**FAMILY GROUNDS**

**COLOSSEUM**

"Winner: Satoru Yamaguchi!!"

"WOOOOO!!!"

Screams and cheers from the audience echoed all around, after witnessing what was

indisputably one of the greatest battles in the last few years between the two young

elites.

"Oi, don't tell me you're asleep," Satoru nervously remarked as he tried to wake up

Akiro, still on the ring. "I'm not the best with healing spells, y'know..."

He didn't want the second-hand embarrassment of having to carry an unconscious

Akiro.

"Mmh?"

"Satoru?...Oh, right. I lost, didn't I?" - he regained consciousness, and slowly recalled

their fight.

"Come on, let's go already," Satoru instructed as he grabbed Akiro's hand, lifting him

from the ground and slinging his arm over his shoulder. They then began their walk

back to the waiting area.

"Haha...sorry about this."

"You're still going on about that?" Satoru asked with a small grin.

“What a guy...if it weren't for my level of Awareness, I would've been stabbed many times

over. Even then, I had to be really on my toes to keep up with all that teleporting.”

Satoru was thinking to himself, as he looked all around his body; a few small rips were

on his pants and shirt, caused by the Kunai. He also had a cut on his left shoulder, and a

very small scrape on his right cheek. Glancing at his palm, he saw that the marking used

to teleport was slowly vanishing.

“...It's hard to believe that that idiot is above this guy.”

"Speaking of, I wonder if he's awake...I hope not," he thought as he looked at his small

injuries.

Meanwhile, inside the Colosseum's medical facility, an individual in a room sat up in his

bed doing stretches. There was also a monitor inside the room, showing a live display of

the tournament ring.

It was Ilmar. He had woken up earlier, and witnessed about half of the match.

“Hehe, guess you had a rough time, Sato-kun!”

In the East Waiting Area, the two fighters returned from the ring; Akiro plopped himself

on a bench, and Satoru went in meditation. The atmosphere was as awkward as ever.

Soon after, the next match was announced, and the competitors were:

"Galib Sanjuro, Genki Sanjuro, make your way to the fighting ring!"

The two, their Specialties being in Armed Combat, were practicing swings and lunges

with their staffs. They almost didn't notice that they were up next.

"Oi, two stooges, you're up," Haruo beckoned to them.

"Oh, right. Let's go, Genki," Galib said to him.

"Hehe, this match is gonna be awesome!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't go losing your balance and falling over on me."

The two were actually brothers, the only children of a renowned weapon craftsman

from the Sanjuro Clan. The two had a form of Master-Disciple relationship, Galib being

the senior, who learned to use weapons from his father, and in turn taught his brother

Genki. In a way, this seemed like an unfair matchup, pitting two brothers with this form

of relationship against each other, but Galib had no intentions of holding back against

his younger brother.

"Approaching the ring, to the right we have Galib Sanjuro, and next to him, Genki

Sanjuro! These two boys are the sons of a master-craftsman from the Sanjuro Clan,

Kaseki-san! Welcome them as they make their way!"

As they walked to the fighting ring, Genki was prepping himself up, and a thought

popped up into his mind to make what seemed like a very disadvantageous bet:

"Hey, bro, let's make a bet."

"Hm?"

"Whoever loses their weapon first, forfeits the match."

Galib was dumbfounded.

"Well, if you want to make it easier for me..." he thought to himself.

There was actually a much more meaningful reason why Galib wanted his brother to

lose.

With both of them now in the ring, Katashi reenforced the rules. Meanwhile, Zeke talked

with his classmates:

"So, how do you guys think this match will go?"

"You ask the strangest things, you know that Zeke?" Kinshi asked him in response with a

disappointed face.

"The only way Genki's winning is if Galib allows him to." - These words came from

Amira. She was the last person they expected to make a comment.

Jamal on the other hand, though uncertain, had a good idea of what would happen:

"I'm sure Galib will win this match."

"Wow, even Jamal who’s the youngest of us is smarter than Zeke," Kinshi commented.

"No, not for obvious reasons, Kinshi-kun."

"Huh?"

