As the man falls to the ground another puts me in a choke hold.
"Get your filthy hands off me you swine!" I yell at him.
Jay rushes over and punches him in the back.
"Ah!" He screams in my ear as his grip loosens, so I flip him over and onto another assassin, making them both fall over.
As they get up, Keiko and Jay stand beside me, and we hold our Kunai out ready for battle.
"Didn't you just tell me you'd survive no matter what? Now why would you get us into shit this deep?" Jay scolds me.
"What the heck? Since when do you curse?" I ask.
"Well if I'm going to die... FUCK IT!"
"Damn, Jay I think I like this side of you" Keiko smirks.
"Well, it's probably gonna be the last thing we see so enjoy it..." I say to Keiko.
"STOP!" the master yells.
"Kai nashi... most you always be a thorn at my side" a vain pops in his head.
"Not always.... just sometimes" I laugh awkwardly. 
"Withdraw... I'll decide their punishment later, for now, the tests have to continue." The master concludes.
The assassins don't look happy but they there not question the master so they do as he says.
"Thank God, I swear you have the luck of the Irish Kai" Jay says to me as we walk back to our seats.
"What can I say? I'm a survivor" I chuckle.
"You're so dumb" Keiko laughs.
"Not you Jay... you stay behind" the master says.
Chills run down our spines hearing that.
"You're up next" he finishes.
Oh... the test, right?
"Your opponent's name is on the screen" the master gestures behind himself.
His opponent is... Oh crud, it's Yuma... He has a major crush on her, will he be able to do it? he has his poker face on let's see.
It's time for them to pick their weapons. Jay picks up a bow staff good choice.
Jay is my equal in most things martial arts this should be an interesting fight
But Yuma is picking up a bow and arrow... They're allowing her to use long-range? That's unfair.
"Begin!"
Yuma fires her arrows rapidly with precision, Jay starts to spin his bow staff striking each arrow flawlessly breaking them and getting closer as he does so.
Oh and when I said it wasn't fair... I meant for her.
He ducks and rolls behind her aiming strikes at her back but she blocks each one with her bow.
"Nice try kid" She says as she kicks him in the face.
I could tell he was holding back but still, Yuma is one of the top students (mostly book-smart though) he shouldn't underestimate her.
She pulls out something from her pouch and throws it on the floor releasing a cloud of smoke.
So that's what she was doing in the chemistry lab after classes yesterday the smoke cleared but they're both gone.
I watch carefully in the silence...Yuma comes flying out of the shadows and crashes onto the floor rolling back.
When she stops I see Jay jumping out of the shadows sounding high with his staff prepared to crack her skull open but once his feet touch the ground---- he doesn't do it.
"End it!" The master yells.
Jay drops his bow staff and yells "No!". 
Damn it Jay! I knew it, he was weak this whole time! I should have listened to my instincts I should have...
"No?!" The master stands up irritated "Kill him".
In that moment my body moves on its own I find myself behind Jay with my kunai's in my hands. What am I doing running right back to my death? we just got out of this.
"Kai nashi!" The master scolds me in Japanese "You choose to die with him, I won't be as lenient this time"
"I want to plead with you, give him another chance, he'll do it I promise,"
Jay looks at me and we stare at each other as if communicating through eye contact.
He looks at me as if saying "I can't do it" and I give him a stare that says "Trust me" 
"Ou-sama, I beg you to hear me out! We haven't been punished yet right?" 
The master looks interested "Hm... go on".
"Swap out what opponent I have... and replace them with a teacher, If I win... you let Jay have another shot"
Jay grabs my shoulder and says In a low voice "A teacher?? are you crazy?? you wanna fight a pro??" 
"I can do this, you know me, I can't be beat" I grin.
"Dude this isn't the time for jokes, you saw them at the climbing test they're monsters, they're faster and they are far more ruthless than us, you'll get destroyed" he replies.
"You're right, I won't do it let's just give up that silly idea and fight an army of them instead, I'm sure that will work out better" I say with a sarcastic smile.
"Fine!" Jay reluctantly agrees "But you better not lose, prove to me you're a survivor and not some loose-lipped cocky child".
"I agree to your terms," says the master.
"Yes!" Me and Jay high five.
"But Jay will have to fight upperclassmen if you win... call it his punishment," the master says.
"Deal" we yell.
"Fighters step in the battlefield," says the master. 
