A short spar [Closed / TBTP / Yui]

Yui was not one that normally was capable of hiding her emotions, and often was berated for wearing her feelings on her sleeves, but sometimes she just couldn’t help it. She knew she was weak. She knew she was a failure. She knew she wasn’t gifted like the others… but damnit if she wasn’t trying to do something about it. She trained, and trained hard, despite never being given assignments that were even remotely challenging. She had always been stuck with simple ‘deliver this message’ or ‘go file this report’ and similar none-sense. Because of her position, she was never able to do anything but endlessly run in place, unable to break the surface of her own weakness, constantly on the verge of drowning, and still she struggled as best she could.

She had been finishing just such a task when the others who were in the office decided that she could use some verbal abuse, and forced her to stand there while they called her worthless trash that didn’t deserve to be in 2nd Division. Sure, she had heard it all before, but damnit if it didn’t hurt, and if there was a single, overriding emotion that rose up when she was hurt, it was pure, unbridled rage. It took three squadmates to peel her off the guy that she had started pummeling, and they had beat the crap out of her for stepping out of line. That was to be expected though. She had hit him with a sucker punch and used the surprise and momentum to continue venting her rage… but luckily they had both visited the Aid Station and their injuries healed quickly and easily.

The damage had been more than physical though, and she was trying to heal the internal damage on her own.

So she was hanging upside down from a tree, using her own special ability to attach herself to the spirit particles it was made of, so it looked like she was sitting on the branch upside down. She was deep in meditation, so it had taken some time before she finally picked up on a strong Reiatsu signature that was nearby, and slowly she woke from her trance, curious. What she saw when her violet eyes opened was not an expected sight… was this guy on a day off? And his spiritual pressure was quite impressive… far outstripping her own, but that wasn’t very uncommon. But he was doing... hand-stands?

After a moment or two, she decided to get his attention and see what he wanted. “Can I help you?” She hadn’t been all that well concealed this time, so she simply assumed that he had seen her, not wanting to presume that she would surprise him in any way. If she did, then so be it, but that meant that he really needed to pay more attention to his surroundings, as she hadn’t even really been hiding her spiritual pressure, which was something she was getting pretty good at, practicing when she was tracking stronger people.

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Yuuta's eyes shot upwards to Yui as she spoke, a wide grin spread across his face as he pushed up of the ground and flipped back to his feet. He folded his arms, yet it wasn't defensive, just confident in his own skin now he was with somebody his own size "I'm Yuuta, I was just wondering if you fancied training with me a bit? I started the academy not long ago" maybe that was too forwards? He had a habit of been too direct with people, he was a bit too hyperactive for most people's tastes. Especially when she was just coming out of her meditation, going from peaceful to..... Yuuta was quite a change to say the least.

Yuuta used a quick shunpo, crouching on a branch just next to Yui with a mischievous grin "I don't mind if I can't hold my own yet, that's an important part of learning" he assumed everybody in squads were a lot stronger than him, he was very bad at gauging strength. He was however, very good at analysing and reacting to various fighting styles. Judging by her size, she was likely a speed based pressure point fighter similar to Mako. He was quite certain about this, almost the opposite of his own style which was highly aggressive and strength based. The only thing that could make it better is if she really liked her kido, it'd be like fighting a smaller, female version of Mako!

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Yui watched as he flipped to his feet and looked pretty confident for a guy that was almost her height. No, he was a bit taller, but not by a ton. That was actually pretty refreshing, almost as nice as his straightforward introduction and request. It didn’t seem like he was being prideful or overconfident, but simply had something about him that was different and unique. Ah, that’s what it was… he was young and naïve… something she had lost a long time ago. Still, there was something about that quality that was endearing. Still, she didn’t really react right away, processing what he had said. Fresh in the Academy huh? Very young, she would wager… but still, that spiritual pressure was nothing to be scoffed at.

