Disclaimer: Flame of Recca was created by Anzai-sama. I'm just playing with the characters. "Bring It On Home" is by Led Zeppelin.
Author's Notes: Yay! I finally finished it! This was a bit hard for me to do because I'm not really good with action sequences. I hope it still entertains you. No betas, all mistakes are mine.
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I'm sorry I can't do my individual replies right now, but I really, really appreciate it It's nice to hear from readers.
Thank you in advance for reading and please don't forget to review!
Chapter Nine: Bring It On Home
It was hard to tell who was winning and who was losing. Tokiya couldn't even tell how much time had passed; it could have been minutes or hours. The sun was riding low on the east and set an orange glow around the field. The smell of sweat and blood clogged his nose and prickled his eyes. His muscles felt like it was burning from exhaustion but he would not give in.
The woman-child in front of him was wearing a short kimono and her blue hair was tied up in pigtails. A blue bandana was knotted around her left thigh. It was the enemy's color. Blue; the symbol for peace. The irony was not lost on him.
Tokiya was tired but knew she was worse for wear. She was a quick one; he'll give her that. But she was also mind-numbingly dimwitted and overly confident, a most fatal combination if there ever was one. Blood was soaking her already red kimono where Ensui had cut across clean to the outer skin of her stomach. It wasn't a fatal wound, he had no intentions of killing her but it was more than enough to subdue her.
"Don't look so smug, that was more pathetic than a paper cut!" she yelled in her shrill voice.
"If it was just a paper cut then why are you shaking in your boots?" he returned arrogantly.
Tokiya smirked as another shiver ran through her. She was definitely feeling the effects of his Ensui now. He'd never had intentions of making her bleed into submission; all he needed was to let Ensui plant its effect onto her skin. The ice crystals he had manipulated was no making its way through her blood. Hypothermia would soon set in and before she knew it she'd drop to the ground without ever figuring out what happened. And then he would move in for the kill.
"You've gotten awfully quiet. None of you asinine comebacks?" he taunted stoically.
She coughed up and icy smoke flew out of her mouth. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head, trying to decipher how she could be this cold in this insufferable desert heat. Her hands clutched onto the heart of her clothes, unconsciously seeking some form of warmth. Her knees were the first to give way, dropping to the dry, hot soil with a sickening thud. Her arms fell to her sides like heavy dumbbells. Her face fell forward and her chest hit the ground, a smoke of dust flying around her.
Tokiya casually walked to the woman's side and quickly disarmed her of the sharp Dokumashin fitted over her small hands. The poisoned claws sizzled at his touch as if recognizing the foreign contact. He quickly tied her hands back with the blue obi belt she wore around her waist. He could feel the disdain seeping out of her pores as he threw her over his shoulder callously. She was still conscious although completely immobile. He would hand her over to the army and let them decide what to do with her. He didn't know if someone who was obviously a low level ninja would be privy to information that could be vital to them, but that wasn't his problem anymore.
He turned to walk back to the makeshift headquarters beyond the hill when a smoky, crass voice stopped him.
"Where do you think you're takin' mah girl?"
…
Domon wandered aimlessly around the spacious bunkroom. It had taken two hours for the evacuation team to transport them to the secure military barracks located in the Northwestern side of Nashikiri; the geographically farthest location from the action. His fellow students were making themselves comfortable on the cots and pillows provided to them. He wished he knew where his parents were. He wished he were out there fighting alongside Recca and Fuuko. He wished he had finished that last piece of chicken, because damn it he was hungry and it didn't look like they were going to be fed soon. He wished for a lot of things basically.
In the far corner of the room he spied Yanagi, sitting by herself on the floor and hugging a fluffy pillow with a far off look on her face. He didn't really know her that well. They've exchanged maybe ten words with each other throughout the years they knew of each other's existence. To him she was simply Fuuko's cousin and Recca's lifelong crush. But she was as familiar as he was going to get inside this depressingly grey painted room. He never really had a lot of friends. He can never trust anyone other than Fuuko and Recca to accept him for the bumbling idiot he sometimes was. That's right, sometimes, he did have his moments of glory. Like that one time in sophomore year when he got an A in Spanish. Que Pasa!
He walked up to the diminutive brunette and took the empty spot beside her. Yanagi looked up to his heavy form and he was half afraid she was going to faint judging from the look of sheer shock on her face.
"What up?" he greeted with a toothy grin.
"Hi," she returned shyly.
