Description:
Blissfully unaware of any DSC spies that might be tracking her down or reporting on her position to anyone who might care, Ayame is, for once, not engaged in anything remotely illegal! On a quiet street in Southtown Village, a shop building has a number of vending machines tucked away beneath a set of stairs leading up to the second floor stores. Browisng the options idly, Ayame clasps her hands behind her back, trying to settle on something in particular.
A certain candy bar catches her eyes and the girl fishes out a couple of coins from the pouch afixed to her belt and plucks them into the coinslot. A couple of button presses later and she's watching the candy bar advance along its row... ready to be pushed off and drop down to the open space below for retrieval. Only... it stops, just shy, the bar leaning out of its row, the top end propping against the glass, and then simply sitting there.
Brown eyes stare through the glass at the stuck bar with a certain level of incredulousness. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me," the girl mutters, squinting at the stuck snack. Growling, she starts to slip her lock picks out from beneath her left wrist guard, "And this is what drives people to crime, I swear..."
A voice from behind Ayame speaks up. "What do you think you're doing?"
Sada Asai had approached carefully, following her quarry from a distance. They'd had people observing this route for a good week, to establish a habit, and this time it seems as if the spy network has paid off at last. The mysterious Ayame... and now here she is, out in the open, with nobody around for a block who isn't asleep or occupied with their own doings.
Sada's lips peel back in a small grin. "So," she continues in her rich, somewhat low voice. "The mysterious girl who they call Ayame. Or should we call you 'thief' or 'criminal' instead? You know, around here, we try to keep our students to a high standard of behavior..." She twirls the weighted end of her kusarigama, which had been resting comfortably in her hands, around once.
"But I'm not really here to talk to you about that," she continues. "Someone I know wants to have words with you, so, you're going to come with me, right? I can wait until you're done robbing the machine, if you need a couple minutes."
A voice behind her causes the girl to freeze in the very act of being about to insert the lock picks into the vending machine door's keyhole. Pulling the picks back out, the girl twirls around to face the owner of the voice, clasping her hands behind her back as if she hadn't been up to anything particularly nefarious. At first she dismisses Sada as 'just some girl', but that kusarigama begs to differ.
Her nickname being called out loud also kind of puts the strawberry-blonde immediately on the edge. "Uh... it sounds like you have me confused with someone else," the girl remarks, her expression implying abject confusion at what's being implied. "I was just, well, I mean, the stupid thing," she kicks backward, foot rocking the vending machine, but the candy bar remains stuck, "Stole my money. That's all."
"So, you can, ah, just tell whoever it is you know that I'm not really interested in talking with them, okay?" she beams, starting to scoot to the side just a little, clearly evaluating optimal plans of avoiding this latest annoyance.
"Well, you'll be able," Sada says solemnly, "to tell her yourself. You're going to have to remember, though - I gave you the chance." She grins, then, even as she stretches some of the chain taut. "Heh heh -"
She whirls the weighted end around, suddenly, aiming to send it whicking close to Ayame, perhaps an attempt to intimidate her? But then she tilts her head to the side, drawing the weapon back with a sharp flick of the wrist. "But I should be polite to someone I've just met. Come on; won't you come along? I promise it won't hurt. Five minutes... maybe ten... that's all. Doesn't that sound easy?"
Sada likely wouldn't know, but somehow a certain young Kirishima had found out that her fellow Seijyun student had finally managed to get onto Ayame's trail. She doesn't move about dressed as normal; she is, in short, clad in a lot of black. And is somewhere further down the blocks of southtown village, let's say.. In a vehicle. Really, it'd be simple to just double team the thief right then and there, wouldn't it, so what's the point of it all?
Well while Yurika indeed wants to have words with Ayame, it's a little more imporatant, in her eyes, to see how Sada performs on a less-than-critical mission of sorts. This kind of scenario is a lot different than something more scripted out as a Saturday Night Fight.
The chain thwacks closeby the girl and Ayame most definitely flinches, skirting to the side defensively, not really sure what to make of this strange girl with a very interesting weapon in her hands. The chain doesn't hit her, which is nice. "I like your toy," the girl remarks, mouth curling into a grin broad enough to just barely show her teeth.
"But anyway, I'm busy." Doing nothing in particular, but that's not important! "So you'll just have to tell your, ah, friend? Whoever. That they'll have to schedule an appointment with my secretary if they want any of my time. I'm working for important people these days, so I can't really be sidetracked with whatever it is you want with me."
Her right hand slips down to her belt, resting atop a sheath partially hidden in its surface. "I'm sure you think you're tough with that thing, but really. Don't try me. You look healthy enough. There's no reason to go and change that now, is there? I'm going to be on my way, and as for you... well, I don't really care what you do."
Her intentions stated, Ayame takes another step to the side, looking inclined in just scooting on by if possible.
"Oh, the kusarigama? You do?" Sada says, voice becoming more polite. She grins as she takes a step back, holding out the chain. "It's not in common use nowadays. Even schoolgirls don't bother with the weights; even though it makes it a lot better. But it's interesting that you're working for people... Because I don't think many schools around here are that friendly to students holding down jobs, outside of class." Her eyes narrow, then.
"Do you think you're going to scare me with your little knives? I've been dealing with worse than that since last year. I think you're going to need to learn a lesson yourself. And -" She doesn't really move, but the kusarigama /does/, the weighted end suddenly whirling around in an overhand move that slams ten pounds of lead weight towards Ayame!
Although really, if Ayame is quicker than Sada is half-expecting, it will actually shatter the front of that vending machine, solving the whole 'snack' problem neatly. See! Sada IS trying to help!
COMBATSYS: Sada has started a fight here.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Ayame has joined the fight here.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Sada successfully hits Ayame with Odani Foundation Art.
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Sada 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Ayame
Itching to leave, but not so successful at it, Ayame gets thunked by the weight, driving her back against the vending machine's glassy surface with a bit of a gasp. "Oh, that's cute," she grunts, sliding off the machine, ignoring the small, spiderweb crack in the window.
"You know, where do you get off thinking I care about what schools around here allow or disallow anyway? I don't let some stuffy school administrators control me like they must control you. Mostly because, uh, I don't go to any of them." she remarks flippantly.
The prattle is mostly to distract, however, as she slips her hand back down to her sheath and slip out a butterfly knife, flicking it open in the act of drawing it, already sprinting forward for Sada, "Oh, have you..." If she isn't scared of knives, then the girl will try to give her a reason to be, slashing out with the glinting blade swiftly, aiming for Sada's arm. Maybe she thinks making the girl bleed a little will cut through her tough act and put this confrontration to an end!
