[HARUKI]
Haruki hadn't meant to slip up.
But he would be damned if he let Konno use that against him.
"I said, if I didn't know any better, I would have assumed you stayed hidden all these years because you were scared of facing the Sondra Dynamite," Haruki said with a smirk, one that screamed nonchalance to the people who were watching them.
He was putting on a performance, but not for the masses watching.
He was doing it for himself.
Because he was afraid of leaning into that false reality. Even now, he wasn't sure if the masked man before him really had that last name, one so familiar that it almost gave him a heart attack.
He could not believe it.
Because believing it meant that he had failed. That he had been useless in the faith. That everything had been worthless. But the price had been too costly for it to be a rumor.
Which was why Haruki focused.
He was not going to let this man, this familiar ghost, go away with ease. He wouldn't let the man who had that familiar face disappear on him again.
"A man who can't battle his ghosts is not fit for any war, Sondra Dynamite," Konno spat viciously before swinging his blade again. He had noticed that Haruki was intentionally slowing down, and it made no sense.
Konno refused to lean into whatever the hell this warrior was trying to do with him. So, they fought. Like this was truly their last battlefield. Like this was the last goodbye for two people who had never intended to see each other again.
"I heard rumors, you know," Haruki said as he attempted to trip Konno to the ground and failed.
"About your terrible fighting skills? Please," Konno responded in disdain, his eyes filled with raw anger and pure hatred.
Haruki had seen it already, but he was choosing to play dumb. He couldn't let himself be affected by this stranger just because she wore the face that was worth everything.
"No. About Craenia's puppet warrior. The one hidden like a monster no one wants to face or be proud of. The man who hides behind a mask, not because it is his style, but because it is what he is meant to be.
"Someone without a name, and a clan to stay loyal to. Yet somehow you are here. I am surprised you even have a name… Konno," Haruki bit back as he swung his steel harder.
This man's familiar moves were unsettling because they were forcing Haruki into the one memory that he had refused to embrace to this day.
The memory that had hunted him more than it had let him live.
The one memory that would forever rip through his heart even as he fought hard and with so much vigor while his fellow red helmets watched in awe, glad that the Sondra Dynamite was finally back on track to win this war for them.
The memory of his brother.
The man he had lost in the cruelest of ways.
His Daikiro Konno.
"Of course, you would believe the puppeteer rumors. Careful, someone might actually think you give a damn about the puppet," Konno laughed.
Haruki raged on.
At that moment, Haruki took a chance that sure would work. He tapped into what his memory was forcing him to accept.
Instead of leaning to the sorrow and the pain that he had had to deal with after the man he had lost, he chose to deal with the skills of a ghost he had cherished. If this man were that ghost, then it wouldn't be so hard to take him down.
"Do they know that you favor your left over your right?" Haruki asked as he swung his sword at Koonoo's right side, grazing the warrior's armor so cruelly that all the warriors who had gathered heard the screech of metal against armor.
It was a shock for everyone.
No one had ever gotten so close to the masked warrior to leave so much as a scratch on him. The masked warrior was similar to the Sondra Dynamite, so it made no sense. But at the same time, it made so much sense.
Because the Sondra Dynamite was clearly at par with Konno.
"What?" Konno asked in disbelief, his eyes struggling to focus for the first time.
"Ah, I see your amnesia is not just a lie, is it, Konno?" Haruki mocked as he kept swinging and missing the Craenia warrior by just inches every time. It was something that no one away from them had noticed.
Anyone seeing the battle could see two warriors battling for their lives to the death. They looked like they were fighting for more honor and victory. Like they were fighting to eliminate each other.
That was what everyone was seeing.
Not Konno, though.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Konno asked whether the strike from Haruki proved to be non-lethal.
Haruki was fighting alright, but the hits were pure misses. Leaving openings where there were never supposed to be any. Any chance he got to strike Konno and beat him was left untouched.
And it was frustrating for Konno. It was like Haruki was putting on a show, and Konno didn't appreciate that. It was against the rules of war, and this was not alright.
But did Haruki care this time?
"Fighting. What else?" Haruki responded smugly.
He didn't even flinch when Konno aimed for his bare neck, determined to cut through him like it was easy.
And he almost did it.
Almost.
Because at the last second, Haruki ducked way too low and punched Konno in the stomach, hard. It was the kind that had the warrior hunching over, not in pain, though.
Just enough for the audience to see what it was that they were doing.
"You have two left feet," Haruki mocked.
Konno was just about done with him.
So, he grabbed Haruki by the neck, staring his fierce brown eyes into those raging pale blue eyes, something that lasted mere seconds.
Haruki grabbed Konno by his right arm and flipped him over on the ground, which had gotten messy because of all the blood and flesh.
