Dark Arrow
By Marie Darkholme
23. Fight for survival
The day was in the beginning and the rain that had fustigated them during all the way seemed to meet no stops. Taichi hurried his horse. Takeru was on the lead and he had stayed a little back to talk with Captain Motomiya about the arrangements. The red haired seemed now more open to trust them. But what other choice did he have when Sora and her friends had already included them in the group? They all wore their black cloaks. Captain Motomiya wore his royal cloak, the one with the symbol of the kingdom in the back as all other soldiers.
The brown haired approached Takeru. "How much longer?" he asked. They had been riding at full speed for several hours now and the horses were beginning to get tired. "Just a few kilometres." The blond replied, but Taichi could tell he wasn't really paying attention to his words. He knew the blond was worried with the girls, and he had his own past ghosts to haunt him. In his mind he couldn't still figure the end of all this, even thought it seemed to be ending. It was happening to fast or maybe it was just him.
Ken and Sam were a little behind them, riding along with Koushiro. The youngest of the brothers seemed to be bothered by something. He had been silent all the way, what was unusual. Koushiro eyed him by the corner of his eye. He couldn't tell what was bothering the man, but he could clearly see he was not himself today, since Sora had been taken. For moments it occurred him that the youngster would be having a crush on the auburn haired but then he put the idea aside. It was something else. He looked at Sam and noticed the black haired man was also eyeing his brother. Thinking that maybe they needed a little time alone, he rode a little faster and went to meet Takeru and Taichi at front. Of course, you could call alone when they were surrounded by about a hundred men, but it was…a little more private.
The oldest brother noticed how Koushiro had left them and took the note to talk to his brother. "Hey bro, ready for the battle?" he asked in his usual cheerful tone. "Yeah sure." Came Ken's voice, but it was not the enthusiastically Ken that Sam was used to. Ken was always excited and talkative when it came to a battle. It seemed to him sometimes, that the youngster feared not death. In fact, you could almost say he liked to face death everyday. But of course that when you are use to face storms in the sea and been thrown overboard all the time, you learn to take death in a mocking way.
"Are you okay?" he asked. The question though sounded strange. It sounded strange because they never really had to have conversations like that one. Ken was always okay, even when an arrow has just hit him on his arm, he's still fine and with a smile on his lips, but now he wasn't and the older black haired wasn't used to have this type of conversations. So it was normal that the question would sound strange.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry." Ken told him trying his best to put on his best fake mocking smile, but as he had no practise it came out really stupid and obviously faked. "Oh, okay. I'm worried." The black haired youngster finally said. He couldn't keep that in him for much longer and he was glad that Sam had brought on the issue. "What is the problem?" Sam asked. "Well, we are going to have a battle now, right? And then, probably, Taichi and Sora will, well, you know get married or something and…what about us? What are we going to do?"
Tough question, undoubtedly and for maybe the first time in his life, Sam really had no idea of what to say. Somewhere in the past he had been worried about the future too, but then, he learned to just let the days go by. His main worries would be mostly about if he should get new boots in the market the day after or not; or if they were going to have good winds or no. he had stopped worrying about what he was going to do when their next purpose, their next mission is fulfilled. Normally their Captain would think that for him and he just…lived without worries of tomorrow. But the youngster was right. What would they do when all that was over? He was almost sure Taichi wouldn't be able to go back being their Captain and all, so what were they supposed to do? They would loose their captain. Then the answer came, plain simple.
