Kapitel 55: Swordless
Tokyo, Japan,
Aichi Academy,
Samuel POV,
Samuel and Rin stood some distance off from one another, the grass making small noises under their feet with each movement. Birds chirped and students gossiped, making bets on who would come out on top there and who wouldn't. A rather fresh scent permeated through the area, was it from the plants or from the perfumes... who knows?
"Isn't this unfair?" Hayasaka asked in slight worry, in actuality, she was more surprised than anything. "Why say that girl?" Amou asked in curiosity, leaning against a tree... one would question if she was trying hard to look cool here.
"I mean... she has a sword."
In response, a wide grin formed on Amou's face, "Watch on."
Samuel took a rather strange stance, one of his hands was held open as if he planned on karate chops and the arm itself was held horizontally. The other was held over it similar to a claw with the arm being diagonal instead.
It was a strange stance, completely unorthodox and didn't even look that practical.
"Oi, isn't that pretty dangerous?" Nomura's eyes widened in slight surprise, Rin was in a lot of danger if Samuel was taking this seriously. The man's physical strength was enough to blow through most martial arts and on top of that, he was a martial artist.... A monster to any man.
Rin, who didn't recognise the stance, drew her blade. Taking a step forward, she held it out forward diagonally, gripping it tightly with both hands as she inhaled and exhaled deeply... A serious expression formed on her face, taking him lightly would be her last mistake.
"The traditional rules apply. Begin." Tsukuyo calmly announced the start of the fight and yet, none of the two moved.
"The hell are they doin'?"
"Scoping each other out I suppose. A rather common practice." A boy fixed his glasses, folding his arms, he was one of the few that refused to dress like a girl.
"...." The ones who actually knew martial arts had a different take, it was obvious that Samuel was just waiting nonchalantly, rather than actually paying attention.
"Ei!" Shouting out a war cry, as was tradition of her school, Rin rushed forward with her blade raised to the side. "Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-Ryū! Chest Strike!"
Normally, Samuel would cringe inside but for now they were fighting..
Rin swerved her blade to the left just one step before making contact, tilting it such that the tip was pointed at Samuel chest, she placed her palm behind it's hilt initiating a palm thrust, if not dodged, the sword would go straight through.
Only, Samuel used the 'claw' hand to deflect to the left, raising his other hand to the sky before, chopping... no, to call it a slash would be far more fitting as even the air was forced to move aside, causing torrents to come off as the hand came down.
Rin reacted by instinct, not caring about her sword as she jumped back with eyes wide open, narrowly avoiding the strike... She placed a hand on her chest and felt it thumping. The girl's body.. no her very being trembled staring at Samuel's smiling figure. (A/N: No she's not in love, she nearly died there.)
"What the hell man?!" Nomura shouted at him, wanting to run up to Rin only to be stopped by Mary, "This is a duel, you are to stay back."
"What the hell just happened?"
Rin breathed heavily, her body refused to calm down, telling her to simply throw the match.
Tsukuyo's eyes were also wide, this was a phenomenon well known to swordsmen.
From time to time, there are those whose skill has surpassed a certain level, their intent alone is more than enough to make the opponent 'know' what they would experience... Rin fell to her knees, no longer able to handle it.
In that moment, for an instant, one instant felt like minutes. She 'saw' her own body sliced apart in a way that it would be quite literally dissected in two.
"Shit, are you alright kid?!" Samuel ran up to her quickly, slightly.. or rather, greatly worried, he almost let himself go there.... 'You should never have been born in this world or era.' Echidna calmly spoke her thoughts, someone like this would never be able to find peace.
Rin looked up at him, "S-Stay away from me!" Clearly, the girl was emotional and afraid.. she was 16 so it was actually understandable but Samuel was still rather affected as he took a step back, his gaze averted, "I'm sorry."
With those words, he left the scene.
Hayasaka, noticing her opportunity, quickly ran after Samuel with a 'worried' look on her face. She was greatly curious as to what happened as well, not quite understanding it. How did the masked girl fall down without even getting hit?
"How is that even possible?" Mary questioned in shock, having somewhat recollected herself.. That was supposed to be something swordsmen could pull off! Not martial artists, first of all, how would martial artists even deliver that much damage?!
Before they could talk much more, a rather dark and oppressive feeling spread throughout the grounds. Turning around, they saw Amou looking at the sky with a wide grin on her face, her hands held out to the sides in the same 'claw' shape.
"HahahaHAHAHA!!" She laughed loudly, a rather ugly sight but, she couldn't help herself or even hold back! He just showed her something she thought impossible, something she couldn't even manage a fraction of!
"...I see you understand what happened." Tsukuyo calmly uttered, slightly drawing her blade as she did. This wasn't even a simple matter anymore! Rin was being taken to the nurse's office by Nomura, she might even develop PTSD... the girl did just 'die'. They may use swords but none of them had any experience regarding something like that!
Amou held a hand over her heart, reaching to the side with the other, "The very Peak of all Karate! Takemikazuchi!" To think his mastery was at that level...
"....You can't be right." Tsukuyo's eyes widened, small scale replications were possible but the art itself was not. There was no way someone in the modern world could reach that realm! At this moment, he wasn't a karate practitioner anymore... A Swordless Swordsman..... she doubted most stood a chance anymore.
It was no longer a cheap imitation, he didn't need a sword to use it anymore...
"How does it feel to witness a genius?" Amou asked with a grin, a sense of pride welling up from within her. She was happy..no, she was ecstatic! .... She would have him take responsibility for the emotions she felt then.
"...." Tsukuyo was speechless,... that wasn't even genius anymore. Just how much had he practised? His existence was a cheat!
Mary was simply silent, she hadn't just been tied up by a nobody it seems... The others also forgot or perhaps ignored that what he had done was unintentional... He had even tried to apologise... Firstly, did they forget that it was Rin's fault in the first place?
....Wait, why was she trying to defend him here?
..."Well I admit he's good looking, and a decent person." Mary nodded with folded arms, not much affected by what had transpired.. Hell she didn't exactly understand why they were all making it out to be such a big deal.. Also, "Get back to classes, all of you!" She shouted rather seriously, adhering to rules could be interpreted as a fault of hers.
"What should we do now?"
"Go to class course."
"Which one though?"
The teenagers ran away in a different direction which made Mary facepalm, "This is why men are so... ugh!"
She ran after the teenagers, having noticed that they were going in the direction that Samuel had left for. "Nee-sama!" Chouka ran after Mary, cracking her whip as she ran.
-x-X-x-
Samuel sat near a wall with a small smile, "....Did I overreact?" He wondered out loud.., his feelings here were rather complicated in all honesty. He knew and accepted it as a part of himself but, didn't like it one bit.
'You don't regret it.' Echidna informed him, slightly shifting in her position. This man was really interesting.
Samuel nodded in agreement, he didn't regret it at all…. He rejected it.
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