A Brewing Rivalry

“Agh! Aghhh!”

The shouts of pain were endless. I stood and watched in disbelief as Yukino delivered blow after blow to her helpless opponent. Some guy from Class B who talked a big game. He decided to challenge Yukino to a sparring match just one week into the school year. Some way to stake his claim as one of the strongest students in the school. Yukino, clearly, had other plans.

Ice pellets, ice shards, ice blades, anything and everything you could imagine, Yukino unleashed on this poor soul. She refused to hold back. I almost felt bad for him. He would certainly wake up with an abundance of bruises the next day. Watching this beat down did teach me one thing, though. Never get on Yukino’s bad side. Ever.

In the neighboring arena Emi was sparring with a Class C student. Their bout looked much friendlier than the one grasping my attention. Although it hardly looked like a fight. Whenever I glanced over, Emi was simply gliding around the courtyard arena, swiftly eluding every strike thrown her way. And, while doing so, she was watching Yukino’s fight? To have such grace and skill while paying attention to another match entirely was impressive to say the least. There was definitely a lot of punch underneath that exuberant exterior of hers.

“Oh wow Yukino! You’re so strong!” Emi called as she dodged yet another water blade with a perfectly executed back layout with a full twist. With skill like that, Emi should have a spot locked up on the Olympic gymnastics team.

Yukino delivered a cold, final blow. With a direct strike to her opponent’s chest, she sent him flying back, crashing into the back wall of the courtyard. Was that sound I heard the wind getting knocked out of him, or his ribs getting cracked? It was frightening either way. Yukino coolly pulled her long, beautiful hair over her ear. She hardly broke a sweat.

“Well that was disappointing,” she said as she returned to the sideline. “I thought a student from Class B would put up more of a fight.”

“You really handled him. That was impressive.”

Yukino gave no reaction to my comment. Laser focused, as always.

“Oh, you’re done now!?” Emi called out, back in the air once again. With Yukino’s fight done, I could now turn my attention to Emi’s match. As gracefully as Emi moved through the air, there was something especially captivating watching Yukino wield her magic. It was almost like her magic was an extension of her very self, picture perfect and not a single inefficiency. If you blinked, you were sure to miss something incredible.

Emi was not one to shy away from putting on a show. She calmly landed touched the earth for a brief moment before launching herself in the air. After pulling off half a flip, she seemed to stop, with her feet facing the sky, as though she made contact with some floating invisible barrier. She tucked her body before propelling herself with the speed of a bullet back towards the ground. She flipped again in midair to make a feet first impact, not with the ground, but with her opponent. A voluminous cloud of dust emerged around the impact site as Emi came blitzing to the ground, accompanied by the earth rumbling beneath our feet. That. was. incredible.

After delivering the finishing blow, Emi stood over her opponent, now laid out helplessly on the ground.

“That was fun! Thanks for the great match.”

Emi extended her hand out toward her fallen opponent. After taking a minute to catch her breath, the girl from Class C took Emi’s hand and rose to her feet. The two chatted cordially before the Class C girl jogged off. Emi made her way cheerfully towards us spectators.

“Hey Yukino! Nakamura! Did you see that?”

“That was amazing,” I said, my mouth still hanging open in shock.

“It was an impressive move,” Yukino admitted. “But as quick as it seemed, you were not quick enough. A faster opponent could have countered your move, and you left yourself vulnerable for a counter attack by diving in like that.”

Maybe that was a fair criticism? To me, Emi seemed like an unstoppable force. But to someone well versed in the magic world, perhaps she made a risky move. Yukino always calculated multiple steps ahead, who was I to question her.

“Aw come on, lighten up a bit! It was just a fun little match!”

“If you continue to treat everything as ‘fun’ you will never reach the top of the class. Every second at this school is a chance to improve.”

Man, Yukino really was all business. No fun and games here.

“I’m starting to get tired from all this sparring!” Emi said as she wiped her face with a towel. Of course she was tired. Pulling off Olympic level gymnastics routines in the air looked completely exhausting.

“I am still getting warmed up myself,” Yukino retorted. “Are you sure you do not want a match, Nakamura?”

