"Ugh, I think I'm going to forget all of this stuff again." Momo said with a sigh as she looked at her English test. Since it was the first day of school, the test wasn't graded, just seen how far people were in English 4 as a whole.
"Don't worry, even if we do bad, it's not going to count for too much. I mean, the class may go slower, but that's it." Raine said.
"Do you get a little bit of your accent back?" Kori asked.
"Sorry. Can't control much of it."
"I still can't believe," Deíji said with a stretch, "That we are all in the same class."
"Yeah, but it's a shame that Daisuke and Yuki have to sit so far away from us." Raine said as she looked across the room, looking at the two talking a little about something that really didn't matter.
"Say," Kori said, noticing something. "We all have the same classes except for our electives, right?"
"Yeah, so?" Yuri asked.
"Well, it just so happens that Daisuke and Yuki have the same elective."
Everyone gave Yuri an odd look, waiting for her to explode about the situation and yell at Daisuke, just like she would have in the past. But she just sat there, looking back at her friends.
"What?" she asked.
"You don't care that she's getting more Daisuke time than you?" Deíji asked.
"Not really. And why not? They're friends."
"But if you take your eyes off of Daisuke for a split second, you know that Yuki will take him right from under your nose."
"I know." She said with a smile. "But I never had Daisuke in the first place."
"Are you feeling alright there, Yuri. Your not acting the way you normally would at all."
"I guess it's time for change." She said as she looked out the window.
In all honesty, she couldn't take not being with Daisuke. Even the time that they spent together, it was all through class work. She knew that High School was going to be harder, which meant a lot of cramming, and lunch and the other free times of the day were going to be full of studying and homework. Even though he only lived about a mile away from the school (there were board rooms at this school, but Daisuke stayed at home and walked to school), she still couldn't find the time to see him.
But the feeling he gave her when he gently brushed against her, when he talked to her, held her… She couldn't quite explain it. Everything seemed to be forgotten, obsolete. The only thing that mattered was the fact that he was there. And that was what had made her happy. His presence alone.
But it wasn't like she was destined to have him. She lost the war against Yuki when she first came to Sakura's. Slowly but surely, she was losing. Their chats become a little less affectionate, they argued more, he held her less… she was just letting him slip away and she didn't even notice it until now. But that didn't mean she was going to quit. No, not now. She actually had the chance to fight back against Yuki, literally. Her and Yuki agreed that one day they would have a fight for Daisuke, and no holding back at all. It would have to be a full out war against the two until one of them passed out, or even died. If you want something, you have to go at it with everything you have, you know.
But as the class had progressed, Yuri couldn't help but notice that Yuki had been a little closer to Daisuke than usual. But at the same time, it seemed that Yuki was a little happier. Before, when they had first met, Yuki seemed silent, and almost murderous. But now, she just seemed like a girl who had kept some things to herself, and didn't talk too much. She wasn't too different from Deíji really.
But when Yuri really got into thought about it, Yuki wasn't just a sweet innocent little girl. She knew how to protect herself. And she was far from trying to show off her strength or hot headed. She kept her cool at all times. That was one of Yuri's weaknesses: hotheadedness. And she knew about it. That's why she didn't explode when she heard about Yuki and Daisuke. She was changing a little since spending time with Yuki. Things didn't seem to matter like they did a couple of months back. It wasn't just mental. Her appearance changed a little too. She started to be a little less girly, and started to wear things that wouldn't tear easily, or wouldn't get in the way when fighting, like a skirt would.
"Whatcha doin'?" Daisuke asked. Yuri didn't notice him walk up to her at all, and she jumped a little at the sound of his voice.
"Huh?" was the only thing she could find herself to say.
"Class just got out. Aren't you coming out?"
"Where's Yuki?"
"She's gone. Why?"
"No reason." She answered as she picked up her backpack. She looked at Daisuke who was smiling at her. "Who do you like more?" she blurted out. Where did that come from? She asked herself.
"What do you mean?" Daisuke's smile turning into a knot of confusion, but his eyes still sparkled like a young boy. His natural childish ways. They were cute.
"Who do you like more: Me or Yuki?"
"Well, I like you both." He said with his smile back.
A two-timer? She thought in a little image in her head with Daisuke cradling the both of them.
"I mean," he started to say. "You guys are both my friends, right?"
Is it me, or does he seem a little denser since he went on his trip to America. Sure, I heard that America wasn't as smart as Japan, but this is ridiculous.
"That's not what I meant, Daisuke."
"What did you mean?" he smiled. It wasn't the same smile. It was almost taunting. As if he was playing dumb just to hear her say what she wanted to say without feeling anything embarrassing.
"Do you, you know, like? Me or Yuki?" she emphasized on like.
"Do you really want me to answer?" he asked.
Did she really want him to? It meant the horrid truth that she was dying to hear, but at the same time, it could be the one thing to break her heart. Was it truly something she wanted to hear? Of course. There was no other option. It meant whether she should chase after him any longer. After thoughts, she nodded.
"Well, I'm not going to tell you." He said as he smiled and stuck his tongue out. And with that, he headed out of the class. He just pulled a girl's trick. A childish girl's trick. But she guessed that was one of the things that she loved about him.
XxXxXxX
"So, what exactly do you hope to do when you get your hands on this book?" Moku asked Kagori.
