Chapter Nineteen – A Desert Rose by Any Other Name

A dark brown scythe rested upon his hand. It was short in length compared to a traditional scythe, but it resembled more a scythe than Tokiko Mutou's "Valkyrie Skirt". Though it was the Buso Renkin of the Death Scythe, it resembled less of an actual scythe than this. The only similarity was their blade, though this scythe was much shorter. It was littered with edged hexagons.

Attached to the end of the hilt was a long silver chain. It coiled next to Sasori's feet. At the end of this chain was a second blade; unlike the scythe itself, it resembled a crescent moon. This was supposed to act as a counterweight, and despite its appearance, it was. The blunt edge of the counterweight blade hit the ground first and made a cracked dent into the wooden floor of the classroom.

In the right hand was the scythe. In the left was a part of the chain. Sasori raised his left hand to his tinted shades and pushed them up over his eyes. "Now then…" he smirked, "…let the killing session begin."

The word "killing" terrified the students. The tall blonde girl, Ouka Kurosaki, watched in disbelief as she heard him speak. Her former teacher…no, he was much more than that to her. "Akira…what are you…"

"Woooah!" Yumi exclaimed. She was fascinated by her former teacher's weapon. She knew it looked way cooler than traditional weapons. Even Sakuya's, which resembled that of a large sword seen in anime and Japanese role-playing games (probably revolving around a certain spikey blonde…), was definitely something out of the ordinary. "Is that where your weapon comes from, Sakuya?! How did something so small become so big?!"

"Now's NOT the time, Yumi!" Sakuya exclaimed. "Here he comes! Everyone, get behind me!"

As Sasori took his first step, Sakuya grabbed a nearby desk; with all her might, she flung it over the other toppled desks. "Hey, that's my desk!" someone yelled, but it didn't matter now. Sasori had closed in and slashed with his miniature scythe. The desk was cut in half, much to the student's dismay, he continued his assault. He slashed once more on Sakuya, but the girl held him back with the broadside of her buster sword.

"Heh. What's the matter, Mutou?" Sasori taunted with a grin. "Isn't this as the English say? 'A ghost from the past?'" Just hearing the term "ghost" made Ouka cringe. Sakuya tried to push him back, but for such a small weapon, he was holding on pretty well.

Sakuya's eyes trailed to her left. "Hayasaka-sensei!" she called out. Ouka Hayasaka froze, her hand in her jacket. She looked up at Sakuya; the girl's expression was as if she was saying, "Only one of us has to give up her secret identity today." "Take everyone out of this classroom now! Find Shusui-sensei!"

Ouka looked at the students and slipped her hand into her jacket once more. With a nod, she ran past Sasori's chains to the classroom's back door. "Everyone, please follow me! Leave your trust in Sakuya Mutou!" The students stammered and clamored as the quickly followed their teacher. As they left, the blonde Ouka looked back at the two left behind, not until Yumi and Mihoshi pulled her away.

"Hmph. Leaving yourself behind to protect your friends. You're quite a martyr, Mutou."

"You wouldn't know," Sakuya growled as she attempted to push Sasori back. "You wouldn't put your life on the line for anyone, Homunculus!" Finally with every ounce of her strength, Sakuya exerted her force onto the Grand Gaia, sending Sasori flying back out of the classroom and towards the wall right outside the front door. But the toes of his Italian shoes slid down on the ground first, giving him traction before stumbling onto the wall.

As if in a single motion, he pulled on the chain with his left hand. The chain unnaturally uncoiled itself and lifted the counterweight blade. While in midair, Sasori grabbed the blunt edge of the blade and threw it at Sakuya. Sakuya had begun to charge towards the door with her Grand Gaia dragging down on the ground; she side stepped to avoid the lunging counterweight blade and turned her blade sideways. As she slipped through the door, she swung the blade through the classroom wall to bring it towards Sasori's head.

Sasori ducked under the blade that had torn through the bulletin board behind him and ducked to the other side of the hall, the opposite end where the students had retreated. He then pulled the chain back, and as if under a spell, the counterweight followed. Sakuya lifted her foot and jumped behind her Buso Renkin to dodge it as it turned the corner towards Sasori, who stopped it with his foot.

The two stared each other down, but Sakuya could never tell what Sasori's…no, Akira Ishida's eyes were like behind those tinted thin-framed aviator shades. He was fashionable for a Homunculus, who Sakuya expected as a monster wouldn't be very picky about his appearance. And he hadn't changed since his previous encounter with her. He still wore a bright orange suit over a yellow-borderline-white shirt, as bright as a hot desert sun. He wore a matching scarf loosely around his neck, and his shades were of a red tint. The Italian shoes, however, were of a deep dark brown, like a scorpion's exoskeleton shell.

As a teacher, Akira Ishida was rather aloof, but at the same time was very strict. Some teachers who were previously Ginsei Private Academy alumni compared him to a previous teacher named Mita. Unbeknownst to them, however, Mita was a Homunculus, and like Ishida was to Sakuya, Mita was Kazuki Muto's first encountered Homunculus who had pierced his heart and led him to becoming an Alchemist Warrior.

But Kazuki never had a blast from his past like Sakuya was now. And this time, he's a lot different than before. 'I never fought him properly,' Sakuya thought to herself, 'But he's good. Has he always been this good?' She noted that he was the IX of the Tetsujin Juusan, that he was stronger than the one Phalène and Kaworu. She had beaten the XI Kabuto, but can two numbers really make a difference?

She looked at the blade of her Grand Gaia; it was stuck in the drywall, alright. About half the bulletin board got wrecked by the gargantuan blade. 'Dammit,' she thought once more. 'And he can throw the stupid heavy blade thing, too! And all I have is this cloth…'

"Stuck, are we?" Sasori joked. "Much like your grades. Well, no matter. When I'm through with you, your grades will be the last thing on your mind!" With a swift through, Sasori threw…the scythe?! Sakuya realized what that weapon was the minute he threw it and quickly dodged it. It sunk into the wooden floorboards behind her, but what she saw was the most disturbing thing she's ever seen so far. When she got hit by kunai, schmitars, and wind blades, her skin and flesh were merely torn. But the miniature scythe blade was doing more than tearing up the floorboards.

A green liquid resided on the edges of the hole the scythe had made. It began to melt the wood along around the hole. Soon, the melting stopped. 'Acid!'

"Seems like you've realized it." Sasori pulled the chain, and the scythe came flying back. Sakuya made sure to dodge. "This is the Buso Renkin of the Chained Scythe, the Sahara Rose!" He then licked his lips. "One touch of the blade, and you'll suffer from pain unimaginable! Imagine the feel of your skin and flesh being melted away! I'll make you suffer, Sakuya Muto!"

On the other end of the hall, where the scythe had struck, a lone student stood at the wall around the corner. She had stayed behind despite the other students retreating, this tall blonde-haired student who was considered a delinquent in Ginsei Private Academy. Like a delinquent, she didn't exactly follow the rules given to her by her teacher of the same name. Rather than retreating with her friends, she stayed behind to witness what would break her heart.

"Akira…" Ouka muttered as she placed her hand over her ample chest.

"So, how is Ouka-chan?" she heard him say. The mention of her name made her lose her head. He called himself Sasori, but he was definitely still Akira Ishida. "Have you been taking good care of her? My…dinner?"

"What is Ouka to you?!" Sakuya called out so suddenly, grabbing Ouka's attention. "I saw her face when I came here. As if seeing a ghost…who wouldn't. I watched you get destroyed myself. But dammit, what do you want with Ouka?!"

"What is rightfully mine." Sasori took off his shades, revealing his crimson eyes that is said to have never been seen before. But Sakuya saw it once, when he was in his Homunculus form. "I made Ouka-chan to what she is today. After all, we go way back."

"No way…" At that moment, Sakuya realized what he was saying. "Then…you are the teacher that…"

"Do you want to know? About her past? About our past?"

It was a cold winter night. Akira Ishida walked down the streets of Ginsei City. There was blood on his dark brown scorpion-colored Italian shoes. "Dinner is sweet, as always," he said to himself aloud. "Motomiya-san knows how to pick them. Normally, I wouldn't follow anything a…lesser Homunculus would say, but she is beneficial in some ways." He took out a cigarette and lit it up, inhaling the tobacco and blowing out the smoke from his lips. "Unlike this…mysterious benefactor who helped us off the moon. Hmph…he'd at least show his face to us."

Soon, he was passing through the residential district. In the pale street light, he could make out a group of girls sitting on trash cans or squatting down on the side. His presences attracted them, and they immediately stood. In their hands were iron bats and rods, and some with chains. Another also had a knife. They looked like middle school students, but they were definitely some kind of gang. Ishida merely whistled at the sight.

"Where ya goin', old man?" said one of the girls, short hair with bright orange hair.

"Old man? Hm…well, I guess you can call me that…since I'm probably half a century older than you worms."

"Hey, this guy's a real jokester!" A black-haired student with long braided hair switched hands with her knife. "Let's cut his tongue so he can't make anymore!" She quickly lunged at Akira Ishida, who merely stood still. THUNK went the knife, but when the girl looked, there was no blood on her hands. Looking closer, the knife had broken off, the blade shaking on the ground. "Huh?"

"I'm sorry, but…that won't work." With a quick grab, he grabbed this girl by the neck and flung her towards a trash bag nearby. There was a loud crash, and she rolled to the pavement.

"You punk!" the other girls roared and charged him. But it was over in a flash. They soon found themselves on the ground, in pain unimaginable.

The one with bright orange hair was getting her head kicked around by Ishida's Italian shoes. "I could use some dessert, but I don't normally eat my meals off the floor." He tilted his red aviator shades to his eyes and inhaled another smoke. He could hear metal scraping along the concrete to his left, and he looked up. Standing in the streetlight was a tall middle schooler, long blonde hair and a fair white skin. She had blue eye-shadow over her eyelids, and she was carrying a red metal bat. "Though…I guess this is what you call a buffet table."

"Did you do this to my girls?" she asked.

"They were in my way. Wanted to rob me, or something. I just merely defended myself, you know."

Her eyes flashed, and she was in front of Ishida. With a single swing, Ishida toppled over to the side. His red aviators fell, cracked from the impact. "I'll kill anyone who messes with my girls," she added. Her "girls" had gotten up and hid behind her. They knew that Ishida wasn't an ordinary man. He withstood what humans normally wouldn't, and this girl realized it too late. Her bat was bent, but he wasn't even bleeding in the slightest. But what she saw probably struck her harder than a fist to the gut or a metal rod to the head. His piercing red eyes shadowed by his orange hair radiated with a murderous intent.

These were only middle school girls; they haven't killed a person before. But they didn't want to know what death felt like. And like middle school girls, they screamed and ran, leaving this girl, their leader, alone. Ishida slowly stood up and cracked his neck. "I'd be lying if I said that hurt, but…"

The girl fell to her buttock, the bat clattering on the ground. Ishida walked towards her and licked his lips like a deranged killer. The girl knew she was going to die. "So…how am I going to eat you?"

The girl stopped. She processed his words, and immediately, she blushed. "Wh-wh-what?!" she exclaimed. This reaction brought Ishida to a loss. "What are you talking about?! I'm only a middle school student! Are you one of those kinds of perverts?!"

Now he really was at a loss. In the first place, Ishida is a Homunculus. Skinship isn't in his vocabulary. But this girl…she really wasn't thinking about this literally. And that tough demeanor she was exuding before had burst like a balloon. "You're misunderstanding me," he tried to correct himself, but he was quickly cut off.

"I have my pride as a woman!" the girl roared and swung her bat at his knee. Like his head, it did little to nothing. But it did catch him off balance, and the girl quickly ran.

Ishida looked back at her, then down at the aviator shades that were cracked. "Hmph…impertinent little…but promising…I think I'll have to perform a little experiment."

