Description: A promised rematch at last, Hotaru and Sakura face off at the Seijyun gym. Both have come a long way since their fight a year ago, learning new techniques, ways of being versatile and adapting quickly on the fly. Now it's a chance to show each other without the presence of that sinister power Hotaru was struggling with the last time they spoke... ( Winner: Sakura )
The bleachers have been unfolded out on the sides of the large gym building, providing seating for the many who have packed into the room to observe the fight. The air is abuzz with the giggling chatter of school girls glad to get a break from class for the sake of viewing a fighting event taking place on campus that is SANCTIONED for a change... as opposed to an invasion from NESTs or random alteraction between girls trying to establish a pecking order enforced by physical prowess.
To make the match even more interesting to the gathered students is the fact that both participants are recognized, well known fighters, and both of them are attending school on the campus in one fashion or another. Recently returned to the regular circuits after a hiatus from appearances, Hotaru Futaba has already taken the court. Fighting fans have had to get used to the fact that the angry, mean fighter she was a while back seems to be gone. Some might miss the edgier angle she'd bring to matches for a while, but whatever that was all about, her break seems to have brought about an end to that phase.
It isn't really accurate to say she's back to how she always was, because there's something different about the girl since her return that sets her apart from even the way she was last year. More confident, more relaxed, carrying herself with a certain determined purpose. In reaching rock bottom she bounced back profoundly affected and it's impossible for anyone who has known the girl for a while to not notice the change.
Dressed in her traditional styled blue and white outfit, the pig-tailed fighter adjusts one of her hair ribbons, a sense of excitement welling up in her at having a chance to have a legitimate match against her friend after going so long without one. Idly she drags her shoe clad foot over the floor to test for traction, knowing that she has to put her speed to the test to keep up with the more experienced fighter.
Yeah, this isn't -random- violence, it's -organized- violence -- between friends! Much better, really!
Sakura hasn't been in the spotlight the past few weeks, herself, having had other matters occupying her time. What, no fighting? Yes, it's true; the girl still feels she owes a great debt to the country of Thailand for all the damage she wrought there last year, and with school over for the summer, that was the first place on her mind. So much for defending her school from NESTS -- it's a busy life she leads!
But now, she's back, and ready for a brawl! Kasugano's dressed in Seijyun's dark navy blue and white uniform, with matching dark grey gloves and shoes. Like Hotaru, has grown much over the past year, at least in the spiritual sense. Smiling back at Hotaru, she gives an appraising nod as she walks up.
"Sorry... I'd been a bit busy lately, but at least we finally got to catch up with one another..." she apologizes, pulling her fighting gloves snug. "I'm just glad you were able to find the answers you needed."
Maybe the audience knows what she's talking about, maybe not; all Sakura's concerned with is whether Hotaru knows.
At any rate, she clenches her fists lightly, drawing herself into an defensive stance -- ready to proceed, if Hotaru is. "Good to have you back," she continues. She's been out of the country for a while, as shown by her light tan; she's speaking a bit more slowly and measured than usual, as a result. Not as many folks in Thailand know Japanese or English, after all...
COMBATSYS: Sakura has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 0/-------/-------|
Blue eyes settle on the brown haired girl as Sakura gets ready for the match as well. She looks to be in good spirits, Hotaru ponders. Volunteer work will do that for a person. Grounding them, humbling them a little perhaps. "Yeah," comes Hotaru's reply, "It's good. I've owed you this for what is it... a year now?" she asks, grinning a bit as she recalls the end of their last bout ending with a promise for a rematch. Sakura mentions answers and the Kenpo artist nods just slightly. "Thanks to a lot of people... including you." she continues, her voice more somber.
The girl crosses her arms in front of her, bowing her head for a moment as she breaths in deeply. A slow exhale as she unfolds her arms finishes with her standing in her ready stance, her arms raised, one shoulder toward Sakura as she shifts into bouncing lightly on her toes. "It's good to BE back," she replies. How she missed fighting like this. Without the anger and paranoia, the doubts and fears. She'll still do her best, but the crushing pressure is gone from off her shoulders. She's curious about Sakura's volunteer work, wondering what she's getting into over there, but the match is about to start and she's going to have to hold the question for now.
