Training by the Lake (Open)

[Horo]

::Setting--One week after the events in Savale. The sounds of construction can be heard in the distance. The day is warm, low 70s with clear sky. A slow breeze wafts across the waters. The time is early morning, around 9. Classes have been canceled for the time being, due to the events that occurred::

"I'm ready."
Mikoto stood with her feet in the sand. It was warm between her toes, aiding the relaxation of her muscles. Her hands stayed at her side and her breaths were long and deep. Standing 10 feet forward of her was a woman of similar size. Her hair was short and her eyes were large. "Alright, here it comes!" In Kari's hand was a collection of small pebbles. She lifted her hand and with a strong twist of her waist she flung them at Mikoto.

Mikoto's feet pressed into the sand as her eyes followed each pebble that raced forward. Her forward hand snapped back and forth through the air. By the time she had taken a step forward she had each pebble in her hand. With a smile she dropped them onto the ground and stepped a bit closer. "I know I can do better. Closer and more."

Kari sighed and reached down, picking up a handful of sand. Her eyes focused on Mikoto"Are you sure? I have a mean-" Kari didn't finish her sentence before launching the sand at her best friend. Miko didn't hesitate as she advanced and with both hands began snatching the sand out of the air. She stopped her advance inches away from Kari and allowed the sand to drain out from between her fingers. "I still can't catch all of the sand."
Kari leaned in and gave Miko a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, I don't even think your brother could do that."
"If I'm going to pass the trials, I'll need to be the most powerful I've ever been!
Kari put her arms around Miko and pushed her to the ground. "Well, don't worry about that right now. We can take a quick swim break, can't we?"

Miko looked to the side and thought with a playful look on her face. She pushed Kari off from on top of her and sat up. "You can swim, I'll watch." Kari smiled and took off her Gi, jumping into the water. She did a few circles before coming back to the surface and shooting water out of her mouth at Miko. "Come on in, the water's great."

[Sabata]

It was a normal day for Manco Hoshizuki, well as normal as things got at the academy with everything that went on. Saying anything at the academy was "normal" was like calling a metastatic tumor "benign." That was putting things mildly.

Manco slung his coat over his shoulder as he walked out of the dorm, stretching and feeling the nice warm air. Perfect day for a pleasant walk, maybe a good fight if the opportunity came along. Manco didn't intend to walk around with a chip on his shoulder though, the day was too pleasant to act unpleasant and try to goad someone into a fight.

He started strolling along, trying to decide where a nice place for his walk to take him might be. Manco decided on the lake. The lake seemed to be the perfect place to go on a day like this. He could take a nice swim if he wanted to. With that in mind, Manco walked down to the lake, arriving just in time to see Mikoto and Kari training, though it really looked like little more than a game to him from the distance at which he saw it. He decided to approach anyways, carrying his sword with him.

Manco decided to sit himself down at the age of the lake, not wanting to bother the two girls who appeared to be friends that were also there. He used his coat as a blanket to sit on, then decided this was a good place to perform some maintenance on his sword. He drew it from its scabbard, which he set to the side, then went about oiling it with an oil soaked cloth he kept in a small, empty film container. It certainly was a pleasant day, and it felt like absolutely nothing at all that could possibly happen could ruin it. Period.

[Stein]

Taighler and Taylour came running down the path towards the lake. “We found you, you can’t escape!!” They yelled in perfect unison as they neared the water. They paused only for a second to pull off their shirts and toss them to opposite sides once again in unison; One shirt went flying in the direction of Manco. Taighler and Taylour jumped into the lake diving towards the bottom before re-surfacing holding what appeared to be a moss covered rock. “Tell us where she is and we won’t tickle you!” They yelled at the rock shaped object. Taighler and Taylour were perfect mirrors of each other, same face, same short, white, spiky hair, even the same movements; the one different between them was that one has liquid silver eyes, and the other had golden eyes. There was a broken giggley reply which was inaudible to most. “That’s what we thought” They said as they dropped the rock and re-dove towards the bottom of the lake, only to reamerge a little later laughing with a girl between them “We found you!”

Apple had been hiding under water with Clover from the twins, but the twins found her quickly and threatened to tickle her if she didn’t tell where Clover was. She giggle as she said “Clover. Hiding. In water.” When they dropped her she quickly floated to the surface again unseen from being overshadowed by the twins splashing. She oozed across the surface of the water towards a boy with apple colored hair. I wonder what his hair tastes like she thought as she snuck under the sand towards the boy. She had to go over a girls foot to get to him, but it’d be worth it. She reached Manco being careful to avoid his sword, and climbed up his back to reside on top of his head, where she proceeded to nibble 1/4th of an inch from the top of his hair. “you no apple tasting…” she said quietly upon discovering that Manco’s hair was not, in fact, apple flavored.

[Rikka]

Along the bottom of the lake a human like figure walked along exploring nooks and crannies near a moss covered rock. Looking up she quickly squeezed herself into a hole and watched at the moss covered rock was taken away by a set of twins. Giggling she crept out of her hole and continued toward the edge of the lake when she heard Apple give her up. Gasping she started to swim away quickly but was soon caught by the twins. When they latched onto her she ended up very startled but contributed it to the twins having grabbed her from behind. Unbeknownst to her their invisible chain had accidentally wrapped around her ankle.

When the broke the surface she ended up squirming her black hair which was soaked flung water droplets everywhere as she finally crawled up onto the surface of the water before taking off running from the twins in a soaked bikini top and shorts. She got about five feet before she tripped over something and smacked the surface of the lake like it was a solid surface of course that was disproved by the ripples beneath her.

Rolling over she sat up and looked at her feet with sky blue eyes today. Noting the chain around her ankle she smacked her forehead. How on earth did I get that tangled around my ankle? Knowing what they were gonna do next she poked at it for a moment knowing to all others it would look as if she was poking air. Laying back on the water she gave in to inevitable conclusion to this game. "She sold me out! Apple you gave away my hiding spot! I am hiding the apples!" Her words seemed to be yelled at no one in particular.

[Horo]

Miko twisted her head in refusal of Kari’s offer. “Not yet, I still have more training to do before I can relax for today.” The wind began to blow a bit stronger as Manco entered the clearing and took a position a small distance from Miko and Kari. The two determined eyes upon Miko’s head fixed themselves upon Manco as he began polishing his sword. “No Miko, not Manco. He has a reputation of not knowing how to hold back.” Miko only grinned slightly. “I have unfinished business with him anyway.” Miko picked up her Indigo Heart #1, the full sized bukoto, still in its silk, and began walking calmly towards Manco. Kari sighed and crawled out of the water, laying back on the sand. “Miko... One of these days, you’re going to bite off more than you can chew.”

It was at that last moment that Taighler and Taylour entered the clearing, running happily. Kari smiled at their game. “They are getting much faster at this.” The two jumped over her and before long resurfaced with a rock, dove down and then resurfaced with Clover, trying to escape. “Watch out for the...” Kari tried to warn her before she fell onto the surface.”... chain.” Sitting up, Kari waved to the twins and Clover. “You were under there for three hours today. Not your best record Clover, but still good!” Kari eyed the strange chain as she always did when encountering Taighler and Taylour. She never had the courage to ask what it was there for, assuming that since it wasn’t visible under normal light, it was kept secret for a purpose. Still, even though she had seen it many times before the chain put her on edge. “How are you two(referring to Tai&Tay) doing this morning?”

Miko reached Manco and was about to sit next to him in seiza when another unknow Henko crawled across her feet. She gave it a questioning look, but disregarded it as it crawled onto Manco’s head. She withheld laughter by turning her full focus to her goal. She sat in seiza before him and began, “Manco, I’m not sure if you remember me so I shall introduce myself. I am Mikoto Sephora; last year we promised that the next time we met we would have a match. If you are free now, I would like to make good on that promise.” Miko did not normally talk so formally, but as with all her sparing opponents, she wanted to be polite and respectful, even if it was the notorious Manco. “You may use whatever weapon, tactics, and skills you possess without fear of revenge or vengeance if you injure me. Are you willing or shall we wait until a better time?” Another breeze began from across the lake. It blew Miko’s long black hair to the west and fluttered her bangs in front of her face. Her muscles were relaxed and her temper calm, with slow breaths she removed all unneeded thoughts from her mind.

[Sabata]

Manco glanced up as he felt a rather damp, slick mass fall on his head. Then he heard the small voice. "Whoever and whatever you are, would you mind getting out of my hair?" Manco asked as he continued maintaining his sword. Manco sheathed his sword as Mikoto came over to talk to him.

A grin spread across his face as Mikoto spoke. He didn't remember her, not at all, though she was pretty. What interested him is that he was being offered a fight. Manco stood up and put his sword into his belt. He tied off the sageo neatly. "You've obviously never met if you think I'd ever turn down fight, any time anywhere." Manco commented. He threw his coat off to the side so that it wouldn't get torn up in the fight.

"Don't expect me to hold back just 'cause you have a pretty face." Manco said. "Now then . . ." Manco continued, curling his fingers around the hilt of his sword, " . . . let's Rock!" Manco was definitely excited to be able to get into a fight. He loved testing his skills via battle.

Without anything further being said, Manco initiated the fight with a wide, sweeping, one handed horizontal cut, unleashing a blade of sharpened wind at Miktoto. It was nice to be able to cut loose, so to speak. As soon as his initial attack was over, Manco immediately rushed forward and began a series of rapid two handed diagonal cuts, alternating left and right. His goal was to drive Mikoto back and keep her on defense until he could get a good attack in.

[Stein]

“No hide apples. That mean. the blob on Manco’s head yelled at Clover. Once Apple realized that the apple-haired boy was talking to her she quickly started moving towards the back of his head. She lost her grip though and fell into the sand behind Manco. She had accidentally transformed into the most recent DNA sample she had, which was Manco’s; she now appeared to be a perfect 6 inch-tall replica of Manco, except she retained her voice. She quickly pulled out her sun-proof blanket and covered herself with it, before realizing she had transformed. She was looking at herself when she noticed her hair “Apple hair!!!” She squealed while sitting under her blanket oblivious to her surroundings.


“We’re quite well.We’ve been playing hide-and-seek” Taighler and Taylour said in unison in response to Kari’s question She keeps looking at the chain...but she refuses to ask what it’s for. They then turned their attention to Clover “haha! we have captured you, we will use our magic powers to pull you in. abra-kadabra!” They yelled as they both pulled on the chain to drag Clover towards them. When she was within arms reach they both stomped down on the chain; pulling her under the water. “Oh no, a demon has grabbed the fair maiden, we will rescue you!” They said as they dove under to grab her and untangle her from the chain.


Clover squeaked and rolled over trying to grab onto the water, which unfortunately was not solid even though she was acting like it was. Her fingers were quickly dragged through the water as she tried to get away from the twins. Before she had any idea as to what they were going to do she was under the water and blinking as their hands grabbed her and untangled the chain from her ankle.

[Rikka]

Taighler and Taylour pulled her to the surface but Taighler scooped her up bride-style and carried her out of the water and onto the sand. “I have saved you my fair-maiden, you need not worry, you’re prince is here” Taylour was quick to follow and hugged Taighler’s shoulders from behind and said“But, I thought you loved me and were my prince” Taylour said woefully. Taighler ‘dropped’ Clover so that she could land on her feet if she wanted and turned to embrace Taylour and said “I will alwayslove you, Taylour”

Clover squeaked as she was pulled to the surface and scooped up bridal style by Taighler. Before she could even think of running away he ran up and onto the sand with Taylour following behind them. About to respond to Taighler’s dramatized speech she was soon ‘dropped’ onto the sand. Deciding it would be fun she hit the ground on her back and let out a loud ‘oomph!’ ”Well since you two are so into each other I shall take my leave.” Now before they could stop her she was on her feet and racing back on to the water’s surface grinning. When she was about to the middle she dove under the water to hide again.

[Horo]

Miko undid the tie on her silk bag and slid her bokuto out. Its indigo hue seemed to glow with her excitement as the battle began.

Miko dipped down under the blade of wind, sadly getting a few of her hairs removed and sprang forward. With each of Manco’s advancing steps she parried his blade slightly away from her with a single hand of the sword and advanced in the reflected direction.

When Manco lifted his arms to reset for the next strike, she launched a front kick aimed for the underside of his jaw.

Manco swept his arm to the side as the kick came at him, aiming to have Mikoto’s foot drive directly into his right elbow as his left hand let go of the blade. With a quick swipe of his hand, he sent a rather sloppy wave of darkness aimed at Mikoto’s grounded leg to trip her up.

Miko began to pull her leg back into check as it was struck, but her foot came into contact with his elbow too soon. She extended her toes backwards and pulled her foot down, while hopping with her grounded leg. She entered a front flip and raised her bokuto to knock Manco’s suspended sword to the side. She leaped with her original kicking leg when it touched the ground right behind the darkness and tried to pull her original grounded foot down onto Manco’s head.

Manco swept his sword under the strike from Miko’s bokuto, then jammed the pommel of his sword at Miko’s achilles tendon as her foot fell, then pushed the darkness she placed her foot behind forward. Come on! I saw you catching those pebbles, is this the best you can do?! Manco asked. He wanted more from Miko.

