Disclaimer: I do not own any of this and any of this belongs to the original creators.
WORLD OF HEARTS
LINKED AS ONE
Act 2
Chapter 1
Welcome to Daybreak
Last Time on the World of Hearts...
Kizuna had arrived at Neo Bastion and met with those he had met just a year ago. He met two other keyblade wielders. The stoic and mysterious, yet ambitious Yujo Yukikaze, and the kind, energetic Ai Nanami. He takes part in the Entrance Exams in a bid to get into Daybreak Academy. The road was tough, but now, having learned that he has passed the exams, he hopes that his first year in his new school life in Daybreak is going to be a great experience.
Kizuna made it to the front gate with his new school uniform on. It was a navy blue jacket with a white shirt and an orange necktie. He was wearing blue pants. He had his bag with him, which held most of his school supplies. He was standing in front of the doors of Daybreak Academy with a smile. He felt so excited to go in there.
"Hey, take it easy, Kizuna," Sora said. "I know you're excited for your first day here, but try to remember that you're a student."
Kizuna shook his head and went inside.
'Let's see if I remember correctly,' Kizuna thought. 'I'm assigned to Class 1-A. That should be easy to find on the map.'
He went over to a diagram that showed the layout of the school. According to the layout, Class 1-A is located over by the right wing of the building, somewhere on the 3rd floor of the building. He went up to the 3rd floor and made it for the right wing. He walked down the hallway, looking for room 1-A. He stopped by a door with the sign "1-A" hanging over it.
'This must be it.' Kizuna thought.
The door automatically opened as he took one step forward. He went inside the room and became amazed by what he saw.
The room was huge, huge enough to fit at least 150 students per classroom. It was almost as if he were attending a university. There were long, sleek tables with isles of stairs separating the desks from each other. There was a huge board at the front of the room. The windows were big.
He then began to notice all the people that were in the room, including some familiar faces. They all happened to be wearing the same uniform as him. The girls were wearing a skirt that came with their uniform.
"Kizuna," he hears Izuku's voice.
He saw Izuku walking over to him.
"Midoriya? You're in the same class as me?" Kizuna asked.
"And not just him," Bakugo appeared.
"Kaachan?" Kizuna asked.
"I DON'T REMEMBER GIVING YOU PERMISSION TO CALL ME BY THAT NAME!" Bakugo yelled at Kizuna, making the latter freeze.
Kizuna felt someone hugging him from behind. He turned around to see Madoka looking at him with a smile.
"Kizu-kun, you're in the same class as me..." Madoka said. "I'm so happy that we're in the same class."
"Ow! Ow! Anna! Cut it out!" A familiar voice spoke.
Kizuna saw Anna dragging Yoh into the classroom by the cheek. Anna looked at Yoh with an emotionless expression. Yoh's uniform was open.
"You are not skipping school this time, Yoh Asakura," Anna said. "Education is just as important as preparing for the next Shaman Fight."
'Shaman Fight?' Kizuna thought. 'I wonder what that's about...'
"Yoh-kun?" Madoka asked.
"A-Ah, hey guys," Yoh said. "I guess we all go to the same class now."
Ruby showed up with her sister and her two friends. She was wearing a red cape with her uniform.
"Ah... it feels like we're in Beacon again," Ruby said.
"You got that right," Yang said.
"I'll admit, it feels different," Blake said.
"It does remind me a bit about Atlas," Weiss said.
Kizuna felt relief at seeing his old friends again. He saw Usagi and the girls come into the room with Madoka's friends coming in. Madoka rushed over to the girls.
Then he saw Ai and those girls from Luna Nova Academy.
"It's Ai..." Kizuna said.
"The girl you met before?" Izuku asked, looking at the door. "HUH?!"
Kizuna looked at a surprised Izuku. He hadn't seen him this surprised ever since he met that Uraraka girl from yesterday.
"Uh... you know one of them?" Kizuna asked.
"T-That's Akko..." Izuku said. "Atsuko Kagari!"
