Haha I just cut my hair short. So happy. . Anyway, I might just extend this story by one chapter, but for now, one more chapter to go! Yay I like this chapter! Fight! Haha. Woo Hao's crazy…annoy him and he calls out S.O.F. AH! So fierce. I'm quaking in my pants. Positive. (Damn I'm having a massive migraine.)
Oh and the Chinese character 终 (Pronounced Zhong) means 'End'. It is somewhat significant as the name for Hui's spirit, as that spirit has only one attack, 'Final Slash'. That attack either kills its opponents, or has no effect at all. Haha. Came up with it in less than a minute, so do forgive me for its lameness.
Chapter 19- Confrontation
"Yea…I'm your half sister…" Kaede stared at Hui in disbelief. So Hui was Yuri's daughter from her second marriage? This made things slightly awkward.
Hui was so possessive of Ren, but Kaede knew Ren did not feel the same way towards her. Perhaps Kaede should support Hui, since they were sisters, but Kaede felt that it was not right. Feelings were one thing that could not be forced.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Kaede asked, still stunned from the newest discovery. Hui smirked at this.
"Why should I? That I have a sister as naïve as you is nothing to be proud of." Kaede's eyes widened in surprise and she stared at Hui with downcast eyes.
"Well, it is true…" Hui muttered, her smirk growing. Hao patted Kaede on the shoulder and Kaede nodded. Even if all this was sudden, nothing would ever change the fact that Hui was her sister. And as the older sister, Kaede had the duty to try and teach Hui when she was doing something wrong.
"Well, since we are sisters, would you listen to my advice and leave Ren alone?" Kaede asked slowly. Hui shook her head stubbornly, and smiled smugly at Kaede's obvious distress. "Why should I?" She challenged Kaede's request.
"Because love cannot be forced, and you're not the one Ren loves." Kaede stated simply, and Hui snorted. "Yea right. Look. Firstly, I'm his fiancée, so I have every right to make him love me. Besides, mum always taught me to fight for what I want, and to be ruthless in the process."
"The problem is, you don't even like him. I've seen that look in your eyes when you look at him, and there isn't an inch of love in that." Hao told Hui firmly, causing her to hesitate. "We-well, I do! So there!" Hui stuttered, and Kaede shook her head in despair.
Just then, there was the sound of footsteps and Ren walked into the living room. Hui's eyes lit up and she ran towards him, clutching on to his hand. "Renny! Where are you going?" She asked chirpily.
Ren's left eye twitched and he shook her hand off his with a growl. "My name is not Renny, and where I go is none of your business."
"But Renny! I want to go out with you! We're going to get married, and we haven't even been on a date yet." Hui insisted stubbornly.
Ren snorted and walked towards the front door. Hui tried to follow him, but Hao stood in her way, having seen the desperate look on Ren's face. To live with someone like Hui, who kept throwing herself at you, was probably quite tiring. Especially to someone like Ren, who, despite the tough mask he donned, was very kind inside.
"What's your problem?!" Hui screeched at him, and he smirked, Spirit of Fire appearing behind him as he did so. "I just don't want to let you have your way. If you have a problem with that, you may speak to Spirit of Fire about it."
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Ren stood by the two graves, his memories of that day washing over him. The day Lyn's parents had died. He didn't believe a word Lyn had said when she had broken up with him.
He didn't understand her reasons for doing so, but he refused to believe that their feelings for each other had all been a lie.
They had both been through so much together. He had seen Lyn's loss and her sorrow, and he had comforted her. He had seen her doubt, and her renewed resolution. He had opened his heart fully to her and loved her, and the best thing had been that he loved that feeling.
Ren squatted down and brushed the snow off from the ground in between the two graves, where he had placed his flowers and where she had placed her memories. His flowers were probably long gone by now, but the string of trinkets she had placed there should still be around.
Ren blinked in surprise when he had dug through the thin layer of snow to the ground and saw nothing. He knew he had remembered the spot correctly, so where had the trinkets gone? Then, he noticed signs that someone had been here recently. It hadn't snowed since the previous night, and the signs looked fresh, so that person couldn't have gone too far away.
