Nobu vs. Kazuki

[Kyukaku]

at the least, 15 minutes has passed since the last round. Surprisingly, the fights so far haven't been as brutal as the rules would dictate. Do change that, and entertain me.

Ready? Beat the shit out of each other!

..haha, you're both asian.

[Nobu]

Just like several minutes ago, before his first fight, Nobuo Yamamoto sat in the locker room, hands cupped between his knees, eyes closed, his breathing slow and controlled. He managed to pull through in his first fight, escaping with a decision win due to his aggression and dominance in the cage. His head had completely cleared up since the match. Being hit so in the head was something that didn't happen often to Nobu, but the circumstances allowed the back of his head to be struck without penalty, something that he was not used to, and something that he would keep in mind for his next bout. However, thinking about it and doing it are two completely different things. If anything, his instincts would be the same as his first fight; the cage, his apparel, the crowd--everything just screamed mixed martial arts.

With fifteen minutes to recover from the strains of his first fight, Nobu felt almost entirely fresh. The back of his head was a bit sore, but that was nothing he couldn't deal with. Somebody walked into the room, presumably the same person that had walked in before his first fight, and called out to him. Nobu remained motionless at the man's words;

"Good show you put on last time, kid. Try to do it again, yeah? You're up."

A final exhalation of air and the Japanese fighter rose from the bench, stretching and doing a bit of shadow boxing before exiting the locker room and into the underground venue. The crowd roared with excitement as Nobu walked out. There were still the calls for blood, but the audience seemed pleased with his last performance, shouts of "Slam him on his head next time!" and "Snap this guy's arm off!" rising from the mass of bodies.

Nobu stepped into the octagon, a bit surprised at the fact that there wasn't any blood staining the canvas, despite there being five other fights beside his that had taken place already this night. He hopped around, alternating on the balls of his feet, staring intently at the door his opponent would step through. The thing about these tournaments when compared to normal MMA bouts was that you know jack shit about your next opponent, whereas in an MMA bout you actually had a few months to prepare by studying and training for your opponent specifically.

The Japanese fighter glanced at the canvas once more before quickly whipping his eyes back to the door. Would he be the first to spill blood in this cage?

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Despite the rather exchanging nature of his last fight, neither had really been successful in scoring a truly decisive blow until the end, when Kazuki had put Allen down for the win. As such, the older man, the oldest in this tournament for that matter, spent the brief respite in the small changing room-type hole he'd been sitting in before, resting his hands in ice to cool the muscles and calm his adrenaline down. There was a slight welt on the side of his head where Allen had got a few good punches in, but the pain was trivial now.

'One round out the way, I know Adam got through his, and so did Gilsin....I suppose it'd be convenient to have those two fight and wear each other down, but we'll see. Right now, let's just focus on what's going on at this instant.'

Leaning back against the drywall, he closed his eyes calmly and wiped his thoughts, clearing his head. He felt good enough to keep going, so by his standard, he was at least on the right track. The decider would be now, fighting two successive matches and against a (logically, anyway) better opponent than his first round foe. In that relaxed state, he sat quietly for a few more minutes before the door was knocked roughly.

"Is it time?"

"Yeah, Kaz. Your turn. Some kid called Nobu or something. Beat Kokaku Musha before."

If anything made his eyes open, that was the remark. He would have asked for the guy to repeat it, but he doubted anyone had a similar name to his fellow graduate. That changed a lot, and he sat forward, lifting his hands from the melting ice and balling his fists tightly, calloused knuckles straining at the rough skin atop them.

'If he beat Kokaku, he's certainly not a throw-away fighter...'

"I see. Alright, I'm coming."

The guy nodded at that and left the room, letting the door sit open as Kazuki rose from his chair, rolling his shoulders as the sinewy ropes of muscle flexed under them. Craning his head in all directions, he stretched out his neck as he began to make his way to the ring, once again passing by the usual calls of support and....encouragement, probably, would be the best word for it. He noted the louder cheers this time around, clearly expectant of more from the several-time former champion.

From his distance, he could still see into the ring to his slightly unassuming opponent. Nothing spectacular in height or build, yet clearly his skill belied his appearance. A faint quirk of a smile crept onto his lips as he hopped up and into the ring for the second time this evening. Stopping on the opposite side of the caged off ring, he silently observed the younger fighter before his lips parted.

"I heard you beat Kokaku. That's an impressive feat, to be able to take down a Varron veteran. I hope you'll appreciate the opportunity you've been given to take on two of us in a row. Nobu, is that right?"

