Author's stuff at the bottom...

Just before Ryo used his [Gift](Tsuki's point of view)...

Tsuki was curious as she saw the young boy staring blankly in one place. She could tell that he wasn't going to take another step, but she didn't know why he didn't just give up. She watched for a bit and saw a doppelganger suddenly produce itself from thin air. She took closer look to find that this doppelganger was…surprisingly normal. She didn't sense anything dangerous in particular about this one. He didn't have any hardened limbs, there wasn't anything particularly intelligent about this one, nor was there anything unusual. In fact, this one seemed to be nothing more than a complete, and rather boring, copy.

"I suppose this is a drawback for being exhausted…" she thought to herself before readying her claws and dashing towards the doppelganger. She lunged towards it, positioned to remove this pathetic copy once and for all. However, it reacted at the last minute, knocking away her arm and landing a small punch on her upper body area. She jumped back with a surprised look. She studied the target a second time, but there was still nothing different about it. She dismissed that last move as a fluke, and went towards the doppelganger again. This time, she dodged its first counter, and was about to strike when she was suddenly hit by a second counter. She felt something press hard against her side and push her couple of feet away. When she checked, there wasn't really any strong pain, but her arm was starting to throb a bit.

She was angry that this boy managed to land an attack on her. She was angry, and confused. It may have been a fluke the first time, but anything more than once couldn't be just a coincidence. Something didn't add up. A mere human couldn't withstand her in her werewolf form. And a doppelganger's existence is considered less than the original. And yet, somehow this boy, no, this doppelganger, was somehow able to block her attack and land not one, but two strikes at her. How?

No, this wasn't a good time. She needed to win this battle. She took a stance before preparing to lunge at the original. However, she expected the doppelganger to attack instead, so after making an initial charge at Ryo, she quickly turned at the last minute in the doppelganger's direction and attempted to pierce through its heart. She smirked as she felt her victory was practically assured. But her smile dropped quickly as the doppelganger moved away at the last second to receive a small scratch on the side of its ribs. She tried to pursue it, but every step she took towards it, it took a step back at the exact same pace.

How? That's the questions she continued to ask herself over and over. Not only has this doppelganger managed to avoid her this long, but it didn't even seem the least bit tired. It's almost as if she were fighting another of her kind. But that couldn't happen. After all, she could tell even before their battle, he wasn't like her. He was a pure human, not an Ainu, a crossbreed between a god/goddess and a wolf, like she was. Therefore, there was no way that he could just naturally match her so easily.

No, she just remembered hearing something about how [Doppelganger] was one of the most tenacious gifts known. Its strength mostly relied on using quantity over quality to deal with their opponents, so it couldn't naturally "reinforce" anything like most gifts. But there have been rumors that some [Doppelganger] users, if their gifts have been developed enough, were able to rival even a few [Demon Lords] using a hidden ability. Maybe, just maybe…

A sweat drop started to dribble down her neck as she decided to test out this theory. She opened her mouth and took in a deep breath before bellowing out a growl that released a pressure of air at the doppelganger. She watched as it held its arms in front of itself, and braced for the impact. The attack pushed it back slightly, but it was otherwise unharmed. But at the very moment when she decided to dash towards it, it suddenly whipped its arms to the side and started to snarl. The entire crowd watched as this doppelganger started to change. Its hands started to grow a little bit longer, its hair started to extend past its back, its pupils began to shrink, and its teeth started to sharpen themselves. Eventually, the doppelganger howled, as its change into a werewolf was complete.

"So this must be it…" Tsuki thought to herself as she smelled the air around her opponent. She could tell that this thing was apparently able to mimic her physical traits; so as a result, it was able to move at about the same speed and use the same strength that she had. However, she noticed that the scratch she landed earlier didn't heal itself as quickly as it should, so maybe physical traits were the limits that this unexpected ability could reach. So she still had the upper hand in this battle.

Normally, she would have simply stalled for time until Ryo lost consciousness. He was on the verge of losing it anyways. However, she hadn't felt this much excitement in her blood for a long time. She wanted more, to proof that she could defeat this thing with her own strength, no matter the circumstances. She smiled widely before going on her hands and feet. If her opponent could read her movements, then it would know what to do.

A minute passed before the doppelganger made the same movement as Tsuki did, and nodded its head slightly while giving the same kind of grin she had on. These two weren't going to wait around for the other to attack; they're going to go all out at the same time for one final clash. The air began to thicken just slightly as everyone waited for what was about to happen next.

Something dropped just before the two figures disappeared for a split-second. Suddenly, the air seemed to blow fiercely as the two opposing forces were right in front of each other, launching a flurry of punches, scratches, and kicks at a speed too fast for most people to see with their naked eye. Everyone stared as Tsuki and the doppelganger attacked each other without any contact with the outside world. Occasionally, a blow or two was landed on each of them, but neither seemed to recognize nor care about the damage landed on their bodies. The doppelganger had a blank, emotionless face, but Tsuki was smiling even wider with each strike. Eventually the two of them landed one final blow on the face before they froze. The tension was high as nearly everyone held their breath for the outcome to reveal itself. Then, just as the doppelganger started to waver just a bit, Tsuki slowly fell forward on her face, signaling her defeat. Kurousagi appeared on stage, slowly walking towards Tsuki to check for any signs before she raised her hand.

"The battle is over, the winner is Ryo of [No Name]."

Now...

"Damnit, guess I messed up there…"

Tsuki was scratching the back of her head with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. Her sweater was gone, showing a gray short-sleeved t-shirt and a fairly-sized bust underneath. Bandages were wrapped around her shoulders, her neck, and (presumably) most of her body underneath, showing that she took a fair amount of damage. She was standing next to the [No Name] team, who each stared curiously at her.

"No, you did really well." said Ryo (who had a couple new lumps on his head for some reason). "But do you mind telling me exactly why you're watching here of all places?"

"Is there a reason I can't?" the werewolf was leaning on one side while crossing her arms.

"No, but it kinda seems to kill the whole point of our battle earlier when you seem a bit overly familiar with the opposing side…"

"Well regardless of what people may think, I'm actually pretty interested in you all." She suddenly stopped in right front of Izayoi while licking her lips somewhat seductively. "Especially you. I can see that you have a lot of power hidden in that small body of yours. Quite a tempting piece of bait for a lot of residents in [Little Garden]…"

"True." Izayoi replied without backing down in any way. "You want to see firsthand just how much power I have?"

"Hmmm, such a tempting offer…"

"Excuse me…"

The two of them turned their heads to see Kurousagi, who was giving off a rough atmosphere despite the smile on her face. Her arms were crossed and her foot was tapping at a fast pace, signaling her impatience.

"I hate to interrupt, but Kurousagi would like to continue the [Gift Game] soon, so it would be appreciated if Tsuki-san could bring out the next two representatives for [Fores Garo], if she would be so kind?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you jealous there…"

"Wha-!"

Kurousagi's face turned red as she made a large stomp on the ground. "Kurousagi isn't jealous! There's no reason for Kurousagi to be jealous of anything here!"

"Is that so? Then perhaps you'd like to give us a few more minutes together?"

Tsuki started to wrap her arms around Izayoi's, pressing his arm against her chest while smiling devilishly. Something seemed to have snapped as Kurousagi suddenly turned around and left for the middle of the stage.

"I understand her frusteration…" Ryo said in a sympathetic tone as he held his hand to his chin. "But then again, there wasn't really any reason for her to get so impatient with things in the first place. A game always needs to end at some point after all."

"Idiot." Cecilia exclaimed as she had her arms crossed. "You just don't understand women…" She sifted through her hair with her hand before walking up onto the stage and heading towards the middle.

Ryo cocked his head slightly as he gave a curious look. Izayoi just sighed as he scratched his head with his free hand.

"Looks like I'm not gonna be getting any action anytime soon…"

Well that's it for the rest of this year (probably). I hope you guys enjoyed this somewhat, and I'll try to make the next battle more interesting and post it up as soon as possible. Tell me what you thought, and hope you all have a good holiday.