Description: After Gorin High's victory over Justice High's volleyball team, Sie Kensou seeks revenge. Concealing his motives in the Neo-League, he challenges Gorin High Sports Star Natsu Ayuhara in a battle. But the question remains in the teenager's heart: was this really what he wanted? <Winner: Kensou>
It was a simple act of justice.
Sie Kensou had dominated Yuri Sakazaki. He had broken Zach Glenn, at the cost of his own arm snapping in the face of the Ex-Marine. His last report cards came in, and he earned straight As. His class standing was going up and up. He was becoming a delight to Raizo, a model student. An ideal for others to look up to. He had gone from a slacker who barely kept afloat in his grades, to a hard-working paragon worthy of the name Justice High. He offered himself fully and completely to Justice High, his school was all he needed.
And now, his school needed him.
The loss of Justice High against Gorin High was a footnote. The Justice High Volleyball team had a close match with the Gorin High volleyball team. Justice High naturally stuck to their fundementals; Justice High's team was a fantastic example of a team with no stand-out stars, but fantastic teamwork. But Gorin High had the same fantastic teamwork, and a fantastic star to boot: Natsu. Gorin held 3 wins out of the 5 matches; the last match was unfortunately a rough 15-7 with Gorin High securing the win. It was a black mark against Justice High, but an expected black mark. Sie Kensou read about it in the internal announcements. A mere footnote.
And here was Sie Kensou now.
The student was dressed in his Justice High uniform of smooth, well-groomed fashion. Standing in the massive field outside the Gorin Dome stadium, he was stretching, brow furrowed, teeth gritted. He could have fought her unofficially. Attacked her even. But those things weren't done in Justice High. There was a sense of structure, a sense of order, a sense of rules. It had to be an official format. It had to be above the table, it had to be recorded. It had to be a public notice that Sie Kensou was facing down Natsu of Gorin High, and asserting the dominance of Justice High over the lesser school. It wasn't even a moment of greatness for Kensou.
It was his duty to Justice High.
He didn't tell Athena about it. He only told his principal, who arranged the details behind the scenes. It would be a Neo-League match; Natsu was in fact registered with the league, and with Kensou being a member as well, it would be managed through that forum. A small group of Justice High students sit on a set of stands specially provided for this demonstration. The students were all grim-faced and quiet. Raizo would not be attending, but an instructor from the school would be in his stead. At the sidelines, the Neo-League crew of cameramen and a judge stand by as well, looking a little more relaxed. Sie Kensou leans hard on one knee, and then the other. The Gorin students would be coming soon. And then he would prove himself.
And prove Justice High.
If Kensou were to challenge her in person, she'd question the Justice High student's motives. But Neo League is completely neutral, thought Natsu. It never occurred to her that the Neo League committee could ever be compelled to allow grudges from interscholastic events to carry over to the fighting stage.
So when Natsu Ayuhara gets a notification about an upcoming Neo League fight, the volleyball captain is optimistic. Someone her own age, from a rival school? There's no fear or trepidation: she only sees it as a great opportunity to show off some school pride. The scheduling, it all fits: just a simple demonstration on her own home turf. The volleyball captain is even wearing her team uniform as she arrives from the gymnasium, her entire team proudly flowing behind her in a 'v' formation like a flock of birds. A volleyball, naturally, is tucked under one arm as she strides past the bleachers designated for Justice High, flashing them a winning smile.
In a word, Natsu is the very image of confidence. A noble trait, for a noble school whose guiding principle is to never settle for a mere Silver medal.
The lanky volleyballer spots Sie, after a moment of scanning the crowd. He's easy to spot -- no one else is performing warmups. And to her credit -- she's already warmed up.
But that doesn't stop her from stretching her arms across her chest one last time, first to the left, then the other.
She stops before Sie, launching into her perfectly formal and proper self-introduction. "Natsu Ayuhara," she states in mid-bow, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Sie Kensou."
The Gorin cheer squad has decided to migrate over to the festivities as well, taking up positions on the green alongside the volleyball team.
"This isn't a volleyball match."
