Tohru giggles, and Licht goes on to say.
"Would you like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow?" Licht
"As long as it's after school, and before work I would love to." Tohru
"Great. I'll pick you up after school, and we can have some alone time without that hedgehog or your cat ruining it." Licht
Kuro gets an offended scowl on his face, but is mollified by the happiness radiating from Tohru's smiling face. She cuddles him closer to herself, and says.
"Sounds like a lot of fun. I'll see you then, good night Jekyll." Tohru
"I'll see you tomorrow, good night Tohru." Licht
Tohru ends the call positively beaming with happiness. She hugs Kuro gently, and says.
"Did you hear that Kuro? I have a date with Jekyll tomorrow." Tohru
"I'm happy for you Tohru. I'll stay within the distance limit, but far enough away that I don't intrude on your date with your boyfriend." Kuro
"Thanks Kuro it means a lot." Tohru
"Your welcome. I'm tired can we go to bed now?" Kuro
"Sure thing. I'll just go get changed." Tohru
Tohru changes into her pajamas, comes back to the tent, picks up Kuro, and crawls into bed falling asleep instantly.
The next morning Tohru wakes up, and does her morning routine before going to school with Kuro in her bag as usual. When she gets to class after depositing Kuro in her locker her friends notice her unusually happy mood, and say.
"Someones in an unusually happy mood today." Uo
"You do seem to be quite cheerful today Tohru." Hana
"Yeah Tohru, What's up?"Sakuya
"You'll see after school." Tohru
Her friends all get puzzled looks on their faces at her evasiveness, but let it slide because they're going to find out what's going on anyway. The teacher walks into the classroom, and begins the class drawing all of the students attention. For Tohru the day seems to drag on, but it eventually does come to an end. Tohru and her friends are stepping onto the sidewalk when a handsome boy with black clothes on walks up to them, and says.
"Hey Tohru." Licht
"Hey Jekyll." Tohru
"Tohru who are these people with you?" Licht
"Oh right, these are my best friends: Sakuya Watanuki, Arisa Uotani, and Saki Hanagima." Tohru
Tohru points to each of her friends as she introduces them to Licht, and he says.
"I see." Licht
"Tohru who is this guy?" Sakuya
Hana and Uo nod in agreement to his question, and Tohru says.
"This is Jekylland Licht Todoroki, but everyone calls him Licht." Tohru
"That's strange because you just called him Jekyll." Uo
"Yes that is quite odd." Hana
Both Licht and Tohru blush profusely at the observation. Sakuya notices this, gets a sly look on his face, and says.
"Tohru is there something you'd like to tell us?" Sakuya
Tohru's face turns ever more red, and she says.
"The reason I call him Jekyll is, because he is my boyfriend." Tohru
"Way to go Tohru. So how long have you been dating?" Sakuya
"A couple of days, but we're hoping for a long and happy relationship." Tohru
Licht blushes even more when he hears Tohru say that. Licht takes Tohru's hand, and says.
"Tohru we are going to miss our reservation at the restaurant if we don't leave now." Licht
"You're right; Let's go." Tohru
"Have fun on your date you two." Sakuya
Tohru nods, and waves goodbye to her friends. The three of them watch as their best friend enters what could very well be a life long relationship.
Licht and Tohru are enjoying the time of relative peace they are in right now, because Licht has a feeling that something is going to go very wrong with the war he was dragged into. The only upside that he can think of is the fact that he is now in a position to protect Tohru. Tohru likewise is thinking that she needs to be there to watch his back if he gets in over his head. Tohru knows that she never wants to lose someone important to her ever again. It would break her if she lost someone as important to her as Licht has become. She would probably loose the will to live if that were to happen. She doesn't even want to think about the possibility of having to recover from something like that happening. Tohru shifts her focus back to the happiness she has now, and off of the nightmarish scenario she has been pondering. Her and Licht continue to get to know one another while enjoying the beautiful day.
Tohru is sitting next Licht when her phone rings. She answers it, and says.
"Hello This is Tohru." Tohru
"Good afternoon! This is Kranz from yesterday." Kranz
"Jekyll's manager?" Tohru
"I hate to bother you, but do you have any idea where Lawless is right now?" Kranz
As Kranz finishes saying this she looks over at Licht, and notices that he isn't looking to good. Before anymore can be said they hear a voice that says.
