Description: In a world struggling to find itself, three warriors who prefer to work from the shadows find themselves thrust into the light. Ibuki, current holder of Shiraha, the legendary sword of the Ryouhara Clan. Seishirou, the last scion of the Ryouhara Clan. Malin, a nuisance with a habit of popping up at the worst possible time. The fate of the world may very well hang in the balance depending on the actions of these three individuals, but when thrust together, can such powerful egos resist a battle of wills? And when that battle subsides, who can say if anyone has really won?
Taiyo High School always seemed to be full of students at all sorts of hours, but thankfully if one waited long enough into the evening that did actually change. The sun has long since set and night has brought out a cool fog coming down from the hills to hide the campus slightly in its damp embrace, Given the very quiet of this late evening one would imagine that everywhere on campus might very well be caught up in the silence and stillness sleeping gently till morning and the lifeblood of this school, its students, returned for that day of education.
The gymnasium, however, while dimly lit, is anything but still though it is surprisingly quiet, gym equipment has been set out all over the floor, pommel horses, nets, various sorts of balls for different sports, cages that normally would hold the balls, and various other sundry items have been carefully arranged to become a odd yet crudely made obstacle course. The flood light's in the Gym have been jury-rigged to be turned on bathing a few spots with intense light and leaving the rest of the room gloomily lit with half light. Admist the obstacle course a girl clad in a brown gi leaps, runs, and crawls through the obstacles as though she's intimately familiar with them. Doing a one-handed handstand on one of the pommel horse obstacles Ibuki sighs, "I wish I was at home dreaming about cute guys..." She pouts to no on in particular given she's been sneaking in here to use their facilities for the last few weeks without getting anywhere close to being caught, thus she figures she's safe from anyone hearing hare complaints.
The temperature rises a few degrees.
It would be enough to temporarily stop all training in the gym, were there anyone .. truly normal .. in Taiyo at this time of night. But in truth, the place is abandoned, with no one to interfere in the brown kunoichi's training exercises. It is, perhaps, for the best.
The heat rises just enough to be uncomfortable, enough to make the winter chill seem a balmy midsummer night. complete with glowing fireflies floating in the air. No--those are embers. Glowing bits of refuse crawling through the rapidly-changing thermal twists in the aether, they float around Ibuki, and slowly tug further into the air.. where a few solitary fragments settle on the tubular bulbs of the floodlights. There, they glow brighter.
Then several of the lights begin to explode, putting out the jury-rigged contraptions one-by-one in unnatural time, and leaving only a choice few lit, drenching the area in the dark. Lines trace through the far wall as a hot knife might, angry lines of red smouldering as they trace out a perfect circle about the size of a man. Four shapes form within the circle for an instant--three leaves, and a great wind at the center to stir them--
--then the entire mass explodes inwards, in a storm of plaster and wood.
The heat seems to come in baling with Ryouhara's arrival, the explosion carrying not as much smoke as one would expect as much paper, folded parchments twisting through the air in the loud shockwave as if Ryouhara had detonated a stack of papers instead of the gym's north wall. When the boy arrives, a young man picking his way carefully through the wreckage, he makes little notice of any of it, as if mayhem were simply an afterthought. His arms are flat at his sides, allowing the drape of his gray haori to float in the shifting winds. A bit of the fog outside clings to his coat as he moves.
"It's been awhile..." Seishirou Ryouhara states, "..since I've last visited Taiyo."
Of course, there are some things he must manage himself.
The shinobi looks up, after the obstacle course, and perhaps to where Ibuki might have scampered off to.
Malin has been trailing Seishirou for some time. Quite how she had managed this, is a question best left to the ages. Call her old-fashioned, but Malin has never really gotten to grips with 'chi' (though her recent experiences with NESTs have solidified that this may be the only thing keeping her sane). Seishirou's flashy entrance is certainly exciting, but Malin had been able to use her new resources to track it, and the shadow warrior, easily enough.
At the moment, Malin is in the rafters of the gymnasium. It's kinda nice having resources, you know? And the newbie NESTs agent is toying with something that looks like a PDA right now. She still has no idea how Seishirou managed his dramatic entrance, but she does know that whatever the deal is here... she's going to get some choice intel.
Deep down, it sickens her that she's been reduced to this. She doesn't /like/ NESTs, she doesn't like the people she's working for, and she likes sneaking around behind the back of someone she used to genuinely like even less. But Seishirou has turned dangerous, and she *needs* to get in good with these guys if she's ever going to win back her freedom...
Ibuki, she doesn't know at all. So for now, Malin is content to stay up in those rafters, as quiet as she can be. She's not dumb enough to wear anything that could give away her new allegiance; she's dressed in her old 'standby' outfit, burgundy legwarmers and all. She would be disappointed if neither of the other two could figure out that she's up here, but she's sure as heck not going to make it easy on them.
She is chewing gum, though, and she lets one leg dangle from the rafters as she lounges, and blows a nice, big, pink bubble. Because if there's one pose that Malin does well, it is indolent lounging, and if she wants either of them to see her as the cheery scamp of days past, then this is /exactly/ the kind of lazy, arrogant eavesdropping for which she has earned something of a ... reputation.
But hey. Better than crouching up here with a sniper rifle, right?
Ibuki is about to let her wrist go lax and complete her handstand when suddenly things get really weird and there is vague ash like things floating in the air, oddly it reminds her of some of the more bombed out and destroyed areas of Taizou for some reason though. Shaking her head she drops behind the pommel horse and then rolls to stand behind a 'wall' constructed of multiple boxes stacked upon one another while this showy entrance is made.
