Wow, I know I said I'd start the chapter in about April, but I never expected to be so accurate, ha ha ha. Anyways, chances are that this chapter is a few weeks late in being posted than I expected, mainly in part to a few essays I had to take care of in addition to about two or three tests. On the bright side, my semester is nearly over, which may or may not affect my writing of this fic.
And HOTD is finally back! A chapter was just recently released and wow, it looks promising. I just hope the author and artist can keep up a relatively consistent release schedule since the first part of HOTD they did was kind of sporadic in its releases.
Anyways, you didn't click on this fic to hear me speak of HOTD, so on to the chapter!
Chapter 25
Bunshichi took a quick puff of his cigarette as he simultaneously suppressed the urge to crack his neck in a bit of exasperation. It has been two days since he arrived to this town and after he had met up with those two guys following his taxi ride, the man had taken to calling up Maya. When he had done that, Maya had filled him in on what was going on and he ended up rooming at the same hotel as the Juken Club.
Though he didn't really show it, he was surprised when he first heard that the Juken Club was working alongside Ryozanpaku and he had stopped by there to meet them for himself while Kenichi and Miu were at school and it was there that he was fully brought up to speed on Yami and YOMI. It was at that moment that he fully realized the scope of this situation and it left him feeling a bit of a headache.
"Shit, Mitsuomi hadn't told me all of that…" he muttered under his breath. When Mitsuomi had sent him hear, the Takayanagi clan head had only told him just the very basic details of the situation since he wanted Bunshichi to hurry here.
And it was only now, taking a walk around the city that Bunshichi could appreciate what was going on. He sighed, ignoring as a few passer-bys walked around him, shooting him annoyed looks as he continued to smoke. He scratched the back of his head as he did so. "Man, so it looks like I came all this way just to be stuck on the sidelines," he thought, Maya having told him that she and the Juken Club was keeping watch on Souichiro along with the Shinpaku Alliance essentially doing the same for YOMI. Maya didn't really mention to him for him to do anything in particular other than that his presence was very much appreciated and that he can lend a hand whenever it was needed. The only problem with that was that he wouldn't really know when he would be needed; they all seemed to have it under control pretty damn well.
He sighed. "Well, at least I get a decent view of things," he thought a little lecherously as he ogled a few teenaged girls wearing short skirts just a bit further ahead of him. This trip might not be so bad for him after all.
Meanwhile, at school, Kenichi was feeling quite tired. The half hour or so that had followed the conclusion of events on the cruise ship had been spent reluctantly informing Shizuru and Raichi of what Souichiro was up to now, much to the expected shock of both girls. Shizuru had wanted to stay with Kenichi and the others to perhaps maybe lend a hand, and Raichi looked intrigued enough to want the same thing, but she had to get back to her dad and Shizuru had very reluctantly gone back with her. The two had parted ways with Kenichi and the others not long after that, Shizuru doing so with a still slack jawed expression, no doubt because of what her crush had apparently been up to. Kenichi felt sympathetic towards her naturally and so did the others who were perceptive enough to figure out how she felt about Souichiro as they noticed her expressions as Kenichi told her a bit of what was going on.
And as if that wasn't enough, Kenichi had taken all of one day to rest up from the hits he took on the cruise ship before his masters had spent the second past day starting up his training again, this time around tripling his training partially as punishment and also serving as an attempt to get him stronger faster after he and Miu had told them all of the red feather they had encountered along with the ensuing fight. That and Hayato also told them all that he actually knew who Mikumo was, noting how she had a disciple in YOMI as well. It took just hearing her last name for Kenichi and Miu to recognize the connection between Mikumo and Chikage. Add that in with the fact that Kenichi pretty much resolved himself to tell Souichiro himself of the red feather along with dealing with his classes and potentially having to deal with a challenge from Chikage now and it was understandable why he was so tired.
"Ughhhh…." He was still feeling a bit sore from training. He stretched his shoulders to try and work out the kinks.
"Are you alright Kenichi?" Miu asked concerned from where she was walking next to him.
He smiled at her tiredly, though trying to keep a blush from appearing on his face. "I'll be fine. Just tired is all." Ever since they got home from the cruise ship, Miu had been staying near him a bit more than usual, much to his surprise. The reason why he was blushing though was because not long after getting back to Ryozanpaku and started to get some rest, he unintentionally began to recall what Shizuru had said to him about him and Miu. And it was getting to him quite a bit now.
Miu smiled back at him. "Okay. But don't push yourself too much," she replied. Unbeknownst to Kenichi, Miu too was trying to fight back a blush as she recalled what Raichi had said regarding the Ryozanpaku disciple on the ship. What's more was that she saw Izumi earlier giving Kenichi longing glances, which incidentally brought the conversation to the forefront of her mind.
