Description: Having one hostile older brother apparently isn't enough. Now Hotaru has picked up another one in the form of one of Frei's sword wielding siblings. Caught off guard by a visit from Kataki, the girl finds that Frei's family problems have suddenly become hers as well. Promising 'fun times' ahead, Kataki digs deep into the girl's psyche to bring out a side of her few have seen before.
Weather just can't seem to make up its mind lately. Raining some days, snowing others, crisp and clear on even others. Just another wintery season for Southtown. It's the snowy days that make the most work, of course, when it comes to keeping up the acreage surrounding the old church building no longer in use. There's the path to shovel, for one thing, which is what Hotaru is up to at the moment.
Much of the grass is beneath a thin blanket of newly fallen snow that coats the yard. And while the old chapel is no longer used for services, the young care taker who inherited the property continues to keep the cement walkway from the street the large, wooden double doors clear of snow.
Shoveling the snow off to the sides to, Hotaru hums a little made up ditty to herself to pass the time. It's questionable how productive this is going to be, the girl muses. A glance up at the grey sky overhead suggests a high probability of more snow fall tonight, which means the entire effort will have been for nought. She should be training instead, perhaps.
Winter season in Southtown. While the variance is astounding, there is typically a dreary sense to it, like most winter days. Cold days for a cold season. Gray clouds swell ominously in the skies overhead, threatening a storm -- a gesture to make young Hotaru Futaba's efforts a futile gesture at best, a waste of her valuable time at most. One could consider it a portend.
But weather is just weather.
As the Kenpo-user hums, a single form advances upon the church yard. The fabric of a billowing, black hakama rustles across cement and snow, entering the yard with little care or concern for manners. A wide-brimmed, straw hat conceals his face, but the outfit -- the voice -- might be distantly familiar.
"Mmm," the voice of the gaunt form muses as he comes to a stop just beyond the small graves.
"Such a dreary home for such a sweet little girl. Don't you think...?"
The voice tinges with amusing condescention as a pale hand rests against the hilt of a wakizashi. The man's head tilts up, the shadow cast by that straw hat dissolving away to leave the single, hazel eye of Kataki to focus upon Hotaru's busywork. "But you keep up maintenance so diligently! Hmmmm. I wonder... does this place hold some meaning for you..." His gaunt body leans forward, a distant and cold smile forming across thin lips. "... Hotaru Futaba~?"
It's hard to enter the yard without its young caretaker knowing. In tune with the environment and familiar with what sounds are native as opposed to which ones hint at the arrival of another, the girl glances up from her shovelling to look toward the hakama-clad individual just before his voice makes his presence unmistakeable.
"It isn't exactly a home..." she begins, her voice calm but guarded, her body tensing up a little as she stands up straighter, both hands clinging to the shovel handle. There is her room at the Kyokugen Dojo when it comes time to sleep after all. The entire property is the very image of being well maintained, however. Even with the winter months ruling out most typical hardwork, the flower garden plants have all been trimmed and the fall leaves long since raked away by the diligent girl and those who occasionally drop by to help, like this visitor's older brother in fact.
He asks if the place special to her and Hotaru glances to the side without even realizing it, blue eyes coming to rest on the entrance to a sepulcher at the back of the graveyard, the stone, squat structure adorned by a bronze winged angel on the top in the act of praying. Hotaru shifts her focus back toward Kataki a split moment later. "Nn," she nods. "It is special. I hope you haven't come to cause any problems." His hand resting on the hilt of his wakizashi could just very well be a habit, after all!
"Something so well taken care of and loved is close enough, don't you think?" Kataki muses as he looks down towards the graves. His brows furrow in mild disgust at the sight of it. "... Mm. What is that saying? Ah, yes. 'Home is where the heart is.'"
The words are drawled out in a bored fashion as Kataki swoops down into a crouch, a slim finger tapping against the edge of the grave in front of him. His free hand reaches out, peeling back that wide-brimmed hat with the easy fall of dark hair across his face. His visible eye watches Hotaru blandly, lips curled in dim amusement. "I'm sorry to barge in like this; I just felt I should get to know my brother's... ... 'friends' ... a little better." His head tilts at a curious angle, to watch Hotaru far more intently than before -- as if looking beyond just the physical. "You seem like a sweet girl. But there's something to be said about sweet girls." As he speaks, he comes to a stand, slender fingers curling more solidly across the hilt of his wakizashi.
"They tend to be hiding a sour center deep inside."
Another step forward. Kataki makes no apparent movements of aggression; not yet. He needs to -prod- a little more. "Mmm. I'm sorry... but I'm afraid I have. I really can't help it, you'll have to forgive me..." he murmurs thoughtfully, "... but I thought I'd play a little. Would you be interested? I have a great game in mind..." From the way he says it, the message is clear enough.
