The moment the attack made contact with him, Rikuo felt his whole world explode away into millions of tiny sparkles of light. All around him, they swirled, then fell into place one by one to build a place far different than the one he had just been standing in, like a puzzle with endless pieces.
Within seconds, he was standing in the middle of a deserted alley. It wasn't a place he recognized and there wasn't really much to see in the dark of the night. He tried to summon Ruhia but whatever brought him here, had blocked off his access to his reiki and something in him told him that opening his reiki gateway won't do him any good anyway.
While he wasn't able to see, his ears picked up hushed whispers of someone talking. Cautiously, Rikuo took a step towards the direction of the sound. The voice got louder the closer he got until he was standing close enough to hear clearly.
"Think you can stop me? Don't make me laugh! What can a normal person like you do anyway?" Someone sneered rather venomously.
The blond teen gulped, hoping he wouldn't be caught just yet, he strained to continue eavesdropping.
"Maybe not me, but-cough!!!- but they will definitely stop you." This time, the second person sounded vaguely familiar yet he couldn't place just where he had heard the voice.
There was a snort.
"Yeah, right. I'm leaving. Do me a favor and shoot yourself, mortal." Sound of footsteps echoed through the alley as the first person presumably left.
"JUST WAIT! THEY WILL STOP YOU! R-"
BANG!!!!
A loud bang of gunshot filled his mind and Rikuo heaved in horror. Whoever that was just shot themselves! He had to help them- Rikuo had to call-
Before he could even move, a rough hand grasped the teen's wrist, pulling him around to face the manic grin of the onryo as it reached for him with its other hand. The scenery around him once again bled away like sequence turning, leaving him back in the meidou domain.
Rikuo stood there, unable to lift a muscle as the onryo's skin started to bubble and bloat into an ugly red color. Then it exploded right into his face.
"GAH!!!"
The blonde boy moved to shield himself from the explosion, knowing he wouldn't survive. He vaguely felt like he heard someone call him and he was back. This time, truly back on the battlefield in all senses of the word.
He wasn't given any chance to recover however, as he was sent flying back from the onryo's kick. Officer Asahi who had reached towards him, used himself to cushion the boy's fall. They skidded off the floor before finally hitting the wall.
Asahi groaned, hacking on his own blood. Unlike Rikuo or even Shuuji, the policeman was a normal human who didn't have reiki enhance himself, so the fight took a lot of toll on him.
"Cough! Ugh-"
The sound of Asahi coughing was enough to snap Rikuo out of his haze and the blond boy hastened to get off and treat the officer.
He reached inward to pull his reiki out but before he could manage it, the teen was assaulted in the face by feathers.
"RUHIA! STOP! I HAVE TO HEA-"
Rikuo yelped, trying in vain to wrestle and get his familiar to stop slapping him with her wings. Ruhia shrieked, attacking her partner to hopefully beat the stupidity out of him.
Had the child succeeded, he would have killed himself! Their reiki was already running dangerously low, though she understood his feelings, Ruhia did not fancy dying just yet.
"RIKU! OFFICER ASAHI!!"
Hearing Shuuji, both the owner and the bird stopped to look towards them. The dark haired boy was rapidly approaching them, followed by Officer Kunichi who seemed slightly out of breath.
Rikuo's face brightened at the sight of his friend, before turning somber once again.
"Shuu! It's Officer Asahi, please help him! I would but Ruhia won't let me-" he started to ramble, in time for the other teen to come kneel by them.
"You should listen to Ruhia, Riku. You're running low aren't you?" the cool headed teen asked, his blue eyes demanding nothing but the truth.
"Yes but-"
"No buts! I'll heal him, I still have enough to at least get him out of danger." With that, Shuuji started working on Asahi, who seemed to slip in and out of consciousness, his hands glowing gentle blue.
"Oh god…" Kunichi panted as he finally reached them. "Kid, is he okay?"
"He… He will be."
"Thank god. Now about that monster, it stopped moving." The round man commented, pointing up towards the onryo who stood on the air, watching. Rikuo frowned.
"Do you think it's waiting for us to attack first?" He asked, unsure. Kunichi shook his head.
"I dunno kid. I-"
Suddenly, the onryo's head started to shift, tilting and sniffing the air before an unsettling grin stretched out on its face. It started chittering, letting out excited giggle-like sounds.
"Hehehe~..."
"BANG!!!"
"VHOME! CHOME!" The same unsettling, yet word-like sound echoed the entire room as the banging sound increased.
"BANG!BANG!!"
The wall behind them vibrated from the force of whatever was hitting it from the otherside. Kunichi cursed, realizing what was about to happen.
"EVERYONE DUCK!" The round officer yelled, pulling Rikuo down just in time to see the well behind the fly off towards the opposite end of the hall.
The group of four (minus Asahi) coughed, waving their hands to clear out the dust and the rubble. Footsteps of someone slowly coming near drew their attention back to the hole where the wall used to be.
From there, someone emerged and ever since the fight started, hope to survive graced their hearts at last. Grinning from ear to ear as well as from surprise the teens shouted.
"Teacher!!!"
Indeed, there, wearing a pink shirt with a cartoonish kitten drawn on it paired with baby blue pajama pants and a truly horrifying pair of red crocs over green socks, Irina stood.
Raising darwishi up in the air, said "Teacher" grinned like the devil, himself.
"Hey stupid students! Am I late?"