However, the moment between the two was cut short when they passed by Ethan in the hallway. Kenichi shivered slightly as he could feel just the slightest inkling of Ki off of the larger teen. "Sure hope he doesn't try anything soon. With all the training I'm being put through, I won't be healed up enough to fight," Kenichi thought, a tad bit nervous. Now that he passed by Ethan though, it occurred to him that since the cruise ship, Rachel hasn't shown up to school, most likely still in Yami's hands. This was a fact that the Shinpaku Alliance had taken note of almost immediately, Renka, who now hung out with them since she was in their school now, liked to think she and Bob had scared her away, but Kenichi couldn't help but worry a bit for Rachel; the emotionless eyes of Mikumo didn't exactly inspire confidence in Rachel's safety.
He sighed, doing his best to keep from grabbing at his hair in frustration at not really knowing what to do. "Argh, this is killing me! How do I deal with YOMI while thinking of a way to talk to Souichiro-san?!" Kenichi mentally agonized over. Though it would seem that simply talking to Souichiro would be the best way to do it, he couldn't risk it as despite his sympathy for the true warrior, Souichiro was still a part of YOMI. To go up to a member of said group was risking a battle and one against Souichiro was one he didn't want. He did contemplate maybe asking Makoto to tell Souichiro about the red feather, but that would potentially be putting her in danger and he didn't want that. "Why are things never simple?" Kenichi thought in defeat as he slumped forward now as he walked.
The rest of the school day went by relatively fast and eventually there was yet another break in between classes, enough for Kenichi to head to the restroom. He stopped though before fully going in as he noted Miu seemed like she was going to wait right outside the restroom for him. "Er… Miu, you don't have to do that…" he said sheepishly.
"But the balance in the school has already broken down. With three members of YOMI out of the picture for now, the others could strike any time," she reasoned, wanting to be safe than sorry.
Kenichi fully entered the restroom now and went towards one of the urinals. "But I could least go to the toilet by myself…" he said to her, feeling awkward at his crush essentially waiting outside the boys' restroom, "just head to your gymnastics club."
Miu looked ready to respond, but when a few students began to pass by and whisper a bit about her being near the boys' restroom, she blushed in embarrassment a bit and started to walk away.
That was when two people suddenly rushed past her. "Shit," one of them muttered in annoyance.
Miu froze for all of a split second as this suddenly registered in her mind. "What got past me?!" she wondered urgently and was about to whirl around and actually peek inside the restroom, but backed off in comical fashion when she heard a few more students whisper about her being there.
As for Kenichi, he was simply doing his business at the urinal when he suddenly felt a familiar Ki. He turned his head to the right in time to see both Ethan and Souichiro seemingly running straight at him. If it wasn't for the fact he was already at the urinal, he would have wet his pants most likely. "Oh crap! Were they waiting for this moment?!" Kenichi thought in near panic, memory once again striking him as he recalled Akisame mentioning how many martial artists would keep their guard up even during times of certain physiological functions. He was beginning to wish he had done the same.
However, much to his surprise, he heard Souichiro curse a bit, blowing his long hair out of his face as he and Ethan shot right past him and headed for the toilet stalls. Kenichi finished up his business and was immediately on edge as a minute later, both Souichiro and Ethan emerged from their stalls, sighing in relief. "Odd amount of synchronicity here…" Kenichi mildly noted despite the tense atmosphere.
Both of the YOMI teens ignored him in favor of washing their hands. "Last time I drink so much water before class," Souichiro muttered.
When it looked like nothing was going to happen, Kenichi slowly moved towards the sinks to wash his hands now, though he tried not to take his eyes off of the two. He did notice Souichiro glance at him briefly when he grabbed a few paper towels to wash his hands and he even nodded almost microscopically at him before leaving.
Kenichi cursed to himself as he realized a minute later that he just let a golden opportunity to tell Souichiro of the red feather slip right past him. However, Ethan was still in the restroom with him. "Shirahama," he said.
Kenichi tensed up again, but he didn't respond to Ethan verbally.
Ethan ignored his cautious gaze. "There is something I want to talk to you and Nagi about after school. If possible, just us men, no one to get in our way."
Kenichi stared at him for a few seconds in silence before finally responding. "Alright. Where at?"
Ethan nodded, seemingly pleased and named the place before taking his leave, leaving Kenichi alone in the restroom to mule over what could possibly happen now.
Elsewhere, specifically, at the Shinpaku Alliance headquarters, the Juken Club was there, currently relaxing while the actual members of the Shinpaku Alliance were at school still. Bob sighed. "Shit, that hurts," he muttered as he got up off the floor, slightly bruised.
Masataka smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that, Bob." He offered him a hand up, which Bob took. Just moments prior to this, the two had been lightly sparring to pass the time.
"Eh, no pain no gain, right?" Bob replied as he got up. He groaned as he stood up and began to rub his leg a bit. "Still, sure would be nice to land some good hits on you in a spar one day."
