Chereads / Love Like Hell / Chapter 24 - Chapter 24: Tag Team: Book of the Butterfly

Chapter 24 - Chapter 24: Tag Team: Book of the Butterfly

"Those three need to be destroyed." Hakito said once again as they had eyed Daisuke and his group during lunch. Lately, Daisuke had known about the random staring, and Hakito had wondered what he was thinking at the moment. Hakito was going to stop at nothing to destroy the three. They were a pain, and Kagori would love it. Perhaps Hakito could join forces with Kagori and they could rule the world together.

"We'll fight them in a time that feels good." Po said. "Let's say sometime today."

"Some time today is a good time?" Hakito scoffed. "I don't think so. You'll end up getting killed, I guarantee it."

"I don't care anymore." Lily answered sullenly. "I just want to get my revenge."

"Whoa, there. Don't focus on that too much." Po warned. "It'll throw off your concentration."

"Since when have you known about concentration?" Hakito asked, his tone cold and pull of verbal harm.

"Aw, c'mon. Why are you being so stingy today? Today's the day I kill those three. We should all celebrate!"

"You're a fool." Hakito sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "You can't possibly take them all on alone. Yuri is enough for you."

"Well, for you information, neither of us had used our books when we fought her, and she was already giving it her all. I could easily take them out with the book helping me."

"Then, you think that you'll conquer with an iron fist with a few measly swipes? Doichi and Kitsune had fought with everything they had and they were destroyed by just Daisuke."

"I know, I know, I know. But I have a plan. I simply have to take him out first, and then I can get the other two. With their emotions so mixed up with his death, there's no way they can function properly."

"It may all look good on paper, but your plan is completely filled with loopholes ready to be used against you."

"Fine, fine. If you think it's so important for me not to do this alone, I'll get a partner. How about it, Hakito?"

"I already told you. I'm not going to fight against those three today. It's not a good day. Look at it. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the cafeteria just handed out chocolate cake. The only good thing to do this day is be lazy, or die. And that's just what you're going to do if you even attempt to try and lay a finger on any of them."

"How 'bout it Lily?" Po offered.

"Have you been listening to a word I've been saying!?" Hakito shouted.

"I just want to get this over with." Lily said, her mood not looking up for the better.

"You guys are going to get yourselves killed." Hakito said once again.

"But you forget, Lily and I know each other better than anybody when we fight together. And I have a secret weapon to help us with this. Lily can use per powers to wipe out the other two, but I can easily lure Daisuke."

"How is that?"

"Did you forget my books power already?"

It took Hakito a couple of seconds of thought before he finally realized it. Then his jaw dropped in astonishment. "I can't believe you're going to use such a cheap trick such as that."

"Hey, if it gets us where we want, it gets us where we want." Po said with easy confidence. And then her face had gone from happy to a tad bit sour. "And once again, those pants soooo don't match your–"

"Shut up, and get prepared!" Hakito said, interrupting her before she could leave a remark in his wardrobe.

The two left, and Hakito had seen a difference in something. It was the way Lily had walked. Before, she was loose, not so constricted as she walked. She was easy going, and now she was just… out of it. She wasn't herself. If she was to fight, she was obviously going to get owned, relatively speaking. It didn't matter though. All Hakito had to do was watch out for himself, and verbally warn the others. He'll just sit back and study Daisuke and his friends as those two died in combat. It was an opportunity he wasn't going to miss.

"I don't believe this…" Daisuke said as he looked at his room. Yuri, Yuki, and Ryuku had been with him, and their faces were just as shocked. Four animals had been in Daisuke's room, creating chaos and knocking things over. A ferret, an owl, a beaver, and a small black kitty.

"What the hell is going on?" Yuri yelled at the animals. "You're destroying this room!"

The animals looked at her, and then the owl flew into and landed on her shoulder. A winded, yet fast paced, female voice came out of it.

"Thank goodness you're here, Yuri. I tried to stop Gi and Ku but those two wouldn't stop and then he table knocked over, and I was trying to stop them, and Kai wasn't doing anything about it, and–"

"Who are you?" Yuri asked.