Miko curled her leg in, pressing against his pommel and pulling the sword slightly to the side. She kicked off the ground and flipped backwards, giving Manco a determined stare. ”Alright. I’ll give you my best.” Miko closed her eyes for a moment and reopened them with a calmly fearsome stare. She advanced forward and raised her blade from the bottom right, still attacking with one arm, and began spinning and alternating with diagonal up and down strikes from the same side with each spin.

Manco pushed himself backwards, parrying the cuts one handed while his free hand reached for a gun. Once his hand was clasped around one and his finger was on the trigger, he made a cut, aiming to sever the wooden sword. He then aimed a shot at Miko’s left leg.

Miko watched with her left eye as Manco reached for his gun, when it was in his hand she launched a front kick from her left leg and kicked the gun off target. Once Manco’s blade made contact with the wood she turned her wrist and moved the wood the to flat side of the blade, pushing it out to the right and sliding her bokuto up to the hilt. She pushed hard on the ground with her one planted leg to push him backwards. ”My eyes can see every move you make at what you would consider slow motion speeds. So you’ll need to be faster on the draw cowboy.”

Manco grinned. You want me to go faster? Why didn’t you say so?” Manco asked. He replaced the gun into his belt, sheathed his sword, then undid the saya from his belt, removing it.

Miko took his prep time as an opportunity to attack. As his hands were occupied with the saya she performed a vertical slice downward aimed at his head.

As Miko made her cut, Manco ducked his head then flashed forward, disappearing for a moment as his body moved forward at high speed, aiming to ram his head directly between her eyes. The blade slammed down over his back but he ignored the hit.

Miko grinned. Finally, someone who can move. Miko watched his body move, like a stop motion picture, raising her elbow to the position she saw his head coming to. She pulled her bokuto back after the strike and with a small leap put some distance between them.

Manco quickly shifted direction directly to the left as he saw Miko’s elbow come up. With the new distance between them, Manco quickly drew and went straight into an upward cut, unleashing another blade of wind. He used that as cover to charge at Miko once more with dash technique, combining it with a thrust to the gut with his sword, swing the saya, still in his left hand to try and counter a parry Miko might make.

Miko smiled as the blade of wind raced by the side of her face. She dodged it with a spin to Manco’s left and parried Manco’s blade with a tap of her’s and a spin to his left side. Her forearm rose up to block his saya as he swung it, leaving a welt and a sting on her left arm. She swung her blade forward from the bottom right and directed it at his nose.

Manco blocked the bokuto with the flat of his katana, then swung the saya down on Miko’s wrist, aiming to make her lose grip on her weapon. After that, he once more dashed forward, though skewed his path so he ended up behind Miko, he then aimed a thrust at her back.

Miko saw the attack coming, but had no counter to the saya. She dropped her bokuto and smirked as Manco dashed away again. She reared her right leg up and launched a back kick below the level of his thrust. She reached forward with her left hand and picked up her bokuto while rolling away from Manco’s retaliation to her kick. She looked over to Kari and made a head motion, before looking back at Manco. ”Are you having as much fun as I am?”

”A little less. You’re still holding back.” Manco commented.

”Not for long. Thank you, Kari.” Kari tossed the other silk bag to Miko. She stabbed her bukoto into the ground as she undid the tie and pulled out her wakizashi (still wooden). Placing she drew the katana out of the ground and held both swords at her side. ”All out. Are you ready?”

”Let’s just see if you can make yourself look like Miyamoto.” Manco said, pointing to Miko with his saya. Miko wasn’t holding back, so he wouldn’t either. Manco unleashed a large blast of darkness at Miko. Harmless, but intended to distract for long enough that he could leap into the air, throw his Saya at Miko’s wrists, then come down, using gravity and the extra force of falling to enhance a standard Kirioroshi.

Miko began to dash to the left, not sure if the darkness was harmful or not. Reaching her top speed fast she cleared the wall, while keeping her head turned and eyes focused on Manco. Dashing back towards the spot she was she readied herself to block the attack he had so nicely prepared for her. Miko raised both sword over her head and placed her feet firmly on the ground as his sword clashed with the full force of his body. ”You’re not that heavy you know.” She pressed up and forced Manco back into the air and began alternating slices upwards, trying to keep him in a volley. Miko moved/spun around as she attacked, looking at Manco from all angles.

Manco boosted himself out of the way of the swipes, using a quick boost from a burst of darkness from his feet. ”I suppose you weigh a ton then?” Manco asked. A quick burst of darkness came up behind Miko, aimed squarely for little more than what would amount to a slap on the ass. Manco landed back on the ground approximately 2 meters from Miko. ”Come at me.” Manco said, standing a in a loose, unprepared looking position.

