"Don't lose before you face me," Usagi said. "I want to see you at the end."

"I won't lose," Leonardo promised. He half-smiled and glanced at the ground. "Is this arrogant of us? To expect to decide the whole tournament between ourselves?"

"Of course not," Usagi said. "I know no other contestants who have defeated obakemono and waves of ninja as a form of training."

"Just be careful," Leonardo said. "Bad luck can strike the most practiced fighter."

Usagi's familiar smirk slowly crept onto his face. "Ah, I see now. You intend to blame bad luck when I win."

"Just warning you now to soften the blow when I win," Leonardo said, trying to keep a straight face, but Usagi's mirth was too infectious and he turned away to hide his smile. "It isn't fair to make me laugh before a fight."

"All is fair in love and war, and this is both," Usagi countered. "I'm simply being practical."

"Mm, and I can guess where you learned that from."

"A treacherous ninja," Usagi said, stealing an opportunistic kiss. "He's very sneaky. I have to keep a firm grip on him all the time."

"He's probably not used to behaving civilly to pushy samurai," Leonardo said.

About to continue, he found himself interrupted by the warning bell. Somehow the crowd outside grew louder as the main event neared the starting time.

"We better leave now," Usagi sighed. "We will have to continue this later."

"True," Leonardo said. "I promise not to bruise you too badly."

Usagi snorted. "And I promise not to accidentally cut you when you're on the floor staring at my sword."

Reluctantly they stepped out from behind the statue and walked out of the hall, heading down the steps toward the competitors' entrance to the arena. They passed a few stragglers and made their way across the sand, looking for familiar faces.

"I'm surprised your friend Gen didn't come this time," Leonardo said, scanning the competition.

"When I last saw him, he was on the heels of a sizeable bounty," Usagi replied. "Between glory and money, I'm afraid money almost always wins out for him."

"Big bro'! Usagi-san!"

At hearing his little brother's voice, Leonardo smiled and turned, caught Michelangelo's sudden bear hug. Donatello and Raphael followed at a more sedate pace.

"Good to see you, too," Leonardo said. He couldn't help giving him a quick one-over to make sure he had emerged from every fight unscathed.

"Glad to see you two made it," Raphael said, crossing his arms. "We nearly died of boredom fighting all those lame preliminaries."

"With any luck," Usagi said, "the Daimyo will disallow such amateurs in the future."

"I hope so," Donatello said. "Amateurs can be so unpredictable. I nearly lost once just because one of 'em ducked when she should have attacked."

Gently extricating himself from Michelangelo's embrace, Leonardo looked around the arena before remembering that their master would not be here amongst the competitors. "Where's Splinter?"

"Up there in the big cushy box as usual," Michelangelo replied, waving up and grinning when he spotted Splinter waving back. Leonardo followed his look and relaxed a little to see the Daimyo's small son waving as well.

"Good thing he's got a primo seat," Michelangelo continued. "He'll get to see the Battle Nexus champion in action once again."

"And who would that be?" Raphael snapped.

"Aw Raph, don't be jealous," Michelangelo said, dancing out of Raphael's reach. "I'll go easy on ya."

"Has he been like this the whole time?" Leonardo asked.

They both nodded.

A loud trumpet blared overhead, heralding the beginning of the tournament. The gyoji instructed the competitors to take their places, and Michelangelo's grin widened.

"Finally! See you in the ring, bro's!"

Leonardo threw one last glance at his friend. "Don't lose 'till our match," he reminded him.

"I was about to tell you the same," Usagi said.

Each of them chose a marked section of the arena to themselves and stood still as the walls rose. Cut off from the rest of the world, Leonardo took a few deep breaths and unsheathed his swords, waiting for his first opponent to appear. The crowd roared around him and he stretched a little uneasily. He never liked appearing in front of crowds, but it was a necessary evil to compete here.

To his relief, the eight armed warrior that appeared in front of him looked far more capable than the fighter of the same species that he had defeated several days ago. Each arm held an identical sword and her red skin made her seem more ferocious even without the snarl and bared fangs. As she advanced, Leonardo had to crane his head to meet her eyes.

