I will not be moved! [Private, Azusa]

[Miroku Riyota]

"Huff...Huff...Heh...Gotta keep...Going." Droplets of sweat would darken the sand Riyota stood on, long streaks hanging off the tips of his hair and dribbling down his brow. He had been at this for hours. Re-trying old techniques, testing out new ones, pushing his limits to ensure his best chances of survival against his coming foe. Yet still he was unconfident, with every finishing blow his mind drifted to his body, slumped and pale, with blood dripping down his neck just as sweat was dripping off his body now. His entire life he had never given a second thought to dying, perhaps now he just had too much time to think about it, perhaps now he was afraid to lose something.

He shook his head, trying to physically shake the thoughts from his mind. He could not waver, not now, this had already gone too far. He had sworn an oath, and if he couldn't hold to it than he was just as pathetic as many claimed. He was not going to be the terrified little boy he used to be, not again. And yet still his hand was unsteady. He was struggling to put 100% of his brain power towards the task in front of him. He was too distracted.

'Nope...wrong, dead. Incorrect, dead. Messed that up...dead again...' Every time he screwed up an attack he cursed himself and reminded himself of what a slip-up meant when this wasn't a simulation anymore. What Akkuma would do if there was the slightest flaw in his technique. He couldn't allow these thoughts to distract him from perfecting his moves. So he had requested some skilled assistance.

'To the most kind and illustrious Maiden, Lady Azusa. I humbly request your presence in the Toraono Dojo at your earliest convenience. I need your help with some training, I'm sure you shall enjoy it though.
Your ever faithful Knight,
Riyota.​

<i></i>

He had gotten a Miroku servant to help him really fancy up the letter to appeal to Azusa's pride. He assumed if he had written a basic message she would've deemed herself to busy to make it down. He hoped she would show up though, she was the only one he could trust to put her full effort into assisting with his training. And so, the Shinobi waited, Practicing the formation of different skeletal weapons. His ordinary shirt and jacket removed for better 'ventilation'. That was to say, his fan-service was on full display.

MFT
[I will be using this full thread to apply for the Implacable ability.]

 

[Muramasa Maya]

The sides of her lips curled into a smirk as her eyes gazed across the formal invitation her knight had left for her. It was no secret between them that she was fond of using written, formal communication; what did come to a surprise to her was that Riyota would would actually play along! (I suppose if my knight personally requests this, than it cannot be helped...) Her tails swayed with subtle enthusiasm.

----

"My, my. Do tell me, my darling knight; how long did it take for you to create that letter? You have left me impressed." The kitsune Toraono arrive into the grandiose dojo, bestowing upon Riyota a typical Aikayume-compliment. Her eyes fell upon the skeletal weapons scattered around the ground, at the center of which, sat the Miroku. Such a crude, straightforward power he had....and yet, those savage techniques were fitting for her knight. For all his lack of grace, the results of his effort were very much on display before her; and she would never say he lacked when it came to physique.

Azusa had worn lightweight training gi, bandage wrappings along her ankles, chest, and wrists. Unlike Riyota and his plethora of self-made weaponry, she was otherwise unarmed. And why would she be? The dojo was her home. And besides...she reached to pick up one of the skeletal weapons, tracing her finger along it.

"I am curious. How...dod you train this? Surely, creating these weapons are a one-way process?" The curious kitsune tilted the weapon in Riyota's direction, moving to prick him with his own skeleton. Curiosity > self restraint.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

His eyes glanced up to gaze upon the stunning visage that was his Lady. Even if she was taking one of her many playful jabs at some failing factor of his character. He simply chuckled, too worn out to defend himself in the moment. "I will not lie, I did not trust my ability to write a letter befitting you. So I enlisted some help." It was then that he realised in the time he'd taken to catch his breath he hadn't dressed himself, he cursed himself silently for not dressing appropriately befitting her presence. "M-my apologies my lady, I forgot to re-dress!" He stammered, searching frantically for his discarded upper wear.

He did not notice her examining one of his many scattered bone-carved daggers. He was too preoccupied. Even as she examined the curvature and most importantly, the edge, which she was likely to find was razor sharp. Riyota's hunt for clothes remained unsuccessful as she spoke, questioning the nature of his bloodline blades.

He pondered his response for a moment before answering. "I can't take credit for training the ability, that was...a gift from my mother, for lack of a better term." He answered, thinking back to the painful night his powers had surfaced. "As for them being one-way the-..." The Kitsune clearly was not interested in waiting for a response as she pressed the tip of the knife into his flesh. As she cut into the surface layer and the bone began to stain a light red she would see his skin practically drag it out of her hands, absorbing it back into his flesh. "Ha...sss...ah" He gasped quietly, he regrew the bone made to create the weapons instantaneously, thus there was no need to return the scattered weapons into himself. As such, there was no place to put the returning weapon. Thus, his enzymes set to work dissolving the material, and Riyota tried bravely to cover up the stinging, burning sensation within his arm as it sealed up once more.

He smiled weakly, trying to pretend that there had been no issue with the return, though if she focused on his eyes she could probably tell the pain he was concealing. "Heh...I guess I just hadn't gotten around to cleaning them up yet." He chuckled slightly.

