Everyone was silent in their seats at what they saw, the sound of a falling needle could be heard if it dropped in there. There were no words to express the feelings of shock they saw when Kousuke got back up after that death. The Instructors, Ren and the boys, and even Anna had no idea how this was possible. A person coming back from the dead without being a Ghast or using forbidden Necromancy spells was unheard of. Even more, he was healthy again and no longer injured. The burns had vanished, his mouth was back in perfect condition, and there was no healing magic that could pull that off in an instant.
Megumi didn't know whether to laugh or lose her mind. Her student was up again and staring her down. Never in her years did this happen, even when she fought enemies stronger than her they never came back from the dead like that.
"Here I come Shishou!" Kousuke vanished, Megumi let her guard down, and he was right behind her before she had time to react.
"Boo!" Kousuke stuck his tongue out at her before giving her a powerful punch to her face, breaking her nose in the process. Payback for all the years she did it to him.
"How'd you like that? I waited years to get you back for doing that to me as a kid." Kousuke's satisfied half smile felt like a victory in giving her karma
"I'm not done yet!" Kousuke's speed had increased, he would do side steps that made it look like he was teleporting to a different spot. Megumi fought with a blast of her flames, but Kousuke dodged it, he leaped into the air rotating his body in rapid access, his flames spiraling around him
"Hino Tsume no Kata, Saramanda no Tasumaki(Salamander Tornado)."
Kousuke attacked with a flurry of spinning back kicks, the spiraling flames helping with the speed of the rotation while adding to the damage output. Kousuke finished the rotation with a thrust kick to Megumi's face, forcing her to slide back a few feet.
Everyone was excited now, Kousuke was alive and he was fighting back pushing Megumi to the edge. Anna saw from her seat the invigorated youth standing tall. She felt relieved that he didn't die and was giving Megumi a beating like she wanted.
Kousuke didn't stop his rhythm of attack, he charged at Megumi, tensing his right arm muscles and hardening his knuckles into sharp points. He gave a devastating blow that accelerated him to Megumi even with her guard up, piercing her skin from the points of his knuckles the flames creating an image of a charging rhino roaring to her.
"Chudenkou, Sai(Charging Steel, Rhino)!!!"
Megumi stumbled back again, and the strike reverberated throughout her body, Kousuke combined the two Forms of the Fumetsu and Hino Tsume Katas to make the move that threw her off. Her bones shook along with her joints feeling buckled from the pressure of the punch. The moves she taught Kousuke were working against her. His were stronger, pure, no trace of bloodlust in them.
Followed with another punch, using the rush to strike her with an overhand strike to her face using his flames to charge the impact.
"Ryuu Kuui(Dragon Devourer)." Kousuke's impact connected, Megumi's face was injured from the burning fist, her equilibrium was knocked off causing her to stumble backwards till she caught herself from falling completely.
Megumi was bleeding more from her nose after that, not since her training with her Grandmother was she ever made to bleed in a fight like this, seeing the sight of her blood dripping down caused her to snap.
She reached a breaking point in her anger, just like Kousuke mentioned when she got hit with the stray bullet. She fought hard not to lose it when he got back up, but the side effects of her flame magic were too strong, her rage consumed her once again.
Megumi's last shred of sanity flashed to her childhood when she was in the Deity program.
She entered before she knew she was a late Prime Caliber, her power awakened in the middle of training. Megumi was mean, she scared everyone away with her brutish demeanor and insane strength. The only one who wasn't afraid of her was her adoptive Grandmother, the one who taught her the Gouki Ryu.
Her Grandmother was tough, her only parent and guardian figure. Because she was an orphan her Grandmother adopted her after she arrived in the program. They weren't related by blood, she took Megumi in as she was a staff member who helped as a medic for the kids. She kept her knowledge of the Ginji Ryu a secret from the program so they wouldn't exploit her. To Megumi, she was a worthy successor and someone she felt attachment to. She went to visit Megumi when she got into a fight with an instructor that ended badly. She sat alone on top of her desk brooding till Grandmother walked in with help from an escort, she made her way to Megumi as she brought over cookies for her to eat.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Grandmother asked.
"I don't want to talk about it." The young Megumi snapped back.
Megumi sulked till Grandmother gave her a cookie. She took it an instant because she loved her cooking more than the other kids did.
"Ha, I knew that would get your attention. Such a glutton you are Megumi hmm hmm." Megumi didn't respond right away, she was continuing her eat all the cookies now.
"Megumi you have to open up sometime? Can't feed you cookies forever unless you want to get fat." Megumi got irritated but she couldn't hide it anymore from Grandmother.
"A trainer called me a psycho when I said learning to fight is about killing not protecting. That's why we're here right? Protecting humanity, what a boring joke, we're supposed to kill bad guys. I'm not wrong Grandma, I'm not."
Grandmother felt bad, she knew Megumi didn't understand what all this was for. Megumi had had her unnatural bloodlust since birth, it might as well have been a curse. Black flames made them multiply with their negative effects.
