Description: Hotaru can't back down from a good challenge. Especially when that challenge comes from the intriguingly inspirational Hayato-sensei of Taiyo. But she's fought him before and knows she can't go after him alone. Hence a stop by Gedo to pick up some reinforcement...
It's just after the last classes for the day have let out at the various Southtown schools. And as is sometimes the case when students are no longer so closely ruled by their teachers within the confinements of the classrooms, it seems a bit of a ruckus has broken out in the courtyard of Gedo High.
Like every afternoon, Hotaru had changed out of her prissy Seijyun High school uniform as quickly as possible to don the distinctly traditional Chinese styled attire that she definitely seems to prefer. And this particular afternoon, she just so happens to be the /cause/ of the small uproar in the courtyard.
"Next!" comes the voice of the lithe fighter, surrounded by a circle of Gedo students, all de facto members of Diago's gang. One by one she calls them to come in and take a shot at her. One boy takes his chances, running in to swing out hard with his fist to clock the girl in the head. But Hotaru sidesteps the strike, grabs hold of his extended arm and lifts it up while simultaneously pressing the palm of her other hand gently but forcibly into his side to send him stumbling right back out of the makeshift circle of students, eliciting a bit of a laugh from some of the audience.
Shaking her head, pony-tails flopping behind her head, Hotaru declares, "No, no. You won't do. Next!"
When -isn't- there a ruckus in the courtyard or Gedo High?
But no-- there's plenty to alert the young man of the goings-on outside the school building, such as a lack of kids leaping from windows or the roof and less trying to beat up the soda machine in the cafeteria for a free drink. A great deal of them are outside, crowded in a circle around a voice that sounds all too familiar to the Gedo High Student Council Secretary, Kenji Ashima...
"Futaba?"
Thrusting his hands forward, his fingertips touch and arms form a wedge, pushing against the people in front of him. "ALL RIGHT, CLEAR OUT MOVE IT OUTTA MY WAY watch where you try to kick me Gouta MOVE, MOVE, MOVE." And after a few moments of pushing against the crowd, the young member of the Guardian Kings-- and quite possibly one of the few people that actually wear the true colors of Gedo's student uniform-- breaks through and crams his hands into his pockets, eyebrows furrowing up. "Futaba-chan, it's a little tough for me when you start kicking the ass of everyone at the courtyard. What's going on?"
As Kenji approaches, another young man, this one far taller than the girl taking on all oncomers, runs forward, attempting to just reach down and scoop her up. This doesn't end up going his way though as the girl just grabs his reaching hands and slides forward between his legs, and lifts his arms, flipping the poor kid forward to the ground. She winces a little, but shakes her head, "Sorry about that," she apologizes, resting her hand behind her head, "But no, no, you won't do either."
She pauses as the voice of a young man she has fought once before reaches her ears. Ah hah! He might be perfect! Turning around, Hotaru rests her hands on her hips as Kenji makes his way through the crowd; the young man she had just dropped rolling to his feet behind the girl and getting the heck out of the circle.
"Kenji!" she greets him as he slips his hands into his pockets. "I'm looking for a teammate for a special match!" Hotaru declares. Reaching into her pants pocket, she pulls out a folded up flyer. Quickly unfolding it, she steps toward Kenji, holding the bright orange paper out, print-side toward him. "There's this teacher over at Taiyo. Hayato-sensei. Says he's looking for kids from /any/ school to challenge him in a fight." She taps at the paper, "A free dinner to the winner! Or winners. Apparently he's willing to fight teams."
Lowering the paper, she starts to stuff it back into her pocket. "So anyway, I decided I'd come by and find someone to team up with me to take this challenge of his on! But I can't find any girls at Seiyjun that are interested... Admittedly, a free dinner doesn't really provoke a lot of enthusiasm over there." For the upper class princesses that attend that school, what dinner /isn't/ free?
"So I thought I'd check things out here and see if I could find anyone who wanted to team up with me. Though they have to show that they're good enough too." she adds with a shake of her head before she grins at the gathered students, "I found a lot of volunteers!" It's hard to say if their interest is the free meal, a chance to fight with the cute, harmless looking Seiyjun girl, or just bragging rights at being the one deemed tough enough to fight alongside the marginally famous Hotaru Futaba.
'Teammate.' 'Special match.'