Then there was a long and awkward silence as both of them thought very hard about what to say next. Domon should really think things through more thoroughly.
"Why are you sitting here by yourself?" he finally said after noticing that the friends she usually ate lunch with were all huddled together in a single bunk bed.
Yanagi sighed with relief, seemingly happy that he was able to come up with something. "I didn't really feel like talking to them," she answered honestly.
"How come?" he asked, looking genuinely interested in what she had to say.
Yanagi pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs tightly. She pursed her lips thoughtfully, as if considering if she should say something. Domon noticed the dark circles under her eyes and reddish tint on the whites of her eyeballs. He had rarely seen the girl up close but he was sure those weren't there before. She must not have been sleeping well.
"I'm sure you've heard of the latest scandal about me. That's all they ever want to talk about," she finally said, smiling ruefully.
"Oh."
Domon wasn't sure what else to say. He had of course heard of it, it was all anyone talked about during homeroom period. Personally he had nothing against Mikagami. He thought it was good on him to break the engagement if he really didn't want it. For one, he was eighteen years old, are his parents drinking crazy pills? Who the hell wants to get married at eighteen? Arranged marriages, he thought, were dumb and dated. He also found it elitist. The only people who still upheld the tradition were old rich families who wanted to unite their money and power in order to gain more money and power. Of course he didn't think his diatribe would go over well with Yanagi, who still appeared to be distraught over the issue.
"I saw you had lunch with him earlier. I didn't know you two were friends," she said. There was no malice in her voice so Domon didn't think she resented him for that.
"I guess, yeah. We haven't really been friend that long. I used to just tag along when he and Fuuko have their sparring sessions," he muttered.
There was the slightest look of controlled shock in her face. "I didn't know that."
"Really?" There was an obvious look of surprise on his face. He'd been there for some of Fuuko and Tokiya's practice and knew that the two spent a significant amount of time together sparring and other things that he may not have been present for.
Yanagi could not control the tiny bit of resentment that seeped into her tone. "I guess there's a lot of things I didn't know about him," she said.
Domon stretched his legs out in front of him and tried to massage away the needles that crept up his calves. "Well, maybe it's a good thing then that you two aren't getting married. Do you really want to get married to someone you didn't know that well?" he said simply. Because to him it was simple, Tokiya obviously held little interest in her. Why would any girl want to marry anyone who'd rather suffer injuries in the hand of his brutish female best friend instead of getting to know them?
Yanagi tried to absorb his words. She really did. She told herself time and time again that maybe this was for the best, that there really wasn't enough invested between them for her to hold onto their relationship. But it still hurt. Her friends had told her to get over it and called him some nasty names (because that's what girlfriends did). But how do you just get over it? How can she just get over something that she had been looking forward to her whole life? They would get married and then she would go off to medical school while he would complete his tenure in the army. After that they would buy a nice little white house in Nashikiri, a house she could decorate herself without her mother's influence. Then they would start a little family, a sweet little girl she could spoil and two boys that their father would train. She had been picturing it all her life. How does she just get over that?
"Eh, are you okay, Yanagi?" Domon nudged the brunette girl's leg with his foot. She looked like she was close to tears.
"I'm sorry, I just zoned out there for a bit," she said. "Where is Fuuko-chan and Recca-kun?" she asked suddenly, realizing how rude she was being, so focused on her own problems.
Domon frowned slightly. "Out there fighting."
"I'm sure they'll be alright. Fuuko has always been so strong. And Recca-kun, he's very brave," she reassured him. She ignored her own worries about her cousin and focused on calming the obviously distressed Domon. "I can tell you wished they were here too. But I have faith that they'll be back soon with us."
A hollow laugh escaped his throat. "Actually I wished I was out there with them. But there's nothing special about me so I have to stay here."
Yanagi shook her head immediately. "Don't say that. I think there's something special about all of us," she said. She licked her lips and her eyes were downcast. "Maybe for some of us it just takes a bit of time to discover it."
Domon smiled in spite of himself. He wondered for the first time if Yanagi was as happy as she had always portrayed herself to be. "You should get some rest. We might be here for a while."
Yanagi looked around the room, running rampant with teenagers. "I don't think there's an available cot where I could lie down."
Domon, without rising from his position, yelled at a lanky boy who was snoring loudly on the bed in front of them. "You there! Get up and let the lady sleep."
The random boy scrambled out of the cot quickly as soon as he recognized Domon's voice. He may not have owned a psychic device but he was still intimidating. Have you seen those muscles?
