Scene #7017: Hitting Things 101

Owner	Pose
Nanoha Takamachi	It's just a regular night in the Shrine of Adversity. People like to train at all hours of the day and Nanoha appears to be no exception. The Mage is currently off in her own corner of one of the public training halls. She's already wearing the magical combat dress that is her Barrier Jacket. The golden headed staff that is her Device and partner is in both her hands. But she's not using it to fire off magic. Nanoha takes a step forward, bringing her staff around to smack it into the training dummy she's facing off against. She then reverses her grip, stepping to the side as she swings the other end around in for another hit against the soft padding. The sweat on Nanoha's forehead suggests she's been at this for a little while. And it shows even more as she takes in a deep breath, relaxing her stance as she decides to take a brief break.
Touta Konoe	"Heads up!" A voice calls out to the staff-wielder a bit of a distance away before a towel comes in her view. Whether she catches it or it just catches her off guard is all a matter of how perceptive she is even after deciding to take a breather. The voice does seem familiar and if that thrown towel doesn't end up messing with her view she'll see a rather familiar face grinning her way. A young man of spiked black hair, a black gakuren and a red shirt underneath, and a rather small black taichi resting upon his shoulder. As he starts walking into the training hall to see what she's been up to he notices the dummies and that there really wasn't any magic going off at all, just a single person and her staff. A familiar face he can recognize as well, and more than happy to see. "I thought that was you! Haven't seen ya in a while Nanoha...You actually training on your staff handling?" The look on his face when he asks is actually a bit surprised, like seeing someone like Nanoha who was so spell oriented focus on something like close quarters combat seemed off.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha's not quite THAT tired, easily turning to catch the towel. She pats her face a little before looking towards her benefactor. Of course she recognizes him, grinning at the sight, "Ah! Touta. It's good to see you again!" At the somewhat obvious surprise at her choice in training, Nanoha laughs a little, "Yeah, it's not something I find myself doing a lot. But it's still important skills to have. It's actually why I'm here. I'll be instructing my students in melee combat, from an aerial mage's perspective anyway, in a couple of weeks. But I've been so busy with my additional duties lately that I haven't had a chance to really practice since last year's class. So I thought I'd get some in." Nanoha tilts her head a little bit as she asks with a smile, "How about you? Just here for some regular training?"
Touta Konoe	As he finally settles himself right next to her he nods to her immediately regarding her question. "Pretty much. I've been feeling a little rusty lately so I wanted to try and get myself back into the grind. Still, I was just surprised since not a lot of mages I know outside the Multiverse really focus on melee-combat. Heck, even my sister went to train with someone else in the Multiverse today, and I think they were just working on charms or something. I doubt they were doing any actual sparring like this! I bet your students'll be real lucky." He starts rotating his shoulder as he takes another peek at the time though. "Huh, Nanoha you must be really busy if you're showing up at the Shrine at this hour, huh? Mmmmm, not that I should be talking much too!" In fact, why was he hear? Wasn't this a little...Late for him? Maybe cause he's a vampire, maybe cause he's just a very proactive teen? Who knows?! "So anything else you needed to do for your training regimen?"
Nanoha Takamachi	"A little busy, yes!" Nanoha nods along, but then grins, "Not for work though. It's currently the time for school holidays on Midchilda, so my daughter has been home, demanding my attention of course." Nanoha obviously doesn't seem to mind! At the question about her training regimen, Nanoha thinks about it for a moment. She then nods along thoughtfully, "Now that you mention it, it might be helpful if I had some more experience against Multiversal Elite melee combat. I'm not actually had much chance, despite some of the incidents I've been involved in." Nanoha looks at Touta for a moment, before grinning, "Feel up to providing some? If you're not too tired yourself."
Touta Konoe	"Are you kidding? You'd be the one doing me a favor! Besides, I've wanted to get a spar with you again since the whole summer thing!" He still remembered that? Apparently so! "Anyway, if you want leave setting up a sparring room to me, I think I still get some free sessions cause of the whole MECC thing so might as well use'em right? It's a good thing too cause uh...Don't really have faction money to pay for being here all the time." There's a bit of a chuckle as he makes note of it before urging her to follow him along. As they go he seems pretty relaxed, briefly waving hi to any familiar faces in the shrine he recognizes before speaking to the people in charge of handling the rooms. Once he has something solidified he'd continue to have Nanoha follow him along till they reached the usual training facility, a circular stadium type set-up that supposedly could be altered to one's preference. "Anyway, I'll leave what kind of training settings you want. Or we can leave it as if, I'm not too picky myself." Besides that though, Touta just starts walking over to the other side of the arena, preparing to make sure he's a proper distance away from Nanoha before they really started up.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha laughs as she rubs the back of her head, "Oh! Ehehehe, right. That time. That was fun, if a bit unusual!" As they make their way towards one of the private rooms, Nanoha shakes her head, "If your free uses are limited than all the more reason for me to pay. After all, I get both faction pay and my TSAB pay. Besides, I can just write it up as a business expense!" Nanoha clearly insists at they order the room. And she seems VERY stubborn about it too. Either way they end up in the arena setup. Nanoha moves over to her own starting position, saying, "This is fine. I'm not that concerned about environmental factors." Nanoha turns around, facing Touta as she swings her staff out to her side, "Okay. Let's do this, Raising Heart!" The Device chimes, <Go for it, my master!> Nanoha rushes forward, just running for the moment as she closes the distance to Touta. She seems intent on focusing in just using her staff as there's no opening barrage of magic beams or anything. Though when she leaps into the air shortly before reaching Touta, it's quite a high leap, suggesting magic boosted. As she reaches the tip of her arch, Nanoha brings her staff up overhead. She then quickly falls down towards Touta, bringing the weapon down too to strike from above.
