**FAMILY GROUNDS**

*COLOSSEUM, 11:45AM**

“Hey…did that really just happen?”

“It…sure did.”

“Then…doesn’t that mean…”

The trainees had still been in bewilderment, not long after Tarik’s victory. As they

watched the two fighters leave the ring with the crowd cheering on, they could only

arrive at one question:

“THOSE TWO MADE IT TO THE SEMI-FINALS???”

Witnessing this, Satoru didn't show much expression; only leaning back in his seat with

his arms folded,

*sigh*

“Whatever...let's just get this over with,” he muttered in his mind, as he watched Saki

return with his brother.

“Ahaha…I'm sorry, sister...” Saki apologized to her sister with a nervous laugh, having

Tarik’s arm slung over her shoulder.

The look that Maki gave both of them was severely incomparable to the words she

actually used:

“Tch. What a waste,” she remarked with a facepalm.

“Um…are you ok to walk now, Tarik-kun?” – Saki had pretty much walked Tarik from

the ring all the way back to the Waiting Area.

“About that…I might have to visit the nurse,” he responded with a nervous smile.

“Eh?”

“I thought it would've went away, but my whole body still feels really numb…was it

because of Body Reinforcement?” he wondered to himself.

“Ah, I could take him to the med-chamber,” Galib chimed in. He and Genki had been

taking it easy, watching the matches unfold. “Let's go then, Tarik.”

“Oh, ok. Thanks, Galib.”

“I'll come too brother!” Genki volunteered.

While they were busy escorting Tarik, Katashi went ahead to address the audience:

“What an amazing turn of events! With this match, we've now concluded the Quarter-

Finals of this Hunter Tournament! I hope you've all enjoyed the day’s events thus far,

and as we take a short break to prepare for the Semi-Finals, please have a look at the

current standings,” -

WEST SECTION

Jamal Sanjuro Vs. Ilmar Sanjuro

EAST SECTION

Tarik Yamaguchi Vs. Satoru Yamaguchi

“I still can't believe this, to be honest,” Fūdo remarked among the Heads and his

associates.

“Well, this is as far as my faith in my student goes,” Steffan remarked as he exited the

floor, stretching his arms.

“I hate to admit it, but that's wise of you,” Emir responded. “It's amazing how far they've

come, but their brothers are still like the Great Walls in front of them. They'll have to

climb much higher to overcome them.”

“Well, we can only wait to see what unfolds,” Gadō added. “You're all hungry, right? Our

food should be ready by now, Fūdo.”

“Got it. I'll be right back.”

“We commence the Semi-Finals in the next 30 minutes!” Katashi announced as the

music started blasting once again.

Not much had transpired within this timeframe. Thirty minutes had passed by without

much activity, except for Tarik being visited by his fellow classmates.

“What a familiar sight this is,” Ilmar remarked as he entered the room, along with Akiro

and of course, Jamal. Tarik sat up in his bed, and surrounding him were Galib, Genki, and

a doctor. “We can come in, right?”

“Yes, no worries. Come on in,” the doctor responded.

“Jamal!” Tarik exclaimed at the sight of his friend. “You were really awesome in that last

match!”

“You too…but, are you ok?” he asked in response.

Tarik didn’t have much signs of injury on his body; he had a small bandage wrapped

around his right hand, which his clone used to throw the connector. The damage had

returned to his real body. Besides this, and the few rips on his garments from his match

with Haruo, he looked completely fine.

“Well, I still feel pooped out from using Body Reinforcement, but that's all…right?” he

ended off with a question directed to the doctor, who cleared his throat as he began to

respond:

“You won't suffer any long-lasting effects from your actions, since you have the skills to

regulate your use of Body Reinforcement, but…more than likely, you won't be able to

continue this tournament.”

Tarik’s face went blank, and unresponsive.

“…Huh?” he finally asked.

“See for yourself…try to move,” he instructed.

Tarik then tried to move his legs on the bed, but it felt as if he were trying to move 50

pounds of lead. There was stiffness, and his lower body was numb.

“…Eh??!!” he spat out in confusion.

“You were using that technique just fine, until the very last moment where you

amplified it slightly. That was the key moment…it wasn't a tremendous boost, so you

wouldn't have started feeling much of the effects, until now.”

“So…he can't move?” Akiro asked.

“For now,” the doctor responded. “Not long enough to be a serious burden, but long

enough to restrain him until the end of the Tournament.”

Tarik was distraught…it wasn't as if he was intending on winning his match with his

brother, but the fact that he couldn't even participate made him feel worthless. He grit

his teeth and clenched his fists as anger and frustration welled up inside him, with the

icing on the cake being the words which he could vividly hear his brother saying to him,

had he been present in the room:

“You didn't stand a chance anyway.”

