The Finals (I)

Suzuran heard her name called again for the eleventh match; her opponent was Noa’s companion, Tomoe Ichihara. Upon facing each other, she said, “Hiiragi-san kept glaring at you in the stands… Why is that?”

“Beats me.”

Tomoe narrowed her eyes as she drew her sword. “Hiiragi-san would never pay such close attention to another Toji. I’m her friend—I should know that much.”

“I see…” Suzuran muttered. “Even if you question me, I can’t begin to tell you why she would be interested in me so—”

“Fine. I’ll force the answer out of you.”

“I like your spirit,” Suzuran laughed. At the referee’s command, Suzuran held her sword up and declared, “Have at thee!” Tomoe immediately charged and struck; judging from her movements, Suzuran figured she studied the same Shintō-ryū as Noa did (or at the very least, a variant of Shintō-ryū that shared the same basics as the one Noa studies). After a few strokes, Suzuran disengaged and switched to a one-handed grip as she returned her blade to her sheath. She too practiced a Shintō-ryū and she had decided that for this match, she will resort to a battōjutsu to end the match.

A vein popped in Tomoe’s skull but she had essentially no time to react as Suzuran rent her in two from the waist to the shoulder with her sword. Once again sealing her blade, Suzuran did not even bother to look at the result as she left the sparring circle. Snapped out of her stupor, the referee stammered, “Th-The winner is Suzuran Arisugawa—!”

“Suzu…”

“She wasn’t playing around then…”

“The demonic Student Council President makes a resurgence, huh?”

Suzuran’s mood did not improve even upon returning to the stands and she hardly paid attention to the following twelfth match which Honami also won with practiced ease. The thirteenth match—Noa’s third match and the first quarterfinal match—also flitted past her attention. Her mood only somewhat improved when she was called up for the fifteenth match and the third quarterfinal match; her opponent was her colleague in the student council, Reina. “Are you seriously going to keep moping?” she jabbed.

“Shut up, Reina,” Suzuran snapped. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured.” While Reina put up a good fight, she could hardly match the moody Suzuran; her skills with her Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū were certainly above the par but when faced with Suzuran and her Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, it was a close match that Suzuran had no problem winning. As she helped her downed friend up, she stabbed once more, “You done feeling mopey, Prez?”

“Shut it,” she retorted before chewing her lips and muttering, “—Thanks.”

“No problemo, it’s my job,” she quipped.

The girls returned to their stands together as Honami was called forward for the last quarterfinal match. Her opponent was Manaka Ichinose of Minoseki Academy who didn’t really assert herself in her first match. The only thing that was interesting about her was her oversized blade which she held in the tonbo-no-kamae—otherwise, the “dragonfly stance.” Unlike her first match, she was moving rather slowly as she brought her sword down; Honami of course didn’t notice as she activated jin’i and sliced through her opponent.

Over in the Minoseki stands upon Manaka’s return with a terrifyingly neutral “I lost…”, her partner, Alice Sakayanagi, scolded her, “Oh come on, were you even trying!?”

“I mean, our job as Toji is to eliminate the aradama not fight each other…”

“I’d say this is pretty important too, desu!”

The first semifinal match and the seventeenth match of the day was between Noa and Alice. As always, Noa immediately tried to settle it with one strike with her Fifth Layer Shift but her thrust was expertly blocked by the hilt of Alice’s sword, her right knee also raised up in a stance unique to her sword style.

“The hilt!?” Honami exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat.

“Whoa, that’s Taisha-ryū, isn’t it?” Suzuran marveled. “I see, all of her previous matches so far didn’t require her to expose her sword style this much.”

With Noa’s blade locked by her sword, Alice pushed forward and forced Noa back as she attacked with a falling cut. Noa dodged backward before leaning forward for a counterstrike which Alice also avoided with a backward lean. Both girls stepped back to put some distance between each other before Alice once again closed the distance with another falling cut. Noa responded with a powerful side sweep, throwing Alice’s sword arm off kilter with a comical “What?” in perfect English. Before Alice could recover, Noa split her in two.

Alice collapsed backward, singing, “Ahh, I’ve been beaten, desu!”

Having slashed her way past her, Noa recovered her stance, facing the downed Alice as she quieted her breathing. While she didn’t notice it, Maya was scrutinizing her with a glare so intense, she might as well have drilled a hole through her. Noa Hiiragi… I’ve heard she began attending Heijou right after I was scouted by Nanae-sama and made the leader of her Elite Guard. She really has been training if she’s already this good.

