Ason was already behind Vincent in striking position and thrust the tip of his staff straight into Vincent’s only blind spot. After taking the blow, he regained his ground and punished Ason, putting an end to the match. The defeated avatar found himself confused after realizing he was lying on his back. He spotted Vincent offering his hand, and the he took it.

“Looks like you got your ass served again, Ason.”

“Very funny, jerk-aki.”

Chiaki gave him her middle finger while he stuck his tongue out at her. She approached them, with Yu following a few steps behind her. Vincent smiled at Chiaki.

“So, Chiaki, have you decided? I want you in the club for the Master’s tournament coming up. Eufrosina trained you and Ason.”

“Still not interested... but he is!”

In that instant, Chiaki pushed Yu in front of her as if she was trying to hide behind him.

“Hey, Chiaki, wait~.”

“This one’s super impressive, so...”

Chiaki said as she pushed Yu again toward Vincent and Ason. She peeked at the two with a smug smile.

“I’m telling ya’ll, this one is pretty impressive. All my money goes to this one over you two.”

Vincent recognized Chiaki’s facial gesture, rare energetic delivery, and became suspicious of her actions.

“I won’t join the club unless you guys beat Yu.”

She said with conviction and confidence.

“Show them what you got, Yu. Think of it as one favor you owe me.”

“Alright then...”

Yu sighed and reached into his pocket. He had no choice the moment ‘owe me’ slipped out from Chiaki’s lips. He whipped out a metal extendable baton and faced both of Vincent and Ason.

“So, a two versus one, then...?”

Yu’s words made everyone’s eyes widen.

“Confident, are we?”

Chiaki asked. Ason placed his hands on Vincent’s shoulder and sprang toward Yu.

“Lemme get this.”

Ason swung at air the entire time. With grace and ease, Yu dodged every single attack. Vincent stood by on the sidelines with eyes wide open as his hands gripped tighter on his weapon. Chiaki leaned on the gate next to Vincent. When he glanced at her, her fingers typed away on her smartphone. She opened her mouth first.

“Seems like he’s on the same level as you, huh?”

“Are you trying to say that if we cannot defeat your friend, we don’t stand a chance against you?”

Chiaki did not reply.

(Her dodges differed from mine... Wait, did Chiaki say ‘he’?)

“... There is a difference in our abilities. I was blocking Ason. Yu is dodging each move like he could predict where each attack would be.”

“Oh? Yeah, I guess.”

“Chiaki, what are you doing?”

“Texting Guiren that you two are going to get your asses kicked by Yu.”

“...”

Yu had an upper hand over Ason. The avatar of fire's breathing became heavy and movements uncoordinated. As he attempted to attack Yu, he stumbled over his own two feet.

“Why don’t you use your actual abilities? You might have a chance against me.”

A vein formed above the right brow of Ason because of the irritation he felt from Yu’s words and his unfazed and unresponsive stance. Vincent took off from his position as a bystander and rushed past Ason and toward Yu. The split-second Vincent passed Ason, he whispered words of apology to him:

“Sorry, Ason, but let me join the fight as well. Both of us can beat him. Wait for an opening from me.”

After he zoomed right by Ason, Vincent attacked Yu with his nunchakus. Yu moved with lightning-fast speed, sliding away from danger as though he had seen it coming. Not even the toughest challenges could shake Vincent's conviction. Like Yu Mizuno, he remained calm and collected in the face of adversity. After missing two more attacks with his nunchakus, Vincent threw the blade of his right foot at Yu. With little time to move his body, Yu used the baton to block his opponent’s kick. Ason, Chiaki, and Yu's eyes widened.

“Ason, you need to beat speed with speed or quantity if you catch my drift!”

“Gotcha!”

The air around Ason’s bo-staff changed.  A fierce blaze surrounded his staff, the heat radiating off of it in waves. With lightning-fast movements, Ason spun the bo-staff, leaving a perfect circle that appeared in front of him. The air crackled with the sound of fireballs flying toward Yu and Vincent. Vincent kept Yu busy, giving the fireballs an opportunity to get closer, but he jumped into the air just before they could make contact. As the fireballs rained down upon Yu, his body tensed up and struggled to react to the constant barrage. The events had played out exactly as Vincent had foreseen. Yu swung his baton at each fireball, the sound of metal clashing against flames filling the air. Vincent and Ason landed beside each other, their bodies tense and ready to defend against any potential threat to Yu. Their heavy breathing echoed through the empty court as Yu lowered his baton to a resting stance.