From a couch nearby, Maya was laying lazily on it. "Well, you have been getting slowly better with every spar, so you shouldn't be too wishful on that," she said with a smile, "like I once told you, just take small steps towards your goal and eventually you'll get there."
Bob snorted. "Yeah, yeah."
The three of them then looked to another corner of the room where Kagesada could be seen punching away at a punching bag while Aya appeared to be meditating. However, the feel of her Ki was enough for everyone there to know what she was doing.
"Any luck?" Masataka asked her as Aya sighed and opened her eyes, revealing her Dragon Eyes activated. She turned them off as she stood and wiped away the slight sweat on her face.
She shook her head sadly. "No. The darkness won't budge," she replied tiredly and sadly. Ever since her small glimpse into Souichiro's mind and Ki, she kept the rest of the Juken Club apprised of what she felt during that time. They were just as confused, intrigued, and worried as Aya was, even moreso when further attempts by the younger Natsume sister failed to get any more success.
"Man, if it really isn't one thing, it's another…" Bob muttered while scratching the back of his head in frustration, "why can't this shit be easy from time to time?"
"Kinda nerve wracking, if you ask me," Kagesada said without stopping his own training.
Maya now sat up on the couch while Masataka simply handed Aya a towel to wipe away the sweat. "True. But still, we can't let this get to us. We have to figure out what's going on here with the kid, especially if we're going to take out Sohaku once and for all." She looked at her sister. "So you said that it felt like a portion of the kid's Ki was way different from the other half? And that it was going somewhere else, right?" she asked. She already knew what Aya was say, but she was just double checking.
"Yes," Aya said, smiling at Masataka in thanks for the towel. She quickly wiped her face and tossed the towel aside. "And thinking back on it now, the feel of the Ki that was Souichiro-sama's… something about it seemed more…. complete?" she said, the last word being uncertain.
This got everyone's attention now. Kagesada even stopped punching to listen attentively now. "Complete?" Masataka asked.
Aya shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "That's really the best way I can describe it. Before, when Souichiro-sama first became Susano-o, the feel of his Ki was naturally changed as a result of the transformation, but its… core, for lack of a better word was still his own. But now, even though the Ki still feels like his own, it's been completely saturated with all of the Ki he has consumed. The red feather abilities he has are most likely greatly strengthened as a result and probably don't even use up that much Ki anymore…"
Masataka's eyes narrowed. "So in other words, the true warrior is getting more and more perfect?" he asked slowly, not liking the sound of that. A quick glance to an equally worried Maya and Bob told Masataka that they though the same way.
Aya nodded. "Seems that way."
Bob groaned from where he stood and so did Kagesada. "Well shit…" both muttered in unison.
A sigh drew their attention though and all of them looked to see Shinichiro walk into the room. "Kurei-senpai, how did it go?" Aya asked the alien-like teen.
"Well, whatever Yami and YOMI are doing right now, they're doing an excellent job hiding any databases they may have. I've tried almost every trick I knew, but no luck yet. Chances are I won't be stumbling upon anything connected to them for quite some time now," he said, having been spending a good portion of the day trying to find and hack any computers and/or databases that Yami or YOMI may employ in their activities. After all, given the size and power of the groups, they had to have something like that.
Maya from her spot on the couch shook her head in exasperation. "Great. We're getting nowhere, not with the kid and not with Yami either. If this keeps up, we might as well just go for a suicide run at them to lure them out."
Masataka leaned up against a nearby wall and looked out a window. "I wonder…" he thought, "will we really be able to do this?"
A few hours pass and elsewhere, school has ended and Kenichi was now meeting with Ethan and Souichiro. The location for their talk was a café known as the Boston Tea Party. A waitress nervously handed the three teens their drinks, an earl grey for Ethan and a blue mountain tea for Kenichi. Souichiro ordered nothing, partly because he didn't want anything to drink and partly because the waitress had been too afraid to ask him.
Said teen leaned back slightly in his seat, making it creak under his Ki. "Alright, so why did you call him here? And why am I here too?" Souichiro asked the large teen next to him, as they were seated at a bit of a large table next to a window. Kenichi sat across from the two YOMI members.
Souichiro had been rather surprised when much earlier today, prior to their encounter with Kenichi in the restroom, Ethan had asked him to join this little meeting, provided Kenichi would join too. He had told the true warrior that if the talk with Kenichi didn't go as he would hope, then he'd need to ask Souichiro a favor, hence his presence here now.
However, Ethan seemingly ignored Souichiro for the moment and instead, tended to his tea and Kenichi's. "How many sugars?" Ethan asked Kenichi as he began to put some in his own.
"Two," Kenichi replied, the Ryozanpaku teen staring cautiously at the two across from him. "Just what do these two have planned?" he thought to himself.
