Saki easily watched him come straight at her. It hadn’t been the first time he jumped into the attack, but she knew how he worked. Anticipation mounted waiting on him to make his move. The sneak attack or diversion that he seemed to favor, knowing that he couldn’t take her straight on in power or skill.

Yet she waited.

The moment never came. What did was Tatsuya suddenly teleporting the last distance right in front of her slamming his fist into her face. Enough speed pushed his strength behind his punch to send Saki flying over the ground for several city blocks.

Breathing heavily, Tatsuya watched the pillar of smoke rise into the air from the impact. ‘This isn’t over yet. I’m about to collapse and she’s still getting warmed up. But I can’t stop…’ He knew if he stopped to pause that everything keeping him standing would evaporate. That was how it felt. “I wonder how pissed off she is now,” he joked to himself waiting for Saki to return.

Chapter 345 – The Shattered Mirror

A scream ripped through the area. It was one that wasn’t of surprise. And it only preceded her return by moments. Saki charged in full speed at Tatsuya angered that she fell for his tricks again. However, before she got even ten meters away from him a large metal rod flew at her. She effortlessly knocked it away, but it was merely a distraction.

He appeared on her right flank delivering another punch. Off guard and unprepared, she bounced off the ground and in the air. Tatsuya immediately leapt to her side and brought both of his hands down together. Saki’s body crashed into the ground creating a crater around her.

Landing at the edge of the crater, Tatsuya waited for the smoke to clear. ‘How long can I last like this? I never really fought for so long or so hard before. I feel like I’ve become used to fighting losing battles, but this is a completely different sort of losing battle.’

However, he didn’t have to wait long for her to return. She dived back into the fight bursting out of the clouds with Tatsuya firmly locked in her sight. As her fist came down upon Tatsuya, it went through as though there was nothing there. Saki blinked in confusion watching the image of him disappear.

Tatsuya popped up on her flank again, throwing out his fist. Though he connected with her solidly, she only staggered a little. Her feet planted themselves firmly into the earth to take it. “I’m getting tired of your tricks!” she roared as she returned to the attack.

Her arm flew out for Tatsuya’s head, but missed somehow. She recognized it as what had happened before in their fight. As she missed, Tatsuya snuck inside her defense countering with several quick blows. Lacking the power behind his fists, he couldn’t push her back or knock her down. She went after him again trying to adjust, but missed again.

Saki still didn't understand it. She kept thinking that she had him, but then would miss instead. Yet he would appear and counter her. Despite seeing it repeatedly, nothing she did managed to adapt to it. It wasn’t speed. She would have seen it if he moved faster than her. It didn’t make any sense. “Damn you! Just die already!”

“I’m not going down!” As he went in for another attack, it was stopped by Saki’s hand. She fought him in a battle of strength. It was his already injured hand, so he couldn’t support it as well as he wished. The struggle went poorly.

She kept pushing back on him bit by bit. “You’re predictable. Even if you have a strange ability to keep dodging my attacks, you’re no fighter. You’ve got no skill or experience. You can’t beat me!”

“I haven’t been fighting you thinking I could win.”

“You futilely believe Hiroshi will be able to reach Takako.”

“He will! You can’t protect her while I’m fighting you!”

“Is that what you think?”

Surprise and confusion took over Tatsuya’s face and he completely lost his position. Saki broke through his defense and knocked him off his feet. Without her speed, her power didn’t have the same sort of sending power. Tatsuya only fell over a little bit before recovering. “What are you saying?”

“That should be pretty obvious! I’m not the only one that guards Takako!”

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“…dammit…”

She began to laugh at Tatsuya’s naivety. “I only just returned home. You really think that Takako didn’t have someone else guarding her before I came around.”

‘She’s right… I never really thought about it.’ He began to think about what Hiroshi might be doing. All his planning on him fighting Takako and taking her down pinned everything on his fight. His mind tried to figure out who it might be, but Takako wasn’t someone that he knew very well. ‘She’s Saki’s friend, not mine. I only really knew that she was on the track team, that was about it. After she was hospitalized, she was never back at school until now. Vegetable to conqueror is a strange move. Could her guard be the source?’

Tatsuya pulled himself together. He had too many questions and it wasn’t helping the situation with Saki. “Who is it? Who’s protecting her still?” Focusing on the more important matter at the moment, he hoped to know if there was a risk of Hiroshi not reaching Takako.

“You don’t have to worry. They’ll keep Hiroshi entertained until I return.”

“Who?!”

“That’s nothing you need to concern yourself over. You’re going to be dead soon!” Saki lowered a little into her usual fighting stance preparing to attack.