"I-Izuku-San?!" Akko exclaimed.
"Huh?" Sucy looked at Akko with a disinterested stare.
"A-Akko? Do you know that boy?" Lotte asked.
Akko rushed over to Izuku and grabbed him by the waist, much to the boy's bashfulness.
"A-Akko! It is you!" Izuku said. "Y-You made it here?!"
Kizuna was just standing there, confused by what was going on.
"Izuku... could you explain something to me?" Kizuna asked.
"H-Huh? Oh," Izuku was brought out of his nostalgia. "Um... Akko, this is Kizuna."
"Huh?" She looked at Kizuna. "Hey, you're that boy that Ai was flirting with."
"FLIRTING?!" Izuku exclaimed.
"Not so loud!" Kizuna said. "Besides, you never told me you had a girlfriend."
Izuku looked at Kizuna with bewilderment.
"I-It's not like that!" Izuku said. "W-We just happened to go to middle school together!"
"Speaking of which..." Akko said. "What made you transfer out of UA?"
"Huh?" Izuku asked. "Oh, that."
"Let's just say he needed a change of pace," Yoh said. "I'm Yoh Asakura by the way—OW!"
Anna glared at Yoh with furrowed brows.
"Ah, that reminds me," Izuku said. "You got into Luna Nova, right?"
"Sure did," Akko said.
"So... when are you two gonna kiss?"
Kizuna saw Ai over his shoulder and jumped away from her along with Izuku and Akko.
"A-Ai-chan! It isn't like that!" Akko said with a blush on her cheeks.
"W-We're just childhood friends!" Izuku said.
"Uh huh," Ai said, looking unconvinced. She looked at Kizuna's direction. "I guess the stars have aligned for us to be in the same class."
'I doubt the stars have anything to do with this,' Kizuna thought. "Wait, if you're here, then does that mean he's here too?"
"Who?" Ai asked.
"You again..."
Kizuna looked at the door and saw...
"Yujo..." Kizuna said. He could sense an intimidating aura coming from Yujo. That same intimidating aura reached some parts of the room. Izuku could feel it. Anna released Yoh's cheek as they looked at Yujo.
"Kizuna..." Yujo said, looking at Kizuna in the eyes.
"Oh hey, you're the guy who brought Yujo back into the bunker," Yuji spoke up.
And just like that, the aura was gone. Yujo walked inside the room with Yuji, Nobara, and Megumi. Megumi stopped and looked at Kizuna.
"Daichi, right?" Megumi asked. "Don't get the wrong idea, Yujo doesn't hate your guts for saving him. He's just tough on the outside, that's all."
"R-Right..." Kizuna said.
He saw a flash of light permeating the classroom. He looked towards the source and saw that girl with the thick eyebrows wearing a white school uniform that looked awfully close to that of an actual military uniform. She looked stern.
"Satsuki?" Kizuna asked.
"It's Satsuki Kiryuin to you, you filthy pig in human clothing," Satsuki said with an authoritative tone.
"S-Satsuki Kiryuin?!" Izuku exclaimed. "T-The current CEO of the REVOCS Corporation?!"
"REVOCS Corporation?" Kizuna asked. "And she's the CEO?"
"You didn't know?!" Izuku asked. "REVOCS is a textile company owned by the Kiryuin conglomerate. They make some of the best clothes around the world."
"But what about Satsuki?" Kizuna asked.
"Supposedly, she was the student council president back in Honnoji Academy, and that she is the current head of the Kiryuin conglomerate," Izuku said.
"HUH?! For real?!" Kizuna exclaimed. "I had no idea! I thought she was just an ordinary girl with thick eyebrows!"
"Sis,"
The light behind her faded as another girl appeared next to her. Kizuna recognized the girl. It was that other girl who was with her before. It was that chick with the single red highlight, Ryuko.
"Ryuko, you too?" Kizuna asked.
"RYUKO?!" Izuku exclaimed.
