Fight-ON!
Chapter Six
The First Qualifier ~ Genius of battle-theory!!
“Rina, get down from the street lamp.”
With a sullen look on her otherwise emotionless face, the ninja-girl obeys my words.
“Kaeo. Stop stuffing yourself with food. If you gorge now, you’re useless in the match.”
With a pissed off expression, our tanned Muay Thai-champion throws away the take-away bag from local hamburger joint.
“And Tsubasa………if you’ll continue that, you’ll get nicotine poisoning. And hyperventilate at the same time.”
With a strangely grateful face, Tsubasa forcefully put away her pipe to a safer place and breathed in some fresh air for a moment.
------------------- This is not good.
Needless to say, our team was nervous as hell. I had no idea that these three otherwise calm and collected fighters could get this giddy when it concerned an “official” match. Especially one at the lower end of the whole mountain we were supposed to climb. If it was this bad, then what was going to happen in the first “real” tournament matches? That is……if we’d ever make so far.
“Leon-dono, art thou sure this is the correct way to the scene of battle, de gozaru?” Tsubasa asked from me, looking like she was desperately seeking something to talk about so there would not be the awkward silence.
The only problem was…
“Yes, I am sure, as I was just two minutes ago. Now, could you find something else to ask, and stop acting like a little child on his first cross-country trip with his parents??”
It had been like this the whole time it took to walk from our apartment to the intersection we were right now. We could see the shipment-yard in the distance, and the city slowly changed to harbor. I could already hear the seagulls in the distance, those very epitomes of insatiable hunger. However, right now, they were also the announcers that told us we were getting closer and closer to our goal.
That is……………our first qualifier match in the Tournament of One Thousand Blades.
The Lionhearts versus Back-Alley Rockers.
In other words, Tsubasa, Rina and Kaeo versus Tohei Kumo, Black-Bara and Mitsuhane Hibiki.
I’m just the manager, so I’ll be on the sidelines, to my relief.
I didn’t know that much about the match itself, but I could imagine it as some sort of boxing-match with only judges along the competitors themselves. And as the appointed place for our match was in the shipment-yard, I could very well imagine that the “arena” would be surrounded by those large red and blue container boxes that were always present whenever you went to the harbor. So most likely I’d be watching the girls duke it out with Back-Alley Rockers in from the higher ground, which would be good. I’d be use the little knowledge I have about fighting to my advantage, and to give them some help.
What interested me was the “Match-Type” that had been mentioned few times, by that strange referee, and the girls themselves. Apparently, in Tournament of One Thousand Blades, there was always a certain “type” of match that would be played. That meant special rules, unique arenas, other objectives than beating the spirit of Bruce Lee out of the other competitors……….And for our match, the match-type would be “Switch”. All qualifier-matches were usually either “Switch” or “Face-off” types, and more types appeared when the tournament actually, officially, started.
So, what was this “Switch” type of match all about?
--------------- A rather annoying thing, actually.
All the members of the team would take part in the fight. However, only one person from both teams would fight at time. Whenever either member was defeated, another member from their team switched in. And here’s the peskiest part: The order of the fighters was randomized. In other words, you could not use strategy to decide the best line-up.
“………….If only we get lucky, this match is as good as won.”
I knew that much. We had one combination that would guarantee us an easy win. However, if that did not come true….
----------------- I don’t want to think about it. “Thinking” skill is only learned by level 10 Managers! I’m still level 2!
“Shishou…..art thou alright? Thou looketh rather palish, de gozaru...” Tsubasa looked at me, worried, as I rubbed my templates.
“Ah, it’s alright. I’m just trying to think about the match, but it’s no use…..I can’t make big plans until we find out the line-up.”
“In that case, may I suggest thou wouldst direct thy attention to Kaeo-san? She seemeth to be acting rather…..uniquely, de gozaru.”
Hmh? What’s that no-good muscle-woman doing again??
“That’s right, that’s right, gotta train some more ‘fore the match starts! Ya can ne’er be in too good shape, ya know!” I hear the voice of an idiotic lion from not too far away.
------ You have got to be kidding me.
Much to the shock of the few passer-bys that happened to be on the same intersection as us, Kaeo had started performing push-ups in the middle of street, going up and down on a pace that made me wonder why she hadn’t taken flight already. And with one hand, nonetheless. But as great as it looked, there was one thing…….
“Can you calm down already!? If you tire yourself out now, we have no chances of winning!!” I yelled at the tanned punching-idiot, who acted like she had swallowed a whole bottle of suspicious medicine from far-east.
Kaeo looked at me with a somewhat strange expression, which brought stomach ulcers to my mind for some strange reason. The girl, however, stood up as I had instructed, and drew a deep breath, before scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.
“Hahahaa……I guess I got bit carried away there, right?”
And not just a little!
“But ya sure are calm, Leon. Good job our manager has nerves of steel, ya know?”
Actually, it’s the other way around. I’m the one surprised why you all are so nervous about this thing!
--------------- Good thing we’re already there. I couldn’t have taken any more of this.
The shipment yard is right ahead of us, and its main building is clearly where we need to go. I can tell this by the fact that every other place is surrounded by a metal fence, and to get to the yard, one needs to go through the main building. That, and the doors of the main building are open, and we can see light from the inside.
“Let’s go, then.”
We walk to the entrance, where we are assaulted by the light that seems rather unsuitable to this calm and gentle summer night. Or well, it would be calm and gentle, if we were anywhere else but in Tokyo. From my experience, all the nightlife that is missing from places like my hometown has somehow gathered here.
Well, not that I would have experienced any of that nightlife yet. I’m poor student, after all.
“Stable: The Lionhearts?”
I’m snapped out of my thoughts that are worrisomely similar as the lyrics in that one rap-song say. A man stands in the doorway, lit up by light from the inside, waiting for us. I’m not sure if this was the same man who had appeared yesterday, but at least he was wearing similar armor, and had most of his frame covered by the blood red cloak of his. The hood of the cloak had been pulled up, and I only saw the shadows that were covering his face. Yet I knew that I was the target of piercing eyes that must have been hidden under that hood.
“Y-yeah. We are”, I answered, trying to keep my voice steady. The man raised his hand in front of him, and looked at the strange device that was fitted around his wrist.
“You are exactly on time. Good. Follow me.”
And so our journey continued deeper into the large building. While we walked through the grey corridors of the place that was usually, most likely, used to house most important cargo before it was shipped inland, I noticed that the man that was guiding us most likely was not the man who we had met yesterday. After all, as I looked around, I saw many of people in similar attires. Most of them were men, but there were few women with them.
“Vanguard. They are here to keep the fighters in check, and to make sure that everyone obeys the rules of Tournament of One Thousand Blades. Nin-nin”, Rina told me with a low whisper when she noticed my confused expression.
The Vanguard representative that was guiding us led us through a long and winding corridor, which was apparently one of the many. Every now and then there was a door that led to a small office looking room, but they were curiously devoid of all people. Maybe all the workers of this place had been told to scram when the Vanguard had come here to prepare this for the match of the night?
“You shall wait in this room until you are called. Leave through the entrance on the other side. It will lead straight to the arena”, the Vanguard member said while he opened the door for us. After we had all gotten in, he saluted us, and closed the door behind us.
The room we were now in was kind of nice, actually. There were few sofas, a television, a fridge with some soda and sports drinks that you could apparently drink for free, as well as some magazines on the table for reading. All in all, this place reminded me of….
“……..Backstage?”
“Hm? What did thou sayeth, Leon-dono?” Tsubasa asked from me, as I had murmured that loud.
“Nah, it’s nothing. It’s just that this place……….it’s like backstage. Are you trying to tell me the participants of Tournament of One Thousand Blades are like rock stars of martial arts world?” I ask, slightly baffled. Kaeo laughs at my question.
“Ya bet! We’re ‘posed to be the best of the best, ya know? Damn right they’d be treatin’ us like rockstars!” he said and grins wickedly.
“This one must say that out of us all, Leon-sama fits this category the best”, Rina added.
------ Hey. How come your face is somewhat pitying? Are you trying to say it wasn’t a compliment? It was compliment, right? Please tell me it was compliment!
“Anyhow, Shishou. Dost thou hath any plan for the battle we are about to experience, de gozaru?” Tsubasa asked from me, turning the conversation once again towards more serious tone. I shook my head, however.
