Frosted Pull

  Chapter word count: 3859

  The two stood on opposite ends as the ptform settled in the sky.

  Airot adjusted his jacket and gloves with tense fingers, his nerves tightening. Across from him, Yeis merely tugged at his scarf and eased into a loose stance, arms dangling casually, seemingly unguarded.

  Airot’s heartbeat rose, but before he could calm himself, Yeis leaned forward. One deliberate step forward, then another, and a glint of blue fshed beneath him. Upon a third step, he dashed ahead, leaving a faint shimmer that trailed behind him.

  Still uncertain about what to do, Airot just ran forward, mimicking the charge while glowing faintly in his yellow. Bursts of repulsion propelled him, granting him greater speed.

  As the gap closed, Airot noticed that Yeis wasn’t running naturally—he was sliding his feet across the ground.

  ‘I guess I just punch…?’

  Clenching his fist, Airot reeled his arm back while running straight at Yeis. In a wide motion, Airot threw a punch straight ahead. Undeterred, Yeis kept advancing, head lowered as if to take the blow head-on. But just before impact, he dipped low, slipping under the attack and sliding past in one smooth motion.

  Amidst a punch, Airot couldn’t alter his course, and his momentum carried him forward into performing a light spin. In order to stabilize himself, he shifted his glow to his boots, locking them to the floor. Now facing Yeis’ path, he saw what caused the blue glint. A thin trail of ice etched the floor like a silver thread.

  Yeis continued toward the far corner, showing no signs of stopping.

  “H-Hey, where’re you going?!” Airot called out before chasing after him.

  His steps shattered the brittle ice beneath him as he ran.

  Gncing back, Yeis swiveled mid-glide, veering sideways in a clean turn. Airot followed, bolting straight.

  Yeis tucked in and accelerated, abruptly pnting a hand on the ground. Using it as an anchor, he spun in a sharp arc while his feet maintained their glide. With a full turn, one leg extended forward as he shot toward Airot, his upper body nearly horizontal, supported by the same grounded hand. Airot raised his fist, prepared to punch downward onto the oncoming Yeis.

  In his reclined position, Yeis’ face was visible. It was slightly pale, likely from the constant cold rather than his natural complexion, and marked by a bnk and stoic expression.

  As their attacks aligned, Yeis’ extended foot flung upward. A slender cylinder of ice erupted beneath his sole, raising it and guiding his leg up. It collided with Airot’s punch mid-swing, encasing it in sudden frost. The ice tube shot high, lifting Yeis upside down before arcing backwards, forming a loop. With his hands tracing along the ice, his body followed the curve like an automated backwards cartwheel.

  Airot struggled to wrench his fist free as Yeis finished the loop. He drove a punch into Airot’s torso with his momentum, releasing the trapped fist with the force, shattering the ice that surrounded it. Cold sparkles fshed in the air as Airot stumbled back a few feet, gritting his teeth.

  ‘That certainly hurts. But I could totally take that again.’

  His glow fred, yellow light flickering around him as he thought of how to counter.

  ‘He’s absolutely more skilled, and I’ve barely got an understanding on what I can even do. Should I amp myself?’

  Before Airot could finish thinking, Yeis was upon him. He began spinning as he approached, picking up speed with each rotation. In one swift motion, preventing Airot from reacting, Yeis bent over and shot a leg outward mid-spin, sweeping into Airot’s side and sending him further away. He reacted with a wince and shook his head.

  ‘No, no. Focus.’

  Recalling his run to the library, Airot fred a pulse of yellow, leaping high into the air. Reaching his highest point before falling, he slowed down, hovering.

  ‘I can’t amp myself recklessly. He hasn’t even said a word, so it’d be obvious if I try.’

  Below, Yeis eyed Airot, then glided away with sharper, more efficient movements, unlike his starting casualness.

  ‘This guy… he’s just ice skating on me.’

  He sighed, regretting not practicing his powers more. Shifting the intent of his glow, he dropped in a steady descent. As he fell, Yeis observed, moving sideways in a curved angle.

  With some distance between them, Airot sprinted toward the broken ice loop and snapped its remnants off of the ground. Grabbing it, yellow spread out from his hands, coating it. He spun and hurled the ice chunk at Yeis, then took off ahead to intercept his path. Adjusting stance, Yeis sped up to avoid the oncoming ice chunk while following the same trajectory Airot envisioned he would.

