Chapter 31: Cousins
Characters (in order of first appearance):
Hinata Hyūga / Aurora Soleggiato
Kurenai Yuhī / Rossore Sparo
As Zanna was carried away in a stretcher with Rosso lying next to him, the next match was announced. It shocked a lot of people, particularly the girl with the black hair who had been silently cheering Gelato during his match. Zanna looked up at her, and they made eye contact.
"Aurora…" Zanna muttered, trying to sit up, but the medics carried him off as he shouted, "Forfeit the match! You'll never survive against Voluta!"
But the girl, Aurora, shook her head, and quickly got down to the arena before Voluta did. He stared at her with a bitterness that made Gelato feel cold, and dislike him even more than he already did. As Voluta and Aurora took their positions in the arena, Imprevisto told them to remove their guns just like the past matches. Voluta removed his without question, but Aurora made no attempt to do so.
"It is mandatory that you remove your gun," Imprevisto said sternly.
"I don't carry a gun," Aurora muttered, avoiding Voluta's glare.
"All right, then," Imprevisto shook his head, and then raised his hand. "Begin!"
"What are you doing in a place like this, Lady Aurora?" Voluta asked, his gaze never wavering from her. "This is for Soldiers, not wimps like you!"
"Cousin Voluta…" Aurora said, her eyes widening.
"They're cousins?" Rosa was confused.
"Yes," Beni Niro said, standing next to her and Gelato. "They're both from the aristocratic Soleggiato clan, but from different branches. Aurora comes from the main family, making her the legitimate heir, while Voluta is from the branch family, which has sworn to protect the main family since the clan began."
"But why are they so tense?"
"There have been issues between the branches of the clan for years, though I don't know the details. Voluta never spoke much about it."
"You're shaking," Voluta said, continuing with his slandering. "You're afraid of what will happen to you if you fight me."
Aurora looked down.
"Last time, I hurt you pretty badly."
At that, Aurora instinctively crossed her hands over her shoulders.
"Your mother tried to comfort you. But your father smacked you across the face in shame, wishing you were a boy instead of a girl."
Gelato clenched his fist as he watched Aurora cover her ears and shake her head.
"You haven't changed, Lady Aurora. You're weak, and you always will be." Then Voluta made a series of hand-signs with his eyes closed. When he opened them again, there were veins popping out near the temples while the pupils were more defined as he continued to glare at Aurora.
"What are you doing?!" Gelato shouted, getting Aurora and Voluta's attention. "Don't let him walk all over you with his taunts! Say something!"
Aurora, who had uncovered her hears to listen to Gelato, looked up at him and smiled. Then she closed her eyes and made similar hand-signs to the ones Voluta made. Voluta was surprised when he noticed that her eyes were now the same as his, with strong determination in them as well.
"Cousin Voluta, I know that I've been weak," she said, positioning into a fighting stance. "But today…I'm going to take a stand, and I'm not going to run!"
"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Gelato cheered.
"Annoying idiot," Voluta muttered, and mimicked Aurora's fighting stance by spreading his feet apart and holding his right hand outstretched while cupping the other.
Neither one moved. Then they ran at each other with a tremendous speed as their hands became covered in nature energy. They each started by raising their cupped hands at each other, and then blocking them. This went on for several rounds, but the movements were so fast that everyone on the balcony had a hard time comprehending what was going on, including Imprevisto.
"What kind of a fighting style is this?" Rosa asked.
"It's called the Blind Man's Fist (Gentle Fist Technique), a type of Chemistry that concentrates on making internal injuries to the opponent, unlike mine, the Boxer's Fist (Strong Fist Technique), which focuses on causing external ones," Beni Niro answered.
"But how do they know where to hit if they're blind?"
"That's what the Bianco Occhi (Byakugan) eyes are for."
"Bianco Occhi eyes?"
"It's like the Specchio Occhi eyes, but far superior in comparison. Each member of the Soleggiato clan is born blind, but immediately inherit the Bianco Occhi eyes without any training needed," Spauracchio said, nodding at Aurora. "Not only does it give them a near 360-degree vision at great distances and through solid matter, but it also allows them to see the flow of nature energy in the opponents' body which, if blocked, can cause severe internal damage."
