Chapter 94

1.

“Let’s start with a fighting game.”

“Sure, that’s fine…”

The fighting game was chosen as the easiest and simplest way to determine a winner, marking the beginning of our first match.

“What game would you like to play…?”

Yuzu took out the fighting game CDs that were neatly organized in the nearby drawers and asked me. I picked the one I was most familiar with.

[Queen of Fighters]

It was the same game I had played with Midori and Momo at the arcade. Seeing it, Yuzu slightly nodded as if recognizing it, and promptly began setting up the two-player mode.

As the game was about to start, Yuzu, who had been rather passive, began to act more proactively, his behavior seemingly energized. His previously hesitant gaze sharpened, and his eyes took on a resolute look, as if bracing for something significant.

Or rather, his eyes burned with determination.

As if he had mentally prepared himself for something serious.

“Um, then let’s start…”

“Yeah, let’s.”

The voice that had been soft and hesitant earlier grew clear and steady.

Moreover, the gaze that had previously glanced at me shyly was now focused on the monitor, accompanied by a deep breath taken to steady his nerves.

‘…Is this what they call the Yuzu Queen Mode?’

Though I couldn’t fully understand why Yuzu was making such a determined face just for a simple game, his concentrated look personally struck me as cool and enjoyable.

Because I could feel his sincerity towards games.

Being deeply absorbed in something and passionately attempting to master something one admires—it’s truly an admirable endeavor.

In my previous life, I had been pushed around by reality, without the leisure or thought to dive deeply into anything. Thus, it was perhaps inevitable that such sights would appear even more impressive to me now.

‘…’

And indeed, does the same apply to me now?

I couldn’t be certain.

But simply—

“I’ll do my best.”

“Yes, yes…!”

Let’s do our best in the reality we live now.

Let’s achieve everything we haven’t tried in this world.

That was the only wish I held silently within myself.

And thus, I gripped the game controller.

It was time to settle the score in this current reality.

2.

I chose a character who was a ghost-faced space samurai.

While I didn’t fully understand the logic behind combining space and samurai elements, the appearance of the character reminded me of Iron Man and the dual swords he wielded, which I thought were pretty cool. Hence, I chose this character again.

On the other hand, Yuzu selected a typical fighting style figure—a towering woman fighter.

She had a macho aura, with a massive, blonde body, bare upper torso covered only by bandages revealing her six-pack abs.

BOOM—! BOOM—! BOOM—!

The drum beats signaling the rising heat of battle echoed.

Then, from each side, two fighters emerged onto the ring, bathed in streams of blue and red energy currents.

The two fighters locked eyes, glaring at each other before the battle started, and readied themselves—each placing a hand on their sword grips or clashing their fists as a preparatory stance.

Samurai vs. Fighter.

The two fighters, who looked entirely different in form and genre, their gazes crossed.

Thus, as they glared at each other, a tense atmosphere where they would explode into action filled the moment.

[ FIGHT! ]

At the sound of the bell signaling the start of the battle.

The two fighters charged at each other instantly.

The samurai drew the sword he had sheathed, and the fighter raised both fists wrapped in red energy currents.

First round.

An unfamiliar blank slate where neither knew anything about the other.

The samurai and the fighter dived straight into battle as if trying to first gauge each other’s fighting styles.

The distance closed in an instant, and the samurai made the first move.

Ka-kak-kak—!

The curved katana slashed horizontally across the front, leaving a trail of a fierce, cutting sound.

The fighter had anticipated the movement and stepped back evasively. The samurai pursued her, swinging the sword again.

Swaak!

But this attack also failed to hit the fighter, only cutting through the air.

The samurai, showing no sign of panic, swung another sword vertically at the fighter’s arm, but…

KWAANG!

The fighter sidestepped this time as well, the sword only slicing through the ground.

Despite numerous attempted attacks, none landed on the fighter. It felt like being manipulated when facing an opponent whose reactions were beyond normal.

The opponent was reading all my attacks.

Simultaneously, they were also probing me.

Understanding my style fully before securing their superiority.

A ruthless technique, only possible for the strong.

The samurai griped tightly onto both sword handles, glaring at the fighter. The fighter maintained the same cold demeanor, observing the samurai’s actions.

Come on, show me everything you’ve got.

And the samurai smiled.

If that’s what you want, I’ll show you everything.

The samurai charged forward with a kick of the foot.

He sheathed one sword and charged towards the fighter with just one sword in hand.

The fighter sensed something unusual about the samurai’s charge and quickly took a defensive stance.

KWAANG-!

An attack flew towards the fighter as usual. But shortly after, the fighter realized that things were different.

Immediately after one attack, another was pouring in.

Ka-kak-!

KWAANG-!

Swaak-!

A quick succession of attacks, instinct-driven actions that abandoned any kind of judgment.

The fighter, who was dealing with the pouring attacks, sighed amidst her hurried defenses.

It seemed she had to personally inform the novice about something.

Thus, the fighter gripped her fists even tighter.

And then—

‘Now!!’

Spotting the gap amidst the relentless sword strikes, the fighter’s powerful right punch targeted the samurai.

The samurai would surely lose balance with this attack. A novice wouldn’t be able to realize the gap created by this fleeting moment, so they would be confused.

Then the fighter decided to show the samurai what true, skilled quick succession was, not the chaotic one the samurai was trying.

Thinking that, the fighter extended her fist.

Anticipating the opponent flying back with a massive impact sound.

But.

—Kiing!

What the fighter heard in her extended fist was not the scream of the opponent or the sensation of the punch landing.

It was the solid sound of metal friction, indicating her attack had been in vain.

And the fighter witnessed it.

How the samurai drew another sword at the very last moment, deflecting the punch.

And immediately afterwards, how the samurai swung both swords and charged towards her once again.

‘What is this, just now?’

The techniques and patterns shown by the opponent were distinctly amateurish.

However, countering the attack just now was not something a novice could do.

‘Was he hiding his skill? Or…’

Simply, catching it purely with physical reflexes?

The fighter, or rather, Yuzu couldn’t help but wrinkle her expression.

‘Is this human reaction speed?’

A reaction that rivaled beasts—perhaps even surpassing them.

Reading and deflecting an attack in a split second, with no prelude or stance.

‘Just exactly who is this person?’

Yuzu looked beside her at the girl with white hair struggling to control the pad, and was shocked.

Clearly, in terms of actions and judgments, they were a novice.

Yet, the feeling of a tough opponent was unmistakable.

‘I need to focus more.’

Yuzu took a deep breath and thought.

Focus more, she has to win at all costs.

Her light gray eyes sunk deeply as they refocused on the monitor.

3.

The fighter recovered from her moment of confusion quickly. She immediately decided to change her fighting style.

Because her opponent’s strength had been identified as monstrous reaction speed, continuing the same fighting style was deemed unnecessary.

KOOM-!

The fighter discarded all defensive postures and rushed towards the samurai in a flash.

With sounds of “KA-NG! KA-NG!” as she stomped her way aggressively, the startled samurai retreated.

The fighter quickly chased after the samurai and with both arms raised in front of her face, adopted the familiar boxing stance and approached the samurai who was trying to adapt and get into an attack stance.

And what followed was…

A chaotic brawl-like battle.

KWAANG!

An unavoidable distance where the fighter’s punch smacked the samurai’s ribs.

The samurai didn’t stagger but swung the sword, cutting into the fighter’s forearms. Just as the samurai swung the other sword to create some distance—

Perooong─!!

The fighter twisted her body and delivered a Brazilian kick, striking the samurai’s face.

However, their health meter depleted simultaneously.

The samurai had allowed an attack while simultaneously plunging his sword into the fighter’s thigh.

With that, the fighter grinned, amused.

She had realized what fighting style the samurai intended to take after recognizing the same in her.

Just as I decided on a brawl because I understood the reaction speed of my opponent, the samurai recognized the technical disparity between us and adapted.

Therefore, we both selected the same fighting method.

Rokushagoldan (Flesh Cut Bone Break).

Giving flesh to take the bones of the opponent.

This was the method we mutually opted for.

A style often known as the Funeral Procession Combat or Beastly Fighting style.

Purely relying on instinct and senses, a fight conducted this way.

But in this style, no attack can be casually defended.

The sword was swung, and blood gushed from below the chest.

The punch was delivered, and the shoulder bone shattered.

Despite that, both of them laughed while rushing towards each other.

It was, without exaggeration, a monstrous fighting style akin to an animal’s battle.

…

…

…

KWAANG─!

When the samurai dodged the punch and rolled to the side, the fighter slammed her foot against the ground.

The samurai dodged the foot, rebounding like a bouncing ball, and swung the sword at the fighter in mid-air, cutting a deep gash on the fighter’s shoulder.

Ignoring it, the fighter punched towards the samurai’s abdomen. A red current surged like a wave, striking the samurai’s lower abdomen with a violent impact sound.

KWAWAAG─!!

Both panted heavily but continued to glare at each other.

Then, in a flash, they rose simultaneously, aiming at each other.

One with a sword, one with a fist.

Now the stamina was almost depleted.

Each having won once, if one could win again, they would be declared the victor.

Dust swirled around, and only heavy breathing filled the space.

Without words, both had understood.

The decisive blow was about to land.

Yet the look in both their eyes lacked any negative emotions, filled only with mutual acknowledgment.

The fighter acknowledged the samurai who had pushed her to her limits.

The samurai acknowledged the fighter who, despite being inferior in skill, offered a hard-fought battle.

Both prepared to conclude their match with their ultimate moves.

And then.

The two fighters charged towards each other.

The samurai with a sword imbued with blue energy.

The fighter with a fist swirling with crimson energy.

Desperate to attain victory, they swung towards each other.

KWAANG──!!!

The two clashed violently upon their collision.

After the red fist and the blue sword crossed paths, they found themselves standing at each other’s opposite positions.

And shortly,

Plop-

Both wobbling figures stood, but one collapsed first, deciding the winner.

The winner was…

[YUZU Victory!]

The red energy-covered fighter.

She raised her battle-scarred arm high, showcasing a victory sign.

4.

“Yeeeeaaahhh!!! You’re insane!! So unfair!!”

“Ahhh, yesss…!!!”

Upon the conclusion of the fighting game, we embraced each other, soaked in sweat.

“Yuzu, you’re insane! How can you be this good?”

“G-Good job…! You were so amazing, Hiiro, that I couldn’t help but get super focused… Really, it was a great match!”

“Man, it was so tense! I was dripping sweat. I almost lost 3-0!”

“I-I barely won. Hiiro’s reaction speed was just unreal…”

As the game ended, though Yuzu returned to her previous demeanor, her game-induced excitement still lingered as she grinned, hugging me.

Yuzu repeatedly nodded, muttering about how enjoyable the game had been.

Sweaty though we were, we continued chatting enthusiastically about the game.

“Let’s play another game!”

“Sure…!”

“What should we do? How about a cooperative one this time?”

“Sure, that’s great…!”

Thus, forgetting any previous thoughts of bets, we happily continued to play games together.

Somehow having transitioned to casual, informal speech by now, we sat close to each other, completely engrossed in the games all day.

Until the twins came back in the late afternoon.

“No way! How did you ensnare Yuzu?”

“Our Yuzu showing this kind of familiarity is outrageous!”

At their startled reactions, a mischievous idea struck me.

I pulled Yuzu into my arms, placing my hand under her chin, and declared to the twins.

“Your Yuzu has been replaced by my Yuzu.”

“GRAAHHH!!!”

“No!! My Yuzu!!!!!!!”

The twins reacted dramatically and seemed utterly defeated.

Especially when Yuzu in my arms began blushing while showing unusual reactions, their expressions twisted further.

“KISSAMA!!!!!!!!”

“Die, Nanashi Hiiro!!!!!!!”

Uh-oh. Don’t pull out the guns now, seriously!

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