Tenma - Kings on a Hot Tin Roof

Description: Two victims of Seishirou Ryouhara's creepy stalker kidnappings, Gedo High's Tenma Kiryuu and Hakuya Suigetsu, try to figure out just what the hell it was all about. More importantly, they decide to ensure that next time, the ninja is in for a surprise; and so they fight, on top of the school! Because that's what friends are for.



What a wild week... or had it been two, now? Three?... it'd been. First fighting against Marisol in Tokyo, only to have him attempt to try and make her feel better in mid-match... only to have it go wrong, horribly wrong, and have the red head hate him even more. Then, right on top of that, he got kidnapped by a ninja, taken to Thailand, and then totally beaten up on, all so the ninja could... 'test' him for whatever reason. Then he'd had to sail his way back to Japan, where he met a large man with an oar that first accused him of being a terrorist, then found out he was a member of the Guardian Kings, and just made fun of him before walking off. After getting home, he'd been pounced upon furiously by his sister who told him, expressly, how him being kidnapped had made her feel and then had given him triple chores for making her worry so much. And now?
Now, Hakuya was back at school, like nothing much at all had happened. He'd been noticed to be missing by a few students, but most simply assumed it was something the SNF people had come up with, and afterwards he had played hookey just to build up the hype. Explaining things didn't help, so... he just let it drop. The only reminder of the incident were the burn marks all over his upper body, which is what he was now tending to. Rather than letting the school nurse deal with it - there would be uncomfortable questions and they probably wouldn't believe him anyway - he sits on the roof top, mostly alone, changing out some bandages and the like, while sitting by the edge of the roof. He looks mostly like he normally does... quietly minding his own business.
Oddly, he's joined by a rather large pile of lunch breads, and a bowl with some dice sit nearby.

Life's funny that way, isn't it? One day you're just chillin' at school, or beating somebody up on live tv shown all around the world, and then the next some ninja guy kidnaps you and you wake up in Thailand and wackiness ensues. Of course, when Tenma first heard from Hakuya about his abduction to Thailand, he didn't believe it at all. Not a word; and given Hakuya's poker face, he could lie about something that outrageous no problem, right?

But now Tenma knows better. His own experience in Thailand was perhaps even more traumatic than his best friend's, having to escape on his own despite severe, bleeding wounds and any number of soldiers from different sides who would gladly have shot him dead or worse. And when he got back, well, his grandfather beat the holy hell out of him, for 'running away' and then 'lying' about why. But it's indeed been weeks since then. Eventful weeks.

So, while he's been alone on the roof for a bit, Hakuya isn't anymore; clambering up the fire escape, Tenma ascends to the uneven roof where his teammate sits, with his breads and dice. Of course, where Tenma is, so too is his bokken, wrapped in its cloth sheath and slanted against his shoulder. "So that's where you got to," he says, though his presence was probably obvious from the get-go. "What, are you sulkin'?"

Not so distracted he'd miss someone climbing up a fire escape ladder, Hakuya turns his head towards the edge of the roof where the ladder is, and immediately starts to think up a reason why he would have so many burns on his body. Since no one believed him that a ninja kidnapped him and set him on fire not once, but twice, well... he'd just have to come up with something more believeable! There was no time to pull on his shirt and hoodie, anyway, and also hide the bandages. Either would've called up the inevitable questions, so the only other answer was... to lie! "Cooking accident," he says, in a oddly stuttered voice, as though he were forcing the words out. He's a terrible liar. "I accidentally spooked my sister and she got hot oil all over me- oh, Tenma!" His voice is rather filled with relief when he recognizes exactly who it is. Untensing, he relaxes a bit, and then goes back to what he was doing.
"Mn?" he asks, looking up at the other Guardian King. "No... there's no real reason to sulk. I just didn't want people to see the wounds..." Hakuya says, and trails off, as though the reason as to why he didn't want people to see them was unclear even to himself. He's pretty sure Tenma's answer to that would be: 'Who cares what they think, idiot?' but in any case, he finishes up his bandages, and then reaches for his shirt. "Uh... I won some bread earlier. You can have some, if you want."

