Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of the Guardian Children ❯ Death Match Under the Full Moon: Arrow vs. Fist ( Chapter 3 )

All right, time for the third entry in this little tale. This has actually been quite a bit of fun to write for so far. If a story has good enough characters, it can be quite an experience writing for them, can’t it? I hope that I can up the quality of the story thus far throughout the entire 30+ chapters I have planned. With that in mind, let’s begin.

-Kouji Tamino

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Legend of the Guardian Children

Book One: The Light of Destiny

Chapter Three: Death Match Under the Full Moon: Arrow vs. Fist

The sun was beginning to set as the Girls Archery Team wrapped up practice. Wiping some sweat from her brow, Tsukino stared at the orange tinted sky. A few days had passed since the last incident involving Akito. Her classmate with not so noble intentions had not caused much trouble lately besides the usual, but he still had an odd aura about him. She did not trust him at all, and she had spent the past few days carefully monitoring his actions, making sure that he didn’t do anything to critically harm anyone. Shaking her head, she looked to her teammates with a smile. “That’ll be all, girls. See you tomorrow!” As she prepared to go to the showers, she heard someone call her name in the distance. “Hm?” Curious, she turned around and watched as a first year student ran up to her and handed her a letter. “What’s this?”

“That scary 2nd year with the mean look in his eye gave me this and told me to give it to you or he’d hurt my kitty!” The younger girl screamed frantically. Staring up at her sempai with large glossy eyes, she whimpered. “He was so mean!” Wincing, she cried out as she was pounded on the head. “Why’d you do that, Hoshino-sempai?”

“Idiot.” Tsukino replied, rolling her eyes. “Does he even know where you live? How the hell can he hurt your dumb cat?” Sighing, she smirked, running a hand through the underclassman’s hair. “Don’t worry. I’ll smack a little sense into that dumb ass Tonomaru-san if he even lays a finger on you or your cat.”

Nodding happily, the underclassman smiled brightly. “Thank you so much, Hoshino-sempai! You know, you’re not as scary as my friends thought after all! Bye!” Skipping happily, she ran off into the distance, giggling.

Watching the girl depart, she chuckled, shaking her head. Coming to a sudden realization, however, her mood and expression quickly soured. “Hey wait, what do you mean scary?!” she screamed, losing her cool for a moment.

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At the Shimohara dinner table, everyone was pretty much inhaling his or her meal… all except for Kiriko, that is. Lost in thought, she poked at her food. ‘Was it Tsukino-san or not? Akito-san has become faster and stronger, so it would kinda make sense’… “Hey!” she screeched, glaring at her brother as he snatched a sweet potato from her plate. “Hey, that’s mine!” Growling, she shook furiously. “Give it back!”

“Hey, you weren’t eating, so I assumed that you were done!” Opening his mouth wide, Kyoji teased it toward his mouth, flicking his tongue all round. “Aaaahhh…” His younger sister challenged his mean-spiritedness with a tackle. As both siblings fell to the floor, they began to roll around, older brother attempting to defend himself from enraged younger sister. “Get off of me, you crazy bitch!”

Suddenly, at a speed that rivaled that of lightning, Chika grabbed both of her children by the collars of their shirts, yanked them up from the ground, and began scolding them for their ill behavior. “Now listen up!” she demanded, her voice actually lowering an octave or two. “This is supposed to be a nice, peaceful family dinner! Stop fighting like animals!” Tossing an extra deadly look to her son, she grabbed him by the ear and dragged him off to another room. “As for you, young man, I will not tolerate you calling your baby sister such a horrible name!”

From the dining room, Nabuta and Kiriko, who had yet to sit back down in shock, listened to the yelps and cries as Chika applied her special brand of punishment to her slightly unruly son. They winced as the loud smacks echoed through the household, leather against bare flesh. After about a horrifically long session of 5 minutes, Chika and Kyoji returned, the latter, biting his bottom lip to hold backs the tears of anguish. Sitting back down, Chika sighed, her voice back to normal. “Wow, that was a real stress killer!” The rest of her family stared at her worriedly, the dinner atmosphere now overflowing with dread.

