"Another team?" The leader said surprised by Kenichi and Twill's sudden appearance.
"What are you two doing here?" Rika asked putting her blue book back into her bag before they could see it. The two didn't see the book, Rika was sure of it.
"We followed you from a distance," Kenichi answered. He kept his eyes on the team in front of them.
"One could call it stalking," Twill whispered.
"What was that?" Kenichi asked keeping a strained smile.
"Nothing," Twill said quickly.
"Enough talking, I know what you guys are here for," The book owner said pointing at them. "You're here to burn my book, aren't you? Well, I, Rio Fukunaga, won't allow you." The red spell book in his hand glowed brightly, signaling the use of a spell. "Fureido!" The demon next to him opened his mouth and spewed out fire at Kenichi and Twill.
Kenichi reacted quickly and grabbed Rika, jumping out of the fire's way. Twill dodged the fire by an inch and started to run at the demon. "Twiru!" Kenichi yelled after getting Rika a distance away from the fight. Twill pointed the gem on his chest at the demon and the gem flashed before sending out a blast of black and white energy.
The two jumped away from Twill's spell. Twill's spell continued on its path towards the gang that crowded behind their leader. They quickly scrambled to get away from the path of Twill's spell. With nothing in the way to stop it, Twill's spell dissipated in the air.
"Can't hurt us with such a simple spell," Rio said grinning. "Fryl, get them! Furuk!"
The demon, Fryl, charged at Twill. His body changed colors, changing from a peach white to a red bronze. Steam began to come off his arms and shoulders.
Fryl grabbed Twill's arms, a sizzling sound coming from under his hands.
"HOT!" Twill screamed trying to pull his arms out of Fryl's grip. It was useless; the more he tried to get out of his grip, the more of his skin was burned.
"Twiru!" Kenichi yelled.
Fryl quickly released his grip on Twill's arms and swung his body out of the way of Twill's spell.
"Ow,' Twill whispered looking at the burns on his arms. The burns hurt but it wasn't anything Twill couldn't shake off. Twill charged at Fryl, ready to strike him with his fists.
While Twill was fighting Fryl in close combat, Kenichi helped Rika walk away from the fight. "Over here's good," Kenichi said turning where the apartment building ended. He let Rika go and she rested against the building's wall.
Before Kenichi went back to the fight, Rika grabbed his shirt's sleeve. "Why are you protecting me?" She asked staring at him, her emerald eyes staring into his brown eyes.
"I just want to," Kenichi answered smiling, his smile making Rika blush a little. He turned around and ran to the fight.
Rika watched Kenichi's back as he ran towards Twill, opening his book to yell a spell. "What an idiot," she said turning her head away. Her eyes moved to the white-haired child standing next to her. The child wore a blue long-sleeved shirt and white shorts. His azure eyes looked up at Rika.
"Are we still going with the plan?" the child asked.
Rika looked back at Kenichi, who was dodging fireballs with Twill. "For now, we'll postpone the plan to burn their book, Azure."
The child, Azure, looked a little disappointed. "My plan was perfect," he mumbled.
"It got me a sprained ankle," Rika said. Azure stopped mumbling after hearing her.
Back to the fight, Kenichi and Twill were even with the other team. With every spell the fire team used, Kenichi and Twill reacted with one of their own. Kenichi still didn't use the third spell yet but he didn't feel it was the right time to use it. He felt the other team was also hiding a spell.
"Rin Fureido!" Rio yelled from the red spell book. Fryl opened his mouth and many rings of fire shot out.
"Twirashield!" Kenichi yelled in response to their spell. A shield of swirling black and white energy appeared in front of Twill. The rings of fire collided with the whirlpool of energy and disappeared in it.
"The fourth spell, Fryl!" Rio yelled turning a page in his spell book. The book glowed brighter. "Furuga!"
Fryl opened his mouth, fire swirling inside his throat. The fire shot out of his throat as a spiral of flames. The spiral of flames burned through the air towards Kenichi and Twill.
"Twirashield!" The shield of swirling black and white energy appeared in front of them again and blocked the spiral of flames. Kenichi expected the spiral to be reflected back at them but instead the spiral spun into the shield, blasting through the shield. The two jumped away from the spiral of flames as it burned though the shield and into the building wall behind them.
"Wow," Kenichi whispered, looking at the burning hole in the wall left by their spell.
"Again!" Rio yelled. "Furuga!"
Fryl opened his mouth again to fire the spiral of flames at Kenichi and Twill.
"The third spell… Twisupiku!" Kenichi yelled. Black and white energy appeared on Twill's right fist, spinning until the energy became a drill. Twill spun his waist and punched the spiral of flames with his spell's drill. The spiral of flames fired in many directions while Twill's drill spun into it. Kenichi protected the book with his body and crouched so the fire didn't burn him. Twill took a step back.
"Ha! Our spell is still stronger!" Rio laughed.
"We'll see about that," Kenichi whispered, the light coming from his spell book getting stronger. He pointed at Rio and Fryl. "Drill… FIRE!"
Black and white energy exploded from Twill's fist, sending the drill spinning into the spiral of flames. Twill's spell drilled through the flames, getting closer to the mouth of Fryl. The flames got stronger but it didn't stop the drill. Soon, the drill was only a few feet from Fryl before it stopped.
"More power!" Rio yelled, the red book letting out more light. The fire coming out of Fryl's mouth grew bigger.
"Big mistake," Twill chuckled. "The drill can explode."
Twill's drill exploded, sending Rio and Fryl flying into a brick wall. Rio's red book fell into a pile of trash, flames sprouting on the corner of the binding. Soon, the book was a big flame and Fryl's body became transparent. When the book was only ashes, Fryl disappeared.
"At least the training had a little effect," Kenichi said. "We wouldn't have known the drill could be a projectile if it weren't for the training."
Kenichi turned around and ran to where he left Rika. He turned where the building ended and looked around for the blue-haired girl but he couldn't see her anywhere.
"Where is she?" Kenichi wondered looking around. Rika couldn't have gone far with crutches.
"Can we go home now?" Twill asked sounding desperate.
……………………………….........................................................................................
Rika sighed while laying down on her blue couch, resting her feet on the arm rest and her head on her arms. She stared at the ceiling of her home, watching the fan spin around and around. She sighed again.
"You been sighing a lot since we got back," Azure said from inside the kitchen. "What's wrong?"
"Are the dishes done?" Rika asked.
"Um, no," Azure answered looking at the soapy water in front of him.
"Then shut your mouth," Rika said. She sighed again and closed her eyes.
