Description: Hotaru Futaba takes to the Slammasters Arena a second time to face off against Shingo Yabuki, a legend in his own right. Both fighters have a lot of pressure to succeed as their... sagacious mentors' fathers seem to have a keen interest in the outcome. Though Shingo manages to strike hard, Hotaru's reflexes are no laughing matter. (Winner: Hotaru)
A couple weeks since her last appearance in SNF, Hotaru has been through... a lot. Facing her brother and finding that no only is he content to never see her but might very will try to kill her if she ever sees him again was a brutal experience. Everything she had done for the last few years was to make herself ready to see him again, to prove that she wasn't a burden, that she too had learned how to be tough while he had been away. But all that was for nought - in the end, he wasn't impressed and wouldn't have hesitated to kill her if another hadn't intervened.
A lot of her spirit for competition having been drained from her by that grueling encounter, the girl was ready to decline the invitation to appear for the Saturday Night Fight event. What's the point of continuing to challenge herself if there's no one out there who cares? But her initial inclination is halted as she actually looks at what the line up is. Shingo Yabuki? The nice boy from Taiyo?
It's who her opponent is that got Hotaru here tonight, her second shot at being beneath the blinding, hot bright lights of the Slammasters Arena. The crowd is packed like it is almost every weekend and it's much like she remembers it from last time. Only... without the crazy coaching Doctor Tran in her corner and the institutionalized Roberto Miura in the opposite corner. Yeah, she'll much more enjoy this fight than that one!
Dressed in her signiture Chinese styled outfit, with blues, whites, and red ribbons adorn her hair, Hotaru looks much like she always does when she appears for a competition. A quiet smile and an only slightly subdued demeanor would be the only subtle clues that she isn't quite feeling as good as she usually does about such things. But facing the young man she had challenged at Taiyo high some months back has perked her up enough to maintain a pleasant expression.
The crowd is a steady roar as people take their seats, chatter about the upcoming match, comparing the two combatants against each other. Shingo has been put up against some incredibly tough opponents before and this is the first time Hotaru has been put up against a fighter of his calibur in a one on one match. Apparently the officials believe her to be working her way up in the fighting circuits. Taking a moment to stretch her arms and legs, the Kenpo artist just hopes that she can make good on that high appraisal.
Fighting tournament invitations are perhaps one of the few things in the world that a true fighter will pass up. In fact, even some not-so-true fighters will rarely pass up an invitation to some fighting tournament or other. Shingo Yabuki, who receives dozens of invitations to tournaments of all kinds, is one of those fighters who pretty much accepts every single challenge or fight invitation, regardless of the opponent, venue, or special terms - and when he sees the logo for the SNF league on an invitation, he's bound to leap first before asking questions.
Much to his surprise, his opponent this week out is someone familiar to him, a girl he fought a while back, but whom he hasn't heard of or seen since. Cute, polite young girl. Embarrassing fight situation. But, she was at least cute. Thankfully, Shingo's wounds from his SNF bout the week prior against Kurow have fully healed, otherwise he may have had second thoughts about showing up to the fight.
While Hotaru may have arrived at SlamMasters Arena in a timely manner, Shingo however has not. Having only visited the arena a handful of times, and never to actually engage in a full blown fight, the youth ends up arriving just as most of the crowd has already taken their seats, and their chatter has died to the din of murmuring about where the other fighter could be. Wearing his standard school uniform, headband and Kusanagi-style fingerless gloves, Shingo swings the arena doors open, bashfully rubs the back of his head, and smiles widely as he waves to the crowd and makes his way towards the ring itself. "Err, sorry folks! Didn't mean to be late. Made a wrong turn on the way here, and I thought I was in the right neighbourhood, but I wasn't, but now I'm here! And...and...err, sorry again. But I'll make it up to you all! I'll do my best out there, and--"
Yabuki stops talking as his walking has gotten him to the ring, and as such his attentions have shifted from buttering up the crowd to viewing his opponent. Hopping into the ring, Shingo bows towards Hotaru deeply, and blushes lightly, doing his best to hide the latter from his opponent. Upon raising from the bow, he does his best not to stutter his words, or stumble, but it becomes difficult when he recalls their last encounter. "Wh-why hello there Ms. Futaba! A pleasure seeing you again! I take it you'll be my opponent for the evening, huh? Well...that's...err...it's really good seeing you." At that, Shingo just stands there, somewhat dumbfounded, somewhat bashful, somewhat clueless as to what to do or say next. Sure, he's been in dozens upon dozens of these fights, but it's not every day he goes up against a girl who he knows can knock the stuffing out of him without much effort.
