Brrr, its cold up here! Then again, I do live in Yorkshire, so it's kind of expected. So far, Ren has been beaten to a pulp, and before she could be killed, a mysterious person takes over Toshiro's body and challenges Dixie! That person's name is Ryuki! Let's see him now!
Chapter 8
The Heavenly Guardian
"Itai…" Ren groaned, rubbing her head. Everything looked blurred to her, she tasted blood in her mouth, and her entire body hurt. "What happened?" She asked nobody weakly. "Oh, yeah, that's right." She remembered how she had offered herself to Dixie, and as a result, she had been beaten unconscious. She remembered that she had protected Toshiro, and that reminded her; she had to see if he was okay. "Shiro, are you…" Ren started, looking over her shoulder. She gasped. Toshiro wasn't there! "Shiro?" Ren sat up on her arms, wincing in the process. "Ow! Dammit, the regeneration isn't kicking in. Useless ass powers! I outta-Oh, there we go!" Her body gradually began to ache less, and she felt her bruises and cuts heal up. But, she still couldn't get rid of the taste in her mouth. A stick of gum could fix that later. She stood up back onto her feet, with one hand on her ribs. And that was when she saw it. She saw two figures moving around the lido. They were so fast, that Ren couldn't distinguish who was who. Ren's eyes could follow their movements, but she was unable to tell who the fighters were. She guessed that one was Dixie, but as for the other one? She didn't know. Was it a new person? Was it a friend, or an enemy?
"Huh?" Suddenly, the two fighters stopped moving, and jumped away from one another at a safe distance, staring at one another. One was Dixie, who was clearly losing the upper hand, as she had grazes on her body, and was glaring at the other person angrily. Ren looked to the other person, and she just couldn't believe her eyes at who was fighting Dixie. "Shiro?"
"Well, I'm moderately impressed." Dixie said with a smirk, having recovered from the shock of this other person suddenly appearing. "I thought after all this time you would be weak, but I was wrong. I'd expect nothing less from you…Ryuki."
"I was about to say the same thing." Ryuki said in retaliation, allowing the aura around his arms to disappear. "Last time I checked, you were not a fighter, but a maid."
"Don't remind me!" Dixie said in disgust. Her eyes glanced towards Ren, who was staring at the two of them.
I can't hear what they're saying. Ren thought. They're too far away. Should I get closer? No, it's best I stay out of it. Shiro probably wouldn't want me to interfere anyway.
This outta shake him up a little. Dixie thought, smiling.
"What are you looking at?" Ryuki asked, suspicious.
"Tell me, Ryuki." Dixie started, looking back at him. "That girl you saved…do you know who she is?"
"No." Ryuki answered. "But, you still have no right to hurt her. If there is one thing I can't stand, it's someone who dares to harm a woman."
"Maybe you'll think twice about not knowing her once you see her."
"?" Ryuki raised an eyebrow, confused. Dixie, still smiling, pointed at Ren.
"She's awake. Take a look for yourself, and tell me if you know her."
"…" Ryuki turned his head towards where Dixie was pointing, a bored expression on his face. That boredom immediately turned into shock upon seeing Ren's face. That face looked exactly like somebody he knew long ago. Somebody who meant everything to him.
"Zena?" Ryuki's voice was barely above a whisper.
"Oh, so you do recognise her." Dixie said, mocking surprise. "Are you shocked? Of course you are." Dixie said dismissively, answering her own question. "How does it feel knowing that your nearest and dearest is right there in person?"
With this, he'll be too shocked to do anything. Dixie grinned, clenching her hands into fist and preparing to attack Ryuki again. I'll beat him down to a pulp.
"You're not beating anybody."
"!" Dixie recoiled back, taken aback at Ryuki's statement. The aura appeared around Ryuki's arm again, but this time, it was much fiercer.
"Seeing that face again…I still can't quite believe it. But…" The aura suddenly shrank, and it turned into blue smoke surrounding his wrists and ankles like thick bracelets that occasionally shone like glitter in the sun.
"They're…" Dixie gasped.
"Just because I'm shocked doesn't mean I can't beat you!" With that said, Ryuki moved so quickly, Dixie didn't even have time to react before she was struck behind the neck. She collapsed onto the ground, revealing Ryuki standing behind her with an arm raised.
That ability…Dixie thought, fighting to stay awake. He can still use it even though he's borrowing that human's body? The Shackles exclusive only to Ryuki himself…the Ice Shackles. Dixie's eyes closed, and she fell unconscious.