"Who cares what they think, idiot?!" Tenma demands, even at the trailed-off remark. His expression looks rather indignant, the thumb of his left hand hooked into the pocket of his uniform slacks. See, that's why they're best friends, they can totally predict exactly how the other will react, maybe even /too/ exactly. But if Hakuya's going to offer him food, it's not like Tenma's going to pass that up. Ambling closer over the curved rooftop, he stoops down to snatch up one, tearing off the wrapper and taking a bite. Mmm, food.

A few bites later, Tenma speaks again, his blue eyes gazing out over the grounds of Gedo High. "So whaddya think, 'bout that Pervert Kidnapper ninja guy?" he wonders, pensively. "Testin' us for somethin'... But what?" In all the time since his own abduction, Kiryuu hasn't spoken about it much beyond that it happened. Only now does he seem inclined to wonder at the deeper meaning, the purpose behind their strange experiences.

And there it is. Hakuya looks not at all disturbed by the comment, either because he expected it... or simply because that's how he is. Like most people's punches, he just lets comments like that roll off him. The only one that's ever gotten under his skin, at least verbally, was Marisol, when she verbally reamed him, all those weeks ago. Preston had come fairly close, though. But that was mostly because he was all ways exhausted, and the comments Preston made about his friends had been an easy button to push. He doesn't really respond to the comment, though, instead simply watching Tenma as he goes to get a bread. Hakuya himself leans over to grab one, too, taking a bite out of one.
His chewing becomes more thoughtful as Tenma speaks up, frowning a bit. Swallowing, he then says, "He was testing our strength... he wanted to know just how strong we were." He didn't know if his strength was sufficient for whatever purpose the ninja had in mind, but he also was not sure he particularly wanted it to be, either. "I can't say as to why, though." There's some more bites taken from the bread, and a comfortable silence falling into place... before Hakuya frowns again, and then asks, "...'Pervert Kidnapper Ninja Guy'?"

Testing their strength, that jives with what Seishirou said, at least to Tenma. "Yeah well, I think he got himself a few surprises, huh?" he says, with a knowing grin at his teammate. Arrogance, overconfidence, that's just how Kiryuu rolls; but he has every bit the same expectation of ability from Hakuya. If, as he seems so thoroughly convinced, Tenma Kiryuu is the greatest thing to ever walk on two legs, then surely Hakuya Suigetsu is a close second. Tenma would never be able to surround himself with people whose ability he didn't respect... Even if he won't say so in words.

"An' yeah, what else d'you think he could be? Abductin' teenagers for who knows why? Probably gets off on it, the freak." Tossing the wrapper of his bread aside, he brushes the crubs off his fingers. "Next time though, we're gonna give that Pervert Kidnapper an even bigger surprise. Maybe he thinks he knows how strong we are, but... Hell, we're gonna be even stronger, an' the son of a bitch won't know what hit 'im."

Turning his head to look at his friend, Hakuya gives a genuine smile. Though his fight had no conclusion, no real 'ending'... he's pretty sure that Seishirou did indeed receive a few surprises, at least from the Suigetsu heir. And, by extension of Tenma's belief in Hakuya, the spiritual bodyguard also believed in Tenma... so was sure that the ninja found more than his share of surprises when fighting the other teenager. The smile fades, however, as Tenma continues on to explain the 'pervert' part of his name for Seishirou. It's replaced with an expression of bewilderment, honestly being confused. "Uh..." he offers back to -that- particular sentiment, and then turns his head away, mostly to hide the grin he gets on his face.
Likewise brushing the crumbs from his hands, he then grabs his hoodie and pulls it on, ruffling his hair up but good, which... actually looks pretty much like he always does. The source of Hakuya's hairstyle, revealed! Standing up, then, the Suigetsu teen steps away from the bread, and stretches his arms over his head. He knew -exactly- what Tenma meant by 'getting stronger'. There really wasn't any other way to train, for him. And truth be told, that was how Hakuya was brought up, as well. "Well... should we start now, then?"