"Hey, Freckles. You're here as well?" Ryuko asked. "Huh. I'll be damned. You've grown since we've last met."
"Again... it's Izuku Midoriya..." Izuku said. "H-Hi, Ryuko-San."
"Huh?" Akko turned around.
"You know her?" Kizuna asked.
"She and I met when we were just kids," Izuku said. "I haven't seen her since kindergarten."
"So you know that other pig in human clothing, Ryuko?" Satsuki asked.
"Ok, first of all, this isn't Honnoji Academy, you can't just call people pigs in human clothing," Ryuko said. "Also, that's my childhood friend you're talking about and he has a name. It's Izuku Midoriya."
"Forgive me, it's been a while since we left that place behind," Satsuki said. "I suppose old habits die hard."
"Tch, you got that right," Ryuko said. "Say, Midoriya, why don't you and I catch up for a bit?"
Suddenly, there was a loud noise by the door and someone came flying in from the door. Kizuna and the other students in the room turned and noticed the person landing face-first into the ground with shock and surprise on their faces.
"What the heck was that?" Ryuko asked.
Kizuna looked to the door to what looked like a... a... motor vehicle?
A moped?
Kizuna looked back at the person. The person was a man with silvery blue hair on his head. He was wearing a white yukata with a blue swirl pattern on the bottom and at the end of the sleeves. It was worn so that his arm only goes through the left sleeve and the right half droops down over his obi. There was a black belt on the waist that had been buckled with a leftover dangling from the buckle. A wooden sword (a bokuto,) was hanging there. He was also wearing knee-high black boots, buckled at the top and above his foot, adding at least half of an inch to the person's height.
The person got up and shook his head. He looked at everyone who was looking at him, his wine-red eyes scanning the room.
"What are you looking at?" The man asked.
Satsuki just stood and looked at him as if she were a statue. Everyone else had mixed reactions. Some were amazed to see the man get up like that after flying into the room. Some of them were shocked to see that he was still alive and standing as though nothing were wrong, save the fact that he was bleeding from the forehead. Some were caught by surprise while others looked like they had a heart attack.
"Um... sir? Who are you?" Izuku asked.
"Me? Well—"
"GIN-SAN!"
Everyone turned around to see a guy with a pair of glasses wearing a light blue keikogi with a blue hakama standing by the door.
"Oh, Shinpachi, you're not dead," The man called 'Gin' responded. "I trusted you with my moped and you've already scratched the paint job on it, not to mention that I probably could have died if you had slowed down earlier."
"But you said you were going to be late, so I had to put the metal to the pedal!" Shinpachi said. "This was your idea!"
"Ok, you got me there, but you are still paying for the damage," Gin said.
"WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT?! IT'S YOUR MOPED!"
"Because it was your idea to ram it straight into the door," Gin said. "Now could you please get that thing out of here?"
Shinpachi dragged the moped out of the doorway. Everyone looked back at Gin.
"Oh yeah, where was I?" Gin asked. "You asked for my name, right, uh..."
"Izuku Midoriya..." Izuku said.
"Right, Midoriya..." Gin said. "Alright, you maggots, listen up, because I'm saying it only once."
He clears his throat.
"I'm your homeroom teacher, Gintoki Sakata," Gin said.
...
...
...
There was a deafening silence in the room.
'This is our homeroom teacher?!' Everyone else thought, looking at him in disbelief.
"As your homeroom teacher, I'll also be doubling as your combat instructor for the rest of the year," Gintoki said. "Oh, and that was my teacher assistant, Shitpachi Shimura."
"Shinpachi! Shinpachi Shimura! Get it right, idiot!" Shinpachi said.
"In any case," Gintoki pulls out a sheet of paper from his kimono. "I have your seating assignments here."
Gintoki had all the students go to their assigned seats. Kizuna was seated behind Izuku in the left wing of the room with Madoka to his left, Ruby on his right, and Yoh sitting behind him. Kizuna never thought that he'd be sitting in a room with at least a hundred or so students with him. It was like being in university. Gintoki was standing proudly at his desk.
