Author's Notes: See chapter one for disclaimer and explanation.
Love, Life, and Death By Annie-chan Chapter Twenty-Three: ConfrontationHôjun sat on the bed, his eye closed, his legs crossed as if in the lotus position, but his feet were under his knees instead of on top. His hands rested on his knees, not slack but not stiff either. His shirt was still off, but the room was warm enough for him not to notice in the deep trance he was in at the moment. Tama-neko, having since given its fur a thorough cleaning, lay curled up in Hôjun's lap asleep, purring happily, glad for a warm spot to sleep in again. If Hôjun had been fully conscious and under normal circumstances, he would have smiled at the blissfully content animal and scratched it lightly behind the ears.
Now, though, his consciousness was not anywhere near the room his body was in. It was searching intently over all of Kônan-koku, hoping to find some kind of hint as to where those he sought were. If he couldn't find them there, he'd search Kutô-koku, then Sairô-koku, then Hokkan-koku. If they weren't in any of the Four Kingdoms, he'd just have to try to pry his way into the Spirit Realm.
He was searching mostly for Hikô, Miaka, and Kôran. Hikô had an unmistakable ki signature, being a Water Demon; Miaka was Suzaku no Miko, and he could pinpoint her no matter where she was; and Kôran was his soul mate, so searching for her was almost like searching for himself. He'd be able to find them much more easily than one of his children. Plus, if he sought out his children and found nothing but cold emptiness, which would indicate they were dead, he didn't think he'd be able to function normally, at least not for long enough to make it too late to reverse anything Hikô—and thus, Tenkô—had planned.
Hikô, Hôjun thought, as if speaking to the embittered man, I love you like a brother, but if you've harmed my children, or any of your captives, I'll—
A sudden twinging in his soul interrupted his thoughts. He'd found them! They were all in the same place! He almost reached out to see if his children were there as well, but stopped himself. If they were dead, he'd best not find out until he got there. It was the only way he'd stay collected enough to think straight.
He jumped off the bed, but not before he gently removed the cat, and grabbed his shirt and shoes, putting them on quickly. He almost reached for his mask as well, but then realized it had been ruined when Hikô had slammed him against the wall. Besides, he'd need no mask for this. He had nothing to hide, now that everyone involved knew everything. He took hold of his staff and walked out the door.
"Chichiri!" he heard from behind him when he started down the hall. He turned around and saw the young bandit walking up to him.
"Tasuki!" he said. "I've found Miaka and the others, no da! I have to go now, no da!" He had automatically tacked "no da" to the ends of his sentences, as if something inside him was trying to deny the seriousness of the situation.
"Ore mo…" Tasuki started. "Take me with you! Please!"
Hôjun stood there looking at him a second. He didn't know how to respond to the sudden request.
"I…I have to go with you!" Tasuki continued. "I have to make up for what I've done! To Tamahome…to Miaka, too. I…I can't just not do anything to make up for it! They've forgiven me, but I'll never forgive myself until I make up for it! I…I'd die to help them…to help all you guys! I just…ore…"
Hôjun reached out and put a gentle hand on his younger comrade's head, showing he understood. "You don't have to explain, no da. We'd all give our everything to help our loved ones, even if we endangered ourselves, no da. That's why humans can't live alone, no da. We'd waste away from lack of friendship, no da." He let a slight smile grace his face. "Wakatta, no da. We'll both go to confront Hikô—!!!!!!!" He was suddenly cut off as an arm wrapped around his throat and he felt someone hanging off him.
"Yeah!" Taka, who now clung fully onto Hôjun, crowed. "We'll ALL go and rescue Miaka and your family from the clutches of evil!!!!!!!!!"
"Ta-Tamahome?!" was all Hôjun could bring himself to say in response. He had almost tipped over from Taka's weight, and Tasuki was currently holding him upright.
Taka jumped off him back to the floor, his face going from comically exaggerated determination to an expression a little more serious. "Three people are better than two, aren't they?"
"You understand I won't be able to save you if you get in trouble, no da?" Hôjun asked, then raised his staff when Taka nodded. "Let's go, no da!" The rings of his staff jangled loudly as they were teleported immediately to the mouth of a cave. They were just inside the entrance, and Hôjun stood still for a moment. "I teleported us to the mouth of the cave, because I couldn't pinpoint them more accurately than that, no da. Now, I know exactly where they are, no da." He began gathering energy for a spell, and when the spell was almost ready to be fired, he teleported them all into the largest chamber in the cave, letting loose the spell as a bit of an announcement that they had arrived.
