[ 1 v 1 ] Punch Buggies (Meixiang x Leo)

[Yayoi]

Most days Mei had spent just kind of floating around. Well, perhaps not floating. She wasn't a ghost after all. But she really hadn't been doing too much as of late. The ghoul had reached year three and now she had graduation to look towards.

But what was there really? Life after school. Who did she had it to share with? What goals should she set for herself? If her parents had it their way she'd return to the compound and start learning what she needed to to take over for them when the time came.

She wasn't sure that was what she wanted.

It had been a long while since she'd been to the gym. No, not really all that long. Maybe a month or two when she had shown Kenta around the school. But it had been a while since she'd really done any serious training or sparring. Or any fighting really. It wasn't her thing like it was for some.

Approaching one of the training dummies, she placed a hand upon it. Her lips pulling tight into a thin line. "I don't know, what do you think Goop?" The Feslime draped around her neck lazily merely bubbled at her. "You're no help."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

It had become pretty obvious to Leo after her meeting with Hel that she was painfully out of practice when it came to fighting. As far she was concerned, there was only one way to remedy that; lots and lots of training.

Which was why she'd gone to the gym this day. So far it'd only been solo practice, getting back into her old grooves - although admittedly, she hadn't ever been the best of fighters, but at least she used to be able to hit stuff, jackit - but after some searching on the interwebs, the brilliant idea of training while attempting to maintain her natural ability had come to her. Apparently it was supposed to help with concentration, or was it multi-tasking? It was supposed to help with something, at least.

She'd been undoing her dreadlocks by help of said natural ability when she finally noticed that she wasn't alone in the training dummy room anymore - while she'd been contemplating how best to go about this training session, another ghoul had walked in; a very familiar looking ghoul, at that.

"Mei?" Squinting, it took half a second for the mental image she had of Mei to overlay with the new, more mature looking ghoul that was quite obviously also Mei.

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

Her head turned quickly towards the source of the voice. A very familiar voice. She had never seen Leo with her dreads undone, which was actually quite pretty. But she recognized her friend instantly. There was a tightness in her chest. It had been so long since she'd last seen her, Mei had worried about the other ghoul often.

But she was here now.

"Leeeoooooooo!" Goop dropped from around her neck, wiggling against the floor as the Jiang Shi cleared the distance between them. A large smile on her lips as she practically tackled the Mare. Arms wrapping around her, her long sleeves wrapped around them both. "Leo! I've missed you so much!"

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

It was definitely Mei. Arms automatically wrapping around the other ghoul, she couldn't help the happy laugh that bubbled out of her as she skidded a few steps backwards and tried to stabilize the two of them. It'd been ages since she'd last seen any of her friends, and Mei had always been a dear friend to her.

"Hey! I've missed you too," drawing back slightly so she could see the other ghoul's face, Leo's smile turned slightly wobbly as she spoke, "you look so pretty! And grown-up, too. I've really missed a lot, huh."

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

Eyes flickered downward for just a second as Leo said how pretty and grown up she looked. If she had blood flowing through her Undead veins a blush might have appeared on her cheeks. One of the saving graces of being Undead she supposed.

Wiggling her arms just a bit, the sleeves of her outfit fell back so her hands were free. Thin fingers wrapped small bits of Leo's loose hair around them as she rubbed it against her thumbs idly. "I don't feel too grown up, but such as it is. Eventually before I know it I'll have graduated." To be honest she didn't really feel like she had learned too much in her time here. Almost as if she was just sliding through. The end of it all kind of scared her.

She rubbed her cheek against Leo's with a smile. Happy her friend had returned. "Yea, but not a whole bunch I guess. The school has been pretty much the same old same old. Students leaving, new students coming around. I hear the Horsemen have left the reserve finally though for some reason a few have stuck around."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"You've entered your third year?" She asked curiously, allowing her hair to curl into perfect ringlets. It might be showing off a bit, but she was pretty proud of her new natural ability and Mei seemed to like her new hair anyway.

Rubbing her cheek against Mei's, Leo let out the closest thing to a giggle she ever had. She'd forgotten how tactile the other ghoul was, but being with her friend, quirks and all, was soothing to her. It finally felt like things were beginning to be normal again. "That tends to be how it goes, yeah."

At the mention of the Horsemen, the mare's smile faltered though, "ah, did they?" It was almost unbearable, but she held her tongue on asking about Initiate matters. It wouldn't do to talk about it in a public place; she'd ask Mei later, somewhere more secure.

They needed to get off the topic of Horsemen and casting her mind back to the beginning of the conversation for a topic, she settled on "so - do you have anything planned for after graduation?"

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

The ghoul was just a bit disinterested in the topic of her being in year three. It kind of was and wasn't a big deal. Everyone got there eventually at their own pace, even if she felt a bit rushed perhaps. "Yeaaaaaaaa. Its not all the glamour and glitz they like to chalk it up to be I suppose. Sure you can do things the other years can't but it's still all just class class class, walk this newbie scareling around and try to keep them from ending up in Nurse Cricket's office, school dances and festivals. Find a mentor here, don't end up in detention there." Her eyes lidded half way as she continued to play with Leo's hair.

She caught the falter in Leo's smile but made no motion that she did. "From what I hear yea. I don't really pay all that much attention to what's going on with them."

