Episode 12 - The Demon Emerges

Jin watched as the two duelists sized each other up - Mizumigawa Shin on one side, Kumoru Yuji on the other. He thought back to the other night at the pool hall. Kumoru was unpleasant, certainly, but was he really Yosai Akio's secret weapon - "Chikaku's Demon"?

He flashed back to the image of Mizumigawa standing over Kumoru in the pool hall. And though he was the one lying on the floor, his expression of shock and pain concealed a subtle smile. He was the one in control. 

"Ryoichi-san," Jin asked quietly, "are you sure about this?"

Captain Ryoichi watched Mizumigawa calmly. "Trust your teammate, Kotei-kun."

~

"So, Mizu-chan... how did a delicate thing like you become a duelist?" He paused briefly. "Normally duelists are a bit... tougher. You're just-"

"I'm going to shut you up with my first throw!" Mizumigawa clenched her fist. Kumoru, still smiling, shrugged, then raised his fist as well.

The referee, sitting high above them and to the side, chanted as they silently pumped their fists -

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Mizumigawa leapt up just before the throw, twisting to put more force and speed into the arc of her fist, landing just as the referee shouted "Shoot!"

There was a short pause, then:

"Scissors cut paper! Point to Mizumigawa!"

Her smile was confident - but above all, it was calm.

"So," said Kumoru slowly, his tone controlled and flat, "you let me think that I had made you angry enough to throw rock, countering my words with an aggressive throw. Not bad."

~

Quietly, Yosai laughed to himself. "That was quick," he whispered. "You've lost so soon... Mizumigawa-san."

~

A slow grin started to creep back across Kumoru's face. "But the duel is over now. From now on, we play a much simpler game." He stretched up to his full height, and light gleamed madly off one of his eyes from amidst the tangle of his hair.

"That game is called - 'fear'."

~

"Oh, hell," said Yukimura quietly. "I don't believe it."

The others on the bench turned towards her, quizzical looks on their faces.

She shook her head. "This idiot Kumoru - he's an analytical type."

~

Kumoru seemed to loom over Mizumigawa, even from the opposite platform. A complete change had come over him - all of the amusement had left his voice, replaced with cold authority. "I'll make you an offer." His voice dripped with scorn. He raised his hand, two fingers extended, showing Scissors. "We'll both throw Scissors. A show of good faith. If you cooperate, perhaps I'll take it easy on you." He narrowed his eyes. "But if you think of throwing something else, I'll know." He made a fist, ready for the next throw.

"Mizumigawa leads, one to zero," said the announcer.

Mizumigawa looked hesitant, but raised her hand as well nonetheless. Her eyes darted across Kumoru's face from underneath her dark sunglasses, looking for a clue to his next move, but his expression was still, cold, unreadable.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

Mizumigawa's throw was less forceful this time, but Kumoru's was completely different from before - his movements were clipped and harsh, almost as though he were striking someone with his hand.

"Scissors cuts paper! Point to Kumoru!"

Kumoru stared into Mizumigawa's eyes, as though looking right through her shades. "I told you to throw Scissors."

She flinched. So this is his strength, she thought.

He brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Utterly transparent. You've been my puppet from the very moment we first met, but even I didn't expect this duel to go so perfectly." He gestured toward her. "The other night, at the pool hall, do you know what I saw? I saw what you look like when you lose your cool. And then, on the very first throw of this match..."

Mizumigawa's eyes went wide as she realized what he was saying.

"... I saw what you look like when you're faking. This is what allows me to use the full power of my technique - 'Fear Itself'."

Her mind raced. His technique is based on intimidation - and reading his opponent. He tells them to make a specific throw, then he can tell whether they'll go along with it by reading their emotional reaction. Such a technique - this is what makes him a 'Demon'!


His lips parted in a thin, cruel smile. "So you've figured it out? A terrifying technique, isn't it? And the best part - is that it works even if you know about it." He shook his head. "I've beaten you so easily. You're worthless, you know that?" He paused, as though just realizing something amusing. "Is that why you duel? To prove you're good for something? I guess that didn't quite work out."

Mizumigawa raised her hand for the third throw, and muttered through clenched teeth, "shut up."

"One all," noted the announcer.

"Fine, then," replied Kumoru, raising his hand in turn. "Now, obey me this time - or you'll regret it. Throw Rock."

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

Kumoru's eyes went wide. "Impossible!" he hissed.

Mizumigawa smirked. "I thought you wanted me to throw Rock... ?"

"Rock crushes Scissors! Point to Mizumigawa!"

~

Ryoichi chuckled softly. "You know, I almost feel sorry for him. To face Mizu-kun when he relies on a technique like that...."

Jin looked up at him.

"She has incredible control over her movements," explained Ryoichi. "While he relies on her reactions to choose his throw, she can make him do whatever she wants. I wonder what he'll do now...?"

