Gimu stared at the seemingly dazed boy for what seemed like eternity; his head was dropped downward, his body motionless. Mizuki, on the other hand, seemed more frightened than ever. Blood continued to fall from the masked boy's arm, splattering on the uneven ground below.
"Is he broken…?" Gimu asked rhetorically, craning his head slightly.
The swordsman sighed, scratching the back of his bandaged head in slight disappointment. Maybe the boy did not have as much strength he previously believed he possessed.
"What a shame… I finally found some entertainment for the day and he crumbles just like that." Gimu murmured, tilting his head backward. "Dammit…"
Suddenly, both Gimu and Mizuki could feel a subtle rise in temperature around them, the air becoming thick; the atmosphere was like an invisible fog. In response, Gimu glanced toward Tanjo, only to be surprised…
…The boy was gone, only leaving Mizuki on his own.
"He ran off again…"
It only took a moment for Gimu's senses to become full alert, his remaining eye widening within that very second.
A masked voice could be heard, "Not fast enough, apparently."
Swiftly, Gimu threw his sword up to his side, feeling as a blunt force slammed into his blade, launching him through the wall of the building they resided in.
*CRASH!*
After being tossed through numerous structures, Gimu balanced himself on his feet, directing his gaze in the direction he flew from. A grunt escaped his lips as he observed the masked boy standing tall, the back of his hand extended.
"He… backhanded me!?" Gimu howled, gritting his teeth.
True to the swordsman's words, Tanjo was standing with his arm stretched out and the back of his hand raised. Slowly, the masked teenager retracted the only arm he had left, glaring at Gimu through his mask.
Mizuki eyed Tanjo in bewilderment, his mouth gaping. "...Sir!?"
Tanjo did not respond, only ignoring the young boy as he slowly walked toward the swordsman.
"Okay…" Gimu grinned. "I see what's going on here,"
The masked boy continued walking forward; his silence was unnerving. Twirling his blade, Gimu assumed a stance, cracking his neck. The swordsman was not expecting such a bold move from the boy—if anything, Gimu assumed that the boy would have been out after losing his arm.
This, however, was unexpected, and very much welcomed.
Tanjo was functioning off of nothing but pure magic, his Aura Sense flaring uncontrollably. Despite this, the boy could still feel some restraint; perhaps it was subconscious, but now was not the time to contemplate such things.
"What, am I no longer interesting enough to converse with!?" Gimu inquired audaciously, his tone beckoned his opponent with ubiquitous ignorance.
The masked boy remained silent, not a sound emitting from his body. This prompted Gimu to scoff.
"Fine…"
In an instant, Gimu lunged at Tanjo, only to miss as the masked boy leaned to the side, his eyes tracking the swordsman's brisk movement. Gimu was surprised at the sudden burst of speed the boy had acquired, his grin stretching further across his face.
*SWOOSH!*
Repeatedly, Gimu released multiple slashes at Tanjo, his blade inches from slicing the boy's cloth and flesh. However, Tanjo's movement was too fast and fluid for the swordsman's blade to collide with his body.
"Hey, now! It isn't a fight if you don't hit back—!"
Tanjo quickly slipped a punch forward, delivering a direct strike below the swordsman's jaw, propelling him into the air for the first time, seemingly in an effort to enrage Gimu.
Gimu grunted, spinning in the air and straightening himself out. The rogue's eyes scanned the land beneath him in an attempt to find his opponent, but it was too late as a blue beam of magic was discharged at him.
*BOOM!*
"Woah!"
To prevent being struck, Gimu sliced his Souta blade straight through the incoming beam, splitting it in half and forcing it to dissipate. Unfortunately for Gimu, that was not the only beam sent his way, as four more blue beams of light were directed at him.
The swordsman clicked his tongue, creating a yellow Genso-Kyu—*BOOM!*—destroying the impending beams with one of his own with relative ease.
The air was filled with smoke, but the moment it disappeared, Tanjo was suddenly in the air with Gimu, thrusting his leg outward and kicking the swordsman higher into the sky.
With this, a realization struck Gimu. 'He's trying to get me away from the brat so he can be more destructive…'
To Gimu's rapidly growing interest, Tanjo launched himself through the air with forceful kicks. With the same wicked grin plastered on his face, the swordsman did the same, propelling himself with a single kick to throw himself at Tanjo.
As he did this, he reeled back his sword, reigning it back down to slice at Tanjo, only to narrowly miss as the boy pushed himself to the side with a Genso-Kyu blast.
"You elusive bastard!" Gimu
Gimu spun his body at a quicker and faster pace, striking his heel into Tanjo's body and throwing him off balance. Gimu then materialized a yellow Genso-Kyu—*BRRRM!*— and unleashed a powerful light beam that struck Tanjo and blew him deeply into the earth.
