The snowfall had not yet stopped. A brief silence fell over the crowd surrounding the Dragon Fang Arena.
Nightmare Magician - Yoruomi Sou, the ever calm, ever victorious card-wielder of the Magic Division - had lowered his gaze for the first time in the midst of battle. As if avoiding an emotion he dared not face. As if suppressing the rising tide of something inside him.
He slowly raised his head - not to retaliate, but simply to look at her.
Houdou Saya stood at the head of the Archery Division. Her long hair swayed in the wind with the bowstring.
She did not follow. She did not raise her bow again.
Her fingers trembled as she lowered the arrow. And in that moment, she saw it - her reflection in Yoruomi Sou's eyes.
Not as an enemy.
But as the girl he had once tried to protect, only to push her away again and again.
"...Why..." Yoruomi Sou murmured, her voice so faint it was almost lost in the wind. "You shouldn't have stepped into this."
Saya did not answer.
Because she already knew - there would be no answer.
Instead, she asked quietly, "Are you afraid of me?"
Yoruomi Sou's expression wavered. As if struck by something unseen.
"I'm not afraid of you."
"I'm afraid of myself."
Finally, he spoke the words aloud.
"I'm afraid... that one day victory will no longer be my first priority. Afraid that if I see you injured on this battlefield, my magic will collapse, my judgement will falter. Afraid that I was never qualified to be the leader of the Magic Division in the first place... let alone someone you should get close to."
"So you used 'illusions' to protect yourself." Saya's voice was soft but unwavering. "To keep me out of your world."
Yoruomi Sou fell silent.
The wind lifted a scattering of arrows. A sharp gust sliced through his shoulder, staining the corner of his cloak crimson.
Saya stepped forward.
Yoruomi Sou stepped back.
To the onlookers, it was nothing more than a tactical repositioning.
But only they knew - it was another wall being raised.
I won't stop moving forward." Saya's voice trembled, but there was no hesitation. "Even if you reject me a thousand times. Even when I know the path ahead will only hurt me."
"Because you never turn back."
Yoruomi Sou's fingers twitched. A card slipped from his grasp, spinning as it landed in the snow - a card he had never played before.
[Scarlet Oath].
A card that did not belong in any tactical framework. A card he had personally designed for Saya - a healing illusion card that had never been used in battle, because 'emotional ties' had no place in his strategies.
Yet it had remained deep in his deck, close to his heart.
"Yoruomi -" Houdou Saya called his name aloud, no longer using honourifics.
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, yet she remained resolute.
"I don't care if you never respond to my feelings. I didn't fight this battle to win your affection."
"I just want you to understand - I am no longer the girl who needs your protection."
"I am someone who can stand beside you - someone who can even defeat you."
She raised her hand - only to place her last arrow back into her quiver.
A murmur of shock went through the crowd.
A frontline commander of the Archery Division shouted, "Saya! What are you doing? The fight isn't over-!"
Saya did not answer.
She just whispered, "My battle... is over."
-It was not surrender.
It was the fulfilment of her true goal.
Yoruomi Sou could not move.
His magic, his logic, his composure remained unshaken - but the frozen emotions within him had been shattered.
Finally, he understood: Houdou Saya was not his weakness.
She was his mirror - reflecting back to him the part of him that had long been exhausted, yet refused to acknowledge its own fragility.
"Magic Division's front-runner, Yoruomi Sou, and Archery Division's top-ranked Houdou Saya - both have withdrawn from this round of battle!"
The broadcast announcement echoed through the stunned silence.
But everyone knew - this battle had no winner.
Just a confession and a farewell.
Snow was still falling on the Dragon Fang Arena.
Yoruomi Sou stood at the edge of the battlefield, watching her retreating figure. Step by step - steady, yet unbearably heavy.
He did not call to her.
He knew - he was no longer someone who could turn back.
But a small voice rose inside him.
"...if one day I can admit my own cowardice... will you still be there?"
The snowfall gave no answer.
But hidden in the shadows, a pair of eyes watched them part in silence.
"Feelings have finally become a variable."
A lone figure jumped down from the heights and disappeared into the darkness.
-Shirakawa, Assistant Captain of the Swordsmanship Division.
The war between the Five Societies was far from over.
