Saito-san growled at me, his ears flattening against his head. My eyes narrowed as I aimed the gun at him. Slowly, we began to circle each other. If he really could regenerate, Varanium bullets would be extremely helpful in this situation. So, I pulled the trigger, firing a black bullet at his chest. But he was gone. I looked around frantically, lowering my guard and my gun. I barely had any time to register the low, resonate growl behind me. Saito-san crashed into me, wrapping his arms around the middle of my torso before bringing me to the ground. Grunting, I rolled in his grasp until I was on my back, bringing my feet up and kicking him in his stomach, throwing him off of me. He roared in anger, scurrying to his feet with his large fangs bared, "You're so annoying..!"
"Geez!" I exclaimed, getting to my feet as well, "One second, you're all nice. The next, you're trying to kill me!" Of course I knew it was because of the virus inside of him, but still. It made it harder to believe he was a monster because he still maintained his human form. Though, that only made him more of a threat; If he looked like a normal human (His ears could easily be hidden), then many wouldn't see him as a Gastrea, allowing him to infiltrate populated areas and infect other humans. That wasn't going to happen. Saito-san let out a loud howl before lunging forward, his claws aimed at my throat. Rushing forward, I swung my gun into the side of his head, causing him to yelp like a wounded dog as he fell to the ground. With my gun raised, I approached him. For some reason, I was hesitating to kill him and do what needed to be done. He panted, staring ahead as his red eyes flickered, "S-Satomi-kun..." he gasped, looking up at me now, "Why are you..." The rest of his words were mumbled. Frowning, I lowered my gun ever so slightly, "Speak louder," I ordered. He spoke again and I could hardly make out what he said. I crouched down and he took a breath, "Why are you hesitating?" My eyes widened and he sprang upwards, slamming his head into mine. I fell backwards, my eyes squeezed shut. Dammit! I fell for his stupid trick! If Enju was here, we would have been done with this already. But she wasn't. I rolled to the side as he attacked the ground where I had just been. Growling, Saito-san turned to me on all fours. His skin was gray now and something purple oozed from his infected wounds. I made the mental note and quickly got to my feet, aiming my gun and firing three times; one hit his left shoulder, the other hit his back just beside his spine, and the third missed completely as he dodged quickly, snarling viciously as he ran towards me. I jumped over him, kicking down on his hip before twisting in the air to fire my gun again before my feet touched solid ground. Saito-san howled in pain and anger before rising to his feet, glaring at me. My eyes widened at his rabid appearance; wild, blood thirsty eyes and a foam covered mouth. His bullet wounds weren't healing. Good, that meant the Varanium was doing its job. I aimed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger, wasting no time.
He tilted his head then grinned, "Looks like this battle is in my favor."
"Shit!" I exclaimed, staring at my gun with wide eyes, "I really need to keep track of how many bullets I have and use!" Tucking it away, I glared at Saito-san, bringing my fists up. He chuckled, pointing a clawed finger at me, "You really want to try fighting me with hand-to-hand combat?" I frowned then rushed forward, throwing a punch at his head. Somehow, he ducked, punching me in the stomach. I grunted from the force then brought my elbow back into his head. Saito-san let out a gasp before lifting me onto his shoulder, like one of those American fighters I had seen on TV before, then fell backwards - with me in the perfect spot to hit the ground first and be crushed by his weight. I slammed onto my chest, my breath escaping me as his weight prevented me from getting the right amount of air. "Tsk tsk," he said, chuckling, "You are so weak." Ah, now he's done it. Grinding my teeth, I pushed myself up off of the ground, surprising him with the sudden movement. Standing quickly, I threw him off of me before sending a kick into the wound on his stomach. Saito-san let out some kind of scream/howling mix of sounds, writhing on the ground in pain. I took a step back to catch my breath and prepare myself as he stood. He wasn't expecting it; Tendo Combat Style: First Style, Number Eight, I told myself, not wanting to alert Saito-san who turned to me, "What's with that look, Satomi-kun?" he asked, panting from my previous attack. I brought my right fist behind me before launching forward, "Blazing Fire Fan!" I shouted, slamming my fist into Saito-san's face. He gasped before being sent backwards from my sudden and unexpected attack, slamming into the remains of a shop, all that was left of the building suddenly collapsing from his collision. While he was down, I had to be quick and waste little time before he could get to his feet again. So, I dashed forward, jumping into the air as the rubble shifted and Saito-san looked up at me, a pained expression on his sickly and dirtied face. It was so sincere, it made me forget he was a Gastrea. Only when it was too late did I remember what he was. Grinning darkly, Saito-san sprung up to meet me, raking his claws through my right leg, that was positioned for my next attack, then my left side, stopping at my throat. Time seemed to stand still as he gripped my neck. Slowly, we began falling back towards the earth. I let out a cry of pain that I cut short by biting my tongue as we crashed into the ground. Saito-san licked his lips and looked at me from head to toe, "Very well built, I see. From your human body to your Varanium limbs. It's clear you're incredibly strong." His eyes widened and the hungry look reappeared as he stared at the bleeding wound on my side, "My...wolf instincts are taking over... I want to devour you and leave your bones behind for the world to see."
