Before you start reading this chapter, I would like to clear up a few things:
1. Naomi is far from perfect. In fact, one of her many flaws will be shown next chapter.
2. Next chapter, there will be some more (WAAAYYY MORE) chemistry between Akira and Takumi. *winks* [Rated R? xD]
3. I have exams next week and a quince to prepare, so I don't know when I'll update.
4. I'm hoping to make more scenes where Akira is caught half-naked (maybe completely) in front of Takumi. :]
*****Flashbacks are in italics*****
I hope you all enjoy! I think this chapter is rather interesting. ^^
Chapter Four: Attack
Highly advanced, materializing, equipment – That is a HiME. Twelve girls with supernatural powers were brought to Fuka Academy. Each one of them has an identical birthmark on her body, the symbol of the HiME's power. They are able to summon a creature call a Child, if they are willing to fight with them by their side. However, in all this is a sick twist. The HiME's child is linked to the person most precious to them, – when her child dies, so does the person most important to her. Once she loses that person, all her powers disappear.
A tiny, red star, the HiME star, is located next to the sun or the moon, depending on the time of day. The star provides great power for anyone who possesses it, which is why the Obsidian Lord was after it. But after his defeat, the star vanished and the HiME were set free from the ritual.
So why had the star suddenly appeared?
In the middle of Fuka Academy's beautiful garden, eleven maidens gathered during lunchtime. After receiving the text message Midori had sent out, they immediately rushed over. Looks of frustration and confusion stumbled across their faces. No one knew what to say, or where to start. Everyone thought the HiME had put an end to this cursed cage. Would a new, more difficult battle emerge?
Midori took the opportunity to ask the question in everyone's minds. "What do you guys think we should do?"
"You think we should try to figure out why we've become HiME again?" Mai asked, rubbing her arm nervously.
"And where would we look first?" Nao hissed, "Where would we investigate?"
"Fuka Shrine? Underneath the school where the pillars are? Anywhere we found major clues from the last battles," Natsuki suggested, rubbing her chin with her finger.
"Then how do we explain the new marks on our bodies? They have these weird, golden swirls around them," Akane remarked, touching her back with her hand.
"Could it be that we may have to face a bigger battle than before?" Sister Yukariko inquired, having her hands together as if she were praying.
"Whatever the reason, I'm sure we'll go through with it if we do it together," Yukino tried lightening up the mood.
"I agree with Ms. Kikukawa," Shizuru chimed in, forcing a smile, "It's not like we've never faced anything that's quite horrendous."
"But the other battles were really scary!" Shiho cried, "And it was because we didn't want to lose the person most precious to us!"
This statement slapped them in their faces, causing everyone to be silent. Suddenly, unpleasant memories of the times when they had lost the people dearest to them creeped into their minds. Akane, the first one to be taken down by Miyu, was so heartbroken that she went crazy, got sent to a mental institution. Yukino shuddered, remembering how Shizuru took Haruka away. Nao can only look towards another direction, also remembering how Shizuru destroyed her child Julia and took her mother's life. When looking at these two girls, Shizuru began to feel guilty. She squeezed Natsuki's hand and lay her head on her shoulder. As she did this, Natsuki replayed the scene in her mind, when Shizuru misunderstood her and both their child's began to fight each other. Realizing that only one person could win, Natsuki ordered Duran to destroy Kiyohime, Shizuru's child. Sister Yukariko had the same look of guilt, since she was the main one manipulating everyone. Midori and Mai looked over at one another, their eyes saddening. Mikoto couldn't help but let out her emotions on Akira's shoulder. When Mikoto noticed Akira had not said a word since she got here, she began to worry.
"Akira," Mikoto began, "Are you alright?"
Startled, Akira snapped back into reality. Ten pairs of eyes suddenly brought their attention to the kunoichi, waiting for her response as well. A few moments passed, and Akira still did not answer. Flashbacks of Naomi and Kyoko's earlier scene ran through her mind.
"Everything is perfect," she said, replacing her anger with a fake smile. "I'm glad to be face-to-face with someone I've known for awhile." She extended her hand towards Kyoko.
"I'm just glad that I'm now face-to-face with someone as incredibly talented as this girl here," Kyoko remarked, extending her hand as well. She took Naomi's hand in hers.
Akira then recalled what Naomi had told her the other night, when Akira was taking a bath.
The young protector gazed upwards to the ceiling and answered calmly, "That's not true. Someone in the Junior Training Corps accused me simply for the reason that they are their not so fond of me. I'm surprised she went this far."
"Who is it?"
"Kyoko Fukushima."
"I've never heard of her. What's her rank?"
"Chief Warrant Officer."
"Isn't that the highest in her training corps?"
"Yeah, but apparently that's not enough for her. She is extremely selfish. She wants to be better than everyone, especially me. I'm the first female that's ever able to be in the Elite, besides Master Layla."
Could she tell everyone and get it off her chest? No; not yet. They already had enough things to worry about, and her business would just cause more stress to everyone. Still, Akira didn't know if she could do this alone, especially after recalling the time when Takumi disappeared . . .
"I'm fine," Akira assured herself with a small smile.
