Author's Note
Voting will remain open for twenty four hours. If nobody votes or if there's a tie, the voting time will be extended by another twenty four hours. If it happens twice, I will choose myself.
{Steel And Fire}
I don't even need to think about it. As I thought, is at undue risk. I can't just use the arm when I have no reason to do so. It's not that I'm afraid, but if I throw away my life like this, how can I help anybody? Unless I'm left with no choice at all, I shouldn't take off the Shroud.
"Trace On." I give shape to the blueprint in my mind with magical energy. On my clenched hands appears the twin steel swords, Kanshou and Bakuya. Two peerless swords a blacksmith made at the cost of his wife; the symbol Archer wielded for all his life. They had become my signature swords, too. Maybe it has something to do with the melting of minds in the war, and the output from the arm during these nine years. I don't know. But I chose them because they are the swords most suited to my fighting style, and they are strong. Even if I faced Saber, they wouldn't shatter from one or two blows.
"What… You're a Sekirei?" They look shocked. I'm kind of surprised, too. That they are just babbling information is unbelievable. The woman's eyes narrow. "No, you aren't one. I don't know what or who you are, but you aren't a Sekirei."
"Well, whatever." the other says, and laughs. "Either way, it got in our way. And maybe if we bring it to Minaka it will give us a reward."
More informations. These creatures are really careless. It might not be what I'm thinking, but there's a good chance that Hiroto Minaka, the CEO of the pharmaceutical company MBI, is the one behind this. I assumed before that these creatures had organized the tournament out of their own, but it maybe it isn't like that, and the only person with the power to organize such a thing would be him. Moreover… if he did so, it would explain the technological and medical advances of MBI, and the pace of them. Maybe its a big leap of logic, but the pieces fit.
I eye the woman behind me from the corner of my eye. What's right and what's wrong. Existing isnt a crime by itself. I can't judge anybody because they aren't human; I have to look at their actions first. This one seems like she doesn't want to fight. She even tried to get me out of the way, believing that I was helpless. She has a good heart. So… I have to protect her.
They each raised one hand. Lightning crackles, and builds up in those hands. The force that they are used would kill a normal human outright; I can tell that just by looking. I felt my eyes narrowing. I clench my hands more tightly. There's no need to play it safe. The woman being is definitively one of them, so I don't have to protect her from the stray blasts not drive these twins away. I kick the ground, and rush towards them.
It only takes them an instant for them to react, but by then I already crossed half the distance. Five meters. Concentrated lighting comes for me. It's fast, but not so fast, and their aiming is not very accurate. I easily sidestep it, and then jump forward. I don't know the range of the explosion, so maybe I overcompensated. But I don't care. As I move out of the way, I charge the blades with as much energy as I can cram in in so short of a time, and I throw them. Targeting the enemy's neck.
I'm already in front of them. They don't have any time to react. Their movements are fast, but their speed can't match a Servant. Moreover, their movements as they try to escape clearly tell me that they are amateurs. That they are used to relay on their powers to win their battles, and don't have a scrap of skill. This won't be hard.
I project another pair of Kanshou and Bakuya in an instant, and swing them down in an across towards the other enemy. I miss. Narrowly, but it's still a miss. The blades bury themselves on her left shoulder, not her neck. Her scream of pain rings in my ears. With all my strength, I push the swords out of the wound. She screams again.
I kick her in the face, turn and raise the swords just in time. The lighting hits the swords, and… my mind goes white. I felt my body shaking, but in a back on my mind sort of way. My vision recovers. A blur is coming towards me. I take a step back. Its like I'm disconnected from my body. A foot hits my legs, and I crumble to the ground.
A gasp.
I shake my head to gather myself. The Kanshou and Bakuya that I threw at the creature in front of me are coming back. Even to my enhanced vision, they are little more that white and black blurs. One cuts the side of her neck, nearly cutting him off. The other… Bakuya hits her knee so hard it comes out of the other side. She crumples to the ground, moaning in pain.
"Sis!" the panicked shout comes from behind me.
I know what I have to do. Without really thinking, I turn around and grab her throat. I squeeze it, and smash her against the ground with all my strength. I put the tip of Kanshou against her throat. She looks up at me with half-closed eyes filled with hatred, her teeth gritting. I felt the lighting start to gather on her clenched hands.
Before I even know it, I stab her through the throat. The energy dissipates and dies out. She opens her mouth, filled with blood. Chocking noises and weak gasps fills the desolate, out of the way space. Even we had been close to the streets, the noises wouldn't have been heard. That thought makes me felt sick… but this is, without a doubt, reality wrought by my own hands. And, without a doubt, this creature had been in the wrong. All that I saw them do and say told the whole story. I remember the shout from behind me, and my heart clenches around my chest. I know I wasn't in the wrong, but still...
A scream of pure rage. An instant later, before I can do anything, something slams into me. Even taken by surprise, I stand my ground and swing the swords towards the remaining enemy. She ducks her head low, managing to avoid it. I take a step back. Her hands go up and clench around my throat. I kick her with all my strength, right in the stomach. She doesn't move even an inch.
The lighting spreads all over my body, rattling me. I fall down. The creature lets herself fall, and straddles me. She squeezes my throat even tighter. The intensity of the lighting increases. I slowly raise Kanshou with my shaking left hand. I can do this. I just have to steady my aim and stab her through the heart. She's attacking in blind rage, so it shouldn't been hard.
A flash. The thing on the top of me goes flying without making a noise. I force myself to my knees, still feeling the after-effects of the electricity. I cough, and turn my head. I see a yellow star on pink and violet shirt. Oh. So it had been that one, of course. I felt an arm around my shoulder, and then I'm lifted from the ground.
"Thanks." I mumble, my voice rougher that usual. It makes me sound like him. I turn towards her, and…
Her face is dangerously close to mine. Her face and her body. Her breasts are pressing against my chest, but she doesn't seem to care. She's breathing even more heavily that before, and flushing so hard she looks sick. Her body is trembling lightly. I can her heart beating, and it worries me even more. It's fast, perhaps far too fast. It's like her body is going into overdrive. I don't understand it. Maybe is something that has to do with their biology, but… I have a sense of unease. Those eyes. She looks like she wants to...
I…
1. Can't let my guard down. She's acting far too strange.
2. Have to help her.