Touta Konoe	Nanoha doesn't joke around! Getting right into the action as she ascends. Touta doesn't even get the time to ask if he's getting the first swing or she is! But honestly he doesn't mind that at all, if anything it just means it's more like an actual fight. She reaches the arc of her jump quickly and is just as quick to descend down upon him and her strike proves pretty tough even as he attempts to catch it with his blade. The impact is enough to buckle him a bit as the sensation of her staff making contact with his blade sends a jolt through his arms all the way down to his feet. Blunt damage could get pretty nasty too! Once it's caught he tries to parry the staff off, as to give him a bit of room for his own strike. For a moment it looks like Touta's going to follow her example as he brings his blade up over his head for an overhead strike of his own, though just as it's about to connect Touta crouches quickly, his body spins low as he brings his foot into a sweep at her legs. If she was going to hit high, he obviously had to hit low right?
Nanoha Takamachi	As her staff is parried off to the side, Nanoha spins it around as she recovers, shifting into a defensive stance as she expects a counterattack from Touta. It comes, though not entirely in the way she expected. The Mage attempts to jump up and back a little to avoid the low kick, but Touta's foot still manages to clip Nanoha's leg a little. Landing again, Nanoha wastes no time as she steps forward once more to close the distance. As she does so she brings her staff up. Another overhead blow? No. Some fancy footwork sees Nanoha spinning, bringing her staff down and around, sweeping out from behind her in a horizontal blow at Touta's side.
Touta Konoe	Touta's able to land his blow if not just barely clip her. If anything it spoke to Nanoha's experience that she was able to read his moves so well. Guess that was to be expected of someone who was able to read his moves so well the last time too! He doesn't seem deterred though, and only waits with that excited smile as she prepares to launch her own counter. As he sees her land he notes her looking like she's about to get into another overhead blow, and Touta seems like he's about ready to guard as such not really expecting Nanoha to bluff him out in return, though her footwork makes for a nice transition for her momentum into that horizontal blow, and while Touta's able to get bring his guard up, he finds Nanoha's staff is able to break past it and slam into his side which causes him too lose his footing for a moment. He's forced to take a breath to collect himself, he regains his composure quickly as he gets back into a proper stance. This time he inches in with his footwork as he brings his blade up in front of him, at first it looks like he's about to swing at her left side, but then his angle swaps to her right, then left again as he continues to inch in. Right now he looks more like a Kendo practioner than he usually does as he inches closer with his tiny charge, though eventually once he thinks he sees an opening he goes for a slash at one of her shoulders
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha keeps her staff held diagonal in front of her as she occasionally steps around Touta's approaches. When he switches his angle, she flips her staff in the other direction to match. The two go at this for a short time, Nanoha concentrating on watching Touta's movements as they do. But she's also smiling. Finally Touta makes his move, though Nanoha may surprise him with her defense. She moves her staff to meet the blade, but before the two connect, a spell circle appears beyond the long weapon. Touta's sword impacts the Round Shield, but fails to break it. Nanoha then brings the bottom of her staff up from below as she attempts to capitalize on the magical defense with a strong blow to Touta's gut.
Touta Konoe	Touta finds himself walking into a rather surprising trap set up by Nanoha, it's enough that when he sees it, it's blatant enough that he wasn't expecting it in the slightest. It's also at that moment that she retaliates with the gut blow and it's enough a one-two surprise combination that completely sends him on his back. While he may be immortal there are still things that are never pleasant to experience, and having the wind knocked out of you is one of them. For a moment Nanoha gets to watch as an immortal literally tries to catch his breath in a coughing fit before finally catching it. Though when he does he seems to be looking at the floor for a moment...But eventually looks up with a a rather hesitant smile. "Should have kept my own guard up I guess!" He slowly picks himself up off the floor, the smilely lingering somewhat though there's clearly a look he seems to be giving. It's not necessarily a look he gives to Nanoha herself, but almost seems like one of contemplation. he takes another breath-in his eyes closing for a moment before opening again. He still seems a bit shaken up, but his eyes seem a bit clearer than before as he pushes off the ground more with emphasis than. His grip on his blade is tight as he seems completely intent on hitting Nanoha right through her shield. "TWO-THOUSAND FOLD!!!"