'How did we end up with a teacher like him?' Kizuna thought. 'Just when I thought Mr. Balan would be my homeroom teacher...'
'It's a good thing I took up that offer when I had the chance,' Gintoki said to himself. 'If the pay is as good as that Qrow guy says it is, I'll have enough money to pay off my rent AND buy me a new JUMP magazine.'
Unknown to most people (except those who have met him), he owns a little business in Tokyo where he, Shinpachi, Kagura, and the space dog named Sadaharu go around doing various errands and odd jobs, no matter the risks involved in said jobs. It was a real struggle trying to pay for the rent he owes his landlady at the end of every month. Thankfully, this job should be enough to give him enough money to pay off the rent.
He felt confident today.
Confident that he can do it. He struggled for so long to find a job that can get him some serious cash, and this job will finally solve all his financial problems. No more will Tama barge into his office with a bazooka in hand just because he missed the deadline for his monthly rent. No more shall Otose make him clean up her bar just because he was behind on the rent. No more will he have to put up with all the weirdos he's ever had to put up with in his everyday life. He could finally start living the life he's always wanted to live in.
Buying weekly JUMP magazines and not having a care in the world.
"Now that all of you are seated, let's start the day off," Gintoki said. "The first thing we're gonna do is what I'd like to call a meet and greet. You should get to know your classmates better. Just go up to someone that you've never met before and talk to them."
"Um... Gin-San—"
"Shut up, Shinpachi," Gintoki said. "Come on people, we don't have all day."
Kizuna was walking around the classroom whilst everyone in the class was meeting each other and having conversations with each other. Kizuna found one student who had ladybug emblems on both sides of his chest. He has blonde hair that had three curves over his forehead. Kizuna walked over to the person.
"Um... hello there," Kizuna started off, getting the boy's attention. "My name is Kizuna Daichi, and you are?"
The boy looked at him before clearing his throat and standing up.
"My name is Giorno Giovanna," the boy said. "And I have a dream."
"A dream?" Kizuna asked.
"It's a long story," Giorno said. "I'm from Italy."
So far so good, Kizuna thought to himself. This Giorno guy seems like a good person to him. He can't help but feel a mysterious aura surrounding Giorno. The air around him was thick with mystery.
"Why did you come to this school?" Kizuna asked.
"Well—"
"Hey Giorono, you gotta check this out!" Another voice came in.
A boy with a small pompadour walked over to the two. He had black hair and blue eyes.
"Oh, hi Josuke," Giorno said. "Kizuna, meet Josuke Higashikata. He's a friend of mine. Josuke, meet Kizuna Daichi."
"Kizuna?" Josuke asked. "Wait... have I seen you before?"
"Uh... no?" Kizuna asked. "That's a nice pompadour by the way."
"Oh, you like it?!" Josuke asked ecstatically. "It takes a lot to manage this thing. It makes me look great."
The boy pulled out a comb and began to comb his pompadour.
"He's from Morioh," Giorno said.
"Morioh? You mean that place with the weird-looking stone where lovers meet?" Kizuna asked. "The Angelo Stone, right?"
"You've heard about it?" Josuke asked.
"I did hear about it on national television once," Kizuna said. "I forgot what channel it was on."
"It's truly a crazy, bizarre town in the countryside, that's for sure," Giorno said.
"So why did you come to Daybreak again?" Kizuna asked Giorno.
"Oh yeah, I was just about to—"
"He's basically the boss of the Italian mafia," Josuke said. "Crazy, I know, right?"
"..."
"..."
"...!" Josuke's face went pale. "Oh shit..."
"The boss of the Italian mafia is our classmate?" Sora asked Kizuna, who looked stumped.
"Is... is that true?" Kizuna asked. "A-Are you really—?"
"Yes..." Giorno sighed. "I'm sure you've heard of Passione, right?
