Sojourn on the Roof (Kiyoshi)

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"We'll take some more area in the north. I want to see if Marcus's trade mission to the south bears fruit and if Barker does attack us before making any more drastic moves."

The wheels were turning in his head.

"If Barker is at bay... we will take Palos Verde."

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah couldn't suppress a grin at the plans blooming on Kiyoshi's lips. It would be a pleasure to take part in something of that scale. Ambitious, but necessary. The idea of territory in the North brought up another thought.

"I thought I'd mention too...the Dragons --well, David Blaze, their leader--pledged himself and his soldiers to me should I require them," she said with added emphasis. "That's progress...but without the other gangs..." she trailed off, clearly concerned.

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"We will hold. Last time it was just Areon and his unit, Barker was defeated and lost a great deal. Though it cost us dearly as well."

The Zero hung his head as his fist clenched.

"I am not incapacitated this time. He faces our full strength and he will suffer it. Maybe he will overwhelm us, maybe, but if he does it will be so costly a victory to him that his ambitions for world conquest will be destroyed. I guarantee it."

[Delilah A. Black]

"We will hold. Last time it was just Areon and his unit, Barker was defeated and lost a great deal. Though it cost us dearly as well. I am not incapacitated this time. He faces our full strength and he will suffer it. Maybe he will overwhelm us, maybe, but if he does it will be so costly a victory to him that his ambitions for world conquest will be destroyed. I guarantee it."

Her own face darkened at this memory, and she nodded. She had been with Oliver at the time of the fight: he had been having anxiety attacks and if she left him for so much as a minute, the white haired boy would absolutely lose it in his panic. That was still a while ago, and he was much better now...but it had been another fight Delilah had been unable to participate in. They might still have lost much if she had been there, but then again, they might not have.

She vowed never to just standby again, not if she could help it.

"Good," she would say firmly, popping her knuckles restlessly. "I can't wait."

An idea found her and she would turn her head to look at the two bokken lying beside her. She would raise and eyebrow and look back at Kiyoshi wryly. "Have you been training?"

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Kiyoshi glanced over at Delilah.

"Outside of battle... no."

[Delilah A. Black]

"Outside of battle...no."

She would kick her legs up over her head, rolling backwards off the ledge and onto her feet. Scooping up one of the boken, she would offer it to Kiyoshi the proper way a sheathed sword is given to a superior: the cutting edge of the blade facing inward, the tsuba held between her fore and middle fingers and the flat of the blade resting in the palm of her right hand.

She remembered what Kiyoshi had said about formalities earlier. This was one she would never budge on.

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu"
<Please grant me your favour>

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Kiyoshi twisted his head slightly to watch the roll, himself never moving from the edge. Of course he wasn't sure what to make of it until the bokken was offered to him, a small smirk creeping at the corner of his lips. Naturally, he spun on his heels to face her and took the offered training weapon with a bow of his head.

"Very well. I accept."

He twirled the weapon for a moment before gripping it firmly in his right hand just below the tsuba.

"You sure you are ready for this?"

[Delilah A. Black]

She would pick her own 'blade' up off the ground and shifting to a subtle stance: left leg slightly forward, the tip of the wooden sword pointed down with the edge facing up. Her fingers were interestingly placed as she appeared to be holding the sword with only part of her hands (bottom three fingers on her top hand, second two fingers on her steering hand).

A woman's way with the sword was often the same as what men used, but Delilah had been forced to learn the sword like a lady. As in with bindings wrapped around her legs or worse yet in a kimono, hence the demureness of her stance.

"Are you kidding? Do you know how often I get to train with people who use swords these days?"

The answer was not at all. In fact, besides Stu (whom she was currently teaching how to use a sword), Kiyoshi was one of the only people who actually owned a katana, same as her, and none were as well trained in this particular method of battle as either of them were. They would probably have distinctly different styles, but that was fun in of itself.

"Ready when you are." she said, her eyes shifting down slightly as she stared past the Zero Crow, watching everything with her peripheral vision.

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With that Kiyoshi burst forward, his left hand coming to rest loosely on the end of the handle as he swung downwards toward the center of Delilah. He kept his distance by having the intended point of contact be the very tip of the blade.

[Delilah A. Black]

Her body moved, shifting slightly to the left and back of the sword, a micro movement that would effectively put her just out of reach of the blade should her counter miss. Her blade would come up, making a quick "C" in mid air and smacking the flat of his wooden sword with what would have been the 'mune' or spine of hers. Her back foot would slide forward as she made a horizontal cut for his midriff with the top two inches of her blade.

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Kiyoshi let his sword swing to the side after Delilah made contact, no reason to forcefully hold it in position and waste energy. As the counter comes, he would shift his weight backwards to the the weapon slide clear off his midsection before stepping aggressively in the direction from which Delilah had swung. At that moment he brought his bokken back, slashing at her side as he rushed forward.

[Delilah A. Black]

Kiyoshi was faster than she was, and Delilah wound up having to use a desperation block to prevent getting hit by the wood sword. Her hands would rise up in what was known as a rainbow block, slightly modified for the lower target of the sword as they met with a lout CLACK.

Using the momentum with which he had made his swing, Delilah would quickly pivot to the opposite side, scooping his boken with her own and lifting it around her as she misdirected the sword before flicking her blade down to fling it towards the ground. The only way for him to get out of this would either be to withdraw or push back against her sword to bully her with strength.

If successful, her next attack would be a rising cut with the edge of the blade facing the sky.

If not and he had gotten out of her block/counter, Delilah would abandon it and leap back out of immediate range of the sword, resetting her posture.

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Kiyoshi wouldn't let her completely deflect his blow, so when the two wooden swords met he bared his weight against her and made sure to keep contact. In the midst of that, he would step his lead foot behind her's while pressing against her. It was an attempted trip, perhaps an underhanded tactic but Kiyoshi was about efficiency.

[Delilah A. Black]

Combined with the force of his strength and him taking her balance from her with his well placed foot, Delilah would trip, falling backwards as he took her centre.

She would quickly roll backwards, tucking her blade close to her as she did so. She would come up on one knee in and quickly aim a slash for his knees before rolling forward out of reach, where she would come up quickly on her feet.

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Kiyoshi didn't pursue the falling Delilah, but to protect himself from the slash he took to the air. An simple jump and the power that Areon had passed to him landed him well beyond and above her strike. He smiled as he set himself down a few feet away.