Chapter 15 — A Spunky Girl With Deadly Legs

After Tsukishima’s win in the first match, Team Hinata now led Team Watanabe one to zero. As soon as Tsukishima returned, Yôsuke and Ryûko praised her enthusiastically.


"Mori, you were amazing!"


"Tsukishima-san made it look effortless at the end!"


Tsukishima's gaze was softer than usual as she locked eyes with Ryûko.


"I wouldn't say I was impressive. If you hadn't helped me, I would undoubtedly have lost."


Tonakura clicked her tongue, her arms crossed tightly as usual, and she glanced at Tsukishima.


"Would it kill you to accept a compliment? You are not the fraud you think you are."


Tsukishima tilted her head down.


"Sorry... It's not that I hate it..."


"Then stop being all shy and say thanks."


Tsukishima looked away, trying to hide her blush. Her flushed cheeks betrayed her flustered state as she murmured:


"Thank you, everyone... Thank you for believing in me."


Ryûko leapt into Tsukishima’s arms, pressing her cheek against her friend’s.


"I love it when Mori acts shy! It’s so cute!!"


"Ah, really...? I... Thanks..?"


Tsukishima seemed unsure of how to reply. Don't worry, Tsukishima, I wouldn't either. Being shy isn't inherently bad, even though I think most people suffer from it. Ryûko seems to be doing her best to help her feel more comfortable with it.


Well, now's not really the time to think about that. Team Watanabe has already sent in their second fighter. It's up to us to decide which one of us goes now.


The order of play in Erabareshimono no Kyousou is usually decided by the point difference between the two teams from the previous round.


In other words, if one team wins 5-2 in the previous round and another wins 4-3, the team that won 5-2 will have the right to wait for the other team to send its fighter in 3 of the 5 fights, with the first one being mandatory.


In the first round, the first fighters are chosen independently of the others, and the winning team in each fight may send their fighter to face the other team's. In other words, as long as we kept winning, we'd always have the advantage of choice.


"So they sent Karui Sorei, huh? Which means..."


"I can fight!" Ryûko leapt forward, her face inches from mine.


"No, Odogiri-san would be a better fit."


"Ah, I remember when you told me about her. She's the girl who fights by throwing bolts, right?"


"That's one way to put it."


"The Newbie and I talked about her as well, so that means I'm also a great fit!"


"It's the opposite. Did you even listen to me back then?"


"Yup. Almost a third of what you said is still in my brain, I think!"


I see. I overestimated Ryûko's ability to focus. No wait, that's not even my fault, it's hers.


"Karui Sorei is a range fighter, typically what you should avoid."


"So what? Don't underestimate me, Newbie. I have a secret technique I haven't shown you yet! Now is the perfect time."


Is she for real? "Are you for real? Shouldn't we save our secret weapons for later?"


Ryûko fell silent, pressing her fingers together. Her request is irresponsible, and she probably knows it. Yet she tried to convince me again:


"The Newbie remembers our promise, right? I was just thinking that, if I won this fight specifically, you would be impressed or something like..."


... Well, I get what she comes from, but still... While I was lost in thought, Yôsuke draped his arm over my shoulders.



"Let her try it. We only need one more win if we want to trigger the Mercy Rule, so it's fine. Besides, I'm supposed to fight Sumiyaka-senpai, remember."


"Ah."


"Ah?"


"I forgot about that..."


I looked at Toshinori, the only other option we had. Yep, Ryûko was still the best choice—or rather, the only choice.


"Good luck, Ryûko."


Ryûko, hands on her hips, puffed out her chest.


"I knew you would see the light! I'm off!"


"Wait... One last thing."


I gently tapped Ryûko's forehead with my index finger.


"What was that for?! It kinda hurts, you know?"


"It's like a good luck spell. I forgot about it for Tsukishima-san since I was a bit stressed earlier."


"Eh..." Ryûko tilted her head. "So, The Newbie believes in that stuff as well?"


"Someone made me believe."


I tapped Ryûko lightly on the shoulder. I doubt my expression was any different than usual, but for some reason, I felt lighter after this gesture.


"Have fun!"


"That's the plan, Newbie! You can count on me!"


As she was about to dash out, Tonakura grabbed her shoulder.


"Um... What is it now...?"


"Where do you think you're going dressed up like that?"


"Uh, fighting? I mean, that's what we're here for, right?"


"Oh. So you're gonna throw your dumbass kicks everywhere with a skirt on?"


"That's basically it. Mori wore hers as well, so it's fine. Besides..."


To everyone's surprise, she grabbed her skirt and lifted it quickly.


"What the hell is wrong with you??" Akira immediately covered his face. "You can't do that out of nowhere, dammit!"


