The spirit was almost about to touch Kaori but she felt a force on her side which had pushed her away from the spirit's touch.
Kaori rolled on the ground far away and then she felt another wight fall on top of her right after.
"Ow! Who-?!" She stopped when she saw a kid, who looked like he was a year younger than her, to be on top of her.
"Who are you?" Kaori blurted but the child didn't reply.
He snatched her hand tightly and started running away from the place while the spirit was too dumb that it didn't feel the need to run after its prey.
**********************************************
When the boy was leading Kaori through the exit of the school, she yelled out desperately, "Wait! I have to go back!"
"If you go back then you're asking for death!" The boy yelled back, "We have to evacuate this school!"
"No! I have to save everyone in there!" Kaori started struggling to get her hand free from the boy's tight grasp.
The boy looked back at her and said impatiently, "If you're talking about everyone inside the school building then feel free to know that I already helped them escape. There's no one in this place. I was going to leave after getting everyone else out but I saw you, so I'm trying to help you now. However, it looks like you don't really want my help."
"You helped them escape?" Kaori said in surprise, the only thing that had entered her ears.
The boy rolled his eyes, "Yes, do I have to repeat myself?"
"Now, come on!" He grabbed Kaori's wrist again and started running.
𝘚𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?
**********************************************
The boy took Kaori to a dark alley when they ran straight out of the school. And then, they hid behind the walls.
He peeped around to check if that spirit had followed them. But that didn't happen. They were safe for now.
As soon as the boy turned around to look at Kaori, she demanded strongly, "Who are you? Which group are you from? Why are you here?"
"Group? What group?" The boy asked back in confusion.
Kaori shrugged, "Aren't you one of the clan's students? Why else would you be able to see the corrupted spirits?"
"So they're called corrupted spirits, huh?" The boy said thoughtfully.
Seeing the boy act like that, Kaori was left in shock, "Y-you are a normal human being?"
The boy tilted his head in confusion yet again, "I don't know what you mean by being a normal human being, but the school we escaped from just now, I used to go to that school. Though it got all... That."
Kaori's eyes were still wide when she asked him quietly, "You can see the spirits, can't you? How..?"
"Why?" The boy shrugged, "Don't you see them, too?"
"It's normal for me to be able to see the corrupted spirits. But you are a normal human, how can you see them? You aren't supposed to."
"I don't know how," He emphasized the word 'how', "But I've been able to see them since I was very young."
A silence followed as Kaori had drowned in thoughts.
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦? 𝘈 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘺'𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺?
"Your name," Kaori asked slowly, "What's your name?"
"Yukine. My name is Yukine Yuuki," Said the boy.
**********************************************
While Kaori and Yukine were running away from the spirit, all the others of Kaori's team were attacked by those same things in different places.
Yamaken was now fighting from on top of a tree while Maki was killing all the spirits that came towards him with his spear.
Xeno on the other hand, looked extremely furious for some reason. He used his power at full length twice in the meantime, to clean off all the spirits that had come over to them. But as usual, they keep coming more and more.
Xeno created blades of wind and was getting ready to attack again but he was attacked from the back instead.
Yamaken was quick enough to shoot his knives from the top and kill the spirits.
He jumped down in front of Xeno with a smirk, "Watch out for spirits, wind boy."
"Xeno didn't ask for your help," He said simply.
"Heh," Yamaken scoffed, standing at Xeno's right, "It's not like I enjoy being with you either."
Maki joined the league and stood at Xeno's left, "Let's bear with each other and get out of here quickly. We need to find Kaori."
Xeno's blue eyes looked like a roaring sea again, "𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴..."
**********************************************
"So, are you one of those people who have unusual abilities?" Yukine asked out of the blue after introducing himself.
"Uh, huh?" Kaori asked, she was still in thoughts.
"What's your name?" Yukine changed his question to approach her in a different way.
Kaori replied shortly, "It's Kaori."
"Oh," Yukine smiled, "Pretty name. Are you still thinking about how I am able to see the corrupted spirits?"
