Shun

I felt something nudge my side. At first, I thought it may have been Kuda. But when I opened my eyes, I saw Star standing over me. He then proceeded to lightly kick my side again. "Get up," he said. I sat up, feeling groggy after coming out of my state of unconsciouness.

I looked around and saw that I was still in the commons in front of Wardington Tower. That was when I remembered what happened before I blacked out. I had killed Akki. How could I forget is so easily? I thought to myself. Kuda then appeared from behind Star and jumped onto my shoulder.

"You're alive!" he shouted joyfully. I chuckled and asked, "You thought I was going to die? I thought I told you to have more faith in me." Kuda rolled his eyes and said, "I'm a bit of a pessimist at times, you know that." I chuckled, finding it amusing that Kuda thought that I was going to die.

Die, I said silently to myself. I then remembered Alice. I shot up to my feet, surprising Star by my sudden action. "I have to get to Alice," I told him. I had to see her, and I knew it would probably mean confronting the others when I did.

Star tossed a lock of his silver hair over his shoulder and said, "I think I know who you're talking about. If I remember right, I passed by them on the way here." I got right up in front of Star and said sternly, "Take me to them."

I couldn't remember where I had left them. After Akki possessed me and forced me to take Alice's life, I lost it, and didn't recall much of what happened after that. The last thing I remembered after killing Alice, was Star talking me out of my rage.

"Alright. Follow me and I'll take you to your little friends," he said while turning around and walking away from the commons. I chased after him, and a sudden sickening feeling hit me. All the others knew, was that it was my hand that killed Alice.

Would they even bother to listen? And if they did, would they even care if I was possessed or not? Killing was killing, no matter how some people looked at it. But what I feared most, was how they would handle knowing what I was. There was no way that they hadn't noticed the black flames appear after I lost control.

Star and I continued to walk down one of the main streets, and I noticed that dawn was nearing. The Teiden was coming to an end, and the sun would be back soon. I asked him, "What about the other Akuma? Did they get out of Wardington and spread to other cities?"

I had been unconscious for a while, and had no clue what was going on. Star told me, "Even though the Teiden was still going on, hunters from other cities came here and were able to keep the Akuma here. I joined them, that's why I woke you up so long after your victory over Akki."

It felt strange, being next to this psychopath and having a conversation with him. This was the same guy that was dead-set on killing me, just because I left a scratch on him. Then again, he had no weapon, so he would have to be a fool to try and kill me now.

"They're still there," he said, breaking my thoughts. I looked up ahead, and saw the others. Julie, Runo, and Murucho were gathered around, what I figured, was Alice. Dan was sitting off to the side on a sidewalk. The sick feeling returned. I wanted to turn around and not face them, but I had to.

I had to confront them eventually. I walked closer to them, and they heard my footsteps. I stopped in my tracks, not more than ten feet from them. Seeing the tear stains on their faces, was almost too much for me. I was seeing what I had caused, even if I didn't have the choice.

I was about to take another step closer, when I heard the sound of metal cut through the air. I was now looking down the blade of Star's saber, and right at Dan's face.

Shun

I saw the anger in his eyes, and I felt like my worst thoughts had become a reality. So, this was what would happen when my friend learned my secret. I would have a sword turned on me. Star then walked up beside us, and snatched the saber from Dan's hand.

The hunter told him, "Give me that. You're not skilled enough to use this." Star slipped the saber away in its holster. Dan turned back to me and asked coldly, "What are you doing back here? Trying to hurt one of them?" I shook my head. "No. I'm just hear to see Alice."

Dan's stare only got colder when I said that. He said curtly, "Well, you're not going to get many words out of her since you killed her!" He raised his voice at the end. Star then spoke up. "He had no choice. He was possessed. A demon made him hurt your friend."

I was suddenly thankful to Star for standing up for me, when I couldn't find the words to say. Dan let out a short laugh, but even I could pick up on all of the emotions in that split second. There was sadness, anger, confusion, and a multitude of everything else.

I was the cause of this. Dan told Star, "Yeah, right. He's one of those things that have been running around the city all night and killing people. Like I believe he was 'possessed' when he killed Alice." If words could be knives, I would be dead from bloodloss.

I asked, "Do you really think I would have ever wanted to kill her?" I felt the tears starting to well up in my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away. Dan didn't seem to have anything to say, so I continued to speak. "You know I wouldn't. You knew how I felt about her. I'd never do something like this unless somebody else made me."

Dan turned his head and looked away, breaking the cold gaze from me. "I know," he whispered. The others were staring at us, not just me. Although, there were some. Dan then turned back to face me, the rage and anger returned. "Why the hell did you never tell us what you were!" he shouted. I heard Star sigh next to me. It was clear that he was growing annoyed.

I told Dan, "Because I was afraid of this. I was afraid of how you and the others would react if I ever told you, or if you ever found out. I just wish that you all had learned under circumstances different from this." Discovering that your 'friend' was a demon after he killed one of your other friends, wasn't a good way to break the news.

"But-" Dan started, but I cut him off. "I'm still the same person," I told him. "The only thing that's changed is what I am. Not who." I had been through too much. I had already lost almost everything that I held dear, and I wasn't about to lose the last thing that held me together.

Shun

Dan dropped down to the ground, holding the sides of his head. "I don't know what to make of any of this," he said under his breath. I knelt down next to him and said, "Make whatever you want to out of it." That's all I could tell him.

The rest was up to him; whether he would see that I was still the same, or if he was going to not even acknowledge my existence. Dan looked at me, then turned over and looked in the direction of the others. Star was kneeling beside Alice's body.

Dan asked, "Hey, what are you doing?" Star glanced up and told him, "Seeing if there's anything I can do." Dan got up and walked over to the huddled group of people. I stood up as well, and watched, but kept a distance from the others.

Pangs of guilt and regret hit me when I saw Alice. She was pale and motionless. Star lifted her bloody shirt up just enough that it exposed nothing but her abdomen. I saw the same black decay that had been on Star when I cut him, but this had almost consumed all of her abdomen.

I took a moment to regain my composure, and looked away. When I felt like I wasn't about to breakdown, I continued to look. Star turned to look at his Kanko and asked, "Do you think there's anything you can do for her, Teru?"

Dan blinked and said, "You can see that thing too?" All of us turned to look at him. Murucho wiped his face with the cloth he used to clean his glasses and asked, "What do you mean, Dan?" He pointed to Star's shoulder and said, "He has some worm-dog thing on him." Kuda snapped, "We are not worms!" Dan turned and looked directly at the Kanko.

He asked, "How come I can see them, and the others can't?" Runo placed a hand on Dan's shoulder and said with a shaky voice, "I think you need to take it easy. You're probably in shock and seeing things." Star shook his head and told them, "No, he's seeing something. Your friend isn't going insane."

Murucho put the cleaning cloth away and asked, "Then what is he seeing? And like he asked earlier, why can't we see it?" Of course Murucho would be the one interrogating Star for questions at a time like this. Star cleared his throat and said, "Kanko, or more commonly known as pipe foxes. Humans aren't supposed to see them, only the ones touched by the supernatural, like your friend over there."

Star looked at me for a moment, then turned back to the others. He said to Dan, "I think the reason you can see them now is because you were possessed a while back. The after effects might just be kicking in now." Dan stared at him with wide eyes.

"I….Was possessed? When the hell did this happen!" He then turned and looked at me with narrowed eyes. "That's what happened that night that I can't remember, isn't it, Shun?" he asked coldly. I closed my eyes and nodded. He stood up and said, "I can't believe that-"

Star grabbed the back of Dan's shirt and said, "You two can argue this out later." Dan glared at me and knelt back down beside Alice. The sun was starting to rise off in the distance, giving the world some of its light back. Star said, "Good. The Teiden is over. Teru, do what you can for her."

His Kanko floated down and hovered over Alice, just as she had done to Star. "Can I asked that everyone back up some?" the hunter asked. The four of them looked at each other, and created some space. Teru turned to Star and said, "I don't have the ability to bring her back, but I can try and heal her as much as I'm able to."

Star nodded and I watched as Teru mumbled the same words she did when she purified her master's wound. The black decay started to fade away, but I could see that the Kanko was struggling. The others stared in either shock or awe as the wound was cleansed.

