AN: A big thanks to all who have recently reviewed/favourite/followed, I appreciate it. For those wondering if this story will be BrucexStella, I haven't actually decided on pairings yet but I have a few ideas. That being said, let me know what pairings you guys would like to see.
CHAPTER 06: The Yaksha Princess's challenge
It was about an hour and a half later when Kurono returned to the training halls, eager to know Bruce's results.
Despite her criticisms of the Mage-Knight system, the one thing she did appreciate about it was that it was pretty flexible as far as testing goes. There were a number of ways a Blazer's attribute could be graded. In fact, when the system was at its infancy it was used more to categorize and find the likely role the ranked Mage-Knight could be assigned in. But sadly over time society turned it more into a hierarchy than anything else.
She approached Nene and Yuuri who were waiting for her with Tablet screens in their hands.
"Well? How'd he do?" she asked.
Nene stepped forward, tapping her screen with a critical gaze.
"Let's start with his Physical capabilities."
"Alright." Kurono nodded.
Out of all the tests, the Physical test is the most straightforward with not much variation. As the name suggests, it's not catered towards magic but their capability without magic. Brute strength alone isn't enough as it also takes into account their overall health, endurance, speed and reflexes.
"Physically...he's wonderful!" Nene finished with a dreamy sigh and sparkling eyes.
Kurono and Yuuri glanced at each other before looking at the petite woman curiously.
"Nene?" asked Kurono.
But Nene didn't listen. She was lost in her own world and practically drooling in lust.
"All those delicious muscles...I could eat a whole sushi platter off those abs..."
"Nene!" admonished Kurono.
"Oh, right." Nene said sheepishly when her reverie broke and then began to give her report.
"He's actually quite amazing. Even better than some of the Olympic athletes I've met, not just in one type of sport but in all kinds. It's like he conditioned his body to the peak of what a human being is capable of! And that's not all, he's skilled in a variety of martial arts, very similar to some GoW league participants and those guys are no joke."
Kurono and Yuuri were stunned hearing all this. When it came to fighting skills, Nene wasn't the type to give out compliments like this unless she was really impressed. The fact that he was compared to martial artists from the God of War League was even more intriguing. Unlike the King of Knights, the God of War League, a tournament held in China, was renowned for its brutality and even lethality. It made Kurono all the more curious about where Bruce had come from.
"There's just one thing though..." Nene said with crinkled brows.
"Which is?" Kurono asked.
"He's not THAT skilled with a blade. Don't get me wrong, his swordsmanship is impressive but his forte seems to lean more towards hand-to-hand combat."
"But that doesn't make any sense!" Kurono thought. "A Device is supposed to take the form that would suit the wielder's skills. It's a reflection of a Blazer's might. So why a sword when his proficiency is not swordplay?"
"Anyway, he gets an A." Nene concluded with a shrug. "Honestly, I was tempted to rank him higher but he has ways to go with that sword of his."
Yuuri took this as her cue to speak up.
"I graded him an A in Luck, Director."
"Really?"
"Yes but here's the thing, I used the Leskovich test on him..."
Due to belief that Blazers get their magic from the power of fate, it is also believed that the Luck attribute could be used to gauge a Blazer's connection to fate. And so the Mage-Knight system uses several kinds of tests to determine the Luck attribute by measuring their "probability of success". Methods of these tests can range from coins to dice but in the case of the Leskovich test, it used cards.
"...And I can't help but feel that he manipulated the outcome somehow."
"You mean he cheated?" Kurono asked.
But Yuuri shook her head.
"No, more like he...deduced the answers."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because he told me."
Kurono's eyes widened in shock.
"He also did the same thing for the other tests. He said that the tests was absurd and that something like luck couldn't be measured and that he did what he did to prove a point. But since I had to follow protocol, I gave him his rank anyway. I hope that's alright, Director."
The Director couldn't help but smile and shake her head in exasperation. She didn't know him that well but somehow she felt that he was the kind of person who would do something like that.
"It's no problem. In any case, an A in both Physical and Luck. He seems promising so far. How about his magic?"
This was the part of the results that Kurono had looked forward to hearing the most but to her surprise, both Nene and Yuuri looked disappointed and what said afterwards was far from what she expected.
"That's where it gets...complicated." Yuuri said.
Kurono brows raised and she froze on the spot for a moment before folding her arms and eyeing the two ladies in suspicion.
"Complicated?"
After letting out an irritated breath, Nene spoke at this point.
"First of, we scored him an F in Mana control. He's a complete amateur, Kuu-chan! It's like he's never used magic ever in his life. He isn't sure what his abilities are and couldn't even summon his own Device! We had to teach that to him."
"We also scored him an E in Offense and Defense. At least, that's what we could score. Honestly, it was hard to tell." Added Yuuri.
Kurono looked back and forth between the two women in confusion.
"What are you two talking about? What do you mean, 'Hard to tell'!?"
Yuuri looked nervous and a little embarrassed as she spoke.
"We...we can't gauge his Mana capacity."
"What!?"
"She means it keeps fluctuating." Nene clarified. "Coupled with his lousy control, his test results were all over the place! It could be high one minute and then low the next. Seriously, where'd you even find this guy? I've never seen anything so-Hey! Where're you going off too!?"
Kurono surprised both Nene and Yuuri by soundlessly turning around and marching out of the room with eyes dangerously narrowed. She crossed into the next room where she found Bruce leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He was told by Nene and Yuuri earlier to wait there while they deliberated. While he wasn't fond of being led around, he did as they asked but he could feel his patience being stretched. When he saw Kurono stride towards him, he straightened from the wall and approached her.