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That night, as Kyoji slept, Kiriko lay awake, tossing around the idea of whether or not to ask Tsukino the question that had been bothering for the past few days. After almost an hour of bouncing from choice to choice, she finally decided. “I’m gonna do it! I’ll do it tomorrow!” Her resolve at an all time high, she quickly fell asleep afterwards.

Snorting loudly, Kyoji began to mutter in his sleep. “Mmm, Sora Aoi-sama, you’re sooo hot… God, you’re tight as a drum…”

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Thus, when lunchtime rolled around, Kiriko gathered up her guts and attempted to confront Tsukino. Walking over and tapping the class rep on the shoulder, she called out meekly. “Um.. I-Iincho-san, I have a… qu-question to ask of you, and I want you to answer truthfully, okay?”

“Yeah? What is it?” Tsukino asked, turning to face her. Oddly enough, she didn’t seem to have that continuously ticked off look on her face, but her expression was still stone cold. Her mood was unreadable, however, and it freaked Kiriko out. She stammered, failing to ask her question and annoying Tsukino. “Are you going to spit it out, or what? I don’t have all day, you know.”

“AREYOUTHEONETHATSAVEDMETHEOTHERNIGHT?!” she screamed in a fast paced, jibber-jabber method. Panting heavily, she realized that she wasn’t making a lick of sense and was just making Tsukino angrier. “Ahh! I’m sorry! Let me try again!” She gasped as Tsukino waved a hand in front of her face, shaking her head. “Ah! But I--”

“Save it”, she replied, sighing deeply. She had to admit it, but she was caught. “You… saw my underwear, correct?” she asked in a low tone, blushing slightly at the memory of the other day. “If you saw that, then the answer is obvious. I doubt that there are many girls here with undergarments similar to my own.”

“Oh…” Kiriko replied simply, tilting her head slightly. “Yeah, I suppose it was a pretty stupid question to ask.” Pausing for a moment, she continued. “But, one other thing I wanted to ask was… why, and how did you know where we were?” Blushing slightly, she added, “Well, I believe that deep inside, you’re a nice person and you can’t help but help others and so--”

“How do you know anything about me?” Tsukino asked harshly. “You know nothing. I only help others because it is my responsibility as class representative. The fact that I happened to come along when Akito was attacking you was merely coincidence. You were clearly in grave danger, so I lent you a hand. Don’t expect another coincidence like that again.” Her faux explanation was a bit harsh, but she had a reputation to uphold. Besides, Kiriko was bound to think that she was crazy if she told her the truth. She ‘felt’ that she was in trouble in that exact area she was in and something inside her head told her to go save her? Yeah, that sounded real sane.

“Oh…” Kiriko said softly, a little hurt. “I’m sorry”, she continued, her voice quivering. “I didn’t think I was that much of a bother.”

“Hoshino-san!” Akito yelled, walking over. “Why did you ignore my challenge?” Slamming his hands on her desk, he got up in her face as he continued his rant. “I told you reply by lunch because the full moon is tonight! It is the perfect atmosphere for a duel and you’re ruining it!”

“…I have no idea what you are talking about”, Tsukino said with a straight face. “Please refrain from slamming on my desk and get the hell out of my face.” She had read the letter, challenging her to a fight later that night, but she hadn’t paid much mind to it. She was far above such childish games. She had no plans to show up.

“Grr…” Akito growled, shaking violently. “You coward! I sent a messenger and she told me that she gave you my message!” Looking away, he stared at the doorway. “If she was lying to me, I’ll--” He yelped as Tsukino grabbed his arm and began twisting. “H-hey!”