The first two swords swung towards his head. He ducked and rolled forward just before the next two swords crashed into the ground. Expecting another slash, he sprung to the side and crouched against the wall, looking over his shoulder and raising his sword at the same time.

Instead of blocking a hit, however, he found himself stifling a laugh. His opponent cursed fluently in an alien language as she tried to yank her swords out of the floor and each wall. Leonardo could see it was useless. Each blade had sunk several inches deep.

Seizing the opportunity, Leonardo stood and charged. As expected, the fighter gave up on her trapped swords and turned to face him, bringing her other four swords up as fast as she could. Leonardo's rush caught her by surprise, though, and she took a step back to gain room to swing. That gave Leonardo plenty of room to step on the hilt of one of the embedded swords and leap up, aiming at the fighter's face.

The fighter blocked his initial strike and managed to throw him towards the wall, but Leonardo landed feet first and pushed off again, and this time he came at such an angle behind the red skinned alien's shoulder that there could be no block. His sword swung through the empty air as she shimmed and disappeared, and he landed alone.

Waiting for the next rotation, he sat down to catch his breath. The crowd roared a little louder and he wondered who had just won a match. Probably Michelangelo, he thought.

A minute later the signal came for the next round to begin. He stood up and closed his eyes at the familiar tingle as he was transported to another section of the arena. When the feeling passed, he looked up again.

"Hey big bro'!" Michelangelo grinned. "Didn't expect to see you so soon. Ready to face the Battle Nexus Champion?"

"Yeah, but that's probably three more fights to go," Leonardo smiled back.

Michelangelo never stopped grinning, obviously on a high from the thrill of the crowd and the exultation of combat. "Tough talk for someone who's been slacking off on his training to have fun with a certain samurai."

"Huh?" Leonardo tilted his head as if he was puzzled, but inside he felt himself grow cold. If his little brother had somehow found out about him and Usagi--

"Admit it, you and Usagi did nothing but catch up, right?" Michelangelo said. "I know you two went drinking at least once."

Leonardo raised his swords as Michelangelo started to circle. "How did you--?"

"We snuck out one night and went bar hopping," Michelangelo said, spinning his nunchucks as the fight turned earnest. "I spotted you down the street tossing some big bully into the dirt."

A sigh of relief. Leonardo altered his stance as he continued to face his sibling. "Doesn't mean we were slacking."

"Dude, you never go out!" Michelangelo grinned and faked a lunge, making his brother flinch. "You're off your game. I'm gonna win, you're gonna go down just as hard as Raph did, and then I'll have another trophy for the mantle."

Leonardo narrowed his eyes but he didn't make the first move, either. If this was how Michelangelo approached single combat, he had to admit it was effective. His calm facade covered nervous irritation, not a good mental state for a fight. Already he felt impatient to attack. But he knew better than to respond.

He fell silent and refused to speak again, letting Michelangelo rattle off playful barbs meant to drive him into careless anger. As long seconds passed and his calm veneer never faltered, Michelangelo grew visibly annoyed. He only saw it in the slight tightening of the smile and the quickening spin of the nunchucks, but it was there.

Without warning, his brother attacked first. The first nunchuck arced towards his head, missing him by a hair's breadth as he leaned back. Sand slipped underfoot and he fell backwards, but he covered his fall with a swipe of his sword. The fall startled his brother as well. Michelangelo's second nunchuck wrapped around his sword hilt, but without a moment to brace himself, he was yanked forward as Leonardo landed on his shell.

Using his momentum to throw his brother over his head to the ground, Leonardo let go of his trapped sword and turned onto his hands and knees, scrambling to get within reach while Michelangelo scrambled to get back on his feet. The half-second he used to free his nunchuck from around the sword meant he was still rising when he turned and saw Leonardo's second sword coming towards his face.

"Aw, shell--" Michelangelo groaned just before he disappeared.

Lowering his sword, Leonardo panted for breath and glanced up at the glass panel where the losing fighters were transported. At this distance he couldn't see Michelangelo appear, but he did finally notice how full the arena was. Thousands of people packed the stands, and that was only the small section he could see, all cheering at the spectacle before them.

