Update within a week! Just like I promised ;D
The fights in this are
Teto vs Ritsu
Len vs Big Al
Meiko vs Mr. Ironfist (Not an important character)
I'm hoping I did better in writing the fight scenes. I'm still a bit bad.
Disclaimer – The name 'Vocaloid' belongs to the creator of the program Yamaha.
Some of the characters used in this story either belong to Crypton Future Media or any other respective owners of the fan-made Vocaloid characters.
Difference in Worlds
Chapter Ten – Tournament: Round 1 Part 2
General POV
"It seems both participants are here now. If you're ready I shall now commence the match."
"I've been ready." Teto declared with a grin full of anticipation on her face. Teto stood in a readied posture; her naginata held out and prepared to lunge. Teto had on her school P.E uniform, so she didn't bother changing with the rest of the group during the intermission. The uniform was generic in Japan; navy bloomers with white stripes going down the sides and a white t-shirt.
"…" the other girl did not say anything but simply nodded. Namine Ritsu had a blank expression. It was practically impossible to tell what she had on mind with such a deadpan look on her face. Her clothes were somewhat similar to a Lolita style; she wore a poofy violet skirt with a white pattern going down the center and had on a matching violet collar blouse which appeared to be held together by some strings on the chest area. She had on black shoulderless sleeves with a golden edge around the wrist and had on a small purple top hat on her head, slightly tilted to the side.
"Then the 5th match will now begin! Ready… FIGHT!"
"Haaaah!" Teto let out a shout and became a blur as she leapt forward with her naginata held like a lance.
"…" Ritsu, on the other hand, didn't even flinch as she simply raised her hand to her face.
"Got you now!" Teto shouted and thrust her naginata. However, before her blade tip was able to collide against Ritsu, Teto suddenly stumbled to the side. Her vision had suddenly become hazy. "W-what?" Teto stuttered and rubbed her eyes; the blur quickly disappeared as fast as it had come. She regained her posture and firmly gripped her weapon; her eyes darted around to relocate her opponent. Ritsu had used that moment to step a few meters away. She stood in plain sight but for some reason Teto continued to look around desperately for the pokerfaced opponent. "Where'd she go?" Teto stood bewildered as she scanned the platform.
"What's wrong with Teto?" Gakupo asked as the group watched Teto's unusual behavior from the spectator seats.
"She looks confused." Piko stated.
"So she IS a Holder." Meiko confirmed her suspicion with a smirk on her face; her smile looked as if she had just found another good pray.
"Figured." Neru muttered and bit the nail of her thumb in frustration. "This is going to make things difficult."
"So it's because of her Holder power Teto is like that?" Rin asked.
"Mhm." Neru answered.
"Is her power invisibility or something?" Gakupo questioned.
"Obviously not, since we can still see her." Neru replied sharply.
"So it's an ability that's messing up with only Teto's sight." Len concluded.
"Most likely." Neru nodded. "It's frustrating since we can't help Teto in any way." Neru gritted her teeth.
"We'll just have to hope for the best." Rin said and earned a nod from the rest of the group.
"How could she disappear on a flat platform?" Teto asked no one in particular, her gaze roaming over the platform slowly. Ritsu continued to stride around the arena in plain sight, circling Teto. Despite, Teto's lack of vision, Ritsu had never gone on the offense and tried to attack her. 'She couldn't have left the platform or I'd have won by now.' Teto had begun to process the situation. 'So that means she's here but I can't see her… I don't have time for this. ' Teto grumbled in annoyance.
"?" Ritsu stopped in position as Teto changed her posture and held her naginata out to her side.
"If I can't see you, then I'll just force you to come out!" Teto exclaimed and started spinning her weapon in a fast side to side rotation.
"!" Ritsu's eyes widened as Teto's random assault brushed past her, barely grazing her arm.
"Let's see how long you can keep avoiding me." Teto grinned feeling excited that she could finally cut loose. She stopped swirling her weapon but instead had begun to swing her naginata in large arches covering almost a quarter of the entire arena on each swing.
"!" Ritsu jumped back as the blade portion of Teto's weapon almost made contact with her side. Her concentration broke for only a second as she jumped back, but it was enough for Teto to see Ritsu out of the corner of her eye.
"There you are!" Teto exclaimed and dashed forward towards the general direction Ritsu was, swinging her naginata in wide arches to make sure her opponent couldn't get away.