The smirk hung politely, not a rude gesture or anything, but because he was intent on giving away as little of his emotional status as possible for the moment. He was actually really looking forward to seeing how good this young man was, but first wanted to see how he would respond. With a quick shift in language, he reverted to his native Japanese briefly for the next remark, giving a short nod towards Nobu with the words.

*"Kazuki Akimoto. It's a pleasure."*



ooc: Apologies for a slow start, but I know you're quite the punctual poster, so I figure a post longer isn't going to stifle the fun here for either of us.

[Nobu]

The door swung open, and his opponent stepped through. There was nothing extraordinary about this fighter; he was around the same height and build as Nobu, and he had strong Japanese features. The only thing seperating the two were age, for his opponent looked several years older than the Japanese student. As for fighting prowess, that would have to wait for when he stepped into the cage.

His opponent began speaking, leaving Nobu rather confused, So, my last opponent was named Kokaku.. and Varron veteran? What's that supposed to mean? the Japanese youth responded with a nod at the mention of his name. While the man standing across from him smirked and introduced himself in Japanese, Nobu's visage remained stoic as he, too introduced himself, despite the fact that his opponent seemed to know who he was.

"Watashi wa Nobu, desu," and with that, the younger of the Japanese fighters pushed powerfully off his right foot, launching himself forward and closing most of the distance between the two combatants in a single bound, swinging his left leg into the lead as he did so. Nobu then shuffled forward to close whatever distance remained between them. Like the last bout, his hands were held in loose fists by his temples. His left snapped out in a sharp jab aimed for his opponent's nose while he stepped into him, his head nearing the center of the older man's chest as his jab retracted.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Though the look on his younger opponents face appeared somewhat bemused by the gesture and remarks made, he was respectful enough to respond properly, verifying his name in turn as well. Kazuki had no doubt that the guy he'd spoken to before had gotten the correct name, but he saw no reason to eschew a moment of manner about the whole affair. As he'd noted before, if this youngster had beaten Kokaku, then he must have something going for him.

His thoughts were cut short quite abruptly though, when Nobu made his move and lunged at him.

'Good posture, his movements are tight and conservative, but that opening punch is going to speak volumes about him.'

The shuffle forward before had closed the majority of the gap between them, so his reaction would be that much sharper in turn to the junior fighters, unleashing his movements just as the punch was thrown. With a shuffle of his own feet, he brought his right out a half-step and turned back on his left a quarter-turn as his left hand shot to the outside of Nobus wrist, grasping the joint and jerking him forward, hopefully off balance in the process.

Simple, but a controlling action nonetheless. The lunge forward with the left leg might likely stabilise Nobu in the long run, but it was only the initial distortion he would require to capitalise as, with nary a moment wasted, his body torqued violently from left to right, slamming his right palm to the side of his younger opponents head with a piston-like motion, aiming to strike not just the head, but most specifically in the upper rear of his jaw, where the impact would crash into his ear and send a rather disorienting ringing through the younger boys head.

Were he able to land the blow, he would proceed onward again, shifting his left leg forward and snapping out a knee to what would likely be the lower left of Nobus midsection, around the floating ribs where the sternum provided less support and the potential for injury was higher. Of course, dependant on how his opponent reacted to the blow to the head, the possibility stood that the older Asian would not have the opportunity to execute this strike. He would have to wait and see how Nobu responded.

Of course, he was intent on dealing a pure and decisive victory, and he knew that would mean one thing.

Blood

The crowd was baying for it, the other fighters were seeking it, even the ring seemed to have an ethereal sense of anticipation for its purpose being met fully. This fight would spill blood, but it still begged the question...

'Whose will it be?'

[Nobu]

As soon as Nobu noticed that his opponent was no longer in front of him, he halted his advance forward. When he attempted to retract his jab, he found his left arm in the possession of the older Japanese male, who was now trying to pull him forward. The younger of the two fighters bent his knees and grounded himself, rotating his body counter-clockwise, sliding his left foot behind him in a wide arc and twisting, then jerking his left arm back violently out of his opponent's grasp, curling it so that his palm rested next to his ear.

His arm probably wouldn't be able to recover quick enough to defend the incoming strike. However, his shift in position would cause his opponent's palm to instead strike at his forehead, his chin tucked neatly into his chest like any good striker's should be. Immediately following the impact felt on his head, Nobu pressed the palms of his hands against his opponent's chest, shoving him away, creating distance between the two fighters and saving him from the incoming knee.

From here, Nobu wiped the back of his hands and palms on his black shorts before getting back into stance, hands held in loose fists, hovering next to his temples, right foot forward, and his chest square to his opponent.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

ooc: If the wording here has you puzzled, give me a nudge on MSN. ^^

ic:

He smirked briefly at Nobus retraction, letting go of the hand as it was pulled at to save his own foothold being compromised, and shifted his body a fraction back onto his right leg. His hands were held fairly low, no higher than chest height at most, but the initial push to his chest would do little more than make him ground back against it.

