Description: Newly recovered from the injuries she received at Katana's hands in SNF, Mizuki takes up teaching again, and what she saw from Hotaru... makes her talk about the nature of strength. Hotaru, on a now-rare visit, overhears her... and what begins as an argument becomes something much worse.
Having been hospitalized for a while, Mizuki hasn't been a frequent visitor to the YFCC, lately. One of the other instructors took over her class, at least while she was injured; she didn't want to show up whlie she was recuperating, and worry her students. But it's been a week, and Mizuki's natural (or extranatural) healing abilities have been at work... so she's about as healed as she'll ever be. If she's scarred, those are scars that most won't ever see...
At least... the physical scars. The emotional and mental scars probably won't go away that easily, but those are harder to notice. And she's doing her best; to those who don't know her well, her smiles seem genuine, her expressions natural. Her students haven't, for this class, however, gotten too much actual practice.
Instead, the girl has them sitting in a wide circle, on one of the practice mats, with her at the 'head'... and she's talking to them. Initiating a discussion. "Is that what you think strength is?" she asks, her voice quiet, calm, as she looks at one of the boys, a stocky young lad.
"Kazuma-kun, what you think of as strength -is- strength, this is true. But true strength doesn't come the body--physical strength isn't all there is. True strength comes from within, from the heart..." Yes, this is what Hotaru might be walking within earshot of.
"It's true," interjects the voice of another girl. One that has been a stranger around the facility in recent months. Her classes cancelled without explanation, Hotaru seemed to have no interest in volunteering her time for the YFCC for some time. It's hard to say if she came today to volunteer either, or if she just felt a subconscious compulsion to revisit her usual haunts... she has, after all, been trying to pretend everything was back to how it was before, with some degree of success.
Blue eyes, cool, regard Mizuki, Hotaru standing not far behind the girl, arms folded over her chest, "...there are different kinds of strength." The students have her attention next, sweeping her gaze over them, her expression sober, as serious as a grave, "But if true strength came from the heart, then you, Mizuki-san, would be one of the strongest there are. Few have more heart than you." She pauses, eyes snapping back to the other teacher, "But we both know that isn't the case now don't we." Hotaru shakes her head, eyes half closed, an almost sad frown crossing her lips.
"Heartless monsters around the world wield strength you can't even possibly imagine. There is nothing untrue about their power, nothing false about their ability to force their will upon others while practically immune to retribution because of their ability, prestige, connections, popularity..."
Her blue eyes open again, the girl shaking her head again, "No, if true strength came from the heart, then the world would not work the way it does. Clearly, there are other fonts far more stronger than the heart and soul." Hotaru narrows her eyes, focusing on Mizuki, "But... perhaps these were not ready for the truth," she gestures toward the students with a sweep of her arm. "For the young, fairy tales suffice, I suppose." Bowing her head as some token of implied respect, Hotaru turns to the side, gazing away, "After all, why should they have to find out the truth so young..."
Mizuki stiffens, the moment she hears Hotaru's voice. Hotaru... Hotaru Futaba. She saw the truth in their last SNF together. What should have been a fun fight was instead eye-opening in all the worst ways it could be. Even to her kids--maybe -especially- to her kids--the tension in Mizuki is obvious, in the stiffening of those gentle curves.
She takes a breath, a slow one, then puts on a smile.
"Futaba-san... we haven't seen you around here much lately." Slowly, she turns and rises, facing the Kenpoist. Her hands find themselves in front of her, lightly clasped. "Thank you for your compliment," she says--and she means it. She's touched that Hotaru would say that. But... she nods, slowly.
"It's true. There are, in fact, 'monsters' that wield power beyond imagining. Physical strength and skill that is amazing and unbelievable. But the -best-... do not wield simple power like that." Her eyes are cool, calm, measuring--the kids don't see it, of course.
"And," she says, raising a hand, index finger extended upwards, "There is a large difference in being -beaten up-," continues the redheaded miko, "... and being -defeated-. Defeat is final... being beaten up, you can survive. I know some of you saw my last Saturday Night Fight."
This, to the kids, of course. "I was beaten up. Pretty badly. I didn't come here for a while because I didn't want you guys to worry. But I was -not- defeated... perhaps even a few scant months ago, I would have been. Ready to give up, ready to cry... but not anymore. _Never_ give up... and you'll never be defeated. And that is the truth."
At the mention of not being seen around much, Hotaru merely nods her head slightly and pays it no further mind. "Simple power?" the girl asks back, a soft sigh of minor exasperation released from her mouth. "Mizuki-san, I can't imagine you have been blind to the strength others have out there. At times you have had to see it for yourself in daring to step foot into arranged exhibitions. The kind of strength," the girl continues, her right hand coming up, clenched in a small fist, "that some wield... there is nothing simple about it."
