Still Waters 3 Book 2, Chapter 8, The Festival Second Day Part 1, Tournament Qualifying
Saturday, June 27th, Morning
The sound of a pipe striking flesh filled every corner of the room, blending with the pained grunt that followed immediately after.
"So, how's that for an introduction, mister vampire?"
"I would have expected better from a street-" The voice was cut off by the sound of another strike.
Reiko stood well back in the soft glow of the activated seals that papered the walls of the small room, just watching.
"Do you know who I am?" Yuuna asked, propping the pipe up on her shoulder while she waited for the Great Vampire Lord Jonus Hart to collect himself.
He glared at her, his arms bound by the straightjacket and thick layer of paper seals that covered him from neck to ankles, and remained silent.
Yuuna, however, ignored his glare, returning it with a wide, unpleasant grin of her own. "The name's Akashi Yuuna, The Morning Star Of The West! I'm the one who wiped out the necromancer that just about took over the Ukraine! I'm the one who stopped that mage from blowing up the parliament building in the U.K. last year! I once beat NEGI FREAKING SPRINGFIELD in a straight up fight. Sound familiar?"
Jonus just glared back at her, so she hit him with the pipe again.
"Damn it girl, stop that!" he bellowed after he had spit out a tooth.
"Don't whine," Yuuna said. "You're a vampire, this pipe won't do any real damage; you'll be perfectly fine. Besides, you're lucky. Do you know why?" She waited a moment while he glared at her in silence. "Guess not," she said, grinning. "See, you're lucky 'cuz Reiko came to me. If she had gone to, oh, Negi-kun, or Max-sensei, or even Asuna, you'd probly be dead now. But me? Nah. Not my style. If I just kill you, I won't be able to get a good fight out of you later," she said, pacing around and gesturing with the pipe. "Yeah, Negi'd just blow you up, Max-sensei'd just incinerate you, and Asuna'd just cut you up. But me? Nah. I'll just beat you half unconscious during the interrogation!" she said cheerfully.
Jonus just looked at her. "You are insane."
Yuuna shrugged. "Maybe. Then again, maybe you kidnapped my only student, hid her somewhere, maybe killed her, and maybe I'm just barely able to hold myself back from tearing you to shreds with my bare hands at this very moment." She smiled absently at the vampire and waited a moment for him to digest that. The expression of sudden understanding on his face, however, was completely unexpected.
"What's with that look?" Reiko asked softly as she stood up from the wall and took a few steps forward, supported by her cane. Yuuna stepped aside to make room for her. "You didn't look like that when I was interrogating you earlier."
Jonus raised an eyebrow as he looked at Reiko. "That is because you, ignorant little girl, have nothing to do with...with her," he said, referring to Possum Cade, the missing girl in question. "This 'Akashi Yuuna', however, deserves an answer," he said, turning to Yuuna. "Before you say anything else," he said, interrupting Yuuna before she could get a word out, "I must say I am sorry for your student. I, too, have had...incidents...with those placed in my care. Sometimes the student survived the experience, but from time to time one did not." He paused for a moment, giving a long, measuring look at Yuuna.
He started talking.
Yuuna stepped through the door into the larger outer storeroom hidden deep within a long unused portion of Mahora's drainage system, holding it open for Reiko as she hobbled out, waited while Reiko shut and locked it, and when the door was secured and the vampire could no longer see her she collapsed against the wall, sobbing in relief. Possum was alive...! And not only that, but she was still here, in Mahora!
"Don't count your chickens before they've hatched," Reiko said distantly as she focused absently at a spot on the floor. "We don't know her condition or if she's become some sort of monster. We don't know anything at all..."
Yuuna shook her head as she stood up, wiping her eyes. "It doesn't matter. I don't care if she's turned into Dracula or what, she's still Possum, she's still my student, the first one they let me train." Reiko watched in silence as Yuuna pulled herself together and stood up straighter than before, some of her old fire returning to her eyes for the first time since Possum's disappearance. She grinned at Reiko, clapped her on the shoulder hard enough to make her stagger, and started toward the exit. "Come on Reiko, let's talk to Negi and figure out what to do."
Jonus, with his enhanced senses, heard every word that was said in the other room, and wished with all his heart that Akashi Yuuna would be able to weather whatever was to come. Few of those who taught others had the sort of connection she seemed to have with her student, few were willing to risk their lives to help them. Jonus himself had been in similar situations in the past, but...whatever was to come for the girl he had kidnapped, it would not be easy, not for anyone involved. And if the girl, Possum, were to turn...The worst years of Jonus' vampire life had been the first few decades. Almost mad with the thirst for blood, most new vampires became mindless, bloodthirsty monsters, the sort that killed indiscriminately until they were hunted down and killed. It was a rare soul that could survive that onslaught, and he had brought it upon the girl himself, by letting his thirst for her amazingly potent blood go to his head. He knew he would have to take responsibility for what he had done to her; he wouldn't have it any other way. In all his years, he had only created four other vampires, all in his first century of life, those heady days of wild hedonism and bloody violence before he had gained full control of his power. He knew the horror of it, the thirst for blood, the way the merest hint of sunlight burned one's flesh, the way it felt to watch your loved ones wither and die through the years until everyone you had ever known or loved was dead...he wouldn't wish that upon any being, so he had been careful. Up to now, he hadn't made a mistake. Up to now, he hadn't let himself go. He uttered a fervent prayer to whatever deity may have been watching that the girl's death would be quick and without suffering.
