Description: Deciding to get back on the horse, Frei specifically requests a fight with a teammate he hasn't seen since a very unfortunate incident during the Southtown siege. Mizuki presents her own reasons for needing a change, and in the process of the fight, Frei finds that responding to her determination opens up an opportunity for him he hadn't expected. (Winner: Frei)
A bullet train. This isn't the first time that Frei's fought on a train; once long ago, in Metro City, he battled against the USAF's Guile in a Saturday Night Fight. However, that had been a luxury passenger train in America... speedy, but by no means the sort of affair represented by a bullet train. The technology of Japan at its finest... a train that is cutting edge, top of the line, and constantly pushing boundaries. In a way, it's the nation's spirit given a physical form: we not only make great things, we make them in ways that only science fiction would have dreamed of. There is no sense in doing things small... going full bore into the future toward prosperity.
For two fighters of Japanese birth, could there be a better modern fighting arena?
It's been some time since the Neo League saw Frei Renard in a fight, but the young sage-turned-swordsman felt it's been long enough. With all that's gone on in his life, all the changes he's had to make, there's no sense in hiding behind the scenes, practicing alone. If he's learned anything from his fighter friends -- people who take the art, perhaps, a little more seriously than he is wont to -- it's that skills are useless if they exist only in the theoretical. They have to be put into motion, above all else. Besides... Ayame's rather pointed warning, delivered via rooftop beating, has him on edge. The need to prepare for something just over the horizon gnaws at him.
But he asked the NL organizers for a very specific list of people, if they were available. No more than five, at best; individuals he lost track of during the siege, saw too little of. Mizuki is absolutely one of those people, and Frei was delighted to extend the invitation for this fight to her. A skilled fighter, a good friend... if there's anyone he'd like to meet in battle right now, it's her.
Observers aren't present in this now-empty freight car; instead, they lounge in the passenger cars and observe everything on closed-circuit TV, one of the nice little benefits of Noro's Express. On the other hand, that leaves the long, wide, and importantly *empty* car secluded for the two fighters to go the distance in. Other than the lighting strips on the walls, and a tall pole evenly spaced in the center of the room, there's nothing to get in the way of a nice, clean bout.
As it is now, Frei waits on the far end of the car, being contemplative. Or so it looks; he sits cross-legged on the floor, the elaborate and decorative blue saya of his borrowed practice katana laying crosswise across his lap. His eyes are closed, his breathing slow and measured, as he waits.
Not to put it -too- succinctly... but yes. There could be a better place for two Japanese scions to fight, to represent Japan. An arcade. A skyscraper's observation deck. Surrounded by Sony Aibos and Honda robots. But this...
Well, Mizuki's last memory of fighting--or rather, a fight--aboard a train are somewhat less rosy than even Frei's fight against Guile. She remembers Alma, locked in mortal combat against Dante, the man with the poison chi... and she remembers the girl she was then.
Who she was then is not who she is now--things have changed for her, in many ways. Friendships have waned, have grown stronger--new friends have been met, and Mizuki's resolve has been tested time and again. Still she feels as though there's a whole world out there for her to see, to learn from, and that, as much as Yuno's cheerful insistence, has spurred her into taking action.
For some time, she's been largely absent from Southtown; she requested a leave of absence from Justice High School, she hasn't been seen at the YFCC in quite some time.
She has, in fact, been traveling the world, with Yuno. While Yuno fights to make himself stronger, Mizuki has had a different goal--to find herself. An important, if somewhat cliched goal. However, when she received the request...
It's true--Frei is a good friend. One of her best friends. And though she hasn't seen him since the encounter in the alleyway--perhaps even because of that encounter--there was no way she could ever have refused the challenge. Frei is waiting, but not for too long--the door opposite the end he's sitting at opens, and Mizuki steps through. As is traditional now for her, she wears not the shrine maiden-styled trappings she wore when she used to fight--she wears a simple outfit, a brown, short-sleeved jacket over a white t-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers on her feet. The redhead regards her friend, and her blue eyes immediately strike upon the weapon... do her lips turn down in the slightest frown? If so, it's one of concentration and concern, rather than disdain.
"Frei... it's been a long time. Perhaps too long." She most carefully does -not- recall their last meeting--perhaps he doesn't recall it either.
Even a second or two after Mizuki has come in and spoken, Frei doesn't budge quite yet. However, it's not too long before his eyes open and he looks up, glancing at his opponent and friend. There is something... different about her, he observes, and not just the clothing. It's the same edge he can feel on a lot of people who survived the attack on Southtown... the edge of people who've had to face things far beyond what normal people are expected to face, and survived. People suddenly finding themselves without something they didn't know they'd lost, and which they now uncomfortably discover that they might not be able to get back.
Frei himself knows that feeling pretty well.
It's the scabbard he picks up, first; holding it at arm's length with one hand as he stands up, the silver cords around the end dangle over his wrist as the sword-sage unfolds upward, standing up with almost ponderous slowness and stretching his arms above his head. Finally, however, he smiles after that, and waves his free hand at Mizuki. "It has been. I thought this might be a good way to see you again... well, in more ways than one."
As if to answer an unspoken question, he holds the saya in front of him horizontally, parallel to the ground at chest height, and grips the hilt of the katana. There's a *shing!* sound as it's pulled free, but Mizuki can likely tell even from a distance that neither side of the actually quite worn-looking blade has an edge. The only thing that sword will cut is, perhaps, the air itself... a material that has very little resistance indeed. "Blunt," Frei adds, resheathing the sword and tying it at his waist against his left side. "I, uh... I'm trying out something different, to see how it works. Or maybe... to see what I can learn from it."