No matter how hard Grandmother tried, Megumi could never get rid of her lust for killing her opponents who drove her into a corner. The only thing that quelled it was fighting someone on her level or the death of her enemy. Grandmother wanted to help her, find a way to rid her of her so she could enjoy fighting without the need for death, she didn't want her precious adopted grandchild to be a killer forever.
"Megumi, they're not wrong. But neither are you. Fighting can lead to killing evil, but that's not why you're here. One day you'll fight someone, someone who'll have no intention to kill you, your fists will connect and you'll see. Fighting can be fun when it's with someone who can reach your heart with theirs. Tell you what why don't I show you a new way to fight? It's cool and you can learn to act like an animal to scare people. Would you like that?"
Megumi blinked after the memory finished coming back to her, she was confused about why now. The memory lasted long enough before the urge kicked in to kill Kousuke.
"You little. You little!" The beast's eyes burned, her fangs grinding in fury. Everyone was afraid again. She was set off badly by her blood flowing and the pain in her face.
"This time you won't come back you little sh*t!" Megumi dashed, she was swinging her arms throwing claw strikes at Kousuke with a kick thrown in utilizing her sharpened feet as well. The white in her eyes was bright red with anger, the veins in them throbbing in response to her bloodlust. Kousuke saw her movements now, her moves seemed slower to him than before. He could react better without even using his Code Breaker Skill.
Megumi clapped her hands together with a strong impact, the flames in her hands popped off blinding Kousuke for a second leaving him open.
Megumi went for a strong slash down his body, her clawed hand sharpened using her flames to charge her nails till the color in them turned black.
"Yaken no Kata(Fang Sword Form), Kurohyō no Tsume(Black Panther's Claw)."
Her hand came down, and flame slashes were made as she clawed at Kousuke's body. Itsuki and the others panicked for a minute thinking Megumi got him, Gentaro smirked as he saw that Koutetsu wasn't going to let her get him again.
"Kingou no Hada(Adamantine Skin)." Kousuke heated his skin and reinforced his muscle density to the hardness of indestructible metal to absorb the impact of the claw and disperse the force behind it, the heat flow countering her own she used on him as a repelling force causing a painful recoil that burned Megumi's hand. A powerful defense counter he started to use now that he wasn't relying on pure offense.
Kousuke flung his leg upward in a reverse axe kick sending Megumi back. She was getting angrier by the minute, her sanity was being pushed past its limit with how well Kousuke was fighting back now.
Megumi's mind was now aimed at killing Kousuke. Her mental state was stuck in a berserker mode, her body moving from her hate. Even if she tried fighting back, her mind couldn't stop the fury, Megumi's last shred of sanity was gone.
Kousuke continued his relentlessness in his attacks. He couldn't stop, he had to keep perfect control of his breathing, his momentum, and all his attacks had to be in perfect sync. If he stopped for a second Megumi would counter the moment she got a chance.
Both threw a punch strong enough that their firsts connected sending them launching back up against the barrier. They recomposed for a moment, jumped at each other to continue attacking. Their flames fighting as well, both of their flames took shape, Megumi's her panther Alpha, Kousuke's his tiger Alpha. They collided into each other, both combatants locking hands as they stared each other down. Megumi and Kousuke started headbutting each other, and the speed of the headbutts increased. Everyone lost count of how many they did till they knocked each other back to the ground. Kousuke didn't stop, he had to keep going or Megumi would catch her rhythm back. He threw multiple kicks and punches not letting up for a second.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" Megumi roared as she grabbed one of Kousuke's fists, she used her strength to rotate his arm, causing his body to spin too.
She threw a corkscrew punch straight for his head. Kousuke tried to block it, but the blow knocked him back, and he saw his right arm twisted around in a horrible disfigurement.
Everyone looked terrified at the display. Kousuke wasn't bothered, he lit his arm on fire, and it healed and realigned itself to its original shape.
"Itai, that hurt Shishou. Sorry did I hurt your pride using your trick on you earlier hehe?" Kousuke looked at her with a cocky grin, he was purposely trying to anger them. He had a plan, one he thought of in his return to life to win against Megumi and her bloodlust.
"Kousuke...I'LL KILL YOU!" The blast of anger engulfed everyone in the area. The pressure this one had was greater than earlier, some of the students would pass out or cough up blood. This was the true strength of a Deity of Killers, the Queen of Bloodshed's killer instinct.
Megumi gathered her black flames in her hands, they created an image of a demonic black panther circling Megumi.
"Gouki Ryu, Jaoken(Demonic Fist)Ultimate Technique." Megumi launched the flames at Kousuke, but he didn't move an inch, Megumi charged a powerful claw strike with flames forming an animal claw over her hand, aiming for Kousuke's heart. Her signature killer move.
"Yami no Hono! Kurohyō Jigoku no Tsume(Darkness Flame, Black Panther Hell claw)!!!"
Her attack connected, her nails and the flame claw pierced the skin of Kousuke. Everyone held their breath, they were afraid she was going to kill him again.
Kousuke stood his ground, he didn't budge or fall in defeat.
