The Successor Games

“A-are we going to die?” I say, looking over at my lifelong friend. His face down not looking at me he nods slowly as the world turns dark. I awake in my room looking around. Gasping for air I grip my chest holding my heart. Was it just a dream I think still looking around my room. “I guess it was just a dream after all” I say letting out a deep breath. Rising from my bed I head to my mirror. “Today is the martial arts tournament” looking at the calendar near my mirror I smile slightly. “Alright guess it’s time to do my best today is the day I win” looking at the picture of me and my friend as children. “I’ll show you that I’m stronger, we will no longer tie” walking out of my room and towards the shower. After showering I quickly run downstairs to the kitchen grabbing a piece of toast, my bag and bokken rushing out of the door. As the crowd of students engulf me I shift to a walk. “SHIROO” a soft female voice calls me from behind. I turn my head around searching for the person the voice came from. “Good morning yae” I say as she catches up to me in the crowd. Good morning Shiro” she says through a smile. It’s become regular that she catches me in the morning no since her confession. ~flashback~ standing behind the gym I run my hands through my hair. “I know why she called me out here but...” I sigh kicking over a small rock. I look up watching as she walks around the corner. Our eyes met but it was not who I was expecting. It was yae my senpai in sword training. “Y-Yae is that you were the one who called me here” I look at her, our eyes meeting briefly until she looks away. “I have something I want to tell” her face blushes. “Shiro please go out with me” she says with a bow and I feel a pain in my heart. “Yae I like you I really do but I’m not right for you” putting my face in the ground. ~flashback over~ Walking to class with one of the most beautiful in the school was fun. She's also smart and athletic. I couldn’t believe when she asked me out I wanted to accept but she deserves better. Sliding open the classroom door I can sense his bloodlust coming so I quickly drew my bokken. Both swords clash and a smirk escape both of our lips. “I see you're excited for today’s tournament huh...Híroÿ” I say as he hops away. “I see you’ve kept up your training,” Híroÿ says. The smirk on his face told it all he was as excited for the martial arts tournament as I was and seeing how stocked he was made my fire ride. “Our match will be the final huh I won’t accept you to lose to anyone else but me” I say looking at him with intensity. “Oh shouldn’t you be more worried about losing yourself Shiro'' says a familiar female voice from behind. “Oh Yāsûrah there's no one who’s trained as hard as I have for this” I say pointing to the fresh scar above my eye “I’ve been waiting for the moment that me and him can have an actual spar without tying.” Yāsûrah is híroÿ’s girlfriend and I don’t see how he has come to enjoy his youth so much but he seems happy. Making my way over to my seat the usual chatter started. Mostly things about how me and híroÿ could possibly be friends when we differ but it’s a valid reasoning why. It’s because we strive to be the best, we are best friends but also we are rivals. We push each other to extend past the boundaries that most people would give up at. Ever since we were young we’ve wanted to become stronger for different reasons. Mine was to protect what family I have left which is only my little sister. When I was 7 years old my house was broken into by some big time mob bosses because my father was some very important person but him, mom or my older brother never said a thing to me about what he did. Until that night I was told that he ran a pretty shady business and had taken out a lot of loans. I was told to take my 3 year old little sister and hide somewhere. But I no longer have those memories all I see now is the mutilated corpses laying there and my little sister crying. From that moment on I made her a promise that I will protect her that nothing bad will ever happen to her. It’s been 11 years since then and we’ve been living pretty well. I take care of the house and work while also training in different things. While she relaxes and enjoys life I know that she hasn’t forgotten what has happened but the fact that I know I can get her to smile makes me all the happier. As the school bell rings for home room the teacher enters and all the students take their seat. Looking over the class he calls out me and híroÿ for today’s national tournament and sends us on our way. As we walk through the halls to the gymnasium more and more students enter the halls each with their own weapon or style of choice. [looks like today will be a lot of fun. I can’t let my guard down] the words slip through my mind and a slight smirk rests on my face. After entering the gymnasium the face of the other 50 opponents stretch out with a bracket on the wall to the left. Stepping onto the mat my first match was a simple matter; his speed and accuracy was less than mine, giving him a simple knockout was enough. Most of the matches ended that way until the quarter finals. In this matchup I met up with my senior in kendo and after each of us drew our swords the match began. This matchup was not like the others. We clashed swords for 4 minutes with a mix of feints and strikes but in the end my mixed training was too much for him. After switching from kendo I made use of my capoeira training to keep him on the defensive. After that the match was decided after 5 minutes I had won. Then the semi finals were next but this match was a little easier instead of using kendo I stuck with judo and capoeira and used my speed and flexibility to dance around him exhausting his stamina and casually I gave him a quick kick and he was out. [I think it’s best not to waste any stamina, híroÿ is next and that match will be the end] my mind flutters as me and híroÿ take the stage. The final match is set for ten minutes and of the bat we both charge in. Exchanging blows and match fist and kicks for around five minutes we were evenly matched. Switching stances we both swapped to our kendo sticks and charged in once again clashing swords with a loud bang and again we swap clashes casually hitting each other or parrying or clashing. The match ended with a tie and we both breathe heavily as we shake hands. “Well I guess today was another tie” I say scratching the back of my head. We both let out a chuckle and walked off the stage. After the award ceremony we decided to go have some dinner at a nearby restaurant little to our knowledge did we know that we wouldn’t make it. Walking through the street the dark presence from behind got more and more sinister. Taking a back alley we wait for the mysterious people as they round the count I count at least 20. “You think you can get away with a stunt like that in the tournament” says one of the mysterious people and they all pull out a gun each and take aim. “Well I guess it’s no point in saying we can get outta her unscathed'' my voice was stern and unwavering. We both charge them prepared for our last and as our first step hits the ground they all start firing. Falling to the ground holding my chest the hot liquid falls to the ground and I look over and híroÿ has fallen to. “Is this the end I wasn’t ready” my voice goes weak and I feel everything going dark