Pssh, it's not at all how Tenma was raised! He was raised to believe in peaceful contemplation, in using his connection to the universe and suppressing the Self to refine his power. But you know what? Funk dat. He's got his own way to become stronger... And yeah, it involves punching and getting punched until somebody falls down. So, as Hakuya steps away from his ill-gotten gains, Tenma also backs away, nearly to the other side of the roof, untying the cloth sheath on his bokken as he goes. The blue fabric slips down, seemingly forgotten about, and the taller boy goes through his usual ritual, biting into his thumb to draw blood, tracing the line of red along his wooden sword... Before lighting it up with blood-chi, a violent crimson aura around the bokken.

"Well then," Tenma says, rolling his shoulders lightly as he rests the bokken, chi and all, against one, his other hand held casually at his side, red prayer beads glinting faintly. "Why don'tcha come at me with your best shot, eh?" Tenma not taking the first attack? How weird!

COMBATSYS: Tenma has started a fight here.

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Tenma            0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Tenma takes no action.

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Tenma            0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Hakuya has joined the fight here.

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Tenma            0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0           Hakuya


Normally, Hakuya is one to let the other person go first. It was courtesy, really, for him to do that. But in this case, it was different. He knew Tenma, and knew this wasn't a match... it was just them fighting for fun. And, well, to get stronger. If they were both equal in strength, then it would be no problem for them to simply beat each other up until they DID get stronger, playing off the fact they were so equal in their abilities, even if those abilities differed in what they were. And besides that, when Tenma says 'Come at me with your best', he damn well means it. So, barely before the words are out of the exorcist's mouth, does the bodyguard launch himself forward, charging into a run to carry him swiftly across the rooftop to his 'opponent'. With a cry of 'Haaaaaa!' he aims to simply strike out at Tenma, his fist aiming right for the teen's jaw.

COMBATSYS: Tenma blocks Hakuya's Strong Punch.

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Tenma            0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Hakuya


Surely, that'll be quite a rough strike if it connects... Which is, of course, why Tenma doesn't let it. Slipping back a little, he swings his bokken down from his shoulder, and instead of his face, Hakuya's fist connects with the chi-empowered wooden blade, the impact sending a slight tremor down the Gedo swordsman's arms, his free hand bracing the blade higher up, almost at the tip. He skids back a step or two with a grunt, but it's not enough to stop him, oh no. Instead, after the grunt, his mouth pulls into a grin, and he lets out a faint amused noise.

"Too slow, Hakuya!" Tenma chides, slipping forward and down, under the other teen's guard. The bokken is swung, an upwards slash from down low, as Tenma seeks to move /past/ his teammate and strike him in the side and back with a crescent slash. "SHOW ME SOMETHIN' BETTER!!"

COMBATSYS: Hakuya dodges Tenma's Fierce Strike.

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Tenma            0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Hakuya


And so, as Tenma chides, so does Hakuya do as he must to, without saying anything, make the exorcist eat his words. Fist impacting against the wooden blade, he grunts a little bit, and is already moving his feet as the other teen does, somewhat sure he knows what he's in for, since the strike was blocked. The sword moves down, then tries to come back up to strike him in the side... only for it to miss, whistling through the air. The Suigetsu heir's already decided to move to the side, almost literally 'following' Tenma around, as he performs a rolling turn to get behind Kiryuu. Though this might be a good place to quip back, it just wasn't really Hakuya's style to do that... and so, rather than chide back or tease with some verbal comment, he just does what he was intending to do, which is step forward, grab Tenma around the waist, lift him up, over, and back down again in a good ol' fashioned German suplex.

COMBATSYS: Tenma dodges Hakuya's Strong Throw.

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Tenma            0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0           Hakuya


Focus. Don't lose your cool. And whatever you do, don't let Hakuya throw you around like a ragdoll.

