xuri: xP ... Bleh, this chapter is messed up. I had to edit and eliminate certain parts because of changes I made to earlier chapters, so little bits of this part are a bit confusing. Oh well. The end leads up to a major turning point - the next chapter will open the way for the three-chapter finale. After the giant oneshot, of course. ;3
Also - yaay! I finished the character drawings. ;D They will definitely be up on my profile by the time the next chapter comes out. Which is pretty darn perfect, since that's the only point where there are no more spoilers in terms of character and character identity. Whoot.
atemswhitetigermew: Yay, thank you x3 It's always cool to see people who've read this on 4kids reading this. It's probably a lot easier to keep track of, too. Whee. Thanks for the review.
SamKo: Haha, told you it wasn't the way you thought... xD And yeah, Marzipan is much lubbed. -adds her name to the 'Ryou's Harem' list- So many questions, so little time... Or.. so much time. We still have five chapters to go. x3 Whoot. ;3
--
Blend (chapter twenty-one)
..healers and heroes..
"You next."
"Eh?" Ichigo looked at Ryou and frowned. "I'm perfectly fine, in case you haven't noticed. They're the ones who need care. You should be attending to them."
Sighing in frustration, Ryou stepped forward, and grabbed Ichigo firmly on the arm. The cat girl winced. "H-hey!" Ignoring her protest, the blond loosened his hold a bit, and held her arm out so she could see the huge gash along her shoulder blade and upper arm where the acid had spilled.
"You call this 'perfectly fine'?" He growled.
She snatched her arm away. "It's nothing compared to the others. Kikyo and Brooke especially... they..."
The redhead paused and turned to look at her friends, who were all laid on improvised futons set across the cafe floor. Keiichiro sat by the door with a worried look, the large 'sorry, we're closed' sign propped up against the window beside him. The blinds were drawn. The windows were locked. It was dark, but there were lights Ryou and him had allowed to be kept on.
Ichigo looked over her friends with worry, and was distracted for a moment before she felt a rough shove on the back. "Wuah!" Unable to catch her balance quickly enough, she hit the mushy futon on the floor, as Ryou bent over to pin her down. Glaring up at him, she struggled. "You sicko! Get off me!"
"Do you honestly think I would try something when Keiichiro's right there?" He muttered calmly, trying to unravel bandages and open up a packet of anisthetic with one hand while keeping Ichigo down with the other.
"This is sexual harrassment! Rape! Get off!" She cried angrily, trying to kick him. Ryou simply sighed and shifted out of her reach.
"I'll wrestle you if I have to," he warned, and then pressed a cloth soaked with alcohol and water against her arm wound. She winced in pain, but finally calmed down as he loosened his hold and finished cleaning her wounds, bandaging them up tightly. When he was finished, Ichigo sat up, trying to loosen the tie.
"You're cutting off my circulation," she muttered, and looked up at he stood to his feet.
"The others, they're in no condition to be going out," his blue eyes drifted to the unconsious girls asleep on the floor, "They'll heal soon enough, but they need to be resting for a long time. Are you sure you won't stay as well?" Ichigo blinked as he looked down at her sadly. "You'll be alone if the aliens come, you know. You'll have to be more cautious than usual..."
Ichigo looked genuinely worried for a moment, but let it disapear from her face as she just looked haughty. "Pfft. I don't see how that's possible. I already can't leave the Cafe or my house without constantly having an escort."
"Well, last night, when your 'escort'," he said, referring to himself, "left, you got attacked, didn't you?"
Ichigo blinked. She was silent.
"Didn't you?"
Sighing in defeat, she slumped over. "Yes," she muttered, "but that's not the point. How can I just stay around here? I have to be able to protect them. I'd never forgive myself if anything more happened to Kona and the others..."
Ryou's eyes softened, and he glanced over at the others. "...I already can't forgive myself, for all the things I've put you and the others through," he said quietly, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I don't think I could ever make amends at all if anything more serious happened. You're not the only one trying to protect them, Ichigo." His eyes shifted over to her, "And I'm just trying to protect you, too."
