Andromeda

The blowing fields of grass and flowers covered the entire neighborhood dropping people suddenly from their homes into a bizarre unsettling new reality while still feeling a warmth that comforted them knowing that they were safe. In the stark night sky morning clouds appeared painting over the moon and shining dawn over the field. Glowing armor stood off against blood soaked crimson waiting for a move. The massive sword held out with ease gleamed in the light eager to be swung.

Yuki’s exposed face narrowed fighting emotions of anger and rage while barely being held back by the thin threads of reason. However, there was no time for reason with his family lying in the grass bleeding out. He could not wait any longer. He had to give in. Yuki screamed out loud charging forward with his sword held back preparing to swing. “This ends now!”

Chapter 10 – Screaming Awake

The gigantic sword was released while he was still running forward swinging down at the assassin with surprising force. In a flash it was over and the assassin stumbled backwards staring at his gauntlets and forward. It had gone through his blood shield that had managed to summon from what little field control he had left. After that he had even shattered his shield gauntlets. The metal of the guards fell to the ground dully in the grass fading out of sight in the tall plants. ‘He’s completely overpowered me. So this is the power…’

The assassin barely summoned up a sword in time for the next assault, but it shattered to pieces taken over by the sheer power pouring out of Yuki. He had no room for control, but his own body. Yet that was not going to be enough for him. The sword came in for a third strike and he had nothing left to defend himself. He brought up his bare arms as the sword sliced up his chest and forearms spraying blood across his face. The assassin staggered backwards his arms at his side unable to lift them with his blood dripping quickly down his skin. The little control over his own body evaporated revealing the same military uniform that the last assassin had, but with a blue strip in the white cloth across the chest.

Yuki stepped forward hanging the huge sword over his shoulder. “D-Die…” he said breathing heavily as he began to move his other hand to the hilt of the sword. This man would suffer for hurting his family and he was the one that could do it. He nodded to himself as he had spoken to confirm that he was correct. ‘He must die…he must…Die!’ Yuki heaved the sword up bringing it over his head to swing down at the helpless man. He was justified. This was the right thing to do.

The sword began to move while Yuki recited in his head the choice that had be made. His rage shouted violently in anger bringing the sword down with greater strength. This had to be done or else he would only come back again. It had to end here. He was certain of this. ‘Yuki!’ The sudden voice in his head jerked his hand opening his eyes to what was truly happening. However, the sword was already in motion and could not be stopped. The shining blade cleaved through hitting the firm ground behind coming to a stop.

“Huh?” the assassin said in shock to having been spared by the kid. He stepped back not certain what this meant for him.

Yuki tilted his head up to the sky with his eyes pulled back in pain. ‘Mother?’ He let go of the hilt of the sword staring down at his blood stained hands almost choking on the thought that he had nearly killed someone. ‘I-I almost…I let it…control me…’ His hands tightened up as he realized how close he came to the edge. Yuki dropped to his knee falling between the tall blades of grass watching the blood drip down his arms crawling in horror at the sight.

Before Yuki’s eyes a sword pierced through the back of the assassin and out the front releasing blood into the air as the final breaths of the man escaped his lips. He collapsed to the ground disappearing in the plant life when the sword was extracted. Standing over him was Ayumi with the cold dead expression on her face holding the sword thickly coated in the assassin’s blood. “Why did you hesitate?”

“What? Y-You killed him!” Yuki stood up finding his strength again and grabbed Ayumi by her yukata of her transformed appearance. “You killed him! He’s dead! You understand what that means?”

“Do you understand?” Ayumi stared back at him unaffected by him holding her or his passions about life. “He was going to kill your family and then you. He didn’t show you mercy. Don’t show him any or you’ll die. I’m a soldier. It is my job to kill the enemies.” She pulled his hands free of him pushing him back from her a short distance.

He turned his head away seeing the images of Momoko bleeding and in pain crying out to him. Jun and Ken were crawling soaked in blood reaching out imploring to be saved. Yuki clamped his eyes shut trying to get rid of the thoughts that were conflicting with him. “I know what he was doing, but I-I…I can’t…”

Ayumi grabbed Yuki up this time pulling him in towards her. “Listen! This is life and death. There is no middle ground!”

Yuki turned his head away from her not wanting to look at her. He could not accept her words as truth. He still could not believe how close he had come actually murdering someone. The thought hung in his mind unwilling to be forgotten or ignored. He could not close it out. “I-I…”

“You know I’m dying here right?” Momoko said suddenly entering their argument showing her bloodied face between the two of them. She had accented it with a horrific expression of death that made both Ayumi and Yuki leap back and yelp in surprise. Momoko collapsed to the ground soon afterwards bringing Yuki’s attention back to his family.

