Description: Hotaru has a new anti-fan at Seijyun. The daughter of a Kyokugen rival is looking for someone to blame her father's crazy antics on and unfortunately Ryo's star pupil gets the privilege of being that someone. Kasumi finds even catching the girl off guard doesn't mean the Futaba girl is easy to contend with.
Ah, winter break period. An ideal time for students of all ages to go stomping across the world training, destroying dojos, or -- well, pursuing more noble hobbies too, one might suppose. Maybe rather than punching Kyokugen around the world like some kind of warped fighting game character, Kasumi spent the entire break watching horror movies. Whatever the case, though, the young woman has finally returned to school a few days late.
Her attitude hasn't improved much; in fact, it has arguably gotten a little /worse/, or at least seems like she might be. Her intensity is definitely up a little, and those who were used to her being a little on the blunt side of things... might even get a little bit of a surprise.
It /definitely/ becomes apparent when she actually gets to her locker, fiddling with the lock and muttering, "... memorize /one more/ list of cultural taboos from... swear I'm gonna... Wasted the whole break..."
One of the students considered perhaps the antithesis of intensity, Hotaru Futaba is an average student in a world of elites. School is done out of a sense of obligation. She's come this far, she might as well graduate... Her estate is paying the tuition after all, and squandering her family's money has never been one of her intentions.
Normally calm, the pig-tailed student makes her way down the school hall, chatting lightly with another student at her side. Looking sheepish about something, the Kenpo artist rests her hand behind her head. "No, no. Nothing like that. She as very good, even if her style was difficult to identify..."
Clad in the school uniform like a good student who just wants to get by without standing out too much or being pegged as a rebel of any kind, Hotaru pauses, raising her finger, "One moment, I need to get something out of my locker." Walking up to the wall of school-assigned storage compartments, she hefts off her weighty backpack and drops it to the floor with a loud *THUNK*. Heavy with books and... a number of lead bars Ryo insists she carries around in the stupid thing, any excuse to put it on the ground is an excuse gladly taken. Stretching her tired back a little, she leans forward to fiddle with the lock before popping it open. The locker door itself doesn't budge though until Hotaru slams it with her palm and the stubborn door swings open reluctantly. "Saa..." Hotaru sighs.
Unfortunately for Hotaru, Kasumi (who wears her martial arts outfit at pretty much all times, the first in a large number of transgressions against overall good studentry) hears that loud thunk. Now what could /that/ be, she wonders to herself, as she glances over toward the source of the aforementioned noise, scanning over the lockers until eventually, /eventually/... she spots Hotaru.
Recognition sets in rapidly. She remembers Hotaru's little stunt on Saturday Night Fight all those months ago. Remembers how she thrashed her father just like Ryo did all those years ago. She, clearly, is no better! Just another Kyokugen practicioner -- and though she may go about her little vendetta in a very clean, honorable way, it is still an important vendetta which must always end in punches in the face. No exceptions! Except maybe sometimes when other people need to be punched /more/. Yes.
She shoves her things into her locker quickly and gives it a quick kick shut as she walks away, eyes locked right onto the Futaba heiress as she hits her /own/ locker similarly. The senior student, when she is perhaps ten feet from the tired girl, yells out, "Hey! I recognize you -- you beat my father up on television! It's probably why he's run off /again/!" The fact that she's spent the last few weeks not doing much where she /would/ come into contact with her father clearly has nothing to do with it; for that matter, the fact that the event Kasumi's mentioning happened three months ago has nothing to do with it either. She stomps her foot down once, firmly.
The sound of the locker door being kicked doesn't get Hotaru's attention. The propensity of students to dish out unholy pain upon their poor lockers is hardly unusual, even in the frilly, prissy campus of Seijyun High. But the challening shout is harder to miss, causing Hotaru turn and face Kasumi with a blink.
Her mouth quirks into a quiet smile. She recognizes Kasumi immediately. Not like any student of the Kyokugen wouldn't know what a member of the Todoh household looked like. "Hell-" she starts to reply to Kasumi's shout of recognition, only to be cut off as the other girl continues to rattle on about beating up Todoh and somehow causing him to go running off.
Blink. The verbal exchange brings some of the girls in the hall to a stop, eyes turning toward the two facing each other to see what's going on. A school full of fighters, outbreaks of violence aren't unheard of, in spite staff's attempts to the contrary. And both girls are recognized fighters, so...