Yanagi looked a bit conflicted. She badly wanted to lie down but she didn't feel right about kicking someone out of the bed.
"Go on, Yanagi. S'all yours," Domon encouraged her.
Oh well, she really was tired. "Thank you, Domon-kun."
Domon turned positively green. "None of the suffix bullshit. Just Domon would do."
Yanagi blushed furiously but managed to nod her assent. She handed him the pillow she was holding onto earlier. "You should rest too, Domon. We'll see them soon."
He managed a genuine smile. "Thanks Yanagi."
…
The boy never stood a chance. He must've been sixteen or seventeen, barely out of puberty. The high squeak of the boy's scream penetrated the metal armor around the enemy's head. The Taishaku Kaiten was pointed at the pasty little boy, as if directing his ascent. The ground fell off his feet as the electric chain coming from the power Madogou wrapped around his body.
Joker didn't consider himself sadistic or a sociopath. True, he loved chaos and he loved war. He didn't enjoy killing but it was a part of war that he had accepted. He twisted the psychic device and manipulated the electric pop tighter around the boy's body that he had floated into the air. He could smell the burning of skin and scrunched his nose. It was a nasty smell that reminded him of hot garbage.
The screams turned into labored gasps until it slowed down into nothing. He relinquished the hold of his Madogou and the boy's lifeless body fell on the ground. Charred lines appeared on his limbs and around his neck, Joker's personal artwork.
Joker said a little prayer before walking off to look for something more interesting.
...
Fuuko flew across the field like a lightweight discuss. She landed on the ground in a messy heap. The scrapes from her knees and elbows burned but it was nothing next to the deep slash on the side of her stomach. She could feel warm blood soaking her clothes and fought to stay conscious despite the nauseating pain. She squinted one eye open and watched the larger than life mace rotating in the air with trepidation.
It would just be her luck that her first opponent would be eight feet tall and four times her size. The man, no, creature seemed to have stepped right out of some sort of sci-fi horror film, complete with a hockey mask on his face and an armor shaped like animal claws. She had been doing pretty well avoiding him until a miscalculated turn and one metal spike pierced across her side.
"Give up, little girl." His voice was deep and strangely affectionate.
Little girl. He called her a little girl. Well at least he recognized that she was indeed a girl (that might have something to do with her godawful school skirt). But still, she hated the condescending affectation. Even when she had officially become the master of her Fuujin, her father and her brothers still treated her as if she was fragile, just because she was the girl. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if they were right to do so. She could never beat Recca, and he was probably the one person who never minded kicking her ass regardless of her gender. And while he taught her new tricks, she sometimes couldn't trust her sparring sessions with Tokiya to gauge her strength because she couldn't help but feel that he always went easy on her since he liked her.
"You're in over your head, you should give up now." The voice wasn't threatening; it was laced with ironic gentleness.
'I am so tired,' she thought. She could feel the ache in her muscles and there were bruises all over her. Her body had tightened and refused to move. But…but what? You owe this to yourself. The thoughts of her father, her brothers, Recca and Tokiya faded into the background of her consciousness. This is all you, Fuuko. Ever since she was a child everyone thought she always had it easy. She was the daughter of a renowned general, she was best friends with Recca Hanabishi, the country's leader treated her like he was his own daughter. They never saw, never believed just how hard it was for her as a woman to make it. Misogyny and sexism was still a big part of their culture even. A woman like her had to work doubly hard to get half the recognition they deserved. She didn't just land her way to the top; she clawed her way there. And now it was time to prove to herself just how strong she had become.
With renewed vigor, she pushed herself off the ground, ignoring her body's screams of pain. She snapped off one sleeve of her school blouse and wrapped it around her waist to try and control her the bleeding on her side.
"You should have backed out when you had the chance," the gargantuan man said.
Her eyes tinged red with determination. "Don't underestimate me."
Fuuko saw the mace come at her once more. Her injuries had affected her movement but she was still as quick and light footed as the wind. She easily evaded his target. While the spiked ball was deadly with its weight, it also had its disadvantages. Despite the magnanimous strength of her opponent, handling a weapon that probably weighed a ton would affect his speed and accuracy. It gave her an opportunity.
Fuuko waited until the very last second as the mace approached her for the seventh time before she jumped over it, the movement of her wrist was quick and imperceptible as she forced another sharp wind pressure. With every subtle hit the metal was slowly corroding from the inside.