Her expression becomes grim after a moment, "Not every battle ends with simply being beaten up," she continues, her tone a little patronizing, sounding tired of the other girl's naive outlook. "There are outcomes that are final in ever sense of the word. And when it comes to moments like that...," she lowers her hand, mouth curled into a quiet frown, "Moments like that are lost or won by that which you try to dismiss as simple power."
The girl frowns, taking a step toward Mizuki, "When it comes down to survival, when a friend's life is on the line, your heart, your feelings, your hope aren't going to save anyone. Only real strength, real power can, in the end, protect yourself or anyone important to you from those you refer to as monsters." The girl pauses, taking no further steps. "It's hard to say never give up when trodden under the feet of those that dwarf you in power. Pithy axioms don't carry much weight then." Her voice is softer now, saddened. It's unfortunate the world works that way, but she knows it for herself now.
"I used to think like you. Naive, unaware... Frei's brother opened my eyes to the truth which was all I needed to sieze the power I always had. Even what I know now isn't enough, but... well... I'll continue growing."
Mizuki's eyes flash. Yes. Kataki. Frei's brother. She, too, had a meeting with the man. "Yes, Futaba-san. Simple power. Simply put... power doesn't always translate to strength." She backs down not an inch when Hotaru takes a step forward; in fact, she seems to lean forward, just a little.
The kids, by now, are deathly quiet; not one would dare to interrupt this, they're all on the edge of their seats... as it were. "Nn. It's true. People who fight... who choose to fight, who choose to throw themselves into combat... they run the risk of dying." Her eyes are tight, their blue no longer as placid.
"A risk I ran last week, in a fight that was to be little more than an exhibition..." A fight in which she risked -her- life to save Hotaru's, and she paid a price that was very dear.
"But what is -real- strength?" she asks, tilting forward just a bit more. "Is it simply the power to defeat your enemies? That's how dictators think. How evil men and women think. How the honorless think." She pauses.
"The weak person cries, 'Give me strength'. The strong person finds their strength from within. The weak person gathers strength because they never believe in their own. This is my belief; this is how I have lived my life. I don't want any power that comes at the cost of what I hold dear. Alma once told me that you and he were like... brother and sister, almost. Tell me, truly, Futaba-san... do you think he would recognize you today as the same? Do you recognize yourself in the mirror?"
"Power can be used to defeat, yes," Hotaru replies, her mouth curling into a faint smile. Here come the platitudes again. No wonder Kataki was so annoyed with herself when she met him. She used to sound like that too. "It can be used to protect either. It isn't weakness that stays a tyrant's hand. It isn't meekness that will hold back the executioner's axe."
Hotaru shakes her head, smile shifting into something vaguely resembling a smirk. "You should know exactly what I'm talking about. Was it not Alma's power that saved you in this very building?" Hotaru looks a little annoyed now. Did she really used to sound like this? So unaware of the real ebb and flow of strength in the world?
But then Mizuki mentions Alma herself and Hotaru pauses, her somewhat haughty expression melting, the color draining from her face ever so slightly. Thoughts of the recent time when she stood before a steam covered mirror and watched her image fade into obscurity behind the mist. The thought of talking to Alma again. She hasn't seen him in so long. Could she face him? Would he understand that she had to do this?
The girl takes another step forward, her left fist rising this time, arm trembling slightly as her expression shifts into a muted glare. It would seem Mizuki had struck a nerve.
"Yes... Alma's saved me, in this very building. It's true," she acknowledges. "He saved me from someone who might have actually tried to kill me..." Mizuki smiles, then, softly.
"But *I* have also saved *him*... so tell me... do you think he is weak, or strong? Saved? Being saved? Is that really a definition of strength? Because I have been saved, I am weak? Or is it because I have saved, I am strong?"
Her eyes move to that fist. She smiles, sadly. "I haven't ever seen you attack with a fist before, Futaba-san. Do you want to prove your philosophy with me? That is your new philosophy, isn't it? That might makes right? Strength of heart, Futaba-san, does not mean being meek. Without a heart to direct it, power is meaningless, and can't be called strength. Meaningless power... is that what you seek?"
"Is that what you hold in your hand? It's a sad thing..."
"... I wonder if Jiro-kun remembers what he saw in you..." Mizuki mirrors that step forward, determined to show her bravery to Hotaru.