"T-that's some dark crap r-right there..." I gasped, trying desperately to free myself from his tight hold on my throat. He chuckled and stood, pulling me up as well, "Look," he said, "I wouldn't have been able to lift you so easily if I was still...human." In an attempt to free myself, I kicked his stomach wound. And nearly ended up killing myself; Saito-san let out a spine chilling scream then flung me at a stone wall. The wind was knocked out of me as I collided with the wall, falling onto my chest. Gasping for breath, I pushed myself up, glaring at Saito-san. The infected wound continued to ooze the purple gunk and I thought I saw an eye in the gunk, staring at me then at the sky before disappearing again. With a huff, Saito-san regained his composure and looked at me, his eyes widening before a smile appeared on his face, "Would you look at that - Satomi-kun is defeated."
"I'm not...defeated..." I panted, getting to my feet shakily. He chuckled, stopping to stand less than a foot away from me, "Really? Are you sure?" I flinched as the wound on my side began to burn then swung my fist at Saito-san. He ducked then kicked me in the stomach, knocking me back and against the wall. The fool... He was still aggressive and was getting stronger by the second. Luckily, he wasn't regenerating. But what good would that do me now when I can't even stay standing for longer than 30 seconds? Sitting up, with my back against the wall, I looked up at Saito-san who smiled down at me, "It's been fun, Satomi-kun, but I'm afraid it must end with one of us dead." He looked at his hands, then his feet, "I'm still standing and I can still fight. You, on the other hand, are completely weakened." He nudged my Varanium knee, made visible by his attack on my leg that ripped apart the fake skin, with his business shoes, "What's wrong? What happened to your "unmatched strength" I've heard about?" I sighed in exhaustion, looking down at the ground, wiping away the blood that trickled from my mouth with the back of my hand. Why was I so weak right now? Why was I going to die to this monster's hand? I closed my eyes as I heard Saito-san growl, "Oh well." Damn, I couldn't even make it home to Enju. My eyes snapped open and I stared at the ground with wide eyes. Enju! I was going to lose her and leave her behind. I was going to break our promise; "Promise you'll be home soon?" I heard Enju's voice ask in my head. Gritting my teeth, I leaned forward, bringing my fist back. Enju always gave me the "unmatched strength" Saito-san was referring to. Before I could actually get close enough to hit him, his ears perked up and in the next instant, someone was in front of me, two black, small, metal staffs in their gloved hands. They swung downward into Saito-san's left shoulder. Everything slowed down as I watched in awe and in shock as the staffs hit their target, then knocked Saito-san back with incredible force. He barked in frustration but tripped over rubble, landing on jagged debris. I stared at my rescuer, my fist still back and at the ready. Starting from the ground up, they had black boots with gray, Velcro straps that reached halfway to their knee, black, mid-thigh length stockings, a black skirt - though, I hesitated at that. A girl..? A girl saved me from a human Gastrea? Continuing, I saw they also wore a black long-sleeved shirt that was open at the wrists, black gloves with straps on the arm, a white, collared shirt underneath with a long, black, ribbon of cloth that acted as a tie, tied in a loose, large bow, and, taking in their physical appearance, I saw that their teal-green hair was tied in pigtails at the sides of their head. She turned around and looked at me with her dark eyes. Then, she opened her mouth to speak.
