Shift

[Andromeda]

Seiji coughed a little from the smoke, but it only looked and sounded worse than it actually was. He waved off the cloud to get back into the fight. “So you do bleed,” he commented, finally back to being serious. The sight of the blood covering Katsumi’s face made it clear to him that he could do something in the fight. ‘I just need to get past her defense and I can do this.’

“Don’t make it sound like you’re making a comeback. You’re on your last leg and since this isn’t my body I can keep using it long past the point of fatigue or pain has already crippled it.”

“Bastard! People aren’t puppets for you to use!”

“They are with my power!”

“Damn you!” Seiji charged in after Katsumi. “I’m going to put an end to this right now!” Like any good attack made by Seiji, it had completely thought put into it. He burned on pure emotions. Takako was a twisted individual that needed to stopped. That was the only thing going through his mind. It would have been better if he was thinking about saving Katsumi, but have to take motivation where you can get it.

Not that it meant much, the defense that Katsumi naturally had through her powers kept her from taking any real damage from Seiji. His blind fury did little to guide a well-aimed shot at her. It was made incredibly easy to block. Despite it, her feet still slid back a little from the force.

She immediately threw out a counter landing Seiji’s already disable arm. Pain jumped up through Seiji’s body breaking him out of his blood boil. Reminded of the pain, shot waves of sudden fatigue to all corners of his body. It felt heavy and difficult to move. The adrenaline had started to dissipate or not able to keep up with everything. ‘Not now! I need to keep going!’

Clinching his fist up, Seiji did everything he could to convince his body to keep moving in the only way he knew how. Which was just pumping his muscles and getting them moving. ‘I’m not about to let it happen again! Not like before!’ Flashes of Nerine went through his mind as he thought about what he did not want to remember.

While Seiji worked to get himself more built up to fight and push through his sluggish body, Takako wasted no time arming herself and going on the attack. Finding a stray metal rod from the pile of trash throughout the grounds. “You look like you’re having some fun! Let’s get to painting with my brush!” She spun around for the opening barrage.

Chapter 331 – Back-to-Back Knockout

Off balance with his focus trying to get himself back, Seiji did not immediately notice the incoming attack. His body still refused to move the way he wanted anymore making it even harder when she swung at him. The bad arm took most of the hit, but the force transferred through his body. He went flying backwards crashing into the wall of the school.

“Damn…everything’s starting to hurt like hell…” Seiji started move again, but it was only in time to be clocking in the face by Takako. He went tumbling through the classroom and into the hall and back into another classroom. As he stood up, Takako was right there again. He had no chance. “…da…” He went flying once more.

Takako seemed to be getting enjoyment out of throwing him around the school. Once she finished her makeshift game of solo soccer with Seiji’s body, there were too many holes to count in the school. Where there were no holes, it was only because the walls had collapsed. Debris and dirt crumbled down as the school was never meant to take any of the beating it was taking. Only through a miracle did it continue to stand.

Bruised, battered, beaten, and all of the rest of the “b’s” to keep the alliteration going only loosely, described the state of Seiji. Not too unlike the school, it was a bit of a miracle that he could still be standing. He nearly looked like a walking corpse with how much Takako changed him with her attacks.

Dropping the rod to her shoulder, she stood to admire her work. “My you look awful. I’m impressed that you can even breathe let alone stand.”

“I’m not…letting you…win…”

“That’s fine resolve, but what can you do? You can’t beat me.”

“You…haven’t beaten…me yet…either.”

She smiled to see that he still had some talk left in him. “Well we’ll see how long that remains true.”

“Long enough…for me…to beat you…out of that girl.”

“You are amusing,” laughed Takako. She tightened her hand on the rod looking ready to continue where she had left off.

Seiji did not like the look of the situation. ‘I can’t felt half of my body and it feels even more heavy than before. I don’t know how long I can keep going… I must stop her soon before my body gives out!’ He just did not know how it was going to do with his body the way it was. But in reality, that did not really matter too much. Seiji ignored any further thoughts or complaints both from his mind and his body. Either helped him in the fight at the moment.

It might have felt heavy, but he did not move like it had been. While not at his usual speed, he threw himself at Takako has she came swinging once more. Taking the opening swing to his injured side, it gave the chance to take advantage of the big opening he created. A weapon in her hand left her over confidently over extended. He had no trouble getting a punch in, though it brushed against her off hand. It was not a full deflection, but most of the force he had behind it fell out.

He could not even manage a word before she recovered and counterattacked. Blood sprayed from the new wound that mixed in with the rest. It stopped being possible to tell the new from the old or where they started and ended.

“That was cheeky of you.”

She swung down at Seiji, but through a force of will he grabbed the metal rod with his hand. Blood sputtered out from multiple wounds due to the force. A white light flashed for a moment through his scars on his arm. “You know…no offense to the girl…but I’m really starting to hate…hearing her voice.” The metal groaned under his strength. He started to stand up meeting directly with Takako. A curve began to develop in the rod. Gritting his teeth, the muscle on Seiji’s arm tensed a little and expanded slightly.

