italics - Thoughts
Bold underlined - Spells/Sword Skills
[Bold] - Ddraig
[Ddraig] - Ddraig mental speech
{Bold} - Albion speech
[Issei] - Issei mental speech with Ddraig
[Issei] - Issei speaking with Ddraig
Underlined - Timeskips/Flashbacks
"Bold" - Rating Game Announcement
Disclaimer: I do not own Highchool Dxd, Sword Art Online, or any of its characters. All rights belong to their creators.
Chapter 27: Kendo matches Pt.1
"That was a surprise…" Kazuto said in a daze.
"Yeah, it was." Asuna agreed with her boyfriend. "To think that my family actually had ties to onmyouji…"
It had been a day since the meeting Kazuto and Asuna had attended. And much to their surprise, quite a few things had happened. Issei and his group had been pulled away from their tour halfway through to meet with the daughter of the leader of the Yokai faction, who just so happened to have been kidnapped. Said daughter was also the one who had attacked Issei's group, and as an apology, was going to act as their tour guide. To top it all off, Issei had gone ahead and reported everything to his girlfriend/master, having accidentally let slip what was happening in Kyoto to her over their phone call after she interrogated him over the phone. Which, of course, ended up with said girlfriend punishing him and fretting over Issei to the point they nearly exposed the fact that they were dating to everyone.
Right now, they were gathered with everyone in the main hall. They were free to mingle until they had to go off for their tours.
Not too far away, Kazuto and Asuna noticed that Matsuda and Motohama's faces were swollen and covered with lots of plasters. Apparently, they had tried to peek at the female bathroom, but the Student Council - the Sitri servants had found them, which caused them to be beaten quite harshly. The only reason not all of the perverted trio had been punished by the teachers was because Issei had an alibi thanks to Rossweisse finding Issei in his room.
Although…why did she talk to him and the Church trio just now? Kazuto pondered over that mysterious fact for a few seconds, before dismissing it. Never mind. If it were something important, Rossweisse would tell us later on.
..
Timeskip
All too soon, the end of the day arrived. And much to his surprise, Kazuto was called upon to be informed of what had occurred during Issei's tour.
It had started off fine, actually. Issei's group had first arrived at Arashiyama, where they met up with Kunou at the entrance to the Heavenly Dragon Temple, Tenryuu-ji. The daughter of the kyuubi monarch of Kyoto was showing them around as an apology for attacking them. With the young kyuubi acting as their promised guide, they visited many places, before they confronted the kidnappers at the Togetsukyou in a separate dimension. They were part of the Khaos Brigade, specifically the Hero Faction led by a male named Cao Cao, a descendant of the original Cao Cao from the famous story, 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms.'.
The battle was slated against the devils, for the enemy was both well-equipped and skilled, with Cao Cao being able to fight against Azazel to a stalemate. Amidst the battleing, they were interrupted by two events: The appearance of a golem called the Gogmagog, which belonged to the Vali Faction of the Khaos Brigade and was ordered to action Cao Cao's group, and a drunk Rossweisse appearing to practically carpet-bomb the enemy under the reasoning of 'them disturbing her alcohol-induced sleep'. This forced the Hero Faction to retreat, but not before hinting at some plans to mess with Kyoto that night.
I feel bad for Issei. Kazuto pitied the honest but perverted boy. Every incident he has ever been in has some sort of external factor to it. His reincarnation into a devil was brought about by a misunderstood order and him possessing a Sacred Gear. Him helping a girl led to him fighting against his killer, and later on, forcing him to fight against a war-mongering Cadre-class Fallen Angel, who was later defeated by his fated enemy. Which then led to the whole can of worms about a rivalry between two dragons that has now transcended space and time. A bodyguarding incident, which nearly left him for dead at the hands of a god-killing wolf, Fenrir. And now recently, a tour trip turned protection trip against a terrorist cell named the Khaos Brigade. Kazuto sighed. At this rate, Issei is going to be synonymous with being a trouble magnet.
And, to make things worse for everyone involved, Kazuto and Asuna could not help out with the protection of Kyoto and the freeing of Yasaka from Cao Cao's group. They had a kendo fight to get to, and they could not use magic to hypnotise her family into postponing it for some reason. Firstly, the two, as well as everyone involved, did not have the precise skills to hypnotise someone without accidently scuffing it. Those who could, mainly the older members of the Sitri Peerage or the teachers, could not do so as they were preoccupied with other matters.
Secondly, even if they could, Asuna's family was strangely suspicious. They had ties to the omnyouji, which meant they had ties to the Yokai in Kyoto. They should have known about Asuna and Kazuto being turned to devils, and the fight to protect Kyoto, which had been ordered around midday. Approximately 8 hours ago. Either they were ignorant in the fact Kazuto and Asuna were devils, or…some of the Yuuki family was colluding with the Khaos Brigade. A notion that was becoming more and more likely, what with the cousin Julian not even faltering in the face of Kazuto's hit and the lack of any changes towards the duel they were going to have.
This meant they could go and help out against the attacking Hero Faction…or fight in the duel they were to have in a few moments. Both had their pros and their cons, and after some discussion with the like-minded Azazel and Rossweisse, the two decided to attend to this farce of a duel, before they would rush to help out against the Khaos Brigade.
