A/N: This will be my last update for a while… enjoy
Chapter 10: River Below
Ryu lay on the roof of the Hinata Sou, uncaring of the unusually cold night air as it clawed at and puckered his skin, tussling his spiky blond hair.
In turn the wind was nonplussed by the icy, vacant, almost inhuman look in his cold blue eyes as he gazed up at the night sky.
There was a palpable tang in the air tonight. A sense of expectation, like there was something waiting just around the corner to reveal itself.
However, Ryu was dead to these atmospheric changes.
He was thinking on what he had learned about Kanna during the residents' recent 'vacation'.
Urashima…, yes, she was a member of the Urashima family, the ones who had been guarding the cursed blade known as the Hina, until it had been given to the Gods Cry school's heir a little over twenty years ago.
His research into ancient or legendary weapons amongst the Clans during his search had yielded a fair amount of data on that event.
After that had off the Urashima's had all but vanished from the notes of the Clans, considered once more too insignificant to dwell on, despite the proven effectiveness of their unarmed combat style, itself dying out within the family.
However, what if that wasn't the reason?
What if all trace of them had been banned from being recorded for some reason or other.
They had already watched over one legendary blade for a number of centuries before turning it over to the Clans…what if they had been given charge of another.
Ryu sat up, folding his arms around his knees.
It wasn't a great leap to make.
One family member properly trained in the family style, sequestered in an unlikely location could conceivably protect the blade from anyone who chanced upon it.
It had taken him a long time to find this place as a likely location, and even when he had the most recent data on the building was almost as old as he was. He hadn't even known who if anyone was living there until he had phoned seeking accommodation, and even then, the actual guests had come as a shock.
Ryu smirked at the irony of his situation.
He had been living under the same roof as a Urashima, a member of one of the families with a link to the Sagura Clan, creators of the Sword of Two Souls, for several months without ever even knowing that the potential answer to his problem was in the room just down the hall.
If only he'd found out earlier, before…
He smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand to clear his mind of the image of Kanna after she had seen him kissing Ayu.
Why was he still thinking about that? Kanna was a potential obstacle now, an enemy in the shadows so to speak.
Besides, hadn't already made a choice on that front.
Hadn't he chosen Ayu the moment he…
Ayu…
Another problem. After coming back he had been overload with too much to try and process and understand, replaying his memories of his time with Kanna to try and figure out if she had ever done or said anything to indicate she was hiding anything, to notice that Ayu hadn't said a word to him or anyone else for that matter, since that night.
He'd avoided Kanna, Ayu and all the girls yesterday after getting back, while his brain had a minor meltdown.
"This is ridiculous", he told the night air sternly, "Why am I still worrying about which of them I like when there are more important things at hand?".
That was true he told himself. Now was not the time to indulge in the moping bumbling behaviour of his peers.
He had finally found a link to his goal; he should pursue it now and forget everything else…so why couldn't he get either the image of the crying Kanna or Ayu's face as he had lent in to kiss her out of his head?
Nothing would dislodge them, over and over he saw Ayu's delicately pink dusted face as her large eyes drifted closed, only to have the moment shattered as the image was replaced by Kanna, teardrops leaving a sparkling trail as she tried to turn swiftly enough to hide her distress.
His head was beginning to ache, a dull pounding behind his eyes that echoed through his skull.
"Things weren't supposed to be this complicated", he ground out, his voice tight, his fist trembling at his side.
Sighing he ran a hand through his hair trying to calm himself. It had seemed to work when Ayu had helped him in the cave, but it offered no solace here.
It wasn't the action…it was the person, he grudgingly admitted to himself.
None of his thoughts seemed to have been his own since coming back to this place, they were either the puppets of the two girls who had come into his life, or perhaps he theirs, or the playthings of his inner demons.
Demon…, he could still see what he had thought of while trying to protect Kanna. A pair of burning crimson irises, mocking him from the shadows, taunting him with the potential price of his actions…something he had come closer to paying than he wanted to admit.
That had been part of the reason he had been so cold to Kanna after that was over…and worse, it was something he would likely never be able to explain to her, or Ayu for that matter if he could ever get the blue haired girl to talk to anyone ever again.
Why, he asked himself the deceptively simple question.
Why had he kissed Ayu only to run after Kanna, leaving the blue haired girl alone only seconds after implying what he might feel for her? Or was it that he didn't, that such things were stirred by Kanna of all people, and Ayu had just been a handy substitute?
What did that make him, or mean to him, for him?
It had turned out to be a good thing he had gone after Kanna, he had been there to save her and learned something potentially important, but he didn't know what to do with what he had learned anymore.
His mother had once told him that life had no clear path for humans, and that at least provided some comfort in wake of what had nearly happened…
Pushing all these thoughts aside as best he could, he recalled his true purpose for being up here tonight, a reason that would hopefully help him make his decision.
When he had been down and out during the fight against the thugs that had been after Kanna and him, just when he had begun to feel his control over himself slipping, something had happened to their attackers…and he had nothing to do with it, but if he was right, he knew who was responsible, and they would most likely be watching over him right now…
"You might as well come out Kyosuke, I know you're there…", he waited…only the wind answered.
"Do you really want to get me angry enough to bring you out of hiding myself. I think that would invalidate your mission somewhat, don't you?", Ryu let the hint of an edge creep into his voice.
There was a whisper of displaced air and suddenly there was a boy standing at the peek of the Hinata Sou's rooftop, his thin arms folded over his sleeveless red shirt as the wind played with his baggy black trousers at natural shocks of purple hair, drooping forelocks held back by a white cloth.
The shadows hid his eyes but Ryu knew all too well their colour, feeling an itching sensation in one eye, and knowing that the younger boy's eyes were focused on him with a look that could have killed.
The anger practically vibrated the air around them as Ryu made his way up to join the newcomer, stopping when he was level rather than closing anymore of the distance between them.
Part of him was…intrigued, by the hatred he could feel, but he had a lot of practise ignoring that part of himself.
