Crossing Blades

J

Jovian

Guest
Original poster
The arena was loud as the students filed in to watch today’s battle. It was an abandoned factory that had been restored to allow for fights. It was vast enough that it was easy to accommodate the two schools to watch the fight. The two competitors for today’s fight weren’t high ranking students, but there had been talk that one of them had said some things to the other in town a few times. This fight was a long time coming, it was decided.

Finally it was time, and immediately the arena was hushed. The representatives for the families were in their places, and the competitors were walking to the center of the arena. From the Kazegami side, a shorter young woman dressed in a karate gi and carrying a katana stopped and stood at attention, facing the Sakuramori challenger, a smirk firmly planted on her face. On the Sakuramori side was a bulky young man with only hakama pants on, a polearm in his hand and a blank look on his face. They stared each other down as they waited for the other to move first.

After a couple minutes, the Sakuramori challenger pushed forward, swinging the polearm down in the direction of the girl. She dove to one side, rolling and then getting back to her feet quickly. Her katana was drawn, and she was standing in a defensive position. The boy charged again, and this time she didn’t dodge fast enough, receiving a hit on her shoulder and causing her to wince. Luckily it wasn’t a bladed polearm, more of a staff but with metal plating on each end.

Scowling, she twisted and sliced at him with her katana. He was a little slower, due to his size, but dodged for the most part, only gaining a sliver of a scratch across his abdomen. He jabbed his polearm, catching her in the chest and knocking the breath out of her. She coughed and stumbled, giving him an opening to strike downwards again. Seeing it coming, she jumped to the side and threw the katana at him. It hit him in the leg, not impaling him completely, but still doing damage. He faltered, crying out a little, and grabbed the wound. She scrambled towards the sword, grabbing it and rolling as he swung again, catching her ankle. A crack was heard as it broke the bone.

Unable to stand, the girl just waited. The boy chuckled and walked over to her.

“Wanna switch sides? You’re a pretty little thing… I’d hate to have to kill you,” he taunted as he bent down over her, the tip of his polearm pushed into the floor beside her head.

She coughed and smirked. “I wouldn’t dishonor myself or my school by giving in to you, bastard!” she told him before plunging the sword into his neck. Only the tip managed to go all the way through, but the result was still the same; he sputtered as he choked on his own blood, a river running down the blade and over her hand. She pulled the katana out and started to push herself away from him, letting him fall over and die on his own.

Two teachers ran in, one going to the dying student and the other to her. Both were carried out of the arena by the teachers, neither of the adults looking at each other while they were there.



Ryo smirked at the fights result. Of course the Kazegami challenger won this fight. As soon as the challenge was issued the day prior, he figured that the Sakuramori idiot wouldn’t know what he was dealing with. Most of them didn’t, from either side, when they challenged a student from the other school. In fact, most of them barely knew names when they went into the arena. They knew only that the other student deserved what was coming to them.

He left the stands and walked outside to keep an eye on things out there. It wasn’t uncommon for a Sakuramori to decide to get into a fight with a Kazegami when they lost like this. Luckily, only the challengers and the families could wear weapons to the arena. Any others who did were punished appropriately by their own school. After all, they were still honorable even if they were rivals.

Not that Ryo would break up the fight without adding to it. He’d get a good punch in if he had to jump in to get his fellow schoolmate to move on. It was fun that way. Not that he was actually an enforcer; that was up to the teachers. But he did like to impress the twins from the family whenever he could. Ryo turned his head towards the doors to see if they were leaving yet.
 
Masa had been watching the fight with little interest. Once again, some idiot had challenged the Kazegami, and they failed miserably as was expected. It was obvious who would win in this fight because the Kazegami opponent was a well trained girl; however, in Masa's eyes the fight lasted too long. That girl should've been done with him much quicker than that. Mass would have to write all of it down in her report to the head of the family, her father.

With a tired gaze, Masa stared at the deep crimson pool on the arena floor. It was a beautiful thing to see at the end of battle. Blood was liquid life, and it meant you were alive as long as you were the one to see it. She stood slowly and turned to one of the teachers and informed him that their student would be punished for her slowness to kill the Sakuramori fighter. Masa also said that her trainer was to be fired and replaced as soon as possible.

Masa wasn't one to lose or win happily. In everything, she always found a flaw and used it to make things better. That was why she was chosen as the next head of the family. Her twin always had her head in the clouds when it came to this which made her weak in Masa's eyes. She turned to her sister and then over to the Sakuramori clans' seats just across the way.

