Chapter 14 – Limitless Resolve – Become Stronger, Sakuya!

Author's Note: I do not own the Buso Renkin series and the characters of the original series. I own only the original characters of this fic, Sakuya Mutou, Kaworu Jounouchi, their siblings and friends, Phalene, some members of the Alchemist Army, and the enemy, the Tetsujin Juusan. Buso Renkin is the creation of mangaka, Watsuki Nobuhiro.

–

The two teens ran through Ginsei City, diving into an alley way as they tried to catch their breaths. The silver-haired Jinsuke checked the streets to see if they were followed. "All clear, onii-sama!" he grinned, sitting next to an aluminum trash can as he took a deep breath and let out a big sigh. "We did it! Th' LXE's done for, an' we get t' live a bit longer!" He laughed a bit as he leaned his head on the wall behind him. "Alchemy, monsters eatin' humans, I ain't takin' that fairytale bullshit. We should just live the way we do. Buy fights an' earn our bread."

The auburn-haired Kabuto wasn't looking at Jinsuke. He was looking at the dark dead end of the alley way. "But…how long will that last?" he said to Jinsuke calmly. "When all's said and done, what do we have left? Dad died, and mom abandoned us. We can't live like this anymore, Jinsuke."

"Then what d' ya propose?" Jinsuke roared and stood up from his sitting spot. "We can't live forever, Kabuto! We can't live without each other! We can't…be apart at all." Kabuto finally looked at Jinsuke and smiled, rubbing his younger twin's head. "I'm scared, man…I don't wanna lose you…I don't wanna die either."

"We're not going to die." The older twin then held up two glass flasks; they both had a small Homunculus core floating inside.

"Onii-sama, that's…"

"I swiped it on our way out." He smiled gently. "You won't be alone. I'll never leave you alone. If you go away, I'll come find you. Because with these, we'll be immortal. We won't have to worry about food and money anymore."

Jinsuke was silent. He then took one of the flasks and held it up to the light. He looked back at Kabuto, who held his in front of his mouth. Both of them grinned at each other as they placed their respective flasks in closer to their lips.

"Down the hatch."

–

"Run, onii-sama!" Jinsuke pushed his brother out the window of a bar as he turned to fight off the Alchemist Warriors chasing them. "I'll kill these guys! Go an' run!"

"Jinsuke!" Kabuto called out as Jinsuke turned into his Homunculus form in front of him. "No! I'm not leaving you! Jinsuke!"

"Quiet down," said a voice behind Kabuto. He quickly turned to find two Alchemist Warriors behind him. One was a tall man wielding a spear with a cross-shaped blade, and another was a blonde with a long scarf. The blonde began to speak. "We're not here to fight you. We're here to save you."

"Save…us? We're Homunculi, my brother and I." Kabuto took a fighting stance as his right eye glared at the two. He could hear his brother making a scene inside. "We're you're enemies! We know you'll kill us eventually! We're not going to die now, not now!"

"Calm down, kid," the taller man sighed. "Listen, we said we're gonna save you, 's much as I hate it." He then pointed to the half moon in the night sky. "Take our deal. We'll give you a place to live for as long as you want."

Jinsuke in his human form was then flung out of the bar, rolling behind Kabuto. "Don't listen to them, onii-sama!" he roared as he stood up. "They'll kill us!"

Kabuto didn't know what to say. He placed his hand over his chest, then on his chin. "…If what you say is true…then who will lead this operation?"

The blonde smirked. "His name is…"

–

"Victor Powered…"

The big round Homunculus fell onto the rocky surface of the moon as he watched Kabuto, who was twice smaller than him, step onto his stomach for the final blow. The other Homunculi cheered him on. "Woooh! Kabuto! You rock!" They all cheered as Jinsuke watched his brother fight on his own. "You may even beat Victor like you said you would!"

Kabuto looked at the crowd, then at Jinsuke. The silver-haired twin nodded and gave Kabuto a thumbs-up, and Kabuto smiled a bit. "All right!" he yelled out and slammed his fist into his palm. "Then let's go!"

–

"YOU want to fight my father?" Alexandria scoffed. "You wouldn't even last a second against him." She turned her back to Kabuto, whose fists were clenched. Then she stopped with a smirk. "If…you beat him, I'll show you a little more respect. If not, you're just a fight-loving braindead Homunculus to me."

"Don't cha say that 'bout onii-sama!" Jinsuke roared with his middle finger up in the air. "He'll pound your old man an' kick 'is ass!"