"Haha! Eat shit, bastard—!"
*KABOOM!*
A beam that illuminated the sky with all four Aura Sense colors was then destructively shot out from the ground, discharged from where Tanjo currently lay. The sheer power of the long beam disintegrated any nearby trees and parted every meandering cloud in the sky.
"Oh, of course he harbors this uncanny bull—!"
In under a second, Tanjo appeared several feet above Gimu, a massive Genso-Kyu conjured of every Aura Sense color residing in his remaining palm, ready to blow away anything and everything it met.
Gimu turned quickly, his gaze fixed on the lethal Genso-Kyu, his heart briefly stopping. Tanjo then started to lower his arms and toss the giant ball of magic, but it was then halted as a voice pierced both Tanjo and Gimu's ears:
"Oi, dickhead!"
Tanjo's body froze, his eyes following the sound of the voice. It only took a moment for his blue eyes, blazing with power, to recognize that Itami, the green-haired rogue from earlier, was now present—this time, he had brought something, or someone.
"Sir!" Mizuki cried, held up in the air by his neck.
With a series of entangled roots of wood fastened around Mizuki's throat, Tanjo purged his Genso-Kyu, his attention garnered by the new, threatening occurrence.
Itami glowered at Tanjo, his breath labored, but not out of exhaustion. "Continue to fight and I'll snap this brat's neck!"
Suddenly, Tanjo started falling through the air; his mind was no longer focused on pushing him upwards with strong kicks. The masked boy was stuck, quickly losing his chance to subdue the swordsman.
'No.' Was all Tanjo thought with utmost brevity, retaining his silence.
In the span of a second, Tanjo analyzed the entire situation, his senses severely heightened, including his thought process. The wooden roots could not move faster than light; theoretically, Tanjo could dash toward the rogue and save Mizuki, but the wood-manipulating rogue himself was a different story.
'I have no choice,'
With his limbs charged with magic, Tanjo propelled himself toward Mizuki at incredible speed. The wooden roots were far too slow, as Tanjo imagined. With ease, the masked boy sliced the roots with his hand, coating his skin with his Aura Senses.
But it was not that easy. Despite making it to Mizuki and beating the roots, Tanjo did not act faster than Itami himself. Forcefully, Itami clutched Tanjo's leg, holding the boy still and enabling his roots to hastily impale him through his body: his chest, his legs, and his remaining arm.
"Grrng!" Tanjo held back a grunt, his face scrunched.
Itami walked up to Tanjo, his roots acting as platforms. The moment the green-haired rogue reached Tanjo, he angrily grabbed the mask off of the boy's face, exposing his face.
The rogue scowled. "A fucking teenager… he died for a fucking teenager!"
Blood trickled from Tanjo's mouth, but his countenance was far from pained. HIs blue eyes were glued to Itami, his cheeks clenched.
"And just how many people died at your brother's malicious hands!?" Tanjo retorted, puffing his cheeks.
Itami was perplexed, but instantly saw what the boy was doing. With his mouth wide open, his throat shined with a red hue—*BOOM!*—releasing a beam that knocked Itami far away.
Tanjo then ripped every root out of his body, grunting every time he yanked the wooden spikes from his flesh. With his only arm, the boy reached for his mask, which fell on one of the roots. Tanjo spun and gingerly lifted Mizuki into his cloaked chest after concealing his face once more.
"You're safe, Mizuki." Tanjo uttered softly, his voice muffled by his mask.
A raspy voice made Tanjo halt:
"Stop giving him false hope…"
Tanjo could sense as Gimu swung at him; time seemingly felt slower as his blade was inevitably coming closer. Tanjo would not be able to dodge in time, nor use his remaining hand to block as Mizuki occupied it.
*CRRNCH!*
Shockingly, Tanjo's lost arm sprouted from his shoulder and allowed the boy to form a blue barrier—*CLANK!*—clashing with Gimu's blade instantly.
Instead of being angry, Gimu laughed. "You're fun, kid—but I still haven't gone nearly as fast as I could, you know; these markings on my blade aren't for design."
Before Gimu could embellish on his Souta blade even further, water surprisingly separated the two, sweeping both Tanjo and Mizuki away with the stream.
Tanjo's eyes widened, this water meaning only one thing…
"Asami!"
XXX
If this chapter feels a bit dragged on and nonsensical, it might be due to me pushing myself to create this at later hours than I'm acclimated to. However, I still acted tentatively when writing and I believe that everything is written as fluently as I can muster. I Really do hope you enjoyed this chapter and Tanjo's tenacity in saving Mizuki! Stay tuned for more!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_