Still More Fighting

Thunder. Looking upward, Zak Oda saw that his ears had not deceived him. The sky, which just ten minutes ago was clear, had become completely overcast and now it seemed that rain was imminent.

Great… He thought. Bad enough my practice partner is Jun today, now i have the rain to deal with. He looked in front of him again and watched as Jun Izumi warmed up in front of him.

Combat practice before a SeeD exam on the same day. Hell of a way to spend one's time.

And my practice partner is a ninja… Don't I have all the luck. He sighed as he drew both his gunblades and began warming up. It could be worse. I could be going against Almasy or that anti-social Leonhart. I'm just glad they're dueling each other today after Jun and I finish. He looked to his left and saw that both Seifer Almasy and Squall Leonhart were both standing with the rest of his home room class, waiting to see the practice duel that he and Jun were about to undertake.

"You ready Zak?" Asked Jun

He looked back at Jun and said "Give me another minute." She nodded and continued to warm up with her twin katana blades. Zak had been Jun's friend for years and the two were no strangers to each other when it came to combat, but it was always a challenge and always close every time the two fought.

He looked at his training partner's clothing. It consisted of a black martial arts gi on her body and matching pair of black trousers. She wore black gloves on her hands and a pair of black boots. Around her neck she wore a large purple silk muffler which covered the bottom half of her face up to her nose. She's even wearing her ninja combat gear… She only wears it during important events. I guess she's got the Field Exam on her mind today as well.

"All right let's do this!" He announced. Jun nodded and immediately jumped at him.

The move completely startled him and he quickly stumbled backwards as he crossed his gunblades in front of him.

She almost never goes on the offensive this fast… He thought as parried two quick slashes from. Jun's katana blades. He quickly regained his composure and was able to counter her blitz attack with a quick thunder spell that caused her to jump back quickly. He then began striking at his partner a second later, and each blow, although powerful, were quickly parried in succession. He watched as she sped toward him again. Another blitz? He wondered. So unlike her. He braced for her attack by crossing his gunblades in front of him to block the attack he thought was coming. However, just before reaching him, she leaped straight up and over him.

I've got him now. She thought to herself. She grabbed is back and did a back flip off him causing him to stumble forward. I didn't think it would be this easy.

Zak staggered around in time to see Jun charging at him yet again. It's now or never. I hate using my Limit Break so soon…

"Raging Tornado!"

Zak threw both of his gunblades at Jun. The crowd watched as they circled her, faster and faster, causing a small tornado to form. It engulfed and tossed her into the air and dissipated a few seconds later, with her crashing to the ground. The gunblades returned to Zak's hands and he watched as Jun struggled to get to her feet.

Time to end this. He charged at her, preparing to knock her to the ground one last time.

When he was a few steps away from her she quickly reached insu her gi and threw a handful of small metal coins in his face. The impact was enough to stun Zak momentarily and a Split second later Jun had knocked him to the ground and had a katana blade at his throat.

"That's enough you two!" A familiar voice shouted. "Save it for the exam." The two glanced over to the source of the voice and saw their instructor, Quistis Trepe looping down at them.

Jun stood up and sheathed her weapons, with Zak getting up and doing the same. They both bowed to Instructor Trepe and then to each other.

As they rejoined their class mates Zak rubbed his head.

"Seriously, Gil-Toss? Did you HAVE to do that?"

Jun pulled the muffler down to her neck. "That's what you get for getting me dirty." She removed the hidden magnet that had collected the thrown coins from her hand and placed it inside her gi.

"Nice fight there Oda. Now let me show you how to use a gunblade."

Zak turned around to see that Seifer looking at the two of them with an almost condescending look.

"Can it Almasy." Jun shot back. "I hope Squall cuts your head off."

Seifer simply laughed at the comment and walked over to where Jun and Zak had been for their duel. Squall was already there.

"That was quite mean, even for you Jun-chan."

Jun and Zak turned to see Zak's twin sister, Kate Oda smiling at them. Beside her were Eriko Machida and Lita Takaki. The five of them had been close friends since joining Balamb Garden.

Jun sighed as she removed the clip from the back of her hair, causing her jet-black hair to tumbling messily down.

"Yeah well of course I don't REALLY want his head cut off."

Eriko laughed, her long blonde hair flowing behind her head with the ever increasing wind. "Well I hope not. It would be quite a mess to clean up."

"You too Eriko-sama?" sighed Kate. The medic sighed as she watched Squall and Seifer begin their warm-up routines.

"Come on Kate, you know they're just teasing!" laughed Lita patting Zak's sister on the head. "You really shouldn't take everything so seriously!"

"Shh! They're about to start!" said a classmate.

The five friends turned their attention toward Squall and Seifer, who were staring each other down. Each had their gunblades trust into the ground waiting to begin.

"You may begin!" Shouted Instructor Trepe.

In a flash, Squall grabbed his gunblade out of the ground and charged toward Seifer. The older Seifer anticipated this and had his gunblade ready just as quickly and parried the fit strike from Squall with relative ease. Squall began to swing wildly at Seifer almost as if he was frustrated that he didn't take Seifer down with his initial attack. Seifer easily dodged the strikes and stepped back taunting him with a 'bring it' motion from his left hand. Squall quickly obliged and continued his attack. This time however the strikes seemed to be more calculated and become more difficult for Seifer to block or parry. He succeeded in knocking Seifer back a few steps offering Squall an opportunity. He charged again, but this time with his gunblade held at his side and his left hand outstretched in front of him.

A spell? Kate wondered to herself. A bad idea if ask me…

As soon as the thought went though her mind she watched as Seifer countered the attaque by hitting Squall with a Fire spell. The spell knocked Squall to the ground, as was intended. Squall struggled to one knee just in time to see Seifer's gunblade bearing down on him. The crowd gasped as the blade cut a gash insu Squall's face from the bottom of his forehead down to the left of his nose.

"That's enough!" Shouted Instructor Trepe.

Squall, however, did not heed his instructor. He quickly stood up and using an upward slash, he created an injury on Seifer's face that mirrored his own. He stared at Seifer few seconds more before blackness overtook him and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Kate rushed to Squall examining him. She then looked up at Seifer and hissed, "This injury shouldn't have caused him to pass out like that!"

Seifer, his hand covering his injury, feigned confusion. "I might have had Sleep junctioned onto the Hyperion... Oops."

"Is it serious?" Asked a very concerned Quistis Trepe.

"Other than leaving a scar, no."

"I see. Kate, you and your brother help get him to the Infirmary. Machida, Izumi, and Takaki, you help as well.

"Yes Instructor!" The five said in unison. They each picked up Squall and began to take him to the Infirmary, where Dr. Kadowaki could better treat his injury.

"At least he's not as heavy as he looks…" Sighed Lita.