“Momoko!” Yuki screamed as he grabbed her up out of the grass. He looked back at Ayumi pleading for help from her. “Ayumi you got to help them!”

“Bring your brothers over here. I’ll tend to them after her.” Ayumi knelt down having already been prepared for this and started immediately. Yuki ran around the field searching for his brothers and carrying the back feeling the heavy weight that was not their body, but something else. He dropped down next to Momoko when he was finished staring at her. Yuki watched in wondered at the skills that Ayumi had thinking that this had to be how it was when she had healed him at school. She worked quietly getting through all of his family in a few minutes. They slowly were coming around, but Momoko was the first one to wake up.

“Yuki?” said Momoko weakly as he helped her to sit up. She looked around trying to take in her surroundings not remember there being grass for their home. Everything that happened was slowly coming back to her and she checked her body seeing the blood and holes, but no wounds. “How? What’s going on Yuki?”

“Ayumi healed you.” He pointed to the girl sitting next to him. She had gone back into her school persona looking innocent and devoid of the serious sharp expression from before. It made him do a double take just to make sure he was seeing what he thought he had.

Ayumi bowed politely to Momoko having changed back into the white and pink dress that she had been wearing before this had all started. She had dropped all of her field after she had finished. “Nice to meet you, Miss Hayashi!”

Momoko became flustered feeling as though she had forgotten her manners. She quickly lowered her head in respect back to the new girl still feeling lost by everything that was happening. “Y-Yeah…you healed me?” she said not certain what Yuki meant when he had said it.

“Oh Yuki is simply exaggerating. I just did a little first aid.” She elbowed Yuki in the rib while she smiling and laughed to try to smooth things over. “Are you feeling better?”

Momoko looked around again touching the flowers that were surrounding her trying to check to see if it was real. The flowers swayed and were soft to her touch. When the wind blew through they all bent over and back. “Hmm? Oh yeah…I thought it was a lot worse. What’s with all of these flowers?”

“Oh?!” Ayumi said jumping up in surprise as though she had just remembered something that she forgot to get. “Just someone’s imagination going crazy.” She waved her hands around trying to deny what she was seeing and forcibly whacked Yuki in the head during her excitement. Yuki’s eyes grew big for a moment and then glazed over as the field of grass evaporated into the brick, cement and wood of their house. The armor on Yuki and the sword faded away returning them all to their living room with their house completely unaffected. “Oh my! Yuki! Are you alright?”

“Yuki?” Momoko said joining Ayumi to lean over him and lift him back up.

When Yuki finally returned back to the realm of the living he pulled himself up from the couch in the living room to the sound of his sister laughing with someone else. The someone else happened to be Ayumi who rushed over to his side looking apologetic. He rubbed his head trying to figure out what had happened and why his house was back to normal. “I’m sorry, Yuki!”

“Huh? What’s going on? Why am I on the couch and why is our house-“

Ayumi immediately jumped on to the couched shaking Yuki a little and interrupting him sharply as she pulled up his hands apologizing further. “I’m sorry, Yuki! I got a little excited. Hope you aren’t hurt.”

“Huh? I’m confused. What happened?” Yuki continued scratch his head until he suddenly felt a bump and a dull pain when he touched it. “Hey, you hit me!” The moment that it happened came back to him as though attached to the pain. He jumped up grabbing her by the upper arms annoyed.

“I’m so sorry!” Ayumi said starting to cry holding her hands up against her chest while Yuki frightened her. “I’m so sorry, Yuki!”

Suddenly from behind Ayumi a long wooden stick grew over her and whacked Yuki in the head making him drop her to hold his head. “Hey! Yuki stop scaring our guest!”

“Guest?! What? But she…” Momoko slapped Yuki again with the stick before he relented and sat back down on the couch tending to his new bumps that accompanied his old one. Ayumi rushed back over to the opposite side of the table in the living room sitting back down next to Momoko. Once he was satisfied with his new injures he met the two of them with his eyes wanting answers now. “So what have you been doing, sis?”

“I’ve been getting to know your friend here. She tells me that she transferred into your school today and is living up the block in the old Kitayama house. We’ve just been talking about this and that.” The two smiled between each other as though they had become the best of friends in the short amount of time that he had been unconscious. “I decided to let her stay for dinner. She just moved in so I figured that she probably didn’t have much at home.”

“Wha-wha-what?!”

“What are you getting all worked up about?” Momoko stood up walking out of the room into the kitchen where she had restarted their dinner. It had been burned from the disruption that happened earlier.

Ayumi turned around on the couch not wanting to impose herself on her hosts. “You sure there’s nothing I can help you?”