There they were. Hikô stood close to the center of the chamber, looking as if he had just managed to deflect the spell. Above him, Miaka floated in a large bubble full of water, clearly surprised at her Warriors' entrance. Behind them and against the wall of the cavern, Kôran stood on a shelf of rock, looking as surprised as Miaka. Hôjun realized with tremendous relief that she was holding their baby to her chest, and their two older children were clinging to her legs. They were all alive and seemingly well. Hôjun could have wept in relief if the situation didn't prohibit it.
"Hikô!" he called to the winged one, who had recovered from the initial blast. "Let Miaka and my family go! Or else—"
"Or else what?" Hikô chided. It was obvious he wasn't intimidated.
"Right now, my only desires are to protect the ones I love," Hôjun replied. "My wife and children, as well as Suzaku no Miko. It's my duty to protect them, no matter what the cost." He hesitated a fraction of a second to say what he said next, but knew he had to make it clear. "To protect them, I'll kill you!" It pained him greatly to say that to his dearest friend, but he knew he had to kill Hikô. Not only to save Miaka and his family, but to save Hikô as well.
"Dame, Chichiri!" Miaka could be heard screaming. Kôran said nothing, but her eyes were fixed on the scene, definite fear in them. Her children continued to cling to her.
"I see," Hikô said, smiling maliciously. "Well, then. You'll have hurry up and kill me quickly if you don't want Suzaku no Miko to drown."
"Chichiri!" Taka suddenly screamed, running full tilt at Hikô. "Leave Hikô to us! Take care of Miaka before she dies!"
"Rekka Shin'en!" Hôjun could hear Tasuki cry out, and the room suddenly got about twenty degrees warmer as the bandit's fire exploded toward the waiting Water Demon. Hikô, not alarmed in the slightest, erected a water barrier around himself, warding off the magical flames with ease. "A water shield?!" Tasuki exclaimed in annoyance. "My fire can't get through that!"
He and Taka had no time to do or say anything else before an impossible amount of fist-sized water missiles came barreling toward them. It was all they could do to dance wildly around in a mad attempt to keep from getting hit.
"Tamahome!" Hôjun cried. "Tasuki!"
As suddenly as it started, the barrage of water missiles stopped, leaving Taka and Tasuki on the ground, breathing hard. They both had a fair amount of new bruises.
"Hôjun, you don't seem to be attacking," Hikô said. "It seems as if Suzaku no Miko's life isn't enough to make you act." He suddenly smiled chillingly. "Maybe you need a little more motivation. It's also a good time to show you my powers aren't restricted to just water."
Hôjun was about to ask what he meant when he heard a scream from Kôran. His head whipped around in her direction, and his eye flew wide when he realized all three of his children were struggling to breathe, their air supplies suddenly and completely shut off. Kôran could do nothing, and the look on her face showed she was agonized that she couldn't save any of her darling children.
Something inside Hôjun snapped. He knew very well Hikô hated his children with a vengeance, but to actually see him attacking them like this was just too much for his sanity to handle.
He began walking toward Hikô, his eye blazing, his battle aura rising up around him, making him look like a demon himself in its intensity. "Let them go," he growled through clenched teeth. "Let them all go."
"I'm sorry," Hikô replied calmly with a smirk. "You'll have to make me do that, I'm afraid."
"I said let them go, damn you!" Hôjun shrieked, lunging toward Hikô and swinging his staff in a deadly arc. The staff connected squarely with the side of Hikô's head, knocking him down with enough force to slam his head against the rock floor. Such a blow would kill any human easily, but Hikô was merely stunned momentarily, gasping in surprise and pain. Hôjun lunged again, but Hikô raised his arm, and just when Hôjun reached him, a wall of water suddenly rose up, taking the maddened Seishi with it, and smashing him down against the tiered rock floor.
Everyone stood still. Hikô had released the children from the chokehold to concentrate his powers on attacking Hôjun. Baby Hana clutched at her mother's chest again, while Kôran, Tori, Seiryoku, Taka, Tasuki, and Miaka could only stare dumbly at the crumpled body of Ri Hôjun as the water drained away again. The mage lay completely still in one of the pools dotting the cave floor, facedown, the water underneath him slowly turning a sickening red.
After a minute of total silence, everyone but Hikô gasped when Hôjun began moving, dragging himself slowly and weakly along the water-covered floor, turning all water he touched to red with his own blood. "Hi…Hikô…I c…c-can't…let y-you…win…" He stopped and coughed violently, bright red blood flowing from his mouth down his chin and neck. He collapsed back down, shuddering. He gathered all the energy his could in his weakened state, trying to heal his body at least to the point where he wouldn't die immediately. He was very well aware that his attempts to heal may very well kill him.
