Match of the Millennium

Description: A new student arrives at Gedo High and when she strolls through the dojo, finds something usual. Questions are asked, and then someone gets thrown into a wall.

[SEORI]
It's been a while since Seori has had to ever deal with a city, at least on a more 'living' basis, rather than 'just visiting' basis. At least she's had experience with just having to *adapt* to being the continual 'new transfer student' the past few years, but here?

Gedo High is definitely more of an experience than she was expecting. At least it's not in a bad way. Just... different.

Slipping into the relatively ordered space of the dojo, Seori rolls one shoulder, then the next, then adjusts her scarf. Classes are done for the day, but what exactly *do* normal teenagers do after classes here in the city? She can't surf on this 'naive country girl' act for very long; she needs to find ways to begin to integrate herself in. To fit in, in fact.

In Gedo.

Okay, maybe that won't be that hard, actually. Maybe spar someone, get a bit of information just by how they act and react. Someone quiet, someone that doesn't look like they'd try anything funny. Let's see what her choices are...

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki Kirigana is most certianly a quiet person. He is currently positioned in a corner, sitting in a perfect seiza while reading a book. He is wearing a traditional Gedo training uniform: black gi with red hakama pants with red threading with a blazing demon head embroidered in similarly crimson and gold threads. He has a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose as he reads the literature textbook.

His head seems to be bopping to an unheard rhythym. His almost signature large headphones, decorated in a riot of blues and whites and purples and cyans, rest silently on his shoulder. He stops, almost as soon as Seori enters. He does not look in her direction so much as tilt an ear in her general direction, almost as if he were trying to pin down the source of a sound he doesn't recognize. He gets a curious expression on his face; there's a new song in the dojo, and it has his attention. He goes back to his book, not wanting to pry overly much, but the rhythym of his head nodding has shifted somewhat.

[SEORI]
Someone's looking at her. Well, more than one person, but they all mostly looked away once Seori was deemed just another face. So she's going to look at the one person who doesn't really seem to care one way or another. Like... that guy over there, with the headphones. Wearing something with a blazing demon he-

Oh right, that's what they do here. It *is* a school dojo, as opposed to a well-used field at a small rural school.

"Excuse me." Seori positions herself discreetly in Kazuki's span of vision, hoping her attention and amiable body posture communicates her intentions well enough. "Hate to bug you n' all, but you got a sec? I'm looking for..." She gestures to Kazuki's uniform. "We need those to fight here, right? The person who showed me around was kinda lax on... where everything is, and rules and all."

Which probably conveyed the DIY spirit of Gedo High more than anything. "Oh, I'm Seori Kouhara, by the way."

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki looks up at Seori over the reading glasses, blinking once or twice to allow his vision to adjust so that he can see the young woman properly. He carefully closes the book and sets it down to one side before removing and folding the reading glasses. He then sets the glasses down on the book before looking back up to the young woman.

"I am Kazuki Kirigana," the young man says in what may very well be the most polite tone of voice and phrasing she has heard since stepping onto the Gedo High grounds. "There is not much in the way of rules or traditions regarding the dojo, so long as you do not seriously injure someone or tear the place apart too much." He stands, bowing once to the young woman. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kouhara."

[SEORI]
Seori doesn't seem to be one to rush Kazuki despite her directly asking him. She smply waits, moving back a step when he sits his book aside.

A polite introduction and everything? Well, this is a nice surprise. While Gedo's students haven't really harrassed her so much as done a few prompts here and there to feel out her personality, this is the first time she's seen a person display a formal manner on these grounds. Strange... is there something she's missing here? A bit of information? He's wearing the dojo uniform, so he's not just lost. Then again, isn't *she* pretty much not exactly fitting the mold either? What really is a Gedo mold?

Aside from a suspect growth in one dark corner of the boiler room, that is.

Seori finds herself complusively bowing back in the manner of someone who isn't new to a dojo situation- or, at least, the interactions between sensei and student. "A pleasure to meet you too," she says, flowing with the motion, then sighting the changing rooms past Kazuki. "I should probably go and try one of these things on. When I get back out..." She scans Kazuki up and down thoughtfully. "Well, you seem like a fighting type. Would you care to spar, maybe?" She pauses a moment. "I'd be using a weapon, if that's alright."

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki does not match the profile of a typical Gedo student, to be certain. He smiles a small smile, stepping to one side to allow her to pass. "If you like," he says as he stop. "I would welcome a spar," he says honestly. He needs a break from the literature book; he honestly and actively dislikes the subject. It's mutual. "And I am okay with a weapon. I could use the practice."

