The Need For Strength {Tami/Rin/OPEN}

[Kodoku Itami]

I was beaten...

By a girl...

By a crippled, armless, girl...

I need to be stronger...

Much stronger...

I need that power if I'm to have my revenge...

If I am to kill my enemies...

Itami had needed time to think about Vash's proposition of him taking him to go and see Kurai-sensei, or so he had said at least. In reality, he was ashamed to go and see his former teacher without having increased in strength since he was gone, plus he refused to accept that he had fought with that girl to a draw, Lunar Knight or not, he was a Kodoku, he was supposed to be stronger. He should be stronger!

As such, he had used his Sharingan to find the girl during the dead of night, and using subtle manipulations thanks to his hypnotic eye, had lured her into one of the many backstreets of Silicis city. He wanted no interruptions, as such, the fight had to be as far away from the crowds of people who swarmed the streets even at night. With his black cloak hiding him from sight, with only his red eyes glowing in the darkness, he suddenly dropped from a rooftop, and landed silently behind his opponent.

This time, he would win.

"Hey, you." He called, the hissing sound of the Sword of Kusanagi being drawn reverberated down the alleyway as Itami pointed the sword across at Rin's back. How could he have lost to this girl? He had been going easy on her, that had to be it. Well, not this time, this time he would make sure that he came out of this even stronger than before!

"We never properly finished our match. You called it quits before I was done." A white lie, he had been nearly depleted of energy by the end of their last match, but this time he was prepared, he'd spent the rest of the day meditating and gathering up the necessary energy for the oncoming battle, this time he was completely and utterly prepared for battle.

"So how about we finish this?"

[Rin Tezuka]

"Huh?" I turn to face the boy from earlier, his red eyes almost glowing in the darkness. "I was just... following this red bird... It was so pretty." I look up into his eyes, almost seeing exactly the bird inside his gaze. "...oh. You did it." I grin cockily. "You know, if you wanted to find me, you could have just bought me a drink, Trench Coat. Booze would send me running..."

I lean up against the wall and sigh with my own amusement. "Then again, I have a boyfriend now. He might think I'm cheating on him." I remember my own audience. I'd begun rambling. "I don't know why I would want to fight you... I don't have anything to gain. And I'm kind of tired..."

[Kodoku Itami]

"No!"

Those red eyes furrowed into a frown as he pointed his sword across at Rin. The shame he'd suffered, having to accept that he had been beaten by this girl... He wouldn't just let her walk away, not without the rematch that he wanted, that he needed. He needed to be stronger.

"I refuse to just let you leave... I need to become stronger than they are... If that means beating a cripple to a bloody pulp down a dark alleyway..." His free hand started glowing with a blue light as his red eyes locked on Rin's, allowing him to block out the tunnel vision. "Then that's what I'll have to do!" He sprinted towards Rin.

"Chidori!"

[Rin Tezuka]

I sigh contentedly. "You know... I like you, Trench Coat." I close my eyes and imagine my tool. Metal encases my feet in a pair of large armored boots. My arm becomes that which would reflect a human arm, but solid black steel. I flex the fingers, to make sure they were under my control. "Alright. Let's do it, Trenchy." I duck his blow, and swipe at his ankles with my boot.

[Kodoku Itami]

Thanks to the Sharingan, he saw the blow coming. Pushing the weight forwards on his upper body, he forced himself to fall forwards and over Rin's boot. Pressing his hands into the floor, the Chidori kicked up huge clouds of dust and earth as Tami flipped over and onto his feet. Not wanting to lose momentum, he jumped forwards in an airborne roll, as he went, he threw four shuriken out at Rin, before landing on his shoulders and rolling through. Landing on one foot and one knee.

[Rin Tezuka]

I spin on my tailbone to recover from the kick, and use my new arms to jump myself back onto my feet. "When I win, Trench Coat," I began with a smirk, "you show me how to do that log thing." I hold out my hands, each of the shuriken getting lodged into the palm, just at the knuckle mark. I slam my palms together, forcing the spiked sides out through the knuckle. I instantly jump after him, one arm pulled back and ready to punch. The other was ready to punch when the other was inevitably blocked.

