Disclaimer: I do not own Shakugan no Shana.

Chapter 12 – A Mysterious Voice

"Go on," Kojiro said, "Ladies first,"

Elise refused to attack. Kojiro mocked her again.

"I see. You may have become a Flame, but you're still your old self. Never attacking unless attacked. Pretty foolish, though. Back then when we were training I was the one who attacked first, all the time. So now, I'm letting you first. Fair,"

"Cut the crap," Elise retorted.

"Oh, dear. We're gonna waste time staring at each other. Neither of us is willing to make the first move,"

Elise did not answer.

"Meh. Oh well, I'll go first then. We'll fight like we used to, okay?"

Elise nodded.

"Since I said the word 'like we used to', I'll make the first move,"

Kojiro answered, and then leaped to do an attack. Elise managed to dodge all of the attacks.

"Geez…" Elise said.

"What? You think that I'm slow?"

Elise chuckled.

"Dang," Kojiro said, leaping to the back. His distance between him and his opponent was reset.

"Come on, then," Elise whispered.

"Right, lady. You can smile now, as much as you want. We'll see who gets the last laugh,"

Elise smile disappeared a little instantly.

"Heheh. You know pretty well I have a huge advantage here. And sex has nothing to with it,"

"Wha-!?"

"Err… by sex I mean gender. Anyways… You know that you're a Flame Haze now, right? You've got to have characteristics of one. You're breathing, I suppose?"

Elise gasped. Now she knew what Kojiro meant.

"You see, I can do what you cannot do in this battle. I can wear you out. You, on the other hand, cannot do so, for I am dead. And you, you will feel tired…"

"SHUT UP!"

"Oh? Getting angry now, I suppose?"

"You-!"

"Heh, I'm not finished yet. I think that you should listen to what I say next even if you despise it,"

Kojiro paused, and then continued.

"Golden. I'm sure that you're… er… how should I put it…? Regret and jealous?"

Elise clenched her fists angrily, also hoping that Kojiro would zip his own stupid mouth. Yet, Kojiro continued to talk.

"Regret that you've made such a decision. Such a rash decision. Turning yourself into this… abomination when… something much, much better is given to you. Golden could have been yours, you know. Its powers. Everything. You just chose the wrong path, Elise. It's too late to regret now. You will have to die,"

Elise could not control her anger anymore.

"JUST SHUT UP!" She screamed angrily.

"Just shut up!" Kojiro mocked her by imitating her voice in a scrawny tone. "What's the matter? I read your mind, didn't ya? I bet that that was what you think! Golden just slipped away from you… I bet you're so jealous of me, going to be immortal and …"

Before Kojiro could finish his sentence, Elise's sword came down and he barely managed to dodge it.

"Oops. I lost concentration, didn't I?" He said.

Another attack came.

"Wow, Elise. That's the first time you attacked someone without the latter attacking you! I've struck lottery!"

Slashes and dodges continued.

"Hmmm…" Kojiro said as he dodged the attacks. "Your attacks… they seem pretty slow. Very unlike the ones you give me back then,"

"Can you just shut up?" Elise said angrily as she prepared for another attack.

"Whassamater? Admitting that you're weak?"

"Hiyah!" Elise squeaked as she swung her sword round and round.

"I can't take it. This bores me out. I'll just finish you off th- Oh wait a moment!" Kojiro said, and exclaimed suddenly, his eyes wide and round.

Elise looked up, feeling a little shock too.

"You know that maid over there? I belly punched her so hard that she vomited blood! And on top of that, she fainted from only one hit! WOOHOO! And the best part is… SHE SOUNDS AND LOOKS SO HOT! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Kojiro yelled loudly and happily, his voice louder and louder, as on purpose, to provoke Wilhelmina's weakness.

"RRRGGHH!" Wilhelmina felt very angry. She clutched her fists and clenched her fists. Michiru put his hands on her back and her anger was suddenly vanished, magically. She turned around to see Michiru giving her a supporting look, as if telling her not to get carried away by her anger and attack Kojiro.

Then, quite suddenly, again, her anger rose. Michiru obviously felt that she was no match for Kojiro. That's why he wanted to stop her from engaging him in a battle.

Quite suddenly, another weird sensation Wilhelmina felt. Her moods seem to be changing very quickly. Touched. She felt touched. Touched that Michiru was actually worried about her. Michiru wanted harm to stay away from her.

Wilhelmina finally shook herself mentally, forcing herself to stop thinking about her sudden mood swings and about Michiru.

