Work Text:
“There’s barely any space left on him now, Kashiki-chan… maybe give him a break.” Kazui sighs, patting Yuno on her shoulder as she stands before a quivering Mikoto looking like he’d been doused in ink, angling her head to see if she can find some spot she hadn’t painted over yet. She tilts her head, chin resting in her palm while she lazily rocks the brush loosely between her fingers, scouring the poor silhouette of a man in front of her. The whole idea behind the punishment game was his to begin with, making it extra shameful that he had lost just that many times.
In stark contrast to the ink-covered prisoner, Yuno’s own face is free of marks, only scrunched in a pout as she cranes her head around him, as if she were some snooty art critic. She hums as she gives up, twirling the brush around her fingers before handing it to Kotoko, exchanging it for the hagoita. “I suppose so… why don’t you try your luck against me instead, Kazui-san..?” She runs her finger across the paddle, unable to hide the mischievous grin growing on her face, something that terrified the old man. He knew better than anyone else in the prison how scary she could be.
Kazui looks away sheepishly, stretching his arms. “Ahh, Kashiki-chan… If I lose to you, I’ll have to spend so much time hunched over, washing my face… that’s not good for a man my age, you know..?” Despite his complaints, he does take the hagoita Mikoto was holding, something the shaking man seems to appreciate, whispering a quiet word of thanks to him. “...I will oblige, though. You’re always challenging me at these sorts of games.” He leans down with a small grunt of effort, half genuinely because of the strain to pick up the hane, but also half to try and evoke sympathy in the young girl to go easier on him than she did on poor Mikoto. Unfortunately for Kazui, however, it was clear Yuno had no such intentions, unfazed by his attempt.
“I’ll be sure not to draw too much then~ or, you can just not lose! It’s not good to worry about losing before the match even starts, Kazui-san…” Yuno’s smug grin is more muted now, hidden under the facade of a warm smile, though Kazui knows not to trust it.
With another grunt of effort, Kazui tosses the hane up, striking it from below to send it in a graceful arc towards the younger girl. She returns it with a harsh flick of her wrist, the hane speeding towards Kazui, though he’s able to return it, his arm darting out to hit it back to her. “I-Isn’t the point to rally for as long as possible..!?”
Yuno takes advantage of Kazui’s weak return to spike it back at him. “Oh, but you’re able to return it anyway, aren’t you, Kazui-san~?” He stumbles a bit, but is able to return it again. It’s stronger this time, since he’s more prepared for it, but she’s still capable of smashing it back at him, her practice showing.
“You really won’t give this old man a break, huh?” Kazui sighs, sticking his arm out again to return the well-placed spike. Yuno just spikes it back at him, not letting up, but this time, he positions himself to be able to send it back with the same force.
This doesn’t seem to deter Yuno, however, as she smashes the hane back at him again, though she definitely didn’t expect it. “It doesn’t seem like you need one!” She replies cheerfully, returning another spike from Kazui. “Have you played it a lot as well?”
He shakes his head without his eyes leaving the hane, hitting it back again. “Not at all… I never really played it with my wife, and it’s not like we had any kids to play it with…” The spike coming at him was in the opposite direction he had expected, and while he manages to move his hagoita in time, the hane hits the tip, making his return a lot flimsier than he had hoped for. “I just have good hand-eye coordination, that’s all!”
The weak return is the perfect moment for Yuno to strike, aiming to send the hane right between her opponent’s knees. A satisfying clack marks her success as it rockets towards Kazui, in an awkward position for him to hit, which costs him the rally, the hane flying between his legs and clattering on the floor. “Hooray~!” She cheers, hopping and throwing her hands up in celebration. As Kazui leans down to pick the hane up, she skips over to Kotoko. “Brush, please~?”
With a nearly inaudible grumble, Kotoko begrudgingly trades Yuno the brush for her hagoita, who hums happily as she makes her way back to Kazui. “Ah, yes, yes… Since you didn’t go easy on me while playing, please at least go easy on me with what you draw..!” He pleads, squeezing his eyes shut and bending down as Yuno begins to draw a simple teardrop under his left eye. Her tongue sticks out in concentration as she finishes up, stepping back to admire her handiwork.
