Sixth Kiss ~Kiss or Die~
Author's Note :
While the story is still progressing, I felt like the last chapter dragged a bit since nothing really happened other than talking. What better girl to write about to bring more action to the story than Golden Darkness?
Start :
The large blade swings across at neck level, heading straight towards her throat. As with the previous two times, she is prepared for the obvious attack, blocking it at the last moment with a blade of her own. She resists the urge to yawn as the expected follow-up attacks, two blades swinging in on either side, are also blocked.
Nothing else seems to move in the park, although several bystanders are watching from the sidelines. Even the birds and other wildlife seem to be waiting to see what will happen next. An outsider watching the battle would have trouble deciphering which blades belong to which combatants. Anyone not from Sainan would likely run away screaming as well, but for the residents of this particular area, a display like this is just another Monday morning.
Yami pauses as the attacks slow for a moment, considering her options. When the same attack routine begins to repeat for the fourth time, she decides to stay on the defensive for now. "She must be planning something." She thinks.
After blocking the two side attacks yet again, Yami crosses her arms above her head, preparing for the expected overhead chop... and scolds herself when it doesn't come. Instead, a fast moving blade stabs in straight for her belly. She brings one knee up, expecting that she will be able to transform in time to block it, but the attack never lands. At the last moment, the blade transforms back into a long red braid and slaps harmlessly off of her thigh.
"I almost had you that time, Yami-onee-chan!" Mea says as both her and Yami return to their normal forms. As they settle back to the ground, those who had gathered to watch move on. Some pause to applaud the show, thinking maybe it is some sort of circus demonstration. A few of the smaller children try to run up to greet them but their parents hold them back. Mea smiles at this, but Yami appears to be deep in thought.
"I knew what you were planning to do, but you still managed to surprise me, Mea." She says.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you." Mea says with a grin. "You're getting too comfortable with your peaceful life here. You should train more. Master and I train all the time." Mea flexes one of her arms. Although it still looks just as slim and delicate as ever, all those who know her would not doubt the power she possesses in that small frame.
Mea's expression and voice take on a more serious tone. "With your Darkness power, you could destroy all of us, but you can't depend on that in every fight."
As Yami continues to think, she hears a slight noise from behind her. Without even turning, she quickly transforms her right arm into a long blade and sticks it straight out behind her, resting it on the chin of the approaching man, who quickly raises both hands to show he is no threat. "Looks like your senses are still as sharp as ever though." The man says.
Recognizing the voice, Yami turns her head to look at him. "Kuro?" She asks. The man appears oddly out of place, standing out in the open on a sunny morning. He is dressed the same as always, although he appears to be unarmed. "After our last encounter I did not expect to see you here again."
Kuro chuckles, eyeing the blade that still has not moved from his chin. "Neither did I, though I assure you, I come as a friend. You know how rare one of those is in our line of work."
Yami relaxes, withdrawing the blade and turning to face Kuro fully. "Our line of work?" She says. "I thought we had come to the agreement that we were BOTH out of that line of work for good."
"So did I." He replies, sitting comfortably on one of the park benches. "But I had to turn down a job from a rather persistent client recently that I thought would be of concern to you." His eyes narrow and he leans forward as he continues. "Someone wants Yuuki Rito dead."
Mea laughs at the serious expression on Kuro's face. "Well that's no surprise, Kuro-senpai." She says. "With Yami-onee-chan, You, Azenda, and a dozen other hunters I've turned away in the past few months, it's nothing new."
"Kuro-senpai?" Kuro repeats, looking confused. He shakes his head. "Before you were dealing with frustrated suitors wanting that kid out of the way, or rival bounty hunters wanting the reputation for taking out Golden Darkness or her target." He says. "This client is different, and they are throwing a lot of money around to try and make this happen. The only reason they gave up trying to recruit me is that they seem to have found another hunter willing to take the job."
"And why should we be more concerned about this one than any of the others?" Yami asks, though her own tone makes it seem that she too is starting to worry.