"Don't tell me you forgot. I'm Ryoko, remember? Formally known as Shinobu. I was your Demon 411a while back. I didn't really get a chance to meet you. Hakura had renamed me as Ryoko."

"Oh…" Yuri said remembering. "How're you doing."

"I was doing just fine before these two decided to mess things up."

They're so… similar. Daisuke thought. It's scary. Why doesn't Gi act like me at all?

"And who are you two?" Yuki asked the beaver and the black cat.

"Uh… I'm, uh… Oh, yeah… Ku!" the beaver said dimly. Not a very smart DHA equipment.

"And I am Kai. I belong to you." The black cat said in a cool, deep voice direction his intentions toward Yuki.

"Really?" Yuki said, pleased with what she was being given.

"What?!" Ryuku shouted. "I get the slow one!? Why do I get the stupid one!"

Ryuku looked at Ku, who sat there, his eyes half open in boredom, and simply scratching his butt, followed by a burp.

"Hey, they're said to be the opposite of your personality." Daisuke remembered. "Although the only opposites I see are mine and Ryuku's." Daisuke looked at all the animals, and then looked at the girls. "But it seems like you're guys' matches your personality. I wonder why?"

"Perhaps Hakura had mixed them up?" Yuri offered an idea.

"No." Yuki said in thought. "Hakura does everything for a reason. It's like she infallible. She doesn't know mistakes."

"Well, this is obviously a big one. I mean, how're we suppose to accept these if they're not really meant to us. I just think we should reconsider these gifts."

"You're ungrateful. Hakura obviously did this for some reason. Maybe we can communicate better with it if it seems more like us."

"Hey! I'm not slow or stupid!" Ku shouted, five minutes too late.

"Well, it's obvious that we're going to have to use these." Daisuke said. "As much of a pain Gi is, He's still useful to me. He's my partner, no matter how much money he costs me in repairs, or makes me go out and by more food, or anything like that."

"Thanks." Gi said sarcastically. "That's real positive."

"Well, I still want to know why she gave us these in the first place." Ryuku said with a sigh

"Well, just a nice piece of info like knowing what your enemies weaknesses are, can help you a lot in battle. That's what these little guys are known for."

"How would they know our weakness?"

"I don't know, but it seems that it can indicate pretty much anything. There are a couple of things about humans they very well pick up. But most of the time, they're great having by your side." Daisuke with a thumbs up. Then he turned to Gi. "Is that better? I made you look cool."

"The whole thing was a little bit corny, but I think I'll accept it as a blanket apology."

Suddenly, there was a large aura, and the eight had felt it. They slowly looked at each other, wondering if it was a large demon, or something else. They looked out the window, the direction that the aura came from, and didn't see anything. They searched out onto the early night filled road. All they saw was the usual crowd, and cars.

"It's definitely a person." Yuki said.

"How can you tell?" Yuri asked.

"If it's not a demon, what else can it possibly be?" Kai asked in Yuki's usual stone cold tone when it came to things obvious.

"I agree with Yuki." Ryuku said. "It seems like it's an aura that we've felt before. It must be on of Kagori's goons."

"But who?" Daisuke questioned, more like a statement to get the rest of the group thinking. "That's the real question."

Another wave of an aura hit, but it was slightly different this time. They didn't know how to explain different auras, but you can tell. It was like smelling. You couldn't explain what it smelt like unless you actually smelt it before.

"I know that aura from anywhere." Yuri said in a stern voice. "It's Lily, no doubt. I'm guessing the other one's Hakito. I might be wrong on that."

"Wrong you are." Ryuku said. "It's definitely Po. I know that scent from anywhere."

"Scent? What are you a dog?" Yuri asked.

"It's that awful stench of her perfume."

Everybody took a whiff and noticed he was right. It smelt like heavy paint held right underneath your nose, with mashed peaches in the mix. Not a pretty sight, er, smell.

"If we can smell her, she's obviously close."

"I don't think we should move until we actually know where she is. She's a bit dangerous."

"They both are." Yuri warned. "You guys should know to trust me on this topic. I know how strong these guys are."

"Is that a fact, or are you guessing on that?" They heard a voice in the very midst of Daisuke's room, right behind them. They turned around to see Po, alone, standing next to his door. "And my perfume doesn't reek." She pointed Ryuku.

