Chapter 6: The Divine Flames of Crimson and Purple
Chapter 6 is finally up! X) This is the re-edited version!
So about Karai and Ayano being sisters… unexpected huh? xD Yeah I thought it would be a nice twist to put. Other than that, hope you enjoy the story as always!
Disclaimer: DarkFlame Achemist does not own Kaze no Stigma.
Everyone's Point of View
Ayano started to wake up, "Ouch, my head… what happened," she said, half-dazed from the impact of Ryuya smacking her as she rubbed her head.
She felt a breeze and started to get up when she heard somebody landing.
"Ayano!" a familiar voice exclaimed. She looked and saw that it was Ren who spoke; he was coming towards her as Kazuma followed.
Ren ran to Ayano and hugged her, "Ayano! I'm so glad you're all right!"
"Where's Karai?" Kazuma asked as he looked around, starting to get worried.
Ayano suddenly remembered what happened and panicked, "Oh my god! I don't know! I got hit in the head by Ryuya and got knocked out!" She started to look around for Karai like crazy.
"Karai's here? And missing? Oh no! Where could she be!" yelled Ren as he started looking around too and then noticed her unconscious by a tree. He pointed where she was, "Brother! She's over there by the tree!"
Kazuma looked where Ren directed him and his eyes widened to where the knocked out Karai was. 'Oh no, please no!' he thought as he started running towards her. He rolled her on her back and held her in his arms.
"Brother, is she okay?" Ren said nervously as he and Ayano got there.
"I'd say, no," he said, glaring at the bruise that was spreading on her neck, "Her wound isn't that bad, but she is infected with his aura, " he growled before continuing, "And his spirit is eating her from the inside out."
He gently laid her down, "It's just a matter of time before it takes over her entire body."
"This is bad," said Ren worriedly.
"Oh no!" Ayano frantically said, feeling guilty for getting Karai into the state that she was in, "This is all my fault for letting my guard down."
Kazuma stood up and pointed at Ayano in accusation, "How come you lost that fight? What was it you said earlier today? If I remember correctly, you said that there wasn't a yoma that Enraiha can't take down."
He then put his face a little closer to hers, but far enough, "What? You couldn't burn him after you stabbed him with your precious fire blade," he told her before pointing at Karai while still looking at Ayano, "And you lost your guard too, causing Karai to get injured."
Ayano looked down, ashamed, "Please, just help her right now."
"There must be some way we can help her, right?" Ren said with hope.
"Yeah, I got something here that might work," Kazuma said as he backed away from Ayano, "I really don't want to waste it, but she is my best friend so I'll make an exception."
Ren and Ayano looked at Kazuma, "What do you mean waste?" Ren asked.
He took a small vial with liquid inside, "This stuff is valuable and hard to come by, but I'll give it to her. Although… if it was Ayano in this situation, I'd hate to use it on her."
A stress mark appeared on her head, "What was that you jerk? Are you saying you'd choose that bottle of medicine over my life!"
"Maybe…," Kazuma said cheekily.
Ayano growled, "Baka! Just give her the medicine already before it's too late!" she said after crossing her arms and looking away from him.
He kneeled down, held Karai in his arms again and placed the tip of the vial close to her mouth. He pulled it back before the liquid could go in her mouth, "Hmm, this isn't going to work." He brought the bottle to the opening of his mouth and deposited the liquid in without swallowing it before putting his mouth on Karai's and pushing the liquid in.
Ren and Ayano were shocked by the unexpected event that was occurring before their very eyes. Ren's cheeks started to become red and Ayano began to get pissed, "Pervert! What the hell are you doing to her?"
Karai's bruises started to fade away and soon after, her eyes slowly began to open.
Karai's Point of View
I felt something warm on my lips as I started to become conscious again. 'What is this?' I thought curiously.