“There!” Yuno grins, failing to stifle a short giggle. “I am tired, though… I’ll take a break for now. Kotoko-san, you’re up~!” She drifts past the other girl, giving her a pat on the back as if to wish her good luck. She stands by the painted Mikoto, eyes sparkling with anticipation to see how well Kazui would fare against Kotoko.
Without bothering to stretch or warm up, she gives her hagoita a few harsh practice swings, making a breeze that flutters Yuno’s bangs despite her being a few paces away. “I get you’re eager to have something to swing, Yuzuriha-chan, but with that much force, you’re going to have a hard time actually hitting it,” Kazui tries to give her some advice, though she seems to be having way too much fun violently swinging the hagoita to listen.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve been keeping my strength and reflexes up to standard while in here, after all.” Kotoko responds simply, a big, toothy grin on her face. Kazui can’t help but feel a pang of regret for taking his own physique less seriously than she was, though he quickly forgets it in favor of the game. Returning his focus to the grinning girl, he can tell that she was clearly having way too much fun swinging something resembling a weapon, something that made him shudder a little. He was used to dealing with problem kids like her, but he was hoping that if Yuno insisted on giving him a hard time, at least Kotoko might go for a light rally… apparently not.
With a sigh, he waits for Kotoko to finish her practice swings, and get into position. “Ready?” He asks, and met with an affirmative nod, gives her a firm overhand serve. It’s nothing close to the fierce smashes Yuno was dishing out, but also not nearly as easy to return as his softer attempts to rally with her, either.
While Yuno had decently powerful returns that were aimed to be hard or awkward to hit, Kotoko didn’t bother aiming, putting all her energy into a brutal return, her hagoita clacking harshly against the hane as it whizzes past Kazui’s shoulder, barely giving him time to process it.
Though he’s a bit disappointed he didn’t get a chance to rally, he expected it, and he’s more surprised at how fast the hane flew. Turning around to retrieve it, he notices that the wall it hit has a dent in it, which he rubs over to make certain after picking it up. “Wow, Yuzuriha-chan… That was seriously strong, maybe I should be more scared of you!” He jokes, though with how happy Kotoko seems to hear this, he does feel a little afraid.
“I don’t think physically sparring with you would be too helpful to either of us, because of the gap in our weight classes, but sparring via hanetsuki is a form of training, too.” Kotoko notes, a little pleased with herself. She takes the brush from Yuno, a little smug over some imaginary one-sided rivalry from Yuno making her hold the brush earlier.
Kazui sighs, squatting a little and resting his hands on his knees for Kotoko to reach his face. “I suppose not, but I would be happy to train with you otherwise. If you can be so disciplined, an old man like me should do my best to follow, right?” He asks, while Kotoko just gives him a look, painting a circle on his free cheek. Feeling like he overstepped, he smiles awkwardly. “W-What’s that face??”
Satisfied with her handiwork, she hands the brush back to Yuno, who’s enjoying the spectacle. With her hands clasped behind her back, she rocks back and forth on her heels, a mischievous smile slowly forming on her face again. “Awe, that was too short, I didn’t get enough of a break… why don't you two go again?” She asks, her tone of voice betraying that excited mischief towards the end of her request.
Kotoko seems more than eager to go for round two, unlike the old man. “Huh?? Seriously, won’t you give me a break..??” He pleads, though he is having fun with the challenge the girls offered. Outside of training and his job, he hadn’t much exerted himself much like this in his professional life, so it felt rather nostalgic.
Of course, when he prepared to serve the hane, he looked over to see Kotoko swinging her hagoita wildly again. “I’ll be gentler, this time!” She says, though the grin on her face tells a different story. It was no use bargaining with her, so Kazui just gives her a strong serve, a grunt of effort showing he was playing far more seriously than he had been the past few rounds.