COMBATSYS: Sada dodges Ayame's Quick Strike.
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Sada 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Ayame
"Oh," Sada says, raising her eyebrows, "really?" The knife comes towards her suddenly and Sada sweeps her arm away, sliding to the side with a graceful flurry of her unorthodoxly-long skirt. "Hmmm - Well, that's interesting. You know, an education is vital if you want to find a good place to work when you get older..."
She twirls the kusarigama up into the air, now, with an unnecessary flourish. "But maybe you're the kind of girl who just wants a husband," she continues thoughtfully, even as her freed hand darts forwards to grab at that hand that holds the butterfly knife. No, not the arm - the wrist!
Sada steps forwards, whether the grasp connects or not, aiming to grasp that limb and twist it backwards along both wrist and elbow joints until SOMETHING snaps.
COMBATSYS: Ayame interrupts Fighting Like A Girl from Sada with Harvest's Reaper.
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Sada 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Ayame
If knives aren't going to phase the Seijyun student, then perhaps something a lot heftier will do the trick. Her attempted cutting is avoided deftly by the other girl, leaving Ayame's arm extended and easily grasped. Gasping faintly as she's forced to drop the knife, her wrist being twisted at a painful angle, the girl knows she has only seconds before her poor joints will be pushed beyond a snapping point.
Gritting her teeth, eyes closed, her left hand darts into the pouch at her belt, drawing out a half-foot long metal tube. Already visibly red energy is coursing down her arm into the tube, but the true nature of the weapon becomes more apparent as a button press in its center causes the object to suddenly expand out, telescoping out into a full length six foot long, metal staff, presently coated with vibrant, angry red chi.
A one-handed swipe of the weapon is aimed to pry herself free of the grip, but Ayame continues to move, following through with a second, powerful, upward strike toward the other girl's chest. The chi trails behind the ends of the staff, forming visible red blades of scythe-like energy.
Her own momentum carries her up into the air just enough for her to heft the weapon over her head and bring it crashing back down for one final, meaty impact toward the crown of Sada's head, culminating in one last explosion of chi before Ayame's feet touch back down, the girl landing in a crouch. The staff in her hand continues to churn a malevolent red, some of the energy seeming to concentrate near the ends congealing into almost liquid form, dripping from off the low end of the staff like crimson victory as the girl stands up straigh up slowly, her expression shifted, her mood much darker now.
"Give up and go away." she declares with a scowl, "What I want out of life is none of your concern, and if you chose to try and make it, then your life will be a regrettably brief one..." Gradually, her glowing staff dims, the energy she was forcing into it diminishing slowly.
COMBATSYS: Ayame has saved the state of this fight.
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Sada 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Ayame has left the fight here.
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Sada 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Sada has ended the fight here.
That brutal blow hits Sada in the head with force sufficient to kill a lesser woman! The noise is like smashing into a watermelon wrapped in duct tape that barely manages to remain intact. Sada, by contrast, staggers, her eyes hazy as she staggers back - squinting through barely suppressed watering of the eyes at Ayame. "Give... up," she says, slowly.
She grins, then, but it's slow as her back hits the vending machines, one hand going up to rest on the crown that had just been so thoroughly smote. "You're telling me... that I should... give up, and go away... aahahahaha!!" She grins then, suppressing the urge somehow to continue the laughing, to let it go completely wild. Hey, she reasons in the part of her mind that didn't just get clocked hard, maybe this is why all those crazy girls are crazy. It kinda feels good!
But not too good. Sada straightens up, grasping the kama and the chain more tightly as her head leans forwards, lips cracking back into another sort of grin. "You're hiding something... If you really didn't want someone to pay attention, you'd have made like you were crying, now, and run. But I think you're happy that someone's found you out. Why don't you come on, then."
Her head snaps up then, eyes no longer watering as they open. "Come on and show me how much I'll regret making you my concern!!" Maybe she got hit a little /too/ hard.
COMBATSYS: Sada gains composure.
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Sada 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Ayame
It seems her strikes hit their marks, but her attempt to scare Sada off with a burst of brutality didn't do so well. Scowling as Sada braces herself, keeping her in sight, Ayame rests her right hand at her hip, her left hand holding her staff out at her side, the weapon no longer glowing as she ceases pouring energy into powering it.
The Seijyun student begins to laugh and Ayame twitches, "That was me just getting warmed up. I'm going to break you so bad whoever sent you is going to have to visit you at the hospital when I'm finished here." the girl growls. Her expression shifts as Sada speaks to her about being found out. "I was going to just leave, but right now I'm starting to think that it's better for me to send a message to whoever sent you so they don't bother trying again, hm?"
Her right hand comes up from her hip, brushing her hair back over her ear before lowering to grip her staff again, the girl holding the weapon at a defensive angle in front of her, twirling it every now and then, duplicitous brown eyes focusing back on Sada. "I like your weapon though. I think I'll take it for myself."
COMBATSYS: Ayame focuses on her next action.
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Sada 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Ayame
"Hnh," Sada sneers, lips curling back again. "This? This is a kusarigama. It's a sickle, like so," a vague gesture, "on a chain, connected to five kilograms of lead in a leather wrapping. Do you think it's got some kind of a magical power? That this is some kind of a sacred heirloom? That's for the useless little queer boys who play with swords all day long. A kusarigama lasts five years; ten if you're lucky or you live where it's dry."
Her head tilts forwards; "The Asai Variant of Kusarigamajutsu is the real secret. By this power did we keep Nobunaga from slaying us, even when he was able to overcome our forces in the field. By this power did we keep our pride, waiting for the day when we would be able to right what was wronged!"
Her head snaps up then. "But this weapon, even if it's meaningless, was a gift from my grandfather. Come and take it if you think you can, you snotty bitch." She then steps to the side once, twirling the weighted end with a single jingling motion... She doesn't strike, though, not yet. Maybe she's waiting for the perfect instant.
COMBATSYS: Sada focuses on her next action.
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Sada 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Ayame
There is amusement in Ayame's eyes as she watches Sada explain the nature of the weapon. Simple in premise yet interesting in actual execution, combining the ability to cut, smack, and entangle all in one handy package. She has several different weapons for accomplishing the same things, but to have one do such a fine job of doing them all at once is appealing to the girl. "I didn't imagine it was anything beyond what it appeared to be," the girl remarks, responding to the nature of the weapon.
But as Sada continues to explain her family's technique, the girl raises one narrow eyebrow, "Ah, a history lesson. A good long term perspective is always nice," she muses for a moment, but when she gets challenged to come try her hand at taking the kusarigama, she laughs, "Oh, saucy. Very well!"
