Description: A duel of swords and wills between the Burning Teacher Hayato and the More-or-Less Delinquent Tenma. No doubt sheer corporal punishment will not be enough to offer the young man the discipline he surely secretly craves (?). YFCC officials have encouraged the champion of the YFC4 to exercise positive reinforcement instead, in an effort to show the children around the world viewing this match that teachers care. This may be a somewhat unconventional approach for the hard-drinking, hot-blooded Hayato, but by golly he's an educator first -- isn't he? (Winner: Tenma)
Providing guidance to today's youth: that's what Hayato's all about. Well, that and some other things. But it is something that he cares strongly about! And some of the youths most in need of guidance go to Gedo High. Hayato does what he can to reach out to them. Sometimes, granted, that reaching out is done with a closed fist. It's the only thing they understand!
And so, of course, Hayato can't turn down an opportunity to possible make a positive impact on the life of one of those Gedo delinquents. And he has no problems with making his points with some extreme emphasis. It's tough love, but Hayato's just the man to provide the firm hand these kids need.
Prior to the match, though, Hayato has been wandering around the dojo. It's a place and a mission that he approves of, and it's a pleasant enough atmosphere for killing some time. Eventually he wanders over to observe the Thunderbird, admiring the car. Unsurprisingly, he likes the color.
"Hey, nice car," says a voice from behind Hayato. The voice is full to bursting with confidence, loud and strident. It is, naturally enough, the voice of one Tenma Kiryuu.
The leader of the Guardian Kings, one of the 'big fish' in the small (but often extraordinarily dangerous) pool that is Gedo High, is about ten feet away from the Burning Phys Ed Teacher, also admiring the car. Who would leave something like that parked by a boring old dojo? That's practically criminal. Or inspiring /to/ criminals, knowing life in the big city.
The tall young man - although even with his impressive-for-a-Japanese-person height, he's still shorter than Hayato, who is clearly a freak of nature - stands there like it was the most natural thing in the world, wearing his 'winter' Gedo uniform. It is, in fact, not a proper Gedo uniform at all. Instead, he wears the blue-grey slacks and high-collar front-button uniform jacket of his old school, from before his transfer to Southtown, with the collar pins for the jacket replaced with Gedo ones. The jacket is, of course, undone, and the white dress shirt that goes with it is also undone and untucked, showing off his red t-shirt with the Gedo High logo on the front.
He's not one to be subtle about his affiliations.
That bokken, of course, rests against his shoulder, held casually by his right hand. "So I hear you're supposed to teach me a lesson, huh?" Tenma wonders, his head tilting slightly to one side as a confient smirk pulls at the sharp lines of his face.
Hayato turns around as he hears someone behind him, then briefly takes in Tenma's appearance. He's quite familiar with all the school uniforms in the area, of course, as well as the various dress codes regarding them. Of course, in Gedo the official dress code is generally given out as 'wear whatever you want, just please don't hurt me!', but the gangs have traditionally enforced some degree of compliance amongst themselves, as a show of loyalty and distinction.
The teacher's eyes linger on the bokken for a moment, held in a similar manner to his own shinai. Then he grins at Tenma. "Yeah, that's right. Want to step inside, get in front of the cameras? Be a shame to rob people of their show. And if it doesn't sink in the first time, you can always watch it again later and remember." Hayato starts walking back toward the dojo interior. "Of course, I don't think you'll have to worry too much about forgetting."
In fact, Tenma knows exactly one person who wears the actual Gedo uniform. And that guy is on the /student council/.
That Hayato's obvious confidence matches his own doesn't seem to deter Tenma any - he's been on the 'wrong side' of the Taiyo teacher at least once before, although it was a team matchup and some time ago - but of course very little seems to ever deter the King of Blood. It's not even just his own confidence, his usual inability to consider that victory might be impossible... It's more that the things he's been through, that so many other fighters have been through thanks to little things like the Siege of Southtown, make it hard for him to get to worried about a fight that /isn't/ life or death.
Could this be... Perspective?!
