Showdown Under the Sun[Igen, Rio]

"Igen... you do realize I'm the one who asked you out, right? If I found anything disagreeable with your appearance, I wouldn't have asked you out. Besides, I've seen you shirtless enough in our spars to say that you're not entirely girly. If anything, that's sillier than the reason I thought of. Maybe I can knock some sense into you during our fight."

Girly guy? Rio hadn't really paid much attention to Igen's effeminate appearance. At first, it was undoubtedly true that she thought he was initially a female because of it, but several fights and a quick adaption to his personality erased any notion of feminine nature - from her perspective - from her mind. In addition, he wasn't personally wearing dresses or driving home some point about identity.

Sure, that new outfit he wore could certainly fool the right people, but did any of this really matter? Rio didn't know exactly what her response should have been to it, but none of it really mattered from her perspective. It was food for thought, to be sure, but nothing that would maintain any real root in her mind. Igen was Igen. That was all that mattered. Feminine or masculine, she found genuine attraction in him beyond the looks. At this point, anything else was him simply nitpicking at himself. Either way, the time for words had passed. Battle was near, Rio preparing herself in advance to meet it.

As a result of that preparation, she was easily able to telegraph that roundhouse kick. Impressive as it was, launched at an improved speed, Rio roared in for a counter by using her size to her advantage, ducking under his leg to wrap her arm around his thigh, locking him in place. Driving her body further inward, Rio's palm shot forward to crash against his chest, aiming to send him to the ground in a single sequence of movement.

"Be the you I know you are. That is the man I'm attracted to, after all."

Oh fuck!

It was very auspicious that they were sparring now. Igen was now squarely in combat mode. And so he didn't QUITE parse all of that rather lovely stuff she was saying about him. Stuff that might have reduced him to a nervous sweating goof. But right now there was more important stuff! Certainly he'd expected her to tank that hi well enough, she was a sturdy woman! But what he didn't expect was her to lock onto his thigh. Ah fuck. That was not good, Rio was actually quite a bit stronger than him!

Immediately, he twisted, attempting to pry himself from the woman's grip when that palm slammed into his chest! A GRUNT escaping him as he was slammed down onto his back, practically folded up beneath the woman! And with a sudden twist, he locked his legs around her shoulders, attempting to snare her head between his legs and TWIST! Honestly he wasn't stronger than her, but as he was slammed down, he hoped to use her momentum to throw her body over his own! Hopefully escaping the grapple in the meantime! Cuz uhhhh otherwise he was pretty screwed! Not that he'd mind a loss, but there was no way he'd be fine with losing THIS fast!

Considering his current state of mind, Rio silently applauded his ability to maintain some form of resistance against her grappling technique. Even so, that didn't mean she held any intention of easing up on him. If anything, part of her genuinely wanted to test how much his strength had improved. Bringing her physical strength to bear, she kept her body steady as she aimed to press that palm further inward, drawing it back and forth to execute a wave of single hand palm strikes against his chest. Wherever he aimed to lead her with his legs, she would turn her shoulders to keep him confined to the ground, pushing him against it to keep him suppressed. To be certain, it was something of a far cry from her more graceful and fluid techniques, but battle - whether a spar or genuine duel to the death - was always an opportunity to learn something. To adapt and learn uncommon techniques on the fly.

"Come now. We've only started, and it appears as if I'll be taking this round. Is that all you got, Igen?" She inquired impishly, challenging him to bring his head into the game.

Igen's eyes WIDENED slightly! A bit surprised when he felt her titanic strength locking him in place! A little grit to his teeth as she managed to SLAM her palm into his chest! Causing him to flinch! But she'd find a surprising amount of resistance! After all he was a tough boy! All the same, a soft wheeze escaped him! A little grunt escaping him as he writhed this way and that! "Ack! Alright, holy...hack... ugh... I forgot how strong you are." His voice strained a little! On one hand, he could get free, using any number of ways. But this was a nice honorable little scuffle! He wasn't going to go pulling out hakuda or kido or his zanpaku'to unless she said they would! So instead, he positioned his hips, turned them to the side, and then THRUST! Hip-bumping up and into her body, attempting to throw her over him so that he could try and worm his way free from her!

