Description: After a bit of school business, Kenji Ashima is on the way home by way of his trusty Kick-Rollers when his eyes come upon the sight of the sullen military goddess, Whip! Can she withstand his wiles?! His charms?! Can Kenji withstand being whipped into submission?! There's only one answer to this question, and it's a yeeeeeeeeee--no.
The things Whip does for family.
Things like relocating across the world. Things like trying to learn an entirely new, and not to mention entirely foreign city. Things like these that leave her rooted suddenly on one of Southtown's many sidewalks and staring skeptically at the scenery like it's been out to play tricks. She pops her aviator's sunglasses down to look at a nearby, familiar-looking campus that looks ahead. She rubs a hand over her ponytailed hair. Then, with a deep, unimpressed mumble, she reaches behind to pull a badly-folded map out of the knapsack on her back.
Things like these that also leave her talking to herself. "--Why is that Gedo school over there again? I went directly east. This isn't right. I should be at--"
The Ikari shuts herself up. Instead, she just squints harder at the map (entirely written in Japanese) hovering one inch from her face. She pauses. She lets
her right eye tic. Then, rather adamantly, she turns the map a harsh ninety degrees. Now it finally starts making sense.
Right there on the street, the pretty-looking brunette dressed in jeans and a t-shirt emblazoned with 'The Doors' and Jim Morrison's unassuming mug, just buries her face in both her hands. She lets a low, imploring little bleat escape her throat. "Navigation should be /this/ hard! I learned how to visually map an entire jungle in my head! What's wrong with this stupid city?! I swear to God, if I can't make it to the mall in the next hour, I'm going right back to South America." Whip mopes. "Swear to God."
No-- no matter what it took, he had to stop this girl.
He had to get her phone number.
And that thought locked deeply into his heart and mind, the brawling Osakan fixes the tall-standing collar of his Gedo High uniform and sweeps the folder of school-related activities and information closed. Two paperclips are slid onto the top and side to keep it closed, for he could not pass up a chance like this-- no way. Hopping up from his spot, Kenji Ashima's heels slam together, his heavy, thick sneakers clicking loudly to allow the oddly-placed sets of wheels-- and full riggings, as these are no mere heelies-- to extend. With one simple hop and motion, his sneakers are now rollerskates.
And chicks dig rollerskates.
Rolling backward, he's suddenly -there-, next to the stern-looking brunette, somehow keeping pace with a soft push of his feet. "Excuse me, miss," the yellow-clad student says. "I couldn't help but notice you seem lost. Let me show you toward the nearest coffee shop, and from that day forth I'll support you-- no, -us- -- on the unshaky path that is life!"
Oh, he's on fire.
One moment ago, Whip's life was so very simple. It was frustrating at times -- no doubt about that -- but entirely lacked in the certain complexities that seem to burden girls her age.
As far as she can remember, Whip's never really been hit on. Not until now.
Her hands let go from her severe facepalming, and Whip looks up in time to get a sudden eyeful of Kenji Ashima. She startles slightly, unused to people sneaking up so quietly on people on her, her back straightening and her shoulders pushing back. She opens her mouth, no doubt to say something, but her voice never quite makes it.
Neither do the rest of the synapses inside her brain. Frozen on the spot, her sunglasses slid down her nose, Whip's brown, uncovered eyes stare an increduous highway right towards Kenji. He speaks to her and all she can do is stare back, because she's never really been hit on, and she doesn't even know what it's like to get hit on. This sort of complexity she understands about as well as that crumpled map inside her left hand.
Her eyes blink a bit, then narrow at the edges, as if holding a confused irritation at bay. Her cheeks colour. She clears her throat to restart her stalled voice. "W-what?"
When the sunglasses slide down and he finally gets a better look at her eyes, his expression brightens more. Yes, truly, this locking of gazes is the Trans-Canadian Highway... of Love!
As Whip's now frozen, no doubt from the overwhelming charisma and charm of the Gedo student, his right heel rolls back to impact to the left. The action brings him to a clipping stop, with a hand brought up to his chest and his other arm gesturing off into the vague distance. "Cast not the askance gaze of someone who doesn't understand! You should, fully and completely, with every fiber of your being!" Kenji twists his feet around at this moment, using careful applications of pressure with his toes to roll him a little closer to the young woman and throwing forth his most charming smile possible. This is what the perfectly-styled hair is for, the excellent complexion! Wearing his uniform and brushing his teeth every night! All of the pain and the workouts and the fights with and for the Guardian Kings!
