Description: Facing off in a gorgeous national park in Germany, Hotaru Futaba is put up against the typically creepy Choi Bounge. Only, Choi isn't so creepy this time, but rather introspective. And he has a story to tell. Too bad Hotaru decides to punch the messenger! ( Winner: Hotaru )
The word got around about a tournament to be hosted by Strolheim Castle. This would be Hotaru's first chance to participate in such a grand event. Too young for many of the tournaments of yesteryear, and on sabbatical when some of the more recent events of the prior year came around, the girl jumped at the chance to enter. Not that this was any simple fighting event for her. This event had to be the answer the enigmatic ninja, Eiji Kisaragi must have been referring to when he left in her hands a letter from the Noble of Strolheim, himself. He had told her she would know when the right time to answer would come and this tournament just had to be that.
And so the eager young fighter enrolled, received some paperwork on the rules regarding the preliminary rounds, and then simply waited. She didn't have to wait long. Notice went out, announcing the matches to be held all around the globe for the first round before the participants could be invited into the famous castle of Strolheim itself.
Interesting, Hotaru muses, as she stands in a garden of lush, verdant green. Interesting that her match would be staged in the same country as Strolheim. Does it mean anything? Is the noble Earl of Strolheim paying attention to her? Such a thought would seem preposterous to where it not for the letter the elusive ninja left in her hands. Here, in a giant nature preserve, it's easy to focus and sense the world about her. Soft, velvety grass, thick, shadowing trees, and reeds that line the nearby tranquil lake all contribute to the sense of oneness with nature.
The lake looks shallow, green, full of moss, fish, and other life. In her fighting attire, she stands out from it quite a bit. The ensemble is over all conservative. Only when ambushed or talked into costumed matches does her wardrobe vary. Pristine white poofy pants end at her ankles in small bands, her feet covered by soft, blue shoes. Her torso is covered by a white blouse with puffy, short sleeves, and a rich, form-fitting, Chinese styled blue vest worn over it, embroidered in gold. Her hair is done up in a pair of pig-tails, a style that has become a signiture staple for the Kenpo artist - each tail held in place by thick, red ribbons tied into large bows.
Clasping her hands behind her back, the teenaged fighter stares out over the lake at a row boat of tourists in the distance. Hopefully she can do well enough that she'll be in fine condition for a tour of the park after the match, Hotaru ponders optimistically!
Choi is finally outside his gi suit. Instead, the midget is clad in more suitable German wear: overalls. The midget's orange-brown overall pants look worn, likely wool. Underneath it was a green sweater, similar material. It is also old, like it was stored in a trunk for several years. The midget himself hasn't change his outfit much, though those are some very nice looking oxfords.
The Korean is likewise enjoying the scenery, and not the one Hotaru carries. In fact, considering their match in Hawaii, constant distant relationship through Jiro, and the whole pseudo-nudity thing, Choi is being... distant. Detached. Like he holds some horrible secret from Hotaru. His treatment was... neutral. He was a fugitive. He found the open request. He had no where to go. So here he was. To fight. To get a home. To be... in a disciplined environment. Choi missed breaking through to be free. It made the game more fun.
The Korean stood there erect, claws tucked in the pit of his back, spread apart. He was looking at the water, at the castle. He sighed, long and slow. This was going to be an awkward fight. He was tangled in something bigger than him. Something... painful. Someone losing their entire life. It was hard. And now...
Choi turned towards Hotaru. "Well, toots. Are you ready to start this?"
A calm Choi is a foreign creature of which Hotaru isn't sure to make. Turning away from the glass-like surface of the lake, she sets eyes on her opponent, head canting to the side just slightly as she takes his demeanor in. "Nn," comes her answer in response to his question. Turning to back away from the lake, she stops, turns to face him, and finishes preparing.
She had already stretched earlier. Had already meditated thoughtfully at the lake's edge. She's nearly ready - a state that she enters by crossing her arms over her chest, bowing her head, and taking in one more breath. A slow exhale accompanies her unfolding her arms, turning her right shoulder toward Choi, bringing her hands up into a defensive position.