"I think...the reason Galib won't allow his brother to win..."

As he was in the middle of his statement, the match commenced:

"GO!"

Genki put up a guard with his staff, as Galib charged toward him. Considering the bet

that they agreed to previously, they completely disregarded their connectors, since a

match could be decided by concession. Genki watched his brother's movements, and

was able to pick up on what kind of counterattack he would perform. As Galib got close,

he made his move: they struck their staffs together, intersecting them, and Galib

immediately went for a parrying attack, bringing the lower end of his weapon to the

upper end of Genki's, followed by a disarm which involved bringing the same lower end

down to strike Genki's hand, forcing him to lower his staff.

?!

From his very first move, Galib was baffled. Genki allowed Galib to carry out this Disarm

attack. This was furthermore confirmed by the smile on Genki's face as this happened.

"Genki, you...!"

"Fine. At least, I'm glad you caught on. Sorry about this, brother."

Without wasting another thought, Galib followed up his last move with an upward kick

to Genki's staff, sending it up into the air!

Genki was disarmed!

Following this, Jamal continued his statement, saying:

"...is because he doesn't want him to fight Satoru."

Everything had now unfolded. The winner of this match would be paired up with Satoru

in the Quarter-Finals, the second round of matches. For this reason, Galib had no

intentions of letting his brother win this match. For the same reason, which Genki had

picked up on, he didn't want to win this match either. It was unlikely he would beat

Galib in an actual fight, but him giving away victory so easily was his way of telling his

brother that he understands the situation.

After this, the audience was silent, and Genki broke that silence, saying:

"I lost my weapon...one of the very first lessons that I've learned about Bukijutsu, is that

being disarmed of your weapon is one of the most dishonorable things that can happen

to you."

Turning to Katashi, he continued,

"Referee-san, I concede!"

Everyone stared at him.

"That was...quick."

"It's like that match didn't even happen."

"Was he even trying?"

Desperate to brush away the awkward situation, Katashi quickly decided the match, and

announced the next one:

“Uhh, winner: Galib Sanjuro!!”

“And now, for the next match, we have Haruo Sanjuro, and Tarik Yamaguchi!!”

Tarik’s heart twitched slightly. Finally, it was his moment. The match itself wasn't what

made him nervous, but the fact that this would be his first actual fight.

"So, I'm up now, huh...I wonder if Rakulli-sensei is out there." - Random thoughts clouded

his mind as his opponent gestured to him:

“Don't go spacing out on me, Tarik,” Haruo snapped him back to reality.

“R-Right. Sorry, Haruo-kun,” he responded as he got up.

Haruo was generally a bit cocky, especially since the time that they all joined the

Hunters’ Training Program. This was further fueled after he landed a spot in the Top 10

during the first year of Physical Training, and again in this second year. However, in this

match, he wouldn't underestimate Tarik for a single second. He didn't know what the

boy was capable of, but he pretty much regarded Tarik as Satoru himself.

Now walking to the entrance gate, Tarik glanced over to his brother, who was still

meditating, but opened his eyes when Tarik looked. He didn't say anything, but he didn't

give his brother a negative look either; he simply closed his eyes again.

"What the heck does that even mean?..." he thought in confusion.

"Whatever...I know what I have to do. I'm not losing."

"...Even if it means I'll end up fighting you."

“Entering the ring, at a height towering his opponent, we have Haruo Sanjuro, who is

among the Top 10 Trainees this year. Next to him, having blonde-white hair, we have

Tarik Yamaguchi …the youngest son of Tenchi-sama!”

Members of the audience were in high-spirits once more, at the introduction of the child

of a Clan Head. All had performed astonishingly thus far, and the same was highly

expected of this young one.

Over by the Heads’ area, Steffan was quite excited for this match:

“Finally…this is what I really came here to see.”

“Oh, you took him in as your student, didn't you? Tarik-kun, I mean,” Fūdo asked him.

“Of course.”

“Well, are you excited to see how he's grown, Tenchi-sama?” Steffan asked the boy’s

father.

“Well…he definitely looks grown.”