Just for one of these perfect moments where Tenma couldn't possibly ruin what's going on for him. Rose-colored student life, here he comes!
"My name is Kenji Ashima. Truly... come with me if you want to truly -live-," he says, offering out his hand.
For the longest time, Whip just stares at Kenji like one of them had gone mad. Him, for appearing out of nowhere on shoe-turned-roller skates, armed with the most luxurious of sugary promises to run away with him. Her, for possibly hallucinating all of this in her frustrated, lost-in-a-new-city delirium. She most certainly casts the askance gaze of someone who doesn't understand, because she really doesn't. She's been punched, kicked, shot at, lacerated, incinerated, blown up, and pitched out of a few ten-storey windows, but she's never been propositioned by a boy.
The longer it goes on, the more awkward Whip starts to feel. She backs up a bit. She blinks owlishly at Kenji's face. Her eyes glance down on his outstretched hand. They look back up.
Whip's eyelids start to take on a defensive droop, that residual sterness capturing her face once more like a stoked ember. The look in her eyes gets darker. Her mouth locks up in confused, but equally unimpressed frowning. And, not unlike the persistent street vendors she regularly sees on her trips to Morocco, Whip tells Kenji stonily, "I'm not interested."
*skohh-- *fwak*
The wheels suddenly shoot out from under Kenji's feet as he pitches forwards, his arms shooting out and his folder flipping end over end in the air, the Gedo student falling to the sidewalk with a distinct noise. Be it divine intervention, be it fate, be it just the way things are, the simple decline from the likes of the whip-wielding member of the Ikaris hurts him mentally, spiritually, and most of all physically.
And then the folder lands on his head, on the corner, just to punctuate it.
He recovers with lightning speed, however, snatching the folder off the ground as he stands back up on his Kick-Rollers' wheels with no difficulty, his hand again sweeping to his chest. "Well, perhaps I didn't make everything clear. I'm quite the celeberty, you see! I was once the Junior League Champion for the Saturday Night Fight battles, and I've done some awesome fights all over the world."
Yes, there he throws forth the most devistating, charming smile in his arsenal-- the one where his head tilts just right, his hair bounces but slightly, and a little slice of his bangs drift in front of one eye. "I am the student council secretary of Gedo High! You see, they also call me 'Missile Fist Ashima,' one of the members of the Guardian Kings!"
Sure, he feels awkward trying to get girls and recognition using his reputation, but ... this is a battlefield!! Sure, of an entirely different card than what Whip may be familiar with. His right arm hooks forward a little, his hand presented. "This mighty fist could protect you day and night, I promise!"
The glower in the young woman's face mollifies slightly when Kenji goes down. Whip switches from annoyed to startled, her eyes widening and her head craning to peer after, slanting a look down where he lay. One of her eyebrows twitches in its arch. She starts to reach for her own face, no doubt to palm it rather gravely--
And Kenji shoots back up, reanimated like Frankenstein's monster after a lucky bolt of lightning. Whip merely stares at him like she doesn't know what to think. Give her terrorists, enemy mercenaries, NESTS' clones, even fussy amnesiac brothers with hair-trigger-tempers... she can handle it. But this?
Whip's dictionary has no definition for 'Kenji Ashima.'
At his sudden introduction, she parts her lips as if to reply-- but, once again, her voice doesn't quite happen. Instead, Kenji is suddenly smiling like a million dollars, the light hitting him in all the right places as he poses -- and -- and -- Whip can feel herself starting to fluster around the edges. He's confusing her. She doesn't like to feel confused. She's not even sure what he really wants.
She's got to get out of here. Southtown is a crazy place.
So Whip puts on her most unrelenting of expressions. Her eyes are starched and set with a patient disapproval. Her mouth looks like it was meant for frowning. The look of the Beast. "Didn't I tell you no? I don't need protection from your fist. Please leave me alone." And then, the Ikari is backing away, hoping to turn her back on her persistent Romeo, and really hoping to leave him in her tracks.