"Man, that was boring." Ryuki groaned, the Shackles disappearing.
"Get me outta here!" Ichigo's voice yelled. Ryuki stared with a slightly amused expression as Ichigo banged on the sides of the bin. With a shrug, Ryuki decided that he'd better let out whoever was underneath there.
"Hold on a sec." Ryuki grabbed the rim of the container and with one hand lifted it off the ground and overturned it onto its side. Ichigo stood up from the piles of foam floats and life rings, unhooking one life ring from around his neck.
"Thanks." Ichigo brushed off some droplets of water from his shirt before turning his attention to Ryuki. "It looks like you've recovered, Toshiro. Did you take out Dixie?"
"Toshiro?" Ryuki repeated.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Ichigo said dismissively, stepping out of the wreckage and tripping over a sun lounger. "Captain Hitsugaya, right? Why are you so bothered about that? I mean-"
"Who the heck's Toshiro?" Ryuki asked. Silence.
"Eh?" Ichigo said, dumbfounded.
"Shiro! Ichigo!" Ren yelled, running towards the two of them. Her ribs no longer hurt, so it was easy for her to move. She stopped as soon as she got to the boys. "Are you both alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?"
"Well, I kinda blacked out for a while, but Shiro here totally beat Pixie's ass! It was awesome!"
"Hey…"
"Huh?" Ren stopped giving her explanation after Ryuki interrupted her.
"Are you injured?"
"Um…No, I'm fine now." Ren answered, a little stunned. On Ryuki's face, or the face that looked like Toshiro, she saw that there was a touch of gentleness to it. And that was something that she had never seen in Toshiro before. She only became even more confused when he gave a small smile.
"I'm glad that you are safe…" What Ryuki did next surprised both Ichigo and Ren. He got down on one knee with one hand on the ground and the other across his other knee, bowing his head. "Princess."
"Eh?" Ren and Ichigo said at the same time, sweat dropping. Did their Toshiro just bow down on the ground? It was just unbelievable. But, when he looked up at Ren and smiled a happy smile, it was the last straw.
"EH?"
Ten minutes later, back in the common room.
"Oh, I see!" Ren exclaimed, tapping her fist on her palm. "So, you're somebody else in Shiro's body?"
"Yup!" Ryuki said happily. He was sat in one of the blue chairs cross legged, clutching his ankles. Tom and Steph were also there, marvelling over this new boy. Ren was wearing her blazer over her shirt so as not to show off the massive hole in the back, but Ichigo was leaning on the wall with his arms folded. He just wasn't sure if this new person could be trusted or not. "My name is Ryuki! It's nice to meet you all!"
"Thank you for protecting Ren." Tom said politely.
"It's what I do."
Ryuki…Ren thought. Ryuki…Where have I heard that before?
"So who are you?" Ryuki asked Tom. "Are you her Heavenly Guardian?"
"Her what?"
"Oh, no, no, no." Ren said quickly. "Nothing like that. Tom here is one of my friends, and so's Steph."
"Hi there!" Steph said happily.
"It's a pleasure to meet you…" Ryuki took Steph's hand and kissed the back of it. "Young lady."
"Um…Er…" Steph stammered, blushing.
"Is something wrong?" Ryuki asked, confused.
"N-N-No, nothing. You just, um, surprised me."
"Surprise?" Letting go of the flustered Steph's hand, Ryuki looked at Ren. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Well, it's not everyday boys kiss a girl's hand."
"That's impolite."
"Not impolite. More like uncommon. In this day and age, there aren't that many gentlemen around."
"I'm not a gentleman. I'm a Heavenly Guardian."
"So you say."
"Ichigo?" Ren looked over her shoulder at Ichigo. His stare went straight to Ryuki, who was looking at him innocently.
"How do we know you're not leading us on?" Ichigo asked suspiciously. "Your story's good, but what proof do you have? Besides, we don't even know what a Heavenly Guardian is."
"Oh…Fair enough. Do you want me to explain it to you?" Ryuki asked. Ichigo nodded. "Alright. Where I come from, the Heavenly Guardian is someone chosen by the current princess of my home world when they come of age. I was the chosen Heavenly Guardian when Zena's time came."
"So you're, like, a bodyguard?" Steph asked.
"Something like that, yeah. The Heavenly Guardian has to be powerful enough to protect the princess, so it was a requirement for them to be a captain, like me."
