A Devil's Halo: Part Fifteen
A Five Day Training
~*~
Oni winced painfully as his salty sweat dropped over one of his Tai-made searing scars. 'Stupid minion... How the hell did he get all that power...?' he thought as he slowly closed his eyes inside of the clear, body-sized tube that enclosed him... growing more power inside of him. One of his other minions were controlling the power-giving machine, and two more tubes flew out and went through either arm of Oni's.
~*~
"What do you think he's doing right now?" Sora asked, her clear crimson eyes starting intently at Tai.
"I don't know, but the way Matt explained it, he sounded really injured... just due to the punches that I threw at him... I mean... Puny human punches that I threw at him! How did I get all that power?" Tai asked more to himself, rather than to the girl sitting right across from him.
"Maybe..." Sora began, but she noticed that Tai wasn't starting directly at her. She reached across the table, and lifted his chin enough so that he could look at her. "Maybe..." she started again with a smile, "... It was because of the fact that a person who you really cared about was in danger?"
Tai got her point quickly and immediately smiled back at her. "I don't think it's a 'maybe'. I think that's what it is. Period," he said.
Sora finished her last fry and waited for Tai to finish the rest of his food.
~*~
After eating, the two walked along the streets of Odaiba when Tai suddenly stopped to stare at a poster stapled on an electric wire pole.
"What is it Tai?" Sora asked curiously, as she moved from her position beside Tai to look at the poster.
NAME: Sora Takenouchi
AGE: 16
HEIGHT: 5' 4"
DESCRIPTION: Has shoulder-length, light brown hair, and unusual crimson eyes. Last seen wearing a short, green, wool skirt with a white blouse and a yellow rain coat, and a red umbrella.
LAST SEEN: Last seen running towards Odaiba Park to catch up with a young man named Taichi Kamiya.
It even had a little picture of Sora just underneath the word 'MISSING'. Tai's picture was underneath as a possible kidnapper.
Sora let out a little gasp. It wasn't only hell that was trying to come after them. It was also their own world, and Tai was always the culprit.
"Tai... we have to leave the streets now!" she said, grabbing his hand, as the two ran off quickly to Tokyo Inn for protection.
~*~
Tai laid back, relaxing on the couch, as he turned on the television. He lowered the volume first in order to talk to Sora. "Hey... I guess that faking your name and paying in cash really did work. Now your mom can't track us down, and neither can the police... But... This... We're both like fugitives..."
Sora walked over to the teen and shook her head. "Don't say that! Okay, so running away from home was a bad idea, and that is a sin and all, but my mom kicking you out was a sin too! You could have gotten sick! You could have died! Oni could have taken you back to hell and I couldn't allow that!" she said, her voice rising slowly. Her eyes became foggy, as she stared at Tai sadly before breaking down into tears.
"Sora... Sora... Shh... Come on... Don't worry about that... Oni's not going to get me. I guarantee it okay? So... Shh... Don't cry... There's no need for you to cry..." Tai said, as she took gentle hold of the girl. "There's no reason to cry now... Please..."
"I'm going to hell! I know it! I don't want to go Tai! I can't live there! And I don't want you to leave me! My dad left my family long ago when he cheated on my mom... He went to hell! You didn't do anything as wrong as what he did! How come you have to be stuck down there! I can't, and I won't let you leave Tai! If Oni wants you, he'll have to go through me!" she said defiantly.
Tai stared at her in horror. No. She had no idea what she was saying. There was no way in the world, heaven or hell that he would let her do that.
'Well you've said it... So I'll just go through you first...' said an ominous voice from below.
That sent shivers down Tai's spine. Oni... He was getting more powerful. Before it was only his minions and other things supernatural that could hear him. Now even humans could hear him... How in the world...? "No! I've warned you before to stay away from her!" Tai yelled to nothing.
'Oh... but she said it herself. Now. In order for me to leave her alone, she'll have to just take it back. Do you take it back bitch?'
