K: Tales of Midnight
Chapter Five: Allegiance
The Central Crosswalk was booming. It was a Saturday afternoon. The day was warm, and yet a certain chill wrung like a ribbon through the air, weaving in and out amongst the populous, invisible, yet present nonetheless.
Saruhiko Fushimi knelt against an alley wall, surveying the crowds. Arms crossed as though he were bored, one would have thought he wasn't paying attention, though behind his glasses hid a calculating stare, sharp, alert. He was waiting.
A moment passed.
"Status," he said.
Crackling through the coms, the voice of Akiyama. "No sign of anything yet."
"Not on my end either," Benzai entered in.
Hidaka answered next. "Dōmyōji's with me. We've got nothing over here," he said opposite a giant roar of chatter. Clearly he was standing near the apex of the crosswalk, the voices of the city nearly drowning out his own. "It all looks pretty normal to me. We haven't seen any–Oi! Watch it, kid!" He hollered suddenly.
"Whoop! Sorry, Mister!" Came the unmistakable voice of a young teenage boy.
Then another voice arose. "Whoa, Shinji, d'ya see that? The guy you just ran into had a katana on his belt! That other guy, too!"
"What? Really? That's so cool!"
Hidaka clicked his tongue. "Brats," he cursed under his breath for all of Scepter 4 to hear. "Anyway, it's all clear over here," he said more formally. "Just a load of civilians, and twice as many kids."
"Come to think of it, isn't today a holiday?" Benzai asked.
"No wonder it's so crowded," Akiyama said by way of an answer.
At this point, Fuse's forthright disposition flooded in. "Fuse here. I've been up and down this block a dozen times. I don't see anything suspicious."
Casually, Fushimi scanned his wrist device. Any time now, he thought.
Fuse carried on. "Look, I know our intel from the Yushiki System said that this Aka Shinzu–"
"Aka Shinku," Fushimi corrected him.
"Uh, right. So...I know it said that Aka Shinku is just a cover for one of the Green King's batch of Jungle operatives, and that they were supposedly planning some kind of demonstration today, but are you sure it's not a trap? I mean, what if they planned on leaking that information all along? If that's true, aren't we just playing right into their hands?"
Fushimi didn't answer. In fact, that was his biggest concern, not that he would ever deign to mention it out loud. Browsing his device, he scrolled through all the data he collected from the Yuishiki System. As Captain Munakata had supplied, Aka Shinju was indeed a terror organization, though even that was just a front. The encoded information from Rei Kiyoka's lab that Fushimi spent two days trying to crack had finally paid off, and what he found was crucial.
Aka Shinku was not merely a terror organization but rather evidence of a very powerful king at work. Hisui Nagare, the Fifth and Green King, was perhaps the most cunning of them all, and he then had access to the Kawaguchi Algorithm. Not only that, further evidence decoded by Fushimi had then drawn the bulk of Scepter 4 to the Central Crosswalk in the middle of the day on a weekend in order to thwart the final punchline to everything he uncovered: the full extent of the Kawaguchi Algorithm's power so created and supplied by Rei Kiyoka to the one who was undoubtedly the most dangerous king of all, was about to be put on display. And if it's anything like I imagine, Fushimi mused, a lot of people could die. That alone is enough of a reason to be here, even if it is a trap. At least, that's what he kept telling himself, if only to hide the fact that what he really wanted was to settle things with Kiyoka. Something about their last encounter bothered him. More than anything, he wanted to get to the bottom of things, even if it meant putting up all of Shizume as bait in order to do it. That was his intention, anyway, though again, he wasn't going to mention it out loud.
Luckily for him, Dōmyōji added jointly to his case. "I get that this could all just be a trap and that we were completely fooled into coming here," he posed, "but then again, if it's not a trap, our being here could be critical to the people's safety."
"Yeah, that's if the intel was accurate," Fuse countered, much to Fushimi's annoyance. "I mean, think about it. We've been here for over an hour and we haven't found anything, which either means they're not coming, or that they have another target in mind."
