Chapter 11: Release
"Sakura?"
The violet haired girl nodded silently as she entered the clearing, hesitating a little as he called her name and stopping before she reached him. She glanced around briefly as if not sure she could look directly at him before walking forward.
Koichi watched her uncertainly. He had been expecting a trap, some machination of his father's, but instead he had gotten this.
But, just what was this? Why had Sakura called him out here pretending to be Motoko?
After their previous talks he thought he had made it clear that he was already spoken for, surely she wasn't attempting to change his mind again. The evidence seemed stacked against benign motives however. It had been made clear to him that she was his family's preferred choice of bride, and here they were, alone in the place that symbolised all of his family's hopes for the future.
"Sakura", he began as she walked closer, tensing for some reason and almost recalling his power in an instinctual attempt to protect himself.
Do I really see her as that much of a threat, he wondered as she closed the last of the distance between them, long purple tresses playing delicately with the light that filtered through the trees and kimono barely making a sound as she seemed to glide forward.
Am I that weak?
Clang!
"Not bad girl", Akira said around clenched teeth, his superior smirk almost wavering as he realised that Motoko had stopped his attack and was holding him back as he tried to catch her off guard by forcing his way through instead of backing off straight away.
Kuso! Damn Aoyama's I should have known trying brute force wouldn't work even if it was a switch tactic.
Akira blurred as he accelerated himself beyond the ability of human sight to follow, watching her move in slow motion as she redistributed her balance to compensate for the sudden absence of his weight barring down on her.
It had always puzzled him why this miraculous ability faded at the moment the user tried to strike.
It had been theorised that it was a matter of intention and direction, that the use of Ki, passed down by the Oni's Bane school and others tapped into some primal survival instinct, enhancing the bodies natural fight or flight response to an insane degree. However, humankind has long proved that they are a slave to their base biology. As with said reaction, one can only fight or run, and thus once the individual ceases to flee and makes to strike the power given their flight response vanishes and is redirected into their desire to fight, giving it a whole new set of properties, and a whole new focus. Hence the loss of speed and the resulting burst of strength.
Any man who could forge both powers into one would become unstoppable. This was part of the reason for his development of the bladeless technique, it was an unconventional application of Ki, a manipulation previously thought the stuff of fiction, even amongst the clans.
Hr had spent years developing both this and another technique he had yet to test. Perhaps this battle would be the place.
Akira came back to himself as he moved around to the raven-haired woman's rear and readied his attack.
Even as he did he could feel it. Something in his mind and body changing; flows redirecting themselves as the paths the power had been taking were suddenly sealed.
The world slowly began to speed up, almost reaching it's normal pace as he focused his Ki along the blade of the simple katana he grasped in strong hands.
He watched from the corner of his eye, the path traced by the spiritual force along his weapon, part of him awed as always by the seemingly meaningless, but intricate patterns it wove.
Perhaps they were the key…
No, focus on defeating the woman first, he chided himself. Had he known what he was on the verge of discovering, things might have ended without tragedy that day.
"Serpent's Strike!" he yelled, releasing the accumulated power as the world reverted to normal.
Motoko spun rapidly, slashing her blade across the attack and bisecting it with the grace of a dancer even as he once again blurred from view, repeating the attack a split second before she intercepted the first.
It was a move that should have caught any other fighter flat footed. A move that by all rights should have worked, if not for two details. Firstly, she had seen Koichi use the exact same attack on her sister during their duel two months ago, and secondly, she was Motoko Aoyama, heir to the God's Cry school.
Rotating only her torso as far as necessary, Motoko slashed her blade backward viciously, releasing her own wave of Ki to counter the attack. Then, rotating in the opposite direction and pivoting on her left foot, she lashed out vertically with the Hina.
"Boulder Cutting Blade!"
Akira threw himself aside barely in time to avoid the inhuman blast of spiritual energy, eyes wide as he saw the path it carved across the clearing and into the forest beyond.
He swallowed hard, his face hardening into its usual sneer.