That's what Tenma's thinking, inside his head. Important thoughts, at a time like this. His slash misses entirely, and he lets the momentum play itself out rather than trying to force the blade... But this leaves him precious little time to avoid what the Suigetsu heir is trying to do to him, which would be why he gets grabbed by the waist. But, oh, don't think he doesn't have any tricks up his sleeve. As he's lifted over, Tenma jack-knifes, bending himself double at the waist to impact the rooftop feet first rather than head first, forcing himself free of his teammate's grasp and staggering back a few steps... Almost to the edge of the roof. Okay, that's not good.

But a moment later, Tenma is lunging forward at Hakuya, raising his bokken overhead in both hands. The bloody energy around it flares up, before he gets close enough to strike and slashes down, aiming to strike the other youth across the torso. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!!" he chides, and at the bottom of the slash the blade suddenly reverses, twisting in his hands, before the Kiryuu heir slashes back /up/, on almost the same line, forming a shallow 'v' strike. "You can do better'n... That!!"

COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Hakuya with Ungyou.

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Tenma            0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0           Hakuya


Up and over Hakuya goes... and where he stops... well, Tenma doesn't go. Feeling the way the other teen is moving in his hands as he lifts him up, the Suigetsu heir is almost certain he knows what is going to happen, and as Hakuya goes mostly-horizontal, with Tenma totally just not there to be slammed into the ground, the young man has to do something drastic not to be put into a very bad position, being prone on the ground with a weapon user in a mostly better position. So he does do that... by totally freezing. Tensing up his leg and stomach muscles, he stops his backwards momentum (with some difficulty by way of pain) and simply has his shoulders up off the ground, bent mostly over backwards at the knee. Groaning a bit, he eventually uprights himself... just as Tenma comes charging!
Trying to twist around in order to see what's going on behind him, he gets to see the exorcist as he races up, blood red chi and flowin' downwards at his chest through the bokken he wields... and there's not a whole damn lot he can do about it. Attempting to raise his arms, he tries to go for a block, but the strike impacts against him before he can do much about it. Hitting him square, twice in a row, Hakuya stumbles back a bit, crying out with some pain. Gritting his teeth, though, he steps back forward towards Tenma, raising his arm to go for a punch, again at the other teen's jaw... only for it to be a feint, meant to distract the exorcist in a somewhat familiar way from the creeping leg that is meant to sweep the Guardian King's legs right out from under him.

COMBATSYS: Tenma interrupts Waning Dawn from Hakuya with Initial Breaker.

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Tenma            0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0           Hakuya


"Heh," chuckles Tenma, because even if he's fighting a friend, he's always glad when he does something cool. But he doesn't have any time for further smack talk - at least not yet - because Hakuya is showing his own persistence and iron will as he comes after Tenma again. The feint causes the taller boy to slip back, careful on the uneven footing of the roof, leaving him wide open for the sweep... OR IS HE?! Even as he's taken off his feet, a sly grin crosses Tenma's face, and rather than falling free he slams one hand down onto the roof, catching himself...

And his other hand lances forward, stabbing with his chi-charged bokken right for Hakuya's midsection. "YOU'RE WIDE OPEN!!" Tenma bellows, because that's what you do in this sort of situation, using the momentum of the stabbing strike to roll back and away from the other fighter and up into a low crouch before Hakuya can get back on the attack again...

Okay, he sort of was walking right into that one. It didn't help that Tenma attacked from an unexpected angle, either. Seriously, who does a sword thrust when nearly prone like that? Stabbed right in the breadbasket, he clutches at his wounded spot and staggers back a little, making comical pained noises, basically just shouting out, "Ow ow ow!" Mostly because of how unexpected the attack was, he got hit a little tenderly. Pausing a moment, he lifts a hand to rub at the back of his head, grimacing a bit. "You're not cutting me any slack, are you...?" he asks, and then shifts into his usual fighting stance. "Fine then...! Here I come!" And then, declaring the attack, does exactly that, rushing right at Tenma. Before he reaches the other fighter, Hakuya performs a little acrobatics. Jumping into the air, he twists in a sideways flip, lands, and then uses the kinetic energy to boost him into another jump, but this time with a leg coming around as he twists, intent on totally dropping that built-up kinetic speed through his foot right on Tenma's shoulder!

COMBATSYS: Hakuya successfully hits Tenma with Heavy Kick.
- Power hit! -

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Tenma            0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0           Hakuya


Of /course/ Tenma's not cutting Hakuya any slack. He never cuts /anyone/ any, especially not someone he respects. That would be the most offensive thing he could possibly do, which, perhaps surprisingly, means he probably won't do it to anybody anytime soon. Getting to his feet as Hakuya rushes towards him, Tenma sees what's coming. Oh yeah, he totally sees it. Which is why he stands his ground, fully expecting to create his own opening after the kick... Except that he misjudges it. Just by a hair, but it's enough of a hair that, combined with some flaws in the roof they're fighting on anyway, Tenma's timing is completely ruined, and he takes the hit worse than he would've otherwise, staggering back.

"Okay... I /guess/ that was pretty good," Tenma allows, as he continues stumbling back from the other teen. "Hey, did I ever tell ya that when I was fightin' that Pervert Kidnapper ninja..." His free hand reaches to his pocket, pulling something free... Before that arm is extended, hand moving in a blur to release that 'something' - a metal kunai, streaking through the air towards Hakuya! "...I brought back some souvenirs!"

COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Hakuya with Thrown Object.
- Power hit! -

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Tenma            0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0           Hakuya


Flaws in the rooftop are pretty awful, here. It's true. And to showcase that fact, Tenma gets totally kicked where by all rights he really shouldn't have. But the hit shows just how much more seriously Hakuya is taking this! Landing on his feet after the blow is delivered, he's about to charge forward again to press the attack... when Tenma throws something at him. And not just any something, but a familiar something - that stupid kunai! And here he is, running right smack into it. Crying out loud, the blade hits him square in the collar bone, imbedding into the bone part way. "Argh!" he shouts out, and then pulls the kunai out quickly. Though he's not sure if this one can explode like the other one he dealt with... he's pretty sure he doesn't want to find out!
Tossing it aside, he grits his teeth again and lunges for Tenma, planting his feet and then turning, to snap a kick behind him at the other exorcist's head, then following it up by sweeping his other leg around and, jumping into the air as he does, brings it around to do a follow up kick, twisting in the air in a circle twice more with his legs flailing outwards in a series of circle kicks, before he lands on his shoulders with a loud oof.

COMBATSYS: Tenma blocks Hakuya's Rising Dusk.

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Tenma            0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0           Hakuya


Nope, no exploding. Just stabbity! But Tenma wasn't really expecting to stabbity Hakuya quite /that/ much, you know? For a second, he almost feels bad... But a second of hesitation here is enough to work against him, as Hakuya starts up his combination of whirling kicks. Once again though, the other exorcist's foot meets the chi-emanating, wooden blade of Tenma's bokken, smacking into it as the taller boy is knocked out of range after the second strike, the rest hitting nothing but air...

But, at least, Tenma lets Hakuya get his footing again before going back on the attack, lunging forward with a deceptively simple punch to the other youth's torso. The first one is followed by more, none of them particularly powerful but carefully orchestrated to disrupt the flow of chi through the other fighter's body, trying to whittle down his available energy... While Tenma tries to herd him in such a way to put Hakuya in a weaker position. Just in case.

COMBATSYS: Hakuya interrupts Flow Breaker from Tenma with Blind Crescent.