Before he follows Hayate into the dojo, though, Tenma does his usual ritual; he bites open his thumb, drawing the bloody digit along the blade of his wooden sword, painting a stripe of dark red along it, forging the chi link between himself and the bokken. Slashing the weapon at the open air initialises the link, setting the blade alight with a smoky aura of blood and chi, the two mixed together until they're the same thing.
And then, after showing incongruous respect for the dojo, he steps inside. "Well, we'll see who learns a thing or two here, huh? I don't have enough respect for the aged to just lie down and let you whoop my ass."
Hayato laughs briefly, but doesn't turn around until he's found the spot he's looking for on the dojo floor. "Well, it wouldn't be much fun if you did!" And then the teacher turns around to grin at Tenma, lowering his shinai from his shoulder to let it hang by his side. "I suppose we should get started then. So, just what's your issue? A problem with authority? A lot of you kids from Gedo have got one of those."
The teacher idly swings the tip of shinai back and forth a small distance as he talks. "Anger problems, maybe? Those are pretty common, too. Don't worry, you can talk to me. I'm here to help." He grins. "And if you don't want to speak, you can always talk to me with that bokken there."
COMBATSYS: Hayato has started a fight here.
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Hayato 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tenma has joined the fight here.
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Tenma 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Hayato
"Nobody ever hugged me when I was a kid," Tenma replies, his tone and expression completely deadpan, showing an enormous amount of respect for the ostensible 'purpose' of this match. No, it's probably not too surprising that a teenaged boy, /especially/ with the sort of temperament that usually gets involved in professional fighting, /especially/ a Gedo Gang member, wouldn't be too inclined to spill his deepest fears and insecurities, especially not in front of a camera crew.
Maybe if it was Maury, but Hayato Nekketsu is no Maury.
Still, he can't disagree with Hayato's suggestion, his mouth pulling once more into a confident grin. "Fine by me!" Tenma says, stepping one foot forward and swinging his bokken down off of his shoulder; he's far too far from Hayato to hit him with the slash, but the red afterimage that follows the blade due to the chi it's emitting creates something else. A roiling crescent of bloody chi that tears forth from that red streak in the air, rocketing towards the teacher from across the dojo.
COMBATSYS: Hayato endures Tenma's Dharmapala.
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Tenma 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Hayato
Hayato chuckles for a moment. "Yeah, that's the way I prefer to do it, too." Of course, that doesn't mean he's just going to sit around and let Tenma slash at him. As the bokken comes down, Hayato charges forward. The chi slicing through the air is noted, but it doesn't dissuade him. The teacher charges right through it, slowing down only slightly as it slashes across his torso.
"Can't really help you without knowing you. And what better way is there to get to know someone?" Some people could perhaps think of a number of ways that are better than slashing out repeatedly with a shinai, striking someone across the head and torso, but Hayato doesn't want to hear about it! It's a good plan and he'll stick to it, thank you very much!
COMBATSYS: Tenma interrupts Scolding Slash from Hayato with Initial Breaker.
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Tenma 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Hayato
Confronted with a technique he's used many times in the past - the ancient art of 'running into the other guy's fireball, because screw it' - Tenma is surprised for a moment, but not long enough to create a huge opening. As Hayato continues to bear down on him, the Gedo swordsman settles into a sidelong stance, moving quickly and smoothly to raise his bokken horizontally, 'blade' up and point towards the oncoming teacher, held with one hand so that it slants across his body, while his other hand hovers near the point, giving him perspective to aim and steady the blade.
As Hayato makes his first slash, Tenma strikes.
Lunging /into/ the slash, the Kiryuu heir twists his body and pistons his right hand forward, driving his bokken out in a blunted stab at the Burning Phys Ed Teacher, even as the less solid but more /painful/ shinai whacks him across the head, jerking it sharply to one side and generally ringing it like a bell. Tenma stumbles back after the strike, clutching the side of his head with his left hand. "So I guess you're not the guidance counselor back home, huh?"