He would never admit it, but for a split second, he had feared this warrior, this woman.
Uncle was right, no one should have such power.
Akira stood defiantly as she stared back with cool eyes.
Such arrogance, she doesn't even acknowledge my skills, he thought angrily as his fierce gaze met icy indifference, I'll show you yet girl.
Akira held his blade out before him and slowly closed his eyes, releasing a long breath as he allowed everything, even his anger to fall away.
There was an odd tumbling sensation as he approached the core of his being as all the students of his school were taught to do. However, unlike them, he wasn't doing this to find strength, but new sight.
From his position within himself, he opened his eyes.
Koichi took a half step back as Sakura neared, wanting to do or say something but feeling completely unable to break the almost sacred silence.
The violet haired beauty drew level with him… and passed by without a whisper.
He stood frozen for a moment, unsure of exactly what had just happened, or what he had expected to happen.
His head craned round gratingly to follow Sakura's movements.
She was crouched before the statues, hands pressed together and head bowed, offering a small ritual prayer to the deities represented.
Koichi almost felt like laughing but didn't. Laughing around Kami, even stone ones wasn't usually a good idea. Or at least he'd always been told that, and now didn't seem like the time to test the theory.
Sakura stood in one flowing motion, just like all the women in the Sagura family, keeping her back to him for a moment as if she had forgotten he was there.
Perhaps she had, he hadn't said anything yet, not even a wisecrack an occurrence so rare some would find it necessary to document for future generations.
"So…", he said, leaving the trusty conversational kick-start hanging between them.
She turned to face him, her usually serene face seeming troubled for a moment before an indifferent mask settled over it.
Another trademark of the Sagura women.
"So…", she returned evenly, as if it were not she who had called him out.
Koichi scratched absently at the back of his head, his attention turned back to her from his pondering by a quiet, affectionate laugh.
"What?", he asked, her, frowning as she covered her mouth with the sleeve of her kimono.
"It's nothing", she said, dropping the sleeve to reveal the faint remainder of a smile, "Just thinking how many times I've seen you do that in the past".
Koichi realised where his hand was and snatched it down.
"Yeah, in the past", he said, placing not so subtle emphasis on the last word.
She smiled sadly at him, making it clear she hadn't missed his intended message.
She walked quietly over to the nearest statue and sat on its base, positioning herself so she could look at him with the minimum of effort.
She motioned toward the space next to her but Koichi shook his head softly.
"It's ok Koi-kun", she said, sounding amused, "I promise I won't bite"
"I'm more concerned about what else you might do", he said, his retort only half joking as a number of incidents during the time this girl had spent pursuing him came to mind.
Sakura grimaced slightly and he shifted his weight uncomfortably, trying to avoid looking at the way her eyes dropped to her lap.
He sighed heavily and walked over, dropping himself onto the vacant spot next to her and leaning back against the statue.
The violet-haired girl smiled gratefully and turned a little so she could see him properly.
Leaning back as if he didn't have a care in the world, half-lidded eyes on the sky above him and messy black hair spilling haphazardly down his face, she was almost caught up in the desire to push that same hair back for him as an old memory surfaced.
---Sakura sat on the soft grass listening to the stream trickle gently by, watching the clear sky overhead and feeling the occasional cool breeze on her skin, her arms draped loosely around her knees as she hugged them lightly to her chest.
"Wow, isn't it a beautiful day Koi-kun?", she said brightly, glancing down at her companion, the thirteen year old Koichi Sagura, son of her father's cousin and as far as she was concerned, her best friend in the world.
He was lain out next to her, arms folded beneath his head, messy black hair almost obscuring eyes that were the colour of the sea on a cold day.
At least, they were when they were open.
She giggled as she heard his faint snores. To most people his sleeping ability and subsequent noise pollution were a source of great irritation. To her they were just one of those things Koi-kun did, so it wasn't a bother.
In fact, she thought, absently reaching out to brush the stray locks of hair away from his face, It's one of a lot of things I like about you…Koi-kun.
