NAOKI

He’d won. He didn’t really realize it until he saw from the reflection on his blade that Mizuri was far away, at the end of a long path of destruction carved straight through the trees.

She wasn’t moving.

Did he actually kill her? No, he thought. Her defense barrier had been able to take most of the damage from Raikiri, decreasing the impact radius from the whole Floating City to only a circle with a radius of a hundred meters.

The Raikiri had still been enough to destroy his headphones, he realized, when they finally fell off his head and landed on the ground in two pieces. It had been neatly sliced in half at the middle of the headband.

He held a hand to his side. She’d landed a solid blow there, and had it not been for his defense barrier, he’d be suffering from more than just a few broken ribs.

It hurt, though, and the pain grew with every step as he made his way to Mizuri.

Ha ha. Look at me, running full-speed to a girl I just fried off the sky. Look at me actually doing something.

Naoki reached Mizuri’s side and quickly checked her vitals as quickly as he could, after first confirming she hadn’t broken anything.

She’s okay, he sighed to himself.

He looked around again, at the scene they’d caused.

The concrete might as well not have existed. Naoki had had to pick his way through a patchwork of potholes and molten craters to reach the forest, since he didn’t have the energy to go any faster than a jog.

The forest didn’t look any better. Mizuri had crashed through several lines of trees. Apparently she’d been able to create a second defense barrier just in time, since the trees looked cleanly cut—nothing like what they’d look like if she’d crashed through them raw. Naoki knew what that was like. It was painful, and he hoped she’d slowed down enough by the time her second barrier had broken. Such pain wasn’t meant for a girl to endure.

There were leaves scattered everywhere but where they were supposed to be. As far as Naoki could see, the forest of Higashi Academy had suddenly turned from its vibrant green to a dead brown.

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The storm clouds had also scattered, the rain had stopped, and the sun was shining again. Looking up, no one would have been able to tell that a storm had even been there.

He reached down and gently scooped her up, wincing when his side roared with pain, and slowly walked in the direction of the closest exit he could see.

Something bugged him, though, a creepy feeling of vulnerability suddenly crawling through his veins.

As if--

He held his hand out and willed the wind around him to move. Surely he’d be able to control the wind, even if he was this tired--

Yup. The wind didn’t budge.

He’d also seen something during the duel, but he figured Mizuri wouldn’t know anything about it, so he decided he’d keep quiet about it to her.

Beyond his storm clouds, in a sitting position, was a woman. She’d been glaring at him as he had passed, and the glare had somehow penetrated through him, resonated deep in his bones. He’d shivered, even as he’d brought himself to a full stop after clashing with Mizuri.

And beyond that was something even more overwhelming. A huge silhouette of a man covering his storm. He didn’t know who the man had been, but something told him both the man and the woman were far beyond his ability to reach.

His mother’s words suddenly came back to him.

Fight perfectly, Naoki, because the gods are always watching.

The gods? Naoki smiled a little to himself. Why would he care if the gods were watching? Fighting perfectly was a pain. He wouldn’t...

Wait...

He’d just did.

He burst out laughing when he realized for the first time just how far out of his way he’d gone to win this duel. But it had been so fun that he’d hardly even thought of it as troublesome.

And another thing.

A little feeling prompted him to look back, and he did.

He saw the forest still, all the wrecked trees stripped of their leaves, but his eyes locked on one thing.

The cherry blossom tree. It still stood tall and proud, virtually untouched despite the damage all around it.

Seeing that sobered Naoki. He stared hard at it for almost too long, before he turned back toward the dome.

Have I really won?

He stretched his arm out once more and attempted a medium-level spell made to move wind around in a slow but noticeable cyclone.

Nothing. The wind didn’t move.

Tuning fork, he thought, but he shook his head. He could come back for it later.

Mizuri’s hair felt a little itchy against his skin, so he shifted a little.

He kept his eyes on her face as he walked. Beautiful.

He kept walking.