Chapter 2- Encounters

I opened my eyes… and what I saw was the same hill… and the same crosses… and one girl in still on each cross… however Kuroyukihime wasn't on a cross anymore! It looks like I… saved her? I don't know… but I thought I passed out?

Slowly I regained consciousness

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping… I slowly opened my eyes and found out that I was in my room. I tired to move my body… but it was really hurt… I then looked around and I saw Akane sleeping by my bedside… It looks like she brought me here… I really have to thank her…

Still… what happened to Kuroyukihime? And what were those things we fought? So many things were still going on in my mind…

"Yuki?" Akane said while rubbing her eyes.

"Akane… did… you bring me back home?" I asked

"Yep… I did, but Kuroyukihime helped bring you here." Akane said

"Speaking of which… where is she?"

"I don't know… I haven't seen her in school lately. Besides you've been sleeping for 4 days already." Akane said sadly

"4 days…?"

"Yeah… you really had us worried when you passed out… but you saved both Kuroyukihime and myself… I… I don't know what to say…" Akane said sadly.

I didn't know what to say… I was at a total loss for words.

"U-um… you must be hungry? Let me get you some food!" Akane said as she exited my room.

As she did so I fell back again on my pillow… I sighed thinking how much trouble I caused Akane… for now… I have to concentrate on getting back on my feet again… I need to know what's going on.

I recovered faster than I expected… after the weekend I was ready to go back to school… and ready to ask Kuroyukihime what was going on here.

Lunchtime came and Masato and Rumi struck up some conversation with us.

"Hey Tenkawa! I heard from Akane what happened man… sorry to hear that" Masato said with a sad face

"Yes… I'm so sorry to hear that too" Rumi said sadly.

"Wh-what exactly did you tell them Akane?!" I whispered

"W-well… I told them that a really big Thesaurus hit you on the head knocking you unconscious!" Akane whispered back.

"Either way, its good to have you back man! Boy… class sure was boring since I had no one to hang around with!" Masato said

"Huh? Don't you hang out with Kuroyukihime?" I asked

"I would… if she wasn't so busy with the Student Council" Masato replied

"Student Council? She joined?" I asked

"Yes she did. The Student Council needed a new Vice President and Kuroyukihime fit that spot perfectly." Rumi said

"W-wow…" Akane said

"Anyway… where is she now?" I asked

"I dunno man… she's always been so busy that we don't see her at lunch or after school… it sad really"

However after Masato spoke Kuroyukihime showed up at the classroom door.

I eyed her and she quickly approached Akane and myself.

"Hey there you are! How about we-"

"Tenkawa, Somarusaka… I need you two to come with me."

"Alright" I said without hesitation.

"Wh-what about us?!" Masato said

"We'll hangout later" Kuroyukihime said giving Masato a sharp glance.

"Y-yes ma'am!" Masato said

We both followed Kuroyukihime to the Student Council room… and it was empty.

"Im sure you two have so many questions in your head right now… like "what were those things?!" or "why were you fighting them?!" right?" Kuroyukihime said

"Yes… please answer them" I said bluntly.

"Well… to be honest… I don't really know…" Kuroyukihime said sadly.

"Wh-what?! How could you now know?! You were fighting them!" Akane said

"That's the thing… I don't know what they are but I'm fighting them… but I do know this: those things eat people."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Kuroyukihime picked up a newspaper and threw it infront of us, we looked at the main headline and this is what we saw:

"GRISLY AND BRUTAL MURDERS AROUND TOWN LEAVES POLICE BAFFLED"

And the photo that was taken was from a crime scene… and it looked like that the victim was ripped apart… limb by limb…

"Wh-what?!" Akane said in fear.

"This is horrible…" I said

"Yes… it is… recently their attacks have been increasing… and judging from the victims bodies… these things only strike at night…which means that they could attack someone later tonight." Kuroyukihime said

"Is that why you called us here?" I asked.

"Yes… I want Tenkawa to help me fight these things." Kuroyukihime said

"Wh-what?! Yuki and you?! Fighting these things?!" Akane said.

"Yes… I humbly ask for your help here… apparently I'm not strong enough to fight against them alone…" Kuroyukihime said getting down on her knees and bowing her head.

"Then why bring me here if you're only going to ask Yuki?!" Akane argued.

"Why I asked to come too is because I need your concern too" Kuroyukihime said

"Wh-what?" Akane asked

"The first time we fought these things… and Tenkawa collapsed infront of us… you kept trying to wake Tenkawa up… and you had such a sad look on your face… like you lost something very important to you… when I went home that night I felt horrible about myself… like I was to blame for this... and whenever I saw you in school you looked so defeated… I never want to see anyone sad ever again… that's why I'm asking you if you'll let Tenkawa help me… I assure you… I will watch his back." Kuroyukihime said while she bowed on the ground.

"Kuroykihime…"Akane said

Kuroyukihime said nothing and just kept her head down.