Ibuki's not dumb she realizes that someone is about to use some sort of technique to make an appearance, she's not sure who though, and given her indirect dealings with a certain shadow organization and the warning she'd received from a former Muay Thai Emperor, she's expecting things are about to get really really bad for her, thus she starts readying herself for a heck of a fight, pulling up her mask and readying her weapons and making sure Shiraha is ready should she need it.
As the lights go out, Ibuki takes a deep breath and focuses her mind and senses on what's going on trying to keep track of everything that's going on. The sudden glowing rents forming on the north wall and the explosion that follows, the warm sweat forming on her brow due to the sudden upexpected heat and then the entrance of the individual responsible for blowing a hole in the north wall.
Another deep breath is taken and then she leaps up to the top of her crude wall and sits on top of it focusing on Ryohara, "Well if you've been here before you probably know they aren't going to like you blowing holes in their walls especially since they made pefectly good sets of doors to use to get in here." She admonishes him with a perfectly cheerful tone, "And it's kinda rude to interrupt a girl while she's training, what if I'd been changing clothes then you'd be a rude pervert, could you live with yourself then?"
Her eyes suddenly flick upwards as the senses the other presence in the darkness and she doesn't recoginze the shape hanging out in the rafters as she raises an eybrow before looking back to Seishriou, "Bring a friend along or are they just an innocent passerby?" She teases slightly while waiting for the others to react to this, depending on how it goes she'll know if they are together or not at the very least.
Seishirou's dark eyes settle on the crude wall.
One box, partially smashed from the explosion, wobbles a moment later in the silence following. It tumbles off of the stack and falls flat on the floor with a characteristic *paf*. Without moving much from his elevated perch atop what's left of that section of the north wall, Seishirou makes a soft noise of annoyance as he's accused of narrowly avoiding being a pervert...
There is the vaguest indication of silvered movement past Ibuki's left temple.
A loud thock can be heard, the sound of a kunai throwing knife embedded into the far wall at a curious angle, leaving an angry red wound where it hits. Had it only been an inch or two to her right, she might have had to worry about having more on her mind than boys.
"Don't patronize me with silliness," Ryouhara returns, swiftly and without much good humor in his words. It's entirely self evident that he's the one who threw the knife, because his left hand is now visible, halfway into the air, a fact that only becomes really apparent once he lowers his hand again to his side. "There's no one in this school I'm concerned with. And there's nothing in your gi that I'm interested in."
He steps forward, chancing only a glance upwards to follow Ibuki's indication, settling on the brash Malin. "..Hmph." He gives zero indication of any kind of interest in Malin's presence beyond that simple glance, nothing for Ibuki to pick up on, nothing for Malin to read. She is an old friend. But there is nothing in Seishirou that would reveal that now.
Malin may find more interest in the actual nature of what's surrounding Seishirou right now than his behavior. Most people don't get an opportunity to watch the boy in action--he usually makes a point of crushing any and all recordings of his endeavors, but an observant person not actually focused /on him/ will notice that there's nothing short of at least four jutsu that Seishirou's used as of this moment. The papers that are slowly binding to every window and door--some kind of sealing mechanism. The embers in the air--some kind of flushing mechanism. The kunai itself is having some sort of reaction with the far wall. Even the elevated temperature is purposeful, radiating from some point that is very close to Seishirou. Even before he's made a move, the battle is already starting. He's come quite a way from the boy who was playing with bamboo and smoke bombs so many years ago.
"You should know by now..." Ryouhara mentions at once. "That there are more important things for you to be worrying about than your privacy. I am Ryouhara Seishirou, the last living member of the Ryouhara clan. And the blade you brandish at your back right now..."
One finger appears from beneath the voluminous folds of his sleeves, indicating Shiraha, at Ibuki's back.
"...Is one that I created."
There's a snap from above.
And then the gum is refolded between Malin's lips, and chewed thoughtfully. The girl is, in fact, impressed. Not just by Seishirou's incredible aura; even she can tell that the young man is operating on a whole different level (who didn't, these days? Was NESTs just determined to get her killed facing off against some sort of demi-god sooner or later?), but by the fact that Ibuki had actually started to talk back to Seishirou. That takes guts, and if there's one thing Malin can respect, it is guts.
From the rafters, the girl lets out a long whistle. "Wowee, sorry to intrude. I didn't realize I'd be gatecrashing some big ninja showdown." Malin calls from up on her perch. This is helped somewhat by the fact that, well, it's entirely true. It had been a *long* time since she'd actually seen Seishirou, and she had no idea that in person he was so ... badass.
She stands up, balancing on the beam, and leans to inspect the sealing papers. One brow arches. "... Well, it looks like I ain't getting out of here until you two have done your little, uh, thing. So, if it's all the same to you, I'll just stick it up here and wait. I'm in no hurry. Malin can be patient, you know. Just try to watch where you throw things, and please don't set the place on fire. That's a real drag."
To warriors as perceptive as ninja, though, Malin's casual attitude is obviously fake. Because she has positioned herself as best she can to get behind cover, jump to safety, or otherwise evade attack. Can you really blame her? The last she had heard, Seishirou had completely flipped his lid, and this other girl had apparently stolen his family sword? The last thing she wants is to get in the way.
... At least, right now. Some part of her has to wonder, if information is good, what would NESTs think of her bringing back the sword itself? It's obviously important to Seishirou, or he wouldn't have bothered coming here at all. But answers could wait. There's no point rushing in. Not when she could hang back, play it cool, and make her move after the others have exhausted themselves.