"How pathetic," Masa snarled as she ran a hand through her hair. "They're easy prey."
 
Saekoa wasn't pleased with what had happened today, seeing one of his family members die before him wasn't what you would call in good taste. When the girl from the Kazegami gave her final blow to his fellow school member, all he could think was how dishonorable she was for striking someone with his guard down. Yet another reason why they shouldn't be trusted. Tightening his grip on the arm rest of his chair, his knuckles popped painfully but he ignored it. If I was in there, it would of ended differently. He would think to him self, closing his eyes in shame brought to him personally by the Kazegami family.

As the Representative of the Sakuramori Family, he stood and clapped, showing good showmanship as he shouted to the crowd so all could hear his voice, "Congratulations, Challenger from the Kazegami Family. You truly have proven your self as a fine example of your family and should be honored greatly." clapping sarcastically as he spoke. He gave them a large smile as he closed his eyes. It was all he could do to not see their ugly faces.

And, like he always does, he points towards the other school and with a serious face, tells them, "Next time, Challenge someone your own size, then it would be a fair fight." Giving a devious smirk before turning to leave the arena, taking his coat from behind his chair and left with his 4 class rep body guards. He tells the one to his right, "What's one victory? Compared to what's under my belt alone, it means nothing to me. I didn't become Class Representative because I was good with numbers, No! It was because I had fighting spirit, a strive to come out on top! Above all the rest."
 
Kiku watched the battle in admiration. She knew that she herself could fight, and fight well; it was just entertaining to watch others battle. Once the battle had ended she looked up to the ceiling thanking God for allowing her classmate to walk away from this battle alive. She knew that her twin Masa would have something to say about the battle. Probably that she took too long to kill him, that she took too many hits, something. She on the other hand felt as though the battle being won was a victory all in its own and should be praised.

Kiku was the Yin to Mesa's Yang. She was more passive and soft whereas Mesa was more aggressive and focused, she knew that made her seem weak through her sisters eyes, through her families eyes. She was a different person than her sister, not many understood that. As the blood began to soak into the dirt floor of the arena she smirked a little; glad they wouldn't be mourning a loss of a classmate the next day. "How pathetic." She heard Mesa say, and she looked up and fixed her eyes on the Sakuramori family across the way. "They're easy prey."

Kiku stood and nodded her head toward the other family in respect for them. "Let's go home Mesa. We don't need to stay for the cleanup crew." She smiled at her sister who was still sitting in her seat.

Just then the head of the Sakuramori family rose and gave quite an arrogant speech. Kiku scoffed and shook her head; she couldn't help but smile at the young man just across from her. She was beautiful and she knew it. Although, she was smiling to be disrespectful; no one should ever talk to her family in that tone, especially a Sakuramori.

Once her sister stood beside her they headed out towards the door.
 
Renji shook his head slightly as he looked at the battle. Once again there was another loss for his family. The funny thing was to him that his family could have won if the guy didn't underestimate his opponent. He watched as the girl hit him with her final blow that ended the match, it made his grit his teeth and he sighed. When the fellow family and his own stood up and the students clapped he did as well looking at the blood that was left on the fighting ground.

He looked around and spotted a few familiar faces but he wasn't in the mood to chatter and discuss the fight. It was over and done with but he knew that if it was him fighting everything would be diffrent and he would have ended the girl. Renji glared at some of the Kazegami students and slowly nodded. It was his way of saying they got lucky. The fights were somethimes chosen and others mostly were planned out ahead of time.

Soon after everyone was begining to departure from the area slowly and he was one of the people in the cround but he decided to stop and head over and have a small talk with Saekoa. " Hey another loss but it'll be better soon and will have our chance again". He rested a hand on the guys shoulder before heading out and looking around. Renji wanted to fight but he knew it wasn't his time yet. Out the crner of his eye he spotted Masa. Shaking his head he looked away and then leaned against the outter wall waiting for no one in particular.
 
Rekka sipped his coffee as he listened to the soft gentle music of a cafe near the arena. He didn't care much for the fights. It wasn't that he disliked fighting, as he himself was a high ranked savateur, but he disliked how personal the fights were. The was no enjoyment in them for most of the fighters other than in spilling their opponent's blood, and that just wasn't him. He liked the sport, the challenge, the fangirls. After a time, he finished his coffee. "Well, he thought to himself, Best get to the arena and see what the result was. He could guess though, having looked up information on the two combatants while at the cafe. He paid for his drink, and left his waitress with a tip and a wink, before hopping on his motorcycle and driving a short ways to the arena.

