Editing Internet Shrine Maiden Tsugumi-chan:Volume1 Chapter6 (section)

===Part 6===

The first one to act was the detective.

He didn’t hesitate.

“…”

Trying to count his actions using his breaths or steps was a mistake.

He seemed to slide right on up to her.

Could you intentionally hide the timing of your actions if you mastered the basic action of sliding your feet?

Something loudly struck at the air.

The online shrine maiden grimaced and backed away.

She felt a throbbing pain in her right wrist and side. As she had suspected, the biggest threat was the long black hair wrapped around his right arm. It made his fingers unnaturally long. The actual extension couldn’t have been more than 10cm, but that slight change could be the difference between life and death.

But. This hadn’t even been a physical blow.

His finishing blow took a different form.

“Kh!!”

“You can’t win.”

Hisame Kouga’s martial arts were based on the combination of karate, judo, and kendo taught to the police. If she hadn’t known that, he would have grabbed her by the sleeve and collar and thrown her.

Tsumugi was short. Her small body meant her arms and legs had a shorter reach. And her long hair and her shrine maiden sleeves and hakama gave an opponent plenty to grasp.

Her outfit simply wasn’t designed for fighting living humans.

“Tsumugi, you can’t beat me. This isn’t just a matter of logic. Your fight is to take revenge on Hibashi-sama and rebuild your shrine. But that fight won’t save anyone other than yourself.”

“Shut up…”

They were atop a construction site made from steel beams connected like a jungle gym, but that didn’t mean they had to travel along a grid. There was a passage that meandered in an S-shape and a lot of areas where the beams were positioned more densely. Those were probably where a giant water tank would go, but by running through those areas, it was possible to jump diagonally between the lengthwise and widthwise beams that were close enough together.

She had to stay on the move. And never let him predict her next action.

His punches and kicks were flashy, but they were no more than the groundwork for ensuring he could grab her. Maybe he would punch her in the nose to make her see stars, or maybe he would kick her in the side to knock the breath out of her. Once she had stopped, he would immediately grab her and pin her down.

“If you want to fight the Malign Spirits who exist outside this world’s rules, then become someone who can save people. Police martial arts let you fight without shedding any blood. That way you can even save the criminal. You’re no match for me as long as you get that very first step wrong.”

“Don’t lecture me when you’re the one who’s gone astray!!”

Tsumugi wasn’t used to dealing with a living person possessed by a spirit.

Was the detective being influenced by Hasshaku-sama?

If so, it meant he had sympathized with her reasons.

He didn’t seem to be a puppet. She could sense his own will here. Strongly.

And his strength was extraordinary.

The physical blows were less a concern than the grabs. And worse than that would be the choke holds and joint locks. In judo and wrestling, there was a time limit after someone was pinned down. That was because everyone the world over accepted that you couldn’t break free afterwards.

She blocked another hit.

She swept it aside to ensure she didn’t freeze up and get caught. The throbbing pain refused to fade.

Was that really a human fist? She was amazed the flesh hadn’t been torn from her arm.

But the detective actually seemed a little impressed.

“You escaped the chest piercer? That was supposed to hit the center of your chest instead of your arm. The quick blow to the heart causes the mind and body to freeze up with fear.”

“You would attack a girl’s chest?”

“It is one of your many weak points.”

It was best not to trust him about that chest piercer or whatever. She couldn’t say for sure if that attack had really been aimed at her chest. And the detective wouldn’t foolishly make the same attack over and over, risking the possibility of a cross counter.

Hisame Kouga had far more cards in his deck, so she would remain at a disadvantage like this.

The online shrine maiden bit her lip. Hard.

It was time to steel herself.

(I know I can’t defeat him unharmed. I can take a hit or two. As long as he doesn’t actually grab me, I just have to rush in and knock him out.)

“Are you underestimating me because my martial arts aren’t meant to kill, Tsumugi?”

''Thud.

It wasn’t possible, but Tsumugi imagined the steel beam bent below the detective’s foot as he stepped toward her.

That was just how great the weight, presence, and pressure he gave off were.

An unpleasant sweat covered the online shrine maiden’s brow. Her feet were pinned before he even made his move.

“What I trained in didn’t draw on karate, kendo, judo, and other modern martial arts made safe enough to function as a sport. Department 1 continues to independently develop a more old-fashioned martial art that includes a few forms of truly ''martial'' arts that have been honed into something high-tech. If it will neutralize a dangerous criminal without killing them, we are willing to break their collarbone, rib, or even Achilles tendon. ''As long as they can still speak in court, we can break everything else.'' I was only a police detective for a few years, but you already know that there are criminal organizations in and outside the country that still tremble in their boots and freeze up if they run across Hisame Kouga, don’t you?”

“…”

“They say they’d prefer a painless death brought by a bullet.”

“Tch!!”

(How did he realize I was planning to charge him? This isn’t just an issue of speed or weight. Is he predicting my very thoughts?)

The detective used the ultimate form of modern martial arts that continued to evolve in its use against real criminals.

He was the polar opposite of Tsumugi and her battle against the paranormal. He was untouchable when up against a living human.

Tsumugi’s fighting style was adapted from the martial arts demonstrations used as divine offerings – where a single person would put on a performance of being defeated by the unseen god to make the god look powerful and provide that victory as an offering – so maybe her kata were simply too obvious. Not to mention that the martial arts used as an offering to a god didn’t take dirty tricks into account.

So a change of plans. If he could tell what she was gong to do, she just had to weave in some other attacks to throw him off. She took a quick glance around and noted the locations of a thick wire, a metal pipe, and so on.

And.

She saw something there.

“Tsu…mu…”

There was something there.

A voice. A voice calling her name. A familiar voice, but not the detective’s.

A female voice.

She gasped. From the inescapable guilt of having survived when no one else had.

Fire appeared in her mind’s eye.

She saw the blazing torii and the hellscape that lay beyond. Including the ''older shrine maiden'' who had vanished among the ash and char.

“Tsumugi. Oh, thank goodness. You’ve grown up so much.”

(No. Why-)

“L e t ’ s  p l a y.”

A different voice drowned it out.

The cause of it all.

That sweetly alluring but thoroughly rotten female voice that caused her skin to crawl whenever it hit her eardrums.

“Cackle cackle <span style="font-size:125%">cackle cackle</span> cackle cackle CACKLE CACKLE CACKLE cackle cackle cackle cackle!!!”

Yes, a voice.

Hasshaku-sama could accurately mimic people’s voices.

She did so to confuse the living and drive them to self-destruction.

Tsumugi knew that, but still the rage rushed to her head. She couldn’t stop herself.

He would use this?

He would use the lowest of trump cards that was guaranteed to stir up her emotions whether she liked it or not?

“Detectiiiiiiiiiiive!!!”

The rage had faded by the time they clashed next.

He had lured her in.

She blocked a few blows and just barely avoided his grasping fingers by swinging her sleeve out of the way.

She gritted her teeth against the gouging pain. Did the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department really teach this?

Maybe it was meant to break bones or joints even through bulletproof gear.

If the blows meant as setup did this much damage when she blocked them, what would happen if he ever did actually grab her?

(Wait. Wait.)

An unpleasant sweat poured from the online shrine maiden’s body.

The detective looked unconcerned.

“You noticed?”

“You…”

“All you have are your small firework attacks, so you only have the setup. You don’t have any holds or locks that can end this.”

He had been the strongest of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s detectives.

Criminal organizations inside and outside the country trembled in fear at the mere mention of his name.

But after finding a case he couldn’t solve within the organization, he hadn’t hesitated to go private.

She was fundamentally not on his level.

“What’s wrong? Are you sure backing away from me is the best move?”

“…”

“The police don’t just use their bare hands and batons. We’re also trained to use this.”

(''A handgun''!?)

She didn’t even have time to breathe. Tsumugi rushed forward. If she didn’t stop him before he could reach into his suit, she would be killed.

But Hisame Kouga’s right hand simply clenched into a fist.

He had tricked her again.

“!?”

She immediately ducked low. She was already short, so this forced him to swung down toward her. Reducing his options had to increase her odds of successfully defending.

Stars danced before her eyes.

Her prediction, influenced by optimism and wishful thinking, was easily betrayed.

His fist hit her in the bridge of the nose.

She belatedly realized it had been a rising blow like an uppercut. Her equilibrium wavered. She tensed in fear of slipping off of the giant jungle gym.

Uh, oh.

She heard two things swishing through the air toward her starry vision.

The master of police martial arts was already reaching his arms toward her.

If he grabbed her, it was over.

(Aim low!!)

Her vision hadn’t returned, but she couldn’t wait for it to.

But he couldn’t use his hands to block an attack aimed below his knees.

After drawing his focus down with a whiplike kick, her red hakama fluttered up in a high roundhouse kick.

She froze in place.

The detective had caught her ankle.

She didn’t have time to feel the chill down her spine.

(Not even a kick is powerful enough!? Am I just too light? Argh, I should have taken his legs out from under him with a tackle!!)

“Kh!!”

Logic wasn’t enough. She just wasn’t used to fighting humans. At this point, she would accept even blinding him briefly. With her ankle still in his grasp, she pulled a firecracker from her sleeve, lit it with the oil lighter, and threw it.

Hisame Kouga said nothing.

His grip on her leg suddenly vanished.

A metallic “gong!!” as if from a Buddhist temple bell rang out.

He had kicked hard off the steel beam below their feet.

And leaped.

It was impossible.

With no running start and no tools, the detective had jumped well over 3 meters straight up!?

(Is he borrowing Hasshaku-sama’s pow-)

“Khahh!!”

It hit her in the top of the head.

His foot flew along a curving path to hit her.

The flavor of blood in her mouth scared her less than the sensation of solid ground vanishing below her feet.

She was falling.

Instead of trying to fight it, she dropped to the next level down on the jungle gym. As soon as she landed, she rolled forward to somehow avoid the detective’s feet as he jumped down after her.

Hisame Kouga was certainly strong.

(Kh, this is still better than a Malign Spirit since even a touch from them is usually deadly!!)

She had to focus on the positives.

Only professional martial artists could instantly knock someone out in a single blow. The actual problem was the less-than-a-second freeze after being hit. So even with her head feeling woozy, Tsumugi had no choice but to keep moving.

Besides, that hadn’t been normal.

Even if she was equipped with professional tools of the trade, they were really only firecrackers. If he were okay with some mild burns, he could have continued reaching out and grabbed her by the collar or sleeve.

Yet he hadn’t.

More than that, he had used Hasshaku-sama’s power to jump more than three meters straight up.

He had supposedly mastered high-speed movement without picking his feet up off the ground, but he had thrown all that out there. Jumping had become his top priority.

Which had to mean…

(''He was avoiding the fireworks''?)

Tsumugi’s eyes widened as she made fast but irregular movements to keep him from predicting her.

It couldn’t have been simple burns he feared.

It must have been an instinctual thing.

On a more fundamental level, Hisame Kouga had taken a step toward being a Malign Spirit. In payment for borrowing Hasshaku-sama’s power, the rules of the dead were beginning to apply to him.