Akane then lifted Kuroyukihime's head and held her by the shoulders as she said: "Promise me that you will always have Yuki's back" Akane said

"I Promise" Kuroyukihime said

With that, the two exchanged smiles.

"Tenkawa… I…" Kuroyukihime said

"I understand why you asked Akane… I understand too, I'll help you get rid of these monsters" I said

"Tenkawa… thank you…" Kuroyukihime said

"I would like to ask you something though… where did this Katana come from? And what was that thing that came out of me?" I asked showing her the Katana that materialized into my hand.

"I wish I knew… sorry" Kuroyukhime said

I looked at the Katana's scabbard… this weapon was not your ordinary blade…just holding made one feel stronger.

We then headed back to the classroom and met up with Masato and Rumi, those two were really glad to have to gang together again. Afterschool we ate together in a local Ramen Bar… and I gotta say it was really fun.

After eating we parted ways… then I walked Akane home, she looked pretty sad… but she still wished me luck for later… To be honest I'm quite scared… but Akane's words…they helped calm me down.

I went home that night composed… Dad and Mom weren't home yet… and that was good… I needed to sneak out of the house anyway.

Then I thought back at what Kuroyukihime told me…

"Tenkawa, from what I've observed… these things usually appear where there are lots of people." Kuroyukihime said.

"Like schools and malls right?"

"Correct. Now you may be thinking… how do we find them?"

"Yeah… how do we find them?"

"How? By using my ability called: "Burst Link" I'll be able to see things that other people wont be able to… like where these things come from."

"Seeing where they come from huh? Sounds like a plan." I said

For some reason… Kuroyukihime smiled.

"Say… once we find the place… what do we do then?" I asked

"What else do we do? We eliminate those things before they can get out of there". Kuroyukihime said.

"Get out of there?" I asked.

"Yes. It seems like… they originate from somewhere… and they have to get out of that place in order to hunt".

"Predators huh?"

"Yes. That seems like it. Our job is to eliminate those things before they can get out. If they do get out… lets hope we can eliminate them before anyone else sees them, or before they can hurt anyone."

"Alright. I'll be counting on you then Princess." I said with a grin,

"Princess huh? I like the sound of that." She said while smiling.

"Princess… what the hell was I thinking saying that?" I thought to myself.

After awhile my cellphone rang… it was Kuroyukihime telling me to meet her in the local park. I immediately grabbed my Katana, locked up and made my way there.

"You made it Tenkawa" She said while sitting on a park bench with her legs crossed.

"Yeah… did you find the place where they're coming from?" I asked.

"Yes… over there" Kuroyukihime said as she stood up and walked.

We approached an alley… but the air in it didn't seem right…

"This place… is this really the same alley?" I said

"It is… but these things seem to distort places where they spawn from… that's why I can see them with my Burst Link". Kuroyukihime said

"That would explain the heaviness in the air…" I said

"That's most likely it… now… are you ready to go in?" Kuroyukihime said.

"Lets do this." I said as we stepped in the portal.

"This place… is definetly not the mall we know anymore…" I said.

"This place… seems like their world… we have to be careful." Kuroyukihime said.

Suddenly from underneath us Shadows emerged… and they looked like the same ones from before… but they had razor sharp claws now!

"Here we go Tenkawa! Burst Link!" Kuroyukihime cried out as she transformed from her regular clothes to those clothes we saw her in before.

She was wearing a lingerie-ish top with detached sleeves on both her arms with what seemed to be white fur on the top of the sleeves, and a long skirt that overlapped covering her legs, and she had huge butterfly wings on her back, and she was holding her usual parasol weapon.

"Cool outfit." I said with a smirk.

"Thanks." Kuroyukihime said with a smile as she drew her parasol and fired at them.

"Here we go!" I said as I drew my Katana and focused, I then said: "Black Selena!", as I did so I felt the same surge of power from before… and there again in front of me was Black Selena.

"You summoned me again master?" Black Selena said

"Yeah… now lets kick some shadow butt!" I said as I focused my power, as I did so I was able to levitate, but not only that I was also moving faster than normal as my Katana sliced right through them.

"Impressive. You seem to have control over your power already!" Kuroyukihime said still firing shots at the shadows.

"I'm not so sure I have control over this! I'm just doing what I think I'm supposed to be doing!" I said in reply

"Is that so? Well keep doing what you're doing then!" Kuroyukihime said as we kept on fighting the shadows.

What seemed like forever, finally ended… we won.

"Whew… is it over?" I said

"I hope so…" Kuroyukihime said

Then we heard screams.

"People?! In here?!" I said

"What are people doing in here?!" Kuroyukihime said as she focused her power, "This way!" Kuroyukihime said as she took flight with her giant butterfly wings.

"Lets go too Black Selena!" I said as I too took flight after her.

We then saw two girls who were surrounded by these things.

"We're surrounded Minami!" the pink haired girl said

"If we could only summon our Summoned Beings!" the girl with the ribbon named Minami said.

A monster suddenly lunged for the pink haired girl.

"Kyaaah!" she cried out as she barely dodged the blow.

"Himeji! Why you…!" Then the girl known as Minami said as she too dodged a blow.

Both the two girls fell down as these things jumped up in the air to claw them, then Kuroyukihime and myself cut them up just as they were about to get hit.

"Are you two okay?" Kuroyukhime said while drawing a black rapier.

"Y-yeah… B-barely…" the girl with the ribbon said.

"Stay close, we got this!" I said as Kuroyukihime and myself hacked and slashed away… but they just kept on coming…

One of the monsters lunged for two girls, I then put myself in front of them, as I cried out: "Distortion Field!"

The girls seemed shocked as the attacker bounced off the distortion field, but it got enraged as its comrades and itself kept on trying to get through… and I wasn't holding up so well.

"Tenkawa!" Kuroyukihime cried out as she parried, dodged and countered blows.

"A-are you alright…?" the pink haired girl asked me.

"Hehe… I'm fine! These things wont get through!" I said. But inside… I thought: "For how long though…?"

The girl with the ribbon and pink-haired girl looked around and saw how hard we were fighting, and then they both suddenly got up.

"Minami… we have to fight too!" the pink-haired girl told the girl with the ribbon.

"Yeah… we have to…! Bro and Sis are fighting hard…! We have to help too!"

The two then closed their eyes and focused as they both said: "Summon!"

Then under them a light came out as these smaller versions of them wearing what seemed like armor and were holding weapons.

The girl with the ribbon's smaller self was armed with a thin rapier, while the pink haired girls was armed with a giant broadsword.

"We… we did it!" the pink haired girl said.

"B-but how?!" the girl with the ribbon said.

"It doesn't matter how! Bro! Sis! We're going to help you! Lets go Minami!" the pink-haired girl said.

"Yeah! Lets do this Himeji!" the girl with the ribbon said.

"Powers huh? Alright… I'm releasing the distortion field!" I said. Once I did the two immediately sprang up and with their smaller selves and slashed right through the monsters. I have to say… these two are amazing; they sliced and diced their way through all these monsters with no problems.

After awhile all the monsters were defeated.

"Hows that?!" the girl with the ribbon said

"Yeah! We did it!" the pink-haired girl said

"Nice…" I said as I fell on my rear exhausted.

"Tenkawa!" Kuroyukihime said running towards me.

"I-im fine… just really tired…" I said with what little energy I had left.

"You held your ground there, even though there were so many enemies… it looks like you're getting stronger Tenkawa". Kuroyukihime said with a smile.

"Th-thanks…" I said still exhausted.

The two girls then ran to us.

"Bro! Sis! Are you two okay?!" The girl with the ribbon said.

"Yes… thank you very much you two, you saved us." Kuroyukihime said

"N-no! Bro and Sis saved us first! S-so… thank you!" the pink-haired girl said with a grateful bow.

Just when we thought everything was going well, more shadows showed up.

"N-no way…" the girl with the ribbon said.

"More of them?!" Kuroyukihime said agitated as she stood up again as she drew her parasol and took aim

The monsters lunged for us but before Kuroyukihime could pull the trigger, this gunfire came out of nowhere and took them all out.

"Wh-what the…" I said

We then looked to where the gunfire came from, and we saw these girls amongst the smoke…

One girl had pink hair and was wearing a quite revealing outfit somewhat similar to Kuroyukihime's, and she was armed with two pistols.

Another girl was a short haired blonde who seemed to be wearing mechanical armor of some sort…

"Manifests destroyed… Mission Complete" the girl said

"Who… is she?" I wondered

We then heard a cellphone ring… apparently it was the pink haired girl's she picked it up then looked in our direction as she changed the clips of her two pistols while the blonde cocked her rifle as the both of them took aim at us.

"Wh-what?!" the pink haired girl with us said.

The pink haired girl then opened fire on us and so did the blonde.

"What the heck?!" the girl with the Ribbon said.

"Hey! First you save us then you start shooting at us!? What gives!?" Kuroyukihime said firing back.

But that girl was more agile than we thought; she easily dodged Kuroyukihime's shots as the both of them got closer and closer.

"It looks like she wants to take us out! Lets get out of here!" Kuroyukihime said.

"Alright, but where's the exit?" I asked

Kuroyukihime focused for a bit… then she pinpointed the direction of the exit "There!" she said as she picked up the pink haired girl.

"Wh-what?!" the pink haired girl said

"Just hold on. Tenkawa, grab her too! We have to get out of here!" Kuroyukihime said

"Sorry bout this" I said as I picked up the girl with the ribbon.

Kuroyukihime then flew fast and I followed behind her, but that other pink haired girl was riding on the blonde girl's back while the both of them were firing at us.

We dodged their shots… but barely...

"There's the exit! Get ready Tenkawa!" Kuroyukihime said as we punched through the portal.

We had a rough landing, but we made it out…. somehow… the portal behind us closed and the distortion around the area disappeared…we lost our attackers… and that was a huge sigh of relief…

Still… why did they attack us? What did we do? Was it because we were fighting those things? So many questions were coursing through my mind…