“Despite how fast Yu is, it’s impossible for him to block everything at once. We need to overwhelm him.”

Vincent said.

“So we got to treat this like we were fighting Guiren, then?”

Ason and Vincent's focus shifted to Yu, but they couldn't help but feel a primal stirring within them when they met his ice-blue gaze. Yu's eyes had a way of looking straight into the depths of one's heart and soul. Ason and Vincent stood frozen, every muscle filament in their bodies tense with fear under the unrelenting gaze. The Yu present now was unrecognizable from the shy person they were mere moments ago.

“Heh.”

Ason let out a boisterous laugh as he strolled towards Yu.

“Yu, was it? The thought of having a second lost today wouldn’t set well with me. So today, you’ll be the redemption sacrifice to the fire avatar.”

Ason's unwavering determination inspired Vincent to regain control of his body and composure. With a fierce determination, Ason launched another barrage of fireballs towards Yu, while Vincent jumped into the air. With weapon in hand, Vincent positioned himself to strike Yu.

(... Careful.)

Chiaki showed a hint of worry in her eyes toward her two friends, despite putting them in the current situation.

Previous Night.

In Little Cliffs, rain was a rare occurrence, making the state’s dry season susceptible to fires. The chance of rain surprised people who have lived in the city their entire lives. People needed extra time to search in their closets for umbrellas or a rain parka.

Despite multiple sources warning of rain, Chiaki ignored all warnings and jogged to the park to train with her bo-staff, hoodie and joggers. She practiced her techniques on the wooden dummy, the sound of her bo-staff striking the wood echoing throughout the park. Different types of wood were used to make the wooden dummy, which was reinforced with patches in the areas where it was most needed. Every time her staff struck the wooden dummy, she heard Ason’s sister's laughter.

“Eufro...”

As she struck the dummy once more, another woman's face emerged from her thoughts.

“Faye...”

Distracted by her own thoughts, the sudden sound of loud groans in the distance jolted her back into the present moment. With staff in hand, Chiaki pursued the source of the sound. As she approached, she could make out the silhouette of a figure standing in the middle of the road. She narrowed her eyes and caught a glimpse of Yu Mizuno's face. He stood in the rain, looking up at the grey sky, with a bladeless Katana and a Katana sheath in his hand. Her eyes fixated on the object behind him, taking the shape of a sharp blade. It took her a minute before she noticed there were three corpses surrounding Yu, their stillness a stark contrast to the chaos that had just unfolded.

“Y-you… alright there?”

Chiaki struggled to get her words out, stuttering a little. She braced herself for another assault, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the bo-staff tightly. Without a word, Yu's body shifted towards Chiaki. Her eyes met with his, and she saw a flicker of recognition in his gaze. The rain continued to fall on the two, his eyes colder than the temperature outside. Chiaki's knees buckled under her when she met his intense gaze.

Yu staggered over to Chiaki. The wind around Chiaki began to howl and whistle, as if echoing the turmoil within her. Yu extended his hand, and a fierce gust of wind knocked him off balance and slammed him into the nearest wall. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Chiaki waited, her heart pounding as she replayed the events in her mind. The twitch in her left leg was a welcome reminder that she had regained control of her body. On her hands and knees, she inched closer to the lifeless body and noticed the shallow breathing. As she lifted Yu's head by his hair, Chiaki leaned in close, searching for any signs of life on his face.

“Oh crap, it’s really Yu. He dead? What the hell just happened? Man, this is bad, this is bad. Ok, ok, Chiaki. Think.”

She noticed the lifeless bodies and shuddered at the sight, pointing her finger at each of them and narrowing her eyes.

“Only Yu is alive... He could die if I just leave him here.”

An hour passed by, and Yu woke up to the smell of medicine. His body jolted up, only to find himself in a bed, with Chiaki perched at the edge, just an arm's length away. Placing a white T-shirt, a gray track jacket, and matching track pants on the bed, she nodded with a smile on her face. Yu only stared back, his eyes unblinking and his expression unreadable. Chiaki likened Yu's suspicious gaze to that of a fox's. Every time she moved, she could feel Yu's scrutinizing gaze on her. No one spoke, and the silence hung in the air like a heavy weight.

“You’re really pretty, you know...”

Chiaki had turned the situation from awkward to downright bizarre.

(Oh well, I broke the silence, right?)

Confused, he cocked his head to one side and glanced down at the blanket.

“Thanks...”

In order to confirm her inquiry about Yu, Chiaki invaded his personal space and rested her hands on his chest. She started with a few squeezes and then began small, circular motions. As she looked around, he could see the furrow in her brow deepen. He kept his face blank, not indicating what he was feeling.