In the final moments before they begin, Hotaru shifts her stance a little, crouching down slightly, right leg stretched out in front of her, left leg bent, arms extended for balance. It's a position she had used in the middle of fights before lunging into one of her harder hitting techniques, but to open with it is perhaps a change from her usual approach. Another inhale, slow exhale as she tries to stem her excitement and get her mind on the fight itself. Sakura's no slouch and she should do her best in facing the other girl.
And then the official off to the side indicates they should begin and Hotaru springs into action. She hops forward, rising out of the low crouch into a similarly low trajectory, only to come back down not far from Sakura in about the same position. It lines her up easily for the sweep that comes next with her right foot, her hands planting against the ground for support as she spins around completely, only for her to then rise out of it into a follow up kick at mid-level with the same foot, arms raised high to counter the action and maintain balance. "YA!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Hotaru's Medium Kick.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Sakura
Kasugano hasn't been fighting much these past few weeks; she's in the stance, but that's about it. She -wants- to fight, but her eyes seem a bit more glassed-over than usual.
That changes, of course, when Hotaru leaps in. Her mind may be out of it, but her body knows how to pick up the slack! When Hotaru lands low, Kasugano drops low as well. When Hotaru's feet sweeps close, Sakura's hand is there to block it, the kenpoist's foot hitting padded handguard instead of a more satisfying shin. The followup is met by Sakura rising partway, doubling up her hands to take the blow. "Hff..." Kasugano's forced backwards a step from the speed and strength of the kicks. Hotaru's no slouch, but Sakura's just getting warmed up!
The fire's lit in her eyes, at any rate. "Heh," she continues, "Has it been a year already?!" She's not really about to just sit back and wait things out, though... no! She'll be launching forward with an attack of her own, delivering a quick one-two punch, aimed at driving the agile kenpoist back with some good ol' fashioned karate! "Hup-HAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Sakura's Fierce Punch.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Sakura
The kicks are defended against with experienced control on the part of Sakura, the Taiyo grad losing only a little bit of ground in defending against the Kenpoists opening attack. It looks for an instant like Hotaru might try to slip in one more attack all the same, giving her friend no quarter in the exchange of in-close attacks, but the quick punches that are sent her way force her to amend that plan. "Yeah," the girl grunts, her feet shifting position, the soles squeaking against the gym floor as she leans out of the way of the first swing.
Pulling her torso back into position quickly she ducks low to avoid the second swing, "Feels like a lifetime ago to me," she remarks even in the very act of reaching for the other girl's arms, attempting to transition out of the evasion into one of her most aggressive, albeit reckless attacks.
If she gets that grip, she'll continue on with that upward momentum into a series of rapid kicks up the front of Sakura, hiting knees, stomach, chest, before springing off of Sakura's shoulders to land behind her rather than leaping backward with the backflip she always had done before when performing the technique, perhaps disorienting the other girl a little in her 'escape'. Of course, if she misses, she'll be stuck stumbling forward a little, her fingers left grasping for empty air!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Sakura with Shin-Jou Tai.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Sakura
Kasugano's forward momentum leaves her at a bit of a disadvantage as her strikes are deftly avoided. A good fight is a perfect balance of push and pull, though -- just as soon as she realizes her push didn't work, the Ansatsuken Angel pulls back to withdraw. Her skirt swishes forward as Ryu's prodigal student regains her defensive stance... though it seems her defense seems to be providing Hotaru with an unintended welcome, as Hotaru literally walks right up her. Sakura stumbles backwards from the series of strikes, grasping empty air in a vain attempt at recovering before she crashes to the gym floor, to the oohs and aahs of the crowd.
The brown-haired girl leaps back to her feet, over-selling the pain her tailbone's in -- which is enough to draw a few laughs from the crowd, at any rate. "Okay, okay, that was a freebie!" she quips with a grin -- she may be a touch arrogant, but Sakura's not going to -seriously- imply that she was making things easy for Hotaru! Quite the opposite -- for as Sakura draws back, her eyes narrow slightly in focus. She's a bit too loose... and her head hasn't quite been in the game yet. It's time to make up for that! She steadies herself, placing herself back into a calmer, more conservative mindset her master would be proud of.
