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Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

Whilst Fenway had continued to stare disgustedly at the knot of an audience filing in below, muttering his abuse and scorn quietly to himself, the black-haired girl had continued to search the crowds for a familiar face.


It didn't take her long to single out Dechlan. Her eyes might have been small and round, but to say they were not sharp was a lie. Just as the male came into view she locked on, tracing him as he slinked through the shadows and up to her side. In an attempt to remain clear and cool for the greeting, she slid her hands down to her sides - and then realised that skirts did not have pockets and neither did her black cotton blouse.


"Yeah, can't lie," she admitted coolly, thrusting her shoulders forwards to pretend like she was only stretching her arms. At one point she froze and whipped her head around to make sure that she had not hit Fenway with an elbow, but luckily for Johanna he was still busily spewing out some rather rude names instead of shouting that he was going to mince her. 


She turned away from the short man again and shrugged down at Dechlan. What's he looking at? she wondered, then leaned over the railing further to follow his gaze.


There. Felan, that was his name. Johanna knew him, although could not ever remember speaking - or, more likely, being spoken to. It was not often that the girl could get close to members of ranks quite so high, unless it was Shania herself. And funnily enough, Felan was not alone. Ilia was with him, and she was playing with something that glinted in the dim light. Johanna squinted to make out the shape of the pendulum-like object, but before she could properly focus on it there was something sharp jabbing at her spine.


"Are you done leaning or what?" came Fenway's brash voice as he poked a thumb in Johanna's back again. Compared to the rather tall woman he was tiny, barely standing at half her height, and he struggled to see the ground past her towering body. 


"Sorry," Johanna murmured. She tapped her fingertips together and tip-toed back to stand on Dechlan's other side so that Fenway could climb up the side of the railing. He did not look particularly impressed with what new sights he could see, but then again he never did look impressed by the bottom of the food chain. Maybe he just liked being grumpy.


Johanna licked her lips and began to search the scene again, though from this angle her view was somewhat limited. Luckily, though, a quick shuffle closer to Dechlan brought another familiar face into view. "Hey, it's Shan-"


"You too!" Fenway barked suddenly at Dechlan. He was shorter than this man, too, but did not even hesitate to shove a palm at the man's belly to push him further along. "Can't you see, you idiot? Lady Shania is present, the least you could do is shift your lardy behind to the side so you're not blocking everyone else's view. Berk."
 
"Hm..." Dechlan looked down at Fenway, staring at him for a few moments and refusing to move. He was used to being bossed around, he didn't really care, however he did like to annoy his seniors when they were being assholes, leaving it until the last second to do as they'd asked him. That's exactly what he did with Fenway. 


He stared at the man, waiting for him to get more pissed off, before finally moving to the side slightly. "Here." He looked around, seeing if there was some place that they could get a better view, then he grabbed hold of Johanna's shoulders and moved her in that direction a little, swapping her place with his, she could see better that way. "Enjoy." It was obvious he could care less about seeing properly, he had his hands in his pockets and was pretty content watching from where he was, it wasn't a big deal. 


The crowds roaring and shouting seemed to be getting louder by the second, well, that was until someone stepped out into the light on the ground below. Ilia again, she stood there simply looking at her nails until everyone started to notice her. Little by little people started to realise that the woman was waiting for them to all shut up, the noise started to die down until all that was left were small whispers here and there. 


"Thanks. Helps a lot." Ilia's voice wasn't particularly loud, but it was loud enough, "Now," She lowered her hand and laughed, "Everyone's ready, right?! Are we all ready for round one?!" There was a loud roar from the crowd in response, "Yeah, that's right! Alright! ALRIGHT!" Once the yell was heard the crowd died down once more. "Seeing as you're all ready, let's get this show on the road, huh?!" She laughed as the crowd burst into cheers and shouts once more before disappearing off to the side. 


There were always people on the ground with whoever was fighting, there had to be, who was to say that they wouldn't just bolt if there wasn't people watching them? 


"See that?" Dechlan nudged Johanna as he saw someone appear from the left, it was a boy who looked to be in his mid teens, short, blond hair, green eyes, he looked more nervous about the crowd around him than the actual fight, but he seemed to be trying to ignore it. From the other side that very familiar face appeared out of the darkness, his dark hair obstructed his eyes, causing a slight shadow, and he rubbed his wrists, but...he didn't seem to be too worried at all. At least not by the looks of things. 


The blond took stance immediately, whilst the boy known as Adrian seemed to do the exact opposite, in fact...he did...nothing? Whilst his opponent geared up to attack him he simply stood there, still rubbing his wrists. The other took this as his chance, they were fighting for their lives and their freedom, of course they weren't going to waste the opportunity... Well...apart from that Adrian kid, he just wasn't doing anything. 


It was hard to be intimidated by the boy, which was probably why the other was so quick to attack. He had his kagune out in seconds, two appendages that looked nasty to get hit with. The whole things seemed to be made up of sharp spines, all pointing towards the tip, you wouldn't want to get hit by that from the front. The boy had already set his attack, striking with both right on the spot where Adrian was standing, seemingly unaware. It wouldn't be incorrect to say a lot of the crowd was confused by his strange approach to the situation, some waiting in suspense to see whether there would actually be a dodge or whether it would truly be that easy. 


The kagune got closer and closer to Adrian, it really didn't look like he was going to dodge at all, but then his head snapped up, revealing wide grey eyes. A grin appeared on his face and he jumped, the kagune smashing into the ground next to him. He was fast. That was no lie. 


Surprised by the dodge the other boy backed up slightly, watching his opponent, since his eyes were now locked on the other. The two stood there for a moment, staring at each other, well that was until Adrian's grin returned and he suddenly dashed forwards. 


Taken by surprise, the teenager in front of him attempted to strike at him, but he wasn't fast enough, he was nowhere near fast enough. Adrian was twice his speed, despite his desperate attempts at attacking, none of them even came close. It didn't matter where the boy backed himself up to, he was in a little too much shock to properly think of where to go anyway, the area was small enough for Adrian to catch up to him. So he did that. 


By the time the black haired boy reached the blond he'd stopped attacking, his eyes were wide and he looked extremely afraid. Of course Adrian didn't give him a minute to even react to the kick that he delivered to the other's ribs, causing him to get thrown to the ground, ending up a few meters away from his opponent, flat on his face. 


The boy scrambled to his feet as grey eyes latching onto him once more, Adrian was watching him from over his shoulder, still grinning. In fact, it was almost like a silent taunt, 'What's your next move?' He didn't move himself, just swayed and waited, watching at the blond got himself together. At this point it would be obvious to some that Adrian was simply teasing, to others it might not seem so. 
 
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Johanna could almost see the steam billowing out of Fenway's tiny ears as he was forced to wait for Dechlan to make a move, his foot tapping at a near-impossible speed that seemed to count every tick towards his eventual eruption. He had even raised a fist to hit the man in the stomach when that monster of a girl was shoved in his face. 


"Urgh - move!" he hissed, pushing at Johanna's back with both arms to try and shift her out of his view. It seemed to take her empty head a painfully long time to process what was happening, too, and by the time she had caved in and side-stepped out of the way Ilia had already started shouting for the opening. "Cretin," Fenway hissed under his breath, but when Johanna did not react he simply flung his arms over the edge of the railing to watch.


Despite the way she had staggered aside from Fenway just seconds ago, Johanna could not help but giggle at the memory of Dechlan's actions. She did not particularly mind being prodded and nudged - the sensation may not have been pleasant, but it had got her a better view at the start. Now she did have to shuffle a few inches along anyway, but apart from a constant grumbling in her ear this was still a vast improvement.


Much to Fenway's dismay, Johanna was one of the first to join in with the whooping crowd. She clapped her large hands together quite loudly and then put a finger in her mouth to whistle down at Ilia. She did not stop until she could feel Dechlan's elbow in her side, but the nudge prompted her to check back on the ground again.


"I see it," she said with a quick nod. One hand went to pat at the space just above her head, and the other gripped tightly at the fencing before her. Her heart was beginning to hammer now. This was the first fighter emerging. He looked quite young - short, cute, probably not past the eighteen mark yet. I like this one, she decided straight away before her eyes drifted to the other side where the prisoner named Adrian emerged. 


This was it. Both her hands were in front of her now, and suddenly she stood up so straight that it made Fenway spit another rude comment about how everybody was stupid and inconsiderate. This time, though, she didn't care. Eyes locked on Adrian, Johanna gasped to see that he was not moving. "Odd strategy there," she whispered down at Dechlan, almost mockingly, but there was still a hint of anticipation in her tone. He had survived fights before, hadn't he? So there must be some secret...


And there it was. Like a lightning bolt the boy had darted out of that kagune's path. Johanna could not help but feel somewhat sorry for the blond kid, but still she whooped and whistled in amazement at the sudden unexpected turnaround. "Check it out, Dec!" she beamed after witnessing a spectacular kick, leaning further forwards over the edge until a kick at the back of her knee brought her back to a more normal position. "The kid's good, would you believe it? And I bet those betters are all kicking themselves."
 