"Hun, do you really think it's a good idea for him to go out on his own? I mean this is a strange city-"
"Listen, Nevon is certainly old enough to go out on his own from time to time. And besides, maybe it would do him some good. He has to find out about those humans some time, and what better place than here? So long as he doesn't cause any problems before the coming of age ceremony, everything should be fine. Besides, some of his friends are here as well."
"But hun..."
"No buts. If the family listened to your objections, we would never have come out to support Masashi. Nevon is certainly capable of taking care of himself. He is the biggest of the boys back home, and he can beat the rest with ease. Now this is the last I want to hear of this-"
Nevon Bayle waited in the front section of the hotel room while his parents argued in the back, apparently unaware that he could hear every word they said through the flimsy walls. He sneered upon hearing his mother's constant objections; she was too soft. So what if they were in a strange city? He could take care of himself! He had proven that with that human thief back in Mundus Magicus, hadn't he? He was a member of the Gold Fox tribe! He was a distant cousin of O Masashi, who was planning on officially announcing his intentions to become the new Youkai King during the Youkai Festival, two days from now!
"I can take care of myself," he grumbled to the empty room. Masashi was so cool, just what a youkai with his heritage should be, Nevon thought. He was a member of the Gold Fox tribe, the tribe that had supplied a good quarter of the previous Youkai Kings, far more than any other tribe. So what if the last one from the Gold Fox tribe all those years ago, Masashi's grandfather, had been a psycho? Masashi wasn't! He was smart, he was cool, he could beat anyone in a fight, he was everything Nevon wanted to be after his (sadly delayed) coming of age ceremony. Truthfully, he should have had his coming of age ceremony nine years ago, but his father simply insisted on waiting until the big festival on Earth that occurred every ten years rather than go to any of the smaller, yearly festivals back in Mundus Magicus. Nevon had been quite embarrassed to be forced to wait so long; stupid kids years younger than he was had already become adults, but he wouldn't have to wait much longer to finally take his place. And besides, he thought, relatively few could claim the honor of having their coming of age ceremony take place at the main festival, under the eyes of the future Youkai King.
Nevon paused at the thought and leaned back comfortably against the door jamb. His gaze wandered off into the distance as he contemplated what the coming of age ceremony would mean for him, personally. First and most obvious, it would mean he was an adult. His name would be stricken from the ranks of children and written among the names of the mature adults. His power would be tested and his level recorded. He could marry. He would be free to join any of the guardian groups he wished, no matter what his mother said. He could join the coming fight against the humans, the oni, and the elves, the fight Masashi had foretold. He could... Nevon paused again, a giddy smile creeping over his face at the far and distant dream he had held closely in his heart these last ten years, seemingly so far beyond his reach. He could join up and be one of Masashi's personal bodyguards...! He had long had his eye on a few different girls, and none of them would deny him if he held such a post! The thought almost made him giddy. Not only would he be able to be around someone as awesome as Masashi all day long every day, but he would have the girl of his dreams too! It was almost too much to comprehend, and it would all start in two days! He felt himself grin even wider, and suddenly the small hotel room seemed too close, too untidy. He opened the door and slipped out while his parents' argument grew even more heated.
"This is gonna be great!" he thought aloud as he all but skipped down the hallway.
Kai was more than a little nervous as she stepped out of the dorm, peering around to see if anyone unfamiliar was nearby.
As the only oni in Negi's class, she was in an unusual position. Sure, she had friends; her bandmates in the No Name Band, Ayumi, Miyako, and Kara, but they had no idea of her true nature, weren't even aware of the existence of such things as oni or magic, at least as far as Kai could tell. She also had the group she trained with in Eva's resort twice a week: Abe Aiko, a powerful onmyodo mystic, Aiko's friend Yamamoto Kimi, who was surprisingly good with a sword, Mako Sylvester, a girl who could read minds through touch and seemed able to do little else, and Sato Gin, a creepy girl who could curse physical changes into things. She liked to think of them as friends, but she couldn't help but wonder if they saw her the same way. If she needed help, who could she turn to? Negi-sensei was strong, but he was too cute; she turned into a gibbering mess any time she had his full attention. Eva was strong, but she barely knew her; besides, Eva was scary. Max-sensei? Maybe...but he was pretty scary too, and she couldn't figure him out at all, even though he was the one training her group.
She walked down the steps in front of the dorm and paused again; she could sense them. Youkai. She didn't like youkai much; they were scary. Her classmates Miyoshi Youko and Endo Haru were youkai, or youkai-ish, anyway, but she stayed away from them. Youkai didn't like her kind; they never had. She didn't know any details, but the two races had been at war for thousands of years, each dealing terrible blows to the other until the population numbers of both groups had dropped to extremely low levels. Then the humans had come in, battered the survivors into submission, and now ruled just about everything. Some humans, including the Abe family of Kyoto, had even worked out how to magically enslave the oni, and that thought alone was terrifying. The youkai hadn't fared much better, but at the very least they still had their freedom.
