The two duelists faced each other across the arena - on one side, Kotei Jin of Bosatsu Academy, and on the other, Nanafushi Kazue of Chikaku. She smiled at Jin warmly. It was hard to imagine that she was the dreaded 'Chikaku's Demon'.
"Hey there - 'Thousand-Devil'."
Jin felt a chill. Until not too long ago, he had thought he'd never again stand in a dueling arena, before the gathered crowds, facing down a determined warrior. And now, here he was - and she called him by his old nickname.
He'd thought his days as 'Thousand-Devil Kotei' were over forever.
"Want to know something? I'm really glad I get to duel you."
Jin flexed his fingers, stretching his muscles. "Yeah? Why's that?"
Nanafushi giggled. "I was a big fan, you know. Back when you were in the Junior leagues." She looked off to the side, as though seeing his duels play out before her eyes. "Everyone was transparent to you. Their training and hard work, their strategies and techniques - these meant nothing. You could always see their weaknesses - and crush them." She looked back at him, her eyes gleaming. "You were ruthless."
He looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. "I was -"
"They say the same thing about me. Ruthless." She raised a hand towards him. "But you and I know what that means - we never back down. We're here to duel, so we fight to crush our opponents! To do any less would be the worst insult imaginable!"
Jin's hand shot out to the side, first two fingers pressed together - in preparation for his Thousand Devil Eye. "Then you know the full power of my technique. There's no reason for me to hold back -"
"That's right, Kotei-chan. Because I've watched you for so long, I know the full extent of your Thousand Devil Eye." She put one hand up to her chin, folding the other arm across her chest. She tapped one finger against her lips thoughtfully. "But that also means... I know its weak points. I've seen every misstep you've made - so I know how to seal the Thousand Devil Eye completely!"
Jin didn't respond - instead he swept his hand forward and pressed his fingers to his third eye, a determined look on his face.
"... Of course, you're still going to use it. That's another thing I know about you, Kotei-chan. You're arrogant." A cruel smile spread behind the finger resting on her lips. "This is going to be interesting."
~
"This is going to be boring." Up in the box seats, a bald-headed girl in a loose-fitting burgundy robe popped a grape into her mouth. "Nanafushi-me has studied all of his techniques, and Kotei-me has been rotting for years." She rubbed the back of her neck. On this hand, tattoos on her knuckles spelled out "1 C O R", on the other, "1 3 1 2".
"I disagree, Hibiki," replied Venomous Kyoru from the seat beside her. "I expect the return of Thousand Devil Kotei to be quite illuminating."
~
Jin's mind flooded with information. Nanafushi clearly had already chosen her first throw - the way she was watching him, with that dark smile, she was looking for reactions. But did she have a sequence planned, or was she coming up with her throws one at a time? She said she could seal away his Thousand Devil Eye - but she wasn't doing anything directly against it. So did she think her strategy was immune to analysis?
He needed to watch her carefully as she prepared her next throw. Until then, he'd have to come up with a plan for the first round.
She just looked back at him with a predatorial stare.
~
"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"
The first throw was a tie - both of them had thrown Scissors.
"What's Kotei-kun doing?" Mizumigawa was hanging off the edge of her seat, leaning on the railing in front of her. "She said she could seal the Eye, but she hasn't done anything yet! So why isn't he winning?"
Yukimura narrowed her eyes, watching the duelists prepare for their next throw. "I'm not so sure she hasn't done something, Mizu-kun." Mizumigawa looked back at her. "His perception is so great - I think the real duel may be invisible to us."
~
There - a flicker in Nanafushi's eyes.
She's picking a new throw. That's the weakness of the Thousand Devil Eye she's exploiting - if she picks her throws at random, there isn't an underlying strategy for me to counter. But even if she executes it perfectly, random play leaves us each with a fifty percent chance of victory. There's no way she'd accept that. So she plans to play randomly and watch me to determine what pattern I'll fall into as a reaction.
Which means -
Jin raised his fist.
~
Throws fell in rapid succession.
Rock and Rock.
The two duelists were silent. They watched each other, unblinking.
Paper and Scissors - a point for Nanafushi.
Nanafushi's face was twisted into a wicked grin, her eyes narrowed.
Scissors and Paper - a point for Jin.
Jin stared her down. A single drop of sweat beaded on his brow.
Rock and Rock.
Then, Scissors and Rock, another point for Nanafushi.
She was leading, two points to one.
Game point.
~
Kono Sayuri clutched her hands to her chest. Kotei-kun looked so bold, so confident, just like when he had saved her from those two thugs on the tennis courts at Bosatsu Academy. When she had heard he was joining the dueling team, she knew she wanted to be there to support him. She just hadn't realized how intense these duelists could be.
She hadn't been able to muster a proper cheer, but as they prepared for the next throw, she whispered, "You can do it, Kotei-kun."
~
"Shoot!"
Their hands fell once more. This time, Jin's Paper won out over Nanafushi's Rock. They were tied at two points each. Nanafushi frowned, began to raise her hand for the next game-point throw.
Then she drew in a breath, sharply.
"Damn you," she said, her cunning smile returning. "How long?!"
"Tch. I was hoping you wouldn't notice." Jin smiled back. "I started back on the second throw."
She shook her head. "How the hell did you break it?"
"I guess there's no point in hiding it any more." He swept his hand out to the side, as though to encompass the entire duel. "By the second throw I realized you were using random throws to block my technique. I watched you when you were selecting your throw, and saw that your eyes flicked to the side - you weren't using the clock, or performing any complex mental arithmetic to pick your throw." He pointed to where she had been looking. "You were using those advertisement banners."
As he spoke, one of the electronic banners shifted - from "Auxesis Corp" to "Shin-Ra Beverage Concern".
"They're changing throughout the match - each advertisement could correspond to a different throw." He tapped his forehead. "But you've seen me duel before. There's no way you'd use such a simple method, right? So I deduced that you were using both of the banners that were in your field of view when you glanced over there - each pair of advertisements would correspond to a throw, because these two signs were changing at different rates. When you were picking your second throw, only one of the signs was different. That meant it was unlikely you'd throw Scissors a second time."
She shook her head. "Wait. Why'd you throw Rock, then?"
"Ah!" he said, holding up one finger. "I picked the throw that I predicted would be worst - because if I was right, I'd get confirmation of my theory, and if I was wrong, I'd get a point. Either way, I win."
He clenched his fist. "From there, it was easy to predict all of your throws! I gave you a few points to let you think you had successfully sealed my Eye - but I was controlling the whole game."
There was a brief silence.
"Spectacular! Somehow I underestimated you, Kotei-chan." Nanafushi stepped into a wider stance, narrowed her eyes at Jin. "But this duel isn't over!" She swept her arms out, swirling her dress around as though blasted by a sudden wind. Her grin widened to frightening proportions, and there seemed almost to be a flicker of heat haze around her. "It's time to go into overdrive!"
They raised their hands for the game point.
"Rock! Paper! Scissors!"
~
Jihara spoke softly to Ryoichi. "You feel it, don't you?" Ryoichi said nothing, his entire focus on Kotei Jin. "His battle aura... it's already so strong."
~
"Shoot!"
~
Kyoru glanced at Hibiki.
"Tch. Whatever." She folded her arms contemptuously. "A scythe can't tell the difference in strength between two stalks of wheat."
~
"Match, Kotei! Three points to two!"
Nanafushi stared at Jin, her hand still outstretched, forming Paper.
"You want to know how I knew to throw Scissors? I'll explain. Your previous two throws were both Rock. The amateur would avoid throwing Rock three times in a row. You're no amateur, but you know that I know that you'd be aware of that. You expected I'd predict that you would avoid the throw that would be least expected - and therefore, I'd throw Rock to counter your Scissors, with you thinking I'd throw Paper to counter your Rock. You were counting on me outsmarting you and predicting all that, so you threw Paper." He spread his hands. "I was one step ahead of you."
A slow smile crept across her face. "Incredible." She dropped her hand to her side. "Ha ha ha ha ha! That was incredible! You're even stronger than I thought!"
Jin bowed his head slightly.
"Kotei Jin!" She pointed at him. "I'm definitely going to get stronger! The next time we meet, I'm going to destroy you utterly!" She winked. "Deal?"
Jin opened his mouth to speak, but-
"Worthless people shouldn't talk like that."
Jin and Nanafushi turned, struck silent, towards Chikaku's bench, where Captain Yosai Akio was slowly standing. His face was fixed in an expression of cold scorn.
He walked over to the dueling platform, sneered at Nanafushi. "Get out of my way."
She tensed up, but didn't speak - just walked back to the bench with her head low. Jin reached forward, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
Ryoichi stood there, a serene look on his face. "I'll handle this one, Kotei-kun." Cherry blossoms wafted through the air around him.
Wait, thought Jin, cherry blossoms? He glanced behind Ryoichi, to see one of the girls from Ryoichi's personal fanclub cheerfully tossing handfuls of petals. Really?
