Chapter 11: Giving Up

"Look, there he is!" Yu pointed over at Shinji who was stood a little way off, looking around as he searched for the girls.

"Shinji! Over here!" Kagari called and she waved frantically in the air.

When he didn't reply, obviously having not heard Mato yelled out his name. That clearly got his attention, as well as the attention of several other students. Shinji looked over, waved the headed over, sliding into the seat next to Mato. The other students looked away, now not interested in what Mato had to shout about.

"How are you, Shinji?" Yomi asked politely.

"Not great," Shinji replied honestly. "I mean, it's school, why would I be doing okay?"

Kagari laughed. "You have a valid point."

"So, Shinji, what is the deal with your sisters?" Yu asked. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, so you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"I don't mind answering, but first I hope Mato doesn't mind answering some questions I want to ask her." He turned his head to look at her.

"Uh, what do you want to ask me about?" Mato asked, confused.

"Well, apart from yelling out my name just then," he said. "You've been pretty quiet all day."

"Well, I'm allowed to be quiet just for one day, aren't I?" Mato asked but Shinji ignored her question and continued on with his own.

"What did Katsuya say to you this morning that's made you so quiet?"

"Uh, he said...he said nothing!" Mato said and she looked away.

"Come on, Mato, we know he said something," Yu said and you could clearly see the concern she had for Mato embedded in her eyes.

"He said nothing," Mato said again and everyone understood that because of her stubbornness they were going to get no where. "So, Shinji, what's the deal with your sisters?"

"Well, its just as it is really," Shinji said, not looking particularly bothered by the question. "Nana hated fighting so she desperately wanted to leave, I swapped with her. Kanon always does everything Nana says, it's as if she's reliant on Nana so she can live or something like that. She wanted to leave now Nana was gone so Katsuya swapped for her. There's nothing else to it."

"Why does Nana seem so reliant on Katsuya then when surely it should be you since you swapped with her?" Yomi asked. Just like Yu she felt inquisitive.

"She's always looked up to him, ever since we were younger." Shinji sighed. "Katsuya was always the cool older brother. The sporty one that all the girls liked. I was the nerdy one, the not so popular one.

"Go, on, continue." Kagari pressured him when he paused for a second.

"Well, Katsuya and I were inseparable." Shinji started to continue. "He cared for me and I looked up to him too. I was really timid and shy and totally depended on him for everything. So that's why Nana never looked up to me. Why should she look up to me? To her I was just a male equivalent of Kanon."

"A male equivalent of Kanon?" Kagari asked.

Shinji nodded. "Nana and Kanon's relationship was just like mine and Katsuya's. Nana was Katsuya while Kanon was me. I suppose Nana just didn't want to deal with another Kanon."

"'Deal with another Kanon'?" Yu quoted. "That sounds a bit harsh."

"Nana never particularly cared for Kanon." Shinji sighed as if he was disappointed in his sister. "Kanon was so clingy to her and that irritated her. I have a feeling Kanon knew that but still she clung to Nana. She didn't know any better really."

"Talking about our sisters, huh?" Katsuya seemed to appear out from nowhere. He stood at the edge of the table, eying all of them.

All five of them jumped slightly, not prepared for this sudden intrusion of the conversation.

"K-Katsuya!" Shinji stammered and Mato noticed how he inched slightly towards her and away from his brother.

"Hello, little brother of mine." Katsuya smiled. It wasn't a kind, caring smile but an artful one, the kind of smile people smile when they know you know that they want to disembowel you but they're going to 'act' nice anyway, throwing in the occasional 'so not obvious' insult, and pretend they like you to fool everyone when no one's really fooled at all.

Katsuya slid down on to the bench next to Shinji (who shuffled closer to Mato still) and rested his chin in his hands with his elbows on the table. Carefully he eyed the three girls on the opposite side of the bench, his eyes lingering on each, before he shifted his gaze to his brother next to him. Mato was glad that she was on the other side of Shinji because it meant Katsuya wouldn't see her as well as he could see the others.

"Hello, Katsuya." Yu muttered, looking away to avoid his gaze. Mato noted that Kagari and Yomi did that too.

"I'm sorry, but I don't actually know your name." Katsuya smiled sweetly.

Yu frowned at him and did not answer.

"All right, there's no need to be rude." Katsuya huffed and pretended to feel offended. "I just thought it would be nice to know your name since you know mine."

Yu was holding her breath as she stared at Katsuya. Finally, she gave in. "Fine, if you must know, I'm Yu. My name is Yu."

"Yu." Katsuya repeated her name before he glanced at Yomi. "And you are?"

"Y-Yomi." Yomi still didn't look up at him.

"Yomi." He repeated her name to. Lastly, he eyed Kagari. "And if you would be so kind to tell me your name?"

Kagari remained silent. She looked up and stared at him.

"Are you going to tell me or do I have to make up a name for you?" Katsuya asked with an eyebrow raised just slightly.

Kagari huffed. "I'm Kagari."

"Yu, Yomi and Kagari, what an interesting set of names," Katsuya said in a tone that showed he couldn't particularly care less.