Even Hotaru is beginning to look uncertain as she's left to occupy the corner of the ring without any opponent to face. When she had reported to the Sakazakis about her venue this weekend, Takuma seemed /especially/ interested, his expression growing both dark and enthuiastic at the same time - a somewhat terrifying combination indeed. That the old man had some vested interest in seeing how this went was pretty clear to her. The words of encouragement were... well, let's just say there was a lot of pressure to do well in this fight and the girl isn't completely sure why this one stands out from all the rest. Maybe he just knew she was in need of a good showing to feel better about herself, though Hotaru suspects there might be more to it than that.
But finally Shingo makes an appearance and Hotaru leans back against the turnbuckle with a bit of relief. It's kind of funny fighting in a wrestling ring over and over, she muses, since she really doesn't fight like one. But if Mayor Haggar has made this excellent arena available for SNFs, then the honor is hers to be invited to it more than once!
When Shingo bows toward her, Hotaru presses her hands together and resturns the gesture with a very traditional bow of her own - a habit ingrained by years of upbringing in an austere household. "I'm sorry to hear you got lost. It's great that you made it," she replies with a bit of a laugh. "I've been looking forward to another chance to give you an honest fight. This time without those weirdos jumping into the middle of it. I should have just dropped back by again, but... this will do!"
If she notices his blush or has any idea that his mind is thinking back to how their last encounter ended up, she shows no indication as such. If she also knew he was at all nervous about facing her she'd probably be quite shocked. The boy kicked like a mule the last time. The mighty Shingo Kick was not something to take lightly. "I've been training a lot since then, so I don't think I'll be such a pushover now!" comes the confidence. While getting crushed by her older brother did cause her confidence to take a hit it wasn't THAT surprising. After all, he's her older brother. Of couse he's amazing!
But the arena isn't full of people waiting to see the two student aquaintances catch up on old times. They're here to see action! And the officials are ready to give it to them. The ambient lighting over the seating begins to dim while the spotlights bearing down on the stage crank up to full brightness. If the crowd is looking for blood, that just could very well happen depending on how this fight goes. "Whelp, I'll be doing my best. I'm sure you can keep up, Shingo!" chirps Hotaru, able to forget about the problems that have troubled her as of late, focusing now only the fight ahead.
When Hotaru mentions the word 'training', a recent memory comes back to haunt Shingo. Specifically of a recent training session he had with Kyo, where Saishu interrupted and vaguely mentioned that he'd better be ready for some upcoming fight, and that he'd better not lose. Not that Saishu saying that was all that odd, but a nagging feeling at the back of Shingo's skull tells him that it could possibly be this fight he was referring to. Then again, it could very well be any fight. It's not as if Saishu was all that specific, since he said it in passing. Besides, Shingo was a tad too busy paying attention to Kyo at the time to make out any specific details...although, he's sure he's written them down, but really, how important could they be?
Focusing his attentions back on the here and now, Shingo shakes his head from side to side to hopefully shake the thoughts away - and if not, at least it looks overly dramatic. Looking back at Hotaru, bright smile on his face, Shingo nods enthusiastically. "Glad to hear you'll be doing your best, especially with a lot of training under your belt! I didn't think you were a pushover last time, and I didn't think of you as a pushover at all. But. Just as much as you'll be doing YOUR best, Ms. Futaba, rest assured that I'll be giving this my all!" Shingo exclaims as he thrusts a fist skyward, almost defiantly. Shingo's smile turns into a full blown grin as the spotlights begin to flood the ring itself. Leaning towards Hotaru, Shingo winks at Hotaru as he assumes his Kusanagi style fighting stance. "So, Ms. Futaba, shall we give this crowd the type of show that they'll be talking about for some time to come? Just remember, don't give up, don't hesitate, because I'm not going to hold back!"
Grin still on his face, Shingo remains in his stance while placing one hand on his hip, and the other pointing towards Hotaru, palm upwards in a 'come hither motion'. "Whenever you're ready, feel free to come at me." Shingo states calmly, his eyes focused entirely on Hotaru and her movements. He doesn't bother consulting his notebook at all. When he found out Hotaru was his opponent, he studied his notes from their last battle. Oh sure, he seemed kind of nervous and shy initially, but this is still a fight. Whether he likes it or not, he can't let the Kusanagi's down.
COMBATSYS: Shingo has started a fight here.