"It's about time. Are we done here? Because I'd really rather-"
"What are you trying to pull!?" she hissed as she came close to him.
Bruce blinked in confusion at her sudden ire.
"Excuse me?"
"Your magic was Ranked terribly but you and I both know that can't be the case!"
He relaxed and exhaled when he realized what she was referring to.
"Ah, right."
"Don't act so casual about it! The amount of magic I sensed off you last night was unbelievable but now they tell me it's not even consistent! What's going on?"
Bruce frowned in mild irritation as he responded.
"Look, I told you: I don't know much about all this either but what I can you is that, truth be told, I haven't been able to replicate any of the things I did last night."
Kurono's eyes widened and her jaw slacked in disbelief.
"You can't be serious!"
"I'm always serious."
Before Kurono could question Bruce further, she heard rapid wooden clopping sounds echoing behind her; it was from Nene's single-toothed clogged feet taking strides as Yuuri trailed behind her. Her face was contorted with irritation.
"What's the big idea running off like that, Kuu-chan!?"
Nene halted and froze for a moment seeing her and Bruce together and then flashed a mischievous grin.
"Wait, what were you two discussing over there? It's not something 'scandalous', is it?"
The comment caught Kurono off guard and her cheeks tinged slightly from the embarrassment before she comically bonked the petite woman on the head.
"I-I'm not doing anything scandalous, idiot!"
Bruce and Yuuri looked at the two's antics with awkward expressions before turning to one another.
"Well. Since we're all present, I might as well give you the verdict." said Yuuri as her expression turned serious. "Unfortunately, I don't think we can enroll you in our school due to the uncertainty of your Mana capacity. Perhaps we could instead recommend a facility that could better help in-"
Kurono immediately tore her attention from Nene, who was rubbing her head with an annoyed scowl, and addressed the sickly teacher.
"Hold on, Yuuri. Let me remind you that we changed our policies from last year. We have no specific criteria for students so there's no reason to turn him away."
"That's true, Director. But regardless of what we do, it's the League of Mage-Knight Nations who decides if a Student-Knight is qualified or not. If we can't properly Rank him, they won't authorize us and without authorization, we can't issue him a Student-Knight ID."
Nene ceased from rubbing her head and flashed a smug grin.
"Aw come off it, Oreki! I heard from Kuu-chan that you've let in students for far less. In fact, I recall that you let a certain student in just because he was able to beat you in battle."
Yuuri jumped back at this as a light blush spread over her pale cheeks.
"W-wha? B-but that was different!" she protested.
The petite woman laughed in glee, seeing the reaction she got.
"Wahaha! Looks like someone's playing favorites! But that gives me an idea..."
With a look of intrigue, Nene strolled up to Bruce.
"Whaddya say, big guy? You and me? One on one?" she asked with a coy smile.
"I don't think so!" Kurono interjected "If he's such a novice in magic like you said then that's hardly a fair match-up, don't you think?"
Kurono couldn't take Nene's attention away from Bruce but her words brought a smug and condescending grin to the petite woman's face.
"She's right. I could crush you like a bug if I wanted to!" she sneered at Bruce.
Bruce just stood there without a reaction and only regarded her with a stoic and unimpressed expression.
"What? Don't believe me?" Nene giggled.
"I'm just waiting for the part where I should care." Bruce stated bluntly.
Nene's left eyebrow twitched in agitation but she held her ground.
"Alright, here's the 'part'..." she sniped while adding air quotes. "You have one stat left to be graded before you can be ranked and qualified. As your examiner, I'm willing to rewrite my report."
"I wonder, how much of her report had she actually written?" Kurono asked Yuuri.
Yuuri chuckled nervously in response.
"Not much. I did most of the reports while Saikyou-san was taking a nap."
"Ehehe, AHEM! Like I was saying!" Nene chuckled nervously before hastily and abruptly tried to divert the subject.
"I'll conveniently not mention anything weird and give you your rank."
"You mean you'll lie to the League of Mage-Knight Nations?" asked Bruce with skepticism.
She chortled with amusement.
"Heehee! It's not lying. Writing reports is so much of a hassle so let's just say...'I forgot to mention it'."
Kurono frowned at this. Omission of facts was still lying and to do so with the LMN was a huge offense but on the other hand, she was already breaking the rules by simply bringing Bruce here so at this point, they might as well go all the way. She hoped Bruce would appreciate the risks they were taking.
"Besides..." Nene continued. "The LNM won't even bother looking into it, they got too much on their plate to actually give a shit anyway!"
Bruce rolled his eyes while folding his arms. He had a good idea where this conversation was heading and didn't know why he was indulging the woman. It was completely unnecessary but as he told himself before, the best thing he could do was go with the flow and so he humored her.
"But clearly you're not going to do this for free. So what's the catch?"
Nene smirked in approval.
"Cute AND smart, I like that. I'll only grade you if you beat me in a mock battle. And to make things fair, I'll add a stipulation."
"Which is?"
"Looser is decided by ring-out only. Of course tossing your unconscious body out is fair game. Think of this as your final test, if you think you're worthy of being Ranked then prove it!"
Nene's eyes then shone with a familiar glint and she moved in close, turned and pressed her back to him while looking up sensually.
"Or if you want an easier way, you can always come to my room tonight and try 'convincing' me."
She said softly as she trailed a hand to cup his face but the hand was intercepted by Kurono.
"Nice try. If you think I'm going to allow-"
"Fine. I accept your challenge." Bruce stated.
Nene grinned in victory while Kurono's eyes widened and bit tongue.
"Excuse us a moment." Kurono said as she dragged Bruce by his sleeve a short distance away.
"What do you think you're doing, Wayne!?" she whispered to him. "Don't tell me this is your way of trying to force yourself out of our arrangement?"
