Chapter 11: The Consequences of Power and Revenge
Sup guys? Finally posting up chapter 11! ^^ This is the longest chapter out of all the ones I've written! It's basically like two chapters :D Whoop! I couldn't figure out what to name the chapter so I kept changing it over and over again -_- In the end, I just left it to the original title.
After this chapter, though, I will be writing something else and not the Ayumi episodes, but it will be happening at the same time as the events in chapters 13-16. Sorry if that disappoints you, but that is the way I wanted to write it.
Disclaimer: Dark-Flame Alchemist does not own Kaze no Stigma.
Enjoy!
Karai's Point of View
I heard Ayano yell in the direction of the building I came out of while I was watched Misao talk with her father. She was probably fighting Kazuma right now. I turned my head and saw Ayano jump off the building. I shrugged and looked in the direction of the church once again.
My eyes widened. I turned back quickly to look at Ayano again and tried to comprehend what I just saw; Ayano… jumped off… the building. My head went down and I sweat dropped as I sighed at her impulsiveness.
She swung her sword as it shot flames at Kazuma while he blocked them. Ayano would have probably fallen to her death if Kazuma hadn't caught her… then yet again, he dropped her, but I couldn't see where since the trees were blocking my view of them. I sighed, turning back my focus on Misao, knowing that those two would be okay. I don't care if Ayano kills him right now because I'm still a bit peeved off at him.
"Do you think this is a joke?" Masayuki said holding out his hand with his flame erupting from it.
Misao smiled and conjured up her own fire, which was now an evil dark purple. Misao's father and the other relatives threw their fire at her, but she surprised them by sending off a powerful attack that shot up to the sky, deflecting theirs and hitting them directly. They died instantaneously.
I was shocked to see all of Misao's family members dead on the floor, just like that; their blood spreading around their bodies in the cold cement. Misao stood there, proud of what she had done. I pitied them for dying in such a cold-blooded way, especially by their relative, who, deep inside, is a kind-hearted girl. She was just in pain. I knew that I not only have to stop her, but save her.
I left my spot and revealed myself to Misao in the open as I walked towards her.
"Ah Karai," She smiled, "So you came after all. I knew you would of course. Now that just leaves Ayano and Kazuma."
I walked past the dead bodies of the Ogami family and stopped in the same spot Masayuki was previously. He now laid on the floor to my right. I smirked a bit, "I never thought you had it in you to murder your own family," my smirk faded away as my face became serious, "but I guess that is what happens when you are so bent on revenge."
"Of course, Karai; I don't consider them to be my family, so it was a piece of cake. Focusing on revenge has made me stronger. You yourself became stronger to avenge your own loved ones and it worked out," Misao said.
I shook my head, "No. That was completely different. Yes, I wanted to get the one who killed my family, but I was able to do the right thing. I didn't kill innocent people. My parents would have wanted me to get stronger my own way and to kill the yoma so that it wouldn't kill anyone or even sacrifice any more people and that's what I did. Your brother would have wanted you to do the same. He wouldn't like it if he knew that you killed innocent people to get stronger."
"Shut up!" Misao yelled at me, clenching her fists.
"The thing is though… you haven't gotten stronger at all," I told her.
"I'll show you!" Misao growled as she conjures up another huge evil flame and shot it at me. I held up my hand that was consumed with my flame and deflected her attack with my powerful one.
"I know that I didn't help you really before besides give you advice, but let me help you be stronger now Misao! Not for revenge, but to move on with your life! Let me save you before things get worse!" I yelled at her, "This isn't the way to do it!"
"I don't need any saving! My guardian angel has already done that by helping me become strong! If you want to help me since you say that you owe me, you would kill Kazuma for me!" She summoned several fire balls and shot them at me again, but I hovered up before her attack could hit me. I did a flip in the air going towards Misao and shot out some flames at her with my hand as I was upside down and landed in the entrance of the door. She repelled my attack and turned around to face me.
I swung my hand to the side, materialized Kaito Enraiha, and got into battle stance, "How are you going to defeat Kazuma when you can't even defeat me? Face it. Whoever this guardian angel is, he lied to you. He probably said what you wanted to hear, not what was truly right."
She got very mad and started throwing fireballs in every single direction. I blocked her attacks with my sword as she kept at it. During her rage, she also shot at the top of the church. She didn't notice, but I saw a piece of the church that Misao hit coming down, straight for her. Without thinking, I pushed Misao to the side and before I knew it, I blacked out once again.