COMBATSYS: Sakura focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Sakura
"Ya, ya, ya!" Hotaru's voice echoes out into the hall as the teen delivers one of her more well known attacks. She comes down swiftly, needing to skip a yard or so before she's able to stop herself. Spinning around to face the brown haired girl, Hotaru braces for a split second, preparing, perhaps, for retaliation. Though her style of fighting tends be relentlessly aggressive, she isn't going to run face first into attacks... too often!
But Sakura takes a second to gather herself back up and Hotaru laughs lightly at the remark, knowing full well there's no free shots to be found here. They both know each other's capability far too well to allow for that. "Thanks," she remarks good naturedly, "I'll owe you one of those back then at some point." she adds after a short pause, knowing full well that it'll just be an excuse when she gets hit!
Sakura's getting her head in the game but Hotaru is going to force her to stay on her toes as well. Swiftly, the pig-tailed martial artist closes the distance, looking like she's just going to charge the other girl directly. There's a sudden shift in her approach from a yard out, however, as she stops hard, slamming her right foot down. Her left foot continues forward still, but her entire body is turning toward the right at the same time as she spins into the next attack.
For a brief moment, her back is turned completely toward Sakura, but then her right arm snaps out into a backhanded, swift chop at chest level, carrying with it the momentum built from her rush forward, aiming to force Sakura back a little further and perhaps open the way to another attack after that.
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Hotaru's Medium Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Sakura
Hotaru is wise to keep pressing her assault! Sakura's relative sluggishness isn't any reason for the kenpoist to go easy on her, after all! The headbanded one flashes a broad smile back at her friend, nodding in approval as Hotaru closes to range.
... Her fighting style has surely -changed-, though! Sure, there was a familiar attack just now, but it seems there's still a bit of that rough edge... though it's much more evolved, less brutal than before. Increasingly assertive, perhaps! Sakura's eyes light up at the shift of techniques -- as much as she likes fighting Hotaru, she was wondering which direction the girl's training would go. It seems she could be taking after her brother, perhaps!
The trick here, though, is that Sakura has a -better- time dealing with people who are rowdy and violent! When Hotaru turns her back for that moment, Sakura leaps to follow, keeping in Hotaru's blind spot. When Futaba's arm chops out, Kasugano manages to stay behind her, and closes in fast! The Ansatsuken Angel aims to take advantage of the extended arm, grabbing for it while she lashes her own arm about Hotaru's neck, clamping down tight like a vise grip. "Haa!" Given the opportunity, she'd continue wrenching Hotaru's arm down to keep her continually off-balance, while maintaining her neck hold as long as possible.
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Hotaru with Sakura Strangle.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Sakura
She hadn't expected Sakura to slip right into her blind spot like that, her arm chopping out, slicing through empty air. She expects a counter attack immediately, and in that moment she's left herself very vulnerable to one, not having setup properly to contend with that outcome. Her extended arm is caught before she can pull it back in close, making it easy for her to be drawn back in, Sakura's arm slipping around her neck to lock her in place from behind.
It catches Hotaru completely off guard. She's quite used to using larger opponents size against them, slipping in behind them to land attacks just like this one. But practically no one ever does the same to her, finding her too squirrelly to bother. And right now she's paying the price for inexperience in contending with such a hold. She tries to get her arm free, but Sakura keeps pulling it back into place, keeping her from getting it up to grasp at the arm around her neck. "Grgk," she gasps, cheeks tinting a bit red at the struggle for breath.
Deciding she's got to try and force her way free, she settles on drawing her right leg up, as it's not doing her much good in trying to get her balance back anyway... and immediately slams it down, aiming for the shin Sakura seems to be putting the most weight on to try and take it out from under the other girl and pry her way free.
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Hotaru's Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Sakura
Kasugano actually seems faintly amused, having grappled onto Hotaru like this. Her master taught her well -- deal with opponents in the way they expect -least-. That's why she studies as many different styles as she can, taking the best bits and pieces and integrating them into her own style -- not quite Ansatsuken, but not far from it either! But more than that... it gives Sakura a chance to assess Hotaru's chi at close range. /Is/ there any sense of her malicious side, the darkness that had clouded her so many weeks back? Sakura considers the evidence, senses none of the bad icky chi... and concludes the matter resolved!
Oh right, cutting off breathing. And Hotaru's resisting, as well she should! Sakura can already tell from Hotaru's tensing that a kick is planned, so Sakura simply... raises her foot, sticking her laces right up against the sole of Hotaru's shoe. She presses up as Hotaru stomps down, deadening most of the impact before it can slam into her shin, or crush her into the ground.
"Tch... I /guess/ I proved my point here..." she says with a smirk, loosening her grip around Hotaru and springing back to a safer distance. "I can tell you've learned a lot, Hotaru! Keepin' me on my toes..." She hops lightly on her good foot for another laugh from the audience -- but really, that one -did- hurt!
But even from a distance, Kasugano can still be deadly. She proves this with a flick of her wrist -- both wrists, actually, as her palms snap forward, a bright blue blossom of flame rushing out to cover the distance between her and Hotaru. "Hadooooouken!" Seems she might've recovered from her slow start...
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Hotaru with Medium Hadouken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1 Sakura
Up close she might be frantically struggling to get free, but there isn't that same frustrated anger she had the last time they fought. That drive to hurt or maim, to unleash that savage attack just to satisfy a need to prove something. No, right now she'd just very much like to get her breath back! Her kick doesn't do the job of freeing herself, but Sakura releases her all the same, letting the girl stumble forward, her left hand coming up to rub at her neck as she coughs, color fading from her cheeks.
But now she's turning around to face the other girl directly, at a lack for words at the moment, offering little more than a faint grin of amusement. Not even the chuckle from the audience seems to provoke a reaction from her, unlike the time she lost all control when she felt the pressure of those eyes on her during that fated fight against Roberto. But being free doesn't mean quite having recovered, Sakura's grapple on her having really put her through the wringer.
That famous blue blast of chi blossoms out at her, sapphire blue eyes widening at the speed it's traveling, unable to muster any good defense against it. Trying to skip backward, she misjudges just how much balance she had regained and ends up not getting the distance desired. The chi blast collides with her chest, sending Hotaru stumbling back even further, her feet slipping against the floor, her torso turned to the side. "Ah!" she gasps, having forgotten just how much power those chi blasts can muster from Sakura. A year can dull one's memory some, but she suspects the other girl has just gotten more powerful /as well/.
Recovering her footing, she forces herself to slow down and slip back into a stance that looks much like the one she had always used in times past - arms raised, right shoulder turned toward Sakura, she bounces lightly on her toes, "That was your freebie," she remarks at last, having regained her voice, unable to force back the grin at her lips.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1 Sakura
Kasugano bobs lightly on her feet after hurling that fireball, trying not to lose the momentum she's built up. She had assumed Hotaru would be ready for that Hadouken -- it was mostly intended to keep her on her toes, after all! But this works just as well, Sakura considers.
Freebie? "Heh, fair enough!" answers Sakura with a healthy grin, brushing the back of her hand across her nose. "Guess that just about puts us even, huh?"
She doesn't spend much time waiting for Hotaru to spring back at her, though. Giving the kenpoist just enough time to catch her breath, Kasugano steps forward with a light, Brazilian gait. The meaning of this may become evident as her upper torso twists sharply and she leaps forward, whirling around in mid-air! One might think it's her Shunpuu Kyaku at first, but the timing's all wrong -- no, this one is a move from Ken's and Sean's playbooks: both Sakura's heels come whirling about in her spin, dropping like a scythe down at Hotaru's shoulders! Ryuubi Kyaku, anyone? "Hriii-HAAAAAAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Hotaru with Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Hotaru 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\====---\1 Sakura
And that's what Hotaru expects at first, as Sakura comes in, familiar with many of the techniques in the other girl's repertoire. She decides to hold her ground rather than try to slip away, raising her arms, preparing to defend herself against the drop down kick... only to have both heels strike, smashing through her guard hard enough to drive her toward the ground.
She gasps, hands slamming down against the gym floor to catch herself from simply face planting all together. She's losing ground fast and can't take much more punishment like that. If she wants to make a good showing, she's going to need to give her next attack everything she's got. The decision is made in an instant - a snap call to throw her all into her next attack. Hands and arms tense as she goes from barely catching herself to springing right back into the offense. Her head leans back, leading the way into a back flipping kick - but she isn't aiming to simply kick the girl, if the massive surge in chi around her is any indication.
"Ten-shou..." she murmurs, leaping into the technique that's made her more famous than any other she's got, hoping to smash right through Sakura's guard on her way up.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Sakura with Ten-shou Ranki.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/---====|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Sakura
The impact is enough to take the other lightweight girl up into the air with her. Fortunately, the ceiling is far too high to risk smacking into it, but that's perhaps little solace as the pig-tailed fighter shifts her trajectory into a dive that takes her right into Sakura, driving her back down to the gym floor with her. The two land at an angle, sliding some distance on the smooth, wooden surface before they come to a stop with Sakura kneeling over the other girl, her hands applying pressure just below the base of Sakura's neck to keep her pinned for an instant.
The build up of chi around the two is significant, Hotaru confident she can pour more into the attack than she even would against many opponents. Sakura weathered the Satsujinken, she can handle this just fine. "aaaaAAH!" exclaims the girl, the energy whipping around the two of them right up until she allows it to collapse, funneling all that chi directly back into her opponent, a final, invisible blastwave emanating out from the two at ground zero but fading long before it reaches the audience itself. A quiet exhale at the effort afforded and Hotaru quickly tries to push herself back to her feet and hop away.
Kasugano picks herself off the floor from that attack; she still has to work on the landing a bit. How does Sean -do- it, anyway? Geez... Wouldn't it figure, too, that Hotaru's counterattack comes just as Sakura is leaping backwards? Her eyes go wide for a moment, and she curls her arms before her as soon as her sneakers hit the gym floor... but it's a bit too little, too late. She gets swept right into Hotaru's ascension, finding the gym floor pitifully far below her as she struggles in mid-air to escape. For a moment there, it looks like she might succeed in regaining control, but that's when Hotaru's slamming her back into the ground. Wham!
The attack has definitely won Hotaru some fans, that's for sure! Kasugano's forehead creases from the immense surge of energies rushing into her -- and really, in a way, she's /glad/. Rather, she'll appreciate the experience -after- the crushing sensation stops and she can actually think straight again! Right now, she's trying not to suffocate, her whole body tense from the enormous pressure.
It ends mercifully after a few moments, and Kasugano takes one large draw of breath in preparation. Kipping back to her feet, she hops from one foot to the other, grinning fiercely. "You've been holding that one back, I can tell!" And with no further ado, Kasugano launches forward with a move from her master's playbook, pounding her fist at an imperious downward angle, hoping to drive right past Hotaru's guard and into her thigh! "Hriii-HAA!"
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Hotaru with Medium Punch.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Hotaru 1/-------/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Sakura
Back on her feet, the Kenpo artist is begining to look rather worn down. Pushing herself hard to keep up with Sakura early on, then finding herself unable to contend with the retaliatory strikes that followed, she used a lot of her strength in that last attack. But she's still on her feet for a bit, blue eyes not quite having lost their focus, that faint grin at her lips as she shakes her head just a little at Sakura, "Maybe held back a little too long." she remarks. But there's plenty of time to learn what she could have done better later.
As right /now/ she's got a very capable fighter coming back in to strike her again, hand slamming down at a sharp angle. Not sure where she's aiming, Hotaru decides to step into it, beliving herself capable of weathering the hit and getting in close enough to deliver a solid strike against the other girl while her arm is still out.
It doesn't pay off, however, as the punch strikes true into her thigh, driving her leg out from under her and dropping the girl to her knee, hands planting against the floor to catch herself /again/. This time she's not so quick to retaliate, but she's got to give it a shot all the same. "Sou-shou..." Once more she springs, biting back a pained gasp as her leg twitches a bit from the pressure applied to it. She takes to the air in a small hop, spinning into a series of rapid, windmilling strikes with her arms. She'll try to do it again a second time, looking to power through Sakura's guard with the attack, trying to force an opening. Each strike is laced with trace amounts of that blue chi of hers, as she draws heavily on that power she's got. "Tenrenge!"
If she gets the opening she seeks, the girl will crouch into a rising shoulder tackle and finish with a forward dive back down into Sakura, her entire body encased in blue chi as she tries to drive Ryu's disciple to the floor once more. Only this time without the, ah, eyebrow raising follow up!