“Lay a hand on that girl and I’ll beat you to a pulp”, she replied in a low, threatening growl. Akito used his newfound strength to reverse her grapple, twisting her arm with a hard jerk, catching her off guard. She gasped out, eyes watering, feeling as though her arm had almost been yanked out of its socket.

“Ah, ah, ah…” Akito taunted, a grin on his face. “You can’t do that anymore. Now do you see why I want to fight you?” He asked, a crazed look in his eyes. “I just have to test this new power on you!”

Staring him down for a moment, she seemed to consider the offer. After several beats of silence, she finally answered. “Not on your life. I’m not interested, now go away”. Freeing herself from his grip, Tsukino rubbed her arm.

As the bell to end lunchtime rung, Akito reluctantly took his seat, all the while sneering at his rival. As his gaze wandered, his eyes settled on Kiriko. Tsukino had been showing quite the interest in that girl. Plus, there was his mission. A huge grin spread on his face as he came up with a wicked plan to kill two birds with one stone.

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After school, Kiriko had found that for the umpteenth time, her big brother had left for home without her. Sighing to herself, she waved pitifully at Atsuko as she ran over and greeted her. “Hey there, Atsuko-san…”

“Hello, Kiri-chan!” The alien obsessed girl shouted merrily, seeing the dejected expression on her best friend’s face. “Hey, what’s wrong? Did that jerk brother of yours leave you behind again?” Tilting her head, she smiled slightly. “Want me to walk home with you? My parents are expecting me home late anyway, so it’s no problem for me!”

“No, that’s okay, Atsuko-san”, she assured her. “Besides, I want my parents to see that I’m old enough to walk home myself. I’m not a little girl anymore.”

Nodding in understanding, she turned on her heel in the other direction. “All right, if you say so! Seeya tomorrow, Kiri-chan!”

Giggling as her bouncy friend left, she began her lonely trip home. Making her way through the neighborhood, she began to get the feeling that someone was following her. Whimpering fearfully, she began to walk faster, then sped up into a run. Just as she was a few feet away from her apartment, she was suddenly snatched up, her mouth covered up by a hand as the figure ran away with her in tow.

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A few hours later, Kyoji’s parents were chewing him out for leaving Kiriko by herself. “Damn it, what the hell were you thinking?” Nabuta scolded him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt. Closing his eyes, he sighed in resignation. Getting mad at his son and taking it out on him was not going to help matters. Running a hand through his hair, he left the room. “I’m going to go call the police.”

Silence filled the room as regretful son and disappointed, as well as worried, mother stood apart from each other awkwardly. Swallowing loudly, Kyoji spoke up. “I’m sorry, mom…” How could he have been so stupid and selfish? He should have waited for Kiriko, and now at what had happened. He had a good hunch of who had kidnapped her, and it gave him a sick feeling in his stomach.

“Oh Kyoji, how could you?” Chika asked, shaking her head in discontent and turning away. “I don’t know if I can trust you anymore.” Never before had she been so displeased with either of her children in all her years of raising them. She was absolutely speechless. She gasped as Kyoji put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m going to go find her,” he said, turning to leave. “Tell dad not to worry.” With a fierce determination, he left the house, once again leaving his mother speechless, albeit for a very different reason.

As he wandered the streets, he began to realize just how futile his plan was. “I don’t even know where she is!”

“What a fool…” Tsukino muttered, hopping down from a building, packing a bow and several arrows. “Come, follow me.” As she began to walk in the direction that her recently gained intuition was taking her in, she began to speak with the older brother of her new ward. “You really are a miserable wretch, aren’t you Shimohara-sempai? How could you let Shimohara-sama go anywhere by herself?”

“Please, I’ve had enough grief from my parents tonight to last me a lifetime”, Kyoji muttered, a pained look on his face. “Look, Tsukino. I really screwed up today, and I don’t think I can fix this problem by myself.” Looking to her pleadingly, he made his request. “Please, make sure that Kiriko comes home okay.”