Megumi's eyes were exasperated. He was still alive, from an attack she used to kill a Grand Lich and burn him into ashes.
"Shishou, I owe you everything. You tried to help me when I lost control during training. You put your life on the line when I threw tantrums that hurt people and almost burned everything when I had my anxiety attacks. You may be a psycho glutton with poor manners and bad teasing. But you're still family to me. Now, let me show how much your teachings have helped me."
Kousuke's blue flames burst out, they engulfed Megumi's black flames, she couldn't move, the flames held her down.
"Shishou, get ready, this one is my move too, try not to die."
Kousuke concentrated his breathing, and the flames radiated into a brighter hue of blue with white in them. Everyone was mesmerized by the beauty of the flames. The flames above him, like with Megumi made an image too, the image of the furious tiger rising again, this time it looked more intense and regal like a real tiger king of its jungle.
Megumi couldn't believe the sight, Kousuke made this himself. He surpassed her, and her heart fluttered. Not from the battle or killing, but from pride, pride her student finally obtained a level of mastery she hoped he would reach over time.
The tiger image blasted Megumi, she was knocked back, binding her in place.
"Gouki Ryu, Shinken(True Fist) Ultimate Technique." Kousuke charged his fists, he fired rapid punches exceeding the speed of light at Megumi.
"Atatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatata," Kousuke shouted with every punch he threw. Everyone lost count of how many punches were being thrown at that moment. It looked like a blur of a thousand fists flying through the air, each one not missing its point, unrelenting in the rush of assaults to Megumi's body.
"IKEEEEE!!!!!!" Itsuki shouted, cheering Kousuke on, telling him 'GO' as the small tears in her eyes showed her unwavering faith in him on display.
Megumi couldn't withstand the battering with the barrage of burning hits being delivered, her body was being drained from the strikes, and nothing she could do at this point would stop the momentum or save her strength anymore. It was a done deal she was going to lose this fight, a loss she hadn't experienced since she was a kid training with Grandmother.
Kousuke charged his fist into one final punch, the demon face figure on his glove opened its mouth to charge up as Kousuke's fist was engulfed in a spiral of his flame, he launched at Megumi's heart, the flame making the same tiger head from earlier.
"HWWWWATCHA!!!!" The Kiai shout echoed as the blast from the fist connected. The demon face's figure closed its mouth once more releasing all the stored up flame to explode, sending Megumi flying in the air.
"Eksupurojion! Tora O Baku Ha!(Explosion! Tiger King Blast)!!!"
Megumi hovered in the air as the lingering blue flames were still on her body. The bloodlust was gone, Kousuke's attack burned it out of her soul. As she was floating wondering how she lost she flashed back to the earlier days with Kousuke, the torturous training she put him through, the days teasing him, the days comforting him when he was triggered, she remembered giving him a piggyback to his room. He was crying remembering Akane, Megumi nestled her face against his pretending to be Akane to comfort him, something she had never done before.
'Uh, why am I remembering this? This isn't that important right now, is it? That was a long time ago, I'm not that kind of person really, but still, it was nice wasn't it? A very nice dream to live in'
Her memory of Grandmother popped again, the warmth of the cookies she made, and advice still lingering in her mind, it clicked in her head now what those words meant.
'Well Grandma, you win, I guess. Hehe, it was fun fighting him. I'm relieved actually. Maybe now, I can enjoy fighting for real, what a pain this all was though.'
Megumi smiled looking up at the ceiling first before she looked down at Kousuke as she was falling. She remembered him looking like a kid again when he threw his first punch at her, and how much she enjoyed it.
'Aw, how nostalgic those days were. Good job, Toranoko, you came a long way didn't you.'
Megumi finally fell to the ground, she was out cold, knocked out in the match. The arena was silent, nobody dared to move or make a sound. Kousuke stood still for a moment, he was quiet too, his hands shook with his face looked rattled. He broke the mood by making an expression after realizing he won. He threw his arms up in the air triumphantly shouting out loud for the whole arena to hear.
"YOWSAH!!!!!!"
The crowd got behind him breaking their silence at last. They cheered thunderously, the screams could be heard from outside the arena. The instructors, Ren, Ryuji, Hiro, Tatsuya, and Anna, all cheered and congratulated him on his victory greatly.
Natsume was crying in happiness, and Rina held Itsuki in celebration as both were sobbing in joy.
Kousuke felt proud, he finally beat Megumi, and he surpassed his Master. Most importantly for him, he surpassed his doubts and negativity toward himself. He was able to see the good he did before and the forgiveness he thought he didn't deserve. Kousuke's eyes looked up to the ceiling, he was caught off guard, he saw his old self standing on the beams looking down at him, his old self smiled waving goodbye as its image disappeared. Kousuke knew what it meant, his old life was letting free to live now, symbolizing he wasn't his old self anymore. It was now time to let go and let be.
'Later, my old self, you can finally rest now. I can finally feel free to live my life as Hayashi Kousuke now. Rest well, you deserve it. So long old me, so long Hisagi Jun.'