Description: So, things still aren't quite peachy keen amongst the Guardian Kings since their dramatic escape from Capital 7; Kenji Ashima feels that the team's leader is keeping too much to himself, and challenges Tenma on this fact. Naturally, what follows is a deep, heartfelt discussion of feelings and the consequences of one's actions. ...Nah, actually they just beat each other up.
How long has it been since they got back to Japan?
How long has it been since they've all had a chance to sit down, talk, and figure out just what the hell happened in that pit? How long has it been since Stasya was returned to her parents and they tried to roll back to that wonderful and comforting sense of normalcy? ... Or at least, as normal as things get for the Guardian Kings.
Out upon the rooftop in the warm afternoon, it looks as though Gedo's Student Council Secretary is perched upon one of the thin catwalks around the roof itself, wearing his backpack and one hand tucked in his pocket. In the other, a volume of manga that he's probably read thirty-six times before, but always retains the drama and splendor.
And he's waiting. For one person, mostly. In the back of Kenji's mind, there's worry and a scrap of doubt, but he's not going to voice it. There's things to talk about, if the right person stumbles up to the rooftop this afternoon.
Normal is a relative term, you know. For the Guardian Kings, well, they'd probably die of boredom if things were 'regular people' normal; even Kenji, for all his protests to the contrary. Could any of them really live life any other way?
But it's been a while since the return from the bowels of Capital 7, since the battle with and apparent demise of the demon Marise. Some things have returned to their relative 'normalcy'... And some things haven't. Barring the encounters he's had with the mysterious Brazilian girl and also with Stasya herself, Tenma Kiryuu has simply tried to /not/ talk about what happened at all. This has, unfortunately, meant that he's become even less open than usual, and that the Kings haven't spent the usual amount of time they would just hanging out... Of course, wasn't that exactly what the Russian girl wanted things to go back to?
Boys are funny that way.
Finally, though, Kenji's waiting is rewarded, as the leader of the Guardian Kings returns once again to his 'throne', the group's claimed territory of the roof. Even these days, it's a more likely place to find him than, say, in class. Where Kenji carries his backpack and a careworn volume of manga, Tenma carries only his bokken, wrapped in its cloth sheath and slung casually against his shoulder. Dark blue eyes fall on Kenji, standing there, and Tenma speaks up with his usual camaraderie - mostly. "Yo, Ashima."
Kenji's managed to return to that normalcy no problem, comfortable to just go to school and go home, maybe, just maybe-- as much as he tries and claims he doesn't want to-- get into a few brawls along the way. He's had enough to distract him from what's going on, but now the nagging in the back of his mind has come to a head. Part of him is surprised Hakuya hasn't tried talking to him.
When Tenma makes it up onto the roof, Kenji's shoulders rise and fall, closing the volume of manga and unshouldering his bag. Unzipping part of it, he very deliberately puts it away before turning around and hopping onto the railing of the catwalk-- then springing off to land on the rooftop proper, bending forward to set down his bag. "Tenma..."
He straightens sharply, almost as though he were cocked up and shot out of a gun. "HEADS UP!!"
And then he takes a long, exaggerated step ahead, as if lunging to close the distance between them-- lunging, and bringing his tell-tale fist around with the intent to plow it into the Guardian King's chest, full-force.
COMBATSYS: Kenji has started a fight here.
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Kenji 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tenma has joined the fight here.
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kenji
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Tenma with Strong Punch.
- Power hit! -
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Tenma 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Kenji
Who does that? Seriously, who greets a friend by up and punching them in the chest?!
Nevermind that Tenma himself /makes/ friends by attacking them out of nowhere. That's not the point here.
The Kiryuu heir doesn't even try to avoid the incoming Kenji's fist, which proves to be a bad idea as the impact with all of Ashima's fiery youth behind it proves to be a lot stronger than Tenma had anticipated, in those brief seconds he had to try to analyse the situation at all. So the punch strikes him good and hard, staggering the taller youth and driving him back a few steps.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, YOU CRAZY ASS?!" Tenma demands loudly, whipping his still wrapped bokken off of his shoulder and slashing with it like that, a hard one-handed strike aimed to come down where Kenji's shoulder and neck meet in a tender intersection.
