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[lapidarius]

"This is Kakyoin Noriaki. Please leave a message, I'll contact you as soon as I can."

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Comments

[lapidarius]

I'm smug about everything, as long as I'm right.

[silvercrusader]

speaking of FIGHTING do you want to spar sometime soon

[lapidarius]

absolutely

[And that was when Kakyoin realized Polnareff had no idea about his Hamon training.]

[You're in for a literal shock, buddy.]

name a time and a place i would love to

[silvercrusader]

[JOKE'S ON YOU BUDDY Caesar spilled the beans. Loudly. Still, he has no real idea what Hamon can do, so he'll still be shocked.]

tomorrow? or now i mean you're up i'm up

[lapidarius]

[caesar you damn traitor you]

[OH WELL]

meet me outside in five minutes.

[silvercrusader]

[Kakyoin will be able to hear the joyful shout of all right!, as well as the thundering of footsteps that is Polnareff running down the stairs. He's missed Kakyoin, and he's missed sparring, and now two things he loves are coming together!

By the time Kakyoin comes down, Silver Chariot is out, sword swishing eagerly through the air.]

[lapidarius]

[...It was hard not to be eager when he was pretty sure he was about to startle the hell out of Polnareff. That was always fun. So he changed into a turtleneck and black jacket, having exchanged the sunglasses in favor of actual glasses, walking out calmly with Hierophant at his side.]

It's been a while, Chariot. [Then, with a playful smirk at Polnareff:] Oh, and you're here too, of course.

[silvercrusader]

[He beams at him-- delighted to see him, of course, because it's still a happy shock-- but also because he's quite eager for this. Chariot comes over, circling Kakyoin in a friendly fashion, even as Polnareff's smile turns smirky.]

Confident. Do you want to bet on it?

[lapidarius]

[He gave Chariot a pleasant smile, apparently bent on teasing Polnareff as much as possible even with Hierophant's arms draped over his shoulders.]

You know, the last time I bet something on a fight it didn't end all that well for me. But since you're not about to rip my soul out, I guess I might not mind that. What did you have in mind?

[silvercrusader]

Hmm . . .

[Chariot gives Hierophant a friendly nudge-- hello, you, I missed you-- before flying back over to his owner.]

Something simple, to start-- I win and you tell me whatever information I ask for about you and Jotaro!

[lapidarius]

And what would I get if I were to accept that theoretical wager and win?

[silvercrusader]

[He spreads his arms.]

What do you want, mon ami?

[lapidarius]

[Good question. He frowned, tapping a finger against the frame of his glasses in careful thought.]

If I win...

[...maybe.]

...there's something I want to talk to you about that you probably won't believe. But if I win, you have to hear me out no matter how insane I sound, no matter how unbelievable it is, or how much you don't believe me.

[silvercrusader]

[He hesitates-- not because he minds agreeing, but because it's such a serious request. He'd expected something like shut up for a week, something equal parts catty and amusing.]

Deal.

[And with that agreed on, he takes a step back, feet spreading into a defensive position. This won't be the first time they've sparred, but it's been a while.]

Ready?

[But Chariot's eyes are already narrowed, his sword held in an offensive position.]

[lapidarius]

Always.

[Kakyoin smirked, his own hands raised as he shifted into a fighting stance with Hierophant moving in front of him.]

You had better not hold back.

[silvercrusader]

Have I ever?

[(He might, unconsciously, at first. Too familiar with the sight of Kakyoin's dead body, too unfamiliar with Kakyoin alive and well; he might hold back. But he'll try not to).

Without warning Silver Chariot darts forward, sword slashing in an obvious gesture. It's a fake-out; he'd never be so obvious with Kakyoin's trickiness. The key with Kakyoin is to get in close; to press up against Hierophant and cut him there.]

[lapidarius]

[Sparring with Chariot was different than with Jotaro and Star Platinum. He knew Jojo's strategies backwards and forwards, could predict what he and Star were going to do an instant before they did it--and it was the same on the opposite side. Fighting with Jotaro as his opponent was a contest less of power and more of who could out-think the other first. Silver Chariot was different; he still had to be clever, but compensate for a whole other set of how his weaknesses could be exploited while carefully re-evaluating his opponent's reach and flaws. A rapier could reach twice as far as arm's length, probably further. Chariot was quick, and directed by an expert on top of all that. Theirs was an odd matchup in which either could put the other at a disadvantage in a mere matter of distance]

[Aggression and victory versus faith and knowledge.]

[That said, it was too easy. Easy enough to be an obvious feint even to someone not a strategist. Hierophant's main body split apart in an instant, dissolving into several independent coils that shot out in several directions; two aiming to tangle around Chariot's legs to trip him up or slow him down, another snaking around to disarm him, and one more vanishing into the ground between them--just in case.]