Kuda then jumped from my shoulder and joined across from Teru. She looked up at him and asked, "What are you doing?" Kuda told her, "I'm going to help you." I smiled, somewhat grateful that my loyal friend was doing this.

I heard Teru whisper to him, "But you've almost lost all your powers, Kuda." That was news to me. It would make sense why Kuda never did any of this kind of healing on me when I was injured. Kuda told her, "I can try, can't I?" Teru sighed. "Go ahead," she told him.

The two pipe foxes started to mumble the same words, and the black discoloration washed away faster that it was before. Not long after that, the skin around Alice's wound was back to normal. Star stood up and walked over next to me.

He said, "Teru is going to try and heal the wound, but there's no guarentee that she'll be able to do it." The two Kanko continued to mutter their incantations. I said to Star, "But I thought she wasn't able to heal wounds like this."

I recalled from when I watched Teru do this once before, that she said she was unable to do something like that. Star told me, "She can, but it takes a lot out of her." I nodded and continued to watch. Maybe with Kuda's help, she'd be able to accomplish the impossible.

The wound started to close, and even Star looked surprised. When the hole in Alice's abdomen was gone, both Kanko fell to the ground, panting with exhaustion. Dan and the others, stared with wide eyes full of shock.

Murucho knelt back beside Alice and examined where the wound had been. "Incredible," he said. They had just watched something they couldn't see, heal their friend. Star picked up the exhausted Teru, and placed her on his shoulder.

I went over and did the same to Kuda, then turned and looked at Alice. It was a foolish thing for me to think that she would wake up. I had just been told that Teru couldn't bring the dead back. I shut my eyes, and allowed a tear to roll down my face.

"I'm so sorry," I told her. I opened my eyes and saw that my tear had landed on her face. I was about to wipe it away, when I thought I saw her hand twitch. I turned back to Star and said, "I thought Teru couldn't bring people back." He crossed his arms over his chest and said, "She doesn't, but there may be a possibility that now that the wound's healed, your friend could wake up on their own."

I felt my hopes starting to get up, and the others seemed to as well. After hearing that, they ran over next to her. Gently, I shook Alice's shoulder, just to see if it would work. Her eyes opened partially, and she looked around to see the five of us kneeling beside her.

Shun

Julie and Runo then went ballistic. They hugged Alice, and I feared that they'd never let her go. Murucho looked like his mind had been blown. I turned around and saw Dan gawking at the now alive Alice. I asked him, "Is this enough to forgive me?"

If the return of a friend that had once been dead wasn't enough, then I might as well have given up on Dan. The brunette still had his gaze fixed on Alice, but he nodded his head to answer my question. "Julie, Runo, you guys can let me go now," I heard a soft voice say.

I turned back to see Alice finally freed from the embrace of her friends. I told her, "You gave some of us quite a scare." She smiled. "Sorry." I wrapped my arms around her and whispered to her, "No, I should be the one who's sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

The tears started to roll down my face. I was so grateful that she was back, and that I hadn't taken her away from this world for all eternity. But I had to thank Star for this. I looked around and saw that he was walking away. I told Alice, "I'll be right back."

She nodded and I ran towards the hunter. "Star! Wait up!" He whirled around, saber pointed at my throat. I stopped dead in my tracks. He said, "I could, no. Should kill you right now. The Teiden is over with, and I have no more reason to keep you alive."

I couldn't believe that after all he had done for me, he still wanted me dead. "But," he started. "Although there are creatures on this world that shouldn't exist, some of them are just too interesting to kill."

He lowered the saber and slid it back into the holster. Star turned around and continued to walk down the street. "I still don't get that guy," Kuda said groggily. I told him, "Maybe it's best if we don't." The Kanko nodded in agreement, and I turned to go back to Alice.

chapter title based off the song Dance With The Devil by Breaking Benjamin. for the record, yes i did quote something from the abe lincoln book. it was the 'some are too interesting to kill' or whatever. o.o so, the author guy owns that. just saying. yes, there will probably be one more chapter. (i dont like ending stories on odd numbers, and there's still some lose ends to tie up.) well, read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~