Seiko’s head jerked up. He didn’t look tired in the slightest, he wasn’t sweating or even breathing remotely heavily. Kito raised an eyebrow as he had clearly been training. His bottoms were loose, his waist, hands and feet tightly bound. Kito could tell Seiko had been training hard, so the complete lack of any exhaustion was impressive. Kito’s gaze dropped to the bloody wraps, hanging loose from his hands that showed how much he had been punching. Seiko stood and pulled the wraps tight.

“What’s up?”

“You’ve always turned to training when you have something on your mind.” Katy mused, walking around the outer edge of the dojo and looking over all of the weapons on the walls.

Seiko’s face shifted slowly into a wry smile, “What are you driving at?”

“She wants me to beat you up.” Kito grinned.

“Oh yeah?” Seiko’s gaze flicked to Kito, his small smile growing.

“I was hesitant but you know,” Kito picked a blunt shortsword from the wall and twirled it in his hand, settling into a simple one-handed stance, “I take one look at your dumb face and just need to hit it.”

Seiko nodded, his face suddenly lighter as he rolled his shoulders in his sockets. “You asked for it.” Seiko dashed in, leg swinging around and aiming to slam into Kito’s ribs. Kito chuckled and danced backwards, his eyes already glowing blue with his sight Discipline. Katy smiled wide, pulling a packet of crisps from her back pocket and sitting against the wall to watch. Kito ducked another kick and weaved around a punch, his blade flashing. The steel whistled past Seiko’s face, forcing him into a back handspring. Seiko recovered with a whirling kick that sent a blast of air, knocking Kito off balance. Kito staggered, spinning and sending a wave of aura from his free hand. Seiko turned his shoulder into the wave, letting it roll over him and dashed into Kito once again. This time Kito was more ready, though. He spun as Seiko blurred towards him and the blade raked against Seiko’s ribs, who hissed in pain but continued his assault regardless. Kito ducked a punch, then sidestepped a fierce uppercut. He had to flip backwards to avoid a huge blast of wind, though the fireball that came next caught him, spinning him and sending him staggering. Kito laughed, batting out the flames on his T-shirt and whirling the sword once again. He and Seiko were indeed frustratingly equal, even when just sparring. The two of them dashed at each other this time. Blue energy whipped and Seiko weaved around it expertly, his hands flashing up and almost taking Kito’s head off. Kito ducked and bobbed, whirling his sword or sending it out like a snake wherever he could, though the two were dodging far too effectively. Kito caught an elbow and smashed Seiko’s face with the pommel of the sword, following up with a wave of aura that sent Seiko staggering back. He was about to retaliate when Kito took it up a few notches. He suddenly glowed blue, blurred towards Seiko and went for a slash from the side. Seiko brought his knee up and braced his arms to block the strike, and noticed a little too late what was happening. The side strike flashed blue, leaving behind an imprint in the air as Kito’s blade came from above, the blade raking across Seiko’s face and chest and sending him stumbling back, tripping and falling on his ass. Seiko chuckled slightly before flipping up to his feet.

“I think I’ve seen enough,” Katy said, her smile still wide as she got to her feet, cracking her neck. Seiko raised an eyebrow as she walked onto the mat. Kito chuckled, stepping back. Seiko flicked his gaze to him.

“Overdoing it a bit?” Seiko grinned, looking Kito up and down.

“I don’t think I’m far enough away, to be honest.” Kito laughed, leaning back against the wall as Seiko turned his gaze back to Katy.

“I know you’ve gotten better but I am undead now.” Seiko said, settling into a loose boxer’s stance, “We’ll no doubt still be as equal as we always were.”

“Sure,” Katy grinned widely, “Stay focused. Don’t drop your guard. Don’t hesitate. Don’t get distracted for even one second,” Katy paused to throw her hand to one side, sparks flying and the air suddenly filled with static before a metal shield flew from the wall into her hand, “If you do… You’ll die. Again.” Katy wasted no time and blurred towards Seiko faster than Seiko could even register, shield already coming at him from below. Seiko grunted and dashed backwards, though Katy was already spinning. The steel smashed against Seiko’s jaw and spun him, sending him staggering. Katy was already following up. The shield batted his head downward, then came back up and sent him flying back into a tumble, head over heels. Katy started a slow walk towards him, tightening the straps of the shield as she went.

“Okay…” Seiko managed, getting back to his feet, “Let’s try that again.”