"I'd like to make a wager on that." Ryuku joked in a serious tone.

"Hello, Yuri." They heard a voice behind them once again, and when they looked at the window, Lily sat on the edge of it, her back against the city, her legs hanging inside.

"Lily." Yuri said with a hard nature. She wasn't going to let them try and use a pity excuse to make her feel bad. She was going to fight the very best she could.

"What are you two doing here?"

"What does it look like?" Po asked. "We're here to take you two out."

"Take us out?" Daisuke cracked a grin. "Do you mean like to the movies, or do you mean Mickey D's?"

"You're kinda cute there Daisuke." Po said in the same manner as Daisuke's joking voice. "Too bad that you're not my type."

"Yeah, it must be a real shame." He grinned even bigger.

"So, are you guys going to continue to flirt, or are we going fight, and get this over with."

"I agree with Yuki." Lily said. "I don't want to be seen with their guts all over the ground."

"Oh, but it's not us who will lose." Gi said.

"That's right, Gi." Daisuke exclaimed with confidence with his new partner by his side. "So, what's her special."

"You know, I'm kinda tired. I don't think I can do the whole… 'detecting' thing at the moment. Wake me up in a couple of hours. Maybe you can hook me up to the electric circuit for a while?"

"What do you mean you're too tired!?" Daisuke shouted. "We're partners! You're suppose to help me in my time of need!?"

"Yeah, but I need some sleep so I can watch my American Po–"

"I don't need to know what you watch at night! Just can you give me their powers?"

"Their weaknesses are up close combat with males." Kai answered, his voice as confused as the sentence had sounded weird.

"Males?" Daisuke asked. "That's… different. But if it'll get us to winning, I guess that's all that matters."

"Perhaps we should take this elsewhere, Daisuke. I think the people might want to buy your room in one piece after we kill your father and you're house is for sale."

"You think I'm going to let that happen so easily?" Daisuke question with cockiness in his tone. It was the first time he had ever sounded cocky since that demon on the roof accident in the beginning. "Where do you suggest we fight, then?"

"The same field that you slayed Doichi in. We'll make sure your blood redeems his death."

"If that's your place of battle, then I say we do this any way you want, because your going down."

The group started to leave, with their Demon 411, but Kai had stayed behind with a confused look on his face. Yuki had stopped, being the last to leave, and looked at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know? I tried detecting those girls once last time, and unlike the other seven times, their weaknesses weren't fighting with males anymore."

"What were they?"

"All I got were question marks (?). I don't understand what it means."

"It means," Yuki said, about to take off as well. "That those two have something up their sleeves when they use their books."

After leaping from building to building for so many seconds, everybody had reached the field and all looked at each other. Group eyed the other group and vice versa. It seemed that Po had been eyeing the boys but not in a sexual sense. Like she was targeting solely them. Lily had seemed like she was going to go after the girls.

"So, are you going to use those cheap-ass books of yours?" Ryuku asked. "Or are we going to have to force you to use them."

"You're not going to want us to use them, I guarantee you that, Ryuku."

"I think I kinda do. I mean, if you're at only eighty percent and I kill you, it's not as fun as hundred percent."

Po frowned as she eye Ryuku with a dirty glare. Ryuku's grin had grown a little, until he had seen the look on Daisuke's face. He, too, was frowning.

"Don't be too cocky, Ryuku. I feel that they might have something up their sleeve. It could cost us our lives if we underestimate them."

"There's not too much to underestimate."

"That's the kind of attitude we need to get out of head. We need to be serious."

"What's wrong? You normally don't talk like this."

"They have something very powerful in those books. They've had them longer than Doichi and Kitsune, and fear, or anger, hasn't sent them over the edge. Rage and confusion weighing down emotions cause blindness and mistakes. That's why I didn't fear those two as much. But these two…" Daisuke left off as he glared at both of them, going from one to the other, slowly. "They're just as confident as us, and they know how to use their book better."

"What he says is true." Lily said, but her emotion didn't seem to change. She seemed dark and gloomy ever since Yuri had left the group. "We also have a team work process with each other. We know each other inside and out."

