Description: Chancing upon Haru by accident, new Gedo transfer Adira Sen'ou takes the opportunity to track to crack open the shell and get to his creamy nougat center. While her attempt to do so emotionally is a bit of a failure, her attempt to do so physically, at least, is a rousing success.
Sunset! It's a lovely afternoon, on loan from spring, and classes on the Gedo campus have been out for some time now. There's not really a lot of milling around going on; while some students choose to chill at the school, plenty have other commitments: gangs, hobbies, especially part time jobs, as Gedo is one of the few public high schools in Southtown that allows them. Back in the day, Haru Izanami would have been long gone from here, trundling over to Mitsunomi Construction and handling their books, answering their phones, running their payroll. But Mitsunomi went belly up, and the yoyo-slinging Gedo student lost his job. He had to pick up something else, and professional fighting was it. He had the talent, he just needed to apply it, to focus, to make it happen.
His first SNF experience was... less than pleasant, however. Seeing Amsterdam was interesting, but the actual fighters and the venue were... not what he expected. One was a belligerent and arrogant fighter, and so far above Haru in skill that the Gedo senior was hopelessly outclassed. The other was an incoherently screaming old man that made no sense whatsoever, though he appeared to have at least a good degree of martial skill. Add in the flying food, the screaming crowd, the Nerf hammer... the pig...
But as much as Haru didn't enjoy the experience he did get something useful out of it. He got to try his style against another weapon user for the first time, and to fight under inclement conditions. And perhaps most importantly, he got a check. It wasn't a big check -- he wasn't even mid card, and he lost, after all -- but it was more than he would have made in a month at Mitsunomi, for 2 hours of work and a free trip to the Netherlands. So as much as he wanted to never throw in his hat again, to simply find some other way to do it, he knew he'd have to go back.
Thus it is on the catwalks around the Gedo roof that Haru is currently practicing, yoyo slicing through the air with practiced ease. It's not exactly a kata -- it's not for form, there's no invisible target -- but rather for flexibility, precision, and speed... the only things he had to count on.
Speaking of less than pleasant Saturday Night Fights, Adira had her own experiences--after all, both Billy and Kain are goddamn scary in their own rights. It would be hard to say which Adira would rather NOT face. Kain hurts, but so does Billy... anyways. Sunset. After classes. Adira is one of the other 'newbies' of the school, having only just arrived a couple of weeks ago, or so. Since then, she's tried to foil a mugging and gone back to Metro to try and save the city from thugs... a job that's far from finished.
But it's the school week and Adira might skip some classes, but she's not a total burnout case like some of the students here... so she actually attended classes today, all of 'em. And though Gedo ranks far below Seijyun, Pacific or Justice in terms of academic difficulty, there are still some teachers who care and who make it tough... plus there's just getting through the day.
Of course the roof is a favorite place for students who want a little solitariness to go--that is a plan that is easily derailed, when more than one person has the same thoughts.
Thus it is that the steel door that leads from the main building to the rooftop opens again, proably not more than ten minutes after Haru came up, and Adira comes strolling in, bookbag draped over the back of her shoulder on her right hand, the arm bent at the elbow.
Even in a busy place like Southtown, rooftops are typically quiet; Gedo, being in a relatively less populated (read: bad) part of town is even moreso once you get to the roof. Occasional car horns and the clank of Haru's sneaker-clad feet on the metal catwalk are the only sounds to punctuate the afternoon quiet. The yoyo-using fighter is focused, probably far more than he should be; 'trying too hard' isn't his style, despite what he said to Billy during their match. His goal is always to find the exact and proper amount of required effort, then expend it. This, of course, may be why he is so ambitionless, as a rule.
But in the quiet, the sound of a metal door opening and closing catches the attention even of someone focused. The gunmetal grey and black blur of Haru's yoyo finishes making a complicated loop through the air, then expertly snaps back into his hand with the distinctive sound that's half metallic snap noise, half slap of skin on skin. He turns, instantly alert; you don't survive three years at Gedo as a bit of a misfit without learning to be prepared for anything, even when school is over.
However, what greets his sight is someone he doesn't recognize right off the bat, his gaze sweeping over her with barely-disguised curiosity for some sort of identifying mark, perhaps. Not necessarily arrogant, though it could be read so; more like someone skimming a yearbook page to find a face they know. There's a long pause while Haru says nothing, at first. Eventually, however, he seems to find his voice, and his tone suggests that he actually seemed to have forgotten how greeting someone in this situation was supposed to go, even though the only word he SAYS is: "Hello."