With that, he gets into a battoujutsu stance; one leg back, the entire body crouched forward slightly, and his left hand gripping the saya just above the end. "My name is Frei Renard; my style is Soukai Musou Tenkei-ryuu." Having delivered the obligatory, serious, dramatic line, however, he smiles faintly at Mizuki. "I look forward to our battle."
COMBATSYS: Frei has started a fight here.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Mizuki has joined the fight here.
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Frei 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mizuki
Mizuki inspects the weapon from her distant vantage point curiously--the edge does gleam in a way that suggests it won't be cutting without some etreme force behind it. Blunt... while she never thought she'd see Frei wielding a weapon... immediately she flashes back to a conversation held what seems like years ago.
The changed miko glances Frei over, as he takes his stance, and she nods. "I'm trying something new out, too. Perhaps not as radical as yours is... I would call it more of a shift in perspective and thought process than in method. But I approve..."
Then there's the touch of a smile. "Odd, how it seems... just yesterday I was using a weapon, and I laid it down, and now here you are..." Mizuki drops into her stance as well, her right foot sliding back, knees slightly bent, arms up left held vertically, right angled inwards, palms open.
He gave the dramatic opening line--she has to match it, right? "I am Kamigawa Mizuki, heir to the Kamigawa family's line of ancient martial arts." Totally straight-faced--she manages it without even cracking a smile--until the end. "And I look forward to our battle as well."
Speaking of... she jolts forward, crossing the length of the train and taking a small hop forward, cocking her right leg back and starting to twist, as if to launch a high roundhouse kick from the cocked leg. That proves to be a feint, however, as she drops low, stilll with the spinning momentum, and attempts a low sweeping kick, attempting to hook Frei's legs right out from underneath him.
COMBATSYS: Frei endures Mizuki's Kouryuu no Shippo.
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Frei 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Mizuki
He can't help but laugh at Mizuki's matching of formality with his own, and Frei shakes his head helplessly. "I know that's... just weird of me," he says with disarming honesty, "but I feel like, if I'm going back to my roots, I'm going to go the whole nine yards. No point in immersing yourself in something and then only dipping a toe in now and then." Of course, that's him; Frei's memories of Mizuki's feelings toward her heritage are that they always haven't been pleasant ones. He's reminded of Kimi... a girl who, in fact, challenged Frei in order to see the Tsukitomi family's sword arts firsthand. Kimi, he'd had to disappoint... Mizuki, however, gets what it is that her darker relative wanted.
The irony is not lost on him.
If the sword is a surprise, then what happens afterwards is even more out of character for Frei than that. The sweeping kick is far too quick to be avoided, but Frei decides that, as Mizuki draws closer, he doesn't actually want to. That's what his mother had told him; look for opportunities where others see fait accompli. Find openings that throw others off-balance. And while this might not be precisely what she meant, Frei goes with the flow.
As his fellow Glory Hound scythes her roundhouse feint through the air, Frei leans back slightly and lets one hand rest on the hilt of his blunt sword. The sweeping kick, predictably, knocks him off his feet... but Mizuki may be distressed to find that, as Frei drops toward the floor, he's *also* performing a drawing slash, using the direction of his fall as momentum to give it a little extra speed... and being in point-blank range doesn't hurt, either.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki blocks Frei's Satsujin.
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Frei 0/-------/-----==|==-----\-------\0 Mizuki
There is that delicious irony. Well. Mizuki wouldn't call it -delicious-... Kimi was a harrowing time in her life. She had to... well, she had to do something she probably shouldn't have been -able- to do... and she's probably going to end up paying the piper for it, someday.
But, back to the matter at hand. When she feints the kick, she can see that Frei isn't fooled by it--she lands, she sweeps, but midway through she's already drawing her hands up off the flooring, crossing her arms in front of her, showing the toughened backs of her forearms. And just in time; the drawing slash impacts against her forearms, drawing a stingingly bright line of pain across them.
But the pain there is far better than taking it across her body. It might be a dulled, practice weapon, but she's going to treat it with every bit of respect she would afford a sharpened one. "You know, during..." She hesitates. "During the war, I kept encountering a woman who used a rapier. She cut me up pretty badly, the times we fought. I've been considering taking measures to prevent that kind of thing from happening again..." The fight is reset, essentially, in terms of momentum--and it's that momentum that Mizuki wants to keep.
The erstwhile miko continues leading with her foot--rotating a step forward, planting her right, then twisting on it, hurling her left heel out in a thrusting reverse roundhouse aimed for the point of Frei's chin.
Perhaps she's hoping that Frei will fall for what he -thinks- is a feint...
COMBATSYS: Frei counters Strong Kick from Mizuki with Mushin EX.
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Frei 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Mizuki
"I understand how you feel," Frei says quietly, getting up from the floor and sliding the katana back into its scabbard, looking at Mizuki evenly. That she deflected that strike is no big surprise; Mizuki's an experienced fighter, and Frei is doing his best with skills his muscles remember but his mind is not always 100% with. Her words, describing what went down in Southtown, make her defensive efforts all the more understandable... and her confusion upon seeing Frei with a blade, too. Yet even as he claims to understand her feelings, he drops back into stance, taking a deep breath. "I think it's natural not to want to be hurt, especially that way."
