Chapter 34: Fire

Finally, after what seems like far too long, I make it back to the place I left Hwoarang. I run out of the corridor into the chamber, and before I even have time to scan the area, something flies past me, hitting the wall with a slam.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hwoarang yells. I whirl around, and he's standing near one of the torches on the wall, glaring at me, blood running down his face from a cut on his forehead, running from the corner of his mouth, from scrapes on his arms. He looks terrible, tired, but theres an intense fire burning in his eyes, the thrill of battle. I fix him with a matching glare, folding my arms.

"You thought I'd skip out and leave you by yourself?"

"You're an idiot Xiao."

There's the sound of movement behind me, and I realise that it was Toshin that went flying past me a minute ago. I guess that's a good sign, at least.

"Let's do this together." I tell Hwoarang, and he sighs, setting off in a run towards me. He leaps into a kick, and I throw myself to the ground and roll clear. When I raise my head, Toshin's arms are still raised in a block, and Hwoarang's standing in front of it, waiting.

"Get out, Xiao." he growls, and I ignore him. I'm still weak, but two of us are much better than one. And I'm not leaving. I can't.

Toshin doesn't seem phased by any of this, and it makes its move, throwing lightning fast punches that my eyes can hardly even follow. I know Hwoarang's finding it difficult too, he's blocking about half of them, but the rest of the attacks are hitting their mark, driving him back. He manages to get in a low kick that knocks it off balance, and tries punishing Toshin's mistake with a kick to the midsection. But it's palmed away, and before Hwoarang can right himself, Toshin flips backwards, its foot connecting with his chin, knocking him off his feet.

He doesn't get up right away, and I realise that he's probably much more tired than I thought he was. As I stand there, he groans in pain, trying to sit up.

Hwoarang, my Hwoarang... I've never seen him like this before. I'm waiting for the inevitable "Is that all you've got?", but all I can hear is him coughing, spitting out blood as Toshin advances on him, footsteps sounding on the stone floor. I can't stand to watch this, and I force myself into a run, jumping into the air and lashing out my foot in the best semblance of a kick I can muster. I somehow manage to connect, and Toshin springs backwards to avoid any followup attacks. Yeah, right. It took everything I had just to do that. But damned if it needs to know that.

It fixes crimson eyes on me, silent, and that's somehow more frightening to me than if it had said something.

"What, no comeback?" I ask. "No 'how dare you attack me, impudent girl'?"

It says nothing.

"Come on. You know you wanna." I sneer at it, drawing myself to my full height. I know under five feet isn't exactly intimidating, but I've gotta bluff somehow. It moves closer, looming over me.

You can barely stand. You consider yourself a challenge to me?

Hwoarang's foot strikes Toshin, low, low, mid...

"Not really." I answer, and the last two high kicks hit their mark, sending it flying. There's no time to celebrate though, because the thing recovers fast, standing up, turning to face us.

"Terrible form, Hwoarang." Baek's voice. It's coming from Toshin. "Anyone would think you were an amaetur."

Then, as I stand frozen in shock, the monster darts forward, slamming a fist into my stomach. White spots spring into my vision, it's like looking through static, and I don't have the energy to keep my eyes open.

"Xiaoyu, I know you're a great fighter. I've seen you! But this isn't a tournament battle. This isn't a game. It's serious, and it could get you killed!"

Jin, I'm sorry.

"Toshin's already killed one person I care about, Xiaoyu, I can't lose you too!"

I'm...

...sorry.

"You let her talk to you like that?"

I shrug.

"I'm used to it."

"And that makes it okay?"

"Well, I can't stop her saying stuff like that. What am I supposed to do?"

"Saying 'go fuck yourself, Ayumi' would be a start."

"I can't say that!"

"Xiaoyu!"

Miharu runs up, eyeing my new friend with suspicion.

"Are you okay? You missed Physics."

"Yeah. Just didn't want to go."

She leans close.

"Listen, is this guy bothering you? Tell you what, I'll kick him in the shins and you run like hell."

"No, it's fine." I laugh. "Miharu, this is Hwoarang."

"I know who he is."

Hwoarang lights another cigarette, and Miharu looks at me doubtfully.

"We're friends." I tell her. "Hwoarang... smoking is bad for you, ya know."

"I've never heard that before." I roll my eyes at his sarcasm. But he stubs the cigarette out anyway.

Everything hurts. I think my head might even be a little bit broken. The stone floor is cool against my skin, and I push myself up onto my hands and knees, wincing in pain. Well, I'm not dead. That's one good thing.

I raise my head, looking around the chamber. No sign of Toshin. Another good thing. Hwoarang is lying on his front nearby, facing away from me, not moving. That's a bad thing.

"Hwoarang..." I croak. My voice doesn't seem to want to work right now. So I crawl over to him, rolling him onto his back. His eyes are closed, and blood streaks his face, still wet. I can't have been out too long then.

"Hwoarang." I shake him by the shoulders, but there's no response. "Hwoarang, come on." Tears are already spilling down my face. I'm such a wimp.

There's a sudden movement from the corner of my eye, and I turn around to see the temple doors creaking open. Toshin again? I can't face it again. I can't. All I can do is bow my head and hold Hwoarang close to me, and someone steps inside, the doors slamming shut behind them. There's a few uneasy steps.

"Xiaoyu?"

My heart skips a beat.

"Jin!"

He runs towards us, kneeling in front of me, eyes filled with surprise and concern.

"What happened?"

"Jin, help me, I can't get him to wake up, I can't..." He puts a finger to my lips, quieting me.

"Did you check for a pulse?"

No. Because I'm stupid. Plus, I ditched class with Hwoarang when we were supposed to be learning first aid. Jin puts his fingers to Hwoarang's neck, concentrating. After a few moments, he smiles.

"He's got a pretty strong pulse. He'll be okay."

I half laugh, half sob.

"Now, tell me what happened."