"Passione..." Kizuna said, trying to focus on that instead of the shocking fact that he didn't have to hear. "I don't know about what goes on in other countries a whole lot, but I'm guessing they're like the yakuza, right?"
"In a sense," Giorno said. "I was a former soldato in Passione before I became the boss. The last boss was peddling dope to children, so I had to take him down just to keep the drugs away from kids."
"I see..." Kizuna said. "But if you're here, who's managing—?"
"I have someone covering for me, and I had a double prepped before I left," Giorno said. "But that's not exactly why I am here."
"It isn't?" Kizuna asked. "Then what's the real reason?"
Giorno pulled out a photo and showed it to Kizuna. There was a man in the photo, but his face was obscured by darkness. The photo must have been taken in a dark room with little light to see. He could see the man's hair, it was golden, just like Giorno's hair, but longer. There was also a star shaped mark on the man's shoulder.
"Who... is that?" Kizuna asked.
"My father," Giorono said. "At least, I think he's my father."
"You don't know?" Kizuna asked.
Giorno nodded. "In any case, I hope we can get along this year."
"Me too," Kizuna said.
Kizuna walked up to Ryuko and Satsuki. The two girls looked at him. Satsuki looked as stern as ever while Ryuko looked at him with a bit of a smile.
"So, keyblade boy, I guess you wanted to know more about me and my sis?" Ryuko asked. "You've got guts, but I guess I can say the same with Midoriya."
"Right..." Kizuna scratched the back of his head. "So you two really are sisters, right?"
"Despite the fact that our last names don't match? Yeah, we are," Ryuko said. "We just so happen to share the same mom..."
"That we do not talk about for personal reasons," Satsuki said.
"Huh..." Kizuna said.
He took a moment to look at their uniforms. The longer he looked at their uniforms, the more... uneasy he began to feel. It was as if something was unnatural about those uniforms.
But his concentration was suddenly broken when a brown haired girl appeared in front of him.
"Gah!" He freaked out.
"Mako? You're in our class too?" Ryuko asked.
"Ryuko-chan! You're here too?" The girl called Mako asked, turning to Ryuko before looking at Kizuna. "Oh, and who's he?!"
"Oh, just some guy I met," Ryuko said. "In fact, he's the guy who took on the Behemoth."
"Eh?! He took on that Behemoth in the Entrance Exams?!" Mako exclaimed. "Hello, my name is Mako Mankoshoku, Ryuko-chan's friend from Honnoji Academy! What's your favorite kind of food? What zodiac were you born under? What's your favorite number?"
The girl just kept going on and on and on. This girl was hyperactive as far as he could tell from the way she rambles on and on without pausing for a breath.
"Is she... always like this?" Kizuna asked.
"You'll get used to it," Ryuko said.
"Ah, why hello Satsuki,"
Kizuna could have sworn he saw a vein pop from the top of Satsuki's head. He had heard a voice coming from behind him. He turned around to see a girl with long purple hair and red eyes. He was slightly smaller than her, being 5'1 with her being 5'5. She had huge breasts that were bigger than Yang's breasts. There was something about this girl that felt... indescribable. Just looking at the girl already, he felt as if he was at a loss for words.
"Medaka Kurokami..." Satsuki said. "You..."
Satsuki's voice snapped him out of his trance.
"It's been a while since we last met, Satsu,"
"Don't you "Satsu" me, Kurokami," Satsuki said with a somber tone. "Not after the last time we met in school."
Kizuna looked back at Satsuki and back to this Kurokami girl. He could feel the tension in the air. It was suffocating.
"Is there a beef between you two?" Kizuna asked, hoping to not die for asking that question.
"Believe me, there is a beef between us," Satsuki said.
"You're still mad at her for taking your spot as student council president from you?" Ryuko asked. "I thought you had finally gotten over that."
"Huh?!" Kizuna exclaimed. "She did what?!"
"None. Of. Your. Concern," Satsuki said. "Have you come to steal my spot for student council president from me? Like you did the last time you did when we were in middle school?"