“... For a guy, that is. At first glance, I swore you were a woman. Or wait... you know... people actually dig that kind of stuff! You into honey trapping? You could probably make a lot of money that way or through OnlyFriends.”

“... Are you done with your monologue?”

One side of Chiaki’s lips raised in a half-smile.

“So... what is the intellectual Yu doing on a rainy night?”

She attempted to deliver her lines in a Shakespearean tone while acting them out. He took a moment to think before responding.

“Walking around... Kind of got lost.”

“Shouldn’t you be home?”

“I’m homeless, technically. One of the security guards saw me around the park I slept in, so they chased me out. That’s why I was walking around. It never occurred to me I had to find shelter.”

“A lost bum, huh? If you don’t have a home, how do you have multiple sets of different clothes?”

“I find some or I buy them. I clean it whenever I could and just shower at school.”

“Geez, that’s harsh. Well, I live alone here, and I got a spare room. You could use one for now until you figure out your living situation. Get some rest, for now. We’ll play it by ear and talk tomorrow.”

As Chiaki returned to her bedroom, she could hear the sound of falling rain outside her window. She placed a strip of tape in the narrow gap between the door and the frame. While tidying up her room, her thoughts kept drifting to the gruesome scene she had witnessed near Yu. Chiaki tried to stop herself from fixating on the subject and redirected her thoughts elsewhere. She wiggled into her warm, cozy futon and snuggled under her heavy, weighted blankets to ward off the cold. As time ticked by, her eyelids grew heavy, and eventually, she drifted off to sleep.

As yesterday's memories faded, Chiaki's attention snapped back to the present. The sound of Yu's baton cutting through the air was almost deafening as he quickly took out Ason's fireballs and advanced.

Ason fell to the ground, his hands gripping his sides as he let out a string of pained words. He winced in pain as Yu's baton lodged itself into his ribcage, but he didn't realize the severity of the injury. He struggled to open his eyes and found that Yu had already turned away from him. Yu's feet were shoulder-width apart as he assumed a Chinese martial artist cat stand. He stood with his weight on his back leg, his other leg bent and feet apart. He extended his left arm forward with only his middle and pointer finger outstretched, while the rest of his fingers remained curled into a fist. Yu raised his baton in the air, delicately kissing the tip of the weapon with his two fingers.

Yu's muscles tensed as he leaned forward and kicked off the ground, disappearing into the distance. Vincent felt the tip of Yu’s baton digging into his solar plexus and sent him flying five meters opposite of Ason’s position. The sound of the man's body slamming into the wall echoed through the empty court as Yu's hand remained clasped around the baton. After a few moments, Yu noticed Vincent's body go limp, and he knew it was time to remove the baton. Yu ignored Ason since he was conscious, but decided he was not a priority. With her text sent, Chiaki waved to Yu, beckoning him over.

“Done already?”

“I went easy on them. I aimed my attacks in non-vital areas. Though I’m worried that I might have damaged Ason’s ribs a bit.”

Chiaki's body tensed up as the fear from the previous night flooded her mind once again. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, determined not to let her knees buckle this time.

(So I was right... He is experienced.)

She remembered the bladeless Katana last night.

(When I carried Yu and his belongings into my house, the hilt was missing a blade. I remember putting Yu’s belongings on a table and undressed him out of his soaked clothes and dressed him in pop’s old bathrobe. He also had a wrapped up Chinese straight sword, but I was too scared to touch it. He might notice if I messed with it... I mean, he could have possibility wrapped it in a certain way. The bladeless sword bothered me, though... The sheath was heavier than the other sheaths I had ever held. I took the hilt and placed it back with its sheath. It fit, so they went together. At first, I wondered if it was a bluff to scare people? I gave it a go, and fiddled around with it. I did one complete 360-degree twist then heard it clicked. When I pulled the hilt out, it had an accompanying blade. The sword was blunt on both sides with a rounded tip. This sword can’t kill anyone. It’s like a replica sword... I didn’t wanna break anything, so I returned everything as I found it.)

Yu noticed a change in her demeanor as her eyes locked onto his.

“Yu... What are you? Are you the Red Wing?”

Chiaki's question lingered in Yu's mind, wallowing in her words. His gaze bore into hers, and she sensed a hint of malice lurking within. As soon as Chiaki finished speaking, Yu parroted her words back. Contemplating how to articulate himself, he took a deep breath before speaking. 

“The Red Wing…”