Down by the harbor, only a short train ride from the condo building where both the ECFH and Kyouko and Momo's new apartment resides, is a shopping strip which contains, among other things, a gym. It's your typical open-to-the-public type place, but Kyouko has been coming here to work out/train for almost a year now- ever since she lost her powers and decided to keep in shape a more conventional way last autumn.
It's still her venue of choice for sparring, because you can reserve a private workout room, which she's done. It's not a large room, but large enough, with pads on the walls and the floor. She's already there now, having made an appointment to spar with both Makoto and Naru at some point this evening.
She's not in henshin, of course, and is wearing a pair of gym shorts and a tight-fitting sports top, her ponytail bound up more severely than usual. Her feet are bare as she stretches on the mat, breathing evenly. She was the first one here, but she doesn't mind- gives her a chance to get the kinks out.
It's not a place that Mkoto is familiar with, but between Kyouko's directions and a polite question to the gym staff, Makoto finds her way there well enough. She stops into the locker room to change clothes first, so when she steps into the workout room Kyouko has reserved for them, she's dressed in her gi, hair tied back in its customary ponytail.
Truth be told, Mako has a few lurking misgivings about this idea - especially given the rumors that have been flying around school. But, she reminded herself sternly on her way here, Kyouko wouldn't care, and if Naru has ever believed any of it she hasn't given any indication.
So she's doing her best to put such thoughts out of her mind as she moves to join Kyouko on the mat and begin some preliminary stretches herself. "Hey," she says, by way of greeting.
To even believe that Kyouko has any knowledge of school-rumors would be a mistake: though one it's probably easy enough to make when you're immersed in that academic world. Kyouko hasn't set foot in a school, at least as a student, for nigh-on five years, and as such is not aware of any rumors, flying or otherwise- though Makoto is right that she most certainly wouldn't care, even if she was.
She certainly seems to have no misgivings, though that goes beyond her well-documented love of a good brawl. She's been doing this sort of thing (controlled sparring) for quite a while now, and finds it both genuinely enjoyable and a good way to hone the basics of one's skills. Magic is all well and good, but as she is more than aware from personal experience, it's foolish to always assume that magic is going to be able to get you out of a situation.
As Makoto enters, she rises from her stretch, smiling that lopsided smile of hers. "Hey, Mako-chan." She greets, her tone casual as she pads across towards where the other girl has entered. "Glad ya could make it. I ain't seen Naru-chan yet, but she said she was gonna come, so.."
Naru isn't expecting to be anything but an observer today, but she went home to change out of her school uniform anyhow. Just in case. At the very least, she might get her own workout in afterwards.
The door to the private workout room opens ans permits her entry, not /quite/ late, per se, but certainly on the edge of being so. She's got her eternal satchel over her shoulder as she hurries in, quietly in case she's already inturrupting.
A little relieved sigh as she spots the two of them still chatting and warming up rather than already trying to beat the snot out of each other. Friendly snot beating. "Hey guys."
"She's probably--" 'on the way,' Makoto was about to say, but before she's finished the sentence Naru has already proved her right by coming in the door. Mako breaks off and just grins instead, pausing mid-stretch for a moment to lift a hand in greeting. "Hi, Naru-chan."
Friend thus greeted, Makoto resumes her stretches. "How's it been?" she asks, the question directed equally to both of the other girls. "Any trouble?"
Kyouko grins as well as Naru makes her well-timed entrance. She lifts a hand in a wave. "Hi Naru-chan!" She calls, before glancing back to Makoto as current events are questioned.
"Nothin' out of the orindary. Some Wraiths, y'know. Normal work stuff at the store. Makes me nervous, how quiet everythin' has been, but at the same time I ain't gonna complain, I guess." She shrugs slightly, stretching her arms up over her head before walking out to the center of the padded floor area.
She glances at Naru, and winks. "No admiring boyfriend audience this time, huh?"
"Shiniko's up to tricks again, so that was fun, for some values of fun." Naru comments as she comes to settle at the edge of the room, looping her satchel strap over her head. "And it was nice to not be the one in the mirrored coffin this time, although significantly stickier. School is school."
There's a snort of amusement at Kyouko's comment and she laughs. "No admiring boyfriend audience this time, although I believe this is for /you/ guys to spar, not me, so we'd need Neph to have the proper admiring boyfriend audience."
