"
I can't believe you risked my life for icecream!"
"Mmmphhggr!"
Tsuna returns the angered shout with a muffled one of his own, still hastily chewing the mochi icecream he'd stuffed into his face before they were spotted. Caught off balance, he stumbles backward down an aisle as a shadowy polygon-shaped canine advances on him with repeated laser blasts from the scarlet orb hovering above its head. The minute swings of his blade move faster than the eye can see, but he still only just manages to deflect the projectiles that ping off and steadily destroy the store around him. He hears a crash a few aisles over and a string of swears in Arabic as the book section catches fire. "Sorry! Urk-!"
He nearly stabs himself when a bout of brain freeze causes him to jerk, but he turns the action into a sideways tumble as he rolls behind collapsed shelves. There's no opportunity to take a breath, but he wastes a heartbeat steadying himself for the onslaught to come.
This is...in no way a normal situation in which he'd be able to visualize the kata before he enacts them. This entire trip to the west has kept him continually off-balance. No one could have ever anticipated alien ships abruptly appearing in the sky and destroying cities in bursts of light, with any semblance of normalcy crumbling shortly after that. It makes him feel helpless. There's no path to follow.
It'd be too overwhelming if he allows himself to dwell on it all- so he needs to draw his focus in on one point. He's going to win. His grandfather named him Katsuhito because he'll be the one who overcomes and is eternally victorious. Gloved fingers flex on the hilt of his sword. "Right."
A violently bright light bursts overhead as the creature begins burning into the debris that hides him, intending to bury him in it. Tsuna hisses out a breath through his teeth and tenses his body- only to launch out from cover and whirl to face his opponent. He follows his momentum, dropping to his knees so that the next laser narrowly passes above his head as he slides across the dirty tiles. He halts himself in a kneeling position and briefly gauges the distance between them before lunging forward again.
He miscalculated- he's too far- but the blade will reach. He's sure of it.
One step. One more. There are scorch marks burned into the ground where he was moments ago but he keeps his gaze on the tip of his sword. There may still be a few inches between his blade and the alien's chest but it is pierced nonetheless. Regular steel shouldn't be able to scratch the smooth, onyx surface but he manages to tear through it like tinfoil. A shift in stance allows for him to move his blade in an arc, slicing it neatly in half as he comes to a stop before the sparking machine. Tsuna reflexively flicks his blade to fling off nonexistent blood and sheathes it in one swift movement.
The shrapnel from his most recent kill flies past him, one shard slicing into his face and another- "Agh! My glasses!"
He flails in an attempt to catch the suddenly blurry object and whirls to follow its trajectory. Only to find himself nearly face-to-orb with another alien hunter that had torn into the other side of the building.
"Ah..."
