Vol 2 Chapter 7 (1/2)
Season 2, Episode 7
Episode 7:
Cheers erupted from the other end of the grounds.
Nades.h.i.+ko’s palanquin made its grand appearance. It was a marvellous concoction, nearly taking away the breath of every last boy watching.
Strong, meaty men wearing yellow safety vests gave a uniform half turn before throwing themselves down onto the mat before her.
Nades.h.i.+ko got up and daintily stepped into the ring.
Why that little – Here were the heads of various famous martial arts schools, prostrating themselves before her, whereas she herself stood in all her grandeur, barely breaking a sweat.
Shun had never met someone as conceited in his life.
Still, he could not deny that she’d done a good job with… this.
Considering that she only had about one an hour to put all of this together, with the ring as the centre, and seats expanding outwards in the shape of a colosseum, she really outdid herself.
The whole thing looked extremely professional, with the Newspaper Club chipping in to hand out pamphlets about the antic.i.p.ated rematch.
Clearing her throat, Nades.h.i.+ko got ready to make her announcement.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your patience – well, not really, considering that I only took an hour to get ready, but no big deal!”
She threw a sidelong glance at Shun and Rosalie, before continuing.
“I thought I’d just have a little bit of fun before we began, you know, just for some warm ups. I’m sure by now, all of you have received the notification that I sent out earlier, saying that if this girl –“
Cue glance at Rosalie.
“ –If this girl here beats me, she can marry whomsoever she wishes to. This will serve to make the match more interesting, as I think you can all testify to, by your overwhelming number in attendance. I am such a genius to have thought of and arranged all this, am I not? Which hot blooded male here would not like to have my hand in marriage? Am I right, students, or am I right?”
Covering her mouth with the back of her hand, she threw back her head in wild fits of laughter.
Climbing onto the ring, Nades.h.i.+ko’s followers, known as the Red Star Lily Squad by the other students, grabbed the prostrated men and heaped them onto the stretchers. Then, they proceeded to carry them out of the ring.
Man, those girls sure were strong. Well, no surprise there though, seeing as they all belonged to Nades.h.i.+ko’s own martial arts club, who lived by the rule – the Stars above are inexorably linked to my body.
“Well then Shun, I’ll be going now.”
With a parting look at Shun, Rosalie stepped into the ring amidst claps, cheers and catcalls.
The crowd sure was heating up fast. Things were rather different today compared to how they’d usually be, and the fact that lessons were cancelled for this already made the students happy beyond belief. To them, this was a lucky break, and an interesting one at that.
Shaking his head, Shun made his way to the second seat and plunked his b.u.t.t down.
Coming up next to him, Sora sat down on his right.
“Let’s hope that this fight will not bring about a showy conclusion.”
“I’ve already told her to lay off the magic.”
“Thank you. We wouldn’t want her to notice anything strange should everyone start talking if she uses her magic.”
“Got it.”
Strangely, Sora was still wearing her cat ears when she was discussing about this issue with Shun.
Hmm… Seems like she broke her own little rule here.
Uehara approached Shun next, and sat down on his left.
“Hey, there’s something I’d like to ask you about later.”
“Huh…?”
“It’s about that girl, the Rosalie cosplayer.”
Looking up upon the ring, it seemed that Uehara suspected something.
–
A stern looking referee (one of the Red Star Lily Squad members) stood between Rosalie and Nades.h.i.+ko.
This was a fight to the death, literally. Lethal moves were allowed and there was no time limit. The referee seemed to only be there to count the knockouts and forfeits.
Well, it’d be alright as long as Rosalie finished this up with a quick, one-hit KO. Shun took a deep breath as Nades.h.i.+ko walked towards her red corner.
Rosalie, not having known the rules of a match as such, had to be led to the green corner by the referee.
A gong sounded.
“Frenzy of the Seven Sisters!”
Nades.h.i.+ko was the first to launch her attack, lunging forward on one foot while attempting to knee Rosalie in the face.
Even black belt masters would find it hard to block a kick like that. It was sudden, and fast –
Rosalie stepped towards one side, neatly dodging her attack.
What a quickstep indeed. The audience could barely breathe as they trained their eyes on the two fighters.
