Chapter 8: How Many People Wanna Kick Some Ass?
Blaise's eyes flew open, looking around the unfamiliar room for a second confused. He blinked in the glow of the TV screen's bluish light, raking his hair back with his fingers. Gawd... what the hell time was it? Someone moving next to him, making a sleepy little moan, made him glance down and see Mawata was still asleep next to him, a small smile on her lips. He couldn't help smiling at that, touching her cheek gently. She looked like a bloody angel sleeping there, her curls all tossled, dark lashes smudging her cheeks. Slowly, he bent down, just barely touching his lips to hers...
And then sat up sharply again when he heard noises outside. Eyes narrowing, he untangled himself from the throw blanket on the couch, swinging his legs up and over the back to the other side. If that was Mannen acting stupid... He froze when he heard the hissing breath, staying perfectly still when a dark shape seemed to press up against the glass sliding door. He thought at first that maybe he'd imagined it...until a faint breath fogged up the glass. Then, he could see the blue eyes so dark that they almost looked black. "Sweet Jaysus, a nightmage!" They weren't supposed to be alive...he'd seen them killed in the last battle! How could this be possible?
Blaise stayed as still as possible, not even daring to breath. He swore his heart was going to break through his chest any minute now. Nightmages were blind unless you moved. Once you did move though, you'd have to hope like hell you were faster than they were. If you were, you were fine. If not... he'd seen many, many Leafe Knights get swallowed up in one of their spells, either left alive and insane or completely destroyed. Blaise waited, drawing leafe to him as carefully as possible so the nightmage didn't sense it.
There was the sound of nails trailing along the glass, a bluish grey hand leaving a trail of black sludge in it's wake. The door slid open and a shadowed shape stepped into the room, lips pulled back in a tight grin showing off rows of sharp teeth, blank blue eyes sweeping around the room. the nightmage looked over it's shoulder and made a motion with it's sore-covered hand. The smell of rotting flesh filled the room, sick and heavy with a hint of metalic-sweetness to it. Blaise managed to hold back his cough but it was difficult and he knew it was going to burst soon.
"Where issss the little one?" a second nightmage asked, peering over the shoulder of the first.
"The misstresss sssaid he wasss here," the first answered, voice rasping and sounding on the brink of death.
The little one? Who the bloody hell were they talking about? He knew Shimura would never refer to Himeno as the 'little one'. She was too proper for that, even if she was a demented psycho-hag! So that would mean...his eyes drifted over to the bean bag, where Shin mercifully still slept. Oh, no...
"She wantsss him, and wantsss him now," the second said sharply, nudging the first further into the room.
"We mussst find him firssst," the first one said as a grumpy reply. They began to limp further into the room, a thick black ooze dripping from their rotting arms.
Blaise waited still, squeezing his eyes closed to keep the cough in. They were almost up on him. Just a little further and... With a low growl, he ran at them, pulling all the leafe he'd stored up and making the ground outside rise up, close around them and drag them out of the house. He followed them out into the night, jaw set tightly and eyes blazing with anger. Only to skid to a hault, leafe still working. Oh holy shit...
The rest of the nightmages, all thirty of them, turned dull blue eyes to Blaise, letting out angry hisses and choked cries. This...wasn't good!
"KEI!" Sete screamed, shoving him aside.
Twin blades went whistling through the air, plunging toward her back.
There was a loud roar of sound, like the ocean waves rolling in, and then a spear with a huge silver blade came flashing out of nowhere. Everyone, even the Dark Knights, had covered their ears at the initial blast of noise. The spear almost took the twins in the chest, but they managed to turn their leafe to matching silver and gold shields just in time.
Himeno uncovered her ears, peering around Hayate's shoulder. "Pasha?"
Pasha, the Pretear for the India team, smiled at her. "Hello, Himeno! It has been a while, has it not?" She was dressed all in blues and greens, like deep water moving over and around her. The rest of her team, all except the captain, Ravijot, were fanned out around her, ready for a fight. Ravijot must have preted with Pasha, since his leafe was of the ocean waters.
"Talk about good timing," Kei exclaimed, holding Sete loosely in his arms.
The Dark Knights stood facing both their enemies, backs pressed together and holding swords again. "Well, this is hardly fair," Ginshima (the silver haired one) said in a heavy drawl, smiling slowly. "What's the count now... fifteen Leafe Knights and two Pretears against two Dark Knights?"
