Exile: Each paragraph is to be read a separately related drabbles. Think of this as the intro to the actual story.

Sparring

"…Say, Len, how good is this fighter? Bad? Horrible? Are they worthy to fight me?" Ryuukei was annoyed by Kanda's apostrophe; if anything, he should at least make eye contact, but instead he had deigned to ignore her, leaving her incensed; the speech was a trivial thing, but the fact that the person she was supposed to spar with next didn't even spare her a glance irritated the fighter; being ignored was something she, a person who had fought her way up the pyramid, loathed with a passion, the same passion with which she now loathed Kanda Yuu. "EN GARDE!" The referee announced. Rei slipped into the Crane position, the martial art stance that allowed for maximum evasion, and Kanda's katana passed by her without leaving a mark.


Kanda stared incredulously at the other figure in the arena that wielded two unknown weapons; the silhouette had actually managed to block his initial attack, which had made others fly out of the ring before; it would be best to adapt to the nimble challenger's fighting style composed of speed and evasion, Kanda realized, dropping to the ground and clashing metal with the lithe female once again. "When you ignore people, especially people that you are going to have contact with soon, someone gets angered." Rei whispered as she rushed at him, Kamas unsheathed and flying towards Kanda.


On formal occasions, his managers would force Kanda to wear either a ridiculous, outdated cravat or bowtie; thinking about it made him grit his teeth; his next opponent was dressed casually, freely speaking with others, while he who was much more renowned was stuffed in an uncomfortable outfit and forced to speak with the most droll of elders that always laughed at his own, rather corny, wit, if it could be called wit at all; Kanda once again shot Rei (he had learned the nickname for the new fighter from a friend) an envious glare. "Nice to meet you, Kanda. My name is Ryuukei Hitoride, and I'm to be your next opponent in the Sparring ring." the androgynous person said cheerfully, but Kanda detected that cold unnerving eye under her false expression. "So my next opponent is the only woman to ever enter the Sparring ring to fight?" Kanda replied, eyebrow upraised. The smile turned into a thin-lipped expression of neutrality, "Yes."


When Rei had been no one but a girl that wished to fight in a men's sport, the name Kanda Yuu had followed her everywhere, pervading the arena and the stands that adoring fans would scream out the name; it was infuriating, being looked down just because one was a girl; so to earn some respect for herself and other women, Ryuukei Hitoride had decided that she would defeat this Kanda Yuu and take the throne for herself. When she first met him, she was amazed at his looks, but the moment he opened his mouth, Rei felt the cold, conniving prick hidden under the handsome face, and frankly it made her want to fight him more.


"I absolutely hate people like you." Rei interposed with a glare and cutting off Kanda's sentence, "because it's people like you that everyone looks at, always wishing to meet. A god-like figure. I'm challenging you to take down this "god" of the Sparring world." she finished, and Kanda found no reply for this reason to challenge him, "En garde!" metal clashed with metal and the crowd went into an uproar at the deadly dance of blades happening below.


After the match, there were despondent sounds from the stands as the two fighters clashed one last time, and with unerring precision, the katana and the Kamas found their way next to their respective targets neck, and both cried, "My win." simultaneously; shocking Kanda and Ryuukei and sending their minds into stunned respect. She truly is a fighter. Kanda realized, and in turn, Rei felt similarly. Amazing, he truly upholds his title. There was an awkward silence in the arena, and then the referee's flag shot up with a yell, "UNPRECENTED TIE!", sending the audience into an uproar.


Kanda's home was decorated ostentatiously, with beautiful katanas and other Japanese weapons lining the walls, and Rei had no choice but notice that Kanda disliked the showy display of wealth, seeing that his bedroom was bare of any furniture but a bed, a couch, and a few scattered tables, "Stop gawking, baka-exile." Kanda snapped at his former rival and now friend, although he would never admit that he considered the one person to challenge him with a good reason and actually tie with him his…friend.

"Is it lonely here?" Rei asked, interrupting his thoughts, and Kanda was forced to agree with a curt nod. "How long am I living here?"

"Until you decide to move out. Since we tied, we'll be sharing for a while." he said shortly.


Rei stared at Kanda with a shrewd eye, taking in his fighting stance and mentally trying to see the weaknesses, which she soon discovered that his sparring style lacked, and she decided that Kanda Yuu was truly a worthy person to fight, "Let's spar again next week, for fun, and because I now want to partner with you in the dual fights world." She proposed, surprising Kanda.

"…I guess we do fight well together, after all." Kanda agreed.


Between the two former sparring rivals and now friends had emerged a sort of teasing respect and not-so-much-of-a-love-feeling for each other, although Rei was probably the densest girl in the world to not yet realize that she should really stop cross-dressing in public whenever they went to a café or something to eat, because really; Kanda felt that tiny inkling of love and said girl dressed like a guy and acted like one, which made things between them sort of awkward, sometimes, whenever they ate together in public after a practice spar and got the oddest looks for passerbys.


Rei fell over when she got asked that question, "Are you and Kanda Yuu dating each other?" by an unknown reporter; in fact, she was at a loss for words; her mind churned in confusion in coming up with an answer. Before she could produce a coherent reply, however, said Dual Sparring partner appeared from behind and threatened the journalist to GET OUT before something bad happened to the camera, and Rei was just left there hanging. What do I feel about Kanda?


No idea where that came from. Phantom plotbunny that appeared out of nowhere.

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