Chapter 50: Yuki Tsukiko: Part 4


Murakami Kou liked to think that the choices on his life were well made. For the most part. He was a nice guy who held the image most would consider the "cool and mysterious type". For the most part. Even when kids would stop playing with him when he was younger - due to his Side Effect - he would just act like a normal kid and get sad over it. That stopped as he grew up. More so because of others that got use to him.

So why then, he wondered, did he have such interesting friends now that he was in his last year of high school. His former mentor, and still friend, Arafune Tetsuji couldn't swim and had a dislike (note: a fear) of dogs. One of his classmates, and still friend, Kageura Masato had a rough exterior with a troublesome, but useful Side Effect. And then there was his other classmate, and still friend, Tsukiko Yuki. He was in an odd case since he...

"Idiooooooot! A simple-minded airhead, such as yourself, wouldn't understand what it takes to use a Trigger like Idōgetsu like I do. Just go back to jumping around in that cosplay uniform of yours."

He was an odd case since his appearance and personality were complete opposites.

Murakami let out a sigh and shook his head as he watched the A-Rank and B-Rank glare at each other. From the corner of his eye he could see Kageura silently rooting for their friend while Yuma had his head turned with a duck face plastered onto his face.

'Does Sensei know he's here...?'

The three standing and watching, among the many around them, had met up as planned so they could go a few rounds with each other. Before they could actually go to the booths, which were just a few feet away, they had heard the current argument start up.

When they had seen the two start to go at it, Kageura and Murakami thought the same thing,

'Pull him away now or wait for someone else...'

The two who were both classmates and friend with Yuki knew that there were only a handful of people who could actually get him to stop fighting with the #1 B-Rank captain without much violence. They were two of those handful.

Kuga Yuma, the last one of the three, only wondered what was going on. He hadn't seen Yuki the way he currently is, nor had he seen Ninomiya this agitated. Granted, he hardly saw the two of them as it was.

Murakami breathed through his nose and started to walk forward.


Ninomiya Masataka glared at his #1 enemy. He couldn't remember how their argument had started but he was going to make sure he won. He knew that Minoru wasn't around, so there was no one to interrupt them without some bruises being made.

"There is nothing to know about your simple Trigger. You spin it and make crude weapons to fight with. Plus, it's easy to tell, even for a beginner, how you use it with Teleport. You only ever change tactics when you use your Side Effect. Which adds to your list as a faker."

"I'd rather be a faker than a simpleton who is cosplaying and doesn't even know it. Really, out of everybody in Border, you're squad is the one who looks like they're trying to copy some British spy from a movie they watched. While the rest of use look normal, you look like an overly enthusiastic fan."

There wasn't something that others could use to figure out who was actually winning the argument. To everyone else these two skilled Border agents just looked like children who couldn't get along.

Among the many people watching one walked towards them. He would admit that he was a bit embarrassed for his friend while also wondering just how the two agents before him could turn so immature in a few nanoseconds of being near each other.

"Kiyoshi, you should stop. If you don't them I will call over Shitokei-senpai."

Murakami froze for a second. It took a few seconds for his mind to register what he had just said and wondered where that came from. He had threatened Yuki before with Mei, but he hadn't called them by their real first or last names in a long time.

After taking that second to get over what he said, Murakami noticed that Yuki had a sour expression as he faced Murakami.

Murakami's threat seemed to work as Yuki tried to not look anywhere in Ninomiya's direction. He looked just as immature as before, looking like a child who had gotten in trouble, but wasn't arguing anymore. That's all Murakami had hoped for.

"You got lucky Murakami was here to bail you out."

It seemed that Ninomiya had one more comment left in him.

Which also started the argument back up.

"Was that a joke? Ha! The simple-minded, idiotic airhead can actually make a joke! I never thought the day would come! At least this disproves my theory that you're just some failed robot experiment that a middle schooler made."