"So yes, some trouble, but it's been handled is what you're saying?" Makoto's smile turns wry for a moment. "I'm glad you're okay."
She continues stretching, methodical in a way that comes from long practice, but her cheeks flush distinctly pink when Naru mentions Nephrite. "I could call him but I have a feeling you guys would get annoyed before too long. He's not a quiet cheering section."
Presently, once she feels sufficiently loosened up, Mako straightens back up onto her feet. "It's good like this, the three of us. So," she says, looking towards Kyouko, "how do you want to do this?"
"Well, y'know." Kyouko says, her own grin wry. "No trouble outside the usual scope of everyday trouble that sorta comes with the territory." A brief shrug of her shoulders, then a bit of a twinkle coming to her eye as Naru mentions Nephrite. She is independantly fond of both him and Makoto, and so isn't above a little good-natured ribbing.
"S'true, I guess we don't need any particularly biased crowd participation." She laughs, though fondly, then quirks a brow as Makoto asks how she wants to proceed.
"Well, I figured we could just do it the ol' fashioned way. No magic, accourse. Match goes until one of us gets put on 'er butt, or otherwise requests to stop. Or gets knocked outta bounds." She gestures to the border of the mats on the floor, which extend to within a few feet of the wall but show a yard-wide strip of tile beyond that before the walls begin.
"Normal levels of trouble.. but what is possibly a bit of a miracle, is that they aren't entirely directed at /me/." Naru points out with a grin. "Which is kinda refreshing, all in all."
Naru laughs softly at the mention of Neph being a loud cheering section and bends to dig out her sketchbook, having no illusions whatsoever about her skills matching up with either of them.
"Are you keeping score, or just 'til you've both had enough?"
Mako bobs her head in an easy nod at Kyouko's explanation. "Makes sense," she agrees. "I don't really care about keeping score, but it's good to be on the same page about what to expect when you're training."
She stretches her arms upward, lacing her fingers together over her head, then lets them drop again and settles into a loose ready stance. "Any time you're ready, Kyouko."
Kyouko grins slightly, nodding in agreement with Makoto. "Yeah, never saw much point in keepin' score. This ain't a competition. It's so we know what to do if we ever get in a real fight."
She quriks a brow as Mako-chan falls into that ready stance and tells her to come when ready. Kyouko doesn't assume any sort of 'stance'- she's never had any formal training. Not because she doesn't respect the sort of martial arts training that so many pursue, but because she was thrown into this sort of world and had to make her own way without the benefit of preperation, and by the time she had the option, she was already comfortable in her own abilities.
But practice and training are different, and the former she engages in on a regular basis. That's why they're here. And so, without any real warning, she darts in to swing a quick punch towards Makoto's mid-section. She's smaller and more lightly-built than Makoto, and likely posessed of less physical strength when magic is taken out of the picture. But she's quick, her motions posessed of an easy self-confidence that speaks of years of experience.
The strike is obviously meant to be probing, rather than a decisive blow, though she doesn't pull it- she respects Makoto's abilities, and knows she doesn't have to hold back, although she won't go for anything really damaging either, of course.
Naru settles to hold up a wall, her sketchbook out, because of course it is. She's watching, quite keenly watching really, as the two of them settle to the main attraction of why they are there.
Naru isn't drawing at the moment, she's too busy watching.
Makoto has always had naturally good reflexes, and years of training have kept them polished. Training, though, isn't the same as fighting for your life... and that's something Kyouko has been doing for a lot longer than Makoto has. It's given her an edge that Mako, with not quite a year and a half as a magical fighter under her belt, is still developing.
So although she sees Kyouko's punch coming in and begins to shift her weight to divert it, she's not quite fast enough. A breath wuffs softly out of her as Kyouko's fist thumps across her abdomen.
Mako grins, even as her hands snap up to catch Kyouko's arm. "Not bad."
In the next moment her stance is shifting again, turning her hip against Kyouko and hooking a foot in behind one of her legs in a bid to yank it out from under her.
Kyouko perhaps didn't think that her initial punch would connect- she seems briefly surprised that it does, even if only barely, and that brief moment of hesitation allows Makoto to grab her arm.
What Makoto does next though, Kyouko expects- not exactly, but 'grab and then knock down' is a pretty standard fighting move, so as soon as she feels her arm get caught she tenses for the next move.
