This was an odd development. Downright strange, to be honest.
Haru and Riyo were preparing to duel in front of the Ark. Though, really, all Haru did was put his mask back on.
Riyo took off the thick coat she was wearing, as well as the scarf around her neck, which left her in some kind of incredibly tight-fitting leather jumpsuit. The extra clothes must have been making it harder for her to move around, or they were just too hot. She also removed the glasses-like thing from around her head. Next, she put on a pair of sturdy-looking gloves that covered her hands and arms all the way up to her elbows. The long boots she was wearing looked like they were pretty solid too. Lastly, Riyo tied her long hair back with a string, then slowly rolled her neck.
If Riyo wanted payback for Haru killing her great-grandfather, then that wasn’t beyond Manato’s ability to understand. But she had said that wasn’t it.
“Manato,” Yori called his name.
“Yeah? What?”
Manato looked over at Yori, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground next to him. She had taken off her gloves and scarf, but not her coat, though she had opened its front.
“Is it really okay already?”
“Is what?”
“The wound.”
“Yours?”
“No, yours.”
“Ohhh.”
Manato raised both arms, crossed them above his head, and stretched. He flexed his body to both sides too. Nothing felt wrong.
“It doesn’t hurt at all, so it’s probably healed, right?”
“Would you show me?”
“Sure.”
Manato twisted around so that Yori could see his back where his injury should have been.
“Your clothes are torn and stained with blood, but there’s no real wound here. What’s up with your body, Manato?”
“Uhhh. I dunno what to tell you. I’ve always been like this. That reminds me, do your teeth not grow back if they fall out either, Yori?”
“Not the permanent ones that grew in after my baby teeth fell out.”
“Permanent teeth? You mean adult teeth?”
“Yep.”
“I’ve lost an adult tooth and had it grow back before. Apparently, guys like me pop up sometimes.”
“They say that long ago, the priests of Lumiaris could heal wounds with magic.”
“Magic? I don’t think it’s that. Not that I’d know. But I’m not doing anything special.”
“So you just leave it alone and it heals. Must be nice.”
“But if I ever had my head cracked open, I think that’d probably kill me. Wouldn’t...it? Y’know, my head’s never been cracked open before. Maybe I ought to give it a try?”
“And what if doing that kills you? Don’t even try it.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Manato said with a laugh, causing Yori to laugh along with him.
Manato thought it was a little weird for him to think this when he was laughing too, but Yori seemed awfully unconcerned, considering that Riyo and Haru were about to duel. She looked like she was totally relaxed.
“Who do you think’ll win, Haru or Riyo?” Manato asked.
“Dunno,” Yori replied instantly. “Haruhiro’s got over a century of experience, after all. And it doesn’t seem like his age is slowing him down. He ought to be pretty tough. But Riyo’s no slouch either, so who can say?”
“Could you beat Haru?”
“Couldn’t say without trying.”
“Why is Riyo fighting Haru?”
“You’ll find out if you watch.” Yori raised one knee and hugged it, then looked over at her sister. “Riyo’s not awkward the way Yori is. Though, she did do everything Yori told her to when she was little. But Riyo’s not a kid anymore, so she’s gonna do things her way. She’s a stubborn one. But so is Yori. Maybe that’s because we’ve got great-grandma’s blood in us. Though, great-grandpa was supposedly pretty willful too.”
“Let me warn you...” Haru said as he brandished his two daggers. He had the stretching one in his right hand, and the nonstretching one in his left. “I’ve never trained in any martial art. I’ve only ever learned techniques for wounding and killing living creatures.”
“I learned Odradd from Master Emi Bubur.”
Riyo put her hands together in front of her chest. The tips of her fingers were touching, but her palms were not. She stood with her legs spread a bit and her knees slightly bent.
“Odradd means ‘the one who resists.’ The liberator of the Red Continent’s slaves, Odradd, is said to have invented the style. But no evidence remains of Odradd having actually existed. One theory holds that minstrels and storytellers invented the character of Odradd based on the stories of several different liberators. In addition to throwing swords like the braka and jabi, we use armored gloves called kuduses, and armored boots called hadumas. In this duel, I won’t be using a braka or a jabi. I’ve already put on my kuduses and hadumas.”
“Thanks for the detailed explanation,” Haru said.
“You’re welcome. Now, how about we get started, Haru-san.”
“You’re serious about doing this, huh?”
“Of course I’m serious.”
“Okay. We can start whenever.”
The moment Haru said that, Riyo slid into motion. She was already running. Not directly, of course. She took an arcing course as she closed in on Haru.
Haru swung with his stretching dagger. Did Riyo block with her glove—a kudus, or whatever it was called? Or did she dodge? The two were so close, it looked like they were about to collide. But then a moment later, they had parted.
