08 - A Brisk Wind

Naoko’s hook landed cleanly against Esmeralda’s jaw with a smack, stopping her forward movement and redirecting it sideways as Esmeralda took a lateral step under its influence, her head jerked to the left as she watched a mist of her own sweat and spittle trace a path through the air. Once again, the Sniper proved that she was not to be taken lightly as this punch had more behind it than Esmeralda anticipated, even though Naoko threw it from a range she supposedly wasn’t comfortable in. As a result, the bodyguard found herself dangerously close to the nearby neutral corner as Naoko’s manipulative movements and slick footwork around her effectively corralled her into it.

A couple more swift jabs, one to Esmeralda’s forehead and one to her chin, pushed her closer to it. Esmeralda took a few swings of her own, a jab-cross, but the Senshi defended well, quickly bringing her gloves up as she blocked the jab then smoothly weaved around the cross. At the same time, she pestered Esmeralda again with her left glove, until without realizing it, the Spaniard had been pinned in.

Esmeralda had to bring her forearms up again as Naoko fired more shots at her, managing to block the next few punches from the Sniper behind a stalwart block. However, this was also part of Naoko’s plan. The entire time, she’d been headhunting, throwing high jabs, crosses, and a hook here and there to keep Esmeralda’s gloves high. Suddenly, she pivoted to switch targets, aiming lower this time below Esmeralda’s guard with a digging hook to the body. The Shadow Rose saw it coming, but was unable to bring her arms down in time to defend against it.

“Hnn…!”