>>5613419“Alright then, kiddies. Go spar with each other, see if Konban can’t teach ya a thing or two, Ichimi. Tsukuya-chan, yer with me.” You say, curling a finger towards you as you do. “Let’s go a round or two, yeah?”
Tsukuya looks at you, surprised, while the ‘twins’ run off to play. “Wait, here? I mean, I won’t say <span class="mu-i">no</span>, but is it a good idea with your brothers here? Can’t you wait a little or are you-”
“Holy shit that is not what I meant.” The girl was single-minded to a fault. “Wait, what do ya mean you wouldn’t say-” You stop yourself, not sure even you want to go there. “Y’know what? Not important. What I meant was I wanted to spar. Like how we’d just been sparring earlier with the boys.”
“Oh.” Tsukuya, for her part, looks a little sheepish at her presumption, her face colouring pink, but not feeling so embarrassed that she broke eye contact or anything like that. “Of course. Well, even still… Are you sure? I mean, I’ll win.”
“Would it kill ya to be even a bit humble?”
“Yes.”
You ignore her little quip, seeing the little smile on her face as you smirk yourself. “Yeah, I’m sure. I mean, how else am I meant to get better? Don’t expect to ever be a hakuda master or anything like that, but I should try and improve, y’know.”
“Sure, makes sense.” She says, before getting into a stance, face serious now. “Well, whenever you’re ready, dear.”
You nod, slowly circling her with your hands in your pockets, not giving any impression that you’re going to attack. She doesn’t even track your movements, staring straight ahead. You don’t strike when you’re directly behind her, knowing that would be too obvious, instead quickly bolting in when you’re to her side but still out of her range of vision-
You barely avoid the cannonball-like fist that comes with the intent of taking your head off your shoulders, and a leap backwards is all that saves you from the followup kick. Even as you dance away from her attacks, you realise that you can’t do it forever - her strikes are too fast, and more importantly, she is very used to how you fight.
Within seconds, you’re in a position where you know you won’t be able to use your speed to avoid her next strike, and so brace for impact, blocking high, only to receive a kick to the solar plexus that sends you flying and knocks the wind out of you.
As you struggle to sit up, you look at Tsukuya, freely bouncing on her toes as she stares at you expectantly. You…
>Try to figure out a strategy to beat her (what?)>Use your regular tactics to try and win fairly>Decide there’s no way you can possibly beat her with hakuda alone and decide to use other skils 