AN: My apologies to those of you who like Ashitare. I have nothing against him...but for the sake of this scene, well...he isn't always referred to in the most flattering light. Gomen ne. :)
AN2: I don't know how to spell "omae ra." Dinnae kill me, onegai. :)
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"Only You" - continued from 3
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One moment, he was smiling softly, watching as Miaka and Tamahome pressed into one another, their eyes lightly closed in usual loving bliss...and the next moment, there was a slight scuffle behind him, he started to turn...
"NURIKO!" Tamahome screamed.
He caught a flash of grey fur, a glimpse of outstretched claws and gnashing fangs...and, then, he was springing out of the way as best he could, his flat-soled shoes sliding on the snow, sending him hurtling down onto his side on the ground...but, even as he fell, he knew he hadn't managed to move quickly enough, that the monster was right there, right above him, ready to strike... Nuriko rolled quickly onto his back, shot up a leg and felt his shoe strike into something solid--the creature's stomach... The beast fell backwards a step, barely affected by the kick, then raised its clawed arm again, grinned down at him with a wide, toothy smile... But, that extra second was all Nuriko needed. He kicked his legs up over his head, flipped over onto his feet...and dodged to the side, just barely missing a clawed punch aimed for his face.
"Nuriko!"
It was Miaka. He risked a glance in her direction, ducked low beneath another punch and nearly slipped again as his foot slid over a patch of ice. He quickly regained his balance, however, drew in a deep breath of the chill, icy air.
"Tamahome, get her out of here!" he cried, noticing the other man coming towards him, obviously trying to help. "Hurry! He's gonna come after her nex--" He broke off, suddenly, as one of the creature's fists thudded heavily into his chest, sent him flying helplessly backwards. The fabric of his cloak and shirt frayed out beneath the streak of sharpened claws, fluttered away, bore the smooth, bruised skin of his chest. A moment later, he slammed into the wall of a nearby building, fell gasping and wincing to his knees.
"Nuriko!" Miaka shrieked.
Grimacing and fighting against the stars flickering over his vision, the violet-haired seishi somehow managed to crawl back to his feet, clutching at his sides as he moved. There was a hot, painful jabbing sensation flooding from his ribs, and a suffocating warmth building in his lungs, threatening to suffocate him...but, he fought it back, brushed up a hand and swept away the thin trickle of blood that had been sliding by his eye, marring his vision.
The beast was coming towards him again, walking slowly, teasingly...and, Tamahome was walking up behind it, his seishi symbol already glowing a fiery crimson on his forehead. "Omae ra!" he shouted, slamming his fists down at his sides, glaring angrily out at the beast from beneath a wash of dark bangs. "Damn you...your fight is with me!"
The creature paused, turning slightly in its stance to stare out at the young seishi. A thin, ghastly smile stretched at its mouth, and a cross between a growl and a laugh ripped from its lips, rang eerily in the empty streets. "You...later," it roared, still chuckle-growling softly. "Now..." The hideous smile widened. "For now, I kill him..." His gaze shifted to Miaka. "Then, her. THEN you."
Then, with barely a pause or so much as a flicker of breath, the beast turned, leaped with snarling teeth towards where Nuriko had been standing...and came to a sudden, jarring halt, suddenly faced with the unexpected sight of a very empty wall. The creature frowned slightly, looking vaguely confused...then, its eyes widened, and it began to turn...but, it was too late. Nuriko sprang out from the shadows of a nearby wall, latched onto the creature's back and started to wrap his arms around that thick, muscled neck...but, before he had a chance to do much damage, the beast had recovered and ducked low to the ground, loosening the smaller man's grip. During the precious second Nuriko struggled to maintain his grasp, the beast stretched up, grabbed onto his left arm, and sent him hurtling through the air. Nuriko struck the ground hard, hearing the crack of bones shattering in his arm, the rush of the breath flooding from his lungs...but somehow, he managed to crawl back to his feet a second later, to glare out at the beast from beneath a thick line of blood-matted bangs.
"Tamahome!" he called. His voice was hoarse, broken...but it echoed clearly through the streets, made Tamahome freeze where he was. "Get Miaka out of here! NOW!"
All seemed to freeze for a moment.
The monster stood still in the center of the street, clawed hands clenched into fists in front of it, while Tamahome stood only a few feet away, the sign of the ogre burning a screaming red on his forehead...and, then there was Miaka, hovering at the edge of the street with both hands clasped over her mouth, a look of horror and fear flickering in her eyes.
"TAMAHOME, GO!" Nuriko cried. "If you don't, he'll kill h--" His voice broke in the middle of the sentence, and he was forced to sink weakly to his knees, spend a long moment coughing and gasping, tasting blood on his lips... Finally, he recovered, rose up onto his feet again. "Go...PLEASE!"
Tamahome stared at him for a long moment, his eyes wide and pained...and then a look of determination swept over his features, tightened his jaw, pursed his lips. "No," he said in a low, angry voice. "NO! I won't leave you, Nuriko!" He turned, sank into a fighting stance and glared out at the beast. "COME ON!"
Miaka let out a soft cry. "No...Tamahome...!"
"BAKA!" Nuriko bellowed. "Get the hell out of here, you damned idiot!"
But, it was too late. The monster let out a loud, bone-chilling howl, stretched its arms out briefly to the side...and charged. Tamahome was ready for it, though, leaping high up into the air as the beast drew nearer, spinning mid-flight, coming down on the other side... As he landed, he twirled in the snow, slammed his foot hard into the monster's unsuspecting back...and froze, eyes widening in fearful disbelief.
