Tourney Tension
In an isolated mountain range, a man was sitting Indian-style on an edge of a cliff, his eyes closed, meditating intensively. Clearing his mind of all thoughts, a strong blue aura surrounded his body. He stayed there, absolutely motionless, as the wind passed through and lapped at his clothes, a white gi.
In front of him, over the cliff's edge and literally sitting in air, was another... being. He was a severe elder, his completely red eyes focused purely on the man that he was training.
{It won't be long, Ryu... You have been showing outstanding patience... a trait very few possess. Once your ki energy is up to it's max... then your psychological training will begin...}
---- ----
"Admit it, Yang. You like Shaomei and you know it."
"I'm not hiding anything from you, Darrell. I know I like her..."
"Yang, everyone knows that you like her... but do you LIKE her, like her?"
"...shut up, Darrell."
Both fighters had just walked outside the front door of the stadium, deciding to find Kaoru and Yin first before getting any food. After spending a few minutes to check the lobby area, both headed out to check the park that surrounded the building, chatting randomly while passing spectators and a few fighters.
"So... when are you going to ask her out?" Darrell asked with a smile as they walked. Yang shot him a look through his hair.
"You're teasing me, aren't you?" he shot back. Darrell shook his head.
"Nah... I'm dead serious. When are you asking the girl out? I bet I could show you some places to have a nice, romantic dinner or something like that."
Yang turned his head to face forward. "I don't know. I'm pretty positive that Shaomei and Hoimei didn't make their way up here... Probably when I get back."
"And what if they surprised you, ey?"
"Then I guess I'll ask you where those places you had in mind are at."
Darrell nodded a bit before responding. "Hmm... at least you're not in denial. What about Yun?"
Surprisingly, Yang let out a short laugh escape his vocal chords. "You're joking, right? Yun just wants to get away from it all."
"I could imagine that..." the American smiled as they turned a corner... and saw a body careen right towards them. On instinct, both yelped while ducking, letting the guy... or rather, girl, land right behind them. Darrell spun around... and gasped.
"Kaoru!"
As Darrell went over to check on his adopted little sister, that said person moaned weakly while struggling to sit up.
"Kaoru," Darrell called urgently as he helped her sit up, "what's happening here? Why are you beat up?"
After a short period of labored breathing, she responded with, "I... It's... nothing... I'll be fine..."
"Where's Yin?" he asked right after she stopped.
"We're sparring... Me, Yin, and Nanase..."
"Nanase...? You mean the new fighter who uses a duel rod?"
Kaoru nodded solely, holding her stomach. "Trust me... it HURTS..."
"Like I can tell..." Darrell muttered under his breath as he looked over his shoulder. "Just where is Yin and Nanase at anyway?"
Before Kaoru could respond a female battle cry rang thought the air, followed by the sound of a blow landing and just behind Darrell a girl in a blue dress fell to the ground at Yang's feet. Yang just looked at her and put his hands in his pockets, his hair hiding his face once again.
"Well... there's Nanase..." he acknowledged coolly. "So..."
From where Nanase flew in from, Yin ran up, almost not noticing Yang until he spoke up.
"...don't you think you are a bit too into the moment?"
"Huh? Brother?" she yelped while immediately stopping and addressing her older brother. "W... what are you doing here?"
Yang smiled. "Just wondering if you and your... friends wanted something to snack on. Obviously, by the way that you're fighting so hard, you must be hungry."
"Uh..." Yin let on, finding herself blushing while kicking the pavement lightly with her sneaker, "I guess..."
"Let's just hope that you didn't overdue it," Darrell said while getting Kaoru and Nanase up. "Don't forget that you girls still have your own fights to do, and if you hurt yourselves outside the ring, then things won't be too pretty."
"Okay..." Kaoru sighed while brushing off her clothes. "Yin and Nanase's matches are today, but mine is tomorrow, the very last one at that... I guess we should have stopped earlier."
"Speaking of matches..." Yin said quickly afterwards while looking up to Yang, "who is fighting now?"
"Makoto's match is next. She's fighting Hokuto in about-"
Suddenly Nanase cut her off.
"Did you say Hokuto?" she asked urgently. The rest of the group just stared at her for a while before Yang slowly said, "Yes..."
"Oh, no... Look, I gotta go..."
"But what's wrong?" Kaoru asked just as her new friend started to run inside the stadium. Just before she was out of earshot, Nanase yelled back...
"She's my older sister..."
Just as Nanase went inside, Darrell cleared his throat.
"Well... what do you girls want to eat, huh?"
"What about Nanase?" Yin asked.
"She's watching her sister fight. Is that a problem?"
---- ----
Inside the stadium, the match between Makoto and Hokuto had already started. Both sided were pretty much even in both concepts, offense and defense and at the moment, the crowd was loving every moment of it.
"Chougekihou!"
Hokuto lunged forward with a strong elbow strike that Makoto blocked fairly easily. Hokuto then spun backwards and Makoto stayed defensive, expecting a follow-up attack.
"Shinkyakugeki!"
Makoto's guess was right; her opponent did follow up, but it was a low sweep kick, making her slip to all fours. Quickly recovering, Makoto managed to grab Hokuto's leg, who tried to kick her again while she was down, and threw her behind her, simultaneously striking with her left fist.
As Hokuto stumbled forward, Makoto followed swiftly with another punch but fortunately Hokuto moved out of the way, assuming a stance. Still on the offensive, the karate girl started to attack again... but stopped...
{That has to be a counter stance...}
Makoto feinted her attack and grabbed Hokuto, who was surprised to see that Makoto thwarted her strategy and paid for it by being thrown over her opponent's shoulder and slammed into the canvas.
"Don't think you'll catch me off guard so easily, Hokuto," the younger fighter warned as her rival rolled backwards to her feet.
"At lease you're not one to underestimate..." Hokuto responded. "Trust me, I'll be a lot harder on you from now on.
Makoto twisted her face. "You should have done that from the start."
"I guess I should have..." Hokuto said with a smile before side-stepping and catching an unsuspecting Makoto with a shoulder ram. As Makoto reeled back a bit, Hokuto spun around again and attacked.
"Shinku-geki!"
...with a high kick to Makoto's face, making her fall back to the ground. The Hakagi- clothed woman dashed in but soon found herself back-pedaling as Makoto sprang back up and wound up a fist while giving a vigorous yell. Fortunately Hokuto guarded her attack, which would have led to the powerful Seichuusen Godan-zuki, and caused Makoto to quickly go defensive. Hokuto tested her guard with two quick strikes with her left hand, then a slow kick to Makoto's legs, which she had to crouch to block. Hokuto took the position to reach into her shirt...
"Haaaaa!!!"
...and strike with a blue harisen that she had tucked away. Makoto gasped, not prepared for such a tactic and although she blocked, the force of the blow was enough to break her guard, throwing her arms up and causing her to stumble back slowly.
"Perfect," Hokuto mouthed out loud as she put her hands together in front of her... and a small blue sphere of energy appeared.
"Kireneki!" she called out the name of her attack as she pulled back a hand from the energy ball as if it was a bow & arrow, making it bigger.
{Oh, no...} was all Makoto could think as the Kireneki reached its maximum and rocketed towards her defenseless body...
---- ----
"Let me make sure I get this straight... You want two ice cream cones, double scooped, one with sprinkles, and a large chocolate shake."
Ibuki, who was now dressed in her ninja gi (minus the cloth that ran across her mouth and forehead), gave the vendor that was serving her a look.
"Yeah... Is that a problem?"
"No..." the guy answered back while turning away from Ibuki and getting her order ready by using the machine. "I just find it odd that a girl like you is ordering this stuff... and you're a fighter, too? I couldn't manage it."
"It's not for everyone, I'll tell you that," Ibuki responded while pressing her back against the cashier counter, scanning the section of the lobby she was able to see. She knew first-hand that being a fighter wasn't going to be easy. Being a female shinobi made it much tougher than normal, but she wouldn't be here in the first place without having her reason; an ever better reason and hanging out with her friends... Free food...
"Here you are," the vendor called. Ibuki turned around with a wide smile on her face and grabbed the cones first... but the guy, in a rare case, showed off some impressive speed in pulling his hands back, making her grab at air.
"What the...?"
"All because you're a fighter doesn't mean you get off easy. You owe me some money..."
Ibuki sweatdropped. "How much...?"
The vendor pointed at the number on his register and the ninja girl looked at it... and frowned.
"Yeesh... 850 yen... (around the neighborhood of 9 U.S. dollars. If I'm wrong, please correct me and I'll change it.)
"That's right..." the vendor assured. "And that's the discount for you actually being a fighter. The original price was around-"
"Don't tell me..." Ibuki immediately cut him off while reaching into her gi and paying the amount. "I forgot that food here is sorta expensive..."
The young man on the other side of the counter shrugged. "You should try getting a job here. Now THAT is how you get free food here."
"I'll reconsider it..." Ibuki said while taking the cones like she tried before and decided to come back for the shake. "Sarai! Elena! I got your stuff!"
"It's about time," Ibuki's blue-haired friend said as she got up from a nearly table and grabbed the plain vanilla cone, which was beginning to run at the sides. "What took you so long?"
Ibuki sighed. "I thought fighters get a discount... as in 100%."
"Ibuki..." Sarai sighed while eating her cone.
"I hope you didn't overpay just to cheer me up," Elena added as she got her shake and sipped it.
"Ah, it's okay. I'm pretty sure you needed something to relax with. Come on. I don't want to miss how the match is going."
As the three prepared to leave, Ibuki caught an image of someone very familiar to her. She realized that the person was Yang, along with Darrell, Yin, and Kaoru, all carrying a bunch of food. Without thinking about it, Ibuki started walking that way...
"Ibuki!" Sarai called for her, but already Ibuki used her speed to run towards the group. Sarai sighed and ran along after her.
---- ----
"Darrell?"
"Yeah, Kaoru?"
"Why are you playing with your flames?"
Darrell shrugged. As he carried the hot dogs and soda in his right hand, his left was busy with the act of balancing a small flame on the tip of its pointer finger.
"He must be testing his control on his energy," Yin answered.
"Nah... I just thought that I'd do it for no real reason," Darrell said matter-of-factly.
"I wonder how you amuse yourself so much..." Kaoru mumbled while giving a somber look. Just as they reached the entrance to their seats a figure zoomed right in front of them, stalling all 4 of the fighters and making Darrell lose his flame's power for a sec, making it flare up in size before it disappeared.
"Ibuki..." Yang identified while giving the girl with the ice cream cone a look.
"Hi!" Ibuki greeted while quickly eyeing Darrell. "You must be Darrell Markis, huh?"
"...yeah..."
"I've heard a lot about you from the last big tournament. Pretty strong fighter. I can't wait to fight you."
A smirk appeared on his face. "That's pretty nice to hear, Ibuki. I remember you, too. Should be pretty good..."
"That'll be the finals, then," Sarai said as she caught up. "I wouldn't make promises that I couldn't keep."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ibuki snapped. Sarai's eyes narrowed.
"There was a battle happening outside so I decided to check it out. These two girls over there were fighting your next opponent, Ibuki."
"You mean Nanase?" Yin asked. The blue-haired ninja nodded.
"I suggest you be on your guard, Ibuki-"
"Wait a second," Kaoru interrupted. "If you've been checking out our fight, then how come I didn't sense you?"
Sarai's expression grew serious a bit. "You really are underestimating me. A kuroichi doesn't let her presence be known easily. I had a perfect view of your spar from where I was at, but that's not important."
She then turned to Ibuki and her expression softened. "I'm just trying to say don't put your bets on something unless it happens. You got 4 opponents to go through before you can get to the finals. So does he, and if you think its going to be easy, then you're wrong. Focus on why we're here, Ibuki."
Ibuki gave her friend an extremely dull, anime-style look. "You really do know how to kill a joyful mood with your serious talk, Sarai."
"I'm just reminding you... there's a time and place for everything."
"Yeah, but I just hate it when you turn from good ol' Sarai to the queen of moodkillers.
Sarai's eyebrow twitched. "Don't say it... I'm warning you..."
Ibuki couldn't resist. "Everyone make way! Queen Moodkiller is making her way through! All hail Queen Moo-oof!"
Darrell, Yang, Kaoru, and Yin all sweatdropped as Sakai proceeded to beat up Ibuki. Quietly, they grabbed their refreshments and slowly sneaked by the two kuroichi without them noticing.
---- ----
Nanase was sitting front row from the ring, watching the tug-of-war-esque battle between her sister and her opponent, Makoto. Both were tired, but Hokuto started to get the advantage. As Hokuto started to gain a bit more momentum, Nanase looked on, silently cheering her on.
(You can do it, Hokuto...)
In the ring, Makoto was running out of options. Heck, her opponent was having the same problem, but it was just the matter of who was the better woman was and slowly Makoto was losing that battle.
She threw a fist to Hokuto's body. Blocked. She then stepped in while delivering a side kick. Evaded. Hokuto found her way to Makoto's back and countered with a double palm to the back of the head, making her stumble to the ground, although she used her arm to avoid falling down fully.
"Give... give it up, Makoto," Hokuto breathed out slowly. "You're starting to slip. Once more false move... and I'm going to finish you off. I don't want to do that."
"Spare me... your talk," Makoto mumbled while trying to get back up, but not really getting far. "I... I'm not going to... give up yet..."
Hokuto frowned, then said, "Then I have no choice..."
{This is it...}
"FUKIAGE!!!"
Before Hokuto could thing, Makoto shot close to her body and punched her hard in the chin with a straight up punch, roofing her into the air...
{Oh, no!} Nanase thought in horror as she saw Makoto then spring into the air, passing Hokuto's dropping body on its way down... then shot back down.
"It's OVER, Hokuto! ABARE TOSANAMI KUDAKI!!!" the karate girl screamed as she came down FAST with a kick, nailing Hokuto just before she hit the canvas floor, and then juggled her a few more times with some attacks while shouting... then another, high-powered Fukiage, sending her battered opponent up... then down, crashing into the ground again. Makoto sighed heavily and put her hands on her hips.
"So... that's it..."
---- ----
...or is it? Is the match between Hokuto and Makoto really over? And what about Ryu being trained by Oro? Is it really as simple as it seems? Tune in for the next chapter!
----- -----
Translations for this chapter
Abare Tosanami Kudaki : Violent Tosa Wave Crusher
Fukiage : Rising Wind
Kuroichi : female ninja
Chougekihou : Strong Elbow Charge
Shinkyakugeki : Vacant Strike Kick
Shinku-geki : Vacant Strike Swing
Kireneki : (don't have it yet)
Seichuunsen Godan-zuki : Median Line Five-Part Thrust
Shinobi: (in literal cases) sneak thief, (in typical cases) Japanese ninja
Harisen: a traditional Japanese fan (correct me if I'm wrong)
In an isolated mountain range, a man was sitting Indian-style on an edge of a cliff, his eyes closed, meditating intensively. Clearing his mind of all thoughts, a strong blue aura surrounded his body. He stayed there, absolutely motionless, as the wind passed through and lapped at his clothes, a white gi.
In front of him, over the cliff's edge and literally sitting in air, was another... being. He was a severe elder, his completely red eyes focused purely on the man that he was training.
{It won't be long, Ryu... You have been showing outstanding patience... a trait very few possess. Once your ki energy is up to it's max... then your psychological training will begin...}
---- ----
"Admit it, Yang. You like Shaomei and you know it."
"I'm not hiding anything from you, Darrell. I know I like her..."
"Yang, everyone knows that you like her... but do you LIKE her, like her?"
"...shut up, Darrell."
Both fighters had just walked outside the front door of the stadium, deciding to find Kaoru and Yin first before getting any food. After spending a few minutes to check the lobby area, both headed out to check the park that surrounded the building, chatting randomly while passing spectators and a few fighters.
"So... when are you going to ask her out?" Darrell asked with a smile as they walked. Yang shot him a look through his hair.
"You're teasing me, aren't you?" he shot back. Darrell shook his head.
"Nah... I'm dead serious. When are you asking the girl out? I bet I could show you some places to have a nice, romantic dinner or something like that."
Yang turned his head to face forward. "I don't know. I'm pretty positive that Shaomei and Hoimei didn't make their way up here... Probably when I get back."
"And what if they surprised you, ey?"
"Then I guess I'll ask you where those places you had in mind are at."
Darrell nodded a bit before responding. "Hmm... at least you're not in denial. What about Yun?"
Surprisingly, Yang let out a short laugh escape his vocal chords. "You're joking, right? Yun just wants to get away from it all."
"I could imagine that..." the American smiled as they turned a corner... and saw a body careen right towards them. On instinct, both yelped while ducking, letting the guy... or rather, girl, land right behind them. Darrell spun around... and gasped.
"Kaoru!"
As Darrell went over to check on his adopted little sister, that said person moaned weakly while struggling to sit up.
"Kaoru," Darrell called urgently as he helped her sit up, "what's happening here? Why are you beat up?"
After a short period of labored breathing, she responded with, "I... It's... nothing... I'll be fine..."
"Where's Yin?" he asked right after she stopped.
"We're sparring... Me, Yin, and Nanase..."
"Nanase...? You mean the new fighter who uses a duel rod?"
Kaoru nodded solely, holding her stomach. "Trust me... it HURTS..."
"Like I can tell..." Darrell muttered under his breath as he looked over his shoulder. "Just where is Yin and Nanase at anyway?"
Before Kaoru could respond a female battle cry rang thought the air, followed by the sound of a blow landing and just behind Darrell a girl in a blue dress fell to the ground at Yang's feet. Yang just looked at her and put his hands in his pockets, his hair hiding his face once again.
"Well... there's Nanase..." he acknowledged coolly. "So..."
From where Nanase flew in from, Yin ran up, almost not noticing Yang until he spoke up.
"...don't you think you are a bit too into the moment?"
"Huh? Brother?" she yelped while immediately stopping and addressing her older brother. "W... what are you doing here?"
Yang smiled. "Just wondering if you and your... friends wanted something to snack on. Obviously, by the way that you're fighting so hard, you must be hungry."
"Uh..." Yin let on, finding herself blushing while kicking the pavement lightly with her sneaker, "I guess..."
"Let's just hope that you didn't overdue it," Darrell said while getting Kaoru and Nanase up. "Don't forget that you girls still have your own fights to do, and if you hurt yourselves outside the ring, then things won't be too pretty."
"Okay..." Kaoru sighed while brushing off her clothes. "Yin and Nanase's matches are today, but mine is tomorrow, the very last one at that... I guess we should have stopped earlier."
"Speaking of matches..." Yin said quickly afterwards while looking up to Yang, "who is fighting now?"
"Makoto's match is next. She's fighting Hokuto in about-"
Suddenly Nanase cut her off.
"Did you say Hokuto?" she asked urgently. The rest of the group just stared at her for a while before Yang slowly said, "Yes..."
"Oh, no... Look, I gotta go..."
"But what's wrong?" Kaoru asked just as her new friend started to run inside the stadium. Just before she was out of earshot, Nanase yelled back...
"She's my older sister..."
Just as Nanase went inside, Darrell cleared his throat.
"Well... what do you girls want to eat, huh?"
"What about Nanase?" Yin asked.
"She's watching her sister fight. Is that a problem?"
---- ----
Inside the stadium, the match between Makoto and Hokuto had already started. Both sided were pretty much even in both concepts, offense and defense and at the moment, the crowd was loving every moment of it.
"Chougekihou!"
Hokuto lunged forward with a strong elbow strike that Makoto blocked fairly easily. Hokuto then spun backwards and Makoto stayed defensive, expecting a follow-up attack.
"Shinkyakugeki!"
Makoto's guess was right; her opponent did follow up, but it was a low sweep kick, making her slip to all fours. Quickly recovering, Makoto managed to grab Hokuto's leg, who tried to kick her again while she was down, and threw her behind her, simultaneously striking with her left fist.
As Hokuto stumbled forward, Makoto followed swiftly with another punch but fortunately Hokuto moved out of the way, assuming a stance. Still on the offensive, the karate girl started to attack again... but stopped...
{That has to be a counter stance...}
Makoto feinted her attack and grabbed Hokuto, who was surprised to see that Makoto thwarted her strategy and paid for it by being thrown over her opponent's shoulder and slammed into the canvas.
"Don't think you'll catch me off guard so easily, Hokuto," the younger fighter warned as her rival rolled backwards to her feet.
"At lease you're not one to underestimate..." Hokuto responded. "Trust me, I'll be a lot harder on you from now on.
Makoto twisted her face. "You should have done that from the start."
"I guess I should have..." Hokuto said with a smile before side-stepping and catching an unsuspecting Makoto with a shoulder ram. As Makoto reeled back a bit, Hokuto spun around again and attacked.
"Shinku-geki!"
...with a high kick to Makoto's face, making her fall back to the ground. The Hakagi- clothed woman dashed in but soon found herself back-pedaling as Makoto sprang back up and wound up a fist while giving a vigorous yell. Fortunately Hokuto guarded her attack, which would have led to the powerful Seichuusen Godan-zuki, and caused Makoto to quickly go defensive. Hokuto tested her guard with two quick strikes with her left hand, then a slow kick to Makoto's legs, which she had to crouch to block. Hokuto took the position to reach into her shirt...
"Haaaaa!!!"
...and strike with a blue harisen that she had tucked away. Makoto gasped, not prepared for such a tactic and although she blocked, the force of the blow was enough to break her guard, throwing her arms up and causing her to stumble back slowly.
"Perfect," Hokuto mouthed out loud as she put her hands together in front of her... and a small blue sphere of energy appeared.
"Kireneki!" she called out the name of her attack as she pulled back a hand from the energy ball as if it was a bow & arrow, making it bigger.
{Oh, no...} was all Makoto could think as the Kireneki reached its maximum and rocketed towards her defenseless body...
---- ----
"Let me make sure I get this straight... You want two ice cream cones, double scooped, one with sprinkles, and a large chocolate shake."
Ibuki, who was now dressed in her ninja gi (minus the cloth that ran across her mouth and forehead), gave the vendor that was serving her a look.
"Yeah... Is that a problem?"
"No..." the guy answered back while turning away from Ibuki and getting her order ready by using the machine. "I just find it odd that a girl like you is ordering this stuff... and you're a fighter, too? I couldn't manage it."
"It's not for everyone, I'll tell you that," Ibuki responded while pressing her back against the cashier counter, scanning the section of the lobby she was able to see. She knew first-hand that being a fighter wasn't going to be easy. Being a female shinobi made it much tougher than normal, but she wouldn't be here in the first place without having her reason; an ever better reason and hanging out with her friends... Free food...
"Here you are," the vendor called. Ibuki turned around with a wide smile on her face and grabbed the cones first... but the guy, in a rare case, showed off some impressive speed in pulling his hands back, making her grab at air.
"What the...?"
"All because you're a fighter doesn't mean you get off easy. You owe me some money..."
Ibuki sweatdropped. "How much...?"
The vendor pointed at the number on his register and the ninja girl looked at it... and frowned.
"Yeesh... 850 yen... (around the neighborhood of 9 U.S. dollars. If I'm wrong, please correct me and I'll change it.)
"That's right..." the vendor assured. "And that's the discount for you actually being a fighter. The original price was around-"
"Don't tell me..." Ibuki immediately cut him off while reaching into her gi and paying the amount. "I forgot that food here is sorta expensive..."
The young man on the other side of the counter shrugged. "You should try getting a job here. Now THAT is how you get free food here."
"I'll reconsider it..." Ibuki said while taking the cones like she tried before and decided to come back for the shake. "Sarai! Elena! I got your stuff!"
"It's about time," Ibuki's blue-haired friend said as she got up from a nearly table and grabbed the plain vanilla cone, which was beginning to run at the sides. "What took you so long?"
Ibuki sighed. "I thought fighters get a discount... as in 100%."
"Ibuki..." Sarai sighed while eating her cone.
"I hope you didn't overpay just to cheer me up," Elena added as she got her shake and sipped it.
"Ah, it's okay. I'm pretty sure you needed something to relax with. Come on. I don't want to miss how the match is going."
As the three prepared to leave, Ibuki caught an image of someone very familiar to her. She realized that the person was Yang, along with Darrell, Yin, and Kaoru, all carrying a bunch of food. Without thinking about it, Ibuki started walking that way...
"Ibuki!" Sarai called for her, but already Ibuki used her speed to run towards the group. Sarai sighed and ran along after her.
---- ----
"Darrell?"
"Yeah, Kaoru?"
"Why are you playing with your flames?"
Darrell shrugged. As he carried the hot dogs and soda in his right hand, his left was busy with the act of balancing a small flame on the tip of its pointer finger.
"He must be testing his control on his energy," Yin answered.
"Nah... I just thought that I'd do it for no real reason," Darrell said matter-of-factly.
"I wonder how you amuse yourself so much..." Kaoru mumbled while giving a somber look. Just as they reached the entrance to their seats a figure zoomed right in front of them, stalling all 4 of the fighters and making Darrell lose his flame's power for a sec, making it flare up in size before it disappeared.
"Ibuki..." Yang identified while giving the girl with the ice cream cone a look.
"Hi!" Ibuki greeted while quickly eyeing Darrell. "You must be Darrell Markis, huh?"
"...yeah..."
"I've heard a lot about you from the last big tournament. Pretty strong fighter. I can't wait to fight you."
A smirk appeared on his face. "That's pretty nice to hear, Ibuki. I remember you, too. Should be pretty good..."
"That'll be the finals, then," Sarai said as she caught up. "I wouldn't make promises that I couldn't keep."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ibuki snapped. Sarai's eyes narrowed.
"There was a battle happening outside so I decided to check it out. These two girls over there were fighting your next opponent, Ibuki."
"You mean Nanase?" Yin asked. The blue-haired ninja nodded.
"I suggest you be on your guard, Ibuki-"
"Wait a second," Kaoru interrupted. "If you've been checking out our fight, then how come I didn't sense you?"
Sarai's expression grew serious a bit. "You really are underestimating me. A kuroichi doesn't let her presence be known easily. I had a perfect view of your spar from where I was at, but that's not important."
She then turned to Ibuki and her expression softened. "I'm just trying to say don't put your bets on something unless it happens. You got 4 opponents to go through before you can get to the finals. So does he, and if you think its going to be easy, then you're wrong. Focus on why we're here, Ibuki."
Ibuki gave her friend an extremely dull, anime-style look. "You really do know how to kill a joyful mood with your serious talk, Sarai."
"I'm just reminding you... there's a time and place for everything."
"Yeah, but I just hate it when you turn from good ol' Sarai to the queen of moodkillers.
Sarai's eyebrow twitched. "Don't say it... I'm warning you..."
Ibuki couldn't resist. "Everyone make way! Queen Moodkiller is making her way through! All hail Queen Moo-oof!"
Darrell, Yang, Kaoru, and Yin all sweatdropped as Sakai proceeded to beat up Ibuki. Quietly, they grabbed their refreshments and slowly sneaked by the two kuroichi without them noticing.
---- ----
Nanase was sitting front row from the ring, watching the tug-of-war-esque battle between her sister and her opponent, Makoto. Both were tired, but Hokuto started to get the advantage. As Hokuto started to gain a bit more momentum, Nanase looked on, silently cheering her on.
(You can do it, Hokuto...)
In the ring, Makoto was running out of options. Heck, her opponent was having the same problem, but it was just the matter of who was the better woman was and slowly Makoto was losing that battle.
She threw a fist to Hokuto's body. Blocked. She then stepped in while delivering a side kick. Evaded. Hokuto found her way to Makoto's back and countered with a double palm to the back of the head, making her stumble to the ground, although she used her arm to avoid falling down fully.
"Give... give it up, Makoto," Hokuto breathed out slowly. "You're starting to slip. Once more false move... and I'm going to finish you off. I don't want to do that."
"Spare me... your talk," Makoto mumbled while trying to get back up, but not really getting far. "I... I'm not going to... give up yet..."
Hokuto frowned, then said, "Then I have no choice..."
{This is it...}
"FUKIAGE!!!"
Before Hokuto could thing, Makoto shot close to her body and punched her hard in the chin with a straight up punch, roofing her into the air...
{Oh, no!} Nanase thought in horror as she saw Makoto then spring into the air, passing Hokuto's dropping body on its way down... then shot back down.
"It's OVER, Hokuto! ABARE TOSANAMI KUDAKI!!!" the karate girl screamed as she came down FAST with a kick, nailing Hokuto just before she hit the canvas floor, and then juggled her a few more times with some attacks while shouting... then another, high-powered Fukiage, sending her battered opponent up... then down, crashing into the ground again. Makoto sighed heavily and put her hands on her hips.
"So... that's it..."
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...or is it? Is the match between Hokuto and Makoto really over? And what about Ryu being trained by Oro? Is it really as simple as it seems? Tune in for the next chapter!
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Translations for this chapter
Abare Tosanami Kudaki : Violent Tosa Wave Crusher
Fukiage : Rising Wind
Kuroichi : female ninja
Chougekihou : Strong Elbow Charge
Shinkyakugeki : Vacant Strike Kick
Shinku-geki : Vacant Strike Swing
Kireneki : (don't have it yet)
Seichuunsen Godan-zuki : Median Line Five-Part Thrust
Shinobi: (in literal cases) sneak thief, (in typical cases) Japanese ninja
Harisen: a traditional Japanese fan (correct me if I'm wrong)