[center][img]https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/lsRC7y22OahgmHdh2y1B_RsP4pdrFHr0IWEox0PvRkU/https/c4.wallpaperflare.com/wallpaper/383/760/945/street-fighter-karin-sakura-kasugano-1680x1050-video-games-street-fighter-hd-art-wallpaper-preview.jpg[/img]
[color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 8: 3/80[/color] 
[color=fff200]Karin Level 2: 7/20[/color] 
Location: Kanzuki Beach
Word Count: 2351
Points Gained: 4
New EXP Balance--- [color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 8: 5/80[/color] Pending
[indent][color=fff200]Karin Level 2: 11/20[/color][/indent] Pending[/center]


	Sakura and Karin’s battle was fast, explosive, and rhythmic. Karin in particular was showing off- she was not all talk. Her movements were strong and well practiced, transitioning from one into the other like she was a blacksmith forging a sword. Her movements were fluid, yes, but she wasn’t relying on speed and agility like Sakura might. At one point, Sakura took a misstep and Karin capitalized. She crouched down and, balancing on one leg, slammed the other into Sakura’s knee. In a split second after that she snapped forward and plunged her palm upward into Sakura’s chest, sending her spinning upwards and backwards through the air.

“Nice one! Incredible!” The totally unbiased referee shouted. 

[color=fff200]"Thank you, Ishizaki-san."[/color] Karin said, smiling.

	But Sakura was no slouch either, and she was right back on her feet by the time Karin took less than a second to recover from her mighty blow. The two exchanged fists, palms, and kicks, and Sakura found her opening when she grabbed Karin by the shoulders and swept her leg out from under her, sending her head over heels onto the ground with a slam. Karin rose to her feet just in time to get her shin kicked and chin upper cutted.

	Rolling to her feet and getting shoved backwards by a fireball thrown her way, Karin scowled. [color=fff200]”Copying my techniques, are we?"[/color]

	[color=f49ac2]”I did that one first!”[/color] Sakura protested, firing another fireball, and another one, and another one. Karin ducked under one, side stepped another, only to get knocked off her feet by the one sent at the ground that exploded outwards. 

	Growling, she leapt clean over the next fireball, and did nothing but walk calmly around the next, keeping her back to it. Sakura’s fireball stance changed subtly as she charged up a powerful fireball. Karin jumped preemptively, only to explode mid-air as Sakura launched the fireball at the vertex of Karin’s jump arc.

	[color=fff200][i]”Aah!”[/i][/color] She curled around the impact just in time for Sakura to ‘catch’ her with another scooping uppercut. Landing, Sakura charged up another fireball as Karin rolled to her feet. 

	[color=f49ac2][i]”Hadoken!”[/i][/color]

	Karin inhaled, and there was a glint in her eye. [color=fff200]”Gracefully!”[/color] For a moment she became as water, using her V-Shift. In a blur, she was beyond the fireball and palming Sakura into the sand. 
	Back-rising to her feet, Sakura charged up another fireball only to get kicked hard in the gut, the sound of electricity shattering glass scattered across the sand.  By the noise she made it was evident the wind was knocked out of her. 

	Karin pushed the advantage, smacking Sakura around a bit. At some point another palm connected with her chin and Sakura was up in the air. Karin bounced her back and forth with a graceful double kick that made Sakura look light as a balloon getting stabbed into with a knife. [color=fff200][i]”Mujinkyaku!”[/i][/color]
	
[color=fff200][i]”Resenha!”[/i][/color] Poor Sakura still hadn’t had a chance to get her feet beneath her when Karin span into her, arms outstretched, smacking her upwards with her palms three times. Both girls rose up into the air and a final palm buried Sakura in the sand. Landing, Karin took her by the arm and flung onto her back. As Sakura attempted to stand Karin grabbed  her arm yet again, lifted in, and slammed into her bodily sending a groaning Sakura flat onto her back. This time, she didn’t get up, a grimace on her face. 

Karin knelt down and flicked Sakura on the forehead. [color=f49ac2]”Ow!”[/color] Sakura complained, rubbing her forehead as if that was the part that hurt the most. [color=f49ac2][i]”What was that for?”[/i][/color]

[color=fff200]”That was a neck snap. You’re dead. Round one goes to me.”[/color] Karin declared, pointing a finger up in the air. [color=fff200]”I can see right through you, Sakura.”[/color]

[color=f49ac2]”Doesn’t the referee have to declare that?”[/color] 

“Round one goes to Karin Kanzuki!” Ishizaki declared, throwing a little white flag. It landed on Sakura’s forehead. She plucked it off and coughed, spitting into the sand.


[color=f49ac2]”Alright, fine. I’ll give you that one. But my neck is not that easy to snap.”[/color] Sakura said. [color=f49ac2]”And anyway- do you have to be so morbid?”[/color] Karin let Sakura pull herself to her feet and brush the sand off her back. Choosing not to answer Sakura’s question, Karin considered what she had seen so far. It was good- the skill was there, but that wasn’t the issue before. Sakura’s spirit seemed to be in a better place. Less distracted. More in the moment.

Sakura rose to her feet, feeling pretty salty. And not just because of the ocean water in her mouth. But she had to maintain her composure if she was going to get Kanzuki back.

“Round two! Go for it!” Ishizaki-san shouted. And they did! Things got really fast, really quick. Karin expected another game of keep away and dashed in, only to get caught out by a foot to the face. Sakura made another misstep, walking too far forward, and Karin took advantage by crouching and swiping out her foot again. Only to catch nothing but air! 

[color=f49ac2]”Baited!”[/color] Sakura declared, lifting her foot over Karin’s and bringing her fist down on her extended leg like a hammer. This time it was Sakura’s turn to smack Karin around, and just when it seemed like Karin was about to defend herself again, Sakura gave up her own advantage just to push for an even bigger one, catching Karin off guard. Karin made a quite undignified noise when Sakura clasped her hands together and jerked Karin’s head backwards with a two-handed uppercut. That was always fun. 

Karin kicked Sakura away and wiped her mouth. Sakura began chucking fireballs down the line, only for Karin to leap around and slide under them. But as she closed the distance, Sakura swept her legs out from under her. 

	[color=f49ac2]”Baited-!”[/color] 

	[color=fff200]”Oh, shut up!”[/color] Karin said, rising them both into the air with another spiral of palm strikes. Even knocked down, Sakura got up with a smile. Karin hated this feeling, that Sakura had gotten into her head. Of course, Sakura hated it even more when it happened to her, which is how it should be! Karin backed up, playing defensively, and Sakura surged forward, batting a warding kick aside and jabbing Karin in her perfect teeth.

	The round would prove to be Sakura’s. Karin rose her fists to protect against a head strike only for her bare midsection to get struck instead. Backing up, she frustratedly found her legs turned to jelly no matter how much she wished them not too. Dropping to her knees she fell face first onto the sand. 

	“Round two goes to Sakura!” Izhikazi said, equally excited. 

	This snapped Karin’s eyes open and she pushed herself to her feet just in time to see the back end of Sakura’s infuriatingly adorable joyous spin she often did. 

	[color=fff200]”This isn’t over!”[/color] Karin declared. She too had forgotten all about her greater goal of testing Sakura’s will. For both of them, there was nothing but the fight. This was how it always went. 

	[color=f49ac2]”You got that right. Let’s finish this, Karin.”[/color] Sakura cracked her knuckles and her neck. 

	Boosh, boosh, boosh! Karin couldn’t get close. She was never sure what fireball Sakura was going to throw next. So she just had to grin it and bear it. Sakura enjoyed almost ten seconds of grinding down on Karin’s patience, and only when she was sent skidding backwards from a V-Reversal elbow did Karin finally get in. 

	Sakura confidently predicted Karin would push the advantage, only for Karin to show restraint. She countered another attack that didn’t come and was once again punished for it, sent flying into the air with a palm. There was a flash of energy and Karin surged forward, sending Sakura even higher into the air before she could touch down. As Sakura tumbled through the earth, curled around the impact point with her limbs trailing infront of her, Karin turned her back to Sakura and practically [i]stepped[/i] into her with extreme force. Like Sakura had been hit by a car she bounced and rolled along the beach.

	Pushing the offensive, the heiress span forward and brought her palm down hard on the fallen Sakura. [color=f49ac2][i]”Oof!”[/i][/color] 

Sakura jabbed Karin’s nose. Shocked, she put a hand up to it, hoping it wasn’t misshapen, however briefly. Yanking on Karin’s shoulders Sakura flipped her over her head. 

As both girls popped to their feet and surged toward each other, there was a long time where neither of them got the upper hand. Despite Sakura’s promise for a swift end, a solid sixty seconds passed where fist collided with forearm, palm sliced through open air, and legs clashed at non-advantageous angles. Ishizaki went from cheering boisterously pressing his fingers against his teeth nervously. The speed of it all was intense, and there was a lot of spinning. Blue sparks of defensive energy- neither one could get the advantage over the other.

	And then things went full spaghetti. It started when the both knee each other in the gut at the same time. Sakura jabbed Karin’s face, and Karin palmed Sakura’s forehead. For every block and dodge, there was a meaty hit. The two women really started laying into each other. Sakura’s jaw got clocked and she stumbled backward, laughing oddly, before getting her footing and catching Karin off guard with a kick to the arm that was borderline cringe-worthy.

	[color=fff200]”Gah! Oh, you little-!”[/color]

	[color=f49ac2][i]”Aagh!”[/i][/color] 
	
[color=fff200][i]”Oah!”[/i][/color]

[color=f49ac2][i]“Eek!”[/i][/color]

[color=fff200][i]“Guah!”[/i][/color]

[color=f49ac2][i]“Bleh!”[/i][/color]

	[color=fff200][i]”ENOUGH!”[/i][/color] Karin roared, and full steam ahead she unleashed a bevvy of palm strikes in Sakura’s direction. Sakura backpedaled dancing between strikes and batting them away. Karin went low with a powerful diving sweep, but Sakura curled up and right over it. Karin span and went to choke Sakura’s collarbone only for her to smoothly disengage. Karin hopped up and brought her foot down on Sakura’s head, only for her to block it. 