It was a pretty simple situation if thought about logically. If the duo went for the match, they would be able to gather evidence if the Yuuki family, or at least if a part of the family, was working for the Khas Brigade. If they did not, there was a chance that it would tip off the Yuuki family members that may or may not have been working for the Khaos Brigade. Either way, this would result in fewer loose ends and leads that the higher ups would have to follow up on in the future. And as a bonus, the couple would be able to enact revenge for both themselves and Asuna's mom, Kyouko. The first one was for Julian treating Asuna as an object. The second part was for other members of the Yuuki family treating Asuna's family like they were beneath them.
I think this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black, as the English saying goes, but I don't know how Asuna's family treated the others when they were younger, so I can't be sure. Kazuto thought to himself as both had and Asuna agreed with Azazel and Rossweisse that they should make the duel the priority. Plus, I kinda want to act out the role of the fictional devil that has been described in media. The gamer in me would be crying tears of blood if I do not act out on this chance to do so when we are enacting the revenge Asuna's mother has prepared for us.
They were understandably worried about everyone, seeing as only two members of the Hero Faction had managed to stop the Gremory Peerage plus an Angel, with their leader Cao Cao managing to fight the leader of the Griggori to a stalemate. There was a very high chance that when they arrived at the location they would be at, the Hero Faction would overwhelm them with skilled users of Sacred Gears. They only went after the combined assurances of Issei, Azazel, and Rossweisse.
"Are you absolutely sure that we should go?" Kazuto asked the trio one last time. "I have a bad feeling."
"Yeah, go ahead Kirito!" Issei pumped a fist. "We are much stronger thanks to your guidance in swordsmanship and special techniques. Plus, Azazel-sensei found my possibilities and gave it back to me, so I would be able to land a unavoidable hit on them at the very least!"
"…Now I am even more worried…"
"Ah, don't worry about us. If I, a faction leader, was unable to stall for time, then things would have collapsed a long time ago." Azazel said. "If it would make you feel any better, just by going to this duel, we would be able to secure a source of information."
"…I know." Kazuto sighed. I'll put my trust in them.
Timeskip
"Sir, Madam, we have reached the venue."
Several minutes later, Saito picked them up from the hotel and brought them to the dojo where they were going to be having that duel. The drive was rather short, just 12 minutes away. However, it was a little suspicious that the drive was getting them further and further away from the place where the ritual was supposed to take place…
That suspicions only grew when they noticed a few vehicles parked outside the dojo, including a recording van. But what really surprised them was Serafall joining them.
"Are~? Kazu-kun and Asu-kun! You were the ones that I was called in for?" Serafall greeted them with an enthusiastic cheer.
"Hello, Serafall-san." Asuna greeted the Maou. "If I may ask…what are you doing here?"
"Ah, an old acquaintance of mine called in a favour to watch over your match. Something about not wishing him to be harmed by some brutes?" Pouting, Serafall shook her head. "If you two are those 'brutes' he was talking about, then this makes things much easier! Don't be too rough on him now~"
"Hai, hai." Kazuto agreed with a wry grin, as he entered the dojo.
The moment he opened the doors, the light chatter that had been ongoing immediately ceased, numerous eyes trained on the new arrivals. Kazuto scanned the hall, taking in the familiar and unfamiliar faces that were gathered there. He also noted the numerous cameras that were placed around the field.
"So, you made it." Julian stepped towards them, a slight sneer on his face. He was already dressed in the full protective kendo gear, his shinai in hand. "I thought you would have backed out of our challenge in fear."
"You thought wrong then." Asuna replied, her eyes darting around to look at the unexpected additions to their duel. "What's with all of…this?" Asuna gestured vaguely towards all of them.
"Oh, them?" Julian waved towards the numerous cameras and 4 people clad in kendo gear. "I wanted to record the moment when you tried and failed to get out of this, so that whenever you try to get out of it, I can use this recording to remind you of your failure."
"And the people?"
"Some kendo practitioners that I asked to come today." Julian grinned widely as he spoke. "You would be facing them first. After you face all of them, would you then fight me. They would also ensure that none of you would try to cheat."
…Well played… Kazuto grudgingly gave Julian this win. The agreement stipulated that he and Asuna would fight Julian for the outcome of the arranged marriage. There was nothing to prevent him from making sure that they would not be at their best. Drugs, exhaustion from 'practise' duels, tampered equipment. All of these and more were technically allowed in their final duel. After all, the agreement was 'a duel', not 'a fair, singular duel'.
"…Why did you agree to come here today, if you don't mind me asking sirs?" Kazuto directed his attention towards the older men who were sitting at the sidelines, clad in kendo gear. He was curious as to why some kendo practitioners would allow themselves to be brought to Kyoto to satisfy a rich kid's whims.
"Well," The first one to answer was a man with some slight scars on his face. "All of us were curious about the rising star in the kendo circle. Heard that their family name is Kirigaya. That you kid?"
"That would be my sister." Kazuto shook his head. "I practised a long time ago, so now I just dabble in it."
"Dabble?" The second one, an elderly man who was tapping his shinai on his shoulder, grunted. "Why, I should just whoop your butt for treating kendo like a mere hobby! It's an art, a sport! Not some game!"
"Taiki." The third one, another elderly man who was clad in heavier kendo gear, glared at the second one, most likely named Taiki, for a few seconds, before he looked at Kazuto and Asuna. "Sorry about him. He is just sulking that you weren't the young kendoka he was hoping to meet. Name's Taichi. This one," he nodded his head towards the lightly scarred man. "is Kochiro."
