Kasugano Sakura
Level 4: 19/40
Location: The Atomos--> Ganryu-Maru Talking to
@DracoLunaris and
@Lugubrious. A collab with Lugubrious.
Word Count: 4,376
Points Gained: 3
New EXP Balance--- Level 4: 22/40
Where Ranger’s report made the Abyssals wary, it left Sakura fired up. Just a few choice words seemed to get her blood flowing and send her toward the Atomos’ stern. It was there that she witness something that floored her, eliciting a sudden yell. Bella jumped in surprise at Sakura’s shout, causing her tail to jerk out of position and rob her of her seat. She hit the deck with a resounded
smack but sat up again in an instant, thinking she was under attack and filled with adrenaline. Without meaning to she deployed a trio of defensive bombers, only for her to realize what was actually happening. Looking more than a little sheepish Bella recalled her bombers, then furiously worked to compose herself before Sakura could turn and see her embarrassment.
As it turned out, one of the people Sakura spotted -who Bella had yet to see- constituted not just an acquaintance but a rival. While the Water Princess knew only what the word meant in terms of definition, she could see how much this girl meant to Sakura just by how the street fighter talked and acted. She clearly wanted nothing more than to leap from the cargo bay and meet with her friend, but conscientious as ever she wanted the Abyssal’s permission.
As if she needs the approval of the likes of us. Bella waved her off. “Of course, it sounds like she’s your friend. Have fun!” She found herself looking forward to watching the fight, eager to see what Sakura was made of as an onlooker, rather than a participant.
Sakura pumped her fist, oblivious of any prior embarrassment.
"Yatta!" She said under her breath. Then she made an unsure hand gesture.
"Friend? Eh..." She shrugged, smiling.
"Maybe that’s not the right word. But we’re close. The closest two street fighters could be, really!" She exhaled. She turned to look at Rika and Junior, both of whom also wanted to watch the fight.
”It’s really bright out there. If you close the cargo bay doors after me, you can watch from the windows and I don’t think anyone will notice you. Especially if you keep abyssal weapon parts from view.” She said, really wanting everyone to see the fight. She had a good feeling about this.
"Okay, here I go! Wish me luck!” “Good luck, Sakura!”
With that she turned and ran out the door. Out the ramp and onto the street. She raised her hands and her voice.
"Karin!" She shouted.
"Karin Kanzuki!" Waving her arms in the air she tried to get the aristocratic fighter’s attention.
In a flurry of golden ringlets the sophisticate turned from her attendants to see a familiar face headed her way. She huffed, permitting herself a slight smile. “Oho...I thought I heard one of your excited wails just now. Overjoyed to see me, I’m sure. I suppose I’m not too displeased to see you again, either. If I was going to run into anyone, it
would be you,” she gave a helpless shrug, as if resigned to a fate that drove her and Sakura together.
Sakura laughed, slowing to a stop a few feet away from Karin.
"Pleased to see you again, too, Karin-san." Sakura kept her tail tucked behind her back and her ears flattened against her hair. It’s not that she was embarrassed, but...well, maybe it was that.
"I’m surprised you’re using a boat with the rest of the commoners. What? No helicopter or red carpet?" Sakura ribbed.
Her rival held one arm against her body, the elbow of the other propped on its wrist. “Please, a helicopter? Airships are in nowadays, and I do have one of those, although it is not suitable for honing my skills. Hmm…” She looked Sakura up and down. “Looks like I am not the only one adjusting to this world. But I have certainly not been slacking off. Have you lost weight…?” Her browns furrowed, her expression curious. “Or perhaps...redistributed it? Ohoho...”
Sakura’s cat ears stuck out straight at that last question, and Karin’s eyebrows went up accordingly.
"Hey!" She looked at her own bicep, flexing it.
"...Well, yeah, it’s true. I have." She admitted.
"But! I’m still strong enough to beat you in a fight." She stuck out her fist.
"What do you say, Karin-san?" Sakura challenged.
"Wanna fight? Winner by knockout! And if yes, could you move like, fifteen feet back and to the right?" She looked from where Karin was standing to the angle of the windows on the ship to the Atomos. She wanted to make sure her friends could see. She had forgotten Ranger mentioned brawling was illegal in the town proper.
