Winged Emperor

The two teens continue with their intense trade-offs, punches, kicks, and even attempted throws, which would be dodged or countered by the opponent.

“Haah!” Takahashi goes for a punch.

Ducking the attack, the brunet springs up and in a very peculiar move, hugs the taller boy’s arm. “Toh!” He pulls back his legs and shouts. “Legs: Burst Divide!” Hiroto proceeds to kick the blond’s face with his powered-up legs. “Hah!” As his opponent stumbles back, the shorter teen lets go of his arms and falls to the floor.

He could go for a follow-up, but Takahashi had demonstrated just how quickly he could recover from being stunned.

As expected, it takes almost no time for the taller boy to get his bearings. “Heh, not bad.” Smirking, the blond adds. “But can you keep this performance up?”

Just as he says this, Hiroto feels a sharp pain run across his limbs. “Gah!” He winces and looks surprised at Takahashi. “How did you-“

“Do you really take me for just a pile of muscles?” With a scoff, the taller teen points at the star-eyed boy. “A Mahōgan like yours is quite unique, so I did some research after that day.” Takahashi chuckles. “I’ve been keeping track of your usage of Burst since the beginning, around now should be when your body starts to break down.” He dashes forward, a confident smirk on his face. “Which means-“

“Huh!?” The brunet notices his opponent approaching, but because of a sharp pain in his leg, he was unable to dodge the upcoming grab. “Guh!”

Now holding Hiroto’s face, the taller teen leaps high into the air. “-you’re wide open!” The red aura surrounding Takahashi’s body glows brighter, and the shorter boy feels the grip on his face tighten. “Wingless Drop!” Repeating the same move he used against Umiko, the blond dives back to the ground and slams his opponent’s face against it.

A small crater opens and dust explodes off the impact, making the crowd gasp and the students of Kurohane start to loudly cheer.

“Heh, are you still awa-?!”

“Leg: Full Burst!”

The brunet shouts as a bright blue light illuminates the dust cloud. He then kicks Takahashi’s stomach with enough strength to send the taller boy flying back.

Hitting his back against the barrier, the blond groans in pain. “Gaah.” He coughs a bit and takes some seconds to regain his breath. “The hell?!”

“Argh!” Hiroto also let out a groan as he felt a familiar pang all over his body, but specially on his head and leg. “There goes my first full burst of the day.” Coughing, the boy marches through the pain and stands up. “Just because my body is breaking down-“ He announces while pointing at his opponent. “-that doesn’t mean I’m backing down!”

Takahashi gets up and spits some blood to the side. “Good. With a spirit like that, maybe you won’t go down so easily.” The taller boy quickly does a pose that positions of his arms in front of his face while forming a ‘X’ shape, although it fully covered his face, his eyes were still visible. "Be honored star-boy, you’ll get to see my full power!”

The brunet feels all the hair in his body stand up and a chill run down his spine. “Could it be!?”

“Kouteigan!”

***

“Kurohane Takahashi.” George says while pulling his lollipop out of his mouth. “The de facto leader of their Dueling Club.” He closes his eyes. “And without a doubt, the strongest of the three."

“Just how strong is he compared to the other two?” Asks Ken as the older man sighs.

“Nakai might be a bigger problem because of his ability, but Kurohane? He is in another league completely.” The blond puts on a serious expression. “His martial arts and especially his ability-“

“Kouteigan.” Umiko interrupts, she looks down and grasps the hem of her skirt.

“Koutei?” The fashionista questions. “That is a surprisingly non-descriptive name.”

“That’s because his eyes and power don’t really fall into one single category.” Replies George as he stands up and moves towards the black-board.

“What do you mean by that?” Hiroto asks as he watches the older man swiftly and precisely draw Takahashi’s eye in the black-board.

“Mahōgans, just like all other traits of humans, are a genetic trait that can be passed down to the next generation.” Explains the advisor. He turns to face his students and continues. “But even more than that, because of the way Mahōgans work, not just can they be passed down, but they can also be mixed.” George points to the black-board, more specifically to the part where the sclera would be colored. “That is also the reason why his eyes look so unique compared to everyone else’s.” He pauses. “That is called a Modified eye. With his being a Modified Henkei-Type.”

“A modified eye…” Hiroto whispers to himself. “What exactly do they do?”

“You know how your eyes don’t have a specific power?” The blond asks and the brunet nods. “His are the opposite, they can do more than just what a normal Henkei-type would be able to do.”

“Not only does his Mahōgan grants him wings, but it also greatly increases all of his stats and even gives him the power to control his feathers individually.” Explains the bluenette with a serious expression. “He is a formidable foe with a unique way of fighting.”

An awkward silence falls as the group thinks to themselves just how terrifying of an opponent Takahashi truly is.

Not just was he physically adept, but he also carried a horrifying power that was nothing like the others.

Yet, there was something else about Takahashi that felt off. Something that seemed… sad about him.

