(A/N: You fuc*** £&)?:!££::(/)/£&;,??:!.!?::£.??:!.?::£.!!:!:!.!.!.£:)):£/£/?:£:):£:££, phew that's a load off my back. Now, you can enjoy the chapter you guys hard earned and got cursed for.)
Hinata took a gentle fist stance as she got ready to intercept Alex's advance. Alex reached near her as he swung his axe down.
Hinata deflected the axe with her palm and hit Alex in the chest with the other. Alex staggered a little but there was no effect on him.
"Hinata-chan, you will have to do better than that". Alex smirked and said. Once again his pride was getting in the way of his fighting.
He was normal most of the time and would even converse normally. But when it comes to fighting, he completely changes.
He rushed in again with a vertical swipe. Hinata turned serious as she dodged with a very narrow gap and hit Alex in the ribs.
Alex staggered as he nearly fell down but he used his single hand and jumped with its support. Landing a small distance away from Hinata.
"Very Good". Alex said with a grin plastered on his face. He was having fun.
He sped up and again rushed at Hinata but this time, he used what he had learnt and swung the axe with full force.
There was a whistling noise behind the axe swing and you could tell that it would do a lot of damage if it landed.
Hinata readied herself when she heard the whistling noise and tried to dodge the axe but Alex changed the trajectory halfway through. Which caught her off guard and she was hit on her side with the flat side of the axe.
Hinata's arm fell limp as she felt that it was hit by a truck from the force generated by the impact. But she didn't forfeit or cry, although, there were some tears at the corner of her eyes.
Seeing Hinata take the hit and her face with teary eyes. Alex snapped out of his battle hungry state and looked at Hinata with some guilt.
Hinata steeled herself and stood there with just one hand intact. She still made a stance and looked at Alex with determination.
Alex looked at her resolve and steeled his heart. 'Sorry, Hinata-chan'. He thought in his mind but continued on as he pressed hard on the ground and rushed at her.
He didn't plan to keep his hand as it will beat the purpose of him encouraging her. He drew his axe up and slammed it down with full force.
Hinata drew just enough to miss the axe and tried to thrust her palm at Alex. Alex quickly bought his arm up and the palm hit his arm.
He kicked forwards and hit Hinata in the stomach but she responded in time and caved her stomach inward as well as step back to minimise the damage from the hit.
But the hit was still quite powerful as it made her stagger and nearly lose her balance. Alex took the chance and the put the blade of the axe on Hinata's neck, signifying her defeat.
"Alexander Oosuki wins". The announcer said and the match ended with audience's enthusiastic applause.
Hinata hearing that announcement didn't cry but just collapsed into Alex's arms with a smile on her face.
'Hinata-chan hope this gives you more confidence in yourself'. Alex thought as he dropped the axe and carried her down the stage and handed her to the Meds in the venue.
After handing Hinata over to the med team, he made his way back to the girls. All of them were silent and didn't say anything to Alex. There wasn't even a congratulations.
Guess their bond with each other had grown stronger. Even though, its just been a couple of days since they met each other.
"Don't worry, I kept in mind to not use too much strength when striking. So it should only be some bruises and nothing serious". Alex opened his mouth as he comforted everyone of Hinata's condition.
"Hmph, how can you hit Hinata so hard". Alice finally blew her fuse as she pouted at Alex.
Alex seeing her acting like this, just smiled wryly.
He didn't bother to argue with her and looked at others. All of them were looking away from him and ignored him completely. It's like he hit them rather than Hinata.
"Alright, don't just start pouting on me. It was a match and not responding seriously would be an insult to Hinata-chan's resolve". Alex just folded his hands as he explained not intending to apologise for something he didn't do wrong.
"Hmph, okay". Alice still being stubborn just harrumphed but still her attitude came back to normal in 5-10 more minutes.
"Contestants, Ye Lian and Michael starl, please get on stage". The announcer said in a loud voice.
Ye Lian got up as she readied herself as her opponent wasn't weak. Michael was just behind her by a bit in the class.
It was still undecided, who will win if they competed seriously with everything they had. She clenched her fists and started to walk up the stage.
"Good Luck, Ye Lian". Alex gave her a thumbs up as she heard his voice. She smiled sweetly and her nervousness was a bit lessened.
Michael was carrying a wooden hammer on his shoulder while Ye Lian was using leather gloves that had a hardened skin on them.
There wasn't any metal but hardened leather wasn't anything good to withstand either as the hits were hard when you get caught by one.
"I won't be holding back. So give it your all". Michael said as he got on stage in front of Ye Lian.
Ye Lian didn't say anything and just stood opposite to Michael with her fists in a stance and ready to take action.
The match began as Ye Lian sped towards Michael with full force. Michael gripped the hammer with both hands as he bought it down on Ye Lian.
Ye Lian ducked below the swing and gave Michael a quick jab on his jaw. Michael staggered back quite a few steps as he stabilised himself.
Meanwhile, Ye Lian got herself ready and once came at Michael with a powerful punch. Michael swung his hammer as in a horizontal direction as Ye Lian had just closed up on him.
She quickly used her towards the side as a guard to minimise the damage as it was already too late to dodge.
The hammer's handle hit her on the arm like a pole with just extra force because of the added weight of the hammer.
Ye Lian was sent sliding back from the force but the hardened gloves that she was wearing, minimised a lot of the damage.
The match went on for a couple more rounds but Ye Lian still got the victory because of her speed but there were quite a lot of purple and blue bruises on her body.
Michael had hit her quite hard, everytime that she was caught in his swing.