“You’re our guest. I can’t make our guest work. I wouldn’t be a very good hostess would I?”

“What about work?” Yuki said narrowly changing the subject and hoping to get his sister out of the house. He had fortunately not seen Ken and Jun yet, but he was afraid of when they would show up to cause him more troubles.

Momoko turned her head not leaving the oven to shout back to Yuki. “I called them and told them that I would be running a little late due to a family emergency. It’s so heartwarming to know that you worry about me and our finances.”

“I didn’t say that!” Yuki crossed his armed already getting tired from dealing with his sister. Only his family knew all of the buttons to push on him to get into a sour mood so easily. “So what’s really going on?” he said quietly to Ayumi across the table as he leaned in.

Ayumi kept her innocent features, but deepened her voice a little returning part of her back to her other self. “Wrapping up loose ends.”

He looked around the house trying to figure out what she meant by those words. The entire house was normal from what he could see. There was not a single sign that there had even been a fight here let alone that their house had been filled with blood and destroyed. He did not understand how she could rebuild their house so effortlessly. “Where’s the body and blood?”

“I’m hiding them in my field while slowly cleaning it up. When I leave the work will be done and they won’t even know the difference. It might even be cleaner than before.”

Yuki was amazed at what Ayumi was able to do. She had such control over her powers and could do so many things with them. All he had been able to do was make things that killed. He turned his head away from Ayumi feeling the heavy weight of the images from what happened coming back to him. However, the pain of sorrow did not last long when he felt a real heavy weight on his leg. Yuki looked down to see Ken grinning up at him. Ken quickly jumped off of him and landed in the other couch next to Ayumi who leapt back in surprise. “Ken! You’re scaring her…” Yuki paused as he was speaking realizing how he was so easily drawn into Ayumi’s façade like everyone else.

“Hey, Yuki is she your girlfriend?” he said leaning in staring at Ayumi intently. His head tilted around as he watched her as though he was trying to find something on her.

Yuki had been reaching for Ken, but nearly collapsed to the coffee table when he spoke. It was the most random and yet piercing question that made Yuki hesitate. “No! She’s just a friend from school. Now leave her alone.” He managed to recover himself and pulled Ken back dropping him into the chair adjacent to them. Yuki fought with Ken when he suddenly felt yet another weight on his free arm. “Jun…” he said looking back at his little brother mutely holding on to him.

Ayumi had pulled herself back together after Ken’s intrusion and caught her eye on Jun. “Who’s this? Your other brother?” She stood up walking over to Yuki staring down at Jun with the softest kindest eyes one could find.

Yuki felt Jun tightening his hold on his arm while he looked back at Ayumi. Jun looked like he wanted to say something, but his mouth remained closed. Yuki looked down at him and then up at Ayumi. “He said ‘Hello’. He’s a little quiet. This is my youngest brother, Jun.”

“Oh Jun! He’s so cute!”

Ken coughed roughly from his chair watching them. “A little quiet? Try he’s never spoken in four years and the only one that seems to know what he says is Yuki for some strange reason.”

Ayumi pulled back her hand that she was trying to give to Jun as a sign of safety. She turned sharply to Ken not certain what he had meant what he said. “Four years? What happened then?” However, when she asked all three of them fell silent becoming a little darker in the face as those something had grabbed all of the light out of them.

“Dinner’s…ready…” Momoko said as she walked in immediately feeling the heavy mood that was hanging in the air. She did not know what had happened, but the look that was on Yuki’s face matching Jun and Ken gave a pretty clear idea. A subject that they tried to avoid had been brought up. “Ayumi! Can you help me?”

“Huh?” Ayumi said snapped out of the awkward trance that she was left in by being surrounding by the sudden bout of depression. She could tell that she had quickly killed the atmosphere. “But…” Her eyes flipped over their faces reading the sadness that was building up inside them. She had to do something, but she did not know what. Ayumi leaned in for Yuki, but Momoko stepped in.

“Come on. I need your assistance.” She dragged Ayumi out of the living room into the kitchen handing her several plates. “Glasses are in that cupboard after you set the plates out.” Momoko went back to the stove turning off the fire and gathering up the food to take to the table. Ayumi set out the plates, but as she was pulling down the glasses she looked over at Momoko pausing with her hand in the cupboard. It did not take much for Momoko to know what was going on in her mind. “I take it you asked about our parents or something related.”

“Huh? No, I just asked about what happened four years ago.”

“Yeah…four years ago our father died and a year ago our mother.” Ayumi’s hand shook knocking over the glass in the cupboard. She pulled back retreating her hands close up to her chest with countless thoughts running through her freezing her body.

To be continued…