"Mhn." Dechlan nodded, leaning over the edge for a moment, he was good, that was definitely unexpected. The boy looked so fragile, like the slightest touch could break him, but that kick, that was anything but weak. The way he moved was incredible, the only question was, how did someone like that learn to fight? Sure, ghouls were naturally stronger than humans, which gave them many advantages, but his kick was aimed, he didn't throw something randomly and hope it would make contact. He timed it, he positioned himself, and he struck with precision, it hit exactly where he wanted it to hit. 


Where did he come from?


"They usually bet stupidly." He replied, "Thinking they're clever, bet you there'll be a bunch more on him after this." With his head he motioned to the black haired boy, who was still taunting his opponent with that over confident smirk of his. Dechlan had never seen someone enjoy a fight quite this much. "What do you think he's doing..." That wasn't much of a question, and it was more to himself than anyone else, although it might not have looked like it, Dechlan was quite interested in the situation before them. 


The blond boy down below looked too nervous to try and attack, he was right to be scared, his opponent hadn't even revealed his own kagune, he'd kicked him once and this kid already wanted out. Many people would. Although, he knew he had to fight, the crowd was already getting pissed at the lack of action, they had to fight. So that's what he did. 


Again he fired his kagune towards Adrian in an attempt to stab him slightly to the side, he'd seen the other trying to dodge so he might as well give it a shot. Unfortunately it seemed that the other had caught onto this, and so he just stood still, watching as the kagune impaled the ground to his right. His eyes drifted along the appendage, eventually landing on the host again with a confused look, eyebrow furrowed, he was communicating without actually opening his mouth. 'Why'd you do that?' 


This only caused the blond to become even more terrified than before, he shook his head and backed up a few steps. He knew he didn't have any choice but to fire attacks towards the other and hope they hit, so that's exactly what he started to do. Firing again like before, but a little faster, again they were dodged and Adrian ended up right in his face once again.


"You know what happens now...right?" Those grey eyes were not sane, at such a short distance it was so easy to tell. The blond nodded in response, he heard a giggle and then foot connected with his jaw. There was a crack as he hit the ground and he screamed out, writhing around in pain as he held his jaw and curled himself up slightly. It didn't even seem to make the other flinch, he walked over slowly and looked down at the shaking teenager on the ground.


 For a few moments they stood like that, Adrian simply staring, whilst his opponent screamed in pain and looked up at him with wide, petrified eyes. Then that grin returned and he dropped to the ground, grabbing the other's wrist. Despite the blond's protests, he forced him onto his back and then sat on his stomach, using his knees to pin down both of the other's arms. The boy was whimpering and attempting to look anywhere but at his attacker's face, but those eyes followed him wherever he looked. 


 "Are you scared?" Adrian asked the question, but got no answer, of course, he didn't expect one. "Don't worry..." He grinned, "It'll be over soon. Just...don't scream too much, okay? It hurts my ears." With that with that he grabbed at the boy's jaw, forcing it open. There was an ear piercing scream that actually did cause a flinch from him, but he was quickly over it. "Too loud..." He pulled his jaw down and reached a hand into the blond's mouth, grabbing at his tongue. It took awhile to grasp the thing, but once he had it he ripped at it, digging his fingernails into the muscle and pulling. The screams that resonated around the room were filled with agony and fear, the longer the scene went on, the louder they got. 


The boy was attempting to struggle, to free himself, but the more he struggled, the more Adrian pulled at his tongue, and the more he dug his knees into the other's arms. Time seemed to stretch out, it seemed to go on forever where in reality it was only tens of seconds that the actions occurred in. 


There was mumbling, but it was drowned out by screeching and then everything stopped. Adrian raised his hand, the male below him stopped struggling and instead there were just gurgles and whimpers. When the black haired boy's hand became visible it was covered in blood, they both were, and it was clutching something still dripping the red substance. Everyone could guess what that was. The coughing and spluttering could have been stopped, the whimpering could have been silenced, but Adrian wasn't just letting him die... Did he even realise what he was doing? 


Again the blond attempted to struggle, but he was stopped when a knee was positioned over his throat, cutting off his air supply completely, not that the blood in his mouth hadn't already been doing that. Adrian pressed down, strangling him and attempting to crush his neck in the process. That also felt like it took and agonisingly long time, he struggled more violently, but the longer the other stayed there, the weaker the blond seemed to get. Little by little his energy was drained out of him and the lack of oxygen started to affect him. Everyone could see the life drain out of the boy until he stilled, his body going limp and all sounds dying out. 


The crowd roared as the fight ended, and the boy left alive in the arena stood up, looking down at his hands with wide eyes. His grin still hadn't left his face, and whilst you wouldn't be able to hear it over the sound of the crowd...he was laughing. 
 
"Haven't the foggiest," Johanna chirruped back down at Dechlan, her voice plain and just as quiet as the man's own mumbled words, barely audible above the mutterings that passed this way and that behind their backs. She could not help but lean forwards again with hands set firmly against the railing - the interest with this intriguing young fighter was stronger with the woman than her fear of Fenway, who was still perched halfway up the fence craning to see. 


Shania was right, the girl thought as she recalled what the woman had told her earlier. The more she watched this child-like prisoner dart this way and that, the more she felt an odd sensation close to recognition. It was impossible to lay a finger on where she had seen similar moves before in her life, but it certainly felt like the lady knew what she meant.


"Oop - our boy's giving that other lad a bit of grief," the girl noted in a louder voice. She pushed a shoulder at Dechlan to gain the man's attention, then extended an index finger out to point to the teenager striking blindly with his claw. He looked as though he was struggling, and Johanna could not blame him. Adrian was quicker than she could have ever guessed from looking at his hunched form back up in the meeting room. "Look, he's fast. See that? And - oh! Dechlan! Dec, look at that, look!"


A brilliant white grin spread across her face, Johanna was cheering with the crowd now, whooping in time with a nearby trio of onlookers to their right. Bravo, she thought silently, though her deafening claps were more than enough to express her amazement. Bravo, little guy. Adrian had done it. He had the enemy pinned impossibly quickly, almost unbelievably early in the match, and yet there the scene was unfolding right in front of their eyes.


"Christ," came an odd snorting noise. Johanna glanced down to see Fenway again, still attached to the side of the railing and scoffing down at the fighters.


"What's up, Fenway?" Johanna asked, for which she received another sharp kick in the knee.


"Use your bloody eyes," Fenway instructed, curling his nose at the taller woman. "The gnat's got his tongue."


"Ooh." The black-haired girl leaned forwards again to search for blood. Sure enough, there it was - and plenty of it. "So he has. Hey, Dechlan, are you seeing this? Is - oh! And he's dead."


Johanna ignored the grunt that came back from Fenway. Her eyes were still searching the arena, where a skinny man had suddenly emerged from the shadows around the edges. He skipped hurriedly over to the loser of the match, pressed a palm to the boy's throat and then began to drag his lifeless body out of sight. 


"Good riddance," Fenway spat as the corpse was cleared. "Blundering idiot didn't even last five minutes, he should be ashamed of his pathetic self."


"Shame," Johanna sighed. "He had an impressive kagune and all."


The next couple of minutes acted as an interval of sorts; little appeared to be happening, and Johanna soon realised that squinting at the blood on the floor was not going to speed anything up. There were people behind them talking - commenting on Adrian's speed, cursing beneath their breath about having put too much into a bet. One girl had sat on the ground and was refusing to get up until they brought the dead competitor back to the arena. 


It was a subtle movement from Fenway that told Johanna something was finally going on. The short man had clambered one rung further up the fencing to get a better view of the ground, and, curious to see what there was to look at, she too leaned over to watch.


"Dechlan," she whispered, nudging the man with an elbow. "Look, is that the next guy?" Contrary to the phrasing Johanna had used, the person dragging their feet into the arena was not a 'guy' at all - it was a woman; small, thin, her frosty locks of flyaway silver-white hair dragged back behind her head by the breeze. Her arms were frozen at her sides, and upon closer inspection she was already shaking as she took position. Maybe she had seen the blood.
 
"Kinda violent, isn't he?" Dechlan muttered as he watched the boy die beneath Adrian after all of the pain the other had put him through. This kid was more sadistic that he imagined, it was surprising, he seemed so...innocent. Johanna had been right about one thing for certain, looks could be very very deceiving, he managed to get out of that fight without so much as a scratch. Well...if you didn't count all of the blood that covered his hands and his clothing, but that was expected, he'd just killed someone. 


The boy still in the arena had put one hands to his face, looking down at the ground, he was in a fit of laughter, obviously unable to completely control himself. Did it scare him just as much as it seemed to unnerve people around him? 


"Yeah, looks like there's someone else out..." With his eyes now taken off of Adrian he looked at the woman who had just entered the arena, oh... She already looked afraid, frail, old, could she really beat someone like this boy? He doubted it. "Oh. Maybe they'll be another blood bath." The man shrugged, crossing his arms and leaning back. Was this even going to be interesting? That boy had taken out the other in second, was an old woman really going to be any more of a challenge? He hoped this wasn't going to get boring... They'd just have to see.