"If anyone is defective then that would be you. You can't even decide on what personality you want. Not to mention you can't come up with any original moves. You have to borrow moves from others. Just like a copycat and a faker."

That was all that needed to be said for Murakami to know what was coming up next.

Kageura also seemed to know what was going on as he made sure Yuma didn't get to close to the three.

"Alright! That's it! Get your fu-... Get in the booth so I can show you some real fighting! Let's see if you're stronger than the humanoid Neighbors I've had to face so far!"

Ninomiya twitched.

"Fine! It's time we get over this tie! I will show you that there's no way you will be able to catch back up to me! I'll make sure your are filled with holes! ... Correction! I'll make sure to obliterate you!"

Like two divas from an idiotic American reality show, Tsukiko Yuki and Ninomiya Masataka headed for two empty booths that were a few feet away.

This left Murakami to stand there, sighing to his heart's content.

"Damn. That was the worst and most heated one yet."

Murakami turned around and saw Kageura and Yuma walking up to him. While Kageura seemed like his usual self, Yuma still looked rather confused.

"Are those two always like that?"

"Yeah. They have some history together. A history we can't tell you for the sake of our safety. But let's just say that you shouldn't never get within a few feet if them while they have one of their arguments. You may end up as collateral."

Yuma gave a slight hum as he watched the two who just left go into the booths. He had seen Ninomiya in action during the B-Rank Wars, and heard a few things from the recent invasion. He hadn't seen Yuki fight at all, at least not in person, but he did hear things about him concerning the two most recent invasions that have happened.

"He was on TV... I think."

"Yeah, once." Murakami was the one to speak up again. "He was on TV to promote the new branch that was made - the Yagura Branch. He doesn't fight much in solo matches, at least not anymore. That being said, the press had wanted to see just how good he was since he had appeared as the only member of the branch, at the time."

"The people from the press were forced to shut up about him when he took on the challenge and went against a hundred different Trion soldiers." This time it was Kageura who spoke. "He was suppose to work with Arashiyama Squad to take them out, but he went ahead and took them all put himself."

Yuma tried his best to remember it. He couldn't remember seeing the fight against a hundred Trion soldiers, but he did remember hearing something about it from his senpais in Tamakoma.

"It happened three days after the second invasion."

That was what made it click for Yuma. During that time he had been busy and didn't see it. He had heard about the new branch that had been made, but nothing concerning it or its members.

"Well, what those two do doesn't matter now. Let's just get to our own fights."

"You two go ahead and start. I'm going to see how this fight goes."

Kageura gave Murakami an odd look. "Why? You know nothing's gonna chance with those two. They'll probably just keep going until they end up with a tie again. By that point Shitokei will be here and dragging him away."

Murakami knew that it actually wouldn't turn out that way. He had a front row seat to their argument, so he knew that the two were serious in breaking their tie once and for all. Even as one of Yuki's best friends he wanted to see this fight as an unbias observer.

Kageura seemed to notice this and just clicked his tongue. He grabbed Yuma by the collar and started pulling him towards two open booths.

"Fine. But if we get done and I end up being right, you owe me."


"Hey, Airhead, I'll make you a deal."

"A deal? Knowing you... It won't be a fair one that I can win."

Yuki rolled his eyes when he heard that. Whether it was past or present, Yuki wasn't the type of person to go around throwing out bets and dares. He would take chances at times, but nothing particularly harmful for others.

He knew that Ninomiya didn't trust him as far as he could throw him - especially since they wouldn't ever touch each other - so he could understand the older one's thoughts. But there was no proof of Yuki ever giving unfair deals or bets.

"Just listen, jackass. If I can chop off your arms and head using original moves, I win. If you can shoot me full of holes that gives a cheese shredder a run for its money, you win."

"... And what does the winner get for this?"

Yuki smirked. He knew what it took to get the simple-minded Ninomiya going.

"The winner gets to give three requests to the loser. Of course they have to be reasonable ones, and within the loser's power to do."