Adira actually is quite different. Unlike Haru, she -does- try her hardest; she is the epitome of 'never give up' and all those other cliches, like giving one hundred and ten percent. But she's pretty quiet about that, as she is quiet about her desire to see justice grow in the world. Certainly something that many wish for, and many are quite vocal about, Adira is a silent hero of justice. She does the things she does 'because they need doing'. The quiet of the world is broken by the sound of the door--though it probably isn't truly quiet, as there are bound to be at least some breezes flowing, but it's close enough for Adira's tastes. Until she sees Haru.
Her green eyes meet his gaze, and outwardly, she seems pretty placid. But her eyes tell the tale, her gaze intense, unwavering. Unbothered by that gaze from Haru, once he speaks, she replies in kind.
"Hey. I've seen you around," she replies, kicking back behind her to close the door; it clangs deeply, and then Adira leans against the wall. "You were fightin' that other guy, the guy who smiles a lot..."
There's something tense about Haru's carriage. In another person it might be called fight-or-flight, the nervousness of dealing with an unexpected situation. To some extent that is the case, but not necessarily in the sense of processing Adira as a particular threat. It's rather that socialization is, for him, a distant country that he is slowly travelling toward. Engaging in it takes effort and it's effort he's not always certain he wants to expend. In short, he's wondering if he should walk away, or keep this going.
The fact that Adira is between himself and the door helps the situation some, but there is still something about him even as his posture relaxes somewhat... as if there's a high-tension wire vibrating just below the surface that his otherwise calm exterior is poured over. "I don't recall seeing you," he says matter-of-factly, "but then, I was occupied at the time."
Bookbag in her right hand, Adira instead raises her left, handwaving Haru's statement away. "You were fighting, you should be more focused on your opponent than the people around you. If you don't focus on 'em then you're likely to get hit." Pithy advice, isn't it? Of course, as she's speaking, she's also taking in that nervous energy on Haru's part. It isn't psychic ability--just observational ability, something else her mother and father drilled into her. Being observant can mean the difference between life and death, and unlike some professional fighters, her parents -have- toed that line.
"So, what's wrong?" she asks, remaining light and casual in vocal tone, though there's a shrewdness to her eyes. "Looks like you wanna get the hell away from me. But I didn't do anything to you. By the way, I like that yoyo thing you do. That's pretty unique."
One dark black eyebrow goes up at the mention of 'that yoyo thing'; curiously enough, as if on cue, his right hand twists toward the ground, palm down, and a grey and black yoyo dips toward the catwalk before being yanked back to Haru's palm, performed over and over. It's almost a nervous motion, like the various fidgety things people do to divert physical energy when their mind is working hard. Haru considers himself fairly quick on the observation, as well, and thus let's Adira's straight response to what he had thought was sarcasm pass him by without comment. After all, she's right; why contradict her?
Instead he focuses on the one thing she DID say that merits a response, focusing his energy on taking in questions and answering them, like playing tennis with the conversation. "I never said you did," Haru throws back, tone even, face inscrutably neutral. "But I also doubt you yourself came up to the roof for scintillating conversation, either."
It's probably a good thing that Adira doesn't have the same kind of nervous tic; she'd be kicking things all the time, and she does plenty of that on purpose as it is. But she observes, with a lazy grin, that habit of deploying the yo-yo; she's okay with one, as a toy, but she's already seen Haru in action, and she's nowhere near that level. Besides, she fights a different way.
But, back to the conversation. "You're right, you didn't--I wasn't implying that you did. I'm just curious as to why. As for what I came up here for.. well... solitary time can wait. I'll get plenty of it later. I just wanted something a little quieter than the hubbub downstairs."
"So, my question stands--why do you look like that? It's unusual, to say the least. I guess you could just be antisocial..."
"Why do I look like *what*?" Haru suddenly says, frowning. She called him antisocial; he would be the first in line to agree, but he's antisocial for a reason from his perspective. He arrived at Gedo and was promptly beaten up until he learned to beat people up back, never mind a... certain history of distrust of others. When he speaks it's almost with a tone of disbelief at Adira's confusion, as if he can't believe she's actually asking the questions she's asking. Why does he look he doesn't want to be there, talking to a complete stranger, when he'd come to be alone? Well, DUH.