"You're a captain? Just like Shiro?"
"Yuh huh." Ryuki nodded. "I'm one of twelve captains in the Royal Guard."
Captains, huh? Ichigo thought. Sounds a lot like the Soul Society.
"But you're pretty young to be a captain." Tom said.
"Not really." Ryuki shrugged. "I'm only sixteen years old."
"Still sounds young."
"Whatever!"
"But you must be really strong to be a captain. And at such a young age. That's incredible!"
"Why, thank you, um…" Ryuki scratched his head. "Steph, was it?"
"Yes."
Can you…show us something?" Tom asked.
"Like what?"
"Well…could you show us some moves?"
"Yeah, I wanna see too." Ren agreed.
"I don't like the idea of being a performing sideshow, but if the princess requests it, then I shall carry out her desires." Ryuki stood up, shrugging his shoulders back. "Hey, carrot top, you coming?"
"What did you say?" Ichigo exclaimed.
"I said carrot top." Ryuki smiled at him mischievously. "That doesn't bother you does it, carrot top?"
"Why you little…" Ichigo growled, ready to punch him in the face whether he looked like Toshiro or not.
"Hold on, Ichigo. I think there's a Feather here." Ren peered through a door leading outside. Sure enough, there was a Feather in the courtyard. It had a grey body, six jointed legs and a white mask that took up only the left side of its face. It also had a spike-like protrusion on the joins in its legs, and a snake-like tail with a three pronged fork at the end.
"Heh. Perfect." Ryuki said, smirking. "I can finish this thing off in one second, but I'll amuse you guys." Ryuki punched a fist in his palm and started to walk towards the Feather. "Take a seat, ladies and gentleman. The show's about to begin."
"Should we really do this?" Ichigo asked.
"Eh, I trust him." Ren sat back on a bench, folding her arms. "Might as well do as he says."
"I'm with Ren."
"Me too." Steph agreed, and Tom and Steph proceeded to sit on either side of Ren. Rolling his eyes, Ichigo leaned on the wall beside them, knowing he wouldn't win in an argument when they've already made their minds up.
"Rrrr…" The Feather snarled down at Ryuki, who stood in front of it with a calm expression.
"I don't think I'll use them." Ryuki said to himself, looking at his hand. He clenched it into a fist. "I have something special for the final act." He looked back at the Feather. "So then, Mr Feather, hit me with your best shot! I hope that's not too difficult!"
"He sure is cocky."
"Yup." Ren agreed. "Gotta have a cocky guy on your team, Ichigo."
Judging by the colour of its body, this Feather is a Range Type. Ryuki thought. So, those spikes on its legs will probably shoot out at me at some point, and that tail can be used as a whip. If that's so, then it will be vulnerable the moment it tries to attack me with either the spikes or the tail. He glanced at the group watching him from a distance before looking back at the Feather, a confident smile on his face. Just the type of Feather I need.
"RAWR!" Sure enough, the six spikes on the Feathers legs shot out into the sky, a red flesh-like rope for a chain.
"And the curtain rises!" Ryuki disappeared from the spot he was standing on, just as a spike landed in the ground.
Flash step? Ichigo thought, eyes wide. No. That's not it. He's just moving so quickly that the human eye can't keep up. Ryuki reappeared behind the Feather, which looked behind it to face him.
"Where are you aiming?" Ryuki asked. "I'm over here." With a growl, the Feather attacked Ryuki with its pointed tail, but he easily jumped over it and leapt back away from the Feather as two spikes attempted to attack him, then he disappeared again.
"So fast!" Steph gasped, leaning forward.
"I can't follow where he's going!"
"I think I can." Ren said. "He's…He's just running in circles around the Feather. It can't even keep up!"
"There he is!" Tom pointed up in the sky. Everyone followed where he was pointing. There, in the sky, Ryuki was high up in the air. He landed on the roof of the three storey school building.
"Act one: Speed. Concluded." The Feather looked up at Ryuki, growled and shot its spikes at him again. "Begin act two…" Ryuki jumped into the air again, avoiding the spikes and landing squarely on his feet in front of the Feather. When three spikes fell towards him, Ryuki smirked. He jumped back from one spike and landed on his hands and flipped back from the next spike and he did it for the final spike before finishing back on his feet. "Agility."
"Not impressed!" Ren yelled, startling Ryuki. "I can do that too!"