No one could say that Yuki was unfair when he gave such a fair deal to his most hated enemy. Even said enemy wouldn't have something to say in that situation.

"Fine. Now then... Get ready to do what I say."

"Not even in your dreams."


As Yuki and Ninomiya entered the virtual room, Murakami noticed the small differences in Yuki's outfit. He hadn't noticed before since he had been too busy trying to stop the two fighting from clawing at each other's throats.

These chances were very minor. If Murakami wasn't one of Yuki's best friends and knew what every inch of the other's outfit looked like he would have never noticed. These changes included wrappings around Yuki's wrists and ankles, as well as his neck. He also had a belt that had a small holster for Idōgetsu on the back of his hip - it seemed to swing with every movement.

"He must have added those changes to adapt to his new fighting style. He's taking a hint from his sisters with that holster, but otherwise still keeps his own appearance."

The final thing Murakami had to narrow his eyes to see.

"Are those..."

On the back of Yuki's gray jacket were numbers inside of the Border emblem. The numbers that were in there were five, seven and eight. Those numbers didn't hold any particular meaning to most, but to Murakami, who knew what Yuki had been up to lately, it did hold meaning.

"This guy is too much of a hassle at times..."


Ninomiya and Yuki stared at each other. It had been a full minute since the fight started, but the two just stood there. Ninomiya had his arms out, ready to fire at any moment. Yuki lowered his hips and had his hand ready to grab Idōgetsu at any time.

The two were doing something rather simple, yet somewhat decisive. They were determining who would make the first move and expose their method of attacking.

Yuki shifted his feet on the ground, as if determining how well his feet gripped the ground. After confirming that he wouldn't slide too much if he moved quickly, Yuki tapped his foot on the ground. Once. Twice. Three times. He repeated this action with his other foot.

.

Ninomiya narrowed his eyes when he saw his opponent shift his feet on the ground. He brought out two two cubes of Trion and split them up into prickly triangles, letting them float around him. He was wary about what Yuki would try. He was tapping the ground. For no apparent reason after all.

'He will either run forward to get my attention before using Teleport to appear behind me... Orhe will run forward and appear in front of me so that I won't be able to react in time. Either way, I'll be ready to blast him full of holes.'

These were the usual methods Yuki started a fight. At least against Ninomiya. It was one of the three ways these two started a match.

The first way was Yuki appearing in front or behind Ninomiya and going for his head or mid-section.

The second way was Ninomiya letting out a bombardment of Hound to keep Yuki at a distance.

The third was having both of them just start attacking each other, trying to push the other into a certain area of attack.

Ninomiya was prepared for all three options. He would have his prickly Trion triangles float mostly around his front and back in case the first way was how they started.

He would have a good amount of those same prickly Trion triangles off to the side for the second way.

He would launch all of those prickly Trion triangles to start off the third way.

'Now come on. Prove that I'm right. Prove that absolutely nothing changes with you.'

Ninomiya was ready. He would defend against way one. He would chase with way two. He would attack with way three.

But he didn't expect a fourth way to rear its head in this fight.

.

Yuki made the first move.

He didn't attack by using Teleport to appear in front or behind Ninomiya. He made a much simpler move that looked very odd to every person who were to see it.

He threw his shoe.

With a good kick, Yuki's right shoe flew through the air. It's target was obvious - Ninomiya Masataka.

It didn't take any effort for Ninomiya to dodge the weak attack.

'Teleport.'

In an instant, Yuki appeared behind Ninomiya. He could see his opponent was still moving back into position front the Shoe Attack, so he decided to take this opportunity to attack.

It was the same as before. Instead of going for the Trion weapon known as Idōgetsu hanging from the back of his hip, Yuki kicked his left shoe at Ninomiya's head.

It was dodged again.

This time, however, Ninomiya attacked by using Hound.