Though he's on the more unorthodox spectrum of it, you could also look up Kenji Ashima in the "n" section of Whip's dictionary, perhaps one of those words she's never had a whole lot of practice or exposure to:
Normal.
Consulting the mental Codex Girlica, the brawler youth takes the passive road, stripping away the pretentious prettyboy assault and going with the legitimate, honest-to-himself ... self. The Kenji Ashima that you're more apt to see around the halls of Gedo High, the one that doesn't break out the power of the Sexy Flash smile unless it's -absolutely- required. And it was! It surely had to have made a chink in the steely armor he's been presented so far, which means he can't give up. Not yet! Not now! Love isn't perfection, it's something to be worked for!
So only after she turns to leave does he push forward again, rolling at a slow clip. Still dynamic and animated, his arms swing around while he talks, starting with a reached-out way and sweeping out to the sides. "Okay, okay! Sorry, sorry. Look, seriously! I'm seriously!"
Winking, Kenji thrusts out his finger with a slight forward lean. "You could at least give me your name, right? I'd like to get to know you better! And what better of a way to do that than to sit down and have something to drink? It's my treat!"
Whip walks onwards, armed with one of many of her countless frowns. Her sour mood seems to be curdling more by the moment, compounded by being lost in a city she's not all sure she likes, having gone without her breakfast stout, and now being chased by some boy for a reason she's not sure she understands. People who've given her a second glance usually went on to try to kill her. She doesn't attract attention that isn't bad attention. That's the only attention Whip knows.
'Normal' is a very, very foreign word in her vocabulary.
So colour Whip all the more confused when Kenji follows. When he reappears gallantly at her side, rollerblading persistently along, her left eye twitches imperceptively at the corner. Her frowning gets wider and heavier. Her eyelids droop. He really can't be serious.
Glancing over, her irritation taking a dangerous peak, Whip blinks as Kenji winks. He leans forward and she leans slightly backward, looking more and more startled as time goes on. He asks for her name. She thinks he's just asking for /it./ With little warning, the Ikari's sizeable patience finds its last little inch.
The Beast's stern frowning takes on a pensive edge. After a moment of thought, she replies, very honestly, "Sorry, but I prefer to treat myself. Like this:"
Quick, efficient, but so very painful, her left fist suddenly slams forward at Kenji's face.
COMBATSYS: Whip has started a fight here.
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Whip 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kenji has joined the fight here.
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Kenji 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Whip
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Whip's Strong Punch.
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Kenji 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Whip
Kenji's happy-go-lucky attitude persists through all of this-- the laughter, the tears, his great powers, and his great failures! But when the honest approach fails him, when the fist comes sailing in at his face, the Gedo student brings up his hand to catch it with a distinct *smack*. He catches it, seriously--
But he misjudges the girl's strength, and the back of his hand smacks him in the nose.
His head cringing back and his eyes clamped shut, Kenji's steel grip closes down a bit harder on Whip's fist in a manner that seems all sorts of accidental, reflexive. Yet, when he does recover, he doesn't quite let go just yet. Instead, he tilts his heel back and stomps down -hard-, bringing the rigging of his Kick-Rollers back down into the sneaker-boot. Twisting his foot just so, he grounds himself for a moment, while he sweeps out an arm as if to hook it around the Ikari's waist and push off backwards with the remaining foot-- to the demented, it looks almost like an attempt at a rolling slowdance.
Except for the part where Kenji twists backwards and -jumps-, intending on tossing Whip away. "Hoooooooi!"
COMBATSYS: Whip blocks Kenji's Strong Throw.
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Kenji 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Whip
Whip, for all her weapons, and for all her trickery, carries one mean left hook. There's few people in the world who could take her fist and keep standing.
But catch it straight out of the air?
Though Kenji gets stung by the Ikari mercenary's deceptive, unassuming (and genetically-tampered) strength, he manages to stand up to it -- even take it like a soldier should. And Whip, however irritated, still has the decency and good taste to look impressed. And, as he performs his smooth footwork, her slender body moves in close, her weight pressing in as her momentum shadows his. Almost immediately she's on the defensive, and it shows transparently in all her movements, someone who knows how to fight and does it like a second nature.
