Chapter 20: Dinner Disaster Part 2

Dark-Flame Alchemist: Well, here's the next chapter! Karai and Kazuma are here to disclaimer today.

Kazuma: *yawns* Awesome…

Dark-Flame Alchemist: *frowns* well you seem enthusiastic.

Karai: He's just bored as always.

D-F Alchemist: *sighs* of course… anyways, thanks to those who reviewed! X) Hope you enjoy this one!

Karai and Kazuma: DarkFlame Alchemist doesn't own Kaze no Stigma.

Karai's Point of View

I nodded at the guy who just saved me a whole lot of trouble.

"That's good," he replied, still standing there. I took a good look at him: he was taller than me by a few inches, had a muscular figure, spiky hair that hung over both sides of his face, onyx eyes and pale skin. He looked like he could be a member of the Uchiha clan, but I had never seen him before. If he was, maybe he was from a lower branch. I should ask him.

I put my hands to my side, walked towards him and bowed before straightening myself up, "Thank you for finishing that guy up for me, umm…?"

He smirked and held his hand out to me, "The name's Sasuke. You were pretty amazing back there, Miss…? "

I smiled as I gently grabbed his hand and shook, "Karai Uchiha."

Before I could let go, he brought up my hand close to his lips, "I knew it; the young and famous head of the Uchiha family. I heard from rumors that you were pretty, but now that I've seen you, I think that you're ravishing," he said, kissing my hand.

I blushed a bit as I slowly took my hand back, not knowing whether that was a compliment or if he was just flirting, "Umm, I'm guessing you're a magic user yourself then, I assume."

"You could say that," Sasuke said, winking at me.

I nodded and decided to ask him the question that I had been meaning to ask, "You wouldn't happen to be an Uchiha, would you?" I asked curiously.

He tilted his head and smirked, "Why? Do I look like one?"

"Yeah…you really do," I replied slowly. 'Well, that doesn't answer my question… but I guess he's not if he didn't say anything now,' I thought before realizing that I had something else to do and shouldn't be wasting my time here, "Oh shit, I've got to go finish up something," I said when I remembered the guys on the floor.

Sasuke waved a hand, "I'll take care of everything here while you go do what you have to do."

"Oh. Well, thank you," I responded, "And thanks for all your help again Sasuke; it was nice meeting you."

"You too," he said, grinning, "I hope we run into each other again."

I felt that he was up to something, but I didn't have time for that. I ran up the stairs, not knowing that Sasuke was staring at my back intensely.

Once I got to the floor that I was originally at, I saw Kazuma on the other side… with the dark aura! I saw Ayano running in his direction, wielding Enraiha. She was chasing after some winged man statue that had a sword. I noticed that the bottom of her dress was torn, causing me to frown since I helped pay for it.

I then looked at the moving statue very closely and suspiciously, "Now where have I seen that thing before?" I sarcastically said to myself, knowing very well whose spiritual beast that was.

Once she was near Kazuma, Ayano yelled, "Out of my way!" before she swung Enraiha at the dark aura, purifying and defeating it before continuing to go after the statue. She probably didn't even realize that Kazuma was there in the first place.

I sweat dropped before face-palming and muttering to myself, "Are you serious? Ayano wasn't even paying attention and she defeated that thing in one go!"

I groaned before walking over to Kazuma who heard me. I now felt all the running and dodging that I've been doing with my now aching feet and arms.

As soon as I was a few feet away from him, he walked towards me and placed both hands on my shoulders, looking concerned, especially when he noticed my cheek, "What happened to you? You look like you've been through hell and back."

I sighed, "I think I did," I replied before telling him what I've been up to.

"Other than that, there was really no point in me chasing around that annoying presence if Ayano defeated it that fast," I finished while frowning.

"I'm sorry," he said, giving me a hug, "Ayano and I would have dealt with those guys, but some chick decided to go challenge Ayano for Enraiha. Besides, you're probably just irritated because of the aura which causes people to act that way."

"That makes sense…," I said, starting to feel calm now, "Hey, she wouldn't happen to have blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a rather annoying laugh, would she?" I asked, trying to confirm my thoughts.

He pulled away and looked at me confused, "As a matter of fact, yes... Do you know her?"

I nodded, "She challenged me for Kaito Enraiha a year ago when I went to America and of course, she lost and never bothered me again. I should have known that she would have tried to go after Enraiha instead. We'd better go see how she's doing."

"All right," he said before we ran off to find my hot-headed half-sister.

