28 The Game of Kemari 1

"Oh! Welcome to my kingdom Aria! I have heard great things about you!" Yoshimoto said.

"Y-Yeah, thank you..!" Aria laughed nervously.

"This is Yoshimoto? Well, he has the japanese aesthetics.." Uchi said.

"So you must be here to conquer my kingdom. Well I am in a good mood today so we will play a game that will decide the fate of my kingdom." Yoshimoto said and walked off. "Follow me!"

"He's a jolly fellow." Aria said.

"Jolly and stupid.." Ginchiyo said.

They followed Yoshimoto to the playing field where he plays Kemari. They looked around and saw how beautiful the field was. The grass was nice and new.

"Wow, you guys really keep this place nice.." Aria said.

"Mhm, Kemari is my favorite game so I want to play it on my favorite field..the rules of Kemari are simple. Keep the ball in the air. If the ball hits the ground, you lose all your points. A friendly game." Yoshimoto said.

"Sounds easy." Aria smiled.

"Now on to how we will play it. I won't just let this be a simple game, we shall make it interesting." He smirked and withdrew his katana from the scabbard.

"A-" Aria said.

"Keep the ball in the air while we battle! Hitting the opponent with the ball grants you 5 extra points and makes the opponent lose all their points. The goal you need to reach is 100 Points!" Yoshimoto said.

"This is his battle style..he managed to turn it into a game. He possesses the Air Element so the game will be hard to win. He has the upper hand in this battle." Ginchiyo said.

"Heh, I like being at a disadvantage. This will be fun." Aria smirked.

"Are you ready?" Yoshimoto asked.

"Alright people! Let's show them the power of our teamwork!" Aria said.

Yoshimoto kicked the ball in the air. Uchi ran after the ball, but Yoshimoto shoulder bumped Uchi and blew her away then kicked the ball again. He had 1 point. Avani dashed past Yoshimoto then jumped and kicked the ball to Ginchiyo. Ginchiyo kicked the ball up. Aria jumped and Eagle Kicked the ball at Yoshimoto. The ball hit him and bounced back up.

"8 points!" Aria said and was blown away into the gate then the ball hit her and she groaned.

"Now it's 5 to 0." Yoshimoto said.

"Crap.." Ginchiyo said and kicked the ball to Muneshige. "Rack up as many points as possible!"

"Right." Muneshige kicked the ball up.

Ginchiyo dashed to Yoshimoto and slashed. Yoshimoto blocked her attack and they classed many times in their sword fight. Muneshige was going to kick the ball then Yoshimoto pointed left and the wind blew the ball to the left and the ball hit the ground.

"Oh you sly pig." Ginchiyo said.

"Told you it wasn't going to be easy." Yoshimoto smirked.

Aria tossed the ball in the air and Uchi appeared in the air and lightning surged through her legs.

"Lightning Technique: Electric Drive!" Uchi bellowed and kicked the ball at Yoshimoto.

The ball sparked causing the wind to become electrical and the ball followed the current to Yoshimoto and it hit him at high speeds blowing him away. The ball flew back into air and Aria caught Uchi and tossed her back in the air. Uchi kicked the ball down at him again and it bounced back up from his stomach. Yoshimoto got up and dodged the ball on the third kick. Muneshige ran to where the ball was going to fall and kicked it in the air. Yoshimoto made the wind blow in his direction then the ball followed the wind currect and he kicked the ball multiple times, racking up points.

"What the hell? How- Muneshige can you do that?" Avani asked.

"Our wind is like the same side of a magnet, it will repel each other and forcing it will create a Mach 2 Cyclone. The ball will end up stuck in the cyclone." Muneshige said.

"Type for Elemental Fusion then!" Aria said.

"Elemental Fusion?" Uchi asked.

"It's like Overload and Superconduct. Adding an element to another will cause a set reaction in the elements." Aria said.

"Ahh okay, I didn't know it was called Elemental Fusion." Uchi said.

"Because it isn't called Elemental Fusion, it's called Elemental Reactions." Ginchiyo said.

"Same thing! Now." Aria summoned a flame and threw it at the wind current, causing the wind current to turn into fire.

"Yowch!!" Yoshimoto said as the fire hit him. He fell down and held his foot.

"What reaction was that?" Uchi asked.

"Uhm..what was it called..? Swirl..? No..uhm.." Aria thought.

"It's called Surge. The same thing your energy does except Surge has a different property when dealing with the Air Element. Surge only works with tbe corresponding elements: Fire, Lighting, Water, Ice. Light, Dark, and Earth will have no effect. Air will just repel each other." Ginchiyo said.

"She's so knowledgeable." Uchi said.

"She is old.." Aria teased.

"I am not! I am only 29!" Ginchiyo blushed and glared.

"In any case. We should prioritize using the Surge Reaction to our advantage. Right now it's 16-12." Aria said.

"Right! Road to 100 Points here we go!" Uchi said.

Meanwhile in Spectem, Nō and Okuni were sitting in the meeting room with Lord Omu. Okuni could not stand him one bit and Lady Nō would not make eye contact.

"As you know, Ranmaru has betrayed the army. He is now an enemy..so forget the bond you shared with him..eliminate him and all of Aria's army. Failure will not be tolerated." Omu said.

"I under-"

"No. Don't you see what you're doing wrong? You are running this country into the ground. Do you even care?" Okuni said and stood up.

"Okuni.." Nō pulled her down back in her seat.

"Lady Nō, because of this war, no one can watch me dance! The generals who normally watch are all either seriously injured or dead! Omu is blinded to the damage he has done!" Okuni said.

"I am doing this because this land is flawed, weak. Imperfect. Everyone on this land is a waste of potential. You included, all you do is dance and flirt. What do you bring to the table?" Omu asked.

"I-I...That isn't important, I have been by Lady Nō's side since we were in our homeland before it was flooded! It doesn't matter what I bring to the table, as long as I am making progress!" Okuni said.

"Progress..? This kingdom specifically is the weakest compared to Nixtorm and Valora. Therefore I will destroy this kingdom first. After my plan has been executed." Omu stood up and walked off.

Lady Nō looked dead on the inside. Her hair was wild and all over the place. She laid her head down and mumbled.

"He is just as bad as Orochi X...Genten has turned into chaos and runs..but I'm too weak to go against him.." Nō said.

"We can't run anyway. We have one of the three keys needed to get into Lem..we have to continue our responsibilites." Okuni said.

Lady Nō stayed silent then sat up. She just wanted this entire catastrophe to end. Omu was getting ready to destroy Genten at any moment one the 18 Kingdoms united. Nō hoped Aria would be enough to stop Omu. She hoped Aria could save all of Genten.