Editing City Series:Volume4b Chapter 8 (section)

===Part 1===

'''6:00 AM

Shoui and Souichirou’s match began as they faced each other.

They were on a flat beach. The sun was just beginning to show its bright circle over the mountains.

The two of them stood and faced each other without exchanging a greeting.

And with a hint of exhaustion on his face, Souichirou spoke a single word to Shoui.

“…Sorry.”

He said nothing more.

He did not need to.

He knew who his opponent was and he knew their background.

He also knew their skill.

And he knew what he should do and what was necessary.

The two of them stood there with no need for words.

Shoui pulled a golden ring from his pocket and clenched it in his left fist.

And he looked to his feet.

Their shadows stretched long across the beach and toward the ocean.

The ocean was to Shoui’s left and to Souichirou’s right.

They heard the splashing of the waves as those waves washed across the heads of their shadows.

And after several waves crashed, the shadows silently took their combat stances.

Two two-dimensional afterimages slowly moved on the sand.

One shadow raised a sword.

The other raised its guard to protect its face.

The former was Souichirou’s shadow and the latter was Shoui’s.

Both their stances were unique.

Souichirou held his drawn sword down and below his side like an iai pose.

Shoui leaned forward much like the peek-a-boo style of boxing.

Neither stance allowed them to escape.

They were both on the verge of moving.

But that did not happen and neither of them took action.

Time passed as they held their poses.

They looked each other in the eye as the waves continued to crash.

It looked like it had all ended after they took their stances.

The crashing of the waves grew louder.

But they still did not move.

They could not move.

There was a reason for this: their stances and tactics fit together too well.

Souichirou held his sword in a ''go no sen'' stance that was meant to counterattack once the opponent approached.

Shoui held his fists in a ''sen no sen'' stance that was meant to charge up to his opponent to attack.

''Go no sen'' meant to take action after seeing your opponent move and to get your attack in before theirs.

''Sen no sen'' meant to move before your opponent could and to get your attack in first.

Both stances did not take a second attack into consideration.

Whoever hit fastest would win.

They could not move carelessly.

–''Shoui – Mind Tech – Take – Decode Expression – Hit.

–''Souichirou – Mind Tech – Take – Decode Expression – Hit.

They searched each other’s expressions, but that changed nothing.

They were too focused to hide their expressions.

And Shoui moved slowly enough to not show an opening.

He changed his stance.

Slowly and silently, he pulled his left fist back and turned his body at an angle while making sure he did not leave an opening for attack.

–''Shoui – Gym Tech – Take – Change Stance – Hit.

Souichirou similarly altered his stance.

–''Souichirou – Gym Tech – Take – Change Stance – Hit.

“…”

The sun moved one spot higher into the sky before they finished.

Shoui was turned to the side.

He held his left fist by his waist and his right hand a bit out in front.

This stance allowed him to make a powerful step forward and swing his entire body to throw his left fist.

It was the same stance he had used to destroy the dorm door with Nakamura on the other side.

Since he could throw his fist while stepping forward, he could attack in a single action instead of needing the two beats of movement with the ''sen no sen''.

He had used the heel of his palm on the dorm door, but now he clenched his fist for the slight bit of extra reach.

The speed of a single finger’s length could decide this battle.

He lightly clenched the fist and gathered strength in the shoulder and elbow.

His fist would fly with great speed once he moved.

Meanwhile, Souichirou had a similar idea.

He prepared a thrusting stance just like when he had faced Nakamura.

He normally held his sword low to cut with the front of the blade, but now he held it at a mid-level height to stab with the tip. That was the fastest strike possible with a sword.

[[Image:City_v04b_297.jpg|thumb]]

And the small point of the sword tip was hard to see and thus hard to dodge.

It was still a ''go no sen'' technique, but the great difference in reach and speed would make up for acting second.

However, there was another small factor that could decide this match.

–''Shoui – Break High/Boxing Tech – Multi-Take – Break High Charge – Hit.

That was the Rhythms.

Shoui could use a Rhythm, but Souichirou could not.

The white light of breaking burst from Shoui’s fist, but the blade of Souichirou’s Device remained silent.

That difference in meaning was crucial.

A single touch from Shoui’s fist could carve the meaning of an impact into his opponent’s body, but Souichirou’s Device could only do damage once its blade tip stabbed into his opponent’s flesh.

Kusanagi could scatter everything if even the sword’s pressure hit someone.

Souichirou had always relied on that power, so this was a first for him.

He had a handicap both practically and mentally.

If that led to hesitation, the superior reach of his sword would mean nothing.

