The Weight of the Arena

The commentator’s voice boomed through the arena speakers:

“Next match: Team Stronghold versus Team Thundertwins!”

A ripple of excitement ran through the audience inside the stadium, which was divided into several spectator blocks.

A–C were closest to the battlefield, filled with cheering Nekos, sponsors, and students from the elite classes.

Further up were the middle rows, also mostly Neko seating.

And at the very top, almost under the roof, was Block H.

The human section.

Mitsuki sat there with a handful of classmates.

“You really can’t see anything from here,” a boy complained. “Even the screen looks blurry.”

“Just be glad we even got seats,” a girl replied. “I heard Class 2-C didn’t get any.”

“Shh! It’s starting,” said a classmate with two long, glossy braids, straightening in her seat.

“Tch… whatever,” the boy muttered, rolling his eyes.

The girl with braids planted her hands on her hips and shot him a look.

“Torao-kun being a Neko doesn’t change anything, Sato-kun. He’s our class rep. He’s never treated us badly. He listens, and he’s always respectful.”

“…Sounds like you care about him more than us humans,” Sato grumbled under his breath, cheeks reddening.

But she was no longer paying attention.

Her eyes were fixed on the arena, where the names appeared on the holographic panel:

Team Stronghold: Torao Rinji (倫司 虎尾) - Kurogane Seika (黒金 星火)

“Kyaa! Kurogane-senpai looks so cool too…” she whispered, bouncing slightly and almost tipping her drink.

“Oh boy… here we go,” Sato sighed.

Another student leaned forward.

“Isn’t he from Class 3-B? How do those two even know each other?”

“Torao-kun is popular,” the braid girl replied immediately. “Of course someone like Kurogane-senpai would team up with him.”

The humans exchanged doubtful looks.

Down below, the opponent team had taken their position.

Team Thundertwins: Matsuneko Riku (松猫 陸) - Matsuneko Yūka (松猫 優香)

“Oh right, they’re siblings,” someone said.

“And both seem to have lightning-resonance” Sato murmured. “If they sync, that’s gonna be rough.”

“Maybe,” the braid girl said calmly, “but against earth and metal? It won’t work.”

Then the gong sounded.

“BEGIN!”

Team Thundertwins charged forward, sparks crackling around their paws.

But Torao simply slammed one foot down.

The ground in front of him bulged upward, forming a massive dome of earth and the lightning struck harmlessly against it.

From behind the earthen barrier, Kurogane stepped out of Torao’s shadow, turning his wrist with elegant precision.

Fine, shimmering metal dust glittered between his fingers, and when he snapped them, razor-thin metallic blades shot through the air, slicing past the twins and burying themselves in the ground.

The siblings retaliated instantly, firing a synchronized bolt of blazing lightning.

But another stone wall surged upward, blocking the attack, while Kurogane was already gone, slipping behind the wall’s shadow.

“They really don’t stand a chance…” Sato said quietly.

The braid girl gave a small nod.

“That’s their style. Torao guards, Kurogane attacks.”

Seika advanced again, herding the twins toward the arena’s edge with sharp, calculated strikes of metal.

Torao sealed off their escape routes with stone pillars.

The twins unleashed a desperate flurry of lightning, but the rock swallowed every blast.

“And… that’s it,” a student muttered.

Kurogane lifted a hand and flicked his fingers. 

The metal dust curled into a sparkling ring and whipped toward the siblings, binding them where they stood.

A red light flashed.

WINNER: TEAM STRONGHOLD

The arena erupted with cheers, stomping, whistling, pounding paws.

Mitsuki let out a breath. “Wow… they’re seriously strong.”

“Yes! I knew it!” the braided girl cried, shooting to her feet and applauding.

Several humans glanced her way.

“You’re really a fangirl, Kobayashi-san…” Sato muttered.

After a brief intermission, the gong rang again.

“NEXT MATCH IN 30 MINUTES!”

On the holo screen, the opposing team’s names appeared in full.

Mitsuki froze for half a second when she recognized the familiar name from one of them.

Team Ice Knight & Lava Kitten: Anonymous - Anonymous

Suddenly she shot up from her seat, arms in the air.

“W-woo! L-let’s go!!”

Everyone within five rows turned to stare.

Mitsuki slowly lowered her arms.

“Uh… Kawashima-san… are you okay?” Sato asked.

“Yeah, since when are even you into this stuff? Didn't you say you hated the tournament?” Kobayashi added.

“A-ah! I... um... eheh… I just… like the names. Lava Kitten… it sounds kinda cute, right…?”

Her friends stared as she sat down stiffly, pressing her lips together, but inside, her heart was pounding.

Amiteji-sensei… Koori-chan… You can do this.

A student leaned back in his seat with a sigh.

“Anyway, there seam to be a lot of anonymous teams this year, like this one.”

Kobayashi nodded thoughtfully.

“Yeah… I always wonder which of our schoolmates these might be.”