He leant foreward on the table so he could look passed Shinji and stare at Mato. "There's no need to tell me your name. I already know it." He smiled. "The infamous Mato Kuroi."

Mato didn't know what made her so infamous but she didn't exactly want to ask.

"Well, now we've all introduced ourselves..." Katsuya started his sentence with a smile but then his eyes narrowed and he scowled. "You girls are gonna stay the hell away from my sisters, you hear me?"

The girls were taken aback by this sudden switch of attitudes.

"I don't want you anywhere near them!" He hissed. "I want you to stay away from them and leave them alone!"

"We weren't planning to go anywhere near them!" Mato cried earning a glare from Katsuya.

He stood up and moved away from the table. Looking back he glared at them all again, especially Mato. "And after today, you can stay away from Shinji too. I thought I already told you that!"

With that Katsuya simply walked away as if nothing had ever happened.

The girls all sat there in silence, not having any ideas about what to do or say. Had Katsuya just threatened them?

Shinji was staring at the ground miserably. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Hey, you don't have to be sorry. None of this is you're fault!" Kagari said.

"Just don't listen to him," Yomi said.

"But I feel like everything is my fault!" Shinji cried and rested his head against the table. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be!" Mato said. "If I had told you what happened this morning..."

"Stop saying 'I'm sorry'," Yu said quietly. "It isn't your fault."

"I shouldn't ever have moved here," Shinji muttered, ignoring what the girls had to say.

"But them you wouldn't have met us!" Mato said with a smile

Suddenly he sat up straight, glanced at Mato then stood up from the table.

"Eh, Shinji. Where are you going?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, I just shouldn't be here." Shinji nodded apologetically then turned and hurried away.

"Shinji!" Mato cried and she stood up to chase after him.

As she did so Yomi got up too, moving quickly enough to grab Mato by her wrist to stop her from going anywhere.

"Just leave him." Yomi whispered softly in Mato's ear. "I think he needs some time alone."

Mato stared after Shinji them sighed a deep heavy sigh. She let Yomi pull her back to the table. This time Yomi sat down next to her.

"We'll sort things out, right guys?" Yomi asked and Yu and Kagari nodded enthusiastically.

"I hope so." Mato muttered under her breath. She truly did hope so, but sometimes, hope was never enough.


Black Rock Shooter hopped over the cracks in the ground as if she was playing a long tiring game of hopscotch. She looked back over her shoulder to see if Black Death Archer was still behind her. When she saw his figure in the distance still following her she looked forwards again with satisfaction knowing he was there. As she did though she found herself skidding to sudden halt as she saw a figure who hadn't been standing there a second ago.

This didn't stop her from crashing into the figure though. Together they both tumbled to the ground. Looking at whoever she had landed on Black Rock Shooter realised it was none other than Dead Master. Swiftly the two of them got to their feet and watched Black Death Archer as he caught up with them.

When he reached them he nodded at the gap between them in an indication to look behind themselves. They did so and saw Black Gold Saw, Strength and Chariot all standing there.

What happened? Black Gold Saw asked almost immediately.

Black Rock Shooter held up her broken wrists in reply. Black Assassin.

We need to sort him out, Dead Master thought.

Sort out who?

Turning around they all saw Black Assassin standing directly behind Black Death Archer. The girls all flung out their weapons, all ready for a frantic fight but Black Assassin shook his head, telling them it was pointless. Slowly, he raised his hands with the metal claws and held them against Black Death Archer's neck.

The girls all stood with their weapons raised for a moment before slowly lowering them. Black Assassin smiled, still holding the claws up to Black Death Assassins neck. Raising his other hand he grabbed one of the claws and simply snapped it off. The girls stared, wondering what he was going to do. He twirled it around in his hand, still smiling at the girls. Then, he struck.

With a tiny flick of his wrist he sent the claw flying and before any of them had a chance to react it found itself buried in the middle of Black Rock Shooter's forehead. Just like that, she crumpled to her knees, her shoulders sagging lifelessly. The rest of them looked up in alarm but neither Black Assassin nor Black Death Archer were anywhere in sight.

Black Gold Saw ran out to where they had been previously standing and looked around frantically. She held out a hand to the others as her way of telling them not to worry. As she forced herself to relax she closed her eyes. Now it was time to look for them. She felt her eyes open up all over the world. This was how she found people, her gift of seeing everything.

Suddenly her real eyes snapped open. She glanced back at the others, Dead Master giving her a curious look. Black Gold Saw nodded. Yes, she had found them.

She looked back at Black Rock Shooter. The others had removed the claw from her head and wiped the blue blood that had poured from her wound away. The black haired girl looked up, no trace of a wound left on her head, not even the smallest of scars. She held up her hands and twisted them around to show that her wrists were no longer broken either. Looking around she met the gaze of Black Gold Saw, Dead Master, Strength and Chariot and they all instantly knew they agreed on one thing.

To go find Black Assassin.


Sorry about the short scene with Rock and the others, I just thought they couldn't fight ALL the time. See ya at the next chapter!