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"GODDAMNIT!" Kaosu roared as he jumped back onto his feet and started off again. He knew he was going slower as Tsai was going away at a higher and higher rate of speed. Kaosu tried to push his legs harder, move faster. The weights were finally taking a toll on his body, and he couldn't help it. He pushed again and gained a small, miniscule push forward towards Tsai. He was trying to regulate his breathing, but it wasn't helping.

That cocky entrance is what's finished me. Kaosu noted. Never again. He could literally feel the beating of his heart in his fingers as he kept running. This has only worked once...I doubt it will work again. But it wouldn't hurt to try.

Kaosu had recently learned about the ability known as 'Hohou' or 'God Step'. He had tried it out only a few times, mostly unsuccessfully. And never in such circumstances. He tried to keep his pace up as he closed his eyes. He barely felt the flow of reiatsu in his body, he was too occupied to try. Come on... He again tugged at the flow of reiatsu, this time trying with the small pool of reserve energy he had left. He felt the majority of his reiatsu being pooled into his feet, just as he wanted them too. He felt the abundant energy flowing, but knew it wasn't enough for a 'shunpo'.

However, it was enough to get him going. He pushed off the ground harder than he had, and he gained some ground. It wasn't alot, barely enough, but it got him caught up. After the flow pulled itself back into it's normal position, Kaosu had to make up for the lack of energy in his feet. He pushed and pushed, and once looked up. Hello again, Tsai. This time, you're mine.

[34]

Kaosu moaned in an awkward way through breaths. Should have known. Dang you Tsai, I'm starting to hate smart people. Kaosu again barely increased his pace. I should have known he'd do something like that. Kaosu had the deep urge to throw something at Tsai, but he didn't want to stop and pick anything up. Come on, you can do it.

After a good ten minutes or so of steady running, gaining completely no ground on Tsai, Kaosu finally decided it was going to end up in an all-or-nothing dash. I'll only do this once. It probably won't work, but it's the only chance I have. In this mindset, Kaosu bent low towards the ground, and this gave him a better area to push off the ground with. He pulled his knee close to his chest before pushing hard against the ground until his foot was straight behind him, and then pulling it back. A last ditch effort. Who would have thought it?

[35]

Kaosu continued the low running method he was working with, hoping that Tsai wouldn't notice. He seemed not to notice so far, so it was a 'so far so good' moment. I hate those times. They're such a letdown. But, Kaosu saw sweet success in sight. His breathing was far beyond control. He was heaving in air almost as if it was the last thing he was going to do on this earth. Once again, he reached out his hand with the intent of grabbing Tsai's robes. Almost... Kaosu thought as he felt the faint whip of cloth on his fingers. Just...a...little farther...

[36]

Tears started to well up in Kaosu's eyes. Stupid...so stupid. He let out a large roar as he kept his pace, even daring to increase it. Oh, dear heavens, I am so going to regret this. Every slap of his feet on the ground felt like a dumbbell slamming into concrete. I can't take much more of this. The last-ditch didn't work, so why try?

Kaosu was about to just stop and give up, when a familiar voice perked him up. Giving up? The voice resonated in Kaosu's head like church-bells. After getting so close, you give up now? Hoping his zanpaku-to avatar could read his mind, he gave him the biggest middle finger he could think of. All that was replied was a roar of laugher louder than thunder.

Kaosu sighed in his head; seeing as he was incapable of doing any other sort of sound with his mouth. It was completely devoted to breathing, trying to not faint. His whole body, inside and out, felt like a burning corpse on one of those ancient funeral pyres. No. Failure cannot be an option. I'll show you both; you and Tsai. Kaosu closed his eyes again. He knew he'd never be able to be even close to pulling it off, but he couldn't just quit.

He focused again on his flow of reiatsu. This time, however, it was easier to pull on the reiatsu than it was before. Maybe... Kaosu tugged on it a little too hard, instead of just sending it on a different path gently; he ripped it away harshly. Screw the consequences, I gotta catch up. He felt that familiar feeling in his feet, maybe just a little more concentrated. As much as I hate to admit it, it's now or never. Even though he was running, Kaosu felt himself tiring out almost as if he was ready to go to sleep. One more last chance.

