Chapter XXII: Critical Situations
In Spain, Sanae was in her Spanish class, copying down what the teacher wrote down on the board. However, Jane didn't go that day to the class.
-Esto, Sanae…, ¿tienes un borrador que me puedes prestar? (er, Sanae… Do you have an eraser I can borrow?) –Hiba, a timid young Arab woman with all but her face and hands covered asked her.
-Claro. Toma. (Sure. Here it is)
-Gracias.
However, out of the dizziness and the nausea because of her pregnancy, Sanae had felt weaker and weaker with every day that passed. She didn't faint again, but she had been very near to fainting.
Without knowing, she was weaker since she had lost her dark side, and Kurai was growing more and more powerful every day.
And when you least expect it… Sanae went out cold.
-¡Sanae! –exclaimed the other students when they saw Sanae faint and fall to the floor.
-¡Malcolm, Matthew, lleven a Sanae hacia el sofá! ¡Hiba, ve por agua! (Malcolm, Matthew, put Sanae on the sofa! Hiba, bring a glass of water) –said Toinette, the French student, who was a certified paramedic, and though in the midst of her scare her French accent was obvious, at least the others understood her easily.
Once the English brothers placed Sanae on the sofa and Hiba brought a glass of water, Toinette and the teacher made what they could to wake up the Japanese woman.
At last Sanae woke up, and was surprised of seeing that her teacher and classmates were standing there, worried for her.
-¿Te encuentras bien, Sanae? (Are you OK, Sanae?) –asked the teacher.
-Nani? –for a moment Sanae spoke in he native language, as she was still a bit addled, but once she was back to normal, she realized what the teacher had asked. -Eh, sí, gracias. (Uh, yes, thanks.)
-¿Qué te pasó? (What happened?) –asked Gerhard, a long-haired German guy.
-Me, me desmayé. (I, I fainted)
The teacher told Sanae that it'd be better for her to go home and rest if she didn't feel well. Obviously, Sanae wasn't going to accept, but it was the best choice she could do because of the circumstances. Gerhard offered to go with Sanae to her house out of mere courteousness.
They walked in silence, until Sanae saw someone she knew… And the one she saw looked at her too.
-Gee, Sanae… What a surprise that you walk on the streets with someone who is not your husband.
-Santana! –Sanae's face went ghostly white. And if the Antiarchangel attacked her now that she was weak, and to finish it off, was with someone who didn't know what really happened?
-Gott! ¡Carlos Santana! –exclaimed Gerhard, incredulous. -¿Me puede regalar su autógrafo? (Can you give me your autograph?)
That ruined Carlos' plan. Resigned to attack another day, the Brazilian soccer player gave an autograph to the German youngster and left… Although he didn't go too far.
-Sanae, no puedo creer que conozcas a Carlos Santana. ¡Es uno de mis futbolistas favoritos! (Sanae, I can't believe you actually know Carlos Santana. He's one of my favorite soccer players!)
Sanae explained with the Spanish she could remember in that moment that Santana had been Tsubasa's rival in Brazil, a bit nervously.
At last she arrived home, and Gerhard left. However, Yato seemed worried for his owner.
-Meow?
-Don't worry, Yato. I fell out cold for a moment and I had to come back.
-Meee…
-I'll sleep a bit. That'll probably help.
However, it seemed that nothing could help her. And it was because her dark side was growing stronger and stronger.
Ying and yang, heads and tails… The human being always has two sides, ruled by good and evil, light and shadow, which must be perfectly balanced in order to live. If one of those sides grew stronger over the other one, there were big prices to pay.
And in this case, the price to pay was Kurai growing more powerful every day, while Sanae (or given the case, should I call her Hikari?) was losing her strength rapidly.
Days passed, and another month flew away. Jinko and Misaki were as deeply in love as the very first moment, and Shinobu was anxious to get married. In fact, some of his friends made him a crazy bachelor party. Ishizaki and Yukari had an ugly fight and were about to break up. Hyuga began to train with the Reggiana soccer team, but he didn't feel OK there. Besides, he had begun to practice Rairyuu's Kiai Technique, and little by little he got the gist of it. Genzo had to act as witness of Tooru's disappearance, since he was a close friend of the architect, but the only thing he could say was that he met him that morning and greeted him, but nothing else. After all, what else could he say? Out of that, he went to Munich, and after finding Marie, who was hiding in a friend's house, he took her to Hamburg, where he knew she'd be safe.
Sanae grew weaker every day, but she didn't let that affect her. The doctors didn't know why was that happening, and they had even told her not to have the baby because of her health, but she didn't want them to kill the baby she had inside her. Yato was growing t an incredible rate; he went out of the apartment once in a while and came back very bedraggled, but always kept a feline eye on his owner. Tsubasa was training as hard as he could, and studying in the night, so he was exhausted most of the time. However, although he had fought many times against Santana (Kuro didn't appear again), he defeated him not easily, but without risking his life anymore. His powers had grown stronger than in the beginning. However, he didn't speak with that voice that was not his again.
Summer was coming near, so Daichi made a great effort in his studies and in the soccer team, since Koudai had promised him they'd go to Barcelona for he summer vacations.
Although that meant he'd miss the National Soccer Tournament ;;
He was in the middle of a training session, running some laps with the other players. The school had hired an old friend of ours to be once again the Nankatsu Shougaku's Soccer Team Trainer: Shiroyama Tadashi, now older and wiser.
-C'mon, move those feet! –he shouted, while the boys kept on running. But obviously, the one who ran the quickest was Daichi. Yet he remembered he'd go to Barcelona for the summer vacations, so his spirits lowered a bit and slowed up.
-Ozora, hurry up!
-Yes, sir –and increased his speed. There were many things in the kid's mind. Had his older brother fought again versus the bad guys? How were Sanae and his future nephew? And why hadn't Shiro talked to him ever again?
This last question saddened him the most. From the time Shiro talked with Tsubasa thanks to the kid, it hadn't appeared again. Was it angry at him or something?
"Shiro… Why haven't you talked to me again? Did I do something wrong? Are you angry at me?" –thought Daichi, biting his lip as he ran.
However, one of his shoelaces untied and he fell to the floor. Luckily he hadn't bit his lip in that instant (or…), but his fall was quite spectacular.
-Daichi! –exclaimed the youngest Ozora's teammates.
-Are you OK? –asked Shiroyama, going near the boy.
-I've been better –he answered, rubbing his knee.
A good while later, he arrived home, but Natsuko wasn't at home and Koudai was already back in his work. He made his homework carefully, and unlike other times, he didn't want to play videogames. Something was wrong for him, and he didn't know what it was.
At least he felt that because of Shiro. He missed it.
But the boy heard a noise in the garden. He ran there and saw a raven, which had had its nest in one of the trees, dead on the ground. Although Daichi was revolted at the beginning, he got near to see what had killed the bird.
Some vandal had hit it with a stone.
Somehow, Daichi remembered that he had read once in a book that ravens took care of their eggs and chicks in pairs, but, where was the other raven?
He waited for several minutes, but the other bird didn't appear. In the end, Daichi decided to climb the tree and take the eggs, so as to avoid the birds inside the eggs die of exposure.
"Breed ravens and… I don't believe that" –he thought, as he climbed the tree like a cat. When he got to the branch where the ravens had their nest, he saw there were only three eggs, since the others were completely smashed. However, Daichi was scared; scared of the other raven arriving and pecking him, scared of looking down, scared of falling and not being able to do nothing for those three eggs.
Well, the remaining raven never came back. Without Daichi knowing it, that raven had been dead for about three days.
Nonetheless, Daichi looked down and got vertigo. He had climbed a very tall tree and he didn't know how to get down. He didn't dare shout for help, because if Natsuko arrived and saw him there, he'd receive a huge scolding, but he didn't want to let those eggs be prey of some alley cat or another raven.
And yet, he was lucky. While he wondered what to do, Kai walked near there, alone, and saw Daichi on the tree, scared to death.
-Don't move! –said the Messenger of the Shadows to the kid. However Kai had loosened his ponytail, and as I already told you, Kai has Tsubasa and Daichi's same hairdo.
Of course, being so way up, Daichi didn't really see or hear Kai well… And he confused him with his older brother.
-Tsubasa! Help me, niisan! –and luckily, he already had the nest in his arms, but Daichi lost his balance and began to fall.
It seemed everything went in slow motion, but Kai reacted on time making his black wings appear and saving Daichi from a sure broken bone… And saving some innocent birds that hadn't still broken the shell.
-You OK? –asked Kai to Daichi, whose eyes were still closed because of the scare.
-Erm, I…Niisan! Is it really you?
However, Daichi realized that the young guy who had saved him wasn't his brother, in spite of looking a lot like him.
-I'm sorry… I'm not your brother.
–But… you look a lot like Tsubasa.
-If you're talking about Ozora Tsubasa, yes, I look like him for some strange reason, although well, I guess I can be glad of knowing him. My name is Kagei Kai.
-Kagei Kai? Aren't you Nankatsu High School's soccer captain?
-Yeah.
-My brother has talked to me about you.
-Oh, really?
-Well, he and his friends. And by the way, how is it that you know my brother?
-Who's your brother?
-You said it. My older brother's Ozora Tsubasa.
-So… So you're Tsubasa-kun's little brother.
-Yes. I'm Ozora Daichi, future captain of Japan's Soccer Team.
-Ah, now I get it. And, what were you doing up in that tree? Don't you know that's very dangerous?
And Daichi remembered the nest he had in his arms.
-Oh, right! I was bored looking out the window and I heard a noise. I ran here and I saw that the mother, or the father, of these eggs had fallen to the ground, dead. Someone killed it with a stone.
-Whoever did that is a…
-Is a no-good creep –said Daichi before Kai could let out a nasty swearword.
-I meant that. And what are you gonna do with those eggs?
-I'll take care of them. Who know: I could have a pet or something.
-But, haven't you heard of that proverb, "Breed ravens and they'll peck your eyes?"
-Yes, but I don't believe it.
-Then you've got some serious business, huh? –and Kai saw he was late. –Well, Daichi-kun, take care and send my greetings to your brother.
-OK. Take care, and don't let the Antiarchangels get you.
That left the Kage no Tsukai stunned OO
-How do you…?
-I'm Ozora Tsubasa, the Kami no Tsukai's little brother. Besides, my imaginary friend told me some things about this, and mostly that Tsubasa has to save us all.
-What do you mean with 'imaginary friend?'
-Don't tell anyone… -Daichi seemed ashamed of it. –It's called Shiro.
-Shiro! That's the White Guide! –and Kai disappeared, leaving Daichi fascinated.
-Wow… So those are the powers my brother and his friends have. I wish I could have them too.
"You should be thankful for being merely a normal human" –Shiro's voice echoed in the youngest of the Ozoras again!
In the interim, Kai appeared near his house, worried because of what he had seen: another innocent soul in the middle of all this.
"However, I must be very grateful that neither my mother nor my brothers are in this."
But he heard a shout, and ran to see what happened… With an unpleasant surprise.
Someone Kai didn't know had cornered Komichi… A young woman dressed in black, who looked a lot like the Archangel of Love.
-Komichi-chan!
-Kai!
-Kai… What's that? –asked the woman in black.
-Don't ask. Let my friend go! –and Kai pushed the woman aside while he took Komichi out of there. –You OK, Komichi-chan?
-I'm scared stiff…
-Run to your house right now, or go to mine if you can. You need to calm down.
-You're not going anywhere! –and a dark barrier enclosed the teens.
"A protection barrier like the ones Tsubasa-kun and the others do! This is getting worse by the minute" –thought Kai quickly, since he didn't feel able to fight if Komichi was there. "May no one be hurt, may Komichi-chan be safe and sound, may she forget it all…"
But it didn't work; the barrier the woman clad in black had created prevented Kai's powers from working.
-Come on, Kage no Tsukai, let's fight! –and the one there changed clothing immediately. It was Kurai.
-You think I'm that stupid as to fight with someone here?
-Does that really matter? After all, everyone will die. Death Wave! –and Kurai's attack headed towards Komichi, but the Messenger of the Shadows extended his wings and took the girl out of there. I guess I don't need to say Komichi was in shock. Once Kai left his friend in a relatively safe place, he made Charon's Sword appear and his clothes changed too. Once again, he had the Kage no Tsukai's suit on.