Makoto tries to sweep her leg out, but Kyouko twists and performs a little hop in place, swapping her legs in a flash of movement that avoids the intended trip. Her arm is still caught, but she spins the opposite direction, attempting to use the fact that Makoto is gripping her arm to strike at the other girl with her free hand before she can move away instead of trying to free it.
Naru doesn't wince at the first punch, shifting a little on her feet as she watches. She flips a few pages in her sketchbook, coming to a free page. The drawing on the page isn't exactly like either of them, but the lines on the page look deliberate from Naru.
Like the first one, Kyouko's second strike lands. This time Mako doesn't even try to avoid it, just accepts the hit; it connects solidly, but for all Kyouko's not pulling her punches, Mako's reaction is not so much a flinch as a momentary grimace.
Releasing her grip on Kyouko's arm, Mako falls back a step - then lunges, abandoning any sense of subtlety in favor of driving for a body blow that, same as Kyouko, she respects her opponent's abilities too much to pull.
Kyouko has to admire Makoto's lack of reaction to her hits- she may not have the power that some other opponents would, but she knows she's no lightweight, and she feels how solid that last hit landed.
Perhaps she was expecting Makoto to at least flinch, because as the other girl suddenly releases her arm and lunges forward, Kyouko's eyes widen fractionally and she tries to spin to the side, but similar to her own first punch, is just slightly too slow.
She grunts as Makoto's fist impacts her ribs, staggering back a step. "Ngh.. nice one." She huffs, sucking in a breath..
And then darting forward again, making as though she's going for another solid mid-blow but ducking and sliding to the side at the last moment, aiming a quick series of jabs towards the other girl's side.
The feint works, just long enough - by the moment that Makoto recognizes Kyouko's change of direction for what it is, she can't quite reorient herself enough to guard against it. Kyouko gets a good two shots in to Mako's side, and this time it's enough to draw a grunt. She'll have some impressive bruises by tomorrow, that's for sure.
But maybe so will Kyouko, because Mako's immediate response to those two good shots to her ribs is to whirl around and bring her elbow down hard at the smaller girl before she can land any more.
Kyouko huffs out a breath of satisfaction as those shots land, which morphs into a sqwuak as Makoto's elbow comes around at her so quickly. The other girl, though she's quite a bit larger than Kyouko physically, is surprisingly quick, which the redhead learns to her detriment as that elbow crunches against her shoulder and drives her off balance.
She refuses to go down though, grabbing onto the elbow that just struck her and attempting to use her weight as she stumbles from the strike to attempt to pull Makoto with her, while at the same time lashing out with one of her bare feet towards the other girl's knee in an attempt to cause her to fall to the mats instead- or at least in addition to Kyouko.
Kyouko's heel catches Mako right in the back of the knee, buckling her leg beneath her. For one split second she staggers, trying to correct her balance...
...and somehow manages to get her foot planted firmly on the mat before Kyouko's weight hanging on her elbow can drag her down. Though she wobbles, the great strength that she's known for both in and out of henshin serves her well.
The sight of Kyouko dangling off her elbow does make her laugh, which kind of spoils any immediate thoughts about trying to counterattack.
Kyouko blinks as Makoto actually manages not to fall and she ends up dangling from the taller girl's elbow, her own heels on the mat but her weight entirely supported by the other girl's arm.
Then Makoto laughs, and Kyouko can't help it.. she giggles as well, which makes her let go of the elbow and fall onto her butt on the mat with an 'oof'.
She sits there for a moment, grinning up at the other girl. "You're hard ta knock over, ya know that, Mako-chan?" She says, laughter in her voice but the words clearly meant as high praise.
"That's kinda the idea," Makoto replies, propping a hand on her hip as she grins back down at Kyouko. She's still laughing a little, chuckling quietly under her breath, but when her other hand comes up to press against her ribs she winces a little, feeling the bruises forming. "But damn, you're quicker than I expected. I'm going to feel this tomorrow."
Kyouko scrambles back to her feet after a moment on the mats, the move graceful and quick despite her exertions, rotating her arm. She also can feel some soreness where that elbow landed, but she doesn't seem upset about it. Rather, she grins. "S'not a good workout unless you're sore the next day. That's how ya know you've made progress." She quips.
Then she smiles. "Sorry though, hope I didn't hit you too hard. Did you wanna have another go?" She steps a few feet back, bare feet light on the mats. "I think I've got at least one more in me, but then again I've gotten used to feeling like well-worked bread dough over the years."
