To Lyger 0: Pun intended?
To MiraculousReader: She's always been able to turn to lightning, but this is the first time she's really used it to such good effect in combat – at least in the main universe. "RooT"-verse Kagami unlocked full-on god mode!
As chaos erupted all around her, with thunder and flashes of brilliant light and the eruption of the earth shaking apart, Kamimizu stared in shock at the scene in the street in front of her. Bu-Geisha ducked a swipe from Kamidoku and elbowed her in the gut, only narrowly avoiding a punch from Kamidoku for her trouble. The kakute on Kamidoku's finger snagged on Bu-Geisha's sleeve, and the silk kimono tore from hem to elbow, exposing a thin layer of silvery material beneath. Ronin had burst from an alleyway a block south of Kamimizu's location, raced toward Bu-Geisha, and slashed at Kamidoku. Within moments, however, Kamisenshi had reached them and thrown himself headlong at Ronin, pulling him away from helping Bu-Geisha against Kamidoku. Kamisenshi pressed Ronin back, his katana darting in and out around Ronin's katana and wakizashi. On the far side of the street, Kunoichi dropped from a roof as two others did the same from a spot a little further down the street. Kamimizu started, staring at the other newcomers. What were two of the Heroes of Paris doing here? Kamiseikaku sent a trio of shuriken toward the two Heroes of Paris, and Capricorn spun his shepherd's crook as a shield, knocking the shuriken aside.
In spite of the chaos erupting around her, however, all of Kamimizu's attention remained focused on the small cluster of girls huddling in the middle of the street behind Bu-Geisha. Their hair and makeup had been done up in elaborate fashion, matching the fancy robes they wore. Kamimizu stared for a long moment before she could recognize the other girls as those who had been at Tanoshi Endingu. But right near the front of the group, a look of absolute terror on her face, crouched Ayaka.
Kamimizu gasped, staring at her sister in shock. She was out of the brothel!? With Bu-Geisha? A streak of lightning zapped past her chasing after the blur that could only be Kamiikioi, and Ayaka dove to the ground, covering her head with her arms. Kamimizu's eyes widened in terror. A gust of wind whipped past Ayaka from Kamikaze, just as Kamiseikaku unleashed a volley of shuriken that flew wild over the heads of Bu-Geisha and Kamidoku. Kamimizu's voice caught in her throat. "What–what do we do?"
Crouching next to her, Kamihenyo raised her eyebrows doubtfully, staring in shock. "I–I'm not sure!" She looked back and forth up the street, her mouth hanging open. "I mean, this was not what I had in mind when we followed them – having it out with Nihon Hiro Chimu in the middle of the street! But…" She grimaced helplessly as Geber slid beneath Kamiomomi's punch and sprang to his feet, spinning around and activating one blade of his spur. Kamihenyo let out a breath, glancing at Kamimizu. "We have a job to do, right? The sooner it's over… well… The sooner it's over." Swallowing anxiously, Kamihenyo stepped out of the alley, uncoiling her kusari from around her waist and twirling one end over her head. As Geber jumped over Kamiomomi and swept his spur back at her arm, Kamihenyo whipped her kusari around and slapped the car he was about to land on. The spur swept right through Kamiomomi's arm without resistance, and she shifted its density back immediately, twisting her wrist and grabbing the back of the spur. Geber's foot passed straight through the outer layer of the car, which morphed as it melted and shifted into gelatin. With a yelp, Geber's grip on his spur loosened, and Kamiomomi ripped it away from him, tossing it behind her down the street. Kamiomomi lumbered toward Geber with a growl, but Capricorn leapt in front of the flying spur, held his shepherd's crook up, and caught the spur with the hooked end. Giving it a quick spin, he launched the spur straight back over Kamiomomi's at Geber, just as Kamiomomi drew her tekko back for a massive punch. Stretching as far as he could, Geber grabbed his spur and held it up lengthwise to block Kamiomomi's crippling blow. The force of the punch, however, launched him backward out of the gelatin-car with a squelch, and he stumbled to one knee as he landed on the sidewalk, bracing himself with his spur. Extending the spur's other sickle blade, he pushed himself to his feet and launched himself at Kamiomomi's back as she turned her attention toward Capricorn.
A cry of terror from the direction of Ayaka and the other girls pierced Kamimizu's indecision.