“I guarantee that she will most definitely make it home safe, Shimohara-sempai.” Tsukino gave him a small smile. “You have my word on it.”

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“Please, let me go, Akito-san!” Kiriko shouted, tied up to a tetherball pole at an abandoned elementary school. Struggling against her ropes, she cried out. “I’m cold and hungry and I want to go home!”

“God, you’re noisy…” Akito complained, picking his ear. “Shut up, why don’t you? You’ll be dead soon enough, as soon as I get revenge on Hoshino.” Ever since she embarrassed him that one night by cowardly attacking him from a concealed area, he had wanted to make her pay and prove that he was better and stronger.

“You won’t get the chance, Tonomaru-san.” Standing on top of the school was Tsukino, Kyoji nowhere to be found. “Let Shimohara-sama go or else!”

“Or else what?” Akito snarled, calling her bluff.

“Iincho-san!” Kiriko shouted in joy, hoping that this nightmare would soon be over. Unfortunately, it was just about to become several times worse.

“HOSHINO!” Akito screamed, clenching his fist. “Get down here, you coward! I will not be ambushed from above like last time!”

Chuckling with a slight curving of her lips, she replied. “Well if you say so…” Leaping from the building, she began to free-fall while preparing an arrow. Before hitting the ground, she let it loose, hitting the ground and going into a roll. As she did this, she was preparing another arrow and let it fly as she came to a stop.

This quick succession of several techniques completely shocked Akito. Distracted, he was unable to avoid the first arrow. After getting hit in the shoulder, he barely dodged the next one as it zipped past his cheek, grazing it and making a small cut that began to bleed. Yanking the other arrow out of his shoulder without so much as flinching, he smiled at his opponent as blood oozed from the resulting wound. “You’re pretty good!” He then darted off towards her, applying a devastating shoulder block as he overwhelmed her with his speed, sending her soaring through one of the school windows, shattering it. “Even so, you can’t keep up with me.” Laughing cruelly, he slowly walked towards her.

Eyes wide as saucers, Kiriko could only look on in horror as two of her classmates began to kill each other. She could no longer watch, closing her eyes as a badly cut and bleeding Tsukino made her way back through the broken window. Feeling something tugging at her ropes, she looked back to see her brother. He seemed to be attempting to untie her. “Oni-sa--”

Kyoji quickly shushed her. “Quiet, Kiri-bozu. I’ve got one chance to get you free while he’s distracted, then we’re getting the hell out of here.” As he finally managed to loosen the knot, he quickly undid the rope and tossed it to the ground. “Come on, let’s go!” He shouted, tugging on her hand. Grunting as she resisted, he looked at her with an expression of disbelief. “What are you doing? We have to leave now, brat!”

“Don’t call me that!” Kiriko screamed, bursting into tears. “We can’t leave Iincho-san here like this, she’ll die!” Looking towards the school, she unwillingly watched as Akito picked up the collapsed and bloodied Tsukino by her hair, beaming deliriously at her.

Kyoji narrowed his eyes, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, but… I can’t.” Remembering back to when Tsukino and he neared the school, she had told him to get Kiriko out of here, no matter what happened to her.

“Why not?!” Kiriko bawled hectically. She just couldn’t bear to let Tsukino face Akito alone, not after coming to her rescue countless times in the past. It just wasn’t fair. “Please, Oni-san! PLEASE!”

Looking to the brutal fight that was slowly becoming a massacre, then back towards their escape route, he then turned to face his distressed sister, inhaling deeply and then exhaling. His mind was made up. “Kiriko, I…”

To Be Continued…

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“Tsukino-san, please… Please wake up!”

“This is all my fault… If only I had…”

“Ha ha! Victory is mine! Now there’s no one in my way!”

“Oni-san, what are we going to do? Next time on ‘Legend of the Guardian Children’: Battle’s End. Victory Goes to…?”