"I'm sorry, that was- ah, you mean the time at the ball pit? Or the wrestling ring? Or outside your dojo? Oh, no," Hotaru muses, hand coming up to rest at her chin, "That last one wasn't a SNF." Yeah, sadly, she's had more than one run in with Kasumi's supposed father figure. None of them having ended well for Todoh. "But I don't really think those have anything to do with him, ah, spending time away from home," the girl reasons, brow furrowing slightly. "Perhaps he's off recruiting students?" she offers helpfully.
The fact that /three/ of them come up just clinches it in Kasumi's mind -- this girl is clearly not only a Kyokugen practicioner, but a particularly malicious one, disguising her Eeeeeeevil Intentions (tm) with sweetness and light! That's the /worst/ kind of Kyokugen practicioner -- not even the kind that you can go out and have ice cream with when you're not punching each other in the name of martial arts!
"Come on, we both know that's not true at all," comes an almost instant reply. "If he were off looking for students, it means he'd send them home and keep looking so /I'd/ have a bunch of ridiculous-looking brats recruited by my father, driven to desperation by the shame of Kyokugen, to throw around until they learn to throw Kasane Ates." That's certainly /one/ way to describe martial arts training. Stepping forward, well into Hotaru's personal space, Kasumi declares, "You drove him out of Southtown again!" she concludes, dramatically.
Raising her arms high, she takes a small step forward and swings them down; she lets loose with a particularly fierce Kasane Ate, much like her father's in some respects but sharper, more finessed, more refined -- certainly lacking in quite the raw /power/, but...
"Defend yourself!"
COMBATSYS: Kasumi has started a fight here.
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Kasumi 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kasumi
COMBATSYS: Hotaru reflects Kasane Ate from Kasumi with Kobi Kyaku.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kasumi
Kasumi's retort causes Hotaru to shift her hand up to rest against her cheek, her fingers idly rubbing her temple as her blue eyes study the other blue eyed girl, trying to measure how serious she is about this rant of hers. Master Takuma said Todoh was quite insane. And considering how insane Takuma is, that's saying a lot. How should she know why he isn't around home like he should be?!
"What do you mean by throwing them aro-" Hotaru starts to ask, only to be cut off by the accusation of having driven Todoh off, just like her Ryo-sensei had done years before. "I assure you," she retorts, pulling her hand from her cheek, finger raised, "I don't see how I could have had anything to do with tha-"
Kasumi isn't really interested in excuses, is she. That much becomes abundantly clear as Todoh's only child steps forward and unleashes the attack that anyone who has seen a Todoh-ryuu practioner fight would expect. Which is why Hotaru ends up dealing with it much the same way she's handled Todoh's. By sending it right back to its owner!
A swing of her leg from low to high is followed by a swath of blue energy that balloons out and crashes against the Kasane Ate, clashing with it for a moment before finally sending the family technique hurtling back Kasumi's way. "KYA!"
Hotaru lowers her leg, hands busying themselves with patting her blue skirt back into place, huffing with mild annoyance just a little as Kasumi's forced to deal with her own attack being returned. Ah well, Hotaru decides, it's no big deal if a hall full of fellow students get to see her light blue underwear. It /is/ an all girl's school after all. "I think you might be going about this the wrong way," comes the calm observation, though there's a certain tension in her voice. Somehow she suspects she's going to get in trouble for this, even if all she's trying to do is defend herself.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Kasumi with Reflected Kasane Ate.
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Kasumi
Kasumi's own little wave of chi bounces off of the Kyokugen student's leg, and in turn bounces right back into Kasumi herself; this doesn't seem to go too hot for Kasumi, and the young lady is sent sprawling by the force of her own chi. She bounces back an inch or two, eventually stopping as she slams a shoulder into one of the lockers; looks like that one hurt more than she intended.
"What do you mean, going about it the wrong way?!" she asks, as she arches her back and then does a forceful kip-up, getting back to her feet and leaning forward a little. "Even if you /don't/ know where he is, it's your fault!" she yells, taking a few steps back. Well, /that/ trick certainly didn't work, she thinks to herself -- she'll need to be a little more judicious about how she throws out those ridiculous Kasane Ates in the future. She'll have to try something a bit more substantive...
