[center][b]Hayate's Match

[i]A collab between ChromeHound and Fieryfly[/i]

Summary:
Hayate fights against an unexpected opponent. And gets offered a drink.[/b][/center]

[hider=Fight]

As soon as she entered the arena Shiya wondered if this terrain was going to work in her advantage. It could be, if she played her cards right. With all the houses around one had a lot of hiding spots, but if that was such a great thing... The girl of fifteen slowly walked closer to the center, her left hand resting on the large scroll she had strapped to her back, her eyes searching for her upcoming opponent. Who she then suddenly spotted on one of the buildings. A smile ran over Shiya's face and she brushed some of her white hair out of her eyes to see the boy better. For a moment she inspected her black polished nails against the sun and then called out to the boy: [b]"Hayate Hyuzu, am I right?"[/b] She asked. [b]"That is a pretty cute name."[/b]

His eyes opening with eyebrows raised, Hayate stood to his feet slowly. Stretching himself out, he gazed down at the girl, scratching the back of his neck. [b]"Uh... Thanks? I take it you must be Haruhi Suzumori then?"[/b] Wondering whether or not he should hop down from his new 'perch,' Hayate took a step towards the edge of the roof.

Shiya let out a laugh. Did she look like a Haruhi? She thought not. The name Haruhi sounded like a little scared girl. She was so not that. [b]"No, sorry to disappoint you."[/b] She said, bowing slightly. [b]"Shiya Guujin is the name. It seems your opponent was indisposed and so was mine. It's like fate~"[/b] She smiled again and took note that the boy was going to jump down. [b]"Where are my manners..."[/b] She said as she took the initiative and jumped up to appear next to Hayate on the roof. He was taller then she was, but that was okay. She did like tall guys. [b]"Nice to meet you."[/b] She practically beamed as she stood next to him and extended her hand while her eyes shot around the arena from above.

Remembering Kiyomi's words about bowing, Hayate did not return the girl's bow, though it was difficult to fight the urge. Something about the girl put him on edge, and Hayate took a step back when she leapt up to the roof next to him. Staring at the hand for a long moment, he hesitated. [b]"Well, if that is indeed the case then it is nice to meet you as well. Though, you'll have to forgive me for not returning your handshake."[/b] Cocking his head to the side, Hayate shrugged apologetically. [b]"I'd rather not get too familiar with someone I just met, especially someone that I'm supposed to fight in a few moments."[/b] 

[b]"Ah well that is fine. I can understand that."[/b] Shiya said and dropped her hand like it wasn't a bother at all. [b]"Maybe you could return the handshake after the battle? We could have a drink..."[/b] She wiggled her eyebrows and then took a couple of steps back. Her other hand was still resting on the scroll. She gave the boy another curious look. For the girl from Iwagakure it was strange to meet new people, especially since so many of her village had died. And yet, he seemed colder than she was. More on edge like a bent bow, ready to pop. She found no difficulties in fighting the same with strangers of people that were familiar to her. If he did have that trouble, then she should work with that. [b]"I guess we should start than. Do you have a lot of people watching? Friends? Family? Girlfriend?~"[/b] She asked him as she took another step back and formed the Seal of Confrontation.

His eyes travelled down to the scroll that Shiya's hand rested on, before looking back up at her. Getting himself into more of a ready stance, Hayate took a few small steps back so that there was room between him and the strange girl. [b]"No."[/b] He said after a pause, his voice holding a polite yet cautious tone. [b]"You?"[/b] Bringing his hands up, Hayate formed the Seal as well. 

Shiya's free hand waved to the crowd somewhere on her right. [b]"My mom is here, dad couldn't come. And my sensei, of course. He wouldn't want to miss it. Most of my friends couldn't make it though. They are either fighting or watching others. Which is totally fine. You know my best friend told me that-"[/b] She stopped herself and chuckled. [b]"You know what, never mind."[/b] Unlike Hayate she didn't lower herself in any stance, but just kept standing in an easy pose. Slowly she lowered the seal. [b]"Let's start."[/b] Her finger opened the scroll slightly, but she didn't pull it out yet.

