A/N: You know that school is starting for real, once you go to buy supplies... :(

Chapter 14:

The soldiers stared at the towering pagoda in front of them. Murky clouds swirled over it, as thunder rumbled threateningly. For the Special Ritual Riot Squad, this was the closest they ever got to the Onryō Shrine. Some of the young Tojis behind them cowered slightly at the sight of it, clutching each other for reassurance.

The head soldier addressed everyone saying, "Be on guard. She's dangerous. Everyone has their water supply?"

"Yes, sir," came the answer.

"Up there!" one of the soldiers cried, pointing to the pagoda.

On the topmost balcony, enveloped in majestic glory, was Juujou Hiyori. The soldiers, police officers, and Tojis remained in place, wondering what would happen next. The very sight of her sent chills up their spines. She looked so unlike the sixth heroine who had once saved them.

For Hiyori, their unwelcome presence made a vein pop on her forehead. Even the storm she had created did not seem to have broken their determination to kill her. However, Hiyori was prepared for moments like this. She was reluctantly ready for battle.

"Well, what do we have here? Let me guess. The noble heroes here to stop the evil monster," Hiyori said with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I suggest you leave before I make you."

"We have you surrounded. You've already lost," the head soldier answered. "Come down immediately or we'll take you by force."

"Good luck with that," Hiyori challenged, before raising her hands.

The head soldier raised an eyebrow, but then let out an exclamation of surprise when several bolts of lightning hit the ground. A barrage of sharp glass spikes immediately shot up, nearly impaling some of the soldiers. Screams of terror rang in Hiyori's ears, as her uninvited guests slowly backed away.

"That was a warning," she said. "Begone."

"She's just trying to scare us. Remember Hiiragi Konoka's orders," a police officer sneered.

"It's over, Hiyorihime!" the head soldier yelled.

Hiyorihime? The new name made Hiyori bite her tongue so hard that blood flooded her mouth. They no longer thought of her as human. In their eyes, she was just the same as the aradama princess she loathed. Wretchedness besieged Hiyori, as she raised her hands once more. Silently, she let the energy on her hands glow before aiming it at the ground.

"Look out!" one of the Tojis shouted, just as two bolts of lightning shot from Hiyori's hands.

From the smoke that followed, in front of their fearful eyes, rose a huge aradama dragon. Its eyes and wings shone with blue radiance, as it roared menacingly at them. With a swoop of its tail, the aradama dragon knocked out several of its victims on the ground.

The head soldier let out a "tch", before yelling, "All Tojis remain here! Soldiers and police officers, to the shrine!"

The aradama dragon roared as several Tojis sped towards it, their okatanas drawn. The Special Ritual Riot Squad and authorities did not waste a second. Once an opening was cleared, they sped past the beast and burst through the haiden doors. Hiyori, who had been waiting for them, was in the center of the room, Kogarasumaru in hand.

"There she is!" a soldier yelled, pointing his gun at her.

With a snarl, Hiyori quickly swept her okatana to the side, blasting all of the soldiers and police officers to the ground with a wave of blue energy. The head soldier's temper started to rise, as he picked himself up. He had enough of this. It was time to put that water to good use.

"On my count! One!"

"Just leave me alone!" Hiyori cried, her voice cracking with pain.

Why couldn't they see that she didn't want to fight? She had already killed multitudes of people, and couldn't bear having to hurt anyone else. Vainly, Hiyori tried to defend herself by shooting blasts of lightning in all directions, but she was easily outnumbered by them and soon found herself surrounded. With no other choice, Hiyori let a large amount of lightning envelop her body. But the Special Ritual Riot Squad were not going to give up so easily.

"Two!"

They wanted her dead.

"Three!"

Hiyori predicted a bombardment of gunfire in that moment, and prepared herself to knock them down again. What she did not expect, however, was the sudden deluge of water thrown onto her, electrocuting her delicate form. Hiyori's body convulsed as she fell, letting out an ear-splitting scream. It was the worst pain she had ever felt in her life.

"We got her!"

"Seize her!"

In her pain, Hiyori could barely move a muscle, but through her blurred vision, she managed to see the soldiers darting up to her. A few seconds later, Hiyori felt the cold iron chains around her wrists, as shouts of triumph came from the mouths of her captors. Struggling furiously, the aradama Toji used all her strength to try to break free, attempting to reach Kogarasumaru. However, two of the soldiers each grabbed a chain and pulled, stretching her arms out, forcing her to kneel.

The head soldier drew near until he was right in front of Hiyori. He knelt down with a victorious expression, before forcing a direct kick to her stomach. Coughing and gasping from having the wind from her lungs knocked out, Hiyori let out a pained grunt, angered and humiliated at her defeat.

"That was for killing Takeshi during one of your little thieveries," the head soldier snarled. "You thought you had escaped unnoticed, right?"

Sweat started to roll down Hiyori's neck, as she assessed her situation, glaring at her assailants. Between the soldiers and the police officers, she was helpless. Just looking at their mocking faces made her grimace. Hiyori refused to show weakness. She would not cry or beg for her life.

'Mother, if I die now, please be with me in death,' Hiyori prayed in her mind.

However, the head soldier seemed to have other ideas. Hiyori's eyes widened with fear, as she saw him pull out his baton and walk around so that he was behind her. The head soldier got close to Hiyori's ear as he spoke.

"Hiiragi Konoka allowed us to have our revenge on you, so long as we brought her your head in the end," he jeered.

Hiyori only had time to squeeze her eyes shut, before she felt the baton's unforgiving blow. The pain was blinding and instantaneous. A roar of mean laughter went up from the soldiers, as they watched the monster they feared scream in pain. Tears made their way down Hiyori's cheeks, as she stared at the police officers and the soldiers.

"Is this what we were afraid of? Just a big crybaby?" a soldier said. Laughs rose up from the air, at his words.

They were actually delighting in her suffering?! Something told Hiyori that Konoka had somehow twisted their minds to do so.

Weakly, Hiyori let two words escape her mouth, "Please…stop…"

Almost everyone was at her now. The soldiers that had been afraid of her at first were now also beating her relentlessly with their own batons, refusing to show mercy. Hiyori didn't bother struggling. If they believed they were avenging those she killed, she wouldn't say one word. After several minutes, the soldiers eventually lost interest in torturing her and slightly drew back. Wincing in pain, Hiyori managed to slightly turn her head back in agony, to see the head soldier with Kogarasumaru in his hand.

"Die."

"Kanami-chan, slow down!"

Kanami barely heard Mai, as she continued speeding towards the shrine. Sweat dripped down her forehead, as she ran. She couldn't rest now. Hiyori was in danger, and if they were too late...

She darted up the stone steps, her friends right behind her, and gasped at what she saw. Several Tojis lay unconscious on the ground. The very few that were still standing were fighting against a huge aradama dragon. The aradama let out a terrifying roar as it lunged to attack the newcomers.

"Kanami, get back!" Kaoru ordered, swinging her okatana.

"We've got this, Kanamin," Ellen said. "Go save Hiyoyon!"

Kanami nodded her head and ran towards the haiden, leaving her four friends to deal with the aradama. The haiden doors had been blasted wide open and she could hear the jeers of men coming from inside. Her heart dropped as she beheld the sight before her.

Hiyori was on the ground with a huge mass of chains wrapped around her. So thickly was she surrounded by the soldiers and police officers that at first, Kanami couldn't really see her. Then, her eyes saw the blade being raised by the head soldier.

"Die."

"No!" Kanami screamed, unsheathing Chidori.

Darting in front of Hiyori, she swiftly deflected Kogarasumaru with her okatana. A collective gasp came from everyone in the room, but Kanami didn't care. She wrapped her arms around Hiyori, so that her body protected her, in case anyone dared to strike her friend.

"I won't let you hurt her," Kanami cried. "How could you do this? She's just a girl!"

The head soldier glowered at Kanami. He was a young man, who really ought not to have been made a leader. A man who loved to domineer and make his prisoners quiver beneath him. His powerful hand lifted again, this time with a taser.

'How many of the six heroines are traitors exactly?' he thought.

"Take her too," he ordered.

"Kanami!" Hiyori desperately thrashed against her chains, reaching out to her friend, despite her pain. Kanami struggled against the police officers and grabbed Hiyori's shackled hands in her own, refusing to let go. She wouldn't let Hiyori slip out of her grasp ever again, but found it harder and harder as the men continued trying to tug them apart. Finally, the police officers yanked them apart, breaking their handhold.

"Hiyori-chan!" Kanami shouted.

"Kanami!"

Hiyori sprang forward towards the girl she loved, but fell to her knees again, when she felt pain shoot through her body once more. Through her faded vision, she could see the head soldier's taser sparkle with electricity. Served her right. Finally, she was getting a taste of her own medicine. Desperately, Hiyori screamed the name of the one individual she knew was strong enough to overpower her attackers.

"Tagitsuhime! Help me!"