Riyo’s movement was constant and flowing, never stopping for a second. It changed moment to moment, speeding up and slowing down.
“It’s like nyu, nyuh, nyu, ninyu, nyuu, nyuu, nininyu, nyu, nyu...” Manato murmured.
“You mean Riyo?” Yori asked.
“Yeah.”
“Haruhiro’s like shoo, shooshooshoo, pappan, papa, shoo, shoo, shooshoo.”
“Ohhh! Yeah, he is kinda moving like that!”
“Riyo’s a real pain to fight.”
“Have you fought her, Yori?”
“Not Riyo, but Yori has fought against other Odradd users. They’re strong. Or you could also say they’re unnerving. There’s more to Odradd than just those distinctive striking attacks. It uses throws too. All of their techniques are offensive. They throw themselves into battle aiming to take down ten guys before dying themselves. And they’ll do it bare-handed. But when they have kuduses and hadumas to protect their arms and legs like that, they can kill ten guys and be just fine.”
It was true, Riyo was constantly on the attack. Haru would back away, or move to the side, but he hardly ever moved forward.
Yori’s lips twisted into a frown. “But Haruhiro’s not fighting seriously. Those are his techniques for wounding and killing living things? If so, I’m disappointed.”
Yori sounded mad. Manato smiled a little.
“What?” Yori asked, glaring at him.
“Well, I mean, if Haru killed Riyo, you wouldn’t like that, right?”
“Well...”
“You’d hate it, wouldn’t you?”
“Well, yeah. She’s my little sister.”
“Do you think Haru’ll kill Riyo?”
After a pause, Yori said, “No.”
“Well, then don’t you think that means Haru won’t get serious?”
“Haruhiro accepted the duel.”
“But why do you think he accepted? You and Riyo are the grandchildren...no, great-grandchildren of the comrades he cared so much about, right? I don’t think Haru would be able to kill people like you. Huh. But he did kill his comrade, Ranta, didn’t he? Weird.”
“He must’ve had a reason for doing it. Maybe he had no other choice.”
“Yeah, I suppose. Huh? Do you know something, Yori?”
“Not a thing. After all, that was a century ago.”
“I’m sure...Haru didn’t want to kill him. I wonder what that feels like, killing someone when you don’t want to.”
After a pause, Yori said, “I don’t even want to think about that.”
“Must’ve been rough on Haru.”
Manato could tell that, just like Yori had said, Haru wasn’t serious. Even as Riyo pressed the attack on him, he’d occasionally counter with his stretching dagger, but the swings didn’t have any sharpness to them. There was no sense he was trying to finish her off.
Haru had killed a man he hadn’t wanted to kill, and was now fighting Riyo whom he didn’t want to fight.
“Hahhh...” Manato sighed without meaning to.
Yori glanced at him. “What is it?” she asked.
“Hmm. I dunno.” For some reason, Manato felt like he couldn’t keep sitting cross-legged. He got up into a crouching position. “Hang in there, Haru.”
“Hang in there?” Yori seemed upset, or maybe suspicious.
Manato had no idea why he had said that. It was so weird he couldn’t help but laugh. “It just sort of slipped out,” he replied.
“It’s no good,” Haru suddenly said, casting aside his stretching dagger. And then he let go of the non-stretching dagger too.
Riyo stopped for the first time. But it wasn’t a sudden stop. She moved smoothly into a lowered posture.
“Does this mean you’re stopping the duel?” she asked.
“I can’t kill you when you have Yume’s and Ranta’s blood in you.”
“But you killed our great-grandpa, Haru-san.”
“You’re right. And despite what I just said, if I were in a situation that forced me to, I might kill you as well.”
“What kind of situation would that be?”
“Ranta asked me to do it. He begged me to kill him before Skullhell took over. He knew. Skullhell was about to be set free, and then he wouldn’t have been himself anymore. He wouldn’t have even been able to die as a person. He probably understood all of that.”
“So the only way he could have died as a person was to have you kill him, Haru-san.”
“There might have been another way, but not one we could have figured out right then and there. Just before I ended his life, I said I was sorry. He was true to himself to the very end. He smirked and said, ‘That’s my line, moron.’ Even a hundred years later, my memory of that moment hasn’t faded one bit.”
“And you aren’t ever going to die, Haru-san.”
“I don’t think I’m immortal, but I won’t die easily.”
“You’ll always remember it.”
“It seems unlikely I’ll forget.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Nah.” Haru gave a clear shake of his head. “If I let myself regret it, that would mean I thought he made the wrong call. He did what was right for him. So, no, I don’t regret it. Even if I could go back, I’d do it again. I’d definitely kill him.”
“Haru-san.”