A bit of surprise started to overtake Takako witnessing Seiji’s pure strength overwhelming her power. She recoiled a little, which was her mistake. Seiji immediately capitalized on it. Pushing through her weakened hold his fist rammed through her jaw sending Takako flying back out of the school.

Panting heavily, Seiji staggered forward after the very likely still healthy girl. His body felt like lead, but he pushed through. ‘I’ve gotta end this… This girl is completely twisted…’ Through the smoke and clouds that he caused from Katsumi’s body, he noticed the shadow appearing through the mist. It was not a surprise, annoying, but not a surprise.

What blood had started to dry and wipe away from the fighting before had returned with renewed vigor. The damage from Seiji’s punch could not really even be seen through all of the blood. It looked like she should have been unconscious, but still stood like a puppet on strings. “You’re a resilient one. That badly beaten and still able to knock me off my feet.”

“And I’m going to keep doing that until you stay down.”

“I already told you. Even if she’s unconscious I can control her body. The only way you can defeat me is if you rip all of her limbs off.”

“It won’t come to that. I’ll defeat you and send you packing.” Seiji threw up his fist showing that he was ready for more. “So you better start looking for the door, because I’m going to be sending back to your own body for Yuki to deal with!”

She laughed again amused by something else. “That boy, he’s likely already dead.”

Seiji’s eyes narrowed not believing her for a moment, but still confused by why she would even think that. “Lies aren’t going to help you. Yuki’s coming for you!”

Katsumi’s head shook and turned in very uncomfortable angles. “Saki already dealt with him. A single kick was all it took to deal with him.”

“What?”

“He became a star the way she shot out of there.”

The laughter from Takako started to get on Seiji’s nerves. He ground his teeth tightly together almost causing them to bleed. Another flash of light ran down Seiji’s arm. The twin scars glowed white. “Enough!”

Her laughter suddenly ended when she started to feel the ground rumble under her feet a little. All her taunting stopped as she no longer had any words left. She did not know what was happening.

Talismans materialized out of thin air all around Seiji. They quickly wrapped up all of his wounds to such an extent that he was covered from head to toe. The only thing that remained was the white glow from his arm and two lights where his eyes were. Seiji had more of an appearance of a demon than anything divine.

He roared through the talisman making waves over the ground with the dirt. Seiji stalked forward making the ground crack a little with his step. “…I…”

“What the hell is this?” question Takako, taking several steps away from Seiji’s approach. “None of them had this in their memories.”

In a moment, the pace Seiji made changed. His speed quickly increased as the talismans at his feet glowed. He darted in a straight line at Takako, but missed with her sidestepping him. Seiji plowed through the earth mound in front of him and carved out the fence as well before he came to a stop.

He turned around his head getting a lock on Takako once more. Another roar escaped his talisman covered mouth.

“Damn…this isn’t like anything that they predicted.” Takako removed another couple of pieces of metal from the pockets of Katsumi’s skirt. She quickly slapped them in place and locked everything down. The metal expanded in a straight motion from the backs of her hand. Small individual pieces built out and snapped quickly into place. In seconds, she had two quarter meter length double edged blades. “Time to kill!”

Takako moved around finding Seiji’s new speed to be difficult to handle. “He’s gotten faster and he already was impossible to manage when I was just taunting him.” She blocked with her arms a direct strike that she could not evade. It picked her up and threw her like a bullet the entire length of the school grounds creating a ten meter tall column of smoke.

She kicked away the debris and waved off the smoke only to hear what seemed like a stamped. Takako quickly jumped into the air just as Seiji’s glowing fist rammed into the earth. A five meter crater now stood where she had been only a moment before. Debris threw up into the air from the impact knocking her in a different direction. She dug the blades into the side of the school to support her hanging while staying out of Seiji’s range. “Damn, he’s stronger and faster. What the hell got into him?”

Another roar. Seiji could see Takako, but she was out of reach. “Friend! Won’t…”

In broken Japanese, it did not seem like much, but she still started to put things together. “Are you telling me, he turned into a beast because I said Yuki’s dead?” A deeper roar came from Seiji like an reply, only it rattled the school. “You can’t be serious? He’s gone into a berserker rage over that? Does he think he’s in the movies?”

Anymore talking had to wait. Seiji leapt into the air after Takako. He missed, but only because she jumped further up the school. Clawing through the cement of the walls, he climbed after her to the roof. The weight of his steps though did not give the school much time, already damaged and weakened as it was.

Takako dodged and kept backing away the best that she could. However, Seiji stayed on top of her. He eventually cornered her and grabbed her by the neck. Roaring like an animal, he pounded her repeated into the roof until it was collapsing. Then he jumped off the roof leaving the crumbling third floor behind to slam her into a deep crater.

Her arms with the only defense she could muster against Seiji. The only benefit was that he only had one arm to fight with. At least, that was what she expected. In the middle of the pummeling, he paused for a second winding up his disabled arm as the talismans suddenly started to glow. With both arms working suddenly, she could not hold up to the assault.

