Towa no Mirai: Elemental Gem Stones: #9 - Uta no Kon no Yuuki! Kushiyè no Kikkai Yokobue
- The Music Jewel's Power! Kushiyè's Mysterious Flute -
By: Reiko Aya (KitsuneMaya@koreanmail.com) and Towasei Norei (mokuro29802@aol.com)
Official Webpage: http://towa-no-mirai.tk [http://freewebs.com/mayamukuro]
Yousoei gracefully floated down from a tree, facing Kushiyè directly. "I am ready," she chimed.
As soon as she said that, her voice rang out with a haunting tune, and no later than that did Kushiyè feel as if she were being ripped apart on the inside. She crouched down and let out a pained howl.
Through the song, Yousoei watched in pleasure. She was going to win this so easily, and all she had to do was sing! Her voice became stronger as the spell became more powerful. Already, things were beginning to look hopeless.
* * * *
The Reikai Tantei, concerned for Kushiyè, had gone to check on her and give her advice while she was fighting, but they weren't happy with the sight they saw when they arrived.
Yousoei gave a laugh as Kushiyè stumbled to her feet. Kushiyè coughed up a bit of blood.
"Please give up. You know you're going to lose..." Yousoei falied to hold back a winning chuckle.
Kushiyè coughed again. "N-never! You will never win!" Kushiyè quickly got back to her feet, wiped the blood from her lips, and smiled. "Heh, nothing I can't handle."
If only I had my flute, this would be so much easier.Kushiyè thought to herself.
Yousoei walked up slowly to the okami, who was out of breath.
"C'mon Kushiyè, I know you're way stronger than this." Yusuke urged her.
"Oh, this doesn't look good," Kuwabara observed, "Kushiyè can barely move."
"Yes, that song DID hurt her badly." Kurama agreed.
"Come on, Kushiyè! You can beat this prissy slut!" Yusuke called to the seemingly hopeless okami.
"Slut?! What did you call me?! Just look at your okami friend!" cried an offended Yousoei, looking distastefully at her purple garments.
Hiei stood there like a stone. He could tell they had arrived in the middle of battle, and Kushiyè had taken a very hard and brutal attack from the music demon. He felt something weighing down his hand. He hadn't been holding anything...He looked down and found, of all things, an apparently ancient flute.
"Huh?" Kuwabara eyed the instrument. "Oi Hiei, where did that flute come from? I didn't know you played the flute!" he teased.
Instead of giving him the warning glare he always gave when Kuwabara said something stupid, Hiei shook his head distantly, still confused.
"Hiei?" Yusuke turned his head to find out what was happening back there, and his expression turned to perplexed when he saw the mysterious wind instrument. "You play the flute?"
The question was starting to get annoying. Hiei shook his head, once again denying it.
Kushiyè, hearing 'flute', stopped fighting to see the instrument and gasped.
Are you serious? She thought to herself. "Hiei! Give me that flute! Hurry!" Kushiyè ordered.
Hiei took a last glance at the flute before chucking it to Kushiyè, not seeing the point in it all.
"Perfect," Kushiyè muttered to herself in inward triumph.
Yousoei's eyes narrowed, taking a step from her cheery attitude. "Do you think a flute will save you?" She giggled at the seemingly pointless attempt, and felt the want to laugh a bit more. "Fine, I'll let you play a last song," she agreed, a bit of curiosity for how she played forming.
"Big mistake!" Kushiyè warned, giving a little laugh. "You sure? Fine." She started to hum a very haunting tune. Although it was frightful, it soothed everyone. It wasn't really the tune, it was her voice. It was one of the most beautiful they had ever heard. The tune was then transferred into the flute as Kushiyè began to play. It immediately took effect on Yousoei. She began to feel and unbelievably sudden amount of pain. There was a minute of her suffering, and then she perished, falling and intergrating into the wind.
"Kurushimena Kaze no Uta (Song of the Suffering Wind). Hope you like it," Kushiyè mumbled, stopping her song.
But there was something about Kushiyè that didn't seem right. Her voice had a dark tone to it, for one! And her hair had turned darker, almost black, as well! This eviler Kushiyè turned her head to the others and gave a small laugh.
Chunzhu could sense an unfamiliar spirit inside of Kushiyè. "Kushiyè! How could you do that?"
Kushiyè seemed to return to normal, as her voice and hair returned to its previous state. "What?" she asked, confused.