A giant smile and a deadly look appear in my eyes when I see my opponent, Haru sensei. The man who beat me to tears on my first day and the man who has shown me nothing but wickedness since then..... I am going to enjoy this.
"Before we start let me ask you a question," says Haru sensei. He continues "Why fight with no chance of victory?".
I reply to him "Only one of us can answer that question, And I promise it's not me".
I leave him to go pick a weapon, there's an interesting katana, its handle is longer than a usual blade, Maybe the blacksmith wanted users to use that side for attacking as well.
"Interesting choice," A teacher says.
"That sword is a replica of the Nejire no ha, the twisted blade. Yes, that's right the very one that has this school it's named, but the original went missing years ago.
The extra long handle is because it contains two swords all you have to do is twist and pull.
the first sword is like a sheath to the second but don't worry separating them does not reduce the strength. 
Nobody knows where the original blade is but we do know it was stolen by a man who claims to be a hero, he calls himself "Blaze", some say he was once a student here, and others say he was a demon of vengeance, but one thing is for sure, by now he must have unlocked the secrets of the twisted blade" said the teacher. 
"Wow... I did not ask" I turn and walk away.
I face my opponent.
"Begin!"
In a matter of seconds, he appears in front of me and slashes, our blades meet in a barrage of hacks and slashes.
He's stronger than me so I nearly lose balance with each attack  I deflect, the sparks from our blades are nearly blinding.
I jump backwards trying to get away from him but he rushes forward hitting me with the bud of his sword, as the blow lands I drop smoke bombs to the ground engulfing us in a cloud of smoke.
Before he can react I'm already gone, I watch in the shadows as he watches in preparation for me to strike.
Once I saw my opening I lunged at him rotating like a Beyblade ready to take his head, but he was too fast and managed to block the attack both our blades got knocked into the audience due to the force from my spin.
Unfazed by losing his blade he grabs my neck before my feet can touch the ground and slames me onto the floor so hard I cough out blood.
"10, 11, 12" I hear Jay counting.
He picks me up and takes a boxing stance before he starts to rush me with punches.
"42, 43, 44" Jay continues to count.
He grabs my shoulders and pulls me towards his right knee breaking a few of my ribs.
He then throws me to the wall.
"301, 302, 303..." Jay continues.
I see Jay and Keiko staring at me worried. As he rushes towards me.
"I'll ask again..... Why fight with no chance of victory?!". He yells as he charges towards me picking his blade from the ground.
"I- I won't repeat myself," I say underneath my breath.
....He falls to his knees.
"Wh... what? Why.. why can't I move... agggggghhhhh! It hurts, it hurts!!" He starts to go mad with pain.
"Screaming in pain? How unbefitting of an assassin" I smirk.
He looks all over his body and sees cuts...
I see the shocked look in his eyes and I smirk.
"Ngh, how?" He struggles to talk
"Do you know there are 100 billion neurons in the human body? I wasn't sure if it was true so I decided to check... tell me... how much pain are you in on a scale of 1-100 billion?" I slowly walk towards him.
As reach him I throw a kick to his head... but he raises both arms to block the attack with an intense look in his eyes, but he's not looking at me, I turn around to see he is staring at the master, who is looking at him with disappointment.
"I'll bite my tongue off and eat it before I die at the hands of a child!" He tries to punch me but I step on the punch with one leg and kick his mouth with the other.
"Then I'll help you eat it," I say to him as I rush him with a barrage of blows.
But he is blocking my blows and throwing them back at me, even in this weakened state beating him is still a task.
He throws a kick and I duck under it swiping his other leg, before his back can touch the ground  he supports himself with his arm and regains his balance 
I jump back and throw shuriken at him, but he catches everyone and sends them back at me while I'm still in the air, I'm able to dodge a few but I got hit in the leg and arm.
"Oh, how the cockroach struggles" I start to laugh.
"You cocky little shit" he grits his teeth.
"Le gasp... language Yamato, kids are watching". I throw my kunai in the air, then as it starts to fall I jump and kick it towards him, he catches it but in the eyes of everyone... I had disappeared and reappeared behind Yamato sensei and as he grabbed 2 kunai, I grabbed the last one kunai before it reached his face I put it to his neck and
I flipped over to face him with the kunai still to his throat, and looked him straight in the eyes " Tell me Yamato...Do you stare death In the eyes and dare to blink?"
He stares at me In fearful silence, his eyes widened with fear and shock then for a split second his eyes shut and I slit his throat "Coward"  I whisper as his blood splattered on my face.