When we found her, she was panting as the spiritual beast was regenerating again after Ayano had slashed it. Behind the beast was the American fire mage who tried to take Kaito Enraiha from me, Catherine McDonald. She had long blonde hair with curls hanging down the sides of her face, bright blue eyes, a red jacket, long pink skirt and a red head band.

Ayano noticed us and yelled, "Kazuma! Karai! Where have you guys been? What have you been doing this whole time?"

"Hey, I was busy looking for the evil aura when I got caught up with something," I said, frowning.

"You ran right by me earlier and didn't realize I was standing there. Whatever, look, can you just hurry up and finish already? I'm starving," Kazuma replied. I jabbed him with my elbow for thinking about eating at a time like this.

"Trust me, if I knew how to end this, I would, okay?" Ayano exclaimed.

"But you're going about it all wrong. You're fighting it instead of defeating it," Kazuma explained to her.

"What does that even mean?" she yelled at him before looking at me, "Karai! Can't you help me out here?"

"Karai? As in, Karai Uchiha?" Catherine said, taking a glimpse at me before recognizing me right away. She smirked, "Well, I haven't seen you in a while."

I smirked right back, "Catherine McDonald. It's been what? A year since I kicked your butt? And now you end up trying to get my sister's family sword instead? Now that's sad."

She growled, "I am far stronger now than I was before! Besides, since we had an honorable battle, I thought I'd go with the other best fire magic family," Catherine replied before realizing something, "Hold on, this little brat is your sister?" she replied, pointing at Ayano.

I nodded, "Yup."

She did her annoying laugh, not believing it, "Really now? I don't know how that's possible, but if that's the case, then I feel so sorry for you."

That made Ayano mad and she turned to me right away, "Nee-sama! You defeated her before! Tell me what I should do!"

I was about to tell her when Kazuma placed a hand on my shoulder, "Karai, let her figure this out on her own. She's a big girl."

I sighed, knowing that he was right, "Sorry Ayano. Kazuma's right. This will be another good experience for you. Besides, I know that you can do it, but if you are struggling, then I will help out somehow."

"Oh and one more thing, he's back," Kazuma stated before placing an arm around my shoulder to make sure that I didn't interfere.

Ayano turned her head forward and saw the spiritual beast known as Metatron charging for her. She slashed the upper torso of the statue again.

"It's all over for you missy. Enraiha is as good as mine," Catherine confidently said.

"If you couldn't even get Kaito Enraiha, how do you expect to get Enraiha? I'm certain that Ayano will defeat you," I declared.

"Oh please, she's taking a longer time defeating Metatron than you did. At this point, she's done for," Catherine rebutted.

Ayano nodded in gratitude to me before thinking what she could do. She turned around to see Metatron finishing up regenerating, "It's coming back so fast!" Ayano exclaimed before turning to look at Catherine, noticing her panting.

She then turned back around to fully face Metatron, both hands on Enraiha, starting to pant herself. I could see that she was analyzing her situation calmly which was good.

Her face suddenly looked like she realized what she had to do as she said lowly, "Now I get it." She de-materialized Enraiha which surprised Catherine.

Ayano then closed her eyes and stood still, concentrating her energy. Catherine pointed an arm at Ayano, "All right! Destroy her!" She commanded Metatron.

The statue neared her, but fire circled around Ayano and now Metatron too.

"Metatron?" Catherine said nervously as it just stood in the flames.

Ayano's hair was blowing around as she continued to concentrate, "By the power of the Kannagi purifying flame, return this spirit back to its original form!" Metatron dissolved until it was just blob on the floor.

I then started to become nervous, wondering if Ayano knew what would happen next as a result of her attack. I looked up at Kazuma, "Umm, I think we should start getting out of here."

"Yeah, I know. Give it a few more seconds," Kazuma replied.

"You stopped him…," Catherine frowned.

Ayano's fire disappeared and she was now facing Catherine, "It was easy. Once it's mixed with your magic, Metatron's heterogeneous fire turns into unnatural distortion. So, all I did was purify him from the inside out just like I would any other yoma."

"No… do you realize what you've done? Now the power of the fire spirits that constructed Metatron will be released inside this building," Catherine said with a nervous look.

Ayano looked surprised as the Metatron blob started moving strangely until it exploded behind her.

"I suggest we get out of here now. Come on, I'll get miss princess over there while you find us a way out," Kazuma said before going to Ayano without waiting for my response.

Seeing that we had nowhere else to go, I took out Kaito Enraiha and swung my sword to send a stream of fire at the window, breaking the glass, but giving us an escape route.