I opened my eyes and saw Kazuma's face very, very and I mean VERY close to mine. I then realized that his lips were on my own and I started to blush. He noticed that I was awake and pulled his lips away from mine. 'Oh my god, he did not just kiss me! What the hell?" I thought while my face was in shock.
"Well look who I find sleeping again?" He said with a small smile.
I was still confused at what was going on, "Um, why did you just kiss me right now?"
Before he answered, Ayano and Ren ran towards me and hugged me to death.
"Karai, you're alive!" Ren said happily.
"Karai, I'm sorry! This is all my fault! You told me to not let my guard down, but I did!" Ayano said guiltily.
Before I could say anything, Kazuma stood up, "I gave you some medicine to stop Ryuya's spirit from eating you from the inside out." His cheeks reddened a bit which nobody could have seen since his back was facing us, "and that was the only way I could give it to you."
Ayano and Ren pulled away from me. My cheeks were still a little flustered from that "kiss" he gave me, "Umm, thank you." Kazuma nodded at me. I looked at Ayano and finally noticed that Ren was there.
"Ren? When did you get here?" I said surprisingly.
"Kazuma rescued me and brought me here; I was the one who found you unconscious," Ren said before constricting me again, "I'm just so happy you're ok!" He exclaimed while squeezing the living daylights out of me.
"What kind of medicine did you give her?" asked Ayano curiously while Ren was crushing me.
"Elixir," he said coolly. Ren stopped hugging me, but still held on to me as we all looked at Kazuma.
Ayano sweat dropped, "E-elixir? What?" I just looked at Kazuma in bewilderment.
"Elixir? But isn't that supposed to be the rarest medicine in the whole world? Right?" Ren said after he let go of me.
Kazuma sighed, "Tell me about it. I'll probably never be able to get my hands on it again."
I suddenly felt guilty that he had to use such a rare medicine on me, "I'm sorry you had to waste it on me Kazuma. I'll pay you back for it if that will help."
"You better pay for it; but you are my friend," he said with his back still turned, "So of course I'd use it on you."
My heart kind of ached when he said that. 'Yeah… just a friend,' I thought sadly.
Kazuma turned around, "So what happened when I was gone?"
I paused for a moment, recalling what happened, "Well, I stopped for a moment to rest after that long battle with Ryuya. Ayano was checking to see if I was all right. Then, out of nowhere, Ryuya was behind her and smacked her on the head before I could warn her. She flew away and landed on the ground unconscious. I tried to hit him but he jumped back. He then shot out some dark wind magic in Ayano's direction and I tried to stop it. I wasn't able to deflect it in time so I took the hit and flew into the tree. That is when I blacked out."
"Nice going Ayano," Kazuma sighed as Ayano had a sorry look on her face again to me before having a pissed look at Kazuma, "Jerk! Don't make me feel even guiltier than I already am!"
"It's all right Ayano," I said as I stood up, "It would have been irresponsible of me to just let Ryuya throw his attack at you while you were unconscious. Besides," I looked at her, "We are sisters after all?" I smiled at her, "Aren't we?"
She started to cry, "Thank you Karai! Maybe father telling us the truth wasn't such a bad idea after all. Maybe it's not so bad that we are sisters," she stopped with the tears and stood up, pointing at me, "But this doesn't mean that I will not be better than you one of these days! Just you wait and see!" I smiled at her.
"Wait a minute… since when were you sisters?" Ren said, looking at us back and forth.
"That's what I've been wondering," Kazuma said, scratching his head.
"We are half-sisters, to be more precise. We just found out before we left the Kannagi household," I said with my back to them, "But Jugo said he'd explain it more when we return," I made a serious face as I turned around to face them, "So what happened with you two?"
"Ryuya became possessed by the yoma. He was fully consumed with his anger that he even knocked all the Fuga clan out cold. He got away and we need to follow him now before he destroys everything," Kazuma said.
He grabbed Ayano's arm and held onto Ren before looking at me, "Karai, are you all right now?"