***

A heavy gate opened at the arena’s lower end.

Inside stretched a narrow tunnel, dimly lit by flickering neon.

There stood Ice Knight and Lava Kitten, ready for their first match.

Koori tugged anxiously at her oversized paw gloves, while Hale adjusted his helmet for the fifth time.

“Nervous?” he asked, voice muffled, though he already felt the answer through their connected marks.

Koori tilted her head.

“I don’t know...”

Hale studied her for a moment.

“Then let me put it another way. What are you feeling right now?”

She looked toward the bright opening at the end of the tunnel, as if it were the mouth of a beast waiting to swallow them.

“There’s a faint rumble inside me,” she whispered. “Like a storm forming in the mountains.”

Hale nodded with a small smile.

“Don’t worry… I feel the same.”

The mark stirred, and with it, the quiet echo of Koori’s feelings.

Soon, the tunnel vibrated as their names blasted through the speakers, followed by a blinding explosion of light, color, and noise.

Koori inhaled sharply as they stepped onto the sandy battlefield.

“It smells like dust, stone and something waiting to erupt...”

Across the field, another gate opened.

Two silhouettes emerged, faces hidden under dark hoods, their blue-and-white jackets embroidered with shell motifs.

A male Neko with unruly curled fur. 

His partner, shorter, sturdier, with a bobbed tail that twitched sharply.

The screen flickered with their teamname.

Team Umi-no-Ishi: Shiraneko Kai (白猫 海) – Isozaki Mei (磯崎 芽衣) 

Koori lowered her head slightly, but Hale squeezed her shoulder.

“Remember, whatever they do, we need to adapt. Just as we trained.”

She straightened and nodded, while their opponents were already sizing them up.

Shiraneko grinned broadly, while Isozaki remained silent, focused, eyes sharp as blades.

“Hale… um… Ice Knight…” Koori whispered. “They… seem strong.”

“Maybe. But so are we.”

The gong rang.

“BEGIN!”

The barriers sealed the ring with a low hum, but no one moved.

Both teams simply stood there.

“…A-are they not attacking?” Koori whispered.

“Either they’re waiting for a mistake,” Hale murmured, “or...”

The ground shuddered.

A pillar of shellcrete erupted beneath Hale with explosive force.

He threw himself aside, rolled across the sand, and hit the ground hard as the crowd gasped, a sharp, collective “Hhh!”

Koori’s voice cracked. “I-Ice Knight!”

Hale pushed himself up, grit sticking to his gloves.

“They didn’t move at all…”

Shiraneko and Isozaki still stood perfectly still.

“They’re attacking without moving,” he breathed. “How...”

Then he saw it:

A faint circle beneath Isozaki's feet, rippling like water.

The Neko shifted one toe.

Three more projectiles burst from the ground, streaking toward Koori.

“Look out!”

But she was a heartbeat too slow.

One slammed into her shoulder, spinning her sideways before she hit the sand with a choked cry.

A wave of murmurs swept through the stands.

Hale darted toward her, but more projectiles were already rising.

“Damn it!“

He closed his eyes, feeling the cold well up from the mark, then swept his arms outward.

Before the barrage could strike, a towering ice wall erupted in front of them, the projectiles lodging deep into the glittering surface.

Breathing hard, Hale stared at the frozen wall he had created.

The crowd roared as the commentator’s voice thundered through the loudspeakers.

“WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DEFENSE FROM ICE KNIGHT! BUT CAN HE KEEP THEM AT BAY LONG ENOUGH TO TURN THIS AROUND, NYA!?”

Hale sprinted to Koori as she slowly pushed herself up.

“You okay?”

“I… I think so…”

He helped her to her feet, heart hammering.

“Koori, we have to fight back or we’re out before the tournament even starts!”

She lowered her head.

“I… I think… I changed my mind. I don’t want to fight anymore…”

Her body trembled, not with fear, but with something heavier.

“Y-you… you don’t want to!?” Hale rasped.

She shook her head, almost ashamed, while more projectiles hammered against the ice wall behind them, cracks spreading across it.

“Koori, what do you mean? We’re in the middle of a match!”

“I… I don’t want to hurt anyone…”

The words hit him like a punch.

He saw it in her eyes, not fear of the enemy, but fear of herself.

Something inside him cracked, and he pressed his lips together, exhaling hard.

Damn it… I should’ve known…

His voice softened, almost breaking.

“I… I’m sorry, Koori. I pulled you into this. If you don’t want to fight… I won’t force you.”

He lifted his hand, wanting to touch her shoulder, to tell her it was okay, that he would find another way to reach Nekogami.

But he never got the chance.

Suddenly a low, rumbling hiss tore through the air.

Hale’s head snapped around.

A shimmering ridge of blue water rose like a tidal spine, bending the arena lights around it.

It grew higher and higher, casting a shadow over the entire ice wall...

...until the water came crashing down on them like a falling sea.