"Sheesh... No need to get all flustered, I have shorts on, so it's fine."


I'm certain that it's not, it's not like I could change her mind anyway. Ryûko has her own way of thinking, and going against that often means a headache.


"I wear them all the time except in summer. I don't really like skirts, especially when there are drafts."


"Then, why don't you just ditch the skirt?"


Ryûko paused thoughtfully. Waguri had a point, but Ryûko had her own far-fetched reason.


"I'm kinda used to fighting with it now... Hehe..."


Tonakura clicked her tongue louder than usual—a clear sign she was about to explode.


Ryûko noticed and waved goodbye quickly before the argument turned nasty.


When Ryûko finally left, Tonakura shot me a fierce look.


I met her gaze for a split second before looking away slowly.


"Ahem!"


Tonakura's loud clearing of her throat echoed in my ear, yet I chose to stay silent, to protect myself from danger.


"Are you fucking deaf? Either that or you're ignoring me, and you better not."


"I'm ignoring you, since you look like you're in a bad mood."


Tonakura's sharp magenta eyes bore into me. She's mad for real for real, but instead of exploding, she took a deep breath to steady her racing heart.


"Ryûko and you... Who are you to each other?"


"Friends."


"Cut the crap. Ryûko doesn't act this way with anyone but you, and certainly not with someone she met just two weeks ago. So I'll ask again..."


Tonakura stepped up to me, trying to keep a neutral expression, though seeing my face this close made her instincts urge her to back away.


"Who are you to each other?"


*


"Yahoo!! After Tsukishima's magnificent victory, Team Hinata is leading in this first round!"


Nanase Nana's high-pitched voice boomed through the arena, followed by cheers from the crowd.


"It's time for the second match! And what a match it's going to be! On my right, the most cheerful, adorable girl you could ever befriend... Hinata Ryûko!!"


Ryûko burst into the arena to loud cheers from the crowd. She performed a few gymnastic moves, finishing with a graceful front flip. It seems like Ryûko really enjoys putting on a show, but I'm not sure her opponent is going along with it.


"On my left, the President and only member of the Occult Club. A second-year student known for her ability to talk to... a deceased idol...? Um... Let's welcome Karui Sôrei!!"


Despite having an almost ghostly presence, Karui Sorei was still greeted by the crowd.


Ryûko narrowed her eyes, trying to size up her opponent.


Karui's long, raven-black hair swayed with each step she took. Her bangs covered one eye, while the other, visible, was a soft gray.


As for Karui's Reiki, it enveloped her like a gray cloud, its surface covered with countless swirling symbols that obscured her face.


"I see." Ryûko snapped her fingers and then pointed at Karui. "You seem strong, let's put on a nice show, Karui-senpai!"


Karui stopped in her tracks, her eyes scanning her surroundings before settling on Ryûko.


She seemed to be analyzing her opponent. Her lips parted slightly, and she clenched her teeth, grinding them softly.


"S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S..."


"Huh? What's up? Are you imitating a snake or something? Maybe it's a team thin—"


"Stop staring at me! Or I’ll curse you!!"


Karui's voice was deep, dissonant, with an unsettling ghostly tone. Intentional or not, I could see even more clearly why she was the president of the Occult Club.


"Ah... Sorry, but I can't do that... " Ryûko bowed slightly—not very formally—to Karui. "I understand that you don't like being stared at, but... I can't fight if I don't watch you. Sorry!!"


"Y-You're dumb..."


"Waguri says that all the time, too. But hearing it from someone smarter than her makes it feel more accurate."


That's rude. Ryûko's honesty is sometimes disarming... Why do I feel like she did it on purpose, though?


Ryûko took a deep breath and planted her feet firmly on the cement floor. She stretched her left arm forward, palm open, striking a pose reminiscent of the hero in the movie we had seen.


Her legs were spread just enough to keep her balance, while her right hand was clenched into a fist at her side.


Ryûko exhaled slowly, then looked at her opponent with her cyan-blue eyes filled with confidence and determination.


"Before we begin, I must warn you of something. Not a single one of your attacks will touch me, Karui-senpai!"

Karui remained silent. She took dozens of bolts out of her pockets, which clattered loudly as they collided with each other. A dark energy enveloped the bolts, causing them to levitate and spin around her.


“Ohoh! The tension is already rising in the arena; let's not keep you waiting any longer! READY...? ROCK!!!”


Karui fired several bolts at Ryûko. The bolts sliced through the air, shimmering with dark energy.

Ryûko’s gaze flickered rapidly, tracking each projectile.


"Only ten? That’s barely a warm-up!"


