Chapter 10: Conflicts

Hey guys! I decided to post this chapter up early to cheer up EXpERieNCed!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Dark-Flame Alchemist does not own Kaze no Stigma.

Karai's Point of View

I didn't do much during my break last week after what happened with Misao. I got sick for two days after I had given Misao my coat and had nothing to shield myself from the rain. That sucked. It was a good thing Ichiru was able to take care of me.

Once I got better, I mostly went to the meadow and trained there. Ichiru and I managed to go to the café and hang out on Friday, but I wasn't as happy as I would have been. Ichiru even noticed, but didn't say anything, not wanting me to kick his butt.

I even went to the Kannagi house to spend time with Ayano and Ren. I haven't seen Kazuma though, but I knew where he was and that he was safe. I didn't bother him. Misao, on the other hand, went missing. That is the reason I've been kind of bummed out during my vacation. I hope she is doing ok. No use moping around now since my break is finally over.

Once again, I'm back in business with the Kannagi family. Ayano and I are listening to Father as he explained the details of partnership in our mission.

"The rebellion of the Fuga clan has limited our capabilities. Without their tracking skills, we are forced to look elsewhere. Though we must rely on available resources," Jugo explained.

"Fine. I get why we have Karai. She has very good tracking skills, but why do we have to rely on him too?" Ayano complained.

"He is a wind magic user. Although Karai is very good at tracking, Kazuma is much better at it since he is a wind magic user, no offense Karai," Jugo said.

I held up a hand, "None taken."

He continued, "Ayano, do you really believe that you can find the perpetrator on your own? Yes you have Karai with you, but with Kazuma, you are more powerful. You are all going to have to work together in a team. He will do his part to find the enemy while you will defeat them. Karai will help out in both ends. Is that clear?"

"Yes Father," we both said.

"Good. Ayano, give this envelope to Kazuma," He said, handing it to her. She grabbed it.

"Don't worry Father, we'll get the job done," I assured him as I began to stand. Ayano followed as well.

Once we got outside, I slid the door closed and turned towards Ayano, "Ok, so you go look for Kazuma and give him the details. Afterwards, meet me at the café."

"Wait a minute! Why do I have to go by myself? Can't you just go with me?" She asked kind of annoyed that she had to go inform Kazuma by herself.

"I have to meet Ichiru in the café to discuss something," I said as I started walking and paused, glancing at her, "but if you want, you can drop me off at the café before going to his hotel."

"Fine by me," She muttered as she went beside me and we walked to the train station.

It didn't take that long before we were at the café. Once we got there we saw Nanase and Yukari, Ayano's friends.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Ayano asked her friends.

"We were just getting some cappuccinos until we bumped into you here," Nanase said.

They both looked at me, "Who is she?" asked Yukari.

I smiled, "I'm Karai Uchiha, Ayano's half-sister. Nice to meet you."

They are both surprised. "You're that Karai?" Nanase said to me before looking at Ayano, confused, "I thought you hated her Ayano?"

My eye twitched a bit while Ayano was getting all nervous, "Well I used to, but not as much anymore after we found out that we were related."

"Well, that's good that you're getting along," Yukari said, "So where are you headed?"

"I was just going inside the café to meet my cousin while Ayano goes to meet with someone," I said.

"Oo, is it that boyfriend of yours Ayano?" Nanase said slyly.

Ayano started to blush and yelled, "He is not my boyfriend! He is my sister's!"

I sighed, "He's just my best friend."

"Whatever! I'm going now! I'll see you later Onee-sama!" She said as she stomped off.

I chuckled from her childish behavior, "That Ayano."

"Don't worry, we'll go with her," Yukari said as they both ran off to go after her.

"Ok, take care of her!" I yelled as their figures began to fade away. I shook my head and went inside to meet with Ichiru.

Five Minutes Later…

"Haha, so you let Ayano go by herself? Knowing that she might kill Kazuma?" Ichiru laughed before taking a sip of his cappuccino. We were both sitting at a table enjoying our drinks.