Everyone's Point of View
Misao was on the floor where Karai pushed her. She looked at Karai as she was out cold in the floor in front of her, blood coming out of her head. A piece of the building that was as big as a basketball had hit her head when it fell and a piano-sized one was on her, but didn't crush her. It stopped just in time when it hit the ground and leaned on the wall.
'She actually took the hit for me?" Misao shockingly thought. She shook her head, 'No, it doesn't mean anything! She was stupid to do that!' She got up and stood in front of the steps. Her back was facing the knocked out Karai. She felt a very small pang of guilt, but got it out of her mind… well most of it.
Ayano and Ren came up the steps leading to the church and stopped when they saw all the dead bodies on the floor.
"W─what happened here?" Ayano said, horrified with the scene before her.
"This is awful!" Ren replied in the same fashion as Ayano.
"How could she…," Ayano said glancing at Misao. Her eyes widened when she saw the figure of her older sister just a few feet from behind Misao, out cold on the ground, "Oh my god… no. It can't be," Ayano put a hand to her mouth. Ren noticed too and was shocked. They were both speechless.
"Did you really have to kill them?" Kazuma said flying in and landing in front of the dead bodies, "You made a serious mess and you seem pretty comfortable considering you just wiped off your remaining relatives."
"Like I told Karai, it was easy since I don't consider them to be my family. How can I feel any connection to somebody so desperate to impress their superiors that they'd try to kill their own daughter?" Misao told him, "The only true family I had─," "Is your brother Takeya, right?" Kazuma finished for her.
"Yes. My brother who you killed in cold blood," the dark aura surrounded her once again, "I now finally harnessed enough power to have my vengeance," Misao said.
Kazuma looked at her, "Fine… By the way, what did you mean that you already told Karai? I don't see her around," Misao just smiled at him.
"Kazuma."
Kazuma turned around to see who said his name and it was Ayano. Both she and Ren looked like something bad has happened as he saw her finger pointing in Misao's direction, "What's wrong with you two?"
"Look," Ren said. Kazuma looked in Misao's direction and noticed who was behind her. His eyes widen as he saw his best friend unconscious and immediately became raving mad.
"Misao, what have you done?" Kazuma angrily said, clenching his fists.
"It's not my fault she went in my way when the rubble that is on top of her now was aiming for me. She could have saved herself a lot of trouble by letting me die already," Misao calmly answered. Kazuma, Ayano and Ren can't believe what they just heard.
Ayano became furious, "She risked her life for you and you can't even show a bit of gratitude?"
"You have truly changed after all… and it's my fault," Kazuma said with remorse, "Karai wouldn't be in that condition if it wasn't for me."
"Yes it is," Misao said as the evil purple aura surrounded her, "and now the moment has come for you to pay for my brother's death." Like she did with Karai, she conjured up her flame and threw it straight at Kazuma. He surrounded himself in a gust of wind and deflected her unsuccessful attack.
She growled from her unaffected attack, "All right, how about this?" She summoned several balls of fire and shot them at him. He put up a wind shield to keep them from hitting him.
She hesitated and took a few steps back, "There's no way that he could have survived that…"
"Come on," Ayano said, "You honestly believe that you have enough power to kill Kazuma? If it were that easy, I would have already done it. I bet you couldn't even put a scratch on Karai either. I mean, she got injured because of some concrete that fell because of your power, not your power itself."
Ren looked at Ayano, "Ayano…"
"You've gotten stronger, but you're not even powerful enough to fight Ren. Yet somehow you actually think you could defeat Kazuma? That's pretty pathetic," Ayano told Misao.
"That's enough! You don't even know what you are talking about! Not you or Karai! I can defeat him!" she protested, "My guardian angel promised me that I have enough power!"
"Your guardian angel?" Ayano questioned, "What delusional pervert told you that?"
"You're such a rude little girl," said an unfamiliar voice that walked out of the church.
Misao turned to look at him with joy, "My guardian angel! You're here!"
Ayano, Kazuma and Ren stared at the figure standing next to the body of Karai. He looked like a mere child with blond hair, green eyes and strange clothing on.
"An angel? Seriously?" Ayano said, not believing it.
Misao turned around and kneeled before him. She looked up at him, "Help me, my angel. Please offer me your wisdom and guidance. I must not be using my powers properly. Oh please show me how to take my revenge."
The mysterious boy looked down at her, "Misao, that'll never happen." Her eyes widen from shock as he continued, "There's no way someone like you can defeat Kazuma Yagami. I mean, you couldn't even defeat Karai Uchiha whose powers are superior to his through years of training. Therefore, it's simply impossible."
She started to freak out, "But you….! I don't understand! You said that I had absorbed enough energy! You said I was ready!"
"So I did," he said kneeling down to her level and placing a hand on her head, "The truth is, your ability to harness and control energy is determined at birth. It's sweet that you put your faith in me, but you'll never be able to use the power that you collected. You must have known that you come from a family of magic users. You've just ignored reality, haven't you?"
"This can't be… You promised! You told me that I could!" She protested as she began to lose it.
"Hmm, I simply told you everything that you wanted to hear Misao. Never doubt the human capacity of self-delusion. Once they got their mind set on something, they'll believe anything that they want to believe and as long as you agree with them, you can convince them of just about anything," he said before having an eviler look, "Like, for example…"
He moved his face closer to hers and placed his hands on both sides of her face, "There's nothing wrong with what you're doing. It's not a sin if your wish is pure. The desire for vengeance is righteous in God's eyes."
Her eyes widened from realization of what she has done and she started to cry as he continued, "You can do anything you want because your wish is the only thing that matters. Slaughter hundreds of innocent people; their lives are insignificant in compared to your revenge. Why, you could even murder your entire family if they get in your way. God himself says it's so."
She leaned back to get his hands away from her face and became frantic, "Please no! That can't be! It's not true!"
"But you believed it didn't you?" he said, "You took the lives of hundreds… and you did it for nothing."
"No! Why? Karai was right all along! I always looked up to her and I didn't even follow what she had told me! Why didn't I listen to her?" She shouted and screamed, "No!" She wasn't able to take it anymore and fainted.
Ayano and Ren start running toward her, "Misao!" "Get away from her!"
Before they knew it, a dark power sent them flying back and falling on their butts in front of Kazuma.
"That aura is really vicious," Ayano said nervously.
"That's all the energy that Misao gathered. It's the collected energy of her victims that she can't control while unconscious. Now it's pouring out of her like somebody squeezing liquid from a sponge," Kazuma explained, "And now this guy standing right there is soaking it up and harnessing it for himself." The mysterious person now possessed the aura that Misao once had.
"So you suckered her into doing your dirty work?" Kazuma asked him.
He answered, "That was the plan. I needed a medium strong enough to harvest the energy for me, like a Kannagi. It was truly a fortunate coincidence that Misao and I wanted the power to defeat you, Kazuma."
Ayano and Ren stood up as Kazuma spoke to the guy, "Is that so? Wanna tell me why?"
"Forgive me. I still haven't introduced myself. My name is Michael," he said while he bowed down like a gentleman and went back up, "Michael Harley. I have been selected to defeat you and nothing will stop me. Tonight you will die in the name of stars and wisdom."
"Wait, what?" Kazuma said in surprise, "In the name of stars and wisdom?"
"That's right. You may have well overheard my master say that before since you are actually related to him. I'm quite certain it sounds familiar to you. Think hard Kazuma. You cannot bare your feelings forever."
Kazuma suddenly remembered.
(Flashback)
A man was standing before a woman with long brown hair that was put up in a ponytail who was held by red strings in a strange, dark room, "Let my words be heard. In the name of stars and wisdom, I shall pursue only the truth."
(Flashback Ended)
Kazuma's hands clenched from remembering such a horrid memory; a gust of wind began to surround him, "Thank you for reminding me and to show my appreciation, how about I send you to hell so you can join him!" He shot his wind magic at him, but it doesn't even scratch him.
"I'm afraid I'm not going anywhere Kazuma," he said as Misao's body hovered in the air. The slime that killed all those innocent people appeared and encased her. It formed into a massive dragon which roared and slammed its tail on the church, destroying it.
The large pieces crumbled and were about to drop on Karai which Kazuma noticed. He held up his hand to create a wind shield so they won't fall on her while he waved his other hand, making his wind magic remove the rubble off Karai. He moved his hand holding up the pieces from the church and used his wind to fling them at the dragon which caused it to move back a few steps.
Seeing this as a delay, he flew over to Karai as fast as his wind carried him. He carried her bridal style and flew her to a spot far away from the dragon. He gently placed her down and looked at her injured condition. He clenched his fist, "I'm sorry this happened to you Karai. I'll-, no, we'll stop him and save Misao."
He gave her a kiss on the forehead, "Wake up so you can help defeat this dragon as well," he said softly before going back to where Ayano and Ren ran to.
Ayano looked at him with worried eyes, "Is she going to be all right?"
"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Kazuma said looking up at the dragon that had Misao in it.
Michael laughed, "It is truly magnificent. Would you have ever guessed that you could create a monster out of such a sweet little girl like Misao?" Michael said as he was on top of the dragon's head, "You'll never defeat it Kazuma. Your meager wind magic skills are no match for a dragon. Oh, and be careful, destroying the beast will destroy her too," he finished before going inside of the dragon himself. The dragon roars.
"So, Misao is a part of that thing?" Ayano said nervously.
"Then how are you supposed to attack it without hurting her?" Ren asked.
The dragon shot out the evil dark flame at them, but they each jump back in time.
Kazuma looked at Ayano, "What about the Kannagi's purifying fire? You should be able to use it to burn the dragon without harming her."
"Great idea, but maybe you should come up with a plan that one of us can actually pull off," Ayano said.
"What?" Kazuma said in surprise.
"That kind of magic takes years to master. Only my father and Genma know how to do it," Ayano answered him.
He continued staring at her before he slouched his upper body in annoyance, "You're useless."
"Oh yeah! Look who's talking!" Ayano yelled back angrily, but remembered something, "Wait! Karai should know how to use the Uchiha's purifying flame!"
"Yeah, too bad she's unconscious right now! We don't even know if or when she'll be awake by the time this thing is defeated. Hopefully before," Kazuma said. The dragon breathed fire at them again, making them jump out of the way.
"Ok, are you still serious about trying to save Misao?" Ayano asked him.
"Of course I am. I don't care what happens, but I'm not going to let her die," he answered her.
Ayano looked at him, "But… Kazuma," she started off saying doubtfully, but stopped and finished her sentence confidently, "If you want to stop this thing, then I'd better give it everything I got." She summoned Enraiha to her hand and charged for the dragon.
"Ayano wait!" Ren yelled at her.
She jumped and shot out a huge stream of flames at its head which disappeared, but then regenerated once again.
'I don't get it,' she thought while dodging the dragon's attacks, 'Why does he care so much?' She landed and put the tip of her sword on the ground. Fire is released towards the dragon. Its leg burns off, causing it to trip before the leg regenerated, 'What is it about Misao?' She charged at it again, 'is it because he is in love with her? He's supposed to be in love with Karai! She deserves him more than Misao and it's so obvious that they are meant for each other! So why?'
Tentacles from the side of the dragon's head were headed straight for Ayano, but she didn't have enough time to dodge them. She was prepared to take the hit as she closed her eyes, but Kazuma rescued her in time, getting injured in the process without Ayano seeing it.
"Did the bad dragon scare you? Open your eyes."
Ayano finally opened her eyes and saw that Kazuma was holding her, and she realized that he saved her, but couldn't believe it, "Wait, Kazuma?" 'Did he actually rescue me?'
The dragon sent its tentacles at them again while they were flying off to a safe location. Before it could get to them, Ren sent a stream of fire to block the tentacles.
"Thanks for the hand Ren," Kazuma gratefully said as he continued flying and Ren was fighting off the dragon.
Ayano just looked at him and started to get angry, "Why did you do that? If you want to save Misao so badly, why'd you waste your energy on me?"
He answered, "I don't see any reason why you should have to die for me to save her."
"What? Make up your mind! Who's side are you on?" Ayano demanded as Kazuma landed in a safe place away from the dragon.
"Why are you always talking about sides? I've got the power to protect all of you and that's what I'm going to do."
"Protect all of us? But I thought─," She said before getting cut off, "I didn't acquire this power to let people die. I have a responsibility to protect others now. I'm going to save Misao, but I'm still going to protect you, Ren and Karai. The only person who is going to die is that cocky little bastard back there; is that all right with you?"
"Yeah of course, sounds good to me. Just one question though," Ayano asked.
"What is it?" Kazuma said.
"Why are you so willingly to protect us all?" she curiously asked.
Kazuma paused for a bit and took a glance at the unconscious Karai and back at Ayano, "I made a promise to someone that I will protect everyone, especially that one person… and I intend to keep it," he says confidently.
Ayano's eyes widened, 'Could that promise be for Misao… or Karai? No, it definitely has to be Karai.'
Suddenly, Kazuma winced and went down on one knee, placing a hand on his chest.
"Kazuma! Are you all right? What's wrong?" She looked where he put his hand on his chest and saw blood dripping, "You're bleeding! This happened when you rescued me, didn't it?"
"It's nothing. I'm ok," he tried to reassure her.
"No you're not, you've been hurt and right now you've got to stop the bleeding and try to recover. Ren and I will hold him off until you get back on your feet ok?"
Kazuma protested, "I can't just leave you two to do this on your own."
"Ayano, Kazuma! Watch out!" they heard Ren yell.
Kazuma and Ayano turned their heads to see the tentacles coming toward them and Ren not being able to block them in time. They both knew that they wouldn't be able to dodge the attack either and so they both closed their eyes, waiting for the impact. Before the tentacles could even reach them, a stream of the divine purple flame sliced the tentacles off. Instead of being regenerated, they drop on the ground and were unable to go back to their original form. The dragon shrieked in pain.