He retrieved his sword and inspected it for any damage. Swords could crack so easily and chains wrapped around with enough strength to create deep and irreparable chinks. To his relief, only a small bit had been chipped from the edge. He had no doubt that he could find a shop to repair it after the tournament.

The next two fights he won with less effort, besting two newcomers whose unease at fighting in front of a crowd left them looking over their shoulder when they should have been focused on their enemy. This time Leonardo had several minutes to rest and recover, leaning against the wall and listening to the sound of crashing metal and battle cries coming through the air.

A longer and more complex fanfare announced the next match. He straightened and readied himself for another rotation. Instead the walls sank back into the earth and stood directly across the field from Usagi. The long-eared samurai's shoulders heaved with deep breaths and his swords pointed at the ground. No doubt his last opponent had been much stronger than Leonardo's last two.

Sheathing his swords, Leonardo crossed the arena and stood a few feet away, openly staring at his friend. He had never seen him like this, not exhausted but determined to fight through his fatigue.

"You see?" Usagi said. "We are the last."

Leonardo nodded once. "Can they hear us?"

"Over the crowd?" Usagi smirked. "I think not."

Although the spectators were slowly quieting in expectation, the arena rumbled with their foot stomps and applause. Leonardo didn't bother looking. He was tired of being surrounded and stared at. Imagining that they were just loud background noise made it easier to ignore them.

"Take a few minutes to rest," he said. "I don't want to beat you because you were tired."

Usagi's smirk turned into a smile. "Perhaps we should ask the Daimyo to remove the sand. I wouldn't want to beat you because you slipped."

Leonardo blinked. "How did you--?"

He followed Usagi's nod at the far end of the stadium and his eyes widened. His previous positions in the arena had kept him from noticing that one of the walls damaged in the past fight with the Daimyo's son had been repaired with a flat surface, and now some strange magic or technology showed replays of their past matches. He enjoyed watching Usagi's lithe form float effortlessly around his opponents, his swords a graceful whirlwind, and then he winced when the replay showed his fight with Michelangelo. His fall looked so obviously clumsy from that angle.

"No doubt the crowd thought it was a wonderful trick," Usagi said, barely smothering his laughter. "You ninja truly are masters of your environment."

"On second thought," Leonardo grumbled, drawing his swords, "let's get this match started, you smug little bunny."

Usagi laughed and raised his own swords in a defensive stance. "When I win, I will remind you of that comment."

Standing perfectly still as they stared into each other's eyes, they waited for the other to make the first move. Usagi was used to such duels but Leonardo rarely fought in such stylized combat. The hush that fell upon the crowd only made him more uncomfortable. The whole world was watching them, and the thought made his skin crawl. Even a fight seemed more intimate with Usagi. He would have rather faced him in the open countryside of Usagi's world, with no audience and no penalty or prize worse than teasing.

Sunlight flashed as Usagi stepped forward and brought his sword down. Leonardo stepped to the side and dodged, attacking Usagi's unprotected flank, but the samurai's short sword blocked and then slid along Leonardo's blade towards his throat.

Reacting in an instant, Leonardo deflected with his second sword and found himself forced to dive forward, narrowly missing Usagi's backswing and coming up with his sword poised to block. The sound of steel sliding against steel echoed through the arena as he deflected Usagi's strike and stood straight, his swords centered again and ready for another strike. In front of him, Usagi settled back into a defensive stance and smiled.

"Close," he said softly. "You are lucky the Daimyo's attendants are well trained. Anyone else would have thought you were dead and summoned you out of the arena."

"Including a cocky samurai," Leonardo replied, "who celebrates before the fight is over."

Again they fell silent. The occasional cough and whisper echoed in the arena's perfect acoustics, and in the near silence Leonardo found his focus much easier. Despite the tension of the fight, he found nothing but pleasure in focusing on Usagi. His muscles rippled under his white fur, his long ears fell like soft cloth to his shoulder, and the intensity of his gaze sent shivers through his body.