"Yes, very unfair indeed," Kinshima (the golden haired one) added, eyes narrowed warily.
"You attacked first, and without warning. It was unfair of you," Feryn replied, lips twisted in an ugly sneer.
Ginshima smiled cruelly. "My, what ever happened to your face, Knight of Storms?" he asked sarcastically.
"Are we just going to stand around, or are we going to fight?" Kuda, Ravijot's second, growled out. His eyes, usually a solid brown, were now almost golden colored, pupils slitted like an animals. Himeno shuddered when she noticed the slightly fanged teeth. That was the first she'd ever heard of a Leafe Knight changing shape!
"Oo, let's do fight, shall we?" Kinshima purred mockingly.
Kuda snarled and dove forward.
"KUDA! Kuda, NO!" Pasha screamed, flinging the spear just in time to stop the golded sword from tearing right through the Knight of Animals.
Kuda twisted to the side in a near-impossible maneuver, landing on his hands and feet, crouched low.
"Kuda, get a hold of yourself," Hayate shouted. "Don't you see? They WANT you to attack!"
"Too smart, Knight of Winds," Ginshima laughed, swinging his sword over his head.
Hayate called his sword up and blocked the silver blade from connecting. Himeno pushed passed him and managed to land a low kick to his knees.
Ginshima seemed momentarily surprised before he drew back, limping only a little. "Kinshima?"
"We're done," his twin answered.
Both winked out in silver and gold light.
"Damned cowards!" Kei shouted, glaring at where the two had been.
Pasha and Ravijot unpreted, the Knight of Oceans grinning as he went over and gave Hayate a quick hug. "It's been a little while, but I see you're still causing trouble!"
"Causing it? Hardly!" Hayate answered, stepping back. "I see you got my message?"
Ravijot frowned, his blue-green eyes crinkling a little in thought. "Your...message?"
"Umm...I didn't exactly go yet, Hayate," Sete said quietly from Kei's arms.
Hayate turned to her, smile fading. "You...didn't? Then how...why...?"
"My orders came from the Topaz Prince," Ravijot said softly. "He said to get over here right away."
"But... that's not-," Hayate was cut off as a bright white object pierced the sky, shooting up and up. It was a spire of ice, a signal that the house was under attack. "Mannen!" He grabbed Himeno's wrist and took off flying into the night sky, the other knights following close behind.
Blaise gritted his teeth hard as his body was thrown clean into the side of the house. He slid down the side, clutching his arm to his chest where deep claws had torn through. 'Ya bloody bastards! This was me best Beetles t-shirt and now ya've gone and torn it from me sexy chest! Lay off the clothing, mates!" He slammed his palm hard into the ground and rows upon rows of hard earthen spikes rose out of nowhere to move almost faster than the eye could see at the nightmages swarming all over. He had to keep them out of the house, away from the others... especially Shin!
"BLAISE!" Ice darts shot out of the darkness as Mannen came flying from his window, still in his pajamas and eyes more fierce than he had ever seen them.
"YA LITTLE GIT! SEND A BLOODY SIGNAL INTO THE BLOODY SKY RIGHT BLOODY NOW!" Blaise roared, flicking his wrist and pulling the earth up with it in a giant wave.
"Whoa! What the heck is that?"
"Argh...MANNEN, YA PRAT! SIGNAL! NOW!"
Mannen swerved the slashing hand of a nightmage and threw everything he had into building a pillar of ice straight up, as high as he could.
That was all they could do, and hope like hell the others were done with their date in time. With as much leafe as he was using, he couldn't send a signal that way. Blaise rolled across the ground, avoiding the dark spell nets being thrown at him. All it would take was one net and he'd be done. Shimura would have him and everything would be done.
"Leave him alone! Shin, a containment field!" Mannen shouted.
Blaise looked up, eyes wide in horror. Shin...and Mawata! NO! Hajime was weaving around with Mannen, distracting the nightmages as best they could. Hayate had taught them very well, he thought before he dove across the ground, threw his hand up to raise a shield and landed on Mawata and Shin, pulling them to the ground. 'Ya've gotta get Shin outta here, Mawata," Blaise yelled, dragging them into the house. He opened a portal into Leafenia, and shoved them toward it.
Mawata looked terrified, and Shin looked ready to cry. "But...But, Blaise!"