His classmates could only watch as he sat in silent anger.

“Is…there really no way he can participate? Can't you do something?” Genki asked the

doctor.

“Sadly, the most I could do is restore his depleted energy. His body won't be cooperating

until it's ready to,” the doctor explained. “Disregarding these circumstances, he'll be just

fine…well, I'll give you all some alone time now,” he said to them as he exited the room.

“Well…this sucks,” Ilmar let out with a sigh.

“Having to forfeit without even fighting…and it's not like with Maki and Saki, who are

roughly equals,” Akiro added.

Jamal was silent. He felt bad for his friend, but he had no idea what to say to him. As he

was about to open his mouth, not knowing what he would have even said, Tarik spoke

as he looked down on his lap:

“Ilmar…can you…” he trailed off.

“Hm? What is it?” he asked.

“Please…”

“…let Jamal win the match.”

They all stared at him in utter shock. Jamal’s face was beyond confused.

“Excuse me, what?” Akiro asked.

“That's probably the bravest thing I've heard…asking someone to throw their match,”

Galib added.

“I know how it sounds…but, please, Ilmar!” he beckoned.

“Tarik…” Jamal was utterly speechless.

“Try to be reasonable, Tarik…do you realize the kind of situation you'd be putting your

friend in?” Akiro asked once again.

Tarik stopped after hearing this. He then looked at Jamal, who had an uneasy look on his

face. Tarik frowned, and was about to speak again when Ilmar finally responded.

“Alright.”

“See? Even Ilmar himself rejects that idea-”

Akiro looked at Ilmar with widened eyes as he stopped himself from speaking.

“…Are you serious?” Akiro asked him in disbelief.

“To be quite honest, I was intending on letting Jamal win from the start.”

“Y-YOU WHAT?” – at this point, Akiro was questioning Ilmar’s sanity. Jamal was also

bewildered.

“I mean, how else will I know how strong Jamal’s gotten? He dominated his matches so

far. Besides, I fight Sato all the time, we'll have a real fight next tournament,” Ilmar

expounded.

Akiro couldn't believe his ears.

“…What about how Jamal feels about all this?” he asked, desperately searching for the

faintest hint of sanity within this discussion. They all looked at him, and his brother

asked him:

“The rest is up to you…if you're not up for this, I won't force you, J.”

The room was silent for a moment, and Jamal then opened his mouth…

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

**15 MINUTES LATER**

At the end of 30 minutes, the Semi-Finals were now scheduled to commence. Katashi

gathered the attention of all by welcoming them once more, and introducing yet another

play format:

“Ladies and gentlemen, we're now about to commence the Semi-Finals of this

tournament! I hope you're all ready, because once again, the format will change.”

“As you might've noticed, the ring no longer extends to the wall, and the ring is

empty…well, not for long.” – as he said this, a single connector appeared in the ring,

right next to him.

“The rules of the next two matches are quite simple: each match will last for one minute,

and the winner of the match is whoever touches this connector at the end of the

minute!”

The rules were that simple. Considering the spectators would have all witnessed the

capabilities of the trainees from the first round, there would be no need for the

following rounds to be in the format of long, drawn out matches.

“That's…it?” some of the audience asked among themselves.

“Well, it feels quite similar to the last tournament. It's not too surprising.”

Amidst all this, as Satoru sat in the waiting area with the twins and Haruo, he was

wondering why his brother hadn't shown up yet.

“...Is he actually still in the Medical area? I didn't think he suffered that much in his fight...”

No sooner after that thought, Genki returned.

“Genki, where’s Tarik?” Satoru asked him.

“Sorry Satoru, you'll find out in a bit!” he responded as he hurriedly ran through the

entrance, to the fighting area.

“…”

“So, he can't fight then,” Satoru concluded in his mind.

“Now, without further ado, let's begin with our first match, which will be-“ Katashi was

cut off by Genki, who ran up on the ring to inform him of something.

“Wow…really? That's unfortunate,” he responded as Genki spoke to him silently.

“Alright, thanks Genki.” He then ran to the opposite Waiting Area.

Addressing the audience once more,

“Ladies and gentlemen, I've just received news that due to certain circumstances, Tarik

Yamaguchi has forfeited his match!”

This unsettled most spectators. No one had thought Tarik would have simply given up

on a match, without even participating. Did something happen? Or did he lose the will to

fight the biggest wolf, Satoru?

“Tarik-kun?...” Saki wondered to herself.

“Well…I certainly didn't expect this,” Gadō commented. “Even if it is Satoru.”

“That boy…I hope he's alright,” Lady Yura, Tenchi’s wife, added.

“I wonder how Steffan would react to this…” Tenchi asked himself.

At the same moment, inside Tarik’s room, as he watched the live footage from the

monitor in the room, was startled at his Sensei’s entrance:

“Oi, I didn't get to congratulate you earlier…well, it looks like I'll have to scold you as

well.”

