In another city, Four years later ...
The blue wings of a butterfly mesmerized him. He had never seen such color at a wintry night and it made him think. The insect flew just in front of him, almost touching the tip of his red nose. His arms outstretched themselves to touch but it only grasped air. He blinked twice and saw a katana diving towards him. Instinctively, he sprung up in the air. His breathing came out as small puffs of smoke. Soon he landed safely on his two feet. Adrenaline circulated inside his blood. Knees gave away from the tension and he knelled on the snow-covered grass field. Seconds later, a huge wooden stick struck his head.
"Ouch!" He took his head in his hands as he yelped in pain.
"What's wrong with you, Yuuji?" The red- haired girl shrieked at him as she lifted the rod to strike again but this time, he caught it between his palms before it hit target. She thrust the wooden rod away from him and snickered sickly. Her eyes were blazing with flames.
"Get up!" She commanded. He looked up at her with his weary, blue eyes.
"Yuuji..!Get up this instant..!" She threw the wooden rod and replaced it with her own katana.
He wobbly stood up. His two feet shaky as he parted them to a sloppy fighting stance, his own huge sword raised in front of her by two equally strong hands. A smirk settled itself on her lips.
"That's better." She launched an attack at him. The training had resumed.
Yuuji was getting use to her aggressive type of training. Her battle pattern was always different daily and that was a unique component he personally noticed beforehand. This session in particular is more on the offensive launches unlike the Chi concentration they had experimented on The Reiji Maigo yesterday. She was trying to break into his own defenses and to deliberately pull him off his feet. He turned his sword in an angle as it clashed with her slender katana, Nietono no Shana.At one glance, He remembered her words the last time they trained like this. Fighting Tomogaras isn't a sissy business at all. One must learn to defend himself up to the very end. It could be only won if and only if a warrior is fixly determined to kill his opponent in order to spare his life.
And that was exactly what she's doing right now. She pushed the katana with such a brute force that it made his heels go skittering roughly backwards through the pavement . If she thinks she could push him like a limp vegetable well she has another thing coming. With the force of his own strength, he pushed the Huge sword he wielded forward and the sudden action caused her to drew back. Seeing the opening for an assault, he ran towards her side to charge at her intentionally just the way she urged him to attack her. The Fiery-eyed Flamehaze stepped sideways with the speed of a consequent flash of lightning as he came head-on with a set of numerous attacks meant to slow her down and to get her back. She was almost a scarlet blur as she had blocked the attacks Yuuji did effortlessly and catapulted herself forward for the counter-attack she had in mind. The Mistes had improve in his fighting skills no doubt, but he still hesitate. The true adrenaline required in fighting isn't wholly there. This was very alarming and should be cure right away but she knew better than to force him on what he despises to do. He can slay a Tomogara if given a chance however, in the field of training he was a tad soft. The Flamehaze knew the reason why.
"Damn, sheisfast ..." He mentally told himself as he tried to keep up with her almost blurred movements. It was like catching the wind. He was blocking her launches when something blue caught his eye again. The Butterfly hovered just an inch beneath his huge sword and by instinct, he withdrew instantly so as not to slice the insect in freezing midair. His mind was still clouded for just an eon when he finally snapped back to reality just in time to feel the onrush of the wind upon his face. It was the slash of the Flamehaze's sword. He moved backward by compulsion and stumbled on something hard. He leapt just in time before he tripped towards falling on the snow-floor and landed upon the tip of the cold riverbank.
Time had made him motionless, one move and he'll sure fall off the cliff into the tremendous water waiting to devour him below. His ash blue eyes looked up to see the shining tip of the Nietono no Shana just a millimeter away from the tip of his nose. The position made his skin pale all over. The whiteness of the Mistes compared the snow to nothingness.
"Are You serious about this?" Her ringing voice floated through the frozen air between them. Her hand deftly sheathed the Nietono no Shana, Her katana back to the bellowing folds of her night cloak. Her eyes were fixed hard on him. The fiery red continued to raged silently as she approached him. If any other guy was being looked upon with this kind of glare , he would be crawling home-wards.
