It's the noise and the clamor of a bet behind them. "Oh, I bet he'll win; he looks pretty strong, pretty intimidating."
"But the underdog is often a decent bet." A different voice filters in, and Kiki wishes that she wouldn't be considered the underdog, that people will realize her femininity and her height weren't indicators of her skill with a sword.
The man before her looks happy, cheery, and his wooden sword seems almost loose in his grasp, and Kiki grins. This should be easy. She spreads her legs apart, steadies her own grip, and waits for the inevitable countdown that will send her out to fight.
He just looks like he came in for a nice, relaxing day, not a tough victory. Yet, he doesn't look arrogant. That's what she likes about her opponent, she decides; he looks relaxed, but not arrogant. He isn't doubting her own strength, but is perfectly comfortable here. It's like it's just fun for him here, like he doesn't anticipate either an easy victory or an impossible challenge.
And the countdown finishes.
Kiki dives into the fray at the exact moment her opponent does; wooden swords solidly hitting one another. She nearly drops hers when she feels the bounceback from her opponent's blade. And he looks almost startled too, surprised that they move so perfectly in unison.
She backs up and watches him follow, and they begin again. Wood hits wood, and she can't seem to get a good enough angle, can't seem to push back his blade, or land a hit. He can't either.
He doesn't frown, but his smile grows. He's having fun, enjoying the challenge, not angry about it.
"You're pretty good." Kiki answers, and he nearly drops his blade at hearing her voice, brown eyes going wide at hearing her voice.
"You too." His voice is cheery and sort of deep, and Kiki smiles back, against her own will and better judgement. It's like he has a key to her heart, like he has the ability to unlock her easily hidden smile.
Kiki moves then, tries to knock him back, but he counters her perfectly. She almost wants to be frustrated that he's this good, but he accepts it all with the ease of someone who doesn't feel in the slightest angry at having a difficult challenge.
He moves to try to get in a hit as well, which she blocks. They are both quick on their feet, she notes, but yet, he has a bit more strength behind his blade. He's a lot stronger than she is, and yet he isn't able to break through her defenses in the least.
She dives in, and they practically dance with each other, moving circles around one another, wooden blade hitting wooden blade.
It's an easy dance, a nice one. Kiki enjoys the fact that this isn't just an easy win, that her opponent is letting this be just fun, not humiliating on either end, not over the top angry, not prideful. It's such a nice feeling, that Kiki half-hopes that this fight doesn't end.
Back and forth, they go, and then he gets a light hit on her shoulder that she was a little to slow to block, and then she dives down lower and gets his side in a perfectly solid hit, a poke that with a real blade would have been deadly, and his brown eyes go spectacularly wide again.
Kiki wants to laugh, and yet doesn't. It's fun to catch him off guard; it's both fun to struggle to get any hits in while she fights him and fun to surprise him with a pretty solid hit. Technically, she knows the battle could be over with that hit, but he dives back into the fray, and no one declares a winner.
He gets a good slash at her side only a few moves later, and she wonders if it's because her arms are feeling a bit of the burn from excercise, that she's feeling a little bit tired from this all. It's been over ten minutes fighting him by this point, she knows. It feels like a while; time feels endless.
And she parries another attempted hit, and dives in to land a slash of her own across his arm, to which he does frown at. She worries for a moment that she gave him a splinter, and yet he doesn't complain. His frown disappears in a few quiet moments, and back and forth they go.
The announcer looks ready to declare it a tie, as around and around she and her opponent go, until finally she lands another poke, pushing his blade out of the way, to land hers at his heart. He's breathless and tired too, and he looks surprised for only a moment.
"She's won." He calls out, breathlessly and drops his wooden sword straight to the ground.
"She's won!" The announcer repeats, and Kiki looks towards her opponent, all sweaty and practically panting from the strain; the perfect mirror image for her as well.
"You did amazing." She offers, dropping her blade and holding out her fist.
He bumps his fist against hers with a grin, "You did even better."
"It was anybody's win." Kiki offers, "I just got you first."
He laughs, but it's quiet and beautiful, and Kiki only startles when someone comes nearby.
"Mitsuhide?" The voice of the stranger carries, and the man in front of her looks up and over.
"Sorry, was having fun." He looks embarrassed, face turning pink.
"It's fine. Just didn't know where you went." The voice finishes up, and she sees a young man that uncannily looks like the second prince.
"You should become a knight too." 'Mitsuhide' turns to her and tells her.
"It would be fun to spar with you again." Kiki answers with a grin, "My name's Kiki."
"Oh, mine's Mitsuhide." He answers, wide grin firmly in place, as Kiki listens to the results of the betting pool taken on their battle, hears the collective groans of the men that have to hand their money over to the one that rooted on her, thought she was the underdog.
"We're pretty evenly matched." She answers and accepts her prize as she and her opponent turn friend leave the area in which they fought and move towards the boy that called for him.
"That's true." He grins, "That's what makes it so fun, after all."
"Yeah." Kiki agrees, and finally waves goodbye. She knows she can't stay with the two of them there, though maybe one day she'll get to know the two of them so much better and get another chance to fight with Mitsuhide, to feel the difficulty of a battle and yet enjoy the process.
She's glad that she took him on today, that she got this opportunity. Perhaps it's a little sign towards their future that will come one day.