As strong as she was, and as actually surprisingly comfy as it was being held down by her, HIS DESIRE TO WIN WAS STILL TOO STRONG FOR HIM TO SURRENDER!

The resilience Igen displayed was an expected reaction. Even in this difficult position, Rio knew Igen wouldn't give up on bringing his all to bear. Physical proof of that resulted in the form of the hip-check shot toward her frame. Given their difference in size and the fact she hadn't accounted for that particular technique, Rio was shifted off to the side enough to allow Igen a moment of reprieve, a window of open space to exploit. Of course, she wasn't ready to let him go entirely, and as if to express that, she kept her leg around his own at the end, swinging it upward to keep him off balance. Whether it landed successfully or not, Rio rose from the ground to coat her hands in spiritual energy as she shot forward to loose a haymaker at his face!

"Impressive! Now let's see if you can handle this!"

FREEDOM! The instant he got that window he used it! As much as it pained him, he peeled away from Rio';s frame and promptly bounced up and OOF! The sudden wind of her leg kept him from running! Tripping him slightly and causing him to spin on the spot and tense up as he recognized that sheen. Hakuda!

Instinctively, his own flared and he thrust his palm to meet her own. And uhm...OW. Yea, he was a durable guy, but not as durable as Rio, wincing slightly as he met her blow, and wormed himself out from being snared in her legs! Attempting to lock fingers with Rio and promptly twist his body! Execuing a sharp knee strike to the woman's elbow, aiming to crank the limb upward! Trying to give Rio an awkward angle to loosen her leverage so that he could roll over and promptly reverse the hold! Hopefully briefly pinning her!

Which was... AN AWFUL IDEA! Instantly warning bells went off in his head that he should not try to grapple and pin Rio. But here he was! And promptly on the spot he realized he needed to get out. Uhhhhhh QUICK KIDO! "SAI!" He declared! Holding his palm out over the woman's face. A weak, level one Kido, but he packed a LOT of energy into the spell! Aiming to lock the woman's arms behind her back, to hopefully buy himself a window to escape her grasp.

Even though he winced during their connection of palms, he took the attack in stride relatively well, from her perspective at least. In the moment that knee shot up, Rio reflexively shot her elbow up to meet it. It was impressive to see him attempting - or at least making an effort to - adapt to her consecutive series of movements. Resistance stilled Igen's attempt to roll her over as Rio rebelled against the attempt through sheer physical prowess. To send her barreling would require a little more than a simple toss. His next attempt at freedom would however bear fruit as he employed a spell to temporarily bind her movements.

Since she didn't expect that, it yielded enough success to allow him to move out of her grasp, but his binding spell would be short-lived. Rio drew in reiryoku around her body as she swept her body upward, shooting a double-drop kick toward his chest, breaking her arms free from Sai. In the scenario that it connected, and Igen hadn't created ample distance, Rio would land against the ground only to spring through midair, swinging a roundhouse toward his chest his head.

The gambit worked! With the power of his spell enacted on rio, he finally managed to pry himself free! And with a sudden dart he spun about, chest puffing out and flashing a smile as he laughed aloud. "HAHA! FREEDOM!" He shouted out, clearly enjoying himself, right up until those double kicks SLAMMED into him! Barely having enough time to raise his arms and skid back along the beach! OH NO! FREEDOM! While he had managed to escape the woman's grasp, that now meant she was able to put her full body into beating his ass! He hissed as the sheer strrength from that kick left his forearms stinging, and as she came in with that vicious kick. He raised his arm and blocked it, that impact sending a ripple of force through his frame, but one that was muffled out by the sudden surge of reiryoku through his body. Hardening his skin in that instant to absorb the blow, before a steady sigh escaped his lips.

