MaruMonzterz - 6. Braving the Way Forward

After Koichi Yuy’s two-second fight of destructive awesomeness, the next hour and a half of the tournament was quite boring in comparison. No one else from group A and nobody from groups B and C had True Spirits, so they could not make showy explosions, exaggerated pyrotechnic tricks, or overpowered special attacks. The strongest ones did manage a few creative illusions, though. While it is true that most MaruMonzterz fans loved the game even without True Spirits, those who were used to the destructive capabilities of the mysterious spirits could not shake off the feeling that something was definitely missing from those fights. Fireworks, maybe. Or just total, unabashed destruction. Thankfully, the rarity of True Spirits made the game a lot safer for players and public alike, though the people who liked to see showy explosions were by definition the least concerned with health and safety.

In order to get through fifty fights in four hours and ten minutes, the tournament ran in a very tight schedule. There were no breaks between fights; when one ended in one of the arenas, another one immediately started in the other. Thus, participants from the next group to fight were called to the upper floor two fights before the current group finished their round.

“Participants from group D, please proceed to the second floor. Your fights will start in ten minutes,” the Commentator’s voice echoed in the stadium.

“That’s my call! Wish me good luck!” Ken got up from his chair. After his less-than-amicable introduction to Braid Boy Urameshi, he ended up having to sit on the chair next to him because it was the only empty spot close to his friends. Rumiko, Kinomoto, Ken and Urameshi watched the fights together, discussing the players’ strategies and trying to figure out which ones would make it to the next stage of the competition.

“Good luck!” Rumiko said, smiling to her friend. “I hope you win!”

“I’m sure I will! Even if I don’t have a True Spirit yet, I’m better than everyone we’ve seen so far!” Ken answered. Rumiko seemed reassured by his words, but Kinomoto and Urameshi were far less convinced.

“Careful with your bragging, it might distract you from the real fight,” Urameshi warned. Like in his previous interactions with Ken, his tone and posture were calm and relaxed, but it still rubbed the other boy in the wrong way.

“Says the guy who can’t stop bragging about being so good he couldn’t even stay in his own country!” Ken eyed the braided boy closely and put up his best intimidating face.

“Japan is my country too! My father was born here, and my family speaks Japanese at home!” Urameshi protested, finally losing his cool to give Ken his own (much more effective) version of the death glare.

“Whatever. I have to go before they start without me!” Ken shrugged, getting away from Braid Boy as soon as he could. He made his way down to the arena twenty minutes later, waved to the girls, and struck the pose of a conceited fool who believes they won the lottery before buying the ticket.

“I really hope Ken wins!” Rumiko told her two friends. Ken’s fight would begin as soon as the current confrontation ended. According to the screen’s chronometer, it was less than a minute away. “Then we can both make it to the next stage, and then all the way to the final! It would be so cool!”

“I don’t really think he stands too much of a chance to get to the finals,” Urameshi noted. “As far as we know, there are at least three people with True Spirits in the tournament. Your friend will have to be very lucky to defeat any of us in his way to the final.”

“He could get a True Spirit before that!” Rumiko argued.

“He would have to be even luckier,” Urameshi rebutted. Kinomoto considered pointing out to the braided boy that Rumiko had gotten her True Spirit out of sheer luck as well, but she decided it was not worth arguing with a polite boy to defend an annoying one.

The trio of friends had watched the first three fights of group D with minimal level of interest. Not surprisingly, none of the competitors had True Spirits. Ken’s fight was the fourth in his group, but just as he was preparing his MaruBall, the Commentator’s voice echoed all over the stadium again. “Participants from group E, please proceed to the second floor now. Your fights will start in ten minutes.”

“Oh, no! I’m in group E!” Rumiko babbled. “I won’t be able to watch Ken’s fight! That’s not fair!” Despite her protests, Rumiko had no other alternative but follow the other nine members of her group to the upper floor. She heard the referee announcing the beginning of the fight just as the doors of the lift closed behind her. The ten competitors avoided looking at each other during the five awkward seconds of upward travel. When they finally reached the second floor, Maruyama was already waiting for them.

“Welcome everyone, and thank you for signing up to the tournament. I wish you all the luck in your fights,” the JMA president greeted the competitors. “When the Commentator calls your names, please go down the stairs to the arena that he indicates. As you can see, we have signs telling you which staircase leads to which arena. Your names will be called as soon as the fight before yours starts. Once you are in the arena, the referee will direct you to the platforms. As long as you and your opponent are on opposite sides of the arena, you can choose either the right or the left platform, whichever suits you best. The referee will tell you when to prepare your MaruBalls and when to throw them in the launch triangle. When the fight is over and the winner is declared, please make your way up the staircase again to leave the fighting area. Is everything clear? Do you have any questions?”

No one said anything, so Maruyama took it as a sign that the participants were ready. He told them they could wait anywhere in the second floor, as long as they promptly answered when their names were called. Rumiko tried to watch the remaining of Ken’s fight, but the huge screens hanging from the ceiling were positioned just so that she could not see much of what was going underneath them, nor watch the screens. Her only reliable source of information was, unfortunately, the Commentator’s boisterous voice, which was horribly loud and clear.

“And now to the last fight of group D!”

“Last fight? What happened to Ken?” Rumiko asked no one in particular. “If his fight is over, did he win?”

‘We’ll know sooner or later, Master. For now I suggest you concentrate on how long you want to take to annihilate your first opponent,’ Fenki’s voice spoke in Rumiko’s head.

‘I thought we had agreed you wouldn’t talk when I didn’t call for you!’ Rumiko mentally shouted, surprised and somewhat horrified by the intrusion. ‘And what do you mean, “how long I want to take”?’

‘Well, I just figured that since our opponent will most definitely not have a True Spirit, it’ll be very easy for us to do like that Yuy guy and win in one hit.’ Fenki answered. His tone sounded dangerously like a trigger-happy general holding a bomb detonator.

