Chapter 7: Red Sun, Black Snake, Bloody Knife

Caine

(4 Weeks after arrival in Kalichi)

…It's the first time in weeks I actually have a bed to myself since we figured staying at the Church would be easier than jumping back and forth between the house and here. The novelty of actually having an entire mattress to myself wore off pretty quick as I realized, to my complete and total shock, that it was actually kinda lonely.

I'd gotten so used to having Kuroka randomly fall asleep on my arm or have her tail drape possessively around my leg, used to hearing Shirone's quiet breathing and occasional purrs, that being without those things had left me tossing and turning for almost an hour before I managd to head off to dreamland.

How quickly the exceptional becomes commonplace.

Heaving a sigh I roll myself out of bed and pad off towards the breakfast hall, passing a few other people who work at the Church that I don't recognize yet. In between getting ready for Adder's attack and just generally being busy there hasn't been much time for introductions.

"Ah, good morning Caine."

David is already at the table with a steaming mug in his hand, calmly looking over a bible with a composure I sure as heck don't feel. Seriously, waiting for this fight to kick off is way more stressful than if it had just started at the drop of a hat.

Hopefully I don't puke out of nervousness.

David seems to notice my nerves and amusedly advises me with, "While it may not seem like the best of ideas right now, you should at least try to eat something. God only knows you'll need all the energy you can get."

He's right about nothing appearing particularly appetizing. Regardless I go ahead and pick up a piece of flatbread and mechanically shove it into my mouth.

It tastes a bit like sawdust.

Thankfully a distraction appears in the form of 2 sleepy Yokai and an Elf. Apparently Lisa takes after the cats penchant for not being all that great in the mornings.

David amicably says, "Good morning girls, how is everyone this morning?"

"Tired." are the unanimous responses.

The Priest snorts and quietly mutters, "Nice to see everyone on the same page then…"

I take a closer look at everyone else seated around the table and am actually a little disturbed at how calm everyone seems to be. The Nekoshou are just absentmindedly picking up bits of breakfast here and there while Lisa performs a silent prayer before digging in herself.

I guess this is par for the course for them…

Kuroka wakes up enough to look at me curiously and ask, "You ok over there Kid? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

I dryly swallow my mouthful and try my best to keep my voice level.

"No, I'm just…a little nervous I guess."

She suddenly looks marginally more sympathetic and sighs before saying, "Yah, I can see why. Don't worry Kid, the first couple times are always the hardest. You get used to it over time."

Get used to it eh…talk about a difference in circumstances. The only thing I used to worry about back home was beating Jonah in the newest test of the day.

I'm startled out of my funk by a glass of water being set in front of me by Sister Bianca, who then walks off without a glance backward. I give an internal shrug and take a shaky sip, immediately feeling the liquid get absorbed by my insanely dry throat. Jeez, I better get my act together or I'm gonna pass out before we even get started…

David finishes with whatever it was he was sipping on, probably coffee, and addresses the sisters and myself in a professional tone.

"I suppose we might as well go over the details of how we're going to actually win this fight. Kuroka, Shirone, what sort of abilities do you have at your disposal?"

Kuroka pushes away her plate and starts ticking off her fingers as she lists her powers, "Both me and Shirone are physically strong, strong enough that we can actually land damaging blows on Adder…although I still wouldn't plan on us arm wrestling him. Aside from that I can use some basic illusionary stuff while both of us can use Senjutsu based fire and cause some basic plant growth and manipulation."

David nods and turns to me, an expectant gaze on his face.

I do a quick mental checklist and start with, "Well you saw how I can manipulate Shades a couple days ago, that's about the extent of what I can do with those. Same deal with [Shock Bolt]. Other than that the only other real thing I have to offer is this Phoenix Heart."

David offers me a curious look and asks, "What exactly can this Heart do?"

Instead of answering I stand up and walk to an unoccupied space in the middle of the room. With a twist of intent my body suddenly explodes into blue flames causing the other 4 to cover their faces and eyes due to the intense heat. After a few seconds of this I drop the flames and the room appears oddly dull after the inferno has disappeared. Things are quiet for a second before David grins and happily says, "That was quite the show you put on Caine. Is it difficult to use that fire?"

"Not really. This necklace does most of the heavy lifting, all I have to do is channel a bit of Devil Magic into it."

He gently strokes his chin before nodding to himself and states, "Ok I think we have a basic battle plan. Caine and I won't be able to stand up to Adder in raw strength, so Kuroka and Shirone will be the frontline, keeping him from getting to us. In between my gun and Caine's Shades and Magic we'll be to offer a decent amount of support. Let's try not to get into a protracted battle, make an opportunity for a finishing blow and take it. No method is too underhanded. Caine?"

"What's up?"

"You'll probably want this."

He tosses me an object that I instinctively catch out of the air and feel my eyes widen as I see what it is.

David smiles at my look of wonder and explains, "Since we aren't going to be of much use going up against Adder head on, I figured we should have weapons that compliment that role. That, Caine, is a World War II 'push dagger' that I managed to get my hands on a few years ago. It's yours now. Feel free to thank me by using it well."

I numbly nod and admire the weapon, having never really had something like this given to me before.

6 inches of pointed steel, a pitch black handle made of some sort of hardened material, maybe aluminum? I don't know and I so don't care right now.

My gut is telling me that until I can form bladed weapons with my Shades, knives are going to be my weapon of choice.

A grateful smile on my face I turn to David and quietly say, "Thanks…I'll take care of it."

He waves off my thanks while Kuroka interrupts with, "So where's my cool weapon?"

"You don't need one. You already have your razor sharp wit." David responds with, his face carefully blank.

I'm not nearly as composed as he is however and a snort escapes me, causing Kuroka to give me a nasty glare.

The next few hours are filled with ideas and discussion, which creates an odd sense of relaxation for me. I wouldn't put it past everyone else to be doing this little therapy session strictly for my benefit, since they probably don't need it.

Said discussion is suddenly interrupted as Sister Bianca walks in with a grim look on her face and says, "They're here."

"Long time no see Paladin! You got a different answer for me this time around?"

"That all depends on whether you've decided to allow me to continue my work here at this Church Adder. If you haven't changed your mind then this conversation is just idling time away."

I can't help but admire David's composure in this situation even as I'm hiding in his shadow. About to throw down in a dirty fight to the death on the Church's doorstep and he's still being as cool as a cucumber.

…I never understood that Human phrase. Are cucumbers really that cold to touch or something?

I mentally kick myself for letting my mind wander now of all times and force myself to refocus. Adder brought what I'm pretty sure are his same 3 goons from last time and just a pair of pants, nothing else except the Serpent's tattoo on his chest.

Well, dude certainly has confidence.

His deep hissing voice starts up again with, "Last chance Paladin. Or am I wasting both of our breaths by asking?"

"The latter option, unfortunately."

Adder's only response is an emotionless stare for a few seconds before he gives a small nod. He then becomes noticeably less confidant as he stares at the 2 Nekoshou facing him down.

"…I take it you 2 aren't here for a pleasant chat?"

Kuroka growls softly and coldly replies, "Oh? What clued you in?"

Instead of retorting sharply he calmly replies, "I don't have any quarrel with you Kitten, and I don't plan on having one either."

To no doubt everyone's surprise it's Shirone of all people who quietly but intensely says, "But we have a quarrel with you. I remember what you did to me. What you did to my Sister."

Adder is again quiet before a serious look crosses his face and he responds with, "And I'll do it again if you stand against me. Last chance Kittens."

I instinctively scowl at his words. I guess that's his true nature, an apex predator that only understands submission or competition, not coexistence.

Kuroka doesn't bother to hide her growl of anger this time and simply moves into a lowered crouch alongside Shirone, their now recognizable Senjutsu power flaring as they do. David gives Adder one last hard look and emotionlessly says, "One last chance Adder, although I imagine I know what your answer is."

The Yokai makes a brief gesture to his companions and succinctly says, "Don't interfere no matter what. If you do, I'll deal with you after I deal with them."

The 3 just nod and walk away while Adder pulls himself to his full height and cracks his neck.

"Alright Kittens, let's see if you can actually pull off the upset of a century and beat me. And I'm talking to you as well, Kid hiding behind David."

…Well shit.

Adder gives a feral grin and continues with, "A pretty nifty trick you have there Kid, but you're still giving off plenty of heat."

Oh, well, friggin duh. If he's part reptile Yokai of course he can see a bit deeper into the infrared than most others.

Well, no reason to drop my little act just because he can see me.

Adder smirks at my silence and loudly says, "Not giving anything away, I can admire that Kid. Whaddya say to jumping a sinking ship and joining me? You've got some neat powers under your belt and I don't mind having you around for that."

Well if he can see me even under this shadow then maybe he can see me flip him the bird.

Which I do.

He briefly chuckles and says under his breath, "A man after my own heart…"

Slamming a fist into his open palm he slowly cracks his knuckles, creating a threatening sound and a massive smile appears on his face.

"Alright Kitties…let's see what you can do!"

watch?v=jynTNYSKNuk (Metal Gear Rising: Red Sun)

Kuroka and Shirone dash forward with a speed that I've only rarely seen during our fights together and Adder leaps forward with a burst of his own, clearly aiming for the weaker backline that is me and David.

He doesn't get far.

Both cats seamlessly aim a punch at Adder's legs as he passes and he has to awkwardly jump over them midstride, losing a fair bit of momentum as he does so. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction I have one of my Shades grab a metal pole from a nearby discarded pile of scrap metal and slam it into Adder's knee, further destabilizing him, even if only slightly. But if affords enough of an opportunity that David can suddenly step forward, lashing out with what he called a 'BC-41', basically a nasty pair of knuckledusters with a knife attached to the side.