Kazuma and Ayano opened their eyes. They looked at Ren who shook his head and pointed in the direction to their right. Their eyes widen to see Karai holding Kaito Enraiha which possessed the purple flame once again. She looked like she wasn't injured at all, but still panted a bit.
"Karai is awake!" Ayano exclaimed, "Now we can beat this dragon and save Misao!"
'Thank goodness, she's fine and she woke up just in time,' Kazuma smiled in relief that Karai was all right and looked at Ayano, "Ayano, go and help out Karai while I heal myself. Just keep him busy. Tell Karai that as well and make sure she doesn't exhaust herself."
Ayano nodded, but before she could go, Kazuma gave her a hug, "I think you're going to be a damn fine woman one of these days kid, just like your sister. I can see her influence on you from the past few weeks."
Ayano blushed, "What do you mean I might turn out to be? Thanks for the lack of confidence, but I already know that I'll be a good woman."
"Guess we'll just have to see. Now give me five minutes, ok?"
"All right, but I'm holding you to that promise of yours," she said as she went off to Karai and Ren.
Karai's Point of View
My body was aching all over, especiallymy head. I gingerly sat up and opened my eyes. I slowly recalled where I was and found myself in a different location from where I was. I also realized that once again… I had blacked out, 'That is like the third time in less than a month that I fainted! What the hell is wrong with me? Oh yeah… two of the times, I saved someone.' I sighed, 'this is what I get for being a hero to all.'
I looked up to see a huge dragon made of that icky slime from earlier. It was in front of the now destroyed church. Ren was fighting off the dragon. He was doing pretty well, but whenever he shot his flames at it, the part that got burnt would regenerate back. I didn't see Ayano and Kazuma anywhere or even Misao.
My energy was still kind of high. It was enough for healing, but not good enough to defeat that dragon on my own. I surrounded myself with my flames to partially heal myself enough to fight.
Once I was done, I searched the area and saw Ayano and Kazuma in a safe distance from the dragon. It looked like Kazuma got injured and Ayano is trying to help him. He'll be fine.
I still didn't see Misao which kind of worried me because I was only able to save her from the falling building pieces. I hope she is ok. I heard Ren yell, "Ayano, Kazuma! Watch out!"
I saw some tentacles shoot out from the sides of the dragon's head. They were headed for Ayano and Kazuma and both were unable to protect themselves in time. Even Ren wouldn't be able to stop the attack.
Suddenly, I had the same protective instincts I had before when we were battling the yoma. I materialized Kaito Enraiha to my hand and swung a stream of fire at the tentacles. My attack sliced them off and to my surprise, they didn't regenerate just like when Ren attacked─, they just dropped on the ground.
I panted a bit and waved my hand at Ren who noticed that I was conscious again. I looked at Kaito Enraiha and was surprised to see that it once again possessed the purple divine flame. 'I guess that whenever I have the need to protect, my flames turn purple. That's pretty cool.'
I ran to where Ren was─ in front of the dragon that continued to shriek.
"Karai! You're ok!" Ren said happily as he was about to hug me.
"I'm all right Ren, sorry for worrying you. Now's not the time for hugs. Give me the update. Like where the hell did that dragon come from?" I asked him before I could bombard him with questions.
"Well, Misao became unconscious after this guy name Michael Harley, her so-called guardian angel, told her that he was using her. She was so upset that she listened to him over you. She wasn't able to control the energy she collected while unconscious so it leaked out and went into Michael. Now Misao is inside that slime dragon as well as the Harley guy and we need to use a purifying flame to save Misao and if we do destroy the dragon without that kind of flame, she will die!" Ren said in one breath.
I was surprised to hear that Misao was in the dragon. Now we really need to save her if she had seen the error of her ways. I looked at my sword possessing one of the divine flames, "I guess it is a good thing that I have the purple flame right now then. We should probably wait for Ayano and Kazuma though." Just then, the dragon stopped shrieking and breathed fire at us. We both jumped back to avoid getting hit.
"Hey!" Ren and I turned around and saw Ayano coming toward us.
She stopped right in between me and Ren, "You've put up a pretty good fight Ren."
"I'm trying, although, as you saw, Karai Nee-sama had a better effect than any of us had so far," Ren said to Ayano.
"That's good," Ayano said to Ren and looked at me, "How are you doing Onee-san?"
"I'm fine, really. Ren informed me the situation," I assured her and she nodded.
