Fight-ON!
Chapter Sixteen
Rain over Okinawa ~ Lightning strikes hundredfold!!
“Stay on course. We can’t let Chisame and her team get away now.”
Everyone on the ship nodded to my words. Arakaki-san, who was busy steering the motorboat. Unkatuye who sat by Arakaki-san’s side, staring at the distance where the Arashi-maru could be seen. Chun, who was sitting beside me, gripping her sword. Tsubasa, sitting on the other side, her eyes so focused they seemed like narrow lines. And lastly, Tai Fu, who was standing up, seeming like she could, at any moment, jump out of the water and catch the Arashi-maru by running on the water.
I wouldn’t put it past her, really.
The storm around us was really unforgiving. I never would have imagined that a ship could have so much trouble just moving forward, but here we were, struggling just to stay after Arashi-maru. The big, ironclad atakebune ship had no problems in moving, but our small motorboat was not as fortune. I grew more worried by every passing minute. If we would not catch up with that ship, we’d…
“Don’t worry, boy. We’ll catch them”, Arakaki-san suddenly spoke up, as if he had read my thoughts. “Their ship may not be affected as much by the storm, but we still have the advantage in mobility. Just you see. We’ll have boarded in their ship before we arrive to Naha.”
“Arakaki-dono speaketh the truth, Shishou”, Tsubasa, in turn, said. “I understand that thou felt anxious, but please, calmeth thy mind, de gozaru. Thine wit is one thing we needeth in our battle against Bakukaze Chisame, de gozaru.”
I looked at my friends with slight surprise in my eyes. Had I really looked so worried? Of course I knew that I the well-being of Orca-chan was the only thing in my mind right now, but had it really transpired so easily outside?
“Aha…I guess you’re right. I guess I was on a verge of a bit of a panic”, I admit. Chun and Tai Fu both laugh warmly.
“You wouldn’t be our Shī if you weren’t going to such lengths for the safety of someone, ne”, Chun smiled at me. “So we don’t hold it against you, ne.”
“That’s right –aru”, Fu chimed in. “So don’t worry.”
To have such understanding people around me…I guess I am, in at least one way, blessed. Sure, my life wouldn’t have been nearly so dangerous as it is right now had I not came to Japan, but on the other hand, I would have never met these people. I could say that that fact alone makes all the suffering and pain worth it. And it also makes me realize that I cannot allow this to end badly.
Orca-chan is also my dear friend. I cannot allow her to die.
“Leon Hart. There seems to be a motorboat approaching us. It’s coming from the direction of the Storm Lords’ ship”, Unkatuye suddenly informed me, and something like an electric current ran through the people of the ship.
Motorboat…which would mean that someone just left the Arashi-maru in order to stop us. It would be rather easy here, in the middle of the ocean, to stop us by ramming their boat against ours. We would just have to make sure such a thing would not happen. The best option would be to find something to occupy the person in the other boat so they wouldn’t have the time to chase after us…
“Correction. It’s not a motorboat, but a hovercraft. Quite large one at that”, Unkatuye continued.
Wait a minute. Hovercraft? In that case…
“Guys. I’m going to need one volunteer”, I spoke up, receiving the tense stares of everyone in the boat. “Someone who will ensure that we others make it to Orca-chan in time.”
There was a long silence as the girls stared at each other. They looked almost like they were having a silent conversation with only their expressions and eyes. I knew that it wasn’t an easy decision. Someone would have to stay behind, which would mean they would be out of our fighting force by the time we reached the Storm Lords. Whoever it would be, they would have to be prepared for anything, even for the worst case scenario.
“…………I’ll do it, ne”, Chun finally spoke and stood up. Her expression was determined, fitting when put against the background of raging storm around us.
“You know that it’ll be a dangerous job, right?” I asked from Chun, not even trying to hide the worry in my voice. I knew she could be impulsive, so I hoped she wasn’t just jumping the gun here…
“Even if it’s my life, I shall gladly give it to Shī, ne!” she proclaimed and pounded her chest. However, after that, Chun’s expression softened. “…But, even more than that, I wanna make sure that Sha-chan is alright, ne. And this is one way to ensure that, ne.”
……….It was hard to say how proud I was of Chun at that moment.
“Alright. Then prepare. We’ll attack the moment we’ll come to the range of that hovercraft”, I told Chun.
The vessel in the distance closed in fast. If we wanted to survive, we would have to do this just right. Failure was not an option.
---------------------- Fight-ON! ----------------------
Blood had scattered over the rainy courtyard. It was like petals of a flower, spread across the stones. Even if the rain washed it away, the stains it had made did not disappear. After all, it was the sign of a grievous wound, something that should have already ended the battle. Yet why?
Why was Hoshizuna Kin still gritting his teeth together, like he had been struggling against something?
“What………………”
The earth itself rumbled. The stones of the courtyard cracked. Even the walls of the Nakijin castle shook from the very power that seemed to run through the ground. Something with enough power to breach the fortress ten times over had slammed in midst of the combat zone, destroying everything around it.
The only thing that remained was the two fighters. The one who had thought he had won.
And the other whose foot it was that had slammed against the earth.
“What……….”
Hoshizuna Kin took few steps back. He could not believe it. He could not comprehend what had just happened. By all the laws of the logic, he should have won by now. His plan, which had earned him many victories, had been executed flawlessly. Yet, he was still at loss. What had gone wrong? What was it that had taken his opportunity of victory?
Yes.
It was nothing else but the small girl ahead of him, her presence towering like that of a giant.
It was like a painting. The small girl, drenched by the rain, standing alone in a puddle of blood. Her head suffered from two large wounds, yet she still stood tall. It was almost as if she was too stubborn to simply fall to the ground because of her wounds. But that was not all, no. Something, like bright orange energy or aura, radiated from the girl’s body in a way that lit up the air around them. It was almost like watching a container gushing from the seams after it had been filled over the brim. It was this very energy that made the earth vibrate, as if had been simply an echo of the aura itself.
What was that aura of energy that tried to engulf the whole Nakijin castle? Hoshizuna Kin had no idea. He had never seen something like that. But he had a slight hunch of what might have caused it. And realizing the possibility, he felt like he had been sucker-punched. Something huge had just slipped right under their noses.
“Don’t tell me………”
Seong Lin-Lin raised her gaze. The eyes that were covered with blood stared straight at Hoshizuna Kin, and for the first time, he knew what true terror was. It didn’t matter how small the girl was. No, if measured simply by the weight of her presence, this girl would have towered so tall she would have been seen all the way in the capital, Naha. It was like a single man standing before colossus, unable to escape or defeat his foe.
This was the true strength of Seong Lin-Lin, resonating and growing stronger by an external source she must not have been even aware herself.
