"Actually, I'm really delighted I was able to meet with you, again. I've been feeling this strange impulse to finally make up for the harm you did to me and my coworkers."
Ayuka and Trap were arguing, with Trap tasting the taste of vengeance and hoping to finally get rid of her once and for all.
She didn't care, and her physique was intimidating. The desire to defeat Trap was almost stronger than the desire for retribution, and Kou watched from a distance on the roof of the building across from where he almost plummeted.
Ayuka's sword caught his attention, and it troubled him enough that he asked her about it.
"That sword..." he moved his arm to the side, next to his hip, "I didn't know you wielded one. I thought you were a martial artist, Ayuka."
She gave him another glance before answering formally and smiling.
"Yeah, if it is possible, I like to keep it out of combat. Although I've always preferred to use martial arts, this sword has been useful on numerous occasions, just like it was today. There would have been nothing I could have done to stop those cords if it hadn't been for it.
"But..." She threw the sword up next to her head and rotated in the air before she caught it and turned the blade so that it faced backwards instead of forward. "I believe it's past due for some activity. Those cables are going to be a real pain in the ass."
Kou cocked his head ever so little in an attempt to make his point, but it was lost on him, and when he glanced at her rear, he instantly felt ashamed. He reddened and instantly turned his head to the side, thinking.
"Why does your butt hurt? Did you trip on the way here, or what is the cause of the pain?" she loudly shouted in response to his message as she whirled around with a furious expression that nearly burst with heat and sweat.
"I was joking around! Why do you all assume the opposite whenever I say something about my body? Simply expressed, I used the sentence in a way that makes it clear what I meant, as if something was irritating and those cables were going to be annoying."
Kou gave her a nonchalant look while putting his arms on his hips and tilting his head to the side as if he was not at all concerned.
"I know. I just like seeing you get angry."
Ayuka submitted and gave him a blank stare right away, showing how irritated she was with his excuse for speaking, only to lose focus on Trap who swiftly seized the opportunity.
Cables were suddenly thrown in front of Ayuka and wrapped around her arms and waist. She felt herself struggling to breathe as she saw them closing in around her body.
Ayuka was forced to fall to the ground clutching her chest while Trap tugged the lines on his side and dragged her across the battered, roughened rooftop.
"I wouldn't turn my back on the enemy while they are still standing! You seem to be easily distracted, girl."
He demonstrated his ability to manipulate cables by vigorously lifting his arm into the air, which caused the cables to sweep up and kept Ayuka tied to them. His only other constraint was his knowledge of the local physics. Ayuka's body was thrown above his head and then crushed into the bricks as he swung his arm behind him and slammed the cords into it.
Ayuka's interception was entirely wrecked, which embarrassed Kou, who instantly apologized to her from a distance. He made an effort to proceed, but as he got closer, he saw that a cord of light was blocking his way.
If he attempted to pass it, he would suffer severe injuries that could result in his death.
Trap questioned, "Remember what you said about the wires being a nuisance in your ass? As you can see, those cables make for a really fantastic weapon to use on higher spots like these rooftops.
"You could wind up falling from this height and having your skull crushed, so take care not to stumble on them. I also would rather not have to deal with the cleaning duty today just because of your blood getting splattered on the marble."
Sparks flew from the dust that coated Ayuka's battered body, and he could feel the cables releasing their hold on her body. Then, he observed how she bowed forward and sighed as he saw her silhouette standing upright inside that cloud.
"I don't like how confident you are. I didn't come here just to chatter and get killed as a result of some careless blunders. That's something I'll show you."
As her body started to steam from the heat, Ayuka dashed out of the cloud. Her physical prowess had greatly improved. They were able to immediately observe that the pressure she managed to exert had already caused her garments torn apart.
She swung the sword in Trap's direction, slamming it against a quick cage of light cables that protected Trap from harm and buffered the blow.