“Nope. I really can’t make any decision as long as I don’t know the line-up for today’s match. But…” I raised my hand as Tsubasa was about to say something, cutting her off. “I know this. I don’t think we have to worry about Tohei Kumo or Black-Bara. They are nowhere near the level of you guys. However, who I am worried about is that third one…. Mitsuhane Hibiki. He is clearly more skilled than his partners. I’m afraid that out of you three, the only one that could match him is Rina.”
I looked over at the small kunoichi, who I could barely to be of the legal age. I had to admit at this point, she was the most “experienced” of this group, and would fare the best in a battle. Tsubasa had technique and Kaeo had raw power, but Rina had clearly fought in real life-or-death situations before. If we managed to pit her against Mitsuhane Hibiki from the very start, with both at the peak of their powers, I think we would manage. She would take down Mitsuhane, and even if Rina then lost to Kumo or Black-Bara, both Tsubasa and Kaeo would be able to handle them.
But that was only if the line-up I wanted would happen. If something else would come up, it would become very troublesome match……..
“Huh? Are ya sayin’ I couldn’t beat that bastard??” Kaeo says somewhat threateningly while she cracks her knuckles. Without meaning to do so, I just managed to make Kaeo wish for her to pitted against Mitsuhane Hibiki.
“Most likely not”, I offer the harsh truth. “A brute-force type fighter like you would especially experience problems when fighting against him.”
Kaeo gives a “Tch!” sound and looks away with a large pout, but I think she knows I’m speaking the truth. After all, it was I who spent the whole day watching as these three trained and showed me their best moves, so I could come up with a decent strategy beforehand. But due to the match-type, it was hard. Very hard.
------ Oh yeah, and I’m still a novice in this whole thing. I guess that must have affected a bit too.
And then begins the waiting. Tsubasa lits up her pipe once more to calm down her nerves. Kaeo lays down on the sofa, complaining something about how they’re making us wait. Rina opens a bottle of water that was in the fridge and drinks it in one go. I guess the summer heat affects her too. I pace back and forth in this small room, trying to shake of the nervousness that is creeping up on me too. I know that if we lose this battle, we might have small chance of comeback by starting a new stable, but I’m not sure if these three could rise up for one more try. Apparently most stables defeated at this point won’t make a comeback with new emblem and name.
In other words, we have to win.
Not just to drop Back-Alley Rockers from the competition. But to make sure they don’t launch surprise attacks on our members, or any other people, anymore.
And if we win, we’ll establish some reputation for ourselves, which both protects and endangers us at this point of the tournament.
So, while winning is not all-rosy option, it’s the best option we have.
---------- And besides: No one of us wants to lose to those guys.
Ding dong ding!
“We would like to ask both teams to get ready. The match shall start in five minutes.”
As we heard the monotone voice of a woman echo from the speakers, we all stopped what we were doing and headed to the door that the Vanguard member had pointed for us. It would apparently lead straight to the arena, if what he said was correct. There were two lights above the door, one red and one green. The red light was on right now, and the green was off, which most likely meant that we were not supposed to go in yet. And so, even though Kaeo looked more than a bit raring to go, we stayed put. It would have been embarrassing to burst to the arena before the finishing touches would have been ma-
“Excuse me, Manager-san?”
“GYAAH!!”
I’m startled by the sudden voice that comes next to my ear. Even the girls seem alarmed, as all take their battle stances, but calm down after realizing it’s yet another Vanguard member. Apparently he wants to talk to me, so I nod at him, urging him to go on.
“What is it?”
“There is a slight problem. Your stable has not yet submitted their entrance theme song.”
Entra-WHAT!?
“……Excuse me?”
“It is a tradition in this tournament that all stables have their own theme song that is used whenever they enter the arena”, he explains, and after seeing my dumbfounded face, offers more details. “It has its roots on the fact that this tournament has also been one for the audience. A slight showmanship has been a part of it, always.”
Somehow the idea that Tournament of One Thousand Blades is a ancient and honored tradition where masters of the martial arts meet is crumbling away before my very eyes……
“…..But we haven’t prepared a one. What should we do?” I ask from him, to which Vanguard nods.
“Do not worry. We can arrange you any song you want to be played. Please choose one so we can move forward with preparations and start planning.”
……A “theme song”, huh?
Hhmmm….I guess that would fit. They never say it had to be from the home country of any of us or the sorts, so…
“The song we want is……”
I whisper the rest to the Vanguard personnel. He nods to me, makes a note in the small memo he carries and then salutes us, and walks away to the other direction.
“Leon-dono…..Can I trust thee?” Tsubasa asks, seeming little queasy as I chose the song without their consent.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine!” I grin to her and give thumbs up.
And before I manage to do anything else…
“Ding dong ding! Stable 2: The Lionhearts. Please enter the arena.”
The monotone female voice echoed from the speakers.
-------- Number 2? So does this mean that the Back-Alley Rockers are already waiting for us?
“Okay. Good luck, girls”, I nod to them, and give Tsubasa the sign to open the door.
She opens it and reveals the slightly downwards going corridor behind it. And beyond that…..I can see the night. And the arena that is waiting.
“Let’s go!!”
The adrenaline that has slowly begun to seep into our veins finally takes control, and we all pick up our pace. Soon our walk turns to jog. And after that, into run. We run towards the end of the corridor, where our first challenge waits us. The first challenge, and the challenge we must overcome if we want to continue on this road that we have chosen. The footfalls, the breathing, the rhythm of our hearts, it becomes one, combined with our expectations and dreams, a single force that ushers out of the corridor, and into the shipment-yard.
Where we are blinded by incredible light and the roars of cheers so big I have never heard anything like it.
-------------------------- WHAAAAAAT!?!?!?!?
It’s incredible. I’m awestruck, speechless. I have no safe place where to point my eyes, and no place to hide. They’ve already seen me. And now I and the girls are the center of attention of thousands, thousands of people.
What is this? What is this all!?
The arena itself is a large square fenced by the large containers that are seen everywhere in the shipment-yards around the world. The floor is concrete, and merciless to the fighters that will fall down to it. But that is not all. The arena itself maybe so simple, but it does not end there. That’s because those “container-fences” actually form a type of colossal stairs. Stairs that are packed full of people.
Audience. There’s audience bigger than what I have ever seen.
I can’t even begin how many people there are, ready to watch the match. But stairs continue for a long way, making the cheapest places so that you cannot make many details, just like in football match. The whole shipment-yard must be packed full of people. And somehow, amongst all these peoples, they’ve fitted lighting and speakers that would make show-wrestling matches pale in comparison.
We arrived into full-blown sports arena, built here in the shipment yard.
The roar and cheers of people, the music blasting so loud it threatens to overwhelm the sound of people, the lights that shoot through the air and cut the darkness, the atmosphere that beats in the rhythm of my heart……..It’s almost too much. We are overwhelmed. Every single one of us.
Now I understand why the girls were so nervous. They knew about this.
Kaeo is there, mouth half-open and glove-covered hands in tight fists, unable to move. Tsubasa is no longer smoking her pipe, but she is gripping the handle of her sword with her fingers white. Rina was stiff like a statue, unable to even move her eyes. And even though I could see the Back-Alley Rockers in the distance, waiting us in the arena floor, I could not move a step.
-------------- Damn. Did we freeze already? Is this how shocked we were about this?
Aaaah, it’s useless. In no way can we quit here. I’m the only one who didn’t know about this, and yet these girls are stopped by their nervousness.
………..Damnit. I’m their manager.
I have to do something.
………..
And then I hear it.
The song I chose. Even without realizing it would be used like this, in front of all these people, I chose that song. And now I’m glad that I did. Because when I hear that song, I can relax again. I’m in my element. Damn, that’s right. What did I think?
So what if these people are here?
----------------- We came here to win!!
Workin' like a dog for the boss man
Workin' for the company
I'm bettin' on the dice I'm tossin'
I'm gonna have a fantasy
So sings the male voice that echoes through the arena, in the ears of everyone. And with it, I raise my hand to the skies.
“Tsubasa! Rina! Kaeo! Wake up! We won’t stop here! We came here to win, right!? SO LET’S WIN!!!”
That wakes them up. That and the music. It drives the power back to their limbs, and they raise their hands, just like I did. We all have our index finger pointing the sky, and rest of the hand in a fist. This will be our sign. The sign that we came here to win.