Catherine zoomed right past me with a newly formed Metatron. I looked back to see Kazuma with Ayano in his arms. He nodded at me which told me that we were all good to go.

I nodded before turning forward and jumping off the building. I did a flip before I started hovering to a safe distance from the building. Suddenly, windows started to break from the roof of the building and smoke was everywhere.

I shook my head, 'Ayano still did damage on the place after all…' I thought just as I saw the two fly next to me.

"Oh boy," Kazuma said while looking down. I just sighed.

"Uh, thanks for saving my life, Kazuma," Ayano nervously said in his arms.

"So, little Miss Kannagi, since there's obviously not a clear winner, I'll call it a draw for tonight," Catherine said as she was sitting on Metatron's shoulder. 'She just doesn't know when to quit, does she?' I thought.

"What?" Ayano exclaimed, "This was not a draw! I totally kicked your butt. Do you want me to purify your little man again if you're not convinced?"

"Uh! This thing is not over! I can promise you that! I'm not going to lose to someone like you! I'll take you down if it's the last thing I do!" she said before she laughed and flew away.

"I always hated that stupid laugh of hers," I said, frowning.

"I'd like to see you try!" she shouted while flailing her arms and legs about, "If you ever show your face around here again, I'll teach you the true meaning of a beat down, you hear me?"

"Umm, Ayano? I think we got bigger problems right now," I said, pointing to the roof of the building.

"I managed to contain the majority of the blast with my wind, but the roof still got hit pretty hard. If we don't act fast, that roof top is going to cave-in," Kazuma explained.

"What?" Ayano said, surprised.

'Ah, that explains why only the roof is smoking,' I thought before looking at them, "So what do you suggest we do, Kazuma?"

"Well, it looks to me that the top floor is pretty shaky, also. I don't think it's going to be able to support it," Kazuma concluded after observing the situation, "If the roof falls, the building goes."

"But I only purified him after you gave me that advice!" Ayano exclaimed.

"I'd assume you'd consider the aftermath of your actions, but I guess I was wrong," Kazuma stated.

Ayano frowned before looking at me, "Onee-san! Did you know about this?"

I nodded nervously while massaging my temples, "I would have thought that you would know that this would happen as well. Sorry Ayano."

She sighed before looking down at the building, "Well, what should I do?"

"Burn it away with Enraiha and Kaito Enraiha until it disappears," Kazuma suggested with no alternatives, "Only burn off the top floor though. You guys get rid of the damage there, you save that building, and the lives of everyone in it."

"So once that weight is out of the picture, the building should continue standing," I deducted from what he was saying.

"Exactly," he replied.

"Yeah, but what if I mess up?" Ayano said nervously. I flew over to her and bonked her on the head, "Hey, I'll be with you and Kazuma is here to back us up. Don't worry, we can do this. Together," I assured her.

She nodded, now confident. Enraiha materialized in her hand.

Kazuma looked at me, "Be careful."

I nodded, gripping Kaito Enraiha in my right hand before hovering down and throwing a huge stream of fire at the roof.

Ayano was next to me after Kazuma let go of her, doing the same. Slowly, but surely, the roof started burning away. I de-materialized Kaito Enraiha before concentrating my hand on the roof until the roof was engulfed in black fire and finally disappeared.

I grabbed Ayano's hand before she could fall and Kazuma flew over to hold her in his arms.

When we landed on the ground, the police were there to arrest those men that I beat up. There were also several people around, clapping. Most of them were the hostages that I saved, thanking me for helping them out. They also said that they wouldn't tell anyone what I was which surprised me. I guess Sasuke did indeed take care of everything.

Speaking of Sasuke, I didn't see him around so I assumed that he left already. There was something about him that didn't seem right, but there was nothing that I could do now that he was gone.

Besides that, I talked to the owner of the building who was upset that the roof was gone, but he was still grateful that building was still standing, that I stopped the bad guys and that we got rid of the evil aura which he was informed about by Kirika. He told me that Ayano's father would pay for the damages, but I told him that I would help out as well. When Kirika noticed me, I explained to her what happened and that everything should be all right. She thanked me before leaving.

So… after all that, Ayano, Kazuma and I were walking down the street after I healed us all up, but Ayano and I were still drained from the battles. Lucky for me, I got it off easy with a few scorch marks while Ayano's dress was all ruined now along with scorch marks from when we were taking down the roof.

"I'm so exhausted…" Ayano whined.