“Shit……….so in the end, it was………..Harmonizer……” Hoshizuna Kin muttered and gripped his tambo tight.
That was the last unnecessary thought he was given. Lin-Lin exploded into action, leaving behind a trail of rubble as she zoomed across the courtyard.
Kin knew from the moment she saw Lin-Lin raise her fist that he could not afford to take a single hit. The strength that had torn up the castle’s ruins. Holding his tambos so that they formed an X, he waited until the last possible moment. A half-second later Lin-Lin was in front of him and launched a punch towards his face, extending her body forward and standing on one leg. Risking everything, Kin lifted the tambos so that they caught Lin-Lin by the wrist, and diverted the punch above his head.
-------- It paid out. Although the air-pressure made Kin’s head ring, he had managed to avert certain death.
But it was not over. Lin-Lin kicked Kin in stomach with her free leg, and followed by placing her other leg on his chest. Small girl ran up the man’s body and performed a somersault kick on his chin, sending Kin flying backwards. Lin-Lin landed on her feet and rolled forward, to yet another attack.
However, the gamble had paid out. Lin-Lin’s legs did not have the same crushing power that her fists had.
Strikes were fast as lightning, and they came from completely unexpected directions. If there was something zuijiuquan was famous of, it was the erratic movements. Lin-Lin delivered a succession of punches with slightly extended index fingers. They were all dodged. But when she suddenly turned around, bent backwards and delivered a double-hand strike, Kin had no other option but to block them with strikes from his tambos.
That was a mistake. Hoshizuna Kin was thrown across the courtyard like a ragdoll. He rolled and rolled until he hit the wall, but even there he had not a moment’s rest. Lin-Lin flew across the battleground with a huge jump and lodged her fist towards the man. Kin managed to roll out of way, only to see wall of the Nakijin castle crumble behind him.
“Goddammit…”, Kin cursed. “Y-you’re not just a normal girl……..what the hell are you!?”
But there was no other answer but the rumbling of the flowing energy around Lin-Lin. The girl’s drunken smile was sharp even though the rain beating down on the courtyard.
Slide! Lin-Lin crossed the distance between the two by running and sliding on her knees. She spun around, delivered two pendulum-hammer strikes from which she rose up into a flurry of kicks. Two of the kicks were deflected but the last one hit him squarely into chest. Lin-Lin dropped to ground and performed a donkey-kick, rolling away from Kin who was thrown backwards by the attack.
“Shit! This isn’t good!” Hoshizuna Kin growled.
The fight was not going well for him. If he just stayed on defensive, he would be eventually defeated by the kicks, even if he’d managed to avoid the one-hit-KO punches.
That was why Kin went offensive.
He rushed towards the small girl, delivering a volley of strikes that came from left and right in rapid succession. All of them were aimed at vital spots like neck and head. This way Lin-Lin had to block them, and she could not concentrate on counter-attacks which would have most likely been the end of Kin. It was a risky tactic, and even Kin himself did not know how long he would be able to keep it up, but at least for now, he was faring far better than before.
Lin-Lin threw herself to the ground, rolled around. Jumped up and dodged yet another strike. Her way of fighting would have been painful for most humans, but that small body had been hardened by years of training, turning to something akin to rock. She did not even bruise herself as she moved on the ground.
Suddenly, Lin-Lin shot upwards and delivered a roundhouse-kick from above, straight towards Kin’s head. Desperate, Kin blocked the attack while holding his tambos in like a +-sign. The kick stopped right above his head, and Kin threw the attack to the right, freeing his left tambo at the same time. From there, with an attack like raging storm, he swung his tambo which hit Lin-Lin straight to the side of her face. The smaller girl was thrown to the ground.
Although she managed to land into a roll and take distance to Hoshizuna Kin, Lin-Lin still spat out blood. That attack had been dangerous.
“Don’t get cocky---!” Kin yelled and charged forward, his weapons ready.
The flurry of the tambos scattered the rain around the two. The double-swing-strikes of Kin connected multiple times, and he continued by striking in a fan shape across Lin-Lin’s face, dazing her. But still, even in a situation where most fighters would be unable to react, Lin-Lin dodged the next bone-crushing strike to her ribs. She giggled drunkenly and jumped up, kicked Kin in the face and swept his legs from under him.
Kin cursed as he saw Lin-Lin’s fist coming down like hammer of thunder god. He rolled to the side with all the strength he could muster, and dodged the attack by an inch. The punch left a crater where the man had been just now, and he silently thanked his luck in his mind.
What the fight was quickly developing was a stalemate. Lin-Lin’s punches would not connect, as Kin focused his whole essence into dodging them. However, this left him open for her kicks, which were slowly whittling his strength. Lin-Lin jumped high like a bird, delivered a double kick which nearly dislodged Kin’s left arm and then fell to the ground into a lying position. From there she twisted her body and rose up into yet another kick which hit Kin to stomach. Lin-Lin landed on her feet, from where she continued with an array of drunken fist punches, all aimed for vital areas of Hoshizuna Kin.
However, Kin too managed to score hits on the girl. He could not exert too much power as it would have left him wide open for the deadly punches, but whenever exchanging strikes with Lin-Lin, he managed to deliver few swings from his tambos into her weak areas. But, because Lin-Lin’s body was like stone because of her training, they did not do as much damage as Kin would have hoped.
It was almost a stalemate. Or rather, Hoshizuna Kin managed to extend the fight by defying death by taking extraordinary risks.
There was only one thing that Kin worried more about than Lin-Lin’s fists. That was the raging aura around the small girl that seemed to slowly take some form, as if it had been shaped by something. The more this fight went on, the clearer shape the aura was taking.
Kin knew that the moment the aura would take its definite shape, he would lose.
And that was something he could not afford.
“Don’t get cocky, monster!” man yelled and charged forward. “I’ll defeat you before you’ll manage to synchronize!”
Hoshizuna Kin became a typhoon of attacks. He literally tore up his muscles by exerting more speed than his body should have been capable of producing. Every attack was faster than the previous, like some kind of devil taken over him. It was a suicidal, animalistic technique that bore no real connection to kobudō of Okinawa.
No, this was not a technique Hoshizuna Kin had learned during his training.
This was a style that he had witnessed long, long ago. In fact, 18 years ago, when Kin had been only 6. When he had watched a man with flowing, golden hair tear through a vast group of pirates like an animal, primal rage fueling his veins and powering him.
It was like watching some primordial beast destroy everything he came across.
