"Pleased to see you in something a little more comfy." Kyoya shouted back, approaching the center of the battlefield.

"If I'd known that'd be your first remark, I would have worn my daywear."

"That's why we mix things up, y'know? Can't have you knowing all my little tricks."

"Figures... nonetheless, you and I have something to settle." She brought about a never-before seen intensity in her glare. "It's about time we decide once and for all which of us has come further—what say you, Kyoya?" Reika drew her blade, a poised stance suggesting precision unbound.

"I say..." A smirk crawled it's way onto his face. "...we do it to it, Daito Crow." He then raised his fists and entered a stance of his own, earning a gawk from his opponent.

"Where did you learn of that title!?" she stomped.

"Hey, save it for the afterparty! Our old man looks about ready!"

"Right you are, my boy!" Guran announced, standing at the midpoint of their battlefield. "The rules are as follows!"

He raised one hand. "The competitors in this duel are Kyoya Miskrit and Reika Daito! The first to be rendered incapable of further combat shall be declared defeated, and he left standing the victor! This duel will have a ten minute time limit, after which neither party having fallen will result in a draw. You will begin with a traditional 20-foot power-clash! Reclaimers, to your positions!"

His pupils obeyed, each backing ten feet away from the center of the plot in their respective directions.

"A 20-foot power clash..." Kyoya thought.

The beginning of the duel would be a head-on assault, with either combatant 10 feet from their collision point at the center of the field. They'd then battle on neutral terms until one side faltered and kickstarted the real fight. Regardless, he knew well enough that she wouldn't pull any punches in this...

...In the sake of fairness, he couldn't either.

"This duel will commence in three seconds! Reclaimers, at the ready!"

Kyoya shook himself off.

"Two!"

Reika's fingers flexed around the grip of her sword.

"One!"

The immense tension in the air was severed with a final exclamation.

"Begin!"

Both parties dashed into their power clash. Reika's sword met Kyoya's flaming knuckles in the first exchange; fire and steel smashed into each other at breakneck speed. They held up this pushfight, quickly meeting each other's eyes.

"Not half bad, Pinkie!" Kyoya laughed above the sound, briefly breaking their staring contest.

"Same to you, Miscreant!" Reika fired back, though not before attempting to silence his taunt. She pulled out of his range and reversed a slash, and with the boy lurching forward after leaning in too hard, he was battered into the ground by an overhead strike.

Forced to recover, Kyoya sprung up and dodged as she spun in a forward roundslash, which loosed an arc of reddish energy forward. "Blossom Cleaver!" Upon her command, the wave drastically widened.

He slid beneath the wave, transferring that momentum into a spinning kick. She matched his advence with a block, but as his foot came around again, the following hit smashed into her blade with wicked force. Kyoya threw himself into a dash after seeing the attack's result, but Reika's focused stare clued him in to something different.

She hid a smile behind her striking stance. As the boy took a daring leap toward her, she reversed her grip and jabbed the sword's hilt into his stomach. The thorny vines of its hand guard added a piercing sting to the sensation of having the wind knocked out of him.

Now sent skyward, the Rose pursued him into the air, but he faked being stunned just long enough to catch her swing with a block and dodge the follow-up. "Your agility is certainly admirable, but I'll remind you that you've yet to take advantage! Helm Splitter!"

She returned his dodge with one of her own, then spiraled to gain enough momentum for an overhead smash. The shock from that blow extended her time to follow with a vicious diagonal spin. "Followed by Blossom Cleaver!"

That combination rocketed Kyoya back to the ground, leaving a crater in the wake of his impact. Something along his spine crumpled. So little as trying to sit up sent a flare through his tailbone, but, now wasn't any time to yield.

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He wouldn't let any one combination do him in—not in a damn lifetime.

"Jeez, that was a good hit..." The boy grinned, recovering and jumping away in time to dodge another plummeting blade attack.

"I only land 'good hits'. You would know!" She dashed into another flurry of slashes, forcing him into several unstable blocks and finishing with a feint.

However, instead of taking advantage of the window, he waited.

"Tell me about it!" Kyoya dodged to her right and attempted a high-swinging counter.

He let his fist fly mere inches from her sword, but before contact, he ducked the swipe and sent the motion to his left foot. The sweeping kick made contact with her front leg, and before she could hit the ground, the fist he'd denied found its target. "Breach Flare!"

He chased the attack with a shotgun burst of azure flame from his palms, further extending his window of opportunity. Before the knockback ended, he followed up with a third direct hit, this consecutive attack clanging even louder against the metal in her armor. She was blasted further out into the battlefield, but erupted from the dust with a vengeance.

