A woman stepped in from the balcony, brushing stray wisps of her short brown hair from her cobalt blue eyes. She quietly crossed the dark room and stopped beside a bed, where a little girl slept soundly. She put her right hand softly on the girl’s forehead, and closed her eyes.
“Okaasan?”
The woman opened her eyes at the sound of the small voice from the other bed. She smiled. Her son always did sleep like a cat.
“Yes, dear?”
The small boy scratched his eyes, yawning. “What’re you doing?”
The woman walked to his bed, and sat down. “I was just putting your sister to sleep.”
“But…wasn’t she already asleep?” he asked as his mother tucked him in again.
“Sssh,” she said, putting her hand on his forehead, too. “Go to sleep now…”
“But…” The boy didn’t get to finish his sentence as his eyes slid to a close. His mother closed her eyes, and on the back of her right palm, the character for ’shadow’ glowed. After a moment, she opened her eyes again, gazing at the mark on her hand. The glowing started to decrease.
“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” came a deep, quiet voice from the doorway.
“No…” the woman said as the light completely faded out. “But I’m not sure if not doing this is the better choice, either.”
The man at the dorway walked inside and put a hand on her shoulder.
“What if they try to get him?”
She stood up with a sigh. “Whether or not I do this, I think they will try that. He is our son, after all. That being so, I think it’s good that he’s not defenseless.”
“I see your logic, Megumi, but…”
“His abilities won’t come out until he’s ready for them. Besides, Ran won’t just leave him be if something happens.”
The man finally smiled, nodding. “I trust you.”
“I know,” Megumi replied, smiling as well. “Thank you.”
Megumi leaned down and kissed her son’s forehead. “Protect your sister, too, all right?” she whispered.
“Be safe, Kamui.”
—0—
“Kaji, can you please sit still for just one minute?”
“No.”
Yuki sighed, and fiddled with her long braid. She glanced at Kamui, who was a few meters away from her. He was sitting at the table, and he was staring at his hands clasped in front of him. He was practically motionless. Kaji, on the other hand…
“I’m getting dizzy with you burning a hole on the floor,” she tried again. “Can’t you at least try to calm down?”
“‘Calm down’? ‘Calm down’?! Yuki, how can you possibly expect me to calm down?!”
Oooh, there he blows. Fire Soul the hothead finally explodes, Yuki thought as Kaji went on.
“Hikaru’s back is full of cuts, Sara was practically frozen, Aiko has a fever off the charts, AND her energy was drained! What’s more, I didn’t even sense the attack when I was supposed to! I was at the Kazetenshis’ less than an hour before that, and I was at the Toriyamas’, practically UNDER Sara when she was attacked! And I didn’t sense it!”
“Nobody sensed it, Kaji.”
“It was obviously a well-planned move, but I was supposed to see it coming,” Kaji went on, anyway. “Strategy is supposed to be my strength, dammit!”
Before Kaji get another word out, a blue blur sped towards him, then he suddenly felt his back on the wall, an arm on his neck, almost blocking his air passage. Another arm encircled his waist, tightly locking both his arms behind him.
Kaji blinked at Yuki’s blue eyes looking fiercely up at him.
“Stop it.” She said in a frighteningly intense, even voice. After a moment, she let him go, then went back to the chair she had been occupying the past 30 minutes.
“Do you have to blame yourself for everything?” she continued in the same voice. “How do you think Kamui feels, hm? He had always sensed Deathrose attacks, even before he became a Star. And, if you’ve already forgotten, these people are his sister, and his best friends since birth. I don’t see him panicking about it.”
From his end of the table, Kamui watched as Yuki’s point hit home. Kaji looked as if he still wanted to go on ranting, but then he dropped his hands as he collapsed into a chair. He exhaled heavily, putting his head in his hands. Kamui closed his eyes. Honestly, he was having a hard time keeping still himself. And he wanted to just vent out the stress the same way Kaji was doing earlier. If he was alone, maybe he would have done that. But he wasn’t alone, and walking around in circles won’t be of any help to anyone, so he chose to just try to keep his breathing steady. Ran was taking awfully long in there…
As if on cue, the door to the other room opened, revealing a tired-looking Ran. The Stars were on their feet instantly.
“Sensei—” Yuki started.
“Yuki, Kamui, take these three home,” Ran said, ignoring her. “Hikaru and Sara are totally all right, and they can go on with their usual routine when they wake up. I don’t think they’ll be asking about anything since their memories have been erased. Kaji, step into my office.”