"Alma isn't weak." Hotaru snaps, cutting off any such conjecture as if it wasn't even up for debate. "Being saved isn't a sign of weakness," the girl continues, brow furrowed, sounding more irritated now than anything. "I never suggested anything of the sort. But it is the responsibility of those who are truly strong to protect the rest."
The girl's teeth grit as she takes another step, leaning forward a little. "I don't need to prove anything to you. Might doesn't make right. It's way more complicated than that. Pithy sayings don't hold true in the harsh realities of the world. But it's a cold fact that /without/ might you'll never have the strength to create what is right, or enforce it. That's just how the world works."
Her fist clenches white-knuckle tight as Hotaru takes another step forward before coming to a complete stop. "Jiro..." She shifts her eyes to the side, frowning faintly. "He understands what I am doing, and why I must." Or so she thinks he does. Then again, she hasn't been entirely forthright with him either... A final sigh, a sharp exhale, and the girl turns her side toward Mizuki, "It's okay. Frei didn't understand either. I'm not surprised you don't."
"There may in fact be only one thing I understand, Futaba-san," replies Mizuki, softly. "And that is that you are on the slipperiest of slopes, and you are staring into the abyss. I don't know what prompted this. I don't think I ever will." She matches that step from Hotaru with one of her own, quiet, resolute, though with saddened eyes.
"The Hotaru Futaba I idolized, that Alma and Jiro fell in love with... she's lost somewhere within you. You've gained immense power at the cost of your heart. It's turned you into... something. Something merciless and cold."
She lifts her blue eyes to meet Hotaru's own. "Is that what you want to be? Is this... this power, you've obtained... truly worth it? You said the strong have a responsibility to protect the weak. What will you do when you achieve your 'strength' and you find that you're the one we have to protect against...?"
"I'm sorry you think the world works 'that way'. I'm even sorrier that you chose to give in to it instead of to fight against it..." She reaches out, resting a hand on Hotaru's shoulder; to most it would be comforting.
"I don't know what's going on but I believe that you'll return to yourself... and we'll be here when you do."
The two stand close, little space between them. Turned away, Hotaru seems to ignore Mizuki's words, up until she places her hand on the girl's shoulder. Hotaru's left hand snaps up, grabbing hold of Mizuki's arm by the wrist as the girl turns back toward her, eyes flashing with barely restrained anger.
The girl glares at the miko, gripping her wrist tightly, mouth thin lipped, hand trembling slightly. She seems to be looking for the words, looking to make a decision, trying to chose her next action if it weren't for the fact that her next action was already pretty much made for her.
The flare up of red-orange chi in her right hand, now raised, is impossible to miss. This close Mizuki would have no problem sensing its nature, the vile taint of a forbidden technique, the gift of the Koga legacy left with the small fighter. It calls for her to use it, as it did against Blanka. Simply strike out, rend flesh, harm, brutalize... She had sworn she wouldn't use the technique again in anger, saving it for only when it was necessary, but right now she can barely remember why she would have ever made such a self-restricting goal in the first place.
"I'm not looking for your pity, you should keep it for yourself." the girl whispers softly, her words meant for Mizuki, as if no one else in the room existed at all. "Don't patronize me. You don't understand, and that's fine, but you can't judge me. Someday you'll have need of someone with my kind of power to save you, and you'll be glad I have it. Until then, I can live with you not understanding, I suppose."
Use it, the urge tugs at her consciousness, to unleash the technique of such ill intent, just this once. It may not be a fight. No one's life may be on the line. But imagine how good it would feel? Imagine how it would prove her point to strike the priestess with it, let her feel first hand the strength she wields now.
Let her feel... Hotaru shakes her head, pushing back on Mizuki's arm with her left arm, taking a step back and lowering her right arm as well, the enery fading fast. She has felt what it feels like, herself. Oswald's technique made sure that she didn't leave his fight without knowing just what being struck by the Satsujinken's miasmic energy felt like. There's no reason for Mizuki to know that pain.
Turning her side toward the girl again, as if reluctant to face her directly, Hotaru clutches her right wrist with her left hand, rubbing her forearm absently as if nursing some deeply rooted ache. "Nevermind. It's best if you don't have to understand about this. You shouldn't have to know... as long as there are a few like myself that do, everyone else can rest easy in their naivete. I wouldn't want to change that." she finishes, her voice heavy with remorse. "I shouldn't have tried to."
Mizuki's lips twist, a grimace of disappointment. She slides her eyes from Hotaru's face, to her wrist, then back. "This isn't the kind of pity you earn from having something sad happen to you, Futaba-san," murmurs Mizuki, "although I think something sad -has- happened to you... and you shouldn't be so patronizing as to think I'd ever -want- the kind of power you have... for myself... or for anyone else." She continues, her voice conversational, despite the pain in her wrist.