"I don't have time! Listen, get to the other side and when you're there, just scream as loud as you can fer Saeko! He'll help you over there. And tell him I sent you, okay?"
She nodded, tears in her eyes. Tugging Shin's hand, she pulled the Knight of Plants through. Shin struggled, trying to go back to Blaise, but he wasn't as strong as Mawata. They soon disappeared into the white light.
Once they were through, Blaise closed the portal and turned just in time to duck a spell net. "Now yer askin' fer it, mate! I was havin' a bloody good evenin' 'til you showed yer ugly face!" With another sweep of his hand the floor erupted in an explosion of earth and rock, cascading on the nightmages trying to surround him, ripping their dead bodies to pieces and scattering them outside. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and stepped outside again. And, when he opened his eyes again...
"Right, now ya've gone and pissed me off!" He let loose everything he had, ripping the ground to pieces, sending chunks of hardened dirt and solid rocks slamming around in a whirlwind around him. Mannen and Hajime quickly dove out of the way, catching any nightmages trying to escape and throwing them back into the jumble.
"BLAISE! Stop it, NOW!"
Blaise looked over as Hayate and the others came back, Hayate and Himeno preting midair. There was another flash, and he saw Pasha as well as the rest of the India team. "Right good timing, mates," he hollered, dropping the whirlwind. He also dropped to his knees, tired. Man, what a work out that was!
"Pasha, go left!" Himeno instructed, sending out wind shards as well as hacking at the nightmages with her sword. Kei sent up a shower of brilliant golden lights, flooding the area. The nightmages howled, covering their blind eyes from the painful light. They made a hasty retreat into the shadows, fading away into nothing.
Once everyone was on the ground again, the two Pretears unpreted, Pasha and Himeno hugging each other happily. Himeno introduced the Indian girl to Yayoi and soon the three girls were chatting away as if nothing had happened.
Hayate and Ravijot went over to Blaise, helping him to his feet, "I have never seen a plant leafe work like that before," Ravijot said admiringly. "Truly amazing, my friend!"
"Yeah...I'm a bloody genius," Blaise grumbled, wincing when his chest was pulled tight. "Oi, Sete, love...would you mind much fixin' me gorgeous self?"
Sete rolled her eyes and came over. Kei and Kuda were leading a search of the house to see if maybe some of the nighmages had remained inside. "Are you sure it's not head trauma? Because after that bullshit you just spewed about being gorgeous, I'm beginning to wonder."
"Heartless wench," Blaise answered with a grin. His breath caught as her leafe touched him, making his skin warm and kind of tingly. After the green glow faded, his chest was healed completely, not even a scar to be seen. "Argh...you couldn't have left me a manly bit o' scarring there?"
She walked away, shaking her head and putting both hands in the air in a sign of surrender. "I can't deal with this much arrogance in one night! You two keep him away from me, or I'm gonna rack him!"
"God, she's bloody fine," Blaise muttered. He yelped when Hayate smacked him on the back of the head.
"We'll talk later," he practically snarled. Blaise nodded, swallowing passed the lump in his throat. Hayate was really mad...
"Everything's clear inside," Kei reported as he and the India group came back out. "Where are Shin and Mawata?"
That got everyone's attention. Himeno's eyes widened as she scanned all the faces in the back of the house. "Mawata? Mawata! Where is she?"
"Oh...right," Blaise said, cringing. "See, the nightmages were after Shin for some reason...and to get them outta here I sorta...kinda...sentthembothtoLeafenia." He said the last very quickly, wincing at the sudden tensing in both Hayate's and Ravijot's shoulders.
"You sent a HUMAN to our world?" Ravijot exclaimed.
"She's with Shin!"
"That is no excuse! She's human! She can't be there!"
"Blaise...God...," Hayate groaned, dropping the Englishman. "Please tell me they're at least safe."
Blaise nodded. He didn't want to say who he told them to find.
Hayate met his gaze and they shared a look. It was almost psychic, but it wasn't. They just knew each other that well. Hayate sighed, having guessed correctly what he'd just done. "They'll be back soon enough. Ravijot, where are you guys staying?"
"We managed to scrounge up enough cash and rent a beach house about half a block up from here," Ravijot answered, still not entirely convinced but deciding to ignore it for now. "Otoshi's and Kondhae's teams will be here within the next day or so."
"And what about Erelah?"
Ravijot looked away. "No response as far I as know. Hayate, you don't think he..."