Resting his hands casually in his pockets he smirked at the sword he could now see strapped to the younger boy's back. It was comically large on him, not because of it's actual size, but because of the stature of his 'Guardian Angel'.
A Katana would look out of place on the back of any fourteen year old after all, but anyone that took this boy lightly because of his age and height would have been a fool.
"You're looking well Kyosuke-kun", Ryu smirked again when the boy trembled with barely suppressed rage, before calming himself enough to give Ryu the finger in response, "And as charming as ever I see".
"What do you want?", the purple haired boy spat as if he would need to brush afterward just for talking to Ryu.
Again, the blond boy was more than used to this attitude, he had experienced it in one form or another from everyone but his parents back home.
The blurred memory of a dream, two girls in the woods, crossed his mind but he ignored it.
"You really do need to learn to be more civil cousin", Ryu chided, his grin fading into an icy stare, "Who knows what trouble that tongue of yours might get you into".
Kyosuke took a step back; the anger in the air now tinged by fear…and a part of Ryu sickeningly loved every second of it.
Retaining his look while attempting to hold onto his lunch was difficult but manageable. He knew that Kyosuke was afraid of him just like the others on some level, and he needed to bring that to the surface if he had any hope of extracting the information he needed from the younger boy.
Still he was weary of how recent events had…stimulated a part of him that had been slumbering lately.
He just needed the information; he didn't need to give Kyosuke the excuse the other boy most likely craved to complete his mission, if it was what he thought it was, the hard way.
"I'm not scared of you", Kyosuke said, his voice only slightly wavering as the hatred surged back to the forefront of his conscious.
"There's a first time for everything I suppose", Ryu said somewhat wistfully, smirking in spite of himself as his companion took that for an insult directed at him.
"I have always despised you", the purple haired boy growled, tensing as if he wanted to attack.
"I don't care Kyosuke, all I want to know is what you are doing here…I doubt you came all this way just for me…or did you?", Ryu turned to regard the stars, giving the impression he wasn't actually interested in the answer.
"I'm not as dumb as you seem to think you know", Kyosuke relaxed a little, "But it's not exactly a secret. I was sent to bring you back after you vanished from the temple".
Ryu chuckled under his breath, "So you volunteered to track down the wayward son, how touching. Did you miss me that much Kyosuke?"
"Shut up!", the younger boy snapped, "It was Auntie who wanted you back, not me!".
He clasped his hands over his mouth, fearing he might have said to much.
"So this was Mother's request, which means the council doesn't know anything. Which I assume is why you are here and not her… Thank you for that Kyosuke-kun, that's most enlightening", he said looking at his trembling cousin out of the corner of one eye.
It also meant that Kyosuke was supposed to be an observer, or ranger. He should have been long gone after that fight he should have never intervened in, on his way to report Ryu's location.
"You're coming back with me even if I have to drag you back", Kyosuke said, one hand going to the hilt of his weapon, his tongue playing briefly across his lips, betraying his eagerness for a confrontation.
He was clearly hoping for the worst case scenario, as even at three years his junior, there was only one way Ryu could beat this boy, with or without a weapon.
"I doubt those were your orders Kyosuke-kun, and besides, we both know that no one would reward you for the damage incurred to the innocent even if you somehow won the encounter you desire", Ryu had to be careful with his words, pushed to far Kyosuke might react like the hot blooded young boy he was, but with enough subtle emphasis on certain points he should back down.
"Don't over estimate yourself. There's more than me would be all to happy to see you gone Ryuuya", the boy smiled darkly as he saw a flash of pain skirt Ryu's features, watching his eyes eagerly, hoping to see the ice melt…
"Do you think Mother would be amongst them?", he asked quietly, knowing he was skirting dangerous territory as he watched a war of emotions play across the younger boy's face, and not even entirely sure who he had been directing that question at.
Kyosuke or himself?
Reluctantly, by stages, the purple haired boy relented, releasing his grasp and relaxing his stance a little.
"Bastard", he hissed through clenched teeth.
Ryu offered a weak smile in return, resuming his star gazing, not speaking for a moment, "…So, what will you do cousin?"
Kyosuke spat, stuffing his hands in his pocket but never taking his hard gaze away from Ryu.
"I'm not going to tell anyone where you are if that's all you're worried about. This is the best chance I've ever had to be rid of you for good, so I'm not going to rat you out", Kyosuke grinned without humour in the darkness, showing his teeth, "Besides, it's fun to see you taken down a peg or two by these girls, and I can't wait to see what happens when you go up against the Urashima girl for real".
"Why would I make any move against Kanna?", he asked, forcing himself not to look at his cousin as he said that, keeping his voice smooth.
"Phftt! You happen to find a member of a family famous for guarding 'special' weapons, residing in the same building you must have come to in search of one in particular…", he let that hang in the air between them, frowning when Ryu didn't speak, "…and you're telling me you're not going to check if she knows anything? That doesn't seem like a very sound search procedure".
"Who says I'm looking for anything, perhaps I just needed a little time to clear my head", Ryu folded his arms and yawned as if the conversation were boring him.
"Your conscience you mean?", Kyosuke smirked when Ryu's eyes hardened a little before his usual impassive mask came back into place, "You're here because the Sword is supposed to be here, otherwise you wouldn't have come in disguise".
Ryu offered a sardonic bow, "Your powers of deduction are truly humbling cousin".
Kyosuke barked a short laugh, not rising to the bait this time, "I have no idea why you're after it, but I won't stop you".
Ryu quirked an eyebrow at this, "And why would that be?"
"Because", Kyosuke's face darkened, "When you do find it and I defeat you, I plan to take it before I drag you back. It will make my revenge all the sweeter".
"If you wait that long, you may no longer be able to defeat me", Ryu replied.
"Why? That Sword is dead, we've both heard about it since we were children, there's nothing to it but a legend now", Kyosuke spat, wondering if perhaps his cousin had finally gone mad. Why else would he chase after something that held no value beyond sentiment anymore? It certainly didn't hold the power to make things right again…
"I refuse to believe that", Ryu said in a voice his cousin had to strain to hear.