"Gomen nasai, Shana" Yuuji called her by the name he had baptized her with. Then the inevitable happened. Seconds after his lousy apologies to the Flamehaze , the soft snow-covered soil where he was standing on gave away. Before he could leap out of harm's way, He was going down already. His arms flailing as he was falling down the currents. Falling into a natural and idiotic way of dying.
"Help!" He shouted in terror. His voice was hushed by the incoming snowflakes.
The flamehaze had took a second to react and swallow the whole scenario.
"What're you waiting for, Shana?" The pendant which hung around her neck shook her to wakefulness.
"Save him." It added. And so she jumped fearlessly off the cliff and opened her crimson wings in equal momentum as she gracefully dived towards her distressed pupil.
It was over now.
He felt the air pushing against his face as he was falling head-first towards the grueling waters. His insides were slowly turning into tiny icicles that pierce his hollow intestines. It twisted and churned at sync with how fast he was falling downwards. Basically, Yuuji wanted it to end for he was literally sick. With one swift motion, he had closed his eyes and anticipated the impact of his skull and the rest of his body to the crazy waterbed below but just then something came up.
"Yuuji..!" He opened his weary eyes to see a red angel in all its fiery glory, coming towards him. In his mind he was consoled with the fact that an angel had collected him that purely meant that he would go to heaven. In a haze frame of mind, he thought that the angels were calling him. He closed his eyes shut expecting oblivion. Soon it came, he felt himself being lifted up… upper… into the sky yet he closed his eyes not daring to watch. The curiosity inside him was growing and so with half-closed eyes, he dared to sneak a peek. All he saw was white fog and crimson feathers but he knew he wasn't falling anymore and that he was being lifted instead.
He finds himself collapsing against the cold snow. Underneath the snow was solid ground, he reassured himself that.
"Yuuji… !" Shana's voice rang in his ears and he opened his eyes again. The coldness hurt his orbs and tempted him to close it again. There she was, with her fiery red hair and blazing crimson eyes slowly ebbing back to her original raven-black hair and brown eyes. The very spectacle of her transformation enchanted him. He raised his wrist to touch her cheek. Her lashes lowered themselves upon his calloused touch. She entwined his fingers with her own and pressed it harder to he pale cheek, accumulating warmth. Yuuji's blue eyes gazed at her shameless vulnerability. His fingers began to caress her.
"Shana… "He murmured as he felt her hot tears.
"Don't say a word!" She went on. "You have to concentrate!"
"I almost lost you…baka!"
"But-"He knew he had heightened her anxiety. This is bad.
"Urasai!" She bellowed as her dark bangs hid her expression. Slowly, he began to rise. With his other hand, he balanced himself to a sitting position, contented with just staring at her. After a few more minutes, silence reigned all the while resisting the urge to hug her.
"The snows getting deeper… if you stay here, you two would die of frostbite." The pendant announced.
"Alastor… Shana came back her senses and stood. Yuuji followed suit and staggered a little bit. Her hand tapped his shoulder.
"Let me help." She offered.
"I'm fine." He retorted and this made her giggle. He loved to hear her laughter. It was a reward from a strenuous training. Then soon, they trudged towards their car.
Since Yuuji was traumatized (as strongly presumed by Shana) by the fall, It was Shana who'll drive the Car. It had been a year ago when Yuuji decided to improve their means of transportation which resulted to him purchasing a car. The car was a Toyota Fortuner, a six-seater which was perfect for night trips and picnics or just a tough escape from a vicious looking Tomogara. However, Shana wasn't looking for a car. She even didn't like the idea. It was Yuuji's persuasion that coaxed her to give a go-signal and now she was driving the damned car. What use is a car to her anyway? She had wings; then again, a car would help Yuuji. At least that would be an advantage.
("Damn Contraption") She cursed then tuned to the sound of whimpering. Yuuji slumped on the seat next to hers ,sleeping and nicely tucked under a huge afghan blanket. Ow, just great. She recalled her first car lessons. It had been a cinch. She was out driving for not less than a week. Her license came a few months after. Before she knew it, she was parking the vehicle inside their garage. With the ignition off, she nudged him roughly to wakefulness . She herself wanted to go to bed.
"If you're not waking up this second, I'm going to lock you inside this damned vehicle!" She yelled at him as she got off.