“What about—”
“Now.”
————–
“Oei.”
Kamui looked up from his homework to see Rei entering the room.
“Yo.”
“Wassup?”
“Homework.”
Rei’s eyebrows furrowed, but he said nothing.
“Good morning, everyone!”
Kamui looked up from his desk again to see a smiling Midori step into the room.
“Mornin’…”
The brown-haired girl skipped to the two boys, hands behind her back.
“Well, someone’s in a good mood.” Kamui commented with a grin.
“Yup, but I’m not telling you why…” Midori said in a sing-song voice.
“OK…it’s not like I’m asking why…” Kamui imitated her tone.
Midori’s eyes darkened slightly, but only for a second. Her face brightened again when Sagara, one of Kamui’s classmates, entered the room and smiled at her.
Kamui raised an eyebrow, then leaned towards Rei. “What’s with Sagara and Midori?” he whispered.
Rei said nothing, and his face was unreadable as he looked on.
Kamui blinked, then put two and two together. So Sagara finally asked Midori out, hm?
“Hey, what’re you doing here, anyway?” Rei suddenly asked the girl standing beside him. “This ain’t your classroom, is it?”
Midori turned to him and smiled sweetly. “Yes, dear, I know. But may I remind you that this isn’t yours, either?”
“Oh, yes, of course, dear. My mistake.”
Kamui rolled his eyes at the two, then continued his work. But he hadn’t even put the tip of his pen on the paper when Midori whistled.
“Oooh, no homework for today, Toriyama-kun?”
“Yeah, well, I was…kinda busy yesterday.”
VERY busy, Kamui added to himself.
“Oh, is Ai-chan going to come today?”
Kamui shook his head. “Her fever got worse.”
“Really? Oh, man, that can’t be good.”
“Of course it’s not good, Rei. She’s sick,” Midori sighed, crossing her arms.
“Oh man,” Rei said again. “What’s the world coming to? First it’s Hikaru, then now it’s Aiko…Who’d be next?” Rei started looking around the room, and pointing at Kamui’s classmates. “It could be her or him,” Rei pointed at Sagara, then at Midori herself, “or you…or worse…”
Rei suddenly stood up, a shocked-beyond-all-understanding look on his face, and dramatically hit his chest.
“It could be ME!!!”
Kamui and Midori looked at each other, the same thought in their minds.There he goes again…
“OK, Yokaze… I think that’ll do for the morning,” Midori said, stepping up to Rei and grabbing his collar. “See you around!”
Kamui just nodded while Rei wailed “Goodbye, cruel world!” as Midori dragged him outside.
The black-haired boy sighed, turning his eyes to his homework. It was almost done, actually. He was just checking it again. He pushed the piece of paper away, and looked outide the window. He wondered how Aiko was doing, and if she was safe at home, and why Ran won’t give out details…
Kamui was snapped out of his musings when Yuki suddenly walked in the room, placed a piece of paper on his desk then, with a small nod, walked out of the room. Eyebrows furrowing, Kamui took the piece of paper and read:
My classroom after school.
-Kaji
————–
Yuki twirled her pen on her fingers as she watched Kaji. The maroon-haired boy had been staring at the door for the last five minutes. Actually, ever since he arrived in school that morning, he was just too quiet. He won’t even talk to her. That meant Kaji was worried. And that meant that the situation is very, very bad. So there was only one thing to do.
“You seem to be in a better mood.”
Kaji turned his eyes to her without moving, then looked at the door again.
“Not exactly,” he said after a moment.
“Well, I don’t see you walking around in circles.”
“It doesn’t help anybody, does it?”
“Glad you finally figured that out.”
“Good for you.”
Leaning her elbows on the table, she watched as Kaji checked the time again for the 5th time in 5 minutes.
“So…You’re not going to clobber Kamui for being late, are you?”
“Yuki, I thank you for trying to cheer me up by trying to tease me, but I don’t think it’s going to work this time. So just—”
“GAH! Sorry I’m late!” Kamui exclaimed as he literally burst into the room. “There was—”
“OK,” Kaji interrupted, looking at his watch again. “Hikaru’s kendo meeting ends in thirty minutes. We got until then before I hafta go to Ran’s. So, shoot me.”
Kamui blinked. “With what?”
“Reactions, ideas and questions. Though I’m not sure I have the answers, Sensei said he’d rather I answer what I can, and talk to him later. After healing two people and trying to heal another, all in one day, we can’t really expect him to be as lively as he is.”
