Solitary Mask

Chibi Tsuki

A/N: I don't feel so good… . Flu season is coming in, it's the beginning of autumn here and I'm wrapped in a blanket... I seriously didn't have time to edit this; I'm sorry! I was trying to write this chapter as quickly as I can, and I still couldn't finish it before the 7th. I'm SO sorry Kurama's sis and Kikieo Hina! Happy belated birthday! Btw, I don't intend to write a chapter for everyone's b'day! I'm sorry, but it's too tiring. Let's just say that this is a one-time thing, ok?

Chapter 10

Midnight Meeting

She dipped her head low as she walked out of the school gate, the clouds parting to allow sunlight through. Those around glanced at her curiously, trying to peer at her facial appearance, but it was mostly covered by her loose long hair, and bangs long enough to hide her eyes and nose. She leapt over a puddle and continued her way home, passing the houses she saw everyday. She heard a familiar cry of distress and quickened her pace into a sprint, jumping over small hedges while trying to hold her loose bangs behind her ear. On the road in front of her house were four canines in a fight, barking and growling at one another. The smaller three ganging on the fourth, brutally attacking it with their teeth and claws. Unable to hold her anger, Mikazuki summoned energy and blasted the three dogs with water, appearing through her fingertips, heading straight at the canines. The unexpected attack definitely shocked them as they staggered to stand up again, running away with whines when they did manage to stand up. Caringly, Mikazuki cradled the attacked canine's head and hurried it inside her house. Once she had closed the door, she began to attend to the few scratches on its neck. "Are you alright Song?" she asked the animal recognised as a wolf. It lay its head on Mikazuki's lap and bared with the pain. 'I'm okay, only minor injuries,' Song replied telepathically.

"Why did you come? It's so dangerous for you to appear during daytime and you should know better than that," the youkai scolded.

'I have a message from Makai from your leader. He wants to meet the entire pack tonight, midnight, at the roof of the school building.' The wolf referred the group of youkai as packs, in wolf-terms.

"Rest Song, rest," she murmured and stroked the creature soothingly on the head, before shifting it to a slightly cooler room.

~*~*~*~

Gathering the last of the cups and washing them, Mikazuki dipped her hands in the extremely hot water loving the feeling of the water splashing onto her hands. "Isn't the water hot?" Emi asked, casting her friend occasional glances.

"No," she replied in a soft murmur. "I'm finished with the cleaning."

"But you haven't even dried them yet," Emi's voice turned into a soft whisper. The cups were dried and sparkling clean, ready to be put back into the cupboards. "I'm nearly done, you can go first. I'll see you tomorrow evening."

Mikazuki obliged and left the cafeteria with wandering thoughts. There were many unanswered questions, and perhaps some would be answered tonight. She never completely understood the reason why the demon had wanted her or why he had called her one with potential to control the Fury Whirlpool. Recalling her childhood studies of Makai, she had learnt that the Fury Whirlpool could only be controlled by a youkai the whirlpool selects itself. There were secrets that the whirlpool had prevented everyone from knowing, everyone except its master and those who had tried to conquer it often died pathetically, without the slightest success. The only thing she didn't understand was why the demon had said that she had potential. The last master had died over five thousand years ago, and none had appeared ever since. There was also another thing rumoured about it and that was that the whirlpool itself was actually a dragon in a whirlpool form, appearing before the demons attempting to master it, just before they died. But all these were all rumoured, no one had actually lived to tell the tale.

~*~*~*~

When she reached her home, no one was inside, nor did she expect the others to be inside. They never stayed for long, following the leader's commands and never disobeying. Everyone respected the leader because he was the one who had saved them, taught them and nurtured them. Without him, they would probably have learnt to live much differently and possibly die in the wild where low-life demons would torture them and kill them because they bullied those weaker than themselves. That was the life in Makai for those who weren't able to find a home; either find a way to life or die.

Dimming the lights, Mikazuki yawned and made herself as comfortable as possible on the sofa, taking the chance to sleep. After having slept for an half an hour, she was woken by a sharp piercing sound, alike a whistle. Song limped out of the room with alerted ears, cautious not to make too much noise. Mikazuki peeped out of the window, seeing a human walking his dog down the street. It's only a human, nothing to be worried about, she thought, allowing the wolf to hear her thoughts. I must go now, I feel an eerie presence not far from where we are. Don't make too much noise while you're here. Acknowledging her pack mate's advice, the Song lay back down on a mat and rested.

