Noriko leapt forward, assuming speed would be her advantage as she advanced on her opponent. His knees bent as he braced himself for the attack, holding his cleaver out in front of him, but Noriko changed her trajectory at the last minute. Pushing off on her left foot, she shot around the man, twisting behind him to slice his back. The sharp clang of steel filled the air as he lifted his cleaver behind him to block before spinning around to send a sharp kick to Noriko's middle.

Pulling the pole of the weapon across her stomach, she blocked the attack but was forced back anyway. Noriko landed on her feet a few yards away. She didn't have much time to react as the cleaver came down an inch from her face and she barely stumbled back to avoid it. Dropping into a crouch, she spun her bisento before aiming a few sharp jabs at the man - only one hit as she drove the blade into his abdomen.

Before she could pull the blade out, a large hand wrapped around the hilt, holding the blade in place. Noriko blinked, her eyes darting up to Juzo - who wore a manic grin - before she shot backwards as the butcher's knife was brought down again with surprising speed on where her hands were. While all her fingers remained in tact, Noriko winced as she gained a slash on the side of her wrist and lost a few of her bracelets.

But she didn't have time to lament over it as the curse user came at her again, firing a flurry of attacks her way which she managed to dodge. She could barely hear the sound of the blade slicing through the air over her own heartbeat as she moved her eyeline from her opponent to over his shoulder.

The force of the blade had broken the staff of her bisento.

"Ahh.... the High Priestess is going to beat me to death if she finds out about that," Noriko groaned, snapping back one final time as she pivoted on her foot, raising her injured leg to slam into the side of Juzo's head. Her eyes were narrowed into slits and even though Juzo managed to bring his forearm up to block, she couldn't help but smirk when she heard a quiet crack under the force of the blow. Not quite broken, but should hurt like a bitch, she mused internally as she ducked under his blade.

Pausing, Noriko stopped her counter mid-swing as Juzo leapt back, pivoting on his heel and running the opposite direction.

"Huh?... Chitose!"

Forcing herself to move quickly, Noriko pushed herself after the man - her heart now in her throat as she watched him approach the building her companion was behind. He rounded the corner as she jumped, landing on his back and wrapping her legs around his torso. She used her forearms to grip around his neck, jolting his head, and by connection his body, backwards as she grappled the man.

While disorientating him and throwing him off balance, her strength was not enough to send him to the ground and the sorcerer snarled as he remained standing.

A wide-eyed, blindfold-less Chitose stared up at her with (what Noriko assumed to be) her pupils shaking in fear. The now-visible eyes of her Kyoto upperclassman were gold with a red ring around each white pupil - and notably wide and scared.

"Chitose! Anything would be helpful right now!" Noriko yelled, tightening her grip around the man's neck as he stumbled back but steadied himself and lifted an arm to grab a handful of Noriko's hair in an attempt to pull her off him. When it didn't work, he let out a manic laugh, forcing the edge of his cleaver into the leather of her holster and through to the flesh of her thigh. Both ink and blood spilled down, pooling onto the dirt. "Anything!"

In her panic, Chitose did the first thing that came to her mind, which was to lock eyes with Noriko... and copy her ability. Dropping into a crouch, the second year scrambled to the floor, pulling off one of her gloves to reveal the print of an open black eye on the back of her hand. She dipped her fingers in the spilled ink that pooled towards her, writing the first thought that came to mind on the ground: 'blade'.

The ground erupted in a white light and she reached her stained hand in to pull out a kitchen knife.

"Wait, that won't -" Chitose lunged for the curse user, driving the knife into his gut - just below Noriko's incision - only to have the knife burst into ink in her hands.

Noriko yelped as Juzo ripped the cleaver from her leg. She tightened her grip around his neck as she anticipated his next move, only just able to yank the man backwards in time so when he brought the knife down, Chitose only received a shallow cut to her shoulder. "Okay! New plan!" - Noriko moved her weight to the right causing the man to sway in that direction - "Use your technique on him and trap him!"

"His?!" Clutching her shoulder, Chitose winced and stumbled back.

"For the love of Kami! Who else?" Noriko snapped, throwing herself off the man when she felt they were a suitable distance from Chitose. She landed harshly, groaning as her leg throbbed in pain and red blood streaming down to her ankle, staining her socks and shoes.