“And here they are, from Minato Ward of Tokyo city! Their combined weight being 152 kilos! Tsunemoto Tsubasa, Fūma Rina, Thunusakurn Kaeo! Accompanied to the arena by their manager, Hart Leon!! They are: The Lionheaaaaaaaaarrrts!!!”
The voice of announcer resonated even over our theme music. As our name was said, the roar of the audience was suddenly accompanied by whistles. They were cheering for us. There was no way they actually knew us, but they still cheered for us.
We were combatants, after all.
And so, with our heads held high, and our arms raised, we made our way to the arena. The long walk down the ramp into the arena felt far too short, and when it was over, we found ourselves facing the Back-Alley Rockers, who were waiting us at the other end of the arena. Tohei Kumo, Black Bara and Mitsuhane Hibiki, all staring at us. Amongst cheering crowd and flashing lights, we still managed to stare only at each other.
Soon, this simple, square-shaped arena would be the place where either them or us would fall.
“Welcome to the grandest tournament of them all, here in Japan!” The voice of the announcer rang all around the arena. I saw him high above us, in the final row of containers on the opposite side. “The Tournament of One Thousand Blades kicks off this week with yet another qualifier match! The stables fighting it off this time are the local favorites, Black-Alley Rockers, who face the newcomer stable of The Lionhearts! While our veterans have already seven victories under their belts, their opponents are completely fresh! How do you think they’ll fare? If you feel lucky, head over to the betting booth, where you can put your money on for your favorite stable!!”
I saw that there was indeed a betting booth in one row of the containers, where quite many people had lined up. A small sign on the outside told what the current odds were. And I can tell you, they weren’t exactly in our favor. Looks like most of the people were betting the Back-Alley Rockers, and only tiny fraction had taken the risk of betting on us. Even right now, one pink-haired girl was placing her bets, and it seemed like she was…..
Hmh? Wait a minute.
-------- I know that girl.
And just as I thought that, the girl turned around, as if she had felt my gaze from the distance. I’m not sure if our eyes met, but I know that the sharp move that she made with her hand was most definitely directed at me.
No doubt about it. That pink-haired skater-girl had betted on our team.
“So, without further ado, let’s start up the match! Tonight we’ll be experiencing a true-blue Switch-type match, which means we’ll be seeing both stables in action! And because it’s a Switch-type match, we all want, the competitors especially, to see the line-ups of today. And what more are we waiting for!? Take it away, boys!! Show us the line-ups!” The voice of the announcer tore me from my staring-competition with the pink-haired girl, and I was put back to the ground by the realization that our moment of truth had just arrived.
----------- This would be a major factor in whether we would win or lose.
Our eyes are drawn to the large white sheet that has been spread as the “screen”, and the image that’s being projected into it. There we see both our emblem and the Back-Alley Rocker’s emblem, separated by a stylized “VS”. Below the emblems are three places for pictures, and they seem to be going through the pictures of the stable members in varying speeds.
And when those pictures stop…….It’ll show us just what kind of match this will become.
“All together now! Three……..two…….one……..STOP!!”
The announcer yells, and the audience repeats. The pictures on the screen change with a blinding speed for one second, before coming to complete halt.
And this is the result.
The Lionhearts VS Back-Alley Rockers
Fūma Rina - Tohei Kumo
Thunusakurn Kaeo – Black-Bara
Tsunemoto Tsubasa – Mitsuhane Hibiki
……….
“C-crap…….It’s different from what I predicted….!?”
I think this is the worst possible outcome for us.
Our best fighter is first, and theirs is last.
This is not good.
“So there you have it, folks!! In just few minutes, we’ll be seeing these six people duke it out in Switch-type match! Or maybe we won’t, if the power of the combatants is enough to destroy few of these flour-filled containers and spread their contents into the air, hahahaha! Anyways, let’s give the stables little time to come up with their plan, and then we’ll start!!” The announcer yells into his microphone.
I’m left with the grim looking girls, while looking at the Back-Alley Rockers on the other side of the arena. They look like they’ve just won the lottery.
“Man…..Leon any ideas how we should beat ‘em up?” Kaeo asked, slightly worrying expression her face. She still didn’t seem to have lost her positive attitude, but it was close.
“It won’t do if we are to just charge them, hoping we would get lucky, de gozaru”, Tsubasa added.
“……..This one is worried”, Rina agreed.
------------ Damn.
Just because of the line-up, we are going to lose? That’s not fair. There must be something, something we could do. Some way we could take out these three….
…….hmh….?
Wait a minute! if I remember correctly, then….!!!
“……….We can still win.”
The girls looked at me, confused. For the first time tonight, I grinned widely. Yeah, I had just found the path we should take if we take if we wanted to win.
“Don’t ya worry, girls. Your manager has plan!”
[CENTER]---------------------- Fight-ON! ----------------------
Fūma Rina vs.Tohei Kumo[/CENTER]
After I had instructed girls, I was guided to the special “seats” reserved for VIP-guests and managers of the stables. Since Back-Alley Rockers did not have a manager, I thought I’d be there alone, but to my surprise, I wasn’t. I was accompanied by a young woman, seemingly my age. Judging by her blond mullet and face, she was a foreigner, just like I was. Maybe a spectator from a stable of some other division? According to Tsubasa, each part of the world had their own qualifiers, and the ones here in Japan were just the ones for Eastern-Asia division.
The woman giggled loudly as she saw me, and then licked her lips.
------------- I feel like I’m being looked as an object. The realization both turns me on and scares me. Weird.
“So you must be, hahahaha, their manager? Leon Hart, was it?” she asked from me, giving a weird laugh in middle of her sentence.
“Yeah. That’s me. What about it?”
“Good, kukukukuk, luck on your match, hihihihi, tonight. You’ll be, hahaha, needing it.”
Okay, now you’re starting to creep me out, lady. That laugh is just too weird!!
Instead of focusing this lady that just kept on giggling, I turned my gaze to the arena. There, both teams were already in position. Black-Bara, Mitsuhane Hibiki were watching from the lowest row of containers, as were Kaeo and Tsubasa. Meanwhile, Rina and Tohei Kumo were facing each other in the arena. Even in the midst of the cheering and yelling audience, I could feel the tension crackling like lightning in the air. Or maybe it was just because of that?
“And here we go! Three, two, one……………………..FIGHT!!”
It was amazing.
Tohei Kumo ran forward the moment the gong‘s sound resonated through the arena, his long arms dragging behind him. Rina, on the other hand, just took her minimalist stance and kept her stare focused on the thug-like attack. When he got in the range, Kumo slammed his foot down to the asphalt and used his momentum to throw the rest of his body into backwards flip, holding his right foot down as an anchor. The left leg, and the body after it, were like the pointers of a clock that came crashing down at Rina with a tremendous speed. It was like a guillotine.
But Rina did not hesitate. Instead of getting caught up by such a unorthodox move, she dodged sideways and stopped Kumo’s attempt to adjust the foot’s trajectory by slapping it away with her palm. This was done with her right arm, as her left one had already reached for sai. She held it in reverse-grip, so that the painful, dull handle slammed right into Kumo’s solar plexus. The tall man gasped for breath, but did not lose his focus. Rina had taken a risk my not taking more distance to him, and now she paid the price. The long arms reached towards her, and while she managed to dodge the right one, the left one caught up with her extended arm holding the sai, and locked around it.
Tohei Kumo gripped tightly, lifted the smaller girl so she was in a painful position thanks to the arm lock, and unleashed a leg-sweep like a bullwhip. Apparently he was trying to take Rina down with a single move that would dislocate her arm. However, the advantage of having a smaller opponent quickly became his bane. Rina jumped up, dodging the leg, and wrapped her legs around Kumo’s extended arm. Before he managed to release himself, the other sai, now in right hand, stabbed right into his wrist, and with a scream of agony, he released his lock.
But it was not over yet. Rina made a painful twist with her knees, and Kumo’s arm was bent into unnatural direction. Although for a person like him it did not hurt so much, it did certainly serve as a distraction. This allowed to Rina to finish her momentum by utilizing the spin, and landing a clear kick straight to Kumo’s face, which sent both fights rolling into opposite directions.
“Y-you bitch…..!!!” I could hear Kumo growl as he slowly stood up from the asphalt, wiping the blood that kept oozing from his nose. “You want to play dirty? Then let’s play dirty!!!”
-------- He’s losing his cool. The worst mistake you can make when facing against Rina.
Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack!