“S-Sensei!”

“So, can't move, can you?” he knowingly asked.

“Yeah…but, good win, right?”

“Sure, 20 Points! Then again, not like I expected you to win this one.”

“wow, you're just like him.”

“But…it's ok, Sensei. I might not have won…and he won't either, but…”

“Hm?” Steffan picked up on ‘he’.

“Don't worry, just watch and see, Sensei,” he responded. As Katashi then went ahead to

announce:

“Anyway…due to this development, or rather, the opposite of 'development', it seems that

Satoru Yamaguchi advances to the Finals by default!”

“With that, we'll now move on to the second and final match of the round:”

“Ilmar Sanjuro, Jamal Sanjuro!”

As the two brothers stood up, inside their Waiting Areas, the elder asked the younger:

“Ready?”

“…Yes.”

The audience cheered them on as they made their entrance to the ring. Upon arrival,

Katashi repeated the rules, as they stood on opposite sides of the ring. As they

assumed battle stances, the connector materialized next to Katashi, and he jumped

away, setting them off:

“BEGIN!”

They dashed at each other, and immediately began exchanging attacks. Light jabs, heavy

hooks, low kicks, grapples, neither side let up on their onslaught of attacks…at least, this

is how it seemed to the onlooking audience. In reality, this was just another day of

training for the two brothers.

As they sparred with each other, Jamal recalled the words he left with his friend,

before he sealed them with a fist bump…

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

**OVER 15 MINUTES AGO**

The room was silent. All eyes were locked on Jamal, who stood speechless for a while, as

he gathered the words within himself…and eventually started off:

“…Tarik and I were born on the same day. We've been friends for as long as I could

remember, ever since we were little. When we got a little older, we found out that we

both have a form of disability. Because of the very nature of mine, I didn't show much

care about it, but deep down…it hurt. But, Tarik was different. He always carried a smile

on his face, genuinely, even though we were in the same boat. That smile gave me

hope…and I felt like…if that smile were to ever disappear, it would be the end of us.

Tarik became much more than a friend to me.”

“Then one day, 2 years ago, we finally got the push we needed…and the two of us made

a vow, to become the strongest. Whether it takes years, whether or not it even happens, I

know I won't stop. The two of us are halves of a whole. I need Tarik, and right now, he needs

me.”

As he said this, he then looked up at Tarik, and began saying to him as he took steps

toward him:

“Tarik…you're my friend…my best friend…more than that. I want you to know that no

matter what situation we face, or how high the difficulty, or whoever it concerns…”

He was now right by his bedside, and he extended his fist to Tarik’s chest:

“I'll do anything for you…brother.”

“Ja…mal…”

Tarik had no words…only rivers of tears flowing from his eyes.

“You cry a lot, y'know,” Jamal said as he wiped his friend’s tears.

Their classmates didn't even know what to say at the moment…no…there was nothing

they could have said. They couldn't have interrupted that moment.

“If I hadn't known these two, and someone told me they were just two friends...I'd call

them a liar...” Akiro thought to himself as he watched them.

Having given Tarik time to gather himself, Ilmar then went on to ask his brother,

“So, I take it that'll be a yes?”

“Yes,” he responded. “I'll do it.”

Tarik then wiped his face, and a wide grin appeared, followed by the two friends high-fiving

each other.

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

**PRESENT**

By this time, about 40 seconds had passed of nothing but pure Hand-to-Hand Combat.

Naturally, Jamal was the inferior one, but Ilmar boxed with him at the level he could

manage…which was still an amazing sight to behold. As the time winded down, Ilmar

then said to him,

“Alright, let's wrap things up here!”

“Yes!”

Ilmar then jumped away from him, and grabbed the connector which levitated in the

midst of the ring.

“10 Seconds remaining!” Katashi announced. This time was also displayed on the big

screen.

Ilmar drew close to Jamal, fighting with the connector in hand. He was giving his

brother an opportunity to make contact with it.

Jamal prepared himself. With 5 seconds remaining, he focused his energy as he fought,

waiting for Ilmar’s signal…which he finally gave to him, using his connector to block a

kick from Jamal.

“3!”

As he prepared his final move, Jamal lunged forward with the palm of his hand. Ilmar

held the connector in front of him to block the attack.

“2!”

As his palm was inches away from making contact, his Mana flared up within him:

Body Reinforcement · 身體強化 (Shin-tai Kyō-ka)

“1!”

When the timer had hit the 1-second mark, the connector was no longer within Ilmar's

possession; it was launched mid-air, behind him, by his brother's attack. Jamal was the

last person to touch the connector.

“…”

“Winner: Jamal Sanjuro!!”

**TO BE CONTINUED**