Nodding almost imperceptibly, Hayate swiftly reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two kunai, whipping them towards Shiya. At the same time, he leapt backwards towards the edge of the roof, preparing to jump off. 

In a flash Shiya pulled her scroll open and had slammed her hand on it, her finger already cut open by the clasp that opened the scroll. A large puff of smoke emerged around Shiya, obstructing her from Hayate's view for a moment. Then suddenly her figure seemed to emerge from the smoke and fly straight at Hayate. At first glance the figure looked the same, but on a second take you would see that it was not Shiya who had emerged, but rather a pretty wooden version of her. The two kunai were embedded in the chest of the puppet and didn't seem to hinder it. With the smoke settling down, Hayate would be able to see his real opponent again, another puppet standing at her side, as the first swooped in to attack the boy with its fists.

[i]Hmm.[/i] Hayate thought before pushing himself into a backflip off of the roof. As he flipped, he pulled two shuriken from his pouch and sent some of his chakra into them, causing them to become unstable. Sending one hurling towards the real Shiya, and one towards the dummy, Hayate fell backwards to the ground below. He landed gracefully and pulled out his staff, preparing to defend himself.

The first puppet got the first blow. With a flick of her finger Shiya raised the arm of the puppet to swap the shuriken away, but as soon as it hit the weapon an explosion occured at their collision point. Some of the wood was cipped away and revealed some of the metal behind it. The look of a blade. Shiya tsk'ed. She had put a lot of effort in those puppets. They were not going to be destroyed so easily! She shot to the side to avoid the other shuriken and ran forwards to the edge of the building to watch Hayate from above. [b]"I guess I should introduce you. Hayate, these are Youchi,"[/b] she gestured to the puppet that had attacked Hayate first, [b]"and Shubi.'[/b] She gestured to the puppet on her side. [b]"My own creations. Aren't they amazing? If I grow up to be as tall as them I might be just as tall as you!"[/b] Her hand shot forwards and Youchi shot forwards to Hayate, swooping in from the side with its fist forward.

Seeing that he had managed to at least damage one of the puppets slightly, Hayate's eyes narrowed slightly. He had hoped to accomplish more with his attack, but this had given him some valuable information about the puppet. Smirking ever so slightly when Shiya boasted about her puppets, Hayate thought quickly. He would have to be careful, from what he had heard of puppets, he knew they were capable of holding multiple hidden weapons, and Hayate wasn't in the mood for surprises.

Pushing himself backwards as the puppet swung in from the side, Hayate swept his staff around, knocking Youchi away. He moved back further with a backwards handspring, already reaching inside his jacket as he landed. Withdrawing some metal from his pouch, Hayate began spreading it over his skin, allowing the metal armour to form underneath his clothing. It would take a short time for the armour to spread fully, and so he needed to be careful until that point. Glancing up at the roof, Hayate wanted to draw Shiya down to the street-level if his plan was going to work.

But Shiya didn't fancy coming down so soon. To be honest this was the perfect spot to play out her carefully choreographed puppetplay. A real puppet master was always behind or above their puppets after all, so her spot was just fine. Youchi was knocked to the side, but since puppets didn't feel pain it was no problem whatsoever. There was of course one problem Shiya had to calculate in. If Hayate moved away too much from the building she would have to come down. Her Chakra Threads could only reach so far. So she veered Youchi in a curved arc around Hayate, aiming to capture his attention by lashing out to him again and push him closer to the building again where as Shubi moved forwards slightly and started to send down a rain of senbons towards the boy.