But Mizuki has no plans to let Frei rest on that moment of sudden lull as the first clash dies away. Instead, she looks to be preparing to deliver a very mighty blow indeed... or perhaps a feint? For a brief second, Frei is indecisive; part of him is urging caution, and the other half -- in his mother's tone? -- is telling him not to be afraid, to push forward. Mizuki can probably see that moment of terrible indecisiveness on his face as she prepares to swing her heel right into Frei's head, his green eyes wide...
And that's when he hears it. The voice that says, 'Courage.'
His body follows almost as if on instinct. One of the foundational techniques of the Musou Tenkei school is Mushin... 'no mind'. Acting on pure instict, letting subconscious analysis of all the variables take over, turning thought and action into one whole. Practically speaking, it means counterattacking by literally hurling onesself into danger, predicting the line of attack, and taking down the attacker in one swift strike before they can complete their attack. This is, indeed, exactly what happens; one second Frei is standing in front of Mizuki, the next he's inside her guard, one hand coming casually up to her extended kicking leg and throwing her to the ground behind him, Aikido style, before turning to face her.
The expression he wears when she looks at him next, however, must be somewhat strange. He looks... confused, wide-eyed, perhaps even scared. His breaths aren't shallow, but he breathes through his mouth, as if he had heavily exerted himself. "Did... you...?"
She goes flying--and when she lands on the floor of the train car, it isn't a gentle landing. Neither is it particularly vicious; she is able to roll with the impact, somewhat, giving her time to pop back up to her feet. "Mmm. And there've been other incidents... that fight against Katana and Birdie... I'm not.. a big fan of slashing and stabbing weapons," she says, wryly, as she tests her joints. All good, so far.
"But I was thinking about having some armor made... maybe just for the arms. So I can block and not take too much damage in doing so..." As she talks, she's moving from side to side, watching Frei's movements. That was a good counterattack, and it's something she hasn't seen from him before. But he did say he was trying some new stuff. Probably some -old- stuff, really.
"Too much thinking, Mizu," she mutters to herself, and then she moves in. Purposefully, confidently, striding forward, ducking low, coming up with a palmstrike for Frei's chin, the intent to stun him, to force his guard open for a shoulder rush into his midsection. Perhaps a bit more... straightfoward, or practical, kind of fighting than Frei has usually seen from the miko. But even as she's attacking, she's looking confused, herself. "Did I... what...?"
COMBATSYS: Frei dodges Mizuki's Fierce Punch.
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Frei 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Mizuki
Did she what? Good question. So very rarely does Frei look outright spooked... and that's probably a good word for the expression on his face right now. Something really, really unsettled him for a moment there. It could have been that he isn't used to his body reacting the way it did; it's been a while since he's done some of this stuff, after all. On the other hand, it can't just be that, can it? Thankfully for Frei, Mizuki takes a moment to discuss things before she leaps right back at him, and it gives Frei something to focus on, snapping him back to reality.
"Kote," the sword-sage says distractedly, looking both at Mizuki's forearms and his own for a second before bringing his gaze back to his opponent's face. "Ninja used to use them, I think... armored sleeved, like bracers. The kind of thing you're talking about, I think?" He shakes out his hands, then smiles a little. "If you're going to get hurt, you should think about what it can do for you in the future, I think, and that's what you're doing. I'm glad to see that." With a shrug, he holds up the sword at his waist, cord stretched to the limit in the process. "I'm kind of doing the same."
Then she's coming at him, fist-first... however, this time there's no hesitation. Whether it's defensive mojo, or just being spooked by the last time, Frei decides he doesn't want to be involved in the face-punching, and he kicks off the metal floor of the freight car, hopping backwards a step and landing in a crouch, glancing up at Mizuki. Well, then she had to go and ask. "I, uh... I thought I heard something. I guess it was just... in my head. Sorry."
'Courage.'
He hears it again as he stands up, trying his best to take in the whole situation. Awareness of the surroundings, that's the key to fighting the way his mother does. But that awareness is leading him in a direction Frei hadn't expected. Again, there's a moment of surprise, but considerably shorter... probably because it's followed by Frei closing the distance with a simple, horizontal draw to smack into Mizuki's stomach, his body once again simply taking over.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki fails to interrupt Medium Strike from Frei with Hyouryuu no Fuki.
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Frei 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Mizuki
"Something like that, yes. I think I actually used to own a pair... I don't know why, though." She stops short, once the first attack is missed, and frowns. "Hearing things? Are you okay?" The miko's brow furrows as she gazes at her friend. Giving him the time he needs to gather himself, to regroup...
To attack. Now, this is, of course, a Neo League fight. But it's not as if Mizuki cares about -the points-... but the dialogue of a fight, even an essentially friendly fight like this, requires that each combatant bring their best to the table. And that, therein, is the nature of the competition--whether one person's 'best' is better than the others. It's a subtle war, a clash of distinctions...
And this is one clash that Mizuki is losing. Rather than attempt to avoid the attack, the redhead is already gathering her power in her hands, glowing an icy blue--but that slash is too fast, and it strikes across her midsection. The pain causes her to stumble, to cry out, to lose her hold on power as she stumbles back...
It's as the blunted katana is being returned to its saya -- with the slow, almost ritualistic motion one sees in samurai dramas -- that Frei seems to come back to himself, looking up at Mizuki with some surprise and more concern. He heard it that time, the same word. 'Courage'. Is it his mind playing tricks on him? Some sound echoing in from outside the empty car? What, exactly, is going on here? For the first time since he's started this endeavor, Frei begins to feel unsure about it. Is this unfamiliar fighting style slowly driving him crazy?
