Description:
The boardwalk is an excellent place for meeting people. This is why Sada chose it; it's also a public enough space to avoid being targetted by too much in the way of ninjas and terrorists.
Sada had also sent a short letter to Mr. Yabuki inviting him in a friendly manner to come out to this particular stretch of boardwalk for a battle TO THE DEATH - well, not really to the death, but to the 'giving up'. Winner, according to the terms of Ms. Asai's channel, has to buy yakitori for the winner.
She stands at the end of a twenty-meter stretch of the boardwalk that's been chalked off by the yakitori stall owner (who is interested in the fight for obvious reasons), with what looks like a heavy instrument case near her feet. She's looking up at the cloudy afternoon sky and humming rather deeply to herself.
Sada's actual terms, as listed in a post-script, were 'loser buys for winner'. She didn't want to mess up her handwriting (which was very nice.)
Every day, dozens upon dozens of letters find their way into Shingo Yabuki's possession. Some letters are more interesting than others. For example, the random love letters are interesting, as are the letters of admiration. The letters from children requesting Shingo to beat their parents up are mildly disturbing. More frequently than not however, instead of receiving cash, or well wishes, Shingo receives death threats...err...fight requests. By the bucket full.
In some cases, the fight requests are bluffs or jokes. Correction, in many cases. Not that Shingo didn't want to have a team battle with him and Ultraman against Godzilla and King Ghidorah...but it just didn't seem feasible. Besides, the followup letter on that one mentioned that Ultraman and Kamen Rider showed up instead, too bad so sad for Shingo.
Amusing thoughts about letters Shingo receives aside, there was one letter that caught his eye this morning. Scrawled out in what was somewhat nice handwriting, at least by Shingo's standards (which are fairly high), was an invitation to show up at the boardwalk along the beach for a fight to the finish with the mention of some yakitori. Now, Shingo may pass up awesome opportunities to fight giant irradiated lizards, but he RARELY passes up an opportunity for good food! Unless it involves milk. Besides the point.
Feeling a tad 'sporty', Shingo jogs along the boardwalk wearing a yellow and white striped zipped up sweater with a hood, a pair of gym shorts, as opposed to his normal high school garb, and a yellow bandana with a small smiley face on it instead of his usual white. Kyo's gloves as always are worn on his hands - THAT is something that never changes. Eyes immediately being drawn to the chalked off portion of the boardwalk, Shingo makes his way over at a medium pace, and before entering the makeshift ring, quickly looks around, does a few quick leg stretches, and one long back stretch, before finally deciding to walk over to whom he assumes will be his opponent. Big smile on his face, the young Taiyo High student extends one of his gloved hands towards the young girl (whom he assumes wrote the letter) in greeting, his voice quite cheery as he talks. "Why hello there! Ms. Sada I presume? If so, pleased to meet you. I'm Shingo Yabuki, and as you can see, I've accepted your challenge."
Sada smiles at Shingo when he comes to a halt. She bows at the waist before reaching out to give the hand a quick (and surprisingly strong) shake. She says, her tone rather formal and with a Kyoto accent that Shingo may easily pluck out, "Sada Asai, at your service." She then crouches down and opens the instrument case.
While fiddling with something inside of it, she continues, her eyes lowered demurely towards the ground. "I'm honored, that you've come in answer to my letter. I hope I'll be an enjoyable challenge for you." She rises up, pulling something with her.
The length of chain for the kusarigama requires it to loop several times around her arm. She scoots the open case off to the side and steps into the center of the marked-out 'fighting' area, twirling the weighted end of the weapon several times as she looks over her shoulder. "You go to Taiyo High, don't you?"
At first, Shingo merely watches the girl intently as she goes about grabbing something from the instrument case he can only assume that she left on the ground. It's not as if whatever she'll pull out could be a shock. He's found musicians before. He's fought folks who favoured weapons. He's even fought psychopaths, but that's neither here nor there.
