I squatted down, covering my face, and the little one smugly addressed me.
“…Can’t yap no more, huh? Sorry ’bout that. Your vision will come back soon enough.”
“We’ll be long gone before then, though.”
I could head the sound of the rope I tied around them falling to the floor.
But then—
“Oh? You guys are good at undoing ropes.”
“?!”
—the two of them turned around to find me getting up.
I was wearing my sunglasses. Normally, I used these for their night vision, but that was turned off, so they were just regular sunglasses.
“I’m fine, thanks to these.”
“I can’t believe you figured it out so fast on your own.”
“Heh. That was thanks to Rio.”
“Kiyose?”
“When she brought me to her house, she gave me the chance to hold the Red-Hot Crown, so I can still remember how heavy it was.”
“Ah, I see. So when you took their gemstones, you knew they were fakes due to their weight. What about the flash-bang?”
“I didn’t see that coming—I just guessed there would be something more to the fakes, so I was ready to move when it kicked off.”
“So it was pure instinct…”
“Well…yeah… I mean, it’s not like I had time to ask you, so I just pretended their trick worked.”
“I’m impressed. All right, now…”
“…it’s our turn!”
I got down low in a fighting stance.
“What the heck is goin’ on? This ain’t how this was s’posed to go at all…”
The fake Reds backed up.
“I’m not gonna let you get away.”
“Aw, shoot. If it’s a fight ya want, it’s a fight yer gonna get, y’hear?!”
The fake Reds both put their hands up, ready to tussle.
Looks like they’re finally ready to go. I’m not gonna let you get any cheap shots off this time!
TAP.
I kicked off the ground and rushed at them. I stayed low to the ground and went for the little one first with a punch.
“Hey! That was close!”
The two of them stepped to the right and left, and my fist only caught air.
“Try this on for size!”
The little one and the big one both came at me from either side, each unleashing a spinning kick.
Whoa, wait!
I blocked the kick coming from my front with my hands, but the kick from behind hit me in the back, sending me forward.
“Owwww!”
The spot where I got kicked was throbbing with pain.
Those two! They’re so hard to fight!!
“We used to be synchronized swimmers!” said the bigger one.
“She ain’t gonna know that’s a joke, ya doofus!” the little one teasingly corrected him.
Their comedy routine always takes me out of the fight, but I know I can’t let my guard down.
“Who wants seconds?! Hup!”
The little one chucked a small ball at me.
What is that?
I moved my head to the side to dodge it.
✦ ✦ ✦
BOOM!
The ball flew past me. It burst as it hit the ground, and smoke came erupting out of it.
A smoke bomb! Oh no! This was their goal the entire time! They’re gonna try to run again!
In a split-second decision, I rushed toward the window, but when I did, I felt my right shin get caught on something.
“Whoa…! Oops.”
I managed to catch my balance before falling over, but a fist came flying out of the smoke in my direction. I turned my head away, just barely managing to dodge.
SHWISH.
I could hear it rush past my ear.
C’mon!
I unleashed a kick toward where the attack came from, but all I caught was smoke.
Geez!
I couldn’t see anything through all the smoke.
“Whatcha doin’, li’l missy? Ain’t no one over there.”
I heard the little one call out to me. I faced the direction his voice came from, but I didn’t find anyone.
Where is he? What’s going on?
Squinting, I searched around harder.
“Over here.”
The next instant, I felt a heavy thud on my back.
“Wagh!”
It was the big one—he sent me flying forward by bumping into me with his belly.
Ouch…
I snapped back up in an instant. The attack itself wasn’t that powerful; I could probably take two or even three more. The issue was the damage was slowly beginning to chip away at me.
And the smoke was even more of an issue. It didn’t take long for the entire room to be filled with it, and it was keeping me from seeing any of their movements.
How, though? How can they see me? Shouldn’t the smoke be blocking their vision, too?
Thinking about it didn’t give me any answers, and standing still wasn’t doing me any favors.
