By the time Ariyama caught up, his legs were burning from the exertion. He had followed Matsune until they had glided through the trees, nearly tripping multiple times on roots and uneven ground, before eventually coming out into a wide empty clearing, the ground now a dirty concrete yard. On the opposite side, a small wall rose up, which was blocking the hooded man from continuing.
As Ariyama put his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath, he took a moment to recognise this place. He'd never gone there personally, but despite that, he knew what this yard used to be
Sasura Academy was nearly two hundred years old, so quite old in school terms. In the old times, it was split into two buildings. The main building persisted to modern day, being renovated time after time, and receiving extension after extension.
The secondary building, however, was left to ruin. And as the years of being exposed to the elements left it weathered down to nothing, all that remained was this abandoned tarmac ground, which acted as a courtyard back in the day. Ariyama never knew he'd ever be so grateful for a dilapidated school structure.
"You! I am Matsune Sasya, an agent of the Pilgrims' Society's Japan branch. In accordance with the official Book of Magical Regulations, I hereby put you under arrest for suspicion of being an unregistered Tribute "
As she spoke, she lifted his sleeve and let her silver bracelet gleam, acting as a threat. The hooded man, however, didn't seem to take it as one. Instead, he shook his lowered head, chuckling softly.
"Nah. I have work to do, girl."
That voice… Did Ariyama recognise it, or was it just his imagin–
The hooded man pulled something from his pocket with one hand, his other hand shooting up. Then, something glinted in the moonlight, followed by an ear-splitting whistling sound. At first, Ariyama thought it was the man whistling, but then the glinting object was shooting for him, and he realized the whistling was that object flying through the air.
And it was aimed directly at his face.
His life hadn't been this endangered since the incident, and so Ariyama froze. At the last moment, however, he forced his whole body down. Just as the object pierced the space his head once was, Ariyama threw his body onto the hard concrete.
He winced as dull pain raced up his arms from his elbows, then looked up as he heard Matsune call his name in alarm. As she saw that he was unharmed, Matsune turned to the hooded man as he raised his hands and fired more glinting objects at her. Diving to her knees, then shooting right back up again, Matsune raced towards him. Her bracelet exploded with purple, a chained kunai unfurling and wrapping around her forearm. Grabbing the loose bit with her spare hand, she skidded to a halt and dipped into a low stance, whipping the chain around before sending it careening for the man.
Ariyama thought the strike would hit, but instead the man executed a cartwheel and let the kunai strike the ground under him, kicking up sparks.
Ariyama heard Matsune cursing to herself as she advanced slowly, lashing and whipping at the man. Most of them were dodged or avoided entirely, but one hit landed. As the glowing purple chain struck the man in the shoulder, his whole body shifted back unevenly, giving Matsune the opening she needed to close the distance between them. Her chain was long, after all, but not at its strongest when she was as far away as she was. That was one thing Ariyama caught onto while battling for his life in that Shrine.
Matsune reached the man in just three strides, each covering at least two meters each time.
Ariyama didn't have time to marvel at her speed, as she engaged the hooded man again.
He flung his hand out, sending another sharp object piercing at her, but Matsune ducked under it and countered with her chain.
It wrapped around the man's hand in a tight hold, and using her built-up momentum, Matsune ran circles around the man, pulling him along with her with every rotation, the chain growing tighter and tighter on his hand.
Growling in irritation, the man stamped his foot down onto the concrete to root himself in place, then twisted his hips and yanked the chain back the other way. This caught Matsune off-guard and she cried out as the opposite movement made her feet fly from under her.
As she fell, she caught herself by planting her palms onto the ground and pushing herself up to her feet. As she did so, the man summoned another sharp object and launched it at her. This time, however, Matsune had no way to deflect it. Her chain was still wrapped around her opponent's arm, leaving her defenseless.
Ariyama yelled in alarm when the object hit Matsune, cutting across her side and drawing blood. Then, as the object clattered to the ground, the moonlight peeked over the trees, revealing what all of those 'sharp objects' had been all along.
Knives.
Knives?
Was this guy seriously conjuring knives out of nowhere? If that was his power, it dawned on Ariyama just how varied they could be.
But Matsune…
She grunted and fell onto her ass, clutching at her bloodied wound. In tandem, the man summoned another knife – into his hand, this time – and chopped relentlessly as the purple chain ensnaring his hand. Finally, the chain snapped, and the whole glowing purple structure dissipated into vapor. Instantly, Matsune raised her hand to use her bracelet again, but another knife shot out and stabbed right into her palm.
