Match of the Millennium

Description: Careless criminal activity might work at first, but eventually it's going to draw unwanted attention. Katsuro takes advantage of complacent tanuki's to track them to their rooftop hideaway, and makes him remember just why humans terrify him!

[DAICHI]
Complacency is the enemy to many; and Daichi, for all his age, is particularly susceptible. Having opted to settle his 'investigation hub' in the Village where there's a bit less people and the sheer scale of the town less overwhelming, the tanuki has set up a nest of sorts on the roof of an apartment building. Trying to learn about humans has been an arduous effort, however. Despite being chosen to enter Earthrealm, he was given no instruction on spycraft or how to investigate... and as a result, has been primarily loading himself up on magazines and newspapers. Biased information is not the most efficient way to familiarize himself, but... at least he is getting a grasp of current events. Humans like fighting. Humans like bad news and heartwarming news but nothing in between. Humans like celebrities and fashion. Only the hobby magazines have impressed him to some degree...

Yet what's liable to draw issues for him is the discovery of two things: Human currency, and candy. The idea of pieces of paper having any worth baffles him, but it's an easy matter to temporarily turn things into what seems like real cash -- mundane eyes wouldn't notice, until suddenly there's leaves and wrappers. This might be a good con, if not for one thing; when NOL is inundated with angry reports, two things are consistent. It's in the Village, and... the perpetrator was someone with brown, rounded ears and a big, poofy tail like a raccoon. Every other aspect tends to differ; the clothing, age, even gender, but it's more then enough to send some people from the Library to scope it out and patrol. ...he's not had much restraint on the number of times he's done this, after all.

Things are going south, within a small convenience store. Daichi, currently in the form of a slender young man with blonde hair, oddly fashionable clothes, and... big, round ears and a bushy tail. Word has got out, and the rumor on the street is a pack of demihumans is swindling shopkeepers with fake currency. That's only a half-truth, of course.

"I have your human currency here!!" Daichi exclaims, smacking it on the counter a few times. "Give me my food!" "How do I know it's real?!" "Don't you trust me!!" "No!!" Gasping as if heartbroken, Daichi then gathers up the multiple candy bars and a strawberry milk. "WELL LIKE I CARE ABOUT YOUR HUMAN LAWS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!"

...at which point he just, books it. Bursting out of the shop front, the convenience employee runs after, yelling and pulling out his phone. "THIEF! THIEF! DEMIHUMAN THIEF!" The semantics between a Darkstalker and a Demihuman are minimal, but most partial-animals get that equally pleasant term. "I AM ZERO HUMAN!!" Daichi calls back, as the crowd parts away and a car screeches to a stop as he heads in the general direction of an alley opposite, arms overloaded.

Not that his presence is very subtle. He's used to humans being blind; having a fairly powerful and notable chi, it's likely that anyone trying to hunt him down has already had a good job zeroing in even before the rather brazen theft is attempted...

[KATSURO]
Amidst the chaos created by the relatively simple act of Daichi dashing away with a bounty of unpaid candy, a much calmer presence slips through, trailing after the signs of chaos left behind. NOt that the initial trail is terrible subtle, indeed, not with how the people moving through Southtown Village visibly move aside to clear away from the shoplifting 'demihuman', complete with car breaks screeching and horns ringing out with exasperation.

One chocolate bar fallen down on the ground in the wake of the Tanuki's escape is picked up-- not by the shopkeeper still yelling for someone to halt the thief, but by the trailing presence. Two fingers pinch into the end of the wrapper to bring it up to be eyed over by an amber-colored eye.

"Is this really what they eat...?" The man murmurs, tilting his head enough to send the messy mane of thick, brown hair sliding subtly along his head, enough for a wave of it to inadvertantly partially covering his other eye.

"Well, who am I to judge, I suppose~."

The man lowers the hand holding onto the candy bar to his side while he takes a faster-paced - but still languid - step to weave through the crowds. Among the crowds already paying attention to the flight of the thief, he might not be easy to notice, but under different circumstances he may well easily draw some eyes. Tall, japanese man with a glorious - but messy - mane of hair, dressed up in a white button-up shirt with a slim black tie hanging loosely from his neck... and tight, black leather pants covering up his legs, of all damned things. Curiously, there's a thick, red belt coiled along his waist -- not looped through any of the belt hoops, just tightened there with a slight diagonal jant. It almost looks more like a sash than a belt.

