A/N: I was really happy to seen when 413 came out a few weeks ago...than was a bit sad when Keigo didn't get some action time. It still enjoyable, but I like to see the laughable character get some credit you know. So, here something to up that up! And My first one to be rated M! Of course...the big stuff won't happen until much later XD
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Zwischenzug: a chess tactic in which a player, instead of playing the expected move (commonly a recapture of a piece that the opponent has just captured) first interpolates another move, posing an immediate threat that the opponent must answer, then plays the expected move. Ideally, the zwischenzug changes the situation to the player's advantage, such as by gaining material or avoiding what would otherwise be a strong continuation for the opponent.
King's Pawn: Prologue
Hearing their feet hit the pavement in a run, Keigo swore that his heart was beating faster than their feet were moving. Never had he thought that something like this could happen. Almost the whole town, except for them, was out cold. He didn't know why, but deep down, he knew the cause was whatever Ichigo, the people like Afro-san, and the others were doing. His grip on the Afro-san's katana was tight, like his life depended on it. Maybe it was not such a good idea to have taken the katana away from the man as he was unconscious, but he felt the need for protection. When he felt the pressure of that strange man, that was after them now, for the first time, he felt pure terror. Maybe Keigo took it to feel better prepare, that he could protect himself; to protect his friends.
It might as well be. Everything seemed to turn into dust around this monster. When he appeared , when Tatsuki, Don Kanonji and Keigo joined up with Chizuru and Mizuiro, he really thought they were going to die. He couldn't help but feel, whatever that pressure was that came onto them, became like this sign that their time had come. After all, this monster and his goon said he is going to do them in! It was because they were friends with Ichigo.
When Mizuiro launched his homemade bomb made from a canister that expelled flammable gas and a lighter. This resulted in an explosion that engulfed the strange man in white. Keigo thought that it would have worked as it seemed to take over the whole alley they were only moments ago in. No one human could have survived. Then, for only a second, they looked back and they saw the white clothing and long brown hair of the monster that tailed them.
"So it's useless after all!" said Mizuiro in a calm manner that Keigo did not think was possible in his shorter friend.
Looking back, the normally so happy boy could see the darkness in their stalker's eyes. They were black with only hints of yellow for the iris. Only something from the depths of hell could look like that, to smile at the chaos and destruction he caused within his wake.
"D-Dammit," sputtered Keigo.
Was there nothing that could stop this thing? Was there no one that could save them? Was it up to them to do it? When Keigo saw the blade in the other's hand, it came to him in a burry of memories of all those other people that hung around with Ichigo, like Ikkaku and Yumichika.
He had something that could help his friends.
He skidded to a stop as his friends continued to run away. He held on to Afro-san's katana. This...this thing could be the only thing that couldn't be turned to ash. All those robed people that Ichigo hung around with had them. This could make it stop!
"Keigo!" screamed out Mizuiro, the first one to notice that Keigo had stopped running.
"Some guy dressed the same way as Ichigo had this katana! This might affect him!" shouted Keigo back at them as he rushed the other way.
"Yeah right! Even if it does injure him, you'll die!" cried Tatsuki as they were still running.
He said nothing as he continued to run with the katana. He had no training in handling the weapon, but that didn't matter. All that matter to the student as he ran, knowing that his life could be ended in a moment, was that he wanted to protect his friends. He wanted his friends to be all right, he wanted the power to protect them like Ichigo did all the time. He just wanted to be just like his friend Ichigo.
"Asano!"
Keigo didn't stop his path as he would stop the man. He would do it, he wouldn't be thought of an idiot, that he was useless and no one would still consider him an idiot. He would finally be saw for his worth, that he wasn't a little kid that needed to be protected all the time, or treated as one.
But he should have thought something was wrong as the strange man wasn't doing anything. He just stood there, he let Keigo charge at him. Why? Why didn't he defend-
The next moments happen in such a flash that Keigo didn't know what had happen. He found that he couldn't move anymore, that he couldn't breath. Something rammed itself into his chest. The pain, the pain in his body was unbearable as he dropped the Kanata. It clanged on the ground as he hung there, his face shocked, his body falling into the one in front of him, the one of the monster that had chase them.
"I should not be surprised. I deduced a friend of Ichigo would do something like this," he spoke in a cultured tone. Keigo didn't think it over as he gripped tightly to the other man's clothing as another jab hit his chest that intensified the pain the teen felt, "but unlike him, you're not worth my interest..."
He...he had a katana in his chest. Blood...his own blood dripped off of it and on to the ground below. This couldn't be happening to him. He was going to die as the katana was ripped from his stomach quickly. The pain of that was much worst and a cough escaped his mouth. Blood fell down the side of his mouth and left a copper taste in his mouth.
"Keigo!"
"Asano!"
His right hand continued to hold tight on the other man's clothing as his other arm wrapped around the wound in his chest. It did not stop the blood. He could feel it leaving his body. He failed, he failed and now he was going to died.
I don't want to die...
...I just wanted to be a strong...
...God, I don't want to die...
...Strong as Ichigo...
...Anyone...don't let me die...
End Prologue...