Yuki quickly used Teleport to appear back at the spot he started at.

"What are you doing? I don't know if you're trying to insult me, or if you just aren't trying, but I won't stand for such pathetic attempts at attacking!"

It wasn't Yuki's plan to anger Ninomiya - that came naturally. His plan was much simpler, and much more effective.

Yuki turned his head to the right, an obvious move that showed what he was planning to do next.

.

Ninomiya quickly fired Hound towards both the left and the right.

He turned just in time to see Yuki land on top of a building. That same building was quickly destroyed by his shots.

Ninomiya was now defenseless for a good five seconds. Those five seconds could easily be used by someone as skilled as Yuki, but that was what Ninomiya wanted.

He had planned on sacrificing an arm to launch a full on assault against Yuki once he appeared.

As he waited for that moment when his opponent would appear, Ninomiya noticed something odd.

Yuki appeared on the opposite side of where he teleported from.

Yuki hadn't used his chance to attack. It did seem like an obvious trap, but the odds of it happening were still rather high. Yuki had gotten to know how Ninomiya thought through these fights. Ninomiya had gotten to know how Yuki thought through these fights.

It was obvious to Ninomiya that Yuki would use his chance to attack.

'Regardless, I have other methods. Just because he didn't take this chance doesn't mean he's changed much.'

As if reading his thoughts, Yuki went into action.

It just wasn't the action Ninomiya thought.

.

Yuki ran on light feet.

As soon as his his toes touched the ground he was already on to his next step. Having to deal with any future pain wasn't a problem since it was a Trion body.

He had already set his plan in motion. Even when he saw Ninomiya start firing Hound, he didn't give up on this plan. True, he became acutely aware of Idōgetsu, which was dangling behind him, but he didn't grab it.

He didn't make any move to use Teleport to escape, nor did he make any move to deflect the shots with the large wrecking-ball like form Idōgetsu was capable of - Mangetsu.

It was all odd.

It was original.


"That's odd. He never goes for speed. His selling point is his proficiency in Teleport. He's much better at it than Arashiyama and even Sensei."

He didn't know when, but Murakami started muttering commentary to himself. He would point different things out in the short fight he was watching. One of those things happened to be how Yuki was moving.

If Murakami had to give two major differences between Yuki and Mei - who worked off each other - he would say that Mei was more into speed and power. Yuki on the other hand was for feints and sneak attacks. In a sense, it was like Mei fought more in an honorable samurai style while Yuki had ninja-like moves.

Seeing Yuki use general speed instead of his best asset was odd in many ways. Murakami was one of the few people who knew Yuki best, so he knew that Yuki would sooner go back to using Kōgetsu than using speed.

As he thought more about this he noticed something else.

"... He's kicking up dust. He's circling around and kicking up dust. Even if he uses that as a smokescreen, it won't work. He still attacks in his usual way, so it's obvious where he'll go."

There was an important fact that seemed to escape Murakami's mind - ironically enough. That fact was that Yuki was from a family of real life soldiers. That wouldn't mean much, but that's only to those who didn't know that the parents of said family had taught their children something.

You can use anything around you as a weapon.


Ninomiya noticed it as he continued to fire off Hound. It was something small. It was so small that if he wasn't in the middle of the fight he would have never noticed it all.

'What is he doing? As long as he is looking at me straight in the eyes he won't be able to use Teleport. Even if he quickly flicks his eyes to the side, it'll be that much easier for me to figure out where he will teleport to.'

Yuki never looked at his opponent when in a fight. He would always quickly move his eyes around the battlefield so that he would be able to teleport to any place he could see. Having him look directly at Ninomiya quickly brought up red flags.

This fight had been so out of place in their normal fights that Ninomiya was actually a bit worried that he wouldn't be able to predict Yuki's next moves.

'I just have to-'

In that moment, it happened.

Ninomiya blinked.

"!?"

The first real attack - a flash!

"One!"