“But, what can I say?...Show me, my son…if your faith really has works to it,” he said to

himself, watching Tarik approach the ring.

There were others having high expectations of him as well…

---------------------------------------

**OUTSIDE THE FAMILY GROUNDS**

“Oh? So I finally meet you?”

Still watching the proceedings, Gyuwhan was delighted to finally see him: the second

boy whom he desired to take out his rage on.

"Just like that first one, Jamal...he feels like a civilian. Though, this one’s Energy is a little

more pronounced. That aside...they're exactly the same..."

“You notice it too, right, Daisuke-san?”

“Yes…those two in particular are different, but I can't quite understand what it is.”

“…Maybe you shouldn't kill them. Their qualities are quite interesting.”

“Well, I wasn't really planning to kill them anyway, but I guess I've found some use in

them…”

"Anyway...show me what you've got, Tarik Yamaguchi."

---------------------------------------

“So…another rugrat’s on the move,” Kinshi commented, teasing Jamal. He naturally

ignored this, and had his full attention on his best friend.

“Tease him all you want, but the last thing he'll do is listen to you, Kinshi.”

“!!”

“Ilmar! You're up already?”

Ilmar had started to regain his strength, and was permitted to leave the medical

chamber. This was also supported by the fact that he wouldn't have a match in the

Quarter-Finals, seeing as both Gina and Amira were disqualified.

“No way you were expecting me to stay in a bed. Anyway, Namiyo’s coming out soon.”

“I see…so, who do you think’ll win this?” Kinshi asked him.

“Obviously Tarik. It's not even funny,” he responded with the most serious look they've

ever seen on his face.

Kinshi was speechless, while Zeke and Gina grinned, looking back at Jamal who had

actually left his seat, and stood by the entrance to watch the match.

"You've got this...I know you do."

As the two boys stood in the ring, Tarik was thinking back on his last conversation with

Steffan…

---------------------------------------

**TWO DAYS BEFORE THE TOURNAMENT**

“Eh? You're nervous?”

“Yeah, Sensei…”

Tarik was talking to Steffan nearby to Field A. He had wanted a little more

encouragement for the fast-approaching Tournament.

Steffan however, was confused as to why his student was nervous at all.

“Do you remember all that I've taught you, Tarik?”

“Yes Sensei, there isn't a part that I don't remember, even the scoldi-“

Before he could finish speaking, Steffan started pulling his ear.

“Agh!! Sensei!”

“You really are hopeless…if you remember everything, then why are you nervous? How

can you lose?”

“I-It’s not losing that’s worrying me, I just…fighting in front of a big crowd…”

Steffan stopped pulling his ear, and sighed in disbelief.

“Like I said, you're hopeless. But, allow me to give you a test.”

“Test? But you said the one last week was the las-“

“Defeat your first opponent in 3 minutes.”

“…Huh?”

“Fail, and I'm done training you.”

“B-B-BUT SENSEI! WHAT IF MY FIRST OPPONENT IS NAMIYO-KUN, OR ILMAR-KUN, OR

WORST OF ALL, SATO??” Tarik was having a panic attack, with so many possibilities

running through his mind. Steffan calmed him down however, by specifying a condition:

“If the opponent is ranked above Kento Yamaguchi, then don't worry about this test.” He

said this, knowing the rankings of the Trainees. He was certain that his student could

beat anyone ranked below Kento.

“Well…I guess that's alright…”

“Have some confidence, Tarik. I trust you, so trust yourself.”

---------------------------------------

**PRESENT**

Having thought back on the words that were exchanged, Tarik recalled the test he was

given. Without fail, he was required to defeat Haruo in 3 minutes.

Haruo was a Ranged Combatant. He was armed with a 5-meter chain, that was actually

half of a weapon known as a Kumagiri, which has a Scythe attached to the end of the

chain. This complete weapon could not be used for obvious reasons.

As the two stared down each other, they thought to themselves:

"Well...I don't know what his plans are, but I think I'll just try chaining him up, after wearing

him down for a bit. He's still the weakest of us, so I'll try not to actually hurt him," Haruo

devised.