When his head came back up his eyes wide, almost manic, staring Kyosuke down with a fearsome intensity.
"If I let myself believe that then this has all been for nothing!", his shout took the purple haired boy by surprise, he had never heard Ryuuya shout before, about anything.
Kyosuke looked down, unable to bare the older boy's gaze any longer.
"You can't bring him back…", Kyosuke clenched his fist, forcing himself to look up again, "It won't help".
"I never planned to try", the purpled hair boy was confused. He had thought perhaps it was the spiritual powers of the blade Ryu was after, having concocted some mad plan to use them in some unholy fashion.
"Then…why?"
"I have to become stronger than this, if I hope to set right what I can…and I need that sword to do it", Ryu spot softly now, as if repeating a personal mantra.
Kyosuke was dumbstruck, even though he still couldn't understand what it was Ryuuya thought he could do with a dead spiritual weapon.
"Fine", he snorted, "Do what you want, I won't interfere".
Ryu looked at him, surprise and suspicion warring for dominance on his face.
"Don't get all mushy on me, I still hate you, but the stronger you are when I destroy you, the more fun it will be".
Ryu snorted a laugh, returning his attention once more to the stars, "Whatever".
"Ryu-ni-chan!", the silence was broken by a loud cry as something small fastened itself to his waste, almost barrelling him down the roof and onto the courtyard three floors below.
"Damn it Satomi! I told you to stay in the trees!", Kyosuke fumed as the small flame red haired girl clinging to Ryu's waist stuck her tongue out at him and pouted, hugging Ryu tighter, "Now get away from him!".
"Nu-uh!", she buried her face into his back, shaking her head so that her single waist knee length ponytail swung back and forth like the tail of an angry cat, "Ryu-ni-chan doesn't want me to, do you?"
"Do as your brother says before he looses another year's worth of growth, let go Satomi-chan", Satomi giggled at his quip and reluctantly let go, smiling as he patted her head to annoy Kyosuke.
While his male cousin might be a ball of resentment, Satomi didn't seem to have it in her to dislike anyone, him included, something he had always been thankful for, just as her amazing supply of energy made him glad his Aunt and Uncle didn't visit very often all the same.
"I thought I told you not to come up here, it could be…dangerous, "Kyosuke made sure Satomi noticed him looking at Ryu as he said that.
"Why? All I heard was shouting, and I'm used to seeing you argue with Ryu-ni-chan all the time from when we were all back home…ne, ne, ni-chan! Are you coming home now?", she asked excitedly, tugging on Ryu's arm in time with each syllable while Kyosuke dragged his hand roughly across his face.
"Not yet Satomi-chan", he told her, carefully removing his arm from her grasp and checking the range of motion on his shoulder while she grinned sheepishly for a moment before her almost pixy like energy returned, "I still have something to do".
"Does it have anything to do with those two pretty girls?", she asked, her innocent tone meaning he had to take a moment or two to catch onto what the eleven year old was talking about, "Me and Oni-chan saw you kissing one of them… does that mean she's your girlfriend?".
Kyosuke smirked at his sister's question, expecting it to fluster his cousin, until he saw Ryu's sad look.
"No Satomi-chan, I…it's complicated, lets leave it at that", he said, visibly closing down his face as he killed the emotion causing it.
Kyosuke felt uncomfortable, just as he did every time he saw Ryu do that. He might know the reasons behind it, but it still creped him out, and he still didn't believe it was a good idea to start with.
"Is that why you went after the other girl when she started crying?", Satomi asked, seemingly oblivious to the effects of her questions, "But that blue haired girl, she was crying as well…".
"Oi, come on shrimp, we're leaving", Kyosuke called gruffly, ignoring Ryu's appreciative nod as Satomi pouted before running back to his side.
"Bye, bye Ryu-ni-chan!", she called, waving enthusiastically as Ryu turned to leave, waving over his shoulder briefly.
"Ryu…", Kyosuke's voice was pitched low, as for only Ryu to hear, "Remember this doesn't change anything…… Uncle should have killed you when he had the chance".
Ryu had a flash; a young boy weeping into his blood covered robes while a pair of glowing reds eyes laughed in the darkness around him.
"…", he glanced back at the now empty spot where Kyosuke and Satomi had been standing, "…Yeah…I know…".
Ayu turned this way and that in an attempt to get to sleep, but conscious dogged her every effort with memories.
Memories of her first kiss…followed by that person leaving her without a second thought to chase after another girl, more worried about how she might feel than what it would do to Ayu.
The tears she had hoped had finally stopped started up again, still in perfect silence.
She hadn't been able to bring herself to speak to anyone yet. She feared that if she tried to, she would think about Ryu, or catch sight of Kanna and breakdown unable to stop the flow.
Ayu curled up tighter under the covers of her futon.
Ryu had kissed her. Not Kanna, not Yui, or Mizuki or any of the other girls, but her.
That was supposed to mean something wasn't it?
She understood that she would probably have reacted just like Kanna if she had seen them kissing, so Ryu had only done what she might have hoped he would do if her and her friend's roles had been reversed.
If that was so, why did it hurt so much?
No…I can't just stay like this, she told herself, thinking back on all her mother had told her growing up, If there is something I love, I can't just give up before I've even started.
Drying her tears, Ayu made a promise to herself.
In the morning, she would find Ryu, and she would talk to him about this, and she would accept the answer no matter what rather than letting herself hide.
Feeling a little better, Ayu drifted into a light slumber as the first drops of rain hit her window.
She couldn't have known it, but a cleansing was coming, now all she and Ryu had to do was try not to be swept away in the tide.
Shivering in the sudden cold, Ryu made his way back down onto the laundry annex as the first drops, struck his head, tracing down the contours of his skull and along his jaw.
He glanced skyward at the gathering clouds, dark and heavy with rain.
He shivered for a moment, unsure of what had caused him to do so as he ducked into shelter, glaring back out defiantly at the mounting rain.
It wasn't really that late, midnight hadn't even passed and yet for the clouds all he could see was darkness.