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Tenma            1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0           Hakuya


Stabbity'd hard and then his spin attack partially avoided, Hakuya wasn't doing too good, here. And letting Tenma down by losing to him too easily just... isn't something Hakuya wants to do. So when he gets back up and Tenma's right there to lunge at him with a few punches? He's all too aware that Kiryuu is probably -up to something-. So what's he going to do? He just... steps -into- that first punch, and then grabs Tenma's hand. Stepping backwards, he then tugs sharply on the trapped hand, pulling Tenma forward by it, then pulling it downwards while maintaining the other Guardian King's forward momentum. This ends up with the other teen being totally flipped, and for his reward, he also gets an axe kick straight to the stomach, sending him to the floor, if it all goes as it should! Hopping backwards a bit, Hakuya then adopts his stance again, and says, "-You- were open, that time!"

Ohhh, that's cold. Super cold. ICE COLD. Tenma is flipped and kicked, which does indeed knock him into the rooftop good and hard, the wind rushing right out of his lungs. Daaamn. "Guess I was," he agrees, rolling over onto his front and getting to his feet, stumbling back a step or two. Ow. "Guess you think you're pretty badass now, huh?" Tenma chides, rather more good-naturedly than he would against almost anyone else. And then, he decides it's time. Time to fight fire with fire.

Sprinting forward, the taller boy closes the distance between the two of them with a quickness, reaching to get pas Hakuya's guard in an attempt to catch the other teen with both hands, for to actually /lift him up/. It's not something Tenma does all that often, but nevertheless, he's trying it... And, if he does, then he switches his grip to bring Hakuya back down, hard, backfirst onto Tenma's knee as he drops into a crouch. What the hell?! "URYAA-!!"

COMBATSYS: Hakuya endures Tenma's Strong Throw.

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Tenma            1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1           Hakuya


Hakuya doesn't really answer Tenma, rather just gives him that vague happy smile of his that could indicate he wasn't really paying attention, or was just a moron. Or just a really happy moron. Somewhere in there, anyway. He's ready for Tenma's next attack... which comes, and honestly surprises him at first. Expecting more of a physical strike, he instead gets, uh... grabbed. Looking puzzled for all of a moment, the Suigetsu heir is then jerked off his feet, flipped around, and then brought down hard on Tenma's knee... which, while yeah it hurts, probably wouldn't hurt as much as if Hakuya had been doing it to Tenma. Which is exactly what he's going to try to do!
Grunting a bit in pain, Hakuya kicks his feet and pushes at the exorcist's shoulder, rolling away from the other teen... but not far. "Not quite! This is how you do it!" Springing back to his opponent, Hakuya tries to simply sweep Tenma up into his arm in a clothesline sort of deal, and then pull him upwards, around, then down once more... against Hakuya's knee, doing a surprisingly similar backbreaker throw to what was just done on him!

COMBATSYS: Tenma interrupts Strong Throw from Hakuya with Dead End Breaker.

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Tenma            0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1           Hakuya


Honestly, grabbing and throwing people isn't Tenma's specialty at all. He's just never quite gotten the hang of it, you know? He releases Hakuya after the impromptu and rather sloppy backbreaker and the other youth's attempt to get away, sliding back to get his footing again when suddenly...! There's a clothesline headed right for him. And Tenma, well, Tenma steps right into it.

But at the same instant, the very same, his bokken slashes at Hakuya, the impact enough to ensure that the /only/ thing that happens to Tenma is getting clotheslined as he staggers back... And then twists, lashing out with his foot to bury his heel in Hakuya's gut, before swinging his free hand in a punch to his best friend's face, before ending the whole combination off with a lunging headbutt, his forehead cracking directly into the face he punched not a moment sooner. "Too... SLOW!!"