As the senbons and the puppet surged towards him, Hayate simply prepared himself for the impact. Raising his arms slightly in a defensive position, he did not move as he was struck on both sides-- before poofing away in a small burst of smoke. The senbons would strike the small wooden block that he had used to replace himself. Hayate appeared out of sight behind a small building a short ways away. Quickly forming the necessary handseals, he formed a single shadow clone and sent it below the earth. With that done, Hayate made his way between the buildings, heading towards the courtyard he had spotted earlier.

[i]Huh...[/i] Shiya thought almost lazily as she saw Hayate disappear. Body Replacement Technique. Welll, yes that worked quite nicely. Her eyes shot around as she pulled Youchi back, closer to herself. The buildings weren't evenly spread so jumping from on to another wasn't as easy. That meant that there were two options. She could stay on the roof, at some point the guy had to attack her, or she could jump down and search for him. So far she didn't really have a clue as what her opponent was capable of besides Body Replacement stuff. Suddenly she just decided. She jumped down walked a couple of steps forward and jumped to the next building. If she would keep up the method of getting up high she would have to find him eventually, right?

Approaching the entrance to the courtyard, Hayate stayed close to the corner of the building he was behind. Peering out around the corner, he could make out the entire courtyard, but still he saw no sign of Shiya. Walking out into the open was always a risk, but if Hayate's plan was going to work, he was going to have to take a few of those. Stepping out into the courtyard, he looked around, keeping a close eye on the surrounding rooftops. Hayate wouldn't be able to watch every direction at once, but he knew roughly where he had last seen Shiya, and if she was approaching from the same direction, he would at least be a little more prepared. Walking closer to the middle of the courtyard, Hayate pulled out two kunai, and kept an eye out. [i]Where are you...[/i]

Shiya did indeed come from the direction that Hayate had been guessing. She spotted the courtyard with the boy in it and halted on top of the building. Oh, that was smart. The courtyard was big enough so that she would be unable to reach all the way across to him if she was on a building. Meaning she had to get down. So she did. With slow steps she walked forwards to Hayate. With the movement of several fingers she send Youchi forward again. She was pretty sure Hayate was going to dodge, but that might just be exactly what she wanted.

Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Hayate turned slightly as Shiya entered the courtyard. Seeing the puppet surging towards him once again, Hayate sent a small amount of his chakra flowing into his two kunai and charged forwards. Throwing one of the kunai towards Youchi, he set it to explode upon contact. Shifting slightly, Hayate threw the second kunai past Youchi and towards Shiya, setting it to explode a couple of feet in front of her. The blast wasn't meant to harm her, it was merely meant to be a distraction. Closing in on the first puppet, Hayate waited to see what would happen.

He had send kunai before and Shiya didn't fancy her puppets being blown up more. Her fingers moved and a blade emerged from Youchi's arm that smashed the kunai aside. The thing exploded, but the blade could handle that. At least the wood wouldn't be blown up now. The other arm of the puppet lashed out towards Hayate as a blade appeared from that arm as well. Meanwhile Shiya tried to get Shubi before her to block the incoming kunai, but the thing exploded before her, making Shiya take a step back.

Ducking beneath the incoming blade, Hayate felt it pass over him. [i]That had been close.[/i] Taking advantage of the momentary distraction caused by the second explosion, Hayate surged forwards, charging towards Shiya. Pulling out two kunai once again, Hayate prepared to throw them towards his opponent. This time, however, he did not charge the weapons. His hope was that Shiya would be expecting the kunai to explode yet again, and he needed her to be focused on that more than on the effect the weapons would actually have. Sending the kunai flying towards her, spaced so that they would pass by her on either side unless she blocked them, Hayate continued his charge, closing the distance quickly.

Shiya tsk'ed as Youchi missed his target. She pulled him back to surge after the dashing Hayate who had launched more kunai. Really, she thought as she moved Shubi even closer. Was he going to keep blowing her up? Or try at least? Well Shubi could block them. She just had to deal with the incoming Hayate who apparantly had pisspoor aim cause the kunai soared right past her. Shiya's fingers moved and suddenly, as Hayate came dangerously close, Shubi seemed to fall apart. The pieces detached themselves and launched themselves at Hayate, swirling around him like a storm. The pieces itself couldn't do much damage, besides some slight bruising, but they should serve as a nice distraction so that Youchi could swoop in and stab the boy in the back.