Rarely did he employ pure martial arts into his fights, as the unpredictability of the average opponent made it harder to prepare for, but his footwork was one of those things. His balance was solid and his centre of gravity perfectly held, even against the push to which he bolstered his upper body into it. The pressure made would be cancelled out, effectively, though the shift of his foot was still evident to ensure safety. It would, of course, do no good for him to be inadvertantly knocked over by such an action.

Considering the new distance between the pair, he would waste no time in making the next move. Tit-for-tat fights rarely went far, and he intended to make the most of this one.

Unless Nobu was superhuman in his strength, they would likely not be more than a couple of metres from each other. Immediately after the younger Asian had reset his stance, he shot at him, not quite lunging forward, but almost skimming the ground with an extremely low-set step. Going from right to left foot forward, he turned his body slightly to lead with the side and snapped out a low left punch, somewhat superficial in its strength but quick enough to hopefully intercept the high guard his opponent had. If not, then all the better...He was banking on Nobu going for the block, and his right fist hung high by the middle of his shoulders, feinting a block.

A feint for the initial punch to force Nobu into reacting, his other hand held up to feint defence, it was possible that the younger boy could spot one or the other, but he was aiming for the same basic result. The other boys guard dropping down instinctively to deal with the obvious threat, and in that instant his right would slam out in a straight punch square to the bullseye target he had on Nobus head, aiming to clock him in the nose.

He was still fairly fresh into this fight, even in the faint possibility that Nobu had some preternatural sense of foresight and was able to detect both of his feints, he was more than confident that outwitting his quick opponent would be a fair possibility.

[Nobu]

OOC: Err, sorry for my tardiness. Something unexpected came up, but I should get a post up by either tonight or tomorrow morning.

EDIT: Be first Nobu, be first! were words that were ingrained into his mind by his grandfather and his MMA coaches. To them, taking the initiative in a fight and being aggressive was key, for it would force your opponent to react to you and possibly even hesitate in their attack should you continue to press forward. Nobu followed this belief closely, and rarely ever took a back step in a fight.

He was never hesitant in his strikes, even if he saw an incoming attack or a block being put up. Even if it was inevitable that he would lose, Nobu would continue to retaliate. A real man does not think of victory or defeat; only the moment.

So when his opponent advanced, so did Nobu, meeting him at the centre of the ring. Following the doctrine of "be first," Nobu stepped slightly to the right just before they met, the older man's now lead left leg aligned between his own as he launched out a left straight toward the centre of his opponent's face. Though he saw him beginning to put up a guard to block it, he would just pound into it. Judging from his left shoulder, Nobu dropped his high right hand so that his elbow was tucked into his ribs in order to defending against an impending strike. As soon as he realized it was a feint, however, it was quickly replaced around his head again.

Like always, his chin was tucked into his chest as he struck, and instead of the block he was expecting, he felt his opponent's right fist pound against his tricep, his extended left arm defending a good portion of his face from attacks coming from his left.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

ooc: Short.

ic:

'Take the bait....'

His eyes set on the younger fighter, Kazuki grinned inwardly at the step toward him. He could have accepted Nobu backing off in his defence, but the advance was much more appealing to the senior of the pair. Nobu's original attack had belied a very 'no-nonsense' nature about the young man, something of a head-on strategy.

That approach was also enough to prompt Kazukis attention to Nobus left hand, and as he'd gambled on, the younger fighter threw the punch. Thus far, everything had been the sown seeds of his lure, and in response to his opponents attack, his right arm would strike the inside of the forearm during a slight weave to his left. Making no attempt to stop the blow, he only needed to deflect it for a moment. Immediately after the parry, his body would torque violently again, the feinting arm now apparent and thus no longer required, as he careened his right fist in a reversal of Nobus intended attack, pressing forward with his right leg to add weight into the strike.

He was playing this his way, keeping the younger boy in his optimal range and exploiting the fundamental advantages he had over most fighters. At this range, his countering was at its best, and he could hope to outpace Nobu into making an error. Were this particular exchange successful, the shot would likely be enough to take the younger fighter off his feet, knocking him to the floor. His body set itself taut in anticipation of a reaction, however, knowing that the odds of landing the blow weren't certain.

'Still, unless he was planning as far ahead as I was, surely he'll be forced on his back foot here.'

[Kyukaku]

Shorter than what I would have liked, as if this would have progressed it would have been much more interesting. Still, gotta take what you're given, and from what's here Kazuki takes it. That old fart just won't die.