Hikô was the only one that wasn't too stunned to speak. "Let's see how long your spirit clings uselessly to your ruined body, Hôjun," he said quietly.
"Hikô! Yamete!" a sudden cry rang out. All heads, save Hôjun's, turned in the direction it came from. Kôran. She had finally found her voice after her shock at her husband's injury.
"Stop?" Hikô asked quizzically. "Why? Hôjun will soon be dead, and then I'll be free to kill his Miko and his children."
"That's my point!" Kôran cried, tears running down her cheeks. "I don't want you to kill them! I only want you to let us go and leave us alone! Please, I'm begging you!"
"Leave you alone?" Hikô repeated. "Demo…I don't want to leave you alone, Kôran! I love you! I've always loved you! You know that!"
"I hate you!!!!!!!!" she suddenly screeched, her eyes burning with a fury that had never been seen in them before. "I hate you for everything you've done! First, you almost tear Hôjun and me apart, then you try to kill my husband and children! You're doing it because you love me?! Because you care for me?! You think I'll come to you after all I hold dear are dead?!" She looked away from him, her voice lowering to barely above a whisper. "I hate you. I can't stand the sight of you."
"K…Kôran," Hôjun rasped, barely loud enough to hear, "no…"
Hikô stood very, very still, his eyes fixed on the object of his affections. Slowly, almost mechanically, he began walking toward her. Kôran quickly handed Hana to Tori and shooed her children toward the wall, away from the approaching demon. His eyes were intense, brightly burning golden-yellow. His face was otherwise blank.
"You…you can't mean that," he said, his voice flat. "You…you're too kind and gentle to let you hate anyone. You said so yourself when we were growing up." He stepped up onto the rock shelf, grabbed her upper arms, and shook her twice. "You can't mean that! Take it back!!!!!!!!!"
"I do," she moaned, her tears continuing to fall. "I've never hated anyone before, and it hurts more than anything for it to be you, but I really do hate you. I…I…" She buried her face in her hands, cringing away from him. "Let me go! Don't touch me! Please…"
Hikô released her suddenly enough as to make her almost fall backward. He backed away from her, shaking his head slightly back and forth. His eyes were wide, disbelieving, hurt beyond measuring. He almost stumbled when he stepped off the shelf, but barely noticed.
"Tenkô-sama," Hikô said quietly, his hands raising to his head and burying themselves in his hair. "Y-you said I would have her, if I only served you. You said I could change her heart, if only I followed your every order. You promised…you promised…" He suddenly threw his head back, his fingers tearing at his hair, and screamed to the ceiling, "You said she would love me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Before anyone could react, the water at his feet suddenly rose up around him in a huge waterspout, reaching to the ceiling and spreading out five feet all around him. The cavern shook violently, and bits of limestone fell from the ceiling and walls. Waves of water were flung outward from the water tornado, and crushing winds threw everybody to the ground, except Miaka, who was still in the bubble, and Hôjun, who was already on the ground.
Hikô! Hôjun thought, feeling as if he would die from the buffeting winds, as well as from blood loss and broken insides. He's trying to kill himself!
Suddenly, the waterspout collapsed, the winds and trembling walls ceasing just as abruptly. The bubble around Miaka broke, dropping a nearly unconscious Miko to the floor. Taka was just barely able to get up and lunge in time to break her fall. At the same time, the ward around the shelf of rock Kôran and her children were on shuddered, became visible for a second, then faded out of existence.
All eyes turned to Hikô, who stood completely still in the middle of the cavern, his eyes closed, his nearly transparent wings drooping, his hair falling loose and wet around his shoulders. He raised his head and looked at Kôran, his face twisted in anguish.
"You've killed me, Kôran," he whispered mournfully, then dissolved into water and collapsed to the floor.
To be continued…Author's Notes: Ha! I cut it off at a pivotal point! :P I wanna keep you all in suspense. Don't worry; chapter twenty-four will pick up right where this chapter left off. So, how do you all like my version of the fight? I had to think a while as to how Hikô would be defeated, because I wanted something different to happen than in the original manga/anime, where Chichiri tries to get Tasuki to kill him, and then drag Hikô along with him. Did I do a good job, or did I go overboard with making Kôran confess she hates the man she once thought of as a brother? That sort of thing would totally destroy Hikô's psyche to the point where he would want to kill himself, but did I go too far in making her hate him? I'd like to know what you all think. Please tell me either in a review or at mangareader@hotmail.com, onegai shimasu!