Those were the words from Sie Kensou, his face dead serious. There is no introduction, no proper response at first. Just a glower, and even an arrogant sneer. He casts a glance over the Gorin High students, somehow looking down at them. He had his own confidence, it seemed, and he would not tolerate any silver medals for HIS school either. "Why are you bringing a volleyball?" The teenage scoffs. "You seriously think you are going to fight with a volleyball-"
"A-hem."
The instructor of Justice High clears his throat. Sie Kensou's face turns red. He was embarassing his school. He had to be polite to this girl, even if he intended to avenge his school for their humiliation. Blushing wildly, Sie Kensou snaps to attention and bows. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well Natsu Ayuhara." Recovering from his bow, the martial artist seemed to be much more flustered now from his faux pas. He glances to the audience, the instructor. There was no empathy on their stoic faces. He would not get any sympathy from them. He could only offer himself, and his success. Failure would not be tolerate. He turns back to Natsu, and loosens his stance. "If you are done with stretching, that is good! You can stretch as much as you like, I will wait for you!" Kensou's face somehow turns hotter as a single girl from the Justice High stands giggles.
The instructor was visibly facepalming.
Natsu doesn't seem overly affected by her opponent's querulous response; at least, if she -does- respond, she's polite enough to keep her opinion to herself this time. As someone who's used to being the tallest girl in her class, she's conditioned herself against getting upset at people who may feel the need to challenge her. For, as far as she's concerned, everyone's equal.
Besides, she's caught grief from people questioning her use of a volleyball in a fight before. She tosses the volleyball lightly in her hand, taking a couple steps back from her opponent. "I will, in fact, be fighting with a volleyball, per the Neo League rules." She hasn't committed the exact chapter, heading, page and rule numbers to memory, but that's what officials are for.
As she strides backwards, her shoulders lower into a rough approximation of her volleyball stance -- rough, because it's rare for her to be palming a volleyball during an actual match, of course. The heat on Kensou's face does brighten her smile -- mostly because she -does- enjoy the prospects of setting a bookwormy Justice student right in his place.
Natsu is not big on conversation. With a brief nod to the Neo League official, she receives the word to begin...
And that's all she needs to lob the ball into the air, before scything her hand overhead. The air shudders, the crisp white orb becoming a blurry oval as it rockets towards Kensou -- and split-seconds later, the sound of the impact catches up to the projectile itself.
Game on!
COMBATSYS: Natsu has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Natsu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kensou has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Natsu 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Kensou
COMBATSYS: Natsu successfully hits Kensou with Tokkun Spike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Natsu 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Kensou
Kensou focuses forward, face still red.
He had to NOT be a loser. He had to NOT be nervous. He had to block out the distractions. He had to empty himself for his true love. For his school. Not Athena. He made sure of that. Not Athena. Not Athena. He had to block out the students, everyone watching. He had to make his mind and body and spirit void. Empty. Clean. He would defeat this insult to Justice High. And he would prove him and his school worthy.
His thoughts are interrupted a flash appears before him.
Insticts come over him as he immediately shifts his positions into a wide-legged stance. Hands open, he immediately prepares to set the volleyball. Another peal of giggling comes as Kensou, realizing -what- he was doing, suddenly tries to evade- nope Volleyball to the face. The blow knocks him into a backflip, spinning him head over heels once before landing squarely on his back. The instructor, for Kensou's mercy, was focusing on the Justice High girl who just couldn't stop giggling at what was happening. Kensou staggers back upright, grabbing his nose. It was -broken- and swollen, and Kensou fights the tears instinctively welling up in his eyes. Sniffing hard, he glares across at the tall girl.
"Not fair!"
He grits his teeth, as he picks up speed. He lost momentum already out of the gate; the girl was -strong-. This was shameful. Kensou should have drawn the first blow! Charging forward faster and faster, Kensou just hurls himself into the air with a flying leap. Blood trickling down his lip, he flings out a flying elbow, trying to overwhelm the Gorin High student. Should it be blocked or struck, the agile martial artist would fling out a staggering knee and kick, all before falling back to earth.
He was still blushing fierce.
COMBATSYS: Natsu blocks Kensou's Ryuu Renga.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Natsu 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Kensou
Natsu's high-tops only make a light sound as she touches down upon the Green, all thanks to the muscle memory of many, many years of practice. The Gorin student may be relatively new to the world of competitive fighting, but volleyball is practically in her blood by this point.