"You have just killed someone. That is not like you. No matter what, you would never kill!" Chunzhu pointed out.
It was unbelievable, what she had just heard. "I what?!" It was like she didn't even remember the fight. She didn't look upset, despite the fact she had just killed. Her expression belonged more in the afraid category. She was staying still, which was probably because of the pain the multiple wounds she had endured were causing.
A sudden, large gust of wind circled spontaneously around her. She felt a voice come from it, easily recognized as Yousoei's. "Kushiyè, before you destroyed me, I put a curse on you. Now, every crescent moon you'll transform into your evil self. Not just on the Crescent Moon of the Devil." A small but playful laugh followed before the wind died down, leaving Kushiyè speechless and frightened.
"Hn?" Hiei felt relieved and actually glad to feel his voice return. "Kushiyè?"
She was looking down unhappily. "Once again I have caused danger to you guys." Maybe I should stop this now? "Hey guys..." Kushiyè said reluctantly.
"Huh?" They responded, so that she knew they were listening.
"I...All those times I've be-" she began.
"Stop worrying," Kurama assured, "Demo..."
What did she really need to say? They all walked away, supposing it to be something Kushiyè wasn't ready to say.
* * * *
"Only one more, Kushiyè-san. Just relax and hold out your arm..." Kushiyè felt the last wound on her get healed by Yukina. Her hands acted as a coolant for the burning pain of the slashes.
"Anything I can do?" Hiei muttered to her.
Kushiyè shook her head voilently. "Minna, you've done enough already. Please stop acting so concerned." She looked down, embarrassed.
Chunzhu sat alone in a corner of Genkai's temple, holding the newly gotten Elemental Gem Stone of Music in her hand. She ran a finger over its smooth surface, seeing the entrancing wavelengths dance around in its translucent inside. She clutched it close to her heart, feeling it dissolve into saftey. Its humming rang in her hears still. She slumped over on the floor, eyeing Kushiyè jealously. She knew she was badly injured, but she couldn't help but feel envious. Everyone was caring about her, something no one had ever displayed towards her...Okay, hardly ever.
She felt a figure slump down next to her. Should she look up? See who had bothered to forget about Kushiyè just to sit down? No. She was not curious about it.
"Ri-chan?"
That was an odd way of adressing her...She looked up in surprise. "Kurama...Where did that name come from?"
He smiled. "Something to call you by. It sounds more friendly than "Suishori", ne?"
She looked away, suddenly engrossed with a random spot she found on the wall. "Yes...but...You should be caring for Kushiyè, like everyone else." She felt an uncomfortable amount of amiability between them both.
"Ri-chan, may I ask you something?" He decided to start over, after sorting out the slight confusion.
She nodded slightly.
"You act so distant all the time, but I want you to become more open to us. We are your friends, right?" He looked over to her. No response. He tapped her on the shoulder lightly. Nothing. "Are you listening?" He recieved a slight nod again. She then turned around, seeing as how this was inevitable.
"It is hard to explain if we are or not. I would prefer if we would not," she muttered, a slight sadness crossing her usually happy expression.
Kurama held up his hand. "Did I upset you?"
She abruptly stood up. "No. It is just...something."
His hand gained a mind of its own as it calmped onto hers in a firm but well-meant hold. "Can you wait for a little while?"
Chunzhu adjusted the loop done on the side of her head and nodded. "Why?"
"I would like you to go home with me. I want you to stop being so shut out all the time. Just for a little while, okay? You can leave when you want to."
Chunzhu felt her hand slip from his coaxingly. It wouldn't do any harm, probably, to just do that for once. Then again, she had never been to anyone's house but her own. She was unsure of what to do, but too embarrassed to admit it. "Yes." The small word slipped from her mouth like an unstoppable force.
He stood up, noticably surprised at her positive answer as much as she was. "I'll just go say goodbye to Kushiyè and the others, and then we'll go."
* * * *
Chunzhu idly prodded her bowl of white rice with wooden chopsticks, eyes fixed onto a television in the kitchen. It was only the news, but that could hold ideas to where the elemental gem stones could be, possibly.
Kurama stared motionlessly out the window, at the large drops of rainwater forming on the widowsill, and covering the grass outside. He honestly was a little uncertain if he wanted to talk with her, but knew that it was the only way they could get aquainted, and to have him know about what it was that made her look so upset.
