Hooray for minimum of once-a-month updates! I had started this out as switching first-person perspectives between Ippo and Sendo, but in the end, it became a second-person perspective centered on Ippo. AU because there's no point in the series in which this could physically happen. I had wa~y to much fun writing this.
To my reviewers:
Itwaskindofrandom- As per request, we have Ippo and a longer story~!
Angel Descendant- Actually I'm working on a bar scene prequel to my first chapter.
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Ippo's heart hammers against his chest as he sprints, heavy boots resounding through the halls. His entire body protests with every agonizing step, and he has nothing but shear determination to live fueling him onward. He checks for what seems like the thousandth time to see if he has any form of ammunition remaining. And just like every other time, there was nothing. Ippo curses under his breath at his own lack of awareness, and also at the man who had quite nearly just killed him. He takes a quick glance behind him and—
His would-be killer wasn't following. 'This is good! If I could just find a barrack nearby with a weapon, I might actually be able to survive this!' His pace slows as he reaches the end of the hallway and cautiously moves into the open room. Plain white walls. Gray tile floors. Standard military computers. Huge panels of glass allowing light from the clouded sky to flood the room. A few artificial potted trees and shrubs. Ippo makes sure to scan his surroundings as he goes, crouching to the ground and using the short dividing walls as cover.
Making it to the other side, he finds the hallway splits into two directions. One leads to a weapon storage room, and the other straight outside. Ippo grits his teeth in frustration, wishing he had taken more time to study maps of the building. Finally deciding on the left hall, he breaks into a sprint again –there was no point in being stealthy going down such a narrow hall. Turning the final corner, Ippo can't help but grin and give a small "Yes!" at his newfound good fortune. He approaches the armory, eyes lighting up as he spots his favorite weapon, a simple magnum. He reaches to take the weapon from its rack—
In a blur of motion, something clamps down on his shoulder. Before he can even so much as make a noise of protest, a blade finds its mark on the back of his neck, and everything goes black. Well, for a moment, anyway. It's a bizarre experience, really. To be standing there, watching, as the knife is withdrawn and his body falls limply to the ground. Ippo's attacker watches the body for a moment, as if to confirm the kill, before turning and leaving the small room.
"…Dammit." Ippo mutters, letting his head fall into a rather harsh contact with his controller.
"Ah, sorry, Mokunouchi-san, I couldn't help myself." Vorg says, glancing away from the TV to give Ippo an apologetic smile.
"Hahaha… It's fine, I'm just not very good at this." Ippo waves him off.
"You've only been playing for an hour! You're very good." Vorg objects.
"Y-you think so?" Ippo says sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
The sound of a gunshot out of the dead silence makes both of them jump.
"GAH!" Exclaims a voice.
"Headshot." Another says calmly.
"Miyata, stop yer freakin' camping!" Sendo growls.
"Finding a ledge and sniping from it is a legitimate strategy." The out-boxer says simply, the smirk evident in his voice alone.
"I'm so gunna kill you."
"I'd like to see you try."
"Bastard… Makonouchi! Yer comin' with me!"
"Eh? Why?"
"Cause I said so!"
"H-hai!"
Another gunshot rings out, and this time it's Miyata's turn to swear.
"I found you." Vorg says, obviously pleased with himself.
"And? I'm still alive." Miyata's voice is slightly strained as he retreats into a building.
Vorg doesn't say anything in reply, but his expression is one that says 'not for long' as he gives chase.
"Sendo-san! That's the wrong way!"
"No it ain't! I took this way before!"
Sighing, Ippo decides to follow Sendo rather than his own instincts. He maneuvers up the stairs after him, barely managing to keep the Osaka native in sight. Running to catch up to him, he spots a blur of red snaking around a concrete island on the floor below. 'Aha! So this is a back way into the building Miyata and Vorg were in! So that means Sendo is planning on an ambu-- Or… not?'
"BANZAI!" Is all the warning Miyata and Vorg get before Sendo crashes through the window of the second story, catching both of them off guard and in a spray of bullets. Ippo, not knowing what else to do, simply stands there stupidly as Vorg scrambles for the cover of a decorative boulder and Miyata engages Sendo head on with a shotgun. A misfire by Sendo strikes him, reminding him that he's also a participant of the free for all battle. 'Oh, right, I need a DMR right now, not a shotgun. Now which button switches weapons again…?'