Sora slightly gasped at his remark, but she shrugged it off. She also shrugged off Tai's pleading for her to take her words back. "No. I won't take it back. There's no way that I'm letting you take Tai without me knowing that I've fought for him too!"
'Suit yourself you stupid little slut... You have no idea who you're dealing with...' With that, the conversation with Oni ended and Tai stared at Sora with such an unbeleiveably worried look that Sora almost regretted saying that to Oni... but no. She didn't regret it. She would keep her word. Besides that. Even if she took back her words, Oni wouldn't listen to her. He would try to kill her anyway. He was a demon, and demons really didn't give a damn if a human took back their words. "Tai... It wouldn't matter anyway... He would have went on trying to kill me anyway. It was the reason he brought you down here in the first place."
Tai closed his eyes and just pulled Sora into the most meaningful embrace she had ever received.
~*~
"Everyone. Gear up," a soft, but empowering voice said inside of the inn.
Tai, still obviously groggy from the sudden wake-up call, looked ahead of him towards the porch window, where his guardian angel stood watching the two intently. He turned around and just now felt the comforting warmth of another human body next to him. "Matt... What do you mean?"
Sora woke from the sound of Tai's voice, and instantly sat up when she heard Matt.
"Gear up. You heard me. You seriously don't think that you're going to be able to face Oni without actual knowledge on how to defeat him, now do you?" asked Matt.
Tai shook his head, and stood up instantly noticing the coldness of the room. He then immediately regretted standing up... too... cold....
"Well then... Get cleaned up you two before I begin speaking. I don't want to be one to suffer through your bad breaths."
With this, the two teens jumped out of bed. Sora raced Tai to the bathroom and reached it first, slamming the door in his face before he could enter. The only thing he could do then was fix his hair and dress up while waiting.
When the two were finished doing their daily clean-ups with themselves to maintain hygiene, they sat atop the bed and waited for Matt to begin his explanation.
~*~
"It takes a vast amount of will, for you Tai, to have as much power as you had a couple days ago when you injured Oni pretty badly," Matt explained, looking over in Tai's direction.
"Yeah... and I bet that will's gonna come pretty easily knowing that Sora stupidly agreed that she would fight Oni before me." Tai received a nasty jab with the elbow from Sora with this comment. "She can't back down from what she said anyway... I think," Tai said, pretty unsure himself if what she swore to Oni really had to be followed.
"Yeah, she pretty much has to do what she swore on doing in the first place. If she doesn't, then it would be a lie and of course, heaven doesn't approve of lies... even if it's to Oni," the angel explained. "Although I kinda of have to agree with Tai that your choice to fight Oni first was pretty ignorant, it would leave Oni with a little less energy when it comes to fighting with Tai. This would be a great tactic... but there is a chance that you will get hurt." This was directed to Sora, which she nodded to.
"I know that! Oni's a powerful demon, and all I am and ever was, was a human being. I'm really not sure how to fight something like that guy. Anyway. Can't he hear us?" she question, instantly beginning to be a little creeped out from the fact that the most evil power in the universe could be eavesdropping, catching onto every word they said, finding a plan to counter their attacks.
"No. I just put some magic to shield this room from demonic powers for now. Anyway. I've got a weapon that you can use against Oni that was used by many purified souls before you," he said, handing Sora a bow and a bunch of quivers inside of a cylindrical- shaped container. "A bow and arrows. I'll teach you how to use this, but first... Tai..."
Tai snapped his head up from looking at the beige carpeted ground. "Your weapon is a sphere. The problem with this is although you can deflect Oni's powers and fight him off physically with this as you concentrate your powers onto the weapon, you can only throw this weapon once, having a direct hit on your opponent, preferably Oni. After you hit him, he will finally realize that he is defeated. Since he would be defeated, he would be smart enough to understand that you hold more power over him, and could destroy him if pushed too far, so he will just leave you alone and never try to bring you to hell ever again."
Tai nodded. "Cool."
