Description: Once again, Ren Kurosaki manages to weasel her way onto Gedo's campus, this time incognito! But her plans of searching for resident Shounen Hero Kenji Ashima are foiled with the arrival of the Guardian Kings' leader, Tenma Kiryuu. But it seems today he carries a fairly large chip upon his shoulder...
Gedo High. Lunchtime.
With a good portion of the student body of Gedo High School milling around and about campus during the midday break, there is without a doubt a lot of commotion going on. Loud clamor and chatter fills the campus air as the student body enjoys what provided meals (or whatever meals they'd brought from home) they have to eat. It's a normal lunch hour here on campus.
But amongst them is a strange and unfamiliar face. A young, rather petite and waifish looking young woman wanders around wearing what appears to be a baggy and somewhat oversized men's uniform. Poking her head around, she surveys the crowds, occasionally going so far as to stand atop a table or two before she hops off, clutching to her obnoxiously pink backpack as she continues to mill around.
If she's trying to be discreet, she's doing a piss-poor job; in fact, a good handful of the lunch hour crowd have taken to blatantly staring at her as she pokes her head around.
Ahh, lunch. It's Tenma Kiryuu's favourite class, you know.
What do you mean, it's not a 'class'? Shut up. Don't even start.
Anyway, oftentimes Tenma spends his lunches helping Hakuya grift free food from the other students, who always seem to fall for the Suigetsu heir's cheating at various games of chance, but not today... Because today, Tenma is on lunch patrol. Discipline is an important part of life in the Gedo gang, despite appearances to the contrary, and as one of the strongest students in Gedo, Tenma is often tasked with helping to keep the other students in line, not to mention keeping troublemaking outsiders off-campus.
Apparently after the time he kicked that Aislinn chick's ass, he gained a reputation for that sort of thing around the school.
So it's probably not surprising that Ren's... Whatever she's doing... Draws the attention of Tenma as well as some of the other students who are largely just trying to eat lunch or horse around. There's not many girls on campus, so that stands out, despite the boys' uniform disguise... The pink backpack is a dead giveaway.
"Hey," calls a voice from behind Ren, which would of course be the strident, obnoxious tones of Tenma Kiryuu, the leader of the Guardian Kings. He stands straight, with his left hand tucked in his slacks pocket, his right carelessly gripping the cloth-wrapped length of his bokken, slung over his shoulder. "What the hell are you doin' here?"
Just when Ren Kurosaki thought she'd been sneaky enough and unobtrusive--
A sharp 'hey' singles the girl out, causing her posture to suddenly go rigid and stiff, yellowy green eyes widening as big as saucers before she shrinks. Slowly and most cautiously does the young woman turn her head, craning her neck just so, so as to peer over a shoulder toward the source of the voice. And sure enough, there's Tenma Kiryuu, staring right at her with a bokken slung over a shoulder.
"Eugh," the girl grouses aloud, thin lips pursing a bit before she hoods her eyes sharply.
"My flawless plan has been seen through."
"HEY that girl stole my clothes!"
At the edge of the courtyard stands a young man in his Hello Kitty boxers and a muscle shirt, a finger pointing frantically at the young girl incognito. Immediately she hops off the table she'd been standing on, landing in a deep crouch before she immediately stands, peering intently at the bokken-wielding student.
"Well, it would seem that you are sharper than I expected!" the girl proclaims, shifting the pink backpack upon her shoulders. "And here I thought my disguise would fool even the sharpest of fighters here. No matter, no worry. You don't need to worry about my reasons for being here!"
The girl leaps high and flips, an arm gripping at her garments before she tears them off her body, revealing a girls' Taiyo High School spring uniform. Distantly, a cry of 'ohhh man!!' can be heard, as the naked student watches helplessly his shredded garments flutter to the ground.
Ren, meanwhile, lands in a crouch, whipping the backpack off of her shoulders. "You're Tenma Kiryuu, of the Guardian Kings, right??" she calls to the young man, grinning broadly. "I've heard about you!" Her yellow eyes flash. "You're from a family of demon hunters, aren't you?" Unfortunately, she has yet to say what her reason for being here is.
