Ichi took Myon's shot straight on his breastplate.

"Those bullets aren't going to kill me."

Myon fired a couple times more, shifting her aim to his head guard's grill for one shot out of five. The flurry of bullets didn't last, but when the sound stopped Ichi had his head covered with both arms. Myon sighed at Ichi, who blocked his own vision to avoid a dummy bullet to the eye.

"If this were a real fight-"

"This isn't a real fight," Ichi countered from behind his gloves, "this is kendo."

"A sport. That's," Myon paused, "right."

Myon scooted forward, shuffling into range and called out, "Tsuki!" as she jabbed with her stick straight toward Ichi's neck.

In kendo, Ichi thought, a tsuki is a dangerous attack that shouldn't be used lightly. In competition, it's not banned, but a strong tsuki signifies that you are fighting an opponent worth injuring for a victory. Using it when you don't need to is an act of desperation. This isn't a test. This is Myon wanting to see Ichi broken.

Ichi realized that before the tsuki hit, and scooted back beyond it's range. Although the guard wouldn't let him see the stick tapping the neck of his headguard, he felt the headguard shift on his head. Light touch. Even a sliver away from Myon, or a sliver closer to Myon, he felt like either would have ended up in punishment. Frustration for Myon's one handed tsuki not hitting Ichi, and Myon looking down on him if it hit full on.

Ichi's windpipe would have been crushed as well, but Ichi wasn't thinking about that at all.

"So, this is Myon? Such a sad smile," Ichi said looking down on her.

Ichi looked at Myon's face as the tsuki touched him. Light smiling Myon, but Ichi's nose could tell. This is anger. This is her saying, "I've lost? Again?" That isn't what Myon said out loud, that was what Ichi thought she thought inside.

What happened in reality was that Myon scooted forward again, her stick still at Ichi's throat, and her thighs under the dress unleashed all their force as she squatted and released them in one swift action. Ichi's time lost in thought and responding to Myon with words rather than knocking her stick away had cost him. Ichi floated back in the air from the force of the push against him briefly before crashing down flat on his back. As he hit the floor, Ichi started laughing. The sound reverberated throughout the spacious dojo. Myon stood over Ichi, her ungloved left hand tightening on her gun.

"Myon, you really hate losing, don't you, Myon?" Ichi said.

Myon stood silent, catching her breath.

She dropped the bamboo stick, and started undressing. Her armor came off all around her like a waterfall, and she turned as the last of it fell on the ground around her, walking towards big slatted paper doors. It wasn't an exit, Ichi saw, as Myon wrenched both slats aside with both her hands in an explosive motion. It looked like a dead end, pitch black all around her, not even the evening light touched the inside of that room.

Ichi saw Myon standing with her back to him, her long hair trailing down her back in a bunch, as around her lights flickered on revealing a wall of weapons. Strange rifles with sigils across them. Long spears with curved blades. Swords that looked like an orc wielded them. Myon went for a neat dresser with even square cubbyholes bolted to the wall. Selecting a top drawer, she pulled out a cartridge, and turned to Ichi.

Myon held up the cartridge for Ichi to see, tapping the golden bullets so he would notice from across the length of the dojo hall.

"These are the bullets I use against real human opponents. Because of my special gun, these bullets melt on firing, splattering the air with drops of molten gold. It's not normal gold. A single touch on the skin, and the opponent will die instantly. It's instantly lethal as well, poisonous."

"Use'em," Ichi said, standing up.