This curious sight doesn't make for an immediate trail after the Tanuki into the alleyway, however, no. He circles the building on one side, instead, while guiding his free hand up to his mouth, imposing the thumb of it towards his mouth--

And biting down on the very tip of it.

He doesn't so much as twitch from the pain that might be inflicted, even though drop of blood visibly beads upon the tip of the digit when it's drawn away again. Still held up high enough to be imposed within his sight even if he otherwise looks forward.

"Now, now, you little trash panda~," the man quietly coos in sing-songy tones, while the drop of blood wobbles at the tip of his thumb before taking an unnaturally rigid shape, and shifting into a point, like the needle of a compass. "Show me where you are~."

[DAICHI]
As is usual, normal people are not very keen on chasing a demihuman themselves. They've a reputation for aggression, eating human souls, and generally being dangerous. That's something the thief is taking easy advantage of. Once he makes it into his alleys, although there's yet another deluge of calls to authorities and NOL, nobody's proceeding any further... yet when one keeps up the same petty acts over and over, the end result won't always be the same.

Daichi happens to have a very distinctive chi, and trailing him close enough to attune, Katsuro is likely going to be pleasantly surprised by the ease with which he can trail. The tanuki makes haste himself, although his 'nest' is not very far away... it would be inconvenient to go on any sort of hike to find food. Well, the need to eat in the literal sense is a bit new to him. In the Spirit Realm, much of his actual sustenance is drawn from the powerful energies and chi flowing through it. The idea of hunger being a need to sustain his body is new... luckily, being a spirit himself, he's less to worry about nutrition. Energy is energy, and sugar happens to be dense in it. That it's delicious is just a benefit.

Katsuro would track him down some minutes later, no doubt, although the technique would be pointing up -- to the top of the red brick apartment. There's a fire escape leading all the way, with only a retracted ladder at the first story making it difficult for the mundane. Atop it, amongst the rumbling AC units and vents, Daichi himself has turned back into 'tanuki' form...

Perhaps five feet, fairly rotund, and most certainly iconic of what most would imagine his kind to be, almost to surreal levels; even if his limbs might be a touch shorter and more feral then a proper bipedal being. He's a green haori and brown hakama pants, both of a style from centuries back; beyond a straw hat, long walking staff of strange wood beside, and ready bottle of sake, only a couple pouches linger nearby.

And large stacks of magazines, newspapers, garbage, and the occasional book, as if someone homeless has been living here for a week. Right now, he's obliviously guzzling at the strawberry milk, laughing at some private merriment. "Humans certainly do 'treats' well, I'll give them that...!"

[KATSURO]
"You mean like these?"

The voice comes from behind Daichi. He... probably should have noticed someone approaching earlier, right? Right? And yet, when the rotund tanuki turns to look, he'll get to see the sight of this bizarre human in leather pants perched lazily atop the short barrier seperating the top of the roof from a fall to the street down below, complete with an idle sway of his feet. And in one hand, he has one of the candy bars the Tanuki had piled on the counter of the store he'd just hightailed away from to avoid needing to provide payment.

"I dunno what the big deal is. As funny as it was to see all that hubbub, this kinda thing can't be worth that kinda toruble, right? Riiight?"

A quick flick of the hand, and half of the wrapper has suddenly been undone in a near-instant -- and the revealed portion of the bar is quickly chomped upon. Chew, chew, chew. The messy-haired man's expression turns thoughtful, first, and after swallowing? A wiiiiide smile comes flashed out.

"Okay, okay, I take that back, that's pretty good, honestly."

[DAICHI]
"Eh...?" Daichi hadn't given any thought to his surroundings, absolute in his surity that he did it scott-free yet again. At first his appraisal of Katuro is smug and self-assured, beginning to assess his aura. "A human...?--"

Yet his expression quickly changes. A dangerous human. He feels a shiver down his spine, an ominous and dangerous aura. It is not the first time it's happened with him... yet it has been many years, and this. This is what he thinks of, when he comes face to face with one of Earth's main denizens. "..." On guard, he shifts to hop up to his unimpressive height, finishing the chug of his strawberry milk and hucking the container aside. Pouches are drawn up with the edge of his walking staff to attached once more at his waist, and the sake bottle similar shrugged back over a slender shoulder.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." Daichi tries to bluff. "I just picked up some items I saw a fleeing demihuman have..." He *does* look absolutely different, yet it's a fairly poor puff. Ears and that brown puff-tail dipped in ink are identical. And, more importantly, so is the feel of his chi. It's identical to the figure who fled the store. How he managed such a change might be interesting; shapeshifting and illusions are amongst the most rare, yet highly regulated and banned magics by the Arcanum!