"Kurama, look at this!" Chunzhu announced, pointing to the television. The rain suddenly began to fall harder, and the TV became fuzier, fragments of it only being heard. Let's see...something about a storm spontaneously forming on the coast? That WAS weird, but why was Chunzhu so excited about it?
She noted his questioning expression. "This flood could only have one cause behind it: an elemental gem stone! The ocean one. I can sense it!" She closed her eyes blissfully, opening them widely in realization a second after. "Oh..."
"What's wrong?" Kurama asked.
"Umi (The Ocean)..." she muttered, turning towards the door. The lights flickered, then went off. A deep rumbling sound, more than likely thunder, echoed a good distance from there. Chunzhu twisted the knob, and began to swing the door open.
"Ri-chan!" Kurama rushed up to the door, but not in a quick enough time to stop her from rushing out.
"I have to go!" He heard her yell. IT was way to dangerous to go out, but should he go get her? He took a deep breath. The better choice was probably the latter. Besides, going out there and fighting out there in such a storm was the recipie for a mess of trouble. He opened the door, looking outside. It was a miserable combination of gusts, heavy rain, and roaring thunder. He let out a shaky breath, and ran out.
* * * *
Chunzhu knew better than to walk about the more industrial areas of Hanesaki Park so late at night. Why had she done it? It was the quickest way to the dock, where she would have the best chance of finding an ocean demon.
A small crowd of large, muscular guys then came out of nowhere.
One pinned her arms to her sides and dragged her to a tree, where she was rougly restricted to it. She remained calm for a second, letting them talk, make threats, things like that. They were a different group though. They were "recieving orders from a higher position" and claimed she needed to "pay them back". If they were just trying to confuse her, or were serious, she had a strange, burning feeling in her stomach just by looking at them. Her sight was blurred by the heavy rain (making it questionable about who the heck would mug people in a storm), but she could distinguish five figures.
The first was taken down with a simple, clean punch. She used a series of kicks, forgetting it as her weak point, reciveving a sharp jab into the ribs in the process, and another hit her in the head right above the left eyebrow. He was using a razor blade or something, she could tell when blood began to form from the incision.
As one slammed into her side, she hit another in that sensitive, vulnerable area of the neck before falling over. Regaining balance, with no help of the blood and rain getting in her eyes, she felt herself get taken down again, feeling the head wound drip more into her eyes and mouth. She wiped the metallic taste off, pausing. She shouldn't be getting too injured! She had to get the ocean gem!
A temporary loss of her attention gave one of the remaining two thugs the oppertunity to send a fierce blow to her stomach, making her sprawl onto the ground. She was starting to get faint from the loss of blood. Honestly, head wounds were what she like the least. They bled too much, and they had been so close to getting to that area right above the cheekbone, not even an inch from where she had gotten hit.
She focused on the fight now, using one of the guys' charging strength against him and throwing him to the ground. In the time it took for him to get up, she was able to get back on her feet. Just as she did, another slammed her from behind and sent her back onto the pavement.
Inari, she felt horrible. She crouched over, feeling like she was about to die. She saw the pinkish mix of her blood and the rainwater staining her clothes, and felt one of those guys brutally stand her up. She felt a cold, wet blade of a large knife face itself to her neck. She couldn't be taken down by these punks though! She deserved a more respectable death, if any!
Using up all the strength she had left, she slammed her heel into the guy's shin as hard as she could. To the other, she sent a searing blow to his head, followed by a quick one to his abdomen, making him crumple up and gasp for air.
She picked the knife up without a pause and threw it off. SHe saw it cut its arch-shaped path through the shower of water.
The guy who she had kicked had recovered now, standing up for a face off with her. His face was swollen grotesquelyfrom what seemed like a previous conflict, and his jacket was speckled with the pink that was rain and probably her blood. She felt her eyesight become lost in the blurred rain, half of it at least coming from the blood loss. She heard an impact before actually feeling a punch come in contact with her shoulder, making her step back. She blinked, trying to make sense of the blurred images in front of her. Seeing the outline of her opponent, she struck him across the face, a pleasing crack coming from his nose. In return, his fist came in contact with her cheekbone, causing her to fall back.
Oh no...Get up! I have to get up! As much as Chunzhu wanted to, she couldn't. SHe could feel him advancing up towards her, and closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. Her body, mainly her head, stung unbelievably, and as much as her mind tried to convince her body, they just couldn't connect to have her continue fighting.
That was odd. No more punches? No kicking? No savage excecution with that knife? She opened her eyes and rubbed them, seeign that the last one had run off. Strange. Why would he have done that?