"I suppose you know something of what I've had to deal with. If you think I've not seen this kind of technique before, then you're wrong..." She leans even closer; it must look like the two are very friendly. One would have to look close to see that Mizuki's hand is going pale.
"Not only do I not understand, Futaba-san... I -reject- your understanding... because you don't understand anything at all. I may not be as strong as you are. Surely, right now, I can feel the killing intent in that chi..." It's her turn to reach out, to grab Hotaru's wrist, the right one, firmly but not tightly.
"You think -this- is strength?" As Hotaru steps back, Mizuki is quick to release that hand, letting her own hand fall open.
"If you think -I'm- naive," murmurs the redhead, "then you'd best look in the mirror again... if you think I couldn't feel how much you wanted to hurt me right then..." A pause. She looks around, her eyes swiveling. The kids are gone, now; Mizuki didn't even notice.
"I believe, during one Saturday Night Fight, you were paired with Blanka... that big green man. You called him a friend..."
... she turns, facing the opposite direction from Hotaru's facing, shoulder to shoulder. "... and then the last time you fought him you tried to put a hole in his chest."
"Tell me," she says, softly, "... if that is the kind of person you are."
'd paragraph is a new line."
"It's easy to dismiss it as wrong when you aren't depending on it to keep you safe. But would you be so eager to malign what I have if you could save another even if it is at a cost to yourself? Or is the sacrifice not worth it?" Hotaru states, not turning to look at the girl standing shoulder to shoulder to her, eyes fixed on the hall leading away from the room, no doubt considering leaving.
"It is an unpleasant technique and..." she pauses, frowning, "I have drawn upon it at times that were not appropriate, that much I already know. But it is simply a matter of mastering it now, controlling it, having it to use when I need it and no other times. I will control it, that is all."
She exhales softly, finally looking toward Mizuki across her shoulder, "Blanka knew what he was getting into when he joined the fight. It's the risk anyone takes in this profession. I have done nothing to anyone that any number of other fighters could very well do to them as well. I think..." The girl scowls, clenching her hands at her sides, "I thinik people are just surprised that I have this potential. I have held myself back for years and now I am not. Everyone is used to me being weak and to have that change has made things uncomfortable for them."
She sighs softly, shaking her head, looking away once more. "Who I am hasn't changed, just what everyone seems to think of me has. Perhaps it is why my brother has chosen solitude... so many don't seem to appreciate or understand the pursuit of strength and the costs that must be paid along the way... he must have gotten tired of the pestering as I have..."
Mizuki turns not her head, either; she's silent for a moment, considering her words, carefully. "There are those who believe that power is just power, a tool to be used, and that it is the user who determines whether that power is used for good, or for evil." Pause.
"There is also a saying that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I'm sure you know that quote." Finally, the redhead -does- turn her head, just enough to let her sidelong glance graze Hotaru.
"'times that were not appropriate?'" she asks, sounding frankly incredulous, though her voice is restrained, still quiet, not wanting to raise suspicions at the YFCC at large.
"When, Futaba-san, is it -ever- appropriate to try and kill someone, or to injure them severely, to the point of maiming them? Who taught you that? It wasn't whoever taught you your martial arts, I know that already. If that were true, you would have been this person from the beginning."
"A true martial artist, Futaba-san, *shows restraint*. And you have shown very little in the past while. I don't--I don't know much of anything about your brother. I don't know what kind of person he is. But I don't think any brother--any sibling who loved their sibling--would ever want to see them with the blood of another on their hands." She's losing Hotaru, she can tell--the blue-haired girl too consumed by her own methods of thinking, altered as they are.
"Is this something you want to teach Kentou, then? Have you displayed this new 'power' to him? Do you want him to learn how to use it?" Her final volley is armed, and though it may be dangerous, Mizuki won't rest until she's pursued the point as far as she can.
"_Can_ you control it? This 'power'? I could feel how much you wanted to use it, just now... If I make you angry, will you use it again? On me?"
"No!" Hotaru snaps the moment Mizuki asks if she's shown it to Kentou, whirling back toward the miko, eyes narrowed, fists clenched, "No," she repeats, shaking her head for emphasis, "It isn't for him. He is still too young, still learning the basics. I don't-..." she begins, pausing, breaking eye contact, "I don't want anyone else to have to learn it. It's my burden and my birthright. I won't teach it to Kentou."
