Finally, an Upside (open)

[J.T.]

"13...14...15..." the muscular spotter mumbled to Joey. He was currently benching 300 pounds in the Hircine High weight room and was having the time of his life.

'Everything here is in such good shape!' he thought, finishing his 20 rep set with a look of excitement across his face. Getting off the bench and walking over to a random punching bag, he remembered how terrible all of the equipment at Varron always was. One of his favorite memories in Varron was how much fun he always had hitting the punching bags so hard that they would either rip or fly off the terribly rusted chains.

'But these are in perfect condition!' he thought as he began throwing his strongest punches at the bag in front of him, only for it to swing back at him, unfazed save for a few dents that Joey's punches left.

"Isn't this great?" he said to the muscle bound Hircine student at the punching bag next to him, only to be greeted by a dirty look.

"Your not gonna ruin my mood, Schwarzenegger." he said, returning to the weight bench. "Anyone wanna spot me?" he yelled, noticing that his first spotter had left.

[taru]

Taru was in his tank top and basketball shorts as he came into the Gym. He was heard someone yell "Anyone wanna spot me?" Taru looked for the person who said that and there he was J.T. A person he hasn't met before since he's new to the school. So he might as well spot him. Whatever that is.

"Yeah sure I will."

Taru ran over to where J.T. was and put his hand out for a handshake. J.T. was bigger than Taru and probaly stronger in upper body strength. But that's cool with him. He needed to meet more people around this place anyways.

"Hi. My name's Taru. How about you?"

[J.T.]

Joey shook Taru's hand, a smile still visible on his face. "I'm J.T., are you gonna spot me?" he asked, getting his hands ready to lift the bar above him.

After a few seconds went by, Joey's smiled dimmed a little as he waited for Taru to respond. "Well are you gonna spot me or what?" he asked, a small bit of annoyance in his voice.

(OOC- guh, short)

[taru]

Taru looked down at J.T. and had a "What the hell am i supposed to do?" look on his face as he looked down at J.T. He started thinking and without any idea of what the hell he was doing, he put his hands on the bar and just stayed there. He had no idea what he was doing and he just wanted to meet someone. J.T. probaly would think Taru was an idiot if he did it wrong. So Taru just stood there waiting for J.T. to lift.

[archangel5871]

Kiyoshi "Kurohyou" Nanami had been off in the corner running on a treadmill observing the scene of the one place both Hircians and Varronites respected - the gym. Amazing how this one place so filled with so much testosterone could warrant such plain dealings, but of course everyone was here for a purpose and that purpose was to get better than everyone else in the room and to be tougher than the rest. Some of which would never accrue this high standard set by many but they worked their damnedest nonetheless.

Someone called out for a spotter and Kiyoshi just ignored it, he not being one to go out of his way for anyone but the closest of friends. He glanced in the direction though and watched the scene play out; whether a Hircian or Varronite would come to aid this... He had to be from Varron because Kuro had never seen him before. A relatively confused young man entered the gym and jumped at the opportunity to be someone's bitch right away, he was neutral. Kuro had seen him around before the onslaught of Varronites had come into the picture, probably a transfer from a nearby school.

The somewhat younger lad had a face of utter confusion plastered across his face and the Varron student seemed to be getting a little frustrated at the lack of knowledge this young man in basketball shorts had (or didn't have). With a smirk on his face, Kuro allowed himself to roll back and off the treadmill and he made his way over to the two strangers.

"I heard you needed a spotter?" he said down to the guy laying on the benc, completely disregarding the young'un standing next to him. Kuro had a smartass smirk across his face that almost screamed 'I know what I'm doing'.

[J.T.]

"Ah, thank you." Joey said to Kurohyou, giving Taru a dirty look that said "now get outta here."

He didn't know what someone was doing in a gym if they didn't even know how to spot. Taru wasn't even sweating, showing Joey that he hadn't been working out either.

Forgetting Taru, Joey went through his full set without needing Kurohyou's help until the 20th rep, even then only needing a little help with balance.

Standing up from the bench to get a quick rest before his next set, he looked over at Kurohyou who seemed to be about the same height as him. "Thanks for that, I don't know what that guy is doing here. Hey, you wanna get on?" he asked, motioning toward the bench. Kurohyou didn't look big enough to do a 20 rep set at 300 lbs, but one could never tell in places like this. Besides, Joey figured Kurohyou could at least handle a few reps with his well toned body.

[taru]

Taru frowned. He felt confused and unknown what the fuck he was doing. So he just continued walking away with a frown sad. He exited the gym and then sighed. That was stupid to do. He just wanted to help and he gets rejected trying to help. It doesn't matter. He just wasn't in the mood to do anything. He ran right out the gym and kept running till he pased the boys locker room and changed his clothes before going in the gym again. He glared at them all before leaving.

Exit Taru

[/u]

[archangel5871]

The whole time that Joey did the twenty repetitions, Kuro stood there in spotter's stance with his hands floating just below the bar, prepared to catch and move it if need be. Surprisingly, this Varronite got through the twenty reps without much of a problem at all, even at three hundred pounds of weight. A momentary dip in the bar's left side caused Kiyoshi to pat the bar, setting it back to a centered weight distribution and allowing the bencher to finish the last inch and a half to the hooks.

This Varronite seemed friendly enough, but of course most do at first glance. He got up from the bench and caught his breath, sweat dripping from his forehead and his tank top soaked nearly through.

"Hey, you wanna get on?" the boy asked.

Kuro could only reply with a smirk at this, a hand coming up to rub the back of his head. "Nah, the only weight training I do are squats, and the incline leg lift. I mainly just run and box, not really one for strength... I prefer speed." he couldn't help but chuckle softly to himself at his answer.

"The name is Kurohyou, by the way." he says, offering his hand over the bench from behind the bar.

[J.T.]

Joey shook Kuro's hand firmly, but not so hard as to imply any sort of aggressiveness. "Names J.T." he responded simply. He didn't want to get too cuddly with his new aquantince just yet, as he had just gotten a nice idea that would probably be to both of their advantage.

"So you say you box?" he asked, letting some of his confidence spill into his voice. "Well what do you say to a little sparring match? I haven't really gotten a chance to loosen up on anyone since I moved here. Besides, I want to see what you've got."

With that, he stood from the weight bench and headed toward the empty boxing ring which was located in the middle of the gym, giving Kuro a forbidding look as he neared it.

[archangel5871]

Kuro returned the hand shake with a very military-esque elegance; one swift pump with a nice squeeze in the middle. "A pleasure..." he says, his tone only somewhat mocking only due to the fact that this J.T. was originally from Varron and Kuro was from Hircine.

"Yea well..." was all Kuro was able to get out before J.T. issued his challenge. "I meant the heavy bags, but I'm up for a friendly match I guess..." he said, following J.T. to the ring in the centre of the room.

The sparring ring consisted mainly of a 12'x12' square where padded mats were connected to the floor, a simple open area where two could practice basic fighting. There was a larger MPR (multipurpose room) adjacent to the gym, which was basically a big, empty, padded room, but the ring would do just fine.

Upon stepping into the area, Kuro peeled off his black tanktop, revealing a well-toned upper body that wasn't too muscular but was nicely defined. He tilted his head to the left and right, stretching the muscles of his shoulders and neck as his hands busied themselves tightening the obi around his waist, lightweight black pants flowing with each step he took behind J.T.

Eventually, J.T. stopped on one side of the padded square and Kuro did the same, only about eight feet away on the other side. He hopped up and down a couple times, getting the feel for the mats and grinned sinisterly toward J.T. "May this match show that not every Varron/Hircine fight is in negativity." he calls out across the open space, loud enough for everyone to hear; this inevitably causing a small group of people to stop what they were doing to watch the fight soon to come.

[J.T.]

Joey grinned as his challenge was accepted. He was currently brimming with confidence and was sure this would be a nice match. The two of them were virtually equal height, and Joey weighed nearly 50 lbs more. It would essentially be a battle of speed versus power, a matchup that he was looking forward to the experience.

After quickly taping up his hands with black tape, he pulled two pairs of the best fitting boxing gloves he could find and tossed one pair to Kuro. He didn't know if Kuro wanted to use boxing gloves, but Joey figured it would be easier to not hold back if they used them.