"Because the client knew about all of you. You, Nemesis, Mea, the three Princesses. Even about your Darkness transformation power." He pauses to let them consider this. "This hunter can't possibly think they can take you all on..."
"So they will try to kill Yuuki Rito when he is alone." Yami finishes for him, eliciting a nod from both Kuro and Mea. "Then what do you suggest we do?"
Kuro holds up his hands again. "I've already done all that I can. If this client discovers I am here talking to you, things could go badly for me." He says. "But if I could make a suggestion, I would take Yuuki Rito off of this planet as soon as possible."
Before Yami can finish considering the advice, Mea jumps in. "Why should we do that?" She asks.
"You don't know who this hunter is, or if they work alone." Kuro continues. "They likely won't reveal themselves until it's too late. If you can hide the boy without them realizing it, they will be forced to search him out, and you can hunt them instead. You could even use Nemesis as a stand in for him to draw them out. Any attack meant to kill the human would likely have little effect on her."
Yami looks at both Mea and Kuro, seeing the same expectant look coming from both of them. "Strange." She thinks, but quickly puts it out of her mind. "Then I will take both of them away." She says. "I cannot leave Mikan here by herself if someone is hunting her brother. They have tried targeting her in the past."
Kuro shoots a quick panicked glance at Mea, but Yami misses it, seeming to be deep in thought again. "That won't work." Mea says. "If Master replaces Rito-senpai we can catch them quickly, but if Mikan-san were to disappear too then it would look suspicious." She thinks for a moment. "We can keep Mikan-san safe while also watching for attacks on Neme-Rito." She suggests. "You just worry about keeping the real Rito-senpai safe."
After another moment of thinking, Yami suddenly turns and begins to walk away. "Where are you going?" Kuro asks, puzzled.
"I'll leave protecting Mikan to you, Mea." Yami says over her shoulder. "If what you say is true, there is no time to waste. Someone could be on their way to kill Yuuki Rito right now."
"Maybe someone will just kill me today and I won't have to worry about any of this anymore." Rito thinks. "Where's Yami when I need her?" He chuckles at his own joke, then slouches over his desk and continues brooding.
As he looks around the classroom, he is reminded of the problems he faces. He sees Yui, looking straight forward and trying her best to ignore him completely. "Even after that date and everything that happened, she's still angry that I won't simply choose one of them." He thinks. "And now she's angry at everyone else for not agreeing with her."
He looks at Haruna next. She sees him looking at her and gives him weak smile, but quickly goes back to writing notes. "Haruna doesn't hate me, I hope, but I think her feelings were hurt when she found out there were so many other girls I hadn't told her about. She was just starting to get used to the idea of the three of us getting along."
He then looks over his shoulder to where Lala is sitting. "Even Lala, who was all for the idea of a harem, seemed hurt that nobody told her about Nana." He sighs. "And I had to open my big mouth and tell her that Momo also confessed to me!"
"The sisters are the only ones that seem to be on my side right now. Nana still thinks the harem is a stupid idea, but for once she isn't angry at me. She's just angry at Kotegawa for trying to tell her what to do. And Momo…" He thinks. "Well, she's actually been pretty quiet lately."
Rito sighs again and drops his head onto his desk. It makes a thump sound, quite a bit louder than he had intended, causing his teacher to look up in surprise.
"Is there a problem, Yuuki-kun?" He asks.
"Uh, no. Sorry." He mutters, embarrassed. He excuses himself and heads towards the restroom, wanting a break from the stress of the classroom for a bit.
Rito stands in front of the bathroom mirror, examining his face. He looks haggard, like he hasn't slept well recently.
"You sure did make a mess, didn't you?"
He chuckles to himself. Mikan of course isn't there, but he hears the words in his head as if she just spoke them now instead of the night before. "At least that's one other person who's not mad at me." He thinks.