Though it was quicker than his prior serve, Kotoko still manages to hit it with her powerful swing, smashing it directly towards Kazui’s chest. Now that he expected it, he reacts just in time, bringing his hagoita right in the path of Kotoko’s monster smash, flicking it to respond with a decent velocity. “That’s gentler??”
Kazui watches as she prepares to return it, taking note of her arm’s position to try and predict the trajectory of her next shot. Another powerful smash sends it right back, this time by his left side, just where he expected it to be, his arm already crossing his body to hit it back, now aiming a bit far from Kotoko’s body, hoping she’d be too focused on her powerful returns to hit it back. It was a bit of an unfair move, but it’s not like he wasn’t the victim of the same trick just a few minutes prior, so he felt he deserved to use it too.
However, Kotoko still manages to return it, her reflexes remarkably sharp. While the return isn’t nearly as powerful as the smashes she had been hitting, it’s still surprisingly strong, which Kazui was not at all expecting. “You’re quick!” He compliments her, though his own return is much weaker, as his surprise slows him down, giving Kotoko the chance to smash it at full power, which she eagerly takes.
The sound of hane hitting hagoita was piercingly loud, making Mikoto flinch, but more importantly, sending it barreling towards Kazui’s liver. Worried for his own safety far more than winning the game, he spends the little time he has to parry moving out of the way instead, a small, fearful yelp slipping out in his haste. The hane continues rocketing towards the wall, leaving another dent, this one even deeper than the last.
There’s a few moments of silence, the only sounds being Kotoko’s satisfied panting and the hane rolling on the floor. She adjusts herself, standing back up, and grinning, very pleased with herself for landing the strike. It seems that she had a fair bit of built up aggression in the prison, that was all released onto the hane while facing the poor old man.
“Wow, Kotoko-san…” Yuno says, splaying her free hand over her mouth in mock awe. “You’re really strong… even though that’s not the point of the game, you’re so strong it doesn’t matter that you aren’t aiming your shots!” She quips blithely, though Kazui can sense the animosity barely hiding behind her words, something Kotoko is too self-satisfied to pick up on. Though, it’s not like Yuno was following the intention of the game either, giving him a hard time… he doesn’t say anything because he’d suffered enough for today.
Kotoko makes her way over to Yuno, completely oblivious to the intentions of her taunting. “Well, it worked, and it gave me a workout.” She says simply, giving her the hagoita to hold onto while taking the brush. Yuno just smiles softly, her annoyance at the lack of a significant reaction fully masked by her pleasant expression.
Heaving a sigh, Kazui sits on the ground, propping a knee up and resting his arm on it. “Ahh… This old man’s beat. I suppose I’m getting to the age where I can’t keep up with you kids anymore, huh?” He huffs, rolling his head back to stretch his neck. Kotoko still walks up to him, brush in hand, holding it up, unintentionally appearing menacing to the exhausted old man.
“You’re not getting out of the punishment, Kazui.” She says, watching him recoil a bit. He gives in with a long exhale, leaning forward to allow her to paint an X on the same cheek she painted last time.
“Hah, I thought I could get out of it by taking a rest… you’re too sharp, Yuzuriha-chan. I’m done for now, though, why don’t you go ahead and play against Kashiki-chan? Seems like you’ve still got a fair bit of energy to burn.” Kazui reaches up, holding his hagoita out to her, and gestures with his head towards Yuno. While Kotoko may not have picked up on Yuno’s desire to play against her, Kazui did, and despite how she insisted on giving him a hard time, he wanted to help.
Yuno seems grateful for the assist, heading to retrieve the hane by the wall and take position, unfazed by the dents left by her opponent. Handing the brush to Kazui, said opponent takes the hagoita, taking her position as well. “I can definitely keep going… In a way, I can spar with people who don’t have any combat training like this, hm…” She muses, her eyes trained on the hane in Yuno’s hand, ready to smash it back at her when she serves.