Just leave it to Malin~
As the kunai whips bast her head, Ibuki doesn't even move there was no need to it wasn't meant for her and she knew that thus she sits there smiling beneath her mask as Seishirou chastises her for teasing him. "Tsk no need to be so serious keep that up and you're going to die early from a heart attack or some other depressing sickness that plagues people that can't enjoy a good laugh." She raises an eyebrow at the second half of Seishriou's retort, well that was just rude.
Looking up to Malin again as she lets them know she just 'happened' to be there and the brown clad ninja just chuckles, "Hmm, call me paranoid but I really don't like it when people I don't know up show up after someone else shows up and starts throwing kunai near my head." She shrugs her tone still playful as she speaks, "No hard feelings if I consider you a threat to me, okay?" She sing songs the last word before her eyes fall back on Seishirou. The situation quickly gets worse as now she's finding herself sealed into the gymnasium by some weird jutsu...well that sucks.
A smirk grows wide on Ibuki's features as Seishriou introduces himself, "Ah ha! I see now." She nods to herself thoughtfully, "Hmm I'd offer to let you have it, sadly I don't have permission to give it back to you...plus your carelessness of leaving stupidly powerful things laying all over the place caused me a lot of trouble and I don't particularly feel like giving it back to you." She then points at him, "And you totally fibbed..." She turns around to show Seishriou her back for just a moment as the scabbard of Shiraha is partially hidden by an extra part of her gi designed to hold and conceal it, "You /are/ interested in something in my gi after all." she spins back around and winks at Ryouhara.
Ever-critical, the shinobi doesn't smile at all. Rest assured, he has a sense of humor, but it's nothing you'd want to be the victim of. Apparently, there's just something about Ibuki's joke he dislikes. He allows her to consider the other of their number a threat. As well she should, considering what he knew of Malin from their past together, whereupon such a time they may have been considered friends in arms, having practiced similar ideas of style.
It's true, Ryouhara's pretty much sealed off every potential exit in the gymnasium save the massive gaping portal he just blew through--and that's the one he's standing in front of currently. Further examination of the bits of paper holding all the exits shut can suggest even by a limited cognition of chi that they're aggravated by proximity. The seal in the center, surrounded by a familial mark much like the seal Ryouhara used to blow through the wall, reads 'BAKU'. Bomb. Oh dear.
With all of the patience a large bird of prey can muster, Ryouhara's lips finally tilt into the faintest of smirks. But it's not at any playful ribbing Ibuki shows him. He smiles at the suggestion Ibuki can't give Shiraha back.
"...Don't misunderstand," Ryouhara corrects at once. "I've no interest in taking my weapon from its champion right now. But, to put this in simpler terms for you... I don't really think you have what it takes to wield it." Ryouhara looks up slowly as he speaks, glancing at Malin once again. "...." Should he put her to sleep? Mm. This much should be fine. "Malin..." he finally speaks up. "Don't speak a word of this to anyone you meet."
He doesn't mention anything about a consequence.
"I guarantee you. The legacy of my clan was not scattered through Taizhou at haphazard whim. Everything will have a purpose in the end. Even you...and rest assured--"
"If I want to take Shiraha, there is nothing stopping me from doing so."
Seishirou is whispering in Ibuki's ear from a position just behind her.
But he's still standing in front of her?
Oh shi--
A second later, Seishirou tries to just pick Ibuki up off of her feet and detonate /himself/ Or.. a copy of himself?
COMBATSYS: Seishirou has started a fight here.
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Seishirou 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Ibuki has joined the fight here.
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Ibuki 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Seishirou
meters
COMBATSYS: Malin has joined the fight here on the top side.
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Malin 0|-------|-------
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Ibuki 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Seishirou
COMBATSYS: Ibuki equips Shiraha.
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Malin 0|-------|-------
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Ibuki [E] 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Seishirou
Malin lets out a soft tch, and rolls her eyes. "Sorry, ponytail, did you just admit you didn't know who that dude is? Who feeds you your intel, the Sunday Weeklies?" She shakes her head sadly, as though despairing on behalf of Ibuki. Because really, that's got to suck, not knowing who made the weapon you just happened to find laying around? Total amateur move, to Malin's point of view.
"Anyway, you think what you want of me, Ponytail, I ain't going to make a draw on you until you make a draw on me." A sardonic smirk colors her lips, and she gives a little nod to Seishirou, "That dude? That's what we call a 'big cheese'. Now, I don't know who you think you are, but I'm /the/ Malin, and right now, I'm willing to stay out of it."
She shrugs her shoulders easily, to Seishirou, the very picture of casual confidence, "Hey, Ryouhara, you know me, my lips? Totally sealed." That said, the girl leaaaans over from her perch, peering down at the pair. She is very much willing to just watch and listen, and her smirk is, well, even more smirk-tastic after Seishirou has explained himself. "Always plotting and planning. Tch. And you never thought to come and ask me? I'm hurt. Really, I am."
She puts her hands on her hips, then, and cocks her head to the side. From her vantage point, it is a little easier to see what Seishirou is up to, and the sudden explosion, only causes her to reach up to steady her bandana and keep her balance.
"... You might wanna focus on the guy with the explosives, Ponytail, just a heads up. If you want to keep your head, that is."
And another bubble of gum is blown. She has no idea how she's going to spin this out to her bosses. But what's she meant to do? Try as she might, Malin just can't ... quite square the circle of actually wanting to actively betray Seishirou. She's not a very betrayal-oriented kind of gal. But she can't escape the feeling that someone might be listening in, and having her blood explode would really suck. Still.... no /reason/ to start fighting just yet, is there?
