Chapter 15 - Duel

Fujimura Miyu raises an eyebrow to the emperor's request. She glances back to Ryota. He shows no emotion and stares straight at the emperor. Miyu looks back at him as well and says, "Yes, my emperor."

He nods and waves for the attendant to file them to the training area. The attendant behind to walk and Miyu and Ryota walk behind him. The emperor gets up as well to follow them. They head in a single straight line outside to the area and Miyu glances around. She gets a quick peek at the garden and sees lovely butterflies and regular animals surrounding dozens of plants. She slows a bit to look some more but soon after she picks up her pace to follow Ryota. It takes a while, but they soon arrive. The area is surrounded by trees and the grass on the ground is work down from so many uses. There's soldiers practicing in the large area but they stop once they see the emperor. They bow low for him and after return to their practices. Even though they went back to their practices, they made a large space in the middle of the area just for their superiors.

The emperor tilts his head towards the empty area with intent, "There."

Miyu and Ryota walk to the area and begin taking off clothes. Miyu takes off her hood and kimono, knowing no one would know who she was because her family wouldn't let her near the palace. She ties her long dark hair up and adjusts her cloth that still covers her face. Underneath her kimono she has her training clothes. She always wears them, just in case she was discovered.

When Miyu is done she glances at Ryota. She admires his smooth, luscious skin without intention. He took his jacket off and opened the top of his kimono let the sleeves rest at his waist.

Ryota didn't have any training gear at the moment, so he had to find out what to do with the clothes he was wearing. He decided to let some of his clothes come off, knowing that he might not win this fight. He finished and looked up and saw Miyu looking at him.

He grins, "Like what you see, wife? It's all yours."

Miyu looks away from his chest and up to his face with a glare. She then away to look at the emperor and doesn't respond, but he notices that she flustered. The soldiers whoop at Ryota's words after noticing that Ryota is preparing for a fight and crowding around them.

The emperor let's out a small smile then looks between them both, "We will start the duel in 3...."

Miyu and Ryota ready themselves.

"2....."

They crouch lower and look like they're about to pounce on each other.

"1!"

Ryota runs straight at Miyu, not letting her have a chance to think. But she did. She moves away quickly and disappears. Ryota stops quickly and looks around. He makes a small flame in his palm and turns his body, round and round, looking for where she is. He begins to sweat, 'How could she disappear like that?'

He feels a force hit him and he tumbles to the ground. He looks up and sees a flicker in the scenery. He grins, 'Shes hid herself.'

He gets up again, confident, and instead of fire, creates a bit of water in his hand. He looks around and then finds another flicker. He flicks the water at it and then freezes it. Miyu appears, and shakes her hand. Her left hand was frozen. She manifests fire in that hand to melt it and glares at Ryota. Mad, she uses her air gift and forces all of the air surrounding her at him. Ryota flies across the field and hits the ground, right in front of some of the soldiers' feet. They're trembling, never have seen someone to defeat the strong prince. But what they didn't expect was for Ryota and stand up and begin to laugh, wiping the blood off his lip with the back of his hand.

Miyu looks at him like he's psychotic. She shrugs and puts her palms down next to her hips. She looks like she's in a place of concentration and Ryota feels like it's his moment to shine. He runs at her again, already having fire manifesting in both of his hands in preparations. Around a few feet from Miyu, a root comes out of the ground. The root speeds towards Ryota and wraps itself around Ryota's waist. It holds him midair and Miyu walks towards Ryota. He struggles, trying to rip the root, but the door doesn't budge. She walks right in front of him and brings him down to caress his face, "Do you surrender?"

Ryota looks straight at her and says, "No."

The root burns and Ryota launches himself and her. She twists her body only a second after and isn't prepared for the force of a tidal wave of water upon her. She is forced into the ground and stays there till she removes the water off herself. She coughs up a couple of cups of water before grinning, "Good, I wasn't done with you either."