Chapter 11 - Wandering.

"You have to kill my doppelganger..."

Those words still echoed in Kagura's mind, though they seemed more and more to have been just a strange dream made in the middle of the day.

She remembered being on that bridge, throwing her rival in the air. Then a figure appeared. Like some sort of fog, the stranger's face had dissipated the newt day as if it had never existed in the first place; making it all the more surreal. Only those words remained, withholding a certain familiar feeling.

Still, when she thought about it… What had she done right after that?

What had she done until it was time to fall asleep and wake up the next day?

No matter how hard she was racking her brains, she couldn't remember. She wanted to check the time on the Yorozuya boss's justaway alarm clock; boss she hadn't seen this morning. Nor either Shinpachi for that matter…

The alarm clock was on the floor, in its usual place against the wall (when no one was sleeping in the room); and strangely enough, the clock's hands had remained frozen at 5H05 a.m.. They must have stopped in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep, but then how did the perm-head got up earlier than her?

But then again, had he really slept here at all? Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember anything from last night and therefore didn't know whether the boss had really been there or not.

She looked at the clock again, and all of a sudden, it now read 11H15, and the hands were in motion again. Yet she remembered perfectly what she'd read there a few minutes earlier. 5H05. 5:50.

The strange hour was etched in her mind, and as it went, another message took shape.

SOS.

She wasn't used to being extremely clever and smart when it came to solving puzzles, but the hour was so peculiar, that her still asleep brain had been able to somewhat see letters in place of numbers.

And Kagura finally began to doubt.

Why was she seeing or feeling inexplicable things?

Why did she feel spied on?

Why did everything seem so superficial?

Why…

These presences that she felt, these contacts which frightened her, these streets which seemed to come alive only when she passed there.

She ran to the front door and pushed the sliding door so hard she almost smashed it.

The usually busy street in front of the agency was empty, deserted. There was not a sound, not even that of the sparrows on the roofs, or the traffic of cars in the distance.

The neighborhood was akin to a ghost town; and when she looked at the sky, as far as the eye could see, there wasn't a single spaceship flying.

No one.

Was she alone? Was there really nothing alive around here?

She'd frozen in place without even realizing it, there, on the Yorozuya agency's balcony.

The young Yato had never told anyone about it, but she hated being alone. She didn't want to go through this anymore.

She had to find someone. So Kagura started to run. First, in the Kabuki district, then in other parts of the city. Then, seeing that she couldn't find anyone at all, she ended up heading to the other familiar place she knew. A place she'd been reluctant to visit until now, avoiding it carefully.

Shinsengumi's Headquarters.

There was not a soul. No Gorilla Exhibitionist, no Anpan addict, no Mayo-lover. Not a sound. The main building looked like it had been unoccupied for ages.

A piercing sound, coming from behind her.

Her over-developed survival instinct allowed her to step aside at the last minute. A pistol bullet had grazed her cheek, leaving a red slash on the usually pristine skin.

She turned around and again saw her rival, appearing as if by magic, without a sound.

He was clad in his full Shinsengumi attire, with his black and gold uniform, the still-smoking weapon in his hand. His sword still stored in its scabbard.

She watched him carefully, all senses awakened. His right hand clutched on the gun, the wind lifting his locks of hair. His famous inverted smile, which in fact wasn't one. More like a thin line akin to a grimace. His eyebrows steadily furrowed. And his gaze. Empty.

No, he wasn't her rival. Her rival would have had some emotion in his eyes, whether negative or neutral, with a certain glint of malice, rage, or hatred. Eyes that would have been the embodiment of biting, hungry flames; showing that their owner was ready to fight like hell.

But there was none of that. Everything proved that it could have been her old enemy; but by that simple look, she knew. It wasn't him.

"Kill my doppelganger".

Like someone of old who had come back after many years to knock on your door, those words had come right back at her once again. And now she remembered it all. The hooded man, he had that famous look, even though she couldn't see his whole face. That hungry look, and that inverted smile.

The person standing in front of her was not Okita Sougo, Prince of Sadists and Captain of the Shinsengumi's First Division. It was a stranger who had put on his appearance. And she didn't like it at all.

She searched for her umbrella with her hand, but couldn't find it. She hadn't had it with her since last night, or rather, yesterday afternoon, the last time she remembered anything.

It would be a hand to hand fight on her end. But it wouldn't be that hindering for landing blows. What would eventually suffer would be her defense. Without a bulletproof umbrella, she'd have to get to cover quickly, especially if the stranger kept on using his firearm instead of drawing his katana.

Projectiles began to shoot around her. Quick, dodge. Or take as little impacts as possible. Jump to the right, shift to the left.

Bullets seemed to follow her as soon as she set foot anywhere. And still no emotion from the strange man who had put on Okita Sougo's skin. A stranger who also seemed to have an endless supply of bullets.

It was necessary to attempt a breakthrough. Kagura decided that it was the only viable solution; if this person indeed had an almost infinite amount of projectiles. She then rushed in the direction of her assailant. Taking in her favor the obstacles in the yard; bushes, rocks, earth bumps, she rushed forward while taking cover as much as possible. Three bullets nearly hit her before she crashed behind her last rescue point, the trunk of the only tree close enough to her target.

The shots then stopped. No more noise, except her own jerky breathing. The stranger was still looking in her direction. No choice then. She wanted to know more about what was going on, about where she really was.

As time seemed to pass in slow motion during this fight, nothing felt real to her anymore. What if everything that had happened in the past few days was not true? Someone had wanted to make her believe things? But for what purpose? Was Papi also involved? Or was he an impostor? What about Gintoki, Shinpachi? She wasn't sure of anything anymore. And time itself was slowing down even more. Was this her real world, or a fake one? And since when was all this happening? She couldn't trust her own memory anymore. Everything was intertwined in a messy soup, nothing being meaningful anymore.

But on the contrary… The hooded figure on the bridge, the only element that had seemed suspicious to her, seemed the only point of truth to which she could cling to.

And SOS. Who wrote that? Who had left this clue in her memory? Was that a cry for help from someone? Or… Was it her subconscious crying for help? She didn't know. However, if there was something she was sure about, and only one, it was that she needed answers; and the only person who could provide them ad made a condition.

She had to beat this guy. Potentially kill him. But she'd never killed anyone. It panicked her for a moment, but it occurred to her that maybe this was all an illusion.

She rushed forward. The shooting started again. Moving swiftly sideways, she took a bullet to the side, but that didn't stop her in her tracks. Then, it was the point of contact.

She was suddenly within three meters of him when her enemy swung at her the pistol he had held until now in his hand. Kagura made the mistake of having her gaze focused on the weapon, potential projectile, and froze in place at the last moment. With all her might, she blocked a murderous blade ready to strike vertically on her neck. Her right hand partially lacerated by the blade that was still exerting tremendous pressure, she winced.

That bastard distracted her for a short while by throwing the gun at her, and if she hadn't acted without thinking, she certainly couldn't have avoided that direct hit. But now was her chance. Her enemy was using both of his hands on his sword, still trying to lower the blade towards her, and had no way to parry while she held on with her hands.

Her hands were burning, and she felt she must've been bleeding, but now was not the time to think about that. Her legs, still arched to this moment, in order to maintain a position capable of pushing back the blade, swiveled. And with a tremendous blow, she smacked her entire leg against her opponent's side. A blow that would certainly have broken several ribs for a human being, or for any other Amanto who wasn't born a Yato. But she was also sure of it. What she was fighting wasn't human at all.

The body got twisted under the pressure, like some kind of sponge or modeling clay, and remained in this incongruous position for a moment. That thing had frozen on the spot, and the pressure on the young Yato's hands had almost disappeared; although she could still feel the blade between her hands. She looked up, and what she saw repelled her. As a wrapped would have slipped from some fruit as smooth as an apple, Okita Sougo's "skin" had slipped slightly from its wearer, revealing a black and vaporous yet very palpable thing.

She then heard a hoarse and distorted voice, like that of her rival, but so inhuman that no mistake was possible at this point.

"You won't get away..."

The "skin" began to melt before revealing a being as black as the night who had instead of hands long claws, and instead of a face two fiery eyes of a deep red; and a smile formed by sharp teeth, from which a foul mist escaped, as black as the body of the creature.

She hadn't seen anything so horrible in her whole life, despite growing up on an Amanto planet. But her body was already telling her to react, not to stay there. No way she was staying there. No way.

She brought back to her body her damaged hands, the sword having completely vanished, and despite what her body was screaming at her, she wanted to try something. She wasn't used to being scared, but she still wanted to know if this creature was also invincible, or simply just scary.

She punched the creature in the face. Its head split open, but the creature didn't seem to care and began to move dangerously close to Kagura, who was herself starting to step back. This thing couldn't be beaten using physical strength. Not if said creature didn't care about what was happening to her, and didn't even seem to take any damage.

The creature's head merged again to come together, and Kagura eventually made a decision.

She remembered one of the few lessons her father had given her. Sometimes there were enemies you couldn't beat. Enemies that would be stronger, even if one could think he could defeat everything just by being born as a Yato.

She started running towards the exit that the creature was blocking, and managed to narrowly pass. She wasn't sure where she was going, and not knowing if she was in her own world or another, preferred not to come back to the Yorozuya agency.

And as she ran away, the creature, instead of running right after her, began to sink into the ground.

And soon, a shadow began to move over the sand and the earth, in pursuit of the young Yato girl.

To Be Continued...

Author's note: Watch Classicaloid! It's really funny, and Beethoven, who has white hair, is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita!