Chapter 36: A Fight Between Old Friends!

"Wait, Jin-chan? Hold on a second!"

Everyone on the hill stopped at Honey's shout. He had finally pulled away from his younger brother, who looked thoroughly confused and in pain, and was staring down the side of the hill. The Fujioka girls stopped, looking back towards the boys.

"Honey-kun? What is it?"

"I was wondering... do you want another match?"

Everyone on the hill froze.

"Mitsukuni…"

"Honey-kun, I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Don't you remember last time?"

"It's been years, Jin-chan. We're both a lot older and we both know it's hard to really practice when our opponents are out after only two minutes."

For a moment, Jin says nothing, making the tension grow. Kyoya, Tamaki, and the twins were the only students present who had never witnessed a battle or the aftermath of Honey and Jin sparring, but they could easily figure out it was a big deal. After all, even Chika is looking between the two of them with a nervous expression.

"I have some conditions."

Mori, Chika, and Haruhi all wince slightly.

"Name them."

"One, not today. I have to let my dad know I'm actually going through with this. Two, we each get two weapons only. Weapons that come in sets will not be allowed. If you choose throwing stars, only two of those blades may be used, not two sets. Three, weapons aren't allowed until after the five minute mark. And four…"

She points at everyone else, "... they can not watch us."

"Awww... "

"What?"

The twins frowned, crossing their arms, "We want to watch! We were gonna bring the popcorn!"

Jin didn't laugh at the joke like they thought she would. In fact, she looked more serious than they could remember her being before. It was a very… bland kind of serious, rather than her usual emotional serious. "Boys, this fight won't be like what you expect. Very few people who have watched found it enjoyable."

"How few?"

"None."

Kyoya sighed, "Honestly, Jin, if you think we will be frightened of you after you spar with Honey-senpai, you are mistaken."

"Want to bet?"

"Jin-chan, if they want to watch, I saw we should allow them. They are our friends and only want to encourage us."

The brunette visibly looked displeased, but after a moment she nodded, "Fine. But Mori-kun will not be our referee. We will use one of your family's referee's, one who is aware of your and my own strength. Do you agree to these terms?"

Honey answers without hesitation, "I do."

Jin nods as well and she begins to walk away. Suddenly, she stops and turns back around, "Your family be paying for any medical bills, same as last time?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

The hosts watch in silence as the Fujioka girls walked away. Haruhi tugged at Jin's arm but was shaken off, the girls facing each other in a silent conversation all the way across the field. It wasn't until they disappeared over the lip of the next hill that Honey turned back around to see the worried faces of his brother, cousin, and friends. Chika was the first to speak, "Mitsukuni, are you absolutely sure this is a good idea? You two nearly destroyed a dojo last time, and you… well, Worthy Matron has grown since then."

"I know what I'm doing, Chika-chan. Our second battle made me realize fighting you and everyone else is not quite enough. I need to build up my stamina, and so does Jin-chan. This is the only way."

Honey walks away, hands in his pockets.

* Five Days Later *

"Oh… I can't believe they're doing this again! What was Mitsukuni thinking? " Ranka nervously chewed his fingernails, eyes watering as he stared off into space. Haruhi quickly placed a consoling hand on her father's shoulder, knowing which memories he was pulling up.

"Dad, maybe it won't be as bad this time-"

"Or it could be a whole lot worse!"

Haruhi didn't respond, because, in all honesty, she was worried sick for her sister. The last time Jin and Honey had fought each other, they had both ended up in hospital beds for a full weekend. The shorter brunette had a feeling this one would end the same way.

All week Jin and Honey had been preparing for this battle, heading to the dojo after school to fine tune any skills that might have dampened with them not practicing daily, and keeping a very serious mentality about them. Neither of them had quite been their happy-go-lucky selves, even at school or the host club, and it was setting everybody on edge. Even their clients had figured something serious was going on, though they weren't told what.

At least by the end of today, they could go back to their normal selves.

Along with the host club, Ranka, Chika, and… another boy with short black hair, were standing along the side of the dojo. Soon Honey and Jin would coming in with their official.

The boy Haruhi didn't know spoke up, nudging Chika, "Hey, Yasuchika, why isn't your father here? I thought for sure he'd show up."

"I'm not even sure if he knows this is happening…"

"He knows. He's busy."

Haruhi tilted her head, "Wait, hold on, who are you?"

The ravenet grinned up at her, "Oh, I'm Satoshi! I'm Takashi's younger brother!"