"And I'm Dante." The last one spoke up. He brought his hand up for a handshake as he spoke. Unlike the ones gathered there, he looked to be of European descent instead of Asian, with his chiselled face and ginger hair. "My dad's a European, hence my looks and name, but I am a Japanese through and through." He frowned. "Have to say, this seems to be a little unfair, you know? Five on two, with four out of the five expert kendoka."
"It's actually five on one, twice." Kazuto corrected the ginger, clasping onto Dante's hand with a firm grasp. "But that's fine. Our fighting styles are…unorthodox, so we should be able to get through our matches. Especially Asuna. She prefers the rapier, so it'll be fine if she uses a modified foil, right?"
"…yes, that would be fine. But this would be a disadvantage for the two of you, regardless." The four of them exchanged looks when they heard about Asuna's style. "We were a told that we would be fighting against skilled swordsman, and if we have not heard about you despite you saying your styles are unorthodox, that would mean you have not had formal training before, so…"
"I understand your concerns, Kochiro-san, Taiki-san, Tachi-san, and Dante-san." Asuna bowed her head in apology for her cousin's white lies. They were swordsman, yes, but they were far from very skilled in the art. Proficient? Perhaps. Skilled with the blade? Until they test themselves against actual swordsman/veteran kendoka, they would not be able to tell. "But please do not worry. We would be able to hold our own."
"…Your gear's in the room on the left." Dante nodded his head, sighing. "If any of you want a break, you can call it, but it will only be for five minutes."
"With any luck, we won't need to call for them too often." Came the confident reply from Asuna.
When the duo were safely out of earshot, the four kendo practitioners looked at each other once, before they spoke.
"Really confident whippersnappers, aren't they?" Taiki, the older-looking elderly man grunted. Taiki loved kendo very much, so if he heard about some kendo practitioners enjoying kendo 'as a hobby', he would challenge them and beat them s bad, they would never pick up a shinai without the resolve to treat the sport seriously. "Thinking they can stand before us expert and trained kendo practitioners."
"If they weren't, they would have backed out the moment they heard about us, Taiki." Taichi, the younger looking elderly man, sighed. Despite what he said, he could understand what Taiki was saying. They were siblings who once took the world of kendo by storm after all. The 'Hidden Fangs', they were once called in team matches. "What on earth is this? Calling one of us would have been more than sufficient. Four of us? That is overkill, no matter how you reason it."
"Should we go easy on them?" Dante with his signature ginger hair questioned. He was usually a softy who looked out for his fellow man. But if he was challenged, or if he was in a bad mood, his normally easy-going attitude would turn into a stone-faced wall devoid of emotion as it dismantled its foe until it drove its point home.
Kochiro shook his head, much to the surprise of everyone. "No. We should give it our all."
"Hm?" Taiki grunted out his scepticism. "Why should we? Weren't we called here to knock them down a peg because they have been growing arrogant? If we beat them while taking them lightly, that means that the goal of knocking them down would have been achieved, right? No need to go all out to beat them."
"I have to admit, that seems a little…much." Dante frowned lightly. "Going all out on them, putting them against our years of practise seems a little traumatic, won't it? Or are you saying we should go lightly on them so that they can fight Yuuki-san?"
"Not quite." Kochiro glanced at Julian, who was looking at them with a smug expression. it would be hard for any regular person, since his face was covered by his head gear, but for people like Kochiro, it was easy.
Kochiro was someone who had faced real-life combat. Not only as a kendoka, who had to use his wooden bokken to fight of several yakuza thugs who thought they could get an easy buck, but also as an omnoyuji. He had come faced many battles and as a result, had his senses honed like a sharpened blade.
And with that, he was able to notice the barely discernible grin that Julian was sporting when he glanced in their direction for but a split second. A time which was more than enough for Kochiro to tell that Julian was taking things lightly. After all, every beginner in onmyoudou would have been able to tell that the two who had just entered were devils. And already, he was thankful that they were much more amicable and calmer than the arrogant counterparts he had the misfortunate luck of encountering before. If they were that calm, it should mean that they would be holding back and not beat the young Yuuki to a pulp for tricking them, if the brief tensing of their knuckles were any indication when they first saw them.
…Though, he would place some exorcism seals around the hall, just in case things went haywire. He doubted the chances of it happening, since their Maou was right there!
"Those two, they have used their skills in practical situations." Kochiro explained trying to ignore the fact t hat all of the could become stains on the ground if they did something wrong. "Did you notice their stances when they spoke with Yuuki-san?"
"…Now that you mention it, their legs were positioned in such a way that they would have been able to defend themselves, or dodge an attack." Taichi hummed. "You said they had practical experience in using their skills?"
"One does not settle into a battle-ready stance the moment they encounter a room full of seasoned kendo veterans that could use their skills to harm another." Kochiro countered. The last time he found someone who was like the duo who had just arrived, he had paid for it in blood. A reminder that was clear on his face.
Resisting the urge to scratch one of his old scars, Kochiro continued. "At the very least, they have skills in hand-to-hand combat. And we were requested to do a 'fight', not a 'duel'. Meaning that it is simulating a real fight, not a traditional kendo duel."
"…Let's hope you are right then." Taiki gave a feral-looking grin. It has been a long time since I fought a good fight, not conforming to the point-based match style of kendo. I wonder what sort of match type we would be looking at."