"Let's just worry about now. Let's just worry about getting alive out of this and then, we'll see what tomorrow has for us, okay?" he replied. it sounded a little more philosophical then he had wanted it to, but it was the right answer, the only he had to more accurate. And it seemed to be enough because Ken nodded, agreeing with his words. "Yeah, you are right. We have better things to worry about now." The youngster said. "Like, you are not going to be always on my back while we're fighting, are you?" he asked with an annoyed face. Sam wanted to laugh, but he put on a serious look. "Of course I am. You are my younger brother and I have the right and duty to always take care of your back." "Damn, you're always thinking of me as a kid. You know what, Takeru is the same age as me and he doesn't get that from anyone. Koushiro treats him like one of them and Taichi too, and why do you have to treat me like a kid? I'm eighteen, you know? I could…"
They were interrupted by the sight of the castle. It was imposing. The black clouds up in the sky, threatening to launch themselves on them; the rain that had not stopped and seemed to be getting harder; the fog that begun to form around them, enveloping them; it all contributed to the haunted castle image that Ken had pictured in his mind.
They crept around, forming small groups of three and two. The objective: get in, search and destroy for some, or get in, search, find and get out for others.
Taichi and Takeru had agreed they were the best team to find Mimi, Hikari and Sora, like the auburn haired had planned. The evasive techniques of the brown haired along with Takeru's knowledge of the castle. Sam, Ken and Koushiro were the search and destroy team along with all the others. The soldiers had been spread around in groups as well. They were going to take over the castle.
"That's the dinning-room. My brother uses to eat there a lot." The blond informed his battle companion. They were hidden in the bushes around the castle and had already knocked out three guards that were crossing their way. Takeru clutched his doubled bladed weapon as Taichi prepared to knock another guard unconscious when he saw something in the room. The windows were high and he couldn't see very well, but for seconds he could have sworn he had seen Mimi's chestnut hair. There were servants all around and he noticed how their heads disappeared three or four times while they were walking around the table. "But why would they be walking around the table if there's only Yamato there?" he asked to himself out loud. "Maybe because he's not having lunch alone but with three beautiful girls." The brown haired man replied as he hit the guard in the neck, hitting a nerve that knocked him unconscious.
The blond's eyes brightened. "So maybe he didn't lock them up after all. You must be right." He said. "How can we get in there, the shortest way." The brown haired corsair resumed his thoughts. Takeru walked a little further, still hiding in the bushes. Their long black cloaks were allowing them to go almost unnoticed due to the darkness of the day. "The shortest way is through the kitchen." He replied. There was no need for other words as they immediately walked to the kitchen. Takeru continued to watch the windows and spotted Fujitsu. Anger grew in him. That bastard.
Suddenly they heard an explosion and Takeru watched as the room began to turn into chaos. "They must be attacking already, like it was agreed." Taichi replied. "Can you see anything in there?" the blond asked pointing to the tall windows. Being taller than the youngster Taichi could see a little more than he did. He stood completely, not caring if a guard saw him or not, since the attack had already been launched. "Yeah. There's Sora, Hikari and another girl, I suppose that's Mimi. Sora's had her katana and… stupid girl…she is going to face Yamato." He said as he turned to Takeru down in the bushes. "We must hurry. Guards are approaching." He replied.
"You and me." Sora repeated. In her mind she was analysing her chances. Shit. This wasn't supposed to happen. I can handle myself but Mimi and Hikari can't. I just hope Taichi and Takeru come quickly. Otherwise we'll be dead. She thought. Yamato started circling and Sora did the same. For the corner of her eye she could see Mimi standing up. She had picked two knives, one in each hand, while Hikari was trying to make a good use of the bow.
"Don't you think it is dramatic?" Yamato smirked. "Dying wearing the same dress your mother died with, killed by the same sword?" he mocked, but the girl didn't pay attention to him. She knew he was just trying to get to her and she was determined to not let him do it. "On the other hands, this katana has also the blood from the one who killed your mother." he said, smiling. His eyes seemed to have darkened and she could almost swear that was something evil twinkle in them. He laughed, coldly, sending shivers down her spine. She tightened the grip on her katana and then loosened it again.