"There's another one of our weaknesses." Ryuku said bluntly as he sighed. "Are you going to rub it in our noses that you've had more time to do certain stuff, or are you going to actually fight."

"You're going to regret ever crossing paths with us." Po said with a smirk. She gave a glare towards Yuri and Yuki. Daisuke had taken this as a sign of something, and looked at the two.

"Get ready to fight!" he commanded. "We don't know what they'll pull."

Lily and Po had drawn their books, and both chanted those words in Greek and the world had started to go through a purple haze. Everything had seemed to disappear in the haze besides the six of them, and the ground.

"It's time you know what a butterfly and a hawk can do." Po said.

Lily had started to hover over the ground, and Po had sprouted fragile, glass like wings, holding a mid-evening orange glow. Po's wings had waved once, sending a green dust. It surrounded the boys, and only them.

"What is this?" Ryuku asked as he put his hand over his mouth and nose.

"I don't know." Daisuke replied, doing the same thing. "It seems like some sort of butterfly dust from their wings."

"Isn't that for drawing mates?"

"I think I'd heard that some…where…" Daisuke's voice had started to slow down, and become more monotone. Soon, his pupils had failed to give any sign of life, but he still stood. His hands dropped to his side. And the same thing happened to Ryuku.

"What the hell did you do?" Yuri demanded.

"That dust is suppose to draw mates of the opposite sex. Woman now days are dominatrix. Therefore, I control their every movement, and their every thought. They're my slaves that have no mind, heart, or soul."

"So, they basically you puppet?" Yuki asked.

"Not quite." Lily said. "Puppets are from the movement of the master. That would mean he would only be as strong as us. Daisuke is going to attack you as if you were his mother's murderer, with is own supreme strength."

"What?!" Yuri couldn't picture how difficult a fight that was going to be. He knew how he felt about his mother. Did this mean that he was actually not going to hold back this time, and try to destroy them?

"Well," Yuki said with a grin. "I suppose when we asked to him not to hold back the first time we spared this year, we'll see how much he was holding out on us. Get prepared for the worst."

Yuri nodded as she drew spear. A long range, an easier weapon to deflect things, and so on. As much energy it may have used, she was going to use it to defend herself. Yuki had used the usual sword for her defense. Trying something new definitely wasn't something that should be tried at the moment.

Daisuke made a swift pounce toward Yuri, who had back out of the way, and Yuki had dodged an attack by Ryuku. Daisuke had tried attacking Yuri one last time, socking her in the face as she flew a dozen yards before skidding on the ground for several more meters. Yuri got up, and found Daisuke already in front of her. Daisuke socked her once more, and she flew again. Before she could even skid on the ground, Daisuke had been running next to her sailing body, and slammed her down with his fist. He grabbed her legs, and smashed her against a tree, which had broken in half. He used her as a bat to hit the tree away before throwing her father than an outfielder trying to reach home base.

Yuki had pared up with Ryuku, but it wasn't much of a challenge. Ryuku had still been greater than her. Yuki had never thought that she would have to fight the two at any time before. She didn't find a reason to actually try to fight against them in the past, but now that they were in a life or death situation, she was going to have to pull every trick in her small book.

Ryuku had head butted her in the forehead, causing her head to flew back, and he got a clean hit on her as she flew. She stood, about to attack him, but the tree that Daisuke had used Yuri as a bat had smashed into her at a hundred and fifty kilometers an hour. When the tree and Yuki had fallen, Yuki had smashed through the burials of the broken tree and pulled herself up from it.

"Dammit." She said to herself. "Those two have been holding out a lot more than I was hoping for. I knew that they had been holding out on us, but I didn't think they would be holding out that much."

"Feeling weak already?" Po asked. "We haven't even laid a finger on you. Your own friends are going to be the ones to destroy you, and there's nothing you can do about it." she laughed an annoying high pitched laughter of a snooty rich girl. That sound had ticked Yuki more than anything.

"You think that these two idiots are going to stop me from tearing you shreds? Friends or not, I'll destroy them to get to you. As long as its your laughter that goes to your grave along with you, that's my main goal."

"Are you saying that you'd do anything you can to destroy me?" Po asked with a grin. Something was obviously up her sleeve.

