Chivalry of a Failed Knight Vol. 2

Ms. Oreki still hadn’t understood; Ikki had probably thirsted for victory more than anyone. She had known him ever since his entrance exam, where she was the proctor. There had never been an examinee more driven and determined than Ikki.

Her heart had still ached for the year that had been wasted because of the irrational world he was thrust into, but he’d finally been given a fair chance. If anyone should have been willing to fight dirty, it ought to have been Ikki. How could he have just bowed and let his opponent commit the greatest taboo among knights?

“Could you at least tell me why?”

“Because I want to believe in her.”

“You want to ‘believe in her’?”

“Yes. After what happened last night, I’ve been thinking. If I cut ties with Ayatsuji, like my friend Alice said I might have to, I can easily win by getting her disqualified. But is that really what I want? No matter how much I rack my brain over it, I can’t find the answer. Still, there’s one thing I know for sure.”

“What’s that?”

“I know in my heart that I don’t want to cut ties with her. Until the very last moment, I’ve decided that I want to believe in Ayatsuji. Something must be driving her into a corner and making her lose sight of herself.”

Ikki had remembered the childlike smile on Ayase’s face when she’d gotten closer to her father’s mastery of swordplay. He had remembered when she’d said she liked his hands, rough and calloused from swinging bamboo swords. There was absolutely no way those had been fake.

“So I’ve decided to believe not in the Ayatsuji from last night, but the one from every day before it.”

When someone was desperate, they would become blinder than they themselves knew, until they were blind to even themselves. Ikki had known that very well. He’d also known that only the words of someone who cared deeply for them could save a person like that. If Ayase had been as desperate as Ikki had, and if she had been failing to hear the cries of her heart…

“I want to help her. So please, Ms. Oreki, give me one last chance to figure out who she truly is.”

This kid… she’d thought. What sort of knight could refuse a request like that?

“Be forever just. Be sincere, even to your enemies.” Every knight out there saw those traits in their ideal self. Ms. Oreki was no different, so she had accepted Ikki’s request.

She had noticed Ayase’s cheating as soon as it had started, but she’d held her tongue, ready to leave the match—and one girl’s heart—in Ikki’s hands. She had been cautiously, quietly watching over him, but she never thoughtlessly interfered.

Save your friend, Ikki.

◆◆◆

In truth, Ikki had held the whole battle in the palm of his hands from the outset. He’d even known about all the traps that had been set in the arena and seen through Ayase’s plan to wrap up the battle quickly. That was exactly why Ikki charged at her at the very start, pretending to try to win in one fell swoop. It was all for the sake of communicating with her through their swords.

I should have done this at the start.

Ikki smiled wryly at his own stupidity. It had taken him an entire month to discover how his girlfriend, the closest person in the world to him, felt. Of course he wouldn’t be able to understand Ayase just by talking to her.

The sword was the only way. Crossing swords was the one way for him to see into someone’s heart, and finally, he had seen the truth within Ayase.

“Good. You’re just the person I thought you were, Ayatsuji.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re not the kind of person who can make mistakes like that so calmly.”

“What a ridiculous thing to say. Ahahah. Your body is in tatters, and you’re still going to say nonsense like that? How soft can you be?”

Ayase smirked at Ikki contemptuously, ridiculing him just like she had mere hours ago on the rooftop. Ikki, however, would no longer be deceived by her flimsy, false expression, because swords couldn’t lie.

“It’s not nonsense. Your swordplay, your footwork, your rhythm, your breathing—every part of you is off. You can’t perform the moves you’ve known all your life, let alone replicate what I taught you. Even your forte, your counter, is stilted. That’s why it was so easy to block. No matter how much you build yourself up as some kind of villain, you can’t fool your soul. If heart, technique, and strength make up swordplay, then a lost heart can’t produce real power. You’re more noble than you think, Ayatsuji.”

“Y-You’re wrong!” There was more emotion in Ayase’s voice after Ikki had pointed out the truth. “I’m not lost! I learned the truth two years ago! No matter how nobly you fight, it’s all worthless if you lose! Being a goody-two-shoes doesn’t mean anything if you can’t produce results! You can’t protect if you can’t win, so the only thing you can do is win, no matter what it takes! Win, no matter the cost, and take back what’s yours!”

More than a counterargument, it sounded like Ayase was scolding herself. Ikki recognized this: she was becoming desperate and ignoring the cries of her heart, just like he once had.

“Then there’s only one thing I can do. I have to make you hear the cries of your heart.” That was Ikki’s sole duty, so he pointed Intetsu at her and made a declaration: “I’ll use my greatest weakness to bring back your honor.”