"Ready," the serious fighter replies. He doesn't seem to be himself. Trying to decide if that's a good thing or bad is, well, hard to say. On one hand, his normal himself is perverted, obnoxious, and quite deserving of lots of kicks. This side of him? Well, for him to be distracted means it might be pretty bad. Her eyes narrow a little as she studies the Korean a little more. Claws. She hates fighting people with their sharp, slashy weapons. Superior speed is the best bet to deal with it. And never losing track of her opponent's position. He's easily as fast as she is, if not faster. But she hits like a truck.
"If you need more time to prepare, I'm in no hurry," she states as she adopts her ready stance, bouncing lightly on her feet, pig-tails lifting and falling in time with her motion. Something tells her that he needs more than just time to get past whatever's bothering him though.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Hotaru takes no action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Choi has joined the fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Choi 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hotaru
Choi stares out in the water. Hotaru was picking up on his distractions. When he heard about fighting Hotaru, he initially got all dirty. Sleazy. And very very naughty. However, something struck him. Maturity.
The Korean looks over at Hotaru, focusing his mind on the fight. "I'm as ready as I'm always going to be, toots." The midget said, stepping back away from the water. He lowers his posture, reducing his surface area. He spreads his form out, giving his both balance and spring. He grins, licking his teeth.
"Do you wish to go first, or will I have that pleasure?"
COMBATSYS: Choi takes no action.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Choi 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hotaru
She bristles a little as he addresses her. That's the second time. The girl is always getting called names other than her real one. "My name isn't toots," comes her terse reply. She doesn't sound angry, and even calling her reaction annoyed would be overstating things. She just simply wants to establish that point of fact right then and there.
He indicates he's ready and she tips her head slightly as acknowledgement. "All right then." She exhales softly. This fight - she needs to get her head into it - she's fought so many times that her experience in the past year and a half amounts to far more than most fighters her age. But this match is the first in a big tournament that she's having the chance to be a part of. She knows thinking about the significance of that isn't what she needs to have her mind fixated on, but fighting that distraction is hard.
He speaks up again, asking if she wishes to open this bout and the teen fighter snaps her attention back to Choi. Right. A match just like any other. Even if it's with the criminal Korean that she's always found herself irritated at eventually. It's just in her nature to get a little rightously indignant in company like his. She was raised in high class, after all, even if most of her family turned out to be crazy.
"Since you ask," she replies, "Here I come!" She charges forward fast, sprinting over the grass with ease. It is difficult to determine what her intent is as she gets in close. Is she going to jump for his head with her foot? Or drive all that forward momentum into a punishing palm strike? Maybe one of her other techniques will be drawn upon? The moment she gets within a yard, she drops low, arms sweeping out to her sides for balance, her right foot sliding forward, her left foot, bent at the knee, beneath her for support.
She adopts that stance for a long moment - The stance of the Swallow as she has termed it. But when she snaps out of it, it's with swift aggression, rolling forward to Choi's right, coming up in a low crouch, one hand snapping out to seek a grip on his wrist while her other hand comes forward, seeking to press into his chest and distress his balanace. If successful, she finishes by pulling right back in the opposite direction, her hand on his chest closing, digging into his clothes, while her hold on his arm is used to twist Choi face foward to the ground with a rather swift slam. "YA!"
COMBATSYS: Choi dodges Hotaru's Medium Throw.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Choi 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Hotaru
Choi watches as Hotaru bristles. Yeah, she hates him. But who does she like anymore? Choi feels completely out of the Jiro family loop. He growls. And then, he lets her approach him. He waits patiently, letting the younger fighter. Hotaru, if he remembered, was a very dangerous fighter. And when she gets inside a meter, she makes her move. Diving low. Choi could see it.
The midget immediately leapt in the air when she went for a flank. Springing high over her move, he groaned, still a bit distracted. "Hotaru... have you heard from Jiro?" He muses wistly, falling back towards her with his pumping, kicking legs.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru parries Choi's Light Kick!
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Choi 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Hotaru
Her hands get a grip on nothing but air as Choi slips up and over her, putting his speed to use. Fingers close in on each other, but he's no longer there. In fact, he has time to pose a question as she draws back from extending herself. "Huh?" She seems distracted by the question for an instant. Why bring up Jiro now? Is it a distraction? Is he trying to throw her off with questions about the Kasagi boy? If it is, it might not work too well if her lighting reflexes have anything to say about it. That distraction proves short lived.
