Description: Takako issues a challenge to the five thousand-strong Ladies' Team, the most dominant all-schoolgirl gang in Southtown and quite possibly the world. This shouldn't end well, and it doesn't. Fujiwa closes off by saying Zaki's name. To her face. Somehow this... actually ends pretty well. Wait, what?
The world may be in terrible danger, but one could be forgiven for thinking that the Schools are their own little world, cut off from the rest. Certainly, this friday morning, Seijyun is still abuzz as it always is; girls preparing for the weekend as they blearily start the day's work. Friday is always a difficult day for teachers.
But one girl is not here to go to class, because one girl here is not a member of Seijyun High. One girl here has been wandering the world over, and has decided at last that it is time to challenge Southtown's most legendary all-girl team. Her brush with death has given her that burning determination to live!
"COME ON THEN, LADIES TEAM!"
Takako is almost humorous, bellowing her challenge in the gardens, and surrounded by gawping, stunned Seijyun students as she waves her bokken around. "I, TAKAKO FUJIWA, CHALLENGE ALL OF YOU! ONE AT A TIME, I WILL DEFEAT THE FIVE THOUSAND! I WILL STAND TRIUMPHANT! YOU WILL LEARN THE SUPERIORITY OF FUJIWA-STYLE KENDO!"
For the moment, at least, no teachers have come over to her... though how the girl managed to get past the gate and who, precisely, she intends to impress with her brazen declaration is a mystery. Mostly she's just attracting confused stares. She's tiny! And VERY loud! She might also be very Japanese, but a scion of Seijyun she most certainly is not!
World schmorld. Accused of a great many things in her time, Aoi Himezaki at least can't be said to lack her own very distinct priorities; she knows what she believes me, and she sticks to her guns. While the people of Japan have fretted and feared, she's turned her sights ever inward, focusing upon Southtown and the school now playing host to the noisome Miss Fujiwa. What the 'big damn heroes' never realize is how afraid those are who get left behind - Zaki's actually doing her part for the war effort. By keeping these girls focused, by keeping them from being distracted by the bother and hullaballoo of the wider world...
It's really no different from, say, keeping their virgin ears safe from SHOUTING IDIOTS.
"Oi."
The leader of the Ladies' Team doesn't speak loudly, because she doesn't need to. Her voice /carries/, whether helped by that mask or simply powered by the steadfast confidence that lies behind it, there's no mistaking the commanding tone that rings out from somewhere behind the bokken-waggling interloper. Zaki stands calmly enough, one hand hanging at her hip as the other remains hooked around the strap of her schoolbag, a simple - if very expensive - leather rucksack that holds the books and pens most people would never believe it does. This is Aoi at about her most normal; not out for a fight, not looking to break faces. Just walking to school.
"If you're after me, you're stupider than you look," she continues, vulpine eyes watching without particular wariness from above black leather. Nonchalantly graceful, she saunters forward, her strangely compelling aura almost masking the presence of a smaller girl scampering behind her; not vastly larger than Takako herself, comically lugging a bag twice the size of Zaki's and four times as full, panting slightly as she keeps up with the taller, long-legged young woman. At least everybody's moved out of her way today. Nobody stands in front of Zaki for terribly long... nobody, except people fixing for a fight. People like Fujiwa.
"If you're after my girls, you'll need a bigger address book, shortround. You think there's five thousand scrappers just inside these gates?" A callous snort emits from behind the mask, as Zaki draws level with Takako and then stops, tipping her head at an angle to sight past the angular crimson bangs of her hair. As she moves like that, the chain binding her lengthy ponytail rattles ominously. "But you want to prove you're good enough to take us? To take /me/? Fine. Nezumi." The girl beside her stops too, shuffling in her Mary Janes.
"Yes, Zaki?" She looks wide-eyed between the sukeban and the would-be invader, raising a fist uncertaintly.
"You've got this one. Don't let me down this time."
"Um..." But the chain-flinging gangster is already sweeping imperiously past, leaving the pair to face off across the tarmac. Nezumi's been in this position before - and it didn't end well. It's never ended well. A full dozen chances to prove herself, to work her way up the ranks and be something more than a 'rat'. She bites down on her lip, dropping the heavy schoolbag beside her and then dipping in a swift bow to Takako. "I won't go easy on you," she says completely unconvincingly, then slips into a surprisingly apt boxer's stance, "I'll show you what it means to try out for the Ladies' Team!" And fail. Possibly thirteen times.
You go, girl.
COMBATSYS: Nezumi has started a fight here.
"I don't care where they are!" Takako declares right back to Zaki. "I'll hunt them all down, and defeat them, and you!" She gestures violently with her wooden sword, lovingly polished and restored from the nicks and scrapes it had picked up during her travels. "You can hide behind your mask all you like, it won't save you in the ring!"
And then she's rounding on Nezumi. Her first challenger! Takako's eyes blaze with a fierce determination. She certainly isn't going to fall at the first hurdle, and she doesn't seem overly intimidated even by the fact that Zaki towers over her and is undoubtedly more ... 'well known', charitably, than she is.
Takako's sword dips down, and she returns the bow to Nezumi. Dipping her head down low. She waits until Nezumi is looking at her again, and is clearly ready to begin; not one to take advantage of any 'dishonorable' tactics, even if she has no qualms about administering a beating with her bokken.
"I'm not trying out for your team!" She barks, "I'm just going to prove that numbers don't mean anything compared to one's FIGHTING SPIRIT!"
And with that, she stamps forwards. No hesitation in her at all, she drives her sword inwards, and then jerks up at the last moment, closing with a vicious lunge which leaves her right on top of Nezumi; and if all goes according to plan, with the tip of her sword bouncing off her forehead. Boxing?! They seek to meet her with BOXING?! She's practically insulted!
COMBATSYS: Takako has joined the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Takako successfully hits Nezumi with Determined Breeze.
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Takako 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Nezumi
Boxing. It's a good, solid style; nothing wrong with boxing, as attested by the faintly approving 'hmph' Zaki gives over her shoulder as she keeps walking. Anything is an improvement within Nezumi's brutally unpolished style - boxing, judo, all the basics are what she needs, lest she rely further upon tossing her handbag at peoples' heads. Not that doing so is necessarily terrible in itself, but without training... well, there's 'fighting like a girl' and there's /fighting/ like a girl. Spot the difference.
*thunk*
Sometimes even the solidest basics just aren't enough, and Nezumi's attempt at fancy footwork is more like FRANTIC footwork, the shuffling of her feet failing to budge her sufficiently to steer Takako's aim awry. Her head snaps back on her neck, a wet cough escaping as she staggers back, keeping her guard up despite all temptation to wipe her mouth or rub the vicious red mark on her forehead. "Not trying out," she murmurs in somewhat disbelief, breathing out and in before charging forward with a lunging step, driving a swift little jab toward Fujiwa's midsection before planting her lead foot and pivoting abruptly inward. Her question finds the air in the same moment as her solid left hook seeks the chin. "So what /are/ you trying to do?"
COMBATSYS: Takako endures Nezumi's Medium Punch.
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Takako 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Nezumi
Takako doesn't even try to get out of the way of the jab. The punch smacks into her stomach, and then another into her jaw. Perhaps scarily, Takako's head does *not* move. Instead, she narrows her eyes at the other girl. "What am I trying to do?" She repeats, and there's a distinct note of disapproval in her tone. What she is trying to do is obvious! Anyone should be able to see it!
"I am going to prove that I can beat the Five Thousand! I will be stronger tomorrow than I am today!"
Strength as its own reward; power for its own sake. Takako is not a complicated person, her desire for self improvement is genuine and earnest, and it seems that she has no intention of letting up for even a moment in her quest to barrel through Nezumi and get on to the next challenger. This girl is unpolished! Certainly she's not the *worst* person she's fought, but her hesitation and nervousness disgusts Takako!
"SO GET OUT OF MY WAY, COWARD! GRAAAAAAAAARGH!"
Takako's roar is coupled with a sudden headbutt, aiming to smash into poor Nezumi, before Takako follows it up with a wide, sweeping blow with her bokken. Subtly and finesse is for other people; Takako is all about overwhelming force!
COMBATSYS: Takako successfully hits Nezumi with Power Strike.
- Power hit! -
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Takako 0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1 Nezumi
It doesn't take long for the sounds of violence to bring a crowd. Seijyun High may be famed for its tuition in the ways of proper society, preaching the ways of proper manners and delicate, ladylike skills, but a teenage girl is a teenage girl. Even without somebody like Zaki in the mix, there's a certain savagery about the breed; even the snootiest of ladies gathering in a beautiful ballroom will look around when they hear a hand ring stinging blow to cheek. Mankind loves a fight. Womankind loves a catfight.
"Ugh, how awful! Look at what she's /wearing/. And that hair..."
"At least the other one's got nice shoes."
"They're both losers, but does the stupid one have to be so loud?"
Which isn't to say this changes anything else about them.
Zaki, meanwhile, has come to a halt perhaps twenty yards away, flicking her own backpack disdainfully onto the frame of an ornamental bench and turning to seat herself languidly. From this distance she doesn't have to look particularly interested, but she can observe well enough, peeking sidelong through narrowed blue slits to watch as Takako eats the first hit for breakfast and comes back stronger, faster. More brutal. She doesn't care about what's being said, nor the taunt flung toward her earlier. Words don't mean a goddamn thing; actions count.
"Eek!" Nezumi throws her hands up in a cross-shaped guard as Takako comes roaring back, barely recovered from her own punch and lacking sufficient prowess to prepare for the overpowering violence the tiny girl brings to bear. It's astonishing, though it's hard to be impressed when you're flying through the air, blood dribbling from your nose, especially when you land on top of your head. Swept legs kick toward the skies for a moment; giving the world that obligatory panty-shot and setting off a chorus of 'ewws' from the nearby audience.
It's a few moments before the Ladies' Team tryout queen can rise, scrabbling to her knees, head spinning - literally, waving round and round on her neck as she tries to focus - and spatters of snot-spattered crimson coating the lower half of her face. "M'okay," she murmurs, reaching up to wipe the gunk away, then rising to her feet, at least having the sense to adopt a broad stance. "But I mean," she persists in her argument with Takako as she presses forward, egged on by a couple of unruly cheers from the back of the small crowd. "You say you're gonna beat all of us, and stuff, and get stronger but..." Her lips purse as she suddenly darts forward, aiming a scything kick to the legs - not really expecting to hit, trying to drive Fujiwa back.
"That's stupid! It doesn't work like that! So..."
A second kick from the other leg brings her in close, and then she's grasping to seize an arm.
"/Why/?"
JUDO TOSS.
A girl breaks to the front of the crowd, pumping a fist, "Yeah! Fuck 'em up, Nezumi!"
COMBATSYS: Nezumi successfully hits Takako with Judo Toss.
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Takako 0/-------/--=====|=======\===----\1 Nezumi
Once again, Takako does not try to defend herself. The problem is, she doesn't actually have much experience being thrown; Cammy's impromptu demolition of guard posts with a Small Thrown Takako aside, she's more used to people hitting her. So it is that whilst the kick thuds against her leg, and makes Takako's eyes narrow... the grab, and the sudden smash into the ground, actually draws a grunt from the girl's lips.
Takako doesn't particularly care what the rest of the world thinks of her either; for her, the crowd may as well not exist. Until the point that one of them wants to step forwards themselves against her, they are completely irrelevant.
"What do you know about the path to strength?" Takako demands, hot and angry. "To become strong you must fight. To push yourself you must have others who serve as obstacles to conquer. YOU are my obstacle in this moment. YOU are the one I will overcome. And then the next. And the next. And after the Five Thousand, I will conquer the next challenge. I will never stop."
And to prove this point, she comes forwards again, as quick as she can after her failed attempt to ride through the attack, to complete a series of three quick slashes; hoping to simply overwhelm the girl with her forward momentum.
COMBATSYS: Nezumi interrupts Medium Strike from Takako with Ladies' Intuition.
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Takako 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Nezumi
"She talks so much... why does she talk so much?"
"Maybe to make up for how /small/ she is!"
"Hey! I'm no taller than her!"
"That's okay. We hate you too."
"Ahhh! You bitch!"
As half the crowd turns away to look at the second emergent catfight, the front portions actually move forward a little more, flanking the girl who bust her way through moments before. She throws a few elbows, keeping her arms free to cup around her mouth, adding volume to her own yells which echo out over Takako's words, drawing a deep frown Nezumi; who's actually looking quite keen on this debate, and working out what drives someone so... angry, and violent! She's like Zaki if Zaki were tiny and had no purpose in life beside proving she wasn't. "Though not as cool," mumbles she, just under her breath, "Not as cool at all..."
"Go for the throat, Nezumi! WOO-OOO~!"
The first of those three slashes is evaded with a flinch and an upraised arm, barely smacking flesh as the wannabe gangster takes a sliding backstep, glancing with irritation toward her apparent supporter. "Zaki says to become strong," she draws a breath, throwing herself back from the second strike, then gives a bold, "There!" and lunges in. The third beat of the bokken smacks her in the nose, but she keeps moving through it, driving forward with a lightning fast jab that smacks Takako square in the cheek. It's followed up by a pair of rolling uppercuts, smacking twice underneath the jawline, before she SCREAMS. "YAAAAAAA!"
It's the build to a wild haymaker that nails the boisterous girl right between the eyes.
Following the blow, Nezumi stands over her, gasping for breath but her gaze bright and guard raised.
"Zaki says," she continues between pants, "To become strong you have to focus. To be the best you can be, you have to look inside yourself and understand /why/ you want to be the best; and to learn how to do that, you look without. Find people who inspire you, look for the changes you want to make - to them and to the world. Then you become that ideal, dedicate yourself to it every day, and never stop. It's not about fighting, Takako, it's about the person you dream of being. It's about your future!"
Takako's eyes widen humorously as the third blow is caught, and she is forced backwards. Where did this come from? The blow to her cheek doesn't really faze her... but the uppercuts! Those catch her completely by surprise, and she finds herself being lifted from her feet. And then she's sailing backwards from the wild punch.
To her credit, Takako does not stay down for long.
Getting back up to her feet, she shakes her head. "Zaki speaks bullshit." She growls. Mostly, she's angry because she didn't see it coming; she's failed herself. She has misjudged her opponent and paid the price for it. "Kendo teaches us to improve the self! I am the focus of my art, and my ideal is to sharpen my skills against the world!"
She exhales slowly, and raises her sword again. "You got in one good punch." She says, at last. When she opens her eyes again, she meets Nezumi's, brow furrowed. "I will not underestimate you again. Defeat me, and maybe I'll listen more to your *rambling*."
COMBATSYS: Takako focuses on her next action.
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Takako 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Nezumi
"Hm." Nezumi takes the insult well, bearing it with the thoughtful calm that only someone with absolute belief in their own convictions can. She doesn't react explosively because she's sure that she's right. Takako just bewilders her, and it's too evident as she chews on her lip and tips her head to one side. There's an expression on her face that's almost like pity, brow unfurrowing and eyes blinking, but it shifts quickly. Then she's back to a smile, and a bob of her head, clearly about to say something nicey nice.
"Your ideal's stupid," is what actually comes out, all chirpy and cheery-like. "I don't want you to listen to me at all! I just want to prove that I'm capable of more than carrying Zaki's schoolbag every day. If I can do that, I can do anything. Maybe /you/ should focus on actually having a goal. What are you gonna do when you've beaten five thousand girls, huh? When you've beaten Zaki? Keep fighting until you lose, or until you DIE?"
Now it's her turn to snort, as she takes a step away, half-turning. It actually looks for a moment as if she's about to leave, until she bends down and scoops up that abandoned backpack with a grunt. It looks damn heavy. "You know what, Takako?" She asks, hefting it up to her chest, almost cuddling it against her slight form. "Maybe carrying this thing would help you improve yourself. Maybe it would teach you..."
