Shinigami - Great Encounter Battle Arc

Hiroshi, fatigued from his week of travel, trudged into the Capital, his hands in his pockets. If he felt awkward about being in a new world before, this definitely did it. He was still wearing his clothing from his old school, and he felt as if all the pairs of eyes in Lodestown were on him. It made Hiroshi uncomfortable. 

He passed through the big, metal gates, which was way bigger than anything he had ever seen in his life. The gates must have been at least one hundred feet high. It was daunting just to look at it.

Eventually, he plucked up the courage to ask an elderly lady where to go.

“Excuse me, but where is the Great Encounter Battle Tournament taking place?” he asked politely. The old woman smiled and pointed Hiroshi in the right direction. He walked at a brisk pace through the dense crowds, pushing and shoving through markets to get to the Tournament in time.

He noticed that the city had absolutely no modes of transport. Not a vehicle to be seen. No cars, no trains, no buses and no planes. The only way people could get between two points was by walking. That baffled Hiroshi.

 Despite being in a world where there were demons roamed, they didn’t have common shops (just shopping markets) or modes of transportation.

After further looking around, Hiroshi found a well-dressed man in a suit, standing on top of a wooden stage similar to the one that Kuro-Yami was bound to for so long. Even if you did miss the stage, you wouldn’t miss his bellowing voice.

“Ten minutes until registration for the Great Encounter Battle Tournament closes! Register now while you still can!” he yelled into his microphone. Hiroshi covered his ears and winced in pain.

“Yep, I think this is us, Kuro-Yami,” he sighed, walking up to the man on the stage. “I want to register.”

“Of course, young man! My name is Alexander, and I will be presenting the Tournament for all of Acebia to see! Now, what is your name, my dear fellow?” he asked Hiroshi enthusiastically.

Hiroshi had been thinking about this question since he departed from Lightley. He knew that they needed his name, but he decided, along with Kuro-Yami, that he needed a name that could strike fear into the crowd. Something that would leave a mark. Eventually, they both agreed the name they would use in the Tournament.

“Shinigami,” Hiroshi told the presenter. In his old world, Shinigami meant “God of Death”, which is what he knew he had to become to take the world for himself. He expected the presenter to have no reaction at all, considering that they were not in Japan. However, it might have been Hiroshi’s dark presence, but he sweated slightly and wiped his brow with a handkerchief.

“Yes, Mr. Shinigami. Step right past me and wait with all the other contestants, thank you!” the presenter struggled to get the words out, and immediately went back to advertising the Tournament.

Hiroshi headed into the arena. It was humongous. It was a very wide building, with a boxing ring in the middle of the room. Unlike the previous villages Hiroshi had been too, this place was very well built, and seemed to have a very solid foundation, minus a couple of cracks that were showing in the roof. It had dark blue walls made from some extraordinary brick that Hiroshi assumed was part of this world. 

He looked around the room to see his opponents. All of them were different shapes and sizes, genders, races. In fact, neither of the people looked similar. One thing was common, however.

They all looked determined to win.

Hiroshi loved analyzing everything back in his old world. When he had nothing to do, he would look through statistics and facts, and even looking at different people, trying to guess what their life situations were. His eyes laid upon a very mysterious character.

 They had poor clothes, wearing tunics and leather garments. It was very hard to tell if it was a man or a woman, due to the bulky clothing. They also covered their face in a dark mask, as dark as death itself, and only had their eyes visible. Hiroshi shivered. If he had a tough opponent to beat, it was them.

The presenter came into the building and called out to the contestants.

“Hello everybody! My name is Alexander!” he bellowed once more into his powerful microphone. “Thank you to the one-hundred and twenty-eight of you who attended the Great Encounter Battle Tournament! First, we randomly sorted you out into brackets! There are eight brackets in total! The winner of each bracket will progress to the quarterfinals, where names will be drawn again!”

“The winner of the whole Tournament,” he continued, “will get a one-on-one duel with the notorious Tsuyoshi Kage, and become his apprentice for one whole year! Thats's right! Training with the God of Light himself!"

Hiroshi's ears picked up. God? 

“Finally, the rules! There are only two! Win! You can knock out your opponent, or knock them out of the ring, but please, try your best not to kill them, for our wonderful crowd is watching. The second rule is that all magic can be allowed! That is all!”

“I think you can use my power, Hiroshi. After all, I’m a demon, and I do have darkness, so that can be considered your magic,” Kuro-Yami made their point. Hiroshi had to agree with them. He had no chance in this Tournament without them.

“Now, without further or do, let’s get into our first match. Number One, Shinigami! Versus Number Two, Elephantine the Sumo Wrestler!” Alexander announced boldly. Hiroshi thought in his head to get Kuro-Yami’s attention.

“Hey, we are up first! You ready, friend?”

“Ready? We don’t need to be ready to beat a loser like him, friend,” Kuro-Yami smirked.