COMBATSYS: Malin takes no action.
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Malin 0|-------|-------
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Ibuki [E] 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Seishirou
COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Ibuki with Bunshin Suicide.
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Malin 0|-------|-------
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Ibuki [E] 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Seishirou
Ibuki looks up at Malin and shakes her head, "If you'd listened carefully, I said I don't know who /you/ are, I had a good idea about who he was...just pointing out people you don't know showing up while weaponry is flung at her head doesn't endear them to you especially when they just happen to be there with no explanation...though I think you have some reason to be here why else would you have been checking that PDA when you first got here." It seems Ibuki had been aware of Malin's presence for a bit longer than she'd even let on, it's still delivered with the same cheery tone that she's been using up to this point.
"Compared to the things I've been up against this guy ain't all that." Ibuki smirks beneath her mask, "But thinks for the concern brat, I'll take care of myself." With that Shiraha is drawn and she's focusing on Seishirou again.
Well she wasn't surprised by the fact that these techniques were explosive given her experience with Katsuten she was well aware of Ryouhara's love of things that go boom. She then tilts her head at Seishirou as he blusters at her not being worthy of the weapon and Ibuki actually just laughs at him, "I think you're underestimating me by quite a bit Seishirou-kun." Her tone almost flirtatious as she smirks wider beneath her mask as Malin and Sei's conversation makes it rather apparent that they at the very least know each other...but she's pretty sure that the girl in the rafters is going to try and take advantage of her when she's distracted.
She actually rolls her eyes at Seishirou though when he reveals his 'plots', "Oh...you're that sort of Ninja, plots within plots and wheels within wheels...how boring." She actually sounds very disappointed at this point then as the clone appears behind her Ibuki tsks loudly for having let it get that close without noticing it up to this point, she can't get away from the blast at this point without totally showing off her full speed so saving that card for later she rolls into a ball and lets the blast burn her and blow her away from its source she'd not figured it'd be that painful...
Using the force from the blast, Ibuki swings up flips over and slams her feet into rafter that Malin is standing on, "Hey brat!" She says before bouncing away right towards Ryouhara with monsterous speed as she tries to drive her open palm right into the boy's overly smug face.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou blocks Ibuki's Jab Punch.
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Malin 0|-------|-------
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Ibuki [E] 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Seishirou
"Then... there should be no problems. Don't get yourself hurt before I'm done here."
He seems almost satisfied to see that Malin is in good health.
Beyond that, though, his eyelids slide shut as he returns his attention to Ibuki, dealing with his duplicate. She seems to handle herself admirably, rolling away from the blast quickly to absorb some of the damage, leaving the jet black-haired young man to follow her trail with his eyes, shortly followed by a peculiar tilt of his head as she flips over to aggravate Malin just before dropping down to attack him.
There is nothing smug about Ryouhara's face. In truth, when that ghost of a smile faded, there was nothing else left to read in his face, save the blur of fabric as he bats Ibuki's blow aside with one arm. "And when using my blade, do you understand what it means to fight those who are so much stronger than myself..?" Ryouhara questions, his hand flicking out of his sleeve for only the instant needed to try and snatch Ibuki by her obi, before attempting to kick her leg out from underneath her and drop her face-first into the parquet floors at his side, hard, his words intended to be punctuated with the spinning momentum of Ibuki's head as she meets the floor.
"Do you understand the meaning of an ideal?"
It's seemingly a new topic for Ryouhara as far as what Malin might know, but it's been one that has apparently held great gravity for the shinobi since he went off the radar some time ago.
"Uh, duh?" Malin replies, sneering, to Ibuki's accusation that she was up to something. "I was trying to find my old buddy Sei here. And hey, would you look at that, he's kicking your ass."
Malin has produced, at some point in the exchange of blows, a yoyo. When Ibuki kicks the rafter, Malin wobbles, but she doesn't fall. Her balance is, for all intents and purposes, pretty perfect. She is, however, starting to play with her yoyo. Letting it buzz down, before snapping back up into her hand, over, and over.
"I think you might be wasting your time with this one, Sei." She says, conversationally. "She doesn't even know who /I/ am! How hopeless! She can't know much about the real movers and shakers if she can't even recognize /the/ Malin. Where do you find these losers?"
Another bubble is blown, and a second yoyo joins the first, spinning and buzzing quite merrily from her perch. Spiiiiin, catch. Spiiiiiiin, catch. It's hard to tell which is more annoying, Malin's commentary, or the beat of her toys. What sort of person plays with toys when watching a fight like this anyway?
COMBATSYS: Malin takes no action.
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Malin 0|-------|------=
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Ibuki [E] 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Seishirou
COMBATSYS: Ibuki blocks Seishirou's Medium Throw.
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Malin 0|-------|------=
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Ibuki [E] 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Seishirou
"So are you two going to get a room for your mutal love fest of eachother or should I just go ahead and barf now?" Ibuki smarms after Malin and Seishirou have their little interchange and Malin tries to say she's a mover and shaker of the world, "One lone brat...nah not that important to know about." Ibuki continues without paying any more apparent attention to Malin at all.
Her arm snaps out hard blocking fast moving hand to the side with her forearm almost mockingly like how he'd just blocked her own blow, "Hmm, that the sword can be helpful? Any weapon is useful in a fight but like anything else it is more how you use it than the weapon itself that matters." She laughs at his question, "I'm a teenager ideals are for grown ups, do you think you actually have an ideal and know its meaning yet?"
