After spending all week locked away in the manor with no contact to the outside, let alone contact with anyone on campus, Kaguya was finally finding herself in the arena waiting room to fight a challenger of her father’s choosing. He was in the room with her, though she wasn’t sure if it was to make sure she didn’t run or to be in the best possible place to watch her tear her blade into her opponent, which she still hadn’t been told who she would be facing.
Not wanting to pay any attention to him, she decided to sit down and close her eyes. If Samantha had been here, she’d have eased away the worst of her anxiety about the fight and made it easier to have a clear head. But unfortunately, as long as her father was nearby that would be impossible. He was still really angry about the fact that Samantha had killed Monica, and she knew that he was upset that she’d been, as he’d described it, “fooling around” with a Thomas.
Since she didn’t have her human relaxation, that meant she had to rely on some old fashioned methods to calm down and started to do deep breathing exercises as a form of meditation. She managed to all but forget about her father being in the room, and after longer than usual, she felt the tension and anxiety ease up a little and allow her to begin doing stretches with a little more ease.
Once her stretches were done, she sat in a seiza position in the middle of the room and waited for the door to open. It wasn’t a comfortable position, but it had been one of the things she’d been taught early on and therefore barely noticed the discomfort anymore. After a few minutes, a woman poked her head in, saying “It’s time” in a dry, monotone voice.
“Do not disappoint me,” she heard her father say as she stood from her seiza in one fluid motion. Instead of giving him a response as she normally would have, Kaguya ignored him and made her way into the arena. The teacher had made her way to the other waiting room and poked her head in to tell her opponent it was time. Kaguya took a deep breath and slid her feet into a more prepared stance as the teacher made her way back to the middle of the arena.
The door to the other waiting room opened, and Kaguya felt her heart drop into her stomach as she saw her opponent’s form as they walked into the arena with a strong gait. Instead of stopping at the designated point, her opponent continued until they were standing right in front of her.
“Samantha… Why are you..?”
Samantha shook her head. “I was going to ask you the same thing, but I guess you must have been unaware of who you were fighting until now, huh?”
Kaguya felt her eyes burning and closed them, turning her head quickly. Then she shook her head and pushed Samantha away. “It doesn’t matter now. I have to fight you, Samantha. Go to the starting zone.”
“But-” Samantha started, and then shook her head as she sighed. With one more look over Kaguya’s figure, she turned and walked to the other side of the arena. She swung around the staff in her hands, which was when Kaguya realized that it wasn’t her glaive but instead the bo staff she used for training.
The teacher gave them both a look as though she was upset they wasted her time so they could talk, and then said, “Fair fight, ends with death or something. Go.” Then she backed away and leaned against the wall with a bored look on her face.
Kaguya shifted her stance and prepared to charge as her opponent stood with her staff held possessively in front of her. She ran forward toward her unmoving target and unsheathed her katana. She remembered the sparring they had done several times before, and knew that Samantha would be able to put up a good fight, she hoped that she would.
She lifted the blade and sliced sideways, taken aback by the little resistance the girl’s staff provided until she noticed the end of her blade painted red. She stood still for a moment as the noise from the audience was almost deafening. She looked from her blade to the beautiful young woman who had still not moved from her position. The side of her shirt was ripped and blood was streaming down her body. Catching a glimpse of her father in the doorway, she shook her head and pushed the feelings she had aside.
Kaguya maneuvered herself back in front of her lover, tears in her eyes as she swung again. This time, Samantha lifted the staff just in time to block a swing that was aimed for her chest. Kaguya was glad to see that she would block, but hated the fact that she hadn’t brought her actual weapon to be able to fight back. This was a one sided fight, and it already wasn’t looking good.
She swung her katana again and again, no longer paying attention to where and how she was swinging. Once, twice… She couldn’t count the number of times she saw red splash over the sand, her eyes avoiding looking at the number of cuts she likely inflicted upon the beautiful body on which she’d touched so gently before. Some had undoubtedly healed by now, but the blood wouldn’t be restored.
The other girl’s complexion was pailing as she lost blood. Kaguya spun around and decided that if Samantha had to die, it was going to be quick, she had to end this. Her katana sliced through the air and was blocked just before landing at the base of Samantha’s throat. She swung wildly once again, and her sword connected once again with the staff. “Why won’t you fight me?” Kaguya yelled, tears and sweat streaming down her face.
“Because I love you.” Samantha replied, just barely audible over the noise of the crowd.
Kaguya swung again with all her might and was blocked once again, she fell to her knees. She looked from Samantha, battered and bloody, down to herself who was sprinkled with blood that didn’t belong to her. She saw her father stepping out of the doorway, and looked up at Samantha. “I’m so sorry, Samantha. I love you too!” and in one fluid motion she turned the katana on herself, aiming for her chest.
“Kaguya, no!” Samantha yelled, dropping her staff and rushing to the other girl’s side. Tears fell from her eyes as she quickly pulled the blade from Kaguya’s chest and tossed it away before pulling her onto her lap. There was blood everywhere and at this point, there was no telling who’s blood belonged to who. She cradled her lovers head in her arm as she placed the other hand over the wound. She closed her eyes and reached deep for every ounce of her ability that she still possessed. “Please, please do not die on me!”
She felt her body getting weaker as she worked hard to heal Kaguya. “I don’t want to live this life without you, please don’t leave me.” she whispered.
Focused only on sending healing into Kaguya, she didn’t see her father approach and grab the katana. He raised it up, pure fury on his face. She looked up only when she heard Gianna yell her name, and stared him in the eyes with hatred and resignation. She didn’t stop pouring in her power into Kaguya, even as she felt faint and saw the blade coming down towards her.
There was a clang of metal, and she vaguely recognized Souma standing there with two kunai holding back the blade of the katana with all his strength and only half of him out of the shadow of his father. She watched as familiar blade appeared through the older man’s chest from his back, and then he fell in a heap on the ground. Behind him stood Gianna, and she pulled her blade from his body and laid it out on her shoulder like she usually did at practice despite the blood dripping from it.
“You’re looking pretty worn out, wildcat,” Gianna told her, walking over and kneeling down. She slid Samantha’s hand aside a little and nodded. “I’m not a doctor but I think she’s going to live, at least as long as you let the paramedics have her. They’re standing behind you and can’t take her if you don’t let her go.”
Samantha blinked a few times, and then looked over her shoulder to see a group of paramedics with the Thomas crest on their chest. They came closer and dropped the stretcher so it wasn’t so high up, and one of them put a hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “You might want to come with us. You’re looking really pale.”
“Can I ride with her?”
He looked at one of the other paramedics, who shrugged before smiling softly at her. “I don’t see why not, so long as we make sure she’s on there securely first.”
Samantha hesitantly loosened her hold, and then moved her hand so that she could put her arms beneath Kaguya’s knees and lift her up. With a little effort, she managed to get onto her knees and moved to lay her down on the stretcher that they quickly lifted again so it would be waist high. Once she was sure Kaguya was secure, she carefully laid down next to her and put her hand back onto the wound on her chest and pushed what little she had left in her reserves towards her.