With an audible crack David's fist makes contact with Adder's jaw and his reverse stroke brings the knife tearing towards Adder's throat. It would have connected too, if Adder had been even a little bit dazed by that vicious hit. Instead he leans back with astonishing swiftness, the knife's edge only cutting a shallow line maybe a centimeter long and David immediately backpedals, not in any hurry to dance with the physically superior Yokai.

Which is when the 2 cats take over. Adder barely gets to his feet in time before both of the sisters are in his face, launching a ruthless combination of attacks that usually had me on my back and gasping for air even when they weren't using Senjutsu.

Adder doesn't budge an inch.

When Kuroka clads her hands in blazing fire and launches a lightning fast punch at Adder's bruised jaw he merely snaps an arm up and the fire hisses against his scales, Senjutsu enhanced muscles being stopped dead by an arm the size of a tree trunk. Simultaneously Shirone goes low, aiming an equally swift blow at the side of Adder's knee. Her arm comes to a jarring halt as a subtle shift in balance brings the large Yokai's kneecap into the path of her blow, causing a brief look of shock to appear on her face as her fist is stopped dead.

Seeing that their assault was dangerously stalled the sisters both try to pull away…just a hair too slow.

Adder aims a straight, flat-footed kick at Kuroka's retreating form and it connects with her thigh, knocking her to the ground in a violent sprawl and leaves a grimace of pain on her face. Shirone isn't much luckier as Adder suddenly swipes his hand upwards and I catch a brief glimpse of claws extending from where his fingernails would be…and a few droplets of blood as his uppercut catches the albino haired Yokai on the side of her head.

I feel my heart practically stop for a moment before she regains her balance with an out of place snarl of her usually composed face, a heavily bleeding gash stretching from her cheek to her temple but still very much in the fight.

I set aside my concern for the moment and capitalize on Adder's focus being elsewhere. I loop my Shade directly over his head which apparently catches his attention since he suddenly looks up…only to catch a face full of crushed glass that my Shade chucks directly into his eyeballs.

With a hiss of frustration he immediately turns away and almost makes the mistake of rubbing his eyes with his hands, which would have simply forced the shards deeper. Instead he keeps his eyes wide and violently shakes his head back and forth, clearing things out that way.

Damn he's smart about this…

But yet again, we manage to capitalize on his brief distraction. All of the sudden there's a horrendously loud BANG that seems to physically attack my ears and Adder jerks, a brief geyser of blood erupting from his side causing his already wide and weeping eyes to enlarge even further.

I spare a quick glance backwards and find David carefully aiming his gun at Adder before rapidly firing 5 more times in quick succession, his free hand rapidly cocking the hammer after each shot.

Unfortunately Adder only takes one more hit to his more vulnerable skin and crouches down behind his arms, their hardened scales managing to deflect most of the force of the bullets, although I spy a few bleeding cracks where the kinetic force of the ammunition overwhelmed his hide.

Adder actually smirks as David quickly moves to reload and purrs out, "Gonna have to do better than that, Paladin."

Seemingly ignoring his wounds the Yokai springs to his feet and grabs a metal pole almost 3 meters in length from the same pile that I grabbed mine from and swings it around as if it weighed no more than a kitchen knife.

I can't help the sudden chill that settles in my gut as I realize that despite the bleeding stomach and busted scales from David's gun, despite the bloodshot eyes that still have sparkling bits of glass in them, Adder doesn't even seem to have slowed down in the slightest. What the Hellfire is this guy made out of?!

I frantically try to keep pace with him as he rushes headfirst towards David, trying to get a clear shot at his skin so I can land a [Shock Bolt], but the angle is way too poor for anything bar a one-in-a-million shot. To his credit David doesn't lose his head and calmly finishes reloading before carefully taking aim once more and laying on the trigger.

Adder doesn't even bother to dodge, instead hunkering down behind his upraised arms and taking another 4 bullets to his extremities while 2 slip past his guard and bury into his lower abdomen. But by then he's within striking distance of David and the Priest is out of bullets, causing him to lightly scowl and immediately begin backing away.

Directly into the Church wall.

David looks briefly surprised at finding the wall behind him before Adder makes a vicious swing with the bar that actually makes the air whistle as it scythes toward the gun wielder while I can only curse myself for being so damn slow.

In a stroke of luck Adder misjudges the distance the pole actually needs to hit David and it tears into the wall of the Church maybe half a meter out from where it would have connected with David's ribs, slowing it down slightly.

So instead of outright killing the Priest it merely connects with a crunch noise that sounds like breaking wet glass and David goes spinning away, a trail of blood flowing from his mouth.

This is rapidly becoming one of our worst case scenarios.

Adder raises the pole to finish David off but I quickly send out my 2 Shades to grab onto the pole while Kuroka causes a sudden growth of roots to add to the hold. Unprepared for the sudden resistance the pole gets ripped from his hands and he briefly stumbles forward before looking back at us with a mildly annoyed look on his face.

"Still up for more Kitties?"