Bruce pulled his sleeve away while narrowing his eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous, I have no intention of loosing."
"Then I suggest you reconsider. Nene Saikyou is a lot of things but they don't call her the Yaksha Princess for nothing. She's DANGEROUS and I should know! Her powers over gravity can easily wipe out a whole squadron of Blazers."
Bruce paused at this point.
"Did you say she controls gravity?" he asked.
"Yes."
With his arms crossed, he stroked his chin and 'hmmed' in thought .
"I can work with that." he murmured.
"What?"
Behind them, Nene was tapping her foot in annoyance until her patience finally snapped.
"Seriously, what are you two whispering about over there!? Stop keeping him all to yourself, Kuu-chan or I'll tell Takumi-kun!"
That remark earned Nene another bonk on the head.
It was before the four of them made their way to the sixth practice arena that Kurono explained that with the selection battles well under way, most of the student-knights were currently preoccupied either spectating or competing in today's matches. This left the arena virtually empty which suited them perfectly as they would've rather have this bout a private one and away from prying eyes.
Bruce and Nene took their positions at the opposite ends of the ring while Yuuri and Kurono stood outside facing the center, with Yuuri volunteering to referee while Kurono stood behind her to observe.
"The rules of this mock battle are as follows..." Yuuri called out.
"Combatants will summon their devices in Phantom Form only and as agreed upon, the winner of this match will be decided when the opponent is thrown, forced or steps out of arena bounds willingly or not."
Many thoughts flowed through Bruce's mind as he stretched in preparation. Being here in this arena really drove home a fact he had observed from this alternative reality in the last five days. A fact that he felt was absurd but it seemed to be the way things were done around here.
The society here as well schools like Hagun seemed to encourage and glorify gladiatorial combat. True, there were Blazers with abilities that ranged from mundane to next to useless but nevertheless, it was those with great fighting prowess that commanded respect.
If he was to get anywhere in this situation, he would have to play by their rules, or at least make it seem that way. If there was one good thing to come out of all this, it was that it at least gave him the opportunity to brush up on his sword skills.
He internally smirked to himself, as his playboy persona he did showcase some of his fencing skills but people didn't realize that his interest with swordplay went a lot deeper than he let on. After all, The Mark of Zorro was his favorite film and Zorro was a sword fighter. Perhaps if that bat had not crashed through his window that night, he would've took the guise of a swashbuckler or something like that. Though he doubted he would've been successful in striking fear into the superstitious or the cowardly.
"Are you sure our weapons in this 'Phantom Form' state will not cause injuries?" Bruce asked, breaking from his thoughts.
"Aww, I didn't know you cared!" Nene swooned mockingly.
Then the Yaksha Princess shifted her demeanor to being exasperatedly annoyed.
"But we told you already, YES! Now quit being such a bleeding heart baby and get on with it!"
With the grace of a Maiko, she crouched into a stance with her arms extended upwards as she summoned her Device.
"Let's bewitch them! Beniiro Ageha!"
A pair of iron fans materialized at her hands and with them, she performed a short dance; twirling and swinging her arms and the sleeves of her haori like a windmill until finally finishing with a pose as dark purple butterfly constructs fluttered around her.
Bruce simply extended an open palm with some hesitation.
"Um, come out."
Despite his awkward mumble, Branwen materialized faithfully in his hand but his lack of flare caused Nene to break down laughing.
"Kyahahaha! Come on Wayne-kun, you can do a flashier intro than that!"
His face hardened with seriousness as he got into a stance.
"I don't care for theatrics."
"Says the guy who dresses like a giant bat." Kurono muttered while rolling her eyes.
"Hm? You said something, Director?" asked Yuuri.
"Nothing. You can start the battle."
Yuuri nodded and readied an arm to drop at her signal.
"Very well. BEGIN!"
With the drop of the hand, Nene and Bruce rushed each other. Nene was able to cover more ground and reach him faster and Bruce could see why: her feet barely touched the ground as if she was skating on thin air, an obvious sign of her gravity manipulation abilities.
As she neared him, she spun her whole body with her iron fans out like a rotor blade. Bruce felt a technique like that was difficult to evade to the side and so he vaulted over her. She reacted by flinging one of the fans towards him as he was over her but he deflected it with his sword, she didn't allow him pause when landed as she immediately rushed and caught the deflected projectile and in continuous motion, renewed her assault with a flurry of slashes.
Despite her using dual weapons, he was able to use the length of the blade as his defense, parrying attacks from various directions while switching from forward to reverse grip when needed.
However Bruce stayed vigilant; without the weight of the Batsuit and his tools, he was much faster but Nene was at another level. Her fighting style seemed to be a combination of Wushu and traditional dancing, making her movements appear unpredictable. It wasn't something he hadn't encountered before but her gravity manipulation allows her to amplify her speed and force behind her attacks. Kurono was right, she was a dangerous and formidable opponent. He was sure that even his old master Kirigi would've been impressed with her.
"Unbelievable...he's able to keep up with her." Yuuri remarked with awe.
Kurono remained silent while observing the fight intensely. Like Bruce, she too thought that this challenge wasn't necessary but she couldn't help but be curious. She figured that perhaps direct combat would reveal why Bruce's magic was behaving so differently or bring it to the state that she witnessed.
And it wasn't only that but also the fact that he was facing Nene. She was one of the few who knew about the petite woman's true abilities and wondered how she would react if she saw what Bruce was capable of.
Indeed, Kurono was glad that this was a private match but what she didn't know was that the stands wasn't completely empty. Hidden between the seats and armed with her camera was a girl with short peach blonde hair, red ribbons tied on both sides and styled in a way that a single 'antena' protruded at the top. Her reddish eyes behind a pair of glasses gleamed with enthusiasm as she spied on the people below.
