To Protect And To Hold

Summary: Alternate ending of the fight against Gagin. Possible Character death(s) and pre-established Genshi. Complete!

~~~forever in our hearts! Kekkaishi!~~~

YOSHIMORI'S POV

The kekkai starts to form under my feet. And as I'm about to push off, the kekkai rises up, propelling me into the sky.
The air soars against my skin. My clothes wave in the wind, but not as much as my old kekkaishi outfit. They have long since been replaced for sweats and a T-shirt in favor of speed.
As I'm losing momentum I form another kekkai in my path that propels me the other way, somersaulting over horse-faces head. Close enough. I hit him with a kekkai, right towards his head. He dodges too late, having had his full attention on Gen who's on the other side.

That's how we work, staying on opposite sides of the target, after months of brutal training it comes as easy to us as breathing. I land on another kekkai and propel myself upwards as Gagin's fist comes racing towards me. I guess he didn't like my kekkai punch, I've gotten pretty strong with them, trained with rocks until they felt as light as a feather, and now I'm soaring through the skies.

It was all Gen's idea, the second best idea he ever had.

~Flashback~

"Yoshimori. We need to talk."

It was late at the Karasumori sight. The skies were already starting to lighten up, but the air was thick with tension.

"Oh? Now, you want to talk?" I slum against a tree. Tired of the battles against the Ayakashi, tired from fighting with Gen about the tiniest of things. I wipe the sweat from my brow. This damn heat wave isn't helping things either, making us all agitated.

I wait. But nothing comes forth. I frown.
Gen scratches his head. "Ah… Sorry, it's nothing…"
That bastard! We were finally going to talk things through. Talk about what's going on between us, with the sudden awkwardness and the agitation and now he chickens out. Not in this lifetime!
"Don't you dare not talk to me know, Gen! I've been trying to get you to open up for days now! But you just keep bottling it all up inside of you!"
Gen's looking at his shoes.
"Just tell me what it is! Just say anything! Just do something!"

And suddenly his lips are on mine, he's clinging to my shirt, pressing me against the tree. He quickly ends the kiss and presses his forehead against mine too afraid to look at me, yet not ready to let go just yet. "I love you." He murmurs, almost as an afterthought.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. So that was what was bugging him.
He tenses up, but I wrap my arms around his shoulder and hold him close.

"I love you too!" I breathe to him.

~End Flashback~

Horseface lets out an angry howl. He has been trying to separate us, but has been unsuccessful.

We regroup near Tokine for a second to catch our breathes and to see if she came up with any brilliant strategies. From the look of it she hasn't, probably too busy making kekkais for Gen. No problem, it's still going good, we'll find a way to bring this guy down.

The Ayakashi suddenly laughs… "I've been underestimating you brats! You're tougher then you look. I like that!"

And he suddenly fires up his aura and starts shooting fireballs at us. I grab Tokine and we quickly split before the fireballs hit us. However the Ayakshi is relentless and he keeps firing… I'm not as fast with Tokine and the fireballs keep coming. Not good! I can't dodge this one. I stupidly close my eyes as I brace for impact, shielding Tokine as best as I can.

The heat is intense, but there's no impact. I slowly open my eyes…

"GEN!"

His arms…. He took the fireball head-on… to protect us…

I gently let go of Tokine, who hurries to Gen.

Gen… I clench my fists. I know he'll be fine within a few moments. But I won't forgive that monster for what he did!

"KETSU!"

And I'm soaring again, straight for the horse-ayakashi. I summon a thin sheet of zekkai around me as I plow forwards. He's not impressed and swats me away as a bug. Damn… I'm no good at zekkai, but luckily it prevented me from getting burned by the ayakashi's fire.

I try to get my bearing before I fall to the ground but there's a sudden voice behind me.

"Oi Oi! Gagin is having quite a good time. If you're not careful he'll incinerate you all!"
It's Kaguro! I twist my body in mid air and pull up a kekkai shield between us before I fly into him.

"You!" I scream as I push myself off the shield. Just in time as Kaguro slashes the kekkai. I don't have enough momentum so I immediate launch an attack on the sword he struck with, a triple kekkai. "Metsu!"
It barely leaves a mark but it slowed him down considerably. I form a large flat kekkai to rest on, and still be able to dodge and keep a close eye on Kaguro.

He lands on the kekkai as well, with a soft thud. "I see I was right about you having potential. Perhaps I was mistaken in my choice of Gen. You'd be a far better fit, won't you join me?"

Under us Gen and Tokine are keeping Gagin (apparently that's his name) busy. We seriously don't have time to fight Kaguro as well… I take a gamble.
"Why don't you let me think it over for a while. Let me deal with Gagin first…" And I jump off before he can respond. However I didn't miss the scowl that appeared on his face.

I enter the fray from above, and Gen quickly spots me and goes low, slashing Gagin's feet. Good… they've managed to stay close so that his long range fire attacks have no use. However Gen is having trouble penetrating his aura shield and my kekkai aren't doing any real damage either… Must come up with something new… Or… Maybe something borrowed… It's not my style, but worth a try!

I form another kekkai! It takes all my focus but I manages to make it small and narrow and it goes straight through Gagin's shoulder! I can hear Tokine's laugh and I smile too. So not my style… Gagin quickly smashes the kekkai though, but we might get him with this. If only I were better at it… I form another one right through his leg. Tokine joins in. Though she lacks the power to penetrate all the way through, she manages to make multiple at the time. Good! We've got him. I just need to form one more!

I feel his presence behind me just mere seconds before I feel two swords entering my body.

From behind. The coward!
I hear Gen scream my name as my body becomes numb.
"gen…" I whisper as blood spills out my mouth.
"I don't like being mocked, little kekkaishi." He spits in my ear. Then he points at Gen. "He'll be next."
My hearth stills, freezes up with fear for my great love. I cannot let that happen!
I can't let him hurt any of them! My friends, my family… Gen! I won't be there to protect them! I can't except that…

I won't!

Then suddenly, from somewhere deep within I feel a strength I've never felt before. The desire to protect spreads from my heart and explodes outwards!

…

Everything is white.

I slowly feel the sword disintegrate as my energy quickly deflates.

"I.. I lost?" Kaguro whispers. "Ah…" He sighs. "I remember this feeling…" and then he's suddenly gone. The swords have disappeared and the light starts to fade.

I'm falling…
But I won.

GEN'S POV

The white sphere disappears and there's only one figure left.
Yoshimori! I sprint towards where he's falling. 'Please be okay!'

Tokine forms a kekkai to catch him but I jump onto it and catch him instead. My arms strain from the impact as I gently lay him down. "Yoshi?"
His shirt is soaked in blood, it's even coming from his mouth and nose. He's struggling to breathe.

Damn it! He's only human!
I feel tears come into my eyes as Tokine joins me on the kekkai. She's outright subbing his name.
I stroke away his hair from his face, his beautiful face. "Yoshi…" I whisper. "Please don't die." A tear falls on his face and he opens his eyes.
"Gen…" He grabs my hand and holds it to his face. "It's okay… …because you are alright."

"Baka! I won't be alright if you're not! You can't leave me!"

"Ah… Gomen Gen." He whispers…

Then his hand goes slack.

"Ha! Must've been my lucky day." Gagin hollers. "I thought I was a goner for a second. But Kaguro got rid of my little problem there and I'm all healed up. That shows that the mighty Gagin can never be defeated by near humans!"

I slowly rise.
"How about by a full ayakashi then!" I scream, letting out all my anger as I fully transform.

I'm fast.

He barely has time to prepare as I slash two of his arms right off.

"WHAT?" He screams outraged.

A green kekkai appears right in front of me… Good… Tokine can still help me. I sense fireballs approaching and quickly dodge them, kekkai's appearing wherever I go. She's one tough cookie, even after…

…

I take a glance at her.. right besides Yoshimori's body… My heart clenches… Yoshimori…. I let out a feral howl as I go straight for Gagin's head. He raises his shield, but it means nothing to me!

I land on the ground with a thud.
Gagin's head lands a second later.

I've won as well… I hope you can be proud of me Yoshimori.

A tear falls down my face.

What good is wining when he's not there?

I fall to my knees as more tears start to fall to the ground and my shoulders start to shake.

"Gen!"
Huh? My shoulders still. That voice… I look up. Tokine is holding Yoshimori and they are slowly stumbling their way towards us. I can't believe my eyes.
He's in my arms in no-time. I can smell his hair, feel his body, it's warm.

"Yoshi?" I can't believe it and hold him at arm lengths. It's really him, his clothes are still bloody but the wound seems to have closed up. I still can't believe it. "How?"
"Karasumori…" He says as he slumps into my chest. "It healed me."
"How is that even possible?" I mumble as I kiss and stroke his head.
"Idiot." He smiles. "Everyone knows Kekkaishi's never die on the land they protect!"

~~~The End~~~

AN: How 'bout that?

OhOhOh!:3 In the end I couldn't do it… Kill Yoshimori. Though I had every intention to, but meh, a kekkaishi dying on Karasumori. That's just unheard of! So yeah, he lives, good thing too because we like Gen best with his sanity intact.

Review if you liked it! XD