“Well now, if you’re so certain I would not testing the veracity of that
rather audacious claim…” For the moment, however, Karin looked more interested in the top of her rival’s head. “Those are remarkably realistic. How did that happen…?” After a moment she reconsidered her priorities. “I suppose that can wait. Most of the rabble out there seldom even provides good practice, so the thought of a half-decent fight has me filled with vigor. That said, the city-state of Limsa Lominscuttle town forbids exchanging blows on its soil.” She turned and stepped onto the Ganryu-maru. “Boats, however, are another story. If a guard came along he wouldn’t have it, so we typically fight out at sea, but one match won’t hurt.” She beckoned to Sakura. “I’ll make it quick, don’t you worry~”
She was glad Karin didn’t pursue the topic of spirits too strongly. Sakura chuckled a little as Karin stepped onto the ship. It was, now that she had seen it, a cheeky ducking of a rule.
"Right. I wouldn’t be surprised if you came up with that loophole yourself." Sakura commented. She jogged onto the boat, joining Karin. Once again she looked back to the nearby Atomos. She couldn’t quite see through the windows, but she waved at them anyway.
"As for the ears? I’ll tell you all about them after you wake up. And also, a whole bunch of other stuff." Sakura returned the taunting, having fun with the trash talk. Karin was one of the few people she knew that could dish it out as well as she could take it. As she did, she removed her fighting gloves, previously tied to her waist, and placed them around her fists. She clenched and unclenched her fingers, making sure they were secure.
The high schooler took her fighting stance, knees bouncing, full of excitement. She slapped the sides of her temples, hyping herself up.
"Ready?" She asked.
“Hmph!” Karin flipped her hair, then assumed her own fighting stance. Her attendants remained on the docks to watch, silent and stately as ever, and the hidden Atomos denizens were hardly the only spectators. With the exception of the cat and the little girl, the other fighters remained behind to watch as well, along with some of their own onlookers. Ready to face her rival, Karin issued her ultimatum. “I’ll show you the divide in our class!”
"Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!" She responded in turn.
From the cabin of the Ganryu-maru, a horn sounded out. “Go!”
"Hadoken!" Sakura reacted to the start of the match as quick as she usually did. She summoned forth the blue energy in her palms, gathered it at her sides, and then flung it forward at high speed toward Karin. Her goal was to keep her opponent out as long as possible. Especially with her decreased physical strength. Karin would find herself having to navigate a zone of fire if she wanted to approach Sakura.
With her eyes on her opponent’s new weaponry, and her knowledge that Sakura always likes to start off with a bang, Karin began walking backward the moment the horn sounded out. A Hadoken flew her way, and after a couple precisely-measured backsteps the heiress jumped up and over the blue fireball. Options arrayed themselves before her like playing cards, each made and refined over the course of countless sparring matches. Sakura had good instincts--but they could be learned and exploited. And that, Karin knew, was why she would win. Her spacing ensured that she would fall just out of range of her opponent’s uppercut, and she did not throw out a kick that could extend her into the danger zone. Instead she prepared to land and deal with Sakura’s response.
Karin’s opponent was concentrating intensely, trying to feel out Karin’s gameplan. She caught Karin’s glance towards her guns. Sakura paused for a moment, considering her harness. She glanced over Karin’s shoulder at the bystanders.
”Uh, don’t worry about the guns.” She said.
”And also "take this!" She took a step forward and threw a heavy roundhouse at Karin’s face. She followed through with a spin.
It seemed as though Sakura knew the spacing well enough to not try an uppercut, but landing her empty jump left Karin the advantage she needed to act on the option she did choose. When her adversary went high with a heavy attack, Karin crouched down and sent up a heavy punch of her own. Sakura’s foot sailed overhead as the heiress’s fist landed a crush counter, popping the other girl into the air. A well-executed Ressenha sent her flying after Sakura to smack her back down with two sweeping overhead strikes. While the combo ended there, Karin moved after her as soon as she could, seeking to apply pressure on wakeup.
(Yep,) Sakura thought to herself, spiralling through the air.
(That seems about right.) "OOF!" Sakura landed hard on her back, her attempt to keep Karin out slapped down with ease. Her eyes widened as Karin approached quickly, and she had no power charged to do anything special or cool.
Sakura kipped up into a crouch and attempted to shoot a quick jab forward at Karin’s belly, looking to interrupt and get herself some room to breathe. But even as she did so she felt her punch be a little slower, a little weaker. And in a street fight, a little meant a lot.
