Chapter 14

Hao's eyes widened at that, his fists clenching as he glared harshly at Jeanne.

This... wasn't good. Not good at all.

In his brother's current state, he was too weak to even try to Oversoul, much less fight with someone as strong as Jeanne. It didn't really matter how much he had improved.

They were going to die, weren't they...?

His fists clenched at that thought. No, they wouldn't die. After all, his little brother would tell him 'everything will work out' under this kind of situation, right...?

Yoh blinked at the Iron Maiden. "Onii-chan... who is she?"

If Hao could have fallen right there and then, he would.

She giggled a little at that question. Ah... He was a cute little kid, wasn't he?

Her gaze on Yoh hardened ever-so-slightly.

Too bad he wouldn't live for much longer.

"That is not important." She said softly, calmly. Well, it wasn't. Again, Yoh was just going to die soon anyways. She wouldn't waist her breath on saying anything of the like to him.

She stepped closer, inspecting the boy for a moment. "...Now... how should I do this?" She paused to contemplate, only earning yet another glare from Hao, and a confused, odd look from Yoh.

"Yoh. Run away." Hao looked to his brother. Yes, even though he knew this would be impossible, he was telling his brother this, anyways.

His eyes widened. "W-What! No!" Besides, she wasn't a bad person, was she...?

"Restriction." It was too late. Jeanne had already walked closer to him--paralyzing him with yet another spell. She sighed a little. That used... a lot of her powers, but it made it easy to make the opponent helpless.

Hao's eyes widened. "Leave him alone!" He shook from anger. Ugh. He was completely helpless! He didn't want to see this! It'd be his entire fault Yoh was--

"If you touch him, I'll kill you."

Jeanne had paused when she felt a spear being pressed against her back--but it wasn't strong enough to hurt her in anyways, mind you.

...Well, no yet, anyways.

She slowly smiled once more at that. "That child would not be pleased if you killed me." She saddened a little at the thought. "...And the Lord wouldn't be, either..." Her voice was quiet at that. It was so; why were there so many killings of the wrong people lately...?

Tao Ren smirked a little in amusement at that. How hypocritical of her; but should he have expected any less? "And you think your so-called 'lord' would have been happy with you?" Ugh. That made him sick to his stomach. "Especially with the countless people you've killed!" His tone held a sharp edge to it this time.

A laugh. She shook her head at that. "But we're cleansing this world of filth." Really; the people doing this; they were being forgiven; paying off for their sins by serving God. "Isn't that what you wanted to do, Tao Ren?" Oh, she knew his goals, alright. Then again, she knew a lot of things...

Ren paused at that before looking away. Of course he wanted too. It was his goal as a shaman. He wanted to get rid of certain people, things--anything that was causing this world to be more tainted than it already was.

...Or he had, anyways.

HoroHoro... He slowly gazed behind him, staring at his best friend and loved one for a moment. Because of him, he had changed a lot, and even if it wasn't for the better... he was still happy he had done so.

For once in his life, he was happy.

He slowly smirked, turning to Jeanne again. "Aa... I do." He began, readying his glaive again. "I do want to get rid of the filth dirtying this world."

He prepared to Oversoul.

"I'll start off with getting rid of you."

-

As soon as Yoh had been released from the spell, he went straight to Hao.

You see, Shamanic spells take utmost concentration to cast, and to keep them that way.

...Unless they were the type used on Hao, however; those were different; they had meant to be used for much longer, therefore taking much more power to cast at once.

Yoh had used his furyoku to destroy the chains still binding Hao up.

...When he had fallen weakly, slouching to the ground in exhaustion, Yoh hugged Hao tightly, sniffing again. "I missed you... Onii-chan..."

Hao paused at that before smiling lightly, sitting up a little as he hugged the brunet-haired boy back, gently though. Really... he couldn't let Yoh see him like this. He was supposed to be the strong one. "I miss you too..." He said quietly, gazing upwards. It was the truth; these days he had been here... he thought about his brother and home a lot. It was unlike him, but...

He was happy. They were almost home free.

...Wait a minute.

He stared at Ren, frowning as he let go of Yoh. "...You do realize I cannot help you with this, don't you?" That's right; he was too weak to fight at the moment.

The pointed-haired shaman shrugged, turning to Jeanne; who was staring calmly at Hao. "I'll defeat her with or without your help." But he'd prefer it was without his help, anyways... "You two just concentrate on leaving."

Hao nodded, looking to Yoh, tugging at his little brother's hand. "Come on." He was at least strong enough to stand and run for a little while; at least long enough to get away from this place.

"But what about Ren-san?" Yoh looked almost scared. He didn't want to leave anyone behind! They were supposed to do this together!

HoroHoro twitched. Enough! He had waited far too long! He wanted to take charge for once! He grumbled under his breathe, sighing. He was so under appreciated... Ren wouldn't even let him fight Jeanne! He wanted to help him, but, noooo; Ren had to be the tough ass once again and fight her himself.

He looked to Yoh. "Ren knows what he's doing!" He forced a grin. "Don't worry; we'll kick some other X-Law's asses on the way out!"

Yoh looked reluctant to go, but he slowly nodded, letting his brother begin to drag him out as he sent Ren and Jeanne one last fleeting look.