There was nothing he could do to prepare anymore. Tatsuya knew how much of a difference she had. It was always a stalling game. The game just changed. It was more of a death game now. Such an outlook wasn’t the sort of view he wanted. ‘It may very well come down to living as long as I can. Hiroshi won’t be able to kill Takako if he has to deal with Saki. I don’t know if there’s anyone left that can actually stop Saki…’

“Now that you understand how hopeless your situation is—be so kind as to die!” Saki leapt at Tatsuya bringing her might upon him once more.

‘…damn…things just keep getting worse…’ Taking advantage of his power, he dodged Saki’s opening strike. But he had to dance around their field to stay ahead of her. She was on the full offensive not letting him make any move of his own. And even dodging wasn’t enough.

She caught a piece of him as her reflexes adjusted to him. ‘Damn!’ Tatsuya slid back trying not to fall over. With her still coming at him, it allowed himself to fall when he realized the best option. Her attack flew over him while he launched himself with his feet into her stomach as she came in range. The hit knocked the wind out of Saki and kicked her up in the air.

Grabbing some spare wood around their current location, Tatsuya spun around whacking Saki with the plank a few times before it shattered. It was enough to keep her in the air while he whaled on her. He grabbed for more weapons to swing at her needing to do anything to keep her stunned. Eventually, she recovered from it as she blocked his attacks. Rather than continue seeing that his makeshift weapons did nothing more to her, Tatsuya grabbed her arm and slammed her into the ground. He quickly threw his foot into her side doing anything to keep her down. ‘Just stay down, Saki!’

A couple of kicks in though, she grabbed his leg and spun him through the air into the ground next to her. She threw down her arm even while she was prone to pound him into the earth more. Tatsuya did what he could to block the damage with his arms, but it still channeled through his body.

Tatsuya coughed and bit through the pain as his body weakened. ‘I don’t have much left in me.’ He kicked over at Saki to push her away from him. It gave him enough distance to be freed up. He stumbled back to his feet as Saki flipped back up. ‘I’ve only got one trick left in me. She’s seen everything else already. It’s only going to keep her off balance for a bit. Finish the job, Hiroshi!’

Focusing on his remaining energy, he prepared for the attack. Saki struck first as he expected. She wanted him dead to get back to Hiroshi. That gave him the opening that he needed. Tricking her with his copy, he kicked up a smoke of dirt to mask his escape.

He jumped out of range to get the room he needed. Once he saw Saki charging out of the cloud, he went on the attack. Meeting her in the middle, he went through her. She missed the attack, but her reaction prepared for the real one coming straight at her, only it went through her as well. Several copies of Tatsuya went through her as if he was a ghost. “What are you trying now—“ A punch actually connected with her knocked her off her feet.

As her body flew through the air, Tatsuya sped over catching her quickly in an underarm pin, or at least his attempt at one. He squeezed his arms around her torso and arms trying to keep her from moving.

“You think you can hold me?!”

He could feel her struggling. Because it was a bad angle for her, she couldn’t use her full strength against him. “As we’ve been fighting, I realized that your actual strength isn’t much different from my own. It’s the speed that’s been making up for your lack of power. So in a straight up test of strength, you’re not going to be in that much of an advantage.”

“I don’t need my strength to break free.”

“Just try—“ Suddenly, Saki bashed the back of her head back at his face. It hurt, but he held together until she whacked him again. His grip started to fail as she repeatedly smashed her head into his.

Saki ripped free from his loose grip and spun around with her leg kicking him in the head. Toppling over through the earth, she jumped into the air ramming her knee into his stomach. As Tatsuya coughed up blood into her air, she rolled over him and grappled him in a classic judo arm lock.

Pinned to the ground and his arm pulled to its limit, Tatsuya struggled with what little strength that he had. Saki didn’t stop pulling on his arm, taking it further than just a pin. He felt his joint in his elbow straining as she applied pressure. ‘Can’t…hold…’

A low popping came from his arm as he screamed pain. Saki released his broken arm and wrapped her arms around his neck and head. Tatsuya grabbed at her with his only good arm trying to deal with the pain at the same time.

“This is the end for you.”

“Saki…”

She quickly shifted her hands and gripped his head. “You can’t trick your way out of this!”

However, before she could snap his neck a massive force slammed into her head throwing her free of Tatsuya. Tatsuya coughed and collapsed to the ground grabbing at his broken arm attempting to nurse it. He rolled his head over a little trying to see who had jumped into the fight. His eyes widened in surprise. “Why…?”

Saki stood up shaking off the ringing pain as half of her face was soaked in blood now. She glared over at Tatsuya and then up to the figure that interrupted her. Her eyes widened as well in shock. “Why are you here?!”