Chapter 11: Fire and Lightning

The trio left the aerobic gym, the cool morning air clinging to their clothes as the sun now shone fully. Taichi marched ahead toward the nearest duel hall with enthusiasm, propelling every step.

They entered Gym A, the same place where Taichi and Asumi had their first duel. The place where he got his first taste of this world of combat.

The room was empty and quiet, mats stretching across the floor, giving an almost nostalgic sight to Taichi if it wasn’t only a few days prior that he was here for the first time. Meguri headed to the equipment cabinet, grabbing three vests and tossing one each to Taichi and Asumi. They picked out shinais and tightened their grips.

“So,” Meguri said, sliding on her vest. “Who do you want to fight first, Hayato?”

“Is it time for some fateful rematch between us?” Asumi smirked.

“First…?” Taichi echoed.

“You don’t mean…” Asumi began.

“Both of us? At the same time?” Meguri asked, clicking her tongue. “I hope you don’t expect us to go easy on you.”

“Oh, I hope you don’t,” Taichi replied, strapping on his vest with confidence. “I’m training to beat Natsu. What better practice than fighting the two aspects he commands?”

Meguri’s eyes widened. “I see… Asumi’s fire and my lightning. Combining us is the closest thing to simulating Natsu’s arsenal without confronting the real deal.” She tied her vest tighter. “Fine. I won’t hold back, Hayato. Asumi?”

Asumi’s gaze sharpened as she slid her vest on. She could tell based on the look in Taichi’s eyes that he wasn’t the same fighter from before.

“I’m ready,” she said coldly.

Meguri set up the console and got onto the field – health bars appeared over the field in a digital display, and the duel began.

Taichi immediately removed his pendant and put it in his pocket, rushing toward the duo with his nullification active.

“Asumi!” Meguri shouted.

Dozens of blooming fire roses erupted across the field, converging on Taichi like a storm of petals. Taichi braced – and then jumped.

He didn’t let his body make contact with a single ember of flame. He dodged, he parried, and he vaulted over the fire-plumes as if dancing between explosions.

The effort cost him a portion of his health bar, but Taichi grinned through the heat.

Meguri’s eyes narrowed. “I see… he knows we’re trying to drain his stamina, so he’s making sure we can’t succeed. He knows he can’t run in without regard for stamina as he did in Capture the Flag. Not bad, Hayato,”

Lightning surged at her feet… and she disappeared before Taichi’s eyes. She reappeared at Taichi’s flank, lightning radiating off her, striking the mats in tiny golden bolts. Seeing her technique up close, Taichi realized that Natsu’s imitation had not done Meguri justice.

She was faster.

Taichi barely blocked Meguri’s first blow to his side. She whirled, attacking his chest immediately after. He dodged to the side, straight into a blast from Asumi.

Taichi slashed his shinai through the flames, deflecting part of the explosion, but the heat still blasted him back a step.

Both Meguri and Asumi were at full health still, while Taichi’s health was slowly ticking away.

Despite that, his smile didn’t fade.

He quickly ran back into the fight, swinging his shinai down at Meguri, who dodged with her lightning-quick reflexes, reappearing at Taichi’s side, ready to counter.

She got hit.

Taichi wasn’t facing her when he swung his shinai. He’d simply followed through on his initial swing, widening the arc to end exactly where he’d predicted Meguri would dodge and try to counter.

He left an opening for her to target on purpose.

The blow wasn’t heavy – the sword had lost a fair bit of speed before connecting to Meguri, but it was enough to frazzle her.

“Don’t think I’m out of this duel yet!” Taichi yelled, lunging at Meguri again.

“And don’t forget that I’m here…” Asumi muttered from the distance, pointing a finger gun with a compressed ball of fire at Taichi’s back.

As the blistering heat approached him, he put all his strength into jumping – leaping 6 feet into the air, making the blast pass under him – approaching Meguri. She managed to dodge it, but it opened her up.

Taichi got a free hit.

“These cute tactics might earn you a few points,” Asumi said as she raised her hand for another attack, “but they won’t win the duel.”

Meguri recovered instantly, lightning flaring as she blitzed toward Taichi again.

The room filled with sparks and fire, with Taichi being forced to defend.

Their teamwork was only becoming stronger, and their fighting was only getting smarter.

Taichi was getting pushed back.

“I guess it’s about time I try it, huh?” Taichi murmured.

Meguri stepped back, gripping her shinai as a shiver tracked down her spine.

Taichi stepped forward, swinging his shinai with sudden ferocity. She raised her own to block, and they smashed against each other, with Taichi vastly overpowering Meguri’s defense. She realized what was happening far too late – he was aiming for the shinai, not her. The impact jarred her arms, knocking her guard completely open.

Meguri triggered her aspect and tried to send a shockwave out, but Taichi finally allowed his nullification to flare. His body glowed faintly as the mana around Meguri dissolved into the air.

She kept her aspect active, flowing electricity through her veins to prepare for an escape, but Taichi’s leg raised swiftly, kicking her square in the stomach.

The lightning that was in her trail disappeared.

Without missing a beat, Taichi disarmed her and dropped his own shinai, closing in for hand-to-hand combat with her – a skill in which he was far more skilled than Meguri.

Every time he struck her, she lost the ability to immediately reactivate her lightning – the one thing that was giving her any edge.

With no other choice remaining, Asumi charged in before Meguri could get taken out.

She clashed with Taichi head-on, cladding her shinai in flames just like she did at the end of their first battle. Heat waves rolled off the mat; sweat streamed down their faces as Asumi pressed attack after attack.

Taichi was desperately trying to find a way into close combat with Asumi, but she was refusing to get too close, keeping her distance by using the tip of her shinai as a reference point.

Taichi rushed on the offensive against Asumi, and Asumi didn’t hesitate to stay on the defensive, maintaining her distance with a blazing arc produced by her shinai.

Suddenly… a jolt of lightning coursed through Taichi’s side.

Meguri was back.

Taichi stumbled and raised his shinai, but before he could do anything, the walls fell.

That was the final strike.

The duel was over.

Meguri’s health bar was at 10%.

Asumi was at 90%.

Taichi was at 0%.