[SEORI]
"Great. It shouldn't take me too long." Things really must be shaping up. Not only did she spend her first day or so here with nary a bit of real conflict, her first pick for a question and a potential spar in the dojo turn out to be a very polite person.

Her dad's intelligence was right; there's a lot more to Gedo High than panicked rumors suggest.

When Seori comes out, awkwardly adjusting her change of clothes, she's indeed suddenly holding a kyoketsu shoge, a fine flexible metal cord connecting the ring and double-edged blade. "Alright," she says, moving towards Kazuki. "You pick the place. Someplace with a lot of room, most likely."

To be truthful, it would be a nice challenge, but not for reasons Seori wants to voice aloud. There's no surprise to prey upon. Could she really hold up? Only one way to find out. When preparations are complete, Seori gives a nod. "Let's give this a go, then. You first."

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki eyes the weapon carefully, then looks around the dojo. People are already crowding towards the walls, seeing that Kirigana has accepted a spar. Something, or someone, is going to get sent flying. Specifics remain to be seen. He stretches for a moment, the slides into a relaxed stance. He extends both arms loosely, one hand at shoulder hieght, the other at waist height. The upper hand is slightly more forward than the lower, and both are open. His legs take a single line, with most of his weight on his back leg.

"No," he says poiltely. "You are new here. Please lead on."

He then seems to pay fierce attention to the woman. Her stance, her bearing, the movements of her limbs and weapon. All of these details are logged and processed by the yuong man.

COMBATSYS: Kazuki has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Seori has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Seori

COMBATSYS: Kazuki focuses on his next action.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Seori

[SEORI]
Barehanded. Dad went over that a few times. Just because someone's not using a weapon doesn't mean they're at a disadvantage; their weapon *is* them. Seori nods at Kazuki as he shifts positions. Wait. He's asking her to go first? "Alright," she says, quietly. Damn. She can't have that chance to read into his moves this way.

The metal ring is lengthened to hang just above the floor, though not quite touching it. Seori begins to spin it, building momentum, while the excess rope, which seems to be a strangely indeterminate length, hangs from one hand to her other, which holds the blade.

The metal ring is launched forward, but not at Kazuki. It almost looks like she missed, except, in a way an object is not supposed to do when thrown forward, it seems to almost halt, timed with the intense concentration in Seori's eyes. It switches directions, now going to the side, Seori pulling on the rope to help direct her chi's ability to influence the direction of the metal ring. She needs to snag an arm, if possible. A torso, maybe. She needs to use that momentum on that ring to wrap it around an object the chain flies into.

COMBATSYS: Kazuki dodges Seori's Hangetsudan.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0            Seori

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki's head tilts ever-so-slightly to one side as the ring comes in. His eyes narrow a bit at the application of chi to the rope, putting an odd hum in his ears. He steps in quickly, bobbing and weaving through the rope's movements smoothly as he closes the gap between himself and the woman.

Once he gets close enough, he snaps out a quick palm strike aimed at the woman's jaw, mostly to gage her reaction. Of course, it IS a punch to the face. There will be a reaction regardless.

COMBATSYS: Seori blocks Kazuki's Syncopation.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0            Seori

[SEORI]
YEP, DAD WAS RIGHT. That was a good punch, too, this guy definitely knows what he's doing. He's fast, too; the surprise Seori was counting on didn't really affect Kazuki's ability to flow with the rope's movements and punch her in the jaw.

Seori's outward reaction, however, seems to take being punched to the face in stride- or, at least, as much stride as anyone would in a regular fight. She winces in pain, flows back on her feet, keeps moving. Her movements and reaction reveal a slight familiarity, even- she doesn't appear shocked that he chose to punch her in the jaw.

She's not going to betray her happiness that he's not choosing to treat her with kid gloves, though. No way. That would just look desperate.

The kyoketsu shoge Seori wields seems ordinary enough for the average user of the dojo, but to eyes and, perhaps, ears like Kazuki's, it's a strange beast, reacting almost like a wire tied to a current, reshaping in length as she moves and as needed.

Time for something more direct. With a soft inhale, Seori moves, twirling the rope and its ringed weight around to aim at Kazuki's head. "Mph!"

COMBATSYS: Seori successfully hits Kazuki with Medium Strike.

[      \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0            Seori

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki rocks back from the strike, the ring leaving a nice read mark on his cheek as the aikidoka takes a half-step back. The weapon is clearly meant for keeping people at a distance, while hiw own style is all about being up close and personal. Kirigana closes the gap once more, his hand snaking out to grab Seori's weapon hand.

If that works, he throws a sharp blow at the nerve cluster in the young woman's armpit before leveraging her into a classic over the shoulder throw to bring her to the mat!

COMBATSYS: Seori avoids Kazuki's Combo Throw.

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0            Seori

[SEORI]
If Kazuki was the best person Seori could have asked in terms of politeness and willingness to spar, he's also the worst she could have picked in terms of his style. There's an obvious resistance Seori displays to being close when Kazuki moves forward, quickly ducking away from the attack.

The grip on her left hand tightens as the rope length between ring and hand suddenly tightens. Simultaneously, her right hand shifts her grip on the double-edged blade, allowing the blade's tip to fall towards the ground.

It's a quick action, and somehow, with a short inhale of concentration, she's suddenly tossing out the blade like it was a throwing knife, visibly glowing with the blue-grey chi that lie hidden before.

One of the onlookers squints. A magician. Great. Just what they needed.

COMBATSYS: Kazuki blocks Seori's Hiendan.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0            Seori

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki's hand snaps out, slapping the blade away with an open palm. He winces as he shakes the stings and needles out of it. He takes a moment to breath, and then he's charging back in. A faint green glow forms around his right hand, the energies spinning into a bit as he takes a second to line up the strike.

Kirigana plants his feet before slamming the sphere directly at her midsection!

COMBATSYS: Kazuki successfully hits Seori with Ruvido.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////       ]
Kazuki           1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0            Seori

[SEORI]
The blade goes flying away from Kazuki's slap with an audible clang, leaving Seori moments to attempt to reign it in back in before it loops back on the chain towards her. This maneuver really can't work if this was a real kyoketsu shoge, but this ninkou, the Koumei Hagoromo- it's almost like a teacher of its own.

Extend yourself too much and you'll pay the price.

Her attention is on catching the ricocheting blade, not the telltale faint glow around Kazuki's right hand. The attack lands in Seori's midsection just as she regains her hold on the blade, pushing her back from the force. Digging her heels into the mat, she forces herself to move forward, the blade suddenly small and looped downward in the hand she suddenly jabs forward.

It's not the weapon she's using to try to hit him this time; it's her hand. She barely begins to even realize what her body's doing before she finds herself trying to connect that jab, humming with a strange chi, to Kazuki's shoulder.

If it connects, it's like a sting from a paralyzing wasp, the strike disrupting the inner map of chakra held underneath the immediate area, briefly numbing the nerves of the area much akin to Kazuki's attack from before.

COMBATSYS: Kazuki blocks Seori's Horou.

[            \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kazuki           1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0            Seori

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki's hand still has that faint aura around it as he intercepts the incoming arm. The energies burn up his arm slightly, not quite disrupting his chakra but still making themselves felt. He scowls slightly at this, attempting to turn the block into a grip before pulling hard on the arm to take her off balance.

His follow-up is, for him, something of a classic. He brings his back leg forward, stepping in to sweep Seori's plant leg off the ground to try and dump her to the mat!

COMBATSYS: Seori dodges Kazuki's Forza.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kazuki           1/-======/=======|=====--\-------\0            Seori

[SEORI]
The connection not made, Seori's disruptive chi fizzles uselessly into Kazuki's arm.

The further in the fight continues, the more and more Seori sheds her friendly persona from before, becoming... well, someone much like Kazuki is being himself. Quick, quiet, intense. The more he puts into the fight, the more she responds, attempting to adapt to his style. It really is a spar for her; she's trying to figure out just what would work.

There could be someone who uses this style in the future. Someone not as polite, or as willing to keep this within the bounds of a sparring match. If she relented, she's assuming Kazuki would probably stop as well. By pressing himself into this fight, he's giving her that much more of a chance of survival.

Quiet thoughts like these probably don't communicate very well outside of how quietly she's choosing to move, or how those dark eyes are choosing to display a sober intensity she didn't show before.

Whipping the ring of her her kyoketsu shoge out, she attempts to wrap it around some part of Kazuki, then, if it connects, pull it down to attempt to jerk Kazuki down to the mat, swiping with the knife part before quickly disengaging back out of harm's way.

COMBATSYS: Kazuki counters Tsunawatari Jab from Seori with Coda.

[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Kazuki           0/-------/-----==|=======\==-----\1            Seori

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki's eyes flash with insight as he reaches out and grabs the rope as the ring passes by. A gentle breeze slides into the room seemingly out of nowhere. He pulls on the rope with vicious strength to yank her clean off of her feet, before driving a shoulder into Seori's midsection. His empty hand moves quickly, grabbing the girl's weapon arm. The breeze turns into a gale.

And /then/ Kirigana throws her clear into a wall. The students watching started scrambling once the breeze came in; they clearly knew Kirigana played tricks with the winds.

