Chapter 36

Only to Kill

A figure walked through the forests of Japan. Its pace was steady and anything that got in its way is destroyed. Birds stop their chirping as it walked by. The squirrels hid in the trees. They all know not to get in the way of the intruder.

The intruder is nonother than Riku's former dark side, Muraku. Three weeks had passed since his revival. He'd spent his days wandering throughout Japan. He still wore his purple trench coat. The Luna Edge was strapped to his back. He had let his hair out of its ponytail so it cascaded over his shoulders. He now had a black eye patch sewn over his left eye. His other eye had gone through a change. It was no longer purple but a deep blue in color.

I've wandered through most of Japan and I have yet to figure out why. I just see no purpose in wandering but something inside me just won't allow me to stop. When will I kill in battle again? Muraku asked himself.

In his three weeks he had only killed animals for food. Koenma's restriction stopped him from killing people. He had yet to met any bad demons. He craved to see the look in the eyes of his victim before he dealt the final blow. The craving was driving him crazy.

Muraku sighed and sat against a tree. That deer I had earlier today should keep me going for a while. But if I don't kill someone soon I'll go crazy he thought.

"HELP!!!" a female voice broke the silence. Muraku jumped to his feet and listened with great interest. "SOMEONE HELP ME!!!" the voice said again. Someone's in trouble. That means bad guys. Time to kill Muraku thought as he ran in the direction of the scream.

A few minutes later he found the source of the cries. In a clearing was a girl who looked to be in her late teens. She was around 5 feet 7 inches in height. She had chocolate brown hair that went to her waist and was tied in a ponytail. He eyes were a deep blue similar to Muraku's. She wore a white kimono with a red sash. Seven ogres armed with clubs had her surrounded.

"HELP!!!" she yelled again. "Will you shut up? No one can hear you out here" one of the ogres said. "Now just come along peacefully with us and you won't get hurt" another said. "The master is waiting" the largest said. "I'll never go with you" the girl said defiantly. "We tried the nonviolent way" another said. They prepared to attack.

"Step away from her. You've got bigger things to worry about" Muraku said as he walked into the clearing. The ogres turned around. "Who might you be?" one of them asked. "I won't tell you since you won't live long enough to really use my name" Muraku replied. "Do you have a death wish or something?" the largest said. "No, but if you do feel free to attack me" Muraku replied.

"That's it, I'm tired of your mouth!!!" the largest roared. He charged toward Muraku. Muraku smirked and in the blink of an eye was behind the ogre. Their backs were turned toward each other. Muraku glanced back at the ogre then turned to the others. "Who's next?" he said. "What do you mean? Your not done with him" said one of the ogres. "Oh but I am" Muraku replied. He snapped his fingers and the ogre that had attacked him fell to the ground dead. Five horizontal slashes had cut him to pieces.

The other ogres gasped. Muraku turned to them with a smirk on his face. "You'll be joining him" he said. This time two ogres charged him. Muraku smirked and prepared for a blast. "TRIPLE IMPACT" Two of the beams killed the two that charged him and the third killed one of the ones who stayed behind. The last three growled before charging as well.

Muraku unsheathed his sword. It started to glow. He swung sideways and it extended. It went right through two of the ogres. They fell to the ground dead though no damage could be seen on their bodies. Muraku had destroyed their souls.

The last one started to back away. "There is no escape" Muraku said. He disappeared and reappeared behind the ogre. He kicked its head causing it to fall to the ground. It turned on its back only to come face to face with Muraku's sword. It's eyes widened. "I spared you from my sword's Soul Destroyer attack cause I wanted to see that look in your eyes before I kill you" said Muraku. He impaled the ogre. It screamed before going limp.

Muraku smirked and sheathed his sword. Finally, I almost forgot how good it felt he thought. He turned around and immediately something slammed into his chest causing him to grunt. He looked down and saw the girl had thrown her arms around his torso. "Thank you for saving me" she said happily. Muraku pushed her off and she landed on her but. "I didn't do this to save you. I could care less what happens to a weak human like you. I only did it cause I wanted to kill someone and they weren't within my restriction. You're on your own now" and with that, he turned and started to walk away.