The sickening sound that echoes through the arena is Tohei Kumo unlocking all his joints. He took a strange position with his arms stretched high, and his body swaying side to side. The woman besides me smirks as she watches down on the battlefield.
“Hahahaha, that’s Tohei Kumo’s, kihihi, ultimate technique: Wanderer Web. Ultimate defensive position, inspired by the, kukukukuku, Brazilian Wandering Spider”, she said.
Oh shut up. I’m not sure which one should I be worried, that creepy laugh of yours or that ridiculous stance of Tohei Kumo.
----------------Wait a minute.
Brazilian Wandering Spider…..? That couldn’t be some strange metaphor for…………Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
No. It most likely was.
“Rina! Foo Fighters, third album, third song!!” I shouted from the top of my lungs, hoping my voice would reach the girl.
And she gave me thumbs up without her impassive face changing at all.
---------- Oh yes. She had understood.
As Tohei Kumo did not move a inch, it was up to Rina to charge. The sai were gripped firmly in her hands, and she ran forward, ready to stab the lithe man wherever he showed a weakness. But as soon as the girl had stepped into his range, the strangely dangling body of Tohei Kumo longed forward, all his limbs assaulting her from different angles like legs of spider, only his left leg keeping him in balance. All those limbs, threatening to lock around Rina’s limbs and drag her down to the ground, where she would be forced to give up because of the pain.
But that would have been an outcome if Rina had not realized my message.
Instead of trying to attack with her feet on the ground, where she was vulnerable, Rina jumped into the air and thus evaded Kumo’s arms, as he had not expected such a daring move. Like a cannonball, Rina collided with his upper body. This was followed up with Rina kicking hard with his both feet, shooting herself backwards and damaging Tohei Kumo’s upper-body area more.
Because of the force of the kick, Rina flew backwards and landed roughly on the asphalt, rolling away from her opponent to gain distance. But that was a bad move. The moment Kumo realized his opponent was in the ground, he attacked. His arms were like web, and they assaulted Rina’s wrists. Even though girl tried to break free by swinging her arms to the side, the grip of the tall man did not break.
………..Wait a minute. She didn’t try to break free.
She had thrown something.
Kumo screamed as the blood flowed from his arms. There, I saw the two kunais that had been thrown with deadly precision. Having anticipated that she would not be able to escape in time, Rina had taken the only countermeasure she had had. While Tohei Kumo was still trying to remove those kunai, Rina rolled backwards and jumped up with a grace of a swan. She landed perfectly on her feet and reached for the sai that had been put back to her waist some time ago.
“Watch out!!!”
I had forgotten. Spiders were not only restricted to two limbs. Neither was this spider. Those arms may had been taken out of the game for a while, but Tohei Kumo’s whip-like leg suddenly curled itself around Rina’s upper body, locking her right arm in place. And despite the bleeding, right arm jumped into the fray, locking Rina’s leg into unnatural position. Having new point of balance, the other leg was freed, and it was free to join in locking the last remaining arm of Rina. Tohei Kumo resembled a rubber-spider when he was hanging from Rina’s body, locking all but her remaining left leg. It look surrealistic see a man that tall curled up like a ball around a girl of Rina’s size. He was both upside-down and facing the wrong way, yet his double-joints allowed him to perform this no-way-out lock to Rina.
“Oh, is this it!? Tohei Kumo locks in his famous B-class move: Black Widow-maker! Can the small ninja-girl even hope to find a way away from this full-body-lock before they fall, and all that remains is pain!?” The announcer screamed into his microphone, most likely trying to get the audience even more excited.
Crap, crap, crap…..this isn’t good. That move will inflict pain and block of blood-flow in Rina’s limbs. So, basically, while she is experiencing the feel of her limbs being nearly torn off, she also has to fight against her body going numb and powerless by every second.
Rina tried weakly to shake Kumo off, her attempts growing more pitiful witch each try. Finally, neither of her arms moved, and her leg looked like it could barely stand anymore.
And then……..she began to fall forward.
“No, no, no, no!! Don’t give up yet!! You’ve got to win, Rina!!” I cannot help but to scream at her, which makes my strange, giggling companion in the “Vip-seats” cackle like a maniac.
I see them fall.
And there’s nothing I can do about it.
They hit the asphalt, and even though Kumo almost face-plants to the ground, it does not change the fact that Rina’s powers had been drained completely.
The blood on the asphalt tells me everything. Even though the start looked so promising, she was not able to....
What?
Blood?
“W-W-W-W-W-W-W-WHAT IS THIS!? Tohei Kumo has released his dreaded hold, and is now bleeding all over the arena!? What on EARTH did just happen!?” The announcer is, apparently, as shocked as I am.
There, on the asphalt, where I thought I’d see our first sign of defeat, lays the horribly bleeding Tohei Kumo. It seems like he’s got wounds all over his body. And Rina……is standing nearby, looking as calm and collected as always. It does not make any sense. I see it all with my own eyes, but it does not make any sense.
Not at until the blood on the asphalt reveals the truth, at least.
“…….T-those are….!!!”
Everywhere. They are everywhere. Whenever Rina rolled on the ground, she must have set them up, just in case something like this happened. And it paid off. Tohei Kumo fell into her trap splendidly. And after that, he could not rise again.
--------- And here we all forgot that this was not just a fight between two martial artists. The other person is a kunoichi, in the end!!
They were caltrops. Probably over hundred of them, so small they could barely be seen because of the blood. In the midst of the battle, it was no wonder Tohei Kumo did not realize their presence. When he, blinded by the victory, launched his death-lock upon Rina, it was all over. Rina didn’t struggle. She fell forward on purpose, and let Tohei Kumo be impaled in the caltrops littered all across the asphalt.
And that was the end of the match. Tohei Kumo could not handle being stabbed by countless sharp, small blades, which could have even been poisoned. Right now he just twitched on the ground, bleeding, while the medics rushed to help him.
“UNBELIEVABLE!! This newcomer of the Fūma clan showed just how dangerous opponents ninjas can be!! A trap after trap, the whole fight being nothing but deceiving!! You saw it with your own eyes, folks! The leader of the Back-Alley Rockers fell to this young kunoichi!! Give a big round of applause for Fūma Rina!!!”
The cheer of the crowd blocked all the other sounds in my ear. I couldn’t even hear the giggling of the woman who sat close to me. And neither did I care, really.
My eyes were glued to the figure of Rina, showing emotionless face as ever. As Tohei Kumo was dragged out of the arena, Rina turned to my direction, and formed a “V” sign with her index and middle.
That’s……That’s…..
------------------ Incredibly lame victory pose, Rina.
---------------------- Fight-ON! ----------------------
Fūma Rina vs.Black-Bara
It took them only few funny minutes to make sure that everything was ready for the second round to begin. This time it would be the “second-in-command” of Back-Alley Rockers, Black-Bara, against Rina. Small kunoichi was at obvious disadvantage, having just fought a grueling fight against Tohei Kumo. Although she did not seem even out of breath, I knew that the battle itself had taken its toll on Rina. Those holds Tohei Kumo had managed to lock in were real, and they caused real pain. And for Rina to not show any of it on her face right now……
I never quite realized how brave she was.
“And as we continue to our next challenger, it’s the winner of the last match, small ninja-girl, versus the feared “Kaiser Wilhelm Geschütz” of Back-Alley Rockers: Black-Baraaaaaaa!!”
How do I get the image that the announcer does not exactly hold us in high regard? You could at least remember Rina’s name, fool!!
“I’m going to warn you, little girl, right from the start!” I could hear Black-Bara yell. She was clearly keeping her distance, eyeing Rina from the other end of the arena. “I’m not going to hold back. I am called “Kaiser Wilhelm Geschütz” by the people of Tokyo…..and I shall teach you why, girl.”
I saw Black-Bara’s right arm raise, and the glimmer of the star-shaped shuriken between her fingers. As I had anticipated thanks to what I had seen, she indeed was a shuriken-user. However, something bothered me. Taking them out so blatantly, there had to be some kind of trick-
B-BLAM!
It was as if cannon had been shot down on the arena floor. The audience, me included, was dead silent. We were all staring at Black-Bara’s hand, where some of us could still see the dance of tiny flames. But that was not all. No, even Rina’s eyes were wide open thanks to the other thing. It was about those shurikens that had been in Black-Bara’s hand. They were no longer there. No, they were buried in a neat formation right in front of Rina. The funny thing about all this?