[SEORI]
Dad always warned her this would happen. Seori has very little time to gather the clues needed for the proper response: that flash of insight, that gentle breeze- an element that would be somewhat out of place in an enclosed dojo, the ring passing harmlessly by that hand as it encloses around the rope, another about to follow soon after-

The world seems to shift. Her mouth betrays a grunt as Kazuki forces a shoulder into her midsection. Her arm is grabbed. She can't immediately move back, even if she could find here the floor begins and where her feet end.

It ends with her falling against a wall, an grimace creasing her face through black mussed hair. The weapon shifts momentairely in the passing gale, betraying a wide ribbon of blue-green, the color of the scarf Seori wore before disappearing into the women's lockers. It snaps back, clanking to the floor when Seori's eyelids fly open.

She gets up, coughing, taking slow breaths to control the smarting pain in her body as she moves the kyoketsu shoge in her hands. "... Thanks," Seori says with a roughened voice in the silence left behind by the scrambling students. "I was kinda hoping I'd find this sort of thing. That it wasn't just all talk and posturing. Maybe, if I learn from everyone here, I just might..." She lets the thought go, immediately starting in with her counterattack.

The metal hoop expands under the command of her chi as she throws it, attempting pass some part of Kazuki's body through it.

Maybe she'll survive.

COMBATSYS: Kazuki counters Hisui Drop from Seori with Cambiare.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kazuki           0/-------/---====|======-\-------\0            Seori

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki's eyes snap to the 'rope', and some things click mentally. That explains it. He dashes in close one more, vacating the point where the hoop was dropping almost in the blink of an eye thanks a trick in his stepping in. "The cloth is an artifact of some kind," Kazuki whispers in Seori's ear. "You use your ki to manipulate it. That's a new one to me." He pitches his voice so as to prevent it from carrying to anyone else in the room.

And then Kazuki simply grabs the front of Seori's gi and hauls upward. The wind picks up again, moving in a bizzarely up and then down manner as Kirigana takes the girl off of her feet again before hauling over his shoulder and dropping her to the mat again. He starts to breath heavy; he's pulled out a lot of tricks in this match. It feels... oddly rewarding in a way.

[SEORI]
Kazuki's proving far too quick for her initial assessment of his strengths and weaknesses to be correct. But that's a good thing; she needs to learn just how to really read her opponents. She hears Kazuki's words uttered against her ear and sputters out a quiet laugh before she's lifted up, gravity seems to invert once again.

Now she's on the mat again. Those counterattacking measures... those would be good to try one day, when her body is more steady about attacking as a reaction, instead of moving back.

As Seori lays there, pondering if she should take one final move, then relaxes. Nah. This is good enough for now. She'll need that last push of energy to get up tomorrow, not have a final stand. This is a sparring match. The weapon collapses into the scarf, settling down in the lingering winds to the floor.

"...It's called the Koumei Hagoromo." She slowly sits up. She trusts this young man enough with a simple name. It's... just a name, right? And it's better for the one guy who knows this secret, so far, to see it as simply a weapon. A tool. More people will probably follow. "I'd say you won that round. That was a good fight." She grins and chuckles in spite of herself, wincing as her back complains at the sudden, uncontrolled motion. "But yeah." Wait, yes. There's a way to tailor this to her advantage. He seems like a decent guy, right? And if not, how could this really hurt her? "People call it a ninkou. Of course... If you see anyone using this term, could you tell me? Also, be really careful. Not everyone using one's going to be like me."

If there were, once, there may be no one left now.

COMBATSYS: Seori takes no action.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/---====|

COMBATSYS: Seori can no longer fight.

[              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/---====|

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki stands upright, taking a breath to center himself before offering Seori a hand up. "I will keep that under advisement," he promises with a brief nod. "I think that this may be something to talk about someplace else," he then says, "If care is to be taken, I mean." He looks around.

The crowd is starting to thin out a bit now that the fight is decided.

[SEORI]
The offered hand is taken with a nod from Seori. Rising onto her feet with a grunt, she glances to the dispersing crowd as Kazuki speaks.

'If care is to be taken, I mean.' Oh. Right. The main flow of the moment carried her a bit too far. "... Yeah... You're right. I think no one heard it thanks to your earlier, ah." Wait, what *was* that? "You care to tell me how you commanded the wind?" she starts, much quieter. "Or was it a lonely akuzen-kaze?" The grin on her face suggests she doesn't entirely believe the latter. Standing back a few paces, she begins folding her scarf in, almost complusively, into her current uniform, a clashing disaster of colors.

COMBATSYS: Kazuki has ended the fight here.

Log created on 19:04:14 12/04/2016 by Kazuki, and last modified on 11:53:10 12/10/2016.