A moment passes, and the heterochromic eyes shut, Haru's face briefly assuming the placid expressionlessness of someone attempting to fight down some internal impulse, or regain some sort of control. Part of him wants to throw that unspoken question back in the pushy girl's face, demand what her problem is with how he looks... and Haru's eyes open when his memories finally touch upon the fact that such a reaction would be a very *Gedo* way of doing things. It's no different than Tenma launching himself at Hakuya in the lunch room to say 'hello': aggression is a Gedo way of life.
Of course, the question is, just how Gedo is Haru...
He keeps at it with the yoyo, almost entirely unaware that he's doing it. There's got to be something plausible he can offer, and like a drowning man, he clings to the first piece of reliable driftwood that most people in that situation find: the truth. "I was training," he offers, which is a fairly honest description, even if the actual activity doesn't fit the classic definition. He doesn't comment on being antisocial, however.
"Like... you're half-scared, half-mad. Like you're half-ready to haul off and try and whack me with your yo-yo and half like you wanna just jump off the side of the building to get away from me." Yeah, yeah. She's exaggerating. She does okay in Creative Writing class, too. Those green eyes widen just a little at the sudden hostility, not out of shock or fear but of a bit of surprise... and then when his face goes totally placid...
Well, something's up. Those are some classic signs there. "You know," she says, suddenly, pushing off the wall to come to a full stand, leaning forward juuuust a bit, "you look really stressed. It's not good to hold that kind of thing in; just rots the insides." She firmly believes this, too...
"... and there's one really great way to get rid of some tension, you know. One that I think both you and I are 'into'." She grins. "So, what do you say: how 'bout a fight?" She's curious about his fighting ability, of course.
"I can't imagine," Haru says evenly, "why I might seem tense." A part of him, though, is fascinated at this. He challenged Hakuya not so he could experience the Guardian King's fighting style, though that was certainly part of it. Rather, he was much more interested in probing that curious logic that Suigetsu and his fellow teammates expressed... that strange, alien way of using violence as a conversational tool, of connecting not with words or images but with actual physical contact. For Haru it's both academic curiosity as to the kinaesthetic logic of conversation and a degree of jealousy for the depth of their bond, or at least the apparent depth of their bond. Haru himself only feels such a closeness with one person... a person who, oddly enough, made his career as a 'fighter' possible.
That curious snap/slap sound is audible again as the yoyo comes back to Haru's waiting palm, and then is stored in whatever place it hides through whatever dextrous ledgerdemain he uses to hide it. "You're definitely Gedo, even if you're a transfer," he says, turning so that he's fully facing Adira rather than from the side, face neutral. "Or maybe that's why transfers seem to end up here, if they have 'that quality'..." he says in an almost wistful tone, clearly thinking something over... the quotes around 'that quality' are certainly audible.
With a roll of his head across his shoulders, Haru brushes off his shirt and nods at his fellow student slowly. "Fighting doesn't exactly relieve tension for me. But it will get you to stop grilling me about my emotional state, so I guess I'm all for it."
COMBATSYS: Adira has started a fight here.
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Adira 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Haru has joined the fight here.
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Adira 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Haru
"I can't imagine why either," replies Adira, grinning faintly. She knows she's going to love teasing Haru, for some reason... though not out of maliciousness. Truly. It's just her way; she has to needle and poke at things, especially when they're curiosities like Haru is. It's true--sometimes she does fight for the same reasons at the Guardian Kings fight. To establish a dialogue, to create a connection. Sometimes she fights to sever other connections. Sometimes to improve or test her skills. And sometimes, just for the hell of it.
These reasons aren't mutually exclusive, of course; they can exist in tandem or more. But... 'that quality'... if he means aggressiveness, then yes, in that aspect, Adira is Gedo through and through. Her grin changes to a little smirk, as she regards the yo-yo wielder. "Good. I was hoping you wouldn't say no," she says, as she rolls her head too, eliciting a couple of loud pops; she straightens, her arms up in a classic karate guard, leading with her left; her left foot slides forward, right back, and suddenly her stance looks like some fusion of karate and tae kwon do.