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Tenma's Random Strike.
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Tenma 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Kenji
Although he's in no way a formal martial artist, instinct and getting his ass -kicked- over the years has given him a little bit of insight into some of the strikes used by others... especially those done by his own friends. Bringing up his forearm in a defiant defense, the wooden weapon crashes down on his arm-- painfully, sure-- and halts it dead. Trying to ignore the pain in his forearm, he holds his stance for as long as Tenma keeps the wrapped bokken there, his fist pulled back as if he were going to throw another, subsequent strike.
"We're friends, right?"
Listing himself a few steps back, Missile Fist Ashima brings up his arm and points. "Then you need to take the stick out of your butt and TALK TO US! You've been clammed up like a freaking idiot since we got back, man! Do I gotta smack some sense into you or something?! 'Cause I thought you would've been able to take a hit like that a whole lot better than you did!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji takes no action.
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Tenma 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Kenji
But Tenma doesn't hold that posture long, instead pulling his bokken back, putting his free hand where the sheath is tied. So, that's what all this is about... In some ways, Tenma is actually quite surprised. After having it out over the whole situation with people who weren't involved - and one who was, but rather difficult to avoid because of her whole 'psychic powers' thing - he'd just about forgotten that the other two young men who went down there with him might have their own concerns about his behaviour.
What a great friend he is!
Soon the cloth sheath falls to the rooftop, and Tenma bites into the flesh of his thumb, painting a stripe of red down the wooden blade of his bokken with his own blood. "You think you /can/ smack some sense into me?" the taller boy wonders, setting his weapon alight with that smoky aura of bloody chi. "Fine, you wanna talk? Start talking!" Tenma declares a heartbeat later.
As he lunges at Kenji, swordarm fully extended, trying to catch the other Guardian King with the tip of his bokken, chi focusing there; if he manages to snag Kenji, then he twists around, swinging his blade in a wide overhead arc, to fling the Student Council Secretary away.
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Tenma's Asura.
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Tenma 0/-------/----===|===----\-------\0 Kenji
Super friend! A+++, would friend again.
Tenma moves in and thrusts with the sword, the tip catching Kenji by only bare centimeters. As gravity suddenly decides to betray him, the student council secretary makes a bold move-- grabbing the bloody bokken and holding on tight as he arcs into the air. He directs the fling to land him at that full extension range, flipping himself over to land hard on his feet.
"What's the problem, Tenma?!! You're the one that has to talk, here!!"
And then he runs, reaching out to clothesline his fellow student across the chest. His hand will try to clamp down like a vice-- and it may seem much like his old "Dirt Nap," but he'll have no intent of letting go just yet.
"I'm not sayin' I'm a shrink, but--"
And then he slides to a halt if he's gotten this far, and tries to spike the Kiryuu heir into the rooftop like a football of some kind. "WHAT'S BOTHERIN' YOU, HERE?!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji successfully hits Tenma with Hollowpoint.
- Power hit! -
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Tenma 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Kenji
Clearly, Kenji's fiery, righteous spirit is serving him well right about now. He manages to deflect the worst of Tenma's attempt to toss him around like so much trash, and then rushes directly at the taller youth again... Tenma sees this coming, of course, and tries to deflect the initial clothesline; unfortunately, this backfires. Badly. Tenma takes the eventual spiking into the rooftop rather poorly, with a half-stifled grunt of pain as the air decides to exit his lungs at high speed. That just about knocked him silly.
"Who says I'm bothered?" Tenma wonders hoarsely, kicking out of the spot where he's dented the roof in a vaguely Tenma shape, rolling to get in a low crouch some distance away. It's true that he's not /as/ bothered as he was when they first came back, but... Well, you don't get over /murdering/ someone, monster or no, that easily. Not without being a bit monstrous yourself. That bokken slices through the air, too far from Kenji to possibly strike, but the red afterimage that follows the slash is the real problem; from there springs forth a crescent of honest to goodness blood, tearing through the air and bearing down on Kenji with all due speed.
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Kenji with Dharmapala.