"Ah, I really hate to put holes in good leather," Juzo purred, smearing the blood off his own torso as he readjusted his grip on his cleaver. Rolling her eyes, Noriko pushed herself back up, completely ignoring the pain she felt.

"Yeah, I really hate having my jewellery ruined, but we can't all get what we want," she snarled sarcastically, dusting off her skirt. Her holster was still around her thigh, but it was only holding by half an inch of leather. He smirked and began to walk towards her, but was stopped halfway as a black dome began to form around him. It seeped out from a point above him before dripping down and forming a solid barrier. "Did you...?"

"I don't think it'll last long," Chitose hissed through clenched teeth as she held out her other hand - which now bore a red open eye print.

(Noriko noted the black one on her other hand was now closed).

Copying multiple techniques and using them in one day was too much for her, but she wasn't that great of a tactical thinker (which she'd been too scared to say earlier) and she couldn't even begin to formulate a plan using the ones she'd already copied.

"I only need thirty seconds at the least," Noriko called from her position. She'd dropped into a crouch and was furiously writing on a sheet of paper on the ground. There was no way any of her other scrolls were going to work, she hadn't anticipated she'd be facing this strong of a close-combat fighter... and with Chitose... she had to finish this quickly.

Noriko trusted her ability to keep herself safe, but the second year was shaken up and seemed to have barely any combat experience. "Once you drop the barrier, shut your eyes - or better yet, turn around and don't look until I say so! It'll be really dangerous."

Noriko flipped the paper and began to write on the other side - her handwriting taking up not even half a centimetre with each line. This one was going to be a bitch to pull off, but she had to end it here. If she suffered any more injuries, her ability to fight would be affected and that would put both of them at risk.

"I'm going to have to drop the barrier soon!" Chitose called, feeling the strain on her energy as a headache began to form behind her eyes. I have to hold it a second more, she scolded herself, ignoring the stinging sensation in her hand as the eye etched into the back of her palm began to bleed.

"You can drop it! Just turn around," the brunette followed her instructions, dropping the curtain around Juzo and spinning on her heel so she was facing the other way and squeezing her eyes shut. Even though her anxiety was going through the roof at her vulnerable position, she willed herself to trust the girl - who should've really been her enemy.

Seeing Chitose had followed her instructions, Noriko threw the paper towards Juzo. She didn't bother to roll it up. It began to crackle and crumble as the black dome faded around Juzo. Noriko squeezed her eyes shut and let her world be enveloped in black as she lowered her head and reached up her hands to shield herself unconsciously.

She could barely hear the static over Juzo's rantings, but the sound of bones clattering together came shortly after, silencing her opponent out of shock. Clenching her jaw, Noriko fought the urge to panic as she felt a cold, spherical object roll into her - hitting her ankle. Her eyes remained closed.

"What's this? Skulls?" The object rolled away from her and Noriko blindly rubbed the skin where it'd touched, supressing a shiver. There was more noise as the skulls rolled into a pile before the man, clambering up themselves until they'd formed a huge mound. It got louder and louder as the mass began to rise from the ground and meld into a singular giant skull before him.

'Mekurabe*', Noriko sighed to herself as she felt her energy being fast drained from her. 'Damned creature...'

"What- " The was complete silence and then a scream... and then more... and then the screams turned into weak groans after a few minutes.

It was silent again and Noriko knew 'it' was staring at her - she could smell the cool mist of death before her.

Letting go of her control on her energy, she banished the creature, not opening her eyes until the sound of black rain hitting the ground in front of her was completely finished.

Pushing herself up from her crouched position, Noriko opened her eyes, wincing back at the bright light. The ground in front of her was soaked in ink... and blood. The blood of Juzo Kumiya pooled out around his limp body, merging with the dark ink to become a foul, murky mixture.

"You can open your eyes now, Chitose." Noriko called over to her as she moved to drop into a sitting position on a nearby curb - the sudden lack of energy causing a shooting pain in her chest around her heart. She reached up a hand to clutch the fabric over her chest and rested her head on her knees.

"I-is he dead?"

"Mhmm, completely." She hummed, shutting her eyes as she rested.

"I guess it wasn't as hard as I thought."

"The... the fight?"

"No, killing someone."