Kuroka snarls and adopts a crouched fighting stance although she's clearly favoring her leg that wasn't kicked earlier. Shirone is right beside her, the cut on her face now mostly clotted. Taking a shaky breath I take up position behind the 2 cats, furious with my inability to actually fight Adder hand-to-hand.

Kuroka must have clued in to my frustration because she quietly hisses, "Keep it cool Kid, wait for an opening and exploit it. Don't lose your head."

I give a jerky nod before Adder apparently gets bored of waiting and charges forward again, this time Shirone charging forward while Kuroka limps into position beside her. I carefully keep pace with the sisters and just as Shirone and Adder are about to collide the 2 cats throw out a screen of Senjutsu fire that briefly blinds the larger Yokai and he mutters out a curse before batting away the deluge of fire. His eyes, now largely free of the glass, briefly widen as Shirone is practically in his face after the little diversion and swings his arm around in a blurred motion that catches the little Nekoshou full on the side of her head…

…and blurs right through her as the illusion dissipates in a flash of blue light.

He has a brief second to look surprised before the real Shirone appears directly behind the mirage and lands a brutal hit on his face, the force of the blow causing a fang to go flying out of his mouth along with a trail of wildly oscillating blood. I grin lightly and prepare to fire a [Shock Bolt] while he's still stunned.

At least that was the plan until the Bastard grins and suddenly grabs the back of Shirone's shirt before I can even begin my spell and I feel a chill crawl up my spine as I try to react in time-

-not fast enough as Adder lands a feral blow onto Shirone's chest, tearing 4 deep gouges into her skin that sends her tumbling across the ground where she skids to a halt faceup, her face pale and disbelieving as she shakily moves her arm to explore the openly bleeding wounds.

I snarl and move to complete the incantation, trying to end this as quickly as possible until Kuroka releases an enraged shout and charges right into the line of fire.

"Dammit Kuroka move out of-!"

She either doesn't hear me or doesn't care as her fists blaze with fire and jumps directly towards Adder, who grins sadistically and lashes out with a punch of his own towards the enraged Nekoshou.

I think both of us are equally surprised when she narrowly dodges the punch and lands a very painful looking blow on one of his gunshot wounds, eliciting a pained grunt from him for the first time this entire fight and actually forcing him back a step. Kuroka doesn't miss a beat and lands a vicious uppercut that somehow lifts Adder off the ground for a second and for a moment I dare to think we've somehow snatched victory from the jaws of looming defeat.

A notion that's quickly quashed as Kuroka throws another rage fueled punch-

-only to have one of Adder's meaty fists grab her arm mid swing, holding it in place long enough for him to bring his other arm down in a hammer blow that breaks her arm, the bone suddenly jutting out of her elbow, causing her to give a short cry of pain despite her anger.

A primal snarl on her face she pulls back her remaining arm in order to continue the fight, only for Adder to suddenly snap his head forward, hitting Kuroka's forehead with enough force that she's flung to the ground, dazed and briefly unable to defend herself.

With a lazy motion Adder grabs one of her legs and brutally flings her to the side, where she collapses next to her Sister in a crumpled heap.

"Ha! Not bad Kitten, but you-"

He either forgot about me since I haven't really done much this fight or he never really considered me a threat to begin with, but one way or another he turns his back on me and I leap onto him with desperate strength. Not wanting to give him even the slightest chance to react I move my left hand towards his face, fingers searching for his eye socket, while my right grabs hold of the push dagger…

…and rams it right into his throat.

I feel a raging sense of triumph at this until a hand grabs the back of my shirt and then the world tilts crazily and seems to blur around me until something hard and unyielding connects with my ribs with an audible crunch.

A blazing pain spreads throughout my lungs and I realize he threw me into a light pole hard enough that I probably broke a few ribs, if my inability to breathe is any indicator. I shakily roll over onto my hands and knees and watch Adder out of the corner of my eye.

With a contemptuous motion of his hand he yanks out the knife and tosses it over his shoulder with only a slow, and rapidly congealing, trickle of blood to show for my efforts.

"Haha! Not bad Kitties, that was a pretty close run thing, but face it! I'm fuckin' invincible!"

With a confidant stride that doesn't show the slightest hint of having been injured at all he stalks toward me and I realize I've got only one chance to somehow turn this around. Slowly pointing my finger in Adder's direction, hiding my hand underneath my chest, I ignore the agony in my ribs and wheeze out, "[Shock Bolt]".

A bolt of lightning suddenly shoots out of the Magic Circle that had instantaneously formed in my hand and strikes Adder directly in one of the bullet holes before he can react, causing him to briefly spasm and go rigid. With a strength born of desperation I shoot to my feet and manipulate my Shades to lever his mouth open as wide as it can go before leaping forward, my wings giving me an extra boost as I form a hand spear with my right arm…

…and shove it down his throat.

With the Phoenix Heart wrapped around my fist.

Pushing as much Magic into the necklace as I possibly can my body just blazes into an azure incandescence, burning hot enough that even I can feel the heat being generated.

