Rin-Shin made a quick recovery. He stood on his feet, his eye brows quirked up, and rubbing Orshie's head. His book glowed bright purple, Kousuke and his Mamodo panicked. " Kabryuki!" Rin-Shin shouted.
Orshie opened his mouth. Rin-Shin gave Kousuke a feral smile as a metallic fence was fired from Orshie's mouth. Kousuke tried to jump back, his hunchback got him off balance, the cage wrapped around his arms and legs. Kousuke couldn't move, shouted, " What the hell is this!"
" Kousuke!" The green haired Mamodo shouted. It tried helping his power user by bashing his head against the cage. That didn't work, just gave the Mamodo a massive headache. The green haired Mamodo started punching the cage. " Don't worry! I'll get you out of here!"
" Idiot!" Kousuke shouted. " Just get out of here! Whatever this battle is about it's not worth losing your life, so just leave me here." The green haired Mamodo didn't listen to Kousuke, ended up trying to punch through the cage. " Don't worry! I'll save you!"
The little Mamodo tried his hardest to free Kousuke. In the short moment's they've been together the Mamodo learned to love him. He showed that little hunch boy more courage and care than anyone, even his father, had ever given him. But his efforts were futile. Rin-Shin's book started to glow.
" Kabosaka!" A large saw came out of Rin-Shin's Mamodo Orshie's mouth. The green haired Mamodo turned around, and caught the saw with his mouth, not even a graze when his sharp teeth bite into the saw. " This is impossible!" Kousuke thought. " That saw should have cut him."
" Spit-tooie!" The Mamodo spat the saw out of his mouth. He then turned around trying to free Kousuke. Rin-Shin with the book, however, book began to glow bright purple. " Kabosaka!"
Another saw came out of Orshie's mouth. Kousuke's Mamodo quickly turned around and smacked the saw away with his left hand. This time the saw cut into his skin, the blood trickled out of his hand. " I'm bleeding," the Mamodo said. He sucked the wound.
" This is far too dangerous for a kid like you!" Kousuke shouted. Even though the Mamodo was trying his hardest to protect him, Kousuke just didn't appreciate it. " Just get out of here! Go! Scat! If you're going to save someone than save yourself! Now leave—you'll do much better for people leaving them then you'll ever do standing around them!"
" I-I just can't do that!" The Mamodo clenched his left hand. Rin-Shin was hesitant to say another spell with that brave demeanor on that little moss haired boy. "A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, a hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the hero within us is revealed. That is why I can't leave, not for anything…I will be the HERO that protects everyone!"
" Kabosaka!"
A large saw came out of Orshie's mouth. The saw went straight through the green haired Mamodo's arm. The green-haired Mamodo's arms were transparent; not even a graze on his arm. The saw just went through his arms as if it were hollow.
" What just happened?" Kousuke thought. " His arm should have been cut off. "
The green haired Mamodo's arm didn't come off, but blood spurted out. The blood dripped from the Mamodo's hand and dripped over Kousuke's face. He was bombarded by the sight of blood just spilling out, but no wound being open.
The green haired Mamodo was undaunted by the spill. He continued nabbing his teeth on the steel iron of Orshie's barbs. Little had he succumb to Rin-Shin, who was heartless when it came to battle, opening his book up and about to cast another spell.
" Kabosaka!"
A large saw came out of Orshie's mouth. The saw went straight through the green-haired Mamodo's arm. The green haired Mamodo felt a jolt through his shoulder as if he'd been electrocuted. He fell to his knees, his face contorted in pain. He got up again, still groaning.
" Looks like I struck a nerve." Orshie said.
Rin-Sin and Orshie watched the green haired Mamodo with curiosity. The green haired Mamodo grabbed the barbed fence and munched on it. What did that green haired Mamodo hope to find from biting on that steel fence? Rin-Shin opened the pages as the book glowed.
" Kabosaka!"
Two saw-blades came out of Orshie's mouth. They both delved into the ground. One of the blades zoomed through the ground and sliced through the green haired Mamodo's kneecaps. He cried out in pain as an invisible wound was made reopened, bleeding profusely the green haired Mamodo grunted, more blood to spurt from the invisible wounds. He glared at Rin-Shin and Orshie.
" He's attacking his tarsus," Kousuke thought. " If he keeps this up…this kid won't be able to walk."
The green-haired Mamodo didn't look like it could walk. He felled on his left knee and cried in pain. The green haired Mamodo was paralyzed. He let out an ear-piercing scream, blood started to flow freely from his nose and ear. Rin-Shin and Orshie smiled, their canine teeth glinting in the moonlight, but they were shocked to see the green haired Mamodo getting to his feet.
" W-What the hell…" Rin-shin asked, stepping backwards. " You shouldn't be able to move." Rin-Shin watched in surprise as the green haired Mamodo got up, swayed slightly with one hand. He put a knuckle to his forehead and looked up to the skies.
The green haired Mamodo tried biting through the barbed fence. He was using all his willpower just to move his serrated teeth. Kousuke couldn't stand to see the green haired Mamodo dying just to free him. He gave him his loudest shout.
" What are you doing?! Run!"
" Kabosaka!"
A saw blade came out of Orshie's mouth and went right through the green haired Mamodo's final, unscathed right foot. Both of the Mamodo's feet were paralyzed. He could no longer stand up straight. He fell to Kousuke's legs.
The green haired Mamodo breathed heavily as blood oozed from several of his invisible wounds. His whole body was filled with pain and yet, had had a smile on his face. He could feel his consciousness slipping away as his vision blurred and Rin-Shin's manically laughter filled his ears.
The green haired Mamodo wanted to go with no regrets. He turned slightly to his partner Kousuke who was watching him with fear. Tears cascaded down his face as he watched him close his eyes, his breath becoming more ragged with each breath he took.
" Hey…don't cry," the green haired said weakly. " You have to be strong. Be strong for me."
" Well, well," Rin-Shin laughed. " Look who's helpless."
" A pathetic little Mamodo who can't even help his partner," Orshie laughed. His teeth were evil barred. " And look at his partner. He's a coward."
Kousuke's Mamodo tried to struggle. But his whole body was immobilized. Everything from his legs up to his arms wouldn't move. The only thing the Mamodo could move was his head. He shaked it furiously, biting the ground with his sharp teeth, but couldn't free Kousuke.
Rin-Shin stepped on his head. His face went straight into the dirt. Kousuke was disgusted. How could anyone, he didn't care how evil, just push someone's head in the dirt. What's worse was how he took Kousuke's book .
" Ah! What do we have here? Hmm." Rin-Shin opened the book and skimmed through the pages. Page after page—pages of Celtic letters and smooth paper—Rin-Shin didn't see a single word on it. " It's just as I thought. Only one person can read from this book." Rin-Shin barred his teeth evilly. Kousuke's vehemence was rising as the evil man chuckled. " If I burn this book than your friends just going to go back to the Mamodo World—a place where he'll be happy. Now he might not be able to use any spells, but I can still find some use for him."
" D-Don't you bare hurt him!" Kousuke exclaimed.
" Look at how pathetic you humans are, Rin-Shin. It's better to live as a pet then to die as a worm, wouldn't you agree?"
" Yes, partner."
Rin-Shin stretched his left hand back, holding the book with his right one, and punched Kousuke in the face. Rin-Shin and Orshie laughed, before Rin-Shin punched Kousuke in the face again. Rin-Shin then punched Kousuke in the stomach with a flurry of punches. When Rin-Shin finished punching Kousuke he was beaten to a bloody pulp.
" Y-You are very ugly." Rin-Shin grabbed Kousuke's forehead. He raised his head up to look into his eyes. He saw blood oozing out of Kousuke's nostrils. Rin-Shin managed to beat the poor, weak Kousuke to a bloody pulp. " Killing you would be doing everyone a favor. People don't pity losers like you. They are happy by how much prettier they are then you."
Rin-Shin opened his book and Orshie opened his mouth. They were about to kill Kousuke! All Rin-Shin had to do was read the spell, a giant saw could come out , and it would decapitate his head. He feel the stimulus racing his head and memory's racing back.
XXX
" Yumi Sendou. Can you please paraphrase what is written on this board."
" I, er, I, er, I really haven't gotten that far in my studying. I don't know."
All the kids in the class laughed at Yumi Sendou. Who wouldn't. The teacher smacked the board.
" Settle down! Fine. Let's see if anyone of you has the answer." Everyone kept their hands under their desk. No one knew the answer. It was disappointing. " If you have the proclivity to make fun of someone at least have the courage to answer the question yourselves—that's someone none of you have"
The teacher noticed one kid who had his hand up. Kousuke Amai. Kousuke was smart, not the smartest kid in the school, but could answer questions right off the bat when asked. There was many things he was impaired with. He was shy. With all those faces looking at him, he almost cried.
" Kousuke, do you know the answer?"
" O-On a sunny is-island a co-co-coconut…fa…fall…"
" I'm going to need you to finish the sentence, Kousuke. A coconut what?"
" A…A…"
Kousuke had a strange kind of foveal vision. He also had myopia (short sight). It was a condition where light didn't' focus solely on his retina. This made him look at distant objects as out of focus. Kousuke had severe headaches. When he focused too hard it seemed like everything was tilting back and forth, and that everything was blurry. Kousuke lost control. He grabbed the side of his head and screamed.
" Nooooo!"
Kousuke screaming silenced everyone. His vision just got wilder. So wild he couldn't see anything. He ran out of the classroom. He didn't care how much trouble he would be in, how much trouble he would be in with his teachers , he just wanted to get away. He didn't want anyone to see how scared he was. Luckily for him the janitor was just opening the door to the boiler room. Kousuke ran into the room and slammed the door. The janitor tried opening the door but it was locked on the outside. On the inside Kousuke was holding his hands on his head trying to make the blurs go away."
Kousuke was scared. He was shivering, sitting against the door. He couldn't hear or see anything, his heart felt like a rabbit's chased by a hungry fox. Kousuke heard a knock on the door. Then he felt a second knock. And finally there was a third knock. Kousuke remembered that knock. It was his and his father's special good night song.
Kousuke opened the door. Standing in the doorway was his father. His father was handsome and tall. He had a strong chin with a cheerful smile. His eyes were maroon; the color of the ocean. Kousuke took one step towards his father then took three steps back. He was afraid. When he was nervous his vision would blur. Kousuke couldn't hear anything. His father, the great man he was, communicated with his fingers.
" Son, I need you to come out of the closet."
Kousuke felt more assured. He took two steps forward, but took another step back. Kousuke was still shivering in fear.
" Come on. Trust me. I'm always here for you, son."
Kousuke felt like he could trust his father. He took seven steps forward walking into his father's arms. His father hugged him. He felt the hair in his father's chin bristling against his face while he felt those strong arms around his back.
" Whatever homework Kousuke has please send it home. He needs to be with me the rest of the day."
XXX
Kousuke's whole body was filled with pain and yet, he had a smile on his face. He could feel his consciousness slipping away as his vision blurred and Rin-Shin and Orshie's manically laughter filled his ears.
He was going to die here. He didn't want to die. He wanted his father to know how much he loved him, even if his father thought of him only as a "beast". He wanted to go with no regrets. Tears cascaded down Kousuke's face as he watched Rin-Shin's book glow.
" Kabosa—"
Rin-Shin stopped. –He felt something sharp biting through his leg. Who did he find biting his leg? The little Mamodo with the green hair. Rin-Shin screamed, punched the Mamodo in the face, even Orshie tried pulling on him, but the Mamodo wouldn't let go.
