NAOKI

She wasn’t fast, but she had Naoki trapped. He could dodge all he wanted, but he was bound to get tired. Compared to her fiery energy, Naoki’s tank rode on the wind, meaning he tired easily. But not yet. She hadn’t pushed him anywhere close to that point just yet.

He knew it was coming, though. Her reflexes were so fast it was unfair. Naoki was scared to get closer than six inches away from her.

Her weapon looked scary as well. A kusarigama was designed for ensnaring an opponent of his weapon. Naoki had to be doubly careful every time he got close.

Of course, the danger scared him, but he still went as close as he could. She’d just shown him her top speed, after all, and it really wasn’t a speed to be afraid of.

But still, Naoki was stuck on the defensive. Her fire was too hot, and a single mistake would mean an instant loss.

He found himself thinking of what he’d seen just behind her expression when she’d challenged him to the duel. If he was right, and some part of her had been begging for the duel, then he figured he had to win this. He figured she wouldn’t be happy if he lost.

Weird as it was, one look into those eyes that could freeze him in place confirmed his theory.

I’m gonna win this, then.

But of course the “legend” wouldn’t be that easy to beat.

She looked about the same age as Naoki was, maybe younger. Three years? She’d been here for three years, and had defeated a teacher on arrival?

That meant she’d been twelve, didn’t it?

She produced a slip of paper from her pocket and threw it in the air. Then she mumbled something under her breath. The paper exploded, leaving a dense cloud of smoke Naoki couldn’t see through.

Of course there’d be smoke. He was fighting someone who probably had the same level of knowledge as he did, but of course she’d still use basic spells.

He blew the smoke away with a gust of wind, but of course she wasn’t there anymore.

She appeared behind him, another slip of paper in her hands.

“Bind!”

He felt an unseen force hold him down in place.

Magic. He caught a glimpse of the paper in her hands before it burned to pieces.

Two letters. A. G. He reconstructed the binding magic in his mind, then overpowered it with a carefully-crafted counter spell.

He jumped away, just in time. Mizuri’s kusarigama whistled under his feet, and he became suddenly aware that he was in actual danger here. Mizuri had the capability to fight him in an even fight. Which meant she could kill him with any of her moves, as well.

He sliced downward, missed, then swung his sheathed blade in a full circle, creating a shockwave that temporarily pushed Mizuri back.

Now isn’t the time to panic, he told himself. True, he had never had to fight someone this strong before, but her strength was an illusion to him. All the years of dueling weaker Angels made Mizuri seem much, much stronger and faster than she really was.

Think. You do that best, don’t you?

He didn’t need slips of paper to activate his magic. All he needed was his tuning fork to be touching any part of his body. So he gripped it with his left hand, while holding his katana’s sheathe with his right.

He threw down his own smoke bomb.

Where is she?

He felt movement somewhere to his right, but of course that could have been anything. He figured Mizuri would be smart enough to have figured some things out by now. He needed a few more moments to confirm.

The movement was, in fact, a distraction. He leaned back, just in time for the wicked sickle-like blade of Mizuri’s kusarigama to sail just above his nose.

An inch.

Naoki drew a hasty Y in the air. Fall.

The kusarigama dropped to the ground, and he heard Mizuri suck in air as she realized what had just happened.

Of course, he capitalized. He rushed in, aiming for a solid hit to the back of her neck, but somehow, a part of her chain was already there.

His sheathed blade clanged on and away from the chain, and within the brief moment of dead air, as both he and Mizuri jumped away from each other, he saw it.

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Maybe he was surprised, but his surprised face probably didn’t even compete against the amount of surprise he could see on Mizuri’s face.

Her silver eyes had gone impossibly wide, and her mouth, just a moment ago gritted in preparation for pain, hung open.

He did nothing. Of course, that would have been the opportune time to strike, but well...

Her eyes.

The perfect angle made her silver eyes reflect the light of her fire directly to Naoki’s eyes.

Purple. Orange.

He found himself once again frozen in place, and all he could do was laugh internally. Defeated by a pair of eyes?