[Kodoku Itami]

Itami smirked back, she wanted to learn his substitution jutsu?

As the fist came towards him, he didn't block. Instead, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, the spiked knuckles lodging into a small log that had taken his place. It was always best to learn by watching, when you had a Sharingan anyway, a shame the girl didn't have one, he wouldn't even need to teach her.

Behind Rin, he placed one hand on her shoulder. "Not this time." He said with a scowl and a shake of his head.

"Chidori Current!"

Suddenly, the lightning energy in his body passed through his hand and, hopefully, into Rin.

[Rin Tezuka]

My body instantly began convulsing as the electricity hit me. It went limp as it fell to the dirt ground. Dust and dirt fills my lungs and induces a coughing fit. My body was tingling like crazy, and it didn't feel like I could move at all. "G...Good one, Trenchy..." I close my eyes and grin. "That log thing again..." The metal boots and arms disappear in a flash of grey light. "I don't think I can move at all right now." Of course, I don't need to...

I snap my eyes wide open, and the instant I do, I hear a stabbing sound. Blood splatters onto my cheek. Gazing at my attack, I'd gotten Trench coat in the same shoulder he'd gotten me with a plain shortsword.

[Kodoku Itami]

"I should have seen that coming..."

The girls ability to summon weapons anywhere at anytime counteracted Tami's Sharingan most of the time, especially when they struck from behind. Dropping onto one knee, he reached up to his shoulder with a shaky hand, his head bowed low, his bangs covering his face. "No..." Tami breathed, barely a whisper. He slowly removed the sword from his shoulder, sucking in deep breaths and convulsing with pain as he did so, but eventually, he threw the blade aside, hand clutching his wound.

Fire, everywhere. Fire and blood. Itami bad practically skipped home from school, but skidded to a halt when he got the Kodoku District. Just fire, blood and corpses, so many corpses...

"NO!"

Two small damp patches had gathered in the dirt below Itami, one was made of his own blood, the other of his own tears which now stung at the corners of his eyes. "I lost..." He growled, starting to pick himself up to his feet, hair still covering his face. "Everything... I lost... Everything... Well..." He looked up finally, his eyes glowing a brighter red than ever, seemingly amplified by the tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Well I refuse to lose here!"

[Rin Tezuka]

I sigh and close my eyes once more. "You know... Suddenly, I'm not interested." From the two walls of the alleyway, chains shot out and immediately constricted Trench Coat's arms to his body. Then I open my eyes softly and look into his fierce red eyes.

"This whole time... I thought we were having fun. Well, I was. I'm not now. Maybe none of it is fun anymore..." With a grunt, I tried moving. I was still tingling all over, and it made me feel intangible to move. And I didn't like that, so I keep still. "You're pathetic. You're weak. You may have red eyes, but maybe you aren't deserving of Red. Red is not for you... And I thought it was." This is one of the rare times where my face turns completely serious.

"Trench Coat, get out of my sight. You're taking your problems out on me, and I won't have it. As long as you're just fighting like this, you'll never beat me..." I stare him straight in the eyes, absolutely furious. But the last thing I say, I say calmly.
"Why don't you go get stronger, and then come see me?"

[Kodoku Itami]

"Get stronger..." Tami whispered, hanging his head, his bangs once again falling over his eyes, as his body shook and convulsed in anger, a small growl escaping from his shaking figure. This girl was refusing to fight him? No. He wouldn't allow it, he wasn't going to just let her walk away from this, he would not let her stop him from testing his power.

Itami skidded to a halt before his father, whose eyes were an odd sharp pinwheel in shape. The Mangekyo Sharingan, the ultimate evolution of a persons eyes. "Father!" Itami said excitably, not even yet having unlocked his normal Sharingan. "That's amazing! How do you unlock that?!" His father suddenly hung his head, seemingly ashamed.

"Loss, Itami... That is how to unlock our greatest strength, loss and sorrow..." His father walked away, allowing his son to go to school. That was the last time Itami had seen his family.