“Right…OK, I got one,” Kamui started. “Why was Aiko sent back home when her fever’s still so high?”
“We don’t want Hikaru to see his sick sister’s bed empty, do we? I took her back to Ran’s this morning, after Hikaru left for school. And I have to take her back home again before her brother gets there.”
“So, why IS her fever still so high?” Yuki asked
“Her condition is very…troubling,” Kaji replied, trying to suppress a worried sigh. “Her ki is very unstable, and it seemed to be ‘changing’, as Ran put it. He supposed that was part of the reason why her fever was so high. In fact, Ran’s energy was waning because he had been transfering some of it to Aiko. But she still won’t get healed. The worst part is, we can’t do anything but wait.”
“Bummer,” Kamui said involuntarily.
“Totally. So now, we need to be more careful and NOT get injured.”
The two nodded. For the next couple of seconds, no one spoke, until Kaji noticed that Yuki started nibbling on her nail on her forefinger.
“Yuki? What’s on your mind?”
“I just remembered something…I suppose I was too upset to notice it last night, but…” Yuki mumbled almost to herself.
“But?” Kaji encouraged. Yuki was always one to notice the small details and put the pieces together. The girl continued to nibble at her nail for a few more moments, her eyebrows knit together. Then she turned her eyes to Kamui. She narrowed her eyes, as if examining him, all the while keeping silent, even as she tilted her head. Kamui, for his part, started getting uncomfortable.
“What?”
“Kamui, have you tried waking Hikaru up?”
Kamui blinked. “Huh? Well, yeah.”
“How?”
“You have to shake him relentlessly. I mean, the guy’ll be able to sleep through anything, even a parade outside his window, as long as nobody touches him.”
“Hmmm…Interesting. Kaji, both Hikaru and Aiko were sick in bed during the attack last night, right?”
“I suppose…” Kaji answered. “Hikaru can walk a bit, but I don’t think he’d be running around. Besides, I waited for the two to fall asleep before I left.”
The Ice Maiden then stood up and walked to the blackboard, tapping her fingers on her chin.
“Consider this: The two were sick, and they’re already REALLY asleep by the time of the attack, since it’s been almost an hour, as Kaji said last night. It’s not likely Hikaru would go into Aiko’s room for no reason at all, or even to check on her, after an hour after he fell asleep, right? And it’s impossible that Fuu woke him up, made him go to Aiko’s room and then attacked them. So what was he doing in Aiko’s room, the only room where the battle took place, and the only room where Hikaru could’ve gotten the cuts on his back? I think the only logical answer is that the battle woke him up. But then, he sleeps like a log, right?”
Yuki took a piece of chalk and drew a box on the board, labelling it “Marty’s”.
“That’s…” Kamui started.
“Right. The location of your first defense,” Yuki said as she sketched the area, including several blocks to the north, east and west of the store. Then she tossed a piece of chalk to Kamui. “Where exactly were Hikaru, Sara and Aiko when you were inside the store?”
Kamui stood up and wrote marked and labelled the three’s positions in front of Marty’s.
“And the actual battle?”
“Maya attacked from here,” Kamui said, putting an ‘M’ to the east of Marty’s, then encircled an area on the road to the north of the store, “and the battle with her, Fuu and Kaori are here.”
“Visible or not?”
“Visible.”
“When Aiko returned, where did she come from?”
Kamui pointed the road to the northwest of the battle field. “Here. Sara said Hikaru took them through the long route. The one that circles one block west, two blocks north, and then six blocks east to get to our house. She said he looked really worried about something, and told her to stay in the house.” Kamui’s eyebrows furrowed. “He couldn’t have—”
“Kaji,” Yuki interrupted, “did Aiko say why they left the store?”
“She said…Hikaru suddenly ran off, pulling…” Kaji smacked his forehead. “Crap! Why didn’t I notice that before?!”
“Hikaru ran west, pulling the girls with him. Now, why would he run west when the Kazetenshi and Toriyama residences were east of their location? I say it’s because he was avoiding a visible Maya, who was standing at the east of Marty’s. From his position over here, he was the only one who could’ve seen Maya. Maybe Maya already had her icicles out, and Hikaru instantly connected this to the time when he and Aiko were attacked before. Remember that Hikaru had run off in that attack, too. And even if he didn’t see Maya, I think he can sense Rose activity near him. It precisely explains why he woke up last night.”
