"What do you want, Tenka?"

"Hiya Kyou." Compared to Kyouka's unenthused question, Tenka responded with a bright, and mischievous, smile. "Can't a friend just come over to say hi?"

"They can, but this friend brought over someone unfamiliar." Kyouka said, taking a quick glance at the young man who stood next to Tenka before focusing back onto Tenka. "Combined with that smile on your face, something tells me you aren't here just to say 'hi'."

"Fine, be a spoilsport." Tenka pouted. She cleared her throat. "Well, you are right afterall, I am here on a… personal request."

She tilted her head towards the young man, signaling him to introduce himself.

He walked forward and bowed for a second before introducing himself. "My name is Tsuda Ganryu." He said.

His eyes gazed directly into Kyouka's own, before any weapons were drawn the two could hear the clashing of steel in their minds.

"I challenge you."

Silence followed for the next few seconds. As the words settled in, Kyouka looked towards Tenka. She looked for any hint of a joke, any hint of a prank. Tenka's smile only grew. Neither of them were joking.

Though… she had been hearing the rumors that spread lately, that Tenka had brought over a man to the Corps. She's only heard rumors though, but after remembering a certain rumor regarding the young man, she decided to confirm her suspicions.

"You are the one who, they say, beat Myouga, are you not?"

His mouth twitched upwards, "I am."

She grabbed her katana and aimed it forward. "Then I'll gladly accept."

Tsuda's mouth fully morphed into a sharp smile. He made to grab his nodachi, but his hand only grasped at the air near his waist.

"Crap." He muttered. "Forgot my sword."

"Don't worry about that." Tenka said, gently tapping Tsuda's shoulders. "I'll go grab it."

Tsuda thanked her as she walked into a portal that just opened, it lingered for a few seconds before she reappeared. She held the sheathed blade in her hands, handing it off to Tsuda with a smile.

He gave another thanks before focusing back onto Kyouka, unsheathing his large sword and taking a stance. The sword remained at his side by his face while he kneeled slightly.

"My name is Kyouka Uzen!" Kyouka declared. "Chief of the Seventh Unit of the Anti-Demon Corps! I accept your challenge!"

"Shouldn't we make this an official exhibition match then?" Himari whispered to the short-haired blonde next to, who simply shrugged in response.

Kyouka wiped the sweat off her brow and took a stance as well. With her left foot forward she held her katana forward with both hands.

"Just to let you know, I won't be using my ability." Kyouka said, causing Tsuda to flinch.

"What?"

Kyouka raised an eyebrow, not expecting his reaction. "I won't be using my ability." She said again.

"Why?" The distraught in his voice was humorous, to say the least. "If you think–"

"I'm not looking down on you." Kyouka knew that was the assumption, but she truly did not mean to underestimate her opponent.

"You're a swordsman and so am I, there's no need to bring in anything irrelevant."

The young in front of her wanted to fight with a blade, so she will respond in kind. Though she will admit that she felt it would be unfair to use a peach ability against someone who doesn't have one… although the man in front of her did fight against Myouga. And if Kyouka's assumption is right then the young man in front of her fought off against the old Chief's husband– who himself has the power of a superhuman (as a semi-undead)– and won.

But the genuine disorientation in his voice when she said she wasn't going to use her ability had surprised her.

"But if you want to insist," she added, causing him to blink and perch upwards. "If you win this match then I will use my ability, should you ever want a rematch."

"'Not looking down', huh?" He repeated her words in jest, though he did not look offended.

He regained his stance with a smile, "You better keep your word."

"Of course."

While the two were talking, Tenka decided to move to the side in between them. After the two regained their stances she held her hand up in the air.

"Umm… Miss Tenka?" A young voice called out from behind her. Tenka turned her head slightly to stare at the owner of the voice– a young girl with long pink hair and blue eyes.

"Yes Nei?"

"Shouldn't we get Ginna? If one of them gets hurt…"

Having heard the name of the barrier maker, Tsuda glanced at Tenka, who in turn met his gaze. Something unspoken moving between them.

We don't need to. Tsuda side eyed Tenka.

…Fine, just this once. Tenka shook her head with a mental sigh.

"It's fine." Tenka assured the concerned girl. "I don't think we'll need to."

Looking back towards his opponent, Tsuda says, "Don't hold back."

A similar smirk appeared on Kyouka's face, "if you insist."

"Are both parties ready!?" Tenka called out, raising her hand. Hesitantly Nei stepped back and out of the action.

The two fighters deepened their stances. Kyouka leaned forward while Tsuda kneeled downwards.

Silence reigned for a few more seconds, then—

"Go!" Tenka brought her hand down and jumped back.

Kyouka moved first with the intent to end the match quickly. Within half a second she moved in front of Tsuda, her katana wielded back and ready to swing forward, yet she swung too late. She had intended to swing from the left as Tsuda held up his sword on the opposing side.