‘No! I don’t like it! It’s very cruel!’ Rumiko argued. ‘I don’t want to humiliate anyone! You know how sad Ken gets when we win so easily. It makes me feel like I’m the villain!’

‘But we are not the villains, Master! We are the heroes!’ Fenki reminded Rumiko. As per usual, his enthusiasm meter reached maximum level at every mention of the word ‘hero’.

‘Even if you say that, I still don’t feel that way.’ Rumiko sighed. ‘I think it’s only fair that we give our opponents a chance to fight back.’

‘But we still need to destroy them in less than five minutes if we want full points.’ Fenki found a more pragmatic justification for his ‘heroism’. Rumiko had to admit her True Spirit had a point, but she did not want to give up her argument just yet.

‘Then we finish the fight at four and a half minutes.’

‘As you wish, Master.’ It was Fenki’s turn to sigh. His as-of-yet unexplained condition of centaur-shaped consciousness bound to a children’s toy allowed him to go only so far against his master’s wish. After a certain point, he had no option but to shut up and acknowledge Rumiko had the final word.

(...)

Rumiko’s first opponent in the tournament was a girl called Megumi Itoh. She was maybe slightly younger than Rumiko, but seemed a little more self-confident and cheerful than our heroine. Her MaruBall was orange with an upside-down face, and her Spirit Medallion was that of a whale. Itoh did not have a True Spirit, her fighting ability was not all that great, but she was lucky enough to face the Main Character in her debut, thus getting a lengthy description and reasonable screen time even though her role in the story would end with this chapter.

“Prepare your MaruBalls,” the referee instructed the girls. Rumiko smiled to her opponent, already feeling sorry for having to win the battle. Itoh did not smile back. “Three, two, one, begin!”

The two MaruBalls hit the launch triangle. The black centaur and orange whale emerged to enthusiastic cheering from the audience. The Commentator was particularly ecstatic by the presence of a True Spirit in the fight. “Looks like Higurashi-chan has a centaur True Spirit! I wonder what it can do! Though if I was Itoh-chan, I would be dreading my future!” Now that Rumiko was so physically close to the Commentator, she found his voice even more ear piercing and disorienting. It took her a few moments of blissful silence to be able to focus on the fight properly again.

The first thing Rumiko noticed about the professional arena was that the launch triangle was closed off from the rest of the fighting area by a gate made of glowing metal bars. It opened five seconds after the MaruMonzterz were fully formed. The whale floated forward immediately, like it expected the gate to do just that, but Fenki remained inside.

‘Those gates are really cool! I wonder if they do anything other than appear fancy…’ Fenki’s comment was followed by a whistling sound. ‘Master, can we start the fight now?’

‘Please don’t hurt her too much. We have lots of time to fight,’ Rumiko pleaded. She somehow felt the centaur roll his eyes before answering.

‘Yes, Master, as you wish. I could just vomit on that whale for the next five minutes…’

‘Argh! That’s disgusting! And you could get it on Itoh-san!’

‘I don’t think so, Master. You and your opponent are on elevated platforms for a reason.’

Fenki stepped out of the launch triangle too, and the whale immediately tried to head-butt him. As to be expected of a True Spirit, however, the damage was so minimal Fenki felt nothing more than a tickle. He returned the gesture by attacking with his Flick the Finger. As the technique’s name implied, Fenki hit his opponent with one finger squarely on its forehead. The impact of this single finger caused the whale to crash back on its launch triangle. The glowing gate closed around it again, and when Fenki tried to approach, it gave him an electrical discharge that took away more of his HP than Ken had ever managed to in all their fights combined (which was still not that much, but still).

“What is going on?” Rumiko asked out loud, hoping someone around her would be able to explain this.

“The launch area gates are closed. When a MaruMonzter enters the launch area during a fight, the gates close for five seconds. During this time, the MaruMonzter inside is protected from most attacks and can thus try to rebuild or recover HP,” the referee explained. “All this information is in the official JMA website, in the section about the game and its rules. All participants were expected to read through these before the competition.” The referee made his disappointment in Rumiko clear. The girl was reminded of her teachers at school, distracting her from the fight once more. Itoh’s whale used the opportunity to try another head-butt, but once again, Fenki felt no more than a light tickle.

‘Who cares about obscure rules like that? Master, we can finish this fight at any time! Why not now?’ Fenki asked, banging his hooves impatiently against the ground. ‘Can I do a Double Butt-Kick? Can I? Can I?’ the True Spirit sounded more like a petulant child than a respectable mysterious creature.

‘Not yet! Keep using your Flick the Finger for now, just avoid the launch triangle.’

‘Sure, Master. Whatever you say, Master.’ There was definitely some mockery in Fenki’s tone, though his deep, ethereal voice made it harder to notice. Still, the centaur spent the next three minutes flicking the whale’s head with just enough force not to completely deplete its HP. When the fight reached its fourth minute, however, the centaur tried his luck once again. ‘What about now? Can I double-kick the whale’s butt?’

‘I guess… the fight is nearly over…’ Rumiko reluctantly agreed.

‘Cool! Here I go then!’ Despite his words, Fenki did not move. Instead, the centaur stood in silent contemplation of his opponent. ‘Master, where is the whale’s butt? How can I do a double-butt kick if I don’t know where its butt is?’

‘I don’t know…’ Rumiko realised with some surprise. In all her twelve years of existence, not even once had she spared even a passing thought to the vital question of whale anatomy. ‘I really don’t know! What if they don’t have one? Do all animals come with butts?’

‘I don’t know, Master. How about I vomit instead, so we don’t have to think too much about it?’ Fenki suggested.

‘But then Itoh-san will get sticky vomit all over her! That’s too cruel!’ Rumiko protested. She felt the centaur raise an eyebrow as he answered.

‘Itoh-san is safe in the platform, Master! That’s why they built those in the first place! Trust me! She won’t get sticky and smelly! And now we only have ten seconds…’ Fenki glanced at the clock and hurried to shoot a smelly ball of green goo right into the whale’s face. The battle was declared over with five seconds to spare, Rumiko got 700 XP points for her victory, and Fenki vowed to research butt allocation in the animal kingdom before his next fight.

(...)

“Congratulations, Higurashi-san! It was a great fight!” Kinomoto was the first to reach Rumiko as she returned to her place in the audience. Ken and Urameshi were sitting side by side, but seemed to be making a point of not looking in each other’s direction.

“It was quite good, though I’m kind of curious why you held back so much,’ Urameshi asked politely. “I think everyone expected your fight to end a lot sooner because of your True Spirit. You were clearly the strongest from the beginning as well. What happened there?”

Rumiko was about to answer when she noticed that Ken’s body was slumping down his chair, like he was trying to force the ground to swallow him whole. “Ken, are you ok? How was your fight?”

“He lost,” Urameshi quickly answered, before Ken could do as much as look towards Rumiko. “After just two minutes.”

“You don’t need to rub it in, ok? I was just distracted because it was my first fight, that’s all!” Ken mumbled from his position near the ground. He had slumped so much down his chair that he could hardly be considered to be ‘sitting’ there anymore.

“That’s why I tried to warn you about being over-confident in a fight,” Urameshi reminded him. He tried to make his tone a little gentler, but it did nothing to improve Ken’s mood.

“You’re the one who’s been bragging about your skills all the time. You should listen to your own advice.” Ken finally gave up his awkward slumping position and sat on the floor with his head buried on his knees.

“Well, I have a True Spirit, so I know for a fact that I won’t lose anytime soon. But you don’t have one, so you need to be more careful.”

“You make me want to stay here until your fight, just so I can watch you lose.”

“Fine by me.” Urameshi shrugged. “I’m in group I, so it’ll be a while until my fight, but you’re obviously welcomed to stay and watch. Maybe that way you can even learn a thing or two about winning.”

For the next two hours or so, Ken and Urameshi did not speak to each other. Kinomoto talked mostly to the braided boy, while Rumiko tried to cheer Ken up. At 19:10, all participants from group I were called to the second floor, and ten minutes later Urameshi opened his group’s fights.

“Now let’s see him lose!” Ken beamed. He finally stopped sulking on the ground, perching on his chair like an oversized parrot to watch the fight from the best possible angle. for him, though, things did not go according to his expectations. As soon as the fight started, Urameshi’s True Spirit called for a tsunami that penetrated even the launch area’s gates. His opponent had no chance. Urameshi’s victory took just slightly longer than Yuy’s, but only because the referee had to wait until the water from the wave receded to officially end the fight.

(...)

Tuesday, 4^th February.

 

On the second day of the tournament, Ken was due to fight at half past five in the afternoon, and Rumiko’s fight was scheduled for twenty minutes after that. Since there would be no need to be at the stadium until five o’clock, the trio of friends calmly met at a subway station on their way back from school. Ken had dark circles around his eyes and his bangs were even messier than usual.

“Hi, girls,” Ken greeted his friends in a zombie-like state. He somehow tripped on his own foot and almost collapsed on top of Kinomoto.

“Are you well, Urashima-san?” Kinomoto asked.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” the boy explained. “I kept thinking about how I could win my fight today, and trying not to think that if I lose again I could be in trouble.” Ken rested his body weight against the girl. Two seconds later, he seemed fast asleep. Three second later, his drooling reached Kinomoto’s shirt.

“Urashima-san, please wake up and let go of me.” Kinomoto nudged her friend. She was doing her best not to freak out over the saliva on her clothes. “Urashima-san,” she nudged him again. “I have something that might make you feel better.” Upon hearing this, Ken’s eyes shot open.

“What is it? Is it a True Spirit?” He asked, grabbing Kinomoto’s shoulders with the kind of enthusiasm of a child let loose in a toyshop with unlimited budget.

‘What is wrong with that boy, Master?’ Fenki asked Rumiko.

‘I don’t know, but I find it quite scary.’ Rumiko answered. It took her a while to realise Fenki had once again talked to her of his own initiative. ‘And you promised you wouldn’t talk to me if I didn’t call you! You did it yesterday and now you did it again!’

‘I’m sorry, Master, but I was too intrigued by this boy’s behaviour. His abrupt change in mood doesn’t make much sense to me. And he seems to be the kind that does that a lot. A volatile soul, if I may say so. Unpredictable. Like fire. Though probably not as dangerous, because he’s just a boy and all that.’

‘Thanks for scaring me even more, Fenki.’ Rumiko looked warily towards Ken and Kinomoto. Ken faced his friend with his best puppy eyes, waiting anxiously to hear what the good news were.

“Yes and no,” Kinomoto answered. “I found a True Spirit, but it is mine. I am bringing Flamelus with me to the tournament today, so that you and Higurashi-san can get some extra training in preparation for your fights.”

“I see…” Ken’s excitement changed to disappointment, but he soon recovered some of his energy. “How did you find Flamelus, then? Did your parents help you?”

“No. I just reminded them that they had promised I could look for Flamelus on my own, and last night I finally had time to do it.” Kinomoto smiled to her friend. She had been in a very good mood for the whole day, and not even Ken’s lack of manners could change that.

“Flamelus looks really scary,” Rumiko commented from her safe distance. “Kinomoto-san showed him to me at school. I bet he’s really strong!”

“We will not know that until we face each other, Higurashi-san,” Kinomoto answered.

“All the more reason to get our asses moving! Let’s go to the stadium, then!” Ken beamed, taking the girls by the arm and marching towards the exit. The prospect of a cool fight approaching was enough to kick-start a minimal level of functionality in his brain, keeping him awake just enough that he could once more become the energetic enthusiast that annoyed Kinomoto so much.

When the trio arrived at the stadium, instead of going straight in, they found a more secluded space outside and prepared their MaruBalls. Kinomoto was going to show Flamelus to her friends, and then Rumiko and Ken would have a change to fight against him. Kinomoto’s MaruBall was green with unruly blond hair. The face glued to it was smiling and winking; not at all threatening.