"Aren't you going to attack?" the blond asked. She gave him no answer and looked to the corner next to the door that led to the kitchen. Hikari had managed to hit a man with and arrow on his leg and Mimi was struggling to get free from another. She wanted so desperately to help them, but she could not turn her back on Yamato. Yamato, she had suddenly forgotten about her opponent and that almost cost her her arm. She barely avoided a blow that was meant to her right arm. Swinging her light katana, she made her attack that Yamato blocked. The sound of the metal was beginning to raise her spirit. She became engulfed in the battle where her only goal was to hit him, deadly or not. They continued their morbid dance, Yamato forced to back some paces when an astonishing attack almost cut his head off. The auburn haired speeded up to him and then stopped abruptly and deviated from his blow, attacking with her katana. Yamato had no time to retrieve his katana back to block and could only try to avoid the hit, but he couldn't and the blade that was supposed to cross his chest, hit him in the arm instead. The pain was instantaneous and made him drop his katana to hold the blood that began flowing out from his wound on his left arm.
She could have finished him there if it wasn't for the necessity to get her two friends safe. She ran back to them and punched a guard that was disarming Mimi. The chestnut haired was bleeding from a cut in the lip, but for the rest she seemed okay. She blocked another's guard attack and hit him in the stomach, when she suddenly was hit in the face. Fujitsu had come to rescue and he had no weapons besides his hands. Sora didn't like to attack and unarmed man, but right now, that didn't matter and she went towards him with her katana in hand.
Meanwhile, Hikari tried to fix her target. She let go the arrow and hit another guard on his cheek. She screamed in horror with the vision, but it was no time to be horrified. Mimi was handling another guy but was having her difficulties. If only I could get up. But she couldn't. Her legs refused to obey her, even after eating a little. She could not move from her place unless she crawled and that wouldn't do her much either.
Mimi deviated from a hit. The guards weren't using their weapons, what was good, but they still managed to punch her really hard if they wanted. She had almost collapsed from the last blow that opened a cut on her bottom lip. She was trying to hit the guard but he just kept deviating from her hits. Nevertheless, she was managing to keep them in a fair distance, while her brown haired friend tried to hit them with arrows.
Fujitsu avoided easily her first attack and the second. It was going to be difficult to get him. He was agile and quick in his movements and even though Sora could match him in those skills she could not hit him. She knew the better ay would be with a short weapon like a tanto or a hand to hand match, but she couldn't afford to dispense her katana. She stopped to make some thinking when she felt someone behind her. Again, she could barely avoid the attack. Yamato was on again and he was angry.
"You're a bitch, you know that." he spit to her. Sora wanted to sigh but she had no time. There were two opponents and they were both tough. What do I do? What do I do… Yamato raised his katana and made a descendent hit, which Sora blocked with her katana, but that left her chest area open to attacks and Fujitsu kicked her. The girl backed two paces and then advanced one attacking the blond with her katana, while she tried to push both of them to the same place. The blond backed a pace and then attacked again. Sora avoided the first hit and the second and blocked Fujitsu fist. Now they were both in the same direction. Taking in her elastic strength and jumped. Her feet came in contact with Yamato's face and took balance to hit Fujitsu spinning in the air; she landed on the other side and avoided another blow from the blond, counterattacking with a straight hit, that Yamato avoided backing up. Unfortunately she wasn't able to avoid Fujitsu again and the man hit her in the face, sending her to the floor.
The chestnut haired fell to the floor with the strength of the punch. Her knives flew from her hands. The guard picked her up and took her with him. For the corner of his eye Yamato watched it. Now Hikari was alone. With Sora on the floor, his loyal Captain and counsellor could take care of her. He moved forward to the defenceless Hikari. The brown haired girl tried helplessly to get an arrow ready, but the object escaped between her fingers.
The auburn haired girl watched as the blond got closer to the girl. She got up as quickly as she could, the dizziness from the hit in the head making her stumble, but before she could get closer to either of them, Fujitsu was on her way. He grinned as he prepared to attack. He had a strange body position that the auburn haired recognized as an attack from kung fu.