"What are you saying, Fuse? That maybe they only wanted us to think they were planning an attack here, when reality... But that would mean...!"
"It's true," Akiyama added calmly. "It is possible that they simply lured us here in order to launch an attack somewhere else. But either way, we have patrols stationed all over Tokyo. If something were to happen, our teams are already centrally located. Our response time would be quick enough to prevent any major damage. Besides, Fushimi's set up markers all throughout city, which are set to alert us if an influx of supernatural technology caused by the Kawaguchi Algorithm occurs."
"So... what? Does that mean we can stand down for now?" Hidaka ventured hopefully. "Because I'm seriously going deaf over here – not to mention my feet are killing me!"
"I'm with Hidaka," Fuse added in a little too abruptly not to notice. His evident disdain for his superior always did get the better of his emotions. "I don't see the point in sticking around here any longer than we have to when all we have to go off is a piece of minor intel that may or may not be accurate." To this final statement, clearly aimed at Fushimi, there was a general murmur of agreement from the others, but Fushimi intervened.
"No one's going anywhere," he ordered through the coms. "Everyone stay focused. Trust the intel. Follow your instincts," then off com, "if that's even possible."
The others gave a lame, "Yes, Sir," and all he heard was silence after that.
He took that time to think back on his words spoken to the Captain: "Whatever she's planning, I think she wants me to stop her." Even then, Fushimi couldn't fathom why Rei Kiyoka would have wished for such a thing, and yet the feeling stuck with him. Regardless of whether it were true or not, he planned to follow through with it. She's obviously set on this, his inner monologue went on. And she's been counting on me to be too, whether because it's still just a game, or... He tightened up internally. I have to trust that coming here wasn't a waste. As it is, I can't afford to be wrong. Not again.
He dipped his head against the wall, heaving out a sigh, though something in the corner of his eye drew his attention and he paused. A bit of movement, a wisp of black, had barely trickled past his very furthest line of sight. He wasn't even sure he full saw it, but he sensed it, and that had been enough. Retracting from his place, he sought to follow.
Wrapping around one corner: no one. Past the next alley: once again, no one. Even so, the feeling of a nearby presence wafted over him. He picked up his pace.
Round several more turns, each one leading further from the Crosswalk, he found himself skimming past a concrete wall graffitied with familiar kanji symbols recognizable to all. 平和な街 marked the unofficial border to a section of Shizume known as Heiwanamachi, or 'Peaceful City." However, contrary to its meaning (and purposefully so), the darker alleyways in which Fushimi found himself were nothing like the bustling streets surrounding Shizume's popular crosswalk, so quickly did his path diverge from multi-storey shopping malls to the district of the crime-filled institutions of Tokyo's Overworld.
The avenues grew dim, shadowed, not just from the sun but from a different kind of light, the one that spoke of safety and the feelings of content. A sour stench lingered in the air.
Then it hit: a blatant dead end alley. It was all so unoriginal, Fushimi groaned a sigh, shifting his eyes back into the alley's opening. Three Green clansmen loomed, all of them armed, though not with the cheap stuff this time. No, this time it was real. More than that, each member bore a blaster that Fushimi could have guessed was filled with power more substantial than a weak electric current. They weren't J-rankers; hardly; maybe G or even N, but nothing more – not enough for anything exciting.
Bored, Fushimi slumped his head to one side. "Well, come on then," he sighed, unlocking his saber with a lazy flourish. "Don't just stand there." He flicked it several times, beckoning them each to hurry up and charge. They did. One-after-another, blasts of green ignited at his sword, and each one was deflected with a dreary sense of ease.
It didn't take long, though, before his craving for chaos caught up with him. A moment passed. A crooked little grin began to form along the creases of his mouth. Then out whipped three red-aura daggers, hidden up his sleeves. The first two found their targets in a flash. The third bounced off the helmet of the man, providing a distraction that allowed Fushimi one fell swoop that knocked the man head-over-heels to the ground.