"Hngh!" She hurls the bag forward, putting her whole weight behind it, launching it toward Fujiwa.
"To stop thinking so highly of yourself!!"
COMBATSYS: Takako slows Purse Throw from Nezumi with Bladed Gust.
Glancing Hit
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Takako 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Nezumi
"GRAAAAAAAAARGH!"
Takako's bellowed shout is more one of frustration than anything else. Although she *tries* to talk a lot, she's really terrible with words, and she's done an awful job of explaining herself so far. In order to make up for this, she brings her bokken slashing around, and her chi flares with her fury. It burns out of her, and is unleashed in a slashing wave which cuts through the oncoming bag.
Or, does most of it, anyway. What actually happens is that it gets about halfway through, ripping up books and a lunch... and then the bag keeps on going. The scattered wave of stuff showers over Takako, and she actually drops to one knee. Momentarily exhausted by her own failed effort, and just even more annoyed with herself.
"It isn't about you." She spits at last. "It is about being the best I can be. Seeing how far I can go. There *is* no destination. I will always be able to be better." There's real hatred in her voice, though. She's failing! She can't even beat a schoolbag! She must do BETTER!
In Takako's defence, it was a /really heavy/ schoolbag.
Nezumi should be more worried. Since it wasn't hers to throw.
This appears to be the last thing on her mind as she watches books and papers scatter, as pencils and protractors bounce along the smooth, carefully-maintained tarmac drive leading to the school buildings. Beyond the fighting pair, the girlish rabble has turned their attention back to the real fight at hand, a sequence of gasps and excited chatter trickling from a background murmur to a heavy clamour as Fujiwa recovers. Her opponent heaves a sigh, stepping forward as she regains her own composure.
"No, it's not about me," she concedes, scuffing a heel behind her, tapping her toe to fix her shoe a little tighter. A rather transparent hint of her intent. "It's only about me if you're /me/. As for you, just stop talking and be better, if that's what you want! All you need to do is want something badly enough and--" She breaks off, suddenly fuming herself, a flush creeping into her cheeks and tears pricking her eyes. A quick shake of her head conceals the onrush a moment later, as she takes two rapid steps forward and launches herself into an aerial flip, lifting one leg at the apex in order to drop a Mary Janed heel on Takako's head.
"JUST DO IT!!"
It would work a lot better wearing trainers.
Meanwhile, the sukeban has leaned forward on her bench, eyes even narrower than they were and her torso now turned fully toward the ongoing fight. She's not bothering to hide her interest now - probably because she's actually a lot more interested, gloved hands draping to either side as she leans heavily upon her knees. Behind the mask, she's actually smiling, a tight little thing that's the nearest she comes to expressing pleasure. Training Nezumi is a bit like teaching tricks to an over-excited puppy. But she's learning... slowly.
COMBATSYS: Takako blocks Nezumi's Aggressive Strike.
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Takako 1/------=/=======|====---\-------\0 Nezumi
Well, it is rare that Takako is told to shut up and fight! The girl's eyes flash dangerously, and in the same instant that Nezumi's foot comes down, her bokken comes up. Treated wood meets clunky schoolgirl shoe, and the foot is turned aside. Takako... is not one to take such an insult lightly!
"You... You..... KIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Rising from her fallen position, the small girl brings the handle of her bokken around, aiming to smash it painfully into Nezumi's nose. If this works, the poor rat-girl isn't going to receive any more mercy from Fujiwa. Incited back into the fight, both of Takako's hands are gripping her bokken tight.
And she'll aim to hammer that hilt home over, and over, and over into Nezumi's face. Beating and smashing her down, and fully intending to bring her into the ground with enough force that she will not get up again.
NOBODY implies that Takako is all talk! NOBODY! SHE'LL BREAK THIS GIRL'S HEAD IF IT IS THE LAST THING SHE DOES!
COMBATSYS: Takako successfully hits Nezumi with Crushing Strike.
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Takako 1/-----==/=======|=======\==-----\1 Nezumi
Five foot nothing. Drastically unseemly. Completely terrifying.
Such is the Seijyun High Student/Fighter Advisory Committee's summation of Takako Fujiwa thus far. Several cries of 'oh my' and 'gosh', or whatever the Japanese equivalents are, ring out as she roars into unbound fury, poor Nezumi having very little hope beside that same fancy footwork that failed her earlier. She's driven back with heavy, punishing strikes, her already-bloodied face nigh-on breaking completely. The final hit sends her into a seemingly endless somersault, spinning end over end almost in place before she comes crashing down.
She's motionless for a couple of seconds before a faint, wet gurgle emerges...
"...oh," comes a surprised voice from the front of the crowd, "I thought you'd /killed/ her."
But Nezumi lives, throwing up her head with a gasp that really sounds as though she has back from the dead; like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction she throws herself upright, landing on her feet before she even realizes where she is or what's just happened. Held in alternate hands, grabbed sometime during the past few moments, are a ring-bound notebook and a chalkboard eraser. Bleary eyes try to find Takako in the barely-conscious mulch, another gurgle sending bubbles of bloody spit popping from her lips, and then she /lunges/. Blindly, with desperate speed she throws her arms out and forward, bringing book and erased clapping down onto...?
COMBATSYS: Nezumi can no longer fight.
COMBATSYS: Takako dodges Nezumi's Pursecution.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Takako 1/-----==/=======|
Absolutely nothing.
Nezumi blinks in confusion, and promptly collapses in a messy, undignified heap.
Violent wins again!
Takako hmphs, and steps backwards as the bloodied Nezumi gurgles, and shakes her head slowly. She had been tempted, on some level, to put the girl down with another blow after she tried to attack her... but the swimming memory of what she'd done to Neck Cutter (most well-named of all Vega's minions) stays her hand. Believe it or not, Takako is not a brutal monster who wants to kill people. Instead, she turns around and points at Zaki.
"Are you next?" She demands, turning on the crowd. "Or one of *you* people?" Taking a moment to work a kink out of her shoulder, she looks down at the bloodied girl. She really did make a mess of poor Nezumi.
"Someone should get that girl to the nurse." She adds, as an afterthought. "... I might have overdone it just a little." But in fairness, she was provoked! Everyone heard her!
COMBATSYS: Takako drops her guard to recover.
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Takako 1/------=/=======|
Takako's pointing finger is met with a cold stare, vulpine eyes flicking from the downed Nezumi to that single, invasive digit with an absolute disdain that would be frightening if it weren't so careless. Seijyun's self-appointed representative doesn't budge an inch, still leaning upon her knees as she stares levelly at the bokken-hucking brutalizer. She doesn't say a thing, until all that's been said is said. She hardly needs to.
When she finally does, it might become apparent that the entire crowd is deadly silent.
"No."
The single syllable falls into place like a tombstone door. A combined breath is released from the girls nearby; at least, all bar one, who emits a derisive snort and shoves off her peers to stamp directly up to Takako, almost coming nose to nose. Behind her, two other girls scramble to see to the messy Nezumi, several grunts of effort coupled with more than a couple of further 'ewws' as they set to dragging her away. It's the thirteen time she's failed, and everybody knows it... it's pathetic, but they'll help anyway. If only because Zaki is still staring their way, still motionless, still as impassive as a blank-faced statue.
Except for those eyes. As the newcomer occupies the victor, snarling as she presses up to her, arms held out at her sides to show how completely unterrified she is, the sukeban slowly and deliberately makes her move. She rises and starts to take measured steps, until she stands at the edge of the impromptu battlefield, directly opposite the watching gaggle. Taller than all of them, she's an imposing enough figure; made all the worse when there's a tinkle of metallic links, and eight feet of steel chain comes pouring out of her sleeve, clustering into a neat pile beside her feet. "I said," she repeats, as the challenger snarls wider, "No."
Six inches taller than Takako and a good deal more muscular, dressed in a flashy variant of the school uniform that bares the midriff includes a variety of colourful bracelets, the gainsaid girl doesn't seem inclined to back down in the least. It's perhaps telling that she doesn't appear Japanese, her dark-tanned skin, green eyes and brown braided hair giving her a South American look. She's certainly got the temperament, as evidenced by her earlier yelling and the savage glare she's trying to impose upon Takako with.
"To hell," she spits suddenly, not rounding on Zaki but dropping low, "With that!"
Both hands shoot forward along with the rest of her, seeking to /slam/ Fujiwa down with a double-leg takedown.
COMBATSYS: Nakano has joined the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Takako takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Nakano successfully hits Takako with Furious Takedown.
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Takako 1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0 Nakano
Takako doesn't bother to hide her disappointment as she is not met directly by the leader of the Ladies' Team. This newcomer towers over her, but Takako is not afraid of her, either. If she has to go through another challenger before she gets to the leader, so be it! She means what she said; she intends to go through every single one of the Five Thousand, and that means she'll have to go through the huge foreigner at some point anyway!
Takako tries again to roll with the attack, but her inexperience with this kind of attack costs her. She grunts as she hits the floor, and some of the bruises that Nezumi had managed to inflict make themselves known. Ugh. Alright, if that's how she wants to play it!
Takako doesn't get up, at least not right away. Instead, there's a low growl in the back of her throat. This grows, and so does the breeze outside. "I like the big ones." She declares, "You're so much EASIER TO HIT! KIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
And by the time she's bellowing again, and rising to her feet, the air around the pair has erupted into a lashing, ripping storm of wind. The ground is ripped up between them, and the slashing gale aims to tear into the huge girl; thankfully, the Seijun crowd are likely smart enough to have given Takako and Nakano all the room that they could need for this, so other than the fact that the small girl has more tricks than 'raw violence' up her sleeve, there's unlikely to be any more unpleasant surprises.
COMBATSYS: Takako successfully hits Nakano with Explosive Tornado.
- Power hit! -
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Takako 1/-----==/=======|===----\-------\0 Nakano
"She likes big ones, too," Zaki interjects in the deadest possible tone as Takako roars once more. It sets the crowd of girls to giggling, though the sukeban shows no sign of the slightest amusement. In the moment prior, she was intent upon the new challenger; when that takedown came in, everybody watching her predicted it would take from point five to two seconds for the violent redhead to surge forward and enforce her decision. Now, though... now she's watching Takako with that same terrible glare...
Blades of chi assail the Brazilian's ripped physique, battering through the crisp lines of her uniform to leave huge rends, dark flesh visible with reddened welts upon it wherever the strikes land. What start as welts soon emit gouts of blood as she staggers back, trying to land on one flailing leg before crashing instead to her back. "What the fuck!" She protests, lips curling as she shakes her head, trying to restore any vestige of the strutting badass she was hoping to be following her initial success.
"Zaki, you fucking /bitch/," spits the fiery teen, rolling onto her elbows and snarling once more as she seeks Takako through the dissipating chi, "And /you/ don't know who you're messing with. I'm Nakano!" No, she's not Japanese, but it's probably not her real name; after all, what kind of parent names their daughter 'Rat'? "Someday I'll be taking /her/ place," a swing of the arm goes toward the sukeban, and then the grounded South American is moving to attack, pushing off from her elbows, legs kicking out as though she means to kip-up; but then they both come crashing down toward the bare tops of Fujiwa's feet. "You can count on that!"
A tinkling of chain from the perimeter forms Zaki's only audible response, but she barely reacts anyhow. Those eyes flick between the two fighters during the time it takes to fold her arms, watching with more interest now in what unfolds; a brainless, deadbeat brawler with a bokken is one thing, but if Takako has actual talent... maybe she doesn't need to stop this yet. Maybe there's worth in letting one more fight go to a finish.
COMBATSYS: Nakano successfully hits Takako with Foot Stamp.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Takako 1/---====/=======|===----\-------\0 Nakano
Takako's teeth grind together. Fujiwa-style Kendo is premised on the basis that you can just take what your opponent throws at you, and then hit back much harder because they will be trying to mitigate the damage and thus not be able to focus so much on their offense. This tends to fail when your enemy actually finds a place to hit you which forces you to acknowledge the pain and halt in your attack.
Nezumi had knocked her out of her assault through dragging her into a discussion. Now Nakano has managed it by brutally crushing her toes. It is insanely difficult for Takako to ignore the crunching *snap* which heralds something breaking, and for just a moment, her bokken falters.
The girl doesn't seem to be in any mood for discussion any more. Maybe she's all philosophy'd out by now. She doesn't care who this girl is or why she's doing what she's doing, the only thing she cares about is that this buffoon is in her way.
"HiiiiiiYAH!"
A subtly different kiai, as Takako tries to psyche herself up, and her foot comes whipping around from underneath Nakano's. Two toes are badly bent, obviously broken, and in order to get back in the game, Takako is going to FIGHT THROUGH that pain, and KICK this stupid girl RIGHT IN THE FACE!
"GRARGH!"
COMBATSYS: Takako successfully hits Nakano with Light Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Takako 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Nakano
Nakano's not exactly a philosopher either, in fact by the time that answering kick is halfway to her face she's grinning like a savage maniac. Dark skin crinkling to either side of purple-painted lips, her eyes bore furiously into the other girl's as she seems to simply let the damn kick smack her in the mouth. It doesn't quite how she plans, and there's a foul crunch as the blow lands, splitting her bottom lip neatly in twain, a gout of blood splashing far and wide as she twists aside.
"Stupid fucking---" Her teeth gnash, her backward stumble stopped as she swings back around and ROARS.
"IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO!?"
An angry step carries her in close, her forehead leading a sudden charge, slamming in toward Takako's face, more blood spraying with the brutally fast motion. It's direct, though; it could be faster, and could be harder for the lack of roundup. Still. Nakano doesn't seem to be just dumb muscle. If that initial strike finds purchase, she's set to immediately follow up, stepping forward again to jam a forearm against the smaller girl's throat. Her back leg sweeps around simultaneously to press her heel cruelly against that injured foot. Which leads into a fast shove of a takedown, seeking to drive Takako into the floor /hard/.
"Your shit is weak, little girl! Go home and bulk up!"
COMBATSYS: Takako fails to interrupt Crippling Combo from Nakano with Kami's Roar.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Takako 1/-======/=======|=======\-------\0 Nakano
Takako rears her head back as Nakano comes in at her, and as the blow hammers home, she utterly fails to connect with her own answering headbutt. As a result, unfortunately, the girl finds herself being well... pretty much brutalized. She can't remember the last time she was left in as bad a state so quickly as she is in these few moments.
Takako actually *screams* as her broken foot is crushed into the ground. Her vision goes blurry, and her head swims. It is, perhaps, the first sound out of the girl's mouth which actually sounds girly.
When it is finally over, Takako forces herself back up to her feet. Definitely favoring the right over the left at this point, her lips curl up, and she takes a long, deep breath.
"Don't. Count. Me. Out. Yet. ... Fatty."
"I'm done, Zaki. You wanna talk about this, we--"
"Hmph." As the colourful Brazilian seeks to stride past her, and possibly knock a shoulder on the way - not everyone being perfectly loyal to her chain-slinging self - she's met by a lifted arm that closes for a quick grip at her throat. With the escape of a sneering 'ghrk', Nakano stops a half-foot from the Ladies' Team leader, trying to draw herself up to seem threatening in spite of the position. For her part, Aoi is simply amused, mostly looking beyond the dark-skinned girl to focus on Fujiwa. "Finish it."
It's uncertain who she's talking to, her gaze on Takako but her gripping hand not doing anything. For a couple of heartbeats she seems to forget she's even holding her rebellious subordinate, and it's with an air of afterthought that she pulls her digits away, leaving them hovering in the air as the South American turns upon her heel and stares with mouth half-open as she beholds the dimunitive wannabe up on her broken foot.
The insult is just that; added insult to what's already a pretty bad slap in the face.
