to keep up with the greased lightning punch, Makoto is on her in a flash with her fist driving in to the other girl's face like the launching rod for a game of pinball.
COMBATSYS: Hitomi blocks Makoto's Hayate.
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Makoto 0/-------/---====|=======\======-\1 Hitomi
Hitomi hadn't seen it either, it's a wonder it hadn't knocked her head clean off, having something comparable to her in size rushing in to hit her that hard and fast. The defending arm that had turned aside the blow is quivering and numb, still pushing against the thicker and more muscular with a similar strength as she had used powering it aside now to no real visible effect.
An angry red mark of her cheek marks the fists Passage where it brushed her cheek on the way past, beads of sweat which had been rolling down that cheek scatter and fall to the ground more than a dozen feet behind her. Almost invisible at first a thin cut opens in the midst of that fiction burn on her face as that line is traced and filled by welling red, a single drop beading and beginning to fall in place of the sweat.
A close call.
Gripping the sleeve of the gi with her free and still fumbling and numbed fingers she starts swinging straight into the abdomen with to quick and fierce straight shots with her one free good arm trying to double Makoto over for the rising knee finisher to separate them the two of them with a series of barked kiai.
"Sei- Ei! YAH!"
COMBATSYS: Makoto endures Hitomi's Moka.
> Determined Hit! <
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Makoto 1/-------/=======|=======\======-\1 Hitomi
Amazing! Intense! Other words!
The crowd goes wild as Makoto's fierce blitz misses by such a tiny margin that the raw /air/ being shoved by its passage actually leaves a wound behind on the intended victim. It's the kind of stuff that only happens when two of the world's greatest fighters face off in a no-holds barred slug-a-thon. So far, no one has been disappointed on that front. Both girls have taken some serious punishment but neither one is giving up.
Makoto grits her teeth as she feels the strike whiff into empty air, knowing that she's about to be punished for that mistake. Rather than let the advantage switch to her opponent, however, she decides to throw herself on the metaphorical spear and digs her fingers into the folds of Hitomi's shirt just in time for the first punch to ram into her unprotected midsection.
Makoto lets out a muffled cry of pain as her ribs are abused by the other warrior's powerful strikes but she holds on tight and when the knee comes up it doesn't have quite the zing necessary to finish the job of pushing them apart. The raven-haired karateka is still right up in her face and from the grin she's sporting, though marred by the ache of such a brutal attack, she's about to return the favor.
Taking a deep breath, Makoto gathers her energy and an explosion of raw fighting spirit engulfs the both of them. Though not visible, the current of power that flows around Makoto is clearly tangible to anyone standing close enough. It is a power fueled by raw emotion - pride, anger, and determination - and all of these together consist of the strength that she wields.
Clenching her free fist into a tight ball while holding Hitomi in place with the other, the karateka lets out a fierce kiai and drives her steel-hard knuckles at a downwards angle - into the other girl's crotch.
Again things happen in a blur. Barely two seconds pass between Hitomi's final kick and the terrible warcry that signal's the unleashing of Rindou-kan's most feared, or atleast recognizable, technique.
COMBATSYS: Hitomi counters Seichuusen Godanzuki EX from Makoto with Yamase.
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Makoto 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Hitomi
Hair now fluttering behind her with both fighters so close Hitomi is likewise caught up in the anomalous winds though with only her hair fluttering and massing around both like a wild creature as they struggle. Tendrils whip into her face and sting her eyes, likewise so does the wind itself but matching wills and trying not to be overcome is her focus. As the winds suddenly pick up and become even more turbulent, swelling and growing until it simply - stops, her hair falling slack or back to merely wavering, the eye of the storm.
The eye that coincides with the fist flying at her crotch stops short of its target, one gloved hand with slim fingers cradles around the tanned wrist, the other, a small hand covering the knuckles and and both delicately proportioned hands cramping tightly at the resistance and strength they exert; biceps straining and lips peeling back from gritted teeth, it's all she can against the blow trying to stop it, even where she stands and the held firmly in place she is still pressed back with her heels struggling for purchase.
The shirt starting to tear in Makoto's fist as it is the weakest link in the struggle between both of them.