And now, Kai saw, for some reason a lot of them had shown up in Mahora in the last few days, and she had received more than a few looks of pure hatred from them. It made her incredibly nervous to walk around by herself, so she had hung out with the rest of the No Name Band whenever she could. But sometimes that just wasn't an available option...such as now.
As one of the more...visibly striking members of the club with her long legs, yellow hair, and bright green eyes, she had been chosen as one of those to have a highly visible presence at the Kendo Club's exhibition matches in order to attract more attention to the club. Intellectually, she knew she could call in sick or even simply not show up, but... Kai sighed. "Why am I such a sap?" she wondered aloud. She was just too damn nice. She let the club manager walk all over her, she let Ayumi tell her what to do...she let anyone with a sob story trick her into doing things for them. She heaved another sigh and checked the time on her cell phone. "I blame Takahata-sensei," she grumbled under her breath. He had spent a lot of time with her when she first arrived in Mahora years ago, newly orphaned, on the run from...but that was ancient history. Takahata-sensei had done his best to raise her right, something she was actually extremely thankful for, but she knew she was just one of many who had been in the same situation; she wasn't the only orphan on campus, not by a long shot.
She shook her head to clear it and looked at the time on her cell phone again. She had delayed for as long as she possibly could; she had to leave now or leave her club in the lurch. But...she shivered as another youkai walked past out on the street, glancing over at her curiously. It swiftly turned its head and walked on at a brisk pace, not looking back. Kai dropped her shinai bag at her feet and reached up once again to make sure her beret was nice and snug on her head, safely hiding her oni horns, and tried to swallow, her mouth dry. She picked up the shinai bag and walked swiftly along the sidewalk out to the road, keeping her eyes down and her head bowed, doing her best to keep from attracting undue attention.
Nevon was walking along the sidewalk, hands idly stuffed into his pockets, when something in the back of his head warned him that an oni was coming. Masashi hated the oni, so as far as Nevon was concerned, so did he, even if he had never met one before. He paused on the sidewalk, looking around nervously. He had never really run into an oni before. Sure, he had seen them, always at a distance, but...the sensation grew and he knew the oni was getting closer. He slipped into a nearby alley and, not even knowing what he was going to do, pressed himself flat against the side of the alley, waiting. The sensation grew, and grew, and grew until his senses were screaming at him to run, and he knew the oni was right there, not ten feet away, coming down the sidewalk at a brisk trot. Nevon edged toward the corner of the wall, waited a moment, and for reasons even he didn't understand, stuck his foot out. He was immediately rewarded with a girlish yelp as a girl with long legs, unnaturally yellow hair, and a beret tripped over his foot and flopped down face first on the sidewalk.
He stood there a moment, staring in shock, as the girl pushed herself up on hands and knees, grabbed the long, narrow bag she had been carrying, and gave him a hurt, reproachful look. Then she realized what he was, he again realized what she was, and both their eyes widened. The oni girl scrambled backward off the sidewalk and out into the street as she reclaimed her hat, and took off running. Something about the sight of her fleeing from him, the sun flashing on those long legs, triggered the predatory instinct that came with his fox youkai heritage, and he took off after her, a crazy whirl of thoughts swirling through his mind, foremost among them the simple confused thought: THAT is a youkai? She's pretty!
Run. Run. Run.
Kai's heart was pounding, her arms and legs pumping as she ran at top speed.
Keep running. It doesn't matter that he's right behind you. Run.
She took a running leap to clear a hedge fence and darted off into a park.
Did he follow? A quick glance back. He followed. Run!
She ran and ran and ran, through the park, across the street on the other side, into a wide open alley. She had just taken another running leap to clear a fallen trashcan when she saw the kitten that had been standing on the other side, panicked, tried to move herself out of the way in mid air, and hit the ground rolling. She had barely made it back to her feet when a tremendous force rocketed into her from behind and she hit the ground again under a heavy weight, something in her head screaming that a youkai was right there. She tried to scramble out from under it, but it had caught hold of her and didn't seem to want to let go. She flailed around and managed to land a lucky kick. The youkai that had caught her let out a yelp and let go, and Kai was up again in an instant.
Unfortunately, so was the youkai.
He snagged her wrist as she tried to take off running and swung her around into a wall, driving the breath from her lungs as tiny cracks raced up and down the bricks behind her from the impact. Her head cleared a second later and she tried to pull away, but the wall behind her blocked any escape.
He was right there.
He was standing right there in front of her, pinning her arms to the wall, spread out to either side. His face was mere inches away, and she noticed, absurdly, that he didn't look much older than she did herself. His eyes were wide, almost afraid, staring straight into hers, a look she distantly realized was mirrored in her own expression. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came and he closed it again after a moment, gulped, and his face moved another inch or two closer.
Kai, for her part, stood there helplessly, her heart pounding in her chest, something she had never felt before brewing in the pit of her belly. He was actually (a youkai a killer he chased me people SAW he chased me he chased me he's gonna kill me he's gonna-) a little cute.
His lips brushed up against hers for the briefest of moments and her mind froze up.
Soft
Their lips parted the merest instant later and they stood staring at each other for a long, long, mutually shocked moment, and then, nervously, he started to move forward for another kiss.
"You shouldn't do that," a girl's voice said quietly.
Kai finally snapped out of it when the youkai boy (he's cute he's really cute oh God what's wrong with me?) suddenly jerked away, his eyes rolling up in his head, and keeled over backward to land in an unconscious heap on the ground. Kai, stunned, collapsed to her knees and sat there, just looking at him. That had been her first kiss..he had...he had stolen her first kiss...! He was a scary youkai, and he had stolen her first kiss...! She balled her hands up into fists as moisture built up in her eyes.
"Don't."
Kai jerked back against the wall; the word had cut through her mind like a buzzsaw. She clutched the sides of her head for a moment as a headache abruptly welled up and just as quickly vanished, leaving behind the sensation that she had just barely dodged a mental bullet. She shook her head to clear it, feeling suddenly woozy, and looked over at the girl who had spoken. "Ono...san?"
Ono Ran dipped her head in the merest excuse of a nod, and looked back down at the young youkai, who seemed to be breathing regularly now. She looked up at Kai, her expression neutral except for the merest hint of disappointment. "You should be more careful."
Kai braced herself for another mental impact, but nothing came. She looked warily at her dark and spooky classmate Ono Ran, who had turned around and was heading for the end of the alley. She slowly climbed to her feet, wobbled for a moment on shaky legs, and called out after her.
"Thanks! I don't what you did Ono-san, but thank you for saving me!"
Ran turned around, gave her a good long look, and turned away again. "I didn't save you."
Kai blinked. "...huh? What do you mean?" Ran didn't even bother to answer; she simply kept walking. Kai looked back down at the mysterious young youkai who had chased her, still lying unconscious. Her cell phone rang, startling her back to reality. She quickly picked up her all but forgotten shinai bag and beret, tugging the latter down tight over her oni horns, themselves already hidden, wrapped as they were in her hair. She flipped her phone open, winced at the club manager's shouting, and flipped it shut again as she took off toward the exhibition area, leaving the strange youkai boy behind.
"I...I don't know about this..."
"It will be fine, Kara-san! Don't worry!"
"Heh, she's right! There's a reason I chose you as our bassist, Kara!" Ayumi said as she looked the well built girl up and down before diving back into the clothing rack. 'Why doesn't she react to anything like that?' Ayumi thought petulantly as she quickly thumbed through the costumes. Kara never reacted to the innuendo or veiled insults Ayumi shot at her. Maybe she could tell Ayumi didn't really mean it...? Ayumi glanced back at her under the pretense of estimating her size, letting her gaze linger for a moment on Kara's torso. She shook her head and turned back to the clothing rack. 'Nah.' Anyone with boobs that big had to be an idiot.
"Oh wow, this will be so cute on you!" Miyako said as she came up with a frilly skirt.
"I-I don't know-"
"No way, it's not short enough," Ayumi said dismissively. "If she wants to win this, she'll have to wear something a little more daring...like this!" she said, holding up what appeared to be a series of narrow straps on a hanger. Very narrow straps, and not very many of them.
Ayumi turned away to hide her grin as Kara went red in embarrassment...she had certainly reacted that time. 'Heh, she's cute when she does that,' she thought absently as she continued flipping through the hangers. She went a little red herself when she realized what she had just thought. Luckily, Miyako spoke up a few seconds later.
"You can wear this for the swimsuit competition, Kara-san!" Miyako said.
Ayumi glanced over at the modest two-piece swimsuit Miyako held, looked back at Kara, and cocked her head to the side. "...you know, that's probably the best one you'll find. It looks like everyone else already got all the good ones," she said, stepping back from the clothing rack in disgust. She sighed.
"I really don't want to do this..." Kara said nervously.
"Nonsense," Ayumi said. "Do it for the band! We need more exposure!" 'If we had more exposure, Misa-sama might acknowledge me,' she thought before she could stop herself. Even after winning several individual awards as well as the much-coveted Day One Fan Favorite award, Misa-sama still hadn't contacted her at all...she tried to ignore it, but the plain fact was there, always digging away at the back of her mind. This whole 'Enter Kara In The Beauty Contest!' thing had been meant as a way to distract herself from it, but...she realized she was staring out into space and shook her head to clear it. "Kara!" she said suddenly, pointing at the girl in question.
"Yes!" Kara said, all but jumping at the abrupt shout. Ayumi scowled a bit at the interesting effect the sudden movement had on Kara's anatomy.
"You have a dress, don't you? Miyako, go and get it real quick. We need to hurry, and none of these," she said, gesturing vaguely at the clothing rack behind her, "is good enough. Go!"