I took a sip of mine as well, "Yup. I don't feel like getting in the way of their bickering."

"You can be so evil sometimes, you know that right?" Ichiru said smiling.

"I know," I said as I winked at him.

We continued chattering for about an hour already. Ayano was supposed to show up soon. Suddenly I felt some strange aura that I knew Ichiru could feel as well.

"Let's go check it out," I said. We got up, paid our check, threw out our empty cups and went outside.

When we got outside, something looked very different. As we looked around, there was nobody in sight. When we turned around and saw that there was nobody inside the store as well.

"What is going on?" I said, very confused.

"Your guess is as good as mine…," Ichiru said, looking around.

"The atmosphere feels strange," I said.

Suddenly slime started oozing out of buildings, the streets and trees. Basically, it was coming out from everywhere.

"What the hell is that stuff?" Ichiru yelled as we backed up into each other.

"I don't know! But we have to do something!" I materialized Kaito Enraiha to my hand and started attacking the slime. Ichiru shot out flames at the slime in another direction.

As the slime kept coming towards us, we kept attacking it. It was getting nowhere. We shot out some more flames before going back to back with each other, panting from using up lots of energy.

"What now? It just keeps coming back! If we keep this up, we'll just tire ourselves out!" Ichiru yelled as we started attacking again.

I shot out a stream of flames at the slime again, "Ok, I got something. We'll build up our power and release it while holding hands and spinning to get the slime in all directions. What do you think?" I said as I struck some more slime.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's do it!" Ichiru yelled.

We both shot attacks one more time before going back to back again. Ichiru held his hands up and I held up my sword as we both built up our flames. The slime was almost near us before we were ready to attack.

"Ready?" I tell Ichiru.

"Yup! Let's go!" He said as we grabbed each other's arms. Ichiru released his flames in his free arm as I did with my sword while we spun, releasing a combo attack everywhere, hitting the slimes. We stopped spinning when we used up all our power that we built up and saw the slime disappearing as well as the strange atmosphere fading away. People were around once again.

"That… was weird…," Ichiru said, scratching his head while we just stood in the middle of the street.

"No kidding," I said as I tried sensing where the slime was coming from and found the location. Ichiru and I looked at each other, knowing where we were headed to. We started running in the direction where the source of the slime came from, which was the park.

We turned right into a path in the park and I stopped abruptly as my eyes widened. Ichiru stopped right next to me. Misao was standing in front of the bench, consumed in a black and evil aura. Kazuma and Ayano, wielding Enraiha in her hands, were arguing about Misao being their business.

Misao noticed me during their conflict, "Why Karai-sama, Ichiru, good of you to come. We were just having a conversation of how I am becoming strong enough to kill Kazuma."

Kazuma and Ayano look in the direction where Ichiru and I were standing. They were surprised to see us there. I don't look at them as I stared at Misao.

Anger began to fill me, but I remained calm, "So that slime was your doing? You were the one who killed all those innocent people? What the hell is wrong with you Misao? Your revenge against Kazuma is blinding you! I thought you were smarter than this!" I scolded her, trying to keep my temper down as Ichiru stood next to me. I really thought she knew better than to do something like this. I didn't even think she would do something so heinous, and all for revenge.

"I don't care. I will accept the consequences of absorbing the energy of the lives of many to avenge my brother's death. Kazuma must pay." Misao said emotionlessly.

Ayano growled and yelled, "You're going to pay for this Misao! Nee-san, I'll take care of her!"

"Ayano, leave this to me," Kazuma argued.

"No, I am a member of the Kannagi family," Ayano argued back at him.

Kazuma went to Ayano and placed his hand on her hands to try to hold her down, "I said forget it."

"Let go!" Ayano yelled, trying to get out of his grasp but he doesn't let go as he replied, "I won't."

Ayano gets mad and consumes herself in her fire. That's when he let go and backed off from the heat, "Dammit Ayano!"