“Three Rose activities near Hikaru…and in all of them, he was pulling his sister out of danger,” Kaji said almost inaudibly. “That’s definitely something to think about. We have to keep an eye on him.”
“Right,” Yuki nodded.
“Here’s something else to think about,” Kamui said, slightly raising his hand. “Why did the Roses carry Sara off yesterday? Is that what they do when they want to make her a Rose or something?”
Kaji was the one who answered. “Usually, if they want to get someone to be a Rose, they’ll kill her first. That’s what they tried to do with you guys.”
“But, they’ve never carried someone off?” Kamui pushed.
“They have, once.”
“Who?”
“Ran never mentioned a name. He always says we weren’t Stars when it happened, so we won’t know her, anyways.”
“So it was a girl, huh? Where is she now?”
“We don’t know.”
Yuki blinked when Kamui suddenly tossed the piece of chalk back to her, then made his way to the window. “Where’re you going?”
“To find my sister, that’s where.”
With that, Kamui flipped the curtains away and violently pushed the window open.
“OW!”
Everyone’s eyes widened at the sound of the female voice outside. Kamui looked out the window to see a girl crouched on the ground, holding her forehead painfully.
He panicked.
“Oh, MAN! I’m so sorry!!!” he exclaimed, jumping out the window and crouching next to the girl. “Are you OK?”
“No…” the girl said in an almost whining voice.
“Kamui!” Yuki exclaimed. “Why did you open the window like that knowing full well we were on the first floor? Anybody could’ve been walking by!”
“Well, sorry!” Kamui yelled back. “I was just in a hurry to—”
Kamui abruptly stopped as realization struck, just as he felt the red-haired girl in front of him tense up.
He turned to look at her just as she looked up at him.
Two pairs of blue eyes stared at each other in surprise.
Then Maya screamed.
And Kamui yelled a very eloquent “GAH!!!!” as he jumped away from her.
Fuu turned around a corner and nearly tripped at the sight of Maya on the ground, and Kamui standing in front of her.
Yuki flew out the window to stand beside of Kamui, and materialized her sword.
Haruna took a fighting stance behind Fuu as Maya scrambled to her feet and stood with them.
Kaji jumped out of the window and landed crouching on the ground in front of the two, his eyes dangerously looking at the Roses.
He smirked.
“Well…let the games begin.”
————–
“Run.”
“Okaasan…”
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. Go, run as fast as you can…”
“No…I won’t leave you—”
“Run, Aiko!!!”
—0—
Aiko let out a strangled gasp as she shot up in her bed. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she willed her heartbeat to slow down to its normal pace. She licked her dry lips and closed her eyes.
“Run, Aiko!!!”
Aiko’s eyes snapped open as her mother’s voice resounded in her ears. Looking beside her, she saw Ran sleeping, his head resting on his arm on her bed. His other hand was holding hers. Aiko’s eyebrows furrowed as the wind blew through the window. The last she remembered, she was fighting Fuu… How long ago had that been? If she woke up just now, that meant Ran had just finished healing her, since she wasn’t feeling as sick as she remembered. And if he just finished healing her and he was asleep, that meant…
“Ran-sama…” Aiko tried, shaking her sensei. But he was still sleeping.
“Ran-sama!” she tried again unsuccessfully.
“RAN!”
The sensei was still out cold.
Aiko looked around. Where was everyone?
With one last glance at Ran, she jumped out of bed and ran for the door.
————–
“Hikaru-kun!”
Hikaru turned to see Sara jogging towards him. “Hey, Sara.”
“How’s your meeting?” Sara laughed as Hikaru made a face.
“I thought it was never going to end!”
“I think meetings are meant to be like that. So, where are you off to now?”
“I gotta get home. Aiko’s fever was pretty high this morning. You?”
“I was going to see if Oniichan’s still here.”
Hikaru looked back at the deserted school, then nodded.
“Let’s find out, then.”
————–
“NRGH!”
Aiko gritted her teeth as she stumbled backwards to the wall behind her, electricity flowing through her. She blinked several times, trying to focus on the girl walking towards her at an agonizingly slow pace. A wave of nausea flowed through her, and she felt uncomfortably feverish.
I guess I’m not as OK as I thought…
“You should have stayed in bed, you know,” Kaori told her as she brushed her black hair from her shoulder.
