Spear Devil - 018

Chapter 018 – Broken

[April – 2008]

The black dragon tattooed on Akira's chest seemingly glaring at him with sheer menace, Kiba looked on as his opponent took up his stance, Akira's movements being controlled and collected, absolute focus in his crystal gaze.

Taking his own stance, Kiba was sure that this battle would be a quick one, as no matter his heritage, Akira was still half-human, while he himself was a reincarnated Devil, the knight piece having given him speed simply incomprehensible for normal mortals.

He knew couldn't use his supernatural abilities in front of the crowd of humans, but his perception and reaction time should still be more than enough to deal with the hybrid before him.

As soon as Akira moved to attack though, Yuuto realized how wrong he had been.

From a teen with a wooden stick, Akira suddenly turned into a deadly storm of thrusts and slashes, his every move sharp and aiming to kill or maim. He was a whirlwind of death pushing him to the limits of human ability in a single exchange.

Yuuto hardly managed to deflect and block all the blows without drawing on his supernatural speed, Akira's attacks coming at him like an unstoppable torrent, delivered with deadly grace.

The way his spear carved through the space between them, every blow a condensation of strength at the limits of human capability, Akira's execution of them being simply perfect.

Yuuto had never faced someone that understood how to channel and distribute force like Akira. Every block and counter of his just acted as fuel for Akira's deadly dance, the wooden spear coming alive in his hands.

Yuuto wasn't even surprised when Akira managed to break through his defenses, the padded spear point finding its way behind his guard as it hit the insides of his left knee lightly, the strength of the blow perfectly controlled.

Looking at Akira as he enter his stance again, not even commenting on his success of getting a hit in first, Yuuto suddenly saw the teen with entirely new eyes, as did the rest of the spectators as they cheered for him in equal measure as they did for himself, their fight being a rare spectacle.

Knowing that he couldn't allow himself to lose and disappoint his master just like this, Kiba didn't wait for Akira to make the first move this time as he pushed forward with the shinai in his hands.

Faster and faster he slashed, always reminding himself to not go beyond the limits of normal humans, pushing the techniques he had been taught by Okita to the extremes.

And yet, Akira greeted his attacks with equal ferocity, the length of his weapon seemingly not inconveniencing him in the slightest, as the spear flowed around his figure in a defensive pattern that forced Yuuto back several times.

Even as he continued to attack and advance with great ferocity, Yuuto felt as if he was slowly pushed back – cornered. As if every slashing and piercing attack he performed was inconsequential to the outcome of the battler, every action of his just pushing a step closer to his inevitable defeat, Akira never losing his calm as the spear in his hand continued its intercepting trajectories.

Finally deciding to use every trick he got to and bet on the element of surprise, Kiba made a feint as he stabbed the shinai forward, his left foot leading his stance, aiming at Akira's left hand which guided the wooden spear.

In the last moment though instead, he pushed forward with his right foot, his left foot giving way, causing his body to just barely pass beneath Akira's wide sweep and giving him the opportunity he had needed, as he lunged forward in a crouched position, spinning around as he did so, his shinai coming to rest against Akira's right side and hitting his waist.

Yuuto's hit wasn't as controlled as his opponents though, but Akira just shrugged it off and moved to reposition himself again, taking up a loose stance this time, the wooden spear laying comfortably in his right hand.

“Well done, let's see if you can do that again.”, Akira remarked softly, his voice deep and his eyes glinting with a predatory look while a feral smile seemed to emerge on his lips.

The rampart fighting spirit surrounding Akira turned almost malevolent with his announcement, and Yuuto almost thought that his senses were playing tricks on him when for the briefest moment a blackish-red glow seemed to rush over the dragon on Akira's left side, making it seem life-like as it glared at him.

Without another moment of respite, Akire pushed forward, his spear coming down on Yuuto in a sharp strike he just about managed to block, though that naturally wasn't the end of Akira's assault.

Still, Yuuto had at this point realized that a defensive approach would lead to his loss, so he retaliated equally aggressively, the shinai in his hands drawing afterimages in the space between them, clashing with the wooden spear again and again.

The echo of their clash pounded into the ears of those listening in a constant rhythm, though most of those watching were too entranced watching the movement of the combatant, even though their eyes could hardly keep up, as Yuuto and Akira pushed the limits of their techniques while suppressing their supernatural capabilities.

And yet, the longer the battle went on, the more sure Kiba was that he would lose. It was inexplicable and nothing but a faint hunch, an instinct, a voice in the back of his head that whispered about his inevitable defeat. Instead of backing down though, Kiba became just more desperate, desperate to prove himself, to succeed, to survive.

*CRACK*

And then it happened. In a stroke of fate Akira's spear simply couldn't endure the continued abuse and broke during their next clash. The wooden fragments flew through the air while the broken tip followed suit.

Though what should have been Kiba's moment of victory instead became his downfall as he let his focus slip for just a moment, thinking the fight already concluded due to his opponent's weapon being broken.

*BAM*

The next moment Kiba found himself lying on his back with Akira standing over him and pointing the broken tip of his spear against his forehead, a dull pain to the back of his knee telling him how he had fallen.

Turning around while moving forward and avoiding his shinai, Akira had swept him off his feet in his moment of carelessness, the destruction of his weapon not even slowing him down for an instant.

Looking down at him with his crystal gaze shining brightly, a few drops of blood running down his cheek where one of the spear fragments had most likely cut him, the spear-wielding teen stood still as if waiting for something, his eyes still filled with a shadow of violence.

"I lost.", Kiba admitted in the silence of the gym, the onlookers holding their breath as they felt the tension between the two combatants.

Finally moving back, Akira's whole demeanor changed back into the calm and collected teen, as he smiled and nodded, uncaring for the blood that ran down his cheek: "You did."

At this point, their not-so-small audience began to cheer and exclaim in shock and amazement at what they had just witnessed, as many more students seemed to have arrived after noticing the commotion.

Flipping the broken spear in his hand, the black-haired half-dragon extended it towards Kiba, who understood the gesture and took hold of it, causing him to be pulled up from the ground seemingly without effort.

Sighing to himself, Kiba was about to return to the club building in defeat after his loss when Akira's voice reached his ears.

“Tell your president that I will come by after I have picked up my new uniform from the student council office.”

Looking up, Kiba saw Akira smile at him good-naturedly, as he added: “Thanks for the fight, Kiba. I hope we can do this again.”

Smiling himself in response, Kiba replied with a laugh: “Of course, we can. Though next time I will win.”

"You can try.", came the black-haired teen's reply, before he crouched down and picked up the broken-off spear blade with an almost pained expression, sighing quietly as he moved to put his shirt and shoes back on.