As she walked down the street, Mikazuki kept alert and listened to the night creatures. She could sense a demon not far from where she was and although it didn't seem strong, she knew that it wasn't safe for one of them to be in Ningenkai. Demons without a sense of justice simply killed everything in sight. Justice? I'm a youkai and I'm going on about justice? It's ironic. Approaching the youki she felt earlier, she leapt into the trees and let them conceal her. She leapt to another tree with little difficulty and looked down from where she was. Two figures were standing conversing with one another. One was obviously a youkai but the other was a human or perhaps in human form, his ki hidden, making her unable to determine what he was. The youkai was the same one that had taken over Izumi Shingo's body and attacked her. Now seeing his stocky figure and lengthy claws trembling under the supposed human made her smirk. The demon was only a weakling who tried to pretend to be strong in front of others, it was like she had predicted. Unfortunately she wasn't able to see the human's features, only a faint outline of his body.

"Leave," the human said in a soft toned voice.

"Sakkyoku, I can promise not to-" the demon muttered in a whiney apologetic voice that sounded as if he were about to die.

"Go, go back to Makai." Again the human's voice was passive, it was confusing as to how he controlled this demon. He must be powerful to make a demon like that cower like it did if he didn't have a commanding voice. The demon bowed its head and slowly made its way out of the area, disappearing into the bushes on the side. When the demon was definitely gone, Mikazuki continued to survey the human. Suddenly he looked straight at her eyes and smiled passionately, moonlight reflected onto the curve of his lips. "Please come down." She wasn't the least bit surprised that he had felt her presence nearby and instead obliged, jumping out of the tree and to the ground. "You're very good at staying unnoticed. The only fault was that your recent injury hasn't be attended to properly," he uttered, pointing to the area where the demon had scratched her earlier that day. "I could smell the infected blood as the wind blew it towards my way."

"But how? I was standing downwind, unless…"

"Yes I am as you have thought. Make sure you clean your wound properly when you go home." Mikazuki glanced down at her wound and back up again, but he was already gone; the gush of cool wind blowing her bangs behind her ears. That stranger had already earned her respect and was definitely one who would be a worthy accomplice. She was positive that they would meet once again, someday in the future. Running back the way she came, Mikazuki placed a silver mask over her face, this one slightly different to her other mask. The mask was pointed like a bird's beak, covering her eyes and nose, leaving her mouth exposed. As she ran, she transformed into her youkai form, while concentrating on keeping her youki hidden. That was when she had realised that her transformed clothes had been tattered from last time's training in Makai. She currently didn't have time to change not that it really mattered.

~*~*~*~

Their leader was already there, waiting for them to appear. His back was facing the moonlight, letting the light outline his figure. Mikazuki sprung from the ground floor onto the rooftop, on time like they were expected to be. Her comrades were already there, waiting for the last one to appear. The sound of the door creaking open broke the midnight silence. A figure walked out of the door leading to the rooftop and towards the main group. "You're all here," their leader finally said in a deep and rich voice. He glanced around at the seven figures standing before him, looking attentively. "I'll be brief. We'll gather in Makai on the fifteenth day from today, the enemy knows of our purpose so I want you all to be on guard. The Reikai Tantei has noticed our presence and is starting to get suspicious. Mikazuki, I want you to return as soon as possible, it's no longer safe for you here."

"Yes sir," Mikazuki acknowledged, bowing her head with an arm across her chest.

"Hiketsu, have you found the information?"

Hiketsu bowed in the same fashion as Mikazuki, replying that he had found a portion of it already. Considering that he had been the Ningenkai for only two days now, his researching speed was definitely rated fast.

"Report when you have found it all." The orange-haired man nodded with another bow. "Kokunai, have you deleted the evidence?"

A man with long black-green spiky hair, dressed in a black singlet and trousers with black wings sprouting out of his back stepped forward and bowed. He spoke telepathically because he couldn't talk normally. His voice echoed through everyone's minds so that they heard what he had said.

"Good job. I feel the presence of a spy. Mikazuki, Hiketsu, I want you to greet our visitor."

Bowing once again, Mikazuki and Hikestu obeyed the command. The rest of the team disassembled, leaving three people left standing on the rooftop. "Mika, I've brought you some clothes from Makai to replace your torn ones," a blue-haired member of the team muttered, placing a pile of clothes into the shorter youkai's hands.

"Thank you Iryoku," Mikazuki said, smiling at her friend.  "By the way, did I ever tell you that I realised you were the one who rescued me?" Immediately she ran off to change the clothes, returning shortly after.