"I'M ALREADY STRONG ENOUGH!"[/b]

Itami looked up, his right eye closed, his left wide open. An odd elliptical design taking the place of his normal Sharingan, blood seeped down from his eye as he focused it on the chains around him.

"Amaterasu!"

Black flames suddenly formed around the chains, melting them off of Itami who simply jumped away from the chains which were now a melting, bubbling mess. Itami raised a hand up to his bleeding eye and grunted, covering it. Breathing heavily, he re-opened it, now back in it's normal Sharingan state. Was that it? Had he just touched the power that he could achieve..?

"I refuse..." He said, his shoulders heaving. "To let you walk away from this... Now, stand up!" He was seemingly get impatient, blue lightning crackling up and down his sword.

"STAND UP!"

[Rin Tezuka]

I manage to wobble into a sitting position, shifting to my sides a few times before finding a way to stabilize up straight, the tingling messing with my balance. "...New eyes... they're not changing anything, Trench coat. You're still weak. It has nothing to do with your eyes." I attempt to stand, and immediately fall into the wall. That electric attack was really something.

"Trench Coat... You'll never win. Never. Not if you're going to remain like this." My head hung in disappointment. My eyes slowly drift closed. "I don't even want to know that log thing anymore if you're teaching it." I snap my head at him, my normally dark-green eyes having just a hint of a silver sparkle inside the pupil as I strengthen my bond with Ryn.

Ryn. I know you don't approve of killing very much... You want peace. I will end it without his death... But I am going to hurt him. He needs to earn the Red he parades around...
Rin...
And I smirk. "Alright, Ryn. Give me some power." I'm not sure why I said it out loud, but it didn't make a difference. Ryn was always sharing with me. But I was asking for just a bit more...

"Okay, Trench Coat. I'll finish this with you. To prove how weak you are. And not to be mean, but to make you see your real weakness." The glare I was giving him remained stern and difficult to read, between anger and determination. "Anger... vengeance... they are not weapons, Trench Coat. Yet you wield them... Come. Give me whatever you have, so I can end this."

[Kodoku Itami]

Itami looked down at the blood in his hand with a smirk. The pain... The sorrow... They had helped him unlock Amaterasu, one of the Mangekyo Sharingan techniques, he was on the right path. He remembered his father's words 'Loss and sorrow'. His family had died and he'd unlocked the Sharingan, this girl had reminded him of what he had lost, and he had used Amaterasu. Looking up at Rin, his smile dropped, he closed his left eye again, the pain in it was unbearable, and started walking towards Rin.

"You've done a grand thing for me here, today, Lunar Knight." Itami said as he swayed during his movement, walking forwards almost casually. "You have reminded me exactly what I need to do if I want to achieve my goals." He was almost within arms reach now, his face was cold as stone, but his hand slid his sword back into it's sheath under his cloak as he was finally within reach of Rin. "And for that, I thank you." He stopped before her, reaching out with his bloodied hand.

"Remember, little brother." Itami's elder brother squatted down to his height. "You need to practice if you want to become stronger." Itami crossed his arms, and let out a huff. "Then train with me, big brother!" He cried with a huge frown on his face, but his brother merely laughed, before raising his first two forefingers and poking Itami in the head. "Maybe some other time, I'm busy..."

"You were always busy..." He poked Rin on the forehead, a small smear of blood evidence of the contact. He went to walk past Rin, but stopped right next to her, their shoulders practically touching.

"And now I'm busy." He said aloud, giving a sincere, warm smile. "Thank you, Rin of Chalybs. I owe all of this to you." And with that, he disappeared, re-appearing on the rooftop, behind the Lunar Knight.

[Rin Tezuka]

I grin after his disappearance. I don't bother to remove the blood from my forehead... Because it definitely formed a bond.
It would appear you've gotten through to another person, Rin Tezuka.
I nod once, eyes turning to the building above me. "Yeah. He's still really weak, though." I could see the faint glimmer of red in his eyes before I closed my own and began walking from the alleyway. "But I think he will get stronger... His voice was very sincere. And... I have reason to trust that smile."
You did a good thing today, Rin.

"Heh. Maybe. But the World has to take care of its denizens..."