It's not really a request.
At his response, Hotaru nods her head slightly. Fair enough. The place does have home-like qualities. She often gets visited here, after all. She has trained Kentou here, exchanged memories with Alma here, traded gifts with Jiro here. It may very well be a home in that sense.
He taps the gravestone and Hotaru watches carefully. During the rest of the year, occasionally people drop by and leave flowers at those grave markers. he would hate for them to be vandalized... "Why the sudden interest in your brother's life; in his friends?" Hotaru asks. His assessment of her provokes a blink though. Of course everyone thinks she's a sweet girl. And has she ever given anyone reason to think otherwise? Maybe... now and then, to a select few.
It can't be helped, he says, and Hotaru's shoulders slouch just a little. This isn't something that is going to be resolved with simply words, it seems. She had almost forgotten about him entirely from the time he disrupted Kentou's lesson at the YFCC. But as Kataki speaks, the girl remembers all the uneasiness she felt back then for she feels it again now.
"A game?" she asks back, hands tightening around the shovel's handle, mouth tightening into a neutral expression. She has a feeling she doesn't like how it is he intends to get to know Frei's friends better...
"Why?" Kataki mulls the word over with the click of his tongue, sickly pale lips curling further upwards in an utterly unpleasant smile.
"Because I just want to be an important part of his life, that's all."
The vagueries of that statement aside, Kataki continues on unhindered. "You haven't denied my assessment either. Tsk tsk! That's no fun, Hotaru-chan," the young man chides, a single finger lifting and waggling most distastefully. "But it's so true, and so interesting. I just can't wait to see... what kind of skeletons you're hiding in that closet of yours." His advancement pauses, just for a moment.
"It's going to be -so- much fun."
Her single question is issued with a defensive stance; he notes the tightening of that hand, her expression growing a bit more stern. In response, his lips split open in a small grin. Gaze lifting, Kataki's left hand drifts up. "Mmm. A game. Where I get to know Frei's friends... and they help me give him a lesson he'll never forget. So." A solitary snowflake drifts down, resting on his cool palm. His smile strains wider.
"Let's play."
One motion is all it takes. In blurringly fast speeds, the sharp edge of a wakizashi slices gracefully through the air, through the space seperating Kataki and Hotaru, to introduce its cold bite to her side in a sweeping, horizontal arc.
"We can see just how much sour that sweetness hides!"
COMBATSYS: Kataki has started a fight here.
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Kataki 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kataki
COMBATSYS: Kataki successfully hits Hotaru with Shinsoku.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Kataki
"I-... well, everyone has things they don't really wish to share with anyone else. I would be lying to say I was any different. Sweet or not, I don't think it's any of your business. Your intents are hardly honorable." Her tone has tightened up a little, wariness replaced with mild irritation. Who is this guy to storm in like this?
He advances and she takes a step back. He speaks of wanting to know what she keeps hidden and Hotaru frowns. How would he go about learning that, anyway? The possibilities that come to mind aren't pleasant. "Ah- I don't want to-" she starts to protest. Not that she has much say in it if his intent is clear. And then the blade is drawn.
She remembers Frei talking about his family's style with the sword. Their ability to draw and slash another with blinding speed. But remembering doesn't prepare her for the blur of metal that spans the distance between them, provoking a startled gasp from the girl as she jumps back - only after the fact rather than before unfortunately. The cut bit all the way through the long coat she has on, the vest worn beneath it, and the white shirt beenath that even. Wincing, Hotaru reaches up to the collar of her long coat and pulls it open, flinging it to the side to let it land on the snow. It's only going to slow her down, and right now it isn't the /cold/ that's trying to hurt her.
Resting her hand against her side, she pulls it back, finding a smear of red blood on her fingers. This is a style of fighting she hasn't faced before, the girl ponders grimly, tending to rely heavily on being able to predict opponents attacks based on their brand of fighting. "Fine," Hotaru replies, hands tightening, eyebrow twitching a little as she tries to stay focused on fighting her best.
When she lunges forward, it's with an attempt to get inside his sword swinging range, planting her shoulder into his chest so that she can reach out with both hands for Kataki's arm and twist him down to the ground on his back. Simple application of force, the traditional Kenpo way.
COMBATSYS: Kataki dodges Hotaru's Quick Throw.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Kataki
First blood. But the wound is shallow. It would appear, judging from the playful smile that dances across Kataki's lips... that's exactly how he wanted it.
It wouldn't do at all if he were to break his new toy so soon, would it?