"Oh, really? I guess you two do look a lot alike." But they don't act alike…

"Yeah, it's pretty cool!" Satoshi looked up at Mori-senpai with a huge smile, which was reciprocated with a smaller one before he looked back at the door with a worried look. Haruhi smiled warmly at the brothers. Well, Mori-senpai's brother obviously adores him. That's a really nice thing to happen. Kind of like with Nēchan and I.

Just then, the doors opened.

Honey, Jin, and a very nervous looking man walk through the doors. The two teenagers were wearing their white martial arts uniforms, both with duffel bags hanging over their shoulders and their hands taped. The trio stopped just in front of the larger group.

The judge cleared his throat, "T-to begin, both participants of this match must empty their weapon bags of their weapons of choice. They will be placed on opposite sides of the arena in sealed boxes at the beginning of the battle, which will only be accessible at the five minute mark."

Both Honey and Jin bent down and unzipped their bags in front of everyone. Honey quickly unpacked a metal staff, pulled it open to full length then shut it again and set it aside. Jin smirked and did the same thing, only her metal staff was a little longer in proportion to her height.

Next, Honey pulled out a single dagger. The blade was about four inches long and the handle was just long enough for Honey to hold in his hand and not have it show on the other side.

Ranka let out a soft whimper.

And then, Jin pulled out her bokuto. The metal sword was of decent length and quite thin with a small hand guard. It had a mild curvature and narrowed down to a wicked point. It looked scarily lethal. Ranka's whimpering died instantly, and they all noticed Honey side-eyeing the new weapon. Any joking mood the new witnesses had been feeling quickly diminished. Kaoru slowly slid the popcorn bowl back into his bag.

"Very well. You have both been checked for additional weapons. Please place your bags with the spectators. I will place your weapons of choice into your assigned boxes. If you attempt to use these weapons before the appropriate time, you will be disqualified and your opponent declared the winner. Do you agree to these terms?"

Both teenagers nodded in understanding and stood back up, carrying their empty bags towards the others. Tamaki attempted a smile of encouragement, but it was hard to do when they looked so serious. At the last possible moment, the two relaxed their poses and gave their friends a quick smile before returning their attention back to the battle.

The walked to their starting positions, in the middle of their halves of the room. The official nervously placed Honey's equipment into the box behind him before trotting across the large room. His footfalls echoed as the other occupants fell into complete and absolute silence. Haruhi could swear she could hear her father's heartbeat next to her.

As the official locked Jin's equipment into her own box, he shakily made his way back to the middle of the room. Standing opposite of the spectators, they could easily see how his arms were trembling.

"This match between Master Mitsukuni Haninozuka and Honorary Matron Fujioka will continue until one opponent has been rendered defenseless, or completely overpowered. But… if we could not have a half-hour long match like last time, that would be appreciated." He cleared his throat and raised a trembling hand, "Are you both prepared? Then, you may begin!"

Jin moved before the others could even register the movement, bringing both of her arms up to block her head in an 'X' shape. Half a heartbeat later, Honey's left foot was connecting with the center of the shape. And just like that, the battle commenced. Honey attempted to kick off his failed strike, but Jin grabbed his ankle, using the momentum against him to swing the boy down.

Honey twisted his upper body to face the floor, hands splayed against the mat and pulling himself forward in a somersault. Jin was pulled off her feet with the movement and she released Honey's leg to handspring over the small boy, just narrowly missing the upward kick from Honey's right foot.

The girl turned from her spring and jumped, avoiding having her legs knocked out from underneath her. Honey rolled away from her landing, back on his feet just in time to lean away from her punch. Jin let out a yell and lunged after her retreating opponent, forcing him on the defense.

Back on the sidelines, Haruhi was finally becoming aware of the death grip on her right arm. Tamaki was holding onto her like his life depended on it, but his wide eyes were pinned on the match. His grip tightened as Jin narrowly avoided another kick to the face.

" Senpai? " The blond jolted, but released the girl beside him. A shriek pulled her attention back to the mat as Jin performed a one-handed back-flip, holding her left arm close to her chest. Haruhi felt like her chest was closing up. Her old injury. Honey's face flickered between concern and the battle-hard expression he'd been nursing all week and he hesitated.

Jin shook her arm out before darting back towards her opponent. Honey's concern vanished.

" He'd better not hurt her… " Haruhi risked another glance away from the battle. Chika was watching the match with clear eyes, yet his mouth was set in a determined scowl.