"You can't run forever, little girl. You will tire eventually," he told her, almost as if he was trying to give her advice.
Fuuko wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand as she landed gracefully onto solid ground. "You should really stop worrying about me and start thinking about your next step." All she needed was a well placed hit.
The mace approached her again but this time she had no plans to avoid the oncoming attack. She bent her knees and anchored herself into the air and jumped head on against the ball. Her Fuujin hand curled itself into a tight fist and at the exact moment she had planned she threw forceful punch with help from her Madogou. Skin hit hard metal. Fuuko's smirk grew as she saw a tiny crack appear on the dark gray mace and began spreading like wildfire all around the ball.
She could feel the astonishment of her opponent, steaming from beneath his metal armor as tempered shards of metal shattered like a spherical bomb. She flipped her body away to avoid the residuals of the explosion she created.
Despite the pain in her body, Fuuko stood tall. She raised her right hand in challenge. Her mouth curled into an arrogant sneer. "Let's see how strong you are without that pesky mace of yours."
"I must commend you. You are far stronger than I expected."
She couldn't help the swell of pride in her chest.
"But now it is you who must not underestimate me."
In a flash, his claw-like armors lengthened like murderous pythons and stretched towards her. It took her a second too long to react as a sharp talon scraped a deep gash in the back of her left calf. The wound stung like a bitch and she lost her footing and fell on her knees. She immediately launched a whirlwind around her to block the subsequent attack she knew was coming.
The wall of her wind clanged against the steel talons that thirsted for her blood. The significant drop of oxygen caused by her whirlwind would not help with her depleting stamina. She stood up and prepared to move a different direction. She dropped her makeshift hiding place. He was just waiting for her.
Even using her full speed it was too late to avoid the onslaught. She was essentially trapped and all she could do was brace herself, conditioning her mind and body for the attack. After all, part of her training was knowing how to take a hit.
But the sharp claws never came. She heard roaring thunder mesh with the wind that seemed to react to her every emotion. Eyes crusted with dust, sweat and blood fluttered open. His back was turned to her but she would know those long purple locks anywhere.
"This one's off limits."
…
Kaoru Koganei is a genius. Or so he was told. When he was four years old, while his mother was too busy tending to the family's dimsum shop to mind him, she handed him a Rubik's cube to keep him occupied. He solved it in one minute. His mother thought it might've been a fluke, so she messed it up again and gave it back to him. He solved it in thirty seconds.
When he was five years old his parents died in a boating accident. The speedboat's motor leaked and in a second the boat went up in flames. He was watching with his grandmother from the shore. The next year his grandmother died from pneumonia. She was ninety-five years old and everyone wondered how she made it that far.
They shipped Kaoru off to an orphanage in the Nashikiri capital. They made him take lots of tests that he didn't care for. They said he got exceedingly high marks. They also said something about his extraordinary spatial skills. The next thing he knew he was moved out of the common rooms where all the other orphans stayed and into a rather nice duplex house. It only had two rooms, his bedroom and large training room.
A lady would come in to cook his meals and clean the house but they generally stayed out of his way. He went to school in the mornings to learn the basics of arithmetic, science and language but most of his education happened at the duplex house. After six months of staying there he was bestowed with his most prized possession, the Kogan Anki. Until he was eight, a member of Team Kuu by the name of Minamio helped him train, but really didn't do much in terms of helping him learn more of his Madogou. After that it was a boy named Saicho who was probably only six or seven years older than Koganei was. By the time he was ten years old he had discovered the five forms of Kogan Anki. They called him a prodigy.
He really wished he wasn't one right now.
The man in front of him introduced himself as Mokuren and then went on to christen himself as the greatest fighter to ever walk the planet, which only solidified Kaoru's opinion that he was a dickwad. A dickwad with severe hygiene problems. If the gross, stringy clops of hair wasn't enough of a clue, then the pungent smell of rotten food coming out of his mouth certainly did it. And Kaoru was standing ten feet away from him. Man, this sucked.
"I will enjoy devouring your flesh," the man said in his raspy voice that smelled of onion.
Kaoru shuddered. "You're gross."
He had a half a mind to call on Mikagami and feign a headache or a cold or something because seriously, this dude screamed pedophile but he didn't want the Ensui wielder to think he was weak.
"Your screams of terror will be music to my ears," Mokuren continued.
"Are you planning to talk me to death?" Kaoru deadpanned.
