Chapter 13: The Line

Asumi hadn’t said a word since the day before.

She ate lunch with Meguri in silence, went back to the dorm, ate dinner, and went to sleep. She didn’t utter another word to her roommate, or anybody else. As she and Meguri stood in their box, staring down at Taichi, she finally spoke.

“Why did you make that bet?” Asumi asked quietly. “With Taichi.”

“For fun!” Meguri smiled, resting her chin on her hands. “Besides, surely there’s something you want to make Taichi do for you, right?”

“Well… not in particular…” Asumi said, her eyes glued to her toes.

“Liar,” Meguri snorted.

“Besides, what if Taichi wins the bet? Then I’ll have to do what he asks!” Asumi protested.

“That’s how bets work – You could’ve said no! You went all quiet instead,” Meguri smirked. “I think you realized the same thing that I did.”

“...Yeah.”

Below them, the referee stepped forward.

“Hayato Taichi, unranked; Natsuki Hayama, rank 11.”

The crowd hushed and the air grew heavier with each word echoing through the arena.

“This is a no-holds-barred duel, but if I stop the duel, the duel stops. Any actions afterward will result in immediate disqualification or further punishment. Understood?”

“Yes,” both competitors said in unison.

“Shake hands.”

They shook hands, staring into each other’s eyes as Hayama’s hand gripped tightly. His eyes were sharp and unwavering – he wasn’t going to accept defeat easily.

“Off to your sides.”

They turned around, feeling the weight of their feet with each step as they took ten paces in the opposite direction from each other.

Taichi rolled his shoulders once, the pendant tapping softly against his chest. His soft gaze traced the audience of students, teachers, and bystanders in black suits sitting amongst them. Taichi’s eyes tightened on them before facing his opponent once again — staring forward with his breathing steady.

“Three seconds. Three, two, one – go!” the referee yelled out.

Taichi rushed forward, his eyes keeping their vision locked onto Hayama’s position, who didn’t move an inch.

Hayama’s mana surged.

A massive wall of water erupted from the ground in front of Hayama, curving outward into a towering semicircle that filled the entire width of the arena. Steam hissed from its surface, heat radiating outward in waves.

Taichi’s eyes widened – he couldn’t jump over it, and there was no way around it. His feet didn’t slow down.

It’s just water – I should be able to…

Before he could run through, a jet of scalding, pressurized water slammed into Taichi’s chest like a battering ram. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs and sent him flying backward across the mat. He slammed against the ground, skidding until he reached his original starting position.

Hayama looked at the health bars — pleasantly surprised the aspect-based attack was effective. His plan was to drain Taichi’s mana until he was unable to fight, but this worked even better for him.

Taichi sucked in a breath and forced himself upright, clenching his stomach.

He ran back in with a tight grip on his shinai scanning the surface of the wall – hyperaware of any fluctuations in its mana. He charged again.

A blast erupted from his blind spot, but Taichi was ready. He swiftly swung his shinai in one clean motion to block the jet.

It didn’t work.

The water flowed around it, crashing into Taichi’s side and blasting him off his feet once again. He skidded back, coughing as he stared back at the wall.

So this is what Asumi meant…

He rose slowly, chest heaving, eyes tracing the curtain of water. His fingers brushed against the pendant.

For a moment, he considered it.

Then he dropped his hand.

No… I’ll win without it.

Taichi crouched down at his starting line, closed his eyes, and felt the mana clinging to the air – the mass that was sitting right before him. He felt everything. The pressure, the timing, the temperature, the air fluctuations… he could make it.

He sheathed his shinai in his vest and rushed at the wall as quickly as he could.

Hayama chuckled.

Taichi continued rushing as jets of water gushed out toward him from all directions… but none of them hit him. With the grace of a dancer, he slipped between them, sliding, twisting, ducking through narrow gaps between the jets. Steam scorched his skin as blasts passed inches from his face, but he was pressing forward.

Taichi burst through the edge of the wall – and saw Hayama’s smile.

