“Who is that?”
The only one who noticed anything wrong with Hanabi was her friend, Motegi Rin, who’d come to watch in secret. Hanabi had always been a bit of a berserker and was infamously prone to challenging anyone strong to a match. She frequently wound up disappointed, since her magic was so much stronger than almost everyone else’s that she never got to show what she could really do.
But this was different.
“Stay calm and fight.” Rin had been telling Hanabi that ever since they’d joined the Lunatic Order together three years ago. It had worked, and lately Hanabi had kept her cool through every match. She measured her own ability against her opponents’: strengths, weaknesses, skills, flaws, even their preferences, as she fought. For someone who’d once always won by using the power of a Division 5 to overwhelm them, she now used her brain—and the result was that she’d become the best student the school had ever had.
So what was going on now? Who was this?
Who was this girl so excited her face had turned beet red?
Who was this girl grinning through the fight like she was just happy to be there?
Who was this girl doing only close quarters combat in a suit tweaked for ranged combat, just so she could look this boy closely in the face then look embarrassed about it?
“My adorable little Hanabi…” Rin sighed. “You’re making me jealous.”
But Rin looked awfully happy about it, too.
✦ ✦ ✦
Their match was advancing to the next level.
Kuon had known from the start that the difference in their magic put him at a disadvantage in a long fight, so he kicked things up a notch. He used Tensetsu each time their blades clashed, trying to make each slash a match finisher.
Hanabi sent three Servant Blades at Kuon. He stopped time with Tensetsu, found the lines those swords would follow, and read the trajectories from the other Servant Blades. He found an angle which left her open, predicted how she would dodge, and decided the path of his own Blade and movement.
Time Freeze plus Predicted Future.
An incredible amount of hard work had raised Tensetsu to this level, but, even so, Kuon’s Blade couldn’t quite reach her.
Time moved again. Kuon dodged all of Hanabi’s Blades and swung his sword at her, certain it was too late for her to do anything about it. But her reaction was slightly faster than he expected, and as her Blade blocked the strike, her Servant Blades wheeled around for a counterattack. Kuon immediately used Tensetsu again, plotting a new evasion route and a new attack. This repeated ad infinitum.
Both of them were tiring out. Kuon’s Time Freezes grew shorter and shorter. When the match had started he could stop time for ten full seconds; but now, it barely lasted three. Since only his consciousness could move, he didn’t get a chance to catch his breath. All he could do was move his eyes and his mind, looking for a way to keep himself alive and hopefully deal a fatal blow to his opponent.
Meanwhile, Hanabi was no longer confident.
Using her six Servant Blades with this degree of precision was like threading a needle. It required careful attention and steady nerves. At the same time, she was using everything her physical training could put out to stave off Kuon’s intimidating onslaught, and “stave off” was all she could do. She knew for a fact she was attacking from angles he couldn’t see, yet none of her attacks hit him. He wove through her four defensive Blades, always attacking from the single angle that was hardest to defend against.
Slice, thrust, cut, swing forward, backslash, strong hit, parry and strike, trip, quick draw, stab, side strike, rain slash, right, left, overhead blow, reverse…
Each blow was precise, every cut good enough to end this. If her responses were even a fraction too slow, she was done for. But Kuon never once even looked like he was dodging Hanabi’s attacks. They just never hit him.
As efficient as Kuon’s attacks were, he always appeared to just be going from one to the next. It felt like Hanabi’s Blades were missing all on their own.
To Hanabi, it was as if Kuon could see the future, and she was half-right about that.
It was like they were dancing. Almost as if they’d taken each other’s hands, their steps in sync, supporting one another, swinging each other around, spinning round and round, their swordplay alternately furious and elegant. Each were considering their opponent, guessing how the other would think, act, and react.
In that polished sword dance, their minds began resonating.
This sort of thing often happened during combat between two rival powers—not only in combat, perhaps, but any form of competition. Putting everything they had into it, seeing everything their opponent had to offer, each drawn to the other…
She’s enjoying this, Kuon realized. She’s having such a good time she doesn’t want to stop.
He can read my movements, Hanabi thought at the same time. He’s seeing everything I have to offer. Okegawa Kuon… I can’t believe he’s only thirteen. He seems way older than me.
She’s so beautiful. What a lovely, lonely girl.
How can he be so strong? What could have happened to him to motivate him to this level of strength?
They were speaking with their swords. An old cliché, but it described exactly what was happening.
Senpai, I…
Kuon-kun, I…
Have never enjoyed fighting anyone so much, they finished in unison.