The infighter somehow finds himself throwing a plasma grenade, and -in his blind panic- somehow manages to throw a second grenade in addition to the first one. To Ippo, the rest seems to play in slow motion. Vorg gasps, a few words in Russian fly from his mouth; Ippo can only guess from his tone that they're curses. Miyata and Sendo's voices blend, making it hard to distinguish who says "Son of a—!" and who says '"Oh shit!" Explosions light up the building's lower floor, blowing out the nearby glass and obliterating the occupants, save for the only one still on the second floor.
All four of the featherweight boxers gape at the screen.
"What," Sendo is the first one to recover, "the hell was that?"
"A grenade, obviously." Miyata deadpans, calm facade returning.
"No shit, smartass." Sendo stares in suspicion over his shoulder at Vorg.
"I-it wasn't me!" The Russian immediately defends his innocence.
"Ain't me either." Now Sendo narrows his eyes at the counter puncher.
Miyata returns the look says, "As if I'd be stupid enough to throw a grenade and kill myself."
An awkward silence settles over the room at the lack of a fourth voice, and all of them turn to look at Ippo. Who is still gaping at the screen, completely dumbfounded at what he had just done. The timer runs out, and the free-for-all ends. The score totals putting Ippo in the lead by a single point,
Vorg exhales as he leans back onto the couch, "I would guess that was revenge for when I killed you?"
"Haha… No, that's…" Ippo's looking down as he toys with his controller, trying to hide the fact that he's practically glowing with a strange sort of satisfaction. He's trying to hide any smile or sign that he was happy, all for the sake of not getting mauled by Sendo, who's sitting on the floor next to him, not three feet away.
"Bwhahaha! That was freakin' awesome, Mokunouchi!" Sendo laughs and gives Ippo a –very hard- slap on the back. Ippo feels the heat climb up his neck to his face and allows a sheepish grin. A compliment coming from the same person who had almost killed him only a few minutes ago. '…And jumped out a second story window yelling "banzai" like a kamikaze.'
Miyata, however, isn't impressed. "And probably a complete accident."
"Um, that is…" He can't form any kind of intelligent sentence to defend himself.
"A complete accident?" Vorg echoes.
"Well…I –ah, did press the wrong button." Ippo admits quietly.
"Wait, fer real?" Sendo asks in disbelief.
Ippo shrinks back timidly and his voice is even more tiny when he adds, "…Twice."
"Yer shitting me." Sendo says while he stares at the shorter boy with an expression of disbelief. Vorg stifles a laugh. Miyata just looks back to the screen and sighs before asking, "Should we play something else, then?"
Sendo perks up at the question and replies with a menacing grin, "Infection."
"What's 'infection'?" Ippo asks.
"It's similar to… tag." Vorg offers.
"Infection it is, then." After pressing a few buttons on his controller, Miyata leans forward as a countdown begins.
Ippo asks another question, "So how do you know who's 'it'?"
He doesn't get an answer before the timer reaches zero, and everything goes black once again.
When he's next aware of his surroundings, Ippo is inside a building. The walls and floors are made of a beautiful red wood that's turned molten gold by the brilliant lights. In front of him are what look like Zen gardens –they have boulders and raked white sand-, stacked like giant six-foot stairs. Movement catches his eye, and he turns just in time to watch a form clad in green armor slip around the corner. Not knowing if it was friend or foe, Ippo follows cautiously, slowly edging down the hall after the figure. In one smooth motion, he swings around the corner, only to find himself staring down the barrel of a shotgun. His heart skips a beat, he feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and it takes until he hears Miyata's voice that he remembers to breathe.
"Makunouchi."
"Miyata-kun!" Ippo, as one would expect, is beyond happy to see Miyata.
There's a sound of the air being cut. Twice. Three times. Then four.
"Hold still, dammit!" Sendo yells in frustration.
"You'll kill me!" Vorg's voice is filled with panic.
"Damn straight I will!"
"Leave," Vorg is running for his life, "-me," his words broken up by his concentration, "-alone!"
"You little—!"
When Ippo finally turns his attention back to his own surroundings once more, he finds that Miyata is nowhere to be found. Panicking, he whips around, looking for anything that was even remotely green. Finding nothing, he starts to move down a hallway-
"Don't move." It's Miyata's voice.
"Miyata-kun! Where did you go?" Relief floods Ippo almost instantly.
"To find a sniping spot. Now stay where you are."
"Shouldn't I find cover?"
Before Miyata can answer, Ippo finds a blur of red is rushing at him. And then past him.
"…Eh?" It takes the boy a moment to process what just happened. "V-vorg-san?"
Ippo turns to find that Vorg has positioned himself just around the corner Miyata disappeared behind. It takes until the Russian crouches down and switches to a sniper rifle for Ippo to realize he's taken up a sniping position.
"Please stay there, Makounochi-san." Vorg says politely.
"U-um, hai?" Ippo confirms hesitantly. 'Why do I have to stand here…?'
Turning back around, Ippo's heart skips a beat when he sees Sendo's iconic purple armor –Ippo guesses he's 'it'- rushing at him from across the room, sword in hand and ready to strike. He takes aim and releases a spray of bullets at the Naniwa Tiger, only to have him jump impossibly high over them, and keep coming. Ippo has to stop to reload, but Sendo closes the distance before he can fire again. Looking up again, he can only watch as Sendo springs for the kill.
Bang-bang. Two shots ring out almost simultaneously. Ippo stares petrified as the purple-clad form drops to the floor with a thud, landing not a foot in front of him.
Nice shot." Says Miyata.
"I should be saying that to you, Miyata-san." Vorg says in return.
"What the hell!" Sendo protests. " Ya can't just go using Mokunouchi like 'es," a pause to find the right word, "-like 'es bait!"
"I-I was bait?" Ippo asks, mortified.
"Ah, well, I wouldn't say-" Vorg starts.
"-Yes, you were." Miyata deadpans. "And he's coming again so just stay where you are."
A shot.
"Like hell yer gunna shoot me again!" Sendo laughs, grinning like a maniac.
"Tch. Watch me." The counter puncher retorts.
"I can get him when he's closer." Vorg says before adding, "Mokunouchi-san, could you move a bit to the right, please?"
"Eh... Ah, hai." Ippo manages. 'I really am just bait.'
Sendo comes into Ippo's view, accompannied by the sound of another shot from Miyata.
"Bwaha! Ya missed!" The infighter gloats.
Followed by a second shot, this time from Vorg.
"Missed again!" Sendo is again closing the distance between himself and Ippo. Miyata fires again, but Sendo's gotten to close to his side of the room for a sniper-type rifle to be of any use. Vorg takes aim, only to find that Sendo has made a blind spot of Mokunouchi. The Russian frantically searches his head for the right words to warn the Japanese champ to get out of the way.
"Mokunouchi-" He begins.
"Fall back!" Miyata beats him to it.
"O-okay!" Ippo doesn't need to be told twice, turning around and running like hell to the sanctuary of the hallway. Vorg is already out of sight, having retreated on realizing Sendo's strategy. Ippo doesn't make it another ten feet before everything goes black for a second time.
"Gotcha!" Sendo proclaims. He's no sooner managed to down Mokunouchi than Miyata has landed two headshots. Despite having just been killed, Sendo is quite pleased with himself, having had Mokunouchi now join his side of the fight.
"Um, so," Ippo starts, "Am I 'it' now?"
"Well, yes, both of you are." Vorg explains for him.
"Let's slaughter 'em!" Sendo abruptly charges off to wherever he thinks the other two are hiding.
Ippo nods. "So, it's both of us against Miyata-kun and Vorg-san." He starts to follow after Sendo, smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, heart racing at the challenge.
The two infighters would spend the remaining few minutes of the game being completely destroyed by Miyata and Vorg. Sendo would then demand a rematch, and be thouroghly ignored by Miyata. Instead, several games of griffball would commence, and the team would get six hard-earned wins. It would take Takamura bursting into the room at two in the morning for the featherwieght boxers would realize that they had just wasted a full seven hours playing Halo.
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Halo is addicting. Don't underestimate it. Ever. I wanted to upload this for Sendo's birthday, but that didn't work out with my IRL schedule. I'm going to try and update at least once a month! Reviews are my motivation, as this chapter came from Itwaskindofrandom's request~!