A sprint forward has her closing the distance, hefting the staff up again as she hops up into a quick strike, aiming for Sada's shoulder this time, coming from the right. But the instant she touches ground, she's spinning around for a follow up sweep for Sada's ankles, trying to take the school girl clean off her feet and drop her to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Sada dodges Ayame's Random Strike.
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Sada 0/-------/--=====|==-----\-------\0 Ayame
That strike is seen coming /miles/ away. Sada lunges back from it, twisting one foot to the side and twirling with a flurry of skirts as Ayame's incoming strength is dissipated harmlessly via the ancient method of not being there to absorb it! (It might hurt Ayame if she hits something, but that's not Sada's problem, really.)
"You could make your own, you know," she says, twirling again with sudden speed; it's probably not a very good maneuver, considering how it shows her back to her opponent, however briefly. However, the spinning weight that seems to fly out from her midsection, rushing at Ayame to try to wrap around her, probably is helped by that very centrifugal force! "Of course, I suppose - it might be too complex for you? It has three parts, after all, and only one edge..."
COMBATSYS: Ayame reflects Snare Whip from Sada with Medium Strike.
- Power hit! -
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Sada 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Ayame
The girl pulls back in time when it becomes clear that Sada isn't going to be in the line of fire, her staff sweep abbreviated, Ayame twisting back up to standing to turn around and face Sada directly. Calculating eyes watch every movement on the part of the other student, getting a feel for just how it is Sada manipulates the complicated weapon of hers.
When the weight comes flying in at her this time, however, she seems a lot more ready for it, swinging her staff out and upward, hooking the chain over it and forcing the weight to loop it once, "Oh," the girl remarks, spinning forward, slamming her staff forward again to send the chain hurtling back toward Sada with a severe amount of angular momentum such that it might just end up entangling /her/ instead, "I think I've got the hang of it," she finishes as she comes out of her spin and stops short in a partial crouch.
COMBATSYS: Sada dodges Ayame's Reflected Snare Whip.
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Sada 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Ayame
The chain comes whipping back at Sada. Her eyes narrow for a moment as the heavy weight flings at her, whirling through the air -- and she ducks low as it arcs past her, smashing into the front of a vending machine and bursting asunder a rack of chilled Ramunes, releasing a flurry of small glass marbles and the bubblegum-scent of delicious soft drinks. She whips the chain back after that, giving Ayame a slightly flat look.
"Do you," she says, before she twirls it upwards into the air, letting go of it entirely as it rises like a steel snake! She grasps it at the chain about a meter below the sickle and steps towards Ayame then, dragging the weight behind her and twirling that sickle around in a series of dangerous, flashy, and probably quite painful short tight arcs! She may, of course, opt to move out of the way...
But it's possible that this is part of Sada's /cunning plan/. Can she take that risk?!
COMBATSYS: Ayame counters Shinryukan Correction from Sada with Bright Renewal.
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Sada 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Ayame has saved the state of this fight.
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Sada 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Ayame
COMBATSYS: Sada has left the fight here.
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Ayame 0/-------/------=|
She should've expected that Sada wasn't about to get hit by her own weapon when she sent the weighted chain swinging back at her. Disappointing to a degree but not insurmountable. The other girl proves too swift in regaining control over the old fashioned heirloom, forcing the street rogue to just close her mouth for a moment and concentrate.
The next moment that become critical as Sada closes distance, aiming to deliver a series of painful slashes against the other weapons user. But Ayame is thinking defensively at the moment, and it pays off, her staff swinging out to intersect the deadly blade, metal against metal strikes ringing out around the block.
Finally, the girl slips her bo in underneath the blade just long enough to hook it off to the side and open Sada's guard enough for a quick kick to try and shove the other girl off of her, before springing back a step herself, exhaling as she shifts her staff's angle back into a ready position, quiet and tight lipped for a moment. "I see you intend to be quite persuasive," the girl remarks, her demeanor shifted a little. She had sought to deter the Seijyun girl with a knife earlier, but now it seems Sada has no compunctions drawing blood to make her point either. "Who sent you, anyway." the girl asks, maybe becoming a bit more curious as to what this is all about now.
The kick does indeed send Sada staggering back a pace, eyes narrowing at the pain in her side. It's not overwhelming, but it isn't ignorable, either. All of this may, in time, add up, she thinks. Try to take her down before she can cripple you by bits and pieces...
She chokes up on the chain again, taking another step back from Ayame. "Hnh," she says, with a toss of her hair. "If you're so curious, you should've come along to find out. Are you telling me that you're giving up and you want to take a walk, now?!"
Her other hand loosens for a moment before she twirls the far end of the chain over her head in a tight arc, hurling it like a lasso towards Ayame's midsection - aiming to wrap it around her and snap her forwards, off balance and hopefully falling into all that broken crap on the floor. That should, Sada hopes, take the fight out of her - and if she cuts her face, well...
COMBATSYS: Sada successfully hits Ayame with Tangle Whip.
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Sada 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Ayame
"Give up? From what? Boredom?" Ayame asks back, standing up a little bit straighter, shifting her staff to her side, no longer holding it in front of her, deciding a shift in contending with Sada's ranged weapon is in order. But she hasn't much more time to give it thought as she finds herself quickly lasso'd. "Erk-" the girl grunts, finding herself pulled forward hard before she drops to the ground, her right hand landing in the glass left by the shattered vending machine cover, provoking a hiss of pain as she comes up on her knees and finds them to be cut as well.
Tucking her staff under her left arm, the girl reaches to her left wrist guard with her right hand after shaking two large shards of glass out of it, and fishes out two small, but very sharp throwing knives. Rather than try to close distance with the other girl, Sada is given the chance to contend with first one, then the second one, the small weapons targetting her torso, as Ayame busies herself getting back to her feet and brushing the glass from her knees as well.
Her face flush with pain and irritation, she shows no signs of aggressing just yet after that unanticipated failure.
COMBATSYS: Sada dodges Ayame's Medium Fling.
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Sada 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Ayame
The incoming object is countered by Sada lunging to the side, actually entering the street proper as the throwing knives go long, hit the street, bounce and skitter - one of them hits the tire of the parked Toyota across the street! Oh, the shame! As the air hisses and groans out, Sada lets out a harsh laugh. "Getting tired?!"
Of course, not being in direct view of your opponent does have its down sides, in so far as the fact that it makes it hard to punch them. Sada lacks some kind of sophisticated psychic command of raw terror or advanced chi-based homing missiles, and so she is forced to improvise on this topic. She props one shoulder against the side of the wall, digging one leg behind the Pocari Sweat machine that is nearest to her. With a grunt and a flexing of muscles that are going to hurt in the morning, she shoves...