"Satsuki, I would never steal from other people! You should know that!" Medaka said.
"Try telling that to the girl who was down right jealous of you during that time," Satsuki said.
"So um..." Kizuna turned to look at Medaka. "I'm Kizuna Daichi and—"
"Medaka Kurokami, and it's a pleasure to meet you!" Medaka said. "I graduated at the top of my class in Hakoniwa Academy before coming here. It's good to meet a fellow student here."
She had her hands clapped around his hands.
"Let's make the most of these three years together!" Medaka said with passion in her heart.
"Uh... yeah..." Kizuna said, feeling a bit overwhelmed by her over-positive attitude. 'When did our school get filled with so many celebrities all of a sudden?'
"So let me get this straight, Kirishima," Bakugo asked. "Your cousin is a Ghoul who works in a cafe?"
Before him was the red haired Eijiro Kirishima and a purple haired Touka Kirishima who was embarrassed.
"Yup, but I usually call her my big sis!" Eijiro said. "Right, Touka-nee?"
"Eiji..." Touka whined. "I told you not to call me big sis in front of other people."
"Ah... sorry," Eijiro said. "Old habit..."
Bakugo was just speechless. He had nothing to say. He has nothing against Ghouls.
"Tch, you could have at least told me this when we were at UA," Bakugo said. "Touka, was it?"
"Yeah?" Touka asked, looking at Bakugo.
"Just so we're clear, I got nothing against Ghouls," Bakugo said. "Just as long as you don't get in my way, we're cool."
Touka looked at Eijiro. She was beginning to feel concerned about her cousin's 'friend.'
"Is he always like this?" Touka asked.
"Eh, most of time," Eijiro said. "But deep down, he's a really good dude if you get to know him more."
"Right..."
"Wow, you mean your whole family practices magic?" Usagi asks Ai.
"Yup, that's right," Ai said. "My family are all mages. My three brothers and my older sister are all mages. My mom and dad are also mages. Even my grandma was a mage."
"That's so cool!" Nagisa said.
"I didn't know that your family practiced magic," Weiss said.
"What are your siblings like?" Ruby asks.
"Well, my big brother Takumi fought a bear once when it broke into our house once," Ai said
"A... bear?" Madoka asked, looking a bit shocked.
She remembered her grandmother. She was a stubborn, yet kind old woman who had been helping around the village where she lived in with her magic spells. When Ai was just a child, she had such fond memories of her grandmother before moving to the cities with her mother and father whilst her older and younger siblings were elsewhere. She always wanted to prove herself to her family. She wanted to be the best of the best in the world of magic.
"It's funny, I wonder what my siblings must feel knowing that I'm here now," Ai said.
Yujo and Roronoa Zoro were looking at each other for a while. Yujo could sense how strong the Pirate Hunter is. It goes without saying that the Straw Hat Pirates themselves are incredibly powerful in every way. Zoro was the best swordsman in the Straw Hat Pirates, known to carry three swords, including the infamous cursed blade, Sandai Kitetsu, Oden's sword, Enma, and the Wado Ichimonji, one of the 21 Great Grade swords. Zoro was known to be the second strongest fighter of the Straw Hats with undeniable skill, talent, and power.
"So, you're Roronoa Zoro," Yujo said. "Am I right?"
"Yeah, what of it?" Zoro asks.
"You look a lot taller than I thought you'd be," Yujo said.
He looked around a bit to find a blonde haired man trying to flirt with who he suspected to be Nico Robin, the Straw Hat crew's archeologist.
"That blond man... is that Sanji?" Yujo asks.
"Yup, the prince of idiots himself," Zoro said.
Within a fraction of a second, Sanji was right in front of Zoro with an angry face.
"What was that, you dumb moss head?" Sanji asks.
"You know what I said, prince dumbass," Zoro said.
The next thing Yujo knew was that the two men started fighting each other. Yujo could only look on, dumbfounded by the sight before him.
