The first few blows Ichi threw didn't hit. Renya's agility was inhuman. It got worse fast, as he started taking heavy hits from Renya. One to the shin, one near his thigh. Was it the same time, the same instant? He kept his eyes open, making sure he'd see it. His heart sank as he felt two kicks at once, one to his head, one to his chest. Despite his strength and weight, they were enough to make him stumble back. Ichi saw one kick. He felt two.

Renya stopped her strikes as Ichi's balance broke, waiting for him to recover.

"You mentioned something earlier. You called my katana 'magic', is that right?"

"Yup." Ichi replied. He used the break to grill his head for a solution. She's too fast.

"That katana? It's not magic. Neither do I. What you see tonight is merely me."

Ichi raised his arms in response. Like twin trees, he stepped forward. A flurry of kicks exploded onto his arms. Four. Eight. Twelve? It felt like rain. Ichi made a quick step back, then pulled back and whipped his fist into Renya's body.

She blocked with a raised knee and held his hairy fist with both hands. Pulling back, her other leg lowered and Ichi's whole body shifted into the air. Ichi couldn't believe such a small girl was throwing him. She may be a homunculus, but still! He watched with great interest as Renya's back hit the rooftop and Ichi floated above her. Then, she pulled back her knee, stamping into the air vertically with her foot. Ichi tumbled in the air, his weight forcing him down through the rooftop.

He lied there with the broken roof tiles around him, an upset look crawled onto his face.

"I thought you said you never fought hand-to-hand?"

Renya jumped down landing on Ichi's back, she scooted her face close to his ear.

"Haven't you seen some martial arts movies? I'm copying them."

"It's not that easy!" Ichi growled as he stood up.

Renya jumped off his rising back as Ichi leaped after her back onto the rooftop. She knit her hands behind her back.

"There are patterns to their movements. Can't you see them?"

Ichi couldn't. His anger got the best of him, and he went ape on her swinging wildly. Double ape, since he was already in bigfoot form. His attacks were parried by arms or legs, he took heavy hits in quick succession. Renya danced around him nimbly, launching strikes from every direction. She calculated every angle calmly. He relied solely on instinct. There wasn't a chance for him to win, but Ichi's senses were blurring. Repeated hits everywhere drained him, and before he knew it his bigfoot form undid itself.

His trust in his strength was broken. His tanuki ability at least required him to trust his strength, but Renya completely overwhelming him in her first fistfight brought him low. And it's a girl! That stung too. This whole time, Renya could have beaten him in a one to one fight? Ichi slumped to the ground. This wasn't all he had. He knew that. He looked to his stick of balance sticking out of the rooftop where he planted it. Lying on the rooftop, his hand moved to his back pocket, his fingers sliding over the shikigami hidden there.

It'd summon a tengu. Myon said it would enslave him for life, Grandpa said it was a friend of his dad's. If either of them were true, he didn't want to use it. Then, he heard chuckling.

Renya stood over him with her katana in both hands. She looked at Ichi breathing hard, an amourous red blush across her cheeks. She slowly raised the sword. Ichi watched as the moon's reflection glitter across the blade as Renya raised it to full height.

Ichi's fingers tightened around the shikigami. Then, they loosened. Ichi's eyes closed as he cursed himself. Nothing happened. Ichi waited for Renya to end it, but it didn't come. He looked up, and saw Syon standing behind a frozen Renya. Syon's long silver hair blew in the wind, hiding her face.

A silver thread stuck out of Renya's neck. Renya dropped the katana and it slid clattering off the roof, then sunk to her knees like a puppet with a thud.

"Ichi," Syon said, "give her the cat."