She is, however, caught a bit unaware as the words 'not fair' are yelled back at her. Not... -fair?- How can this not be fair? "The official called for us to begin." she insists, her voice betraying nothing: this is a calm Natsu, a professional Natsu. "It's not my fault you were staring off into space." It's true -- she -had- noticed him spacing out, but this -is- a challenge that was brought to her home turf. She could have spared him a few more moments, but from how rudely her self-introduction was answered, she honestly hadn't felt it necessary.
And besides, she considers while watching the Justice High student fly towards her, it's not like he -can't- defend himself -- even if he -is- trailing a little blood already. As her volleyball falls to the ground, she calmly turns herself sideways, raising her forearm and deflecting the flying elbow aside, while simultaneously stepping backwards to mitigate her opponent's momentum. The following knee and kick are met in equal measures, the volleyballer's guard remarkably robust beneath the deceptive folds of her volleyball jersey.
The captain's strategy for the moment is to wait until the kung-fu artist is -just- about to land, though, before launching her counterattack -- a gorilla-like overhand slap, aimed at swatting him out of the air. "Hrrraaa!" And if that lands, she'd follow it up by balling both hands together and swinging them both upwards at him. It's not a blow that can be mistaken for a strike from one of her less hardy teammates.
COMBATSYS: Kensou blocks Natsu's Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Natsu 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Kensou
She was right, of course.
It was perfectly fair. It was all Kensou's fault he wasn't paying attention. The teenager's mind was not well designed to be confused. It wasn't to say that Kensou was dumb. He was just... passionate. Kensou did have a heart. And his heart often spoke over his other thinking parts. Kensou shouldn't have let himself get distracted, he thinks to himself, as each one of his three blows are carefully guarded against. As the last kick comes, he begins to land... and the counter-attack is unleashed from the Gorin High student. His arms sweep swiftly, proper instincts coming in now.
And he catches the swat in both hands.
The blow from above is neatly negated. The blow below, however, was another story. Kensou goes straight down, swatted like a pesky fly. His landing his rough; a twisted ankle comes as the other leg compensates. Grunting in pain, he shuts his eyes for a second, and exhales hard. "Yes, you're right." He admits heartfully. He couldn't reject it. It wasn't in his heart.
"But I won't make that mistake again!"
The teenager adjusts his footing in a single, sharp motion, pushing back on the arm now. Springing back, he resolves his focus inward as he surges straight back in. Another test towards Natsu's guard, as the cheerleaders hoot and rah for their star. Kensou was flinging in with his elbow once again, a predictable action now. But this time, the inner focus of Kensou comes to full bear as a violet-blue psionic energy cascades from the point of his elbow. Rocketing in, he won't allow Natsu any breathing room as he attacks, attacks, attacks.
And attempts to blow the goliath right over.
COMBATSYS: Kensou successfully hits Natsu with Ryuu Sohgeki EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Natsu 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Kensou
Natsu grimaces, upon finding that her powerful strike has been... caught. But that's why she'd planned the follow-through, after all. And it seems like... well. It was a satisfying exchange, moreso than any number of words she could craft up. The Amazonesque fighter -is- trying to be polite, but Kensou is on the verge of invoking her ire.
She recovers, drawing her arms back into a defensive stance. Her eyes cast sideways, confirming the location of the volleyball she'd slung at Kensou earlier. Kensou's words demand a response, though, and she gives him her full attention.
Again, she raises her arm.
But this time, the sudden surge of violet-blue energy gives her pause. She knows, from Sakura, how much this sort of energy can hurt. Her guard falters, droops for just one moment as she reconsiders her defense.
And for one fleeting moment, she envisions success as she attemps to step -forward- into the attack.
Reality runs a different course, however, as her arm is batted aside, and an energy-laced elbow slams into her sternum. Her feet shift, and her balance is lossed as she's bowled over by the successive attacks. White-hot energy lances into her nerves, drawing a howl of agony out of the young woman as bone slams into bone. Her frame is near the breaking point -- but, having experience at dealing with fractures, she opts to yield ground rather than resist further.
