Description: Hinako and Karin manage to engage in a fight despite the spirited attempts at direction by the model photographer recording the match. (Winner: Karin)
It's a beautiful day in Southtown, with the late days of summer producing a cool, breezy sunlit day rather than the sweltering heat of July. Perfect time for a Saturday Night (sort of) Fight in an outdoor setting. The business district is already set up with plenty of available venues for this sort of thing, as well... though today is slightly different. Certainly the cordoned area and the crowd and vendors are typical outdoor SNF fare. The huge lights, bounce cards, and a multitude of professional cameras, with crew in tow, not so much.
Karin had been told ahead of time that photographers might be present at the event. Nothing shocking; she doesn't know who this Hinako person is, but Geese could do worse than using her face to promote SNF. What she was NOT told was that the photographers would be Studio Giorgio -- a small studio she recently assimilated into the zaibatsu's holdings -- and that the titular studio master wouldn't be doing the shooting.
As such she is left sitting on the retaining wall of a sunken park circle where the fight is to take place, being fawned over by studio staff and looking particularly put out. Why? Because they're combining being stupidly obsequious with being irritatingly overbearing about the shoot. "Are you sure you want to wear red with that hair, Miss Kanzuki? It might make you come off as..."
The blonde gives the photographer's aide a pointed look out of the corner of her eye, and she wilts. "...aggressive."
Although she knows about the photo shoot during the fight, Hinako arrives in her normal purple school uniform. She could have dressed up, but she wouldn't want anything that would be hard to replace if it got damamged in the fight and besides... This is part of her fighting image, by this point. She's never been in any photo shoots herself, but her mother used to be a model, so she knows at least a little bit about the industry. Perhaps not enough to be prepared for what she's going to have to deal with today...
She was set upon almost immediately after arriving at the fight, and eventually she staggers out toward the fighting arena, a bit dazed after the barrage of advice from the studio staff members. She's a bit overwhelmed by all the up close attention, but at least when it comes to fighting she knows what she's doing. How much could the camera crew possibly affect things?
The arrival of Hinako is the perfect excuse for Karin to excuse herself from the bevy of studio drones and make her way onto the grass square that has been set as the fight locale. With a confident step, she makes her way to where the sumo is standing and sizes her up, as is Karin's wont. She'd heard her opponent used sumo... she hadn't heard she was a Seijyun student like herself. "The world is vast," she mutters under her breath, though not necessarily in a mean-spirited way.
Crossing the distance, Karin nods at Hinako and extends her hand. "You must be Hinako... I'm Karin Kanzuki. A pleasure." Whether Hinako shakes her hand or not, the Kanzuki heiress prattles on with her greeting. "This promises to be an unorthodox fight in every regard. I'm looking forward to seeing your style in action."
Seizing the moment, the director of the shoot -- a gangly-looking young man, clearly fresh from college and determined to prove his worth to the studio master -- practically vaults through the air toward the fighters at the proffered handshake, pointing a camera directly at Karin and Hinako and beaming. At close range, it's noticeable that he's wearing a t-shirt reading "F**K YOUR FACIST BEAUTY STANDARDS" and has purple hair with extremely long bangs that hang over his eyes. "Yeah, that's it! Give me the CAMRADERIE, baby! Esprit de corps!" Snap, snap, snap goes the shutter. Oh, dear.
Hinako reaches out as Karin extends her hand, intending to take her up on the handshake, when the director suddenly makes his entrance. She looks at him quizzically for a moment, just holding Karin's hand. Then she absently begins to shake it for a moment, still staring at the director. Then she shakes her head for a moment before turning back to look at Karin and delivering a more enthusiastic handshake. "Sorry about that! Yes, I'm Hinako, and it's nice to meet you, Karin. I'm looking forward to this, and I hope we can have a good match!"
Hinako's expression becomes pensive for a moment, and she glances toward the director out of the corner of her eye. "...And I hope it won't be too, um..." Her gaze rests on his shirt for a moment. "...Too strange."