"What are you plotting now?" Yuki asked.

"Imagine what Daisuke would say if he heard you say those words right now. I don't think he would be very pleased."

"Who cares? He can't here me at the moment any way, right?"

"Oh, but on the contrary. He can hear and feel everything that goes on. His will of power is gone, but he can very well still feel and hear everything that we're doing. The pain that you inflict on him is the very thing that he feels."

Yuri scoffed as if it was a bluff.

"You think that you can scare me with that little threat of yours?" she asked. "IF Daisuke wanted me to make sure the whole earth was okay, he wouldn't mind me sacrificing his life."

"But that's where the catch is, Yuki." Po's grin had grown with every time she spoke. "You can't do it, can you? You can't sacrifice his life. It's too valuable."

"What do you know?" Yuki taunted.

"He's the person who's going to save the world. He's the only one who can do it. He's surpassed you, and there's no way that Yuri can pull off something so large. Ryuku might be able to do it, but you guys might have to kill him off as well. And if you don't kill those two, and if they end up killing you, the whole world will go down in flames by those two as wanted people."

"You…" Yuki said, still angered in what she was hearing. She was giving Yuki two choices: kill Daisuke and try to save the world herself and fail, or die and have Daisuke destroy the world.

Yuki, in an abundance of anger, sprinted towards Po, but Ryuku had stepped in the way, and swung a blow at her. Yuki had kicked Ryuku in the gut, and slammed both fists on his shoulders, but his body didn't go down. It had stayed the same, and then risen, as if the slam had done nothing to him. He had hit her, and she had gone flying again.

Yuri had tried dodging all of Daisuke's attacks. She didn't want to get hit, but she didn't want to hurt him either. It was a difficult choice in what she wanted to do as they fought. Their weapons had clanked together, and with Yuri having a spear, she could keep a good distance away from him. But with Daisuke's skill under a spell, it was hard to just try and read his moves. Daisuke slashed one of Yuri's shoulders, and when her guard was down, he had picked her in the chest, making her fall back. She bled, and a lot at that. It seemed that he hit a course of veins, and she was bleeding quickly. But Yuri had covered with her hand, and when she moved it, her wound was gone. Not the attack that Yuki had used with the marble, but it was just gone.

"Since when have you known healing arts?" Lily asked. She had trained with Yuri and never once had Yuri pulled out the healing arts.

"I've had them for a while after I left you guys. They're really useful for adrenalin and not worrying about pain anymore."

"You think you can use all those powers and not manage to weak sooner or later? Daisuke is going to destroy you, and there's nothing you can possibly do about it."

Yuki dodged more of Ryuku's attacks around Po, who had still taunted her from afar. She was enjoying the whole show. Yuki was getting pissed with every other word that she spoke. But, even in the midst of the entire invasion of Ryuku, Yuki had a plan, and hopefully Yuri remembered it as well. It was a cheap way in winning up it was going to have to work.

Ryuku swung, barely missing Yuki's face, and when he swung again, Yuki grabbed Ryuku's wrist, and threw him as far as she could. When he landed with a thud, and started to get back up, Yuki's attention went directly to Po.

"You are you so dead." Yuki said with a grin. Yuki grabbed that air, as if she held something in her hand. Po didn't see anything, but when Yuki tugged with her arm, Po's body had been forced to go at a 45 degree angle in the air, and her legs spread out, making her look like an X.

"What the hell!?" Po asked.

"Well, you wanted to do a little puppetry. So, I thought it would be nice to give you a demonstration on how people feel when they're tied up against their own willed and used against them. But before we show that…" Yuki walked over to Po and took her book from her, slashing it in half. When the book exploded into small sparks, Po's entire body had imploded, the skin sinking into the body, making her into a skeleton in a matter of seconds. Her structure fell, and all that remained had been bones and her clothes.

Ryuku, who was about to attack Yuki from behind had slowly stopped at his doing. Then, his sword had disappeared, and he rubbed his head.

"Gah… I hated that. I can't believe I was controlled by that brat!" he said as he pointed at her bones. "How did that happen anywho?"

"It seems that the books are connected to the soul. When it's destroyed, it becomes angered and destroys the body that it had entwined with."

