Saki easily watched him e straight at her. It hadn’t been the first time he jumped into the attack, but she knew how he worked. Anticipation mounted waiting on him to make his move. The sneak attack or diversion that he seemed to favor, knowing that he couldn’t take her straight on in power or skill.

  Yet she waited.

  The moment never came. What did was Tatsuya suddenly telep the st distance right in front of her smming his fist into her fabsp; Enough speed pushed his strength behind his punch to send Saki flying over the ground for several city blocks.

  Breathing heavily, Tatsuya watched the pilr of smoke rise into the air from the impabsp; ‘This isn’t over yet. I’m about to colpse and she’s still getting warmed up. But I ’t stop…’ He knew if he stopped to pause that everything keeping him standing would evaporate. That was how it felt. “I wonder how pissed off she is now,” he joked to himself waiting for Saki to return.

  Chapter 345 – The Shattered Mirror

  A scream ripped through the area. It was ohat wasn’t of surprise. And it only preceded her return by moments. Saki charged in full speed at Tatsuya ahat she fell for his tricks again. However, before she got even teers away from him a rge metal rod flew at her. She effortlessly k away, but it was merely a distra.

  He appeared on her right fnk delivering another punbsp; Off guard and unprepared, she bounced off the ground and in the air. Tatsuya immediately leapt to her side and brought both of his hands down together. Saki’s body crashed into the ground creating a crater around her.

  Landing at the edge of the crater, Tatsuya waited for the smoke to clear. ‘How long I st like this? I never really fought for so long or so hard before. I feel like I’ve bee used to fighting losing battles, but this is a pletely different sort of losing battle.’

  However, he didn’t have to wait long for her to return. She dived bato the fight bursting out of the clouds with Tatsuya firmly locked in her sight. As her fist came down upon Tatsuya, it went through as though there was nothing there. Saki blinked in fusion watg the image of him disappear.

  Tatsuya popped up on her fnk again, throwing out his fist. Though he ected with her solidly, she only staggered a little. Her feet phemselves firmly into the earth to take it. “I’m getting tired of your tricks!” she roared as she returo the attack.

  Her arm flew out for Tatsuya’s head, but missed somehow. She reized it as what had happened before in their fight. As she missed, Tatsuya snuside her defense tering with several quick blows. Lag the power behind his fists, he couldn’t push her back or knock her down. She went after him again trying to adjust, but missed again.

  Saki still didn't uand it. She kept thinking that she had him, but then would miss instead. Yet he would appear and ter her. Despite seeing it repeatedly, nothing she did mao adapt to it. It wasn’t speed. She would have seen it if he moved faster than her. It didn’t make any sense. “Damn you! Just die already!”

  “I’m not going down!” As he went in for atack, it was stopped by Saki’s hand. She fought him in a battle of strength. It was his already injured hand, so he couldn’t support it as well as he wished. The struggle went poorly.

  She kept pushing ba him bit by bit. “You’re predictable. Even if you have a strange ability to keep dodging my attacks, you’re no fighter. You’ve got no skill or experienbsp; You ’t beat me!”

  “I haven’t been fighting you thinking I could win.”

  “You futilely believe Hiroshi will be able to reach Takako.”

  “He will! You ’t protect her while I’m fighting you!”

  “Is that what you think?”

  Surprise and fusion took over Tatsuya’s fad he pletely lost his position. Saki broke through his defense and knocked him off his feet. Without her speed, her power didn’t have the same sort of sending power. Tatsuya only fell over a little bit before rec. “What are you saying?”

  “That should be pretty obvious! I’m not the only ohat guards Takako!”

  “…dammit…”

  She began to ugh at Tatsuya’s y. “I only just returned home. You really think that Takako didn’t have someone else guarding her before I came around.”

  ‘She’s right… I never really thought about it.’ He began to think about what Hiroshi might be doing. All his pnning on him fighting Takako and taking her down pinned everything on his fight. His mind tried to figure out who it might be, but Takako wasn’t someohat he knew very well. ‘She’s Saki’s friend, not mine. I only really khat she was orack team, that was about it. After she was hospitalized, she was never back at school until now. Vegetable to queror is a strange move. Could her guard be the source?’

  Tatsuya pulled himself together. He had too many questions and it wasn’t helping the situation with Saki. “Who is it? Who’s proteg her still?” Fog on the more important matter at the moment, he hoped to know if there was a risk of Hiroshi not reag Takako.

  “You don’t have to worry. They’ll keep Hiroshi eained until I return.”

  “Who?!”

  “That’s nothing you o yourself over. Yoing to be dead soon!” Saki lowered a little into her usual fighting stance preparing to attack.