Meanwhile, Kojiro and Elise were having a chat.

"And since the maid was so hot," Kojiro continued, "Then you must be very hot, too! Why not I run you two tests? One for how many belly punches you can endure before fainting and the other one should be your hotness!"

"You sadistic bastard!" Elise grunted.

"Oh? I'm sadistic? Good, actually. Sadism for the win, hahaha! So, now… Ready for the test? I look forward to it, you know? You must beat the maid in every aspect,"

Wilhelmina, who was listening to their conversation, could not control her anger anymore, but as she conjured up a ribbon, Michiru grabbed her arm and squeezed it tight.

"You promised not to interfere," He whispered.

"Let go," Wilhelmina said, feeling angry.

"I can't. You must keep your promise," Michiru replied.

"Let go," Wilhelmina repeated, raising her voice.

"Never," Michiru said calmly.

"You think that I am no match for him, then?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Wilhelmina. Besides… your hand… It's still wounded…"

"I am fine!"

"You're not. I don't want you to fight him because you wanted to act cool. That way, then more you can't beat him,"

Wilhelmina was starting to feel irritated. Michiru makes mountains out of molehills. She was perfectly fine, but he was always fussing.

"You cannot stop me,"

"But I can try. I'll keep on trying even if I fail,"

Wilhelmina kept quiet.

"Please. Leave them be for the moment. This is a battle between two old acquaintances. We're not to interfere. I think we should go look for Shana. We should see if she's okay,"

"… No…"

Michiru was taken aback by her answer. He always thought that Wilhelmina cared a lot for Shana. Since neither of them had anything to do here they might as well do something else.

"What!?"

'I will stay here," Wilhelmina answered determinedly.

"But…" Michiru stammered.

"She will be fine,"

"… Okay. Then I'll stay here with you,"

"TOO SLOW!" Kojiro yelled suddenly, attracting attention from Michiru and Wilhelmina. They could see Elise attacking Kojiro violently, and the latter dodging the attacks with a smirk on his face.

'Kiangz!' A sound was heard when Kojiro grabbed Elise's sword.

"Wha-!?" Elise squeaked, shock.

"Meh. You forgot what I have, didn't you? Iron fists,"

Elise wanted to draw back her sword, but Kojiro's grip on her sword was too tight.

"Say… Never heard of it, but this sword, is your Guze and your weapon at the same time?"

Elise applied more force in pulling her sword.

"So what?" She answered angrily.

Kojiro raised an eyebrow, but his answer given was not about what Elise asked.

"Hmmm? You want your sword back, was it not? Why don't you just say?"

Elise gasped. Kojiro loosened his grip suddenly and Elise was thrown backwards by her own force. Then, during midair, Kojiro leaped at her and gave her something he loved.

His hands made contact with her belly. Elise's eyes shot wide when she received that punch. She tried her best to stifle a scream, but a moan could still be heard. Next moment, she was slammed hard onto the ground. Cracks appeared.

"Tch," Kojiro said triumphantly while getting up from his squatting position. He took a few steps backwards. He saw that Elise was lying down on the floor, struggling to get up, but all she could do was lift her head and the upper part of her shoulders. Nothing more. The look of Elise clenching her fists and making some grunting noises gave him delight.

"Wow! C'est magnifient!" He said loudly and happily, "You know, the sight of girls in peril, struggling to stay consciousness or to get back on their own feet just keeps me… ahhh… going… heheheh… The moans, the cries, the squeaks, the screams…"

Elise grabbed her sword. She pierced the floor with it and held onto it for support as she tried to stand. It was hard. Kojiro likes to target the weak spot. And whenever he does, he does it very, very hard intentionally.

"So… you on for another one like this? Or even harder?"

"You… b-b-bas… t-t..tard…" Elise moaned weakly, struggling to get up.

"Hmmm… or maybe, you should go for keeping your eyes open for a longer time than the maid. You're halfway into beating her record now,"

"You'll – urrh- pay... for… this… urrrh…" Elise continued to moan.

"Save some energy, dear," Kojiro mocked loudly, laughing, "Don't waste your strength on pointless things. You need to stay conscious longer than her, you know? Although I must admit. You sound hot too when you're weak. So nice… So hot…"

Maybe Elise grew tired and angry from listening to Kojiro's sadistic talk, or maybe the word 'dear' angered her, for she suddenly aimed a punch at Kojiro, but Kojiro grabbed her throat and squeezed it hard. Elise chocked.

