The stars glistened.
The place was hard to describe, really. Airplanes literally went through it. No normal human can ever see it, even if his eyes were already on it. But it was there, a castle in the sky. The place was lighted well, candles were present in every hall. The occupants generally considered themselves as family, despite their unusual purpose of staying there. Being with others like them, amidst everyone else otherwise, kept them sane, even if there was always an eerie silence in the halls. Sometimes, the girls were even able to lift that feeling of dread from the air. But this night was dark, and everything was still. You could feel the tension. The silence felt so heavy, you could almost feel its weight on your shoulders. Everything was deathly silent.
Until the sound of a slap echoed loudly in the halls.
Haruna was on the floor, her long blonde hair cascaded to the floor, hiding her face. She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes tight, trying to shut out the sting on her cheek.
“To say the least, Haruna, that was utterly careless and stupid,” came a cold voice.
“But, she was alone against the Ground Master!”
“That doesn’t—”
“He took THREE Roses single-handedly!”
Haruna looked up in surprise, and found that Yuuji had taken a step — one step, but a step nonetheless — towards Youko. She always knew that Youko was tall, but, in Haruna’s position, he was towering…looming over her. She bit her lip as their silver-haired master narrowed his eyes at Yuuji.
“Do you defy me?” the man said in an even voice.
Yuuji visibly fought with himself as he balled his fists. But after a few moments, he turned his purple eyes away from his master’s silver ones. “No, Youko-sama. I was merely explaining Haruna’s side.”
Youko’s eyes turned to the girl on the ground, causing a shiver to go down her spine.
“You should have attacked when his attention was drawn to the Wind Angel. But what’s done is done. Don’t make the same mistake twice, do you understand me?”
Haruna turned her eyes to the floor, and nodded mutely.
“Leave us.”
The blonde stood up, bowed, and hurriedly went for the door. When the door closed again, Youko went to his usual position by the window. Yuuji braced himself for the worst. He had admit, talking back at Youko was pretty reckless, especially when he was in a serious mood. And Youko-sama was ALWAYS in a serious mood.
“So…” Youko started. “Toriyama is strong, isn’t he?”
“He won’t have any kind of disadvantage when a battle happens when they are air-born. He can use the element without tapping the power of the earth. He was able to make bamboo, leaves, wood… whatever he wanted, from his bare hands.”
“A feat Haruna has not yet achieved.”
Silence.
“I admit,” Youko said when he spoke again, “I was wrong.”
Yuuji’s jaw dropped. What the HELL?! Youko NEVER admitted mistakes!
“I should have sent you, and not the minors to retrieve him. He is proving to be quite the problem that I expected.” Youko stood up, ignoring Yuuji’s stare. “That is why I am sending you, this time. However, don’t send Haruna out yet. She may do something drastic and complicate things, in the light of current events. Stay here with her.”
Yuuji nodded. “I’ll tell the other Roses to get ready, sir.”
“There is another thing I wish to discuss with you.” Youko’s silver eyes suddenly seemed to pierce Yuuji. “You have been keeping this from the princess, haven’t you?”
Yuuji tensed. “Yes, sir.”
“I do hope you are telling the truth, boy.”
“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s not like I have a choice,” the ‘boy’ answered without thinking.
If anybody who knew Youko had been there, they would’ve been stunned frozen at Yuuji’s remark. They would have feared for his life. If they had been there, they would’ve fainted in shock at Youko’s response: he grinned.
“I know you want to tell her, Yuuji, but I’ll have you know,” Youko paused, and sat down on his chair, “that she won’t believe you.”
If possible, Yuuji tensed even more. “I don’t–”
“Don’t try to fool me, boy. Do you honestly think I don’t know why you joined us? You think you’re her savior, don’t you?” Youko smirked before continuing. “Oh, yes, everything was going according to your plan; everything was fine and dandy until Wind Angel showed up, wasn’t it?”
“She wouldn’t have ’showed up’ if you didn’t try to kill her.” Yuuji contradicted him.
“Her powers, weak as they were, were bound to show up soon. I just went ahead and tried to finish her before they did.”