Kenji demonstrates his strategy and speed as he throws her, but Whip in turn demonstrates her skill as she twists against the trajectory at the last moment, catching herself with one arm and flipping back upright. She stands tall, turning sharply to regard her surprising Romeo. After a moment of pause, the brunette reaches for her hair, pulling it free from its tie and letting it fall wildly to her shoulders. Then, mechanically, she pulls off her sunglasses, folds them up, and pins them to the neck of her t-shirt.
"I may have been wrong," Whip is saying, that stern and still unimpressed look on her face doing battle with the note of wryness in her voice. "Maybe it'll be your treat after all." Then, very purposefully, she lets her knapsack go, sliding it from one shoulder, then the other. One hand, her right, reaches inside. And then it pulls out. And it's not alone. Slowly, smoothly, she draws the full fifteen feet free of a wicked-looking bullwhip.
Her thoughtful frown deepens.
The weapon CRACKS loudly an instant later, just the barest flicks of her arm sending its length cutting straight towards Kenji. Its barbed tip tries to catch him by the ankle, and the dominatrix behind it gives a wicked yank to try to pull him off his feet.
COMBATSYS: Whip successfully hits Kenji with Snare Whip.
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Kenji 0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0 Whip
She looks like she's getting serious, now. And now there's a look on her face-- 'that' look-- that he might've made the worst decision of his life by pestering this poor girl. He's seen the routine before, with some people; Sada has her own pre-fight ceremonies, Tenma, even Stasya and Hakuya. He knows he's going to get hurt. He knows this is going to suc--
greatest day of my life
Misjudging the angle of the weapon, as he's wholly unfamiliar with a lot of people that use a whip, he brings up his arms as if to block a high attack-- and then finds his grounded leg snared. The violent pull makes the matter worse, but it gets even -more- worse...er... when the wheels of his Kick-Rollers respond in kind, rolling forward and making it all the more of a tumbling mess for the young man as he splatters flat onto his back, nevermind the binder of school paperwork.
But he doesn't immediately free himself, either, gazing up at the sky.
greatest. day
Shaking his leg a few times and kicking at his own ankle, Kenji wriggles himself out of the whip's grasp and rolls backwards, getting himself into a squat before driving his other heel down-- collapsing the rigging of the other skate into his sneaker before he once again vaults violently forward.
Thrusting out his leg, Kenji tries to step down on Whip's chest, a surge of chi building up, punctuated by a sharp, "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
And should that stomping foot stay there long enough, she won't really get to see, but -feel- the invasive pressure of the young man's chi... moments before it virtually detonates, attempting to send a shockwave through her from top to bottom and literally give her insides a rattle.
COMBATSYS: Whip dodges Kenji's Magnum Spike.
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Kenji 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Whip
The Beast waits with infinite patience as her prey moves to recover. Rather harmlessly, the bluish length of her bullwhip lets go and falls dormant from his leg, only called back to its master's hand by a sharp pull of her arm and flick of her wrist. It coils tamely around her forearm, and her hand rests against her hip. She shifts her weight to one leg, tilts her head, and studies Kenji curiously. There's a certain shadow to her face, like the smile is there, barely haunting her mouth... but like hell she'd ever let it show.
Whip is all business. She's a soldier.
And she's also getting attacked. Not even before she considers how to defend herself, she knows he's using chi. She can feel that distinct, painful energy in the bones of her hands. He's just marinating in it. Fortunately, her sharp, careful eye reads the hidden cursive in his footwork. And, as Kenji rushes forward, pushing himself through the air... Whip seems to be but a half-step ahead of him, stepping backward and to one side when his foot arcs past, all its power and explosive chi missing the brunette by hairs.
"Very good," her crisp voice announces, simple and straight-faced. "But you'll have to pick up the pace."
Because Whip isn't pulling any punches. That familiar, earsplitting CRACK of her whip fills the air again, and with a pull of her arm, she whirls its length overhead. With a sharp, adamant yell, Whip slings Voodoo forward, trying to roughly, firmly wrap its leathery tip around his neck. Then, should it connect, with her dark eyes gleaming, the girl gives the line an inviting pull the instant she rockets forward, racing violently towards him. With her light-bodied, acrobatic ease, within a split second she is airbourne, trying to connect with her captive Gedo student council secretary with a roundhouse kick to the face.
