Gekko no Senshi (Moonlight Warrior)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Tomoe.

Chapter 22

Tomoe and Rikuo were silent as they walked together towards the school. Tomoe noticed that Rikuo was awfully quiet. She guessed it was because Kana stopped talking to him. Kana also stopped walking with him to school and it was taking a toll on him. He wanted to make things better but she was resilient. Because of this, it had caused friction between Kana and the rest of the patrol. Tomoe wanted to help for she felt a little guilty, though Yura kept reminding her that Kana brought this upon herself.

As Tomoe sat on her desk, she remembered last night's and this morning's events, still a little angry at Rihan for leaving in a very impromptu manner.

"Rikuo, I know where the bathroom is… Yuki-Onna just showed me," a very sluggish Tomoe said as she dragged herself out of her room. She had spent the night in Rihan's room; she was offered a guest room but when Kubinashi suggested Rihan's, she took the offer.

"I'm sorry," human Rikuo replied, a tad nervous.

As she cleaned herself she thought of Rihan and his family and how welcomed she felt. The camaraderie in the air, the excitement for battle, was chilling. She hadn't felt like this in a long time. A sudden sadness came over her as she thought of the people that had died on recent 'youkai' events. It pained her knowing how much people are hurting because of the cruelty of this 'woman'.

'And to think that I was 'her' a while ago,' Tomoe scoffed, as she made herself ready to leave. The all-too-familiar pang she felt in her heart made her grab her chest and heave a heavy sigh. 'I too did such things'…

She had returned from the bathroom, got dressed, picked up her bag and looked around the room, Rihan's room. Rihan… how's he doing? Where exactly is he? Why did he leave like that? Is he coming back? Sadness once again wrapped around her and she welcomed it like a warm blanket. 'He makes me mad when he's around but when he's gone I feel like I'm dying inside. What the hell have you done to me, Rihan?'

"Tomoe-san! Tomoe-san!" Tsurara yelled, clearing Tomoe from her thoughts. "Is everything ok? Breakfast is about to be served!"

"I'm alright Yuki-onna; I'll be out in a minute," Tomoe said. Fighting the tears, Tomoe cleared her throat, as if making her troubles disappear, took a deep breath and walked out to meet the others.

-0-

"You can't be SERIOUS!" Saori shouted, making everyone in the room quiet. "You have to be out of your mind!"

"But Maki-san, it was in the news! Youkai! How can you not see it! We have to go!" a bright-eyed Kiyotsugu whined.

"Nope, that's a definite no, Kiyotsugu-kun. We are not going," Yura fought back.

"I side with Yura-chan. It is very dangerous," Rikuo added.

"But…" Kiyotsugu was about to cry, comically. "Pwease…"

"You'd be lucky enough if they come here and ransacked this town," Kana said darkly.

Still sulking huh?

"How can you say that? We don't want them to come here!" Saori responded, a tad flustered by Kana's sass.

"I never said that I wanted them to come here," Kana spat. Tomoe raised an eyebrow. Shit's about to go down…

"Well, that did not sound like it…" Saori started to raise her voice, "What the hell is wrong with you, Kana-chan!"

Oh, no she didn't…

Kana was about to pour some nasty sauce when Rikuo got in the middle, separating the two of them and said,

"Wow, girls, calm down," he said politely.

"Do not tell me to calm down, Rikuo! She needs to…" Saori retorted.

"Saori-chan, let it be," Natsumi intervened.

Kana gave her a black look, smirked and walked away, to her seat. Everyone looked at her as if a she had grown a second pair of arms. Saori just closed her eyes, shook her head and sat. The rest did the same.

The tension between them was growing so big, like the great divide. All Rikuo could think of was what to do to bring them all together again. Kana had chosen to become a nasty person. He felt that it was his fault for she has never being like this. He had to talk to her and be honest. He had to confess how he felt. She'll probably do the same…

-0-

"You want me to what?" Yura gave Rikuo an incredulous look.