Nodding, Shingo's smile is retained as he finally begins to respond to Sada prior to her rising up. "I'm flattered that you're honoured, but it's really no trouble. Nor would I worry about it being an enjoyable challenge. I just hope I don't disapp--" Shingo pauses as Sada rises and he gets a quick look at the chained weapon Sada's dragging along. It's not that it worries him that causes him to pause...it's that he's mentally processing how he's going to handle that. Not as if it was mentioned in the letter. "--oint. And, yes, I do go to Taiyo High. Do you as well? Don't believe I've seen you around the halls or in class if you are from Taiyo..." One of Shingo's gloved hands moves to the back of his head, scratching softly at a minor itch as he watches Sada eagerly, anticipating what she plans to do next.
Sada lets out a soft 'o ho ho' of a laugh as she reaches the midsection, more or less, of the fighting spot. She twirls the weighted end around, once or twice, rather lazily. "No," she says, "I don't."
She points, with the sickle end of the kusarigama. "So, Shingo Yabuki! I challenge you, not just for myself, but for the honor of Seijyun High School!" Good, she thinks; that sounded dramatic without being too pompous. You want to keep that minimalist tone.
She then advances, spinning the weight around more quickly as she goes over that distance between herself and Shingo. "Now, defend yourself!" she cries, as she twists it around, still spinning, towards the aspiring Kusanagi-style practicioner's left side!
COMBATSYS: Sada has started a fight here.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Shingo has joined the fight here.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shingo
COMBATSYS: Shingo counters Spinning The Kusari from Sada with Tsuki Hiji.
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Sada 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Shingo
"And I Shingo Yabuki, number one student of Kyo Kusanagi, once again accept your challenge Ms. Asai! You'd better give it everything you've got, because I'm not going to hold back!" Shingo exclaims, pointing a single finger at his opponent, almost as if in mimicry of her outburst, before he enters his all too well used Kusanagi-ryuu fighting stance.
And then Sada begins to advance on him, spinning her weapon round and round. Quite frankly, her warning to defend himself was a SMIDGE on the unnecessary. He's been aware of her movements since the moment the meeting began. Oh sure, the spinning fun weapon of doom might be slightly distracting, but it does at least seem to follow a somewhat predictable pattern. Predictable enough for Shingo to pull something off that he saw Kyo do once to a weapon-wielder.
The corners of his smile curling into a wide grin, Shingo begins to sprint directly at Sada, closing off the last few feet of distance. At the last moment, within the last foot or two, Shingo hops up in the air, bringing his right arm upwards, flexing the arm ever so slightly so as to aim his elbow towards Sada's left shoulder, and then with great effort and velocity, brings it down hard towards her. "OTOGI HIJI!" Shingo cries out as he connects with some part of Sada, and after lingering a moment, hops back a few feet to reassume his fighting stance. Whether or not he hits where he's aiming is another matter, but with any luck, his 'gambit' pays off as the weapon aimed towards his left side never seems to arrive.
The attack never arrived for a simple reason; Sada never finished the path of attack! When Shingo's powerful elbow hits her in the shoulder, she goes down fast. She bounces, practically, off the ground of the boardwalk, the timbers shuddering as she seems to tumble stem over stern towards --
No; that's not a stunned crouch she lands in. "Ha!" she says, tossing her hair back with a motion of her head. "Do you think that your tricks will overcome this weapon's power?!" She twists her arm around again, but the spinning of the kusari is rather halfhearted, as that arm is sore thanks to that vicious elbow drop.
/Instead/, she lunges out with a slice from the kama itself, aiming to cut a furrow along Shingo's manly thigh! She remains in the half-crouch, perhaps to exploit her relative height.
COMBATSYS: Shingo dodges Sada's Medium Strike.
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Sada 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Shingo
Far be it from Shingo to celebrate the small victories within his head. Observing Sada's ability to handle her kusari after his magical counter of counters, Shingo beams, placing his hands on his hips in triumph. "Tricks? Tricks? Ms. Asai, you haven't seen anything yet, but believe you me...by the end of this fight, you'll be feeling the burn!" Shingo exclaims as he eyes stare directly at Sada's, attempting to drive the threat-like taunt home...until he breaks the eye contact rather sheepishly since he didn't really mean it. Well, not all of it anyhow. He's just not about to apologize as of yet.
Gloved hands drop from Shingo's sides as he resumes his fighting stance, and not a moment too soon as Sada almost takes a chunk out of his beautiful manly thigh with her kama! Luckily for Shingo, the power of jump compelled him, and thusly the Shingo did jump, and jump he did. Jumping straight up, Shingo narrowly avoids the kama lunge, allowing it to swipe at thin air. Speaking of air, Shingo uses his air time wisely, and being that Sada is crouched, he attempts to thrust a knee in her general direction with the intention of well...either knocking her back a bit, or at least showing her that he's still playing to win.