COMBATSYS: Whip successfully hits Kenji with Strength Shot - Yuuetsu.
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Kenji 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Whip
He starts to think about the way things are going, once she's taken that step back, when that chi is expelled from his foot in the form of the small, violent explosion. She's more nimble than he had thought, and she's clearly stronger than how she looks.
The whip wraps around his throat! And Kenji then gags, grabbing at the bullwhip's length all for naught while the kick to the face sends him flying right down to the ground. He hits -hard-, at that, letting out one of those bone-crunching, wet impacts of meat on a hard surface, and for a moment, he's completely still.
"Owwwwwwwww."
A moment.
The heels of his hands press to the ground, and Kenji stands up only to dust himself off and turn back to face Whip while adjusting his collar. His hands, even, run back along the sides of his head, 'cause he's totally gotta make sure his hair is okay. "You know, I got a friend you should meet, she fights with a chain and sickle like out of a ninja movie."
The impossible-to-crush Kenji Ashima still then grins and drops his stance. If anything, he's certainly direct and forward all the time-- his body being honest and betraying nothing to his movements. Like his personality, he charges at Whip full force and reels back his arm...
The punch isn't particularly impressive as it starts, but then his arm starts to bend on the swing. His fist seems to travel on a simple, single arc, but the space between wrist and shoulder looks like a distortion of biology itself-- like rubber, almost, the high-speed strike seems to be aimed to plow into Whip's stomach in an upward-hooking motion. The other thing is the force behind the strike: More than it probably should have at his age, and strangely enough, his fist feels like it's made of a slab of granite.
Sure, normally he hits people in the -face- with this attack, but he can't do that to girls!
COMBATSYS: Whip blocks Kenji's Missile Fist.
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Kenji 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Whip
With a twist of acrobatic prowess, that mysterous girl drops from her aerial kick back to her feet, a sharp turn of her shoulder calling back her weapon in a single, smooth movement. It curls obediently, lovingly down her bare arm, and when it comes to a harmless pause, something strange happens. She brings up her arm and awards her whip with an affectionate kiss to its handle, her dark eyes never leaving Kenji.
But, with that seemingly infinite patience of hers, the brunette stands back and allows the boy his recovery, having enough honour -- and not to mention a strange curiousity -- to allow him to return an attack instead of pressing her own. She is not smiling, neither does she seem particularly amiable, but her face looks gentled of its previous irritation. She looks humourless at best, a soldier who prefers efficiency in battle over entertainment.
Even if Kenji Ashima is shaping up to be very interesting.
Her patience seems to come to quick fruitation, as within seconds he's already racing towards her, moving with a surprising speed. Whip knows he's too fast to possibly dodge, and it would be foolhardy to try, especially with all the attention he's paying his recoiling fist. There's only one thing to do. The Ikari soldier sets her feet, narrows her eyes, shifts her weight, and waits. Then, suddenly, at the single instant before the strike, she moves, shooting out one arm, and with blurring speed...
...catches Kenji's fist straight out of the air. Her fingers clamp down. The muscle stands against her arm. Her entire body skids backwards as it absorbs the power of the strike, forcing it into her one arm instead of more tender areas. Gritting her teeth, letting go an imperceptible grunt, Whip stomps one heel down and draws Kenji's missile fist to a stop.
And, behind those soft, smooth, delicate-looking fingers that hold his fist at bay, Whip's eyes are on Kenji, regarding him watchfully. The ghost of a smile haunting the corners of her mouth, she slowly shakes her head no.
Then, with little warning, her fist tightens to try to hold him captive as her second arm moves. With a frightening quickness, she pulls a brutal, serrated knife /straight out/ of the neckline of her t-shirt and tries to bury it into his shoulder.
COMBATSYS: Whip successfully hits Kenji with Medium Strike.
- Power hit! -
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Kenji 1/------=/=======|===----\-------\0 Whip
She blocks-- she -catches his hand-, even-- but he doesn't let it dissuade him or let the impact die off one bit-- he pushes, tries to follow through with it as much as he can. She still manages to dig her heel down, and keep him from knocking her back that much or even at all. But once it truly sinks in, then Kenji's eyes go a little bit wide. His prideful technique, stopped just like -that-?