Everything has become clouded. Meanings hidden were all was clear…so what now?, he toyed absently with the radio in his pocket, deciding against turning it on as he made his way to the stairs.
The halfway point.
He realised as he reached the landing between the second and first floors. He was exactly halfway between Ayu and Kanna's rooms, and only now had he realised it, while he was still dwelling on how to resolve all of these new issues as well as the old…
So here was the big question: which girl did he go to first?
He could think of a dozen arguments for each case but none of them were objective or logical.
From a detached viewpoint, the choice was obvious, as much as part of him, a surprisingly vocal part, didn't like it.
Turning on his heel he headed straight for Kanna's room.
I'm sorry Ayu-chan…
Kanna was still awake when she heard the knock at her door.
She had been sitting awake ever since she had heard Ryu walk past her door on the way to wherever he had been going at this time of night.
Ever since coming back, things had been different.
Ayu wasn't talking to anyone; Ryu had become so distant he might as well have not been living there anymore…
Even Yui and Mizuki seemed subdued and this of course affected Chii, who attempted to cheer up her cousin by having Chiho play with her.
That certainly got Yui moving again, but not in the right way.
Ema and Natsuki were concerned of course, but they knew they could best help by staying out of the younger residents' way for the time being.
Things were spiralling out of control and she had no idea why.
When there was a tapping at her door, she called for whomever it was to come in purely on automatic, giving thought neither to the time, nor the identity of the visitor.
The door slide aside and closed gain without her looking up from where she had her head rested on the room's desk, and her visitor set themselves down opposite her without being acknowledged.
"Kanna", the voice startled her out of her depression, snapping her head up to where Ryu's form was outlined in the darkness.
Old instincts told her she should be scared that a boy had come into her room in the middle of the night, and she couldn't see exactly where he was or what he was doing, but she actually felt a little relieved.
Happy even, that he had purposely sort her out, after…well, everything.
She felt ashamed for wondering if he had come to her before Ayu.
"Ryu", she responded in turn, her tone oddly subdued.
"Kanna, I… I want to know something… this might sound…odd", he shifted in the dark, resting his elbows on her table.
"What?", her breathing had picked up in time with her heartbeat. She suddenly wanted to turn the light on so that she could see his face… his eyes.
The memory of what she had seen that night during the fight surfaced, holding her to the spot.
On second thoughts, perhaps it was for the best that she couldn't see, but the shadows no longer seemed so harmless.
"You…", he paused as if trying to find the right wording.
"Yes", she encouraged, not knowing what he might be thinking but eager for him to voice his thoughts whatever they may be.
"You are…"
"Yes?"
"An Urashima, correct?", Kanna almost face planted onto the table, unaware that she had been leaning on it heavily.
"Of course! What kind of stupid question is that!", she shouted, not caring who she might wake up in the process.
"… Indulge me", he said.
Kanna frowned at the strange, almost pleading tone Ryu had adopted, answering slowly.
"Yeah, my father is Keitaro Urashima and my mother is Naru Urashima, formerly Naru Narusegawa, there, happy now?", she folded her arms. Honestly, of all the conversations he could have started, or the things he could have said, he was quizzing her about her name?
Ryu nodded slowly, "I had hoped so… Tell me, was your family given something to look after recently… an heirloom of sorts".
Kanna frowned, standing and walking over to her closet.
"Kanna? What are you-"
"You mean this old thing?", she asked, taking out a long rectangular box and depositing on the table between them, "My dad mailed this here after I moved, asked me to keep an eye on it well him and mom did the second honeymoon thing".
"…Do you know what's in it?", Ryu's light headed feeling told him all he needed to know about the contents of the box, even before Kanna told him she had never bothered to open it.
"I wonder", he said, straining to keep his voice level as every fibre of him screamed at him to take the box and run.
He had never felt so driven to do something before, his throat was dry, his eyes ached and his hands itched.
He was sweating for some reason too.
A fever?, he managed to think around the growing buzz in his mind, Why now? I didn't… what…what is happening to me?
"Open the box Kanna", his sounded odd even to him, and stranger still, he couldn't remember if he had been planning to say anything before he had spoken.
No, something is very, very wrong…I need to get out of here…
"Why? It's probably just some old artefact of my dad's", she was curious as to the sudden intensity in his voice, and troubled by the way his silhouette swayed and bobbed in the darkness.
Ryu rubbed at his eyes, it felt like they were burning; yet he couldn't take them off the box.
Leave, he commanded himself, panicking when his body refused to obey.
No, the case, I must…, thinking was becoming harder, like wading through treacle, I, have to…No! Not now, not when I'm so close.
His trembling, sweaty hand stretched out, clasping the lid of the box.
"Ryu, I don't think we should be messing with this", Kanna said, shocked to feel how badly he was shaking. Like a drug addict deprived of a fix.
What the hell is happening to him?
"I just want to take a look, there's no harm in that", the smooth, almost charming nature of Ryu's voice set off alarm bells ringing in her head. It was completely at odds with how he was acting at the moment.
"Maybe another time", she said trying to pull the container away from him only to find his grip on it too strong.
"I think not", he smiled a flash of lightning illuminating his face and the razor like grin she had never seen him do before. It scared her.
Was this really Ryu?
Inside his own mind, Ryu could do nothing as he watched himself bat away Kanna's hand and flip open the box, gorging his eyes on the sight within.
Scabbard and pommel decorated in an ageless snake skin, a small gold chain gracing the scabbard, there was only one sword this could conceivably be under these circumstances.
Ryu felt his confusion evaporate like dew in the early morning sun as he reached for this weapon, this birth right.
He had succeeded at long last, he had found what he had been seeking in one form or another since he was a boy.
The Sword of Two Souls.
Kanna's hand moved quicker, flashing out and taking the blade before he could close his fingers around it.
With a wordless growl forming low in the back of his throat, Ryu glared at her as she back across the room, holding the ancient weapon in front of her chest, eying him wearily.
"Kanna", once more his voice was contrary to his mien, "What are you doing?".
She edged around the table as he tried to move closer, "My father asked me to keep an eye on this, and something tells me letting you have it wouldn't be a good idea…".
Something about the way he was acting was urging every fibre of her being to run, and she usually trusted her feelings on most matters.
"Don't be silly", he said, his voice suave even as she could see the sweat beading on his brow every time a flash of lightning illuminated the room, "…Just let me take a look and we'll pack it away, no harm done".
Ryu swiped at his eyes again. They were itching maddeningly and he still wasn't entirely sure if what he was saying was actually coming from him or somewhere else, but it was starting to feel more and more natural, and that frightened him.
Kanna didn't answer, just stared back, clutching the sword tighter defiantly.
Moving snake like, he found himself lunging over the table separating them. He reached for her but Kanna skirted him, dodging along the edge of the room to keep out of his grasp.
"What the hell is wrong with you!", she shouted.
Ryu didn't respond, he was too busy knuckling his eyes.
Something made a popping sound and Ryu hissed a sigh if relief, turning a cool look upon Kanna that froze her on the spot.
His eyes. They were the same thing she had seen that night when they were attacked.
Sea grey with flecks of burning crimson.
When he spoke again, his voice was strained, more like the voice she was used to hearing, but as if he were fighting for every word.
"Kanna…run…", she watched in horror as the redness seemed to spread, growing and joining as it blotted out all traces of grey, his pose becoming markedly more relaxed as this strange transformation continued.
The door flew open to reveal a very sleepy and blurry-eyed Yui standing in the doorway, a look of irritation plastered over her exotic features.
"Oi! Will you two keep it down with the foreplay! Some of us are trying to sleep!", when nobody in the room answered her she frowned, "Hey, is everything ok in here?".
"Just fine", Ryu answered, his voice seeming to echo about the room oddly, as he turned to face her.
He smiled as Yui took a step back as his newly glowing eyes bored into her previously irate emerald gaze and held it.
"Leave us", he commanded.
Seeing her chance, Kanna moved, heading straight for the hole in her floor that connected to Ema's room.
A spine-chilling laugh followed her as she tossed the board aside and dropped down to the next floor, barely avoiding landing on the slumbering manager.
She flung her the door aside, skidding for a moment on well-waxed floors as she tried to orientate herself toward the stairs, but regaining her feet quickly enough.
She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but it was clear that there was something very wrong with Ryu. It was as if something else was talking through him, and whatever it was, it really wanted this sword for some reason.
Kanna had no intention of letting the thing puppeting Ryu have it however. She had to lead it away from the house, somewhere where she could figure out what to do.
Damn it, why were there never any Special Arts Masters around when they were actually needed?
As she took the stairs down two at a time, vaulting over the lower landing and dashing through the front room without stopping to put on a pair of outdoor shoes, Kanna tried to remember if there was a temple or something of that ilk nearby.
Kanna fumbled with the lock for a moment, casting nervous glances back over her shoulder and almost shouting with joy when a soft click announced her way out was clear.
Hauling the barrier aside, Kanna stepped out into the storm…
"Ugh!", her feet found themselves kicking at air as a vice like grip secured itself around her throat, lifting her effortlessly into the air.
She tired to pry it loose with no success, being forced to use her strength to support herself so that she wasn't dangling in Ryu's grasp.
"That was quite rude", he drawled, his voice distorting strangely yet remaining perfectly clear over the sounds of the storm.
With a negligent toss, he hurled Kanna across the courtyard, the rain slicked dirt giving softly under her weight, absorbing some of the shock and allowing her to skid to a halt on her side.
Cracking the knuckles of fingers that seemed somehow longer, he advanced as she struggled to find air for her lungs again, making it to her knees by the time he had covered half the distance.
"Stay back!", she spat, gaining her feet at last, "Whatever you are, leave Ryu alone!".
The thing wearing Ryu like a suit smiled, pulling Ryu's facial muscles in ways they were never indented to be used.
"Ryu? Ah yes, the name given to this body before my awakening", it nodded Ryu's head as if remembering something distant.
It looked down at Ryu's body, flexing muscles and stretching languidly, "Yes, this is much better, my impatient was ill advised last time. This form could not support me well enough to complete my objective… luckily the fool has been searching for me while I refined my technique".
"Don't talk about Ryu like that!", the thing turned its attention back to Kanna after lazily cracking some of its new body's higher vertebra.
Kanna was trembling lightly as the cold rain lashed at her ineffective clothing, causing her dark hair to cling to her face and head.
She had felt her rage growing as this thing continued to talk about and belittle Ryu as if he were nothing of consequence, merely a temporary custodian to his own body.
Her hand found the pommel of the sword unconsciously as memories of her suddenly all to brief time with Ryu ran through her mind.
Happy times mixed with sad, a maelstrom of confused feelings that had slowly become clearer over time, expanding upon the sensation she had felt when they first met, something she had privately begun to wonder if he had felt as well.
She recalled all the times she had argued with him, as well as all the tender moments they had shared. The castle tower, the Ferris Wheel, private moments in the halls outside of class, or that small rarely shown smiled he had given her after watching her run for the first time.
Him holding her when she thought she had lost Chii, reluctant and unsure, but not disdainfully…
…Him coming after her when she had found him kissing Ayu…
"Why do you care?", it asked, smirking as if something amusing had just occurred to it, "Are you this body's mate little female?"
"Shut up!", she bellowed back, flushing even as she glowered at the creatures chuckles, "Ryu is my friend…a stuck up, irritating, stubborn, annoying jerk!…But a friend…So shut up and give him back!".
"You are very loud little one…too loud…Do not tempt my ire human, give me what I seek and I may return this body to you as reward…besides, you should know that this boy does not feel for you", it flashed its teeth as Kanna jerked involuntarily, "His thoughts are all about the tiny blue haired female who knows his secret fear".
It could have been the rain, or perhaps a tear that flowed down Kanna's face in wake of this monstrosities pronouncement, but not even she could be sure.
"Give me the sword, and I will command this body to obey your wishes…I will even dispose of the other female if you wish…", it smiled, sure it had won.
Soon it would have the sword, and it could complete what it had set into motion all those years ago.
"Shut up…"
"What?", he asked, anger vying with surprise across his features for a moment before he could calm his response.
Kanna's head came up; her eyes gleaming with unshed tears.
"Just shut up… I will never do anything that would hurt the people I care about, even if it means… even if it means that someone else gets Ryu's Kokoro in the end", she tightened her grip on the pommel. As much as it had hurt to be told point blank that she was not the one Ryu had chosen, she still had to save him… for Ayu.
Besides, there was always the chance that this creature was lying to her, and she would cling to that hope, slim as it was until proven otherwise.
"Foolish girl, what do you think you can do to stop me?", he began to stalk toward her angrily, the rain seeming to hiss as it struck him, blond hair that had been clinging to his head limply beginning to stir and writhe unnaturally.
Kanna swallowed hard as a sense of wrongness invaded her mind, threatening to paralyse her if she didn't move swiftly.
Making sure her grip was firm once more and securing the scabbard against her side with the other hand, Kanna hauled on the pommel with all her might… and gasped.
The sword remain grounded firmly in it sheath as if she had never tried to disturb it.
What's going on? Is it rusted so much its been sealed?, Kanna thought, trying again with the same results.
Why would this thing go to all this trouble to for a rusted old blade?
"Sealed…that means the enchantment on the scabbard at least still holds. I'm happy to see the rumours of the weapon being dead were untrue", he resumed a leisurely pace toward his target as she struggled against the ancient seal with brute strength alone without success.
Things would have been most troublesome had he discovered some of the things his host had been told were true.
"I tire of this, I'll shall enjoy killing you for your defiance".
Kanna looked up at him, wide eyed with terror.
"Eat this! Fire Chii-chan!", came a yell from behind him.
The creature turned with an annoyed sigh that sounded like a mountain crumbling, catching sight of the tanned woman from earlier, and a small girl, close enough in looks to have been mistaken for a younger sister.
The smaller of the pair was holding a large tube like device on one shoulder, a small circular protrusion on the device covering on of her eyes.
"Firing", she said in a monotone voice, pulling the trigger on the handle she held.
Smoke and fire issue forth from the front and rear of the weapon and something rocketed across the distance toward him, a large steel mesh net that sparked dangerously with electricity as it sailed the distance faster than a human eye would have been able to follow.
The creature watched this all in slow motion, yawing disinterestedly as the taller of the two newcomers began to cheer expectantly.
With an almost dismissive wave of his hand and the slightest application of Ki, the net crumbled in several key locations, falling apart and crashing at his feet even as time seemed to return to normal.
"Yeah! We- What!", Yui shouted in disbelief as the thing that looked like Ryu smiled coldly at her and Chii.
"Perhaps now that that little distraction is taken care of,", he intoned, ignoring the loud yapping that came from somewhere inside the human domicile, preparing to turn back to Kanna, "we might-"
His sentence was cut off as the Sword of Two Souls, blade, scabbard and all, impacted his skull with terrifying force, hurtling him across the courtyard and into the mud before he could right himself fully.
He turned a baleful glare on the young female who had dared to strike him as Kanna panted heavily, her wrists aching. It had been like hitting concrete rather than a person.
"Leave…them alone…and…get out…of Ryu!", she demanded, refusing to back down to his glowing gaze.
"You try my patience. You will all die for this insolence!", before Kanna could so much as blink he had crossed the distance between them, his figure a blur as he moved, one hand cocked back, his fingers hooked like claws.
"Kanna!", Yui and Chii cried at once as Kanna threw up her hands in an instinctive defence.
"Ryyyyyyyyyyyyu!".
Kanna peeked over her arms when a voice she had never heard before screamed Ryu's name, trying to make sense of what she saw as a young boy with shocks of purple hair seemed to blur into existence above Ryu, an oversized katana griped confidently over his head as he descended with a cry of pure hate.
Ryu moved, bending inhumanly as he rolled aside in time to avoid having his skull cleaved in two, growling as he turned to face this new opponent as the boy retrieved his half buried blade from the sodden earth with a fierce tug that rained mud everywhere.
He held the his blade low, letting the tip rest in the earth, as though the sword were too heavy for him to hold normally.
"So that's what the whole thing on the roof was about huh? Trying to make me lower my guard so I wouldn't interfere when you finally let the real you out huh Ryuuya", the new boy said with a smile that promised violence in the near future, "Well that's fine by me. I always wanted a chance to see you in action".
Kanna was utterly bewildered by this purple haired boy's claims, but she knew she had to stop him. It was clear he planned to kill Ryu. He didn't seem to know that Ryu had been possessed by this monster.
"Satomi!", he barked, "Take her away from here, I'll deal with this".
Who is he talking to?, Kanna thought, almost screaming when the air near her suddenly distorted, blurring into the form of a young girl, probably only about Chii's age with long red hair.
"Hai oni-chan!", she shouted back to him, taking Kanna's free hand in her own and tugging urgently, "Come on onee-chan, oni-chan will help Ryu-ni-chan".
Kanna was overwhelmed, and offered no resistance was the small girl guided her back in the direction of the house, Ryu's fiery gaze never leaving her.
There was too much to try and understand at once.
"Oni-chan! Don't hurt Ryu-ni-chan or I'll never forgive you!", the girl identified as Satomi shouted, earning a brief look of annoyance from the other youth but no other response one way or the other.
"Kanna!", Yui hugged her shaking and dazed friend when she was close enough, Satomi standing back a respectful distance and half watching her brother and Ryu with her hands clasped coyly behind her back.
The door behind them slid open and Mizuki, Natsuki and Ayu stepped out into the rain, coats secured around their pyjamas, stopping for a moment to try and make sense of what they were seeing.
"Kanna-chan?", Ayu asked, walking over to her friend, "What are you- Ryu!".
She ran past her friends, spotting Ryu facing off against a young boy she had never seen before with a sword, himself unarmed.