The thirteen year old felt herself blushing at that thought but she couldn't understand why. It was just Koi-kun after all. The same silly, sometimes mischievous boy who'd befriended a scared and lonely Sakura on her first visit to the Sagura home just after her seventh birthday.
She smiled a little at that memory. It had been the start of a long and so far enduring friendship, she couldn't imagine anything that could separate them, and she was beginning to feel, unbeknownst to her, the first stirrings of a desire to ensure that never happened.
She lay down next to him, pillowing her head on his shoulder the way she had since they were children. He'd never complained one way or the other about her doing it, for which she was glad, although little Kyoko claimed it was outright indecent.
The thought of such seriousness in one so young made Sakura smile, although she had received the same training the younger girl was going through, so she understood where such ideas were coming from.
She lay there for a moment, just listening to his heartbeat, but resisting the urge to let it lull her to sleep.
Sakura tilted her head up a fraction to see his face.
So peaceful, as if he didn't have a care in the world.---
The violet haired girl smiled wistfully at the fleeting memory, her heart sinking as she compared what she remembered to what she now saw.
Koichi looked tense, worried, as if her mere presence were troubling.
Perhaps he is wondering what I intend, she thought, Indeed…what do I intend?
Sakura held back the hand that had been reaching out to brush away the errant locks from his face and leant forward, the space between them just right to ensure that she came to rest against him with her head on his shoulder.
She felt his muscles tense but refused to move.
"S-Sakura, what are you-"
"Just let me stay like this", she pleaded as the rest of her previous memory began to flood back.
---Sakura could explain the sensation that swept over her as she watched him. In a few years time, it would finally make sense to her, but for now it was foreign and confusing, yet somehow not unwelcome.
"Koi-kun", she found herself sighing in a tone of voice she wasn't sure she'd ever used before.
He mumbled something back. Something she couldn't quite make out.
She strained her ears, trying to hear as he whispered it again.
"…Motoko-chan…"
Sakura turned her head away from his face, feeling hurt, almost jealous of that name. She knew that it was the name of a girl, someone Koichi had met before her for a while, but nothing more.
So why was he whispering that girl's name in his sleep and not hers?
She remembered what he had said when he was looking for the spot they now lay in. He had claimed he needed to find somewhere amazing, someplace worthy of a very special person.
She had thought at the time he had meant her…maybe he hadn't…---
Kyoko slid the door to Shinobu's room aside and slipped in, closing it as soon as she was safely through.
It seemed that her tolerance for solitude had taken a recent dip without her notice lately. She had barely returned from handing over the other girl's clothes to the cleaning women and giving them their instructions while they stared at her quizzically, before she had found herself up and moving again.
It amused her in a fashion that Kyoko Sagura, the girl who had always believed she was a pillar of strength, should come running to this frail girl's side after bare minutes of parting.
The minutes she had spent waiting for Kitsune to leave had seemed like the longest in her life, and her impatience at the older woman, who was merely showing her own concern over the blue haired girl's condition, had rivalled any she had ever felt before.
She crossed the distance to Shinobu's sleeping form, a small smile already playing on her lips, and sank down besides her.
The other girl's cheeks were flushed and she panted lightly in her sleep, her fever was probably worsening.
It seemed someone, probably Kitsune, had already placed a cooling rag on her forehead, but Kyoko found herself snatching it away almost possessively before refreshing and replacing it.
She felt a little silly as she did this. It didn't matter who tended the blue haired beauty after all, just that she got well…right?
You already know the answer to that, she told herself strictly, sighing at her own foolishness.
"Kyoko-chan"
The dark haired girl's head whipped around at the use of the affectionate term, a hopeful smile blossoming on her face, only to die as she realised the other girl was just muttering in her sleep, probably the result of a fever dream.
"Are you dreaming of me Shinobu-chan?", Kyoko asked quietly, her hand reaching out to gently caress the other girl's cheek as she continued to dream.
