Chapter 18: Once And For All
Shouts filled the air one by one as the demon Totetsu rampaged.
Rain hadn't been able to attend the summance to try and make his case in regards to obtaining one of Tora's scales. Scarlet had died so he lost the person that he was willing to exchange for one of Tora's dragon scales twice now. First Yuki and now Scarlet. He never loved her, not in the way that she loved him but Rain did care about her. He was fond of Scarlet and liked being in her company and he felt like she understood him, but even so Rain had still come to terms with losing her in pursuit of his greater goal. As long as it was on his terms.
Now Rain would have to wait another hundred years to plead his case to Tora. He clenched his fist tightly as he thought angrily. While Totetsu killed more humans around him.
The screams of monks being eaten and ripped apart by Totetsu pulled Rain out of his thoughts.
"So what do you say Totetsu? Do you want to kill the powerful priestess in red who's traveling with Onigumo? These monks were all blown away easily by her powers so just imagine how it will taste to eat someone so strong." Rain said.
"Well you did give me these monks for free so I guess I can help you out just once." Totetsu said.
"Perfect." Rain told him.
Yuki took something from him and now Rain would take something from him too. It was the end of the month now as well and Rain knew full well that Yuki had probably put his time of weakness off until this very moment.
The girl in red would never survive Totetsu and after that the rest of their group will surely turn on Yuki and he'll have nowhere else to go but back to where he belongs under Rain's control.
A wicked smile danced across Rain's face. Moroha would die and there would be nothing that Yuki could do to save her. He'd be alone again and once that happened he'd be back to how he was before and free of any outside influence. Ready to be of use once again.
Yuki would come crawling back because Rain will be the only one that will be willing to have him and this time Rain would make sure that he would never betray him again.
XXXX
It was Yuki's time of weakness. The last two days of a month had finally hit and Yuki had yet to dispel his demon energy so his time of weakness had occurred naturally. He had gone to bed early that night so he wasn't awake when the change happened but he could feel it. The moment that he opened his eyes.
Yuki was human and he'd be like this until two full midnights had passed.
Yuki sat up from his spot on the ground and looked around their small camp. Moroha was to his left like she always was sleeping peacefully as the sun kissed her skin.
The shade of the trees over her face reminded him of the day that they had first met. He was like this back then too.
He had opened his eyes that day to find her above him already eyeing his wounds and trying to move his clothes so that she could better help him.
Yuki smiled to himself. She had been so pushy that day too, nothing that followed should have surprised him after meeting her.
Yuki knew that this was coming but still waking up with dull senses never did anything to ease Yuki's mind but this was the first time that he wasn't alone. The first time since Rai that he had spent his time like this with anyone that he could even consider calling a friend.
He shouldn't even recall Rai foundly. Yuki thought he had no right to because he was the reason that Rai died.
Moroha woke up with a yawn beside him pulling him out of his thoughts.
"You're up." She said before pausing briefly once she noticed his black hair now brown eyes. She smiled mischievously in response.
"Oh I've been waiting for this!" Moroha exclaimed and Yuki eyed her cautiously.
"What are you going to do?"
"You'll see." She said.
"Wow, Yuki you look completely different too when you lose your powers." Jade said as he was now waking up too.
"Good thing you're around to pick up the half demon slack right Jade?" Towa teased as she stretched her arms.
"Oh yeah, Jade, why don't you carry me for the duration of my time like this? That would be very helpful." Yuki joked.
"Very funny." Jade scoffed.
After the 6 of them had left Tora's palace of ash they had gone back to the manor where they had been staying before, for one last night before setting out again. They were kind of at a dead end now when it came to where Rain might be which marked the first time that the group had been unsure about where to go since they had started this journey.
Moroha and the others couldn't go back home or Rain would most likely attack them there and with Rain still alive Yuki couldn't rest easily anywhere for long anyway.
It wasn't like Rain to hide for so long. Rain didn't like head on conflict unless he knew for sure that he'd win. Yuki had been sure that Rain was feeding them bread crumbs until they would eventually make it to wherever Rain wanted to fight them. That way Rain could control the environment but that hadn't happened yet. Even though the group had been chasing him for a little over a month now. Rain had to be planning at something big.
"What's got you looking so down?" Moroha asked Yuki as they walked now.
"Nothing." Yuki said.
Moroha looked at him flat and he sighed.
"Nothing that you need to worry about. I mean it." Yuki said Moroha still didn't buy it but she wasn't going to pry this time since Yuki looked like he really wanted to keep his thoughts to himself and he deserved that privacy if he needed it. She just hated not knowing how to help him sometimes.
"Whatever, I'll just make sure that what I've been planning for you is even worse now." She told him trying to take his mind off of whatever he was thinking.
Towa froze in her tracks at the front of the group as she caught a familiar scent.
"Do you smell that!" Towa exclaimed excitedly, turning on her heels and looking back at her friends.
Jade spoke first as the hint of salty air filled his lungs. "What are you talking about? The air just smells really heavy of salt." Jade said.
"We're near a beach!" Moroha exclaimed. She ran next to her cousin's side. "Come on, let's go!" Moroha said and she and Towa raced to the beach.
The waves of the ocean hit the shore calm as the sun shone overhead and the smooth sand blew as a gentle breeze passed through the air.
