Chapter 16: Enemy
"Is Yukari-chan awake yet?"Tsukune asked with a concerned look on his face as they sat down next to a tree.
"No not yet, she doesn't have any serious injuries, but she's exhausted from using too much power earlier," Moka responded as she gazed at Yukari's sleeping figure.
"That was surprising though- I didn't think that she had that much power in her. And why is so scared of the human world if she's this strong?" Kurumu asked as she walked around them.
"I guess there's a lot of things we don't know about Yukari-chan; she is a human and ayashi hybrid after all," Moka stated. The torusits from earlier walked over and also asked whether Yukari was awake.
"Is Yukari-chan the witch that lives in this area?" they asked with curiosity.
"No, she's not- we're here on a research trip," Tsukune responded casually.
"And what do you mean by 'the witch'- is there actually a witch in this area?"
"There is an urban legend that a witch lives in this area- that's why it's called the Witch's Ranch. But more importantly, ever since there was a decision to build a new factory around this area, people have gone missing," she explained with a slightly nervous look in her eyes.
That girl seems to be correct- even I've noticed that the supernatural presence in the area is a witch. It's very faint though… Tsukune's inner voice spoke up just as Yukari woke up.
"There's no proof for that, so don't blame witches. Humans can never understand witches," she stated as she got to her feet. That witch girl isn't as smart in class as out here- she obviously does not sense the aura of a witch's presence in the area, the inner voice sighed, and Tsukune, also mirrored this behaviour.
"We should probably go into town to our motel so we can tell sensei about this incident," Moka suggested as she picked up the newspaper from earlier.
"No problem, we can give you guys a ride- it'll be a tight fit, but oh well," the tourists said as they pointed to their hatchback.
As they were getting into the car, both Tsukune and Yukari sensed the presence of another witch, although Tsukune did not react to it. Yukari on the other hand, just looked out into the distance before Moka called her.
Around twenty minutes later, they got out of the car and were waving to the tourists who had given them a ride. As for the town itself, there were many large buildings, which Tsukune was used to, but the others: not so much; Tsukune's friends stared at the buildings in awe, as if they were some ancient monuments. It wasn't long before the group started to get attention from people around them, predominantly the males, who were commenting on the girls' appearance. Unfortunately for Yukari, the otaku population had noticed her and were all crowding around, trying to take pictures, ask questions, and even sneak in their hands. Thankfully, they managed to squeeze out of the crowd, and escape into a nearby alleyway.
"I'm sick of this! I'm scared of both the humans and the human world!" Yukari shouted as her eyes started to water.
"I'm really sorry about this, Yukari-chan- but, I'm sure you'll get-" Yukari interrupting him cut him off.
"Stop lying- you don't understand at all! It's impossible for Tsukune to understand… there's too much difference between my world and the human world and no one will ever understand that!" she shouted as tears were starting to flow down from her eyes.
"Why are you making Tsukune feel?! He doesn't deserve that!" Kurumu intervened as she grabbed Yukari. Looking up, Tsukune saw a crow diving, and instinctively grabbed Kurumu & Yukari to duck as he shouted" "Duck!"
The crow just about missed them, but with it, many other crows started to gather in the area, and they all tried to attack them.
"Wait, Yukari-chan?! Hey guys, Yukari-chan's gone missing- I can't find her!" Moka shouted amidst the panic as she swatted the crows away.
The witch is in the city now, Tsukune, so you better act if you want to find your friend, Tsukune's inner voice advised as he unsheathed his katana and swung it in a three-hundred and sixty degree radius around him. The wind from that attack managed to scare off the crows as their squawks went off into the sky.
"Damn, I can't sense her anywhere, and we don't fully know what the culprit even looks like," Tsukune stated with exasperation as he looked up into the sky.
"Maybe she was right- we are her friends and we didn't understand her feelings at all," he said with a sad look on his face.
"Tsukune, everyone feels the same way, so let's find her as soon as possible- and this time, we'll be sure to consider her feelings this time," Moka stated with a smile.
"Wait, looks over there guys- see where all the crows are huddling, those must be the crows from earlier," Kurumu said as she pointed to the top of a building fifty metres away.
They barged onto the door as they fell onto the floor of the roof; Tsukune had distinctly heard the voice of Yukari agreeing to help against the humans just as they had arrived.
"Are you being serious Yukari-chan?" he said as he jumped on to his feet, much to the surprise of Yukari.
"You humans, how did you find out that we were here?" the other witch asked; she had long dark brown hair, that mostly was down, but also partially held up by two ponytails, and she wore gothic clothing. However, her reddish-pink eyes were striking familiar to Tsukune.
"Well, when there is a massive huddle of crows who attacked us earlier all above this building, then you can see that it becomes an obvious point of interest," Tsukune stated with a smirk as he saw the witch's eyes narrow.
"By the way, it seems like you've been watching us for a while, so care to tell us why you want to kill all the humans or something?" Tsukune asked with smile.
He stepped forward, his hands out.
"Yukari-chan, we heard everything… but… we were all worried, so let's go back to the academy okay?" Tsukune said with a smile.
"Just forget about the report and the stuff that's happened now," he said as their hands came closer.
Tragically however, this was cut short as blood poured out before Yukari; Tsukune had been cut deeply across his left shoulder. Ahhh… damn, she got me while I was distracted, he thought with frustration as he slowly fell.
"No, no Yukari-chan. Don't fall into their trap- these humans are enemies. And enemies should be killed without any hesitation!" she shouted as wings sprouted from her back and she took to the skies.
"They never understood your feelings in the first place, and gave you all this trouble!" she stated as the roof surface started to crack, putting them all off balance.
"I'll make this quick, so that you don't have to suffer a lot," the witch stated as her blade-like wings swung in close for Moka & Tsukune. But, Yukari got in front of them just before the attack happened, shocking everyone.
"I can't forgive you… these guys are my friends and they mean a lot to me… even if a witch harms them, I cannot forgive them," she spluttered as blood and tears flowed down her cheeks. Angered, the older witch turned away, her aura becoming even stronger.
"I cannot accept this… I cannot accept this at all!" she shouted, just as one of her wings got sliced in half by a large shuriken. Everyone turned around to see Tsukune back on his feet.
"Ow… you really cut me deep back there, and now, you're trying to harm my friends, so you understand that I cannot just stay down," Tsukune stated as he caught the shuriken in his hands.
"Coexistence is made harder by the likes of people like you," he plainly stated as he put his shuriken away, and cracked his knuckles.
"You should be dead- I cut your vital organs," the witch said with widened eyes, as her blade-like wings came down fast on Tsukune.
"Sorry, but that would only apply for your average human being, and I'm not exactly average," he responded from behind her, as he threw out a heavy punch into her stomach, causing her body to crash to the ground, and knocking her unconscious.
"It's dark and we still can't find our motel or sensei- and we can't leave this girl on her own either," Moka said as she laid the witch from earlier next to her.
"This is sad- what going to happen to us now?" Kurumu asked with a sad look in her eyes.
"I'm really sorry for what I said earlier, I was really mean. Even if you do or don't understand me, I really like everyone here- I'm fine as long as I'm with everyone here," Yukari declared as she held Tsukune's arm.
"Oh, there you guys are… wait, why are you here?" Nekonome-sensei asked as she walked in with the bus driver, carrying lots of boxes (many of them fish-related).
As they all went inside, Tsukune couldn't help feel that there was more trouble to come.
Another chapter everyone- Ruby just got a beatdown, hah lol. I hope everyone's enjoying this story. Please review if you can, and thank you for reading.