Shinobu was dreaming of Kyoko. It was the same dream she had been having since the previous night.
Again and again she chased her friend through a raging storm, confronted her and saved her, only to have what Kyoko seemed to want so desperately to tell her swept away by a cruel wind.
But this time something was different.
The winds seemed to be loosing their strength, rising and falling enough that Shinobu was sure she could almost hear what her friend was saying.
She threw herself at the wind in a rare display of anger as it once again cut off Kyoko's important words.
"Shin-- - -ov- --u", the wind was loosing a battle against some new force, the blue haired girl was sure of it, there was something comforting and warm out there now, invisible like the wind, doing battle on her behalf.
Shinobu pushed on again, feeling the barrier weaken, when suddenly it seemed to give, shattering like glass beneath her fingers.
Her arms flailed as she tried to maintain her balance, but she was already falling.
Shinobu gasped as her momentum was halted by something, allowing only her knees to strike the damp earth.
Kyoko.
She had been saved by Kyoko, and was now in the other girl's embrace, held so close Kyoko's mouth was right by her ear. Shinobu could feel herself blushing at how close, how intimate this felt, and yet she wasn't pushing the dark haired girl away.
This time she heard Kyoko's words all to clearly.
"Shinobu…I love you"
Shinobu was first aware only of a comforting warmth on her cheek as she drifted towards consciousness, so much like the one in her dream. It made her feel safe and loved; similar to the way she felt at the Hinata Sou, but somehow not quite the same.
He eyes fluttered open, rapidly adjusting to the new illumination, as if eager to great the source of that warmth.
As she awoke fully she recognised its source.
Kyoko. Or more precisely, Kyoko's hand. It was rested gently on her cheek, caressing it with soft, almost loving gestures.
Shinobu felt her blush from the dream return at full force, along with the paralysis that prevented her from doing anything to stop the other girl.
"How are you feeling?", her friend asked, looking at her with concern and…something else.
"…F-fine", she stuttered, unable to explain her sudden nervousness.
Kyoko smile her rare small smile, he one that changed her usually stern, cold face into something more beautiful, "Well that's good to know".
As if realising what she was doing, Kyoko removed her hand and the feelings of both nervousness and comfort retreated.
"I sent your clothes to be cleaned", Kyoko voiced as silence threatened to descend, "And Kitsune-san was here a little while ago, but you were asleep".
Shinobu just nodded mutely. After that dream and the way she had awoken, speech seemed beyond her for the moment.
"Was it a bad dream?"
"What?", Shinobu asked a little too quickly feeling the heat in her cheeks intensify.
"You were mumbling in your sleep", Kyoko said, a faint smile present as if she knew an amusing secret.
"Oh, sorry", the blue haired girl said wondering what she might have said.
"Don't be it was rather…cute", she said the last so softly Shinobu was almost convinced she hadn't heard it…almost.
The end of her dream came back in a vivid flash, and Shinobu had to wonder… How much of it had been true? Was the ending just a product of fever or…
"…Kyoko-san…", she began, unsure how to ask what she wanted to without offending the other girl if she was wrong.
"Yes Shinobu-san", Shinobu looked at her out of the corner of her eye. Was she imagining things or had Kyoko practically caressed her name as she had spoken it?
"When…when we were out there that night", she said slowly, "Did…did you say anything to me?".
You mean like "I love you", Kyoko thought, her heart throbbing happily at the suggestion that the other girl might remember after all.
"Do you think I did?", she asked, cursing herself even as the patterns of her upbringing began to assert themselves.
"…I'm not sure", the blue haired girl said, looking away from her, "It's nothing, I'm sorry for bringing it up, I must sound strange".
Kyoko screamed inside. To come so close yet again…it was torture.
"Please Shinobu-san", she urged, "What is it you think I said?…Was it something bad?"
"No", Shinobu said, turning back to face her sharply, but dropping her gaze, "At least…I don't think it was…necessarily".
Kyoko kept her face guarded as she lifted the blue haired girl's face up to face her own, "Do you really wish to know what I said?".