The child in the arena raised his head after hearing the crowd die down slightly. He blinked upon seeing the person that he was meant to fight, tilting his head to the side. That unnerving grin stayed on his face as he attempted to make eye contact with the woman, he had a thing about doing that, making eye contact with all of his opponents... It wasn't obvious why to most, but Dechlan knew, just from the way he'd seen Shania interact with him. 


Adrian wrapped his arms around his stomach and stood a little straight, he was chewing on his lip as he watched his newest opponent. His face now had blood on from where he'd moved his hand, as well as his clothing from having his arms wrapped around his diaphragm. Once again he didn't make any move to attack, but he didn't stay still either, instead he was almost circling the woman, observing her. 
 
It was almost like Johanna had not noticed Dechlan's comment - she had no idea what he had said, but out of habit she nodded along anyway. She, Fenway and the dozens of onlookers stood around them were all craning to look at the arena's newest arrival.


"Old woman," Fenway tutted, twitching his shoulders at the new competitor as she hobbled up onto the battlefield. He was starting to look more impatient than usual, a scornful frown set in his sharp face. Johanna raised her eyebrows and turned away from him, attempting to ignore his tasteless comments. She didn't want to hear him; she only wanted to see what would happen next, what Adrian's next magic trick would be.


The white-haired woman kept glancing left and right, eyeing the audience above and around with large, frightened brown eyes. She stood still for a few seconds, as if unsure of her place, but there was nobody around nearby but herself and the black-haired boy covered in the blood of his previous victim. Yes, dear, you're supposed to be there, Johanna assured the old woman, though only inside her head. Get on with it then, would you?


Eventually the woman stopped trying to find a friendly face on the upper floor and looked down at her feet. She wore no shoes, and her skin was cracked and dry. There were only oozing red sores where her toenails were supposed to be. 


"I bet that one's a prisoner," Johanna guessed out loud. She squinted again just in time to see those brown eyes flash red. A crimson tail slithered out from the bottom of the old woman's shirt, a thin tendril of glowing muscle that suddenly hardened and produced rows of long, thin barbs on each side. She flexed the kagune a couple of times, curling it into a spiral and then straightening it out again. Her gaze had shifted back up to Adrian.


At first her steps were slow and clumsy, but in a few seconds the female prisoner had picked up a surprising level of speed. Of course she would not match up to her opponent - it didn't look like anybody else in the world could - but for someone who looked like she needed a cane to walk, the pace of her movement was astonishing. 


Fenway spluttered out something inaudible. Johanna whooped and applauded again. "Oh! What's that, bikaku? Rinkaku? No, wait - bikaku, called it. Looks sharp."


That lady knew now what kind of danger she was facing. It was a case of killing the child or being tortured like the boy before her, and she knew which outcome she would prefer. Her kagune, the barbed bikaku that had trailed along behind her, suddenly rose up in the air. It swung around her right side as she neared her opponent, extending right towards the spot where Adrian was standing. 
 
The boy's eyes had followed the woman as she started to move, the minute she jumped into action his mind seemed to switch on, he gripped the tongue in his hand tightly, causing blood to trickle out from the back of it as he squeezed harder. Then he placed it in his pocket, freeing up both of his bloodsoaked hands. He was just as ready to fight her as she was to fight him, his gaze didn't discrimiate, everyone was the same, everyone could die the same. 


As the kagune was thrust towards him, Adrian stepped backwards and rolled, ducking out of the way. He stood up in seconds, looking towards the woman and her kagune, seemingly deciding something. His gaze moved from the old woman in the arena with him and up onto the second floor, in particular to Shania. The woman and boy locked eyes and she raised an eyebrow, waving him off, almost as if telling him to get on with this. The boy turned back and shifted his feet, he should be quick. 


He looked towards the woman and made a dash for it, running around her instead of straight at her. What he wanted to do was kick her in the back, that would make this over, quickly, but he had to get there first. So he ran to her, crouched and sweeped his leg at her feet in an attempt to trip her up, of course being so close range against a bikaku that could retract and hit him would not be fun, but at least it wasn't a koukaku. 


Dechlan looked to the old woman in the arena, then the young boy, and then Johanna, she was awfully into this... Maybe she'd come more often after this, that boy was definitely a sight, his speed was incredible... Shania really must have taken him when he was vulnerable, how did she keep him under control all of the time? Why did he even listen to her? Those were definitely questions that Dechlan would like to get answers to, but he had no drive to ask them, and it wasn't like they'd eat at him, he'd be over them soon enough. 


"Shania was lucky." He muttered to Johanna, "She got a kid who's strong and listens to her. Hmph." He shrugged, he guessed that the kid was just as sadistic as the woman herself, she seemed calm and reasonable, but making such a woman mad at you wouldn't end well for anyone, he'd seen it. Was he always like this? Or...was it her fault that he liked to torture his victims?
 
"Huh? Why, are they supposed to rebel?" Johanna shrugged at Dechlan, managing to tear her eyes away from the fight for barely a second. It made sense to an extent; Shania was a powerful woman. Listening to her was the most sensible of several options, others of which included hesitation and - like Dechlan had made her think - straight-out rebellion. Maybe some of them aren't as good, she thought, sliding her hands down to the sides of her skirt where she had once again forgotten there were no pockets. It wasn't like Shania would kill someone for waiting a second or two. Would she? Nah, Johanna decided. There were better things worth killing a prisoner over. Shania had more restraint than that, surely...


Whilst the black-haired girl was busy with her thoughts, the fight below her feet continued. Fenway, still perched over the edge with arms crossed in front of him, watched with an upturned lip as Adrian raced around the old woman's side. "Run, little gnat," the man taunted under his breath.


It looked as though the bikaku woman had not expected her attack to land; clearly she had been watching the previous fight, or at least used her head and the blood on the floor to guess what had happened to the last opponent. Anticipating a dodge, she quickly whipped around to face backwards where she guessed Adrian would be - but of course she was too slow. 


Before she could so much as take a step there was a heavy blow to her ankle, a heavy blow that ended with a sickening cracking noise. Had the old woman not cushioned herself by pulling her kagune out in front of her, the collision between her face and the ground might have left her with another scrape. 


"Damn!" Johanna whispered, bouncing on the heels of her feet as she continued to watch from above. It was far away, but her small, round eyes caught every detail like it were just a yard away. 


"What now?" Fenway growled up at the taller woman. He seemed to be becoming increasingly snappy with every one of her outbursts. 


"Karen's down, Fen."


"Don't call me that. Wait - Karen?" There was another snorting noise. "What, the hag? Where in the hell did you get that from?"


Johanna shrugged again. "Made it up. Oh! Look, look, she's up again! And the fight goes on!"


The fight did indeed go on, although the old woman who Johanna had christened 'Karen' did not look as though she had managed to keep up the speed she had showcased just seconds before. She stood awkwardly, her whole body's weight leaning on one foot whilst the other dragged limp and lifeless behind her. Her body shook again. The barbed kagune swept around her like a tail, brushing against the bloodied floor in readiness for another attack. She did not make another move on Adrian; there was no point when she could not run to escape his counter.


"Oh, get on with it," muttered Fenway again.
 
After attacking Adrian had jumped back slightly, bouncing from one foot to the other as he waited for his opponent to get back to her feet, he seemed somewhat excited now, having found out that the woman was a lot slower than he was. Those large eyes of his held a mixture of excitement and instability, he wanted to get on with, but she was taking forever. 


The bouncing stopped when he realised that the woman had a limp leg, he stopped, tilting his head to the side again and sighing. It seemed to upset him greatly that his opponent wasn't a little more resilient. He looked over to the puddle of blood which he had caused when ripping out that boy's tongue, his eyes dulled a little as he looked back, watching as the woman made no move to attack... Was he..bored? 


In response to the woman not moving Adrian started to walk towards her, he was only struck out at when he got close, but he dodged that attack, continuing on his path forwards. He was already done with this fight, nothing fun was happening, so he leaped forwards and grabbed for the woman's limp leg, crouching and kicking her in the back of the knee whilst pulling her leg backwards as well, most likely dislocating it. After hearing a scream, he jumped up into standing position, grabbing hold of her shoulder. There was nothing to be said, so instead of speaking he simply threw the woman to the side, she landed on the floor on her back. 


Dechlan couldn't help but sigh, his opponents were nothing to him... When was Shania going to bring something out that might actually give the boy a hard time? Or...was this her plan. Probably not, she enjoyed watching something challenging and brutal, this was just...brutal. 


The boy raised his foot once he saw the woman on the ground, stomping on her spine, once, twice, three times, once he heard a snap and the screams of the woman on the ground he giggled again. She was just lucky he wasn't tearing her to shreds. After that he placed one foot over her neck, one on her back and stood completely on her. The screams of agony from below him filled the room for a few seconds as he balanced there, then he jumped. There was a sickening crack as the bones in her neck and back splintered, although there was no more noise coming from her, he jumped one more time to make sure and then hopped off. 


After that the boy sat on the ground  with his back to the body, playing with his wrists and looking down. He rocked backwards and forwards, humming something or other, completely ignoring the roars of the audience above. 
 