They had been thrown with a force that made them surpass the speed of bullets.
“T-this…..this is ridiculous…..” I managed to whisper. Somehow, my throat felt incredibly dry.
“Ridiculous? Kihihihihi, no, no. This is Tournament of One Thousand, hahahaha, Blades!” my creepy “companion” cackled.
------------- And thanks to her words, I now finally understood what they meant when they said that this tournament was the gathering place of world’s strongest martial artists.
There were bound to be lots of “monsters” like Black-Bara in the tournament.
“Ain’t nothing going to save you now, girl!” Black-Bara announced.
And the gong rang. Second round started.
I had never seen Rina run so fast. She had put both of her sai back to her belt, and was no devoid of any weapons. The reason was obvious. Those would just cut down the precious time that she needed to cross the distance between her and Black-Bara. After all, this fight was one of the location. If Rina managed to get close enough, Black-Bara would have no chance, that much I could tell. She was clearly all-out ranged-fighter, and thus would be destroyed by Rina in close-quarters combat. But when Rina was too far away to attack her in melee, Black-Bara was at advantage. In ranged combat she was clearly superior, after all.
That was why Rina rushed forward, intending to be faster than the second volley of shuriken that Black-Bara would launch. And indeed, only few seconds after the gong rang, and she had made it to the center of the arena. Three more seconds would be all it took for her to reach Black-Bara now.
……Unfortunately, that was too much. I saw Black-Bara’s hand move again.
B-BLAM!!
The ear-ripping sound resonated once again through the arena, and I saw Rina flying backwards as if she had been hit by a truck. Both her shoulder and abdomen had got hit, and due to the kinetic force of the shuriken, her petite body had been shot backwards. Asphalt was unforgiving, and I could just imagine the damage that was done as she rolled, her limbs flailing around wildly. Finally the friction stopped Rina.
---------- It was painful to look how she struggled up.
Thanks to my seating, I could see the damage Rina had sustained. Blood was now covering half of her face from the wound in her forehead (most likely thanks to the asphalt). The shuriken stuck on her shoulder and abdomen had caused blood to flow out and spoil her clothes and armor. Most likely she would not be able to use that left arm during this fight anymore. And judging from how ragged her breathing was, her body had taken also some damage that was not as visible as the just mentioned.
“See, girl? You got no chance in hell!! There’s no way you can cross that distance without getting hit by my shuriken! Few more hits and you’ll fall to the ground and never get up!!” Black-Bara yelled and laughed boisterously. And the audience laughs with her.
……it really seems hopeless. Even if she runs as fast as she can, Rina cannot make over the halfway before she’ll be hit again. And if she tries to evade the shuriken by taking pre-emptive turns and dodges, then she’ll go much slower, allowing Black-Bara to shoot at her multiple times.
-------------------- Speaking of which, I think I exposed her trick. Or rather, how she manages to put so much kinetic force into those shuriken of hers.
While watching that last show, I saw her hand move only once. But it was the sound that gave her away. It was not the sound of one “shot”, no, it was the sound of two “shots” that came almost at the same time. This means that Black-Bara actually “threw” the shuriken two times. Combined with the fact that she wore clothing that was so tight it must have reduced air-resistance to almost minimum, I could pretty much guess what she was doing.
On the first “throw” she did not actually throw anything. Instead, as she held those shuriken between her fingers, she slammed them together. This created friction and heat that burned up the air from that very spot, creating a short-time, extremely small vacuum. Thanks to her incredibly fast moves, she manages to time the second throw, the “actual throw” in almost same moment, so that when the shuriken arrived into the release point, they were actually still in the vacuum. The moment Black-Bara released those shuriken, the vacuum also closed up, and air rushed in. The air pushed the shuriken forward with incredible force, as for a short moment, the kinetic force in that vacuum was unbelievable. Thanks to that very power, the shuriken were shot out with the speed of a bullet.
First bang came from the shuriken hitting together. Second from the vacuum. And thus was born the reason she was called “Kaiser Wilhelm Geschütz” by her fans. Black-Bara was truly a fearsome woman.
“…….it’s useless.”
…..eh?
It was the first time I heard Rina speak in that arena. She was staring intently at the dumbfounded Black-Bara, who was equally shocked that this emotionless girl had opened her mouth.
“W-what…..?” Black-Bara looked murderous that somebody actually talked back to her.
“……It’s useless. The next time you try to hit this one, you cannot even see this one. Nin-nin.”
“G-GYAAAAAA!!! You brat!! I’ll kill you!! I’ll kill you!!” Black-Bara yelled and took yet another set of shuriken between her fingers.
But Rina was already on the move. Before Black-Bara had even opened her mouth the second time, she had started running. I did not know if she had tried to trick her by this, but I knew it wouldn’t work. Black-Bara would be able to hit her with her shuriken before Rina would manage to reach the enemy.
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!!
W-what? Helicopter!?
----------- No wait, that’s coming from the arena. What the….??
Then I saw that the origin of the sound was Rina. Or rather, her weapons. Both of her sai were being spun around like drummers spin their sticks for fun, and the weapons were made to hit each other just in front of Rina’s face. It was like she had two metal-propellers that kept hitting each other.
What was she trying to do? Take a flight?
No matter what you think, that is not gonna help you in any way, you idiot!!!
But as she could not hear my internal protest, Rina kept running forward, towards Black-Bara. The mentioned woman had already the shuriken in her hands, and she swung her hand backwards. I knew what was coming. A throw that would, if Rina was lucky, only repeat what just happened. If she wasn’t, it might even hit a fatal spot.
“Dieeeee, giiiiiirrll!!” Black-Bara shrieked and swung her arm forward.
But…….
To the amazement of Black-Bara, the audience, and me……..
Her target was no longer there.
Moment again ago, we had been watching Rina charge Black-Bara. The next second…..Rina simply disappears.
“W-W-W-WHAT IS THIS!?!? The little ninja girl just disappeared under our very eyes!! Are you seeing what I’m seeing, or rather, not seeing what I’m seeing!! We must be the dumbest audience in the world, as we just lost the sight of other person we were supposed to be watching!! Just WHAT is going on!?!?” the announcer yelled into his microphone, and made our ears ring with his high-pitched voice.
T-that Rina…..
If my hunch was correct….
She was a genius.
A mad genius and a monster like Black-Bara, apparently. But a genius nonetheless.
Maybe it was because of the simple absurdity of the situation, but nobody seemed to notice that while the girl was gone, a certain sound had not disappeared. Not at least until that sound actually stopped. It was the sound of Rina’s sai hitting together. And when it stopped………
…….The kunoichi herself appeared. Few inches from Black-Bara’s face.
“Jack-the-Tricker: Shimmer Flash”, Rina’s cold voice announced.
“UOOOOOOOHHH!!! It’s the world famous Fūma-style move!! Jack-the-Tricker variant!! What a fearsome opponent this little girl has turned out to be!!!” the announcer yelled, seemingly off his rockers.
I learned this only later, but it had been as I suspected. Jack-the-Tricker: Shimmer Flash was a move that played with heat, just like Black-Bara’s technique. But in this case, it was associated with the basic principle of heat.
Do you know of mirages? They are funny little things that happen in hot places, and I saw few even in my homeland, though that was rare. You see, as cold air is denser than warm air, it has greater refractive index. When light passes from colder air across a sharp boundary to significantly warmer air, the light rays bend away from the direction of the temperature gradient. When light rays pass from hotter to colder, they bend toward the direction of the gradient. If the air near the ground is warmer than that higher up, the light ray bends in an upward trajectory. Once the ray reaches the viewer’s eye, the visual cortex interprets it as if it traces back along a perfectly straight "line of sight". This line is however at a tangent to the path the ray takes at the point it reaches the eye. The result is that a mirage of the sky above appears on the ground.
So, when Rina kept on hitting her sai together in a rapid pace, she generated loads of heat that warmed up the air before her. This, of course, corresponds to the part of mirage’s explanation about “air near the ground being warmer”. When the rays of light hit the hot air in front of Rina, they bend upwards, and projected an image of the dark sky, very similar to asphalt, instead. So, to everyone who looked, it was as if Rina had disappeared completely from our sight. In reality, the hot air around her just “fooled” our eyes.
----------- That was the power of a kunoichi!! The power of a mirage!!!
“K-kuh, how did you---“ Black-Bara could barely let those words out of her mouth before Rina’s attack begun.