Miyako hesitated and shot a worried look at Kara, who fumbled in her pants pocket for a moment before coming up with a key, which she held out. Miyako took it, looked warily back at Ayumi, and fled the room at a run, no doubt wondering how Ayumi knew about the simple white dress Kara had bought and never worn out in public.
"And now, let's welcome Kara Stride to the stage! She's come to Mahora from America. Tell us about yourself, please," the announcer said, holding out the microphone.
Ayumi watched from the side as Kara fumbled her awkward way through what Ayumi supposed was meant to be a friendly chat with the announcer, and sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I was right. She's really cute, dammit," she muttered to herself. And that dress...! Ayumi had seen her in that simple white dress once before when spying on her, but when Miyako came back with it from the dorms and the two of them rushed to get Kara into it, Ayumi had still found herself awestruck; and worst of all, Kara had noticed and turned away with a heavy blush coloring her cheeks, pleading with her to stop staring. Ayumi had had to grit her teeth and clench her fists to keep from...from what? Ayumi shivered as she recalled the intensity of that feeling. 'What's wrong with me...?' she wondered briefly as Kara's long, awkward interview finally came to a close up on stage. Ayumi looked out over the crowd and found the vast majority to be just as awestruck as she herself had been...not that she would ever admit it to anyone.
A short while later the contestants came to the back to change for the bathing suit competition, and Ayumi found herself staring again. 'This is getting irritating...' she thought as she hung up the dress Kara had just taken off in the absence of anything else to distract her from her bandmate. She picked up a stray clothes hanger and fumbled with it to keep her hands busy as she glanced back at Kara again, standing there shyly while Miyako made minute adjustments to her bathing suit. Kara looked over at her and Ayumi quickly looked away. 'Damn it!' That bathing suit hadn't looked like anything special when Miyako took it off the clothing rack; Ayumi would have dismissed it entirely if she had seen it in a store, but once it was on Kara...she shivered, doing her best to hide it. Kara filled out the top spectacularly, while the bottom...Ayumi had never liked the idea of covering up while wearing a swimsuit, but that length of pretty cloth that had been slung around Kara's hips was...enchanting, to say the least. From the way it allowed occasional flashes of upper thigh to the way it emphasized the shape of the foreign girl's hips, Ayumi found herself all but hypnotized. 'What is wrong with me?' she asked herself again. 'Am I really that screwed up...?'
"Wah~ Kara-san is so pretty! Don't you think so?" Miyako asked, looking quite proud as she watched her friend go up onto the stage with the other contestants.
Ayumi mumbled something in reply as she continued to watch her bandmate up on the stage. Kara was by far the most heavily clothed contestant; a few of the others had even decided, apparently upon seeing Kara in her dress for the first time, to wear something not unlike that weird series of narrow straps that Ayumi had half-jokingly suggested for Kara to wear; others had chosen the skimpiest bikini-style swimsuits they could find, but...Ayumi could honestly say that even with all that skin on display, Kara blew them all away, shy as she was in that two piece of hers, and most of the others weren't half bad themselves, being actual adults. She smiled a little at the growing sense of pride she was feeling. That was her bandmate out there! That was her...her friend...? she admitted reluctantly, then nodded. Yes, Kara was her friend.
The contestants came back in a moment later, several of them behaving rudely or glaring at Kara, who was so embarrassed that, for the most part, she didn't even notice. Miyako and Ayumi helped her out of her bathing suit and into something more suitable for the next part: a tight band shirt and a pair of jeans. Ayumi helped her tie her hair up, while Miyako opened the case with her bass guitar in it.
Thirty minutes later, Kara came back in, beaming at Ayumi and Miyako. "They liked it!" she said happily, cradling her bass.
"Well of course, you're the bassist of the No Name Band, it's no surprise you're one of the best," Ayumi said, grinning at her. 'Yep, she's best like this,' Ayumi thought. Dress Kara and Swimsuit Kara were nice, but Bassist Kara was the best, no doubt about it. Bassist Kara was the real one; the others were just like wearing masks to hide who you were, Ayumi thought.
"Now, back into the dress for the finale!" Ayumi said happily.
"What do you mean you're only fourteen?" the announcer demanded in a small office backstage. Kara flinched back and Ayumi stepped between the two of them and took over.
"Oh? Is there something wrong?" she asked.
"You can just bet there is!" the announcer said. "This contest was open to adults only. Adults only! Don't you know what that means?"
Ayumi grinned viciously. "It means you paraded an underage girl around half naked, doesn't it?"
The announcer's mouth opened, closed, opened again as he raised his hand up, pointing a finger up as if to make a point, closed again.
"You could get in trouble for that, couldn't you?" Ayumi asked, all too pleasantly.
The announcer glared.
Ayumi smiled.
Glare.
Smile.
Glare.
Smile.
Glare.
Smile.
Glare.
Smile.
"Damn it," the announcer mumbled.
"Hey, don't worry about it, it'll be fine! Just don't let word get out that you let a fourteen year old win your adult beauty contest and everything will be fine! Now, about the prize money..." she said, slinging an arm up around the guy's neck to drag his head down to her level. "How much are we talking about here?"