Ren and I noticed the blood on her uniform. "Is that Kazuma's blood?" Ren asked with worry.
"Yeah, but don't worry, he's going to be ok. Your brother's strong. We just have to hold off the dragon just a little bit longer." She then looked at me, "Kazuma also told me to tell you not to strain yourself."
"Hmm, ok then. I guess I shouldn't do anything too extreme," I said getting prepared to attack, "Everyone ready?"
"Yup," they both said.
"I was starting to get worried about you back there," Ren said to Ayano.
"Sorry Ren, but I'm much better now," she said with confidence.
"That's good; now let's take care of this thing!" I shouted.
"Got it!" they both said.
I could feel Kazuma making his contract already which means that he'll be ready soon. We all charged at the dragon. Ayano swung a stream of fire at its neck, but it just goes through. Ren threw fireballs at his head which regenerated back. As for me, I swung my fire at its right wing and it fell right off without regenerating back. The dragon screeched in pain once again.
Ayano was annoyed that her attacks weren't doing anything, "I really wish we could blow up this thing!"
"But that much firepower will kill Misao!" Ren said to her.
"And my flame isn't enough right now to fully purify the whole thing," I explained to them.
We jumped back in different directions to avoid the attack that the dragon threw.
Ayano and I landed near each other. We felt a breeze and knew instantly that Kazuma was behind us. I turned my head to look at him.
"Well that didn't take long," Ayano said.
"I try," Kazuma said with his now blue eyes as he looked at me with concern, "Karai are you all right?"
I nodded at him, "I'm all right. What about you? I saw you injured."
"I'm all healed up now," He said as he smiled with a hint of remorse in his eyes before his face got serious, "Now, what do you say we torch this dragon and pull Misao out of there."
"I won't be able to do it by myself," I told him with a frown.
"Don't worry. Ayano will help you," he said which confused us.
"I thought we established that that is something impossible for me to do," she reminded him.
"We'll see about that," he said and held out his hand. He summoned his wind toward Enraiha which transformed from her normal flame to the blue divine flame. We are both shocked that he could do that.
"What's going on? Blue flame?" Ayano said with a puzzled look, "Am I really harnessing the power of the God's fire?"
"Not to burst your bubble, but it's my power fueling the flame," he told her, making her give an annoyed look as he continued on, "Now show me what you can do with it."
"So it's up to me now? Then just stand back!" Ayano yelled.
"Ayano it's up to the both of us," I said with a sweat drop.
"Umm yeah that's what I meant! Now let's do this!" Kazuma gave her a boost with his wind magic while I jet streamed up. Both of us held our swords, ready to strike the beast.
She stood on its head while I hovered in front of its midsection.
"Now take this!" She stabbed the head, shooting out her temporary flame which went all the way down to its tail. I swung my sword in diagonal directions to form an X on the dragon, hitting it dead on. The dragon became engulfed in blue and purple flames. The creature started to disintegrate and plopped to the ground.
Kazuma flew up to catch Ayano while I landed on the ground in front of the remains of the dragon. I then noticed a blonde kid in the middle of the disintegrated slime. I presumed he was Michael Harley, Misao's "guardian angel."
"Impossible. I collected the energy of a thousand people, but there are only three of them, how could they do this?" Michael complained as he slowly started to die.
I just glared at him for everything that he put Misao through as Kazuma and Ayano landed, "Tell me how! There's no way the three of you could be this powerful! Humans could never have done this." He then noticed Kazuma's azure eyes.
"Your eyes! No! You can't be the contractor! Kazuma, how could you be the one the Spirit King of the wind entrusted with the contract? It doesn't make sense! You─you bastard!" That was the last thing he said before he was burned by the fire and died.
Ayano went to see how Ren was doing because he fainted before we defeated the dragon.
Misao was on the ground. She was alive and… no clothing on as well. It was probably from the slime or the fire destroying her clothing.
Kazuma stood in front of her while I kneeled down before her.
"Wake up Misao," Kazuma said to Misao gently.
Her eyes slowly open as her vision was still adjusting and she saw us, "Kazuma? Karai?"
"We're taking you home," I told her as she started to get up and sat on the ground, hiding her face in shame. Kazuma took off his jacket and put it on her, which she didn't shove away this time.
"Will you please just let me die?" she asked quietly. Kazuma and I look at each other before looking at her.
"Now why would we do that?" I asked her gently.
"Because of the horrible things I've done. That's the only way I can atone for my sins. If I had listened to you in the first place Karai, none of this would have happened," Misao answered sadly, looking up at us.