Her jab and Karin’s traded, their gloves giving a noisy smack as they clashed, and the two were reset to neutral. Figuring that she should have expected her opponent to jab furiously on wakeup, Karin hopped backward twice as if retreating to safety, giving Sakura just the space she needed to start throwing more Hadokens. After all, Karin could boast of no projectiles, so keeping her at range stood out as a good option. As Kain landed, however, she willed her bunched muscles to spring herself forward again. She darted back at her foe with her specialty, the Kanzuki-Ryu Hokojutsu Seppo, hoping to catch Sakura mid-fireball but prepared with a number of follow-ups.
As much as Sakura wanted to use her fireballs given they were stronger than ever, she managed to resist the urge. Sakura had fallen for this trick one too many times. As Karin dashed forward her legs would be met with the bottom of Sakura’s foot.
"Senpu!" Sakura followed it up with a spin and a rise into the air, that same foot rushed around and slammed into her chest. Afterward Sakura kept up the pressure, going forward with a series of jabs, elbows, and kicks.
Caught in her gambit, Karin mixed her grunt of pain with a smile of self-reproach. Sakura could only be expected to fall for such silly tricks for so long. She took her opponent’s hurricane kick full-force, only to find the power a little below what she’d come to expect. Her estimation from earlier may not have been off. Still, Sakura did not relent, slapping her a series of blows that forced Karin into a blockstring. Dutifully the heiress switched between high and low blocks as required, a few stray hits landing here and there but not leading to much, as she searched for the right opening.
“There!” Karin ducked to the side, allowing the force of her adversary’s kick to move past her, and grabbed hold. In one fluid motion she flipped Sakura over her shoulder and onto the ground with a crash. The weight of the girl’s rigging fell upon her as she hit the deck, prolonging her stay. After turning to face her Karin immediately noticed her rival’s cat tail, prominently visible among the ship parts. “What’s this?” She considered grabbing hold of it to perform a follow-up throw, but decided it would be in poor taste. Instead she backed off, giving Sakura a chance to get up. “This baggage of yours is a hindrance. Perhaps you thought you could defeat me with weighted clothing? No doubt the product of too much cartoon-watching.” She snickered, happy to talk some trash of her own.
Sakura silently agreed with Karin as she somewhat clumsily got to her feet, the rigging leaving some red imprints on her body. Normally she was loath to have an opponent go easy on her, but this case was an exception. Things weren’t looking good in the fight., As Sakura got back into a defensive position, she saw the dull red glow in Karin’s eyes.
(There’s more on the line here...I have to pull through!) Each hit Karin gave her hurt more than it usually did, and her own strikes were less powerful to boot. Not to mention Karin had been practicing more. This would already be a 50/50 chance of a win at best. Sakura exhaled, her disposition becoming more serious. She gave Karin a concerned look with a gravity that Karin was not in a position to understand. Explaining her cat tail wasn’t exactly a priority. She would do it after, Sakura decided.
"Haaadoken!" She reached to her side, gathering up a large blast of energy, and fired it at Karin’s feet. There, it detonated with enough force to send her into the air. A move Sakura had never pulled off before, breaking the usual routine of their fights.
Once again Karin darted forward, ready to use her projectile-invincible follow-up from her Seppo to crumple Sakura to the ground. She did not expect her opponent to aim at the ground, nor for the resulting blast to blow through her back strike. “Guh-gracious!” she exclaimed, thrown upward. Thought caught by surprise in that moment, she realized immediately that she should have anticipated such a twist. It was ultimately just another on top of Sakura’s vast pile of variant Hadokens. No matter--she couldn’t invent them faster than Karin could adapt. She steeled herself for her opponent’s combo, considering her next move.
Sakura couldn’t help but celebrate a little- it actually worked! She had always traded consistency for versatility, and this one was no different. This Hadoken had a long recovery, she drew her arms in and took a deep breath. Karin was still in the air. Sakura planted her foot in the ground and propelled herself backward, putting distance between the two of them. Once she was a safe distance away she began harrying Karin with fireballs once again.
"Hadoken! Hadoken! Hadoken!" She said, sweat dripping down her forehead. Sakura held a figurative card in her back pocket, predicting Karin would jump in. She would throw the exact opposite of what she had just done- an upward travelling fireball to catch jump attacks.
Having expected a follow-up combo, Karin managed to right herself mid-air and land on her feet. When she looked back toward her opponent she found Sakura at a distance, unleashing a torrent of spirit fire. A look of irritation shadowed the heiress’ face, as if to say
who do you take me for. She dropped her stance and began to sprint.