"Sounds kind of scary." Ryuku said with a large, "Ew" kind of frown.

"Now…" Yuki said. "You sit there like a good little girl while we take care of your partner." A way of joking at the corpse.

Yuri had seen Daisuke slow to a stop as well, and his eyes started to gain life in them. He, too, shook his head and wondered what happened.

"Are you all right?" Yuri asked.

"Yeah, but the question should be: are you? I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do any of that stuff, and when I attacked you, I–"

"It's alright." Yuri said gently. "I'm okay." There was something different about her eyes. Something… beautiful. Daisuke couldn't describe it at the moment. It was the first time that he had actually seen Yuri like that since before he had went to America with Kyutaka to train. But now wasn't that time to think about these kinds of things. They had a fight to win.

"Who are we attacking first?" Daisuke asked Yuri, but he heard Ryukyu's voice from behind.

"I think we should go with the other little turd. She still has her book, and we might as take out the harder one first." He said with his hands in his pocket, and an annoyed look on his face.

"I agree. Plus, I think you guys should get your revenge for getting used." Yuki said.

"You're giving us a fight? Don't you usually want to throw down a little?"

"I've thrown down far too much when just trying to defend myself from you two. I think you deserve to kick some more ass."

"Well, if you really think so." Daisuke said, and at the same time, him and Ryuku had drawn their swords. "You ready Ryuku? I don't think that Lily's power is going to be as easy as taking over us."

"I think I can handle a little play time. What are we playing this time, person with most hits on the same target gets the other to pay for a soda."

"Are you saying that my life is worth nothing more than a soda?"

"Of course not. You're worth a lot more. Don't you agree Daisuke? I'd say about… five sodas, but we don't have that kind of cash."

"You fools…" Lily said in anger. "You think that you can defeat me so easily? I'll show you the power of our strength of the book."

Lily had taken out her book, and once again, she had started floating, and her hands had started to glow a purplish color. She looked at the two, and gave a look that made a demon look happy. She charged, still hovering above the ground, perfectly parallel. She had made it quick enough to sock Ryuku in the stomach and have him flew a few yard before flipping at the last second, and sliding on his feet. She had come back for Daisuke, who had quickly moved out of the way as she flew back towards him. But when she turned around, still floating the opposite way as Daisuke (basically: backwards), she shot two purple fireballs into his body, exploding and sending flying and sliding the same way Ryuku had.

"What kind of animal does she have?!" Ryuku shouted. "I don't know of any animals that can shoot out fireballs of death into your face!"

"Can't you see?" Daisuke asked calmly. "She's a hawk. Those fireballs… they're her talons."

"How are talons shaped as ball?"

"Sure, that's how it may have looked at a speedy pace, but if you look at them closely, they look like claws. Look at your clothes…" Daisuke said, pointing to his shirt. Ryuku looked down to see three tears, as if they were made by claw, or talons in this case. "See? And plus, she can read out movements by a second."

"What do you mean?"

"I was going to go left, but she aimed there before I had even moved a muscle."

"How can she know?"

"She has good 'eyesight'. So good, she can read out movements moments before we actually start them. I'd say about two seconds in advance. It's enough to move out of the way."

"So, it's mind reading?"

"More like she can process everything at a good rate. With how good her eyes are, I wouldn't be surprised if she could see things in slow motion for s few seconds if needed."

"How did you know?" Lily asked.

"Call me observant, or just a freak, but I can tell when things like this happen. I've been able to do so for a quite some time now."

"Still…" Lily said. "You won't be able to stop me with such slow movements."

Lily had darted towards the two, and Daisuke was about to strike at a time, but she quickly retaliated, hitting him in the face. He was sent flying, wondering how he didn't see a fist like that come from nowhere. Ryuku had quickly gone after her, and they had clashed swords for a small while but then she had somehow made it behind him. But before she could even do anything, Daisuke had darted out before the slash, and tackled Ryuku to the ground. But as the two had been on the ground, there was no way to protect themselves. They were screwed.