"…!" Ritsu's previous deadpan expression was now gone. She was now gritting her teeth as she tried to avoid Teto's assault.
"Looks like Teto got the upper hand now." Gakupo said with relief.
"Yeah, even if she can't see her opponent, she's making good use of her weapon's long range." Piko added in.
"No…" Meiko muttered.
"Huh?" Kaiko glanced up at Meiko confused.
"She's being too reckless." Neru explained in short.
"But Namine is being pushed back." Kaiko looked at a lost.
"Yes, but Teto still hasn't landed a single solid hit on her." Neru replied.
"That Namine girl hasn't landed a single hit either." Rin said.
"There's a difference between trying to hit and purposely not hitting." Neru told her. "She's had a lot of opportunities but she didn't take any. That girl has something up her sleeves."
"Teto is going to lose if she keeps this up." Meiko said gravely.
"You know you should be a bit more positive." Len lectured her.
"Yeah yeah." Meiko said nonchalantly; already being used to Len's scolding.
"I know you're around here somewhere!" Teto shouted and continued to swing. She still couldn't see Ritsu, but she would still notice something move at the corner of her sight; only using those small movements to direct her onslaught. Her focus was keenly on detecting Ritsu, so she didn't notice that her assault was leading her closer and closer to the edge. "Got ya!" Teto gripped the base of her naginata and swung it like a bat, feeling confident that she got her this time. However, to her dismay, she felt nothing collide against her weapon.
"Watch out!" a voice yelped from the spectator area, but a little too late.
"Wha-" Teto was cut off as she tried to turn her body. However, she felt a strong grip on her left arm and something stopping her leg from moving. Ritsu had appeared behind her and had grabbed onto Teto's arm and had her leg positioned between Teto's, keeping it from moving. With a surprising strength Ritsu hauled Teto's arm over her shoulder and did a judo throw, hurling Teto off the platform and onto the stadium's grass.
"Winner, Namine Ritsu!"
Len POV
The next round had started, but we paid it no mind as we welcomed the girl with a sullen expression; her twin drills drooping, mimicking her mood.
"You tried your best!" Miku gave her a light hug as she reassured her.
"Yeah, it's not like you're going to lose anything." Gakupo said.
"B-but… 1,000,000yen worth of bread…" Teto mumbled miserably.
We all sighed and smiled. 'Typical Teto'
"Don't worry! I'll make sure to buy you some bread once I win." Meiko said with an overconfident grin.
"Who said you'll be the one winning?" Rin asked, challenging her.
"I'd be glad to fight you at the finals." Meiko smirked.
"Oi." I nudged them and craned my neck slightly towards Teto.
"Right…" Meiko bit her lip.
"Teto want to go to a bakery on our way home after the tournament is over?" Miku asked as they sat down.
"Sure!" Teto perked up; her imaginary tail wagging happily.
"That was easy." Piko chuckled.
"So…" Gakupo got our attention. "Len's fight is next."
"Obviously he'll win." Meiko said fully assured.
"He can't lose to someone I already beat." Rin added in.
"Ahaha… I think you guys are thinking too highly of me." I laughed awkwardly as I scratched the back of my head.
"Nonsense! You're supposed to be my rival." Rin declared sternly.
"I really don't remember when I agreed to this." I said to no one, since I knew she probably wouldn't listen to me.
"Hey guys!" a familiar ice-cream maniac voice called out to us.
"You're back early." Neru raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah… When I went to Tokyo I found out they only made one batch of the new flavor ice cream and it was sold out by the time I got there." Kaito briefed us his disappointing trip.
"What kind of flavor was it anyways?" Piko asked curiously.
"Kimchi." Kaito said nonchalantly.
"Wait, isn't that spicy cabbage?" Neru asked, cringing as she thought of the taste.
"Spicy ice cream." I flinched as I imagined the taste.
"What kind of shop sells that kind of ice cream?" Rin asked with an uncomfortable look on her face.
"No! We don't want to know!" Neru stopped Kaito from telling us.
"Anyways. What'd I miss?" Kaito asked after a short moment of silence.
"Rin, Gakupo, and Kaiko won. Sadly, Teto lost." Miku filled him in.
"I should have signed up for the tournament as well…" Kaito grumbled, looking rather displeased with his day.
