Diamond Formed from Coal [Eli]

While waiting, Naoru idly flexed the fingers of his left hand, closing and opening his fist in time with hardening and softening his Aura’s structure. He gained a habit of fine training his quirk and body this way over the time he attended Yuuei. He found it helped him make his fine motoric movements better, which was in turn needed for him to control his writing and drawing skill more. He was still far, far away compared to how he was before his accident, but he found it actually worked. Just a little. But tiny steps were still more than no progress at all. And over all, such small training exercises were useful for better control of his quirk as well. It was his lifeline after all. If he failed to strengthen his Aura during a fight, or lessen its sensitivity to pain, he would have to suffer the consequences.

It didn’t take long at all for Eli to arrive. “Hello, Eli-kun!” His classmate seemed excited enough for training, which was obvious from the way he instantly asked for a spar. Naoru was somewhat conflicted, still feeling a lack of control ever since his Aura’s development suddenly sparked, but Eli seemed prepared enough for anything Naoru had to throw at him. In that case, he will hold back only enough not to lose control, and place a small trust in Eli and believe in him in holding up against him fine.

“Alright. We can have a spar if that is what you want.” He nodded, smile faltering only a bit. He reached up with an arm, around his neck and to his back, pushing on his elbow with the other arm, stretching his muscles to make sure not to injure himself with a careless movement. He repeated the motion with his other arm. “Please do say so if you had enough. I will do the same if you overpower me any time during the fight.” All the while stretching, his Aura would adjust into a battle stance as well. Instead of appearing soft and warm like a scarf, it pushed through his skin to cover both his arms and the whole of his upper body like a makeshift, white half-body suit. His left hand in turn changed as well, fingers gaining a pointy end and shifting into claws, showing its difference compared to his right arm made of flesh. While his right was only covered by the Aura, the left one was made by it. At the edges at his hips and shoulders, the Aura was shrouded and moving with the movement of the air, as if it was mist ready to be blown out by the wind. Naoru was ready for a fight, and ready to adjust himself to any attacks Eli would come up with.

He took the initial in the fight. Rushing forward with a simple but swift leap, he aimed his right fist towards Eli’s chest in an attempt to bring the first damage. He quite expected such a straightforward attack to be parried or retaliated against, so as soon as the punch was done, whether it connected or not, he would leap again, but this time with the help of his Aura. The ends of his white shroud would shot out towards the ground, amplifying his jump, helping his natural dexterity to jump above Eli and behind him with a graceful somersault in the air. Without waiting to touch solid ground, he would then aim a kick right in between Eli’s shoulder-blades to unbalance him and push him forward, also effectively pushing himself backwards and further away.

After landing and assuming a relaxed stance with only his left arm raised in front of him, with his palm forward and claws slightly curled inward, he would wait for Eli’s actions readily.

The first attack was an attempt to gauge Eli’s current strength, and although it was not yet enough to fully map his abilities, it at least gave Naoru an idea for his style. It seemed he preferred to go with the classical approach of a shield and sword, an equal balance in both offense and defense. It was a good style, at least good for the start of a battle until his opponent’s skills are discovered.

Once gaining his distance and standing in his relaxed stance, he did not have to wait long for Eli to go on the offensive this time. Focusing mainly on hardening his Aura that covered him, he was able to take a step back just in time to avoid Eli ramming his sword against him, however, the following horizontal slash would connect. The edge of the sword scraped across his Aura, but the hardened surface was nearly as hard as soft metal itself, so it withstood the attack. Naoru winced, only slightly, as his pain receptors still registered the connected attack, even if he took nearly no injury from it.

Reflexively, his left arm moved, claws trying to grab the blade of the sword and twist it, hold it out and away from Eli’s body to make him vulnerable and lessen his hold. His left hand was made completely of Aura, and it would hold fast with the same hardness it stood up against Eli’s slash before. If the hold was there, as Eli’s shield bash connected, the sword might even be snatched out of Eli’s hand if he was not holding it steady enough.

In either case, Naoru would not let him get comfortable in the distance Eli tried to gain. Feeling a slight throbbing pain from the slash and the shield bash on his chest, he rushed forward, low this time, aiming his claws to hook into Eli’s left leg to unbalance and possibly tip him over, not aiming for a slash and injury. If he lost his sword, he might need time to recreate it, which Naoru would not let. Even if he still had it, Naoru went on his left side, under his shield, to avoid the weapon. Whether he tripped Eli over or not, he would yet again jump away to gain distance and wait for him to strike.

These hit-and-run tactics were not really Naoru’s style, but in his current mindset, it was the safest against a fighter with close ranged possibilities, like Eli.