Kaori got embarrassed for being too obvious, "Oh, I'm sorry. I was just very surprised."
"It's okay," Yukine laughed, "Do you have any speciality?"
Kaori said instantly, "Nope. I have a bit of fighting skills though. Aside from that I'm totally useless."
"Oh," Yukine nodded slowly, "You know, some years ago, I remember going back to home after school alone. On the way of crossing a road, I didn't really know how the signals worked back then. It was my first time trying to go back home on my own."
Kaori didn't know what he was talking about but she tried to listen attentively.
"I remember trying to cross the road on the wrong signal. But there was this person who saved me when I was about to get into an accident. He was a kind person, as far as I recall. He had accompanied me home after I had almost gotten into that accident. Even if I was a total stranger to him, he helped me and even treated me like his own son. I remember something else about him, too."
"Since I could see things that normal people couldn't, I saw something on him, too. He had this aura around him. An aura of someone important and much powerful than others. I knew at once, he had a speciality that normal people didn't."
Yukine met Kaori's eyes and smiled, "You have the same aura. But it's much powerful and important than his. And I know that you have a speciality and importance that no one else does."
Kaori was left speechless. Because that was first time she was being told this type of things.
"So don't think of yourself as useless," He said in conclusion, "There must be someone in this world who will need you. However, somehow in your case, I feel like there are more than just someone," He laughed.
"Are you a priest?" Kaori asked blankly, "You talk like them. As if you're seeing the future or something."
Yukine laughed again, "Of course I'm not. I can just see and feel stuff. Nothing else."
They had been hiding inside a big hole in the thick wall of the alley. Feeling safe, they started to talk about this or that between each other.
"So," Yukine asked, "What was this clan you were talking about?"
Kaori's jaw fell open, "𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘐 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺."
She smiled awkwardly at him before speaking the truth, "You are indeed correct about me. I am supposed to have speciality but I still haven't awaken my ability. The clan I was talking about is the Power Clan, a clan which was made for the people who have abilities."
"Oh!" Yukine said as if he remembered something, "My great grandpa had told me about it! That there had been a conflict between human and the people with abilities which drove us to part ways and live seperate lives."
"Yes," Kaori agreed - she had learned this from Kazuma recently, "I'm one of those people with abilities."
Yukine exclaimed in awe, "Wow!"
Kaori wriggled her eyebrows in the dark and smirked, "Do you want my autograph?" She joked.
"No," Yukine turned down the offer respectfully, "But I do want something.. Can I visit your clan?"
"What?" Kaori was taken aback by the request.
"I always wanted to meet the people with abilities," He said dreamily, "I want to apologize to them on behalf of normal human. And I want to create a friendly relationship, maybe? I want to be friends with you guys."
Kaori gulped, "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸?"
"Actually," Kaori said with hesitation, "I'm not exactly sure if it will be okay to bring you over.. How about we get out of this situation and then I'll ask my sensei if I can take you there?"
Yukine was glad enough that Kaori wanted to try it out, "Ok! Thanks! How about we become friends, too, Kaori?" He asked eagerly.
𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢.
"Sure," Kaori accepted, "I'd love to."
They shook each other's hand.
But this fun time didn't long much further.
!ROAR!
"Oh, that scared me!" Both Kaori and Yukine jumped in surprise, hearing the sudden scream from a spirit.
"Hung-ry. We-are-hung-ry."
Yukine and Kaori held each other's hand tightly and prayed that they wouldn't be found out as they felt the spirit near.
"Pow-er."
𝘖𝘩 𝘯𝘰.
"We-smell-pow-er."
𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦..!
Kaori shut her eyes off tight.
"Give-us. Give-us."
Frozen in horror, Kaori and Yukine snapped their head up to see countless lustful stares from countless eyes.
"Give-us-POWER!!!"
"RUN!"
**********************************************
The moment Yukine pulled Kaori out, the spirit smashed the hole in the wall with its hand.
Holding Kaori's hand tighter, Yukine ran forwards.
"Yukine-kun!" Kaori called him.
