Re: A Quick Beginning (Hijikata and Yoruichi)

Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:27 pm

Toshizo Hijikata~The Demon Commander~0-3+

A Quick Beginning (Hijikata and Yoruichi) - Page 2 O5p3s3

As the slender ebon arm took the haori from Hijikata's grasp, something dawned on him that he had not quite thought about; Yoruichi was devoid of any clothing. Well, he didn't actually see this fact for himself in its entirety, as the veil of smoke was still obscuring her form, but from the glimpse of her form he could see and the fact that her arm was bare... it wasn't hard for him to piece together. That being said, he hadn't been intentionally trying to look through the smoke, and as soon as he realized this fact he quickly averted his gaze so as not to be rude. Of course, this was definitely not the first time Hijikata had been faced with a naked woman, and while he did admire the female form, seeing as Yoruichi had already threatened violence against him once, it was best not to push his luck. Though, while such a situation normally wouldn't affect him much... well, this wasn't quite a normal situation. To put it simply, her speed was not the only reason Yoruichi had earned the title of a goddess, and while there may not have been any attraction on a conscious level, it had already been proven that she was no normal woman. Still, while this revelation had garnered a bit of a reaction from Hijikata, it would be incorrect to say that he had become flustered by it; just that it did affect him. Of course, given that they would be training in speed, Hijikata assumed that his haori would only serve as a temporary cover for her; but before he could ask if they would have to stop somewhere for her to pick up some proper clothing he heard the unmistakable sound of cloth being ripped.

It really didn't take long for Hijikata to deduce where the sound was coming from and what was making it, he didn't actually turn his gaze back to Yoruichi immediately. Sure, he didn't want to have his haori ripped up; as not only was it a symbol of his rank as Captain but also a specially crafted article, but even more then that he did not want to piss Yoruichi off yet again so soon. So begrudgingly, he had to hold back any comments of "the hell are you thinking?" as she worked, and could only count himself lucky that old man Yamamoto wasn't around to see what was happening to his haori. Still, given what the earlier price had been... well, let's just say that one wasted haori was a much better deal. As such, Hijikata waited until the sound of ripping fabric subsided before he turned his gaze back to Yoruichi, hoping that enough time had passed for her to be fully clothed. And... well, while she definitely was fully covered now, her current ragtag attire didn't leave too much to the imagination. Sure, it probably was more modest then if she were to simply have worn the haori draped around herself, as that could lead to some awkward explanations, but still... it wasn't much. Thankfully, though more for himself than for her, Hijikata wasn't just some slack jawed neanderthal incapable of nothing but staring at the admittedly appealing image before himself; though once again it did affect him enough for there to be a few seconds pause.

Luckily once again this pause did not last for long, and soon Hijikata's attention was directed firmly away from Yoruichi's body as she spoke. Actually, he had to admit; the change in her tone was actually quite welcome. It wasn't as if he disliked her normal, more "playful" personality... much... but all things considered it was actually refreshing to see her being so serious. Hell, Hijikata actually kinda liked this side of her, even if that wasn't what was immediately on his mind or something he would so openly admit. Even as her very aura seemed to shift in an attempt to... well, maybe not intimidate him per say, but definitely show off her severity, Hijikata could not fight back the genuine grin currently crossing his face. Not only was this exactly what he had sought Yoruichi out for, but in all honesty, the prospect of fighting someone, even if only in training, who surpassed him in at least one area was quite exhilarating. Sure, it was nothing like the insanity apparently possessed by every Kenpachi when it came to a fight, but more an enjoyment at being challenged; as well as bettering himself. Even with her final words before adopting a fighting stance, that same grin had not gone from Hijikata's face. Sure, she may have been the Flash Goddess, and while he was here to train, this day would not end until it was clear why he was known as the Demon Commander.

