Chapter 4 - Finals

"CERO!"
In a cold sweat, Xiang, startled, jumped out've bed scared by his own dream.
"Why am I having these dreams? And who are these people I'm seeing? It's all so confusing I just don't know what to think of it all."
Looking at the time, Xiang realized it was time for him to get up and prepare for his match. He only had a few hours before the match would begin. Xiang hurredly put on his clothes, grabbed his wakizashi, and ran out the door.
Unfortunately, Xiang was never able to see who the winner was of the previous match, because about halfway through he was pulled to fill out some extra paperwork.
"I'm going to be forced to fight "blind" today" he thought to himself.
After entering the doors to the Academy, Xiang was immediately snagged up by the two instructors from yesterday, whom debriefed him on today's match.
"Unlike yesterday's sparring competition, today will be split in to three sections to determine the overall champion. The first part will be all hand-to-hand combat."
Xiang smirked. He knew that his opponent was probably great at fighting hand-to-hand, but Xiang had never lost a fight in his life throughout his entire existance in Rukongai.
"The second part will be pure zanjutsu, or swordsmanship."
Hearing the second part made Xiang cringe a little. He may be okay using a sword, but he was for sure his opponent would probably have a little more experience than he.
"Now, we were going to make the third part pure kido, but since most trainees come in knowing slim to no kido-based attacks, we changed it to a mixture of the two first battles put together. You will have an hour to warm up before your match begins. Good luck, Xiang-sama."
Hearing this news gave Xiang a sense of excitable nervousness. He was excited for the match, but feared the worst. If he were to defeat his opponent for today, he'd be known as the strongest inductee for the year. If he lost, well... There wasn't much to lose, but he would have to live down this match for the rest of his life.
"There's no way for me to use any sort of kido. I have no idea how to even use it. The first match I'm fairly confident in, and if I lose the second match, I'll have to find a way to avoid being hit by kido blasts IF my opponent knows how to use them."
After debating on the match, Xiang practiced quite a bit using his wakizashi until he was called to the competition room for his final bout. Walking in, Xiang noticed that nothing looked the same as it did yesterday, excluding the same white, bare walls and the wooden floor under his feet. Surrounding the room were tons of other souls wearing the trainee kimonos, and a few wearing black kimonos, with white kimonos underneath. At the back of the room, there were 13 men, all in black kimonos, but all 13 wore white coats over top. In the center of them was an old man with a long white beard, and a walking stick placed underneath his hands, directly in front of his body.
Now focusing to the middle of the room, Xiang got his first glance at his opponent for the day. It was Konatsu, the hyperactive boy from earlier! He was his opponent in the final match! He had way more experience than Xiang could ever imagine, for he previously stated this was his third time competing. Xiang felt a bit of unsuredness overcome him, followed by a large lump in the back of his throat.
"May we please have today's two competitors make their way to the center?"
It was time. Xiang approached the middle of the room, and greeted Konatsu.
"Congrats, Xiang. You made it all the way to the finals!"
"Thanks, 'Nats. Congratulations yourself."
"Hey. Let the best man win, yes?"
With that, they bowed to eachother, never leaving eachother's gaze. Both boys then stepped back, and handed their wakizashi to the instructors, and got in to battle stances, and in what seemed like a split-second, the fighting bell made a loud "DONG!"
Knowing he'd have to make a quick offensive, Xiang immediately charged at 'Nats, followed by an immediate dodge to the left, getting behind him. 'Nats read Xiang's movement like a book, and quickly retaliated by swinging a quick spinning kick at Xiang.
Throwing his arms up, Xiang blocked the kick, and thrust his balancing foot at Konatsu's non kicking leg, throwing him off balance and toppling him to the floor. 'Nats rolled back out of the fall, like a cat falling out of a tree, and got back in to fighting stance, followed by a quick charge at Xiang.
Xiang immediately ducked down, and swung a very well placed uppercut, landing right under, Konatsu's chin, sending him flying in the air.
"Here's my chance!"
Xiang immediately charged at 'Nats, still in the air, jumped, and gave him a quick, swift kick in to the wooden floor below.
In apparent pain, 'Nats rolled back, and leaned on to one knee, glaring at Xiang; waiting for his next move. Xiang knew exactly what to do here. He had his opponent injured, and on the defensive.
Allowing Konatsu to return to his feet, Xiang immediately began pummeling 'Nats with a series of punches and kicks, followed by a strong, swift kick to the chest, sending 'Nats in to the wall behind him. Xiang followed this up, then charged at Konatsu, looking to end the round with a finishing blow to the chest. Unfortunately, his plan was interrupted by the fighting bell.