The sai in her hands were both struck into the sides of Black-Bara, dying the ground with blood. The two “blades” were deep in the flesh of the woman, and her cry of pain could be heard across the arena. But Rina was not finished. Instead, she took one step back and flung her arms to the side. Instantly, the hidden kunais appeared in her hands, five in each. Two fans of kunai, ready to dig into the flesh of her enemy. Rina crossed her arms before her, gave Black-Bara the last glance, and threw.
It was a spectacle to watch.
Kunais had pierced Black-Bara’s flesh all over her body. Her own blood painted over the original color of her clothes. And I knew that all those places Rina had hit were important for the nervous-system. Damage them a little, and the body loses its power until they have healed. Black-Bara had just been pierced by nine kunais that spelled her doom.
……….Wait a minute….Nine?
“Don’t look down on me, you brat!!” Black-Bara roared.
Her right arm, which had been, till now, used to throw those shuriken, had deflected the tenth kunai with the ranged weapons between her fingers. Although only one shuriken remained intact due to the impact of kunai and shuriken, it was enough. Letting out a furious roar, Black-Bara swung her arm.
B-BLAM!!!
Rina was thrown backwards by the point-blank hit from the cannonball-like shuriken. The girl hit the asphalt and rolled few times before coming to a halt. Her bloodied figure, now also sporting a shuriken stuck to her chest, still refused to give up. She lifted herself up with her arms and looked straight at Black-Bara.
“This one…..won”, she declared.
And before Black-Bara could even ask what she meant…….the spot behind her, where the deflected last kunai was…..was torn apart by explosion.
A rigged kunai, made to explode after certain amount of time had passed. I was no longer surprised by anything. If this fight had taught me something, it was that Rina was truly a ninja. And ninjas were masters of dirty tricks.
Black-Bara, hit by the force of explosion, was thrown to the ground. Just like Rina, her bloodied figure now lay on the asphalt.
Two women, battered and wounded, having given their all to win this fight. And when Rina could no longer drive strength into her arms and keep herself up, they seemed even more similar.
Neither Rina nor Black-Bara had any power left in them to continue.
This match was declared draw.
---------------------- Fight-ON! ----------------------
Thunusakurn Kaeo vs.Mitsuhane Hibiki
“This one could not last to the end. This one is sorry. Nin-nin.”
I tussled Rina’s hair when she apologized in a slightly sad tone, as if she herself had regretted she could not rise up again after the defeat of Black-Bara. I guess she too had a pride of some sort, and a draw against that woman bothered her a bit.
------- Silly girl, this kunoichi.
“Don’t worry about it. You managed to take down two of our opponents. That was more than I even hoped for”, a somewhat annoyed looking Vanguard Medic swatted my hand away, as if she had thought it was bothering Rina. “Now you need to just concentrate on recovering.”
Needless to say, Rina was in rough shape. However, the medics this Vanguard had were one of the best ones I had seen, and they had already patched Rina up to a condition where she could sit with me in the VIP-section and watch the rest of the match.
“This one is just glad the whole thing didn’t blow up in my hands.”
------- If you have time to be making bad jokes, then please, concentrate on resting. I’m afraid that if I tsukkomi-slap you, your wounds get worse. And then these medics will tsukkomi-slap me to hospital.
Good thing they’re trained to help those wounded, then. First aid can be given by the very person that beats me up!
“So……yer Mitsuhane Hibiki, the last o’ the Back-Alley Rockers?” I could hear Kaeo’s voice down in the arena.
------- Oh god. That tone. Most likely she has completely forgotten our plan.
“That I am. Bingo, as to say”, Mitsuhane Hibiki answered, while looking at Kaeo with a smile on his face.
“I’m just gonna say dis, but ya got no chance, ya know? I’ll beat yer ass so hard it’ll replace yer cheeks with yer buttocks!!”
Once again, I’m completely baffled by the sharp tongue Kaeo has. Not!!
“Oh, too bad, man. You see, I’m quite confident I’m enough to bring the victory home. It would not be first time this has happened”, Hibiki was not affected by Kaeo’s immature taunt, and instead continued to smile calmly.
------------- As I had predicted. From that attitude I saw immediately that he was the most dangerous member of Back-Alley Rockers.
“Oh, keep on dreamin’ ya idiot!!”
And the gong’s sound echoed through the arena for the third time.
Kaeo attacked immediately when she heard the sound. Her fist was like a battering ram that was aimed straight at the head of Mitsuhane Hibiki. One good hit from that fist, and anyone would find their heads crushed like tofu. Even a scraping hit would most likely be very dangerous. And that was not all. If that fist failed, the other seven “limbs” were there to make sure that the enemy would not find time to rest. In other words, Muay Thai was one of the things you would never want to find yourself against in close-quarters combat.
Unfortunately, this rule did not seem to apply to Mitsuhane Hibiki.
Kaeo’s opponent spun around on his heel while digging into ground with his other leg. The result was that ground below him was destroyed, and that a large cloud of dust and rubble was thrown into the air, hiding Hibiki inside it. Kaeo’s fist dived inside that cloud, but failed to hit. This dangerously exposed her side, and that was exactly what Mitsuhane Hibiki was after.
The moment Kaeo’s fist had reached the point of no-return, leg swooped out of the dust cloud and hit Kaeo’s unprotected side in a circular motion. The girl gritted her teeth together, and I could see that the pain was not easy to bear. She tried to bring her elbow down to the leg, but it was already gone, having disappeared back into the dust cloud.
“Have you understood now? You stand very little chance against me”, Mitsuhane Hibiki said with his calm voice, and appeared from inside the dust cloud. He had jumped backwards, gathering more distance between him and Kaeo.
“Screw ya!!! I’ll beat ya to death, ya know?!!”
Kaeo charged again, holding nothing back. Her fist came crashing towards Mitsuhane Hibiki, while her other left leg was positioned so that it would block every attack that the man could try from inside the dust cloud. Before he was hit, Mitsuhane Hibiki repeated his trick, creating another cloud of rubble and dust. Kaeo’s fist was once again swallowed up by that cloud, and hit nothing.
But this time, the counter was not a kick.
Before Kaeo could even yell from surprise, her extended arm had been caught up by invisible hands, and twisted painfully to the side. The spinning motion threw the girl to the ground, slamming her against the unforgiving asphalt.
Kaeo spat out blood and cursed, lifting herself quickly up. However, Hibiki had retreated even further, and was not staring at Kaeo with slight smirk on his face.
“Oooooohhh, this is the power of the infamous Antlion of the Back-Alley Rockers!! The former prodigy of the Cobra Cell stable, Mitsuhane Hibiki has showed just why he’s the most feared man in Minato ward!!”
----------- “Antlion”, huh?
I could understand the name. First there was Enshin Kaikan, which was feared for its style of directing the force of attacker away from the victim, and then striking at the exposed weak spot. Then there was that strange technique, which made him “invisible” in a single spot. Although the enemy knew where he was, they did not know in what position he was. And thus, with his fast reflexes developed for counter-attacks through Enshin Kaikan, Mitsuhane Hibiki was able to dodge everything that was thrown at him while he was inside that dust cloud.
Nothing flashy like Tohei Kumo’s double joints or Black-Bara’s cannon-shuriken. Mitsuhane Hibiki kept it very simple, but very effective. Wait the enemy to come out to you, and then attack, without risking yourself. A very good technique.
“Ya bastard!! I’ll kill ya!!”
----------- And for stubborn idiots like Kaeo, pretty darn effective!!
The course of the fight did not change. Kaeo attacked the dust cloud, found herself missing her opponent, and was then attack by a vicious counter-attack. While Kaeo was recovering from the hit, Mitsuhane Hibiki took more and more distance to her, to make sure she could not catch her without the trusty veil of dust around him.
But it wasn’t exactly Kaeo’s fault. Every single fighting-style, not counting ranged ones, would have had hard time with Mitsuhane Hibiki.
No matter what kind of attack Kaeo came up with, she never once scored a hit. A low kick that was supposed to sweep off Hibiki’s legs never met its target. The triple kick that was like a whip was dodged without fail. Even a roundhouse kick from up that would have cleaved other opponents in half could not connect.
It was useless. Kaeo could not hit Mitsuhane Hibiki, and every time she failed, there was hand, leg or a throw waiting for her. Enshin Kaikan’s Sabaki Method showed through Hibiki’s attacks, as each one of them meant to bring Kaeo down to the floor. However, instead of finishing her off, Mitsuhane Hibiki used the time it took for Kaeo to recover to retreat.