Once again, Johanna joined in with the crowd's roars of shock and delight as dozens of heads turned towards the source of that horrid cracking noise. The woman grabbed tightly at the railing and pushed herself so far over it that she nearly lost her balance, but oddly enough it appeared that she did not even notice. Her eyes were on the old woman.


Strangely, Fenway's eyebrows raised in two thin orange arches as he bore witness to the crushing of first the fighter's spine and then her neck. Impressed? wondered Johanna after catching his expression with the corner of her eye. Maybe so. If he was, he certainly had a valid enough reason to be. That Adrian kid is something else...


Again that skinny little rat of a man from before appeared on site to drag away the loser's broken body. This time there was no blood to smear along on the ground, but when the next competitor stepped into the ring it felt like the entire building was holding its breath.


This one was younger than the old woman, around twenty years her junior if Johanna's experience was anything to go by. Naturally, with a younger, fitter body, this prisoner seemed to match up far more closely to Adrian's level than either of his predecessors. He was quick on his feet, making the sensible decision to keep his distance from the boy's deadly kicks by circling around the edges of the arena. It took him a fair while to release that kagune, which unsurprisingly turned out to be an ukaku, but once it was out its owner was relentless. He managed to last a fair while on the field, zipping about the place and shooting from afar before he was eventually bested.


By the time the rat-man had come to clear the body away, Johanna had one hand curled into a fist over her heart. "I thought that guy had him for a minute there," she whispered to Dechlan. Her white face seemed cold and stiff, but over time the girl appeared to regain feeling in her skin and broke out into a smile. 


There were a couple of young-looking female ghouls starting to chatter behind them. They had clearly seen this slightly lengthier fight as the start of the warrior Adrian's road towards a crashing demise.


 "-I know, it's a little creepy," one of the girls commented as Johanna held her breath to listen.


 "Y-you could put it that way," agreed her friend. "But I don't think anyone actually knows. Um, where is she?"


 "There." The first girl jabbed a finger in Shania's direction.


Johanna jolted at a sudden unexpected movement to her side. Fenway. She had almost forgotten about him, but now he was suddenly leaping back off the fence, storming back until he stood directly between the two girls who parted from each other as they saw him approach. "Did you know," he growled, leaning up at his two-person audience to eyeball them both one by one, "How loud you're being? If you're only here to share your meatheaded opinions then you can do so outside. Some of us are trying to listen, so keep it down."


"Sorry, Fenway," the girls chanted in unison.


"That's Ma-"


"-Master Fenway," they both corrected themselves. The so-called master tensed his shoulders and raised a hand as if to scold them for their interruption, but quickly gave up on the endeavour. He simply ground a foot into one of the girls' toes, then turned away grumbling something rude again.


By the time he rejoined Johanna and Dechlan at the railing, the next battle had already begun. The crowd cheered once more as a girl who could be no older than twelve had her skull pounded into the ground and her body then dragged back out into the shadows. The next to follow her was a burly young man who turned out to be far more of a coward than his thick-set muscles suggested. He didn't last nearly as long as the child, much to Johanna's amusement. 


In, die, out. There had to be at least three fights more after that, and by some miracle the grey-eyed boy named Adrian managed to come out on top of them all. No matter how quick, strong, large, young or intelligent his opponents, he just kept winning.


"Jeez, Shania's really got something going for her with this kid," Johanna breathed, fanning herself with one thick-fingered hand as she took a break from watching to look back at the man standing by her side. Was Dechlan still watching? It looked like the boy named Adrian was beginning to tire now, the battles had been lasting longer and longer. Maybe that made it more interesting, but someone as inexperienced as Johanna did not expect to be able to make that guess correctly. 


"Shut up," Fenway grumbled at Johanna. "You've said the same infernal thing every round, are you unable to keep your oversized mouth closed at all?"


"Sorry," said Johanna, immediately turning back to Dechlan. "So, yeah, I was saying -"


"Shut up!"


"-Shania was saying earlier something about the style. I've been thinking, it does look a lot like... Uh, something. Can't for the life of me think what on Earth it is, though, any ideas?" 


Fenway tutted and began to strut away. He was having no more of Johanna's nonsensical babbling - the interval should be beginning now or within the next round anyway, he should use the opportunity to get away from those two bumbling idiots before they drove him quite mad. "Move," he barked at another orange-haired boy before shoving his way through the crowds to a quieter spot.
 
"Huh?" Dechlan had been completely zoned out whilst Johanna and Fenway had been talking, however, he could confidently say he was glad to see the man walk away after getting annoyed. That guy had such a short temper, sheesh. He needed to calm down, he'd probably burst a blood vessel one of these days from how pissed off he got at everyone. 


Johanna had asked him a question, about...Adrian's fighting style. Yeah, it reminded him of something too, but he wasn't sure what exactly. "Uh..." He shrugged, "I dunno, Jester, CCG, Omega, Aegis." He just started to name communities and groups that he knew of, maybe one of them was right. If so then that must have been where he came from, right? What did Shania think of that? 


He leaned over the barrier, watching as Adrian disappeared and Ilia appeared again to probably shout at the crowd some more. Did he have to listen to her voice? If it wasn't obvious already, Dechlan really wasn't a fan of Ilia, he never really had been, but he put up with her annoying ass. Others seemed to like her being around, it was probably because she was pretty or some shit, who knew. 


*


Shania had moved down from the upper level and onto the ground, she nodded to Felan, who stood near one of the stairs. She had her hands behind her back as she moved into a darker, quieter area off to the right. There were a lot fewer people in this area, and whilst the screaming and shouting could be heard it was quite a bit quieter than out in the open. If you were to compare it to the rest of the place it was actually a bit...relaxing. 


The further back she went, the quieter it got. Of course she wasn't just walking there for no reason, Adrian had backed off and she wanted to talk to him. Up ahead he could see the boy, sitting against a wall, playing with his shirt. 


"Mmn." Shania approached, standing in front of the black haired male, "I thought you'd be quicker on that last one." She didn't get a reply, instead the boy simply pulled his knees to his chest and turned his head to the side. "Adrian." Still he didn't look at her, "Are you ignoring me?"


For a minute or so there was silence between them, before Shania sighed and knelt down in front of Adrian, forcing his head to turn in her direction. "I've told you about ignoring me like that, haven't I?" Her voice was still steady and calm, but it did seem to get through to Adrian, he swallowed and nodded, chewing on his lip. "So stop doing it." With that she let go and raised her hand, slapping the smaller individual across the face. 


"Don't disappoint me." She stood up and sighed, "I expect you to come out on top." With that she turned back around, leaving the boy on his own again. 


*


"Hey, look." Dechlan prodded Johanna in the ribs, "They're coming back." Ilia had disappeared again and Adrian had reappeared, holding one of his arms and looking down. What was up with him? From the other side someone was emerging from the shadows, this was the final fight...surely this time it would be a least a little bit harder to the boy to win. 
 
Johanna tapped the tips of her fingers together as the crowds surrounding them began to dissipate, floating away in swarms that hummed with whispers of wonder and prediction. It seemed as though the combat wonder named Adrian was on everyone's mind now, and nobody could speak about anything else.


"-Thirty, next time you don't do more than ten or I'll sock you where it hurts," one man warned to another. The person on the receiving end of the words nodded sheepishly and begun to fish around in his pocket with a hand, but before he could say another thing they were out of sight, blocked by a knot of females led by a single male individual wearing a suit.


"I swear I saw him get hit that last fight," one of the girls insisted. The man leading her laughed.


"He probably did," he said.


"How the hell's he still alive!?" someone else half-gasped, half-scoffed. 


"What are you complaining for? I thought you were winning."


"Well - yeah," the second woman continued, her face reddening. "Yeah. I am. Oh, hold on, I've lost Marley..."


Interesting to them, Johanna thought, but she could not be bothered with listening for much longer. Her jaws parted in a wide yawn which she quickly covered up using the back of one large hand. "Jester, CCG, Omega, Aegis," she echoed back down at Dechlan through the yawn. "Let's think. CCG? I reckon the kid's pale enough to be a dove if he wanted." She allowed herself a moment to chuckle at her own joke, though after a second she realised that her own skin was close to the colour of snow. She stopped after that.


Most of the interval Johanna spent engaging in a one-way conversation with Dechlan. She dragged out her words with her long-running thoughts, sometimes speaking aloud without realising and then quickly covering herself up by making a quick, mindless comment about the warehouse. She must have said that she was far too cold at least six times before she felt a prod in her ribs.


"Dechlan? What's up - oh, nevermind. I see." She did indeed see once she had leaned back over the railing again. A sudden sharp kick to the back of her knee told of Fenway's return, and this time he actually climbed all the way up the railing to dangle his short, skinny legs all the way over the edge.


There was a new fighter emerging now. This must be the finale, Johanna realised, widening her small eyes to very round brown circles as she tried to make out the shape of this person stood in the shadows by the wall.


It was a woman. That much was apparent - she had the figure of a model, more meat on her bones than the majority of those who died before her. Her feet were bare, hair greasy and unkempt, clothes dirtied and torn to rags. If Johanna's eyes weren't failing her, she could even see the glistening wetness of old tears around this new opponent's eyes as she stepped out into the light.


