This work is based (mostly) on the work of Kazuma Kamachi and other writers. A translation from Baka Tsuki was used in its creation and I claim no ownership over their work. Please Read, Review, and Enjoy.
"… Really now… Are you quite done making an embarrassment, out of both you and me? I went to the trouble to act fairly serious in my actions, and you just end making me look like a fool."
Kamijou sighed as the former exorcist talked down to her, the rage that had been building up in her for the past few minutes telling her to jump up and punch the man in the face.
Though… That is probably what you want me to do… Isn't it? With the huge gap between us… there is no way I could beat you even when I had nothing else to worry about.
The white haired former exorcist looked stared at the student, an annoyed pout on his face as he leaned his enormous weapon against his shoulder.
"And aren't we quite past the point where you can just ignore me as if I'm not even an existence in front of you? Need I remind you that it was you who caused me to interact with you, not the other way around!?"
Again, Kamijou did not answer the former exorcist, instead turning her head to address what it was that had led Kamijou and the boy in front of her to fight.
The still unconscious form of Akemi laid against Kamijou's back, the girl's wound causing the entire back of Kamijou's shirt to be stained red with blood. This fact worried Kamijou greatly, but it was somewhat lessened by the fact that the girl's breathing had not lessened at all during the time they had been together.
Kamijou, at the moment that the former exorcist before her had attacked her, had instantly figured out that she had no chance to beat the guy if she had to defend herself and Akemi at the same time. Not wanting to leave the critically injured girl behind and running away by herself, Kamijou choose the option in between staying and losing to the exorcist, and leaving the girl to die.
In the moment that Kamijou had dodged the former exorcist's opening blow, the student had grabbed the unconscious form of Akemi, and, after narrowly dodging yet another attack from the exorcist, took off running without even trying to look back.
Once she had committed to the plan, Kamijou had hoped that she would be able to get away without seeing the exorcist again. However…
… If it had been one story… I would have expected it… If it had been two stories… then it probably would have been a minor spurt of my bad luck… Three stories would have been a major spurt… but this…
Kamijou turned her gaze to glare at the white haired former exorcist, and, more importantly, the doorway that led to the entryway of the building, which was, of course, cut off by the existence of the former exorcist.
… Four stories… For four stories this guy has been in between me and the quickest way to the exit! Regardless of what side I was on when we met, he always seemed to be in my way! How determined is this guy to kill Akemi? Even an enraged ex-lover wouldn't be this driven to kill.
The former exorcist seemed to notice Kamijou's gaze, because his own annoyed state seemed to deepen because of where the student's focus was.
"Are you serious right now?! Are you still trying to escape right now, even though I've shown it to be nearly impossible for you to do? If you truly wanted to escape, the easiest way for you to do that would be to leave that soon to be corpse here, and run before I let myself get to angry at you for wasting my time."
Kamijou glared at the former exorcist, who had unashamedly pointed at Akemi when he said 'soon to be corpse'. However, despite the strong feelings that Kamijou felt toward the former exorcist, the student could not find a way to put her feeling into words, more out of exhaustion than fear. So, instead of wasting her breath trying to talk to the obviously crazed person before her, Kamijou instead focused on her current situation.
The second I try and fight this guy… It will be my complete and total loss. I have yet to take a single strike from this guy, but… I'm just getting this feeling of dread every time I get the idea just to punch him. That's why he is trying to force me into a fight.
Kamijou looked past the former exorcist, again to the open doorway to the entry hall, the one place she had to get to in order to survive.
I can't fight this guy, no matter what… but to escape now would mean I would have to run back the way I came, and then try to find an alternate way around to the entryway. Even if I was at my full strength… By the time I can even go back far enough to find an alternate path… He'll just kill me.
The former exorcist, who seemed to be completely ignoring Kamijou's panic, pouted at the student for a few more moments before sighing.
"I must ask you… After all the work you are putting in to save this thing… Can I ask you why you are trying so hard? For as far as I know… You just met it today didn't you? I doubt you formed any sort of meaningful bond with it in the time you spent with it… So that begs the question of, why did you decide to ruin my day?"