As Ethan complied with his answer, the large teen spoke again. "Sorry, don't put yours in. I developed this habit of always putting in sugars for my sister," he said, his calm and even relaxed voice contrasting greatly with the oppressive force of Souichiro's Ki.
Kenichi and Souichiro merely raised an eyebrow at Ethan's words, honestly having not expected the large teen to be so soft spoken. "Really?" both of them said in unison.
Once again, Ethan seemed to ignore their words. Instead, he slowly stood. "Now…" he began as he suddenly moved forward fast.
Kenichi tensed, believing it to be an attack and began to prepare for this. Souichiro merely raised an eyebrow. "What? So I'm here as a witness or something?" he thought in slight annoyance.
However, this wasn't the case as it turned out Ethan was merely bowing to Kenichi, much to the Ryozanpaku disciple's shock and Souichiro's mild surprise. "I apologize for all the trouble my older sister has caused you. Though this is a bit late, it's nice to meet you!" Ethan said to Kenichi without ever changing his near stoic facial expression.
Kenichi and Souichiro just stared at him. "Say what?" Souichiro said slowly. He just sat there, staring critically at his fellow YOMI member. "What the hell?"
"Eh?" was all Kenichi himself was able to say. This was definitely not what he had expected.
Ethan now sat back in his seat and seemed to ponder something as he locked his hands together. "As long as she can get attention, my older sister doesn't care what happens to the rest of humanity…" he said, almost solemnly. Then he looked back at Kenichi. "But now, onto the reason behind this meeting. Due to fate, it seems that Nagi-san and I are your enemies in this situation. That said, putting aside YOMI's logic, I personally have no reason to hate you or view you as my enemy. I believe that this applies to Nagi-san as well," he said, looking over to a surprised Souichiro, who merely nodded his head in both agreement and confusion as to what Ethan was really getting at here.
"Thus, the reason I called you here is so that we can perhaps resolve this peacefully," Ethan finished, staring directly into Kenichi's eyes as he said this.
Kenichi could only gape. This was way beyond anything he could have expected. "So direct!" he thought. Outwardly though, he said something else. "Wow, this… this sounds great! But, I think it'd be best for me to hear the full proposal…" he said.
Ethan nodded. "Of course. My proposal is a simple, one where this finishes without either of us getting hurt."
Kenichi now began to get hopeful. "Really?! How can it be done?!" he asked, trying to hold back his joy at possibly being able to avoid at least one or two fights with YOMI.
"Yeah, how?" Souichiro truly spoke up for once in this conversation. "I'm not exactly interested in fighting for YOMI either right now," he said.
Ethan looked at both Kenichi and Souichiro, nodding in agreement. Then he spoke. "Could you please die?"
Kenichi and Souichiro just stared at the large teen, both with wide eyes. Souichiro even went as far to clean out his right ear with his right pinky. "I think I misheard you for a second there. Did you just tell this guy to die?"
Kenichi just sat there, stonefaced at what Ethan just said too, nodding dumbly with what Souichiro was saying.
Ethan blinked in surprise. "Ah, I may have worded that wrongly," he began, "basically, it would mean the extermination of the name of Shiraham Kenichi as a martial artist. You would quit martial arts, return to the life of a normal high school student and I would get Yami to treat you as if you had died somehow."
All three of them were silent for a few minutes as they digest what Ethan was saying. "So…" Souichiro began, now leaning forward in his seat as he thought, staring at Ethan all the while, "what you're really telling him is to quit that Ryozanpaku dojo he's part of?" he asked, showing off how perceptive he can be.
Ethan nodded. "From what we have been told, you didn't have the determination to completely give yourself up to martial arts when you first joined, correct? In that case, there is still time for you to return to a normal life." He stared at Kenichi. "You've fought enough. No one will blame you," he said, now fully laying his proposal out for Kenichi to think on.
Souichiro himself could only stare back and forth as Kenichi thought this over, still having a bit of a hard time believing what had just been said. "I don't think Shirahama is going to accept this…" he thought.
A few seconds later, Kenichi replied. "I see," he calmly started, "it's true that I think differently towards martial arts than what you guys think." He smiled. "But no, that's the only thing. I plainly refuse!"
Rather than be surprised, Ethan seems to have anticipated it. "As I thought, you also have something you must protect. That's unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected."
Kenichi nodded. "As much as I would like to not have to fight you, it looks like we have no choice in this."
"Very well then," Ethan responded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his YOMI emblem. "In that case, I, Pollux of YOMI, challenge you." Then he turned to Souichiro. "And I would like you to be the one to be present when our fight takes place."
Souichiro snorted. "Figured as much," he muttered as he stood. "Fine. Just let me know when and where it'll take place later. I'm gonna get going," he said right before walking off, offhandedly waving to the two before quickly exiting the shop.