He hears a scraping noise behind him and turns to see what caused it, but he appears to be alone. Before he can turn back towards the mirror, a large sack suddenly drops over him from above. As the drawstring on the sack is pulled tight, he feels his feet yanked out from under him. He braces, expecting to hit the floor hard, but strong arms catch him and hold him tight. He tries to call out for help, but another hand closes over his face and he just gets a mouth full of fabric from the sack holding him. He thrashes from side to side, trying to escape. The grip of his attacker loosens a bit as he slips free, but then there is a loud 'thump' as he knocks his head against the side of the sink and everything fades into darkness.
"Let me go!" Rito yells. He sits up quickly, confused about his surroundings. "I must have passed out." He thinks. He is sitting on a bed in a rather small bedroom. Although he doesn't think he has been here before, the sleek metal walls look familiar to him.
He reaches up to rub the side of his head where he hit the sink and discovers that someone has wrapped it in a bandage and placed a cool cloth over it. "I need to figure out where I am." He thinks. "And who grabbed me."
He stands up and crosses the room towards the door. The room feels like it is spinning, and for a moment Rito thinks it must be due to hitting his head, but then he hears the rumble of an engine and feels vibration in the floor beneath his feet. "Am I on a plane?" He wonders. Again he considers the futuristic look of the walls and door, and what looks like some sort of terminal on the wall. "No, a spaceship."
He hears footsteps approaching and realizes that someone is on the other side of the door he is facing. With no time to think of a plan, he leaps as soon as the door opens, tackling his captor as they enter the room.
"I see you're already back to your normal self." Yami says flatly. She looks down to Rito's hands, both planted firmly on her backside. "If I really were another assassin trying to kill you, how exactly would this have helped?"
Rito quickly scrambles to his feet, stumbling over an apology, but Yami simply shakes her head as she also stands up.
"I should be the one apologizing." She says, reaching for the bandage on Rito's head. "I did not intend to hurt you, but I needed to get you away from the school as quickly as possible without anyone else seeing you."
"I don't understand." Rito says.
"Big surprise there." A voice says, seeming to come from all around him. Rito looks over to the terminal on the wall, where a strange looking face has appeared on the monitor.
Rito suddenly recalls the last time he was here. "We're on your space ship. The Lunatique?" He asks.
"Brilliant observation." The AI says, and Rito is surprised to see that the AI is capable of rolling its eyes.
"Luna." Yami says. "Be nice. Yuuki Rito is our guest." She turns back to Rito. "Kuro came to visit me."
Rito pales noticeably at the mention of the assassin's name. "He's not trying to kill me again, is he?"
"No. But he thinks someone else is." Yami explains. She begins picking up the items she dropped when Rito tackled her and he notices that they are several changes of clothing. His clothing. "While we try to figure out who it is, we decided that getting you off of Earth was the safest course."
Rito regards the pile of clothing as Yami sets it on the bedside table. "How long do you think I will need to hide?" He asks.
Yami ignores his question, turning to leave the room. "Mea and Nemesis are working on discovering who is hunting you. For now, I will take you to a safe place." As she passes through the door she calls back over her shoulder. "You are welcome to move about the ship, but please don't touch anything."
Rito sits back down on the corner of the bed, considering the situation he suddenly finds himself in. "I need to stop wondering how my week can get worse." He says.
When Rito leaves the bedroom to enter the main part of the ship, he finds Yami sitting at the controls. She appears to be examining a map and talking quietly with the ship's AI.
Rito quietly moves about the room, trying not to disturb her. He has only been in this ship once before, when they travelled to Mistwa to save Celine. Rito was too preoccupied with the issue at hand last time to really notice much about the ship itself. As he marvels at all the fascinating sights, it doesn't take long for him to accidentally bump into a control panel. A loud alarm starts to blare.
Without even lifting her head, Yami calmly reaches over and presses a button on the panel to her left, causing the alarm to turn off.
"Hey, Yami-chan. Whenever you want me to eject that bozo out the airlock, just say the word." Lunatique says dryly.
"Hey, who are you calling a bozo?" Rito snaps.