Crumpled on the ground, the volleyball captain forces herself to stand again, amidst cries and gasps from her classmates. She wobbles on one foot, one eye squeezed shut from the pain. And yet...
"Okay, then," she asserts, "The gloves are off now." She'd not been wearing gloves: her hands are bandaged. But the colloqualism should be clear anyway, as she steps forward. Her hand slaps at Kensou's shoulder, aiming to spin him around so that is back is towards him.
And if she's successful in that, she'd hurl herself forward, feet first -- using Kensou's head and shoulders as the fulcrum.
This year's Slamfest is coming up -- and she sees no need to abstain for practicing for -that-.
COMBATSYS: Kensou dodges Natsu's Bulldog.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Natsu 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Kensou
Impact.
Polite applause comes from the Justice High crowd as Kensou finally lands a clean hit. Hammering his psionically infused elbow into the teenager's chest, Kensou suddenly flashes a feral grin. "Ha!" He cries out as he blasts in to his opponent. "This is for Justice High!" Comes the next cry, as Kensou keeps boiling out. As Natsu crumples to the ground, the martial artist lands deftly, the acrobatic technique of the student overwhelming. Already he was moving in, closing in to the volleyball star. And in harmony, the young lady rises back up, still not out. Kensou was focused hard now on wrecking this Gorin High student. "The gloves were off when we started!" Declares Kensou insightfully, as she steps forward. She makes a play at his shoulder.
And he lets her play.
"Getting distracted?" Kensou snarks as he deftly rolls with the slap, flipping away with the spin as he clears a distance away. Sweeping in the cartwheel leap, he returns back on his feet, grinning madly as he rebounds straight back towards Natsu, another leap, another flying attack. This time, he only presents a flying knee, the acrobatic fighter moving with staggering agility. "Maybe your crush is actually here for you!"
Kensou doesn't even internalize what he said, as he hurls in that flying knee at Natsu.
COMBATSYS: Natsu just-defends Kensou's Medium Kick!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Natsu 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Kensou
Distracted? Natsu doesn't let one little miss discourage her -- she's still trying to learn the fine art of grappling onto someone nimbler and quicker than she is. A small smirk comes to her lips as she's called out -- no, she's far from distracted, as she allows herself two steps forward to follow through with her maneuver before drifting to a stop.
This time, however, when the kung-fu prodigy comes flying back her way, the volley-brawler is ready. Instead of slamming her already-tenderized forearm into the fray, the team captain brings her volleyball experience to the forefront, allowing the increased surface area of her two open palms to disperse the energy from the flying knee strike. At the same time, she hops backwards, moving casually with the flow, allowing the shockwave from Kensou's forceful strike to dissipate throughout her hands and arms with diminished effect. She's still feeling the pain from his last successful volley of strikes, and is in no particular mood to repeat the experience.
"Maybe," she concedes, the smirk turning into a warmer smile. Her hair flutters from the sudden movement, her cheeks flood with a light pink tinge... and yet, she seems calm and serene. "But it changes nothing." The veteran has been in -many- competitions against other schools with much dirtier tactics -- as Justice's volleyball team can probably attest to.
Right until her heels touch down again, digging into the dirt just so, and causing her momentum to shift in her favor. Her palms thrust forward in an attempt to grab hold of Kensou
Should she manage to catch him, the long-legged Amazon would hold fast and try to slam her knee into him a few times for good measure. "HRRAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Kensou blocks Natsu's Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Natsu 1/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\-------\1 Kensou
Kensou was nimble.
The stray thought still eludes his mind. A crush. Did Kensou had a crush? Not even a glimmer of a concern in his mind. All he cared about was that his opponent was 'setting' him. The palms catch him so cleanly, that the pure forward momentum was stopped dead. The teenager's warm, calm smile reminded Kensou of someone. He didn't remember who. There weren't any pleasant memories of the past right now. Just anger. Anger, resentment, want, want, need, need, jealousy, pain, lonely, bitter, black black pit. THe only light and ladder was Justice High. So as that smile comes, with those cheeks of light blushing?