"At least, I'll have the pleasure to kill you." Yamato stated coldly. The brown haired covered her face with her arms and prepared for the impact as the blond raised his katana. Yamato smiled evilly and brought his sword down, his eyes closed for seconds, waiting for the impact and the blood to sprout. The sound of metal against metal brought him back from his morbid fantasies. "Not while I'm here." A voice said.
Hikari opened her eyes, but she couldn't quite tell what she was seeing. Takeru had leaned his back against the wall, each of his legs on her side and had blocked the Yamato's blow with his double bladed lance. The youngest blond stood and eyed his older brother. They seemed to be pondering each other. Hikari could take her eyes of them; she was petrified against the wall. She spotted the auburn haired girl who was in troubles as well, but someone came to her rescue as well. A tall brown haired man. There was something familiar about him. Something…
"Taichi…right on time, as usual," Sora called out the brown haired man as he kicked Fujitsu, making him scatter over the floor. "Taichi!" Hikari repeated surprised. The man turned and looked at her, right into her eyes, brown with brown. "He cannot be…." She exclaimed. The brown haired man walked to her. She was shaking. He took her hands in his and kissed them. "It's me sis. I…I…" but he was out of words. He had not pictured himself in a situation like that. And at the moment there were more immediate things to do.
Sora turned around and was greeted with a punch in the face, followed by another. She backed away from the attacker and cut the air with her katana, making Fujitsu take cover. With the back of her hand, she cleaned the blood on the corner of her mouth and spitted the rest. "Bastard!" she muttered as she prepared for another attack. She made him back against the wall, but he managed to use it to escape and cornered her instead. If he had a sword it would be of better use, but as he hadn't, he still couldn't get close or he would be cut in pieces by Sora's sharp blade. The auburn haired tried to literally cut off his head but he ducked and tried to crawl her, but the girl jumped and kicked him in the face.
The two brothers continued to eye each other. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time now." Yamato stated smiling. Takeru gave a cold stare. "I've not." "Well, what's your plan Takeru? Are you going to kill your own brother? Your King?" Yamato asked amused. "I'm sure you don't have the courage. After all, you were always the weak link of the family. Mother wanted a girl, but you came instead. The only difference though was in appearance, because you have the courage of a little girl, Takeru." He continued. The younger blond could feel the rage speeding up his heart beat, and anger fuelling his veins. "Takeru can't kill a deer, how could he kill a man! Much less with that toy you call a weapon." Yamato glared at him with a strong look on his face, his eyes spitting venom. "You're not a King. And you're not a man either. You are a monster and you have to pay for your mistakes." Takeru blocked his attack and twisted his lance to push Yamato's sword down, which he managed, attacking him then and hitting him in the face. They stopped. Yamato took his hand to his cheek and touched with a finger. He looked at it to see a dark red liquid flowing. He made a negative crack with his tongue as he shook his head.
Before Fujitsu had time to recover, the auburn haired girl made sure he stayed on the floor and kicked him again. He had blood dropping from his head into his face. He spitted his blood and a tooth to the floor and Sora laughed, which made him angry. He tried to get up but he had no more chances with her. Raising her blade in the air, the girl hit him squarely in the heart, if he was supposed to have one at all. She dug the blade into his chest as her head involuntarily motioned back. Then with a quick movement she retrieved it.
Watching the scene were Hikari and Taichi. The two siblings had done nothing besides staring at each other. Their eyes glided with joy and they couldn't bring themselves to say anything. The two watched amazed at the animal instinct that seemed to have taken control of the auburn haired girl. She breathed heavily, not from tiredness but from the drill of killing and Taichi noted to himself that she would have been an awesome corsair. Shaking away his thoughts, he caught her attention.
"Can you walk Hikari?" the auburn haired asked her friend. "No, I can't stand." She informed. "Where's Mimi?" "The guards took her." "We must get her." The auburn haired settled as she put her katana back in her belt. "Here, put your arm around my shoulder." The elder woman asked. The brown haired girl did as she was told, but catching a glimpse of the fight between Takeru and Yamato she changed her mind. "No, I must stay here, in case Takeru needs my help." She stated. Sora looked behind her and then back to the brown haired girl. "You can't. There's no way you can help him. You can't even stand, Hikari." "But…" "But nothing. We're going to put you in a safe place." Taichi interrupted her.
