Finally! This isn't particularly a favorite chapter of mine, probably why it took so long. But here it is, at last...

Chapter 6

Controlling the White Flame

Satoshi had started to wake up by the time they got home. He wasn't too happy about it, either.

"Krad," he said irritably, "if you ever do that again…"

"At least you're awake not, Tamer," Krad replied, not put off in the least.

"And stop calling me that!"

"Calling you what?" Krad asked.

"Tamer! My name is Satoshi!"

"Fine, Master Satoshi." Satoshi was about to retort when he suddenly noticed the gaping holes in the floor where Krad's magic had hit.

"Just what the heck were you doing while I was out of it?" he asked.

"We have a guest."

"Were you trying to kill her?"

"It doesn't matter now. Do you know anything about her?" Satoshi muttered under his breath but took a look at the girl Krad was watching.

"Her name's Mika; she's in my class. Her father's close to Hiwatari."

"Since she's in your class, keep an eye on her. The Powers will do anything to get her." Krad quickly told Satoshi what he knew about Mika.

"Let me talk to her," Satoshi replied. "It's almost time for school anyway. She might as well get to know me."

"Mika?" Krad called.

Mika was sitting on the couch, staring absently out the window, when she heard her name.

"Mika." She turned around and blinked in surprise.

"Satoshi?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," he replied.

"But I thought… Krad…"

"Krad… drops by every now and then," Satoshi answered her unfinished question. "He told me what happened and that you'll be staying with me for a while."

"You don't mind?"

"It's fine. I have to go to school, though…"

"So do I!" Mika replied.

"Are you sure you want to go? You don't have to, not after what you've been through."

"I'm sure." She didn't tell him she wanted her friends to distract her from thinking about her father. He gazed at her unblinkingly for a moment as though he guessed what she was thinking.

"Alright," he said slowly. Finally, he looked away.

Ten minutes later he was driving her to school.

The first couple hours of the day were a new experience for Satoshi. He'd gotten used to ignoring Krad over the years. It had become easy. But today… for long periods of time there was simply… nothing. There was no silky whisper in his mind, no constant struggle for control, no barriers. His mind was empty, leaving him to the blessed silence he'd always dreamed of. And it was unbearable.

Krad was lost in thought about Mika. She was one of the Powers Hiwatari would be looking for. Krad couldn't helped the man out and told him about Mika but that was no fun. Let Hiwatari search. Let him stew in frustration for a while. Krad rather enjoyed the thought. Besides, he refused to hand Mika over to that man. Something inside wouldn't let him. He tried to convince himself that it was just his dislike of Hiwatari but… oh, it didn't matter! She'd come to him. And she wouldn't go with Hiwatari anyway. He'd turn her over to the Power, the very Powers she'd been running away from.

The Powers. Now that Mika's father was dead there were only four left. Two deaths in such a short amount of time. What was going on? And perhaps more importantly, was the king going to do anything about it? Hiwatari was the only one with enough authority to stop them. And there was still another new Power out there somewhere, just like Mika. In the end it always seemed to come back to Mika.

Mika! Why couldn't he stop thinking about her?

Mika was distracted. All through class the image of her father kept popping into her mind. Especially the way he looked as his body jerked in mid-air at the last. Then she pictured what she'd do to the people responsible. They were going to pay! They were toing to suffer! Absorbed in these thoughts, she couldn't focus on her work or her classes. Her friends noticed something was wrong, but she couldn't tell them. She couldn't stand to see the inevitably pitying looks she'd receive if she did. So, after asking if she was okay, they wisely left her alone to her brooding, which only made the pain worse. There was only one person who didn't take the hint.

Ukawa (A/N: if you don't remember him from the manga, just know he's a class J#&) kept looking back at her all through first period. This, by itself, was unremarkable. He'd done it before. He'd even done it to other girls. For the most part, Mika had become accustomed to ignoring his antics. But today it went a little further than usual. He tried to engage her attention before the start of second period, but Mika escaped to her desk just as the teacher came in and told them to sit. Afterward, she grabbed her bag and headed out the door, her thoughts re-centering on her father. She forgot about Ukawa until he sidled up beside her.

"You've been gloomy today," he smiled. "How about you come cheer up with me at the movies?" Mika stared at him in shock for a few seconds. Was he asking her out on a date? With him?

"No thanks." She shouldered past and started down the hall. But Ukawa caught her wrist in his hand and stopped her.

"Come on…" he said.

"Shove it, Ukawa!" Mika snapped back, jerking at her trapped wrist.

"Baby, don't be like that!" He snagged her around the waist and pulled her into a corner.

"Get your hands off me!" She squirmed in his grip, trying to pry herself free.

"Hey! Hey, there's no need to be feisty! I'm sure I can cheer you up, Mika, if you just give me the chance!" He started to reach out with his free hand towards her chest and that's when something inside Mika finally snapped. The emotions that had been boiling around inside her all day just suddenly exploded sideways in her mind, like they'd done once before. There was a blinding light that lit the hallway. It engulfed both Mika and Ukawa in white fire. Mika felt it like pleasant warmth, enveloping her, embracing her. It was a feeling of euphoria like she'd never felt before. But beside her, Ukawa was screaming.

As the light died away, lingering in Mika's hands, Krad was suddenly beside her. He was dressed like a student; the white wings he'd had earlier were gone. He pulled Ukawa away and dropped him onto the floor, where he lay, his skin red and burnt looking. There was an unpleasant odor of burnt flesh in the air. All along the hall, students had stopped and turned at the appearance of the light. They stood now, staring at the collapsed Uakawa, their eyes wide in shock and horror. Mika was too stunned to move. She looked around at all the surprised faces, feeling trapped. It was Krad that got her moving.