Yuuji snorted. “Yeah, you tried, didn’t you? Then you flew off like a coward when Fire—”
“That’s enough familiarity, Yuuji,” Youko finally interrupted, his face serious again. “Remember, I can squash you anytime I wish. Your puny life is in my hands.”
“Yes… Unfortunately, it is, isn’t it? I take my leave, Youko-sama.” Yuuji didn’t even try to hide his anger, and he left the room without bowing or waiting for Youko’s answer. Once outside, he let go of the breath he didn’t know he had been holding, and shook his head as he walked away.
What a moron.
“Was Youko-sama telling the truth?”
Yuuji turned around to see Fuu in the hall, her face hard to read.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but…”
“The truth about what?”
There was silence as Fuu hesitated.
“Is the Princess your reason for joining Deathrose?”
“I just don’t like it when someone is being lied to.”
“It’s not like we’re telling her the truth.”
“I will.”
“When?”
Yuuji exhaled heavily. “I don’t know yet. I have to get the facts straight first.”
“You do realize you’re going to have to put yourself on the line to do that, don’t you?”
“Fuu, I’ve done that a long time ago. Why do you think I stand up to the moron?”
The blue-eyed girl looked away. Why do you have to risk everything for her, Yuuji? she wanted to ask him. But, looking at his serious, determined, purple eyes, Fuu decided to stay silent. She already knew what his answer would be, and she didn’t want to hear it.
“What about you, Fuu?” he asked her, making her look at him. “What was your reason for being a Rose?”
Fuu frowned. “You’ve asked me that already—”
“And you never answered.”
“My reason isn’t important.”
“It’s just as important as mine.”
Again, the Gale Rose looked away. Yuuji sighed, shaking his head as he turned to walk away.
“We all have our reasons for the things we do, Fuu. None is more important than the other.”
Fuu bit her lip as Yuuji started to leave.
Move! Go after him!! SAY something!!! her mind screamed.
Clenching her fist, Fuu finally turned to him…
“Yuu—”
…but he was already gone.
————–
“Ai-chan…are you feeling all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Midori looked worriedly at her friend beside her, seeing past her smiling facade. Right from that morning when Aiko arrived for school, she already looked spent. Midori just concluded that she must be worried for Hikaru, since the older Kazetenshi was reported to be down with a fever. But, as the day went on, she noticed that Aiko wasn’t her normal self. She seemed to be avoiding Kamui, Kaji and Yuki. She wasn’t really dodging them or anything, but she didn’t seem to welcome their presence with as much warmth as before.
And now, classes were over, and Aiko looked very, very tired. And pale.
She looked sick.
“But…”
“I’m FINE, Midori,” Aiko said stubbornly.
“Are you sure?” Midori reached out to feel Aiko’s forehead, but the blue-haired girl quickly moved away from her. But, as she did so, Aiko’s world brutally spinned, and she was forced to lean on the wall for support after stumbling back a several steps.
“Ungh…” Aiko groaned, clutching her forehead with one hand. Well, Aiko had been feeling sick, but she had hoped she would make it home without telling anyone. She vaguely heard Midori exclaim “Ai-chan!” as nausea washed over her, and she felt herself sliding down…
Until strong hands caught her arms and held her up.
But darkness had already filled her vision.
————–
“Whoa, whoa whoa, Toriyama! Where’re you off to in such a hurry?”
“I have things to take care of, Yamazaki-sempai.”
Yamazaki’s eyebrows furrowed. “You do remember we have a meeting with Katsumoto-sensei today. Now, unless you give me a good reason…”
Kamui hardly kept himself from scratching his hair in exasperation. How in the world was he supposed to explain that he somehow knew that someone’s life is going to be in danger, and he wants to find that someone before the Roses do? Yup, the nagging feeling’s back again, although it wasn’t as troubling as it was before Kamui officially became a Star. But it was there. Plus, Kaji wasn’t at soccer practice, so it was most likely an attack. And, for Kamui, that was enough reason not to attend the meeting.
“Sempai, I really have to go.”
“Toriyama, if you don’t come today, the team’s gonna suffer big time. This is one of your responsibility as the captain, after all.”