Nades.h.i.+ko’s eyes widened in shock. That must have been a first. Still though, her pride was at stake. Time for the next attack.
Changing her balance in midair, Nades.h.i.+ko swung her left leg backwards in the fas.h.i.+on of a roundhouse kick.
Again, Rosalie dodged it.
Turning to face Rosalie, Nades.h.i.+ko continued to attack aggressively with her kicks.
Rosalie blocked them all.
At this point, Nades.h.i.+ko had somehow gotten closer to Rosalie. Grinning triumphantly, she grabbed Rosalie’s head in deadlock and lifted her left leg to knee her.
Rosalie simply reacted by grabbing hold of Rosalie’s other foot, and swiftly pulling her forward.
That force sent Nades.h.i.+ko flying.
Cras.h.i.+ng none too gently into the ropes on the other end, Nades.h.i.+ko managed to regain some of her balance, and at the last second, did a backflip and bounded back to the other side of the ring. Executing a double summersault in midair, Nades.h.i.+ko landed on her knees. Right in front of Rosalie.
The crowd went wild.
–
Nades.h.i.+ko’s face was livid.
She couldn’t believe it. Any other opponent she had faced had gone down in three moves. They had never been able to withstand her, had never been able to win her.
And now, here was someone she couldn’t win. The difference in skill level between them was so overwhelming in fact, that Nades.h.i.+ko herself could barely catch up.
It was impossible, and yet –
“Who are you?”
“I am a warrior.”
–
“I am a warrior.”
Rosalie’s answer came out strong and unwavering, to the cheers of the crowd below. Shun could still see the both of them talking on the ring above, but even from where he was, the noise of the crowd was loud enough to drown out their conversation.
“A warrior…?”
“Yes.”
Nades.h.i.+ko, who had not a whit of interest in games, fortunately, did not react adversely to her answer.
“And what does this warrior thing of yours, have to do with Kanda Shun?”
“…Are you talking about Shun here?”
“Well, do we know of any other person called Shun?”
“I am Shun’s bride. We have yet to wed, but I know for sure that one day, we will.”
Rosalie lifted her arms to block against Nades.h.i.+ko’s high kick.
“…It couldn’t be that you actually like that unattractive, talentless freak, could it?”
“Shun and I, we are joined by fate.”
Rosalie could really be quite a.s.sertive when she wanted to.
“He was always with me, has always been by my side.”
A hint of pride coloured her voice. She was so happy.
“What rubbis.h.!.+”
In a flash, Nades.h.i.+ko crouched down, her actions seeming to have increased in speed.
That took Rosalie off guard. She was a split second slower to react.
“Solid Saturn!”
This time, Nades.h.i.+ko managed to push Rosalie face down onto the mat as she crouched down behind her, holding her hands tight.
Rosalie immediately tried to get up, but somehow she couldn’t move.
Nades.h.i.+ko had her hand pressed onto the back of Rosalie’s neck, holding her in a vulnerable position, while the other hand kept a lockdown on her wrist.
Rosalie was effectively caught in a deadlock.
“There has to be a limit to how much you can handle!”
As if trying to test Rosalie’s limits, Nades.h.i.+ko pushed down harder onto the vital point behind her neck.
s.h.i.+t was about to get serious.
Rosalie put in even more strength as she struggled to escape.
One tug, and Nades.h.i.+ko was sent flying.
”What brute strength!”
Nades.h.i.+ko was forced to admit so. Her previous attack though had not gone to waste. Her smug smile seemed to show that she finally understood something about Rosalie.
On the other side of the ring, Rosalie looked confused.
“How can it be? Nades.h.i.+ko isn’t just at level 10?”
This was probably the first time that her guess had been off.
“I still have to beat her though.”
Shrugging her shoulders, Rosalie got her head back into the game.
Squaring off with Nades.h.i.+ko, Rosalie gave an almighty kick to the floor of the ring as the force propelled her towards Nades.h.i.+ko. Stretching out her hand, Rosalie appeared ready to hit Nades.h.i.+ko with the flat of her hand when –
“The isolated comet!”
Crack.
The moment Rosalie’s hand came into contact with Nades.h.i.+ko, a twist of her wrist had Rosalie falling hard behind her.
More cheers erupted.