"But, uh... but I'll pay for it!" he offers, digging into his pocket. A handful of wrappers is grabbed, and then the sense of chi rippling. He draws out a fistful of ten dollar bills, waggling it in the air invitingly. "This should cover it, yeah? Yeah? Better, uh, better take it and get on to tracking down that no-good thief!!!"

Clearly defensive, on the edge of intimidated... the tanuki doesn't want to fight. But he's a strong aura, and even on the off-chance everything he just said WAS true, mandatory registration with NOL is his only option!

[KATSURO]
By all accounts, Katsuro definitely seems human. He smells human, he looks human... he even *feels* human, if the tanuki has the kind of sense for such things.

And yet, compared to most of the denizens of the Earthrealm that Daichi has met so far, something feels... *wrong* about this man. So very, very wrong. That impression persists now, even while he puts on the outward appearance of someone just hanging around, all casual-like, even taking a few seconds to shove the remnants of the recovered (and repurposed) candy bar into his mouth, to join it's first half in being hidden away within the depths of his stomach.

With an equally languid and nonchalant slide, he drops down from the little barrier, and just... kind of pads closer towards the tanuki. He even leans slooooowly over when the transmuted bills come out, the brow above the eye not concealed by his hair arcing upwards.

"How very mightily responsible of you, dear sir!" He proclaims, deliberately putting on a posh tone of voice behind his words (with amusement very clearly twinkling within his amber iris). "And so community-minded, too. Yes, yes, that little thief should be caught at once..."

One hand sweeps over, catching the offered paper slips of currency away from the tanuki-- but yet, he keeps himself leaed over and downwards, with that amber eye settled firmly on him.

"The transmuting, transforming thief. Such complex skills on that one, aren't they? Tell you what, you should probably come with me, get your... eyewitness account all cleared up. Wouldn't want anyone thinking you did anything improper, right, tanuki-san?"

His lips tug themselves upwards, slooowly revealing his teeth in a wide grin that seems almost... beastial.

"Like bribing an operative of the Librarium with transmuted money."

[DAICHI]
The act would be perfect, to most; but the faint, unstable edge beneath Katsuro, like a taut wire of a garrote prepped to drop, lingers clear. Daichi can sense things beyond most, and he's not particularly happy with what resonates from this man. The money is only relinquished at maximum arm's reach, but... well, it feels real. Looks real. Only it's got a clinging aura to it. Anyone with NOL is familiar with magic in some regard. These bills are definitely enchanted.

Daichi backs away, eyes narrowed warily and his tail bottle-brushed to modest levels. Still, it's temporary. In five, maybe ten minutes, it'll just turn back into candy wrappers. The Librarium... he doesn't know much about it, other then they seem to hunt down those Darkstalkers, and deal with things abnormal...

Things like him. It wouldn't do to go with this man. Even if every instinct within him wasn't telling him that such would put him in danger. That this might be some kind of excuse, a provocation to give Katuro a valid reason, never crosses his mind. What human would need one?

"Fine... let's," He draws out a coin from his pouch, then clenches it tight. "GET GOING!!" There's a great POOF! of gray smoke. A moment later, a surprisingly heavy CLANG! as the metal coin, now the size of a hubcab, hits the ceiling heavily. A moment later it goes POOF! a second time, two waves of displacing, obscuring mist; returning to normal size. A side effect of the spell, shunting away chi. But it's only meant as a distraction!

As Daichi readily flees in the opposite way. ...not particularly fast by most standards. He hefts up his walking staff, seemingly hoping to slam it into the edge of the roof and... pole vault? He'd never make it from one alley to the other with those stubby legs, most like, so it must be some other trick of his he's trying to pull.

Still, Darkstalkers who refuse to come in for questioning and assessment can be brought in by force, at an individual's personal discretion...

[KATSURO]
Does the human look... almost disappointed, at first? Just for that brief instant it actually looks like the tanuki is going to willingly come along? Was he *hoping* he would resist?

At least he gets his wish fulfilled pretty quickly if that is the case. Even if Private First Class Kirikawa could not have in any universe expected the resistance to come in this particular way.