"Don't give me that. You're not getting out of this that easy. How many hundreds of people did you kill? Do you really think you can wipe the slate clean and atone for all of them by giving up your own life? You're just trying to avoid the guilt and forget what you have done. Well I'm not gonna let you run away from this by dying," Kazuma scolded her.
"But what else am I supposed to do?" Misao said guiltily, "Is it even possible to make amends for committing such a terrible sin?"
I placed my right hand on her shoulder, "There are plenty of other ways to atone."
"I do know how you can get started," Kazuma said, "First you need to forget the dead and straighten out your priorities. You caused me and Karai the most trouble so we're number one on your payback list. That means you need to find some way to make it up to us."
She blushed a bit from accidently showing her cleavage which she covers up quick. She then looked at us with confidence, "Guess you're right. I've got a whole life of atonement ahead of me and I won't be able to do it if I'm dead. With everything I've done to you, you guys should be first."
"Damn straight," Kazuma said.
"Whatever you want then," Misao told us with a smile.
"I call it even since I owed you," I said to her, "so that's one thing out of the way."
Misao shook her head, "No Karai, I need to do something more than that so if you ever need something, just ask me; that is all I know that I can do for you."
I smiled softly at her, "Ok if that is what you want."
Kazuma kneeled down toward Misao, "All right then why don't we─," He said before Ayano sent a fireball at him with Enraiha, causing him to go back two feet away from Misao and me. I just shook my head, 'Is this really what Kazuma turned into?'
"Get away from her now!" Ayano yelled at Kazuma for being perverted.
Ren was at her side and tried to simmer her down, "I think you should calm down Ayano."
"Then I can't wait to hear what you think when I turn this jerk into baarrbbeeque!" Ayano shouted with a stress mark on her head.
"Ok Ayano calm down, I think he gets it," I told her before looking at Kazuma with a raised eyebrow, "Do you?"
"Yes! I'm sorry!" Kazuma said holding up his hands to protect himself.
I sighed, "Ok guys, let's go see Kirika and then it's back to the Kannagi house," I said as Misao and I stand up. Kazuma's jacket didn't really help cover her so I took off mine and let her use it.
Few Days Later…
Father had told us that Misao is now staying in a nunnery close by. We wanted to see how she was doing so we decided to visit her. Ayano, Ren and I invited Kazuma since we knew that he probably wants to see her too.
It was a nice cloudy day as the snow gently fell from the sky. Instead of my usual jacket, I used one with long sleeves since it was cold.
Kazuma didn't really speak to me since the incident with Misao. I wonder why. I almost forgot though that I was mad at him, but I had already let it go.
We waited at the entrance for Misao to show up and she finally showed herself. She was now wearing a nun uniform.
"Hello Kazuma, Karai," she greeted us.
"Hey," Kazuma said.
"Hi Misao," Ren said.
"Good to see you," Ayano said.
"Hello Misao," I greeted her with a smile. She nodded at all of us as we all left the convent and went on a walk.
"So you decided to run off to a nunnery without saying goodbye?" Kazuma asked.
"Actually, this is what Master Jugo decided for me," Misao answered.
"Jugo? Typical," he said.
"I know praying isn't going to take back everything that I've done. It helps, but it's not enough. Though I guess I have my entire life to figure out how I can make up for it all."
"I see," Kazuma said.
"At least you're trying Misao," I assured her, "That's all that matters."
"Yeah," she said before she stopped walking, "Umm, can I ask you both something? After all the terrible things I did to you Kazuma and how I acted towards you Karai, why did you save me? It would have been so much easier for you to destroy the dragon with me inside of it. So why?"
I smiled at her, "You really don't remember do you?" She just looks at me confused.
"Well it was a really good memory. Not every Kannagi can control their fire. One kid in particular was terrified of it," he recalled.
(Flashback)
A brown-haired boy was once again being bullied by other Kannagi members. His friend that would usually protect him wasn't around so he was alone. They engulfed him in fire and he fell to the ground, trying to get it off him. The other boys laughed.
"Hey what's the matter Kazuma? Can't stand the fire? Pathetic. Where's little miss Uchiha now when you need her?" the bully in front of him said.
"Just look at the crybaby, he's worthless. Can't do anything by himself," another bully said.
"He calls himself a Kannagi?"
"Hey, give him a break; he just needs to lighten up."
They all start to laugh as the bully in front of him conjured up a flame.
A little purple-haired girl stepped in front of them, protecting the boy. "Leave him alone! It doesn't matter if he cannot control his fire; he's still a member of our family so quit being mean to him!"
"Look, he has another girl protecting him."
"What a loser."
"You want to repeat that again?"
They all turn to see Karai Uchiha in their presence again and get scared, "No we're sorry Karai!"