"Them?" Tom asked.
"Yeah. Back handsprings. Also, I can do back handspring step outs."
"What's the difference?"
"The step outs look more like wheels. Great for beam work. Back handsprings are more for martial arts. I learnt how to do it in gymnastics, and I'm pretty damn proud of it, if I do say so myself."
"How many can you do in a row?" Ryuki asked, cupping his hands around his mouth so that he could be heard.
"Nineteen!"
"I can do forty!"
"…" Ren was silent, thinking about Ryuki's response. "Okay, now I'm impressed!" Ren yelled, prompting Ichigo to fall over in exasperation.
"Whoops!" Ryuki jumped away from a spike, rolling across the ground to a stop, and ducked to the right to avoid another attack. The Feather attempted to attack him with its tail, but Ryuki dodged this by jumping forwards onto his hands, dashing underneath the Feather without it noticing.
"Oh! A front handspring!" Ren exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat.
"Begin act three…" Ryuki started, clenching his hands into fists. The Feather grunted as Ryuki punched it straight up into the air. "Combat." Ryuki jumped high into the air, back flipping in the air and kicking it right in the face, slamming it back into the ground. The Feather stood up quickly and looked around the sky for Ryuki, but he wasn't there.
"Over here." The Feather turned to its right, and was met with a punch in the face, sending it skidding across the ground. Ryuki lowered his fist, looking rather bored. "This is more boring than I thought it would be. You're not even putting up a fight."
"So strong!" Tom said, amazed.
"Something tells me this isn't even half of his strength." Ichigo noted out loud.
"For the final act, I shall show you something no human has ever seen." Ryuki looked over his shoulder at Ren, smiling. "You'll remember this, princess. You can do it, too."
"?" Ren blinked, surprised. Do what? Now she was really curious.
It feels like this body has them. Ryuki thought, closing his eyes. Yes, they're definitely there.
"Huh?" Ryuki opened his eyes. The Feather lunged straight towards him, but he disappeared from the spot, just as the Feather landed on that spot. Ryuki landed on the roof of the school building again, just in front of the setting sun.
"What's he going to do?" Steph wondered, shielding her eyes to look at Ryuki.
"Final act!" Ryuki proclaimed, closing his eyes again with a smile. At that moment, Ren could make out a small glowing behind Ryuki and before she could wonder what would happen, a pair of pure white wings sprouted from his back. Ren and the others could only gawp at Ryuki. Even Ichigo was amazed at this sight. Ryuki deliberately unfolded the wings slowly, casting a shadow of him on the ground as he showed off the wings.
"Whoa!" Ren said, staring at the shadow. And to think she could do this, too. Now she was really excited.
"Wings!" With one flap, Ryuki's feet lifted off the roof, and he dove down towards the Feather so quickly, one of the fleshy chains was severed, and the spikes clattered on the ground. The Feather growled at Ryuki as he flew back up into the sky, but he disappeared before the Feather could launch a counter attack. In that one instant, all of the chains linked to its spikes were severed.
"He's even faster!" Tom exclaimed, trying to follow where Ryuki was going, but to no avail.
"Finishing move!" Ryuki dropped down from the sky directly onto the Feather's head, shattering the mask completely. Ryuki jumped off the head of the defeated Feather, folding his wings as the Feather turned into ashes and disappeared. The core shone in the cloud of ashes and sped straight towards Ren, who instantly outstretched her palm. The core landed on her hand, and it turned gold on contact.
"Another one for the collection." Ren muttered to herself, taking her drawstring bag out of her pocket and dropping the new addition inside it.
"That was amazing!" Steph exclaimed, running up to Ryuki.
"I'm glad you liked it." Ryuki shrugged his shoulders back, making his wings give a small flutter in the process. "It's been a while since I've been in a fight like that."
"Are those…Are those real?" Tom asked, looking closely at Ryuki's wings.
"Yup." Ryuki nodded. He stretched out the left wing a little. "See? They're not fake. They're real wings. Go ahead. Touch them, if you want."
"…" Tom slowly reached his hand out to touch the wing. When he did so, he was even more amazed. The feathers were softer than anything he felt before, and underneath them all, he could feel the bones that made the wing what it was. It was like looking at the wing of a real bird, only this time it was on a human being.
"Are you convinced?" Ryuki asked. Tom, speechless, nodded.
"That's incredible." Steph breathed. "You were like…like…like an angel."