In the literal blink of an eye, Yuki had appeared in front of him, taken his arm off, and land behind Ninomiya.

"I see... You were looking me in the eye to determine when I would blink so that I wouldn't see you use Teleport and attack."

Something like that sounded absolutely ridiculous. Even with a Trigger - even with an instant Teleport - to attack in the literal blink of an eye was far too out there to be believable. Something like that only ever happened in manga and anime.

'No. For someone who is in that family, it might be possible. But still... The exact timing of that kind of attack should be too hard to do. His brain couldn't be able to command the use of Teleport faster than I could blink. Unless...'

Copycat.

Many, many times Ninomiya had called his #1 enemy a copycat. The reason was always because of Yuki's Side Effect - a Side Effect which let him copy any movement he could see by anticipating what movement that would be.

He had used that Side Effect to copy Ninomiya's general movement, as well as certain things. He had not only copied Ninomiya's movement of eyes and when his eyelids would fall, he also copied his breathing and slight movements of the body whenever he launched an attack. Most of these things Ninomiya wasn't even aware he was doing.

Ninomiya was now mad. He was mad that he was mad. He only ever got really mad when it came to Yuki. Most of the time it was just irritation, but this time it was different. The fact Yuki had so easily gotten through with such skill pissed Ninomiya off. Just days ago Yuki had asked him and Mei for help in defeating an opponent while on a train. He had felt so smug hearing that from the younger one.

But now...

But now he was positive that Yuki could take on that same opponent with even less help.

.

Yuki ran towards the rubble of the building Ninomiya had first destroyed.

He could see Ninomiya getting mad and couldn't be more proud to know that he was the one to make the Shooter that mad.

'One arm and his head to go. Now that everything's set up...'

Smirking to himself, Yuki stopped in his tracks and quickly put his hand behind his back.

He grabbed the Trion weapon that had been dangling behind him the whole time. He pulled it out and held it at arm's length.

Idōgetsu was a Trion weapon that had been made for Yuki and Yuki alone. It had many forms that all had different qualities that made each one very unique. It's length had always been that of Yuki's arm, but it seemed to have been extended by a few centimeters. What's more was that the general appearance of it seemed to have been modified. It was no longer a simple pole that had a sharp end and a blunt end. Now it was a pole that had two blunt ends with one side having two rods sticking out from the sides.

'It feels different than the old one, but it should help in making sure I don't just spew my Trion out with Mangetsu or anything.'

Idōgetsu had always been a one-handed weapon that Yuki would use for different scenarios. If he wanted the quickest attacks then he would go straight to Gengetsu - his favorite form. If he wanted the most powerful attack then he would go with Mangestu - the wrecking ball. If he wanted a balance weapon then he would go with Jikangetsu - a scythe version of Kōgetsu. He had hardly used his new form, so he wouldn't be using that against someone like Ninomiya.

Deciding on the first form, Yuki swiped the pole to the side as he moved to dodge at shots going towards him. This form was his go-to and favorite form that took the appearance of a crescent-shaped blade.

Gengetsu - the crescent guillotine.

Yuki bent down and grabbed a few pieces of rubble from the ground.

He jumped into the air to dodge the Hound chasing him. He threw a few pieces of the rubble to use as shields and take out the remaining shots.

He used the rest of the rubble in his hand to throw it at Ninomiya.

Again, in an instant, he attacked.

.

Ninomiya could see the pieces of rubble coming at him. He though they were thrown as distractions and so just looked around, ready to attack.

He was shocked when Yuki was suddenly above him, crescent blade ready to come down on his next like a guillotine ready to decapitate a criminal.

"Off with your head."

Acting quickly, Ninomiya used Hound to move around and aim for Yuki from almost all angles.

'He can't see from his position in the air.'

"Wrong."

Ninomiya moved back to dodge the new weapon that went for his neck.