  ‘Good. As I thought. Those fancy tricks to redirect himself must mean he can’t easily change direction.’

  Once in front of Yeis’ path, Airot reeled back his arm, though not with a fist, but rather with a cwed hand, gripping for something.

  Yeis closed in fast, showing no signs of slowing. Airot firmly pnted his feet and clung his boots to the ground. Just as they were about to csh, Yeis shifted his feet and started grinding the floor, then made a light hop and began walking on the ice, gliding backwards. He raised his arms up and something shot toward Airot. Jolted by the sudden movement, Airot swatted the attack away on instinct, only for it to explode into harmless fragments, as it was just an ice cube.

  ‘Huh—?’

  While distracted, Yeis lunged forward, delivering a jab powered by his momentum. Airot took the blow to the face, but stood his ground due to his stuck boots. Yellow energy flickered out and tched onto Yeis’ glove, tethering it to Airot’s face.

  “You’re so copying the wind guy,” Yeis remarked ftly, speaking out for the first time.

  Airot didn’t reply, but a chill spread across his cheek as ice shards formed around Yeis’ glove. However, before it could spread further, the ice chunk he’d thrown earlier returned and crashed into Yeis’ back. Simultaneously, he released his foothold from the ground and seized the momentum.

  As they flew, he detached his face from Yeis’ glove, twisted midair, and positioned both feet on Yeis’ chest. They tched on, sticking them together for a moment; then the repulsion activated. The bst sent Yeis backwards, smming him further into the ice chunk carrying them.

  All the while, Airot grinned, adjusting course for a safe nding. Yeis tumbled as he hit the ground, spinning not of his own volition.

  “Kah,” Yeis finished tumbling. “Attraction, is it? Attraction and repulsion?”

  Airot remained quiet, pondering his words. Yeis stood up and took a wide stance.

  “Ah, whatever. It’s irrelevant.”

  He took a deep breath in, then dashed forward in a zig-zag pattern. With a few sharp turns, ice began to rise beneath his feet again, prompting Airot to kick the floor in retreat. Instead of loops, the ice formed small, curved ramps which Yeis used like quarter pipes, gaining lift with each turn.

  “Hey now, don’t bail on me,” Yeis remarked, his speed increasing.

  Airot turned to commit to his flee, but as his boot came down, a crunch followed. Beneath his foot was an ice cube. The repulsion, which locked on to a specific target to repel from, aimed at the ice cube, destroying it but failing to unch Airot forward.

  Whipping his head around, he caught another ice cube straight to the face. Wiping it off revealed Yeis had spiraled up along a newly-formed ice path and was now gliding upside down, aiming his arms.

  “Stop with the ice cubes!” Airot yelled, only for another one to hit him on the head.

  Yeis summoned a short icicle and, passing overhead, shattered it across Airot’s head in a sharp crack.

  The ice bridge dipped into a glistening arc that thinned as it descended, ending midair with no second support; its tip, however, was angled slightly toward Airot. Airot was still slightly staggered by the icicle breaking on his head, but reacted quickly enough to lock himself in pce.

  ‘I’ll grab him and force him into a brawl.’

  Tracing the arc of the overhead ice structure as it curved downward, Yeis slid off the pointed end, gliding toward Airot. Raising his guard high, Airot prepared to strike, but Yeis suddenly dropped low, sweeping his leg out in an arc.

  When Yeis hunched over, sunlight suddenly blinded Airot, reflected off the angled ice point aligned with his face. Despite the brief blindness, Airot swung with a wide hook but struck nothing as Yeis slid by, sweeping his leg against Airot’s, only for it to remain unmoved. Airot tensed at the impact while Yeis flinched as his leg snagged and yanked him slightly back.

  Yeis stumbled slightly as he swiftly retracted his leg and spun counter-clockwise, rebuilding momentum. His spins quickened as he neared the base of the overhead ice path. Then, extending his leg, he swept through its support core, shattering it. Still recovering, Airot barely noticed the ice falling in time.

  ‘My legs!’

