A square platform floating several meters above the ground, with metallic walls that reflect light and sound like a drum. Every movement echoed. The audience is riled up after Yuna's cerebral victory, and the energy crackled again as Kaito walked in, grinning like he already owned the place.
Kaito — cocky, brash.Yuuto Hasegawa — quiet, brooding.[1]
The countdown started.3... 2... 1—
BEGIN!
Kaito immediately vanished—well, almost. A blink and he was already closing in, having swapped places with a small pebble behind Yuuto.
Yuuto was ready.He spun, palm glowing red—BOOM! A kinetic blast fired like a shotgun. Kaito barely twisted out of the way, boots skidding on the platform.
"That all you got?" Kaito taunted, snapping his fingers."I haven't even started sweating."
Yuuto didn't respond. Instead, he crouched low, slamming his fist into the ground—charging it with compressed force. The arena trembled as a pulse burst upward like a geyser. Kaito leapt just in time, flipping midair.
"He's serious. If I take one hit from that, I'll get pancaked. Gotta stay unpredictable… keep the pressure on."
Kaito threw a smoke pellet. Yuuto's eyes narrowed, anticipating a sneak attack—but Kaito didn't go behind. He switched with one of the judges' chairs outside the arena, then again with a chunk of debris midair—disorienting the trajectory until he was just above Yuuto.
"Peekaboo."
Kaito kicked him straight down.
Yuuto crashed, but countered on reflex, slamming both palms on the platform—triggering a kinetic pulse that knocked Kaito upward like a cannonball. He tumbled, but at the last second—
SWAP.
He replaced himself with a fallen screw from Yuuto's gauntlet.
Kaito reappeared behind Yuuto, but this time, Yuuto had baited him—he'd left that gauntlet loose on purpose. He spun and landed a kinetic punch square in Kaito's gut.
BOOM!
The crowd winced. Kaito flew backward and hit the arena wall, coughing hard.
"Tch. Okay. That one hurt."
Yuuto stepped forward, calm and focused.
"You're flashy, but you're not thinking long-term. I can read your patterns."
Kaito grinned despite the pain.
"Then let me change the script."
He swapped places with his own jacket.
Yuuto blinked—Kaito wasn't wearing it anymore. Before he could react, Kaito, now shirtless and moving like a blur, was beneath him.
"Rule number one: never ignore your fashion."
He delivered an uppercut, swapped positions with Yuuto's left foot, then came down with a knee from above.
Double impact.
Yuuto staggered, stunned. Kaito finally saw the opening.
He ran past a loose arena tile—touched it—
SWAP.Yuuto and the tile changed places.
CRASH.Yuuto dropped into a crater of his own compressed force.
DING! DING! DING!
The match was called. "AND THE WINER IS... KAITO !!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Meanwhile on the sidelines, Natsumi covered her mouth in relief.
"He actually won..."
Rei snored.
[1] Spark user known for Kinetic Compression, a Spark that lets him condense force into small pockets and unleash them in bursts.