The water wall suddenly collapsed inward, forming into a dome around Taichi. The temperature suddenly dropped so drastically that it burnt. All the water instantaneously froze into ice, trapping Taichi. He punched the wall, but the wall with Hayama’s reinforced mana was too much for his fists. Razor sharp icicles began to form along the inside, stabbing inward, shrinking the space.

He reached for his shinai, but there wasn’t enough space anymore to swing his sword.

Soon enough, he didn’t have space to swing his sword. He couldn’t break free.

In the booth, Meguri chuckled.

“I have full faith Taichi will still win this match – in fact, I didn’t even add a clause for what would happen if he loses… but with the fine line between confidence and cockiness, Taichi stepped far over it. That’s why even though he’ll win the match…”

The ice brushed against his shoulder, ripping through his blazer slightly. With a breath, he reached up to his pendant and yanked it off.

A mellow white light radiated from his body, and the dome of ice surrounding him disappeared, revealing his discontent face once more.

“He was always going to lose this bet.”

Mana dissolved like mist as Taichi surged forward, shinai already in motion. Hayama barely had time to widen his eyes before Taichi shattered his guard with a clean strike.

Hayama covered the floor around him in water to create distance, but Taichi lept over it, closing it instantly and throwing his shinai like a lance.

As soon as he landed, he punched Hayama in the chest, grabbed his shinai again, and got another hit.

Hayama tried to create distance again, but Taichi’s speed was constantly increasing, a subtle fury radiating into the ground with every step, propelling him forward at speeds that Hayama was hardly able to react to.

Once Taichi got into close range, Hayama was never able to recover.

“Match over!” the referee shouted. “Hayato Taichi is the winner!”

Taichi walked over to the fallen Hayama, reaching out his hand, to which Hayama hesitantly accepted.

“That was a good fight, Natsuki,” Taichi said with a smile. “Thank you.”

“Yeah… uh… thanks. Good fight,” Natsuki responded.

Taichi was already gone.

He vaulted into the Top Ten booth, startling both Asumi and Meguri.

“Asumi…”

“Taichi, how did you even get here? This isn’t… oh, whatever. Take a seat if you want,” Asumi surrendered, realizing that Taichi has no restrainments on him.

Instead of taking a seat however, he stood in front of Asumi, bowing.

“I’m sorry.”

Asumi’s face became flush as her eyes raced around.

“Huh, why? What? You okay? Do you have a fever?” Asumi spouted frantically.

“You were giving me serious advice, and I was taking it for granted. I won the fight, but I could’ve very easily lost if I wasn’t fast enough in taking off my pendant. You told me not to underestimate him, and yet I did. I’m sorry,” Taichi said, continuing to bow.

“...you can quit bowing already. That’s not like you,” Asumi said softly, looking away. “I might’ve been a little bit mad about you being all dismissive…”

“A little?” Meguri chimed in.

“Shut up,” Asumi said. “But anyway, you learnt your lesson I guess, so that’s fine.”

Taichi shook his head.

“No… not yet.”

“Huh?” Asumi turned her head.

“There’s the bet. You need to give me your request – then it’s all clean and even,” Taichi said.

“Yeah Asumi, what’s your request gonna be?” Meguri asked, nudging her elbow against Asumi with a mischievous smirk.

“My request…” Asumi blushed as her brain raced frantically. “I want… I mean, would you… I request– I…”

“Come on now Asumi, you got this!” Meguri cheered on – suddenly standing 5 feet away from her.

Taichi stared at the duo, confused as to why Asumi was giving a death stare through Meguri, but she continued stammering.

“A d-... a da-...” Asumi was brought to the verge of tears. “I can’t! I can’t do it! Taichi, you idiot!” she ran out screaming.

“Huh?!” Taichi yelled, starting after her.

Meguri grabbed his arm, laughing. “Let her go… you have something more important to do.”

Meguri pulled out her phone, showing Taichi that his next matchup in the tournament was already decided.

“Tadokoro Shoko…” he muttered. “Meguri… can you tell me what you can about this person?”

With a smile, she nodded.

“It would be my pleasure.”