"We haven't been to the beach since the start of summer." Setsuna said with a small smile, once the rest of the group caught up to the girls.
"I remember. Good thing that it's warm enough today." Hisui smiled.
"Well, I've never been to a beach at all." Jade said.
"What!?" Towa turned to him quickly in disbelief.
"There are no oceans near the eastern wolf territories." Jade told her.
"That settles it, we have to stay here for a few days for Jade." Towa said.
"Of yeah for Jade of course." Hisui teased.
"You all want to stop moving. What about Rain?" Yuki asked in shock. "We shouldn't give him more time to plan. It's already been too long since he made his last move."
"It's not like he's going anywhere. You said it yourself were kind of at odds when it comes to where he might be. It will do us good to plan more too. We might as well take a break and relax for a minute." Moroha said.
"She's right plus it wouldn't be the most tactical thing to go after Rain when you're like this Yuki. He may even target us because of your situation. It's better if we stay put for now." Hisui said.
Yuki didn't see Rain attacking him like this after all he had always told him that he hated the sight of him whenever he was human. He was almost sure that he wouldn't attack them at this time but if his friends wanted to rest then he wouldn't argue with them.
"Okay." Was all that Yuki said.
"Wow and it's such a nice day too. How lucky." Moroha said as they walked on to the sandy shores of the beach and they were all greeted by the calming scene of the waves.
Towa and Moroha immediately started to undress which made Jade's cheeks flush and Yuki turned his head.
"What are the two of you doing?" Yuki asked suprised.
"We're going to swim." Moroha smiled as she took her hair down next.
"Don't tell me that you're afraid of a little water?" Towa teased. Now in her under clothes.
Yuki and Jade then briefly glanced at Setsuna and Hisui who were doing the same thing as Moroha and Towa as if it were normal.
"Are you two really not going to change out of your clothes to swim?" Hisui asked the two boys.
"Maybe they're staying modest. Hisui, what if the seagulls see them while they're indecent?" Towa teased.
"I'm going to beat you to the water this time!" Moroha said before rushing past Towa who followed after her immediately but was unable to beat her to the water due to the head start.
Jade started to get undressed too just like his friends were and then Yuki followed just as Hisui and Setsuna got in the water.
Yuki wasn't the biggest fan of water since he had nearly drowned once when he was a kid.
Yuki looked over the ocean and saw Towa splash at Moroha who responded by shoving her under the water and he smiled. Maybe he just needed to experience the ocean with his friends for his mind to change. Setsuna and Hisui were in the water and went out just as far as the girls did moments later.
Yuki and Jade made their way to the water last after they were undressed.
Once Yuki's feet touched the damp sand he knew that the water was going to be colder than he had expected and especially because he was human. The cold waves hit his ankle's first but it wasn't too hard for him to get used to the water.
Yuki tried to ease into the water while Jade dove right in and tried to make his way towards the rest of their friends but was having trouble going quite as far as they were as the waves kept knocking him back which made all of his friends laugh.
"Let me help you." Towa called out to him before swimming back to shore until she could walk beside Jade and help him to not be knocked over from standing too close to the shallow end of the ocean. After that he was able to swim farther out and float next to her past where they could both not touch the bottom.
"See that's how it's done." Towa said to Jade.
"It would be easy for you." Jade told her.
"I'm a natural at almost everything that I try." Towa boasted.
"Just don't let her cook you anything." Moroha said.
"Hey." Towa said.
Yuki swam to them a moment later and that was when Hisui smiled as well.
"Okay since Jade and Yuki are both here now let's teach them our beach traditions." Hisui said.
"Traditions?" They both asked.
"It's just Marco Polo." Setsuna said.
"Who are they?" Jade asked.
"We'll teach you." Moroha smiled as she explained the rules of the game, she even volunteered to be it first which made Towa happy.
Jade and Yuki seemed to catch on pretty quickly but Yuki wasn't that strong of a swimmer and ended up being caught first which made it his turn to be it.
Yuki swam towards whoever was the closest to him but he found this game to be frustrating because as soon as he got close enough to the person that he was chasing they would already have swam too far out of reach for him.
After so long Yuki finally got frustrated enough and opened his eyes to find that his friends had all moved to the left of him and they were much farther out than when they had first started.
"We were going to let you win had you kept going." Moroha said.
"Yeah it was getting sad." Setsuna told him."
"You four have had more practice at this than Jade and I. It would have turned out like this for either of us." Yuki said.
"Don't be so dramatic." Moroha told Yuki.
"Yeah speak for yourself, I was doing great." Jade said.
"Are we hungry yet? Let's start catching fish before it gets too dark." Towa said.
"Yeah I could eat. I've never had these kind of fish before." Jade said excitedly.
"Help me catch them." Towa told him with a smile.
The sun had moved from its earlier place up high so it would be setting soon so now would be a good time to get out of the water.
Towa Jade and Hisui went to go catch fish while Yuki, Setsuna and Moroha went to go get things for a campfire before finding a nice spot on the beach to start a fire and the rest of the group was finished catching fish just as soon as the fire was started.