Droplets of bright red fall to the ground with the swift retreat of that blade back to the young man's side. He stands calmly -- and even casually, if not for the definitive stance he takes now, if not for the obvious killing intent that swells in his every movement. "None of my business? You think so lowly of me. How sad, Hotaru-chan." His blade twists, reflcting light dully as the snow begins to fall anew at a steady pace.
"And here I was hoping that we could be best of friends."
The sadness that graces Kataki's lips in a half-hearted pout quickly deteriorates the moment that Hotaru makes that forward lunge. His visible eye widens, mouth going agape... and then, with a sudden, unnatural sort of grace, the thin man slides back across the side, pivoting smoothly and -just- out of reach of Hotaru's grasping hands. "Ah, ah, ah!" he chides tauntingly, re-affirming his grip on the hilt of his short sword. "Such determination! Such ferocity! Qualities that I don't doubt everyone else overlooks. You're a fierce little girl, Hotaru-chan. Does anyone even take the time to recognize it? Mm. So sad." As he speaks, the words carry with them a subtle tug on a level beyond the physical. Hardly noticeable tinges at Hotaru's psyche, subliminally seeking to tug out more negative qualities. Hate. Greed. Anything they can find.
"But such is the fate of the sweet little girls. Always underestimated. Always used. Such a shame, hmmm?" This point is accentuated with another, barely-noticeable movement; Kataki glides across the ground wakizashi thrust out in a graceful lunge -- aimed for Hotaru's shoulder, this time.
"Don't you want more than that?"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kataki's Medium Strike.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Kataki
She had to get in close to catch him with her shoulder and as he slips back out of range the girl is left an easy target for a split second, well within the proper range for a vicious sword slashing to follow up the first. But the girl is quicker now that she isn't weighed down by her coat and hopping to the side out of the way for the slower, more powerful slash comes off without a hitch, feet slipping through the snow covered grass a little.
His words are so condescending, patronizing. Hotaru-chan. Little girl. Sweet. At first glance it seems to be having an affect, the girl's expression darkening just a little. She doesn't like him to begin with and he isn't doing anything to change that perspective here. But then she breaths in, exhaling softly, her breath visible in the cool air, reminding herself how she has to ignore both taunts and compliments when fighting for they're only distractions that decay skill and concentration...
"No one uses me," she replies assertively, sounding like she's really giving it some thought; sounding almost offended at the idea. She helps people because she wants to, because it's how she was raised and taught. Because she believes in her friends. The girl shakes her head, trying to keep her mind on his blade and her own talents as a fighter.
"My friends recognize me for who I am!" The exclaimation comes as she pushes off from where she stands, darting toward Kataki with a second brazen charge. It isn't with wreckless abandon though, as she's watching for preemptive strikes as well. Her hands pressed together, the attack seems like a blatently obvious palm strike or something.
But should she get in close, it's then that she reaches for his arms again, attempting to get a grip to keep his guard open, leaving it easy for her to convert her forward momentum into a series of rapid stomps right up the front of him, striking shins, stomach, torso... only to backflip off of him upon reaching his shoulders. "Ya, ya, ya!"
COMBATSYS: Kataki blocks Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|==-----\-------\0 Kataki
For all Hotaru's determination, it's all met with a measure of simple amusement from Kataki. His lips are in a perpetual smile, and his relatively cheerful demeanor and expression just helps to further accentuate the condescension that drips from his voice. His blade bites free once more--
--and finds nothing but air.
"O-ho," he huffs out, looking surprised -- if not sincerely.
"What a quick one! This really will be good fun."
The blade retracts anew, the spindly fingers of his left hand dragging along the cold metal in an absent-minded caress. "Hmmm," he muses, hazel eye focusing entirely upon Hotaru. His mind works what his words seek to draw out, each of his words enhanced by something else. Something unnatural. "Really, Hotaru-chan? Who are you trying to convince? Me..." She pushes off, in a direct charge towards Kataki. His lips tug in wry amusement.
"... or yourself?"
She lashes out. The palmstrike is met with a wrist, the blow sending shudders of power along his thin arm -- only to have it all stopped with her grasp. His eye widens for a moment, as if he had took the bait. But the moment that her legs stomp forward, he is quick to pivot in a sudden, jerking twist; the intent is to preemptively stop her momentum altogether before she can begin her ascent, and yank her -forward- into even more uncomfortably close proximities with Kataki.
"What have they ever given you of meaning, of solid value? Hmmmm?"