"Get your butts out of here before I fry them!" she yelled at them and threw a small fire in front of them to scare them off.
Karai and the other girl helped Kazuma up, "Thank you for helping Kazuma. Those guys are so annoying."
"It's no problem Lady Karai. It was because of you that I had the courage to do it. Every now and then I see you chasing those bullies off and it made me want to do the same." The purple-haired girl said, smiling.
"I'm glad that I could make such an impact on you," Karai said with a smile before asking, "What's your name?"
"My name is Misao," the purple-haired girl answered, "Well, I got to go now and see my brother; I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place."
"Well, thank you again Misao, we hope to see you around soon," Karai said before Misao left. Kazuma just stared at the back of the purple-haired girl who helped his friend save him.
(Flashback Ends)
"Wait, so you're telling me… you saved me because I helped you when we were children?" Misao asked.
"Yeah, guess it's something like that," Kazuma answered.
Ayano is bewildered from this revelation, "What? Is he serious?"
"And the reason that I always thought of you as an idol was because that you always helped Kazuma out?" she asked me.
"I guess so. I didn't really think much of it that much until recently," I told her with a smile. She smiled back at me as we all walk back to the nunnery to say our goodbyes, Kazuma being first.
"Goodbye Misao, I'll drop in alone sometime since you still haven't repaid me," Kazuma said. I shook my head as Misao answered him, "Sure, I'll be here."
Kazuma turned around and left. As he walked past Ayano and Ren, Ayano started scolding him, "Kazuma… you do know that she is a nun now right? Kazuma!" She continued to reprimand him for harassing Misao even though she is a nun already.
I shook my head as I remained behind for a bit.
"So I guess this is goodbye for now Misao?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry again for everything." She said sadly.
"Like I told you before, everything's fine now. You weren't yourself and that is understandable. Well, I'd better catch up to those guys… who knows what they are doing now," I said as I waved goodbye to her and turned to walk to the trio.
"Wait." I turned my head to hear what she wanted to ask me.
She looked at me with soft eyes from how understanding I was, "Thank you again for being there for me even when I disrespected you."
I smiled at her, "You're welcome. I'll drop by soon. Take care of yourself this time," I said before turning around to leave.
We waved once more before I left and power walked to reach the three.
I finally reached them since they waited for me. The two had finally stopped arguing and everyone became quiet. Kazuma force a cough and spoke up, "Ren, Ayano, if it's all right with you, I'd like to talk with Karai… alone."
"What? Are you trying to harass my sister now after your previous choice became a nun? You are such a player! No, even worse! You're such a pervert!" Ayano yelled continuously with a stress mark on her head.
"Sure Nii-san," Ren said while dragging the hot-headed Ayano with him.
I chuckled a bit from Ayano's behavior and looked at Kazuma, "So what's up?"
"I want to apologize for acting the way I did to you when we were at the park a few days ago," he said while rubbing his head, "That was uncalled for."
I smiled at him, "Well, apology accepted. That did hurt, but I know you were in a bad mood."
"Still, I shouldn't have done that. You didn't deserve that," he said shamefully, "You've always been there for me, but I wanted to take care of something on my own for once, but I should have known that whenever I have a problem, you'll always be there, whether I like it or not."
"What's done is done. Just forget about it, but like you said; next time, don't even bother complaining since you know I will help you out when I feel like I'm needed," I said as I entwined my arm with his, "Now let's go catch up with them before Ayano thinks that you are really harassing me… sexually." He looked at me with a smile, knowing that we were in good terms again.
"Hmm, maybe we should let her thoughts be a reality," he grinned as he wrapped an arm around my waist, "How about it?" I rolled my eyes.
I shook my head and nudged his side playfully, "Kazuma…"
He chuckled, "Fine, fine. I'll just give you this," He kissed my cheek which made me blush, "but we should go out somewhere one of these days. It can be just you and me with no Ayano or Ren around. I owe you that much. What do you say?"
I looked up at him and smile, "I'd like that very much."
He smiled, "Then it's settled. How about we go somewhere tomorrow?"
I groaned, "Can't. I have some business to take care of for the next few days."
"All right, how about this Friday?" He asked.
I took a few seconds to decide before I answered, "Sure."
Excitement was all over his face as he grinned, "Great."
I smiled as we started walking to catch up to the two, laughing at Ayano's possible reactions.
End of the chapter! ^^ Hope you enjoyed it! ;)
I really should be studying right now because I got two exams on Tuesday 0.0 CURSE YOU CHEMISTRY AND BIO LAB… AND TUESDAY!
The next chapter will be up in a week or two (probably in two weeks)! See you then!