AN - split this chap into two during a rewrite
-[6 Days Later, 1 Day Before Finals] – [POV 3rd]-
"So… Genya. You know who I'm going up against in the finals?" Kazuhi questioned
The two sat across from each other in the small, and only, restaurant within the Zenin Family Compound. The air was quiet, only interrupted by them talking.
"-Yeah. You remember Tatsuya?"
Surprised, Kazuhi spoke "The Second Seat? Not the First?"
"Yeah. He beat the First Seat, Shigeru. Managed to somewhat counter his Cursed Technique. despite that they were injured heavily, both had to be rushed to the RCT specialist."
Kazuhi frowned slightly. "What's his technique again?"
"Despair. He can numb your senses or limbs as long as you're in his vision. He made a binding vow last fight in which he now only needs to look in your direction, but it costs more cursed energy." Genya said
Kazuhi sighed "…That's annoying."
"How am I supposed to beat that?" Kazuhi asked. "Only thing I can think of is getting in close and winning with my reinforcement."
"Yep, distance probably won't work," Genya said. "He uses the environment and blind spots."
"…Fuck."
.....
-[1 Day Later – Finals]-
Dressed in Akashi attire, knuckle bandages wrapped tightly around his hands, Kazuhi went through his usual warm-up.
The intercom then blared out, cutting through the silence.
"EVERYONE GET READY FOR THE FINALS OF THE 97TH AKASHI TRAINING TOURNAMENT!"
The stadium erupted in cheers.
Kazuhi shifted in his spot in anticipation.
"ALRIGHT EVERYBODY! TWO OF THE MOST PRODIGIOUS STUDENTS IN AKASHI HISTORY! COME FORTH, KAZUHI ZENIN! AND TATSUYA ZENIN!"
From opposite ends of the arena, the two emerged.
"KAZUHI!"
"TATSUYA!"
Their names were shouted but both of them stayed focused entirely on their opponent.
Both glaring at eachother, seemingly making the atmosphere heavier.
Tatsuya had been friendly the first time they met. However Genya later told Kazuhi that was how he usually operated, acting nice to younger members before targeting them in dangerous bullying. They'd fought intensely multiple times since, and Kazuhi had never won. this was the first time they were facing off against eachother with their techniques.
They stepped into the white circle at the center of the field.
"How did someone as weak as ya even make it this far?" Tatsuya sneered. "ya cheat your way up?"
Kazuhi didn't hesitate to retort with the same amount of animosity.
"I could say the same to you."
They both shifted forward ready to square-off, until they were cut off.
"Not yet," the referee cut in disappointingly. "Fight when it starts."
"…Tch."
Both stepped back in sync, eyes never leaving each other.
"PARTICIPANTS, GET READY!"
Cursed energy surged about the centre. The air around the fighters felt even heavier.
"3!"
they adjusted their stances.
"2!"
Kazuhi frowned slightly, he didn't recognize Tatsuya's stance.
"1!"
...
"GO!"
Kazuhi's legs gave out instantly.
He collapsed to the floor.
'the fuck-'
his right leg was completely numb, Kazuhi couldn't feel it at-all
'what the fuck, this feels so wierd-'
He quickly looked up sensing Tatsuya approaching and forced cursed energy into his hands as fast as possible to try and distance him from Tatsuya, barely managing to fire off a blast in time.
Tatsuya maneuvered around the blast with unnatural agility and disappeared from Kazuhi's vision.
In the next instant, Tatsuya re-appeared in front of him, fist speeding towards him.
Kazuhi's eyes widened 'Theres no way-'
A powerful punch in the chest driving the air from him.
-CRACK-
"-ghk—!"
Kazuhi was launched across the stadium in intense pain, barely catching himself on his now working legs.
small droplets of Blood came out of his mouth.
'That bastard… made me cough blood…'
His eyes refocused
'Three seconds. That's probably his limit… at least from what i can tell.'
"A VIOLENT FIRST STRIKE BY TATSUYA! KAZUHI IS SENT FLYING-" The intercom shouted
'They're… commentating? seriously...' Kazuhi deadpanned
'Ignore it. Focus.'
They charged towards each other once more.
Out of view from Tatsuya, Kazuhi secretly started generating Cursed energy into his hands to be ready if his leg get turned 'off' again.
but suddenly, his arms went numb, dangling at his sides.
The cursed energy, without being able to be held together, dispersed.
'He saw through it? shit.'
Tatsuya closed the distance in a blur, already five meters away readying his fist.
Control returned to his arms just as Tatsuya reached him. allowing him to swiftly deflect the punch and begin to exchange blows.
They clashed rapidly
punch after punch, feints being read and counters being parried and deflected.
Neither gaining any ground.
until on one of Kazuhi's feints, his vision dissapeared-turning to complete nothingess
'Shit—!'
The sudden vision-loss allowed Tatsuya to land a brutal kick into Kazuhi's stomach.
"Pwah!"
Spit shot from his mouth as he was flung back another 10 metres
-wheeze-
'FUCK!… That was painful'
Pain flowed throughout his entire stomach.
'that's definitely a bruise'
He recovered himself quickly and saw Tatsuya approaching, fast.
He created distance and started charging a Max Output blast whilst forming a small barrier, He had to keep still when using multiple at once or both could break.
Tatsuya quickly responding, numbed Kazuhi's legs while rushing towards him, expecting both the barrier and Beam to break when he fell.
His legs went completely numb and he collapsed again. The barrier dissipated.
However this time-
The beam didn't.
whilst falling Kazuhi slowly lifted his hand up towards Tatsuya and shouted with all his resentment.
"MAX OUTPUT: SWELLING BLAST!"
The beam exploded outward, expanding and folding in on itself until it reached the size of a house, however subsequently weakening it's power.
the beam stormed towards Tatsuya, who, as a last ditch effort, tried to stop by it also paralyzing Kazuhi's arms.
Kazuhi's arms flopped to their sides again, kneeling on the floor still.
And yet even after his arms went numb, the beam had enough energy to keep going.
Tatsuya raised his arms and reinforced them as much as he could as the beam passed through him, gritting his teeth till blood came out.
"..."
When the beam finally dissipated, Tatsuya's arms were charred and bleeding, but. he definitely wasn't ready to end it yet.
'…Fuck that hurt-' Tatsuya scowled
Kazuhi was already rushing towards him despite his injuries, giving Tatsuya no time to breathe.
Kazuhi swung his fist at Tatsuya with pure malice and slammed him in the stomach, sending him sliding and rolling across the field.
-SMASH-
Tatsuya slid across the ground until he stopped. panting whilst being on his back.
he struggled to try and get up.
'fucking weakling! I won't accept this...'
'I WON'T LOSE TO SOMEONE LIKE YOU!' Tatsuya shouted in his head
....
*Binding Vow – Tatsuya Zenin sacrifices 50% of his current cursed energy reserves. In exchange, he receives enhanced speed, strength, and durability for the rest of the fight.*
....
Tatsuya shot up from the floor, looking completely rejuvenated and even stronger than before
Tatsuya vanished and reappeared in front of Kazuhi even faster than last time, who had started charging a beam.
Kazuhi barely had time to think.
'He's way too fast- is it one of those binding vows Genya was talking about-'
Tatsuya's punch was already on him, too fast to dodge and too strong to block.
He took it head on.
-CRACK-
The punch slammed into his head with a loud crack, causing Kazuhi to fly, back-first into the edge of the stadium, embedding himself fully into the wall.
Blood pouring from his head and his vision starting to fade.