His shoulders sag and his eyes go somewhere between wide and horror-- dragged into another match of sorts? But at least this time, he wouldn't be fighting alongside or against massive sweaty bald-headed oarsmen or having to dress as a damn pirate. Nor would he be fighting with the Pacific Resistance, or ... Doctors. His horror bleeds away into a careful, cautious sort of curiosity. Leaning in close to read the flyer, the details are gone over by the twin-tailed girl and made abundantly clear. But wait-- if she's singling him out like this-- singling out the Junior League Champion-- and-- and-- wait.
Dinner? For two?
If he had a bowtie, it would probably spin. I-Is his ideal rose colored student life finally reaching out to him?!
Though Hotaru's motives have yet to be made clear, he's still curious. Curious and willing-- as proven by a thumb jerked at his chest. "Then I'm your guy!!" he exclaims with enthusiasm.
Hotaru's hands go back to resting at her hips as Kenji seems lost in a moment of thought. She gives him plenty of time to finally respond though with that eager exclaimation of his, thumb pointing back at himself.
"Well!" Hotaru replies with a big grin of her own. "I've fought Hayato-sensei before. He's /really/ tough, and he packs a mean shinai, and he's not afraid to use it!" She remembers the bruises caused by those thwacks all too well.
"So even though I know you're pretty tough, and you have made a name for yourself, I'm going to have to test you out again, Kenji! Gotta make sure you haven't been slacking off!" And with that, the girl springs to life without warning, reaching forward to grab hold of that arm of his that he used to point at his chest. With a backstep and graceful twist of his limb, she'll be able to roll him forward into the center of the ring formed by the students. "So let's find out!" Poor kid. Seems his schedule is about to be interrupted once again by the Seijyun girl.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kenji has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
COMBATSYS: Kenji auto-guards Hotaru's Quick Throw!
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
"Hmm-hmm... we are the New Faces... we'll take you to open spaces..." Humming the tune to one of his band's songs, Chris is skipping through the courtyard of Gedo High, bouncing a little rubber handball he found (translation: "borrowed") from a group of students who were playing a game of handball at an adjacent wall. They are currently looking for their missing ball, not realizing that Chris has it.
There are other issues with this scenario. Namely, that Chris is not a Gedo High student and that nobody here has any idea who he is or what he's up to, aside from bouncing a rubber ball and skipping like a school boy towards the fight.
It seems like a law of nature and a defiance of physics that Kenji puts himself into the strangest situations, and reacts to them in the strangest of ways. So caught dead to rights with a pair of slender hands around his wrist, he's about to roll as guided and intended by Hotaru's movement--
But he lands. On his feet. Somehow.
With his left hand still in his pocket and his grip turned to hold the martial artist's wrist, his legs are spread wide and his knees bent to stand, somehow, on the tips of his sneakers and with a look of utter horror on his face-- complete with wide eyes, small pupils, and a mouth twisted to a look of utter terror. Was she that quick the last time they had fought?
Twisting his grasp a little and sliding his feet underneath himself to enter a rather awkward kneel, he uses the strength in his abdomen and in his strong arm to -pull-, to wrench Hotaru from the ground and fling -her- closer to the center of the ring of students with only one hand-- the other -still- in his pocket.
Being a student of Gedo hardly means that you are the only one allowed on the premisis. It just means that you have the control over the area, to a point, as well as the lay of the land! And as the battles began, people disappearing from inside the school, a certain student had stayed past classes, or even just went in to make sure he caught up.
It was hopless, but Gan really wanted to try. Never-the-less, Gan had been noticing the lack of students passing by in the halls, and closed up the books, taking his leave from the classroom where he had spent a few hours.
A few minutes later the Gedo giant walks out, able to easily see over the swarm of students around Hotaru and Kenji.. and an unknown face, Chris, that he noticed. He heads towards the new face, while watching the battle. Such an effective strategy that Kenji uses. And it seems almost on reflex. A large guy like Gan appreciates the quick movements some are able of.
"Another battle. But of the two, I think they are equal." He speaks to Chris, the new comer. He is sure there will be alot of fast actions and movements!
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Hotaru with Strong Throw.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Kenji
"Mmm?" Chris says, before finally looking at the fight. "Oh!" he says, considering the competition for a few moments and watching Kenji move as fast as he does. "I guess so! I think he is the kind of person that likes to beat up girls," Chris reflects, despite the senselessness and irrelevance of the statement. "And they're both too slow." He yawns a little.
The way Kenji manages to land on his feet after such a quick attack seems to catch Hotaru quite by surprise. It probably serves her right, what with her own attack being a surprise for the boy. Finding her wrist grappled, Hotaru ends up getting flung by Kenji's one arm into the center of the makeshift arena. She recovers partially in mid-air, however, and manages to cushion her landing by dropping into a roll as she hits the ground.