At the very least, Kochiro could only hope it was not until one was deemed unfit to continue.
Kazuto and Asuna, after spending some time in the changing room, managed to finally put on the entire set. Asuna had required the most help, since she was not as accustomed to putting on the bulky-looking protective gear compared to Kazuto.
"You're finally out." Julian said the moment he saw them exit the room. "I would have thought that you had tried to chicken your way out of this fight, but that room has no windows big enough for you to slip out of."
"Enough, Julian." Asuna gritted her teeth together. "So what are we going to do? Me against one of the kendoka, same with Kirito-kun, and repeat until we fight you? Is this going to be a best out of five bouts, with each bout against a different kendoka?"
"Not quite, my dear Asuna." Julian snapped his fingers, signalling to some people to bring out a large board. "We are going to be doing this point style, with three matches per kendoka. That means the each of you will have to fight a total of fifteen bouts each. Each of you will gain points if you get hit. Should the final score reach above seventy, you would lose."
"Seems simple enough." Kazuto frowned, already seeing a flaw. "Except the math does not make sense. If there are fifteen matches, that means that that there would be a maximum of 30 points earned between the both of us. We would win by default, even if we throw all the matches."
"Ture. That is, if we are doing this by the traditional first strike point match." Julian grabbed one of the shinai which was resting near him, before tossing one of them to Kazuto, while another person handed Asun her foil. "We would be doing this based on that AR game you two played before. Ordinal Scale, was it? Anyway, each strike would give different health drops. The head would give 25 percent, shoulders 20 percent, the chest 10 percent, and any of the limbs 5 percent. Blocking would reduce between half a percent to five percent per second, depending on various circumstances and factors." Julian shrugged, not bothering to explain said factors. "The first to reach 15 percent of their total health first loses."
This is pretty surprising. Kazuto had to give Julian credit. He seems to have given us a level playing field, but in reality, this is pretty slated against us, at least from their point of view. This is all based on our physical stamina, and our physical reaction speed. To them, since we spend most of our time in VR, our physical attributes are lacking. Unfortunately for them, the two of us were one of the top players in SAO, and our capabilities as devils have increased tenfold compared to that of an average human. But since we don't know if the Khaos Brigade is watching us, we should limit our capabilities. "So, who is going first?"
"The order would be as follows." Julain brought up a virtual timetable and sent it towards the couple. "Asuna against Taichi, then Kochiro, then Taiki, then Dante, and finally me. As for you, you would be fighting Taiki, then Dante, then Taichi, and then Kochiro. I would also fight against you at the end."
"You sure you want to do this?" Kazuto frowned. "I don't want you calling foul later on and say that you were too tired."
"Oh, this match would be even." Julian's grin did not settle Kazuto's unease. "You'll see later on."
..
"Are you ready, missus?" Taichi asked the girl with a small hint of worry in his elderly tone. He had not said anything when she took up the foil and assumed her usual fencer pose.
"I am." Asuna nodded her head.
"Then…let the match, begin." As soon as he uttered those words, Taichi quickly dealt a swift strike towards her head, the carbon shinai coming down with such speed it made a slight whistling sound.
Keeping to her previous human limits, she barely sidestepped the attack, using her carbon covered, steel-core foil to parry the attack, like the numerous times she had done so in SAO, before stepping in to strike at his chest with a quick thrust!
Unable to fully block it in time, Taichi decided to twist out of the way, allowing the foil to barely graze past his arm guards. It took a small chunk of his health, but in return, he dealt two swift attacks, one from the side and the other from above.
Asuna went to block her side while side-stepping but was unable to block the fast but heavy swipe at her side due to how thin her foil was, causing her to lose a chunk of her own health. Acting on instinct, Asuna unconsciously used her favoured Sword Skill, Quadruple Pain, on the old man.
Four quick thrusts later, and the old man was down to 65 percent of his health.
"My, my." Taichi chuckled. "Such vigour, such speed! Why, you seem to be a tad bit faster than in my prime."
"Thank you for your compliments, Taichi-san." Asuna thanked the old kendoka as she brushed off some strikes aimed at her head, chipping away a small percentage of her health bar. "You are older and slower compared to me, but you are more skilled and wiser. I assume your brother is the same?" She spared a small glance towards the younger twin, who was fiercely hacking away at Kazuto. They could not see their health bars, but Asuna could tell that Kazuto was just warming up. It had been a while since he fought as a gamer in AR, and not in a life-or-death match.
"Thank you for your compliments for this old man, but I think you have the wrong impression of me and my twin." Taichi swiftly parried an attack aimed at his chest, using his momentum to thrust at Asuna's own chest. "You see, despite our attitudes, our fighting style are very different. While I seem to be the calm, focused attacker," Suddenly, Taichi's flurry of attacks sped up. "I prefer to let loose and not allow my opponent any chance to breath!"
"Urg!" Asuna stopped talking, choosing to dodge most of the attacks aimed at her. Those she could not dodge, she parried, using her hand to help reinforce the foil and allow it to weather the blows instead of bending away from the attack.