Ren heard a thump, followed by the crunching of feet against the frozen ground and he turned around, only to find himself face to face with Shinn.
"Tao Ren. That's your name, isn't it? I really don't know what my sister sees in you that makes her so willing to bear any amount of pain for you. You don't seem that great to me." Shinn said with a smirk, and Ren clenched his fists.
"Well, I think I will just help her forget about you." Shinn smirked as he drew a huge broadsword out from behind him. Ren took Horaiken out from under his coat and extended it with a flick of his wrist.
"Bason!" Shinn sneered at Ren and wagged a finger warningly. "Uh uh…Have you forgotten that I'm immune to your oversoul attacks? Gosh. Not only are you nothing special. You suffer from amnesia as well? You really don't deserve someone like my sister."
Ren narrowed his eyes and nodded with a small smirk. "Maybe I'm truly unworthy of someone like her. But I love her, and I will work hard to become someone deserving of her. Besides, I'm not that bad myself. Bason! Spirit Ball mode! Spirit Fusion!"
"Borrowing the spirit's strength through spirit fusion? Do you seriously believe you can kill me with something as pathetic as this?" Shinn asked with a widening smirk. However, that smirk was wiped off his face when he noticed that Ren had disappeared.
Shinn swung around just in time and raised his broadsword to meet Ren's downward slash, although he grunted with the force of the attack.
"Not yet. I won't kill you yet." He muttered, punching Ren in the stomach with his free hand and sending him flying back. "See you in five days…Hopefully you're smart enough to find your way to where Lyn and I will be…" Shinn said with a smirk, before disappearing with a snap of his fingers.
Ren stood staring at the spot where Shinn had been before disappearing. In five days? What did he mean? And Lyn was going to be there too? Where the hell was the place Shinn had been talking about?
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Ren stood at the balcony in his room, staring out to the distant horizon. Five days had already passed and he had still been unable to find out the where Shinn and Lyn were going to be.
Ren had called Yoh and asked him to look for any clues which Lyn had left behind, but they hadn't found anything. Worse, when he had called the En Inn the previous night, there had been no reply.
Just then, he heard the stomping of feet and before he knew what had hit him, Yoh and Horo Horo came bursting into his room, and although their eyes were worried, they had wide grins on their faces. Ren wondered how a person could feel two conflicting emotions at the same time, and for no apparent reason.
"We found something, and we figured out what it meant so we decided to come over. Here." Yoh said, handing Ren a piece of paper. Ren looked at the riddle written on it, and his eyes widened in surprise.
The time has come, the inevitable is near
Our destined meeting, strikes bystanders with fear
The Gods decreed it, we will both lose something dear
And nothing will change it, seven suns from here
Back to the place, where it all began
We will be there, with or without our friends
Where it starts with a 'k', and ends with an 'o'
There by the ruins, one of us will KO.
The third line of the second verse gave it all away. Kyoto was a prefecture which started with the letter 'k' and ended with the letter 'o'. And the first line of that same verse probably meant Lyn's house, or rather, where her house had once stood. After all, that was where it had all began for Shinn and Lyn, hadn't it?
"We don't know where the place is exactly, just that it is somewhere in Kyoto. We all are ready to leave. You coming?" Ren looked up at Yoh with a smirk. "What do you think?"
As Ren walked towards his room door with Yoh and Horo Horo, the door was flung open from outside and Hui came bursting into his room.
"Ren! Yoh and the rest came by, and they're all geared up and ready to leave anytime! Even Hao and Kaede are ready! Where are you guys going?!" Hui shouted, flinging her arms around Ren's neck.
"We are going to help a friend." Ren replied simply, calmly removing her arms from around his neck. Hui narrowed her eyes. "It's Lyn, isn't it? Well, I don't care what you say, I'm coming too!" She stated stubbornly.
"Whatever. I'm not going to waste time arguing with you. Just don't come crying to me if you get hurt." Ren said coldly, walking past her and out the door.
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"Oh and one more thing. He's immune to oversoul, so we'll have to use Spirit Fusion." Ren told Yoh and the rest as they walked towards the site where Lyn's house had once stood. They nodded and Yoh gave him a relaxed grin. "Don't worry. It will all work out somehow…"
Ren nodded and told himself to relax. Yoh was right. Worrying would do no good. He quickened his pace as their destination came into sight, and he looked around worriedly when he saw that neither Shinn nor Lyn were around. Had they come to the wrong place?