Hayato grunts as he gets the wind knocked out of him by a well placed stab, though it doesn't keep him from at least following through on that first strike. He takes a step back to collect himself. "Not quite. I've got my own way of reaching out to kids. It's been pretty effective so far." At Taiyo, at least, most of the student body views Hayato with varying levels of respect and/or fear.
"It's not like I don't understand you kids from Gedo, either. I know where you're coming from. And I'm sure you have a lot of fun." There's a wistful look in Hayato's eyes for a moment. "So, hey, enjoy yourselves. Doesn't mean you can't work to improve yourself at the same time!" He pauses for a moment. Constructive criticism... Oh! "By the way," he points to the spot on his chest where Tenma struck him with the shinai. "That was pretty good, but your aim was a little off." He moves his finger down and over a bit, to the solar plexus. "Now, if you want to put someone down, /there's/ a good spot to shoot for."
COMBATSYS: Hayato assists Tenma.
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Tenma 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Hayato
The fact that Hayato is actually giving him advice gives Tenma pause. The young man stops, straightens up a bit, and looks at the Burning Phys Ed Teacher with something of a suspicious look, his dark blue eyes narrowing in a squint. Sure, he's aware that the teacher is supposed to be 'reaching out' to him here, trying to help him 'better himself', but this? This seems uncomfortably close to being /a trap/.
"Who says we don't better ourselves?" Tenma wonders, his suspicious expression easing into one that is merely 'dubious'. "The Boss is pretty big on self-improvement, wants all the dumb punks who end up shuffled off to Gedo to learn some self-respect, a little discipline. Otherwise, we'd just be the trash people keep thinking we are." Tenma himself, of course, is a being of sublime perfection and didn't need to learn either self-respect (he has too much to begin with) or discipline (okay we'll... just gloss over that.
A heartbeat passes before he says. "Thanks for the advice, though!" and suddenly lunges forward, thrusting his bloody chi-emitting bokken out in a stab for the aforementioned solar plexus!
COMBATSYS: Hayato fails to counter Fierce Strike from Tenma with Counter Thrust.
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Tenma 0/-------/--=====|======-\-------\0 Hayato
Hayato does give a brief nod of approval. "Oh, Kazama has done some great things, and he's really helped to turn Gedo around from what it used to be. But that doesn't mean that everybody actually listens to what he says, even if they pretend to." He rubs his jaw for a moment. "Of course, if you'd even bring that stuff up, you're probably not one of those types."
The Burning Phys Ed Teacher watches as Tenma rushes back in, then grins and pulls back his fist. He lunges forward as Tenma strikes... but this time the student's aim is better. "Gnnk. Good-" He coughs, "Good job..." The teacher staggers back, clutching at his chest with his left hand. His grin flickers for a bit, but comes back. Hey, he taught the kid something at least!
In a lot of ways, Tenma is an odd duck, even for a Gedo student. Of course, one could argue that his teammates - Hakuya Suigetsu, whose sheer guileless optimism has yet to be defeated by things like war, kidnappings, and fighting and apparently killing the Devil of Koga; Kenji Ashima, who actually tried to put fighting and delinquency behind him entirely, who joined the student council and wants nothing more than to live a 'rose coloured highschool life'; or of course Stasya Voronkova, a ///girl/// - are even odder.
But Tenma liked the words and principles of Daigo Kazama from the first day he heard them, for all that he tries to keep any of his 'good guy' impulses safely hidden from public view. He just... Has his own particular way of applying them.
"Well, congratulations," Tenma says. "You're the first teacher since I came to Southtown who actually taught me anything!" It's funny because he either sleeps through or skips classes. The Kiryuu heir doesn't give Hayato much time to recover, though, instead pressing the attack with a certain ruthless pragmatism, his chi-emanating bokken tracing a blurring red arc as he sweeps it up and across towards the side of the Burning Phys Ed Teacher's neck!
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Hayato with Power Strike.
