Chapter 8: White Hood (pt. 2)
After the man and the woman were pushed back by Kazuki's strikes, their bodies convulsed. Something struggled to get out from them and, finally, managed to do so. Two black shadowy streams erupted from the mouths of the two and merged into an only black shadowy form. Two red eyes opened in the black mass.
There was no mistake. It was a demon. It was possessing the man and the woman. It sprung razor-sharp claws and lunged towards the motionless gray-haired boy, tearing his body into pieces. He then slowly moved back where he was before, above the two possessed, when…
The lines of black matter which were linking the fiend to the bodies of the victims passing through their mouths were cut by a katana. The one holding the blade was Kazuki, with the golden light shining in his eyes, He had just jumped on the lines, slicing them.
"Oops." he said, showing his katana to the fiend.
Immediately, the demon called back the dark matter from the bodies of the man and the woman, which erupted from their mouths, fusing with the main black mass. As the dark matter had completely abandoned the man and the woman, they fell to the ground, unconscious. Their wounds were healed, but a faint red glint on them showed that they were still linked to the demon, which was feeding on their energy.
The fiend finally took a bear-like form, his razor-sharp claws coupled with fearsome fangs.
"This one seems to be relatively basic..." Kazuki thought, preparing himself for battle "Originated from grief..."
The demon rose its head and let out a mighty roar. In response, a swarm of grunts and beastly shrieks could be heard. Kazuki quickly understood what that meant.
"Calling Ghouls? Now that's new..." he commented, with bitter irony. He already had a plan of action in mind.
"The first thing I have to do is to drag the demon and its ghoul companions in a place where I can be sure that no one can see them, only then I'll be able to destroy them without any holdback of sorts."
Soon, the source of these beastly cries reached the area. They were, in fact, Ghouls, undead deprived of brain and soul. There were 6 of them.
Kazuki sheathed back his katana and ran away, knowing that the demon and the Ghouls would follow him. He ran until he found the place he was looking for: a lone alley. He ran in there, followed by the fiends, and, when he got at the dead end, he stopped in his tracks and turned quickly. One could assume that he had just got himself cornered by the fiends, but that wasn't true…
They were the rats caught in the trap.
Two of the six Ghouls lunged at the white-hooded boy, who, in response, swung a spinning kick in the air. A stream of water erupted from the wall behind him, moved at high speed, its course guided by the direction of the kick, and beheaded the two attackers, before flowing back to where it came from. What remained of their bodies was just elbow struck away by the boy.
The demon and two of the four remaining Ghouls charged towards him, the former was ready to slaughter the boy with his fangs, but he ran on the wall and jumped from it, above the fiends. Objects shining of blue light appeared in his hands. They were four kunai. He threw them at the Ghouls, hitting them in the chest. After they had reached their target, the kunai shone even brighter and multiple cuts appeared on the bodies of the Ghouls. They let out a cry of agony and crumbled to the floor, as the kunai that had given them their final rest vanished.. Now there were only Kazuki and the demon.
A brilliant blue light burned once more on the white-hooded boy's left arm, as the demon charged towards him, with murderous intent. He blocked the assault of the fiend with another construct of blue light: three katanas, held in his fist as if they were a giant claw. He pushed away the assaulter and swung his claw to attack it, but it took one of the light blades with his fangs, breaking it. The pieces dissolved in the air.
Kazuki moved in, attacking with his katana, and landed some slashes on it, blocking it with the light blade claw, which now was of two blades, whenever it tried to hit him with its claws. It charged, but the boy moved aside and slashed it with the claw.
The shadowy bear's movements were now pained and hindered. It was wounded and weakened, but it still looked menacing, with its ferocious growl and its bare fangs. In response, the white-hooded boy threw at it a cold and piercing glare. The fiend couldn't move of a millimeter anymore, its limbs were frozen in place, as if there were nails on them. It continued to growl ferociously against the boy, who moved closer. His light blade claw dissolved and he took hold of his katana with both of his hands. He then lunged towards the demon and sliced through it. As he sheathed back the sword, the fiend cried of agony as it split in two halves that burned out in blue flames. In a few seconds, there was nothing left of it.
The boy heard footsteps in his direction and shot his head back up, his hood falling from his head and his eyes going back to their gray color. It was a woman with long black hair and deep blue eyes.
"I knew you would have come here, Aokage-kun." she said.
"You know my creed, Tohno Akiha-san." he answered her "I simply act according to it. The less people see this, the better."
"Yes..." Akiha smiled, closing her eyes "You always worry about others and what they have to lose from witnessing this… That's just like you..." then her eyes shot back open, her expression turned serious again "But you can't hope to be always able to conceal it, you know?"
Kazuki knew that there was truth in the woman's words. His body tensed up as she talked. He lowered his head.
"I understand that." he said. "But I don't want others to suffer because of me. This is my fight, and no one will bear its burden but me."
"I see..." Her expression turned into a melancholic one "But the question is, can you do it?" At those words, the boy froze again.
"No matter how hard you try, there will always be a person or two who will get tangled up in your struggle..." Akiha continued, making Kazuki growl from bitterness.
"I know..." he said. "Sometimes, I get reminded..."
"It's not always a bad thing, though." She concluded, with a faint smile on her face. The boy's head jolted back up. Her smiling face gave him some peace.
"Come, now. It's time to help those two victims back in their bodies." she said as she walked away. The boy followed her until they reached the man and the woman that the demon was possessing. They woke up as Kazuki and Akiha arrived. They looked like they had just woke from a nightmare.