"Hoi, hoi, hoi, hoi, hoi!" With each swing, the strikes with the shinai became lighter and lighter, but the intensity of each attack became faster and faster, almost creating afterimages of the carbon object in the fluorescent lighting. For a split second, Asuna saw her own image overlap with the old man, her lightning-fast attacks overlapping with his own fast swipes. He's fast! But-
Asuna's instincts and experiences, honed through life-and-death battles for over two years, were not hindered that easily. -I can see openings!
"Hargh!" Jumping forwards, Asuna braced herself as she allowed her foil to take a beating from the five hits that came her way, angling it such that they would hit her foil instead of her arm. One, two.
"HMPH!" Surprised by the sudden leap, Taichi tried to retract his shinai back, but his body was already in motion for the three other attacks he had performed many, many times over.
Three, four. Asuna's body got closer to Taichi's body, who was rooted to the ground, unable to pull back from his attack. The moment her feet touch the ground, she dropped down, allowing the fifth and final hit his body was executing to swing pass her head harmlessly. And five! "HAAA~!"
Thrusting and slicing with swift movements, Asuna quickly brought Taichi's health down to 15 percent.
"Huff, huff…" Asuna faked her exhaustion to throw off any suspicion from the all-out attack she did earlier. Eyes darting about, she could see Kazuto do his customary actions before trying to sheath his sword, as if he was back in SAO. She concluded that he was also done with his match.
"Asuna-san and Kirigaya-san have won! The total score has been gathered! Two points for Asuna-san! Four points for Kirigaya-san!" The two umpires shouted out after their matches were over.
So, we have 54 points lef… Asuna frowned. This would be more difficult than I thought.
One quick break later, and everyone was ready to continue.
..
"This is a surprising match." Dante appraised the two teenagers. "I expected them to make more mistakes."
"Agreed." Kochiro scratched his chin. "Well, they should shake of any rust they might have had. Otherwise, this would be an uphill battle for them. At this rate, they would accumulate 90 points before the match is over." Though, I do have to wonder. Why this much fuss for a simple marriage?
..
After a short break, the both of them went back to their fights.
Looks like the both of us won our matches. Kazuto thought as he saw Asuna doing a few swings with the thicker and heavier foil. The gathered kendoka had raised an eyebrow at such a sight, but relented when they saw her handling the heavier foil with ease. Though, there was a chance they would still try to get her to switch back to the lighter one as time went on, since they would believe that she would be unable to use the heavier foil for long periods of time without her stamina taking a heavy hit. Well, unfortunately for them, the both of us feel that the shinai are lighter compared to what we are used to. If I remember…wasn't Asuna's favoured weight around 3 kilograms?
"Come on! Focus lad!" Slamming his shinai against the ground, Taiki got Kazuto's attention. "This match ain't over yet! Get your head in the game!"
"…Not yet anyway." Kazuto grumbled, but there was no real dissatisfaction or any negative feelings in it. After all, Kazuto could tell that Taiki was simply those type of people: Rough around the edges, but soft-hearted when it came to those who deemed to be worthy(Well, soft-er). From what he had Yui gather for them during their break, Taiki had a reputation for crushing overconfident or arrogant kendoka, with most of them never picking up a shinai or bokken again. Those that did however, ended up being a changed person. They treated the sport with actual respect for the art, not for the sake of treating it as a national sport. And, judging by how Taiki's face was not set in a grim look, Kazuto had to say that he passed whatever test Taiki was putting him under. At the very least, he sounded a little more friendly. "Your mark?"
"Bah, that would seem a little unfair, would it not?" Taiki shook his head. "You choose this time."
If you say so… "Sei!" As he was told, Kazuto started of their match with a quick shout, before he started his move. Quickly setting his shinai onto his shoulder, he leapt forwards, using the forward momentum he generated and his hip's rotation to generate a devastating strike from the side. A perfect execution of the Sword Skill, Sonic Leap. From his HUD, he could see his opponent's health go down a chunk, indicating that his shinai had managed to hit Taiki's arm.
"Guah!" Taiki grunted. Unable to take the full blow, the old man resolved himself to take the hit instead, pivoting his body to absorb the heavy attack and reduce the impact that would have otherwise stunned him slightly. Using this newfound momentum, he quickly slashed downwards at Kazuto's exposed head, executing a textbook example of a swift vertical slash.
Kazuto quickly raised his shinai to block the attack, just managing to do so and preventing himself from being hit.
"Such vigour! And as I thought, your reaction speed is outstanding!" Taiki put more pressure on Kazuto, forcing the young man back. Kazuto was unable to counter, lest he get hit by the shinai being pressed down on him from above. "You surprise me!"
"You…too." Kazuto grit out. "Your actions earlier…I never thought that one so old and gruff would be so calculating and hits like a truck!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his health bar steadily decrease, whilst Taiki's remained unchanged from its 94 percent.
"Ha ha ha! Your words make this old man happy!" Taiki laughed. "Well, time we end this farce, eh? I can see that there is more at stack then a simple match between two youths who follow the path of the sword. Though, does it have to be a marriage?"
"Hmph!" Angling his body, Kazuto allowed the heavy attack to slide of his shinai. Stepping in, Kazuto used his shinai to smash it against Taiki's chest, jumping up at the same time it met the old man's chest. Like clockwork, Taiki quickly raised his shinai up and smacked it against Kazuto, propelling him away from Taiki due to the reduced friction.