"Oh, I'll finish it. Like you've never finished a square meal in your life. I'll /fuck you up/, you skinny, pathetic piece of trash! You don't want to be counted out," she snarls the last, taking off at a dead sprint, nostrils flaring and feet /stamping/ on the tarmac as she charges the distance to Takako, "You take it back to the goddamn YFCC where you belong! I hear they're looking for someone more girly than /Towazu/!!"
With the last, she steps forward and spins, letting the momentum snap her left arm outward with brutal speed.
It comes around fast, and hard, but open; a very cruel, very literal slap to the face.
COMBATSYS: Takako endures Nakano's Mother of Slaps.
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Takako 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1 Nakano
*SLAP*
The sound resounds across the school gardens. "I liked the little one better." Takako says, at last. Stepping forwards into the huge girl's guard, she might be struck by how Takako hadn't flinched from the blow; undoubtedly she knows how hard she hit her! But slapping Takako is like slapping a brick wall, and might sting just as badly. "She at least knows she is weak."
Takako's bokken is suddenly alive with energy, the polished wood of it surrounded by a thickly swirling sheathe of that slicing chi energy. In one smooth motion she brings it around, and upwards in a high sweeping strike. The aim is to crash into Nakano and send her into the sky. If she can do that, the girl will be hers...
If she can't, well, she'll just have to give it all she's got anyway!
COMBATSYS: Takako successfully hits Nakano with Kusanagi of Dreams.
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Takako 0/-------/----===|=======\======-\1 Nakano
Takako's motions have rarely had the blistering speed one associates with high-level fighters. All that changes the moment that Nakano is in the air.
It had been a bright and clear day, but suddenly the world is full of stormclouds, and Takako is a dark silhouette raising from the ground. A malevolent shadow rising up to meet the huge, dark-skinned foreigner in the air. Her blade is glowing, and her eyes are roaring; her spirit is telling her to destroy this girl!
In the fraction of a second between Takako leaping up and coming into view of Nakano, and suddenly being behind her, the girl delivers no less than eight blows. A blindingly fast series of slashes, each one coupled with a tearing gale of energy which rips into the larger girl.
Takako may be small, but it is hard to see her as any less terrifying for that when her final blow, delivered from behind to a likely dizzied Nakano, hammers the huge girl into the ground.
Landing a short distance away, Takako is glistening with sweat, her hands having gripped her bokken so tightly that the blunt wood has still torn into the flesh of her palms. For once, she isn't shouting; her voice is perfectly level as she states:
"If you get up, I will show you no mercy."
A forthright, aggressive motion like that slap... it leaves a person open, if only briefly. There's a small window in which Nakano has a chance to react even so, her green eyes flaming as she watches the bokken sweep around as though in perilously slow motion; and in that instant she chooses. The grin spreads again upon her lips, derisive and fierce, and she plants her stance solidly in the fraction of a second before the blow hits-- and hit it does, so hard that a shockwave ripples out before Takako can even truly begin.
Grin fades to grimace, becomes a rictus of horrified realization.
Every strike is true, snapping that muscular form this way and that, rending clothing and raising welts upon welts, blood vessels bursting before the pure ONSLAUGHT in which the tiny girl engages. Nakano can't do anything save feel absolute, nigh-on overwhelming pain before she's slamming toward the tarmac, impacting hard enough to raise a small crater. Cracks fly outward, spiralling toward the school buildings on one side and the gates on the other - scattering the small crowd further away with screams and girlish yells. The downed Brazilian sees and hears none of it; all she sees is Takako, all she hears is the boom of agony.
But then, she hears the voice. Get up. No mercy. She's a /fighter/.
"There is," she mutters, cracking an eye against the suddenly blinding light of day, "Never," And then she's extending an arm across the floor toward the much smaller warrior, bloodied lips drawing back in an entirely different kind of rictus now; the kind that says 'I'm going to grab you, and I'm going to kill you'. She pulls herself forward and forces herself up, entering a deliriously fast forward-scrabbling motion that sees her cross the distance in a spidery flash. "ANY FUCKING MERCY!!" Her throat flutters as she screams.
Both hands suddenly reach for Takako's right leg, a violent swing of the body causing the feet to impact from behind as Nakano presses upon the knee - forcing the limb to bend, forcing her astonishingly powerful - but equally battered - opponent to fall, or be dragged. If she can secure the grasp, that's all it will take.
At the outside of the ring, surrounded by cracks, Zaki stands unmoved.
COMBATSYS: Takako fails to interrupt Hell Hath No Fury from Nakano with Killing Flurry.
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Nakano 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Takako can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Nakano 0/-------/----===|
"I don't /need/ to get up to show you /that/, little /bitch/!"
Her grasping hands locating what they seek, the rest is elementary; Takako comes crashing down like the world's diddiest Redwood. Delirious, veins flooded with adrenaline, Nakano springs to a four-point crouch. Hovering like an animal over her downed foe for a moment, she directs her stare to the waiting Zaki, lips spreading in a terrible grin before she pounces, catching herself on three limbs as one hand reaches for the back of the invader's skull. Cruel fingertips seize a handful of hair, and she lifts and slams, lifts and slams, LIFTS and SLAMS, until she's absolutely certain she's rendered the other girl a bloody, barely-conscious mess.