Kizuna saw Hinami Fueguchi in the classroom. He was surprised to see her here the day before he headed to Neo Bastion. She was still the cheerful girl she always has been. She hugged Kizuna as soon as she saw him.
"Big brother Zuni, you're here," Hinami said. "I'm so glad to be in the same class as you!"
"Hinami-chan..." Kizuna said. "It's great to see you here. How's your mom?"
"Mom's doing great, especially since we moved here," Hinami said. "Oh, and Kaneki-San and Touka-San are here too!"
"Kaneki and Touka? They're here too?" Kizuna asked.
Hinami nodded several times. "That's right. They wanted to come along."
She looked up at him.
"I wanted to thank you for... you know..."
"I know... I know," Kizuna said.
"Ok, ok, that's enough," Gintoki said. "That's enough with all the introductions."
It had been a good fifteen minutes. Now it was time to see just what these kids are capable of.
"Now, that you've all gotten to know one another, now it's time to see what you kids are actually made of," Gintoki said. "I want to see how well you guys perform in combat."
"Uh... Gin-San?" Shinpachi said. "Don't you think it's a bit sudden to have them slug it out on the first day of school?"
Gintoki decided to ignore that question.
"It's important to test each other's strengths and weaknesses in order to get a better understanding of your combat abilities," Gintoki said. "As your combat instructor, I will be supervising you while all of you fight each other in combat. Follow me."
The whole class was inside a huge gymnasium that was about as big as an entire football field. The students were amazed to see how big the place was. Izuku was amazed at the fact that LOGOS managed to replicate UA's Gym Gamma. Gintoki was standing in front of the class.
"This is where we will be hosting our combat trials," Gintoki said. "Now here's how these trials are going to work. Shinpachi, if you would."
Shinpachi pulled out two devices. He put one of them on himself and the other on Gintoki. The two turn the devices on and were immediately bathed in an aura.
"You'll put these shields on, turn them on, and fight up until you can break your opponent's shield," Gintoki said. "The first to break the other's shield wins."
He then takes out his bokuto and swung it down on Shinpachi's head at full force.
The poor man was knocked out cold in an instant and the shield went down.
"As you can see, this shield will protect you from attacks that would otherwise injure or kill you," Gintoki said. "So don't hesitate to go all out."
"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO HIT ME?!" Shinpachi yelled, even though he was supposed to be unconscious. He got back up afterwards with a bump on his head.
"So, who's going first?" Gintoki asked.
Kizuna swallowed. His eyes flit left and right. He raised his hand ever so slightly. Gintoki spotted the hand.
"Alright, Kizuna will be up first," Gintoki said. "Now who—"
"I'll be his opponent," Yujo's voice caught everyone's ears.
Kizuna looked to see Yujo walking up to him. Yujo looked like he was waiting for this very moment. It was like a boxing champion waiting for the next challenger to step into the ring. No... it felt like it was more than that.
It was as if a tiger was waiting for its next meal to show up.
Kizuna felt that intimidating presence that Yujo seems to radiate around him. The air had a tinge of danger with the faint smell of blood choking his nose.
"You can take this guy," Sora said. "You got that little trump card that he doesn't know that you have."
'You mean that power I used just a month before I left home?' Kizuna thought. 'But that was a one-time thing... even if I can draw it out—'
"Just believe in yourself," Sora said. "It's what I would do."
Kizuna could only take in Sora's advice.
Yujo looked at Kizuna, staring him down with that intimidating stare of his. He waited for this moment to come, the moment he can truly show off his power before Kizuna. What he did to the Behemoth was just the tip of the iceberg.
'This time, you will see my power,' Yujo thought. 'I will show you just how powerful I am, and I will show it by beating it into you. Prepare yourself, Kizuna Daichi.'
Riku was watching from within the shadows. He looked at the two boys who were looking at each other in the eyes.
'Yujo... Kizuna...' Riku thought. 'It's time to see the fruits of your training.'