He hadn't gone to far when the girl grabbed his arm. "Let go" Muraku said threateningly. "Please, I need someone to protect me" she said. "Not my problem" Muraku said as he yanked his arm out of her grasp. He continued on his way. The girl gabbed his coat. He turned around and raised his fist. The girl braced herself. Muraku's fist was about to hit when Koenma's words echoed through his mind. 'I you harm a hair on Riku, his friends, or any other people or demons you'll die again.' Muraku's fist stopped an inch from hitting her. She cautiously looked up at him. Muraku snorted in frustration and turned around.

"Wait, just hear me out" she said. He growled but stopped. "You said you only saved me to kill those guys. I know they have a lot of friends. They'll be more of them after me" she said. "Why waist their time?" Muraku asked emotionlessly. "I'm a priestess who knows an spell their master desperately wants. He's already sent twenty-five of his minions after me. If you protect me, then you can kill every one that he sends" she said.

Muraku thought about it for a while. It's better than wandering around he thought. "Very well, I'll protect you" he said. She started jumping for joy. "Thank you so much…uh…what's your name?" she asked. "Muraku" he replied. "Mines Kairi, Kairi Mazaki" she replied. "Let's get two things straight: One, I'm only doing this to kill and two, I'm not slowing down for you" Muraku said as he started to walk away.

Kairi ran to catch up with him. He's better than nothing. Besides, he's kinda cute. And his eyes…eye is gorgeous. To bad he lost the other she thought. Remember, he has Riku's looks. "What happened to your eye?" she asked him. "I destroyed it to punish myself for losing a battle" Muraku replied. And he's a bit crazy.

A few hours later

"Muraku, I'm tired" Kairi whined. "Like I said, I'm not slowing down for you" Muraku replied coldly. "Please" she said with puppy dog eyes. "No!!!" Muraku said with frustration in his voice. "Why are you so mean?" she asked. "I was born this way" Muraku replied. "No one is born like that" "Well I was" he replied.

After ten more minutes of walking, Kairi collapsed. "If you want my protection you'd better get up" he said. "I would but this just keeps bugging me" she said as she reached in the back of her sash. She pulled out a silver bracelet with a red jewel on top. "It's been rubbing my back" she said. "If it'll stop your whining then I'll just carry it in my coat" Muraku said. He extended his hand. She smirked and opened the bracelet up. She clipped it on his wrist. "Get it off now" Muraku growled as he struggled to take it off. Kairi snapped her fingers and Muraku crashed into the ground. He struggled to one knee. "What did you do to me?" he said angrily. "That bracelet has a subduing spell on it. All I do is snap my finger and you eat the dust" she replied. Muraku growled.

"I'm sorry but I had no choice" she said. Muraku sat against a tree. "Could you maybe start a fire?" she asked. Muraku pointed a finger at a tree and fire a blast. The tree was engulfed in flames. "I meant gather firewood not blow up a tree. Some animals could have been living there" she said. "You have a fire and that's what matters" he replied.

Kairi sighed and sat next to him. "What kind of spell are they chasing you for?" he asked. "The spell grants immortality. I can't let them catch me. If they force me to do the spell on their master then he will go on a rampage. Thousands, maybe even millions will die and nothing can stop him. I can't allow that to happen" she said. "So you're running from them to protect others" he said. She nodded. "You should just turn yourself in. They might spare your life if you do" he said. "I won't if they kill innocent people" she replied. Muraku went silent.

An hour later the flames on the tree died down. Muraku felt something on his shoulder. He looked down and saw that Kairi had fallen asleep against him. He was about to swat her away but that would hurt her and he didn't want to die again. He growled and looked at the remains of the fire. Why are humans so weak?    