"This is it," Johanna whispered quietly to the side. Even Fenway had finally fallen silent. This would surely be over quickly, would it not? Adrian had already proven himself time and time again, and the way this girl had been crying surely proved that she knew as much as that. She knew that she was no match for this child.


Fenway crossed his legs over and glared down at the newcomer as she began to take her first steps into the ring. The girl had not yet chosen to release her kagune - it was as though she were copying his method, side-stepping cautiously around the boy and scanning him with omniscient green eyes that still twinkled with unshed tears. Strangely, her lips appeared to move as though she were saying something.


"Oh, damn it, what she's saying?" Johanna hissed into Dechlan's ear, shaking her frustration out on the railing and almost causing Fenway to topple over the edge.


The red-haired man was understandably unhappy about Johanna's behaviour and decided to pinch the skin on her left hand until she squeaked, but instead of giving him the satisfaction of an interrogation she continued to stare down. "I knew I should have paid attention to those lip-reading lessons," she sighed. There was no making out what the new opponent was saying, but from the looks of things she was still playing the copycat game, circling Adrian with short, quick steps and never letting him see her back.
 
"Probably." Dechlan replied to Johanna's comment about the boy being pale enough to be CCG, he then sighed, listening to her as she talked. He didn't mind Johanna talked to him, but Dechlan had never been one to engage in full conversation, he didn't talk half as much as the girl did, he was more interested in the fight below. 


Talking of the fight, another person had now appeared, a woman  she looked upset, but was she afraid? Johanna was right about her saying something, she was muttering something under her breath, using the exactly same tactic that Adrian had in all of the fights earlier. Although, whilst she seemed about ready to fight he seemed...a little off. The boy was still looking down, holding one arm, what...happened? What was he doing? This was the final fight, if he decided to flake out now...well...either he'd die to this woman, or Shania would kill him. 


However, it seemed the boy simply hadn't noticed his opponent on the field. As the second he did he looked up, he tried to make eye contact with the girl circling him whispering something, but it would be difficult for her to miss that look that had dwindled in his eyes for a few seconds. Hopelessness. Whatever he'd been thinking about, it had caused him to completely zone out, and he couldn't remove the look quickly enough for it to not get noticed, even if it was gone and replaced with feigned enthusiasm afterwards. 


Soon enough the emotion in his grey eyes changed again, quickly becoming confusion as he watched the other's lips. His eyebrows furrowed and his own lips parted for a moment as if to say something back to her, but he closed his mouth again, unsure of what he should say. He'd noticed the tears, and of course the way she moved, and rather than attacking, he stumbled forwards a step. He could hear the mumbling, but he wanted to know what she was saying, what the hell was she doing? 


Just as she was doing to him, he started to circle, but he started to circle, but as he circled her he moved inwards, bouncing closer and closer. Now, he probably wouldn't get right up in her face, but he was trying to get within hearing distance, which was relatively close thanks to the crowd roaring and shouting around them. The curiosity in his eyes was obvious, he just wanted to know, but that didn't mean he'd dropped his guard completely. Adrian couldn't seem to stay still anyway, he was bounching on the balls of his feet, watching her intently. Was she going to strike? Or...were they going to stand here all day... 


By that point the boy was definitely close enough to hear what she was saying, he could listen for a moment, but then they'd probably have to kill each other. Someone was going to die, everyone knew that, this was the decider.


The crowds were still awfully loud, it probably made it hard for them both to focus on anything, but they were doing a good job of it. Still no one had attacked, to all of the audience it simply looked like two people staring at each other, one uttering something whilst the other attempted to listen. When was it going to start?
 
Johanna slid a hand over the bump of her chin. Interesting, she kept thinking. Should the battle not have commenced by now? The woman below, the one who was still muttering something to herself, was still side-stepping in a wide arc around her opponent. Adrian had begun to do the same, though it looked as though he was trying to close the distance to striking range.


Go on, go on, Johanna urged, pumping her elbows forwards into the railing. He was moving in, getting ready to make the first move for what would be the first time all night, he was going, and then... He stopped.


"The hell's that fool doing?" Fenway booed as if reading Johanna's mind, though his words were admittedly harsher than what she would have chosen to use. Adrian was still moving, but he had stopped his advance, instead only watching his new enemy with those big grey eyes of his. 


"I dunno," said Johanna.


Fenway whipped his head up and then jutted his chin out at the taller girl in disdain. "I wasn't asking you. Mind your own business."


"Sorry." Johanna could only shrug at the tiny hothead by her side. Ask a silly question, get a silly answer - wasn't that the way it worked? Oh well. It wasn't like she did not have better things to think about; Adrian and the woman, for example, were piquing her interest very much indeed. She squinted to watch.


The woman with the tattered clothes continued to slink around Adrian, never turning her back on him, and she was still saying something. Whilst her voice was low, quiet and monotone, as Adrian got closer his trained ears would be able to pick up the words of her tuneless song: "How... Much... Is that doggy... In the window?"


Johanna started to tug on Dechlan's sleeve. For once she did not speak, but once she thought she had the man's attention, the girl threw her hands outwards in a physical expression of confusion. Nothing was happening. They were just walking, circling.


"The one... With the waggly tail," the woman continued quietly, her words dragged and drawled out as she stared up at Adrian. Her eyes had become so wide that a ring of bloodshot white surrounded each jade-green iris, and once again fresh tears pooled at the bottom of the dark circles carved in the skin below. 


For a moment the woman stopped walking. It looked as though she were going to back away, the way she shifted her weight back and tensed the muscles in her legs. But then a broken smile found its way across her face; it was not mad or ecstatic like that of her opponent, but forced, wavering, unstable thanks to the quiver in her lower lip. "How much is... That doggy in the window?" she went on between that failing grin, "I do hope... That doggy's... For sale."


As her song ended, the woman's own advance begun. She bolted forwards, causing a sudden surge of cheers and whoops from the audience - Johanna included - before reaching forwards to touch at Adrian's jawline. She took a moment to caress the skin on the boy's lower face, and then her smile faded. Her eyes turned from that glistening green to the same bloody red as every ghoul before her, and suddenly there was a long, flat blade the colour of grass in summer winding around her left arm. It curled over her limb and ended in a thick, serrated blade rested over the back of her hand. 


"Yes!" Johanna squeaked, almost jumping up in the air with joy. She could not contain herself now, she had even turned to Fenway to express her rush of excitement with a round of claps. "Fen! Dechlan! Look, are you seeing this? She's actually got close to him and she's not dead!"


"Yeah, this one actually has a brain," Fenway grunted back uninterestedly. Johanna could only grin. This was a new method, and it looked like this woman could give their boy a run for his money if she could keep going like she was.


The fighter in question had her koukaku pointed directly at Adrian's throat. At this range, even someone as quick on their feet as he was would have difficulty dodging a sudden strike. She could end it here if she wanted to, rip through his throat and watching him choke or bleed out - whichever came first. But for a moment she hesitated, then drew her arm down away from his throat and slashing instead at the boy's belly. The action tore a gash in his shirt and dug a fair way into his flesh, but rather than stand around to inspect the damage the woman was quick to retract her weapon. She hopped backwards a little way, her moves suddenly becoming somewhat sluggish, and stood there with blade held protectively over her own abdomen.
 
Dechlan couldn't say he wasn't impressed, she'd somehow managed to get close to the kid and he hadn't even struck out at her. What was she saying? Was it to do with that? Those eyes of his seemed to be fixed on her, had he been trying to listen? Well, whatever she'd done it had worked, clever, very clever. 


"Maybe this'll be more interesting." The man muttered, leaning on the barrier once again to see what her next move would be. She had her kagune in front of his throat, and Adrian was still stuck for words, she could have pierced his neck and she chose not to.. What was she doing? Did she not want to win? To him that was crazy, the boy in front of her had already been shown to be quite the challenger, would she not want this to be over as quickly as possible so she didn't have to get hurt? 


Adrian had just wanted to listen, he'd just wanted to hear her speaking, and when he had that's what he was stuck on. He knew those words, from where he wasn't sure, but he knew them... Sometimes it was awfully dangerous to have a one track mind. The next thing he knew she was in front of him, he'd flinched when she touched his jaw, not expecting it at all, but it had reminded him that they weren't there to talk... They were meant to be tearing each other to shreds. So, he wasn't surprised when her eyes changed colour and she slashed him across the stomach. He was surprised he let it happen. 


The boy's breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened as he stumbled backwards from the attack, arms wrapping around his abdomen. He looked at the ground for a moment, obviously in a little bit of shock, then he removed one hand from his stomach and stared at it. New blood...it was completely soaked... That was...his blood... His head shot up, eyes fixing on the woman, who had now backed away from him. She...hit him... That changed everything. 


Surprisingly, he did a lot less complaining about the injuring than any of his opponents had, it wasn't that it wasn't having an effect on him, it was obvious that his movement was slightly hindered by the gash, but he didn't whine, or make much noise at all. 


He tilted his head to the side, still staring at his opponent, and then he grinned again, like this was all some game. What would have been noticeable to almost everyone around was that one of those excitable grey eyes of his had changed to that red and black that everyone in the warehouse would be familiar with, then came his kagune, dark purple wing-like structures that had an oddly cracked look to them. It was obvious at that moment that he was at the disadvantage there. 