Hayate's mouth set in a firm line, eyes darkening angrily. "It wouldn't surprise me if he did betray us. There's nothing we can do about that now. I suggest we all try and get a little sleep tonight. Something tells me we won't be getting much more very soon." He started to go inside, the rest of his team following him.
"But what about Mawata?" Himeno asked, the worry apparent in her eyes and voice. 'She can't just stay in Leafenia by herself. And Shin, too! He's so little!"
"Trust me, Himeno, they'll be fine," Hayate answered. "They'll be back soon."
Himeno hesitated a little longer before saying good bye to Pasha and going inside. Feryn and Yayoi quickly said goodnight and went upstairs, Yayoi obviously very shaken by all that had happened that night. Hayate put an arm around Himeno's shoulder, kissing the top of her head. "They'll be just fine, Himeno. Stop worrying so much."
"I can't help it," Himeno answered, hugging him back. Mannen was shooing Hajime upstairs, Kei, Sete and Blaise all following behind. "That's my sister over there, and even if she's with Shin, she's still all alone. I'm not gonna sleep until she's back here and safe."
Hayate sighed, hugging her to him and kissing her again. "Okay. We'll wait up together." He sat down on the couch, pulling her down with him.
Himeno smiled, snuggling in against his chest. "Thanks, Hayate." His only answer was a soft little laugh and his fingers combing through her hair.
Mawata stumbled out the other side, holding Shin to her, and gasping. It may have been evening, but she could tell it was a beautiful place, one full fo color and life. In the distance, she saw something shining white in the darkness, like light reflecting off a pearl. What was that... Shin whimpering by her side got her attention. "It's okay, Shin, I'm here," she said softly, bending down and lifting him up awkwardly.
"I wanna go home," he mumbled, hugging her tightly. "I don't wanna be here without Himeno and Hayate and Kei and..."
"Shh, neither do I. That's why we need to find this Saeko so we can get back." Taking a deep breath and trying not to shake nervously as she held Shin, she shouted, "SAEKO!"
The very air went still and heavy. Not a sound, not even insects to break the absolute calm. And then...
The wind kicked up, swirling around them heavily. Mawata and Shin covered their eyes as sand was blown around them, covering the grass they were standing on in a fine golden wash. When it died down, a man stood before them, very tall and very handsome. His skin had a faint golden cast to it, hair a dark blonde that fell half way down his back in a loose braid. His eyes were the purest amber color and set just as hard as that stone. "Who are you, and be quick," he demanded, voice low and smooth, but not at all friendly. He was dressed all in dark red.
"I-I'm Mawata. And this is Shin. We...we were sent here by...Blaise," Mawata stuttered out, now unable to suppress the shaking. If this was Saeko, he was incredibly terrifying.
Those hard eyes softened a touch, thin lips parted. "Blaise sent you? As in, the Knight of Flowers?"
She nodded, swallowing past the lump in her throat.
Saeko looked away into the night, eyes narrowed. "Come with me. I'll take you somewhere safe for the night. Tomorrow, one of the knights will come and get you. Are you hungry at all?"
Mawata let Shin climb onto her back so they could follow after the swiftly moving knight. "Can I have some cookies and milk?" Shin asked.
Saeko looked back over his shoulder, a slight smile gracing his face. "I'll see what I can do. Are sugar cookies alright? I'm afraid it's too late to wake the kitchens at the palace to make anything else."
"No, I like sugar cookies! They're very sugary-good."
Mawata could have sworn she heard him laugh in response. "Yes, they are. And you, Miss..." his voice trailed off as he waited for her to fill in the gap.
"Oh, Mawata. My name is Mawata."
"Are you hungry as well, Miss Mawata?"
"No, thank you. Umm... may I ask how you know Blaise?"
Saeko glanced again over his shoulder as he lifted a heavy pine branch for them to walk under further into the forest. Mawata stepped through and gasped. There, just ahead of them, was a little cottage tucked away and almost hidden behind the trees. It was almost too picture perfect to be true. A soft glow of light coming from the windows, the straw thatched roof a pale splotch against the dark forest. He led the way down the neat little path lined in flowers, opening the door and letting them in. "Stay here. I'll be back shortly." He shut the door, letting them get used to the little one room house.