I let the fire burn as long as I can, almost 5 seconds total, before it shuts off and I slip to the ground where I stagger drunkenly and finally manage a ragged breath, which hurts like Hell.

The courtyard is deathly silent and I look up at Adder, who's mouth and eye sockets are smoking, giving off the unmistakable smell of overcooked meat.

He gently sways for a second before falling face first onto the ground with an anticlimactic thud.

Very, very dead.

I suddenly stagger on my feet and feel a wave of dizziness crash over me. I guess I got hit harder than I thought…wait, what about the others?!

I quickly turn to check on my allies and take a shaky step forward when all of the sudden a disbelieving voice says, "Holy fuck…I can't believe it…"

I give a confused look in the direction of the spoken words and feel my blood turn to ice as I realize Adder's lapdogs are still around.

And their shock is clearly giving way to anger.

With a growl one of them turns to me and says in a deathly calm tone of voice, "Congratulations you little fucker…you managed to kill Boss despite him doing a number on yah. Course, now there's the problem of word getting out that a bunch of Kids and some old shithead managed to bring down the Serpent's Boss. People might start asking questions, you know? Might start wondering if we're really all that tough!"

Another nods in agreement and continues with, "Boss started up this gang with his barehands, ain't no way we're letting it's reputation go to shit…and that means we gotta kill you, so we can spread some kind of story of how you 4 ambushed Boss and killed him in some sort of fucked up dishonorable way. Course, we'll probably have to burn down this Church and kill everyone in it as well…can't have eyewitness reports complicating the story."

I feel a sudden burst of thwarted anger at this turn of events and can't believe that we're about to get killed by a couple of damned thugs after taking on the monster that was Adder. The 3 of them start walking towards the 2 collapsed sisters and I desperately wheeze out, "Boy, some tough guys you are…can't take on anyone unless they're beaten bloody and unable to fight back, right?"

I internally curse as the 3 just smirk and one of them replies, "Nice try Kid, but you're the one who killed Boss, so you get to watch us kill your little companions here first, then we'll kill yah. Watch closely now."

I snarl and take a step forward, only to suddenly cough out a small spray of dark red blood as my chest suddenly flares up in pain again and fall to the ground, causing the 3 Bastards to laugh cruelly.

"Keep trying Kid, I'm sure you'll get over here in time to save the day."

The lead guy steps forward towards Shirone's prone form…and raises an eyebrow in surprise when a hand grabs onto his ankle. With a glassy but determined look in her eyes Kuroka pants out, "Only way…you're hurting…my Sister…is if you go through-"

Her words are cut off as the guy who's ankle she's holding disinterestedly kicks her in the head, cutting off her words and she lightly groans.

"No rush Kitty-Cat, we'll get to you eventually. Hmm…your Sister here is a tad too young for our tastes, but don't you look like a tasty piece of meat? Didn't the Boss used to date you or something? Oh man girl, your pussy must be out of this world…Oh, and your snatch too!"

Ignoring my pain, ignoring the fact that I can hardly breathe I force myself to my feet and face those 3 fuckers who are laughing at the one guy's joke, more than prepared to die if it offers even the slightest chance that Kuroka and Shirone make it out of this-

"Hey, Little Bastard, I delivered like you asked me to deliver, so where money for delivery, hmm?"

…I totally forgot I asked Chow to deliver food today.

Then I remember Kuroka's words of, 'don't mess with Chow' and why I asked him to show up at this time.

Please God…I don't care about the headache, I don't care that you probably hate Devils with a passion, just please let this work so that David and the sisters can walk away from this…

With a shaky hand I point to the Church and gasp out, "My wallet…is in there…"

Chow looks annoyed as all get-out and says, "Your point Little Bastard? If wallet inside Church, go fucking get wallet! Time is money and right now you waste both!"

Here goes nothing.

"Can't…those 3…aren't letting me in…"

"So fucking move them Little Bastard. What, I gotta deliver and then get money as well?"

"They're…pretty strong…"

The 3 stooges apparently got tired of waiting and one of them irritatedly shouts, "Hey, Old Man! Either drop off that shit you're carrying and get out of here or you'll be added to the pile of bodies once we're done here!"

Chow doesn't even glance at them but fixes me with an even more irritated gaze and says, "You can't move those 3? You really lame Bitch, you know that?"

His piece said, Chow faces the goons head on and I then see something that warms my heart.

All 3 of the Serpent's just stop dead in their tracks, proceeding to shit themselves as recognition crawls across their faces and I'm willing to bet that's not just a turn of phrase here.

Blood drains leaving only pale expressions while eyes widen and legs start carrying them away from the wrinkly, thin old man that just a second ago they were belittling and oh man I wish I could record this moment.

One of them audibly gulps and frantically stammers out, "Hey, Uh, Chow? We weren't threatening you or anything, we didn't know it was you-"

He doesn't get any farther than that as all of the sudden Chow's hand just blurs and three gang member heads snap back in unison, a small spray of blood marking their passing as something goes right through their skulls.

I blink, not entirely certain of what I just saw, until I notice the 3 plastic knives now embedded up to their handles in the Church walls, still wobbling from the force of their journey through bone and brainmatter.

…That's pretty damn scary.

Chow turns to me as the bodies simultaneously collapse bonelessly to the ground and exasperatedly says, "Ok Little Bastard, road all clear. Now get money? I waste 3 cutlery for this!"

The strength seems to leave my legs and I weakly collapse forward, barely catching myself with my palms which of course causes me to hiss out in pain as the movement strains my chest. Chow just sighs and says, "Tell you what Little Bastard, I see wallets in those guys pants. I take that money and next time you come by you pay double for waste of my time ok? Ok."

I don't waste another second and start dragging myself toward Shirone and Kuroka, praying to any Deity that's still listening that they're both ok. To my relief I see Kuroka stir slightly and both Lisa and Sister Bianca run out of the Church, closely followed by the other members now that the fighting is over.

I finally reach Kuroka but before I can even speak she latches onto my wrist with desperate strength and dazedly says, "I'm fine…Shirone…Kid, make sure Shirone is fine…"

If she's lucid enough to be worried about someone else then she'll be fine for the moment. She's not bleeding heavily either, so that's a small plus.

Gritting my teeth I hobble over to Shirone, who Lisa is already frantically looking over, a healing Magic Circle in her hands as she runs the spell over Shirone's chest. I grimace as I see the wound, 4 long gashes that tore deeply into the muscle and left bleeding cuts almost 4 inches long. The injury looks even worse on her since she's still so small and I can't help the icy ball of nervousness that settles in my stomach as I feel her pulse.

It's practically nonexistent.

"Caine, I don't know what to do, she's already lost so much blood and her heart is getting weaker and weaker, what-"

An icy calm sets over me as I realize that if I want Shirone to live through this praying to a bunch of Gods isn't going to do the trick, it's gonna come down to the people right beside her.

"Lisa, that healing spell...only repairs the flesh right? Doesn't...replace blood or anything?"

The Elf jerkily nods and I count my blessings that using a Shade doesn't actually require any physical strain as I have one grab a discarded piece of masonry and drag it beneath Shirone's legs.

"What blood type is Shirone? And do you have…an IV or any sort of way…to transfer blood safely?"

She seems to find her stride as she rapidly, if somewhat nervously, says, "She's an A positive, and I think it's Chiro who has the…Chiro! Over here! I need the IV quick!"

Chiro, a young Indian looking guy, runs over with an old fashioned hand pump IV while Lisa says, "Thank you, are any of you O or A blood types? Shirone needs a donor quickly!"

Chiro frowns and replies, "Only Sister Bianca is an O type and she's already helping Father David, a bit of metal impaled his side after Adder hit him and he's been bleeding freely the past few minutes."

Lisa looks completely flummoxed at this turn of events and I sigh in resignation.

In addition to having my ribs all beat to pieces and potentially working with a punctured lung, it looks like I'm also gonna be running on reduced blood capacity. Eh, would have been cheap at half the price as long as we can all walk out of this mostly in one piece.

"Lisa, Chiro, I'm an O type, you can…take from me. Although you might want to hurry with that…breathing right now is hard."

Worry plainly evident on her face Lisa nonetheless nods at Chiro and prepares her Magic Spell while the other guy stabs a needle into my arm and starts drawing my blood out at a rapid pace.

After almost 20 seconds of that I feel myself getting strangely light headed and my already labored breathing becomes even heavier, the pain in my chest returning with a vengeance.

I just grit my teeth and bear it.

"You look pretty busy Little Bastard, no rest for wicked that burn other wicked, right? Ha! Too bad Big Lizard Man too big to fit in fridge, he feed my customers for 2 days. You already cook him and everything!"

Chuckling at his own joke he walks past a pale and sweating Kuroka with a friendly wave, saying, "Stay healthy Skanky Cat! Losing customers bad for business you know!"

…Don't suppose it would kill him to actually lend a hand? Whatever, he already saved our asses earlier, however unintentionally, I'll give him a free pass on this.

"…Lisa? Caine?"

My head snaps downwards and I almost pass out due to the sudden wave of vertigo that accompanies the motion but shove it aside as Shirone's eyes slowly look in between mine and Lisa's. A relived smile crosses my face and without thinking I start scratching behind her ear.

"Glad you…woke up finally…was getting worried."

Unfortunately my cool sounding speech is cut off as I violently cough, a brief spray of blood landing on my leg. Dammit, I need as much of that stuff inside me as I can manage.

Through her relieved tears Lisa fixes me with a scowl and says, "Caine, you're not in much better shape than she is. Take it easy. Chiro, continue with the transfusion for another 2 minutes and then stop. We should be fine after that."

I scowl and immediately rasp out, "Hold up, does Shirone have…enough blood?! You've only been at it…for like 3 minutes!"

Lisa sends me a no-nonsense glare and tersely replies, "Neither of you have much to spare, and I've managed to close most of the leaking parts of her wounds. You're both tough and will be fine."

…Guess I'll take her word for it then.

I'm gonna have to, I'm fading fast here.

I feel a small hand gently clasp my own free one and Shirone whispers out, "Did, did we win?"

A triumphant grin comes to my face as the reality of our victory settles in.

"Yah…we won."

And then my eyes roll up into my head and I collapse backwards, everything going dark as I do so.

Consciousness trickles in like a drip feed and once my thoughts are somewhat lucid I immediately reflect that waking up from violence induced unconsciousness better not become a habit of mine.

"Oh good, you're awake Kid."

I crack open an eye and see Kuroka with a small smile on her face one bed over. She doesn't look too worse for wear, although she does has a sling on her arm and a bandage wrapped over her head.

"Kuroka, are you all right? What about David and Shirone-"

She holds up her non-injured hand in a conciliatory gesture and easily says, "Slow down there Kid, everyone's fine. David is sleeping off his treatment along with Lisa, she wore herself out pretty good healing everybody for the past 12 hours or so. As for Shirone? Take a look at your side Kid."

Confused at her words I do exactly what she said…

…and find a weirdly familiar albino-haired Nekoshou curled up beside me. I'd go ahead and say this was Shirone, but Shirone doesn't like being close to anyone other than Lisa and Kuroka. Thus, there's no way this is Shirone.

Maybe some long lost twin?

I turn my head back towards Kuroka in obvious bewilderment but she just gently smiles and quietly says, "Looks like whatever you did for her after the fight made an impression. I don't think she left your side as soon as she was able to move."

I try to ignore the sappy feeling that suddenly comes over me and instead lean back against the bed's headboard, letting my eyes drift half-closed.

"Seems like a pretty sudden 180 shift there."

"Hey, I ain't gonna question it," She says with a shrug, "If Little Sis suddenly doesn't mind getting all physical with you I'm in full support of it. It's nice to see her getting used to other people frankly speaking."

A chuckle escapes me and I amusedly reply, "For someone who likes to talk about how they're never afraid to go out and get what they want, alot of your happiness seems centered on seeing your Sister get what she wants rather than yourself. And I've heard you 2 accuse me of being selfless…"

"Sheesh, looks like it's gonna take more than some broken ribs to knock the smartass out of yah."

I just smirk and we fall into a companionable silence for a moment until Kuroka rolls off her bed and with only a slight limp walks over to my bed.

"Scoot over Kid, there's plenty of room for us all."

I raise an eyebrow in surprise and ask, "Is your leg alright?" even as I gently shift my weight to the side, trying not to wake Shirone. Kuroka then flops down on the bed and shrugs as she does so.

"It was only sprained during the fight, nothing serious. And the other stuff was taken care of by Lisa and Sister Bianca. No biggie."

I just raise an eyebrow before Kuroka fixes me with an intense stare.

"…Something wrong Kuroka?"

"There's nothing wrong, actually…Chiro was telling me earlier about how you took down Adder after the rest of us got wiped and gave Shirone a bunch of your blood even after getting your ribs all messed up. I just wanted to say-"

"If you're about to thank me, don't. I really shouldn't have to list out all the ways this was a group effort, but I will if forced to."

Kuroka just sighs while rolling her eyes and complains, "What is with you and just accepting the damn praise? It's like you're allergic to it or something..."

"Just massively uncomfortable with it when I feel like it's not earned. I'm weird that way."

She just chuckles and all of the sudden her voice turns low pitched and sultry.

"Well then allow me to thank you in a way that will no doubt make you very uncomfortable…"

She suddenly cups my face and then, before I can react, lays a soft kiss on my cheek.

…What?

My face instantly heats up and I'm certain it's a shade of red that would put Uncle Sirzech's to shame.

Of course Kuroka can't just leave well enough alone and purrs out, "Ooh, is Caine shy all of the sudden? Was that your first kiss perhaps?"

I muster the dregs of my self-respect and hotly retort, "That was not my first kiss! Well, on the cheek it was, but definitely not my first kiss!"

"Oh? So who was your first? Mommy and Daddy don't count by the way. Oh! Was it that girl you were gonna get hitched with?"

A memory of holding Ravel suddenly pops into my head and how that first kiss felt…

My already burning face cranks it up a few degrees.

"…It was."

To my surprise Kuroka just looks at me blankly for a few seconds before giving a small 'hmph' and avoiding eye contact.

…Ok, what's that all about?!

"…Big Sis is jealous."

Both of us start at the sound of Shirone's voice and Kuroka roughly pushes me back against the headboard so she can get a better look at her Sister, causing a brief spike of pain to bounce through my chest.

I guess her mood swings result in physical violence. Good to know.

I set aside the Older Sister's many quirks for the moment and turn a happy smile on the smaller cat.

