[Raikiri] No. 117

[Nyanfood]

Rivera's eyes almost seemed sigh with a blue-green pastel shade as she easily blocked his spin kick with her arm and sprang backwards, completely out of range of Kira's second attack. Without even really aiming, she shot a paintball at him. He was trapped in his own folly, afterall. Her marksmanship had gotten good enough to the point that she could hit an object without looking sometimes. If Kira had made any sound, she'd have gotten him easily. So far, he wasn't doing too badly for a beginner... he just didn't have the assassin's tactical mentality. His attacks were too predictable. In fact, she knew that he'd probably pull these moves first before she set up the course. The solution to this was very easy... She wasn't allowed to fly and her weight wouldn't carry her as far as heavier people... so why won't he just use that against her? An assassin has to be fast, silent, ruthless and sharp with a keen eye for details. If he doesn't manage to master these tasks, he wouldn't last a minute against Klepto's traps and obstacles. She'd do it herself, being the best assassin that he had been able to hire... but Kira had asked her for this task. He was so enthusiastic about it. He was older than her... but so naive! With a little mental sigh, Rivera crouched again, preparing for whatever move came next, assuming he didn't lose.  

[Shinygami]

Maybe I should've picked a weapon... A sword or something capable of reducing the space she has to move... Kira's mind was thinking, as the wheels started turning. Oh well.... Gotta make due! He thought and went for a leaping kick at one of the poles, puching off after it gave way and fell. He quickly focused his weight towards another pole, sending his body towards it, then another, and another, each were felled by straight flying kicks until there was only a circle of a few poles. He wasn't sure if Rivera could simply leap the gap, but he had to try something. He soon went after her again, silently as he could, and sent his open palm towards the side her face. If he aimed a knife for the nerve near her eye, it would stab through into her eye, and most likely, her brain.  

[Nyanfood]

Rivera smiled broadly. Finally! What took him so long to figure that out? She darted about, but soon found herself cut off from any other forms of escape. Facing him, she gave him a look of pure pride. He had the potential afterall! Sure, it took him too long and it would be dangerous to dwaddle in a mission, but this was his first time. The first part was over. She gave him a 9/10 for problem solving and the same for stealth although 8/10 for strategy and definitely 7/10 for efficiency. Watching his hand come towards her face, she smiled and fired a ring of 5 shots at him, all aimed about 6 inches from each other. As soon as she had pulled the last trigger, her hands went to the top of the pole and she kicked out. The leg wasn't something he was supposed to aim for, although damaging it would prove helpful in the future. If he didn't think of that, he'd either be hit or he would instantly try to draw back. Either way, if he didn't ruthlessly attack her, he would lose. Rivera wanted him to show no mercy, not even to her. He can then kill without hesitation.  

[Shinygami]

Kira quickly took the defensive, leaping over the paintballs, then he switched back to an offensive mode. He shifted his weight and darted straight for Rivera. He landed in front of her and swung once with a punch for her head, then a second time at her ribs, then an open handed strike at her heart, hoping to end it. Wonder what she's thinking... Regardless, from her smile I'd say I've got something figured out... He thought.  

[Nyanfood]

Rivera may be fast, but she wasn't strong at all, and she had no where else to run. If she tried to slide down the pole, he'd simply knock it over and she'd lose. He blocked the way to the next pole, and she couldn't change course in midair. What's more, if she wasn't in position to shoot again from this angle if she was going to be able to stay on the pole. When she set this course up, she planned ahead of time that the odds be completely against her. The only way she could win was if he left the poles where they were and she knocked him off of one. There were plenty of other fun moves and strategies she could easily use on him, but this was just the first lesson. She wanted him to have an easy start, to get used to moving and thinking like an assassin. The punch was easily ducked, but there wasn't anywhere else to shift. The blows aimed at her ribs and her heart hit with a bit more force than she expected. Her eyes widened in surprise. Kira was much stronger that she thought he was... that's good. Silent and strong was a good combination. She fell backwards towards the water twelve feet below her.