Coming up on her own feet a couple steps away, she grins back at Kenji. A lot of the students are silent now, while some nod knowingly. They expect this much out of their Council Secretary, after all. As one of the only kids who actually wears the uniform around here, he's had to prove himself to be tougher than many people might take him for.
"Okay!" Hotaru replies, clenching her hands into fists. She's ready now. It's good to have a real challenge for a change. Darting forward, she'll attempt to weave around any counter attacks while she tries to get another hold on Kenji, once again reaching for his arms - even the one in his pocket. If she can get the leverage, she'll end up continuing into a rapid series of stomps right up the front of him before backflipping off his shoulders into an acrobatic leap through the air afterward.
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kenji
Slow by nature, Gan can only think it's a bit funny. "I wouldn't think he is. Hotaru probably challenged him!" He says, lightheartedly. "She's very enthusiastic. Challenged me while I was at Sumo club.. didn't expect to have so much trouble as I did!" He claims, light laughter afterwards. "Speed isn't the only deciding factor. They can be slow, but it's the power behind the strikes. If being slow was a problem, then I'd be stuck with a big one."
Rubbing his head slightly.. "But they're probably just getting warmed up. I know Hotaru's really quick." He knows first hand!
"If you say so," Chris explains, turning to give Gan a big, broad grin. "I think slow fighters are boring to watch! I could probably go to sleep," he adds, embellishing on his yawn of a few moments ago. "Anyways, I think the girl will win."
Whoa, he pulled it off? Still on his knees, Kenji bites on the silver ring on his thumb and slides it off, dropping it into his waiting hand and tucking it away in his pocket-- no time for love or chaining the thing back around his neck. Rising to his feet, the Junior League Champion extends his hand and laughs a little nervously. "Do we really need to fight? I mean, you've seen what I can do and I WAGH--" Turning his pocketed hand-arm against the first few kicks, his hand lifts to catch another and soak the majority of the damage through his palm, staggering backward as she backflips into the air.
"I guess not."
Rushing ahead to catch up to Hotaru as she lands, his right fist draws back and -surges- ahead, the strike comperable to a hammer striking an anvil. It's something she should be familiar with when it comes to Gedo's student council secretary, as she's seen-- and felt-- the effects before. "KAH!!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kenji's Missile Fist.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Kenji
While she hasn't overheard Gan and Chris's exchange over the commotion of the gathered Gedo students, Hotaru does seem to kick it up a notch when it comes to moving swiftly. Touching down after her leap, she offers Kenji a bit of a shrug, that grin still on her face, "Think of it as practice before the real deal!" she offers in return. "Hayato-sensei pulls no punches. We'll have to be top notch to beat him!"
As he comes at her with that boulder-strong punch of his, Hotaru steps to the side swiftly, allowing his arm to fly past her harmlessly. "Close," Hotaru states, as if analyising the boy's fighting style differently than normal. Usually she has to study how to beat her opponents. But in this case, she's paying closer attention to how she might be able to work /with/ Kenji's style of attacking.
It's here that she demonstrates the same attack she did to another kid earlier by reaching out to push Kenji's extended arm up with one hand while driving her open palm into his side with her other hand. "Ya!"
"While Hotaru's pretty good, I don't think Kenji's out of it!" Gan says, peering over the crowd. That big grin on the guy is pretty .. well, big! And he has the gall to .. no that makes sense. "Being fast doesn't mean you have it all in the bag." Gan nods, partly to himself. "Like in sumo, just being fast mean you'll be easier to move.. and then when they get you, you're out of there!" He prides himself on his strength, albeit he's rather slow with it, it's still pretty speedy at times. "You just need to know when to move fast, and when not to."
COMBATSYS: Kenji endures Hotaru's Strong Punch.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Kenji
The conversation that flies around the pair-- the cheers, even the technical debate between Gan and Chris-- is lost on his ears, like the pigtailed Seijyun girl. Fighting in a greater public arena than this has brought his focus to the point that he can continue to battle while ignoring the crowd and the surroundings... as dangerous as that can be. But more importantly--
Hotaru's attack drives his hand upward and her palm drives hard into his side-- it hurts, no doubt about it ... but it doesn't all go to what her plan may just be. He stands his ground and tightens his jaw, looking to close the gap between them and lock his arm around the smaller girl's body-- with a grin and wink-- and finally draw his left hand free of his pocket to support his grasp as his body pitches back and whips hard to the left, looking to hurl Hotaru through the air and toward the edges of the ring of Gedo students. "Ghh!!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Hotaru with Strong Throw.