"I've come to see if you're good enough to carry such an important title!" Oh there it is.
Leaping backwards again, the girl hops atop a table before she reels a foot back and kicks someone's lunch clean at Tenma, sending the tray sailing right for his chest. "YOSHAA!"
COMBATSYS: Ren has started a fight here.
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Ren 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tenma has joined the fight here.
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ren
COMBATSYS: Ren successfully hits Tenma with Sudden Fling.
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Tenma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ren
Of course, Tenma's gaze directed at the weird girl is decidedly critical, especially once the shout of someone having stolen clothes rings out, causing Tenma to look over and see his fellow Gedo student in a state of... Distress. "...Okay then," Tenma decides, looking back to Ren, who is delivering a rather dramatic speech, and flipping out, clearly declaring herself as a ninja.
Or perhaps worse, a Taiyo High student.
"Yes, an' yes," Tenma admits grudgingly to the questions as to his name and lineage, reaching up with his left hand to scratch inside his ear with his pinky, his whole posture radiating 'are you done yet?' which while it makes a statement, it's woefully unsuited to dealing with dinner trays getting kicked at you.
"Guh," grunts Tenma, staggering back about half a step, as the tray clatters at his feet and drops the remains of some poor dude's lunch all over the place. Clicking his tongue, the Gedo swordsman pulls his bokken free from its bluish cloth wrap sheath - a makeshift replacement, since he's been unable to retrieve the proper one for various reasons - and bites into the thumb of his left hand.
Hey, the girl wants a fight, she's come to the right place.
A stripe of blood is painted down the wooden blade by Tenma's thumb, forging the chi link, which he activates by giving the bokken a sharp slash through the air, that smoky aura of blood and chi rising off of the blessed wood. "So... Who exactly are you supposed to be, anyway, huh?" he wonders, before suddenly lunging forward at Ren, stabbing with his chi-emanating blade, right at her face.
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Ren with Weapon Jab.
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Tenma 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Ren
Whether Tenma just doesn't care or is trying to persuade Ren into just getting bored and run off (or both), it doesn't appear that the girl is anywhere remotely phased by the gesture; instead, she just lets a devious smile cross her lips before the tray is kicked. The student to whom the lunch once belonged to offers a 'HEY!' before he glares at the Taiyo student.
"Success!" the girl cries as the tray smacks into Tenma, arms swinging into the air as she hops once. Unfortunately, she's so pleased with her improvisational strike that she doesn't notice Tenma coming at her with a bloody weapon. So when her eyes open the girl sees the tip of wood coming right at her face.
Struck, she flies back and off the table, rolling head over heels through a crowd who almost immediately scatter and give the two room. Chants of 'fight fight fight' erupt amongst the youth, but Ren merely drowns them out, pulling her poor waif figure to her feet and wiping the blood off of her face with a loud "ewwwwww."
"I'm a demon hunter, of course," the girl offers, beaming proudly. "Pff, as if you'd think there were only you and that Suigetsu guy!" There's probably more elsewhere, but she doesn't care. "What'd you think I was??" Pausing briefly, Ren's eyes go wide. "Oh no you didn't think I was a demon did you?"
Shifting her backpack off her shoulders, the girl drops a hand into the satchel and removes a giant piece of steel. Flicking her wrist, what was once folded unfolds, forming a giant steel hoop, which she clutches tightly in her hand before she charges forward, covering several feet before she leaps and attempts to come down upon Tenma's head with that heavy steel ring. "KYAAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Ren successfully hits Tenma with Medium Strike.
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Tenma 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Ren
She's a... What? Did she just say what Tenma thought she said?
"A demon hunter? Somebody like you?" Tenma says, frankly disbelieving. Of course, it wasn't too long ago that he didn't even really believe in that sort of thing, much less have much of a care for the pride of his family business. Then, of course, he met that thing in the bowels of the Capital 7 building. And yet, here's this girl proudly declaring herself a 'demon hunter', talking about him and Hakuya...
Also trying to hit him in the head.
Tenma tries to dodge out of the way of that steel hoop, but he doesn't quite make it; it impacts with his shoulder rather than his head, at least, sending a sharp sting of pain through his body. He's had worse, though.