"What are you...?" He actually mumbles underneath his breath while his head tips up to follow the path of the coin -- and then widens his eyes when the coin is quickly enlarged. "Ah fu-"

CLANG!

Mist spreading across the rooftop. It does a phenomenally good job of concealing things alongside the distraction in the form of the threat of a nearly-cartoonish object getting dropped onto one's head.

And yet...

"Traaash paaaandaaaa~"
"I can still smell yooouuu~"

While the majority of the mist still persists, a sudden force of motion causes a portion of it to part in the wake of a blur of black and white. A few paces to the left of Daichi, Katsuro's form leaps across the rooftop in a posture so low one might expect him to be about to drop to all fours. And at his hip, now, held there by the crimson shash is now a slightly-curved, japanese sword in a black, wooden scabbard. One that definitely was not there five seconds ago.

"If you wanted to play, you shoulda said so!" He calls after the tanuki, voice all alight with excitement and joy. The motion of his leap, after having kept up the illusion of him hovering and sliding over the ground ends with one foot kicking at the ground to redirect him towards Daichi, next -- flipping along his horizontal axis several times over on the way there, with the final endpoint of his acrobatic traverse guiding his foot towards Daichi's upraised staff.

[DAICHI]
Ah, shoot; Daichi's slower then this human. He had similar issues with that bat-like demon -- only he's fairly sure that the end result of being cornered will be rather more dangerous, this time around. It's also the second time he's been called a 'trash panda', a phrase he is going to have to remember to look up when he can figure out a chance...!

Leaning backwards, Katsuro's foot impacts the top of the staff. It's driven down and clacked hard upon the roof, forcing him to skid to a stop before whatever attempt he had can be done. Sweat pools on his fuzzy forehead, as he glances to the sword.

And it makes his skin crawl even more, to sense it.

"B-back off!" he growls, baring his teeth towards the Private. His aura simmers, blossoms. Strong, pure, natural. It's a decent bluff; he certainly *assesses* far more potent then his combative capabilities generally are, but it might only cause Katsuro's fighting desire to increase as a result!

Both hands then clench the walking staff, tail lashing around behind him. Before the wood flashes green, extending to perhaps seven feet total; seeming made now of black metal, capped gold on either end. "Or... or I'll defend myself...!! I'm a Captain of the Nature Defense Force, and your laws have no sway over me!!" Bracing his forward foot, he then makes to yank it upwards and twirl it into a defensive stance! Bojutsu? His fundamentals in it are pretty solid, clearly...

[KATSURO]
Despite the wide mid-air flips combining with the spinning kick, Katsuro's landing back down onto the ground is actually a smooth one. One foot finding graceful purchase on the ground first, with one more spin completing his descent, the knee of his supporting leg bending down and the other leg stretched to the side as he comes to face Daichi.

And just as quickly, he bounces right back up again to standing mostly upright -- just slightly hunched over with his feet spread, and his left hand resting on the hilt of the sword at his hip.

And his eyes peek past the curtain of messy, wavy hair at the tanuki, still with that unsettling smile. Watching the aura taking form, imposing a suggestion of strength, complete with the staff extending to a massive poleweapon.

And the Private's eyes shine all the more brightly when he sees all that.

"Oh, I'm really, really, so glad you did that, you know?" He rumbles with a low, tittering laughter framing his words. "Not only could you actually be fun, but that? *That*? That means, it'll be peeeeerfectly fine and excusable..."

Dropping his form a bit lower, he snaps his right hand to his left, deftly grasping the hilt of the sword and quickly drawing it out in one smooth motion -- revealing the blade with the multitude of strange arcane sigils inscribed along the length of it, with a faint red glow emenating from within each of them.

"...If I end up cutting you up a bit."

[DAICHI]
"...heh! So you're an 'asura', then...? A human corrupted by battle-lust. Just the sort of thing I expect to see here!!" Inwardly, the tanuki wishes he had trained more in his life. He's keeping a fairly good facade, but he's not as confident as he might seem from the onset. "No matter. I knew I'd have to repel your kind when I came here... and I resolved myself towards it!!"

With that, Daichi whirls around his staff, before, twisting and sliding one foot forward. This is pointless; a glance would tell that the weighted end of his transformed staff won't possibly reach Katsuro...

Until the entire weapon ripples green. It suddenly shoots out two feet longer, turning what seemed something that could bave been a feint into a genuine assault that needs properly defended! Only to spin the staff overhead and bring it down a second time, this one directly from above!!