Ichigo was silent. Then, sighing, she stood to her feet, offering Ryou a half smile. "Look, I'm fine, alright? I'd just be wasting time if I stayed resting all day. If the aliens attack, I won't let them get to the others. You and Akasaka-san look after them here, 'kay?"
She couldn't read his face. Ryou just stood there for a moment, as if calculating, before he allowed his shoulders to slump while he turned around and pulled out a chair for himself. "Just... be careful, okay?" He mumbled, glancing warily over his shoulder at her. "I don't want you coming in here covered in blood. Watch out for yourself."
Ichigo smiled softly. Straightening out her skirt, she stepped past him, and paused before opening the door. "I will," she said with a firm nod.
"I promise."
--
"I don't believe this. I do not frickin' believe this!"
Instead of her usual, yelling tone, Ari's voice was weak and raspy. Like she was all yelled out for the day. Her eye was twitching, though, and her arms seemed unnaturally tensed as she stood in the doorway of the apartment, glaring hard into the room.
Hanajima had waited for her to move patiently, and with a light sigh went ahead and shoved past the blue haired alien, flipping the switch so dim light filled the wreck-of-a-room. Ari didn't even respond. She seemed stunned, angry, and ready to explode, all at once. Hanajima ignored the ticking time bomb and walked casually into the room, taking her usual spot on the old recliner in the corner. Once she'd settled there and leaned her head back in relaxation, she opened a relaxed eye.
"Welcome back, Marzipan."
Hearing confirmation that the purple haired alien was, indeed, sitting there in the middle of a room, on a stool with a twisted leg, her hands folded in her lap like nothing had changed. Like she'd been sitting there the whole time. If that was true, and Ari was simply going mad, she wouldn't have expected the girl to have earned herself so many bruises while sitting so quietly in an empty room doing nothing. She wouldn't have expected her arms, which were covered anyways, to look like they'd been burnt without blackening. But there she was.
Pressing a hand to her face, Ari wasn't sure if she should take a deep breath, or just leave and walk far, far away. Not that she held remorse about hitting the other alien. She deserved that much punishment. But she was too bewildered right now to throw anything, let alone use the effort to aim for Marzipan.
"Where were you?" She asked instead. Not in a calm voice, by any means, but not at the top of her lungs, either. Marzipan simply stared back, void as ever.
"Fighting." Her voice was simple, in the tone people used when they said 'nothing' when asked 'what are you doing?' after being caught doing something wrong. Marzipan didn't look worried or guilty, though. Her blue eyes were glazed, empty. Surprise surprise.
Ari blinked. "Fighting?"
"Fighting."
"Don't you dare say 'fighting' again," Hanajima muttered in an exasperated tone, getting comfortable where she sat and leaning back in her chair.
"Huh." Ari's eyes narrowed. "...who?"
"Momomiya Ichigo. Yashiku Kona. Mai Kikyo. Utayoko Yumi. Niwa Brooke. Hataru Roxi."
Ari was silent. Her finger twitched against the door, making a faint knocking sound. "All of them?"
"Yes. All of them."
"All of them. All of them. Squawk. Polly wanna cracker?" Hanajima mocked, fluffing up her pillow and shoving it beneath her head. Ari and Marzipan ignored them. They were staring at eachother, trying to figure it out.
"Did you actually fight?"
"Yes. I actually fought."
Hanajima groaned. "Oh for God's sake..."
Ari bit her lip, her eyes still narrowed. Then, rubbing the back of her head, she turned on her heel and walked out the door.
"Now where are you going?" Hanajima didn't sound like she really cared, but was tired of feeling like she was on the outside of some inside joke.
"Out. To see if she only beat herself up with a stool." Ari said soundly, and, casting a suspicious glance at Marzipan, disappeared out the door.
--
"Roxi and Yumi aren't here today..."
"Yeah, I noticed. You work with them, right, Ichigo?"