Trap could feel how hot Ayuka's body was just by being close to her, and he almost thought she was on fire. The sparks were being continuously released from the blade's heated metal and the sparking wires as a result of the two weapons meeting.
Their faces were directly across from one another. She had to stare up at him because of her shorter stature, but Trap remained motionless and unfazed by the onslaught. Even though she was struggling to cut through the cables with trembling arms, she was smiling.
"Heh... Are you having trouble holding on? I didn't consider you to be such a coward that you couldn't even manage a lone girl."
"You don't know when to shut up, do you, girl? That will be the fall of you."
As soon as he swiped his right arm forward to start pushing back Ayuka's sword, the cables tightened around his fingers. Ayuka appeared to have lost her hold on the cables and was forced back to the extreme edge of the roof, indicating that it appeared to be powerful enough to do so.
She started to sway and was on the verge of falling if she couldn't keep herself upright, but she prevented dropping by flipping back across the gap onto the opposing rooftop and landing in a squat with her sword held to the side, extending its blade wide.
"I don't comprehend you people. You guys are so self-assured, upbeat, and full of optimism, but all you end up being is a helpless person who can hardly keep up with my strength.
"Even that kid had more muscle than you had. Shouldn't you start exercising more frequently and preparing your body so that you can easily overpower the opponent such as-"
Ayuka flashed behind him in midair, her left leg tucked behind her back. Trap's senses alerted him, but before he could protect with cords, he was forced to utilize his limb; unfortunately, an instant later, Ayuka's kick smacked him in the face.
The forceful forward thrust caused him to lose control of his feet and almost fall over the gap as the loud thump of the kick striking his head reverberated across the rooftops.
Ayuka descended to the ground and extended her arm in the air to receive the thrown blade. She smiled and lined it up in front of her chest, directing it into the roof.
"Perhaps it's because I'm a girl. You see, I don't really think much about my muscles. Nevertheless, try not to appear shrewd and consider me a winless person. Trust me, I can do much more than a simple punch, you don't want to find out."
Trap calmly held his own cheek to ease the agony. He threw his body around before extending his left arm in the air. Ayuka was targeted by several light cords that were launched into the air in an effort to catch her in their clutch.
She skimmed her way between the invading cords by carefully maneuvering between them in order to avoid being touched by any of them. She leaped out of the path, moved into a roll to dodge the cables, and then intensely rushed forward. Until she was finally close enough to launch an assault.
A straight row of ice spikes sprouted from Trap's roof as a result of her oblique sword slash. Aware that he wasn't in a favorable position to take action, he sprang into the air while simultaneously controlling his light wires, which were sharp enough to slice through the ice and break it into smaller pieces.
Ayuka skidded on the frozen roof as she quickly moved ahead between the chunks of ice. She sprang in the air, slashed upward, and tore into Trap's shirt, almost injuring him.
Trap was unable to evade the narrow ice wall that followed the slash and was instead struck by it.
She created a path for herself to skate on that resembled a rounded playground spiral slide by freezing the pieces of falling ice. She leaped over it as she skated before sprinting towards Trap, who was inert.
In an attempt to inflict a good wound, she swung the sword high and poured it down, but instead she saw Trap's falling corpse lift his own arm and yank the cords aside from her that had formed a web, behind.
It landed on her as though she were being pursued like a fly. She was caught in a net that caused her to be thrown to the ground and then pinned so that she was incapable to escape from it.
He was able to avoid being hurt, but he was still unable to regulate his movement in midair. He ended up plummeting to the roof and rolling on it on his shoulders off the edge, just hanging on by a thread.
He saw his imminent death as he peered down, but he quickly scaled the ledge and returned to the roof, wiping the dust from his clothes as he saw Ayuka's body being pressed to the ground.
"A near death experience for both of us, I'd say."
Ayuka was pinned to the ground, and as he carefully crossed the roof in front of her, he saw how frustrated she looked at being unable to move anything but her eyes and head.
To be continued...