"Well, I am a Heavenly Guardian." Ryuki said with a smirk, folding his arms.
He's so strong. Ichigo thought, still in slight shock at the power Ryuki had just shown. But, that was only a taste of his power. This kid…
"Hey, I'm not a kid!" Ryuki exclaimed, glaring at Ichigo.
"Gack!" Ichigo grimaced, taken aback.
"Yeah! How do you like that, carrot top? I'm telepathic!" Ryuki's annoyed expression went away as soon as he heard Ren start to giggle behind her hand. Looking at Ren's laughing face brought back so many memories for Ryuki; memories of Zena.
"How did you make them appear?" Tom asked.
"Huh? What?" Ryuki stammered, snapping out of his thoughts.
"Those wings. Are they retractable?"
"Yes, they are. Watch." Ryuki stretched out all twelve feet of his wings and they started to glow white. The glowing turned into lightning bolt-like shapes that shot straight into Ryuki's back, but he didn't even flinch. "Ta da."
"It didn't even tear your clothes?" Steph ran behind Ryuki, inspecting his shirt. Not a single rip.
"No. Everyone from my home world has wings. It shows in our markings."
"Markings?" Ren repeated, curious.
"Yeah. Hang on, I'll show you." As he talked, Ryuki pulled off the black necktie and, while he unbuttoned his shirt, turned around so that his back faced the group. Ichigo, letting curiosity take over, joined Ren, Tom and Steph. Ryuki pulled down his shirt, and revealed his back to them all. There, on the spot where his shoulder blades would be, were two light brown birth marks shaped like tear drops.
"They're…" Ichigo gasped, recognising the markings.
"They're the same markings as mine!" Ren exclaimed, taking a step back after also recognising the shape.
"Really?" Steph looked over at Ren. "I never saw them."
"I have exactly the same birth marks. Look." Ren took off her blazer.
"Don't take your shirt off, please!" Tom cried, turning red faced. Ren turned around to show the hole in her blouse, along with her birthmarks. "Phew!" He sighed from relief, glad that he wouldn't see Ren undress.
"Yes, they're exactly the same." Steph said, looking back and forth between Ryuki's back and Ren's back.
"Of course they are." Ryuki retorted, buttoning up his shirt again and turning back around. "Everyone in our home world has them, and the princess is no exception."
"Look, we need to get something straight." Ren put her blazer back on and looked straight at Ryuki, who had just finished putting hit tie back on. "I know that I look like this Zena person, but no matter how similar I am to her, I'm sorry, but…I'm not Zena."
"…" When Ryuki heard those words, he felt like he was going to collapse. All at once, his whole world crumbled. His hopes had been dashed. This wasn't the person he had sworn to protect. "Oh…" Ryuki looked down at the ground, unable to look at Ren.
"…" Seeing Ryuki's sad face, Ren immediately felt guilty. She raised a hand up and, after hesitating, placed it on Ryuki's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."
"It's fine…" Ryuki said, his voice losing the confident tone that it carried. "I'm glad you told me the truth."
"Well, I'm pretty honest." Ren said with a shrug. Ryuki smiled to himself. Yes, that honesty was just like Zena. She was not Zena, yet it felt like he was looking at another Zena. It was amazing. "But…If it makes you feel better, you can still call me princess if you want. I don't mind."
"Thank you…" Ryuki placed his hand on top of Ren's. "Princess." He added after some hesitancy. His eyes suddenly widened.
"What's wrong?" Ren asked, noticing the change in expression.
"Get behind me!" Ryuki pulled Ren behind him, raising an arm protectively in front of her. He narrowed his eyes. "Someone's here. And they're not on our side."
"Is it Dixie?" Ichigo asked, joining Ryuki by his side.
"I don't know." Almost as if on cue, Sentaro teleported several metres away from the group in a flash of orange light.
It seems Dixie was right. Sentaro thought, looking at Ryuki. He has taken over that kid.
"It's been a while…" Sentaro started, reaching for his hood. He pulled it down behind him, revealing his face for the first time. His hair was black and collar length with a messy style to it and his eyes were narrow and black in colour. Upon pulling down his hood, yellow pull cords were revealed after being hidden away inside his hood, tied together by an emblem of the White Raven. "Ryuki."
"Heh." Ryuki smirked, relaxing his guard a little. "You're looking well, Sentaro."
"Sentaro? So that's…" Ichigo looked at Ren, pointing at Sentaro. In response, Ren nodded.
"Hn?" Ryuki's attention went to the emblem attached to Sentaro's cloak. "I see. So you're with them now."
"After the fall of your home, I was invited to join White Raven. They gave me power that I could only dream of having in the past."
White Raven? Ren thought. So that's what they're called. I guess that explains the logo on Pixie's scarf.
"Are you shocked?" Sentaro asked.
"Not really." Ryuki admitted. "Just…disappointed. And to think that you used to be such a dedicated warrior."
"You know him?" Ren asked.
"He used to be my subordinate."
"It's no lie. I was in the Royal Guard, and Ryuki was the captain of the division I was in."
"It looks like the years have made you lose your manners." Ryuki closed his eyes, smiling. "You're meant to call me Captain."
I guess Toshiro and Ryuki are more similar than I thought. Ichigo thought, sweat dropping at those familiar words.
"I won't lie; I was honoured to serve under you. The White Dragon, Ryuki. You became captain at the age of fourteen, and one month later, you became Princess Zena's Heavenly Guardian. It wasn't surprising. You were exceptionally talented, and you could wield the Ice Shackles; the only Shackles capable of freezing anything, even time itself. The Ice Shackles were the upgrade to Water Shackles, and they only come once every fifty years. You, a child, were the one to wield the Ice Shackles. Not only that, but your swordsmanship was excellent, so much so that you could use four swords at once."
"Four? Why not five?" Steph wondered.
"Where would the fifth one go?" Ryuki asked, confused.
"In your mouth. Like that guy from One Piece. Ren, what was his name? Rolo…Um…"
"Roronoa Zorro."
"Yeah, like him."
"Huh?" Ryuki exclaimed, looking over his shoulder with a face that was a mixture of surprise and disgust. "In my mouth? That's disgusting! Why would I wield a sword in my mouth? You're weird!"
"Um…" Steph started, not certain as to how she should react. "Yes, you're right. I apologise." She looked away, a sheepish smile.
"Nah, no big deal." Ryuki quickly shrugged off the conversation, turning back to Sentaro.
"You have been sealed away for less than twenty years, yet here you are now, borrowing the body of a human. How this is possible, I do not know. However…now that you are here, and I am your enemy, I can finally do this." Sentaro clenched his right fist, and an orange aura appeared around it.
"That's the same aura from when Shiro and I first saw him!" Ren gasped.
"Ryuki!" Sentaro roared, charging towards Ryuki. He tried to punch him, but Ryuki ducked down, and kept dodging Sentaro's blows so quickly that it looked as though he were teleporting.
"Sentaro, I'm not going to fight you." Ryuki said calmly while ducking left and right and walking back from Sentaro. "I'm too strong. You'll only lose." But, Sentaro didn't listen, and he drew back his glowing fist, aiming one more blow. "Very well." Ryuki closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."
"!" Sentaro's eyes widened. The glowing around his fist disappeared. Ryuki was directly in front of him, his fist having punched him cleanly in the gut.
"One blow…" Ren breathed, amazed.
"Have no fear, Sentaro." Ryuki said quietly. The crest on Sentaro's cloak began to glow faintly. "You're going home." The glowing took over Sentaro, and he disappeared from that spot, leaving nothing behind. Silence fell over the quad.
"Okay, what was that?" Ichigo asked, unable to believe what he saw.
"This is the third time he was defeated." Ryuki explained. "Three defeats are all it takes for a low class soldier like him to be sent back. For others, it can be more or less, depending on their rank. When a member of White Raven is defeated, their crest activates, and it sends them back where they came from, providing they have the symbol of the White Raven on them."
"Where they came from?" Tom said.
"Yes." Ryuki nodded. "Most members of White Raven are from my home world."
"What?" Ren gasped. "White Raven is forcing people from the same world to fight each other? That's too cruel!"
"I know, but you needn't worry. White Raven brings in people and as soon as they arrive, their darker sides are brought out, dominating their reasoning and their better half. Once they return to their home world, they're new powers, if any, are removed, and their memories erased. Sentaro will lose his abilities and his memories on Earth."
"Wait, so…he couldn't use that weird aura before?"
"No. They are incomplete Fire Shackles. They had the physical strength that came with it, but other than that, Sentaro could not use the ability to produce fire."
"But, it's a relief that he won't remember anything." Ren sighed, relieved.
"You sympathise with the enemy?" Ryuki asked, a little surprised.
"Yeah. They're still people, even if they're my enemy."
"…" Ryuki looked away. Ren was reminding him more and more of Zena. It both made him happy and saddened him.
"Sentaro was weak, but from now on, the enemies will only get tougher and tougher." Ryuki clenched his fists. "Who knows? If it comes to it, White Raven may send in the Shengxiao."
Shengxiao? Ren thought. She held her chin thoughtfully. Alright, I know I heard that before. I just can't put my finger on it.
"I don't know why I can take over this human's body. I had trouble beforehand trying to take over, but it was his determination that let me come out. Princess, that determination from your friend must continue if you want to succeed in defeating the White Raven."
"Right." Ren nodded, still thinking about the name Ryuki mentioned.
"But, you'll help us, too, right?" Ichigo asked. He was still fishy about this cocky version of Toshiro, but he knew that this kid was a powerful ally to have, especially now that he knew an entire organisation was against them.
"Of course." Ryuki nodded. "Besides, if I'm defeated now, then I couldn't keep my promise…" Ryuki looked up at the sky. "To her."
"?" Ren blinked. Her? Could he mean Zena? Or maybe it was her? Or somebody else she didn't know? Before she could ask, Ryuki blinked, and started to look very confused.
"Wha-Wait, what? Where am I?" He looked left and right. "How did I get here? Where's Dixie?"
"Uh…" Ren said, puzzled. What had got into Ryuki? He was so much more different now than before. It didn't make sense. Unless…
"Sh…Shiro?" Ren called out, still unsure as to whether it was really Toshiro.
"Ren?" He turned to look at Ren. "Ren! You're okay!"
"Y-Yeah. I am." Ren responded with some hesitancy. "And you're…"
"I'm fine, yes. But, why am I back at the school? What…" Toshiro trailed off, preventing him from finishing his sentence. He swayed a little, and his eyelids drooped. "What…happened?" With that, Toshiro began to collapse.
"Shiro!" Ren was quick to run to his side with Ichigo following her, and she grabbed his shoulders just as Toshiro fell onto his knees. "Shiro, what's wrong?" She remembered that Toshiro had a fever the last time she saw him. She felt his forehead. Nothing. Just to be sure, she removed her hand from Toshiro's forehead and placed it on her own. She had the same temperature. "No fever."
"It's alright. Toshiro had his body controlled by somebody else. He must be exhausted."
"But, he doesn't remember anything." Ren pointed out. "Sure, we know who the enemy is, but somehow, I have a feeling that we're getting involved in something that's far more dangerous than we can imagine." Ren looked down at Toshiro's sleeping face. "I also think that Shiro and I are more crucial in this than we can imagine."
"Ren…" Ichigo started, trying to think of something to put her mind at ease, but he couldn't find the words. She was right about the situation. What could he say to deny something that was a fact?
"Don't worry, Ichigo. You don't have to say anything." Ren smiled warmly, still looking at Toshiro. It was a relief for her to see Toshiro resting with no pain, unlike before. Plus, he looked quite cute asleep. "The answers will come soon. But, for now, I'm not worried about the new enemies. We'll just cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Yeah…" Ichigo agreed.
Man, nothing seems to worry her. Ichigo thought.
"Ichigo, can you give me a hand here?" Ren asked. "I've gotta get Shiro to my car."
"You drive?" Ichigo exclaimed.
"Yeah. Her car was at the garage for a couple weeks." Steph explained.
"Ren got her driving licence about four months ago. Didn't you know?"
"But we…We got the bus here…"
"And during the fight at the lido, my mom dropped it off outside of school because she's working late and the bus broke down today. Now help me!"
"Right!" Ichigo quickly went to Ren's side, helping her place Toshiro on her back. "But why didn't you tell me you could drive?"
"Why didn't you ask?" Ren asked, an innocent expression on her face. Meanwhile, a shadow was watching the group from the rooftops of the school building. This person was clearly male, and there were horn-like protrusions on his head. He narrowed his eyes at Ren and her friends, and turned on his heel to walk away. There was a flash from an emblem attached to a tassel on his clothing. It was the symbol of the White Raven. The mysterious man disappeared, leaving no evidence that he was ever there.
There we go! The weakling Sentaro is out the way, so now, even stronger guys are going to come along! So, who are the Shengxiao? Will we see Ryuki again? Find out here, only in Fate and Destiny!