Kamui blinked when the nagging feeling suddenly disappeared. That’s odd.
“Now, I know you have other priorities, but—”
“All right,” Kamui interrupted, putting his bag down. “I suppose it can wait.”
.
.
Kamui readjusted his bag on his shoulder. Well, the meeting went well, and it wasn’t as long as he expected it. Thirty minutes seemed short to him for a year-end planning, but it was a bit brain-draining. He yawned as he stepped out the school gate. All he wanted right now was to sleep.
“Toriyama.”
Kamui turned to see Kaji leaning on the wall outside the school gate, arms crossed on his chest.
“Yo.”
“How’d the meeting with Katsumoto go?” the older boy asked as he pushed himself from the wall.
“It was OK, but tiring. How was the attack?”
Kaji’s eyebrows furrowed. “Attack?”
“Yeah…I sensed an attack earlier…”
Kaji shook his head. “I didn’t…and neither did Yuki and Aiko.”
“That was weird.” Kamui shrugged. “Maybe it was just my imagination.”
“Right…Hey, Toriyama, about the attack yesterday, are you sure you were the only one who fought?”
“Huh?” Kamui asked, taken aback. Kaji never missed a detail before. “Well, Yuuji was the only missing Rose, and Hikaru wasn’t touched by minors, and I faced off with all the other four Roses. You do the math…”
“Where was Rookie in all this?”
“She was with me, and mainly dodged attacks. She didn’t fight much.”
“Are you sure?” Kaji repeated, his face serious.
OK. Kamui was worried now. “Yeah, I’m sure. Why do you ask?”
“You didn’t leave out any details, did you?”
“And why would I—” Kamui’s sentence was cut when Kaji’s eyes narrowed at him. Kamui’s eyebrows knit together. What was his problem?
“I already told you before not to let her out of your sight, Toriyama.”
“I didn’t, all right, Hino? One minute they were there, the next they weren’t. I tried to chase after them as fast as I could, but the Roses showed up. What else do you want me to do, put Aiko on a leash?”
“Just don’t let it happen again. Or else you’re going to answer to me, got it?”
“Oniichaaan!”
Kamui didn’t get to answer when Sara came running up to them. Honestly, Kaji was always amused with Kamui’s little sister, but… he just wished she’d disappear right now. And, of course, reappear later.
“Hey, kiddo,” Kamui greeted her.
Sara grabbed Kamui’s hand and started pulling him. “C’mon, Oniichan, you promised you’d come with me to Aki-chan’s today, didn’t you?”
Kamui blinked.
“You promised!” Sara exclaimed as if Kamui had objected. “It was last week, I remembered that! We were walking home from the Spazio, and I was ranting about how algebra is starting to get me confused. Then I asked you if you could teach me and a few of my friends, and you said yes! You promised!” she repeated after pausing to take a breath. Then, a surprised look crept up to her face when she finally noticed Kaji.
“Oh! Were you guys talking about something I shouldn’t hear?”
“Something like that,” Kaji answered honestly, “But go on ahead.”
“Oh… OK, then.” Sara resumed to pull on her brother’s arm. “Sorry for the interruption, sempai.”
Kamui shot one last glance at Kaji before running off with his sister. He wondered what was wrong with Kaji. It’s not like Aiko never got hurt before, right? And her fever (Midori told him about it earlier) was just a fever…right?
————–
“No, really, dad, I feel much better. Maybe I was just stressed or something earlier.”
“Aiko, I’m not going to leave you alone and that’s final. I will not tolerate you running around to take care of your brother while you’re sick yourself.”
“Dad…” Aiko groaned, rolling her eyes.
Whatever Ken’ichi was going to say to counter her again never came, however, when the doorbell rang. When her father left her room, Aiko leaned back on the headboard. Truth be told, she really was feeling better, but she still felt a bit light-headed. But her father shouldn’t pass out an important conference because of that. She was trying to think of another way to convince Ken’ichi to leave, when a voice broke through her thoughts.
“Hey, Rookie.”
Aiko smiled at Kaji, who was leaning on the doorway.
“Hao…”
“How’re you feeling?”
“Better. Can you do me a favor and convince Dad to leave?”
At this, Kaji looked over his shoulder where Ken’ichi was, a disapproving look on his face.
“Dad, that conference is important! You always said you work for us, right?”
The man sighed in exasperation. Aiko was just so stubborn sometimes!
“Don’t worry, Kazetenshi-san,” Kaji suddenly spoke up. “We’ll check on them every once in a while.”
“Dad, you have to go and you know it,” Aiko added.
Ken’ichi looked hesitant, but after a moment, he shook his head and went to hug his daughter.
“All right, since you two are so persistent. Don’t overexert yourself, all right, Aiko?”
When Kaji left the room to see Ken’ichi to the door, she leaned on the headboard again, closing her eyes, and debated whether or not she’d shoo Kaji away, too. Part of her wanted to, since she never did like the idea of Kaji treating her as if she couldn’t take care of herself. But part of her didn’t want him to leave. She just wanted him to be there. But, whether or not she wanted to, she knew that he won’t let her make him leave. First of all, he knew that the real reason for her getting sick was not just the rain. Secondly, Midori said he had been there when she collapsed in the hall, and he had carried her home, too. He’ll leave if he wanted to.
That was Kaji.
“You look mighty tired for someone ‘feeling better’.”
A small smile tugged on Aiko’s lips as she slowly opened her eyes. Kaji was leaning on her doorway again with a grin on his face.
“I’m just sleepy,” Aiko answered, pulling her blanket as a cool wind blew in through the window.
“Right…”
Kaji didn’t sound convinced. When he entered the room and closed the window, Aiko noticed that his smile had faded. He remained standing there, quietly looking out the window, his hands in his pockets. He looked…troubled.
Aiko’s eyebrows furrowed, and she cocked her head. “What’s wrong?”
Kaji didn’t answer right away, but Aiko waited for him patiently. When he finally spoke, it was a question.
“What exactly happened yesterday?”
Aiko frowned. “What do you mean? Didn’t Kamui report?”
“He did, but…I just wanted your input on it. Toriyama said you were separated. Didn’t I tell you guys to stay in pairs?”
“We did! But Hikaru suddenly ran off, pulling me and Sara with him. I sent them home, and I went back to help Kamui out. Not that he needed any help…”
“Did you fight?”
“No. Kamui did most of it.”
“Most of it?”
“All of it. I just dodged the attacks. Before I got the chance to fight, Kamui had already beat the hell out of—”
“Did you get hit? At all?”
“No…”
“What’s this, then?” he asked, swiftly brushing Aiko’s sleeve up, revealing a dark bruise on her upper arm. Aiko brushed her sleeve back down quickly and looked away. Kaji frowned.
“There’s no use of hiding that. I noticed it while you were sleeping.”
“I wasn’t hit,” Aiko said quietly, “but Haruna got her vines around me… It doesn’t hurt, y’know.”
“That’s not the point!”
Aiko sighed, rolling her eyes. “I thought we’ve been through this. You can’t keep me from—”
“Aiko,” Kaji interrupted, sitting on her bed and firmly taking hold of her shoulders. “You and I both know that I’ll never let anything happen to you.”
Aiko felt like she was looking into a maroon mirror. Yes, she heard him say her name again. Yes, she heard that he practically vowed to be her protector forever. On any other day she would have been blushing like a tomato. On any other day her stomach would have done a backflip. But, in the light of recent discoveries, she wasn’t giddily happy with what he said. Instead, she looked away, shaking her head.
“You can’t do that, Kaji,” Aiko said when she looked up again. “You can’t not let anything happen to me. Or else nothing will ever happen to me. Catch my drift?”
Kaji opened his mouth to protest, but whatever he was going to say died on his lips when she took his hands from her shoulders.
“It’s nice to know, Kaji, really. But, sometimes, you just have to let me go.”
Kaji allowed himself to sigh as he closed his eyes.
“I know. That’s what I’m afraid of.”
It was so much like Aiko to be independent. And even though Kaji felt like he lost, he liked her that way. Aiko smiled, giving Kaji’s hand a small squeeze of appreciation, making the 17-year-old look up at her. Several moments passed in silence. And, really, no more words were needed.
“Ahem.”
Kaji was on the opposite side of the room in a flash.
And Aiko chose this time to blush profusely.
Hikaru looked back and forth the two inside the room.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“No!” answered two voices at the same time.
“Uh…OK. I was about to go to the kitchen for a glass of water… I was thinking I’d offer you one, Aiko…”
“I’ll get it,” Kaji offered quickly. “You guys shouldn’t move around much.” Without waiting for anybody’s response, he left the room and went downstairs. Hikaru raised an eyebrow at Aiko, while the girl looked away, her cheeks still pink. With a grin, Hikaru turned to go back to his room.
————–
“Just a minute!”
Sara jumped over the last step on the stairs, and brushed a stray lock of hair from her face as she made her way to the hall. Clearing her throat, she opened the front door.
“Good evening,” she greeted Kaji.
“Evenin’. Is your brother here?”
“Yeah, come in… Have a seat, I’ll just call him.”
Kaji nodded, and went to sit down on the sofa as Sara ran up the stairs. The living room was very homey. It was large enough to a handful of guests, but not too big as to make you feel uncomfortable. Photographs of the family also adorned the table tops and a part of the wall. The 17-year-old stood up and looked at the pictures. Most of the them were of Kamui, Sara or both. There were also family ones, and those with some close friends. Kaji smiled as he picked up a framed picture of four very small children on the beach. He recognized them to be Kamui, Sara, Hikaru and…
The maroon-haired boy squinted. Is that…?
“That’s us when I was about 4 years old,” Kamui started behind him.
“Cute.”
“Haha. Why were you looking at it as if you were trying to break a code or something?”
“Well, I was just…” Kaji looked at the photo again, and pointed at the other girl in it. “Who’s this?”
Kamui’s eyebrows furrowed. “That’s Aiko. I didn’t think you of all people won’t recognize her.”
“Well, I never pictured what she’d look like with a boy’s haircut. And she just looks…paler.”
Kamui looked at the photo, too. “Yeah, she’s actually sick there. I remember that she had a fever then, but…” Kamui shrugged. “I guess she was strong enough to get up for a picture.”
“She still looks different…”
“Sometimes, if you look at it long enough, she does look different. Like her hair’s darker, or her eyes are brownish than dark grey. But then, it might just be the sunset.”
“She doesn’t have a sister, does she?”
Kamui laughed. “Not that I know of.”
“Right…” Kaji put the picture down and dug his hands in his pockets. “Toriyama. As you probably already know, I didn’t really come here to talk about old photographs. The topic’s good for another day, though…”
“This is about Aiko, huh?”
“Not exactly. I came to apologize.” When Kamui just raised an eyebrow, Kaji continued. “My behavior earlier this afternoon was unreasonable. And I apologize for it.”
“ONIICHAN!!!!”
For the second time that day, Kamui wasn’t given the chance to answer when Sara’s voice interrupted the boys’ conversation again. However, she wasn’t excitedly calling them, this time. She had screamed. And she was still screaming.
Kamui took to the stairs, two steps at a time, with Kaji close behind him. The black-haired boy’s heart skipped a beat when Sara abruptly fell silent. And he became even more frantic when Sara’s door won’t open.
“SARA!!!” Kamui yelled as he tried to break the door down.
“Out of the way!” came Kaji’s voice as he pulled Kamui aside by his shirt collar and kicked the door. But the door didn’t budge.
Hino’s killer kick didn’t even make a dent?! was what Kamui thought in shock. What the hell was going on in there?!
Kaji narrowed his eyes as he kicked the door again. This time, his foot was ablaze.
The door didn’t open…
It shattered like glass.
The scene that greeted the two Stars was anything but pleasant. Sara’s room was covered by a thick layer of ice. No surface was left unfrozen. And there, in the middle of the room, was Kaori, trying to carry the unconscious Sara outside.
“Dammit,” she said angrily. Hauling the girl on her shoulders, she went for the open window.
“Give her back, woman!” cried Kamui as he ran for the window. But just as he was to jump through it, the ice on the floor went to wrap their feet thickly, and the two boys were unable to move. Kaji punched a flaming fist on his own feet, and threw fire spheres on Kamui’s feet, as well. But the ice seemed unaffected by the heat.
“Blast it!” Kamui heard Kaji yell in frustration. But Kamui was looking outside, where the two Roses were, and Sara was still held captive. His eyes widened in horror as the Roses turned to leave.
“NO!” he yelled, and he threw a vine in the Roses’ direction, attempting to catch them with it. But the two were too fast, and the vine just caught air. Kamui gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white, as he tried again, this time, making the vine even longer. Was this the attack he felt earlier?! Why didn’t he sense it when they were downstairs?! Of all the times not to feel an attack, it had to be when the target was his sister. His SISTER!
“No…” he repeated again as the Roses disappeared from sight. He sideglanced Kaji, almost yelling at him for not melting Maya’s ice faster. But his protest got caught in his throat when a blue light shot out from Kaji’s hand. His Star Mark was glowing big time. And the ice on their feet finally starting to melt under Kaji’s flames.
Kamui knew Kaji’s flames were a lot more powerful than Maya’s ice, but because the floor was covered with thick ice (plus the fact that Maya was there earlier) made their “shackles” harder to thaw. This was a planned attack. Kamui whipped out a bamboo dagger, and desperately tried to break the remaining ice around his feet. But, of course, the dagger broke.
“GUYS!”
He looked up to see Yuki breathing heavily at the window.
“A little help would be nice, Yuki!” Kamui heard Kaji address the Ice Maiden. With a wave of Yuki’s hand, the ice broke, and the three Stars went to follow the Roses out into the night, hoping they were going the right way.
Yuki is consistently the fastest flier. Kamui had broken her record a few times. Kaji is driven by pure adrenalin. These facts made it possible for the Stars to catch up on the Roses. The Roses were, of course, surprised that the Stars were already on their tail. Kamui attempted to use vines again, and this time, he caught Sara’s feet. He pulled as hard as he could, and he smiled in spite of himself when Kaori was jerked backwards and turned around. But she still would not let go of Sara’s hands. Yuki and Kaji promptly surrounded their opponents, their elements ready to be unleashed.
“Let her go, Kaori.” Kamui said dangerously.
In response, lightning flashed and hit Kamui! The boy almost let go of the vines in pain, but he held on.
Yuki had had enough of her staring contest with Maya. Taking the lightning as the starting gun, she charged at the Winter Rose, a battle cry on her lips.
Kaori was obviously satisfied with the effect of her attack on the Ground Master. Using this small opening, Kaji jumped at Kaori, grabbing her waist, successfully making her let go of Kamui’s sister. In an instant, he was flying down to catch Sara, even if he knew Kamui won’t let go of the vines. She had to be reclaimed by the Stars.
“Die, you imbecile!” was what escaped Kaori’s lips as she flew down after Kaji. But she was instantly intercepted by a very furious Kamui. The Rose of Lightning stopped, weighing her options. This was when Kamui spoke to Kaji.
“Hino, take Sara somewhere safe, will you? We’ll be the ones to clean up here.”
Kaji wanted to suggest otherwise: that Kamui would be the one to take Sara away, and he would take care of the Roses. But the look in Kamui’s eyes stopped him. It was obvious that the older Toriyama had every intention of hurting those who attempted to hurt his sister. With a nod, Kaji flew as fast as he could to Ran’s. He was halfway there, though, when something clicked. Only Kaori and Maya were there. Where were the other Roses?
Kaji’s eyes widened in realization.
Hikaru was sick.
Aiko was with him.
As a Star, Aiko was alone.
The Rookie was sick.
She was the perfect target.
Oh, crap.
————–
Everything was black.
It was her, but it wasn’t her. It can’t be her because she was here, and the other her was over there.
Where am I? she wanted to ask.
She blinked when the other her suddenly became small and started running towards her. But she was just standing! Why wasn’t the other her reaching her?
“Wait!” the other her called, arm outstretched.
Who are you? She started reaching for the other her, too.
“Wait!”
But I’m not going anywhere! she wanted to reply.
“WAIT!!!!” the other her started to disappear.
Then she was alone again. She ran. But all she could see was the void. She cried for anyone to help her, but no one came. No one heard her. She was alone. All alone. In the dark. She wanted to run and see light. She wanted to call and for someone to come. She wanted to cry, she wanted to yell.
But no sound came out of her throat. Even as she tried to shout with all her might.
—-0—-
Aiko shot up in her bed with a scream. Breathing heavily, she clutched her forehead. What the heck was that?! She closed her eyes, trying to control her breathing. The wind blew in from her window, making Aiko shiver.
Didn’t Kaji close that earlier?
With a final deep breath to calm herself, Aiko stood up, and went to her window. What she saw made her want to faint. Fuu was outside her window.
Aiko’s brain didn’t have time to absorb the situation before Fuu launched her wind blast through her her window. Shattered glass burst into the room, and Aiko was sent flying to the opposite wall. Grunting, the Wind Angel picked herself up, barely dodging Fuu’s punch when her world spinned from vertigo. Her back against the wall, Aiko blocked the Wind Rose’s next punch and held her wrist, buying herself time to think.
Aiko’s mind whirred. What was she going to do?! She can’t go out into the hall; she didn’t want to destroy the house. She can’t stay there, either because Hikaru was just in the next room. Aiko didn’t want to risk going out in her condition, but that seemed to be the best option. Grunting, she pushed Fuu to the side and ran for the window.
But her door opened, and there was a blur in front of Aiko’s eyes right before the impact of strong wind hit her, making her hit the wall again with greater impact than before.
Aiko gasped as sharp pain rippled through her body. It was then that she realized that she was never physically beat up ever since she arrived from her training. Lesson learned: don’t stop training physically.
When Aiko’s body finally registered a weight on her lap, she opened her eyes. That moment, Aiko wanted nothing more but to wake up from the nightmare. But it wasn’t a nightmare. It was real. Fuu had thrown wind sharp enough to inflict wounds, but Aiko wasn’t the one who was hit. Hikaru was lying unconscious in front of her, the back of his shirt torn in several places.
It was in this moment that Fuu decided to make her final move. But, just as she lunged for the Kazetenshis, the Star on the floor looked up at her. The brown-haired girl saw, even in the dark room, the fury in Aiko’s eyes, and something blue flash, a split-second before a blast of wind collided with the Rose. She gritted her teeth as she deflected it, and, not a second later, she was still gritting her teeth when she hit the wall.
Fuu was quickly on her feet, and had enough time to generate her own winds when Aiko attacked her again. It was wind vs. wind. But the one who had more focus, the one who had the greater drive to win, was to be victorious. Fuu’s eyes widened in shock as Aiko’s wind blast somehow spiraled, resembling something like a tornado. The window behind her (the one whose glass wasn’t shattered) gave away, and, as the Rose was flung into the air, only one thought was in her mind. The Wind Angel was moving way too fast for someone who’s supposed to be sick…
————–
Kaji flew as fast as he could. He had literally dropped Sara in the palace, yelling for Ran to attend to her even as he went to leave. Now, he was on his way to Aiko’s praying to the heavens that she was still safe. So when Aiko’s house came into view, he was slightly relieved that no battle going on outside. Also, Hikaru’s window was closed, and the curtains were still in one piece. But when he saw Aiko’s window…
No… Oh, God, please… Please don’t let me be too late!
Kaji jumped inside, and his jaw dropped at the sight before him. Aiko’s room was practically in shreds. What’s worse, Aiko wasn’t there. His heart pounding in his ribcage, Kaji took two long strides to the open door.
“AIKO!”
There was no answer. Kaji instinctively went for Hikaru’s room to check if he was still there, and flung the door open. Sure enough, Hikaru was in his room, sprawled on the floor. Aiko was beside him, looking like she collapsed while dragging Hikaru into his bed…
What’s more, her necklace was glowing.
It was glowing bright enough to give a soft blue light to the room.
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Next on Blue Star
It’s one after the other. Things seem to be going downhill for the Blue Stars. Desperate times definitely call for desperate measures… or maybe new fighters.
“Who’d be next? It could be him…or her…or you…or worse… ME!”
Episode 15: Witness
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