Kensou grows -mad-
Natsu's pure power comes in violently, and Kensou could feel the momentum changing. But the speed and power comes surprisingly fast in the clinch. The first knee lands squarely, earning a grunt from the teenage boy. The second and third knees, however, don't come so cleanly. Swiftly reacting, he brings his hands forward to catch the follow up kneeings, mitigating their impact nearly completely. Still in close quarters, the martial artist lets the last blow send him back, rebounding off her to land back a few yards.
And just like that, he would surge straight back.
"Disgusting!" Kensou finds himself saying, his face turning red! "You are all alike!" The words flow from his mouth as he hurtles himself into the volleyball star. This time, he wasn't simply airborne. He was lunging low, lunging fast, his hands flailing around in a cyclone of blows. Weaving side to side, the red-faced martial artist seemed to be in a rage. "Playing with hearts! GRAAAGH!" The temper of the Justice High student came with pouring sweat as finally, he bounds up in the air to finish the assault. Bringing both of his hands together, he hurls down a clubbing blow straight for Natsu's face.
"I hate girls who toy with boy's hearts!"
COMBATSYS: Kensou successfully hits Natsu with Shouryu Renken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Natsu 1/----===/=======|>------\-------\0 Kensou
Natsu is no psychic, but that's not to say that the girl lacks compassion. Quite the opposite, really: her underclassmen look up to her, and even some of the teammates with more seniority admire the way she can find rational solutions from even the most emotionally charged arguments.
So she understands that Kensou is, for some reason, -enraged-. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this, especially the way he turns from condescending, even conniving, to absolutely -incensed- with the idea that Natsu has committed some spiteful wrong against him. The young woman is slow to anger, but this sudden surge is...
It's enough to set her over the line.
Which, unfortunately, does her no favors. As her skin coloration takes another step towards crimson, she backs away. She's been accused of playing with hearts, it seems, when the young woman's hardly said anything at all. She glances away for a moment, checking the position of her volleyball. Returning her eyes towards Kensou, she pivots slightly to her right, keeping her left elbow forward. And she prepares to move...
But it's not quite enough to allow her to get a fully-formed defense against the young man. Not against such a low approach. She drops her left shoulder, but her arm isn't fully able to obstruct the attack -- no! It's knocked away by the first blow, leaving her wide open for the dizzying array of strikes that follows. Staggering back with each attack, Natsu continues to hold her ground, a vein on her forehead nearly bursting from the desire to scream something at the young man -- but only finding herself able to yelp out in pain instead.
But when he leaps into the air, Natsu finds that moment of respite she was looking for. The one split-second she needs to bring her ravaged forearms up and into Kensou's path. The clubbing blow... is met with both arms, crossed at the wrist.
So that her eyes can glare back at him as she's shoved backwards, off her feet, slamming hard into the grassy Green.
She's seen this before. Misdirected rage. Her eyes narrow, as she half-skitters, half-scrambles to her side, pressing back to her feet. Those eyes remain locked with Kensou's.
And she finally finds the voice to shout. "Then find some other girl to obsess over!"
The shout is punctuated by a rather forceful soccer kick to the abdomen, aiming to catch him right in the solar plexus -- and possibly catapult him into the sky.
COMBATSYS: Natsu successfully hits Kensou with Rival Launcher.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Natsu 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Kensou
Connecting with her kick, she finds it necessary to snap her arms out to either side just to counterbalance herself. But she's not done yet.
She leaps after Kensou, her aura roiling with waves of brilliant yellow and orange. "Guess what?!" she screams out, soaring into the sky after her prey. One arm swings wide, her wrist clocking against Kensou.
"-I- hate... " Her shoulders twist about, her left arm following up with another swing -- this one aimed low for his stomach.
"... guys like -you!-" she continues with a knee slam...
"RRRRGH!" And at this point in the aerial assault, Natsu has the momentum to swing her hand overhead, spiking Kensou back at the ground!
The volleybrawler's aura remains raging hot as she sails back towards the ground afterwards. Let there be no mistake -- Kensou has -definitely- evoked a reaction from the Gorin volleyball captain now.
Some other girl to obsess over.