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Tenma 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Kenji
His steps are light and swift after planting Tenma into the rooftop, circling back and away from his teammate while he recovers. He's too kind like that-- the kind of kindness that can come back and bite him in the ass moments later. Kenji steadies himself, gets ready, and --
Fails miserably?!
The bloody swipe rips through the air and lashes across the student's chest. He reels, crashing to the rooftop and skidding along it with a blood-slicked jacket and from the sheer momentum behind the strike.
"Tch-!"
Looking down at his jacket, Mr. Secretary utters a sigh. Sure, the puke yellow is ugly, but having it get that tye-dye splash of red treatment makes it worse!
Unbuttoning the jacket and tossing it off to the side with the fury of his favorite 'DO NOT ENGAGE LU BU!!' roadsign t-shirt there for everyone to see, Kenji pulls back his right arm and slowly closes his hand into a fist.
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
*ka-BAM*
White-blue energy explodes along the length of his forearm, surging and roaring at the skies overhead. Pulling out that energy is starting to become second nature to him, easier and easier each time he does it. But the young man squaring his stance off squints, watching his teammate closely.
"You've barely said a word to me or Hakuya since we got back! You've been quiet when we do hang out, if we hang out at all! TELL ME if I'm wrong, here! That ain't you, Tenma!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji gathers his will.
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Tenma 1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Kenji
This, of course, gives Tenma time to get his feet back underneath him fully, rising back up to a more solid stance. Will it do him any good, though? So far Kenji's hits have been... Overwhelmingly powerful. Maybe Tenma's lingering emotional distress is holding him back again. Whatever it is, the leader of the Guardian Kings isn't going to let it keep holding him back. No way in hell.
Tenma feels the expression of chi from Kenji even before it becomes fully visible, the currents of power stirring the taller youth's unbuttoned white shirt, the red tee with the Gedo High logo underneath clearly visible. "What, you want us to sit around an' chat about our feelings over ice cream? Maybe talk 'bout boys and do each other's hair?" There's a faint 'heh' from the Kiryuu heir, as he directs a toothy smirk towards the Student Council Secretary. "I killed somebody, Ashima." Tenma says a heartbeat later, more quietly. "I did it 'cause I had to, I did it 'cause I didn't have any choice. But I still gotta live with it."
Tilting his head slightly to one side, Tenma leans towards Kenji. "What about you?"
COMBATSYS: Tenma gains composure.
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Tenma 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Kenji
Lowering his stance, recentering himself, Kenji brings his arm across his chest and snaps it hard, out to the side. The flame leaves in that moment, bursting away and vaporizing into the thin air. While Tenma catches his breath, Kenji rolls his shoulders and gets his bearings on the bokken-slinger.
"I was gonna say noodles and talk about girls, but if you want to know the secret of how I style my hair... I suppose I could impart the knowledge."
Bringing his hand out in front of him, rubbing his wrist, the chi has left visibly, but still lays within-- strong, surging, and waiting for the right moment to be released. "I'm just as guilty as you are, man. We were all there, we all fought that hag to get our friends back. You may've done what -you- had to do, but it's not like you gotta sit there like some kind of Nonsense Nancy and mull about it like some kind of goddamn embodiment of an emo manga cliche!"
And then Kenji takes a few steps toward Tenma, the steps becoming a light jog. The jog becomes a hard run, and his right arm cocks back. He's charging blindly into the fray, looking to take his friend and captain head-on with this one. Kenji's hand tightens beyond the fist, hooking around to clock Tenma with one of the most powerful right-crosses in the history of Gedo High, or so he claims-- like getting hit with a bullet train head-on, the punch to knock the Kiryuu heir's brain loose in hopes it clears a few of the cobwebs.
"WE'RE IN ALL THIS TOGETHER!!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma endures Kenji's Missile Fist Ashima.
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Tenma 1/---====/=======|-------\-------\0 Kenji
And what, you might wonder, is Tenma's response to Kenji's berating tirade, and the massively powerful punch that follows it?
He stands right there and takes it. The whole damn thing.