With an acrobatic move, she jumped and dodged the bolts with ease. She landed lightly on both feet, turning around to give Karui a mischievous smile.


"Come on, Karui-senpai! You can do more than that!!"


Ryûko's voice rang out confidently as she deftly dodged the projectiles. She grabbed one in her hands, throwing it into the air while staring at Karui. She noticed a black thread of hair attached to it.


"Hmm... could it be a strand of her hair...?"


In midair, the bolt headed toward Ryûko's face, still imbued with Karui's energy. It headed toward Ryûko's face, but even at point-blank range, Ryûko dodged it with a quick flick of her head.


"Miss!"


She grabbed the same bolt again and threw it back at Karui, who dodged it.


"Hehe!"


*


When confronted by Tonakura, I didn't really have an answer that would satisfy her. I thought Himeguro might have a clue about a potential past connection, but even she was clueless about Ryûko.


"So? You answering or what?"


"Ryûko and I are friends. I don't have any other answer that would satisfy you."


"Damn you."


Yôsuke jumped into the conversation.


"Don't be like that, Tonakura-san. Harumaki-san answered honestly, so why are you mad?"


"That's exactly the reason why I'm mad."


"Well, I kinda get you. It's like when you call Ryûko by her first name. She may be kind-hearted, but she wouldn't let someone use her first name so soon."


"You're right, Toshinori-san. To be honest, it's kinda like a no-brainer, calling Ryûko by her first name, I mean. When I see her, I think, 'Ah, it's Ryûko.' Whereas with you, it would be, 'Ah, it's Toshinori-san.' You get it?"


"Man... You're one strange fellow..."


The crowd reacted again as Ryûko dodged yet another attack. Toshinori watched in amazement as his burnt-orange-haired friend managed to dodge so many assaults.


"Hey, Harumaki-san. Is it something you worked on?"


"Not really, Ryûko's eyesight is excellent, even close to superhuman. And with the help of her Kikai, she has no trouble reading the trajectory of marked projectiles like Karui-senpai's. There's a little bit of my influence, but it's mainly her instinct that makes her dodges so natural."


*


In the arena, Ryûko was maneuvering around the bolts sent by Karui. And as promised, none of them had hit their target.


"Left... Right... And Bam!!"


Ryûko deflected a bolt with a kick. She stepped back as five more flew toward her and dodged them all.


"You're better than I expected, Karui—Wha—"


Ryûko bent her body just in time, evading a projectile that whistled past her ear.


"Oops! That was close!"

Ryûko's bright eyes stayed fixed on Karui, a confident smile lingering on her lips.


"H-Hinata... Ryûko... You're... You're—"


"The greatest!!"


"No. Annoying."


Ryûko lunged forward as a new barrage of bolts targeted her. With a swift movement, Ryûko blocked two bolts, trapping them in her palms.


“She's doing a good job of keeping me at bay... but it won't be enough!”


Closing the distance, Ryûko bent her leg to strike... then pulled back at the last moment, she planted her feet, then leaped backward.


The sudden movement kicked up dust from the ground as she dodged a handful of bolts in one graceful motion. Ryûko landed slightly off balance, stumbling but quickly recovering. Karui froze, eyes wide.


"H-How did you..."


"The show wouldn't be as fun if the magicians revealed their tricks, right?"


Karui clenched her teeth, watching several floating bolts clatter to the ground as her control began to fade. Her time was running out; the more time passed, the closer she got to her perfect trap.


"Combatant Hinata is making this fight look easy! Dodging every attack with grace, she’s forcing Combatant Karui to rethink her strategy!"


*

"Why reduce the number of projectiles now? The fewer there are, the less chance she has of hitting Ryûko's dodgy ass."


"That’s true. But if she kept up the same pace, Karui-senpai would run out of stamina first."


Yôsuke's fingers drummed on his armrest.


"But... Isn't she more durable than Ryûko?"


"Depends. If the fight goes on like this, Ryûko will run out of stamina first. Karui-senpai successfully identified that the key to the fight would be to keep Ryûko at a distance long enough to get her when she no longer had any stamina left."


"Hmpf! 'Successfully', huh? Did you plan that?"


I watched Ryûko in the arena, dodging while maintaining mid-range distance from her opponent.


"Among the seven scenarios I considered, one included this. Luckily, I warned Ryûko about it since it's her worst match-up. So she has a rough idea of what to do and not to do."


*


Ryûko breathed calmly between each volley of enemy attacks, her slightly tanned complexion catching the rays of the setting sun filtering through the arena's high window.


"I can dodge these attacks for now... but I need an opening."