Putting one of her arms around him, he picked her up. Sora walked in front and they exited through the kitchen. The servants had taken cover under the tables, but had not dared to leave. The auburn haired looked around. There were enough people there. Any place at the time would sound as good as that. "Let's leave her here." She motioned to the brown haired man. He nodded. "Yeah, it sounds as good as any other." He replied and Sora smiled at the fact he was thinking exactly the same thing as her. They put her on the floor and a girl approached. "Li!" Hikari called the woman. Li Hong kneeled besides the girl. She had a rather big kitchen knife in her hands. "I can take care for her now, My Lady." The girl said. Sora only had time to nod. "Maybe you should stay here, just in case." She turned to Taichi. The brown haired looked back to his recovered sister and back to the woman he loved. Hikari could tell by the look on his eyes that he loved Sora. She had always been good when it came to know her brother's feelings and even after all these years, she still was. "Go. We'll be alright." The brown haired girl told him. He smiled to her and then turned his attention back to Sora. "I can't leave you alone. You always end up in troubles." He replied as they both started running back to the dinning room.
Takeru attempted a hit and his brother avoided it by ducking, but the youngster was fast and his toy proved to be a very dangerous weapon when in experts' hands. In the same movement, almost without a break, he brought the blade down and Yamato raised his sword in horizontal position to block the attack. Takeru pressed him and Yamato's katana came dangerously close to his neck.
Sora and Taichi crossed the room, but stopped. If it were the three of us, he would have no chance. Sora thought, but Takeru motioned them to continue and with that slight distraction Yamato managed to make just enough strength to push his own blade away from his neck, making Takeru put a foot back not to loose his balance. "Too much distractions, my brother." The eldest blond mocked. "You know what really amuses me?" Takeru replied as he made another attack. "You always think your funny, even when you obviously don't."
The two runners made their way through the corridor. They could not hear Mimi, but they just had to look for her and fast or she could be lost. Sora was admired not to find any of the guards in the way, but she figured that Koushiro and the others had already attracted them. They went to the end of the corridor but there was no one there, so they decided to go to search in the other floor. They climbed the stairs two to two and sometimes more. Something smelt fishy in there. Sora couldn't really put up with the idea that they would take Mimi back to her room, but that was an option of course and she had to check it out. Her dress was giving her a hard time, but she couldn't bring herself to rip it.
"You know, you really look great in a dress. You should try it more often." Taichi mocked her. She gave a cold glare. "If I were this more often I would be already dead." She replied. They reached the top of the stairs and took one of the corridors. They opened every single door they saw, but all the rooms were empty. "Maybe if we go the other way?" the brown haired man purposed. She nodded and they turned back to search on the other corridor. They were blocked by two black cloaked men in their way. Taichi and Sora eyed them and the auburn haired recognized their faces as the light of the torches in the room made their features visible.
"You!" she exclaimed. The two men smirked and Taichi recognized the younger of them and immediately acknowledged what was going on. "We have a pendent issue." The oldest said. "And the Death Crawlers never leave a job unfinished." He said as he took his two katana from their places. His younger companion, that the auburn haired came more surely to believe it was his brother, did the same. "Well, I don't like unfinished business either. You are mine." She yelled at the older of the assassins as she jumped to the attack.
The youngster stared at Taichi with curious eyes. "Have we met somewhere before?" he asked with a devious smile. The brown haired took his black katana and spun it in his hand. "I don't believe you had the pleasure." He replied with his always amused grin. "I have it now, pirate." He said and then, he attacked, crossing the air where seconds before Taichi had been. But the brown haired had deviated with more than enough time and hit the youngster's sword with his katana, mocking him. "You're so slow."
