Hi everybody! (Audience: Hi, Dr. Nick!...lol…Just couldn't resist) Ok, I have decided to update this story and my Inuyasha one at the same time, but the updates on this story will be slower, mainly cause I am a little stuck on what should happen next after this. Anyways…um….ok I have run out of things to say. On with the story!
Disclaimer: Aww, you know how much I hate saying this. Ok, Ok. I don't own Pretear. There, happy/pouts/.
Chapter 3
The sun was setting, coloring the sky with brilliant purples, reds, and oranges. Akane would've stopped to admire the sunset if it weren't for the fact that she had some exterminating to do. Since when did she become the world's personal exterminator? Shaking the thought from her head, Akane landed in a deserted alleyway. Behind the rusted trashcans she could sense an evil power rising. A jelly-like monster shot from its hiding place and began to solidify into a demon worm.
"Is that the demon larva?" Akane asked.
"Yes, and unfortunately it has taken root. We have to wait for Shin to put up the barrier so we can take care of it without damaging the city," Hayate explained.
"Wow, for once you are being nice and giving advice. We should write that down in history books," Akane teased, earning a glare from Hayate. "Relax, it was just a joke," the demon larva shot a tentacle towards Akane. She held her ground, prepared to attack and defend herself.
"Dummy, get out of the way!" Hayate yelled. Akane ignored him and held her hands in front of her in a defensive stance. Akane heard Hayate yelp in pain and jumped.
"What? What's wrong? Why didn't the demon larva attack?" Akane asked, worried.
"Pay attention to the demon larva!" he commanded and groaned in pain. Akane worried what happened to him, but took his advice anyway.
"How do I defeat him?" Akane asked.
"Relax you mind and sense the Wind Leafe that resides in the Pretear!" Hayate scolded as if that were something that everybody knew. Akane made a mental note to finish their little fight later and did as she was told. Immediately she began to feel a soft breeze caress her body. When she opened her eyes, she was holding a magnificent blue sword with visible gusts blowing around it.
"Wow," Akane let out a dry whistle.
"Look out, it's attacking again!" Hayate warned, bringing Akane out of her daze. The demon larva began collecting energy into its mouth, filling it with a bright light.
"Hurry and attack its core," Hayate urged.
"Where's its core?" Akane panicked, looking around frantically.
"As the Pretear you should be able to sense it," Hayate said. Akane looked around the monster's body for something that looked like its core. Around the center of its body, she felt that its energy revolved around that spot and moved in. The demon larva aimed at Akane and shot its attack, causing her to divert from her path. The energy blast collided with a building wall, sending hunks of concrete falling to the ground with a huge crash.
"Sakana better get here quickly with Shin. I don't know how much longer I can hold him off," Akane said. As if on cue, Sakana came flying over the rooftops with the other Leafe knights.
"Akane!" Sakana called out. Akane turned and immediate relief flooded through her.
"What took you so long?" Akane asked as they landed next to her. Sakana was still in her Pretear of Sound outfit.
"I had a little trouble finding you guys," Sakana confessed sheepishly. Akane sweat dropped.
"There's no time for gabbing! Hurry and get the barrier up," Hayate interrupted. Akane growled and turned to Shin.
"Shin, we need the barrier, or whatever that is!" Akane said. The little blonde boy nodded and cupped his hands around is amber pendant.
"Beiandios (sp?)!" he shouted. Vines began spreading out from the pendant like snakes, forming a barrier around the Pretears and the Knights and the demon larva. The knights transformed into their fighting outfits, the colors matching their powers, and flew off to attack the demon larva.
"Akane, how are we supposed to defeat it?" Sakana asked as she dodged a blast of energy.
"We have to find its core and destroy it," Akane explained.
"How are we supposed to know where the core is?" Sakana asked again.
"Hayate said we should be able to sense it. I already found it, so I'll go after it. Cover me, ok?" Akane said and sped off, not bothering to wait for an answer. Sakana grunted, but covered her sister.
Akane quickly found the core again and held her sword in her hands. Dodging a jelly green tentacle, she charged forward. Holding her sword up, she thrust it into the monster's body and felt it hit the core. It cracked and shattered, and the demon larva melted into nothing.