"No kidding," I replied, laying my head on Kazuma's shoulder with his arm wrapped around me.

"Why does everything have to be a disaster with me," Ayano muttered.

"Maybe you're the disaster. Ever think of that?" Kazuma replied.

"Uh! Not another word mister!" Ayano yelled at him as we stopped.

"Guys, I got a headache, keep it down," I said, closing my eyes as my head throbbed. I felt a pair of lips touch my forehead, "Sorry, babe."

I heard Ayano sigh, "This was supposed to be a nice evening…" she said before a noise came from her stomach. I opened my eyes and chuckled as I saw her hold her stomach in embarrassment.

"Oh hey, I think we're in luck," Kazuma said, looking in a certain direction. I turned to look where he was looking. It was a ramen stand.

I smiled, "I could go for some of that right now."

"Come on, let's go," Kazuma said, leading me there with Ayano right behind us.

We took our seats and ordered three bowls, one for each of us.

I then realized something and groaned, "Oh great, where's my purse… don't tell me I left it in the building."

"Don't worry, I have it right here, safe and sound," Kazuma told me before pulling it out of his jacket, "Thought you'd be pissed if we left it there."

I grabbed it gently from him before smiling at him, "Thanks, you're a lifesaver," I said before giving him a kiss. We pulled apart and he chuckled, "No problem," he replied before putting his hand on top of mine.

"I feel like I'm going to lose my dinner if you guys keep that up and we didn't even eat yet," Ayano stated, looking away from us.

"Bon appetite," the ramen chef said, placing a bowl for each one of us.

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Kazuma said.

"How did a fine evening of good dining end up with a bowl of noodles at a ramen stand?" Ayano said, looking sadly at her bowl.

"Well, if you don't want to eat it, I will," he responded. I didn't say anything since I had already started to eat.

"I never said anything about not eating!" she yelled, breaking her chopsticks before she started eating her noodles, "It's so good!"

I saw Kazuma grab something from behind his jacket and place it on the table. It was a wine bottle.

"What's that?" Ayano asked, confused.

He grinned, "The wine. I mean, there's no sense in letting a good bottle go to waste."

I sighed, "So that's the sloshing that I was hearing while we were walking…"

"Wow… so this is what you were off doing while I was fighting? Pocketing bottles of wine?" Ayano said, gritting her teeth.

"Hey, can we get some glasses please," Kazuma asked.

"Sure thing," the chef replied, bending down to retrieve them before placing them in front of Kazuma, "Here you go."

"Hey sir, you want a taste? It's Chateau Mangot, 2003," Kazuma asked him.

He politely declined and continued cooking. Kazuma happily poured wine in the glasses. When he was pouring the liquid into my cup, some of it splashed on the side of my face, "Kazuma!" I said, frowning.

"Oops," I heard him say before he suddenly licked my cheek to get the wine off, sending shivers down my body. "Was that really necessary?" I asked with a hint of red on my face, rubbing his saliva off my cheek.

"Eww! Kazuma! That's gross!" Ayano exclaimed in disgust, "I think that should be considered harassment!"

"It's not like I licked you. Besides, it's really expensive wine and I don't want to waste it," Kazuma said before drinking his glass of wine while placing one in front of me. I thanked him and drank while Ayano kept yelling until she decided to just continue eating.

As I ate, I couldn't help but review in my mind the past events that had recently occurred, contemplating about the mysterious Sasuke and knowing that that wasn't the last time we'd see Catherine McDonald. I sighed, wondering what the future had in store for us all.

Dark-Flame Alchemist: Chapter ended! So, about Sasuke… he only made a brief appearance now, but he will be seen again… in later chapters. His appearance and maybe some of his personality is the same as the Sasuke from Naruto. I just wanted to inform people this so that they know he is not a crossover character like Ichigo and Rukia.

BY THE WAY, I FINISHED THE NEXT CHAPTER WHICH REQUIRES MORE EDITING, BUT NOW I AM WORKING ON THE HOT SPRINGS CHAPTER USING THE EPISODE "FATHER AND SON" AND AM WONDERING IF PEOPLE HAVE IDEAS THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO HAPPEN! ;) IF I CAN SOMEHOW INCORPORATE IT, I'LL BE SURE TO SHOUT OUT YOUR NAME FOR GIVING THE IDEA!

Kazuma: Great… now can we get this over with so I can take a nap.

D-F Alchemist: *glares* don't make me have to force you to come here every single update…

Karai: *shakes her head*

Kazuma: *sighs* Uh, don't forget to review, readers!