"It was an accident."
"You killed Shiki." The Batter is close. Way too close.
"I-I really didn't mean to." Shosuko puts down her burger. What is she doing? It's like all the level-headedness leaves her body the instant she's confronted by the grim reality of what she's done. "It all just… happened so fast. I didn't realize what I was doing."
"Regardless, what is done is done. Another life was claimed because of us Yakuza."
"I wasn't even Yakuza when it happened."
"Your last name is Kuze. Which means you're under Kuze Clan jurisdiction. Regardless of your involvement, her death is a result of the Kuze Clan's negligence."
"That's bullshit and you know it." Shosuko clenches her hands into fists. "You're just trying to deflect what I did into your own personal agenda. I killed Shiki. I did it by accident but I'm willing to accept whatever consequences you can dish out so long as you take it out on me, not the Kuze Clan."
"...You've got guts, Kuze." The Batter grunts as she stands. "If your last name were different, I'd want you on my side."
"Yeah… it's too bad." Shosuko takes the last bite of her burger and downs the rest of her cola before standing up. Both Shosuko and the Batter step out of their respective stalls and onto the walkway.
"Why don't you transform?" The Batter looks Shosuko up and down. "Go ahead. There's no need to hide any longer."
"Nah. I won't be needing that kind of power" Shosuko zips up her jacket. Metal armor plates clink subtly from within the cloth. She had it custom made.
"Such confidence." The Batter lowers the bat that was slung around on her shoulder.
"「Gujutsu - Slugger」" Gujutsu, literally meaning 'Tool Techniques', refers to any kind of Jutsu that involves modifying the use of an object. Typically more complicated than Taijutsu since it involves manipulating the properties of an object but less complicated than Genjutsu. The most basic form of Gujutsu is imbuing something with magic, making it tougher, easier to handle, or more devastating in one form or the other. The Batter's metal bat begins to drip with a blue miasma.
"「Taijutsu - Awaking Beast」" A red aura like steam begins to rise off of Shosuko as she activates her Taijutsu. Awaking Beast, a passive-type Taijutsu that Shosuko's picked up from her time in the academy. It greatly boosts the user's physical capabilities, making Shosuko faster, stronger, and more resilient. Simple, but very very effective. She never saw the point in flashy Genjutsu or complicated Gujutsu. All Shosuko ever needed was the ability to take punches, punch harder, move faster, and it got her through the Yokai wars just fine. Shosuko raises her arms in a boxing stance.
"Prepare yourself, Kuze." The Batter takes a batting position.
"Bring it!"
Shosuko throws the first punch. A brutal straight aimed right for The Batter's chest. But instead all that her knuckles clash against is the steel of a bat. Huh? When'd that get there? The Batter uses Shosuko's momentary confusion to close the gap between them and delivers her counterattack.
Shosuko definitely overextended with that straight there. A brutal left hook smashes through her half-assed defense. There's nothing Shosuko can do but just roll with the punch as best she can, stumbling backwards a step. Not good.
"I told you to prepare yourself."
Shosuko spits on the ground. "Yeah, yeah. Spare me the lecture."
Without missing a beat, Shosuko immediately jumps back into the fight. This time, she lets The Batter take the first swing. And swing she does, planting her feet on the ground, she lines up a home run with her bat and strikes upwards. Shosuko's ready for it this time.
She takes a step back, letting the bat go wide before ducking in close and delivering a solid uppercut to The Batter's stomach. She moves slightly from the force of the impact. Shosuko put all of her strength into that punch but The Batter barely flinches.
"Tsk. You're a tough bastard."
The Batter brings her bat back down with all the power of a crashing meteor. Shosuko does not dodge. Shosuko does not block. Instead, Shosuko catches the bat with her other hand. She feels her elbow and shoulder almost pop out of their sockets, but she catches it. The bat trembles from the sheer force of two magical girls pressing against it.
While The Batter is still processing her attack being caught, Shosuko smashes her head into her umpire mask. As she thought, the mask isn't magical. It's probably something she added on afterwards. Shosuko lifts up her leg, plants her foot on The Batter's chest, and kicks as hard as she can. The Batter goes skidding backwards down the walkway until she hits the far window.
Groggily, she draws herself back up to her full height. "You're pretty good."
"I picked up a thing or two during the Yokai wars."
"Funny, so did I."
"Heh." Shosuko wipes her mouth. "It's too bad that we sisters-in-arms gotta fight, huh?"
"You're yakuza. You signed up to take advantage of others. Why should I feel bad for killing vermin?" The Batter flips the bat over and over like it weighs nothing.
"I signed up cause this is the only way someone like me can make a decent living."
"Don't lie!" The Batter almost spits out the words. "You yakuza are always so quick to lie. Don't tell me you really signed up for a stupid reason like that."
"Shut up! It's not like I got anything better to do!"
"Heh. It's kind of funny." The Batter takes off her ruined umpire mask, revealing a face not entirely dissimilar from Shosuko's. Though, she does have a somewhat sharper nose and flat blue eyes as opposed to Shosuko's flat black eyes. Her irises too are shrunken. They're the eyes of a Kuze. "You sound just like my mom used to."
"Used to?"
"She died." The Batter shoots Shosuko a sneer. "Put two and two together, why don't you?"
"Boo-hoo, cry me a river. You're not the only one with dead parents and anger issues."
"I grow tired of talking with you. Let's finish this." The Batter slings her bat over her shoulder and lowers herself like she's about to charge at Shosuko.
"Let's."