"Knowing what I do of you, it's always a good idea to check for traps anyway. Besides," she stepped into the room and quickly took in the familiar sight. "I need to remember the dimensions better." She walked along the walls, taking long strides to imitate most of a back flip. It was always a good thing to know exactly where she was in a space - especially in a confined room. Knowing exactly how much space she had before she'd be pinned to a wall had saved her body and reputation in more than a few cases.

"I hardly ever use jutsu on teammates, this is for the sake of taijutsu, isn't it?" She quirked an eyebrow at him and continued her patrol around the room, occasionally running a hand along the wall for old time's sake. She'd had some great learning experiences in here. It was still amazing to her that after a year of service in ANBU she still could find someone who could nearly pound her into the floor. And that meant she had that much more incentive to get better, faster. So she could pound them back. Those spars were always the best ones.

But this would be her first spar with Kotetsu and he himself had professed that taijutsu wasn't his strongest suit. That didn't mean she would hold back too much, his response to her movements and how fast he did so would determine how much of herself she'd put in this. Either way, she was going to have a blast doing it.

Ayumi finished her circle of the walls and tapped the battered molding that surrounded the door. Her usual habits concluded, Ayumi strode out into the middle of the room, not far from Kotetsu. "Ready when you are," she sank into a loose crouch and grinned.

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Kotetsu had been watching Oyate do a circuit of the room, noting how professional Oyate was - measuring body-lengths? - and then he was right in front of Kotetsu again, in a low easy crouch. Kotetsu couldn't help but grin back - it was always good to try sparring with new people and Oyate's enthusiasm was infectious.

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Generally with non-taijutsu-specialist spars Ayumi let the other person strike first, but she was more anxious for this fight than most. It had just been far, far too long since she'd had a spar at all. And she would apologize to Kotetsu if she bruised him too much. Though with how he sparred with Ryuichi...perhaps there wouldn't be much need for apology.

First, she'd need to test how fast his reflexes were. And the most entertaining way would be fun with Kotetsu. He was just about the perfect height for it, too...

She charged forward suddenly, jumping up at the last second, flipping her feet above her. She reached out and gripped his shoulders firmly, swinging around with all of her forward momentum. She'd aim for his thighs -- hitting his knees would just be cruel.

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Fast, and Oyate didn't even try to start off the spar with the basic courtesies. Fortunately, Kotetsu had long since been trained out of it by his sensei, and had it hammered all the way home by Ryuichi. Kotetsu didn't even try to dodge - he felt the other shinobi grab his shoulders and Kotetsu dropped, hard and twisting to the side so as to throw whatever plan he had out of the way.


Use momentum to gain advantage - Oyate was in the air, and currently off balance. Kotetsu was on the ground and spinning to roll and get him off if need be.

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Huh. So he did have some speed... Ayumi completed her flip and instead of pushing off his legs, she headed for the floor. Landing first in a handstand, she pushed off again to regain all of her balance and landed on her feet, now a good distance from Kotetsu. Her grin was even broader and she had one hand resting on the floor since it had been difficult to balance so quickly. Plus, it looked like she had more style, didn't it?

"Impressive," she said, charging again. This time she didn't try to jump, no. This time she was in it for the long haul - be it her shoulder or a fist that connected.

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And then Oyate was charging him, and all of his body language said he was all for hitting him. Solid. Kotetsu rolled upright and grabbed his fist, the force of it reverberating all the way through his arm and to his shoulder, forcing Kotetsu to take a step back to compensate for it. But that was all he took, just one and then he spun on a heel to pull Oyate forward and off balance, aiding him in his fall with a sharp kick to the back of Oyate's knee.

He kept a good grip on Oyate's fist, yanking his arm to follow in an arc - it meant that Oyate was down and pulled across, and with just another step, Kotetsu could lock his arm behind his back...

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Huh. So he wanted to wrestle, did he? That was just fine by Ayumi. She let him pull her off balance and as she fell Ayumi latched onto his pant leg, jerking it out and underneath her with all the strength she could muster.

Kotetsu's legs didn't put up much of a fight.

As predicted, she landed on his leg and the floor, rolling away and kicking out as she did so. She only managed to make contact with his leg before scrambling back to her feet. There would likely be bruises, but that was expected in a spar like this. Ayumi twisted around to face him and her grin was just as wide as before. This was going to be fun, lots and lots of fun.

"Your turn," she flashed him a glimpse of her teeth. "Give me the best charge you can."

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One moment he was upright, and the next he was down, air knocked out of him with a sharp crack that was just short of a concussion because he'd managed to break fall properly with a slap of his free hand - and he'd let go of Oyate at once. Oyate hadn't taken advantage of it, which testified to his 'just a spar'. Most shinobi wouldn't have waited.

Kotetsu rolled to his feet, flicking hair out of his face. "Heh, my best might shock you," he grinned, and sped straight towards Oyate, veering off at the last second with a twist, grabbing for his shoulder - or arm - to yank him in an unexpected semicircle. A semi-circle and he swept out a foot as he dropped his body, yanking hard on Oyate to slam him onto the floor. Like Oyate, Kotetsu was grinning, the exhilaration of being in a spar with someone new giving him a hot surge of energy.

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She could've slipped out of his grip, but she really did want to see what kind of a blow he could do. And that meant she had to use both of her arms to break her fall. Her body complained at the impact and she felt her breath flee. He certainly could throw a person. Not that she was much of a heavyweight anyway.

Ayumi coughed and then rolled up onto her shoulders, snaking out her legs and wrapping them around his neck. One jerk and he was laying across her. "Gotcha!"

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Oyate was just like a snake - all whip-cord moves and unexpected twists. If he hadn't gone limp at just the right moment, he might have gotten a broken neck. Now he was dragged across Oyate's slim body and ack, he was in a position rather difficult to extricate himself from.

Well, there was a way to get out of it - Oyate was clearly delighted with having immobilized him - pin the head and the rest follows - but then, Oyate'd put him in a rather good position to do the same back. He braced, and then kicked out at Oyate's head, intending to catch him in the jaw.

What he hadn't expected was the rather unexpected body contours under his knee.

"What the -- You're a girl?!"

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She should've known that he would be able to slither around, too, let alone going for her head -- but she certainly had forgotten the unique pain that went along with a lot of compression on her feminine physique. Ayumi let out a wheeze and then tried to wiggle her way out of the pressure. It didn't work.

Of course he'd ask an inane question like that and not stop the pain...

"Yeah, genuis." She released his neck and then shoved him off. Ayumi wiggled and squirmed away, sitting up and rubbing at the offended tissue. "Ow," she bit her lip. "That stings."

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He would have attempted to wriggle off hi-- no, her, if he hadn't been in such shock. And now Oyate was doing it anyway, shoving him off like so much dead meat and, just...

"I'm sorry!" Kotetsu rolled to his feet and was at complete loss as to what to do with his hands. His face was probably hot enough to burn eggs on and he couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed she was a girl. Or that he'd actually mistaken her for one. Hadn't he thought she was a girl at first glance? Maybe?

"I thought you were a guy!"

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"I get that sometimes," she sighed and rubbed at her offended breast a few more times. Ayumi determined that it wasn't going to get any better or worse and let it be. "I'm small chested anyway," she sighed and looked at Kotetsu, blinking at how red his face was.

"You okay?"

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"Yeah. I mean." Normally wasn't it the other way round? "Are you okay?" he shoved his hands into his sweat-pants pockets, and tried to look harmless. "I thought you were a guy. Honest. I wouldn't have..."


Only, where was the angry protests of outraged modesty? Girls almost always did that from his observation.

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