The photographer gets only a... brief glance from Karin, but it's not a happy glance, to be sure. She is now determined to send some sort of interoffice memo about balancing creativity with proper business attire. Slowly, she lets go of Hinako's hand and nods, giving her a faint smile. "I am willing to bet we've already exceeded my strangeness threshhold," she says quietly. Then she steps back and gets into the typical Kanzuki Kakutoujutsu stance, palms flat and arms relaxed. "Nevertheless, best of luck to you."
COMBATSYS: Karin has started a fight here.
COMBATSYS: Hinako has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Karin 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hinako
Hinako nods back, returning Karin's smile as she takes a few steps back of her own. "Okay!" With all the photos that are going to be taken today, it's important that she start things off on the right foot, and make sure people remember the style and power of sumo. Spreading her legs wide apart, she slams her fists together than plants them on her knees. Leaning to the side, she begins lifting her left leg up into the air, while taking a deep breath. "Haaaaa..." And when she's lifted her foot as high into the air as she can, she slams it back down to the ground with booming force. "Dosukoi!"
Taking her hands off her knees, but remaining in a somewhat hunched forward position, Hinako grins at Karin. "Okay! Here I come!" Rushing toward the other girl, Hinako starts moving her arms out to the sides, attempting to slam herself into Karin and wrap her arms around the wealthy girl, then use that grip to hurl her up into the air.
COMBATSYS: Hinako successfully hits Karin with Tasuki Nage.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Hinako
The director could not have asked for a better opening shot.
"Oh yeah! It's SUMO! The spirit of JAPAN!" Something about the cadence of his voice is seriously wrong, like he's used to emphasizing the wrong word or something to that effect. Like an idiot, he slides right almost in between Hinako and Karin, getting a shot of the leg-raising because... well, he's male. "Give me more of that!"
He then swivels around to Karin to get her reaction, which she was not expecting... mostly because she's still a little off-guard from Hinako's opening pose. Apparently the director likes the look of surprise, because he flashbulbs a shot right in the blonde's face. Left squinting, she is a little hampered when the sumo makes her throw, and thus her evasion is a little too late and she's sent flying, landing back on the grass in a low crouch. Looks like that stung.
"Not bad," she compliments, getting back up into stance again. "Allow me." Trying her damndest to avoid the cameraman, who is tracking her like a hunter on safari, the heiress rushes forward, driving two quick palm thrusts at Hinako and then finishing it off with a slower but stronger open-palm hit aimed at the sumo's stomach.
COMBATSYS: Hinako blocks Karin's Guren Ken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Hinako
Hinako crosses her arms in front of herself as Karin comes in, deflecting the blows away from her torso. Even with her gaze darting around to make sure that she doesn't accidently crash into somebody from the camera crew, she's still able to keep track of Karin's movements. The director's apparent enthusiasm for sumo is also lifting Hinako's spirits. "Th-that's right! Sumo is a wonderful art, and not enough people appreciate it, and that it's perfectly appropriate for ladies to be involved in!"
So, maybe Hinako is marking for the camera a bit. It'll take more than that to defeat Karin, though, so back to the fight! Hinako lunges at Karin, opening up with an attack similar to Karin's. She lashes out with a quick palm strike from each hand, but rather than following it up with a heavy strike, she reaches out in an attempt to grab Karin by the shoulders and throw her to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Karin dodges Hinako's Combo Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Hinako
Apparently the direct is... displeased. "No, no, it's ALL WRONG!" he snaps at Hinako and Karin, circling around then like a shark on chum. "YOU!" And here he points at Hinako. "Where's your TSUPPARI?! Give me your sumo SPIRIT!" His finger then swivels to Karin. "Hand strikes are boring. Haven't you seen the MATRIX? Give me something to work with! NEO IT UP A LITTLE!"
This time, however, it's not enough to keep Karin from dodging Hinako's followup assault. She may just be a rich girl, but Karin appears to be fairly nimble on her feet. Ducking under the palm strikes, she sighs with exasperation even as she rises back up under Hinako's throw attempt, lashing out a high kick to the girl's shoulders to push her back away and give the heiress some breathing room. "My staff tell me the Wachowskis are hacks," she says tiredly.