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Tenma 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Hayato
Man, now Hayato is starting to feel old. Sure, this isn't the first student who's managed to put up a good fight against him, but the teacher has gotten smacked around before even managing to really get his blood pumping. And then the bokken slams into the side of Hayato's neck, forcing the rest of his body to follow as it's pushed to the side.
The teacher stumbles aside for a moment, then stands up straight. "Well, maybe you should pay more attention." He cracks his neck a few times, keeping his gaze on Tenma. "There's a lot you can get out of school that you might regret missing out on later." Ow, ow, ow. That glowing blood really hurts.
COMBATSYS: Hayato gains composure.
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Tenma 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Hayato
Pulling back after that strike, Tenma puts a bit more distance between himself and Hayato, settling his bokken against his shoulder in a casual stance, his left hand at his side, thumb hooked into the pocket of his slacks - the cut he put there having already stopped bleeding, it seems. He watches as Hayato recovers quickly, a disparity between the relaxed, defiant confidence of his posture and demeanor and the actual keeneness of the attention he's paying the Burning Phys Ed Teacher.
Tenma's had a lot of the more /foolish/ impulses of someone as confident as he is beaten out of him. The hard way, usually.
"Like what?" Tenma wonders, his tone one of extreme dubiousness, as though he were just asking Hayato in order to humour the older fighter. "Don't exactly have a lot of uses for algebra or word problems in our line of work, in case you haven't noticed." His own words of ineffable teenaged wisdom delivered, Tenma charges in headlong again, feinting with a stabbing motion from his bokken before he tries to catch Hayato by a loose part of his clothes and, twisting around, tries to upend the teacher up onto the dojo floor. It's not the smoothest or most finessed throw in all of history, but it might do the job.
Maybe.
COMBATSYS: Hayato dodges Tenma's Medium Throw.
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Tenma 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0 Hayato
"Oh, sure, you don't need to go to school to learn how to punch people in the face." Hayato concedes that point. "But being educated makes you less likely to end up fighting people for the wrong reasons. Or being tricked into it by people who are." Moving a bit faster than he had been previously, Hayato leans to the side as Tenma stabs at him, then jerks away before Tenma can get a grip on his clothing.
The teacher then tries to turn the tables with a similar gambit, reaching for Tenma's jacket with his left hand, while bringing his right fist swinging up toward Tenma's stomach. Then using the grip on the jacket and the leverage of his punch, he tries to flip Tenma up and off his feet.
COMBATSYS: Tenma endures Hayato's Power Punch.
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Tenma 1/-----==/=======|=======\=------\1 Hayato
By the time Tenma realises that a) Hayato has avoided his grab entirely and b) is in fact going for his own, it is already /too late/.
The Gedo swordsman is caught, making no obvious effort to resist the grab, and subsequently gets punched right in the stomach. This? This hurts a little bit. Hayato's technique is completed as all that momentum goes into flipping the lean and lanky youth over, Tenma crashing roughly into the wooden floor of the dojo, and honestly if the punch hadn't taken the breath out of his lungs, /that/ would've.
But Tenma's a pretty tough guy, through sheer stubbornness as much as physical fortitude. He rolls, a bit awkwardly, shifting his weight first forward for a split-second, and then /back/, rolling up onto his shoulders and aiming to drive both of his feet into Hayato in a weird variation on a mule kick; his intent from there is to use the momentum to get one hand under himself, pushing /up/, so that he's briefly in a (totally sweet) one handed handstand, lashing out once with his bokken via his other hand, and then flipping onto his feet strikes /again/, each attack seeking to drive Hayato back.
He doesn't, in the middle of all of this, have time to say much in response to Hayato's endorsement of education.
COMBATSYS: Tenma successfully hits Hayato with Deep Strike.
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Tenma 1/----===/=======|=======\====---\1 Hayato
The kick causes Hayato to double over, and then the first strike smacks him back up straight. He's left wide open for the follow up, staggering backwards as he tries to defend himself. He grunts in pain, then spots his opening. He suddenly jumps straight and up and falls back, lashing out with his right leg for a kick to Tenma's face.