	[color=fff200][i]”RESSEN-”[/i][/color] Karin once again exploded like a spinning blade towards Sakura. But there was no impact. Her hand, trembling with power, was thoroughly caught in Sakura’s grasp, her hand around Karin’s wrist. The street fighter’s gloved fist rested by her waist as a loaded shotgun, and for a split second Karin’s determined demeanor slipped, her eyes widening.

	Sakura’s V-Trigger that she had been saving burst to life, and Sakura’s form was submerged in an aura of blue flame. 

[color=f49ac2][i]”You’re gonna get it, now.”[/i][/color] 

	Gut punch! Karin’s doubling over was interrupted by an elbow to the side of her head. She took a step back, clutching it, only for her ribs to be jostled by a spinning two-fisted punch that lifted Karin off her feet. 

	[color=f49ac2][i]”Full powers, go!”[/i][/color] Sakura gathered energy in her hands and slapped it against Karin’s body, causing her to stand up straight.

	[color=f49ac2][i]”Here I go!”[/i][/color] Sakura pointed beyond Karin, striking a confident pose. Then she erupted into a spinning maneuver that carried them both a clean fifteen yards, Sakura’s extended leg digging deeper into Karin’s belly five times in a row. [color=f49ac2][i][b]”HOOOOAAAH!”[/b][/i][/color] She screamed. Finally they both touched down, Karin’s hands on her midsection, her golden-red eyes thoughtlessly scrambling for an answer.
	
It seemed Sakura had found her target of choice, and like a hammer into an anvil she dug her heavy fist into Karin’s abdomen with a flourish of pink and blue energy. For a moment they paused, frozen in that moment of impact. [color=f49ac2][i]”SAKURA NO AME!”[/i][/color] 

Breaking the silence, she ripped her fist upwards and into Karin’s jaw, snapping her head back and launching her into the air. Sakura followed through completely, trailing behind Karin’s flailing form.

[color=fff200][i]”No way!”[/i][/color] Karin expelled the last of the air in her lungs with a cry of disbelief. Sakura landed easily on her feet, pumping her fists in victory and then crossing her arms. Finally, Karin landed flat on her back, eyes closed.

	“She’s not going to be happy about that.” Ishizaki winced, peaking through his big fingers.
	Wanna know who was very happy about beating the snot out of one of her best friends? One soon-to-be high school graduate Kasugano Sakura. Jumping for joy, up and down like a pogo stick, she let out an elated cry. 

	[color=f49ac2]”I did it, I did it, I won, I won! [i]Yattaze![/i]”[/color] Beaming, she glanced towards her friends on the beach. [color=f49ac2]”Did you see me?!”[/color]

	[color=fff200][i]”...”[/i][/color] Ishizaki was already at Karin’s side, somehow already having her on a towel and pillow. 

	[color=f49ac2]”...Oh, crap, I almost forgot!”[/color] Sakura tapped her heart and produced a friend heart. Hurriedly, she rushed over, tossed the big butler man aside, and pressed the Friend Heart into Karin’s chest.

	A moment passed, and Karin’s brilliant golden eyes truly opened for the first time since arriving in the World of Light. Her first instinct was to sulk, but the gears were already turning. Her harsh, authoritative, imposing and elegant demeanor melted away as she set a hand on her head and considered her life for the last long while.

	[color=f49ac2]”Karin..?”[/color] Sakura ventured, tenderly.

	[color=fff200]”Oh, my.”[/color] Karin said, setting a finger on her chin and pondering.She glanced around at the beach, and at Sakura’s friends, and at the blazing ball of light in the distance.

	[color=f49ac2]”I…I know right?”[/color] Sakura smiled apologetically.

	[color=fff200]”What on Earth?!”[/color] Now Karin was offended. [color=fff200]”Where am I?! What's going on?!”[/color]

	“Oh, no! Sakura-chan, what have you done?!” Ishizaki cried in dismay.

	[color=fff200]”Silence!”[/color] Karin held a hand up, breathing heavily. [color=fff200]"Sakura. You will explain yourself at once."[/color]

	Sakura glanced over her shoulder at her friend group.[color=f49ac2] "Uhhh...well...uhh."[/color] She looked back towards Karin.

	[color=f49ac2]"It...it...it's so good to see you, Karin! Really!"[/color] She cried out in relief, and wrapped her arms around Karin. The stalwart woman's eyes widened, freezing up a little.

	[color=fff200]"This is not explaining yourself. This is hugging me."[/color]

	[color=f49ac2]"I've missed you so much!"[/color] Sakura said, tears streaming down her face.

	Karin just let this happen, reluctantly returning the hug by patting the other girl on the back. This was not befitting on her image. Karin's generally displeased but tolerating face could be seen over Sakura's shoulder. The glare in her eyes seemed to say- [color=fff200][i]'ignore this.'[/i][/color]