Fushimi sheathed his sword and scooped the groaning man up by the breastplate, cloven then in two. With a hearty push, he smashed the fallen clansmen to the wall. The man let out a painful squeal.
"Right then," Fushimi said, borderline peppy. "Time for a chat."
Moments later, he exited the alley, dusting off his sleeves. "This is Fushimi," he said into the coms. "Get everyone away from the crosswalk."
Benzai was the first to respond. "Fushimi did you find something?"
"Just do it."
"Uh...yes, Sir!"
Akiyama's voice appeared. "Fushimi, what's the target?"
"Everyone," he answered. "Every single person here."
"What?!" Several voices called at once.
"Fushimi, what are you talking about? Explain!"
"What do you mean 'everyone?'"
"Jungle's going to hack into every PDA within a two-block radius and give the people powers," he explained.
The voice of Dōmyōji reigned above the others. "The Green King's going to make them all his clansmen?! That's insane!"
"It looks like Jungle's going to use the Algorithm to make a scene, stir up people's emotions and let their fear run the course of their newfound abilities."
"They won't be able to control themselves!" Hidaka called in urgently.
"It'll be chaos," Fushimi added sotto voce. "But if we can get as many people away from here as possible, we can at least contain the number of people who'll be affected."
As he spoke, he caught another movement to the side and turned in time to witness a small slip of fabric, black as night, flit noiselessly behind him.
"Okay, we're on it, Fushimi," Akiyama answered. "We'll work on getting everybody out. Meanwhile what are you going to do?"
Fushimi eyed the spot where, then, he saw nothing. "I'm going to follow a lead," he said, and started off again.
The path he followed took him from Heiwanamachi back in the direction of the crosswalk. That feeling that he caught before was present yet again, stronger though, yet also somewhat dulled, as though the bearer carried some slight hindrance that they didn't have before, and that had made it potent in a way Fushimi recognized as something supernatural, but with something else attached, something rotten.
He'd nearly reached the end of backdoor alleys and the scent of grime had almost fully faded when a violent rumbling shook the ground beneath him and he stumbled forward, grasping at his sword. He momentarily clenched, though something of a smile crossed his lips, the words 'It's time' aligning with the name 'Rei Kiyoka' swirling in his head.
Then a voice called out to him, causing him to jump. "Fushimi! Fushimi, do you copy?" It was Akiyama on the coms, though what had so alarmed Fushimi wasn't his swift kick back to reality but rather the abundance of infernal screeches, crashes, and the sounds of people screaming that pervaded Akiyama's side of the coms. "Fushimi!" He called out again, "The Central Billboard just exploded! Where are you?"
Fushimi made to answer, though another loud explosion, then another, and another, struck in subsequent locations to the first, breaking off his answer with a grunt. Readily, he glanced up in response, watching as three giant fumes of smoke appeared, billowing over the rooftops. It was a different sort of smoke – not black or orangish grey but green as like a forest – no, like a jungle.
Fushimi narrowed wicked eyes at it. "Nagare," he whispered, and darted toward the blaze.
As he ran, the voice of Benzai entered in the midst of yet another swarm of background noise that spoke of terror spreading like a fire through the streets. Benzai had to should just to be heard. "All units!" He announced. "I need some backup over here! It's just as Fushimi said! Everyone's PDA''s are lighting up! They're all looking at their phones and developing powers! They're completely out of control!"
Akiyama answered quickly. "Fuse, Hidaka, take Dōmyōji and go help Benzai. Fushimi – "
"On my way," he said, cutting Akiyama off. Then he added bitterly, "I thought I told you to get everyone out."
"We were in the process of evacuating," Akiyama explained, "but the streets were already so crowded, we only managed to get a fraction of the people out before the first explosion hit. After that, the people were so terrified, our efforts were useless." Then his voice dropped low. "Fushimi, it's a madhouse," he confessed. "We need you here fast."
