Friction in MSG: Akashi Tanikaze Vs. Haruna Saito

Akashi was doing alright, plodding forward and fending off Haruna's strikes aimed at her head as best as she could. She was out of the water, at least but still didn't have a good position to try and catch Haruna's weapon.

Unfortunately, the shinobi smartly went low where Akashi could do nothing and when the kendo stick crashed into her knee, she winced and pulled it up, losing her balance as she crashed into the unforgiving entrance ramp.

"Guaaaahhhh!"

With Akashi down yet again, Haruna went for another decisive strike. Raising the bamboo sword above her head, she swung downwards with all her might, this time trying to strike the sumo in the shoulder.

"Ahhhaaaa!"

Akashi shrieked as the kendo stick crashed into her shoulder, right on the sweet spot. She tried desperately to wrap her now aching arm around the stick and hold it tightly. That was about the best she could do at the moment as she tried to push up with her other hand and onto her knees.

Now that she had the kendo stick again, Haruna could successfully avoid any danger of getting too close to the sumo again, preventing that bridge drop incident from occurring again. These hits were definitely getting through, and it was only a matter of time before Akashi would be worn out sufficiently.

Lifting her leg up, she would throw a quick kick to Akashi's arm, intent on making her let go so that the purple-haired shinobi could pull the kendo stick free and resume her assault.

"Gnnh..."

Akashi's arm was kicked away from the kendo stick by Haruna's foot and she dropped to her hands and knees. Her face still held real pain on it as she felt the sizzle in her shoulder. However, while she wasn't going to give up any time soon, she knew that as long as Haruna had that kendo stick, she could do as she liked against Akashi.

It was hard to think with the pain and Haruna still lording herself over her.

"Hmph... Maybe if you hadn't discarded your weapon, this might have been more interesting." Haruna stated condescendingly. "To be given something good, but just throw it away without even thinking? That's why old, close-minded fools like you will never get any stronger."

Raising up the stick yet again, she cracked it down towards Akashi's bare back.

"Ahhhaaaa!"

Akashi once again howled as Haruna mercilessly cracked the kendo stick across her back leaving a big, red line across her pale back. She hissed and hunched over, but only because her shoulder hurt.

Her wet hair hid her vision and she was thankful for that but she brushed away her locks and turned her head to look at Haruna.

"Saito-san." Akashi said. "You're too short sighted to understand the reason tradition and honor exist and your idea of power is what's close minded." Akashi turned her head back and looked at the ring. "If you're so confident you have this in hand with that sword of yours, then let's just get the execution over with already. One blow to the head should finish me, right? I won't even move and then it will be an easy pin."

Haruna lowered the kendo stick, pointing it down at Akashi's face. "Should I consider that a submission?" she sneered slightly. Although, even as much as she detested the sumo, she had no choice but to respect her strength.

"Do yourself a favor and just swear your loyalty to me now. I'll even help you settle things with my so-called 'boss', interference-free, as a token of my favor."

Akashi saw the tip of Haruna's kendo stick push into her field of vision and as the Sumo listened to Haruna's request, a bright grin spread across her partially hidden face. "Saito-san." She said. "I'm not sure if you're smart or dumb." She replied and reached up to snatch the tip of the kendo stick.

"It was not a submission, it was just the last chance you were going to get at me. I thought I'd do the honorable thing and let you see if we could settle things with one blow. You've tossed that away. I don't need your help to get my chance at Conway-san. Right now, I have no concern for her anyway, just YOU!"

Akashi yanked on the kendo stick hard to try and pull Haruna off balance but really, she was just trying to use it to help herself up and pushed up on her knees with all her might. As she stood up, she aimed her head at Haruna's chin, looking to smash it into the haughty shinobi.

Haruna, of course, hadn't let her guard down that easily, although she was unable to pull away before Akashi had grabbed the kendo stick. "Shit...!" she cursed loudly, forced to let go of the weapon, avoiding falling off balance, though the sumo still managed to ram into her, sending her staggering backwards.

"You're the fool!" Haruna scowled, just barely avoiding slipping on the wet concrete floor. "I gave you your chance, but it seems you just want to make things harder on yourself!"