Ruby Red

3

Kei charged at me with speed, only one of his blades in hand. I remained on the defensive as he slashed at me over and over, me barely dodging each attempt. My Kogetsu remained sheathed as he continued to push me back.

"What happened to that confidence from before? Did you realize fighting me was a mistake?" I clenched my jaw at his regained cockiness.

'Damn, I should've taken him down a level in the beginning.' Tachikawa finally managed to slice my body in half, sending me off in a bright green streak of trion. I landed onto the bed in my booth and prepared for the next round. I could hear chatter outside as the automated voice spoke throughout the room.

"Hanako, bail out. One to Zero. Tachikawa leads." I spawned back in the cityscape and rested my left hand on the sheath of my Kogetsu with my right gripping the hilt, awaiting the signal. "Round Two, begin."

My body moved so fast that it looked like I teleported on screen. I landed in the same position, making it look like my blade never even left the sheath. Kei suddenly split in half and shot away.

"Tachikawa, bail out. One to One. It's a tie." Kei reappeared with a shocked but angry look plastered on his face. He grabbed both swords and charged at me. "Round Three, begin." He sliced at me, but I remained still. I shut my eyes and simply held a hand on my Kogetsu. Kei skidded to a stop behind me and beamed away. "Tachikawa, bail out. Two to One. Hanako leads." Kei reappeared once again and the match quickly restarted, although this time, neither of us made a move. "Round Four, begin."

"How are you doing that? You're not even moving? It's inhumane," he complained.

"It's not magic, just speed. And aren't triggers supposed to make us inhumane to keep us safe?" Kei's jaw slacked at my well-thought-out statement.

"Who are you-?" I cut the boy off by slicing him in half once more.

"Tachikawa, bail out. Three to One. Hanako leads." He respawned once more.

"I said who are you-?" I cut him off again, stealing yet another match. Even if he wanted to defend himself, my speed was too much for him to handle.

"Tachikawa, bail out. Four to One. Hanako leads." Kei spawned to our location, completely flustered.

"Would you stop that! Let me talk-" I appeared behind him with my blade drawn, holding it against his neck.

"Not after you arrogant remarks." In one quick motion, Kei's head was released from the body and he shot away once more.

"Tachikawa, bail out. Five to One. Hanako leads." I watched as Kei returned looking furious.

"Why did you want to fight me?"

"I heard from my mentor that you were the top ranked attacker. I had to claim my spot." He didn't seem to believe me and went to question it. I attacked him once more, becoming bored with the battle.

"Tachikawa, bail out. Six to One. Hanako leads." I awaited for Tachikawa's return as it was slower than it was before. "Round Eight, begin." Kei had respawned behind me in my blindspot, thinking he finally got me. I speedily unsheathed my Kogetsu, jabbing backwards and piercing Kei like a kabob. "Tachikawa, bail out. Seven to One. Hanako leads."

"Can we hurry this up? I'm bored with you," I said. "You're not as strong as I was hoping. And you're the top combatant? Now how am I supposed to have fun here?" My wailing continued as Kei returned to the battlefield looking exasperated.

"Who was your mentor?"

"Nobody special." My face was blank and my voice remained monotone. I relaxed my stance and held my right hand out in front of me. "Asteroid!" Trion bullets shot from my hand and shot at Kei. He used his swords to block most of the bullets, but some escaped and shot through him.

"Tachikawa, bail out. Eight to One. Hanako leads." Kei respawned for the final time, grabbing his blade in a ready stance. I knew exactly what his aim was and copied his movements. "Round Ten, begin."

"Senku Kogetsu!" we yelled at the same time. Our slashed clashed and dust clouded the scene. As it settled, you could see trion leakage from both of us; Kei's heavier than mine. I covered my leaking trion and panted slightly from my excess use of energy.

"Tachikawa, bail out. A ten-rounds game, Nine to One. The winner is Kaori Hanako." I teleported out of the battle arena and laid on my given bed for a moment, thinking about how Border could use some stronger combatants. I lifted myself up off the mattress and headed for the booth door, finding Jin, Kei and the unnamed boy staring at me.

Everyone in the room gazed at me, not expecting my skill level. I walked over to them casually and stopped in front of Kei to look up at him.

"I heard that you were mentored by a higher up and needed to test your strength. Decent," My kind smile changed to a worried look, "but not good enough."

"Who taught you?"

"Well, I have been training for two years under Captai-"

"What are you doing here?" A loud voice echoed in the room. I turned around to face that of Shinoda himself standing atop the second level. "And why are you beating up my student?"

"Be quiet old man; it was your idea this morning." Shinoda's face remained stoic as he approached us, seeming almost angrier the closer he got. He stopped a foot away from me to look down at my small figure. "Hi. How has work been?" I asked innocently.

"Alright, but when I said to come and 'take over Border', I didn't mean humiliate my student." A playful grin on his face escaped from behind his blank mask. I was suddenly whirled around and thrown in a headlock with my back pressed against the commander's chest. He used his free hand to ruffle at my long black hair, messing up my tidy ponytail. I wiggled as I struggled to pry his arm from around my neck.

"Wait, what's happening?" Kei questions astonished. Shinoda and I stopped as we looked to the confused teen.

"This," I looked up at Shinoda's face, "is my mentor. Oh, duh, he's also my uncle." Kei's jaw dropped while the black haired boy's eyes widened. There were gasps from the other combatants in the room at the statement. Shinoda returned to messing up my hair to which I wailed like a small child. "Release me!"

"You called me old, I need payback," he responded with an evil smirk. I finally escaped his grip and blew my bangs up as I huffed in annoyance.

"There's only one way to settle this! I challenge you to a ten round match!" I crossed my arms as everyone gasped once more.

"You've never beaten me."

"I haven't had a real battle with you. Plus, I've gotten a lot stronger since our last spar," I said confidently.

"I'm gonna wipe that smirk off your face," he said. I released my long locks from the rubberband's hold allowing it to fall down to my waist. I swept it back up into a new, fresh ponytail that wasn't messed up.

"We'll see about that," I challenged. We playfully glared at each other as we stepped in separate booths. Shinoda speedily set up a match and we were immediately transferred into the battle area.

"Don't get upset when you lose," he teased.

"That's my line," I snarkily replied.

"It's a ten-rounds game in unranked match, begin!"

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Almost forgot to update! Hope you enjoyed!