Miko followed him as he boosted behind him, ”Not a ton, but I weigh a bit more than you for the feel. Should eat a bit more.” Miko didn’t notice the darkness sneaking in for a strike. Her face flushed as the attack hit, and she turned around slowly. ”Please tell me you were aiming higher or lower.” Kari’s eyes began to fill with rage.

”If you’re focused on the fight, modesty shouldn’t be an issue. If you’re really putting everything in, I should be able to cut every shred of clothing from your body, and you would still fight without hesitation.” Manco said, ripping off his own shirt (well, sarashi) for emphasis.

Miko sighed as she raised her swords. She muttered ”You better not mess up my fight.” She launched forward, the focus returning to her eyes as she began to slice with both swords. Her opening was with both blades, coming downwards and in, then rotating and rising out at his waist level. Her attacks then became alternations, left, then right.

Kari stood angered on the sidelines, her fist tightened, but her respect for Miko kept her from rushing Manco.

Manco took a series of steps back avoiding the cuts. He didn’t like being forced into defensive action. He’d have to fix the situation. As Miko brought her katana down, Manco crossed his arms and blocked the blade, happy it was a wooden sword. Yes, he felt like he had fractured some bones in both arms, but at least he blocked the strike. Manco quickly switched the grip on on his sword to an underhanded grip to block the shoto with the flat of his katana, then boosted himself forward with his dash technique to try and force Miko back. He reversed the grip on his sword again and made another wind slash horizontally.

Miko took steps backwards with Manco, keeping the same distance between them. Miko thought a quick prayer and blocked the wind slash with her katana. It sliced in two and forced her to drop down onto her knees and lean back to dodge the attack. She rolled backwards and measured the length of her new shoto against her old, about the same length... Miko rushed forward and began slicing at Macno with her left hand holding the shoto in underhand grip. Her attacks were consecutive, left right, right left (hand wise) as she tried to push Manco back.

”You really think two short swords can beat a single long sword?”Manco asked. He easily parried the shorter swords with his katana, then aimed a front kick at Miko’s gut.

”What is it you guys say, it’s not the size of the ship but the motion of the ocean?” Miko remarked back. Miko watched as his reactions to her style changed. She leaned back and down, striking at his achilles tendon with both of her short swords.

”Dual wielding styles always use one long, one short. Anything else is just impractical.” Manco replied. Quickly, he pulled his free hand forward, causing a burst of darkness to send his discarded saya spinning at her back. Meanwhile, he leaped back from the strikes to his legs.

Miko moved forward, switching both of her hands to underhand style. She leaned forward and accidentally ducked the flying saya. Reaching Manco she began a flurry of attacks with her swords acting only for defense as she punched and kicked Manco.

Manco caught his saya and as Miko ducked, he aimed to slam it down on the back of her head as he began to retreat from the flurry of blows.

Miko raised her right arm and blocked the saya with the back of the blade. She pulled it to the right and flipping the sword in her left hand stabbed at Manco’s exposed armpit.

Manco countered the stab with a burst of darkness then swung his saya at Miko’s left arm, aiming right where her arm started turning into her shoulder.

When Manco lifted his saya from Miko’s shoto she took a step forward, placing her chest to chest with Manco and pulled her right arm back, performing a horizontal slash across the side of his head with the back of her shoto. Miko’s left arm, forced back by Manco’s blast of dark energy shot up aimed to stab Manco’s fingers.

Manco, once more glad that Miko was using wooden swords rather than steel ones, whipped his head to the side to push the cut back. He took advantage of the close range to aim a kick at Miko’s gut with his right leg. He felt the flattened hardwood surface of the cut down daito crush into his fingers. He winced. That would be a trip to the nurses office. His ring and middle fingers were definitely fractured after the blow. Manco resisted the pain and forced the wooden sword back, then dropped his saya, and clenched his hand into a fist. Nice strike.”[/color] Manco commented before aiming a cut starting at his left hip and going up diagonally from there, then flipped direction with a second cut, the second one unleashing a wind slash.

Miko smiled as Manco whipped his head into her sword. She dropped her chopped katana and snatched his saya out of the air as it fell. She allowed the kick to come into her gut, wincing at the strike, but not losing the chance to swing her shoto down onto his knee. Miko twisted backwards and with the saya parried the upward diagonal strike and then rolled away from the second to place some distance between them. ”Thank you, although I should commend you. Not too many people will hit a sword with their head. Even the blunt side.” Miko switched her hands, placing the shoto in her left and the saya in her right. Turning her body perpendicular to to Manco, only the shoto was visible, pointed towards his face. ”Please, come at me. Bro.”

Manco resisted the strike by pulling his knee up into the shoto. It was rather painful, but fortunately, he didn’t think his patella was broken, or even fractured. Manco found a bit of his ripped off sarashi on the ground, and used it to bind up his injured fingers, just something temporary, as Miko stood at the ready. He thought he could hold the sword with both hands now. Manco brought his sword down to throat height then stood his ground. ”Why don’t you come at me?” Manco asked.

Miko smiled widely. ”Oh, a gentleman, ladies first? she asked with a playful tone. ”Alright. We can play your way.” Miko lowered her sword and began walking square towards Manco. She stopped an inch away from his blade. Before returning to her position. ”I came 90, you come 10?” To Miko, she was now back on the sand with the pebbles, time for real world application.

”Sorry, no compromise.” Manco commented. He shifted his footing slightly, then boosted backwards with his dash ability, sending sand and pebbles flying up into the air, and hopefully up into Miko’s face. As he moved backwards, he unleashed two wind slashes in a cross shape.

Miko began moving forward as Manco began his back dash. Closing her eyes for a moment as she passed the wall of sand she reopened to just barely see the cross in time to roll to the left with a dodge. Her footing slipped as she tried to spring back onto her feet, causing her to fall onto her left forearm. She focused her eyes on Manco, watching as she scrambled to get back onto her feet.

Kari gasped as Miko barely avoided the roll, noticing that the back of her gi was not so lucky. from the shoulders down it was missing, revealing Miko’s plethora of scars and burns. Miko stood up and with a sigh, removed the remainder of her gi.

Manco examined the scars from the distance he could. ”Impressive, you’re obviously no stranger to fights. You must’ve put yourself through hell getting all of those.” Manco relaxed a little. ”If you’re more comfortable that way, you can find my coat and put it on.” Manco said. ”I won’t attack you if you do.”

”It all comes with testing myself. I’m sure you know how it goes.” Miko thought for a moment on his offer. ”I don’t like to stop once I get started, are you going to oggle at me? Or try to grope me if I don’t?” Miko retook her stance in the event he said he wouldn’t.

”Why ruin a perfectly good fight with something more suited to some time alone?” Manco asked. Miko was attractive, but he was certain he could keep his mind on the fight. ”Besides, I haven’t even bought you dinner yet.” Manco tacked on before charging forward and preparing another diagonal cut down from the right. ”Besides, it takes dignity and concentration to fight that way, I respect both qualities in an opponent.”

Miko smirked and rushed forward. She rose her arm to block the slash with her shoto, deflecting it back outwards and began twisting to strike with his saya. A the last second she twisted her wrist and turned the strike outwards, blocking a kick from Kari. Miko glared at her friend, who had been enraged by Manco’s joke. throwing a right side kick towards Kari’s gut she rebuked her. ”Don’t interfere with my match! Hold your jealousy for later!” Kari jumped back, dodging the kick and dropped her head, before walking back a few paces. her jump back ruined Miko’s balance, as her kick extended too far and caused her to take a very large step to remain standing, leaving her back exposed to Manco. ”Crap!”

Manco quickly took advantage of the situation, and swung his blade down on Miko’s back, stopping it just as he gently pressed the edge in, not enough to break the skin. ”Let’s call it a draw since this wouldn’t have happened if your friend hadn’t interfered.” Manco said, shooting a venomous glance at Kari for ruining a perfectly good fight.

A tear appeared under Miko’s eye as his cold steel touched her back. ”Dead...” Miko stood up and looked at Manco, the determined look had vanished and was replaced by one of sadness and pain. ”Sorry, I don’t take draws. It is my loss.” Kari walked over, extending her hand cautiously. I’m sorry, Miko”

Manco clucked his tongue, then knocked on Miko’s forehead gently with his fist. ”You’re too serious. Just enjoy it a bit more.” Manco said. He walked over to where he had cast his coat off, then picked it up and threw it to Miko, so she had something to wear at least.

Miko smiled as Kari caught the coat. ”No, this is my fault.” Kari tossed to coat back to Manco and placed the top of her gi over Miko’s shoulders. Miko sighed and dropped down into a lotus sitting position, beginning to replay the battle in her mind. Kari walked over to Manco to apologize. ”I’m sorry for interfering with your match. I’m Kari, Miko’s girlfriend. I have a bit of a jealous streak and can lose my temper when it comes to her... sometimes” Kari rubbed the back of her head, laughing slightly.

Manco just laughed. ”You’re taking this way too seriously, all you did was cut a good fight short.” Manco commented, stretching a little, then tapping the various injuries he had sustained lightly. The fingers were definitely the worst, that would be a bit of an issue. Manco pulled his coat back on, then went to retrieve his sword and sheathed it again. ”You know, that’s the first time I’ve tried using my saya as a weapon like that.” Manco commented.

”You did well Manco.” Miko stood up and walked over, her determined face had returned and she extended a hand to him in thanks. ”Dual wielding isn’t easily done, it requires great strength in both arms to keep swinging.” Miko rubbed Kari’s hair as a sign of forgiveness. ”Ah, I made fighting my life so long ago, I can’t help but be sad when I lose. Especially with the tournament right around the corner. I need to be in tip top shape!”

”Like I said, you’re taking it too seriously. You need to enjoy yourself more, just let loose a little. Accuracy and focus is good and all that, but what does it mean if that’s all you are.” Manco said. ”You’re more skilled than me, I’m just a punk with a sword, you just need more passion. Enjoy every blow you deal and receive. Pain in a fight is just your bodies way of telling you to fight harder.”

Miko turned her head to the side in question. ”More... passion. Fun... When did I...” Miko began laughing hard, holding her palm to her head and leaning back. ”Well, who would have thought I would have forgotten that. I’ve been so serious lately about catching up to him, I’d completely forgotten.” Miko took a deep breath and placed her hand on Manco’s shoulder. ”Well, thank you for the reminder.”

Manco laughed again and patted Miko’s back, though it may have felt more like he was slamming his palm down on her. ”No problem, you can count on me for a fight any time, especially if you fight as hard as you did just now.” Manco said. ”Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go be chewed out by the school nurse.”

[Stein]

Apple peeked out from under her blanket and watched in awe as Miko and Manco fought. She wanted to duel too....she had a dagger, but it wasn’t big enough to duel against Manco’s sword with. She thought she could do this, Apple did currently look like Manco...except she didn’t have clothes; but that wasn’t a problem, she didn’t need clothes.


Apple approached Manco’s feet and said in her clearest english “I Manco. I challenge you to duel. allow no weapons.”


Miko looked down at the little Manco with surprise. It spoke funny, but that wasn’t too shocking since it was probably the Henko that had been atop his head before her duel had begun. ”Hey there little one. If he won’t fight you, I will! I’ve never said no to a duel. My name is Mikoto, what are you called?” Miko couldn’t hide her excitement as she spoke. The thought of almost any duel got her blood pumping.


Kari came up behind Miko, although the distance wasn’t an issue for her eyesight. ”Excuse me little man, but you do realise you’re naked. Right?”


Manco looked down at the miniature version of himself and couldn’t help but laugh. ”You want a duel, no weapons then?” Manco asked, laying his sword down on the ground. ”Have at it then.”


“Umm..I look like Manco. my name Apple. Maybe fight later, fighting Manco now.” Apple responded to Miko’s question.She looked down at Kari’s mention that she was naked. She struck a superman pose and said “No need clothes!” Then before Manco could blink she was on top of his foot, making her way up his pant leg, shifting back to Henko form and she got onto his foot.


Manco twitched as he felt the slimy hair gel like substance making its way up his leg. Manco immediately kicked a shoe off then started flailing his leg around to try and sling Apple off.


Apple held fast and started laughing silently as she continued climbing up his leg and reached his belly.


Manco squirmed and brushed down his body to try and get Apple off of him. Unfortunately, his hands seemed to pass straight through Apple rather than actually doing anything to get her off of him.


Apple simply continued climbing his side headed for his face. she was still laughing quietly, and was very excited that she was winning as she was nearing his neck.


Manco decided that drastic times called for drastic measures. Well, not terribly drastic, just probably uncontrolled and having unpredicted consequences. A layer of darkness formed on an area of darkness, slowly spreading until it engulfed his own torso. He then proceeded to push it off . . . where it proceeded to fly off of his body everywhere BUT where Apple was touching, sending a small destructive wave of darkness radiating from Manco’s body.


Taighler and Taylour had been chasing Clover, but were distracted by Apple challenging Manco to a duel. They sat down and started laughing as Apple ventured up Manco’s side grinning they thought we could have warned him...but this is more entertaining They simply sat quietly and observed the ‘duel’. When Manco let loose the destructive wave they simply teleported past it.