Out of nowhere suddenly steeping back herself she pulls Makoto off balance, tugging hard on the grip she has on that fist while as the same time the straps and shirt over her shoulder tearing free as she starts to twist.
Dropping low and turning her back on Makoto she shifts her hand positon now pushing against the wrist with just one hand trying hard to ruin makoto's root and stance, already makoto's bodyweight starting to fall onto and across her back, The free arm at her side cocked back with elbow tucked in tightly at her side and fist cocked, ready to fire. Her watchful eyes staring up beneath that veil like fringe of a head tipped backwards; looking right up into the silhouetted Karateka looming over her.
"Sei-YAH!"
Her fist collides with the underside of Makoto's jaw, pitching 'him' into a vertical arc, up and completely over Hitomi. While sailing upward the girl jumps to perform a spinning crescent kick while airborne, driving Makoto both further away and into the ground a little harder, an aide to gravity's hold as she spikes them downwards.
when she hits the ground, Hitomi is breathing hard, fear provoked adrenaline coursing through her system, her breath catches in her chest, she hopes that is the end of it. Surely nobody would want to keep going after that.
The crowd is silent, the loose straps of her shirt dangle freely, the loudest sound she can discern in her immediate area is her own gulping for air and blood thundering in her ears. But still nobody has called the match, so it just isn't over just yet. Hitomi raises her guard defensively yet does not advance.
"I don't know what that attack was, but I'm still shaking!"
Truthfully she was, hands trembling and knees just a little weak but the grin is an expression of joyous excitement! And it's an expression she had never won when fighting so seriously and carefully with others before.
Impossible!
The is the word that flies through Makoto's mind repeatedly as she lies there on the pavement. Rindou-kan's secret art, her ultimate attack, utterly denied. Impossible. Such a thing has never happened before. Even when she faced down the wrath of the greatest Gedo has to offer and stood toe to toe with the giant that is Daigo. Even when she was beset by a power beyond anything she had ever seen before as the man with the body of steel faced her in the ruined temple. Even those great foes had felt the string of the pinnacle of her technique.
Impossible.
And yet here she lies on the cold hard stone. Reality takes several seconds to set it but when it does the emotion that had surged up to empower her fists redoubles - but this time all of it is rage.
Makoto rises from the ground with an eerie slowness, her movements stiff and deliberate as if her coordination has been jarred from the impact of that landing. Her eyes remain focused at her feet for several seconds even once she is upright but her fists clench and relax in a rythmic fashion, tight and then loose, tight and loose, like she's working an imaginary stress ball in each hand.
When she finally lifts her gaze to meet Hitomi's eyes once more, Makoto's expression is one of livid seething anger. Her skin flushes as if she is blushing, but it goes much further than that, literally turning her flesh a hue of scarlet that spreads from her face to envelop the rest of her exposed skin like a ravenous cancer.
Bellowing in wordless rage, Makoto lurches into motion, taking off at a dead run on direct course for the source of her outrage. Her fists come up, instinct driving her into tight precise movements even in her blind rage, and the karateka unleashes a devastating strike. Her hand extends, fingers clumping together into a knife-edge of solid muscle and bone that cleaves into the air as if seeking to eviscerate the foreigner from shoulder to hip.
COMBATSYS: Hitomi blocks Makoto's Aggressive Strike.
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Makoto 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Hitomi
The girl Makoto was facing was far from being earthly and troubled. She was clear 'sky blue' seeming prone to only passing showers which left rainbows. There was no question which of them had the stronger techniques or which one had built a greater physique. Even facing down the righteous wrath of a Rindoukan practitioner, she was still smiling and looked to be having the time of her life.
Throwing up a barrier composed of both forearms clamped side by side like a armoured prow Hitomi keeps the diagonal slash blow from her core body and vitals even as it scores across her arms and opens up a gash that appears across both bare forearms.
Some blood spatters at their feet, there is even a sharp cry of pain from the girl hiding behind that barrier, the arms begin to part, only she isn't looking at Makoto or acknowledging the rage.
Her eyes -- are focused on that arm that had just attacked her, bloody drops painting a line between her forearms and the knifelike hand; those guarding arms reaching for it before it can escape her completely as she lunges forward after it, grabbing at the sleeve.