He's trying to navigate around, however... back towards the edge. It's clear his resolve here is still principally escape; which, from what's been seen of his transforming and shapeshifting, is a concern if he's given any space. Probably best to not allow the tanuki to get an opportunity to try to escape the fun!

COMBATSYS: Daichi has started a fight here.

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Daichi           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Katsuro has joined the fight here.

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Katsuro          0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Daichi

COMBATSYS: Daichi successfully hits Katsuro with Fierce Strike.

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Katsuro          0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0           Daichi

[KATSURO]
"Ahehehe, let's see it then!" Katsuro doesn't even try to deny the accusation of corruption by battle-lust. He hardly seems the type to be ashamed of enjoying such things.

The instant the spinning and whirling of the tanuki's staff begins, the swordsman is on the move, too. Posture lowering down low when his foot stomps in forward, sword held down to his right side and low while he makes to cross the distance between him and Daichi--

But the sudden further extension of the staff takes him off-guard. By surprise, even, judging from the rapid blink he manages to send the way of the length of wood before--

BONK.

"Gah?!"

The tip of the staff smacks right into the top of the man's head, and with his lowered posture, he's actually sent right down onto the ground, too, face first--

Or so it looks like, anyhow. A deliberate kick of one foot to the ground puts more momentum into that initially-unintended tip, and instead of ending up with his face slamming into cement, Katsuro's body is brought to rolling across the ground again. Once, twice, and then springing up without pause at the end of the second, leaping through the air like a missile at the tanuki!

"Take this!!" He roars out, sword brought swinging up and inwards from his side at Daichi--

"--Just kidding."

At the last second, he twists his wrist, fingers shifting along and around the sword's hilt to turn the weapon into a downward grip, and completing the would-be-slash by smacking the blunt end of the hilt into Daichi's staff, instead. Simultaneously pushing to shove it aside, and using it as a leverage point to send him spinning around it with another leap, aiming to slam his heel into the side of that fuzzy head at the end of that revolution.

COMBATSYS: Daichi blocks Katsuro's Tricky Hound.

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Katsuro          0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0           Daichi

[DAICHI]
There's some things that just Shouldn't Happen in a traditional fight, unless perhaps someone has sparred with Dhalsim. Apparently, the deceptive nature of his special abilities extends to his combat style; although there was certainly nothing wrong with how he attacked, any rational senses and instincts would have dismissed it. He's not excessively strong on a physical level, even with a staff, but likely sufficient to get Katsuro's blood pumping...

Which is likely a bad thing! No sooner has he applied said BONK, then the human is upon him again. Barely half a step has been taken, thusly, towards the edge of the building behind. Ah, yes. This tanuki has little experience in sparring. Like someone following a guide on how to bojutsu, he brings up his staff towards that feinting blow.

The sword cracks into it; not cutting into the wood, however. Either the walking stuck or the transmutation seems to be very high quality... probably the former! Yet it's launched sideways, leaving him to be completely open to the spinning kick.

"Eeeeey!!" ...maybe if he wasn't a tanuki, that would have worked. Instead he flits up that tail, barely getting the end of it between his muzzle and Katsuro's heel. The blow hits, but is dampened surprisingly by dense fur and the muscle of it beneath, as he twists at the last moment to mostly get sent stagger-spinning away...

Towards the center of the roof. Damnit. This man is fierce...! Yet to his relief, he's doubtful it's to the level of the only other human he's fought. ...unless he's playing around. "Don't think an elite tanuki is so easy a foe!"

Before he shifts, slamming down his staff's end on the ground. It blazes green, before the tip extends a second time. ...much more aggressively! The weighted end aims to intercept Katsuro, and strike him right upon the throat. Searing with a whirl of nature chi, sprigs of ivy and lashes of razor leaf, he tries to twist and catch Katsuro with the momentary growth, to spin and use the centrifugal force to *slam* his side into one of the metal air conditioner units nearby!!

COMBATSYS: Daichi successfully hits Katsuro with Skyhook.
Glancing Blow

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Katsuro          0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0           Daichi

[KATSURO]
"Hoooo?" Though the tail getting leveraged as cushioning was clearly unexpected, Katsuro doesn't let himself be put off terribly by it. If anything, he might actually be perfectly *glad* that his opponent is capable of unusual techniques to keep him on his toes with.