A shunpo made her eyes widen a bit. It wasn’t very refined, but interesting to say the least, and she gave him a gentle smile. She could remember now, being that young and wanting to push herself to test her skills and what she had learned. How she had wished during that time to find someone to spar with, someone who would take her seriously. Maybe she could be that for this kid… maybe she could dare to try to help someone else, even if she was weak. “Alright.” It was said almost casually, and with a single motion, she released her hold on the branch and dropped, spinning and landing easily on her feet. She moved away from the tree a bit and waited for him to get down as well. “Alright… let’s start slow, but focus on your muscle movement. Don’t go full speed just yet.” She lowered herself down a bit, placing one hand in front of her, open but fingers joined with her palm facing him, the other, tight next to her waist and enclosed into a fist. It was obvious she was no beginner, but the gentle smile on her face showed plainly that she wasn’t getting too serious yet.

What she wondered, in the back of her mind, was that if he was the type that was really unskilled and just strong for no reason, how long would it take for him to ascend the ranks? Probably shoot past her without even hesitating, straight out of the Academy. For the first time in a very long time, she wasn’t angered by that thought or sent into a depression. Someone with his manners being a higher rank wouldn’t be a bad idea at all. His young attitude would certainly be fun to watch.

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Ah this girl had a nice smile, he'd spent so much time around Mako he had almost forgot what a smile looked like beyond his own and his mum's. It felt reassuring and genuine for some reason, he knew people could fake smiles but he had always had a talent for spotting false ones. He followed Yui straight down to the ground, simply dropping down to his feet and not doing any fancy flips or anything so he didn't look like he was showing off.

His eyes scanned over the girl's stance as he adopted his own, a standard Muay Thai stance with his feet at shoulder's width and his guard up, making sure to stay on the balls of his feet to for swift movement. Multiple combinations and approaches raced through his mind, for now he'd avoid grappling unless the girl initiated it and instead would stick to striking. Given the girl had asked to go slow to start with, he figured he should ease off the force for now too, setting his mind to go half speed and 10% force unless otherwise instructed.

His front foot shifted forwards, about to advance when he realised he'd forgotten to ask something. He bowed slightly whilst tryping to keep his stance "I am so sorry, I forgot to ask your name" he returned to his stance with a goofy grin, his mum would smack him if she realised he had a lapse in manners like that. Whether Yui would give it or not, he'd wait for her to finish before making his way closer steadily, and as soon as he was in range he'd start his assault. He'd attempt a series of fluid attacks; opening with a right low kick and skipping straight into a left head kick. Assuming he had the chance, he'd flow into a jab-body hook-uppercut to the chin all from his left hand. He was trying to show off his basic range of strikes, he didn't want to try anything fancy just yet in case it'd come across as rude.

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Yui hadn’t meant to be showing off, she simply had been hanging upside down and automatically righted herself when she released, all without thinking. Her analysis began immediately, noticing his eyes first, identifying her style and considering it for moment, allowing her to realize that he had faced down opponents before and knew what to look for. Interesting. Then there was the seamless transition from standing normally to his fighting stance, well practiced and fluid, like second nature. She did that too, countless hours training and fighting did that naturally, but to see it in someone who was fresh from Rugonkai citizen to Trainee in the Academy was breathtaking. She had no doubts now; he would go far… the only thing that might snag him was actually what she liked about him.

His personality.

As if to accentuate this point, she tried to hold his stance while simultaneously bowing, which was an entertaining sight to say the least, but she was able to keep that much from reaching the surface. After all, she had been rude and not introduced herself yet… how could she be so careless? She was really bad at socializing after all, with little to no practice, her interactions not really doing much for her. She blinked twice in realization, not really changing her stance but relaxing a bit, her smile returning. “Oh no, that’s my fault. Don’t talk with people often. My name is Yui Shokotsuki. Now… let’s get started, shall we?” And with that, she returned to her stance, muscles coiling in anticipation for the strikes that were coming in.

He approached slowly at first, closing the distance. Another point in his favor, he knew his striking ranges instinctively, and positioned himself were he would be able to strike but, unless one of them moved, she wouldn’t be able to strike back. His reach was slightly longer, and that gave him the advantage. Yui seemed like another being at the moment, focused and completely hollow, like he was looking at a painting rather than a real person, or that was how her spiritual pressure felt. All emotion gone in an instant as she prepared for combat. His strike came from down low, a kick, which was very odd to lead off with. Still, considering they weren’t going full tilt, she paid attention to more than just the strike, and knew instantly that she was underestimating her opponent by a longshot. His footwork and balance were also perfect. There wasn’t a single fundamental that she saw that was lacking. Almost automatically, sliding her foot back to avoid the right low kick, and tilting her head and ducking a bit to avoid the other kick, and her open hand catching the fist.

He was holding back… had to be… more than she was by a longshot. “You know Hakuda pretty well it seems… I can tell you are a lot stronger than this too. Impressive.” It was a genuine compliment, through and through. “All you really need is experience, from what I can tell… makes sense to challenge people to gain that bit… let’s pick this up a notch. I’m not going to go all out, but I’m going to up the speed a bit.” To exemplify this and give him a moment to prepare, she stepped back out of his range with a completely silent Shunpo. She waited a moment for him to get set, and then she came at him fast and low. First step: Break his Roots.

A sweeping kick low to get him to change his footing position, and then wish a push off the ground from her hands, another kick towards his stomach. Regardless if either were dodged or blocked, she quickly would twist backwards in an acrobatic move that put him out of his range for a counterattack for a moment, and then rushing inwards with a series of open handed strikes towards his chest, each quick and efficient. Her goal was to get inside his reach and make it difficult for him to use his longer reach against her, and it was quite effective against targets that were much larger than her, but he was about the same size, so it was more difficult. Even at 80% speed, if what she was sensing was right, he should be able to match her.

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Ah so her name was Yui, that was a nice name, it was short too which made it easy to remember. Yuuta had trouble remembering long names unless he wrote it down and repeated it a few times. It was kinda funny though, Yui was short, and had a short name. He couldn't help but wonder if her family saw that coming when she was named, he would never say that out loud though in case he offended her; he wasn't exactly generously gifted in the height department himself.

He was impressed at how smoothly Yui evaded his attacks, but he wasn't at all surprised; she was a member of the second division so she was bound to be skilled in evasion. She was probably a master martial artist to boot at that, so the chances were she was going easy on him by no taking him to the ground whilst he was evading. He grinned innocently as he let out a soft laugh at the compliment "Thanks, I'll try to match your speed until I can't anymore" he remained completely relaxed despite how excited he was, being relaxed meant he could react smoothly to whatever came his way. Being tense was all well and good, but it meant you couldn't react as cleanly or preserve as much energy.

He exhaled once to remain calm before Yui shunpo'd towards him, his body moved without him having to think as he jumped back just slightly outside of her range. His arms remained static, he was confident in his core's ability to absorb a strike more than his head. As the foot connected with his abdomen he tensed his stomach, creating a wall against the kick which didn't really hurt; she must have been holding back given he was barely a trainee. Yuuta kept his guard fluid, parring away the palm strikes with his forearms as he kept smoothly stepping back. He was looking for patterns in Yui's attack patterns.

After about ten seconds Yuuta took a sudden, slightly larger leap back to put Yui just inside his kicking range. He fired a right teep kick forwards towards Yui's solar plexus, stomping down his foot after the kick to allow him to maintain his range if he managed to push Yui back to throw a jumping roundhouse kick towards Yui's head. Whether it hit, was blocked, or evaded, Yuuta would land on his left foot and continue the rotating motion to line up a spinning back kick borrowed from taekwondo. It was clear from their short encounter that Yuuta heavily favoured kicks, but it was a preference he could suppress if it became detrimental. The only reason he favoured kicks was because he was short and it was easier to close range for kicks than punches, simply because they had a longer range.

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He had a pleasant smile as well… taking her compliment and commenting on his own speed. For someone with so much raw power, he certainly was humble… another trait she could come to appreciate. The assault began, and she continued to evaluate him, still able to do so without too much trouble since they were both moving a little slower than they would if this was a real fight. He dodged the sweep pretty well, but took the strike to the chest, confident that he could handle it and she understood why; it was like she was kicking a statue. He was made of some seriously sturdy stuff. Combined with his strength, it made it pretty obvious that he was someone who focused on using their strength and durability to take the hit and crush them. But he wasn’t all that slow either… interesting. Still, that blow would have been fatal if this was a true fight, because as strong as he was, a blade piecing your abdomen was a deathstroke. The organs would fill with blood in seconds, and they would be unable to repair the damage before death… at least, in theory. But that wasn’t what this exercise was about. It was a focus completely on hand to hand combat, and thus far, he was doing remarkably well.

