Where Winter Meets Summer (Rusame Countryhumans)

Washing Salt From a Wound

With a deep breath, I stepped out into the light and the scowl I wore melted with the shadows, turning into my signature grin. I waved my arms in the air, basking in the cheers of the crowd. I felt invincible, even if it was just a false sense of security.

AU gestured to the other side of the Coloso where another country joined me in the light. She had told me that there were a few potential gems that she wanted to test first so they were probably countries many didn't focus on. That meant that their Awakening and combat abilities were basically gonna be a mystery.

This was going to be exciting.

The country that stood before me was a lanky one. He was around my height, maybe a bit taller than me but I found his expression the most peculiar. It was a mixture of awe and boredom, conflicting emotions but they somehow showed very clearly.

"Our first brave contender is one with much hidden potential. Please welcome your classmate, Netherlands, in the ring!"

A round of cheers rolled through the arena and he tugged the turtleneck collar a bit higher.

"It's a pleasure to come face to face against you," he spoke softly but somehow carried a powerful force with the words, "I have admired your feats of greatness for a long time."

"Oh you flatter me," I replied with a laugh, "I look forward to seeing what you have up your sleeves!" I replied with a firm handshake, "Let's have a good time."

We finished a quick stretch and warm-up before going to opposite ends. Five and AU worked together to give the wheel a mighty spin which decided what was going to be strapped to me. A bronze colored clasp was fixed onto my wrist that would temporarily hinder the flow of energy randomly, so I basically couldn't trust my own powers because they might fail at any moment. What a pain.

"Awww... I was hoping for your special-complete-shutdown cuff," Five pouted before AU silenced him.

"Now the rules are simple. You will fight the best you can, making sure not to injure one another too much. If you find yourself out of the center platform, unable to move or fight on or surrender, the match will end. My colleague, FVEY-"

"Call me Five," he quickly corrected, a bit annoyed that she got that wrong.

"Er- Five will be the referee for the match and he can stop the fight at any point when he sees fit. Without further ado- you will begin at the sound of the distant bells!"

The energy of the students slowly dimmed as anticipation silenced all their idle conversations. The slight, cold breeze pulled the clouds over the stadium bringing a chill up everyone's spine.

Before we knew it, the Academy chimes signaled the start of the battle and the cold was forgotten about. Immediately, I dashed forward to close the distance between us to hit hard and fast.

"Go a bit easier on them. Push them just hard enough to get the best performance out of them," a voice in the back of my mind reminded me and I skidded to a halt, "Give them the first move."

Netherlands had put his guard up but made no move to attack. Perhaps he was a defense specialist like Russia? In any case, when he saw that I had stopped, he pressed forward cautiously, as if testing the waters. Nothing much had changed about him so I wasn't sure if he had activated his Awakening yet or if his Awakening was inconspicuous.