Hisui cooked the fish this time placing each one on a stick and then roasting them over the fire as his friends relaxed in the sand around the fire and the calming sound of the ocean waves put everyone in a good mood until the food was done and they were ready to finally eat just as the sun began to set and the sky turned orange making the ocean reflect a pretty color as they ate around the fire.
"I didn't think that I'd like it at first but I'm glad that we stopped here." Jade said.
"Me too, it was just what we needed after the Centennial summance." Moroha said as she took another bit of her food. "This is good, Hisui." She told him.
"Thank you. I wanted to give you a break from cooking all the time." He smiled.
"I appreciate it." She said, "What about you Yuki? Are you glad that we stopped now too? Are you having fun?" Moroha asked with a teasing smile.
"I didn't want to stop at first but I am having fun now." Yuki admitted.
"See it's a good thing that we stopped here for Jade to enjoy the beach." Towa said.
"Yes for Jade." Hisui joked.
"It is too bad that we didn't catch Rain once and for all, at the sumance. I would have loved to be heading home about now." Setsuna said.
"What do you all plan to do after we kill Rain? After Rain's gone will that be the end of our travels together too?" Jade asked. They had been traveling together for much longer than he had been with them so he was unsure about what they had planned to do after.
After everything with Rain was done would they all go their separate ways? Jade wondered somberly.
"Maybe your travels will be done but after Rain's gone I plan to go see the world. I just need to go home to apologize to my parents first. I left my younger sister incharge without asking them so I'm sure that they're not too happy with me." Moroha said. "You're welcome to come with me if you'd like Jade."
Moroha had come to the conclusion that she should return home before leaving again. Her parents had to be worried sick. So she would go home and own up to her actions before setting off again. Hopefully they would forgive her.
"I would like to get back to the slayers guild. After Uncle it will be left to me and I want to do a good job there until it actually becomes mine and then my children's after Setsuna and I get married. I love being a demon slayer and I want the slayer's guild to be taken care of by my family forever." Hisui said.
Towa spoke next. "I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. The slayers guild always gave me good opportunities to test my strength against demons but I never really felt like I was being pushed past my limits there. The best training that I ever got there was when I would spar with Moroha or my sister. My dream is to become one of the strongest demons in the land. I want to be greater than my father and to gain his respect through my own feats. I don't know if going home would be what's best for my dreams." Towa said and the shiny dragon scale that she had tied around her neck with a string sparkled under the light of the fire.
"You've always been like that." Setsuna told her sister. "You always take charge of your own fate and when it comes to what you want no matter what you decide. I understand why you might not return home right away and I support you but that doesn't mean that I'll miss you any less when you're gone." Setsuna said.
"Hey it's not forever. I promise to be back in time for the wedding." Towa teased."
"Whatever." Setsuna said now back to her usual cool self.
"And what's your goal Setsuna?" Moroha asked.
"Oh to be with Hisui." Towa answered immediately for her sister.
"That's not it." Setsuna said.
Hisui eyed her surprised and she laughed small. "That's only part of my dream." She smiled. "Ever since we joined the demon slayers I've always loved the way that people look at us and it makes me feel even better when others count on me. I like being a hero so I want to go home and live with Hisui for as long as I can while working to keep the slayers guild going." Setsuna told them.
"What about you Jade?" Towa asked. "Killing Rain doesn't mean that our times together have to end, it just means that we're free to go wherever we want because we want to not because we have to find Rain."
"Well you already know that I want to take over the eastern wolf demon territories after my father and to become someone that makes my parents proud. I chase that path because I love the people there and where I come from. I don't have to be the same as my father and that's okay because I can still learn to be a worthy leader when the time comes." Jade smiled proudly.
"What about you Yuki?" Hisui asked as he was the only one who hadn't said anything yet.
Yuki stayed silent for a long moment. His whole life he had been chasing what he thought his father would have wanted for him. He was so used to living to please Rain and in his absence he found himself to be living now for the sake of keeping his friends safe but he still dared to have one dream of his own. A dream for himself that he didn't wish to share not yet anyways.
"I don't know." Was all that Yuki said unable to tell the truth.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Jade asked.
Yuki shrugged. "My dream was to get revenge for my father and for Rain but after everything I think that living for the sole sake of harming those who have never wronged me personally is sad. I'm still thinking about what I want for myself." Yuki finished.
"That's okay, I just hope that you tell me first whenever you find your dream." Moroha smiled.
"Tell you first?" Yuki questioned and he paused for a moment.
He couldn't possibly tell her, he thought before answering. "Well I guess that would be fair." Yuki said. It would be fair if his dream were possible.
"It would be. Don't forget I'm still not letting you off easy for pushing me down the well." Moroha teased.
The teens finished their meal on the beach around the fire while laughing and talking as they all dried off during the meal while the waves rolled behind them and the air cooled. All of them got dressed again too after they were finished eating.
"Hey Yuki would you mind coming with me to make sure that there are no demons near like with Fubuki?" Moroha said.
Yuki sighed. "I suppose."
He had noticed how Moroha seemed to get paranoid from time to time when they would set up camp late so he didn't mind going with her.
The two of them left with Kilala while Towa, Jade, Hisui and Setsuna still sat around the fire.
"Towa why don't you show us all how that dragon pendant works." Jade said, referring to Tora's two toned scale that hung around her neck.