"Well," Kazuto panted, looking at both their health bars as he answered Taiki's question. "The duel is a compromise for the marriage. If we win, no arranged marriage. If they win, there is one. It is pretty much that simple. Though, I would be lying I there were no other motives involved." 74 percent against 90…Not yet…
"Hah! Even a blind man can tell there are other things at stack here!" Taiki barked out. "But I care not for any of the little things. All that matters is the fight! I can already tell that you are someone who treats kendo as a simulation of a real fight, so there is no need to whip you into the right mindset. What I DO want to know is," With a surprising burst of speed, Taiki locked blades with Kazuto. "Why are you holding back?"
Kazuto stiffened. How did he know?
Seeing a momentary lapse in concentration, Taiki attempted to strike Kazuto on the head, only to be surprised when his attempt was repelled with a well-placed thrust.
"How did you know?" Kazuto asked, his attention now fully on Taiki.
"It's simple. Sometimes, you leave gaps in your attacks." Taiki's opinion of Kazuto grew slightly when he saw the young man before him block an attack, even when he got briefly distracted. "You cover them up quickly enough that one might think it is actually flaws in your way of the sword, but when I saw your left hand twitch…it was easy to piece it together. Especially since I tried out such a style myself back when I was in my prime."
"…You tried to dual wield?" Kazuto's interest was piqued. It would not be a lie to say that most Japanese males have thought about dual wielding, at least in their youths. Even more so for kendo practitioners. After all, it was cool and showed off how skilled you were at the same time. Except…there was a bit of a blockade in terms of practicality.
Dual-wielding was hard, sometimes out-right impossible to use. One would usually use a longer sword and a shorter sword to defend and attack. Most of the time, each sword is designated as either the attacker or defender only. Never either or. This is to prevent the mind from being confused and making a mistake when swinging the blade to attack or defend. And the reason for the difference in sword lengths is to prevent one from having their own blades knocking against each other. Not to mention the concentration, endurance, upper body strength and stamina required to hold and use the two weapons proficiently enough for practical application.
"Aye. I gave up quickly. My style is to strike decisively. Using two weapons would have dulled that." Swinging his sword quickly, Taiki quickly utilised his old flurry of attacks to push Kazuto back, aiming to get one of those openings he pointed out earlier and exploit it. "The best I could do was the usual one long and one short at the level of an amateur. What about you?"
"…" Kazuto kept quiet, opting to dodge the flurry of attacks and hit Taiki's shoulder and arm once as he sidestepped past Taiki. 50 percent. This should be enough to do it…
"…Well, everyone has their secrets to keep." Taiki stopped prodding when he did not get a rise out of Kazuto. "Though, don't expect the others to not see past your hiding of your true capabilities."
In response, Kazuto executed three swift attacks, reminiscent of the Sword Skill Sharp Nail, all of them centred on Taiki's chest. He tried to block them all, but was unable to stop the three attacks, bringing down his health to 30 percent. A number which quickly lowered even further when Kazuto followed up with four brutal thrusts, similar to Quadruple Pain.
"…I know." Kazuto replied to the stunned Taiki, who had not been expecting the vicious, heavy onslaught. "I know."
Kirito the Dual-Wielder is dead. Kazuto thought to himself as he, once again, attempted to sheath his shinai on his back, only to bring it back to his side when he realised, he was not wearing a sheath on his back. I will never again bring him back. Not for any reason.
Never again.
In the end, Kazuto lost a single point against Taiki, while Asuna had lost two, bringing their total points up to 8.
For Asuna's subsequent match against Dante, had scored a win-lose-win, with a total of 20 points lost, while Kazuto's subsequent match against Kochiro was two wins, with a total of 4 points lost.
Asuna's matches against Taiki and Kazuto's matches against Taichi was fairly quick, both gaining a total of 4 points lost each. This brought their total score up to 40.
Then, came the matches between Asuna and Kochiro, as well as Dante and Kazuto.
"Asuna-san, are you sure about this?" Kochiro frowned when he looked at Asuna. She was panting lightly and had a small sheen of sweat on her forehead, yet she still stubbornly refused to let go of the heavy foil. "You can switch to the one you were using earlier whenever you want if you find this foil too much-"
"Are you saying that I should use something lighter just because I am a girl?" Came Asuna's sharp reply, causing the older man to wince a little at how biased it sounded.
"No, not at all." Kochiro shook his head. "It's just that…I don't want you to be exhausted when you face Yuuki-san later on. We have two matches at the very least, and then there is final two matches against Yuuki-san. By that time, I fear you would be at the end of your rope."
"…Thank you for the concern, Kochiro-san." Asuna responded after a brief pause. "But I will be fine. In fact, this is lighter compared to what I prefer."
"Then, may I ask why you seem out of breath?"
"Wearing all this protective gear is the main reason." Asuna replied. "I prefer light padding over this full protective gear made of padding, rubber, plastic and wood. I am a fencer-type swordswoman first and foremost. As much as I would like to discard it, it would be inadvisable to do so, since this gear is doubling as sensors to measure our current play system."
"I see your point." Kochiro conceded the point towards Asuna. "Though, I have to say, this is a pretty interesting concept. Would they add this to kendo matches in the future? Right now, all our matches are based on first strike matches. A 'health-based' one might make things interesting for competitors."
"…You would have to take that topic up with my boyfriend." Asuna said in a slightly sheepish tone. "Although I can answer your question, said answer is going to be to try it out in the VR game the two of us play, called ALO. There is a tournament for swordsman held every few weeks. Kirito-kun is better-versed in subjects concerning kendo, since he trained in it when he was younger, and since his sister is in the kendo circle."