It wasn’t all that bad, though... If she’d keep looking this way...

He mentally slapped himself back to his senses. He’d decided he’d win this duel, then ask Mizuri why she’d seemed to want the duel so much.

She looked away, and Naoki let the breath he’d been holding in out.

Magic, huh? He hated to admit it, but he’d just seen some things he probably would be able to learn from Mizuri’s use of magic.

He pocketed his tuning fork and gripped his sheathed blade with his left hand. He held the blade’s handle with his right.

Mizuri turned to him again, and he found something else in her eyes, something he’d probably see in his own if he had a mirror.

She was having fun. He was, as well, and he wondered how long it had been since she’d had a proper duel like this.

One reason he didn’t like using his katana was because of the pink aura it left whenever its blade passed through air.

That was his mom’s fault. Her name was Momoirobara, literally meaning “pink rose,” and she’d been nicknamed “The Rose” by her fellow Angels. She’d held a seat in the nine-member East Council composed only of Angels. That meant she’d been one of the best Angels alive. At least, until she’d disappeared in the Pacific during a special mission in her retirement. She’d retired, since having other responsibilities like a family disqualified an Angel from the East Council.

And she’d given her sword to Naoki as a birthday gift on his birthday the year she’d disappeared. He’d accepted without another word, but he’d never really known what his mom could do.

She had told him something, though, as she’d handed him the sword.

“Keep it perfect, Naoki. This one works best when it’s perfect.”

That was the second reason he didn’t like using his katana. Blades dulled quickly with use, and it was a pain to oil and sharpen the blade every time he practiced with it, so he kept the sheathe on.

Well, he couldn’t really care about that now, could he?

He pulled the blade an inch out of the sheathe, and started concentrating.

He was an Angel of Wind, and the wind obeyed him. It gathered around him in an extremely high-pressured wall, and spun so fast trees hundreds of feet away were stripped of their leaves.

But that wasn’t all he was.

He had another set of skills he’d discovered on his own, and that only his dad knew about. Even Sakuya didn’t know.

He was also an Angel of Storm.

He remembered his dad’s suggestion, to create his own moves within the Rose Wind Style. Maybe he’d done that to accommodate Naoki’s other set of abilities.

Mizuri’s kusarigama bounced off his wall of wind, reminding him of her presence. He looked her way and found her also deep in concentration.

Naoki wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead. It shouldn’t have been possible, but he felt that the air was... hotter...

Mizuri opened her eyes, and her flames expended in all directions. Some of it, having been drawn into Naoki’s wall of wind, threatened to engulf the wall in flames.

She smiled, and with the smile Naoki could read what she was thinking.

Bring it, her gaze said.

So Naoki closed his eyes and unsheathed his blade further.

Thirty seconds. I’m bringing it in thirty seconds. He knew the song playing on his headphones now, and the drop was coming in thirty seconds.

Of course, another thing was coming in thirty seconds.

But Naoki figured Mizuri probably wasn’t going to wait that long, so he braced himself for impact.

It came. Mizuri, flames and all, barreled straight through his wall of wind and thrust her sickle-like blade straight at his throat.

He dodged, but this one was a bit too close. The heat radiating form the blade singed his throat, and he almost lost control of his winds. Luckily, he regained his composure, but the extra burning pain on his neck brought tears to his eyes.

He felt something different within Mizuri when she’d passed, and that something scared him. He knew he’d broken the seal on her powers as an Angel, but he’d felt a different power within her, something that could quite easily eat him up if it wanted.

And it had felt like it had been behind bars. A second seal?

Eyes still closed, Naoki unsheathed his blade an inch further. He was back on his feet now, and he had the wall of wind back around him full-force.

Naoki blinked back his tears.

Now. Now, I’m serious.

He smelled it. Just behind everything, behind the fire and the forest, he smelled the smell of incoming rain.

Rose Wind Style, Seventh Movement.

He pictured the entire forest on fire. He pictured trees sliced in half.

Seventh Movement: Chidori.