They stood at a cliff-side, looking at a sunset. It was an easy warm day, and the two had been training most of the day. Was it Moku's imagination, or was Kagori training him harder than the others. If so, that meant that there was something stored in Moku's future and Kagori saw Moku more than a pawn like he saw the others.
"I don't know." Kagori answered honestly. "One of the things I want to do is go after Daisuke if he isn't dead yet."
"What do you have against him exactly, anyway?"
"He has the ability to grow stronger than me. If that happens, my journey ends there, and I'll have nothing to live with."
"Your journey?"
"It's a long story." Kagori said. But seeing the slight hurt in Moku's eyes, he sighed. "I'll tell you eventually. I have to tell you for you to understand where I come from in my opinion in things. But for now, there's too many I can't trust."
"If you can't trust them, why'd you side with them. Shouldn't you only group up with strong and reliable allies?"
"They're simply my guinea pig. I'm testing the strength of Daisuke with each one of them."
"Why? With every battle, Daisuke's only going to get better."
"That's true."
"Then why don't you just take him out now, while you're still stronger then him."
Kagori sighed again. It was time to reveal his small secret. A secret that could possibly end his life it was to spread out. Kagori stood up and took off his shirt. He turned his back to Moku, and Moku gasped at what he saw. On his back was the scar of a skull.
"What is it?" Moku asked.
"It's a curse. With every passing day, I grow weaker. Until I'm either killed or the end of the year. Which ever one comes first."
"Why a curse so short?"
"It hasn't been short, Moku. I was given this curse as a young boy, about ten. The time that my older brother was killed."
"Your older brother?" Moku asked.
"It was by an evil woman." Kagori said, continuing. "My older brother was a man who was with DHA with his heart and soul into it. But when a traitor had gone on the loose, my brother was the only person at the time that was strong enough to even give a person a drop of sweat while fighting. He told me to stay home, not to follow, but I knew that it would be dangerous. Even if my powers were new and I was just beginning to use them, I figured I could do some good by being by his side. Fearing for his life, I follow him to the place of fighting.
"While they fought, I watched. I never got a good look at the traitor. I guess that it was a girl, perhaps even a boy with long hair. I don't know. But I was watching them beat my brother around. Until they were about to make the final blow. But what I realized now is this…" Kagori paused, as if it hurt to speak of this. "What was suppose to be the final attack was a fake-out by my brother. He pretended to be too injured to attack, and then turned the tables. He usually did this back in DHA fighting conventions. But I was young and stupid, so I…"
"You what?" Moku said in a hoarse voice, scared to see his role-model on the verge of tears. He knew that it was reopening old wounds, but he needed to know. He needed to know what drove Kagori.
"I screamed for her to stop. Seeing me, she knew that she had a witness to tell people exactly how strong she was, she saw me as a threat. She charged towards me, and there was no way for me to defend myself, so my brother…" he paused again. "Threw himself in the way, and was killed on my behalf."
"She killed him?" Moku asked, knowing that it was a rhetorical question.
"And it was my fault. She gave me the curse then, and I'm never able to grow as strong as I wish to become. I work three times as hard and long as the other students, and I end up only average."
"So, with every day, you feel that you can't even fight Daisuke on your own until the curse is broken. It's the only way. And for him to find information about me isn't good either. That's way I must distract him with these mindless battles."
"So you can make it long enough to fight your brother's murderer?"
"Exactly. And for the mindless battles, that's exactly why we're here."
"What do you mean?" Moku asked.
"What do you see down there?" Kagori asked as he pointed at the bottom of the cliff.
"Nothing. It's dark."
"Do you sense anything?"
"No." Moku said as he tried to sense something.
"Try harder. There's something down there. Just try a little bit harder."
Moku did as he was told, and at first, nothing happen. But all of the sudden, a large shock went through his head. He held his head in pain, cried out, and fell on his knees. Even though it was brief, it was still enough to bring Moku to his knees for the next five minutes.
"That's the great demon army."
"Ar…army?" Moku asked.
"There is an entire fleet of demons." Kagori explained. "Hundreds of thousands of demons. First, they send the weaker ones, then they send the somewhat stronger ones, and the stronger ones, and it goes into a large line of power, until they get to Goro."
"Goro?" Moku asked.
"The prince of all demons. The strongest demon on this side of the grave to take a human form. But he was contained into a prison and has been held down there for the last twelve hundred years by Shinto monks. Before I send out my little animal minions to fight Daisuke, I'll train him for a bit."
"What do you mean? You can unlock the seal?"
"Perhaps. If it's not as difficult as it seems."
Kagori held out a hand, and a beam of light shot out from under the dark abyss. A moment later, Kagori's entire arm was engulfed in flames, and it wasn't Kagori's. His face hardly flinched, and he still held his arm out there. Then, his torso grew in flames. After the flames, claw-like scratches came out of nowhere, and deep cuts were made all over his chest. But he didn't move. Suddenly, the light disappeared, and he put his arm down.
"You okay, Kagori?"
"More than okay." Kagori grinned. "This seal would usually take seven priests and the sacrifice of a virgin priestess. I've taken the whole punishment by myself, and I'm still not spent."
"What are you going to do now?"
Kagori looked back into the dark abyss. He heard rumbling. Possible the rumbling of the gates of the seal breaking. Kagori took a deep breath.
"Prince and knights of Hades! I call unto you, come and grant my request. Kill Daisuke Hiromushu, a decent of one of the priests that had held you captive for so long. May his blood be spilled in the vengeance that you seek."