Bouncing off the barrier of the tail then, the swordsman of the Librarium skids a few feet's worth after landing again. And still, he grins eagerly back at the tanuki over his taunts.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, trash panda!"

The slam with the staff comes, and this time Katsuro can tell that whatever is coming, is quick enough for him to not get in for an attack first, so he opts to running in a half circle along the tanuki's perimeter, instead, in hopes of just putting distance between where he imagines his opponent would expect him to be when whatever he's sending his way is comes along...!

He knows the staff is able to extend this time around, and his eyes lock on to to it the instant the growth begins. With just the subtlest of sideward steps, he sends himself spinning to the side, and...

It doesn't quite catch him on the throat, thankfully. But he's not quick enough to avoid it entirely, either. The tip finds purchase on his shoulder, instead, and though it does not, indeed, crush his adam's apple and work to leverage him into a swing across the roof, it still *stings*, enough to make him recoil slightly in pain before his evasive spin is turned into a much less graceful slip down onto the floor with a faint *thud*.

"Guh... Yeah... Yeah, that's it...!"

And apparently this just pleases Katsuro even further.

"Just like that, just like THAT! Give me MORE!"

While still down on the ground, his legs are raised up high and swung down again from there, a leverage of momentum that boucnes him right onto his feet without any assistance from his arms. No stopping there either. The human is immediately dashing closer to the tanuki-- bouncing past Daichi, suddenly, after ducking down below the staff first, only to spin around quickly to facing him from behind, and slashing his blade for the back of his shin!

COMBATSYS: Daichi deflects Evasive Strike from Katsuro with Fool's Errand.

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Katsuro          0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0           Daichi

[DAICHI]
"What is a trash panda?! Everyone keeps calling me that!! I've nothing to do with trash OR panda's!" Daichi sounds vaguely irritated, but mostly hassled. On multiple fronts, right now! His tongue flicks out to taste his swollen lip, nearly busted open even from being absorbed to that agree... this human certainly hits hard, on top of his aggression!

Swoosh! If Katsuro's evasive movements intended to figure out a maximum range, it's clearly 'anywhere on the roof'... the tip goes a few meters past him when it doesn't make contact, but he still summons the angry ripple of nature when aiming to whack him as best he can! But speed... well, he has a little bit of experience dealing with it. His master could move fast enough to leave after-images when he had a mind, and she was definitely above this man's current play...

"I told you... not to underestimate a TANUKI!!" Daichi intones, having already begun forming a pair of hand signs. The sort meant to intricately shape and adjust chi for spells; he must have expected another rush, given the fight thus far. He's patient now, adapting, before thrusting out both of his paws at once. "HAH! INVERSIVE SIGIL!"

A strange green scroll-like manifestation appears before him, washing over Katsuro as he begins to slide. It does not last long... but for a split second, it's as if he's frozen in place. Even gravity and his forward moment, arrested...!

THWACK THWACK THWACK! The imbued end of the staff strikes out to hit Katsuro three times in a triangular formation on his chest, before Daichi leaps forward, spinning in a front-flip... before a green, imbued tail goes overhead with a SMACK!, intend on driving him like a ball into the ground away from him!

But he's no interest in pressing the advantage... already holding his straw hat down and attempting to flee away, the first opportunity he's had to make some distance towards possible egress! He really didn't want to show off his Secret Technique in the first place, but he could think of no other way to handle someone so swift... and even then, had the 'freeze' missed, he'd have been the one who was a sitting duck!

[KATSURO]
Everything's suddenly still. This feels wrong. Nothing's grabbing at him, and yet Katsuro feels... halted? No, there's no strain in his muscles, nothing wrenching at his skin. It's something on a more metaphysical level.

It's not even that time's stopped for him, no. Because he can see and tell exactly what the Tanuki is doing. Make out each and every thwap from Daichi's staff and the enlarged tail.

And then it all unfreezes.

"UGYAAAAAH?!"

The swordsman is spiked into the ground so hard that an actual crater forms into the cement and his body is still yet sent bouncing upwards, flipping uncontrollably several times over along the air before finally landing down roughly ten meters away from his mark. Ungracefully falling right on his back there into the cruel embrace of cement.

"Gaaaahhh..."

It takes a second or so before he manages to force himself back up again, and that too requiers the much less agile method of actually pushing at the ground with his arms while he sends a glare after the now-retreating raccoon.