HoroHoro, on the other hand, stayed behind for a moment. "Don't die, Ren." He said quietly, shaking his head before running after the two siblings. What was he getting all sentimental about this for...?

Ah well, Ren would make it out of this fine, would he...?

...Hopefully.

-

Ren had frozen upon hearing those last words.

"Don't die, Ren."

He twitched a little at that. Some encouragement that was, but...

He smirked. It'll be the opposite for her. I won't be the one who's going to die today.

Ren Oversouled quickly.

An eyebrow slowly raised, crimson eyes gazing at his weapon. "You'll need to be stronger than that if you're going to defeat me." She said quietly, summoning her own spirit. "Restriction!"

Ren defended against that quite easily, actually. When the spirit began to head towards him, he sent the said spirit a Chuuka Zanmai; sending the spirit quietly.

Her eyes widened at that before hardening a little. "You..."

He landed delicately. "Looks like you're not as strong as you thought." He glared harshly at her.

This was it; if he defeated her...

Jun would be avenged.

His glared hardened even more at that, preparing to attack her once more.

Perhaps... this wouldn't be as hard as he thought he would be.

-

"Where were you guys!" HoroHoro shouted to the two, running closely behind them. "We were looking hours for you guys!"

Hao glared at him. HoroHoro was so... obnoxiously annoying. He hated him, really. "Where do you think, stupid?"

"..." The ice Ainu glared dagger at him this time. "Hey!" His tone was even louder this time. "We came all this way to help you, and that's all you have to say!" Him? Pissed off? That would have been the understatement of the year.

The pyromaniac swiftly turned his head to look in front of him, cursing under his breath. He would feel... somewhat guilty if he didn't say something like this.

"...I know. Thank you." He muttered quietly.

Yoh smiled widely up at his brother before grinning. He was happy. Very, very happy. Before today; he thought he'd never see his brother again. Before today, he thought he would have been alone.

And yet, he knew all along that things would eventually work themselves out.

He was... grateful.

"This is as far as you three go!"

Hao rolled his eyes, slowly stopping. Now what? He was getting impatient! He wanted to get out of this place already! "Oh, it's you." He starred at Marco calmly--the man was pointing a gun... right at Hao's head. "What do you want?"

Marco glared harshly at him. "Asakura Hao..."

Hao sent him a bored look before eyeing Yoh and HoroHoro. He had just enough furyoku to stop Marco, but...

"Usui."

HoroHoro paused at that. "...What?" He wasn't even going to ask how Hao could even know his last name...

"Take Yoh and get out of here. I'll take care of him."

Yoh's eyes widened at that. "W-What!" Leaving Ren was one thing, but if he left Hao again... What would have been the point of going there! "No! I'm not going to leave you alone again, Onii-chan!" He shouted, holding tightly to his hand. "Hao... please..." His voice cracked a little, trying to back any kind of tears from forming.

HoroHoro shook his head. "Are you stupid or something! I could take care of him myself!"

"Don't be a fool." Hao snorted, eyeing him. "You're not strong enough." He sighed mentally. ...I can't protect both of you, anyways... "Just get the Hell out of here!" He eyed Yoh, smirking a little in confidence. "I'll make it through this perfectly fine." He glared at Marco. "He's a weakling, anyways." The scum... there was no way he'd let him live. He had just enough strength to defeat him...

Yoh hesitated before nodding. Ha was right... He'd be fine! His brother was really, really strong! That and he were only facing one X-Law this time, anyways!

At that, HoroHoro rolled his eyes, gently taking a hold of Yoh's arm and began to drag him away this time. "Come on!"

Like Ren and HoroHoro had done to one another, Yoh sent Hao one last gaze before leaving, shaking his head.

I'll wait for you, Hao.

Marco fingered the trigger, smirking at that. Really, it'd be easy to kill him. He'd just have to pull the trigger...

Hao twitched, teleporting himself away from Marco when he had done the said thing, appearing behind him and kicking him; sending the said man stumbling with an 'oof!' sound. "Really, you didn't think I'd die that easily, did you? Idiot." He snorted, smirking.

Marco glared at him. "You!" He growled. Hao would pay for making a fool out of him!

He pointed his gun at him. "Die!"

Hao shook his head, sighing. "You shouldn't play with fire, Marco-san." He said in a mock-sweet tone, snapping his fingers.

With that, the building was set a flame.

He shook his head. This was disappointing... He was expecting more of a challenge.

However, he wouldn't do enough damage to kill Marco.

No, he made a promise that he wouldn't.

Marco slowly stood, shaking a little as he looked around.

The whole building...

His eyes widened.

If he didn't go back now, Jeanne would surely die!

He glared at Hao, shaking his head. Jeanne was more important than that, wasn't she...? Without her, they couldn't complete any of this!

He began to turn. "...Asakura Hao... we will hunt you down eventually."

Hao rolled his eyes, slowly turning.

"Aa. Same to you."

A sigh. Marco must be really stupid--there was no way they'd survive in this fire. But, that didn't matter. What mattered is that he was free to go. Was that he could finally head back home without any worries--if this were succsefull.

Right. Let's go home.

Together.

To be concluded

One more chapter left! ;; Ugh... so tired... I stayed up really late writing this for you guys. ;.;

XO I'm thinking about making a sequel for this. I don't know. We'll see how this last chapter turns out.