COMBATSYS: Sada counters Medium Kick from Shingo with Asai Harvester.
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Sada 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Shingo
That knee never connects with Sada! Why? Because of two things.
One is that Sada raises up the kama in a quick rebound motion and twists it towards the incoming leg, hooking the blade in behind the brave young man's knee and twisting it up in a reversed motion, possibly tearing his pants or his tender (manly) flesh!
The other is that after doing this, she rolls abruptly to the side in a sharp and metallic clatter of chains.
As she leaps to her feet, Sada twirls the kusari around twice and tilts her head to the side, lips parting in another throaty little laugh. "Will it be I? I'm not going to let you win easily - not with yakitori prices the way they are now!!"
That knee never connects with Sada! Why? Because of two things.
One is that Sada raises up the kama in a quick rebound motion and twists it towards the incoming leg, hooking the blade in behind the brave young man's knee and twisting it up in a reversed motion, possibly tearing his pants or his tender (manly) flesh!
The other is that after doing this, she rolls abruptly to the side in a sharp and metallic clatter of chains.
As she leaps to her feet, Sada twirls the kusari around twice and tilts her head to the side, lips parting in another throaty little laugh. "Will it be I? I'm not going to let you win easily - not with yakitori prices the way they are now!!"
There's a perfectly good reason why Shingo typically doesn't knee people - because it rarely works. Still, it would've made for the perfect setup for a far more devastating attack. Thankfully, that plan is still in motion. More on that later.
And so Sada's blade comes behind his knee and does a very good job of tearing a good piece of his shorts off, turning them from regular style shorts into some very short shorts.
Who wears short shorts? Shingo wears short shorts!
Thankfully there aren't many people around to tease him about that. Well, at least not audibly...although a young girl of about five who happens to be passing by on the boardwalk with her mother, does end up snickering and pointing, whispering to her mother about why the funny looking man is wearing such a funny looking diaper.
Undeterred by the mocking of a five year old, or the chatter coming from Sada, Shingo watches closely as she rolls away, and he merely smiles. That's right, Shingo smiles. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, the Taiyo High student quickly pulls out his notebook from one of the pockets on his hoodie, flips a few pages in, and then raises a solitary hand near his face, the index finger extending upwards, and then wiggling in a back and forth 'nuh-uh' fashion. His face still somewhat buried in the book, Shingo recites a small passage from his notebook. "I think it's about time you feel the burn--" With a brief pause, Shingo closes the notebook, placing it back in a hoodie pocket, and without any warning takes a few quick forceful 'sprint level' steps towards Sada. This of course is all just enough to give Shingo enough momentum for him to leap sufficiently in the air above Sada. Reaching the peak of height for the close range jump, Shingo quickly extends one of his legs high into the arc and cries out an all too familiar battle cry, "SHINGOOOOOO KICKKKUUUUUUU!!!", and much like his elbow earlier, brings the aforementioned leg down rapidly and forcefully in a deadly arc aiming towards Sada's other shoulder, in the hopes of perhaps \giving her a two for one special.
COMBATSYS: Sada fails to counter Shingo Kick from Shingo with Mount Hiei Reversal.
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Sada 1/----===/=======|====---\-------\0 Shingo
Sada smiles knowingly as she remains in her crouching position, watching Shingo as he prepares himself...
He produces the notebook. Sada looks somehow dismayed, her lips curving down in a slight frown. When he waggles the finger, her brow furrows. When he recites, obviously, from his notebook, the frown turns into a positive scowl and she practically barks, "This isn't just a game! You sh-"
He's coming! Sada twists her body around, preparing herself for a quick reversal move /just in time to get hit in the shoulder/. The blow of the majestic Shingo Kick sends her flying backwards, bouncing with a grunting 'oof' twice before coming to a boneless, flopping rest near the edge of the chalked-off fight zone.
But despite this, she rises. She's shaking a little, but that foul look remains on her face as she gazes back towards the aspiring student. "Did you really," she says, "name the move, after yourself?"
SUCCESS!