The scale was no bigger than the length of someone's fingernails on their thumb.
"I would but it doesn't work, everything's still the same. Maybe he gave me a fake." Towa said.
"Tora didn't give you a fake." Myoga said appalled while he jumped on Towa's shoulder. "Doing that would ruin his reputation!" Myoga exclaimed.
"Oh you're back Myoga. Where have you been all day?" Towa asked.
"I had important matters to attend to after the centennial summance." Myoga said.
"Wow, so secretive you must be so important grandpa." Towa teased.
"Lady Towa, it is very important that you take good care of that dragon scale. There aren't many of them out here in the world and since you've been given one the scale will naturally nature a part of your soul and it will have a will of it's own. Dragon scales can't easily be taken because of this the scale's themselves can reject other users." Myoga told Towa.
"It feels like it's already decided about me." Towa said.
"That's because you haven't been in battle since you've received the scale. You should practice, maybe then the scale's power will awaken." Myoga encouraged.
"I'll go with you." Jade volunteered
"Well it wouldn't hurt to train a little." Towa said.
"Jade and I can be your partners to see if anything happens." Setsuna said.
"Yeah let's see if you've got any special powers now." Jade smiled.
"Alright let's go." Towa said determined to see if she had gained any new abilities from the dragon scale. She still felt the same but may she was missing something.
Towa, Setsuna, Jade and Hisui all got up from their places behind the fire on the beach and walked to where the sand moved into grass so that Towa could have a stable stance as she tried to awaken the power of the dragon scale.
Towa took out her broken blade and it lit with her blue energy.
"Well do you feel anything?" Jade asked.
Towa shook her head. "Nothing different from normal." She then faced the sand towards where they had come from and got into position to use her dragon strike.
Towa felt the wind pull towards her and her energy became more concise as she moved her sword and in one strike her powerful attack shot forward in a flash of light splitting the sand on each side of her attack and hitting the ocean.
"Well?" Jade asked Towa.
"Nothing's changed." Towa turned around disappointed.
"Okay so your abilities haven't changed under normal circumstances let's if something happens when your being attacked." Setsuna said right before grabbing her blade and with one swift move using her scourge of swallows attack at full force.
She barely gave Towa any time to react so she didn't have time to counter with an attack of her own. Towa held her sword firm in front of her as her sister's attack slightly pushed her back before Towa could cut through it.
Towa shook her head again and this time Jade attacked her with his thunder attack and Towa countered with a move of her own with canceled out his attack.
"This dragon scale is definitely broken." Towa said flat.
"Lady Towa, don't say such things. You simply just haven't learned how to harness its powers yet." Myoga said.
"Well I can't think of any other way than what I have been doing." Towa said annoyed.
"Let's practice more I'm sure that if we keep it up you'll figure it out soon." Jade told Towa and Setsuna agreed so they kept at it while Hisui quietly slipped away alone and he went back to the beach to walk along the shore.
Since returning from the centennial summance he hadn't had any time alone and he needed to collect his thoughts. Walking along the shore as a gentle breeze blew in the moonlight helped Hisui to collect his thoughts.
Tora the dragon between realms had told him that he was going to die. Hisui hadn't let his mind wander about the fact too much and he didn't tell anyone. He didn't want his friends to worry about him, especially when he knew that his death might be necessary for the rest of them.
Tora's visions are all just possible paths anyway Myoga had told them after the sumance. So there was a good chance that he wouldn't die.
If he was to potentially be killed it most likely wouldn't be by Rain. Hisui had thought right away. Rain didn't seem too strong on his own and the last time that they fought, Rain depended too much on who he was working with to try and win the battle. Hisui recalled.
If he was going to make a move at the sacrifice of his own life then that means that he will be desperate. Hisui thought. In that case this demon would have to be much stronger than anything that they've faced before.
He probably needed to train more. Hisui sighed before turning his eyes to the moonlit ocean. The waves crashed to the shore and he breathed in the salty air as he thought and a look of determination graced his face.
Tora let him know ahead of time so now he could prepare to change his fate and Hisui would do that. He would beat the odds because he still had more to live for and he was not going to leave Setsuna without him before they could both realize their dreams together and get married.
Hisui took a deep breath. He didn't want to leave his friends but if he failed and he had no choice but to die then he'd no longer have a choice in the matter because he would always choose his friends over himself and he would do anything that it took to make sure that they lived.
If these truly ended up being his last moments he would make sure that his friends remembered him for who he was.
"Hey."
Hisui's head turned to Setsuna's voice.
"What are you doing out here?" She asked.
"I was just about to come back to you." Hisui smiled before getting close to her and putting his arms around her, taking her by surprise but she returned his embrace all the same.
"What were you thinking about out here all alone?" She asked in a sweet and sincere voice
She knew him too well.
"Nothing too serious." He lied. "I just want to go back home with you soon so that we can finally be properly engaged." He smiled before letting go of her.
"So you're just feeling home sick?" Setsuna asked.
"A little but home is wherever you are so I'm feeling better now." Hisui took her hand in his and kissed her cheek making her blush as he started to lead her back to Towa and Jade.
"I'd have to agree." Setsuna smiled. "My heart always belonged with you too."
XXXX
"Are you often skeptical of your surroundings? You once went into the woods to investigate another time before I joined you all." Yuki said.