Seeing that she was ready, Yuno wastes no time, tossing the hane high into the air, and driving it towards the intently watching girl with a powerful smash. It was an unfair technique she often used to tease her brother, as any casual player would not be able to return it with any consistency. Driving it down meant that even if a return was successfully made, the angle was so awkward that the power behind it would be weak enough for another unstoppable smash, and another, and another… The longest her brother had been able to return those consecutively was only thrice, and she expected Kotoko to fare even worse, with her seeming lack of experience.
What Yuno didn’t consider, however, was that while Kotoko may have had less experience than her brother, she had skills that would translate over well to something like hanetsuki. Having trained in combat sports since she was very young, her reaction time was more than enough to position herself to receive Yuno’s spike, and return it with enough power to catch Yuno off guard, immediately breaking past her attempted cheap strategy, righting herself with a sharp exhale.
Though her surprise flashes on her face for a brief moment, Yuno immediately masks any sign of struggle. While she’s unable to perform another spike, she still manages to give Kotoko a strong enough return to appear as if she wasn’t thrown off at all. “Ooh, that one usually gets my little brother!” She says, her tone playful, though her jaw clenches the moment the words leave her lips.
Kotoko doesn’t respond, her words barely even registering as all of her focus is on the hane flying at her. While Yuno’s return was strong, it lacked what she would typically use to beat someone like Kotoko, the awkward positioning. Even just this much is enough to grant Kotoko full reign to smash it back at full power, and she wastes no time in doing exactly that. The sound of wood meeting wood echoing through the prison, the hane tearing through the air in its pursuit of Yuno.
From the moment she hit her imperfect return, Yuno had expected Kotoko to give her something impossible to parry back, though that information is exactly what made it possible for her to return the hane. It was easy to predict that her returns would be fairly inconsistent, as she very strongly prioritized strength in her returns, but the general area where her returns would head was limited.
Kotoko was greedy, and had the intuition to know that to generate the most power, she’d have to use her entire body. She’d have to use her legs and her hips to generate momentum, letting her arm holding the hagoita lag behind so that the momentum forces it to whip forward, smashing the hane. Because Kotoko was right handed, the shot would be slightly angled due to the circular momentum, meaning it’d be targeted towards the right side of Yuno’s torso, and the difference between their heights meant she could count on it being slightly more towards the upper half than the lower half.
Positioning herself accordingly, Yuno is rewarded with the hane racing right into her hagoita, giving her a free opportunity to smash it right back at Kotoko once more, and she aims for the same spot that won her a round with Kazui, right between her opponent’s legs. Her eyes narrow as she drives the hane into the winning angle, just an awkward, cruel direction.
Kotoko’s arm darts down in one last-ditch effort, throwing her off balance as she stumbles, catching herself but allowing the hane to fly past her hagoita, landing on the floor with a satisfying clunk. Panting heavily, her head flicks upward to look at Yuno, a casual, lighthearted grin on her face.
“Aww, looks like that one got ya! Well, good match! You’re so harsh on the hane, it’s a little scary!” She remarks, bouncing her way towards Kazui to take her prize. She hums to herself, though it’s clearly loud enough for Kotoko to hear it, her carefree body language dripping with a smug confidence she’s not typically the type to display. If it was a taunt, it was mostly ineffective, though as Yuno proceeds towards Kotoko for her punishment, she clicks her tongue, enough of a reaction to satisfy the victorious girl.
With a couple barely-contained giggles, Yuno raises the brush with a grin. “Alright, look at me and hold still, kay?” As Kotoko complies, accepting the fate of the loser, Yuno happily marks an X on her cheek, the brush lingering for a greedy while longer than necessary. She hops back, taking in the sight of a blushing Kotoko, her face painted with both the black ink and the red of embarrassment.
“Gosh, Kotoko-san! Losing isn’t that big of a deal!” She teases airily, though she definitely has no complaints about how she was taking it. Kotoko only sighs in response, not exactly thrilled about losing in a physical game to Yuno, though it’s not like she could deny the results. This only seems to further her smugness, unfortunately, eliciting another giggle out of her.
If losing meant she would react like this, maybe she should make her join in more often.