"The sweet taste of your blood will soon coat my tongue."
"Has anyone ever told you have issues?"
"I will tear your skin away from your muscle and wear it as a coat in the winter."
"I really think you should seek professional help."
"I will tear you apart from limb to limb and use your bony arms as a fishing pole."
"Okay, this is just getting ridiculous."
Kaoru rolled his eyes and leaped into the air, not bothering to switch from the first form of his Kogan Anki. The sharp blade glistened blindingly against the lowering sun. He flipped the weapon downwards, aiming the sharp end at Mokuren's unprotected chest.
Mokuren reached his hands upward as if to catch the incoming Kaoru. His yellowing nails turned the color of mud. His fingers began to morph together, twisting and entwining like tree barks and extending upwards the sky.
Kaoru flipped mid-air and avoided the attack easily, he propped his feet against arms that now looked like tree trunks and kicked against it to launch higher up in the air.
"Ryu!"
The Kogan Anki shifted into its second form that was much like a chain sickle. Holding on to its base, he controlled the blade on the other end of the chain towards Mokuren. The sharp sickle cut through his arms like it was paper. A sickening crackle erupted from Mokuren's arms as the Kogan Anki cut through his hands, right at the wrist. Blood mixed with pus and sap flowed out the broken appendage.
"I give! I give!" Mokuren cried out in pain. He looked at dismembered hands in horror, the blood still oozing from where it had broken off from his body.
"Loser," Kaoru muttered haughtily.
It was perhaps naivete, the nasty product of youth and inexperience that made him turn his back on the enemy, taking his word of surrender at face value. It was too late for Kaoru to learn the valuable lesson that in war, no one played fair. The earthy smell of wood attacked his nose before it clung to his form, trapping his body in a dark embrace.
…
Recca couldn't believe it. He ran. He fucking ran. What is this, a game of tag? He chased after his newly discovered brother, yelling his name to gain his attention. But Kurei just ignored him. They went past trees and boulders until they arrived upon a clearing that paved the path towards a familiar hilltop. Recca remembered it as a place he frequented with Domon and Fuuko when they got a bit sick of the usual city haunts. Kurei made a sudden stop and Recca followed, keeping a wary distance from his older sibling.
Kurei had his back to him; his head was angled upwards seemingly staring at the hill up ahead. His obsidian hair shone like black polish and his deep red cape was a stark contrast against the peaceful green landscape.
"I used to play on these grounds when I was younger." His voice was deep and melodic, as if every word that would come out of his mouth was made to form a sonnet.
Recca was unsure how to respond, or if he even should. But Kurei continued, as if he was unaware of his brother's presence but his words proved otherwise. "You look nothing like our father. You look very much like Miss Kagerou, your eyes and hers, they are the same. It makes me hate you less."
Recca fisted his hands. He had heard the story. His mother had told him. Fujimaro had confirmed it. It had replayed countless in his wakeful dreams. But it only now became real to him. It wasn't just a story, a production of myth. Kurei had lived that life.
"Tell me," Kurei's lyrical tone surrounded him, "how is she?"
A hint of bitterness coursed through his blood. "She's holding up well for someone who had just lost her husband."
The obvious resentment in Recca's voice bounced off against Kurei as if it was rubber. "Her husband was not a good man."
Recca's lips curled into a snarl. "Father loved you, to his last breath he loved you." His mind flashed a picture of his father's eyes that last night he saw them alive. They burned with sadness, regret and…resignation. He didn't understand it before but now he knew, Ouka went out without a fight. If his death was what would make Kurei feel peace then he gladly welcomed it. But it seemed it was all for naught, Kurei wanted more than his death. Kurei wanted the world.
An insane cackle erupted from Kurei, his shoulders shook with malevolent glee. "He had you fooled as well, Recca-kun," his name sounded like a curse coming from Kurei's lips, "That man, he opened my eyes to the truth."
Recca's thick, black eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Kurei did not bother to respond and silently declared the conversation over. He turned around slowly, the movement of his feet so smooth it looked as if he was gliding on ice. His blue flame sparked at the tip of his finger like an innocuous candle.
Recca's orange fire burst in his hand as if in reaction to Kurei. The dragons within him rattled to be released, smelling the deliciousness of the impending bloodbath. But he kept them at bay. He would have none of the foreign entities residing inside him intrude in this fight. It was going to be a battle of pure flame, brother against brother.