Clover swam up to the surface and laid on top of the water again. Watching Apple she smacked her hand against her forehead as she realized that Apple was challenging the older boy. Staying where she was she waited to see how this played out. It took sharp objects and metal to hurt a henko so she wasn’t too concerned about the fight, but she was concerned to how much sun exposure Apple was getting at the moment. Sitting crosslegged on the water she watched as Apple made her way up Manco’s leg then up his stomach area. Grinning she wondered if she should warn Manco about Apple’s way of fighting. Nah it would be funner to let him find out. Chuckling she watched then realized that Manco was releasing destructive waves of Darkness. Squeaking she tried to move out of the way of the blast.


Miko quickly retrieved Manco’s sword and stepped in front of Kari as the darkness came rushing towards them. She lifted it above her head and with a powerful slice cut the wave around their bodies. Kair stood wide eyed as Miko let out a deep breath and dropped down to her knees. ”I don’t want to have to do that again. Take so much out of me to move that fast...” Miko sheathed Manco’s sword and placed it gently back on the ground in front of her, just incase she had to slice another wave of darkness in two.


Taighler and Taylour turned around to check on Clover and saw that she was still in the way of the darkness wave. They teleported over behind her, and Taylour grabbed her around the waist and the twins teleported back onto the beach. after a couple seconds they released Clover again and murmured an apology and stepping back a half-step.


Clover squeaked managed to cling to the twins as they saved her from being harmed by the wave. When they appeared on the beach she looked around and then released them when she realized she was still clinging to them. Averting her eyes slightly she turned to look at Apple.


Apple watched the darkness pass over her, but not touch her. hehehe, funny She continued up his neck and got onto his face, forgetting that he had to breathe. She then proclaimed audibly, and loudly “Apple win, conquer all!!!!The awesome Apple demands apples to eat now.” She fully expected someone to hand her an apple to eat now, because she was hungry.


Clover noted that Apple had won and forgot her opponent needed to breath. ”Apple He needs to breath. Where is your blanket? You’ve been exposed to the light too long.” Clover waited for her to crawl off Manco’s face and go find her blanket.


Manco flailed and attempted to peel apple off of his face. The attempt was rather unsuccessful, given his fingers just kept passing through her. All he could do was holding his breath and wait. Fortunately he was decent at regulating his breathing.


Kari looked up at Manco and giggled, prompting an elbow from Miko. Kari walked over, still giggling at how easily Manco had been defeated. ”There are apples on that tree over there. Why don’t you go eat your fill and let the big man breath?” Kari offered her palm to Apple. ”I can even toss you over there for faster access.”


Apple allowed oxygen through her cytoplasm so that Manco could breathe and continued giggling. She moved onto Kari’s palm and said “throw me....wait” Kari would feel a funny tingling on her hand, as Apple encompassed her hand and ‘nibbled’ on it “Why you taste salty? like chips..... Right, apples” she reformed on top of Kari’s palm and said “Throw me!!”


Kari shuttered as the Apple crawled into her palm. She never would get used to touching Henko, they were so... Slimy! The nibbling was a slight addition to the amount of discomfort but a laughing Miko cheered her on from the sidelines. ”Come on Kari! Throw that little Henko out of the park and into the apples!” Kari’s disgusted face turned to a smile. ”Ok, PULL!”


Kari’s arm flew forward as she tossed the gelatin creature from her palm and through the air.

Taighler and Taylour watch Apple fly through the air and land in the apple tree, directly on an apple. She’ll be occupied for a while.....want to play a game?

[Rikka]

Clover watched as Apple allowed Manco to breath then crawled over to Kari. Grinning she watched as Apple was flung to an Apple tree and straight onto an apple. Chuckling at Apples contentness Clover realized Apple had forgotten her blanket. "Gah! Apple!" Grabbing the black blanket off the ground she raced off toward the Apple tree Apple was in. Crawling up the tree quickly she tossed the blanket on Apple. "Apple keep that on got it?" Plucking an Apple from the tree she hopped down and headed back over to the others while taking a bite from the apple.

Arriving back to the others she looked Manco over. "Well since your not passed out your good. Also your lucky she didn't bite your nose this time. I guess I should have warned you about how she fights. Sorry."

[Horo]

((It's my turn in the post order... umm....))

Mikoto picked up the pieces of her cut bokken and sighed as she realised that she had to carve out a new one. Manco's words echoed in her head as she thought about the new ways that she could train. With a wave to Kari, Mikoto walked over to the lake's edge and began to draw in the sand.

((I have no clue what else to do))