There he saw Renji, a fellow classmate. He pulled up along side him. "We lost didn't we? Geez, you'd think with such high stakes as life or death people would learn to choose their fights, not just pick them." He smirked a bit at his turn of phrase, though it was hard to notice behind his perpetual grin.
 
Masa stood and went with their nine guards to the exit. She noticed Saeoka in the lobby of the building and grinned as she walked over. Running her sharp fingernails through her hair, Masa walked over and offered her hand to the other representative. "Your man fought well...better than my class fighter by far. Do not worry, she'll be severely punished for being so slow to kill," she said seriously.
 
The first one to Saekoa's side was Renji, giving his words of wisdom which slightly comforted him. After a fellow class member came to his side, Rekka he believed his name was, taking him away to converse with him personally, Saekoa heard a familiar voice come from behind him. A slight soft, feminine voice telling him, "Your man fought well..." He turned to see the other Family Representative and smirked lightly to her. As she spoke, he tried all he could muster to conceal his rage and give her a soft, kind smile. After she was finished, how ever much he felt at the loss of a fellow family member, he spoke to her in a kind tone, "Oh, don't be so modest. Your fighter saw an opportunity and took it, saving her self from being the who was killed today." Taking her hand lightly in his, he raised it as he leaned his shoulders down, placing his lips lightly on the skin of the backside of her hand. From this, he caused the nine guards with her to flinch and take a step towards where he now stood, and from them caused his four guards to reach their hands into their suit jackets and were hesitant to draw what was concealed behind their breast pocket. As he stood, he smiled to her and spoke, "I hope tonight's entertainment was to your liking. If not, hopefully the next match could hold some amusement for you." causing both of their body guards to settle down and stand at attention. "It's always lovely to make your acquaintance, Miss Kazegami..." Saekoa looked into her dead like eyes with his own stair of loathing, even though he still wore a worming smile upon his face. He still hated her family, and was just being polight to uphold civil order between the two families as they leave the lobby. Neither families could afford an all out war just because of some petty squable between the two Class, and Family, Representatives.
 
Kiku walked with her sister as they were leaving the building. Once they entered the lobby she trailed behind Mesa as she walked up to Saekoa, the family representative from the Sakuramori school. Kiku stopped a few feet back and she could hear the exchanging of their words. Kiku locked eyes with Saekoa for a brief second then he kissed Mesa's hand. That shot a fire through Kiku, she rolled her eyes. She wasn't interested in him, mainly because he was the enemy, other than that, she found him quite dashing. She would never admit to anything like that out loud however.

Kiku turned away and walked out the doors to the arena. She was followed out by three of the guards that weren't about to break up a fight that she knew wouldn't happen. She saw Ryo standing by a wall probably waiting for her and Mesa to appear outside. She thought Ryo was a nice guy and she enjoyed flirting with him. She couldn't shake the image of Saekoa kissing her sister's hand and that made her realize that if Ryo were to be into her or her sister, it would be Mesa. It was always Mesa. The leader of the family, the more cherished, the one most honored, the one that everyone remembered. She was beautiful, no doubt. But so was she, it was just that she never felt that way. Her sister always stole the spotlight. She couldn't help but hate her for that. Although, that never stopped them from being close, and best friends. She was used to being her sister’s shadow. That was how it always was, and how it would always be.

She dismissed the bodyguards that had followed her out, knowing that they wouldn't leave completely; they would just give her some space. She walked over and stood against the wall by Ryo and she took in a deep breath and then slowly let it out so her frustration wouldn't be noticed. "Well hello there handsome." She said in her flirty little voice. She just wanted to make small talk until her sister arrived. All Kiku really wanted to do was go back home.
 
Renji turned to head to see one of his classmates Rekka next to him asking about the battle he knew that they had lost. He nodded and then shook his head in fustration. " Yeah we lost the fight and a member of our fmaily". The students were still leaving and eventually the amounts of people began to get smaller and smaller until there was jsut a few bits of people hanging around and of course talking about the fight. He looked at some other members of the family nodding to them on there way out.

It was a,ong day for such as loss but he didn't feel like heading back, he wanted to walk around and clear his head like he did after most of the fights. " Hey im going for a walk okay?". He placed his hands in his pocket and turned walking away from the fighting grounds. There was a slight chilling breeze that made him shiver a bit and he continued to walk around not thinking about anything in particualar expect when the next fight was going to be and who would be fighting.
 