He was also analyzing her strikes just as she was looking into his defense, looking for patterns and errors in the technique that would provide an opening. Finally, he retreated to a safe distance, keeping himself within striking range while pulling out of hers, and then kicked towards her chest quickly, which she evaded by going backwards. He stomped his foot down, planting it entirely, and Yui saw the flaw instantly, but didn’t make her move just yet. The next kick, aimed at her head, forced his momentum to be twisting, and he followed it well with a back kick towards her, and she simply dropped completely, sliding her own legs forwards and stopping just short of his ankle, freezing in place.

“There.” It was uttered in a commanding tone, with some sort of finality to it. “Your style favors kicks, which has the advantage of extended reach and increased damage, as the legs are a lot stronger than the arms. It’s a good tactic, absolutely… and I can see it working for you with some more practice.” She slowly got out from under him and stood up, giving him a gentle smile and then positioning herself to mimic the position he was just in. “The problem with that last bit was that all your momentum and weight was up high, and your base, where you had your foot planted, was vulnerable. Balance, not only with your weight and momentum, but with your types of attacks is important. You went for three high kicks, two that required rotation, in a row, which left you very off balance and by the time the third one came around, I had noticed it. If you had gone for a single high kick and threw in a few mid or low kicks, or a few punches, I wouldn’t have been able to predict it and come up with a counter so quickly.” She paused, knowing that she was giving him a lot of information, and hoping that he would be able to absorb it. Her tone was light though, and had the semblance of an older sister teaching her younger brother how to ride a bike.

“Part of that, though, isn’t your fault. My style is analytical. I typically use the opponents large size, mass and strength against them, using momentum in my favor and finding critical weaknesses to exploit. I’ve trained in it so long I can’t really turn it off.” She offered him a light chuckle. The point she was making was that her style of fighting was perfectly suited to defend against his, which made it hard for him to be able to find an opening, and she didn’t want him to feel bad about it. Positive reinforcement did wonders. “I can also tell you are holding back an awful lot of your power. Your brute strength alone outstrips mine by a wide margin, and you feel about as fast as me when it comes to hand to hand combat. Your style is also well designed and well practiced… do you want to continue?” She would leave it up to him, not wanting to push him and leaving a chance for the guy to ask questions.

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Yuuta couldn't help but smile humbly as Yui dropped down and froze before knocking him down. He himself stopped his kick midair and was able to stay stable without moving even a millimetre whilst holding a kick, a testament to his bodily control. He didn't mention that he wasn't showing his full arsenal, keeping it simple in order to observe Yui's various counters to the moves, because that'd be rude. Instead he listened carefully, seeing this as perhaps an insight into Mako's thought processes, every word was indeed correct. There was also a minor oversight on his behalf, he hadn't really sparred with anybody besides Mako, so the size difference between him and Yui made his aiming rather skewed, it would take a minute in order to adapt to that and plan accordingly.

As Yui stood up, Yuuta steadily lowered his leg and reverted to a casual stance as he watched Yui. His acute focus was shaken a little as a compliment came his way, a slight blush adorned his cheeks, it was the first time he'd been complimented by a girl and he kinda liked it. He was also somewhat shy about the fact he apparently had more physical strength than a fully qualified shinigami, perhaps she was just saying that to be nice? No, his instincts told him she was telling the truth and they were rarely inaccurate on such matters.

The shyness didn't stop him grinning widely, he reverted back to his stance and nodded "Always" he was indeed a guy who wouldn't stop even if he was heavily injured, one of his rather negative traits to say the least. He waited until Yui said she was, or looked like she was, ready to continue before he quickly advanced. He was using his full speed now, but intended to keep to 10% of his brute force to prevent any serious injury. He opened up with a jab followed by a cross to the head, a basic combo taught at most Muay Thai gyms which was often followed by a roundhouse kick. Yuuta shifted his weight and even lifted his right leg slightly as if he was about to kick, but instead he tensed the right leg and threw his body into a left hook towards Yui's liver. If it hit, was evaded or blocked, but hadn't been disrupted he'd try to finish his brief combination with a standing right knee to the chest.