After finally revealing his kagune he immediately crystallised it, sending a volley on sharp shards directly towards his opponent. Whilst doing this he removed arm from his stomach and circled around her to the right, there was a kagune in his way and he needed to get away from it. It seemed like he was aiming for areas which would be hard for her kagune to fully block without freeing up another area, a reason why he wanted to keep moving, despite the gash on his stomach. He had to find an opening. 
 
"Yeah. I think so," agreed Johanna. It was not often that the copycat method worked in real fights, but when it was one on one with somebody who pulled the same tricks every time it was a different story. This woman knew what she was doing.


The black-haired girl almost squealed when that flat blade of a kagune slashed down into Adrian's stomach. He was bleeding in less than a second, Johanna could see the blood soaking through his shirt. She could even smell it from all the way up there in the audience. "Ouch, that's gotta hurt. Wait, is that the first time he's been hit?"


"Shut up," Fenway grumbled.


"Dechlan! Oh, look - aww - he's still smiling, though. Isn't that funny? I'll bet those betters passed out just now, wouldn't like to be them."


"Shut your mouth or I'll make you pass out. Fool. I'm trying to listen."


Johanna pouted at Fenway and nodded reluctantly. It was doubtful that such a small man would be able to knock out someone of Johanna's size, but the way he was looking at her told that he believed otherwise. "Hey, Dechlan," she whispered in the tiniest voice she could manage, "Our boy's getting his own back."


The girl's words rang true. Adrian, that same mad grin still on his face, was moving again. Despite that hole the woman had cut in his belly, he was still the faster of the two and that woman with the koukaku on her arm was beginning to realise what kind of trouble she was in. There were flurries of crystal bullets flinging at her from angles her heavy body could not hope to cover in time to remain unharmed. 


A short, sharp shriek pierced the air as the woman attempted to duck out of the way of one attack. Too slow. The shard connected with the corner of her lips and tore through her skin, leaving a gaping split that exposed rows of bloodied teeth all the way along the left side of her face.


"Oh, jeez!" Johanna wheezed at the sight. It was quite something to behold, considering the kind of disadvantage an ukaku like Adrian faced when paired with this lady. "That was harsh one, no wonder the kid kept his kagune in. It's like a secret weapon!"


"Pay attention or get out," came Fenway's next command. Johanna flushed red for a second, having forgotten that she was supposed to be keeping her voice quiet.


"Sorry, Fen," she said in a lower tone, but then turned to speak again when the words came to mind. "Hey, I got a question."


"What now, is it stupid?"


Johanna thought for a moment, then raised her eyebrows at the shorter man. "Don't think so. I was just looking, only one of the kid's eyes has gone red, what's up with that?"


Fenway snorted. "He's a one-eyed ghoul, you imbecile, what did you think?"


"Really!?" Johanna really did jump this time, almost stepping on Dechlan's foot as she slammed back down against the ground. "Oh, that's cool. I've never seen one of those before - wait, I swear they were supposed to be strong or something, right?"


"They're rare."


"And that's why Shania keeps him?"


With a great sigh Fenway straightened up, making an attempt to meet Johanna at eye level and failing. He still packed a wicked scorn on his face. "Lady Shania has her own reasons and I would guess that she would thank you to keep your abnormally large nose out of her business."


Johanna could only respond with a low whistle, but from then on she guessed that more questions were not worth that kind of answer. She leaned back over the railing to watch the fight continue.


The woman had clapped a hand to the side of her face now, trying to hold together the two halves of the cheek that Adrian's bullet had sliced through. The flesh was beginning to knit itself back together, but far too slowly for her to be able to stand around and wait for. Eventually she tore her hand away from the wound and began to turn this way and that, deflecting whatever crystal shards came her way. Several more times she failed to move in time and ended up with blood spurting from holes left in skin and flesh, but every now and then she managed to successfully deflect the attack.


Just when it looked as though the woman had started losing her touch, there was a quick flash of movement. She whipped her arm right in the direction of an incoming barrage, blocking the majority of the hits with her thick koukaku blade, and...


"Whoa!" Johanna gasped out loud. She had just witnessed something she had never seen occur in real life; the koukaku fighter had not only managed to shield herself, but she had deflected several of the crystals right back in her enemy's direction. The bullets flew back at Adrian with as much speed as he had first used to release them, and one by one they cut through his own flesh, leaving torn and bleeding holes here and there. The crowd whooped and applauded. Twice now this woman had managed to injure the combat miracle, and it was getting the audience progressively more pumped by the second.
 
Seeing that one of his bullets had hit and sliced the woman Adrian grinned, jumping on the spot, before starting to run again. He didn't let up his attack, making her work to make sure she didn't get hit by every single one of the bullets, but of course he couldn't expect them all to hit... He was dealing with a koukaku after all, blocking his attacks was easier for her, which he didn't seem to like. 


His eyes were darting around the arena like he was looking for something, they kept going back to his opponent every now and then, but otherwise they were scanning the area around her. This, however, proved to leave him open for an attack, he felt his own bullets slash through his skin, causing him to stop once again, surprised. The boy blinked, watching as some of the wounds started to heal up already, he didn't have time to worry about it. 


Upon realising that his attacks weren't going to do much from the distance he was at he started to circle again, he sent another barrage of shots in the woman's direction, before dropping the crystallised form of his kagune and making a dash to get in closer. Unlike before, once he got close he didn't kick or punch, obviously realising that that could be bad news for him, but instead used his kagune to strike at the woman's shoulder. He stood on the balls of his feet, ready to move if her were struck out at, however, this was still very close quarters, and he was still up against a koukaku. 


"He's risky, huh?" Dechlan muttered, turning his head to Johanna before looking back to the fight. These two were much more suited to fight each other and any of the others had been, they'd both gotten attacks off on one another, however, it seemed that Adrian had been hit more than the woman he was fighting had. Who knew what she was planning to do...but getting that close? That was a little risky, he was lucky he was fast, extremely fast, he might just have a chance. 


It suddenly dawned on Dechlan that the boy must have been attempting to get some sort of serious strike in, his kagune was an ukaku type after all, the woman in front of him would be able to last longer in a battle than he would. Did she plan on trying to wear him out? Because he didn't seem about to allow that. "What do you think he's gonna do?" He asked, turning to Johanna, "He's getting so close." This was much more interesting than any of the other fights, they were mainly brutal killings, this was an actual fight. 


Adrian was still throwing violent attacks at the woman, trying different angles, hopping around, but he refused to kick like he had before. At this point everyone would have worked out that his main way of attacking, par his kagune, was with his legs, but he wasn't doing that... Which proved he knew something was off, even if he was brave enough to get close to her. 
 
Fenway crossed his legs over and tapped the heel of one foot against the back of the barrier. This time it was him to speak out at Dechlan rather than Johanna, who was completely absorbed with the scene below. "He's an idiot," the man stated. He dared to let go of the railing for a moment so that he could wipe the sweat off the bottom of his nose. "Ukakus can't keep going forever."


"He's gonna get his head chopped off," Johanna chimed in, not really paying attention to what Fenway had said. It was true. Adrian was getting in awfully close now, perhaps not the smartest tactic when faced with someone comparable to a tank. Just like Fenway had called him all along, compared to this woman he was barely more than a gnat. A little gnat with guns on his wings, she thought.


Despite her momentary victory, the woman had clearly not expected a sudden advance from her opponent. "What... Are you doing?" she choked out as Adrian started to hop around. She stepped back a few times, but with a heavy kagune wrapped around her arm she was weighed down, far too slow to dodge more than twice.


"Ouch," Johanna whispered again. The woman was getting battered now, stuck in the neck with a kagune, stabbed through the chest and barely pulling away in time for the claw to miss her heart. She was losing blood at an alarming rate, her face was turning pale, there were red streaks and footprints smeared wherever she stepped.


She couldn't keep this up. She could not carry on fighting this way - as long as this boy could move, she would not survive. He was fast... He was too fast, he was going to kill her. 


What could she do about that?


Fenway licked his lips and watched from above with shoulders pulled back. "Just stick him in the throat," he grumbled down at the woman, clearly starting to lose his patience as the fight went on and on. They must have been doing this for five minutes at least, just going back and forth, the woman taking Adrian's attacks as he zipped left and right out of her reach. "This has gone on too long..."


It was almost as though the female fighter had somehow heard Fenway's demand. Her blood-red eyes glinted as Adrian zoomed past again. He was fast... He was fast, an ukaku who relied on his speed - and she had just found a way to use that reliance against him.


The woman wasted precious seconds watching the boy before finally deciding to go through with the attack. People above and around hooted and cheered as she suddenly barreled into the ground, grinding her shoulder against the floor as she dove at Adrian's feet. Naturally she missed the first time, but of course she had not expected to hit. She didn't need to. 


All she needed to do was stay still.


It happened faster than Johanna could comprehend. One moment the woman had thrown herself into the ground, much to the shock and confusion of her audience, and now everything had turned on its head. "Brilliant!" the black-haired girl whooped, clapping Dechlan on the back suddenly and just managing to stop herself from doing the same to Fenway. "Dec! Oh, Dechlan, did you see that? He's in the pits now!"