"This match is over. Xiang wins via knock-out!"
Xiang then actually looked at 'Nats, now on the ground in front of the wall. He was out cold. Quickly sidestepping his sorrow for the unconcious Konatsu, Xiang realized he had easily won the first round!
"Don't get too excited, or over-confident yet, Xiang muttered to himself. "There's still two more rounds to go."
After a few moments, one of the weird people in white coats walked over to 'Nats. She was a tall woman with long, black hair braided in front of her chin. She used some weird light technique to heal 'Nats, and he was ready for round two.
With just a few moments to allow both patrons to rest, Xiang and Konatsu returned to the middle of the room. Receiving his wakizashi from the trainer, Xiang noticed that it looked a little longer than usual, and the hilt seemed to be different. It also had a weird metal crossguard.
"Meh, must just be a different sword. More of a katana than a wakizashi," he thought to himself.
With another loud "DONG!" round two began. Barely able to make an adjustment, Xiang was almost instantly thrown off balance by a quick slash to his left arm, but before Konatsu could deliver a finishing shot to his chest, Xiang was able to parry the stab, and regain balance.
"Wow. He's good." Xiang thought to himself. "It's going to take a lot to --"
Before he could finish the though, 'Nats went back on the offensive with strike after strike. Unable to parry any of the blows, Xiang was fairly well in a tight spot. 'Nats finally finished the series with a slash to the head, but Xiang was able to duck out of the way. Xiang followed this up by trying to make an upward slice at Konatsu's chest, but failed for 'Nats made a few acrobatic-like backflips away from Xiang, followed by another charge.
Figuring this would be another shot to try and throw him off-balance, Xiang put all of his focus on his sides, not noticing the wooden sword heading straight for his chest, until it was too late.
"And the winner for round two is... Konatsu!"
Quickly hiding the look of disbelief on his face, Xiang immediately began thinking about round 3.
"He's got great sword ability, but horrible hand-to- hand combat. I'm going to need to find a way to block his attacks, and come up with a good shot with my body; not my sword..."
Walking back to his starting position, Xiang stared at Konatsu, never leaving his gaze.
"Ladies and gentlemen. It is down to the wire. This final match will determine which patron will be deemed the top inductee of the year. Either way these two will both be placed in to our advanced classes, but only one will walk out of here the winner."
That being said, the announcer rang the fighting bell, and the final round began. Xiang immediately went on the offensive, trying to throw Konatsu off balance with a series of hand-to-hand blows and strikes, all at once. Seeing the first open opportunity, Konatsu counter-attacked with a kick, throwing Xiang back a bit, and forcing him to regain his stature.
They both then charged at eachother, exchanging sword and hand-to-hand blows, only stopping when one would retreat for a moment to regain stamina.
"I need a new strategy, I'm getting nowhere. I need to think of something... I know! I'l surprise him with a surprise attack. I'l pretend to be coming with a kick, and then..."
Xiang immediately charged at Konatsu, and jumped in the air, looking as if he was going to give Konatsu a swift kick. Konatsu, prepared himself, but was immediately surprised, as Xiang quickly switched to swing his blade. In just enough time, 'Nats pulled up his sword, and attempted to block the blow, but his wakizashi for some reason got sliced through by Xiang's attack, and half of his sword was on the ground!
Immediately looking amazed, Xiang looked down at his sword, and noticed that the wooden blade that was there before, was now fully metal, with a golden square crossguard, and a white hilt, with black diamonds going down the middle of the blade.
Seeing the metal sword, and noticing Xiang left himself completely defenseless, immediately lunged what was left of his wakizashi directly in to Xiang's chest.
"And the winner, Konatsu!"
Xiang had lost, all because he let his defenses down. But how did his sword go from wooden, to metal in the matter of an instant? It was like magic.
"Good job there, Xiang-chan. I was a little worried there, until you let your defenses down. Looks like you now have your own zanpakuto. Congrats."
Konatsu then walked away with a huge grin on his face, while Xiang still looked amazed at the sword in his hand.
"A zanpakuto?" he thought to himself. "Isn't that a..."
"Yes, Xiang. That is your zanpakuto, or soul cutter."
Xiang looked up to see a taller man with shaggy blonde hair standing in front of him. He was wearing a white robe with a black kimono underneath. Clearly one of the men that were watching his bout from the back wall.
"Take good care of that blade, Xiang. For it will be the only one you know, and for as weird as it seems... It's part of you."