And now there's the painful burn of a knife planting down into his shoulder, the blade digging down through his body and ... yeah.
Forced down to one knee, the high school student lets out a loud, choking noise. He doesn't let Whip pull the weapon out, no way in hell-- instead, with this weapon still buried in his shoulder, Kenji -stands-.
He's been stabbed before. He's been set on fire. He's been blown up. He's had insane bitches dig their fingers -into his chest- like they were trying to pull on his ribcage. He's had to help kick some insane wannabe goth vampire hag's ass.
And Kenji still keeps going.
Reaching up so swiftly and suddenly, Kenji's wide eyes and his suddenly -ferocious- expression precursor the attempt to palm Whip's face and -lift- her with that one arm, then forcefully try to -spike- her headfirst onto the sidewalk. If he succeeds, his voice again lets out a gutteral, "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"
And then the chi -explodes-. Not from his palm toward her face, but a spike that shoots down and wells back up to -explode-. It'll detonate and try to send Whip flying, and landing is just one of those things she'd have to figure out for herself.
COMBATSYS: Whip interrupts Claymore from Kenji with Strength Shot - Chikara.
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Kenji 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Whip
Letting go both of his hand and the knife she's left behind, Whip backs up -- or tries to -- already trying to put herself within arm's length of Kenji. It's tactical for her to do so, so she can defend herself behind all fifteen feet of Voodoo and keep herself from becoming another target of those fists of his. As sturdy as she's been built (all thanks to NESTS technology) she doesn't want to test her resilience against something she'd sooner avoid, especially when she's getting that familiar sensation of chi being in the picture. Chi hurts. Chi hurts a lot.
But Kenji rises sooner than expected, and with her combat knife still sheathed inside his shoulder, and Whip has the generousity to look impressed, always preferring the type of fighter that doesn't complain against pain, but uses it to find their focus. He'd have the making of a good soldier.
But just because Whip is starting to like Kenji doesn't mean she's inclined to go easy on him. On the contrary, she intends the opposite, especially because now he's forcing her to really work. He attacks before she has the time to retreat, to get out of arm's reach, so the Ikari is forced to adapt with the circumstances. She moves sharply to one side, and the hand intended for her face instead grips down on the brunette's shoulder. She doesn't try to struggle away as Kenji grips down, instead watching his movements and waiting for the first opening. She doesn't have to wait long. As Kenji /lifts/ her with one arm, Whip lets Voodoo uncoil from her arm, a jerk of her wrist bringing her weapon up sharply to CRACK across his torso.
Dropped, she twists in midair, her acrobatics coming back into play as she moves like a falling cat, landing into a swift, one-kneed crouch instead of straight on her very face. Voodoo follows Whip's descent, and with another quick lash of her arm, she interjects a second strike after the first, moving that stinging leather again against his body.
Then chi happens. Whip makes the first actual expression in a long time, this one vocalizing rather emphatically: 'Oh, shit.' She only, very barely has time to stand when the blast hits, a push of her legs letting it burn only against her peripherals, missing the hearty brunt of the blow by a breath. Still, it sends the Ikari flying, tucking herself into a deft roll against the ground as she eventually skids to a stop. She pauses. She spits a bit of blood. She looks up. Her brown eyes look kinder. "...You can call me Whip."
His hand doesn't exactly go where he planned on it, and his attack didn't exactly go how he planned on. More than that, now the whip rips across his torso and takes a piece out of his uniform jacket, making it the thirty-third one that he's ruined this term alone! Another strike, and Kenji ends up staggering back farther and farther than before.
Breathing heavily and hard, the Gedo student's expression is somewhat listless-- he's lost between the pain in his shoulder, the pain of his chest, and the pain of having his attacks shut down like that at every turn. It reminds him of the time he, Tenma, and Hakuya all fought that blonde guy in the stadium, once...
Fortunately, she's much better looking.
But now she's given him her name, or at least something to use in the interm. His response is one brief, "Heh..." and a slight grin. Against the rightful knowledge of medicine and everything that his mother taught him, he still reaches up to that knife buried in his shoulder and gets a good grip-- and rips it clear out.