His breathing was ragged. Kin’s muscles screamed for oxygen. Bloodveins were bursting. His lungs were burning. And yet he attacked faster, deadlier. Relentlessly like a beast that had lost its mind. Hoshizuna Kin knew that he might never achieve the true potential of this technique, but at least he was-
“Not enough *hic*”
Wh-bam! Headbutt connected straight Kin’s forehead. He staggered backwards, like a bull that had hit a wall. That one moment, that one opening he showed when his amazing speed had been stopped, was the decisive point. Seong Lin-Lin spun around, bent backwards and delivered a hammer-like swing from above with both her fists. It was a strike that would kill instantly, an attack that would pulverize any opponent.
------------ And even in the midst of it, Kin saw a chance.
Her stomach was exposed. If he would manage to survive this attack, Kin would be able to deal the decisive strike to Lin-Lin, which would end the fight. If he would just be able to flow through this attack. And he knew he would be able to. It would be easy to dodge sideways, push forward and attack. Girl’s attack would only graze his head.
But even that would be too much. Even a grazing hit from those fists would destroy his head.
“Shit!”
Hoshizuna Kin jumped backwards, abandoning this one, perfect chance. With all the force he could muster, he leaped, intending to land in a position that would allow him to lunge forward immediately, into a moment where he might be able to utilize that one chance once more. It was a desperate move, but at least it let him live.
CRRRREAAAAAAAAKKK! a horrible sound. It was the sound of earth torn apart. Ground shaking like during an earthquake. Stones cracked and shattered from the sheer force.
“E-eh!?” Kin managed to say. His eyes widened in surprise. After all, one simple thing had messed up his landing.
The ground below him was gone. Seong Lin-Lin’s fists had shattered the courtyard, opening a wide chasm that led to the bottom of the destroyed dungeons beneath the castle. It was a fall more than five meters, something which would cause serious damage if one landed on his back. The pain from such a fall would be extreme.
And that very pain was what Hoshizuna Kin felt as he fell through the destroyed floors, hitting finally the rubble far down below.
Kin’s scream of pain echoed in the rain. He felt that his shirt was soaked in blood that oozed from the wounds caused by the sharp rocks. All air had shot out of his lungs, and now he was desperately gasping for air. He tried to stand up, only to find that his limbs no longer worked properly. If he had just twenty seconds, he might have been able to crawl further into the dungeons.
That was twenty seconds too long. Hoshizuna Kin saw how the chasm was filled by the roaring aura of Lin-Lin as she descended from the above like the fist of God. Orange light engulfed the dungeons, and for a moment, Kin saw something roar in unison with the girl.
And that was the last thing he saw. The hammer of colossus descended from the sky in form a small girl with extended fist.
Those living close-by could see how Nakijin castle exploded into cloud of rubble and sand.
---------------------- Fight-ON! ----------------------
“Floating…?”
Disbelief.
“How is that…possible…?”
Unable to accept that which was before him, Dokuga Habu could simply stare at the kunoichi veiled in the rain. Fūma Rina stood there, at the center forest, in the middle of the air. It was a sight that should not have been real, and yet it had become reality. So, could anyone blame Dokuga Habu from being shocked to the point where he could not act?
“H-how are you moving with that speed!?” Habu finally focused on one oddity he felt his mind could comprehend. “I already hit you with dozens of needles! You should be full of erabu poison right now! Then why are you moving with that speed!?”
There was a cold smirk on Rina’s face.
“Oh? Dokuga Habu, did you really believe that a Fūma ninja would not be able to grow accustomed to a simple snake venom in few days?” she asked. “This one could have, after experiencing it once, move at half of my usual speed after the first time. And since you left those needles in use, this one could easily gain immunity to it in the cell, little by little.”
Yes. Dokuga Habu saw it now. He had been tricked. A simple trick to catch him off-guard, lowering one’s speed as if being affected by the poison. And yet he had fallen for it so easily. Having defeated such a famous kunoichi once, Dokuga Habu had believed too much of his own skills, and underestimated his opponent. And he felt that this very mistake would be the thing that would lead to his downfall.
And that thought was something Habu could not forgive. It incited him into a rage he had not shown before.
“Fūma Rinaaaaaaaa!!!” Habu roared as he jumped a huge leap towards the girl. “Dieeeeee!!”
This might have been a slightly good move if the one against him had been just a kunoichi. Just a normal shinobi. However, that was not the case. No, the one against Dokuga Habu was none other than the infamous “Demon Wind” of the Fūma clan, their current prodigy heiress…
Fūma Rina.
“Hnh!”
With a sound like that of a stretched sky, Rina fell forward. Or rather, she gathered power in her legs and aimed straight at Habu. And then she flew. Like a rocket through the air, the small girl shot forward with her sai in her hands.
The feet hit Habu straight into the face while the other said was buried deep between his neck and shoulder. Screaming in pain, he blindly slashed with his kamas, only to hit thin air. Rina was already on the move, having moved to the empty air behind Habu, gathered more force into her legs, and launched herself into yet another flight.
It was like watching a deadly superball. She bounced throughout the forest, hitting Habu with every soar. Truly, this girl had earned the right to call herself the heiress of the Fūma clan. The flying demon of The Lionhearts…………………..It was, in this dark, rainy forest, that Rina unleashed her full power against her opponent. After all, right then, right here, nobody would bear witness to her technique.
This was the only place where she could go all-out.
If one looked from the outside, it almost looked like Rina had became a part of the storm. She weaved her flight through the woods like some sort of lightning bolt, defying the gravity with her every move. She switched stances and turned with the flow of her movement, striking her sai deep into Habu, only to snatch them away with the next flight. And more than that, she was completely unpredictable. Many times did Habu try to sense some pattern in the girl’s movement and anticipate her next direction of flight, but always he failed.
No matter how one looked at it, it was a complete turn-about. Fūma Rina had escaped from the jaws of defeat by soaring to the stormy skies.
“-----Not possible! Not possible! That is not possible!” Habu screamed at the girl, stubbornly refusing to admit defeat. “How is that supposed to be humanely possible!? No one should be able to fly! No one!!”
A moment of silence, then, a pair of cold eyes.
“That is right. It is not possible. This one is doing the impossible”, Rina commented. Her golden eyes were almost like illuminated in the darkness. “And that is exactly what a shinobi does. Turn the impossible into something possible. Nin-nin.”
“Shut uuuuuuupp!! I won’t have it! I won’t let you have your victory!! Not like this! Not by cheating like this!!” Habu continued yelling, half-mad.
At this point, Rina could not help but to smirk and give a short laugh.
“Cheating? What did you expect? This one is a shinobi. We cheat and deceive by trade”, she said very matter-of-factly, before continuing. “Just like this.”
Something shimmered in the air. Habu heard a faint hum like that of a violin. He saw how Rina’s hand went into a gesture he had seen before only in movies or comic books. That infamous mark always identified with the shinobi…!!!
