Fushimi had a headache that felt like his temple was being compressed and twisted his face. He was irritated. He clenched his teeth. The twins, whose fighting style was good at avoiding attacks from anyone other than their target, were avoiding all of Fushimi’s attacks and focusing just on Yata. The fact that he couldn’t get the twin’s attention for more than just a moment was stressing him out. 

Perhaps because of some tacit understand because they were twins, or perhaps because they had spent long years fighting together and were completely in sync, between the two of them there was a perfect connection that didn’t exist between Fushimi and Yata. They didn’t just look alike. They weren’t just twins. He didn’t know what kind of situation they were in, but if they were clansmen of the previous blue king, then they would have had power since they were very young. They had probably always been beside each other, fought together, and gone through many things together just the two of them. 

Their world was complete with just the two of them.

There was no way a superficial connection could win over theirs. 

While tormenting himself, Fushimi felt irritation to the point of pain and noticed something like envy within it, which made him feel sick. They were sharing their world. All of their happiness, unhappiness, pride, thoughts, and memories- that was all shared between them. Clearly, with not even a hint of a gap. 

…So what.

To Fushimi, the pride towards power received from their king, and adoration towards that king that Yata went on about, and the twins waving their power about and enjoying themselves were both not very different in how /distant/ they were. He even thought that they were both the same. 

Apart from Fushimi, who had no way to deal with his irritation, Yata was glaring straight at the twins and had power filling his body. Red, red. His full body was surrounded by the color of the power given to him by that person. He pulled his shirt’s collar down and showed off his ‘mark’ of Homura. 

“On Homura’s honor, I’m going to beat you guys!”

…Aah, this was annoying. 

Yata kicked the ground hard. His board went charging straight at the twins. The red shine surrounding him turned to flames. Having become a fireball, he jumped on his skateboard, cut through the air, and the flames he was wrapped in fluttered. The trailing fire looked like wings. He became like a great crow dancing through the sky, so that the stupid nickname, “Yatagarasu”, that he gave himself almost seemed appropriate.

The twins had also charged their energy to its limit, but even then they avoided taking Yata head on. One jumped left and the other jumped right as Yata dove in between them. After landing, he cut away at the ground with the wheels of his board as he twisted around and went after Hayato. 

Akito aimed for Yata from behind. Even while clicking his tongue, Fushimi blocked Akito’s sword to protect Yata’s back. Fushimi’s knife and Akito’s saber hit each other, and blue and red light fought against each other. Fushimi twisted his wrist to divert the saber, jumped back and tossed a throwing knife.

He thought he had aimed for an opening, but Akito knocked it away. 

“U, ooooooooooh!” Along with a shout from his gut, Yata who was now a single fireball dove at Hayato.

It was the first time any nervousness appeared on Hayato’s face. He dodged Yata’s bat swing at the very last moment. The blue flames spilling from Hayato’s body, proof of his power, were torn away by Yata’s flaming bat. They didn’t cancel each other out. /It had been torn away/. Yata’s powers were above Hayato’s. 

Akito turned pale and tried to go to Hayato’s support. He ran towards Yata’s defenseless back and swung his saber. Fushimi tried to throw another knife… and clicked his tongue.

The throwing knives he had hidden on him had run out with that last one. Yata’s bat and Hayato’s saber connected. Yata was forcing Hayato back. His blue flames were shrinking as though they were overpowered. But Akito was aiming for Yata from behind. In a moment, Fushimi hurriedly calculated.

Pausing against Akito had been a bad idea. Even if he chased Akito, before Fushimi got Akito he would undoubtedly cut Yata first. On top of that, going by how Akito had lost his composure, he likely intended to cut right through Yata. 

But despite that, Yata was looking at no one but his opponent, Hayato. Even though he knew about the twins’ strategy, even though he understood that he was being targeted by both of them at once, he wasn’t paying attention to Akito at all.

(I’ll leave my back to you)

Saying that without even listening to his opinion, Yata defenselessly and blindly trusted him. Yata didn’t think even a little about the possibility of Fushimi messing up or not protecting him.

Along with irritation, Fushimi felt his head start hurting horribly again. He lifted the close range knife in his right hand. If he let go of this, he’d be left unarmed, but Akito would have to be occupied for a moment while knocking it away. The odds would be against him if he used his fists against a saber, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t do it. Fushimi’s knife, containing his power, cut through the air with a sharp noise. 

However, Akito didn’t even try to turn around in order to toss away that knife, nor did he try to dodge it. Fushimi’s knife cut into his shoulder with a thud. It didn’t seem as though he hadn’t noticed Fushimi’s knife fly. He took the knife to his shoulder, and while he faltered for just a moment, he didn’t so much as try to put pressure on the wound. 

Even with a knife sticking out of his right shoulder, Akito supported his sword hand with his left, and swung his saber down with both hands and all his strength. That blade, surrounded in blue light, aimed right for Yata’s defenseless back. Fushimi felt a chill. 

On the spur of the moment, he looked at the knife still in Akito’s shoulder. It still had Fushimi’s power in it, and faintly shone red. He was still connected to that knife. The power of being Suou Mikoto’s clansman that was within his body. He took that and forced it all into the knife he had put his power into. He concentrated until his eyes hurt, and the knife in Akito’s shoulder burned red. 

Even then, until the very last moment, Akito’s will to fight for the sake of saving Hayato didn’t crumble. But, because of Fushimi’s power aimed at his shoulder, he couldn’t hold his saber up anymore and it fell from his hands. 

Akito falling to the ground, and Hayato being struck on his upper arm after creating an opening and stumbled as his power was shaved off happened at nearly the exact same instant. 

Hayato went flying as he took a powered up hit from Yata head on. Yata was also breathing hard after letting loose a full power attack without holding back. The flames surrounding him lessened, and the red light that was proof of his power became weaker. Hayato, who had fallen after going flying, saw Akito lying on the ground with his shoulder torn up, and turned pale.

“Ah, ah….” Spilling a voice like a moan, he widened his thin eyes, and glared death at Yata. 

In response to Hayato shakily getting up, Yata, despite being out of breath, held his bat up, and put a foot on his board so he could leap out at any time. But before the two of them could face off again, two red lights flew, and both of them struck Hayato’s dominant arm. Hayato couldn’t take it and fell again.

“!… Saruhiko!” Yata raised his voice accusingly.

Fushimi had picked up the two knives knocked away by Akito earlier and thrown them. 

“That guy was mine!”

“SHUT UP!”

Fushimi shouted violently.

In response to that furious voice he’d normally never let out, Yata widened his eyes. Fushimi gripped both of his hands into fists, and desperately clenched his teeth to try and bite down his irritation. His head hurt like it was being squeezed again. 

So annoying. So annoying. So annoying. 

Yata’s way of fighting. The way he completely trusted Fushimi- no, trusted his /comrades/ and showed his back to the enemy. Fushimi went up to Hayato, who despite groaning on the ground was still trying to grab his saber, and stomped on his hand. Fushimi kicked the saber away. 

So annoying. So annoying. So annoying. 

The way Yata hadn’t payed any attention to the fact that his life was in danger while only looking ahead, while Fushimi was the only one feeling a chill. 

Every single bit of it hit a nerve.

“Saruhiko.” Yata loudly called to Fushimi once more. Fushimi clicked his tongue, and forcing down the irritation within him, he looked back at the fighting between Homura and Scepter 4 members. 

“…we’ll take down the rest.”

“R, right.” Yata, who looked surprised at Fushimi’s behavior, seemed to have already forgotten his irritation from before.

In response to that simple straightforwardness, Fushimi ground his teeth.