To Prove Oneself (Solo)

Today was the day, and so, as Shioshi lined up with the rest of the students out in the Sparring Grounds, sweat was already forming on his forehead. He was ready, he believed. Today would be the day he shot to the top of the class, or at least, proved that he was no longer who he had been before, when he'd been humiliated by that bastard Shinigami, Draylon. It was a tournament of sorts in class today. The class would be split up into groups of four, and each group would have a free-for-all battle in one of the different Sparring Areas. The winner of each area would then go on to the next round, and then the next, and then, finally, the final match, between the four different Students who'd survived in that specific section. He was ready, his weapon strapped to his back. He'd finally prove himself before everyone. A grin was plastered on his face, and he was sent to the first area with three other students, none of whom he truly knew.

He saw the other three students eyeing him with looks of superiority in their eyes, thinking him easy prey. No doubt they'd all come at him at once, taking down the person they believed to be the weakest of the four before dealing with each other. That was fine with him. He was willing to make this into a show. The four students drew their weapons and stood at the ready, waiting until the gong sounded, which would mean they could begin. As soon as it did, the three other students practically ran over each other in trying to get to Shioshi. He blade held in both hands and himself still in the ready position, he waited for them to come, drawing them in with a supposed promise of an easy take down. Their surprise was great when, when all three of them came in with their attacks at the same time, Shioshi simply knocked their blades wide and then came in with a frenzy, striking each of the other Students hard enough to send them into unconsciousness.

"You shouldn't have underestimated me," he said to one of the three, the only one still conscious, just before he joined the others in their forced sleep. The instructor presiding over that match simply stared for a moment, unable to understand what had just happened. Then, with a slight grin, he called out that the match was over. The first of them all, apparently. Shioshi knew better than to think the entire tournament would be as easy as that, though. The first match had been simple because of his opponents taking him utterly for granted. Now, though, with the word of his oh-so-easy victory already known throughout the room, the other students would be far more cautious in their battles with him. He knew this, and so he prepared himself for the challenge, a welcome thing for him. He hadn't even had to enter his world of inner calm, the place he entered when in his solo practice sessions late at night. He knew he couldn't keep that up the entire time, though.

Shioshi watched the rest of the matches end, and, since they were the first round matches, that happened rather quickly, despite the sheer number of the students. It didn't take too long for him to be ushered to the next-round Sparring Area, where the other three students that had claimed victory in the last round were already waiting. He immediately stood at the ready, the other three students eyeing him carefully. They knew of his easy win. Shioshi showed a small smile on his face as the gong rang out, and the three students once again came at him at once, but this time with caution and formation. two staying in the back to come in from the sides with stabbing strikes while the one in the center, leading the others, came in with his blade held straight up before him, a common enough stance, used when one needed to be ready to launch defensive or offensive techniques of a lower level.

Shioshi wasn't going to wait around this time, though. Instead, he began spinning his weapon and charged forward to meet the other three students. The two on the side immediately came in, their weapons coming in from either side. However, Shioshi was ready for that, and he halted and then reversed his moment, skipping back a step so that the two attacks came in harmlessly in front of him. They formed an X in the air, and he could help but take the advantage as the leading Student came in suddenly with a vicious stab aimed for his stomach. He came forward to meet that stab, snapping his blade around and then in from the left, redirecting the stab into an slash that struck the the Student on the left in the neck. The wounded one stepped back, leaving the other two open on the left. Shioshi grinned and immediately came in.

He ducked under a desperate swipe from the man on the right and then brought his blade up into that one's armpit, dislocating it as the completely merciless attack struck home. The student cried out in pain and dropped his weapon, and Shioshi brought his foot around in a kick aimed for the student's legs while the leading one's attempt at saving his only still actively-fighting ally, a pathetic overhanded-chop, was parried easily away with Shioshi's own weapon. His kick took the more heavily wounded of his three opponent's legs from beneath him, sending him crashing to the floor. Instantly, Shioshi rolled away from his only remaining active enemy and over to the downed opponent, bringing his hilt slamming down on his forehead, knocking him out cold. With a grin, he spun. He barely managed to block an attack from the now recovered student who had been the left-flanker.

Planting his feet squarely beneath him while at the same time deflecting, blocking and parrying the attacks of his opponents, and then managed to force himself back to his feet while keeping his two remaining enemies at bay. They seemed to work in perfect harmony without the other student now, though, and in many ways, they were stronger opponents without him. Shioshi could just barely recognize the two of them, who were often around each other. They were friends, he realized, and friends who had memorized each other's attack patterns and who could work side by side with impressive skill. However, Shioshi didn't plan on losing just yet. Shioshi accepted a hit on his back and against his ribs for a spinning kick that sent one of his two opponents wheeling and the other without his ally and friend for a moment. That moment was all that Shioshi needed.