"I can't believe that actually worked!" Ayumi said gleefully as she split the prize money three ways, actually doing it evenly for once.
"You should have paid more attention to which contest you entered her in," Miyako said in a severe tone. Severe for her, anyway; in reality, it translated to a cute pout and a pointing finger.
"Eh, it turned out all right in the end," Ayumi said dismissively as she handed Kara her cut. "Here ya go, you can get that new guitar case you wanted."
Kara hesitantly took the money, giving her a curious look. "Why are you being so...nevermind," she said, turning away and stuffing the money into her pocket. "I have to go, I'm assigned to work in the classroom for the next few hours."
Ayumi watched Kara walk away for a moment.
"I...I have to go too. I have something..." Miyako said awkwardly.
"Eh? You too?" Ayumi asked, then heaved a theatrical sigh. "Okay, you can abandon me in my time of need, I don't-"
"Kay! See ya!" Miyako said as she ran off, skirt flapping in the breeze created by her movement.
"-mind," Ayumi finished dryly. She heaved another sigh, a real one, and looked at the wad of money she held. Maybe this would get her stepmom off her back for a while...? Shaking her head, she stuffed it into her pocket and strolled off toward the dorms, the complete lack of contact by Misa temporarily forgotten.
A little later, at the tournament grounds...
"Hello everyone, and welcome to the qualifying round of this year's Mahora Martial Arts Tournament!" Yuuna said into the microphone she held as she stepped out onto the walkway that had been built between the four temporary fighting stages. She paused for a moment and waved at the huge crowd as they roared their approval. "Now who here wants to see a fight, huh?" she asked, then held her free hand up to her ear as if she couldn't hear the crowd's response. "What? You want a tea party?" Roars of laughter greeted the question.
"Will someone please take the microphone away from her?" Ayaka asked from the waiting area. "I want to get this done before dark." Some of the other fighters laughed.
Meanwhile, Yuuna had finally stopped yukking it up with the crowd and got to the point.
"As per tradition, the qualifying round will be held as a battle royale! However, due to the number of entrants, we have decided to split them into four groups, with the final four in each group proceeding on to the tournament itself. Will each group please proceed to your designated area? Thank you!" Yuuna said into the microphone, then thrust it up high in the air and spun around crazily as the crowd roared again.
"Well, that could have gone better," Kazumi said as Yuuna entered the announcer's booth.
"Huh? Whaddaya mean? That was great!" she said as she flung herself into her chair, throwing one leg over the armrest as she made herself comfortable. "The crowd loves me!"
"More like they love the shorts and the tanktop," one of the sound techs muttered, drawing laughter from the others.
"Well, ya gotta play the crowd sometimes," Yuuna said, puffing out her chest before bursting into laughter herself. She felt really, honestly good for the first time since Possum's kidnapping. She had spoken with Negi, the two of them had made plans, and now the only thing left was to find her missing student. It was only a matter of time! Her usual grin widened further.
Ayaka eyed the other fighters in her group as everyone climbed up onto the fighting stage. She knew several of them and could recall seeing several others wandering around town recently; she nodded at her old classmate Fuuka, who grinned widely at her and waved. All of the other contestants in her group looked strong, friends and strangers alike, but one stranger in particular caught her eye; the woman was slightly taller than Ayaka's 5'8", and something about her facial structure was very familiar. Just then, the woman glanced at her and their eyes locked, and Ayaka knew she had found a rival. The woman nodded at her, and Ayaka realized she was grinning in anticipation.
"..."
"Er...hi, Madoka! How are you?" Makie asked pleasantly, then gave the other girl a winning smile.
"..."
"Madoka?"
Madoka reached up and squeezed the bridge of her nose for a moment as she let out a massive sigh. "You're not serious, right? This is just a joke, right?"
"Nope! I really entered!"
"..."
"Ooh, it's almost time to start! Let's stick together, okay?" Makie asked, smiling brightly at her old classmate as the two of them stood on the fighting stage, surrounded by a large number of professional fighters of all shapes and sizes, though most of those shapes and sizes would best be described by words such as 'ripped', 'huge', 'massive', 'battle-scarred', and 'bulging with muscle'.
"Just...just stay behind me, okay?" Madoka said tiredly as she sized up the competition; she spotted the missing Possum Cade's big sister Lucy, who had given Madoka a very good fight during the vampire incident, and nodded. Lucy saw her as well and nodded in return. "Let's just get this over with..." Madoka said, moving to keep herself between Makie and the nearest opponent.
Makie smiled as she straightened her frilly pink skirt and tugged on the bicycle shorts underneath. "Mm-hmm!"
Yuuna stood up in the announcer's booth to get a better look at the participants in the four groups about to start. "Oh wow, Makie actually went and did it," she said admiringly.
"No way!" Kazumi said, jumping out of her seat and rushing over to look.
"Yes way! She's right over there, by Madoka!" Yuuna said, pointing.
"Oooh, heh, poor Madoka," Kazumi said, grinning hugely. "Makie got pretty good back in high school and she's been practicing to get back in shape, but still...heh, poor Madoka," she repeated. Yuuna just laughed.