"Wha… What happened?" the woman asked, frightened.
"It's alright." Akiha said as she got closer, crouching down to them. "You just had a terrible nightmare, that's all."
"It… It was so real..." the man added. He was just as scared as the woman.
"Still, there's no need to worry about. It's over." she concluded. She then rose up ad helped them to stand back up.
"You can go now, Aokage-kun." she told her young companion. "Thanks for your help."
"If I see Takagi-san again, I will tell you right away." the boy replied as he walked off.
"Ok. Thanks again!" the woman smiled while waving him off.
Before long, Kazuki was back in town, strolling in the streets, immersed in his thoughts, which had taken a darker color because of what he had experienced.
"Yeah… Sometimes, I get reminded..."
A heavily wounded boy was being carried by two policemen. They were trying to carry him on the roadside, so that he could be loaded on an ambulance as soon as possible.
"Where could this guy have got all of his wounds from?"
"I don't know..." his colleague, who was helping him, replied "Let's just hurry and take him to safety!" As soon as he had finished talking, a car came in their direction and stopped by them. It was black, but it had small, yet bright red and blue lights. Behind the wheel was a man in his thirties with short dark brown hair and brown eyes behind a pair of glasses.
"Hand him over to me!" he told them "I'll take him to a safe place." The two instantly recognized the man.
"Detective Takagi!" one of the policemen exclaimed.
"Hurry, this guy is pretty messed up!" the other one said as they loaded him on the black car. As they did it, they closed the car door and the vehicle sped away. In the car, the boy could make up figures, since his forehead and eyes had been cleaned by the policemen who were carrying him, so he could see that there was another man sit on the front seat near the driver. However, he couldn't recognize him in time. He collapsed due to his exhaustion from his wounds and the battle he had fought. As he closed his eyes, a faint blue light shined in his wounds.
"Um, sir?" the man near Takagi noticed what was happening to the boy and made notice of it to his superior.
"Officer, you mustn't tell anyone about this, got it?" the detective ordered to his colleague.
"Roger that, sir." he answered, obediently. Still he looked at the boy's body and noticed that his wounds were slowly healing. Soon, they had already arrived at Takagi's house. They placed him on the bed.
"I'll stay here with him while he recovers. What will you do, officer?" he asked his colleague.
"I'll stay here as well, sir!" he answered. "I will help out when he will wake up. I also have some info for you and for him."
"Understood." he replied. Meanwhile, blood was slowly going back into the wounds it leaked from, while those were closing.
He recovered overnight and woke up the following morning. As he rose from the pillow, the detective woke up as well. He had slept lain beside the bed, so that he could wake up whenever something happened.
"Kazuki, you're awake." he greeted him as he rose.
"What… Where am I?" Kazuki asked. He was surprised to wake up in there.
"This is my house." Takagi explained. "You were badly injured, so I took you here. Your powers seem to have healed you..." As he had finished talking, the officer that was with him came in.
"You were..." Kazuki exclaimed as he saw him.
"Yes, I managed to survive Berserker's attack thanks to you and Torikawa-san, then detective Takagi found us while you were being carried away and I went with him… I am in your debt, thank you."
"Torikawa-san..." That name sparked a reaction in the boy, something that quickly turned in fearful anticipation as he remembered the events of the previous night. He got out from the bed and asked:
"Where is she now?"
At the question, Takagi and his colleague could answer with nothing but a sorrowful silence. Kazuki froze in place.
"No..." he murmured. The realization of the terrible truth came to him quickly. In rage, he hit the nearby wall with both of his fists. He couldn't hold back his tears anymore, as they streamed down his face. Takagi came to him and embraced him.
"I'm sorry, Kazuki." That's all he could say to his friend, as he sobbed violently.
"I… I couldn't protect her..." he uttered, in between sobs.
"No one of us had been able to, Kazuki..." the detective continued, trying to console the boy. He didn't stop sobbing, however, he slowly escaped his embrace and put his arms on the detective's shoulders. After some time, he stopped sobbing, slowly rising his head. His face was still contorted in an expression of deep sorrow.
"You know she would hate seeing you like this." Takagi continued. "She wanted to protect you, and she died doing just that."
"She was a policewoman at heart..." the officer added. Those phrases were meant to cheer up the boy, but they sorted the opposite effect. Kazuki's head fell again and he choked back a few more sobs.
"She wanted to protect others, and now she won't be able to… Because of me..."
"No! It wasn't your fault!" the detective told him."What do you think we should say?". The boy was still in deep pain, but the words got to him. Takagi pulled him in another embrace. His warmth would have never been enough to wipe away the sorrow, but still, he tried.
"I'm sorry, Kazuki. I'm so sorry..." His own voice trembled while he said the words to the boy, tears were threatening to fall from his own eyes. Eventually, Kazuki pulled off again and sat on the bed. He seemed to have calmed down.
"And Shun?" he asked.
"We can only imagine his despair..." the officer said "He was the closest to her among us, after all...".
"Enough." Takagi said. "We're all mourning her. She was a valuable agent, and a true friend. She always did her best in protecting people and their smiles. Among us, it is hard to find someone as proud of his job as she was... The best we can do for her is to keep doing our best in what we do as well. That is all she would wish for.".
Everyone stayed there, silently approving the statement. The sorrow for the loss of a friend became the will to honor her by following her example.
Kazuki, sit on the futon, looked at his hands…
Which slowly closed in fists...