Chapter 4: Winning
He knew he'd lost as soon as he hit the ground, and when he opened his eyes, the practice sword pointing at his face proved him right. Standing over him, Araya had that slight smile on his lips again.
"Too bad, kid. Better luck next time."
Magatsu groaned - and not from the pain of the bruises and cuts. This was the third time today he'd lost to Araya. The blood trickling down the bastard's face was small comfort. Fuck fuck fuck.
"You know, kid...I'll give you this: You're not half bad for someone your age." Araya rested his sword against his shoulder and studied Magatsu. "I beat you this time, but who knows, maybe someday-" His sentence was cut short, and his smile disappeared, as Magatsu's foot was driven straight up into his groin.
"Who... pant ... said the fight... pant ...was over, fuckhead?" Getting to his feet, he quickly slammed the wooden sword against Araya's throat, before the man had even hit the ground. The crowd roared with laughter.
"No more kids for you, Araya!"
"Thass gotta STING, man."
"I can feel your pain, girl!"
All Araya could manage was some strangled curses. His face was white as a futon. And that SHOULD feel good, Magatsu pondered. And hey, maybe it would have. If he'd won fair and square. As it was, he just sighed and went off to wash the blood off his face.
The water was ice cold. He splashed some handfulls of it onto his face, then thought better of it and emptied the whole bucket over his head. Maybe not very practical, but he supposed it was as good a way of venting as any. He'd have to change out of the bloody kimono in any case.
"Is that your version of a bath?"
Anotsu was leaning against the housewall behind him.
Magatsu sighed, silently cursing himself for letting the man sneak up on him.
"First I beat Araya, and then Anotsu starts making jokes. This day had better shape up back to normal before it scares the hell out of me."
He started wiping his face and hair dry with the towel, ignoring the fact that his clothes were soaked. He tried not to think of how stupid it must look.
Anotsu smiled. "I heard about Araya. But I suppose there's no love lost between you two."
"Nope."
"So tell me, why are you drenching yourself instead of walking around victorious?"
"Because I..." Magatsu sighed. He hated this. "Because I wish that, for ONCE, I could win without cheating."
Anotsu smiled a little.
"Since when did 'cheating' even become a word in your vocabulary?"
"Ahh, knock it off. You know what I mean, right?"
"I know what you mean, but I don't agree." Hoo boy. Magatsu prepared himself for the lecture.
"Being good with a sword isn't all that fighting is about. A REAL fighter can kill with a pebble, a stick – anything that comes into reach. A REAL fighter uses every-little-opportunity he gets - the world is his weapon! All that matters is to defeat your enemy and, as such, there-are-no-taboos!"
He studied Magatsu.
"...except for catching a cold when you don't have to. Go and get changed. You're all going off running in half an hour."
"Well, you sure know how to cheer me up." Magatsu muttered. As he got up and started heading inside, Anotsu called after him:
"Happy fifteenth birthday, by the way." He got a grunt for a reply.