Hm. So Light wasn't human. Curious, indeed. Indeed, the way she put it made her sound... extra-dimensional, almost. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He did, however, find it quite encouraging that Christopher was so aware of Japanese historical figures; it highlighted the potential for them to bond over such discussions, something he hoped he could find with everybody, cementing the team's cohesion and friendships accordingly.

To that end, Eve's idea of a trust exercise seemed reasonable enough to him. He could, however, see when others were against it, and worried for a moment that a fight was about to break out. Fortunately, that possibility was interrupted by Eve's secretary, even if he found himself disturbed by Light's unveiled form in the process of announcing a gang attack. Well, handling that matter did seem like a more appropriate expenditure of time... with another formal bow, Kiyoshi took his exit, following after those who had left the room before him smoothly.

[hr]

Their arrival to the store in question was quickly followed by most of the group springing into action - that is, Naja literally sprang into the store, throwing one of the Tunnel Snakes out and into a light post, with Llexe not far behind her. Speaking of light, Light and Christopher both took their opportunities to attack some of the guards posted outside the shop, Light seeming to play around more than anything else, whilst Christopher took the fight as deadly serious, albeit not in the most efficient manner from what Kiyoshi saw before making his own way into the shop, pulling his weapon forth from within his clothes sheath and all. The movement drew the attention of a few gang members who, it seemed, had witnessed the two brawlers further inside, and had no desire to get involved with them, instead turning their attention to somebody with a weapon - and so, in their minds, somebody who couldn't defend themselves without it.

'Well, hey there, fella! Nice dress you got on!' one of them immediately taunted, drawing laughter from the rest. Kiyoshi simply took up his stance, well aware that flailing Seirei around even whilst contained as a suburitō would lead to broken wares. Precise hits, then. Vertical slashes and jabs. Four opponents for the moment.

'Nice stick you got. Hey, lookie here,' another called, pulling out a wooden baseball bat, 'I gotta stick too! Wanna taste?!' With that battle cry, the man charged, and was almost immediately disarmed by a jab to the wrists, then hit in the side with a heavy length of wood, knocking him to the ground next to his bat. Flailing would lead to broken wares, of course - but Kiyoshi did not flail his blade.

'Hey, you son of a-' The next target did not get further than that before the tip of the sword rammed hard into the base of his sternum. Penetrated flesh and cracked bone? No. Bruised? Maybe. Knocked the wind out of his lungs by forcing his diaphragm to seize? Certainly, and he fell to his knees as his lungs refused to inhale. Kiyoshi began to count seconds before he'd be able to inhale once again. As the other two gang members made their commentary and attempted to move into range to strike him, Kiyoshi's weapon moved in kind, beating them again and again on their shoulders, their limbs, their stomachs, forcing them back toward the door, and eventually putting Kiyoshi close to the first gangster - who chose then to try and rise, groping for his weapon before a hard stab downward pinned him to the floor by his shoulder, just long enough for a second strike to the back of his head to render him unconscious.

Which left three immediate threats, one of whom had just pulled a switchblade, and was flicking it in and out as if to threaten. Kiyoshi took his base stance again, and chose then to speak to them.

'You both have a choice, now. Leave, return to civilian life, and no harm shall befall you. Stay, or return to gang life, and rest assured you'll be sorry.' A basic ultimatum, simple and clean. Both seemed skeptical about moving into attack range again, and after a few seconds, the unarmed man decided that cutting his losses might be a good call, turning around and running out of there as quickly as possible.

The last man was more of a disappointment, in that Kiyoshi was disappointed in how he'd failed to change the man's opinions even if just slightly, but at least creative about disappointing. Rather than running in to stab Kiyoshi, he drew his arm back and [i]hurled[/i] the knife, as if to try and impale him with it from where he was standing. He'd be very confused, then, to find that with a swift flick upward, the switchblade was now quivering in the ceiling, and Kiyoshi's sword was raised in front of him. He'd be even more surprised to see Kiyoshi... the best way he might be able to describe it was "blurring in his direction", as if moving at impossible speeds, to the point that all he'd have time to do was squeeze his eyes shut in fear.

Kiyoshi held off from attacking until the man opened his eyes again to see Kiyoshi in front of him, at which point the samurai struck him over the skull. The gangster's eyes glazed, and Kiyoshi took hold of his body to lower it more gently to the floor. Then came the final man, who was partly recovered and crawling in Kiyoshi's direction even as his body finally forced an insufficient amount of air into his lungs. Sighing, Kiyoshi rolled him on his back and, despite the gangster's best efforts, rammed his blade into his sternum a second time, seizing his diaphragm all over again. That should keep him down long enough for anybody who wished to knock him out properly to do so, and he'd recover his breathing well before he suffered any permanent harm, Kiyoshi was certain.

On to the next set of foes.

(2 KOed men, 1 winded man, 1 fleeing man to be dealt with as others so wish)