“Competitors, are you ready?...” Katashi was now ready to start them off.

"His strength is Long-Range fighting, so I first need to close the distance. I'm not strong

enough to actually hurt him, so I'll..." Tarik left off in thought as the match commenced:

“BEGIN!!”

Immediately, Haruo whipped his chain at Tarik, who swiftly dodged after grabbing his

connector. He continued with a series of these attacks, wildly lashing the chain at Tarik.

It was difficult to believe he had just resolved not to hurt the boy, but there was

something Tarik was doing that had him irritated:

Tarik’s eyes were closed. He wasn't looking while avoiding any of these attacks.

In reality, he was actually exercising his Awareness during the match. He had gotten

used to reading the energies of his surroundings, but to ascertain objects headed toward

him was a different matter. Naturally, this was as easy as breathing for someone like his

teacher, Steffan, but Tarik had to maintain tremendous focus to keep track of this

weapon that lacked Energy traces; there were even many close calls as he intercepted

these attacks. Commendably, he was doing a good job, but this act infuriated his

opponent even more.

"Hey, is this kid serious? Does he really think he can fight me with his eyes closed? Screw

that! Do you think you're Namiyo?"

Haruo then began to attack more ferociously, even adding in Shuriken to the mix,

hurling them at very high speeds. Pressured in having to keep up with both of these

attacks, Tarik was slightly overwhelmed, and Haruo managed to collar the connector

with his chain, and sailed it out of the ring.

"Well, I don’t have to worry about that anymore. Now, his only choice is to try to take my

connector-"

"?!"

Haruo was cut off mid-thought as he noticed a change in Tarik: by losing the connector,

his evasive maneuvers had actually improved, since earlier his focus was diverted to

making sure his connector was secure. Now that it was gone, he no longer had any stray

thoughts to distract him, and his Awareness simply got better as the fight went on, to

the point of even catching some of the thrown Shuriken. The spectators all marveled at

him:

“Wow, look at him go!”

“He's seeing right through those attacks!”

“He reminds me of Namiyo like that!”

At this point, about a minute had passed; Tarik had less than two minutes to end this

match. Now making his move, he advanced toward Haruo with each evasion, who had

now left off from aiming at Tarik’s feet to aiming for his upper body, seriously intending

on injuring him. However, the closer Tarik got, the better his reactions became.

“Hey, is it really a good idea for him to practice that now? “ Kinshi asked. “He'll be in

serious trouble if that chain actually hits him.”

“It'll be fine…like I said, he's gonna win this,” Ilmar re-affirmed.

Kinshi then looked over at Jamal, who was still fixated on the battle.

"Does he even care about his match with me?..."

"No, he must have accepted his loss already, so he only cares about Tarik’s match. Hmph,

weak ones are so easy to read," Kinshi thought to himself, snickering.

Now about 6 feet away from Haruo, Tarik no longer had to worry about the chain, but

rather his opponent’s body movements. Haruo started to lose his cool, and made one

final swing with the chain, which was actually caught by Tarik. He was initially shocked,

but quickly regained his composure thinking to himself:

"But hey, wait a minute. Tarik’s really weak, isn’t he?...That’s right!"

"Ha...haha...even if he grabs this chain, it’s not like I’m in trouble or anything. I have

absolutely nothing to worry abo-"

As Haruo chuckled to himself in relief, Tarik gripped the chain. For the very first time

since the match started, he opened his eyes, and looked Haruo dead in his. With his free

right hand, he extended his index and middle fingers from a fist, and whispered to

himself:

Inverse-Flow. · 逆運動 (Gya-kuun Dō)

Suddenly, Haruo’s body froze up. He was completely paralyzed. For a split second, his

energy felt like it was flowing backwards. This was only for a short moment, but even

after that, he was unable to move for more than 10 seconds. It was the Inverse-Flow

Technique.

"What the...I can’t move...what is this?"

To create an Inverse-Flow, the user pours Spirit Energy into their opponent’s body. As

simple as it sounds, the user needs to have very refined Mana Manipulation, to ensure

that the amount of energy poured in is just the right amount, otherwise it will either not

work, or even end up giving the opponent free energy.