"I can't believe it. I've used this armor just once and it still fits."
But it wasn't time for jokes, as Kurai's deadly toy was about to hit him, but Kai deflected the blow with his Sword.
-Why do all of you have that bad habit of not accepting your fate? –Kurai complained.
-What fate? I don't want to die before being a pro soccer player. Shout of the Shadows!
The attack was really a diversion, since while Kurai dodged it easily, Kai jumped and flew headfirst towards her, delivering her a good blow. Once again, Kurai's blood appeared again and she went berserk again.
"What an idiot. She's never ever seen her blood?"
Of course, Kurai disappeared out of sheer terror, leaving Kai with a bad taste in his mouth.
"What the heck got her?" –thought the Messenger of the Shadows, confused.
However, he remembered something important, very important: Komichi had seen it all. He was forced to modify her memory.
But…
-Are you all right, Komichi?
-Kai…? –she wasn't still quite out of her shock.
"Please, Lord, don't let her remember anything…" –but it was in vain; Komichi couldn't forget a thing.
-Kai, what was that who attacked me? It was a woman dressed in black and all of a sudden she was clad in red… And she called you by a weird name… Kate no Tsukai, Kame no Tsukai…
And Kai knew he hadn't other choice but tell his friend the truth.
-Komichi-chan, there's something very few people know about me. In fact, not even my family knows, and it's better for them not to know, although I guess they suspect something.
-What?
-You see, I've always been aware of my fate, Komichi-chan.
-Aware of your fate? I don't get you at all.
-I'd prefer you didn't understand, but now you know too much. As I said, I was, and am aware of my fate: Decide the fate of this world in a battle. I was just twelve years old when that happened, and I believed that fate was unchangeable, but I was wrong.
-And what happened?
-I learned a very precious lesson. Thanks to Ozora Tsubasa, I learned that fate may be predicted, but only you can make it true.
-Ozora Tsubasa? Japan's Soccer Team captain?
-The one and only.
-But, why did Ozora Tsubasa teach you that?
-He taught me that and all what I know about soccer. It figured we were born to fight against each other without really wishing to, but he was victorious in the end. However, although we had to put an end to each other, he didn't do it.
-And now what?
-I can say I'm a friend of him, although we're once again in a critical situation.
-You're fighting each other again?
-No. We fight for the same cause this time, but two of our friends had died now. And all because of the being that tricked some of my friends, the ones who died among them.
-And how did that strange woman call you?
-She called me by my other identity's name; I'm the Kage no Tsukai, the Messenger of the Shadows.
-That's not nice. Sounds eerie.
-Didn't I just tell you I had to fight against Ozora Tsubasa when I was twelve? In those times, I only had one battle, and I fell under the Shadows' spell that time, and the Shadows are the origin of my power. In that moment I only thought about…Destroying this planet. But as I told you, that's the past. Now I fight for the sake of this world.
-Hey, if you are the Messenger of the Shadows, Ozora Tsubasa is…
-The Messenger of the Gods.
Komichi couldn't believe it. So that was why Kai had his feelings? That was why he had something mysterious, something hidden in him?
-That's why… That's why you are how you are?
-I am how I am? What do you mean?
-That you're awesome for soccer, but you're so quiet and mysterious at the same time, Kai.
-I learned soccer from the best in Japan. But I've always been quiet and mysterious, as you said.
-You're unbelievable.
And Kai couldn't help redden out of embarrassment.
-However, I have something very important to ask you, Komichi-chan.
-What?
-Don't ell anyone what I've just told you. None of us wants to get more people in this, but I'm afraid you already know this, and that makes you an easy target.
-An easy target?
-Yeah; the Antiarchangels know there are some people out of the Archangels, both White and Black, that know about this.
-And who else knows this?
-I only know that Ozora Tsubasa's little brother, Daichi, has some information, and I once heard that one of my friends' sister knows something.
Komichi swore to remain silent. If that situation was a serious as her friend told her, she had to keep quiet, and pray for the best.