Much like the magical counter, the Tsuki Hiji, the mystical Shingo Kick rarely ceases to amaze! On occasion...but RARE occasion!
Bouncing off of Sada from the hit, Shingo hops back a few feet as he reassumes his fighting stance, his smile shining brightly throughout it all. To be precise, Shingo's smile is far from anything smug. It's actually quite humble. Peaceful. As if he were merely just an overly happy fellow, and nothing more.
Sada's question, somewhat rhetorical as it may be, does earn her a puzzled look from Shingo, his head cocking ever so marginally to the side as if he were a dog attempting to understand the speech of man and failing miserably. Clearly the move is named after him...at least his version of it. If he were to explain that the move isn't fully his, and is merely a variation on one of Kyo's, the question wouldn't fall apart, but would then be reinforced, especially since the original isn't called Kyo Kick.
Blinking for a few moments, Shingo sighs, shoulders drooping a little almost out of embarrassment as he responds. "Well...yeah. Seemed like a good idea at the time." One wholehearted shrug later, and Shingo gets himself back into the game, shaking off the momentary commentary with a simple flick of his head. Following the Kusanagi-ryuu style, Shingo resumes his offensive, because if there's one thing he's learned from the Kusanagi-ryuu, it's that once you start an offensive, you don't let up. Keep the opponent off balance. So, Shingo seeks to do just that, and with that begins the setup for a nasty little barrage combo. Spriting towards Sada, Shingo pulls an arm back and clenches his fist. He may not be able to generate fire, but he's going to put quite a bit of umph into tossing a punch in Sada's general direction. Only after there's a reaction will he then look at following up with anything. As for where he's aiming that non-flaming fist of fury? Anyone's guess really. Depends on how, if at all, Sada ends up moving.
COMBATSYS: Shingo successfully hits Sada with Fierce Punch.
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Sada 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0 Shingo
Sada tries to leap up and over Shingo. She does, however, misestimate how far his burning passion will propel him; how fast his heart will flame, and how hard his strength will sear through the Japanese sky! And that is why she gets punched in the gut. Her eyes bug out slightly as she is hit, and then she goes flying back, landing on her buttocks with a stupid expression on her face.
Then, slowly, she stands. "Fall down seven," she mutters to herself, "get up eight..."
When she is fully at her feet again, she wobbles, once, before letting out a slightly unhinged cackle which echoes strangely with her rather deep voice, before coughing, once. She turns her head, shakes it once, and then looks up at Shingo.
Her eyes seem to be glittering. "/I know your style now,/" she declares, possibly quite arrogantly, before pointing at Shingo with the kama. "You're fighting with fast, brutal techniques... using your superior speed and strength to overcome any flaws in your technique!"
She cackles again, before settling down in a half-kneeling posture, the kama held firmly in one hand and the weight dangling almost a meter off the other. "Come at me, Shingo Yabuki!! Show me your real power, if you think you can?!"
COMBATSYS: Sada focuses on her next action.
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Sada 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0 Shingo
Well, that's nice for a change. Someone actually recognizing the incredibly amount of effort he puts into his fighting. Almost makes Shingo feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Correction. Almost makes Shingo feel MORE warm and fuzzy inside than he normally does.
Sada's challenge lingers in the air for a few moments, the two fighters now practically just staring each other down, although one, Shingo, hasn't stopped smiling much during the fight - and he's still smiling now, nodding slowly to Sada's words. When he finally responds, he isn't in any sort of fighting stance. Nosiree. He's just finishing warming up. Getting a few final leg and arm stretches in. "Ms. Asai...I, Shingo Yabuki, greatest student of Kyo Kusanagi, student of Taiyo High, told you from the beginning that I'd give this fight everything I had. Now will be no different. While I appreciate your being observant of my fighting style, I assure you, there's more to it than meets the eye." The corners of Shingo's smile curl upward a touch as he body shifts into preparations for one final headlong sprint. "But if you want a show of real power, then perhaps it's time I go about finishing this. Prepare yourself Ms. Asai! No holding back!" Shingo lets the words sink in for a moment on Sada's end, before he places one foot in front of the other, and then again, and again, building up speed with each movement until he's in a full blown sprint, a run right towards Sada. Yes, he's done this before. Yes, it seems repetitive. Yes, the extra momentum DOES help him with his attacks. Yes. Yes. Maybe. No wait. Yes.