The kunai had done their job in keeping Shiya in the same spot. As Hayate charged forwards, he noticed the puppet in front of him breaking apart into numerous pieces. His eyes narrowing slightly, Hayate continued moving towards Shiya. His metal armour would prevent the puppet from doing any actual damage but it was still a nuisance, and Hayate moved faster, trying to push through it.

The second puppet, Youchi, had come in for an attack from behind, just as Hayate had anticipated. He had not had a chance to see what the puppet would attack with, however, so he only hoped his metal armour would provide enough protection. Feeling the impact of Youchi's blade striking his armour, Hayate was thrown forwards, pushing him off balance. Reaching out with one hand, he managed to push off from the ground and spring himself forwards, on to his feet again. Hayate was glad that his armour had held, otherwise that blade would have... Shaking the thought form his mind, Hayate returned his focus to the task at hand. So far, things were going to plan, after all, he was just the distraction...

Suddenly, a hand burst from the ground below Shiya's feet, reaching up to grab her ankle and pull her below. Hayate's clone hoped to catch her off guard while she was distracted with the real one on the surface. Using the double suicide decapitation technique, he attempted to pull her below the earth.

Shiya knew that Youchi had hit which was why she stopped the swirling mass of wood and slowly called it back. The problem with the technique and with puppets in general was that you couldn't feel exactly what you did. She kwen she had hit, she just didn't know what kind of damage she had done because she couldn't see Hayate clearly. But when she pulled Shubi back... the boy seemed to be fine. She gaped slightly only to feel a hand grab her ankle. [b]"Oh come on..."[/b] She called. The hand started to pull her down, Shiya's hands moved. First Shubi, now reassembled again, released a smoke bomb towards the ground before Hayate's which would explode as soon as it would touch something. Youchi dropped to the ground as Shiya put both of her hands in the dirt to try and assert some strength so that she wouldn't be dragged in, her foot kicking around randomly in the earth to try and hit the freaking guy.

Feeling her fighting back, Hayate's clone managed to latch his other hand around Shiya's flailing limb. Holding on as securely as he could, the clone resumed his attempt to pull her below the surface, using all of his strength to try and break her hold on the earth above.

On the surface, Hayate saw the bomb being thrown and quickly flipped backwards. Allowing the metal armour to come up and cover his head, Hayate was now completely encased. As the smoke began filling the area, Hayate did his best to ignore it, moving to where he had last seen Shiya. Pulling out his staff, he moved carefully, cautious for any sign of movement. Hayate wasn't too familiar with the way that puppet users worked, and he wasn't sure if Shiya was able to manipulate her puppets while she was preoccupied.

Focusing on hearing instead of sight, Hayate made his way to the sound of struggling. He could barely make out the shape of something below him, so he crouched down, holding the staff out in front of him. Turning the staff so that the one of the ends was facing his opponent, Hayate flowed a little of his chakra into it, allowing the end to become sharpened. [b]"Yield?"[/b] He asked, his tone strangely polite.

Now Shiya wasn't someone who took challengers very far. If she knew she was going to lose she bailed. But she was not losing yet! Frustrated Shiya lashed out with one hand to get Youchi up. She was losing the struggle and she knew it, but she could at least try one more thing, if it wouldn't work then yielding might be a good option. Shubi followed the movement. Those puppets weighted at least as much as she did so... Shiya was nearly completely pulled into the ground now when the two puppets shot backwards, away from Shiya, wanting to pull her out, but they were too late. Hayate dragged Shiya down further so that her arms went into the ground as well. Shiya sighed. 