A sharp huff of air escapes the Gedo swordsman, rather than any sort of expression of pain; he sounds more angry than anything. "You... You don't even know what that really means, do you?" Tenma wonders, dark blue eyes fixed on the petite girl. "You talk about bein' a demon hunter, but have you ever really met one? A person who's thrown away their humanity for power? D'you really understand what it means to fight people like that?"
It pisses him off.
"We'll see who needs to prove anythin' around here!!" Tenma bellows, slashing sharply at the air with his bokken; it's too far for him to actually hit Ren with the weapon, but in the red trail of power that follows the motion of the wooden blade is born a crescent of roiling blood and chi, that tears through the air, directly at the girl.
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Ren with Dharmapala.
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Tenma 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Ren
"Duh," the girl replies, pursing her lips a touch at his obvious tone. "What's so weird about that?!"
Not that he really has time to think about it, as the girl leaps and comes down atop his head with that heavy ring, striking instead the Kiryuu scion's shoulder. Ren, on the other hand, uses the force of her blow to ricochet her entire body backwards and flip through the air before she lands a short distance away. And yes, she's beaming.
But...what? He's angry?
"What? What do you mean I don't know what that really means?" she asks, sounding genuinely surprised by the sudden shift in attitude. Tilting her head, she stares with obviously bemusement at the other hunter.
"Of course...okay no I am lying I haven't met any YET but I'm still young and training," the Kurosaki girl confesses. "But I know what it means! I've trained my whole LIFE for this duty, and I'm going to prove myself and my clan's abilities. You just watch!" A finger thrusts forward, singling Tenma out.
"I have the will to carry out whatever must be necessary to fight the evil which threatens this country, and evil which dares to harm the world and the well-being of those who are innocent! So why're you getting all upset, then, huh? Are you just jealous you're not the only one?! HEY!!"
There's suddenly a huge swath of chi screaming at her, and though she tries to dive out of the way, Ren is struck in the side and sent rolling again, only stopping as she lands against the legs of a really tall and awkward-looking Gedo student who smiles creepily down at her.
"oh god gross," she manages quietly, hurriedly rolling away before she hops back onto her feet. But she keeps her momentum going, the ring held at her side as it suddenly erupts in pink fiery energy, seemingly bleeding chi blossoms behind it before the girl launches the ring from her grasp, sending it AND the energy blazing into Tenma's chest like some buzzsaw before it ricochet's back.
"What's got YOUR goat?!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma blocks Ren's Hanagumori.
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Tenma 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Ren
"You know that it means you have to kill, right?" Tenma wonders, harshly. He remembers it, all too well, when he had to kill that 'Marise', when he had to take a life... However corrupted and evil it might have been. But he had to do it, to save his friends, to rescue Stasya and Shurui from the horrors that monster wrought. "You think you really have the will to do it?"
The spinning buzzsaw of chi and steel comes at him, but Tenma manages to deflect it with his bokken, the blessed, chi-empowered wood turning the attack aside before it can hit his rather more cuttable flesh. "You ain't got the foggiest idea what it really /means/ to hunt demons," Tenma growls. "With your cute little pink energy and crap. You want to be a demon hunter?! Wait until your friends get tortured by some monster that looks like a person, then you can talk to me about bein' a demon hunter!"
The tall, slender young man lunges forward at Ren, trying to catch her in the sternum with the tip of his bokken, chi focused there to 'stick' to her; if he manages it, then he suddenly stops, and twists, swinging his bokken - and ideally Ren - over his head to release her, and hurl the girl away. "Raaagh!!"
COMBATSYS: Ren fails to reflect Asura from Tenma with Oborozuki.
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Tenma 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Ren
"Yeah, of course I do!" the girl argues back. "It's sort of a given, what with being a demon HUNTER and all. Gosh, give me some credit here man!" Sulking a bit, Ren puffs her lip out and pouts, eyes fixed on the now-surly and oddly defensive Tenma Kiryuu. Sure, Ren has no idea what happened between him, his teammates and some weird demon lady, but that isn't her fault!