Ibuki slams Shiraha's blade into the gym floor to use it as a basis for her next attack she grips the pommel with one hand and begins to whip her whole body around the item, she swings around once and then twice to launch powerful kicks at Seishirou's chest somehow building momentum while only holding onto the blade with one hand only the faint stream of bluish chi that follows in the wake of each kick hinting at how exactly she's doing it.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou interrupts Tsumuji from Ibuki with Katon Citadel.
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Malin 0|-------|------=
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Ibuki [E] 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
"Malin-san. That's enough."
Ryouhara's voice is barely above that of a whisper, but in the silence of afterhours Taiyo High, Ryouhara is, somewhat paradoxically, the loudest one here. "This person here is someone who has braved the coming of my Nirvana, stood against my will, and defeated everything that I would have become, to wield the weapon that she holds in her hands now. She's been chosen. Which makes her important to the world..."
Since Ibuki understands now that Ryouhara at least peripherally is familiar with Malin, he finds it of little use to continue obfuscating the affair. She plants the blade into the gym floor--an act that would draw a cringe from any bladesmith. But Ryouhara knows better; he forged the weapon with more than steel, more than heat. No matter how a shinobi abuses Shiraha, it will never dull. But she questions the idea of ideals. She allows herself to become frivolous.
There are certain things Ryouhara will not abide...
The response is lightning fast. As Ibuki collides with Seishirou's chest roughly, the shinobi skids back,making a handseal around the kunoichi's legs, both hands briefly appearing from his sleeves. He triggers two jutsu in quick succession. The first he planted beneath the sole of his shoe as he fell back from the force of Ibuki's blow. A heat seal that flash-incinerates the wood into cinder beneath it, turns the sealer coating to a liquid instantly, making the entire thing a mixture of acrid paint and ash, and instantly freeing the point of Shiraha in the ground, if Ibuki isn't particularly quick.
The second is sourced from behind Ibuki--a /curtain/ of fire stretches across the gymnasium, almost perfectly cordoning off one section from the other. Malin might recognize it as a jutsu Seishirou used to know when he was young, except now he's apparently able to conjure it from things like the kunai planted in the wall only a few moments prior. Unfortunately, at the current angle of attack she has at Shiraha, if the blade comes loose, Seishirou's going to throw her right through a curtain of flame. One that will burn on the aura for quite awhile after ignition.
Hrmph. "What do I know of ideals? I know that I was younger than you are now when I first had one. I know that when you found your way to the heart of my Nirvana, that you were inside of my ideal. I know that children don't change the world. There is a destiny that you will fulfill. Or are you telling me that you're not even good enough to stand in the presence of real humans? If you think that it was luck. If you think that you have nothing to offer this world. If you have no goal, if you can't comprehend this much.."
Ryouhara sniffs derisively, lowering his sleeves.
"Then put your blade to the ground, and run away. As far and as fast as your feet can carry you."
Malin rolls her eyes, and is tempted to keep up the commentary ... but out of respect, mostly, she doesn't. That, and the fact that the fight has taken a literal turn for the hot. With the sudden scorching heat, Malin can feel just a little bit of sympathy for Ibuki. Nobody likes to be set on fire.
In fact, hadn't she asked that people refrain from setting the place on fire? It really is rather rude of Seishirou to just ignore that! Then again, if it was chi, it probably wouldn't bring the whole gym down /just/ yet, so, she can live with that. At this point, though, she does spit out her gum. It has completely lost all flavor, and that, is just no longer appetizing!
COMBATSYS: Malin takes no action.
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Malin 0|-------|-----==
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Ibuki [E] 1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
Well her attack is countered pretty hardcore, she'd not been fast enough to pull Shiraha from the ground to slip away from the situation, thus she found herself in the unenviable situation of being set on fire by one of Ryouhara's weird techniques, gritting her teeth from the pain of it she refuses to scream out or even so much as make a nose as she kicks up back into a standing position after being bathed in the curtain of flame.
Ibuki is truly getting tired of everyone always demanding of her to grow up, she's never even really been allowed a childhood, when most girls were playing with dollies and having tea parties, Ibuki was fighting men three times her size on bamboo poles 20 feet off the ground, when most children had birthdays that they got presents and cake on Ibuki had rice and got one dress she'd begged for an entire year to get, she just narrows her eyes at Seishirou and then she smirks...
Taking a deep breath she focuses her mind and calms her nerves, it may hurt and he might be currently leading her in this fight but she was going to make him feel understand that sometimes having fun and being normal is what a person's ideal is, with that thought her eyes snap open, "You're really quite an arrogant ass you know that Sei-kun." She announces proudly, "I can't run away from people that think themselves so superior not when they need a hard punch to the face to show them how really and truly wrong they are about the world." With that her fighting stance changes slightly Shiraha is held blade side down in her left hand as though it were a giant Kunai the sword's blade slightly off being perpendicular as her turns her body slightly towards him flattening her profile.
COMBATSYS: Ibuki gains composure.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|-----==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Ibuki [E] 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
"Do you think that you understand what the world is about...?"
Ryouhara's eyes tilt skyward. "Malin-san. What of you? Do you think you know what the world is about?" His eyes slide shut for a moment, as one of his arms retreats out of its sleeve, leaving the boy to draw a small cell phone out of his obi, flicking it open. One of Shioe's, most likely, maybe Riko's. The young man studies the screen as he checks the battery for a moment. Absently, he considers, his stance shifting across the ground, leaving the sound of his soles on the ruptured floor to be heard above the crackling of the fire. Interestingly, for Malin's purposes, Seishirou's flames are extremely well behaved. The curtain of flame he conjured doesn't spread any further than it did in the initial release, the motes of fire that trail around Ibuki failing to cause the entire gymnasium to burn down.
