Description: Good Fortune: Hotaru and Miu team up to take on the experienced fighter, Rose, within a Chinese Buffet. Feathers, scarves, and chi blasts abound in this battle amongst three swift combatants. In the end, the combined team work of the two younger fighters prevails, but Rose definitely leaves them hurting. (Winners: Hotaru and Miu)
A SNF fight staged in a Chinese buffet? For Hotaru this makes the second such venue in only a few months. Howard's people seem to like putting her in spots like this. Maybe they feel it's the best place to show off her Kenpo, a style passed down to her from her father that blends principles from a variety of Chinese martial arts. Utilizing a variety of sweeping strikes, able to switch from swift, light power attacks to harder hitting, major attacks where appropriate, perhaps she's the perfect representative of the Chinese way of fighting for these Chinese buffet matches they keep putting her in. Or maybe it's just that quaint, Chinese styled outfit of hers.
The back half of the restaurant's dining area has been roped off for the purposes of the match. Most of the tables and chairs have been cleared to leave floor space available, but not completely so. They ran out of room to put them in the end, so around the edges there's still a row of tables and their accompanying chairs. Other than the three fighters to participate in this match, however, the rest of the people present are crammed into the front half of the establishment. The ceilings are of moderate height. High enought that Hotaru believes she can take to the air with some of her more acrobatic attacks, as long as she plays it a little cautiously. Normally the lamps overhead are dim, but for the fight they've been turned to full brightness to better illuminate the action.
The fighters themselves were offered a meal, but Hotaru passed, herself. Typically a little nervous before big fights, she found eating anytime before them was generally a bad idea. What she didn't pass on was the cookie handed to her, cracking open the crispie treat to pull out the paper enscribed with her randomly assigned fortune for the match. Glancing over it, the girl arches an eyebrow just slightly before folding the paper in half and pocketing it, looking a little skeptical about whatever it was that it predicted.
Hands then moving to clasp behind her back as she waits for the match to get ready, the girl looks calm, able to conceal to some degree the anxiety that any young fighter might feel under this kind of pressure. The match is strangely almost a mirrow of what she did last week. Two younger girls against an established female fighting veteran. Of course, last week, R.Mika was replaced at the last minute by Joe Higashi traipsing around in one of Lilly's dresses, but let's not reflect on that living horror for too long.
"You will hit your opponent with one of your strongest attacks, huh?" the girl muses to herself, murmuring the prediction offered by the fortune. Considering the abilities of her opponent? She darn well better hope so if she expects to pull this off.
Rose had a little something; three dumplings and a half portion of lo mein, as well as three cups of tea. She fights better with a little something, in her limited experience, but too much tends to come up when they punch you in the stomach.
She's also eaten the cookie, and in fact there's the faint crunch as she studies the slip of paper from within the cookie itself. After swallowing, she looks up to smile slightly at Hotaru. "Mine says that I will guard against four different strikes without evading. It's going to be a bit of a challenge." She's not exactly a beefy woman.
She then tells Hotaru, "You know, I think that we have gotten a special order. I am used to the sort that tell me, 'You shall travel soon.'" After this, she puts the hand bearing the slip of paper on her hip and looks up towards the improvised ring, observing the work of the crew in setting everything up.
A bout at a Chinese restaurant? Well, at least Miu won't be hungry after the battle.
The smallest of the SNF fighters gathered here is back in her classic student uniform. Having spent the majority of the time used to prepare for the match sitting -away- from the other two-- antisocial as she is-- the only things there to keep her occupied are the odd gloves on her hands. They look more like the thimbles used by the practitioners of Kyudo, her thumb, index, and middle fingers protected by thin and pliable leather with padding across the palms and a strap around the wrist. As the time draws closer and closer for their fight? She stays in her chair, staring at the floor while nursing a cup of tea. But when the restaurant attendant arrives and presents the cookie to her, the small Kurosaki is urged on by the prickle on the back of her neck to check the contents. It's bored, childlike curiosity at it's finest!
Snapping it in halves and munching lightly on one, she holds the paper between her fingers while balancing the small cup of tea in her palm and stares oddly at it.
Right... whatever...
Standing up, she takes one last sip of tea and sets the cup down on the chair she was seated in, moving toward the two other fighters. "Did they say when we begin?"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here on the left meter side.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Miu has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Miu
COMBATSYS: Miu has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rose has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
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Rose 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rose has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
The manager of the restaurant steps ahead-- to the end of the area blocked off for the fight about to begin, the manager clapping his hands together to address the patrons and explain once again, in case they didn't already know-- which is highly improbable-- that the three lovely ladies are here to entertain everyone tonight with a match while they all dine.
After a few moments to regard Hotaru and Rose, the crow girl of Seijyun Girls' Academy moves ahead into the well-lit zone fit only for battle! And normally, seating for some fine food. Turning around slowly, her eyes close as she takes a deep breath-- and shakes out her hands once. When her wrists snap, her power spikes-- and only fades slightly, while a series of black and white feathers scatter around her and fall to the ground, disappearing into glowing motes of light.
Looking-- waiting for Rose to assume her position and for Hotaru to move over to their side, Miu takes a very relaxed stance, arms hanging at her side and issuing a purple-eyed stare at their opponent. "I hope you are prepared."
With a glance to Hotaru, Miu takes the initiative, sprinting ahead and making a small hop in the air. Miu twists once, pivoting at the hip to lash out with one leg for a hard kick at Rose's chest, her foot... curiously, trailing more of those feathers from her leg and foot!
Second time fighting at a Chinese buffet. Second time being partnered up with Miu. The last time they fought on the same side, however, they didn't really have much time to coordinate at all. That's pretty much Joe Higashi's fault. This time Hotaru will try to be a better partner rather than leaving the smaller classmate to fend for herself. The fact that they only have one opponent and Joe is no where in sight should probably help with that.
When things get about ready to start, Hotaru is at Miu's side, looking the other girl over briefly. She's about the only fighter she knows of that actually looks more frail than herself. But looks can be deceiving! Rose is studied next as the final seconds tick past. "Yeah," the pig-tailed girl laughs as the woman comments on their fortunes. "I wonder how much trouble it took to have these made?" She rolls her eyes a little. SNF theatrics. Gotta love 'em.
But then the fight is started and Miu is off! The Kenpo artist quickly reviews what she was able to ascertain about Rose as a fighter before hand, but there wasn't much. She couldn't discern any kind of style that she could recognize, which is saying something as she is somewhat a student of martial arts styles, herself, always looking out to see what other people are bringing to their battles.
Well, there's nothing to be said for it. The girl can't stand around think her way through this! Running forward, Hotaru trails behind Miu, only to leap up over the dark-clad schoolgirl in order to try and plant her heel against Rose's shoulder. It's partially meant to set herself up, as if she connects, she'll flip forward to land behind the lone fighter, but it's also to try and root her and make it harder for her to avoid Miu's brave strike as well! "Kya!"
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Miu's Medium Kick.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Rose with Koushuu Da.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|
Miu's psychic energy is something that interests Rose, but you do not simply pry into such things in public. She makes a mental note as she steps into the ring - she should deal with that as soon as she can, or more properly, she should speak with her. 'Dealing with,' she chides herself, such a -
They move, more or less at the same time. Rose can feel both their minds, of course, but nothing is ever easy - for her or for others. The scarf around her arm whirls into animation and life, and she brings it down in a sweeping strike to push aside part of Miu's blow; some of the feathers vanish when they touch the energized scarf, in pastel-colored flourishes. Of course, the problem is...
She only has one scarf! Hotaru's foot hits her in the shoulder, sending her stumbling back towards the edge of the ring. However, this has /another/ problem - mostly, it must be said, one for Hotaru. The brave young woman recieves that freshly-punched scarf, now, drawn up like a glittering cloth and aimed towards her center of balance. Contact may not hurt physically, but the raw influx of Soul Power is likely to sting!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru parries Rose's Aura Scarf!
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Miu 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|
Her foot presses against the scarf, and Miu scowls slightly-- this wouldn't do, especially if Hotaru's going to land the first hit. Her toe presses against that scarf-- and with a brief discharge of her energy while her leg is being pushed aside, feathers scatter to the side and Miu 'hops' off the cloth wrap to land on the ground a little more than twice the arm's length of the elder psychic. Her face retains the calm, cold look as Rose moves in for a renewed assault-- this time on Hotaru-- and the smaller of the Seijyun girls steps back with her arms drawing high over her head. "Hotaru!"
Moving to support her partner, the small Miu hops slightly, her body -lashing- forward. A large whip of black and white glowing feathers chase away from her hands as they slam into the ground in front of Rose... and, perhaps, making for an excellent distraction. "Over HERE!"
COMBATSYS: Miu assists Hotaru.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|
Dealing with two coordinated attacks can be a challenge for just about any fighter. That Rose had to contend with a low strike and a high strike simultaneously was probably even a bigger problem. While Miu's kick is mostly absorbed with an interesting display of the properties of that scarf Rose wields, Hotaru's shoulder stomp is allowed to connect clean, giving the acrobatic fighter the chance to continue forward into the flip that was intended to place her behind her opponent.
What she hadn't factored on was Rose stumbling in that direction with her and aims to strike her with that same scarf all the same. Normally that wouldn't be so scary, but after what she saw it do to Miu's energy feathers, Hotaru doesn't want any of that.
Thinking fast, the girl reaches out to snag a hold of one of the low hanging lights, changing her trajectory as she swings from it like a pendulum, tucking her legs beneath her as the scarf snaps just shy of striking her, before releasing herself into a forward flip that allows her to plant her feet and one hand against the wall for a brief instant. Her free hand is already glowing a vibrant blue, the aura running down the length of her forearm.
It's no surprise that when she leaps down off the wall next she swings that arm forward while in mid-air, unleashing a shimmering, swiftly moving sphere of pulsating blue chi straight for Rose. "YA!"
COMBATSYS: Rose reflects Hakki Shou EX from Hotaru with Soul Reflect.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
Rose quirks a well trimmed eyebrow as Miu steps forwards, lips pursing for a moment. The small girl's fast, and she's got good control, Rose reasons. It must be native talent; it certainly does not feel like the influence of that man. And she's showing the signs of charity and consideration --
Then, Rose is engulfed in a sea of glittering feathers! "Oh!" she says aloud, perhaps awed by the beauty for that one transient moment. Then her head lifts up as the flurry of feathers dawns around her like some sort of marker of a succession of witches, and looks - right up towards Hotaru as she swings up and towards the wall!
Rose turns, sending the fading psychic feathers into a whirl, and when the ball comes down towards her, she watches it for a moment. This is, at least, a beautiful match, compared to a brutal smashing of sweaty men.
She slips the scarf up in a flippant gesture, the scarf itself not obeying the standard rules of motion. Energy flows through it, stiffening it at the critical point, and the orb is thrown back towards Hotaru - or more properly, a bit to the side, where Hotaru is expecting to land!
Her distraction works-- better than she expected. Hotaru's given ample room to plot her counterattack and follow through with it, and all that's left to do is to step in and finish the job.
Or not!
The glowing projectile released from her partner is suddenly pressed away with that same unusual scarf, turned back towards Hotaru and looking to give her partner the same hurting, and then some! Head tilted forward, Miu's small body lowers in stance. It's odd, at this angle-- any lower, and she'll look like more of a kid than she already does. But from that crouched pose, she lunges forward while the scarf is at it's full extension, the fingers of her left hand fanning out to grab at Rose's arm-- and with her right, sweep around to suddenly form a small drilling 'lance' of energy-- of feathers, bounded together, looking to drive that oddly numbing sensation into the woman's side and let her deal with the side-effects later. "Ha!!"
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Hotaru with Reflected Hakki Shou EX.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
Unfortunately, while Hotaru is quite aware of what just happened to her little brave ball of energy, she's all out of trajectory correction tricks and is very much set on coming down atop a table on the side on the fighting area. Rose's aim is quite precise, the chi sphere striking Hotaru in the side right as her feet touch the tablecloth, "Ack!"
Getting knocked off balance, her landing goes horribly awry as she's pushed first against the wall then stumbles off the table as she over-corrects for the impact. The girl manages to get her footing by the time she reaches the floor, however, arms out at her sides to help regain balance. Whew. That was quite the burst of activity on her part there, but Rose was able to handle it with apparent ease. She'll have to do better than that to keep up with the vastly more experienced fighter.
There is an inhale, followed by a slow, controlled exhale, as the girl gets her bearings, concentrating on just how it is Rose is doing all of her attacks. She hadn't expected that long scarf of hers to be the predominant problem here!.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Miu's Grasping Yomo.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
Rose is more wily than THAT, Miu! Ho ho. She looks towards the small girl as that hand slides towards her, and her arm, indeed, is grabbed. It would seem that Miu has scored a palpable hit -- but! Rose breathes in sharply at just the moment as that drilling feather shape spins on, and there's a peculiar sort of resistance when it contacts her body. It's like hitting sunlight with ice.
However, a mitigation isn't the same as a full resistance, and Rose does take a single misstep as she moves away from Miu in the aftermath. "You're quite talented," she tells the small dark girl, glancing briefly over towards Hotaru with a faint smile. This is, ultimately, friendly. (Right?)
That faint nagging numbness in her side makes Rose hesitate about a further attack - just yet. She takes a step back, echoing Hotaru in some sense; she breathes in with a slight closing of the eyes, a faint shine coming around her body and outlining her. The light shimmers, draws out, seems to blossom at her sides, and then sinks back inwards. "Don't give up," she tells them both, opening her eyes again. "Show me your best!"
COMBATSYS: Rose gathers her will.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
Her feathers bound in that tight formation scatter, the dark girl's eyes going wide for a split-second. Did she just...?
Pulling her arms back, the small Kurosaki looks up to Rose with the same pointed look of surprise. Talented...? People have told her that, but it isn't often she goes out of her way to believe it.
Hotaru doesn't seem to have fared as well, either, struck by that blast of chi. But she won't give up-- and neither will Hotaru, knowing her classmate. Taking a half-step backward, Miu's small body whips around in a circle, her left arm lashing out to cast ahead a thick black feather of her unusual power. Spinning in the other direction, a second one is cast moments later, at a slightly different angle. It isn't her best, but hopefully it's good enough...!
Rose's smile is returned with grin from Hotaru, the girl finally having caught her breath and recovered from the burst of activity that she started the match off with. Friendly match indeed - Hotaru has no reason not to like either of the other two participants here. And getting exposed to Rose's somewhat peculiar tactics is an interesting lesson in and of itself. The only way to learn about these things... /really/ learn about them, is to face them in person.
But it looks like Rose is taking a moment to build up for something now. Best to not let someone of her prowess take all the time in the world to do that kind of thing, or the results might be rather disasterous. Besides, Rose is encouraging them both to stick to it and Hotaru isn't about to let her down if she can help it. "All right!" she exclaims back, fist clenched with determination as she prepares.
When the girl pushes off this time, she comes in from the air once again, this time with a jump kick aimed toward the front of Rose. But if she manages to land, she isn't done, either, following up with a knee strike with her left leg and a snap kick with her right leg, finishing with an in-place backflipping kick that will strike with both legs and result in her coming back down roughly in the same place she kicked off from.
COMBATSYS: Rose endures Miu's Kakure Amagakeri.
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Miu 0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Hotaru's Heavy Kick.
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Miu 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
Rose wants to see just what this can do. So when that feather comes towards her -- that MAGIC feather -- she turns /into/ it, rather than away. She purses her lips as it strikes her, and her body jerks as her fingers curl into a tight pair of pale-knuckled fists, just for a moment. The sensation is strange, she thinks - like coldness, numbness. Classical 'yin?' she thinks; that girl DOES seem Asian...
The tingling sensation keeps Rose from acting too immodestly. Instead of leaping away from Hotaru and risking a collapse from her oddly numb abdomen, she raises an arm, the scarf whirling around it again to cushion the blow. (She does this quite a bit. The question may arise of what she does if she doesn't have eight feet of cashmere with her.)
She whirls around after this, saying as she trails the scarf after her, "This is really quite exciting - I think I have answered my instruction," before crying out "SOUL SPARK!" and sending a coruscating wave of pastel energy in vaguely spherical form back in the direction of Miu!
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Miu with Soul Spark.
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Miu 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
Indeed. She's small, compact, and very much Japanese-- even those eyes, as odd as it is to see a child with purple-colored irises. Miu's small frame shifts to one side as Rose takes the hit head-on-- both, even, without so much as an attempt to defend. The crow girl curses herself for a moment; 'People do that more often than you think,' she reminds herself. Miu's hands curl into fists as she stops, getting ready to move in and attack again-- but a sphere of color and light is headed her way.
Bringing up both palms, her head turns away slightly and her jaw tightens, trying to catch the blast and stop it dead-- but the energy cast off by Rose seems to overpower her own, blasting into her with a burst and sending the small girl sprawling head over heels and around again.
Landing flat on her face and skidding a little bit, Miu lets out a huff as she pushes up to her hands and knees. "D-Damn it...!" she mutters to herself. Rushing in, the small girl looks to make another chance for herself-- another chance to land a good, decisive blow and open the way for Hotaru to strike again. Her first step is poised to 'step' on Rose's leg, the second movement of her leg acting as a swift toe kick meant to rack up the elder woman's jaw and propel Miu into a backflip. Again, feathers trail from her foot...
Landing after her sequence of forceful kicks, Hotaru is surprised to find just how well Rose has weathered it. Even though she alternated fast and slow strikes, the scarf HOLDS TRUE. And it seems Miu has caught her attention for now. The Kenpo artist winces a little, able to see her partner get struck by the fast attack, but there's nothing she can do for her right now. "Hang in there, Miu!" She wishes the other girl the best of luck before taking to the air again.
Her leap starts as a predictable enough trajectory, but when she reaches the apex of her jump she curls into a forward flip and converts the gentle arc into a sharp knee dive down toward Rose's shoulder, aiming to plant the strike at the same spot she hit with her heel kick earlier. If she manages to pull it off, she'll swing around with her left foot for a follow up strike toward the top of Rose's head before using the leverage to backflip away, once again trying to buy a little distance between herself and the experienced scarf user!
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges Miu's Light Kick.
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Miu 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges Hotaru's Rengeki Shuu.
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Miu 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
Rose's head tilts to the side in brief concern as she watches Miu. This can be delicate, she knows; it is too easy in someone with a strong heart to alienate them from any sort of compassion or reason. And yet, without that strength, they cannot hold to it very well. The girl's approach makes Rose react clearly, swinging her leg out of the way -- though when that kick comes up, she does lace her hands together and hold them out just enough to cue that feathered backflip.
Her head turns then to look towards Hotaru, and she declares, in agreement, "Yes!" even as the acrobatic twists of Hotaru descend towards her. Rose's head tilts up.
She knows how to handle a leap in. She leaps up as well, twisting her upper body around to evade the approaching foot as she brings her other arm around, aiming to strike with her forearm lightly along Hotaru's midsection and send her flying down towards the ring -- and at contact (if contact comes!) the pale blue 'fire' so unsettlingly similar to Psycho Power bursts out, briefly engulfing Hotaru. (Fortunately, while the pain can last for a while, it does not actually set her on fire.)
Miu's small, agile form flips once in the air and lands on her toes. Her shoes scuff against the floor as she slides-- just a bit-- and she still manages to avoid her partner's attack, too! The Seijyun student's face looks as quiet and grim as ever, looking for her focus. She may have to do 'it'...
No. Not yet.
Stumbling for a half-step, Miu sways from left to right and starts running toward both Hotaru and Rose. The manuver is a little tricky, but she's somewhat confident in her ability to pull it off-- she's gotten stronger, and she knows it! So while Rose and Hotaru are airborne, Miu joins the party. On the ascent, her arm swings upward in a claw-like manner, in a high arc that'll bring her arm well over her head. It isn't meant to actually -strike- Miu, but to cast out a series of those black and white feathers between the pair one more time-- and to try to scatter Rose's concentration just one more time. "There!!"
COMBATSYS: Miu assists Hotaru.
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Miu 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Rose's Soul Throw.
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Miu 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
And up comes Rose to intersect the diving Hotaru, clearly intending to snatch her out of the air with the way she's sticking her arm out. The knee dive itself has been rendered somewhat useless due to her target no longer actually /being/ where she's supposed to be. Which leaves Hotaru to make a last second adjustment, displaying some of that alacrity she demonstrated at the onset of the fight.
Extending her legs out of the knee-first dive, the girl raises her arms and spins once, taking her just out of easy grasping range from Rose. But in that instant, she tries to return the favor, both hands snapping down after the spin to try and grab hold of the outstretched arm.
If she can get a grip, she'll follow through with the spinning momentum she's already generated in an attempt to twirl Rose swiftly down toward the ground while also using the leverage to push herself away as well!
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Hotaru's Quick Throw.
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Miu 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
Feathers everywhere!! Rose is once again surrounded by the fluttering plumes of Miu's manifested power. So strange, she thinks as she feels them seem to occlude her inner and outer sight at the same time: I wonder what they represent to her? Of course, she is thinking all of this while in midair...
And she's grabbed, instead of grabbing! Before she really knows it, she's going towards the matted floor, landing with an audible THUMP. She rolls with it, however. Her dress is disheveled by the time she stands up, brushing some dust from her arms, and she waggles a finger towards Hotaru. "Very clever," she says, her voice low and warm.
She spins around, then, to face both young women. Her hands clasp in front of her and she says, "You are both very skillful," she says, "and I would encourage you to not give up. But as you can see, we are hardly finished here... although, perhaps, if you do your utmost, it may end, sooner rather than later?"
She then closes her eyes, tilts her head slightly forwards, and breathes in deeply again. Light glitters around her once more, circulating freely. This is probably a good time to bust another move, especially since those mysterious fortunes may have finished their influence by now.
COMBATSYS: Rose gathers her will.
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Miu 0/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
"All right."
Tilting forward a bit, the weight is put on Miu's left leg as it leads forward, her left arm moving behind her back in a smooth arc. Her purple eyes don't blink, waver, twitch, or lose a moment's focus from Rose as she digs down deep-- deep!!-- and calls it out.
All of it.
The energy within the small girl -surges-, to a level that even the least sensitive in the room could still feel the prickling on the back of their neck-- and surely someone like Rose will be able to acknowledge such overwhelming force from the least expected of packages. Feathers of black and white begin to grow and seep wildly out of her arm, a twisted growth of black and white that pushes out from the small amount of exposed skin on her hand, through her sleeves-- and it completely engulfs her arm. Miu's eyes narrow slightly, a brief and discomforted flinch-- but her concentration remains. It seeps out across her back, and the feathers even spill from her right arm, from her legs and chest-- truly, all over.
Miu's shoe grinds hard against the floor and she's off like a shot-- sprinting harder and faster than she ever has since the start of this battle, drawing closer and closer to Rose. A white feather bleeds out of the knuckles of her right hand, the plumage sharp as a knife and shaped more like a katar. Once she's in range, the small girl lunges-- and swipes out at the psychic woman with a broad, powerful slash.
COMBATSYS: Rose blocks Miu's Psychic Secrets.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
The first slash leads into a second, the small girl rotating hard on her heel once it just barely kisses the ground. Using her heel as a point to pivot upon, Miu Kurosaki becomes a whirling dervish of strange energy, pain, and cutting-- slash after slash after slash, the count lost somewhere after six or seven high-speed slashes.
Her left leg surges forward, her foot slamming hard to the ground as her left arm suddenly bends a little-- and then -thrusts-. The black feathers swirl and surge ahead into the shape of a lance-- greater, larger than the small one thrown earlier. The energy bites and drills incredibly hard this time, biting at flesh and tender nerves... even tender spirits! All of the pent-up force seeks to break Rose's defenses, throw her not down or up, but straight -back-. Hard winds accompany it, hard enough to disturb the patrons on the other end of the restaurant and ruffle tablecloths, hard enough to tip over a few of the unrestrained glasses of water. And ... strangely enough, the sound of a flock of birds rips through that wind, deafening and loud.
It's hard to see Miu for a moment's time, but once it's all over, the energy closes in on itself and bursts outward in the general shape of a disc. Feathers scatter all over before they hit the ground-- and stay for a few moments before they do finally fade, a testament to the amount of power put into that strike. The feel of her powers back to about the level they 'should' be, Miu pants hard, on one knee and her left arm at full extension. Her fist quivers a bit, and it looks like she really did put everything into that.
"O-Ow..."
As Hotaru lands after the brief aerial battle, she shoots Miu a grateful grin, certain that the distraction caused by the smaller fighter's interesting use of her feathery, strange powers. This, however, gives her a chance to watch even more feathers starting to pour out all over the place. White, black... it's a literal feathery storm going on over there. The thing is, Hotaru has seen that before and she knows not to get in the way.
Hence it is that she waits, letting Miu take the lead next, before charging in herself, attempting to catch Rose off guard as Miu's powerful attack concludes. The sprint forward suggests that the girl has a more direct impact in mind. But as she skids to an early stop, that impression might have been misleading.
She snaps her leg out swiftly in a roundhouse too far away from Rose to actually strike her. But what comes next is a plume of blue energy, a brighter shade than the little projectile that got batted around between them earlier in the fight. "KYA!" the girl exclaims, the spike of chi ballooning just before plowing into the location where Rose stands.
COMBATSYS: Rose fails to reflect Kobi Kyaku EX from Hotaru with Soul Reflect.
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Miu 0/-------/-------|=======\=====--\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
Rose's own curiosity - which really is perhaps bordering on masochism, if you think about it, but can we really say how best you should deal with a psychic intervention? - keeps her from attempting to avoid that assault. Her lips thin s she braces herself, head tilting to the side at the sight of the blossoming feathers - real? she wonders, and then the lance comes!
It does push her back - the strange sounds of a flock of birds in flight combined with the pressure against her body tests even Rose's composure. It is not, she thinks, as overwhelming as it might be... but yet, this young woman is still young. She comes to the edge of the ring, in the end, breathing in sharply as she grasps at one end of the ring's 'ropes'. "My goodness," she murmurs --
And then Hotaru comes! That sensation of blossoming energy coming from around the girl's bursting spirit compel Rose to raise her arm as if to send a wave of that repelling energy through her scarf. Unfortunately for her, this is not to be, and she is sent staggering back when that enormous explosion (well, relatively enormous) strikes against her. She steers herself sideways, along the edge of the ring, but makes no further counterattack!
Yet.
Those feathers certainly seem real enough to pass for something that, rightly, shouldn't be coming out of Miu Kurosaki's arm. Still, there they are, right up until the small power-infused manifestations start to scatter and disappear into bits of glowing light. And all the same, the girl that projected them is on one knee, slowly standing up to catch her breath. And grab her left arm, wincing slightly as she takes stock in the use of her technique.
Hotaru steps in one more time to deliver a swift, powerful attack-- and Rose tries her hardest likewise to try to deny her that strike. While her partner proves to be the faster of the two, Miu once again takes her chance to move in on the scarf-slinging psychic and dart to her left-- and as she speeds by, running fast enough to shove her beyond both Hotaru and Rose no matter how much she'll try to apply the 'brakes', Miu's same left arm whips upward in another hard, diagonal 'slash' intended on catching Rose in the side. But no bare knuckles are used here-- another one of those thick white feathers bleeds from her knuckles, making an effective, if not improvised, cutting edge!
Snapping her foot back down to the ground after unleashing the small chi blast that managed to slip past Rose's highly tricky scarf, Hotaru takes a moment to catch herself, one hand coming to rest lightly against a table at her side as Rose backs off. Whew. That was a close call. She could tell. She pushed herself hard to pull that off, and managed to score a clean hit because of it, but that kind of stuff doesn't come without a cost.
As Miu goes darting back in though, Hotaru isn't about to leave the smaller fighter on her own. Not when it comes to dealing with an opponent of Rose's calibur. "Coming, Miu!" Hopping up onto the table and sprinting across it only to skip to the table next to it, the girl skirts the border of the fighting area before finally leaping up against the wall and then using that as an angle to dive back down toward Rose with a simple, swift jump kick, pushing for speed rather than power.
COMBATSYS: Miu successfully hits Rose with Shubatsu.
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Miu 0/-------/------=|=======\======-\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Rose dodges Hotaru's Light Kick.
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Miu 0/-------/------=|=======\======-\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|
That strike towards Rose's side hits - it tears at the fabric of her dress and the sting of feathers biting into her skin and into her soul itself makes the tall woman inhale sharply. Her eyes water, just a bit, but it's passing; the skin is cut, but the blood welling up is stopped, with curious swiftness, after another sharp intake of breath. She then turns around, cleanly leaping off to the side, a moment before --
Hotaru's leaping towards her, and Rose looks up with a determined expression towards the fast-moving young girl. She glimmers with light that seems, for a moment, to outshine the restaurant's spotlight, and then leaps up to aim a slamming forearm at Hotaru's midsection again.
She may remember this move, but now it's faster - stronger, perhaps, or simply more brutal, or filled with more power! Rose isn't trying for lethality, of course, even if Hotaru may feel a little discomforted with the sensation of BEING ON FIRE -- if it comes to pass.
Moving so quickly proves to be her advantage-- and her burden. Miu's small body jerks past Rose and continues, though the sky-blue-and-black Mary Janes on her feet don't have the traction to keep her from sliding on her feet beyond the pair and toward the fighting boundary at the tables and the enclosed area they're provided for the fight. Turning hard around, she manages to get herself realigned on the other two even as Rose begins her next attack, coming to a halt as her back presses into the boundaries and she only barely keeps herself form tumbling off into the patrons.
As the light glimmers and the fist rocks ahead to strike Hotaru, Miu's arm lifts, her half-gloved fingers fanning out. "Hotaru--!"
At the distance she is from her partner, making it back to the pair in time may prove next to impossible... but she still has to try! So for that reason, she tenses her legs once more and starts to run-- and run fast. Miu dives through the air like a small cannonball, her arm hooking out in an attempt to catch onto the back of Rose's knee-- and pull her down to the ground with a speedy lariat, feathers trailing from her arm and all!
COMBATSYS: Rose successfully hits Hotaru with Aura Soul Throw.
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Miu 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 1/=======/=======|
At last Rose finally manages to get a clean hit on the evasive young fighter, her arm managing to snag Hotaru before the girl's jump kick can find its mark. And boy does that hit deliver! All the Kenpo artist knows at first is that she's been stopped short, her leap pretty much cancelled by Rose's counter momentum. Okay, she thinks. She can pull out of this. A slam to the ground can be recovered from with a timely roll, after all. And if Rose intends to take her down all the way to prevent just such a recovery, she can try to get a grip on her arm and reposition herself in time to mitigate a lot of the- OW!
The blast of power that suddenly conflagrates her entire body is unlike any anything she's ever felt before. The sensation of burning from within even though the violet power manifests without. It's being assaulted on a level she's never had the displeasure of dealing with before. Getting punched, kicked, bent in half, and blasted with energy attacks she understands well enough. Having every nerve cry out in pain at once, on the other hand, is just not something she's able to weather well at all, the experience being far too foreign for her. "Ah!!"
The pain all but blacks her out as she's sent hurtling back down to the floor where she crashes completely out of control, sliding some distance before coming to a stop on her side. Just lying there for a bit sounds like a great idea, but after a couple of seconds she cracks her eyes open, vision a little blurry as she begins to resituate herself into a standing position slowly and turn back toward Rose and Miu.
As if taking a moment to convince herself that she's still conscious, the girl's hands come up to lighty smack her cheeks twice, followed by a rapid shake of her head and a slow exhale. Glancing over herself, she's surprised to find no actual risidual fire damage from the attack, convinced that the power of Rose's attack burned hotter than anything she could remember being struck by. "Whew." the girl muses. That woman is a real power house of dishing out pain. No wonder they pit two people against her!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Miu 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 1/=======/=======|
COMBATSYS: Rose reflects Quick Throw from Miu with Soul Reflect.
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Miu 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 1/=======/=======|
Rose's eyes flick to the side as she feels Miu touch her knee. She speaks - but not with her mouth. Perhaps the body contact makes it easier.
'There is much,' she "says," 'which you have to learn. You are fighting well, but I fear that if I am too easy, you may grow used to such things. You see, your power is very forceful, but if there is a certain kind of force applied -'
Rose doesn't bring the scarf down. This time, her knee seems to burst out into a spangling of sunlight yellow and turquiouse blue as soul power erupts out from it, blasting Miu's hands away and likely sending the girl tumbling! Rose herself lands, without interruption, and pushes her hair back with one hand while letting out a little sigh.
She then looks over towards Hotaru curiously, to ask the girl, as a finger goes to her lower lip, "Are you alright?" At least she's not inquiring if she's OK.
Miu's arm-- the extended arm seeking to rack across the back of Rose's knee and drag her to the ground-- suddenly receives a blinding shock through her arm and jolting her own nerves as the energy from the tall psychic halts the energy put forth by the tinier girl and violently shoves it -back- through the unseen circuits it flows from. The result is simple: The crow girl's arm reverses the way it came at the shoulder, and her arm slams into her side. In turn, her body whips around horizontally like she were a human-sized frisbee, sprawling to the floor and rolling onto her back, gripping her arm to her side and staring at her hand. Sweat beads down her forehead and the backbuild of her own power forces her hands to tense, her fingers to claw up a bit. It was like this with Kiryuu, too-- he hit her so hard she felt something like this in the past.