What effect the words have isn't immediately apparent, but the fist slams into Tenma's head with thunderous might, rocking the taller boy nearly off of his feet entirely. And the thing of it is... Kenji does have kind of a point. Tenma was so focused on dealing with the weight of what he'd done, trying to thow it off entirely after he'd lost most of that terrible pressure in the aftermath of his confrontation with Pas and his conversation with Stasya... That he never really considered how it affected the others, who were there too. Who were part of it.
Of course he's not going to admit that, don't be silly.
"Heh," Tenma laughs, despite the pain spreading through his head, pushing his free hand out into Kenji's face, his fingers lightly contorted in a simple mudra position, an aid to concentration and focus. Focusing on a single point. His only real response to Kenji's words and actions follows thusly: Sweeping his swordarm forward, the wooden blade of his bokken almost completely obscured by bloody chi, Tenma tries to strike Kenji hard, under his guard, before he can fully recover from his own attack. And if the hit lands, there's that distinctive feeling of Tenma's chi passing /through/ the Student Council Secretary, stealing his vitality and leaving behind a cold numbness in its wake...
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Kenji with The Sealing Sword.
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Tenma 0/-------/------=|======-\-------\0 Kenji
Tenma's hand extends in Kenji's face, and ... he knows what's coming next. He knows, and he tries to bring up his arms to defend. He -tries-, and yet, the sword strikes him-- viciously-- and sends the young man flopping back to the rooftop with a heavy impact on the metal roof. He slides along the slope, even, tumbling a little bit before coming to a complete and total halt face-down on the school's roof.
"... Pffffwubh..."
It takes some visible effort from his muscles, cold and tired, to get moving again. His palms press down against the roof until he can get himself relatively upright. Kenji pushes himself further next, getting his legs under him and steady enough to stand. The Sealing Sword-- the attack that he wondered if his friend would even bother trying for the majority of this fight, now used. Cocking his head to the side and spitting a bit of blood-- his own, thank you-- the brawling youth rubs the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Y'know..." he starts, his voice still so dark and serious.
"... Sakuya still hits harder than you, man." he finishes, hand lowering to reveal his usual broad, friendly grin.
COMBATSYS: Kenji gains composure.
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Tenma 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Kenji
Truth be told, it takes Tenma himself a moment or two to properly recover from his own attack there, his weight having been thrown entirely behind the strike; but by the time Kenji is picking himself up off of the rooftop, Tenma is standing straight, his free hand tucked into the pocket of his slacks while his bokken is slanted one-handed against his shoulder, in a posture of purposeful, lazy indolence; the proverbial lion on the hill. Of course, the nice bruise he's getting on the side of his face ruins the effect a little.
"Man, she hits harder than you too. I think she's made outta concrete or somethin'." Of course, there's still the little issue of the two of them both standing up that needs to be dealt with. Tenma, of course, figures he has just the solution as he rushes towards Kenji, lunging once he gets closer with a sudden low slash at the back of one of the Student Council Secretary's knees.
COMBATSYS: Kenji interrupts Medium Strike from Tenma with Missile Fist.
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Tenma 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Kenji
Ah, Sakuya. Kenji's younger sister, joked on often when she isn't coming out of left field to harass her brother at the worst of times. It's true they'd smacked the crap out of each other when they were kids, and even a few times during the worst part of the elder Ashima's "fighting career." Allowing only a grin to form on his face as Tenma retorts, lunges in, and strikes at the back of his knees, the Missile Fist feels the wooden sword whip against the back of his left knee.
But Tenma might find something curious happening while the young man is forced down to one knee, a fist thrown forward at high speed-- his arm bending almost like it were made out of rubber, his hand striking him in the stomach more like a slab of granite. While he goes down, the attacking swordsman is hopefully driven -back-, back long enough it'll give him some time to catch his breath.
Let it never be said Kenji Ashima never learned how to capitalize.
To be entirely honest, Tenma was seriously not expecting that at all. Kenji just isn't the sort of fighter, in his experience, to try powering through another attack like that; so Tenma gets smacked right in the gut by that rubbery arm, his low posture and the force of the incoming strike sending him tumbling back, ass over teakettle, ending up in a seated position a few meters away. What the holy hell just happened?!