"Please don't hold anything back," Mai begged, "We're willing to help."
"Trust me, if I need back-up, I'll contact you all right away."
"Okay..."
Reminding the girls that they had about 20 minutes left before going back to class, Midori took off, waving goodbye. Soon, nearly everyone departed from the area, wanting to get something to eat in the cafeteria. Before Akira could leave the area, she kindly rejected Mai's offer to join them for lunch, since she promise Takumi they would each lunch together.
"Hope you two are making some progress," Mai winked.
"Huh? Wait! It's not like that!" Akira tried to defend herself, rapidly flapping her arms.
"Liar," Nao sung the one-worded tune, "Come on Okuzaki, you practically displayed most of your womanhood to him, from what I've heard."
"It's that stupid, low-life perverted jerk's fault!"
"No. I heard it's because you were on top of Tokiha at the time."
"And then I stood up because -- wait, I don't need to explain myself to you!" Akira realized.
"Oh come on, I gotta know the details."
"That's enough, Nao," Natsuki placed a hand on her shoulder, "I think she's been tormented enough."
"Oh alright," Nao sighed in defeat. But before she left with the rest of the girls, she got close enough to Akira so that no one would what she had to say. Bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, she whispered, "If I were you, I make my move before some tramp does."
Without getting the chance to respond back, Akira watched as Nao skipped away with the group, waving her hand with a grin on her face. When they were no longer in sight, Akira shook her head, refusing to listen to Nao's mayday. She left the area, planning to meet up with Takumi on the benches as she had promised. During her walk, Akira let her mind wonder. She tried to think back on the first day of school, remembering anything strange that might have happened.
Without thinking, Akira brought one of her arms over her mouth, as if attempting to throw something. Once her hand radiated a green color, she swung it, propelling what seemed to be several shuriken straight towards her target. With a grin, Naomi simply lifted her hand, and flicked all the shuriken up towards the ceiling. Then, clapping her hands together outward, a blue, circular glow emerged. Just like a wave, it spread throughout the classroom.
"That's it!" she realized, "My hand!" She could never pop shuriken out of nowhere like that, except for when she had her HiME powers. That only could mean she had gotten her powers back before.
"But when?" she wondered aloud, rubbing her chin, "It couldn't be any further back. That morning, I checked myself in the mirror, and I didn't see any marks." A sudden flush appeared on her cheeks. "Oh come on, I'm a girl. Isn't that what they usually do?"
Akira sighed. "I just wished he would look at me like that, and not by accident. I mean, am I not . . . pretty?"
The ninja stopped, looking down at the ground with a sad expression. She crouched, feeling like she needed to think about this. For a while now, she had been wondering what her status with Takumi was. Sure, there were times before he hinted he reciprocated his feelings, but he never actually said it. Akira needed to hear the words before she could believe it herself.
"Baka!" she said to herself eventually, "Why should I care? I never used to pay attention to those kinds of things! Besides, I don't think I'm girly enough for him."
Despite being able to kick ass in battle, Akira lacked confidence. Till this day, she still saw herself as being kind and weak. Even though before, when everyone thought the HiME battles were officially over, Akira still wondered if she was capable enough to protect Takumi.
"Dammit, why am I talking to myself?" Akira stood up, grabbing her head with frustration, "It's not like I'm . . . I'm-"
"You're what?" a voice interrupted.
This startled Akira, causing her to swiftly turn around. There was stood Takumi, holding two bento lunches on one hand and an umbrella in the other. "How much did you hear?" Akira stammered, looking somewhat anxious.
"E-everything from 'I just wished'," Takumi admitted guiltily.
Thinking he had know, she responded, "Listen Takumi, I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how to."
Takumi raised his eyebrows in confusion, "You wanted to tell me you like someone else?"
"Well – wait a minute, what are you . . . ?" Akira began to ask, dumbfounded.
"You said you wish for someone to look at you like that, whatever that means. You also asked yourself if you were pretty and commented that you aren't girly enough."
Akira could not believe what she was hearing at this moment. But now, she had no choice but tell him exactly how she felt. "Takumi, I . . ."
Watching from behind the bushes, Kyoko Fukushima held onto her tonfa, preparing to throw it. She shifted just a little to get a better shot at her target: Takumi. -- Before she could get ready to fire, a hand hastily grabbed hers, causing Kyoko to drop her weapon.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice warned.
Kyoko grinned, knowing full well who it was, "Then what would you do?"
"Get my ass out of here and run."
Using the palm of her hands to deflect one of Naomi's attacks, Kyoko leaped backwards. However, in doing so, she revealed herself to an astounded Akira and puzzled Takumi.
"Kyoko?" Akira questioned.
The auburn-eyed girl did not have the moment to explain, because her own weapon was heading towards her at a high speed. Knowing full well she wouldn't be able to dodge it, she blocked the attack by crossing her arms over her head. The impact caused her to fly back a couple of meters, destroying a small garden right next to them. Finally appearing out of the bushes, Naomi charged towards Kyoko.
"Naomi!" Akira called out.
Kyoko stood up straight, bringing her hand up in a cadaverous manner. "You leave me no choice."