With a snarl, he shot forward, leading with his blade in a series of attacks that sent the student's blade out wide. He then threw himself forward, shoulder first, slamming into the student and blasting his breath from him. He came in with a right-to-left chop that struck the elbow of the student's arm, the arm that held his weapon. As the student's blade dropped to the ground, Shioshi brought his head forward in a headbutt, shattering the other student's nose and knocking him unconscious. He immediately turned in the direction of the only remaining opponent, bringing his blade around to knock aside a diagonal slash. He came forward with his fist, connecting squarely with the student's jaw. There was a cracking noise as his jaw became dislocated. With another grin, Shioshi brought the flat of his blade hard into the side of the student's head. He was immediately unconscious.

Unlike the first round, Shioshi's fight was the last one to end. Everyone was watching him as he left the sparring area, and all were sending him angry and surprised glares. They had all thought him to be the weakest one in the class. They had been wrong. All that was left in this tournament now were the semi-final matches. Shioshi knew that they would be tough. Not nearly as tough as his match against Draylon had been, but still, tough. He just had to find that place of inner calm, and then, once he had, he would be able to truly show those around him what he could do. With a grin, he moved to the next indicated area, and waited for the gong. Once again, it sound. This time, though the students did not ally with one another against Shioshi. Two of them clashed while another moved towards Shioshi, weapon held up, the hilt next to his head, blade pointed his way. Shioshi stood, silent and calm.

The other student shot forward, her blade coming back, under, around and then up, but Shioshi's arm snapped to the side and turned, bringing the flat of his blade to smack aside the attack. He came forward with a series of simply slashes, and the other student easily recovered from Shioshi's parry and deflected the attacks. Shioshi dug his feet in, deflected another attack from the student, and then pirouetted, his blade flying around and building force as it did. He spun thrice, and then suddenly came forward with a violent, powerful chop, his weapon shooting for the student's ribs. The other student brought her blade up to block the attack, but she found herself forced to the side. She managed to redirect the attack and absorb some of the force, but she was hit in the arm that wasn't responsible for the hand that gripped her weapon.

The student cried out in pain, her wrist most likely broken. Shioshi didn't stop to pity her, though. Instead he launched forward in a sudden frenzy, his weapon seeming to come from all angles at once. The other student managed to deflect the majority of them, but for every three or four she blocked, one strike made it through, albeit it minor. Minor or not, as she continued to collect the wounds, she found herself losing her balance and with a numb sensation starting to run from her hand down her arm because of the force of Shioshi's attacks. With a feral growl, he came in with an over-hand chop, reversed direction while spinning around a slash from the other student, and then brought his own blade into the woman's back. She managed to let out a gasp of surprise, but then she fell, her wounds too numerous for her to stay conscious. Shioshi's warrior instincts were the only thing that saved him from similarly losing the fight at that moment.

He turned, bringing his weapon around to block a jarring strike from the winner of the fight between the other two students. He stumbled backwards and couldn't bring his weapon up in time to block another attack, which slammed home into his rib cage. Something snapped there, and he let out a cry of pain. A rib was broken, and Shioshi looked up at the smug expression on the other student's face with horror and fury. The student brought his weapon up for the finishing blow, and Shioshi very nearly allowed it to hit. However, it was at that moment he realized that, throughout the entire tournament, he'd been fighting with his emotions, instead of his calm. He knew that was what had just about cost him this fight. He wasn't about to allow that to happen, though. He suddenly snapped a look of pure hatred up at the student standing above him, one enough to cause the student to pause. Something he shouldn't have done.

Shioshi found that place of inner calm within him at that moment, and he immediately launched forward, his head slamming into the other student's stomach. The student, stunned and suddenly not feeling so good, fell backwards, and immediately found himself pressed by the ferocity that was Shioshi Reinuu. He struck with unending calm, each attack somehow seeming to find a way to strike home, even if it was just a weak nick. Then, Shioshi brought his arm back, snapped under and up, and struck the student in the jaw, immediately knocking consciousness with him because of the absolute pain in that hit. Shioshi stood, a bit shakily, but standing nevertheless, over the student, a look of victory on his face. However, the pain of his wounds over all of the different wounds soon encroached upon him as his calm faded away. He could no longer stave off unconsciousness.

"Huh... they won't have a fourth contestant for the final match..." he whispered, and then he fell to the ground, a welcome embrace, one of unconsciousness, comforting him. He'd done what he'd joined the tournament to do. He'd proven himself.