"Alright, sweet thing. I'll go easy." Yozama teased, signaling with his fingers to attack him.
"I won't." Minori said coldly, rushing at the boy with immense speed. Yozama was quick to track the girl and dodge to the side, avoiding her attack. What bothered the boy off the bat was the fact she drew no weapon to attack with, nor did she seem to carry any.
"Martial artist? Hand to hand? That's my kinda style too. Swords are overrated." Yozama made playful banter to keep his opponent's mind off the fight. It didn't seem to deter her, as she continued to burst forward and rush down Yozama with speed he was increasingly unable to keep up with.
Every strike was delivered with killing intent. Her eyes had shifted from a shimmer of life to pure bloodlust.
Yozama, still a bit hesitant to hit her, was now being overcome by the girl's speed. Her strikes had become harder to detect, and his dodges were now becoming less efficient. Minori managed to land one square hit to Yozama's chest, which made him slide along the ground, absorbing the impact.
"Woah, that tickled." Yozama teased.
Minori then dashed in a circle around the boy, completely trapped in her advance. As she spun, Yozama found himself cut from every angle, as if a blade was slicing through his clothes and striking his skin. When she stopped the assault, Yozama's body stung all over from the various cuts made. He was puzzled to find the girl still didn't have any sort of knife or blade.
"How the hell did you cut me? You got a sneaky little knife somewhere?"
Minori raised her forearms as her purple snake tattoos glowed. From the bottom of her forearms, a sharp blade like object protruded from her skin, almost as if it was part of her.
"You got a knife in your forearm? That's pretty crafty. I oughta try that one day...." Yozama rubbed his chin, observing the weapon. Minori ignored his speech as she attacked again, this time bouncing from the floor from side to side to attack at a high speed.
Unable to counter, Yozama took another full on barrage of cuts, this time being left with blood shooting from some of his wounds. The boy grunted as he took the pain head on, waiting for the girl to attack again.
"You're doing a bit of a number on me, sweetheart. But you ought to know Im as tough as nails...you can't bring down someone like me with cuts like that."
"That's an awful lot of boasting for someone who hasn't even hit me yet."
"Ya know, I've never been the one to hit women. I might be a street thug, but I have my standards. Besides, I wouldn't want to rough up a pretty lady like yourself. Now, if you were to come at me with a truly life threatening attack..."
And just like that, Yozama invited in danger.
In less than a split second, Minori dashed into Yozama, forming an X with her arms. Detecting the pressure building up from the attack, Yozama grit his teeth as he broke her advance with a well placed punch. Minori shot backward from the impact and was flung into the ground, which she quickly recovered from.
"Heh, so you can hit pretty hard. But that wasn't your hardest. Before I finish you, I wanna see the absolute height of your power." Minori said, wiping some blood that had rolled down her lip.
"Finish me? Let's not get in over our heads, doll. I still intend to win this!"
"Then start fighting back."
Minori flashed out of sight and appeared behind Yozama, kicking him up into the air. She followed up the attack with a fierce spinning cut, sending him back down to the ground. When she herself landed, she kicked the boy across the floor, swiping her forearm a few times in the air before him. One by one, powerful thin shockwaves fired off from her strikes, colliding with Yozama and creating deep cuts across his chest.
The boy slowly hunched forward, badly cut now from the attacks. Minori held her ground, waiting for her opponent to get back up.
"Heh, you're pretty strong. I love a strong woman that can kick my ass...keeps things interesting. But now it's my turn." Yozama said. For the first time, he raised his left arm and the metal chain that once coiled around it separated from the jacket, flinging forward with a rough throw. The chain latched around Minori's abdomen tightly, and with one strong tug, Yozama pulled the girl close and landed one square punch directly to the stomach. Blood shot out of Minori's mouth and she tumbled over out of breath.
"Believe me when I say it hurts me to do this. It's just a test, baby. I'd never hurt a woman like you if my life as Ikkei's rival didn't depend on it. This damn school's gonna be the only way someone like me can actually make some real friends. I can't let anyone take that away from me...even a pretty little lady like yourself. What do you say we call this one quits? Just raise your hand and surrender...I promise I'll get ya a nice bag or something. Whatever you want."
"I don't want any of your pity or money...I want you dead, Yozama Hazzard..." Minori croaked, gripping her stomach as she rose to her feet.
"Me? Dead? You can't be serious...."
"The only reason I'm here right now is because I rigged the selection to fight you. You are my target. My prey. My ticket to becoming a real warrior and being accepted into my clan...therefore, I must kill you, here and now."
"What the hell would you want to kill me for?"