Sada might look prepared, but the time of truth has come! Shingo's run almost stops on a dime a mere foot away from the young girl, his upper body twising upwards and to the left, his right arm moving along the same line. Shingo's right elbow comes up and attempts to strike at Sada. Should it connect, the left elbow will do a similar strike. Should THAT connect, the piece d'resistance will come into play as Shingo will jut his hip out and away from Sada, and then with all the might he can muster, will thrust the side of his hip directly at the girl with the intent of knocking her down. Of course, if all this connects, Shingo will probably follow up with something lame, but witty in his head. Something like, 'I hope you're more /hip/ to my fighting style now.' or, 'It's /hip/ to be square!' or...well. Who knows. Only time will tell if any of the aforementioned strikes will connect...then and only then will a lame comment about hips be revealed!
COMBATSYS: Sada fails to counter Nie Togi from Shingo with Cut Trapped Grain.
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Shingo 0/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sada can no longer fight.
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Shingo 0/-------/=======|
Sada's head lifts up to look as Shingo comes to - a halt?! She's already whipping one arm around to try and trap Shingo in her chain but he's moving too quickly for her to easily counter. The elbow hits her on the forehead, tending towards the left - then the next hits the right! She stands up to try and face him on equal terms and the hip strikes her right in the waistline!
"Iyaaaaaa" Sada cries as she is sent flying, trailing the chain after her as the kama falls from her hand. The blade hooks into the boardwalk's timbers as Sada goes flying, trailing more of the chain after her - it goes taut for a moment --
thump
She lands on her side not far from the yakitori man, and pushes herself up to a half-seated position with a groan of soreness. "You win, Yabuki," she groans, rubbing her shoulders with both arms and letting the weapon splay out on the boardwalk.
Because Shingo's 'hip' to the kids these days, and their 'hip' new ways, Shingo spins around the moment the hip hits Sada and turns his back to her. In a very cool, calm and collected manner, he unzips his hoodie, grabs it by the collar, and non-chalantly tosses it over his shoulder the same way he's seen Kyo do a few times. He maintains this posture for a good solid minute or so, and is tempted to toss in some sort of victory quote, but quickly regains his senses that deep down there's more to him than merely looking cool, and as if he suddenly realized that maybe he might've injured Sada, he tosses aside the hoodie, spins back around and jogs over to her half-seated side.
With a look of concern on his face, Shingo bends over slightly and offers the girl a hand up, his vocal tone truly apologetic if anything. Or maybe just sympathetic. "Ms. Asai! Are you alright? Sorry about that...heat of battle and all. Would you like a hand up?" Shingo's hand will linger there regardless of if she accepts his hand or not. Afterall, helping her up would be the right thing to do.
Shingo's look of concern however gradually shifts back to his more cheery smile-y self, and no sooner is the assistance either rendered, or the girl upright, that Shingo's gloved hands move to his hips almost naturally, resting there in quite the heroic pose. "Ms. Asai, I win nothing but the pleasure of meeting you. As for the conditions of the fight, being that I'm the winner, I've decided to reverse them, and it would be an honour if I could perhaps be the one to buy /you/ a yakitori. A small gesture of thanks for an excellent fight...that is of course, if you'll accept my counter-offer." Oh Shingo. Sincere, polite and gentlemanly to the last. And to think, had she ripped Shingo's throat out, Shingo old boy'd be doing the same thing...well, potentially writing on the boardwalk with his blood, but the message would be the same!
Sada does not seem terribly maimed, although those bruises on her forehead may hurt her maidenly charm for a day or two. She takes the hand to pull herself up, reaching down to tug up the chain as she goes. She starts reeling it in, doing a complex little jerk on the chain to loose the kama from the boardwalk.
She then looks over her shoulder, eyse half-narrowed for a moment... before the smile comes to her lips, as well as a sweet-seeming crinkle of the eyes. "Oh, if you insist," she says warmly, even if her voice interferes with the 'cute'. She straightens up, a little slowly, and puts her free hand on her hip. "Ooof. Thank you, too, for doing your best."
Log created on 23:27:54 05/23/2007 by Sada, and last modified on 00:19:02 07/10/2007.