Satoshi leaned over to whisper to the boy, " Yasuchika, Nēchan can handle herself. "

" I don't care! I don't want her getting hurt. She's like my older sister. "

" You and I both know you care about Jin a whole lot more than that. And it's because of what happened five years ago. "

A sudden movement behind her pulled Haruhi's attention to yet another member of their group. Kyoya had stiffened, but was still watching the fight. Oh, right. Chika's crush.

" Did you say five years? " Her father hummed, slipping into the conversation as well, " Isn't that when Mitsukuni's father attempted to arrange a marriage between Mitsukuni and Jin? "

The entire host club turned and shouted, "WHAT?"

On the mat, the combatants stumbled and glanced at their friends, still circling each other.

"What's going on over there?"

Chika scoffed, "You didn't tell them about the arranged marriage? Geez, don't you tell them anything? " Instantly he was swatted across the group, giving Haruhi a brief memory of the movie 'Free Willy'.

"Be nice, Yasuchika!" Satoshi frowned at his cousin, who was still dazed on the ground.

Jin sighed from her spot on the mat before running at the blond, "I had my reasons for not telling them."

"And besides, we stopped it before it was made official."

"And stop hitting Chika all the time, Satoshi! You're going to give the poor boy a concussion one of these days!"

Honey's brother rose to his feet, wobbling a little, "Look, just to give you guys some background, my father wanted Worthy Matron Fujioka to be a Haninozuka for years, almost ever since she joined our dojo. He thought the way to accomplish that would be to unite my older brother with her in holy matrimony. However, by the time he brought it up with them, they were already really close... in a brother-sister kind of way. There was no way they could've stopped seeing each other like that. She said no to wedding my brother, and Mitsukuni convinced my father to cancel setting up the arranged marriage."

The others looked at Mori, who nodded in agreement.

" Why didn't Nēchan ever tell me this? "

Ranka patted his daughter's head, " She didn't want to expose you to this world more than you already were. Being arranged to be married to someone? It was hard enough for Jin to get used to the idea. You were only ten years old when it happened. It's not that you wouldn't have understood, but Jin didn't want you to know about it. After all, she spent most of your childhood convincing you about falling in love. She didn't want to shatter that image of marrying for love, not just money, for you. "

A high pitched buzz sounded through the room twice. Instantly, the fighting boy and girl parted from each other and raced to their boxes. Soon enough they were back at it again, staffs out and clacking against each others. Every time the duo spun around, the others could see the much sharper weapons the two had attached to their bodies. Honey's knife hung from his hip, Jin's was attached to her back.

As the two continued fighting, their real prowess started coming to light. Their own bodies were just as dangerous as the metal in their hands. While it was rare for either of them to land a sufficient blow on the other, there was enough power behind them to make it extremely painful. Knocking a shoulder backwards sharply or making the blocker's arms vibrate with the strength behind the strike.

Eventually, the blond found an opening.

Honey smacked Jin's side, and it visibly knocked the wind out of her lungs, but she managed to kick his feet out from under him, giving her some time to recover. Of course, Honey was back on his feet by the time she did.

It took another minute or two before another big opening presented itself, but when it did, it was actually in Jin's favor. It started with a stabbing gesture at Honey's midriff that was quickly blocked, but instead of bouncing back she slid the end of the staff down the edge of Honey's before thrusting it downwards, striking his ankle. The boy let out a cry before instantly retaliating with a smack to the side of her head, making her face snap sideways.

Both of them stumbled. A whimper reached the crowd, but they couldn't tell who it had come from. Haruhi was moved to the side as Kyoya started walking forward, but he paused as Honey struck again. Jin barely moved in time, shooting her own staff out to deflect her opponent's, knocking the tip back towards him. Honey grabbed the end and pushed the staff outwards in a flat line to block a strike from the girl, who was holding her staff the same way.

The two kept pushing… and pushing… and pushing…

Jin lurched forward a half step when her staff bent abruptly. The two gave the metal poles a look of confusion. Both of them were curved in, actually, rendering them pretty much useless.

Chuckling, both Honey and Jin simultaneously threw their ruined staffs away and leapt back, pulling out their other weapons.

" Oh… I can't watch this! " Ranka turned himself around and covered his ears as the two began circling each other. Haruhi considered copying him. A quick glance showed that Satoshi already had and it looked like Tamaki would be next.

Honey flipped his dagger so it was pointing downwards, "Jin-chan, let's end this in five minutes."

"Agreed." She swung the sword, "I'll be sure to win by then."

"Ha! We'll see about that! Defend yourself!"

Thirteen minutes.

It took another thirteen minutes before the official called out the verdict.

"Tie!"

Tamaki peeked his face out from behind his hands and almost cried with relief. His friends were in the same position as when he'd covered his eyes, but they hadn't moved either, which was a good sign. And it also meant this horrible match was over with.

Nothing about it had been what he had expected. Sure, maybe a bruise or two, after all he had seen the way Honey-senpai had slammed Chika into the dirt only a few days ago, but Jin was good, too. But no, what he had just witnessed had been horrifying .

Slowly, the spectators inched their way onto the mats, closer to the boy and girl.

The two fighters were still locked in their final form. Jin had her bokuto pressed against Honey's throat, one of her hands fisted in his hair to hold his head back and his neck bare. But he had his knife pressed against Jin's stomach, point first, ready to thrust into her lower abdomen.

"Mitsukuni…"

"Jin?"

They both took in equally shuddering breaths before relaxing and pulling away, both of them limping slightly as they dropped their weapons to the ground. Instantly the others were upon them.

Jin all but collapsed into Kyoya's arms as her father and sister started inspecting her injuries. She let out a high pitched whine when Haruhi touched her left cheek, which had swelled since Honey had struck it with his staff. There was a very shallow cut on her side, tearing her uniform open and staining the edges of the material with red. She laid her head on Kyoya's chest, her hair messy and a few locks hanging out of her ponytail and sticking to her sweaty face.

"Jin-chan? Are you okay?"

The brunette took another deep breath before calling out, "Cheek, side, my wrist, and… I think my right knee." Kyoya readjusted his grip, holding up as much of her weight off of her right leg as she sighed, "What about you?"

"Arm, ankle, shoulder, hand… but that could just be the adrenaline. "

Honey was in his cousin's arms, letting his head dangle backwards as his brother and younger cousin looked him over. He was also bleeding, a small trickle from his bicep that already reached his elbow. His right hand and ankle just dangled down from Mori's grip. When Chika attempted to check them, he whimpered and pulled away.

"Mitsukuni?"

Honey looked up at his cousin, almost sheepishly but there was pain in his expression, "I think my hand's broken, Takashi…"

" Never do this again! "

The two sighed against the people holding them up, "Okay, Tama-chan."

"Yeah, I promise. Can you call the paramedics, now?"

* Time Skip *

"So… Honey-senpai only has a bruise on his ankle?"

Kyoya nodded, sitting further back on Jin's hospital bed. He was the only person in the room with the brunette, having just come back from checking on Honey-senpai. That's where the others were, other than the remainder of the Fujioka family. They were downstairs getting something to eat. "That's right. And his hand was simply hyper-extended, not broken."

Jin sighed, relaxing against her pillows, "Good." With gentle brushes, she ran her fingertips over the bruise that ran up and down her side, wincing slightly. The doctors had taken great care of her and Honey, making sure they'd be fit to go back to school come Monday. But now she was waiting on dinner. "I hope Dad and Haru bring me back something to eat."

"Jin?"

"Mm?"

Kyoya scooped up her right hand, "I need you to promise me that you will never duel like that again. Ever. With Honey-senpai or anyone else." Blinking, the girl stared at the boy sitting on her bed. Kyoya stared back just as seriously.

"Kyoya… I've already promised. Honey-senpai did, too."

"I know, but promise me again." He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze, "I don't like seeing you hurt. It seems that for every time you sit atop my school desk, I'm sitting on your hospital bed. I do not enjoy that correlation."

Jin breathes in sharply, but she returns the grip. Slowly, she sits up on her bed and leans in closer, their fingers falling in between each other's. She pauses when she can see herself faintly reflected in Kyoya's glasses.

" I promise. "

Kyoya hardly hears her, beginning to lean in when, as his luck would have it-

"JIN-CHAN!" Honey-senpai was wheeled into the room on his own hospital bed, the host club right behind him. "We can share a room now!"

Everyone cheers, but they're quickly cut off by the twin glares they're receiving. Not to mention how the two 2nd years had yet to move away from each other and were still holding hands, their fingers interlocked.

Of course, the moment passes and Kyoya stands up from Jin's bed, "Wonderful. Just be sure that you don't keep each other up at night. You're not here for a sleepover and should do your best to return to school on Monday."

"If you say so, Glasses."