~

Kumoru raised his head, peered down at Mizumigawa. "This changes nothing. You haven't seen the limit of my power - I've already figured out how to read you even through this-"

He was cut off by a sound like a thunderclap.

Mizumigawa's hands were pressed together, fingers interlaced, forefingers steepled. "Rin. Seal of the Thunderbolt." All the tension seemed to have left her body - she seemed once again relaxed and confident. "Let's put that to the test, then. I'll show you my 'unreadable throw'! You'd better pay close attention!"

Kumoru frowned, but raised his fist nonetheless.

"Mizumigawa leads, two to one! Match point!"

"Now, listen," she said. "I'm going to throw Rock."

The countdown began.

"Rock!"

A sneer was fixed on Kumoru's face.

"Paper!"

Arrogant. She's too arrogant! She doesn't know my true strength.


"Scissors!"

In one lightning-fast motion, Mizumigawa tore her sunglasses off with her free hand and threw them straight up.

A distraction, thought Kumoru. But if I just manage to keep watching her face, then I'll definitely be able to read her!


But... what's that noise?


"Shoot!"

A harsh hiss escaping her lips, Mizumigawa whipped her hand forward.

There was dead silence. Time seemed to stand still. She held her hand forward, fist clenched. She had thrown Rock. And Kumoru... he stood there with his mouth open.

He hadn't made a throw at all.

Time caught up with them, and Mizumigawa's sunglasses fell back down towards her. She snatched them out of the air, then slid them back over her eyes.

"That... was my King Cobra Strike!"

~

"King Cobra...?" Jin wasn't quite sure what he had just seen.

"King Cobra Strike," said Yukimura, adjusting her glasses. "An esoteric technique, and not an easy one to use. It only works if the opponent isn't expecting it, and is paying careful attention to the duelist's eyes. Essentially, it's a glare of intense, focused intimidation - designed to make the opponent flinch at the exact moment of the throw. It was never meant to be an 'unreadable throw' - she just needed him to watch her as closely as possible."

"This is Mizumigawa-dono's hidden strength," added Jihara. "She has an exceptional talent for learning and executing complex esoteric techniques."

Ryoichi nodded. "You see, Kotei-kun? Trust in your teammates." He watched Mizumigawa with a smile of quiet pride.

~

"Match, Mizumigawa! Thee points to one!" A cheer rose up from the crowd and the Bosatsu bench.

"Sorry, Kumoru-chan. But your technique - it really is despicable. There's no way you could win against me with something like that!"

Kumoru remained silent. He gritted his teeth, then turned and started to leave.

Mizumigawa grinned, seeming once again to be her usual, lighthearted self. She turned to the Chikaku bench, where Captain Yosai was watching in scornful disappointment as Kumoru walked away. "Yosai!" He looked over at her. "I really wasn't impressed with your 'Demon'!"

"... Heh heh heh."

She turned back towards Kumoru, who had frozen in place.

"Heh heh heh heh... ha ha ha ha HA HA HA HA!" Kumoru bent over backwards with angry laughter, as though this were the stupidest thing he had ever heard. "AHAHAHAHA!!"

After a short time, he caught his breath, then turned back towards Mizumigawa.

"You though I was Chikaku's Demon?"

She drew in a breath sharply.

Kumoru shook his head condescendingly. "No. Our 'Demon' is going to play in the next round."

Jin stared at Kumoru intently. I'm playing the next round - so I'll be facing this 'Demon'. But if it's not him, then...


Kumoru raised a hand and gestured towards the Chikaku bench, where Nanafushi Kazue stood smiling brightly in her floral dress.

"That's her right there."

Episode 11 - Joining Battle

The stadium was a wide building with a curved, gray roof. A few wisps of cloud drifted laconically through a flat blue sky.

The Bosatsu dueling team's bus bulled into the parking lot, reached the duelists' entrance, hissed to a stop. The doors slid open and, one by one, the Bosatsu duelists emerged.

First was captain Ryoichi Kei. His golden hair tumbled about his face. He had a confident smile, his paper fan was folded and resting on his shoulder. He wore designer jeans and a white dress shirt, and a throng of excited fans followed him down the stairs of the bus.

Next came Yukimura Hisoka. She was reading from a book that sat folded open in one palm, only glancing up at the stadium once when she reached the ground. She adjusted her glasses. Her straight brown hair framed her face with straight lines and at right angles, and she wore an ankle-length skirt.

Jihara Akatsuki descended the stairs like a spirit, his skin and hair pale as death, his wide-sleeved and wide-legged garments floating about him, his hands folded, his eyes nearly shut.