Either way, Tsuda dodged by quickly dropping underneath her blade. On his knees, he swung upwards to clash with her blade. A loud clang echoed as the force from his attack caused her to hold her blade upwards— in an attempt to keep it from flying out of her grasp. Kyouka looked on in surprise, not having expected his response.

Having swung his sword upwards, Tsuda twisted the blade so that its sharp end was facing forward. At the same time he quickly moved so that he was only on one knee.

He took a moment before he swung again, and that moment was enough for Kyouka to notice and jump backwards. Yet even she was late, with just the tip of the nodachi cutting into her white shirt. It was not enough to reach her skin, and it helped that the cut was right in between her breasts.

"You—" She glanced at the cut in her shirt and wanted to question his intention, but then their eyes met.

He was not even giving any attention to the cut in her shirt, instead he met her gaze with a (almost) mocking smile.

It was at this moment she realized exactly what happened.

"I apologize." She said immediately.

Kyouka had moved with the intent to end the spar with one quick motion. She had hoped that he would have responded by meeting her first swing in the middle, in which case she planned to overpowered him and cause him to lose grip of the weapon. That didn't happen, far from it.

After dodging and then causing her to lose balance with her blade, he had waited just a moment before attacking again. He waited on purpose. Had she not taken that small moment to move back, had he not waited to swing, that blade would have cut into more than just her shirt.

In other words…

"It seems I greatly underestimated you."

Tsuda stood up and wiped the dust off his knees with his free hand, "Don't worry about it. You wouldn't be the first."

The smile on his face turned from taunting to mischief.

"Are you sure you don't want to use your ability?" He asked with a smirk.

"Maybe next time." She said, causing him to pout slightly. "But this time I'm not trying to 'even the playing field'."

She had rejected using her ability because she had been underestimating his own capability, but now it wasn't because of fairness, it was simply because an opportunity had fallen into her lap.

As a Chief and as a swordswoman, she knew it in her heart and soul.

This is the perfect moment to better herself, to improve her prowess and capabilities with the blade.

"Please," she looked forward with a smile, "don't hold back."

"Wasn't planning on it!" This time Tsuda moved first, swinging his blade from the left side.

The smile on her face disappeared as she swung her blade from the other side, the two clashing in the middle. She gritted her teeth and grasped her katana harder. She knew from his first attack that he had a strong grip, but she didn't know the extent.

She took a step back and allowed her katana to slide underneath his blade, and dodged his swing by ducking underneath it.

He kept up the offensive, swinging from different angles each time. She could only respond by dodging, and each time she tried to retaliate, he would overpower her using the force of his swing and the weight of his blade.

He swung overhead. In response she dodged by turning her body to the side and taking a small step forward. She took this opportunity to thrust her blade forward, aiming for the side of his face.

He didn't block or dodge, instead he stopped her blade. Letting go of one hand from his own nodachi and quickly grasping onto hers right before it reached his cheek.

He held his nodachi upwards with his other hand and prepared to swing downwards, but before he could he felt her foot slam against his stomach, pushing him backwards. Kyouka grasped her blade and pulled it out of his grasp, leaving behind cuts on his fingers.

She looked at the blood on her blade and her eyes widened. She had thought that the force of her kick would cause him to let go of her blade, but that obviously did not happen.

"Sorry—!" He stopped her apology by holding out his injured hand.

"We both knew that this was a possibility, don't worry about it."

Unbeknownst to both of them, the moment that his blood was drawn, Tenka had subconsciously taken a step forward and for just a moment was fully intent on stopping the fight.

It took a moment for her to realize what she had done and stop herself.

What was she getting all worked up for? She asked herself but couldn't find an answer, she wasn't this antsy when Tsuda was fighting with Myouga's husband. Yet as she stood here and saw the smile on his face grow from his fight, she couldn't help but want to stop the fight. It was her who offered this so why is she backing out now? She was unfamiliar with this feeling, but it was not entirely unknown to her.

Tsuda swiped his hand, letting a few drops of blood fling to the ground, he grasped onto his nodachi and continued.

He did not let her gather her bearings, and by the time she reacted his own blade was aiming for her torso. She met his attack with her own, but the force of his swing pushed her back, leaving a track in the dirt beneath her.

"See?" He said. She remained hesitant at first, but continued nonetheless.

He could have ended the fight if he had used his "pseudo-Tsubame Gaeshi" instead of grabbing her weapon, but that would have drawn a large amount of blood, which is something he didn't want to deal with. And if he was being more honest with himself, he didn't want the spar to end just yet.

Not yet. Not until he feels that spark.