COMBATSYS: Hinako endures Karin's Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Hinako
"What?! I love lots of spirit! I-" But while attempting to hurl someone directly in front of you down to the ground is a bad time to argue with somebody. As Karin's kick comes swinging up, Hinako doesn't have time to get away or put up a block. So instead she simply tenses her shoulders and takes the hit, barely even budging from the impact, even though she does wince a bit.
And because she doesn't stagger back, it means Hinako is still in close to Karin, allowing her to reach out for the heiress once again. She attempts to grab Karin by the shoulders, then spin quickly to the side and send Karin skidding on the ground.
COMBATSYS: Hinako successfully hits Karin with Kake Nage.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Hinako
"YES! That's the enduring SPIRIT!" Not knowing his inadvertent fourth wall pun, the cameraman dives forward again to get a shot of Hinako turning a disadvantage into an advantage. Once again he is all flashbulbs and snapping shot after shot. And once again, Karin is semi-blinded by the results and thus her attempt to spin out of the way of Hinako's deceptively quick attack is stymied, and she goes flumping to the ground, oofing in pain.
"That's right!" the camerman bellows, getting an especially humiliating shot of Karin lying on the ground. "EPATER THE BOURGEOISE!" Apparently, the cameraman likes to 'fight' the 'power'.
You can guess that this doesn't go over well with Karin, who gets to her feet and brushes grass from her skirt, eyeing Hinako. "You've really adapted sumo well to our physique," she bites out, though her annoyance is with the cameraman rather than Hinako. Deciding to placate him before he can do any further whining, the blonde leaps into the air and drives a wide-sweeping aerial kick right at Hinako's jaw. It's kill or be killed out here.
COMBATSYS: Karin successfully hits Hinako with Heavy Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Hinako
"Anybody can practice sumo, it's just a matter of dedication!" Of course, there's plenty of pictures being taken as Karin leaps back up and comes after Hinako again. And right as Hinako attempts to duck under the sweeping kick, a flash goes off in front of her eyes. Did she duck far enough? It quickly becomes clear that the answer is no, as Karin's foot slams into the side of her head, sending her staggering.
But even after a blow like that, Hinako doesn't fall down. Staying on your feet is absolutely essential to sumo, and Hinako doesn't go down easily! Even if her vision is swimming a bit between the after images of the flashbulb and getting clocked in the head. "You're quite good yourself!" And as Hinako is reaching out for Karin, her vision refocuses and locks onto the other girl. She reaches with her left hand for Karin's shoulder, while she tries to hit Karin in the stomach with her right. But it's not the impact that she cares about, just the leverage. Which she can hopefully use to flip the other girl around, leaving her on the ground again, knocked flat out on her back.
COMBATSYS: Karin counters Medium Throw from Hinako with Yasha Gaeshi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Karin 0/-------/-======|=======\==-----\1 Hinako
There's an almost begrudging look on the director's face as he flashbulbs Karin's kick impacting on Hinako, but it's good footage, so he does it. However, the "Come on, don't give up! Show me more SUMO MOVES! YEAH!" that follows shows a slight partisan bias, apparently. Maybe he has a future at Fox News.
Hinako is clearly highly skilled, but that's exactly why Karin has to bring as much of her own skill to bear as possible. "I have to be, given the calibre of opponent I fight!" she says, giving the sumo a slightly backhanded compliment. However, as Hinako grabs for her shoulder, Karin snaps out her right hand with snakelike speed, snapping it up in her grip and tensing as she processes the director's comments. "Mr. Director..." she says carefully, even as she lets go of Hinako's hand and drives a palm strike into the other girl's stomach in counterattacl, "I am warning you. Your 401k is in serious jeopardy right now."