Almost instantaneously, Hiyori found herself hanging limply in the aradama princess's arms. Shouts of surprise came from the soldiers and police officers, as they gazed petrified at the newcomer. Tagitsuhime turned towards the head soldier with such a terrible expression that his legs literally shook like jelly. Tentacles of noro wrapped around Kogarasumaru, yanking it out of his hand.

"I'll take this now, thank you," Tagitsuhime said.

"Kill them both!" the head soldier yelled. The sounds of loaded guns followed immediately.

Tagitsuhime rolled her eyes, and simpered, "I was going to spare you, but now you've just provoked me."

Wordlessly, she gently set Hiyori down on the ground, before raising her right hand. Then, with a look so sickening and monstrous, she clenched her fist. The head soldier grasped his throat as he felt his windpipe being squeezed shut. Paralyzed with fear, he was able to give the aradama princess one pleading look before she snapped his neck. It was that quick.

Kanami, who was restrained by two police officers, gasped in horror. She stared at the corpse hoping that he would show any sign of life, but to her dismay, she could only watch as Tagitsuhime then turned his body to ash.

"Who's next?" Tagitsuhime asked.

"Retreat!" a soldier yelled, running for the doors.

Everyone followed his wise example, fearful for their lives. Kanami fought against the police officers and hopelessly rattled her handcuffs, willing for them to break. But it was useless.

"Hiyori-chan! Hiyori-chan!" she screamed.

"Kanami..." Hiyori weakly said. She tried to get up from the ground, but only succeeded in blacking out.

Unwilling to have to drag her out the doors, a police officer hoisted Kanami up his shoulder like a parcel. Kanami thrashed relentlessly, refusing to give up. Just before she was taken away, in a broken voice, Kanami yelled one last promise to her friend, even though she couldn't hear her.

"I promise you, Hiyori-chan, I'll spend every moment of my life trying to find my way back to you!"

At the Kamakura prison, Konoka made her way down one of the many hallways. Her hard, mounting tread echoed against the walls. Moving with purpose, she passed by the numerous cells, ignoring the stares of the prisoners inside. At the end of the hallway was the cell of a new convict, who was being watched by a private guard.

The guard bowed to Konoka, saying, "The Special Ritual Riot Squad told me to give this to you, Hiiragi-san. They confiscated it from her, right after they arrested her."

With two hands, he passed Chidori to the ambassador. Konoka had no expression on her face, but inside, she was screaming in triumph. Finally. She had Hiyori's weakness in her grasp.

"Are you not angry, Hiiragi-san?" the guard asked. "They failed arresting Juujou Hiyori," then after seeing Konoka's expression, "I mean Hiyorihime."

"Well, something good has come out of this situation. Now, we know exactly who is on the side of our enemy. I wish to see the prisoner," Konoka said.

"Of course, Hiiragi-san."

Kanami was sitting on a stool, watching water drip from the ceiling onto the floor. It was dark and dank in the cell that the soldiers had put her in. No amount of pleading from her friends had softened their minds. Cold wind drafted from the barred window, making her pull her uniform tighter around herself. When the heavy iron gate to her cell opened, Kanami didn't bother looking up.

"Good evening, Etou-san," Konoka greeted.

Kanami's gaze slowly met hers. Konoka was pleased to see that the girl's eyes were red and traces of tears were on her cheeks. Seeing a helpless person underneath her power always made Konoka's day. Kanami's eyes drifted to Konoka's hand, which held Chidori. She tried to reach for her most prized possession, but the chains holding her to the ground, prevented her.

"Please...give Chidori back," Kanami begged. "It's...it's all I have left of Mother."

"Well, all the better then," Konoka crooned.

Kanami became wide-eyed, as she stared in disbelief at the Origami family ambassador. How could someone be so cruel? Something inside the Toji refused to believe that Konoka could be so malicious without reason.

"Why? Why do you hate Hiyori-chan?" Kanami asked. "She's your niece—your family! Just what did she do to you?"

Konoka drew her face close to Kanami's with a menacing stare, as she replied, "She didn't do anything. Her existence is just a disease to me. The fact that she is breathing mocks me."

"You're wrong to think that Hiyori-chan is a monster," Kanami said. "She didn't betray anyone. She's just a scared lonely girl!"

Konoka let out a laugh and answered, "I know that."

Kanami stared at her with sudden attention.

"But she still deserves this," Konoka sneered. "And, so do you."

Kanami glared at the green-haired woman before her. However, when she spoke, her voice was devoid of anger. It was only sad and quiet.

"Do you intend to kill me too?"

