Hey guys! I'll be short; THANK YOU for your support and love of the story! I really appreciate it and enjoy your reviews 3 :D

On with the show!

The Free Fighter and the Evil Within

Chapter Three

Haruka awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of a scream and a loud crash from not too far away. He glanced at his clock. It was well after midnight. Haruka sighed. Maybe it's nothing…accidents happen, after all. However, before Haruka could decide whether or not he should ignore the noise there were more crashes, compelling Haruka to get out of bed.

Then again, it could be him, he thought, shaking off the last vestiges of precious sleep as he reached for his necklace, squeezing the little dolphin in the palm of his hand. Haruka felt himself enveloped in an all-too-familiar rush of water, and in a few moments he had transformed into the Free Fighter. He went to his window and unflinchingly leapt out; from nowhere a burst of water shot continuously upwards, gathering at his feet and stopping his downward fall. Haruka turned, propelling himself towards the sound of the commotion.

It wasn't hard to find: several parked cards had been turned on their sides in the middle of the road, their alarms screaming in protest. A traffic light had also been bent impossibly upwards. At the center of it all was Kurakvo, hovering on his dark cloud. A young woman had collapsed below him; she was clearly too terrified to move.

Kurakvo flashed him a triumphant smile as he espied his approach. "I figured you'd come out to play if I made enough noise."

"What are you doing?" Haruka asked, gaze focusing on the woman.

Kurakvo's smile turned sinister. "I'm the Master of Darkness; evil and destruction are principal parts of my job description." He looked from Haruka to the woman and back again. "Let me give you an example." Haruka's eyes widened as a ball of darkness gathered in his hand. He raised it high before hurling it downwards at the woman below him. Haruka wasn't close enough to reach her; he had to act quickly. With his left hand he sent a flat stream of water towards her as he unclipped his whip with his right. Gripping it firmly, he sent the tails hurtling in her direction. They wrapped firmly around her waist, and Haruka pulled, using the water as a slide to speed the process. She reached a safe distance, but just barely: the darkness exploded on the pavement, shooting in all directions and causing even more destruction.

"Oops!" Kurakvo called sarcastically as a telephone pole tilted dangerously, sending a shower of sparks to the ground.

Haruka ignored him for a moment, focusing on the shell-shocked woman. He landed next to her, releasing her from his watery hold. He helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked; she nodded tentatively. "Good," he said, turning away from her to face Kurakvo, "Now get out of here."

"Umm…" he heard, and Haruka looked back at her over his shoulder. "Who are you?" she asked.

"The Free Fighter," Haruka replied, turning away once again. He looked back when he felt a small tug on one long end of his scarf.

"Thank you, Free Fighter," she said with a small blush, unable to meet his piercing blue eyes directly. Haruka nodded, feeling a small surge of pride before he freed his scarf, urging her away again as he turned to Kurakvo.

Even though he was wearing sunglasses, Haruka could easily read his caustic expression. "Are you done, SuperScarf?" he drawled, lazily spinning darkness between his fingertips, "This time I was nice, but next time don't count on me to wait patiently."

Haruka calmly raised himself to Kurakvo's level, approaching him slowly. "That was a weak insult, Orca Boy. Can't you do any better?"

Kurakvo twitched. "That again, huh? You better watch your mouth, brat. I'll make you regret it!" Twin columns of a dark substance shot out of Kurakvo's hands, aiming for Haruka; Haruka dove off of his watery platform towards the cement, whip lashing out to curl around a high tree branch, slowing his fall.

"Too easy," Kurakvo said, and with a snap of his fingers and a sickening crack the tree split in half, throwing off Haruka's balance and sending him careening towards cement. He was too close to the ground to react; he fell hard, bare legs scraping along pavement. Before he could clear his senses, a black tar-like substance came around his neck, lifting him up and carrying him to Kurakvo, who was now standing on the ground. Haruka's hands went to his neck, struggling against the stranglehold.