After the battering blow is dealt, Kensou still had momentum. He was still willing to hurl himself into the volleyball star. But then, she says a short sentence. Some other girl to obsess over. A color comes over Kensou, as something clearly moves him. He is stunned, visibly stunned by that accusation. The words cut to the bone, deep and hard into him. When she roars in with the counter-attack, the student of Justice High tries to slip around it half-instinctively. But it is not enough, the words come too heavy, too harsh.
And Kensou is knocked skyborne.
Sent rocketing into the air, Natsu follows up afterwards, and has her way with the boy. The teenager grunts and groans as her energy pours out with every blow. He was a rag doll, the blow to the gut causing him to fold over, the knee slam unfolding him. As the final swing comes, sending him back down, he rockets straight to the earth, leaving a harsh imprint on the grass. He is stunned again, but far shorter than what the words left him. Body burning, bruised, and nearly broken, he scrambles to a stand. For a moment, his expression was... tearful. Warm. And shocked.
And then that darkness returns.
It was like a shadow passed over his face. Where there was warmth and human kindness, there was now cruelity and determination. Gingering shaking a fist at the volleyball star of Gorin High, he declares: "You shouldn't hate guys like me! The standard bearers of Justice High! You should not hate! You should fear! You should respect!" The Justice High students erupt in polite applause at Kensou's rousing speech. Inspired by the restrained cheering, Kensou spreads his stance again, the wide stance of his Northern-Style Kung Fu. Sweeping his arms in the symbol of ying and yang, the blue-violet energy rises from his limbs, and focus into his arms. Psionic power rising, he drops his arms down hard as the energy manifests as a dense orb of pure psycho power. Launching it outward, he sends it towards Natsu at a parabolic arc.
Like a ball, Natsu.
Just like a ball.
COMBATSYS: Kensou successfully hits Natsu with Choukyuu Dan EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Natsu 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Kensou
Natsu lands a fair distance away, air hissing through her tightly-clenched teeth. She doesn't want to be this upset -- indeed, she'd rather maintain the air of confidence that she'd shown throughout the beginning of the fight. But at the same time -- Kensou is -really- driving her up a wall right now. Making wild accusations about her -- and whoever it is he's got this crush on.
She /didn't/ know he had a crush. But she does now: it's as obvious as the Gorin Dome from how the young man reacts. Or, rather, doesn't.
She -could- start to calm down. But then the boy tries to misdirect her, -again-, rambling on about Justice High. Fear, respect. The same ideology espoused by the young man would have become her greatest rival to date: Daigo Kazama.
Veins bulge across her forehead, but she holds her tongue for now. Watching, waiting. It's just as well, as her fellow students are doign the talking for her - or, more accurately, booing at Kensou's Justice High bombast. And when she sees the surge of energy from his hands, she stands her ground, holding her palms up as if to catch the blazing ball of concentrated Psycho Power. She's seen this trick before... she knows how to deal with this.
When the time is right, her hands thrust forward to catch the charge. But it's not the same as chi -- her fingertips plunge right through the energy, as if it were no more substantial than a cloud.
The energy jolts through her like a bolt of lightning, dropping the Gorin student to her knees. Tears well up at her eyes -- not only from the pain, but because she was so sure that the technique would work, that she'd left herself almost completely unprepared for the impact, the Choukyuu Dan hitting nearly every major nerve cluster before dissipating a couple meters beyond her.
Ayuhara's eyes shut, cutting loose the accumulated moisture from her eyes. She sucks in her breath through her teeth... and rises back to her feet.
"I don't -fear- you, Sie Kensou, or the gifts you've been blessed with." she begins.
She takes one step. And then another, more quickly. And a third. Before long, she's running -- and then with a sudden burst of energy, she throws herself into a slide kick at the Justice High student.
"I pity you."
But it's not -just- the kick that she's planning to land -- for should it connect, she'd dig a heel in, throwing herself back to her feet... And then whip out a fierce backhand aimed at showing Kensou -exactly- what he's in for, if he's going to be calling Gorin students out on their home turf.
COMBATSYS: Kensou blocks Natsu's Sliding Receive.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Natsu 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Kensou
Kensou didn't even know himself anymore.