"And I believe I do! It's what I've been trained to do! It's what my clan has done for hundreds of years!"
The ring ricochets back, a trail of blossoms following it as it sails back into the girl's grip before the energy vanishes. Drat, he's more clever than she'd given him credit for! Obviously, she needs to be careful and more cunning than the Kiryuu heir. But then he insults her.
"Uhh PRETTY sure I do! Why the heck are you being all haughty anyway? It's not like you're the world's ONLY demon hunter!" the girl argues, wide-eyed and clearly offended. "BeSIDES I didn't even COME here to hunt demons anyway, so don't get all offended!" Anger is contagious, and it would seem he's passed it on to Ren, even if she's nowhere near as passionate about it.
"And stop offending me! It's just how that move looks, you big mean jerk!"
When he opens up the girl tilts her head, obviously confused. Why the heck is he suddenly super-serious and angry at HER?? "Hey, stop yelling at me! It's not like I was the demon that--WHAT THE HE--!!"
Though Ren tries desperately to intercept the incoming strike with her ring--again glowing pink, obviously Tenma's favorite color--the girl is far too slow. Struck, she's lifted before she's thrown over his head and into the ground, sent tumbling and rolling a few times before she stops on her back with her spindly long legs dangling midair.
"G-geez, you need to mellow out," the girl grumbles, pulling herself to her feet before she gingerly dusts her Taiyo uniform out. "Just because you're mad at something doesn't meant you have to take it out on someone who doesn't deserve it! What'd I ever do to you? Oh RIGHT nothing!"
"Yeah, well, looks like I'm the senior 'demon hunter' around here," Tenma says, straightening up and looking over at Ren as she recovers from her rather painful-looking tumble across the floor. "So maybe you oughta start worryin' about just how I evaluate /your/ ability, huh? Not to mention, here you are intruding on /my/ territory in your cute little Taiyo uniform, what... Just so you could find me and 'test' me? An' you wonder just how I got pissed off? Do you... Do you even /think/ before you do things?"
Pot, meet kettle.
Bokken resting on his shoulder, Tenma starts to walk towards Ren, keeping his attention focused directly on her. "Look, fact of the matter is, I'm stronger'n you are. If you wanna keep this up, you're gonna get beat up pretty bad, an' then I'm gonna kick you off of the campus. So d'you really want to keep your little 'test' going?" His tone, his stance... They're all challenging. Because, after all, that's what Tenma Kiryuu is like.
"C'mon, Smallfry. Put up, or shut up."
COMBATSYS: Tenma focuses on his next action.
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Tenma 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Ren
The girl lightly scoffs, Tenma's arrogance drawing a frown over the girl's lips as he gets comfortable with himself. Trying her best to focus, Ren just sports a glare at the bokken-wielding demon hunter, her hand clutching firmly to her ring in hand. Come on, Ren! Surely you can do better than this! You did so well against the other Guardian King!
"The only evaluation I need to worry about is from my instructors!" the girl proclaims, her fingers tightening around her ring. "And I will have you know, I didn't even come here looking for you to begin with!" Tossing her head a bit, the girl scoffs, a light 'harrumph' issued before she puts her free hand on her hip. "You weren't expected, but I figured a test was in order anyway! And yes I DO THINK!"
A foot raises and summarily stomps into the ground as she brings her ring around and grips it with both hands. "Stop saying you are stronger! And kick me out if you will; that doesn't mean I won't come back! I have every reason to!" Mainly, because that Kenji guy apparently has great test in manga. "So stop acting so high and mighty! Stop pretending to be better than me!"
Shifting her hoop in hand, the girl offers a light huff before she narrows her eyes and reels her arm back, the hoop held secure before she launches it forward, attempting to send it barreling right for Tenma's face before it ricochets back. "Fine, I will!!"
COMBATSYS: Ren successfully hits Tenma with Medium Fling.
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Tenma 1/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Ren
There's a reason Tenma Kiryuu is the leader of the Guardian Kings. It's not just that he's the one who came up with the idea in the first place, or that he recruited Kenji and Stasya both, after forming his initial partnership with Hakuya; he's probably the most powerful of them, though the question of who's stronger between himself or Hakuya Suigetsu might be one whose answer changes from day to day. It's pretty close, and that's part of why Hakuya is one of the few people Tenma shows any respect to whatsoever.