Kenichi took the emblem from Ethan. "Alright then, I accept," he said, his face showing his determination in this matter. "You just let me know when and where."
Ethan nodded before his cell phone rang. Taking it out and looking at the number, he stood to leave. "Hmm, well it looks like I will have to get going as well. My sister is currently in a precarious position and I have had to do many missions to try and solve all of this." He turned to leave. "I'll inform you later of when and where the fight will be. Until then, train hard, Shirahama Kenichi, for I will be doing the same to try and kill you." And with that, Ethan left, leaving Kenichi alone.
"Ah, excuse me…" Kenichi looked to his left to see the waitress from earlier shuffle on over to where he is. She looked considerably relieved now that Souichiro was gone.
"Yes?" Kenichi politely asked.
The waitress smiled politely, but sheepishly as well. "Will you be paying for the drinks?" She then gestured to his tea and Ethan's, which they had pretty much left untouched for the entirety of their conversation.
"E-Eh?! They're sticking me with the bill?!" Kenichi thought, realizing now too late that the YOMI members had left him with the admittedly cheap tab. Grumbling slightly under his breath as he proceeded to get the money out to pay, Kenichi vowed to be more careful when situations like this ever come up again.
Now back at the Shinpaku Alliance headquarters, now that school was out, all of the members had now reconnoitered there, meeting up with the Juken Club.
"Well, bad news first, if Yami and/or YOMI have a database that they have something filed away on, I didn't manage to find it," Shinichiro said as now they were all gathered around in the same room, with the Juken Club along with Nijima, Takeda, Ukita, Kisara, Kaname, Hibiki and Chiaki near the small and older teen while the rest of the members such as Matsui, Kumokawa, and the Valkyries were all near the walls of the room, listening. Miu and Renka were also there as well, having been called there after school let out.
Shinichiro's statement wasn't exactly well-received. "So we're still in the dark on what those guys have planned next," Kisara muttered angrily.
Nijima sighed. "It can't be helped. After all, it'd be odd if it were easy." The taller alien-like boy now smiled. "On the other hand, there is a bit of good news."
Everyone perked up at that, save for the Juken Club. They already knew what he was about to say. "Oh yeah? What?" Ukita asked.
Nijima chuckled a bit. "Those red feathers that Nagi was said to have hunted down? Apparently there are more out there. Kenichi even fought one of them."
At that, just about everyone was shocked. "So there are others like that Nagi guy?!" Ukita yelled in shock.
"That doesn't sound comforting…" Kaname muttered, folding her arms under her breasts as she spoke.
"Ah, no it's not like that," Masataka said as he now moved next to Nijima. "Like we explained once, Nagi has the power of thousands of red feathers due to his own unique red feather ability, the Dragon Fist, which his family line has. Other red feathers just have one ability. So it isn't as bad as it seems."
"Masataka is right, there's really nothing much to worry about as far as that goes. I bet there was only just the one too," Maya said as she thought on it from where she was standing. "And even if the one Kenichi fought wasn't the only one that Yami has under its employ, it shouldn't make that big a difference in the long run."
Nijima now full out laughed. "She's right. And not only that, but Nagi is supposed to be helped by Yami in getting these red feathers. If he were to find out that they were holding out on him…"
Everyone, the Juken Club too this time around, now stared at the Shinpaku Alliance general. "Wait up," Bob said, "you planning to try and turn Souichiro against them…?" he asked.
Nijima cackled. "Yep! It's clear that when he feels emotion nowadays, he feels it bad. If he finds out Yami isn't helping him anymore, then he's going to be angry. Angry enough to perhaps turn on them. This is a good thing to take advantage of!" he explained.
"Are you crazy, alien?!" Ukita yelled, "you really think he's just gonna join us or something if you tell him that?!"
"Not to mention we still need to deal with Sohaku too. And being around us only seems to make things worse for Souichiro-sama," Aya pointed out.
"But still, we could use all the help against YOMI," Nijima replied.
"But isn't it kind of wrong to try something like that?" Miu asked, concerned. Part of her was concerned because of what Aya pointed out; Souichiro being around the Juken Club and even the Shinpaku Alliance themselves isn't going to do him much good. Another part of her was concerned for her friends though. As was pointed out a few times by the Juken Club, Sohaku is still apparently trying to take control of Souichiro's body. If that occurred while around them, then they were all in danger.
Nijima was about to respond to that, but then stopped. "Hmm?"
"What is it?" Maya asked.
Nijima smirked. "Heh, he's close by," he said aloud, more to himself than to anyone else. His ears twitched in an inhuman-like manner.
Beside him, so did Shinichiro's ears. "Huh, he's right. Nag is close by," he agreed.
"Relatives. They have to be relatives somehow," everyone thought as they watched the two.