Kaosu focused the energy into short little bursts underneath his feet, propelling himself forward faster than he'd ever gone before. He hoped Tsai wouldn't notice before he had made it. Finally, Kaosu could see even the small folds in Tsai's robe as he ran forward. For the third, and final, time Kaosu reached out his hand. Unfortunately, he was falling back once again.

As a last ditch attempt to catch Tsai, Kaosu jumped off the ground and into the air. He reached both his hands out in an exasperated effort to even just touch Tsai. As he approached, Kaosu stretched as far as he could. I don't care if I have a bad fall. I'll be on the ground anyways. But then, his heart skipped a few beats as he felt something hard on his fingertips.

Tsai's backside.

[37]

Kaosu was stuck between two emotions. First, the initial and final joy of catching up to Tsai, and second the loathe of doing pushups in his state. Then, Tsai sat on him. He wasn't, 'crushed', persay. Tsai barely weighed anything compared to what he's hauled before so that wasn't the problem. The problem was he had been whirling his hands, with weights, up and down in a fury to try to catch Tsai.

Hoo boy. This is...fun. He did what Tsai said, and tried to focus his, self-named, 'reiatsu river', into his arms. It was a different feeling than his feet. He could actually feel the swirls of reiatsu licking into all his muscles, making up for their weakness. Slowly, while pulling harder and harder on his reiatsu flow, he rose from the ground. When he was all the way up, he slowly lowered himself down, gently reducing the flow as to preserve it better. He wheezed hard again, and his sweat was finally starting to get into his eyes. It stung, but it was bearable.

Kaosu pulled on his reiatsu when he went up, and released it going down. He kept this process up for a while, subconciously pulling a little more reiatsu out as his limbs kept becoming more tired. Whoa...my arms aren't trembling yet? What's this? Of course, Kaosu had no idea what he was doing.

He didn't count, he only pushed and let down. After what seemed like forever, he grunted quickly after pushing up and he held that position. "How....many?" He managed to say before continuing.

[37]

"Oooh...yeah." Kaosu moaned as Tsai got off his back. "There is mercy...in this world." Kaosu tried to pull back on the reiatsu crowding his arms, but it stayed. Hm...I wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Regardless, Kaosu kept pushing himself up and down, not even bothering counting. He, strangely, felt like he could do it all day long. He spoke to Tsai inbetween pushes. "You know...for as hard as you just ran me...I feel great. I could probably...never do that...again today but...it's almost as if...I never did it."

Finally, Kaosu felt the burn of the muscles. His arms started wobbling uncontrollably and he felt weak again. "Okay...I take that back." He struggled again with the flow of reiatsu, trying to push it back into his unstable arms, but right now it was acting like a stubborn child. Come on! Kaosu shouted in his head as he struggled to get the reiatsu back into his arms, which were steadily getting weaker. He could barely hold himself up anymore. I...need...the energy.

However, the flow didn't follow what he wanted to, and it completely retracted all support from his arms. It was then he collapsed onto the ground, emmitting a loud "OOF" as he fell. He tried to get up, but his arms were, in a nutshell, useless for the most part. "I wasn't counting. Did you get that?" Kaosu could only smile.

(Once again incredibly sorry. Again hijacked)

Kaosu rolled over and slowly crossed his arms over his chest and started lifting his arms to his legs in the classic sit-up position. "1".

Kaosu was wondering how well Tsai could think he could perform after all this. I'm practically on the verges of acting exactly like a vegetable; just with motion of my mouth. Kaosu's mind then half-conciously drifted to other things as he counted, and he lost complete knowledge of time, space, or pain. When he came back, he said "50." Then, as he stopped his deep thought, the pain of his stomach overpowered him and he layed down for a moment or two. Whew.

Then, he got up to a standing position, not even caring if Tsai was paying attention. He started his jumping jacks, staring into a lightening horizon. Not much farther to go.

"1".