"A-anyway, my Lady. I was hoping...th-that is...if you have time...I wouldn't want to interrupt any-...ahem...Please assist me with my training!" He asked bluntly, bowing his head before her. Whether she inquired on what the training was or not he would go to fetch a long, solid, wooden quarterstaff. One end was carved strangely as if designed to deliver a more painful impact to the target. "I read about...we-well I looked at pictures regarding fear training." He began. "I believe the premise is that you strike my core..." He indicated to his abdominal. "...As hard as you can, at the same time. You have to try and get inside my head, try to scare me, berate me, whatever it takes to get me worked up." He took a deep breath as if readying himself. "You're the only one I trust for this." He concluded.

 

[Muramasa Maya]

"Oh, do not mind me." The vixen spoke without any hint of coyness to her voice. Her smile and lighthearted laugh made no effort to hide the amusement she had from her knight's adorable attempt at 'correcting' how he felt he was portraying himself to her. Her hand reached out to touch and halt him, but given that her other hand had held the bone blade...

And oh, how her eyes ate up every bit of Riyota's reactions reaction to the blade! Crimson blood, as to be expected from a sharp edge puncturing even his durable body...but what happened after betrayed even her imagination; she had no idea how such a power could work, and merely whispered in a quiet breath "Fascinating~", she blushed, "I had not expected you to take the whole thing."

She gave Riyota his space at this point, noticing his "subtle" discomfort from the blade. This power Riyota had, a gift from his mother as he said; Azusa was not fond on reminiscing the past. When she had taken Riyota's oath to be her knight, she had been at the lowest point of her life. She had cast aside her past in her single-minded pursuit of the future she had wanted; there were no fond memories waiting behind her. Of course, the thought that the same may not have been true for Riyota had never once came to her mind...Until now. Call it a momentary curiosity, and a whim that drew her to wonder about anything other than the present.

...But such questions would have to wait. Her thoughts were broken off at the...unexpected nature of Riyota's request. "You..." While it was true she was elated to see her knight taking his training so seriously..."desire for me to..."...and would go to any lengths to assist him..."...strike you with this?..." She stared, her mind confused as to what, exactly, kind of training he was intending to receive.

Her answer? "Vanity Dawn"; a flicker of foxfire burst from her seven tails and quickly "washed" over her, dying her fur and hair a bright white color. Crimson runes lit up along her face and body, arms, legs, torso, and tails. Wisps of flaming chakra occasionally rose off her body, dissipating into the air. "What is the meaning of this Riyota?" The burning vixen spoke, "Have you misunderstood me? Was I not clear? What I desire of you is not to be the 'shield' which protects me, but the 'blade' which strikes my enemies." She glared. And her white-fire tails flashed across the ground at their feet, snatching a variety of the discarded bone weapons within the flaming fluff.

"But I suppose even something blunt and dull can be sharpened into an cutting edge...Let us sharpen you, Riyota." Her definition of sharpen at this time just happened to be striking at him with seven weapons wielded in seven tails. with abit of her own sharp claws mixed in, too. That quarterstaff Riyota had made? if it did't draw blood, this Kitsune had no interest in it.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

A blinding flash of light illuminated the dojo where the two stood opposite. It appeared Riyota had once again drawn the ire of Azusa by committing the heinous crime of existing during a time she wished to injure something. As his lady transformed before his eyes his curse seal began to glow and spread. If she was paying attention Azusa would notice glowing orange tendrils snaking around his torso. 'No...not now. Why am I reacting like this?' He wondered silently as he took in the grandeur of her form. After a moment he would close his eyes and focus his efforts on quelling the curse mark, returning it to its dormant state. 'I refuse to let Azusa bear witness to that. I may not be much in her eyes, but I refuse to be that.' After a few more moments, his mark would return to being a disfiguring purple-black blemish on his left pectoral.

In his time focusing he had not been paying attention to Azusa's renewed intentions, only snapping back to reality in time to hear her reprimand his apparent wish to be her impenetrable shield. In that moment, seven various weapons struck his flesh. Likely intended to slice or pierce deep into his body. The kitsune would find her attacks halted with a THUNK as her weapons struck the super-hard surface of Riyota's skeleton. The shinobi's self preservation tactics had kicked in and at many of the impact spots his flesh had been manipulated to shift painlessly and allow the weapons to impact bone instead of flesh. If Azusa took this as a challenge they would likely soon be fighting.

"W-well...I can't exactly say I was completely ready!" He joked, trying to subvert her annoyance even a bit. "I requested this training t-to be a stronger blade for you, my lady. Y-you wouldn't want the steel to grow flimsy...right?" He attempted to reason with the fiery fox. An act likely to be deemed a fool's errand.

Despite Azusa's famous ability to take in new information logically and analyse every angle of a situation before jumping to conclusions. It was likely that she may take Riyota's natural defence mechanisms as some kind of defiance. Due to this it was also likely that she would strike again. It seemed Riyota was not going to receive the training he had hoped for.

MFT