Letting it drop out of his hand, Kenji's posture drops, his fist very nearly striking the ground.
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH--"
His arm explodes into a brilliant white-blue flame, one so stupidly bright it could likely be seen by low-flying aircraft in the middle of the night. It roars and howls from his knuckles and trumpets up off his shoulder, biting and licking the air in a seemingly random manner that completely seems the opposite of his nature. Scarily more, it isn't even 'hot' -- comfortable and warm!
For he is bright in spirit, and other totally awesome zen things, too.
Straightening up, the energy continues to build up as his arm pulls back, for the first time letting his stance look anything remotely like a martial artist's.
COMBATSYS: Kenji gathers his will.
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Kenji 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0 Whip
The moment Whip pushes herself back to her feet, she turns her head, one hand quickly raised against the painful flare of light. It's too bright for her to even look at, and when she can, Whip's eyes are still burnt with the afterimages of Kenji's crazy chi.
Looking a little askance at him, her expression between confused and amused, Whip lets a sharp exhale and finally releases herself from some of that sternness. Her lips quirk with a crooked smile. This is going to be fun.
Moving smoothly, Whip finally switches to the offensive. She sidestrafes carefully, remaining all too prudent to maintain and defend the distance between their bodies, because there's no way she's going near that arm of his if neither she nor Voodoo can help it. Her analytical mind switches to her more long range attacks, and the fifteen-foot whip slithers to life at her side. Her dark eyes lock on Kenji. Her smiling sharpens into a grin, a very dangerous one. And with no more warning she suddenly calls Voodoo to attention, a whip of her arm pulling the weapon into a blurring animation. She swings it above her head to its full length, unleashing the leather on its arc to bullet straight towards Kenji. There, the sharp leather tries to snag him roughly by one of his limbs, and should it catch, the dominatrix on the line pours the brunt of her strength into /heaving/ him airbourne, attempting to swing him on a wide arc straight into the first blunt object that'll have his face.
COMBATSYS: Kenji blocks Whip's Zed.
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Kenji 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=====--\-------\0 Whip
A regular person would probably stop and take the thought of her smiling like that to be a bad thing. Kenji's somewhere between the crazy 'don't care' phase and the 'that is so -hot-' phase!
When she starts to move, so does he-- preparing for another blunt forward-charging assault, as relentlessly pounding away seems to be his only strategy. ... And, to be fair, it -has- mostly worked for him.
... Mostly.
The whip ends up snagging him around the left arm-- the bad arm-- and he finds himself flung through the air and towards ... a street lamp. But he doesn't impact with it the way that Whip would prefer, even with the short "Gyah-!!" and the wince, the blood still seeping up through his shirt and his jacket. He snakes out his arm and grabs onto it, hooking even his foot in and suddenly having a momentary fit of being a genius-- instead of going straight back at her, he swings -around- it, hooking the whip around and either wrenching it further on his arm or preparing Whip to get dragged straight toward him, using the lamp as a pulley!
By this time, all the flame and fire have left his arm, but it hasn't left his eyes. His right arm rears back a good distance as he approaches, his left leg stomping down before her and letting a hard breath escape him. Kenji's muscles tense in sequence, a perfect lock-and-release of his limbs, his muscles surging and his body moving -perfectly-. His arm doesn't bend for this, though like before, he seems to be aiming a perfect punch at Whip's gut. His arm even hooks upwards, like he were literally trying to lift her off the ground with the strike. There's no bright lights and no crazy tricks.
Literally, Kenji Ashima is going to punch her as hard as he can.
COMBATSYS: Kenji can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Whip 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Whip dodges Kenji's Missile Fist Ashima.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Whip 0/-------/--=====|
Sometimes Whip isn't entirely astute of a little thing called physics. And sometimes it can be wielded wholly against her.
As Kenji enterprises on her attack, going as far as grabbing ahold of her precious Voodoo and wrapping it taut against the street lamp, Whip doesn't even realize her mistake until her weapon has pulled fast at the apex of its arc, caught on its new makeshift pulley, and all that wicked strength she threw into that attack comes pressing back right on /her./ Her eyes widen. She has the dignity to look shocked. And victim to her own strategy, Whip can do little but gasp a surprised curse as she's YANKED forward, her boots skidding against the earth, her very startled body dragging fiercely forward like a worm on the line.