"You had to be here from the very beginning if you wanted to participate." I told him.
"It's your fault for wanting ice cream so much." Gakupo said.
"But… kimchi flavored ice cream." Kaito mumbled.
"I will never understand your taste." Neru sighed.
"Winner, Shinomiya Kyouya!"
Our conversation came to an end as the match result was announced.
"Will the contenders Kagamine Len and Big Al come onto the stage?"
"Guess I'm up." I stood up from my seat.
"Kick his ass!" I heard Gakupo shout as I made my way down.
"Heh. You're the kid who beat Miki, right?" Big Al sneered in question.
"Yeah, what of it?" I admitted.
"I watched your fight. Nothing impressive, just full of cheap tricks." He snickered. "I don't know what kind of confidence you got from beating Miki, but you should give up on winning. Cheap tricks may work on someone as idiotic as her, but it won't work on me."
"Didn't you lose as well?" I pointed out.
He gritted his teeth. "That was just luck." He spat. "I could beat that blondie anytime I want."
"If you say so." I shrugged.
"If you're both ready to fight, then I shall begin the 7th match. Ready… FIGHT!"
"I'll end it quick!" Big Al snarled and spread is arms to his sides; his arms shifting into a more beastly form. "I'll make it quick and painless!"
Holding my ground, I make my hand into a fist and get into a fighting posture. For the past couple of days I've been trying to make use of my ability in actual full frontal combat. However, for some reason it was much harder to do than expected. So all I achieved was getting one move sort of down, and I'm not even sure if it'll be effective. "Pressure: Fist." I put focused tension on the tip of my fist as Big Al leapt in the air to pounce me. Instead of side stepping to dodge the giant ball of fur, I stepped forward towards Big Al; not in range of his claws, but still within his arms.
"What are -." Big Al became startled by my sudden closeness, but before he could react any further I punched him in the gut.
"Release." I let out the gathered pressure upon contact and let it burst against Big Al's abdomen.
"Kuha!" the burst made saliva spew out of his mouth as the air was knocked out of him. The force was powerful enough to send him spiraling backwards and skid along the platform.
"I guess that wasn't enough." I murmured as I glanced down at my fist. I was hoping to end this fight in one hit, but it seems Big Al was able to resist some of the force.
"The hell was that…" Big Al grunted in pain as he tried to pull himself up. "I don't know what kind of trick you pulled, but now you've made me mad." He growled maliciously.
"C'mon pup." I smirked only making him more enraged.
Big Al roared and sprinted at me, holding his claws outstretched. I stood there patiently as he drew closer. He seemed cautious about jumping at me again so he stayed on the ground and swung his wolf like arms at me.
"Pressure: Point." I made a small pressured point right where Big Al's paw was swinging towards and burst it, making his arm go limply back. "Pressure: Leg." Using that opening I twisted my body and kicked Big Al in the ribcage. Bursting the pressure point I had put on my leg, the immense force strengthened my kick and I could hear something crack as Big Al went soaring out of the arena and collide against the stadium wall.
"Winner, Kagamine Len!"
"I knew your power was impressive." I felt arms go around my neck as I came through the door up to the observation area.
"We're in public." I glanced sideways to see Meiko's chin resting on my shoulder.
"W-what are you doing?!" Rin's voice trembled as she asked.
"Taking care of my kouhai." Meiko said indifferently.
"Show some decency at least!" Rin exclaimed, her face burning up.
"Fine fine~" Meiko reluctantly pulled her arms off of me and we sat down with the rest of the group. As we sat down I thought I could hear Neru sigh in relief.
"Len that was awesome!" Kaito sat down beside me before Neru could sneak her way there. "How'd you get so strong?!"
"Right… Kaito was gone then." I clicked my tongue.
"It turns out Len is a Holder!" Gakupo informed him.
"Oh wow. How come you haven't ever told us?!" Kaito asked.
"He did, a couple days ago." Neru answered.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" he asked, feeling a bit left out.
"You were constantly gone, travelling around for ice cream." Piko replied.
"I'm worried about your attendance." Rin said.
"It's fine. I probably have enough school days." Kaito said casually.
"Don't regret it later." Neru said.
"Why would I regret anything? I live like the wind! Freely roaming." Kaito said proudly.
"Yeah, we aren't going to get through his carefree personality." I said with a sigh.
