The Duel (For Teenwrestler)

[Underdoggo]

"Ichi...ni...san...yom...go...ichi...ni...san...yom...go..."

Kyo swung the kendo stick again in again in quick, repeated strikes, chopping the air against an imaginary opponent's blocking stick. They were short, simple movements, nothing complicated or fancy, just repeated muscle exercises. Attaining a high level of skill meant focusing even on the small steps as much as the more elaborate moves, to make sure one's muscles and movements would work fluidly for even the most minor strikes. Repetition was key, and Kyo had been going through various repeated strike motions for the past half hour now.

At this point, he figured it was time to rake a break; setting his shinai aside, he took a sip from his canteen. He had been practicing kendo ever since he was seven, though he had never done it competitively or participated in any regional championships. Not like his mom: before cancer had taken her, his mother Junko had been a world-class kendoka, with more than a few championship wins to her name. Kyo had taken after his dad in becoming a wrestler, but he still practiced kendo to honour his mom. Plus, it was a nice, relaxing physical activity: it did a lot to focus him and his movements, to keep his reflexes sharp, to make him feel alert and ready.

Right now, though, was as good a time as any for a break. He took a sip from his water bottle. Around him, all of the other kendo practioners in the dojo were doing exercises as well or engaging in mini-duels. None of them typically approached Kyo, who stood out a little in his dark red hakama. This suited Kyo fine: he was here to exercise and meditate, nothing more...not that he would turn down a sparring partner if one ever came his way, though...

[Teenwrestler]

Homura Kōgetsu had not been in LAW for a very long time for anyone to consider herself as one of the "veterans" of the organizations. In fact, not many people even knew about her. Of course not, why would they? Her name was not attached to the name "Takeuchi, Akan, Doll, Akamatsu, Northman" or any of the other more famous legacy wrestling family names. No, Homura came from humble beginnings who made it into LAW not because of who she knew, what family she belonged to, what her last name was but because of pure wrestling talent. She had worked hard, she had sacrificed a lot but in the end got her dues. However, getting to LAW was only the beginning. Now it was time to initiate the second part of her plan, which was to expose these so-called wrestlers who were simply feeding off their names instead of their talent.

She had already defeated Belinda Northman in her debut match, an upset that no one saw coming except for Homura herself. All of these wrestlers favoured by nepotism were weak, they had no passion and was gifted the chance to be here instead of earning it like herself. What was worse was the fact that the opportunities only came in the way for these "famous legacy wrestlers" while the others were forced to wait it out in catering. Well, it was time to take matters in her own hand. She would make herself stand out by continuing to expose these fraudsters. Belinda was just the start, there was more work to be done.

It seemed that fate was on her side today. When she heard that the oh-so famous son and heir to the Akamatsu family wrestling legacy was visiting the local dojo she practiced kendo, it was the perfect chance to put her plan in motion. Wearing her modest white training Gi with a shinai in hand, Homura would spot Kyo taking a break and was drinking water. With a stoic and emotionless expression on her face, she would approach the man.

Spoiler

"Kyo Akamatsu." she would simply say, swinging her shinai and then planting its base against the floor to make a loud *SMACK* sound. "The Red Samurai of LAW. Son of Keichi "King Crimson" Akamatsu. Heir to legacy of the Akamatsu name in the ring...." she would say in a ominous tone while looking straight at him.

Offering just the slightest hint of a smirk, she would continue. "Kiritsu ga nai. Futōna. Kachi ga nai. Doryoku mo sezu, meisei o eru koto mo sezu, tada meisei dake de ikite iru.[Undisciplined. Undeserved. Unworthy. Living off the name of their legacy without earning it or putting in the hard work."] Homura would place both of her hands against the top handle of the shinai to stand tall and proud while tearing through his soul with her death gaze.

"You dare show your face in a place of honour, discipline and hard work? You do not recognize nor represent these ideals. People like you, who live in ivory towers, do not know the meaning of real struggle, determination and sacrifice." she said, clearly getting more emotional with anger while she continued her rant.

"Deteike,-sa mo nai to ore wa omae no karada o naguri, omae no awarena puraido o konagona ni kudaite, omae o dete ika seru.[Leave or I will make you leave by battering your body and shattering your pathetic pride.]

[Underdoggo]

Spars, Kyo knew, were a thing that were very much allowed here in the dojo. He had fought more than a few, and won some and lost some. He sometimes had to tell people who recognized him that no, he was just here for a workout, and didn't have time for a duel: most people here understood and were polite enough to leave him be, a fact for which he was most grateful.

But this newcomer was not most people.

He nearly jumped as he heard his name called, followed by the decisive smack of a shinai on a wooden floor. The woman who faced him was tall...almost his height-- clad in a simple white gi that seemed to barely fit her busty, curvy form. Her lengthy blue hair was swept over her shoulders, but her eyes...there was an unmistakeable, combative fierceness in those brown eyes of hers. She was not here merely to spar: she was here to fight.

He turned to face her as she launched into a speech, denouncing him as unworthy and underserving. As a man who got by simply off of his family name. She seemed to get steadily angrier as she spoke, but also visibly kept herself under control as she did so, declaring Kyo to be unworthy of being here, in this dojo...before finally demanding that he leave, and threatening violence if he did not.

All the while, Kyo remained impassive, his own shinai planted firmly against the mat...although despite his impassiveness, he felt his grip on the weapon tighten ever so slightly as the woman declared him to be undeserving of success and unfamiliar with hard work or sacrifice. Around them, all other activity in the dojo paused, as everyone else who had been practicing stared, first in surprised shock at the woman, then at Kyo to see how he would respond.

"So ka." [I see.] Slowly, Kyo closed his eyes and nodded before meeting the woman's gaze. "Perhaps you were unaware of this dojo's rules. This is a public kendo dojo. Anyone can join and practice here, no matter who they are. And regrettably, that includes me. So I do not believe you are within your rights to force me to leave, however much you believe otherwise." His posture relaxed slightly. "You have me at a disadvantage, madam. You know who I am, and who my father was. I am afraid I do not know who you are."

[Teenwrestler]

Having said all that she had wanted to, the ball was now in Kyo's court. Normally seen as quite stoic and keeping to herself, the rest of the people in the dojo were quite surprised to witness Homura act that way. In fact, for many, this was probably the most they had ever heard Homura talk. The timing was perfect though, her mission to expose the "so-called" favorites of LAW had presented itself with one of her targets and she did not care what people thought of her at this point. All eyes were on the two of them now and just like she expected, the man didn't respond to her outburst with one of his own. In fact, he remained calm and respectful. No doubt, he did not want to be the villain in this scenario and shouting back would only make everyone raise doubts as to who is in the wrong here.

Homura chuckled when he tried diplomacy, mentioning that everyone had the right to train here and she was not within her rights to ask him to leave. "I never said I had the right to make you leave. I said I will force you to leave if you don't leave yourself. I was merely giving you a courtesy warning" she said ominously.

Homura showed the slightest hint of a grin after Kyo spoke. He said exactly the words that she knew he would say. "Of course. Why would you even know who I am? The great Red Samurai who sores above the clouds, who sits upon his self bestowed throne does not gaze down upon on the hard working class, with more humble beginnings than his own." she said, turning her back towards him as she would swing her kendo stick briefly before placing its front against the floor once more to make a *SMACKING* sound.

"Of course, things would be different if my last name was 'Akan, Takeuchi, Dolores-Castle Wells, Northman'...need I go on?" she said in a menacing tone. "People like you do not deserve to know my name but I will humor you. My name is Homura...now...." she said, quickly turning back to face him and smacking the floor as hard as she could with the kendo stick.

"Are you going to leave or am I going to have to beat you and throw you out?" she said, glaring into his eyes.

[Underdoggo]

Kyo watched and waited as the newcomer spoke. He was not idle as he did so: he assessed her movements, her posture, her build...tried to get a sense of who she was as a fighter. Homura carried herself with the absolute confidence of someone who knew what they were doing, who knew exactly how to properly handle the kendo blade. Belying that, however, was the underlying tension to her movements: there was real anger there, pent up and waiting to be released. Her build was absolutely one that spoke to strength and power that one didn't typically find in just a kendo dojo.

It was when Homura mentioned the other family names...Northman, Akan, Takeuchi, Castle-Wells...that it finally hit home. She was another LAW wrestler. Like him, this woman was here at the kendo dojo as a break from the rigours of the ring.

Her attitude did not change: if anything her aggression seemed to increase as she confronted him further, brandishing her kendo stick with violent intent. It was abundantly clear that she intended to back up her words with action.

"I am sorry that my family's legacy has caused you such offence," he replied softly, "but I have no intention of being thrown out of this dojo. Not by you or by anyone else. Not when I have done my utmost to respect this dojo's rules and its community. I do not believe you can say the same, with your actions."

Slowly, he raised his kendo stick. "But if you are insistent upon using force against me, madam," he went on, "then I shall have no choice but to defend myself." Slowly, he moved into a defensive posture, kendo stick still lowered, still hoping that maybe Homura would back down.

[Teenwrestler]

Despite doing her best to remain stoic, not letting too much of her emotions get out, it was quite obvious for anyone to see that Homura had a lot of pent up aggression inside of her, especially when it came to people of status and prestige like Kyo. She had already dealt with one such person before, now it happened to be Kyo's turn. Her subtle movements, her posture, her firm tone, all were passive warning signs to the man before her. That she had one thing in mind and if Kyo was not going to give in to her demands, then there would be hell to pay.

At the same time, Homura knew that these people would never listen to reason. Their minds were filled with over inflated egos, ones that she was sure their body could not back up- especially when it came to going against someone like her. She was well aware the mighty Kyo would never simply just leave because he was told, no, in fact she was hoping he would choose to do it the hard way. This way, she could make an example out of him for the rest of her targets.

"Mō jūbunda. Omae wa keii no imi o shiranai nda. Inu-me. [Enough. You do not know the meaning of respect. Dog. ]" she would say, narrowing her eyes at him with a hateful stare. Just then, she would finally be done with her words and it was time for action. Homura would suddenly lash out, not with her kendo stick, but with her feet. She would sweep her leg swiftly to kick out at Kyo's legs to try and make him trip to the wooden floor.

If that worked, she would then stomp her foot against his abdomen to further wind him out before gently placing the base of her kendo stick against his throat. Just then, she would smirk before backing away from him and lowering her guard. "Come then, let us duel" she challenged him.

[Underdoggo]

The rest of the dojo was giving the two of them a wide berth at this point: it was abundantly clear that this girl-- Homura, as she had identified herself-- was not going to relent, and seemed absolutely determined to make Kyo leave, whether of his own volition or in a stretcher. And Kyo, for his part, was not backing down: he was standing his ground, looking like he was preparing for a fight. It was a volatile situation that looked like it was only going to get worse from here.

And then Homura attacked.

It wasn't a strike with the kendo stick: rather, it was a sweeping leg kick, suddenly made and beautifully applied. To the even greater surprise of everyone present, Kyo reacted just in time: he jumped back, stumbling slightly, but just in time all the same to avoid being tripped, demonstrating that his defensive reflexes were nothing to be sniffed at.

Several of the other dojo users chose that moment to run out of the building. Many others, though, crowded around the two, curious to see where and how this fight would go.

Kyo took a deep breath, incensed by Homura's sneak attack. There would be no reasoning with this girl, it seemed. "Very well," he breathed, raising his kendo stick and becoming utterly still. In that moment, a quiet crept over the dojo as all focus fell on Kyo and Homura....

[Teenwrestler]

The usually calm and stoic bluenette usually was not like this. She especially was not a fan of having a room full of people stare at her, which was odd considering she had no problem with it when she was actually in a match in front of hundreds of people in the arena. However, this was different. This was a purely personal issue that had been burning inside the Japanese woman's heart. People were seeing her outside of her usually calm character, which annoyed her. However, she didn't care because her enemy was right in front of her. People and their judgmental thoughts be dammed. Homura wanted to embarrass Kyo, but her plan was foiled.

Her sweeping kick aimed at his legs just about missed as Kyo would dodge the attack, her kick just about catching him against the shin which made him stumble back. It was clear though, he was not some pushover that Homura could just boss around. He had been quite respectful to her during their entire interaction but everyone had their limit, and it was time the two dueled it out.

"Good..." she said in a low menacing tone. Homura would swing the kendo stick in her arm, swinging it over her head before placing the base on the floor while using her other hand to motion a "bring it" side. Soon, she would raise the stick and begin to circle her opponent, looking to deliver a quick and swift strike aimed at his upper thigh and then another at his waist.

[Underdoggo]

It was like all external sound had gusted out of the dojo like a ghost in that moment. No one said a word as they focused on Kyo and Homura; the only sounds to be heard were the soft exhalation of breath, the rasping hiss of feet sliding on mats, and the creak of old wooden floorboards. Kyo was utterly focused, watching Homura, who glared relentlessly at him, the two circling one another in perfect silence...

And then Homura struck, moving with blinding speed. Kyo's bokken revolved quickly in his grip, narrowly deflecting a strike at his thigh, then another at his wrist. God, Homura was fast: it had taken all of Kyo's skill just to parry those two strikes. He immediately spun around into a counter, trying to bring his bokken around for a downward stroke against Homura's upper arm...