Jigen --> 12th Shot

[m19_lover]

Who: m19_lover, ishikawa_juusan and anyone who wants to watch this oh so exciting event!
When: Backdated to December 14th, because I'm a HUGE procrastinator and was meant to post this earlier
Where: THE COLISEUM!
Style: Third, this time
Status: Fight is closed between Jigs and Goemon, anyone is invited to watch though!

Comments

[ishikawa_juusan]

Latter-day samurai, Ishikawa Goemon, pulled in a deep, measured breath before his eyes slid open again, and he focusing on the man standing a few feet away.

Daisuke JigenHis fiercely loyal partner in crime, his closest friend - and on the best of days, almost a surrogate brother

Sorry for being absurdely late on my answer D=

[m19_lover]

Jigen couldn't help but feel pretty much the same way towards his samurai friend. As much as he enjoyed Lupin's company, he would rather stay with someone a little less impulsive, if that was even the right word to describe the thief's usual behavior.

There was a whole bunch of people the gunman knew in the past that he never bothered talking about, and didn't plan to, but if such topic ever came up during a conversation between him and Goemon, he wouldn't feel bad or uncomfortable while talking about them. It had been forever since he trusted anyone, so that could be considered a great achievement.

And despite all that trust and sympathy, there he was ready to face him in some kind of duel. Of course it wasn't Jigen's intention to hurt his pal. The only reason why he picked Goemon to fight him is because he knew that the samurai was more than competent to match his skills. He knew because such thing happened more than once.

"You are right," Jigen answered, checking the bullets on his gun. "How do you feel?"

It's okay.

[ishikawa_juusan]

For a moment, every nerve in his body quivered tautly like a drawn bowstring. Among many things the gunman could be, Goemon knew him to be a formidable foe. Inside Jigen was a dervish of energy waiting to be unleashed - and with his quick draw he was like a cobra, capable of killing a man in a single, swift, viciously accurate strike. All it would take is a single misjudgment to find himself floored, blood draining from his body. He neither expected nor wished for the man to hold back on this occasion - the ronin needed this challenge as much for the skill-honing practice as for the familiar thrill.

Taking a quiet breath, he centred his awareness on the deep, humming pulse of his own aura, the concentration of primal life-force just below his navel. A small, flaring flame. Stillness within him. And in a gradual motion, he shifted into a stance of readiness, knees bent, back straight albeit not stiff, his breath fluid and calm.

“Ready.” He answered Jigen, waiting for after he had examined his gun. “Ikuzo!!”

=3

[m19_lover]

It would be a lie to say that Jigen wasn't feeling nervous as well, because he knew better than anyone how Goemon could be deadly when handling his sword, but he was trying to maintain a cool and calm demeanor about that whole setting. After all, life pretty much 'trained' him to be like that, whenever any kind of tense or life threatening situation arose.

Of course he knew that Goemon wasn't going to kill him, so that helped to put him more at ease. Still, since they were in the strange place, their personalities could change in a split second, and things could only go downhill from there.

Disregarding that slightly negative thought when he finished checking his gun, as soon as he heard the samurai talk, he knew he was already. He always was.

Without hesitating, he started shooting at lightning speed, taking careful aim not to point at any vital spot on Goemon's body. After all, if anything bad happened, he didn't want to be the cause of his friend's death.

[ishikawa_juusan]

When Jigen’s aim shifted onto him - and the first shot rang out, crisp and sharp like the snapping of a thick branch - he was already charging. His opponent had the advantage of a long-range attack; unless he closed the distance between them, the ronin knew he would be forced into defense, his movement restricted.

A powerful kiai erupted from the innermost part of him as he whipped Zantetsuken from its sheath while in mid-stride, sliding it horizontally through the bullet; body, spirit, and mind were in harmonious synergy, his blade the extension of his indomitable will. The smouldering halves of the bullet peppered the snow, left behind - and he pressed on inexorably with fierce resolution scintillating in his eyes, his hair wildly blown about, his body angled forward.

[m19_lover]

Watching Goemon get near him, Jigen gave a couple of steps back. If he let the samurai get too close, he wouldn't have many chances of winning.

Producing a new round of bullets from out of his sleeve - who would ever thing one could hide those there? - he quickly loaded his gun once again, giving yet more steps back. Admittedly, even though it took him mere seconds to finish such action, that did put him into a spot of disadvantage against the samurai, whose weapon was always ready.

But that didn't seem to lower the gunman's spirits. In fact, that made everything a lot more exciting. And with his gun properly loaded, he started shooting again. Better not give his pal too much time to lunge towards him.

[ishikawa_juusan]

In the heat of battle, he heard little beyond his panting breath, the muffled creak and grind of his joints, the rush of blood in his body as he honed in on Jigen like a missile. By the time the gunman had reloaded, Goemon was but two, three sword-lengths away - -

But more shots ripped the air in rapid succession, demanding even greater focus and keener reflexes than before. Without batting an eyelash - although sweat was beginning to dampen his hairline - he angled his sword against the onslaught with hair-splitting accuracy, metal sparking with every ping and twang of bullets meeting his blade. He then shifted from fighting defensively to offensively; and turning the hilt in his grip so that Zantetsuken’s blunt edge faced Jigen, he followed up with a fierce diagonal slash.

[m19_lover]

Goemon got closer quicker than the gunman had anticipated. Maybe it was only Jigen's imagination playing tricks on him, but the samurai did seem to be moving a whole lot faster than he remembered. He really wasn't prepared for that.

Doing his best to dodge the non-lethal, but imminent slash being inflicted upon him, he loaded just three bullets to his revolver. After all, loading the gun just partially was a lot faster, and those bullets could distract Goemon for a second and buy Jigen some time to try a better evasion.

[ishikawa_juusan]

Tendrils of electricity streaked up his spine, his heart fiercely pumping white-hot adrenaline through his bloodstream. Goemon was fortunate - and knew it - when he remarked that Jigen was too busy chambering bullets to avail himself of the ronin’s split-second recovery from his vigorous swing.

Several rounds came at him fast - and with lightning-fast swipes he was able to cleave the first two, numb to the sting of a fresh wound as a stray half-bullet scraped his cheek. Blood snaked down to his jaw, his face steely and cooly expressionless despite the turbulent thrill of battle raging inside him. His muscles quivered with barely restrained, tensile strength.

When the third bullet entered his range, he roared, whipping Zantetsuken with a strength that had once cleanly separated heads from shoulders - and caught the bullet at a diagonal. And it was while his blade was just beginning to slide through that he was struck with the chilling realization that something was very wrong; that the weight, the feel, the texture of Zantetsuken he

Jigen will freak out in 3... 2... 1...

[m19_lover]

For a brief second, Jigen was about the celebrate when Goemon suddenly stopped his offensive, but he quickly realized something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong.

He shifted his sight back and forth between Goemon and the now candy-made sword shattered on the ground. What kind of stupid thing was that? Who's idea was that?

That actually didn't matter at the moment though. Jigen would have time to worry about that later. What mattered now was that Goemon was hurt. He didn't know how badly hurt he was though.

"Good God! Are you OK?" Jigen ran to his friend, sounded a little bit more desperate then he should as he talked.

[ishikawa_juusan]

Glinting sweat traced his cheekbones, the line of his sternum. In this moment, there was no pain; no sensation of hot blood creeping down his arm and staining the sleeve. He could only gape at what remained of his sword in his hands, paralyzed with stunned incredulity, his heart throbbing against his ribs with powerless violence. Zantetsuken… his heirloom of twelve generations