She ran in a wide arc around the edge of the ship, avoiding the entire volley of Hadokens with ease as she closed the distance. At the last leg she drew close enough to execute a Seppo, but rather than dash straight at Sakura she zigged to one side to avoid a counter, then zagged back. Her technique ended in Tenko to launch Sakura upward, and this time Karin did not plan to relent. Energy welled around her as she thrust her arms downward. “Kanzuki-Ryu Guren no Kata!” As Sakura came down she dashed forward with two punches to Sakura’s midsection, restanding her. A palm strike made her reel back, at which point Karin slid past her to strike her in the back with an elbow before spinning away to resume her stance.
Sakura had flinched, sending her fireball into the air with nothing to show for it. For her trouble she received a powerful combination of strikes that sent her up and down. Suddenly she was on her feet, and she raised her fists to defend herself but only received an elbow between her shoulder blades. Ouch.
"Kuh!" She stumbled forward, whirling around to face Karin. Sakura grit her teeth, eyebrows arched. Was playing defensive a mistake? Sakura dashed forward and went for a grab. Her hands reached out for Karin’s wrist and shoulders and her leg began to wrap around the back of Karin’s knee.
Deftly Karin teched the throw, slipping from Sakura’s grasp. Her instincts were beginning to fail her, just as Karin planned. Whether it was something in her mind or her body weighing her down, the cat-eared street fighter seemed increasingly easy to read. Karin dashed backwards, then surged in again with another pair of punches. With her V-trigger activated she moved fast enough that only a fast jab could catch her, but even that couldn’t stop her now. Her fists hammer Sakura’s block before she hopped upward in a spinning ball. Using Guren Resshu she grabbed hold of her rival’s block and brought her knee down into her head, flooring her again. Karin cartwheeled off of her, back to a ready stance.
The hits were hard, but the knee was viscous.
"Gaah!" Sakura’s eyes squeezed shut as her head was slammed onto the deck of the ship and Karin’s even harder knee. Sakura braced herself on the ground, and then exploded upward. Using an EX Shouoken she surged off the ground once, and then continued onward with a second uppercut. Both uppercuts however met nothing but Karin’s block. Her fist glided off Karin’s forearms and the force carried her up into the air. She was helpless. Only an amateur would let her defend herself after that move.
"Shimatta!" As she reached the height of her arc and began to fall downward, she made brief eye contact with Karin. She was frustrated and now, scared: it was written all over her face and in her movements. Sakura was never afraid to take a friendly loss, though. No, she was worried that she wasn’t good enough, and she couldn’t save her friend. She briefly imagined Karin as a little image in a glass ball.
Karin didn’t need to imagine what came next. She surged forward with an elbow strike into Sakura as she descended from her ill-fated uppercut, following by a palm strike and knee. “Hadorokushiki Hasha No Kata!” She seized Sakura’s wrist and span her with immense power, turning her into a blurred propeller mid-air. “Behold! The FINAL ATTACK!” So saying the heiress plowed her palm into her rival’s midsection, and the girl hurtled straight from the Ganryu-maru into the Atomos, bouncing off its side and onto the pier below.
The world was spinning, spinning, spinning, and then suddenly all the air was gone from her lungs.
"UWAaah- ugh! She saw Karin grow smaller before she slammed into the Atomos. Sakura went a little limper and hit the dock. Coughing up saliva she briefly curled around her belly. Normally? That was pretty awesome. Not today, though.
In any other fight that would have signified the end, but Karin was far from finished. “Up!” she called as she stepped from one vessel onto the dock. “I know you have more fight in you than that! Prepare yourself!” One of her attendants reached out a cautioning arm, only to find it batted away.
Sakura got onto her hands and knees, her fingers curling into fists. Karin was right. She did have more fight in her than that.
"Iku zo!" She shouted, rising to her feet. She pumped her fist and they began to glow with blue energy. Sakura Senpu increased the strength and speed of her melee attacks. That would help her compensate for her newfound lack of power, she thought. Sakura sprinted ahead to meet Karin.
She jumped, front-rolling forward and then bringing her heel down towards Karin. The heiress sidestepped out of the way of her opponent’s heavy attack, even while sped up, and delivered a passing backhand. With relative narrowness of the dock that left Sakura on the precipice of the edge between it and the Ganryu-maru, forced to keep herself from falling. Sakura’s arms waved frantically up and down, off balance. Karin helped out by lashing out with her own spinning heavy kick to her rival’s rigging, which sent her sprawling back onto the fishing boat’s deck. Her v-trigger remained active, but not for much longer. “That Senpu won’t do you any good if you don’t hit me, neko-kun!” she taunted before she zipped onto the boat again in another Guren Hosho.