"All good," Mako says cheerfully. She takes a half-step back herself, stretching both arms over her head for a moment, then tipping her head to the side to pop her neck as she brings them down. "Don't get me wrong, you hit hard, but the bad guys hit harder." Beat, and she flashes a grin. "Well, some of them."
She settles back into that same loose ready stance, lifts a hand palm up. Beckons. "I'm just getting started."
"I've always found it's less about hitting hard and more about knowing how to hit." Kyouko says, her grin returning as Makoto steps back and falls into a ready stance again. "Although I guess hittin' hard doesn't hurt, either. There's no kill like overkill, as they say."
Again, she doesn't seem to strike any particular stance, but she keeps her weight light on the balls of her feet, leaning forward slightly, her eyes daring over Makoto's form, watching for any hints the other girl might give away by her own slight movements as she waits for Kyouko to make a move.
When the move does come, it's again quick and fluid, Kyouko's body snapping into motion as she shifts left, aiming a quick series of punches at Makoto's side, then trying to dart back out of range before the taller girl can retaliate..
"That's a good point," Makoto agrees. Then Kyouko is moving and there's no more time to talk.
As before, Kyouko is quick - quicker than Mako can match. She can't move fast enough to dodge that flurry of punches, can't quite get up a guard to block. This time, she doesn't try to do either.
Instead, just as Kyouko's knuckles are grazing her ribs, she shifts her weight and twists about at the hip, snapping out one of those long legs in a broad sweeping kick.
Of all the things that Kyouko expected, Makoto completely neglecting to block in order to lash out with a strong kick apparently wasn't one of them. That's the sort of trick she herself, with her Puella resistance to damage, might pull, but apparently she hadn't thought the other girl would take that route.
Even so, her reflexes are split-second. As her fists strike Makoto, she catches the girl's movement, her eyes widening fractionally as she attempts to abort her attack and pull back and avoid that kick.
She isn't quick enough though, and has committed too much to her attack, so though she manages to reverse direction enough to lessen the impact, it isn't enough to avoid it, and Makoto's leg thunks into her side, sending her stumbling off-balance. She grunts, but, eyes flashing, isn't ready to give up just yet.
She goes with the motion of the stumble, turning it into a whirl that takes her around Makoto's back, and does her back to dart in and grab Makoto around the waist, her intent to send the other girl to the mat before she can get her kicking leg back onto the ground.
Naru has crouched down against the wall, watching and observing and sketching as she watches the other two fight. She's good at settling quiet, almost enough to forget that she's there, if it wasn't for the scratch of her pencil against the page. She doens't comment, just the periodic little wince at really solid hits, the sort that result in sympathetic pain.
The last time Kyouko tried to bring her down, Mako kept her balance in the pinch. That high kick has extended her too far this time, though, and Kyouko is just a little too quick. Before she can get her foot planted back on the mat, Kyouko's weight is pulling against her, and this time Mako topples.
Of course, this means that Kyouko now has Makoto's full weight coming down on her. As she falls, Mako twists around, getting her forearm and knee up as she goes down.
Kyouko can feel that she's going to fall as well- Makoto is skilled enough to force her down to the mat, if she's going to go down too. Letting out a minor yelp, Kyouko topples over to the side, Makoto following her down.
She hits with a thump, and luckily Makoto getting her knee and forearm up in the way is enough to stop the other girl from actually landing full-weight on top of her. Makoto doesn't outsize her by that much, but another person falling in top of you without any control is never a comfortable propostion.
Kyouko finds herself more or less pinned beneath her opponent, although loosely enough that she can squirm free, which she does after a moment, her grin returning. "Oof.. I guess I have to give that one to you, Mako-chan."
Naru winces, half standing as she watches the poential for tangle of people in an uncomfortable and unfortunate kinda way. But the pair of them are far more capable than that and Naru relaxes. Not that there's much she might have done, but still. She stands now, pausing in her drawing to watch the two of them. "I'm starting to think both of you are both really fast, and really flexible."
Once Kyouko starts wriggling free Makoto helps the process along by pushing herself up and rocking back onto her knees, leaving Kyouko clear of her weight. "Can I get away with saying you brought that on yourself?" she wonders, laughing a little at her own joke. Then she shakes her head, and after heaving herself up onto her feet, she offers Kyouko a hand down. "You really are quick, though. We ought to do this again. I was right thinking I could learn from you."
