[Rose 11: Awakening]
Waking up, he groggily looks around the slightly familiar hotel room. Trying to sit up he flinches from pain in his side then looks at his bed side. Asleep in a chair with her head on the bed is Aki. Clenched in her hand is a slightly damp cloth.
"She took care of me?" Shuichi whispers as he reaches for her.
"Kurama…" Aki mumbles in her sleep, causing him to pause and even hold his breath. "Dummy… you're a dummy… Kurama." A tear falls from her sleeping face.
-Flashback:
'Dummy Fox.' Sakura laughs.-
'Aki…' Shuichi clings to his blankets.
The next morning everyone informs Shuichi on what happened after he passed out. They told him that Yusuke fought the big guy and Jin. Then Kazuma faced the last guy, winning by a hair after seem to get a charge up from seeing Yukina.
The others also explain that he had been sleeping for at least two days. The girls make it a point to emphasize that Aki had taken care of him all that time by herself. Embraced, she flushes and pushes them away slightly.
Aki is once again running is back on the cherry blossom island. Yet this time everything is chaotic. The island is on fire as she tries to help the silver fox to a cave on the sea shore.
Halfway to the cave Demon Hunters find them. As they go to attack she pushes the fox out of the way and takes a hard hit to her side.
"No!" Aki wakes up drenched in sweat. "Dream. Just a dream." She huffs clinging to the warm gem.
"Look who is finally awake." Botan laughs as Aki steps out.
"Did I really sleep the day away? I'm sorry." Aki glances outside to see the rainy scenery.
"You did heal most of Kurama's wounds and insisted on taking care of him." Yukina sips some soda.
"I'm sorry about that. You must have been drained." Shuichi snacks on some candy.
"It wasn't that bad." Aki flushes a bit. "Where's Yusuke?" she looks around.
"He went to do some final training with Genkai." Kazuma pulls a card from his older sister, Shizuru.
"Oh it's time for THAT huh?" Aki sits next to Keiko.
"Are you sure you're okay? You look kinda pale." Keiko feels her forehead.
"I'm fine. I just had a bad dream." Aki sips some soda as Puu, a new penguin plushy like spirit, sits on her lap. "I still can't believe Puu is Yusuke's inner self." She pets the tuffs of black hair on him.
"I think it suits him." Keiko plays with one of his floppy ears.
They play cards for hours. Falling asleep her head falls on to Shuichi's shoulder. He simply stares at her warmly with conflicted eyes as he places a blanket on her shoulder. Making sure the others are truly asleep, he leans in gently pecking her forehead.
Moved to a new ring, they wait in their changing room. A little antsy, Aki leaves for a vending machine with Shuichi. They figured traveling in pairs is better right now.
"Think Yusuke will make it in time?" Aki sips her soda leaning against the bulky machine.
"I think he'll arrive when he's needed the most like always." Shuichi sips his soda next to her.
"That's true." Aki giggles.
"Aki, can I talk to you about something?" Shuichi stares at the tin can.
"What's up?" Aki looks at him confused and a bit worried.
"I-" Shuichi starts.
"There you two are!" Kazuma interrupts. "We're up." He motions to the arena's opening.
"Alright." Shuichi throws away the can.
"Wait." Aki grabs his arm. "What were you going to tell me?" she stares at him with hopeful eyes, as to what not quite sure.
"After the match. I promise." Shuichi removes her hand.
Meeting their new opponents they determine the rules are to fight by names on dice. First on deck is Hiei. He wins with just a few strikes against the big guy. Again Hiei is chosen to fight.
The match is rough, with the guy having spheres that causes him to be immune to a previous attack. Eventually Hiei combines the black flame with his sword in order to penetrate the iron thick skin.
Kazuma goes next against the boy band looking sprite. Kazuma is teleported away with a swish of the Vanishing Vale. With a turn of the dice, Aki is up against him.
"You're an odd one. Most girls swoon at the site of me." The pale-blue haired guy lifts an eyebrow.
"Your face might be cute. But your soul is twisted and ugly." Aki gets ready to fight.
"You'll pay bitch." The guy growls.
With the fight start Aki cuts the vale in half with an energy arrow. Pissed off the guy pulls out a sword that seems to call odd spirits to warp the ring. Trying to find a way to beat this, Aki dodges the spirits while searching for a weakness. Finally spotting an opening she cuts the blade in half with one large arrow and knocks the guy out of the ring.
'That was rough.' Aki huffs.
Next is Shuichi against what appears to be one of the weakest on the team. Before anyone can blink he is trapped in a fish line barrier and then the ring is cover in a white smoke.
'Wh-what is this feeling? Why does this energy feel familiar?' Aki stares at the crackling smoke oozing with new energy.
As the smoke clears a silver haired and golden eyed fox stands where Shuichi should. "Y-Yoko." Aki barely breathes as the words leave her and she loses consciousness.