With a sudden ruble, a giant wave of winged demons shot out of the canyon, and flew across the sky. Easy level F demons, easier than anything a new demon hunter could handle. But that was only a tenth of the army. With every new wave, the strength increased by an entire grade. A wave of demons were coming, and it was going to destroy Daisuke Hiromushu. If it didn't, there was always Yukin, Doichi, and Kitsune right behind him to stab him in the back.
Hakura had stood there with her eyes closed. Something around her was off. There was some odd aura somewhere nearby. She's felt it before. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was exactly, but it was something bad. And Hakura hardly ever called anything "bad". This case was horrible to any other person.
She stood on the roof of Daisuke's school, watching over him, when she suddenly felt this horrid thing. Daisuke had been doing okay as a come back from leaving for America. She didn't expect him to make some many new friends that he didn't know. Especially with the new more laid back attitude that he had. He had changed a lot. And he never said anything about his father and her…
"Hey, Whatcha doin' up here?" Hakura heard a voice and turned around to see Daisuke sitting on the other side of the roof. He startled him. How did he come up without her sensing him at all?
"I should be asking you the same question." Hakura said.
"Well, I saw you roamin' around, and I thought you might be in the only place where people would least expect to find you."
"Isn't your class about to end?" Hakura asked.
"Yeah. Then I have lunch, so it's okay if I hang out here for a while."
"You should get back to lunch anyway."
"Why? I mean, I'm going to have to fight the hoard of demons anyway, won't I?"
"Hoard of demons?" she asked.
"Yeah. Couldn't you feel them? There's a huge group of them."
So that's the bad feeling I've had. But why could he sense it, and I couldn't? Once again, he's coming up stronger than me. No, it's not possible. He's only fifteen. There's no way that he's stronger than me. Not yet.
"You should head back to lunch. I'll go see what's wrong. We need to see why there's a sudden hoard of them coming this direction." Hakura instructed.
"Okay. But I'm warning you, don't let them see you. There's thousands of them."
"I'm not the one who should be worrying. I don't know for sure, but I have a hunch that they're after you, and only you."
XxXxXxX
"It feels so great to be able to sit together isn't it?" Momo asked as she, once again, took a bite out of a piece of food.
"Yeah. We haven't sat down as a group since that last cram session." Raine said with a hint of thought on her face. "And that wasn't much of a hang out time."
"Forget about that," Kori said. "All that matters is that we're all here together, right? I mean, new school, new classes, new people. We're heading in for a new adventure, and we're going to have through this together, right?"
"Exactly." Deíji agreed. "Nothing's going to tear us apart. Especially some silly rumor about each other."
Everyone grinned at Yuki, who had been eating a piece of a sandwich. She gulped and said, "I agree with Kori: let's forget about past trespasses."
The group smiled and looked at Yuri.
"So," Kori said. "What do you have to say on the topic. I mean, we haven't really seen much of each other in four months. What do you have to say."
"Nothing really." Yuri said. "I mean, I'm really glad that you guys are back. And this year, since we're fresh meat, we have to really stay together, and not wonder our eyes into directions that will lead us astray from our studies. I mean, I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm planning on getting into a decent collage."
"I concur." Yuki said, raising her soda can in agreement. "We must look forward for new challenges and rivalries."
"Especially new rivalries." Yuri said.
"Agreed."
"Hey guys." A voice said behind the entire group, and came up and sat next to Daisuke. Daisuke looked to his left to see Ryuku sitting next to him, tray and all.
"What the hell are you doing here." Daisuke asked with an anti-enthusiastic voice.
"Old friend of yours, Daisuke?" Deíji asked.
"Not as old as you think." He said sarcastically.
"Hey," Ryuku said. "I'm Ryuku, the graduate a year ahead of you."
"An older boy sitting with fresh meat? I'm surprised." Kori said, taking a sip of her soda.
"Yeah, well, when I see a large group of good-looking woman, and a total hottie man leading them, I try to fit in. Learn a couple of things from both sides."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Yuri asked.
"Yuri?" he asked, taking her hand once again, kneeling like a prince to his fare princess. "Oh, how I've longed to hear your voice once again. You're radiant eyes are far more elegant in the light than the damp light of the moon."
"We only saw each other two days ago." She said, taking her hand back.
"You know him too?" Momo asked.
"Unfortunately, all three of us do." Yuki said.
"Don't be so mean." Ryuku said. "I mean, I did try and save you ladies from the abuse of Daisuke."
"Abuse?" the group asked in unison.
"How many times do I have to tell you? We're only practicing!"
"Practicing kendo, I hope." Kori said.
"What else would there be to practice?" Yuri asked, taking the excuse and making it believable.
"So, how long have you known Daisuke?" Raine asked.
"I've heard about him for a while, but I only met him a couple of nights ago."
"Heard about him? What is he famous for something?"
"Are you kidding me?" Ryuku asked. Daisuke started to feel hot, thinking that Ryuku was going to blow their cover. But he couldn't act weird now. "Daisuke's the greatest first-baseman in our grade in Japan."
"What?" the rest of the group asked. Daisuke thought that being caught red handed in the Demon Hunting business would be bad. It was nothing compared to being great in a sport that Daisuke hated the most.
"Of course." Ryuku continued with his arm around Daisuke's shoulder, showing that they were "best buddies". Daisuke hung his head in both shame and disgrace. "No body is better than my man Daisuke in the Baseball world."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Momo asked.
"I don't play baseball anymore." Daisuke said with a nervous laugh. "Hurt my leg a while ago, and I stopped playing."
"Yeah, but he was amazing."
"Wow." The girls said in awe. Well, everyone except Yuri and Yuki, understanding the lie.
"Excuse me," a young girl with purple dyed hair asked. "Hiromushu Daisuke?"
"Yes?"
"Hi, my name's Kitsune, and I would like to talk to you for a second."
The group gave her a weird look, as if they had just seen a large stalker caught red handed.
"It's for the school newspaper. I couldn't help but overhear your little discussion on Daisuke being the best first baseman in Japan High School."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to eat with my–" He started to say, but the girl had grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room. The whole group watched, and when they were gone, Raine asked: "Who the hell was she?"
"Kitsune, or so her friends call her." Ryuku said. "That's weird. I never knew that she was in the journalists workshop this year."
"Maybe their not really talking at all." Kori teased. "I mean, he has lived by the school for years. Another school crush maybe?"
Before Kori could finish the sentence, Yuki and Yuri were out the door, and Ryuku being dragged right behind them.
XxXxXxX
"So, you are the one up to this, are you?" Hakura asked as she landed behind Kagori and Moku. Kagori hardly looked behind him. He only barely looked over his shoulders.
"And I assume you're Daisuke's trainer." Kagori said.
"Hakura." She introduced herself.
"So, are you prepared for battle?"
"I didn't have the intentions of fighting."
"If not, than why did you come?"
"I felt curious. I wanted to see what you were doing. I mean, you are the infamous Kagori, wanted by the DHA. Only a handful of people dare to be on the wanted list. You're quite a daredevil."
"Stop flattering and get on with your point."
"It wasn't flattery, it was the truth. You're pretty damn crazy to attempt something that could very well cost you your life."
"You're one to talk." Kagori said, not saying anymore. Hakura understood what he meant.
"Let's not bring up stuff that should be left alone in the past, shall we?"
"Why should I? We're enemies, aren't we."
It took a couple of seconds for Hakura to answer. But when she did, it was a determined nod. "Of course we are." She replied, almost like she was trying to convince herself.
"Than I fail to see the problem." Kagori said.
"The problem is that I don't like weaker amateurs speaking against me like that."
"And you say not to speak of our pasts. Hypocrite."
"Past?" Hakura asked. She thought about it for a while, thinking of times that she looked at the files she could find of Kagori back in the DHA files. Then she remembered something. "Something about a curse, isn't it?" she asked. Kagori's eyes lit up, almost confused. His secret was suppose to be concealed, but she knew?
"How did you find out?" Kagori demanded, not raising his voice, but Hakura could feel the tenseness behind the way he said it.
"DHA files. Don't worry, I don't know what the curse does, but I'm pretty sure that I can find that out in a matter of time."
Kagori scoffed a little, to show that he wasn't believing her threat.
"You threaten me with a mere bluff?" Kagori asked.
"Do you think that I'm that petty? I think that I can find out your little secret in a matter of days, without the files of DHA."
"I doubt it." Kagori said, and paused for a while before changing the subject. "What are you really doing here?"
"I've already told you. I want to know what you're doing."
"So you can tell Daisuke?"
"Of course. He's one my pupils. Why not tell him what he's dealing with?"
"If it really matters…" Kagori figured that words were pointless. He would rather show her. With a snap of the fingers, another wave of demons came and flew out of the hole of the earth. Hakura saw the giant hoard and her eyes widened in fear. As she saw the fleet leave, she turned her attention back to Kagori.
"You didn't…" she said.
"Unlock the seal of Goro, of course."
A slap to the face was made, and Kagori's head turned as a red hand print had been left. After that, for a matter of seconds, there had been anything but the silent ease of the wind blowing by.
"You're a bigger fool than I imagined." Hakura said. "Do you know how dangerous unleashing this demon is?"
"Enough to destroy Hiromushu."
"Not just Daisuke. They'll turn on you next. Demons, especially higher ranking demons, just love to back-stab. They show loyalty to nobody. Don't you think that you'll regret teaming up with a rouge demon is safe?"
"Don't contradict me, fool." He said. "I'll have you know that I fully understand the power and past of these demons. Don't think that I'd go through such ferocity to my plan without looking over single detail."
"If you know that, than why are you going to sacrifice yourself for a stupid cause? Is Daisuke really that much of a threat? I mean, if you think of him that much of a threat, why kill yourself if you're not even going to see him die yourself."
"Have you forgotten the thing that the prophecy warns against? I mean, if you're such an expert on this, shouldn't you realize what I'm honestly going for?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The book of the Lion, page 716, there's a warning of unlocking the seal of Goro. To unlock Goro is to…" he left off the rest of the sentence for her to remember. And she did. She couldn't believe how she could miss this.
"…Fuse spirits with the legendary Goro? And if you fused with him, that would mean that you would–"
"Grow stronger? Exactly. And perhaps, something will happen to my curse."
"Damn." Hakura said with a serious glance at him. She drew a sword, and looked at him. "I wasn't planning on doing anything to you, but if it means you unleashing the spirit of Goro simply to fuse with you, that's more dangerous than I could ever imagine."
She charged and Kagori blocked the first attack. She swung, and he dodged most of them, but then Hakura had gotten a spiritual noose and wrapped it around his neck. It tied around with a perfect grip, and she yanked it. Spikes had gone through his neck, and his eyes started to roll back as his corpse fell to the ground.