Every time he looked inside, he only saw what was outside of him; Justice High. Even now, as he is booed by the crowd, he didn't care. Let Gorin High boo him. Their displeasure was worthless. The only thing that mattered was the praises of Justice High... which come as another round of polite applause. The blast had with full force blown Natsu down. A harsh blow to Gorin High. Kensou wipes the blood from his nose, staggering towards the young lady with a sneer on his face.
That sneer fades into a scowl as she rises.
Standing fast, Kensou immediately falls into his defensive stance. Breathing hard, he let her come. Let her charge. She doesn't fear him? Kensou didn't care. He would MAKE her fear. Kensou's head was pounding, his heart was... numb. Staring down the girl, the slide kick comes in, and Kensou stomps his foot down, stopping the slide with his own steady stance. His ankle wrenches again, as he grits his teeth in pain. The larger girl then rises, with a backhand coming around. Staying in close, Kensou throws his own arm to catch the full force of the limb, accenting the bruises already fixed on it. Nose turned up, Kensou spits back. "I pity you... for being a student of Gorin High!"
And Kensou returns with a backhand of his OWN up at her face!
COMBATSYS: Kensou successfully hits Natsu with Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Natsu 1/------=/=======|=======\=------\1 Kensou
While her opponent may not know himself, Natsu's not got that problem. Psycho Power -- that energy Kensou uses -- she knows it's not the same as chi. Lesson learned. But she -won't- make that mistake again. No -- right now, she finds that both her attacks have been effectively blocked by the determined Justice teen's fighting prowess -- not -everything- relies on his talents, after all.
Natsu steps backwards, raising her arms again. Her body aches, but the pain is tempered by a steady drip of adrenalien and a pounding heart, eager to make sure Kensou knows she is -not- just going to lie over and tap out.
The backhand is caught on the back of her bandaged right hand, the entire limb quaking from the effort. Dealing with volleyballs is one thing, but dealing with a trained martial artist who seems to have tossed the notion of 'restraint' out the window is something else entirely.
But her maneuvering hasn't been -all- for naught -- for her drive actually brought her closer to something she'd been keeping an eye on for a while. Shoving back against Kensou in the wake of his attempted backhand, she throws herself off to the side...
Tumbling right past the spot where her volleyball had come to a full stop. With the dexterity and practiced ease of someone who's clearly practiced similar maneuvers quite a bit, the Gorin volleyball captain scoops the volleyball off the pitch -- and flings it into the air.
"Eh!" she says -- regaining some measure of her earlier demeanor.
Natsu hops into the air. It's not a big jump: it doesn't have to be. But when Natsu's hand climbs into the air, it's glowing orange with the brilliance of her inner flames. And when her hand drops down like a pistol's hammer, that same fiery aura ignites the volleyball, crackling and spitting embers as the distorted, oblong-ified sphere hurtles its way towards Kensou's condescending face.
"No one's perfect!"
COMBATSYS: Kensou blocks Natsu's Blazing Serve.
[ \\\\ < > ///////// ]
Natsu 0/-------/------=|=======\===----\1 Kensou
She couldn't still be standing.
As Kensou hurls out the backhand, he sneers again. "Ha!" He exclaims, as the blow is caught. "You -are- afraid!" He scoffs. As she pulls away from the attack, she throws herself down... and right for the volleyball. "Hah! Your volleyball won't save you now!" He declares. But as she... remains calm, the Gorin student just seems to serve the ball, and -slam- it straight for Kensou. The teenager crosses his arms, blocking it... and there is a crack. His arms BURNED. Agony runs through him, as he barely, barely stands. The ball rebounds, and the boy slides backwards. Groaning, grimaces, he shuts his eyes tight. "I must be perfect... for Justice High." He mutters to himself.
And Kensou begins to charge.
Kensou hurls himself forward, leaping through the air at blistering speeds. The martial artist hurls out three kicks in the air, each one trying to carry Natsu higher and higher into the air. One. Two. Three. If she managed to be taken skyward, then Kensou would drop HARD to the ground, and finish the assault by landing on both hands, and spiralling upwards with a finishing kick.
Aiming to hit her squarely in the spine.
COMBATSYS: Natsu fails to interrupt Shinryuu Seioh Rekkyaku from Kensou with Knock It Off!.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Kensou 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Natsu can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ <
Kensou 0/-------/-----==|
Natsu has been in a few professional fights before. And she knows that whenever she jumps too high, she puts herself at unnecessary risk of a bad landing. For, unlike volleyball, there's no net to keep the opposition from rushing at her.