Stepping to the side, her hand comes up, catching his nearest leg by the ankle long enough to pull down hard, intending to drive him down to terra firma feet first in hopes of slowing him down for an instant in time. "It's been a while." Leaning into his point of landing, she goes for a second grab, this time seeking to seize /both/ of his wrists with her hands, pulling his guard open with quick forward momentum. "I guess he's on a case..."
Then the girl simply steps into three quick stomping kicks - right, left, right, up the front of the Korean before finishing with a hard stomp against his shoulders as she takes to the air in a backflip. "Ya, ya, ya!" Her leap into the air is swift, her flip acrobatic as she attempts to gain distance from which to plan her next action in the process, coming down between Choi and the tranquil lake behind her.
COMBATSYS: Choi blocks Hotaru's Shin-Jou Tai EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Choi 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Hotaru
The midget is caught... then hurled. Choi's kicking strike is caught by the girl, and he is simply planted into the ground. The midget staggers, thrown off balanced by her initiative. Well, at least her initiative in combat.
Choi was actually a bit taken aback by Hotaru's lack of knowledge. He assumed Jiro would have mentioned something to Hotaru... or at least run back to her. Stray Dog... maybe it meant something more. The Korean became lost in thought again, raising his arms up in self defense.
Curling his arms tight, he simply rebuffs the kicks, closing in tight to himself. She closes in more and more... but leaves Choi as close as she it. Pushing off the last kick, he shakes off the bruises in his arms with a rapid spin. Whirling like a top, his claws flatten out, attempting to hack at the girl. "So I take it you haven't been listening to radio much, huh." He sighs, rotating in place. Attempting to exploit the change in pacing, the midget presses forward towards Hotaru, trying to punish her for her approach.
COMBATSYS: Choi successfully hits Hotaru with Tatsumaki Shippuu Zan.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Choi 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Hotaru
? Strange Hit! ?
Her backflip takes her back to landing a few yards up, rising up to standing, preparing for something fast to come back in her direction. She meant to batter him to the ground but his own defenses held up too well for that. Tensing up, she doesn't take her eyes off the Korean as he spins out of his block.
But his words catch her off guard. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" She sounds legitimately oblivious. If she has been listening to the radio, it must not be a station that provides much in the way of anything informative. Her querying throws her focus off. As conducive as the locale may be to her chi sensitive nature, she's not too hard to distract with the right words. Arms come up, attempting to fend off the spinning Choi, but she's too slow.
Sharp claws rake scrapes across her shoulder and leave a reddening line just below her neck, but as she tries to escape she ends up just falling over backward into the grass with a grunt of surprise. "What're you getting at," she asks, more demanding this time. "Or just trying to confuse me?"
Not wasting time getting up first, she sweeps her right leg, attempting to catch Choi in the ankles when he has to land before rising up into a follow up snapping kick, potentially catching him in the back or side depending on angle.
COMBATSYS: Choi dodges Hotaru's Medium Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Choi 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Hotaru
Choi was aiming for both, really. He was trying to confuse her, though just a little bit. Whirling like a dervish, the midget managed to catch her shoulder with his long claws, rending only flesh wounds as he overtakes her... literally. Choi knocks her to the ground, and ends up right over her, staggering as he comes out of the unwind.
The Korean hoots, announcing the end of this strike... and hoots again in a less excited manner when Hotaru attempts her counter attack. The little man ducks, rotating his body low before bringing back upright. Bringing his claws in close, he scowls. "I'm getting at that you don't even know where your boyfriend is!" He snaps, slashing the air furiously, but harmlessly.
Then, Flexing his arms, he lowers his form, winding his entire body back. This was taking a little long, but hopefully would be worth it. "And maybe you ought to know..." He growls, staring at her eyes. He kicks off, attempting to leap upon her claws first. If he manages to get her before she launches up, he will simply drive both claws into her abdomen at the same time.
COMBATSYS: Choi successfully hits Hotaru with Geketsu Tsuki.
? Strange Hit! ?
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Choi 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Hotaru
Her foot sweeps over the grass, but Choi has already gotten out of the way before she can get contact. Proving to be every bit as fast as she expected him to be, and giving her way too many distractions to think about at the same time. With her first kick missing, she ends up staying on her back, hands planted in the grass, ready to flip up to her feet when he speaks up again.