风雪之瞳 × 战场之泪
风雪仍未止息,龙牙场四方的观众席陷入短暂的死寂.
魔术部的夜见苍——那个冷静如谜,战无不胜的卡术使——第一次,在战场上垂下了眼帘.仿佛是为了避开某种无法直视的情感,又仿佛,是在极力压制内心那一抹崩溃的潮水.
他缓缓地抬头,却不是为了还击.
他只是看着她.
凰堂纱夜,站在箭术阵列的最前端,长发与弓线同样在风中摇曳.
她没有追击,也没有再次搭弓.
她的指尖颤抖着放下箭矢,那一瞬,她看见了——夜见苍的眼中,映出她的倒影.
不再是作为"敌人".
而是那个,他曾试图守护却又一再推开的——"她".
"...为什么..."夜见苍低语,声音轻得几乎被风吹散,"你不该踏进来的."
纱夜没有回答.
因为她早已明白,自己不会得到答案.
她只是轻轻问道:"你...怕我吗?"
夜见苍神情一震,像是被什么击中.
"我不是怕你."
"我怕自己."
他终于说出口.
"怕自己...有一天,会不再把胜负放在第一位.怕在这个战场上,看到你受伤,我的术式会崩溃,判断会动摇.怕我从一开始就没资格,成为魔术部的首席,更没资格...让你靠近."
"所以你一直用'幻术'保护自己."纱夜的声音低而清晰,"把我隔在那个世界之外."
夜见苍默然.
风雪扬起一阵箭羽,他的肩侧被风刃划破,血迹染湿了斗篷的一角.
纱夜上前一步.
夜见苍却退后一步.
这短短的动作,在所有人眼中只是战场之中常见的战术拉扯.
但只有他们彼此知道——
那是一次心防的再次筑起.
"我无法停止前进."纱夜的声音,带着无法隐藏的颤抖,"哪怕你一次次拒绝我,哪怕我知道终点是伤害自己,我也想站在你能看见我的地方."
"因为你从不回头."
夜见苍的指尖一颤,那张准备投出的卡牌从指缝滑落,在雪地中缓缓旋转.
——那是一张他从未使用过的卡牌.
[绯光之誓].
一张从不属于战术体系的卡牌,是他亲手为纱夜设计的——一张拥有治愈属性的幻术卡,从未在正式战斗中使用过,因为"情感羁绊"不是战术所需.
可它却一直在他贴身的卡组最深处.
"夜见君——"
凰堂纱夜扬声喊出他的名字,不再用敬称.
她的眼中泛起泪光,却依然坚定.
"我不在乎你是否愿意回应我.我也不是为了得到你才来战斗."
"我只想让你明白——我不再是那个需要你守护的人."
"而是,能与你并肩,甚至击败你的人."
她抬手,将最后一支箭缓缓收回箭壶.
这一举动,在全场引发了短暂的震动.
弓箭部的前线指挥紧张大喊:"纱夜!你在做什么!?还没结束——!"
纱夜没有回应.
她只是轻声说了句:"我的战斗,结束了."
——不是放弃.
而是,完成了她的"目标".
夜见苍无法动弹.
他的术式,逻辑,冷静都没有崩溃,但他心底那个早已冻结的情感,在这一刻,被击碎了.
他终于意识到:
凰堂纱夜不是他的软肋.
她是他的镜子——
折射出那个早已不堪重负,却从不敢承认脆弱的自己.
**
"魔术部前锋夜见苍,与弓箭部首席凰堂纱夜,双双退出本轮战斗!"
广播室的机械音,终于在众人震惊的沉默中宣告了结果.
但所有人都知道.
这场对决,没有胜负.
只有——告白与决别.
**
龙牙场的雪还在下.
夜见苍站在场边,看着她离开的背影,一步一步,坚定却沉重.
他没有追上去.
他知道,现在的他,已经不是那个可以回头的人.
但他心中悄然升起一个声音.
"...如果有一天,我能承认自己的懦弱...你还会在吗?"
风雪无言.
而某个角落里,隐藏的目光静静凝视着他们的交错.
"...感情,终于成为了变量."
一名身影从高处跃下,落入阴影之中.
——剑术部副部长,白川.
五社再起的战局,远未落幕.