Recalling the first time that he had confronted her before she and the others had arrived at the Kindo estate.
"Sometimes after we tell ghost stories. The woods just never quite enough for me to trust that all is good after telling scary stories." Moroha answered and Yuki held back a laugh.
"Not funny." She huffed before walking forward again.
"I'm sorry, would you like me to hold your hand to keep you safe from the scary forest demons?" Yuki asked with a charming smile as his brown eyes lit with amusement.
"I don't need you to keep me safe. When I hold your hand it's because I want you to know that I care not because I'm scared." She said annoyed.
"I think after all this time I'm finally starting to believe you. I care about all of you too." Yuki smiled more guinly now and she turned to face him to get a better look at his face.
This was the face of the Yuki that she had first met and he looked so much better than he had all those nights ago she couldn't help but smile back at him.
"I'm glad that you understand now. We wouldn't have traveled this far if we didn't like you Yuki." Moroha said with slightly pink cheeks and Yuki took her hand in his surprising her.
"Can I hold your hand now because I care about you?" He asked.
"After we finish checking the area."
"But we've already checked all around where we set up camp." Yuki told her.
"We've only checked on foot foot." Moroha said. "Kilala." She called and the cat jumped from her shoulder before getting big. Moroha slipped her hand out of Yuki's and jumped onto Kilala's back.
"Come on, we can't be sure unless we look from the sky." Moroha told him and he sighed before getting on behind her. He wasn't quite used to flying but he wasn't as nervous as he used to be to take to the sky
"Big mistake." Moroha thought.
She remembered when Yuki had first flown on Kilala with her and a few of his times in the sky after.
Yuki wasn't completely comfortable with flying yet and she was going to get her perfect revenge.
As soon as Yuki sat behind her she took off fast making Kilala fly high and Yuki gripped her waist tight.
"Hey what's with the rush?" Yuki asked in shock trying to hide his nervousness.
"I'm not rushing." Moroha said nonchalantly.
"That might have worked if I hadn't flown before. Slow down!" Yuki urged and Moroha made Kilala fly even higher.
"Not a chance." She said sweetly.
"Okay, okay. Take me down!" Yuki pleaded.
"Nope, I told you that I was going to get you back for the well." She said.
He could hear the smile in her voice. This was all going to her plan. How devious. Yuki thought
Moroha flew even higher now and Yuki didn't know if it was even possible for him to hold her tighter than he already was but he was clinging on to her as tight as he could with his eyes closed now.
"I'm sorry, if I could go back I wouldn't push you." He said.
"It's okay that you pushed me. You pushed me and it brought us here, just know that if you ever do anything like that to me again I will be getting you back." She smiled before finally flying lower and then lower before they finally reached the ground.
Yuki jumped off with haste before falling to his knees dramatically as he tried to catch his breath from that unexpected experience.
Kilala got small again and Moroha scratched behind the cat's ear making Kilala purr as she gave the cat praise and Yuki's mind caught up with him.
"You, you just tried to kill me!" Yuki accused.
"Awww come on I knew that wouldn't kill you." Moroha smiled innocently but Yuki was determined not to let that work so he didn't meet her eyes for too long as he spoke next.
"You don't even feel bad do you?" He asked with a serious expression and she mirrored him, her smile fading as she got serious and he waited for a response but she couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry I can't look at you with a straight face right now, let's just call us even." Moroha said.
"No we are not even." Yuki went to walk away and Moroha immediately followed him.
"Hey are you really ma—" Moroha asked from behind Yuki who moved fast, grabbing her hands and pinning her back against a tree.
"No I'm not mad because now I've got the upper hand." He smiled and his brown eyes sparkled.
"What are you going to do? Hold me hostage?" Moroha joked.
"Maybe. Remember on the day that we met when I thought that you were as beautiful as a celestial being?" He asked. "When the moon shines like this and I look into your eyes that have never once looked down on me, you out shine even what I thought was the most beautiful." Yuki said loosening his grip on her wrist above her head and Moroha let her arms fall down and sit on top of his shoulders as he just placed his arms on either side of the tree still boxing her in.
His eyes looked at her with sincerity and it made her chest feel funny. She had never been this close with a boy before but it somehow felt natural to be this close with Yuki.
She moved one of her hands from his shoulders to his hair. Lightly sliding her fingers over his forehead and through his bangs.
She felt him go stiff in her arms once she touched his hair. She noticed right away.
She shouldn't have touched him like that. She thought.
"I'm sorry." She pulled her hand away and placed it back on his shoulder as he simply just watched her. He didn't move from her and she could feel that he was relaxed again so she didn't know what was wrong.
"Can I not touch your hair?" Moroha asked.
"You can do whatever you want to me." Yuki said seriously and her face got red.
"Um no, I didn't mean to umm. I just.. Your hair, when I first saw you in the woods back then. I wanted to umm touch it but you woke up and you know what happened next." She said.
"Oh so this was just your chance to have an excuse to touch my hair huh? In that case, I'm sure that now you can see that it's nothing too special." He smiled.
"I wouldn't say that." Moroha looked at him seriously. She ran her fingers through his hair again soft and slow just like before and this time he let her with ease as she watched him sweetly.