…
(I'll be skipping these fight scenes because I feel like the story can progress normally without seeing these. Just knowing the outcome should be enough)
"Winner, Kaze!"
...
"Winner, Guzen Junichi!"
"You're up now." I glanced at Meiko.
"Will the contenders Mr. Ironfist and Sakine Meiko come onto the platform?"
"End it quick so we can go home!" Gakupo requested as Meiko got up. It was almost 7 in the evening as the sun neared the horizon.
"Len treat me to some dinner if I win." Meiko said with a grin.
"But it's obvious you're going to win." I pointed out.
"Then you better figure out where we're going." Meiko said with a teasing tone as she left.
"W-wait! We can't let them go off somewhere by themselves!" Rin automatically rejected the idea. "Who knows what Meiko will do if they're alone together!"
"No matter how much I respect her, I can't allow this." Neru spoke through her teeth as she bit her nail in irritation.
"I don't think it's a good idea either…" Kaiko spoke up meekly.
"Now that both participants are here, I shall now commence the 10th match."
I turned my attention back to the stage, ignoring the commotion behind me. I didn't pay too much mind to them because using my Holder powers caused too much physical and mental exhaustion.
"Let's make a bet." Gakupo suggested. "I bet she'll end it with one punch."
"I feel like she's going to taunt her opponent a bit and then win." Piko guessed.
"Of course she's going to have a long good fight!" Kaito declared and we looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
"When has she ever done that?" Gakupo asked rather perplexed that Kaito could think that way, and he simply shrugged in reply.
"So what about you, Len?" Piko turned his gaze to me.
"Hm… probably a kick." I guessed, not really caring.
General POV
"Ready… FIGHT!"
"Hahahaha!" the man called Mr. Ironfist bellowed. The man was huge. His height was about 200cm and he was built like a professional body builder.
"Hm?" Meiko gazed at him puzzled.
"You should be honored to be able to fight against the great Ironfist!" he proclaimed. "My fists are capable of breaking iron!"
Meiko let out a long drawn out sigh and shook her head. "Let's just get this over with."
"I don't like hurting pretty little ladies like you, so I'll try to not make it hurt that much." He said modestly. "You know what? Just to be the gentleman that I am, I'll let you get the first blow." He offered and put his hands on his hips and pushed his chest out.
"Don't regret it." Meiko muttered and walked up to Mr. Ironfist.
"Go ahead. Punch me or kick me, do whatever you want!" Ironfist said with a stupid grin on his face.
Meiko lifted her right leg and placed her foot firmly on his abdomen, however she exerted no strength into her leg and simply placed it on him.
"Hm?" he glanced down in confusion. He was expecting some sort of impact, but all he felt was something light pressing against him. "What are you doing, little miss?"
"Being disappointed." Meiko then applied some strength onto her leg and lightly pushed.
"Gak!" his muscular abdomen indented in the shape of Meiko's shoe, but before it could be pushed in any further his body shot like a bullet straight off the stage and crashed against the stadium wall.
"Winner, Sakine Meiko!"
Len POV
"Let's go!" Gakupo groaned as he got up and stretched.
"We're not going to watch the last match?" Rin asked as the rest of us got up.
"I think everyone wants to go home rather than watch another match." Piko said.
"It's not important anyways." Gakupo added.
"Yeah, and we have to go to the bakery before it closes." Miku gestured at Teto.
"Alright then." Rin nodded.
"We should get a move on. Meiko is probably already waiting for us." I ushered everyone along and we headed down the stairwell.
"Len~ Dinner~ Dinner~" Meiko mused happily as we made our way out of the stadium.
"Yeah yeah, I know." I rolled my eyes.
"I still can't allow this!" Rin spoke up sternly. "Who knows what kind of indecent acts they'll do if left alone!" Neru nodded in agreement.
"I won't do anything like that." I said, taken aback by her accusation.
"I'm not worried about YOU doing something, but rather I'm worried about what Meiko would do." Rin pointed at Meiko, who was looking away and whistling.
"We'll let you go if you have someone else with you as well." Neru suggested.
"I'm so jealous…" I heard Gakupo grumble at the side.
"Well we're going this way. See ya guys tomorrow." Piko smiled and dragged the grumbling Gakupo away.