Kabuto remained silent. He had to win. He will win. That's all that mattered right now. He looked up at Aleandria and pointed at her.

"You're on."

–

The auburn-haired Homunculus found himself lying on the moon's surface, staring out at the blue Earth ahead of him. He looked behind him to see Victor staring down at him. He didn't even use his Buso Renkin. "Damn it…" he growled and jumped up. "Don't give me that pitying look!" He delivered a swift kick to Victor's head, but the Homunculus didn't flinch. Kabuto quickly jumped back, and Victor turned his head away from him. "What's the matter? Why won't you take this seriously? Call out your Buso Renkin!"

"If I did, you would die." That's all Victor had to say to make Kabuto fall to his knees. He knew…deep down, he knew that Victor was so much stronger than I. "The reason you will never win against me is something you probably already know. You will never be stronger if you don't come to terms with it." He then turned to Alexandria and walked towards her, placing his arm around her daughter. Kabuto was left alone, and in his rage slammed his fist onto a nearby rock, shattering it.

–

As Kabuto looked out towards the Earth, he heard Jinsuke walked towards him. "It's been years since we've been forced to live here," he said to his younger twin. "And during that time, I came to enjoy it. Fighting and winning. But…" He looked down at his scarred hands, and he slowly closed his right eye. "…in truth, I've grown bored of it. To fight…and not find someone who can stand at my level." He thought of Victor and clenched his fists tightly. "I have to win…and get stronger. I need stronger opponents, all so I can finally beat Victor. Only then my life will be complete."

"It's almost time, onii-sama," Jinsuke said. "He's waitin' for us. We're th' last ones. So let's get goin'."

"Right." Kabuto turned to Jinsuke, who then turned to a group of Homunculi. In front of them was a young man with mid-length black hair and bangs over his slitted eyes. And next to him was a smaller boy with blonde hair. "Then let's go."

–

As the rain fell in Shibuya, Jinsuke laughed as he raised his arms in the air. "Fuck yeah, man!" he cried out. "We did it! We fuckin' did it, onii-sama! We're on Earth, where we belong! Let's rampage!"

Kabuto didn't say anything. While his brother willingly got soaked in Earth's downpour, Kabuto stood under the canopy of a candy shop, watching his brother be an idiot. He smiled gently to himself. "Even as a Homunculus," he said to himself, "he's still the same…even as these years pass, we're still the same. Is this the price of our immortality?"

"What's the point of immortality if you fear death?"

The sickly voice of a sick-looking man caught Kabuto's attention. Behind the man was the black-haired teen with his slitted eyes and devilish grin. "Excuse me?"

"If you are truly immortal Homunculi, why are you so afraid of dying?"

Kabuto eyed the man carefully and turned to him, letting his arms down. "I'm not afraid of death. I've never been."

"Then stop relying on the one you call your brother, and embrace your power." The man then held out a Crimson Kakugane. "My colleague has told me of you and your brother's strength among the Homunculi. I wish to offer my hand to you. Take this, and you will never have to fear death."

All of a sudden, Jinsuke's fist hit the wooden beam next to the sick-looking man. "You tryin' to pick a fight, old man?" he growled. "What'cha sellin' t' onii-sama? He never feared anythin'. An' he don't need your power, either." He turned to his brother with a confident grin. "Right, onii-sama?"

Once again, Kabuto remained silent, looking down at the Crimson Kakugane. He raised his right hand slowly and placed it onto the Crimson Kakugane.

"Onii-sama!"

"Jinsuke…we are brothers. No matter what we are, we always will be. But…" Kabuto turned his head to Jinsuke. He no longer was smiling at him like usual. "I will NOT be defeated by anyone again. I will NOT know defeat by anyone. I will…not…be defeated by death itself." He closed his right eye and added, "Jinsuke…I won't ask you to join me if you don't feel it to be right. I only ask…that you find yourself the reason to live the way YOU want to."

To his surprise, Jinsuke placed his hand on top of Kabuto's, which was holding the Crimson Kakugane. "Onii-sama…the way I want to live…is with you…"

"Jinsuke…"

–

Sakuya looked at Kabuto and lowered her Buso Renkin. "I…" she tried to say, but she couldn't find the words. "….I…didn't know…"

"That's all we are to you Alchemist Warriors," Kabuto replied. "We're nothing but monsters, down to the core that makes us. And we may as well be." He looked down at his Eye of the Storm. "The day Jinsuke and I took the Homunculus Cores, we threw away our humanity. All we had was each other, and now we have Kami-sama. We don't need anyone else. We…I only need to be stronger." He glared up at Sakuya and yelled, "Strong enough to defeat even death!"