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Kenji
Chris hops up onto a bench, kicking his feet like a child. "I guess!" he says, smewhat dismissively. "I just hate clumsy people, that's all, always wobblig this way and that way." Chris does a brief impression. It looks like his impression of retardation. "But most people are just clumsy."
She's surprised that her palm press doesn't send him careening off to the side. While she wasn't striking with the intent to fracture ribs or anything, the girl has been known to punch pretty hard. And yet here Kenji is, able to take it without being knocked aside like the poor student had happen to him earlier.
Her eyes widen a little as he manages to get his arm around her. She catches the wink but has no time to think about it as she's sent flying off to the side, head over heels! Her landing is cushioned somewhat, due to no action of her own, as she ends up bouncing off the chest of a rather tall, large student that looks somehow familiar to her. That wooden belt... barrel... thing is kind of hard to misake as well. As she hits the ground, she shakes her head, glancing over her shoulder, "Gan?" she laughs, shaking her head, "Thanks for the catch!"
And then she's back on the offense, charging Kenji again, this time taking to the air to deliver a very swift, straight jump kick.
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Hotaru's Light Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Kenji
Gan was talking with this nice man.. and then suddenly, something rather light slams into him! It's moving rather fast, at least, befor it contacts with him. The bouncing of Hotaru off of Gan causes him to stumble a few steps, caught offguard by the flying high schooler! "Hotaru, you're doing just fine out there!" Gan says, grinning. "You give it your all!" Although he knows she will.
To Chris, after the Hotaru incident, Gan rubs the barrel slightly. "Clumsy isn't always bad, but to just let it happen all the time, that means you're not just clumsy, but lazy... I don't think many are that clumsy." He protests, standing almost taller than Chris even on that bench!
Chris cups his hands to his mouth. "If you lose to a fighter like that you may as well retire forever!" he calls, not making it clear which fighter he's addressing. It could be both. Maybe it just amuses him. "I know plenty," Chris says. "Most people are just way too slow."
"I don't see why if I lose it would be a reason to retire." Gan says, looking on, but glancing to Chris now and again. "I fight to protect.. I'd hope the others would have some idea of the same." After all, Gan's part of the Gedo school. And there's nothing like taking care of the crime that plagues everyone! The children, and the people who live there, may resent the gang as violent people, but Gan certainly isn't bothered. "I'm not too fast.. but that doesn't bother me. Some people have a hard time getting out of my way."
And she's off like a shot! Sailing through the air and slamming into ... a giant wall of student. Though Kenji's seen Gan before-- as if anyone can't-- they've never spoken. Perhaps later he could meet up with him, though the thought is passed on for the girl flying toward him with a leg extended. While this would ordinarily be something he wouldn't mind at all! Well, he doesn't need to be decapitated by a kick.
Hands extended to catch her heel and brace against the impact, the Gedo brawler stumbles back a few steps and catches himself with a swift forward lean. "Ugh. You-- You got me, Futaba-chan. This is the end!" he exclaims with a melodramatic flair, dropping to one knee.
And grinning.
Kenji's fist nearly slugs the ground as he centers himself and gets a good footing, his gutteral scream filling the yard of Gedo High once again: "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
Extremely -bright- energy explodes to life at the end of his fist, steadily engulfing his arm in light blue light-- but at his hand, his fist, it's closer to looking at burning magnesium, or an arc welder at work. The energy surging within him takes a few moments to peak out-- and then he rises, turning his glowing fist toward Hotaru and grinning. "Come on!!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji gathers his will.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Kenji
Chris yawns again, his little mouth opening up wide. "I guess they must be real slow, then," he responds, to Gan. His comments have no malice; it's said freely, like a child making a rude but true observation of fact. "I mean, you're even bigger than /Yashiro/, and he's kind of slow, too, at least, compared to--fast guys."
As his hand absorbs the strength of her momentum, Hotaru corrects, bending her leg just a little and then pushing back to give her enough distance to land safely without tumbling right into the Gedo student. When he says she got him though, the girl rests one hand at her hip, shaking her head with a grin, "Awh, come on." she laughs, taking the dramatics for what they are. "You're barely even hurt!"
When he slams his fist against the ground however, all pretenses of amusement fade away and Hotaru's expression becomes extremely serious. There's no messing around when Kenji gets like that. When his punches land, they hurt like crazy. And while he's been toying with her a bit so far, she expects she'll have some serious attacks coming her way in a moment.
