He woke up, straightened himself, and looked around. The crowd was still there, so he slipped into it and moved forward until he could see the field. On the field, 29 was still fighting, and her opponent was someone Aka didn't recognize. Aka asked someone in the crowd how many matches 29 had fought. The man didn't answer him, and it was clear that what Aka had done had really destroyed all the respect they had for him. But he didn't give up and asked three or four other people until finally one of them replied.
"Five." Yes, after Aka, 29 had actually beaten 3 people in a row, and now she was fighting the fourth. But she didn't look like she could win this one. She was badly wounded and moving slowly, while her opponent made no mistakes and wasn't tired at all, so he could easily handle 29.
It looked like 29 finally couldn't take it anymore and collapsed to the ground. Her opponent, Number 53, quickly moved forward, raised his foot to land the final kick, but 29 did exactly what Aka had once done to her. She lunged forward from the ground, grabbed 53's standing leg, and pulled him down. Without giving him any chance, she stabbed her dagger into three gaps in his armor. But 53 did not fall, and he mercilessly punched 29 until she passed out.
Aka stepped onto the field alone, lifted 29 into his arms, and carried her out. He took her to the healer and left her there. After the healer treated her, Aka sat on the ground, letting 29 rest with her head on his leg, and waited there quietly until she woke up.
When 29 opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Aka watching her with a worried face. But without even thinking twice, she threw a punch at him and immediately stood up, heading straight to her room. Aka followed her, and they both went inside. But when they entered, 29 didn't sit down. She simply waited for Aka to come closer, and when he did, she beat him as if she truly meant to kill him. Maybe she didn't use her dagger, but she still used her whole strength against him.
While she was hitting him, she said things like, "Who do you think you are?" and "You were a rookie just yesterday, and now you pity me?" But Aka didn't respond or react at all. 29 kept hitting him until she got tired, then she went and sat on the bed. Aka got up from the ground and sat beside her. He apologized to her with complete sincerity, but 29 still hadn't forgiven him. When she sensed Aka trying to rest his head on her shoulder, she pushed him away and beat him again until she was exhausted.
Once more, Aka didn't react. He simply waited for her to finish and sit down. When she finally sat down, he went to sit beside her again. But this time, 29 didn't do anything. In a cold voice, she said, "Let's not see each other for a while, Aka." Aka said nothing and left for his room. But he couldn't sleep from regret, so he went to the training area and turned his anger toward himself into training.
Even if he wasn't always smart, he still thought of himself as a generally intelligent person. Yet he couldn't understand how he could have been this stupid, this lacking in understanding. The healer was there. As long as he didn't kill anyone, whatever happened, they would be healed. On top of that, maybe during the fight they would discover new techniques, and it could have inspired him, 29, and the whole community. But Aka didn't do that. He just avoided the fight.
Aka grew stronger because he always did everything he could. But without even realizing it, he hadn't fought the strongest person he had ever seen, the one who could improve him the most. And worse, he might have just failed his first exam without knowing it. From now on, in a major test, his opponent might fight to kill him. On this day, Aka had truly lost so much.
But what was done was done, and eventually Aka realized it too. All he wanted now was for 29 to forgive him and for things to go back to how they used to be. Aka left the training area and went to 29's room. He couldn't tell if she was asleep, but instead of lying next to her, he sat directly across from her. He stayed there silently watching her, and while he watched, he slowly fell asleep too.
He woke with pain, opening his eyes to find 29 standing in front of him, punching him. Aka calmly sat up, and despite 29 continuing to swing at him, he got closer and closer until he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry for being this stupid. I didn't realize I was belittling you," he said, still holding her tightly. They stayed like that for a long time. They had no real sense of time anymore, so they didn't know how many minutes passed, but it was long.
At one point, 29 pushed Aka away and said, "I haven't forgiven you, you bastard. I won't forgive you until you beat me in a real fight. Until then, we're not the way we used to be." All Aka could do was accept it. He hugged her one last time and then quickly left the room, heading straight to the training area again.
After training for a long while, he went back and blended into the crowd. He watched the fight on the field until it ended. Then he stepped forward and stood in front of his opponent. Before the fight even started, he apologized to everyone and then took a serious guard stance, fully ready to fight.
If you've read or taken a look, thank you so much. If you have any thoughts — good or bad — please leave a comment. I'll probably see and reply right away. Thanks again, and I wish you a great day.