Chapter Twelve

Akane brought the sword up in front of her, in a defensive stance; she almost failed to notice Kogami's worried glance. Togane smiled, and sniggered, "Damn, he was right about you- you really are a lot of trouble." He drew his own sword, and Akane noted that he had a slight disadvantage- his arm was in a bad shape since Makishima had punished him for. If she struck there, she would definitely have an advantage. She said nothing about Togane's jaunt and furrowed her eyebrows. Next to her, Kogami pulled the dagger out the wood, so both of them were armed.

"Kogami!" Akane barked over. "I'll deal with this!"

"No, I can't-" he protested, but Akane immediately blew away any argument he had.

"This is no time for chivalry!" she snapped back. "You're at a disadvantage- Togane-san doesn't want either of his opponents to have an advantage." Her eyes flitted back to the wounded Togane- the only warrior in this battlefield who didn't have any sort of handicap was her, but the men would argue that she was a woman, and that was a disadvantage, but Akane knew better. She could win, and her gender didn't even come into her consideration. She had trained for a fight like this- she always said she one day wanted to accompany Kogami on his journeys, and therefore they would be attacked more and more, by worse people than Togane, commander of Makishima's army. She looked him in the eye, knowing her next move.

Barely giving Togane chance to raise his own sword- she could tell that he thought Akane was bluffing (What an idiot!)- she jabbed his arm, slicing through the bandages that were already bloodied. She could tell she'd caused substantial damage from his gruff exclamation of pain, and she immediately knew he would bring a blow down on her, so jumped back, avoiding said attack. She was ignoring Kogami for the time being, who was trying to stagger to his feet, but it seemed that throwing himself on the floor in such a hurried way hadn't done his wounds much good. Togane, surprisingly lithe, sprung towards her, but her own blade blocked it. However, she didn't fail to notice that he had much more physical strength then her, so diverted the strike away from her body so it clashed to the floor. They continued like that, parrying viciously across the room, barely evading each other's attacks, and both sides failing to get a decent hit on the other. Finally, he lunged, almost desperately at her, but she flung herself out the way in time, rolling behind him before bring up her sword again; he responded by twisting around and running towards her, and she sprung forward as well, watching as the blade slid almost slowly by her cheek, scarcely missing her. Kogami yelled out in fear that she'd been hurt, but quietened when she hit Togane's side with the hilt of her blade, but it did little to deter the frenzy of stabs that she'd forced herself to parry. Maybe she had underestimated Togane, just a little bit, whereas he hadn't underestimated her. Eventually, she found an opening and leapt behind him, spinning around in a perfect arc so her weapon connected with his shoulder, slicing it rather nastily. She winced a bit, and felt like apologising, until she remembered just who he was. While he was distracted, she jabbed her knee upwards; that was the final blow, the insult to injury as he dropped his weapon and fell to his knees. Never breaking eye contact with Togane, she kicked the sword over to Kogami, who reached for it and used it more like a walking stick than a deadly weapon. She smiled at the thought of an old age Kogami, but it slowly fell off her face as the man approached.

"Princess." She stiffened at him using her official title, but it also meant that this was serious business. She understood. She wouldn't be 'Princess' to him forever. "Do you wish for me to kill him? I will only do so upon your command."

"No, Kogami-san," she replied, firmly. "Do not."

"Then what is your verdict?" Before she'd even had chance to respond to his question, the door crashed open, and whether the arrival was friend or foe was unknown to her, so she raised her sword, her eyes glinting down at Togane in warning, that if he did try anything, she would go against her word to not kill him. She relaxed when she realised the identity of the newcomer.

"Ginoza!" the duo breathed out in relief. Akane chuckled when she saw the older man had put his hair in a ponytail to keep from his face- he did need a haircut, she noted- but her serious demeanour returned when she saw his face. He looked incredibly worried.

"Idiots." He spoke one word, but she could tell all had been forgiven. "Kogami, did you really have to injure him that gravely?"

"It wasn't me," Kogami smiled furtively at the slightly sweating Akane, who grinned back.

