~jeiku~
its the night of the second preliminary rounds, im in the hospital visiting mikku, a notebook is open on my lap.
"pretty amazing theyre able to get through these preliminaries so fast especially with so many people" i nod in agreement, staring at my notebook.
"you sure char didnt say what place he was in the 10?"
"for the last time jeiku, no, he didnt say." i sigh, im trying to track all of the 10, currently i have confirmed the old man at 2 and karito at 5. i dont know exactly where i place in here after butcher and yori died. char also is in here somewhere and i have a feeling another shinobi named saito from the cloud village is a 10.
"i heard a rumor that a rule of the tournament is being revised after the preliminary rounds end" mikku looks confused at this
"what do you mean?" he sits up straighter, "what rule?"
"word is the judges are removing the no killing rule"
~fuya, the next day~
after my last match i had considered dropping out of the tournament, but something inside me told me to keep fighting. im in the ring now facing my next opponent, they dont even look human, just a blob of emptiness. i dont even hear the referee start the match, my opponent attacks and i barely dodge it, when they pass by me it feels like im going in slow motion, the face of my opponent is my sensei, i cant even remember his name. i trained under him for 3 years living like family and i dont remember his name.
"why didnt you save us fuya" he says and standing all around me are people that have died, akira, kazuya, ibuki, mayumi, moritomo, yori, and the man that died yesterday in our fight.
"why did you let us die" they circle in around me
"stop!" i yell
"stop the match! stop the match!" the referee is frantically yelling and i come to my senses, my knuckles are bloody and my hand looks broken, beneath me is my opponent, now a bloody pulp under my fist.
~2 hours later~
"did you really kill him fuya?" mikku asks me
"i didnt mean to" i say quietly, im in the hospital with jeiku and mikku,
"did you see them" jeiku asks, i nod silently, "ive been having dreams where i see everyone we've lost" he says in a hollow voice.
"so that means only jeiku and jin are still in the tournament then" mikku states,
"among a thousand other people yes" jeiku grins slightly.
"jeiku" i say in a firm voice, "you have to win this"
"ill tr-" i cut him off,
"no, you have to win" he looks at mikku for a moment then back at me.
"ill win" he says firmly, "i promise"