Kamijou, without any other viable options to either escape, Kamijou turned to the second choice available to her, diversion.
"What do you mean why am I trying so hard? Of all the questions you could ask, why did you ask the one that I should be asking you?"
The former exorcist looked at Kamijou with a confused tilt to his head, his annoyed pout returning with it.
"Why am I trying so hard to destroy that thing? Isn't it obvious? It's my job to destroy things like that, and I am very diligent with my work. If I let even a single one of my targets get away I couldn't live with myself."
Kamijou kept an eye on the former exorcist; slowly adjusting the girl on her back in an attempt to make her more comfortable in what the student could only assume was massive pain.
"But from what I heard in the restaurant earlier, you're not an exorcist anymore correct? What job do you have that has you attacking people out of nowhere?"
The former exorcist chuckled at Kamijou as his hand began to impatiently twitch against his blade's handle.
"Well… that is quite an easy question to answer if I gave you my full former job description. You see… my former job as an exorcist had me 'remove' the evil, disgusting abominations from this world, leaving it purer with their removal."
Kamijou, who immediately noticed the amount of sarcasm in the former exorcist's voice when he said the word 'remove', could only sigh in the face of this information and continue with her question, even though she knew where in the world it would lead.
"Okay… but that was your former job correct? I'm asking why you are currently trying to kill this girl here. She was a member of the cult from before; I'll give you that, but-"
Whatever Kamijou was about to say was cut off when the former exorcist began to laugh hysterically at the student, tears of pure joy rolling down his face as he did so.
"You think… You think that thing was a member of the cult that was here? That is quite amusing, even though from your point of view that is the truth."
Kamijou, obviously confused as to what the former exorcist was talking about, tilted her head in confusion.
"What… What in the world are you talking about? Are you saying that Akemi here wasn't a part of the cult? If that is the case… then why are you…!"
Up until the moment that the former exorcist had shown Kamijou that Akemi wasn't a former member of the cult, Kamijou had believed that the former exorcist was simply some sort of evil killer for hire. However, if Akemi truly wasn't evil…
The former exorcist wiped the final tear from his eyes, and looked over at Kamijou with a sadistic smile.
"I certain that you have figured it out… but the reason that I want to kill that thing you have on your back is because… Well… to be honest, my new job is more along the lines of murderer than anything else."
Kamijou's felt all the blood in her body freeze as she heard the former exorcist say that, the fear she had felt before completely forgotten by what she felt then.
"S-So… The only reason… The only reason that you are doing all of this… is because-…!"
Again, the moment before Kamijou could finish her statement, something happened that interrupted Kamijou's train of thought.
There was a noticeable shift in the air, as if something had disappeared in the room. Kamijou looked around the hallway, wondering what in the world had changed in the building, only to not find anything around her changed at all.
The former exorcist/ current murderer sighed to himself as he looked around the hallway, his overall expression becoming one of disappointed neutrality.
"Well… Shit. Seems like your magician friend has killed that damn thing they were fighting… I'll have to thank her for doing that for me, since I was planning on doing that at some point as well."
Kamijou opened her mouth to continue asking questions, anything to continue the conversation to distract the former exorcist/ current murderer while the student desperately thought of a way to escape.
However, Kamijou's desperate thoughts were silenced when the former exorcist/ current murderer pointed his blade at the student.
"Well… I can't say that you have provided me with a sufficient amount of entertainment for all the time you made me spend on you… but, I don't have the time to extract the compensation from you now that the barrier is gone... So…"
The moment after the former exorcist's/ current murderer's voice trailed off, Kamijou almost instinctively jumped back.
The moment directly after, the former exorcist/ current murderer brought his blade down directly where Kamijou had been seconds earlier, making a noticeable crater in the floor where his blade had collided with it.
The former exorcist/ current murderer continued to smile at Kamijou sadistically, putting himself into a stance that indicated his current attack was not going to stop.