They moved at the same time and headed for each other at breakneck speed. Their enflamed fists met in a catastrophic punch. Blue and orange film twisted against each other and created fireworks in the air.
…
"Put her down or you'll regret it."
Tokiya arched an elegant eyebrow at the unkempt man in a dirty khaki trench coat who addressed him. "Is that so?" The heavy weight of the unconscious woman sagged against his shoulder.
"Don't test me, pretty boy."
Tokiya's left eye twitched at the condescending nickname. He did not fancy being called pretty in any capacity. "Whatever possessed you to think that I would take any orders from you?"
His yellow teeth peeked between ashen lips in a smirk before he cocked his head sideways. Four feet away from him stood a thick tree trunk. It was barren of leaves and looked misplaced in the clearing. Tokiya was quite certain it had not been there before. That's when he saw it, the slightest hint of a golden blade splintering from between the wooden bark.
Tokiya's face remained impassive but his heart was beating wildly against his chest. He stiffened his neck and stopped himself from looking around for any sign of Koganei knowing that the slightest distraction might bring about his demise. Koganei was his responsibility; he wanted to sock himself for his carelessness. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to the young boy.
"Mmm, the Kogan Anki wielder has delectable energy," the man said with a lick of his lips as if he were tasting the energy in his mouth.
Steel grey eyes squinted with disgust and horror. Tokiya could sense that this man was sucking Koganei's life force out. But how? He appeared to be using the Kodama, a Madogou that allowed its user to control plants. It would explain the tree sprouting from the earth. But there had to be a physical connection between the Kodama wielder and his creation for him to be able to use it to extract Koganei's energy. Tokiya's eyes searched his body and landed on his feet. An observant eye could immediately tell that his boots were missing its soles.
"Let Koganei go," Tokiya warned.
"So you can cut me down with that sword of yours? Not a chance," the man answered.
"I promise to do no such thing," Tokiya pronounced.
"Drop your weapon and hand me the girl, then I'll let him go," the Kodama wielder bargained.
The slightest glint of satisfaction went through Tokiya's eyes. He fell right for it. Tokiya made a show of stabbing his Ensui deep on the dry soil before callously letting the woman drop to the ground in front of him like a sack of potatoes.
"There, now you let Koganei go," Tokiya said.
The man eyed him suspiciously. "No, you come over here and bring her to me."
Tokiya looked at him impatiently as if the man was just wasting his time. "The woman's heavier than a barrel of wine. I prefer not to do manual labor."
He snarled at Tokiya. "Just bring her over here!"
Tokiya inspected his nails. "Like you said, she's your girl. You should come here and get her."
"I'm not going to fall for your juvenile tricks!"
Tokiya raised his hand up in the air. "There are no tricks here. I have no weapon on me, as you can see. Unless of course you're so weak that you cannot defend yourself against an unarmed…pretty boy."
His hackles rose at Tokiya's prodding. Tokiya smirked, the man was easier to read than a toddler's book, the slightest provocation and anyone can play him like clay.
"You insolent fool!"
The Kodama wielder launched his arms forward, willing it to extend and attack Tokiya. But then…nothing happened. "What? What's going on? Why is it cold?"
Tokiya smirked. "I don't know how, but your Kodama appears to be part of your body. A genius idea but it limited your control of the Madogou's powers through your limbs."
"What does that have to do with anything!"
"The tree that is trapping Koganei is connected to you through your feet. Do you feel the ice freezing your bones now?" Tokiya asked clinically.
The man began to form a curse word but could not control the chattering in his mouth. This young man had to be extremely advanced if he were able to control his Ensui without needing a physical connection to it.
"Figured it out, have you? Perhaps you are not as obtuse as I had initially thought," Tokiya taunted. "Still your mind moves very slowly. Perhaps it's the steroids coursing through your veins."
Tokiya casually strolled up to the Ensui and pulled it off it from where it stood. He held onto the hilt of the sword with both hands and lifted high above his head in the legendary stance of Hyomon Ken masters. His movements were both graceful and intense. He moved like lightning around the man an in a flash the enemy lay unconscious on the ground and the tree that held Koganei hostage was now nothing but scrap wood.
Tokiya caught Koganei in his arms. The boy was weakened his skin was pallid but Tokiya could hear his shallow but steady breaths.
Koganei's eyes fluttered open and stared at Tokiya dazedly. "Is it over?"
Tokiya could still hear battle cries and the clashing of weapons around him. He shook his head. "Will you be able to stand? I'm taking you back behind the war zone."