Finally, Kamimizu sprinted out of the alleyway, straight toward Bu-Geisha, Kamidoku, and the girls. Bu-Geisha stumbled backward, away from the girls, with Kamidoku in pursuit. Kamidoku reached one hand into her sleeve and flicked it out in a single smooth motion, and Bu-Geisha yelped as a kunai flew right past her head, cutting loose a couple strands of hair. Ayaka dropped to the ground huddling next to another girl, her eyes wide and wild with fear. Kamisenshi and Ronin continued to duel on the other side of the cluster of girls, dancing back and forth as Ronin tried to press Kamisenshi back away from them. As Kamimizu ran across the street toward them, Kamisenshi glanced up, and his eyes locked onto hers before turning toward the girls and settling on Ayaka. His lip curled.
Kamimizu's breathing hitched. Ayaka finally glanced up from the ground to find Kamisenshi looking back at her. She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands and pushing herself back away from him until she stopped against the edge of the curb, eyes widening in panic. Gritting her teeth, Kamimizu put on a burst of speed, slid under Kamidoku's arm, and reached Ayaka's side in moments. Grabbing Ayaka's shoulder, she turned her face away from Kamisenshi, trying to hold her attention.
"K–Kanako?" Ayaka swallowed hard, her eyes wide. "What–what's going on? I–I'm sorry! I didn't mean to–"
"No!" Kamimizu interrupted her, placing a hand on her cheek and shaking her head curtly. "Don't apologize for anything."
"But – Komatsu-sama will kill me for this!" she shrieked, trying to look back at Kamisenshi. "Wh–what's going to happen to me?! I – I never should have–"
Kamimizu gripped Ayaka's shoulder tightly. "Listen to me! He is not going to hurt you!" Ayaka's eyes locked onto hers. "I swear to you, imoto: I will keep you safe!" Holding her sister close, Kamimizu scanned the street in both directions, searching for somewhere, anywhere, to hide Ayaka – at least until this was all over. With a deep bellowing roar, Kamitakasa lumbered down the street, four times his normal size, leaving behind massive spiked footprints in the softened ground, shaking the earth with each step. Kamitsuchi blocked a swipe from Capricorn as a pair of shuriken split the space between them. A jagged seam ripped apart the ground, stretching from Kamitsuchi toward Geber. A roiling ball of darkness, interspersed with flashes of brilliant white light, had taken over the sidewalk near where Kamihikari had been moments before. Kamisenshi and Ronin continued to duel back and forth. Lightning crackled up and down the street and up into the air. Everywhere she looked was more danger! There was nowhere for Ayaka to go… yet it was far too dangerous for her to stay put.
A cry of pain behind her, and Kamimizu spun around, searching for Ayaka. Ayaka knelt next to another girl, who was clutching her arm, moaning, as blood seeped through her fingers. A kunai had embedded itself in the road surface next to the girl, Kamidoku's favored poison just barely visible as a thin sheen along the blade. The girl whimpered. Kamimizu's jaw clenched. Ayaka met her gaze, her eyes wild.
"Help her!"
Woodenly, Kamimizu dropped to kneel next to the injured girl and placed one hand on the girl's forehead, covering her injury with the other. Already the fast-acting poison was beginning to set in: her forehead felt strangely clammy; heat rose from the injury. The girl trembled, pain and terror in her eyes. Her injured arm seized up, her fingers shaking.
She didn't have long.
But what could Kamimizu do? Blood seeped from the girl's wound. Kamimizu's eyes widened. Blood, poison… all of it flowed. Her mouth set in concentration, Kamimizu hovered both her hands over the girl's arm, reaching out with her Chikara, feeling around for the distinct sensation of the girl's blood, and for the poison mingled with it. Kamimizu's heart pounded in her chest, fighting her concentration. She had to force herself to focus. Finally, she could feel the liquid of the blood within the girl's veins, could feel the impurity which could only be the poison. Forcing herself to breathe slowly, Kamimizu drew her hands apart at a steady pace, grabbing onto the impurity with the hand closest to the injury and onto the blood with the hand farthest from the injury. She could feel the poison trying to expand out, to take hold in the girl's flesh, and she slowly, steadily pulled it back into the blood vessels and back toward the injury. Her brows knitted together in concentration, Kamimizu let out a grunt, keeping her hold on the poison. The girl's convulsions eased. Slowly, ponderously, she separated the blood and poison. Three drops of clear liquid wept out of the cut, and Kamimizu gave Ayaka a jerky nod. Ayaka deftly wiped away the poison with the edge of her kimono. Finally, Kamimizu put pressure on the girl's injury, holding the blood inside until she could wrap a piece of torn cloth around the cut. Her shoulders slumped in relief and she sagged backward, momentarily ignorant of the chaos around them.
Ayaka grabbed Kamimizu's shoulder, her eyes widening in panic. "What are we going to do?"
Kamimizu's breathing hitched and she tensed, just as something darkened the sky above them. Confused, she glanced up just as Kamitakasa let out a low yell and turned around, falling over backward toward them. Perched on top of him, Kamimizu could see Capricorn, Kamitakasa's finger trapped in the hook of his shepherd's crook. Kamitakasa suddenly shrank back to his normal size, falling to slam into the ground on his back a pace away from Kamimizu and Ayaka. Capricorn yelped, pinwheeled his arms, and landed in front of Kamitakasa, stumbling as he did so. Swinging his shepherd's crook, he brought it down to point at Kamitakasa's throat.
"Wait!" shouted Kamimizu, leaping forward. One of her shobo came out and spun around in her hand, and she caught Capricorn's staff, knocking it aside at the last minute. He spun around to face her, bringing up his staff.
Capricorn froze, cocking his head to one side and staring at her in confusion. "Wait, I… think I remember you…" he began. "Weren't you in Paris?"
She nodded hesitantly, tensing. "I…"
"So why the hell would you help them?" he interrupted, his eyes narrowing. His grip on the shepherd's crook tightened.
"I… uh…" Shobo raised, Kamimizu stumbled back away from him, toward Ronin and Kamisenshi. Capricorn started to follow, but Kamitakasa pushed himself up from the ground and threw himself at Capricorn's legs. Capricorn pitched forward and rolled as Kamitakasa shrank. Kamimizu groaned, and almost missed the katana slashing at her head.
Ronin was on his back foot, parrying again and again with his wakizashi, keeping up a steady defense as Kamisenshi pursued him. And yet, Kamisenshi also appeared to be tiring: his strikes were slower than normal, his dodges delayed. Ronin drew back his katana, blocking a slash from Kamisenshi with the wakizashi, and immediately followed it up with a swipe at Kamisenshi's chest. Kamisenshi jumped backward, and the katana missed his shirt by a millimeter.
Catching sight of Kamimizu, Kamisenshi shouted, "Now is the time! Take him down! We can end this, here and now!"
Not taking his focus off of Kamisenshi, Ronin growled, "You think you have any power here!?"
"If you stop him, I will make sure your sister goes free!" Kamisenshi promised, blocking another strike from Ronin and swinging around to attack his flank.
Kamimizu's eyes widened, and she hesitated, her eyes shifting back and forth between them. Ayaka… free. If Kamisenshi would do that… No more would Ayaka be abused and beaten, no more would she be at the mercy of cruel men. It was everything she had been working toward! Slowly, she stepped toward Ronin.
Ronin's wakizashi came up in a block behind his back, and he sprang away from Kamisenshi, adjusting his grips as he did so. "Would you honestly trust a member your family to him?" he demanded of Kamimizu, pointing his wakizashi toward Kamisenshi. "I sure as hell wouldn't! He murdered my father!"
Kamisenshi bared his teeth in a snarl, batting aside the wakizashi and jabbing at Ronin with his elbow. "And I will do far more than that to anyone who displeases me!"
Kamimizu's mouth set in a thin line. That was it, wasn't it? He offered much… but as long as Kamisenshi remained at large, she and Ayaka would never truly be free from him. He had taken so much from them – he had hurt Ayaka so terribly, and just because Kamimizu had gone to Paris! He offered freedom, he offered wealth, he offered… all of his offers were lies! She had gone along with him to keep her sister safe, because that seemed like the only way. And he had continued to hurt Ayaka, to use her! But Nihon Hiro Chimu had risked their own lives to rescue Ayaka. Where Kamisenshi was nothing but empty words, Ronin was action. Could she really fight Ronin after that?
No more.
With a shriek, Kamimizu twirled both shobo and brought them around in a wide sweep. Ronin raised his katana to block Kamisenshi's attack. Kamimizu smashed both shobo into Kamisenshi's sword arm, driving the tip of his katana into the road surface. He stumbled, his eyes wide, and she spun around, kicking him in the shoulder with her heel. Kamisenshi braced his legs, trying to keep his balance. Ronin rapped Kamisenshi's wrist hard with the flat of his wakizashi, and his grip on the katana broke. The sword clattered to the ground at his feet, and he started to lunge at Ronin's legs. But coming up behind him, Kamimizu placed her hand on the back of Kamisenshi's head, concentrating on the sensation of blood within his brain, and drew the blood together, away from Kamisenshi's brain. He let out a surprised gasp and collapsed to the ground between Kamimizu and a startled Ronin. As Kamimizu released her hold on Kamisenshi's blood, silence fell on the street around them.
