Chopsticks

Chapter 7: The Crickets

 "Duck!" Katsu yelled as a throwing star wizzed a centimeter over my head and pierced the wall behind me. I managed to crouch just in time. I took a breath.

"No time for breathing, kid! Run!" Satoshi yelled from the other side of the training room. I looked up to see Jae running at me with a sword.

"Fudge nuggets," I breathed before snapping up and bolting.

"Watch for the wall, Mau! You'll be out if you touch it!" Katsu called from near Jae. I hadn't even realized I was running at the wall. I had to think fast. A sword stand was in the corner. If I could just-

The moving shadow of Jae's blade forced me to jump just in time as the wooden sword slid beneath me. I used the chance to kick Jae just below the chest with a improvised jumping sidekick. As he fell back I lunged at the sword stand and ripped out a sword. Before either of us knew it, I stood over Jae with the point of my wooden sword at his neck. We stared at each other, panting. I knew he couldn't believe it either. He heaved a sigh and tapped the floor, signaling my victory in our wild sparring match. The team clapped and cheered. Bammi ran up to give me a hug.

"That was epic!" He squealed. Jae picked himself off the floor, a little wobbly as the kick may have knocked the air out of him. I grinned.

"I'm a fast learner, huh?" I prompted, poking Jae with my sword. He waved it away.

"Yeah, yeah. You're alright," He agreed, giving a small smile, "let's see how you do in the actual ring."

Ah, right. I'd have to fight for real.

"Speaking of," Satoshi started, checking his watch, "we should go get ready or we'll miss the intro."

"But we already know all the rules," Jae spoke from the sword stand, putting both our swords in place.

"We do, but this fella doesn't," Satoshi said, nudging me, "come on boys, let's get that black and red on."

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"Hey Shi, how come our uniform isn't orange and white like a actual white striped tiger would be?" Bammi asked as we made our way toward the entrance to the battlefield, smartly dressed in our black and red uniforms. They were similar to the old school martial arts uniforms, made to allow comfortable movement. The only difference being that there was padding placed over the chest and the lower parts in our uniforms.

"So that we could match Jae's hair," Satoshi replied.

"How come we didn't match my hair?" Bammi asked.

"Because you look like one of us. If we didn't match with Jae he would have no way to fit in," Satoshi answered with a smirk. Jae punched him.

Our entrance door opened revealing the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen in my life. A full house of an audience. Cheers exploded as we walked into the field. On the other side, The Crickets were also walking out, their bright green uniforms made them look like walking green screens. The lights lining the walls were still glowing red, signifying that the match wouldn't start until we were given the signal. Something different was that the sand and dust were no longer flying up to stick to our uniforms, when kicked, they landed back immediately as if being pulled to the ground. They even got magic dirt.

"Teams!" a woman's voice boomed over the microphone, scaring me so bad I had to grab my chest to make sure my heart was still there. I then promptly padded my side where I had my chopstick darts firmly in place. We stood opposite to The Crickets in the large round arena.

"Welcome to Samurodate's weapon competition. Before we begin, here is some basic information," the woman's voice began. She was nowhere to be seen, but her authoritative voice gave her plenty of presence. "The weapon's competition is dangerous. By signing up, you have agreed to alleviate any responsibility of harm or death from everyone but yourself. This means that if you are injured or killed, we will not pay for hospital treatments or funeral arrangements, and neither will the member of the team who may have committed the act. This being said, if anyone would like to drop out of the competition, please make your way to one of the exits now."