"You. The squishy human that I'm keeping safe from the vacuum of space."
Before they can continue their argument, Yami interjects. "Luna, please chart a course for the location I gave you." She turns to Rito. "It will take nearly 12 hours to reach the planet I selected, so you may as well get comfortable."
"That long?" Rito asks. "The trip to Mistwa seemed to go by so fast before."
Yami nods. "We are going to a place that is a bit more out of the way than that."
As they exit the ship, Rito feels a blast of warm air hit him. What he could see of the planet looked pretty barren as they approached, but from down here it looks even more extreme. A large sprawling city surrounded by nothing but desert. If there is a single tree or any other landmark beyond the city limits, it must be a long ways off.
Rito looks down at the clothes Yami has forced him to wear. A mismatch of worn leather straps and a large brown cloak fit uncomfortably over his normal clothes. He tries to lower the hood on the cloak but Yami warns him to leave it. "Where are we, Yami?" He asks.
"It's better that you don't know the name of this place." She says. She motions around to the other travellers wandering about. They are all rough looking characters, and more than one shoots a suspicious glance Rito's way. Those suspicious glances quickly turn to looks of fear when they recognize his travelling companion, however.
"This is the kind of place where bounty hunters and other assassins gather to trade information, or to lie low when they are in trouble." She explains.
"Wait, bounty hunters and assassins?!" Rito exclaims far too loudly, drawing an angry glare from Yami. "Aren't we supposed to be avoiding the people who want to kill me?" He whispers.
"This is the last place they would look for you." Yami says. "Besides, I don't plan to stay here long." She looks about, trying to find any familiar faces in the crowd. "I want to get some information about who may be after you." Apparently deciding on a destination, Yami begins walking towards a large, rundown looking building.
As Rito looks around, he discovers that most of the buildings facing the street they are on look equally run down. There are no signs above any doors, and most windows are boarded up, but that doesn't seem to deter people from wandering in and out of them as if they were storefronts.
While observing all this, Rito isn't watching where he is going and doesn't see a figure exit the building directly in front of him. At the last second he hears a surprised yelp as he tumbles into a tall woman who had turned to regard him. They both fall to the ground, though her ample chest somewhat cushions his fall.
"You really do just radiate bad luck, don't you?" Yami says, when she sees who he has run into.
Rito begins to stumble through an apology, but then his eyes go wide and he loses his train of thought. Azenda the Tyrant sits before him, her face quickly turning red.
"Yuuki Rito." She growls. Her expression quickly changes to one of shock when she sees Yami standing beside him. "What reason could the two of you possibly have for coming to find me here?"
"We were not searching for you, Azenda." Yami explains calmly. Neither assassin has drawn a weapon yet, but they are both eyeing each other dangerously. "But now that you are here, you could be of assistance to us. Consider it reparations for your recent trouble." Yami's glare leaves little room for negotiation.
Azenda glares back for a moment, but then merely nods.
"We need to know who is hunting Yuuki Rito." Yami says. She is surprised when Azenda reacts to the question with a burst of laughter.
"A dead man, if he's truly hunting this one." She says. When Yami just looks at her questioningly, she continues. "You don't know then?" She walks over to the building she had just exited. The entire wall is plastered in posters. She looks around for something and then plucks one of the posters off the wall, handing it to Yami. "Keep it." She says. "There are hundreds of them all over town."
As Yami reads the document in silence, Rito tries to peak over her shoulder, but the language is nothing he recognizes. Seeing this, Azenda explains. "It's a decree from King Deviluke." She says. "It seems your future father in law wants to make sure you survive long enough to take the throne."
"It's true." Yami says, looking up from the document. "He has declared that you are under his protection and not to be harmed. No assassin would risk going against him. He has never interfered with our kind before, so angering him now would be a foolish move for anyone." She pauses for a moment, thinking. "Kuro must have been mistaken."
Azenda shudders at the mention of that name. "If you have no further need of me, can I assume this settles our debt?" She asks. She doesn't wait for a reply, simply walking away while Yami continues to consider the news.
A short distance away, someone else watches the exchange with growing interest. "What luck!" He says. "Lala-san's fiance and that traitor Golden Darkness both falling into my lap at once, and out here where no one can stop me!" He rubs his small green hands together in anticipation and then turns to his companions. "Prepare my ships!" He orders.
As Yami once more sits at the ship's controls, Rito begins removing the uncomfortable clothing, shaking the dust out as much as he can. "Luna." She says, as the ship begins to lift off. "Start plotting a course for Earth."
Yami stands up from the controls and turns to Rito, but before she can say anything, a loud explosion rocks the ship from side to side. Yami easily stays upright but Rito is thrown to the floor. "What was that?" He asks.
"Yami-chan." Lunatique suddenly shows up on the main monitor. "Three large ships have blocked our path. We may be able to outrun them, but there are too many to fight."
Another face suddenly shows up on the monitor, grinning gleefully. "Golden Darkness!" Lacospo says. "How nice of you to finally deliver your promised target to me."
"We are NOT running." Yami says to the ship's AI under her breath. "Lacospo." She says. "Surely you have heard that Yuuki Rito is not to be harmed?"
Lacospo laughs. "His Majesty isn't here, is he?" He says. "Besides, all will be forgiven when I finally marry Lala-san and give this galaxy the successor it deserves!"
Before Yami can even react, several more explosions rock the ship. "They are targeting our engines." Lunatique warns. Even as the AI finishes talking, one final blast strikes the ship and the engines go silent.
"Don't you have any weapons?" Rito asks in a panic. He starts frantically searching the control panel next to his seat.
"The 'weapon' is standing next to you, smart guy." The ship responds. "And what were you told about touching things?"
Rito turns towards Yami who has now moved to the back of the ship near the exit. Suddenly the airlock doors close behind her and Rito can see that the exterior door is beginning to open. "Wait, Yami!" He shouts, not understanding her plan. As the exterior doors open completely, Rito sees Yami's outfit begin to change.
"Their engines are dead." One of Lacospo's underlings grins as he announces this. "They have nowhere to run."
"Excelent!" Lacospo stares at the main display, watching Yami's ship drift helplessly. "Should I blast them into space dust now? Or maybe just wait for them to starve to death, drifting in space forever?" His gleeful laughter catches in his throat as he sees a figure drift slowly from the crippled ship towards him. "Is that, Golden Darkness?" He asks, puzzled. The figure bears a striking resemblance, but her dress is far more revealing and she has two black horns sprouting from the top of her head.
Suddenly there is a blinding flash as a massive sword of light forms in the space between Yami and the three larger ships. The two ships belonging to Lacospo's underlings move forward to protect his own, thinking this a desperate last attempt to escape. The massive blade turns sideways and slashes across, completely severing the ships in half and badly damaging Lacospo's ship as well. "Retreat! Get us out of here!" He screams. "She's crazy!"
Rito watches on the monitor as the last ship turns and speeds away as fast as it can. Yami begins to drift back towards her own ship, but Rito can see that something is wrong. "Hey, uh, Yuuki Rito. I'm gonna need you to help out here." He raises an eyebrow, confused to hear the AI finally call him by his name. "Looks like my Master is going to need help getting back in here."
"OK, what do you need me to do?" He asks.
"I'll turn us to the right angle, but we can't move until the engines are fixed. So I'll need you to reach out and catch her." Lunatique says. He notices the alarm in Rito's eyes. "Don't worry, I've got a shield that can extend out enough to keep you safe, just don't fall out."
Rito quickly moves to the outer doors. He panics for a moment as the doors begin to open, but as Lunatique promised, he is not pulled out into space. He grabs hold of one of the handles on the side of the door and reaches out as far as he can as soon as he sees Yami. He thinks he won't be able to reach her, but the ship turns slightly at the last moment and he grabs her by the arm, pulling her close.