◆◆◆

“Oh, what’s this?! Kurogane has crouched down, possibly in preparation for another charge! Even after taking those mysterious attacks, I don’t see any fear on his face! The Worst One is ready to take the offensive! Could he have figured out the source of those invisible slashes?!”

Ayase reacted instantly, stepping farther away from him until there was about a hundred feet between them. She appeared calm, but internally, she was panicking.

Me, in the wrong?! The “cries of my heart”?! What nonsense. That can’t possibly be true. No matter what it takes, I have to get the dojo back and let my father be at peace! She wasn’t lost; she wasn’t trying to fool herself. Ikki was just lying in hopes of confusing her. Ayase forced herself to believe that, trying not to think too deeply about it. If he thinks I’m in the wrong, then I’ll show him just how wrong I am while I win this fight!

The hundred feet between them was a veritable minefield of invisible cuts. She had memorized the speed at which he charged the first time, allowing her to unleash her Marks of the Wind with even more lethal timing.

“Here I come, Ayatsuji,” Ikki said, his body righting itself as he leaped forward.

Got you!

Responding to his charge, Ayase opened a Mark of the Wind right in front of him. The air was rent open, creating a guillotine in the resulting vacuum that would tear through anything it touched. The moment it touched Ikki, he would be in a world of hurt.

“Wha—?!”

Ikki Kurogane moved like a bullet, even faster than he had at the start of the match. By the time the vacuum had opened, he was already past it, leaving Ayase’s invisible blade behind.

I’ve seen that speed before… Ittou Shura!

“What incredible speed! Kurogane has finally whipped out his trump card, Ittou Shura!”

H-How?! I thought I took care of that!

“Hm. That’s not Ittou Shura, though.” Ms. Oreki’s voice cut into Ayase’s confused mind.

“Oh? Are you sure, Ms. Oreki?”

“He’s just speeding up by emitting mana, like anyone else would.”

Mana emission?! Ayase finally realized her mistake.

Mana emission was a basic technique that most Blazers—Ayase included—used subconsciously to increase their speed. To use it, all they had to do was release magical power.

“Kurogane has much less magical power than the average Blazer. If he used mana emission like anyone else, he would run out after just one or two uses, so he normally doesn’t use it. That doesn’t mean he can’t use it at will, though. He’s unable to use Ittou Shura for some reason, so he’s using this instead.”

Ms. Oreki was right; “doesn’t use it” and “can’t use it” were different. Ikki didn’t usually have the mana to spare, so he chose not to use it. However, since he had yet to recover enough magical power to use Ittou Shura, there was no point in hesitating to use mana emission, and that was exactly what he’d done. By emitting all of the magical power left in his body at once, he was able to move with speed that rivaled even Ittou Shura.

I was too focused on Ittou Shura!

That was a fatal error. Ikki was already nearing attacking range with his super speed, so Ayase wouldn’t be able to use any Marks of the Wind in time. She had been taken completely by surprise.

This isn’t over yet! Ikki stepped into range. Crossing swords was inevitable. But once, just once, Ayase had to do everything she could to endure his attack and escape. If she could, Ikki would run out of mana, leaving him unable to perform that bullet-like charge again. That’s my only chance to win! I have to overcome this, no matter what!

Ayase shrieked and swung Hizume at Ikki, but all it cut through was thin air.

“Huh…?”

Ikki had definitely been right in front of her. She’d swung with all of her might, but her blade had only just grazed the tip of her enemy’s nose. Had she miscalculated the distance between them?

That wasn’t it. Ikki had definitely been within striking distance. Like a mirage, however, he disappeared when he approached. Another Ikki had been running behind him.

Ayase’s mind went blank. Nothing made sense anymore—a natural reaction to what had just occurred. It was yet another one of Ikki’s original skills, much like Raikou, his Seventh Secret Sword. By radically adjusting his speed as he moved, Ikki could create afterimages in front of him, fooling his opponent into thinking he was closer than he really was.

“Fourth Secret Sword: Shinkirou!”

Not a second later, Intetsu tore through both the air and Ayase, who was still recovering from her full-power swing.

◆◆◆

“It’s all oveeeeeeeeeer! Kurogane has made a perfectly clean hit!” The announcer wrapped up the events as the crowd erupted into cheers. “Ayatsuji has fallen to her knees, but she’s not bleeding! Did he?”

“Cough, cough. Yes. Ikki changed his sword to Phantom Form before he attacked.”

“Then she’s just exhausted? She’s not dying?”

“Right.”

“But why did he do that? Is he scared of hurting girls?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, he even cut me once. I think he was planning to exhaust her from the very start, because he’s not here just to win.”

Ms. Oreki whispered the last part so nobody would hear, then looked back down at the arena, where Ayase was in the process of trying to get up off her hands and knees. Her body trembled as she looked up and glared at Ikki, who stood stock-still above her.