He then pulled his own pair on and tied them on, making sure they were tight. He then took a few practice hits at a nearby punching bag, showing Kuro that he had a little bit of speed himself.

He then entered the ring and took off his black wife beater, revealing a perfectly toned stomach and large muscular pecs. After tossing the shirt out of the ring and onto a wooden bench, Joey began dancing around his corner of the ring to warm up, tilting his head to the left and right as he did so.

"Ready when you are." he said. He was pumped for this fight and wanted to get it underway as soon as possible.

[archangel5871]

Joey seemed to be quite confident in his fighting abilities, he even attempted to show off a bit by beating an inanimate object to which Kuro thought to himself: Sure you can hit something that doesn't move... only one without any recognizable motor skills couldn't... A sly grin spreads across his face as J.T. tosses a pair of gloves toward him, but Kuro simply steps aside allowing them to fall out of the air to the floor outside the ring. He wasn't planning on throwing many blows, so he didn't necessarily need them anyway.

Kuro was no fool. He wasn't expecting to win the fight with blow-by-blow tactics, he was a bit more sneaky than that. Now was the time his speed would have to prove useful against this stronger and, he was sure, more experienced fighter.

So much movement so soon... Heh, he's going to wear himself out before the fight even begins... Kiyoshi thought as he placed his left foot forward and lowered his center of gravity, bringing his hands up in front of him, palms facing each other inwardly and with a forty-five degree angle toward J.T. Kuro's piercing grey eyes watched every movement J.T. made, taking note of the ways his muscles moved beneath his skin and remembering small details of the extension and retraction. It was always easier to read another's moves when they had larger, more defined muscles and the fact that his ruse to get J.T. to remove his shirt worked as well which made it almost too easy to watch his movements.

Kuro stood almost completely still, his eyes and mind locked on J.T. He looked almost like a cat ready to pounce upon it's prey; stoic and foreboding the body seeming to be tensed, but in reality it was quite relaxed.

"Ready. Your move." he says coldly, no emotion could be taken from the simple words. He was in fight mode now...

[J.T.]

Joey laughed at his opponent's sudden seriousness. It seemed that this was going to be an intense match, at least on Kuro's part. Pulling his boxing gloves off as well and tossing them carelessly out of the ring, Joey cracked his knuckles and got into a tight boxing stance.

"Well here I come." he announced, slowly stepping toward Kuro with a small grin.

As he neared the center of the ring, he wondered exactly how much experience his opponent had in boxing. He knew that it had been a while since he himself had been serious about this sport, what with basketball and all the street fights he had been getting into at Varron. Despite this, his confidence was not shaken even though his current stance wasn't what he usually used in boxing matches. He was in this tight stance so that he could test out what kind of fighter Kuro was. If he was aggressive, Joey would know to stay defensive. But if he was more of a defensive or equaled out boxer, than Joey would switch into his ordinary, looser stance.

[archangel5871]

Kuro simply shook his head at the decline of his open invitation and moved forward seeing that JT was going to have him make the first move. Being strongly based in Aikido and Taichi, the offensive aspect to Kurohyou's style was a little weaker than his counter-defensive but not so much so that it was useless. He moved forward slowly, his feet making little to no sound on the mats due not only to his light-weightedness but also his grace -- they didn't call him the Panther for nothing.

Upon getting within three feet of JT, Kuro threw three quick feint jabs before moving quickly to his right (JT's left) and throwing a strong and fast knife-hand to JT's left temple with his right hand rotating at the hips to add more power. Before the strike, his body all seemed very fluid and relaxed, but upon twisting his hips and extending his arm it became suddenly sturdy and rigid; a technique he called Sword From Water. If the strike were to land, it would stun JT slightly, perhaps giving Kuro an opening for another attack, but if JT were to block it, the attack would simply be just that: blocked. Of course, with the force and speed put behind the initial strike, the impact would sting a bit for JT.

((Sorry for lateness, I am really bogged down with schoolwork most of which is make-up and the semester is ending too, so I've been busy as of late.))