~*~*~*~

Kurama took a sip of his personally made herbed tea, to keep him awake while he finished his assignment. He was nearly done with only the summary left to go. This assignment was as easy as pie but it took up a lot of time to gather sources. He glanced out of the window and into his small garden under the balcony and smiled. His garden was growing well, due to his intensive care and often his mother had praised him for keeping the garden so beautiful. Turning to look at a recent photo of his new family, his smiled grew broader. At first he had felt difficulties of adjusting but now everything seemed natural and he now had not only his mother, but a father and brother as well. Although they didn't know him as well as he knew them, he was grateful that they were there. Huh? Standing up, Kurama swung his chair out of the way and ran onto the balcony. He jumped off onto the street after confirming his suspicions, running off towards the direction of the school. I sense trouble…

~*~*~*~

Shock ran through her veins as she saw them approaching her. It was as if they knew that she had been there since their team had gathered there. If she didn't escape now, she was in deep trouble. Botan called for her oar and hopped onto it, steering it into the sky. Just as she passed the treetops, a cloaked figure struck her onto the ground. "Who are you?" the person behind her asked. He was wearing a black cloth over his nose and mouth, his garments seemed heavy. It was a dark coloured trench coat, ending at his knees, his leather boots clanked on the ground as he walked. His eyes looked serious and his fiery orange hair made him look even scarier. She turned around to look at the youkai in front of her, noticing long silvery ears sprouting out of what she supposed to be a guy's head. 'He' wore a silver mask that covered his eyes and nose, a pull-on black cloak, with plenty folds around the thick collar, spreading more evenly towards his shoulders. His lower arms were covered with thick black leather sleeves, the glove-like thing had clips to hold the glove together. They ended past his knuckles, near the second joint from the knuckles. Botan couldn't see his other clothes properly, but she could see his boots, alike the other man's boots, with two giant clips on the upper half of the boot.

Fumbling around, she felt her oar, clutched it and swung it at the closer enemy; the shorter of the two. But it was blocked with his foot, doing no damage at all to him. She screamed, trying to distract to the two to create an opportunity for her to escape, but it never came.

~*~*~*~

As he approached the school, he saw a familiar blue-haired girl surrounded by two figures, at the place where the demon and Mikazuki had landed earlier today. Running up to them, Kurama called for his whip and leapt into the sky, lashing his rose whip at both, narrowly missing. Although he missed them, he had accomplished his intention; to separate Botan from the two. With a protective arm across Botan, he glared at the pair, standing in front of him. "What do you want?" he yelled and held the whip defensively in front of his body. Neither of the two spoke, and while they continued to keep silent, Kurama glanced at them thoroughly, trying to think of their possible identity. They looked at each other, the shorter of the two nodded and sprung forward at Kurama, water spurting out of his fingers form a spiral pattern. He smashed his whip at it, unable to break the pattern of water, as its pattern was formed so that his whip was unable to break it. Dodging it, he made sure that Botan had gone to tell Yuusuke while he continued to keep the pair distracted. The water splattered on the ground, and formed a useless puddle on the ground. Currently, he had to keep defending since his enemy never ceased to fire water at him. As his opponent leapt into the air, his long silver hair reminded Kurama of Mikazuki. Nevertheless, he tried to provoke the enemy into talking but his attempts proved useless.

From the back of his neck, Kurama retrieved another rose. It was an idea that had formed during his mind when he was dodging the enemy's attacks. As the cloaked figure cast another spiral of water at him, he threw the rose like a dart through the centre. It proved to be a good counter when it scraped the enemy's bare arm, causing it to bleed. Luckily for his enemy that he was busy dodging the water, or else he would've noticed his rose breaking the healing skin of a previous wound. But his enemy didn't seem to care much for the wound, and it was amazing how he and his companion didn't team up and fight him. In fact the other was just speculating on his partner's attacks, nodding occasional as if he approved of the attack. It was amazing that these two youkai could be so different in character to most in Makai.

Now that his attacks were effective against his enemy, his enemy had revealed another technique, using water like fireballs, showing more force than the previous technique. One had scored on his shoulder and proved to be as sharp as ice. Kurama evaded them as best as he could with his whip. Strangely, his enemy's last attack wasn't aimed at him, and when he had realised what it was, Kurama felt the same piercing as before around his ribs. His enemy aimed his attack at a puddle and reflected it back behind him, using the previous puddles to bounce off his attacks. But it was as if he intended to let his attacks scrap Kurama's side instead of letting his attacks hit Kurama full on. The opposing youkai let out a smirk and stood up from his fighting stance and together the pair retreated, just as Yuusuke's voice rang through the night air.

Judging by their actions, it was as if they hadn't intended to seriously injure him or Botan. "Kurama, are you alright?" Yuusuke asked as he approached.

The red-haired teenager nodded, and looked at the moon. "I don't know who they are, but they certainly don't seem to want to seriously harm us," Kurama muttered and smiled at Botan and Yuusuke.

~*~*~*~

A/N: I admit, I can't write battle scenes! *sobs* My poor tired fingers… oww… Well anyway, Mikazuki and Kurama have fought and they seem to be even, or is it just because both sides haven't put their full effort into the fight? (Kurama doesn't seem as observant here as he usually is… don't mind me if he's slightly OOC. I'm trying as best as I can! I really am…) What's going to happen when Mikazuki returns to Makai? (I don't have a clue…) Stay tuned for the next episo… chapter of Solitary Mask! (Just love doing that, but it makes me sound like those annoying commentators at the ending of each anime episode.) Bai bai!