Hinako staggers back, briefly clutching at her stomach. That didn't go quite as well as she might have hoped. She turns to point a finger at the director as she straightens back up. "Sumo is not a static art, with all of its techniques carved in stone! As long as you follow the rules, it's okay to innovate. Observe!"
Tensing her legs for a moment, Hinako suddenly leaps into the air toward Karin, setting the hem of her uniform to fluttering wildly. "Hyah!" Extending her right arm out, she attempts to clothesline Karin right off her feet, then hook her arm to secure Karin by her neck. Even as her feet hit the ground she begins spinning, trying to drag the other girl with her before launching her off across the fighting arena.
COMBATSYS: Hinako successfully hits Karin with Gasshou Hineri.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Karin 1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Hinako
The director's response to Karin's veiled threat is a brief look of confusion before he shrugs and wades back in. "Just like PRO-RESU! Oh YEAH!" He gets a nice shot exactly as Hinako's fist impacts with Karin's neck, and the rich girl is bowled over entirely by Hinako's entirely unorthodox but highly effective assault. Round and round they go, until Karin is flung high and far. Sometimes being light is not to your advantage.
However, sometimes it is. Righting herself in midair, the Kanzuki heiress pushes off the ground right as she lands, lessening the impact of the throw greatly and giving her a chance to make a comeback, hopefully before Hinako is ready. "I approve of improvisation highly!" she says, lashing out with a dashing left elbow, and then suddenly thrusting her right forward in pursuit.
COMBATSYS: Karin successfully hits Hinako with Ressen Chou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Karin 1/-----==/=======|====---\-------\0 Hinako
Hinako's eyes go wide as Karin's elbows slam into her, sending her staggering backwards. It seems that the tide of the battle is turning in Karin's favor, but it's not over yet! "You pack quite a punch... But I've still got some fight in me!" Hinako blinks for a moment, then her head snaps to the side as she looks away from Karin and toward the director. "Wh-what!?"
She points an accusing finger at him, shoulders bunched up as she fumes with anger. "Pro-resu!? You would compare sumo to that vulgar display? That's horrible!" She glares at him, apparently having forgotten about the fact that she's still in the middle of a fight.
COMBATSYS: Hinako gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Karin 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Hinako
The director looks seriously put out by that. Maybe his understanding of the greatness of sumo isn't so great after all. "NO, no, it's PERFECT! You're the girl who made her way up from the streets!" He snaps a few more photos of Hinako looking indignant. "SUMO was the only way to keep the gangs and drug dealers at bay! And now, you enter the ring as a MASKED FIGHTER, taking revenge on the CORPORATE SHILLS who put your daddy in the hospital!" *SNAPSNAPSNAP* "Give me a sad look! And Miss Kanzuki, you need to be more threatening! You're not villanous enough!"
Karin, for her part, just looks... absolutely astonished at this display. "Note to self," she murmurs. "Divest all interest in Howard Enterprises." However, there's a fight going on, and she can't let it go completely by. "I really am terribly sorry for this fool, Hinako," she offers, not pressing the attack and instead evaluating the situation. "The idea that he is, however distantly, representing the Kanzuki Zaibatsu turns my stomach."
COMBATSYS: Karin focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Karin 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Hinako
Hinako just stares at the director for several moments, letting her arm fall to her side. "...This man is crazy." Giving him a wary look, she turns back to face Karin. "Um, yes, anyway... We still have a fight to finish, don't we? Okay then..." Despite the fact that Karin is quite clearly ready for Hinako to make a move, it seems the sumo girl is going to rush her anyway.
If speed can't overcome Karin, maybe brute force can. And Hinako has quite a bit of that, despite her appearance. Taking a deep breath, she charges at Karin, twisting her body to lead with her right shoulder as she tries to drive herself into Karin's chest...
COMBATSYS: Karin counters Oo-ichiban from Hinako with Gedan Yasha Gaeshi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////// ]
Karin 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Hinako
In his own way, the director is severely saddened that Hinako doesn't buy in. He figured her for a girl of the people. He goes back to snapping shots as Hinako gets back into the groove, but his heart clearly isn't in it.... and his mumbling, loud enough to be heard thanks to his incautious ways, proves it. "Silly girls have no sense of DRAMA! No PASSION! And not even a single good PANTY SHOT."