"Sorry. Must be tough, huh? Losing a battle on your debut. Oh wait, this is the second chapter you're appearing, not?" Kojiro smiled.

Kojiro lifted his free hand, looking at Elise's angry eyes.

"You see now? Back then you don't even know what pain was. And now that you've experienced it, you probably hat it, not? Haha, you can't do that to me, though. I won't get tired. You will,"

"You… said… that… m-many… t-gurk-ughh-times-rrrhhh…" Elise croaked.

"Oh well. Now that you've lost and looked so battered and everything I bet that you have lots to say,"

Elise opened her mouth to say something again, but the words which escaped from her mouth were barely a whisper. Kojiro only caught the word 'revenge'.

"Oooh… that's cute. Revenge. When you're about to die? Hahaha. Oh yeah, now that I've got your neck you probably can't breathe! See? See what being a Flame Haze gets you? I have no such problems! WOOHOOHOOHOO!"

Elise tried to pry Kojiro's hand away from her neck, but her attempts were feeble, as if an ant trying to lift a glass.

"You're struggling. That's not good. Why don't I just end everything?"

He put his iron fist in front of Elise's eyes, signaling something.

"You know what this means? RYONA TIME!"

(Ryosuke: Hey! He stole my lines! Bastard!)

Kojiro must have had very bad luck. His second attempt belly punches were never successful. Back then it was Zeus who interfered. Now it was Wilhelmina.

"Oh, you're here? I almost forgotten?" He said, after his fist was wrapped up by Wilhelmina's ribbons.

"Let her go!" Michiru shouted.

"Yes. Yes I will. Because I found something better to do!"

Then, seeing that Wilhelmina was actually pulling her ribbon, he gave her a mocking.

"You won't beat me in tug-of-wars,"

He gave the ribbon a powerful tug. Wilhelmina, careless, was lifted off her feet and flying towards Kojiro like a pin attracted to magnet.

"WILHELMINA!" Michiru screamed at the top of his lungs, but that did not stop what that was meant to happen. Kojiro let go of Elise, as promised, but the fist which was holding Elise found Wilhelmina's weak spot, and she was sent flying again, then crashed onto the wall.

"WILHELMINA!" Michiru screamed again. He ran quickly towards her, who was lying on the floor, coughing up a lot of blood. He knelt down as he reached her. He then lifted her head and put it on his lap.

"No… No... Wilhelmina… please…" he pleaded.

"Not again…" Wilhelmina moaned, cursing her bad luck of receiving powerful belly punches all the time.

"Please… stay awake, Wilhelmina… stay awake… don't faint!" Michiru cried (I don't mean weep) as he saw that Wilhelmina was about to close her eyes. He was terrified that she would not open them again when she closed them.

He lifted her up bridal style and whispered, "Please… stay conscious… I'm begging you… I can't lose you… I can't… please… hang in there… I beg you… I'll bring you to treat your wounds! So… hang in there!"

Wilhelmina smiled as she looked at Michiru, more blood drizzling from the corner of her mouth. Michiru was not loking at her, but running to the exit, bringing her somewhere to treat her wounds. The Mystes with the golden flame was being stupid. She was not going to die this easily. Michiru was overreacting, but maybe that was because he cared about her a lot. She was touched. Michiru was the only person this nice to her. Nobody had shown her caring like he did. Never even as she hoped.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kojiro laughed loudly, the echoes ringing in Michiru's ears as he felt a sudden wave of anger emiting inside him, but he still continued to run. "Double Kill! WOOHOO! Today is sooooo my day! WAHAHAHA!"

"Have you no shame?" A quiet voice came.

"Huh?" Kojiro stammered. His smile vanished. He was looking around to see where the voice was coming from. Michiru wanted to turn around too, but thought the better of it. Wilhelmina was bleeding. He had to help her. Fast.

He exited the gym, ignoring the voice. A figure suddenly appeared in front of Kojiro. (Appearances details… until NeonicOverlord replies. Sorry, but I wanna upload fast.)

"Huh? Y-You're!?" Kojiro shouted.

"You do remember me, don't you?" The figure replied.

Meanwhile, Michiru was thinking about the voice he had heard just now. It seemed familiar, but he knew he had not heard such a voice. If you heard someone's voice only once, it would be hard to remember, but Michiru remembers this voice well, as if he had been hearing it for a long time.

Whose mysterious voice was that? He thought to himself.

Ryosuke: She's going to hate you, my friend.