The question will be helpfully accentuated by an attempt to drive his knee into her gut in a rapid, quickly-recovered strike, to unsettle the Kenpo-user by burying the bony joint deep into her midsection.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Light Kick from Kataki with Hakki Shou EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Kataki
'Or yourself?' The question echoes in her mind, defying her attempts to put his words aside as she launches into her practiced technique, attempting to slip in through his guard. To no avail as Kataki reads her movements fast enough to catch her and leave her caught in a position that has her easily manipulated in closer to him.
Blue eyes narrow as he draws her close but while it isn't immediately obvious why she isn't trying to pull away, it might become clear in an instant as her forearm begins to glow a vibrant blue. "Their friendship. To be there when I needed." Her mind fills with memories of Alma helping her get through a time when her mind was clouded by Kurow's manipulation. Of Jiro leaping to her rescue when she was attacked by two strange mercenaries in Seijyun's garden long ago.
He drives his knee up into her stomach and Hotaru swings forward with her right arm, attempting to slam her chi imbued fist into his stomach at the same time. But his strike gets there first, knocking the girl back, her own attack fizzling out as she stretches out her fingers, gasping at the jarring pain.
Thoughts of Jiro telling her how he needed to leave, to go to Nepal in pursuit of someone fill her mind only to be replaced by the sight of Gato's back as he walked out of this very courtyard not long ago, pursuing the power promised by the Martyr of Might. Stumbling backward, the girl's hands clutch at her stomach in pain, but the real hurt may be deeper indeed.
He notes that faint blue glow. Kataki can recognize it for what it is, if only for the familiar sensation of what his brother wields so naturally. Even despite all this time, he knows it well enough.
Chi.
"What a fantastic light show!"
Still, it's all for naught. He is a second too fast, and his knee drives in relentlessly, another tauntingly swift and light poke -- as if not really taking the -fight- seriously. As Hotaru withdraws, so too does Kataki, moving back towards the gardens. He pauses, considering it.
"Friendship? -Really-? Oh, Hotaru-chan. How cliché." A frown creases his lips for a moment, those generally, tauntingly mirthful corners dipping down ponderously. "What a shallow answer. What does it mean? It means that for all they ask from you, all they take, all they offer as compensation is a warm, fuzzy feeling. What a pity, hm?"
He makes no movement to attack, for now. His wakizashi sheathes itself, but from his grip upon it, he's hardly ended the fight. He's just -preparing-. "Your lot in life is a sad one, isn't it? Your friends, your family, your little student... they'll just keep taking from you until you're just a hollow shell of what you once were." That visible eye pulsates in a brief, violet ebb, the manipulation of his words subtly enhanced all the further. "They don't want to see anymore than that. So sad. You'll never have the strength to take what you want... when you let everyone else's needs trample over your own. Because all your friends...?" His fingers curl tighter across his hilt. His legs spread, shoulder-length. He focuses inward. And he smiles.
"None of them see you as anything more than a... pretty... little... -harmless-... flower."
COMBATSYS: Kataki focuses on his next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Kataki
As it went no where, it really was nothing more than a light show. All that effort, all that energy on her part wasted the moment his knee cracked her back a little. Hotaru's mouth twists into a quiet frown as she regards him silently. "There's not always a material reward for every action or every association. Some things transcend that," Hotaru replies. He's holding back on the physical attacks though certainly not relenting on the verbal ones. The girl shakes her head, pig-tails flopping over her shoulders.
"How do you think you know so much about them? Don't you have family? Friends? Don't you know what it's like? Giving of yourself isn't diminishing yourself. It doesn't work like that..." But then he speaks of strength and Hotaru falls quiet. How do people see her? Her brother didn't leave any doubt how he saw her when he walked away. Nor did Grant. Nor has the Kirishima prodigy. What about Jiro, when she fought him the last couple of times? She didn't really seem to give him much of a challenge, it's not hard to guess what he thinks...
"I can keep getting stronger through practice, through training. I'm learning and growing," Hotaru asserts, shaking her head as she tries to quell the rising doubts. "In passing what I know on to another I am fullfilled." she insists, resting her hands over her heart, trying to convey something she wonders if he can possibly even understand.
She pushes off, charging him again, hands clenched tightly as she stops with a slide, her left foot slipping intentionally along the snow laden grass, her right leg swinging out with a swift reverse roundhouse - early, too early to hit. But in the wake of the kick is a blue swath of chi that rips through the air right behind her leg. Expanding outward, /that/ has the chance to strike, to try and prove she isn't harmless.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Kataki with Kobi Kyaku.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Kataki
COMBATSYS: Kataki has saved the state of this fight.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Kataki
"Really? Is that what you tell yourself every day? That their feelings 'transcend' anything else they can give you? ..." Kataki seems to mull over Hotaru's words, his hazel eye half-lidding in a drooping, sleepy quality that overtakes his entire posture, pointedly ignoring talk of his own family and friends. "... don't you think it's trying, Hotaru-chan? Having to convince yourself with ridiculous fairy tails every day? I feel bad for you. They don't see... -everything- there is to see about you. Feelings don't mean anything. They change on whims. How can that 'transcend'? Stop fooling yourself, little Hotaru...