Well, she can't just let him sit there and power up, can she? Running forward, Hotaru hops a few yards out, spinning once in the air to bring her arms out toward Kenji with windmilling swings, one after the other. Two high strikes, aiming to draw his attention to defending his shoulder and chest... but perhaps missing the third strike - A powerful palm press aimed toward his stomach with incredible force, committing her leg, torso, and arm strength to the attack that could very well knock the breath out of him.
Gan doesn't see any malice, no, but he certainly doesn't agree. "They'll tire themselves out with all that jumping around." Gan notes. "I find moving slow allows me to move faster when I really need to. Instead of flailing about." Gan doesn't mean the two flail, hardly to it! He means that he has seen some wste their strength. "I never thought about it. Always just did what I had to. That just means it takes more to move me."
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Hotaru's Soushou Shin.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\====---\1 Kenji
Chris yawns again, and pulls out a little Game Boy to fiddle about with. He is apparently disinterested in the incredible fight going back and forth just in front of him. Beep. Beep. Boop. "Tell me if somebody wins!" he announces.
He's seen this one before-- he's seen it, felt it, and gotten his ass rightly -kicked- by it once before. But what Hotaru has is some good -power- behind her strikes, strong enough to make the proud brawler bring up his arms to strike forearm-to-forearm with the Seijyun girl and thrust out his own palms-- hands with extremely bright chi and not-- to 'catch' the strike. His weight is taken right off the ground, and the Osakan lands on his heels a few lengths of the arm beyond his pigtailed opponent.
Grabbing his wrist, he draws back his fist. "Gyyyyhhhh-- GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-!!"
Presenting his left palm as he closes the gap one more time and reels back his fist. Hotaru should remember this one-- the punch that ruined her vest the last time they met, the strike that shook the walls of Gedo's dojo and blew a few things over. A translucent blue light lines up with Hotaru's chest, almost as if setting the course for that punch-- a punch that zips along so fast his fist is the only thing seen, arm a literal blur. The chi alight in his arm focuses to his knuckles, set on delivering a massive, powerful strike that'll not only launch Hotaru back, but likely launch her into the ring of students surrounding them all over again. And even if she dodges, the force of transmission will still likely push hard against the crowd opposite the student council secretary, a force equal to the force in his voice:
"RAIL GUN!!"
Gan finds Chris yawning, playing a Game Boy .. odd. "If you would prefer something like that, thinking it's boring, compared to two giving their all infront of you..." Gan just stops. He would rather not grow slightly angry at the man, even if he is getting on Gan's nerves. Gan's rather simple, so just seeing the 'winner' kind of bothers him. It's the fight, the show of determination! Not who is last standing.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to reflect Rail Gun from Kenji with Kobi Kyaku EX.
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Hotaru 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Kenji
Even though her attack didn't land as intended, she still managed to give him a good show of strength all the same, making up for her dimunitive stature with a careful application of preicise muscle coordination, able to put more into her attacks than her small stature would suggest she could.
But now it's his turn, and as he powers up, Hotaru's brow furows. She remembers that attack from the last time they fought. The last time she got out of the way just barely in time, and even the force of his fist flying by was enough to shread cloth. But she's ready this time. Prepared to react without the desperate panic of last time.
When the moment comes and he launches fist forward at her, Hotaru kicks outward, a swath of blue chi left in the wake of her leg. Snapping her foot back down, she leans toward that wall of Chi, "Ya!" Focusing her control over the power to cause it to solidify, for an instant, into a solid barrier as strong as blue, reflective steel. She reaches out with her hand to press against it, lending strength to it even as Kenji's fist comes flying in, a confident grin directed back at him through the blue, translucent wall.
But it ends up not being enough - the power of his attack smashes through the quickly erected defense, coliding with Hotaru directly in the chest, her blue energy scattered like so much harmless mist. Knocked completely off her feet, she slams back-first into the wall of students watching the fight, bowling several of them over into a pile on the ground before coming to a stop on her back atop the pile.
"Ooooo." she wheezes, rolling off of the other Gedo students and getting back to her feet. It looks like Kenji is to blame for the loss of two of her vests now, as now the blue, custom tailored garmet is quite destroyed. She's rather used to that happening though. It's why the girl dresses in layers in the first place! "Yeah. Definitely use that one on Hayato-sensei," the girl mumbles, lifting her hand to wipe the back of it across her mouth as if expecting to discover blood only to find plain ol' spittle.