Their school hours had come to the end as all the students rushed out, while others stayed for their afternoon clubs. The Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol had no engagements that evening, so everyone was going their separate ways.

"Please, Yura-chan," Rikuo begged.

"What are we… in third grade? Use your cellphone… why do you want me to give this to Kana?" she said as she waved the piece of paper she was holding.

"Because she listens to you," he pleaded.

"Have you seen the way she's been acting lately? She doesn't listen to anyone!" she rattled.

He begged her again with his eyes. Yura couldn't but relent. "Fine, but if she says no, it's not my fault."

Tomoe walked with Rikuo until they got to the corner where they separated. Tomoe's 'family' should be back already so she was going home. Right when she was about to say goodbye to him, Rikuo jolted. He reached his back pocket to his cellphone, opened it and his eyes beamed.

"She said yes," he smiled.

"Cool, hope everything works." Tomoe said, walking towards her street. "Let me know how it goes."

"Sure thing," he said as he turned to walk away.

-0-

What the hell is going on?

Dinner was over. Tomoe found herself staring at her books with zero level of concentration. Nada. Zip. Nothing. As if she'd never gone to school. She couldn't even count 2 + 2.

This is all Rihan's fault. Why did he have to go and find intel on this army? Why couldn't he just stay? Well, come to think of it, I used to do the same. My father used to send me to gather information… God, I hate this feeling…

Just then Tomoe heard a knock on her door.

"Yes?" she knew it was Inoue-sama.

Inoue opened the door, "Tomoe, please close your window."

Tomoe caught an edge in her voice. "Hai." She rushed to close the window. She could feel the ominous winds blowing outside. That sense that something is about to happen…

-0-

I will talk to her; explain everything and we will all be best friends again, Rikuo told himself as he made his way to the park. It was a chilly afternoon, chillier than ever. Autumn had finally fallen since the leaves where turning all shades of terracotta and it was getting dark earlier.

I hope she doesn't ditch me, he thought as he sat down at the bench overlooking the swings, right under a tree. He had arrived a little before the appointed time just in case she made it earlier.

He thought about Tomoe and how her arrival had shifted everything. She made those clouds of depression that over shadowed Rihan for the longest time, fly away. Rihan wasn't all over him anymore, which he was glad for, but he chuckled at the thought of his older brother pestering the poor girl. He 'kinda' felt sorry for her.

As his mind wandered off, he felt a deep burning inside his chest. He stirred up, looking left to right. Nothing. He looked down to his watch. It was 10 minutes past their meeting time. Kana is never late… something's wrong, I feel it.

A strong wind blew and for a moment it felt really quiet. He turned around, noticing that there was nobody at the park. No kids with their parents or lovers taking a stroll. This park is usually full at this time. That's when he heard a scream.

Kana!

Without thinking, he ran towards the source of that scream. His heart was beating faster than ever. As he took the corner, the sight before him made him stop in horror.

Kana let out a blood-curling scream as some kind of harpoon-like weapon speared the right side of her abdomen. White, hot pain shot to every corner of her body, firing every nerve, making her shake in agony.

"KANA!" Rikuo yelled in hysteria. She looked up to him and mouthed 'S-sorry.'

Before she passed out, she saw Rikuo's eyes go black with red irises, his short hair turn into a white/black side mane.

"Rikuo is…"

It all went black.

A/N: Poor Kana! And poor Rikuo too! Just when he was about to make right with her, this happens!

I sinceraly apologize for taking too long to update. I have had a busy schedule since I came back from my vacations. And I was also suffering from writers block so it was useless to sit in front of the computer and write. My mojo is slowly coming back, but i'll try not to take too long to update. Chapter 23 is already on the making and it's a little longer than this one. I also apologize for the lack of fighting scenes and 'lemons' in this story, I do not want to make it too similar to my other story "The Grandchildren of the 2 Great Lords," please make sure to check it out. It's an Inuyasha/Nuramago crossover.