Karin, however, has to ignore him... mainly because Hinako is coming at her with all the sumo has, and it's going to take Herculean effort to match that. Thankfully for the Kanzuki heiress, she's up to the task. "I'm sorry, but..." And here she throws out a hand, using leverage and skill more than force to blunt Hinako's assault, pressing both palms into the oncoming shoulder charge. "...I can't lose to anyone in front of this moron!" Using the sumo girl as a springboard, Karin pushes up and off the ground, swinging her knees into Hinako's side and then letting go of her shoulder, rolling off to the side and to her feet.
The downside to attacking with all your strength is that it usually leaves your defenses in bad shape. Your balance, for instance. So as Karin deftly avoids her attack and turns the tables on Hinako, the sumo girl finally goes crashing down to the ground, flailing as she tries to stay on her feet. She's in quite a bit of pain now, but she's not quite finished. Rocking on her back for a moment, Hinako then pushes herself forward, leaping back to her feet. An action that causes her skirt to flip up, giving a brief moment for the director to get his desired panty shot, but she pays no attention to it. Her vision is swimming again, and she knows she's not going to be able to stay up much longer.
So even if it doesn't work, trying to hit Karin with all the power she can muster is all Hinako has left. She just doesn't have enough stamina left for a battle of attrition. "I can appreciate that you don't want to lose... but neither do I!" And then she begins charging at Karin at full speed, attempting to simply slam herself into Karin with all the force she can muster. Whether they slam into some solid object, or she simply drags Karin down to the ground at high speed isn't important; either way, if it works, it'll hurt.
COMBATSYS: Karin counters Yorigiri from Hinako with Yasha Gaeshi.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > / ]
Karin 1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Hinako
Having come full circle, maybe it's time for the director to get some come-uppance. As he's glumly getting various shots of Hinako going full-bore, someone comes over with a terrified look on her face, and whispers something into his ear.
Meanwhile, Hinako is coming at Karin like a freight train. The blonde heiress, however, is a rock of calm, perhaps because the director of the shoot has finally decided to shut up. As the charge comes in, Karin merely nods at her opponent. "Totally understandable. However, if you let yourself get too blinded by desperation..." And once again Karin shows her deftness, using her right palm to push downwards and direct Hinako's momentum into the ground, then dragging her left palm upwards to knock the sumo girl off her feet in reprisal. "...you open yourself up to disaster!"
tThe director, meanwhile, has just heard the news that Karin Kanzuki is, in fact, his boss on account of owning Studio Giorgio. "SHE WHAT?!" And in his surprise, he misses the shot of Karin and Hinako's near-final clash. Oh, dear.
And Hinako goes back down to the ground with a thud. And doesn't move for several moments. Her head is spinning, her pulse is pounding in her ears, and her body aches all over. But she can still make out Karin in front of her, and as long as she's still briefly concious, she can still fight. With no thought for being able to even stay standing afterwards, she launches herself upward toward Karin with the last of her strength... And then probably falls right back down to the ground. But still, there's always a chance...
COMBATSYS: Hinako can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Karin 1/--=====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Karin dodges Hinako's Rebound Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Karin 1/--=====/=======|
Unfortunately for Hinako, Karin has enough energy left to backstep adroitly out of the way... and luckily for her, for once the fight is over the heiress clutches her arm and winces. She's still up, but the sumo girl put a hurting on Miss Kanzuki that Karin will not soon forget. In the spirit of sportsmanship, she lends a hand down to her opponent if Hinako has the energy to stand. "Hinako Shijou... why haven't I heard your name before today? Hopefully we'll have the chance to do this again sometime." There's a pause, and she looks over at the director, who is making the O_O face as his crew cleans up around him. "...perhaps in more controlled surroundings."
Log created by Hinako, and last modified on 21:18:54 09/02/2006.