He could see Yuki standing there with a different blade than the one he just had. Instead of the guillotine-like blade that was shaped like a crescent there was now a scythe that had a wide arc.

Jikangetsu - the long scythe.

'He has more range now.'

Ninomiya looked down at his dangling arm as he thought this. He had manged to dodge the initial attack at his neck, but he couldn't save his arm from getting a cut. Now he was two arms down. One hit to his neck and he would lose.

Not wanting to lose to this person, Ninomiya made sure to take things more carefully from now on. He made sure to jump back a few feet and created a trail of prickly Trion cubes.

He had thought of hiding behind buildings while firing and using Bagworm, but there were two things wrong with that. The first was that he knew he couldn't escape Yuki's eyes at all. The second was that his pride wouldn't let him hide from Yuki of all people. It was a moment where his pride had taken front and center while pushing rational thoughts to the side for a moment.

.

Yuki saw where Ninomiya moved and smirked.

Without any delay, Yuki ran forward. Idōgetsu was now back into its base form at his side.

Already knowing what was going to happen, Yuki continued to move on light feet in a zig-zag path. Even with Hound chasing after him, he was still able to escape most of the shots. Some had manged a hit, but nothing too bad.

He took his eyes off of Ninomiya for a second to look a bit behind him. It gave away what he was doing, but that was fine with him.

'Teleport!'

In an instant, Yuki was above Ninomiya, Mangetsu ready to smash down on the Shooter. Yuki started to bring his arm down to attack, but didn't see a shot coming from the side.

One of Ninomiya's shots had curved and turned to attack Yuki from the side. The shot managed to land a hit and take off Yuki's arm, sending both his arm and Idōgetsu into the air.

"AH!"

Without an hesitation, and with a quick shout, Yuki grabbed his severed arm and brought it down.

Ninomiya had quickly brought up a Shield.

That didn't mean anything against the brute force weapon that smashed right through the defense.

Using Ninomiya's moment of shock, Yuki used Teleport to appear in front of the older man and quickly switch from using the heavy hitter Mangetsu to the speed oriented Gengetsu. He quickly took Ninomiya's other arm and teleported away to dodge the multiple,e shots aimed at him.

An arm for an arm.

"Two!"

.

Ninomiya was wasn't sure, but he thought something was off.

Yuki, although a master at using Teleport, was being to precise with where he teleported to. Where he had landed in front of Ninomiya was impossible for Yuki to see from his angle.

Scanning the area around, Ninomiya spotted something that shouldn't have been there.

The image of a snowflake.

"Aw~ You noticed~"

He indeed noticed it. Once he saw that single snowflake he started it notice many more scattered around. It wasn't just snowflakes either. Images of crescents and rook pieces were also scattered around. Each one looked like a tattoo or a picture.

Then it clicked.

He was in a trap.

These marks were used for teleport spots.

Something like that was usually something Trappers would do by using Switchbox, but there was a particular Trigger that Yuki had that allowed him to do it.

His own special Teleport.

Only three agents were using this Trigger since Trappers were a thing, as well as needing quite a bit of experience to get timing and placement down. Among the three who were using it, Yuki was the more proficient in using it. And that's saying quite a lot since Takaoto Mei was one of the others who was using it.

'A Teleport Trap... That's why he was running around like that.'

Ninomiya hated to admit it, but this was certainly original. Kazama may have used this trick in the last invasion, with help of course, but this was beyond that fight. Yuki was actively placing new marks in multiple locations, allowing him to move much more freely, as well as moving to a place he would think is perfect for attacking.

He could always find the perfect spot to attack.

He could always find the perfect time to dodge.

He could always find the perfect area to be in.

Yuki had created a tactic that would make it hard for most to win by attacking him. The fact that Ninomiya was able to take his arm was because he had the foresight to do so. Others who weren't use to Yuki would have trouble even figuring out what was going on.

"Just your head is left."

.

Yuki got ready to attack again.

