บท 18: Duel
Light from the morning sun peeked through the windows of Marlene's bedroom.
Her eyes fluttered open and she yawned. Her head was pounding from her excessive drinking the night before.
Despite this, when she saw her beloved older sister cradled in her left arm, she smiled happily. But, as her mind cleared from morning fogginess, she noticed something strange.
There was someone cradled in her right arm as well.
'Did I drag Mom to bed with me too?' She wondered, thinking that was odd.
She turned to the right to find someone else entirely, however. Someone with unruly black hair that certainly didn't belong to her mother. It was the one and only Cherry.
Her face ripened like a tomato. She ruthlessly wrenched both her arms free and launched herself out of the bed with remarkable speed and agility.
Such rough treatment naturally woke up the other two women, who sat up clenching their aching heads.
"W-why are you in my bed, Cherry?!" Marlene interrogated.
Cherry gave her an aggrieved look.
"What do you mean? You're the one who dragged me here and refused to release me from your death grip." Cherry replied, knowing full well she could have escaped at any point.
"What?! Surely not..." She looked to Hina, who only affirmed the truth with a nod.
Marlene's face somehow managed to become even more red.
Cherry turned to look at Hina.
"Well, Captain. You still up for that duel, or would you rather shrug it off as drunken nonsense?" She asked Hina, lazily rubbing her eyes.
Hina looked confused for a moment, but then her face lit up with realization.
"Hina doesn't even remember what we disagreed on though?" She replied. "But Hina would like to see what you are capable of, so why not?"
Marlene had recovered somewhat recovered from her previous state and said "Duel? What duel?" looking somewhat worried, but a certain excitement also hid behind her eyes.
"Well, it will be more of a sparring match. It's not like we're enemies, so we wouldn't be going all out against one another." Cherry said, to which Hina nodded.
The ladies cleaned themselves up and had some breakfast. Afterwards, they headed to a large open area on the property meant for parties.
Cherry tied her sword into its sheathe and readied herself and Hina did some stretching to prepare, but held no weapons.
Marlene, Arrieta, Maximillian, as well as some of the manor's staff were standing on the sidelines to watch. The head butler, who also served as a bodyguard, acted as the referee for the match.
"The match will end when one participant concedes or until one participant is no longer able to continue. On my mark the match will begin." The butler stated, raising his arm in the air.
After getting a nod from each woman, the butler waved his arm down and shouted "Begin!"
Cherry immediately rushed towards Hina. She had no real ranged offensive actions she could take in a match like this and she didn't know what Hina had available in that capacity, so closing the distance was the best choice.
Hina was caught slightly by surprise by Cherry's speed, but she wasn't a marine captain for nothing. She took a stance and swung wide at cherry with her left arm.
Cherry dropped low the to ground to avoid the arm and swung her sword at it from underneath.
*CLANG*
Cherry's sword met an iron bar that protruded from Hina's arm.
Hina then aimed a kick at Cherry, which Cherry met with her own.
There was no clash this time, instead Cherry's leg passed through Hina's and had a heavy iron band formed around it, which would slow her down. Hina's kick landed unabated into Cherry's side, sending her flying back.
"Oof!" Cherry grunted. Of course she had anticipated that to happen, but her primary purpose was to observe Hina's devil fruit in action. She could take a few unnecessary blows for that purpose.
The two woman clashed fiercely dozens of times. Occasionally Hina would put another iron band on one of Cherry's limbs or land another hard blow. Cherry had yet to land a proper blow on Hina, however.
"You're very tough and tenacious, Hina will give you that, Cherry." Hina praised honestly. "You're no match for a captain from Marine headquarters, though."
There was one unusual point she couldn't explain though. Despite all the aggressive movement with the extra weight and the hits she's taken, Cherry hadn't broken a sweat, nor was her breathing strained. Even Hina was breathing a bit heavier, so just how ridiculous was this girl's endurance?
Naturally, this was Cherry's cultivation in action. She would not tire so easily when she could simply wash away the fatigue with her vital energy.
'Hina needs to do her best to recruit Cherry. With proper guidance, she could easily become a captain of headquarters, even vice admiral is a possibility.' She thought.
"Hina is going to end it now, Cherry. Prepare yourself." Hina put her arms out wide.
"Awase Baori!" An iron fence extended from her arms and surrounded Cherry. Hina closed her arms and the fence came crashing inwards.
It was fast, but not quite too fast for Cherry to dodge if she jumped. She didn't do that though, as that would leave her vulnerable for another attack. As expected, Cherry was caught in the iron bars that closed around her.
Hina looked to the butler and he was about to call the match, but stopped at his eyes widened in Cherry's direction.
Hina followed his gaze and was inwardly shocked at the sight before her.
All the iron bars that had been wrapped around Cherry were now in pieces on the floor, seemingly cut apart.
Hina looked at the sword and it was definitely still bound tightly in its sheathe. She could help but ask. "How did you do that?"
"A true swordswoman doesn't need a sword to cut. In the hands of a swordswoman, anything can become a sword, even her own mind." Cherry stated mysteriously.
This was a load of bullshit of course. She had just "unfused" the iron bars to look like they'd been cut.
Hina was shocked at the words. Cherry's appearance overlapped with a certain Shichibukai in her mind. "Are you related to Dracule Mihawk?" She blurted, which caused the bystanders to also be shocked and begin muttering to each other.
"How should I know? He's probably my father, but my grandmother never told who my father was directly and I never asked. A dead beat is a dead beat, no matter how famous." Cherry said nonchalantly.
While Hina was still reeling from this information, Cherry rushed her using Traceless Steps. Although she was still in plain sight, she hoped to minimize her presence to catch Hina off guard.
Hina only came out of her shock when Cherry was right on top of her, already swinging her sword in a brutal downward strike. Cherry's face was twisted in an evil smile and resembled a demon.
*BAM*
Cherry got Hina's full strength punch to the face and slammed hard against the ground.
"Ah! Cherry?!" Hina panicked. She hadn't meant to go all out, but Cherry's face just now had seemed more dangerous than even the meanest pirates she's faced in battle.
*cough cough* "Ouch..." Cherry muttered, that had really hurt. She'd be unconscious right now if not for her cultivation.
"Hina is sorry, Cherry. How can Hina make it up to you?" She asked, feeling guilty but relieved Cherry seemed mostly okay.
*cough* "Come closer..." Cherry almost whispered.
Hina got down to the ground and leaned in close.
*cough cough* "I'm not angry with you, but there is something that will make me feel better..." Cherry spoke hoarsely.
"What is it? Hina will get you whatever you need." She said.
"All I want... is a kiss..." Cherry asked, eyes looking into Hina's hopefully.
Hina was dumbfounded, but at the same time she did consider it. It didn't seem too great of a request to make up for her wrongdoing. As she struggled with indecision...
*Flash* *Gacha*
""Nice."" Cherry and Arrieta spoke in unison.
Hina punched Cherry lightly in the gut and stood up. She huffed and marched away, slightly pink in the cheeks.
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