Ayame will have creaking, groaning metal to warn her of her IMPENDING DOOM, but she may have difficulty avoiding either the falling vending machine /or/ the erupting bottles and fragments of said bottles bursting out like shell fragments!
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Sada's Random Weapon.
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Sada 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Ayame
Oops. Accidental damage to the property of others is hardly a new occurance in Ayame's fights, the long haired teen barely noticing the tire she's punctured with one of her stray knives. If the intent was to buy herself time, then it seems that she managed to that all right.
Of course, it seems Sada is intending to raise the price tag on this afternoon brawl, sending a vending machine collapsing over, shattered glass, popping bottles and cans spewing their contents all over the place. But Ayame is no where near the mess, leaping forward and out onto the sidewalk, landing in a roll and coming up into a crouch a safe distance away from it all.
"Pesky," the girl mutters, whirling back up to her feet to face Sada. But again she doesn't close distance, chosing instead to focus her energy inward and augment it with chi drawn from all the world around her. The breath of life many call it and for right now, it's the spirit of fighting for Ayame, red energy swirling up around her feet, building up into a dark blue at the level of her torso. Much of it being absorbed by the strawberry-blond, her jaw clenched with the focus and concentration required. "Just getting warmed up," the girl insists back, making an effort to ignore the blood tricking down her shins from the earlier glass cuts.
COMBATSYS: Ayame gathers her will.
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Sada 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Ayame
"Ooh, are you," Sada says as she strides over the fallen machine, whirling the kusarigama's weighted end at her side with a surprisingly merry fashion. She stands there, enjoying her momentary height advantage. "You can still give up, you know. Just say, 'Yes, Miss Sada, I would love to meet your friend, please stop' -- and we'll just have to take a little bit of a walk..."
She whirls the chain around, then, before hurling it off to the side, where it wraps with a whizzing clank around a steel bar advertising that you can come into this little niche and buy things from vending machines! Sada grins, then, shark-like and wide: "Once I've taught you how you should respect your betters."
With this, she leaps down, swinging along the wrapped-chain at a peculiar angle. She aims, it seems, to hook around Ayame with the length of chain. From here - well...
COMBATSYS: Ayame blocks Sada's Avenging Anegawa.
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Sada 0/-------/-------|=======\=------\1 Ayame
From here, Sada endeavors to do nothing less than slam Ayame with painful force against the concrete wall, one of the vending machines, or ideally, /both/. She is fast-moving, and strong; after executing this maneuver, she wiggles the chain in a complex manner, and the far end uncoils from its anchor point. Will it do her any good?!
Ayame's busy charging her lasers while Sada sets up her next assault. The weapons maven has to admit that she's making remarkable use of the environment around her, combining her techniques with positioning to put them to the most effective use. It's impressve, though the girl isn't about to say that, of course.
Gritting her teeth, she allows the built up energy collect within her, giving her a second wind of strength, perhaps, or just storing up enough to help her try and outlast the other girl's aggressive vigor. "Give up? A couple of scratches isn't going to keep me from fighting on," she replies, returning the sharklike grin with a lean of her head and faint smile. Relaxing the build up a little, she's ready just in the nick of time as Sada's chain catches around her and carries her over against the wall with impressive force.
Fortunately for /her/, she manages to catch herself with her legs, kicking them up at the last moment and landing feet first against the barrier, only to be pulled back and around into the vending machine, taking it on the shoulder with a pained grunt, spiderwebbing that one's glass cover but not quite shattering it before Ayame is at last released.
Landing on her feet, the girl stumbles a little, looking a bit worse for wear and just slightly disoriented before her brown eyes come to focus on the other Asian teen. "Heh," the girl grunts, "Now I have to admit to being curious... if whoever you work for is better than you, then they must be someone quite interesting... I guess I'll just have to beat their name out of you, hm?"
Gripping her titanium staff tightly, Ayame charges forward in an attempt to close the distance with Sada once more, spinning into another sweeping staff strike, aiming to slam Sada in the stomach before spinning back around for a sideways, sweeping slam from the side to finish the quick combination, careful to keep her guard tight throughout the attempted combo.
COMBATSYS: Sada fails to counter Medium Strike from Ayame with Asai Harvester.
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Sada 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Ayame
Sada smirks as she straightens back up. "You'll never get it out of me," she says, "because you'll have to -" Here she comes! Sada swings her kama forwards -- except she realizes at the last moment that she wasn't holding onto it.
The staff to her stomach makes her scream, the rest bringing grunts and gasps as she is subjected to bruising, bone-shuddering force. She finally leaps back, avoiding further agony, rattling the chain behind her. "Hnh!" she shouts, spitting some bloody spit onto the ground. "So you're getting serious now, at last...?"
That's more like it, Ayame thinks, her staff strikes landing before she drives Sada back a little. "Now, now," she replies, her own grin becoming predatory, the ruthless girl begining to feel much more confident now that she's landed a good hit after a lot of attempts at getting through Sada's defenses. "Don't underestimate what lengths I'll go to find out what I want to know... it's a dangerous gamble."
Twirling her staff up and around her head and tucking it back under her arm, the girl takes a breath and holds it, preparing for a moment her next attack, noting everything she's been able to figure out about Sada's style of fighting. "You're going to find out just how serious, I'm afraid." she grins, suddenly launching forward into a short sprint, spinning the staff out from under her arm into a wide sweep to clear the way in front of her even though she deliberately keeps it too far away from Sada to actually strike the other girl.
Another confusing spin is used to bring herself in closer before she slams her right hand forward, palm toward Sada, and unleashes a sudden burst of bright red energy in a wide swath at near point blank range, attempting to strike the other girl with the surge of chi she unleashes from what she had built up earlier.
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Sada with Midsummer Fantasy.
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Sada 0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1 Ayame
The incoming strike takes Sada off balance. She's not quite aware that she's being read - but it's not difficult to guess. She's spinning, too - the blast of chi is merely an announcement of what had already happened. "Ghh!" Sada gasps, staggering backwards; her nose is bloody and her uniform seared when she staggers back, far enough away to reach the sidewalk. She sags for a moment, staring at Ayame's smugness with completely unreflected loathing. Never mind that she was doing the same a minute ago -- that's not the point! SHE was the one doing it!
"Think you're so great, bitch," she says through slightly shaking lips. "Heh... You think you're going to get left alone even if you do beat me, through some kind of stupid luck? You should give up now before she gets /really/ angry..." She takes another step back, then, taking a deep breath. Is she waiting for something? Stalling for time?