"Where'd you learn to hit that hard!?" Reika challenged, her edge colliding with Kyoya's bare arms once more, a second pushfight ensuing.

"I learn from the best, but I'd be dead in the water without my Affinity! I'm still waiting to see yours!" Physical exertion left this exchange meager compared to the first, but their spirits continued unfettered. This time, Kyoya pulled back, managing to break through the attack and loose a third punch with brutal force behind it. The prelude to its collision with her sword shocked his palms, and recoil from raw impact alone blew him back and briefly shattered his footing.

Reika's eyes narrowed.

"Just what is that Affinity you seem so proud of?"

"It's a closely kept secret... maybe I'll tell you when this gets wrapped up." Kyoya assumed a boxing stance, with his opponent sharing the intention.

"Then consider this an agreement! Have at you!"

The two entered a third Power Clash, though Kyoya retained the vicious force from previous hits and took on his own defensive tempo. Reika led their dance, taking slash after pinpoint slash in a full-on assault to ensure that his chain couldn't continue. However, when he finally saw the kickback hinder her grip, all bets were off.

Time was of the essence. Kyoya flipped back and out of her range, aiming mid-air with his right hand reared back.

"Fastball!" In an instant, an orb of flame sprouted from his palm. The technique had spent years in refinement, having grown from fizzling wisps into vibrant, blistering spheres. The aerial pitch introduced even more velocity to the projectile, sending Kyoya backward with sheer explosive force.

"This is checkmate!" She made no attempt to avoid the strike, Kyoya's eyes widening as the girl spun backward and prepared to take the attack.

With a single graceful spiral motion, she unleashed her move. "Affinity Extension: Critical Return!"

The fireball met her blade, but the weapon's metal seemed to absorb his fire. She continued the spin, and the energy surged back out in an arc similar to her Blossom Cleaver attack. It moved at double its initial speed and left no room for the airborne Miscreant to dodge.

His own attack pummeled him, exploding on impact, then allowing Reika's cleaver to strike him in succession. The combination left a flare of pink and blue swirling at their collision point. He fell, landing hard on his back—though, this time, there weren't any cracks or crunches.

Guran was in the process of raising his hand to declare their battle concluded when Kyoya shakily found his feet.

"...So, your Affinity involves reflection?" the boy prodded. "Who'd have thought you'd save such a nifty trump card for my send-off."

"That it does. And seeing that I clearly have the advantage in close-quarters combat, I'd say this battle is over." Reika, despite clearly having a total advantage, still seemed completely incapable of losing focus.

"I'm still standing, aren't I?" snickered a cross-armed Miscreant. "Remember, I've gotta be completely unable to battle."

"Then I'll see to it. There's no need to draw this out any longer, especially if all your own magic can do is defeat you." She walked forward and closed the gap, but at about 15 feet in front of him, a glint in Kyoya's eye made her stop.

"You're forgetting something."

He smiled with his signature smirk, as charges of energy surrounded the ground around him. They were all no larger than a golf ball, but the immense, explosive burning within their cores radiated heat like miniature suns. "If you're gonna reflect my magic, you'd probably have to be able to react to it, yeah?"

"Not if you aren't able to cast it!" Reika charged, but the pause she took to examine him proved devastating.

"Here it comes! YOYA-NOVA!" Each individual charge erupted into a violent show of entrancing sapphire blazes, chaining detonations that drowned out the sounds of defiant metal fighting for survival. The attack spanned several seconds, and after the last charge's flames fizzled out, a cloud of ash and dust remained.

Stillness hung over the battlefield.

"To think that I'd never expect you to hold a trump card in return..." stated the Rose, still obscured from vision. He stumbled as he tried to squint and see through, but once the dust settled, he didn't have to strain to see the results of his gamble.

Kyoya may have only been holding himself up by the skin of his teeth, but his opponent was reduced to a kneel.

"...Un—... believable."

That kneel soon gave way to buckling, and after that, Reika fell.

Guran fumbled with shaking hands and wide eyes before appearing to remember that he was officiating a duel.

"My stars! An excellent duel! By definition of defeating his opponent, this battle's champion is Kyoya!" Guran announced, raising his hand and sending a wave of greenish energy to either combatant. Once it reached him, his aching form eased, until he felt as though he could fight just as hard all over again.

Reika soon stood as well, sheathing her katana and brushing the rubble from her clothes.

She looked at him with a warm, relieved smile.

He offered one in the same.