... and probably a lot faster, too. Suddenly stepping in toward Hotaru again, the younger Todoh grabs at her opponent's arm, trying to snag her by the wrist and then flip around behind her, wrenching said arm in a quick, more harassive than actually effectual, armbar.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Fast Throw from Kasumi with Light Kick.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Kasumi
Hotaru's attempts to calm the other girl down only seem to be inciting her further, the pig-tailed Kenpo artist begins to realize. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that-" Gah! Doesn't the girl stop ranting and raving for a second about father this, Kyokugen that, blame who!?
"You could be looking for him instead of taking it out on me," she finally states, raising her hands up in front of her, palms forward, as if imploring Kasumi to calm down for a moment. But it's to no avail and only leaves her wrist getting snagged by Todoh's student. She attempts to swing out with her leg and intersect Kasumi with her knee in almost a lazy fashion before the other girl can get behind her, but not taking Kasumi seriously leaves her not fast enough.
Her arm gets twisted behind her, wrenched into a position that's more awkward than remarkably painful. But it means she's in a bad position as she arches up on her toes to try and take some of the pressure off her shoulder. Hissing a little as her cheeks become just a little red, the girl struggles to twist herself free, "Fine, if this is how you want to deal with it!" she speaks through gritted teeth.
That is not an expertly applied arm-bar, and Hotaru probably has no trouble getting out of it; Chris Jericho, the young Todohryuu practicioner is decidedly not. Or if she is, she has a very excellent disguise. "I /have/ been looking for him!" comes another somewhat shaky rebuttal, as Kasumi explains, "I just can't /find/ him and I thought it might be a good idea to start..."
This is where Kasumi stops for a second, suddenly turning away from Hotaru altogether, in spite of their close proximity. Is she nuts? Is she going to throw the fight because of some dramatic, key realization that changes everything? She continues, "... by asking..." as she clenches her fists tight, taking a deep breath...
... and then she proves that no, cooler heads definitely aren't prevailing. She whirls around and drops her stance a little, and at the same time, swings the fist of one hand up as fast as she can, seeming to almost leave afterimages behind as she tries to smash Hotaru's jaw, crying, "the person who drove him off!" She just does /not/ listen.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kasumi's Hakuzan Tou.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Kasumi
Whirling around to face Kasumi, Hotaru is ready for when Kasumi comes at her again with that rising fist aiming to crunch her poor glass jaw. A step to the side, one palm coming up to make sure that the other girl can't swing her hand back to backfist her after the initial strike, and Hotaru is spared a hard hit for now at least!
"How do you know for sure that I have anything to do with it?" comes the reasoned reply, though her voice is terse, her tone becoming impatient. The girl is one of the more patient people around, but she has her limits and a litany of accusations seems to be one of those things that pushes them hard.
"Oh, nevermind." she seems to have given up on reason. Kasumi's irrate and Hotaru isn't going to talk her way out of this she decides, taking two step forward, both hands coming out to try and grab hold of Kasumi's gi top before turning around, dropping into a kneeling position as she attempts to flip the girl right over her shoulder to the floor. "Ya!"
COMBATSYS: Kasumi counters Quick Throw from Hotaru with Sasshou Inshuu.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kasumi
'Irate' is putting it delicately. Kasumi is sometimes pretty fun and reasonable, but at the same time, sometimes she just makes it difficult to like her. She's blunt, she gets bad ideas and refuses to let go of them, and she is, arguably, a tiny bit screamy. "He wouldn't leave town if it wasn't --" she starts, locking her eyes on the advancing Futaba. This is when the beauty of her previous tactic comes in; having one arm raised aggressively and one arm set to block thanks to that uppercutting sweep positions her /perfectly/.
A near-/shriek/ comes from the girl, as she yells, "I SAW WHAT YOU DID THERE!" and grabs each of Hotaru's hands with her own, twisting both arms and holding Hotaru for just a little while. "YAAAH!" Her leg comes up next, and she aims a forceful toe kick right for the bottom of Hotaru's breastbone, grinding her foot in a little before pushing off and letting go of Futaba's arms.
She then turns away, saying, "Thinking you can catch /me/ off guard. Ho ho ho!" If she were her father, this would be when the fan-waving would start. It is a small yet significant mercy.
Finding her aggressive retaliation met with having her hands gripped tightly, Hotaru tries to pull back just before her arms get twisted, evoking a wince from the pig-tailed fighter. It only gets worse as Kasumi's toe gets jammed into her stomach without letting go. The final push and release leaves the Futaba heiress stumbling backward, arms flailing as she catches her balance just before she would have fallen over.