Masa wasn't surprised that Saeoka was being a gentleman. As representatives of their families, they were taught to be civil in public areas. Masa's little sister, Kiku, walked off. For some reason, she was always envious of Masa which was foolish. Being family representative meant looking perfect to the public eye and taking responsibility for everyone's wrongdoings. That was why Masa and Saeoka had a certain level of respect for each other.

"Oh, Saeoka," Masa said with a small smirk. "Being such a gentleman as you always are. I suppose what you lack in combat skills you make up for in being civil," she said as she curtsied.
 
Saekoa couldn't help but smirk at her comment, making fun of his combat style is a typical insult for the rival family, and he knew it. As he gave her a chuckle of a gentleman, he told her, "I could say the same to you, Masa. Carrying that large blade around could be stressful on your small shoulders, you must have one of your men hold onto it while on transit." closing his eyes and smiling warmly to her. He would turn his back to her, keeping his face towards her as he held his left arm out, "Shale I escort you to your car, mad'am?" There was something my family taught me, and it was manners. He would think to him self.

As they walked though the lobby doors, hers held by one of her body guards and the other held by his, they took each step slowly, her arm in his as he escorted her out of the old factory turned into a theater/arena. Both of them looked lovely, Saekoa dressed in a black suit with a red, stained designed tie, and she wore what looked to be an elegant black evening dress.(sorry for putting cloths on you with out your consent ^^;;) With each step they took, his four body guards to the right and her nine to the left as they covered the other Representative while they made it to their cars. Before leaving her side, he would let her escape his grasp and hold onto her hand once again to tell her, "I would love another meeting with you to discuss our next match up coming in a few weeks, unless another challenge comes up unannounced." Kissing the back of her hand again before letting her go, to enter the car, he lowers his head and told her, "It's always an honor to make your acquaintance, Miss Masa Kazegami." the corner of his lip twitched uncontrollably and was unnoticed by the girl who was before him.
 
Brow raised and a smirk on his lips, Ryo focused on Kiku when she approached him.

"You're quite the sight yourself, there, miss," he returned. He could see Masa and the Sakuramori family rep talking behind her and frowned; what were they doing, buddying up like that? The guards surrounding them seemed just as confused, and very alert. His eyes shifted to the guards that were supposed to be on Kiku. Why was she able to wander in this area? Just because the other students were unarmed didn't mean there wasn't still danger...

At least he was near her, so she was a little safer.

"That was some fight, eh?" he asked in an attempt for small talk.
 
Kiku smiled at the compliment and then then sighed. She saw her sister Mesa walking out with Saekoa arm in arm. She just shook her head, not needing to say anything. She knew that Ryo shared her judgment.

"Yeah, it was. Just glad we won. Mesa is obviously disappointed because our fighter took too long to kill her opponent. But I feel as though it went quite well. It entertained me at least." She smiled at him. "Well, I'd better get going; Mesa is already in the car."

Kiku walked off knowing that Ryo was watching her every move in a way of protection. She walked around to the other side of the car and one of the body guards held the door open for her. Miss Kazegami he addressed her as she entered the vehicle and she gave him a small nod in appreciation. The door closed and she turned to her sister. "So, getting all friendly with Saekoa are we now?" She teased with a smile on her face. She knew that her sister thought that she was foolish, and it was understandable. However, just once she wished she could be the one on top.
 
Etsuko's legs burned as she ran towards the arena. Her chest pumping back and forth as she panted furiously to get to her destination. "Not again," she begged herself. Nearly tripping over her feet, she turned the last corner into the stadium. With one look she let out a disappointed sigh, watching as people emptied the arena. She was late, again, and struggled to find an excuse to tell her big brother. It's no big deal, I'll just give him "the eyes" is what she thought to herself before spotting him walking through the exit. Before she could call out his name, she saw him come out with one of the Kazegami sisters. "I can only imagine what's going on this time..." she muttered as she went to go meet him.

Etsu squinted to see through the tinted windows, and bowed as the car drove by, trying to seem as respectful as possible. Once the car was out of sight, she turned around and let out a nervous giggle in order to prepare for what was coming to her. Judging by the grimace look on Saekoa's face, she could only imagine what had happened. Though, that didn't stop her from asking anyway. "I'm so so SO sorry I'm late...Again..." she began. "What happened with the match? And what were you doing with the Kazegami girl?" Etsu had so many questions that she wanted answered, but she knew that Saekoa probably wasn't in the greatest of moods right then. She stood quietly, imagining ways to make her dear brother happy again.
 
