The air in the Combat Club had reached a fever pitch. Derek stood in a relaxed stance, his body flickering like a dying candle, a sign of his Light Kizo preparing for another burst.
"Kinatarou-kun," Derek said, his voice as calm as a summer morning. "Use it. The Black Ice. I want to see the power that everyone's been talking about."
Yuki let out a short, dry breath that wasn't quite a laugh. "I can't."
Derek tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "You choose not to? Or you are testing me?"
"I mean I literally can't," Yuki snapped, his eyes narrowing as he adjusted his footing. "I tried to call on it against Tetsu. I tried it last night. It's like a door that's been welded shut. If I'm going to beat you, I have to do it with what I have right now." Yuki smiled wryly. "And that tone of yours, it's too calm and you're too cool. It's creepy."
Seri, watching from the sidelines, felt her heart hammer against her ribs. She knew Yuki was frustrated, but seeing him stand against a Light-user without any Kizo felt like watching someone try to catch a lightning bolt with their bare hands.
Without a word of warning, Yuki moved. He didn't have the flash of Derek's light, but he had the raw, desperate speed of a boy who had spent his life running through the slums. He blurred, closing the distance in a single, explosive burst. He wasn't aiming for a tactical strike; he swung a heavy, lunging punch aimed straight for Derek's solar plexus.
Derek didn't flinch. He swayed to the left, a trail of white light following his movement like an afterimage. He countered with a flurry of jabs, his fists wrapped in searing, incandescent beams. Each strike hissed through the air, leaving the scent of burnt ozone in its wake.
Yuki felt the heat of the light-wrapped knuckles grazing his skin, but instead of backing away, he did something that made the entire club go silent.
He laughed.
It wasn't a normal laugh. It was a jagged, manic sound that echoed off the high ceilings. Yuki's eyes, usually so calculating and cold, suddenly widened with a terrifying, ecstatic light. His pupils dilated until they nearly swallowed the blue of his irises.
Renjiro stared at Yuki, his eyes locked on this new state. He had seen it before—during their own duel, something very similar had flickered to life.
Yuki only felt this when the odds were stacked so high against him that survival became a gamble. To him, the uncertainty of a win was better than any drug. The fear of death was the only thing that made him feel alive. It was pure pleasure.
"Yes! That's it!" Yuki barked, his voice filled with pure, distorted pleasure. He threw himself back into the fray, his movements becoming erratic and unpredictable.
Derek's calm expression finally broke. A genuine, wide smile stretched across his face. "Incredible... you really are a monster, aren't you?"
The two became a blur of motion in the center of the ring. Derek's light-punches landed on Yuki's shoulders and ribs, searing through his uniform, but Yuki didn't seem to feel the pain. He traded every hit with a savage grin, his own fists swinging with enough force to crack the air. They were no longer sparring; they were two predators enjoying the sensation of a shared struggle.
"This is awesome!" Yuki laughed, dodging a beam of light by a hair's breadth and sliding under Derek's guard to deliver a rib-shattering hook.
Derek caught the punch with a palm that glowed like a miniature sun. The impact sent a shockwave through the mats. A sickening crack echoed through the ring; Derek's hand felt as if it had shattered against the raw momentum of the strike. "Then let us conclude this, Kinatarou-kun!"
Derek leaped back, his hands coming together in a diamond shape. The light in the room seemed to be sucked toward him, concentrating into a single, blinding point of absolute white.
"Solstice Beam!"
The beam was thick and blinding, moving at a speed that defied calculation. Yuki didn't try to dodge. He knew he couldn't. Instead, he crossed his arms in front of his face, bracing every muscle in his body for the impact.
BOOM!
The explosion wasn't just light; it was pure kinetic force. The shockwave shattered the nearby practice mirrors and sent a cloud of dust and scorched matting into the air.
Yuki was launched backward like a stone from a catapult. He flew twenty feet through the air, his body a dark silhouette against the white-hot explosion. He slammed into the reinforced concrete wall of the gym with a sickening thud.
The impact was so violent that a web of deep cracks spiraled out from where his back hit the stone. He slumped to the floor, his arms smoking, his uniform charred.
The room fell into a deathly silence. Seri was the first to move, her scream caught in her throat. Derek stood in the center of the ring, his hands trembling slightly, the glow fading from his skin as he stared at the wall.
But from the pile of dust and rubble at the base of the wall, a low, coughing chuckle emerged.
A low, guttural chuckle vibrated through the room. Yuki pushed himself up, his movements jerky and disjointed. His head was down, his bangs shadowing his eyes, but the "Crazy Mode" grin was still etched onto his face. As he stepped forward, a sudden, unnatural drop in temperature hit the room.
Crrr-ack.
With a sound like a freezing lake, black ice began to bloom from the air itself. It coalesced around Yuki's right hand, forming a jagged, terrifying gauntlet of Black Ice. It wasn't just cold; it looked like solidified shadows, sucking the light out of the room.
Derek's eyes widened, he could feel the cold from where he stood. Renjiro who had witnessed this black ice first hand stared in awe, Seri was only worried about the backlash that Yuki would face.
Yuki didn't speak. He didn't look at the crowd. He simply walked toward Derek with the slow, inevitable pace of a predator.
Derek's calm expression faltered for the first time. He stood his ground, but he raised a hand in warning. "Kinatarou-kun, stop. The duel is over. You were knocked out of bounds. There is no need for this."
Yuki didn't answer. He didn't seem to hear him. His gaze was fixed on Derek's throat, his fist pulled back as the Black Ice gauntlet grew more intricate, sharp spikes of frozen void protruding from the knuckles. He was less a student now and more an avatar of mindless destruction.
He reached Derek and swung.
"That's enough!"
WHACK!
Before the black ice could connect, a hand clamped onto Yuki's wrist, and a sharp blow landed squarely on the top of his head.
Yuki's head snapped forward, and the dark aura vanished instantly. The gauntlet shattered into a thousand harmless glass-like shards before evaporating into mist. Yuki blinked, the manic light in his eyes fading into his usual, tired blue.
"Ow..." Yuki groaned, rubbing the growing bump on his head. He looked up to see Seri standing over him, her face a mixture of fury and genuine worry.
"You idiot!" Seri hissed, her voice trembling. "The fight ended ten seconds ago! You were about to commit assault!"
Yuki looked around, his confusion evident. "I... I was? Wait, did I win?"
"Kinatarou-kun," Derek said, stepping forward with a graceful, easy gait. Up close, Derek was undeniably striking. His black hair was perfectly styled despite the fight, and his light orange eyes—which seemed to mirror the very sun he channeled—held a look of deep curiosity.
Derek extended a hand. The light around him had settled into a warm, inviting glow.
Yuki looked at the hand, then up at Derek's handsome, calm face. He reached out and shook it firmly. "You're way too fast, Derek-san. My ribs feel like they've been through a trash compactor."
"And your strength is... unusual," Derek replied. "I have never seen someone move with such pleasure in the face of defeat."
Yuki grinned, his sheepish, clumsy persona returning. "Hey, since we've already tried to kill each other, do you want to be friends? I feel like I could learn a lot from a guy who shoots lasers."
Derek paused, then gave a small, genuine nod.