"Ugh," the girl gasps, hand coming up to rest at her stomach as she looks a little pale. Normally she strictly avoids eating before fighting but this wasn't exactly a scheduled brawl and right now she's starting to feel a little sick from lunch. Her mouth twitches a little at Kasumi's accusation but she doesn't refute it. Maybe she was trying to catch her off guard, or maybe she doesn't care what the other girl is ranting about anymore.
"Your father is a..." Hotaru falls quiet. She was trying to find a compliment, but it's hard to find the right statement without just falling back on an unconvincing lie, something the Futaba girl isn't good at in the slightest. "... very committed to his art." she finally states, "And I can respect that, even if I don't agree with his hostile attitude toward the Kyokugen school of fighting that I attend. You could honor him by looking for students as well and beginning to teach in his absense, perhaps?"
As she speaks, her right forearm is awash with a blue glow as she begins to channel power from the world around her into the palm of her hand. Rolling her arm behind her, she punctuates her statement by flinging her arm forward, unloading a shimmering blue ball of force directly back toward the other girl. "Ha!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Kasumi with Hakki Shou.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Kasumi
"Well, yeah, I /could/ do that," Kasumi counters, shortly before that blue ball of energy flies right at her and sends her flying at an odd angle; her shoulder rams into the lockers, and she groans a tiny bit in pain. She's pretty good at taking massive chi blasts, but not quite so much at recovering /from/ taking them -- a small, yet important distinction. Leaning forward, she clutches at that wounded shoulder, shaking her head a little.
"... hey, wait a minute! Where do you get off telling me to start teaching people!?" she demands, abruptly. Sure, she'd said earlier that she'd totally do it, if with a less than stellar method, but hey. Kasumi has a mental narrative that makes sense to /Kasumi/ and that's all that matters at the end of the day. "I can't teach until I finish getting revenge on Kyokugen for my father!!" Cracking a smile, she tenses her back a little...
... and just shrugs. The top of her ridiculous gi-like outfit falls to the sides, allowing her a /lot/ more freedom of arm movement (and revealing a pretty awesome tube top). Giving young Futaba a little smirk, she extends a hand out toward her, making a 'come on!' gesture. "I mean, Ryo isn't a full Kyokugen master yet, he hasn't finished the things /he/ needs to do -- and look how terrible /you're/ turning out!"
COMBATSYS: Kasumi focuses on her next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Kasumi
The girl blinks at Kasumi's retort, "I thought that's what you wanted..." she admits, her tone passive and a little bit bewildered. Does Kasumi have the same cerebral affliction her father seems to have of never being able to make one shread of coherent sense. "So you're saying that there's nothing you could pass on to a new generation of students," Hotaru replies, her tone still controlled through force of will. "That's certainly one outlook to have, and there's nothing wrong with it." There's just the slightest hint of preachy patronizing in her voice, as if her patience was quickly wearing thin.
Kasumi decides to get more comfortable and Hotaru replies in turn, shrugging off her blue school blazer and holding it out ot the side where the girl that was speaking with her before retrieves it for her. Those things are expensive, no sense in letting it get dirty or damaged!
And then Kasumi goes and talks about Ryo and Hotaru frowns. Trying to remind herself to not get caught up in the verbal spat of the other girl. Kasumi has already proven herself capable as a fighter after all, so must be taken seriously even if she doesn't act like she should be. "Ryo-sensei has helped me come a long way," the girl insists, her hands tightening at her side as she extends her arms out to her sides, slipping into a low, crouching stance, her feet split far apart. "If you think you're ready to see how, you're welcome to continue this fight. I understand if you would rather not."
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Kasumi
Kasumi makes plenty of sense! Sometimes. Times like when she's not either in the middle of a fight or in the surrounding time period thereof. Or when she is confronting Kyokugen fighters that she has no particular personal investment in. "You really want to go this route, huh," Kasumi says, shaking her head. "Well, you know what? If you think it's doing you good, we can test that," she says, nodding firmly.
Deliberating for a moment, she tries to figure out how to best attack Hotaru; she definitely thinks that there have been some fluke successes on her part here, and plumbing /those/ depths might be effective, she tells herself. As such, the girl leaps up, kicking off of a nearby drinking fountain and taking to the skies, getting ready to try the exact same trick in a slightly different way!