"Yes!" Akane and Sakana cheered, and the battlefield disappeared in a blinding white light. They reemerged in the same spot, in their normal clothes.
"You guys did it!" Mannen and Hajime cheered and hugged the girls, who hugged back even tighter.
"Yes, job well done," Sasame agreed.
"Yeah, you guys were great for your first time," Goh added. Akane and Sakana grinned at their accomplishment. Hayate stood away from the group, his hand in his pocket. Akane's grin immediately faded, the only one to notice him.
"Hayate, are you ok?" she asked, Droplets of blood fell from his hand, staining the grass, "Hayate, you're hurt!" Akane gasped. The others turned towards him and their grins faded as well. Akane stood up and walked over to him.
"It's nothing," he said and turned away.
"What do you mean "It's nothing", of course it's something!" Akane was frantic now and turned towards the other Knights. "How come he's hurt and I'm not?" she asked. The Knights looked at each other and shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, you see, when a Leafe knight prêts with a Pretear," Goh began.
"Their Leafe becomes one, so they share the same body," Sasame added.
"In battle, the Leafe Knight either acts as a sword or a shield that the Pretear uses," Kei said.
"In other words, we get hurt instead of you," Goh said. Akane turned her head back towards Hayate, who was still looking away. Her eyes glazed over with tears and she looked down.
"I'm sorry, Hayate. I should have listened to you when you said to move. It's my fault you got hurt," Akane apologized.
"Don't give me your sympathetic excuses," he spat.
"Hayate!" Sasame scolded. "They did very well for their first try, and especially Akane. She held off the demon larva for us until we got there!"
"Yeah, so give her some slack!" Goh defended. Hayate still faced away from Akane, only making Akane struggle more with holding back her tears.
"No, it's ok. I know I suck at fighting," Akane said, defeated. The others gave her sympathetic looks, Sakana putting her arm around her friend's shoulders. She glared at Hayate, which didn't faze him the slightest bit.
"You say you've accepted this fate? You should think about it more before you agree to anything," Hayate said and walked off. Akane watched him leave. Once he was out of sight, she withdrew herself from her friend's embrace.
"I'd better go. See you guys later," she said and started home.
"Akane!" Sakana called out. She sighed and turned towards the remaining Knights. "I'm gonna go make sure she's alright. See you guys tomorrow," she said and ran after her sister.
"Akane, are you ok? Can I come in?" Akane heard Sakana ask through her door. In truth, Akane just wanted to be alone to think, or rather, she wanted to get her mind off what Hayate had said. She had everything she had ever wanted: a loving family, great friends a computer, and plenty of toys she liked, but she still felt bored and restless. Akane sighed.
"Yeah, you can come in," she said. Sakana opened the wooden door and walked over to her sister, closing the door behind her. Sitting on her bed, she began to consol her.
"Akane, forget what Hayate said. He's just one of those guys who don't like to admit to things when something happens to him," Sakana said.
"I know, but maybe I'm not cut out to be Pretear. I mean," she started. "Hayate got hurt because of something I should've been able to do. I mean, Sasame didn't get hurt with you," Akane trailed off.
"He didn't get hurt because I didn't do much of anything. The other Leafe Knights did most of it. But you were there trying to stop the demon larva until we got there. You didn't have much time to learn anything," Sakana reasoned. Akane smiled, but only half-heartedly.
"Thanks, Sakana. That really helped," she hugged her sister tightly.
"No problem. It's just strange to see the hyper Akane all depressed," Sakana smiled at accomplishing her task and walked out of the room. Akane sighed and fell backwards into her fluffy, blue pillows, staring at her sky blue ceiling. Her whole room was decorated in different shades of blue, while her sister's room was decorated in reds and blacks. She loved the feeling that she got every time she looked at her ceiling because it made her feel like she was flying into the sky. Hayate had finally left her mind and Akane fell into a soundless sleep.
A/N: I am sooo sorry that this chapter is so short, but I tried to make it as long as I could. I sort of based this chapter on the first episode, as you can see. Anyways, I promise the next chapters will be longer. Please review! And if anyone knows how to spell that little saying that Shin says to put up that barrier thingy to fight the demon larva, please tell me, cause I know I spelled it wrong.
A big thank you to Sakaki's Girl and LadyMoon for reviewing! You guys make me sooo happy!