"Sondra Dynamite wins!!!" The red helmets cheered for their leader.
They had expected this, but it was also unnerving what they had seen on the battlefield. No one would've mentioned it, because no one ever spoke about General Kira's battlefield around him.
Yet they would talk about it later when the general had left for his home. But there was no now; this was the best of sights for them. General Kira is winning.
"What is happening today?"
"No one has ever flipped him, ever."
"This is a battle of the best versus the best. Of course, someone is going to come," a red helmet said proudly to the black helmets of Craenia. It wasn't a sight they were used to, and it was humiliating.
So much so that King Yuma retreated.
"I have seen enough," King Yuma clicked his tongue.
And Konno heard him.
Watched the king's back as it retreated.
It was the reminder of the one thing he had ever had in his whole life.
Failure.
But Konno was never trained for failure. In that moment, the warrior decided this was a battle to the death. If General Kira was still going to play nice and land soft blows, Konno was going to do him the same favor.
He would use that against the man.
"You'll pay for this," Konno glowed as he got himself up fast. He hated what he had seen already and was determined to fix it. He was going to make sure his legacy of being undefeated was worth something.
To anyone.
"Get used to being defeated, Konno," Haruki mocked as he gripped his sword harder. He knew this was to be any easier than it had been before. He could see the pure spite in Konno's eyes, the rage and the determination to get a win out of this.
And it was confusing for Haruki for a moment, because this was not right. It was one thing to come to battle for a victory, but it was not to fight to the death. Some would feel some type of way about it.
Then again, it was not the time for them to figure out who was telling what. Besides, the battlefield needed no emotions. Maybe rage. But then rage was a great motivator.
"The eyes are watching, brother," Konno suddenly said in a pleading, low, dangerously soft voice when their swords clashed, and each was pushing against the other cruelly.
Haruki froze.
That was his greatest mistake.
He faltered.
Konno took that chance to drive his sword into Haruki's abdomen, not stopping even then, the sword could be seen on both ends of the warrior who had never been bested, or touched by any blade on the battlefield.
"We will never be equals," Konno spat as he pulled the Sondra Dynamite into him, dragging the sword through the warriors inside before he pushed Haruli back and pulled his sword to him.
It was a sight that no one had ever seen.
The shock, the disbelieving gasps soon erupted into anger and disbelief.
"We won!!!" the black helmets cheered gleefully.
Saito stared at them, anger radiating off of him as he gripped his sword tighter.
"Burn them all!!!" Saito growled, and that was all his fellow red helpers needed to resume the battle. He didn't care that they had lost now.
"No black helmet leaves this battlefield in one piece," Saito declared angrily.
The battlefield roared back to life once again. This time, it wasn't just for the fun of it or even teaching darn Craenia a lesson. This time it was for what they believed in, for who they believed in.
Their Sondra Dynamite.
"Finish here, I'll get to General Kira!" Saito shouted over the clashing of swords.
And the red helmets… didn't even respond.
Well, they did. Not with their words. Just their swords that were cutting through black helmets like that was the only thing that they had to do.
Meanwhile, where the Sondra Dynamite and Konno were, Haruki didn't say a word. Didn't even let out a gasp of pain when the blade was pulled out of him and driven back in one more time on his other side.
"Pathetic," Konno muttered, clearly unimpressed.
The Sondra Dynamite, however injured, could see the opening. He could deliver a lethal strike. He could end this. Hell, the red helmets would go home winners. It wasn't that difficult a decision.
But for the first time in Haruki's life, the stakes were impossibly higher.
The realization sat heavily in his chest because he knew.
This was the one battle that victory would mean losing.
Again.
And in that moment, the unexpected happened.
Haruki used whatever was left of his spiritual energy to create a portal. No one had expected that. Not even Konno.
There was a flicker of confusion in Konno's eyes for a split second, but it was all replaced by a smirk, like he already knew what Haruki was planning.
But Haruki…
He was thinking. Considering.
He could take Konno with him through the untraceable portal and leave the battlefield without any key warriors.
No one would be able to track him, and he would finally get his answers while he exhaled. That was the most enticing of choices.
But time wasn't something he could manipulate.
Not to mention the eyes on them.
So, Haruki made the choice for himself. He looked at the familiar ghost one more time, his face blank and unreadable. Then he looked at the warriors who were fighting around now.
He could see Saito coming in his direction, probably to come and check on him. With one last look, Haruki stared at Konno, like a man who was committing a face to memory.
Then he dragged himself in, leaving his men and team on the battlefield with only the sour taste of the unbelievable on their tongues. because this was the one battle he could not afford to win.
The Sondra Dynamite had not been bested.
But he had made a choice.
A very dangerous one.