"I knew it!" she thought excitedly. "I knew Director Shinguuji, Oreki-sensei and Saikyou-sensei have assembled here for some reason! But who's that person dueling Saikyou-sensei!?"
Looking through her viewfinder, she zoomed in on Bruce's face.
"He's wearing a student uniform but I've never seen him before. I smell a SCOOP!"
Nene switched up her assault by having her iron fans folded and using then like daggers, occasionally unfurling one of them for an overhead slash. The quickness of her stabs managed to make it past Bruce's defenses and tag him a couple of times. Had they not summoned their Devices in Phantom Form, Bruce would've had bleeding cuts over his upper body but that didn't mean that he couldn't feel the pain of every stab.
He was ready when she tried stabbing at him again. With his blade occupied with her other fan, he used his free hand to grab her wrist and yank her forward. He turned his shoulder towards her as she stumbled forward before plowing his elbow into her gut and after tossing his sword to his other hand, he followed it up with a back fist to her face. Continuing his momentum, he spun his body to deliver a horizontal slash but Nene recovered in time and jumped back, putting some distance between them.
She rubbed her bruised chin with the back of her hand while grinning in exhilaration.
"Hmph, Not too bad. Let's take this up a notch, shall we?"
With an arm extended to her side, she unfurled the held fan with a simple flick.
"Kokushichou!"
Nene fanned the weapon towards Bruce, creating a wave of gravitational force that took on the shape of dark purple butterflies that flew at him with great speed.
His eyes widened in alarm, he didn't know what those constructs were capable of and it was too wide to dodge out of the way so he did the next best thing: he ducked! It sailed just over his head and when he looked behind him, he could see it impacting against the far end of the stands and demolishing the structure.
"That's coming out of your salary, Nene!" Kurono called out.
The Yaksha Princess groaned in annoyance and launched another Kokushichou but this time Bruce had the foresight to roll out of the way. But when he looked her way, he found that she was already a few feet away from him; rushing towards him with both her fans unfurled. Again, she covered so much distance without him noticing. How did she do that?
"Still playing defensive!?" she taunted "You're not going to win that way..."
Bruce saw her quickly close in and took a swipe at her but with amazing agility, she vaulted over him while spinning and used her gravitational powers to position herself above him, ready to bring both her fans down.
"...And you're starting to bore me!"
It was only a mere second but Bruce's mind sprung action as the edge of the iron fans were swung down, particularly observing where they were positioned in the ring. He realized that he had her right where he wanted her.
With his hand holding the handle, Bruce turned the blade with the flat side facing out and his other hand positioned with an open palm on the other end. He then pushed the flat side of the blade hard against the two fans, causing Nene's arms to recoil back and leaving her wide open for him to land a round house kick to her chest and send her flying over the ring!
Kurono and Yuuri's breath froze for a moment as they saw this but then Nene suddenly extended her arms sideways, the fans spread out like a pair of wings, and she halted herself in mid-air.
Bruce glared as she floated herself back into the ring.
"You're out of bounds." he stated.
The smug and confident smirk never left her lips as she landed.
"Nuh uh! Doesn't work that way. The opponent needs to touch the ground for it to count."
"With your levitation ability? That doesn't seem fair."
"Nope. And neither is THIS!"
With a wave of one of her fans, Bruce was suddenly pulled by an invisible force and was sent flying back towards the other side of the ring!
Kurono thought he was done for, Nene's gravity manipulation was like creating an invisible bottomless pit anywhere in space and orientated in any angle; once someone "fell" into that pit, it was next to impossible to stop. But apparently Bruce had something up his sleeve, literally.
As he gained altitude, Bruce pulled a long cord hidden in his sleeve and quickly fastened it to the hilt of his sword before launching it towards the floor of the ring. The blade buried itself, acting like an anchor and allowing him to stop his momentum. It was enough for him to slip out of the gravitational force but in the process, he unceremoniously landed flat on his stomach.
"Hey! That's cheating! You can't bring outside tools to a battle!" Nene protested.
Bruce picked himself up and yanked hard on the cord which pulled Branwen from the floor and into his waiting palm.
"Call it what you will but you were setting me up from the start. Why else would someone who can control gravity stipulate a condition like this? You knew full well that you can just levitate any time I send you over. Far as I'm concerned, I'm making things even."
For a short moment Nene narrowed her eyes and growled but then closed her eyes in contemplation before opening them again while giving a sly catty smile.
"That's the way you want to play it, huh?" she said as she slid into a stance. "Very well, I'll cut back on the levitating if you don't use any more tricks. But that's it! No more deals!"
He responded by getting into his own stance.
"Fine by me."
Nene glanced towards Yuuri and Kurono.
"That okay, Ref?"
Yuuri was honestly at a loss for words. Technically Bruce did cheat and this would be the part where she would intervene but it's also true that he was at an unfair disadvantage and if Saikyou was willing to start over on fairer grounds then who was she to say no?
"Um, Yes! You may resume!"
Kurono sighed and palmed her face, this match wasn't going the way she expected. She wondered why wasn't Bruce using his magic? There was even something odd about the way Nene was fighting.
"What on earth are those two even thinking?" she groaned.
Unknown to Kurono, Bruce was thinking his next course of action. The stunt he pulled was bold but necessary, what he does next all comes down to Nene's next move and he had a pretty good idea what it could be. Even so, he silently agreed with Kurono that he was way outclassed here and what he had in mind could easily blow up in his face.