Ren, though, right now she falls significantly below that.
"Then why the hell did you come here in the first place? Stalking some guy?" Tenma wonders, half-seriously. But could he have inadvertently stumbled on the truth?!
The hoop comes at him again, and Tenma tries to avoid it, but he can't manage the movement in time; he's struck, which puts him off-balance, leaving him stumbling directly at Ren... But he doesn't stop just because he's not entirely in control of his momentum, oh no.
No, instead he lashes out with his bokken, and tries to smack Ren right upside the head with a sharp, elbow-driven slash. "Hua-!!"
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Ren with Medium Strike.
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Tenma 1/------=/=======|=======\=======\1 Ren
"I came here for a good reason!" the girl cries back, shifting her weight with her hoop in hand. "I came looking for that Ashima guy. I met him the other day and wanted to give him something--but I will have you know it isn't STALKING!" Frowning deeply, the Taiyo girl just shrugs her shoulders deeply before she snaps her eyes shut.
"I was just looking for him while undercover. I didn't want to get kicked out by the faculty or by arrogant jerks like you!" There, that's her story and she's sticking to it. Really; it's legitimate! Not a stalker crush or something creepy and weird!
Not that it really matters, what with Ren taking the offensive and all by throwing her steel ring at Tenma's face. It strikes, rebounding off before it falls into her grasp once more. Grinning, the girl seems confident in her skills--
Right up until Tenma gets in her face like Vin Diesel and slaps her upside the head with his weapon.
Forced back again, the girl nearly falls once more but somehow maintains her balance, wobbling a bit before she shakes her head out, a hand reaching up to grip the aching, throbbing temple. "Guhg, why are you...so rude??" the girl wonders, narrowing her yellowy green eyes on Tenma.
"Fine, Tenma Kiryuu. You leave me NO choice, I see..."
Lowering her stance a bit, the girl lifts her empty hand, index and middle fingers raised as she folds the others over, holding it at eye level. Drawing her eyes shut, her form flickers briefly until there are suddenly eight, hazy white, icy 'clones' of Ren surrounding Tenma along with Ren. And like puppets on a string, each clone follows her movements precisely.
"Here I come--!!"
And with that cry, she and her eight clones lift their rings...
COMBATSYS: Ren successfully hits Tenma with Jyoya No Kane.
- Power hit! -
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Tenma 1/--=====/=======|===----\-------\0 Ren
With a sudden flurry of movement, Ren and her clones of icy white chi make their move.
Closing in on Tenma from all angles, each Ren opens with a smash of their steel ring down onto the demon hunter. But it's merely a prelude; the girl and her icy clones suddenly unleash a series of quick slashing strikes, a dance of steel and icy energy unleashed at him from seemingly every conceivable angle, eleven harsh strikes total before, finally they relent. Briefly.
For a second later each clone lifts their ring up and summarily drives it down into the ground at Tenma's feet. The result? A gout of icy energy that shoots upward with Tenma at its center, as the icy clones fade from sight, leaving Ren by her lonesome once more, panting for breath. "J-jeez..."
Tenma doesn't even try to avoid Ren and her apparent clones' attack; just 'why' he does that might not be entirely clear, though. But it doesn't work out quite the way he was hoping, as the unexpectedly powerful attack hits him from every side at once, finally leaving him in the middle of that uprising icy chi, which... Kind of sucks a little bit. But when it vanishes, along with Ren's clones, the Guardian King is still standing.
Barely, yes, but he's still standing.
"Not half bad, I guess, Smallfry," Tenma says, widening his stance to give himself proper footing. "But not quite good enough, either." He swings his swordarm back, the curve of the wooden blade forming a horizontal crescent behind him, while his left hand is pushed forward, fingers lightly contorted, forming a simple mudra position, helping him concentrate.
Just a second is long enough for him to focus, and in that second the aura around his bokken grows and thickens, until it obscures the wood entirely, leaving Tenma holding an apparent blade of blood.