Suzuran’s fists tightened as the smile on her face widened. I know I’m repeating myself but she is amazing…! I definitely wasn’t imagining what I felt yesterday! This is in reference to the minor incident the previous day when the two girls simply happened upon the other. When they walked past each other, both girls felt their swords at their waist vibrate, although they had absolutely no knowledge that both girls were experiencing the same phenomenon at the same time. Both girls had simply chalked it up to them sizing up their opponent.

Honami, meanwhile, quietly observed Suzuran’s countenance. She was awed once more by her friend’s adamant resolve in finding a worthy opponent to cross blades with. Although saddened that it wasn’t her that made her blood boil so much, Honami was content knowing that she can walk beside her. She turned her attention back to the tournament brackets which had finally reached the second semifinals match.

It was to be between Suzuran and Honami.

“So it seems that we did end up fighting each other.”

That one sentence stated by Suzuran was the only sound heard in their duel. Since the duel’s start, both had not moved from their beginning stances; Honami held herself in seigan while Suzuran held herself in gedan-no-kamae. Both simply stared each other down with their blades held high. The tension between the two friends crackled in the air. Over in their section of the stands, their classmates grumbled amongst themselves, lamenting, “Ugh, why does it have to be between Suzu and Honami? This is just nuts.”

Suzu. We’ve fought each other hundred—perhaps thousands—of times. You know me and I know you. That is why I will put my all into defeating you! Today is a day I shall not back down!

Honami’s seigan is incredibly tough… It can’t be broken so easily. I’ll need to bait her—

The audience then raised a quiet chorus of gasps as Honami sank down to her knees in a sort of “standing” seiza position. She had resheathed her blade, although not all the way. From where she was observing, a startled Suzuka removed her hands from her hips and grabbed the railing, unconsciously putting an excessive measure of strength into the grip. “She’s using iai?!” It’s true, Suzuran Arisugawa did indeed use a masterful iaijutsu in her match with Tomoe Ichihara but for her to respond in kind—!?

The cheer club, meanwhile, sucked in air with bated breath. “Honami…”

Despite being on the receiving end of the attack, Suzuran couldn’t help but smile. You fully intend to strike me with full force, right, Honami? Then, as your friend, it is only right I respond with the same conviction—! She changed her stance to in-no-kamae before activating jin’i. Accelerating once to appear directly in front of her then twice to appear directly behind her, Suzuran brought down her sword. Honami responded by drawing out her blade but even at the high speed she was drawing, she was forced to stay her blade by Suzuran’s hand; she had shifted to another one-handed grip to prevent her friend from drawing.

However, Honami had predicted this exchange and had pulled her arm back just before Suzuran could grab her hand. In a flash, Honami resheathed her sword and drew it out again, slashing across Suzuran’s midsection. At the same time, Suzuran returned to a two-handed grip and slashed through Honami's shoulder down to her hip. Both girls ran past each other, having struck at the same time and both girls lost control over their utsushi. The referee declared, “This match is declared a draw as both contestants have lost their utsushi by aiuchi!”

Aiuchi—.

By definition, it is a term primarily used in Japanese fencing and in kendo where two swordsmen strike each other at the same time. In Japanese fencing, an aiuchi is an invalid form of attack and no points are rewarded in the case where this occurs. However, the Toji are swordswomen who practice kenjutsu, the art of swordsmanship strictly learned to be used in battle. As such, in the case that aiuchi occurs between two Toji, both risk certain death if they do not have utsushi up.

The referee was then flagged down by her colleagues and discussed something among themselves. Seemingly reaching a credible conclusion, the referee cleared her throat, “The decision has been contested. Seeing as Suzuran Arisugawa managed to keep her utsushi from collapsing for an instant longer, she shall be deemed the winner and will advance to the final round.”

As if being a testament to this fact, Suzuran was also the only one to have managed to stay on her feet even after having her utsushi forcibly dispelled. She turned around and held out her hand. “I’m sorry, Honami, but I wanted to win. I wanted to win and fight that girl.”

Accepting the hand up, Honami gave her most genuine smile, all of the stress from the previous days melting away. “Do your best in the final round.”

“Yeah, of course!”