"I hope I'm not too late." She said to herself.
"What the hell did you do!?" Moku said, standing next to the corpse. "What the hell did Kagori do to you, you bitch!?" he questioned.
"Listen kid, I suggest that you get out of here if you desire to live. Demons love to go after the weaker Demon Hunters."
"I'm not weak." He said, his eyes starting to water, and snot starting to seep through his nose.
"Listen. I don't care what Kagori told you, or taught you, but you seriously need to get out of here, alright? This is really dangerous."
"I'll die right next to Kagori if I have to. I'll never take an order from you. I'd rather die with Kagori."
"That isn't necessary." A voice said behind Moku, and when he turned around, he saw Kagori, rubbing the back of his next. There seemed to be no punctures, as if he was magically cured.
"Kagori?" Moku asked.
"Mostly, Moku. Somebody else is here with me."
"Goro." Hakura said with a sneer.
"Kagori, what do you mean somebody's in there with you? Isn't the fusing just a metaphor?"
"Obviously not." Kagori said. "But there's a good and bad side to having the great Goro in my body." Kagori's eyes changed colors, and his voice deepened a little. Not much, but a little noticeable. "One, I've given Kagori all my strength. Every ounce. But with the curse, my powers are only been able to give him enough power to be as strong as he would be had he not have the curse."
"So, you're saying he's as strong as he would be if he never had the curse?" Moku asked, picturing Kagori undefeatable.
"Exactly." Goro said. "But unfortunately, the curse remains. I've only been able to cut the curse down to half with every other week instead of every day."
Kagori's power was multiplied many times, and now taking that power back and draining it was fourteen times slower than before. Kagori, now, was almost invincible. Hakura couldn't take that fact. She may have a slight chance of taking him out. He couldn't have obtained all that power at once. Sure, it may be a very fast transfer, but it still took time to get that much. Hakura practically teleported to Kagori, but instead of catching him by surprise, she found a sword to the gut. She gasped, letting the pain come. But before she could even fall to her knees, Kagori grabbed her throat and hung her over the edge of the cliff.
"Any last words, oh great Hakura?" Kagori's voice was back to his own.
She could say anything, but gave him a pained angry look. On cue, he threw her down the cliff, her body smashing into a doze of hard rocks. And if that wasn't enough, he had taken the cliff that hung there in his hands, and ripped out of the earth, and threw that down at her.
"Whoa, Kagori." Moku said. "You're incredible! You even defeated Hakura."
"Doubt it." Kagori said. He hoped down the crash sight, and grabbed the cliff with one hand, and threw it. When he removed it, he didn't see a body.
"She escaped." He said, plainly. Not disappointed at all. "She's probably gone to tell Hiromushu."
"How did she do that?"
"A sorceress, I'm guessing." Goro said. "I've seen her before, or at least somebody like her a couple thousand years ago. She was one of the people responsible for sealing me up the first time."
"How many times have you been sealed up?" Moku asked.
"Twice. And with each time, I've grown stronger. The last time I was sealed up was fifty years ago."
"By who?"
"A man who've I hated for years now. A man who still lives to this day."
"Are we going to hunt down this man."
"Possibly–" His voice changed and so did his eyes. "NO!" Kagori's voice roared. "We're hunting Hiromushu." His eyes changed again. "Fine. We'll see this great Daisuke that you hold such a great grudge again. If you cannot even defeat him with such strength, it must be something worthy of my time."
"So, we're going to go to Daisuke?"
"Sure." Moku wasn't sure if it was Kagori or Goro, probably both, but one of the two had grinned. "We'll drop a little visit on him and give him a little present and show of our new strength."
XxXxXxX
"So, you're Hiromushu Daisuke?" Kitsune asked as they walked around the quad.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, I heard that you went to an all girls school because you were gay."
"Well, yeah, but not for the gay reason."
"What do you mean not for the gay reason? Why else would you go to an all girls school if you're not gay."
"There was a mix-up and a misunderstanding that's all over now. I'm trying to forget it, if you catch my drift."
"Sorry." Kitsune said.
"So, you're here to ask me question for the school news paper?"
"Not exactly." Kitsune said, stopping her walk, and Daisuke only went a couple of steps further before stopping and turning around. "I was wondering if you'd like to do something Saturday."
"As a date?"
"Not if you don't want it to be. If you want, it can be more of a, you know, a 'get-to-know-each-other' type of thing."
"Hm." Daisuke said thinking about. "I don't see why not. But then again, I don't even why you'd want to do something with me. I'm not special."
"You're more special than you let yourself think, Daisuke."
"HEY!" Yuri and Yuki stood a couple of foot away from the door the two had just exited out of from a hall. It was obvious that it was Yuri yelling. "What the hell do you think you're doing with Daisuke."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Kitsune said, looking between Daisuke and Yuri. "I hadn't realized that Daisuke was engaged."
"He's not engaged." Yuri said, walking up to the two, Yuki following behind.
"Than why are you getting so defensive. High School relationships just end anyway, don't they?"
"Who are you?" Yuki asked in a passive voice, almost like she hardly cared for what was going on.
"My name is Kiyo Mitsune. Or my friends call me Kitsune. Who are you?"
"Biotsu Yuki."
"Oh, I've heard of you." Kitsune said. "One of Daisuke's friends, right?"
"I don't know what you mean by friends but, yes, I am a friend of Daisuke if you mean what you said literally."