The Sumo watches on still, looking as Hotaru gives it her all.. and just unfotunately gets nailed straight on. GAn even winces, watching as Kenji slams straight forwards, to strike Hotaru. Gan would have not took it so easily, either, and perhaps Hotaru took it a bit more than he could of! It stills tands, though, that it's not yet over. Not yet.
But, it's a fight! To get involved, well, there's no point! Instead, Gan cheers for the two. His voice just blends into the rest. Being swayed slightly by the force. It's rather powerful..
Although he is basically a wall.
Yes, one of those classic moments-- those moments when fist meets barrier in a devistating clash of powers, one strong enough to make even the thrower of that powerful punch look on in surprise as that barrier-- that barrier he's seen before, and been on the recieving end of-- rises. His knuckles curl in against it, and his voice again rises to gutteral level: "GUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
And it breaks.
Hotaru flies, bowling over numerous Gedo students and putting on a bit of a display for all. The glow on Kenji's fist and the burning aura along his arm are both gone, likely to the pleasure of a few students that hate extremely bright lights. Drawing back from his pose and breathing hard for a few moments, it seems as though the Junior League Champion's still got plenty left to give. Shaking out his right hand, his left returns once again to his pocket as he grins and flicks his bangs out of his face. "I'm sure the old geezer would fold like a kite when he gets hit with it."
Sweeping his arm out in a broad motion, he stands ready and waiting. "Well? Need a little more convincing, then?" he asks, only giving the Seijyun girl a grin. "I still have lots more where that came from."
COMBATSYS: Kenji focuses on his next action.
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Hotaru 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Kenji
While Gan claps, it's reserved, slow. Kenji's going pretty strong, but it's certainly not over. Gan's seen Hotaru in such a corner before, and she's not helpless at all. Especially not with what he felt. But he waits to see if she'll stop, or keep going.
He'll have to congratulate her, either way. Or perhaps for her victory!
Hotaru pauses for a moment at the question, her expression thoughtful. She already has her answer for now. With Kenji along, the two of them should stand a solid chance against that confident teacher over at Taiyo. His brute force punching should compliment her more risky, acrobatic techniques quite well when going up against the shinai weilding teacher.
"Nah, I'm convinced," Hotaru replies with a ready grin now, having had a moment to get her breath back. Her hand lifts from her side to brush absently at her chest. "But I've already invested this much into finding out, there's no reason to quit early!" she adds a moment later.
And then she's back on the offense, running at him and hopping into a spin like with her previous attack. Two whirlwinding strikes are made with her hands before her feet even touch the ground, but she continues to press, walking sideways as she strikes out repeatedly, attempting to find an opening in his defense from which to deliver a more powerful attack.
COMBATSYS: Kenji auto-guards Hotaru's Sou-shou Tenrenge!
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Kenji
Shinai-shminai! Kenji will take the brunt of the damage for her, no problem. It's what he's -there- for, isn't it?
Kenji's heart sinks a little however, as Hotaru makes it clear that she wants to continue. But-- he'd be able to get his backpack and flee the school before anything else happened! There's no time to speak his complaints or think about anything else, however, as the pigtailed girl wheels toward him and starts releasing a series of hard-pressing and windmilling strikes.
A sudden sense of inhuman insight is bestowed upon him, his hands darting up to glide effortlessly against Hotaru's as he seems to mimic her actions on the first attack-- at least in part. His spin is much less graceful and much more comical, but it could be attributed to solely trying to keep himself from being caught up in the flow of her attack. For the multitude of extra strikes, his timing takes over-- smacking aside strike after strike while walking slowly and in time with the offense. Until...
Suddenly reaching out, he seeks to grab Hotaru by the shredded vest just below the collar. From deep in his gut comes one last "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!" and a harsh lift from the ground, waiting for the burst of chi to kick in-- the burst that will tear the Seijyun girl from his grasp and carry her high into the air-- and landing is all her own decision.
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Hotaru with Sky High Rocket.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Kenji
Her strikes are rapid, probing, testing, attacks, looking for weaknesses in his defense that she can use to pry in a much stronger assault. But each of her swings is met with flawless defense on his part. Attack after attack, small sparks of chi flashing where her attempted blows are deflected.
And finally she can do it no further, her arms growing tired with the effort she's poured into the onslaught, while Kenji looks no worse for the wear. When he reaches out and grabs hold of her, she attempts to wrest herself free, but her arms are already weak from the effort she just put into her last attack and she isn't able to budge before being lifted up off the ground and blasted upward. When she finally lands, she doesn't take it as gracefully as she was able to handle the first time he threw her.
