It happened in flash.
His body reacted without his conscious thought.
Pain...
Red ribbons streamed from his chest, staining the purity of the snow covered ground. Deep within his fuzzy, churning thoughts, Yoshimori knew the tainted snow was bad. Very, very bad.
Yoshi's glazed eyes struggled to focus, and his mind scrambled to make sense of the situation. He strained against the overwhelming sensation of pain that swamped his thoughts. His head felt as if it were stuffed with cotton. His hand... was hot and sticky. He felt as if sparks danced upon his fingertips.
Cant think.
Can't focus.
The world had turned...black...
"Yoshimori!" The voice was laced with horror caused Yoshi's eyes to flash open. Adrenaline pumped throughout his veins - liquid energy coursing throughout his body. With a jolt, he remembered.
The ayakashi and its long black claws. It had found Tokine. It shouldn't have been a problem for the female kekkaishi.
But it had been.
He remembered bursting upon the scene, seeing Tokine's bloodied body. Her eyes where dull, inhuman, shrouded by a faint purple glow. She had been standing, arms spread, a vacant expression upon her face. Hakubi's blue eyes had been stretched wide as he franticly tried to move Tokine.
She had not responded.
That's when Yoshimori had arrived. Right as the ayakashi lunged, its long black claws aimed at Tokine's chest. There was no time to cast a kekkai. There was no time to pull her out of the way. There was only time for one thing.
And he had done it without thinking.
The ayakashi's black claws had pierced his chest instead of Tokine's. It's terrible face had showed the faintest trace of shock, but its features where dominated by a horrible, blood lusting smile.
"Yoshimori!" Tokine's voice. It jerked him from his thoughts. He looked up to see Tokine standing over him, eyes wide.
"Hey," Yoshi managed, a thick stream of blood running from his mouth. "Are... you okay?" Every word was pure torture. Every breath was agony. He longed to close his eyes and slip into the welcoming embrace of unconsciousness.
He wouldn't take that escape. He couldn't. Not with the ayakashi...
The ayakashi! Yoshimori sat up and gagged as a fresh wave of pain washed over him. Blood came ran from his chest. He almost fell backwards again.
"No no!" Tokine's cool hands pressed against his shoulders, drawing another wave of pain. "Don't get up. You... you... oh God I'm so sorry Yoshi." Her eyes where wide. A strange emotion hovered upon her face. Something alien for Tokine.
Panic?
Yes. Panic. Fear. Why?
"Ayakashi." Yoshimori choked, looking about.
Gen stood, his clawed hands holding the shredded remains of the black-clawed ayakashi. He was looking at Yoshi with eyes like Tokine's. Emotions danced in the depths of his dark eyes. Shock. Horror. Sadness.
Yoshimori looked down then. "No-!" Tokine was too late. Yoshi had looked. A gaping hole ran through his chest, the wound from the ayakashi. He could through the dripping hole. He could easily fit his fist through the wound, to come out on the other side of his body.. Yoshi looked at it, and a rueful smirk spread across his face.
"It got me," He said, bemused.
Tokine suddenly grabbed his collar and shook him. The motion made Yoshi dizzy with pain. "What the hell are you so happy about! Yoshi look at you! You might..." She swallowed hard, her eyes still wide. "D...die..." Her final word was a whisper and her eyes dipped to the wound on his chest. She winced, as if just looking at it inflicted pain upon her. Tears streamed from her bright, beautiful eyes. "So...why are you so happy?" She murmured, her hands still gripping the torn shadow of his kekkai outfit.
With the last of his strength, Yoshi reached up with a blood coated arm and wiped away on of her tears. His arm dropped, limp. "Because it didn't get you." He said matter of factly.
And then the world once more was black.