COMBATSYS: Sakura dodges Hotaru's Sou-shou Tenrenge.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Sakura
To Sakura, fighting someone with even a fraction of her talent in chi is an invigorating experience. So it goes without saying that fighting someone with -Hotaru's- talent in chi is pretty significant! Kasugano's used to the chi flowing a certain way around her, but Hotaru's sudden displacement of that chi has her a little off-balance. Literally -- even with that punch landing, she's still wobbling quite a bit! It's like walking in a funhouse, really...
However, with Hotaru continuing to emanate waves of chi like it's going out of style, it's not hard to spot her approach. Kasugano flashes a quirky smile at her blue-eyed opponent as she dives for the gym floor, roll-roll-rolling to safety. Even Dan would be proud of his former student!
When she springs back up to her feet, though, she'll be plunging both of her hands forward at Hotaru. There's one sure-fire way to get her chi flowing the right way, and that's by throwing one of her favorite attacks: "Hadoooooouken!" The dense, compact blossom of chi hurtles towards Hotaru, leaving a trail of Sakura-aligned chi in its wake -- which most of the audience would only be able register as a relieved smile on the Ansatsuken prodigy's face.
COMBATSYS: Sakura successfully hits Hotaru with Small Hadouken EX.
[ \\ < > ///////////// ]
Hotaru 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Sakura
Her second leap takes her over Sakura as the nimble fighter rolls out of the way and Hotaru is left with the problem of trying to come to a controlled stop after such an aggressive lunge. Shoes squeak against the floor as she skids, spinning herself around. There's no time to waste - a tingle down her spin alerts her to another one of Sakura's renown chiballs coming her way. She can't retaliate with anything fast enough but she's going to try all the same, her forearm charged with a vibrant aura, a darker blue than Sakura's own chi.
She tries to skip to the side of the Hadouken, but it catches her on the side, sending her sliding into the wall with a grunt. She's got nothing left to give, she knows, other than the last burst of energy already coursing over her forearm. Turning to lean against the wall, taking a brief moment to try and see through her blurring vision well enough to spot Sakura, she swings her arm forward, fingers unfurling, the projectile hurtling roughly in the right direction. It wouldn't be a fight without a Hakki Shou!
Exhaling, feeling the drain of trying to hurl out three very demanding attacks in rapid fire sequence, the Kenpo artist finally begins to slip, her feet sliding out from under her, her back rubbing down against the wall as she drops into a seated position on the floor. Perspiration rolls down her cheeks as she manages a weary grin, "All right - Next time - No freebies." she manages to get out between gasps for breath.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 1/---====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sakura blocks Hotaru's Hakki Shou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 1/--=====/=======|
Sakura relishes the feeling for a moment: this is it, the moment of the fight that she lives for. Fighting is all about learning more about oneself and one's opponents. Hotaru's got the closest set of talents to her own, and thus provides the clearest mirror to herself. And when Hotaru was weak against her own temptation... Sakura fought not only to prove to Hotaru that she could do better, but to prove to -herself- that she could resist.
And now Hotaru's better... so Sakura gets a better, clearer picture. Sure, Hotaru doesn't -move- the same way, but the thoughts are similar -- the urge to please the crowd, the determination to give the best fight possible. Why, there's even a Hadouk--
Oh yeah. Kasugano snaps out of her reverie to find an orb of energy flying her way, not totally unlike her own. She's not alarmed or upset about the surprise though... instead just smiling with warm satisfaction as she turns to her side, raising both hands defensively before her. Hotaru's energy buffets against padded handguards, jarring the brown-haired girl back just a bit. There's a brief grunt of effort, but for the most part, Sakura keeps on smiling calmly.
"Deal!" she chirps in reply, dropping her hands to her sides, the light from Futaba's energy attack dissipating in a faint cloud.
Sure, the referee may already be calling the fight, but Sakura's still gonna jog over to Hotaru afterwards, extending her hand out! "Good fight, as always!" Well, 'always' if you don't count that Satsujinken episode, but who wants to dwell on -that?-
COMBATSYS: Sakura takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sakura 1/--=====/=======|
COMBATSYS: Sakura has ended the fight here.
Log created on 19:20:03 06/12/2008 by Hotaru, and last modified on 01:43:42 06/13/2008.