  There was nothing he could do to prepare anymore. Tatsuya knew how much of a difference she had. It was always a stalling game. The game just ged. It was more of a death game now. Su outlook wasn’t the sort of view he wanted. ‘It may very well e down to living as long as I . Hiroshi won’t be able to kill Takako if he has to deal with Saki. I don’t know if there’s anyohat actually stop Saki…’

  “Now that you uand how hopeless your situation is—be so kind as to die!” Saki leapt at Tatsuya bringing her might upon him once more.

  ‘…damn…things just keep getting worse…’ Taking advantage of his power, he dodged Saki’s opening strike. But he had to dance around their field to stay ahead of her. She was on the full offe letting him make any move of his own. And even dodging wasn’t enough.

  She caught a piece of him as her reflexes adjusted to him. ‘Damn!’ Tatsuya slid back trying not to fall over. With her still ing at him, it allowed himself to fall when he realized the best option. Her attack flew over him while he unched himself with his feet into her stomach as she came in range. The hit khe wind out of Saki and kicked her up in the air.

  Grabbing some spare wood around their current location, Tatsuya spun around whag Saki with the pnk a few times before it shattered. It was enough to keep her in the air while he whaled on her. He grabbed for more ons to swing at her needing to do anything to keep her stunned. Eventually, she recovered from it as she blocked his attacks. Rather than tinue seeing that his makeshift ons did nothing more to her, Tatsuya grabbed her arm and smmed her into the ground. He quickly threw his foot into her side doing anything to keep her down. ‘Just stay down, Saki!’

  A couple of kicks in though, she grabbed his leg and spun him through the air into the grouo her. She threw down her arm even while she roo pound him into the earth more. Tatsuya did what he could to block the damage with his arms, but it still eled through his body.

  Tatsuya coughed and bit through the pain as his body weakened. ‘I don’t have much left in me.’ He kicked over at Saki to push her away from him. It gave him enough distao be freed up. He stumbled back to his feet as Saki flipped back up. ‘I’ve only got orick left in me. She’s seehing else already. It’s only going to keep her off bance for a bit. Finish the job, Hiroshi!’

  Fog on his remaining energy, he prepared for the attabsp; Saki struck first as he expected. She wanted him dead to get back to Hiroshi. That gave him the opening that he needed. Trig her with his copy, he kicked up a smoke of dirt to mask his escape.

  He jumped out e to get the room he needed. Once he saw Saki charging out of the cloud, he went oabsp; Meeting her in the middle, he went through her. She missed the attack, but her rea prepared for the real one ing straight at her, only it went through her as well. Several copies of Tatsuya went through her as if he was a ghost. “What are y now—“ A punch actually ected with her knocked her off her feet.

  As her body flew through the air, Tatsuya sped over catg her quickly in an underarm pin, or at least his attempt at one. He squeezed his arms arouorso and arms trying to keep her from moving.

  “You think you hold me?!”

  He could feel her struggling. Because it was a bad angle for her, she couldn’t use her full strength against him. “As we’ve been fighting, I realized that your actual strength isn’t much different from my own. It’s the speed that’s been making up for your ck of power. So in a straight up test of strength, you’re not going to be in that much of an advantage.”

  “I don’t need my strength to break free.”

  “Just try—“ Suddenly, Saki bashed the back of her head back at his fabsp; It hurt, but he held together until she whacked him again. His grip started to fail as she repeatedly smashed her head into his.

  Saki ripped free from his loose grip and spun around with her leg kig him in the head. Toppling over through the earth, she jumped into the air ramming her ko his stomabsp; As Tatsuya coughed up blood into her air, she rolled over him and grappled him in a cssic judo arm lock.

  Pio the ground and his arm pulled to its limit, Tatsuya struggled with what little strength that he had. Saki didn’t stop pulling on his arm, taking it further than just a pin. He felt his joint in his elbow straining as she applied pressure. ‘’t…hold…’

  A low popping came from his arm as he screamed pain. Saki released his broken arm and ed her arms around his ned head. Tatsuya grabbed at her with his only good arm trying to deal with the pain at the same time.

  “This is the end for you.”

  “Saki…”

  She quickly shifted her hands and gripped his head. “You ’t trick your way out of this!”

  However, before she could snap his neck a massive force smmed into her head throwing her free of Tatsuya. Tatsuya coughed and colpsed to the ground grabbing at his broken arm attempting to . He rolled his head over a little trying to see who had jumped into the fight. His eyes widened in surprise. “Why…?”

  Saki stood up shaking off the ringing pain as half of her face was soaked in blood now. She gred over at Tatsuya and then up to the figure that interrupted her. Her eyes widened as well in shobsp; “Why are you here?!”