Well, that's certainly not what he intended! Getting a bokken to the gut stops him fairly cold, a small grunt of pain issuing forth from the young man. Momentum stopped, he's pretty much at the mercy of Tenma to get totally kicked in the gut, punched in the face, then headbutted, unable to twist out of the way even a little bit. So when the headbutt is delivered, he just staggers on backwards, looking quite pained! ...That is, until his hand snaps out, and just tries to grab a fistful of Tenma's -hair-. Growling a little bit in effort, he'll then pull Tenma forward, with him, as he staggers backwards, until he trips, and gets sent to the floor. Tenma would follow, if not for the fact Hakuya would then plant his foot into the teenager's stomach and perform a fairly regular Tomoe Nage throw... but that's not all! Assuming all goes as it should, he'll immediately roll backwards and run at Tenma's flying body, snatching him just as he lands in order to turn a full 540, and hoist Tenma the other way. Not giving him any time, though, once that throw is completed, Hakuya will again run after Tenma, and just pick him up, and once again throw him, this time in a powerbomb style toss, straight to the floor.

COMBATSYS: Hakuya successfully hits Tenma with Last Eclipse.
- Power hit! -

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Tenma            1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0           Hakuya


Sometimes, things just don't go how you plan; not for Hakuya, and clearly not for Tenma either. Caught by the hair, Tenma does actually try to just go along for the ride in the hopes of getting a good opportunity in the end, but instead he gets tripped and tossed and flung all over the place, the saddest panda of them all... Until he finally gets powerbombed into the roof. That hurt a lot.

Now, a bigger man would just admit he lost. But Tenma Kiryuu... Doesn't just admit anything.

Instead, as best he can, Tenma pushes himself upwards, getting as far as his knees before stars explode in his vision and he gets terribly dizzy, seeing at least three different Hakuyas. There is, of course, only one solution for that, as he brings his bokken up, point down, and then drives it into the rooftop.

Uh oh.

Cracks spiderweb out from the point of impact, widening as gouts of blood begin to erupt from them; the gouts then start to race forward, creating lines of blood that course along the ground in serpentine lines like dragons of bloody chi, all of them converging on the various Hakuyas that Tenma's perhaps slightly concussed brain has him seeing. But will any of them be the /right/ one?!

COMBATSYS: Tenma can no longer fight.

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Hakuya           0/-------/-------|


COMBATSYS: Hakuya blocks Tenma's Hell of Blood.

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Hakuya           0/-------/-----==|


If Tenma were any other person... Hakuya might not -expect- an attack after a point in which most would just admit defeat. But since it is Tenma, well... anything else would've just not been Tenma at all. So when the sword point goes into the ground, the Suigetsu heir already knows what's going on! Crossing his arms, he simply just lets the lines of blood flow and spike up, hitting against more nonessential parts than, well, anything that might actually hurt him should it impact. The end result is that he's still standing even after the attack, though a little wobbly. Just barely so, really. Staggering a bit, Hakuya pants a bit, and then leans down a hand towards Tenma, "Ah... you almost had me... but I guess I know you too well..." he says, punctuating the pauses with pants for breath.

COMBATSYS: Hakuya takes no action.

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


COMBATSYS: Hakuya has ended the fight here.

When his last attack is blocked, Tenma just sits back on his butt on the rooftop, exhaling a huff of air upwards, displacing his bangs briefly. Well, they do say you can't win them all... But Tenma would be inclined to punch 'them' in the mouth, because why not?! It seems like a perfectly realistic expectation to have of oneself, to him. Still, today, he didn't manage it. Today, Hakuya beat him. "Hah," he half-laughs, half-coughs as Hakuya offers him a hand up which, after a moment, he accepts. Yanking his bokken free from the rooftop, the red aura around it has faded entirely, the line of blood painted down its length having vanished.

"Guess so," Tenma agrees. Is he discouraged? Of course not! Hakuya had to be almost as awesome as he is, otherwise they couldn't be friends and teammates... And 'almost' is an easy enough gap to bridge. Never fear, because Tenma's overwhelming, absolute conviction in his own superiority is here to balm the wounds done to his pride in losing, as always. "'course, next time you ain't gonna be so lucky, y'know. We'll just see what happens." But in the meantime, he's probably going to eat more of Hakuya's ill-gotten lunch bread.

Log created on 19:02:19 08/05/2007 by Tenma, and last modified on 14:24:48 08/07/2007.