“What are… you doing?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t play dumb. Why didn’t you finish me off?!”

“Why would I do that? Either way, you can’t fight anymore.”

He’s toying with me!

Ikki was just trying to embarrass her. Taking that as an insult, Ayase continued putting all of her remaining strength into getting up. Because Ikki’s Device was in Phantom Form, it had only drained her of her energy; she had taken no actual wounds. Ayase was confident in her stamina, however, because she could keep up with Ikki’s daily runs with energy to spare. The fatigue she felt was nothing to her.

“…Huh?”

Or so she thought, but she couldn’t muster up the energy to stand.

“Why?”

If she couldn’t stand up—if she couldn’t win the fight—it was all over for her. She wouldn’t be able to save her father. So why?

Was my heart always this cold? Could this be the cry of my heart?

Her heart didn’t even have enough resolve to drag the strength from her body and help her stand up. Finally aware of that, Ayase realized that her heart was rejecting her ignoble fight. The only reason people were able to stand when cornered was that they had pride.

You can still do it. Do it. Don’t give up. It would urge the body and soul on. That was how Ayase had always kept pushing forward. No matter how hard it was to train, no matter how much the blisters on her hands popped and stung, she still had pride in herself for using the Ayatsuji Single-Blade Style. But she had foregone her pride.

“You were right, Kurogane.” She didn’t have the energy to stand. “I’ve lost.”

◆◆◆

“Ayatsuji has just surrendered! The battle is finiiiiished! Once again, Ikki Kurogane, the Worst One, has claimed victory! He’s on an eleven-win streak, with names like The Hunter and Runner’s High checked off his list! I’d bet money that his spot at the Seven Stars is all but guaranteed now!”

Casting a sidelong glance at the wild crowd, Ayase smiled dryly.

“I’m pathetic. I fought like a coward, and I couldn’t even see that all the way through.”

She laughed at herself, pulled so far in either direction that she’d torn and was no longer whole.

“You’re not pathetic at all.” Ikki rejected her self-loathing.

“Huh?”

“You were lost, you made mistakes, and you had become blind, but you never threw away your father’s style. That’s where your strength comes from.” Ikki offered his hand to Ayase and asked, “Tell me, Ayatsuji: What did the Sword Eater take from you? What’s eating you up inside like this?”

“What’s the point in asking?”

“I’m going to take it back for you.”

There was no hesitation or trickery in his voice. He was clearly ready to fight for Ayase if she was willing to trust him. She knew as much, and that was why she couldn’t say.

“I can’t tell you. It’s not your problem, Kurogane.”

She couldn’t ask him to fight such a monster. She couldn’t let him get hurt for the sake of such a half-hearted loser like her, so she kept her secret.

Nobody else needs to be hurt. My father was one too many.

“Then I’ll figure it out myself.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll follow you around until I learn everything about it.”

“Wh-What are you even—”

“I’ll learn everything, and then I’ll take it back, whatever ‘it’ is. You stalked me before, so now we can call it even. It’s not like you’re in any position to refuse, right?”

He made no sense. What did he mean, “even”? They were nowhere near being even. If anything, she would just be more indebted to him.

“Why?” Ayase couldn’t stop the flowing of her tears or the trembling of her body. “I betrayed you. I was so... terrible to you… So why are you trying so hard to help me?”

In contrast to her cracked voice, Ikki’s reply was as plain as could be.

“I don’t need a reason to wipe away a friend’s tears.”

“…!”

His reflection in her eyes seemed to mirror the Kaito of long ago, when he stepped into battle for the sake of his injured disciples. Ikki was the same as him. He wouldn’t unsheathe his sword for trifles such as being spat on or verbally abused, but when one of his friends was hurt, he never hesitated to take action.

Yes. That’s really how he was.

How long ago had Ayase lost sight of that? That was the ideal she’d been chasing for so long, ever since her days in the dojo.

Ayase looked down at her hands. Ugly by conventional standards, they were covered with open blisters. But they were a swordsman’s hands, the same as Ikki and her father’s.

That’s right. I only ever picked up a sword because I wanted to be a cool, accomplished swordsman like him.

Being confronted with Kuraudo’s monstrous strength and fretting over the need to take the dojo back had made Ayase lose sight of herself, but as she clasped her hands together, she remembered where her pride had come from. That was when she made her decision.

“Kurogane… Please, help me!”

What she needed was not to turn her back to her father’s teachings, betray her pride, and lose herself in self-pity like some tragic heroine, it was to request the aid of the kind boy standing in front of her, and to trust in his coming victory.

Ayase took Ikki’s extended hand, to which he smiled happily and firmly squeezed hers.

“That’s all I wanted to hear.”