She regards Haru for a moment, sniffing her nose a bit... then nods. "Alright, then. By the way--I'm Adira. Adira Sen'ou. And... here I come!" So saying, she crouches, then leaps up onto the catwalk--so as to not risk knocking Haru off the thing (or to risk herself having the same done) and then she darts forward, firing a swift, low roundhouse kick for Haru's shin.
COMBATSYS: Haru blocks Adira's Snap Kick.
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Adira 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Haru
Hoping he wouldn't say no... if he had any doubt that she was of 'that quality', then it's entirely dispelled by her eagerness to fight. That's exactly what that ineffable quality is, to Haru: the eagerness for battle. He doesn't feel it, and is even in a way jealous of it, because his research seems to suggest that it's necessary for success in the fighting circuit. It's not that he disdains fighting; if that were the case, he wouldn't bother doing it. But he thinks of it as something that's done out of necessity rather than fun, and part of his sudden emergence from his reclusive and shadowy tenure at Gedo is in order to find out where the fun of fighting is. He almost felt it, fighting Hakuya... not on his own sake, but the momentary rapport they formed when he took off his gloves.
Perhaps Adira can give him the same sort of feeling without it.
Without much room to maneuver on the catwalk, Haru improvises a defense at that sudden attack: one yoyo drops to the ground and stays there, the foot of the leg Adira *isn't* striking at holding it in place while Haru yanks his hand up, pulling the 'string' taught in the path of the kick. It's not taut enough to stop the blow entirely -- though the 'string' is amazingly resilient, should Adira care to notice -- but it does burn off some of the kinetic energy before it reaches his shin, turning a more devastating blow into a bruising one.
The yoyo-using fighter is already rattling off a list of facts even as the yoyo snaps back into his hand. "Half-Israeli. A new transfer from America, I think... I've been preoccupied lately and haven't been keeping up on my information." He doesn't mention the boy's uniform; she's already wearing it. Instead, he proceeds right to his return shot: gripping one yoyo in hand, he flicks it out toward Adira's throat, intending to catch her under the chin rather than full in the face. Of course, she also may or may not notice the second yoyo barely visible in his other palm.
COMBATSYS: Haru successfully hits Adira with Medium Fling.
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Adira 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Haru
Hunh. Now that's an interesting defense--it's rather like kicking a heavy bag, actually, just with a little more give--and more recoil. That throws her off a little; she's just a bit off-balance when that yoyo comes, impacting her chin and throwing her head back. Unh. She stumbles backwards a little, rubbing her chin... and grinning. "That's it.. I knew you were a fighter," she remarks, as she regains her stance. Well. That hurt, but hardly enough to put her out of the fight... and maybe it's time to be taking the fight -to- him... well, actually, that's the core of Adira's fighting style and philosophy.
Suddenly, she's moving forward--one step, two, then she's pushing off the catwalk, throwing herself into a forward tumble. Her goal is to land on Haru's shoulders with bent legs; from there, she'll grip his head with her knees and use her momentum to flip forward, hurling Haru up and over and onto his front in a Frankenstiner variation.
COMBATSYS: Haru interrupts Tiger Ambush from Adira with Evocative Jade.
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Adira 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Haru
It's that other yoyo you need to watch, as Adira may find out to her displeasure relatively soon. Even as he yanks the other one back to his hand, Haru is doing his best to keep the first one concealed in his other palm... and thankfully, either Adira hasn't noticed or was too distracted by the sudden attack to have seen it. Either way, he has to draw attention away from it if he wants this to work. "I get by," is the only response he can give his Gedo classmate, trying to keep calm and stay on top of the situation. His leg still smarts even now from that first low kick; the girl clearly has great physical strength, which is far and away Haru's weak spot defensively.
As his opponent leaps off the catwalk, Haru tries to stay calm. It's all about setting things up, using information and tactics to your advantage; lacking great physical strength, the yoyo-using Gedo senior has to rely on guile and gambits to get through. In this case, it seems to pay off. Even as Adira lands on his shoulders, she might notice that second yoyo wrapping around one of her calves... and just as she is about to flip Haru forward, he suddenly YANKS with all his might, spinning Adira in a horizontal orbit just above the guardrail and then slamming her back down into the catwalk like a slingshot, snapping the yoyo back to his hand... and then stumbling. He didn't escape that unscathed, shoulders bruised from impact and force, but he hopes she made it out slightly worse than he did.