But she isn't done; and with the final heft she holds her face up to the gasping crowd, and to Zaki. Dropping to the floor with her dimunitive opponent, she maintains her grip as she slides a forearm once more up against the throat, hauling back with all her strength to crush the windpipe. It's impossible to breath in that position - it seems, as her eyes promised, as though she'll be carrying out a murder today, as if...
"I said," the words come hard, too loud to be spoken so softly. They're familiar, as is the voice that speaks them. But they shouldn't be coming from so close. Nakano lets out a seething hiss through clenched teeth, her choke clamped in all the tighter for an instant before it's suddenly released in tandem with the singing of a hundred steel links, and a horrifying *crunch* from above Takako's head. The Brazilian is suddenly hauled into the air, a chain around her own windpipe, feet off the ground as the adequately taller Zaki interjects.
"No."
It's perhaps thirty long, uncomfortable seconds of absolute silence from the gathered Seijyun students before the crimson-haired sukeban brutally tosses her burden aside as though she were nothing. Nakano bounces twice before she hits the grass surrounding a pleasant flowerbed, body tumbling with a dry, heaving choke into the fertile soil - her garish modified uniform finding at last a fair match amidst the exotic plants. If Takako's still alert enough, she'll find herself hauled up a moment later, strong hands steadying her as vulpine eyes lean close, examining the kendoka's own, doubtless bloodshot gaze for signs of life and coherence.
"Oi! Fujiwa. Still with us?"
COMBATSYS: Zaki has joined the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Zaki successfully hits Nakano with Chain Strangler.
COMBATSYS: Nakano takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Nakano has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Zaki 0/-------/---====|
It is a little known fact (as there is only one surviving practicioner of the art) that the *ideal* sought by Fujiwa-style Kendo is to crash into your opponent's attack with one of your own and power through, caring nothing for any wounds you may take in the process. In the moment before Nakano is on her again, Takako understands innately that there is no other option, here. To achieve victory, she must meet this assault with one of her own; to do otherwise will merely result in a shameful defeat.
The girl raises her bokken, but it isn't fast enough to save herself. Nevertheless, she smiles. Because even as the consciousness is being brutally hammered out of her, she can't help but feel that she has acheived something; some deeper, zen-like insight into the *why* of her own style, rather than simply that it is the way it is. It is the first time she has ever been in such a position, and as her nose cracks, she can't help but think that it is a fair trade.
Pain is fleeting; honor is forever.
When she comes round again, she is staring at a masked face. She's a bloody mess; aside from anything else, her bokken isn't in her hands. She chokes a couple of times, and then starts breathing again, properly. Hahn. That was even more painful than her beating at the hands of the damned *blind* person. But less embarrassing.
"It'll take more than her to kill me!" She declares, wobbling as she forces herself to get back up to her feet. She can still stand! Though her eyes really are terribly unfocused and she's swaying on the spot. A strong gust of wind could probably have a good chance of knocking her over right now.
"I will beat her next time! And then, I'm coming for you, Himezaki!"
Aoi is a massively misunderstood person. Even within the walls of Seijyun, the school she fights for, the school she defends and nurtures - in her own, stealthy way - there are numerous girls who are absolutely terrified to approach her. Who believe she's some kind of horrible demon, the sort of thing you need to check beneath your bed for every night. It's a reputation she encourages, even cultivates, but it's still a misreading. Those glaring eyes see a lot, more than just violence and the capacity for it, she examines everything a lot more carefully than most ever figure on. She's a student of many games.
Which is why she's unsurprised when Takako responds with rapid confidence. Beneath the mask, her mouth twists, though whether in pleasure or disgust is something left to the ages; the only sign upon the face above is an additional pinched line beneath her left eye. Pulling back from the tiny kendoka, she sets one hand to her hip, giving a slow dip of the chin - a half-nod, half-bow that says, in spite of everything, 'you're alright'.
She's not sticking around to listen to what follows, taking a step past Takako and bending toward the ground. Tall she may be, but she's almost unbelievably lithe, flexing with incredible ease as she tightens her long, gray-gloved fingers about something hard. Very hard. It's in her grasp when that last promise is made...
That name. Nobody gets away with that. Not ever. It's known. She's /famous/ for it.
Straightening up with an outbreath, almost snorted through the nose, she looks toward the nearby crowd.
They're talking amongst themselves now, ribbing each other and giggling in the nervous aftermath of the day's violent display. As Zaki watches, a few of them even turn to leave. They're not paying attention. The show is over; nobody cares about Takako, not really, and most of them are too intimidated to ever stand and stare at the sukeban herself. As she's already pointed, the school is fair empty of her gangster. Most of them are out on the streets, safely away from her need to eternally prove herself. From the thing...
From the thing that makes her very much like Fujiwa Takako.
Slowly she turns around, flipping something around in her grasp. The girl's bokken.
It *whooshes* in the cool air, before the blood-dampened blade lands with a smack in her hand, the hilt extended toward the Girl Who Would Be King. Vulpine eyes meet her own as the weapon is offered forth. She'll allow it to be taken before she speaks, silence having reigned for the interim, the tall, sinewy girl not uttering a single word until she's sure that they understand one another. No; that she understands Takako.
And then, she says it. The single word. She doesn't need more than one. It's the one that matters.
"Good."
Behind the mask, she's smiling again as she briskly turns and moves to leave.
COMBATSYS: Zaki takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Zaki has ended the fight here.
Log created on 06:15:10 03/09/2012 by Zaki, and last modified on 00:27:25 03/12/2012.