"....Ghhh... Not yet, you trash panda..." He hisses out--

And the sigils in his sword glow a brighter red.

A sudden burst of speed carries him running across the roof again. But Daichi, too, is closing on the edge of the roof rather quickly. But-- on the way there, Katsuro actually spits out blood, as a further evidence of the injury inflicted on him by the Tanuki's secret technique. It might be a perfectly expected reaction under normal circumstances, but... in this case? He holds his hand up in front of him to gather the blood onto his palm, and then swings it out--

And the droplets take form of sharp tendrils extending from his hand. TEndrils that spike ahead of him and curve past Daichi like little daggers sent to needle at him. And shortly behind, comes Katsuro himself, leaping in and slashing his sword in a horizontal arc for the Tanuki before the jump takes him past him and forces him into a roll.

But that's not enough. The forward roll is quickly redirected to moving sideways, around Daichi, ending in an upward slash when he bounces up. And from there, still. Sidestepping left and right with prodding slashes from sword and needling stabs from blood-tendrils both.

After roughly the fourth repetition, the swordsman drops down again into a roll across the ground -- except this one is halted halfway through, sending him sliding along hte carb on his back, first, and then propped up the hand not holding onto his sword, spinning his body like a top and sweeping his foot into the Tanuki's legs. Does he breakdance in his free time? He keeps doing that!

COMBATSYS: Katsuro blitzes into action and acts again!

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Katsuro          0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0           Daichi

COMBATSYS: Daichi blocks Katsuro's Running Hound.

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Katsuro          0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0           Daichi

COMBATSYS: Daichi endures Katsuro's Rolling Hound.

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Katsuro          1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0           Daichi

[DAICHI]
Good! That bought Daichi plenty of time... he glances over his shoulder, grateful for the fact that the human's still dazed and only getting up. There's far too much distance now to stop him from--

How can he be that quick?! In that moment, it's as if he's back in the Spirit Realm, with a nekomata smacking him around and calling him slow... he skids to a stop, the spiked blood setting up an ominous field of cantrips, and causing some kind of squeak noise that's presumably normal for a distress tanuki.

Whirling around, he infuses his staff and begins desperately shifting. Each time it's met by that sword barely, jostling his hold, expression intense and pressured. A couple spears of blood do slip past, tearing open his haori and raking through the furred pelt beneath. Too much... he's not going to be able to defend this any longer!!

So he doesn't!

He is struck in the legs, smacking them out from beneath him... but he slams down his staff, shifting him from a painful fall into a launch forward. "TANUKI DROP!!" he cries out. Although all he really does is try to impact Katsuro's chest with his rump, clamp his knees down, and THUMP him down back-first before the tanuki tries to evasively roll in a tight ball away from the minefield still blocking off fleeing in that direction... Huff, huff!

COMBATSYS: Katsuro parries Daichi's Medium Throw!

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Katsuro          1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0           Daichi

[KATSURO]
"Hm?" Tanuki Drop? What's that supposed to be? Katsuro's breakdancing maneuver ends with his sword arm propping it's elbow down to the ground to set him on his side down there and looking up to-- Huh.

Another kick at the ground to send him spinning all over again, this time keeping his sword arm bracing him with the sword held parallel from him on the floor , and his free hand thrusting up to grab on to-- Uh. Daichi's chosen weapon for the occasion.

No, apparently this human does not hold any kind of shame, either.

Either way, upon securing hold, the spinning continues into a sudden flip off his side so that the Tanuki's weight doesn't end up straining his arm, and instead works to send him flipped down onto the ground, while Katsuro himself is sent up with a sudden explosive force from the seperating blood-caltrops.

Blood spreading explosively all aroudn. None of it hits either Daichi or Katsuro, but the several bullet-like spears crash through the cement, destroy the air conditioning units on the roof and even fly off to the next building to shatter the windows. ONly for all of it? ALl of it to come flowing right back through the air, along with any blood potentially spilled from Daichi himself, towards Katsuro.

"You really are a loooooooot of fun, Tanuki-saaaaan," he coos out with a quick swipe of his tongue over his upper lip. "And you're right. I won't underestimate anymore~."

All the blood spikes upon Katsuro's body now, while a faint echo of something akin to a cackle echoes through the roof. In the next instant, the Tanuki will find himself looking up at that very same human -- but with his exposed forearms, his neck and even his entire face coated in a thick layer of shining red, with his eyes ostensibly concealed... but somehow, he can still feel the man *staring* at him.