“He’s playing it safe……..and conserving his energy. He’s still got Tsubasa to beat, after all.”
Rina nodded to my comment.
“This one believes that Mitsuhane Hibiki intends to slowly wear Kaeo down. Leon-sama……….It seems obvious that Kaeo’s main trouble is adapting to a opponent that cannot be beaten with pure strength and speed alone”, kunoichi told me. And I agreed.
That’s why I had already said that Kaeo would not, most likely, win a fight against Mitsuhane Hibiki.
I would have said more, but it was then that the shocked sounds made by the audience caught my attention. I immediately focused back on the arena, only to see something I surprising. Though it should have been obvious.
After all, the arena did not continue forever. It had its limits.
Mitsuhane Hibiki had not yet realized it, but he could not retreat after this strike. While he had always retreated while facing Kaeo, he had apparently forgotten that he was also approaching the containers every time he took distance to Kaeo. And now he was paying for that mistake. Kaeo delivered a knee-kick assault into the dust cloud, only to be stopped by a punch to the stomach and a leg sweep that brought her to ground after that. While she was left to struggle up, Mitsuhane Hibiki laughed and jumped backwards.
Only to hit his back against the red container.
“Gotcha”, I could hear Kaeo growl. “It took ya some time to get there, but looks like this’ll be the end of the road for ya.”
With a furious roar, Kaeo lunged forward, her fist ready to rip a hole into Mitsuhane Hibiki’s chest. Too surprised to react fast enough, Mitsuhane Hibiki was left without the cover of his dust cloud.
------------------- That idiot!
It didn’t mean that he was powerless!!
It all happened in an instant. Mitsuhane Hibiki simply took a side-step and hit the center of Kaeo’s extended arm with his elbow, causing the direction to change ever so slightly. Kaeo, unable to stop, rammed her fist straight into the container behind Mitsuhane Hibiki. She had rushed into the first opening she saw, not remembering to use it wisely, but instead, just attacking wildly.
And now she paid the price.
The sound of ripping metal filled our ears, and to the shock of everyone in the audience, Kaeo’s fist actually tore open the side of the container. So much power had been put behind that one fist that it had actually destroyed the whole damn thing. And now the contents poured out. As the announcer had said, the containers were filled with flour, and it quickly became a huge cloud that covered most of the arena.
Wait a minute.
Crap.
Isn’t that almost like-
“I must thank you, man, for breaking open that container for me. Now I have the perfect advantage when it comes to next fight. A dust cloud I don’t even have to keep up.”
Kaeo never saw it coming. The deadly punch connected with the center of back, causing her to bend over into the roundhouse kick that was aimed at the solar plexus. As the girl toppled over, coughing up blood, she was finished with a chop between shoulders, slamming her against the asphalt. The bits of ground flew everywhere as bloodied Kaeo was defeated with a simple attack that she had no way to defend against.
----------------- Damn….
It was over. Kaeo did not get up. And judging from what I saw, her bloody and ragged figure was enough to tell me that even if she would have had the willpower to get up, her body would have been just simply unable.
The third round ended up in the victory if Mitsuhane Hibiki.
---------------------- Fight-ON! ----------------------
Tsunemoto Tsubasa vs. Mitsuhane Hibiki
…..This was it.
The final round. The one where it would be decided whether or not we would win.
The arena was still filled with the dust-cloud made from the flour in the air, and the visibility was almost zero. We could barely make out what was happening below. This was the most advantageous environment a fighter like Mitsuhane Hibiki could hope. Here, he would not even have to create his veil.
And against him was Tsubasa, who, despite her speed and fast reaction time, had to see where the enemy was in order to him him.
“Kakakakaka, you have no chance, boy! Hibiki is unbeatable in a place where visibility is zero! There’s no way you can win!!”
That voice belonged to Tohei Kumo, who had come to watch the match from the VIP-seats. He had arrived in the small break between match of Kaeo and Hibiki, and was now mocking us at the start of the third round. And, unfortunately, I knew he was right. That dust cloud was the ultimate advantage for Mitsuhane Hibiki.
------- But that did not mean I would just stand there and listen him badmouth us.
“Dream on, idiot. Just who do you think we are?” I glared at him and lifted my head, looking down on him. “We are The Lionhearts. And this match will end up in our victory.”
I could feel Rina clutching my wrist, as if to warn not to get too hot-headed. If we started a fight here, we might be disqualified for attacking members that were already out of the match.
But my burning feelings were calmed down after I cast a glance towards the arena. There, a figure approached the center of the arena, calmly and slowly, as if she was in no kind of hurry. Tsubasa cut a path through the dust cloud, and her steps fell as lightly as a snow would. She had no hurry, the match had not started yet. Instead, she took her time, keeping right hand resting on the handle of her other sword, and her left hand hanging free. The blue hair was rocked by the sudden breeze of night-time wind that was not enough to disperse the dreaded cloud of dust.
The usual roar of the audience slowly died down, in rhythm with Tsubasa’s steps. She managed to calm down her surroundings with the mere aura of tranquility around her. And I knew why that was. She had the confidence that she could beat Mitsuhane Hibiki. Actually, no. Most likely the thought that she would lose had not even come to her mind.
Two steps more, and he stopped in the middle of the arena.
“Mitsuhane Hibiki………….can thou heareth me, de gozaru?” I heard Tsubasa’s clear voice resonate down in the arena.
“……What is it, young lady?” Hibiki’s voice asked from somewhere within the dust cloud. He had not showed himself after the cloud of flour had been created.
----------------- Damn. Tsubasa’s behavior must have impressed even that man. He addresses her with a respect, after all.
“I am going to giveth thee a chance to walketh away, unharmed. However, if thou will not, thou shalt suffer an injury that will prevent thee from fighting again this year, de gozaru. ‘Tis meaneth that thou would not be able to participate in the Tournament of One Thousand Blades, de gozaru.”
There was a long silence, that wasn’t even broken by the audience or that obnoxious announcer. Even Mitsuhane Hibiki, who the question had been aimed at, did not answer. I used this moment of silence to stand up from my seat. This attracted the attention of Rina, Tohei Kumo, and that strange, constantly giggling woman. I turned my eyes towards Tohei Kumo.
“She’s serious. Order Hibiki to surrender. Otherwise he’ll suffer great injuries”, I said. Tohei Kumo looked at me with eyes filled with rage.
“Don’t look down on us, boy!! Stop talking crap!!”
--------------- You don’t seem to get it.
“I’m not talking crap. This is the truth. If Mitsuhane Hibiki attacks, Tsubasa will finish this match with two strikes.”
And as if it had been an echo, Tsubasa opened her mouth down in the arena.
“So? What is thy answer, de gozaru?”
The gong was hit for the fourth time, and it sounded like a bell that tolled for the finality of Tsubasa’s words.
Tohei Kumo’s hands were gripped in tight fists when he jumped up from his seat, despite his injuries, and yelled down to the arena.
“Go for it, Hibiki!!! Defeat her!! We can’t stop now, not before we have even managed to enter the true tournament!! If we don’t take risks, then we’ll never make it there!!”
And to answer those words, a calm and collected voice of Mitsuhane Hibiki answered from within the cloud of dust.
“Understood. Sorry, young lady.”
The fight had started. The footfalls of running Mitsuhane Hibiki that echoed through the arena confirmed that. Somewhere within that cloud of dust, he was charging towards Tsubasa, meaning to take her down like she had defeated Kaeo. Tsubasa herself was in the center of the arena, completely visible. She had no way to know where Hibiki was, and thus did not even try to see him.
Instead, she calmly took her sheathed sword and raised it above her head, so the handle was pointing towards the ground.
“W-what is that blue-haired girl doing….?” Tohei Kumo asked, clearly confused.
Tsubasa’s hand went to the handle of her sword, and she slightly spread her legs, preparing for a slash. But that slash was not aimed towards the enemy approaching from the direction Tsubasa could not guess. No, that slash was aimed towards the ground.
Dust cloud that covered his position. A slash that was aimed towards the ground. A girl who did not move an inch, instead of waiting her enemy to come to her.
It was a strange sight.
But even through that strangeness, when Mitsuhane Hibiki finally emerged from the dust cloud, his leg ready to bring Tsubasa down, Tohei Kumo saw it. He saw what had been our goal all along.