Should that connect, he attempts to flip around off of that kick to follow it up with another one from his left foot, then using the impact of that one to flip back and land on his feet. Constructive criticism, right... but Tenma seems to be doing pretty well, actually. Oh, wait, right, life choices. Uh, Hayato will need a moment to think about that.
COMBATSYS: Tenma endures Hayato's Second Kick.
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Tenma 1/--=====/=======|=======\=====--\1 Hayato
It is, any way you slice it, a pretty exhilirating fight. Tenma faces the Burning Phys Ed Teacher's strength again, barrelling right into that first kick, the impact staggering him for just a moment. It leaves him pretty much wide open for the successive strike, Hayato's other foot then striking him as the older fighter uses him as a bit of a springboard to flip back to a standing position. The attack hits with full effect, but even as Hayato lands he's probably going to notice two things.
One, Tenma's left hand is pushed forward, his fingers lightly contorted in a simple mudra position, for concentration. This might not mean too much to him, unless he's watched some of Tenma's previous fights.
Two, and perhaps more interestingly, Tenma's left hand is swung all the way /back/, holding his bokken horizontally behind himself, turned 'blade' up so that the slight curve forms a crescent behind him. The aura of blood around the weapon has intensified, reached a tremendous fever pitch, to the extent that the wooden blade is invisible, and Tenma seems to be holding a blade made /out of/ that bloody chi of his.
Hayato will have about half a second to consider this before Tenma explodes into forward motion, trying to use the 'lull' after Hayato's attack against him as an opening, swinging his chi-sheathed weapon around in a wide red arc, a powerful one-handed slash that tries to get under Hayato's guard and strike him just under the ribs. And if it hits... If it hits, Tenma's chi doesn't just strike /against/ Hayato, but moves /through/ him, disrupting the flow of life through the Burning Phys Ed Teacher for a brief, terrible instant, stealing vitality and leaving nothing in its wake!
"BE SEALED!"
COMBATSYS: Hayato fails to counter The Sealing Sword from Tenma with Burning Cross Counter.
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Tenma 0/-------/------=|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Hayato
COMBATSYS: Hayato can no longer fight.
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Tenma 0/-------/------=|
Hayato is a very hard man to intimidate. Tenma's bokken turning into some sort of bloody lightsaber doesn't even rank on the list of things that might make him think twice. He just lunges forward, and it becomes a question of whether or not he can drive a blazing fist into Tenma's face before the Gedo student manages to make his swing.
And then Hayato just stops dead, his fist about an inch from Tenma's face, as the blade simply slides through him. After a moment the chi around his hand winks out, but the teacher still hasn't moved. "Well... I guess you pass." He grins, then after a moment his eyes slowly roll back in his head and he falls forward to collapse to the floor.
Even Tenma, as perpetually self-assured as he might be, is startled by how /close/ that ends up being. Though his strike lands cleanly, the peculiar technique handed down through his family for generations, the one that 'killed' the Devil of Koga underneath Capital 7, he still finds himself facing Hayato's blazing fist a little bit more closely than any sane individual would probably prefer.
Though his spiritual focus remains on Hayato as his chi passes through the Burning Phys Ed Teacher, Tenma's dark blue eyes practically cross fixing on that fist, even after the blazing chi around it winks out. Slowly, it sinks in through the thought-muffling concern of 'I don't want to get punched in the face, oh man I'm gonna get punched in the face' that he is /not/ going to get punched in the face, and that Hayato seems to be...
Admitting his victory?!
"Well," Tenma starts to say as Hayato says that he 'passed', about to say something boastful and blustery, when Hayato suddenly collapses forward, forcing Tenma to quickly duck out of the way, lest he get buried under a mountain of teacher. Straightening up, Tenma rubs the back of his neck with one hand, as the bloody aura around his sword dissipates entirely, the red stripe he painted on the blade earlier going with it.
"Huh," Tenma decides, finally.
COMBATSYS: Tenma has ended the fight here.
Log created on 14:44:59 01/08/2011 by Tenma, and last modified on 18:38:18 01/14/2011.