Due to the large number of contestants who had signed up and the limitations as far as space for battle went, it was decided that the final four in each group would be selected to move on into the tournament proper, resulting in a total of sixteen competitors. Each match would be done in single elimination style. If a competitor became seriously injured or a doctor declared them unfit to fight after their match, they would be disqualified and, if the competitor had won his or her previous match, their next opponent would receive a bye and be allowed to move on to the next round.
The timekeeper rang the bell, and chaos erupted.
Madoka's first act in the qualifying round of the tournament was to shove Makie down and out of the way as a big man she had seen strutting around town the last few days tried to shove her off the edge of the ring in an attempt to disqualify her at the very beginning.
Madoka's second act in the qualifying round of the tournament was to punch said big man in the stomach. Hard.
His face went white in response to the first hit, he staggered with the second, and yet kept his feet even as the third hit drove him further back, looking as if he might faint. He went down hard, however, when Makie leapfrogged over Madoka from behind and drop kicked him in the face.
Madoka's third act in the qualifying round of the tournament, therefore, was to, perhaps justifiably, gape at Makie.
Makie, for her part, grinned back sheepishly. "I've been practicing," she said, waving her hand.
Madoka sighed in resignation, barely managing to suppress the urge to smack her forehead. "Well come on then."
In the group she was assigned, Taro found her attention drawn to one opponent in particular: a big man, maybe seven feet tall, with short red hair. Everything he did, from the way he let his gaze sweep over his opponents to the way he moved when he walked, simply screamed competence. Whoever he was, he was the real deal, a real fighter, someone who had seen real life or death battles time and time again and survived.
She wanted to fight him.
Glancing around at the other fighters, Taro recognized quite a few, but only one other stood out in her mind: an older girl she had seen around town and training with the others; if she recalled correctly, the girl's name was Liliana Rosario, Kugimiya Madoka's only student and that aggravating Sakai Reiko's best friend. Taro had never seen the other girl in actual combat, but from the way she moved she seemed quite competent. When the qualifying round started, her assessment of the big man, at least, was proven correct: he waded right into the thick of it, throwing aside anyone who got in his way. Not to be outdone, Taro forgot about picking out individual opponents and swiftly followed suit.
Sachiko spun around, slipping out of the range of the woman who had attempted to tackle her. Spinning with the momentum, she kicked at the woman's head as she tried to stop her wild charge, sending her staggering off the edge of the fighting stage, disqualifying her. Another one, a tall man with a leering grin, came at her, attempting to sweep her feet out from under her, but Sachiko saw it coming from a mile away and easily avoided it just in time to get kicked in the face by a young dark skinned girl perhaps a year or two older than she was herself. She spun with the impact and the dark skinned girl jerked back just in time to avoid a spinning kick to the chin, eyes wide in surprise at the sudden attack. The girl was ready for her next kick, however, and snagged her ankle, using Sachiko's own momentum to aid her own acrobatic flip. Sachiko just barely had time to realize what the girl had done before she hit the stage's surface hard, but she was already kicking at the dark skinned girl, who had gone straight for an ankle lock. Sachiko caught a brief flash of movement in the corner of her eye, and barely managed to throw herself out of the way as the oddly familiar masked girl she had seen the previous day launched herself through the air, landed on the dark skinned girl's shoulders with her legs wrapped around the girl's neck, and twisted backwards and around all in one motion, throwing the dark skinned girl to the floor next to Sachiko, who rolled away and came up on her feet in a single smooth motion, facing the newcomer and the dark skinned girl, who was up almost as quickly. The three of them stood there, watching each other warily for perhaps a second until the dark skinned girl smiled in a way that involved only the merest quirk of the lips, dipped her head in a tiny nod of acknowledgment, and darted away toward the nearest knot of fighters, looking for an easier target. Sachiko looked warily at the masked girl, who nodded at her, and the two backed away from each other, following the dark skinned girl's example.
Ayaka found herself face to face with the strange woman from before in the middle of the ring, ducked a sharp jab to her head, and fended off the knee the other woman tried to drive into her midsection, pushing the woman off balance as she did. Ayaka followed through by crowding the strange woman and grabbing her arm in an attempt to position her for a throw, but the woman blocked her, their arms locked together.
They stood staring at each other for a moment, each struggling to overpower the other.
"Kakizaki Hatsune," the strange woman said, something in her eyes making her seem to grin in anticipation even though she maintained a blank expression.
Ayaka had no such reservations, however. "Yukihiro Ayaka, and you would be Misa's older sister, correct?" she said, grinning like a shark as she abruptly lunged forward, forcing Hatsune back.
Hatsune nodded in response to Ayaka's question, resisted her efforts to force her back for a moment, then made an abrupt move of her own as she rolled backward. Ayaka almost fell for it, but realized what the other woman was doing and disengaged just in time to avoid being thrown over the edge of the stage. As they stood watching each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move, Ayaka found herself grinning, an expression mirrored in the other woman's face. Yes, she had found a rival all right. Why hadn't Misa told her about this?