Katy didn’t answer, simply smiled and continued her walk. She ducked a punch with ease, then sidestepped a wave of flame, her foot sinking into Seiko’s stomach. He staggered back and Katy closed in again, and Seiko sent a blast of air to slow her down. Katy stopped her momentum instantly, spinning and dodging around the ripples of displaced air. Seiko blinked, glowing blue and blurring around another attempted shield bash, then sending his fist towards Katy, wreathed in flames. Her leg suddenly shot up, the back of her knee in line with the inside of Seiko’s elbow, and in less than a second she had his forearm against her thigh and her toes pressed against his shoulder. Seiko cursed as he realised what had happened, but it was too late. Katy straightened her leg then arced Seiko down, pressing him against the mat. Katy laughed, lifting her weight from the struggling Seiko and stepping back to help him to his feet.

“Can’t say you didn’t warn me…” Seiko groaned, accepting the pat on the shoulder as he moved over to sit on a wooden step, “I was hoping I’d at least get you to use some magic.”

“I only managed that once,” Kito chuckled, “When she wasn’t using any weapons.”

“What the hell happened in the past forty years,” Seiko leaned back, blinking at Katy, who tossed the shield back to its stand and collapsed onto the mat, “That felt like fighting Sapphire.”

“A lot…” Kito fell onto the same step as Seiko, sighing, “We’re due for the games in a few years, so who knows. Maybe Sapphire isn’t the strongest in the Rebellia anymore.”

“She did beat me in the previous tourney,” Katy nodded, “Barely.”

“It was a good match.” Kito agreed, nodding along with her.

“To think,” Seiko laughed to himself, “Kito lost most of his power, and Katy may well be the strongest in the Rebellia. Amazing.”

“You would have won if we’d kept going, aye,” Kito grinned, “I’m getting back in shape, but both of our fights went my way mostly thanks to luck.”

“Your new buffs are impressive, though.” Katy said, “Your resilience is incredible, and your speed is definitely a lot higher. Your magic seems just as strong as before but everything else seems… Magnified.”

“You could gleam that much, huh?” Said a wide-eyed Seiko, nodding slowly, “I could barely even get a gauge on how strong you actually are.”

“Happens when you spend years fighting Demons,” Katy shrugged, “You need to come up with a strategy in seconds. They tend to be fifteen steps ahead of you.”

“I’m getting the impression that Demons aren’t as rare as they used to be.” Seiko hesitated slightly.

“You have no idea,” Kito said, rolling his eyes.

Katy took a moment, “We had to kill twelve. Only a little while after the war. Since then, Dregs, Crossings and Demons, in general, have been a lot more common.”

“Much stronger ones too,” Kito sighed, “Dregs have been getting more dangerous, higher-level Demons have been getting more and more common. We’re not sure what’s going on.”

“No wonder you’re so strong, then…” Seiko got to his feet, “I think I’m ready to head back in. Thanks for beating me up, guys.”

Kito clapped his shoulder before moving off to the door, “Anytime, Seiko. Anytime.”

“Let’s go,” Katy smiled, clearly trying her best to hold back laughter, “I’ll show you around the mansion. A lot’s changed since your last time here.”

“That sounds good,” Seiko smiled lightly, following Katy out, “You were always interested in interior design. Can’t wait to see what you’ve done with this place over the course of a couple of decades.”

***

It was a nice day. Sunny, warm. The night had been warm too, of course, but that was beside the point. From the shade of the trees, three figures emerged. The mansion was large, inviting them. One of them, a petite girl with long blue hair, smiled nostalgically. The others looked around with mild interest as the girl took the lead, walking up a very nicely maintained path towards the large building. Another woman with red hair mused on how nice a house it is, fitting of a war hero like Kito Tiko, and the blue-haired girl nodded in agreement. She had lived here for a little while, and it was definitely a good place for Kito and Katy, even if she knew for sure that they had too much space and not an awful lot to do with it. The third member of their party was a tall man in gleaming armour, holding his horned helmet under his arm. He had travelled all the way from Arcadia to give Kito and Katy their new mission, a joint affair of the Rebellia and the Empire. Very official business. He was gazing around in wonder, his large orange eyes wide as he looked around at the lush gardens and vibrant plant life. The blue-haired girl giggled to herself as they continued up the path. She briefly wondered if Kito would be up to the task they had to give him. It was a big mission, one usually given to generals like her. Of course, there was a reason they needed Kito more than anyone else. She knew once he heard them out he would agree to help. He was just that type of guy.