Falling down toward the earth, Kasumi cries out, "BUT IT'S JUST KYOKUGEN! HAAAAAAAA!" Sweeping her arms down a second time, the young woman creates a slightly fiercer Kasane Ate than before -- this one a little more like her father's: a tiny bit more orange and a good bit blockier.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Kasane Ate from Kasumi with Tenshin Shou EX.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-
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Hotaru 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Kasumi
The Kenpo artist maintains her low stance, arms out at her sides for balance, her feet shifting into position. She'll show this pretentious girl what she means! Following the Kyokugen way of delivering simple but powerful blows even if it means having to take a hit to do so, the girl simply watches Kasumi take to the air.
All the better she tells herself as she tightens up like a coiled spring ready to launch. "Tenshin-" she murmurs before shoving up off her feet, intending to meet Kasumi in the air with a powerful shoulder slam, combining all the strength in her body into a single, solid hit.
It might have worked, too, if her shoes were up to the task. The pressure applied by the technique proves to be too much for the dress shoe on her right foot, the footware slipping, the top half of the shoe ripping right off the sole, denying the fighter any traction at all. "-AH!"
What was meant to be a graceful lunge into the air becomes a faltering stumble that leaves her smashed from above by the air born Kasane Ate, driving her down to the hallway floor face first with a pained gasp. She doesn't just lie there for long, pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, her face flushed red as she shakes her head to clear her mind.
Getting the rest of the way up to her feet in order to avoid being a sitting target, she whirls around to face Kasumi, hands coming up to brush at her shirt. So much for keeping the white dress shirt clean as it's picked up a nice layer of floor dust and the sleeve at her left shoulder is torn a little. The girl has nothing to say, her expression tight lipped as can be.
Watching Hotaru overextend herself, overexert herself, for nothing is something that Kasumi definitely enjoys a great deal -- she gives her opponent a smug little smile as she watches Hotaru hit the floor face first. She may be honorable, but she's kind of a bitch-o-tron when she's getting her way. Or not getting her way. Too much of anything is a problem. "See?!" comes her taunting voice, as she pauses to crack her knuckles a bit. "What was that!? That was /pathetic/!"
Rushing at Futaba yet again just as she turns to face the Todoh-ryuu practicioner, Kasumi considers just how to properly keep her from recovering from that nasty spill. Thinking back to earlier, she decides to try a tactic she knows works -- at least when Hotaru is on the offensive. Grabbing at the girl's shoulders, she chides, "Overextend, rush, attack -- it's all Kyokugen knows how to do! And clearly it's just not enough~!" as she brings a knee up into Hotaru's gut.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Combo Throw from Kasumi with Ten-ren-ge.
- Power hit! -
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Kasumi
There's something else Kyokguen is known for. Rapid flurries of smaller strikes to soften up an opponent before delivering a stronger impact to knock them down. And it's that philosophy that Kasumi gets introduced right now as Hotaru lets the other girl grab her shoulders. "Does your school revolve around making false assumptions?" comes the question back, her tone controlled but her irritation no longer remotely hidden.
And as the other girl's knee lifts up for her stomach, that's when Hotaru unloads, shoving herself forward such that she gets struck in the side instead of her gut, unleashing a flurry of rapid palm strikes against Todoh's daughter's torso, driving her backward by sheer accumulation of so many small blows.
But the coup de grace comes in the form of a lunging shoulder slam, much like the one she meant to deliver earlier, knocking Kasumi into the air. Rising up with her, Hotaru finishes with a spin kick to her side to drive her back even further before dropping down to land in a crouch, exhaling as she props herself up with one hand, perspiration rolling down her cheeks.
"No," Kasumi says through gritted teeth as palm strike after palm strike rains down on her chest. "Like I said... I'm not... a Kyokugen student." Sassy to the bitter end -- and when that vicious shoulder slam comes, Kasumi goes flying just as she's earned. Put back down with the spin-kick, the young Todoh woman crashes into a garbage can, spreading grime across the glorious, clean Seijyun hallway! If they get caught, this is probably only going to end in heartbreak.
Heartbreak... and triumph?! That seems to be what Kasumi is thinking of, as she once again does a quick arch of her back and subsequent kip-up, getting herself back to her feet with no trouble at all. Reaching up to her hair, she unties her hair ribbon, letting her dark locks fall to either side. The blows catch up with her a little more here, and her posture sinks -- her stance is definitely almost destroyed now. She just can't stay in a good position. "... that the best you've got?" she teases, even as she loses what little command over the fight she had a minute ago. "I'm still standing... and you're... still..."