"NNNFH!" That is Adira's response to being snagged and thrown. That, she wasn't expecting at all. And it hurt--just about as bad as that first yoyo strike. "Nnh..." she grunts, as she is caught flat on her back for a moment, breath forced out of her in that singular blow. But... she pushes herself to her feet again. Right. That... was pretty painful. Were she a more rationally thinking kind of person she might think she's in a world of trouble--instead, behind those green eyes, she's instinctively calculating and thinking. It isn't as crystallized or defined as Haru's way of thinking...
... but it's how she fights, training and teaching condensed into instinct. And every instinct she has is telling her to hang back, just a touch. Just a moment. Aggression is good and fine. Naked, uncontrolled aggression just leads to one's downfall. So it is that she holds back, just a little--just a bit.
She's had someone defeat her Tiger Ambush in a similar way before--she should be more wary from now on...
COMBATSYS: Adira focuses on her next action.
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Adira 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Haru
Adira's reluctance to press the attack gives Haru time to collect himself as well. He takes a few deep breaths, assessing the situation. Yes, he's dinged Adira a good few times... but in the process he's hurt almost as bad, and without taking a single attack head-on to boot. Got to be careful around people with 'that quality', after all... Hakuya proved to be both surprisingly quick and intensely powerful, and he's no reason to believe Adira is any different. In fact, she's a Gedo type... so they're probably not very different at all. Of course, that also means he can grill her for the same information he asked Hakuya for.
"Tell me something," he asks as she gets back into stance, trying to look dispassionate. "I felt like from minute one, you were spoiling for a fight... ever since you mentioned my bout with Hakuya. Why is that, exactly?" He doesn't sound angry over it, and indeed he isn't; you'd have as much luck being angry over the sky for being blue, in Haru's mind. What's done is done, after all... but he might as well use the situation to his advantage. "Suigetsu was the same way, and I don't..." he snaps, before spinning and lashing out with a very uncharacteristic attack for him: a quick, high kick to Adira's shoulder. Not one for touching, Haru... but with the sole of his sneakers between them it shouldn't be a problem.
COMBATSYS: Adira interrupts Light Kick from Haru with Dragon Hunter.
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Adira 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Haru
Oh, a question? In the middle of the fight? Well. Adira is happy to answer, really. Weighing the question in her mind, she frames her answer before Haru attacks. "I wouldn't say -spoiling-... that makes it sound like I've got a beef with you," she says. Despite her speaking, she's not -not- watching Haru for even a fraction of a moment. When that kick comes, she's ready, throwing her shoulder into it, deflecting most of the force... and then lunging upwards, thrusting her right knee into Haru's solar plexus.
The impact is enough to throw him upwards, where Adira smoothly extends her legs, and flips, going through a full rotation as she kicks outwards to knock Haru away from her, flipping again to land on her left foot and right knee.
"--but," she states, her voice louder to compensate for the newly, briefly acquired distance, "I will admit that ever since I saw you fight I wanted to know how good you were! How you fought! Testing my skills against others is the most fun I could -possibly- have!" Definitely she is a Gedo-ite at heart.
"It isn't because I love violence, if that's what you're thinking. But, I trained hard to get even this good, and I want to get better and better... for various reasons."
The blow hurts quite a lot, and Haru has the light frame that makes it particularly bad; it's lucky that the attack happens mostly in midair, so that the yoyo-using fighter has a chance to recover before he hits the catwalk, and even then he lands on it with a loud *CLANG*, sliding across it in a defensive crouch. That stung an awful lot; he's not built for taking damage, as anyone who's seen him can attest to. Even the lightest of blows from Billy Kane felt like it would split his head open from sheer force alone. But he's not done just yet, and finally gets to his feet.
"A 'craftsman', huh..." It's an interesting theory, and Haru spends some time thinking about things that engender the same sort of emotion in him. He's proud of the jewelery he makes, even if nobody but the shop teacher at Gedo ever sees it besides the stone around Haru's neck right now. Perhaps his own style, though for him taking pride in such a thing seems ridiculous.
