Souls to Ash

Chapter 4

8 days before the skirmish

"One, two, three, one, two, three!" I shout, for every number Reiko, Maki, Emi, and Miyoko land a powerful, or not so powerful punch on their punching bag, "Is that all you've got, ladies?" I scold as Emi and Miyoko slow, "Get in gear or you'll have to stay overtime! One, two, three, one two, three!"

"Look at how hard they're working!" I hear someone whisper behind me.
"That's Namari for you, always working harder than any of us." comments another girl.
"Sometimes I'm glad I'm not in Namari or Hageshi."
"Well they do get the job done, that's for sure."
"Alright, ladies, break!" I shout, to which they all stop and turn to me, disheveled and tired, but determination in their eyes, "five minutes, then I want you all on the mats, capiche?"
"Got'cha." says Maki.
"Sir, ma'am sir!" salutes Reiko.
"I think it's 'ma'am, yes, ma'am', Reiko." chuckles Emi. The three of them walk away and I make my way to Miyoko.
"Good work, you're improving." I smile, ruffling her hair as we walk to the benches.
"If you say so, I believe you."
"That's what I like to hear."
"Kame." I look towards the voice and spot Tezuka and Yuki standing in the doorway. The girls in the gym stop their work outs and begin mumbling amongst themselves as they spot her.
"Yes?" I ask, stopping in my place and motioning for Miyoko to go join the others.
"You sure work them hard, don't you?" she smiles, her eyes twinkling.
"Yes, ma'am, I do. One mistake is all it takes to end it all."
"So it does," she begins walking over to me, "now tell me, why don't you join them?" she stops in front of me.
"Simple, I get up two hours before the rest of Namari and do my workouts ahead of time."
"Mm," she hums, "you see, I haven't been able to assess you because of that, now have I?"
"I guess you should get up earlier, then." I smirk, causing a few girls around us to gasp, how dare I speak like that to our queen?
"Oh, honey, I need my beauty sleep."
"I'd say you're hot enough, Tezuka." at that, she, alongside many others giggle.
"It takes a lot to maintain this perfection." she jokes.
"I could imagine."
"However, I still need to assess how each girl here is doing, and you're a problem. So, I'd like to challenge you."
"How so?" I ask, my eyes gleaming. I always love a good challenge.
"We should go to the arena and you can battle Yuki."
"What?" asks Yuki, her eyes widening.
"I'm sure the girls would love to see you two battle and Namari can have a break. What do you say?" she asks, ignoring Yuki.
"I'd love to." I grin.
"I knew I could count on you." she then turns to the girls in the gym, "Did you hear that? Yuki and Kame are going to have a duel. Spread the word to your peers and come to the arena in ten minutes' time." everyone's eyes seem to light up and they leave the gym. "I'll see you soon, Kame." Tezuka calls over her shoulder before leaving with Yuki on her heels.
"Good luck with Yuki." smiles Reiko as I sit down beside the girls.
"Thanks, I'm not so sure I'll be able to defeat her, but this'll be interesting."
"You get to see how Kame fights, Miyo." smiles Emi.
"Are you good at fighting, Kame?" she asks, light in her eyes.
"I don't know about that." I chuckle sheepishly.
"Nonsense, you saved us last night from that level five witch, you're awesome, Kame."
"She did?" asks Miyoko.

"You should've seen her!" exclaims Reiko, "Even though the witch had just about torn Kame's stomach out of her, she jumped on it and tore it in half!"

"Woah!" Miyoko's eyes shone, "What do you use to fight, Kame?"

"Well I guess you'll see that in the tournament, won't you?" I smile.

~

"Hey, everyone, are you ready for an early magic duel?!" Alicia Wolf, a girl with long brown hair and brown eyes shouts into the mic, trying to rev up the girls sitting on the bleachers like always.

"Yeah!!" they all shout at once.

"I'm sure by now you all know who's going to duel, don't you?" a round of screams, "I'll take that as a yes." Alicia laughs, "On this side," she motions towards me, "We have Kame Shohei from Namari." almost all the girls scream and clap, "It looks like Kame's got some fans, you might be in for it, Yuki!" she laughs, "And on this side," she motions towards Yuki, "we have Yuki Kino from Zenryona!" a round of screams and applause, "Now I dunno about you girls, but I'd say we have ourselves quite the challenge! We have Yuki, the second-in-command of Tezuka herself, and Kame, the leader of Namari, the second highest ranking team in our society!" as Alicia rambles on as per usual, I look around the bleachers until I find my team. Maki smiling down at me, Emi sporting a thumbs-up, Miyoko looking down at me in utter anticipation, and Reiko flipping me off. I can't help but grin at her gesture and stick my tongue out at her, causing the general area of girls to do the same, Reiko and I laugh, the other girls staring at us in confusion.

My eyes widen in shock and I jump back in a heartbeat just as
Yuki runs past me, a sword in her hands.

"That was a bit cheap, don't ya think, Yuki?" I smirk.

"And Yuki misses by a long shot!" hollers Alicia, "I don't know what just happened, but it looks like Kame has the upper hand now!"

"You should've been paying attention as opposed to showing off to your fangirls." says Yuki nonchalantly. She then drops her katana and runs at me, only allowing a long dagger to appear in her hand once she gets within inches of me. She tries to drive the weapon into me, but I jump back, effectively preforming a backflip, making one of my axes appear in my hands as I fly through the air, and landing on my right hand before flinging my it at her. Her eyes widen in surprise as my weapon grazes her arm, shedding blood. I land back on my feet and she grabs her arm.

"How did you...?"
"I don't know what you consider 'showing off,' but I'm pretty sure sticking my tongue out is only showing what I can do with it." I smirk and stick out my tongue, the crowd goes wild.

"And I thought I was witty!" laughs Alicia. At this, something flickers in Yuki's eyes and she runs at me once more with gritted teeth. I easily dodge all of her attacks.

"Anger makes you reckless, Yuki." I laugh as her sword lashes at thin air, "It's about time I play offense, don'cha think?" I then bring up my last ax and move in such a way that sends me behind her, there I stick my weapon into her shoulder, causing her to howl in pain. I withdraw my weapon and jump back.

"Yuki's been hit again! It's not looking so good for her, girls!" Yuki then materializes an AK-47. I smile, she actually thinks bullets will stop me when I can see them head-on? She smirks and fires, but I never see the bullets coming. They pelt into me like tiny needles. This seems to go on forever as my body shrieks in pain. She finally pulls her finger off the trigger and I cough up blood, only to feel the sharp pain of her sword piercing into my abdomen.

"Mustn't get too cocky, now, Kame." her voice sends chills down my spine and I shudder. She pulls away and I fall to my stomach, my eyes wide with confusion, why didn't I see them coming? I'm suddenly flipped over and my eyes connect with the deeply worried expression of Emi as she tends to my wounds, Reiko mumbling something, trying desperately to keep me conscious, Maki no where to be seen, and Miyoko looking down at me with tears in her eyes as the pain becomes too much and the world around me grows dark.

~

"You went too far, Yuki." Tezuka scolds said girl as they stand in her office.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't think you'd help me, but when you did, I just..."

"That's no excuse."

"Tezuka, when are we going to-"

"Not now, Yuki, they're watching."

"Who?"

"The observers."

"You mean the readers?" Tezuka nods, "Alright," Yuki sighs, "But I'm not going to wait much longer." she glares at Tezuka and leaves her office.
"You'll get your chance eventually, Yuki. Patience is key." Tezuka mumbles to no one in particular before she, too, leaves her office with more to tend to before the day is out.