COMBATSYS: Sada gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Sada 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Ayame
Her chi blast struck as intended, Ayame's deceptive approaches perhaps doing a little to make the trajectory of her attacks less obvious to the girl that has proven herself to be quite swift when she needs to be. The bloodied girl's sneer is met with that maintained grin as Ayame becomes confident in her control over this violent exchange of attacks. "I'm good enough," she replies, hefting her staff up to rest against her shoulders for a moment as Sada backs up and keeps her distance.
"Blaming your failures on luck, huh? That's usually my line," she continues contemplatively with a faint frown. "Though I guess you need any excuse you can get, so that's all right." The metal polearm gets swung down off her shoulders as Ayame darts forward again, "She, huh? Well, that doesn't narrow down who it is by much. You should keep talking."
Of course, she seems more interested in bashing the other girl than talking, as she comes in with another attack with her staff. Leaping forward, she lands just shy of Sada before she spins the weapond own over her head, aiming for the crown of the Seijyun 'princess' before drawing her staff back and then literally /hurling/ it toward the chest of Sada. Whether or not it connects, she simply yanks her arm back, the weapon springing back into her grip due to a thin wire attached to a braclet on her wrist following the confusing duo of strikes.
COMBATSYS: Sada fails to counter Random Strike from Ayame with Asai Harvester.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Sada 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Ayame
Sada's kama raises up again --
SHIT, Sada thinks, as the thrown stave strikes her in the chest hard enough to knock her back, not into the narrow street, but /across/ it, past that puncture-tired car and into some (thankfully emptied) garbage cans, which clatter around. She twitches for a moment, her kusarigama's chain trailing across the street.
"Hnh," she says, straightening up and looking over at Ayame with metaphorical blood in her eye and literal blood in her mouth. "You mean... heh... do you really want the name of my superior? She's not the real one at the top, but..."
And from a distance, Yurika continues to watch the two fighters go at it; for a while it seemed that Sada had the advantage for a while but Ayame just seems to be getting tougher instead of weaker as the battle drags on. Her frown was only slight, however, because in the end the exercise was proving to be successful in the long run. That didn't mean she'd abandon faith in her schoolmate, of course, things still could go either way and as such the only thing she could do is bide her time and wait for the right moment..
As Sada is knocked away, Ayame holds her ground, not chasing after the girl this time as she shifts her staff up over her head and begins to twirl it slowly at first. "Yes, I'd like to know her name. So I know who I have to go punish for this hassle after I'm done with you," Ayame remarks coolly, gradually picking up the speed at which the glinting weapon twirls. Chi builds up around her, swirling up from the ground, coursing over her body. Bright red-orange, like the color of a summer's setting sun.
"I'm so very interested in to whom I owe the thanks to. I wonder what prompted this anyway... Ah well. Too bad for her, I don't like being told what to do. If she wants to speak with me, she'll have to learn to ask nicely." Lowering the still spinning staff such that it's directly in front of her, Ayame turns one shoulder to the side as she speeds up the spinning weapon even faster, the chi blurring into a discuss of that red-orange energy.
And then she unleashes it, a swath of power that hurtles across the distance toward the other girl. A wide, crescent of power unleashed with the intent to plow into the confident Seijyun girl. "HAAH!" the girl exclaims, stumbling out of her aggressive launch of the speedy wave of chi before catching her balance.
COMBATSYS: Sada dodges Ayame's Final Sunset.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Sada 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Ayame
Sada bows her head downwards as the enormous wave of power sweeps down towards her. It strikes hard, things blasting, ripping, tearing... The light then fades, revealing destroyed trash cans. Was she instantly destroyed by the sheer force of the strike?!
No.
"Haaaah --" Sada screams as she descends from her phenominal leap, aiming towards Ayame's abdomen with one knee. The kusarigama trails after her, but she actually lets go of it, letting its momentum carry forwards. She's trying, perhaps, to knock Ayame down with raw force -- but while that would hurt, what else could it bring about?
COMBATSYS: Ayame counters Fighting Like A Girl from Sada with Requiem For Fallen Blossoms.
[ \\\ < > //////////// ]
Sada 1/-----==/=======|=------\-------\0 Ayame
The wave of chi crashes against the opposite wall, sending leaves, dust, and debris flying in all directions and throwing up a cloud around the point of impact. Ayame's eyes may reveal no sign of Sada, but she isn't fooled. She would've heard something to clue her in. A cry of pain, a yelp of shock as the swath of power overcame the other girl... No, she's not there.
She barely becomes aware in time of the girl dropping down toward her with a high volume yell. Her staff, still aglow with that energy from the blast that was meant to finish the Seijyun student, is hefted up into the way at the last second possible. Churning energy explodes out between the girls as it catches Sada in the stomach before her knee can quite reach the girl.
And then it's just a matter of letting gravity do the work as Ayame tilts the weapon to the side, letting the kusarigama user slide off of it at an angle before she kicks out hard with her foot to drive the girl off of it completely and send her backward just far enough to leave her open for the final spinning smash of the chi infused weapon, aiming once again for her arm as she has so many other times, clearly trying to rob the other girl of the ability of using her weapon so effectively.
"Nice try," Ayame remarks as she completes the spin, the chi particles that exploded out from her two strikes drifting down toward the ground before fading. "I didn't expect that." Her tone has shifted some. A bit less obnoxious, a tad less predatory, as if she's mentally cooling off, calming down, and falling back on her more calculating nature.
"Ghh -" Sada gasps, and then her arm is struck hard enough for something in it to snap. She staggers to the side, clutching it to her chest with a ghastly momentary expression, half rage and half terror. She looks over at Ayame as she lands among her spin of particles, seething inwardly for a moment.
"Nnnnhhh you BITCH!" she shouts, spinning around herself at an awkward angle, aiming her own foot in a swinging kick aimed right at Ayame's side! Throwing everything she has into it - it will probably sting, but it is also perhaps the most telegraphed thing since 'What Hath God Wrought' back in the States!
After this she slumps, staggering back and letting the kusarigama lay on the ground, glaring at Ayame. Perhaps daring her to do something, perhaps simply beyond immediate rational thought for whatever reason.
COMBATSYS: Sada can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Ayame dodges Sada's Heavy Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/------=|
Ayame's strength has run out, exhausting herself with the final surge of chi she used to finish the other girl and take her out of the fight at last. It's apparent that she's run out of energy as she reacts to the incoming powerful kick with a backward hop, the motion a little clumsy, lacking her usual agility. She comes to a stop a little wobbly, her staff slamming down against the street for support, perspiration rolling down her cheeks as she fixes the fallen girl with a cool stare.