Fushimi humphed. So now you believe me – when you need my help.
Presently he exited Heiwanamachi and passed alongside Shizume station, quickly bolting back behind a corner as a fifth explosion struck the station, flames of green igniting passing citizens.
The aura wave came barrelling toward Fushimi, though he held an arm defensively before him, a shield of blue protecting him from Hisui's potent fumes. It was then when he could finally hear the screams, not just through the coms but clearly with his own ears. It truly was chaos, but Fushimi couldn't help but think that that was just the start. There was so much more to come.
The wave began to dissipate, though in the midst of swirling clouds and fluttering sheets of paper flying pell-mell in the wind, he spied a squad of Jungle clansmen darting into action in the throng of newly furbished aura-wielders running haywire down the road. On spotting their blue enemy, they launched a swift parade against him, countless darts of green-hued bullets whizzing through the air. Fushimi drew his saber out and thrust a sheet of blue before him, rendering them useless. The clansmen launched again, yet once more they were blocked. Fushimi flashed his saber once, absorbing green and sending blue more fiercely than they gave.
The ground between them cracked into a monstrous hole, yet through that hole, the green broke through. The force of power blew Fushimi back a pace, skidding to one knee. He parried hard, sending back a rush of blue to knock them off their feet, then stole his chance to race back down the way he came.
The way was blocked, however. Another squad of Jungle clansmen came upon the scene, their weapons aimed at him. Fushimi quickly realized his predicament: he was about to become sandwiched between two violent onslaughts. Even so, he wouldn't be deterred. Expertly, he flicked his daggers outward in the one hand, his saber in the other, prepared to counter each attack at once.
Both parties fired. Then his breath gave out. Something struck him awkwardly from the side. Caught off-guard, he toppled over, sensing as he did, his body yanked and twisted, afterward colliding with the ground as something heavy gripped him ceaselessly and fell along with him into a nook between two stores.
The blasts ignited, striking one another just above him with a fiery boom. He grunted at the blaring noise, coughing through the greenish fumes, and rolled his body painfully to find Rei Kiyoka sprawled on top of him.
"Gah, you're heavy!" She cried, grimacing uncomfortably.
"You!" He said in something of a question. "What do you think you're doing!"
"Geez, you could thank a girl," she said, prying herself off of him. She made to stand and nearly tripped back over him, then gained her feet and wobbled upright, wincing as she felt along her face. "Ow, that hurt. You landed on my ear," she said, rubbing hard at it.
"You didn't answer my question," he shot back. "What are you – " He paused mid-sentence, shocked at her appearance. She was paler than he'd ever seen a living human being before.
"It's lovely to see you too, Sashimi," she said, twisting out a kink in her neck. "I see you've been reading my mail – or how else would you have known about Aka Shinku?"
"You mean Jungle?" He said, staring her down.
Kiyoka waved a fleeting hand before her. "Potato potahto," she said. "I also saw you wiped my hard drive and even managed to decipher some of it. Well done. I swear you're getting closer all the time."
"If you knew all that then why'd you still end up here?"
"You mean why'd I come here knowing that you'd show up in some giant quest to stop me? Isn't it obvious?" She began to bat her eyes at him.
"Be serious," he said.
"I'm always serious," she countered, much to his evident scoff. "But alright, fine. I'm here to – oh, how do I put it? – oversee my transaction, if you will."
"Proving its authenticity with a demonstration, more like," Fushimi divined.
"Something like that," she replied, turning to the street. "Come on, we have to get out of here," and without so much as a glance both ways to see if it was clear, she leapt into the fray.
Fushimi, far too angry to be careful, did the same.
"Where do you think you're going?" He called after her. Bolts of aura, chiefly green, invaded all around them. "You're under arrest for treason against the State," he said, diving in and out of them.
"So then arrest me," she replied, shouting over the noise.
The citizens of Tokyo, made wild in their panic, ran rampant with their powers. Kiyoka whipped her rapier out to counteract the frenzy that ensued as a result.