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Yui had noticed that the moment she froze, Yuuta had as well, not moving an inch out of place, which meant that his sense of balance was really strong and he had a solid core to keep everything in control. What else was interesting was that he didn’t know any signs of fatigue either… he was an Academy Student? Yui herself wasn’t quite breathing heavily, but her heart rate was up, and much more speed she would start to burn through her stamina. She didn’t have much of it to begin with. Just another weakness she was trying to break through. He had blushed when she had complimented him, even though it hadn’t been flattery. He truly was young in mind and heart… and that was kind of endearing in its own way.

Once explanations were done and out of the way, he stated that he was ready to start again, having understood what she was saying and comprehending it quickly. She lowered back into her stance, and right before she got started with him again, she gave a single warning. “I’m going to use a little more of my style, and bring my speed up a bit more.” She had a feeling that this guy could keep pace with her hand to hand combat, and while he was holding back his strength, it was time to actually see if she could test herself against his style now that she had given him some pointers. Holding back was only going to make him complacent, and that could get him killed in a real fight. She wouldn’t get fully serious… using her Shikai would turn thing from a training exercise into a duel, and the truth of it was that she would never be able to forgive herself if she truly hurt him like that.

Maybe just a bruise to help him remember her by. As she predicted, she was able to keep up with him while going full speed, ducking the jab by a slim margin to the right, and then recognized the feint a hair too late, which was something new. The left hook came fast, and instead of dodging it like normal since she missed the timing, she blocked instead, bringing both arms up to absorb the blow. Even though she could tell he was holding back, she knew that he was strong, and didn’t want to take any chances. It was when he went for a knee towards her that she did it; completely vanished. Suddenly she was behind him, then to his right, and then his left, already in motion for a strike to his ribs. Bruises to the ribs usually hurt when you breathed, and would be a good memory, and her Flash Step mixing into the martial art would make it hard for him to track her properly, as she was very adept at it, and they were utterly silent. The strike landed, a stiff punch to the ribcage with her knuckles… and she felt something very wrong.

With another Flash Step, she made some distance for a moment. “Wait.” It was a command, and there was a seriousness in her tone that begged him to take it seriously, and she looked at her right fist for a moment, feeling the pain through the knuckles. If she hadn’t been holding back a little bit of her strength, her hand would be broken… she felt like she just punched Seikei Stone… completely ineffective and harder than iron. Almost like what she read about Hierro… but there was one way to find out. Without saying a word, she approached him quickly, grabbed his arm, extended it and put it into her field of vision, using her uninjured hand to run across his skin for a moment. She reached out with her sixth sense, her Reiatsu Perception and slowly closed her eyes for a moment, as it helped her focus. She could feel it now…

“Interesting…” She paused a moment, her head not moving but her eyes sliding to his own. “I’m going to need you to trust me for a moment.” She was certain… it had to be… what else could it be? Without a moment’s hesitation, she reached behind her and pulled out a hunting knife she had used dozens of times, and sharpened religiously. It could shave your hair in once pass and was a strong metal, even if it wasn’t a Zanpakutou, and she drove that blade down into his arm while holding the other side, not letting him move, and using her speed to ensure she didn’t miss, and the blade shattered like kindling with the force, and there wasn’t a scratch on him. Her eyes had never left his either… watching for a reaction.

“You have a strong pulse of Reiatsu running through your skin… making it tougher.” How would he react to such information?

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Yuuta was somewhat annoyed at himself as he felt the blow connect to his ribs, it didn't really hurt but he was annoyed he'd let that through. He had threw an elbow straight towards Yui's head but she had already vanished once again, she was really good at the shunpo thing. His foot shifted forwards, ready to quickly advance as Yui appeared once again. He halted his movement as Yui asked him to wait, was she going to explain something again?

Wait, why was she grabbing his arm? Yuuta was confused, something that was very notable on his face. His face blushed a little, why was she stroking his arm? Yuuta was really quite confused, was she trying to see if she could tell how strong he was based on something to do with his arm? No, that was quite unlikely given the timing of this action; but that dind't mean he was any closer to discerning Yui's true intentions. What would likely surprise Yui, was how Yuuta didn't flinch or even tense up at the sight of the knife even as it came towards going in him. It was for two reasons, his instincts were for some reason telling him not to worry; and, he had received far worse so a knife wound wouldn't be the end of the world.

His eyes did however widen when the blade shattered, it didn't just break but completely shattered! That was a neat magic trick, strange how she decided to show it off now though. Why did she do that? He guessed she used kido of some sort to shatter the blade in order to test his reactions or something. He blinked at what Yui said, she really didn't seem like she was joking "Isn't that how Heirro works? I don't think Shinigami can have that...." Perhaps she was mistaken? But then what would explain everything that was happening. What if he was ill or something and it was a really bad sign or something?!? He was a little worried but he stayed quiet and looked Yui in the eyes, hoping she could provide a little more insight.

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Yui had a small note of pride; he was exceptionally skilled, and if he was going full out, she had no doubt that he had the advantage, but it was nice that she had managed to land the blow. It showed that she was able to still have confidence in her skills… capable and willing to do what was necessary given the situation. She had noticed the slight blush when investigating his arm, but dismissed it almost as quickly because there was nothing to be embarrassed about considering that she was about to explain it to him. What she did find interesting though was that he didn’t flinch, even in the slightest, when she drew a knife and smashed it against his arm. She was holding the limb, so she would have been able to tell if he was trying to keep himself from flinching but no, not even that. Fearlessness? Conditioning? Most curious.

But instead, he seemed legitimately surprised when the blade shattered. She hadn’t used her favorite hunting knife because she didn’t want to break it, so this one wasn’t a huge loss, but his reaction was most interesting. It wasn’t a conscious skill… and he wasn’t aware of it, which made it even more frighteningly powerful… he wouldn’t just make it far. She was relatively certain that Yuuta would likely pass her up in the ranking structure immediately after making it out of the Academy… but again, it didn’t bother her as much as it typically would. He seemed a little scared about the implications of the ability though, and she understood. Vaizards weren’t common, but they were known about… and the implications alone could arouse suspicion. Then again, she had known many pure Shinigami who had the ability based purely on their Reiatsu. “Don’t worry… I don’t sense anything even akin to a Hollow or Quincy in there… and there are some Shinigami who have this ability. You just got lucky I think… but I wouldn’t come to rely on it. Having the skills to block, deflect or dodge is critical; thinking that you can just take the hit in most situations is a mistake. I don’t think a Zanpakutou would break on it, depending on who wielded it.” Her tone was even, but she wanted to do a little more to calm his fears, and as his elder, she knew a way to do just that.

She placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair. “You’re too young to worry so much… just focus on your basics for now.” She gave him a gentle smile and hoped that this would be enough to get him to go back to being the innocent personality she saw at first.

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Yuuta was somewhat relieved to hear that his powers weren't connected to a hollow's, if only because of the fresh mental wound he had from his battle just a few weeks previously. He nodded at Yui's words, saying a soft "I won't, don't worry" it was quite clear his mind was on other things though, Yui did say it was probably just lucky but he wanted to see what the trade off would be. Surely he couldn't just actually be lucky and have a really useful ability without having some major downside right? Wait, how would he get vaccinations or any medicine through injections now his skin was seemingly impossible to penetrate with sharp pointy things except maybe Zanpakuto.

A very faint blush returned to his cheeks as a hand ruffled his hair, a cute smile came across his face as he tilted his head to the side slightly "I won't, no point worrying over it anyway" he lied but despite his nature he was a very adept liar when it was for the sake of others not worrying. He'd probably try and get Mako's advice, and maybe see a doctor just to see if there was anything he should be worried about, and if there were any alternatives for vaccinations apart from being injected in the eyeball or something else really gross.

He returned to his Muay Thai stance, a cheeky and innocent grin spreading across his face as he wanted to get back to training to try and take his mind of it in the short term "So, ready to get back down to business?" It was his default when things were worrying him, push himself physically and train. He was a little embarrassed about how simple he was like that, but exercise was a great way to relieve stress and give you something which you could divert your attention onto quite easily. Besides, it was the reason he came here and Yui was very helpful in that regard. Instead of being the one going straight on the attack, Yuuta would wait this time to see how Yui would open up.

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He wouldn’t rely on it, and that was good, because confidence was all well and good until it ventured into prideful ignorance. Still, she could tell by his expression and body language that it was actually bothering him, even if he said that there wasn’t a point to it. Of course it was going to generate some worry; it was something that usually only Hollow possessed, and it was something that he wasn’t aware of or even trying to train. But still, that would have brought Yui herself some sense of excitement to have something unique and interesting about her… instead he was simply worried. She would have to see what she could do about that, but for now, he seemed like he was ready to get back to their little sparing session, and she gave him a gentle smile and nodded, resuming her previous stance.

She was upon him in an instant, airborne to take away the advantage of his preference towards legs. She went for a straight swiping kick towards his right temple, watching him carefully to make sure he didn’t grab her leg as she did so where she would withdraw her leg quickly if he tried. If he blocked or evaded, she would follow up with a twist, bringing her perfectly over his body and strike several times with her hands, using a series of open handed quick strikes. Landing behind him, she would then Shunpo back in front of him to try to catch him off balance, and then lower and try to sweep his legs, and then retreat back a short jump to get out of his range for a counter attack, still maintaining her previous stance.

It could be noticed that her stamina had almost completely recovered in their brief respite. She was focused and calm, and learning about his tactics and form as they went, watching his movements and shifts in attention. She was still in the phase where she was feeling out his defenses, trying to find weak points and helping to point them out so that when he went into a real fight he would be ready. He was short, like she was, so chances were there would be people who would try to pick on him, but he also had a lot of strength and a better personality, so maybe he wouldn’t have those problems. Yui’s mind flashed to a time in her life where getting kicked around was the norm, but she dismissed it.

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Yuuta's eyes smoothly followed Yui, she was smart going airborne as it did limit he strikes unless he was to matched her level but he preferred being on the actual ground for now given it is where he'd spent the vast majority of his training. He bent his right arm up to intercept the blow, his hand cupping the back of his head to guard as much as possible. A benefit he thought of in that moment, was that blocking would actually do damage to some attackers as they were hitting something akin to steel.  He smoothly shifted to a cross guard from boxing as the palm strikes came his way, making small adjustments to intercept the first two blows before making a grab for the third palm strike.

If he managed to get a grip on Yui's wrist he'd swing his arm down to try and slam Yui into the ground, and if he felt like he had a strong grip on her he'd throw his body into initiating an arm bar on the way to the ground. If it worked it'd be an extremely smooth manoeuvre that would be impossible for a mortal due to their physical limitations. However, if he felt his grip wasn't necessarily sufficient, or even potentially sufficient then he'd release Yui half way through the slam, hoping momentum would carry through enough for him to land a roundhouse aimed towards Yui at the same angle as her body. 

If it hit, Yuuta would give Yui time to recover and get back up before attacking again. If she evaded Yuuta would use a shunpo to try and get behind her, aiming a swift side elbow at her ilver from behind. He was still limiting his force to 10% but he wanted to show he had a precise knowledge of anatomy as well as good control and planning.

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As she predicted, he kept on the ground, defending against her strikes. Blocked, and she was overhead, making strikes at his head while hopefully throwing off his base with the awkward way it was to block strikes that came from directly above you. He did well enough, and even managed to snag her wrist during one of the strikes, and she knew she was in trouble. She had no doubt in her mind he would continue to hold back, and he seemed particularly skilled in making sure that he didn’t use too much force, but she knew he was stronger. If it came down to grappling, she was in a world of trouble… and that meant she need to take measures to keep that from happening. She flattened her hands so it was the smallest possible diameter, and then quickly twisted her legs around, causing her to spin while in his grasp. Combined with the downward force, she managed to slip free but before she could get to the ground, she was hit with a Roundhouse Kick that sent her spinning away a bit, barely able to block it in time.

They were evenly matched when it came to speed, and that meant he had another sizable advantage; he was almost assuredly going to outlast her. She was already starting to deal with labored breathing again, and she wouldn’t be able to keep this up for a whole hell of a lot longer… which meant she needed to change tactics. Standing, she took a deep breath and gained control of it again, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead and she resumed her stance, switching to defensive instead of offensive. It would allow her to conserve energy and look for weaknesses and counterattacks more easily, minimizing the amount of wasted movement. This was the truth of her strength; defensives grabs, strikes and counter-moves rather than offensive strikes. It was, without question, her go to when her initial strike was thwarted, usually aimed at assassinating the target quickly without them realizing she was even present.

She waited, stance prepared, for him to come to her. It was time to show what she was really capable of. He used a flash step to try to get behind her, and her trained eye easily noticed that he had been aiming for her organs with that strike, more specifically her liver. It was a good move, and the elbow increased damage over the fist, but sacrificed range. It was simple enough for her to simply take another step away from him and rotate, facing him again, ready for the next strike.

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The bead of sweat didn't go unnoticed by Yuuta, he made a mental note that he had more stamina for this exchange. If he could up the pressure on Yui, then hopefully she'd expend more energy and thus slow down more as a result. This was perfect timing when he'd already closed the range, he wasn't going to give Yui a chance to go on the offensive again. Yuuta's left foot shifted forwards to effectively close the range as he opened up with an uppercut towards Yui's chin, making sure to go more forwards than up unlike many beginners to increase it's accuracy. From there he'd smoothly transition into a cross to the head and a hook towards the head too.

The whole time his feet would smoothly be pivoting and shifting forwards in tune with Yui if she was to move backwards. Assuming his rhythm hadn't been interupted, or a counter attack was thrown his attack would smoothly flow into firing a knee towards Yui's abdomen as his right hand shot out to try and hold Yui's head in place as well as to enhance his own balance. Once again assuming nothing had come by way of a counter he'd land his right foot to the side, aiming to throw a left side elbow to the cheek as he landed.

Yuuta didn't expect the combination to go smoothly, but that wasn't any reason to not try and exploit the fact Yui seemed to be getting tired. Unlike his previous attacks, Yui would probably noticed that these were a lot more closed with very little wide pivots or swings to try and counter what he'd seen of her approach.

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Post Words:279
Total Words: 3160

It seemed that he had taken the bait, and was going on the offensive, which meant she was going to be able to catch her breath so long as she was able to keep up with him. As his foot shifted forward, hers shifted back, and the strike towards her chin was dodged with a horizontal movement combined with leaning back, and his arm slid by her head, but it was followed by a cross that she had to duck outright to dodge, and then another step back to get out of the range of the hook. He was pressuring her, but that was fine; she was still able to conserve energy this way, and it took twice as much energy to strike and miss than to strike and hit, if not more. She was even making a point not to deflect any of the blows, because that cost more energy than simply dodging, and aside the initial attempt at the uppercut, all the other strikes had been shallow and easily avoided.

The knee came, and she knew that she couldn’t simply dodge this one because his arms were reaching towards her head. Yui leaned back far more than her balance was supposed to allow, but that was by design; she was extending herself out of his range for the strike and the grab, and landed flat on her back and with a quick roll to his left was out from under him and back on her feet, but extremely low. Her breathing was slowing again, and she was recuperating, but not nearly fast enough. His constant pressure was making it hard to recover, even with how quickly she typically could bounce back after getting tired. Still, he was learning, and that was good… she wouldn’t let the next combo go unanswered, but she needed a good, solid way to strike back that didn’t wind up hurting her as well. With that spiritual armor, grappling was her best move, but in a real fight, he had superior strength and that meant any sort of grab would likely not work. For now she would keep recovering and find a weakness… using her experience and practice to keep her from harms way while looking for that moment where he slipped up.

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Yuuta couldn't help but admire the way Yui was dodging so smoothly, she was just about dodging in order to conserve and recover her energy faster than she expended it. It made sense really and it would make his plan moot, however he did have an idea to use Yui's style of dodging against her. The plan played out a few times in his mind and he reckoned it had a decent chance of working. He wasn't pinning all his hopes on this plan by any means, one of his greatest strengths that he'd learnt from sparring with Mako so much was the fact that he was quite flexible. He could give an attack his full commitment, but also be mentally able to adapt and change without losing his cool along the way.

Yuuta smoothly shifted his foot forwards again to throw a cross towards Yui, but his fist and arm were lose and he'd quickly try to grab onto the back of her head to try and keep her still, ensuring his shoulder covered his chin. He anticipated Yui might try to throw him, so in an attempt to prevent it He hooked his left arm around the elbow of his right arm at a right angle and his forearm leaning towards his face. He's swiftly sweep his left arm across his right to make getting a grip difficult whilst attempting to strike Yui's neck with his forearm.  If, and only if, this worked successfully without counter attack he'd release the back of Yui's head and smoothly fold in his right arm as he'd throw a right horizontal elbow towards her chin.

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Total Words: 3433