When pressed if she can even control it, Hotaru frowns, eyes flashing back to Mizuki, her breaths coming in short gasps, the girl looking slightly winded from the exchange of words alone, as if there is another battle far more demanding drawing so much of her strength. The struggle to hold back.
"No, no. I can control it," she affirms, taking in a deep breath, closing her eyes, then exhaling slowly. "I don't want to use it right now," she continues, convincing herself in the attempt to convince Mizuki, "It isn't for settling disagreements. If you won't understand then you just won't understand."
She takes a step back, mouth forming a tight lipped, neutral expression. She told herself she wasn't going to use it when she had a Neo League battle with Blanka, yet she did. She wanted to avoid using it when fighting Birdie in a Saturday Night Fight, but when pressed she fell back on it anyway. Hotaru shakes her head vigorously, eyes closed, putting the doubts out of her mind. She was still just starting to try and control it then, she's better now. Power through control, that's what Oswald told her...
"It's just a matter of learning to, like anything else, that's all," She continues, her voice cold, bitter, the girl's eyes focusing back on the other girl. "Just... quit trying to push it." the words coming across like a threat, a warning.
Mizuki's lips quirk humorlessly. "A power you won't teach your prized student... 'have you even shown him?'" she says, echoing herself. "Surely he's seen you use it... if not in person, then I'm sure he's watched the tapes of your Saturday Night Fights, your Neo League showings..." Relentless, unforgiving, these are things that Mizuki is NOT, normally. But this is a special case.
"Has he dared bring it up with you? Maybe he realizes that if he pushes you on it he'll be in danger, too..." Her lips quirk, humorless still. "So, it isn't for anything as trivial as 'settling disagreements'... but when it comes to a public, televised fight, that's alright? You're contradicting yourself, Futaba-san," the girl presses, moving onward.
"Surely if it's suitable for use then it's suitable for use now..." Lifting her right leg, she turns to face Hotaru fully.
"You think it's just a matter of learning to control it," she summarizes, flatly, her eyes expressing all the disapproval her voice does not. "That you can control it and harness it to do good... to 'save' people. Am I right? That it's a power... for you and you alone?"
"You want to know what's -weak-, Futaba-san? What weakness is? Your weakness comes from your own self-doubts and your own recriminations! 'I was weak.' 'Everyone thought I was weak.' Those words are just excuses!! You're -hiding- behind those words, using them an excuse to justify harming people. Injuring them. -Damn near killing them-. Did -Zach- deserve that? You say this power can be used for good. Well," she hisses, "what good has it done for you or the people -around- you?!?"
Accused of contradicting herself, Hotaru buttons up, staring at Mizuki. And when the other girl turns toward her, Hotaru takes a step backward, hands coming up in a defensive posture, as if she expected Mizuki to strike out at her. "I-," she starts, then closes her mouth again, looking frustrated, angry. Everything was figured out, she thought, until now, until Mizuki started trying to poke holes in it all.
"That's right," she snaps with regards to having the power to protect when necessary. When her excuses are flung back at her, though, the girl bristles, tensing up. The same compulsion she felt to lash out before begins to fill her mind. Silence the prattling priestess with a show of force. If reasoned words won't get through to her, then maybe...
"I'm... still... learning it," she replies, her teeth gritted, her hands clenched. "No," she continues, "No he did not. But... but he should have known better than to challenge me. It wasn't even a fight that could be taken seriously in the first place!" She takes a step forward then, aggressing out of her defensive posture, no longer retreating. "I'm sure he gets hurt in other fights as well. It happens to everyone!!" Her voice raised, volume in contrast to Mizuki's attempts to keep her voice lowered.
"It's just a matter of time before..." She shakes her head, taking another step forward, "You don't understand. If you even remotely knew of the gulf that exists between us in power now you wouldn't even think of talking down to me like this!" She isn't even sure what prompts the next step, the space between them removed all together, nor is she sure why her left hand lashes out, seeking to grip Mizuki by the shoulder, to try and hold her still. She'll never remember drawing back her right hand, knuckles forward, and it is as if in a dream that her fist comes slaming forward, aiming to strike Mizuki squarely in the face. "Shut up!!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Mizuki has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Mizuki with Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Mizuki
"If it wasn't a serious fight then why did you treat it seriously?!?" She's getting through! Mizuki is truly getting angry now, though, her anger burning hot and fine, a contrast to the type of chi she wields. "You're sure he gets hurt in other fights...? Of course he does! But... not the way -you- hurt him..."