Moments before, Sam, Ken and Koushiro had infiltrated themselves into the castle as well. Captain Daisuke had launched two explosives, the sign that they had entered too, and judging by the time between the two and the distance that the sound had had to make, they were heading in different directions. Their mission was to assure that their part of the castle, since they had split in four parts, was clear. Neither of them was really sure what they were going to after all the guards were knocked out but they hoped that once Taichi and Takeru found Sora and the girl, the auburn haired would be able.
However, the red haired man had a suspicious of what Sora was planning. They couldn't just simply rescue them and go back to their kingdom hoping Yamato would never bother them again. The blond was vicious and if for nothing else, he would want revenge. Koushiro distrusted that Sora's plan was to take Yamato from the throne once and for all. Still he wasn't sure how that would work out. Even if Takeru is an heir to the throne, the people would still have to accept. But if I'm going to think about it, I might as well, accept that the people would rather have Takeru as King then Yamato. It's obviously that he treats the people badly.
He was taken away from his thoughts, when Ken disappeared from his sight. He was in the tail of the infiltrating line. Sam was leading for some reason that was unknown to him; maybe because he was the eldest and Koushiro was completely distracted with his thoughts. But now, they had both disappeared. He looked around trying to spot them, but he couldn't.
They were inside the palace going through one of the corridors that led to the towers. There was a bifurcation but Koushiro had not seen whether they had went left or right so he just decided to pick a side and adventure himself. Not really sure of which to choose, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a coin that he threw into the air. "Well, guess its right, then." He said to himself. With his right hand firmly holding his katana he continued for the right path. The other hand was at his back, where a small belt held about ten darts. He expected that they would be of good use.
Ken stopped in his tracks. He couldn't hear a third person's steps. "What is it?" Sam asked as he too stopped to see what his brother was doing. "Hey, where's Koushiro?" he asked, noticing the red haired absence. Ken shrank his shoulders giving him the sign that he had absolutely no idea. "Oh man, he must have lost us in the last bifurcation." Sam concluded. "So, do we go search for him?" the youngster asked. The older dark haired though for a while; they would loose an awfully long time, since when it came to battle, going back always meant loosing time. Besides they could even not find Koushiro. After all he could have gone the other way and turned into too many curves already and the castle was…well…huge. "I think it's better if we move on. Koushiro can take care of himself." Sam replied, but he wasn't very sure of it. I hope nothing happens to him or I'll never forgive myself. He sighed.
The red haired man continued fearless through the path that he had chosen to take. He was almost sure now that that wasn't the way that his friends had taken, but it was too late to go back, and besides, they wouldn't need his help. I'm sure Ken and Sam can take care for themselves. I just hope that they don't turn back for me. He thought as he advanced.
Suddenly, he heard sounds, which quickly became voices. There was someone screaming but he couldn't figure what the person was saying. But one thing he was sure. That was Mimi's voice. He peeked to see how distant the group was and spotted two guards. One of them was carrying Mimi on his shoulder and the girl was punching and kicking as much as she could, but being the man so big and strong, her yells weren't doing anything to him. He couldn't see anyone besides Mimi there and he wondered where Hikari and Sora were and if they were okay, but at the time, he had to worry only about Mimi. It was a strike of luck that he had lost himself for the two brothers. At least he had found Mimi. Don't be so happy just yet. He scolded himself mentally. I still have to save her and dump those two guards and the one that carrying her seems strong. But I can take care of them.
He grinned to himself. His fingers came in contact with two of the darts in his belt and he picked them between his fingers. He took another peek. Just a few more paces. Just to be sure he picked another dart, holding them between his fingers. Every dart was impregnated with a sedative that he had extracted himself from an herb used in medicines. He peeked again and remained cautiously with his eyes on the big guy.
"Let me go, your stupid asshole. Just wait when I get down, I'm going to punch so hard you're going to wish you had never been born." Mimi threatened the man that was holding her as she stuck her fingernails into the man's back, but he didn't seem bothered. Koushiro raised an eyebrow at the girl's behaviour. That was not Mimi like.