Mizumigawa Shin took all the stairs in a single leap. She looked ready for battle. Her sleeves were short, but her wrists were wrapped in long strips of cloth. With her spiked hair, her trademark dark sunglasses, and her teeth bared in an enthusiastic grin, she cut an intimidating figure.

Last of the five, Kotei Jin exited the bus. He wore a Bosatsu school uniform, clean and sharply defined. He pushed the fringe of his hair out of his eyes, examining the stadium with a distant expression.

He was quiet.

The junior members of the team followed, each moving to the side and waiting for the rest. Once they had all disembarked and the bus's doors had slid shut, at a signal from Ryoichi they moved as one for the duelists' entrance.

There was a boy standing beside it, looking impatient. He was somewhat short, but extremely neat, with a perfect part in his hair, immaculate dress shirt and dark blue tie. He glanced back and forth between the parking lot and his phone's display.

As they passed by him, without looking, he said "Bosatsu."

They stopped.

"You're with Chikaku, aren't you?" asked Ryoichi.

The boy still didn't look at them. His voice was high, but his enunciation was exact and dispassionate. "Technically, yes." He sighed, to communicate how patient he was being with them. "More precisely, I am the captain of Chikaku Academy's dueling team. Yosai Akio."

"Pleased to meet you, Yosai-san." Ryoichi glanced back into the parking lot. "Is there something wrong?"

Yosai massaged his forehead with one hand. "One of my duelists is late. Though," he mused, "really this is all just a formality."

Ryoichi tilted his head to the side, slightly.

"I mean, of course, that you should just give up and go home now." He looked at them, finally. "You're not prepared."

Mizumigawa stepped forward, suddenly, but Ryoichi raised one hand slightly, and she stopped, frowning.

Yosai looked at her, abstractly, as though he wasn't quite sure what she was. "I don't mean that as a threat. It's a simple fact. You're not going to be able to defeat 'Chikaku's Demon'."

A squeal of tires broke the silence. A sleek, black car screeched into the parking lot, stopped diagonally across two or three parking spaces. The door opened, and Kumoru Yuji stepped out, a cruel grin visible under his long hair.

Yosai glared at him. "You're late. Get inside."

"Of course, boss," Kumoru replied flippantly, "Didn't mean to keep you waiting."

The two of them swept through the doorway and out of sight. As he went, Kumoru looked at Mizumigawa. He licked his lips, still smiling, winked, and was gone.

She stood watching him, frozen. "Chikaku's... Demon?"

~

The murmur of the crowd quieted as the lights went up on the dueling arena. The door from the Bosatsu team's room led to a brief path, then a few stairs up to one of the two dueling platforms. A short distance across from it was the other dueling platform, matching stairs, a path, and the Chikaku team's door.

On the sidelines, by their entrances, the Bosatsu and Chikaku duelists waited. Ryoichi, Yukimura, Jihara, and Jin sat on one side. Yukimura and Jihara were watching the duelists' entrances, but Ryoichi, true to form, was watching the crowds, savoring the atmosphere. Jin, meanwhile, was looking over at Chikaku's sidelines.

There, Yosai Akio sat with his arms folded, his eyes drifting around the stadium but focusing on nothing. Nanafushi Kazue, the girl who had been with Kumoru the other night, sat next to the captain. She appeared to be doodling in a small notebook. She looked incongruous there - she was wearing a bright floral-patterned dress in reds and pinks, while her teammates were dressed mostly in dark, somber colors.

Beyond them, there were two others Jin had not seen before. One seemed to be napping, a skinny boy with a wide-brimmed hat over his eyes. The other was intimidatingly huge - a broad, muscled boy with short-cropped blond hair. They each wore dress shirts, looking like Yosai, though not quite as neat.

The announcer's voice boomed out over the speakers as he proceeded to describe the structure of the tournament. Each round of the championship consisted of a series of five matches between the duelists of two opposing teams. Each match was played to three points, and the first team to win three of the five matches could move on to the next round.

Mizumigawa stepped out from the Bosatsu entrance. She adjusted her arm wraps as she walked up to the platform and took her position for the opening match. She looked around at the crowd, smiling slightly, as the noise in the arena grew to a roaring cheer.

"In this round, Bosatsu Academy faces Chikaku Academy! Match one - Bosatsu's Mizumigawa Shin versus Chikaku's Kumoru Yuji!"

Kumoru casually emerged from Chikaku's entrance, sauntering along, deliberately ignoring the crowd and spectacle. He made his way to the platform opposite Mizumigawa's. He was also wearing a dress shirt and a tie, but the top few buttons were undone, the shirt rumpled and half-untucked, the tie hanging loosely around his neck, draped rather than knotted. It looked like it must have taken him quite some time to make it clear precisely how little he cared about his appearance.

"Hey there, Mizu-chan."

Her lip curled into a sneer, reflexively.

"Are you ready, little girl?"