“Muscle…bound…bastard…” she managed through the beating. Takako held the defense, but the metal of the gauntlets were starting to show dints and gaps in the plating. She waited for an opening. In the pause between the attacks, she leapt forward throwing her blades out in an arc. Thick streams of blood trialed behind her as she dropped down to the outer edge of the crater.

Seiji roared at the loss of his left arm, but the talismans quickly covered up the gap and sealed it off. He turned back up towards Takako and leapt after her.

“Ugh…damn, doesn’t look like it even—“ She tried to dodged away, but still got clipped by the edge of Seiji’s fist. Katsumi’s body flew back into the school leaving smoke billowing out. Takako ripped her body out of the debris and forced it back up. “—slowed him down a bit. Really has turned into a beast. Good thing I was planning on killing him.”

Takako swung the blades down throwing off the blood they have picked up. She knew that Seiji would be coming for her again. The sound gave it away, not that she needed the clue. Forcing Katsumi forward, she charged in after Seiji. She broke through the edge of the school just as Seiji was coming in. The left arm gone, he had an entire side open to him that he did nothing to guard. “Perfect opportunity. Time to die!” Her blades aimed straight for his heart. It would put him down in an instant.

However, just as her blades began to hit flesh a loud shot from outside rang out. A bright pink beam shot through the air and pierced Seiji and Katsumi’s body in the same motion.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Takako swung the blades down throwing off the blood they have picked up. She knew that Seiji would be coming for her again. The sound gave it away, not that she needed the clue. Forcing Katsumi forward, she charged in after Seiji. She broke through the edge of the school just as Seiji was coming in. The left arm gone, he had an entire side open to him that he did nothing to guard. “Perfect opportunity. Time to die!” Her blades aimed straight for his heart. It would put him down in an instant.

However, just as her blades began to hit flesh a loud shot from outside rang out. A bright pink beam shot through the air and pierced Seiji and Katsumi’s body in the same motion.

Katsumi’s body fell backwards in shock. For a moment, she thought it had been something that Seiji did. It seemed impossible knowing him and his abilities. Then she saw him falling over as well from the attack. “Who… Where…”

The force of the attack did more to Takako than anything else. Like she had said before, the state of the body meant very little to her. She had fallen back against the ruins of the first floor of the school to get support. “To punch through even the reinforced uniform… Who was it?” Takako started to look around for the source.

However, despite the piercing shot through both of them, even Seiji returned to his feet. The bestial rage did not look to have softened in any meaningful way. He only looked more pissed off now. Which made Takako groan with some disappointment. It hit both of them, but she hoped that it had more stopping power to put him down so she could just easily finish him off. “Such a pain. You just won’t die.”

“…Yuki…”

“Still going on about that nonsense…” She pulled Katsumi’s body back up to confront Seiji once more. “I can’t believe a single person would put someone into such a blind rage. It’s like he’s immortal or some such stupid thing.”

“That’s a more accurate statement for yourself than him,” replied a voice to a question that was never asked.

Takako flipped Katsumi’s head around to hunt down the sound of the voice. She was on the search once more for the unknown interloper. “Who are you?”

“Not fond of things you can’t see or control?”

“There’s nothing I can’t.”

“I’m sensing fear in your voice.”

“I’m not afraid! There’s nothing that can be done to me.”

“Very true. From what I’ve seen. I can’t kill you as you are. So why are you afraid then?”

“I said I’m not! Get out here and I’ll show you whose is!”

“Is it the unknown or the voices from the darkness? Does it make you feel like how you were before? Locked within your own mind.”

“Who the hell are you? You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know more than you think. I know your story. After that, it just took a little thinking to figure you out. You seem complex, but you’re quite simple. You’re afraid of going back.”

“Shut up and get out here now!”

“You’re right. I do need to put an end to this.”

“Bold words. Think you can back—“ Suddenly, a large metal gauntlet appeared from nowhere hitting Katsumi’s face interrupting Takako’s taunting. She flew backwards from the force, but it did not last for long. Another appeared behind her hitting her back in the direction that she came from. “…the hell!”

Takako could barely keep up with what was happening. It was only three floating giant gauntlets half of the size of a human, but they were hitting her too fast that she could not react and get her bearings. She had to take the pummeling until she figured out the speed of them and managed to slice through with her blades and break the cycle.

Already bloodied from Seiji’s fight, she barely looked any different, but the damage to Katsumi’s body was extensive. It was only thanks to her enhanced body from Yuki that she survived everything. Takako treated the body with no care or regard to safety.

No one had yet appeared in the battlefield. “Damn…still hiding…” Takako scanned the ruins of the first floor for anything.

“Just handling something.”

The voice came in the direction of Seiji, who she had forgotten about with the new threat. However, unlike before, he was neither fuming or even standing. In fact, most of the talismans that had been covering him had fallen away. His shredded cloths exposed his bloodied body.

Next to him, a new figure stood, like the one that had been talking to Takako the entire time. “You put down the animal.”