" Leave my partner alone!"
Rin-Shin couldn't shake the Mamodo off. He cried as he wobbled his foot. When Orshie charged at his partner, the Mamodo let go and punch Orshie in his nasal cavity. The Mamodo pinned Orshie to the ground, and started punching him again, and again, and for a third time in the face. But Rin-Shin grabbed the boy by the back of his collar and pulled him off.
" That's it, you lil shit! I was going to let you live to be my pet, but now I'm going to kill you too!"
Rin-Shin raised the Mamodo over his head and threw him to Kousuke. Orshie spat in the Mamodo's direction. Kousuke could see the crimson red glisten of blood in his saliva. But Kousuke didn't think much about how the little boy hurt him, and more about how the Mamodo smiled at him. Hurt not as bad as Kousuke, but hurt all the same, the book in his hand.
Something extraordinary happened. A leaf floated down under the book and raised it to Kousuke's arms. Because of his degenerate strength, he could hardly lift it. Another strange thing happened. The green book began to glow, without Kousuke putting any heart power in it. Kousuke looked in the book, and saw that he could read the words on the second page.
Kousuke, his fingers on the pages, yelled as loud as he was enabled. "Jinmeyō!" Kousuke yelled.
" Kaboassra!" Rin-Shin shouted.
The pages in Kousuke's book glowed bright green. Just as a white laser beam was fired at Kousuke, about to rip through his stomach, a giant red lotus flower grew out of the ground. Kousuke didn't know why, but when he smelled the flower he felt all his fatigue going away. Then, the laser beam went through the flower. The laser beam didn't have enough power to go through. The flower bud grew larger, larger than a house, and it fired back at Rin-Shin and Orshie. The ground exploded in white light engulfing Rin-Shin, Orshie, the Mamodo and Kousuke.
Kousuke shut his eyes before he opened them. The entire park was a mess. The tree trunks were snapped in half, the branches were shattered into a debris, and yet Kousuke was unharmed. The same couldn't be said about Rin-Shin and Orshie. Rin-Shin was bleeding profusely from his forehead and Orshie was unconscious on the floor.
" I'm free…I'm free." Kousuke was free to do whatever he wanted. He could go home, he could stay here, he could even run someone very far away. Like Canada. But Kousuke walked up to Orshie and tried helping him to his feet. Despite the pain he's been through, despite how much of a monster he was, even he needed help. " Are you alright."
Orshie opened his eyes. Orshie was surprised to see Kousuke's face. He was even more surprised looking at his right hand. His whole hand was disappearing. He turned his head around and saw his book burning in flames.
" No! My book can't burn!"
Orshie pushed Kousuke away. Then he ran up to the book, picked it up, and ran towards a small pond where he dipped the book inside. Orshie was disappearing. His body was becoming transparent. He moved the book in the pond, but the flames would not diminish.
" Book…NO…Book!" Orshie threw the book out of the pond and splashed it with water. But the book did not stop burning. " I can't lose my book!"
Finally, Orshie disappeared entirely. He was like a ghost moving on to the next world. But something told Kousuke it was the opposite—he didn't finish what he needed to learn, he failed. Then, silence. Rin-Shin opened his eyes and saw his partner gone.
" Orshie. Orshie!" Rin-Shin looked everywhere for Orshie but couldn't find him. His eyes glanced at Kousuke. Rin-Shin glared at Kousuke, clenched his hands, and prepared to break his bones." You cost me my lucky break!"
Kousuke was speechless. Even though Kousuke didn't lay a hand on Orshie, he knew he was responsible for his disappearance. Rin-Shin pulled out a switchblade, but his left shoulderpad was grazed by the sound of a bullet. Rin-Shin dropped his knife and fell on the ground.
Kousuke shuddered. He didn't expect to see someone with a gun this deep in the forest. Glancing back, he saw two people standing on a hill. One was an old man wearing a brown detective coat. His white shirt shimmered in the florescent light, as well as, his brown hair and small mustache. The kid, who could be his Mamodo, hair was a fiery crest. He had a obi sash wrapped around his waist, with an unwavering face. The man was carrying a 44 Magnum.
" I'm getting too old for this shit," the man said. Kousuke was still weak from his earlier spell. He tried using a spell from his book, but he froze at the sound of gunfire. " Drop the book, son."
Kousuke was diligent. He stopped gripping the book and let it drop to the ground. Kousuke then kicked the book away. Despite all the strife Kousuke went through, when a man had a gun you do whatever the fuck he says. The moment he did the orange haired Mamodo strided towards him, smiling, and tilting his head to the right. The detective followed close behind him.
= " Now we're talking," the orange haired boy smiled. Turn around, put your hands on your head, spread your legs."
" Spread my—"
" Just turn around," The detective ordered flashing his gun.
Kousuke turned around. The detective grabbed his stomach and frisked him. Kousuke could feel his hands rubbing his temples, thighs, even his hunch back. At the same time the orange haired Mamodo grabbed Kousuke's book. The boy opened the book and flipped through it.
" This is your first day of owning a Mamodo, isn't it?" The Mamodo said.
" Huh? How did you know?"
" There are only two spells in here."
" But that last guy couldn't read anything in that book."
" That's only because he doesn't have my eyes."
The detective pulled a card out. There was nothing embedded inside it. Nothing but a printed Egyptian eye with a red circle drawn in the cornea.
" What's this? Some kind of trophy?"
" T-That's just something my mother gave to me…before she committed suicide."
" Hmm." The detective seemed to be pondering about the card. What significant value did it have? He didn't know. He stuffed the card back into Kousuke's pockets. " Well, you're free to go." " What? But aren't we going to battle?"
" Someday. But you're too weak right now to pose any threat, and I don't find it admirable to fight weak opponents."
Kousuke heard that word like a voice echoing inside his cerebellum. He heard it like the one hundred students who bullied him before. Kousuke smacked the detective's hands away and prepared to slug him as hard as he could.
" Who are you calling weak? I'll break your nose!"
Kousuke was angry. He's never been so angry in his life. He was so stressed anything made him angry. The middle aged man stopped his fist. Kousuke was quickly turned around and had his arm twisted. The detective also gave him a small Indian burn to loosen him up.
" Ow! O-Ow!"
" Listen very careful, you stupid kid." The fiery-haired Mamodo said. " There is a war coming. A war from someone who hates humans and Mamodo alike. When the time comes you're going to have to decide whose side you're on. His or them."
The detective pushed Kousuke to the ground. Kousuke's head throbbed from the mindless macho man manhandling him. By the time Kousuke got to his feet the detective had vanished. Kousuke looked all over the park but couldn't find him anywhere.
" What the hell was that about? Yeah, you better run, you little bastard and old man!" Kousuke noticed that Rin-Shin was gone. Either the middle aged man or that Mamodo took him under his nose. What he did find was Hikari passed out on the cold concrete. She kept repeating the word "daddy" over and over again in her sleep." It's you."
XXX
Kousuke carried Hikari all the way to his house. He was lost most of the trip, had to ask a lady having a midnight walk with her dog where his street was. Kousuke was lucky not to be abducted, because there were a lot of creeps at night, if Kousuke was abducted and held prisoner who would help him. The person who wouldn't know was certainly his father. Seventeen hours of each day his father acted like Kousuke never existed. It was so maddening it made Kousuke clench his right hand, which was dripping with sweat even with the cold breeze over him. Kousuke finally found his house. The door was wide open because of the break in—the door was cut in half as a matter of fact, for it was Orshie's attack. Kousuke kicked open the door in shambles. He then walked up the stairs and walked into his room, where he laid Hikari on his bed. Kousuke then tried walking out of the room, however, a strong hand stopped him. Hikari was awake and holding him back from leaving.
" K-Kousuke?"
Kousuke stared at Hikari for what seemed like hours, even though they were only seconds. Who exactly was she? Who was the boy out there that cast spells like Orshie, and why was she unconscious on the concrete where that boy was? Kousuke pulled his hand out of Hikari's little arms and pushed on her stomach. She was helpless like a little baby.
" You have a lot of explaining to do. I'm not going to ask you how you got here, but what's with all these strange kids running around?"
Kousuke flinched. She looked so scared in his eyes. Just as helpless as Kousuke when he was attacked in his own home, and saved by the mysterious boy Mamodo. Hikari, assessing everything Kousuke demanded, swallowed her dread and looked up. " Mamodo Battle."
" What?"
" It's the reason you have that book," Hikari said, pointing at the green book on the chair next to Kousuke, " and the reason that I'm in the human world. Mamodo battle for the Mamodo Crown every thousand years. It's just called the Mamodo Battle. Every millennium, Mamodo children chosen by the current king of the Mamodo World and the Mamodo School Principal come to the human world to take part in a battle to determine the next King of the Mamodo World. Right now there are 350—no, wait, 349—other kids like me in this world, if Orshie was the first Mamodo whose book's has been burned."
" You mean there are over three hundred of you brats walking around with over three hundred other insane, adult, controlling, lousy humans like me?"
" Pretty much. Yup. The number used to be smaller—100, I think—but the current king, Zatch Bell, increased it to 350. He wanted to give more people who are eligible for the tournament a chance. Each Mamodo has to team up with a human partner, called a book owner. They read spells from our books. There are lots of different colors of spell books, because there are many different types of Mamodo spells, but generally they all have this design on them." She pointed at the book, indicating the symbol on the cover—the hourglass and five circles. " The spell books are very important to the battle participants. They serve two functions. The first is they seal our powers so that we can only use them when our human partner reads our spells from the books. This makes sure that every Mamodo finds a human partner to fight with, and doesn't just fight on their own. Two—and this is very important—it serves as a participants ticket to becoming the king—"
" Or queen," Kousuke interrupted Hikari's extremely long dialogue.
" No. Whether or not it's a boy or girl that wins they'll always be the king."
" Now that's just sexiest."
" The spell books are the only things that keep us Mamodo's in your human world. If a Mamodo is burnt, the Mamodo is sent back to the Mamodo World and lose any chance they had of becoming the king."
" So you're saying whoever wins this game for their Mamodo, they'll receive whatever they wants. That's what you mean by "fabulous prize"?"
" Yes."
" Could they, I don't know, change the way they were born?"
" I-I guess. But if you take that wish, you'll forget all about me and the times we were together."
" Screw that! You think I like being the most hated kid in school? Do you think I like standing out? Hell no. I don't care who you are, where you're from, or what your name even is—"
" My name is Hikari. It's the name you gave me, Kousuke."
" Shut up! I just want my wish to be granted."
Kousuke scared Hikari. The way he talked was just greedy. He didn't care how feeble or how scared she was. All he cared about was his own ambitions. The room was silent between those two. Hikari looked down and kicked her feet off the bed.
" I thought my book owner would be someone who's kind and big hearted—someone who would hold my hand as I went through this scary world. I was wrong."
" I'll be sleeping on the futon," Kousuke said. " You're more than happy to sleep on my bed."
" Huh? Are you sure?"
" Of course. I already have a hunch back. How much worse can my posture get?"
" B-But—"
" Listen. You can't burn your own book, correct?"
" Yeah."
" My father keeps matches downstairs. If you don't do as I say I'll take one out and burn your book."
" Ah! Please don't do that."
" Then sleep on my bed and don't complain. Light's out."
Hikari was very confused. She thought Kousuke only cared about his own ambitions, so why was he giving her his bed. Whatever reason he had, she was glad he did it. She snuggled up under the bed thinking about having a good night sleep.
" I was wrong again. My partner, Kousuke Amai, is the greatest partner in the world."