Raising her hands high, she proves herself to be only /slightly/ more imaginative than her old man. Hotaru is probably getting used to this at this point -- her opponent seems to be sticking to what she knows, sweeping her arms down and letting loose another three-sectioned, blossom-like wave of chi toward Futaba, shouting, "KYOKUGEN!!" She just won't even /try/ to get off that point, will she?
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kasumi's Kasane Ate.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|=======\===----\1 Kasumi
Hotaru is slow to rise back to standing, shifting back into a loose, ready stance, her shoulder turned toward Kasumi as she tries to clear her head. The crazy girl's accusations are starting to wear thin and while Kasumi seems to represent her family style well enough, Hotaru isn't sure why she's giving her the benefit of this fight to begin with. "This is ridiculous," Hotaru mutters beneath her breath.
As Kasumi raises her hands up, the girl is already prepared, well familiar with the million Kasane Ate she's had to deal with between her fighters with Todoh and Kasumi's repeated use of them. The wave of chi crashes past as Hotaru steps to the side, already charging forward parallel to the surge of energy, allowing it to fly by harmlessly.
Hoping to slip in an attack before Kasumi recovers, she strikes swiftly, sliding in slow, her one shoeless foot slipping easily across the floor, before spinning in the last yard with her back toward Kasumi and her elbow rising for a direct blow into the stomach of Todoh's daughter.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Kasumi with Quick Punch.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1 Kasumi
Hotaru's punch finds Kasumi's stomach well enough, as she seems to seemingly run /into/ it; perhaps she had some cunning plan, but it's certainly been disrupted by that hard, swift blow to the stomach. By this point, she's finished offering witty repartee, and the comment that the whole business is ridiculous goes untouched. ... for better or for worse.
Kasumi narrows her eyes at Futaba, trying to gauge her movements for a second, trying to get a good sense of how to recoup the advantage she lost by taking that hit straight. "... hm," she breathes, as she tries to remember what she taught herself to do here -- her father's little tricks had their limits, and the younger Todoh has had to... improvise, for many things.
She moves lightning-fast as she gets ready to clinch the fight, bringing one arm up toward the rip in Futaba's sleeve to better catch her. Her other hand, meanwhile, streaks down toward the bottom of her shirt, trying to catch her there too -- she's not even trying for an actual grab, just to catch her opponent's clothes and hold her still? What's going on!?
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kasumi's Shiranui.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Kasumi
*RIP* It was close. The Kenpo artist and unlucky Kyokugen student might just have to go on having no idea what in the world it was Kasumi had in mind. All she knows, now standing a meter and a half away from Todoh's proud daughter, is that the other girl has her sleeve in her hand. Hotaru blinks at her bare arm then back at Kasumi. "Excuse you."
She exhales, clenching her hands tightly as she once again attempts to focus her concentration and bite back any of the more unpleasant thoughts that come to mind. 'Do you think picking school fights is going to get any students?' 'Maybe if you spent more time practicing than blaming everyone else for everything you'd be further along in your art.' 'You realize we're both going to get busted because of your temper.' Her mouth twitches as she tries to suppress the litany of rants that try to force themselves out, biting her tongue a bit.
"You have a very reliably consistant style," is the best she can manage in the end. Almost impossible to interpret as either a burn or a compliment. But she doesn't let up - she's quite convinced Kasumi isn't going to give her a break even after ripping her sleeve off like that. Crouching just slightly, she leaps up into the air into a small hop, spinning around and dropping her right leg down toward Kasumi's bare shoulder. If she connects, she'll land and sweep out with her left leg for the other girl's ankles while she's at it, trying to take her off her feet /again/.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Kasumi with Light Kick.
- Power hit! -
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Kasumi
The one-two of kicks catches Kasumi off guard as she notices that she's accidentally ripped Hotaru's sleeve off; this was definitely /not/ her intent, and a little embarassment goes a long way in letting Hotaru dole out the punishment. Kasumi's shoulder sags, and she leaves herself very much open to the sweep that comes after -- her body makes a hard thud as it connects with the ground, and she starts to realize that, for all her bluster, she didn't actually achieve what she set out to do.