"You seem to favor your youth. You seem to favor being a child. A idealized world, where you may say and do as you please. One of freedom," he deduces simply from Ibuki's earlier words. Still studying the cell phone's screen, Ryouhara doesn't look up as he considers Ibuki's words.
"The world is full of those who would steal that dream from you. People stronger than myself. Even now, there are tidings of a force that will erase this world, scrub this city down to the bedrock. Can you not feel Shiraha's tension these past weeks...?" he questions lightly. "Tell me then. Suppose that I'm arrogance personified. Suppose these worlds of yours are the truth. Is what exists. To whom does it fall to protect it? If they are not... to whom does it fall to realize that world?"
His next words are hard to voice for him, as his arm disappears back into his sleeve, the phone disappearing.
"It is the duty of everyone who is strong to sacrifice for their dreams. Or they will not have the privilege of enjoying them." He squints at Ibuki. "Or did you think the sword in your hand was just a party favor?"
COMBATSYS: Seishirou takes no action.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|-----==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Ibuki [E] 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
Malin gives a simple shake of her head, at first, she's content to let it stay at that. But, Seishirou's words, combined with Ibuki's, have actually sparked a fire in the girl. She knows all about being manipulated by people stronger than her. Oh, yes, how she knows about that.
Suddenly, Malin is on the ground, between the two ninja. She lands lightly, her yoyos discarded. "Y'know, I really thought about staying out of this." She says, to Seishirou. "Genuine. For real. I've been harassing the big boys for years, and it's been fun. That was my 'ideal'. Take what you can, from people who treat others like pawns."
Then, she turns to face Ibuki. "Now, I don't *like* you. Loudmouths like you really piss me off. But. Fact is, I'm in over my head." Sweat beads on the blonde teen's brow, trickling down the side of her head. "So, yeah. Freedom, freedom is great, Ponytail. And maybe you are right too, Sei, maybe I should sacrifice for my dream. Because I'm tired of being a pawn. I don't know much about the fate of the world, but I know a hell of a lot about the fate of Malin."
She's smiling again, but it is not a pleasant smile. Her eyes close, and, in an exaggerated motion, two, long, curved blades are grasped in her hands.
"So. I'm gonna ask nice. You don't want that sword, Ponytail, you want an easy life? Let me take it. It's only gonna draw more attention to you that you don't need, trust me. And you, Seishirou. I know this is gonna throw a wrench in your plans, but, I /gotta/ do this. I'll explain later. That."
She actually /winks/. "Is an A-grade, Malin Promise."
COMBATSYS: Malin focuses on her next action.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Ibuki [E] 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Seishirou
The teenage ninja is being forced to make decisions and choose paths before she is ready, just like when Sagat warned her off, just like when Tenma and Hakuya had demanded she surrender and let them take care of the problem in Taizou and worse yet she's being belittled by the even bigger loudmouth that'd been up to this point hiding in the rafters.
A deep and steady breath is taken as Ibuki's eyes play across the 'field' in front of her as she chuckles, "Brat, you're not much better than I am, you've done nothing but yap this entire time." Then to Seishirou, "I'm a teenager, I'm not meant to handle these problems but you know what when that situation comes up...I'll handle it then, plotting and planning that's not me, my heart will tell me how to handle things when it's time, till then I'll keep having fun and living my life."
Beneath her mask she shakes her head at Malin, "Can't do that either, as much as I'd love to, I can't give it up...it's not my choice." She says bitterly the first truly non pleasant tone she's used this entire time.
And then she's just gone...Malin might feel a quick breeze as Ibuki quite litterally rushes past her as though she were nothing. Shiraha is brought close to her chest as she appears in a half crouch in front of Seishirou, "Kazekiri!" She roars as she lauches upward her foot swinging upwards to contact with Sei's chin with the powerful dragon kick.
COMBATSYS: Ibuki successfully hits Seishirou with Kazekiri.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Ibuki [E] 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Seishirou
His attention shifts to Malin, and for the first time in the fight, Seishirou is cleanly struck by one of Ibuki's attacks. The kunoichi's rising kick hits him solidly, knocking the Ryouhara shinobi backward and (almost) off of his soles. Ryouhara seems less to shift in orientation and more simply float to the ground, spreading his haori wide as he alights onto the earth, slowly lifting his hand to his face to favor the new cut on his chin. "...."
He frowns.
"It's a little late for that, I'm afraid."
He tilts his head just so, activating jutsu to release inner focus energies within his mind.
"The situation... has already arisen."
He raises his eyes to Malin, who's drawn her knives above him. "....The choice," he muses quietly. "Is always your own. Pretending that it's not is only pretending that you're free." Perhaps to both Malin and Ibuki, he reiterates this. "The blade of Shiraha is not free power. It is a tool to achieve your goals in life. Allow me to be perfectly clear."
The heat shrinks away from the room. The reason for it is that it's focusing around Ryouhara, and causing the boards at his feet to warp and crack. Shinrou Kiritsu. The law of wolves. "Enough prattle. Anyone who lays hand on that blade with intentions of anything less will be subject to a neverending flame that will not show mercy through the rest of your days. That is our promise to anyone who wields the cherished weapon in their hand. Take your lives into your own hands, if you will. And see exactly how hot these flames of mine can get."