[b]"Where are you?"[/b] She called. [b]"How can I tell you I yield without looking you in the eye?"[/b]

Grinning for a moment, Hayate nodded his head. Not that she would see, but it was more to confirm to himself what he was going to do. Putting the staff away at his back, Hayate quickly made several handseals before withdrawing just enough metal from his hand to draw some blood. Slamming his palm into the earth, a large puff of smoke appeared behind him, adding to the already dense cloud. A large shadow could be seen looming behind Hayate, and a low growling noise came forth. [b][i]"Clear it."[/i][/b] Hayate spoke through the neural link. A snort of apprehension could be heard behind him. [b][i]"Please..."[/i][/b] Hayate added, with an amused tone.

There was a brief silence before the air around them began to grow heavy. With a roar, and a tremendous gust of wind, the smoke around them was blown away completely. Hayate knelt in front of Shiya, still grinning slightly. Kuromu stood tall behind him, his wings splayed out, and a small stream of fire coming from his nostrils when he exhaled. It was purely for show, as Kurmou had a flair for theatrics. His pride demanded that he make a lasting impression. Cocking his head to the side, Hayate's smile widened. [b]"So?"[/b]

Shiya stared. That was literally all she was doing. But what did you expect with a freaking [i]dragon[/i] before you. A real firebreathing dragon. What. The. Hell. Instead of being afraid however, a smile formed on Shiya's face. A smile that grew. [b]"Well,"[/b] she said. [b]"You know how to impress a girl. I guess I have no choice now."[/b] She lifted her head with as much pride as she could muster while being in her current position. 

[b]"I yield."[/b] There was a short pause, after which she added: [b]"And can you come over now, I have this terrible itch on my nose and I can't scratch it because of what you did. So you kind of owe me."[/b]

Dissipating his clone, Hayate stepped towards Shiya, still smiling. Reaching beneath the earth, he grabbed hold of her arm and helped pull her to the surface. Taking a step back, he realized she was covered in dirt and reached up to scratch the back of his head, letting out a slightly embarrassed chuckle. [b]"Uh... sorry about that."[/b] Turning his head back to Kurmou, Hayate offered the dragon a nod of thanks and turned back to face Shiya. Letting out a low grumble, Kuromu knew that he wasn't needed anymore and so he disappeared in another large puff of smoke, leaving Hayate and Shiya alone in the clearing.

[b]"Yes, be sorry."[/b] Shiya mumbled, but she grinned never the less. Quickly she brushed most of the dirt of her shirt and sleeves. [b]"Well?"[/b] She said, looking expectantly to Hayate who was just standing there doing nothing of use. [b]"Are you going to help me? I can't get my back after all so you will have to do it."[/b]

A blush forming on his face, Hayate rocked on his heels for a moment before replying. [b]"Oh... uh... sure... sorry..."[/b] Mumbling the last few words, he moved towards her, walking around behind her back. Reaching out, Hayate hesitantly brushed away a little of the dirt that covered her. For the life of him, he wasn't sure why he was so timid around females, it wasn't like they were all going to stab him... well... His thoughts flicking back to Kiyomi, Hayate smiled briefly before looking back to his handiwork. Truth be told he had done a fairly meager job at getting the dirt off. [b]"Uh... you may have to wash these clothes later."[/b] He said, taking a step back and scratching the back of his neck again, looking sheepish.

Shiya giggled. This guy was too cute. Never mind that she had just fought with him a minute ago, this was sweet. One minute he had been trying everything to get his hands on her and now he was totally too shy too touch her even in the slightest. [b]"I might,"[/b] she said as she turned back to him and shrugged with her shoulders. At least some of the dirt came off. [b]"But the more important question is..."[/b] She gave Hayate a very serious look. [b]"Do you think they would let me in a restaurant looking like this? 'Cause we do need to have that drink, remember?"[/b] She said as she stretched out her hand, hoping that this time Hayate would accept the handshake. [b]"It was a good match afterall."[/b]

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