Aiko tried not to grunt as she tried to stand up. But as soon as her back left he wall, she stumbled sideways, causing her to hold on to the wall again. Even as her world spinned, Aiko saw Kaori’s smirk grow wider. Electricity crackled at the Rose’s knuckles as she crouched down in front of Aiko. The Star, on the other hand wanted to scream in frustration. Her opponent was there, right in front of her face, and she can’t even raise her hand! How much more frustrating can a situation be?
“Sleep well, Wind Angel,” Kaori said as she put her hands on Aiko’s cheeks.
Aiko’s scream pierced the peacefulness of the afternoon.
————–
“OK. This is freakishly weird,” Sara said as she and Hikaru walked side by side in the halls. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kobayakawa so deserted.”
“Me neither,” Hikaru agreed peeking in as they passed a classrooom. “It IS getting late…Maybe your brother isn’t here, after all…”
The girl shook her head. “I have a feeling he’s still here.”
“You’re the boss.”
“But you can go home, though. I mean, aren’t you going to check on Ai-chan? I’m fine by myself.”
“No, you’re not.” Hikaru said without hesitation.
Sara sighed. “I knew you’d say that. Hikaru-kun, remember that you’ve been sick yourself. Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“Resting? What’s that?”
Sara rolled her eyes, then started. “Hey, look! There’s still somebody here…”
Hikaru looked at where Sara was pointing, and saw a girl with black, waist-long, ponytailed hair, wearing a white blouse and white pants. She was at the end of the hall and had her back turned to them as she looked at the announcement board.
“Doesn’t look like a student, though,” Hikaru said absently. Sara nodded almost as absently.
“Let’s go this way,” she suggested as they approached a corner.
“Right.”
After one, final, hesitant look at the girl, the two turned around the corner. A second later, the electricity flickered. They looked at each other, and with an unspoken understanding, both broke into a sprint. However, Sara skidded to a halt when everything was plunged into darkenss as the lights abruptly turned off.
“Hikaru-kun!” she called.
“What?” hissed the boys’ voice. Sara guessed he was several meters away from her.
“I can’t see where I’m going,” she said in a low voice.
“Well, right now you ain’t going anywhere, are you?”
“I’m not going anywhere because I can’t see where I’m going!” she argued.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Hikaru exclaimed.
Sara emitted a choked gasp when she felt a hand, which she assumed to be Hikaru’s, grab her wrist.
“Do you know where you’re going?” she asked.
“Anywhere’s better than staying there.”
“Ow!” Sara exclaimed when her nose suddenly hit his back. “Don’t stop like that—!”
“Quiet.” Hikaru interrupted her.
Sara’s eyes, by now, have adjusted to the dark, and she can see the thin line of Hikaru’s profile. Or maybe she was just imagining it. Well, whether or not she was, the Hikaru she can see seemed to be thinking deeply.
“Hikaru-kun…”
“Sshh!”
Hikaru’s eyes darted from left to right. Which way was he supposed to go? Hikaru shook his head, trying to clear the confusing jumble in his brain which was his thoughts.
THINK!
Of all the places, it had to be here where there isn’t a window to let the sunshine in.
Hey! Isn’t that a song?
OK, I’m thinking rubbish. That means I’m panicking.
Don’t panic.
But that girl sure looked familiar. Not that I saw her face.
Wait wait!!! Right now, we need to get out of here… Think about that.
Strategy.
You can start deciding where to go, for one.
Left. Looks safer.
“Come on,” Hikaru finally said to Sara, leading her to the hall to their left.
Yeah, right. ‘Looks safer’. How can a hall of two identical ones look safer?
Who the hell was that girl?
I wonder where Aiko is…
How come I’ve been attracting too much attention lately?
Maybe I’m just paranoid.
Or maybe I’ve gone insane.
It’s either that or I’ve been turned into a Star without me knowing.
————–
Everything was dark, but she felt like her eyes were burning from the glare of the white light. She felt light-headed and warm.
So this is what being electrocuted to death felt like.
Her neck burned and her back ached. She felt as if she was breathing through a hole in her neck.
She opened her eyes, and saw an endless void of white. Bright, blinding white.
She didn’t know which was better, that or black as far as your eyes can see. Well, not that you can see when that happens.
She blinked, and feathers lightly falling from the sky.
Whoa, cool…
Her eyes fluttered shut, and when she opened them again, she saw brown.
Aiko blinked, then immediately winced as she felt a sting on the side of her head.
“Ow…”
The blue-haired girl picked herself from the ground, and looked around, getting her bearings. She was still in that alley where Kaori left her. The sky was a bit more orange than she remembered, though.
“Weird,” she said aloud as she stood up. Honestly, she had never heard of anyone being beaten to unconsciousness, and then waking up in about an hour later feeling totally refreshed.
“Well, you don’t have time to think about that, now,” Aiko told herself. With a shrug, she kicked the ground and flew straight to Kobayakawa High.
————–
Sara couldn’t keep herself from panting. They had stopped running again, and she guessed that Hikaru was again trying to figure out which direction they were going to go. Was he checking if the coast was clear? But how the heck can he do that when it was so dark? Sara couldn’t even see herself!
“Let’s go,” he whispered for what Sara felt to be the hundredth time. Sara was sure they’ve been running for ages. Literally. Was Kobayakawa High so big they couldn’t even reach light? Suddenly, Sara was whipped around, and she felt Hikaru’s other hand on her arm to balance her. She can only imagine that they were facing each other now.
“Hi—”
“Ssh.” Hikaru shushed her again firmly. “Quiet. I’m trying to hear.”
“Hear what?”
“Ssh!”
Sara blinked. Her eyes ached from seeing nothing. Her ears drummed from hearing nothing.
So her eyes widened as she saw a ball of crackling electricity approaching her fast.
Sara screamed as she was pushed to the floor. When nothing else happened, she promptly looked up to see Hikaru still standing, holding the ball of electricity.
No, wait.
He was holding the wrist of the girl whose hand was crackling with electricity.
What the hell?!
“Run, Sara!” Hikaru shouted at her. But Sara couldn’t move.
“Dammit, Sara, RUN!” Hikaru yelled again. This time, Sara picked herself up on her feet and turned on her heels, but stopped even before she took a step.
“But I can’t see!” she told Hikaru.
As if on cue, the hall was flooded with light Sara never knew Kobyakawa’s flourescent bulbs were capable of. As if she was compelled to by some unkown force, Sara looked to her right and saw that they were beside the windows already. The sun had almost completely set, and the sky was beautifully crimson.
So why was it still dark just a second ago?
“GO!” Hikaru’s voice came again.
Still in a daze, Sara ran.
.
.
Hikaru narrowed his eyes at the girl before him. Her face was unreadable. It seemed to be a mix of surprise, frustration and amazement. His fists clenched when she suddenly smirked.
“Well, I suppose I should have expected it to be you,” she said.
Hikaru’s eyebrows furrowed. Hm. So maybe I’m not the only one thinking rubbish.
“After all, you WERE her brother.”
That got him. “Her brother”?
“WERE her brother”?!
“So you’re the Star who can control light, are you? “
As if I’m answering that.
“You made quite an impression on Maya and Haruna the other week, y’know.”
“What do you want, Rose?” he asked. “Whatever did the Stars do to make you want to kill them?”
“None of your business.”
“Hell, yeah it’s my business! It’s US you’re attacking aren’t we?”
“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”
With that, the Rose lunged at him again. Hikaru caught her wrist again, and did a judo throw, making her back hit the floor with a thud. But not a second later, she did a Chinese get up and faced him again.
Not caring if he looked like a coward, Hikaru turned his heels and ran as he made the Light exclusive to himself again. He looked over his shoulder to see Kaori stunned.
“You idiot!” she yelled as she generated electricity again to guide her steps.
Well, I’m even more of an idiot if I stay and challenge someone I can’t defeat by myself without a weapon…
————–
Kamui tried to ignore the throbbing pain on his shoulder as he backflipped, dodging Maya’s icicles. With a flick of the wrist even before his feet touched the ground, he was already charging back at her. The Winter Rose lunged at him at the same time, wielding her daggers. But she didn’t even get to him before vines burst from the ground below her, catching her feet. Spotting the opening, Kamui kicked Maya squarely, sending her flying to the wall.
Fuu didn’t have time to react to Maya’s injury behind her. She clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to keep her patience intact. But her patience was thinning. With a shake of her head, Fuu finally made the first move. As she expected, Kaji jumped away from her wind wave, unpreparing him from her attack from above. In a second, she was behind him, holding his neck with her arm.
“Heh. I almost thought you were going to be stuck in that position forever.”
Fuu grinned. The nerve of Fire Soul to strike a joke at a time like this.
“I never did like a glaring competition with you, Fire Soul.”
The maroon-haired boy grinned himself.
“You and me both.”