"Don't talk now! We have to save our life first!"
Though they ran faster each second, the spirit wasn't falling behind anymore. The huge corrupted spirit, in the form of a crab, was tailing them right from behind.
"Let's take that alley!" Yukine pointed.
But Kaori pulled his hand with a jerk from behind before he turned to run, "Be careful!"
The spirit had jumped the distance short like a spider and was now standing before them inside the alley.
"To the left!" Kaori took the lead and pulled Yukine by the hand.
The spirit was dumbfounded by the sudden change of route, but it started keeping up pace with them soon.
Kaori and Yukine were running hand in hand, side by side right now, holding onto their dear life.
"Yukine-kun!" Kaori tried again, "I think I might have a way to save us!"
This time, as he heard everything Kaori had to say, his interest growed, "Oh yeah? How is that?"
"With a shinki!" Kaori blurted but then she realized that Yukine might not be familiar with their terms.
"I need a weapon! A spirit!" She yelled.
"A spirit?" Yukine asked as if she had gone mad, "Like that one?" He pointed at the back in disbelief.
"No!" Kaori yelled in defense, "Not a corrupted one! A real spirit!"
"How are we going to find that now?" Yukine asked blankly as he ran.
"That... I don't know as well," Kaori shrugged.
"Then just run. For God's sake, what's with that speed of that thing!" Yukine screamed when he saw the spirit was catching up to them from a distance.
"Quick!" Kaori pulled Yukine, "This way!" They took another sharp turn and entered another dark alley to hide themselves.
"I just hope we don't get found again," Yukine began but Kaori collided with him and put her hand over his mouth, "Shush!"
*Hum hum*
Kaori's ears perked up at the sudden sound.
*Hum hum hum*
*Hum hum*
"Do you hear that?" Kaori quietly whispered to Yukine who shook his head in reply.
!THUD!
Kaori pulled Yukine further into the darkness and pushed herself on top of him.
"K-kaori.."
"Shush."
𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.
𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘶, 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪, 𝘠𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯, 𝘡𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘢, 𝘈𝘰𝘪, 𝘎𝘪𝘯, 𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘪....
𝘟𝘦𝘯𝘰....
𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱!
**********************************************
Xeno and the others finally made it to the original location they were at before getting seperated from each other.
There, they met the rest of the team again soon except Kaori.
"Kaori doesn't seem like she's here," Gin commented as soon as he saw the empty looking place. The darkness of the spirits was lighter than before, too.
Maki looked at the sorroundings, "What happened here when we were gone?"
Nobody could answer his question.
Yamaken stated his question next, "If Kaori isn't here, where do you think she might be?" He specifically looked at Haru.
"You aren't saying that she might be somewhere else instead, right?" Saki asked in worry, "Like, back in the forest, for example?"
"I feel like," Haru opened his mouth, "Kaori was here. She was here all the time, until now. She wasn't tranferred to anywhere else. We were the only ones seperated from her."
"Wait," Aoi started as his eyes widened in fear, "You aren't saying.."
"Yes," Haru said gravely, "Kaori was the main target of the spirits. Kazuma sensei told me that she was close to awakening before we came here. Maybe she has some decent, powerful ability which caught the eyes of the spirits. In short, we played right into the corrupted spirits' trap."
"Ugh! Damnit!" Maki pulled on his hair.
"Kaori is..." Zenna suddenly spoke up, "Xeno, do you feel the same?" She looked at Xeno for answer.
He nodded and looked at the others, "Kaori is outside the school right now and she is grave danger."
**********************************************
*Hum hum*
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮?! 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘠𝘶𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘦-𝘬𝘶𝘯?
It's been a while since Kaori heard the last thud from the spirit that was following her and Yukine.
She peeped from behind the wall professionally, without giving their location away and saw that it was still in the form of a crab. It had the front legs on top of a building nearby and was playing with another corrupted spirit in the shape of a butterfly.
Kaori went back to Yukine's side and sighed in relief, "It hasn't gone yet but it still hasn't found us."
"Good," Yukine whispered.
𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?
𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘩, 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮... 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘠𝘶𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘦-𝘬𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭.
Kaori smiled to herself as she thought about all those stuff.
𝘐𝘵'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯.
*Hum hum*
𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯..
But this time, Kaori realized something.
𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦..
𝘈𝘩, 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘒𝘶𝘳𝘶𝘩𝘢!
𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦? 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵?
𝘕𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴... 𝘉𝘶𝘵...
𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴.. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦!
"Yukine-kun," Kaori pulled on Yukine's shirt, "Can you hide yourself until I come back?"
"Why? Where are you going?" Yukine demanded at once.
"I think I know how I can find a spirit that I can use to save us," Kaori said firmly.
Yukine watched her eyes for a moment before asking quietly, "Shinki.. Are they spirits that you use as weapons? Do you call them when needed and they serve you? Do they usually stay in human form from when they were alive?"
Kaori was taken aback by the questions but she was more surprised by how accurately he had guessed everything.
"Yes, you're correct about all of them," Kaori replied.
A small smile appeared on his face which slowly turned sad, "I will be fine on my own... But I've been with you for quite a while so I will feel a bit lonely."
Kaori was touched by the boy's words.
"Be safe, my friend," He caressed her cheek softly and kissed her hair.
"We'll meet again soon," He looked into her eyes deeply, "Now, go."
It was hard for Kaori to break apart from him but she ran towards the way the sound of the humming was coming from.
And Yukine watched her leave from the back.
**********************************************
"The power of the wind and the earth are pretty strong," Maki made a comment.
Haru put his hand on his chin, "Can you track her down? We have to help her if she's in danger."
Xeno smiled, "I already did as much as I can from this distance. I wrapped around my wind protection barrier around her. She won't be traced by the spirits and she'll be safe now."
"I helped her companion," Said Zenna.
"Companion?" Haru caught her word.
Zenna explained the matter, "I could sense someone else with her, a boy around our age or maybe younger. So I thought he must be a survivor who's with Kaori. That's why I helped him with my earth protection."
"Like?" Maki asked curiously.
"If he is attacked, the earth will protect him."
"Cool!"
"But it will wear off before long," Zenna said worriedly.
Haru spoke up importantly, "You did a good job since it will protect him for the time being, Zenna. Now, Can either of you track down Kaori's location?" He asked the same question again.
"Yes," Both of them said.
"Xeno can feel her through the air."
"I can hear her footsteps on the earth," Zenna suddenly informed, "Kaori and the boy seperated. She's heading somewhere. What do we do now?"
Haru made quick decisions, "Let's go there together. Then we can seperate and help them both."
"Ok, let's go!"
**********************************************
Kaori looked around desperately but she didn't see any spirit.
𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭?
*Hum hum hum*
𝘜𝘱!
Without thinking much, Kaori jumped on top of the red tiled roof of a house.
*Hum hum*
She snapped her head at the direction to see a dustbin at the alley and there it was. A small ball of yellowish light glowing next to the bin.
𝘈 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵!
𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?
Kaori watched the ball of light hover in mid air.
*Hum*
𝘈 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦.. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
!ROAR!
𝘖𝘩 𝘯𝘰, 𝘠𝘶𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘦-𝘬𝘶𝘯!
Kaori jerked her hand up quickly and pointed at the spirit - the index finger and the middle finger attached to each other. A blue light ignited on the head of the two fingers.
𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘶. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴.
"𝙄, 𝙄𝙯𝙪𝙢𝙞 𝙆𝙖𝙤𝙧𝙞, 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙖 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩, 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞," Kaori said fluently as she began drawing something in the air, leaving some marks to glow brightly, "𝙄 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝘾𝙡𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚. 𝙄 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧. 𝙄 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮. 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣. 𝙇𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙮, 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧. 𝙄 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙮, 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚...."
!ROAR!
Kaori snapped her head in midway at the side to see the spirit at a distance, it spotted her.
But that didn't really scare her much since she was about to have a shinki in her hands soon.