Of course he thought Usagi looked better in motion, but a samurai's duel did not lend itself to wild fighting. Leonardo tightened his grip on his swords and feinted to the right, easily dodging Usagi's reactive stroke and turning along the flat of rabbit's blade to come nearly face to face. Usagi's short sword forced him to avoid attacking his front, and instead he continued moving by him, falling to one knee and swinging his right blade backwards, aiming for Usagi's waist.

His sword met nothing but air and he used the momentum to stand again, rising smoothly so that the attack looked like one continuous move. When they faced each other again, he was pleased to note that Usagi looked far more wary than before.

"Such a treacherous ninja," Usagi said, but without heat. Although he did not smile, his voice was light.

"Even samurai know how to feint," Leonardo said.

"True, but you began this fight matching my style," Usagi said. "You ninja love to change the rules in the middle of a fight."

Leonardo half-smiled. "We're just more practical."

"Perhaps," Usagi said.

A familiar mischievous gleam entered his eyes and Leonardo steeled himself. Usagi could be unorthodox as well.

"We are evenly matched," Usagi continued. "Even though our styles differ, I fear this fight could indeed be determined by luck."

"You flatter me," Leonardo said, knowing it was impossible to hide entirely how much he enjoyed the compliment.

"Not at all. Either of us could win. In a few minutes, you might be the one standing before the Daimyo and receiving the adoration of the crowd."

Leonardo froze. His breath hitched.

"Thousands upon thousands of people would know your name," Usagi said. "Your fame would spread far and wide, as it does for all Nexus champions. Your statue in the hall stand for all to see."

Psychological barbs like Michelangelo's were one thing. Usagi's attack did not sting but rather impacted with all the weight of the truth. Leonardo began to stand straight, lowering his swords a few inches.

"A ninja known far and wide," Usagi said. "You could come out of those shadows you love for more than just a few hours out of the day."

His defense completely dropped, Leonardo stared at Usagi in shock. "I didn't think..." he whispered to himself. All these things would certainly come to pass if he won. Michelangelo thrived on attention, but to Leonardo, widespread attention made him want to find a dark corner and pull it in after himself. Standing by while his brother received accolades was uncomfortable enough. To be the center of attention--

"How could I have been so stupid?" he whispered.

"You are a ninja," Usagi sighed with a sad smile. "But you are also a consummate warrior who loves any challenge."

And he had been enjoying his time with Usagi too much to think straight, he realized. Usagi was simply too polite to mention that.

"Of course if you don't mind being the guest of honor at the ceremony," Usagi said, his voice trailing off.

Sit in front of the Nexus lord and exchange pleasantries? He'd rather hide in the rafters.

He breathed out. This match was over.

"When we're alone, I expect another match. But for now..." His swords slid back into the sheaths. The audience's gasp seemed louder than their previous cheers as he sank to one knee, head slightly bowed.

"I concede."

In the hot sunlight, Usagi shivered. Leonardo had no idea what kind of power he had over the samurai. Swallowing once, Usagi raised his sword and slid the flat edge just under his lover's jaw, tilting his head up to meet his gaze.

"I accept," he whispered.

The world disappeared. The crowd and the Nexus and everyone ceased to exist. Unable to resist, Usagi bent down and put his hand on Leonardo's cheek, smiling as he felt Leonardo's hand cover his own as they kissed.

Never had a Nexus tournament ended like this. If the crowd had cheered before, they shattered the heavens now. In the center of the arena, neither Usagi nor Leonardo heard their wild applause, not until Leonardo disappeared from Usagi's hand. The new Battle Nexus Champion stood straight and sheathed his swords, unable to smother his delight. With any luck, the award ceremony would not take long. He wanted nothing more than to return to the inn where he was sure Leonardo would wait for him.

No doubt there he would collect his real prize.

High above the arena, Leonardo watched Usagi from the chamber for fallen warriors. His hands trembled from excitement as he lightly touched the glass. His entire body felt tense and light at the same time. Nothing in the world mattered except the torment of waiting for Usagi to come back to him. He felt as though he could fly.

Until the shellcell on his belt startled him back into the real world. He took it out and held it, staring at the blinking light demanding his attention. The reality of what he had just done slammed into him like a sledgehammer to the stomach.

tbc...