Mawata let Shin down, holding his hand. There was a big, cheerful fire going, casting a warm glow around the room. In front of the fire was a small woven rug of flowers, a little table, two very big, over stuffed chairs and a chaise lounge, all in rich yellows and oranges. Behind all this was a simple kitchen with stone counter tops and carved wooden cabinets. There was nothing like a refridgerator or a stove, though. Tucked away and partiall hidden by a section closed off with a curtain was a small bed, the sheets and quilt a little rumpled.
"Shin, do you know where this is?" Mawata asked, taking him over to one of the chairs and sitting down. It was so big they could sit side by side comfortably.
"Uh-uh," Shin answered, shaking his head. He yawned, covering it with his hand, and leaned his head back against her shoulder. "I'm sleepy...Mawata, can you wake me up when he brings my cookies, please?"
She smiled, hugging him and placing her head on his, closing her eyes. "Yes...I will." But she knew as soon as she said it that she wasn't going to stay awake long enough to fulfill her promise. Her last thoughts were to hope and pray that Blaise was still alive.
"Hayate! Get down now!"
Hayate whirled around in what almost felt like slow motion, blood splattered all over him, none of it his yet. He heard the frantic shout as Otoshi sent a Volcanic Mace whipping right where his head would have been if he hadn't ducked. The nightmage behind him whithered in a pile of dust. He rolled away from the hell hound, leash being held by a huge troll-demon, it's fangs dripping blood and saliva. He swung his sword, felt it sink home and sever the hell hound's head clean off before he swiped it back and up, piercing right through the troll-demon's thick hide. More blood rained down on him, and he wiped it from his eyes on his sleeve, pushing to his feet and searching frantically.
Blaise...Saeko...the Topaz Prince...where was everyone? He spotted Kei a little further away with their captain, Lison, both back to back, their leafe powers flying every which way they could. Lison was the Knight of Plants. "Sasame, Takako! Find the Prince!"
Takako went flying on ahead, having preted with Sasame. She was very new as their pretear. And very young. But he'd found her, and he knew she had the potential to be great, maybe the greatest Pretear in recent years. He returned his attention to the battle, diving into the air as a poisoned dart was fired, slashing back with solid blasts of air, ripping the dwarf almost clean in half, it's ugly face twisted into an even more gruesome death-grimace. The battle had been going on for ages, and the Leafe Knights were all exhausted. And still there was no end in sight for these nightmarish figures.
He looked up when he heard a high-pitched creaming noise, eyes widening as a black chariot pulled by two black scaled dragons came charging through the air. The figure in the back was that of a very slight girl, one who shouldn't be strong enough to control two fully grown dragons. Her pale silvery-blonde hair streamed behind her, the white of her skin and her dress almost blending in a ghostly shroud...and she was was smiling. No...she was LAUGHING! "Shimura! The Queen of Nightmares has come!"
"Stay your ground!" Caias ordered his team firmly. They did as he commanded, his Pretear standing next to him and looking ready to panic.
Hayate didn't blame her. The Queen of Nightmare's powers had nearly tripled since she first came into existance, and a trail of terror spread before her like a dark blanket. He felt almost frozen, paralyzed by fear as that chariot sped through the air, her great sword working from side to side, cutting down any and all knights, even her own, who stood in her way, laughing as if this were the most amusing thing she'd ever seen in years.
"Hayate, get out of there now," Goh shouted. He was very young, not even fully grown yet, but using his leafe as effectively as most mature knights. "Lison called for us to leave now!"
"What about Caias' team?" he shouted back, diving for the ground as a blast of fire almost singed his hair clean off. The dragons were blasting at the ground.
Goh deflected the fire easily, scowling at the beasts. "Hey, we're practically brothers here, you stupid lizards! What'dcha go and do that for, huh?"
"Hayate! Hayate, I found them!"
Hayate turned to Takako's exultant tone, saw her flying at him eagerly. The chariot circled around. Shimura had seen her as well. No... not their new Pretear! "TAKAKO!"
Takako looked up in time to see her danger, green eyes flying wide. "AHHHH!" There was a pale flash of silvery white light as Sasame flung a hasty shield up, taking the entire brunt of the attack upon himself.
"SASAME! Takako, get out of there now! Which way?"
Takako, shaken badly by how close that attack had been, landed. Sasame unpreted with her, falling to the ground and screaming in pain, his clothing almost melted completely to his chest. Sete ran over quickly, guarded by Lison, Kimmet (another from their team) and Ravijot. She began to heal him at once, pealing away burnt cloth so she could better access the wounds. Takako pointed a shaky finger in one direction before she fell into Lison's arms, crying hysterically.