Abruptly stopping a few feet away, Naomi looked back at Akira. "Run!"
"But –"
Kyoko's hand recklessly slammed onto the surface of the earth, causing it the ground to tremble and crack.
"Get on my back," Akira ordered Takumi, "And hold on tight."
Wanting to get away, Takumi obliged. As soon as he wrapped his arms around her, Akira sped off into the forest, also desperately wanting to escape.
"Oh no, no, no, that won't do," Kyoko mocked with a smile.
"You better leave them alone!" Naomi warned, "You will be sorry . . ."
Each step was still not far enough away for Akira, and Takumi knew this. Having never seen her this anxious to get away, he was starting to worry. When was the last time Akira had been this frightened? He didn't even think it was possible for her to feel fear. She always had such a tough act. But after looking upon her face before he climbed on her back, Takumi knew she was definitely concealing something . . . and he was determined to find out.
"You don't have an idea on what he planned to do for Akira-dono's future!" Naomi scolded back, tightening her hands into fists. "The master is the sham for forcing her to do such thing!"
What could Naomi possibly have meant?
"Akira-chan," Takumi softly whispered her name, holding onto her tighter. Sensing a morose tone in his voice, the anxious Akira halted and laid his body across the bark of the tree.
"Are you feeling okay? You just need to hold on just a little bit longer. I promise to get you somewhere safe," Akira assured, putting her hand behind his head, "I won't let anything happen to you again."
Takumi felt a teardrop on his face, but it was not his. He looked directly into Akira's eyes as she spoke, "I'll protect you Takumi. I'll protect you . . ."
A white, force field suddenly surrounded them, deflecting the darts that were bouncing off its surface. Akira recognized the smell of poison. Glimpsing behind her, she saw several buff-looking ninjas getting ready to attack again.
"Stay put," Akira said to Takumi, who nodded in agreement.
"Get her!" ordered one of the guards.
"Yes Captain!"
"NO!" a voice harshly objected.
In a blink of an eye, Naomi appeared, rapidly taking down each ninja with one or few blows. She showed no mercy to any of them and did not intend to. While some were trying to use magic or weapons, Naomi used her bare hands to block or counter each attack, never letting her guard down. Akira and Takumi watched intently and noticed every detail of her fighting style. Leaping onto one of the ninja's shoulders, Naomi used her legs like a windmill, hitting and shoving each one of them who jumped out of the trees. She caught one of them between her ankles. Bringing her lower body to the ground at full speed, she smashed the victim, along with others who tried to save their comrade. Flipping her body backwards, Naomi kneed the person she had used to help her use her windmill attack in his face. Once his body had fallen on the ground, she got back into her fighting stance, scanning the area for any more surprises.
"Where the hell is she?" Naomi cursed under her breath.
"Where you least expect it," a voice hissed.
Right after the voice had finished its sentence, Naomi leapt backwards. Just as she predicted, Kyoko's body popped out of the ground exactly where she had been standing.
"Give her up! You know what the consequences are!" Kyoko shrieked, getting a bit aggravated at this game, "If I'm not mistaken about your plan, it would be best if that boy is eliminated!"
It was as if everything in Takumi's world had suddenly become black and white. Everything around him had miraculously stopped moving, and the poor boy began to tremble in fear. Akira stared at Kyoko in astonishment, her mind not thinking straight. She was joking, right? Would she dare lay a hand on him? There was no way in hell she could . . .
"Eliminate… Takumi?" Akira inquired between her clenched teeth.
The tone of her voice caused Naomi to look back with a serious look on her face. Something did not sound quite normal, and Naomi was sure of it. Glancing over at Takumi, it seems like he notice the change of mood as well.
Kyoko clasped her hands together, summoning the thin, silver sword she tried to use on Naomi earlier. Her hands grasped onto it tightly as a red aura glowed around her body and her sword.
"I'm sorry Princess Akira," Kyoko said in a sincere tone, "But you have to come with me, even if I have to force you."
"Like hell I would go with you!" Akira screamed, her hands tightly clenched. A tiny stream of blood trickled from her fist.
Everyone was taken aback by Akira's growing rage. "A-Akira," Takumi softly whispered her name. He reached towards her and grabbed onto her arm, hoping she would stop whatever she was about to do.
"Takumi," Akira began in a promising tone, "I wasn't able to protect you before, and I can't forgive myself for that. I know I had the abilities and the perfect disguise to keep you away from danger, but I let my guard down and made you disappear."
Not being able to hold back her emotions any longer, the green-haired kunoichi let her tears fall from her eyes and down her face again as she continued. "But that's all going to change! I will show you I have what it takes to protect you and that there's nothing for you to ever worry about!"
Takumi instantly recognized the hand movements and incantation.
"Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!"
Underneath Akira, a shadow in shape of a huge frog appeared. It slowly rose from the ground, causing smoke to spread throughout the area, making it hard to see. But something different caught Takumi's attention. Once the smoke cleared, he started to analyze more thoroughly. His eyes suddenly widened as he realized what was wrong.
Golden, demonic swirls were spreading across the back of Akira's neck.