"Eh?" Ichigo glanced up from where she'd been staring at her arm. She'd told two lovely but completely different stories about her large bandaging job today in a fit of ditziness, and was trying to figure out how she could connect them together without raising suspision. "Oh. Right. I think they caught something, you know?... Roxi was pretty tired looking yesterday, and she and Yumi probably hung out a lot that day. Contagious, most likely."
So, it wasn't the best. But it was better than 'I broke it!' and 'Spilled hot coffee on it. Ouch, huh?'. She desperately hoped the two girls she'd told those two different explainations to didn't run into eachother and discuss it. Though, knowing her luck with things like that, they probably would.
"Hau, that's too bad," Miwa said in disappointment, nodding. Then, looking over at Ichigo with curious wide eyes, she pointed at her arm. "What'd you do, by the way? The casting job is kind of sloppy... did you go to that out of town hospital or something?"
"Ahm... ahaha," Ichigo laughed nervously, which didn't answer either question. She was trying to decide which excuse was more believable. That, and she was planning out how she might rag on Ryou for doing such a bad job on covering up her wounds. Nice going, Shirogane. Like it isn't hard enough already.
"Oh, nevermind that, Miwa," Moe was suddenly distracted, and grabbed her brunette friend by the arm, "Look, Minako-chan's got some new girls with her! I bet they're transfer. Let's go,"
Ichigo sweatdropped as the two darted away, unsure of whether they'd ditched her on purpose, or just forgotten about her. Neither would be surprising. Sighing, she rubbed her temple. She had one last class to get through - Science.
The subject name always had a certain chill to it. Even though Ari and Hanajima - or Chiyako-san and Mrs. Kazuhawa - hadn't shown up in that room for a long time now, it felt like a forbidden place. Somewhere danger was always lurking. Of course, ever since her outburst, neither one seemed to have shown up... that would have made keeping track of them far too easy, of course. And Ichigo knew how Ari enjoyed complicating her life.
But two people suddenly disappearing - almost at the same time, no less - brought up a lot of questions. For a while, the administration hadn't been able to figure out what had happened, let alone quickly and efficently replace a Science professor. Minako especially, along with a gaggle of girls who tended to swarm around new students, mourned the loss of Chiyako Ari, wherever it was she'd gone. But Ichigo had always been glad. Even if it meant a constant shift of teachers, and never getting word from the staff about the teacher situation, as long as there were no aliens and no threat, she was happy. The constant chaos seemed so frequent that Ichigo never thought they'd get everything under control.
Although, when she stepped into the classroom -
- a man stood at the front.
Oi. This had stirred quite a reaction from the class. Mostly students questioning things like "Hmm, the last time he came in here like that..." and trailed off when he glared at them. They had a point, though. Ichigo remembered the last time the headmaster came into the class - that had been when their previous Science professor had gotten into an 'accident' and was being replaced. So. They'd finally gotten around to it.
Maybe it was a sign? Maybe this event represented the fact that Ari and Hanajima had finally given up... and were finally gone?
Ah, but that was being waaay too hopeful, wasn't it?
But, Ari wasn't here, Hanajima wasn't here. If they truly wanted to get revenge, to torment her, wouldn't this be a perfect place? Maybe they had gone back, after all. Maybe all this was done with, all this struggle and suffering, and her and the girls could finally go back to normal. She hadn't even thought a day like that would ever come. It was too good to be true, so she kept her guard up.
But, just maybe, it was finally over...
--
Noon. 12:00. There was a knock at the front door.
Ryou jumped in his seat, where he'd fallen asleep. Realizing this, he scolded himself, but quickly got up from the chair and checked on the girls. They were all sound asleep, still, not having moved an inch from where they'd been before. That was good. Most of them looked to be peaceful, now, instead of in unconsious pain. The healing process was speeding along normally, then.
He turned his attention to the door and frowned. Who would that be? Keiichiro was downstairs, and Ichigo was at school. Supposed to be at school, but he had yet to see the girl skip class to work more. Taking a double check, he saw the closed sign was still propped neatly up in clear view.
So, who would it be?