"Well, well... look at what we have here..." the strawberry blond smirks after a moment of catching her breath, the shout back at her not seeming to phase her at all. It goes without saying that she gets called a bitch a lot. After a while it doesn't really carry that much weight to her. "One beaten Seijyun brat," she remarks, taking a step closer then, hefting her staff up into her hand. "Who got in over her head."
Another step closer, the girl hefting the staff up onto her shoulder. "I'm not sure how life is at that prissy, all girl's prison of yours. But out here on the streets, there's not a whole lot stopping me from beating the hell out of you and sending you back a bloody mess to whoever it is who bid you come out here and pester me as a message to leave me the hell alone."
She pauses to crouch down and pick up the kusarigama by the handle, "Or you could just tell me who it is I should be going after next and I'll be on my way..." comes the apparent offer of a bargain. Whether or not she'd keep it is hard to say.
Well, it'd seem at some point Yurika had closed in the distance from wherever she was to the fight in.. Relativly little time. Just how is that point made? That'd be the very moment Ayame lowers her hand toward the kusarigama, as a slender, black shuriken rips from the air and slams down into the ground, buring itself into the gravel through the loop of one of the chains- Though this is just to try to discourage picking it up, so it may or may not work.
"I really don't think something like that is necessary.." Standing atop the vending machine is Yurika Kirishima, clad not in her school uniform but a black bodysuit of sorts identical by nearly every detail of Kurow's uniform.. Though covering her mouth is half a mask, detailed as a kitsune. Her hair is done up in a large ponytail, the apperance obviously meant to hide her identity; but she'd worn the same thing at a 7th Circle match. "You're very troublesome, you know that, Ayame? Do you always go about things the hard way?"
"Hah," Sada says as she staggers back, slumping against the wall. She glares at Ayame, but now it's cruelly, because she has backup. She doesn't have to embarrass herself further, because now the odds are in her favor! She clutches her arm to her stomach, though, and says aloud, "Ask her - yourself. Or maybe you'd like to start a fight with her, instead."
Inwardly she seethes, but perhaps even her reserves of pissiness are inadequate to fuel a school-defending fury at Ayame. Maybe when she gets to her junior year.
The shuriken most definitely puts a stop to Ayame's attempt to pick up the dropped weapon, the girl taking a somewhat controlled, slow step to the side before turning around to face the direction she detected the small projectile to have come from, careful not to waste energy in darting around unnecessarily as she's rather tapped at the moment.
Brown eyes come to rest on Yurika atop the vending machine. A disguise would be wasted on Ayame the moment she chose to speak, the girl's memory sharp enough to pick out prior targets by the sound of their voice, site unseen. "Ah ha," the girl remarks, her smile coming back slowly as Yurika speaks. "Nothing worthwhile is done the easy way, right?" she asks back, doing her best to disguise how tired she's feeling.
Sada speaks up from behind her, confirming that Yurika is indeed the one that sent her. So... Ayame muses, maybe Elle was right all along about the girl having a certain leadership role amongst her peers. She feels Sada glaring daggers at her from behind, but she also knows she dealt the girl a pretty severe hit with her last strike. She probably won't be so eager to test her luck against the staff user without some medical attention first. Or so Ayame figures.
"Speaking of doing things the hard way..." She nods her head back toward Sada, "What do you call this? Sending others out to fight battles their ill prepared to take on. That's the easy way? I guess for you, dunno how she feels about it though." The girl hmmms thoughtfully, struggling to keep from lowering her staff against the ground for support, not wanting to reveal just how hard she pushed herself to contend with the Darkside Student Congress member.
Yurika's dark eyes peer down to Ayame, and she slips off of the machine with a light clack of her shoes. ".. And as arrogant as always." she says, "I wonder where it comes from? Well anyway I would watch what you say around Sada, she's really not the kind of girl you'd want to make enemies with. If she were to fight you again I assure you you won't be nearly as lucky as you have been this time around."
Yurika lets out a gentle sigh, giving a light shake of her head. "Well, anyway I was hoping that you'd surrender so that you could be punished more properly for the damage you had caused on Seijyun grounds a while ago.. I'm sure you remember the scuffle you had with Miu Kurosaki." Seems a bit overkill.. Maybe it's hardcore school spirit or something?
"You're just like Elle," Sada says from her leaning position. "Why don't you tell me that my eye color means I've got cancer, next?" She also scoffs at the next comment, perhaps seeing the attempt to manipulate her feelings?!
She trails off into sullen silence when Yurika says good things about her, fingering her injured arm tentatively. It FEELS broken, but it might not be...
Yurika muses as to where Ayame's arrogance comes from and the weapons maven merely shrugs, grinning broadly, "What can I say. I'm just that good." She glances over her shoulder toward the injured Sada as Yurika warns Ayame about making enemies with her, but the street rogue suspects that path has already been tread by now. They're not likely to be /friends/ any time soon, that's for sure.
Looking back toward the leader of the little pack, her right hand drops down to her hip as she starts to catch her breath. "Well, anyway," she mimics Yurika, "I was hoping to get a snack from that vending machine and be on my way without being pestered. So I guess we don't always get what we wish for." She brings up the damage done when Ayame assaulted Miu not once but twice on the all girl's campus and the girl frowns a little, "That creepy kid one of yours, too?"
She brings her hand up from her hip to tap at her chin thoughtfully up until Sada speaks from behind her. Glancing over her shoulder again, Ayame peers at her, eyes narrowing as she tries to make sense of that remark. "I dunno. Do you have cancer?" she asks. "Can only hope," she mutters, shifting her glare back toward Yurika, "Look. If you want money, I don't have any. And I'm not going anywhere with the likes of either of you."
She waves her hand, palm down, as if dismissing Yurika then, "So just be on your way and leave me be. I don't want to be bothered by some... personal dispute between me and that pillow stuffing molting girl at your dorms."
Yurika's dark eyes shift Sada-ward, noticing the slight irritation and cringes ever so slightly. Yurika then can only just look at Ayame in surprise as she continues to just.. Run her mouth! "Every one of the girls on that campus is 'one of mine'." Save Kasumi, but there's no need to press that point. "I do not have any interest in your money or any of your personal belongings. What I want, is judgement and execution, for I am quite tired of Seijyun students being seen as simple little frilled pushovers, where people can come, laugh, violate and breaks things as they please without punishment."
Yurika's eyes narrow as she walks toward... And then past Ayame, picking up Sada's weapon. "And so I have developed a system to carry out that very project. Your punishment is a light one, amusingly enough. You will sweep the entire campus of it's fallen flower petals. You will either accept, or I will force you to accept."