There is the distinct sense that Ryouhara's done with chattering.
But he doesn't move.
He's waiting to see what Malin and Ibuki are going to do, given the one warning he sees fit to give.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou takes no action.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Ibuki [E] 1/----===/=======|=======\===----\1 Seishirou
Malin's smirk has returned, as she replies, turning, to face both the ninja. "Enough talk? Alright. First things first. Lets prove I'm a /contender/."
Faster than lightning, Malin is suddenly /on/ Ibuki. The girl can move with truly staggering speed when she has to, something that Seishirou should probably remember, because Malin has remained at her strange level for quite some time. Sometimes, the girl can be beaten down by newcomers to the fighting circuits. Then, there's other times, when she can run rings around Shadaloo's finest and bring down the best without suffering a scratch.
Everything she has is being put into making this one of the latter.
Both blades aim to gouge deep into Ibuki's back as Malin descends from a leaping strike. This might just validate the earlier concern about backstabbing, but, if it hits clean, then Ibuki is going to have a lot more to worry about very soon.
Because the sheer force of the strike will throw the teenage ninja into the air. Malin isn't very good with fancy energy techniques. Indeed, she doesn't know how to use the power at all. But what happens next, if it does happen, is a testament to the limits of the human body, properly trained, motivated, and driven to its limits.
Malin becomes a blue, a whirlwind of blades as she slashes across the girl time and time again, raising her up to the rafters, before tossing both her knives to the side, and drawing ... her own sword.
God only knows where Malin had been hiding it, but the weapon is brought around in a broad arc, nearly the same size as Malin's entire body, and taking both hands to wield. If she was going to enter this fight, she was going to give it everything she has! She's going to TAKE that weapon, she's going to use it to claim her freedom, and, when it was all over with, THEN she could worry about little things like the fate of the world and repairing past relationships. Right now, she needs to actually prove herself worthy of holding that weapon. She's NOT going to let herself down.
... not again ...
COMBATSYS: Malin successfully hits Ibuki with Armed Combo.
? Strange Hit! ?
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|---====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Ibuki [E] 1/--=====/=======|=======\===----\1 Seishirou
Ibuki misjudges Malin's speed but she holds back her ace again knowing she could flee the attack should she so desire to do so. She is then battered and hit repeatedly again and again as she's stabbed repeatedly by the little girl's knives and she hisses but ignores the pain for the moment, she must focus on what she is about to do...knocked clean into the air she whirls with the blow feet catching on the rafters.
It was annoying her a great deal...why did she always end up in these situations with people attacking her from behind while she's trying to handle something else, it's always her /always/!!! If the brat really wanted a fight then she was going to make her suffer for getting involved in what wasn't her business clinging to the underside of the rafter with her toes as her eyes lock onto Seishirou, "You want to see what I can do! How this sword belongs to me fine I'll show you my resolve in this matter!" Then her eyes flick to Malin, "And you little brat are really about to pay for what you just did!"
With that her eyes become deadly focused as the symbols along Shiraha light up in a sudden blaze as Ibuki commits herself to this action her breathing steady and solid as she attempts what she's only done once before. Her body shimmers and there is a thunderous crack of pure deafening sound as Ibuki's image just fades, then there is a second deafening roar and Ibuki is suspended in mid air upside down flying towards Malin, then she fades away, this cycle repeats itself again and again as each time she draws closer to Malin...it's at this point it becomes obvious that these are mere after images sent backwards from her trajectory towards Malin, the ridiculous speed of the attack making it hard to track until after she'd moved. The blade glows silver and she's right above Malin as the sword arcs forward and as blade of pure silverish energy is launched...
Ibuki is suddenly behind Malin on the rafters, "Run." Is all she says as the silver energy disappears in the same defeaning roar as all the other after images.
And for all of those deadly promises Ryouhara just made, the shinobi... simply stops aggressing.
Towards neither Malin nor Ibuki. He can read it in their eyes. Driven to the point of no return, Ibuki now gives in for her desire--her real, desire--to be the wielder of Shiraha. And Malin, for someone with no interest in the situation, now seems intent on taking it, for her own reasons. The shinobi ninkougakusha cannot say that it isn't exactly as he wished. The people, fighting for themselves, for their own worlds and their own ideals.
"Hrmph.."
It's as if Ryouhara's hands are tied.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou takes no action.
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|---====
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Ibuki [E] 0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1 Seishirou
COMBATSYS: Ibuki successfully hits Malin with The Deadly Silver Flash.
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Malin 1|-======|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Ibuki [E] 0/-------/----===|=======\===----\1 Seishirou
It isn't often that Malin finds herself outclassed in speed. But, it does happen occasionally. Now is one of those times.
The girl closes her eyes, and leaps into the air-- too late. She thought she had ascertained the real angle of attack, and she is proven cataclysmically wrong. The sheer force of it tears a scream from Malin's lips, and the young fighter is sent hurtling through the air, to crash bodily into, and through, some of the gym equipment.
For a moment, it seems like this may have been the end of Malin.
And then, inexplicably, the girl is pulling herself out from the wreckage. Bleeding profusely from a nasty cut on her head, and limping. She takes a deep, shuddering breath. "RUN?" She shouts, bellowing her defiance at the command. How... DARE this bimbo of a ninja give HER orders? She doesn't take orders from ANYBODY. Even if every inch of her body is screaming in protest, letting her know just how stupid the very idea of continuing the fight is at this point.
She hasn't listened to what the sensible option is all her life. She's not going to start now.
"Maybe you didn't HEAR what I said earlier!" She shouts, "I /SAID/, I'm TAKING that SWORD. AND YOU, SEISHIROU!!!"
"You just leave it to Malin."
That last is practically hissed through blood-stained teeth, as, suddenly, Malin is hurling herself into the air. Her eyes locked on Ibuki with deadly intent, her entire body arches, forced into one act of foolish desperation. She had committed to this, now, and until she couldn't move any more, she was going to see it through!
"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Erupting from nowhere at the last second, Malin is suddenly swinging a huge hammer, easily twice her own size, in a terrifying burst of brute strength. Ibuki is just part of the target, here. With more force than a small girl's body has any right to have, the spiralling Malin brings the hammer around, easily powerful enough to plough right through the rafter that the ninja happens to be on, and, if she has her way, to literally hammer Ibuki straight through the floor of the gym.
COMBATSYS: Malin successfully hits Ibuki with Tsuzuchi.
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|---====
[ \\ < > /////////////////// ]
Ibuki [E] 0/-------/=======|=======\===----\1 Seishirou
Ibuki chuckles lightly from her new perch behind Malin, "I warned you, not my fault you didn't listen to me Brat." The 'bimbo' ninja also hits ridiculously hard it seems as Malin is mauled as though she were run over by a train. She's calm and alert but her fight with Seishirou had slowed her considerably since the start of the fight. She was still in a lot of pain from that damned fire curtain thing. She grits her teeth hard as the pain causes her to lose focus for a moment....
It's a key moment too as when she looks back Malin is trying to hammer her quite litterally. Ibuki narrows her eyes and commits herself with a surge of speed to getting out of the way of it but the hammer catches her by the leg and is is brought from the ceiling to the floor from the force of the blow on her leg as it is driven through the floor, unlike Malin she doesn't even let out a peep as she feels bone shatter and give way from the attack...her eyes grow dim as she starts to pass out.
Then with a crackle of pure will Ibuki stands back up, flings herself into the air with all she has and draws kunai...so so so many kunai....and then they flung like crazy blades falling from the sky as they sing through the air towards Malin apparently the ninja girl is going to attempt to take malin with her no matter the cost!!! As muscle memory and convenient blades run out though....Ibuki falls from the air slams into the ground and shiraha skitters from her grasp....though only a mere foot from her unconscious outstretched finger tips.
COMBATSYS: Ibuki can no longer fight.
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|---====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 1/----===/=======|
With the force of a sudden exchange of blades and weapons, the battle is about to be decided. Ryouhara only bears quiet witness to the exchange as Ibuki gives everything she has to prove that she is the proper wielder of Shiraha. There is a certain extent to which Ryouhara simply cannot interfere in the exchange; this was a proof of wills between the two of them, and if Ibuki was strong enough to withstand his own jutsu and then Malin's attack, then.. it comes down to Malin's ability to strengthen her own resolve and survive the not-insignificant power of Shiraha, a weapon which every fighter through the chaotic times of Jinchuu bled for. Mm. Well. We'll see what happens next.
One thing that is entirely important.
Every potential exit in the gymnasium is still sealed, save for the created exit which Ryouhara has been standing right in front of.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou takes no action.
[ |||||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|---====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 1/----===/=======|
COMBATSYS: Malin blocks Ibuki's Kasumi Suzaku.
[ ||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|--=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 1/----===/=======|
Malin is not proud; she knows a deadly attack when she sees one. Hefting that huge mallet, she literally takes shelter behind it, but, even that hefty weapon isn't quite enough to entirely spare her. A pair of further cuts opening from the storm of kunai, slashing through her legwarmers. She is relieved, however, when Ibuki stays down. Some part of her utterly certain that she would not have been able to weather that fight much longer.
And yet, the girl knows, it isn't over yet.
Trembling, she lets the mallet fall to the ground, and moves to pick up the sword. A long, slow exhalation leaves her, and she looks directly at Seishirou. Not quite panting for breath, beaten, bloodied, and battered.
"Well, Sei?" She says, as she points the weapon at the ninja. "You gonna burn me now? Is that how this goes? Can't say you didn't warn me, eh?"
It's a strangely wan smile on her lips. She /has/ to know that Seishirou will almost certainly beat her now. Maybe even kill her. But she's holding what might very well be the key to her freedom. She's not going to let that slip through her fingers.
COMBATSYS: Malin gains composure.
[ |||||||||||| ]
Malin 0|-------|--=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 1/----===/=======|
At this point, Malin is subjected to the icy stare of Ryouhara for chance moments as he gives the glorious weapon she brandishes at him a most dispassioned look. "Hmph.."
Instead of attacking, he turns away from Malin, releasing the seals he left. The paper catches aflame, shortly burning to cinders. He shows her his back, and the Ryouhara symbol emblazoned there. It is familiar, no matter how different he may seem now. "Understand that when you wield that weapon, that you are nothing short of beholden to realize your world with it. You are currently the one who holds it.. but do not think for a second that you have nothing more to prove. Her true bearer currently lay at your feet." He begins to walk away, through the wreckage and the smoke. The fires he set go out as he leaves, as if obeying him directly and no other.
"I expect her to fight for her strength. But if she does not. And you do not. Then I will come for you."
He looks over his shoulder, a flash of gold ringing the edge of his one visible eye past the fringes of his raven bangs. "And then I will show you how that weapon is to be wielded."
Seishirou lifts his arms, and crouches slightly.
And then he jumps.
He never comes down.
Log created on 17:18:50 01/30/2011 by Malin, and last modified on 22:06:06 02/12/2011.