"Now… Now I guess I'll just have to end this once and for all. Previously, I went easy on you because I didn't really want to kill you… but now I am completely fed up. If you try to run away again, don't expect to get more than a couple of steps."
Kamijou instantly knew that the white haired murderer was not lying when he said that he would kill her if she ran, yet she could not stop her brain from thinking that there might some way to escape.
One opening… I just have to wait for a single opening… Then I can-…!
This time, Kamijou's own instincts cut off her thoughts, her own body moving without any thought process, dodging to the side as the murderer lunged forward with his blade, the attack barely missing Kamijou's cheek.
The white haired murderer's eyes gleamed in pleasure as he readied another swing of his blade, causing Kamijou to jump back from the sheer pressure place upon her.
The moment Kamijou did that, the student felt the pressure of Akemi on her back, signaling that the two now had their back against the wall. Kamijou wanted to turn her head to look at the wall behind her, but the threat posed to her by the murderer in front of her was too great for her to move her gaze away from them.
The murderer moved his blade into position for an overhead slice, and at that moment only one thought could race through Kamijou's head as she watched the blade prepare to come down on her face.
This is… I have no way to just run away from here… do I? If… If I don't fight here… I'll just end up dead!
The moment Kamijou finished her thought, the white haired murderer began to bring his blade down with a sadistic smile on his face. To the student with her back to the wall, it looked like the boy's eyes were flaring red like some sort of demon.
Kamijou threw a punch with her left hand at that moment, born more from her fear and desperation than having an actual plan to defeat the murderer in front of her. Kamijou's fist flew directly toward the blade rapidly approaching her, everything in her body shouting for the punch to connect.
The moment that Kamijou's left fist touched the very edge of the blade, something unexpected happened for all of the people who were involved in the event.
The moment that Kamijou's left fist touched the edge of the blade, the student's fist sunk into the blade as if there was nothing in her path at all, and as she pushed her fist farther and farther into the blade, a slight torrent of dust began to fall from the blade, beginning to pool underneath the blade in a pile.
At that moment both Kamijou and the white haired murderer both had shocked looks on their faces. Kamijou's fist froze once it was several centimeters deep into the blade; not feeling stuck or obstructed in any way, it was just she was so stunned by what was going on that she stopped moving her fist forward.
The white haired murderer took this opportunity to jump backwards, the movement performed causing his blade to split into two; the upper half of the blade breaking off and instantly disintegrating to dust, and the lower half, including the hilt, which remained in his hands. Once a sufficient distance was placed between the murderer and the student, the white haired boy sighed and glared over at Kamijou with an annoyed expression.
"Well… If you wanted to count me a surprised, you can certainly do so now…How in the world did you do that? You didn't destroy my Blade of Exorcism like one of those would… yet the fact remains that you were somehow able to break it down. What in the world… There shouldn't be anyone on this earth with that kind of power."
Kamijou, who was not even giving ten percent of her attention to the white haired murderer in front of her, looked at her left hand in a daze, her eyes taking in every unchanged, normal feature of the limb that was attached to her.
… So… Not only can you block fire magic thrown at me from nowhere… but you can also destroy magical items as well?! Is there anything else that you can do that you would like to tell me about now?
The students arm of course remained silent to Kamijou's questioning, so the student simply sighed to herself and turned to look at the white haired murderer who was currently examining the part of the blade where Kamijou's fist had torn through, a quizzical look on his face.
"Hmmm… I think I've figured out what you did… and I must say my impression of you has changed considerably. I feel I should no longer think of you as an idiot who wasted my time."
Kamijou weakly smiled at that semi compliment, noting the extreme levels of sarcasm behind the white haired murderer's words.
"Well then… If you have such an improved opinion of me, how about you let me and Akemi go? I'm not the kind of person to hold something little like trying to kill me against you."
The white haired murderer chuckled at what was obviously a bad joke from Kamijou, and looked at the student with an amused grin.
"Don't take my words and add your own context to them please. It is quite annoying when people decide for you what you are saying."
The white haired murderer held his blade up into the air and for a single moment, an extremely focused look crossed his face.