"Come on," he whispered, taking her hand and tugging her gently away.

As she was dragged through the crowd of people that had gathered, Mika couldn't shake the sense of unreality. The things around her seemed to be swimming, now closer, now farther away. The faces in the crowd were distorted as though seen through a warped piece of glass. People were whispering and staring. As they got further away, Mika heard some of the girls whisper excitedly about the cute new boy with the blond hair.

Finally, they reached the front entrance and escaped out into the empty parking lot. Finally, the spell seemed to shatter. Mika blinked stupidly for a few seconds as the world rushed back in around her. Krad was already a ways ahead of her.

"Krad!" Mika called, hurrying to stay caught up with his long strides. "Krad, what was that?"

"That was the Power," Krad replied tersely, stopping in front of Satoshi's car. "Get in." Mika opened the passenger-side door and sat down. Krad revved the engine and pulled out onto the street. For several minutes neither spoke. Mika stared down at her feet. Krad glared out the window. Outside the car, trees and buildings whizzed past in long, multicolored blurs. Finally, Krad glanced over at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just troubled," she replied. "Will Ukawa be alright?"

"You certainly got him good. Unfortunately, he will live."

"What am I going to do? What if the next time this happens I kill someone?"

"Or what if someone realized you're one of the Powers? You have to learn to control it. And that's why we're here." Mika looked up and realized they were parked in an old half-forgotten park. They both got out of the car. "No one will see us here," Krad said. "Call the White Flame." (A/N: White Flame to distinguish it from the Dark Flame. But overall: Magic, Power, light, Flame, fancy words for the same thing)

"I'll try." She closed her eyes and reached into her mind, pushing sideways like she remembered. It was a lot harder when she wasn't angry but eventually, after a lot of perseverance, light sprang into her hands. She grinned triumphantly.

"Well done," Krad replied. "But that was the easy part." He called his Power, allowing the white light to bathe his hands. "This is a shield." He put his hand out like he was pressing against an invisible barrier and a thin wall of light spread out before him, glowing dully. "It's difficult but there's no point in learning how to attack if you can't defend yourself."

"How do you do that?" Mika asked, putting her hand out too. Nothing happened.

"It responds to your will. All the gestures in the world won't do you any good if you don't tell it what to do." But Mika soon found it was harder than it sounded. After ten minutes all she could get was a glimmer when she put her hand out. And it always faded as quickly as it came. Finally, Krad suggested trying something else. Much to Mika's delight, she found she was exceptionally good at blowing things up. That was, if she could just aim. She could throw the Power just fine, but when it came to hitting her target she had troubles. At one point she managed to create a ring of craters completely circling an innocent little shrub. The shrub looked like it had dug itself a trench and was now the sole survivor of World War III. The blasted thing wasn't even singed!

"Well, you definitely need more practice," Krad commented on the way back to his house. "But you get the general idea."

"I can't even hit a bush!" Mika replied, despondently.

"Not the first time you try, no. I'd have been surprised if you had. Besides, when you really want it, it'll come." Krad lapsed into silence. What a day it had been. And try as he might, he couldn't forget how he'd felt when he'd seen Mika, trapped in the corner, Ukawa's arm wrapped around her waist. Even now, hours later, the thought made anger boil up inside. Not just him, Satoshi had been furious. Satoshi, who was always so cool and collected. At that moment, both of them had been in perfect agreement. That J& had touched her! Krad never stopped to consider why this should make him mad. All he knew was that if Mika hadn't already fried the boy to a crisp, the boy wouldn't have had enough pieces left for the hospital to put together.

"Sir. He failed. He's dead." The room was almost completely dark. The man who spoke stood rigidly still in the center of the floor. Though he was the only remaining Power of the White Flame, respected and feared by many, yet he was at the beck and call of the man sitting across the room from him, half hidden by the shadows.

"He was weak. And the other, the traitor?"

"Dead, just as you commanded," the Power replied.

"Good, he would never have joined us. Have either of the two new Powers been located?"

"One. The daughter. But a Guardian is protecting her."

"A Guardian?"

"Yes, sir."

"How?"

"She escaped using her Powers when we attacked their home."

"Bring me the girl."

"And the Guardian?"

"Bring him to me as well. Alive, if possible."

"He will never join us."

"Yes, but that may change."

Youch, I hope that last part wasn't too confusing.

To sakurafairy: trust me, this isn't the end of Risa and Riku. They play a few more small parts. Dark is going to show up in chapter 8, if I remember right, and from then on there'll be more of him—though not as much as my main characters of course. Daisuke's in it, too, but not very much. Please be patient, I have to get to them. Give me chapter 7 to set them up.

To Devinedragon: I'm always so happy to get your reviews. I want to answer your question so bad but that will give things away—not that I think it's going to be that hard to figure out anyway. I can't wait to get to chapter 8 and the real fun. Then it'll get good.

To XCrossMyHeartX: Yeah, sorry, I'm getting to the pairing. You'll have seen hints of it in this chapter. It took me a bit to set it up so that it seemed plausible. Part of the reason I didn't post the pairings was that I wasn't really sure myself what they were going to be. I really like Satoshi but I think it would be so funny if Krad fell in love. What a dilemma. Oh, and there was another story I read where Satoshi fell in love with an OC that was really good. But that was a year ago and I can't remember what the story was called. Yeah, they're rare.