She can see a glimpse of what's in store. His arm is rearing back. His hand is closed in a fist. He's waiting for her. Her dark eyes widen.
If she doesn't move, and move RIGHT NOW... this is going to hurt.
Relying only on her reflexes and nothing else, Whip can do nothing but wait until the moment is right, and hope to hell that she's half as flexible as she assumes herself to be. She comes in, inadvertantly rocketing right towards Kenji's fist, and.... at the last moment, just flattens herself straight out, arching her spine and throwing back her head, going straighter than a rifle and careening -- by sheer millimeteres and thinner hairs -- under the powerful swipe of his fist. She can feel it grazing past her body. It comes that close.
Soon enough, her reckless dodge mutates into uncontrolled skidding, the Ikari Warrior dragging messily across the ground, losing the handle of her whip and forcing herself into a semi-coordinated roll. Soon enough, she rolls herself back up to her knees, stopped straight with a windy wing of her dark hair and a WHUFF of a heavy breath. What a rush.
COMBATSYS: Whip has ended the fight here.
It's like looking down the barrel of a fist-gun and the only light at the end of the tunnel is the lights in the ceiling of the emergency room when you come to.
But only if it hits, and all.
All of the power in Kenji's arm, and he still can't plant that one final strike-- final, in that he doesn't have the steam in him to keep going... not after a beating like -that-. His arm hooks straight up into the air, but the master of the Kick-Rollers staggers a few steps after throwing that massive punch-- and just about falls flat on his face.
Landing on his hands and knees, the jarring motion reminds Kenji that he's got a shoulder injury to consider. Steadying himself up to one knee and clamping a hand down on his shoulder, the Gedo student takes to breathing hard, not looking back or regarding the bloody knife on the sidewalk nearby. "It doesn't hurt," he tells himself.
Then he stands up, perhaps a little too fast.
"Hoooohhhhh heck it does. Gah-- Ow-- jeez--"
And then he proceeds to stagger sideways in an attempt to get himself steadied, only looking more and more like a drunk in the process. And, likely, dragging Voodoo along with him.
Bracing one arm across her knee, Whip sits back on her heels, rubs a hand through her messy bangs, and finally draws her eyes back on Kenji. For all her soldier's training, all her years in NESTS, and all her kills working as an assassin, she still has enough heart left in her to cringe when he goes straight down. That had to hurt, even if he admits the opposite out loud. But then he gets back up, and she can't help but respect his chutzpah, a more sincere smile curving across her mouth.
She watches him stagger. Shaking her head, the girl just sighs.
And a couple moments later, an arm moves to wrap around Kenji's back, one of those soft hands pressing gently against his opposite side. Whip is suddenly there, and suddenly very close, as she tries to encourage Kenji's poor, busted body to lean against her warmed side. She steadies him with a deceptive strength saddled in her somewhat delicate body, even as she leans over him suddenly, intensely to, very, very gently unwind the whip from his battered shoulder. She takes her weapon back with a kind, unhurried patience. "Come on," the girl says, sounding both tired and amused at the same time. "Let's get you bandaged up. You've lost blood. Just put your head on my shoulder."
Stumble. Stumble. Stumblestumble.
It's hard to hear what he's saying, but there's some discernable mumbling going on with Kenji. Words like "can't believe" and "I'm invincible" and "mom's gonna kill me," all things that roll through his head at once. It's who Kenji is, really! And he looks as though he's going to intentionally stumble home just like that, grabbing his student council paperwork folder and dragging a bullwhip home coiled around his bloody arm.
But then there's something there. Something soft. Something warm. Something girl.
best. day. ever
With his snatched up folder in his right hand and his arm free of the bullwhip, the young man flares his nostrils and glares straight forward even while his face turns a little red. "I-I'll be fine, I'm seriously!"
Nevermind he's doing what she says and going along with it.
... best.
... day.
... ever.
Log created on 21:04:29 06/12/2008 by Kenji, and last modified on 13:03:01 06/21/2008.