"What?" she snaps back, a minor flare of irritation settling in as she's left trying to pick apart what he's intimating at verses what he's really thinking. "For half a year he lived on a completely different continent than me. I'm used to not hearing from him for a while. His job sends him all over... He gets with me when he can-"
And then she's got a Choi leaping for her. Too late to get up, she tries to kick along the grass fast enough to escape his landing point, but doesn't end up successful in the attempt. Out of position to stop him, there's nothing she can do to keep him from plunging his claws into her stomach, provoking a surprised gasp of pain as her blue vest begins to show shades of black where the blood darkens it.
Clenching her right hand, she sweeps a quick hook for the side of Choi's head in an attempt to knock him back off her. "So you know something! Just say it already!"
COMBATSYS: Choi dodges Hotaru's Strong Punch.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Choi 0/-------/----===|======-\-------\0 Hotaru
Choi nimbly catches Hotaru before she gets back up. Being caught low to the ground with an aggressive midget is dangerous work. However, after the initial gut jab, Choi doesn't lurk around long. Considering he usually takes advantage of gasping girls on the ground, it may be a surprise that he instead flips over and off the girl, dancing above the wayward fist and off the girl.
Landly squarely on his feet, the midget spirals on his heels. He shakes his head. "You really want to know, toots?" He spits, and rattles his claws.
"Jiro murdered his boss."
The midget suddenly raises his leg high in the air, and drops it. Breaking into a quick but vicious axe kick, he attempts to land a rapid blow on the downed female's chest, knocking the wind from her as she is down.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Light Kick from Choi with Tanshou Shin.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Choi 1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1 Hotaru
The second Choi relents, Hotaru curls up and spins to her knees. From there, she rises, arms out at her sides, legs spread apart again, right foot out in front of her while her left foot is beneath her for support. Sapphire blue eyes focus intensely on the Korean as he at last hints at spilling what he's been holding back the whole time.
The mistake comes in trying to drop a kick onto her as he lets loose the secret that she, of all people, seems oblivious to. As he drops his leg, intending to catch her in the chest, she springs back into him, launching out of that low stance with crushing force, driving her shoulder up into one of the few opponents she can face that's actually not taller than her. "How dare you!" the girl hisses, landing out of the shoulder slam.
Two steps forward, her arms snap out, one hand forward, the other in reverse, as she aims to smash her right hand into Choi with explosive force, challening every last bit of muscle power in her entire body and focusing it into that single point of impact. "YAAA!" Her left hand slams out behind her, providing critical counterbalance to keep from tumbling forward.
Recovering, the girl draws her arms back, mouth curled into a frown, eyes glaring. "Stop playing games with me. Impugning Jiro just to shake my focus. Are you that desperate?" She hmphs, shaking her head, standing up straight, arms raised. "It'd be more convincing, you know, if it wasn't coming from a convict with a notorious rapsheet. Feh."
Choi never really thought Hotaru was that dangerous, despite all the fights with her. He knew she had SOME talent, but outside of that, he never saw the limit. So openly toying with her emotions with truthful things that do concern him didn't seem like such a bad idea. However, once she blasts through his kick, he begins to see the errors of his ways.
Choi is knocked in the air with incredible force; disturbing force. He literally is incapable of thinking through the pain that racks through his body, he just can't feel. His body goes numb as the second strike is unleashed.
Choi staggers up, the moist topsoil sprinkling off his body. "Hotaru." He says coldly, rattling his claws. "Let me get this straight. You call me a convict. You KNOW I am currently on the run with the law- after being bound to Jiro. Come on toots, you don't think your boyfriend is THAT incompetent?" He spread his form wide, staring directly at the girl. The white of his eyes peak from his glasses as he prepares to spring... but doesn't. Not yet.
Instead, he continues his slow, steady dialogue. "This is the story, Hotaru. I escaped from Interpol. And I saved him from Interpol, if accidently. We drove off after he leapt from the building on the hood of my car. Later, he wanted me to ditch him, calling himself Stray Dog. Nothing else. On my way here, I listened over the radio. And it explained everything."
Choi grinned a horrible grin. "Jiro murdered his chief in cold... or hot blood. Your hubby... is just like me now. A convict. A fugitive... a criminal."The grin suddenly tightens into a grimace. "And he.. didn't... tell you." The midget quickly looked physically ill. He spits the next words with utmost sincerity and nausea, a moment of honesty from an otherwise horrible man.