She spun quickly to her left, narrowly avoiding a volley of bolts. Ryûko's piercing gaze fell on Karui, silently counting the remaining bolts in her opponent's arsenal.


"There are only five left. The fewer bolts there are, the faster they fly. If I'm not careful.."


Her gaze dropped to the bolts scattered across the arena floor, their dark energy barely visible in the slanting light.


The hair... and Karui's Reiki surrounding each bolt individually... Ryûko's eyes lit up as she rushed toward Karui.


"That's it, I remember now!"


Karui threw all her remaining bolts in a quick counterattack. Ryûko dodged the rain of bolts, but not with the same ease as before.


"Combatant Karui is completely exposed, at the mercy of Fighter Hinata! Wait, was this part of Karui's plan?"


Bolts flew from all directions, trapping Ryûko in the center. Although surrounded, she didn't falter. Rather, she pushed forward, accelerating straight into the barrage.


***


A few days prior, in Ryûko's garden.


I was lecturing Ryûko about Karui Sorei's stamina when she raised her hand.


"Newbie-sensei, how are you sure she'll get exhausted first! Not to brag, but I'm less durable than her."


"According to the records of the ENK we got, Karui-senpai can control objects with her mind, kinda like my telekinesis. Well, more like it has a fifty percent chance of working like that."


I pulled a few coins from my pockets and held them out.


"As you can see, I'm holding five coins. And now..." I used my telekinesis to lift them. "Now, I'm carrying a mass of five coins. Do you get it?"


Ryûko frowned. For a second, she looked like something clicked, then she walked it back.


"Isn't that still five coins?"


"It is, and that's exactly the potential difference between Karui-senpai's kikai and mine. The human brain is lazy, so it takes shortcuts. When I use my telekinesis, my brain treats the five coins as a single entity. It's less tiring this way."


"Eh...? But what does it have to do with Karui-senpai?"


"If my hypothesis is correct, it creates a separate connection between her and each object. Handling them individually would demand a lot of concentration and endurance."


"That sure sounds hard..."


"It is. According to the ENK's official records, Karui-senpai uses bolts. She won't clock your dodging right away, so she'll probably throw a lot at first, and she'll always need backups. Hold out long enough, and you'll find an opening."


"Sounds easy, I can do that!!"


"Yeah, but if her Kikai is similar to mine... Good luck."


***


Luckily, Ryûko remembered what I'd taught her about how Karui Sorei's Kikai worked.


Ryûko's gaze locked on Karui's eyes. Her emotional awareness had always been low; with few social interactions, she'd grown up unsure how to read people.


When she made her first friends, she started studying their eyes, learning to read their reactions—though it failed more often than not.


Ryûko caught a glimmer of what Karui was thinking, and that was all she needed.


"I’m nearly out of stamina, but Karui-senpai is too. Maybe she’s thinking the same... An all-out attack to finish the fight before it’s too late!"


The bolts closed in around her, but Ryûko kept her eyes locked on Karui.


At the last second, Ryûko stomped her left foot sharply against the floor. She sprang high into the air, twisting and dodging the bolts swirling around her.


"I told you! Not a single attack will hit me, Karui-senpai!"


She swung her leg high, spinning mid-air in a flowing arc.


"Take this! Ryû Tsui!!"


With her aerial momentum, Ryûko drove her heel down onto the top of Karui's head. Karui's teeth snapped shut from the impact, her mind going blank.


Ryûko landed softly behind Karui and raised her hand in my direction with a thumbs-up.


"YUUKI!! I WON!!!" She pointed at herself. "I'm impressive, aren't I? Hehe!"


From where I stood, I watched her grinning at me, sweat dripping down her face.


"You sure did. You were impressive."


From that distance, Ryûko couldn't have heard me. And maybe that was for the best, otherwise Ryûko would get cocky.


"Incredible! Combatant Hinata knocked her opponent out with a move out of this world! What a win, what a statement from Team Hinata!!"


"Ryûko! Ryûko! Ryûko!"


The crowd chanted her name, their voices echoing throughout the arena. Ryûko smiled brightly, waving in return.


"Me!! Me!! Me!!!"


Then she looked at Karui, who sat quietly on the floor as the Fukurokuju device took effect.


"Thanks for the fight, Karui-senpai. It was fun!!"


Karui answered with silence. Ryûko could only hear muffled sobs, stifled behind her opponent's trembling hands. A pang of guilt hit Ryûko's chest, but there was nothing more she could do. She turned, about to leave, when:


"T-thank you too... Hinata Ryûko..."


Ryûko's warm smile reappeared. She bowed deeply, then walked away with another victory for Team Hinata.


Team Hinata 2 – 0 Team Watanabe



To be continued...