4775/A match for the ages

A match for the ages
Date of Scene:	12 November 2016
Location:	Remnant <REM>
Synopsis:	Tomoyo and Li spar. It ends predictably.
Cast of Characters:	1058, Tomoyo Daidouji

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Li Syaoran (1058) has posed:
Li Syaoran was sitting in one of the arenas, on his knees. His sword wasn't with him, but he was wearing his proper attire. Racing through his mind was a thousand different possibilities.

He might hrut her, but she said she was okay with that. Fine. In the end, he just wuldn't use magic or weapon. With that, it was just like practicing with Mei Ling.

Granted, he didn't have a healthy fear of Mei Ling. Because you didn't need to be physically strong to be dangerous. Tomoyo was... while not traditionally scary, there was something about her that often put the boy at ease. he trusted her, yes. But he always had an odd feeling that, should she want to, she could make his life far, far more difficult.

But, he also respected her and trusted her to keep her word. There would be no hard feelings. And he could at least TRY to hold back a little... he likely wouldn't, but he'd try. He cleared his mind of all distractions and waited, calming himself.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    A limo pulls up at Beacon. Not one that runs on Dust, but on standard gasoline thank you very much. Upon finding a parking space, Tomoyo emerges from within, flanked by those formidable bodyguards that always seem to orbit her. The girl herself is not dressed in her usual finery, but a simple aikidogi, consisting of the purple hakama and white top. Her hair is pulled up into a bun. Clearly she is taking this seriously.

    It takes a bit of looking, Beacon is not a place she has visited. But eventually she finds Li, giving him a little wave. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting~ Thank you for agreeing to spar with me." She bows, a formal one offered before a match. Very serious.

    She stands in the centre and assumes her stance. Right arm fully extended before her, left hanging lower and to her side. Her bodyguards take their seats, one of them setting up a camera on a tripod. Even if it's not her recording, she will be recording.

Li Syaoran (1058) has posed:
Li Syaoran nodded and then slowly got to his feet. He turned and glared at her. Wait, no, that was just his ddefault expression. He took his own stance, one arm raised up, the other aimed at her. Slowly extending his left foot forward. "Whenever you're ready."

He was watching her closely, looking for any openings or weaknesses, scanning her up and down. Funny, he hadn't been this serious when he'd fought Sakura. Then paused. "Don't let Sakura-chan see the recording, okay?"

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo doesn't take the glare seriously, she knows that's just his resting expression. As usual, she meets it with a smile. "Even if she asks? She might enjoy the chance to see you in action~"

    And now we hit the dilemma. Li won't take the imitative, and aikido works best in response to attacks, rather than attacking first. So now the two are just standing there, Tomoyo smiling politely at the boy as she waits for him to lose patience.

Li Syaoran (1058) has posed:
Li Syaoran blinked a few times and then sighed. "Ummmm... Tomoyo-chan... I'm... letting you do the count down. I'm not waiting for you to make the first move." Once she gave the go ahead, he rushed in. And right off the bat he showed no mercy.

His left hand shot out, his left foot in close, a strike aimed at her hip. Except it was a feint, he pulled the fist back right before swinging forward with his right foot, trying to deliver a strike to her ankle, knee and then one last one to her hip. Then swiveling around and thrusting his left knee forward at her waist in a solid, bone crushing assault.

He wasnever one to hold back, sadly.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo blinks, looking a bit sheepish. "Oh! I'm sorry... I'll be honest, I've never fought so formally~ Three, two, one... go!" And Li moves in fast! Tomoyo's eyes widen as she goes to grab the feinting hand, but he pulls it back to fast. She is kicked, again and again in the legs. Clenching her teeth from pain, she starts to kneel, to properly grab the one aimed at her side, but the speed makes the foot go between her fingers.


    And in stunned confusion, she takes the final blow cleanly in the stomach.

    She hunches over, face expressing the pain of the blow... but her hands grope at Li's ankle, to grip it firmly. She steps forward, keeping him off-balance on one foot before getting her leg behind his standing one to trip him onto his back!

Li Syaoran (1058) has posed:
Li Syaoran slackened, just a little. And she took advantage, grabbing his ankle and sending him back. He hit the ground hard, but quickly rolled back, to his feet and back flipping away twice before readying his stance.

He really hadn't expected her to still be standing after that. he'd half expected her body guards to come running UP after that. He was mildly impressed. Should he compliment her? He supposed he should. It could wait until after. He rushed in again, this time he launched in with a strike with his right arm, another feint? Indeed. He pulled the first back and he attacked again, with his right leg, another strike to the ankle. However, he pushed in close, his left leg going for her knee to try and throw off her balance and allow him to get in closer.

If he got closer, he'd then unleash on her. Left fist, right fist in four quick strikes and finishing off with an elbow aimed at the face if she didn't throw off his combo.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo coughs as Li regains his footing. That blow to the stomach hurt a lot, but she assumes her stance again, meeting his eyes with her own. The amount of tears in them is quite minimal. "That was a wonderful combination Li-san~" she says, just before he rushes in.

    She watches carefully this time at the feint, and sure enough he doesn't follow through. So she sees the first kick coming, and daintily hops to avoid it. Unfortunately, this leaves her open to the knee, making her fall onto her back! She rolls, popping to her feet just in time to take all four jabs and the elbow!

    She's slower to get up this time.

Li Syaoran (1058) has posed:
Li Syaoran paused, then. Watching her, moving back into his stance. "You've gotten a lot better. Well... I guess, that's not saying much. But you're ummm... impressive?" He was trying to think of the right words. "For one without any magical talent, you've become quite strong." There we go! that was... kind of a complement. "Are you finished?" he then paused for a few moments, before sighing. "Did I break any bones?"

If she conceeded, he would walk over and hold out his hand to her, even giving her a smile. A weak smile. Li didn't smile very well. But he'd at least try to be graceful in victory. However, if she didn't conceed, he'd at least wait for her to stand before going back into his next assault.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo is rubbing her cheek as she stands back up. It's already swelling a bit. "That means a lot coming from you~" she says honestly in a pained voice. "You've gotten better too, haven't you? You seem to be a lot faster..."

    She shakes her head when he asks if she's done. "No, I have a few more in me~ Let's go." She's hurting, but it would be a disgrace to give up after just that! She takes her stance... and this time, with a surprising burst of speed from her injured leg, she attacks first. She aims a fast chop with her right hand at Li's forehead, stepping close so her foot is between his own...

    But the true attack comes from her left hand, the right chop just there to surprise him. She grabs his right wrist and yanks it, pulling him... and she turns her hips to keep pulling, dropping down to her knee to make his hand the fulcrum for his whole body, trying to toss him on his back again!

Li Syaoran (1058) has posed:
Li Syaoran blinked when she got in close. He started to go for the right arm, then... stops. Before she even starts to pull back, he's moving with the movement. Right. That annoying little magical sense of his. He swirls around her, pushing off to go with her grab, however, he goes over her this time when he falls, attempting to drive his leg straight into her face. He still ends up on his back, but planning to deal a bit of damage as he goes. If she lets him go, he rolls away after, stretching out his arm.

"You've gotten stronger, as well. Impressive, for a non-mage."

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    It was a simple manoeuvre in aikido, but startlingly effective because it takes advantage of the very human reflex to back away from something fast-moving that goes towards your face. But that darn magical sense nullifies it from word go.


Tomoyo is flipped over, and foot meets her face. She lets go of Li and falls back, lying prone on her back as her nose drips blood. "Ow..." she gorans, voice slightly nasally due to aforementioned nose. "Heheh... you saw that coming a mile away..."