As the nights went on, he encountered those same girls who tried to avenge themselves. Each time, they failed. And each time, there were less and less of them whenever he encountered them.

Soon, it was just that one leader, sitting on a trash can. Ishida approached her and sighed. It was only midday. "Ouka-chan, right?" he said to her, but she didn't say anything. "Playing hooky again?"

The girl's name was Ouka, and she was only in middle school. Yet she was smoking, probably stolen from people she beat up. "Shut up, old man," she snarled. "I can do whatever th' hell I want!"

The man smiled and poked up his small, circular shades that replaced his broken aviators, taking out a lighter and lighting up his own cigarette. "Sounds like a life I'd like. But things aren't always easy. We all have something we want, but we're bound to our fate. Us old people know that well." He then took his cigarette and used it to point at Ouka. "But you…can change yours while you're still young."

Ouka looked up at the man and took her cigarette out of her mouth. "…You think so?...Then what should I do…"

The man took her cigarette, dropped it with his own, then stepped on it as he held out his hand to her. "Come with me…"

During the rest of his free time, the Homunculus Akira Ishida tutored Ouka and the rest of her gang. He gave them lives, a purpose, a meaning. They were no longer street rats. They had given up their gang lives to become dutiful children. All while keeping his identity a secret, he was thanked by their parents for changing their lives. Some of these girls became students at Ginsei Academy. Some of these girls had moved. And Ouka…

"Hey," Ouka said as she lit up a cigarette in front of Ginsei Academy's yard. She was wearing the Ginsei uniform, but her dress was much longer than normal. "Go out with me."

Ishida paused and looked at her. "Pardon?"

"You heard me." Ouka was blushing and looked away from him. "I'm serious…I've even prepared something suitable, depending on your answer."

The Homunculus blinked and sighed, tapping the ash off the cigarette. "I'm a teacher, you know. I'll be in trouble if word gets out."

"It's okay. I've learned a thing or two about being discrete."

"What about your pride as a woman?"

"Then I want to give it to you…"

This wasn't part of the plan. No, it was an unexpected development. But it could certainly lead to something. Ishida smiled and said, "I will on one condition. Quit smoking. It really doesn't suit you." Ouka stopped and looked at Ishida. As if troubled, she hesitantly took the cigarette out of her mouth. She then took the pack of cigarettes from her pocket and dropped both of them on the ground, proceeding to stomp on them. Once more, it was an unexpected development, and Ouka seemed to have quite the resolve. Ishida sighed happily, a feeling he felt was a little too real than he had let on.

"Then…let me give you something in return." Ouka put her hand into her other pocket. She held it out to Ishida and placed it upon his thin rugged palm.

It was a pair of red aviators.

"No…way…" Sakuya was shocked by her own best friend's history. She had met Ouka in her first year at Ginsei Academy, but she had never knew her secret. And she…she and Kaworu took it away the start of her second year. How Ouka must've felt when Ishida, despite their relationship being of the illegal kind, was absent.

Sasori smiled and pushed up his aviators with his left hand as he prepared his scythe with his left hand. "If you feel any remorse for your dear friend, Muto," he hollered, "then die for me and my revenge!"

"AKIRA!"

A voice rang out in the hallway. It wasn't Sakuya's or Sasori's. It was Ouka standing at the far side of the hall way, opposite end of Sasori. Sasori stopped, and Sakuya hesitantly looked back. There was a mix of emotions on Ouka's face: fear, desperation, and disbelief. "It's…not true, right, Akira? What you said…is just a lie, right?"

"Ouka…" Sakuya couldn't believe that Ouka would return to the battle field. "Ouka…Ouka, what are you doing here?! You have to get back to the others! This guy is too dangerous!"

The princess has returned to the prince, though Sasori with a grin on his lips. "Ouka-chan~," he called out to her. "Now you know what Muto has done. She's the one that took me away from you. Are you willing to accept that? Your friend?"

Ouka didn't know what to believe. There was a gaggle of thoughts going through her head, but it all lead to one thing: Akira Ishida is back. When she looked up, her eyes widened out of fear. "SAKUYA, WATCH OUT!"

The blue-haired Warrior turned to her right to see Ishida right next to her. He grabbed her by the head and slammed her onto the remaining bulletin board behind her. Sakuya fell to her knees, blood and wood falling out from the back of her head as she collapsed to the ground. Sasori had closed the gap in that short amount of time, and he was heading straight for Ouka. "No…stay away from her…"

Sasori stopped in front of the blonde student who was about his height. Ouka couldn't see his eyes behind those red aviators that she gave him before. She never could. Maybe it was because she secretly feared those red eyes of his, and when he wore his smaller glasses before they became a couple, one could catch a glimpse of those eyes of his. "What are you going to do to me…" Ouka stammered.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sasori sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he spit out his cigarette and stepped on it. "I'm going to keep good on my promise. The fear and desperation in your heart is what I've planned all along. There have been just…minor setbacks. In the end, it all lead to you finding out in some shape or form." With an uncaring grin, he grabbed Ouka's neck. "Any last words, Ouka-chan?"

Ouka didn't say anything. Her blonde hair covered her left eye and shadowed her right. Then she said, "If…if what you say is true…why didn't you take care of me back then?" This question caught Sasori off guard. "You've had plenty of time to…eat me. Since the day we met, since when you took us in, when we graduated middle school, when we entered Ginsei Academy. You had so many opportunities, and not once have you shown a hint of interest in eating me. You…made me into a woman. You gave me a reason to live. You had all the time in the world, but you did all these little intricate things for your own amusement. Or was all that really for your own amusement?!"

Sasori was silent. His grin turned into an uncaring frown, and he slowly let go of Ouka. Then he slapped her across the cheek. "Get real," he replied. "If you're that unaccepting of reality, then let me show you. What I did to your friend is real. What that pain now was real. What I will do to you soon is real. Everything before you is real. I've taught you how harsh life can be. If you are that detached from reality, then I'll kill you now, quick and easy."

"Go ahead." Ouka looked up at Sasori. Her eyes were now that of a determined girl, just like when she first met Sasori. This glare from a normal human girl made a monster like Sasori freeze. "But…make it quick and painless, okay?"

There was a silence. Sakuya didn't know what to make of this. She was dizzy from the impact to the back of her head that she couldn't get up. But she saw Sasori turn his back to Ouka.

"Hmph. How disappointing." Not once did her turn back to her. He didn't reveal his genuine smile that only Sakuya could see to her. "I prefer my meals with flavor, with a sense of taste. But now you're just rather bland. No matter. I still have my obvious mission." He started walking to Sakuya and pulled her up from the arm. "Get up. It's not over yet." He took a few steps back and readied his Sahara Rose.

Sakuya held onto the hilt of the wedged Grand Gaia, trying to regain her balance. She dare not attack Sasori after all this. Seeing her hesitation, Ouka yelled, "Do it, Sakuya! But…make it quick and painless…or I will never forgive you…" Sakuya didn't respond. She simply nodded and bit her bottom lip.

She finally pulled the hilt; the blade tore through the dry wall, across the air behind her, and through the wall of her classroom to her right. Sasori ducked and jumped back far enough that he was close to Ouka, as if protecting her from Sakuya. He threw his sickle; green liquid was secreting from the hexagonal blade, touching the floorboards below and melting it little by little. With her blade still in the air, Sakuya side stepped to her left and brought her blade down.

The Grand Gaia broke through the chain of the Sahara Rose. It was like time stopped or slowed down in that instant, and Sakuya quickly grabbed the hilt of the sickle. She deactivated her Buso Renkin with Sasori's in her right hand as she charged towards him. Sasori only had the chain in his left hand. He spread out his arms and slowly let go of the chain. Ouka looked away. Sakuya rushed in, and from her bottom left to her upper right, she slashed through Sasori with his own weapon.

His red scarf was cut. His bright desert sun-like clothes were cut. The hexagon symbol on his upper left chest with the Roman numeral IX was cut. There was a green liquid on the wound melting him, but he didn't mind; he was as good as dead. He fell to his knees and slumped forward. Not once did he face Ouka, so she never saw that genuine smile that remained on his lips. "So this is it…" he said. "Mutou…promise me one thing…" Sakuya walked towards Sasori as his deactivated crimson Buso Renkin formed into her right hand.

"Protect…Ouka…"

Sakuya didn't say anything. She gripped the Buso Renkin tightly as it slowly faded into silver. Sasori's body faded to gray and collapsed into dust. All that was left were his red aviators.

Sakuya bent down and picked them up, looking at Ouka. As soon as she opened her mouth, Ouka yelled, "Don't say anything!" There was a silence between the two. "Please…it would be disrespectful for the dead…"

Though she was not supposed to say anything, Sakuya walked around the pile of dust and placed the aviators into Ouka's hand. "He was a monster, through and through. But at his very last moments…Ouka-san…he had the expression of a human."

It was as if the burden on Ouka's shoulders was lifted, and she collapsed herself over Sakuya's shoulder. The two walked towards the end of the hall where the stairs were. "I'm sorry I never told you," Sakuya apologized. "That I was involved in any of this…"

"You did what you had to," Ouka replied. There was a faint smile on her lips. "I would never hate you for doing what you thought was right. Because you always think of others." The two bumped fists, but Ouka's slipped under. She was sweating profusely and breathing heavily as she collapsed to the side.

"Ouka-san?! Ouka?! Hey, Ouka!" Sakuya called out to her friend, but to no avail.

"Sakuya-chan!" a voice called out from the stairs. It was Mihoshi and Yumi, running to the two. "Are you…Ouka! Is she okay?!"

"Yeah…I think." Sakuya had noticed their conditions as well. They were breathing heavily and sweating, but they looked tired. Who knew where they had come from, but the stairs weren't that much to tire a person out. It was as if energy was being drained from them. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry 'bout us, Sakuya!" Yumi was full of confidence as usual, despite what had gone on today. Today was supposed to be the first day of summer finals, but instead it was a Homunculus invasion. "But…you should find Kaworu, too. He probably needs your help."

"Kaworu?...Wait, is he okay?!"

"Kaworu-sensei…he…he is…" Mihoshi's speech was slurred. Finally, she collapsed on top of Ouka.

"Mihoshi-chan! Hey, Mihoshi!"

"Go…" Yumi's speech was also slurred now. "He…They…are probably up on the roof. It's the ideal place for a final school battle, right?" Her breathing was getting heavier. "I'll watch these two. Go be the hero, Sakuya…"

Sakuya couldn't bear to leave her friends behind, and the crisis hadn't been completely averted. But she knew them to be safe for now. Sakuya hugged Yumi and said, "Don't do anything dangerous."

"We should be telling you that…"

They parted ways. Sakuya went up the stairs to the third floor. Yumi finally collapsed to her buttock and sighed. "It's like…living in an anime…" she said to herself. "I've always wanted…something supernatural to happen…I wanted to be the hero…but that right belongs only to you, Sakuya…" With a smirk, she raised her fist to the air. "Go get 'em…" The fist swayed, and Yumi collapsed to the side.

Now at the roof door, Sakuya felt an overwhelming pressure on the other side. But she couldn't stop there. She kicked the door open and went through; on the other side of the roof, just by the gates, a black-haired teen stood. He had long black hair with bands that covered his eyes. He wore a slim long-sleeved black shirt, and dark blue slim jeans. In his hands were two black gloves with the Roman numeral VIII on the top of his hands, encircled by a golden hexagon border. Next to him, Kaworu was on his knees, slumped forward. His hands were behind his back, as if he was being restrained. "Sakuya…-kun…" he called out to her.

"Kaworu-kun!"

"Look, Kaworu," the teen smiled deviously. He had a snake-like grin. "Your princess has come to rescue you. But…who's going to rescue her?"