Her heart was thundering in her ears as the other girl nodded, her eyes slightly wide but determined.
Kyoko smiled softly. Not a slight smile, or a half smile. Not one of falsehood or deception, but her first full and genuine smile since childhood as she stared directly at the girl she had somehow fallen in love with during her short stay at the Hinata Sou.
"I love you, Shinobu-chan", her voice was a silken whisper.
"Not as a friend", she added as she saw the conflict in the blue haired girl's eyes as she opened her mouth to speak, "As something…more".
Here her courage seemed to fail her, her hand slipped from the stunned girl's face and her eyes averted themselves as she felt her cheeks taking on a crimson hue.
She waited, her breath ragged for a reply, any reply.
Eventually it came.
"I love you too Kyoko-chan"
Kyoko's heart soared and another radiant smile made a break for her face as she began to turn back.
"But…not like that", her stomach dropped as she turned a disbelieving gaze on the girl before her, trying to tell herself that that last part hadn't happened.
"I…have someone that I love, Kyoko-chan…" the violet eyed girl said, staring down at the futon on which she lay.
Kyoko felt her insides go cold as her smile vanished, "Urashima-san?"
Shinobu nodded, wincing as she looked up to find her friend's icy mask back in place, as it had been the first day they had met.
"You realise he is engaged to Narusegawa-san, correct?"
Another nod, this one weaker than the first.
"Then why?"
"Because…you told me yourself, that we should never deny what we want in life".
"…Yes…I suppose I did, didn't I", Kyoko rose silently, her back to Shinobu as she walked toward the door.
"Kyoko-chan, wait!"
"What for Maehara-san?", Shinobu felt as if she had been punched and could only mouth noiseless words as Kyoko resumed her walk.
"Exactly", and with that she was gone.
Shinobu continued to stare at the door, the hand she had reached out to try and call the other girl back falling limply to the futon.
"I'm sorry Kyoko-chan", she whispered, tears brimming in her violet eyes, "I'm sorry".
Motoko watched warily as her opponent closed his eyes, his blade starting off in front of him but coming to a rest at his side as he let loose a long, slow breath.
She held the Hina ready, waiting for his next move, senses extended in case he used another Ki attack.
He began to walk toward her. His eyes were still closed, and she noticed that he seemed to sway lightly from side to side as if slightly drunk.
Was he attempting to defeat her in a sword duel with Drunken Boxing?
That was suicide. Against a blademaster fighting unarmed was worse than reckless, only the Urashima style had ever overcome that disadvantage, and Motoko didn't think even Kanako could have handled her now.
What are you planning Akira, she thought, tracking his blind progress toward her, trying to find some sort of pattern to his movements.
Deciding that it was better to strike first than to allow him time to implement his strategy, she unleashed an attack.
"Boulder Cutting Blade!"
The wave of Ki swept toward her red-haired assailant, but he didn't seem to either see or sense its approach, just kept walking.
Motoko frowned, this seemed like a rather anti-climactic end.
As the wave neared Akira seemed to stumble, pivoting around the attack in the process, sword trailing him like a dancer's ribbon before continuing his walk undisturbed.
Motoko was speechless. He had dodged the attack as if he had seen it coming in slow motion and stepped around it accordingly.
He had almost closed the distance between them now, so she set her guard again and waited.
As soon as he was in range he moved, but not in the regular fashion. He spun, dropping low, sword carried at her legs in his outstretched hand by pure inertia. She leapt above the slash as he arched his back, the new motion sending the sword cutting vertically toward her in one perfectly flowing motion that she parried quickly before landing.
He made no attempt to stop the force of her blow, instead allowing it to carry the blade in a rapid reverse of its arc toward her stomach, sparks flying as the tip bit into the ground.
Again she blocked the unexpectedly rapid attack, raising her blade high as a quick rotation of his wrist brought his weapon down on her head almost as soon as the first attack was stopped.