"That's the part... I don't understand," he says evenly, turning a neutral gaze on Adira. "Because to me, that says what you really want is to prove that you're better than others." If it wasn't apparent by now that emotionally Haru is damaged goods, it should be really, really evident now. "Maybe that's why I don't understand it. I don't want that. It's nice to be praised, but I don't have anything to prove." He doesn't waste time attacking after that declaration; ducking forward he lashes out *very* low with one yoyo, almost aiming for Adira's shins in a Walk the Dog-type maneuver... but he suddenly whips his arm up, snapping the yoyo into Adira's chin like an uppercut before spinning and, pulling the weapon in a tight orbit around his own head, lashes back out to smack her in the face with it.
COMBATSYS: Adira blocks Haru's Obsidian Serenity.
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Adira 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Haru
Billy Kane hits like a goddamn mack truck, so it's not surprising. Adira's pretty sturdy but she wouldn't last long under an onslaught from him. It's bad to judge your form against someone when there's that big of a gap; useful information cannot be gained by such a contest. That's why most formalized martial arts don't pit students with that high a difference in skills against each other except to train the lower-skilled fighter by the higher-skilled fighter--that is, as a teacher.
"Something like that. Yeah, I want to prove I'm better than the person I fight against. It's only natural. Listen, I was taught these fighting skills not just to be able to pass them on to another generation--I was taught these skills because the world is a terrible place and sometimes, you have to kick and fight to make it better. That's just fact."
"I don't do it for praise. I don't do it for glory. I want to prove, to myself--" Here she pauses, as that yoyo comes whizzing in; tracking its movements with her eyes, she interposes her right forearm, wincing at the impact, first from the 'uppercut' then from the second attack as she deflects with the same forearm.
"--that my skills are well-earned. That I've growing, as a fighter and a person. It isn't about pleasing anyone or impressing anyone -but- myself. I guess that's selfish, but it's the truth."
Once again, Haru's put the distance between Adira and himself... and once again, Adira charges forward. One step, two, and she's leaping again, tucked into a tight ball. The arc is lower, faster, and as she closes with Haru she kicks outwards, her right heel stamping out in a shallowly-angled heel drop kick for his chest.
COMBATSYS: Haru fails to counter Light Kick from Adira with Melancholy Sapphire.
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Adira 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Haru
Haru appears to do... nothing. Which doesn't seem very smart, does it? He doesn't have an immediate response to those words, at least not a verbal one. Pleasing nobody but yourself... Haru couldn't really call it selfish. After all, he has nobody but himself, so pleasing others doesn't really enter into the equation. In fact, for a moment he actually adopts an expression of surprise at the realization that he really doesn't appear to *care* about anyone but himself; the selfishness Adira decries, Haru embodies. She wants to prove that what she knows is worth using, that her time wasn't wasted, that she's done something other than pursue the art as a lark.
She may or may not notice, but Haru's left eye, the green one, suddenly goes blue as she starts her attack.
But he does nothing. In fact, to all appearances what happens is she kicks him in the chest because he didn't move, and Haru perforce stumbles back and then rights himself, hand to his breastbone and an expression of pained surprise on his face. This is, of course, because nobody here is privy to his inner workings, his attempt to summon something 'unique' to him besides the yoyo, something that requires mental and emotional effort. What he *got* was nothing of the sort, and Adira's attack sails into him unopposed as a result.
When he looks up again, his face is a study in perfect neutrality... and that left eye is green again. "I see," is all he says.
... well that was... odd. She didn't have time to notice the change to his eye--moving fast will do that, the man kind of a blur except where she ended up targeting him. Rebounding slightly from the kick, Adira pulls her legs underneath her and lands with a *clang* on the catwalk. "I'm guessing," she says, rather drily, "that you don't fight for the same reasons. Then," she says, as she regards the mysterious young student before her, for a moment, "Why -do- you fight? You could've said no to me... you didn't have to fight Suigetsu in the courtyard during lunch..."
Of course, she never considers, really, stopping the fight. Fight until she can't fight anymore--that's her way. Then again, if Haru were to ask... well, she's not about to attack someone who isn't defending themselves, either.
Until that moment, then...
Adira lets her question hang in the chilling air as she prepares to heat it up a little. Stomping her right foot down, she summons her chi, crimson energy blazing up from sole to calf in the form of flames; dragging the foot along the ground, she then kicks upwards, showcasing some of her flexibility, and ripping an Adira-height arc of crimson fire chi along the catwalk towards Haru.
COMBATSYS: Haru blocks Adira's Dragon's Roar.
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Adira 0/-------/-======|=======\=------\1 Haru
Crimson fire. Some people at Gedo are known for using such attacks -- Tenma Kiryuu practically lives on them, and even big boss Daigo has his fair share of fire throwing antics -- but Haru doesn't understand them at all. He has his own energy; he showed it on SNF, though it wasn't particularly effective, and he tends to use it only in moments of high stress. Still, he has found that by focusing his will and simply *willing* himself to resist, he can make some sort of defensive effort against such attacks, and indeed the arc of flame splashes against Haru's raised forearm, singeing him but not doing as much harm as it could have, the brunt of the attack spilling off.
Pulling his arm down, the yoyo fighter takes a deep breath, and then endeavors to answer the question. "You haven't been here very long, have you? And you wear your fighting ability on your sleeve. I've been here three years, and when I first came I couldn't fight to save my life, and I almost needed to," he says, biting out the last with some degree of anger and bitterness. "I fight because I have to. I fight professionally because I need the money. To be honest, I agreed to fight you so you'd stop asking weird questions about my feelings. It has nothing to do with honor or pride, or proving anything."
Now it's his turn not to attack, instead hanging back and taking a deep breath, collecting himself. That stung a little bit; might as well not walk into the tiger's den half-bleeding. In a near-parody of Adira's previous statement, Haru says blithely, "That might sound selfish, but it's just how I am."
COMBATSYS: Haru gains composure.
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Adira 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Haru
"You learned to fight so you wouldn't be meat for the dogs," says Adira, evenly. "You probably wouldn't've survived her if you hadn't learned--and quick--to deal with the gangs here. Yeah, they're rough and violent, and they'll chew you up if you let 'em." She knows--she's seen it, even in her few weeks here. And she knows the type.
"I wear my skills 'on my sleeve' so I won't -have- to deal with them. It's like carrying a gun. It'll do you some good concealed, but if you want to -deter- someone you can do it without having to draw the gun, if they know you have it." With Haru hanging back, Adira prepares herself for another attack; darting forward, she stops just outside of normal range for a kick, assuming a cocked-leg position with her right leg up, bent at the knee, rather like a Flamingo stance in tae kwon do. And she snaps the leg forward, aiming her toe for the point of Haru's chin.
"You've been abused," she says, more softly, "and I'm sorry that not enough was done to save you--that you had to save yourself. But you're a stronger person now, for it, aren't you?"
COMBATSYS: Adira successfully hits Haru with Whip Kick.
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Adira 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Haru
While Haru may be high on manual dexterity, he's a little lacking in foot speed... and that kick is unexpectedly quick. He frowns, then tries his best to suddenly back up and lean his entire body back out of the way of the kick without giving too much ground. It doesn't work; he tries it too late, and the catwalk isn't well-suited for that maneuver since it's not 'even' ground. The blow smacks into his head with a predictable *crack!* sound, and Haru's body slumps forward from the recoil of the impact and the attempted evasion, before he straightens up again.
"It happened," he says quietly, face impassive. "I made my 'style', I beat up a few people, they left me alone. Which I what I wanted. I didn't want to be friends, I wanted to be left *alone*. So they did, and I was happy." He pauses, taking deep breaths. He's tired, and more importantly he's injured, probably much worse than it looks from the lack of visible marks and blood. "Am I stronger person now? I don't know nor care. I survived, which is much more important."
He turns his gaze, clear and unbound, to Adira. "So while I would like to learn what it is you people with 'that quality' do, to enjoy it so much, I don't think it's possible. Sorry." And with that he gets moving, driving forward a little to get in closer range than before, but then suddenly spinning backward in a short hop while snapping out a yoyo to snag Adira by the leg and then yank her off-balance to the ground. Inelegant... and puts him in striking range, another atypical Haru move.
COMBATSYS: Adira endures Haru's Medium Throw.
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Adira 1/------=/=======|=======\==-----\1 Haru
Adira thinks about that for a moment. "You're stronger," she confirms, even as Haru is lunging forward then pulling back, trying to trick her with that whip-snag move. But she's prepared for it; at least, partially, as she slaps her arms down at the last moment, pushing off and seeming almost to rebound right to her feet like one of those 'boxing bag' toys that are weighted at the bottom. As she comes up, she's tucking her body again, making a short hop as she turns her momentum into a forward spin.