"... I can't even find humor in your naiveté anymore."
Kataki looks almost sad here -- solemn, as Hotaru continues to assert herself, despite the frustration, despite the doubt. He looks like a man looking through a thinly-veiled ruse -- looking through a transparent mask. As Hotaru pushes towards him in that sudden and agile maneuver. She moves fast, strong -- too much so to keep up with. Yet he notices the early delivery, the swell of chi... and he attempts to take it all.
Too fast -- /too/ fast. Hotaru rips into him with a swirling tear of cerulean, ripping through the air and into -him- with enough force to knock Kataki briefly off his feet. Delivered into the air, the swordsman flips gracefully, his black clothes cut and burned. He lands on his feet several feet away, looking down at the state of his attire with a displeased frown. "... I liked these clothes, too. You are become quite the burden, Hotaru-chan! Now I know how your friends must feel!"
A smile dances across Kataki's lips as his thin, sickly fingers tighten around the grip of his short sword. "Aaah, though -- you still don't sound like you believe yourself. Don't you want to prove that you're more than an annoyance? More than a pretty decoration that can be appeased with simple words? Don't you want to be more... than someone to be used and ultimately -cast aside-?" With a sudden step forward, Kataki lashes out once more with blinding speed -- aiming to bite into Hotaru's right hip with the sudden curve of his cold blade, delivering it with a lightning speed and accuracy.
"Show me you're not as harmless as everyone assumes you to be!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru endures Kataki's Satsujin.
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Hotaru 1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0 Kataki
Who is she trying to convince, and why? Is she pouring so much effort into convincing the young man that she only knows because he is Frei's brother and she is Frei's friend and even that tenuous connection only came into existence so recently? What would be gained by that? Or is the pleading argument with herself as the all too perceptive young man narrows in on the doubts that have gnawed at her confidence for more than the few miserable minutes since his arrival?
The energy laced kick delivered, the girl exhales. Fairy tales. Naivete. "Burden," whispers the orphen. Was that what weighed on her father's mind when he disappeared one morning over three years ago? Was he tired of the burden of dealing with his youngest child? The one that could never hope to become anything like the son he modeled so perfectly after him?
"Yes," comes the quiet admission, small hands clenched into fists as blue eyes fix on his green ones, mouth tightening. Thoughts of her last fight with Kurow - how she envied the prodigy's power. Younger than she by a year but years ahead in ability, the Imawano taught youth had bested her time and time again with his superior talent. Convictions, inhibitions, those things others had said were holding her back. They weren't holding Kirishima back. She once told him that she could never pay the price he did to seize that power... but is that true?
In comes the slash of Kataki's blade and Hotaru steps forward, charging at him with almost wreckless abandon. The sharp edge slashes hard into the side of her thigh but by the time it comes the girl is already in motion, hopping forward into a short spin, the girl's arms windmilling for a rapid flurry of palm strikes, each blow punctuated by a small spark of blue chi...
COMBATSYS: Kataki fails to counter Sou-shou Tenrenge from Hotaru with Zanshin.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Kataki
And the second she has an opening in his guard the girl's assault only picks up speed and frenzy, with each strike she pictures swinging for all those who said she would never amount to anything. Grant, Kurow, Gato, her father, that Devil woman. All they respect is savage, brute force - Power. At. Any. Cost. She's had it in her. It's manifest occasionally - unexpected bursts, exceeding her potental, exceeding anyone's expectations of what she should be capable of... The ability to go just a little bit further if she sets aside any concern for another.
After several strikes the smaller fighter steps forward, bending her knees a little, twisting her torso, and driving her left shoulder into Kataki's chest... Teeth gritted, there's a second build up that far eclipses anything she has drawn out thus far. "Let me know if this feels harmless..." It's Hotaru's voice even if the tone resembles nothing most have ever heard from her lips before. Only Marise or Kurow have seen this side of her in combat prior to this moment. This side Kataki has drawn out with mere words.
A flare of red against the white, snow covered grass is the only warning before Hotaru turns her other side toward him, slipping her shoulder away as she brings her cupped hands up to slam against his chest, unleashing a crimson spike of chi into the young man at point blank range. Unlike the pure force she had attacked with before, this chi is searing, piercing, its aim clearly to savagely wound rather than simply strike. The blastwave from the power unleashed blows the girl backward, her arms out at her sides as she stumbles backwards with a gasp, catching her balance at the last moment before she would have fallen down completely.