"I LOVE your aggression. But don't get ahead of yourself!" He crowed, smiling all the wider as reiryoku crackled across his back, and ice crawled along his shihakusho. A brief flash of Shunko as his body blurred. Spinning on the spot and aiming to Snag Rio by her scruff, briefly causing his speed and strength to boost explosively in order to twist and throw Rio into the ground with enough force to crater the sand, attempting to wind the woman and follow through, turning so that he would land ontop of her, body slamming the woman.

Normally not a move he'd use in a spar! But well. Rio was like fifty times more durable than him! He knew that if he didn't go for these types of hits, she'd be pounding him into the sand before he knew it!

What an exceptional display of tenacity. He pulled through a sequence of three strikes, a feat that earned no small degree of approval in the Shihoin's expression. Sure, they weren't exactly world-altering, nor did they possess any real intent to end the battle immediately, but his improvement in handling her physical prowess was really shining through. Or perhaps that was a result of him using his reiryoku to harden his skin? It mattered little. It was impressive all the same by her metric, though she raised an eyebrow in amusement at his combat banter.

What an amusing notion. She's getting ahead of herself? Rio was half-tempted to put him in his place and show him who was really the superior between the two here, but stifled the Shihoin pride burning within her mind in favor of simply meeting his attack. His body may have blurred, but her focus was top-notch, allowing her to effortlessly transition into a spin of her own, shifting her body to catch the hand reaching for her neck.

"May I have this dance?"

He seemed like he was about to execute something pretty phenomenal, but there was no intention on her part of allowing anything more than a difficult battle, even if it was taking place on a beach. Assuming he remained where he was as a result of the grab, Rio would swing him forward with her own physical might, placing enough strength behind the throw to slam him onto the ground like a ragdoll. If it proved successful, she would playfully stride across the ground to stare down at Igen, her lips upturned in a challenging, almost impish grin.

Oh.
He blinked as rather than the back of Rio's neck, he found Rioss hand snagging his own, catching the attempted grab and causing his brows to perk up. And suddenly his entire world was spinning, the air twisting around him as he was swung through the air., A lopsided smile breaching his features as he gave a nervous smile while flying through the air. Yea this was gonna hurt.

THOOM!
The impact of his frame hitting the beach was enough to drive the air right out of him, but he managed to brace himself, steeling his frame and letting out a GUH as he wound up on his back. Wincing softly for a moment and letting out a soft WHEW. Truth be told, he'd had to rely a lot on his other skills to make up for stuff. He uh.... just wasn't really strong enough to deal with most threats. He'd managed to learn shunko. He'd pushed himself to tremendous heights., He'd honed his own skills in hakuda and Kido considerably! His Zanpaku'to had even grown to something that even scored a few hits against a captain!

But uh.... that was about it. If he didn't use all that, this was where he was, and as he connected solidly with the ground, he coulnd't help but grunt just a little. And he felt...... a soft wheezing chuckle escape him as he tried to suck in air. Maybe he should have felt frustrated. He was weak, after all. And they were at war. He'd put in so much effort to get stronger. Maybe this wasn't...right? This was frustrating, and even as he considered using shunko, he knew that she'd probalby be able to just deal with that as well.

But he didn't HAVE to.

So many of his spars had been..INTENSE! Trying not to disappoint people. Trying to improve. Struggling to make sure he didn't embarass the first division. But out here, on the beach. He could just smile, and laugh as he looked up at Rio's smug face. She was quite a bit stronger than him. But it was Rio. He didn't have to worry about impressing her. He didn't have to worry about her trying to CUT HIM INHALF. Shishiyuki. Kanae. Shaoling. Kei. Maybe even Kyo.

There was always a sense of urgency. That he had to live up to something. Or uh, you know...try not to die. Even with Kyo, there was a sense that he had to struggle not to fall behind. And some small part of him kinda felt like...that kinda had already happened on some level. But he didn't have to worry about that with Rio. It was just them, and a quiet little beach.

"You know....you look beautiful when you're kickin my ass."