Their blades clashed again. Kyouka stared forward with sharpened resolve and concentrated eyes, meanwhile a sharp smile remained on Tsuda's face. They remained like this for a few more minutes. Kyouka remained at a small distance, parrying each swing from the young man. She couldn't get close, but in turn he didn't close the distance either. Every few swings caused a dust of wind to pick up small clouds of dust underneath them.

Eventually, Tsuda stopped swinging and simply held the blade to his side, preparing to swing. Kyouka did the same from the opposing angle.

With a smile on his face he swung, she responded in kind with a determined glare.

His swing easily overpowered hers, pushing her hand back, and almost causing her to lose grip of her weapon.

There!

Before Kyouka could blink he swung upwards with one hand, aiming directly at the blade that she held beside her. A loud clang echoed, and Kyouka could no longer feel her hand on her katana's grip, but before Kyouka could register what happened, he swung down beside her, creating a small gust of wind that pushed away the dirt underneath.

He clicked his tongue.

Her blade stabbed into the ground a few feet away from them.

The two simply stood a foot away from each other. Both with bated breaths, though Kyouka's breathing was heavier. She looked towards her blade with surprise, while Tsuda glared at his hands in annoyance.

"I lose." Finally the silence between the two broke upon the Chief admitting her defeat.

She took a deep breath before turning towards the winner of the spar. She held out her hand with a smile.

"Good match."

"So close yet so far," Tsuda muttered, he stood up and quickly changed expressions, accepting her hand with a smirk.

"Yeah, that was fun." He said, shaking her hand. His smirk grew, "So about that rematch… ack, hey!"

Someone had flicked their fingers against the back of his head. He turned to find that Tenka was the culprit. She stared at him with a smile and with her hand next to his head.

"Enough of that, you had enough fun for now. Now we have to fix that up," she pointed at his still bleeding hand, though compared to earlier it isn't bleeding much.

Tsuda walked to his sheath, which he had thrown to the side at the start of the match. With a single quick movement he sheathed his blade. Turning to Kyouka he gave a single nod.

"Thank you."

Kyouka returned the gratitude with a smile. "I should be saying the same to you, Tsuda Ganryu. I never would have thought someone without a Peach ability could best me, even in swordplay."

Kyouka walked over to her own sheath, placing her blade within it. "Next time I most definitely won't hold back, should you wish for that, of course."

Tsuda smirked again. "I'll hold you to it then."

Tenka seized Tsuda's shoulder and—with a strained smile—she opened a portal behind them. "Woah, hey-!" Tsuda wavered from the surprising force behind her grasp. Tenka said her goodbyes as the two entered the portal.

Silence followed by a few seconds. The girls of the Seventh Unit stood with their hands held up in a wave.

"Umm…" The girl with short-blonde hair called out, "What was that about?"

A portal opened in the living room of the Sixth Unit, Tenka and Tsuda walked through. Tenka's hand still firmly grasped his shoulder as she almost dragged him back.

"Tenka!"

He swiped at her hand, finally escaping her grasp and breaking her out of her stupor.

"What's wrong with you?"

The dark aura surrounding her eyes dissipated within a moment as her mind gained clarity. "Ah—" She muttered, not knowing what to say.

"I'm not sure…" She said with a rare look of embarrassment crossing her face. "I guess… Kyou just brings out my posses— competitive side."

"Ahem… Anyways, let's get you patched up." She spoke before Tsuda could catch her on her slip-up. She motioned for him to sit on the couch, which he did with some hesitation. With a wave of her hand another portal opened up beside her, "I'll be right back."

A moment later she returned with alcohol swabs and a bandage roll.

She rubbed his wounds with the swabs before she wrapped the bandage around his hand and fingers, making sure to put pressure on the wounds. She made sure to wrap the bandage only on the wounds, so that he'll at least be able to use his hand.

All the while Tsuda simply stared at her. His face showed no emotions but his eyes were filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

"Tenka." He finally spoke, speaking her name.

"Hm?"

"What am I to you?"

Her hand stopped, halfway tying up the bandage wrapped around his palm. She looked up with a surprised and confused glance.

"What?"

(A/N)

I'm not dead.

I want to say to those who had genuinely waited in anticipation for this chapter, you genuinely have my sincerest thanks. I was going to go on a whole rant giving my excuses for the long wait; so instead all I'll say is that it was a mix of college, laziness, my Wuthering Waves crossover, and many, many, nights of self-loathing that kept me from finishing this chapter earlier. I also apologize if this chapter isn't all that good, but I couldn't bring myself to rewrite it.

To those probably wondering if this story is going to be abandoned or put on an indefinite hiatus (aka abandoned), it won't be, despite my melodramatic woes I am honestly still invested in this story idea.

Once again, I'm sorry for the long wait. And as much as I can't promise the next chapter won't take as long, I will try to make sure it won't.