"Let Kaiko go!" I heard Kyu suggest. I returned my attention back to the bickering girls, who were now arguing about who was going to come with us.
"You know what?" I interrupted their conversation. "It's summer break now so I can just treat Meiko to some lunch. It'll be in broad daylight so it should be fine and if you guys still insist on a chaperone then you all could join us." I proposed.
Meiko looked reluctant but the other girls glanced at each other for a moment before replying.
"That sounds good." Neru nodded.
"Tch." Meiko clicked her tongue in disappointment.
We split up with Meiko along the familiar riverside path and now the only remaining members of the group were Rin, Neru, Kaiko, Kaito and I, all of which lived in the dorm. As we entered the residential district Rin brought up the previous topic.
"So when are you going?" Rin asked, receiving some confused glances. "The lunch, I mean." She corrected.
"Oh, tomorrow." I answered bluntly.
"What? Why so soon?!" Rin inquired in a higher than normal tone.
"Sooner the better." I shrugged, wondering why it mattered so much.
"But I was planning on training all afternoon…" Rin murmured.
"Don't worry, Rin. We'll go with them and make sure they don't do anything bad." Neru put her hand on Kaiko's shoulder as she reassured Rin.
"B-but…" she sounded conflicted.
"Well you can do whatever you want. We're just going to get some lunch." I told her. My body felt much more exhausted now so I felt entirely sluggish. I'll probably end up skipping dinner and simply take a shower and go to sleep.
"I fight Gakupo tomorrow…" Rin mumbled to herself. "Oh, it's fine then. I don't need to train that much." She decided.
…
"Oomph." I fell face first onto my futon the moment I set it out. If I knew using my Holder power would cause this much strain on my body I would of at least trained for it earlier. At my current stamina I can barely use it for over 3 minutes. Meiko, on the other hand, has been training before we even met, which is about 7 years ago, so she can utilize her power as much as she wants without having to deal with exhaustion taking over her any time soon.
I didn't notice any sign of Neru on my way to my room so I figured I should be safe tonight. I'm hoping she is feeling tired as well so she doesn't bother to come in here. I held onto that thought as I felt the fatigue finally consume me and drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER END
A/N – Hm… not sure if the action scenes were good enough. Oh well. Most of the recent reviews usually talk about how much they're anticipating Teto's fight and I was wondering why no one was curious about Len's fight, but then I realized the tournament ladder was messed up in the Part 1 chapter, so you guys should go check it out now since I fixed it up a bit.
OHRIGHT Something important. I KNOW Namine Ritsu is actually a guy, but I didn't know that before I wrote him into the story, so... too late to change it now! You'll have to deal with a female Namine Ritsu who doesn't really crossdress since 'she's' a girl already.
As I wrote this chapter I noticed how much errors I make in my writing and it still gets to me. So proofreaders are really needed! Oh and in the review feel free to point out some mistakes so I can go back to it and fix it. I know it may be unfortunate that you had to read it with the mistakes, but I want the other new readers to be able to enjoy the story without having to deal with a lot of grammatical mistakes. Don't worry, they'll have to deal with those mistakes when they get to current updates ;
Ohright, and no. Meiko does not have mood swings. The reason she got so uhm.. lazy? In her fight, was because she was disappointed that she was facing another weak opponent. So yeah, that's the reason.
Update on my current situation – my winter break is now over so I'll be going to school now again. However, don't expect the updates to get delayed because of it. It's actually a good thing since I have the tendency of writing plot ideas for my stories during class in my notebook. So… more updates~
Review the reviews
KaikiSherra – Yeah thanks for telling me about that. That's what happens when I don't got proofreaders ;. Anyways, since you've already read the later chapters you should know that Kaito doesn't have that much of a serious role right now. He's mostly gone 'adventuring', however I am planning to make him more involved later on sooo… look out for it~
Sheshe-AnimeLuver – Yeah, sorry 'bout that short chapter D; I realized as I wrote this chapter that it was summer break in the story… so I think the reaction is going to come much laaaaater. ;
I3Len – Cliff hangers! My specialty!... (not really) Hope you aren't too disappointed about Teto's fight D;
PandaPuppet – I don't care what you write. I just like reading what people say. It gives me motivation. And truth be told, when I saw that I had a new email and checked your review I couldn't help but laugh. I saw it at school so I basically just started laughing randomly and my friends stared at me funny