"Shut up, bitch. Since you got in touch with your little auburn friend you are too agitated." The smaller man yelled. She and Sora were together then. Koushiro thought as he prepared to launch his attack. He watched as the two man closed in on him. He leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. He was hoping that they would go in front so he could get them from the back. It must have been his lucky day. The two guards passed by the turn and continued in front. Koushiro tip toed to the other wall and then quickly turned. His accurate pointing made him hit the larger man with two of the darts, enough to put him asleep for the next half day or more, and hit the skinner one with another.
The two guards turned as they felt a small pain like the bite of an insect on their back and spotted Koushiro. "Damn, there are more intruders after all." the strong man cursed motioning to Koushiro. But his partner wasn't hearing him anymore; he was lying on the floor, snoring a bit, in a strange position. Mimi struggled to see who the man was talking about, but her face was turned the opposite side of Koushiro. The strong man walked towards the red haired man, but when he was halfway, he started feeling a little dizzy. The red haired pondered if he should hit him with another dart. But that is the dose to kill. I don't want to kill the man. He is just doing his job. Takeru asked us to kill only if necessary. He told himself. However, the man kept walking.
Mimi tried once more to make the man release her and for her surprise, he practically let her fall on her hand. The chestnut haired rolled and patted her head. When she looked in front of her, she could see in front of the man that had been holding her, a familiar face that lightened up her face. She wanted to squeeze him in his arms, but she was unsure if it was safe. He had on his hand a dart and was ready to launch it at any minute if necessary and she could also see the man stumbling as he moved forward.
The red haired backed away as the man got closer. He seemed dizzier by the minute. "Just fall, man, there's no worth trying to fight it." he said annoyed. As if he was obeying Koushiro's orders, the man stumbled unconscious to the floor with a large thud. The two lovers watched it astonished at how long it had taken him and by the sudden change. Then their eyes met. Mimi stood, but Koushiro was faster and beat her in the running as he caught her in his arms and embraced her. They remained like that for what it seemed like forever, when in fact it was just a few minutes, until they broke the embrace and crushed each other's lips in a passionate kiss that they had lost almost hope to share again.
The brother faced each other. This was the last face to face, both of them were sure of it. From this match, only one would come out alive and they both had too much to loose. However, there was a difference between them: while Yamato was ready to kill his brother, Takeru was reluctant to kill Yamato. The elder brother had wanted him dead for a long time; he knew he would not hesitate if he had the chance to kill him. But he wasn't like his brother or father. He was different. He could not kill him just like that, even knowing the treat that he constituted to all the people he cared about.
They were both sweating and breathing heavily. Guards had come by the room but Yamato had sent them all away, to defend other parts of the castle. Fujitsu was lying in a pool of his own blood metres away from where they were fighting. He didn't care. At the moment the only thing that mattered was Takeru, his youngest brother, the good guy of the family, the runaway, the one that his mother loved the most. That was what had always angered him the most. The fact that his own mother preferred Takeru made him sick, even if he had always had the total support of his father. But he knew it wasn't the same thing. Maybe that was the reason that made him so different. Takeru had grown up to be gentle and kind like their mother because she had always loved him better.
Yamato bit his tongue as the thoughts begun to cross his mind again. He had always had their mother's love. He had always been her favourite. But now, he was going to kill him. He was going to kill his brother and prove everyone that he was better than him. In a sudden burst of anger, he raised his sword in the air and advanced towards the youngest blond. Takeru held his double bladed lance with both hands to block the attack. He could tell his brother was fighting with anger inside him. Jyou had always said that anger blinded us and became our adversary if we could not control it. And Yamato was not controlling it. He avoided the next attacks with easiness what made the elder brother even angrier.