All of a sudden, the entire scenery warped and vanished to something of a dark gray. The sky and the ground and everything in between seemed to merge together and stretch for all directions. This was what an empty dimensional space looked like. Rivera pulled herself up off the ground, speaking between coughs. "five... five minutes... not bad for a... a first." Sitting up, she felt a little twinge of unease in her chest cavity. Still coughing into one hand, she reached into her vest pocket with her other hand to draw out a small vial of blue-green potion. Rivera uncorked it an took a small sip, feeling a rush of icy coolness rush down her throat. It would speed up the recovery of her lungs and her heart after that shock. With a sigh, she reinserted the cork and stored it away again. "There we go... That was actually very good. If I thought you were that strong, I would've put on some forcefield armor. Serves me right for not knowing... lucky I have a dense sternum." She stood up with a smile. she was going to have a very large bruise in the middle of her chest... That means no spaghetti-straps for two weeks.

"So, what did you think of that game?" She knelt and pushed herself up slowly into a standing position. "I used to love playing tag, until I got too fast for the other kids. I made this game up with small tomatoes instead of painball guns at first, when I was 9 or so. We had a garden pond full of stepping stones, but since I know you could handle slippery stones, I replaced them with poles." She knew that Kira could handle terrain. He just needed some extra on brainwork to reach the target potential. Rivera said that she wouldn't go easy on him, but she found that she had lied. She couldn't bring herself to hurt him in any way. That'll have to change if he was going to learn anything.  

[Shinygami]

"I thought it went over well..." Kira said quietly. He felt a little worried that she was coughing. "Did I hurt you? I really didn't mean to hit so hard..." He said quietly. "Maybe we should leave this little dimension... I feel a little uneasy around all this... Gray..." He said quietly and shuddered. For some reason, gray reminded him of bad omens. "We should take a little break... A trip to the hotsprings would be nice..." He said simply. "Just an hour of relaxation after that little game... But one thing... Don't hold back anymore..." He said simply. He knew how she usually fought and was, he wanted to be trained to get even better than her. That was the only way he would ever be able to protect her.  

[Nyanfood]

Rivera couldn't hide the mild look of surprise from her face as she held out her hand, commanding the dimension area to melt away. Kira's room and all its messiness came back into view. "I'm okay, I wanted you to try and hit me as hard as you can. If the blow doesn't kill a person, the pain would stun them... and a trip to the hotsprings would be nice... but how did you figure out that I was holding back?" She blinked, looking at him with a quizzical expression. She said the other points idly, as if she didn't really have too much of an opinion. This was the point she was trying to get at. Could Kira read minds, or did she just spend so much time around him that he could tell by the way she moved or looked? Or her eye color? She couldn't see her eyes, so she wouldn't know.  

[Shinygami]

"The way you moved and how frequently you actually went on the offensive... If you hadn't been holding back we would have been attacking each other ruthlessly and the odds are it would've ended with you on top..." Kira said as if it were obvious. "Observation is another important skill as I heard, so I guess we can just say that was part of the exercise..." He said grinning. He then went to a dresser in his room and pulled out a pair of black trunks. "You can go ahead and go to your dorm to get a swimsuit or something if you want..." He said as he grabbed a towel from another drawer and stuffed them helter-skelter into a small zip-up bag.  

[Nyanfood]

Rivera smiled sheepishly. She really underestimated him... "Kai always said to keep my swimsuit with me at all times..." She mimed pulling a zipper in the air. A rift suddenly opened, smaller than the one she sliced with her sword, but still really gray-looking. Sticking her arm in, she grabbed an already packed bag. "He also says to bring sunscreen... and that I burn too easily. So this is probably full of seashells from the beach..." She made the same zipping motion, and the rift closed. All the bent space moved back into place like some gooey substance. "He's probably right too..." Just then as she opened her bag to check for all her things, a hermit crab pulled itself and its shell out of the bag. She looked at it strangely, then remembered... "Oh... time stays still in there. You've been frozen for a long time, little one..."  

[Shinygami]

((And now the hotsprings!))