Seaside Fight Night: Moe vs. Ira

This is a no-holds-barred match to knock out, concession, or disqualification. The arena is assumed to be sufficiently sized for combat, a 25m square raised pavilion inside of a larger 100m square field. Outside of this 100m square field is a 10m buffer zone for the purposes of ring-out. Beyond this buffer zone is a barrier erected by the Gotei Captains Kuchiki and Urahara, so assume it can withstand all but the most absolutely extreme destruction. Combatants will begin the match each on one corner of the raised pavilion.

A reminder that breaking any of these rules is grounds for immediate disqualification:
1. Anyone who leaves the boundaries of the ring is disqualified.
2. Injuring or involving spectators in the match is grounds for immediate disqualification.
3. Killing blows are strictly forbidden.

Breaking these rules will result in a combatant being immediately rendered unconscious by way of Binding Contract with Albedochiffren Director Kishar.

In the left corner: Unseated Member of the Gotei United's 4th Division, Moe Machihara.

In the right corner: Collaborator of the Vandenreich's Sternritter, Ira Holyfield.

A collaborator huh? They hadn't even reckoned she was strong enough to take on a real member of the Vandenreich. But maybe that just meant this girl was pretty good too. Couldn't afford to be pulling any punches when a reputation was on the line and, with a crowd like this, there was certainly no small amount of pressure sitting on her little shoulders to bring pride to the 4th Division and the Gotei. 15th Seat Zefā had gone on ahead, so now the buck had been passed down to her.

Stepping out into the arena, the cries and cheers of all the people gathered here finally felt real. Moe's chest puffed up with pride, which didn't change all that much, but there was a confident swagger to her walk as she took to her side of the raised platform and looked across at her opponent. She was a tall one, having Moe beat by about a foot, but that just gave her more surface area to work with. Her grip upon Shinsho tightened as she prepared to discard the sheath, but first, her voice echoed out across the distance between them.

"Nice to meetcha, Miss Holyfield. Let's give these folks a great show and hold nothing back!"

A cheeky grin danced across her features, though it would be quick to fade back to an intense glare as she readied herself for if her opponent wanted to get straight down to business.

Cracking his knuckles as he stepped onto the arena, Ira gave a confident wave and a thumbs up to the crowd around. He wasn't used to fighting up on the big stage like this, but hey, it could be a good time! Besides, great chance to get some practice in! Ira was at least fairly familiar with these Shinigami sorts, but Yugiri always beat his ass, and he'd never actually trained with Kasha or anything.

"That's Mister Holyfield! But it's a pleasure to meet you too, Miss Machihara!"

Unlike his opponent, Ira didn't exactly have any weapons to use here, but that was fine. Wasn't like he knew how to use 'em all that well, anyway, and he was pretty sure the martial arts he'd been training in were at least decent. Nothing super impressive just yet, but he'd picked up a few tricks in his travels, incorporated a little bit of what he'd learned from Yugiri and Kasha into it here and there. Rolling his arm and getting into his stance, a fairly confident center stance with both fists raised, he gave the tiny girl a grin that seemed squarely at odds with her glare.

"Ready when you are, little lady!"

Oh great. First, they couldn't find an actual Vandenreich member for her to fight, now they stuck her with the crossdresser. Had she made some enemies in the upper ranks or was this just a cruel twist of fate? She huffed once, dispelling those concerns for now. It didn't matter who Ira really was or what they identified as, right now they were her opponent and that was all that really mattered.

"Alright, Mister, let's do this!"

Drawing her sword, Moe tossed the sheath away and let it roll towards the edge of the arena. Shinsho seemed to glow in the light, the shine of the blade seeming to enjoy the sudden attention that was falling upon it. But the spirit of her weapon was not one to get flustered, unlike her wielder.

Are you finally gonna loosen up? I don't think I've seen you this tense before.

But this isn't the time nor the place to be playing games, Moe announced inwardly as she raised the blade up above her in a high guard. Taking another deep breath, she steadied her hand and shut out that nagging voice. Like hell was she gonna be able to fight well with all that backseat driving from her Spirit anyway.

Satisfied with herself and now itching to break the ice, she began by ducking a little lower and then propelling herself forwards with a flash step. It wasn't anything fancy, about as straightforward as it came actually, but she wasn't trying to bowl him off his feet with a little bit of movement. That job was for her blade, as she broke into a little sprint to cover the last of the distance between them. The sword went higher, lifted well above her head before Moe went to slam it down on Ira. What little advantage she might have in range was already neutralised by the difference in height, but there was no shortage of power behind the swing. If Ira wanted to trade blows with her then Moe was all too happy to do so, after all.

Though, now that she was up close to him, she had to admit that he was a very talented crossdresser. He looked every bit a woman, which was both amusing and unnerving.

Admittedly, Ira was keenly aware that fighting someone with a sword was a little bit of an issue when he didn't have any weapons of his own. He probably oughta figure something out on that front, huh? Well, nothin' for it now. This chick was pretty fast, that much was plain to see even just with that step. Ira was thankful that he was used to training with Yugiri, at least, so it wasn't too much trouble to take a quick step to the side before the zanpakuto slammed into him.

At the same time, however, he used that step to put some good momentum into a wide, arcing kick, augmenting his leg a good deal as he whipped his heel toward the young lady's side. He probably didn't have a lot of advantage over a trained member of the Gotei, so he'd have to make every individual action count if he wanted to win this.

Could she just smack him down before the kick even connected? Maybe. Ira wasn't sure just how different the two of them were when it came to their capabilities. But the only way he was gonna find out was by giving it his all.

Moe's mind wasn't exactly in the game yet, distracted as it was by her own zanpakuto and Ira's perplexing physiology, so she was a little sluggish as she went to pull her weapon back from the first impact it made against the platform. Turning slightly, she was far too slow this time, as the kick slammed home into its intended target and drew a grunt from the Shinigami that was as much surprise as it was pain. She had to get her head out of her ass and focus, or this guy would put her on her ass in front of a whole stadium. Couldn't be having that now, could we?

"Hey, you're pretty quick, but are you not gonna summon a weapon?"

No sooner had she asked did Shinsho sweep sideways. Having saved the effort of lifting the weapon high by instead starting from the ground and rising into a sweeping crosscut that might buy her a little breathing room and allow Moe an opportunity to stay on the offence. That was where you had to be if you wanted to win, after all. So, putting faith in her swing to force Ira into repositioning, Moe stepped forwards once more and went for another overhead slash. This time, though, she had no intention of completing it and would pull back to try to protect herself if it made enough progress that he would have to have evaded it again.

Ira was making sure to stay mobile, definitely not under any illusions that he could actually match a decently trained Shinigami one on one if they got going. Better to stay as close as he could, keep up the footwork-- Phew, that one pushed him right out though. Wincing as the blade cut into one of his crossed forearms, Ira quickly returned to his typical grin.

"A weapon? Not really my style, little lady."

As Moe attacked yet again, Ira firmed his stance, knowing he was about to make a real risky move. Still, he was pretty confident in his skills. His training hadn't all been for nothing, after all. He could evade, but he'd just be ceding ground to her. Instead, he took in one sharp breath, and once more whipped his leg outward, this time aiming his foot for Moe's wrist as the blade flew toward him, intent on ruining her grip for now.

He was pretty sure he was tough enough that, even if this gambit totally failed, he wouldn't just die. But admittedly, Ira hadn't been prepared for her to simply step back, and he actually wasn't sure if his strike would even hit her now. Either way, he wasn't going to stop. Better to follow through, it'd get him back to his neutral stance faster.

Moe's sword cut home, but so too did his words cut through her. They'd really matched her up with a guy that didn't have a weapon too. Someone up there must have really hated her, because now if she won, she'd beat up an unarmed guy, and if she lost, then an unarmed guy had beaten her. She almost wanted to sigh. Still, the fight continued, as she pulled her blade pulled back when he dodged and found herself right in the path of his kick.

Alright then, I can cut loose.

It would have been possible for her to twist her body away from it, let his boot slide off her arm or something like that, but if she was going to even the playing field then now was the time. Better to try to sell it and hope he didn't take too much offence to her deception.

So she let the kick connect, and it fucking hurt, and she yelped as her hands slid free from the hilt of Shinsho. The blade itself slipped through her fingers and clattered to the floor. It was unlikely that had been his intention, so maybe Ira would be as surprised as Moe was that she was doing that, but her honour simply wouldn't allow her to brutalise an unarmed combatant unless it was truly necessary. Maybe he'd lied to make her do something this stupid, or just make her go easier on him, but she wanted to believe that he wouldn't do that. That they could have a good, honest, brawl.

Ira was still coming forward, so Moe used the last of her movement to hook her weapon away from both of them. Ostensibly, so that she could retrieve it later when not under attack but really just to get it out of the way. Shinsho would understand, she had ended up doing what the spirit wanted after all.

Ira was quite glad to feel his kick connect, and doubly so that he'd actually managed to knock the sword from her hands. Of course, he knew that he probably shouldn't expect a shinigami to just be done for now that she was down a sword, but her moving it further away was a good sign.

At leat, in theory. Maybe she was fine with not having it? Hm, well, Ira wasn't going to ruminate on that one for now. It seemed like he still had the advantage here, and he was going to capitalize on that. The moment he'd returned to his natural stance, Ira was already moving in further, following up on his first kick with another one aimed toward Moe's solar plexus. The two of them seemed fairly evenly matched in a lot of ways, but Ira definitely had the advantage as far as reach. Sure, he could have gone for a knee strike, or something else more withering, but right now he was pretty sure it was best to keep the smaller girl out.

Of course, maybe she was ready for that. His kicks were pretty fast, but if she was fast enough to catch his leg, he'd be in a bad spot. Not the end of the fight, but he knew that wouldn't be a great turn.

Trying to settle into her neutral stance, Moe knew that she had just put herself cleanly on the backfoot. Not because Ira was a better martial artist, though that might well be true, the difference in reach was going to mean that she would always have to be stepping into him to land any meaningful blows. If she knew that, then he was already aware, and so, as his foot went up, Moe was already leaning in.

She raised both her hands in a crossguard, covering up as the force of the kick drove her back, but Moe was at least able to stop it from ringing her skull. Backpedalling now, she was able to give a little bit of the room that she had taken during the initial exchange. Then, bouncing forwards on the balls of her feet, she shot forwards again with another flash step. This time, given their proximity, she was trying to shoot past Ira even though he might be able to intercept her.

If she was able to get in as close as she liked, Moe went for a rapid combination of attacks. First attempting to knock Ira's own guard aside with one fist before going to slam into him with a vicious chop to his side. If it connected with something that wasn't her intended target, that would be alright too. Raw power was what carried her far more than intricate technique, after all, and she would have to whether some attacks in turn for being so brazen.