And not doing what she set out to do is something that Kasumi just won't put up with. She /has/ to come away with something from this, even if it's a pyrrhic victory -- and that's why she pulls herself up one last time, even though her body is telling her this /totally/ isn't worth it. She sways as she stands, asking, "That's... all you... can say?" She swings out with one arm, starting a potentially very long series of strikes and taking her body to its limit...
COMBATSYS: Kasumi can no longer fight.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru parries Kasumi's Senkou Nagashi!
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Hotaru 0/-------/----===|
Rising back into a full standing position after her sweep, Hotaru turns back toward Kasumi, holding back now. Tired, sore, and now down her sleeve, the girl isn't interested in entertaining Kasumi's vendetta any further at the moment. But Todoh's daughter is persistant if anything and insists on attempting to slip another series of strikes in on the weary Futaba.
Hotaru's reaction isn't to run out of the way, jump, roll, or tumble. She meets Kasumi head on, blue eyes flashing as she frowns, bringing her hands up to slap aside the strikes, one after another, finally gripping Kasumi's incoming wrist with her hand and pulling the other girl forward and shoving her sideways. The opening to strike again presents itself surely, but Hotaru merely holds her ground.
"You want me to say more?" Hotaru asks, her tone angry in spite the way she keeps her voice down. "What for? You don't listen to anything I said anyway." She pauses, mouth trembling a little, her arm coming up to wipe across her brow. "Well. You should know. Ryo-sensei taught me that." she states somberly. "Among many other things that helped me here. Your insulting of my teacher will not be tolerated. The Sakazaki's have been very kind with their willingness to share their style with me even if I can't represent it perfectly every time. I do not believe the way you or your father describe them is remotely fair."
She takes a step back, her hand reaching out to grasp her blue blazer from her friend, which she slips back on, concealing a fair portion of the battle damage but for the dust up and down the front of her shirt and, well, her missing shoe. "If you weren't so closed minded, perhaps you could see that every style of fighting has something to offer, something to be learned, and by being flexible and open to new ideas, one can become a better fighter. I know. I have done just that. Dismissing Kyokugen as a style will never get you anywhere."
She brushes down her skirt and adjusts her jacket, then turns to walk over toward her backpack, only to twitch a little as she realizes she's going to have to heft the ponderous weight onto her back even though she's hurting pretty bad in spite her efforts to conceal the pain.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has ended the fight here.
Kasumi falls to the ground when pushed sideways; she doesn't have the control to recover, and she falls right down and slides into a half-shut pair of double doors, slowing a fair amount. The imapct couldn't really be termed /painful/, just unpleasant. She groans, rolling over to look up toward Hotaru as the young kenpoist finally gives her a little chewing-out which is probably well-deserved; perhaps it's more than battle damage that keeps her from responding /too/ unpleasantly.
"... ngh," she starts ungracefully, as she tries to stop seeing stars to precious little avail. "Maybe if you weren't... so..." she starts, trying to put together some adequately witty retort and not really finding it. She pauses for a minute, adding an unsure "... um..." as she continues looking for some excellent witticism. "... so..."
Eventually, she just frowns, muttering something about the way of the Todoh and turning over. Suddenly she seems a whole lot less talkative; she also moves a few inches away from Hotaru, just for good measure. Lying face-down on the ground, shrinking away from an opponent, and flagrantly violating even the /spirit/ of the Seijyun dress code -- maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
Grimacing, Hotaru bends down to heft her backpack up to her shoulder, hissing quietly at the pain it evokes in her muscles to do so. Whirling around, she looks toward Kasumi as the other girl stays down after the shove. It appears she has something to say even after all that though.
Seconds pass... and Kasumi seems out of verbal ammunition. Hotaru's expression relaxes, a somewhat tired smile working its way across her face as she shakes her head slowly. "You're not a bad fighter, Kasumi Todoh. I hope you find your father. Mister Todoh is... well, he's a good man too."
Hotaru exhales, shifting her heavy backpack a bit on her shoulder, and then she turns to hobble off, one stocking'd foot and everything. This will be a tricky one to explain away to Ms. Zuccato, her next teacher. o O ( No I wasn't fighting in the hall. I, uh, got attacked by a stray dog that took my shoe! ... No, I'm not talking about Jiro! >.<; )
Log created on 22:38:25 01/17/2008 by Hotaru, and last modified on 01:28:48 01/19/2008.