Rolling onto her side then pushing herself back up to her feet, the girl looks at Kenji almost as if in a new light. Not only did he manage to smash his way through the defensive barrier she tried to get him to run into, he managed to fend of a sequence of incredibly quick, forceful strikes, without letting a single one get through. She's definitely got the right partner to challenge Hayato with, that's for sure!
She can't attack with the same force that she just used, but she still has some other tricks left in her. Perhaps tired of getting thrown around so much by the young man, Hotaru rushes forward and reaches out for his arm in turn, attempting to bend it behind him as she whirls around to his back before kicking his feet out from under him with her foot.
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Hotaru's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Kenji
There's something comforting about being known as the person that'll be Hotaru's partner-- as much as he'd rather not have to beat on the girl in order to pull it off. Still, Hayato's going to be in for the ride of his life, if he's got much of anything to say about it! For all the speed he's managed so far as well as the power-- such as the power that threw Hotaru into the air-- even he still has a few bad moments here and there, what with his arm getting a quick twist and pull. The Gedo brawler turns to try to get his body straightened out in the wake of the attempting toss, his foot coming down to try to stop the sweeping kick. The result is somewhat awkward: Kenji ends up hopping quite ridicilously on one foot while his arms windmill around at different speeds and his 'defending' leg is kicked up into the air. His footing changes and tips him back still, the excessive attempts at trying to catch himself putting the Junior League Champ flat on his ass rather than sprawled out all over the courtyard.
"Whew! That could've gone a whole lot worse."
Planting his hands and shuffling his feet, Kenji's back up on his feet and charging ahead, drawing back his fist and hooking it around with all the force of a trained boxer-- or more like someone casting the mighty hammer of Thor himself. The track of his swing becomes clear after a moment-- a hard, slightly upward-rising punch to the gut just off-center and aimed to rock Hotaru just below the ribs.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kenji's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Kenji
While Kenji goes stumbling off, Hotaru waits patiently, grinning a little as in the end he falls to the ground. Idly she reaches up and unsnaps the button at her shoulder holding together what's left of her vest before shrugging it to the ground. He's already gotten a hold of her with with it once before, and now that it's ruined anyway, there's no reason to keep wearing it, lest it end up being a liability.
"Yeah," she replies, straightening her white blouse a little while she waits. "Nice recovery," she grins, almost teasing with her tone. After all, getting seated on the ground is rarely considered a 'good save.' When he comes at her again, she's ready this time, leaning to the side so that his hooked punch misses her completely. This puts her in close enough proximity to attempt to grab hold of him again.
It starts with attempting to plant her hands on his shoulders. If she succeeds in doing that, she'll flip up into a precarious handstand on top of the kid for a long second before finally swinging down to drive both of her feet into his stomach from above. "Ya!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Kenji with Ten Ranku-Tou.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Kenji
"Pff~!" he retorts, arms thrown up in a shrug. A save is a save! Although Hotaru's 'save' is much better than what he had accomplished himself, considering the rise-- and systematic fall-- of Hotaru Futaba and her mighty knees. Wind escapes him with a hard "GFF-!" and widened eyes, though his comical expressions are saved for another time.
Reaching ahead, Kenji again goes for Hotaru's ruined vest and curls his fingers in for a good, hard grip-- followed by a sharp kick at the ankles, his toe hooking around to just take the girl right down and hopefully buy him a little more room and a little more time to follow up with a better attack!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Quick Throw from Kenji with Tenshin Shou.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\ < > //// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\====---\1 Kenji
Pushing off of him as her strike hits home, Hotaru flips backward and lands on her feet, leaning forward to brace herself with her hands against her knees, looking very tired at this point. But she isn't about to let him off the hook just because he's impressed her so far!
Gah! Again with the clothes grabbing! She's going to just leave that vest with him as a souvenir at this rate. But before he can tear apart her stance, Hotaru crouches defensively, pulling his arm down with her.
"Tenshin-" And then she's lunging right back into him with a leaping shoulder slam, lending all of her leg and torso strength to the attack, catching him in the chest as he tries to complete his grapple on her. "-shou!" The girl rises into the air, extending her arms out at her sides at the apex of her jump as she drops back down to the ground, landing with a bit of a grunt, "Oof."
