The complete silence of the night was shattered, as in a flash of superhuman speed, two humanoid figures began an exchange of blows.
"A kunai made of solid flames?"
Striking towards the young girl with a closed fan surrounded by flames, the boy, seeing that it was useless, retreats a few steps backwards, only to open the fan with a flick of his wrist and raise a wall of flames.
Despite having been raised quickly, the wall of flames easily manages to resist the kunai thrown by the red-haired girl.
This doesn't bother her, instead she takes advantage of the opponent's limited field of vision and forms multiple flame shuriken, then throws them to the side.
"Surprised? The same goes for me with you using a fan and not that sword at your waist."
"It's an evil sword, that's why it's sealed... If released, evil would run rampant in this land."
Talking a lot of nonsense, Asahiko makes a 360° turn, managing to move the flames of the barrier to form a dome around him.
"Ohh, so that priestess was taking care of her and you had to seduce her to get her, but then everything changes when you fall in love, causing you to..."
"Hey... Hey, what's your name? Whatever, I'm Asahiko. By the way, you'd be good at writing books... Of a very special kind, actually."
"Karan, my name is Karan."
There was a brief silence, as if they were remembering each other's names. Nothing lasts forever, the same goes for this situation, as in a few moments an arrow heads towards Koran's head.
It was obviously shot by Kikyo, the undisputed archer of the group, though this arrow missed the target. It wasn't because of bad aim or anything, but halfway through it was intercepted by some snowflakes.
"Big sister!"
"It's done, Karan. Now it's time to go!"
The voice of "Big Sister" did not come from any body, but spread from all around, more exactly from the white snowflakes.
"I'll take care of her, find big sister."
"Kikyo, maybe..."
Placing both index fingers in a >< position, Asahiko prepares to make a blushing expression, but Kikyo stops him with only a cold stare.
"Do you have doubts or don't you want me to fight her?"
"My doubts are non-existent and all I really want is your victory, oh great Kikyo!"
Silence, a lot of silence followed Asahiko's extremely exaggerated and shameless words. The only thing clear was the feeling conveyed by Kikyo, Karan and the pile of snow, something along the lines of "Have some shame!".
"Ahem, let's put that aside... And let's get started!"
...Kikyo pov....
Finishing the words of Asahiko, who has been playing for a while with that demon, the surrounding temperature begins to rise sharply.
Quickly the snowflakes are forced to melt, while the air is distorted by the heat, forcing that "Big Sister" to show herself to us.
Asahiko doesn't hesitate and with a quick movement of her feet, she easily disappears from my sight, leaving me alone with this demon called Karan.
"Hehehehe, I guess it's just you and me left, priestess of jealousy."
"Fuck you."
Tapping the ground to open distance between the two of us, she took two arrows and shot the first one, which was blocked by a fire kunai.
That was totally expected, so I quickly shot the second arrow, but not at her, but at the first one.
The second arrow hit the first one, which was much more resistant thanks to being charged with energy. Thanks to this, the second one is forced to change its trajectory, directly sticking Koran's head into the ground.
"That was dangerous. It's okay to be jealous, but not to kill someone over it."
Ignoring the slowly disappearing flaming body, I guide my eyes to where the new words come from.
"An elemental spirit... No, it seems you can control flames at a very high level. But I don't think you can transform your whole body, otherwise you wouldn't have run away."
"Maybe yes, maybe no... Who knows."
Finishing his words, he jumps from the ceiling into the sky and with a flick of his wrist, creates dozens of shuriken with his fire.
These shuriken impact each other, changing and creating new patterns in the air, forcing me to look for more safe space backwards. That wasn't all she did, as she forms two kunai in her hands and launches into melee combat.
Clearly she excels in close combat, as she quickly adapts to my movements and uses her superior speed to close off every possible avenue of escape.
"This is the end, jealous!"
Seeing how she takes advantage of me having my back against the wall, thus attacking from the front, she lifts both my lips and left hand and lets out a continuous flow of positive energy.
It's a crude use of energy what he just did, but quite effective at this point. That much is very clear to me as I watch his backward escape and his little whimpers.
"Do you even feel the burn?"
"Tsk, how mean and that you're a priestess... A very jealous one, but a priestess nonetheless."
"Just die, little demon."
Calmly reloading the bow and bringing it to a full moon position, the atmosphere is filled with tension, but just at that moment a light blue-haired woman appears.
"We're leaving, Karan. There's no point in continuing this fight anymore."
"But... It's okay, sister Toran."
I didn't have time to stop them. Karan formed an extremely hot fireball in her left hand, while the newcomer created a bluish energy in her right hand.
The skin-deep, bone-crushing cold can be felt even here, until a warm hand touches my shoulder and brings my body warmth back. The one who does so is Asahiko, who covered us with a dome of flames.
*Boooom*
An explosion of pressurized white steam shoots out everywhere, covering everything in sight and rocking Asahiko's dome.
"See you later, Asahiko and jealous priestess!"
"Hope to see you again, son of Inu no Taisho!"
Looking for where the voices are coming from, quickly the two of them are overshadowed by Asahiko's hysterical scream.
"That I'm not, you should be looking for those two albinos, not for me who is a poor fox!"
"You have one of their three swords, clearly you are one of their kin."
"That I'm not, I'm not. I am a fox, they are dogs, you just don't get it!"
Asahiko's hysterical screams continue for a few seconds, but there is no longer any response from the cloud of steam.
"Again, it's happening again!"
"What's happening?"
Stopping pulling the string, I slowly lower the bow and put the arrow away again with controlled movements. After that, I look towards Asahiko, who is making circles on the ground.
"Again, again we got into the trouble of those two albino brothers. It was obvious, they are dogs and these cats, it was damn obvious."
"Are you going to keep crying?"
"If you don't mind, yes."
Do I have to cheer him up? But how do you do that, do I just pat him on the back... That worked with Kaede, is he looking at me?"
"You're an idiot."
"Oh, come on. You may be jealous, but not giving me moral support?"
"I wasn't."
The words escape my lips more curtly than expected, I'm not hiding anything, just that the truth should be told clearly. Yes, that's absolutely right.
"Whatever you say, but that in my world is called".
"Keep talking and I'll never cook again."
Dropping that threat, I calmly started walking towards our previous camp.
"But now you must also eat~"
"No need."
Yes, this body despite being the exact copy of a human one, it seems I can control the illusion so I don't have certain... "Weaknesses" of humans, though I never have.
"Oh, but you like it. Such as sunbathing in the afternoons, smelling the flowers or bathing every time we pass a river... Yes, you quite enjoy life as a human."
"So do you, but if you keep talking you're going to have to forget the enjoyment of food."
"Okay, okay, I'll shut up now."
Noticing how he grimaces pitifully with his lips, a small smile breaks through my lips. Even though how long has he been watching me? Besides what is this... Heat, I....
"Stop transmitting heat already."
"What are you saying? I'm not."
"Shut up, Asahiko"
"Ahh... I'm an abused man."
Passing over those words, I let my thoughts roll freely... What thoughts? There's nothing to think about here. It must be because I'm human again, that's why this great confusion.