Reckless abandon. The moment that Hotaru exhibits it, Kataki's eyes flash in apparent joy, his visible hazel gaze snapping wide at the sight of Hotaru rushing -into- his assault rather than -away- as he had originally anticipated. There is surprise in his gaze, all to apparent from the sudden opening of his eyes from the gesture. Yet also?
Kataki is grinning.
"Let's see, then...!!"
Within moments, something unnatural overtakes the young man. Straight, violet whisps of power wrap around him in subtle gestures, ripping the air around him. He makes a forward dart, sandles slapping against the pavement--
--Too late. Far, far too late.
And Kataki wouldn't have it any other way.
The gaunt form of Kataki is wracked with pain as strike after strike buries itself into his thin, almost sickly body. The snapping sounds of flesh being pounded into and bones being rattled to their very core echoes across the winter-strewn church yard as snow drifts in a lazy contrast to the havoc that is wrought all around it. Brute power. Savage force. It resounds throughout Hotaru's very essence with each blow, slipping further and further with every passing moment. Blood seeps from Kataki's lips, internal injuries becoming countless...
... And it all culminates to one simple, glorious moment where palms strike Kataki's chest with a sickening crack of impact. Chi burns -- BURNS -- with unrestrained fury. Hotaru holds nothing back. She tries to hurt him, -badly-, and she succeeds in a most horrible way. The piercing lance of pure, blasting force launches Kataki through the air like naught but a rag doll. He strikes ground shoulder-first, rebounding off the ground a solid foot before he strikes again in a skid. Dragging across stoney earth, friction grinds his momentum to a halt, bringing the bruised and beaten form of Kataki to an ultimate stop a short distance away -- battered, but not beaten. Not quite yet.
"... heh... heheh-- *HACK*" Kataki breaks into a fit of wet, sickly coughs as he drags himself onto his feet. His hands cup of mouth, tendrils of crimson seeping from between his digits. "... heheh..." Yet still, he almost -giggles- as he drags himself up onto his feet, looking so very pleased. "Good... -good-. Don't hold anything back. Don't restrain yourself. Your friends, your loved ones... do you have it in you to TAKE from them what you deserve? What they -owe- you? Let me see, Hotaru-chan." His feet drag out into an easy fighting stance. Wakazashi sheathed, his thin digits finger the hilt cautiously. "Show me more. Friendship, -appreciation-... those are just words. They don't mean anything unless you fool yourself into believing they have value. YOU are MORE than what they see in you. So let's see it... hmmmmm!?"
Her balance regained, the girl holds her hands out in front of her, fingers trembling, her eyes widened as she stares at them. Of course she's hurt people before. She is a professional fighter. It comes with the territory - injure and get injured. But on only two prior occasions had she wished such savage harm against an opponent, driving all the energy she had into their bodies with no concern as to the outcome. In the aftermath she had been revolted, horrified at what she had done.
But this time there is almost a certain elation, a sense of vindication. Everything she had been told about her capacity, all the predictions about her limits... what did they know? She can channel that power just as well as anyone else who might claim to be her peer. Her hands still held in front of her, her eyes stray up over her fingers to gaze at Kataki as he pulls himself back to his feet.
The degree of damage dealt out is evident. Yet in spite it all he seems amused, as he was getting his own way even with the ghastly damage she had done to him. Clenching her hands into fists, fighting back the trembling, she glares back at Frei's brother. "You misunderstand," she replies. "I don't need to take anything away from them... I don't need them for anything." The words are bitter on her tongue, her psyche calling into question the assertion in the very moment she utters it.
"All I want is the strength to protect them." She takes a step forward, lowering her arms against her side. "And for... for them to know that the efforts they made in teaching me weren't in vain. Compared to me so many of them are helpless." Another step forward is taken, foot crunching down through the snow. "If I hold back then it would be my fault if something happened to them." Another step, splatters of blood dripping onto the moist, frozen surface from the deep wound in her hip. "If I really do have that kind of power within me... then it's my responsibility to use it." She takes another step, merely walking toward the young man, eyes looking through him rather than at him, as if almost in a trance.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Kataki
"For them...? Hmmmm." Kataki muses as Hotaru seems utterly intent on her words. He mulls them over as she lingers, head tilting to the side. Her hesitation -- or rather, PREPARATION -- affords him the time he needs to recover, hands wiping almost idly at his mouth in distaste for the blood that has been spilt. "And all over my outfit, too..." he mutters to himself in an annoyed tone. "Oh, the sacrifices we must make."
