Is Too Much Pride a Problem [Kyo, Nao]

He'd definitely only get one good hit in before she retaliated, and when that happened, Kyo knew all too well that he wasn't going to be able to match up to Nao. So he thought about the situation, about what single blow would be the one he got the most out of.

"Sorry, sis."

There was something to be said about the intensity of the plan he'd come up with. Were it not for this being the Sawachika household, he doubted that a strike like this could ever really be let go as just part of a training bout. But they'd both been through worse, and they'd go through worse again. Steeling his stance, Kyo clenched his fist tightly, and swung it upward with all his might, driving an uppercut right into her chin from below as quickly as he could.

Sure, he might not have been as tough as she was, but she wasn't all that heavy, and he was plenty strong.

Why that little... She wasn't going to backstep it though, that'd betray her core values to back off after she'd resolved to give him a free one. It didn't change the fact that she was upheaved and thrown up into the air a couple of metres with his fist under her jaw. What a jerk but it was the best thing he could do and so while she floated briefly in the air, no footholds to speak of, Nao refused to remain a nice easy target.

His size was his own problem as she put her foot against him and used a shunpo to kick off him and flip backwards a couple of metres.

"Jerk. You're gonna get it for that. You're lucky I didn't bite me tongue or else I'd really pummel you!"

Nao declared back in a way that made her look more like a younger sister than an older one. Whatever, she had a brother to beat up now. Kick forward and hit him with a flurry of strikes again to repeat the scenario of before. Palms, feet, knees and elbows employed to try and block, strike and overwhelm.

Ah, there it was. The beating Kyo had been fully anticipating was coming his way, and while he certainly did his best to defend against it, he wasn't nearly on the same level as Nao. That was fine, though. Every blow he failed to block was one he could learn from, and every time he evaded it was a sign of his growth. Frankly, her aggressive approach was welcome right now, and as he thought about the situation, even as he was being beaten, he could only laugh aloud, a boisterous and energetic laugh that could nearly shake a room.

"I think you're pummeling me either way, Nao!"

Well, there wasn't any reason to stay on the defensive forever, and he couldn't just avoid being hurt. The only thing to do, then, was look for the right punch, the right strike where she overestimated herself just a little too much--

And then strike out with a single mighty blow. It didn't matter that he was black and blue, and bleeding in more than a few spots. That was all temporary.

Man, how come he had to be laughing right now. It was almost infectious if she wasn't so focused in the midst of a fight. Beating him up like this and avoiding any serious damage was precision work and unlike her big oaf of a little brother she was employing techniques and specific movements here but it was the laughter that eventually got to her and she started to laugh along.

That laughter was the same thing that got her punched square in the face and she stood there with her heels burying into the ground a little bit while she fought against being tossed on her ass again. No way would she let him get her on her butt twice! So she grinned at her little brother while the blood began to flow out of her nose and mix with the blood from her lips after the uppercut.

He really had no thoughts for a girl's looks, did he!

"Sanzen Koken: Tsukiko!"

She'd give him one more good hit too and so as she swiped her hand like a tiger might swat its paw it would feel like he'd been caught by an invisible paw and tossed aside a few metres which followed the trail of her casual swipe. She hoped he liked her action being projected by a simple martial arts technique.

Getting hit with a technique like that probably would have been enough to catch someone off guard even if they were on Nao's level, and Kyo very decidedly wasn't. As the technique impacted him, he couldn't do much else but be thrown as Nao had intended, only barely keeping from totally collapsing onto the ground. But he still chuckled at that, and he wiped the blood from his face to look at his sister properly.

"I'll have to come up with something that can compete with that. Right now I don't quite have it."

He couldn't do anything but concede, especially given he'd already started this bout worn out from a day of work. But he wouldn't accept where he was now. Kyo knew he had no choice but to train, to improve, to achieve far more than he had to this point.

That was the life he'd live.

"Hehe. That's right, little brother! Come back with you have more meat on you, 'kay? Then it can be real fun but don't get too strong. I'm gonna marry the strongest man so you can't be the toughest guy around or we're gonna have some troubles."

That'd be so gross, no way would she ever want to end up with one of her brothers. One of these days she'd find the toughest guy around and make him her husband. Really set her kids up good and well, until then she'd continue to hone herself and get stronger.

"Alright little brother. We have tea to drink!"

Leaving him in the dust, she went to go help herself to his stash of tea. The victor got the spoils, right!