So Ayuhara lands at roughly the same time that her ball slams into Kensou's guard. He's laughing -- laughing at her.
That, she's used to. It only strengthens her resolve -- along with the fact that her opponent stood to lose almost as much from blocking as he would from getting nailed.
Her lips pull into an expression one can only nominally identify as a 'smile.'
And yet... as Kensou charges back at the girl, she finds herself at a loss. How is it, that he is able to run so fast after taking all that damage? Is it the same thing that propels her to fight amidst bruises? That forces her to fight against rivals she has little chance of besting?
Probably.
Natsu's pupils shrink as she focuses intently upon her opponent. She won't be caught unaware again. She's waiting for the perfect time to strike. Riiiiight... now.
Her powerful backhand lashes out towards Kensou's face, eager to be the final blow putting an end to this misplaced vengeance of his. She's -tired- of bullies, -tired- of boys making their unreasonable demands. It stops here, she promised herself. And when Kensou's forcibly brushed aside, she'll make sure that she foll--
Something's wrong. Her hand didn't hit Kensou's cheek. It slammed into the outstep of his shoe -- which was already counteracting the speed she'd put into it.
Something -cracks-. Tears well up in the corners of her eyes as her hand gives way, her arm is knocked aside as if it were a simple door.
If it ended there, it would have been cruel enough -- but the followup kick lands solidly in her abdomen, blasting the air out of her lungs and rocketing her skyward. And its sibling adds both injury and insult, forcibly changing the direction of the Gorin volleyball captain's flight into a higher vector.
Natsu, for one moment, blacks out from the sheer punishment of it all. Her hands and feet weightless, she doesn't feel much of anything -- a blissful reprieve from the burning agony tearing through her muscles and bones.
And then she's jolted awake from the pain of a rising kick right into her spine. Her eyes open. Her mouth opens.
And there is no scream from the Gorin star.
And there is no sound from the rest of the volleyball team, or the cheerleading team, or any of the other Gorin High athletic team members who had stopped their jog to watch their volleyball captain fight some guy from Justice High.
Those she considers friends would liken the sound of her unconscious body hitting the Green to the sound of a piano landing from a three-story fall.
He could have stopped.
He could have stopped when he faced Hitomi. He could have stopped when he faced Yuri. He could have stopped when he faced every single opponent in that tournament, this tournament. And yet, as the first blow comes, Kensou has no thought to stop. His heart ached for him, but his resolve was set. When Kensou lands on his hands, he could hear another crack... before the crack comes on her spine. When she falls, Kensou was already collapsed on the ground. That was... that was too much for his body. He sits there, in pain. The silence was deafening. Only the sound of his staggered breaths come. He realizes... nothing was coming. He suddenly stands up, looking around at the Gorin High students.
And Kensou begins to laugh.
"This is what losing to Justice High is like!" He declares, shaking a fist at them. "This is what really happens, when Gorin High challenges Justice High! This is the real sport! THis is the real victory! THis is..." Kensou looks around him. He... he had expected a reaction. There weren't jeers. There weren't cheers. They just... stared at him. He had nothing.
Just polite applause, from those he want to impress.
The Justice High students clap. One even stands up. This was... this was his trophy? The officials are on the move, with the medical team rushing to Natsu. A thought comes to Kensou, he doesn't even realize where it comes from. It was a lost thought, a lonely thought. A thought that seemed to be pulled off a shelf, and the dust blown off it. 'Was she even going to play in the season anymore?' Kensou dimly realizes that... he might have just crippled her. Just like... what was that girl in the wheelchair. Who wrote those letters to Athena, its... Kensou grabs his head, his arms burning. A hand is placed on his shoulders. The instructor. The judges had called it for Kensou. And the instructor looked... proud. "What's the matter, Kensou?" He asks briskly.
"Isn't this what you wanted?"
Isn't this what he wanted?
COMBATSYS: Kensou has ended the fight here.
Log created on 17:47:58 01/25/2016 by Kensou, and last modified on 06:19:34 01/27/2016.