“W-what, don’t tell me……!?” his astonished voice came from close to me.
------------------------ Sorry, Tohei. This was your loss.
Out of all of us, Rina had the most fighting experience. Kaeo had most raw power. Tsubasa had the best reaction time, reflexes and speed. Remembering this, and the special properties of our arena, I had devised the quite risky plan.
Rina was supposed to take out at least Tohei Kumo, though the victory over Black-Bara was a good bonus. I’m not sure if Kaeo could have defeated her. In any case, with those two out of the way, we could concentrate on the most dangerous opponent, Mitsuhane Hibiki. Since I knew that he was one of the worst kinds of enemies a close-quarter-focused fighter could have, I understood that it would be nigh impossible for Kaeo or Tsubasa to beat him in a fair one-on-one fight. That was why we had to come up with something else.
The actual idea came from Hibiki’s own technique. Or rather, the special properties of dust, and substances like it. You see, it was actually deliberate that Kaeo destroyed one of the containers that served as the walls of the arena. This filled with arena with flour. It would serve us a ultimate advantage for Mitsuhane Hibiki…………but also as the ultimate weapon of Tsunemoto Tsubasa.
You see, a cloud of dust is one of the most dangerous things, as coal miners can tell.
“HAAAAAAA!!” Tsubasa’s yell echoed in our ears as she drew her sword with blinding speed, surpassing momentarily even the speed of Mitsuhane Hibiki who was about to hit her with his leg.
The sword flew from its scabbard, traveling downwards and slicing the ground at Tsubasa’s feet. Sparks flew into the air as metal hit the asphalt.
Yes, sparks. Friction.
And do you know what the four things needed for a dust explosion to happen are? Combustible dust. The dust being suspended in the air at a high concentration. That there is atmospheric oxygen.
…….And that there is ignition source.
KRA-KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!!!
The explosion in the arena tore the air, deafening our ears momentarily with its force. We all were blinded by the light that emerged from the explosion that spread to the whole width of the dust cloud that had used to be there. In only few seconds, the arena had turned into a site of disaster. By igniting the flour in the air with the sparks, Tsubasa had made the arena literally explode.
But it was not over yet.
Sword cut the cloud of smoke made by the explosion, and exposed a single, unscathed figure down in the arena. I’m not sure how she had done it. Maybe she had cut the approaching force of the explosion with her sword, or maybe she had had some other way, but Tsubasa had not suffered any damage at all. On the other hand, Mitsuhane Hibiki who we began to see as the smoke dispersed, looked horrible. His skin had burnt and his clothing was only rags now. He had experienced the full force of that explosion as he had dived into its center.
Tsubasa sheathed her sword and took a stance in front of the roughly breathing Mitsuhane Hibiki who barely stayed up. With her left hand on the scabbard, holding it at the height of her heart, and with her right hand at the handle of the sword, ready to draw, Tsubasa stepped forward to deliver the final strike. The strike that would seal the outcome of this match.
“……..A truly……fearsome opponent…….Tsunemoto”, Mitsuhane Hibiki said with great pain. Tsubasa nodded.
“Indeed. My sword cuts the sky like a blue swallow, de gozaru.”
Seven steps was the distance between the two. Tsubasa’s feet began to move. In only two steps she had accelerated into a speed where she cut the smoke of the explosion like a gale force, and with the precision of an arrow. Her hands did not move from their position, and only her legs stayed in the move. It was like watching water being pressurized and shot out in a thin stream of deadly power.
Or like a blue swallow cutting through the azure sky.
Six steps. That was when the right hand began to move. The moment the katana’s blade touched the air, the smoke around the steel was turned into flurry of blue cherry blossom petals. The effect spread like a ripple in a quiet lake, and in the time it took Tsubasa to step the last and seventh step, the whole arena was already inside a storm of blue petals. Tsubasa drew a beautiful arc forward with her sword, like a crescent moon into the battlefield. The flower petals followed that movement, and formed a wave as soft as silk. The perfect blade met its target, and the blue petals covered Mitsuhane Hibiki.
“Hiken: Hakka Ryōran!!”
Blade cut the flesh. Red of the blood was mixed inside the torrent of blue sakura. Mitsuhane Hibiki fell without a word, and Tsubasa remained in the stance after the strike, with her other legs slightly bended and right hand extended forward just like her sword was.
That was it.
It was our victory.
Tsubasa had defeated Mitsuhane Hibiki.
The silence that fell into the arena was just like the blue cherry blossom petals that silently fell down to the asphalt. It took time, but one-by-one, as a slowly descending wave, they lost their ability to fly through the air, carried by wind of Tsubasa’s sword, and fell. And when after the last petal had fallen to ground, nothing moved in the arena, nor in the audience. Not a single sound was heard.
It was as if the world had ground to halt.
…
…
But even if it had ground to a halt……..
We had won!!
The silence was replaced with a cheer so loud it deafened me for a moment and rivaled the sound of the explosion that had happened just moments ago. It was unbelievable. Every person in the audience, without holding back, whistled, yelled, cried, cheered and screamed for our victory. Yes. The audience cheered for us. The underdogs who had just defeated the top team in Minato ward.
--------- I could not help it. I joined in.
The sound from the shipment-yard must have echoed throughout Tokyo that night.
A hand on my shoulder startled me, and forced me to return to reality. There stood the strange, blonde woman who had been constantly giggling. She cackled as she saw my dumbfounded face and licked her lips.
“I’ll be, kihihihihi, expecting a lot from you, hahahahaha, people.”
And with those words, she turned around and left, leaving me with no explanation. But it was offered by Tohei Kumo. His face was strange, as if a terrible burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Be careful, boy. That woman…….she’s one of the Ten Beasts. A powerful stable you do not want to mess with”, he warned me. But then, as if he had wanted to lighten the mood, he suddenly offered me his hand for a shake. “…………………………..It looks like we lost.”
“Yeah”, I took that hand and shook it. “And it looks like we won.”
“Fair enough.”
And so the man who had dragged us into this mess admitted his mistake, and turned his back to me.
Tohei Kumo left too, without saying anything else. I knew that there were no more hard feelings between us. We would never like each other, that was for sure, but Tohei Kumo and the Back-Alley Rockers would not bother us ever again. They would honor the result of this match. They made a mistake and took us too lightly, and now they had paid the price.
What happened next is somehow hazy in my memory, but it was most likely due to the sheer overwhelming feeling happiness and joy from our victory. I remember grabbing Rina’s arm and dragging her down the stairs that led to the ground-level. At the same time, Kaeo shook of the medics that were patching her up, and joined us. She almost tripped over and fell, but managed to catch a hold from both my and Rina’s shoulder, and together, although we stumbled, we managed to stay up. Then our rag-tag group made our way to the arena floor, where Tsubasa was waiting.
She had seemed so calm up there. When I know saw her face from close, her tears of joy were visible to me.
“Shishou, we won! We won, de gozaru!!” she yelled, like a small child that is feeling so proud from accomplishing something, her heart could burst from her chest at any minute.
“I know! I know!!”
------------ That’s funny. I’m not even sure what I was saying. But I don’t think that mattered at this point, anymore.
Tsubasa half ran over to us, and then joined in the strange group-hug we were performing. Kaeo was yelling obscenities and roaring how The Lionhearts would take on all who thought they’d best us. Rina did not say a word, but for the first time, I saw a true smile on her face. And Tsubasa kept yelling, “Shishou! Shishou!” into my ear till I was half-deaf. We laughed. We cried. And for the first time in my life I was kissed by three girls at the same time.
But that didn’t matter. It was a minor thing, and I didn’t even think it too deeply at that moment. After all, we had won. We had won our first match.
And that was all that mattered to us at that moment.
The Lionhearts vs. Back-Alley Rockers
Winner: The Lionhearts
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next time on Fight-ON!
“………..Kaeo. I’d like an explanation for this before I sue you for sexual harassment.”
“Aohanaryuu? What’s that?”
“How come we’re still eating crap like this after getting famous………in our neighborhood…….amongst relatively small amount of people?”
“Detective Seong Lin-Lin, Hong Kong Police Force. May I ask some questions from you, Leon-san?”
“What’s next? A big-nosed man who sees everything from old bottles to toothpaste as a weapon to whack the enemies with?”
“It’s got to be nikuman – aru!”
Visitors from Jade-country ~ Lotus-flower mayhem!?