He spun once more, the edge almost scoring across her shoulder before she stopped it.
Leaping back once more she prepared a Ki strike, watching in confusion as he suddenly cut his blade through a patch of empty space, dispersing a little Ki in the process.
Motoko gasped as she felt the power she had been gathering vanish, leaving her winded and dazed for a second.
"Are you impressed yet?", his mocking voice echoed to her from where he stood, a confident smirk on his face beneath closed eyes.
"What did you…"
He chuckled to himself, "You want to know? It's called the Dance of the unseen Winds. My own invention. Using this I can see the Ki flows you draw power from and with a little effort…cut them. By reading those same flows I can better anticipate your moves than I could with my eyes open".
Motoko had to admit, if such a thing were possible, the advantage to would bestow…
"Why not just give up? I'll make it quick if you do"
Motoko ground her teeth hard, "I will defeat you".
She glared as he began to laugh, barely restraining her anger.
"Don't make me laugh, without your Ki you Aoyama's are nothing but paralysed brutes", he spat surging forward, "Now defend yourself if you can!".
Motoko knocked a series of flowing slashes aside, each one coming seemingly on top of the others, leaving little room for any thought of a counterattack.
Every time she managed to gain some space and attempt a Ki strike he would simply remove the power she was trying to access leaving her dangerously disorientated for a moment, and after a few minutes she had several cuts for this very reason.
"Getting tired?" he taunted her as she backed off warily, muscles not used to fighting without Ki enhancements trembling slightly after their overuse, and a light sheen of sweat covering her body.
Akira was also sweating but she held no delusions as to who was more tired. If things continued this way…
Motoko's brow furrowed as she worked the problem in her head, watching her smirking opponent warily.
Perhaps she was going about this the wrong way. From the start she had simply set out to overwhelm him with raw strength, and even after he had unveiled this new technique she had continued to do so.
She was no longer trying to fight with skill, and that was the problem.
"I understand now", she said, drawing herself upright and setting her guard, allowing herself to fall flawlessly into the stance of the God's Cry school, "I won't be beaten".
Akira's smirk hardened as she spoke and she could almost feel the anger pulsing off him.
"Know your place woman!", he screamed, flowing forward in the odd dance like style his new technique seemed to promote.
A rising diagonal slash was blocked and redirected straight down, her foot lancing out and striking him square in the face as his blade impacted the earth.
He was rocked backward by her foot, falling back and rolling upright with his guard set as she charged in, sword inching in several directions to confuse him before stabbing straight out.
He blocked and spun, repeating her manoeuvre himself only to be surprised as she pivoted around the blade as he drove past.
Both opponents skidded to a halt; twirling like dancers ash their blades intercepted each other.
A resounding clash filled the clearing.
For a moment, there was only silence. The soft clang of the Akira's broken sword ending its short journey from his hand to the ground was what finally returned sound to the world.
"H-how…"
"The God's Cry school teaches more that Ki attacks Akira, breaking your blade was the least I could have done at that moment, you were so sure of your technique you were ignoring the basics and left yourself vulnerable", she said, her voice a lot calmer than she had expected considering who she was talking to.
She placed the edge of the Hina against his neck, ignoring the cursed blade's sickening excitement, "Do you yield?"
"Never", he hissed at her, now open grey eyes filled with loathing.
"I see", she said sadly, raising her blade for the final blow, "I'm sorry".
She swung the blade down in the terminating arc, when she caught a flash of something she hadn't expected from Akira at that moment. A smile.
His hand lashed out at her blade.
"Serpent's Strike!", a the snake like Ki blast tore forth from his bare hand, and only now did Motoko recall the thing he was famous for as the Hina was blasted out of her grasp and flung away.
Before she could reach, the tips of his fingers were pressed to her throat, making it clear what would happen if she tried anything.
Motoko carefully lowered her arms to her sides.
It was over.
"Please, let me stay like this"
Koichi looked down at the trembling purple haired girl who had grasped the front of his shirt in her small hands and buried her face in his shoulder.
