Episode 18 - Kohitsuji

Hidaka Michi cut a striking figure. He was tall and handsome, and, as the scion of the powerful Hidaka family, easily projected a casual yet commanding presence. From a young age, he was effortlessly talented at whatever he turned his hand to - equally comfortable playing the violin, translating ancient texts, and analyzing trinary logic systems.  So it was no surprise when, after deciding he wished to learn Rock Paper Scissors, he quickly rose to the position of captain in Kohitsuji Academy's dueling team.

From beneath the brim of his pilot's cap - featuring the Hidaka Airlines crest - he surveyed the duelists arrayed before him. They were Kohitsuji's finest, and he was proud of them.

Right now, however, they seemed to be a little distracted.

It was the end of a long day of training, analysis, planning. The Kohitsuji duelists were scattered through the spacious, two-level central lounge of the team headquarters. A slow, intricate passacaglia issued forth from the grand piano.

On the second level balcony sat Hairo Asahi, frowning in concentration at the documents and textbooks spread out on the table in front of her. Hidaka found her studiousness inspiring - she was not only a strong duelist, but also an aspiring surgeon, and her academic work took up almost as much of her time as her stringent Rock Paper Scissors regimen. And yet somehow this massive workload never seemed too much for her, as no matter how many nights in a row she spent up studying and training instead of sleeping, she always remained cheerful and friendly. As she read, compared notes, and studied anatomical diagrams, her boyfriend Yuta Daichi, sitting in the chair next to hers, bobbed his head to a private rhythm - ostensibly he was helping her study, but in reality he was mostly just keeping her company and listening to music on an expensive-looking pair of headphones. Yuta wasn't a duelist, but he was a common feature of the dueling team's lounge nonetheless, offering the occasional sarcastic comment from the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Karasu Nori was pacing about restlessly, with a dreamy, faraway look in his eye.

Hidaka smiled. "What's on your mind, Karasu-san?" Of course, he knew exactly what that look meant.

Karasu sighed blissfully. "I've finally met her - the one. She's just... perfect!"

Hairo called down from the balcony. "Isn't that what you said about what's-her-name like two months ago? And that girl you met at the tournament last year? And-"

"Ah, you don't get it!" Hairo's teasing couldn't sour Karasu's mood. "Ana-chan is different!"

Hidaka shook his head. Karasu looked like a model, with short, wavy hair, high cheekbones, and a chiseled physique. He was always dressed in the most fashionable designer wear, no matter what he was doing. At Kohitsuji, all of the girls - and a significant fraction of the boys - had a crush on "Karasu the Rogue". And yet, when it came to relationships, he was a bit... dense.

This caused no end of problems for Chiyoko Shizu. The serious-looking girl mulled over the problem, her face hidden from the other duelists by her long, straight hair, as she played the grand piano in the corner of the room. She had managed to pair every member of the dueling team up with someone, except for Karasu. Well, and herself, naturally - but that didn't count. Karasu's flighty nature was ruining her perfect record! Still, she was sure there was a solution. She just had to think of it.

It was getting late, but Chiyoko was lost in thought, so she was surprised to see when she next looked up that Hairo, Yuta, and Karasu had already left for the evening. Hidaka was looking at the profiles of the Bosatsu duelists, their opponents in the next round of the championship, while the team's fifth member was dozing on a couch. Chiyoko quickly finished her song, then quietly slipped out the back door with a private smile on her face.

The sound of the door closing snapped Hidaka out of his daze - he'd been reading the same sentence over and over for several minutes without absorbing it. Must be more tired than I thought.

He glanced over at the Kohitsuji dueling team's fifth member, sprawled on the couch by the fireplace.

Hidaka didn't understand Tetsu Karan. His mind worked differently from anyone Hidaka had ever known - he seemed lost in the clouds, but he could make connections no one else could see. He dozed all the time, in class or the team's lounge. He practiced the least of anyone on the team, but his mysterious dueling style was shockingly effective.

And no matter what, whenever their eyes met, Hidaka couldn't help but smile.

He tousled Tetsu's (goofy, flipped-out) hair. "Hey. Wake up."

The boy yawned, stretched, blinked sleepily. "Michi?"

"Come on, Karan, it's late. Everyone's gone home already."

"'Kay." Tetsu stood up, rubbed his eyes, grabbed his bag from beside the couch, and headed for the door. He paused and looked back at Hidaka. "Aren't you coming?"

"I'll catch up with you in a sec. One more thing I have to take care of."

"Okay!" Tetsu didn't leave, though. He wandered over to the table where Hidaka was standing. "Are you excited for the next round, Michi?"

"Yeah. But it's going to be a tough one."

"That's okay. I don't mind whether we win the championship, really." He tilted his head to the side. "I just enjoy dueling with you." He leaned over and kissed Hidaka on the cheek, then turned and headed for the door. "I'll give you five minutes!"

"I'll be right out!"

When Tetsu was gone, Hidaka's smile faded. He drew a card out of his pocket, then stared at it in silence for a moment. He walked over to a wall-screen, punched in a number. The video phone rang twice before the connection went through.

On the screen was a figure shrouded in black, wearing a blank white mask.

The voice was harshly distorted. "Hidaka Michi. Have you reconsidered?"

He couldn't quite meet that empty gaze. "Yes, Lacuna. I can't beat Ryoichi Kei on my own."

~

Basilisk, the silver-haired girl, stood between the two teams of duelists - Jin and the other Bosatsu duelists behind her, Kyoru and Tendou ahead, near the door.

"Basilisk," said Ryoichi. "Explain yourself."

"I'm afraid I was just taking my leave."

She started towards the exit, but in a sudden flash of movement Kotei Jin was in front of her, blocking the door.

"That's enough. I need some answers! Who are you?"

But Ryoichi was the one who responded. "This is Tsuki Masako, also called Basilisk - Kyoru Arashi's former second in command." He paused for a moment before continuing, softly. "She's the one who told us about your brother."

She glanced over her shoulder at Ryoichi as he spoke, then turned back to Jin. "Satisfied?"

But as she started to walk forward once more, Jin raised his hand to point at her with a challenging Scissors.

She stopped, faint amusement on her face. "You wish to duel me?" She gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine. If you win, I'll answer your questions. If I win, then I leave without any further trouble. Agreed?"

Jin just raised his hand in a fist, ready to start the duel.

"We'll do a single throw, Thousand-Devil. Are you ready?"

"Rock!"

Something felt wrong to Jin.

"Paper!"

He could hear a faint humming, like a swarm of locusts on the horizon.

"Scissors!"

Tsuki took half a step towards him - and she vanished.

Jin blinked, his head suddenly foggy.

"Good try, Thousand-Devil."

He spun to face her. When did she get behind me?! "What are you doing? We're not finished!"

"Yes, we are." Her eyes dipped for a moment.

Jin followed her gaze to his outstretched hand. He was holding out Paper. When did I make that throw? 


"You lost." She walked towards the exit one more time, pausing only to brush Kyoru's shoulder, lightly, with the backs of her fingers. She glanced at Tendou Hibiki. "She's my replacement, hm? She's pretty good."

She strode out, and silence fell over the room.

Episode 17 - Envenomation

Venomous Kyoru adjusted his glasses, his hand covering his face. "Jihara Akatsuki. Excellent perception and speed. A former student of the Shinku monastery -"

"Wait." Tendou Hibiki was suddenly sitting bolt upright. "This guy was raised by those damn Shinku monks?" A huge, sharklike grin spread across her face. "Now that's interesting. I almost want to switch places, Arashi."

Jihara studied her. "... I thought there was something familiar about you, Tendou-dono. Did you study there as well?"

"Did I study there? I learned everything they had to teach - and it was worthless."

There was a mild note of surprise in his voice. "Then, are you the Peregrine?"

"Tch, is that what they're calling me? Look, I don't really care, I turned my back on them and their useless methods years ago. But if you abandoned them as well, that makes you - very slightly - more interesting." She glanced over at Kyoru. "Uh, right, get back to your duel," she added, waving a hand dismissively.

Kyoru continued. "A former student of the Shinku monastery, who still uses their most powerful technique, the 'Lord of Emptiness'. You are capable of perceiving your opponent's throw in time to counter it. While you retain this advantage, you are essentially unbeatable. And yet, it makes me wonder..." He raised his hand to begin the duel. "What happens when you face an opponent who is faster than you?"

Jihara inclined his head slightly. "Shall we begin, Kyoru-dono?" They raised their hands for the first throw.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

There was a flash of movement as they made their throws with incredible speed, their hands in a blur. When they came to a stop, both were showing Scissors - a draw.

"Incredible," whispered Mizumigawa. "He matched Ji-kun's speed so effortlessly."

"In that movement," Jin whispered back, "they must have gone through half a dozen throws, each trying to shift ahead of the other. But it looks like they're evenly matched in terms of speed - it's going to come down to endurance."

The duelists raised their hands again - these two seemed comfortable remaining silent between throws.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

Another flash of movement, as Jihara and Kyoru cycled through the three signs in rapid succession - Jihara formed Scissors, but Kyoru was already making Rock, so Jihara switched to Rock, expecting that Kyoru would reflexively switch to Scissors to counter Rock's counter, but Kyoru had transitioned immediately from Rock to Paper - all of this in the fraction of a second before their throws landed.

In the end, both had thrown Rock - another tie.

The Bosatsu duelists on the sidelines watched them carefully, looking for any sign of how the stalemate would resolve.

"It must be an immense strain," said Yukimura. "There's no way either of them can maintain that kind of speed for much longer."

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

But they weren't slowing down - if anything, they were getting faster! They shifted throws in a complex pattern, fighting furiously over a vanishingly slim advantage. At the same time, they each maintained a calm, unreadable expression.

And once again, the throw ended in a tie - two throws of Paper.

"Ji-kun... you've got to win," said Mizumigawa, thinking back to their sparring matches. She'd been training her speed non-stop, and still she couldn't earn more than a single point against him. He was unbeatable - wasn't he? "Ryo-kun, can you figure out who has the advantage?" She looked over at Ryoichi.

He was breathing hard, his knuckles whitening from the strength of his grip on his chair. His eyes were wide as he watched the match unfold. "Ji-san..." he said in a choked voice.

"Jihara-san," said Kyoru suddenly, as the duelists were raising their hands for the next throw. "Do you know why they call me 'Venomous'?"

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

Again, that same flash of movement - but something was wrong.

"Gyah!" Jihara cried out in pain.

Kyoru stood silently, holding out his throw of Rock.

Jihara was clutching his arm, the hand hanging limp.

"That," said Kyoru, "is called Envenomation."

Ryoichi leapt out of his seat like a steel spring. He was at Jihara's side in a moment.

"Impossible," whispered Jin. "Kyoru-san wasn't trying to beat Ji-san in speed - he was deliberately holding back, using his pattern of throws to force Ji-san into a sequence that would cause extra strain on his wrist..."

"The human body is delicate," said Kyoru philosophically. "Motions can have subtle effects on internal processes. Muscles can twist and tear, certain chemicals can be released or absorbed... if you can control someone's movements, you can make their own bodies poison them."

"You have to forfeit this match," said Ryoichi to Jihara, gripping his shoulder.

"I can still duel," replied Jihara.

"I'm your captain! That's an order!" Ryoichi spun around to face Kyoru. "We forfeit! You win!"

Kyoru was looking at Jin directly now. "Do you see, Kotei Jin? You have no hope of winning against someone who has mastered the Toxic Principles." He nodded at Tendou, who kipped up from the bank of seats she was lying on and walked over to join him. "We are done here." They turned to leave.

The Bosatsu duelists had all gathered around Jihara by this point, trying to see how serious his injury was.

Kyoru paused at the door. "There is one other thing," he said as though just realizing something. "What are you doing here, Basilisk?"

As the Bosatsu duelists looked around in surprise, she walked past them from behind, from the back of the arena where she had been watching unseen - the silver-haired girl.

Her voice was soft, melodic, yet cold. "You're as sharp as ever, Kyoru."

Episode 16 - The Perfect Mirror

The tension in the Bosatsu dueling team's private arena was incredible. Yukimura Hisoka stood on one side, deep in thought. Tendou Hibiki stood on the other, limbering up for the duel, seemingly the only relaxed person in the room. Kyoru Arashi watched from the sidelines, silent and unreadable, opposite the Bosatsu team.

This is going to be problematic, thought Yukimura, looking down with eyes closed in concentration. I don't have much data on her. I'll have to use the opening throws to draw out her strategy, then lead her into a trap - she appears to be a physical player, so perhaps a modified Serivean Gambit, or a Sierpinski Defense. I'll start with three layers of obfuscation in my approach, but I might have to increase recursion depth depending on her first throw. My first throw should definitely be Paper, as though I'm expecting her to think I'm pretending to play into the expectations that she'll think I want her to believe she's successfully pretended to have. As soon as I see how she deals with that, I'll be able to formulate a more solid strategy.


She nodded, then looked up at her opponent, adjusting her glasses -

- and froze.

Yukimura stood motionless, her right thumb and index finger gripping one lens of her glasses. Across from her, Tendou had transformed completely - her posture, her expression, everything was different. She was holding her left thumb and index finger in front of her face, as though gripping an invisible lens - in every way, her pose was an exact mirror of Yukimura's.

When she regained her composure, Yukimura lowered her hand - but as she did so, Tendou copied her movement. She made a few meaningless gestures, to see if Tendou would follow her - and she did.

"Don't bother with some complicated strategy, Yuki-me," said Tendou, without breaking her synchronization. "My technique is unbeatable. With my Perfect Mirror, I can copy any opponent's movements exactly. It doesn't matter what strategy they use. It doesn't matter what arts they've mastered. It doesn't matter how long they've trained. The Perfect Mirror reflects it all."

"So this is her replacement," murmured Ryoichi.

Yukimura's expression remained neutral, unimpressed. "Yes, that's certainly a powerful technique. I won't be able to beat it with normal play."

The two duelists raised their hands simultaneously.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

Yukimura had thrown Paper, as she had planned - and Tendou had mirrored her exactly, throwing Paper as well.

Yukimura frowned. I was right. Her technique is strong, but it has a flaw - one that I can use to win this duel! The Perfect Mirror requires her to match her opponent's movements exactly. Therefore, she can't use it to win a throw, only tie. Her real strategy must be to force a series of ties, and then deduce her opponent's pattern. She'll be able to strike whenever she's sure of my next throw, and force a tie the rest of the time. It's a formidable strategy - but I can turn it against her. All I have to do is fake a pattern and wait for her to break her mirroring. I'll wrap a false strategy in a few layers of simulated prediction, and she should play right into my hands.


They raised their hands again.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

Another tie - both had thrown Paper again.

Yukimura eyed her opponent cautiously. She should be catching on to the false strategy by now. I'd better add a few more layers of obfuscation, to make her think I'm trying to prevent her from discovering my pattern. I need to make sure that she -


"It's over." Tendou said. "I've won the duel. When Arashi said we were going to challenge you, I thought you'd put up more of a fight, but you were easy to synchronize with. So now there's nothing you can do."

Yukimura raised her hand, and Tendou continued to mirror her. On the sidelines, Jihara leaned closer, strangely intent on Tendou's movements.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Then, at the same time, they each shouted different things - as "Shoot!" passed Yukimura's lips, Tendou instead cried -

"Shatter!"

- and brought down a throw of Rock at the last moment, defeating Yukimura's Scissors.

"This is what bores me about dueling," mused Tendou, her triumphant expression mismatched with her - or rather, Yukimura's - shocked stance. "No matter how strong a duelist is, they all fall to my Perfect Mirror. I can keep up with anyone long enough to synchronize completely, and then I can use that total awareness to shift my throw to beat theirs. It's an unstoppable technique."

Yukimura regained her composure quickly. Impossible. There has to be some weakness to her technique, some way to subvert that "mirror". 

"Okay, Yuki-chan, that's enough." The duelists glanced over in unison at Mizumigawa, who was rolling her eyes at them as she interjected. "Quit playing around. She's starting to get cocky!" She lowered her sunglasses and smirked at Yukimura. "It's time for you to shut her down."

"Thanks a lot, Mizu-kun," replied Yukimura in a deliberately casual tone. "I wanted her to think she had a chance, and you just had to open your big mouth." I need a plan. Anything! 


Jin looked sidelong at Mizumigawa. "Yuki-chan just needs a little encouragement," she whispered.

I need to out-maneuver her somehow. But how can I do that if she's matching all of my movements? ... Wait. She's not matching all of them. There's a place where I can strike! Yukimura looked back at Tendou, raising her hand as light glinted off her glasses.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

As her hand descended, Yukimura formed Scissors - and immediately, as part of a single, fluid movement, switched to Paper right before the end of the throw. As Yukimura had planned, Tendou broke synchronization to throw Rock - but she just as quickly shifted her throw to Scissors in tandem with Yukimura's switch.

"My point again," said Tendou. "What did I tell you? I'm faster than you. Any counter you use against me will be returned in full force."

Think! Yukimura urged herself furiously. Where are her weaknesses? Her movements are all automatic - there has to be some way to use that against her without using...


The two duelists stared at each other for a long moment. Then, they raised their hands for the game-point throw.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

And it was over - Tendou's Scissors cut Yukimura's Paper, securing a flawless victory.

Yukimura slumped - but Tendou stayed upright. "Arashi!" she stretched and twisted, no longer mimicking her opponent. "When are you going to find someone who can challenge me? So far, everyone's the same to me - too weak to get my blood pumping." She walked over to the sidelines, then draped herself over a few seats and started examining the ceiling.

Yukimura made her way back to the other Bosatsu duelists, lost in thought, deaf to their mollifying words. As she went, Kyoru Arashi stood, then walked at a measured pace to the dueling platform Tendou had just left. "I apologize, Hibiki. But I assure you, we're almost through here." He turned his gaze on Jihara. "Jihara Akatsuki. Are you ready to duel?"

Jihara's expression had become perfectly serene, like a storm's eye. He swept to his position in the arena in a fluttering of white robes. "I am ready." He glanced over at Tendou. "But you should be aware - my technique is similar to Tendou-dono's. The Lord of Emptiness - it is invincible."