At this, Fushimi couldn't help but notice she was slower in her movements. Naturally, she managed to evade the blasts, though only just. She spun around to parry one while whipping back to catch another, nearly toppling backward as another blaze appeared.
Fushimi darted up to her and pulled her back behind a wall.
A fiery bolt shot past them.
"Hey, thanks," she said.
Fushimi clicked his tongue, and together they peered out into the street. Nothing but a wall of flames consumed the path ahead.
"Well, that way looks blocked," she said, then drew a sharp breath in and slumped against the wall, squinting her eyes tightly to a close. "Damn, you really did a number on me, didn't you?" She said, massaging her temple.
"You're fault for saving me," Fushimi uttered coolly, but Kiyoka wasn't listening.
"Huh, that's weird," she mumbled, tapping on the ear Fushimi trampled on.
"What's weird?" He asked.
Kiyoka blinked spasmodically, looking somewhat dizzy. "Sorry, did you say something?"
Fushimi sighed and rolled his eyes. "Forget it," he said, sending out a calculating eye across the scene. He scanned it once, then turned and grabbed Kiyoka by the wrist. It was freezing. "This way," he said decisively, and led her down another street, less overrun with chaos.
Once they were there, Fushimi whipped her out before him, spun her round, and drew a set of handcuffs from his pocket. "I'm not going to repeat the order," he said, cuffing her wrists together. "You know why you're under arrest."
"Oh, really? Do I?" She toyed.
He shifted her a scowl, tightening the braces until she winced.
"Alright, fine," she caved. "So I take it that means you still haven't figured it out yet, have you?"
"Have you?" He asked, giving the cuffs a sturdy yank.
"Ow," she said emphatically.
"Oh sorry, did that hurt?" He tugged them harder, dragging her along. "Did you even realize what would happen after that stunt you pulled?"
Kiyoka tottered forward and began to follow awkwardly behind. "Well to be honest, it was a little dark at the time," she answered jokingly. "And you should talk after what you did."
"What I did?" He stopped and turned to face her. "You owed me a new laptop. The least I could do was fry up all of yours. All I did after that was escape from your hordes – the literal army you sent after me," he said against her impish grin. "You're the one who sent all of Tokyo into a three-day blackout!"
"Now, now. Don't be modest, Sashimi. It was thanks to your help, too, that made it all possible."
Fushimi ignored this. "It took us days to restore order, and in that time, Jungle stole its chance to wreak all kinds of havoc, and now look what's happening!" As though proving his point, another blast gave way behind him, shattering the windows of a nearby curry joint.
"You gave Nagare the Algorithm so he could do what Weismann did at Ashinaka High School: give the people powers; only now he can do it remotely. So long as there's a signal he can hack into, he can transfer power to anyone in the world. And he just gets to sit back in the shadows and watch it all unfurl. Tch, the coward."
"My, you really are clever, aren't you?" Kiyoka said, somewhat ambiguously. "But while that may be true, that isn't what I meant when I said you didn't get it."
"Maybe not," he said, unruffled. "But luckily that's what these are for." He held up Kiyoka's handcuffed wrists. "You get to explain it all in detail once we're back at Headquarters." Again, he jerked her forward, picking up his pace.
"Once we're back at headquarters," she repeated, almost wistfully. "'Oh divine art of subtlety and secrecy,'" she added, tromping after him. "'Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we hold the enemy's fate inside our hands.'" She chuckled lightly to herself.
Fushimi stole a glance around his shoulder. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing," she answered. "Just something I heard once. The man I told you about – you know, the one who doesn't want me to kill you – anyway, he calls it 'the Voice of War.'" She hummed a little chuckle of amusement. "Silly, isn't it? 'Voice of War.' Ha."
Fushimi stopped abruptly in his tracks. Kiyoka, unaware of this, ran into him from behind.
Slowly, he turned, a flicker of suspicion in his eye.