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha laughs a little sheepishly as Touta is placed onto his back. She looks a little apologetic, but waits patiently for him to get back up. As he does so, Nanoha asks, "Have you fought many people who use staves? With magic, for that matter?" Touta seems ready to continue so Nanoha prepares herself, once more shifting into a defensive stance. The super heavy blade comes streaking in at her, Nanoha once more placing her defenseive shield in the path. But this time when the blade hits, the glowing circle cracks and shatters into specks of light. The blade continues forward, striking the staff. It overwhelms Nanoha's strength, forcing the weapon to smash into her chest and send her flying backwards. Nanoha skids across the floor a short distance before coming to a stop. She lets out an, "Ow..." The Mage climbs to her feet once more, rubbing her chest at the major point of impact, "That definitely has a kick to it!" Nanoha taps the tip of her shoe against the floor for a moment, still a fair distance away from Touta. Raising Heart then suddenly chimes, <Flash-> Nanoha has suddenly not only closed the distance, but blasted past Touta to a point just behind him. And as Nanoha swings a quick strike towards his back, Raising Heart finishes, <-Move.>
Touta Konoe	It's only after he has a chance for his attack to breakthrough does he find himself able to speak up again. He looks a bit drained even if he doesn't look wounded. More like...Just mentally exhausted for some reason, though he does seem to give a look, like he's trying to be embarassed but well...He just looks tired for some reason. "Yeah, there's one guy but uh...Ah, guess I haven't fought anyone like either of you in a while. In fact...You both kinda fight a bit similarly. Anyway, don't sweat it! Like I said before just trying to get the rust off and all of that! Anyway, you okay though? I know I was trying to break that shield and all but hope I didn't overdue it still." It seems like that's not an issue as Nanoha tries to get behind him, her attack going to strike briefly at his back. Compared to the strike at his gut though he seems to tolerate the strike much easier than the one prior. Enough so in fact that as the staff lands its blow, without even looking Touta's arm reaching from behind him to latch on to her staff. With one hand he pulls it forward while the other hand attempts to drive an elbow into her gut this time, using the opposing forces to give a bit of a tough smack on that attack!
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha's staff is grabbed and she is suddenly pulled forward. Touta's elbow flies in towards Nanoha's gut. But the Mage releases one hand from her staff, moving it to catch the blow. It's still strong enough to cause Nanoha to grunt, but she manages to soften the impact. Briefly holding this position, Nanoha smiles at Touta, "I've had worse." Nanoha mentally recalls some training sessions with a certain hammer wielding knight. But the fight is still going on and so Nanoha flips over Touta, pulling her staff with her and using the movement to twist it out of Touta's grasps. Nanoha lands in front of Touta once more, facing away. But she jabs the bottom end of her staff backwards for a straight blow towards Touta's chest.
Touta Konoe	Touta's left sorta astonished to see Nanoha catch his elbow so easily. Especially when she's being pulled into it. How much close-quarters combat experience did she have?! Before he can even hope to try to follow-up his attack, Nanoha breaks out of his hold and gets in front of him. She immediately uses her staff to slam into him, thinking it to be another lesser blow he was ready to take the attack though the impact proves to be more serious than he expects. The staff launches into his chest and well...It's only for a moment, but there's the sound of cracked ribs, or at least some bruising. It makes him flinch as he picks himself up, but he still tries to hold off from saying anything less he worry Nanoha more than necessary. He forces himself to move in retaliation, not even giving her the chance to ask if he's alright. He'll be fine after all! This is the shrine and he's immortal! So why worry about it right?! The only thing that should be worrying him is how drained he seems to feel. So he figures he's maybe got one more good shot in him so might as well make sure he can deliver a sturdy blow of his own. He charges back at Nanoha, though in the last moment uses his Shundo in an attempt to catch her off-guard with his speed as he gets behind her. He'd attend to get a clean strike at her back in attempt to try and keep up!
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha watches Touta closely as he charges in once more. But his speed exceeds her expectations and he manages to slip around to a more advantageous position. The resulting blow strikes Nanoha on the back. Her Barrier Jacket absorbs part of it, keeping it from being a deep wound. But the magical clothing is still sliced through, drawing forth some red as Nanoha stumbles forward. Spinning around to face Touta once more, Nanoha doesn't pauses as she quickly darts into range once move, off the Touta's side. She angles her staff down and then sweeps the head towards the back of Touta's lower leg, attempting to hook it and bring it up to force him to topple back. Nanoha then follows through with the motion as she spins, bringing the staff up and then swinging down to strike the toppling Touta from above and force him into the the ground.
