The Same Coin

Only Her

They were half an hour late returning to Heavens Arena.

Winry's feet moved more sluggishly than before as she followed Machi down the corridor to the arena, and her fingers tightened around the neck of the now-empty bottle of nectar she was carrying — she'd needed the sugar to perk herself back up after Machi had put her through the ringer back at the morgue.

"Not the stands," Winry said, putting her hand around Machi's wrist to draw her away from the line that was wrapping around the Arena's hallways. "I have employee access — we can watch from the service tunnel."

Machi consented and let Winry point her toward the entrance to the tunnel, where Winry used her identification card to open the door after she dropped her bottle in a bin. The screaming of the crowd let her know that the fight had already begun — as they drew near the end of the tunnel, the monitor displaying the fight came into view.

"Are you just going to run? Or are you going to fight me!" Kastro's voice echoed over the PA system, his words barely audible over the screaming of the crowd and the pounding of the music. They were just inside the mouth of the service tunnel now and she could see the ring clearly.

If Winry didn't know better, she'd think Hisoka was on the run as he leapt out of Kastro's range again and again. Kastro launched a kick at Hisoka's head, which Hisoka blocked easily with his forearm—

But then Kastro was behind him, and the kick came from the other side.

A hand rose to cover Winry's mouth in shock as she watched Hisoka get catapulted across the floor.

"That's a clean hit and a knockdown!" the referee declared, raising a hand in the air.

Winry remembered how Hisoka's first fight against Kastro had gone. Hisoka had never truly lost the upper hand, despite how many points Kastro had scored against him. But she'd never seen Hisoka in this position before, and it was unnerving to walk in on. What had happened to lead to this? He was so strong — how strong had Kastro become in the interim? And what was that Kastro had just done?

"What a surprise, folks! I can hardly believe it. Kastro has been knocking his opponent around like a rag doll! The score is now 4-0. But what did I just see? Was that my imagination?"

No, it hadn't been. Winry wasn't sure what Kastro had done, but she knew he had been using Nen — he'd clearly mastered a Hatsu of his own since having his nodes opened. Winry marveled for a moment that she and Kastro had their aura released at the same time, and she wondered what the gap between their abilities were. She knew it was unlikely she could beat him in hand-to-hand combat — she still had less than a year of experience at that, even if it had been with Hisoka and Izumi training her. But Nen...Could she beat him with Nen?

"Can you still fight?"

Winry didn't have to see Hisoka's face to know he smiled that indulgent, wicked smile. The one that left her feeling so rattled. The referee flinched away, and Winry let out a small laugh knowing she'd been right. Hisoka got back to his feet, brushing off his knees as he did, and Winry heard Machi clear her throat.

"So you're going to come?" Machi asked, watching the fight instead of her. "To Yorknew City?"

"Yes, although he didn't say what we'd be doing there."

"He didn't tell me either — he'll let us know once everyone is gathered there. But the Boss told me to make sure you bring your tool bag, and whatever you need to facilitate your abilities."

"I will," Winry nodded.

"I hadn't been sure how useful you were going to be," the other woman admitted, brushing a lock of her ultra lilac hair back behind one ear. Winry didn't respond, but then Machi continued, "The Boss doesn't usually take that kind of interest in people very often. Whatever you did on the airship made quite the impression on him — and on Hisoka. When they both said you didn't have Nen...Well, that seemed like wasted potential."