"Ow," she mumbled, rubbing her pale fingers on a newly reddened forehead. "Why'd you do that?"
"What did you just say?"
"I said, 'Why'd you do that?'" She repeated.
"No, not that. Before."
"Before what?"
Fushimi blinked, surprised. She really didn't look well. "You said, 'the Voice of War.' Where'd you hear that?"
Kiyoka's eyes lit up. "Oh, right! That! 'Through you we learn to be visible, through you inaudible –'" she began again, though Fushimi shut her up.
"Geez, I wish you were inaudible. And what do you think this is, huh?" He said, tugging at her arm. "You don't look invisible to me."
Kiyoka jolted forward as he pulled at her, and as she teetered back against her heels, she humphed. "Don't be too sure," was all she said.
"Whatever," he grumbled out. "Get a move on, and stop tripping all over the place. The hell is wrong with you, anyway? You were fine a minute ago."
Kiyoka started walking, though she softly clicked her tongue. "As if you would know," he heard her whisper quietly behind him. Glancing back, he saw her glaring downward, following lamely in his footsteps.
Yeah, you're right, he thought. I don't know. Too bad I don't care. He wasn't sure exactly why, but all at once, he felt a sudden stabbing in his chest on thinking this. However that, too, he chose distinctly to ignore.
They gained another corner, nearly at the crosswalk when a myriad of violent actions scurried into play.
Kiyoka, in a gasping impulse, bolted out in front of him. Her handcuffs, with a minor tug, were shattered into bits as she then wrapped herself around him. "Get down!" She cried, forcing him off-balance as a thousand coils of midnight black enveloped them and knocked them to the ground.
A grand eruption struck, engulfing them in flames.
Fushimi braced for impact, then found, to his surprise, that it was pointless. No fiery smoke reached out to him, to burn him up; no shard of glass nor bit of concrete, dirt, or metal, shot at him from either side. From everywhere, the fire had encompassed them completely, and yet there he lay, entirely unscathed.
Confused, he peered up, finding Rei Kiyoka standing over him, arms outstretched, the orb of black emitted from her fingertips protecting them from harm. A hurricane of green swirled like a tempest on its outer edge, and then the wall that sheltered them, that raging onyx current, blended into that same tempest like two separate streams converging into one. The midnight power ceased to be, while green took up its place.
Fushimi sat there gaping, eyes wide at the aura, then at Kiyoka. This aura... It's the same as – !
Meanwhile, Kiyoka launched a giant pulse of green to flush away the blast. It faded like a puff of smoke.
Fushimi rose, fingering his saber hilt. "You..." he uttered venomously low, then watched her turn and scan a narrow eye to him. "You're a member of Jungle. Your allegiance is with the Green King, Hisui Nagare!"
Kiyoka made no effort to deny it. She didn't say a word but merely stood there, staring solemnly before him. It was yet another one of her confusing looks that Fushimi couldn't hope to understand. He couldn't tell if either she was miffed that he had finally learned the truth about her, meaning that the game was up; dejected at the prospect that he hated her the more for it; somehow bored with him; sad, perhaps – though why, he couldn't possibly imagine; or that, actually, she really was in pain.
"Man," she sighed, signaling annoyance and so solving that short mystery. "They really don't know how to aim, do they? Those idiots. That's twice they nearly got me right along with you." And just like that, her look was gone, replaced with one Fushimi fully recognized: a stoic, deadened sort of look, at which she reached a finger up and tapped a little something on the ear that she had landed on before. "Alright, morons. It's time," she ordered.
Drawing forth her sleeve, she wiped a line of icy sweat from off her brow, stifling a cough.
"Time for what?" Fushimi asked, and when she failed to answer him, he took her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Time for what!" He said again.
Kiyoka, in response to this, produced that same portentous look that made his stomach turn. Peering up, she gazed at him with eyes so dark and deeply set, as though she hadn't rested in a month, and breathed, "The end."