Naru's voice draws Mako's eyes her way, and her head ducks a little, smile turning rueful. "Well," she admits, "I've always been good at physical stuff. It probably comes from Jupiter, so it's not like I can take a lot of credit for it."
Kyouko takes the hand offered to her, letting Makoto pull her up to her feet. The other girl might actually find it surprising how light Kyouko is- she seems to weigh even less than it looks like she does. Despite a sore shoulder, probably bruised ribs, and a few other scuffs, she still seems in high spirits, her grin bright.
"And you hit like a truck, and again, I mean that in only the best way." She says, laughing. "I'd love to spar with you more often, Mako-chan. The more different people I can practice with, the more different situations I'll be prepared for in the wild, that's how I think of it."
Then she quirks her lips slightly, shaking her head. "Natural talents, or blessings, or whatever are only good when you put the effort in to hone 'em. You should still be proud of doing what you have with what you got given."
"I don't think you get to put all the credit on Jupiter, cause at the moment, you're more Makoto than Jupiter and you're /still/ fast and flexible and strong. You both have really worked with that you've got, and it shows." Naru comments as she continues to hold up the wall, quite aware and comfortable in being not nearly at either of their levels. Not yet, possibly not ever.
A soft, thoughtful hmm sound escapes Makoto as she muses over what they've said. "Maybe you guys have a point," she allows. "But that also means I have to keep working at it, or I won't be able to keep up."
Absently working the arm that caught her weight when she went down, she quirks a grin as she looks toward Naru. "What about you, Naru-chan? Want to have a try next time, or have we scared you off?"
"Ain't nobody ever said it was easy, Mako-chan." Kyouko says, with a good-natured slap on the other girl's shoulder. "But like I always said, if it's easy it probably ain't worth doin' in the first place."
Then she grins at Naru as well. "Naru-chan's a little tiger, don't let all that flatterin' talk o' hers fool you, Mako-chan. She just needs practice, but she's got good instincts. We sparred a bit once before. If I didn't have the experience I do workin' in my favor, I think she mighta given me a real run for my money."
Naru laughs and shakes her head. "Tiger? Now who is being flattering, hmm?" She moves to set her sketchbook down, her pencil on top of it. "If one of you guys wants a break, I can have a try. I'm still at the practice stage, though, so not nearly the same work out for you guys. More teaching, less challenge."
The 'run for her money' comment from Kyouko gains a snort from Naru as well. "As if. I surprised you, but that won't happen twice."
Makoto accepts the slap to the shoulder and the words that accompany it with an easy nod; Kyouko is right, of course, and her point needs no elaboration.
The rest of the conversation, though, has her smile going lopsided. "I should warn you," she notes, "I don't know how good I'd be at teaching anybody much. I'm willing to try, thought, if you want. Or I can watch you and Kyouko first, get an eye for how you move. That might be best."
Kyouko laughs at Makoto's comments. "Mako-chan, if you think I'm a good teacher, you'll be changin' your tune after about five minutes. All I know how to do is fight.. but, then again, the best way ta learn how to do something is to just do it, so, as long as Naru-chan ain't the type to give up, I think between the two of us we could whip her into some kinda shape."
She shakes her head slightly. "I should get goin' soon today, though. I gotta shower and then get to work in a little bit." She smiles at Makoto. "Thanks a lot for sparrin' with me Mako-chan, I really enjoyed it. And I hope we can continue again soon. I'm sure we can learn lots from each other."
She winks at Naru. "And you too, Naru-chan. Lessons come from surprisin' places somtimes." She grins, then turns and heads for the locker room. "I'll see you both soon, okay?"
"Next time." Naru agrees as Kyouko makes her excuses and then she grins to Makoto. "I seem to be learning mostly by trying to avoid getting the same set of bruises twice. So far, that's been a valid learning strategy. Although I don't find that it works out so well for geography homework, so if I'm being sane and sensible, I'd do /that/."
"Thanks for letting me voyeur, Kyouko." Naru calls after her and then turns to Makoto. "Thanks for letting me watch. It was instructive, even without personal bruises."
"Too bad it doesn't work that way for geography," Makoto quips back to Naru. "Maybe if it did my grades would be better." With a little laugh, she shakes her head.
As Kyouko starts out, she raises a hand in a little wave. "No problem! Take care, Kyouko. I'll look forward to next time."