Ariyama winced at the sound of cutting flesh, and this time, Matsune screamed in pain as her body curled in on itself. Chuckling lowly, the hooded man approached her.
It was then that Ariyama realized he had been looking up from the ground, dirt collecting on his clothes.
What type of idiot was he being? Was he really going to let Matsune meet her end here, fighting against a guy who could literally shoot knives at people?
Not on his watch.
Gritting his teeth with renewed determination, Ariyama got onto his knees, struggling to pull the backpack off of him. Once he did so, he ripped it open, grabbed the clunky severed sword and raced forward. He kept the sword diagonal and low by his hip, as the weight would make him go off-balance if he raised it again higher. He gripped the handle in his two hands, even though it was long enough for three.
Now, the man was just a meter or two away from the shivering Matsune, rolling his shoulders and raising his hand once again.
No, no, no…
He was going to shoot out more knives in the next few moments, and those knives would spear through Matsune's body and kill her for sure.
A terrible vision of that exact scene happening played out in Ariyama's head, but that only drove him to go faster.
He was almost there.
Just five strides left.
Four.
Three.
The man summoned more knives that hovered around him, aimed right at Matsune.
Shit.
Two strides.
One
And–
Just as those knives were about to obliterate Matsune, Ariyama got in between her and the man first.
He yelled as he felt the burning rush of power flow through his whole body. For a moment, he felt like he did back at the Shrine, white-hot heat pouring off of him.
His yell turned into a scream as he raised his Enchanted Tool and pivoted on his heel, bringing the sword round in a deadly arc. If Matsune couldn't stop this guy, Ariyama didn't have a chance in hell. But if he could just defect these knives, he might give Matsune the chance to recover.
For just a moment, the sword turned into a blade of white-hot heat, a deafening boom sounding off as it impacted with the flying knives, shattering some and making the others fly off.
The impact illuminated the whole area with white light. The flashbang made the hooded man flinch back and cover his eyes. This light, however, didn't faze Ariyama in the slightest.
The white died and the area was submerged in darkness again. As the man stumbled away, cursing while rubbing his eyes, Ariyama felt a tap on his leg.
"Down…"
That weak voice was Matsune, and Ariyama somehow knew instantly what to do. He dropped to his knees, leaning over onto his hands as Matsune planted her hand on his balcony and flipped over him.
Landing before the man, Matsune bent low, her chain trapping his arms by his sides as it encircled him. Moving him, Matsune seamlessly switched to hand-to-hand combat.
Ariyama watched in amazement as Matsune fired palmshots, jabs and uppercuts. By this point, the man had recovered and was shaking out of the chain that ensnared him. As his knives slashed the chain, he stepped into Matsune and the two began trading blows.
Ariyama groaned as he got up, racing forward again. He was too drained to use his sword's power now, but that still left him with a regular to use.
The man ducked under one of Matsune's swings and planted his fist in her belly. Reeling back, Matsune gasped as she was lifted slightly off her feet from the blow.
As her feet hit the ground again, Ariyama reached her side, dipping low and slashing at the man with his sword. Panicking, the man splayed out his hand. His skin ripped open as the shattered blade caught his hand. Shouting in anguish, the man tried to retreat, only to get rewarded with a haymaker from Matsune catching him in the jaw.
He stepped back a few feet, where Ariyama moved in and kicked his knee. As his leg buckled, Matsune moved in too, with a jump, and kneed him in his chest.
Ariyama and Matsune went back and forth, striking at the man in turns, edging him further and further back. Just as the man was about to be up against the wall – where he'd be completely vulnerable – he snarled like an animal, finally moving against his assailants.
"You bastards!"
He splayed his hands, one of them still bleeding profusely, and summoned a wall of blades that fired at the two.
Ariyama froze, his heart pounding and his breath hitching. At the last moment, Matsune tackled him to the ground. Reflexively, he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed his eyes shut. As he heard the knives whistle overhead and strike the ground somewhere off to their left, he let out a sigh of relief.
He was alive
They both were.
Cracking open his eyes, Ariyama gazed up at Matsune as she lay over him. As their gazes met, Matsune swallowed awkwardly and averted her eyes, red rising in her cheeks.
"Are… you OK, Ariyama-kun?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm OK. Just a bit winded maybe."
Matsune nodded and smiled softly, then sat up and looked around. Her face twitched with an annoyance Ariyama had rarely ever seen.
Curious, he followed her moments, and sure enough, the concrete clearing was empty and the hooded man was nowhere to be seen.