As the doors close behind him, Rito cradles Yami in his arms. She is cold to the touch and appears very pale. The horns and outfit from her Darkness transformation have already faded. "She must have used up too much of her power and passed out." He says. He shakes her gently, but she still doesn't respond.
"This doesn't look good." Lunatique says, concern evident in his voice. "Better get her to the bed."
Rito carries her into her bedroom and lies her down on the bed, pulling the covers up to keep her warm. She stirs slightly, but still wont open her eyes. "I need to warm her up!" He says. He quickly climbs into bed with her, wrapping his arms around her.
"You keep that up, I'll try calling for help." Lunatique vanishes from the monitor, leaving Rito and Yami alone.
"Come on Yami!" Rito says, rubbing her arms and back, trying to warm her up. His voice catches slightly. He is so caught up in his grief that it takes him a moment to realize Yami is speaking to him.
"Yuuki Rito." She says again, quietly. "Why are you shaking me?"
Rito smiles as he looks down at Yami. She looks very tired, but her eyes are open and the color is starting to return to her skin. "Yami!" He says. "You're alive!"
Yami looks confused. "Of course I am. I merely exhausted myself. I was never in any danger." She says.
"But, Lunatique said-" Rito begins.
The AI reappears on the screen in front of him. "Woah, I just said she didn't look too good." Lunatique says. "I didn't say anything about dying. I mean, we've been together for a long time, so I've seen her come out of worse scrapes than that."
Rito's face turns red as he considers his surroundings. Yami's clothing hangs loosely on her body and Rito is under the covers, holding her close to him. "Uh, Yami." He starts to stammer. "I'm sorry! I swear I wasn't trying to do anything perverted!" Yami reaches up and places a hand on the side of Rito's face.
"Yuuki Rito." She says, causing him to pause. "Please stop talking."
"Huh?" Rito says, not understanding.
Yami pulls his head towards her, kissing him softly. Initially Rito tries to pull away, thinking there must be some mistake. "Is her Darkness transformation going screwy again?" He thinks. But Yami holds him close and he stops struggling, returning the kiss.
"I'll, uh, go back to calling for that help." Lunatique says, awkwardly, disappearing again from the screen.
When Yami releases Rito she quickly settles down, resting her head on his chest. Soon she is fast asleep.
RIto is awakened by a loud banging at the outer door of the ship. He sits up suddenly, aware that he is still holding Yami. He hadn't meant to drift off, worried of what he might do in his sleep, but Yami appears undisturbed. He quickly stands up and moves to the door.
When he enters the main room, he finds three large men standing at the console talking to the ship's AI. His initial panic fades when he sees that all three of them have tails, marking them as Devilukians.
"I hailed down a passing Deviluke battle cruiser." Lunatuqie explains. "Figured if your King is willing to issue you his personal protection, his navy shouldn't mind giving you a lift back home." All three men turn and quickly salute Rito. "Looks like I was right."
As Rito steps off the ramp he lets out a sigh of relief, happy to be back on Earth in one piece. He turns to Yami, who seems to have recovered from her injuries. "So, do you think Lacospo was the one Kuro was warning you about?" He asks.
"I have my own suspicions." Yami says. "But I think it is safe to say you're in no danger here on Earth."
Rito scratches his head, looking nervously at his feet. "Yami… about what happened-" He begins.
"Yuuki Rito." Yami says. "I told you before that I do not expect you to treat me any differently just because you know my feelings for you. That has not changed." She smiles only briefly, and then replaces her expression with a blank stare. "And what happened while we were in space is of no concern to anyone but us. Understand?"
Rito chuckles nervously. "Of course, Yami. I'm not going to tell anyone. How many times now is it that you've saved my life?"
"I've told you that before as well." Yami explains. "When your life ends is up to me, not some would-be suitor or assassin." Before Rito can respond again, Yami springs away, quickly disappearing from view.
Rito begins to walk towards his home. He laughs to himself, realizing he doesn't even know what day it is. He is about to say something, but thinks better of it, just sighing and enjoying the quiet evening walk.
End.