This was like a game of poker where he knew that his opponent held the winning hand. If he was to win then there was only one thing he could do: bluff. And it had to be one hell of a bluff.
As he thought all this, the two them had already re-engaged each other except Bruce was matching her offensive this time, slashing and thrusting at every opening he could find. Nene blocked and countered in turn, sparks flying as the metal of their weapons met, until she folded both her fans and crossed them into a guard. She caught his blade as he swung down which put them both into a blade-lock.
"Y'know Wayne-kun..." she took the moment to speak. "I've seen some impressive techniques and tricks from you today. But I'm not seeing any Noble Arts! Why is that?"
Bruce figured that they would eventually ask him this and so he answered honestly.
"You said it yourself: my magic is not stable right now. It's erratic and I'm not knowledgeable about my own abilities. They are therefore unreliable. A warrior would never use an unreliable weapon unless necessary."
Nene snickered with a sneer.
"That's an interesting policy...assuming you actually think you can beat me without it."
"I don't 'think'. I plan." he stated with narrow determined eyes.
Their weapons disengaged and Saikyou leaped back a few feet. Her eyes sharpened into a glare and it seemed that all the playfulness vanished from her face.
"Oh really? Is this part of your 'plan' then?"
With the wave of her fan, she activated a new Noble Art.
"Jibakujin!"
The tip of Branwen fell to the floor with a heavy clang and his arms and shoulders were dragged down along with the hilt he was holding. It wasn't just the sword, Bruce felt like he had boulders strapped to his whole body; gravitational forces that was so extreme that his body was being pushed to the floor.
This was power of Jibakujin: with a range of effect up to twenty meters, it can increase the gravity of the area tenfold (or so it's said).
Nene approached her opponent, who laid helplessly before her, her expression etched with disdain.
"You're a Blazer, gifted with power. Regardless of its strength, denying yourself that power is foolish and irresponsible. Presuming you can beat a Mage-Knight like me without power makes you an even bigger fool!"
She stopped in front of him and unfurled one of her fans to delivery the finishing blow. He was at her mercy.
"Arrogant brat! I'll show you what happens when you make light of your superiors!" she spat and swung the bladed weapon down.
There was a resounding clang.
The Yaksha Princess blinked seeing her iron fan blocked by the blade of the sword, the same sword he managed to heft in front of him despite it currently weighing like a tree trunk. She stepped backed and to her amazement, he propped himself up back up with the sword and got into his stance. But it wasn't with ease. Sweat was dripping down his face, his teeth was grit as he struggled to lift the sword and she could see his arms and legs slightly shake as they fought against the urge to buckle. Nene couldn't help but smile sadistically.
"Still got some fight in ya, huh? Alright, let's see how long you can keep this up."
She said this as she beckoned to him with a wagging folded fan.
He attempted to charge at her while slashing but the amount of weight exerted on him made him stumble more than charge and he was only able to swing the blade like it was dead weight. Nene easily side stepped him without care. He tried again and it was the same result, then again and again but kept missing.
Kurono and Yuuri watched silently as Bruce tried to steady himself, panting as sweat dripped from his face while Nene looked bored as she nonchalantly fanned herself. They could see that this match was turning incredibly one sided.
"I'll give him this much: it was very impressive that he's able to resist her Jibakujin, very few Blazers have that kind of strength." Kurono remarked.
"But with all that weight, he's only exhausting himself." Yuuri said worriedly.
The Director of Hagun nodded with a somber expression.
"Indeed. He might as well not be fighting at all."
Nene 'tsked' as she avoided another swing from him, he stumbled forward but managed to keep himself from falling.
"How long you're going to keep up with this pathetic display?" she asked, growing wearily annoyed.
With effort, Bruce turned towards her and hefted the blade up.
"I'm...not...done yet!" he struggled out with grit teeth.
"You are now. Jibakujin!"
Branwen fell to the floor with a heavy thump and dissipated followed by Bruce falling hard of his front. What earlier felt like boulders being strapped to him now felt like an entire hill was pressing down against him. With increasing difficulty, he bunched his arm next to his torso and tried pushing himself off the floor. He could hear the creaking sounds of his bones, feel his spine sagging downwards, his muscles painfully tightening, blood rushing downwards which turned his face red from strain. A capillary burst in his nose and blood dripped freely to the floor. He made sure to keep his eyes closed for he feared if he opened them, they might fall off. Despite the tremendous effort, all he could do was bring himself up to a kneel.
"He's done for." Kurono sighed with resignation.
Nene once again approached her immobilized opponent, this time with a look of disappointment.
"What a let-down." she pursed. "You should've just quit when you were ahead. Oh well, I guess you can't win 'em all."
She said so with a shrug, talking more to herself than to him. Her attention was drawn when she heard Bruce try to say something.
"B...B..."
"Hmm? What was that?" she asked with disinterest while leaning forward.
"B-Br-Brace!" he struggled the word out of his lips.
Nene blinked.
"Brace? What do mean Bra-AAAH!"
Like a football quarterback he tackled her before she could finish, causing her to yelp and drop her iron fans in startlement. It took everything in him to push himself off the ground and his body surged forward while holding on to her as gravity desperately gripped at him. He was essentially 'falling forward' and so he used his momentum to his advantage as he worked his legs to run and extend his 'fall'. The sheer pressure on his shin and feet bones threatened to snap them with every footstrike but he kept going.
Being unable to power out his hold, Nene attempted use her gravity manipulation to levitate but in that moment she realized what Bruce had planned all along: she had increased his weight so much to the point where he was able to hold her down and keep her from escaping, he used her own Jibakujin against her!
She frantically tried to dispel the Jibakujin's effect but by the then it was too late as they both tumbled out of the ring.
And just like that it was over. Both Kurono and Yuuri had their jaws drop, unable believe what happened. Resisting Nene's Jibakujin was one thing, but to do so at twice its power was unheard of. Neither of them could figure if it was his latent magic or his sheer strength and will alone. This made Kurono wonder if he was pretending to struggle with the extreme gravity this whole time but it didn't seem that way. It seemed more like he was saving his strength to use when he felt Nene generated enough weight of him. But what kind of training would he have gone through to achieve such a feat?
"He's crazy!" Kurono thought. "But I guess I shouldn't have expected less from the Batman."
The two ladies looked towards where Bruce and Nene had fallen and the sight made them clench their lips in awkward silence.
Bruce was on top of her panting slightly from pain and exhaustion with his head on her stomach while she laid there with her kimono/haori almost undone at where her breasts would be and her eyes wide like she didn't even know what happened. And to Kurono's surprise Nene: confident, cool and brazen Nene...was actually blushing.
"W-wait a minute! That doesn't count! You're out of bounds too!" Nene protested while a little flustered.
"If...if you...want to get technical..." Bruce said between his pants as he shakily pushed himself up. "You touched the ground first."
The Yaksha Princess's throat seized up and then her eyes narrowed while she bared her grit teeth. A certain feeling welled up inside her, it was a feeling she hadn't felt since she first fought Kurono all those years ago, she felt...irritated!
In the next moment an invisible force roughly yanked Bruce in the air and held him there. He painfully grunted as his bones creaked and tendons pulled from being suddenly handled.
Yuuri reacted with alarm as was about to rush towards them.
"Saikyou-san! What are you-!?"
But a firm grip on her shoulder stopped her. She looked back to see that it was the Director who shook her head and then kept her eyes focused on the two.
Nene picked herself up, not bothering to fix her kimono while her murderous glare remained on her defeater.
"You brat! I could kill you right now!" she growled.
And so he made another move that surprised her: he looked down towards her and with his face that was marred by his bleeding nose, he flashed a toothy grin.
"You could. But before you do, tell me,...did I pass your little test?"
She bit her tongue in response, grinding her teeth even more until finally she waved her hand off with a peeved look which resulted in Bruce being dropped to the floor.
"Urgh! Fine! Whatever! You pass." she huffed in dismissal.
Yuuri quickly rushed to Bruce's side and helped him up with his arm over her shoulder.
"Are you all right, Wayne-san?"
"Other than the feeling of my spine about to pop, peachy." he grunted.
"Oh dear! Come with me at once."
With haste, Yuuri helped him walk towards the exit. While Nene fixed her kimono with a miffed expression, Kurono strolled towards her with her arms crossed before and then shot her a questioning glance when she stopped.
"What!?" Nene snapped irritably.
"What do you mean 'what'? You were going easy on him."
Despite Bruce's counter measures, Kurono felt that there were a number of ways Nene could've efficiently ended the fight had she been more ruthless. Nene rolled her eyes and 'Psshed' in indifference.
"Finishing him off that quickly wouldn't be satisfying. I was just using him as my plaything until I got bored. No biggie."
Unconvinced, Kurono gave an all knowing smirk.
"I don't think it's that, I think you like him. And not just in your usual pervy way but you actually respect and see potential him...maybe in some way even admire him."
The petite woman pouted in annoyance like a stubborn little girl, her cheeks tinged a little as she played passively with a strand of her hair.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Stop saying such stupid things, Kuu-chan." she grumbled.
Kurono stifled a laugh. Same ol' Nene; She may be a devil-may-care powerhouse but when it came to her true feelings, she was still that troubled youth that Nangou-sensei took in those years ago. Kurono always felt that it was her more cuter side.
After heaving a dramatic sigh, Nene began to make her way towards the exit.
"Anyway, I think I'm due for my break."
Then her lips stretched into a mischievous smile.
"Maybe I'll take the time to introduce myself to your OTHER favorite, I hear he's quite the cutie." she tittered.
Kurono reeled back and then chased after her.
"Wait! What do mean my 'Other favorite'!?"
Not everyone can boast about being personally invited to the Prime Minister's residence for drinks and have the audacity to lean back casually in his presence. But Kouzou Kazamatsuri didn't have to boast, in fact he was actually a close friend of Prime Minister Tsukikage, one of the few whom the he truly trusted.
A middle aged man with dark brown hair, Kouzou is the head of the Kazamatsuri Zaibatsu. One of two of Japan's most wealthiest entities, the other being the Totokubara Foundation. One could say that the Kazamatsuri and Totokubara families have a sort of rivalry but in truth the two of them were never in competition; the Totokubara Foundation was more about entertainment, social welfare and charity, while the Kazamatsuri Zaibatsu focused on finance and technology.
"You look tired, Prime Minister." Kouzou said humorously. "Running a country can't be any more stressful than running a Chivalry School, can it?"
The Prime Minister laughed. Bakuga Tsukikage was middle-aged but fit with light blonde combed spiky hair and beard and was rarely seen without his oval shaped glasses. What Kouzou referred to was a little known fact that Bakuga was once the Director of Hagun Academy before he retired and started his political career.
"Ah, that takes me back." Bakuga sighed out of nostalgia. "It's been years since those days. But no, I had allies back then just like I have allies today. Allies that do all the financial heavy lifting like you, Kouzou."
Kazamatsuri took a sip of his drink and grinned in amusement.
"Oh ho! 'A financial heavy lifter'? Is that what I am to you?"
"Indeed. In fact, I should be worried about YOU being stressed!"
The two men shared a hearty laugh and then their conversation settled into a somber tone.
"But seriously, I can't imagine you or the other Numbers were pleased with the events yesterday." said Bakuga.
The terrorist organization known as Rebellion had Adherents and Apostles in their ranks but those were mere foot soldiers. At the very top was their founder and leader, the enigmatic powerful Blazer only known as 'Tyrant' below him were twelve executives who have great influence and resources in the world; Power Brokers, businessmen, politicians and even assassins. They were called the Numbers. Ironically, many of them happen to be Non-Blazers despite the organization's ideology about them being inferior. Kouzou Kazamatsuri was one of these Numbers.
"Yare, yare. It's an unfortunate outcome but halfway expected, Bishou was too arrogant for his own good. But speaking of which, there was something I wanted to ask you."
Kouzou then leaned forward with his fingers interwoven and a furrow on his brow.
"This Batman person, What do you make of him, Bakuga?"
The prime minister also frowned at this point.
"I'm glad you asked and I would tell you...if there was anything of him I could make."
"What do you mean?"
Bakuga extended hand, palm facing upwards and a crystal ball-like device materialized and floated above his palm.
"As you know, my Getten Hoju allows me to see the past or future events of anyone or anything of my choosing. While it has limits, it does not deny me sight of what I request."
"And?"
The Getten Hoju dissipates as Bakuga closed his palm into a fist with a pained expression.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing. I cannot see anything about the past nor the future of the Batman. It's like he doesn't exist!"
"What!? How is that possible!?"
The prime minister sighed and shook his head.
"I don't know but I find that very concerning. Hopefully Itsuki-kun will deal with him before he becomes a problem."
"If he is as troublesome as I've heard, I doubt this task force of his would be enough. But fear not, I have our mutual acquaintance on the lookout. She seems to have taken somewhat of interest in him for some reason."
This made Bakuga relax. He knew that if SHE was on the job, the Batman was good as dead, or at least they'd never have to worry about him for a while.
"Well that's reassuring but I'm afraid our problems are far from over. This is what I wanted to discuss with you about, it's regarding our little project."
"It's not about my daughters, is it?" Kazamatsuri asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I hope they are being respectful and aren't giving you too much trouble."
Bakuga chuckled, Kouzou may not have been heavily involved in his daughter's lives but he genuinely cared for them as a father would. Bakuga could understand that feeling even though he himself never had children.
"Rinna-kun and Sara-kun? Oh don't worry about them. It's about something that might complicate our plans."
He clasped his palms and he frown in agitation, steeling himself for what he was about to say.
"You see,...I had a vision."
Kouzou blinked.
"The same one?"
"No, this is different. At the Sword Arts Festival...there will be a great massacre."
This revelation made Kazamatsuri's eyes widen. Only he and another member of the Numbers were involved in Bakuga's little 'collaboration' and so he briefly wondered if Rebellion was orchestrating an attack without his knowledge.
"How big of a massacre?" he asked.
"Thousands dead, maybe more."
"Thousands!? Tyrant has never planned anything of that caliber. When did you receive this vision?"
"Last night."
"That's around the same time Batman made his appearance. Do you think he has something to do with it?"
Bakuga stroked his beard in thought.
"Maybe. It's possible that although I can't see him, I can see his actions and effect he has on the timeline."
They both sunk into an uncomfortable silence for a while, contemplating what they could do about this situation until Kouzou finally proposed something that Bakuga didn't expect.
"We could take advantage of this event as a contingency plan."
"How?"
"We shift the blame. If the Akatsuki fails at the Festival, an attack like this would be enough to spearhead a referendum. The League would never recover."
The prime minister's face turned grim and glanced downwards.
"At such a cost?"
Kazamatsuri's face hardened into a cold unfeeling mask.
"You and I have discussed this many a times, old friend. We have to do what's necessary. You're politician, you can see the numbers. Thousands for the sake of millions, sounds like reasonable collateral to me."
Bruce remembered Alfred once telling him that although his father operated multiple businesses, his true passion was always the medical field. He apparently was always interested in the latest medical advancements and technologies. It made him certain that if Thomas Wayne was still alive, he would've spent hours learning about the iPS capsule.
The apparatus that Bruce found himself cradled in was indeed capsule shaped with robotic arms that rapidly moved around him while holographic screens floated above his face. His upper clothing was removed and he could see every bruise and wound heal before his eyes. Even his bones, which he felt were on the verge of snapping felt good as new.
When the process was over, he emerged from the capsule to see Yuuri waiting for him by the doorway.
"I have good news, Wayne-san!" she said. "We've heard back from the LMN head office. Your application has been approved and you've been officially Ranked. The Director will be along shortly to hand you your Student-Knight ID."
"That was fast." Bruce remarked.
"Oh indeed, the LMN system is quite streamlined. You'd be surprised how quickly new knights are added in the database. But anyway, Congratulations!"
With that Yuuri's demeanor shifted to be overly cheerful and enthusiastic.
"With your current scores tallied that makes yoooooouu..." she finished by fishing out a pile of confetti from her pocket and releasing it in the air.
"Rank D! Yay!" she cheered and clapped.
Bruce was silent for moment in a state of bewilderment.
"Were you carrying all that in your pocket this whole time?" he asked dryly.
He figured that maybe her forced enthusiasm was her way of cheering him up for being Ranked so low but honestly, this was fine for him. The last thing he wanted was to attract unwanted attention.
Yuuri didn't seem to hear what he said since she suddenly dropped her persona while continuing to talk.
"Oh and um, Saikyou-san also wanted me to let you know that now that you're a D-rank, you are welcome to her room and that she was...er..looking forward to see you put that 'D' to good use?"
She shrugged while shaking her head in confusion.
"I don't understand what that means." she said innocently.