Her way was barred by a redheaded girl, equally new to her, who stood with her small arms outstretched and her childish face set with a stern expression.
"Oni-chan told me to keep everyone here so no one gets hurt. He's going to help Ryu-ni-chan", Satomi told her firmly.
"Help! He's attacking him!", Ayu shouted, her panic cresting.
"Listen to her", Kanna's strangely subdued voice caught Ayu's attention, drawing everyone's gaze to her as she pushed away from Yui, "There's something wrong with Ryu… something…I don't know, but he's not himself right now".
"Yeah, it's a long story, but Oni-chan knows what to do", Satomi piped up reassuringly seeing the bewildered expressions of the others, "He might not look it, but he's very smart, and very strong".
"What are you talking about? Who are you?", Ayu asked, trying once more, unsuccessfully, to bypass the smaller girl.
"We're Ryu-ni-chan's family of course", she answered as if it should have been obvious and that's when Kanna noticed it. In the light coming from the house, she could see the girl's eyes. Grey, like the colour of the sea on a cold day.
"Family?", Ayu asked. What kind of family attacked each other?
"Ready to die?", Kyosuke asked with a feral grin, falling in toward his centre and drawing upon the pulsing energy waiting there for his command.
"You're very amusing human. Do you really believe childish enthusiasm and a few sloppy techniques passed down amongst your defunct bloodline will help you, or this boy, at all?", the creature taunted, crimson eyes holding nothing but contempt.
"It was my family that defeated you last time, I'm just continuing the tradition", the purple haired boy smirked, "And if I have to hurt Ryu to beat you…well, that's just a bonus".
He tensed as the demon laughed, a hollow, unnatural sound that made him want to vomit.
"Humans… you really are an amusing race. You hold grudges against your kin, and rush to harm one another far to easily"
Kyosuke sneered, "I don't need to be lectured by a thing like you".
"What's wrong child? Still upset that this body received more attention from the man you admired than the boy everyone else acknowledged as a genius, even his self-absorbed father?", the thing barked a laugh, "How wonderfully tragic".
"That's enough out of you!", Kyosuke charged, the blade it looked like he couldn't move whipping up with blinding speed, whistling as it cut the air before him as it traced an arcing path up towards Ryu's face.
Ryu stepped back, grinning superiorly, opening his mouth to comment as Kyosuke suddenly scythed the blade around his head, aiming for his opponent's neck.
Moving faster than humanly possible to follow, Ryu dodged backward, taking to the air and landing several hundred feet away.
Kyosuke pivoted on one foot, allowing his momentum to carry him around as he bisected the air in front of him with a savage diagonal cut, gathering Ki and releasing it as he struck.
"Serpent's Strike!", the purple haired boy cried, the residents gapping as a snake like wave of energy roared toward Ryu, its maw opening as it streaked across the distance.
Ryu glared, racking his hand in front of him, the summoned serpent vanishing as if tore asunder by invisible claws.
"What the hell was that?", Yui asked Satomi as the little girl jumped and cheered.
Chii took something out of her pyjama pocket and waved it about in front of her, frowning at the blank displays.
"Oni-chan is just warming up", she assured the older woman, misunderstanding the question, "He's just testing how much power is currently being channelled through Ryu-ni-chan".
"Oh, right, of course, how stupid of me", Yui fired back deadpan as she watched Kyosuke repeat his trick three times in rapid succession, each attack blocked the same way.
"What is happening to him?", Ayu asked nervously.
"Hmmm? Oh…", Satomi shuffled her feet in the mud, frowning to herself, "Ryu-ni-chan has a…condition. It's hard to explain without telling you everything I know. Just trust us, we were asked to keep an eye on him in case something like this happened".
Kyosuke vanished in a blur, reappearing behind Ryu in a flash, whipping his blade around only to have it stopped as Ryu batted it aside with his bare hand, disappearing again before the older man could strike back, reappearing around him in a seemingly random pattern in his relentless assault.
Ryu spun striking the air just as Kyosuke phased back into existence, grinning wildly as the purple haired boy let out a startled cry as the air was forced from his lungs and his body was catapulted backward, landing with a dull splash in the midst of a growing puddle.
"Was that it human?", the demon asked as Kyosuke dragged himself back to his feet, "Your hero put up a much better fight".
"I haven't even started yet", Kyosuke wheezed, reaching up to pull his head band down over his eyes.
The creature inhabiting Ryu frowned, "Don't insult me boy, what do you think you can do blinded as you are now?".
The purple haired boy ignored him, falling deeper into himself, bathing himself in the life force that sustained him.
"We'll see…", slowly, from his new position, he opened his eyes, "Dance of the Unseen Winds".
"What is he doing?", Kanna asked.
Satomi smiled to herself, her face reflecting a deep sense of pride combined with awe, "The technique our father spent all of his teen years developing and mastering, something Oni-chan perfected when he was twelve: The Dance of the Unseen Winds. This is why everyone knows my brother is a true genius".
He voice turned more serious, tinged by sadness.
"Everyone expect the one person he really wanted recognition from, the man Oni-chan most admired… one of the only people who ever saw the good in Ryu-ni-chan…".
Yui's face scrunched up, "Why am I suddenly not comfortable with the idea of a boy with a grudge against Ryu-kun, 'helping' him with a sharp weapon".
Satomi smiled weakly, but her voice was solemn, "Ryu-ni-chan is a lot more dangerous than Oni-chan right now, but he'll come out of this… I hope".
Remembering his eyes, Kanna couldn't help but agree with the younger girl.
"Ryu…", Ayu whispered, Natsuki laying a comforting hand on the small girl's shoulder.
Unheeding of their audience, Kyosuke and Ryu fought on.
The demon snarled as his opponent's speed suddenly exploded, the small boy ducking and weaving, his weapon a blur of continuous movement.
Kyosuke pivoted on one foot, swing backhand in a decapitating stroke that Ryu ducked under, scything his foot at the smaller boy's legs.
The purple haired boy leapt above the attack, clearing Ryu's head and slashing downward as he inverted.
When he missed, Kyosuke landed lighter than a feather, driving in at Ryu as soon as his feet found purchase, his blade thrusting toward the blonde's chest.
His hands flashed in, catching the sword with his bare palms, hissing as the sharpened steel bit into his hands.
The blade was brought to a grating halt as Kyosuke through all of his Ki enhanced muscle behind the thrust, only to have it stopped by the impossible strength granted his adversary.
Forced to draw on reservoirs of power it hadn't planned on using, the creature snarled angrily, its pulsating, dark power arcing from Ryu's body before grounding explosively. Its eyes seemed to glow more intensely than before, Ryu's hair streaked with silver as the colour seemed to bleed from his scalp.
"What's…wrong?", Kyosuke forced a grin onto his face, "Didn't expect to have to actually use any of your power, did you? Tell me…how long can you keep this up before you have to return to how you were before?".
The creature let loose a wordless roar, and Kyosuke was knocked back as a wave of unseen force hurled him back like a solid blow to the gut from a stone fist.
"Don't flatter yourself. I have more than enough strength left to destroy you and the blade's feeble guardian", dark power oozed from Ryu's form, dripping and hissing, melting holes in the ground as it fell.
Ryu lowered himself, his hands hooked and claw like, all trace of colour completely bleached from his hair, now pure silver.
"Was it something I said?", Kyosuke asked with a sneer, setting his own guard, still seeing the world as few before him ever had, centring on the ugly, bruise like mass that circled the pale blue aura of a normal human before him, "Lets really let it all hang out, what do you say?"
By way of response, the creatures aura flared and it charged him, its Ki flowing along the fingers of its stolen form, creating ghost like claws of spiritual power that it pitted against his blade.
Channelling power along the hidden grooves and pathways within the weapon, Kyosuke blocked the strike, his new sight telling him the best path to take to allow the force of the rebound to guide his sword to its target with the maximum amount of speed and force.
Ryu hissed as he blocked the strike, crossing his hands and catching another between his Ki wreathed hands as the purple haired youth arched his back, striking over head behind himself, aiming to split Ryu's crown in two.
Releasing the blade, Kyosuke enhanced his physical strength and speed, a blur as he drove his elbow into Ryu's solar plexus, smiling as he heard a gasp and felt something snap.
Reaching up, he tugged his weapon free of Ryu's limp grasp, whipping it down and around, confident he was about to cut through the face that had always lingered in front of his uncle's eyes, blinding him to his own achievements, and the wisdom of his peers.
He felt a sharp pain in his wrist and his weapon was jarred loose, landing with a clatter several meters away.
Ryu ceased him by the front of the shirt, pulling him forward and hammering his stomach with an blow that sent all feeling in his lower body fleeing in an instant, followed by another that crack several ribs.
Kyosuke cried out in pain, blood spurting from his mouth even as he heard Satomi shout something at him.
"You see human, none of your ilk can defeat one such as I. Even your predecessor only slowed me for a time, your Clan has failed to rectify the mistakes they vowed to correct time and time again. One of you freed me, one of you failed to destroy me, another failed to contain me even after he promised himself he would, leading me to my goal in his delusions, and now you…", he leaned closer, "And now you are about to fail to stop me achieving my goal because you are more concerned about your petty revenge, because you didn't get the acknowledgement of your pathetic abilities you desired…anything you wish to say before you die?"
Kyosuke coughed loudly, grinning as blood trickled steadily down his chin.
"Yes actually", his fist, hanging limp at his side began to glow with an eerie green light, "I guess you really aren't Ryuuya, you talk too much".
The demon sensed something, a building of Ki, it's crimson eyes flicking down and widening at what it saw.
"That's not possible, you have no blade"
"Heh, not all of us are a limited as others, genius beats raw strength any day", he smirked as Ryu reached back, a claw of throbbing crimson energy congealing around his hand even as time seemed to slow.
"I did it…I activated both pathways at once, just like Father said I could…see you in hell Ryu", Kyosuke smiled at the almost still image of his sister, her face moving slowly into a look of horror as she tried to call out to him, the other girls around her shouting out their own entreaties or just staring at what it appeared to them was about to happen.
The purple haired boy was saddened that this fight was going to end like this. He had foreseen a glorious battle in which the full extent of his skills was showcased.
At least he knew he would complete the mission given to him, and if Ryu survived this he could rest in the knowledge it would plague his rival's conscience for the rest of his life.
He turned back to Ryu, frowning as an unidentifiable expression passed across Ryu's face, his head beginning to turn even as the claw descended.
"Why did Uncle die for you?", Kyosuke asked, finally able to ask something he had waited for years to get off his mind, knowing there was no way Ryu could hear him, let alone answer, "Bladeless Technique: Serpent's Palm".
Kyosuke's hand opened, his arm rearing back and thrusting back toward Ryu with all the strength he could muster.
The world returned to normal, time resuming its customary flow.
Blood sprayed from the purple haired boy's mouth as Ryu's attack pierced his flesh at the same moment his hand hit his rival's chest.
Kyosuke saw his Uncle's lopsided smile as he patted him on the head before turning away, walking back toward his beautiful, raven haired aunt, and the boy who stood next to her, his face devoid of any trace of humanity.
Ryu felt as if he were falling, hurtling toward something as a pair of crimson eyes glowered at him in the darkness.
The world was torn away in a devastating flash of brilliant white light…
---Author's Note---
Long time since my last update I know, but things have been hectic, and it's only going to get worse, so don't be surprised if I vanish for a while.
Ok, chapter discussion. The last of the family issues should be obvious now if they're not already, but I'm still going to overtly state things in the last chapter…yeah, you read right, last chapter is the next one.
Chapter 12: Honesty; In the fallout of Ryu and Kyosuke's battle, the girls learn about Ryu's darkest secret and Ryu disappears. How will they react to his troubled past? Can the fragile bonds between him and two of our favourite residents survive the onslaught? And what has happened to Kanna?
All this and more, coming soon.
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell