|
Kuro's mind wandered, even during his fight, back to his Nasake Kobushi training. He heard his own voice reading the words of the scrolls once again.
"You and your opponent are as one. There is nothing separating the two of you. His happiness is your happiness. His pain is your pain. His will is your will."
Kuro could feel his opponents moves inside his own body. He gained immediate respect for the years of training it must have taken him to perfect his art to this degree. The bo glided gracefully through the air, making hard and fast strike time and time again. As the monitor struck, Kuro could feel the moves to strike in his own body. Almost subconsciously, he glides around them, knowing exactly where the weak points are in his opponents balance and what positions he can't strike easily.
Suddenly, Kuro heard a loud 'THWANG' as Aki's tessen flew away from her. "AKI!" Kuro's opponent managed to land a glancing blow on Kuro's cheek. "Bastard! I don't have any more time for this! This fight's over."
Kuro had tried to use intimidation to put his opponent off, but time was out, and he had no time to play any more head games. Kuro dodged towards his enemy once, and while doing so let one fist fly directly below his opponents ribs. As his fist plunged into his opponent, Kuro felt it plunge into him. It robbed him of his breath, but he knew he could not stop. Kuro wrapped his hands around his opponent and sent him into a beautiful back suplex, the monitor's head being the first thing back to the ground. The fight was indeed over, though it took Kuro a while to get back to his feet. When he did, he spit out just a little blood.
Looking over, he saw the monitor closing in on Aki. He didn't even need Nasake Kobushi to understand the look in Aki's eyes. Her fighting was great, fluid movements, great timing, strong follow-through. However, her inexperience in actual battle was obvious. Her body was wearing out, and it was getting to her. At this rate, it seemed like...
Kuro burst into action without thinking about the rules of kentou, as though he knew them anyway. He flew into full sprint and came to a sliding stop behind Aki as she continued to go for her Tessen. Squaring off against the monitor, he stood tall and fearless. The look in his eyes was like the look of a man being challenged by a child. The monitor's eyes betrayed a small look of fear. Kuro laughed. "Do you want to wind up like your friend over there? Why not just call it a day and pretend we never saw you? Get out of here now and I'll consider that option."
|