The dust that had fallen off the blade suddenly began to vibrate on the ground, looking like iron sand affected by magnetic waves. Ever so slowly, the dust began to vibrate more and more, rising of the ground and floating in the air.
Then, in what seemed to be an instant, the dust flew to the destroyed edge of the blade, slowly reforming the blade to its full glory. With the blade now back in working condition, the white haired murderer pointed his weapon directly at Kamijou.
"My new opinion of new has changed from an idiot who has wasted my time, to a complete idiot who has wasted not only my time, but everyone else's time as well. If you had an ability that could combat my blade, then why in the world didn't you use it earlier? At the very least we would have had a fight to justify all the time I spent chasing you."
Kamijou could only sigh at the expected answer that was now presented to her, looking at the white haired murderer with an annoyed, tired look.
"So… I'm guessing… that you won't let me and Akemi go no matter what?"
The white haired murderer chuckled yet again, his glare at Kamijou becoming one of amused sadism.
"Well… Let me be entirely truthful here. If you can somehow manage to render me incapable of fighting… then I guess you could get out of here without me trying to kill you."
Kamijou sighed yet again, and, slowly, began to make preparations for what was going to come next. The student gently lowered the still breathing form of Akemi to the ground, leaning the injured girl in a sitting position before turning back to face the white haired murderer, who was smiling in an almost mocking fashion.
"So… You are just going to leave that thing open while you fight? Don't you realize that one wrong move from you, and that thing is dead? How in the world do you think you can protect it?"
Kamijou grinned over at the white haired murderer sheepishly as she reached up with her right hand and began to rub the back of her head.
"Well… that is a good point… While I'm not carrying her I'll be able to react faster to everything that happens… but then my ability to protect Akemi would be much more limited than before… That would be a problem…"
Kamijou readied herself by lowering her body into a stance that favored her left hand, her expression slowly becoming one of relaxed preparedness.
"You see… the thing is… that would be a problem… If I wasn't certain that I can end this without making a single mistake at all."
The white haired murderer looked slightly stunned as he looked over at the student who was overly prepared to fight him, and, slowly, an overly sadistic smile began to form on his face as he began to spin the his sword in his grasp.
"Well then… That is a very cocky attitude to have. I just can't wait… I just can't wait to put that attitude to the test!"
The moment that the white haired murderer finished talking, he charged forward towards Kamijou, blade lowered to his side in a position to protect the blade form Kamijou's reach.
Kamijou cautiously watched the murderer approach, her left fist clenching in a mixture of fear and expectation as the white haired boy got ever closer. She held her left fist back, waiting for the murderer to use his blade to attack so that she could target it instantly.
I only have one shot at this… So I have to use this stupid left hand of mine to punch that guy's face in!
The moment the murderer and Kamijou were within striking distance from each other, both released attacks on the other, each aimed to end the battle without relying on their trump cards.
The white haired murderer kicked out with his right leg directly towards Kamijou's right knee, clearly aimed to make the student fall down and leave him a huge opening to do what he wanted. However Kamijou was fully prepared for what the murderer did.
Moving her right knee out of the way of the attack, Kamijou punched out with her right hand, aiming for the white haired murderer's temple, wanting to knock him out in a single motion if at all possible.
The white haired murderer smiled and displayed a remarkable amount of speed and dexterity as he quickly returned to his original stance, and dove under Kamijou's punching right hand. Once he was clear from the danger posed by Kamijou's fist, he readied his own free fist to send flying at Kamijou's own temple.
Kamijou rapidly tried to pull her right fist back so she could use that to block, however she instantly realized that she would be unable to reset its position fast enough to do anything with it. Gritting her teeth, Kamijou sent her left fist flying at the murderer's fist, catching it with a resounding thud through her arm and shoulder.
Before Kamijou could react any further, she felt her legs get swept out from underneath her, the white haired murderer smiling as he retracted his left leg back to its original position. While the student was in the air, she could see the murderer's gaze switch from her to the still unconscious form of Akemi.
