'Ok, hold on a second. Why did I agree to do this again?'
Zenitsu was standing in front of the entry, a week later, where a line of people was waiting up. To his surprise, there were mostly girls, which wasn't usual in a fighting tournament but felt refreshing. It was beautiful scenery, and the blond boy wasn't going to complain about it.
On the other hand, the closer he got to that magnificent palace, the number his legs were feeling. It seemed like he was going to faint, which he didn't quite have the time to do, as it was finally his moment to present himself to the guard.
She was a black-haired woman, with strands turning to purple at their ends. They were attached by a huge butterfly pin, which went along with her purple eyes. One might think this would be a beautiful sight to see, but somehow her eyes seemed to drown more and more in their own emptiness.
She was beautiful, no one could debate on this, but the smile she put on her face felt like it was containing an indescribable amount of anger. This sent shivers down Zenitsu's spine, which didn't help to calm him down.
"Hello! exclaimed the lady. I am Shinobu, and I am in charge of controlling the persons invited to the tournament. Could you give me your name?
- Ze-zenitsu Agatsuma, stuttered the latter.
- Well let's see... she said roaming through the list. Zenitsu... Ah! There you are! I am going to let you follow the alley up to the arena within the castle's garden. Be aware, the right side is made for the public, the participants must go to the backstage on the left. The room you will all stay in should be clearly indicated.
- Th-the, pu-public? stuttered Zenitsu, totally startled by what she just said.
- Yes, the whole public. There should be about a couple of hundreds of them, nothing to write home ab-
- Nothing to write home about?! shrieked Zenitsu. I thought it would only be the royal family! I'm going to be humiliated in front of hundreds of people!
- You'll be fine! answered Shinobu with a smile, which seemed weirdly fake. Please go forth, there are people waiting."
Zenitsu did as he was asked, and started to slowly go up the alleyway, feeling his whole body quiver under the pressure he just started to feel.
'This is going to be a mess, this is going to be a mess, this is going to be a mess...'
He started pulling his hair in a theatrical manner.
'How am I going to go through this? She said I'd be fine, I guess she really doesn't know me, huh. Wait, that makes sense, she's a stranger. Is she really the one guarding the entry though? Alone? How could she be t-'
Zenitsu was brought back to reality due to a sudden scream coming from his back. A man was on the floor at the entry, Shinobu on top of him, executing a judo hold on that poor man.
"Let me in ! he screamed.
- Once again, said Shinobu in a distinctively calm manner, you are not on the list. I am going to ask you to step away from the gates before this gets a bit more... bloody."
To illustrate her thought, the dark and purple-haired lady took the arm of the stranger and, in a swift movement, made a loud noise coming out of it. It was certainly broken. The man yelled in pain. Shinobu then stood back up and let the stranger run away.
Zenitsu did the same but towards the arena. Suddenly, he wasn't afraid anymore of participating in the tournament. Instead, he was rather scared of the female guard standing at the entry and wanted to get as far away from her as possible.
'She's crazy, she's crazy, she's crazy'
He arrived in a split second, fueled by the fear of going back, and started to lead his way through the arena thanks to the various indications. Once he arrived in the room, he started to feel highly uncomfortable.
There were dozens of participants, all staring at him, with the deadliest glare he's ever gotten. He quickly made his way through the room and went to a side of it where not many people were. He couldn't handle huge crowds, it was giving him crippling anxiety.
Some people were standing up, others were sitting down, and the room had a background noise of chatter, which Zenitsu was grateful for. At least, the attention on him was now gone. When he thought he could find peace, he heard a loud shout coming from a side of the room.
"FIGHT ME, OR PERISH !"
Zenitsu directed his gaze towards the source of the scream and found a very muscular person, who looked around the blond boy's age, which means 16. Scratch that, his body looked like it, as he couldn't see any features of his face covered by a boar mask.
' What on earth is this?'
"But I don't want to fight you! answered a woman that looked in her mid-twenties. It's supposed to be a fighting tournament, you'll get enough of that later on!