No. Focus on the fight. Be aware of everything, open yourself up.
"Don't worry about me," he says to his opponent, realizing that his somewhat odd statement may have had an adverse effect on the give and take of battle. The sword-sage is much more used to expressing his feelings verbally; the 'conversation' of a fight is something he's easing into, as it were. Looking at Mizuki standing across from him, Frei is assaulted with memories... not all of them pleasant, either. He tried to kill her, basically, while under the control of S.I.N.'s mind-altering drugs. And not just her; Alma and Kentou, too. He's had a chance to apologize to all three, but even still, the words feel ashen in his throat when he says them. What does 'I'm sorry' buy you? How would he feel if it were him? Hell, in some ways it WAS him. Would he accept Seth's apology if it were ever offered? No.
You have to show it with actions. Sometimes words aren't enough.
"Ready?" he asks, making sure Mizuki has her bearings before he attacks again. In a sweeping motion, the blue lacquered saya at his left side is swung around by the thick silver cord that holds it in place, looking to wrap it in Mizuki's legs. If that happens, Frei suddenly pulls forward, yanking the sheathed sword back toward him... and Mizuki along with it, right into a drawing slash from the katana once it's back in Frei's hands.
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Mizuki with Saya Gari.
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Frei 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
"I can't -not- worry about you, Frei," she replies, sounding chiding. Isn't that the phrase guaranteed to trigger the worrying sort of reaction? Her blue eyes lay a soft sort of scorn on him, mirroring her tone--chiding, but not disdainful.
"What kind of friend would I be if I -didn't- worry about you? You've gone through so much. More than I can imagine..." Of course, her speech is cut short there, as Frei launches the weapon--she attempts to backstep away, but catches her heel on a slightly upraised lip, a seam between two metal plates--and is instead drawn in and slashed at. Were he using a live weapon... it would be almost akin to the death by a thousand cuts.
Thrown back by the slash, she tucks into a backroll, popping back up. "Don't know how it is," she murmurs, "fighting you always makes me feel like the greenest student around..." Refusing to react to the pain in her abdomen, instead she sets herself, sliding her weight back, then forward, and hopping up--throwing her body around, throwing a double spinning roundhouse set--two heavy roundhouse kicks before she manages to touch the ground...
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Frei with Fierce Kick.
Glancing Blow
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Frei 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Mizuki
'You've gone through so much...' The young woman he's fighting utters these words with the best of intentions but something about them makes Frei cringe inside. Has he gone through a lot? Yes, he has. Objectively speaking, of course. And while Mizuki doesn't mean them that way, something about the sentence makes Frei feel almost... guilty about the sympathy he's been afforded for what he's done. Yes, it hurt. But hasn't everyone else gone through their own personal hells in this sort of thing? It's much as he had said to Hotaru once long ago, declaiming a compliment: I don't want the mantle of being 'the best'.
"You'd be a perfectly good on--" Frei starts, attempting to talk through even as Mizuki charges at him with another complicated kicking combination. Like before, Frei dives right into the attack rather than away; although he has no plans to counterattack, it might prove to be a useful way for getting out of being kicked, for example. The first kick scythes through the air over his head... but there's no getting out of the second, which Frei hadn't anticipated. The blow sends his forward momentum sideways and he stumbles forward, almost drunkenly, before pulling himself to a stop.
Turning around, he gathers himself and looks at Mizuki carefully. For a moment or two, there's a sad, downcast look to his expression, before he shakes his head and looks at his teammate evenly. "We've all gone through a lot. I don't think I'm any worse off than you. If... if you can be a 'bad friend' by not worrying about me, I can be one by... having tried to kill you, I guess," he says at last, rubbing the back of his head. "I guess my point is, I'd rather look to the future than the past."
Frei leaves it at that, getting back into stance. Think of now; now is where you are. 'Then' will never come back again. Learn from it, but don't live in it. That's what Mizuki is herself trying to do... take the bad things that happened to her and change her life now, improve it. "Ei!" Kicking off the ground, Frei dives at Mizuki in a charging dash; when he gets close, he makes one, wide slash from her lower right to upper left, blunted blade slicing through the air.
And all the while, the voice is whispering in his ear: 'Yes. Forward. Have courage. Be resolute.'
COMBATSYS: Mizuki blocks Frei's Medium Strike.
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Frei 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Mizuki
"A good attitude to have, Frei," replies the young woman. "But even looking forward, one should be aware of their past, no? The future is linked to the past through the present... a thread running throughout our lives, right? It's true. We -have- gone through a lot. But I think it's only natural for human beings to worry about each other... to care."
She smiles, wryly, as he comes flying at her with another slash--this one she's ready for, taking the stinging attack on her forearms again--her hands flex, reacting to the pain...
But again, far better than taking it anywhere else. "You're really good with that, Frei... if it's been a while since you took up the sword, it's really hard to tell."
She decides to slow the pace some, feet planting, energy surging up through her--Frei is, of course, as skilled if not moreso in the arts of chi manipulation, he should recognize what she's doing immediately, if not when the energy starts undulating up around her feet in a circle.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki gathers her will.