I was getting pissed off at them, "Guys! This isn't the time to argue!"

Misao giggled, "I hate to interrupt, but I got to get going. You obviously need to sort this out between yourselves."

"Misao!" I yell at her.

"Wait!" Kazuma yelled at her too.

"I don't have enough power to defeat you yet so there really is no point in staying, but I'll see you soon Ayano. Goodbye Kazuma. Goodbye Ichiru… and Karai," She said as she started to fade away.

Ayano tried to hit her with Enraiha and yelled, "You're not going anywhere!" but she was too late. Misao disappeared.

"Nicely done," Kazuma said.

Ayano pointed Enraiha at him, "What's wrong with you? You let her go!"

"Well that's not exactly how it happened, isn't it? I was trying to talk to her first-," Kazuma said before getting cut off by Ayano, "Look! I'm not an idiot! If you actually wanted to stop her, then she wouldn't have gotten away so easily! Our family has a duty to make sure Misao pays for what she's done! And if you try to interfere-!" She yelled as Kazuma cut her off too, "Just who the hell do you think you are talking to, little girl?" He said with cold eyes as Ayano flinches a bit, "If you really want to stop me, then try using your power, not your mouth."

He stopped the flames from Enraiha with his wind magic, "Anytime you think you can handle it, you got an invitation." They kept on glaring at each other intensely.

I decided to stop the conflict before it got any worse. I materialized Kaito Enraiha to my hand, walked in front of them and placed my sword in between them. "Kazuma, Ayano, that's enough. We can't stop Misao with all this fighting. We've got to work together, as a team. Stop this foolishness. Now."

Kazuma looked at me with the same intense eyes that he was giving Ayano, "Karai, you should stay out of this."

I looked at him without any fear, "I won't."

He started to get irritated by me, "This is between me and this brat right now. I don't need you helping me out anymore. I can take care of my own problems now."

"I know that, but now things have gone too far. Now I know that if a problem is related with Misao or Ayano, especially if it's with you, then it is my business as well and I will be involved in it," I said to him, not backing off, "Besides, none of this would have happened if you hadn't provoked Misao in the first place. Also, arguing with Ayano isn't helping."

"I know. I shouldn't have done that. I admit, it's partly my fault that Misao ended up like this, which is why I should be the one to fix it," Kazuma said while pointing at Ayano, "And it's her fault for thinking she can talk to me like that."

"Hey, you're the one-," Ayano started to yell back at him but I cut her off, "Guys, knock it off already! We aren't going to stop Misao at this rate!" They both 'hmphed' at the same time.

I shook my head in disbelief and faced Kazuma, "Whether you like it or not Kazuma, Misao is all our business and we all have to fix this ordeal together."

Kazuma glared at me and turned around, "Whatever," he said as he walked a few steps before disappearing in a gust of wind.

"Wow… He really did change a lot," Ichiru said, annoyed with the way he acted towards me.

I was a bit peeved off and hurt as well with the way Kazuma said that to me, his best friend. I decided not to think about it as I de-materialized Kaito Enraiha from my hand.

Ayano looked down in sorrow, "Aw great, what am I supposed to do now?" I placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm still here," I said giving a small smile at her.

She looked at me and smiles a bit as well, "Thank you… Onee-san."

"What are we going to do now Karai?" Ichiru asked as he walked towards us.

I looked at him, "You go back to the household. Ayano and I will go back to the Kannagi house and explain what has happened here and take care of this mess."

He pouted, "Aww, I wanted some action as well."

I rolled my eyes at him and sighed, "Sorry Ichiru, next time. You have other things to do."

He sighed in defeat as we all headed for the train station.

We were at the Kannagi household once again. Ayano, Ren and I were on one row facing Father while members of the Ogami family were in the other.

"You're telling us to keep away from Misao?" Ayano repeated what Father said to us. Even me, which made me surprised.

He nodded, "I know you can handle it Karai, but we've come to the conclusion that her fate should be left in the hands of the Ogami family. This is our final decision."