"No one's here, Ren…Did you get the place wrong?" Yoh asked Ren with a grin. Ren shook his head in confusion. "No. It should be here."
"Tao Ren. I see you managed to figure out the place I was talking about the previous day? Sadly, you have only walked into your own doom. My dear sister isn't here right now." Shinn called with a laugh, walking towards them, his followers behind him. Ren recognized one of them, the blonde haired young man called Yuudai.
"You're Lyn's sister? Well, you can just die! I hate that witch who stole my fiancée's heart!" Hui shouted, running out from where she had been standing. She drew a dagger from her belt and dashed towards Shinn. "Zhong-Jie in dagger!"
The dagger remained the same, except for the fact that it had a pinkish glow around it. "Final Slash!" Hui shouted, and an enormous red slash of light shot towards Shinn. It hit him head-on and dissipated harmlessly, and Hui stood staring at him in shock.
Shinn waved his hand, and suddenly, Hui was flung towards Ren and the rest by an invisible force. Ren caught her and pushed her behind him.
"Didn't you listen to me? I said that he was immune to oversoul!" Ren growled at Hui, his voice harsh. Hui nodded slowly, her eyes wide and her body quivering with shock.
"Shinn's mine. Could you guys hold back his followers? Yoh. I will need this favour from you." Ren requested, taking Horaiken out from under his coat and preparing for battle. Yoh nodded with a grin. "Wow, Ren. You're actually asking for help? Don't worry…It'll all work out somehow." Ren smirked in reply, then summoned Bason.
"Bason! Spirit Ball mode! Spirit Fusion!"
Where's Lyn?
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Ren gritted his teeth as Horaiken met Shinn's broadsword once more, and then was heaved off so Ren was sent stumbling backwards. He steadied himself before running towards Shinn once more, Horaiken held so that its tip was pointing back.
When Shinn was within range, Ren heaved Horaiken up in a diagonal slash, and growled when Shinn knocked that attack away with a vertical swing. Shinn followed that attack with a forward thrust aimed at Ren's right arm, and Ren jumped to his left in an attempt to dodge that attack. Shinn caught him in mid-air with his fist, and sent Ren flying back with a firm punch.
Ren steadied himself, his shoulders heaving from the exertion. He had underestimated Shinn. Even with his bulky broadsword, he still managed to maintain a speed which Ren found hard to keep up with. And the worst of it was that Ren was already using Spirit Fusion while Shinn had not even called out his spirit.
Ren lifted Horaiken to his face and aimed its tip at Shinn's heart, dashing towards Shinn and preparing for a powerful thrust which would be impossible for Shinn to block. But Shinn did not attempt to block that attack. Instead, he pivoted to the side suddenly while Ren ran past him, unable to stop immediately from the momentum of the attack.
Instead of turning around and attacking Shinn directly, Ren waited for Shinn to attack him. After all, when he had tried making the first move, he had failed. So why not attempt a different attack?
Shinn smirked in acknowledgement of his ruse, and looked at Ren, his eyes challenging him to see who would come out on top. Ren smirked in return and stood at the ready.
Shinn charged towards Ren, holding his broadsword over his shoulder so that he could bring it down in a powerful swing. Ren timed his counterattack carefully, and he jumped into the air after Shinn had swung his broadsword downwards.
Ren did a back flip in mid air and used Shinn's shoulders to push himself higher into the air. He landed behind Shinn and stabbed Horaiken towards him, and Shinn swung around and thrust for Ren's heart.
Just before the two attacks could draw blood, someone or something came rushing towards them, slashing its weapon upward and knocking them both back before any blood was spilt.
Ren blinked in surprise, and then saw that it was Lyn. "This is my fight…" She told him with a weak smile, her eyes begging him to step back.
"Archangel, oversoul!"
Ren's eyes widened in fear. "No! He's immune to oversoul!"
I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to leave you guys hanging for about two weeks. I'm going on a holiday! Haha anyway, how'd you find this chapter? Review! Haha thanks.