“I simply stopped him from doing something that he’d regret.”

“And what’s that?”

“Killing the girl you’ve taken over.” The figure turned towards Takako and started to walk to her. “That’s something that I’ll take on.”

“Bold words.”

“It’s quite simple.” They suddenly leapt forward bouncing through the air like a dance. Another gauntlet appeared out in front grabbing Katsumi. Metal fingers clamped down covering her body from under her shoulders to her waist. Then the dark figure grabbed a hold of Katsumi’s left arm with another massive gauntlet that they wielded personally. Bursts of blue light ignited from vents all around the gauntlet’s forearm creating thrust. It only took a moment for a pop of the shoulder and arm to be dislocated followed by the tearing of skin and spray of blood.

They tossed the torn limb aside as Takako ground her teeth with annoyance, clearly not feeling the pain. The unknown person made no hesitation to move onto the next arm. Rather than lose both, she roughly punched through the gauntlet around her torso to break free. “Damn you!”

“I told you it’s quite simple. The girl’s going to bleed to death as I ripped off each of her limbs at your suggestion.”

Chapter 332 – Back-to-back Take Down

Even in the moonlight, Takako could not see the face of her strange attacker. The school long had lost power. It was as though the very shadows had cloaked them from sight. Nothing from the look of their face could tell her anything about them. Only the sound of their voice, a grave tone that meant business. There was no doubt about what they would do.

She took a step back from the strange trying to figure out a solution. The stunning attack left her momentarily confused and paralyzed. It did not last for long as the stranger went back on the attack. They targeted her remaining arm, the right arm. Defending it with greater degrees of preservation, Takako dodged and evaded the attacks.

During the fighting, it started to bring Takako back to her right mind. “What are you doing? You’re one of Yuki’s friends right. This girl is important to you. You can’t kill her. You’re just bluffing.”

Jumping into the fight, the stranger danced around the air kicking and punching off attacking Takako from all sides nearly at once. She had trouble keeping up with the speed and precision of the strange. “I’m not one of their friends. So the fate of this girl doesn’t matter to me. Killing is sometimes a necessity. You won’t dissuade me.”

“Who the hell are you?!”

“No one.” Spinning around in the air, they kicked Takako down into the ground from the height of twenty meters in mid air. They quickly darted down taking advantage of the stunned state to remove the remaining arm from Katsumi’s body.

Anchored in place by another gauntlet, Takako could no longer move Katsumi’s body. “Bastard…”

“This girl’s body is no longer useful to you. So run away back to your real body and wait. Wait for him to come to you. Because he’s still alive and won’t stop until he’s reached you. Go hide in fear.” The light from the girl’s eyes dimmed along with the force in her body. Takako’s possessing presence had disappeared.

Walking out of the crater, the stranger went over to Seiji’s body. They knelt down next to him seeing that he was starting to come around. “You’ve woken up.”

Seiji blinked a little trying to get a sense of his position. Everything felt wrong. Then he looked up in the direction of the voice he heard. The sight of an all black figure that completely seemed to defy the light made his head tilt. “What are you doing here, Nerine?”


The black bleed off of her figure like she had been completely drenched in water. “How’d you know it was me?”

“I just did. It was obvious to me.” He awkward tried to get up, but found himself falling over. The lack of the left arm that he was relying on took him back. “What the hell is going on?!”

“How much do you remember from your fight?”

“Everything…” he answered immediately, only to have to start thinking. The doubting look on Nerine told him that he forgot or missed something. “I remember getting really angry with that Takako girl for lying to me.”

Without the need to hear anymore, Nerine already figured all of it. “You lost consciousness after that moment and your instincts took over.”

“My instincts? What do you mean? What happened to me?”

“You became surrounded by your talismans. The same ones that appeared during your fight with Cosmas. And you lost all doubt you had about fighting Takako.”

Seiji hung his head down trying to remember what Nerine was telling him. Then he looked around the grounds of the school. It looked several times worse than he remembered with large holes that he did not remember them having before. And Takako was nowhere in sight for him. He looked back to Nerine. “Did I—“

“No, I stopped you. I knew how it would have made you feel.”

A sigh of relief came out of his lips. “…thanks… I thought I had this under control. I thought I had faced this after beating that bastard!”

“You can’t out run or control this. It’ll always be at your side. You just have remember yourself.”

“Damn it!” Seiji pounded his fist into the earth making it rumble under them a little. He could feel the dark shadow hanging over him once more. It was something that he had almost forgotten about with everything calming down. Yet Nerine was right. It was never gone.

For the first time, he looked around at the ground. He saw the talismans around him. It was not the first time he had seen them, but they were something that he generally ignored. He knew what they were. ‘These things again… Why…’ Seiji lifted one of the talismans up. Most looked spent and torn.

“What are these things?” Nerine inquired, as it had not been the first time she had seem, but never fully understood their meaning. She knew what they did for Seiji. They had surprising properties.

“Sacred talismans. If this was the old world, they would just be useless relics from a more superstitious time part of rituals. However now…they…”

“What?”