"Because you and your gang happen to rough up our clan's allies on the streets...you've been a big problem for us for a long time. When it was my turn for clan initiation, you were assigned to be my target...now I must kill you to truly become part of my family."
"Oh darling, that's just business! I swear I don't mean it! Your buddies just happen to be really bad people! Man, I get orders to take them down all the time from shopkeepers, restaurant owners, hell, even rival gangs! If I were you, I'd look into better help. Those guys aren't getting you anywhere if I'm able to take em' down every time."
"That doesn't matter. I've been assigned my target. I have to execute my mission. Everything is on the line for me."
Minori advanced faster and stronger than before, this time spiraling into a twisting cyclone that spun around and above Yozama, leaving deeper and deeper cuts the more she struck. After her spinning attack, she slid backward along the ground and cut the air even more, sending projectile shockwaves Yozama's way. The boy powered through the attacks and charged forward, using his chain again to latch onto Minori and spin her around the arena.
The lashing whip motion he made with Minori on the other end was enough to send her barreling into the ground, then tumbling all over once the chain let go.
Struggling to get up, Yozama approached her with a worried look.
"You alright? I think I may have went a little too far there..." Yozama apologized.
"Tch...this is child's play. You think you can keep swinging me around and keeping me away...this time, I'm swinging for the vitals." Minori declared.
Minori's advance was now ten times faster than what Yozama had seen before. Knowing he couldn't stop the assault, he had no choice but to fight back. Sending a flurry of punches before him, Minori effortlessly weaved and dodged through the attacks. The snake tattoos on her arms were glowing brightly, and she seemed to have a thin purple aura outlining her body.
Yozama ceased the attack as he pushed backwards, but it was too late. Minori proceeded to slash deeply across Yozama's chest in an X shape, shredding through his clothes.
Before she could continue attacking, Yozama caught her forearm, nearly slicing his palm open. He peered down at the blade lodged in her arm and came to a sudden realization upon inspecting it.
"That's no knife...that's your bone..." Yozama muttered.
"You figured it out. Now you die." Minori slid her forearm out of Yozama's grip, making blood spatter all over the ground below. His hand was now bleeding profusely, but the boy didn't seem to care at all. Instead, he stared down Minori with a glare she hadn't seen before.
For the first time since the fight began, Yozama looked at her with a face of genuine anger and loss of control. His eyes had turned completely red, lacking any sort of pupils. His teeth had become even more sharp and jagged, and a unsettling black aura began to exuberate from his form.
"I'm gonna say this again. I don't want to hurt you, girly. Just stay back before I lose it..." Yozama hissed, his tongue now forked in two at the end. His facial features were now becoming shadowed and hard to see through the aura. The only thing that stood out now was the glaring blood red eyes, the shiny jagged teeth and the devious grin it made.
Minori for the first time in her life became deterred. Genuine fear was starting to overcome her, as she had never seen such a presence before. It became clear this boy was not entirely human, as his distinct features pointed towards something far more dangerous.
"I don't have a choice...I can't back down...I have to finish this now..." Minori thought, charging into battle, disregarding her fears.
Instead, she was met by her doubts.
Yozama gripped her face with his bloodied palm as his fingernails began to grow into claws. They dug into the girl's skin, causing blood to run from the points where she grabbed her. Pain slowly followed, but she was still determined to win.
With one heavy slash, the hand that was gripped to Minori's face was cut clean off, and the girl immediately raised her arm to the boy's neck. What she didn't realize was that he already had a switchblade pressed against her chest, ready to plunge into her heart.
The two were at a perfect stalemate.
"TIME! FIGHT OVER!" The proctor shouted.
Yozama slowly backed away as the hand that was cut off on the floor turned to ash. A new hand sprouted almost instantly from the boy's stub as the dark aura began to fade away, and his more human features returned. The red eyes faded back to normal, and his claws retracted into regular nails.
"Sheesh...I haven't been pushed that far in a long time...you're really something, sweet stuff." Yozama praised. He had the same big charming smile from before.
"Damn it...no! It's not over! I'm going to end you!" Minori shouted.
"Sorry, baby. Gonna have to put a raincheck on that for now. Looks to me we just tied up pretty nicely, so that means we both get into the academy. You're welcome to try me again once we get situated. I hope now you know exactly what you're in for..." Yozama smiled, giggling a bit.
"If you two will follow me, we'll be taking you up to the top level for briefing." The proctor instructed, guiding the two into the shaft at the corner of the gym's floor level.
Minori followed closely behind the boy, staring a hole into his soul. It wasn't the end. She still had time to end him. Now it became a question if she even could in the first place.