It only took Fenway a moment's glance to see why. The woman on the ground was reaching forwards to grab at something on the ground. It was a large object, pale, bent at an odd hinge in the middle. It was a leg. She had thrust her blade right in Adrian's path and let the boy's own speed do all the work for her; his leg had been sliced clean off just inches above the knee and she had barely lifted a finger.


The woman pulled the severed limb in closer, dragging it along the floor and up to her mouth. It made her scream to do so after having it ripped open on one side, but she stretched her jaws wide apart and tore a mouthful of the flesh away, then swallowed it almost without chewing.


"Eurgh," said Johanna with a shudder as the woman finished eating and pulled herself back up to her knees. "Well, he's in trouble. Think he's gonna live? Jeez, look at all that blood!"
 
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"Holy shit." Dechlan breathed, looking at the ground below, this woman was good. She'd used the boy's own strength against him...and now his movement would really be hindered. How was he meant to fight after losing a limb like that? If it was his arm he might have been okay, but it wasn't, he couldn't even run now. "Yeah, he's done." The man placed his hands on the railing and leaned backwards, this fight was over, Adrian couldn't win from such a position, this woman was going to end him with a few more strikes now that his speed had been stripped from him. 


There was no way he could keep going, Fenway had been right about him not being able to go forever, he was an Ukaku, he was going to tire... Now he could hardly even walk. He was gone. "She can end this now." 


It seemed that Adrian didn't realise the bottom part of his leg had been cut off until he toppled forwards and wondered why he couldn't stand up again. The sudden action had caused the pain from his leg being ripped off to be delayed. The boy blinked, flipping himself over onto his front and using his arms to prop himself up in a sitting position. His eyes were wide, but his expression was very different to anything he'd shown in that arena beforehand. He just...didn't get it... He didn't get how...


He watched as blood poured out from the bottom of his thigh, staining the ground a crimson red, his eyes filled with fear, shock, and pain, he just seemed unsure of how to react to such a situation. It had never happened in a fight before, he'd never been put in a position where the other person could move freely and he couldn't. He swallowed, removing a hand from the ground and bringing it to the wound on his thigh, he winced upon touching it, tears welling up in his eyes. However, he was quick to wipe them away with his forearm, shaking his head and taking a deep breath in, which only caused him to wince again and bring his arm to his stomach. 


For a moment it honestly looked like he might have given up there, he didn't seem to want to continue, he probably didn't want to die, which was why he didn't just give up. 


Adrian's head raised slightly, dark hair casting a shadow over his eyes, but it was easy to tell where he was looking. He hadn't fallen that far away, and to give up then would have be stupid, he was in pain, on the verge of crying, and shaking slightly, but he still refused to let himself die like that. She was still on the ground too...and...was she trying to regain energy? She'd taken a bite out of the part of his leg she'd ripped off... That...couldn't happen. 


The dark wing-like structures behind him crystallised once more, he had a direct shot at her, she was still laying there, she'd have to get back up, so he didn't waste any time in taking it. Releasing another hail of sharp spines down towards her, a deafening scream rang out from the boy before he raised his head completely, that grin they'd all become so used to had returned, along with tears streaming down the sides of his cheeks. 


He brought his still fully functional leg up to his chest, using it to balance on slightly, every movement he made seemed to be extremely painful, but he was still moving, attempting to ignore all of that. He knew he could stand up, with some effort, but he also knew there was no point in doing so, she'd knock him back down again in seconds... Now that he didn't have a leg he had no balance, he was better off on the ground. 


And so was she. He was going to make sure she stayed there. 
 
She had done it. It had all happened within the space of a second, barely a moment in advance granted to plan, but as she slid back up onto her hands and knees and raised her head to see the damage, her face tightened into a grimace.


With one leg the boy was losing his ability to balance at an even quicker rate than at which he was losing blood. Ending that child's life would come with little difficulty now, surely. He could not sit up without difficulty now, let alone stand and run to safety. All it would take would be to move forwards, dodge those bullets and that crystal claw, then stick a blade through his heart.


But for some reason she did not move.


"She can end it," Johanna echoed back to Dechlan, her tiny eyes stretched as wide as they possibly could. "So... What's the hold up?"


Fenway was beginning to squirm too, glaring down at the woman who stood on all fours doing nothing but stare at her opponent. Suddenly there was a scream, and every head in the building turned to look at Adrian but the woman's. She had her head turned away, for an unexpected barrage of crystal bullets had left her with a shard stuck through one eye.


"Finally," Fenway breathed. The woman rocked herself back into a more normal sitting position and continued to shriek in agony as hands wound around the place where her eye had been stabbed and popped. Blood trickled down the side of her face. She screamed again as she finally dislodged the shard and threw it back to the ground.


That last attack seemed to wake her from her dazed state of pause. One hand cupped over her messed eye, she staggered back to her feet. Whatever other wounds she had sustained were taking their toll. She, too, was struggling to balance, for her legs shook and she could not help but sway on her way towards the boy. Nevertheless, however, she attempted to quicken her pace, ducking and dodging the attacks she thought might follow on her way back to her opponent until she found herself within close range.


Johanna crossed her arms over. "She's gonna get herself killed," she sang in a lilted voice, a wry grin finding its way in through the corners of her mouth. That lady was getting far too close for somebody who supposedly had any sense. It was almost like she wanted Adrian to stab her through the gut, and yet... There were still tears in that one working eye of hers.


"Hello," the woman coughed out at Adrian, her voice barely a whisper. She stared at him not with malice or hatred, merely that same broken, pained smile she had worn at the start of the fight. If Adrian wanted to, he could probably kill her at any moment - just as long as she kept still long enough for the boy to aim. But she did not allow him that ease, for suddenly she had sunk to her knees just inches before him, falling out of the path of whatever attack he might have been aiming in that split second. 


"What's she doing?" Johanna chirped. It didn't look like she was fighting, but her blade was so ready, angled perfectly for a final blow. No, she wasn't fighting... She was reaching forwards, gently taking the boy's head between the palms of her hands and staring with her one eye at his bloodied face. 


"Hello, hello," she whispered again at Adrian. Her eye drifted away from his face and landed on his other leg, but she did not let go of his face or stop speaking. "Are... You... Okay?" she drawled quietly, her voice trembling like she was afraid. 


The crowds above began to mutter again. Several onlookers were sneering or booing, shouting at the woman to get on with it and stop wasting time.


"No, you're... Not..." the woman answered her own question. Her brows knitted together in a frown. "I'm sorry," she said, and for a moment it looked as though she would simply sit there and let herself be killed, but then there was a sudden movement.


Swish, went her arm and the flat, serrated blade of the kagune rested over it. It swept cleanly through the flesh and bone of Adrian's other leg, which then fell to the ground just as limp and lifeless as the other. Tears rolled down the woman's cheek, but she did not make a move to kill. She simply wound her arms around the boy's sides to stop him from falling, then buried her face in his shoulder. There was a low wailing sound from deep inside her throat, and then silence.
 
Adrian's crying continued, despite the woman starting to speak to him, he looked at her, but his gaze was anything but friendly. He didn't want her to come any closer to him than she already was, she'd hindered him enough, he didn't need her to confuse him more. Why was she saying hello? Why hadn't she killed him already? He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again, wiping his eyes with his arm once more. 


The closer she got, the more he tried to shift back. He had his kagune positioned to impale her if she got too close, which she did, so he struck, but she'd already dropped to her knees before he hit. The boy's eyes widened, breath catching in his throat as he felt hands on his face. His eyes seemed to soften slightly, the expression in them being reduced to just fear. She was in the perfect position to be killed, he could have killed her whilst she was speaking, yet, he didn't. He didn't get why she was speaking to him, he wanted to kill her, but something was making him pause. 


Which was a mistake. 


The woman asked if he was okay, he didn't answer, instead he just continued to sob, trying desperately to stop himself... It just wasn't working. It wasn't like he needed to answer, as she'd quickly answered for him, and then...uttered an apology...


Before he knew what was happening she'd taken out his other leg, earning an agony filled scream from the boy, at that point he should have been dead... He was expecting to be dead. Adrian continued to whimper and crying, shaking his head, his eyes squeezed closed. 


"No..." He choked out, "No you're not." His arms wrapped around the woman, grabbing the back of her shirt, "They never are." His words were quieter, whispered almost, unlike her, he wasn't going to wait and risk his possible death. They'd both hesitated too many times, and by the way he had grabbed hold of her she might have thought he would again, but he didn't. 


The boy's kagune arched around them both, aiming for the woman's back whilst her arms were busy around him. It would be hard to dodge something like that at such close range, near impossible unless she was lightning fast, and it had already been proven that she was slower than Adrian, who also probably would have had a hard time dodging such an attack. 


Just before the attack was about to hit, Adrian raised his head, moving his shoulder slightly. He looked over to the woman and smiled, but not that sadistic, overenthusiastic grin that everyone was used to, it was a genuine smile. His eyes were filled with tears, he was shaking, and he was exhausted, but he somehow found the energy to do that one last thing. "But that's okay." 