“Jack-the-Tricker: Thousand Mirror Moons.”
And so, once again, the impossible happened. In an instant that was only the length of a single thunderclap, the forest was filled to brim with standing figures. All exact copies of the girl that had just been standing up in the air before Dokuga Habu. Yes, with just a single sentence, Rina had created a small army of exact clones that were all staring down at Habu.
“Kage……bunshin….?” Habu whispered, unable to believe his eyes.
“Fūma-clan version. This is the true power of a ninja. This is the source of our legend”, came the answer in unison.
Dokuga Habu abandoned the common sense. He no longer tried to make any sense to this all. He just knew that he would have to kill all the enemies before him if he wanted to survive. Maybe later, by interrogation another shinobi, he might be able to find out how Fūma Rina was able to do all this.
But now, all he needed was to concentrate on the fight at hand.
“Then bring it on, Fūma Rinaaaaaaaa!!!!”
He was answered by a wave of shinobi, charging at him.
From every point and angle possible, an attack came towards Dokuga Habu. He switched the grip of his kamas to the very end of their handles, increasing his attack power to a double the previous, and attacked with a sweeping motion from below. This was easy because all the flying clones came from higher ground than where Habu was.
One of the major factors when fighting with kamas was that the attacker would be able to slip inside his opponents defenses. The twisting and swinging motions of the strikes and the sharp pull-backs were all made with the default expectations that these moves would happen inside the preferred strike-zone of the opponent. However, since all the opponents of Habu were armed with sai, weapons pretty much of the same length as Habu’s, he was not allowed such a luxury. Instead, he had to pour everything into his mind’s eye, his ājñā, which would allow him to dodge an attack before it even landed. The ājñā is an Buddhist concept of the sixth primary chakra, and as a former student of the Jung Gong, who in turn was taught by the grandmaster of the Tibet himself……..
This was one of the things that Habu excelled at!!!
“Too slow!! Your numbers have done nothing but slowed you down!!” Habu laughed as he flowed like water through the strikes.
It was almost absurd to look. With his ultimate concentration now activate, Habu was able to avoid any sort of injury. His timing and precision was simply on whole another level. This was no longer the type of reaction-time one could see in the preliminary rounds of the Tournament of One Thousand Blades. No, this was what was expected to see in the latter rounds. And not only that, but with each dodge, Habu was able to land a hit that dispelled one of the clones. It seemed that they were not as nearly as sturdy as the original.
So, if Habu hit a kunoichi that could take more than one strike……he knew he would have his prey. And a snake never lets the prey escape.
“It’s useless, useless I tell you!!” Habu roared as he cut through the clones like wheat. “My defense is impenetrable! Every and all attacks will be dodged, and returned with deadly precision! Even if you attack by flying, you cannot surprise me, Fūma Rina!!”
And that was true. It started to seem that using the clones had been a bad idea for Rina’s part. After all, with that many attackers, the trajectories of their flights become far easier to tell, not to mention the fact that they could not utilize the whole three-dimensional space freely, because there were others there too. And since the change in the number of enemies had activated Dokuga Habu’s third eye, it really did seem like this had been a major mistake.
The sudden victory had turned into a slaughter. No matter how many times the clones attacked, they were always repelled. And all this time, Dokuga Habu took no damage at all.
…
But wasn’t exactly that strange? No matter how good, when assaulted by a mob, one would always take damage? Then why was it that none of the attacks had not cut Dokuga Habu? As this idea passed through his head, he started to think different scenarios that might explain this oddity.
And he arrived to an answer.
But when he did, it was already too late.
“This one grows tired. Let’s end this. Nin-nin.”
The voice came from below Dokuga Habu, too far inside his attack range. The master of deception, shinobi, had slipped inside his defenses from the shadows, and now prepared to launch the final attack. For after all, this was what they truly were. Shinobi never fought fairly. They cheated and lied their way to the victory, utilizing ways their opponent could never think of.
And this was exactly what Rina had done, appearing right below Dokuga Habu----!!!
“……Tsu!”
Rina sprang into action. She hit straight at Habu with sanshitanken, the three finger strike, following with attacks that combined both fudoken and koppoken, the fist strikes and the knuckle strikes. It was a flurry of punches that aimed straight at the stomach of Habu, causing rupturing wounds that were deadly at the point-blank range like this. But it was not over yet. It was far from over. After all, shinobi were assassins, first and foremost. From this range, from this once-in-a-lifetime chance, there was no way Rina would let Habu go before all this had been settled.
Cathing Habu’s left wrist with a sturdy hold, Rina forced the other kama out of his hand. This one was followed by a happaken downward strike, one with open palm, that dislocated the shoulder with single hit. Gritting his teeth in pain, Habu tried to make most out of the situation by attacking with the remaining kama. However, this was a stupid move. Close-quarters combat was the territory of ninjutsu, especially on this skin-to-skin distance. With frightening ease, Rina fluidly moved out of the way of the attacking hand, shielded herself from the whiplash of the attack with her left hand that was against her body, and reached out over Habu’s extended arm with her right.
From there, she moved on to destroy the remaining arm. The left hand of the girl, which had now caught with the wrist of Habu, yanked the arm so that it stretched backwards, while the right hand held on to the shoulder of Habu. The arm was literally turned to the wrong direction, forcing the bones in the arm to creak. And that wasn’t all. With a yell of power, Rina applied more force, which was soon accompanied by a sound of snap and scream of Dokuga Habu.
But that shout was soon silenced, as Rina used her momentum to spin around with only one leg on the ground, and deliver a devastating kick straight to Habu’s face. He staggered backwards, blood flowing from his nose. With his dislocated hand, Dokuga Habu tried to once more to turn around the situation he was in. He brought bunch of needles he had hidden in his sleeve, and threw them all to the supposed attack-direction of Rina. Had she been there, she would most certainly gotten them all to her face.
Had she been there.
“Toriyaaaaaaaaaa--!!!!!”
The shout of victory echoed across the stormy forest, drowning even the voice of thunder. From above like an eagle, like a spinning pinwheel that gathered force, Rina descended with a force of a spinning axe-heel-kick, ready to take this fight to its bitter end. The only thing that Dokuga Habu managed to see was a flash-like lightning and the approaching death.
It was the “Demon Wind” of the Fūma clan. The heiress said to be the most powerful amongst the four successors of the four greatest shinobi clans.
This was the true power of Fūma Rina!!
“SEI!!”
The kick connected. With all the force the girl could muster in her, it drove straight into the head of Dokuga Habu, cracking his skull and snapping his neck. The force was enough to send the body spinning around, before it hit the wet ground with a thud. As for the girl, she landed gracefully, although panting from exhaustion.