The creature turned slowly, smiling a wide, toothy grin. The force of the kick didn't even seem to have fazed it, seemed to have done nothing more than alert it to the fact that he stood back here... Suddenly wondering what he'd gotten himself into, Tamahome leaped out of the way of the slashing claws, rolled a few times on the ground and sprang back up to his feet.
By this time, Nuriko had managed to recover somewhat from his own wounds and was walking haltingly towards them, clutching at his shattered left arm, the breath moving with audible difficulty through his lungs. "Tama...home," he grunted. "Get...away...only..." He drew in a deep, painful breath. "Only I have the strength to kill it."
Tamahome glanced at him from underneath one of the creature's slashing punches, shook his head fervently. "You're hurt!" he exclaimed. "Go get Miaka out of here, find the others. With their help--" He paused, grunted as he ducked out of the way of another punch. "With their help we might be able to kill him!"
"Tamahome, don't be stupid!"
"You, don't be stupid! You can't beat this thing!"
"Neither can you!"
"Don't argue! Get Miaka out of here!"
Nuriko stood there for a long moment in silence, watching as Tamahome danced agilely from side to side, easily sidestepping any and all blows that came his way...but, his steps were gradually slowing, his movements lagging...he couldn't keep this up for much longer... Sooner or later, Tamahome was going to make a mistake, and then... The violet-haired seishi winced inwardly, took a precious moment to glance over at Miaka. The girl leaned weakly against a nearby wall, looking small and alone and frightened. Two slim hands were pressed tightly against her mouth, and tears were streaming silently down her cheeks, her eyes riveted to Tamahome, his movements...his continuous stream of failed attacks.
//She loves him so much. If...if he dies...\\ He closed his eyes, drew in a long, clean breath. //If he dies, it'll kill her. And, so...so. That means there's only one thing I can do.\\
Nuriko drew in another deep, heavy breath, fought against the pain raging from his broken arm, his shattered ribs, his battered body...and rose to his full height. Then, before Tamahome could stop him or the creature could notice he stood back here, he was charging towards the beast's broad, furred back, the bracelets glowing a fiery red on his wrists, the willow blazing like fire on his chest. A moment later, he was within range of the creature, beginning to leap up into the air, fly towards that muscled back where he could latch onto that thick neck with his good arm, snap it before the beast knew what he was doing...yes...yes...it was going to work...it was going to work...! He was flying, leaping, soaring...it was going to work...it was going to--
And then, at the last instant, Tamahome's eyes flicked up to meet his own...and, then the beast was turning, lifting its arm, time seeming tick by frame by frame by frame...
And, then everything stopped.
Dimly, he heard Miaka screaming, heard Tamahome crying out his name...but, all he could see was the face of the beast, just inches away from his own...those eyes...like animal eyes, like demon eyes...staring into his soul, ripping at the very fabric of his identity, tugging him away... Death was in those eyes...and silent, painful suffocation. If he gave into those eyes, he was going to fade away into nothingness, be swallowed up into oblivion...never be remembered...never be spoken of...never exist at all...ever... It took all his strength to break away from those dark, glaring eyes...all his strength to rise up from the death staring into his face and look down at himself.
The creature's hairy arm was holding him effortlessly in the air, its muscles not even trembling with the exertion of suspending his weight...and, the claws...they were ripping through his chest, slicing through his body, tearing out through his back. A flood of warm, bubbling scarlet was streaking over those furred knuckles, washing over that muscled arm...staining the snow a hot, gurgling crimson.
Nuriko shuddered once, not quite feeling the pain yet, not quite grasping just exactly what had happened yet...but knowing, instantly...that he was going to die. And, once he did...Miaka and Tamahome were also going to die...and this creature...this beast...this demon...was going to get the shinzaho. Seiryuu would win...Kutou would win...Nakago would win.
A thin trickle of blood streamed from the side of his mouth, whispered down his chin...dripped onto the creature's face. The beast blinked as the drop of crimson splattered onto its nose, gave a low, hungry growl...and, that was when Nuriko struck.
Not giving himself so much as a moment to reconsider, he wrenched his legs up from where they'd been dangling, planted his feet firmly on the beast's chest...and propelled himself forcefully backwards. He hit the snowy ground heavily on his feet, somehow managed to stay upright...and while the monster was ambling towards him, looking confused and angry and irritated, he ducked low to the ground, slid on a thick patch of ice directly beneath the beast's legs...and came up on the other side, leaped to his feet. A moment later, he'd sprung up onto the beast's back, wrapped his good arm heavily around the monster's throat...and begun to twist. His breath came in short, harsh gasps, and a low growl began to work from his throat, stretch into a grunting scream...his muscles ached, his body ached, the blood was streaming from his chest, his left arm was hanging limp and useless at his side...but, damn it, he was going to do this! Nakago was not going to win...Seiryuu was NOT going to be called...MIAKA AND TAMAHOME WERE NOT GOING TO DIE!!!
He twisted again, harder this time, funnelling all his life force into the grip, all his energy, all his love and hate and fury...and then, finally, finally--SNAP! The monster's neck flicked hard to one side, those wide, angry eyes went suddenly, blessedly blank... The beast fell with a great thud to the ground...and all was silent.
Nuriko stood above the stilled body for a long moment, gasping for breath and clutching at the angry, bloodied hole in his side...and, then he let out a heavy breath, glared down at the corpse with rare, fiery anger. "Never underestimate Nuriko-sama," he whispered.
And then he fell to his knees in the snow, collapsed onto his side...and lay still.
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