The last thing Dechlan had expected was for this woman to cut off the boy's other leg instead of simply ending him, they both had so many opportunities to end this fight and neither of them took them... They were both idiots... He sighed, resting his chin on his hand. How long was this gonna go on for? Were they going to end it? 


"She's got him... What is she doing?" He asked in a bored tone, it seemed to crowd agreed with him, they were all screaming for a death, but it wasn't happening. She was in so much better shape than that kid, she'd taken away his biggest asset, yet...he was still alive, "And if she doesn't hurry up he'll be the only goddamn one alive." He muttered to himself, shaking his head. They weren't going to hesitate forever, but...this was a child they were talking about... A kid who probably didn't get what she was doing either. Did she feel bad? Well, she'd have to kill him if she wanted to live... She'd seen him kill countless people, maybe she'd be doing the world a favour. 
 
It felt as though the world had slowed to a still. Johanna could not even blink as the black-haired boy held the woman in his arms, she did not dare to stop looking for even a fraction of a second. She, Fenway, the girls behind them and everyone else in the audience had suddenly found themselves frozen, eyes fixed on the two ghouls holding on to each other in a lethal embrace.


There was a tiny tug on Dechlan's sleeve. He's right, Johanna thought. Both Adrian and his final opponent were stuck, and only one of them would be able to walk away from this fight alive - and with every passing second it felt less like a competition of skill and more like a case of who would strike first.


Who would it be?


Johanna squinted as she saw something new. Adrian... Was speaking? He had taken time before to taunt his enemies with a few quiet words, but this was new. Once more the black-haired girl wished that she knew how to lip-read as the boy broke out into a smile. "Dechlan, what's going on?" she whispered to the side, although she did not expect or even await an answer. She didn't need to, because as if he had heard her, Adrian had started to move.


The woman was not given so much as a second to react. Before she could speak, look or even think there was a pair of crystalline talons drilling through her back. Blood gurgled from the punctures in her flesh, pooling on the ground behind her whilst more of the scarlet liquid surged up from the base of her throat. The initial panic on her face was clear. She struggled, grabbing at her own chest as though to push those spears back through her body, a feeble try for another chance at life. But then that wistful smile returned.


"That's... Okay," she echoed back through a lungful of blood, her voice growing weaker with every word. Her kagune, as strong and firm as it had been just moments ago was quickly spiralling back into her back, retracting into the spot between those two deadly wounds. Her newly-freed arm reached up once more so that she could caress Adrian's jaw, and her other hand went to reach behind the boy's back once more. "...That's... Okay..."


It was difficult for her to move now, but very shakily she began to pull herself up, using Adrian as her support. She pulled Adrian in close and planted a quick, bloody kiss on his forehead, then leaned back again. "Run," she said breathlessly as she tried to stare at the boy with her one glassy eye, a quivering smile still plastered across her face, "Run away... Tom's waiting for you."


Johanna realised after a few seconds that she had been holding her breath. She glanced first at Dechlan, then at the crowd behind, then finally down at Fenway. "Is she dead?" she asked to nobody in particular.


"Yeah," Fenway said, pressing a hand to his forehead as that rat-line man skirted the arena, pausing to bend down and pick up Adrian's first leg before going in to retrieve the woman's body. He tried to avoid looking at Adrian as he pushed the woman's limp body forwards, away from the kagune, then dragged it and the second severed leg back out of sight.


It was over.


Adrian had won.
 
***


The school yard was pretty much empty, there was no one in sight, you couldn't expect there to be, everyone should be in lessons. Apart from the occasional person walking in between classes you didn't really see many people outside when lessons were going on, the teachers would kill them for that. 


It was the most peaceful time to be outside, there were no annoying children making too much noise, usually at least. The only noise that could be heard that day was a bunch of children lower down in the school shouting and jeering at one another as they entered into the building without a care in the world, after that everything became quiet and peaceful again. 


For awhile it stayed like that, until the sound of someone crying broke the silence. It was a muffled noise, stifled in an attempt to stay quiet, to stop anyone hearing, but when there was nothing else to hear it was hard to miss. The sound came from a small, black haired individual sitting with his back up against one of the walls. He had a hand over his mouth, obviously trying to shut himself up, but it wasn't really working. His eyes were wet with tears and he had an arm wrapped around his abdomen, knees up to his chest covering it. In an attempt to hide or shield himself, he'd draped a hoodie he had over his shoulders, the hood coming up over his head. All in all he really just looked like he didn't want anyone to come near him. 


He shouldn't have been out of class, who knew whether teachers were trying to find him or not, but regardless, he shouldn't have been sitting outside. Still, he was, and he was very upset for whatever reason. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to make himself as small and unnoticable as possible. It was hard for him to choose a position, as every two seconds he was changing to a new one, looking up and checking to see if anyone was around, but mostly just keeping his head turned away from any exits or enterances. 
 
Eleven o'clock. That was what the time was, according to the black-and-silver analogue watch strapped slightly too tightly to Jackson Lambert's wrist. He closed his eyes for a moment and held his breath, attempting to find silence as he counted the minutes. Eight forty-five, he thought to himself. So... From nine... That's - two hours and a quarter. He had managed to last a hefty one hundred and thirty-five minutes in school before the old man in charge of filling his head with the laws of physics had snapped and told him to get out.


"That's got to be a new low," the boy muttered under his breath, pushing a pair of thick rectangular glasses back up to their place atop the bridge of his nose. It was never fair, the way they did this to him. If he had tried to punch someone to pieces without being provoked then maybe this would be reasonable, but what had he done to get sent out this time? One bottle. He broke one bottle. His parents would not be amused to learn any of this, but right now Jackson did not care.


Mumbling another outburst of language that would probably land him in detention, Jackson brushed a hand over his combed-back hair and began to wander down the corridor. He didn't want to be here, a place he was forced to bark like a dog when an insensitive old prick told him to. They had had enough of him, so he might as well use this moment of privacy to take an opportunity to escape.


Jackson did not bother to rush as he made his way through the school; as usual, nobody but the caretakers ever bothered to roam the grounds during lesson time, especially in the mornings, and on the off-chance anyone did find the boy out of class they never dared to question him. One convenience, he thought as he arrived at the door to the lift. For a second he twirled the key around in the fingers of his left hand before then sticking it in the lock and reversing inside. 


He used the time inside the lift to pocket the key and check his watch again. It had taken him all of four minutes to get here. Jackson tutted at himself. He had to stop doing that. Recently all he ever seemed to do every half-minute was look back at his watch, stare at the passing time as it fell away between his fingers like a fistful of sand... It was an annoying habit that he had somehow managed to pick up within the space of the day and a half since Leo had been killed.


Leo... Oh yeah... Jackson chewed on his lip as his face twisted into an involuntary grimace. He still wasn't used to it, it was as though his brain didn't want him to remember. Leo was dead. He didn't hold it true, but that's what they had told him after the man had failed to come home for his little brother the next day. It felt wrong to believe it. Leo was alive. Leo had always been alive, it didn't feel like he wasn't, it had never been real enough for Jackson to cry. Real enough for me to lose my shit, the boy thought glumly as he slid out of the elevator's open door and into a corridor where he could hear a younger class squealing and yapping from inside the drama studio.


Was that the class Adrian was in? It must be. For some reason, Jackson could not imagine a boy like Adrian acting for a group - the poor kid had always had a problem with people, but now that Leo had gone... It was like he didn't want to be with anyone else. "Hope you're okay," Jackson whispered at the door where his young friend's classmates were whizzing this way and that past the window in the door.


Despite the fact that he had not even thought about where to go, Jackson found that his hands were leading him out of the building. Maybe he needed fresh air. That was likely, it got so stuffy indoors, and his chest suddenly felt very tight after remembering the kind of state little Adrian might be in. 


For a moment the boy struggled with the door, but eventually he felt the cool spring air wash over him. That was pleasant... It was quiet out here, too. As he moved further out into the open, Jackson realised how solitary this place could become when everyone had to be indoors in their lessons. In less than twenty minutes there would be children swarming out of doors right, left and centre, but for now Jackson was alone.


...Wasn't he?


He turned his head to the side as a noise caught his attention. That didn't sound like a crow's caw or the rushed footsteps of a passing runner. It sounded like a person, and whoever it was did not sound happy.


"Hello?" Jackson whispered, his voice carried away with the wind as he carefully pushed forwards, peering into the space beneath the shelter where the noise was coming from. Oh no, he thought as a curled figure came into view. The person had their head covered by a hoodie and it was impossible to see their face, but there was no mistaking who that could be. The wiry frame, the way he had curled up with knees pulled up into his chest... It could only be him.


Jackson suddenly found himself moving very quickly in Adrian's direction, speeding towards the wall where the boy was trying not to sob. He had to grab at his wheels to stop himself from crashing directly into the bricks, but once he had steadied himself he tried to reach down and touch at the boy's shoulders. "Adrian?" he said quietly, watching his friend's little brother with round, worried brown eyes. "A-Adrian, wh... What's wrong? You're s-supposed to be in class, aren't you?"
 
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