The crowd roared as the final group was reduced to four fighters and Yuuna trotted out again. She brought the microphone up. "Hey everybody, did you miss me?" The crowd laughed in response, and Yuuna followed suit. "Okay! We have our fighters! From Group One," she said, flinging her hand out in the direction of the first fighting stage, "we have Kakizaki Hatsune from Hokkaido, Mahora Girls' Middle School janitor Margaret Gunther, the youthful ninja Narutaki Fuuka," Yuuna lowered her voice to a mere shout at this point "I hear she was trained by the legendary Nagase Kaede," she said, winking at the crowd. "And finally Mahora's own Yukihiro Ayaka! Give 'em a hand!"
Kazumi strolled out to join Yuuna, waving at the crowd as she came. "Hey guys, remember me?" she said, laughing at the crowd's excited reaction upon seeing one of the most popular freelance journalists in the prefecture coming out to help with the announcing. "I'll be helping Yuuna here!" she said, slinging an arm around Yuuna's neck in a friendly headlock while the crowd burst into laughter again. "Here are our winners in Group Two! First, Daigouin Pochi! He and several of his friends are going to open up a motorcycle shop here in town, be sure to visit when it's open! Second, we have the masked luchador, er... 'El Buho', I think? Did I say that right?" she asked, glancing over at the fighting stage where said masked girl was standing. The girl nodded hesitantly and Kazumi shrugged and continued on. "Next we have Cocone Fatima Rosa! Hey Cocone, long time no see! Wow, you sure got tall," Kazumi said, waving. Cocone nodded in response, the only sign of her embarrassment at being singled out in such a way a faint tinge of pink in her cheeks. "And finally," Kazumi said, "A class representative from our very own Mahora Girls' Middle School and one of our youngest competitors, Nakamura Sachiko! Give our Group Two winners a hand, everyone!"
"Okay, my turn again!" Yuuna said as she stepped forward. "Our winners in Group Three are...this big guy," she said, gesturing toward the huge red haired guy standing in the center of the Group Three stage, smirking at the audience. "His name is Rex Crimson. Next, female high school transfer student Liliana Rosario! Heya Lili-chan!"
A faint "Don't call me that!" could be heard over the laughter of the crowd.
Yuuna laughed along with the crowd for a moment. "Okay guys, settle down! We need to finish this before lunchtime! Anyway," she said, once the crowd's laughter had dwindled to a mild roar, "next we have another old friend of mind! Congratulations on qualifying, Narutaki Fumika! Like her sister Fuuka, she was also trained by Nagase Kaede! And finally, here's a face and name I know a lot of you are familiar with, Mahora's own Urashima Taro, the Street Sweeper! Congratulations, Taro-kun!"
Taro shouted something that couldn't be heard over the roar of the crowd, and Kazumi brought up her microphone again. "Guess I get Group Four, huh? Over here we have...Cort!" she said, pointing at a tall, strong looking man who nodded to the crowd with a serious expression on his face. "No last name given, huh?" Kazumi said, looking at the paper she held in her hand. Cort shrugged. "Oh well, we'll get it later. Anyway, next we have Lucy Cade! She's searching for her younger sister. If you think you might have seen her, come to the help desk after this, okay?" Kazumi said as a picture of Possum's face was put up on a giant screen. "And now, two faces I know and...tolerate," Kazumi said, timing the slight pause before 'tolerate' perfectly to draw yet another burst of laughter from the crowd, "Sasaki Makie and Kugimiya Madoka! Give our contestants a hand, everybody!"
"I can't believe I made it into the tournament!" Makie said excitedly. "I can't wait!"
"Ugh, I can't believe you made it into the tournament," Madoka said, slumped over on a table. "What if you get hurt? I'm not trying to be mean, but I think it'd be for the best if you dropped out..."
Makie shook her head, the stubborn anticipatory grin she used to wear before gymnastics competitions returning to her face for the first time in years. "Nope! I qualified, fair and square! And besides," she said, grinning at Madoka, "if I get hurt, I can just get Konoka-chan to heal me~"
Madoka grimaced and banged her forehead on the tabletop. "...I think I'm getting a migraine..."
Author's Notes: First of all, sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out; things have been so crazy here over the past few months that I've used up all the chapters I've written up to this point; there are likely to be more delays in the coming month or two until I can get a decent amount of "backup" chapters written. But anyway...
So, here we have our tournament contestants. If you paid attention when Ako first met that kid, Rale, then one of the contestants should be familiar; another should be as well if you read the epilogue of Still Waters 3 Book 1. Daigouin, of course, is one of those who took part in the tournament in the manga. If you don't remember Margaret Gunther, she's the janitor Caro Shaw talked to way back in the beginning of Still Waters 3. Liliana Rosario was introduced in the short story The Ace of Spades, which can be found on this site, and has made a few appearances since. Lucy Cade is the missing student Possum Cade's big sister, who played a part in the Intruder Arc in Still Waters 3 Book 1. The masked luchador girl is...a mystery. El Buho should translate to The Owl, which is just a name I used for masked luchador type wrestlers back when I played a lot of wrestling games with a Create-A-Wrestler mode.