And as she comes out of that spin, up around Haru's head height, her right leg flashes out, as she tries to land her instep on Haru's shoulder in a crushing blow, her foot arcing up and over and down, an attack that will leave her crouching on the catwalk if it isn't countered.
"But you shouldn't lie to yourself about wanting to just be alone!" After all, she thinks.. that can't possibly be true. No one -really- wants to be completely alone... the human brain isn't wired for that. Or so she thinks, anyways.
COMBATSYS: Haru fails to counter Fierce Kick from Adira with Quiescent Diamond.
- Power fail! -
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Adira 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Haru
For some reason, seething resentment bubbles up in Haru at that statement. It shows in his eyes, which suddenly flash with something dangerous, something unseen in any previous fight of his to date... with one brief, terrible exception, if people knew where to look during his SNF. Again, barely perceptibly, that left eye goes from green to deep blue as he stares Adira down... and then does nothing. He wants to shout, wants to *scream*, wants to do anything but sit there and accept everything quietly. And this time, at least, something responds; there are flickers of cobalt blue light, the color of the night sky in winter in the countryside, around his body.
Sadly, it's too late. The kick slams Haru's lightweight body into the catwalk guardrail, *hard*; he crumples afterwards, clearly not able to stand. It takes a long while before he can even get into a crouch, and when he does his face is bloodied and bruised from the impact, and a combination of fatigue, pain, and frustration have made that tight grip on his emotions slip... though rather than loud with rage, his voice is quiet and sibilant with smoldering resentment.
"Shut up," he says, carefully. He's angry, but his words are still delivered with razor precision, though the syllables are thickened by a haze of pain. "I don't need you or anyone else to tell me how to feel. I have reasons for wanting to be left alone you know nothing about, and that are none of your concern."
She didn't expect it to be that effective, really; it was a fairly slow manuever, all things considered. But she won't apologize. Adira rises to her feet once more. No psychic she, but some of Haru's emotions are coming through now... "Go ahead," she says, even. "Be angry at me. I can take it. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe all you want is to be left alone. But you know that's not going to happen, right? You can't live your life in a vacuum, you can't avoid everyone and anyone else. There has to be -some- form of human contact in your life."
To say she's relentless is probably not too far off--of course, she's well-meaning, but that and $2.50 will buy you a cup of coffee. "You've been hurt, and I'm sorry for that. Honestly. But you know..." Once again, her legs are brought into play; she steps forward, chambering her left leg, kicking upwards with it--a feint kick, that she transitions to a chest-high side kick.
"Not everyone in the world is out to hurt you!" ... not even the ones who are trying right now to kick you.
COMBATSYS: Adira successfully hits Haru with Medium Kick.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Adira 1/-----==/=======|=======\==-----\1 Haru
He seems to be about to say something, even as she's attacking; the attack is slow enough that he feels like he can get out of the way. This is entirely false; he reacts to the feint rather than the actual kick and thus is caught entirely flat-footed by Adira's side kick, which hits him far harder than expected. He doesn't even have time to get out a gasp, since he's slammed against the guard rail a second time, this time at lung height; it promptly knocks the air from his lungs and then sends him recoiling backwards so the other guardrail can slam into the small of his back and make it worse.
Which is perhaps for the best. He was already near his physical limit; that much abuse in so short a time exceeds it by a factor of ten at the very least. He doesn't say a word, and instead stumbles backwards, then collapses on the catwalk in a heap, the blood trickling from his face staining a thin stripe of the metal a red so dark as to be nearly black.
COMBATSYS: Haru takes no action.
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Adira 1/-----==/=======|
COMBATSYS: Haru can no longer fight.
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Adira 1/-----==/=======|
"... ah, -shit-." She didn't mean to hit him that hard. Really, she wasn't out to hurt him. Lowering her leg, she immediately rushes over--and stops. Out cold. No apologies will be heard... and she can't leave him up here.
"Hope the nurses have not gone home for the night, yet..." she mutters, as she hoists the unconscious boy over her shoulder and heads for the door. She'll drop him off at the nurse's station--and wait for a moment, while she has an idea. When he wakes, he'll have a note in his pocket.
"Hey. Sorry about knocking you out. I didn't mean to make you angry. If you still are, you can ignore this, but you have my apologies all the same. Would love to test my skills against you again. -- Adira."
Log created on 21:23:31 03/12/2008 by Haru, and last modified on 10:29:58 03/13/2008.