CHAPTER 11 / Border of Heaven and Hell

I jerked up from my bed, afraid for my life. My first thought was, '...Was all of that a dream?'

The excruciating pain that followed from me suddenly sitting up proved how much of a reality it really was. I screamed in agony, and collapsed back onto my bed.

Everything slowly came back.

"I'm...alive...?" I touched the back of the bandage that was wrapped around the top of my head. "Ah, ow..." The wound was very tender, and the bandage was soaked with blood. "But...how did I..."

The door slid open.

"You have me to thank for that."

I looked towards the door to find Orin, wearing a sling around her arm. I slowly sat back up.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"That's a strange thing to ask, considering how much of a pummeling you took. I should ask you the very same thing. Seriously, you look like shit..."

"Well, THAT'S what I wanna hear. Thanks."

"Sorry." Orin walked in and sat next to me. "I didn't mean it like that, Okuu... It's just that...you look..."

"It's okay, Orin. I know what you're trying to say." I smiled weakly. "But, what happened? I thought Reimu knocked you out..."

"She did. But when I came to, I didn't see you or her in the room. Then, I heard noise from inside the reactor."

Orin ran to the remains of the maintenance bay, to find me being held by my collar by Reimu, who, soon after, tossed me hard into the catwalk.

"I've got to get down there..." Orin didn't want to blow her cover just yet-she wanted to try and get the drop on Reimu.

Orin started to run down the catwalks, towards the lower maintenance area, where Reimu and I were. She came to a quick stop when she saw Reimu deliver the punch that knocked me out. I collapsed lifelessly to the catwalk grating. But it didn't stop there. Reimu picked me up, and smashed me into the wall once more after I had passed out. Another orb lit-that was six.

Orin began to tear up a bit. 'To hell with the element of surprise,' she thought to herself, 'my best friend is gonna die if I don't do something!'

"SSSTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"

Reimu, with my collar in her hand, looked back up at Orin.

"You'll kill her if you continue on like this!"

"Give me one good reason to stop!" The Ying-Yang orbs circulating around her glowed bright, showing much of the area around her. She only needed one more strike to allow her to unleash the killing blow.

"You are a shrine maiden, are you not? Do you think that it is just to go and kill someone with your bare hands like this?"

"My job is to resolve incidents! Your crow friend here attacked my friends, and I'm here for payback! I came down here for my payback and I am going to get it!" With that, she threw me hard into the wall once more, giving her the last of her Ying-Yang orbs. They begun to spin incredibly fast around her as they glowed brightly. Reimu jumped towards me from the catwalk as I rebounded off the wall. She was going to unleash her spell at its fullest, at near point-blank range.

Orin abandoned all thought and reason, and jumped down into the reactor, now freefalling into the fray.

"OOOOOKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Reimu looked up, just as Orin became within range to grab my wrist and pull me into her. We then fell down into the reactor. Orin could see Reimu as she, unable to call off her spell, aimlessly unleashed it all at nothing. From this ever increasing distance, it was hard for Orin to tell through the bright light what the spell actually did.

Orin clung to me as we fell. The bottom grating that separated the upper reactor from the inner core came up pretty fast, and Orin made sure that she was the one to land first.

"I completely crushed my shoulder. It should be fine before long, though, so don't worry." I nodded.

Orin went on to say that she took me through the core room and carried me the long way up, making sure to avoid anywhere that Reimu might think to look for us. When we got to the observation deck, Reimu was nowhere to be seen, and Orin had presumed that she had went back to the surface.

"Look-I'll handle things so that we can make things right. You just rest, okay?"

"Okay." I slowly let myself down onto the bed, as Orin started towards the door.

"Ah...Orin?"

"Yeah?" She stopped in the doorway, and turned to me. I smiled.

"Thank you." She returned a smile, and turned the corner. I let my eyes slip closed.