"Well, this is interesting." Kitsune said, analyzing Yuki from head to toe. "I imagined you a little shorter."
"So, where is this that you've heard of me?"
"Well, I–"
"You guys?" Daisuke asked. "I have to go to the bathroom. REEEEAAAALY bad."
The girls then felt it too. A giant aura of demons coming from somewhere. But it wasn't the average one to a dozen demons. This felt like almost a thousand. It probably was somewhere around there. But it didn't matter. It felt like they were weak.
"Sorry, Kitsune." Daisuke said. "I'll see you on Saturday. 8 okay with you?"
"Um, yeah, sure."
And with that, he took off, Yuri and Yuki looking at Daisuke with a shocked look, and looked back at Kitsune like she was Satan himself.
XxXxXxX
"This is a decent spot." Daisuke said as the group stopped and looked around. Another small forest, just like the one that they had near Sakura's. They looked around, looking for the demons, but they didn't see any. The only thing they saw was Ryuku standing in the forest.
"You guys felt it, too?" he asked.
"Yeah. It's big." Yuri said.
"I'm guessing about a thousand or more." Ryuku said, looking at the girls.
"Why are you telling us this, and not Daisuke?"
" 'Cuz, I'm pretty sure that he already knows what's going up. I don't need to baby him."
"And you need to baby us?" Yuki said.
"This is your biggest fight ever, isn't it?" Ryuku said.
"I still fail to see your–"
"Even if there are only weak demons around, there are still more than you can even see. If you let your guard down at the slightest, you'll get stabbed in the back."
"So, you think that Daisuke doesn't need to be told this?"
"Do you think that you're better than Daisuke?" Ryuku asked rhetorically. "Daisuke knows how to handle large numbers. Maybe you do to, Yuki, but Yuri has only had one on one fights."
"Hey, don't pick on me! What happened to me being your fair maiden!?"
"No offense, but I think there are more important matters at hand." Ryuku said looking up at the sky. There, a thick black cloud had reigned over the sky. And it began to come closer. It seemed that they were heading straight for the group.
Daisuke had slowly pulled out a spiritual bow, something he hadn't used in a while. He slowly loaded it, and slowly took aim. Everything he did, he took his sweet, precious time. But with a release of the bow, the arrow pierced through the first demon, but it exploded multiple arrows out of that, killing off at least fifty. The others grabbed their weapons as the demons got closer. Daisuke switched to a sword, just as Yuri and Yuki grabbed theirs. But Ryuku had grabbed a spear.
The moment that a first demon had landed on the ground, it was blown to smithereens by a blade by Yuki. The next two were also killed by her. And the one after that was killed off by Yuri. Pretty soon, a group of demons started to land, and everyone had their hands full. Daisuke had killed four demons with a swipe that had seemed like he was hardly trying. Yuki noticed this.
With grace and yet, not trying at all, Daisuke had slain at least a hundred demons in a minute. A large feat in the hand of somebody not trying. She didn't want to know how powerful he could have gotten if he had wanted to actually kill somebody. Pretty soon, he even looked like he was having fun and taunting the demons. He'd stick out his tongue to one, and as soon as it was about to strike, he ducked, making the demon stab another that was behind Daisuke, and Daisuke would take that one out. He was using the demons to kill each other as easily as he was killing them off himself.
Who else that was simply amazing was Ryuku. As much as a weirdo and nerd he seemed, he had swiped as many demons as Daisuke, if not a little bit more. Perhaps he had the right to baby her and Yuri. He had an elegant presence about him, and Yuri didn't know how to describe it.
Another freaky thing was this: even though Daisuke and Ryuku had hardly known each other, they double teamed as if they practiced for year together. They had matched up perfectly with each other, swinging and killing in perfect sync. Daisuke would kill one off in front of him, and so would Ryuku, and then they'd hook arms as they swung each other behind themselves, killing off another one. Sometime Ryuku would leap and Daisuke would use his sword as a landing while Ryuku circled around, taking off demon heads.
Yuri was doing pretty well herself. She had been in a few parts of the fighting where she couldn't very well handle herself, or at least looked like it. Later, she had regained confidence, and took out everything she had.
In five minutes, all the demons had been gone. Everyone looked around. Daisuke and Ryuku hadn't been out of breath, Yuri was extremely out of breath, and Yuki simply needed a couple second break to stretch.
"What was that about?" Ryuku asked.
"I don't know." Daisuke answered. "If you ask me, it was kinda a waste of time, wasn't it? Like they were trying to prolong something."
"Or weaken us for something else."
"You thought so too?"
"Yeah, that's why I held back."
"So did I. Perhaps there's another wave of them coming."
And as if on cue, a giant aura struck them. More demons, stronger, but not by much. Maybe a level or so, but not too much to handle.
"More of them?" Yuri whined.
"If you can't take it, maybe you should stay back in the school yards." A voice said behind them, and when they turned around, they found Kitsune.
"Kitsune?" Daisuke asked.
"Couldn't let ya have all the fun and fight these guys by yourself, can I? I mean, I also have something I've wanted to try out on a large hoard like this."
"You mean, you're a Demon Hunter?" Daisuke asked.
"Well, duh?" she said, walking past him. And Yuri noticed that she purposely grazed her arm against his. "Let me show you something. It might take some out of me, but I'll manage to get back to school."