"As Misao's father, I can assure you we'll handle this properly," Misao's father said.

"But I know we can do this," Ayano pleaded to Father.

"That's not an option. The Ogami's are too valuable to us to risk losing their allegiance," Father explained to us.

"So that's how it is?" Ayano said, "You're going to write off your own daughter for selling her sell to the yoma? And then what? You're just going to pretend that she never existed at all?"

"Misao chose to become an orphan. She's no longer my daughter because she is no longer human. She is now an abomination. By taking the lives of innocents, she brought shame to her family and the only recourse is to annihilate her from this world," Misao's father said.

"Kill her?" Ren said in surprise.

"How can a father say that to his own daughter?" Ayano said sadly.

I was pissed off, "Of course she is still human. It is what she was created as. You probably never even acted like a real father to her which is why she felt the only one who did love her was her brother. She is just in pain from the loss of the only one who was there for her. I am not excusing her from her actions, but she wouldn't have done this if it wasn't for you! You can't be her father because if you were, you would be trying to help her instead of just destroying her!"

Misao's father didn't say anything, as did everyone else. Father didn't want me to get even madder than I already was so he continued on, "We have a new partner. With their investigative assistance, we are making every effort to find Misao."

"A new partner?" Ayano said kind of stunned.

"That's right. Even though Karai's family has good tracking skills, their fighting skills are more superb and it is better to have many resources. Once this source is able to pinpoint her location, the Ogami will deal with her immediately," Father said.

"Master, I've been informed that you had originally hired Kazuma Yagami for this. Has it been brought to his attention that his services will no longer be needed?" Misao's father asked.

"I've already told him that he will be removed from the case, but he warned me that he would still proceed despite any repercussions," Jugo replied to him.

I knew that Kazuma still would, after feeling that he is still in debt to her.

"Master Jugo, even if we mobilized all of our available resources, we cannot afford the distraction of Kazuma interfering," Misao's father said, "In theory, we won't be able to focus on destroying her. I strongly urge you to do whatever it takes to stop him."

"Father, please allow me to do it," Ayano asked as she stood up.

"Are you sure?" Father replied to her.

"Ayano, no," Ren said worriedly.

"If you let me, I will stop Kazuma Yagami," Ayano confidently said.

"Very well then," Jugo said.

"The Ogami family might not be strong enough to take down Misao," I said, standing up next to Ayano, "If it comes to that, I will try to take her down myself."

"If it does come to that, then you may. Is that all right with you Masayuki?" Jugo asked him.

"There's no problem with that, but I believe we will be able to stop her ourselves," he said.

A servant comes in a gives Jugo the phone, "Hello? Yes. All right then, they will be on their way," He said before hanging up the phone.

"They have found her location. You should all go to meet our new partner now," Jugo said.

"All right, then," I said before leaving for the door, "Let's go.

We were at the building where we were to meet the Kannagi family's new partner. Once we got to the room, I immediately recognized who the person was near the computers. She had blond hair that was held up and a purple dress that went to her thighs.

"Good evening, all of you," the familiar person said as Masayuki stood next to her and Ayano, Ren and I stayed near the side. She showed us the computers pinpointing Misao's location, "From what we could gather, we know that Misao is hiding at in this church."

"And you're certain of this?" Masayuki asked.

"Positive. Our information network is very reliable. Our men are in the process of setting up a perimeter around the block to keep people away. It will be ready in five minutes. Be sure you are ready to move."

"We will be," He said before leaving the room with the rest of the Ogami family members.

The woman noticed that we were still there and looked at us.

"So then I'm guessing you're the new outside help that our Father's partnered with?" Ayano said to the woman.

"Yeah, I guess you so," she said walking in front of us, "Section chief metro police special investigations unit, Detective Kirika Tachibana. It is nice to properly meet you Ayano. And it's nice to meet you too Ren."

"Who, me?" Ren said surprised that she knew who he was.

"Your Kazuma Yagami's younger brother, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's right."

She smiled once she looked at me, "Nice to see you again Karai."

I smirk, "You too as well. Long time no see, Kirika."

Ayano is surprised, "Karai, you know her?"

I nod, "She helps me with cases every now and then."

Ren made a face which Kirika notices, "What's up with that face Ren?"

"Guess I'm kind of surprised. I've heard rumors about the police involved in spiritual cases, but I didn't think that it was really true."

"We don't exactly have the resources to compete with the Kannagis or the Uchihas, but we have our purpose. And besides─," She said before getting cut off by Ayano, "Now that the Fuga clan's gone, you can take over the investigating. That is what you were going to say, right?"

She smiled, "It was, but it's also important to maintain a good relationship with the Kannagis as we are with the Uchihas."

"Really? Karai is this true?" She said looking at me.

"Yup, like I said, they help us whenever we need it. I'd rather have their help than the Fuga clan."

"So if either of you are interested in working part-time, let me know," Kirika said to Ren and Ayano.

"So is that what you were doing with Kazuma the other day when I saw you? Recruiting?" Ayano asked her. I sweat dropped, 'So Kirika is the other woman that Ayano was talking about…'

Kirika laughed, "Is that what it looked like I was doing? Were you hoping that I would reassure you that I was only discussing business with him?"

Ayano started making a fuss, "Why would I care? That's not what I was asking!"

"Is that so? Then there is no need for me to tell you," Kirika said.

I sighed as Ayano kept arguing with Kirika. I didn't want to hear what Kirika was saying about being with Kazuma because I knew that it wasn't true. Ren was just confused with what was going on. I decided to go down already to get ready as back-up.

"Umm, I think I'm going to go ahead," I said as Ayano started getting calm again, "Ayano, be careful when taking care of Kazuma, will you?"

"Of course I will! I can hold my own against him!" Ayano said to me.

I smile at her, "Good luck then," I said before turning around. I was about to leave when I heard Ayano, "Wait Onee-san!"

I turn my head and wait for what she was going to tell me, "Be careful yourself."

I nod and leave the room, going downstairs. Once I was out of the building, I walked to the area where the church was which where Misao was hiding. Masayuki and his members were in the center of the area, waiting for the command to go. I leaned against a tree waiting as well.

A few minutes later, Masayuki and his group move forward to the church, meaning that they got the order to go. I got off the tree and followed after them, but stayed a distance near the trees, trying not to interfere even though I wanted to. They stopped in front of the steps as the doors to the church opened. Misao came out and walked to the top of the steps.

"Welcome everyone. It's nice to see you all. It's been awhile," She said, bowing to them, "Glad you can be here Father. There I thought I might not see you again," She said.

"Shut your mouth! Despite the decisions you made with your life, I still raised you and this is how you repay me? It's unforgiveable to imagine that you would willingly jeopardize the existence of the Ogami family. How dare you look me in the eye and call me your father!" Masayuki said.

I just shook my head with what he was saying. 'It was because of the way he raised her that she ended up this way.'

"Well I most sincerely apologize, but out of curiosity, where is Kazuma? Isn't he here?" Misao asked.

"This has nothing to do with him."

"Well, what about Karai? She looked furious when she saw what I was doing. I would think that she would come here." I gave her a slight glare after hearing her talk about me even though she couldn't see me.

"You will not address Lady Karai in that manner with the way you are now! She shouldn't have to deal with someone like you!"

"Then where is Ayano? I can't imagine her staying home and passing up the chance to destroy me."

"Ayano has better things to do than waste her time on you."

"That's funny… Because she seemed so envious of me, I just knew that she would be here. Maybe it was my imagination, but I think she hated the fact that Kazuma paid more attention to me," Misao said. In my mind, I face-palmed my head, but in reality, I sighed. Ayano is probably stomping her way down here by now.

I felt Kazuma's presence as a breeze started to fill the air, 'I guess it's time for Ayano to do her part now.'

There's chapter 10!

Next chapter will be up either next week or the week after!