But the next thing that happened, drained all the blood out of her face.
"Hey, you!" Yukine rushed out of his hideout.
**********************************************
The spirit turned around to see a prey right near its hands.
"If you want someone so bad then have me!" Yukine yelled fiercely, "Leave Kaori alone!"
"Yu-!"
"What are you waiting for?!" Yukine screamed on top of his lungs.
When the spirit reached out for Yukine, Kaori ran down from the roof, leaving the name of the new shinki incompleted.
"No! Yukine-kun!" She yelled.
"Go back! Give him a name! I'm buying you time!"
"If it touches you, you'll slowly be possessed!"
"I believe you," He smiled when she neared, "You'll save me."
Kaori stopped dead in her tracks.
The spirit snatched Yukine away from the ground and hoisted him in the air.
As soon as Yukine was touched by the spirit, his skin slowly started to turn purple.
Every people had a power of their own. That was what was being sucked away from Yukine by the monster right now.
That was when Kaori's group members entered the scene.
"There's Kaori!" Maki was about to run to her but they were all stopped by Haru.
"Wait," He put up his hand before them.
They slowly grasped the situation at distant.
"If we go now," Haru said quietly and gravely, "We'll only trigger the spirit."
"Let him go."
They looked over at Kaori when they heard her speak.
Was that really her voice? It sounded so intimidating.
They saw her hands clench into fists.
"Let him go," Kaori said more firmly this time, looking at the eyes of the spirit that had Yukine in its hand.
"Kaori..." Yukine said in a hoarse tone.
"I said, put him down!" Kaori shouted in rage this time, "If you want power, come at me! Let him out of this! You were chasing after me all this time after all! LET HIM GO!"
All of Kaori's friends shuddered at her yells, even the spirit seemed hesitant.
"Haru," Maki asked, "Is that really the Kaori we know? Look at the aura around her."
"It's flaming like fire," Saki said in surprise.
As the spirit wasn't letting go of Yukine, he just smile painfully and hardly spoke the words that left his lips, "K-Kaori... If.. I d-die, let-t m-e be... Your.. sh-shinki..."
Kaori didn't pay any heed to his words and murmured, "Come, Hiiro."
Everyone's eyes widened at the name. Even Yukine's.
And the next second, Kaori blasted off the hand of the spirit that was holding Yukine. The arm turned into ashes and Yukine was free.
"Pow-er."
"Yes, that's my power," Kaori looked up again, "Do you want it? Then come and get it."
But the spirit didn't reach for Kaori but Yukine again.
But this time, when it reach its other hand out, Kaori exploded the other hand off, too.
The new shinki was dual shuriken. Kaori could throw it at her target and it would blast the enemy off. If Kaori wanted them back in her hands, all she had to do was move her hand forwards to herself and they would fly back to her.
Kaori blasted its legs off as well right after.
But all of that didn't do much work. Because she was wrong to try and kill it little by little.
When she didn't pay attention, the spirit grabbed Yukine again and this time, it absorbed him completely before Kaori could rescue him.
"Yukine-kun! No!"
**********************************************
The spirit regrew its legs and hands back again.
This time, Kaori was paralyzed by the scene. She lost balance and fell on the ground.
She felt broken.
She was this close to ending this all but what has she done? Nothing.
𝘠𝘶𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘦-𝘬𝘶𝘯...
She could still see the smiling face of the boy.
A strong flame ignited around her.
"Whoa!" Maki, Gin, Aoi and Saki said in unison, "She's on fire!"
"Shush!" Haru said, "It's time. Kaori is awakening her ability."
Kaori stood up slowly from the ground. Staggering, she took small steps forwards.
Within the flame, light sounds of electricity crackling could be heard and yellow bolts of lightning crackled now.
"Maki, Isn't that your section's ability?" Zenna asked.
"Yeah... It's the ability of the lightning section," Was Maki's reply.
"But she has fire burning around her," Saki said in confusion.
That was when Kaori moved her right hand and a bench that was placed beside the road for resting purposes, hovered in the air and started forwarding along her.
