Confronting someone about the truth was truly one of the hardest things to start to do, especially when you had been lying for quite some time. (How Youko was able to do it so easily, Mai didn’t know.) She had been staring at the door for a while, but she just couldn’t bring herself to take the next step. The way her heart thudded in her ribcage didn’t help, but, she knew she had to do this. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand and knocked.
“Just a second!”
Mai fiddled with her fingers as she bit her lip. Relax, Mai, she told herself. Everything’s going to be fine. Just go with the plan and you’ll be fine. Mai’s eyebrows furrowed when she heard a yell inside the room, followed by a thud, and a whole lot of (muffled) grumbling.
“Uh…Kamui?” she called tentatively. “Are you OK in there?”
“Yeah, yeah! Just a minute, ok?”
After a few more small thuds, the door finally opened.
“Hi.”
Mai blinked at the sight before her. She had always thought of Kamui as “cool”. He had a strong personality. He was smart and down-to-earth. He was understanding and supportive. On top of that, he had that smile that always made her melt. But right now, he did not look cool. He looked kawaii. The way Kamui was standing made it obvious that he literally stumbled towards the door, he had a towel carelessly thrown over his head, and the silly grin on his face just made Mai want to laugh. So she did.
“I stubbed my foot painfully on my cabinet, and what do I get for it?” Kamui said with a raised eyebrow, “My best friend laughs at me.”
“Sorry… Is your toe OK?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. Let’s try that again, shall we?”
Before Mai could react, Kamui had closed the door in her face. And before she could react about that, the door opened again. This time, Kamui was standing properly, the towel was over his shoulder, and his damp hair looked more presentable (he probably combed it with his fingers).
“Hi,” he greeted her again, flashing that boyish grin that, on regular days, would have made Mai blush profusely.
No, Mai, you are in a serious, SERIOUS situation. No. Blushing.
“Hi,” she said, mustering a smile.
Kamui blinked. “What’s this, no ‘Hao’ for me?”
“Nope. May I come in?”
“Uh…yeah,” he said, moving aside. “Whoa. I think this is the first time I ever heard you say ‘Hi’…”
“And so?”
“And so this day should go down in history!” Kamui closed the door, then went to sit on the bed.
“You’re making such a big deal out of this. It’s just a word.”
“No, it’s not just a word. Kazetenshi Aiko is known for always using ‘Hao’.”
“Right. Kazetenshi Aiko never uses ‘Hi’.”
“And this is the first time you used it!”
“Wrong.”
Kamui stopped drying his hair with his towel. “Say again?”
“Kazetenshi Aiko never uses ‘Hi’, but this isn’t the first time I used it.”
“Uh-huh…” he said slowly, his eyebrows furrowing. “Why are you referring to yourself in the third AND first person in the same sentence? I’m not exactly following you here, Ai-chan…”
“I know.” Mai smiled while Kamui looked absolutely confused. Then, deciding to get down to business, she cleared her throat. “Kamui, you do know that, sometimes, your sister can hear other people’s thoughts without meaning to, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, she asked me something a few minutes ago, and I was thinking that you’re the best person to ask about it.”
“OK…”
Mai took a deep breath.
Here goes…
“Kamui, who’s Mai?”
A pause.
“Who?”
“Mai,” she repeated. “Sara asked me if I knew who she was.”
“Why ask me?”
“Because she heard the name from your thoughts.”
“Oh yeah?” Kamui asked, laughing. “And what else did she hear?”
Mai frowned. This was not going as she had expected.
Kamui seemed to notice her frown, and his laughing stopped. “Why do you need to know?” he asked, a small smile remaining on his lips.
“Because Sara-chan said there were several times when she would hear your mind say ‘Mai’ when you were talking at me or something. I was just wondering who she was, that you somehow connected her to me…”
“Hm.” was all Kamui said. He crossed his arms behind his head as he leaned on the wall behind him. He wasn’t smiling anymore, but he wasn’t frowning either. He was just sitting there, staring at the ceiling. In her seat, Mai waited as patiently as she could. It was only a few seconds of silence, but, to her, it seemed like ages. The suspense was killing her!
“Mai…” Kamui finally started, “Mai is a girl I met in a dream.”
The raven-haired girl practically fell off the chair. WHAT?!
“A dream,” she echoed. “She isn’t real?”
“No.”
Mai’s eyebrows furrowed. Either Kamui kept his promise not to tell anyone that they met, or he really, honestly, thought that she was a fictional being. “So what does she have to do with me?”
“Well, first of all, she looked a lot like you.” Kamui paused, sparing a second to glance at her. “Aiko, you were supposed to have dark blue hair and grey eyes. But then you dyed you hair and wore contacts, making you look exactly like her. And you made that personality-altering speech thing, and you start acting like her. So, every time I see you, I remember Mai. Or at least that’s how it was for the first few days; I kinda got used to it now.”
“Oh… So now, Mai to you is…?”
“Mai is, basically, you. You with the brown eyes and black hair and that personality that’s pretty much un-Aiko.”
“Oh…”
Kamui sat up on the bed again, facing her. “I know how much you love your name, Ai-chan, what with blue being your favorite color. I didn’t really mean to give you another name, but… You’re not angry, are you?”
Mai smiled. “Of course not.”
“Good.”
“So Mai is me… Interesting.”
Kamui laughed. “Interesting, yeah, but confusing.”
“I suppose so…” she said as she stood up. “Don’t worry. After tonight, I don’t think it’s going to be so confusing anymore.”
“Yeah? How’s that?”
“You’ll see.”
Again, Kamui’s eyebrows furrowed. She was starting to talk weird again, and he hated that he couldn’t understand her. He stood up just as she opened the door.
“Hey, Ai—”
His voice got stuck in his throat when she turned around. She wasn’t really doing anything, she was just standing there, but she had cluelessly robbed him of all ability to speak. Her chocolate brown eyes, to say the least, pinned him where he stood.
“Meet you in the main hall in a few minutes, OK?” she said with a smile.
Kamui could do nothing but nod.
————–
If he could only stop time, he would have. But, no matter how much he willed the second hand to stop moving, and it just kept going and going and going…
Yuuji tore her eyes away from the clock. If he continued looking at it, it won’t be long before he’ll throw it out of the window. He turned over on his bed, and found himself staring at his bedside table. For a moment, he just stared at it, the second hand on his clock still mercilessly ticking away. He sat up on his bed and took a book from his drawer, and opened it to the last page where a glossy picture was inserted; one that he had secretly kept for three years.
It had been right after their entrance exams to Tokyo U, he remembered. Takumi had brought a camera, and was clicking away at the most trivial things. They were chilling out at the park when he took this photo. Yuuji had looked at it a gazillion times, but, now, he felt like he was gazing at it for the first time.
Maya was there, being the genki girl that she was. Her arms were draped over his shoulders as she had jumped at him from behind. Yuuji had turned to her in slight surprise, but he was smiling. By that time, he was a little used to Maya popping out of nowhere. Fuu was sitting beside Yuuji, a small smile on her lips, as well, as she looked on.
He had always thought that Fuu was smiling at her sister. But now, he saw that she was looking at him. So maybe he was being conceited and self-centered. Maybe she was looking at Maya. But, for the meantime, he’d like to think that her eyes were on him. He’s allowed to have some luxury for now, right?
Yuuji tore his eyes from the photograph in his hands as he glanced outside the window. He sighed, put the photo back in the book, and returned it in the drawer. He stood up from his bed, walked out of the room, and closed the door.
The last sliver of the sun disappeared from the horizon.
It’s time.
Although the hall was well-lighted, Fuu knew that it did not help at all to ease the situation. Whether or not they were to confront Youko tonight, the time they had for waiting was always nerve-racking. She glanced at the girl sitting beside her. Maya was nibbling on her right thumbnail, and was staring at the floor quite fiercely. With a sigh, she took the girl’s hand.
“Relax, Maya.”
The younger girl just frowned.
“It’s going to be OK, trust me.”
“How do you know?”
“Remember what Yuuji said? He said we don’t have to divert from a normal meeting. For all we know, this is just a normal night. So don’t be nervous, OK? Things are going to be fine.”
“And what if they don’t? What if we have to fight?”
Fuu smiled, putting a comforting arm around Maya. “Just because things don’t always go as we want them to doesn’t mean that it’s not going to work out in the end.”
After thinking about it, Maya nodded and leaned on Fuu’s shoulder. “I guess you’re right. I wish I can be as calm as you are.”
Fuu fought the urge to laugh. If only you saw me last night, Maya. She looked up, glancing at the other girls in the hall with her. Kaori was leaning on the wall, and was playing with the end of her ponytailed hair. Haruna was standing nearest to the door, eyes closed and arms crossed, as usual. Except for Maya quietly humming, no one else emitted a sound. That was why the girls heard the footsteps, even though it was still in the other hallway.
“Come on, Maya,” Fuu said, helping the redhead stand up. As Maya smoothed her skirt, Fuu was (inexplicably) suddenly nervous. She tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. The owner of the footsteps was getting nearer, and, finally, he entered the hall.
Yuuji stopped, blinking. “Wow. And here I thought I was early.”
Fuu looked up, and found him smiling at her. She quickly looked down again. Oh, stop blushing like a schoolgirl, will you?! she scolded herself as she continued staring at the floor. She failed to see Yuuji’s smile widen even more.
“So, are you ready?” Yuuji asked, walking towards the girls again.
The Roses nodded, and, as he walked past them, he examined each one. Good, he thought, They look pretty confident. He stopped when he was at the door, taking a moment to pull himself together (not that he was falling apart). He was about to turn the doorknob when a voice spoke beside him.
“Don’t die on me,” Fuu said in an almost inaudible whisper. Yuuji didn’t even let himself glance at her.
“I won’t,” he replied, as he took her hand. “I go where you go.”
Finally, the doors opened.
Haruna’s brown eyes narrowed as she scanned the room. The throne room was lit grandly, as it always was, though it was as silent as ever despite its lively appearance. Even Yuuji’s confident steps didn’t make a single sound on the red and gold carpet under their feet. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, Haruna gathered. Maybe this was going to be a normal meeting, after all. But where was Youko? As if answering Haruna’s silent question, Kaori suddenly gasped out loud as she jumped up, dodging a cloaked person that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“What the— !!!”
Acting quickly, Haruna immediately grew vines from underneath the cloaked person, effectively catching his feet and making him fall face first on the ground. With a wave of her hand, Fuu removed his cloak to reveal…
“A minor?!” Maya exclaimed.
Before anybody else could react, more cloaked people appeared all around them.
“ROSES!”
Taking Yuuji’s cue, the girls got into action. Each Rose faced off with two or three cloaked ones at a time. They used their bare hands as well as their Elements, but carefully reserving strength to fight their real enemy. Maya gritted her teeth as she kicked with an icicled-covered foot. The cloaked one staggered backwards, but then charged at her again just as she turned her attention to another opponent. Seeing this at the corner of her eye, Maya shot icicles at both of them, buying herself time to address Yuuji.
“YUUJI-KUN!” she yelled. “They’re not normal minors!”
“I know!” Yuuji yelled back, punching a cloaked one solidly on the jaw. “HARUNA!”
She didn’t have to be called twice. A second after Yuuji’s ‘command’, vines shot out from the earth again, catching the cloaked people’s feet.
“ROSES!” Fuu yelled, this time. The Roses all jumped from their position. Not wasting a moment, Yuuji took aim and shot a huge flame wave at the floor. Red flames engulfed the Roses’ opponents, except for those who were already airborne, or fast enough to avoid Haruna’s vines. Fuu quickly went to Yuuji, shielding him from minors’ attacks while he quenched the fire again.
But after the smoke cleared, it didn’t look like much had changed. If you didn’t look at the charred pieces of cloth scattered on the floor or the black soot on the walls, and just focus on the simultaneous fights in the grand room, you’d think that Yuuji had yet to burn a minor.
Damn Youko and his infinite minors, Kaori thought in disgust. If he wasn’t such a coward and just show up—
Her jaw clenched when someone grabbed her from behind. Taking hold of the arm that was almost strangling her, Kaori released high voltage electricity with a yell, also electrocuting the minors within a few meters from her. Needless to say, more cloaked ones charged at her. Letting herself have one strangled breath, Kaori continued to fight. Throwing three punches in a second and a roundhouse kick in the next, she chose to ignore the exhaustion that was starting to creep up to her muscles. But, just as the one she was fighting disappeared to leave the cloak to fall on the ground, Kaori suddenly felt a shiver run up her spine. She whirled around to face yet another cloaked one, who is, oddly, just standing there. Taking advantage of the pause, Kaori assumed a more stable fighting stance and waited.
She kept her eyes on the cloaked one before her, but out of the corner of her eye, Kaori saw some of her teammates fighting. She wished this minor would go on and attack her already so she could help the other Roses. Finally deciding that she shouldn’t waste any more time, Kaori lunged at the cloaked one with swift alternating kicks and punches, but her opponent only dodged her.
What’s with this stupid minor?! Kaori thought as she continued her barrage of attacks. Still, the cloaked one did nothing offensive. Her eyes narrowing, Kaori suddenly stopped moving forward, and jumped up, instead. She extended her left arm to materialize a bow as her right hand drew a lightning arrow. But just as she took aim, her forest green eyes widened when she didn’t find her opponent where he was supposed to be.
“It took you long enough to finally use your arrow, Kaori-san.”
Before the shivers even reached the middle of her spine, she was already hurtling towards the ground. Her reflexes helped Kaori tumble-roll across the floor instead of falling flat on her face. Not taking even a moment to celebrate, Kaori whipped out a lightning sword, readying herself for anything thrown at her. And what was thrown at her was a blazing white ball of energy. She whipped out another sword, crossing it with the first one, just in time to block the attack, but it was not deflected as Kaori had thought it would be. Blazing white clashed with blazing white, and Kaori felt her feet slowly being dragged backwards as she desperately tried to keep her footing. Even being the Rose of Lightning, she wasn’t able to absorb the offending sphere. That meant that it wasn’t electricity.
So what the hell is it?!
Gritting her teeth, Kaori knew she couldn’t play equilibrium forever. So she jumped up, still holding her lightning swords as they were, and used the ball of energy as a fulcrum. (She didn’t bother to look where the sphere went, but she hoped it didn’t go near the other Roses.) Her feet touched the floor for only a second. She suddenly felt herself lifted from the ground as her stomach was punched hard, making her choke in pain. But what happened next totally glossed over the throbbing pain caused by the punch; Kaori found herself staring wide-eyed at the floor as she clutched the black cloak of the self-same man she was fighting. Suddenly, her breath came in rough, labored gasps as she felt her energy leaving her in a frighteningly rapid pace.
“That, my dear, valiant Kaori, is the Void,” he whispered in her ear as he put his cloak around her, covering her from the other Roses’ view with his cloak. “It’s the attack that only a Kurobara can make. It’s the only attack that can actually kill an Elemental… And guess what I’m pushing at your abdomen right now…”
Kaori closed her eyes painfully. She thought that nothing compared to what she was feeling right now. Not only did she feel her Seed being taken away… She felt her life being lifted from her, leaving her paralyzed and feeling more and more drained by the second. It was such a horrible mix of physical, mental and emotional emptiness that she wanted him to either stop it, or hurry up so she could die already.
But Kaori knew that Youko was not about to suddenly pity her and stop what he was doing. Kaori knew what was going to happen in the next few seconds if she didn’t do anything. So, do something, she did.
A tear fell.
————–
“IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!“
“SARA!”
Kamui caught his sister, concern and panic clearly taking over his features.
“Sara! SARA!” he exclaimed, shaking her so that she would look up at him. She wouldn’t. Instead, she kept her head bowed as her hands remained clamped over her ears, her fingers almost pulling at her hair.
“Make it stop… Please make it stop…” she whimpered so tightly through clenched teeth that Kamui barely heard her.
“Make what stop, Sara?” Kamui threw a quick, worried glance at Ran. “C’mon, sis, talk to me…”
“She’s screaming…”
“Who? Who’s screaming, Sara?”
She only gave another whimper, and suddenly, Kamui didn’t know what to do. He was torn between the want to comfort his sister and the urgency of the situation that was doubled over by Sara’s outburst.
“Sara, listen to me,” came Ran’s calm, authoritative voice beside him. “What you’re seeing right now — whatever you’re hearing right now — trust me, it’s going to get worse.”
“Ran-sama!” Kamui exclaimed disbelievingly. What the hell was Ran doing?!
But the Sensei just ignored him.
“The battle has just begun, Sara. Whoever’s screaming… she’s not going to be the only one. There will be more, and you have to be able to handle it. You have to bear it, do you understand me? Can you do that?”
Kamui looked at his sister, only then realizing that she wasn’t as tense as she was. She was actually looking at Ran, and she seemed to be taking in his explanation, as well.
“The sooner we get there, the sooner this is going to stop. Do you understand me?” Sara bit her lip as she nodded quietly. “But I have to know: can you handle this? Because if you can’t, I’m going to have to send you back.”
“I can handle it,” she said, her eyes now more focused.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Ran glanced at Kamui before going to the head of the group again. “Let’s go.”
And with that, the Stars continued their flight through the night sky. Ran was leading them, Kaji following close behind. The other two girls were flying with them, while Kamui flew with Sara in his arms for the meantime.
“Oniichan…” came her voice amidst the rushing sound of the wind in Kamui’s ears.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it, sis.”
Sara nodded as she closed her eyes. “Oniichan… The girl I heard… It was Kaori…”
Kamui blinked, but he kept looking forward. “Kaori?”
“Oniichan… Kaori’s dead.”
————–
Maya felt frozen as she just stared at Kaori’s lifeless form on the ground. At the opposite end of the room where Kaori had thrown him, Youko picked himself up from the floor. Electricity still crackled around him, the cracked pieces of the wall falling from his shoulders as he stood up. Knowing that the Roses were now aware of his presence, Youko chuckled even as he winced.
“Well… That was a really clever use of her last remaining energy. What a way to go, Kaori… I must say you taught her well, Yuuji.”
“Bastard.”
Maya was never one to act at once. Most usually, she waits for Fuu’s approval, or Yuuji’s signal. But even so, one could say that the Winter Rose was the most impulsive of the Roses. That’s why, taking one look at Maya’s face, Fuu knew exactly what the girl was about to do.
“No, Maya, DON’T!”
It was too late. Maya had charged at Youko, ice sword in hand, her eyes burning with a fury that can only be fuelled by the drive to protect her friends. Suddenly, everything was happening too fast. The instant Maya yelled “DIE!!!”, Yuuji, Fuu and Haruna were all taken by surprise as hundreds of icicles appeared all across the room, and shot towards Youko. There were so many of them, and they moved so fast that the three Roses had to make an effort to dodge the icicles. It looked like, in Maya’s anger, she actually forgot that there were other people in the room besides Youko.
The icicles never touched Youko. Once they were within arm’s reach, each sliver of ice suddenly turned into water, making Maya’s attack futile. But then, there was still Maya herself, who had not stopped moving towards Youko, apparently waiting to get into the perfect position to stab him. Youko smiled. The little girl was so predictable sometimes, he thought. He slightly changed his footing to see her crouching on the ground for momentum.
Good-bye, little girl.
The grin remaining on his lips, Youko swiped his hand to collect her ki…
What–?
Instead of feeling Maya’s ki between his fingers, Youko just grabbed air. Pulled by the unseen force called instinct, he quickly jerked his head sideways, but not quick enough to entirely dodge Maya’s sword from behind him. The cold, sharp ice sliced the side of his neck, drawing blood, as he turned around. This time, it was Maya’s time to be attacked from behind. She didn’t have time to move. Maya almost choked when Youko grabbed her collar behind her neck, and, before she could think of anything else, she was already flung across the room.
Just as Maya’s shirt separated from Youko’s fingertips, vines shot up from the floor he was stepping on, shackling his wrists and ankles. Not wasting a second to be surprised, he uprooted the vines holding his wrists and weilded them as his weapons against the girl who summoned them in the first place.
“Haven’t you already figured out,” Youko said as the vines whipped around Haruna became tighter, “that you cannot win against me?!” He pulled the vines again, making Haruna spin like a top.
Finally, the vines consticting her disappeared. Haruna clutched her head, willing her brain to stop spinning, as she tried to hold her footing. She heard Fuu yell “Haruna, look out!!!” before she felt a sharp, piercing, numbing sensation on her stomach. Her vision still blurred, Haruna saw green. Lots and lots of green, around her, and a white stripe in the middle of it all. The white stripe is, of course, Youko. And the green… The green stuff around her were vines. Her vines. And they were piercing her stomach.
————–
Yuki had never been inside the Deathrose palace. And, now that she was flying through its halls, she constantly had a weird feeling creeping along her skin. She can’t explain it, but, even though there were numerous candles along the walls and ceiling, the halls were dark; despite the darkness, the palace still seemed to speak of life, but at the same time, death. But the most unnerving thing of all is that, in spite of the cool air and the cold walls, there was a warm, homey feeling… familiar, even.
Yuki knew that the Deathrose palace, like Blue Star’s, had its own ki because of the ki-sensitive locks. Now, she can sense its ki, which is almost the same as the Roses’. That was expected. But there was a small tinge of…something in the ki that reminded her of something. Rather, someone.
Someone like the girl flying beside her.
As Kaji, Yuki had noticed a change in Aiko’s ki. But, unlike her maroon-haired friend who made up a theory that ‘the girl’ with them was actually a Rose, Yuki ignored the slight change. She had been sure that it was nothing. It wouldn’t be the first time that Aiko’s ki had had a slight change. But now, she wasn’t sure anymore.
Cut it out, Yuki thought, shaking her head. Now isn’t the right time to start doubting your teammates!
With that out of the way, Yuki’s focus went back to their current location. Squinting, she saw that they were approaching an intersection of halls. Earlier that evening, Ran had instructed the Stars to keep going; he said they didn’t have to stop to check if the coast was clear. Yuki kept flying, as well, but she looked to her left and right out of habit. And there, at the end of the other hall, she saw a pair of minors. She frowned as she came to a halt. The minors had obviously seen her, since they had assumed battle stance, but they weren’t attacking.
“Yuki, c’mon!” Yuki heard Aiko’s voice call.
“There are minors at the end of the hall,” she stated blankly, “and they’re just looking at me.”
“Yuki, let’s go,” came Ran’s voice this time, but Yuki didn’t budge.
“Sensei, the minors are just standing there.”
For a second, Ran looked like he was getting impatient with Yuki. But then, his frown faded, and his eyebrows knit together as he glanced at the minors.
“For a minor, there isn’t supposed to be anything more important than Collecting or taking a Star down,” Yuki said.
“But, they’re just standing there,” Ran said, echoing her. “They have be guarding something.” He and Yuki looked at each other in silent agreement. Then, Ran turned to Mai. “Go with Yuki, and see if she’s right. Don’t take too long: if you see nothing, don’t go digging. Understand?”
“Hai.”
“Everyone else continues with me,” Ran added.
“Be careful,” Kaji told Mai before turning around to follow the rest of the Stars.
Mai turned her attention to the end of the hall; their black opponents still haven’t moved from their spot. Yuki was right; they must be guarding something, but what? She rummaged through her brain, but she couldn’t remember what that door was for. It must be one of those doors she had taken for granted. “This is so weird,” Mai said unconsciously.
“I know,” Yuki agreed, taking a step towards the minors. “They’re not even using shuriken.”
“I can’t imagine what they would be guarding in there, though.”
“I can.”
Before Mai could open her mouth to ask Yuki what she meant, the Ice Maiden lunged at their opponents. The thought that instantly popped in Mai’s mind was that Yuki was, indeed, a graceful woman; as an ice skater and as a Star. This was the first time she watched the girl in action, and, if she ignored the icicles that seemed to endlessly shoot out from Yuki’s hand, Mai would have been completely convinced that Yuki was dancing. Yuki didn’t seem stop even for a second, and her feet didn’t seem to touch the ground, as she turned and twirled and spun, her long, ponytailed hair twirling behind her, accentuating her fluid movement. She didn’t emit even a single grunt or shout. She didn’t look like she had a hard time, even though she was fighting a dozen minors that suddenly appeared when she started attacking.
Mai’s train of thought came to an abrupt halt. Mentally slapping her forehead (What on earth are you doing, just standing there, Mai?!), the raven-haired girl went to get a piece of the action. But she had not taken even three steps when, finally, Yuki released a battlecry as an ice wave erupted from the floor.
The raven-haired girl blinked as the minors disappeared in defeat. Except for the lock of hair had escaped from her braid, Yuki looked like she was fresh out of the shower.
“All right,” she said, turning to Mai, “Shall we?”
“Uh…right.”
Mai took hold of the handle, while Yuki prepared her sword in case there were more minors behind the door. The two nodded, and the door finally opened to reveal another hall. This, though, wasn’t lighted.
“Perfect,” Yuki scoffed as she stepped in. Mai followed her, taking note of the damp air that enveloped her.
“This looks like the dungeon…” Mai said.
“Seems so,” Yuki answered as she touched an iron door beside her. “It makes much more sense, then.”
Mai’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mea—”
“HIKARU!”
Mai nearly tripped. “Wha—?” Blinking, she watched Yuki move from one cell to another.
“Hikaru, are you in here?” Yuki called, as if Mai hadn’t spoken at all. “HIKARU!”
The blue-haired girl continued calling for the eldest Kazetenshi, but no one answered. They reached the end of the hall, but no Hikaru was found. Yuki’s hands unconsciously clenched. That can’t be right. It’s impossible that that place was empty. Hikaru had to be there. If not him, then somebody else that they had to set free; otherwise those minors wouldn’t have stood out there like that.
“Maybe we missed him,” she said. “Maybe we just didn’t see him. It IS dark. Maybe we should try again—”
“Maybe he’s in the lower level.”
Yuki turned to the girl beside her. “There’s a lower level?” she asked.
She didn’t get an answer. Instead, the raven-haired girl put her hand on the wall in front of them. Yuki almost jumped when a loud, clicking sound echoed in the empty hall, and she could only watch as the wall (which, she realized, wasn’t a wall) opened the way to a staircase faintly lighted by torches on the walls.
“Let’s go!”
Yuki could do nothing but follow her. Yuki didn’t know how deep into the ground this lower level was, but after a few minutes of running down the stairs, it seemed apparent that this level was…well…low. They knew they finally reached their destination when another hall came into view. Not wasting time, each girl took her own side of the hall to look into. For a few moments, calls of “Oniichan!”s and “Hikaru!”s alternated in the air. Until…
“AIKO!”
Mai turned around sharply, quickly jogging to where Yuki was. “Is he there?” Inside the room, there was someone lying on the floor in a motionless heap.
“Dammit!” Yuki muttered. “The lock seems to be ki-sensitive…”
“Yuki…” Mai said worriedly. “Is that him? I can’t feel a ki…”
“I can’t, either, but I guess there’s only one way to find out,” Yuki answered with determination. “But we can’t open this stupid lock…”
Without a word, Mai pushed Yuki’s hand away, putting her own hand on the lock. To Yuki’s surprise, the door opened for them with a loud click.
“Aiko, how’d you—”
“Oniichan?” Mai called tentatively. She stepped forward, but Yuki stopped her.
“Wait.”
In her hand, Yuki materialized an ice sword long enough to reach the person on the ground and turn him over. Finally, the girls saw his face.
“ONIICHAN!”
Mai immediately went to her brother, tapping his cheek lightly. “Oniichan! Oniichan!”
“Is he OK?”
“I can’t feel his ki…”
The Ice Maiden put her hand lightly on his neck, her fingers searching for a pulse.
“There’s a pulse,” she breathed in relief. She then put her fingers to Hikaru’s slightly parted lips. “He’s still breathing, too.” As if on cue, Hikaru stirred with a groan, but he still didn’t wake up. “That’ll have to do for now. Aiko, use wind and carry him upstairs. We’ll try to wake him there. We can’t afford getting locked down here, too.”
Mai nodded. Yuki walked in front of the siblings, her ice sword still drawn cautiously, watching out for more minors. But, fortunately there were none.
“Well, it seems like they didn’t think we’d find him…” Mai thought out loud once they were back at the palace.
“This is the wrong hall,” Yuki said, looking around. “This isn’t the one we entered the dungeons from.”
“It’s fine,” Mai said, setting the still unconscious Hikaru on the floor. “Oniichan,” she tried again.
“Let me try,” Yuki said. She knelt down beside Mai and held out her two hands. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a while. Mai blinked. Maybe she was imagining things, but Yuki’s hands now seemed to have a white haze around them. Yuki opened her eyes as she put her hands on Hikaru’s cheeks. Suddenly, Hikaru’s eyes snapped wide open as a sharp gasp escaped his throat.
Yuki promptly removed her hands from his cheeks. “Put your hands on him!”
“What?”
“Just do it!”
Mai obeyed. But as soon as she touched Hikaru, she pulled them back again. He was ice cold! Then, she understood: Yuki had shocked Hikaru awake with her iced hands. Now that she knew why she had to do as she was told, Mai put her hands on Hikaru’s cheeks again. After a few seconds, his breathing normalized and his dark brown eyes focused.
“Aiko?” he asked in a broken voice. “Yuki?”
“Yeah, Oniichan…” Mai said, smiling, “We’re here.”
Hikaru blinked, smiling weakly. “Man. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes…”
“Are you OK?” Yuki asked.
“I am now,” Hikaru said, getting up. But then, he winced. “Then again, maybe not…”
“Can you walk?” Yuki asked as she and Mai helped him sit up.
“I think so… Where are we? Are you guys alone?”
“We’re in the Deathrose palace. Ran-sama and the others went ahead to look for Youko.”
Hikaru nodded. “Well, in that case, we have to hurry.”
————–
Even with the knowledge that it was Youko who gave them their Elements, Fuu still couldn’t believe that he could block Yuuji’s sword, as well as her wind attacks, with his bare hands. She hated it that Youko was so strong, that he moved so fast, and that he fought as if he knew every move they were going to make. Yuuji, Maya and Fuu were fighting him at the same time, but they still weren’t able to put even one scratch on him.
Fuu growled as she jumped away from Youko, whose foot almost flattened her face. Maya promptly came in with her sword for the rebound. Sparing a split-second as she landed on the ground, Fuu glanced at Haruna, who was sprawled on the floor less than a hundred feet away from them. Fuu was thankful that Yuuji had distracted Youko before he could totally kill Haruna, but she wasn’t sure how long the Autumn Rose had left. They had better finish this quickly, or else Haruna could bleed to death.
“Moron!” Yuuji yelled out of frustration as he unleashed a fire wave at Youko.
The silver-haired just man laughed. “Is that supposed to weaken my defense in any way, Yuuji?”
“I say ‘YES’!”
Before Youko could make a smart comeback, vines shot up from beneath his feet, and, again, caught his ankles. Haruna?! Yuuji thought as his eyes flew to the blonde girl now kneeling on the floor.
“FUU-CHAN!!!”
Yuuji sharply turned to Fuu, and found her running towards Youko, upon whose shoulders Maya had her arms wrapped around from behind. Several meters away from Youko, Fuu suddenly stopped, and, with a yell, she slammed her fist on the floor. In the next second, the most powerful wind wave Yuuji had ever seen erupted from the ground, barelling towards Youko at top speed. The ground shook, and Yuuji saw Maya jump away from Youko just before the wind wave hit him. The wind wave crashed into the wall, making the ground shake even more. Pieces of the rock from the ceiling started falling, and Yuuji ran towards Fuu, who was trying to help Haruna stand up.
“What did Maya—”
“She froze him using the water in his body,” Fuu said, answering Yuuji’s unfinished question. “That’s why he didn’t move when I attacked him. C’mon, Haruna.”
“You’ve got to get out of here,” the blonde choked out.
“That’s exactly what we had in mind!” Fuu said as Yuuji pulled Haruna’s arm over his shoulders.
“But—”
Haruna’s sentence was cut short when a shrill scream echoed in the hall. Fuu, Haruna and Yuuji all turned in time to see Maya land roughly on the floor. Standing a few meters away from her, with a dangerously glowing white sphere in hand, was the man seemed impossible to defeat.
“Youko?!” Yuuji breathed, incredulous. He hadn’t expected for Fuu’s attack to kill the man, but he had thought that it should have at least bought them time!
“Yes, Yuuji,” Youko answered, his eyes, for the first time that night, unsmiling. “And your girlfriend has just made me very angry.”
In the next moment, Youko disappeared just as Yuuji felt Haruna forcefully push him away. Knowing why she did so, Yuuji didn’t glance at her as he ran to distance himself and Fuu from that attack Youko had been using to kill the Roses. His Roses.
I’m sorry, Haruna.
He heard Haruna’s body hit the ground with a sickening thud.
“Fuu!” Yuuji yelled, “Fuu, snap out of it!!!”
The Gale Rose looked blankly at Yuuji’s alarmed purple eyes. She heard his voice clearly in her ears, she could feel his hands urgently shaking her shoulders, but she just couldn’t move. Maya was dead. Whatever happened to her promise to protect her? Wasn’t it Fuu herself who assured Maya that everything was going to work out fine? Didn’t Fuu herself tell Maya to trust her?
Fuu remembered the first time she ever laid eyes on Youko. He had looked and acted like a good man, but, somehow, Fuu knew there was something not quite right about him. But still, she considered his proposal of having a chance to live again.
“And will my sister be able to live again, as well?” she had asked him.
“Your sister? Well… I admit that she has potential, as well, but I am not too sure if—”
“This is how it’s going to be: either my sister comes with me, or I go with her.” Fuu stated, not caring if the man she was talking to looked like one of authority. “Sorry, but the Hiroguchi sisters come as one package. You can’t have one without the other.”
Youko smiled. “That’s what I like about you, Fuu-san. Straighforward with spunk.”
“I don’t care what you like about me.”
“Aren’t you at least scared of me?”
“Scared?” Fuu laughed. “Sir, maybe you haven’t noticed, but I am dead. I don’t exactly have anything to lose.”
“You have your sister to lose.”
“Yes, that’s precisely my point.”
This time, it was Youko who laughed. “Very good, Fuu-san. Very good. You love your sister very much, don’t you?”
Fuu took a moment before answering. “I already lost the man I love. I’m not going to lose Maya, too.”
And, yet, Maya was dead.
Fuu felt herself hit the floor. She looked up, and saw Yuuji desperately fighting Youko. Watching them, it was so obvious that Yuuji had been a Rose since he was small. He unleashed intense flame waves one after another, and he didn’t seem to get tired. Fuu was reasonably far from them, but she could feel the heat of Yuuji’s flames on her skin. Suddenly, Fuu was surprised that the palace still hasn’t collapsed. It was only then that Fuu realized the ground already stopped shaking. Whether or not Haruna had had enough energy to strengthen the palace’s foundation before she died, Fuu wasn’t sure.
Yuuji dodged another one of Youko’s blazing white attacks, and Fuu couldn’t help but smile. Yuuji was truly amazing, no doubt about that. Yuuji was clever but humble, disciplined without being stiff, authoritative without acting all high and mighty. He was a man who treated you as if you were the most important person in the world. He was Yuuji. Her Yuuji. The one she thought she lost.
Still in her position on the floor, Fuu’s jaw dropped as realization struck.
“I already lost the man I love. I’m not going to lose Maya, too.”
But she didn’t lose Yuuji, now, did she?
Yuuji winced as Youko’s knuckles landed squarely on his jaw. He jumped away from Youko, trying to ignore the sting of the punch. Once his vision steadied, he jumped backwards again, dodging yet another punch. Yuuji’s muscles tensed as his feet skidded on the floor, stopping just a second before a huge flame blast burst from his palms. But, amidst the red flames enveloping him, Youko suddenly emerged, flying straight at Yuuji. Yuuji’s fists clenched, preparing to burn Youko’s hands (never mind that there was another deadly white sphere in it) when, for the second time in less than thirty minutes, someone pushed Yuuji out of harm’s way.
NO!!! screamed Yuuji’s mind as he stumbled. He caught himself right before his face hit the floor, and, when he turned around, Fuu was already down on the ground.
Yuuji couldn’t construct a straight thought. It wasn’t that his brain had suddenly stopped; intead, a gazillion questions, memories, exclamations, and regrets zoomed through his mind.
Dammit, Fuu.
Her clothes were crumpled and torn at several places, her face was flushed, and her brown hair was slightly dishevelled, but Yuuji thought she was irresistably attractive. It was always after a battle that he found her most beautiful. And now, with her eyes closed, and her lips (oddly) curved in a smile, Fuu looked like she was just asleep.
“Tsk. Tragic, it is, when a woman sacrifices her life for a man,” Youko said. “More tragic, it is, when the man would’ve been better off dead.”
Yuuji’s purple eyes finally turned to Youko. He felt them burn, and he was sure it wasn’t because of the fire ball now blazing in his hand.
“It’s pointless to use your Element on me, Yuuji. I gave that to you, therefore I can control it.”
Yuuji looked at Youko from head to foot. True, the silver-haired man didn’t look like he had already fought five Elementals, but it was undeniable that he didn’t look as clean as he was when he first appeared in the room. There was already a thin film of sweat on his skin, he looked agitated, and Yuuji knew for sure that he was finally exerting effort as they fought. Although they had been killed, each Rose didn’t forget to leave Youko with a parting gift. Yuuji smiled.
“I don’t care.”
It was time for Yuuji to give his parting gift.
Yuuji and Youko attacked at the same time. But, right before they clashed, there was a movement at the huge doors. To Yuuji’s split-second surprise, Youko turned to look who it was. Taking the advantage, Yuuji grabbed Youko’s collar and thrust his fire sword into the man’s stomach. Before Yuuji even thought of jumping away, though, he felt a fierce uppercut on his own stomach, but not before he was rewarded with Youko’s frustrated yell of pain. The punch, though was followed by a sharp, searing feeling, and, Yuuji, after seeing it happen four times that day already, knew what caused it.
As Yuuji felt his energy slip away, he glanced at the door, and, seeing who arrived to provide the distraction, he smiled. It was too bad that he couldn’t bid his Princess farewell, but at least he knew she was all right.
And now, he could finally have peace with Fuu.
“I go where you go…”
To Kamui, everything was in slow motion. When he saw a silver-haired man (whom he was sure to be a Rose) strike Yuuji, and he felt strangely… strange. The feeling of watching an enemy die in someone else’s hand was a definitely inexplicable, especially so because Kamui didn’t exactly want anyone to die. Perhaps it was an idiotic idea, thinking that this war was going to be resolved without casualties. But still…
“YUUJI-KUN!!!”
Kamui turned sharply, his train of thought violently thrown off-track. He watched dumbly as Aiko ran to Yuuji, catching him just before he hit the ground.
A…Ai-chan?
It didn’t make sense to him at all. Why on earth was Aiko holding Yuuji like that?!
“Yuuji-kun! Yuuji-kun!” Mai cried over and over. But Yuuji remained limp in her arms. “Yuuji-kun…” Mai’s vision blurred, and she felt tears sliding down her cheeks. She bit her lip, burying her head on Yuuji’s shoulder. “This isn’t supposed to be this way…” she sobbed as she held him tightly.
No, it wasn’t supposed to be this way. Yuuji was supposed to be freed. All the Roses were supposed to be freed. Yuuji was supposed to finally tell Fuu that he loved her, and they were to go away and get married. Maya was supposed to make a name for herself and be famous for her energy, most likely as a celebrity. Haruna was supposed to find the place where she was to belong, and the world was to see her smile. Kaori was supposed to see her dream come true and be the greatest cook in Japan.
That was how it was to be.
Mai opened her eyes, and looked around. She saw the formerly grand throne room. She saw the Roses on the ground. Everything just looked so dead. Then, she saw silver eyes gazing down at her. Suddenly, she had an idea how Ran must have felt after the War. Suddenly, she wanted a silver-haired moron to die a painful death.
As Kamui, Kaji was having a hard time taking in the scene before him. For some unbelievable reason, Aiko was crying over Yuuji. And, for the same unbelievable reason, she was looking at the silver-haired man like she wanted to bury him alive. He watched in wonder as she set Yuuji down on the ground carefully.
“KYAAAAAAA!!!!!”
Kaji’s eyes widened as his heart seemed to stop. As Aiko shouted her battle cry and attacked the silver-haired man, her ki flared drastically, and for a split-second, Kaji was suddenly sure that she was not his Aiko. But before she could reach the man calmly standing in the middle of the huge room, a cloaked one suddenly appeared, blocked her attack, and sent her flying across the room, all in one second.
“AIKO!” Kamui yelled.
His instincts kicking in, Kaji came to her rescue. Gritting his teeth, Kaji pushed his muscles to their limit as he ran towards her. At the perfect moment, he jumped, and, for a second, he felt like he was in the field, using his body to keep the soccer ball from going into the goal. Kaji winced in mid-air as the black-haired girl hit him; only then did he realize how hard this crash was going to be. Sure enough, his breath almost stopped as his back hit the ground painfully. He could only close his eyes and hold on to the girl tightly as they slid roughly on the floor. When they stopped moving, Kaji opened his eyes and immediately inspected the girl in his arms.
“Are you OK?”
“Are you?”
“Youko!” came Ran’s voice, catching everyone’s attention. Seeing that Ran was addressing the silver-haired man already moving to leave, Kaji felt his blood boil again. So that was Youko.
“I’d like to stay to watch the drama unfold,” Youko said with a smirk, “but I think I’ll be going on ahead.” With that said, the silver-haired man flew off.
“Take charge, Kaji.”
Before his command even registered in Kaji’s brain, Ran kicked the ground and flew after Youko. And, Kaji being Kaji, he didn’t waste a second and jumped after him.
“But, Ran-sama—”
Kaji’s sentence was cut when he felt his stomach literally get kicked up his throat. Black cloth whipped in front of his eyes, and Kaji leapt backwards just in time to save his face from being flattened. The cloaked one assumed battle stance just as Kaji felt Kamui, Yuki and Aiko take their places beside him. Kaji smirked. If this cloaked minor defeats all the four of them, he’d really be impressed.
“North South East West.”
The Elements came alive simultaneously. Icicles, crossed winds, flame spheres and a huge piece of the floor went at the cloaked one from all four directions as the four Stars leapt for the minor, weilding their short-range weapons. At first the cloaked one didn’t move, but when it did, the Stars found out what really was behind the mask. The cloaked one flung his arms, and, from under the black cloth came hands. Hands that were undoubtedly not that of a minor.
At the cloaked one’s unspoken command, the wind spheres dissipated. The icicles and the flame spheres, on the other hand, suddenly curved and went for Kamui and Aiko, forcing their momentum to decrease as they avoided the attack. Kaji and Yuki went ahead, and they were both surprised (but undaunted) when electricity flashed from the cloaked one’s hand.
Two lightning swords clashed with fire and ice. And, Yuki couldn’t help but wonder where this Rose came from. He was undoubtedly amazing with swordfighting, and he seemed to be a master of two Elements already. Then how come she didn’t know about him? Did Ran already know about him? Then, suddenly, out of the many questions in her mind, one suddenly screamed: Whatever happened to that huge boulder that Kamui threw?!
As if answering her question, Aiko’s voice echoed in the hall.
“RRRGH!!!”
The boulder floor crashed on the floor, and Mai couldn’t help but lean her hands on her knees. Although the wind was at her aid, she still felt the weight of that huge piece of rock when she threw it away. She looked up just in time to see wind daggers accelerating towards her. They missed her by a hairsbreadth, but then her eyes widened when she saw who was behind her.
Sara used her body to shield Hikaru from the wind daggers.
“SARA!”
Vines brust from the ground, effectively blocking the wind daggers before they hit Sara, and at the same time, vines shot up from the earth right under the cloaked one. He dodged the vines just as Kamui swiftly shot sharp bamboo at him. The cloaked one barely avoided one shoot, and it whizzed by his ear as his feet skidded roughly on the ground, eventually coming to a stop in his crouched position. The hood gave away, letting midnight blue hair flow freely.
A girl?! Kamui wondered randomly. Are all the Roses aside from Yuuji girls?
“If my sister gets hurt in any way, Rose…” he said threateningly. But the girl only laughed. An amused, menacing laugh that echoed in the large hall. An amused, menacing laugh that oddly sounded vaguely familiar.
Kaji’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. That voice… Though the tone was far different from what he was used to, he knew that voice… But it can’t be her! It was impossible! It can’t be her because she was standing right beside him… wasn’t she?
The laughing finally stopped, and Kamui tensed even more, readying himself for anything.
“Or what, Kamui?” came that voice again as the crouching girl looked up.
Kamui felt like his jaw had hit the ground with a loud thud as mockingly smiling grey eyes met disbelivingly wide blue.
“…You’ll hurt your best friend?”
As it had a hundred times the past few days, Mai felt all her blood drain from her face.
“A–… AIKO…?!”
————–
Next on Blue Star
With their own Wind Angel as their opponent, Hikaru unable to fight, and Ran fighting alone against an enormously powerful Youko, will the Stars make it out alive? Or will Youko finally have his revenge? What do you do when the one you love turns against you?
“Now is NOT the time for explanations!”
Episode 26: Blue Star
————–
From the Author
Ack! Don’t kill me. -hides under the table-
See Kamui get jealous of Yuuji! Harhar. So… you guys know what Sara’s dream was, now, right?
At 58 Kb and 25 pages, this is the longest episode ever. I don’t know if the next one will be even longer. Maybe.
If anyone hates me for what I did to the Roses, tell me. For once, I’m going to happily accept flames. But let me tell you something right now: no matter what you tell me, I will NOT change anything that happened in this episode. I may edit the way I wrote it, but the events are final. This is the way it’s gonna happen, people. Sorry. I hope you stay put till the last episode.
Review topics
- Unnecessary scenes: seeing that this is the longest episode of the series, I was wondering which scenes or long descriptions or whatever are included that, if it were up to you, aren’t needed. As a writer, I really need to know if there are any.
- The battle scenes. Oh my goodness, I haven’t written this many of battle scenes in…well…forever! Gosh. So many fight scenes in one episode… I hope I pulled it off.
- Everybody’s reactions: shock, disbelief, blind rage… Tell me if they were realistic or overdone.
- PREDICT! I welcome predictions with open arms. 
