An unsteady truce

“What was that?”

I couldn’t believe what I saw. Rikiyo overpowered the leader of this gang as if it were nothing, even I could feel the power flowing through her. It was overwhelming compared to the thug from earlier.

“You’re asking ME? What was THAT?” Rikiyo turned in anger. Her athletic stature loomed over me, and her new blade pressed gently into my chest.

“I don’t know.”

“OH. ‘I DON’T KNOW.’ Do you know ANYTHING Kenji? Do you know ANYTHING about this sick sick HELLHOLE we live in? DO YOU?”

Rikiyo presses a little too hard and her blade pierces my flesh just slightly. I wince from the pain and a clear amount of new blood pools quietly under my shirt.

“Oh… I’m- I’m sorry…”

I grip the water artifact in my hand and feel the cooling power wash away the pain.

“No, I have a lot to explain.”

“Alright, but let’s talk somewhere else.”

The body of Vanguard Kobayashi lays cold on the floor. The whole area is awash with death. It’s probably a good idea to leave. We walk outside and I steal a jacket from a thug that met a “cleaner” end then most. Rikiyo and I then walk to the nearest café.

The night air is cold, it’s later than most would care for too. The whole town is quiet save for an occasional car on the road. We sit outside the café where it’s quiet and isolated, a single stone radiates a warm heat from the center of the table, and we talk.

“So Kenji.”

“Yes?”

“What was all that?”

“I think it was a cult.”

Rikiyo furrows her brow in obvious frustration, but I think she’s finally given up on getting mad with me.

“The power Kenji, you used a water artifact and a lightning artifact in harmony. Not to mention the fact that I also saw you get bludgeoned to death before somehow resurrecting yourself ten minutes later.”

Rikiyo deserves to know the truth, I know that much, but this magic is already too dangerous as is. I don’t know if I can knowingly put her in that much danger.

“Kenji.”

Rikiyo reaches across the table and puts her hand on mine, legitimately. She’s actually touching my hand and not trying to reach for something. She’s definitely trying to seduce me right now, but it’s working!

“My mother is a Dragon God.”

“I’m sorry, a Dragon God? That magic is dead.”

“Not dead, just kind of on the low. Apparently my mom was in hiding for a while before Ligatio took her. They made a deal together that I wouldn’t be bothered until I was old enough to fight back.”

Rikiyo slowly withdraws her hand and leans back in her chair.

“So how long do you have?”

“About 363 days.”

She seems upset. It’s a strange level of empathy from someone who threatened to kill me earlier today. It seems like I’ve somehow struck a chord with her in a very tangible way.

“So what’s up with you?”

Rikiyo gives me a bit of a glare for my delivery, but she presses on.

“I think I have a pure affinity for lightning.”

“You don’t know? Do your parents-”

“My parents died when I was very young. I was adopted shortly after so I don’t remember much.”

Rikiyo speaks softly towards the table, gazing into the warm stone at the center.

“I have a very spotty memory making mochi with my mother. Just a faint shimmer of a happy memory, somewhere between my birth and my adoption by the Todoroki clan. I never even knew I had an affinity until today. All this time I’ve been running, competing… I’m a fraud.”

Rikiyo starts crying softly to herself.

“I’ve been cheating this whole time, I never earned anything. All those wins aren’t mine.”

“But didn’t you lose?”

Rikiyo’s tears stop for just a moment and anger swells in her eyes.

“Ikuma told me you lost the last championship.”

“What are you trying to say… Kenji.”

“That it was you. If you were some all-powerful athlete, you wouldn’t get demolished in the semi-finals.”

Rikiyo chuckles and wipes a tear from her eye.

“Thanks Kenji, I guess you’re right.”

“You would have AT LEAST made it to the finals.”
“Alright Kenji, don’t push your luck.”

We laugh together and share a smile. We talk longer into the night until they kick us out of the café. We even rode on the train together back home, turns out we live on the same block. I went to bed feeling like an absolute winner tonight.

I woke up the next morning and happily made my way to school. It was much quicker this time, and I even had enough time to meet Maya in the hallway.

“Maya.”

“Kenji? I thought something happened with you.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Someone’s been going around saying that you got kidnapped last night.”

That must be Ikuma. He did see me get thrown into the back of a van last night. I’ll find him later today and let him know, but I’ve got to tell Maya this first.

“Maya, yesterday I-”

As I’m talking Rikiyo travels around the corner, she’s back to her usual ice queen perfection.

“Oh Rikiyo!”

She glares down at me past an upturned nose. A piercing glare that rattles my soul and punctures my heart.

“I thought I told you NOT to talk to me.”