The singing of blades, and the clash of steel (Telos)

Zaku walked on from the station towards her dojo, still in her saber outfit from earlier when she talked to the boy that doubted her skill, and offhandedly insulted her a look of determination on her face, she wasn't going to allow someone to simply insult her skills like that and treat them as subpar simply because they thought they were better without merit, in fact he was the one that first ask to see if she was good enough for the model, which now that she fully though about it was also an insult.

Looking over her shoulder at Asano she nodded her head "This way..are you restricting the type of swords we are to use? or are you fine with simply the use of things classified as swords?" she asked as she continued walking, her cowlick would be flailing in rage if it wasn't currently trapped under the wig she was wearing to have the right hair color for saber.

The Dojo looked closer as they walked, the large area it covered was fairly good ground though from the outside it was hard to see the layout of the place.

"Let's go with Katanas. I'm best with those." He said.
He was already thinking of what kind of sword to use. Katanas were ideal for his style of fighting, which was Iaijutsu.
As they walked, he evaluated her as a fighter with his eyes. She looked to be the type that relied on sheer brute force and defense. He was the same, except he was more about speed over defense.

Zaku nodded as they walked into the Dojo and she took her shoes off, "Remove your footwear in my Dojo.." she said as she walked to the back "We will be using wooden training Katana...I hope you know how to handle one" she said as she walked to the storage room and took out two of the training swords, as was normal they were twice the weight of the real thing, and with that she walked to a changing room "as I doubt armor would make a fair fight I will go change..." she said as she left.

in the changing room she took off her metal back safe and changed out of the Saber costume, normally she would have immediately called the whole thing off the moment the costume was off, but she was in her Dojo now, she was the Sensei here, and that never changed, so she slipped into her tight Gi and returned to the main room, an air of righteous indignation about her as she grabbed the training sword and looked at him.

The short sleeved Gi helped to highlight her muscles, and rather solid frame, though it also made her previously hidden figure much more noticeable, it wasn't designed to do so, it was designed to not interfere with movements which it easily wouldn't "You have disrespected Zaku and her craft, while at the same time trying to elevate your own with your callus words, as a Sensei and a craftswoman I cannot allow that, not only that but you held an item for ransom against me and demanded I show you my skill, that alone is an insult and shows you value no one but yourself..Zaku".

Her cowlick now free of the wig seemed to be furious as it flailed and wriggled about, though it's owner didn't seem to notice at all as it twisted itself into katakana to spell out some not very nice words at Asano.

He did so.
"Sure. I know how to handle one." He said, fully used to it. He didn't actually move onto real katanas himself until he could handle a wooden one like it was a real one.

As she went to go change, he began to think of how to overwhelm her easily.
Her sewing was excellent.
Let's see if she could best him.

So then she stepped out, and proceeded to go and tune out the usual damn dramatic speech. Geez. Whatever happened to just a simple statement saying that for insulting it, he was going to suffer?
And he didn't hold it for ransom. Technically, all she had to do was point out he never payed for it.
Which meant that he would have had to give it to her provided she had the money.

As for that last statement...
"Either put your money where your mouth is, or back down." he said, readying himself in a stance. Her cowlick was insulting him with several extremely rude words in katakana and he took note of the rest of her figure.
Right. Small, but bulky. Alright.
Power isn't what wins battles in the end, in his head.
To him, it was all about precision.

She could easily tell he was tuning her out, but that didn't really matter, he may be trying to tune her out, but once she beat him he would know better, She watched as he dropped into a stance and she instantly knew what his style would be, Iaijutsu, She sighed as she looked at the boy and walked away to the other side of the mat, getting the training weapon ready she looked to him fixing him with her gaze as she readied herself.

"Begin" she said as she stood there, waiting, she knew his style, there were only so many things he could do with it, for instance she knew it's primary weakness, she had to wonder if he was even aware of it or not.

But that said she stood there and waited for him, precision was not actually a key aspect of swordplay, many people thought it was, however there was one major key to it that many overlooked, and it was one Zaku had the advantage in at all times when facing opponents.

He had to remind himself that he wasn't facing a rookie when he got a look at her.
He was going to have to think his moves out.
Also, he knew the weakness of Iaijutsu.
...which is why Iaijutsu was only his preference style, not the only one he knew.
Iaido was a style that turned him into a glass cannon.
Judging from his opponents more muscular build, she had the advantage in power.
And being shorter than him meant he had to go low.
He bent down slightly, making sure he was ready to counter a blow if he had to in a defensive stance.
He was used to doing such things, because of his.... weak spot.

Zaku simply stood there looking at him waiting, her eyes never faltering as she watched him lower his stance, she simply waited, her stance not changing, and her hands holding her weapon perfectly stable, and she seen he was taking a more defensive stance "For someone so sure of themselves before we started, you sure don't seem as confident the moment you and your opponent have weapons..where is that bravado you put on display at the shop? or is all you can do talk a good fight? Zaku?" she questioned as she looked at him her stance and eyes not wavering.

Taunting him?
Tch. What made it worse was that she had a point.
By now he would have attacked except...
"She's waiting for me. I know it." he thought.
He didn't dare take his eyes off her.
So his first move was a simple step forward. Unyielding. Unhesitating. Ready to counter whatever.
It wasn't about who struck first in the end.
It was about who struck last.

She smirked a bit as she relaxed her stance and looked at him "You actually have no Idea what your doing do you? Zaku?" she looked him up and down and only shook her head a bit "Honestly I should have been able to tell that your skill was all talk the moment you started to put yourself above others to make yourself sound better, no real swordsman would ever do that...Zaku" she shook her head at him again and stood there staring at him.

"Your the one that said actions speak louder, and that I should put my money where my mouth is, yet you are the one standing there doing nothing against an opponent that you said lacked the skill you did, you wanted to show your skill so then show it..or apologize for your insult and leave my Dojo Zaku"

Okay that tore it.

In one fluid sliding motion that he had perfected, without warning save for a brief moment where his eyes went wide, he swung the wooden Katana with great speed at Zaku, going for a wide forward slash at her as she talked that was meant to shut her up, still with the same stoic look on his face as before, and breathing still normal.

If she tried to dodge, he would react by immediately pivoting around so that she couldn't blindside him, then slashing again.
If she tried to counter him, he would simply counter back with a matching attack.

If the attack connected, he wouldn't quit there, as he would then proceed to launch a fierce assault of quick and precise thrusts.

He planned to hit her head-on, and hit hard and fast.
All the attacks would be easily judged as the marks of a damn fine swordsman by anyone who knew the craft.
Meaning that if she was going to fight, she had better be damn serious about doing so.

He said nothing though as he considered briefly fighting dirty. A kick here, a illegal move there, and he'd damn well be fine. These were practice Katana, after all. There were plenty of ways to disarm your opponent in ways that wouldn't be possible with a regular one.

So in a sense, he really had no pride when it came down to his fighting, a machiavellian style of fighting where it wasn't cheating unless you got caught.
Which was how it went down on the street.
Even if it meant having to use his height to his advantage.
Even if it meant having to do even more cheap tricks,so what?
He was here to win.

Zaku watched the boy come in, still in that relaxed stance as the blade moved towards her, and at the last minute she leaned and rolled to the side, which was followed be a hop backwards to dodge the second slash, the relaxed stance she was in was still there as she looked at him "You telegraph to much Zaku" she said as the wooden Katana never left her shoulder, and she simply continued to stare at the boy, her movements where more akin to Baguazhang then any katana styles, and it fit the situation far better then any other style would, as she slowly circled around Asano.

"Your movements are sloppy and your form needs work, if you use Iaijutsu that strike should have been more practiced, and the blade should have returned to it's scabbard, instead you left it out and left yourself extended for a slash that was easy to predict and avoid, even it if had connected there would have been no power behind it Zaku" she critiqued his movements so far as she continued to circle him.

Perhaps he was indeed out of practice when it comes to fighting people like her...
Which merely meant he had to get back to being so.
Although she had a point. That was not Iaijutsu. He sheathed the blade, and though he knew it was predictable, attempted a quick slash forward at her, hoping to escape her circling him as he drew the blade again, and then put the blade back in the sheath.

Zaku continued to circle him as she watched him sheath the sword and take up a stance again and she nodded a bit, though as he slashed once more she seemed to flow out of the way like water, staying to his side or behind him, though she didn't attack despite having a clear opening to do so, The main issue with Iaijutsu is that it's highly predictable, there are only a limited number of strikes you can do from the different positions, and most tend to be linear in nature, the only two that are not require a different starting position to get the proper swing, and so telegraph if they are going to be used fairly far in advance of the actual strike. Zaku".

She swung her training Katana for the first time and the wooden blade sung through the air and stopped just short of hitting Asano, this wasn't due to reach or anything like that, she let it stop before it hit him and she rolled to the side to continue to circle him "The strength in Iaijutsu is in counter attack, it's a defensive style, not an aggressive one, aggressively it requires the element of surprise, something you lacked the moment you faced me, in a duel scenario Iaijutsu loses all it's advantages against an opponent that knows the style. Zaku".

She looked at him as she continued to circle "So you can ether admit defeat or I can actually strike you next time. Zaku" her tone the whole time was like a Sensei giving a lecture, or a class as she circled him, "By the way...the term Ronin Originates from serfs who have run away from their masters land...you seem to more fit that at the moment then that of the samurai meaning, but even then a Ronin Samurai is a man that has failed.." she said to him making sure he would at the very least realize what he had called himself.

Ugh. He hated lecturing.
... and worst of all she had a point.
Either he could cut his losses and surrender, or...
He gritted his teeth.
She also made a point on the meaning of the word ronin. It fit him, yes. He was indeed a ronin...
... but it also included a air of failure to it.
All of which contributed to his decision.

"Fine. I... I... I surrender. I'm sorry." he said, putting down the katana, and bowing. On the inside, anger at himself quickly turned to disappointment. He would not cry though. He was not some immature brat.
If he was going to surrender, it would be with some dignity.

As the boy placed the weapon down, Zaku nodded "I accept your surrender. Zaku" she said as she turned around and headed for the large box that had the training weapons in it "Maybe you won't assume your better then someone when you first meet them next time? Zaku?" she said as she placed her weapon away, having not collected his as she assumed he could place his away after the match, "Have you considered learning a new style? Zaku?" she asked him as she stood there looking at him that air still around her of a teacher, a sensei.

She had to admit he had potential, but he was to arrogant in his style, more then likely never being beaten due to the advantages of the style, more then likely making him think it, and by extension himself, were unbeatable, that arrogance cause his downfall here as he never learned other styles due to it "you have potential...but you are not unbeatable, would you like to learn how to have greater skill? Zaku?" she asked him as she raised an eyebrow at him