“Prepare to meet Flamelus, the gryphon of air and fire!” Kinomoto dramatically announced as she dropped her MaruBall on the ground. The creature that emerged had a lion’s tail and an eagle’s head. Most of his body was covered in shiny armour, apart from the wings, which he immediately stretched to their full glory. Flamelus’s wingspan was bigger than Kinomoto’s height, even though the creature was only a meter tall.

“Wow, it’s sooooo cool!” Ken exclaimed. He tried to approach Flamelus and touch his beak, but the True Spirit threatened to bite him. “Hey!”

“How about we fight Urashima-san first? You could use some more training, and it will be good for you to face a different opponent for a change,” Kinomoto suggested. Flamelus sat by his master like a weird (but extremely well behaved) guard dog. His eyes seemed impatient, and both Ken and Rumiko felt compelled to do something to appease him.

“Sure, I can go first. Show me a trick or two that I can use today.” Ken dropped his MaruBall on the ground, and his red bear appeared. It was slightly taller than Flamelus, but only because it walked in two legs instead of four. Rumiko filled the role of referee and started the fight. They played without the arena, using all the space available around them. Kinomoto spent more time giving Ken hints about strategies he could use than attacking. After about ten minutes of this, though, she decided she had had enough of ‘playing the teacher’, and made Flamelus hit Ken’s bear with his wing. It caused enough damage that Ken agreed to give up the fight before his MaruMonzter became too broken to take on the real opponent later.

“So now it is Higurashi-san’s turn,” Kinomoto announced. Rumiko gladly prepared Fenki, and so the two True Spirits finally came face to face. Strangely, though, Fenki appeared much bigger than Flamelus. The centaur was about Rumiko’s height, while the gryphon barely reached her waist.

“Wow, Fenki is so big! Does that mean I’m stronger?” Rumiko asked, looking at the two True Spirits in amazement. Even though Fenki was bigger, Flamelus appeared just as scary.

“No. We just chose to present ourselves in the normal MaruMonzter size, but Flamelus is capable of getting bigger if he so wishes.” To demonstrate her point, Kinomoto asked Flamelus to assume a more impressive size. In the blink of an eye, the gryphon became just as big as the centaur. “They can actually become even bigger if we want, but that is more dangerous and only for really difficult fights against other True Spirits.”

“Why is that? And how you do it? Can I make Fenki smaller too?”

‘Why would you want to make me smaller, Master? Don’t you like how cool I look now?’ Fenki asked Rumiko. He seemed somewhat offended that his master would consider downsizing his greatness.

“To make the True Spirit any bigger, you would have to unlock more of their power. You can do it during a fight by pressing the grey space bar in the MaruMind. But it comes with a cost…” Kinomoto answered. She did not seem too comfortable sharing all the details, but Rumiko pressed on regardless.

“What cost?” Rumiko asked. She remembered when she had accidentally pressed the grey bar in one of her old friends’ MaruMind. The MaruMonzter she had borrowed became huge, and she was forced out of the fight for her own safety. She never really understood what happened then, or why it was so dangerous, but she never got a chance to ask. Now seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

Rumiko looked expectantly at Kinomoto, hoping her friend would tell her everything. Unknown to her, Fenki was staring at Flamelus’s master with the same facial expression. Kinomoto found the double stare so disconcerting she quickly explained all she could.

“The only way to unlock more power from the True Spirit is by intensifying your bond to it. In this case, it means your minds get so synchronised you feel everything that your True Spirit feels during the fight. So every time the True Spirit is hit, you feel their pain. The stronger your bond, the more you feel. Very strong bonds can result in the master becoming injured even if an attack is aimed only at the True Spirit.”

“That’s scary!” Rumiko exclaimed, hiding behind Fenki as if it would somehow keep away the terrifying mental images brought by Kinomoto’s explanation.

“That’s so cool!” Ken beamed. Evidently, he thought his favourite game had just become even better. “I can’t wait to have my own True Spirit!”

It took Kinomoto some time to reassure Rumiko that she would not have to go for such extreme fights if she did not want to, and that MaruMonzterz did not have to be a dangerous game. Meanwhile, Ken went on fantasising about epic battles with lots of blood and gore in the arena, which did not help the situation one bit.

In the end, Rumiko agreed to have a friendly battle against Kinomoto. Because it was her first time confronting another True Spirit, she initially had a hard time keeping up with Kinomoto’s attacks. Flamelus’s master gave quick and precise commands. She was an exceptional strategist, capable of swiftly changing her plans based on Rumiko’s moves.

‘Master, if we don’t do anything, we will…’ Fenki was unable to finish his sentence due to the forceful impact of a wing against his head. ‘Fine, it’s not the most heroic thing to do, but I think you and I will have to retreat and get back to them at some other point.’ Fenki told Rumiko. He sounded grumpy and annoyed, which made his deep, ethereal voice sound even more sinister than usual. Rumiko promptly gave up the fight.

“That’s two wins in two fights; you’re on a roll, Satsuki!” Ken patted his friend on the back as congratulations.

“I have been doing this for a very long time. Flamelus and I are a good team, and now that we have been reunited, you will have to work really hard to stop us.” Kinomoto decided to accept her friend’s invasion of personal space without too much of a fuss. She was happy to be with Flamelus again, and not even her most annoying friend would be able to spoil that feeling.

“You are definitely a very good fighter. It’s a shame you’re not in the tournament; it would’ve been great to fight against you,” A new voice said, seemingly from out of the blue. The trio of friends turned towards it, only to see Urameshi emerging from a suspiciously shadowy corner.

“What are you doing here?” Ken asked, as per usual trying and failing to put on a dominating posture.

“My True Spirit told me he felt two other True Spirits fighting nearby and I came to watch. It was a very good fight, I’m impressed,” Urameshi answered, looking at Rumiko and Kinomoto only. Ken did not like to be so blatantly ignored, so he tried even harder to get Urameshi’s attention.