  He tried to move but forgot he'd locked himself in pce, leaving him no choice but to raise his arms and shield his head. The ice crashed into his arms, forcing him to buckle under the pressure as he hastily detached his boots from the ground. Gritting his teeth, Airot twisted his hands, pressing open palms against the frost. A yellow glow flickered from his gloves, seeping into the ice construct before it pulled into itself, shattering in his grasp.

  As the ice crumbled around him, Airot caught a glimpse of Yeis twirling through the falling shards just before a sudden kick smmed into his chest, knocking him backward now that his boots no longer clung to the ground.

  Airot caught himself and pnted his feet, but Yeis was already closing in, dipping low again. Yeis brought his leg out, his face tense as he swept Airot’s ankles, tumbling him off bance. His expression eased up with a quiet exhale as Airot fell over.

  Before hitting the ground, Airot halted his fall, hovering loosely just above the floor.

  ‘At least I practiced falling.’

  In the brief moment Airot floated, Yeis leapt up and barreled his heels down on Airot’s head, cutting short the relief Airot had just felt, before springing to the side. Smming face-first into the ground, Airot's levitation cut out, letting the rest of his body drop.

  The impact shattered the ice coating the floor, tossing shards upward around him. Still conscious, Airot caught sight of the flying ice and rolled over, aiming his arms at Yeis. The ice hung in the air for a breath before shooting at him. Airot cmbered to his feet as Yeis batted the small chips. Steadying himself, he noticed the ice splintering beneath his steps, untouched by his glow.

  ‘Wait—I have steel-heeled boots… why aren’t I kicking?’

  Airot shifted his stance, recalling the weight of the boots he’d put effort into keeping light. Yeis rushed in with swift strides, spurring Airot to charge in at a steady pace. Before Yeis came within arm’s reach, he pivoted and shifted course, gliding off to the side.

  “Oh no you don’t!” Airot shouted, reaching out for Yeis.

  He almost missed, but Yeis’ scarf whipped back just far enough for Airot to tch onto it. It began unraveling around Yeis’ neck, but didn’t pull him back. But instead of abandoning it, Yeis spun back, wrapping the scarf back around himself before jabbing Airot in the face.

  Airot didn’t let go. He clung to the scarf and threw a punch into Yeis’ stomach, then tightly gripped his coat. With Yeis trapped, Airot released the scarf and swung a sharp hook across his face. Yeis tried shoving him, but Airot held firm with both hands and drove a knee into his gut. Unable to even react, Airot then repulsed his boot from the ground, unching his leg upward, smashing into Yeis’ chin. Because Airot was still holding onto Yeis, the force lifted his leg above his head, flipping him upside down instead of unching him upward.

  Reeling from the chin strike that snapped his head straight up, Yeis tilted forward as his eyes refocused, spotting the overhead boot descending fast.

  “Don’t forsake it,” Yeis said just before Airot’s foot smmed into his face.

  The awkward positioning led to Airot also tumbling down, but he quickly pushed himself back up. He turned to face Yeis, seeing him roll over and clutch his clothes, trying to climb up. Airot grabbed his shoulders, ready to wail on him again, but Yeis brought his face in front of Airot’s.

  “Meltingly freezing.”

  “W-Wha? Meltingly freezing…” Airot bnkly repeated.

  ‘An amp?’

  Suddenly, Airot locked in pce.

  He wasn’t frozen by Yeis’ frost. No—this was something else. Something deeper. Something unseen.

  For a moment, his body no longer felt like his own.

  Every sense vanished except sight, though even that felt static. He didn’t feel the cold. He didn’t feel his own clothes. He didn’t feel the rush of adrenaline. He didn’t even feel discomfort.

  Just emptiness.

  And then, just as suddenly, all his senses returned, and he was flying backwards with a stinging pain in his chest.

  Then, separate from that, agony tore through him. An all-consuming pain surged in every part of his being, throbbing intensely like a harsh cramp.

  A second passed.

  Then two.

  Then, it ceased.

  Only the chest pain remained, now faint in comparison. Everything resettled, and Airot was back in control of his body. All of which spanned only a few seconds.

  ‘…That must be how it feels to guess wrong… but I wasn’t even seriously guessing...’

  Aware he couldn’t linger on it, he reassessed the situation. Yeis was above him with tucked knees, aiming his shoes at Airot. With a sharp dropkick, Yeis smmed down on him, pinning him to the ground.

  “Don’t cry, it’ll freeze up,” Yeis calmly stated. “For we’re in a freezing point. An absolute zero.”

  The air grew colder as ice formed around his fist, encasing it in a solid sheath that tapered to a sharp point.

  “I’ve forsaken it, you know. I’ll be putting in extra effort now.”

  Yeis drove the ice spike down onto Airot, who reached to catch it. He managed to grab it, barely preventing the strike, but the ice spike grew longer, extending toward his face. Gritting his teeth, he pushed it back before it could stab him. Up close, he stared at the tip.

  ‘It’s… dull?’

  “Don’t freeze up now.”

  As Airot resisted, Yeis slipped his hand free from the ice encasement and formed another. With it, he punched down on the spike Airot was holding, forcing the tip further down. It broke against Airot’s face but still left its mark. Desperate, Airot reached out and grabbed hold of Yeis.

  “Not this again,” Yeis commented, encasing both his fists in solid blocks of ice.

  But before Yeis could bear them down on him, Airot clung his hands to Yeis, then reverted the pull, repulsing them apart. Yeis skid back before a wall of ice rose behind him, catching him. Airot just slid over the icy floor, escaping the onsught.

  ‘That wasn’t something he did before. He totally amped himself… but which is it? If I guess wrong again…’

  Airot pulled himself together and stood up. Yeis, in contrast, staggered for a moment before ice condensed beneath his feet. Then he dashed forward, skating along the frozen surface. Airot bolted in the opposite direction, repelling his steps to widen the gap.

  Yeis gave chase, darting in swift, sharp turns. Despite not moving in a straight line, he was somehow faster than before, even taller too. Airot focused his output and sped up, doing all he could to buy time to think. As he ran, his gaze dropped.

  ‘Wait… why don’t I just encase my fists?’

  He hopped and twisted midair, turning to face Yeis before charging toward him. Dashing forward, Airot clenched his fists, coating his gloves in yellow.

  Just as they were about to csh, Yeis shot upward, conjuring a tall ice ramp between them. It curved sideways as he skated over it, then returned back down, leaving an inverted U-shaped wall. Airot struck anyway, smoothly piercing through the ice. It broke cleanly, but shards clung to his glove, needing to be pulled off.

  “That’s certainly different,” Yeis mumbled.

  He skated off to the side, forming another elevated ice path beneath him. Airot tried connecting with it, aiming to shatter it like he had with the overhead ice bridge. But instead of linking with it, the attempt failed.

  ‘Why?! I was able to do it with the broken shards! Do amps limit another’s reach?!’

  Airot ran after Yeis, spreading his glow throughout his body instead. Yeis slid back down onto the ground, then leaned and turned toward him, angling his body to lightly skim a hand across the floor. A glint flickered from Yeis’ soles, catching Airot’s eye. But once again, Yeis summoned an ice structure before they collided.

  A simple ramp erected upwards, and Yeis rode it, unching off its end and soaring before Airot. Midair, Yeis swiftly spun and extended his legs.

  In clear view, Airot saw crescent-edge ice bdes attached to his soles. He had icicle skates.

  ‘So that’s how he got taller…’

  Yeis brought one heel down on Airot’s head, directly hitting with his ice runners. The second bde bore itself down on Airot’s neck, angled with its sharper edge, it drew blood.

  “This…” Airot began, colpsing to his knees. “Surely has to be a sin!” he gripped his neck. “How can this even be allowed?! Is this not a sin on the same level as Earth?!”

  Time seemed to dull as a warmth found its way to Airot, overtaking his senses with an eerie comfort. It felt tame, controlled, as if waiting to be redirected. It burned with vigor as he felt his senses heightened.

  He lifted his hand from his neck and looked at it. The glove was streaked with a running line of blood. Readjusting his neck, he realized the cut wasn’t deep. He could endure it.

  “How dramatic,” Yeis said, a sly edge to his voice. “But I suppose that’s how it is.”

  He skated backwards as Airot hunched over, boots clinging to the ground. His glow brightened, glistening gold. The pull beneath him thickened, binding him to the floor and cracking the ice below. Peering down, the surface was no longer coated in a thin yer of ice, but rather a solid sheet.