"The man you search for is so far beyond your reach it cannot be helped." ?
Tohru discreetly rolls up her sleeve in case there is trouble. Before they know it the man is standing right behind them. The man completely ignores Tohru, stands behind Licht, and says.
"Now let's see you are the one I'm looking for right? Licht something or other." ?
Licht separates himself from the strange man making sure that Tohru is behind him so she doesn't get hurt accidentally. The man lands an attack on Licht who says.
"What the hell? Who are you?" Licht
"Your little pet made a mistake. He put Tsubaki in a terrible mood, and as a result he sent me. I'm the old man who's now in charge of dragging you through total hell." ?
Tohru knows that there is going to be trouble so she summons her weapon, but remains behind Licht to see what happens next. The old man goes on to say.
"-My dear pianist your wings will be torn from you, no fault of you own.-" ?
'When I was a child. I had many dreams. I wanted people everywhere to listen to me play the piano. I wanted to fly, and to talk to animals. All those dreams pretty much came true, and now I have a different dream. And anything a man can imagine is something a man can make a reality. Imagination is a weapon. In fact it's the most powerful thing in the world.' Licht
While Licht is thinking these things him and the man begin to fight with Tohru blocking the worst of the attacks. The old man says.
"Why go through all this trouble? Hm you could give this old man a break, and come quietly instead of resisting the inevitable." ?
Licht looks at Tohru, and sees the determined look on her face. Her determination gives him the will to continue fighting, and he says.
"You're out of your mind. Tell me who you are." Licht
"Sure kid I'm..." ?
The old man begins looking around for something, and says.
"Where'd my lighter go? Crap don't tell me I dropped it. Hey Licht you don't have a light do ya?" ?
Licht kicks him in the face, and says.
"I'd rather give you my foot." Licht
"Wow youngsters now a-days are so short tempered. It can't be helped. Well then back to it. I guess I'll have to hurt you some more." ?
They begin to fight some more only this time Tohru is taking more of an active role. She is being Licht's shadow since Lawless was kidnapped. The old man lights on fire everywhere he has scratched, but seems to be focusing more on Licht than Tohru. Tohru uses that to her advantage and lands several good hits while not exceeding her role in this fight. The old man notices this, and says.
"Hey listen up kid. There is no way you can win against me if you're fighting alone, but you're not alone you have a new shadow." ?
Licht looks at Tohru, and sees her standing behind him slightly off to the side. She has her broom held in a way that makes it a very effective attack weapon. Licht turns back to the old man with a small but noticeable smile on his face. The old man says.
"Right now your original shadow is beneath Tsubaki's wooden sandals defeated. I think Tsubaki sent me a picture..." ?
He begins frantically searching again, and says.
"My phone! Crap did I drop that too?" ?
Licht gets angry at the old man, and says.
"I don't give a damn about that good for nothing hedgehog, but still I refuse to allow you to beat me." Licht
"Such a strong spirit how very unfortunate. Well if you choose to resist I suppose it can't be helped." ?
"Let's Dance little musician." ?
They fight leaving both Licht and Tohru badly injured. Kuro senses this, and comes running. When he gets there he sees Tohru lying banged up on the ground, and an equally banged up Licht being held up by some old man by the front of his shirt. Kuro glares at the man, and says.
"You're going to pay for hurting my Eve and the musician." Kuro
Kuro goes around them, and drinks Tohru's blood. The old man drops Licht, and says.
"Well well and here I was thinking that Sloth would be to lazy to willingly put up a fight." ?
The old man and Kuro begin fighting, but he knows that without Tohru he doesn't stand much of a chance of winning. After while Tohru, and Licht begin to stir. The unresolved after effects of Licht's
serenade begin taking effect, and Kuro turns into a black ball. The ball rolls over to Tohru who saw the whole thing, and now has a defeated look in her eyes. Licht sees this, gets in front of them, and says.
"I'm the one you're fighting. So face me old man." Licht
Licht begins his attack, and the old man drops his cigarette in shock at what he's seeing. He looks at Licht, and says.
"Your creation skills are amazing, and here I didn't take you for the type who gets stronger when protecting others. Such an angry gaze. It makes me want to draw. Thanks a lot kid you've inspired this old man." ?
The old man begins his own attack. Their individual attacks fight each other without either person laying a finger on the other. Tohru watches the fight, and wants more than anything to help Licht. Every time she tries to move at all her body won't budge and inch. The flames are burning up Licht's attack, pretty soon Licht has no choice, but to attack with his boots. At the end of the dance Licht is lying on the ground well and thoroughly singed. The old man sighs, and says.
"How tiring. You're really strong kid. You're making me feel my age, but all's well that ends well I suppose. My objective's been met, and it just can't be helped." ?
The man picks up Licht while he is saying this, and takes off with him. As Tohru watches the old man make off with the most important person in her life all of her will to live drains from her eyes, and she passes out.
Misono, Tetsu, and Lilac show up to find Tohru lying on the ground staring at them with dead lifeless eyes. At first they think that she is dead, then Lilac checks her over, and finds that she still has a pulse. Misono looks at the black ball next to their comatose friend, and reasons that it must be Sloth. Lilly examines it, and says.
"It's true. I feel his presence." Lilly
"So do I." Hugh
Misono turns to Tetsu, and says.
"Look what I found. I came across it on the way here." Misono
"A cell phone, is that a Belkia charm. Do you think it belongs to one of Tsubaki's subclasses?" Tetsu
"I do, and that gives us a direct line of communication with him." Misono
"That's great and all, but what about Tohru? What could have happened? Her injuries don't look that bad. So why does she look like she is dead?" Tetsu
Lilac who was standing next to Tohru is crying that such a kind and nice person is hurt so badly. Lilac makes an important decision, and says.
"To thank Tohru for what she has done for me. I want to help you with whatever you are going to do to help Tohru to get better." Lilac
"Why's that kid?" Tetsu
"Only a really kind person would have bothered to save me from Greed. I didn't expect that from an enemy, and it would be wrong of me not to do something to repay her kindness." Lilac
"You're right Tohru is the kindest person you could ever have the pleasure of meeting." Tetsu
Lilac smiles and nods in agreement while Misono looks upset over the state of his friend. Misono looks at Tetsu, and says.
"Sendagaya pick up Tohru, and we'll take her back to the Inn. Once she's comfortable I'll inform her school and workplace that she'll be gone for a while due to medical reasons. Then we can figure out how to help her." Misono
Lilac, Tetsu, and the Servamps all agree with this plan.
Misono is on the way to talk to the principal of Tohru's school. When he gets there he tells the secretary that he needs to see the principal immediately. When she asks him why he tells her that it is about the health of one of his students. He is immediately ushered into his office. After a short wait the principal comes into the office, sits down at his desk, and says
"I have been told that you have important news about the health of one of my students." principal
"Yes. There was an accident, and Tohru Honda is in a coma." Misono
"What she's my best student as well as a pleasant individual. Is she receiving proper care?" principal
"Yes she is, but I'm afraid that we can only allow her to have one visitor. One of the students can see her, and give you a report to reassure you of the quality of her care." Misono
"That's a good idea. I'll page the student she is the closest to." principal
The principal pushes the intercom button, and says.
"Miko I want Sakuya Watanuki to come to my office immediately." principal
"Right away sir." secretary
The two of them wait in their respective chairs for Sakuya to arrive. When he gets there he looks like he is expecting to be in some kind of trouble, but what he doesn't expect is to see is a glum faced Misono Arisuin sitting in the office waiting for him with the principal. Alarm bells immediately start going off in Sakuya's head. He sits down in the remaining chair, looks the principal in the eyes, and says.
"You wanted to see me sir." Sakuya
"Yes. I have been informed that Tohru Honda was in an accident, and has fallen into a coma. I want you to go visit her, and report back to me on the quality of her care." principal
Shock and worry are displayed prominently on his face, and he says.
"Yes sir. I'll leave right away." Sakuya
"I'll inform your teachers that you will be gone for the rest of the day, but I want you to come to my office first thing tomorrow with your report ready." principal