“They have real power.”

“What is it supposed to do?”

Seiji turned the talisman towards Nerine. It was covered in Japanese writing that she did not understand, that much Seiji knew. “It varies depending on what it written on the paper. In the case of this one, it’s a protective ward. It’s supposed to ward off evil spirits.”

“Supposed to?”

“Well, I don’t know what it actually does now. I can tell you what they say, but their purpose or power is unknown to me.”

“But you create them.”

“I know. They come from me, but I don’t know why or how. I’ve preferred to ignore them, but it seems that they pop up just to spite me.”

Nerine thought back to the temple where Seiji lived. She had given little thought to things until this moment, but quickly tied them together. “So you’re a priest?”

“No!” Jumping up to his feet, he wanted to distance himself from the whole thing. It was not the sort of topic he wanted to enter. “I’m no priest.”

“But how do you know all of this stuff then?”

Turning away from Nerine, Seiji tried to cross his arms, but found that only have one made it very difficult to do so. He sighed finding that his situation was not very good. And Nerine slid around wanting to know more. She was not taking silence as an answer. “When I was younger my grandfather trained me. I stopped, but that old bastard’s teachings are hard to forget.”

“Why did you stop?”

“Nerine…stop.”

She quickly backed off from Seiji seeing an unfamiliar look in his eyes. There were more words spoke by them than he said aloud. She heard them clearly. ‘There’s something deeper going on here. But I can’t ask… He doesn’t want me to ask… There’s something painful buried…attached to it…’

“DIE!!” shouted a new voice that had a familiar sound. It was Takako once more, she had grabbed someone else after she abandoned Katsumi’s body. It was an adult male wield large sword that had a slight glow hanging around it.

Nerine stepped up in front of Seiji, who clearly was not ready for another fight. However, Seiji brushed her aside. “Seiji?”

“She’s mine. This is unfinished business.”

“But you’re not healed.”

“I feel fine!” As the man charged in with his oversized sword, Seiji slid in catching the wrist from underneath. He threw off the attack to stagger the man. Then Seiji wound up his hand and slammed it against the forehead of the sword wielding adult. The force of the hit knocked the man off his feet and crashed him into the earth. Seiji finished the motion knelt next to him, his hand still against the forehead.

Nerine came rushing to Seiji’s side to help, but found that the man no longer moved. She became a little concerned about what Seiji might have done to him. “What did you do to him?”

“Something that I’m going to regret.”

“You didn’t…” She leaned in checking on the state of the body, which looked to be completely unharmed. There was only a little dirt from the impact with the earth. This only confused her further. She stepped around the unmoving man as Seiji removed his hand. On the forehead of the man, affixed a talisman like the ones she saw on Seiji. “What did you do?”

“What I promised I’d do to her. Forced her out of the body she was squatting in.”

“But how?”

“An exorcism of sorts. It’s a type of talisman used to remove evil spirits from possessing someone.” Seiji stood up rubbing his hand against what cloths remained on him. He kept rubbing his hand as though it was covered in mud and he wanted to be clean. “I don’t like this at all. Something’s wrong with me and I need to figure out after this is all settled. I won’t become like him.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Suddenly Katsumi and Kaede pulled themselves out of the rumble as well appearing behind each of them with Katsumi behind Miyako. “Seems that way…” She immediately recognized Kaede, the girl from before that left her in the state that she was in now. “It’s you!” Miyako charged over only to have to stop and fall back at Kaede swung with her hair, she remembered the lethality of it. She fell back against the other that joined her.

“I’m Seiji,” he answered over his shoulder. In front of him, Katsumi looked as ready for a fight as she had ever been, which really was not saying much. But he felt that he could trust the woman at his back. He grinned a little feeling better about the situation now.

Miyako suddenly remembered the name. “You’re the one that gave us the info.” She had been back getting another round of treatments from the doctor to prepare her for combat, against the doctor’s wishes. So she had never seen Seiji. “Miyako. Got my back?”

“Hell yeah! You?”

“I think I’m going to like you!” She grinned as well feeling like she had found some a kindred spirit.

They lowered themselves a little standing back to back preparing for the fight that came. “It’s time to fight!” they shouted together in their charge.

Kaede jumped back a little as Miyako charged in quickly after her. It was all to get the distance she needed to spin her long black hair around. However, this was not a new attack to Miyako anymore. She knew what it could do and threw herself into the nearby classroom to evade the attack. Amused by the effort, it took her a moment to move for her next attack.

The delay was all Miyako needed as she came charging through the wall as cover straight for Kaede. Her hair had no time to get up when Miyako decked her hard in the cheek to send her tumbling through two classrooms before coming to a harsh stop.

In the hall, Miyako glanced at her hand seeing shallow cuts from merely being that close to her to get a hit. ‘Damn, the bitch is going to be even more annoying than I thought. That hair of her’s is razor sharp.’ Moving some of the bandages on her body around, she wrapped up her hand. It was a poor remedy, but it was all she had.