"Wait. What?" Ginoza looked flabbergasted. "R-right. Princess… you did that?"

"I did."

"Well!" Ginoza pressed a hand to the bridge of his nose. "Well, I guess I can say you've impressed me." Akane allowed herself a small giggle, and saw the corners of Kogami's mouth lift up in an even tinier smile, before stepping back into Princess Tsunemori's shoes.

"Ginoza-san!" Ginoza snapped to attention at her tone. "Take Sakuya Togane down into the dungeons. Ensure he does not escape, under any circumstances. He, alongside his master, has committed several crimes against the crown and country, acts that may be considered treason. However, I am willing to give him a chance. Put him in the prisons, where he will await trial."

"Understood." Ginoza pulled Togane to his feet, keeping him in line with the mean edge of his own sword. "And you, Princess? What is your next course of action?"

"I will head to the camp with Kogami and see to it his wounds are treated properly. Then I will return here, and bring Makishima to justice." Her voice was set, and she could sense Kogami falter next to her.

"No! Absolutely not!" Kogami snapped. "We don't have to go the camp. We were going to the camp for you! Not for me!" He stood up a little straighter than he had been a few moments ago. "I'm fine. Let's put an end to this bloodshed already."

The door was flung open again, this time by a very flustered Hinakawa. The poor kid had been running around all day, Akane thought sadly to herself. "Nee-nee!" he yelled. "Ma-Maki-shima! He-He-He's k-killing everybody!"

"But we left him in the cell-" Akane paused for a moment, before rolling her eyes. "Mika." It was the only explanation she could think of right now. Mika had obviously noticed Akane's absence and gone down to the basement to tell Makishima, but found him stuck inside. Damn, she'd hoped he'd be down for longer than that. "Oh, seriously. This is getting stupid."

"Yeah, because you won't know your place!" Togane spat, like a rabid dog. "Stupid bitches like you are meant to listen to what their betrothed says!" Akane had only cast a glance at Ginoza before he deftly threw Togane down on the ground and kicked him swiftly across the face. Togane spat out several other cusses, each greeted with Ginoza's foot slamming into some part of his body until he was silenced.

"You're the one being stupid," Ginoza told him. "You're right, this is for Akane's sake, but it's also for the sake of her country, and its future. Like we'd ever hand it to your leader." Akane felt a sense of pride blooming in her heart- it had been the first time Ginoza had used her first name without apologising for it. He really did have her back.

"Akane," a quiet voice beside her ear reminded her of Kogami's presence. "What should we do?" She found herself leaning in slightly, as if to get that bit closer to Shinya.

"We have to stop Makishima," she spoke flatly. "By any means. Whether we imprison him is another matter. Exile won't work either. He'll just come back." She felt her eyebrows curve into a frown. "So no matter which angle you look at it, Makishima is a dead man walking. It may be more of a mercy to kill him now."

"I'll do it." Kogami sounded furious. "I won't have you taking another life. Because that goes against everything you stand for- and when it gets down to it, you wouldn't. You had chance in that cellar, and you didn't. You're not a killer, Akane." He petted her head. "You weren't made by the gods to hurt others. By now, I'm completely convinced that you're an angel, and they sent you to heal and help the world." Akane stared at him in the eyes, and they stayed like that for a while, just comforted by the fact they had each other.

"U-Uh… Onee…" Sho broke the silence. Akane nodded to Kogami.

"Hinakawa!" Akane barked, making the poor boy jump out of his skin. "Your new orders are to locate Mika Shimotsuki and take her to the dungeons. Keep her away from Togane when you do."

"Yes ma'am!" he did a short little bow.

"Where is Makishima right now?" Shinya asked the shaking Sho.

"He's in the throne room. Well, he was. When I left. It's just him. By himself. On the throne." Sho's sentences were hurried and fragmented, stammering at the taller man. He bowed again. "I'll do what you asked, Nee-nee!" He scurried quickly out the room, followed by an incredibly irritated Nobuchika Ginoza, dragging an equally annoyed Sakuya Togane behind him.