Hayate took off in the direction she pointed, heading for the forest. He could hear the familiar sounds of battle, even out in this normally secluded spot.
"And take that, ya bloody git! And that, and that! Oi! OI! Ya pervy bastard, th' next thing ya send at me balls had better be female and quite pretty, got it?" He knew that voice well enough. Blaise, his adoptive brother, sort of. Right now, he was denying any connection with the foul mouthed Englishman.
"Must you continue on like that?" Saeko's voice demanded coldly. Saeko was the Knight of Sands, almost as powerful as the Topaz Prince.
"Aww...is me gutter speach offensive to the royal ears?" Blaise mocked.
Hayate flew in on the battle, saw them surrounded by Dark Knights. Sand storms raged, vines were flung everywhere, the earth was spilling up its crystals to make glittering weapons. "Blaise, Saeko-,"
"Oi, duck mate! Some crazed bitch is hot on yer heels," Blaise roared, flinging a wrist out.
Hayate looked over his shoudler and rolled away midair to avoid the dragons directly behind him. He became dizzy, fell and slammed shoulder first into the ground, continuing the rolling momentum away from the imminent crash. No...
"Let her come! She's all mine," someone said in a dangerous tone. There was a loud BOOM, a scream that seemed to rip the very air wide open.
He covered his head at the initial explosion, the dust rising in the air and settling down around him. When he could pick his head up, he coughed, choking on the dust still in the air. He stood up, crying out when shooting pain went up his right leg. His leg...it was broken. he still managed to hobble over, closing in on the jumble of bodies, the wreck of the chariot and the dragons. Another knight rose from nearby. Otoshi! The two exchanged glances and continued on, moving closer to the chaos. The Topaz Prince...if they failed to protect him...
Wait...this is a dream...why am I dreaming of this?
There was the sound of tinkling laughter. "Just a little more, Knight of Winds. Let me see what happened that day from your beautiful blue eyes..."
That was never said...that part didn't happen here. What...SHIMURA! No, no, no...
"NO!" Hayate sat up, shaking, sweat dripping from his brow. No... Shimura... She was in his head, making him dream about that day, so long ago... He wiped his eyes, hands shaking, still breathing hard. "God...Oh, God!"
Himeno opened her eyes, sitting up slowly. "Hayate?" she asked, voice hoarse from sleep. She frowned, blinking in confusion when she saw how pale he was, how badly he was shaking. 'Hayate, what's wrong?"
Slowly, he shook his head. "Nothing...nothing. It's okay, Himeno. Everything is fine." Or was it? That had been close...TOO close! He'd been lucky this time, had managed to wake himself up. He managed to kiss her cheek absently, lying back down on the couch and holding her to him. She was wearing some kind of perfume, one that smelled like roses. It made him smile, chasing away the horror of having Shimura messing around with his head. "You smell so good," he murmured, burying his face in her neck. Except...he couldn't smell it on her.
"Uh...thanks? I didn't know you liked deordorant so much," she laughed softly, arms wrapping around his neck.
"Your deodorant smells like roses?" he asked.
Himeno froze, completely still against him. "R-roses? Did... d-d-did you just say...roses?" she asked, voice barely working.
"Yes...it smells amazing. I didn't think you liked perfume."
She pushed him back, sitting up with something close to an insane panic on her face. She leaned forward, taking shallow breaths. She was beginning to hyperventilate. "Himeno? Himeno!"
"Roses...my mother...my mother...roses," she gasped out, fingers buried in her hair, pulling on it hard. Her shoulder began to shake with dry sobs.
Hayate sat up, swallowing heavily. Her mother? He suddenly understood, leaning over her and hugging her to him. Her mother had worn rose scented perfume. "Himeno..." She didn't seem to hear him as she continued to cry softly, pressing agains the sides of her head as if she could push those thoughts out and away from her. "Himeno, I'm so sorry!" He held her as close as he could, rocking her gently back and forth to try and calm her down enough to at least breath. What was Shimura doing to her? WHY was she doing this to her? Himeno had already been through a lot, why make her go through it again? What was the point of driving her insane with all this?
If it was the last thing he did, he would kill Shimura for doing this to Himeno.