The switch from defensive posture to aggressive is certainly not lost on Mizuki; she simply reacts too late... or does she? It's hard to say whether she actually tried to move before that grip is made, Mizuki held completely steady for that punch. The closed fist strikes square and true, snapping the redhead's skull backwards; she staggers, tearing her shoulder free from that grip.
When she finally lowers her head again, the shiner is already starting to form. "You're right, I suppose. It's only a matter of time... before this power eats you up completely, from the inside! What will you be -then-, Hotaru?!?" She went to first name--*and* dropped the honorific--which means something's up. In any case, she finds suddenly that she's in a one-on-one fight versus Hotaru--a young woman who has defeated her handily, several times.
This matters to Mizuki not a bit, as she lunges forward, aiming to get a shoulder rush into Hotaru's abdomen, to follow up with a double palm strike.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Hotaru with Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Mizuki
Is there satisfaction in the strike delivered? Hotaru isn't even sure. She's staring at Mizuki almost as if she isn't aware that she's the one that just struck her. Eyes widened as if in surprise, she glances down toward her hand then back up toward the other girl, as if piecing together that she did in fact just sock the other girl in the face in a fit of uncharacteristic anger.
It leaves her somewhat immobile when Mizuki comes in with her shoulder, crunching Hotaru's stomach and causing her to bend forward in pain only to get slammed back hard from the double palm strike, her feet slipping backward aross the floor. Coming to a rest, her left hand rests against her chest, but her eyes are fixed on Mizuki, "It won't consume me," she growls. "I can master it."
She thinks of Marise, visiting her in the locker room after another bloody victory. What the woman had promised. The ability to to control the legacy Hotaru had inherited. Even she had stated that it was consuming her, but offered to teach her how to control it... But where has she been since? The girl shakes her head, her focus back on Mizuki in full as she charges forward a second time.
Her aim is to grab both of Mizuki's shoulders this time so that she can drive her knee up into the other girl's stomach. She would release her then, expecting her to stumble backward, putting her in perfect position to get the subsequent roundhouse intended for the side of the poor girl's head!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Mizuki with Heavy Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
"Even if you do," replies Mizuki--and likewise, there's absolutely no satisfaction in her successful strike--"... even if you do... what will be left of you and your friends? Your loves? Your students? They'll be GONE. All gone! And maybe it'll be because you killed them in your quest to be stronger! Letting weakness into your--NNNGH!"
Too busy pontificating, Mizuki reacts too late and she is doubled over by the knee strike, gasping in pain--and then Hotaru's foot takes her head and sends the miko spinning across the ground. When she rises--and she -does- rise--she's already bruised--her face a mask of blood, external and internal, her stance wobbly. But her eyes?
They remain clear, burning with energy. Concentrating, she raises her right hand...
...and then fakes a forward movement, before sweeping that hand out in a horizontally-situated arc. Blue, icy chi forms into a thin, wide dagger of energy, like frost forming on a windowpane, aiming to spear Hotaru with pure, icy energy.
"Remember what I said? You might beat me up... but I'm never going to stop... and so you're -never- going to defeat me... not with that power... it must be eating away at you already... telling you to finish it..."
COMBATSYS: Hotaru reflects Hyouryuu no Kiba from Mizuki with Kobi Kyaku.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
"I'm not going to kill anyone!!" Hotaru shouts back, horror at the idea clearly present in her voice as she holds her ground after landing the brutal kick. "I would never do anything like that, how dare you accuse me of that!" Her right hand flares to life with that red-orange chi, something she had never even known she could do until months ago when taught a very important lesson by a certain devilish creature.
"Why do you insist on even trying against me, isn't it clear that this is a fight you can't win? Just stop!" she demands, her voice cooling again, the ire fading, but only to be replaced with bitterness. Mizuki's energy is sent coursing toward the once gentle fighter and Hotaru replys with equal force, slamming her chi infused arm forward, her left hand reaching out to grasp her wrist as she stretches a field of that power between her, blocking the path of Mizuki's chi completely.
The two forces collide for a moment, until Hotaru places her right palm in the center of her own energy field and causes it to explode, sending some of the risiduals of Mizuki's power back at the other girl. "Just give up, this is an impossible fight!" Of course, she is the one that started it, but that detail goes unregarded for a moment.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Mizuki with Reflected Hyouryuu no Kiba.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\=====--\1 Mizuki
Reversed! Mizuki gasps as shards of her own energy are thrown into her own bdoy. The impact throws her back, and she staggers, hard. Deliberately, she hasn't been using her ability to heal. That direct contrast to Hotaru's new power. She normally would... but she doesn't feel that it's right. Once again, she gives Hotaru a clear-eyed stare, despite the wosening condition of her body. Nothing close to fatal, yet--the wounds she received at the hands of Katana were worse, to be sure. But...