There was no way I wanted anything to do with sparring against any student at this school, let alone Yukino. She would beat me to a pulp, and then some.

“That’s okay, I’m still trying to get acclimated to the island.”

It was a weak excuse, and the same one I had given at every opportunity for the entire week, but it had worked so far.

“Understandable. I am still getting used to the island myself. Maybe some other time then.”

Whew, saved myself again.

“Hey,” Emi interjected. “Isn’t that Hayashi?”

Yukino and I both turned towards the courtyard door. Entering was none other than my roommate, the hot headed Honoko Hayashi. Great, fireworks were sure to fly whenever Honoko and Yukino were together. Perhaps if we ignored her, Honoko would just go about her business.

“Hi Hayashi!!!”

Emi quickly put that plan in the mud. As any normal person would, Honoko looked over after hearing her name called and headed for the three of us.

“Hi Ichinose. Yukimura.”

“Hello Hayashi.”

Honoko’s greeting matched the lifelessness of Yukino’s. That sort of tone was typical with Yukino, but Honoko was more fired up when dealing with non-Yukino matters.

“You’re not going to say hi to me?” I asked Honoko, trying to fill the awkward silence.

“I see you plenty, why do I need to be so formal with you.”

Ah, there was that snappy attitude I’d grown to know in just a few days.

“So Honoko are you here to spar? I would love to train with you but I’m super tired! I just got done with a couple rounds myself!”

“I appreciate the offer, Ichinose. I am here to spar, but I didn’t have a match arranged. I thought I’d come down here and see who was around.”

I gulped. There was one outcome to this situation I didn’t want to see.

“I am still getting warmed up myself. I will be your sparring partner if you wish.”

And there it was. Yukino offered to be Honoko’s sparring partner. If they were going to do this, it would undoubtedly get heated, and fast.

“You know what? Sure, why not? You are the top ranked girl in the class, it would send a message to the entire school when I take you down.”

“‘When?’ That is a lot of confidence you have.”

The two girls refused to break eye contact. I could practically see the daggers shooting out of both their eyes.

“Okay remember friends, this is just a training session. Emphasis on training!” Emi tried injecting words of caution, but they were not received by either intended recipient.

“Well at the very least this will be a great match to watch,” I said, resigned to my fate.

Yukino and Honoko headed for opposite ends of the fighting field. Yukino stood in her spot, looking calm as ever. Honoko, on the other hand, looked about ready to blow up a building, or a particular ice wielding magic user. In an instant, Honoko launched herself right for Yukino.

Darting forward at great speed, Honoko unleashed a barrage of fireballs towards Yukino. Gracefully as ever, Yukino swiftly moved side to side and back and forth, gliding past every attack with ease. The way she kept herself grounded as she evaded the attacks, it almost looked as though she were dancing around the flames. For as gracefully as she moved, Yukino had yet to throw a single strike in return, and Honoko was quickly closing the gap between them. The gap was closed.

Honoko threw a right hook with a flame engulfed hand. Yukino parried it. Left jab. Ducked. Still crouched, Yukino swiftly kicked her leg, catching Honoko’s left foot. She stumbled as she regained her balance.

“Is that all you’re going to throw at me!” Honoko shouted angrily. “Are you mocking me? Use your magic!”

Yukino had yet to cast a single spell. In her previous fights today, she had unveiled a complete ice arsenal by this point. Why was her approach different this time?

Honoko clenched her fists. Small, controlled flames shot out the side of her fist, like miniature blades. One in each hand. Again, she ran towards Yukino.

More of the same. Yukino calmly evaded each swing. Then, in the blink of an eye, the fight turned on it’s head. Yukino ducked below a wild swing from Honoko, spinning around Honoko’s body in the process. From behind, Yukino grabbed Honoko’s left arm and yanked it towards the ground.

“Ow!”

Honoko’s left arm was now pinned to the ground, her entire forearm encased in ice. With her body now contorted unnaturally, she was vulnerable.

Yukino swung her leg for another kick, this one headed straight for Honoko’s head. Honoko ducked towards the ground, forced to react. Yukino cleanly flipped over Honoko’s body now laying low to the ground. In her wake was a trail of ice. As Yukino’s feet returned to the earth, the arch of ice surrounding Honoko’s body clamped down, completely surrounding her. Yukino rendered her entirely immobile.

“Agh! Get off me!”

“This fight is over,” Yukino said as she brushed her hair back behind her shoulders. “Thank you for the match.”

Honoko was fuming. “You don’t get to say this is over! I can still fight!”

She tried to break free, but to no avail. This fight really was over. I could hardly believe what I just saw. Honoko was no slouch herself, ranked seventh in Class 1-A, but Yukino was a different breed. To fight with such poise, and to end the match immediately after going on the offensive, was incredible. And she did it all without getting as much as a single scratch on her. All that, and she was still wasn’t ranked first.

Yukino turned her back to Honoko and began to walk away. The ice surrounding Honoko quickly melted away, with Yukino no longer keeping her locked down. As Honoko rose to her feet, I saw a look of fire in her eyes as she conjured a flame in her hand. Was she about to do something she’d regret?

Her look of fire was soon replaced by a look of defeat. The flame in her hand extinguished. I guess she came to her senses after all. As Yukino returned to the sideline, I made my way out onto the field. I’m not sure what was powering me in that moment, but my legs seemed to move on their own. Against my better judgment, I found myself walking towards Honoko.

What exactly was my goal? I wasn’t entirely sure. To comfort her? No, she would probably view that as demeaning. To encourage her? She probably wouldn’t want any encouragement from me. With no plan in mind, I reached her.

I stood speechless for a moment, unsure what exactly to say. “Wow, you had some pretty impressive moves out there.” Really, that was all I could come up with?

Honoko continued to stare at the ground. I had only known her for a few weeks, but I had never seen her like this. Where was the fiery passion of the girl who hurled a textbook at me on my first day on the island?

“Seriously, you fought like an expert,” I continued. “I haven’t seen that kind of fighting style before.”

Of course, I had never seen any kind of magic fighting style in my life before setting foot at this school. But so far in class, Ms. Kurokawa had only taught us the basics of defensive magic along with some of the ranged magic attack basics. Watching Honoko fight a close combat, hand-to-hand style showed the versatility of magic usage. I’m sure each and every student at this school fought in their own unique ways.

Honoko finally lifted her head. I saw the flame of her passion slowly sparking back to life in her eyes.

“Are you trying to patronize me!” She shouted. “‘Pretty impressive moves out there.’ Really? Is that some kind of joke? I just got humiliated and you’re trying to cheer me up with cliche comments like that?”

She was right, I had no idea what I was doing. Even though I hadn’t known her long, I should have known better than to come out here.

“Sorry,” was all I could muster up, unsure what else to say.

“Whatever.”

Honoko marched right past me and stormed off. As I watched her leave, I spotted Yukino and Emi, still standing on the sideline, watching the whole scene unfold.

I didn’t have the guts to head back to them. But, as I was about to leave, I was stopped by the call of Emi’s voice.

“Hey Nakamura, come here for a sec!”

I wasn’t one to ignore a simple request.

“What’s up?” I asked as I reached the two girls.

“Sooo, what’d you think of Yukino’s fight?”

“Incredible,” I answered honestly. “You didn’t throw a single attack for most of the fight, yet completely turned it around in an instant. You hardly even used magic at all.”

“Thank you.”

That was… it? For some reason, I expected more.

“All that training made me hungry!” Emi interjected. “Hey! How about the three of us go into town and grab some food?”

“I could eat,” I responded.

“I suppose it would be wise to eat following a training session. The body needs to refuel after all.”

Emi flashed a bright smile. She certainly loved when things went according to her plan.

“Great! I know this totally amazing ramen place! I went there the other day with some friend, you two gotta try it!”

“If you insist,” Yukino replied. “Ichinose, we should head back to our dorm room first. We are both a bit sweaty from our training.”

“Great idea! Nakamura, you can come along too! We all live in the same building after all!”

And just like that, I found myself heading back to Sugawara Hall in preparation for a lunch out with two of the highly regarded girls of Class 1-A.