His Other Half (KiriBaku)

Chapter 6

September 26, XX84
--Dian Square--

        The fight was fairer this time, and the onlookers were forced to concede that this was no mythical beast fighting the Argan royal guard, but a person. A thinking, human person. Because no beast could wield swords quite as he could.

        The first shock came when Shoto Todoroki was forced out of the bakery and promptly knocked onto his ass in a single blow. He was forced to reconsider everything he thought he knew about this enemy. The enemy trained. Somehow, somewhere, he'd learned combative arts and could employ and divert tactics as well as he could breathe. But this trained fighter also relied on his instincts, and his senses were amazing. Shoto had thought he'd had an advantage--this was clearly not the case. Even without shoes or body protection, this man was tough, fat, and strong.

        The second shock came when Kyoka Jiro quickly followed suit. Granted, she had never been one for melee, but her skills still placed her the best tactician in Dian. But there was no strategizing against something that blocked complex attacks on reflex.

        Momo Yaoyorozu could fight with anything, and she had no favorites. The fighter had taken one set of her swords, but she had plenty more. After seeing the way he fought with her weapons, it was quickly decided that maybe this was the one threat where it was acceptable to stab them in the back. Problem is, that plan was foiled when he intercepted a delayed attack from Shoto and learned onto the other man's arm, using the poor prince as a human bat, turning and flinging him at Momo.

        Rat was outnumbered. Were they outmatched?

        Rat conceded that he hadn't had this much fun since Master had made a bet with Kai Chisaki and forced him to fight a small army. He thought he remembered Master being very happy for a few days after that, so he must have won. Unlike that small army, however, these three were talented fighters.

        The problem, Rat supposed, was that much like that small army, they had no cohesion. They'd never truly fought together, and their fighting styles didn't compliment each other at all. The women didn't know how to work around Shoto's magic, and likewise, Shoto seemed to not know the definition of teamwork.

        He managed to push them back, out of the building and onto the streets. He noticed that Momo was hesitant to act and Shoto favored his right side, while the other woman seemed to be driven by a goal with every attack. A goal or set of moves wouldn't help her. Rat's goal was to escape, to live.

        To meet him again.

        Rat had always found ways to fight faster, hit harder, last longer. His opponents weren't used to endurance fights against someone his size, and they were tiring, wearing thin and their blows growing weaker. The first time Shoto missed a parry, Rat slammed the hilt of his right sword into the man's left eye.

        The hair stood up on the back of his neck again, and he swore--he hadn't sworn aloud in a very long time--twisting to parry an attack from the side. Izuku had arrived, and he didn't look too pleased. Movement in his peripheral vision had him twisting over backward in the same motion to avoid a long strip of white fabric.

        After that, the fight was harder. Izuku had brought others, another lightning user and a man that fought with the sticky white cloth. Izuku rushed to Shoto's aide while the other two kept him distracted, antagonizing him from a distance. Rat growled. He was useless in a long-distance fight without the proper weapons, but after a quick scan, he couldn't find so much as an upturned stone to lob at one of his opponents.

        These two were much better at fighting as a pair, each playing off the other's offense and switching in and out as a pair. Electricity was a literal pain to fight against, unpredictable and paralyzing, causing his muscles to seize and scream with every bolt. Along with what Rat guessed to be their magic, the blonde wielded a rapier and the other a longsword. Well crafted weapons, he could tell immediately, and the two were well acquainted with their use. The blades were both sharp and fast, and the sun glinted off the metal in a way Rat knew was supposed to blind him. The psychedelic movement was supposed to make him dizzy, but it didn't quite work out that way when Rat noticed a pattern in their attacks.