  Then, in an instant, the pull reverted and ejected Airot forward, bolting ahead like a bullet. Yeis immediately dashed off, raising an ice path beneath him before dropping down and turning around, leaving a frozen arch in Airot’s way. Shielding his face, Airot burst through it without slowing. Before Yeis could react further, Airot tackled him.

  Whilst they flew, they crashed into the still-standing elevated ice. After smashing into several ice chunks, they finally began tumbling. Once slowed enough, Yeis caught them in an ice parapet. No longer flying, Airot rose to his knees and transferred his glow onto Yeis as he dragged him upward. Yeis floated, startled by the sudden loss of control.

  “Attraction… repulsion… no…” Yeis blurted. “Gravity, is it?!”

  Airot ignored him, clenching his fist as a solid golden haze encased it. He brought it down on the levitating Yeis before any more ice could form. Yeis was smmed into the ground, shattering the ice beneath him before rebounding upward. This time, Airot grabbed him, locking his gloves tightly with him, then repelled them, ejecting Yeis back down. Upon impact, ice burst out and grappled him, keeping him in pce.

  Airot swung after, but ice stubs quickly pushed Yeis’ shoulders down, sliding him away. Slipping away, he tensed himself as ice clung to his body before spinning around while lying ft. Airot felt a tinge, an irritation, as the golden hue faded from Yeis.

  A snted ice wall then erected beneath Yeis’ shoulders, carrying him to his feet. Airot sprang forward while Yeis raised his hand, summoning an ice wall between them. Incoming, Airot struck the wall, cracking it. Reeling his arm back, he readied another blow.

  ‘Tch—still not breaking through. Maybe if I form the repulsion first, around my fist…’

  His knuckles glowed gold before they shot backward, swinging Airot around. Despite the unpnned spin, he used the momentum to strike. On impact, a rge portion of the wall shattered, bsting its pieces toward Yeis on the other side.

  Yeis stepped forward, pressed his hands to the remaining ice, and reinforced it. Airot unched another strike, but the ice thickened with added depth, leaving only a solid dent.

  Instead of hammering at the growing wall, Airot leapt upwards, utilizing his repulsion to vault over. Once above Yeis, he immediately encased himself in gold, hovering for a moment before crashing down with force. His boots nded atop Yeis, who barely had time to look up before being smmed down into the floor.

  Yeis’ limbs shot up as Airot struck his face, ice spikes shooting along with them. Two smashed into Airot’s sides, knocking him off. Unrelenting, he arduously forced his leg up, then released it, letting its weight crash back down onto Yeis. The impact drove his head into the ice-covered floor.

  Ice quickly formed around Yeis’ head, snaring Airot’s foot and locking it above his face. Airot dimmed his glow in response, easing the pressure so he could maneuver his other leg before it got trapped. With his free foot, he swiveled around and kicked at the ice wall Yeis was reinforcing. With it chipped, he motioned his arm to pull it down, but the ice only shifted faintly, shimmering in a pale yellow.

  ‘Does size matter?’

  Airot reached out and touched the ice. Around his hand, the yellow deepened into gold and began to spread. Then, he repelled his trapped foot from Yeis, breaking free and unching upward. As he rose, he slid his hand across the ice, casting his glow completely through it. Once above the wall, he called it down on Yeis.

  Staggered, Yeis took time assessing the situation once Airot’s foot wasn’t blocking his view. He hurriedly scooted back upon seeing the ice tumbling onto him. Ice pilrs sprouted beside him to catch the falling mass, while a rising patch of ice formed beneath his skates, pushing him away.

  Pulling his legs back and curling up, Yeis began a handspring to rise to his feet, but just as he kicked up, Airot returned, crashing his steel heels onto Yeis’ chipped ice skates. The ice runners shattered, and Yeis’ legs were forced back, flipping him as Airot shot forth.

  Now face-down, Yeis was about to push himself up, but Airot stepped on his back, increasing pressure. As the weight grew heavier, Yeis’ arms gave out beneath him.

  “Al…right… I lost,” he spoke, voice strained and weary.

  Airot let out a heavy breath and ceased all glow, dropping to his knees.

  “My goodness!! What an unexpected outcome!!” Urara excimed, her voice teeming with overflowing excitement. “The newcomer, Airot Psho, wins!!!”