Li Syaoran (1058) has posed:
Li Syaoran nodded, going back into his stance. "Indeed. That is the difference between fighting someone with magic and fighting someone like Mei Ling, who is talented but lacks magical craft. It takes more than just skill and power to beat me." He paused. "Though, your skill is impressive, from what I've seen."

The moment she was up again, he charged in.This time, his right foot went in and he STEPPED on her foot, using it to pin her down, before moving in closer and aiming four punches at her torso. Then following up by driving his left knee up, at her stomach and then, if the blow hit and pade her keep over, driving an elbow down to the back of the head.

Worst of all, his attempts to pin her foot wasan attempt to knock off her own stanch and reduce her ability to roll with the blows.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    "Flattery will get you nowhere~" Tomoyo wheezes as she takes her stance once more. And right away, things are going bad. Stopping her footwork makes her unable to properly divert Li's momentum. All she can do it try and push away those punches, but two of them find home to aggravate the bruise left by the kick.

    This leaves her wide open for the knee, which indeed makes her bend forward to take the elbow to the back of the head. She falls face down, and the bodyguards stand up, seemingly concerned as she lays there.

    Eventually, she taps the ground twice, and lets out a defeated groan.

Li Syaoran (1058) has posed:
Li Syaoran was getting ready to go into his next, but then she conseeded. He eyed her for a few moments, before holding out his hand to her. "Your movements are... you're very durable, tomoyo-chan. I have gone up against opponents that outweigh you by almost a hundred pounds and were far larger, who couldn't eventake half the abuse you could."

He then frowned. "However, that is not enough. You still need a lot more practice if you want to enter the world of..." He sighed. "You lack magical abilities, you'll need a way to supplemant them. And I assume you're learning how to fight for Sakura-chan's sake, correct? As it is, you're not ready. Even with all my magic training and skill, I'm still not ready to stand by her and fight the things she has to. But..."

He'd grip her hand a little tighter. "I won't say something stupid like you should stay out of the way, that it's too dangerous for you, go home. Sakura-chan is the most important person in the world and I can understand any desire you have to protect her. So... if you want... I'd be more than willing to assist you in any way I can to further strengthen yourself." Gee, projecting much?

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo rolls over and accepts the hand up. Her nose is bleeding pretty hard now, but she just wipes at it (being careful not to stain her top) as Li... kind of starts to project. She doesn't interrupt him, oh not at all. The directional microphone on that camera is getting all of it.

    "Oh Li-san~" she says finally with a smile, squeezing his hand in both of hers. "I'm not doing this for Sakura-chan. I know that's hard to believe, but I really am just looking to better my fitness and learn to defend myself. I know I'll never be as good as Sakura-chan in a straight fight, and I'm okay with that."

    She lets go of his hand and offers an honest smile. "Besides, Sakura-chan is the type that doesn't want people standing before her as shields. She wants people beside her, as friends and loved ones. Like the way things were just before you left. I know you've been working hard to look out for her, but she needs..." She looks around shiftily, before leaning in to mutter into his ear. "She needs an emotional pillar, someone closer to her than me. That's what you should try to be."

    And finally, she pulls away and pats him on the shoulder. "But I might take you up on that offer sometime~ I should learn some striking techniques, aikido on its own doesn't have much of that. Thank you very much~" And with that, she stumbles off to receive first-aid from the women in suits.

Li Syaoran (1058) has posed:
Li Syaoran blinked a few times, then looked off to the side. "I... know exactly what Sakura-chan needs," he mumbled softly. "She's so busy looking out to protect everyone else, but who's going to keep an eye on her and stop her from getting in trouble?" he grumbled a bit grouchily. His cheeks went red again.

"B-besides. I... I know I'm not strong enough to stand by her side yet. But... but eventually I will. And she won't have to feel like she has to protect me or... put herself at risk for me," he mumbled. "Or get herself hurt for me or..." Annnnnnd his mood was starting to plummet. "Just... just make sure you eat something. Blood loss can take it out of you."