Appearing out of the hole Miyako punched her into, Kaede resurface a little bloodied by Miyako’s punch and with a part of one of the desks she collided with embedded in her shoulder. Her hair had cleaned up the edge enough that it was no longer in her way. “That was rather rude of you.”

Miyako popped her knuckles preparing for the next round and to show her resolve. “You kids are in need of some serious straightening out. It’s my job as the adult to show you all your place.”

“We have adults amongst us as well.”

“I’ll be dealing with them too.”

“Oh is that so? Big words for someone I sent fleeing with her tail between her legs last time.”

“It won’t be like last time!” Stamping her foot down, she flipped up some debris and a chunk of wood from the rubble. Quickly spinning around, the back of her fist and arm shot the pieces like an arrow released.

Turning her head a little, heavy strains of hair fell over Kaede’s face just as the projectiles came in to hit. What would have hit her turned to slivers to fall to the wayside. Anything that did not hit its target embedded into the walls around Kaede knocking out small holes. “You can’t even touch me without getting sliced up! You’ll be dead in a minute!”

Chapter 333 – Back-to-Back Knife Edge

“Arrogance will be your undoing, kid,” baited Miyako. She had already seen enough of how the hair worked to have a good idea about it. ‘My usual charge in solutions aren’t going to work against her. I’m just going to end up dead like she said. I’m not a patient person, but I don’t have a choice in the matter. My life isn’t mine anymore…’ Before she would have run in without a single thought. That was how she was most comfortable with fighting. But she learned the hard way that blindly attacking did not solve all the problems.

Kaede smirked a little looking ready to laugh. “You going to just talk me to death or you going to fight?”

“You’re the one that looks afraid to fight me. That blood remind you that you’re not immortal?”

“Who’s afraid?!”

Miyako grinned a little since it working. ‘It’s too easy. Kids are always impulsive and easy to provoke.’ The whole act still had more danger to the situation, but no fight was without danger. Even baited, the razor-like hair presented a heavy advantage. “There’s only one person I see before me. And she’s just a little baby that got afraid from just a single landed punch. You’re just a joke. It’s disappointing that you’re the only challenge present to me. I’m not even going to break a sweat.”

“Is that right?! Let’s see who’s on the floor in pieces after I’m through with you!” Completely committed now, Kaede charged forward fuming mad ready to show the woman her words. She spun up her hair for the attack as she closed the distance.

The attack was too loose and wide. Her emotions broke down the focus and precision that she did have with her attack. So it was too easy for Miyako to slip around and throw out a kick to her back as she went by her.

She sped to the floor with her hair cutting up the wood planks as she fell. It carved out a rough a little pit for her to trip inside and lay amongst her hair. Kaede flipped around quickly only to find that Miyako did not wait for her to stand up. She had no chance to dodge, a fist smashed into her forehead knocking her down into the pit.

“When ya gonna to prove me wrong?” she taunted more rubbing in the losing side belonged to Kaede.

“Damn you!” Kaede jumped and tried to get Miyako off guard, but she anticipated her attack. A boot caught the edge of her jaw and threw her across the hall into another classroom.

Slowly marching into the hole she made with Kaede, Miyako went after Kaede. ‘I’ll give her this much, she’s resilient. Most of their minions I’ve taken down with just one punch, but she’s taken two from me. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I can only keep her so steamed.’ Miyako kicked off some of the wall in the direction of Kaede. It gave a good shotgun affect. She wanted to keep her off balance. “Just going to run away with your tail between your legs?”

“You…”

“Ya got something to say?” Kicking another floorboard, it knocked Kaede back up to her in the air. Miyako followed it up with another punch that sent her flying through the wall of the classroom into the next. She took a glance around the room suddenly noticing it. “Disgusting. I thought I had seen the most depraved individuals already, but Takako is starting a new list. I’m looking forward to see the moment the Commander puts her down for good.”

Across the room, she found Kaede struggling to get back to her feet. Her hair chewed up the floor leaving her footing poor. Miyako marched keeping an eye on her while approaching. “Looks like you could do for a bit of a trim. You’re tripping over your hair.” Once the range decreased enough that she felt comfortable with a strike, she dove in with a quick jab to get her up and a kick to toss her around the room.

At the end of the barrage, Miyako dropped her through another wall with the hopes that it was finally putting her down. Unfortunately, the darkness of the school and smoke made it difficult to see. She quickly lost sight of the girl as she scurried away. “Cowards always flee when they get afraid. However, I’m not so kind as to forgive and ignore you.”

Pounding her fists together, the hole that created quickly approached. It was one of the darker rooms with it still mostly intact, but she had gotten used to it by now. Comfort did not make it any easier to spot the girl. “You started this fight, but I’m going to finish it.”

“Seems all you know how to do is talk. If you really were wanting to finish it you would have already.”

Miyako’s eyes narrowed picking up on the change in tone from Kaede. ‘Looks like she got her senses back. This just got harder…’ Challenge or not, it did not stop her from keeping her advantage going. “And seems you only know how to take a hit. It’s not going to win you any fights.”