Bruce groaned and palmed his face, it seemed that the kimono-clad woman couldn't get her head out of the gutter. Yuuri decided to change the subject at this point.
"But never mind all that, How are you feeling?"
"Good. Better than 'Good' actually. This machine is incredible." Bruce affirmed with a small smile.
Yuuri couldn't help but giggle.
"Honestly Wayne-san! You act like you've never seen an iPS capsule before."
As she spoke, he reached out for his folded t-shirt which lay atop of his jacket and tie on a table next to him.
"That's because I haven't. Where I come from, the only way available is the old fashioned way."
The sickly teacher's demeanor changed again, this time her face and eyes were etched with concern and sympathy.
"I-is that why...those scars...?"
Bruce paused mid-way from wearing his t-shirt and realized that she was referring to the numerous scars scattered over his back; effects of his "occupational hazard" as he would call them.
"Oh, those. It's a long story."
And he left it at that before resuming. Yuuri found herself paying close attention to the way his back and shoulder muscles flexed as he dressed himself. It was funny to her that she didn't take that much notice before but now that she did, she was beginning to understand why Nene was so enamored by him.
He was buff but not overly buff like a body builder, rather he was sculpted in way that his physique had purpose. It was a warrior's body, strong and designed for battle. She found herself paying particular interest to his arms, she could only imagine what it would be like to be held by those arms while she presses herself against his broad chest.
Yuuri's eyes widened when she realized where her thoughts were going and soon after that, the color of her face shifted to red and her temperature rose. She knew what was coming but by then, it was too late to stop herself.
"ABUUAAABUFUUU!"
Blood rocketed from her nose and mouth but luckily, Bruce reacted fast enough to dash out of the way of the red spew by the time he put his jacket on. He looked at her with surprised eyes while she covered her mouth in embarrassment.
"I'm so sorry, Wayne-san!" she squeaked. "I-I got a little overexcited."
Bruce let out a breath. It didn't occur to him to ask what did she get so "overexcited" about but he instead was interested to ask something else.
"That's okay. Say, um, mind if I ask you something Miss Oreki?"
After wiping her mouth and nose with her handkerchief, Yuuri frowned in disapproval.
"No, No." she chided with a wag of her finger. "Not 'Miss Oreki'! Call me Yuri-chan."
"Err...right, Y-Yuri-chan..." Bruce said while sweating, as if the words were too alien in his mouth. "How come you never sought treatment for your...?"
"My condition?"
"Yes."
Yuuri took a short moment to ponder her answer before replying.
"Well, I suppose it's because I've never been properly diagnosed. When I was a child, my family couldn't afford any fancy medical investigation. So because I didn't want to make them worry or spend anymore money, I made sure to smile despite my sickness. I guess from there, I've learnt to live and be happy with it."
Bruce frowned a little. While he admired her fortitude and compassion, it didn't sit well with him that she allowed a disease to ravage her all these years.
"But you're a Mage-Knight now. Surely you can afford medical help at this time."
"True but most of the doctors I've consulted aren't sure what kind of disease it is so I just assumed it was part of my magic all along."
"Your magic?"
She nodded.
"See, my Noble Art is called 'Violet Pain'. It allows me to spread the pain of my sick body across everyone within a certain distance."
"So you use your illness as a weapon?"
"Essentially, yes."
Bruce mulled over this for a moment. In a weird way, she reminded him of some of the villains he used to face back in Gotham, like Basil Karlo or Waylon Jones: people who have been cursed with an affliction and used it for violence. True, she was far from a villain but that didn't mean she shouldn't seek out help.
"Be as it may, that's still no way to live. You should take better care of yourself." he stated sternly.
Yuuri paused and looked at him curiously before suddenly bursting out in a series of giggles while Bruce blinked in confusion.
"Something funny?"
"No. It's just that you remind me so much of a student of mine."
She was of course referring to Ikki, remembering the time when he first found her passed out on the side of the road and helped her inside the practice arena, not knowing that she was to be his examiner. Since last year, Ikki constantly doted on her and often chided her for overexerting herself. She was happy that she gave him the chance to prove himself and beat her, he had a little "something" that she could see in Bruce as well. But despite how much she found their personalities similar, what Bruce said next threw her off guard.
"Hypothetically, what would you do if someone found a cure for you?"
Yuuri's eyes widened in astonishment, it wasn't just from the question itself but also that it sounded less like "If someone" and more like "If I".
"I...I don't know. No one's asked me that before. I-I can still take my medication, right!?" Yuuri asked with slight panic and desperation.
Bruce cringed a bit, he had feeling that her problems extended far more than just her sickness.
"But yes.." Yuuri finally said with a pleasant smile. "I suppose I would appreciate my life being a little easier."
"Even if it meant loosing your edge in battle?"
"Oh, that's not an issue. There are other kinds of pain I can share with my opponents."
"Such as?"
Her pale cheeks tinged a little while she tilted her head and coyly placed a finger to the side her chin.
"The pain...of being in love?"
"Huh?"
Bruce's look of confusion made her suddenly burst with laughter.
"Ahahahaha! I'm only joking, Wayne-san."
"Oh. Okay?"
"Ahahaha, Whoo! I'm feeling quite lightheaded." she spoke blithely with a hand to her head.
With the amount of blood she spewed, Bruce guessed that maybe she was a little delirious. She still spoke with her upbeat attitude as she turned to leave.
"I think I'd better go get my blood reserve before I pass out. If you'll excuse me."
And with that, she exited with wobbly steps, leaving Bruce alone with a look of confusion.
"What a weird staff." Bruce mused to himself. "I just hope the students are less eccentric."
He would soon find those hopes to be dashed.
TBC