Cautiously, the blonde stepped away from the chair and towards the door, stopping there and listening. He didn't hear anything suspicious, like giggles. There had been girls here, from time to time, that kept smothering him and calling him 'cutie', no matter how much he tried to ignore them so they'd go away. Sighing in exhaustion, but giving in just because he wanted to see some sunlight at least once today, he unlocked the door and pulled it open and inch to see outside.
"Oh," recognizing a face, he stepped back and pulled it further open, raising an eyebrow in estranged greeting. "Yo. Shinta."
The boy standing there looked to be about his age, with black hair and bluish eyes, a golden band poking out from beneath the wrist of his sleeve. He grinned. "Hey, Ryou. What's up?"
"Er, nothing new," suddenly remembering the array of 'patients' inside, he narrowed the opening of the door. Luckily, Shinta hadn't seemed to see anything. "What are you doing here? The cafe's closed today."
"So I saw," his eyes shifted over to the sign with a nod, and then back at Ryou. "I haven't gotten a chance to catch up with you lately. You've been busy, haven't you?"
Ryou shrugged. "You could say that," after all, there wasn't much spare time when one had red haired girls knocking on the door at the dead of night or strange purple haired customers asking for home made brownies, "Guess it's just been a busy season. It's closed today so we can all have a little break before getting back to work."
"Not a bad idea," Shinta agreed with a slight nod. Then, shifting his weight to his left foot, he leaned to the side as if he intended to see what was behind the door. Ryou quickly stepped into his way, and, though the boy frowned, he looked the other light-heartedly in the eye.
"Mind if I come in? You don't have to make me anything, really. I'd just like to talk. It's been a while."
"Yeah, it has," the blonde agreed almost reluctantly, still in Shinta's way of sight, "but today's not a great day. Actually, I've been catching up on my sleep - these cafes involve some late nights cleaning, you know? I wouldn't want to catch any of those bugs going around. Neither do you, so you might not want to be around me much just in case I've already got a case of something."
Did he buy it? Ryou couldn't tell. Shinta didn't seem reluctant or believing, so Ryou didn't know whether to stick to his story and say 'goodbye' or grow on it to sound more convincing. Finally, though, the boy nodded.
"I see." Taking a step back, he straightened the edge of his shirt as a habit and glanced over at Ryou, still with friendly smile, "Some other time. I'll tell one of those pretty waitresses to get you the next time I drop by." Offering a small wave, he put a hand in his pocket and headed back down the walk.
"See you," Ryou called back, and promptly shut the door. Sighing, he rubbed his head, feeling as if all the cover-up was getting a great deal on his nerves. Though, he had seen his light for the day, so he couldn't complain. And, so long as the girls stayed asleep and safe, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to catch up on some z's.
On that note, he pulled up the same chair and slumped down in it, staring at the girls through half-lidded eyes. They were his responsibility, since their suffering was partly his fault, after all. But besides that... they were important to him. They were family to him.
As he felt his head becoming light with sleep, he knew that was true. And you didn't abandon family, whether their pain was your fault or not.
--
"It's shaping up to be a great day,"
Ichigo said to herself cheerfully as she headed down the sidewalk. Did having a notion of forever-gone aliens bring her so much joy? Apparently, it did. And as she walked down the street towards the Cafe at her own pace, she decided she wouldn't let anything or anyone wreck her mood. Nuh uh. No way.
So she tried not to think about the burn on her arm. Or how little it was compared to her friends, compared to the girls that had saved her and she'd saved in turn countless times. That was all the more reason to be grateful, wasn't it? If they were awake, they wouldn't want her moping around and sulking. At least, that was Ichigo's logic. It was better to be bright and cheery than it was to be gloomy.
As she went on forward, though, she caught sight of someone else on the sidewalk. It wasn't an unusual thing - it was a busy part of town, after all - but as she looked at him approaching, or her approaching him, rather, it gave her a weird feeling. "Deja vu," she mumbled, and continued on. Though, as they silently passed one another, Ichigo's eyes drifted to the side to see her gaze was met by the other, as well. She nearly jumped.
"Hello," he said pleasantly, and she could only stare back in return. Both had stopped walking. What was this? Did he get that weird feeling too, like they'd met before? But, he didn't look as creeped out as Ichigo felt. In fact, he looked only happy to be coming across another person, some social interaction.
"Uhm, hi," Ichigo managed, though before she could even think to properly introduce herself as one might do in a situation like this, there was a loud crashing noise. Crumbling, slowing down, Ichigo tried to turn to see what had happened but was immediately pushed out of the way, not roughly, but firmly. Once she'd gathered her wits again, her amber eyes flickered upon discovering a large section of a fence having fallen over where she'd been previously standing, a breathlessly shocked boy holding her by the shoulders after pushing her to safety.
"By the gods!" All hope that had built up in Ichigo came crashing down when she heard that voice. And stepping out from behind the fence was a girl, or rather, Ari Chiyako, dressed as a normal student, though holding one of her daggers in hand. Her dark blue eyes were glinted with specks of gold, her lips pulled into an enourmous grin as if she took great joy in seeing Ichigo.
But all Ichigo felt was doom, doom, doom.
Letting out a whooping laugh, she seemed to ignore the fact there was a boy standing right there, staring at her. Although there was no 'who are you?' like Ichigo might have expected. Just uncomfortable silence. "So the little puppy wasn't lying through her teeth, after all! Ichigo-neko -" The redhead cried out as a flash of bronze suddenly whizzed by, cutting her sleeve wide open and exposing the skin beneath. Ari stood beside her, grinning from ear to ear.
"A little bruised up, are you?" The blue haired alien continued boldly, looking absolutely overjoyed at seeing her bandaged up injury, "I'm not sure whether you should consider it an insult to your strength, for such a weakling to cause damage like this," before Ichigo could even move back, the alien girl grabbed her arm, tightly, right around the raw wound. She cried out in pain, and the alien's grin only widened.
"...tell me, are your little friends in more pain? Is that why they're not here?" She whispered, tightening her grip on the arm. Ichigo tried yanking away, but she felt the burnt skin beneath the bandage burning, searing, and she had to blink back tears of pain.
"Get away from her."
Stopping, but not letting go of the arm, Ari looked up and to the side to see a black haired boy standing there, his blue eyes serious. She stared at him for a moment, frowning deeply, while Ichigo tried to loosen the alien's grip and thus diminish the intense pain. "...you..." Ari tried, her voice searching, puzzled, but her confused expression turned to one of anger.
"So sorry. Wrong place, wrong time, boy. You understand, don't you?" Her voice lacked the sympathy her words should have carried as she let go of Ichigo and promptly shoved her aside, holding her free hand wide open and inviting her other sai to rest in her palm. Tapping her foot on the ground, her facade-appearence flickered away, leaving the golden-eyed alien standing there, boredly infuriated. "Bye bye," she said simply before darting forward, moving her arms to make one clean and deadly swipe at the boy.
"Ughuu!" Ichigo grunted as her body hit the ground, feeling pain especially in her arm where it was knocked against the cement. Catching her breath, the redhead pushed herself up just in time to see the blue haired alien run at the boy, ready to take him down. N-no! Before she could even cry out, there was a collision, and everything began moving so fast she could barely make it out. Pain from her arm made her wince again, and Ichigo looked down to see that blood was showing up through the bandaging. "A-unnn..."
"Heh?" It should have been simple. Effortless. A human teenager couldn't stand up to her speed, to her attacks - and yet, as she ran, and moved her arms to slash, they cut only through air. Momentarily stunned, she could do nothing to prevent a rough hit to the side, sending her off balance and against the fence with an 'oomph'. He stood there, expression stone hard and serious, blue eyes narrowed.
"Y-you little..." Pulling herself up from the fence, fire burned in Ari's eyes. This was no longer about him simply being a witness to get rid of. He'd messed with her, played her for a fool - now she would make his death as painful as possible. She'd given him a chance for a merciful leave. But now it was personal.
Striking a defensive stance, he refused to lower the glare he held towards her. Once Ichigo had regained her senses, she saw how confident he was. Not afraid, like she'd been when she first encountered an alien. Not at all shocked or confused. Just... determined. To what? Any normal person would have wanted to get away. But he just stood there, staring her down, like he intended to ---
"Don't meddle!" Her voice rang out, and snapping her wrists together, she produced a long narrow spiral of flame right for his feet. As if he were a sack of feathers, he jumped narrowly to the side and ducked, gliding smoothly along like a breeze. Ichigo watched in awe, but realized he wouldn't be able to stand up long. He was just human... she was the one with animal-fused powers.
"Mew Mew Strawberry, Metamorpha-sis!" At the flash of pink, a scowl appeared on Ari's face. Already, she was at a clear disadvantage - what a bother. Kicking it into high gear, she swivelled on her ankle and swiftly sidestepped, knocking her elbow against the back of the boy's neck to temporarily stun him. Then, with another movement, the alien jolted forward, bringing her knives together and striking them apart at Ichigo. She caught them with her Strawberry Bell just in time, feeling her movement being pressed backwards.
"Unn...gh!" Gasping, she tried to keep her grip up, but she felt it slipping. The pressure on her arm was doing no good. She couldn't hold Ari back long enough to make an attack. And that boy.. he was only going to get hurt if she gave Ari another opening to attack.
So, what else was there to do -
- but run.
"Nya!" Suddenly ducking, Ichigo felt Ari's feet knock against her knees in an effort to trip to alien, before she rolled to her feet and sprinted back in the direction of the cafe. She would create distance between them. She would lure Ari away, keep her away from the boy, keep him out of danger. Already he'd seen too much... she wouldn't endanger his life as well.
She must have only been able to run for fifteen seconds before she felt Ari ram her in the back. Ichigo barely even felt the total impact when she heard the alien -- "Caught you!" -- and was knocked over. She refused to fall. It tore the bandages off her arm and nearly ripped the wound open, but the cat girl caught herself on crossed arms, pushed her body across in somersault position, and was back up on her feet to run. Only, her heart was beating so fast and pain was flashing through her body so rapidly she could barely keep her vison straight...
Ari wasn't happy at all. That had been twice that day she'd been effectively dodged - no, that was enough to not only spark her temper, but send it into a full out inferno. Gritting her teeth, Ari skidded to a halt as Ichigo ran on. She saw a few droplets of blood spatter onto the sidewalk, and her eyes lazily fell upon the badly wounded arm. Ari grinned. There, she had a target.
"Kishu-sama... I'll break the witch's spell!" She whispered, and, clenching her fists tightly, blue flame engulfed her sais and she faded into the air without a trace.
Ichigo kept running, running. She didn't mean to go to the cafe. No, she hadn't meant that at all; and now as she realized she was approaching it, she'd wished she gone the other way. The last thing the girl wanted was to involve the others in this. Besides, they probably couldn't even wake up yet.
I have to get past. She decided to herself breathlessly, and picked up speed. Pain ripped through her body, but she did her very best to ignore it. She didn't know what to do once Ari caught up. If she was lucky, the alien would tire of her, leave her alone. It didn't matter right now - all that did was that she got past the cafe without getting the others involved.
And then, to her horror, the air before her seemed to tear open. Before she could turn, swerve, dodge, even gasp, there stood Ari, her eyes glinting with unbridled glee as she held both arms at different angles, bronze knives glinting in the sunlight. Ichigo didn't even get a chance to crash. It was one hit, hard and square in the chest, her shoulders cut open. Her mind suddenly went numb. She had no control over the scream that escaped her mouth, of pent up agony and suffering. It rang clear through the air as her body crumpled against the ground with a 'thump'. And then her voice died away on the air like there had been no sound at all.
--
Kona's eyes snapped open.
And she instantly regretted it.
Somehow, sleep brought comfort as well as a lovely numbness. The kind that completely blocked out the memories of the intense pain, as well as the current state. And now that she was so suddenly consious again, Kona could feel the fire that coarsed through her. Gasping for air, she buried her face in her arms, muffling the cry that escaped her lips. Her head felt raw, though the burns had faded away leaving only redness. But it felt like they were still there. It was like her face was covered in bruises, and had the skin torn off like a bandaid.
"It...hurts..."
So why had she woken up in the first place? Why couldn't she just keep in that place where it was completely blank and without feeling? Then Kona remembered, pulling it from her memory easily. A scream. A glass-shattering scream. It would have been bad enough on its own, hearing something that loud and filled with terror, but she recognized it right away.
Ichigo. Ichigo had screamed.
Sitting upright - even though pain jolted once more through her in protest - Kona tried to focus her vision to see where she was. It was strange to see the cafe so dark. But that was where she was - the cafe. Ryou was slumped over in his chair, asleep, and, by the looks of it, neither him or the others had been disturbed by the scream. It must have had something to do with her cat senses.
Ichigo.
Remembering her friend who was probably now in danger, the black haired girl pushed herself up from the ground, wincing in pain. Taking a shaky breath, she looked at Ryou, who was still sound asleep, and murmured a silent apology before staggering quietly out the door.
--
"This is turning out better than I thought,"
Ari mused with joy, staring down at the fallen Ichigo with mirth soaked on her face. Ichigo could barely move, herself; breathing was even just a struggle. The alien was brimming with obvious confidence, not even having to restrain the cat girl. "Down for the count," she said decidedly, and then ran her fingers along the sharp edge of her dagger. She grinned. "I can finish this now. What a delightful surprise!"
"Ribbon Blossom Shine!"
The grin was wiped off her face as light struck her from behind, both of her sais scattered from her hand. Whipping around, the alien was faced with Kona. Or... a rather scraggly looking Kona. Then girl was bent over with her bell barely in hand, panting for air, her eyebrows creased in pain. For a moment, Ari stared at her angrily. Then, it turned to amazement.
"Oh, she got you too?" Moving her fingers, a purplish flame engulfed her arms suddenly, the light reflecting in her golden eyes. She was grinning from ear to ear, "Marzipan's been a busy girl, hasn't she? If only she'd pulled such a great trick while Hanajima and I were here!"
Kona gritted her teeth, but suddenly looked to be in a great deal of pain as she bent over and coughed, her chest tightening and her breating quickening. Ari took this as her chance and rushed forward, swiping at the girl with her arms, letting out a laugh. This was truly exhilirating for her, like a breath of fresh spring air.
"Ugh!" Kona caught on in time, leaping backwards but just barely catching her balance. Even without her sais, Ari had developed great power over her control of flame. This was not good. After Kona dodged the first attack, she felt another pang in her chest, which nearly made her double over. Ari struck first.
"Huaaahggg!" And she knew just where to strike - one of the alien's arms slammed her across the chest, the other swiping right across her face. The flame was fleeting, going out instantly, but it left its mark of intense pain. Kona could barely breath as she, too, was taken down, head limp against the sidewalk as she struggled to stay consious.
"Kitten one, kitten two..." she murmured, the flames extinguishing themselves as she stepped back over to them. Ari grinned. "I've won the grand prize!"
As she knelt down and reached over, her hands sparked shades of blue and purple. The quickened sound of footsteps startled and interupted her.
"Eh? You again?" Upon looking up, Ari frowned at seeing the black haired boy having returned, panting and glaring at her furiously. "That's right. I didn't take care of you, but I guess Ichigo-neko's example wasn't great enough, was it?"
Panting, Shinta glared up at her. Her focus had shifted to something else, however. More specifically, the golden ring around his wrist. "Get away..."
His eyes fell over to where both girls were lying, unable to move against the great force and pain that was keeping them pinned down. Shinta's blue gaze drifted over to where Kona was laying, her frame shaking uncontrollably as she feebly tried to get back up on her feet. His eyes shifted back to Ari angrily, and he struck a fighting stance.
"You're just as stubborn as the rest of them," she hissed, though her eyes were focused more, once again, on the band around Shinta's wrist, which had now started glowing, and emitting a light. He stared unfalteringly at her, the golden light glinting off his blue eyes.
"Stubborn or not," his voice echoed as the golden light engulfed him, Ari having to squint to protect her vision, "I will not allow you to hurt them anymore."
Once the golden light dissipated into the air, Ari's eyes widened in surprise. "...you!" Her jaw clenched together and she felt her fists tighten as she took a subconsious step backwards, though her glare did not lower itself from his face. She smirked uneasily, "I thought there was something familiar about you. Once a meddler, always a meddler..."
His white uniform flowed uneasily in the wind as he stared, silently, without a word. Then, in perfect quiet, he drew one of his blades from its sheath, not breaking the glare he held on Ari.
"What's your name again? 'Elemental Swordsman'? Really, boy," she shook her head sadly, holding a hand out with a cocky expression, "You need to be more creative. It's really a mouthful. Why don't you just shorten it to 'Court Jester'? Because if you're going to pursue a battle with me, that's all it will turn out to be. You'll have to be quick if you want to keep me entertained..."
"Tsuki Ken!" He shouted, and sprang forward on his feet with the sword oustretched at his side. Darkness plunged from the blade as he swung, wrapping Ari up in an abyss of black. Shinta landed back on his feet again, breathless, charging for another attack.
However, the darkness suddenly flared out as a blue light from within was visible. "I'm bored, boy!" No sooner than the voice had erupted than Ari burst from within the energy, her entire body accumulating the blue and purple flame. Her golden eyes were filled with maniacal glee.
Catching his breath in surprise, Shinta leapt backwards, Ari only managing to scorch the larger portion of the cloak that was blown about his shoulders. Gritting his teeth, the swordsman drew the blade that rested in the sheath at his other side, and held them both in the air.
"You're wasting your time!" Ari yelled, and, springing off to the side, retrieved her two daggers easily. Holding one in her mouth and the other with the tip touching her fingers, she grinned and shot forward. "You've lost all your chances, boy! It's the end of your line!" Wind rushing at her face, she brought her arm back and slashed, though her was able to duck with ease. Letting the sai skid from her hand, she let the one in her mouth drop to her already-positioned hand. Already having closed the distance between them, all she needed to do was thrust her wrist forward to send it plunging into his gut.
Shinta was completely stunned, at first. Then, reacting to the pain, he lifted his knee to kick Ari and sent her quite a few paces back, clutching at his stomach wound. Breathing heavily, in one swift movement, he brought both blades into the air, summoning a quick and powerful attack.
"Nibai Mizu Dageki!" With two quick arm movements, he was able to create two seperate air waves of water, which shot at Ari and engulfed her, knocking her to the ground in a heap. The water cleared quickly enough, but she sat there, sputtering, gasping for air. Her entire body was shaking, weakened. One of Shinta's swords had fallen from his hand, but the other he held out while clutching his bleeding gut, not backing down from his position.
"You--!" Ari silently cursed, coughing up more water and gasping for air. She couldn't fight anymore, and was to drenched to summon any more fire. For some odd reason, she crawled forward, lifting her head to face Shinta. He was alarmed to see a smile on her face.
"We'll part ways," she breathed, and he only just realized it was too late to stop her from wrapping her arms around Kona and Ichigo who'd she'd landed right by. She smirked, "But I've claimed my prize."
And before he could do anything, she faded off into the air with a ripple, taking both girls along with her.
"Kona! Ichi--" He tried to run forward, but succumbed to the pain and instead fell to his knees. Doubled over in pain with his arms clutched around his stomach, he breathed heavily, gritting his teeth as he tried to stop the bleeding. But that wasn't his concern. Ari had taken Kona, Kona and Ichigo. They were wounded. And she was angry.
"N-no..."
--
Next Chapter:
Ari's got everyone just where she wants them. With Kona and Ichigo at the tips of her fingers, will she finally complete her revenge? More importantly, why have Marzipan and Hanajima stopped backing her up? An identity is finally revealed to the girls, but how will they handle this information on top of everything else? Rescuing them is going to be tricky. Keeping them from dying at a vengeful alien's hands is going to be even trickier.