Kaji jumped up, and, using Fuu as a fulcrum, stomped his feet back to the ground, gathering enough momentum to throw Fuu over his head. No one can really expect a Rose of Fuu’s skill level to be taken down by a simple throw; so as soon as he had rid himself from Fuu’s grip, Kaji jumped up again and kicked her.
Yuki sidestepped as quickly as she could, and then twirled around to smoothly injure Haruna with her sword.
That motion enabled her vision to catch a glimpse of a girl exiting the building.
It was only a second of distraction, a mere glance, but price to pay was high.
Yuki’s eyes widened when she felt something very odd at her chest. Everything had been a blur, due to the fact that she was in the middle of a 360-degree turn, but now everything was clear and still. Now, she could see Sara’s face clearly displaying shock and disbelief. She heard Kaji’s voice clearly shouting her name as a foreign force jerked her backwards. Yuki fell to her knees, her eyes still wide open. For some reason, she just didn’t want to move. Sara was running towards her now, Hikaru close behind her.
She just didn’t want to move.
.
.
Breathe.
Aiko blinked again, trying not to believe what she just saw.
But, no matter how long she stared at it, no matter how long she willed it to disappear, nearly half of Haruna’s sword was still dripping wet with a red substance.
Blood.
The Ice Maiden crumpled to the ground just as Sara reached her. The younger girl cradled her head, telling her to keep awake. Kamui was on his knees on the other side of the clearing, clutching a bleeding shoulder. Maya was unconscious near the wall of the building, Fuu was crouching a few meters away from her, and was obviously in pain. From what, Aiko didn’t know.
Haruna was oddly stunned, and was staring at her sword. And Kaji…Kaji was giving Haruna a death glare. But, still, he wasn’t moving.
In fact, no one was moving.
Until a movement caught Aiko’s eyes. Kaori had just exited the building, looking mighty frustrated.
Well, Aiko was mighty frustrated, too.
With a battle cry, Aiko charged.
Kaori nearly jumped when she heard a familiar voice.
“YOU!” the blue-haired girl screamed as she threw wind spheres at her. Kaori simply jumped away, partly because of the shock of seeing the Wind Angel alive, but mostly because she didn’t look like the Wind Angel. The fury in her face made her look fiercer, stronger…like someone not to be reckoned with.
And why the heck was her necklace glowing?!
Yes, he hated glaring competitions, but he tried to calm down first and keep his cool. Yuki did always say that Kaji’s brashness was going to get him in trouble. Now, Kaji felt like he was frozen and burning to a crisp at the same time. Oh yeah, it was time to kill someone. Someone who was blonde and always wears black and white. Someone who was holding a bloody bamboo sword.
Oh yeah, it was time for Haruna to disappear from the face of the earth.
And Aiko’s attack was all he needed to snap out of it and move.
Haruna was pulled back to reality when she felt heat emanating from her right. And she saw a very cold-looking Fire Soul preparing to envelope her with strong flames.And she didn’t know why, but she didn’t move when he finally unleashed the flame wave. But instead of going at her, the flames went upwards. Both Haruna and Kaji looked up in surprise to see why the flames were diverted.
“Yuuji.” Kaji said loathingly. Of all the times for the idiot to show up.
Yuuji landed on the ground beside Haruna and took the situation in.
“Well, this isn’t good, now, is it?” was his simple comment. Kaji was about to retort when Kaori’s disbelieving yell interrupted him.
“I…I KILLED you! I was sure I killed you! Your energy was too low and—”
“Well, you should’ve made sure I was dead!” Aiko replied angrily. Then, she did something Kaji didn’t expect: she threw a lightning bolt at Kaori. The Rose was nearly hit, but, as Yuuji did to Kaji’s flames earlier, she diverted the lightning bolt, making it hit a tree, setting some branches on fire. Both Kaji and Yuuji raised their palms and absorbed the flames.
I hate it when we agree…Kaji thought to himself.
“Roses.” Yuuji said.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Aiko said, tensing again for battle.
“Count your casualties, Wind Angel. And I’ll count mine.” Yuuji told her.
Aiko opened her mouth again, but nothing came out. Instead, she looked at Kaji.
I HATE it when we agree.
When Yuuji saw Kaji nod, he went to where Maya was. He brushed past Kamui, who was looking at him warily. When he had lifted Maya up, he saw that Haruna was helping Fuu stand up, too. Kaori still hadn’t moved from her position, but was looking at him, waiting for his cue.