"Don't take it personally," Kurakvo said with a sickening smile once Haruka and he were nose-to-nose, "I've got over 500 years more experience than you; this ending was inevitable. Although," he paused in his tormenting, staring into Haruka's icy blue eyes, "you are quite attractive…" Haruka felt rather than saw Kurakvo's eyes upon him, giving him a slow once-over before sunglasses met his eyes once again. "Perhaps you and I could come to some sort of…agreement?"

Haruka stopped struggling for a moment. "…What do you mean?"

"An agreement," Kurakvo emphasized, "A sort of 'you do something for me and I do something for you' type deal. I'll let you live, and you can do some…things for me." Haruka felt those eyes rake over him again and shuddered. Whatever the monster was hinting at was making him uncomfortable, and it was past time for this to stop.

"I'm not going to do anything for you, weirdo," he said, resuming his struggles, "I will protect this city from your evil."

"Really?" the creature taunted, tightening his grip. Haruka coughed, struggling further as Kurakvo moved even closer, whispering in his ear, "How will you do that when you can't even protect yourself?"

In response, Haruka kicked out, his foot solidly colliding with Kurakvo's kneecap. His grip loosened at the sudden bolt of pain, and Haruka took his chance, enveloping himself in a wave of water and successfully moving a safe distance from Kurakvo.

"Too bad you don't wear kneepads," Haruka pointed out.

Kurakvo let out a cry of outrage. "You continue to mock me? Brat, you'll—" he cut himself off as the sun started to make its way over the horizon.

"Time to leave already?" Haruka asked as Kurakvo summoned a cloud beneath him.

"It's not like I'll melt in the sun or anything," Kurakvo spat in reply, "I'd just like to crush you with my full strength…it's more fun that way." And besides, I can't risk the boy waking up, Kurakvo added mentally to himself.

"Same time tomorrow then?" Haruka said with a yawn. "Or how about the day after; I'd like to get some sleep. And next time, just tell me where to meet you so you don't have to make such a mess."

Kurakvo glared at him, unable to tell if the Free Fighter was being serious or not. "We will meet anytime, anywhere," he said, and his usual teasing demeanor was gone, replaced with a dangerously quiet ferocity. "And I will destroy everyone and everything." Haruka blinked, and in the next instant Kurakvo was gone, leaving him alone amongst the destruction. He sighed, wearily heading for home.

-((At Home))-

Back in his pajamas, Haruka crawled into bed, determined to sleep for a few more hours. That did not go well, Haruka reflected as his hands went to his neck, grateful that it appeared to be unharmed. He would've had a difficult time explaining those bruises away. He sighed, rolling onto his stomach. Kurakvo…it looks like defeating him will be harder than I thought…Grandmother did it though…I wonder how… Haruka shot up in bed as a sudden realization struck him. Maybe he didn't have to wonder; it'd been years since he'd read his grandmother's book, and the name 'Kurakvo' did sound familiar…

He reached into his nightstand for the slim volume, skimming the pages for information about the Master of Darkness. Finding the correct page, Haruka's eyes shone with excitement before quickly morphing to disappointment as he read:

The worst enemy I ever faced was Kurakvo. A powerful Master of Darkness, his sneaky tricks combined with his fierce command of his art left me unable to destroy him. The best I could do was seal him away in the depths of the ocean. Should he ever break free of the water, the same spell I used will probably be too weak to work a second time. If he's even stronger…I fear the havoc he will inflict upon Iwatobi.

That was it. There were no details about his attacks, about any successful counter-attacks, nothing. Haruka let out a long sigh, putting the book away.

It was a long shot anyway, he thought, settling back under the covers, I'll just have to end him myself. He rolled away from the sun peeking in through the edges of his curtains, smothering a tiny yawn. Quickly.

-((Several Months Later))-

There was only so long one could fight nearly nightly, town-destroying battles with a self-proclaimed Master of Darkness before people started to notice. Within a month, everyone in Iwatobi knew not only of the dangerous super villain terrorizing their town, but also of the mysterious Free Fighter who fought for their safety, putting his own life on the line to protect theirs. Needless to say, the town was more than a little enamored with the Free Fighter.

"Let's play; let's play!" Ran squealed as she ran about her and Ren's room before stopping in front of a cross-legged Makoto, tugging at his sleeve, "Let's play!"