Something in her voice as she released these words commanded him to stillness and he pondered her, unable to say anything.
Slowly, Kiyoka loosened herself free of him, turned, and began to walk away.
That's when something snapped.
Fushimi felt a sudden fire billowing inside him, gushing to the surface in an all-consuming urge to keep her there. You're right, he flamed internally. You're absolutely right. This ends here, and without a pause he shot an arm before him, launching one small dagger from the confines of his sleeve. Bathed in red, it pierced the air and struck Kiyoka squarely in the arm.
What followed after came as something strange to him.
Nothing happened. Kiyoka didn't flinch. She didn't stumble forward nor make to grip her arm. She did not cry nor even make a sound. It was as though Fushimi's act had not occurred at all but for one minor detail proving that it did. Of all the natural inclinations Kiyoka failed to make, the one thing that she did do was pause. Mid-step as she stalked away, her foot came to a halt.
Fushimi breathed a hollow breath, only then discerning that for some time, he'd been keeping it contained.
An eerie silence followed.
Kiyoka turned, looked at him, then slowly at her arm, observing it as one observes a specimen from one side of the glass. The blade had firmly lodged itself, the tip protruding neatly from the other end and stained a murky, blackish red that didn't look like blood.
She sighed – the kind of sigh that strictly says, "I really wanted cereal but we just ran out of milk," and Fushimi looked on, stricken, as she gripped the hilt and drew it out without the slightest pause.
How is she doing that? Not two minutes ago she was whining about her ear, and now…
Kiyoka drew a long breath in, releasing it contentedly. "That's better," she said, letting the blade slip lightly from her grasp. It clinked against the ground beside her, flames of its red aura dwindling quickly into embers before fading altogether. Then she looked at him, eyes as fierce as ever.
Fushimi didn't wait. He drew another dagger out and let it soar.
Kiyoka swung her rapier in a flourish, the green and red colliding with an instant boom. The dagger spun out sideways with a twang.
Fushimi sent another, then another. Both she counteracted.
Then he tensed. She used her wounded arm, he realized, falling further frozen as he saw a bit of smoke begin to sizzle from the wound. What the – ! He gasped. Somehow, on its own accord, Kiyoka's flesh was singeing back together. She's healing herself! But how?
Kiyoka coiled her head to him, easing through the burn of lacerated skin sewn crudely back together. She closed her eyes and opened with a fiery gleam, darting him a wicked grin. "My turn," she said, and thrust an arm in front of her, summoning her strength. The bulk of her green aura splintered outward from the point of her rapier, meeting his own force of blue like lightning hitting ice. The rounded force fields clashed with one another in a thunderous display.
Fushimi knocked the blast away, feinted left, then let another volley fly. Kiyoka dashed apart from it and came up close before him, sending steel to steel and one stern face against the other.
"I'm curious," Fushimi said through gritted teeth. "A command like this, I'm thinking you left U-rank far behind you. You're right up there with Nagare himself."
Kiyoka laughed and threw him off, sending three concussive blast against him. One-by-one, Fushimi flicked them off.
At this, she darted back a pace and paused, her rapier at her side.
"I'm honored you would think so. And it just so happens you'd be right. In fact, I was the very first of Hisui's J-rank captains, wouldn't you know it." She swept into a curtsy.
Fushimi cringed and clicked his tongue. "So all this time, everything you've done – with me, the algorithm, those rats in the Underworld, the blackout, this," he motioned all around them. "It was all so you could help that maniac? Why?"
Kiyoka seemed confused. "What do you mean 'Why?'"
"What's in it for you?"
Kiyoka's brow shot up. "Well now I am impressed," she uttered happily. "That's the first good question you've asked me."
Fushimi shrugged. "But you're not going to tell me, are you?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I did. But then why would you believe me anyway? You don't trust a word I say, remember?" She smiled, and for the first time, so did Fushimi. He knew that what she said was a trap, a noticeable trap, and for once he wasn't going to fall for it. Instead, he changed the subject.
"I'm guessing he's the one who told you not to kill me," he said, remembering his run-in with the Green King years before. Back then Hisui Nagare had attempted to recruit him, and was promptly tossed aside. Even so, Fushimi's flat denial only made the Green King want him even more.
Kiyoka laughed. "Aren't you pleased he's taken such an interest in you? But then, you already knew that, didn't you? Indeed, he's had his eye on you for quite some time; always waiting, always hoping one day you would finally come to him." She began to pace around him. "How very special you are, Sashimi, to be cherished so by someone whom you utterly despise." She hummed a little laugh. "But then of course, if you won't have him, why not work for me? Or better still, work with me."
Piercingly, she looked at him. "Don't think I haven't noticed how you long to break away from the authority of kings. Well, I'm not a king. Nor is my loyalty to a king, despite how it may seem. But I think you know already that I do what I want. And so could you. You have to admit that sounds rather tempting, doesn't it?"
Fushimi glowered, hardly taken in. "I've heard that speech before," he said. "I've heard it a lot, actually. But I've already made up my mind."
"Yes, the mind of a traitor. What can that be like, I wonder?" She asked, eyeing him with obvious perception.
Fushimi tensed and shot a stream of dazzling blue, and then of red, the pair of auras leaping at her sword. Kiyoka sent them flying with a gust green, laughing all the while.
Then, to both their wonderment, a giant surge of power came parading down the lane. Scores of aura-wielders from the crosswalk, now an army bearing Jungle's mark, unleashed themselves on anything and everything. Their wrath was uncontrollable, as was their fear.
Kiyoka, who was closest to the onslaught, made a sudden dash to block the storm, skidding back a pace or two and digging her heels deep into the pavement. Burdened by the weight of it, she quickly found her green alone was not enough to counteract the multitudes that pounded like a hammer to the nail.
Instantly, from out of her, she made a sphere of green and midnight wrought together, forming one enormous aura. With both of them combined, she held off the advance, yet even then, her wall began to dissipate as streams of aura, darting flames, whole slabs of concrete, iron rods, and random bits, broke through the wall like missiles that erupted all around.
Fushimi, through the crashing wind and suction of parading auras battering about, perceived her, paler than before, two ghostly hands gripped tightly to her sword as she, with tightened features, grit against the fury sent against her.
He made to raise his saber in an effort to combat the wave, then felt a sudden zap of black ignite against his metal rims.
He darted sideways, whipping back an angered face to issue her a curse; though somewhere in the midst of this, he faltered back, beaten by the look cast like a sheet across her face. It was a look of pure fear. Then she spoke. "Go back."
He didn't understand.
"Please go back," she said again in earnest. "You're not supposed to be here anymore."
Fushimi humphed. "If you think I'll cave that easily, you really are crazy."
"Then I'm crazy," she said, chuckling through the strain.
Another crash fell down against her. Kiyoka screamed a wrenching cry as cracks began form along her aura wall.
Again she pleaded urgently. "There isn't time. You have to go back. You have to survive."
"Why? Why me?" He sought to argue, but the wind was all-consuming. The barrier was at its utter limit.
Drawn back amid a whirl of smoke, he rose a hand to shield himself. A flying shard flew past him and he drew it back, a line of blood appearing on his palm.
"I need you to deliver a message," he heard her say, then looked to find her eyeing him, her features soft, as though she smiled somewhere underneath the pain. "Tell him," she said. "Tell him that it's time. Please, will you do this for me, Fushimi?"
At this, the mention of his real name, Fushimi blinked wide, absolutely stunned, then watched in sudden horror as Kiyoka, with a parting smile, set her aura free. Releasing her long hold, she let the green come flooding in, while all the midnight blackness that she bore leapt like a violent storm behind her. The pair of them, both green and black, dove madly at Fushimi, but the black one got there fist. Fushimi gasped and then was struck, then all went dark and silent as he fell.
Chapter Six: Imperium