- Huhh??? Are you saying that you are saving your energy for later?
- Yes, exactly! huffed the woman.
- HA! It's pointless. You really think that you could beat THE Inosuke Hashibira? Save as much energy as you want, I will be better anyways !"
The woman looked startled by the presence of a man with a boar mask, and so did everyone. The subject of the attention understood after a moment that everyone was fixing him, so he started looking around with an aura that made most people avert their gaze. It was not a menacing one, it was the kind you could find from a child in a candy store. But assimilate a child with a muscular figure and you will be frightened to death.
"Huh?? What are you looking at? Inosuke questioned, pointing a finger at Zenitsu who was looking dumbfounded by such an odd scenery.
- M-me? stuttered the blond boy. N-nothing !
- You want to fight me ?" resumed the boar, getting closer to Zenitsu, up to the point where he was right in front of him.
'Great, now the attention is once again focused on me...'
The denominated Inosuke started to analyze the blond boy from top to bottom, which made the dandelion boy feel extremely embarrassed and frightened.
"You are trembling like you're going to die, but you seem somehow stronger than the others! exclaimed the boar-masked boy, suddenly extremely excited. Fight me, now! I wanna see your talent.
- I-I... "
'Quick Zenitsu, think of something that would distract him, anything !'
"What's your name?
- Ze-Zenitsu Agatsuma.
- Well, listen here Penitsu Agamatsu, do you prefer to die?
- No ! said the blond boy. But... i-it would be better to fight at the tournament, we would have more space and everything, don't you think?
- Hmmmm, let me see... Are you trying to trick me?
- N-No! lied Zenitsu, waving his hands in denial.
- Alright then, it wouldn't change anything. But don't you dare to lose before fighting me! If you do, rest assured that the Great Inosuke will find you and challenge you to your death!
- Well that's going to be complicated! announced suddenly a young brown-haired girl, laughing. I am the only one winning, so you can always face each other later on, at your poor neighborhood, while I'll live in this castle for the rest of my life."
Zenitsu was about to ask what she meant by that but got quickly interrupted by the boar-masked boy.
"Haha, you think you could beat me?
- Anytime, she answered. My name is Kyoko Dishinda, and I will be winning. Let that sink in, you amateur."
Before this could get out of hand, a voice came out of the speakers within the room:
{Ladies and gentlemen, please direct yourself to the matchboard near the entry within the building of the arena. The duels will be starting soon.}
"Ah, exclaimed Kyoko, it's my time to shine. Well, see you around losers."
She then proceeded to walk in a disgustingly haughty manner towards the exit, before disappearing out of their sight. Inosuke grumbled something that Zenitsu couldn't quite catch.
The two then made their way up to the matchboard, in order to see who they were gonna face. While Inosuke ranted about how he didn't care who his opponent was, as he'd beat him anyways, the blond boy's eyes fell on the name of his first opponent.
'Kyoko Dishinda... She seemed rather confident. I guess it will not be an easy match...'
"Ha ! yelled the boar-masked boy, which made Zenitsu think his sensitive ears were about to bleed. You're facing that bitch!
- First, voiced Zenitsu, stop screaming all the time. Second, don't qualify her in such manners, it's rude and disrespectful. You should respect women.
- I respect women, I just don't respect bitches.
- Language!
- Whatever Penitsu. You better not lose, stated Inosuke before walking away.
- My name is Zenitsu! yelled the blond boy uselessly. Zen-its-u !"
He released a breath he didn't know he was holding. That boar was getting on his nerves.
{Your attention please, Zenitsu Agatsuma and Kyoko Dishinda are asked to direct themselves towards the center of the arena. Their fight will start in about a minute.}
Zenitsu felt the adrenaline rush through his blood already. He started to run towards one of the entries. He couldn't be late, that would add to the humiliation he was about to endure. He could see the bright light of the sun emanating from the entry, and a crowd encouraging the participants to come in. His stress level started to rise, but for once he started to ignore it.