After a battle-like war, one that had damaged the forest around them like war, everything but the rain was silent. The ground and the trees were littered with thrown kunai, and more than one tree was destroyed. There was no other way to describe the scene like a “battlefield”.
“………Don’t feel bad, Dokuga Habu”, Rina said with low voice. “What you fought against wasn’t impossibility. Simply the techniques of a shinobi. Smoke and mirrors, illusions to reality and back to illusions. Had it been anywhere else but here……this fight might have ended differently.”
Yes. There was one clear reason as to why Dokuga Habu lost.
------ There was no better-suited battlefield for Fūma Rina.
---------------------- Fight-ON! ----------------------
The beach was shaken by an earth-shattering explosion. It was the sound of two unstoppable forces hitting together, creating a blastwave that made even the already stormy sea bellow like it had gone mad. Mad were also the grins on the faces of the two fighters on the beach, staring at each other like mortal enemies. And that they were. Mortal enemies. Both using their fists, yet both utilizing a different technique. It was the situation one might compare to an all-out war.
“Hmh. I see you aren’t just a normal delinquent, bitch”, Umihara San growled. Kaeo replied with a laugh.
“An’ ya aren’t just sum libby who is all talk, ya know?” she said, before utilizing her left shoulder to deliver another strike towards the girl caught in their lockdown.
Moving back, San dodged the elbow and immediately returned the favor by using her left-hand tekko to reach out for Kaeo’s face. However, that was a mistake. The Art of Eight Limbs was could adapt to almost any situation, and Kaeo simply flowed past the strike, raised her knee and aimed a devastating hit straight to San’s stomach.
“----Kuh!”
The sound of desperation. Umihara San jumped towards the sky, dodging Kaeo’s attack with such an absurd move. Her hands moved up and delivered a double-strike tekko attack straight from above, like executioner’s axe. Kaeo cursed as she saw this, spun around her heels and reeled out of the way. Her momentum was used to launch a roundhouse kick that tried to hit San’s head. But the latter saw this coming and dived straight to the sand from her failed attack. From there, she rose up like a comet, aiming an uppercut to the jaw of Kaeo.
It was a fascinating match. Both of them were similar in their attacks, like two sides of the same coin. They complimented each other so well that they could anticipate each other’s attacks by instinct and retaliate in a millisecond. It was the type of fight that could only end in one way.
A straight up, single KO-attack that would be the first one to hit!!!
“Rhaaaa!!” Kaeo’s roar echoed across the shore as she dodged San’s attack and delivered a hook-type punch that was meant to knock the daylights out of the other girl.
“Fool! Such simple attacks won’t work!” San laughed as she dived past the attack and delivered her own attack that came from both sides, meaning to crush Kaeo’s head between her tekkos.
Kaeo cursed and suddenly made a quick sprint. It was the type of move that flew straight towards Kaoe’s face, a double knee strike in which the other attack aimed for stomach, and other to the face. It resembled a rising dragon, a move that only a master of Muay Thai could achieve.
A move that only a master of the Okinawan kobudo could counter.
“Ha! Haaaah--!!”
Showing amazing agility, San fell backwards, performing a somersault kick backwards that came dangerously close to Kaeo’s face. Had she been a bit closer, it would have most likely broken her nose. Now, Kaeo simply stared at the bottom of San’s sandal for fraction of a second. It was a moment that was almost like in slow-motion. Other one flying forward with her knee extended, other one doing a backwards somersault with her leg as weapon.
And then it was over. Both pairs of feet hit the ground and the battle continued. Kaeo charged forward with the rage of a tiger and delivered a thunderous mat drong, a straight-up punch that reached out for San’s face. She could barely dodge by striking at the inner side of Kaeo’s punching arm, diverting the fist from its target. From there, San proceeded with a drill-like flurry of punches that were all aimed to Kaeo’s unguarded stomach.
But she wasn’t going to let that happen.
Buok, shin block, was one of the most basic movements of a muay thai fighter. And as many knew, the shin of nak muay, thaiboxer, developed into something as rigid as steel during their training. And as Kaeo lifted her shin to protect her stomach from the tekko, Umihara San quickly found out that those tales were no exaggeration. The tekko slammed against Kaeo’s shin, but the girl did not even flinch. No, she grinned like an animal that was hunting. And the tekko…
……Suddenly had a light crack in it.
“Damn!” San cursed and immediately took distance to Kaeo. Both fighters were breathing heavily.
As the two caught their breaths and analyzed the fight so far in their minds, San came to a startling realization. This fight was the type of a fight that neither could through sheer skill or physical prowess. Her and Kaeo’s build was almost exactly similar, and with her tekkos she punched as hard as Kaeo. Both had devoted all their lives to their martial art of choosing, and so they both had plenty of experience.
And from that experience, both knew.
The match would end up going till draw if neither of them came up with something that would take the opponent by surprise.
“Thinking outside the box, huh…?” San muttered to herself. “Against a monster like this, I guess there’s no other choice.”
“……Heh, I could really use Leon-kun ‘ere right now, ya know…?” Kaeo spoke as she looked around her.
The beach was completely empty, having only sand and the sea next to it. The village was further away, and because of the storm, nobody dared to venture outside. Yet it was clear from the faces beyond the windows of the houses that the fight between Kaeo and San had not gone unnoticed.
“While travelling the southern seas of Japan during my training, I heard a lot about a certain nak muay, who was making a sweep in Thailand”, Umihara San suddenly spoke. “They said she was the prodigal disciple of Khemkhaeng Khanomtom, legendary nak muay. That disciple was so good that many tournaments refused to take her in, as it reduced the amount of participants to a minimum. Now….you wouldn’t happen to know anything about this girl?”
“I wonder……dat kinda girl could’ve ended up anywhere, ya know? Even if I knew someone like dat, I couldn’t tell ya”, Kaeo answered with a defiant smile. Dark shadows moved across her face. “An’ someone said dat the “A-má-dtà Nak Muay” would’ve taken a disciple? That’s ridiculous, ya know? Old fart like ‘im never taught anyone.”
“I see. I must have been mistaken then”, Umihara San giggled. “You people from Thailand all look so similar it’s hard to tell you apart.”
Now it was Kaeo’s turn to laugh.
“Well, whaddabout ya? Was yer daddy an American, or somethin’? ‘Cause ya don’t look exactly like Japanese”, she asked, to which San simply shrugged.
“Yeah? What of it? Papa was an American soldier stationed here in Okinawa. My mama kept a local dojo that trained the ways of kobudo”, she told nonchalantly.