Nijima chuckled to himself. "Here's my chance," he thought and he peered out the nearest window in time to see Souichiro round the corner of the street. It was at this point that they were all able to feel his Ki now, the Valkyries and Matsui and Kumokawa nearly passing out from it.
"Shit, this is crazy…" Ukita muttered, trying not to shiver.
"Well, at least today won't be a boring day," Takeda said with a strained smile.
Nijima suddenly took off out the door, surprising everyone. "Huh?! Hey, wait!" Masataka yelled after him and proceeded to give chase. Though he didn't really say anything during Nijima's talk just now, he didn't exactly agree with what Nijima had planned. Souichiro was just too unstable at the moment to be dealt with.
"Masataka!" Maya yelled after him, but he didn't show any sign of having heard her. "Tch!"
"We should go after them," Kisara said. Like Ukita, she was trying not to shiver as well.
Everyone else looked ready to agree with this, but Maya held up a hand, making them stop moving. "No. no, it's best just to wait and see what happens for now. The last thing we need is the kid thinking we're attacking him or something. All we can do is just hope those two don't do anything really stupid," she said, albeit grudgingly.
"And what if they do piss him off?" Bob asked.
Maya gritted her teeth, not feeling entirely confident in Nijima and Masataka. "Then I guess we're gonna have a serious fight on our hands."
Outside the Shinpaku Alliance headquarters, Souichiro approached, having naturally come from the café where he had been with Kenichi and Ethan. "Huh. Me as a witness to the fight? That sure is new to me," he thought in mild amusement as he had never really been one to just be on the sidelines. Willingly at least. He also had to admit a little grudgingly that the fight probably would help take his mind off things for a bit. While he really did feel doubtful over staying with YOMI and Yami, he was willing to stick with them for just a bit longer in order to see if perhaps something would happen to change his mind.
As he continued to walk down the street, he actually took note of the building he was about to pass right in front of a moment later. "Son of a…" he growled as he realized where he was.
What's more, was that at this exact moment, Nijima made his appearance. "Yo!" he said very confidently to the true warrior, now walking up to him.
Upon seeing Nijima, Souichiro's eyes narrowed and his Ki rose slightly, making the alien-like teen falter a tiny bit in his steps, but Nijima kept up his confident front. "Besides…" he thought, knowing that Masataka had chased after him and was now keeping a bit of distance between them by staying out of sight near the corner of the headquarters building, having run right around said corner the second he was outside in order to avoid Souichiro seeing him. Thankfully, Souichiro was focused entirely on him. "if things go south, he can bail me out," he thought.
"What do you want, you damn alien?" Souichiro all but demanded. He remembered when he had tried and failed to catch this guy when he had chased him all that time ago and that little failure combined with the fact Nijima had been trying to spy on him at the time was something Souchiro was having a bit of trouble letting go.
Nijima chuckled and actually took a few more steps towards Souichiro. From his hiding spot, Masataka shook his head in amazement. "Wow. He's actually getting closer to him despite not being a fighter. He's either crazy or braver than I thought he was," he muttered to himself, tensing up in case he had to rescue Nijima. He certainly wished it wouldn't have to come to that or else he'd be risking a possible fight with Souichiro and that would be very dangerous under these circumstances.
"Oh, I want nothing from you, if that's what you mean," Nijima began, inwardly cackling. While approaching Souichiro like this was definitely a very bold and equally risky move on his part given their last encounter, Nijima knew that given the true warrior's current state of emotional confusion what with Sohaku and all, then telling him about the red feather from the cruise ship could be exactly what is needed to turn him against YOMI and Yami. While it may not lead to Souichiro joining the Shinpaku Alliance and could very well backfire on him spectacularly, it was a risk that he was willing to take. "But, there is something I would like to tell y-," he began to say, but didn't finish when Souichiro took an intimidating step towards him.
"You? Tell me something?" Souichiro questioned. "And what would that be? And why?"
Nijima took a step back, trying not to let his nervousness show. "Heh heh heh, what, is there something wrong with me giving you a bit of info?"
"Considering I'm part of a group meant to kill you and the rest of your Shinpaku Alliance? Yeah," Souichiro retorted.
Nijima chuckled yet again. "Fair point. But still, what do you lose from listening?"
"Aside from a few minutes of my life?" Souichiro shot back without missing a beat.
"Come on. It actually is something you should know though," Nijima said, his smile dropping enough for Souichiro to see that he was indeed quite serious.
He stared at Nijima, the general of the Shinpaku Alliance not backing down from the intensity of the true warrior's gaze. "Fine then," Souichiro eventually grumbled out. He put his hands in his pockets, now waiting for Nijima to say what he wanted to say.
Nijima now smiled, having Souichiro right where he wanted him, more or less. Up from the window of the headquarters, some of the main members of the Shinpaku Alliance and Juken Club watched in apprehension. "Sure hope shit doesn't hit the fan," Bob muttered as he was one of the ones closest to the window to see this.
"It has to do with those red feathers you've been looking for," Nijima began.
Now that sure grabbed the true warrior's attention. "What about it?" he asked.
"Were you aware that there was apparently still one around?" Nijima asked, wanting to drag this on a bit.
Souichiro leaned away from Nijima, shocked. He had thought just about every red feather had either had their power taken from them by him or were very well hidden. But Nijima apparently knew of where one was? Suddenly, a surge of urgency and slight anger made itself known in Souichiro. He could feel Sohaku deep within his mind reacting to the word of red feathers as well. "What do you mean?" Souichiro demanded, suddenly getting in his face.
Nijima's eyes widened as he gazed into Souichiro's now threatening and demanding eyes, backing away. from where he hide, Masataka tensed, cursing under his breath as he could tell that things were really reaching a boiling point here.
Nijima tried to keep from gulping. "What I mean…" he began slowly, reevaluating how things were going, "is that very recently, my buddy Kenichi along with a few others actually ran into one of these red feathers while aboard a cruise ship. I think you know what I'm talking about," he finished.
And Souichiro did know what he meant; he and the rest of YOMI knew of Diego Carlo's plan with that bomb of his along with how Rachel had been taken by Mikumo back to Yami. It was Rachel's confinement that was causing Ethan to take on extra missions lately.
"Anyways," Nijima said to get Souichiro out of his thoughts. "This red feather they encountered… he works for Yami."
Souichiro at first didn't seem to react to this statement, his mind slowly digesting it. It was only several seconds later that the shock finally hit him. His eyes widened and he was actually a bit slack jawed. "What?" he quietly said.
Nijima opted to not speak, simply content with just letting Souichiro slowly take this in. He just hoped this wouldn't backfire on him.
Everyone else watched with bated breath as well, looking on as Souichiro simply stood there like a statue. "Is he going to attack?" Takeda muttered to no one in particular, getting antsy from the suspense. As he expected, no one answered him.
As for Masataka, he gulped, now seriously not liking this situation. While he had confidence in Nijima to an extent, he just felt it in his bones that this was going to end badly one way or another.
As for Souichiro himself, he was stupefied. "Yami… they have a red feather on their payroll?" he thought slowly. He had suspected for a while that they weren't exactly putting forth their full efforts in helping him look for red feathers, but for them to keep this sort of information hidden from him… he didn't know why, but it felt like a huge slap in the face. And like others would sometimes feel following this sort of feeling, he began to feel angry.
He moved towards Nijima, doing so at such surprising speeds that only Masataka, Maya, Miu, and Renka were able to actually see him move. To everyone else, it was as if one second he was standing like a statue and the next split second he was literally inches away from Nijima. Nijima himself was shocked at the speed.
If he had words for this, he didn't get a chance to voice them for that was when Souichiro suddenly grabbed a fistful of the front of his shirt and lifted him high off the ground. When this happened, Souichiro's hair began to whip around wildly, the tips of the large strands of hair turning into blades while his Ki also increased. Nijima broke out into a very cold sweat as it began to feel as if death itself was gripping him. "Where the fuck do they have this red feather?" Souichiro demanded coldly.
Nijima started to stutter, his mind working at lightning speeds to try and figure out a way to escape here. His mind was coming up blank. "I-I-I don't know," he replied, now panicking and trying to struggled out of his own shirt to try and escape.
"You're lying," Souichiro growled out, not believing him for one second. "Where is that red feather? Does Yami have more of them working for them?!" He was still virtually growling this out, but he might as well have been yelling because of how angry and intense his voice sounded. It didn't help that he was now shaking Nijima like a leave in anger now.
"I. Don't. Know!" Nijima managed to say despite being shook so much.
Souichiro was beginning to see red just a bit. His mind, which had become somewhat fragile as a result of the constant worry and fear of Sohaku taking over, of perhaps being forced to fight his – in his mind – former club and even worse potentially end up killing them, of potentially hurting others that have nothing to do with this, was beginning to reach its breaking point. It was why he was usually so calm and relatively leveled headed ever since joining YOMI; he had needed to try and keep his mind off of these sorts of things, but not anymore.
He snarled and reared back his left fist, clenching it tightly. And the fist was aimed right at Nijima's face. The general of the Shinpaku Alliance realized immediately what was about to happen: Souichiro was going to beat him to a bloody smear on the pavement. He was looking at his own death straight in the eyes.
Or at least, that's what Nijima would have been doing had an elbow not suddenly smash into the right side of Souichiro's head. The attack was so sudden that it knocked Nijima loose of Souichiro's vice grip and even sent the true warrior Susano-o skidding several feet.
Souichiro immediately recovered from the surprise attack, the elbow strike having actually hurt him a little bit. He turned to see who had hit him. His eyes widened in surprise before narrowing. "Senpai," he growled.