COMBATSYS: Yurika has joined the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Ayame 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
COMBATSYS: Yurika takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Ayame 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
It looks like Ayame's posturing finally provokes Kurow's sister into action. She comes walking forward and the long haired girl tenses, expecting a strike for certain. She could try and run, perhaps, but she's been pushed hard by contending with Sada, and Yurika is a capable fighter in perfect health as best she can tell. She is a bit surprised, however, as the other girl approaches, the meaning of her words rather unmistakeably clear.
When she jumped her at the mall, she seemed a reluctant fighter. Like someone who knew what they were doing but hated risking chipping a nail in an actual skirmish. Which is why Ayame thought she could push her around verbally. It appears Yurika intends to prove otherwise.
"Uh... sweeping?" Flower petals. In spring. With a friggen giant /flower/ garden on it? Ayame blanches just a little. She can't be serious. The girl turns around to face Yurika as she fetches the weapon from off the ground. "Y-you can't even enforce that. You're not the police or anything," She remarks, "And I don't go to your stupid school, so how could you possibly give me a punishment like that!!"
Her hands tighten around her staff, both gripping tightly as Ayame bunkers down a little. Her mouth shifts into a faint grin, "Well, then. Let's see how the frilliest of them all intends to force me to do anything at all," the girl states. "Don't be afraid to run off crying once you start bleeding," she states, spitting to the side.
COMBATSYS: Ayame drops her guard to recover.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Ayame 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
COMBATSYS: Ayame takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Ayame 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Yurika
"Why wouldn't I be serious? Would you prefer I give you a more embarrassing chore instead?" Yurika asks, as she sets the weapon back down in a neatly looped pile, and then turns to face Ayame instead. "I can and -will- enforce it, of course; the fact that you're not from my school makes the situation even more grande. And now that Sada has weakened you to this state, you think you have the slightest chance of defeating me?"
Perhaps she's hinting at the fact that she's a) aware she's being a bully at this point, or b) she's 'admitting' she's not much more skilled than Sada. Whatever the case, once Ayame makes it clear there's no current intent to run away, she whisks forward, withdrawing two elongated, silver tuning forks, which she uses in a quick combination of an overhead strike, then an upward strike finalized by a double-handed forward thrust, a pleasent hum ringing with each strike. "En garde!"
COMBATSYS: Yurika successfully hits Ayame with Tragic Minuet.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Yurika
"I don't remember you being so tough," Ayame snaps back with an obvious lie. A lie that gets her smacked around with tuning forks, it seems, as Yurika steps in closer, bashing her on the head with one, caughtin the chin by the other, then shoved backward by the final hit, causing her to stumble back several steps, shaking her head to try and clear her mind. Trying to beat Yurika in her current condition is probably just pure ego on her part at this point. Or maybe she just thinks she needs to cut the other girl a little and she'll simply go away.
Gripping her staff tightly in her left hand, Ayame recovers her footing quickly. Not sure where she dropped on of her knives earlier in the fight with Sada, she's still got her second one, her right hand dropping to her belt to fish it out of its sheath. "Maybe when I'm through with you, you can go sweep up those flowers if it's so important to you," she snaps back, charging forward, swinging her staff over her head with a horizontal strike - early, as a feint, to try and keep it clear for her to spin inward and simply stab Yurika in the side with that butterfly knife of hers. If the girl wants to take Seijyun justice to the streets, it's time to find out just how vicious the streets can be!
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Yurika with Quick Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
Yurika's dark eyes narrow just a touch following her strikes, but hidden behind her half mask is a very small smile. She actually can't really tell if Ayame is outright lying or bluffing but, "It doesn't really matter if you remember or not. But you seem a bit confused, thinking that this is about myself.." She sees the counter-attack coming, and seems to be fooled by the feint since that stab to her side hits clean, breaking through her outfit and doing more than knicking her skin. The musician staggers back slightly herself, but keeps her weapons in front of her rather than touch the cut spot. ".. You'd partially be right, this is my vision after all. But that's not what's important right now, is it?"
Yurika rushes toward Ayame again, and thrusts a single fork forward, intending to slip it under Ayame's arm. If she's able to do as such, just a simple twist to the side would be enough momentum to sling the other girl over her shoulder and down onto the ground.
COMBATSYS: Yurika successfully hits Ayame with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Ayame 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
The stab is delivered as intended, but it doesn't seem to get Yurika to back off as Ayame would've preferred. Drawing her knife back, the girl flips it closed and re-sheaths it, unsure what to make of Yurika's renewed determination. The girl had struck her as a prissy pushover before, but she's most definitely holding up her side of the 'bargain' here and Ayame finds herself pressured back.
The fork hooking under her arm catches her before she can shift her staff into the way to counteract the attack and Ayame is sent hurtling up and over and down to the pavement with a grunt. Wincing as already cut knees get a little road burn, the girl pushes herself up with a growl, whirling around to face Yurika directly, jaw tightening.
She needs a boost of energy if she's going to keep up with the Seijyun girl, "So what happened to you anyway?" she snaps as she focuses on trying to renew her strength by drawing heavily from the world around her. Red chi swirls up around her feet, spiraling up into whirling violet stands at the level of her torso, being absorbed as Ayame takes in a deep breath, maintaining her focus.
"Did someone drop off a charitable donation of spines at the front office or something? Because you didn't strike me as the type with any kind of backbone before." Hands tightening on her staff, the girl continues to build up for something bigger.
COMBATSYS: Ayame gathers her will.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Ayame 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
Yurika doesn't remember seeing that kind of energy before, or at least that act from Ayame.. Come to think of it there isn't a lot she knows about Ayame in the first place, other than that she's a thief and is involved with Blackjack; the second being the other issue she hadn't revealed to her opponent just yet. Her ponytail whips toward Ayame during the draw-in, and she replies rather calmly, "That's a rather amusing theory, but of course wrong, and cute in a way."
Yurika holds her forks out in front of her again, then clashes the instruments togeather giving off another pleasent hum- The air in front of her blurrs and then launches forward with the intent to slam with jarring force. "As far as you're concerned, I've been inspired to be less choosy about my battles. You don't need to know anything else."
COMBATSYS: Ayame blocks Yurika's Tragic Serenade.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////////// ]
Ayame 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Yurika
Pleasant to some, but for Ayame that hum is rather distressing! The chi manipulated sonic pulse comes blasting at the girl and she drops the technique she was doing immediately, the excess chi surrounding her splashing back down to the ground as if having taken liquid form for a moment before it vanishes all together.
Lifting her staff, she holds it in front of her as the energy strikes her, but it isn't the weapon that protects her so much as her own inner aura fighting back against Yurika's chi. Driven back with a pained grunt, the girl winces a little, doing her best to hide the ache inflicted by the chi blast. Grinning faintly from behind her weapon as she lowers it back down, she fixes Yurika with an almost befanged expression, "Less picky, huh. Tired of watching the world pass you by? Feeling left behind by all the other girls getting so much better while the only thing you improve is the number of ribbons you can affix to one of your frilly uniforms?"