"Your training will begin tomorrow at four o'clock in the morning."
"Four o'clock?! Are you outta wack?" Sora exclaimed at Matt. Four o'clock in the morning. The guy seriously was crazy if he thought that she would willingly wake up at four.
"No. If you don't want to die, take my information, register it in your brain, keep it in your brain and listen to it. Okay. I have to leave. Just be awake at four tomorrow. We can't do it any later because that's when heaven's demon barriers are the strongest. I'll see you two tomorrow bright and early!" the tow head said before disappearing into the air.
~*~
Sora turned to glare at Tai, obviously annoyed.
"What?" He blinked. What did he do that would piss her off?
"Can you believe him?! Waking up at four?!" she yelled.
"Sora... It's not my fault. Please try and calm yourself down!"
"Sorry... Sorry... I'm just grumpy right now..." she explained.
"Okay, just... don't take out your PMS on me Sor... not now," he smiled.
Sora blushed at this. How had he known? Damn... she left her little 'feminine sanitary napkins' aka 'pads' on top of the bathroom shelf. "I... I'm... Hmmmph!" she ended, folding her arms across her chest, turning on the television.
Sheesh, not going to school and spending most, if not all, your time with a girl will seriously annoy her when she's on her time-of-the-month. This made Tai laugh a little before he ordered room service for their breakfast.
~*~
Sora woke up early the next day. Too early. Even the birds weren't up yet. Damn Matt... With this thought out of her head, she turned to Tai's sleeping form and not-too-gently shook him awake.
She smiled as he fell off the bed in surprise... Waking up at four in the morning with your time-of-the-month would really take it's toll on the actions of an 'innocent' girl.
~*~
"How do you hold this?" Sora asked. She thought that it would be easy. Take the bow, grab an arrow from behind, inside of it's little cyndrical container strapped on your back, and shoot. No... this defiantly wasn't easy. She had to position the arrow just so on the bow, and aim precisely because of the fact that she only had a few arrows to waste.
This wasn't much easier on Tai either. He had never held a weapon before. Okay, maybe a gun so he would die a quick painless death, but that was only once. Besides, this weapon did not have a precise grip, and it was only one so he would have to aim and throw at the exact target. If not, he might just never have another chance again. Great. Too much damn pressure.
~*~
"Oni-sama... They have received help," said one of Oni's minion's, as it knelt down before the capsule-like tube where Oni was still contained in.
"Thank you... but their help will turn out fruit-less in the end anyway... No need to worry," stated the demon.
"Yes sir."
~*~
Matt snapped his fingers and the three ended up inside of a completely white room which contained a digitized human being and a target.
Tai and Sora stared at that. This was turning out to be something like the Matrix. Heh...
"Sora, you will be practicing with the target. Tai, this digitized human can move just as well and as fast as Oni. You will be practicing with this. You two should consider yourselves lucky since I never had this much help when I was about to fight Oni. Then again, Oni wasn't inside of a machine making himself even more powerful than before," Matt explained.
The two nodded. They would only have a few days to perfect this...
"You two understand that if you don't perfect this in five days, you will still have the weapons, but they will be useless. I want to help you, but I can't. I am an angel, and I cannot help with your fight for freedom."
"We understand... but... five days..." Tai began.
"I know... It's very short, but you will have five whole days to practice. One hundred and twenty hours, roughly, to practice. Please make use of it. I made this room for you two by myself..." Matt smirked at this. He sincerely wanted to help, and asking the higher power to create this room certainly raised the couple's chances to win against Oni. "Call if you need anything!"
With that. Matt disappeared.
~*~
Author's Notes: Okay, now I've finished with another chapter. Finally, the two will fight each other. I hope that you enjoyed!!! Please review!!!
By the way, I'm sorry that it took so long for me to update. I finished writing this chapter a while ago, but then I didn't really like it, so I deleted more than half of it and wrote a whole different thing. I think this turned out better than the first one.
Oh yeah, that chat between Tai and Sora about her PMS was just there for comic releif and an explination for the reason why Sora was yelling at Matt because of course, usually, if it was important, she wouldn't mind waking up that early. Besides... I think that the few chapters aheade, when Tai fights with Oni, will be anything but funny... I think...
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Special Thanks to My Reviewers:
dorkiss:
Yes... I know how you feel. As I was writing, I too wanted to kill Oni. His day will come. Well.. he's not going to die because there must always be a balance between good and evil,. but he will finally leave Tai and Sora alone. And yesss.... ^_^ fluff! Don't you just love it? Hehe. Thank you so much for reviewing, and I really love your stories!!! Please continue them!!! Especially 'Her Favorite Color'. I love that story! Hence the fact that it's on my favorites!
Litanya:
Hehe.... Thank you for thinking it's funny. I really didn't think people would catch my somewhat hidden joke- like things. ^_^. I hope that your exams went well. I would have said good luck, but then again, I just updated. Thank you for reviewing! I mean really... truly... absolutely... Okay, I'm going to shut up now... hehe...
TaioraCrazedGirl:
Of course you're noticed! When you write stories, you will always be noticed. Especially if you review my stories.. hehe... *hint* *hint*. I swear, I love your commercial breaks. Funny!!! Thank you for reviewing! By the way, keep up with your story! Stories with plots are always the good ones... heh... and I don't have a lot of those... hehe...
sora-star-child:
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Hehehe... I hope that this equals the amount of 'loves' you put!!! I sincerely mean it!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I didn't know people would actually love this story!!! I have finally let my fingers begin typing again. *Sniffs* I have a gift...? Thank you!! Lol, there it is again!
Lady Eros:
I know what you mean. The whole Sorato thing was wa-ay too surprising. Shocking even. Forget Toei. I mean, yeah, thank them for making Digimon and all so that we have something to write about, but forget them for putting Sora with Matt. Seriously... who would ever think, after all the hints were pointing to Tai and Sora, than Sora and Matt would be with each other? Oh well. No need to stress. We have Taiora in our minds, and that's all the matters. Thank you fro reviewing! Thank you so much!!! And yes... of course... Taiora does rock. *Grins*.
*NoKkAx*:
This story really is one of your favorites? Cooliolio!!!! *Blushes* I-I... I don't even know what to say... *At a loss for words*. T-Th...Thank you... *she manages anyway ^_^*
blondie121147:
Hehe... that's a lot of numbers behind your name. Thank you for reviewing, and you welcome. I just decided that everyone who reviewed deserved praise, and here's the second part of it. I should do this more often. It makes me feel happy! I have put your wait to a stop for now with this chapter... A couple more to come... please wait for those too. I really appreciate your reviews and thank you once again!
Taichi Kamiya02:
It's okay, it's okay. People tend to forget things. No matter. You remembered right? That's all that matters now. Hehe... I know that too much homework was a lame excuse.. and if I say that I had too much homework again I would be lying. I was just lazy, and I had to rewrite parts of the story as I've said before. I'll try to make my updates quicker, but I can't guarantee it. I just hope that you remain patient. I really love your reviewing... please... Ummm... Please don't forget again? I would be devastated... *Puppy dog eyes*
BudgerigarLT:
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I love all of your reviews, and I love the fact that you've always been there to review!!! THANK YOU BUDGIE!!! You are seriously the best reviewer in the whole entire world!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for always being there!!!
Sarika Kamiya01:
Hehe... Yep... I'm finally being dragged into the nut house. It shouldn't have taken this long for the officials to realize that I was crazy... *Sigh* Oh well... hehe. Funny review!!! I always love a good laugh!!! Thank you!!!
I love all of you!!! Thank you so much for reviewing!!! Until next time everyone!!! Talk to you then!!!
~*~
The Way of Heaven does not compete,
And yet it skillfully achieves victory.
It does not speak,
And yet it skillfully responds to things.
It comes to you without your invitation.
--Lao-Tzu