His attention twitching back towards Hotaru as she speaks, Kataki's lips purse, his single visible brow furrowing. "Teaching you? And what compelled them? Friendship, or pity? It's not just your enemies that underestimate you, Hotaru-chan. What do you think my brother would do if he knew what was going on? He'd tell you to 'stop! He's dangerous!'" Kataki makes a mocking attempt at Frei's voice, a thin hand lifting into the air as he speaks. "'He could hurt you!' That isn't friendship, poor little Hotaru. You want to know what that is? That's condescension. That's contempt. Ignorance..." His grip on his weapon tightens, considerably.
"That's pity."
And with that, he lashes out. His body leaps through the air, -spinning- in a rather graceful arch as his blade unsheashes, slashing forward with the circular motion to slice a cold gash along the length of the girl's torso. "Protect them all you want -- they still won't think any higher of their sweet little flower!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kataki's Medium Strike.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Kataki
"You should worry more about yourself than your outfit," Hotaru states as she continues to advance, her pace patient, her entire demeanor changed from when the fight began. "You don't look too well."
Her mouth twitches a little, her tight lipped expression giving way for a degree of annoyance as Kataki talks about Frei and how he'd react to this exchange between the two. "How can someone be concerned yet hold contempt for another?" Hotaru asks back, her brow furrowing. "Does not one rule out the other?" She struggles against his words, against her injuries, against the doubts in her mind. "If they think I am weak then I will just have to show them otherwise. All of them."
He leaps for her, attempting to land a severe slash to her torso, but Hotaru steps deftly out of the way, keeping her evasion minimal. Just enough to not get struck. "What is that? You think you can hit me with that kind of speed?" the girl replies, shifting her balance back onto the offense.
"And what about you? Who are you to speak?" she asks as she takes a step forward, attempting to get in close as she slams her left hand out, palm first, trying to drive it into his ribs. "You think you know better? You think you have the kind of power I do?!" she growls, following up with a twist of her body to try and land a second, harder slam with her right palm. "Let's see!"
COMBATSYS: Kataki counters Strong Punch from Hotaru with Ansatsujin - Shiden.
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Hotaru 1/-------/=======|-------\-------\0 Kataki
"Heh..." Kataki coughs, staring at a blood-stained hand in a look of almost morbid curiosity. "Oh, I wouldn't concern yourself over that, Ho~ta~ru~chan," the young man sing-songs out Hotaru's name in an annoyingly -cheerful- tone that seems to contrast so sharply with the look of intensity in that single, visible eye.
"You'll be looking worse off..."
Hotaru side-steps his assault with amazing grace and skill, twisting just beyond his reach. His lips pull into a thin smile.
"... soon enough."
Landing, Kataki's legs bend at the knees in a vague crouch, black hakama rustling across his legs and billowing with the cold winds. "And you shouldn't concern yourself about MY feelings towards my... dear brother. Concern yourself with the truth. They look down on you. Pity you as being weaker than them, something to -protect-. Even your little student, so eager to protect you when we first met... as if you couldn't do it yourself. So disrespectful, don't you think? Yet..."
Kataki rises as Hotaru moves -forward-, making her boasts. A dead smile slips across Kataki's lips, dull gaze lazily drifting towards her approaching form. "I wasn't trying to hit you, Hotaru-chan..." Her palm drives forward to bury itself into his ribcage. Yet -- she'll find herself passing THROUGH him. The form of Kataki wavers, sputters, and devolves into a wash of horrible Psycho Power that strikes the mind and the body, overflowing with negative emotion that seeks to draw upon the worst traits within Hotaru -- -enhance- them, bring them to the surface, bolster their intensity.
"... I was trying to distract you."
The voice comes from behind. And it's exactly then that the -true- pain begins. As that psychic afterimage devolves into pure energy and assaults Hotaru's psyche, she may note that Kataki seems to be -surrounding- her in a series of blurring, psyching afterimages, slicing into her with a flurry of stabbing thrusts. His wakizashi cuts and impales innumerable times, enhances with the cold feeling of Kataki's violet-etched Psycho Power drilling itself into Hotaru's mind, into Hotaru's soul; an unpleasant and debilitating complement to the physical abuse as Kataki repeatedly slashes at Hotaru from every conceivable angle at dizzying speeds, only stopping -directly- behind her, amethyst vapors of Psycho Power rising in the space between them. Dark crimson liquid drips off the edge of his blade. His smile becomes considerably more unpleasant.
"I think I do. What do you think, Hotaru-chan...?"
Stumbling forward as her first strike meets no resistance, the girl's mouth falls agape as she tries to correct for this unexpected problem. But the time to react is non-existant before what seemed to her to be Frei's brother washes over her.
But it isn't in pain that she finds herself lost. Not at first. Instead it's the emotions she's harbored deeply for years - fear of being alone, fear of being a disappointment; envy for those who seem to leave her in the dust without even training nearly as hard as she does; the mortal dread she has that she might someday steer the poor boy that looks to her for guidance in the wrong way and that the result will be nothing short of a tragedy. Frozen in place, her eyes, wide and unseeing, stare at nothing but the drifting snow as Kataki speaks up from behind her.
She's only vaguely aware of the images of the young man as she is assaulted by a storm of sword slashes, stabs, strikes, and gashes, each one laced with his Psycho Power. For a long moment after he appears right behind her, Hotaru simply stands there, her mouth frozen open. Her clothing in tatters, her own blood dripping down into the snow around her feet.
And then she finally turns, left hand reaching out in an attempt to catch the swift foe by his top...
COMBATSYS: Hotaru can no longer fight.
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Kataki 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kataki blocks Hotaru's Hakki Shou EX.
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Kataki 0/-------/------=|
The grip she gets is the only thing that keeps her standing for even a moment longer as the girl glares up into the face of the swordsman. Barely able to breath, even focusing on him is difficult. "I will show them otherwise," she growls, feeling her strength slip from her rapidly. "What I can do. They are wrong and I can prove it. You just don't understand. Just like them. How I've held back... but..."
Her forearm glimmers to life with a spiral of blue chi, "Not... anymore." Her left hand loses its grip as she starts to slump forward, her right hand slaming up toward Kataki as she tries to drive one last burst of the power she can control into him.
Dully, Kataki straightens himself out, back cracking as a thin trail of dark red oozes down the corner of his mouth. "Mmm," he hums out thoughtfully, head lolling to the side with a series of wet cracks as he rolls out all the kinks. An almost sleepy gaze is afforded to Hotaru as Kataki looks behind him, a smile twitching at his lips.
"That's better."
Casual steps bring Kataki pivoting smoothly on a heel to face Hotaru Futaba directly. Battered and bruised, his thin form looks almost pathetically weak -- yet the intensity of his stare contradicts any notion of weakness, the fire raging within that visible eye far more potent than his battered frame would ever suggest him to be. She lashes out, gripping him by his top, the dark fabric of his clothes bunching up. Kataki looks down distastefully, the sudden shift in his expression suggesting he might strike her -down- for daring to touch him. But--
"Good. GOOD. Show them just how little they know you. You're -strong-. Show them you don't need them--" His words are cut off as Hotaru's grip once more flares to life with activity. His gaze darts down, looking unmistakeably surprised at this last-ditch effort.
Yet, for all his surprise, Kataki reacts swiftly. A flurry of black and violet cloth heralds his movement in a backwards leap, his short sword slicing out into the mass of chi. The blade cuts through cleanly, ripping through the mass; yet the excess burns across his arm, washes against his torso with a sudden slam of impact that sends him stumbling. When he comes to a stop, his body is smoking. Tendrils lift from the sight of burning impact; a deep frown creases Kataki's lips. He -glares- at the slumped Hotaru, looking annoyed -- angry, even. "Just don't... know when to quit. But you know now." As he speaks, Kataki smoothly sheathes his wakizashi. His expression quickly melts into something more annoyingly pleasant as he begins a slow and labored walk out of the church yard, limping as he goes. A shuddering cough escapes his lips, blood still dripping from his mouth from the injuries sustained.
"And I can only imagine how much -fun- you're going to have now..." His smile darkens, twisting into something entirely unpleasant as he speaks to himself.
"I'm sure Frei will be elated with my gift. Heh. Such exciting times lie ahead..."
COMBATSYS: Kataki takes no action.
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Kataki 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Kataki has ended the fight here.
Lying, bleeding in the snow, Hotaru is mostly still as Kataki speaks. But her eyes are open, and her fingers curled tightly around several blades of grass suggests that she's conscious enough to hear him. As he limps away the girl stares after him, her cheek pressed against the ground. 'Fun?' There's nothing fun about the work ahead, the girl's wracked mind contemplates. People like those who have bested her before - they could only have gotten that far by not holding anything back, willing to go to any length to get stronger.
Her mouth tightens into a grim, tight lipped expression as the girl pictures those she used to think were just better, stronger than she was. But she knows different now. They had a secret - their willingness, or perhaps even eagerness to flex their strength to get their way made them that way. But now she knows that secret too.
Slowly her eyes close and she exhales tiredly. So much work ahead, she tells herself as she drifts off. But first a nap.
Log created on 22:25:14 01/06/2008 by Hotaru, and last modified on 03:26:03 01/27/2008.