And then, Tenma springs into forward motion, bringing that sword around in a horizontal slash, trying to catch Ren in a vulnerable spot; it's a powerful swing, but it's not merely the impact of wood and bloody chi that the girl has to contend with. Because, if it hits, Tenma's chi moves /through/ Ren, attacking her on an essential level, disrupting the very flow of life's energy through her body, stealing her vitality....
"--BE SEALED!!"
COMBATSYS: Ren stops The Sealing Sword from Tenma with Ugetsu.
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Tenma 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Ren
Gasping for breath and struggling not to lose her focus, Ren Kurosaki bows forward at the waist and leans on her four foot diameter steel ring. Sagging a bit over the blunt edge of the weapon, she wobbles lightly, a bit spent from her efforts against the 'experienced' demon hunter of Gedo. When she finally looks up, however, Tenma is still on his feet.
"I am not a smallfry!" the short Taiyo girl barks, standing up properly once more and taking her ring properly into hand. But it would seem that Tenma is not quite finished with the other demon hunter; drawing his weapon back, he steadies himself and assumes stance, chi growing stronger and stronger with each passing second. Pursing her lips lightly, she brings her steel ring forward before her.
"I'll show you--!" she promises, hooding her yellowy eyes sharply.
The chi grows stronger, coating that wooden weapon, an interesting display of chi manipulation. Certainly it's the first she's ever seen, aside from her own techniques, but hers don't utilize blood--and she's a little thankful, too. Still, the girl focuses, breathing small, shallow breaths to calm her.
And then he comes, Tenma pushing off and attempting to strike the girl with that 'blade' of bloody chi. At the same time Ren lets out a holler, her steel hoop swinging around and erupting with orange energy. She brings the thing up like a cleaver, slamming the shimmering energy into Tenma's bloody sword and stopping it cold before it and that odd energy-sealing strike can lance through her with a cry of "KYAAH!!"
Okay... Wait. What?
What /just happened/?
Tenma looks quite disconcerted at the way his attack is dealt with, stopped through a supreme effort on Ren's part. He blinks in outright confusion, and gives his bokken a shake, like it's a flashlight whose batteries aren't sitting right and it's flickering, or something. And then, his attention turns to Ren.
And he smirks, just a little bit.
"Hey, that was pretty good," Tenma admits, which actually approaches a genuine compliment. Seriously, it's the first time he's seen something like that, and while he might be arrogant and kind of an obnoxious ass, he's not a /complete/ douchebag. Most of the time.
Usually.
At the same time, though, he's not about to let Ren off easy, either, which becomes apparent as he swings his bokken again - the aura having now faded back to normal - upside the girl's head, and then reaches out in an attempt to grab a fistful of her dark hair, the better to spike her, facefirst, into the ground.
See? /Most/ of the time.
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Ren with Charged Combo.
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Tenma 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Ren
Meanwhile, Ren is shaking a bit after the effort she'd just put forth to stop the attack in its tracks with HER energy. Thankfully, that supreme gamble paid off in spades, and spared her the utter pain Tenma's frightening strike brings with it. She exhales loudly, sagging her shoulders deeply once more as her head hangs. "I did it..." she murmurs aloud to herself.
"HEY! --er, what?" Confused by Tenma's vague compliment, the girl blushes a touch, yellow eyes dropping down to her feet as she scuffs a loafer against the ground. "E-er, w-well, thanks." Nervously she chuckles, lifting her free hand up and absently rubs at the back of her black hair. Maybe this Tenma guy isn't as bad as she'd thought? At least he's not YELLING at her anymore--that is a definite improvement in her situation.
Bowing her head once more, the girl tries to catch her breath. But just before she has the chance to Tenma comes charging in, and just when she looks up the bokken slams upside her head, momentarily stunning the girl before she's slammed into the ground for a dirt nap. When she hits she offers a soft, muffled, "owwww."
Slowly the girl pulls back onto her feet, hurriedly lifting her hand up and dusting her bloodied-up face off. Sure, her body hurts but she's not going to go down that easily! She's already worked hard to get him this face, so she might as well do herself the favor and fight until the bitter end.