“So very true. This isn’t going to win the fight.”

“All that talk and you’re giving up, huh?”

“Hardly.”

‘She’s planning something…’ Which she was right, but she did not have a chance to say anything more. Sounds of swift steps approached. It was a familiar sound for Miyako and the only reason that she managed to even react in the darkness.

Out of the gloom came a fist, something that took Miyako off guard. She did not except Kaede to be trying to take her in a fistfight. Miyako pulled back, but the speed the girl had over taken her at a great pace than she anticipated. It scored a direct hit to the face.

Miyako stumbled and slid back from the force. ‘She’s more than just focused. She’s moving differently and taking a completely different tactic. Did she realize that she wasn’t going to be able to beat me with her hair anymore?’ The changes brought her a lot of new questions, ones that veil of night did well to disguise.

The connected punch gave Kaede some confidence back to her it seemed. She quickly came in again for Miyako. It was very easy to read this time for Miyako. Trying the same thing multiple times was a terrible plan. Miyako dodged and countered, but did not get in a clean hit. In the end, she could only settle for a full deflection.

However, the failure did not seem to dissuade Kaede yet from the approach. Repeating things over and over again gave Miyako all she needed to counter. She spun around and caught a piece of Kaede with her foot casting her out of range. All of the noise made it clear she had crashed into something. Unfortunately, nothing that improved the lighting.

Miyako stopped playing around the opening and committed to taking a stand in the room. ‘She’s thinking that the darkness gives her some sort of advantage. But she’s just inexperienced. She’s just a little school girl that’s never been in a real fight. She’s a terrible fighter. Only having powers has kept her standing for so long.’ Knowing her way around a fight left things still in her advantage even with the shift. But it left her curious. “You thought you could stand a chance against me if you fought with your fists?”

“It’s rare that I do this. So I haven’t gotten accustomed to it yet. But I’m a quick to figure things out.”

“Seems all the punches to the head has knocked some screws loose.”

“You’ll understand soon enough.”

‘What the hell is she going on about?’ Miyako countered her attacks again as empty attempts as they were. They had power and speed behind them, but nothing that she could not handle. She could hear very well in the darkness with her sight failing to be as reliable. It softened her own counterattacks, but it still soundly kept the fight on her side. ‘Something’s off about this whole thing… She’s losing, but she doesn’t seem to act like it.’

With the next attack, Miyako wanted to see what was going on. She was tired of fighting in the room. The longer they stayed the harder it was going to be for her to finish the fight. Grabbing Kaede as she came in, Miyako redirected the energy and turned it around pointing Kaede at the outside wall.

Shattering brick smashed the low silence and give Miyako a reason to chase after Kaede. The light of the moon would give her better vision. She charged after Kaede planning on using the new light give her a solid hit finally, but Kaede disappeared from in front of her. “What?!” She appeared on her flank just as came out of the school and dropped a heavy fist upon Miyako.

The force and surprise threw her off and sent her flying along the side of the school. Her directions thrown off, Miyako grappled with the walls of the school to slow down her speed nearly standing on it for a moment before launching herself back. ‘What was that?’ She had a clear sight on Kaede once more closing in, but she disappeared on her in the last second and countered Miyako once more.

Miyako flew out sliding over the ground before coming to a slow stop. She picked herself up quickly despite feeling the last hit very well. It rattled her jaw a little. ‘She’s got a lot more power than better and speed too. What’s going on?’ Then Miyako finally got a look at Kaede now that the moon gave her sight back.

Near the edge of the school, a short auburn haired girl stood with a very different presence about her. She had the same body and face of Kaede, the girl she had been fighting, but the dye job and hair cut dramatic changed how she appeared.

“I didn’t think you’d take it literally when I said you needed a trim.”

“You’ll find that I become reborn when I get a hair cut.”

“Is that right? You look the same as before.”

“I was just getting warmed up and used to things.” Kaede disappeared once more and then reappeared as a blur in front of Miyako. She had barely seen it, but had no time to react. Taking the punch head on was the only thing she could do. She went flying crashing into the wall of the grounds.

It took her a little longer to stand up, but she started to rise to her feet. She had to wipe away from blood from her lip. “Warmed up, huh? This is getting interesting.”

Kaede bounced a little on the balls of her feet appearing much lighter than before. “You’ll find that my strength and speed have increased greatly. I’m going to pound you into the ground until you’re nothing but paste!”

Miyako grinned suddenly feeling some excitement in the fight for once. Her feet straightened out with her back as she regained herself. “Finally, you’re giving me a real fight! Just the way I like it!” Sliding into a fighting stance, Miyako’s eyes shined with eager anticipation of a brawl.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Near the edge of the school, a short auburn haired girl stood with a very different presence about her. She had the same body and face of Kaede, the girl she had been fighting, but the dye job and hair cut dramatic changed how she appeared.

“I didn’t think you’d take it literally when I said you needed a trim.”

“You’ll find that I become reborn when I get a haircut.”

“Is that right? You look the same as before.”

“I was just getting warmed up and used to things.” Kaede disappeared once more and then reappeared as a blur in front of Miyako. She had barely seen it, but had no time to react. Taking the punch head on was the only thing she could do. She went flying crashing into the wall of the grounds.

It took her a little longer to stand up, but she started to rise to her feet. She had to wipe away from blood from her lip. “Warmed up, huh? This is getting interesting.”

Kaede bounced a little on the balls of her feet appearing much lighter than before. “You’ll find that my strength and speed have increased greatly. I’m going to pound you into the ground until you’re nothing but paste!”

Miyako grinned suddenly feeling some excitement in the fight for once. Her feet straightened out with her back as she regained herself. “Finally, you’re giving me a real fight! Just the way I like it!” Sliding into a fighting stance, Miyako’s eyes shined with eager anticipation of a brawl.

A bit of annoyance washed over Kaede at the sight of Miyako. Unlike before in the fight, Miyako actually looked excited for a fight. She wanted the fight more than anything now. The eagerness rather than unease or shock left her not completely sure what to make of Miyako. Changing into her new form, Kaede planned for a different sort of reaction. Nothing she could have thought up would have prepared her for such an expectation. “So you’re just a muscle bound idiot. Not very adult-like of you.”

“I’m still going to be putting you in your place.”

“I guess we’ll have to see then. Can you keep up with me?”

“A little speed isn’t enough to stop me,” Miyako boasted.

“Is that so? Let’s see how long that arrogance lasts!”

“Long enough to take you down!”

Chapter 334 – Back-to-Back Brawl

The two charged in fueled for different reasons. First strike went to Kaede. Speed proved to be on her side against Miyako. But Miyako took it barely even leaning back from the blow, her feet planted firmly in the ground. Her counterattack began as she grabbed Kaede by the wrist. Turning her arm, Kaede’s body flipped over and smashed her back into the earth. Cracks and rumblings came from the force of the flip.

Stunned for only a moment, Kaede leapt out of the small pit created by her body before Miyako could follow up with her fist. Miyako’s hand disappeared, a little embedded in the earth. “Tch, you’re a fast one I’ll give you that.” She ripped her hand free from the ground letting the bits of soil fall back into the tiny hole she punched.

“Still thinking you can beat me, huh?”

“You’re ten years too early to think that you can kill me.”

Kaede charged forward in a straight attack that had no flash or thought put into it. Speed definitely gave her an advantage, but Miyako dealt with such types too many times before. She easily sidestepped the charge and spun her leg around to kick her in the back of the head. The teenager slid over the earth face first until it piled up around her to bring her to a stop. “Damn you, you bitch!” she coughed with her hand popping up through the pile.

“Upset that you realized that you won’t be able to kill me?” Miyako clinched her hands trying to ignore all of the pain burning through her body. ‘I’m glad she’s so inexperienced. If she could actually fight, I don’t know how well I would fair against her. She’s powerful and I’m still not fully recovered from our last fight.’

Most of the bandages that Miyako had from the last encounter with Kaede had been removed before she went into the raid team with Hiroshi. She did not want him thinking that she was still injured. It was not a battle that she was going to run away from, not after the sacrifices made already. The battle had to have her.

Up until fighting Kaede, she had not worried herself over her body’s condition. None of the fodder she fought gave her any challenge. She understood her limits well enough that she was not going to be able to take on Takako or the others at the top of the ranks in her army. Though she did not count on Kaede being potentially in those ranks as well. ‘Still…this is going to be harder the longer it drags out and she’s resilient…’

Her previously injuries had thankfully been not too severe, so her recovery had been quick. But incomplete as it was, her body tried to remind her not to overdo it. She had no plans on listening to it.

Taunted into the fight, Kaede came back for more. She could use her speed to get in close. A minor hit usually was she was able to achieve against Miyako before she counterattacked. All around the grounds, their fight spread with little given up.

However, Kaede started to get a little more of an edge on Miyako in the fight as it dragged out. Her punch landed cleanly against Miyako’s cheek sliding her back. Miyako quickly responded with a similar straight punch thrown out. They both slid apart continuing to struggle.

Blood dripped down Miyako’s lip and chin reminding her of the punch. ‘Damn, I think she’s improving in the middle of the fight… This isn’t good…’ It was becoming harder to just block and counter. Worse, even countering her did not seem to do as much as she desired to her. She just kept getting back up. “At least you’re making this fun!” she shouted as she charged after Kaede.

An offensive was the only plan that Miyako had anymore against Kaede. Her defensive plan worked only so well. She was able to keep up with the speed because she could see it coming and got a feel for it. It stopped being a blink out of reality and more of a blur now.

Kaede did not expect Miyako to go on the attack. So she could only evade the first attack. But Miyako stayed on her. They danced around with Miyako giving chase. Her speed was only enough to keep her out of a direct hit. But Miyako managed to get in some glancing blows against Kaede. Bruises started to appear from the marks left behind. Her body could only take the hits so well. Out of frustration with Miyako, