Sneakin' Through Seireitei [Akira, Kimi]

As Kimitsuki’s blade moved to deflect his strike, Akira’s attention would be momentarily directed towards the motion; analyzing the situation with razor-sharp focus. The very instant their swords clashed, he shifted his grip slightly, instead of trying to press downwards like he originally had in mind, the lad would push it forward instead, allowing Unmei to slide along her blade. The metal-on-metal friction sang through the alley, sparks scattering from the contact. She outmatches me in both raw strength and speed...so her own will become the weapon here. The thought flickered within an instant, making Akira’s new intent clear as the very day itself: using Kimitsuki’s own momentum, he aimed to now swipe at her hand in one fluid motion. But before this follow-through could happen...

Feeling her leg muscles tense beneath his grip as soon as their blades met with one another, the youngest child of the Yumeji Family recognized the preparation for a counter. Rather than resist this movement, he released her ankle but applied a sudden, powerful shove with his palm to force her leg away. The maneuver aimed to destabilize her stance seeing as her leg would now be up in the air without anything holding it there, the center of balance would be now off-kilter. Gravity, and her own momentum, might do the rest of sending her down towards the ground, for Akira knew that even with all of his strength applied, that alone would not be nearly enough to do the job.

Without any remote semblance of hesitation, Akira’s now-free hand grasped the one-foot length of chain extending loosely from Unmei’s hilt. The short length of steel wrapped swiftly around Kimitsuki’s blade, not to fully stop its deflection because by his current calculation of the intrinsic force she was exerting with this such a feat at his own strength would be nigh impossible; but it was done to slow it down - just enough to disrupt her rhythm and speedy counter from fully sending his blade away like she was trying to do. As the chain tightened, briefly impeding upon her weapon’s movement, Akira would then abruptly let go of this tension, followed by giving his sword arm a swift upward flick. The deflection gave his blade a sudden boost, propelling it above her weapon's guard to slice toward her arm. So long as the attack had made contact, it would slightly cut her hand right below where her first knuckles were, with just enough power for some blood to be drawn and to give a minor wound.

Simultaneously, Akira capitalized on the chaos. His cloak, draped across the ground, became another weapon in his arsenal. With a deliberately forceful kick, he sent it flying towards Kimitsuki’s face, a billowing and flowy distraction designed to obscure her vision. If she followed through with her fiery exhale, the flames would indeed consume the fabric nearly instantaneously. Yet Akira anticipated this by remembering the dragon's breath she performed mere moments ago, exhaling forcefully in response. The gust he produced didn’t aim to extinguish the flames but to weaponize their aftermath. Ash, soot, and embers scattered backward, swirling toward Kimitsuki’s eyes. The combination of visual obstruction and heat-charged debris might buy him precious moments.

If all went well throughout the sequence, Kimi would now find herself on the ground, a burnt cloak slightly covering her face whilst ash stung her eyes; the small cut that was possibly on her hand acting as a catalyst for Unmei's sealed ability. Though it wouldn't fully kick in as the cut was made, the goal was for her to get knocked to the ground and then the silvery thread would swoop in, stitching itself to her hand and then promptly to the ground. This was done to quite literally anchor that hand and limb to the ground, giving her next to no wiggle room for movement.

"The past 100 years, give or take a few has taught me a lot...but I'm still sure there's much to learn," Akira’s expression remained calm but focused in this series of events - the words being marked like each movement; precise, being directed towards a calculated play in their intricate dance of blades. He knew well the gulf of experience between them, but every strike, every tactic, tested not only his skill, but, his ability to think under pressure. ", especially from a teacher such as yourself."