"Ability of fire, ability of lightning.." Xeno mumbled.
Haru completed his thoughts, "The power that allows someone to move objects without touching it - the ability to control. What else is she capable of?"
To his answer, the earth started rumbling and the ground began cracking open.
"Uh-oh," Aoi said.
"Step away from the cracks!" Haru instructed.
"Ability of the earth," Zenna said in a daze.
"And the ability of the wind," Xeno pointed above her. A strong storm of wind was brewing around her.
Through the cracks of earth, water from under the ground began to rise in tide and form a roaring sea in the air behind her.
"And the ability of the water," Haru said, "Currently, she has all of our powers."
"A mixed blood," Yamaken murmured.
"What's that?" Everyone asked him at the same time.
"I just came up with the name," Yamaken said bluntly, "Mixed blood, meaning the blood which carries all the abilities this world could ever imagine."
"Okay, so what does she plan to do now?" Maki asked in confusion, watching Kaori's intimidating appearance before the spirit which started to go crazy, feeling all the powers coming from her.
But he got his answer right on the next second.
Kaori moved her hands with force and attacked the spirit with everything altogether.
The spirit was half dead after the first attack of Kaori but she didn't stop there.
With her ability to control, she moved her fingers in the air with specific indications.
As if she was pulling apart the spirit in half, she ripped it in two with a loud scream and force, "Aaargh!"
The parts of the spirit turned into ashes and from inside, Yukine who had his eyes closed, collapsed onto the ground but he was caught by Kaori before hitting the earth.
With him on her lap, Kaori called with a soft tone, "Yukine-kun."
Her group members made eye contact with each other before Haru decided to run to Kaori.
"Kaori!" He called.
But Kaori didn't even look up at him, "Yukine-kun..." She called, half sobbing.
"Yukine-kun! Open your eyes, it's over," She sobbed.
"Kaori.." Saki flopped down on the earth beside Kaori and looked at the innocent child on her lap.
"Yukine-kun, please," Kaori called desperately, "It's your friend, Kaori! Please open your eyes, please, I beg you, please! Just once! Please open them! Please!" She howled as tears started bursting out of her eyes, reality starting to hit her.
"Yukine-kun," Kaori cried loudly.
This was gthe first time they saw Kaori crying like this. Unstoppable tears were flowing down from her eyes like river and she was screaming from the pain she felt in her heart and from the grief.
𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮.
𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵.
𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮... 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴... 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?
"Yu-Yukine-kun," Kaori was still sobbing, hugging Yukine's head.
Everyone watched the crying Kaori silently, not understanding what to do. But the pain started to grow on them, too.
Xeno hugged her from the back, "Kaori.."
"Xeno," Kaori looked at him over her shoulder, "I couldn't save him.."
"Wait, you guys, look!" Saki suddenly pointed at Yukine.
There was a tiny ball of blue light coming out of Yukine's slightly open mouth.
"It's his spirit," Said Yamaken.
Kaori's eyes widened when she remembered something.
"𝘒-𝘒𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘪... 𝘐𝘧.. 𝘐 𝘥-𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘵-𝘵 𝘮-𝘦 𝘣𝘦... 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳.. 𝘴𝘩-𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪..."
"Kaori," Called Haru.
Kaori looked up at him slowly, the tear stains still visible on her cheeks.
"You shouldn't hesitate," He said softly, "He sacrificed himself for you. You had promised to save him and get him out of here but you failed. This is what he wanted if he died, right?" He said as if he could read Kaori's mind.
Another tear left Kaori's eyes as she continued listening to Haru.
"This is the least you can do to repay him for everything he's done for you before his life ended," Haru said finally, "Don't you want to get to know your new friend better?"
Kaori looked at the tiny blue light - the spirit that was hovering in his open mouth.
"𝘐𝘧 𝘠𝘶𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘦-𝘬𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭."
"𝘐𝘵'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯."
⭐❤❤⭐🌟❤🌟⭐❤❤⭐🌟❤🌟⭐❤❤⭐