Turn back the pendulum: I know what you did last week [Tento / Hana]

Tento was both nervous and excited as both him and Hanako got into their respective stances. She had bested him, turning to what he had thought was a well done attack pattern into a complete defeat in the quick motion that was subtle and precise maestoso movements. Tento found himself once again impressed and stuck thinking about Hanako's skill and...physique. The problem now was that Tento was getting into his competitive mindset even more. He failed to know if he won or lost in their race, he lost in the first round in their spar, even if he did somewhat good. He wanted to win this round. He had to.

And so when Hanako gave him the oppertunity of preparation in declaring she wanted to try a specific move that took a set up that could be seen, he knew that he had to use whatever knowledge he had to give him a chance. Simply because he saw it and knew it was coming, did not mean he could defend against it or counter.

It was time, Hanako stepped forward and it was now or never. Tento ducked, hoping it would be quickest way to dodge while giving him room to counter. He barely made it. Hanko bokken moved swift and he could feel the wood grazing the top of his curly black hair. He moved, the swipe at her feet causing her to lose balance, an act that Tento had not thought would happen at all. Hanako had great strong legs and with her footwork, he expected her to have no issue with taking the hit. It seemed he got lucky with a factor he had failed to notice. His body was already in motion after she fell, and so his flow up upward slash hit nothing but open air once again.

Tento was standing now and Hanako was on her back. He looked down at her for a moment surprised at the course of events. He was afraid he hurt Hanako again, and granted he wouldn't mind blowing her back out, it was most certainly not like this ideally. This view was not bad though.

He stepped back to give her some room as she sat up. "Well, I do have some tricks up my sleave. Although, that move was pretty quick, I did not think I could do it to be honest".

She got back into her normal stance, it was clear what she was up to. She wanted a third round to break the tie. Tento was not sure if that would do....if he lost he would probably try to get her to do a three out of five....and then a five out of seven etc etc. He had a lot of energy in him, and he was not done competing with Hanako today even a little bit.

He knew he had to do it though, he was not satisfied with leaving it one each. So, he would answer her call. He moved back and entered a stance of his own. A normal one, no longer attempting to work with only one hand. Both of his hands on his bokken as he centered his form and squared his shoulders and feet. "We can go again, but how about we do a little wager. Winner buys the other lunch?? I'm getting hungry and it would be nice if you could join me".. A subtle offer...he hoped. It would be fine if she took it up or not. He would accept the challenge regardless.

Then she stepped forward and Tento did something that was different from his normal self. He retreated. Lunging backward and landing on the tips of his toes, he furthered the distance between the two while keeping his bokken up in a guarded position, seeing the start of Hanako's downward strike, he expected it to be a successful dodge but one never knew for sure. Regardless if that move was successfully dodged, Tento expected Hanako to not just use one attack. And as his eyes watched her body he found himself to be correct. The downward strike seemed to have stop at what his forehead would have been, maybe a faint or a light hit. But she would pull her sword back to her right side and then step forward to stab.

Tento thought he may be out of range but with her footwork and the length of the bokken, that would be a terrible thing to assume. And so he moved, changing his bokken's position to his left side, he would swing up as Hanko' stabbed, attempting to use the tip of his bokken to knock her's up. He then would slash down quickly, making the action a upside down V strike. He would try to move faster and stronger before as he stepped his feet down to place himself. He was using both hands now and hoped his power and speed would increase.