Shusui suddenly appeared to the left of Kabuto, palm up and his Sword Samurai X behind him. "Even so, we will not allow you to harm any more innocents!" he exclaimed and slashed horizontally at Kabuto.

"The Reverse Do!" the Homunculus gasped.

"The Reverse Do?" Sakuya confusingly repeated.

"Shusui's signature technique," Ouka answered, slowly standing up with her Kakugane held to her side. "A slash at the body that can cut even the strongest metal. This battle is over."

"Is it?" The blade hit Kabuto's left arm, but it didn't go through. The cut on his Ginsei Academy jacket's sleeve grew from the impact and slid off the Homunculus' arm. The Sword Samurai X didn't even cut into his flesh!

"Impossible!" Shusui said.

Kabuto then grabbed Shusui's Buso Renkin and pushed it back at him. "Even your Reverse Do cannot penetrate my skin," he smirked. "My body is among the hardest of all Homunculi. I can withstand any blow like that and be fine." Sakuya then realized that that's how Kabuto survived her Grand Gaia's previous attack. It wasn't the bizarre speed he displayed before, it was his resilient natural armor! "And now…it's my turn."

Shusui's eyes widened as Kabuto appeared behind his back, his Eye of the Storm raised. The Warrior didn't have time to react, and Kabuto brought down his tomahawk; but the broad side of the Grand Gaia stopped the Eye of the Storm, and Shusui and Kabuto looked to see that Sakuya had THROWN her huge Buso Renkin in the small space between them to protect her senior! She was holding on by the cloth of her Buso Renkin. "Muto!"

"Shusui-san…I'm sorry." Sakuya slowly bowed her head. "But…let me do this. On my own." She glared up at Kabuto as she tried to stay up herself from all of her opened wounds. "After hearing his words, I can't just sit back any more!" She clenched the cloth tightly, and the cloth glowed brighter than ever before. It dissipated the night's darkness around them. "I've got to be stronger on my own! And I'll become stronger by defeating you, Kabuto!"

Kabuto smirked and turned his body to Sakuya. "You? Defeat me?" he scoffed as he turned his right eye to Shusui, then back to Sakuya. "Those are the words I wanted to hear from you!" He launched himself into the air over Sakuya and spun his tomahawk by the strap. "Go, my wind wheels!" He then threw the spinning wind blades at Sakuya's position.

The girl pulled the cloth and chain, and the Buso Renkin embedded into the ground by the school pathway flew back to her. She grabbed the hilt and held the blade's broad side in front of her, defending herself. She saw Kabuto's feet land in front of her from under the blade, and she turned her Grand Gaia to slash at Kabuto's left. The Homunculus defended with his forearm as he felt himself getting pushed, but he stood his ground. He pulled back his right arm holding his Eye of the Storm. "Break through…" Sakuya growled as she put more force into her swing. The cloth began to glow once more. "Break through, my BUSO RENKIN!"

Kabuto saw that Sakuya was gaining strength. He also felt it as the middle of his forearm that defended against her Grand Gaia's great attack began to crack. 'What?' As quickly as he could, he jumped up and out of the way as Sakuya finally released her swinging, making her lose balance. He looked back at the crack on his forearm. 'She…really wounded me!'

"That's impossible…" Shusui muttered as he stepped back from their fight. "My Reverse Do couldn't cut through, but Sakuya's Buso Renkin…"

"Haven't you heard from Tokiko?" Ouka said. "They say that Sakuya-chan broke through Kaworu's Garden of Eden's repelling ability. When none of our Buso Renkins and pierce through his flaming shield, a head-on attack from Sakuya-chan was enough to break through and defeat him." She looked out at Sakuya with a worried look. "She's grown strong in this short amount of time. I hope…she knows what she's doing…" Shusui only looked at his sister, then at Sakuya.

"Get down from there!" Sakuya called out as she looked up at Kabuto. "I'm through playing! Stop holding back and take me seriously!

The Homunculus gripped his Buso Renkin's hilt tightly and smiled. "Very perceptive, Sakuya-san!" he called out as he slowly fell, now reaching the same height of the school's roof. "But now…I'll make you regret asking me to stop pulling my punches!" He gripped the Eye of the Storm's strap tightly and began to spin it on his hand. The wind began to form, but as he held it up, the wind wheel grew into a wind tunnel. It accelerated his fall, but the tunnel grew bigger. "Die, Sakuya Muto! Raging Wind Crush!" Like bringing down a hammer, he brought down the wind tunnel on Sakuya.