"Alright then." Akane whispered. "Shall we, Shinya?"

"Yeah," he nodded stiffly, and the two exited the room, but running the opposite way to the two samurai. They dodged the mini fights that had broken out among the combined Tsunemori and Sasayama forces against Makishima's, and Akane noticed, feeling like a proud mother, that the ones fighting on the same team as her and Kogami were winning more often than they were losing. Gradually, the couple found themselves facing the large impassive doors to the throne room. Almost instinctively, their hands reached for each other for a reassuring squeeze, as if to say: it's okay, I'm here- nothing bad will happen to us.

Together, they flung the door open, to find Makishima where Sho had said he would be. There was no need for words, but Akane expected that Shogo had some for the pair of them, whether they'd want to hear them or not. He clapped, as if cheering them. "I'm amazed Togane didn't kill you, I truly am," he called out to them. "But at the same time, I'm very glad you're both alive. Otherwise, I would have been extremely bored. And soon, I'm to feel quite bored again, especially concerning you, Shinya Kogami. You won't be there to cause me anger." He focused on Akane. "Saying that, I'll have you to fill up my time."

"Like hell you will!" Akane growled, a small fire burning in her eyes that would make even Shinya Kogami himself buckle from it. Instead, Kogami grinned. "But I'm kind enough to not allow you to be bored in your final moments."

"That's it, Akane!" Shogo was almost laughing. "That's it! That's it! There's that little killing spirit I always knew you had!" Akane and Kogami exchanged a glance, and knew. Yes, now was the time.

Without a single warning, both streaked towards the self-proclaimed king, who used both hands on his blade to block an otherwise devastating blow from Kogami, pushing the samurai back, but Akane leapt in and swung her rapier across his cheek, slicing through the skin. She had been aiming for the neck, but in her hurry she'd missed her target. Kogami then parried Makishima's attack to the left before kicking him in the stomach, but that had very little effect on Shogo who stood up immediately and brought Kogami in close to his own body, before jabbing him quickly in the stomach and face, forcing him back. Akane ran up behind Makishima, targeting his side this time, but Makishima deftly parried her and she sailed past him, leaving her back open. She felt something incredibly cold slice across her back, through her yukata, but she knew the cut he'd made wasn't deep. Kogami lunged with a roar of anger at Makishima, and the two parried for several seconds. Akane recovered her strength and joined the fray, knocking Makishima's sword back for Kogami to land a hit on him, but Shogo jerked his arm up and hit her in the side of the head, and though it didn't completely knock her down, it had spots swimming through her vision for longer than she'd liked. This drove Kogami's fury, who forced Makishima to run away from Akane to avoid furious swipe after swipe of his blade. While Makishima and Kogami parried again, Akane waited for an ample opportunity to arrive, hoping for a chance where she could easily strike Makishima, who seemed to be using Kogami as a shield from her. Dammit. She saw it, and as agilely as a cat, she stuck, slicing through the arm, inflicting a wound deeper than the one she'd given Togane. The blood shot out briefly before settling into a steady trickle. Shogo glowered at Akane, kicking Kogami away. His sword lifted up and with perfect aim, it shot towards her.

There was a horrible noise of a sword puncturing flesh, and a disgusting amount of blood flowing down her front. There was Shogo Makishima, smile frozen on his face, like he had won. There was a sword in a chets. And yet, it wasn't as painful as Akane thought it would be.

Because Shinya Kogami's sword was currently lodged all the way through Shogo Makishima's chest, and that smile Akane had grown to detest was plastered eternally on his face.

Kogami pushed the body away from him and fell to his knees, crushing Akane in his arms, and for a brief moment, she thought she saw him crying. Of course, there was no way Kogami- big, strong, tough Kogami could be crying. "Hey, Akane," he said. "You can hear me, can't you? You can see me, can't you?"

Akane didn't understand why he was asking such strange questions. And that's when she felt it.

With an agonizing scream, she finally felt the cold burn of Shogo Makishima's sword through her side.