The dark cloud started to shine overhead, and she simply stared at them as she lifted a hand up and closed her eyes. Suddenly, there was a loud shrieking sound, and everyone covered their ears. As soon as the demons had gotten onto the ground, they had started to screech themselves and killed each other, until there was only one left standing.
"What was that?" Ryuku asked.
"An illusion. I made them see every one of their allies as you guys. It's a deep psychological thing, I think. I'm still working on it."
"You mean, you can do more?" Daisuke asked.
"Yeah. You know, send people's minds into a place where they think to be another dimension. Other stuff." She said, not leading into any more.
"What was your point of being here?" Yuki asked.
"My point?" Kitsune asked, walking towards the entrance where she came from to leave. "Was to show you two that if you get in my way for Daisuke, I can turn you into something like I did with those monsters, easily. They don't call me a fox for no reason."
And with that she left. And as soon as she did, they felt another wave of demons, stronger than the last two combined.
XxXxXxX
"You showed him, didn't you?" Doichi asked.
"So what if I did?" Kitsune asked back.
"Grr… You know that Kagori said not to show your powers unless you're going for the kill. Now he knows what you're going to do when you try and kill him."
The two had been sitting in the grass out front of the school. Doichi had seen her come from the place that the horrible demon aura had reeked from. The place that Daisuke had been. Doichi didn't know why, but he had felt such a resentment towards Daisuke. He almost wanted him dead. He had never felt this feeling towards anybody in the past before. What could be different from now than in the past? The book, perhaps? Yeah, it had to be the book. It made sense. Something was trying to take over his soul. But maybe he could take this hatred and turn it into a power enough to destroy Hiromushu. A powerful power indeed.
But Doichi didn't think the book was the reason when he had seen Kitsune fighting herself to answer the question. She had been trying to avoid it, like the next sentence she wanted to say was something that could break his heart. Something he didn't want to hear.
"I… I don't think I'm able to kill Daisuke." She said.
Not exactly what he thought he was going to hear, but still enough to get him upset.
"What do you mean? What happened to just the two of us surviving? You and me versus the world? We agreed that Hiromushu was one of the first to be taken out? Why the sudden change of thought?"
"I don't know. I just… I can't really find it in my heart to end a human life."
"I don't think that's the reason." He said, standing up and starting to walk away.
"What's that suppose to mean?" she asked, remaining sitting. Her voice had commanded him to stop, but he wouldn't, couldn't, look back at her. Not now.
"Dammit, Kitsune." His voice sounded hurt. "What happened?" he didn't have the power to control his voice or his mind. It was as if they were one with his heart. He didn't even think twice about what to say. "I mean, you and me… we said that we'd always be there for one another."
"I'm still here, Doichi. And I'm still here with you. I just can't kill off somebody."
"No," he said. "It's no that simple. There's… I don't know… there's something else to the equation. There's more to us, there's more to how I feel." He then caught himself. He almost went to far.
"How…you feel?" she asked, standing up. She walked over to him slowly, put her hand on his should, but he brushed it off with a sudden quickness that had shocked Kitsune. She looked down at the ground. "There's a reason I can't kill Daisuke yet…" she whispered, hoping that he didn't hear her, but her hopes were aimed too high.
"Why's that?" Doichi asked, not even looking at her, his back pointed towards her.
"I have a date with him on Saturday."
There it was. It was all said an done. Only his reaction could tell what would become of their friendship from now on. He didn't do or say anything at first. But when he lifted his head and looked at her, he smiled.
"Well, I hope you guys have a great time." She saw his smile. It was neither sarcastic or had any signs of hatred. It was if he was the original Doichi she had known. He was actually wishing her a good time.
"Doichi, I hope you realize this means I may never feel the need to kill Daisuke. You understand that, right?"
"Yeah. I understand. But there's nothing more important than your happiness, Kitsune."
"Really?" she asked, smiling back at him in a meek way.
"Of course. If it's what you want, I won't hold you back."
"Thanks Doichi." She said, and she hugged him as she ran, more like skipped back to class. Doichi watched her down the halls. He then snickered.
"I'm going to have to kill the bastard as soon as I can. Kitsune," he said, looking up at another cloud of demons heading toward the direction. "I won't lose to such a homo. I swear it."
XxXxXxX
"Damn, there's too many of them." Yuki said, panting as she knelt to the ground. They had been finishing off a swarm of level A demons. Level S's were on their way, and the group had known it. Yuri was absolutely drained of energy, Yuki had been mostly spent, and Daisuke and Ryuku had been slightly tired. They had been panting.
"I agree," Ryuku said. "We can't keep up this fighting for too long. At some point, we're going to have to retreat. Especially if we're going to fight level S demons. Those guys are bad news."
"Is there such thing as an army of level S demons?" Daisuke asked.
"As far as I know, there is a large group of them, but they hardly ever show themselves. They don't see the need to, unless their underestimated. Anyway, even though there doesn't seem to be much, there's a lot of strength behind these demons, and I don't think we can take them all with the strength we have left. Even with the four of us, it's going to be hard just to take one down, let alone around a thousand."
"So, we don't even stand a chance against these guys?"
"I wouldn't go that far. We could retreat."
"To where?" Yuki asked. "If we go back to the school, we'll put so many people in jeopardy. We can't afford to put anybody else in trouble. They don't even know what's going on right now."
"Than what are we going to do?" Yuri asked, laying on the ground, trying to relax and get as much energy back before the final wave. "Sit and be killed? If you ask me, Daisuke's the only person here who can save the entire planet. Who else is going to stop Kagori if he dies?"
"Well, I'm also one of the only people who can help us get rid of all these demons. If I leave, what's going to happen to you guys?" Daisuke asked. "I'm not going to retreat knowing that my friends are in danger."
"Daisuke," Ryuku said. "I think Yuri has a point. We're not serving any major roles in the whole 'saving-the-world' thing."
"What are you talking about?" Daisuke asked. "I never asked you to get involved! You followed us around!"
"I know, but still… Go. We can lure them away. I don't know what'll happen after that, but I think we can give it a try."
"No, I'm not leaving you guys." Daisuke said. "You guys are just as important in the world saving process as me, even you Ryuku." Daisuke said the last part sarcastically.
"Hey! What's that suppose to mean."
"Exactly what it sounds like."
A whirling sound of demons had flown overhead, and they looked into the sky to see their foe. Yuri started to stand up and Yuki had got off from leaning on the tree. Daisuke stood straight and looked the eyes of his enemy. As one of the demon landed on the ground, it made a quick attack towards Yuki, and she flew a couple of yards before hitting a tree.
"Yuki!" Yuri cried. But it wasn't long after her cry that she two was sent flying in the same fashion.
Daisuke looked at one of the demons, and it rushed up like it did to Yuri and Yuki, but he dodged the first attack, as he turned the defense into offense, he made a strike, but the demon had grabbed his arm and threw him into a tree, but not before kneeing him in the side. Ryuku was down right after Daisuke. The girls were unconscious, but Daisuke and Ryuku were up on their feet in a matter of seconds.
"These guys are fast." Daisuke said, one eye closed in pain, and holding his side.
"I know what you mean. Their attacks are nothing but blurs. I guess that's why these are level S demons."
"Yeah. But don't worry. I've got a plan." Daisuke said with a snicker.
A moment later, three trees had bashed seven demons, slaying them all. Daisuke had thrown a tree at a demon with his Plant elemental powers. Vines had come from the ground and grabbed a demon, casting him into the earth for all eternity. But after a couple of minutes, he was too tired to use his powers.
"You alright?" Ryuku asked.
"This takes a lot of you. You're really not suppose to use more than thirty seconds of your power, but we were in dire need of time."
"Damn. How the hell are we suppose to fight Kagori if we can't even handle this many level S demons."
"Kagori's strong, but I don't think he's that strong."
"Did I hear my name?" Kagori's voice run from the side of the two. The two gasped as they saw him and Moku.
"Kagori?" Daisuke asked. "Came here to finish me off at the time of my weakness?"
"No. I've come for just the opposite, Hiromushu. I've come to help."
"Help?"
"No person is going to destroy but me, or my minions. No puny demon is going to take my kill, I'll make sure of that."
Kagori looked at the demons who had a feeling that this guys wasn't a friend at all, and they all glared at Kagori. Kagori had simply sneered.
"Taste my power." He said as he held out his hand. With a snap of the fingers, a bright purple light shone, and every single demon in the entire area was destroyed. Ryuku and Daisuke were shot back by the waves of energy. When Daisuke slowly sat up, he looked at Kagori.
"How the…"
"How did I grow so strong?" Kagori guessed his question. "I've fused my body and mind with the demon prince, Goro. With my body and half my mind as a tool for his use, I've become as powerful as I would be without a retched curse I have. And my curse has been reduced to only a sixteenth of what it was."
"A curse?"
"A power to reduce my strength daily. But now, it's every two weeks. My power has the ability to grow even stronger."
"So, you mean to tell me the reason you don't finish me off yourself the past couple of months was because of this curse you have?"
"Exactly. But now that I have gotten as strong as needed, I will destroy you."
"Why not now?" Daisuke asked. Not daring, but curious why he wasn't dead yet.
"Now isn't the time, Hiromushu. I'll kill you when the feeling of killing you is the sweetest."
"Kagori, why do you want to kill me anyway?"
"You're a threat, Hiromushu. I can't have you taking my place as strongest in the world."
"What's being the strongest in the world going to do for you anyway? Why can't we be friends. We can be friends, Kagori. But you won't let yourself be close with anybody. You're too cold to get close to anyone."
"To live any other way is to be weak."
"Why do you have to be the strongest? Why is the most important thing in the world to you that you would kill thousands of people just to be the strongest?"
"As different as we may seem, Hiromushu, we drift in the same boat. We have the same drive to kill. You may only kill demons, but you know that in your heart that someday you'll have to kill fellow humans."
"What does this have to do with anything!? You're speaking gibberish! What does this have to do with us being in the same boat!?" Daisuke shouted in frustration.
"We both kill to find out who killed our family members."
Daisuke, struck with shock that he and Kagori really were on the same boat, could say nothing. He sat there, and Kagori, having nothing left to say, had left with the silence leaving a deep impact on Daisuke.
"You alright Daisuke?" Ryuku asked.
"I don't know if I can do it now, Ryuku."
"What are you talking about, Daisuke?"
"I'm not sure if I'm able to kill Kagori."
"What are you talking about? He's evil. He's killed people for his own selfish purposes."
"No, Ryuku. We're not different. I've always wanted to kill the person responsible for my mother's death, whether it was human or demon. At heart, we're not different at all."
And with nothing left to say, Daisuke walked to the school, leaving Ryuku puzzled, and worried about Daisuke, mentally and spiritually.