I am SUCH a slacker!!!! Please forgive me! `-.- Anyway, here we go!
~I do not own any rights to Kaze no Stigma~
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"How nice of you to drop by, Ayano!" Kenichi said with a malicious smile. "Now, let's see just how well Kazuma does when he's fighting against you! Attack!"
Ayano leapt forward, Enraiha blazing in her hand. Her expression was vague; her eyes look far away.
Kazuma leaped backwards, the heat from Enraiha's flame engulfing him. "You're a coward, Kenichi!" he yelled angrily as he hung in midair.
"A coward? No!" Although his voice was calm, Kenichi looked totally insane. He had never lost at his own game, and now this was too much. His mind had snapped and he was going crazy. "I'm merely making this more exciting! Now go, Ayano! Use Enraiha and kill Kazuma!"
Ayano flew at Kazuma, her hair flying back from her face. Fire split through air and straight towards Kazuma. Kazuma flung her away from him, and she landed gracefully on the ground below before springing right back at him with another direct attack.
This isn't how Ayano fights, Kazuma realized as he dodged Ayano again and sent her flying with a cyclonic gust of wind. He looked down and realized that Kenichi was talking to himself. No...he was giving Ayano directions.
Of course! How else would Ayano know what to do? Her mind wasn't even conscious! So, if Kenichi was basically the one doing the fighting, he wouldn't know a few things about Ayano and the full extent of her powers.
Ayano jumped into the air, giving a slash of Enraiha that sent flame burning and roaring at high speed towards Kazuma. She followed close behind with a few more hacks and slashes of the flaming sword.
Heat blew him backwards in the air with an blast of sound, and Kazuma flung his arms up to cover his face. He gathered some wind around him and sent a small twister Ayano's way.
This time, Kenichi easily made Ayano cut the whirlwind in half. The air rushed out in all directions, blowing away into nothing. She rushed him again, the sword heading straight for his face. Just in time, though, Kazuma was able to put up a barrier between Enraiha and his face. Flame licked against the barrier, bursting about in a fountain of heat and light. The two forces were equally matched, and Kazuma struggled to keep up the protective cover.
I need to get Ayano off balance, Kazuma thought. He gave the air a violent shove that sent Ayano flying backwards. As she fell towards the ground where she would most likely land on her feet, Kazuma gave her another blast of wind that knocked Enraiha out of her hand. After that, Kazuma made a few things happen at once: Enraiha flew into one of his hands, Ayano was suspended in midair, and Kenichi got a slightly panicked look on his face.
Wasn't the whole purpose of Kenichi's game being hide and seek to make it hard for the person to find their loved one? Looking at it more closely, wasn't it also so that the loved one could never be touched or carried safely away? Obviously, if Kenichi didn't have each person completely separated from their lover with no contact whatsoever, wouldn't it make it easier to use his mind control?
Kenichi couldn't use his mind control if his victim was being physically touched by another person.
Kazuma summoned the wind, and Ayano was carried towards him. In a futile attempt, Kenichi made her raise her arms to attack. Kazuma easily caught her wrists in his other hand, stopping her attack and cutting off Kenichi's mind control. Ayano went limp with sleep and Kazuma called on some air to support her as he still held on to her wrists.
"But--I was--was--winning!" Kenichi shouted in disbelief.
"I know. It's pretty sad, huh?"
For a moment, it seemed like Kenichi wouldn't say anything more. Then he began to shake violently and, expecting an attack, Kazuma threw a barrier of wind up in front of himself. Instead, though, Kenichi surprised him by stomping his feet and screaming in the biggest tantrum Kazuma had ever seen. Kazuma was so surprised, he began to laugh hysterically at the sight of him.
"You've got some problems to work out, but I highly doubt you'll do that here. So try improving on that while you're waiting in the next life." Wind sicles soared with a high-pitched whistle through the air, and Kenichi was finished. A purifying wind followed, and then there was nothing left of the shadow-using menace.
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Wow, I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry for taking so long! I guess there isn't really an excuse. `-.- Well, anyway, I hope you understood the thing about Kenichi and the mind control. Reviews, please!