During Haruo’s confusion, Tarik had already long taken Haruo’s connector, and was

heading to the insertion point, to put that connector into his designated slot. Haruo

watched helplessly, unable to move…and he accepted defeat.

"...I thought he was gonna be some kind of monster with unrivalled powers, but I guess not.

Instead, it’s much more annoying."

"...He’s just a weak, but nimble, annoying kid."

With that, Tarik made it to the insertion point, and placed Haruo’s red connector into

his blue slot.

“Winner: Tarik Yamaguchi!!”

Cheers rang out from all directions, and Tarik looked toward the Heads’ location, at his

father. Behind him, he also caught a small glimpse of Maya-Blue hair, who was

unmistakably his Sensei, Steffan. He smiled at them, and bowed.

Smiling back at him, Steffan remarked:

“That’s my student.”

As the two fighters headed back to their Waiting Area, Katashi took charge once again:

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to witness the final matchup of this first

round, between our two other Female trainees:”

“Maki and Saki Kirishima, make your way to the ring!”

For the first time…the audience was mostly silent following a match’s announcement.

Something about those girls was quite unappealing to the spectators. As they walked to

the ring, there were whispers all around:

“So…it’s finally their turn.”

“I don’t know how to feel about them…”

“Is it really a good idea that they were selected as trainees?”

There was murmuring all around among the audience. For some reason, nobody was

excited to hear that name…Kirishima.

The trainees, excepting Satoru and Kento, were also confused as to why this was so.

“Eh? Why isn’t anyone cheering for them?” Zeke asked.

“For the first time, I have the same question as you,” Kinshi responded.

“It’s…you see, it’s complicated.” – Kento had a firm understanding why. Being a

descendant of the 5 Ancient Clans, he had heard a little about the name Kirishima

through stories.

“That’s right, you’re sort of from the Kaneko Clan, right Kento? Have you heard about

the Kirishima Clan?” Gina asked him.

“I have…but, don’t confuse it. The Kirishima Clan wasn’t apart of the 5 Ancient

Clans…they were-“

Before Kento could continue, a microphone chipped in: it was Lord Tenchi. He was

ready to give an announcement.

“Good Morning once again, ladies and gentlemen. Now…I know what kind of thoughts

may be going through your minds at the moment, but please, do not be led by such

thoughts. I’m well aware of the associations of the Kirishima in the times of the Dragon

War, but these two girls have no ties to their family’s past. Please, show them the same

support that you’ve shown to the rest of our trainees, and give them the encouragement

to strive in becoming outstanding Hunters. Thank you for your time.”

As Tenchi took his seat, the audience slowly gave up applause, and steadily cheered on

the two girls, who had now been standing inside the ring.

"Thank you, Tenchi-sama," Maki thought to herself.

"Still...I really don’t plan on fighting Saki."

"...My only reason for trying to win is so I could fight him. He still owes me from that day

almost 2 years ago," she reflected as she stared over the West Waiting Area’s entrance.

She was referring to Tarik, recalling that time she had saved him from failing their very

first test.

"...Anyway, I know what I’m gonna do."

As she made an end of thinking, Katashi had just finished reenforcing the rules. Saki was

looking on at her sister, thinking:

"I’m nervous about fighting Sister...she says I’m as strong as her, but I feel like she’s much

more talented than me, in all aspects."

"But...I won’t disappoint you, Sister. I’ll fight my hardest," she strengthened her resolve as

she assumed a fighting stance.

“Ready?”

“…GO!!”

Immediately, Maki lifted her hand, and announced:

“I Forfeit.”

There was not a single person at that moment found not having a blank expression. Not

even Gyuhwan.

"Oh...she forfeited," Saki comprehended.

“…”

“Y-Y-YOU WHAAT???” Full realization hadn’t yet struck her.

“I already told you Saki, a match between us is pointless. It’ll be a draw.”

“…Well, I guess the first round is over then?...” Katashi awkwardly decided the match.

"Winner: Saki Kirishima!"

**TO BE CONTINUED**