Miu bites back whatever words are about to slink past her lips and closes her eyes tightly-- all while the Italian addresses her partner. Slowly, black feathers start to grow outward from the back of her hand, shedding only moments before they vanish-- not even getting to hit the ground. The excess of power is slowly siphoned off like this-- two, three, and a few more feathers falling away from her hand until she can stabilize herself. Her eyes opening again, Miu sits up and slaps a palm down, turning herself around and landing in a kneel to face her again-- now with a more intense stare.
COMBATSYS: Miu gains composure.
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Miu 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Rose
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Hotaru 1/=======/=======|
Nothing like the 'uncomfortable' sensation of being burned alive to get one's head back in the game. Hotaru was starting to feel winded before the attack, having tried to keep pace with Rose's superior speed and ability. But after managing to clear her head from nearly blacking out from the raw, excruciating pain of Rose's retaliation, she's certainly feeling up to speeding things up even more. She's certainly aware enough to notice Rose's concern for her present condition and she replies as such with a smile that comes after a moment and a nod of her head, "That was some attack. I'm lucky to have avoided so much of them thus far," she admits quite openly. Strikes like those are not something she could take much of at /all/.
"I hope you're ready though!" she warns, feeling it's only fair after Rose so kindly inquired after her well being. A glance is offered her partner, uncertain as to how Miu is doing after being knocked back so painfully. Okay, she's shedding some more feathers. Hopefully that's a good sign, right?
Snapping her attention back to Rose, Hotaru takes off with incredible speed this time, pouring everything she has into trying to keep Rose from being able to avoid her or retaliate preemptively. A few yards out and she takes to the air, spinning into the jump as she swings out with two whirlwinding strikes, trying to get Rose to defend high. But that is partially a feint as the moment her feet touch the ground she's swinging again with two more strikes aimed more toward her stomach. Followed by two more, and another two, clearly probbing to see if she can get a clean hit. If she manages to get that opening, the girl will follow up with a rising shoulder lunge and finish with a spinning jump kick while she's in the air. "Tenrenge!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Rose with Ten-ren-ge.
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Miu 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Rose
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|
Rose's head turns as she looks towards Miu. She seems concerned - perhaps she can tell what's going on. 'Miu,' she thinks for a moment. 'If you need my help -' This concern and compassion for one's opponent in a suitable match is laudable, even a sign of the highest humanity, but it has its downsides, such as when Hotaru comes out of left field to kill you.
Her head whips around to look back at Hotaru as she comes in, leaning away from those whirlwinding strikes as she swivels her hips. THere is a down side, of course, which is that it means she's not focusing on the center of her body - those fists hit her cleanly, sinking slightly into the skin and making her stagger back, the final kick striking her in the side of the head and making her sink slowly towards her knees.
She breathes in, closes her eyes... and opens them again to say, brightly, "Well done!"
Then she flops onto her side, scarf pooling at her side for a moment. She'll probably get up in a minute or two once she's caught her breath, which is, of course, the hell of fighting this kind of person...
COMBATSYS: Rose takes no action.
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Miu 0/-------/--=====|
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Rose can no longer fight.
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Miu 0/-------/--=====|
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Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|
From the vantagepoint afforded Miu while she's stopping to catch her breath after the surge in her powers, the Seijyun student starts to rise up to her feet-- just as Hotaru comes in on Rose and continually rains down hard blows and ending with that fierce shoulder tackle. It's a manuver that she's seen once before-- but for a moment, while the residual throbbing in her right arm muddles her thoughts, she can't quite remember yet if she's been on the recieving end of.
But that's not important right now.
Rose falls-- and for a moment, Miu looks tense. Is this a ploy? A trick? After a hesitant pause, it seems not. That's when her small feet turn toward Hotaru and guide her toward her partner in this battle. She doesn't say anything, and it just wouldn't be in her nature to.
Even if she doesn't fully understand what happened to herself-- to cause that 'blowback' of her own power-- they still won. And ... that's enough.
The final spinning kick delivered, Hotaru drops back down to the ground, landing in a crouch, one hand planted to keep her balance as she exhales, looking and sounding winded by how she pushed herself to deliver that fight ending attack. She braces while she's down, preparing to push herself for a desperate evasive action if necessary. But the fight is over and Rose is finished with them for now. "Thank you," she replies, her tone sincere as she rises up to standing up straight. "It was the honor to fight with one of your calibur," she adds, pressing her hands together and offering a very polite, traditional bow.
She glances toward Miu then. She can see the uncertainty in the other girl's eyes. Something happened between these two and she isn't sure what. "Thanks for all the help there, Miu," Hotaru speaks, her smile warming for the younger student. "I definitely couldn't have done that without you. You're a great partner." All those feathery distractions surely played a role in how this fight turned out. Of that she's quite certain.
Turning toward the audience, the girl offers a more swift, informal bow of thanks for watching before she turns to slip out. Rose only struck her cleanly once. But that was one hell of a strike. It's no wonder fighters like her have the reputation they do!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has left the fight here.
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Miu 0/-------/--=====|
Log created on 21:53:28 09/10/2007 by Hotaru, and last modified on 06:01:20 09/13/2007.