"You're right, words are cheap" Hijikata said in response to Yoruichi's last statement; as in reality nothing more need be said. Without wasting another moment, Hijikata's right hand soon griped the hilt of one of his two sheathed swords; and in a seemingly single fluid moment extracted the blade and held it before himself, arms extended with both hands upon its hilt. Oddly enough, however, the katana that Hijikata had produced was not actually his Zanpakutō. Now, it was in no way a weak blade; as it had obviously been masterly crafted and indeed had a spiritual signature, but once it was actually inspected it would be quite clear that it was not his Zanpakutō. Along with this, the actual edge of the blade had been left dull; a step taken on purpose so that it was safe to use for simple training purposes. Of course, this was no indication that Hijikata would take this training lightly, and there was a very specific reason he had opted to use this blade instead of his own Zanpakutō... but for now that was only for him to know. Readying himself, Hijikata bent his knees slightly, preparing himself for the momentum of his first strike. Thankfully, as shown by the earlier exchange of his haori, the two were still relatively close, meaning that he would have much less ground to cover in his approach; giving Yoruichi much less time to react to it. Sure, he was here to train... but the training would do no good if he were not able to push her to the limits as well. Stepping off, Hijikata was suddenly holding his sword above his head, still with both hands and arced slightly over his right shoulder. Of course, in the next moment he was upon Yoruichi, his sword already beginning its powerful arc downwards at a vertical angle. While this whole sequence of events would take barely even a second to accomplish, the fact that he was attacking with a powerful stroke meant that it would obviously not be the quickest strike. However, Hijikata himself was quite aware of this, and to simply assume that his plans stopped at the first attack would have been a grave mistake. Should Yoruichi evade the initial strike, he would be able to either follow it up with an upwards cut to make use of the positions leverage, or, if she had plans to move around him and attack from another angle, the momentum of his initial strike would be easily capitalized upon to bring the blade around in an arc to strike at the new location. However, if she were to simply attempt to block the attack, Hijikata also had further preparations; as his style was not solely contained to the blade itself. Should it be halted, Hijikata would follow up by a quick jab with his left hand at what would then be the exposed side of Yoruichi, taking advantage of the close proximity. Of course, these were only the possibilities, and Hijikata's next course of action would rely solely upon how Yoruichi reacted to his first strike, and how his style would be able to cope with high speeds.

Wed Dec 04, 2013 3:27 pm

Lesson One

Sword versus the swordless; in any other situation the attribute of honor would have intervened and dictated a spar on even terms. Hijikata knew better though, considering Yoruichi's noteriety. The simple fact that the man didn't draw his actual Zanpakutō demonstrated a profound measure of boldness, or otherwise foolishness. Irregardless, maybe now that her trainee had drawn a weapon, she didn't have to consider brawling with one arm held behind her back—a serious consideration prior to this. With that aside it was time to study his stance; the way he presented himself and the flow of his movements that were soon to come. The tricky part about asking him to show her as opposed to merely speaking of it, was that Yoruichi had to focus rather intently on Hijikata. She had to figure out what his game was and simultaneously react to it with adequate speed, something considered to be rather challenging of a feat. Thankfully, this was Yoruichi Shihouin, and not only was she an intelligent individual, but speed was her game. After a bit of thinking, it would be easy to deduce why she had preferred this method of training over the other, as she was very experienced in keeping up with the intensive activity. The moment that man unsheathed his blade, Yoruichi's legs bent further, bringing her closer to the ground. She tensed her muscles, absolutely prepared to evade as opposed to block now that she realized this was a sword-based style. She tried to notice subtleties within his ordinary-looking stance or the way he held his sword, not quite yet finding any. Surely he would display what made his style unique in the tide of combat, however, so she kept her eyes peeled.

There were two types of processing for a fighter: The most common and easier to cope with was when one got into fierce combat, their hand forced by necessity. When it came down to the wire, the mind would enter a state of processing that slowed down the speed of events around them, giving them more breathing room to deal with them to their utmost ability. Most Shinigami she had ever fought possessed this kind of thought whenever she ever did choose to inquire about it. Yoruichi, however, possessed the second of the two types, which was much like having the training wheel removed off of her bike without her permission. Time didn't slow down for her... she just thought faster in order to manage events. The two methods actually weren't too far apart from each other, they merely were just different ways of perceiving time, born outside of one's control. Still, it was only right that Yoruichi's perception was like this, given she was the epitome of sheer speed. It was just a small note to make when Hijikata charged forth, launching himself at a speed that carried him off the ground as he crossed the short distance between them. She didn't witness the action in slow motion. No, she watched in full speed, and still his body in motion was not a blur to her, nor was she reacting late to his initial strike by any stretch of the imagination. When he arrived before her, his imposing height accentuated by an overhead strike, she was already in motion herself.

He got brownie points for effort, attempting to swing straight down through her without wasting time, but still he was a step behind. Yoruichi was sure to display just the basic scope of her speed as she side-stepped the attack with ease, the one movement sweeping aside a small cloud of dust with her bare feet. An image was left behind in her wake, as insubstantial as the dust. It was already flickering out of reality as Hijikata's blade passed through it without resistance. But his sword would only be halfway through her fake visage before the real Yoruichi was hopping off the balls of her feet and into the air. Perhaps realizing the situation, Hijikata would probably want to stop his failed attack and flow straight into the next as soon as possible, but the violet-haired woman on the other end was there to prevent that. By the time Yoruichi's after-image had fully dissipated, Hijikata would feel a sudden weight on his sword. She was straight in front of him now, standing above the tip of his sword and thrusting her bare foot downward on the dull-side of the sword. It wasn't just her weight—which would have been too light—she had put her strength behind the momentum of the sword's arc, pushing it all the way downwards until it knocked on the pavement with a dull clunk. Yoruichi had the incredible balance of the cat, though she looked like a flamingo as she maintained herself on one foot for a brief moment. She would subsequently stomp her other foot down on his sword closer to the base, doubling the weight he had to deal with in a fraction of a second. Trying to sweep the sword out from under her now would be next to impossible now once she established her stability, and it would be a struggle to so much as hold onto the hilt of his sword without dropping it.

It didn't even stop there however, as Yoruichi continued to advance upon Hijikata upon the sword, now bringing her back foot forward at a rapid speed. She threw out a kick straight at his face without mercy. If his intent was to continue to hold onto the sword, then her intent was to give him a difficult time trying to do so. This lesson came out of the blue, whether the man realized it or not; he had to decide how worth it it was to stay attached to the weapon when his pretty little face was in danger of being smashed flat like a pancake. Yoruichi felt the answer was rather simple, the way she thought, but Hijikata's mind was not hers. The sword should have been too much of a liability under these circumstances to hold on to... and if he let go, then it would be far more easier to react to Yoruichi's speed. It was his turn to make the snap decision, to react to the first and probably most important of her tests: How flexible was this style? In this day and age, static and refined styles were outdated, giving way to far more adaptable ones. Expect the unexpected and all that jazz. So as her foot came rocketing at his face, displacing the air around it and cracking like a whip as it broke the sound barrier... she would soon find out her answer.

Coding by: [TheFrost] || Graphics by: Kaira

Sun Dec 15, 2013 5:46 pm

Toshizo Hijikata~The Demon Commander~0-3+

While the current fight had been brought up as training, Hijikata himself had no intention to treat it as such... at least in a manner of speaking. Sure, he was using a dulled sword, though the reason he chose it over his Zanpakutō was not in an attempt to limit himself. Still, aside from that small factor, Hijikata was still approaching this battle as if it were a life or death struggle; hoping to push Yoruichi as far as possible in the hope that she would truly test the mettle of his style. Of course, even before his attack had "landed" in its target Hijikata had been quite certain that Yoruichi would choose to dodge; given both the refinements to her stance as he drew his blade as well as the fact that for the most part she seemed unarmed and knew not that his blade would not break the skin. Then again, it was still a pretty powerful object, especially when swung with all of his might, and even though Yoruichi was by no means a pushover, blocking a strike like that with one's bare hands was bound to hurt. However, even anticipating this Hijikata did not change up his assault. Simply put, it would have been a practice in futility; as at this point, any new attack would have much lessened momentum and strength, and besides, she would probably just dodge any change-up anyways. Instead, Hijikata chose to go through with his initial attack, and hopefully use the momentum of his miss to catch Yoruichi off guard.

As soon as his blade hit with no resistance, Hijikata knew that Yoruichi had evaded his strike; skilled enough in the feedback from his sword to not even blink at the afterimage left in her wake. While this course had been expected, it was what came next that caught him slightly off guard. Following the trace of her energy as best he could, thankfully aided by the close proximity of the two, while Yoruichi's movements were fast, he didn't actually lose track of her location. That being said, she was still moving faster than he was accustomed to, and as such, the sudden appearance of Yoruichi and an added pressure to the back of his blade did manage to catch him b surprise. Granted, this did not last beyond an initial reaction, and as soon as his blade hit the ground, Hijikata was already prepared to strike back. Thanks to the fact that he had not cut back on his own momentum in the arc, there wasn't much resistance to Yoruichi's addition in pinning the blade against the ground. Sure, Hijikata had a great deal of physical power, but as he had used much of it to create the momentum of his slash, fighting to keep his blade up would have been futile. However, in getting so close to him, Yoruichi was about to learn that the way of the blade was not the only focus of Shinsengumi-Kenjutsu.

In a display of his own speed (though really helped through their proximity and just how he had been holding his blade), at almost the same moment Yoruichi's back foot was lifted to deliver a kick to his face, Hjikata's left hand shot up from the hilt of his sword; leaving the blade grasped only in his right hand. Before her foot even had the chance to strike its target, Hijikata had not only blocked the kick with his left hand, but also grabbed hold of her leg by the ankle. While his hand definitely stung after this maneuver, he still had more than enough strength to maintain a firm grip upon Yoruchi's ankle; not only limiting her movement but also keeping her from simply fleeing. However, a simply block was far from what Hijkata had planned, and without wasting anytime he sprung his counterattack. Thanks to the fact that he was now holding one of her legs in the air, the weight on his blade was reduced, and Hijikata easily managed to pull the blade from beneath her. In almost the same movement though, Hijikata also used his grasp on Yoruichi's ankle to pull her forward, while at the same time launching his head forward in a powerful headbutt. Because of his grip (which would be released immediately after impact) and the proximity, the chances of Yoruichi being able to do much in response to this attack were slim to none. Even if she vastly outmatched him in terms of speed, he limited both her movement and options severely by the grip upon her ankle. Assuming the headbutt landed, Hijkata would follow this up with a one handed horizontal slash from his sword; using the recoil from the headbutt to make up for the second it would take to complete the slash.

Thu Dec 26, 2013 12:02 am

Lesson One

'Smack!'

If the bystanders were not paying attention to the commotion earlier, surely the percussion of Toshizo's palm catching the ankle of the Flash Goddess would turns some heads. Many people in Karakura city, albeit they were unlikely to know these two random Shinigami, are spiritually aware enough to sense their presence. Their makeshift battleground had not any thought put into it at all, uncaring of the narrowness of the alley, the proximity of powerless citizens, and grimy terrain they were fighting on. It did not matter, at least not to Yoruichi. Anyone who knew her would understand quite swiftly that such things couldn't really concern her. Many questioned why she had ever been a Captain in the first place, or had been taken back a second time very recently; irresponsible and reckless were two very accurate adjectives for the woman. But who could blame her? The adrenaline had only began to pump through her veins as the spar began, as she was still shaking off the sleep from her aching muscles. The speed she had displayed earlier was a pathetic excuse for what Yoruichi was usually capable of. The fact that her opponent had even had a chance to react was a testament to that. However, it was probably for the better considering this was more training and less a duel, so she would continue moving at this sluggish pace so that the man could adjust to it and actually be able to get his moves in.

Yoruichi felt the wooden blade of Hijikata's sword sweep out from under the lone foot she was leaning her weight on, while the other was captured by his hand. She felt a moment of weightlessness, then a harsh tug on her ankle that prevented gravity from overtaking her. Her body was pulled in toward Hijikata, and the dark-skinned woman watched with slightly surprised eyes as his forehead rocketed toward the center of her stomach. If it hit, it would hurt, a lot; while she felt everyone around her was incessantly moving at a sluggish pace, she knew that matching Yoruichi's strength was far more conceivable. The impact, even if it smashed headfirst into her stomach, would knock the air straight out of her and send waves of pain throughout her upper body. Luckily... her arms were still free. Whether such a fact went by considered not, or if Toshizo figured it did not matter, the ex-Captain would be sure to take advantage of it. Her right arm shot forward like a missile, backed further by her forward momentum as it aimed for his face balled into a fist. His left hand, which would normally be used to counteract the trajectory of this attack, was preoccupied with holding her leg and keeping her from using her agility advantage over him, and unlikely to even make it up in time to touch her flying fist before it impacted his oncoming face. Even worse about the situation he had put himself into, was that he was throwing his face at her, literally. She only had to rendezvous with him, because her ability to strike accurately was far more capable than his ability to evade enough under these circumstances.

One punch, which would be potent enough alone to counter his momentum, would not exhaust her entire assault. Her body was already torquing into the next attack, and here, now, Yoruichi would show just a taste of why she was called the Flash Goddess. Her arms and chest became a blur and the second strike came out within a split second of the first, her left fist striking the same spot at the very center and front of his face. Then she alternated back to her right, and left again. A flurry of fists were aiming to pummel his face flat as a pancake, rapid fire like a machine gun. Every time she would strike, the drumming sound would rattle outwards through the alleyway, and further push his face back an inch at a time until he was literally leaning backwards with her over him beating on his nose. His face would be red and it would not be because he was blushing. But after several dozen strikes, the long-winded thrashing would finally cease for a second, barely enough time for even a breath of air. In this time, Yoruichi's arms recoiled back both at once, preparing to slingshot at a new target. Not to disappoint, she fired them off in a two-pronged attack aimed at his chest. This finisher, much more powerful than any of the quick jabs from before, would hurl Hijikata's body into the ground in a crumpled form, cracking the ground beneath and surrounding them both in a plume of dust. And maybe, he'd let go of his leg.

Throughout all this time, Yoruichi's left foot was free. Additionally, Hijikata's right arm was as well, and it was holding his bokken at the ready. By the time he would be able to strike her with it after retrieving it out from under Yoruichi's foot, she would have a high enough vantage over him that she could intercept any shenanigans with that free foot. If he dared lash at her with it, she would kick out at it and attempt to send it flying out of his hand. It was considered, and she was ready to react. Let's see what he had up his sleeve this time.

Coding by: [TheFrost] || Graphics by: Kaira