The ambassador shook her head with a smug grin. Kneeling down so that she was eye-level with her prisoner, Konoka tauntingly tucked a lock of the Toji's brown hair behind her ear. Her fingers then clasped Kanami's chin in a vice-like grip, forcing the girl to look her in the eye.

"I wouldn't dream of letting you die like a martyr," Konoka said. "Death doesn't look good on you. I think heartbreak is more your color."

She made her way to the gate and bowed, saying, "Sweet dreams, Etou-san."

Konoka exited the Kamakura prison with a self-satisfied look on her face, making her way to the darkened streets. One down, one to go.

Making sure the shadows hid her well, Konoka said, "You can come out now."

Orange eyes started coming towards her, as their owner said, "Congratulations. Your plan worked just as you said it would."

"I knew that the brat would be impulsive and try to save Juujou Hiyori," Konoka replied. "As my mother always said: love is a liability."

She wrinkled her nose and added, "I don't know how you stand having my niece's smell on you. I don't even want to know how many times you've done her already."

Tagitsuhime cackled, "Having a submissive mate is nice, but nothing beats our first time when she would scream for mercy."

Konoka shared a similar cruel look and said, "What a sadist you are."

She handed Chidori to the aradama princess and snickered, "A little present for my niece."

Hiyori lay on top of her futon, breathing hard with sweat dripping down her body. Every part of her ached so much that even the slightest movement sent shots of pain right through her. If she didn't have the strength and endurance of an aradama, she most likely would have died from being beaten so harshly.

Not only that, but right after the intruders left her lair, Tagitsuhime literally dragged her to her room in the honden saying she had been "a very naughty girl, and naughty girls needed to be punished". Which was why Hiyori lay on her futon, totally exposed with a bunch of new hickeys on her body.

When Tagitsuhime strode into the room, Hiyori didn't bother glaring at her. She was already too broken. What happened to Kanami? Was she being tortured? Imprisoned? Did Konoka order for her execution? Hiyori felt her heart squeeze with pain at the thought of the girl she loved being abused because of her. However, a new sense of dread consumed Hiyori when she saw Chidori in Tagitsuhime's hand.

"Where's Kanami? What did you do to her?" Hiyori hissed.

"I didn't do anything. Your little lovebird only sealed her own fate," Tagitsuhime replied.

There was no questioning what the aradama princess meant. Hiyori clutched where her heart was, desperately praying that Tagitsuhime was bluffing.

"Well, what did you expect? Hiiragi Konoka allowing the girl to go free?" Tagitsuhime chortled. "Don't worry. Your little lovebird loved you till her last breath. She even screamed your name before her demise."

The realization was too much for Hiyori. Right when Tagitsuhime threw Chidori in front of her, Hiyori collapsed on the ground. Despair, anger, and guilt flew through her like a whirlwind, as she cried her heart out. Kanami... Her one and only hope, her best friend, and the one she loved...gone forever. Not caring about anything anymore, Hiyori let her emotions take control of her powers, allowing them to destroy everything around her.

She was too heartbroken to even notice Tagitsuhime pulling something out from her robes. It gleamed in the moonlight, its tip razor sharp. A syringe. Now that Hiyori had lost all her hope, the aradama princess knew this was her moment. Without hesitation, Tagitsuhime stabbed it into Hiyori's neck.

"Augh!" Hiyori cried.

She turned her head ever so slightly to see Tagitsuhime press down on the plunger. Her eyes widened in disbelief when she saw the contents...noro. The liquid felt like hot fire as it made its way through her veins.

In agony, Hiyori yelled, "What did you do to me?!"

"Just picked up this little thing from the desk of Takatsu Yukina, a former servant of mine. She used to force that foolish Elite Guard to stab herself with noro for her own sake," Tagitsuhime explained. "I figured the stupid woman would still have an empty syringe on her."

Then with a taunting face, she continued, "Why else did you expect me to force you to steal noro? Don't worry, darling. Now that your heart is ready, the next phase of my revenge is complete."

Hiyori contorted on the floor, her vision blinded with blue light, as she screamed. Animalistic sounds came from her throat, as she felt her hair fly into the air, her eyes shining with energy.

With a yell of agony and rage, Hiyori let a huge beam of blue lightning erupt from her heart. It burst through the roof, before exploding into the stormy clouds, lighting up the night sky for all the surrounding cities to see.

A/N: And done! This chapter was a hell of a ride. Again, feel free to tell me your thoughts. This also might be my last chapter before college starts. I'm sure you all understand that I won't have time to write. Most likely, I won't post another chapter until Christmas break. Many apologies! If I can, I might squeeze another short chapter in before school starts.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your summer!