"And that's just disgusting."
The tranquil waters suddenly turn unnaturally still, turning a sharp scarlet shade at the same time. Nature's life-blood freezes with it. The Chi is stopped and drawn out into the air, bringing the red color of the water to fill it with a thin haze. The Chi is furious, unnatural, and twisting. Choi leaps silently into the mists, and disappears.
The haze hangs there in total silence, ebbing slightly. There is a small ripple. And then two claws raking through the screen right towards Hotaru, leaving deep black scars in the scarlet haze. And then another set, from another angle. Then another. Then another. With each blow, the haze grows thinner and thinner, and during the sixth slice, the mysterious haze lifts away. Choi is left there, spiking his claws downward in the wake of the soft tranquil aspects of nature returning, the familiar landscape of the Strolheim lake.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru blocks Choi's Shakushi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Choi 0/-------/-------|=======\===----\1 Hotaru
A young, small fighter, the girl is often underestimated - a fact that once drove her to rely upon forbidden techniques if only to force everyone to acknowledge her power. It was an ugly phase - one that has taken a long time to get over. Ever since then, she's tried to prove herself legitimately, even going on to secure the mid-tier SNF belt from the formidable Hayato Nekketsu of Taiyou High in a grueling battle. Now and then though, she manages to demonstrate feats of incredible strength, coordinating her entire body into strikes that many fighters may be jealous of.
As she lands out of her final strike, Hotaru remains standing, arms at her sides, hands clenched into small fists, mouth curled into a frown as Choi pulls himself back to his feet. He challenges her understanding of his legal state and Hotaru frowns a little, bristling but not charging forward even as Choi seems to leave himself wide open for another attack.
The Korean's account of escaping from Interpol seems normal enough. Even Jiro's hold on keeping Choi at his side was tenuous at the best of the times. But to help Jiro escape Interpol? Why would he need to do that? Her eyes narrow as Choi continues, elaborating on the encounter with the young man and what he heard on the radio after the fact. She's quiet, no, silent, even her breath is held. She says nothing, even as Choi looks disgusted at what he's discovered.
The haze that builds warns her of a pending attack, though the severity of it is something she hadn't quite calculated on at first glance. And then the small man vanishes from sight into a field of twisting energy, obscurred from sight. Eyes widen a little as that frenzied energy builds up. And in that instant, she's forced to defend herself. A glimpse of metal warns her in time to block one of the claws with her forearm, buying herself a scratch for her effort.
Another moment she steps aside out of the flurry of the next strikes. A claw digs into her palm as she tries, not quite so accurately, to fend off another one. Taking steps, turning swiftly, the girl is always just there, at the last second, able to keep any of the savage strikes from getting a clean blow. Even as the hurricane of chi fades she seems rather worse for the wear, stumbling back a couple of steps, bloody marks on her bare arms and her fighting outfit cut and gashed in places.
Her own breaths come faster, teeth gritted, eyes narrowed, as if trying to judge the validity of Choi's story by boring through his glasses and seeing right through his eyes. That isn't really possible, of course, "Che," the girl grunts. "There's more to the story than you're telling me. Probably even more than you know." It isn't quite denial. It's as if she's almost ready to accept the crux of the accusation on the surface.
The girl tenses up, tightening her stance, drawing back a little as a surge of chi builds up all about her. "So quick to judge... To compare him to you..." She shakes her head and that's the final warning before the girl blitzes forward at a remarkable speed, a blur of blue and white. The time to react would be precious limited as the girl slides into a crouch right at Choi's side.
What comes next is the most punishing, chi-infused flip-kick she can muster as she attempts to take the Korean clean off his feet. Blue chi explodes, lending power to what would already be a punishing hit...!
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Choi with Ten-shou Ranki.
[ \ < > ////////////////// ]
Choi 1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0 Hotaru
The moment of impact is fearsome, easily taking Choi off his feet into the air along with her rising ascent, her chi trailing up and around her as she reaches the eventual apex. A quick flip forward corrects her trajectory into an angled dive right back into the clawed fighter, dragging him back down to the grass with her with punishing speed.
