At first, Chuuya thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. It was possible since he was in the midst of enemy territory.
"Hi, Chuuya. I wish you would have waited for me before you left," he pulled the spear from his body, struggling to stand up.
"A traitor. A traitor has entered the stage!" the uwabami sung. "A pawn turned rogue against his king. Death will not be swift, old friend," The Clown promised.
"You sent your mutt to watch over Chuuya?" the fox growled, not as menacing as he would have liked.
"As you heard Nikolai say, he is no longer my mutt. Seems he's switched loyalties to everyone's favorite tengu. I had a feeling this would happen, but I hoped an inugami's loyalty was worth more than this."
Now that Tatsuhiko was in the yokai realm his dog ears and tail were visible.
"You were apart of their group all along?" Hurt flashed through Chuuya's eyes.
"I was," the inugami's ears drooped from the shame of keeping his true identity a secret. "Fyodor sent me to the human world in order to keep tabs on you, but I never thought I would grow so attached. I truly value the time we spent together," he blushed. "I could not have asked for a better friendship," Tatsuhiko amended. He already knew there was no room for him in Chuuya's heart beyond that of a friendship. That spot was reserved for a nine-tailed fox whether he admitted to it or not.
Tatsuhiko was the one who picked up the pieces after Chuuya's heart shattered. Not to mention, the inugami offered him more than he could have dreamed.
"I suppose I can forgive you, but no more secrets once we're through with this. I'm tired of all that bullshit," despite his words, the tengu grinned.
Relief filled Tatsuhiko. He didn't know what he was going to do if Chuuya had ended up hating him.
"Eradicate the traitor and the fox. Subdue the tengu," the oni commanded. "Don't make me jump in if I don't have to. Otherwise, everyone in this room will bare witness to the full force of my wrath."
"The king has ordered his bishop to move out. I must retrieve the queen, and eliminate the enemy pawns," Nikolai paused in thought. "Ah, dear king?"
"Yes?" Fyodor rolled his eyes at the uwabami's theatrics.
"Is it alright if I rough up the queen a bit? I don't think he'll surrender himself without a fight."
"As long as he's able to use his hidden power, do what you must."
The tengu ground his teeth in irritation. "I'm right here you bastards. Stop talking about me like I'm all the way back in the human world."
"The queen doth protest too much." With that said, the uwabami activated his special ability, Dead Souls.
He sauntered in Chuuya's general direction, but Tatsuhiko blocked his path.
"If you wanted me to use my lovely ability on you, then all you had to do was ask. Though you might lose your head in the process," a meaningless warning when it comes from the mouth of a sadist.
"I've had enough," the tengu griped. "Enough of being protected, enough of being a pawn, and especially, enough of drowning in my own misery." The next words he spoke caused an icy chill in the air. "Oh, Grantors of Dark Disgrace, do not wake me again."
"No!" Dazai and Tatsuhiko blurted in unison.
The strange red markings tainted his porcelain skin; eyes devoid of fierce sapphire. Wings- his wings flared to life as if they had never been torn out. Except the new pair of wings were different.
Whatever power Corruption channeled through Chuuya's body came to life in the form of jagged wings. Another difference. The wings weren't soft, black feathers. They were angry red and serrated like a pair of demon wings.
Chuuya's rampage was only just beginning. Favorably managing to focus all of his fury on Nikolai and Fyodor. He darted to the sky above, breaking through the underground chamber and leaving a whirlwind in his wake. The whirlwind destroyed the rest of the chamber's ceiling. Dirt crumbled down from the large opening.
Rather than the usual black holes the tengu manipulated the surplus of spears. He raised them into the air, aiming them at the oni and the uwabami. The weapons raining down on the yokai like a hailstorm. Chuuya changed their density, which allowed the spears to leave heavy imprints in the floor below.
Nikolai and Fyodor avoided most of the spears, but there were a handful that pierced through the both of them. They hadn't sustained nearly as much damage as they dealt to Dazai.
Unsatisfied with the result of the spears, Chuuya switched gears to his mini black holes. He didn't know it, didn't care when he was in that state, but he was probably going to make the chamber collapse on the four yokai.
The idea of being buried alive did not appeal to Dazai. Especially when it was with three others he could not bring himself to care for. Tatsuhiko might not be so bad, but he was awfully close to Chuuya. Too close, in the eyes of the fox.
In their current predicament he did need the inugami's help. Setting their differences aside, the fox beckoned Tatsuhiko over to him. The white haired male staggered to Dazai's side, pressing an arm over his abdominal wound. It wasn't life-threatening, but it did slow him down.
"I'm going to need you to pull all of these sharp objects from my body."
The seriousness on his face told the other he wasn't joking.
"You realize you will bleed out, right? There would be no point without a healer on standby."
"Would you rather I die or Chuuya?" Tatsuhiko stayed quiet. "Thought so. Listen, I'm the only one with an ability that can stop Corruption from consuming Chuuya. Find a way to get me near him. I know he's in the air right now, but he can't stay up there forever. Use an opening when you can. In the meantime, start plucking these things out of me."
The inugami did as he was told. It was their only shot at fixing any of this. He wouldn't voice it out loud, but he was positive that Dazai would start pulling the objects from his own body if no one insisted on helping him.
Together, Fyodor and Nikolai used their abilities. However, they were at a huge disadvantage with compressed balls of gravity endlessly being thrown their way. Nikolai couldn't get close enough to Chuuya for Dead Souls to be effective. Whereas, Crime and Punishment amplified the tengu's pain, but it didn't seem to decrease his power. Whatever the redhead lost was thanks to his own ability, and that was it.
"What a terrible end," Nikolai frowned. "Were we too ambitious from the start?" because now was certainly the time to ponder what went wrong.
"On the contrary," Fyodor laughed, "I think we had the right amount of ambition. Who would have thought this would be the outcome? Sure, there might have been ways to prevent this, but it's not so bad. If I am to be erased from this world, why not let a gorgeous, wild tengu be the end of me."
"Methinks you might have lost your mind," the uwabami shrugged nonchalantly. "Then again, with such strength striking me down I admit I'm a bit excited more or less..." he gasped hysterically. "And here I thought I was a total sadist. Looks like I might be somewhat of a masochist too."
Chuuya dropped to the ground with a loud thud. The black hole he channeled in the palm of his hand was larger than the rest that came before it. That one was going to be the oni and the uwabami's demise.
"Do it," Fyodor prompted, his amethyst eyes glowing bright from sheer anticipation.
Chuuya released the dark orb, tearing through the two yokai most responsible for the war and death their world had to endure.
The deed was done.
Chuuya Nakahara was not.
Corruption demanded another outlet even though its host was nearly used up. Blood poured from Chuuya's nose, and down his chin. The metallic taste of copper making his taste buds recoil.
Tatsuhiko heaved Dazai upright, supporting the dead weight that was his body. The inugami wasn't sure who looked worse for wear: Dazai or Chuuya? They walked as fast as their legs would carry them to the absent-minded tengu.
Dazai reached out a hand gently placing it on Chuuya's shoulder.
He rasped out the name of his ability, "No Longer Human."
His wings sizzled out like a fire that recently had water poured on it. Chuuya fell to his knees, as did Dazai. The tengu gradually regaining control over himself. He turned to face the fox. The two stared at each other for a long stretch of silence.
"You look like shit," Chuuya noted casually like they were in a perfectly normal situation.
"Yeah? So do you," Dazai mused.
"I'll kill you... when we're both up to par."
"Is that a threat or a promise?"
"Bastard," Chuuya sucked in a sharp breath. He was on the verge of passing out. "I... l-love you..." After that he was down for the count.
The nine-tailed fox blinked in surprise. Had Chuuya actually admitted to having feelings for him? The stress might have been getting to him. Maybe he was delirious when he spoke those three words.
"Now isn't the time!" Dazai groaned. "We need that shukaku ASAP!"
"On it!" Tatsuhiko assured.
"There's no need for that," came a whimsical, feminine voice.
A beautiful woman stepped over the rubble and spears. Tatsuhiko noticed the sickles protruding from her forearms. He assumed her to be a kama itachi even though he beheld no weasel traits. She must be concealing them.
The kama itachi were notorious for being swift. They would ride the winds to tear people up with their razor sharp claws. What was peculiar was how quickly they would heal their victims with a miraculous salve. Both actions happening in the blink of an eye, leaving the victim to think they had a clumsy accident somewhere down the line.
Tatsuhiko kept his guard up, for the kama itachi was from another yokai clan participating in the war.
"Ah, Yosano-sensei, good to see you," chirped Dazai.
"It's been how many days, and that's all you have to say to me?" she rolled her eyes. "I suppose I expected nothing less."
"About not needing the shukaku... You know as well as I that your ability doesn't work on me. Though it would be nice if I could apply the healing salve, and be rid of these nasty wounds."
"Right, magic works on you, but beings born with specific abilities don't. I'd like to know how that works, but then again, I'm not like that numskull, Kajii. Guess I'll heal your friend over there first, then he can go fetch the shukaku for you while I work on Chuuya."
"Wait a moment," Tatsuhiko took a step back when Yosano neared, "aren't you an enemy? Why would you help us?"
"Didn't Fyodor tell you?" Dazai asked. "Or maybe he didn't know that, which I highly doubt."
"Didn't tell me what?"
"The three most influential yokai clans called a truce in order to team up against the threat of Fyodor the oni, and his crew of rats," the fox explained. "I bet everyone else is raiding this base as we speak. That's why Yosano-sensei is here."
"Right," she nodded. "Let me heal you at once before I have two dead patients on my hands. I don't need the Mafia clan holding that over me." The inugami gave in, accepting treatment. "Thou Shalt Not Die," she said with a twisted sweetness.
She slashed Tatsuhiko open using her deadly sickles. He had to be near death for the healing salve to work on his body. It took about five seconds for the whole process to be completed.
The raven haired woman let out a disappointed sigh, "I wish I wasn't so fast with my work. I'd like to enjoy the torture for a little longer."
Tatsuhiko immediately got to his feet in search of the shukaku. Smart yokai. Most others feared Yosano after their first healing experience, but she wasn't that bad to have around for company.
The white haired male returned minutes later, the raccoon priest right behind him. Yosano was glad to have someone focus on tending to Dazai, which meant she could put the rest of her energy into mending Chuuya.
Once the shukaku and Yosano were finished they left to see if anyone else needed their assistance. That left Tatsuhiko, Dazai, and a sleeping Chuuya in the rundown chamber.
"Thanks," the nine-tailed fox mumbled. "For taking care of Chuuya, I mean. Especially since I wasn't there to provide him with any comfort. Not that I could have considering I'm the one who caused his anguish in the first place."
"You're welcome," the inugami smiled. "But remember, now that you've been reunited you had better take proper care of him. He missed you the entire time, and never stopped loving you no matter how hard he tried. Believe me when I say, he tried. Nevertheless, those sparkling cerulean eyes always told me the truth."
"One more thing," Dazai said.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Do I have you to thank for the dreadful clothes Chuuya's wearing? His wardrobe is bad enough as it is."
The two of them burst out laughing at Dazai's partially faked exasperation while the tengu continued to sleep.
Author's Note: Although, this might seem like the end this is the second to last chapter. The bonus chapter I talked about in chapter nine's notes is going to be the fic's epilogue. It will be titled "Epilogue" as well versus appearing as a chapter eleven (so long as I remember to change it before uploading lol). Any thoughts on what might happen in the epilogue? Or let me know what you think of the overall resolution of the fic. Either would be appreciated. (^_^) See you next week for the final installment~ Please look forward to it!