“How long have you been spying on us? How much did you see?” Ken asked Urameshi in the most impolite manner possible. The braid boy did not even bother to look towards him as he answered.

“I saw enough. Once the tournament is over, it is very likely that Higurashi-san and I will be amongst the winners. Maybe then we can have a round of friendly fights to test our strength?”

“I would not mind that, Urameshi-san,” Kinomoto answered, blushing slightly. It felt nice to have her strength acknowledged by someone who was older and probably just as strong as she was. It did not happen all that often (mostly because there were very few people who fit both her criteria).

“Then that’s decided! We’ll see each other again.”

And with that, Urameshi winked to the girls and walked back to the stadium. His long braid behaved increasingly more like a snake as the boy got further and further away.

(...)

Friday, 14^th February.

 

After the training session with Kinomoto, both Rumiko and Ken won their fights for the day, and then went on to win their remaining seven fights. Rumiko managed to defeat almost all of her opponents before the five minutes time limit was up, apart from the last fight on Thursday 13^th, in which she lost track of time because Fenki was too amused with his new farting technique. She got five points instead of ten for this one, but it did not matter, because she was by far the highest scoring in her group. Ken’s record was a bit more mixed, with only three out of nine fights earning him ten points. Still, he managed to rank first in his group, ten points above the person who defeated him on his debut. Urameshi and Yuy, the only other competitors with True Spirits, won all their fights in less than five seconds.

“So today is the day when the two best players of each group fight each other to see who goes to the second stage, right?” Rumiko asked her friends as they arrived at the stadium.

“Yes. There will be only ten fights today, and next week there will be a fight a day,” Kinomoto answered. “I just wished they would tell us the rules for the second stage soon.” She sighed. “I have a few guesses, and I want to see if any of them is right.”

“I don’t really care about the rules, as long as I get there!” Ken announced, hitting his chest proudly. “I won’t let anyone get on my way!”

“You do know that your opponent today is the same one who defeated you in the first round, right?” Kinomoto asked her friend.

“Yes, I know! And I’m prepared!” Ken gave his friend a wide smile that Rumiko found quite scary. “Thanks to you and Flamelus and our strategy training, I know exactly what to do to win today! And then I’ll be in the next stage and NOBODY WILL STOP ME!” Ken shouted the last bit at the top of his lungs, scaring Rumiko and making Kinomoto look sideways to pretend she did not know this impolite boy. No sooner had Ken shut his mouth, his body collided with something green and very solid, and he fell to the ground. Some would call this sequence of events ‘poetic irony’; while others would say the Plot Management Department had a grudge against the boy. Ken did not like either alternative, and considered this kind of meta-humour quite unnecessary. Not that his opinion really mattered that much.

“Who are you and what do you want?” said no one other than Koichi Yuy, the intimidating and horribly strong defending champion. He was wearing a green coat and looked as unfriendly as ever. Rumiko and Ken’s mouth dropped at the sight, the boy cursed his luck ten times over, and the children would have stayed in this position forever if it were not for Kinomoto’s timely intervention.

“I am sorry. Urashima-san got a bit too enthusiastic and seemed to have accidentally bumped into you.”

“Urashima should be more careful. And he should stop bragging openly about a victory that is so unlikely. There is no way he can win the tournament.”

“Hey, don’t say that!” Ken got up to face Yuy. He was much shorter and much smaller than the defending MaruMonzterz champion was, but he had no sense of danger. Yuy’s face showed no emotion as he looked down on what must have seemed liked an annoying insect to him. “You don’t know what I can do!”

“I do. I know for a fact that you are too weak to get past the semi-finals, even if you get to the second stage by some dumb luck. The tournament will be over for you soon, so there is no need to waste your energy believing in victory,” Yuy answered. His tone was as emotionless as his face. He turned away and left, not giving Ken a chance to reply.

“Argh, this guy! I hate him already!” Ken grumbled. “I hope he loses today!”

“He’s so scary!” Rumiko grabbed Kinomoto’s arm as she spoke. Yuy was much more intimidating from up close than from the distant arena. “I don’t really know if I want to fight against him…”

‘Oh, Master, don’t be afraid! Your hero is here to help you!’ Fenki suddenly shouted inside Rumiko’s head. ‘We’ll kick that guy’s ass so much he won’t even see what hit him!’

‘Fenki, you’re talking to me again!’ Rumiko whined. ‘You said you wouldn’t, but you always do! You lied to me!’

‘No, Master, I didn’t lie! But I couldn’t just sit here while this arsehole scared you! I’m here to help you get stronger, so I consider these interventions as part of my duties to you!’

‘Ok…’ Rumiko reluctantly agreed. Deep down she sensed Fenki had just said the first thing that came to mind in order to save face, but she decided to trust the centaur anyway. Hopefully now that Fenki had said those things, he would actually feel inclined to help her get stronger, and thus make something good come out of his constant interruptions.

‘Great, then let’s keep going ‘cause the fights won’t wait for us!’

And so Rumiko kept walking with Kinomoto and Ken, still not convinced she wanted to face Yuy, but at least reassured if she absolutely had to, she would not have to do it alone.

(...)

It came as no surprise that Yuy won his fight in two seconds. His opponent did not even try to attack him, coming into the fight with the air of someone who already knows they will be publicly humiliated. It was almost sad to watch. The fights from groups B and C were more evenly matched. When it was time to decide on the champion of Group D, Ken shot up from his chair like it was full of needles.

“Here I go!” he shouted.

“Good luck, Ken! You can win this time!” Rumiko cheered her friend as he got up from his chair. Because there were only ten fights that day, the schedule was not as packed, and so Rumiko would have time to watch her friend’s fight before having to get ready for her own.

“I will! I will win no matter what!” Ken beamed. He ran to the lift, and a couple of minutes later appeared running down the stairs to the arena. He was almost jumping on the platform as he prepared his MaruBall.

“You’re putting a lot of energy in this defeat,” his opponent remarked.

“Say that again when you lose!” Ken answered, not letting the provocation affect him. His body was pumped full of adrenaline, and he only had eyes for his victory mission.

“Your friend is over-confident again. I hope it doesn’t prove to be a mistake.” Urameshi appeared beside Rumiko and Kinomoto, not for the first time sneaking up on them without being noticed. Rumiko jumped on her chair, but Kinomoto did not seem too affected. She promptly invited Urameshi to join them.

“I gave Urashima-san some tips for the fight today. If he does exactly as I told him to, he should be able to make it,” Kinomoto answered.

“Then let’s cheer for him. It would be a waste of your intelligence if he fails…” Urameshi’s comment made Kinomoto blush.

“Thank you, Urameshi-san,” she managed to say. It felt good to receive compliments from people she looked up to.

Back at the arena, the fight had started. Ken’s bear was up against a blue raven that had the unfortunate habit of flying out of reach of Ken’s attacks. “You won’t get me this time around! I’m prepared for you!” Ken told his opponent just as he ordered his bear to lay on the ground.

“What are you planning?” His opponent asked, puzzled.

“Why don’t you come and take a look?” Ken smiled innocently. He could not make it more obvious that this was a trap.

“I’m not going to fall for that!”

“As you wish…” Ken’s smile attained epic proportions, so much that his opponent began to wonder if this was a double bluff, and tentatively tried to approach the bear. The raven landed on the bear’s belly, but nothing happened. Ken’s smile grew even more. His opponent got even more confused. The raven kept walking over the bear. Ken kept smiling.

In the audience…

“I’m confused!” Urameshi declared, throwing his hands in the air. “What’s he planning?” he asked Kinomoto.

“Wait and see…” Kinomoto was grinning triumphantly as well. Her expression was eerie similar to Ken’s. Even Rumiko got a little uneasy.

“You know, if you’re that smart, I’m dreading and looking forward to face you in a friendly fight, Kinomoto-san…”

And in the arena…

About a minute passed with the bear lying on the floor and the raven tentatively touching its disturbingly realistic fur. Then, suddenly, when people were getting quite bored and beginning to wonder if Ken really knew what he was doing, the bear flipped sideways. The movement caught the raven’s wing under the weight of the bear and prevented it from moving away. The fight ended thirty seconds later, once the bear had left ten or so pawn impressions on the raven’s head.

“Who’s the best? Who’s the best?” Ken approached his friends while doing a little victory dance. He was so proud of himself he did not notice Urameshi was there too until it was too late.

“Well, Kinomoto-san was the one who told you what to do, so I guess it’s really her victory.”

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Ken asked Urameshi, sizing him up with all the imprudent courage of a fighter with inflated ego and deflated brains.

“I was just telling Kinomoto-san that she is really smart and that I look forward to fighting against her someday.”

“Yeah, right…” Ken rolled his eyes. “I don’t really care, anyway. I won my fight, so now I’m a step closer to kicking your ass in the arena!”

“Find a True Spirit, and then we can talk about kicking my ass.” Urameshi smiled slightly. Maybe he actually enjoyed arguing with an immature kid. Maybe it made him feel morally superior. Or maybe Ken was just ridiculously entertaining as a person. Whichever the case, Ken was not disarmed by Urameshi’s smile (Rumiko and Kinomoto, on the other hand…)

“Ok, I will! Watch me, Urameshi, ‘cause I’ll have a True Spirit before this tournament is over, and you’ll regret ever been born!”

“We have a deal.” Urameshi humorously offered his hand for Ken to shake. The bratty kid was so fired up by his own boisterous attitude that he ignored the mockery of the gesture and took it. The two boys sat side by side as the Commentator called Rumiko’s name.

“Good luck, Rumiko! See you in the second stage!” Ken said.

“Do your best, Higurashi-san,” Kinomoto wished.

“Have a good fight,” Urameshi added. Rumiko waved to her three friends and left towards the lifts.

Rumiko’s opponent in this last fight of the group stage was none other than Megumi Itoh, the girl she defeated in her very first match. Itoh herself seemed surprised to have gotten this far in the competition. Her outstanding results (at least for minor character standards) were so impressive they merited actual lines of dialogue.

“Higurashi-san, can I ask you something?” Itoh approached Rumiko as the girls prepared to go down the arena.

“Yes, what is it?” Rumiko was surprised by the question, and by Itoh’s gentle approach. In her mind, people who were soon to fight each other for a place in the next stage of the tournament should not be able to have polite conversations. She imagined all pre-fight interactions to be very much like Ken’s attitude towards Urameshi.

“When the fight starts, you don’t need to take it easy on me. I know you and your True Spirit are stronger. If you try to delay the end of the fight, it will make me feel like you don’t think of me as a threat at all. I would much rather you attacked with everything you have.”

“Are you serious?” Rumiko asked, surprised by her opponent’s way of thinking.

“Yes, I am.” Itoh nodded politely and smiled slightly.

“Ok, then. I’ll do my best…” Rumiko smiled as well.

‘Yes, Master! You heard her! I can fart in her face and take her out in one hit! Right? Right?’ Fenki enthusiastically shouted. Itoh had made his dream come true, and he had no reservations about demonstrating it.

‘I don’t know about farting… can’t it be a little less disgusting?’ Rumiko asked, not liking the idea of smelling like centaur fart for the rest of the day. She still wondered where Fenki got the inspiration for all his techniques.

‘Vomit it is, then! Let’s get that fight started, Master!’

‘If there’s no other way…’ Rumiko made a mental note to ask her True Spirit to come up with moves that are more conventional before the next stage of the tournament. As it stood, her most potent offensive weapon was a slimy green ball. It was definitely a destructive (and smelly) slimy green ball, but a slimy green ball nonetheless.

Now with official permission to use his adored vomit attack on his opponent, Fenki appeared in the arena jumping and waving to the audience. We waved to the orange whale too before covering it with his favourite attack. Thanks to the elevated platforms, neither Itoh nor Rumiko were harmed. For the first time in ten fights, Rumiko was declared the winner almost immediately.

“Thank you, Higurashi-san,” Itoh told Rumiko as they recovered their MaruBalls from the arena. “It was an entertaining fight, even if it was short.”

“As long as you are ok with it… I don’t want to make you feel too bad!” Rumiko answered, bowing apologetically to her opponent.

“Well, I still lost, that’s true, but there’s nothing I could do about that. At least I got to speak to you for a bit. Good luck in the next stage, Higurashi-san.”

“Thank you, Itoh-san.” Rumiko and Itoh bowed to each other. Before Rumiko could leave the arena, the referee called her aside.

“Higurashi-san, please do not leave the stadium until all fights are over. Maruyama-san will call all winners at the end to explain the rules of the second stage.”

“Understood. Thank you, referee!” Rumiko nodded to the referee and returned to her seat in the audience. Her friends received her enthusiastically.

“Well done, Rumiko! I knew you could do it!” Ken beamed.

“Fenki’s vomit seems to get more effective the more you do it. Congratulations,” Kinomoto said.

“I was wondering when you would show your true colours. That was a great fight, Higurashi-san,” Urameshi concluded.

“Thanks, everyone!” Rumiko bowed to her friends, and then took a seat next to Kinomoto to watch the remaining fights. When it was Urameshi’s turn to go to the arena, even Ken wished him good luck.

“Win now, because I want to be the one to take you out!” Ken told Urameshi, showing him the thumbs up and an optimistic smile. Urameshi smiled back and answered in the same tone.

“Then you better keep winning too. I’ll use your challenge as an incentive.” Urameshi winked to Ken, waved to the girls, and left.

“I can’t tell if he was making fun of me or not,” Ken confessed to his friends.

“I do not think he was,” Kinomoto answered. “Urameshi-san is nice. You just have to find reasons to hate him because you are not mature enough to understand that.”

“Hey! I’m just a few months younger than you are! I’m not immature!” Ken protested. Kinomoto rolled her eyes, not willing to engage in an argument. Thankfully for her, Urameshi’s fight started soon after that, so she had an excuse to tell Ken to shut up.

As expected, Urameshi won his fight in the first few seconds. He had barely had time to join Rumiko and the others again when the Commentator announced that all those who classified to the second stage should make their way to the upper floor.

(...)

The ten group champions waited for Maruyama by the lift. Rumiko stood between Ken and Urameshi, glancing at the others occasionally to see what they were like. Out of the six people she did not know, three were girls. Koichi Yuy was by far the biggest and most intimidating of the lot, though a white boy with his hair dyed half blue and half purple also irradiated unfriendliness.

“Thank you for waiting all this time,” Maruyama greeted the competitors. They formed a semi-circle around JMA’s president, allowing him to make eye contact with everyone. Before he could say anything else, however, one of the competitors raised his hand and spoke in broken English that Rumiko could barely follow.

“I not understand you. Not speak Japanese,” the competitor said. He was dark-skinned and wore a Brazilian football shirt.

“Then how did you managed to understand everything so far?” the white boy asked, in English with the most stereotypical posh British accent. Rumiko understood him even less, but she got the feeling that the white boy was being somewhat aggressive.

“Sorry, not understand English,” the black boy replied, grinning in a way that suggested he had actually understood the question, but did not want to answer.

“Which language do you speak?” Maruyama asked the black boy, also switching to English. Again, Rumiko had trouble following the discussion, but she got the general idea based on their body language and tone of voice.

“Portuguese. Brazil,” the black boy answered, pointing to the crest on his shirt.

“Oh, Brazil? That will be fine, then.” Maruyama smiled and took a walk-talkie out of his pocket. “Commentator? Could you please send your partner here? We have a Brazilian competitor that needs an interpreter.” Maruyama turned to the dark-skinned boy again. “I got help for you.” Soon after that, a young man appeared in the second floor. His clothes were just as colourful as the Commentator’s, but he seemed a lot friendlier (as in: less loud).

“Maruyama-san, what can I help you with?” the young man asked. He looked Japanese enough to Rumiko, so she could not imagine how he would be useful as an interpreter. That is, until the young man turned to the dark-skinned boy and began speaking in a language that was completely alien to her.

“Prazer em conhecer. Sou Márcio Sugama, namorado do Commentator e ajudante faz-tudo a seu dispor.”

“Namorado? Assim, tipo, gay?” the boy asked in an outrageous tone. Rumiko got very curious about what was going on, but since nobody was asking questions, she did not feel like she could either.

“É, tipo gay. Problema?”

“Não pra isso. Eu só quero saber o que eu tenho que fazer na próxima faze. Me traduz o que esse cara tá dizendo?”

“Com prazer.” The interpreter turned his attention to Maruyama. “I will interpret for this boy. I am ready when you are, Maruyama-san.”

“Very well, then…” Maruyama got ready to explain the rules. Just as he was about to speak, however, the white boy interrupted.

“Excuse me, I need to call my interpreter as well,” the boy said in English. Apparently, he did not speak much Japanese either. He pulled an expensive smartphone from his pocket and used very ‘colourful’ language to demand his interpreter joined him as soon as possible. Thankfully, Rumiko’s limited knowledge of the English language prevented her from being exposed to the boy’s impressively dirty vocabulary.

“Why wasn’t your interpreter here from the start? You knew Maruyama-san was going to explain the rules. You should have been prepared,” Yuy asked the white boy, surprising Rumiko with his very good English.

“None of your fucking business!” the white boy shouted in reply. Rumiko looked clueless at them, afraid they would start a fight. Yuy merely shrugged. He probably did not consider worthwhile pursuing an argument with someone who most likely would be out of his life in the next couple of minutes.

“Calm down, boys, calm down,” Maruyama told Yuy and the foreign boy in English, then turned to the others and spoke Japanese. “We are just waiting for an interpreter. We have two foreigners among us. Please be patient.”

Ken rolled his eyes. “It’s actually three foreigners, but never mind…” he whispered to no one in particular.

“I heard that,” Urameshi said, though he did not sound too annoyed. “But I’m only half-foreigner and I speak Japanese, so I don’t count.”

“Whatever.”

While Ken and Urameshi argued, the English interpreter arrived. He was greeted by a stream of swear words disguised as polite speech, and Maruyama was finally able to start explaining the rules for the next stage.

“From now on all the fights will be in three rounds.” A couple of seconds after Maruyama began his explanations, the two interpreters started to whisper translations in the ears of the foreign competitors. The extra noise was a little distracting, but Rumiko still managed to understand everything. Maruyama spoke considerably slower as well, to give the interpreters time to catch all his words. “The first to win two rounds goes to the next stage. Next week, the champion from Group A will face the champion from Group B; the champion from Group C will face the champion from Group D and so on. Five of you will go through to the semi-finals.”

“How are we going to have a semi-final with five people?” Urameshi politely asked the JMA’s president.

“The winners of the first two fights will face each other. The others will have a three-way fight. I will explain the rules for that once we know who will be in the semi-final.”

“Is that it, then?” the white boy asked in his native language. His interpreter translated his question to Japanese for the benefit of the other competitors. “We had all this trouble to get interpreters just to hear you speak for two minutes?” Once again, the interpreter translated his question.

“I’m afraid so,” Maruyama answered. “I’m sorry if you think this is a waste of time, but this is how the tournament is run.”

“If you are not happy, get your ass back to England,” Yuy added. “We will not miss you.”

“Fuck you!” the white boy replied. His interpreter wisely did not translate the insult.

“Boys, please be civil to each other,” Maruyama pleaded.

“Fine. Whatever. I’ll win this damn thing anyway,” the white boy pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest and rolling his eyes in annoyance. Yuy just shook his head in what was most likely contempt (it was really hard to tell if Yuy had any kind of emotion at all).

“Well, then, you are free to go. Good luck on your fights next week. I hope you enjoy the rest of the tournament!” Maruyama concluded his speech, indicating the competitors should return to the first floor. The Brazilian interpreter stayed with him and watched the ten players disappear behind the lift’s door with an amused grin.

“Aren’t you glad this is over?” he asked Maruyama as soon as the two men were alone.

“I would, if it was actually over,” Maruyama massaged his temples. “I should never have taken this job. It’s barely the end of the first stage and I already have a horrible headache.”

“My boyfriend told me why you accepted this job, and I have to say, I admire your courage.” The interpreter guided Maruyama to a chair and helped him sit on it. “I hope you recover enough to be able to take the winners to the Asian Tournament.”

“The Commentator has told you about that?” Maruyama asked, eyeing the interpreter with some suspicion.

“He told me everything he knows. Love has no secrets, you know how it goes. But he made me promise I wouldn’t tell anyone. I understand how important your mission is, and I think it’s actually a good idea to make me aware of everything that’s happening behind the curtains, particularly if I keep helping you out like this.”

“To tell the truth, every time I think about what is still to come, it feels like I’m in a never-ending nightmare.” As Maruyama spoke, the interpreter began to massage his shoulder. “Thank you. This helps a little.”

“How about you hire me as your personal masseur and take me to the World Tournament, then?” the interpreter joked.

“I can’t really do that to you. The Commentator would never forgive me if you got in trouble while following us.”

“Is it that bad?” The interpreter hit a particularly sore spot in Maruyama’s back, and the JMA’s president gasped in pleasure.

“Yes, I’m afraid it is.”

“Then why are you going ahead with it?”

“Because if we don’t stop Hajime-san, nobody else will.”

“And to think that what is essentially a children’s game is about to take on dangerous proportions. If I didn’t know better, I would say we’re living inside an anime,” the interpreter joked. Maruyama smiled.

“But it’s precisely because it is a children’s game that it can become so dangerous. Nobody seems to realise how risky it is to give sentient, powerful beings to a group of children. Nobody ever took me seriously when I tried to explain what I know about the True Spirits.”

“And so you’ll take four children under your wings and hope they can make the world listen?” the interpreter asked. He did not sound sceptical of Maruyama’s plan, but he was audibly not totally convinced by it either.

“It won’t be only those four children. There is a reason the World Tournament visits one continent at a time.” Maruyama’s body relaxed against the interpreter’s hands. “And I trust Yuy-kun’s ability. If I can get him and Urameshi-kun in the same team, they should be able to handle what lies ahead.” Maruyama took a deep breath. “Higurashi-chan also seems promising, and Yukina Tomino told me the last Japanese True Spirit will soon find its master. I trust her judgement.”

“As you say. I wish you all the luck, Maruyama-san.” The interpreter finished his massage and bowed to the JMA’s president. “And just so you know, I plan to stick to my boyfriend during the World Tournament, so I can still give you massages wherever you need them.”

“Thank you, I appreciate the offer. But now I think you need to get back to your partner; he’s probably getting tired of waiting for us.”

“Maybe. I’ll find out soon enough…”

As if on cue, the Commentator’s voice echoed in the now empty stadium. “Maruyama-san, please go home and have a proper rest. It is time to end your workday. And please let go of my boyfriend, or I will shout in your ear to get him released.”

“We can’t let that happen,” Maruyama-san declared. Even though he knew the Commentator was not being serious, he still did not want to think about such a threat. This was a kind of punishment he would not wish upon his worst enemy. “Let’s get out of here.”

Maruyama and the interpreter left the second floor. The Commentator was waiting for them by the main entrance. The three men took one last look at the empty stadium before stepping out in the cold Tokyo night. They went straight to a bar, drank away their worries, and woke up the next day crumpled in the living room floor of the apartment shared by the Commentator and his boyfriend. They immediately swore to never mention that night again, and to never tell the others any memories they recovered about the occasion.