The landing is rough - especially for him, as the two fighters slide several yards, Hotaru coming to a rest, kneeling over him, leaing forward, palms pressed firmly into his chest. Blue, vibrant energy swells up around her as she draws heavily from the natural environment around them, and her expression remains so very dire for the messanger of that story she seems reluctant to accept on face value.
"aaaaaaaAAAAH!" Building up the chi to a point beyond which she can no longer control it, the girl releases her focus, letting the sphere collapse back into her, channeling all that energy into Choi's chest at point blank range, her arms serving as a conduit.
The blastwave that explodes out from ground zero is invisible, but its force is easy enough to see as the grass in all directions gets laid flat against the ground. In the rush of silence following the explosion, the girl releases a tired sigh, pushing down against his chest to get herself back up to standing a bit slowly.
Choi was missing several details in this entire scheme. He didn't know about Igniz's cruelty, his use of Jiro's DNA, or even his brilliant shout of 'THIS IS MY BANG.' All he knew was that Jiro was being hunted down after fleeing a scene that both of them escaped from. But despite that, as the last strike is rebuffed, Choi draws back, glaring at his female opponent. "Hotaru, normally I'd trust you with his true personality... but you didn't even know that the police was after him. And only a brilliant liar could get by so long wi-"
The midget is stopped by the blast of speed from Hotaru, his reflexes triggering impulsively. He attempts to sidestep the charge, but it was too fast- Hotaru was fueled by the positive energy returning to the area. With a pained hoot, the kick launches him in the air... and into Hotaru's mercy.
Choi is sailing, stunned by the initial strike. But not for long. Hotaru snatches him, and drives him into the ground with him. Choi looks groggily from his shades, realizing what was going on.
The girl was kneeling on him.
Even though the flipkick harmed him badly, he couldn't help but grin. And once she plants her palms on his chest, he shudders. "Babe, I know Jiro is going AWOL, but that doesn't mean you can jump the first bone you f-" The Korean stops short when the chi blasts right through his chest.
The midget doesn't really do anything after that. He becomes very quiet. His body was numb all over. Chest strikes were dangerous for the old man... Setsuka made that clear. After his heart attack, he was very wary of those strikes. He couldn't move. But he could still at least see. A burning sensation began to replace the numbness as Hotaru began to push off him. He could feel his extremities again, but darkness came with the heat. He was losing consciousness.
Suddenly, Choi erupts backwards, attempting to kick the girl off like some click beetle. The midget was desperate, and the attack showed it. He was flailing about, his legs, still slow and clumsy. The midget thought hard, trying to kickstart his mind, his body. There was something to keep going for. Jiro. The truth. Being mounted by a girl half your age. Bananas? His leg dangled far out, attempting to strike Hotaru as his continued his flip...
COMBATSYS: Choi can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
...Landing right on his face
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Hien Zan from Choi with Quick Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Hotaru 0/-------/------=|
He's right on one account. She hasn't a lot of information to work with. All she has is her knowledge of the Kasagi boy. And as Choi points that out in no uncertain terms, she actually pauses, freezing the second after she's gotten up to standing. The truth is, Jiro confessed of having crossed that line before. Only, the victim was not his boss but a ruthless villain. It had been a jarring revelation and as Choi questions her ability to judge the young man, she's forced to admit to herself that she's actually not sure now...
The crude remark regarding her techinque actually goes completely unacknowledged by the time she's on her feet, looking pensive all the sudden. He has a point. She doesn't know for sure now. She's so distracted that when he comes at her with another flip kick, she isn't terribly smooth in dealing with it. One arm comes up, trying to block his leg, her other arm snapping out, hoping to twist him over her shoulder and plant him back on the ground again...
But without paying attention, she gets struck cleanly again, his foot clocking her on the crown of the head hard enough to make the girl wince, staggering back a couple of steps before shaking her head. Looking up, she finds her opponent face down in the grass. It means the match is over, even though winning it is practically not even on her mind now. "I have to go," she murmurs, turning to the side to simply leave only to pause and glance back at Choi.
"I-..." She grits her teeth, looking away, "I'm sorry for what I said about you. Thank you for telling me, Choi." And with that, she exhales, hand coming up in a close fist at her chest as she strides off with worried purpose. Now she really needs to find out what's going on.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has ended the fight here.
Log created on 23:14:33 09/28/2008 by Hotaru, and last modified on 02:37:18 10/01/2008.