Pursing her lips, the Jiang Shi shrugged lightly. "If my parents had it their way I'd go back to the compound and start learning to take over for them. But I don't know. Maybe I'll get a place of my own or something. Start up a dance studio perhaps. Adopt a gaggle of babies and turn them into an elite dancing squad that no one in Halloween town has ever seen before. There'll be no stopping me from taking over the world then." A wide grin spread across her lips as she laughed.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

It sounded a bit disenchanting when put that way, but Leo nodded. She'd been looking forward to getting to her third year, but it wasn't like she actually knew what it was like and the goal had taken a backseat to her over-arching goal of 'get back into normalcy' anyway.

She let the Horseman topic pass, much more eager to move onto Mei's plans for the future. Sharing the laugh, she grinned and said "that sounds awesome! You could be the monster dance mom of them all, killing the opponents with kindness and sheer talent."

Sobering up slightly, the grin turned into a softer smile, "seriously though, I do think a dance studio sounds like a good idea if that's what you want. Maybe not the flock of kids, or at least not until you get settled, but I know you love to dance and I happen to know from personal experience that you're also a great instructor."

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

She could feel a bit of disappointment coming from Leo. "Hey well, I mean. Everyone is different. And everyone experiences their third years differently. I'm sure you'll have a great time in yours."

Shooting her friend a cheesy grin, Mei laughed. Waving a hand back and forth. "Not too sure how well that would work against those already dead. But perhaps we'll see."

Tapping a finger against her chin, the ghoul thought about it for a minute or so. She still had a lot of time left, at least she figured she did, to figure out future things. "If I do you'll have to come be my assistant sometime. Show them spookies how to do a real good head stand."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"I hope so," she appreciated the attempt to cheer her up, and gave Mei a grin, "and hopefully yours will get better too - there's still time, after all! You never know what might happen."

Leo laughed and shook her head, "for sure! I'll show them how it's done, leave them gaping in awe. Is there even a thing as head stand competitions? 'cause if there is, I'd ace them all."

Moving backwards a bit, she took stock of the surroundings before looking back at Mei, "so, are you here for some training?"

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

"Yes! Of course~" The ghoul got a determined look on her face as she pumped an arm into the air. There was time. Plenty of time. And there were always things going on. Perhaps it wouldn't be quite as boring as it had been lately.

Mei grinned. "Well if there isn't I'm sure we can make something up. It'd be a lot of fun. We could hang banners and give out prizes. Winner would be the super most awesome handstand person forever, which would be you of course cause you'd ace them all."

Looking about the gym, she gave a little shrug. "Not really, I was just kind of wandering around. Looking for something to do. But if you would like perhaps we can do a little sparring? I'm pretty rusty at it really. In a sense that I don't really do much fighting at all." She steepled her fingers.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

Leo gave a small cheer and clapped as Mei pumped an arm into the air, "that's the spirit!"

And the other ghoul's playful suggestion made her tap her lip for a second, thinking, "that does sound like a good idea, but..." She grinned widely, "we might end up getting sued for rigging the competition!"

Huffing a small laugh, she shook her head, "well, I'm about as rusty as they come, so that shouldn't be a problem. Besides, you're a third year! You're probably still going to be better than me anyway." Her smile showed that she didn't mind that at all, though. "But sure, I'm game! It'd be good training, for both of us probably. Who goes first?"

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

She smiled wide. Enough that her eyes closed. Mei was so happy to have Leo around again. Sure the ghoul had a few other friends but she always felt closest and more excited whenever the other ghoul was around. It was a curious feeling that no one else brought to her.

Putting her hands on her hips, she jutted her left hip out. Pursing her lips and furrowing her brow. "Well, if they say anything we'll just have to give them a one two punch to the butt and send them on their way."

Scrunching her nose she gave a little shrug. "You can go first since you're still year two. Even as a year three I'm pretty fail when it comes to fighting. Sooooo...there isn't too much of an advantage."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Pft, I refuse to believe that!" Leo flapped a hand at Mei, before giving her a grin and sliding into fighting stance, "anyway, it should always be ladies first, but since you insist, here I go!"

Taking a deep breath, she went for the other ghoul's legs, attempting a leg sweep. She wasn't going to hold anything back, not when Mei was a third year - and anyway, that'd just be an insult to her sparring partner and the faith Leo had in her abilities.

"Oh wow, I hadn't expected that attack to be so effective," she blinked, a bit shocked. Maybe that training she'd been doing since meeting with Hel was finally beginning to pay off!
____
HP: 40/40
Damage: 7 dmg

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

She puffed out her cheeks lightly, placing her hands on her hips. "And just who said I was a lady?" Sticking out her tongue. Though probably in comparison she dressed more feminine than Leo. So the statement kind of rang through.

The Jiang Shi had been a bit distracted at first, falling flat onto her back from the leg sweep. Lucky for her it just jarred her a bit. If she were alive she'd have probably had the wind knocked out of her.

"Ok that one hurt just a bit." Lifting her legs into the air, she arched her back and hopped back on to her feet in one motion. She sprung forward, remembering what Moira had shown her for the most part. Putting as much weight into her attack as she could, Mei pulled her arm back before thrusting her palm forward at Leo's chest.

____

HP: 43/50
Damage: 7 dmg

Ephebe