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Shingo 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Shingo
Stretching long since finished, Hotaru crosses her arms in front of her, breaths in deeply, then exhales slowly, unfolding her arms to slip into her own ready stance. Light on her feet, her shoulder turned toward Shingo as if to provide a tougher but more narrow target to strike at. She has one arm forward and raised, her other bent and held up a little. One for fending off attacks, one for striking when there's an opening. All part of her Kenpo training from years past.
"Yosh!" she chirps at the encouragement to give it her best. Her expression is brighter now, the gloomy reflections of what happened between her and her brother fading to the distant background of her thoughts. Facing someone that can be so chipper yet also so powerful reminds her that all those who have told her over and over that one must be vicious to be powerful may not know all that they claim to...
The invitation to attack first isn't taken as a slight. Shingo is a polite mannered one and it comes as no surprise that he would fall back on traditional chivalry when it comes to facing a girl slightly his junior. He already demonstrated that much the last time they faced off. Thus when he offers, Hotaru merely nods, already in her fighting stance, eyes focused on the boy.
She shifts from waiting to attacking swiftly, opening with a brazen charge directly for him. It isn't a blind rush though, she'll attempt to slip around counter attacks if any present themselves, but otherwise she's reaching out to grab hold of his arm. She can often catch fighters off guard with such an attack just because most don't expect a direct charge from the lithe fighter.
If she can land that grip, the forward momentum she already has will be poured into a series of rapid kicking stomps right up the front of the boy. A smaller fighter, she makes up for perhaps weaker strikes by just trying to land a lot of them instead. "Ya, ya, ya!" If she pulls it off, she'll end up backflipping off of Shingo to land back down in the middle of the arena.
COMBATSYS: Shingo fails to counter Shin-Jou Tai from Hotaru with Tsuki Hiji.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Shingo
Eyes narrowing as he watches Hotaru's movements carefully, Shingo can't help but grin even wider as he sees what she's about to do, or what he thinks she's about to do. From all of his training, his first instinct has always been to be prepared to counter-attack any of his opponent's offensive moves, then break into an unrelenting offensive of his own. As of late, he's been going against those instincts, and allowing his opponents a few free hits. In turn, that would lull his opponent into a false sense of security, letting them think they had the upper hand at which point Shingo would unleash his unrelenting offensive barrage. Being that his new tactic has been MOSTLY working out, he's somewhat intentionally allowing things to just happen.
That isn't to say that he's completely prepared for Hotaru when she grabs his arm, nor is he allowing her to hold on to his arm without resistance, but the grin remains on his face as he grunts through each of the blows. Stumbling forward a few steps, the Taiyo High youth spins around on his heels to visually reacquire his target before raising a solitary finger in the air.
"That, Ms. Futaba, was your freebie. While you might hit me with your next strike, I assure you, that my reaction afterwards will leave you feeling...burned." And with that, Shingo merely reassumes his fighting stance, eyes falling upon Hotaru with the most keen of interest, and an unending grin that hides the fact that Hotaru's kicks darned well hurt.
Her graceful backflip through the air after having landed her attack against Shingo gives Hotaru time to survey the state of the other fighter. He wasn't knocked down completely... That's saying something. A lot of opponents have been dropped by the dreaded Shin-jou Tai. That Shingo can keep standing means he's a tough kid.
She lands roughly in the center of the ring, feet touching down against the canvas that has a slight give to it. Hey, it beats fighting on concrete like a lot of the training at the Kyokugen Dojo takes place! "You shouldn't give freebies, Shingo," the girl replies with a shake of her head and a quick laugh, "I expect to make you use everything you've got to beat me!"
That said, she actually pauses herself, studying more about the boy, remembering how he fought before and synthesizing with what she's learned since then. She's ready to dish out more than that attack, herself, as the fight is just getting started. But now that she's pulled off connecting with a risky attack, she decides to take a moment to concentrate further.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Shingo
"You know, a lot of people have been telling me not to give freebies lately..." Shingo remarks at Hotaru's comment, but he merely shakes his head, strengthening his resolve that he did the right thing. "Fret not Ms. Futaba. I'm making use of everthing I've got. And as I said, that was your one freebie."
Quickly assessing Hotaru's lack of action, but noting that she's still concentrating on the fight. "Get ready Ms. Futaba, because here I come!" Shingo smirks slightly as he begins dashing directly torwards Hotaru to close some of the distance made by her last attack. Sure, she's more than likely anticipating what he's going to do next, but as predictable as Shingo can be, sometimes predictability works - in Shingo's case, predictability works more often than not.
Mere feet away from Hotaru, Shingo leaps into the air, and spins his body around, pointing one of his legs in the air as his descent begins. "SHINGGOOOOOOOOO KICCKKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Shingo cries out as he rapidly brings his raised leg down in such a manner to aim at one of Hotaru's shoulders or even her collarbone, but doing his best to avoid her head. Should the attack connect, he'll land on his feet and reassume his fighting stance but prepare to attack yet again. If it doesn't connect....well...hopefully it won't leave him too open to attack.
COMBATSYS: Shingo successfully hits Hotaru with Shingo Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Shingo
She remembers well the brutal kick from him last time they fought. Try as she might get out of the way, the awkard angle that he comes in at and the somewhat uncertain trajectory that the attack begins with makes it somewhat difficult for her to make the right call. In the end, in spite his efforts, his foot comes down right atop the smaller girl's head. It's her fault, from misjudging how she should have moved, but it's blindingly painful all the same.
Crashing to the mat of the arena head first, she's sprawled out for a long moment, arms slow to reach out to press down and help her get back up. She doesn't expect him to hold back and so she isn't going to just lie there, even though as she finally gets back up to her feet she ends up stumbling a little, only staying upright by relying on the rope her fingers finally clench around.
The girl manages to bring her focus back on Shingo even though he looks like a blue, blurry blob at first. "That's a pretty impressive technique," she murmurs in reply, squinting for a moment before she finally decides she's ready. Leaning back against the elastic arena ropes, she propells herself forward into another run, pressing off the ground into a lateral jump kick toward the young man's shoulder in retaliation. "Ya!"
COMBATSYS: Shingo endures Hotaru's Light Kick.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Shingo
The moment his heel connects with Hotaru's head, as opposed to his intended target, Shingo quickly begins bowing apologetically. "Gomen, sorry sorry sorry sorry! I didn't mean to hit you in the head Ms. Futaba. Honest! I--" Shingo's words are halted the moment the girl pulls himself up, and with a heavy sigh of relief, and a hand on his chest, Shingo smiles softly and nods towards Hotaru, acknowledging not only her comment on his attack, but also the fact that she seems okay.
The smile itself widens as he watches her attempt to mimic his manuever, albeit without the awesome name or the flashy skill. Standing strong in his fighting stance, the youth takes the hit square on the shoulder, but uses the momentum to pull his arm back with even more force than normal. Not waiting a split second after the kick has connected, Shingo takes his pulled back arm (now with slightly sore shoulder), and thrusts it full speed and strength ahead back at Hotaru - a rebound effect if ever there was one. If he's lucky, it'll merely hit her in the side, and knock her somewhat off guard. If it misses, due to the strength being put into it, Shingo will stumble a few steps forward, and end up having to rub his shoulder due to Hotaru's kick. Either way, Shingo's not giving up this opportunity to counter Hotaru's latest assault.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Shingo's Fierce Punch.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Shingo
She hears his rapid firing of 'sorries' and for a moment it only makes her annoyed. He shouldn't feel so bad. It was her own failure to time her evasion that let him land such a painful attack in the first place. But she gets control of her emotions by the time she's braced herself against the rope. He's just being the nice guy that he is after all. No doubt he was worried if he had coldcocked the girl in a single blow. That would be kind of emberassing for /her/ at least. Which is why by the time she's charging him again, her expression had shifted to a more focused, neutral expression.
As Hotaru's foot impacts his shoulder, she can tell that he's bracing for this very thing. Her Hotaru Kick needs a little work, it seems. Even as her other foot kicks down in order to let her land quickly, she sees his fist coming back at her something fierce. It's almost with a bit of wide eyed panic that she avoids the swing, dropping into a roll to the canvas that takes her toward the boy's side.
Hotaru comes up on her two feet at an angle behind him, hoping to catch him offguard during his staggering recovery from having over extended himself. Reaching out for him again, the squirrelly girl tries to get a hold of his arm and pull it back behind him and twist it up against his back while her other hand strikes out with a palm toward the base of his neck and her foot stomps down on the ground in front of his feet. All three quick movements in a coordinated effort to send the Taiyo student tumbling forward to the ground. "Ha!"
COMBATSYS: Shingo fails to counter Quick Throw from Hotaru with Tsuki Hiji.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Shingo
This is going to hurt.
That's all that flashes through Shingo's mind as he thrusts his fist towards Hotaru, and that very same thought stays in his head as he stumbles forth and realizes that he's just left his side wide open. Incredibly wide open. Wide open enough to drive a truck through. Wide open enough to plow a steamroller through. Pure plain wide open. And Shingo being the smart lad he is, knows full well that Hotaru isn't foolish enough to just leave him be. She's going to take advantage of this, and it's going to hurt.
Again. This is going to hurt.
When Hotaru grabs his arm at first, he struggles, and attempts to shoo her away with his elbows, but based upon her angling, and his mental conclusion that this indeed will hurt, he ends up looking like a weak little playful kitten, and even attempts to make a cute little pleading face as he does so. Still, while that cute little face is quickly wiped away the moment he goes fumbling forward towards the ground, his smile remains. As he fumbles, legs unsure of their direction, the Taiyo youth ends up tripping over himself, and into the ropes of the ring, of which he promptly bounces off of, and lands back flat on the mat.
Taking a few deep breaths, Shingo hoists his feet into the air, and leaps back into a more vertical position, dusting his school uniform off before thumbing at his nose and grinning pleasantly at Hotaru. "Very nice moves you've got there Ms. Futaba...but this fight is far from over. Hope you're ready for what's going to happen next...I know I am!"
For her own right, Hotaru is pretty good at in close grappling moves like that. Small, hard to strike back against once she gets in close, she knows joint manipulation techniques as taught by a master of Kung Fu of exceptional calibur - her father. Maybe there's a bit of wrestler in her as well! Shingo is sent tumbling and stumbling around until he finally drops and Hotaru is quick on her feet to get some distance between the two of them while he lands and gets back up to his feet. She's feeling a bit more invigorated now. While her head still hurts, her vision is clear, and she isn't bleeding anywhere yet from what she can see. She can keep going for now!
As he runs his thumb across his nose, Hotaru smiles a little, but gives him precious little time to warn her about what's coming next - because now she's charging him again, taking to the air in a more risky attack than she has used on him so far. "No time to talk!" she warns as she tries to keep the pressure on him. If he gets time to concentrate more, some of those risky attacks of his are going to land. And they /hurt/.
The acrobatic fighter flips forward, spinning in circles, her feet bearing on the collar of the Taiyo student with the intent to trap his neck between her ankles. If she gets such a hold, she'll use the rest of her momentum to dive forward, grabbing hold of the rope with her arms, becoming a literal bridge between him and the rope. With the rope as leverage, the girl will spin herself around once, quite probably flipping Shingo right over on his side as a result, before she finally releases the lock her feet would have had on his neck.
COMBATSYS: Shingo dodges Hotaru's Ten Ranku-Tou.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Shingo
No time to talk? NO TIME TO TALK?? But there's always at least a little time to talk during a battle. To taunt. To tease. To congratulate. To admonish. To do plenty of things!
As Hotaru comes at Shingo, he remains calm and loosens his stance slightly, edges of his smile curling upward as he dives forward into a roll under one of Hotaru's flips, deftly avoiding her attempt to grab any part of him with her feet. Coming out of the roll and hopping to his feet, the Taiyo youth spins around in an attempt to get at Hotaru's backside. Now, while Shingo may be an honourable, chivalrous fighter, and while it may be FAR beneath him to attack an opponent from their rear, it's well within his ethical and moral compass, to use this opportunity to lift and toss his opponent, and that's just what he'll attempt to do.
Hotaru may be quick, so may end up moving out of the way before he has a chance, but, pressing his luck, Shingo moves forward and attempts to use both hands to grasp at Hotaru's waist. While a tad unconventional, and nothing he's done before, he's seen wrestlers do it a few dozen times, so, should his grab succeed, Shingo will attempt to use all of his might to lift Hotaru up and toss her over his head behind him, being sure to twist around to continue facing her should that succeed. Should that fail...well, either Shingo will intentionally grope at the air in a comical manner, or he'll merely resume his stance to prepare for Hotaru's next move.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Strong Throw from Shingo with Hakki Shou EX.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Shingo
Her leap ends up taking her over the top of Shingo but the boy ducked out of the way, leaving the girl seemingly vulnerable, her back to him as her feet touch down on the ring's mat. In fact, when Shingo goes to grab hold of her, it seems like she's taking an awefully long time to turn around - unusually slow for the girl who otherwise is so swift to move around and use all the available space to her advantage.
The audience can see why though - at least, those sitting at the right angle, as her small hand lights up with a powerful blue aura, chi drawn from within concentrating into her palm. When the boy gets his arms around her, he gets the chance to squeeze her briefly before trying to heft her off the ground. The problem is that points him at point blank range for what she's been charging up.
Whirling around in his grip with flexability that probably isn't all that surprising, the chi user discharges the Hakki Shou into Shingo's chest at point blank, freeing her from his grip and allowing her to back up a little. The attack itself splashes against him - pure force that fades away after striking, leaving no trace that it ever existed besides the dull ache of having been struck by something that might've felt like a strong punch to the chest. Slipping back into her ready stance, looking serious and focused, but a smile curls at the edge of her mouth. It takes a lot out of her to produce that attack, but at least the burn that used to course along her arm when she would use it in the past is gone. She's gotten better at channeling that power within her.
Hrm. Note to self. Mimicking wrestling moves without any prior experience, on a young girl who is far more nimble than one would expect, is not a good idea. Shingo may even have to write this down after this fight, since writing it down during the fight doesn't seem to be within the realm of possibility.
When Hotaru whirls around and strikes him in the chest with her blue tinted chi, at first, Shingo is surprised. The surprise quickly turns to shock, then pain, then confusion as he reels backwards slightly from the unexpected blow. Still, throughout it all he does his best to keep his chin up, and a big smile on his face, and for the most part he succeeds in that.
Rubbing at his chest where the majority of the impact centered, Shingo looks over at Hotaru and flashes her an even bigger smile along with a thumbs up. "VERY well done Ms. Futaba! I'd almost forgotten you could do things like that...either way, this is far from over..." Shingo merely trails off at this point, and turns his back to Hotaru as he starts casually walking away from her, as if the fight had ended.
The crowd, confused, and slightly angry at the fact that Shingo seems to have given up begins heckling the kid, but only for a moment as Shingo spins around and makes a mad dash full speed in Hotaru's general direction! At the last moment, Shingo moves himself to avoid Hotaru, hits the ropes, bounces off the ropes, and continues his run with increased momentum towards the other end of the ring. Once again, Kyo Kusanagi's #1 student hits the ropes, and bounces off back into a run with ever more momentum! This time Shingo takes this opportunity to leap high in the air, some of the spotlights for the ring actually causing him to silhouette at certain viewing angles. "SHINGOOOOO SUPPAAAAA KICKKUUUUU!" Yabuki cries out as he shifts and twists his body to 'fall' directly on Hotaru, both of his heels first. Each heel is meticulously positioned in such a way that should his angles and calculations be right, he should land on both of her shoulders long enough to cause quite the impact, and then be able to hop off, back on his feet and into his stance, ready to move into another attack. If his calculations are off EVEN by a decimal...he'll end up on his butt, and more than likely be the laughing stock of the fight.
Only time will tell what will be.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Shingo's Shingo Kick.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Shingo
Shingo is all over the place! Hotaru watches him carefully, constantly shifting her stance, her footing, or the way she leans in preparation for what she expects to be a surprise attack out of all this running around. And when it finally comes, the lithe fighter zips backward, springing against the ropes as poor Shingo... well... lands on his butt as he feared might happen.
Hotaru winces as the boy lands. At least the mat is springy? She can't really go out all out after something like that, but she isn't going to lay off either. "That was pretty brave," she does comment though, resting a hand behind her head as she pauses for a moment, sheepishly hoping to make the boy feel better about that failure to connect? If it had landed, it would have hurt for sure! Jumping on people and leaping away is /her/ forte, and now he's trying to rip it off!
She'll wait a good while, not attacking the gentlemanly opponent while he's down, but the moment he's up, she's at him again, this time coming in with a swift kick that... actually isn't going to hit him! But the swath of blue chi that trails behind it? That's aimed right for his chest. "KYA!" yells the girl as she completes the roundhouse motion.
COMBATSYS: Shingo endures Hotaru's Kobi Kyaku.
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|=======\====---\1 Shingo
Of all the times to land on his butt, this was not one of those times that he was hoping for. Sure, the crowd goes wild with laughter as Shingo lands butt first on the matt, and they laugh even more when he slowly rises and rubs at his now slightly sore behind, but undaunted, he grins and gives the audience a big thumbs up! "It's alright folks, by posterier has never felt better!" Following up, Shingo nods deeply to Hotaru's compliment in acknowledgement, pulling his gloves up on his hands as he gazes at her movements, and prepares himself for something quite daring. What he's about to do, he's done in a few fights, with dazzling results that the crowd seems to eat up, so...
Shingo watches as Hotaru reasserts herself and begins her movement at him, watches carefully and utters a few simple words that his mentor has probably said many times before with far more effect than Shingo can ever hope to have with them. "Hotaru, now it's time to burn." And so Shingo steadies himself, pulling his right arm far back as if getting ready to let loose a very large, very strong, very forceful punch. His stance and pose, quite stoic in nature. He doesn't flinch, he doesn't budge. He remains calm and still as Hotaru comes in at him with a swift kick that misses him, and as it misses...he still remains within the same position. Waiting for something to happen. Something to react to. Something for him to unleash himself on. And then it happens.
The moment the blue chi trails gets too close for comfort, even though it's aimed at his chest, Shingo sidesteps ever-so slightly and rams his fist right through the chi, directly at Hotaru's torso, wincing as he does so. The attack itself burns at his hand, the impact alone will possibly leave a bruise, or worse, but for the moment Shingo fights his desire to give in to the pain, and with the blue chi lingering on his glove like a slowly dying flame, pushes his fist with all his might at Hotaru's torso in a punch of punches. "BURRRNNIIINNNNGGGGG SSHHHHINNNNNNGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the Taiyo High youth screams as the fist flies forth!
Should that initial blow connect, his other fist will attempt to land a blow on Hotaru's head or torso. The right following up with the same. And another. And another. Seven blows in total, including the initial one. Should those all connect, Shingo will spin around, and raise his elbows high in the air, aiming to bring them down on Hotaru's shoulders. Should that connect? He'll finish it all off with a patented 'Shingo hip check', after which he'll dust his hands off, and raising a single finger, will blow on it as if it were a gun or candle. Mind you...should none of that connect...or should it not connect properly...
...then Shingo will end up doing a random dance, flailing his arms in the air as if her were Kermit the Frog, and will do a bit of a hip shake, before stumbling towards the ground in a semi-trip, doing his best to regain his balance.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Shingo's Burning Shingo.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////// ]
Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|-------\-------\0 Shingo
When Shingo just stands there and takes her attack, Hotaru's eyes widen. Why does he keep doing that? Does he think she doesn't hit hard enough! Is he just showing off?! She tries not not to let it get to her, keeping her mind on the fight as his fist strikes through the residue of her Kobi Kyaku, blue chi trailing off his hand in ways he would no doubt love to see happen on his own, more than she can possibly imagine.
But the girl is nimble, her speed pulling through for her as she weaves to the side, his first swing just barely missing her. The second fist comes next and she /just/ manages to keep it from hitting her chin with enough force that would have easily stunned her for the rest of the painful blows.
Realizing that she's puttting herself at huge risk staying that close to Shingo, the girl finally leaps back several feet, coming down at a distance that puts her out of range for the rest of the assault. "Whew," she whispers, feeling the burn of trying to keep up with the durable Taiyo student. He is /definitely/ not holding back, she decides, her previous doubts about him taking her seriously dismissed, a faint grin crossing her features. Put up against someone of Shingo's calibur - the fighter who made himself famous by entering the KOF tournament as a One Man Team and actually faring well, the fact that she's held up this long makes her happy inside. Takuma can't possibly give her grief even if she doesn't pull this off.
With the fight still in full motion, Hotaru narrows her eyes in concentration, pushing away from where she had landed to strike back at Shingo with the fastest attack he's seen from her yet. A quick, momentum building hop into the air is followed by blindingly swift strikes as she touches back down in front of him. Swing after swing as she tries to probe his defenses and find an opening that will let her press on into further attacks. "Tenrenge!" she exclaims. Hey, shouting out key moves feels good, all right?
If Hotaru should find an opening, she'll keep swinging, each strike on its own not terribly painful, but they do add up, and she is pretty precise with her blows. But before she risks wearing herself ragged by pressing the attack, Hotaru will lean into a rising shoulder lunge intended to knock the boy off his feet a bit then follow it up with a final spin kick in the air to send him away a little ways - likely into the ropes on the other side.
COMBATSYS: Shingo fails to counter Ten-ren-ge from Hotaru with Tsuki Hiji.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Shingo can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
FACT 1: Hotaru Futaba is small and agile.
FACT 2: The 'Burning Shingo' is quite painful and is rarely if ever dodged. Endured? Perhaps. Blocked? Oh sure. Full out dodged? Rare.
FACT 3: The moment Hotaru dodged Shingo's 'Burning Shingo', as odd as that sounds, the game was over.
FACT 4: Shingo needs more training, and to focus more on fights.
FACT 5: Shingo has no chance to survive. He should make his time.
The VERY second that Hotaru moves out of the way of Shingo's last ditch attempt at an assault, Shingo's heart sinks a little, as does his fighting spirit. Oh sure, he's not giving up, but he hasn't been even close to on his 'a-game' during this fight as he normally is. If anything, it's plausible that he's been distracted by Hotaru from the very first moment of this encounter, and he's been doing his best to compensate for it, but playing catch-up hasn't worked.
It's also possible Hotaru is a much better fighter than he is.
While anything COULD be possible, it's irrelevant to the matter at hand. After not connecting with his relentless barrage of fists and fury, Shingo refocuses his attention on regaining his balance, and at that very moment leaves himself INCREDIBLY open to anything Hotaru can throw at him. Including her rapid strikes. And so, every precise blow lands on its precise target, and while Shingo wants to force himself to smile, he merely grimaces in pain at every strike. When Hotaru finally stops, Shingo doesn't even have time to take a deep breath before his feet are knocked away from the ground, his head sent reeling around in circles, as her rising shoulder lunge does its job. Adding insult to injury, Shingo only feels and doesn't actually see her aerial spin-kick - all the Taiyo High student knows is that he's now flying, which is an ability he wasn't aware he had, but without control.
Note to self. In future, learn how to fly when not being beaten ragged. Addendum to note. Learn how to control flight. Shingo's uncontrolled flight heads him directly towards the ropes at the opposite end of the ring, which in turn serve as a make-shift bow with Shingo as the arrow. Unfortunately, unlike an actual bow and arrow, Shingo doesn't so much hit any target, nor does he go sailing right back at Hotaru. Instead, his flight, and the abilities granted with it end shortly thereafter as he plummets to the ground in a heap of school clothes, sweat, and his trusty bandana.
For quite a long while, the boy doesn't move. He doesn't flinch. He doesn't even squirm. He just lies there. In pain. All over. Seconds turn into minutes. He's not getting up. He's not moving. If anything, Shingo MIGHT be breathing, but it's the shallow breath of someone who might as well be unconscious, or would like to be. Mustering up the little energy he can, Shingo knows that speaking will be useless, and muffled with his face buried into the ring floor. Instead he does his best to raise a solitary hand into a thumbs up, pointing in the direction of where he thinks Hotaru is standing...and hoping that it is in fact where she's standing, and not just randomly giving someone in the crowd the thumbs up, which in turn would be embarrassing.
Of course, this whole spectacle has a number of the crowd laughing. Laughing at the poor Yabuki kid. A few hecklers cry out that they were right in so far as that Taiyo High kid not being so great, while a few true fans attempt to defend Shingo...but do such a mediocre job that even they slink back into their seats. The din of the crowd fading, Shingo brings his thumbs up back down, and takes a nice long nap - all the better to recover from the awesomeness that is...HOTARU FUTABA!
Landing after her rapid attack, Hotaru is pretty tired, feeling the burn of trying to keep pace with the fighting prodigy that is Shingo Yabuki. "Whew," she murmurs, dropping into a three-point stance, one knee on the ground, one hand on the ground, her other hand on her knee that is still raised. She watches as the young man bounces from the side ropes to the floor and then just... waits. Blue, calm eyes watching, expecting there to be a bit more fight in him. She had struck him hard, for sure, but was it enough to wear him out for good?
Eventually her wary gaze becomes one of concern. Is the Taiyo student going to be all right? Was thta landing just exceptionally bad? She's sure none of her actual strikes could have been /that/ damaging, even if all added together it can definitely hurt.
But then the slow but steady arm raises, the thumbs up offered, and Hotaru smiles, relieved that he's all right and feeling even better that she managed to do so well against a fighter of his calibur. "Thanks," Hotaru mumbles quietly, the sound of her voice all but completely drown out by the cheers in the crowd. "For everything."
There's a lot she'd like to say to him. About how inspirational it was to face him tonight and how it helped her spirits some, but now is obviously not a very effective time to accomplish something like that. She'll have to tell him later. Rising to her feet, the girl bows toward the resting young man and then spins around on one leg, her expression one of great cheer as she then smiles at the audience, arms out at her sides as she then takes a second bow.
The spotlights go out and the ambient lighting gradually fades in. This event, at least, has come to a conclusion.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has ended the fight here.
Log created on 18:01:14 08/11/2007 by Hotaru, and last modified on 17:54:09 08/13/2007.