Here come's the highly expected FIGHT SCENE (ftw!) Another long chapter (ftw!)
This is the second last chapter and basically the peak and end of the climax.
Oh and, 20 chapters and 50 reviews... you guys pwn!
Please forgive the beginning for being a bit corny... perhaps it was Avatar: The Last Airbender inspired, even though I haven't watched that show in over a year... Also Igarashi is Natsume's mum's surname (Igarashi Kaoru), which, for those of you who paid attention would know.
CHAPTER 20: THE IGARASHI WAY
A flame appeared in the palm of Natsume's hand. The same happened with Kiseki. Come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen Kiseki use his Fire Alice. My lip was trembling. What is this?
"I trust you know how the Igarashi family organises it's duels," said Kiseki, face turning serious.
"Of course," Natsume answered. "Never before has there been a bloodline so thick with an elemental Alice. All inheritors of the Fire Alice are taught how to control them, and use them in battle."
Kiseki nodded, "It is the responsibility of the Igarashi bloodline. In order to train, we must battle. Relatives would always host brawls at family gatherings."
"The rules are simple," Natsume stated. "No fatal attacks. No dirty tricks. Only the Fire Alice is allowed. The first to burn is victorious. The first to be burned must admit defeat."
"We must manipulate the flame," quoted Natsume. They began to slowly walk around in a circle.
"We must fight fire with fire," continued Kiseki, a smirk on his face.
"To bend the burning ember to our will,"
"and meld the smoke into our sword."
"We fight for dignity; we fight for respect; we fight for nobility," they chanted together.
"That is the Igarashi way!" With that, they lunged at each other. Flames in hand.
As they ran towards each other they managed a brief exchange in words. "You remember the pre-duel chant. Personally I thought it was a little too clichéd," Kiseki noted, impressed.
"Sure, it was pathetic but it was the courtesy of the fight, besides, I only needed to hear it once to remember," replied Natsume.
I tried to cover my eyes but couldn't. I wanted to know how the others reacted to this but my eyes wouldn't tear away from the fight.
Just as they were about to collide, both of them dropped their flames. Kiseki went for a physical approach and made to roundhouse kick his opponent. Natsume swiftly leapt six feet into the air, and gracefully touched down a few metres behind Kiseki.
"I see," Kiseki said as he ran forward, fist at the ready, "they don't call you Black Cat for nothing." A flame engulfed his ready fist as he neared Natsume. He went in for the punch but the black-haired boy dodged it by quickly moving to the side. This did not bother Kiseki. He instead reared his other fist and went in for another punch which was again, easily evaded by Natsume.
Kiseki kept the blows coming. He alternated from a fist to a flat palm, striking at various points on Natsume's trunk. On occasion he would go for a kick or a lower attack. All the while a red flame would cover his attacking hands. I never knew that there were so many different types of punches and hand to hand combat moves.
"I see you've learned your fair share of martial arts, Souma," noticed Natsume, who had continued to dodge each blow, seemingly with ease. He would turn to the left, then to the right, he'd duck, then keeping low he'd skid to the right. Although, he was being forced backwards by the constant spray of attacks he hadn't a scratch. I never realised Natsume was so agile.
"You're not so bad yourself," Kiseki remarked as he went in for a picture-worthy punch. Natsume had once again leapt into the air. He did a back flip and landed five or so metres away, facing his opponent. Kiseki was still standing in his combat position. One fist at the end of a perfectly straight, outstretched arm; the other near his face, at the ready; his feet spread widely apart, in a balanced stance, left foot in front. Neither of them had broken a sweat.
"The Black Ops had its benefits," Natsume explained. He was standing up straight, perfect posture. Up until now he had only been on the defensive side. Kiseki's continuous attacks gave him no time to counter, only to dodge. Both of them took a brief moment to catch their breath.
"Now then," began Natsume and a ring of fire erupted from the ground and surrounded the two boys, "is that all you can do with your Alice?"
The air was thick with heat and I found myself sweating. Ruka was too, but I think it was because of the fight and not the heat. He and I both obviously wanted to stop the fight, but I was wrapped up and Ruka had more common sense than to break up that fight. Koko was somehow unaffected by the sudden change in temperature and his eyes were just glued to the fight scene. Hotaru had some automatic mini-fan at her side, keeping her cool. Something tells me she had no intention of sharing.
During the whole fight, the smirk hadn't once disappeared off Kiseki's face. If possible, his smile grew even larger at that challenge. "Don't underestimate me, Natsume," he warned. "I may not be a Limitless Alice shape, but I'm not a Diffuse either. I'm an intermittent Alice." He said the last part proudly. Natsume's eyes narrowed and the flames grew from two feet tall to three feet tall.
"Intermittent," Kiseki quoted as a flame ignited in the palm of his hand, "the Alice that can only be used for a short period of time but at a relatively high power level." Another flame appeared in his other hand. Her drew the two flames together. As they touched, the effect was immediate. The flames absorbed each other and grew twice the size. It took the form of a sphere, a miniature sun, if you will.
"And you better believe," Kiseki exclaimed as he reared the flaming sphere with both of his hands, "that I intend to end this quick." He threw his hands forward and the ball of fire turned into a flaming projectile.
Natsume, who was shocked at the sudden display of skill, had only seconds to react. A scaled down version of a shooting star was heading directly at him. In the last moment Natsume sprinted to the left. As he ran, he shot strips of fire towards the brown-haired boy. Kiseki, who was slightly out of breath from forming the ball of fire, could only block the burning bands with his own flame. He swung out his arm creating a barrier of fire into which Natsume's attack got absorbed.
Only then could I notice the impact of Kiseki's 'shooting star' on the ground it hit. A crater the size of a hot tub lay in a smoking heap where it had landed. Hotaru seemed to have noticed it too, "That's a lot of skill for an intermittent Alice."
"Well, well," Natsume breathed – I noticed that both of them were out of breath, "you've mangaed to impress me."
"Come on, it's your turn," Kiseki teased. "Don't hold back, kitty cat."
I never realised Kiseki was this strong with his Fire Alice. He always seemed reluctant to show it to me, because I'd already seen Natsume's. If he could make Natsume this tired, why did he think his Alice was so inferior to Natsume's? I was about to find out.
Natsume seemed a bit peeved at the last comment, "If you insist."
Suddenly the water in the pond began to sputter and bubble. Steam started rising from the surface of the water. Soon, the entirety of the pond was a mess in motion. The water was reacting more and more violently and the steam was hissing loudly. He was evaporating the pond!
We all looked at him in disbelief when we figured out what was happening. He was standing stock still, in a seemingly relaxed pose. He was definitely concentrating, but it looked as if this feat was effortless.
Kiseki also wore a look of amazement as the water rapidly turned into a thick cloud of mist. The steam was becoming denser and denser until I couldn't make out the figures of the two opponents anymore. Luckily Hotaru had come prepared. She switched her camera to some sort of special mode and when I peeked at the screen, I could see them again. Everyone had to inch closer to Hotaru in order to see the passing events.
After a few stunned moments, Kiseki called out to the mist, "Well, ignoring the fact that you just did what I thought wasn't possible, I know what you're trying to do now. Sure, I can't see, but you're at the same disadvantage." Kiseki swept his eyes across the mist in front of him. I knew it was no good, he couldn't see anything.
He took a cautious step back but then froze when he heard someone from behind whisper in his ear, "Oh really?"
Kiseki's pupils shrunk, "N-Natsume?" He whipped his head around in time to see Natsume take a step back. Kiseki looked at his cousin in utter disbelief. A coil of flames came to life at Kiseki's feet and snaked their way around him, rendering him immobile. "H-how?"
"I'm just 'melding the smoke into my sword' is all," Natsume quoted dismissively.
Kiseki appeared to be trying to ignite his own flame to absorb Natsume's chains. "It's no use," Natsume explained. "This is my special brand of fire. Being a lab rat for the Black Ops has its uses too."
The brown haired boy looked dumbfounded. He stared up at his crimson eyed cousin. He was defeated.
"Souma," Natsume began, "I don't care if you ripped out my brains and stole my intellect. You can have my fangirls anyday, they're just a nuisance. Take my badge. I don't give a damn if someone stole my Alice right now and gave it to you. I was being honest when I said I never wanted it. Also, with that Alice you could be in the Dangerous Ability any day. I don't care if you take everything away."
Kiseki looked beyond surprised at this outburst. He merely stared at his opponent. "Just don't," Natsume continued, a pleading voice now escaping his lips, "don't ever take Mikan away from me." I blinked. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks again. He'd go that far... for me? The tears rolled down my face. I sniffed and smiled.
Natsume's eyes pierced Kiseki's with a passion. Kiseki tore his eyes away and looked down. Then he chuckled humourlessly, "Alright, alright you've proven your point. I honestly didn't think it was possible for someone like you to love a girl so much other than Aoi. But Mikan is in good hands." He smiled.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked Kiseki. "All you have to do now is burn me. You're even in a position to give me second degree burns. As long as they aren't third degree they're allowed."
Natsume didn't move. Kiseki looked up at him questioningly. "No."
Kiseki looked bewildered, "What? Why?"
The flames binding Kiseki faded away. "Believe me, I'd love to give you second degree burns. But I can't do that. It's not just because you're my cousin," Natsume held out a hand. "It's because you make her happy." Kiseki took it and Natsume hoisted him up. "I could never burn someone who makes her smile." Natsume...
The mist was already beginning to clear. I could see the two figures facing each other. The battle was over.
"I won't burn you," Natsume seemed to continue as an after thought, "but I will do this." And without warning he reared his fists and punched Kiseki square in the jaw. I gasped, speechless. "That's for kissing my girlfriend and making her cry."
Rubbing his chin, Kiseki cracked his head a few times and looked back at Natsume, "Yeah, I guess I did deserve that." Natsume death stared him. "Ok, ok! You let me off easy. Don't worry, I'll never pull something like that again." Natsume seemed satisfied, just barely.
"Do you want to try it all again?" Kiseki asked.
There was a brief pause. Natsume nodded then said carefully, "You're nice to Mikan. I want to be friends."
He held out his hand again. Kiseki took it and they shook, "Yeah. That'd be nice."
I was crying happy tears for them. I knew it. I just knew they'd be best friends. Well, maybe those were high expectations... At least they're friends.
Natsume dropped Kiseki's hand and turned towards the hedge in which we were hiding. He was look directly at us. Did he know we were here? I was beginning to feel nervous.
"Now," he said pointedly, "come out, come out wherever you are."
Weeeeee! Almost done *sniff*, I hope you liked the fight scene, I had heaps of fun writing it! Reading back now, I wish it were longer too T-T
Originally that punch wasn't meant to be in there, but I threw it in for good measure, realising they hadn't hit each other once in the entire fight.
Well, they have been discovered... see what happens in the next and final chapter, CHAPTER 21: ALL MINE NOW (mini spoiler)
You guys are gonna have to wait and extra day for the last/epilogue chapter since I'm busy the whole of tomorrow (staying at school 'til 9:30pm...yeah)
I WOULD ADORE REVIEWS IN CASE I GET INSPIRED TO POST THE LAST CHAPTER TOMORROW MORNING BEFORE I LEAVE!