"She always liked you better, the bitch." Yamato yelled at him. The words, though, made no sense to Takeru that only made an inquiring look. "What are you talking about?" he asked. But Yamato kept rambling about it as he attacked. "You were always her favourite. I knew that. Since you were born she always liked you more than me. And father, he just hoped that someday I would serve him. He used me, but he never really loved me. He wasn't capable of that feeling. But mom was and she let her love flow only for you. And now, you are going to die and she won't love you anymore." Yamato burst. Takeru was caught out of guard. He's talking about mom. "Mom is dead, brother." He tried to put some sense in his head. Now all was beginning to get unclouded. The hatred that Yamato had always had towards him, it was jealousy. He was insane and beyond recovery, but Takeru could not accept that fact. He didn't want to believe it, not just yet.
In his craziness, Yamato made a final attack and tried to impale his brother with his sword, but Takeru avoided the attempt. The oldest blond screamed and continued to attack. Takeru backed as he could and defended every blow, until he reached the wall and had no more place to run. As Yamato attacked him, Takeru spun his blade and injured his brother in the hand that managed the katana, making him drop the weapon and fall to his knees. The wound was deep and it was bleeding badly.
The younger blond could not stand being there watching his brother bleeding. He was defeated. He couldn't fight anymore, there was no use to kill him and…he couldn't do it. He reached the bottom of his shirt sleeve and tore it. He kneeled in front of his brother, his weapon on his back, and tied the piece of cloth around his hand. Yamato tried to take his hand but ended up accepting. "Stay here. I'm going to get something to clean the wound and prevent it from getting infected." Takeru told him.
He stood up and walked around the room, trying to decide where to go, when he suddenly remembered the kitchen. He ran inside to see Hikari sitting in one of the chair with a girl by her side. The brown haired woman stood suddenly, excited that her beloved was back, but ended up falling again. Takeru sat her back in the chair and kissed her forehead. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned, seeing the blood on his clothes. "Yeah, but I need water and a clean cloth to stop my brother's hand from bleeding." He informed. The girl immediately stood, a little uncertain, though, if she should or shouldn't help the man that for so many years tortured her and her family. But being a kind soul, she went for the water and the clean cloth.
Hikari stretched her arms, asking for Takeru's embrace. The blond walked to her and fell. Hikari suppressed a scream hidden in her throat as Yamato walked in. He had hit the younger blond in the head. He passed his body on the floor and walked to the girl. The brown haired wanted to move, but she was too afraid, she was petrified. Yamato put his hands around her neck and started pressing it. Hikari took her hands to his wrists and tried to take them from her throat. She could not breathe. A tear rolled down her face as she struggled to get free. She closed her eyes, feeling they were going to pump off her face. Her hands fell to her sides, unable to keep them up, when the pressure on her neck loosened and finally disappeared. The air entered her lungs again and she coughed. She opened her eyes and saw white spots everywhere, but as her everything started to go back to normal, she saw blood. There was blood all over her…and a corpse. Yamato's dead body was lying on the floor; his face towards the ceiling in a frozen look of surprise; his eyes, vitreous. She looked up to see Takeru standing, his eyes mirroring the face of his brother. There was blood dripping from his double bladed lance. A tear rolled down his face.
The brown haired girl used the table besides her for back up and tried to move most of her weight into her arms. Slowly, she managed to get up and walk towards the blond. She threw her arms around his neck. It was wet, from blood that was coming from the place where Yamato had hit him. "It's okay. Everything is going to be fine. Shush, you don't have to worry about anything." she murmured softly into his ear. She felt his arms closing around her and his face bury on her shoulder. Tears started filling her neck. "I killed him, Hikari. I killed my brother." Takeru cried. The girl tried to bring him closer. "Shush, everything is going to be alright." "I killed him."
So, another chappie gone and it was fast, uh? Hope you've liked this one. I had lots of fun doing it, mainly because it wasn't supposed to be like this. My mental version was different, but I guess this way is better.
Thanks to all reviewers. Thanks kay for reviewing the last chapter.
Sayonara
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