- The Music Jewel's Power! Kushiyè's Mysterious Flute -
By: Reiko Aya (KitsuneMaya@koreanmail.com) and Towasei Norei (mokuro29802@aol.com)
Official Webpage: http://towa-no-mirai.tk [http://freewebs.com/mayamukuro]
Yousoei gracefully floated down from a tree, facing Kushiyè directly. "I am ready," she chimed.
As soon as she said that, her voice rang out with a haunting tune, and no later than that did Kushiyè feel as if she were being ripped apart on the inside. She crouched down and let out a pained howl.
Through the song, Yousoei watched in pleasure. She was going to win this so easily, and all she had to do was sing! Her voice became stronger as the spell became more powerful. Already, things were beginning to look hopeless.
* * * *
The Reikai Tantei, concerned for Kushiyè, had gone to check on her and give her advice while she was fighting, but they weren't happy with the sight they saw when they arrived.
Yousoei gave a laugh as Kushiyè stumbled to her feet. Kushiyè coughed up a bit of blood.
"Please give up. You know you're going to lose..." Yousoei falied to hold back a winning chuckle.
Kushiyè coughed again. "N-never! You will never win!" Kushiyè quickly got back to her feet, wiped the blood from her lips, and smiled. "Heh, nothing I can't handle."
If only I had my flute, this would be so much easier.Kushiyè thought to herself.
Yousoei walked up slowly to the okami, who was out of breath.
"C'mon Kushiyè, I know you're way stronger than this." Yusuke urged her.
"Oh, this doesn't look good," Kuwabara observed, "Kushiyè can barely move."
"Yes, that song DID hurt her badly." Kurama agreed.
"Come on, Kushiyè! You can beat this prissy slut!" Yusuke called to the seemingly hopeless okami.
"Slut?! What did you call me?! Just look at your okami friend!" cried an offended Yousoei, looking distastefully at her purple garments.
Hiei stood there like a stone. He could tell they had arrived in the middle of battle, and Kushiyè had taken a very hard and brutal attack from the music demon. He felt something weighing down his hand. He hadn't been holding anything...He looked down and found, of all things, an apparently ancient flute.
"Huh?" Kuwabara eyed the instrument. "Oi Hiei, where did that flute come from? I didn't know you played the flute!" he teased.
Instead of giving him the warning glare he always gave when Kuwabara said something stupid, Hiei shook his head distantly, still confused.
"Hiei?" Yusuke turned his head to find out what was happening back there, and his expression turned to perplexed when he saw the mysterious wind instrument. "You play the flute?"
The question was starting to get annoying. Hiei shook his head, once again denying it.
Kushiyè, hearing 'flute', stopped fighting to see the instrument and gasped.
Are you serious? She thought to herself. "Hiei! Give me that flute! Hurry!" Kushiyè ordered.
Hiei took a last glance at the flute before chucking it to Kushiyè, not seeing the point in it all.
"Perfect," Kushiyè muttered to herself in inward triumph.
Yousoei's eyes narrowed, taking a step from her cheery attitude. "Do you think a flute will save you?" She giggled at the seemingly pointless attempt, and felt the want to laugh a bit more. "Fine, I'll let you play a last song," she agreed, a bit of curiosity for how she played forming.
"Big mistake!" Kushiyè warned, giving a little laugh. "You sure? Fine." She started to hum a very haunting tune. Although it was frightful, it soothed everyone. It wasn't really the tune, it was her voice. It was one of the most beautiful they had ever heard. The tune was then transferred into the flute as Kushiyè began to play. It immediately took effect on Yousoei. She began to feel and unbelievably sudden amount of pain. There was a minute of her suffering, and then she perished, falling and intergrating into the wind.
"Kurushimena Kaze no Uta (Song of the Suffering Wind). Hope you like it," Kushiyè mumbled, stopping her song.
But there was something about Kushiyè that didn't seem right. Her voice had a dark tone to it, for one! And her hair had turned darker, almost black, as well! This eviler Kushiyè turned her head to the others and gave a small laugh.
Chunzhu could sense an unfamiliar spirit inside of Kushiyè. "Kushiyè! How could you do that?"
Kushiyè seemed to return to normal, as her voice and hair returned to its previous state. "What?" she asked, confused.
"You have just killed someone. That is not like you. No matter what, you would never kill!" Chunzhu pointed out.