“Yes-“ George breaks the silence and says what everyone else was thinking. “-it may sound inhumane, but Kurohane Takahashi was basically bred to be strong.”

After another couple of seconds in silence, Ken speaks up. “So, how are we going to deal with him?”

“That’s the problem.” The manager sighs. “We don’t really know that.”

Hiroto looks at his own hands and replies. “I might have something that can work.” Says the brunet as everyone looks towards him.

***

“Kouteigan!”

At his chant, long wings explode out of his back. They extend outwards, making large, black feathers fall all around the blond. His entire body was covered with what seemed like a crimson aura and his eyes were glowing even more than before.

“Winged Emperor Mode: Engage.” Takahashi announces as he grabs the collar of his gakuran and pulls on it, tearing it off his body and revealing his muscular physique underneath. “Here I come!” Without wasting any time, the blond takes flight and soars through the air at a speed that was too fast for most of the audience to perceive.

“Gah!” The brunet doesn’t even have the time to think of a countermeasure. In an instant his opponent was face to face with him. “Wha-gaaah!”

Using his boosted strength, the taller teen hits the shorter one in the jaw with an uppercut, strong enough to send him flying into the sky. “Heh.” He follows it up by flying towards the shorter boy and striking Hiroto’s back using his knee, then circulating around him and hitting the boy with a hammerblow to the gut.

“Argh!” Moaning in pain, the brunet descends into the ground at high speeds and hits it hard enough to create another small crater. “Hah!” Trying to catch his breath, the shorter teen notices a winged shadow covering him.

“Emperor Bullets-” Takahashi shouts as a couple of feathers burst out of his wings. “-Downpour!”

With a wave of his hand, all the feathers harden and rain down at high velocities.

“Legs: Divide Full Burst!” Hiroto charges both of his lower members and uses them to force himself out of the way. “Gah!” He manages to dodge then, but the pain from using his ability comes right after. “Crap! This isn’t good!”

The blond teenager lands down on the small crater and pulls two of the feathers out of the ground. “How long can your body hold up, I wonder?” Locking eyes with his opponent, the taller teen lifts off the ground again.

*Thump*

He flies up to Hiroto and goes on the offensive, using the feathers as if they were swords. His slashes were graceful and precise, it took a lot of focus from the brunet to be able to not just defend against those attacks, but to keep up with Takahashi’s increased mobility.

After a couple of slashes, the shorter teen finally sees an opportunity to strike and goes for it. “Arm: Full Bur- Argh!” Before he can capitalize on the chance, a feather from the previous attack makes its way behind the boy and struck him.

“Haaah!” Takahashi, using this to move in, ducks, then goes for a powerful kick to Hiroto’s stomach, launching the shorter boy high into the air. “Emperor's-“ He flies up and uses the feathers to slash Hiroto. “-Feather Dance!” The blond continues his assault by flying all around his opponent and cutting him from all sides and directions, leaving no room for the brunet to do anything. “Hah!” After his onslaught, the boy spins and delivers a kick to Hiroto’s stomach, sending the other boy spiraling down. “Emperor Bullets: Downpour!” Repeating what he did earlier, he once again spills out more feathers.

“Gaaaah!” Cries out Hiroto as his body hits the floor, an unbearable pain coursing all through his body. “H-Huh!?” He can only watch in horror as feathers fall down and pierce his clothes, pinning the boy down to the ground.

*Thump*

“Emperor-“ Takahashi wraps his wings around himself and starts to spin rapidly. “-Dive!” Descending at high speed, he hits the shorter boy in the stomach.

“Aaaaaaahhh!”

Hiroto’s voice echoes all around the arena as the audience just watches in shock at the complete display of dominance from the Kurohane student.

Jumping away, the blond lands just outside the slightly larger crater this attack made and smiles. “Do you understand the difference between our schools now, Yumehara?” He asks, although he doesn't expect an answer. Turning around he is now speaking to the audience. “No matter how strong you may think you are, cheaters like you could nev-“

*Thump*

Suddenly, a bright blue light emanates from the crater, making Takahashi turn around to look at it with a surprised expression.

*Thump*

“What? He’s conscious?!” The blond shouts in disbelief.

*Thump*

At the sound of his own heartbeat, Hiroto opens his eyes. “FULL BURST!“ He shouts, as the dust and debris explode away from him.

“What!?” Takahashi tightens his fists as the figure of his opponent emerges from behind the dust.

The brunet had bloodied scratches all over his body and the custom uniform that Kayoko had made for him was practically gone, revealing his chest to the public.

But that wasn’t the strangest part of it.

Something was different with Hiroto. The star-shape of his hair was now pointing upwards like a crown, he had a faint blue glow around his body, and most strikingly, his star eyes were twinkling beautifully, almost like real stars.

Locking eyes with Takahashi, the brunet announces.

“Full Burst: Demon Crown!”