"I--if you're not going to kill anyone..." she rasps, her throat sore from the strike of chi, a residual 'piece' hitting her in the throat, "... then why do you want a power that -can-?!?" Really. With martial arts, you have to work -hard- to kill someone who is also a amrtial artist. That is why most fights end with people being bruised, or cut, but not really injured on a life-threatening level. Skill versus skill aside, the fact is that martial arts that can do that kind of damage are usually designed to do so -deliberately-... whereas injury is part and parcel of the fighting sports...
... but Hotaru doesn't realize it, maybe.
Mizukiraises her hands once more. "What's impossible? It's just a word..." Finally, her chi begins to swell around her, again. Hotaru can feel that, certainly, Mizuki is making no attempt to hide it. "I told you... I won't give up..." And she throws her hands forward, unleashing her chi into a brief, swirling, screaming storm of icy power, a self-contained blizzard that reaches out for Hotaru...
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Mizuki's Hyouryuu no Arashi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Mizuki
"Because," Hotaru replies, as she slowly starts to walk toward Mizuki. "Because sometimes that is the kind of force it takes to survive in this world. It doesn't mean I would ever do such a thing to someone... but being able to... possessing that level of power... that's what matters. There's those that can, and then all the rest. I refuse to be lumped in with the rest..."
She advances as Mizuki begins to build up that surge of chi again, this time far more than the last attack. And when it is unleashed, the other girl is forced to halt her advance, leaping to the side out of harms way as the small storm of frozen fury hurtles past her. Hotaru glances behind her, watching its course, before snapping her attention back to Mizuki.
"I used to say that too... that I would never give up. That it didn't matter what happened..." Hotaru continues, her voice calmer now. "Kataki laughed when I said that. And he was right in doing so. He proved to me that just saying you won't give up is meaningless. In the end, there is always a limit. A point where your body, your heart, or your mind can no longer endure. To believe otherwise is to delude yourself... To believe in something that just isn't true... That's what's impossible, Mizuki. Everyone gives up eventually."
And then she's on the offense again, this time simply attempting to close the distance in order to grab hold of Mizuki's right arm and twist the girl down to the ground, intending to plant her foot in the other girl's stomach to keep her pinned should she succeed in getting her down.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki dodges Hotaru's Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Mizuki
"You're wrong! Listen to yourself... 'Sometimes that is the kind of force that takes it to survive'... do you honestly believe that? What does having 'power' mean?" My god, is her voice bitter, as she faces off against a woman whom she'd come to consider a like-minded person, a friend... "You're blinded by it... it's like a drug..." Yes, that's it. It's like a drug... seductive, deceptive. The more you use it... the better it feels.
"So you're saying... you gave up... is that it? Then... doesn't that still make you weak, even with all this power you now hold? You gave up on yourself...!"
By this time, Hotaru's already reaching for her; Mizuki twists away, Hotaru's hands grazing her arm like the touch of a cold ghost. However, she does not separate, does not seek distance, at all; she turns to be face to face with Hotaru, her eyes serious, and as cold as anyone's ever seen them.
"The -weak-," she intones, "shouldn't blather about being strong." Ah, the irony. "But being strong, and having power... these are two different things, aren't they? You lost your strength, the strength to hold to your convictions, to remain true to yourself... you look at this warped thing in the mirror and you believe it's you..." Mizuki's right hand opens, into a flat surface, and she quite simply aims to slap Hotaru across the cheek.
"Wake up!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Quick Punch from Mizuki with Satsujinken EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
Mizuki's emphany about the nature of Hotaru's problem is closer to the mark than many have managed to figure out. A drug. She had the technique all along, ever since introduced to her by Marise. But she had never touched it, horrified at what she knew it could do. It was Kataki that stripped that restraint from her mind, allowing the girl to at last test the attack out, drawn forth in rage during a SNF against a certain excessively rude young NESTs project gone wild. And from that moment on, she was hooked, little by little, each time she drew upon it. Hers has been a life of denial ever since her fight with Frei, then Oswald, and finally Blanka. She would get it under control, she had told herself and told them, an addict unaware of just how severe the problem really was...
So severe that as Mizuki declares that technique, that miasmic chi to be a toxin, an addictive drug poisoning the girl's mind, Hotaru snarls, drawing back her right hand, her forearm igniting once more with that offensive power. "I gave up on the delusion, Mizuki. Something you will have to do someday, sometime... That's what I surrendered. Foolish ignorance." The chi overwhelms her fist, growing brighter. It compells her, drives her, lash out, deliver the attack she said she would control. Don't hold back. Only the old, weak Hotaru would hold back. Don't shame your progress...