"Sakuya!" Ouka and Shusui cried out.

Quickly, Sakuya raised her Buso Renkin to keep the wind blades within the tunnel from touching her, but she wasn't protected completely. Her arms and shoulders began to get scratched, as well as her right cheek. She could feel the weight of her attack pushing her down, and with a roar, she struggled to push herself up. Kabuto was surprised by her growing strength and made the tunnel stronger. "I can't lose…" Kaworu, her friends Ouka, Yumi, and Mihoshi, her brother Souta and his friends, and her mother Tokiko all appeared in her mind. "I…won't…LOSE! GrrrrraaAAAAAAHHH!" She pushed herself forward as she roared loudly, her Buso Renkin protecting her and pushing the wind tunnel up as she ran closer towards Kabuto.

"What?" Kabuto tried to stop the wind tunnel, but at the last second, Sakuya pushed up the wind tunnel completely with her Grand Gaia and landed a right hook at Kabuto's left cheek. "Pff!" he gasped as he stumbled a bit. A normal human punch inflicted pain through his hard skin! As he turned to Sakuya once more, Sakuya spun and kicked Kabuto with her heel at the stomach, pushing him back a bit. 'Why?' he thought to himself as a mix of Sakuya's physical attacks and Buso Renkin attacks began to pummel at Kabuto. 'Why is she hurting me? Why am I taking this much damage from her, a normal human?" He raised his left arm to grab the pointed end of the buster sword from Sakuya's piercing attack, but it broke through and shattered his left arm completely.

With one arm, Kabuto stumbled back. 'Why am I not winning?' He moved in to slash with his Buso Renkin, but Sakuya brought down her Grand Gaia once more and cut off Kabuto's right arm. He stumbled forward, his arms behind him, his right still holding the Eye of the Storm, now in its Crimson Kakugane form. He with only a jagged stub of a right arm, Kabuto charged at Sakuya once more. 'What was the reason you mentioned, Victor?' As he charged, Sakuya turned and slashed down at the right of Kabuto's chest, going down his leg as well.

"Stop…" Sakuya muttered, tears welling up as she looked at Kabuto pitifully.

"Why…are you also looking at me like that…" Kabuto said as he tried to move, but his right leg was done, the thigh cut down in half. He could no longer move. 'Jinsuke…I don't feel you anymore. Have you finally abandoned me…because I wasn't as strong as you believed me to be?' "Why…are you so much stronger…where did you get your strength from?"

Sakuya remained silent and turned her body to Kabuto. Then she said, "…You once said that I have a limitless resolve. The truth is…" She tried to find her words. "…I'm scared. I'm scared of what will happen to me and everyone I care about. Of dying again, and making everyone around me sad. I'm scared…but I won't give up." She looked up at Kabuto with a determined expression. "I won't stop. I'll become stronger to protect those I care about. Just like my father. Just like my mother. And just like Kaworu. With the power I've been given…I'll surpass my limits with my limitless resolve!" She looked at Kabuto's broken state. "But…you didn't know your limits…you threw yourself recklessly without regard of your own body…there's no such thing as immortality, Kabuto-san…we all have to die sometime."

Then he realized what Victor meant. Kabuto remembered how his confidence had lead him to fight recklessly, and despite losing each time, he got back up, knowing full well the end result. Beaten, defeated, not thinking for other ways besides the obvious. All he thought of was winning, even though victory was far from his reach. His expression changed. He no longer looked menacing or hostile. He smiled at Sakuya gently, just like how he used to with Jinsuke. "I see…" was all he said and closed his eyes. "…I'm…glad…"

With a quick slash from the lower right side of his stomach to the upper left side of his chest, where his Homunculus mark surrounded by a hexagon-like marking resided, his body began to crumble; starting from his legs and broken limbs. Tears poured down Sakuya's cheeks as she bit her lower lip. "It feels good…" Kabuto added as he felt his body getting lighter. "So…liberating…thank you, Sakuya…the first girl I ever loved…"

Soon, nothing of Kabuto was left but his Ginsei Academy uniform, but from the torso. Sakuya lowered her Buso Renkin and deactivated it into its Kakugane form. Ouka and Shusui slowly walked toward her and placed their hands onto her scratched shoulders.

"Good bye…the first boy I ever loved…"