However, after those words, her eyes widened. Her mouth curved into an evil grin. And so Umihara San once again took her fighting stance. She was radiating the kind of confidence that told everyone she knew she would win this match. Slightly worried, Kaeo took also her stance, and for a moment, those two stared off.
Then…
“Sorry, bitch. I just won this fight.”
Umihara San charged forward.
Before Kaeo could well react, San had crossed the distance between the two. She came in from low, under the deadly straight punches and most elbow strikes that Kaeo could have produced as a counter. Indeed, she did risk getting hit by the infamous knee-strikes, but it seemed that it was the type of risk she was willing to take. Loading everything she had into a single punch, San delivered straight-back posture punch that would have broken ribs if it had hit.
But Kaeo was too fast. She lifted her leg, not to defend, but to crush San before her punch would connect. The attack was known with the name kao drong, a frontal knee-kick with enough force to shatter enemy’s bones. Two ultimate-reward, high risks attacks were about to collide, and it seemed that Kaeo would the faster of the two.
But that was only how it seemed.
“Hah! Gotcha!”
Faster than Kaeo could react, San had grabbed the raised knee and directed its power away from her body. This move was not the kind that was taught in Okinawan kobudo. No, this was something completely else. A technique that believed in efficiency above everything else…….MCMAP. Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. A military martial arts.
With great speed, San hurled Kaeo forward, making her crash to the sand. From here she proceeded to twist Kaeo’s leg into an unnatural position, making her bones creak. Kaeo screamed in pain, but it was silenced as San added an additional kick into her stomach. This caused Kaeo to spit out blood, staining the sand.
“Think outside of the box! That’s right! One of the few things I learned from my papa was how they fought in military. And this is exactly it!” Umihara San gloated and applied more pressure on Kaeo’s leg.
Any minute now, that leg would snap. That was, unless Kaeo was ready to give up. But such a thought never occurred in her mind, as the girl buried her fists deep into the red sand in front of her, gritted her teeth, and growled like a wounded tiger.
“To hell with ya!! I came here to win, so….like I’m gonna let ya defeat me this easy, ya know!?!”
Crack!
The most horrible sound echoed even in the storm. But it had been necessary. With great strength, Kaeo kicked Umihara San away from her with her healthy leg, spun around, and faced her opponent once more, head-to-head. She was still half-kneeling in the ground, holding her body up with her fists, but Kaeo’s face showed that she was not about to give up. Not now. She would either win or die. And neither of the fighters would have had it the other way.
“I’ll end this one, Thunusakurn Kaeo!!!” Umihara San yelled as she sped up to yet another charge.
She knew this was her chance. One of Kaeo’s legs had been taken out, so she had had her fighting ability significantly hampered. There was no better chance to finish her off. That was why, returning to her origins in tekkojutsu, San gathered momentum with her charge, slammed her feet to the ground, and delivered straight one-two drill punch that would finish everything.
But at that precise moment……………….Kaeo lifted her fists from the sand.
Fists that were now soaked with the blood that had been there. Blood covered in sand. And thus, fists covered in sand. Sand, which would add a great deal of friction into Kaeo’s hands. Friction, which was………
The key to the victory.
“It’s over, ya know!! Experience why they’all call me “Paungol Landas”……………..THE HOWLING PATH!!!”
Kaeo’s fists pummeled the air, and immediately, a typhoon like wall of air was sent shooting forward. It was like a truck that plowed everything from its way. And Umihara San, unable to stop her attack, took all that force head-on. It slammed against her with a force of thousand punches and threw her backwards like a ragdoll, making her fly through the air.
San hit the ground and rolled many times over, having been thrown almost 20 meters by that single attack. It was devastating. It was ruthless. And it was the very reason why Thunusakurn Kaeo had became the most feared Muay Thai fighter in Minato ward. This was her specialty.
The Howling Path.
Her very own special move, developed with her manager, Leon Hart.
“How’s dat!?!” Kaeo boasted.
But there was no answer.
Umihara San had been knocked out. In the end, Kaeo had been the one who came out with the biggest surprise.
---------------------- Fight-ON! ----------------------
“Shishou! Naha can be seen ahead, de gozaru!”
Tsubasa’s voice woke me up from my thoughts. I had been staring at the Arashi-maru which could be seen not too far ahead. Despite that, our motor-boat had not been able to catch up, thanks to the storm. The larger ship braved the waves far easier than our small vessel, and thus, we were forced to play our part in tailing the Storm Lords. Even though I would have liked to stop them before reaching the city……it seemed like it was inevitable.
The final battle would be fought inside the capital of Okinawa.
Chun had stayed behind in order to ensure our chase. The moment the hovercraft, steered by Kawasemi Sora, had come within range, Chun had jumped from our boat to his, and attacked him. It was a well-planned move. Hovercraft, by nature, was much more stable than a boat, and there was more open space which Chun could utilize. She would stall, and defeat, Kawasemi Sora in the middle of the sea, and then drive back to the Nakijin castle to pick up Kaeo, Rina and Lin-Lin. Afterwards, they would chase after us, and arrive as back-ups if the fight had not yet been concluded.
But what we needed to worry about now was the battle that was ahead of us. Because, as I watched the Arashi-maru make its hastily towards Naha, I realized something. They weren’t going to even moor the ship properly. Instead, they were just going to get as close to the port as they could, and continue from there. And they weren’t going to use the new port either. No, they were going straight to the old one.
-------- I knew what this meant.
“Arakaki-san…..they’re going to leave one more obstacle in our way. You see that big cannon over there, at the head of Arashi-maru. It might seem old, but even from here I can see that it’s quite new technology. Quite easily handled by a single person. If a cannon like that was launched anywhere in Naha, the collateral damage would be horrendous”, I told him, and Arakaki-san listened intently. “Those bastards are going to use Arashi-maru itself as a one last trick to thin our forces, while Chisame herself proceeds towards the execution grounds.”
“Then, what will we do?” Arakaki-san murmured, scratching his chin. “If we leave it be, it’ll cause damage to the innocent, but if we go to stop it, we might not be able to save Shinjou-san in time……”
There was a moment of long silence, broken only by the storm, before…
“…………I shalt stoppeth them, de gozaru.”
Tsubasa stood up, placing her hand gently on the handle of her sword. Her pipe’s hot eye did not die even in this pouring rain. There was look of determination and steel inside the girl’s eyes, and the moment I saw them, I knew that we had a solution to our problem.
“Whether it art the crew or just a ship, I shalt deal with them, Shishou”, Tsubasa spoke loudly. “To my shame, I were not powerful enough to defeat Bakukaze Chisame-dono, but thou hast one more warrior at thy side, Shishou. The strongest of the Lionhearts…….Fu-dono, de gozaru.”
And from behind me, Fu nodded and raised her fist.
“Leave it to me –aru. I won’t let anything happen to Leon-kun!”
And so it was decided. We would continue ahead while Tsubasa would deal with Arashi-maru and whoever was inside it anymore. This seemed like the only sensible choice, even though we were down to four after this, and I wasn’t even a fighter. But, if I knew there was someone who had a chance to defeat a monster like Bakukaze Chisame……It was another monster named Tai Fu.
“Alright. Then our plan is clear. Then there is no more need to hesitate!” I cleared my throat and looked at everyone. “Let’s go!! We shall banish this storm of despair, for Orca-chan’s sake!! So that she will be able to see the clear sky once more!!!”
“”””Ou!!”””
Three voices answered me, and even Unkatuye herself looked shocked that she had joined in with Fu and Tsubasa. However, the vapid expression soon returned to her face. Seeing this as the last chance to poke some fun at her, I grinned.
“Hmh? What’s with that unenthusiastic face? Are you telling me that you won’t charge in to save Orca-chan with us?”
I got a big sigh as a response.
“Stop speaking nonsense. I’m going”, she answered. “Even if it means working as a part of your team.”
----------------------- Heh. She really can’t be honest, huh?
As we came closer and closer to the port, it became clear that Arashi-maru had already stopped, and was now just braving the waves that hit the harbor with all their might. The storm had made all the people take shelter inside their houses, and thus the port itself looked almost sorrowfully empty. However, I knew that soon it would have just enough life in it, as Tsubasa would take her stand.
But thinking that now was meaningless.
We needed to get ashore.
“Arakaki-san!” I yelled so that the thunder and rain would not drown my voice. “You remember what Kaeo did on the day we arrived? Her movements on that surfboard? I need you to mimic them with this boat! Take speed from the next big wave that arrives, ride on top of it, and then launch us into a flight!!”
“W-what!? Are you nuts, boy??” Arakaki-san asked, his eyes wide. I grinned a bestial grin, and gave him thumbs up.
“No. We just don’t have time to lose. And the quickest way to the harbor is through air.”
And so, as the next big wave came, Arakaki-san took everything out of the boat. He steered so that we slowly allowed the wave to lift the boat to its very top, until we were clearly riding the huge wave that was about to crash against the piers. As we all knew there would be an impact, everyone held on to something and braced themselves.
And finally it came. The chance we had been waiting for. The wave roared one last time before it would hit the piers.
Arakaki-san accelerated. And thus, our measly motor-boat flew through the air.
First, there was silence, then…….
CRASH! The sound was unimaginable. The motor-boat crashed against the surface of the stone pier and slid for good five meters before coming to a stop. I could feel how the sudden stop in our great speed jerked my hands and made my muscles hurt, but we had survived. That was all that mattered. And we had gotten to the harbor just a little after the Storm Lords.
“Let’s go, everyon!!” I gave out an order and jumped from the boat, to the cool, stone surface.
--------------------- !!!
At that very moment, I realized that the Storm Lords had already gotten ashore. And that Bakukaze Chisame was already on her way to the execution grounds. Why? Because there, framed by the storm and the huge shape of the ship called Arashi-maru, stood a single girl. Her right held on to the Japanese umbrella which stubbornly fought against the wind that roared around her. Those eyes that never seemed open, and that long, black, silky hair…..
Yes.
------------------ Yamagame Kameko.
“Tsubasa….” I said, and immediately, she took her place, stepping between us and Kameko.
“Yes. Shishou.”
Tense moment of silence passed between us, before Yamagame Kameko finally spoke up.
“I see. So you will leave Tsunemoto Tsubasa here to fight against me, while you chase after captain. A sound plan. However, it is too late. You do not know where the execution will take place”, she said. I grimaced.
“And I guess you won’t be nice enough to tell me where that place is?”
“No, I won’t.”
Figures.
“’Tis enough, Yamagame-dono”, Tsubasa spoke up, taking her stance. “Dost thou intend to runneth thy mouth forever, or faceth me in a duel, de gozaru?”
“Fair enough. Then let us make it a battle which both of us will remember for the rest of our lives, no matter how brief they will end up being. But, Tsunemoto Tsubasa, allow me to give you a fair warning…” Kameko said as she threw away her umbrella, revealing the tortoise-shell shield she had.
“….That art…?”
“I won’t be losing here, Tsunemoto Tsubasa.” The Okinawan short spear-sword, rochin, was drawn and pointed at Tsubasa. “Right now I’m protecting captain. And…….there is nothing dearer to me in this world. And there is nothing stronger than a person defending that which she loves.”
And instead of being agitated……Tsubasa smiled in return.
“Likewiseth, Yamagame-dono”, she told her. “I too, art protecting that which art most dearest to me, de gozaru.”
…………….Huh?
Even through this rain, I can see Tsubasa’s eyes looking at me…..and I can also feel how my cheeks are heating up like crazy. This is bad. This really bad. I need to concentrate.
“Everyone! Let’s go! After Bakukaze Chisame!” I yell out an order, and together, we charge towards the city of Naha, pounded by the storm.
---------------------- Fight-ON! ----------------------
“Kyaa-Gaaaah!!”
Blood. Everywhere.
Feng Chun flew through the air, her head once again smashed by the whistling weapon. The chain, over two meters long, rattled as it danced across the sky. The metallic weight on the other end gleamed, as did the circular blade attached to it. And as the man directing this whirlwind-like weapon switched his grip, so did the weight and blade at the other end. This end of the chain continued assault as it hit Chun straight to the stomach, drawing a long cut across it.
It had not gone as planned. The enemy, Kawasemi Sora, had been far, far tougher than Feng Chun could imagine.
Having seen how close Tsubasa came to defeating Bakukaze Chisame, Chun had expected that none of the remaining members of the Storm Lords could be as tough. She had gone to this fight with that attitude, charging head-on with Héng Hé Shā combination of the Shun Li Jian style. This had come with great price. Before Chun noticed it, the enemy of the weapon, surujin, had struck the back of her head, sending her flying to the bottom of the hovercraft.
But that was not all. No, there was yet another problem with this fight. After all, if it had been just that, Chun could have easily turned the tables around. In this hovercraft, it was far easier for her to utilize her weapon than it was for Kawasemi Sora.
-------- However: For the lack of a better word……Kawasemi Sora could run on water.
It had caught Chun by surprise the first time it happened. Only after witnessing those jumps Sora did on the surface of the lake did she realize what he was actually doing. Kawasemi Sora created, with each movement of his legs, vortices with enough backwards draft in them to keep him afloat for a short amount of time. Such a thing would have required ridiculous leg powers.