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Frei 0/-------/=======|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
"No," Frei says carefully, hopping back a step and resheathing the blunt katana. "I agree. The past shouldn't be forgotten. But when it turns into a shackle dragging us down, then perhaps it's time to let it go." In their own way, both of these fighters have great big anchors of the past biting into them. Two families with long-established fighting traditions. Family members with more than an axe to grind and the power to do it, often at the expense of Frei and Mizuki's friends. It could be so much worse. They could be dwelling, obsessing, totally unable to escape the actions and history of people that they can't do anything about.
But instead they've chosen to become their own people. Not forgetting; not abandoning. Adapting. Incorporating. Keeping your eyes focused on the future.
With an embarrassed smile, Frei gets into stance and glances at Mizuki for a moment, green eyes meeting blue. "Sorry. I'm glad you're worried about me. But I think... all the things that have happened to me have made me strong enough to deal with whatever comes my way. And you and everyone else have all been part of that. I know people are looking out for me, so I can be free from worry." He closes his eyes for a moment; since Mizuki has taken a moment to center herself, Frei can too, can't he? A breath comes in, slowly, and goes out, just as slowly. Be aware of everything. Sight can be a deceptive sense, after all. Sound, feel... even smell and taste. They're part of the sixth sense-like battlefield awareness that his mother tried to instill in him.
Into that silence, the voice drops. Only in Frei's head, but he _can_ hear it. There's no mistaking it for a trick of the surroundings. It's growly, even a little like a purr. 'Your determination has brought us together,' it intones. 'The sword has always belonged to me. If you would regain what you have lost, then show me the same dedication your foe has shown to you, and I will lend you some of my power.'
And again, he feels it... that sense of something guiding his hands. His body tilts forward, his right hand crosses over his torso to grasp the hilt of the sword at his side, and Frei's green eyes fly open... but a pearly silver-gold glow limnes his body like faerie fire. A foot goes back, and it's clear that he's ready to charge. "Now..." Frei mutters, before looking straight at Mizuki, meeting her gaze. She's done so much. She's given so much. How could Frei give any less than that? How could he go anywhere but forward? "Mizuki!"
He's across the gap in a flash, dashing right at her. He draws in one smooth motion, an upper diagonal slash from her lower right to upper left... but unexpectedly, Frei's body is surrounded by a white-gold aura of chi, taking the form of a white tiger roaring on the attack. Its claw surrounds the sword, striking once, then spinning and striking with a second slash to make an 'X' shape, the tiger's claw striking a second time.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki blocks Frei's Tsubame Gaeshi.
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Frei 0/-------/-======|=======\=====--\1 Mizuki
Frei's thought this through pretty carefully--moreso than Mizuki, she thinks. About the past, and the future, and how they relate. Another nod, as she hears him out... though she never lets down her guard. "I suppose I think the same way. I haven't really discussed it with anyone but... I'm leaving the YFCC for a while. I've..." She sighs.
"I've invested so much in a vision of myself that I don't think is who I am... and I've tied myself to people who don't want or need me. It's... been a hard thing to consider. To come to understand. I always thought I'd need someone, need something... without understanding what it was I needed. If anything. I'm trying to understand it, now. To understand myself."
Right about then is when Frei comes dashing in--and the girl remains steadfast, once again using her arms, using her aura, to deflect the blows--though at greater cost to herself. Those arms are all welted up now, thin red lines and thicker, darker red patches from the last attack.
"I've been trying to avoid doing this. To avoid... letting my talent carry me through a fight... but I guess there -are- times for it..." Pushing her hands together, palms first, she concentrates, sending her energy up, spinning, gathering, and then pouring back down on her in a torrential sluice of blue-green healing energy, one that almost completely obscures the young woman for the brief moments it exists, the energy fading just before it would touch the floor.
Through the waterfall, she speaks. "But I guess... it's as much a part of me as my hands and my feet, I can't ignore it..."
It's probably a good thing for Frei that Mizuki doesn't attack and instead takes a moment to patch herself up. Why? Because once that attack is delivered, he stumbles backwards and then drives the blunted katana into the floor, tip first, and drops to one knee. It wasn't really any great thing, but to look at him, you'd think the man just ran a marathon. His eyes are wide, practically pupilless, and he takes big breaths in through his mouth. That can't be explained away. He heard... FELT... something. In every cell of his body. More to the point, though, he just felt something he hasn't sensed in a very long time...
...chi.
The sensation is gone, of course... sort of. There's a lingering feeling of it, as if someone who was blind can now suddenly see but only in black and white. More importantly, it presents hope that perhaps what he decided to do is actually working. There is a chance. Hope is not lost. "That..." he starts to say, pulling himself to his feet. However, the rest of the sentence dies on his lips. How to explain that? Where would he even start? And Mizuki... she's got her own problems.
"You know, my mother always said 'a sword is just a sword'," he says to Mizuki, pulling himself standing. He still looks... worn out, somewhat, but only in general appearance. He's at least steady on his feet. "What she was trying to say was, you can't count on it to do anything for you. A sword is only as good as its wielder. But doesn't that apply to you, too?" He gestures with one hand at the cascade of healing energy Mizuki is bathing herself in. "I don't know it's the same as your hands and feet. It... could be taken away from you," he admits, shutting his eyes for a moment and then opening them again. "But by itself, power is just a tool. It's the ends you put it to that matter."
He doesn't have the energy to attack right now; instead he takes a deep breath and gets back into stance, watching Mizuki carefully. "If I forget to say it later," he says quietly, "I wanted to say... thank you for this."