Touta Konoe	Touta's strike ends up being the best one he's gotten off, but it's still not enough to deter Nanoha. In fact, he finds himself knocked off his feet entirely once again. His stance breaks easily enough, and he does his best to just roll with it...Literally. As he falls onto his back he hits the ground hard, but he rolls backwards onto his shoulder to position himself back on a knee at least allowing him to keep up the fight. Though it's already apparent that there's no way he can avoid Nanoha's staff from getting him at this point. So there's only one thing he can hope to do. Take the blow and try and retaliate at the same time. As she brings her staff down at him, he simultaneously brings his blade upwards towards her in what would very well be a final exchange between the two.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha's staff comes down to meet Touta's rising blade. The impact is strong enough for Nanoha to feel it through her entire body. She can feel her arm muscles crying out in pain as she holds back against Touta's blade. But she doesn't give in, keeping her staff pressing downwards as the two are briefly locked in a struggle. But Nanoha has managed her power closely through the fight and so is in a stronger position than Touta. And she now pours all of that into the struggle. She calls out, "Raising Heart!" The Device chimes, <Understood.> The cartridge slide on the neck throws itself back a couple of times. CA-CHUNK. CA-CHUNK. The compressed mana in the cartridges are released and a pink aura flares up around Nanoha and her staff. Raising Heart then continues, <ACS Driver. Charge.> Touta would probably be familiar with this attack, having seen Nanoha perform it during their Summer War battle. However, it operates a little differently this time. As instead of activating the twin side rockets in the head and the one at the staff's end, only one of the side rockets activates. Specifically the one facing away from Touta. The added thrust adds to Nanoha's strength as she attempts to overwhelm Touta's own, to push aside his weapon and bring her staff down into him hard.
Touta Konoe	Touta's attack isn't enough to end it as Nanoha's determination lets her hold through the rough of it. Once she's gotten throught the worst of his attack she finds the ability to focus on her own. Having more in reserves left than Touta she finds herself casting her attack as the rocket from behind her staff is used to overpower Touta's blade from above. Not even just deadropping his weapon with full weight would prove fruitful here and eventually he finds himself overwhelmed entirely as the staff hits into his chest. His blade gets blasted to the side and he can feel the weight and force off the attack continue to press into him, he finds himself wincing more and more. He should clearly be throwing in the towel right now but for some reason he says nothing. There's a moment. Just a single moment from that wincing she can see the look in his eyes, it almost looks...Fearful? Worried? Stressed? It's a rather unusual look from the usual easy-going young man. It's a look he's never given her before and yet as he stares at her in those final moments of this match, it's his eyes that seem to be doing more surrendering than his own voice did. One way or the other this match was over. It was just whether that staff was going to go right through his gut or not before the match was called.
Nanoha Takamachi	Pretty soon it's clear who's won the match. And it certainly never gets to the point where the staff actually inflicts all that much harm to Touta. While Nanoha has been known to go a biiiit too far in some situations, this is not one that calls for it. So before Touta is really forced to feel the pain that might come from the full attack, Nanoha stops. She pulls her staff away from Touta, relaxing a little as she lets out a breath she had been holding. Nanoha then smiles down at Touta, shifting her staff into one hand and holding the other out to help him up, "That was exciting!"
Touta Konoe	The match finally ends and before Touta realizes it, it actually is over. While he doesn't feel the impact at it's fullest, there is that mild look of panic that comes at first that still lingers. Perhaps at first it would have seemed like Touta was in pain, and yet with the battle over and all the wounds and such healed, Touta still has that expression for a moment in the final moments that staff is planted on him. There's still sweat going down his brow, and his breathing feeling...Staggered. Touta finds himself shutting his eyes though and when he opens them again, it almost looks like he was just awaken from a dream. Though when he sees Nanoha pulling the staff off of him, as he finds himself looking her in the face once more and smile at him there's a pause...A hand reaches out towards hers to help himself up. He forces a bit of an awkward smile with sweat rushing down his cheek ever so, "Yeah...It was definitely crazy. Nanoha, you really are one tough cookie huh...Guess I'll need to try harder! Thanks again."
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha smiles at the compliment, "I suppose so. I have been doing this for a while. Though it's good to know my skills haven't gone rusty." Nanoha chuckles, "Of course, I don't really have your ability to take an injury. If it wasn't for my defensive magics, I'm fairly certain that hit to the back would have killed me!" Nanoha is oddly still smiling as she says this, though there may be a hint of concern in her eyes. "But anyway. Thank you as well! The match helped." Nanoha looks at the time, "I should probably be getting home now though." Nanoha starts to head off, but looks back for a moment to wave, "Enjoy the rest of your night!"