There, standing now next to a stunned Nijima was Masataka, who had jumped out of his cover and struck right before Souichiro could punch the former. "Hey Nagi," Masataka greeted, taking up his usual fighting stance.
Souichiro's right eyebrow twitched in anger at the interference and he proceeded to open his mouth and stick out his tongue, ready to make Masataka stand down using the Dragon's Roar. Masataka tensed as Souichiro did so and he spotted the familiar marking on the true warrior's tongue, but much to his surprise, it was faded.
Souichiro prepared to use it. "Back off," he growled out as he activated the technique. Or rather he attempted to.
His eyes widened in shock as he suddenly felt a sort of disruption in his own Ki. The Dragon's Roar was one of a very small number of abilities and techniques he had absorbed that still seemed to require Ki to use, but right now when he attempted to use it, nothing happened, Ki simply gathering into the marking on his tongue, but not activating. "What the hell?!" he thought.
Masataka was just as surprised too. "It's not working….? What's going on?" he thought, refusing to drop his guard. Instead, he put up his guard even further, preparing himself for the inevitable attack.
Souichiro closed his mouth in shock and just stared at Masataka. "Senpai… now really isn't a good time to be around me," he said.
"I can tell," Masataka replied. He paused for a minute. "Something is wrong with your powers?"
"I'm telling you, senpai, back off. I'm not gonna tell you again," the true warrior retorted, ignoring Masataka's question. It wasn't as if he knew the exact answer to that question anyway.
Masataka shook his head. "Sorry, but I can't do that."
Souichiro bristled, signified by how his hair began to flail about again. The ground beneath Souichiro's feet began to gain spider-web cracks as his Ki shot up in proportion to his growing anger. "Have it your way then," he growled out before he got ready to lunge.
But before he could even move forward, having been so utterly focused on Masataka proved to be a mistake on his part.
Bob made a sudden appearance, unleashing a powerful roundhouse kick that made Souichiro instinctively move back a bit to avoid it. "Bob?!"
As Bob's attack missed and he returned to a fighting stance, he replied to Souichiro. "It's not just me here either," he said.
It was at that point that Souichiro finally turned and saw everyone that had come running out of the Shinpaku Alliance headquarters. Now flanking his left side was roughly all of the powerhouses of the Shinpaku Alliance, that being Takeda, Ukita, Kisara, Kaname, Hibiki, Chiaki, Miu, and Renka. And they weren't alone either as Maya and Aya were also there, now moving near Bob. Kagesada and Shinichiro had apparently opted to stay behind in the building alongside the Valkyries, knowing that they wouldn't contribute to what was to come next. This would have applied to Ukita too if it wasn't for his insistence in fighting alongside his comrades.
Souichiro gaped a bit at Maya and Aya. "Captain…? Aya…?" he muttered, shocked that they were here as well.
Both of the Natsume sisters looked downcast. "Souichiro-sama," Aya muttered sadly. She knew that right now, Souichiro was far from stable and posed a danger to everyone in the area, but still she wished that she wouldn't have to fight against him.
Maya herself was sad as this was first and foremost a fight that she had wished to avoid. "Hey kid," she said with a strained smile.
Souichiro merely stared at them for a moment before his eyes narrowed again. "So this is how things have to be, huh?" he muttered before sighing.
Maya nodded. So did Masataka, but Souichiro didn't see him do so. "It seems that way." She covertly signaled Nijima, who was still sitting unceremoniously on the ground. Nijima noticed her doing so a second later and saw that she was gesturing for him to get back inside the Shinpaku Alliance headquarters. He hesitated for a few seconds before finally nodding and making a run for it. Souichiro didn't notice this. "I really didn't want things to turn out this way," Maya said a moment later after seeing Nijima make it to the building safely.
Souichiro nodded in agreement. "Neither did I. But I guess it's too late for that," he said. He looked down at the ground. Everyone tensed. A minute later, Souichiro looked back up at Maya before shifting his gaze to look over everyone around him.
"Alright then," he said, clenching his fists even tighter than they already were. "Let's do this."
That was when the fight began.
Holy shit, 16 pages! By far the possibly second longest chapter for this fic! I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting this chapter to be this long.
Moving on though, with this chapter now done, I will be proceeding to work on a little personal side project of mine for a while before getting back to this fic as is now the norm for me. Given the fact that my semester is now nearly over, this should hopefully mean that I will be able to pick up my writing pace a bit more, but since I will more than likely be looking for a job this summer, I can't guarantee anything.
With that said, thank you to those that follow me or this fic, thanks to those that favorite this fic or even me (seriously, I love you guys), thank you to those who even simply read this fic! You all have no idea how much it means to me to see that you read this fic and (hopefully) enjoy it!
Until the next chapter, I hope you all take care and be sure to drop a review!