Cloaked in Shadows

As expected, Chiasa entered the gym, probably merely for training. It couldn't hurt to make sure though... If anything, finding out about her foe's fighting style would be surely beneficial. Haruna paused for a moment, trying not to follow to closely, before entering the building as well.

Borrowing a towel from the front desk, Haruna removed her track jacket, revealing the black sports bra beneath. Slinging the jacket over her shoulder, she subtlety scanned the area, looking where Chiasa might be.

Chiasa would first be seen going to the punching bag area. Since no one was around to use that area yet, she felt that it would be a good place to stretch out a bit before proceeding with her training. She would first stretch out her arms and then her legs to be more flexible in her future matchup. After 5 minutes of stretches, she cracked her neck from side to side and went into her fighting stance. But this stance was different for it looked as if she was drunk with two shot glasses held by her fingers. This was because Chiasa specializes in drunken boxing aside from submissions.

She approached the punching bag in her "drunken haze" and swayed a little to play the part. Then she would begin with a couple of quick strikes with her hands before a spinning backhand strike.

It didn't take long for Haruna to catch sight of Chiasa, her long, whitish hair standing out a good bit. Posting herself on an open gymnastics mat with a field of view to where her soon-to-be opponent was, Haruna began to go through some light aerobic exercises while watching Chiasa out of the the corner of her eye.

As the Sandwoman struck her odd stance, Haruna couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, observing her quick movements. "Drunken boxing, huh? A troublesome style to deal with. I suppose it's fortunate I decided to tail her today..." she thought, continuing to secretly watch Chiasa train.

Chiasa continued practicing her strikes against the punching bag. She would punch left and right and then add a roundhouse kick to full effect while maintaining her swaying movements. Indeed this kind of fighting style is tough to master, but Chiasa happened to be among those who have done so. And to this day, it served her well.

After pulling off a few combos, Chiasa went back over to her bag to take out her towel and water bottle. She has to dry herself back up before she gets rehydrated. She still felt though that someone may be watching.

Haruna continued to observe, using her own martial arts knowledge to appraise Chiasa's techniques. When they did finally face off, it would be sure to give her an edge. As the girl stopped to take a break, Haruna stepped away, walking towards the free weight dumbbells. It would be foolish to observe her from one place for too long.

Grabbing a few 10-pounders, she proceeded to do some lifts, while using the mirror wall to keep watch over the Sandwoman, despite her back being turned.

After doing a few more drunken punches, Chiasa decided to stretch out her legs for kicking. She first faced the right side of the punching bag to kick one of her legs out to see how straight and high she could kick. Since she is a skilled martial arts expert, she is rewarded with great flexibility. Once she was set, Chiasa went back to her drunken boxing stance to perform some kicks. Some were staggering roundhouses and others were, but both were pretty effective.

Along the way, Chiasa did take a peek behind her to see if anyone was watching, especially Haruna. Some people might look at others in the mirror as a way to try and do better, but there might be those who may do so for other reasons.

Haruna continued to discreetly observe, although she began to get the sense her foe might be aware of her presence. The temporary hair dye would conceal her normally unique hair color, but no longer wearing her sunglasses it was still possible for someone to recognize her facial features, leaving her cover weaker than she would have liked.

Deciding it might be risky to continue, she finished up her repetitions and moved to another section of the gym to continue her own training. She could resume her surveillance later. It would be far easier to tail her outdoors...

Once she was confident and comfortable with throwing her strikes, Chiasa would step away from the punching bags and dry herself off with her own towel before taking a sip of her water. Even though she appears lazy, she does have the discipline and skill to prove her skill as a fighter. Laziness is one thing to underestimate and it has worked to her advantage so far as long as she gets to sleep or watch TV afterwards.

Chiasa would then make her way to the ring and went in through the ropes. Seeing that it's empty, she would begin to practice her combos before performing some aerial flips and jumps. She leapt from different parts of the ring from the side of the turnbuckle to the top of the ropes. This was part of her element of surprise that makes her quite deadly and with her drunken boxing, she may be hard to stop.

Haruna spotted Chiasa moving towards the practice ring, but maintained her distance. There was too much open area surrounding that area for her to watch undetected. Even from across the gym, however, she could get a clear view of her foe's acrobatic expertise. It was possibly even on par with Haruna's own ninja training, and would be an important skill to take note of.

Chaisa would practice her acrobatics for another minute until it was time for another breather. She would get her towel and water bottle on the turnbuckle close to her and dry herself while rehydrating. Then, she would sit down against it and position herself in a meditative stance. With her eyes closed, she breathed in and out to clear her mind of all thoughts and focus on the task at hand. The Sandwoman must be ready to win her upcoming match in order to give AFW something to watch and not sleep on (no pun intended).

This could give Haruna a chance to take further notes if she is going to have any chance of stacking up to her.