Stumbling, she works her way up into a charge and, attempting to zero in on Tenma's personal space, snaps out with the hoop. If it snares him by the neck she'll whip her body around in an impressive display before she harshly tugs back, forcefully bending Tenma's body into an arch. From there, she delivers three harsh stomps, each marked with a crimson explosion of chi beneath her feet before, finally, she flips her body over. But that hoop will remain on his neck and, with a strain of effort, the girl will attempt to swing Tenma over her head and slam him into the dirt with a loud "KYAAAH!" of effort.
Hit or miss, the girl has not an ounce of fight left in her thereafter, evident by the way she falls on her butt before she exhales loudly.
COMBATSYS: Ren can no longer fight.
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Tenma 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Tenma interrupts Shitatari from Ren with Head Breaker.
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Tenma 0/-------/-======|
"You still kind of suck, though," Tenma notes, after smashing the poor girl into the ground. "Smallfry." It seems Ren has gotten her Official Tenma Kiryuu Nickname, she should feel honoured! It's a lot less offensive than the ones he's given some people.
He gives Ren the room to get to her feet, at least, apparently ready for whatever amusing tricks she has up her sleeve; the sudden attempt to catch him with that hoop thingy does in fact succeed, and he gets pulled back and stomped on, lean body shuddering slightly with each strike...
But when Ren flips him, Tenma regains control. His free hand lances out and catches her by the uniform top, using that grip to redirect the throw so he ends up landing easily on his feet for exactly as long as it takes him to shift his weight forward and lunge, headfirst, colliding with Ren's own head.
She can fall down /after/.
COMBATSYS: Tenma has ended the fight here.
"W-what?! Hey! I do not suck!" Ren protests, stomping a foot before she wags a finger repeatedly at Tenma. "And what's with the 'Smallfry,' anywho? I'm not THAT small!" Five foot three is a reasonable height for a girl, and she's not that inexperienced. Puffing up a bit, the waif demon hunter just readies her ring and moves in for the proverbial kill!
Only, when she's just about to flip the Gedo fighter over her body she's suddenly gripped by the blouse of her Taiyo duds and land properly on his feet before he smacks head-first into Ren as a result. That wasn't supposed to happen! But it can't be helped.
As a result the girl is forced to stumble forward with her ring in tow before, finally, she lands on the ground and exhales loudly. Tipping her head back and shutting her eyes, she takes a moment to gather her wits and recover from the uphill battle she'd just endured. "Maaan, I was so close," she whines between breaths before, finally, she hops onto her feet and folds the ring up into one, compact segment. Shifting the backpack on her shoulder, she stuffs the large thing way.
Looking surprisingly cheerful, she regards Tenma. "That was fun, even if you have a horrible habit of yelling a lot and getting unnecessarily mad at me for whatever reason!" the young hunter offers with a friendly smile. "I don't hold it against you though. It was a tough battle! And you've proven yourself to me with that weird style of yours."
Crouching briefly, the girl lets her legs tense up before she springs backwards, landing on a nearby table.
"Don't think you won't see me again, Tenma~!" she chimes. "I'll prove that I'm not a small fry!"
With another leap and a puff of pink, suffocating smoke the girl vanishes.--at least until her voice chimes up from the distance, shouting, "oh yeah tell kenji ashima i'll be back too thaaaanks"
Breathing raggedly, Tenma is more worn out and beat up after that than he'd care to admit. He's wary as he watches Ren in the aftermath of that last attack, not sure whether or not she's going to get back up and keep attacking, or what; whatever else he might be, Tenma at least stands steadily, ready to react.
What he isn't ready for, of course, is exactly what happens.
"Tch," Tenma mutters in irritation after Ren's oh so gracious declaration about his abilities, responding to her friendly smile by glancing away, and generally putting his most aloof foot forward. The rest he greets with the same projected indifference!
The pink smoke is a bit weird, though.
"Ashima, huh," Tenma repeats, to himself. "Man, if that guy can't keep his girlfriend in line, I'm gonna have to kick his ass."
Log created on 18:52:01 01/29/2009 by Ren, and last modified on 01:05:17 01/30/2009.