"I am..." Hotaru takes a sudden step forward, her right hand drawing back, the chi spiraling out in front of her fist like a drill bit of harmful energy, "...NOT..." Mizuki sends her palm in to strike Hotaru's face, attempting to slap her out of her addled state of mind, and the other girl slams her fist forward, driving it toward the other girl's chest before all that pent up energy would be discharged in a single, savage explosion with enough force to knock both of the fighters backward, "...WEAK!!"
Sliding back several yards, her hair blown back by the destructive force, Hotaru staggers forward, gasping suddenly, her right hand's glow diminishing rapidly, the risidual energy sinking back beneath her skin. Her left hand reaches over to clutch her right arm as she had earlier on, only this time she can't help but bend forward, holding her arm against her stomach as she grimaces, eyes clenched closed. Mizuki's fear of Hotaru being lost to the addictive power were definitely on the mark, as she continues to draw upon the ill intended method even in light of the increasingly painful agony using it has been putting her in.
Taking two steps forward, Hotaru drops to her knees, leaning forward as she clenches her wrist tightly, eyes squinting shut, tears coming unbidden at the corners of her eyes. This is /not/ the control she needed. This is not the mastery of the Koga technique Marise promised to guide her in. Now, more than ever, Hotaru realizes, even after having dealt a savage strike against her friend... she needs help.
The pain is tremendous. That chi strike doesn't just hurt--it's -made- to hurt. It's designed to hurt, like a cat o' nine tails, or a knife with edges subtly serrated and twisted to not only slice flesh but abrade it. Months ago, Mizuki had confided in Alma about the truth of techniques that were, literally, 'evil'--ways to use chi that could not help but twist one's mind, and soul. He had dismissed it. But chi is -life- energy--and you don't turn your energy for living into a weapon without affecting some part of yourself.
There are perhaps literally -hundreds- of fighters, all across the globe, who can use chi--in its pure, 'native' form, or with some sort of variation. Fire, ice, lightning, wind, even the strangest things like blood and steam. They can all be infused with life--they can all represent life. But when chi is twisted into a deadly weapon--when it is used with killing intent--
--something happens. Mizuki gasps; when she's blown backwards, she struggles to her knees--and then arches her back, gasping out a gout of blood. Her eyes roll up into the back of her head and she knows, with finality, that she is not much longer for consciousness. And yet... and yet... she finds the strength to right herself, once more, slumped backwards, nearly boneless, her eyes unfocused.
"... this..." she coughs, spitting up a little more blood. But she's probably in better shape than Zach was. "... this isn't... who you are... -what- you are... you're..." She coughs, again, slumping forward.
"... you're stronger... than this." And then she's slumped over, her breathing slow and ragged, but definite. Hotaru certainly has not killed yet... but it seems eery time she uses the technique... she comes closer and closer.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Mizuki can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 1/------=/=======|
The pain is almost blinding, it blocks out thought, sight, and sound... until she hears that pained cough, that strained voice of another victim of the Satsujinken and Hotaru looks up, still cradling her arm against her stomach, on her knees, her cheeks streaked with tears. Tears, she realizes only vaguely, of shame. "Mizuki... I-..." The anger is replaced with confusion. How could she be the one that did this? How could she have been drawn into attacking the other girl in such a manner...
She deserved it, another voice seems to speak into her mind. She provoked the attack. This is her fault. She got what she deserved... besides, didn't it feel so right to use Maou's gift on her? Just like all the rest, she had it coming... Hotaru squints her eyes closed, leaning forward, her forehead pressed against the ground for a moment. It isn't the technique's fault, she tells herself. She just hasn't mastered the power. She has to find Marise, have the woman teach her how to control it rather than let it control /her/. But... she doesn't even know where to look for her in the first place!
Pushing herself up to her feet, Hotaru runs her arm across her eyes and turns her back on the fallen girl. How could she have done this? It wasn't even a competition on the line. An argument, a disagreement, a difference in beliefs... and yet it came to this?
A sickness overtakes her stomach and Hotaru pales, slowly walking away at first, only to have her pace quicken into a run as she bolts from the YFCC, leaving Mizuki's care to the capable hands of the staff on hand who have more than been made aware of something gone horribly wrong. Whatever just took place was most definitely not some friendly spar.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has ended the fight here.
Log created on 23:49:13 03/26/2008 by Mizuki, and last modified on 05:49:29 03/29/2008.