"Pff... Ha ha ha, since when did you start doin' crap like that?" the Guardian Kings' leader wonders, getting to his feet and in the same motion throwing himself forward in a low run, holding his blade low and across his body. Once he gets close to the Student Council secretary? The low run briefly tenses into a crouch, before Tenma throws himself up and /into/ Kenji, twisting around in a whirling, rising slash that seeks to take the other young man up into the air with him, striking repeatedly before blasting him away! "VAJRA-!!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Tenma's Vajra.
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Tenma 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Kenji
His grin persists after the punch, after sending his Captain flyin' off his ass and ending up in a mess away from him. It takes a second to force himself up to his feet, but Kenji twists his head at an oblong angle until his neck cracks. "Gotta mix it up now and then! Or else all of my moves are gonna get too stale and predictable."
Once before, he had completely shut down this attack. The second time, too.
This, the third time, he's not so lucky.
Carried by the strikes into the air, Kenji lets out a gagged yell while they're in the air, his body gone limp and looking as though he's not going to land all that well. Until... his legs kick upward and he defies conventional thought by flipping himself over, reaching out to grab Tenma by the face.
"I show you this one yet?"
Intending on using the fall to spike the Guardian Kings' leader into the roof headfirst, the chi will surge through his arm and... not into the swordsman's head? No, if he can get all this way with the attack, Kenji's chi will manifest from a different direction-- below-- and try detonating upward to launch Tenma headfirst into the air.
"CLAYMORE!!"
COMBATSYS: Kenji can no longer fight.
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Tenma 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Tenma dodges Kenji's Claymore.
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Tenma 0/-------/----===|
Well, three IS a significant number, you know. So maybe the third time really is the charm... Almost. Though it's not a clean hit, it's clearly enough to finish off Kenji, but even then Missile Fist is capable of grabbing Tenma by the face in midair, driving him towards the rooftop... And indeed there is an awesome crash when the two impact the rooftop, but rather than the explosion driving Tenma upwards, it simply fires off harmlessly, as the Gedo swordsman himself managed to free himself from the shorter youth's grasp before it could go off.
So there's Tenma, standing a few feet out of range, breathing raggedly. He's taken some pretty solid hits there, but it seems like he's at least a bit better off than Kenji. He is, after all, still standing.
"Pff, I didn't even need to be shown that one to see right through it," Tenma declares with his characteristic self-confidence. Okay, arrogance. But anyway, his tone is mostly just amicably chiding, anyway. "And to think, you /almost/ had me that time, Ashima."
COMBATSYS: Tenma has ended the fight here.
The grab!! The spike!!
And the Ashima landing flat on his face.
With the burst of chi ripping up through his hand, Kenji pulls it away-- and ends up flopping right onto his ass, puffing and wheezing. He's seen better days, to say the least... and now he's going to have to try to compose himself enough to go home and explain to his mom why they need the extra strength detergent to get the blood out of his jacket.
Sigh.
Still, there's relief hidden in Kenji's posture while he sits there, propped up on the heels of his hands. "Ha ha, yeah... that sounds about right."
Pushing himself up a bit, grunting as he gets up to his feet, the student council secretary dusts off his shirt and stands straight-- for all the damage he's taken, for all of the beating he's absorbed, he's genuinely, stubbornly staying upright. "Yeah, I almost did."
And then his hand extends, closed into a fist, knuckles presented.
"Next time, I'll get'cha."
That's the spirit. If you don't go in thinking you'll be able to win, how do you get any stronger? Tenma stands up straight as he watches Kenji right himself, without offering anything silly like help; meanwhile, he releases the chi link, causing the aura around his wooden sword to dissipate, with a sound like a slowly exhaled breath. The red stripe he drew on it in his own blood disappears at the same time, the blood consumed.
"Hah," Tenma laughs, flashing a wolfish smirk at the other youth. The extended fist is met with the team captain's own, rapping knuckles. "You think so, huh? Maybe if you train for the next hundred years!"
Log created on 19:44:01 04/24/2008 by Tenma, and last modified on 15:34:56 04/26/2008.