"Alright, alright!" he said with a gentle smile before glancing quickly over at Haruka next to him, worried that he might be bothered by the fact that they were spending their sleepover playing with the twins. He didn't seem to mind, however; on the contrary, his blue eyes were fixed on the window, watching the clouds gather outside in the growing darkness.

"Haru-chan?" Makoto asked, nudging Haruka's shoulder lightly with his own, "Do you want to play?"

Haruka blinked before turning to focus his gaze on Makoto's hopeful green eyes. "Sure," he agreed, resisting the urge to look back at the window. It was already dark outside, and Kurakvo could appear at any time; he had to be sure he didn't miss the all-too-familiar sounds of devastation and screaming…

Makoto's caring smile relieved him temporarily of his worries. He felt his heart warm as his thoughts of Kurakvo diminished. If there was a problem, he'd hear it: end of story. He decided to give his full attention to Makoto. "What are we playing?"

"Free Fighter!" the twins yelled in unison, diving into their toy chest and pulling out a huge, shimmering blue scarf.

"I'll be the Free Fighter!" Ren volunteered, already wrapping the too-big play scarf around him.

"No fair," Ran protested as she grabbed the other end of the scarf, "I want to be the Free Fighter!"

"Hold on," Makoto said as he stood, cutting of the twins before their argument could escalate further. "Why don't you let Nii-chan be the Free Fighter?"

Both twins simply stared at him, the same 'yeah-right' expression written on their faces. Makoto sighed before trying another tactic. "I know how to fix this," he said in his big brother voice, kneeling next to Ren as he arranged the blue scarf so that each of them had a part of it, "We'll all be the Free Fighter!"

"But Nii-chan," Ran pointed out, "Someone's got to be the Master of Darkness!"

Makoto reached behind him into the toy chest, pulling out a pair of shiny sunglasses. He held them out to Haruka. "Haru, would you play the Master of Darkness?" he asked.

Haruka blinked, staring at the sunglasses in surprise. This was too much; he couldn't handle the sheer irony. He nodded anyway, taking the sunglasses and quickly looking away so Makoto wouldn't catch the small smile playing at the edge of his lips. He regained his composure before putting on the sunglasses, turning to face the three. "Ready?" he asked. They nodded.

Haruka gave them his cockiest, most arrogant smirk, posturing in front of them confidently. He made sure his sunglasses caught the gleam from the light, giving them a devilish sheen as he said arrogantly, "I am Kurakvo, Master of Darkness." Perfect, Haruka thought, congratulating himself for his spot-on acting skills.

The three Free Fighters collapsed to the floor, overwhelmed with fits of giggles and laughter.

The smile fell from Haruka's face. "What?" he complained.

"Haru-chan," Makoto explained with a laugh, sitting up. "That sounded nothing like him!"

Haruka frowned, offended. "Yes it did."

"No, no," Makoto said good-naturedly, taking the sunglasses from Haruka and putting them on. "Like this." Makoto cleared his throat before letting out a loud, overly evil-sounding laugh. "Behold!" he cried in an exultant voice, "I am Kurakvo, the Master of Darkness!" The twins burst into applause; Haruka just stared at him incredulously.

"That doesn't sound like him," Haruka stated factually.

"But no one really knows what he sounds like, right?" Makoto pointed out, "Except the real Free Fighter of course; who else would stick around long enough to find out? So he's got to sound evil," he explained, letting out another evil laugh as he moved to tickle Ran, who squealed in surprise.

"You can just be normal, Haru-nii-chan," Ren suggested instead, "and we'll come save you from the Master of Darkness!"

Haruka nodded, content to let the familiar scene play out without his involvement for once. Well…it was as familiar as it could be with Makoto's constantly overly-evil laughter permeating the room. Makoto's a terrible Kurakvo, Haruka mused, trying not to smile as he allowed himself to be kidnapped by him. I wish the real one was like this; my job would be so much easier… Haruka stole a glance out the window again. Nothing yet. Maybe I'll get a day off…

And when Haruka woke up the next morning on the spare futon in Makoto's room, he realized with a start that he had gotten his wish: there had been no attacks that night.

-((A Few Days Later))-

Here we go again, Haruka thought as he walked beside Makoto, heading home from school. A group of students had started talking about the Free Fighter's latest adventure after homeroom, and Haruka had had to pull Makoto away so they could leave. However, successfully pulling him away didn't mean that Makoto, the Free Fighter's self-proclaimed #1 fan, would easily drop the subject.

"Isn't the Free Fighter awesome?" Makoto gushed as they walked down the street, "Yesterday night, I heard that he stopped Kurakvo from destroying half the ships in the harbor with a bucket of water and his own body alone!"

Haruka tried not to wince as he overstretched on a step. I assure you it was more body than water yesterday, he replied mentally, but he actually said nothing, allowing Makoto to keep talking.

"It's so cool how he manipulates the water so easily," Makoto said, his green eyes shining with admiration, "I would love to see how he does it up close…"

"Makoto—" Haruka started, but Makoto had stopped listening.

"I'd really like to meet him, just once, even if it's just for a second. I mean, Ran keeps insisting that he's handsome under that huge scarf, and call me crazy, but I think she's right; I really want to meet him, just to see," he admitted, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

Haruka stopped walking, overwhelmed by a flurry of conflicting emotions assailing him at once. He first felt a pang of jealously for the Free Fighter, who could make Makoto blush in such a cute way. But wait, he was the Free Fighter…so that meant that—

After a moment, Makoto noticed that Haruka was no longer walking beside him. "Haru?" he questioned, turning to see Haruka standing in place on the path, face tipped downwards to hide his expression. Is he…blushing? Makoto wondered in amazement, walking closer to get a better look. "Haru? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Haruka said, dodging Makoto's searching green eyes by turning away as he started to walk again, feigning interest in the advertisements for the local movie theater alongside the path.

"A-Alright," Makoto said, slightly confused as he fell into step beside him. He decided it was probably better not to question it. "But as I was saying, the Free Fighter—"

"Makoto, isn't this movie the one you mentioned a few days ago?" Haruka asked as he stopped in front of a poster, cutting Makoto off with a swift subject change.

"Hm? Yeah," Makoto replied as he regarded the poster.

"It looks interesting," Haruka commented before starting to walk again, hoping that now maybe Makoto would talk about the movie instead of the Free Fighter and his alleged handsomeness.

"Haru, actually…" Makoto started, and Haruka was surprised to note that Makoto had stopped walking this time, his eyes locked on the poster. "Do you want to go see this with me?"

"Sure," Haruka replied easily, idly wondering why Makoto was blushing again. Uh-oh, that movie isn't about the Free Fighter or something, is it? Haruka thought, panicking slightly, It can't be—

"No; I mean," Makoto said, turning to face Haruka as his blush deepened, "Do you want to go see this together?"

Haruka's brows furrowed. "How else would we see it, Makoto?"

"Haruka, no," Makoto said, slightly exasperated as his face turned completely red, "I mean together together! Do you want to go see this…together," he faltered, forcing himself to hold Haruka's gaze.

Haruka suddenly caught his meaning, his blue eyes widening in surprise. "Oh," he said quietly. He didn't say anything more for a moment, and Makoto was just about to take it all back in embarrassment when he said, "Yeah…I'd like that." He gave Makoto a small, secret smile. Makoto just stood there for a moment before he smiled a bright, happy smile; the warmth from it made Haruka tingle from head to toe. He caught up to Haruka as the two started to walk again, gleefully explaining the details of the movie as they headed home.

-((Meanwhile))-

Aw, how cute; he finally asked him out, Kurakvo thought as he observed his host finally asking out the boy he'd been in love with since Kurakvo had entered his body. Probably longer than that, even. How nauseating, he mused, mentally rolling his eyes as he tuned out the rest of the kid's happy, bubbly life as usual. He had more important things to plan, after all…

-((To Be Continued!))-

Yay fluff! And silliness! Needed some of that, I think. Please let me know what you thought!

Thanks for reading!

~freaky-hanyou