Next morning

Kairi's eyes fluttered open as the sunlight hit them. She was still a little sleepy and snuggled into the warm object she was sleeping on. "If you woke up don't go back to sleep" Muraku said. Kairi's eyes widened and she looked up. Muraku was looking back at her with a look on his face that made her want to crawl under a rock. "S-sorry" she said nervously. "Muraku snorted and got up. "Did you have a good sleep?" she asked him as she stretched. "How can anyone sleep through your snoring?" said Muraku. "I don't snore!!!" she said angrily. "Well a freight train must have passed by. Oh wait, there are no freight trains out here" he replied. Kairi snapped her fingers and Muraku smashed into the ground. "Did you forget my subduing spell?" she asked. Muraku growled and got back to his feet. If it wasn't for that restriction. She would be mincemeat by now he thought.

"I think there's a small town nearby. We can get breakfast there" she said. "Whatever" he said as he started to walk away. "Hey wait up" she said.

"Wouldn't it be faster if you carry me?" she asked. "I'd rather stop killing than carry you" he replied. *snap* Muraku crashed to the ground. "I don't like doing that so quit whining and carry me" she said. He growled and slung her on his shoulder. "Hey!!!" she said angrily. "I didn't want to carry you in the first place so don't push your luck" he said. He started to run toward the town. The wind carried its scent so he knew where to go. After a few adjustments, Kairi found a comfortable position on his shoulder.

They were about half way to the town when Muraku stopped. "What you stop for?" she asked. "We have company" said Muraku. He set her down and started to scan the area.

"Come out of there" he said to a bush. The bush started to shake. A blur shot out of it and headed for Kairi. Muraku got in the way and punched the figure. It went crashing to the ground. A cloaked figure struggled to his feet. "Who might you be?" he asked. Muraku remained silent. "I am Asura" he replied. "I take it you after the girl? Well unfortunately, I happen to be in your way" Muraku said. "Cocky aren't we. Well we'll see how confident you are once you see my true form" said Asura.

In a flash of light, the cloak was blown off. When it died down Asura's true form could be plainly seen. He had dark gray skin and orange hair with red highlights and a yellow streak. He had soulless yellow eyes. He wore black pants and a belt strung with skulls. His most unique feature was that he had four arms, two on each side.

"Now hand over the girl" Asura said. "I would, but she's my ticket to killing more of your kind" Muraku replied. "Then die" Asura growled. He charged.

He started to swing punches at the wolf. Muraku avoided each on though he had to do a little adjusting since he had never fought someone with four fists. "Hold still" Asura growled. Muraku ducked a punch and landed his own punch into Asura's stomach. Asura stumbled back. Muraku unsheathed his sword and charged. Asura disappeared and reappeared behind Muraku. He tried to punch the wolf but Muraku disappeared before his fist made contact.

Muraku reappeared about fifteen yards away. "Is that all you got?" Muraku asked mockingly. Asura growled and charged again. A few feet before he reached Muraku his fists started to glow. "QUAD FIRE" A ball of fire shot out of each hand and hit Muraku. He was blasted into a tree. Asura smirked and turned to Kairi.

"Now that he's taken care of, I can take you to my master" he said. The sound of chuckling came from the dust around where Muraku had landed. The dust blew away to reveal Muraku with the Luna Edge in his hand, chuckling. "If that's your best move, I've been wasting my time" he said. He then charged.

He flew by Asura and landed on behind him. "I know you can't survive another attack" Asura said as he turned around. "How do you expect to beat me when you're unarmed?" Muraku asked. Asura took a step back with a look of shock was on his face" What did you do to me?" he asked. "You'll see right about, now" Muraku replied. When he finished talking, all four of Asura's arms fell off. Asura screamed in pain. "My arms!!!" he cried.

Muraku started to laugh evilly. "I love seeing my opponents cry in agony before they die" he said. He charged Asura and sliced his head off. Asura's head rolled away while his body fell to the ground. Muraku continued to chuckle as he sheathed his sword.

"Do you have to be so brutal?" Kairi asked. "If you want me to protect you then let me fight my way" Muraku replied. He slung her over his shoulder and continued to the town.             

Looks like Muraku has his hands full. Next chapter, Riku and the others head for the beach but unlike the last time, Nami will be with them.  One more thing, it appears most of the reviews for Chapter 32 'First Date' aren't shown on the review list. It would be greatly appreciated if those of you who reviewed that chapter would rewrite your review. I really want to see your opinions. Review please.