So close! His foot is -right there-. But unfortunately for Kenji, plans don't always work out the way that they're supposed to. To this effect, he's smacked-- hard-- with a rising shoulder tackle, one hard enough to catch him right in the middle of the chest and carry him into the air. While Hotaru gets a smooth, graceful landing, all that the Gedo student gets is a painful twisted flight before he finds himself landing flat on his head. His arms and legs go rigid for a moment as his neck can certainly feel the compression, body flopping down like so much lead weight.
But that's not all.
Though his neck has a definite kink in it and his eyes swim with tears and the pain of a throbbing, swelling head, Kenji -rocks- back up to his feet with a firm shove of his hands and reels back his fist. "ONE MORE!!"
And then he punches. Literally, as hard as he possibly can. If he were wearing brass knuckles, he probably would have enough oomph to completely shatter bone! Though ordinarily this ends up being a shot aimed for the face, Kenji isn't treating this as a 'serious' battle-- not against someone in, say, SNF or in the rivalry between Gedo and Pacific. So instead, his fist hammers in for one last powerful swing at Hotaru's chest-- and while this one may not have the essence of chi clinging to his knuckles, it'll probably have enough oomph to drive her flying back yet again!
COMBATSYS: Kenji can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Hotaru with Missile Fist Ashima.
[ <
Hotaru 1/----===/=======|
One More ends up being one more than Hotaru can take. She's seen this attack before too and while last time she actually ended up just bunkering down and blocking it, she knows she doesn't have it in her to pull that off again after everything she's been through in this fight so far.
So she tries to move out of the way, twisting to the side and literally attempting to let him go flying past her, much to the potential detriment of the students gathered around watching probably. But the audience is spared a painful knuckle as Kenji's fist connects with the girl's side, sending her crashing to the side and sliding along the ground until she ends up bumping into the legs of some of the Gedo students.
"Ugh," she gasps, rolling off some boy's foot to lay flat on her back, her hand lifting to rest atop her stomach. "Okay, okay. That's it." she calls over to Kenji. She hurts like hell, but at the same time she's grinning a little. Testing her strength against Ashima and finding that he's able to dish it out just as well as she can makes her pretty confident about their odds of securing the prize from Hayato. That the implication would be that they get to go to dinner together hasn't exactly crossed her mind quite yet.
Sitting up eventually, Hotaru glances over toward the young man, "Well, I guess we'll just have to show Hayato-sensei what's up!" Hotaru chirps.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru can no longer fight.
There's a great deal that Kenji can feel when a punch like that is transmitted-- it's like having your fingers on someone's pulse for just a split-second, a punch hard enough that you can feel the air rushing out of the victim's lungs, you can feel their heartbeat-- and for a moment, it doesn't click at all that she still needs to be in prime fighting shape in order for them to take on Hayato.
Hurrying over to Hotaru as she's sprawled out and down, he likewise lowers and drops to the ground to sit in the middle of the ring of Gedo students, grinning a toothy grin and laughing just a bit. "Yeah! Well. ... Haha. He's a teacher! How hard could he be? We'll just have to make sure we hit him as hard as we can and get it done with in an instant."
Oh Kenji! If only it were that easy.
"Heh heh, anyway. When are we doing this? I'll make sure I don't have any meetings then." And it'll be hard enough trying to explain to Tenma and Hakuya why he's running off to fight a teacher with one of Seijyun's so-called 'princesses' at his side.
Oh, how hard it is to lead that perfect rose-colored student life...!
She sits up slowly, wincing as she pushes her hand to her side whe his final, powerful punch had landed. "Whew," she murmurs to herself. Kid needs to be called Rocket Arms or something with the way he hits.
When he sits down next to her and talks about how easy it'll be, Hotaru glances his way, grinning and shaking her head, "Not just any teacher. A /PE/ teacher. Wait until you see this guy!" But at his question, the girl ponders, "How about Friday. It's a great way to kick off the weekend." And then she's pushing herself back to her feet.
"Well, that was a good fight, Kenji Ashima. I've gotta get back to the Kyokugen Dojo." She lifts a hand to rest behind her head sheepishly, "Ryo-sensei probably has some lesson or other that I should learn before Friday." Actually, he's teaching her how to build a room. Her own room. But she isn't about to admit to that oh so interesting construction project in the works.
"I'll seeya Friday!" And with that, Hotaru turns and slips through the crowd that is already starting to split up now that all the exciting action is over with. Thus concludes yet another disruptive afternoon at Gedo, courtesy of the pig-tailed fighter from Seijyun.
Log created on 22:02:17 07/04/2007 by Hotaru, and last modified on 03:47:34 07/05/2007.