“Roses,” Yuuji repeated. Then, he kicked the ground and flew off, the Roses following close behind.
It took 1 second for Kaji to be at Yuki’s side.
“She’s still breathing…” Sara told him. “I don’t know how, but—”
“Yuki.” Kaji called. But, as he expected, she was already unconscious.
“Kaji, we’d better take her to Ran’s. She’s losing a lot of blood.”
Without a word, Kaji took Yuki in his arms and stood up.
“Can you fly, Toriyama?”
“Yeah.”
“OK. You come with me. Aiko, you have to take both your brother and Sara to headquarters. We’ve got a LOT to talk about.”
————–
“Rabbit.”
The grass swayed with the wind.
“Dog.”
She closed her eyes as a cool breeze made the trees sing. Everything around her was a relaxing green. The air was cool, and everything was pleasingly quiet. From where she was, the garden seemed so vast. She opened her eyes again, and twirled a lock of her jet black hair in her fingers. Her chocolate brown eyes looked at the sky as she tried to form things out of the clouds.
“Star.”
“Rose…”
She smiled when she noticed somehing rare. There, in the middle of a huge silvery cloud, was a patch of blue.
“Heart…”
“Playing with the clouds again, I see…”
Without moving a muscle, she regarded the newcomer.
“It’s my only getaway.”
“Is it?”
She smiled. “It’s not like you don’t know yet, Yuuji-kun.”
Yuuji sat down beside the girl on the grass, and looked up at the sky, too.
“Your neck’s gonna hurt if you stay like that,” came her voice.
Yuuji looked at the girl beside him and smiled as the wind blew once again.
“Hey, look, it’s a white bridge!”
Yuuji looked up at the sky again, his eyebrows furrowing. “A bridge? Where?”
“Right there, see? Lie down so you’ll see better. There, in the middle of the rose and the star. See? It’s right in the middle.”
“Hmm…It doesn’t look like a bridge. It looks more like a…”
“A what?”
“A curved line.”
“Nani?! It does not!”
Yuuji laughed. “Yes, it does.”
The girl pouted. “Fine. What does it need, then?”
“A railing. A bridge always has a railing. Otherwise, it’s just a plank.”
The girl sighed. “Railing, huh?” The wind blew, and the clouds moved. “There, it that OK?”
“You have to put support underneath the railing, too.”
“Eh?”
“A bridge needs the railing so the ones who’re gonna cross it have protection, right? But the railing isn’t any good if it’s not strong. So you need the support.”
“Oh, all right. So picky.” The trees rustled, and the clouds shifted again. “Support it is.”
“There. That’s better, isn’t it?”
“Hm…You’re right. That’s a nice bridge.”
“You made it.”
“Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”
For a few moments, a comfortable silence ensued.
“Yuuji-kun?”
“Yes?”
“Did Youko-san say anything about what I asked you earlier?”
Yuuji turned to the girl beside him, and found her brown eyes looking at him hopefully. He looked away, then sat up again.
“Yes, he did.”
“Really?” The girl sat up excitedly. “What’d he say?”
“You still can’t go out.”
“What? Why? He told me before that he’d let me out when I was old enough! Don’t you think 16 is old enough, Yuuji-kun?”
“Yes, but—”
“Well, I’ve been 16 since September, so why am I still stuck here?”
“He has his reasons for not letting you out.”
“Well, I’ve got my reasons for wanting to go out!”
“Well, why don’t you tell him that, then? I’ve told him that for you, but…”
“He didn’t believe you,” she finished for him sadly. “Honestly. Just because he has a problem with the world doesn’t mean I have to have one, too, right?”
She sighed when Yuuji said nothing.
“He says I’m still not ready, huh, Yuuji-kun? To him, I’ll never be ready…”
“Hime-sama…”
“What about you, Yuuji-kun, what do you think?”
For a moment, he was silent. The Deathrose Princess looked away, saddened. She had waited so long to turn 16 so she could go out of the palace.
“It’s not that you’re not ready, Mai-sama…
“It’s the world that’s not ready for you.”
————–
Next on Blue Star
One gets reprimanded, one is confused, another sneaks out, and Kamui? Well, Kamui meets someone new.
“No one, and I mean no one, must know you were with me OK?”
Episode 16: Carnival
————–
From the Author
Ooooh. The Deathrose Princess finally makes an appeance! OK. Just in case any of you have forgotten, “hime-sama” means princess.
