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Forced Participation; Mai/Kiyoshi
Topic Started: Dec 6 2017, 02:04 AM (149 Views)
Bolt
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"Mai you have to attend at least once a week to be considered part of the club. You know the deal."

Why did it have to be today she was dragged into kendo? Sure she had a mild interest and attended mostly just to sit around and nurse people who were injured during spars, yet today she was actually handed over a kendo stick and told she had to do more than just be the nurse. It was quite bothersome, if not insulting. So here now Mai stood facing her assigned opponent.

The unfortunate thing is just because Mai did not attend the club and actually sparred did not mean she had no idea or was rusty with her abilities. She just did not have the motivation to do anything in the club. Holding the sparing blade out in a traditional kendo stance she keeps her eye on her opponent for any movements. Mai was not one to attack first; a trait she learned from a certain blonde haired friend of her's.

There it was! The Sudden muscle twitch that announced her opponent's movement and desired attack. Once again unfortunately for her opponent, and someone who was unskilled and still learning, Mai parried the blade and simply disarmed her opponent in a switch motion before holding the end at his neck.

"Am I done here? Can I go now?"

She was bored, uninterested, and simply wanted to leave.
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Umbraflamma
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The people at the club decided that she would face a person she may have seen in passing once or twice before. he was highly ranked on the high school team as he walked onto the mat. His raven black hair was tied back in a ridiculously long tail, his facial features were very typically Japanese and his complexion was very fair. He had the stance of a veteran far beyond his years as he locked eyes with her. He then bowed to her. "I was chosen to be your opponent, I am Akamine Kiyoshi Scion of the Akamine clan. I Hope that you will find our bout to be enjoyable." He The stood up and looked her over reading her body and stance. There was no question this young man was no amateur.
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Bolt
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And here she thought she would be allowed to leave earlier than anticipated. It actually caused an irritated sigh to escape her breath when the male stood across from her as her next opponent. Fortunately for him, Mai was always polite even when she was annoyed thus she returned the bow in kind before returning to the basic stance. It would not be kendo practice in her mind if she used what she considered "Her own stance" thus kept it as simple as possible.

"Mai Rivori. Charmed."

Her gaze looked over Kiyoshi as she studied him. It was almost like looking at her friend thus she relaxed her body more in response. She had a good idea this type of stance and was prepared on how to deal with it. However she was unsure how well this student. Only that he had the aura of someone who knew exactly what they were doing and was not to be underestimated. Still, Mai kept her focus and waited for the first move; giving a clear tell that was her intention.
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Umbraflamma
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kiyoshi took a neutral stance, the black haired youth's eyes becoming alive with his fighting spirit as he seemed to transform. Gone was the mild mannered boy from before, the man who stood in front of her now was a true warrior. He rose his practice sword and stood with a wide legged stance. His eyes burned with a fierce determination as he focused his ki. Anyone who was versed in kendo would see his internal movements, as he forced his body's ki into a burst. the Ki pressure would be intense especially from someone so young. and then just like that his upper body twitch, the ki of his killing intent seemed to fall on her left shoulder as she could feel the blow striking before he even moved. And then he stepped forward.
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Bolt
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A subtle raise of the eyebrow was all Mai gave in response to Kiyoshi and manner he was preparing himself. She hadn't seen anyone really showcasing the motions the man before him was. Mai herself was not exactly an expert at kendo nor was she below average in her skills, it was just the way she observed her opponent and reacted which gave her the edge normally.

All she needed was that one observation in his movement to counter which prompted her to raise her practice stick defensively on her left with move of a focus in parrying the blade into a disarmament or at the very least use the opportunity to throw her opponent off balance. She already could tell she was outclassed, but would not go down without putting up a fight.
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Umbraflamma
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Kiyoshi moved. His entire body acting in concert as his balance shifted imperceptibly. and then he was a blurr of motion. He shouted a Kiyah and brought all of his spirit into his attack. She of course moved to counter him, and that is exactly what he had expected.

In Kendo, there is no such thing as a single strike, but rather multiple strikes and counter strikes. the motion is decided once initiated, and each round is often completed before the first swing. The inital movement to strike her shoulder was his opening move, not his end goal. First he had to break her sword. His response; the moment she moved to defend herself, he hooked his weapon around hers and shifted his grip causing the opposing shinai to "flip" down towards the ground although still in her hands as he immediately swung froward, weapon coming for her chest the weapon only giving her six inches to react.
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Bolt
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Mai blinked a bit at the sudden shout and burst of movement from Kiyoshi. She was expecting something, but not this. She had a small bit of pride in anticipating his attack when their blades struck, however the next move caught her off guard as their blades danced and now her's was aimed towards the floor. The amount of strength and skill gave her mind a slight pause only to click right back on as the second strike was incoming.

Her initial instinct was to drop the weapon and dodge, but that would leave her disarmed and defenseless. Her second was to simply lean backwards to avoid the blow which would still leave her open, but armed. The third her mind came up with was to bring the blade back up, but that would be a gamble as to what she could pull off. Time to put her yoga into good use was what she decided upon.

Releasing her dual grip on her shinai as she leaned backwards, arching her back to avoid the blow. She knew she had no good position to counter in what would be acceptable in kendo thus she kept her blade still as she hopped backwards while straightening up, bringing her shinai back into a basic stance before her.

Was he predicting her as much as she was him and reading into it that way? Or was each motion just a split second decision? She had to test this somehow and decided to try something. Within a few seconds of regaining her stance she kept her gaze on Kiyoshi's right arm and made every indication that was where she was going to strike, however as she prepared to strike there she moved her shinai in the opposite direction to strike at his left. This was simply a test to see if he was predicting her movements, or simply following the flow of battle. The results would speak for themselves.
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Umbraflamma
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Kiyoshi Sucked in air, sweat on his brow as he pulled back from his attack. She retreated; which meant that she was more careful and thoughtful than he expected to see. Most kendo practitioners saw it as dishonorable to even consider fleeing. Though Kiyoshi understood the need to retreat. She hadd probably never faced someone like him. Her Ki pressure was also a little weak. "Your sword lacks heart." he said to her in that brief moment of rest hoping to provoke some Ki pressure from her. He didn't have a taste of her spirit yet, she struck him as a pragmatic swordswoman, someone who did kendo as a thing to do, not as a lifestyle. That was when she went for the attack, He felt that she would go for a feint, that kind fo a fake movement is something he would expect of someone like her, mechanically sound but not at all in the spirit of kendo. he was still off center however he was right where he wanted to be. He initated men-nuki-men, and used an upward strike at the base of her shinai to attempt to flip the practice sword towards the ceiling to spoil her attack. His movements were explosive and deliberate, and yet outside of them he was like a statue, betraying to wasted energy or motion. If successful he would then respond by attacking her center with with a quick but light flurry of consecutive strikes, using his momentum and weight to try to keep her on the defensive.
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This defied any logic she could think of off the top of her head. This man was not only predicting her movements, but at the same time using his superior strength to either throw her off balance or completely overwhelm her. She did not have strength this is true, not in the sense that Kiyoshi did. When her shinai went skywards she had to restrain herself a great deal to not throw out a kick towards her opponent. She was not a kendo expert or have a large amount of knowledge, but she knew that was dishonorable and disgraceful in itself and could very easily have consequences she did not want to deal with.

She did not mind losing. She did not mind being shown up. What she did have an issue with was someone as mocking her; insulting her in any shape or form. Of course her sword had no “heart!” She was not in kendo for any reason other than a learning experience! To study why He had enjoyed it so much!

She did the only thing she could process at the time being to avoid both being hurt and making this worse on herself. Using her own reflexes to her advantage Mai attempted her best to counter the downward strike. A clash of shinai occurred briefly, however she did not have the strength to even compete with Kiyoshi's and once more she hopped to back parrying any blow she could, a few here and there making it past.

Mai was not paying attention and briefly lost focus as her feet decided not to work properly. In her retreat she tripped over her own feet and started falling backward to the ground. This would be the only time a response came from her.

"Wha-!"

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Umbraflamma
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Kiyoshi saw how she held her weapon and tried to hold her ground. he saw her holding back the urge to kick or other useful techniques in a fight. He was impressed, she did care about kendo to some extent, but she was definitely not here of her own free will. He wasn't entirely sure why she was here, He pressed the attack using his weight advantage to force her to retreat, eventually she made a mistake, slipping over her own feet and falling back to the ground. He could have pressed the attack, he could have struck her as she fell and scored the point, but that was not the way of kendo.

As she began to fall he suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand firmly, his strong grip pulling her forward and steadying her onto her feet, he didn't think she would use it as an opening to strike him, he saw that she at least had honor. "I think this match is decided for now." he said as he made sure she was okay, steadying her on her feet. "For a woman, you performed admirably." he nodded as he bowed to her. "Thank you for the match." he finished with to ensure that she did not lose face in front of her peers and to reinforce the sportsmanship he found sacred.

They were then parted for a bit, the flurry of motion and talk was aplenty. This was a hotly anticipated spar and of course caused many to approach both of them asking questions. They would both find themselves crowded if they didn't try their best to evade their peers.
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