And that was what pretty much sealed this fight. With Chun confined on the hovercraft, she was forced just continue to try to dodge the attacks of Kawasemi Sora. A thing that was not going well.
“Kuh--!”
Yet another attack landed near Chun, as she jumped straight out of the way. It had been a guillotine-like strike meant to chop her head off with those sharp blades in each weight of Sora’s surujin. Those whistling weapons were very, very deadly, and Chun had to make sure none of them hit her too badly.
But the numerous wounds across her body told their own tale. It wasn’t that easy.
“Ha! Haah! I won’t lose, ne!” Chun shouted as she assumed the basic stance when it came to fighting with jian.
As the bladed end of surujin once again approached, Chun moved out of the way like water, dodging the first attack. The weight flew right past her head, as she had dived underneath it. From there, she surfaced once again and ran forward. Chun had started to see finally the patterns in Kawasemi Sora’s movements. Every tenth jump, he had to come to the hovercraft. It seemed that the surface of the bellowing water could only take so much pressure, before it had to “calm down”.
And right now, Kawasemi Sora had made his tenth jump once more! Too late, in the air, did he realize that it was exactly where Chun was heading too!
“Gotcha, ne!”
The shout sounded victorious. But immediately after, Chun realized something was horribly wrong. She threw herself to the bottom of the hovercraft, dodging the returning blade only by few centimeters. It had been a stupid mistake, the type that she had never done before. Usually, at least. Cursing to herself, Chun rolled forward and continued her charge. This was her greatest chance.
Yet another whistling sound. This time, it came from below. Just in time, Chun jumped up and dodged the sweeping attack of the bladed surujin. This jump also carried her right to the bow of the hovercraft, where Kawasemi Sora had just landed. It was a perfect chance. With triumphant grin, Chun launched her Héng Hé Shā combination once more, intending to skewer Kawasemi Sora fourty times before he would have a chance to retreat.
But......
None of those forty attacks ever hit him.
“GuaaaaAAAAAaaaaahhhhhh!!!” It was the yell of pain.
------------ And not without reason. The weighted, other end of the surujin had just struck straight to the side of Chun’s head.
The blade had not hit her, as it was the back of the weight, but still, it was enough. She could hear weird popping sounds in her ear, and as she rolled on the floor of the hovercraft, Chun had trouble maintaining her sense of up and down.
It was bad. Very bad.
“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
Once again, Chun screamed in agony. The other end came from above like an axe, straight to the middle of her back. Kawasemi Sora, with a smile of twisted pleasure on his face, had brought it in just to make her suffer move. It had not been a move to kill, but a move to hurt. And now he was spinning both ends of the surujin, other going on reverse and other not. It was truly a sight like that of a mass murderer.
Kawasemi Sora was enjoying hurting his opponent.
“Damn……damn!...Why can’t I-I…..defeat......him……?” Chun whispered to herself, tears of rage welling up in her eyes. No matter what she had done, nothing seemed to work.
It was strange. Somewhere deep inside her, Chun knew it. She knew why nothing was working. It was simply because this was not the style of fighting she was used to. This wasn’t how she had been taught how to fight. Up until now, she had followed the philosophy of Shun Li Jian, the legendary style of the Feng-clan. The philosophy of piercing always through, not of matter, but of thoughts themselves. To pierce the barriers of the sky from the Five Sacred Mountains……
Yes. To never hesitate to strike.
But, it all had changed just recently. Without a doubt, Shun Li Jian had been a style of killing. It had been a merciless style. One that earned her brother, Wang, a nickname of a Demon, and made the people of the clan-court refer to her as “Black and Yellow Princess”…….a killer bee. Animal which only lived to kill through it’s only weapon. There had never been something called “hesitation” when it came to fighting, not in the Feng-clan.
But…......then she had met Shī. She had met Leon Hart. The man who had changed her world to a something completely different. To a beautiful place she had never seen before, by giving her the only thing she had truly wanted, and what she, till that time, had only got from her brother.
A family.
And because of that, she no longer wanted to pierce through. She no longer wanted to be merciless. She wanted to hesitate. Looking at Leon Hart, following in his footsteps, staring at his back as he lead them from a victory to another, she found that she no longer wanted to kill. She no longer could kill. Not when her Shī was watching her. For she knew how disappointed he would be in her if she did.
Thus, Feng Chun’s sword dulled. It could not cut and pierce as it did before. It no longer moved as fast as it did before.
“…......just look at me, ne…”
Chun gave a laugh at her own pathetic state. Her clothes no longer reflected her colors, black and yellow. No, now they were pink. They were of a color of flower. She resembled more a fragile flower than the deadly bee resting on top of it. Even the pinwheel in her hair was a sign of that weakness. Weakness her own heart caused.
“………………………It’s useless…”
With her tears hidden by the rain, Chun looked up, trying to collect and drive power into her battered, bloody figure. She saw how Kawasemi Sora approached slowly, whirling his surujin around and around, ready to give the killing blow. And yet, Chun found that she no longer had the energy to stand up. She wanted to cry and scream out of frustration. She wanted to kick and punch the ground, but she had no strength in her limbs.
She was just a dull sword after all.
“I’ll be taking that head of yours now, girl”, Kawasemi Sora spoke with a cold, gleeful voice. He raised the other end of surujin high up, and continued to spin it.
Around and around, around and around. Over and over again, gathering more and more power. This power was gathered until the definite, final point came. It was the point where everything would end, and Kawasemi Sora would win this fight. Only few more spins, and…………
It finally happened.
But not what was expected. No. Instead…….
A large, large shadow of a huge boat covered Chun, Sora, and the hovercraft they were on. Kawasemi Sora cursed and looked back at this looming shadow. Far above him, on the edge of the other vessel. This vessel was a junk-ship, of Singaporean origin.
And on its edge…
“”We are Chinese, if you please.””
Two pairs of eyes opened, and in them, Kawasemi Sora saw more merciless nature than even he possessed.
““We are Chinese, if you don’t please.””
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next time on Fight-ON!
“Something isn’t right. I’m getting a feeling that there is something here that we are overlooking. And if we continue to do so, it’ll come to bite us in the ass.”
“Come, Tsunemoto Tsubasa. I shall show you just how fearsome “loyalty” can be.”
“Don’t misunderstand me, Bakukaze-san. I’m just here doing my job. And this was part of it. It stirs things up rather nicely.”
“You two work for her, don’t you…?”
“This is……c-crap! Doesn’t this mean…? That instead of them being different, it’s…!!”
“Nya?”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”
Eye of the Storm ~ Tragedy of southern seas
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Author notes: Phew! This was probably the chapter which took most amount of time to get together. Perhaps because it's also the most action-packed chapter yet? I think?
Originally Posted by Bird of Hermes
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