[silvercrusader]

[The first three were easy, counted on; the fourth was unexpected, and something Polnareff noted and pushed away. He has a fourth one lose, but it was irrelevant with the others. Chariot didn't bother struggling with his legs; there was no point. Instead he twisted his sword, trying to twist it to cut into the tendrils wrapped around his arm.]

[lapidarius]

[Against a Stand as quick as Silver Chariot, he wasn't about to take chances.The only kind of holding back he intended to do was the kind that would stop them from outright killing each other, and laying a trap or two fell easily within that range.]

[With that level of restraint in mind, Kakyoin barely reacted as Chariot's sword cut into Hierophant and his own arm by extension; that distraction was exactly what he'd hoped for.]

Don't tell me you're going to go down that easily.

[The hidden fourth coil rose from the ground ending in Hierophant's upper body, hands held together in a gesture that should have been quite literally painfully familiar. With careful precision and holding enough back to just be a concussive blast instead of the shotgun force that broke a clocktower, Kakyoin flashed an almost vicious smirk and threw his own hand forward.]

Emerald Splash!

[silvercrusader]

[Fuck-- Polnareff inhales sharply, biting his bottom lip against the sudden punch of pain that hits him in the chest. Kakyoin is holding back, not wanting to kill him, and that still hurts-- he's going to have a nasty bruise come morning, he knows, and grits his teeth.

It hurts. It hurts a lot, actually-- but it's not enough to throw him out of the battle. Not yet. Hierophant is good at speed, and so he must be even faster.]

Not hardly.

[Hierophant still holds Chariot captive-- and so Chariot curls in on himself. It's the work of a few moments for him to shed his armor and then jerk upwards, darting free, rapier slashing eagerly for whatever bit of Hierophant it can reach.]

[lapidarius]

[Much better. That was enough to get Hierophant to back off, Stand and user both moving in unison to throw themselves straight backwards. Distance, it was all a matter of distance. The snakelike Stand wound itself around Kakyoin's arm to pull him out of range, a smirk still clear on the latter's face.]

That's what I thought! [He came to an abrupt stop, shoes skidding against the ground as he established a solid stance and sent Hierophant on the attack again. Kakyoin's arm was thrown forward again, his Stand uncoiling from his arm to shoot forward in several separate coils aimed to stop Chariot from moving again. Now that his armor was off, that was the preferable strategy to meeting him in a losing contest of speed alone.]

[silvercrusader]

[Chariot clad in armor would have been snared by those coils-- but without it, he's a force of pure speed, moving so quickly even Polnareff has trouble keeping track. Closer, that's his order, coupled with suggestions on how to weave and dodge-- because he's not going to simply cut his way through, not today.

He ought to. It's what he'd usually do, letting his blade work for him, weaving and ducking and dodging. But now-- now Chariot moves twice as much as he normally would, his sword held tightly at his side. It's stupid, yeah, he knows it's stupid, because Kakyoin is fine. Has been fine for months, months and months-- and yet for Polnareff, he's only been back a few days. He's only just returned to life, and how can he possibly hurt him?

So rather than sweep Chariot's sword and slash away the coils, Chariot lets himself be snagged; lets Kakyoin have the advantage.]

[lapidarius]

...

[Kakyoin frowned, adjusting his glasses and narrowing his eyes. That wasn't right. He'd expected Chariot to meet him head-on, had every plan to divert Hierophant into sharp turns and misdirections...but Chariot was just caught like that, the other end of his coils tangling in its user's hand.]

[He was still holding back--too much. And Kakyoin had a strong suspicion he knew why.]

I know what you're thinking. Don't.

[Deep breath. Exhale. Channel frustration and anger into something else that burned and sparked, ran through his blood and down his arm--shining sunlight that traveled from Kakyoin to his Stand, blasting Chariot with a burst of Hamon that was just enough to give his statement a note of definite finality.]

[silvercrusader]

[As if it's so easy. As if this has anything to do with any weakness of Kakyoin's. The Hamon hits, just as searingly as any blast from Magician's Red-- Caesar had been right, Kakyoin is good at it. Burns appear along his arms, echoes of the ones scorched into Chariot-- and he'll give him that, he'll let him have that final statement. But enough is enough, and Polnareff calls Chariot back.

This was a bad idea, he thinks again, but when are his ideas anything but stupid?

He knows enough, at least, not to make a joke.]

You win.

[lapidarius]

It's a draw. [He folded his arms, Hierophant pulling back and reforming behind him.] I won't claim victory over someone hesitating like that.

[...]

I'm fine, Polnareff. I know it's hard to believe and I won't claim to be in perfect condition. But I'm fine.