"Of course I am," I assured him.
Kazuma nodded at me, "All right then, let's go!"
I nodded back, "Let's do this." I started to hover when the flames shot out of my boots and the three went up in the sky in a gust of wind. I jet streamed next to Kazuma who was flying while holding Ayano and Ren at the same time as we searched for the yoma.
"Neat technique!" Ren shouted at me while he is being held by Kazuma.
"Thanks Ren," I said before noticing the green devil-looking yoma flying in a dark wind tornado, "Look, there he is!"
"That's Ryuya? But his aura─," Kazuma cut Ayano off, "Is spreading. If we don't stop him in time, he'll wake the evil spirits in the ground too."
"Do we really stand a chance against something like this," Ayano said nervously.
"Don't tell me you got scared just because you got roughed up a bit," Kazuma said.
"Yeah, you're the next head of the Kannagi family, aren't you?" I yelled at her while jet streaming.
"Wait, who said I was scared? It is a Kannagi's sworn duty to rid the world of yoma, I'll stop this thing no matter what, or I'll die trying," Ayano exclaimed just before Kazuma banged his forehead on hers. 'She'll die trying huh? She should be living to finish Ryuya off once and for all.'
"Are you trying to be noble or something?" He yelled at her, "Cause if you die, it's all over, your past and future disappear in the blink of an eye, there's no coming back. No matter how hopeless things seem, as long as you live to fight another day, there's always a chance. The last man standing wins. So you fight to survive─,"
"And you never give up!" I yelled at her, "You'll never be the Kannagi head if you die here!"
"Right," Kazuma said, taking a glance at me before looking back at Ryuya, "Now let's go!"
Ayano has a more determined face now as we continued to fly.
Dark spirits started to rise from the ground. Ren made Kazuma let go of him and he free fell on to the ground. He landed and faced the spirits. Fire emerged on his hand before he shot his flames at the spirits, "You guys go on ahead! I can take care of them!"
"Don't forget what I said Ren, we're counting on you," Kazuma said before flying off with Ayano.
I turned backwards, "Good luck Ren! Make sure to come back in one piece!" I said before turning back to follow Kazuma.
"Right!" Ren said before we left him to go fight our own battle.
We caught up to the yoma. Kazuma and I shot our magic at him. He dodged them and landed in the center of a grass field. We slowly landed on the ground as well. Ayano and Kazuma went in front of him while I went behind him.
The yoma screamed. Ayano summoned Enraiha and started charging at him. Kazuma and I shot our magic at him, but he deflected our attacks once again. Ayano struck him, but he blocked. When she lost her guard for a moment, the yoma almost hit her, but Kazuma shot his magic at him.
"What are you doing?" Kazuma yelled at Ayano for leaving an opening.
"Leave me alone!" Ayano yelled back at him.
I sighed before summoning Kaito Enraiha to my hand. I ran straight for the demon's back, but he disappeared in a gust of wind before I could hit him. He appeared behind Ayano, "Behind you!" I yelled at her.
She saw him and put her sword behind her to block his attack just in time. She was pushed forward, causing her to lose her footing and stumbling right into me. I was about to fall backwards from the collision, but Kazuma caught me before we could both fall. He gently pushed me back up. Ayano and I both stood in front of him. I smiled at him, "Thanks." "Yea thanks," Ayano said as well before looking at me, "And I'm sorry for stumbling into you Karai."
"It's no problem Ayano, don't make such a fuss about it," I told her.
"You're welcome," Kazuma said to both of us before sighing, "I really don't like him."
We turned around and looked at the yoma who summoned some dark tornados around him. He released a surge of power as he screamed, causing the ground to be destroyed all around him.
"What can we do to stop something that powerful?" Ayano asked quietly.
"Just keep doing what you are doing," Kazuma said, "Go after him with Enraiha," he said to Ayano, "And wait for an opening. I'll try to slow him down," He then looked at me, "Karai, go across from him and wait until his guard is down and then attack." I nodded and started to hover around the yoma to get on the other side. Once I landed, I summoned Kaito Enraiha to prepare an attack.
A tunnel of wind appears where Kazuma and Ayano were and stopped in front of the yoma. Ayano ran into the tunnel and struck the yoma with her sword.
Kazuma put his hands up in the air, summoning his powers. He was then surrounded by a giant wind tornado which shot up to the sky, and went down on the yoma.
I closed my eyes to shield myself from the debris from the attack, but felt wind surrounding me. I opened my eyes to see a gust of wind shielding me and I saw Ayano in one too. The yoma was kneeling in the middle of the hole that was created from that attack Kazuma did. 'Who knew that Kazuma would have such power,' I thought, intrigued.
Ayano charged at the fallen yoma, intending to strike him, but he blocked her attack with his arms crossed. He pushed her sword a bit and then punched it. 'That barely even fazed him," I thought with worry.
"Karai!" Kazuma yelled. I looked at him as he was surrounded by wind, "Get ready!"
I nodded at him once again and prepared to go. I saw the fallen Ayano and went to attack the yoma, but he deflected it again. I slid down backwards. Anger welled up inside me again from feeling so weak, 'I can't give up now! I need to avenge my parents and Misao's brother! We need to get rid of this yoma once and for all… to protect everyone that we care about!'
A new strength filled up inside me. I got up and shot my flames at the yoma at the same time that Ayano did, noticing that we both had different colored flames. Mine was purple, while hers was crimson. 'Wow, two of the divine flames. Now we're getting somewhere,' I thought with confidence. Our attacks hit him as a distraction before me and Ayano held out our swords with their new temporary colors.
"I'm tired of buying you time, and I don't need your stupid backup. I can handle this one on my own!" Ayano yelled, striking the yoma with all she got. A sweat drop appeared on my head, 'I'm guessing she is talking to Kazuma and she forgot that I was here...again.'
"Ayano, don't forget about me!" I screamed as I hit the yoma from behind. It was like a ball game with Ayano and I, except it was the yoma that was like the ball. Ayano hit him in the front and when he went towards me, I hit him in the back.
Ayano and I yelled as we both ran at him at the same time and sliced off his arms simultaneously. She got his right arm while I got his left.
I jumped back a bit in a kneeling position to rest. I saw Ayano kneeling with her sword stabbed on the ground; her flames spread around her and over to the yoma, looking as if he got burnt.
Ayano panted and looked down with closed eyes, thinking she is victorious as the smoke went everywhere.
Once the smoke cleared, I noticed that he was still alive. He was slowly going towards Ayano, "Look out! He's still alive!"
She looked up and shockingly saw him going in her direction. "You've got to be kidding me," she said as she got up and started backing up. He kept coming closer to her. Wind surrounded her and Kazuma appeared behind her. He grabbed her shoulders.
She noticed his different colored eyes, "Kazuma, what happened to your eyes?"
"The spirit king of the wind marked me as the Contractor," he explained. My eyes widened, 'So Kazuma made a contract with the Spirit King? Who knew that a member of a family of fire magic users would be able to do that?' I thought and smiled, 'Good for you Kazuma.' Wind started to surround me, indicating that he was protecting me.
Ayano got away from his arms to look at him, "Marked you as the─, you mean─, the Spirit King has given you his blessing?" he nodded at her.
Kazuma looked at the yoma, "Now, time for you to go back to hell where you belong!" The wind around the two grew wider as it became a giant tornado. The yoma tries to protect himself with his own wind, as Kazuma's were surrounding and crushing him. 'He's purifying him… now we'll be able to make a final strike,' I thought.
When I knew it was the right time to strike him, I yelled at Ayano, "Ayano! Let's finish him now!" I ran towards the yoma with Ayano. She stabbed him in the neck. I jumped and landed my heels on his shoulders and stabbed his head. We both summoned our flames and they released through our swords. He exploded and obliterated.