Sakura rose to her feet just in time to block the oncoming series of palm strikes. She found an opportunity to slip in a jab of her own, catching Karin in the shoulder.
"Shunpukyaku!" Her foot was brought around with blinding speed. She span around several times, her whirlwind kick glowing blue. On the final kick she launched Karin into the air and then leapt upwards to meet her there. She raised her fists over her head, her back arching, and then slammed Karin down onto the deck of the ship. Afterward she sailed over Karin’s prone form and then rolled to a stop, breathing heavily and turning to get her guard up.
She defended against Karin’s final Guren technique just in time, a Guren Sessho that pounded her high block with sweeping strikes. The heiress, bruised and annoyed by the other girl’s combo, immediately went low with light punch, light kick, and medium kick all into Sakura’s guard, before she switched gears with a spinning kick that struck overhead. Her foot into her opponent’s temple made her see stars, but a Seppo immediately canceled into a back strike caused her to crumple to her knees. Karin inhaled sharply, then unleashed a heavy spinning crescent kick.
Sakura had gone low to defend from the attacks, but gasped as her foot came slicing towards her head. It connected, and Sakura didn’t even see the follow up back attack that knocked the wind out of Sakura.
"Uahh!" Sakura took a step back and then fell onto her knees, her hands hanging limply at her sides. The crescent kick floored her, sending her spinning onto the ground.
"Ungh!" Sakura grunted in pain. She couldn’t take any more hits. This was her limit. She rose to her feet quickly, but blood leaked from her split lip. Ears and tail straight, Sakura approached Karin carefully. When she got in range, she tapped her own chest, withdrew a heart, and then thrust it toward Karin as fast as she could. A desperate move to get what she wanted.
The unexpected change in tactics made Karin pause, though she did not let her stance grow lax. She held firm as Sakura approached step by step, her guarded face drifting toward incredulity. At the critical moment her opponent moved like lightning, but Karin was ready. Time seemed to slow. Blue energy surrounded her as a brilliant white gleam shone from one eye, and she calmly stepped backward. When she lunged forward the friend heart popped like a bubble, and she planted her elbow square in Sakura’s guts.
"Oof- uh...oughhh..." Sakura doubled over, curling around the elbow. Shoulders slumping, she fell onto her knees, and then tipped over onto her back. Her eyes fluttered, barely conscious, chest rising and falling.
She stood over her opponent with a sneer as the other girl sagged down. “I would not have thought you’d attempt to deceive me, but it appears we have both learned some new tricks. Such an underhanded maneuver to pull out victory in a sparring match...was I wrong to think we were close?”
Sakura stirred, making eye contact with Karin. The idea of being thought of as dishonorable, a cheater, cut her to her core, and tears welled.
From the onlookers there came an increase in murmurs, but Karin ignored them. She let out a sigh, watching Sakura’s chest heave as the cat-eared fighter hyperventilated. “Ah, but you’re not quite done. I can see there’s some fight in you yet.” She took a step forward and leaned down to grab hold of her rival’s shirt and pull her up. “On your feet! Or is this another trick?” Sakura made eye contact, gritting her teeth, dazed. She was so close! Weakly Sakura reached to tap her chest again, and with a disdainful click of her tongue Karin thrust her palm into her opponent’s head and into the deck. Sakura was put down, laying flat on the deck. Her eyes rolled up into her head and fluttered shut with a soft sigh. Karin stood as her foe lay there, senseless, and her expression melted into one of pity. “A shame. You are not the Sakura I knew.”
A mixed bag of claps and cheers heralded her victory, although Karin found herself more distracted by a sudden commotion and rocking on board the airship her rival appeared from. “Well! I suppose we had better be off.” She turned and headed down the wharf, her attendants close behind. In short order the remaining spectators and fighters dispersed as well.
None noticed the albino woman crawling from the Atomos’ bay doors a few moments later, who plopped into the water and burst forth a moment later onto the Ganryu-maru’s deck. Tears were streaming down her face as she pulled herself to the fallen street fighter’s side, the snaking movement of her tail doing most of the work. “Sakura? Sakura!” Gingerly she shook her savior’s shoulder. “Mon cherie, please tell me you’re okay!”
Sakura didn’t respond, eyes still closed. Her shallow breathing confirmed her life, but little else.
