#bof5

At this point, Ryu and Bosch have enough experience to know how to deal with the situation. The mission goes smoothly at first, fortunelly for them, there aren't many enemies and most of them are quickly defeated. Soon there's only one Duke and the Duke Leader left. They're careful to not leave the latter alone - it's known Leaders will surely retreat as soon as they find themselves without back-up. While Ryu distracts the minion Duke, Bosch faces the big one. The mission is very close to an end.

Then, something unusual happens. Bosch misses his first hit. And the second, and the third... The Duke Leader turns out to be incredibly nimble! Or was Bosch just incompetent? The thought struck a nerve and Bosch hastily advances with one decisive blow. The Leader dodges, and while Bosch is still turning around to position, the Genic elevates its big axe over its head. Bosch hesitates. "Fear clouds your vision and hides your foe." The Leader swings its axe in his direction. "That way it only lies death." Bosch's vision darkens for a second, only for a metal against metal sound to break him out of his paralysis. Opening his eyes again, he sees Ryu's back. He was able to parry the blow with his sword just in time! Bosch stumbles back. "What are you doing?!" Ryu shouts. "Move! I can't hold much longer!"

Bosch quickly stands up and moves aside. Ryu's swords slides throught the axe blade and breaks in two. "Crap!" He rolls over, avoiding the Genic's weapon swing by very little, getting a cut in the leg in the process. Ryu takes distance, and with what is left of his sword still in hand, grab his bag in search of an item. Meawhile, with regained focus and rather annoyed, Bosch go back into his attack stance. Ryu finally finds what he was looking for, a bomb, but clumsily let it slip from his hand. "Ugh-!" He jumps towards it, only to find himself in front of the Duke Leader once again. This time Bosch finally is able to execute one of his sword moves, critically injuring the Genic, that falls on the floor. Ryu sighs in relief. He sits on the floor and put his stuff back in the bag. After looking around to confirm the mission sucess, he exchanges stares with Bosch, who scoffs him with a smirk. They were even now.

/// Back in the locker room, Ryu is bandaging his wound, while Bosch cleans his sword. Bosch takes a quick look of what remained from his partner's sword, the two old metal pieces that were right beside him. "You should get better gear." "Sure, when I get a promotion." Ryu laughed half-heartly. Having such low d-ratio, it was obvious that would never happen. /// They've been working together since the beggining, and yet Bosch never really knew Ryu's true intention for joining the Rangers. At all. Ryu came out of nowhere, a promising yound lad with a high sense of responsibility. A faster learner, he was able to handle the sword pretty well in only a few weeks, training whenever he could and often asking his felow ranger seniors for tips and tricks. And now even Bosch (begrudgingly) recongnized Ryu's skill level to be close to his own. Which he could only attribute to natural talent. Or luck.

How unfair. How did a nobody like him get so far? He would never go beyond his current rank. What did he work so hard for?! Living out of scraps, stuck in the lowest sector, with no prospects of a better life. There was no reason for being jealous of him, Bosch repeated to himself. He had nothing. No one. No one? He had Bosch. Were they friends? It's hard to tell. They're friendly towards each other, it's true. Despite their different backgrounds, as rangers they were equal. ///

Except Bosch had a goal… That included leaving Ryu behind. It was bound to happen eventually. "Did you ever wish to move up?" Bosch kept staring at his sword. "Move up? Like, in ranking? How high?" to what Bosch replied "Regent." Silence. "I'm not sure what I would do with that." Ryu replied "Ah!" "But I guess not worrying about making ends meet would be cool." Fool.

"Of course" Bosch said under his breath. Bosch smiles to himself. Ryu's apparent lack of ambition would be useful. "What was that?" "Nevermind. Here, buy a decent sword for once." Bosch throws a small bag with a few Zenny. "You sure?" Ryu lifts his eyebrows as he asks. "I can't have you dragging your feet in our missions." Bosch stands up. "See ya, partner." He goes out of the room, leaving Ryu pensive about the little exchange they just had.