"ARIYAMA!"
The distant scream made Ariyama jump, and he was on his feet instantly. The swift movement made him momentarily light-headed, and by the time he shook the blurriness off, he looked up and saw Genichirou limping towards him, stopping on the opposite side of the hole in the floor. Through the blue mist that still wafted through the whole school and gave it an atmospheric feeling, Ariyama saw Genichirou with his one untouched eye, glaring, with a deep scarlet-pink iris, at him.
If he wasn't planning on killing him before, he for sure was now.
In that moment of stillness, where nothing was moving except for the shifting mist, Ariyama took the opportunity to voice his previous question.
"Why… What do you even get from this? I thought… I thought we were friends! Why are you doing this? Why are you sneaking around the school at night? What–"
He cursed as he avoided a knife that shot for him. He looked back at Genichirou with a look that expressed his hurt.
Genichirou, on the other hand, had his teeth clenched and looked about ready to explode.
"You shut your FUCKING mouth! I'm going to kill the hell out of you, and right now, I'm gonna enjoy the shit out of it. So, quit trying to figure out 'why', and focus on not dying, you sack of–"
Genichirou's eye widened as he dodged out of the way of a cut of blazing heat that came from Ariyama's blade. The one strike, which drew from the power of the Pilgrim within him, drained Ariyama more than he'd like to admit, but he stood defiant.
"You should heed your own words, Genichirou. Come on, then…"
The blonde smirked, and that smirk turned to a cackling laugh. Then, he took a step back, and leapt over the five-meter-wide hole in one jump.
Ariyama shifted back, Genichirou slamming down on the spot he was just standing on. The blonde's ruined face gazed up at him, before he darted forwards, knives hovering up above him.
Dammit, was he ever going to quit? Probably not.
Ariyama knew he wasn't going to cease his efforts till he buried him.
And if Ariyama wanted to protect Kazura, like he had been planning on doing the whole time, it might come to the situation where he had to do the same to Genichirou.
As the two clashed, both extremely lacking in finesse and skill with their attacks due to their injuries, Ariyama pondered the question. Would he be willing to take a life to save Kazura?
No, was he ready now to take a life?
When he had first survived the Shrine, he didn't think he deserved to live instead of the others. But now, if he was going to fulfill his promise and protect the friends he had left, no matter what, then he'd have to be ready to do it.
"Don't think about anything other than this fight right now!"
Genichirou yelled, having must have seen Ariyama's face and recognized his internal conflict. But then again, he was right. One wrong move on Ariyama's part and he'd be a pincushion of knives before he could even draw a breath. When he had attacked Genichirou with Matsune at his side, they were able to work together and overwhelm it with some semblance of easiness. Now, however, Ariyama was sweating, bloodied, tired, sick and many more things. He had half the mind to just quit. To just lower his sword and let one of Genichirou's knives pierce his throat.
That'd end his suffering without worry, and only a little more pain.
It would be… so… easy…
No.
It couldn't go out like that; like a wuss. If he died, that meant Kazura died. Then, once she returned, Matsune would have no way of knowing the culprit was actually Genichirou. So, everything settled on Ariyama keeping himself alive and holding out for as long as he could.
Because Matsune wasn't coming
No one was coming to help.
So he needed to step up and do the protecting on his own for once. He wouldn't let this bastard touch his friends ever again. Ariyama thought back to the scene of Kazura bleeding badly from her wound, weakly calling out his name. He thought further back an image of Kazura as a child, looking so much more innocent and even more cheeky.
If he died, that girl would be dead.
And Matsune would probably never get over another two deaths on her conscience.
Ariyama blew out a breath as he knocked away a glinting knife and stared at Genichirou with deadly glare. He let the anger that had been building up in him since that night out in a wave of crashing emotions, feeling his veins flow with lava, an annoying itch in the back of his brain growing into an invisible hand that grasped his whole skull and poured every ounce of anger into his thoughts. He needed to use everything he had to protect them. All of them.
It was a miracle that Genichirou seemed inexperienced enough that Ariyama, who only started his training two weeks prior, could keep up.
Now, for Ariyama to actually beat him, he'd need nothing short of a blessing.
Genichirou held two knives in his hands and stabbed at Ariyama, who brought up his sword and blocked the strike. As their blades struggled against each other for a moment, Ariyama spoke.
"I'm taking you down. You're about to pay for what you did to Machi!"
At that, Genichirou giggled maniacally. The blood was still running down his face from his ruined eye, and it seemed to be starting to affect his brain.
"That's cute, Saato-kun. Hey, you're gonna take me down, yeah? I'm gonna pay for what I did to that bitch? Well, can you protect her, even now?"
Genichirou ducked his head and dove past Ariyama, throwing a knife at him. Ariyama gripped the sword in his bleeding hands and smashed the knife away, then screamed as he realized what Genichirou was doing.
He had to get there before.
No, it would be too much to block.
But if he didnt, Kazura…
Genichirou snarled ferally as he pointed his Enchanted Tool and launched a dozen knives right at Kazura, who was still semi-conscious, sitting against the dented lockers. Ariyama yelled in protest and moved past Genichirou, using his previous technique of overflowing the water in his legs to burst out, but even still, he knew he couldn't reach Kazura, turn to face the onslaught, and knock all twelve blades away.
No. No, please.
After everything he said…
He still wasn't going to let it happen.
HE WASN'T GOING TO LET IT HAPPEN!!
Even if it killed him…
Ariyama raced across the cracked floor, his feet burning with tears in his shoes. He got there. He got in front of Kazura. He saw up-close that she was actually rousing from her unconsciousness. He would've preferred she didn't see this. But that didn't matter.
He turned.
The wave of knives came from him.
Kazura must have fully awoken, as he heard her cry out his name in alarm.
That was OK.
Everything would be OK.
You fool! You'll die! Let me take control again, even just for a second. I can save you and the girl, and heal your wounds again–
"No."
What…?
"This is my fight. So piss off, cause I'm gonna kill this bastard myself."
Ariyama swung his sword – on his own, with just the remaining strength he had in him –and hit maybe two or three knives, redirecting them to stab into the floor or the wall, while the remainder of them pierced his body relentlessly.