“…”

–''Shoui – Mind Tech – Take – Decode Expression – Hit.

–''Souichirou – Mind Tech – Take – Decode Expression – Hit.

Their expressions were the same as before.

They did not move.

They sped up, gathered strength, and made every preparation for victory, but they did not move.

Time passed and the waves washed across the shoulders of their shadows.

A sudden female voice reached them from the distance.

“Shoui!?”

It was Nagoya Chancellor Yamashita Taeko.

While turned to the side, Shoui reacted to that voice by lowering his gaze somewhat.

Souichirou immediately responded to that movement.

–''Souichirou – Boxing/Savate/Gym/Sword Tech – Multi-Take – Full Speed Strike – Hit!

He did not move.

It was a pure thrust.

A straight line reflected the morning sun as it made a swift and accurate movement.

Shoui reacted by dodging.

He had to move up to his opponent.

Would he circle to the left or the right?

There were only two options.

And his vision answered that question.

–''Shoui – Sight/Gym/Savate/Dodge Tech – Counter-Multi-Take – Dodge –

He had seen his and Souichirou’s shadows on the beach.

Souichirou’s shadow silently showed his blade as well.

The three-dimensional thrust became a two-dimensional action when viewed through the shadow.

His options of dodging left or right were replaced with two other options: above or below.

''– Hit!!

He chose below.

His shadow ducked below the straight line shadow racing across the beach.

He was fast.

His feet tossed sand into the air.

His fist flew.

He made a counterattack against Souichirou’s step forward.

He was moving even further ahead of Souichirou’s ''go no sen'' attack.

He ignored the blade racing by overhead and took aim while ducked low.

His target was Souichirou’s solar plexus.

Even if that Osaka Chancellor had replaced so much of his body with prosthetics, a heavy blow to the center of his body would do some damage.

This would be the end for a normal Strike Forcer.

And it should have been so here.

But Souichirou was not normal.

–''Shoui – Sight Tech – Auto-Take – Spot – Hit.

The movement Shoui saw was proof enough of that.

“!?”

It was an instantaneous movement.

Souichirou’s left hand let go of the hilt, formed a fist, and punched the back of the blade from above.

The straight forward line of the thrust had its vector shifted downward.

The Device was essentially swinging down from above.

–''Souichirou – Boxing/Sword Tech – Multi-Take – Extra Attack – Hit!

–''Shoui – Gym/Savate/Dodge Tech – Counter-Multi-Take – Jumping Dodge – Hit!!

The attacker was far from normal, but the dodger was just as abnormal.

Shoui leaped toward the water.

His hands and feet landed on the wet sand and he formed a proper stance once more.

By that time, Souichirou was already moving.

He let go of and abandoned the Device as it swung down in his right hand.

He could not move swiftly with the heavy Device in hand.

He turned toward Shoui and charged toward him while reaching his left hand for the short sword at his waist.

That automatically meant he held it low.

It was a lot like his usual attack.

–''Souichirou – Boxing/Savate/Gym/Sword Tech – Multi-Take – Upwards Diagonal Strike – Hit!

Shoui tried to dodge.

But…

–''Shoui – Gym/Savate/Dodge Tech – Counter-Multi-Take – Jumping Dodge – Miss!!

“…!?”

Nothing about the timing kept him from dodging.

He failed for another reason.

A wave had washed up at his feet.

His feet sank into the sand.

In no time at all, Souichirou swung his short sword in sweeping motion.

It audibly sliced through the air.

And before that sound ended, a vertical cut raced up Shoui’s chest.

The anti-shock reflective material of his inner suit provided no protection against a slicing power like this.

He was cut.

He did not bleed yet. So soon after being cut, the muscles had contracted and the blood vessels were squeezed shut.

But the blood would come a breath later.

And it did.

The bone had not been cut, so it was only a light spray of blood.

But it was not over yet.

Before the wave could recede, Souichirou raised his blade for another attack.

He moved fast.

His actions and resolve showed no mercy.

The next attack would definitely slice Shoui through from head to crotch.

And…

“Ah.”

Souichirou weakly released his voice.

And that voice grew stronger as the silver arc began down its path.

“Ah…!”

His voice became his Words.

In his case, that was only a single sound.

“!”

Great pressure filled the short sword.

It was Kusanagi.

A powerful shimmering surrounded the attack as it moved to take down Shoui.

Kusanagi was swung to defeat the one who had dodged its attack and tried to make an attack of his own.

A direct hit would mean death.

And for Shoui, this was the repeat of a nightmare.