Lily had cocked her arm, and brought her wrath upon them. There was the sound of slashing of skin, and blood had been spilled on the floor. But when Daisuke looked around, it hadn't been his nor Ryuku's. It had hadn't even been Lily's. There, in front of Lily and her blade, stood Yuki. Her stomach slashed, and she fell back, just as Daisuke caught her.

"Yuki…?" He whispered to her. "Why?"

"It was… nothing." She gasped hoarsely. "You know I couldn't have you getting hurt Daisuke. You're always going around, doing stupid things, getting your smart ass in trouble. I couldn't bare to see you get hurt."

"Yuki…?" he whispered again. Her blood had spilled from her side to the ground. Tears had formed in Daisuke's eyes. "You can't leave us."

"That's not important right now… Daisuke." She smiled, trying to make the whole situation seem like it was a minor injury. But as she gently brushed her fingers against his cheek, she closed her eyes, and her fingers fell.

"Yuki…? Yuki?" Daisuke's voice became panicked. He shook her a little, trying to make sure she just didn't fall asleep. "C'mon, wake up." His voice cracked as he spoke. "C'mon, this isn't funny."

"She's gone, dude." Ryuku said as he slowly got up. He glared at Lily who's face was just as shocked as Daisuke. "So, you mean to tell me that you didn't know she was coming?" Ryuku asked her. "You can tell when we're about to do something. You couldn't tell when somebody was coming up?"

"I didn't mean to… I mean, I saw her, but I didn't think I'd…"

"You just killed another human being. How does that make you feel?"

"I…"

"Just a normal young girl. She wasn't even part of this fight, and you killed her. Innocent blood is poured on this ground. Do you feel accomplished? Is that what you had planned when you joined Kagori?"

"No, I–"

There was a pause. Lily didn't bother looking at Ryuku in the eyes. There was something far too harmful about them. When he spoke to her, he had drawn every painful feeling she could feel for harming somebody outside her target, even if she was her enemy.

"You fool…" Ryuku grinned, he even laughed a little.

"What?" she asked.

She looked down at Yuki, who was sitting up, a grin on her face. When she saw why she was smiling, it was too late to move. A marble had been thrown, and just a few millimeters away from Lily. Yuki had played that "Cut-n-Paste" attack. When the marble had touched Lily, it had made contact with her throat, and her throat exploded open as she fell to the ground, dead.

"Whew." Ryuku said. "I didn't think she might fall for that." He said with a forced laugh.

"Well, we played our parts well." Daisuke said. "I'm thinking we should all take Drama next year."

"That was well played out, Daisuke." Yuki said, patting him on the shoulder.

"It wasn't me." Daisuke said, holding his hands out, trying to get her to understand that he had nothing to do with it. "It as all Yuri's idea."

"Yuri, huh?" Ryuku asked. "Didn't think you had it in you to be a sneak like that. You came up with the whole play?"

"Yep." She said with a smile. "I learned that Lily had it for feeling sorry for anything that was an accident. I still couldn't believe that she forgot about your attack, even though we had showed her the other night."

"Well, what are we going to do with these?" Ryuku asked as he pointed at the dead. "I mean, are we going to let the police find them, or what?"

"I don't think the police will find a trace of our evidence on it."

"Why not?" Yuri asked.

"Well, the books let the person who wins off the hook. It's like it tries to keep everything under wraps for the winner about the fight. That's something I don't like about the books. It's like they have a soul or something like that."

"I know what you mean." Ryuku said, and he looked up at the sky. There, he noticed something. "Hey guys, does the moon look a little different to you?"

"Yeah." Yuri said. "It's a little red."

"A light blood red." Yuki pointed out.

"I don't like this." Daisuke said. "I don't like how this sounds at all."

"What do you think this means?" Yuri asked.

"I can't exactly remember," Daisuke replied. "But all I remember is hearing that a blood red moon, no matter how faint it is, is a sign of pure destruction. The problem is, we don't know where, when, or who it's going to occur to. It could have already happened, going to happen, or won't happen for a while. That's the whole problem with everything with these readings."

"Well," Ryuku said. "Whatever it is, I don't like it. I don't like it one bit."

As the four had looked into the night moon, they had no idea how close danger was gaining up on them. Not too far in the future, were certain things about to happen. Things nobody could have guessed would have happened.