"Yes, that is true, isn't it." Kochiro shook his head. "Forgive me. You seem at ease with this sort of thing, I just assumed you knew quite a bit about kendo."
Meanwhile, with Dante and Kazuto…
"Man, your girlfriend was real fast when we fought." Dante chuckled as he made some small chat with the boy before him before they started their duel. "Never could have thought someone with such a dainty body would be so fast and hit hard!"
"…" Kazuto kept quiet, not responding to Dante's words, much to his obvious sorrow, if his face was to be believed.
"Aw, don't leave me hanging!" Dante rolled his shoulders, his saddened expression slowly being replaced by one of curiosity. "Hey, mind telling me about how the two of you got your skills? I mean, the little lady's skills seem to be a style she modified to fit herself after watching and learning professional swordswomen and swordsman, but yours…it seems to be a style you made for yourself, but it got hints of professional coaching to it. Like you were taught it halfway, but got abandoned cause of some circumstances, causing you to fill in the gaps yourself. Perhaps, a person who was able to dual-wield professionally taught you?" He prodded the feminine looking boy.
"…Who knows?" Kazuto smirked, irking Dante from how he was purposefully leaving Dante to try and scramble up the answers for the questions he had.
"AW, come on man!" Dante whined. Yes, whined. Kazuto couldn't believe it. He would have never expected a veteran kendoka to have whined in public, ever! He would have been surprised to see such an adult existing, but, well…he met with Klein first, so…yeah…enough said about that.
"…Tell you what." Kazuto decided to throw Dante a bone. A devil he may be, but purposefully teasing others and leaving them in the dark was not his way of doing things. He teased them with clues that they would understand. Something that Dante would not be able to pick up at the moment, since he has not been through what Kazuto and Asuna had done. "I'll tell you something about me that would peak your interest, but only if you manage to make me try and go all out." Well, I won't be using that, but this would be a jaw dropper, I'm sure.
"Really?" Suddenly, Dante's eyes had a serious shine to them. His tone had changed as well, going from playfully curious to a serious tone in a heartbeat. In fact, Kazuto was momentarily taken aback by this sudden change in attitude. "You have the guts to say that you can afford to hold back on us?"
"Well, I kinda have to?" Kazuto shrugged a little. "I have a few more matches to do after this. Gotta conserve my energy."
"…Snrk. That's true." Snapping out of his serious attitude, Dante snorted. "Well then, it's a deal." They shook hands. "Better not forget it now."
Timeskip, 5 minute break later…
"If everyone is ready…" This time, Taichi was acting as the umpire. Since now the two elderly brothers did not have anything to do, they had decided to act as the umpires for the two matches. Plus, they would be lying if they said that they were not interested in having a close-up seat to the matches that were being played out at the moment.
From what they had observed, Kazuto was a heavy attacker, with the reaction speed and strength to overpower someone if needed, aiming at mainly the torso and limbs. Asuna was someone who favoured light, precise attacks, using her speed to overwhelm and disable her foes, concentrating her attacks at the torso and sometimes the upper arms.
Meanwhile, Dante was someone who preferred to overwhelm his opponents with hard hitting attacks, aimed at forcing his opponent to drop their weapon from the amount of force he uses in each attack, which were focused at the arms and the lower torso. Kochiro was someone who preferred swift, precise attacks that aimed at disabling the opponent in real fights. His attacks were focused at the torso and the head.
If one looked at it another way, the two were facing a mirror version of themselves. Speed against speed, strength against strength. Disable against disable, and overpower against overwhelm.
And another thing that they were similar in: Their cautiousness.
Despite Taiki and Taichi stating that he two matches had begun, none of them had yet struck. Each side had instead started to circle the ring, keeping their defences up while watching for an opening. Eyes were narrowed in focus, their weapons not letting up in their defensive states.
Even Kochiro, who was facing Asuna with the foil, should have had more openings to exploit against her, yet he hesitated. In his mind's eye, should he strike our against Asuna, he would be struck faster than he could react, forcing him to lose more health compared to Asuna in that 'single' exchange of weapons. As Julian watched this, he started to get more and more anxious, causing him to grip his shinai tightly.
This is getting us nowhere! Eventually, the first one to crack was Asuna. Try as she might, but she just could not bring herself to allow this match to drag n any further. Not when she knew that her newest friends(Yes, even Issei, as much as she did not want to consider the pervert as a friend) were out there, risking their lives to help not only reunite a family, but to also save Kyoto from whatever fate that would befall it from the machinations of the Hero Faction.
Swiftly striking out, yet remembering to keep to her human limit, Asuna utilised her lithe frame to dodge the attacking shinai that had lashed out against her when she lunged forth with what seemed to be a reckless move, using the precise moment Kochiro had aimed to try and disable her attacking arm by striking at his chest once, his arm three times, leaving him with 75 percent of his health.
Wincing slightly from the impact, Kochiro counterattacked, allowing his shinai to rest solely on one hand instead of the traditional two. Undamaged by any attack so far, Kochiro dealt a few quick strikes against Asuna's extended arm and open back. Bringing her own health bar down to 75 percent as well.
Not wanting to allow Asuna to recover, Kochiro quickly swung his shinai with fast, practised moves, cutting off most off the defensive postures that Asuna would have utilised in the past from the sheer speed and strength at which they were swung. Had she attempted to block, it would have ended up with the foil being damaged at the very least from blocking all the attacks, with her taking a few more hits on her arm. She could not retreat fast enough either. If she attempted to do so, she would lose more health, and by extension, more points, as compared to blocking. She would not be able to focus on retreating away from Kochiro's attacks, back away to widen the space between them, and give herself time to catch her breath.
Which only left two more options before Asuna. Fight and try to get Kochiro to lose more health before she gained more points, or…
She could dodge it.
Kochiro honestly thought that Asuna would have decided to dodge. After all, from what he knew about himself and from what he had seen from the young girl/devil, she was fast. Much faster than him. However, compared to her, and the limitations she was(thankfully) imposing on herself, Kochiro had the edge when it came to blocking and attacking. He would have wagered fighting experience as well, but from how naturally she was fighting, as well as how she subconsciously got into a fighting stance when she realised that there were other individuals in the room which she presumed to be empty, he did not think such a thing. Instead, he wagered that her experience was equal, if not more, than his own.
So, Kochiro was very surprised when instead of moving back, defending or even trying to land a few hits on him(he had absolute confidence in being able to take Asuna out first before she managed to get him down to 15 percent.), the young chestnut-haired girl had actually stepped forwards towards him as he swung his shinai, dodging his first few attacks with what seemed to be pinpoint accuracy, before she used her foil to flick his shinai like a gnat on a person's clothes! The thin weapon had bent quite a bit, yet it did not break underneath the strain of having to parry such a heavy hit by Kochiro. Jeez! That foil must have cost quite a bit to make, if it had managed to withstand my hit! And Asuna-san must have quite the muscles on her if she was also able to prevent that attack from reaching her!
Despite the limitations he knew that Asuna was imposing on herself, he would have thought that she would have been unable to defend against that last hit. After all, he himself had gone through enough training that he was able to gain superhuman strength, enough to match that of a low-tier devil. A middle tier if he used his talismans on himself, and a middle-upper tier of he used his talismans on both himself and the enemy. And he had used said superhuman strength as much as possible on that last attack. Meaning that either Asuna used a very skilful technique, or her physical abilities were that of at least a middle tier devil.
But! Kochiro narrowed his eyes, willing his body to strike as fast as he could. Due to that last parry, both Asuna and Kochiro's arms were up in the air. Leaving both their fronts exposed to any possible attack. With that last parry, she left herself wide open! And since she needs time to recover back into a fencer stance, that would allow me time to deal in a couple of strikes! Unless she goes past those limits she imposed on herself, she would not be able to get back into a proper fencing position to block my next attack. Even if I am using my superhuman strength right now, it would not seem out of the ordinary for me, a veteran kendo practitioner to move this fast compared to a dainty-looking young lady like Asuna-san!
Time seemed to have slowed down for Kochiro as he watched his next attack flow downwards, aimed straight at Asuna's shoulders. He was already planning his next moves, so sure he was that the attack would connect. After my hit, I'll use her surprise to my advantage, backing off slightly to allow me to thrust forwards at her chest, further knocking the wind out of her chest. After that, I'll use a swift and precise hit on her arm and shoulder, which would give me the win for this match! Yes, I will be able to pull this of-
*Clack clack clack*
One moment, Kochro's shinai was about to hit Asuna's shoulder. The next, it was touching naught but air, having missed it's target in it's entirety. All her could think about was the flawless, yet risky moves that Asuna had pulled off.
The first move, a slash downwards, aimed at Kochiro's shoulder. A simple, yet fast slash. One that he should have been able to block, but was not able to do so, purely because of the fact that Asuna had slashed with her foil, and because his shinai was already in motion, unable to change its current trajectory easily.
The second move, a low sweep, modified such that her legs never intended to make Kochiro lose his balance. Instead, all it did was allow Asuna to move out of the intended strike aimed at her own shoulder, whilst also allowing her to setup her next strike. Now, he would have been able to strike Asuna regardless of whether she had moved or not normally, but because of that tap on his shoulder(if it could even be called one), his body had involuntarily shifted the right ever so slightly, throwing off his aim and trajectory just enough that he was unable to hit Asuna's body as she twirled out of the way.
The third move, a hit against his head. There was no need for Asuna to put much force in it. After all, combined with the speed of her low sweep, and the lightness of a foil compared to a shinai, it would have been enough to count as a 'hit' that was either debilitating, or fatal in a real fight. This also forced him to tip his head forwards from the unexpected pressure on his head, causing him to shift his centre of gravity lest he tip over and fall.
The fourth move, executed almost seamlessly with the third. Pulling back slightly, Asuna allowed a small amount of space between the two duellists, before said space was instantly closed off by the three thrusts that she executed on his torso. He was able to defend against the last one by dragging his arm up in time to swat at the oncoming foil, but it did not matter.
5 percent against 74 percent. The outcome was clear for all involved.
She had won.
AN
As promised, here is the double chapter release.
As I stated before in the past(Or did I?), writing fight scenes is not my forte. Mainly because I would rather write more on the story, and less on the fights. If I have to write fight scenes, then I'll try my dang hardest to get it down and make it as realistic as possible without diverting from canon.
Anyway, the second chapter would have more under the AN, so keep reading to find out more!
Anime is Life, and please Review!