"Let's gooooo, Tanuki-san," he sing-songs out, with his grin somehow seeming even *more* beastial than before, with his voice now taking on a strange, ethereal quality. "I've been waiting, you know..."

His sword, with it's sigils burning brighter and brighter still, is raised up, now held with both hands as opposed to the one-handed grip he has maintained until now.

"For an explosive finish!!"

He takes a step forward and swin-

"STOP! POLICE!"

"--Eh?"

The swing is halted halfway above Daichi, and sloooooowly, the swordsman turns his head to the side to look to the direction of the fire escape to see two uniformed police officers with their service revolvers drawn out.

And pointed at *him*.

But why? He's on duty for the Librarium! And he was just working to capture this--

Wait. All the property damage caused up until now. The cratering strike from before is probably what drew them here in the first place, but even if they knew he wasn't responsible for *that*, he definitely was for the backlash from his blood magic techniques rearranging themselves.

And now he's stood there, looking like some kind of demon, and... he doesn't even have his uniform *or* identification badge on him.

"...Oh balls."

COMBATSYS: Katsuro takes no action.

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Katsuro          1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0           Daichi

[DAICHI]
Hrrk!! Not Daichi's proud rear?! He's thrown away with a noise of alarm, spiraling a couple of times before bouncing once and seeming shockingly offended, if mostly unharmed from the incident. He gets up to his feet, and it's a good thing he was intent on heading away...!

A bullet of blood whizzes by to nick his ear, and twisting around with a desperate sign, another green flash of oddly parchment-like chi appears before his chest. Just in time, as one of those powerful bolts strikes it in the center, stopped dead with a rather horrified expression from the tanuki before he disperses the technique, causing it to fire in the opposite direction. It's drawn into the storm of Katsuro recalling it, although the assault nearly wounded him severely despite it all...

Backing up, the staff is held up in pure defense, even if he's finally, FINALLY almost to the edge of the roof. He can do this... right? His arms still ache from blocking the furious sea of blows, but... shifting it up, he holds it to block the strike, if not with the expression of someone who thinks he'll stop that much prepared force...!

"...TAKE THIS!!"

Before Daichi just -- swings out his foot. While Katsuro's distracted, he aims to *THUMP* him right between the legs, as hard as he can. Before he aims to leap backwards in a tight backflip, right off the edge of the building and over an alley, a four-story drop! Probably has had a plan from the start, but... he looks EXCEPTIONALLY happy to have a distraction, finally!

COMBATSYS: Daichi successfully hits Katsuro with Light Kick.

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Katsuro          1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0           Daichi

[KATSURO]
"Look, this is not what it looks li-" Katsuro started trying to explain to the two police officers who are, honestly, just doing their jobs, even with his voice still holding that vaguely-demonic echo thanks to the empowering blood magic, but...

DING

"--iiigh?!"

His expression might be a bit harder to make out from the magical covering formed over the upper portion of it, but even then, there is a distinct, telling sign of *agony* as a Tanuki paw strikes into his most precious of body parts. Katsuro's body promptly drops down to both his knees with his hands inadvertantly letting go of the sword, sending it clattering onto the ground -- and with that, all that blood magic marking him dissipates, losing form and just returning to it's original liquid form now drenching his body.

At least he manages to see Daichi making his escape! And out of pure frustration, he lunges forward to grab his sword and--

"DOWN ON THE GROUND!!!"

Oh goddamnit.

Katsuro promptly halts in place, and turns a look back to the cops. "Are you KIDDING me?! That was--!"

"Hands away from the weapon!!"

Ughhhh. He could probably just cut those two down quickly and be done with it, but the punishment he'd get from his superiors for that absolutely would not be worth the satisfaction of getting to chase after Daichi.

So the only choice left is to ride this out for now, to let the police officers handcuff him and just wait until he is alloewd his right for a phone call and admit to his local commanding officer that he may or may not messed up.

And yet, he finds himself staring off to the edge of the rooftop, as if he might somehow manage to see the Tanuki in the distance if he squints his eyes enough.

And yet, he smiles.

"We'll get to finish playtime next time, Tanuki-san~."

COMBATSYS: Katsuro has left the fight here.

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Daichi           0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Daichi has ended the fight here.

Log created on 17:14:49 06/13/2021 by Daichi, and last modified on 00:00:08 06/14/2021.