| [Mar. 5th, 2014|01:49 am] |
“Aww,” Katsuko said.
“You’re authorized to use moderately lethal force,” Raidou said, very dry. “But not to pull their shirts off.”
Katsuko tapped out a lazy salute and shoved off the railing, jogging towards the field. Kakashi and Ryouma didn’t acknowledge her approach, too busy rolling around in the dirt like highly-trained professional killers. She surged into a flat-out sprint for the last hundred feet and leapt, turning a somersault in midair before dropping down on Kakashi and Ryouma feet-first.
The reaction was instantaneous: they disengaged, moving in tandem to cut her landing short. Kakashi whipped up, grabbing Katsuko’s ankles before she could face-stomp him, and Ryouma’s hands closed around her wrists.
“Morning!” Katsuko said cheerfully, strung up like a clothesline between them, and jackknifed. Her heel caught Kakashi on the shoulder, loosening his grip the fraction she needed to yanked one leg free and kick it over her head. The reinforced sole of her boot slammed down on Ryouma’s fingers, making him curse; she broke one hand loose and twisted, grabbing the collar of Ryouma’s shirt for leverage as she scythed her free leg back to kick Kakashi in the face. He leaned back at the last second, letting her foot whip harmlessly by, but the distraction let her yank her trapped ankle free. She kicked off Kakashi’s chest, using it as a springboard, and flipped over Ryouma’s shoulders. Ryouma still had a grip on one of her wrists— she couldn’t leap away. She swung down like a pendulum instead, folding in half to drive her knees into his back.
Ryouma yelped and staggered, grip loosening. Katsuko yanked her hand free and leapt back. A glint of silver warned her a split second before Kakashi slammed his fist in her sternum, punching the breath out of her lungs, and then tackled her. Her healing collarbone protested, but the pain wasn’t bad enough to call a time-out. Katsuko tucked her knees into her chest as her back hit the ground, planting her feet in Kakashi’s stomach, and let their combined momentum send him sailing over her head.
She didn’t have time to celebrate. Ryouma swept in out of nowhere to grab her feet, dodging her nerve strike and flipping her over before she could free her legs. Her collarbone twinged; she hissed, distracted enough that she reacted too late when he pinned her to the ground. “Ow,” she complained.
Two feet stepped into her line of vision. Kakashi crouched down by her head and pressed two fingers to her throat, against a nerve cluster. He sounded ever so slightly breathless. “Ueno.”
Ryouma’s grip didn’t relax at all. “I hope you weren’t expecting hugs and happiness when you jumped in.”
“Thought we were having a party, actually,” Katsuko said.
“You didn’t bring cake or beer,” Ryouma said. “You’re not invited to my parties again.”
Kakashi thumbed a thin line of blood away from a split in his eyebrow and looked down at them both. Then he took his fingers away from her neck. “Up,” he said. “Let’s go again.”
“You’re enthusiastic today, my delicate snowblossom,” Katsuko said, propping her chin in the grass. “Are you okay? Are you sick? Did someone kill you and replace you with a genetically modified clone?”
"Collarbone, chakra loss," Kakashi said, and then flicked two fingers at himself. "Uninjured. Get up. We have work to do."
“Oh, good,” Katsuko said. “It’s you, after all.”
Ryouma snickered and drew back, releasing her, wary in case of a counter attack. Katsuko looked back at him over her uninjured shoulder and narrowed her eyes. I’m going to get you, she mouthed, and then pushed up to her feet. “Next time don’t team up to bully me,” she said, fixing her hair. “It hurts my feelings.”
“Next time don’t interrupt,” Ryouma said silkily.
“Captain’s orders,” Katsuko said, jerking her thumb back at the fence. “He thought there was too much happy hug fun time going on.”
“He’s right,” Kakashi said, and attacked them both. |
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