COMBATSYS: Frei focuses on his next action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Mizuki
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Mizuki with Iki no Nagare.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Frei 0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0 Mizuki
It only takes moments for the energy to flow through Mizuki and dissipate--time enough for Frei to put forward his theory. "Kentou-kun, he once told me that I shouldn't be a fighter. That I should just devote myself to healing... that it's something that so few people can do and that it's such an amazing power that I should be using it for everything I could. I--he didn't understand that... it takes a lot to heal. It takes it out of me. And there are things I just can't fix."
She looks at Frei again, frowning, searching. He did used to use chi, didn't he? His fighting style -centered- around it... and this is the only one he's used so far, and it seems to have cost him a lot. But she can't begin to guess why. But, as he gave her the courtesy of regaining her balance, she does the same for him. "Is it just a tool? I suppose you're right. In many ways, it's just like a knife, a fork, a sword, a gun. It's just something to be used. But isn't it kind of sad to think of it that way? Maybe it's the romantic in me, or the kid, that's saying that. But I think these things--this power--is also intensely personal."
"If you develop power through bad means, is it redeemed by using it for good? Does it matter if your choice is to go the 'dark' path to walk in the light?" A shrug. "I don't know if it's as simple as that..." She eyes him again.
"Alright then... looks like you're ready..."
She resumes her stance, then surges forward, only to stop just short--probably within weapon rage, but not close enough for her to strike. And as she does, she's once again gathering power--hurling it outwards in a short-ranged, cresting wave that flares outwards, threatening to engulf Frei completely. Throwing chi at him? It's probably not the best thing she can do, but she has to be who she is.
COMBATSYS: Frei blocks Mizuki's Hyouryuu no Fuki EX.
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Frei 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Mizuki
Frei's defense isn't very elegant, but what it lacks in grace it makes up for in effectiveness; he hunkers down, bringing his arms crosswise near his face and upper torso, weathering the icy storm. The chill of it heads straight into the bone, and his forearms go a little numb, but he's spared the pain of taking the attack full on to the face. All things considered, a good tradeoff for some temporary frostbite. His reply to Mizuki's question is already on his lips as his arms come down, however; apparently this is an issue he's given some thought to. "How complex do you want to make it?" he asks of his teammate, being as earnest as he can.
He may have asked a question, but Frei plunges on with his thoughts regardless, suggesting the question itself was mostly rhetorical in nature. "I mean, yes, obviously ever situation is different. And it's not as simple as 'evil tool plus good ends = happy yay', I know that. But... what people will remember are your actions. I don't think there's anything wrong with being romantic about your abilities. I mean..."
There's a pause, and then Frei shakes his head, looking to the side a bit before he looks back at Mizuki. "I'm living proof. If you take the tool away, the person is what remains. If you let yourself be defined by the tool, then... what's left of you, when the tool is gone? I guess that's the point I'm trying to make."
Having said his peace, Frei moves back into the fighting; he ducks toward Mizuki at a low angle and move past her by a few inches, then twist and scythe her leg out from under her with his own, sending her toward the floor... but as she falls, he follows it up with a downward slash to the torso from the blunted sword as well.
COMBATSYS: Frei successfully hits Mizuki with Armed Combo.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Frei 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Mizuki
"I guess you could say that's one of the reasons I've tried to avoid using my talent. To see what's left. To see what's me. I don't think I've really found out what I am, though, who I am--" Her reply is cut short, as Frei comes lunging in. And she just guesses wrong, plain and simple--snagged, thrown down, the blade strikes just at the right angle to find a crease between the ribs, digging deep into her body--a near-fatal shot if it were a steel weapon.
Her breath goes out in a whoosh, and she rolls frantically, staggering up to her feet--she can't ignore the pain now, her arm curled over her side protectively, her breathing ragged. "Looks like... the sword is working out for you," she says, with a strained-but-warm smile. At that, she actually pushes inwards on the injury, gasping as a rib pops back into place; tears spring to her eyes, but she clears them almost angrily.
And then she charges in, heedlessly, trying to reach past the monk, to grab his sword arm, to pull it away... to open him for a series of chopping blows to the abdomen. To follow up by turning away and maintaining her grip on his arm, using it as a lever to flip him over and onto his back...
COMBATSYS: Frei counters Hyouryuu no Koki from Mizuki with Shijin no Ten'i.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Frei 0/-------/-------|=======\==-----\1 Mizuki
Tactically, going for a weapon user's sword arm is a good maneuver, overall. Without it, he or she is hampered, and for many weapon fighters, using one's weapon is a critical part of the defensive repertoire. It works to Frei's advantage, however, that the Soukai style of Musou Tenkei-ryuu focuses less on weapon strikes and more on cultivating good battle awareness. Thus the key signature techniques that Frei recalls best from his childhood -- and had the easiest time re-mastering under his mother's tutelage -- weren't sword strikes at all, but counterattack techniques that focus on discerning the precise moment to disable an attacker mid-strike.
Case in point: Frei doesn't move his right arm -- his sword arm -- when Mizuki grabs for it. Instead, he leaves it still and limp, a sort of 'feint'... and with one swift movement, the katana and saya at his left side are unlooped from his belt. The end of the katana's grip is slammed into Mizuki's outstretched wrist with crushing speed and force, striking a nerve cluster that sends a shock of dull numbness up her entire arm. It also gives Frei an opportunity to grab that extended arm with his free right, and with another aikido-type throw, send Mizuki to the floor behind him with one sweep of the arm.
Stepping forward and then turning around, he takes a few slow breaths before speaking. "I think it's good that you're doing that. And I can understand wanting to get away from the Center to do it. I, uh... I might be doing a bit of that myself, until this is all over, too." He stays carefully mum about his skill with a sword; his past fights are indication enough that his current success is likely as attributable to stupid dumb luck as it is to any amount of skill.
Mizuki suddenly finds herself on her back, again, her breath forced from her lungs by the sudden slam. She lays on her back for a while, looking up at the ceiling. "You're... pretty good at this," she comments, offhandedly, sounding a touch rueful. "Better than I am..." She's reasonably sure that Frei isn't going to attack while she's down, so she feels alright in taking a second.
And then she rises, turning to face her friend. "I'm pretty sure you've won this fight already. But... I wouldn't be doing you any favors by just giving up... or myself." For the third time in the fight, her hands begin glowing blue-white with energy, and she draws her hands back. "So... forgive me," she says, as that power grows in her hands.., and then she unleashes it, a torrent of icy chi energy flaring out, covering nearly the entire volume of the car--she's wobbly, but still on her feet, and so there are almost certainly ways to avoid it...
COMBATSYS: Mizuki successfully hits Frei with Hyouryuu no Arashi.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Frei 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Mizuki
The red-haired miko may think the fight is over, but it's very much not, as her counterassault on her fellow Glory Hound proves nicely. Frei seems troubled at the idea that he's 'better than her' at this, and his expression says so. He recalls discussing something similar with Kataki, after he confronted his brother long ago. 'Would I be stronger than you in every situation? Of course not. But right now, in this context, I happened to come out on top.' They're words he plans to share with Mizuki when this is all said and done, though perhaps not exactly in that tone. Right now, however, he's got this particular storm to deal with.
Courage, the voice had said. Right?
And so, Frei finds himself running AT Mizuki. Much like a rocket blast, with how wide an area her icy assault will cover, the only really safe place is behind her. Thus Frei's goal is to simply run at and then past her before the strike can really get up to speed. Sadly, he's not quite fast enough, and the result is him tumbling backward in the icy blast, slamming down onto the car's floor a good distance away. However, it's not enough to down him... not quite yet, anyway. Taking a breath, Frei slams the saya down onto the ground for support, and then draws himself standing, looking at Mizuki with an even expression.
"Calling me... better than you isn't a good way to deal with this," Frei says calmly, fighting down the chill he feels running through his arms, trying to wake up a body made sluggish by cold. "As you'll recall, when I was... berserk out of my mind on whatever Shadaloo did, you handled me quite well. Maybe... maybe today, I had a reason to be at my very best. To prove something to myself, or maybe just out of respect for what you're doing. Either way," he finishes, getting in stance, "an old philosopher once said that 'victory and loss are commonplace on the battlefield'. So there's nothing to be sorry about."
With that, he nods once... and then he's on the attack, again. It's a nice, straight, simple dashing cut, looking to slam the blunted sword downward into Mizuki's shoulder from above. Sometimes, simple is best.
COMBATSYS: Mizuki dodges Frei's Medium Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////// ]
Frei 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Mizuki
It's always when everything is on the line that people reach down into themselves and pull out their best--or at least their most desperate. Mizuki replies, sounding philosophical, "Perhaps you do... and maybe I don't. Who can say? The question of 'better' fluctuates.. otherwise people would never fight. Miracles do happen... skills improve... inspiration can be found.'
Such as this moment--as Mizuki turns to one side, to let the slamming attack pass by. As she turns, and realizes she's avoided the attack, she whirls into another attack, with her opponent, her friend, this close--maintaining her spin as she throws a combination of elbow, backhand and palm strike, alternating arms to try and force Frei into a bad position. It's almost like something Hotaru would do as an attack, a whirling dervish of sorts.
She ends the combination with a forward, double-palm thrust, attempting to slam her hands into Frei's chest, uttering a sharp, almost syllable-less kiai.
COMBATSYS: Frei counters Strong Punch from Mizuki with Zanshin.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /// ]
Frei 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Mizuki
Perhaps it's because they've both been slowly escalating this fight as it continues on, but Frei is driven to meet Mizuki's own display of technical excellence with his own. "That's... true," Frei says out loud, as he weaves back and forth through Mizuki's hail of attacks, each one shaving by him by a hair's breadth as he struggles to stay inside her guard rather than run away. "You never know where it'll come from." That final strike, the twin palms, is nigh... but for Frei, the fraction of a second between Mizuki's flurry and that final strike stretches into extreme slow motion.
'How will you respond to her determination?' asks the voice from before, now a sound he clearly understands as the low growl of a tiger if it could speak a human voice. 'What will you do?'
The answer Frei gives, he gives out loud as he, rather suddenly, pivots and presses forward into Mizuki's guard. The twin palms slam into the saya as he holds it in front of himself horizontally at exactly the right angle, the blow stopped cold. "I -- we -- will move forward," he says... perhaps in answer to the voice and Mizuki both.
Then a flash of silver, as Frei breaks the clinch with a single drawing slash.
And that's it--Mizuki is done. She staggers--and drops to her knees. "Are we?" she asks, softly. "Maybe you are... I don't know about myself, yet. Every time I think I've taken a step forward... I end up feeling like the steps I take are but shuffling, scraping..." It takes her a few moments, but she pushes back up to her feet, clearly not in a fighting stance--conceding the fight. There's no way she could last long enough for more than a single attack, and she doesn't really want 'the win' that badly.
"I know I shouldn't... compare myself to you. To Alma. To Jiro. To Hotaru. But... you're the only metric I have. The only measuring stick. And I feel like--" She makes a frustrated gesture, one that ends with her shrugging.
"I feel left behind. So I guess... I feel like a burden. Or I would... if I even felt like I moved in the same circles. I guess that's why I'm... trying to find myself. Trying to figure out if I even belong in the Glory Hounds. It's all I ever wanted, or that's what I told myself. That I would be content just being with you and the others, being who I am. But I feel so empty when I think of it. I pushed Alma so hard to accept me, to..." She smiles, but it's a softly bitter smile.
"I guess I've just been acting like a carefree kid. Like my 'responsibilities', whatever they would end up being, would fit into a neat little box."
She turns to look at her friend, the monk and swordsman. "I've been thinking about cutting all ties with the Hounds, with the YFCC... with everything that represented what I thought I wanted. The only connection I really feel right now is my connection to Yuno-kun. I need him. And I think he needs me. Hopefully something good will come of it..." A shake of her head. "Listen to me. Still sounding like a petulant child. Forward is the only way to move, isn't it? Wherever it leads."
COMBATSYS: Mizuki takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Frei 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Mizuki can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Frei 0/-------/---====|
Apparently the slow returning of a katana to its saya is a sort of ritualistic or reflexive thing; some of the time Mizuki spends staggering, Frei spends with his eyes closed, slowly pushing the blunted blade back into its scabbard. But he hears every word the miko says, considering what she had said carefully. Those are feelings he's had himself, before... perhaps not about the exact same thing, but. The idea of being useful, is a very important one. Frei knows that one of the best things someone can feel, is useful... that they have a purpose in life. In a sense, it's a way that only people who care about others can feel. Only those with empathy and compassion can have the sense that they should be useful to others.
Walking over toward Mizuki, Frei slowly gets into a seated position that's... a more casual sort of seiza. At least, if not more casual, than more comfortable. "The root of why ascetics strip themselves of material comforts, as I understand it, is that they feel desire creates negative emotions and drives us to hurt ourself and others." For a moment, Frei remembers having this same conversation with Nataya, who he hasn't seen in some time. She had said want is a normal human condition, and that only escaping and controlling it could allow someone to move on. Frei had disagreed, to some extent. The key, in his mind, is to take the good and leave the bad.
"I've felt the same way, actually," he says quietly, trying to smile. "Comparing myself to them. How much they have that I don't! All of us on this team... we all have something special that nobody else can duplicate. But because it's 'us' we... well, you probably know what I'm going to say." He stops and leaves it at that. It's so easy to see what's good in others, but bad in ourselves. "The point is that the desire to improve yourself is natural, but only to the extent that it doesn't eat away at what makes you, you."
He lets that get said, and then is silent for a moment or two, before he speaks up again. When he does, it's softly... hopefully so that the Neo League audience can be spared Mizuki's personal business to some extent. "You can't," is what he initially says. Yuno... has Frei met Yuno? But what she's describing doesn't sound so different from Frei's own relationship with Kentou, one that's brought many good things into Frei's life, overall. "By which I mean, we're always going to be with you in some way or another. So... go, I think. Do what you need to. Just because you do that doesn't mean that people who are your friends will stop being so."
There's a long, drawn-out sigh from the miko. She sinks back down to her knees, adopting a similar 'seiza' seating, after Frei. "I don't know what I want anymore, except this. I'm tired of... being inferior. I know that I am. It's... it isn't a matter of not being special. It's a matter of skill, of power. Of the ability to see something bad happening and -change it-. Can you honestly say that I've had as much impact in anyone's life as you, or Hotaru, or Alma? You three... inspire. You lead. You're..." Words fail her again, and she shakes her head.
"It's not friendship I want to sever, Frei. I just want to be rid of... it's... useless feelings. Things that I have clung to despite the fact that they have hurt me. Have held me back. And all of my own design... But I don't think I can do it without literally severing those ties. The YFCC. The Glory Hounds. Not each of you individually. But... those group entities, what they represent to me, what they have been to me. I don't know if I can explain it any better than that..."
Looking distracted, contemplative, the redhead gazes off, eyes almost unfocused. "Maybe someday we'll be able to meet as equals... all of us."
For a moment, Frei is silent, letting that sink in. Hearing a compliment this way isn't the way he'd like to do it; in his eyes, it turns being 'good' into a zero-sum game, where a few can have what is good and the rest are left to scramble after. That isn't what Mizuki really means, he wagers, but it's the sort of feeling that's left when he hears it, nonetheless. His green eyes become hooded and he looks down at the floor, somewhat, before responding. "I've done as much bad as I have good," he eventually says. "And I know people who would be dead now if it weren't for you. I don't think it's about skill or power at all. It's about... experience, maybe. Or being in the right place at the right time."
After that, he shuts his mouth, then slowly unfolds upwards, standing up and dusting off his knees. "I think we've already met as equals. But I guess what I think isn't what you have to see in the mirror every day. So like I said... do what you need to do. I have faith in the outcome because I have faith in you. And yeah, sometimes... in order to move on, you have to throw away something, and let it go."
With that, he... well, he waves. And then he's on his way to a different car of the train.
Log created on 01:04:53 08/30/2009 by Frei, and last modified on 17:42:20 09/08/2009.