// SURVIVOR'S GUILT // : MAKI ZEN'IN

1.

"You're dead, boy~!"

Yuji steeled himself, bringing his fists up, bracing himself for Suoh's opening blow. Despite his inexperience with sorcery, he sensed a foreign presence before him, blended with Suoh's own. That alone signaled a danger, of something amiss.

Pshhhh.....

Something's up with Yuuya, he's infected with a dangerous energy- a possession, maybe? Waaaah, just like the movies....!

But that doesn't matter!

The newcomer to sorcery shifted his stance, loosening further.

I'll clobber Yuuya to sleep first, and worry about fixing him later!

Anticipating the blow, Yuji's breathing slowed, his resolve now completely firm, ready for what would follow.

In the blink of an eye, Suoh rushed forward;

A front kick aimed for Yuji's stomach was blocked and countered quickly with a straight to Suoh's chin, a shift of the Yuuya boy's knees and a glancing blow to Yuji's chest then followed by a blazing rush of elbows from every angle, with the younger martial artist barely able to shake them off;

"KEH~!" The Parasite Curse threw out another front kick, with Yuji bracing himself for the blow with his arms;

Block it-!

As it reached him, Suoh's kick curved outwards and knocked Yuji square in the jaw, a rapid change in the boy's balance throwing Yuji off-guard entirely.

Kgh....! The Jujutsu first-year reflexively reached for his wound, feeling blood pool from a shallow cut on his lip, clicking his tongue and swiping the blood over his pants, retaking his stance.

Phew....Yuuya hits like a truck, Yuji muttered to himself, watching his assailant slump over again, He's relentless, but he's mostly keeping to his basics....besides that feint just now, everything was manageable...

I can do this!

Taking the initiative this time around, Yuji raced forward and kicked off one of the machines and launched himself into the air, bringing his heel down on Suoh's head.

"Oh~!?" Without hesitation, he was met in kind; his calf grasped with both hands, Yuji was flung down the hall, bouncing against the ground and landing on his feet, hastily throwing his hands up to meet the follow-up front kick aimed at his sternum.

Kgh, keep it up, read his movements!

A rapid combination of lefts and rights assailed Suoh's midsection, parried effortlessly; Yuji's kick checked and countered with a blow to his own knee in return, the first-year shook off the sharp pain through his leg and stepped back from the follow-up swipe at his ribcage.

They clashed, again and again, knees and powerful close-range elbows primed to cut and pierce were met evenly with a flurry of mixed punches and kicks that kept Suoh at range, doing enough to prevent a brutal end to their exchange of blows.

Launching one another through gritted teeth into the rows on rows of gambling machines, gacha collectible toys flying through and sparks of electricity flickering in the air as the duo of martial artists continued their rush of fists, grunts of exasperation from Yuji and snarls of delight from the Cursed Suoh as they landed blows on one another, blood spurting from their bodies as Yuji rushed in for a tackle, only to have his head locked in Suoh's armpit and slammed head-first into the wall, the break in their nigh-constant back-and-forth coming minutes later;

Yuji was noticeably breathing heavier, the blood from his forehead trickling over his eye, his uniform tattered from Suoh's attacks, the opponent in question spitting blood to the ground in their moment of brief repose.