Shame filled Koganei's eyes but knew that trying to fight more would be suicide.
Tokiya gave the boy a kind smile. "You were very brave today, Koganei. Don't beat yourself up too much."
Koganei smiled back at him. Maybe Mikagami wasn't so bad.
Tokiya helped the younger boy to his feet. Using their jackets, they made a makeshift rope and tied up the man, who Koganei informed Mikagami was named Mokuren. Mikagami carried the woman on his shoulder and helped Koganei drag an unconscious Mokuren by his feet. Fighters had spread out all over the clearing, engaging in duels and it seemed they both managed to set a path away from the melee.
They had been twenty feet or so away from Nashikiri's army base when something caught Tokiya's senses. He stopped suddenly and turned around. Shock registered on his face, those movements, that form. He would recognize it anywhere; he knew it better than he knew himself. "How is that possible?"
"Mikagami?" Koganei questioned, his hand still holding on to Mokuren's feet.
Tokiya dropped the woman on his back hastily. He never removed his eyes from the vision that had enraptured him as he spoke to the Kogan Anki wielder. "Listen carefully, Koganei, we're only two minutes away from base. Go on and ask someone to assist you in bringing back the prisoners."
Koganei nodded his head at the strange request. "What about you though?"
"I have something I need to confirm."
And without explanation he was gone.
…
"You're bleeding."
Fuuko was suddenly jolted out of the shock of seeing him again when she was reminded of the searing pain on her side. "Thank you for the information, Captain Obvious," she mouthed petulantly. She tried to stand up but the slightest movement felt like her insides were warring to get out. She couldn't control the deep groan from coming out of her mouth.
"Don't try to exert yourself, you're injured," he said, in that kind, mellifluous tone. He kneeled in front of her and removed the cloth belt around his waist. He used it to bandage the deep wound on her calves.
"What are you doing Raiha? What were you thinking, intruding on my fight?" Fuuko questioned carefully. It was strange, but she knew Raiha would not hurt her, at least not physically,
"You speak to me as if I were a stranger, Fuuko-chan," he said as he ripped the cloth and proceeded to bandage the wound on her waist.
Fuuko glared at him as he invaded her personal space but let him proceed with taking care of her wounds "You are a stranger to me."
Raiha shook his head as if she were an impertinent child. "Gashakura is one of our strongest fighters. You're very skilled too, Fuuko-chan but he has many years on you. He would've crushed you."
"Isn't that what you would've wanted?" she retorted.
Raiha knotted the bandage and Fuuko winced at the feeling of the cloth biting into her skin. "You have to understand, Fuuko, although I am now Nashikiri's enemy, you are not mine."
"You might as well have killed Recca's father with your own hands," she bit out venomously.
There was no hint of regret or pain in Raiha's eyes at the mention of Ouka's death. "He is not as innocent as everyone paints him to be."
"And yet you're the one who betrayed his trust."
"I need to do it, Fuuko, there was no other way," he said resignedly.
"Why? Why'd you do it? We all trusted you! Recca looked up to you like a brother! You were family to me!" At that point Fuuko could no longer hold back the tears she was trying to suppress. Raiha was right there in front of her, as charming and as handsome as he had always been in her eyes. But to her it felt like he had died and lost forever to her.
There was a sad smile on his face as he looked up at her, his clear purple eyes seemingly searching her soul. "You know, how you love Recca. How you would do anything for him. How you hurt whenever he's hurt."
Fuuko bit her lip, hearing the words that not so long ago she had uttered to her best friend.
"Kurei, he's the same for me."
Any words she wanted to say were stuck in her throat. In that moment, there was an understanding between them that may never repeat itself again in the future. They stood on different sides but they were the same, they would forever choose to stand by the ones they loved most.
A loud commotion burst the bubble they had created around themselves. It seemed everyone else around them had stopped moving too.
Raiha spotted it first. There in the sky, two flames burned brightly, shooting up from the far ground, blue and orange dancing closely together. The fight for dominance lasted only a second before both flames extinguished each other and all that was left was the smell of soot and black smoke.
To be continued…
End Notes: So, um I dunno. I hope that was okay? I'm not very good with action sequences so I hope it was at least entertaining.
Next chapter: We find out what Tokiya saw (sort of), what happened with Recca and Kurei and maybe some ToFuu. Hahahahha.
Thanks so much for reading and please don't forget to review!