"To me you're something special. I would always treat you with care." Moroha told him honestly.
"Moroha—." Yuki started but Moroha pulled him to the side fast and they both fell to the ground as a sacred arrow hit the tree that they were just in front of.
"Are you okay?" She asked Yuki.
"Am I okay, are you?" He asked.
"I almost didn't recognize you, Onigumo. You're one of those disgusting half creatures." The monk Saito spat with venom. "That means that I have even more of a right to get rid of you." Saito said as both Moroha and Yuki stood up, Yuki took out his swords while Moroha grabbed her bow.
"Priestess, you have already committed to sullying yourself with the likes of Onigumo so death is your only path as well now." Saito said.
"Saito, this time I'll finish you off properly." Yuki spat.
"Oh I'll die but not until you're erased from this world you and her both. I've got nothing to lose anymore now that your friend has gotten rid of all of my companions." Saito said low which made Moroha pause but Yuki wouldn't hear him.
"I killed you once and I'll do it again." Yuki said menacingly.
"Yuki, wait." Moroha said placing her hand on his shoulder so that he wouldn't go to attack yet.
"What do you mean gotten rid of all your companions?" Moroha asked.
"You make me sick pretending like you don't already know. To hell with the both of you!" Saito said before rushing at them.
Saito rushed at them with his staff swinging heavy at Yuki to the left and Yuki blocked his strong blows with both of his swords as Saito tried to overpower him.
Moroha knocked into Saito as he struggled with Yuki and Saito fell to the ground and rolling quickly getting back up again.
Moroha remembered what it was like to fight Saito the last time and she wouldn't let her friends get hurt again.
Saito swung his staff hard at Yuk once more as soon as he stood going for Yuki again and Yuki countered with his swords but was unable to cut through Saito's staff even when he tried.
Saito then threw some kind of salt at Yuki fast, which made him winch back and reach for his eyes that stung under whatever Saito had thrown at him but lucky for him he was human right now so that damage wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Saito then took out a golden paper spell but Moroha blocked his path.
"He's a human right now that won't work." Moroha said with her arrow raised. "Let's talk about this, where are all of the other monks that you were traveling with?" She asked.
Saito shook his head as he gave her a venomous look while he threw the paper spell at her and it stuck to her cape.
"It's not for him." Saito said and Moroha felt her limbs go numb before she fell.
All of a sudden she felt weak and her voice wouldn't come out. She could only look straight ahead as she tried to move but was unable to do so.
"After I kill the boy we'll worry about you." Saito said like a disappointed parent as he stood above her.
Maybe she would be the one to kill him and not Yuki Moroha contemplated as she tried to will herself to move.
Yuki jumped over her and swung his swords at Saito who dodged his sloppy attack.
"What did you do to her!?" Yuki asked, angry and distraught as he stood between her and Saito.
"She'll live. I only wished for the two of us to fight uninterrupted this time." Saito said cold.
Yuki's fist clenched tight around his swords. "I'm not interested in fighting you anymore. Just let Moroha go and we can all go our separate ways."
"So when you're at the same level as us you want to run away? No! I won't let you. The time for going separate ways has passed!" Saito scream.
Kilala then popped out from wherever she had been during the conflict, she must have sensed that Moroha and Yuki were in trouble.
The cat went straight for Saito with her claws out and he pulled out a paper spell.
"Kilala stop!" Yuki yelled just as Saito's paper spell hit the cat's forehead and sparks flew around her before she was forced to get small again and couldn't stand.
"All of you demons deserve nothing less." Saito said as Yuki glared at him.
Saito then attacked Yuki again while he had been half focused on Kilala. Barley giving Yuki any time to react as he swung his staff hard and Yuki managed to dodge his blows.
"It truly is just you and I this time." Saito said before slamming his staff hard at Yuki again. Yuki blocked his weapon and now fought with more determination countering Saito and then swinging his swords with tact as he slashed at Saito and fought him until he was able to knock Saito's staff from his hands before knocking his legs from under him.
It would have been so much easier had it not been his time of weakness Yuki had thought but nonetheless he did it and he was able to keep Moroha and Kilala safe.
Yuki pointed his sword at Saito's neck.
"I've beaten you again." Yuki said but Saito wasn't finished. He moved fast, knocking one of Yuki's sword from his hands and grabbing it before pulling Moroha up from the place on the ground that she had been watching them motionless and putting the stolen sword to her neck.
"How would you feel if I ended her life instead?" Saito said cold and serious.
"You do that and I'll kill everyone that you've ever known." Yuki said with a scary and calm seriousness but he was anything but calm.
"Do you see how this monster isn't even moved by my threats at all? All that he knows is violence." Saito said to Moroha. "I'm already dead! What happens to her doesn't matter to me!" He told Yuki.
Saito was wrong, Moroha had thought. Yuki was reacting. Saito just couldn't tell but Yuki's hands were shaking and his eyes were unsure.
"Just put her down! This is just between the two of us. It's me you're after, she has nothing to do with this." Yuki told him.
Moroha needed to break free and soon. Saito was different from the last time, like he was more desperate to see Yuki suffer now and she couldn't let this go on.
She willed herself to move over and over but to no avail. She closed her eyes. She needed to breathe easier if she wanted to get out of this.
Saito was using something spiritual to hold her so she just had to overwhelm the spell somehow. She stopped focusing on moving and instead on pushing out her own spiritual energy.
"My only goal is to see you in hell before I go to rest myself." Saito said. "What good is a priestess who can't tell a monster when she sees one anyway. I'll be doing the world a favor seeing you react will simply just be a plus." Saito pushed the weapon to her neck harder with a shaky hand. He was hesitating. Moroha noted just as she regained movement and the golden spell broke in half.
Purple energy pushed from her body and Saito was knocked back.
Yuki ran to Moroha.
"Are you okay! Let me see your neck, it looks like your bleeding." Yuki said frantically as Moroha caught her breath and Yuki helped her to stand.
"Yuki I'm fine, you don't have to worry me, he just held me still for a minute." She reassured him but Yuki couldn't stop himself from pulling her close in that moment and holding her in a tight hug as if it were only him and her there in that forest.
She hugged him back after a brief moment. "I mean it. I feel perfectly fine. Don't get so worried next time." Moroha said.
"How! How can you break free of a spell that is meant to hold the likes of legendary powers like the late Tsubaki?" Saito asked in disbelief. Even he wasn't blessed with such strong powers.
This girl was obviously no normal priestess, it was such a shame who she chose to keep as a companion. Saito thought.
Yuki let go of Moroha and the girl went to pick up her cat as she spoke.
"I had a good teacher, that's all." Moroha said as she took the paper spell off of Kilala and the cat was able to move again.
"Any last words, Saito?" Yuki asked from above him, now ready to end his life for good.
"Stop!" Moroha said.
"You can't be serious?!" Yuki yelled. "He tried to kill you!"
"But he didn't and it didn't feel like he wanted to." Moroha said.
"I can't let that go." Yuki said, raising his sword again.
"Yuki stop, you're better than that. You're better than him. You don't just mindlessly hate and you don't need to kill him for my sake." Moroha told him and Yuki looked at Saito who still managed to glare at him even now before putting his blades away.
Moroha didn't like Saito not at all, but this whole fight with him today was nothing like the last time. She could tell that he felt like he was backed into a corner. It was obvious. He was here alone and he had been shaking the entire time that he was holding her hostage.
"Saito." Moroha said after taking a deep breath. "we're not trying to kill you, please tell us what happened and how you got here, where are the other monks?" She asked calmly.
"Why should I tell you?" He questioned cynically not even looking up at her from his place on the ground.
"Because maybe we'll help you. What is it that you were talking about earlier?" She asked honestly and now Saito finally looked up at her and he felt such overwhelming kindness and warmth from the girl that he had just held a knife to.
He had no right to call himself a monk after trying to kill someone like her. He thought before answering.
"All of the other monks are dead." Saito said.
"The one's that you ambushed us with? All of them." Moroha asked, surprised.
"That can't be true, what kind of demon could have withstood so many of you?" Yuki asked and Saito's venomous glare returned back to him.
"You're black haired friend and his pet Totetsu killed them. Hunted us down like animals and then refused to eat me because I'm made out of dirt and "wouldn't taste good." Totetsu told me I truly have nothing to lose anymore. My only goal is to see you die now, Onigoumo no matter how long it takes." Saito said.
Why would Rain target the monks again Yuki wondered. They held no clear threat to him so why? And with Totetsu of all people. He couldn't possibly be planning to attack them with a demon like him. Yuki's mind raced as Moroha asked Saito more questions.
"Looks like you lead me right to them. You in red are you the reincarnations daughter?" Totetsu asked. "How tasty Rain sure did leave me something good." Totetsu said.
Yuki's blood went cold. "Totetsu, what are you doing here?" Yuki asked and the demon smiled.
"Rain told me that you've been traveling with quite the powerful priestesses Onigumo. He promised me her life since you killed Scarlet but don't worry Rain asked me to leave you alive." Totetsu smiled.
Moroha shot an arrow at Totetsu in response and he opened his mouth wide, swallowing it.
This was bad. Yuki thought. Really bad, Totetsu was one of the four perils just like Tokotsu and Kyuki, he was no easy demon to fight and Yuki would be completely human until tomorrow night. He had no way of protecting Moroha from him.
"Mmmm. What a unique taste." Totetsu said after swallowing the arrow. "Rain sure wasn't lying when he said you'd taste much better than those pitiful monks." Totetsu told them.
"You thought that that tasted good? Then try this!" Moroha said as she swaped her bow for her sword and attacked Totetsu with her crimson dragon wave.
Totetsu blew his own attack at her as well and it clashed for a long while before canceling out and he smiled.
Yuki knew what Totetsu was going to do next so he grabbed Moroha quickly and pulled her behind a large tree, hugging her close to his chest While Totetsu began violently sucking in all of the trees and plants in the forest around them.
Yuki just barely managed to stay grounded as he felt himself being pulled back slightly by Totetsu's wind and Moroha felt herself begin to slightly lift from the ground but Yuki held her firm as she held Kilala tightly in her arms until Totetsu stopped.
Totetsu looked around himself but couldn't find where they were in dark and the mess of broken trees so he started looking for them through the destruction.
"Totetsu won't kill me but you need to get out of here." Yuki told her seriously as he tried not to panic.
"I can use the red pearl. I'm sure that I can win in one minute." Moroha said fast.
"But if you can't? I won't be able to save you in time if Totetsu lives past a minute." Yuki told her his voice was laced with worry. "It's too dangerous."
"Go." Saito said and both Moroha and Yuki looked at Saito. They didn't know that Saito was near since they didn't have time to get him before Totetsu had started to suck in the forest.
"The two of you go and I'll hold off Totetsu." Saito said.
"What?" Both Yuki and Moroha asked.
"He may be bad but you have a good heart. You don't deserve to die so let this dead man do you a favor so that you can live." Saito said seriously.
"No you don't have to—" Moroha started.
"Alright." Yuki said, answering for her.
Kilala got big and Yuki hopped on first. "Come on." Yuki urged Moroha to follow him and she hesitantly did.
"Onigumo, may you still make it to hell someday." Saito told Yuki just as Moroha got on to Kilala.
"There you are!" Totetsu exclaimed as he found them. Kilala took to the sky and Saito threw the last of his spells at Totetsu.
Saito fought the demon hard but in the end Totetsu ended up crushing him instead of eating his clay corpses. Marking the end of Saito the merciless. His last thought being of that girl who would one day no doubtably become an even more powerful priestess.
Yuki and Moroha flew high and fast on Kilala as they tried to fly to their friends for help.
Sadly Totetsu wasn't kept busy for long and he was behind them in no time on a dark cloud and soon began pulling them to him while they were flying making it hard for Kilala to stay in the air as Totetsu caught up to them and started to use his vacuum like attack to disrupt their flight.
Moroha and Yuki couldn't stay in the air for much longer after this and the two fell from the air and landed on to the beach.
Totetsu was right in front of them now and Moroha used her crimson dragon wave attack as she thought that she would hit Totetsu in time before he could eat it this time and she was right but her attack still did no more than blow Totetsu back a few steps.
Yuki placed himself between Moroha and Totetsu.
"Totetsu please I'm sure that you and I could make a better deal than what Rain has promised you!" Yuki said with urgency.
"Rain's already paid me. Move aside, I'll be willing to talk after this is done." Totetsu said.
"You're nothing but an overgrown hog!" Yuki spat before running to him with his swords out and slashing down hard.
Yuki's attack was too hasty and obvious to his opponent. Totetsu grabbed his arms easily and Yuki glared daggers at Totetsu.
"Rain wanted me to make sure that you knew that this is your fault. He said that he lost something because of you so now you'll lose something because of him. If you're ready to come back to your senses, Rain's ready to talk to you at his home under the water in the place where you spent the most amount of time as a kid." Totetsu said before flinging Yuki out of the way and going for Moroha again he violently sucked in the air around her, eating the sand and ocean water as Moroha started to fly towards him.
She wasn't going to go down easily.
Totetsu attacked her but things were not as simple as Totetsu thought it would be as Moroha kept shooting her arrows at Totetsu as she was flying towards him she shot multiple heavenly arrows until he had no choice but to stop using that attack and she fell down on the sand hard rolling before she was able to stand again.
"He's not down!" Yuki yelled from the other side of the beach as he tried to run back before Totetsu could attack again.
Totetsu immediately threw everything back at Moroha and she had very little time to react she grabbed her sword fast and hoped that her Crimsonbaklash wave would work as she swung swift and decisive sending her arrows back at Totetsu and damaging him as he couldn't dodged them all this time.
Steam started to radiate off of Totetsu now as his body transformed as his demonic aura got stronger.
Moroha opened her rogue as she thought that she had no choice but to use the red pearl. She was determined to make it happen within a minute too but then Towa's dragon strike hit Totetsu next sending him flying far.
"What's going on?!" Towa yelled as she ran over to Moroha.
Totetsu wasn't down for long and he got up quick sucking everything into his mouth as the group struggled to stay grounded.
Setsuna used her cyclone burst attack to try and cancel out Totetsu's winds and it worked for a while but then his winds got stronger and Setsuna had to move or be eaten.
Hisui sent some demon slayer poison Totetsu's way this time as the demon thought that he was unstoppable as he pulled in everything in his path.
The poison made Totetsu choke immediately and he was unable to keep up his attack.
Jade didn't hesitate in response to this and finished Totetsu off with his thunder attack before slashing off his head.
"Are you all okay?" Satsuma asked.
"Fine now." Moroha said with a relieved smile.
"Who the hell was that?" Jade asked.
"Totetsu of the four perils Rain sent him here to kill me." Moroha said.
"That coward, he never shows up himself." Hisui said in anger.
"Totetsu told us where Rain is hiding." Yuki said with a look that could kill.
"That's good." Towa said with a concerned look on her face. "Yuki are you alright?" She asked, concerned.
"I'm fine Towa." Yuki continued somberly. "Now we can finally end this once and for all." Yuki said with clenched fist while he stared at Totetsu's severed head.
A.N:
Thank you for reading. The next chapter will be the final battle with Rain. I want to take my time writing the next two chapters since they'll be really important to the story, so I'm not sure when the next update will be but I will update two weeks in a row once I finish the next two chapters. Thanks again for reading and for making it this far. I hope to update again soon.