I kicked off the ground, searching wildly for either of the fake Reds.
“Guh!”
Another kick came flying out of the smoke, but I managed to block it with my arms just in the nick of time.
Almost simultaneously, however, another punch came flying from the other side. I managed to dodge this just barely by leaping backward.
Every strike was a sneak attack, so I needed to stay focused. It didn’t help that they were all coming from two very coordinated people.
All right! Let’s try something new!
I stood in place, ready for the next attack to come.
“Oh-ho-ho? You gonna give up?” one of them said, but I didn’t answer.
Just gotta stay still.
But for some reason, they stopped moving, too.
Gotta stay focused.
Huff…
I let out a deep breath, and in the next instant, a punch came flying toward me from my right.
Now! That’s what I’ve been waiting for!
Instead of defending myself, I kicked toward where the attack was coming from.
I was going to take some damage and deal some damage at the same time!
But…
“Guh!”
…the punch landed on my right rib, knocking the air out of me.
“Whoopsie daisy!”
And my kick whiffed through the air.
Did I miss?!
Getting hit first must have thrown me off.
“Whoo-whee! That was a close one! You’re one crazy girl, you know that?”
What else am I supposed to do?!
“Letting down your guard ain’t a good idea. Let’s see how many quick hits you can take.”
Ugh… He’s right. I left my ribs wide-open; that hurt like heck.
I could still move, but I wouldn’t be able to take many more of those.
But it was the only idea I could come up with…
“Can you hear me, Asuka?”
“Kei! Yeah.”
“I figured out how they’re finding you through the smoke.”
“Really?!”
“Yes, it’s simple: sound.”
“Sound?”
“They can hear your footsteps and your breathing. Judging by how they are reacting to when you move, it’s the only explanation. You saw how they stopped talking when you stopped moving earlier, right? It’s because they were listening for your feet.”
“Oh, yeah… There was a pause in their attacks earlier. So that’s been their trick this entire time.”
“So your plan from before was a good one. If you’re going to make a counterattack, you need to focus on dodging first.”
“I mean, if I can actually avoid anything… Oh! I see what you mean!”
“Can you do it?”
“You bet I can!”
Knowing their trick made it easy.
I got down in my fighting pose, purposefully taking a step.
Now the real fight begins!
I listened.
Shwish!
I heard the faint sound of the air being cut.
My right!
I listened closely, and a middle kick cut through the smoke toward me. I moved my upper body slightly back, dodging the blow by a hair. The same went for the low kick that came after from behind—I managed to pull my legs up and avoid it.
“What the—?!”
I could hear their shock.
When I didn’t know what was coming, I used big movements to try and avoid their attacks, but figuring out their direction first allowed me to move a little less.
And now I knew where the two were when I saw their legs! I stepped toward their direction.
“Get ready for this!” I threw a right punch with all my might.
“Gragh!!”
Yeah, that one hit! Whoo! Just one more.
Hearing the faintest of footsteps still moving, I snapped quickly back to the left to find the bigger man with his eyes wide-open. Before he could do anything, I karate chopped him in the neck.
He tumbled over onto the floor, knocked out cold.
“Whew. It’s over.”
“It is.”
“Yup! Now we just need to find the Red-Hot Crown and Blue Star and put them back.”
The smoke was beginning to clear, and the first thing I could see was the little one, sprawled out on the floor. The bigger one was folded over next to him, completely unconscious.
I walked over to the little guy, who was still somewhat awake.
“Hey, where’s the real Red-Hot Crown and Blue Star?”
The little one looked down, before slumping his shoulders and reaching into his pockets.
“Here…,” he said with bated breath, tossing out two gemstones.
Thud.
He turned his hands over, and the two heavy gemstones fell into the palms of each of mine. The red and blue gemstones glistened in their respective colors.
Yeah! These are the real deal. The Red-Hot Crown is the same weight as the one Rio let me hold.
“Asuka, the security team has picked up on the commotion and are en route now.”