Taking the opportunity before her, Kamijou reached out with her right hand, grabbing ahold of the collar of the white haired murderer, using her own weight to drag the boy down to the ground with her. Once both had collapsed to the ground, Kamijou used her free left hand to form a fist and aim a punch at the white haired boy's face.
However, when Kamijou's fist was supposed to collide with the boy's face, the student's fist slammed into the ground sending a reverberating shock through her shoulder. In the student's right hand was the shirt of the murderer, now empty.
What the… where the hell did he…?!
Kamijou instinctively turned to her side and saw the shirtless form of the white haired murderer, who had jumped back out of fighting distance, a hand on his hip and an annoyed look on his face.
"Really now… You're just going to be a thorn in my side until the very end aren't you?"
Kamijou did not respond verbally to the murderer, though when she stood up and moved into a position between Akemi and the white haired boy, an almost playful smile on her face as she readied herself for a second round of combat.
The white haired murderer sighed, reaching up with his free hand to rub the back of his head, his expression one of deep, contemplative thought. After a few seconds of this, the murderer sighed and shrugged in a somewhat defeated manner.
"Man… I wanted to avoid using this… but I guess I should stop messing around… Sorry about this beforehand…"
Kamijou was in the motion of raising her eyebrow when the murderer disappeared from in front of her. It wasn't simply a case of she blinked and he was gone, but rather that he simply vanished from her point of view.
…? Where did he-…?!
Before Kamijou could finish her thought, she felt something strange happen to her chest. It felt like something foreign had been shoved right through her front and out through her back in such a smooth motion that Kamijou wondered if she had even felt the feeling to begin with.
Slowly Kamijou looked down at her chest, an apprehensive expression on her face as she did so. Once she had her chest in full view, Kamijou felt the heart in her chest skip a beat as she saw the murderer smiling up at her, hand grasping the hilt of his blade.
"Well… tell me… do you feel strange at all? Any palpations of the heart? Any feeling of shortness of breath?... No? Well then… I'm guessing that is a good sign."
Even though Kamijou wanted to scream out at what she saw happening to her chest, the sheer shock and confusion caused by the scene kept the student's mouth shut.
Sticking out of Kamijou's chest, hilt end going out the front side of her, was the murderer's blade. Though she could not see her back, Kamijou also had a sneaking suspicion that the tip of the blade was sticking out of her back.
… This is… What it the world is… Huh?!
The murderer chuckled as he leisurely began to move the blade in and out of Kamijou's chest, smiling in a sadistic manner. The murderer looked up at Kamijou with an almost pitying gaze.
"Well then… I was worried that using this on you would cause a significant amount of trouble, but in actuality there was nothing I needed to worry about. This weapon holds the power to hurt those who are evil to the core… but of course since you aren't evil at all, you aren't feeling any pain."
Kamijou looked at the murderer, her brain still trying to process what was happening to her. With both of her hands shaking, the student reached for the handle that was imbedded in her chest, fear slowly crossing her face.
The murderer laughed as Kamijou did this, and he began to grasp the blade with a greater measure of force.
"I have to say… I'm somewhat sad to say this… but… It looks like I win."
The murderer put his entire weight behind the push he gave the blade, sending the sword completely through Kamijou, and out the other end. Kamijou did not feel any different once the blade had passed through her, but then, she suddenly realized what the murder had been aiming for.
Spinning around Kamijou saw the blade flying through the air directly toward the unconscious form of Akemi. The student began to move toward the flying blade, fully aware that there was nothing that she could do to stop the blade's path.
The blade flew straight and true directly at Akemi's unconscious form, obviously electing no response from the girl. A second before the blade was about to hit the other girl's form, Kamijou grit her teeth in anger, a feeling of hopelessness washing over her.
However, exactly when the blade was supposed to impale itself into Akemi's chest, the blade passed through empty air, impaling itself into the wall. The unconscious form of Akemi had disappeared from Kamijou's view, leaving nothing but a slight trail of blood in the wake.
