David versus Goliath [Semi-Open]

[find_my_truth]

Characters: Souji Seta and Ikkaku Madarame
Content: Souji agrees to a spar with the new mechanic... he had no idea what he was getting into
Setting: Just outside the marketplace, within sight of the Fiertia
Time: Early Afternoon
Warnings: Violence and shonen
Notes: The main thread is closed, but if anyone wants to watch feel free to in a second thread

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[mad_luck]

Ikkaku had his sword slung over his shoulder and trekked out the edge of the market. Hey, he hadn't had a good fight in a long time (meaning, more than a week) and even if this was just a practice match-- well, he probably wouldn't be releasing Hoozukimaru's shikai, to keep it strictly a sword fight, but hell. It'd be fun. And he was pretty worked up after having to deal with that bratty, mouthy kid--

Well. Probably best not to think about it. Whoever this was (shit, he didn't even get the other... person's... name) seemed confident, and that was enough for him.

"Hey." Well, this was probably him-- sword, and working on the boundaries. Ikkaku pitched in, and helped scratch out the rest of the circle.

[find_my_truth]

Souji's eyes widdened just a tad when he saw the man he was going to fight. he was bigger then him, and looked stronger. No matter, he was going to do his best to make this worthwhile regardless. Once the circle was finished Souji pulled his weapon free, the long katana looking a little oversized for his frame. He wasn't small for his age by far, but he didn't have the others bulk, and the weapon looked built for someone much taller. The scabbard was tossed carefully aside as Souji lazily cracked his neck. Once the weapon was in both hands he smiled.

"Hey... Name's Souji Seta." Was all he said. That was all he really felt was needed.

[mad_luck]

"Madarame Ikkaku." He liked this kid. Real polite; introduces himself when he starts a fight. Yeah. He could deal with this. Ikkaku dropped to balance on the balls of his feet, then straightened back up, unsheathing Hoozukimaru as he stepped into the ring. No reiatsu; he was pretty sure Souji could do stuff besides fight with a sword, and wouldn't use them for this fight.

Hell, maybe some other time.

Ikkaku tightened his grip on Hoozukimaru, sword and scabbard, and slipped into a defensive stance. "Come at me first."

[find_my_truth]

He noticed that Ikkaku used both sword and scabbard to fight and recorded that little fact away. It meant he would have to be more careful. Swinging away wildly would just get him thrashed. Not to mention locking swords would end it... if Ikkaku was as strong as he looked he could just back him out of the ring like a sumo wrestler.

So Souji would have to get creative.

"If that's how you want it." He replied, running forward like a dart, body low and swing up wards when he reached Ikkaku, butting a little force behind it.

[mad_luck]

Ikkaku caught the hit with Hoozukimaru's blade in his left hand, scabbard crossed behind it. Not bad-- the kid was fast and had a pretty strong arm. He pushed hard against Souji's sword to drive him back and try to follow up with an experimental swing with the scabbard. He wasn't going all-out yet, but was definitely not holding back on the strength of his swings.

Ikkaku knew from a glance that he was probably stronger, and could probably finish this pretty fast. Then again, there was nothing like a good fight with someone who had a whole lot of potential to pump him up. "You do this a lot?"

[find_my_truth]

He grunted slightly under the power behind the blade and scabbard, digging his heels in so not to stumble back. He was right, Ikkaku was strong. When the scabbard stuck out he caught it with his sword, then tried to dance back a bit. He couldn't stand toe to toe with the other man for long. As soon as he back a bit he raised his own weapon in defense, watching Ikkaku warily.

"Yeah, but only over the last year or so..." No point lying or trying to sound more experienced then he was.

[mad_luck]

Ikkaku's normal style was to charge in and hit really hard and really fast. That would probably work, but he disentangled immediately when the scabbard lost its momentum. Sure, it felt a bit like running away from a confrontation--

It was probably gonna come back to bite him in the ass, but hey. He took a moment to let Souji regroup his defense and then charged back in, aiming mostly for Souji's blade instead of body hits. It'd be safer to tire him out and force him out of the ring before he realized that he was being pushed out, as opposed to seriously cutting him. Which wasn't likely, but still a possibility.

"You're not bad." He could be really good. More of an analytical fighter than Ikkaku usually fought, but then again. "Keep it up an' you'll be kickin' ass in no time."

[find_my_truth]

"You're really good yourself." Souji replied, his voice coming off as a slight pant. They hadn't been going at this long, but he was already feeling the effects. Ikkaku's sword pressing into his made it all the worse, and Souji pressed back, putting his weight into it. It must have looked funny, the gangly teenager locking swords with the much more experienced fighter, but he took it with all seriousness. Even so, he was starting to be pushed back.

...that was until he suddenly broke away, falling to his knees to try and knock Ikkaku off balance.

[mad_luck]

Ikkaku ended up overleaning a bit-- he wasn't used to weight disppearing so suddenly-- but scooted backwards as soon as he recovered back into the center; it'd be a pretty dumb mistake to lose his balance and trip out out of bounds to lose the match. Which tended to happen when he wasn't paying attention.

He got back into the defensive stance he'd started with. It'd be alright if he worked on defense for a while, kinda like Souji could probably use some more bulking up (and the funnest way to do that was to swing the sword around, hey). Endurance and stamina was okay, but not getting his was even better.

[find_my_truth]

Souji grinned, enjoying this much more then he had expected to. Sweat was already starting to form on his forehead, though not much yet, mostly hidden by the fringe of his hair. The moment Ikakku was in defensive stance again he charged, swinging his long weapon with all his strength. Feeling the none calculated swing and the vibrations of it hitting sword and scabbard was great. Though letting himself get so worked up had left his defenses wide open...

[mad_luck]

And whoops, having a little too much fun there-- Ikkaku caught a blow, tried to pincer it as hard as he could between blade and scabbard to throw Souji to the side (and possibly closer to the boundary). It was worth a try, and now was as good a time as any to try something new. He followed up again with a hard swipe from the scabbard.