It was unbelievable, what she had just heard. "I what?!" It was like she didn't even remember the fight. She didn't look upset, despite the fact she had just killed. Her expression belonged more in the afraid category. She was staying still, which was probably because of the pain the multiple wounds she had endured were causing.
A sudden, large gust of wind circled spontaneously around her. She felt a voice come from it, easily recognized as Yousoei's. "Kushiyè, before you destroyed me, I put a curse on you. Now, every crescent moon you'll transform into your evil self. Not just on the Crescent Moon of the Devil." A small but playful laugh followed before the wind died down, leaving Kushiyè speechless and frightened.
"Hn?" Hiei felt relieved and actually glad to feel his voice return. "Kushiyè?"
She was looking down unhappily. "Once again I have caused danger to you guys." Maybe I should stop this now? "Hey guys..." Kushiyè said reluctantly.
"Huh?" They responded, so that she knew they were listening.
"I...All those times I've be-" she began.
"Stop worrying," Kurama assured, "Demo..."
What did she really need to say? They all walked away, supposing it to be something Kushiyè wasn't ready to say.
* * * *
"Only one more, Kushiyè-san. Just relax and hold out your arm..." Kushiyè felt the last wound on her get healed by Yukina. Her hands acted as a coolant for the burning pain of the slashes.
"Anything I can do?" Hiei muttered to her.
Kushiyè shook her head voilently. "Minna, you've done enough already. Please stop acting so concerned." She looked down, embarrassed.
Chunzhu sat alone in a corner of Genkai's temple, holding the newly gotten Elemental Gem Stone of Music in her hand. She ran a finger over its smooth surface, seeing the entrancing wavelengths dance around in its translucent inside. She clutched it close to her heart, feeling it dissolve into saftey. Its humming rang in her hears still. She slumped over on the floor, eyeing Kushiyè jealously. She knew she was badly injured, but she couldn't help but feel envious. Everyone was caring about her, something no one had ever displayed towards her...Okay, hardly ever.
She felt a figure slump down next to her. Should she look up? See who had bothered to forget about Kushiyè just to sit down? No. She was not curious about it.
"Ri-chan?"
That was an odd way of adressing her...She looked up in surprise. "Kurama...Where did that name come from?"
He smiled. "Something to call you by. It sounds more friendly than "Suishori", ne?"
She looked away, suddenly engrossed with a random spot she found on the wall. "Yes...but...You should be caring for Kushiyè, like everyone else." She felt an uncomfortable amount of amiability between them both.
"Ri-chan, may I ask you something?" He decided to start over, after sorting out the slight confusion.
She nodded slightly.
"You act so distant all the time, but I want you to become more open to us. We are your friends, right?" He looked over to her. No response. He tapped her on the shoulder lightly. Nothing. "Are you listening?" He recieved a slight nod again. She then turned around, seeing as how this was inevitable.
"It is hard to explain if we are or not. I would prefer if we would not," she muttered, a slight sadness crossing her usually happy expression.
Kurama held up his hand. "Did I upset you?"
She abruptly stood up. "No. It is just...something."
His hand gained a mind of its own as it calmped onto hers in a firm but well-meant hold. "Can you wait for a little while?"
Chunzhu adjusted the loop done on the side of her head and nodded. "Why?"
"I would like you to go home with me. I want you to stop being so shut out all the time. Just for a little while, okay? You can leave when you want to."
Chunzhu felt her hand slip from his coaxingly. It wouldn't do any harm, probably, to just do that for once. Then again, she had never been to anyone's house but her own. She was unsure of what to do, but too embarrassed to admit it. "Yes." The small word slipped from her mouth like an unstoppable force.
He stood up, noticably surprised at her positive answer as much as she was. "I'll just go say goodbye to Kushiyè and the others, and then we'll go."
* * * *
Chunzhu idly prodded her bowl of white rice with wooden chopsticks, eyes fixed onto a television in the kitchen. It was only the news, but that could hold ideas to where the elemental gem stones could be, possibly.
Kurama stared motionlessly out the window, at the large drops of rainwater forming on the widowsill, and covering the grass outside. He honestly was a little uncertain if he wanted to talk with her, but knew that it was the only way they could get aquainted, and to have him know about what it was that made her look so upset.
"Kurama, look at this!" Chunzhu announced, pointing to the television. The rain suddenly began to fall harder, and the TV became fuzier, fragments of it only being heard. Let's see...something about a storm spontaneously forming on the coast? That WAS weird, but why was Chunzhu so excited about it?