He had Idōgetsu in its base form, ready to change into any one of its multiple forms. This was the final portion of the fight. Yuki just had to take off Ninomiya's head, while Ninomiya had to shoot him full of holes.

'There are hidden markers he hasn't seen yet, so I can use one of those. He is on top of one of them, so I could attack from there too. I need to be wary of how he is going to attack though. He's probably going to make a defense using Hound so I can't get too close.'

As he thought that, Yuki moved on the ground a bit.

He could see that he was right as Ninomiya surrounded himself with triangles made of Trion. They would attack at any moment, but most likely never reach their target. As soon as they attacked, Yuki would be gone.

"Asteroid."

Yuki was shocked to see that the shots being fired weren't even being fired at him. Instead they were being fired at the area around the two.

'He's trying to destroy the markers. But there is still...'

He couldn't teleport to any of the spots he had marked now. He would run the risk of landing on a spot that was being aimed at, so he went with a simpler move. He ran forward.

He got Idōgetsu ready to attack and deliver the finishing attack. He dodged the shots that were being fired at him from multiple directions.

It was difficult, but he managed to weave through the tight spots to get to Ninomiya.

'Right there!'

Just as Yuki got within range of attacking...

"!?"

Yuki went wide eyed as a rain of Trion bullets came down upon him, filling him full of holes.

.

Ninomiya watched as his tactic worked.

He had used Asteroid as a distraction to destroy the markers placed around the area. That was only so that he could send dust into the air and hide the fact he sent Hound through the dust and into the air. He had perfect timing that shows when Yuki was about to attack, but was attacked instead.

"I win."

He had won and ended the tie the two had. He also now had three requests that Yuki could not go against.

Those requests didn't mean much though. The single fact that he had won was enough for him to-

"Off with your head."

Ninomiya went wide-eyed as his head was cut from his body.

Before he Bailed Out he saw Yuki landing on the ground, Idōgetsu in his hand, having taken the form of Gengetsu.

He lost.


"..."

Ninomiya wasn't sure what had happened. He knew he had destroyed Yuki by using Hound to blow multiple holes into his Trion-made body. How could he have escaped that? It made no sense.

Ninomiya tightened his fists as he thought more and more about it.

In the final moment, he had lost.

"Zanzō. It's a Trigger that my younger sister had made. I'm pretty sure you've seen it in use before. I choose something that's on me as a target for an attack that hits me. That something takes the hit for me and I teleport to an area that I've already targeted. When you attacked me with Hound, the attack ended up attacking one of the wrappings around my body. I had teleported behind you and that was it."

Ninomiya couldn't believe it. Yuki had that Trigger in his slot. He wasn't prepared for something like that, so that was why he lost. But something didn't make sense to him.

"If you had that Trigger then why didn't you use it when I took your arm?"

"I was too focused on attacking you. I wasn't going to run away from you at that time, so it cost me an arm. Although I was able to take your arm in return."

"..."

"By the way, don't go thinking you ever had a chance of winning. That small part with Asteroid was obvious. I had already planned for that. You clearly didn't notice, but you were standing right on top of one of my markers. I could appeared under you at any moment and attacked you."

That new knowledge made Ninomiya all the more mad. To know he really couldn't have won was humiliating to him.

Little did he know that that was the least of his worries.

"Now~ About our agreement~ I already have something in mind for you~ Ma~sa~ta~ka~chyan~"

"... Damn it all..."


Their tie had come to an end. Yuki was the winner, but only because that was decided so early on in the fight.

The two were the same in the sense that they would have gotten mad once their opponent landed the first attack. Since Yuki was the one to get the first hit in, Ninomiya was the one who lost.

These two ran on anger and pride when facing each other, so something as simple as "first hits" and "powerful attacks" was all it took to decide who would win the match. Only a handful of people knew this about the two.

Murakami Kou was one of those people had just witnessed it happened yet again.


QOTC: Favorite Idōgetsu form?