Wind was released everywhere from the explosion. I managed to avoid it when I jumped off the yoma's shoulders in time and flipped backwards onto the ground to get away, though I can't say the same for Ayano. She was still standing there with her sword up to the sky until the wind dispersed. I made Kaito Enraiha disappear as the air started to clear.
When I got up and looked in the direction of Ayano, my eyes widened. Her clothes were torn and her undergarments could be seen. I felt sorry for her. 'Good thing I got away before that could happen to me,' I said in relief as a sweat drop appeared on my head, 'I wonder if she even notices.'
Before I could tell her, Kazuma began to collapse and I caught him before he could hit the ground. I gently sat on the floor and rested his head on my lap.
"You ok there?" I asked him softly, holding his head as he closed his eyes, "Yeah, I'm all right. Using that ability just strains my body easily." I smiled at him, "Just rest then." He nodded while his eyes were still closed.
"You didn't need me to win that fight did you? You could have just had Karai with you." Ayano said, approaching us. I totally forgot about her present attire since I kept looking down at Kazuma to make sure he was ok.
"No, I did need you. I needed both of you actually. Just because I have a contract with the Spirit King, it doesn't mean I'm invincible." He said as he continued resting on me.
"I guess not. At least not if it takes you that long to get your attack ready," she said.
"Well─," Kazuma said before getting cut off by Ayano, "Hold on a sec," she stated as she sat on him and lifted him up by his shirt. When his head was no longer on my lap and I looked up, I remembered that Ayano was half-naked. "Umm Ayano─," I said, trying to warn her, but she doesn't hear me because she's too busy trying to get an explanation from Kazuma.
"You waited on purpose! When were you really ready?" She yelled at him. He looked to the side before he answered her, "It was about the time when you got blown away, I guess."
"Then why didn't you do something, why didn't you try to help!" Ayano yelled.
"Oh come on. If I stepped down, you would have felt like a loser for the rest of your life, and you know it. Besides, Karai was helping you wasn't she? Give her some credit as well," Kazuma said, "Aren't you even glad you did most of the work?" I didn't say anything since I didn't want to be involved in the argument. I just sighed, not looking at Ayano's direction.
"That's supposed to make me feel better?" Ayano yelled at him in anger.
"Yeah, because you impressed me out there," he said before looking at me, "Karai has always impressed me since we were little though." He said with a smile.
I smiled back at them both, "Yeah, yeah, flatter me all you want." I then looked at Ayano, despite her clothing problem, "You've proven me wrong out there Ayano. Looks like you can fight besides me after all, although you might need a little work on your evading and dodging." I then muttered, "And not to mention jumping out of the way of things to avoid embarrassing situations."
"You're both being so nice to me," Ayano said, but she realized the last thing that I said, "Hey! What do you mean by that?"
Keeping silent, I stood up and turned my back to them. Ayano was still curious as to why I said that and got her answer from the person she was sitting on awkwardly.
"Umm, how long are you planning on sitting like that? I mean, I'm flattered and all but…," Kazuma said, smirking. I kicked him on the head gently.
"Ow! Karai, that hurt!" he yelped in pain. I guess that wasn't such a gentle kick after all.
Ayano finally realized what we were talking about and looked at her current attire. She started to panic, especially when Ren showed up.
"Ayano, Kazuma, Karai!" Ren exclaimed happily while running towards us, smiling, but as soon as he saw how Ayano was dressed, he gasped and turned around, hiding his face.
Ayano started to get red and growled. Fire erupted from her and shot up to the sky. She shouted, "Kazzummaa!"
"Oh boy," I sighed. I pulled her up once she cooled down and moved her to a spot that was away from Kazuma so she wouldn't kill him. I took off my long jacket, and gave it to her.
"Here put this on and zipper yourself up before you embarrass yourself more."
"Thank you," she said before putting on my jacket, muttering to herself at how Kazuma was a pervert.
I turned back to where the guys were, "Come on, we better go back to the Kannagi household."
"A little help here please!" Kazuma asked, waving his hand around as he continued to lie on the ground, unable to get up.
I sighed, "Ren, go on ahead with Ayano. I'm going to help Kazuma," I ordered him, "We don't want her killing him, now do we?"
He sweat dropped, "No we don't," he said before he turned and ran to Ayano, who was still red as a cherry. They started to walk once he got to her.
I walked towards Kazuma and helped him up. I put his arm around my shoulder and he put his other arm around my waist. We started walking in the direction the other two were going.
"Hey, Kazuma?" I said, looking at him. He looked back at me, waiting for what I was going to say.
"Thank you again," I said before giving him a kiss on the cheek. I then quickly looked straight ahead as I blushed.
He kept staring at me and chuckled, "What for?"
I nudged his side, "What do you think? For saving me!"
He nudged me back and chuckled, "No problem at all. After all, you are paying me."
I chuckled while shaking my head, "You really have changed."
He frowned, "Why? Is that a bad thing? I am keeping my promise now."
"No, no, it's a very good thing. You always doubted yourself before and never was able to fight back, but now look at you!" I reassured him with a smile.
He smiled back, "Yeah. Now I can protect you and everyone."
"Yeah," I said, looking down sadly, 'But of all the times that you needed me, I wasn't able to be there for you when you really needed it most.'
He noticed my expression and stopped us from walking, "Hey, are you ok?"
I looked up at him with a forced smile, "I'm fine. Just a little tired."
We stood there for a few second until I hugged him immediately and placed my head on his chest, "I missed you so much."
He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my head, "I missed you too."
"I still can't believe that you're back after three long years," I said happily.
"I can't believe it myself. I'm sorry for leaving you without saying goodbye. Of all people, I probably hurt you the most," Kazuma says apologizing to me sincerely.
"All is forgiven," I said to him, feeling disappointed that he still only saw me as his best friend while I hoped that someday we can be something more.
He tightened his hold on me like he did those years ago, "Thank you Karai. You're so understanding."
We were interrupted by the two up ahead, "Hey guys! Sorry to ruin the moment, but we've got something to ask!" Ren yelled with a blush on his face, as well as Ayano.
We broke apart and looked at him, "What is it?" I asked, starting to blush as well.
"Which way is home?" Ren said.
Kazuma and I sweat dropped from realization that we were surrounded by trees in a field, with no path around that can lead us back home. We sighed once we went back to our original positions, with me supporting him, as we proceeded to figure out where the hell we were and how to get the heck out of this place.
Chapter 6 is over! Hope you liked it! By the way, the jet streaming technique that Karai knows how to do is like how Azula does it from Avatar: the Last Airbender (one of the best shows) except she can stay in the air as long as she wants and jet around while Azula can only temporarily stay up in the air.
Did you like the KaraixKazuma moment at the end of the chapter? X) If you did, I'm glad because I thought that it would be a nice scene to add after Ayano blows up and fire erupts from the sky.
Thank you to Experienced, CMR Rosa and XienRue for reviewing the last chapter! By the way, since I can't reply to XienRue's review through a message, I thought I would do it here. ^^
XienRue: I'm glad you like the story so far =) and yes I wrote up to chapter 13 and am almost done writing chapter 14. This means that you can expect a chapter in a week or two since I already have it done. I just need to edit it. I like to write a number of chapters ahead because it takes me a day or two to write a chapter and from a few days to weeks to actually want to write a new chapter. Also, I can re-edit the chapters over again if I want to since I wrote them already. It's just much easier for me. Hope you understand my method of updating x) Thanks again for reviewing! Keep it up!
Reviews please? The button is just down here.
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