One that briefly falters as I notice the highly noticeable scar that goes from the middle of her right cheek all the way to her temple where Adder hit her. Kuroka doesn't quite hide her shock as well as I do and shakily traces the wound with a trembling hand.

"Lisa…Lisa wasn't able to heal it all the way?"

Shirone just disinterestedly shrugs and says, "She only had so much Magic to go around, and you 2 needed just as much help as I did."

Kuroka still looks like she just failed her Sister in the worst way possible, garnering an exasperated sigh from her younger sibling.

"Sis, we won and we're all alive. It's fine. And you should see the scars I have on my chest if you think these are bad..."

The raven-haired Nekoshou just looks even more miserable than before and I give Shirone a wry smile.

"I don't think you're helping your Sister's sanity much Shirone."

She just gives me a confused look before shrugging and dragging my hand over to behind her ear, giving me an expectant look as she does so.

…If seeing her so at ease before was surprising, this is downright shocking. Kuroka snaps herself out of her funk and gives me such a beautiful smile that I wonder why she doesn't smile that way more often.

Probably because genuine happiness is hard to come by.

Well…don't want to disappoint the audience.

I slowly start scratching Shirone's ear where I've seen Kuroka do so before, right in the gap between the ear and her scalp and pretty soon she's purring contentedly, resting on her stomach with her head cradled on her arms, tail draped over my leg.

She certainly made herself at home fast.

Kuroka just watches for a moment before giving a contented sigh and sandwiching me even further between them. While the bed I'm on is one of the larger ones, 3 people is kind of a tight fit compared to the mattress back at our other house.

…Huh. I've been calling that little hut 'our' house more and more often.

"Well? I'm not on this thing just for kicks Kid. Start scratching."

I do as she asks although can't help but point out, "So who gives me a massage in this deal?"

"You get to pet 2 beauties. That should be all the comfort you need Kid."

"Even if one of them has fleas?"

She swats me on the chest and I grin despite the brief shot of pain.

We just relax like that for awhile, enjoying just being alive, when Kuroka suddenly jumps and turns to me with a confused look.

"Crap, I almost forgot, how did you get Chow of all people to come help us out?"

I grin, more than a little proud of that subterfuge.

"Well I asked David if Adder usually has a set time he comes to fight people and he said that he always tries to do so an hour after the sun changes. From there I just asked Chow to do a delivery since I remembered you saying that most people don't mess with him. I figured if he was hanging around for a bit it would convince everybody not to pull any funny business. It was a lucky break that I convinced him that Adder's 3 pals were keeping him from getting paid."

She's quiet for a moment before an evil grin appears on her face.

"You really are a Devil…and I like that."

I offer a theatrical bow of my head in response.

"And you made a deal with one. Enjoy your torment forever more."

She just snorts and silence once again falls.

"…Caine?"

I glance at Shirone who's staring up at me with half-lidded eyes.

"What's up?"

"Can you tell us about your family now?"

Which then reminds me that we'd agreed to share our respective pasts once the whole fight with Adder was over. At the time I hadn't minded the agreement, but now I can't help but feel more than a little anxious. Are they going to treat me differently once they know I used to be the son of one of the 72 Pillars? Or will they kick me out, worried for their safety once they realize just how serious the attack on my Family was?

…Too late for doubts now.

I take a deep breath…

Shirone

…I'm nervous. Me and my Sister's history with Senjutsu and the consequences of letting it get out of hand are dangerous. Will Caine not want to associate with us once he nows what happened?

…I don't want that. I finally got over my fear of being touched by him once I saw him worry about my safety, of giving up his blood for me, of him scratching my ear and it all feeling…safe.

Like when Big Sis does it.

So I hide me nervousness and wait.

Kuroka

Dammit I really shouldn't be so worried about this. Caine may not immediately seem like it but in the past few weeks he's been generous and adaptable almost to a fault. There's no way he'll blame me for some of the past mistakes I've made.

…But I'm still apprehensive anyway. Damn nerves…and it doesn't help matters one bit that I'm actually starting to legitimately like him either...

Heck, he even got Shirone over her fear of being touched by him in just a month or so. That's worth big points in my book.

I just heave an internal sigh and brace myself for whatever's going to come.

I redirect my attention as Caine begins with, "It all started with a Norse warrior who was honestly kind of a masochist..."

I was having quite a bit of trouble initially deciding what music should go along with this fight. I always try to pick something that fits the mood, and if it has lyrics they better be able to match the story in some way, so finding that was a bit of a search at first. And then I remembered this particular track after seeing a GIF of Metal Gear Rising and holy crap I'm so glad memes aren't evil in this universe (not yet at least).

Also I forgot how cheesily quotable Sundowner is (actually all of MGR's bosses are quotable now that I think about it) and couldn't resist throwing a line in there. Besides, I think Adder and Sundowner would probably be pretty good pals if they ever met. Or they'd try to kill each other. Who knows?

Anyway next chapter delves into the revised history of Kuroka and Shirone as well as a sort of wrap up for this 'arc'.

Till then!