As he spoke, Aurora and Voluta suddenly dealt very significant blows to each other's chests. Neither showed any sign of pain for a few seconds, and then Aurora suddenly cried out and crouched down coughing up blood. Imprevisto's made a move, but Voluta held his hand out. Aurora, who was now breathing unevenly, stood up and charged at him again, only to be met by Voluta grabbing her forearm with cupped fingers, making her flinch.
"I have now blocked off all your nature energy points," Voluta said, grinning.
While Aurora staggered back and coughed more blood, Rosa looked away, while Gelato clenched his fist again. Beni Niro, on the other hand, glared at Voluta with a strong rival-like determination. Morte's eyebrows furrowed, shaking his head at Aurora. But to everyone's surprise, Aurora resumed her fighting stance.
"If we continue at this rate, you won't last much longer," Voluta nodded to Imprevisto, who looked at Aurora and then walked over to raise Voluta's hand.
"No!" Aurora cried, making Imprevisto stop. "This match…is far from over."
"So be it."
He charged at her with another cupped fist, but Aurora blocked it in time. Then they settled for punching and blocking, which was quick, but slow enough for the audience to see every movement. It was clear to them who the winner was, but were amazed by Aurora's endurance as she continued to fight despite being hit numerous times. Gelato continued to cheer her, along with Rosa, and even Beni Niro made an encouragement or two. Aurora heard these compliments and grinned. But just as she was about to make a punch for Voluta's face, Voluta retaliated by violently shoving her in the gut. Everyone gasped as Aurora puked up more blood and fell backward. Imprevisto immediately halted Voluta from advancing by raising Voluta's hand and declaring him the winner.
"I do not deserve to be declared the winner when this match was decided from the start," Voluta said, shrugging out of Imprevisto's grip. "The strong will always be strong, and the weak will always be weak."
"You're…wrong," Aurora muttered, trying to get up although she was trembling all over.
"Poor Lady Aurora, suffering from the burden of being the heir to the Soleggiato clan. So much is expected of you, and yet you disappoint everyone, including yourself."
"That…may be true…but…I think…cousin Voluta…that you suffer more than I."
Voluta frowned when he heard this, and ran at Aurora once more. But Imprevisto intercepted him and pointed a gun at his forehead. Meanwhile, Scar Face held him back and Squad 8's Capo, a woman with wavy black hair and crimson red eyes named Rossore Sparo knelt in front of Aurora. This did not please Voluta, but he didn't make a fuss about it as Gelato jumped down to check on her, followed by Rosa and Beni Niro.
Aurora smiled at the sight of Gelato, and then she passed out. The medics quickly came and took her away on a stretcher. Gelato watched her with pitiful sadness, but was angered by Voluta's nonchalant glance.
"You had no right to interfere by cheering Aurora on, idiot," Voluta said, glaring at Gelato. "It was completely pointless, you know. The strong stay strong, and the weak—
"Shut up!" Gelato said, charging at Voluta.
But Beni Niro, who noticed right away, came between them.
"Gelato, this isn't the place to fight! Save your pent up anger for the next set of matches," Beni Niro said, looking back and forth between Gelato and Voluta.
"Next set of matches?" Gelato was confused.
"I learned from my Capo prior to entering the Gladiator Games that the Challenge of the Fist is consisted of two parts: first, there are the Preliminaries, which we're doing right now, and then after the next two matches, the winners of the Preliminaries will go onto fight in the Finals, which will take place a month from today."
"Beni! That wasn't supposed to be revealed yet!" Scar Face yelled.
Immediately, Beni Niro got on his knees and put his hands in the prayer position. "I'm sorry, Scar Face, gangster of gangsters! I will never say words that I shouldn't say to anyone else ever again!"
The competitors looked to the Godfather for proof, and he sighed.
"What the foolish boy said was true. I ordered Imprevisto to not reveal this at the beginning in order to avoid causing stress among the competitors, which often leads to bad performance. But now that you know, I can no longer keep it a secret." Then the Godfather pulled the lever again, and announced, "The second-to-last match will be fought by Tarma of the Rena family and Beni Niro of the Foglia family."
Tarma, for the first time since he arrived there, looked at Beni Niro with a determined stare. Beni Niro, who gulped in nervousness, returned his glare. He kept staring as he took his place in the circle while Tarma walked down the stairs and Aurora's blood was cleaned up. But before it was completely swept, Gelato knelt down and imprinted his hand with the blood, showing it to Voluta.
"I swear on Aurora's blood that I will defeat you in the Finals, and I won't go back on that!" Gelato said with angry determination.
End of Chapter 31