It's a simple judo throw she seems to be trying to execute, attempting to roll Makoto over her back and flat onto the ground face up, her fist already drawing back to land the finishing blow right into the other's face.
COMBATSYS: Makoto fails to interrupt Komon from Hitomi with Fukiage.
- Power fail! -
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Hitomi 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Makoto can no longer fight.
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Hitomi 0/-------/----===|
The technique that she has called upon in her anger is one of channeled fury. For most fighters, losing their temper is a sign of losing control. For Makoto, it is precisely the opposite. Her emotions are fiery and explosive and that feeling and spirit is a conduit to power and strength. She displays some of the truth of this as she rends Hitomi's flesh with nothing more than a bare-handed strike.
Despite this, Hitomi stands firm against the explosive energy of yet another of Rindou-kan's - no - Makoto's secret techniques. This is something that only she has learned and something that she could never pass on to others. Determination and honor can be described but never handed down as in something as simple as a formula.
For an instant, the knowledge that all of her power and technique can be so handily swept aside overwhelms her reason, and the rage takes over. Her free hand balls up into a mallet of destructive force and she takes a step forward, clearly intending to drive that weapon to the face of her opponent with all of the fury of an exploding volcano.
Once again, Hitomi is just fast enough to avoid the onslaught, one step ahead of the rampaging bull. With the elegance of a Spanish matador, she takes the energy put into the blow meant for her and subverts it into something to be used against her aggressor. Makoto fuels the strike that brings her down with her own strength and when she hits the ground there is nothing left in her to defend against the strike that comes crashing down into her face.
Blood spurts outwards from the impact of the fist, twin jets of crimson the same color as her tainted skin exploding from her crushed nose. Makoto jerks in pain and lets out a horrible cry of pain but she quickly goes limp and sags against the ground. Breathing heavily, her skin begins to fade back to its original sun-glazed tan and she stares up into the cloudy afternoon sky without focus for a few long seconds.
Eventually, however, her gaze shifts to Hitomi looming overhead. She grins, letting her eyes slide closed languidly as she bares blood-stained teeth.
"...not... not bad."
The crash of her fist striking the face of Makoto echoes though out the schoolyard, it feels as though she is experiencing the blow outside herself and watching the impact divorced from the act of inflicting it. The pain in her arms is incredible, the blood on her fist mixing with the rivulets running down her arms. In spite of the brutality of the battle she finds herself looking down into the eyes of the fighter staring up at and beyond her. She continues watching them tiredly sagging over and just watching makoto staring up into the sky, chest still heaving and breathing. Eventually to look up at her Hitomi offers a thousand watt return smile in response to his words.
"That was the BEST fight! I'll happily fight you again."
Straightening and tipping her head back deep gasping breaths are enough to start calming her body. She can hear the rumbling voice of the distant seeming judges declaring the fight over, she was the winner here this time.
Rather than screaming to the heavens like her last hard fought victory this one just fills her with a measure of peace. Her opponent was honourable; the match was karate and even this setting. Hitomi settles down closer to Makoto and speaks softly to the passed out fighter, quietly starting to step away from them.
"Rest well."
The medical team on hand look like they're part of the faculty staff, it's not long before the two fighters are separated and it's doesn't take very long to treat Hitomi's wounds. Less than a half hour later she is back standing out in front of the school waving people to group closer, closer together! There, mostly all in the frame!
One last commemorative photo with some of the remaining Gedo students, they weren't being especially co-operative but things had been running pretty smoothly since the match. Nobody was cowed at all by her; just perhaps a little more obliging because She'd fought a hard won battle and tended to ask nicely if they wanted to be in the pictures, for which she seemed really grateful.
Now wearing her jacket covering her bandaged arms and a plaster stuck to her cheek with tape she thanks the last of the students for participating and walks to the bike rack to retrieve her bicycle, the phone buzzing in her pocket as she lifts the front wheel and pulls the tire free.
It stil loks like I membr it! Lots chaingd thou. We r prwd of u pumpkin. How did ur fite go? Dad wurrys -Love Mom.
Smiling happily Hitomi pockets the phone to answer later and gives some of the boys standing by the gate a half wave on her way out.
Until next time!
Log created on 20:58:23 01/01/2015 by Makoto, and last modified on 12:38:21 01/02/2015.