She narrows her eyes, saying nothing more of her guess made at Yurika's expense, chosing instead to charge forward, swinging the weapon forward for a direct jab toward her stomach from a distance, before stepping in with her staff for a followup, second swing from the other side at closer range. "I'm sure they've got some kind of remedial school for washed up girls like yourself. You should look into it!"
COMBATSYS: Yurika fails to interrupt Medium Strike from Ayame with Fatal Requiem.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Ayame 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
Was there a reason why Yurika was keeping her distance for that moment? Of course there was, though she perhaps wasn't hiding that plan very well. Twirling her weapons in her hands she first quirks a silver brow, and then gives a light chuckle, "You're adorable, Ayame. I see you take pleasure in annoying others to the bitter end. It'll just make it that much more satisfying seeing you reduced to doing common chores. Unfortunatly for you I don't really feel like hearing whatever else it is you have to say, so.."
As Ayame then charges in, Yurika seems to have the same idea in mind, the air about her form blurring more radically as she takes a step forward with a forward thrust; but unfortunatly her arm is shorter than the jab slammed into her gut. She's left wide open for the second swing with a loud *thwak!*, and with a weak grunt she's forced to a single knee, momentarily stunned it would seem. "N- Nngh.."
Being called adorable wasn't exactly what she had in mind when launching her scathing remarks at the other girl. She's been trying to find the right buttons to push to get Yurika flustered, but no matter what direction she tries to prod from. That doesn't mean her staff strikes are any less painful for the Kirishima girl, but Ayame likes to see her opponents provoked to careless rage whenever possible. It means they'll be reckless, prone to making mistakes or leaving openings that she tends to capitalize on with brutal effectiveness.
The two hits connect, dropping Yurika to the ground for a moment, seemingly leaving her open for another attack. But rather than strike again, Ayame holds back, bracing herself behind her titanium polearm. It starts out subtle, the thin red aura of chi that begins to perk up along its shining surface, the weapon having gotten a lot of use so far this afternoon. "I just like knowing what makes people tick," the girl states after a moment. "Most aren't that complicated..."
Her voice fades out at that point, as if implying she has some thoughts about how complicated /Yurika/ might be, and while she doesn't like her taunting to be so coolly rebuffed for so long, it does also strongly pique her interest. She tries another direction. "That's an interesting getup you've decided to don. What do you call yourself? The Ninja of Irritable Sonance?" she tosses out with a raised eyebrow. "Or perhaps The People's Cacophany?" she continues, her voice getting more confident the longer she prattles on. By now it must be rather clear she /loves/ to hear herself talk.
Of course, those who have seen Ayame in action before know that she doesn't become any less dangerous just because she's taken to prattling non-stop at her poor, abused opponents.
COMBATSYS: Ayame focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Ayame 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Yurika
And with the chance given, Yurika leaps backward. Not too far, but a safe enough distance that she's certain she's out of the staffs reach from where Ayame stands at that moment. "'What makes them tick', is that so?" Yurika asks, recalling the earliest comment pretty clearly. ".. It sounds to me like you're overcompensating for your lack of skill. Just how far do you believe you can get by on luck, Ayame?"
And yet she has a feeling Ayame isn't just standing there for no reason.. But she can't tell what the troublemaker has in mind for certain. "As for what I call myself.."
That's when Yurika taps her forks togeather overhead, steps forward, then thrusts the weapons outward stopping just short of hitting the girl. Blurred energy trails with the swung motion and acts somewhat like rapid taser bursts, trying to sound-ricute Ayame and just mess up her senses and body... Like 'woah'. "Those aren't very good. What else do you have?"
COMBATSYS: Ayame fails to reflect Tragic Sonata from Yurika with Midsummer Fantasy.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yurika 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Ayame can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yurika 0/-------/---====|
"Luck? Please. Just jealous?" the vicious girl replies smugly though her eyes remain focused on the other girl, observes her raising her tuning forks to send an attack her way. No problem, the girl muses, eyes narrowing slightly as twin forks are brought to bear nearly directly at her. "Way too slow," she smirks, releasing her staff with her right hand before slamming it forward, palm first, to meet the incoming sonic chi.
A vibrant, almost pink discus of chi manifests just in front of her palm, clearly intending to not just stop the incoming energy but perhaps even deflect some of it back at the other girl courtesy of Ayame's mastery over chi manipulation.
But when the two energies collide, the discus shimmers, its stability wrecked by the harmonic disonance on an unheard level between the two incompatible energies, and Yurika's pulse powers right on through as if Ayame had done nothing beyond simply trying to push her hand into it for no particularly brilliant reason. Ayame's chi poofs, her concentration shattered.
Struck clean on by the chi the completely surprised girl finds herself being knocked back, her balance lost and her strength sapped by the long battle she's fought. Stumbling a little, she grits her teeth, slamming her staff against the ground in one last desperate attempt to stay standing, but in the end not even her weapon's support is enough to keep her up and she ends up falling backward into a seated position on her rear, the metal weapon landing at her side with a resonating chime.
"Ugh..." the girl murmurs, hands coming up to rest at her temples as if trying to asuage a music induced headache. "...lucky hit." is all she manages to mutter as she leans forward a little, trying to figure out for the life of her how in the world Yurika's energy simply slipped right through her defensive technique but also clearly altogether too stunned to put up any more of a fight against the Seijyun girl.
The musician could only come up with one conclusion.. She's simply that much more superior when it comes to chi.. Even if she does rely on using instruments as an outlet. Still, the retaliation of Ayame is quite a suprise as she didn't remember that trick from before either.. Yurika really needs to seriously start doing her homework.
And despite being the victor, it's also painfully clear that she needs more training.. And her own brother isn't even around to help her with that these days. She looks down to her fallen opponent, slipping her forks back into her belt. A lucky hit? ".. Was it? I wonder.. But more importantly, I'm taking you back to Seijyun. Your work will start first thing in the morning, of course."
As she says this, the light brown, expensive looking car that she had taken here earlier pulls up to the group, and Yurika removes her mask, behind it a delighted little smile. "You won't be by yourself though, there are a few more things that I'd like to talk to you about. Miss Asai,? If you wouldn't mind restraining our cute little guest.. We're headed home." Sada's better at tying people up than she is.
Let's not delve deeply into that detail.
Log created on 20:59:52 04/20/2008 by Sada, and last modified on 00:34:53 06/12/2008.