She noted his questioning expression. "This flood could only have one cause behind it: an elemental gem stone! The ocean one. I can sense it!" She closed her eyes blissfully, opening them widely in realization a second after. "Oh..."
"What's wrong?" Kurama asked.
"Umi (The Ocean)..." she muttered, turning towards the door. The lights flickered, then went off. A deep rumbling sound, more than likely thunder, echoed a good distance from there. Chunzhu twisted the knob, and began to swing the door open.
"Ri-chan!" Kurama rushed up to the door, but not in a quick enough time to stop her from rushing out.
"I have to go!" He heard her yell. IT was way to dangerous to go out, but should he go get her? He took a deep breath. The better choice was probably the latter. Besides, going out there and fighting out there in such a storm was the recipie for a mess of trouble. He opened the door, looking outside. It was a miserable combination of gusts, heavy rain, and roaring thunder. He let out a shaky breath, and ran out.
* * * *
Chunzhu knew better than to walk about the more industrial areas of Hanesaki Park so late at night. Why had she done it? It was the quickest way to the dock, where she would have the best chance of finding an ocean demon.
A small crowd of large, muscular guys then came out of nowhere.
One pinned her arms to her sides and dragged her to a tree, where she was rougly restricted to it. She remained calm for a second, letting them talk, make threats, things like that. They were a different group though. They were "recieving orders from a higher position" and claimed she needed to "pay them back". If they were just trying to confuse her, or were serious, she had a strange, burning feeling in her stomach just by looking at them. Her sight was blurred by the heavy rain (making it questionable about who the heck would mug people in a storm), but she could distinguish five figures.
The first was taken down with a simple, clean punch. She used a series of kicks, forgetting it as her weak point, reciveving a sharp jab into the ribs in the process, and another hit her in the head right above the left eyebrow. He was using a razor blade or something, she could tell when blood began to form from the incision.
As one slammed into her side, she hit another in that sensitive, vulnerable area of the neck before falling over. Regaining balance, with no help of the blood and rain getting in her eyes, she felt herself get taken down again, feeling the head wound drip more into her eyes and mouth. She wiped the metallic taste off, pausing. She shouldn't be getting too injured! She had to get the ocean gem!
A temporary loss of her attention gave one of the remaining two thugs the oppertunity to send a fierce blow to her stomach, making her sprawl onto the ground. She was starting to get faint from the loss of blood. Honestly, head wounds were what she like the least. They bled too much, and they had been so close to getting to that area right above the cheekbone, not even an inch from where she had gotten hit.
She focused on the fight now, using one of the guys' charging strength against him and throwing him to the ground. In the time it took for him to get up, she was able to get back on her feet. Just as she did, another slammed her from behind and sent her back onto the pavement.
Inari, she felt horrible. She crouched over, feeling like she was about to die. She saw the pinkish mix of her blood and the rainwater staining her clothes, and felt one of those guys brutally stand her up. She felt a cold, wet blade of a large knife face itself to her neck. She couldn't be taken down by these punks though! She deserved a more respectable death, if any!
Using up all the strength she had left, she slammed her heel into the guy's shin as hard as she could. To the other, she sent a searing blow to his head, followed by a quick one to his abdomen, making him crumple up and gasp for air.
She picked the knife up without a pause and threw it off. SHe saw it cut its arch-shaped path through the shower of water.
The guy who she had kicked had recovered now, standing up for a face off with her. His face was swollen grotesquelyfrom what seemed like a previous conflict, and his jacket was speckled with the pink that was rain and probably her blood. She felt her eyesight become lost in the blurred rain, half of it at least coming from the blood loss. She heard an impact before actually feeling a punch come in contact with her shoulder, making her step back. She blinked, trying to make sense of the blurred images in front of her. Seeing the outline of her opponent, she struck him across the face, a pleasing crack coming from his nose. In return, his fist came in contact with her cheekbone, causing her to fall back.
Oh no...Get up! I have to get up! As much as Chunzhu wanted to, she couldn't. SHe could feel him advancing up towards her, and closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. Her body, mainly her head, stung unbelievably, and as much as her mind tried to convince her body, they just couldn't connect to have her continue fighting.
That was odd. No more punches? No kicking? No savage excecution with that knife? She opened her eyes and rubbed them, seeign that the last one had run off. Strange. Why would he have done that?