For the second time in the past few minutes, Kamijou felt confused, looking around her for the vanished body of Akemi.
However, the voice of the murderer, bore into her head in that moment.
"So you have finally decided to show your true colors… You miserable fake."
Kamijou spun around to see that the murderer was looking at a spot on the ceiling just between the two of them, and, following the boy's gaze, saw Akemi, hanging from the ceiling with nothing but her fingers, which were embedded into the surface, with cracks forming from them.
The obviously annoyed Akemi looked down at the murderer with a clear expression of distaste, the cracks in the ceiling growing with each second the girl looked at the white haired boy.
"And you… you ignorant exorcist! How long do you plan to cause me grief?! What in the world did I do to you that would incite such treatment?!"
The white haired murderer made a gesture in the air as he smiled up at the hanging student.
"Oh I don't know… your existence give me plenty of reason to attack you. Anything else did in this life is just extra."
The next moment, almost directly after the boy made the gesture in the air, Kamijou felt the familiar feeling of a blade passing through her and leaving her unharmed, and saw the tip of the murderer's blade passing through her body.
When she saw it, driven by instinct at that point, Kamijou reached down with her left hand and touched the blade as it passed through her, turning the weapon into a torrent of sand.
As she did this, she heard a surprised shout from the murderer.
"What in the world are you doing you fucking idiot?! Do you not understand what you are do-…"
As Kamijou lifted her head up to look at the murderer, and saw the white haired boy as both of his arms flew off in a bloody torrent. The murderer collapsed to the ground as both of his arms hit the ground, and in front of the boy's collapsed form was Akemi, her own hands covered in blood, and a sadistic smile on her face.
Kamijou looked at the scene before her with a cautious gaze, looking in between both the murderer and Akemi quickly as if she would gain some sort of information from looking at either of them.
What in the world is going on!? I… I don't understand what the hell just happened at all!
Akemi looked down at her blood covered hands, the sadistic smile growing wider as she took in the sight, and she slowly turned her head to look at Kamijou. The student nearly jumped out of her skin at that gaze, becoming frozen in place in fear.
Akemi turned to face Kamijou, her sadistic smile turning into one of polite consideration. With her blood covered hand Akemi gestured at Kamijou.
"Well then… Thanks to you it seems like I was able to survive that bloody exorcist's attack… So it seems that I have to properly express my gratitude."
Kamijou sweated in fear as she felt Akemi's gaze upon her, and she raised her hand to wave off the thanks she was most likely still going to receive.
"Y-You don't have to thank me at all Akemi-san… After all… All I did was run away most of the time. I didn't do anything so great that deserves-…!"
Kamijou's voice was cut off as she felt an intense pain in her gut, one so sharp that it almost made her throw up from the feeling. Akemi chuckled at the student as she squeezed the flesh of the student's stomach with a smile.
"Oh please. I insist that I reward you with something. And I happen to know the best way to compensate you…"
Akemi leaned in close to Kamijou and began whisper into the student's ear, in a soft and almost seductive voice. The girl squeezed Kamijou's stomach even harder causing a flaming pain to appear in the area that was being held.
"How about I give you a quick and almost painful death?"
Akemi pulled her hand out of Kamijou's side, leaving a trail of blood behind, connecting the two girls together for a scant amount of time before dropping to the floor in a puddle. Despite no longer being connected together, Kamijou still felt the searing pain in her side, and even felt the feeling begin to spread across her entire abdomen.
Kamijou looked down at her stomach, at the wound that Akemi had given her, and saw that no blood was pouring out of the wound. Instead of that, and any other normal signs of concern, the flesh around the wound was slowly breaking out in black stars, a symptom that Kamijou had never seen before.
… What… What… Is… That…
Kamijou instantly fell to her knees, all strength suddenly leaving her body the moment the wound had been exposed to the air. When she looked up, the student saw that Akemi had disappeared, leaving the body of the murderer behind.
Kamijou could only sigh in disbelief as she collapsed to the floor, one thought going through her mind before she passed out into oblivion.
… Really… Now… What… Was… All… That…?