It was a shock to be sure. She hadn't been this close to him in years, ever since…
What surprised Koichi the most was the lack of conflict her felt right now, he felt perfectly at peace, and he knew exactly what he was going to do next.
Sakura gasped as she felt his arms encircling her like they had when they were younger, his hand gently stroking her hair until her shaking subsided and her courage rose enough for her to look up at him.
"Koi-kun…"
"Sa-chan?", he asked gently, bringing a light blush to her face. He hadn't called her that since they were kids.
"What…what are you doing?", she whispered, letting her head rest on his shoulder again.
"I always used to do this when you were confused or upset, didn't I?"
"…Yes…"
"Do you remember what you promised me Sa-chan"
Sakura gripped his shirt a little tighter and nodded, "I remember. And I plan to keep it…I…I just want to be a little selfish right now I guess".
He laughed quietly, "I guess we don't really change that much as we grow up huh?"
"Since when did you grow up", she muttered, wrapping a fist gently against his chest. "Jerk".
He laughed louder this time, "Ouch, you got me there I guess…hey Sa-chan?"
"Hmmmm", she mumbled, starting to feel sleepy listening to his heartbeat.
"Do you remember what I promised you?".
"Promised….me?", she said looking up curiously at his warm sea grey eyes.
---Sakura looked at the gently smiling boy who had just helped her up after she had fallen and grazed her knee.
"It's ok Sa-chan, you don't have to be lonely anymore, I'll be your friend, and do my best to make you happy, cause that's what she did for me"---
"So…this is…ok?"
"Yeah", he answered, "You're my best friend Sakura, if you need me, I'm here".
"But you love Motoko", she said, pushing away from him and putting a finger over his lips to stop him answering, "No, it's alright, it's not like I didn't know, and I made my choice back then, which is why I'm telling you this".
She sighed and stood, walking over to the shrine that had once held the Sword of Two Souls.
"Akira has set a trap for Motoko"
"What!", he was on his feet in an instant, "That's not possible, even he wouldn't go that far, and besides, I'd sense it"
Sakura shook her head sadly.
"No, not here, that's why he wanted me to keep you here, the sacred aura limits your perceptions".
"Kuso!", he swore, rounding on her, "Where are they?"
"The clearing", she answered, and there was no need for her to specify which one, there was only one which would suit Akira's purpose.
"I have to go…thank you, Sa-chan".
Sakura watched him vanish into the woods, a faint smile on her lips as tears traced silent paths down her cheeks.
"Koi-kun…"
Motoko's fists clenched at her sides. Of all the ways to go, this was not how she had wanted to.
She watched as the light of grim anticipation played in Akira's grey eyes, knowing it meant her death.
She felt only sadness rather than fear however. Her death meant that she would never get to keep that promise after all.
"I'll make it quick", Akira said, his voice absent of mockery or condescension for once, boarding close to merciful if not regretful.
She nodded silently, closing her eyes.
Koi-kun…
Motoko-chan!
The voice of her beloved ripped through her mind snapping her eyes wide as she felt something pulse at her side.
Her eyes travelled down to the snakeskin pommel at her side and the forgotten Sword of Two Souls. For the briefest of instances, she believed she could see a faint yellow cord tying herself to the chain on the sheath and to something out there in the forest.
Koi-kun?
Motoko suddenly knew how to save herself.
She looked back at Akira, whose expression seemed dazed, as if the pulse she had felt were playing havoc with his senses, and perhaps it was with his demonstrated ability.
Not wasting time, Motoko struck, her left hand knocking his aside as the right thundered out in an uppercut to the stomach which drove the wind out of his lungs as it propelled him back.
Her hand was on the hilt of the sword in a flash and pulling the blade that no one man can wield free without a whisper of protest.
She saw Akira's eyes widen in disbelief and fear.
"Cutting Evil: Second Form!"
Akira's head flew back, impacting the ground first as his body struck and bounced to rest.