Saekoa's grimace slowly turned back into a worming smile at the sight of his sister. how lovely it was for him to see her worm face once again after such a terrible loss. At first, he didn't answer her, just walked to her and knelt down to come to her level, wrapping his arms around her torso and picked he up. Turning slowly, he chuckled as he held her tight. "I'm glad you came." Is all he could tell her for right now, the thought of the lost member of their family was too much of a burden to bare for the two of them, so he didn't speak of the topic right away. Letting her go and back down to the ground, he held out his hand so they may walk to their car together as he smiled to his sister warmly, more sincere then he had given the Kazegmi Representative.

"I'll tell you in the car." He finaly answered her question, but his smile slowly turned to a frown and she could only guess what had happened. Saekoa and Etsuka were very close siblings, so close in fact that both of them can read the other's facial expressions and know what they were thinking, she more so then him. If he was disappointed, or angry, he always gave a soft smile. But his eyes, they were always flared with anger, his brow slightly narrowed to the bridge of his nose whenever he was upset.

One of the body guards, the one he talked to previously while leaving the arena to his right, held the door open for the two of them. The car was rather beautiful, but old fashioned to say the least. You could say it was an old white Ford, one of the first models to come off the line, but it was just a very expensive recreation their father had made. The guard who held the door also had something strapped around his shoulder, a long pole like object wrapped with soft tan cloth. It was Saekoa's Staff, the one he uses for training and to place the ax end of the Halberd to one side. He never brought the ax head with him when going to the arena, but it was unsafe for the Representative to go without his weapon.
 
Zane didn't care much for the dueling events and had left the stands before the final blow had been struck. He left as discreetly as possible, he'd hear about the fight later and pretend he'd watched. Zane walked through the lobby, not many people were present because most of them were watching the fight. He found a seat near a corner and plopped himself into it, letting out a long huff of breath. Fights to the death just were not his scene. People shunned him a bit for that, and his slightly standoffish demeanor didn't help anything. He sat and watched the family representatives interact with each other for a while as well as the people streaming out, all excited over the kill. Zane just put on his head phones then, and let the bass drown them out.
 
Masa smirked as she took out a nail file and began sharpening her polished nails to fine points. She didn't even look at her twin as the car began to pull out onto a main road. They lived a fair distance from both the school and the famous arena. Their mansion was three stories high and was perched on 300 acres of land. It was nice to live away from the noisy city and allowed her to calm herself when she trained with their Babba.

"It's only for publicity, little sister," Masa said with a lazy sigh, but then her eyes suddenly lit up with a dangerous gleam as she smirked. "Why is it important, Kiku? Do you fantasize about tasting the forbidden fruit that is the one and only Representative Saeoka?"
 
Kiku watched as Mesa sharpened her nails, she hated it when she was referred to as 'little sister'. Her sister teased her back, but was it true? Did she want was forbidden to her? If circumstances were different, she would undoubtedly admit that Saeoka was a very attractive young man. She could totally see herself with a man like that, so poised, focused, determined. She shook herself out of her own head to respond to her sister. "You know I wasn't serious Mesa. And no, of course not, I would never dream of tasting such a poisonous fruit."

She slipped back into her thoughts, and Saeoka was there; but why? Kiku knew this was unacceptable, but why else would it have bothered her so bad when he kissed her hand. She wanted his attention, probably any attention would do. But Saeoka's attention was important to her, she would get him to notice her, forbidden or not. The difficult part was to not let her sister, her best friend find out.
 
Ryo waited until the car had pulled away before heading towards another vehicle that would return students to the school. Because of the fight, there would undoubtedly be a lot of school sparring. He definitely wanted in on some of that. Especially if the teachers got involved. They were tough to fight, but always worth the bruises.


The phone was slammed down, and with a scowl he turned to one of the gentleman standing at the door. "Call up those bastards and go ahead and congratulate them," he snapped. Then he glanced at the phone and slammed a fist on the table. "I can't believe one of my students lost to one of the lower ranked Kazegami dogs.

"Get my son on the phone, too. I want to discuss the school's training for the next month. If they want to lose, then it won't be because they weren't getting trained."



He called Masa as their car returned to the school.

"That was a decent victory, I heard," he said lightly. "However, it was merely a fluke. I want the students to be trained harder, my daughter. There was no reason for one of ours to be knocked down so easily by one of them."

Standing and looking out the window, phone still to his head, he grinned. "We need to make sure the next victory is a much sweeter one."