“You’re kidding? You’re still moving…!?”
Zaraki howled at the sky, as he dragged his wound covered body and forced himself to get up.
He turned to Yuugo, and charged forward with an angry roar.
“Guoooooooooh!!”
“Oh no…!”
“Yuugo, watch out!”
Yuugo just executed an attack with all he had, and could not react to an attack.
He saw Zaraki charge towards him, and as he was immobile even as Melt yelled, Marcos ran forward, grabbed his shoulders, and fell with him to the ground.
“Guuh! Are you okay, Yuugo!?”
“Thanks to you. Thanks Marcos.”
Both raised their heads while breathing heavily, and saw Zaraki attacking.
Will he just fall down, both thought, but despite Zaraki gasping for air, his expression seethed with hatred and anger as he glared at them.
“Kill…! I’m gonna kill you all!!”
“Stubborn bastard. We’re just gonna have to put him down for good!”
“Yes…! Let’s show him how stubborn we can be!!”
They said, despite being over their limits.
Yuugo’s transformation was undone when he hit the ground, and Marcos chose to dodge Zaraki’s attack rather than block it because he had little strength left.
Still, giving up was not an option, so they got up into their fighting poses, but Ryuuga walked towards them and spoke quietly.
“Yuugo, Marcos, step back. I’ll finish him.”
“Ryuuga…?”
“What are you doing? Are you just being considerate?”
Marcos questioned Ryuuga’s intentions as he stated he wanted to fight Zaraki alone.
Ryuuga responded not with his catchphrase, but with his idea.
“Zaraki is being held up by anger and hatred. The only way to bring him down is to break his spirit. If we don’t put him down in a one-on-one, he will keep getting up.”
“So you’re going to fight him alone?”
“Yes… Zaraki is the same as I was until not long ago. I think overcoming him is a test for me. And… I’m not alone.”
Ryuuga declared while tapping his left fist into his chest.
Even if his friends were not at his side, their feelings were… He said as he threw his partner a question.
“Yuugo… Can you believe in me and leave this to me?”
“Eh…! Don’t ask me questions, partner.”
Yuugo smiled as he pushed his back strongly.
Ryuuga also smiled, supported by many friends as he went off to the decisive duel.
“Ryuuga…! No matter what, you’re always a thorn in my eye…!!”
“…I don’t have anything more to say to you. Come, Zaraki!”
Ryuuga slowly reached for his sheathed katana.
He grabbed the scabbard, took a stance to execute an iai, and Zaraki let his emotions drive him as his anger exploded and he charged forward.
“Don’t get in my way! I! I! I’m above humans!!”
(…Father…!)
Zaraki’s voice did not reach Ryuuga’s ears anymore.
In this tense battle, he overcame his thirst for revenge, and his calm heart spoke only to his father in heaven.
(I’ve been caught up in revenge and only faced the past. But now I’ve found a new future in this academy. I have many friends who will walk forward with me. So…!!)
His father’s feelings were in that katana. His heart beat hot, responding to his friends’ feelings.
He had friends he could believe in. Who believed in him.
As he saw Zaraki howling consumed by hatred and anger, it reminded him of how he was not too long ago.
But it was different now. He was not fighting for revenge.
(Father… Please…!!)
Zaraki bled from all over his body, but still raised his arm with fury.
Ryuuga saw it, mustered up his remaining strength, gripped the handle of the Loong King Fang strongly, and said a prayer to his father just before drawing it.
(Give me the strength to open a path where I can walk with my friends!!)
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