Season of Pink[Moe, Rio]

"Ya don't know if ya don't try, and -hey- ya tried it. Maybe it'll click more if ya come back later, but no one can take that effort away from ya. Hakuda's a tricky one anyway, all these stances and techniques but ya also have to stay totally focused on, like, your sense of self."

It was kinda easy to sound smart by just spewing out a whole bunch of words, but Moe didn't have the knack for making those make sense to someone she might be trying to teach. Still, if Rio had been teaching Hakuda then she'd have to watch out for her in close quarters. Fortunately, that was also where Moe wanted to be too. They both looked unassuming, by comparison to the plethora of brutes that were regular brawlers, but that was likely all the opportunity either of them might need to floor an opponent.

"Anyway! Are we getting some more food or are we throwing down, because I'm feeling good but also getting hungry again, hehe?"

Pink eyes focused in on Rio once more, a sudden intensity to Moe as the opportunity for a friendly competition was now fast approaching.

A not-so-insignificant part of Moe had not been opposed to the idea of more food. But Rio was a step ahead of the curve it seemed, and she was grateful for that. Good company and good eating were two of the finer things in life, after all.

“Alright, you’re on. Maybe I’ll be carrying you back here later and treating ya to food too, least I can do to pay ya back for this.”

She stood somewhat gingerly, still a little unsure of herself until she was fully upright. Stretching from side to side, there was no more pain in her posterior and so a toothy smile crept across her features. Rio had been talking the talk, it was very likely she could walk the walk, so now it was up to Moe to get the most out of it. Couldn’t be letting a single fall keep her down.

“As for the where, oh, I’m not fussy about that. Hardly matters where we throw down, unless you’ve got a private spot in mind to keep away from prying eyes?”

A wide open space, huh? Alright, that worked out just fine for Moe as she surveyed her surroundings with a little bit of reverence. That wolfish smile had remained ever since it had first emerged, hungry as she was for the chance to redeem herself from the previous embarrassment. Pulling her blade from her back, Moe sent the sheath clattering off to the sidelines as she bore her steel. It might have been rude of her to draw her weapon on a currently unarmed person but she also wasn't a fool enough to think that this was a fight she would win with her Hakuda alone.

"This here's Shinsho, my Zanpakuto, and she's also been looking forward to meetin' ya."

The weapon looked almost comically large in Moe's hands, though she seemed to handle it far better than one of her stature naturally would. Turning it over in her hand, she smirked and raised it up into a high guard. Shinsho herself hardly thought to deign that comment on her thoughts with one of her own. Moe knew well enough that the spirit had no particular desire to engage in any such bout, but she dragged her around anyway.

But there was no need to labour the point. Shinsho would come around eventually, she'd just need to rile her up first. So, with little further ceremony, Moe took Rio's invitation to heart and sprung forwards. Her speed was nothing impressive, not compared to most of the stronger Shinigami out there, but her spirit was on full display as she swung down in a vicious overhead that packed in a lot of her strength. Using that energy, she would then bounce forwards and attempt to get in a second aerial swing as she flung herself over Rio aiming to land behind her.

Going in all guns blazing was certainly Moe's style, with her flashy aerial moves and acrobatic techniques, but that was hardly something she had perfected. It was fine when she was on the front foot, aggressing towards her opponent, but rather fragile when that momentum was lost. Naturally, as Rio leapt to meet her in the air and loosed a punch of her own that was far faster than Moe's weapon swing, all of that momentum came crashing to a halt against a brick wall.

"Guh!"

The first strike stopped her in place, and the second would have knocked the wind right out of her sail had she not dragged her leg up to cover that exposed midriff. Still, Rio's second strike slapped against the meat of her thigh and drew another unintentional grunt from her lips as she flopped backwards. The price of having to use her leg defensively was that it was not down to help with the landing, but that meant that she would just have to plant her sword into the ground and use that to hold her steady. Just how was she gonna keep up? Certainly not without going all out.

"Pretty quick. Alright. Ain't a Shihoin for nothin', huh? Bend and Scatter, Shinso!"

The area around her weapon cracked and broke apart as Moe activated her first release, the kanabō pushing her back into the air a little from the size increase. She hung there for a moment before yanking downwards, wrenching the weapon free in a shower of debris and taking a golf club-style swing at Rio as she approached.

Seeing Rio come barrelling forwards into her strike, Moe loosed a manic laugh as the blow connected with her opponent. There was no secret effect though, nothing all too special appeared to happen, there was just a brutal clang as the club struck home and little Moe continued to swing through.

Yet, for all the girl's might, actually hitting Rio was like striking against a wall of steel or bricks or anything else hard that she couldn't think of at the moment. Damn, this woman was even tougher than she had first expected! No wonder she had bounced off her earlier like a fly striking against a glass window. But, where some might have been disheartened by this revelation, it only made Moe smile harder. Really grit her teeth. Because now the challenge was not really to beat Rio, that was a little unrealistic unless she really managed to pull something crazy off, but rather to push Rio as far as she could before hitting the dirt. Certainly a bold strategy to undertake, but not one that Moe would back down from.

"Ya see, I'm not all talk!"

She managed to get in a little gloating before the Shihoin grabbed hold of her weapon and shot forwards, so little had that initial blow fazed her. A punch shot out towards her but again Moe did not even attempt to dodge. She turned her body into the blow, one hand leaving her weapon to help the strike glance off of her rather than impact dead on, before looking to use that rotating move to swing her big ol' weapon around again. It wasn't exactly a subtle thing, her body was as readable as a book to one with as well-trained an eye as Rio no doubt had, but that did not make it any less effective in her eyes.