Motoko returned the blade to its scabbard, marvelling at the feel and craftsmanship of the weapon as she did so. Was that what Koichi had felt in his battle with her sister?
She bent to check on Akira. He was unconscious and his shirt was gone, but he was otherwise fine.
A rustling announced a new presence and she smiled as she heard a familiar voice calling her name.
Kenichi felt Akira's Ki fade. Not vanish as if he had been killed, but fade and become inactive.
Worthless child, he thought, but then again he hadn't really expected him to succeed in the first place, he was merely a tool to keep his idiot son and the Aoyama girl busy while he enacted his real plan.
Kenichi stepped back to admire his handiwork. The symbols around the stone disc that was embedded beneath the libraries floor had been rearranged exactly as the book instructed, and all the necessary items prepared.
The Lord of the Oni's Bane school lifted the ceremonial dagger, placing it above his palm and making a small incision. He turned his hand over above the disc and watched as several drops of the life fluid fell onto the Kanji inscribed on the centre of the disc.
Hastily wrapping a scrap of cloth around his wound, he retrieved his staff from where it lay against the nearby wall and fell into his centre, drawing up every scrap of power he could muster and forcing into the staff and the symbols now engraved upon it.
They lit up with an eerie white light as his Ki flowed into them.
He held the staff high above his head, his glare barring down upon the disc before him. The seal.
"I, Kenichi Sagura, Lord and Master of the Oni's Bane school of swordsmanship, command you! Arise!", he slammed the staff home and everything turned to white.
"Motoko-chan!", Koichi cried out, his lungs and legs burning from running all this way as his eyes desperately searched for any sign of her. He had heard her calling out to him somehow, and feared the worst.
He finally found her, crouched over the unconscious body of a shirtless and battered, but unfortunately very much alive Akira.
After he'd checked on her he'd probably beat Akira back to consciousness then beat him till he passed out again, but right now his priority was Motoko.
"Motoko-chan!"
She stood and turned to face him, smiling warmly, "And finally my knight arrives, a little late as always but it's the thought that counts".
Koichi stood there for a moment, mouth ajar as he worked her comment and light hearted tone over.
"What…happened here"
"He tried to kill me", she said, giving Akira a nudge with her foot, "But I dealt with it".
Koichi's eyes hardened murderously as he walked toward his cousin's prone form, "Oh really".
Motoko's hand on his chest restrained him, "It's over Koi-kun"
"He could have hurt you", Koichi growled looking over the numerous small cuts she had received during the fight, "He did hurt you".
Again her hand stopped him.
"But I still won, because I had you fighting with me", she tapped the hilt of the Sword of Two Souls meaningfully.
"You mean…"
"Yes, you're not the only one to have used it anymore my love"
Koichi's shoulder's sagged, "How will I explain this to my fan-club?"
"You have a club now?", she asked, reassured by the return of his humour.
"But of course".
Her reply was cut off as they both a huge wave of Ki.
This was not an ordinary feeling, it washed over them in acid waves, burning and freezing, making their stomach's heave in revulsion.
Koichi looked up to ask Motoko if she could feel it too and found her staring at something in horror.
He followed her gaze and swallowed thickly.
Coming from the direction of the temple was a thick beam of white light, but there was nothing welcoming about it, and the sky it pierced was rapidly turning black, storm clouds brewing around it as if it were tainting the very sky itself.
Kenichi struggled to see through the light, he could just about make something out. He screwed his eyes up tighter together, the vague shape coming into focus.
As soon as he saw it he knew this was what he had been looking for, exactly what the books had predicted.
"This is it", he laughed, "The end of the Aoyama line!"
A deafening roar drowned out everything else.
---Author Notes---
And there you have it, I hope that was worth the wait while I was trying to complete this around a small mountain of essays and so on. So what have we here? Sakura's ratings probably went up, Alex is now screaming and out for my blood lol and in case you hadn't guessed already, Kenichi is a very bad man…right?
Next chapter will probably be the last so stick around for Chapter 12: Kaza
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell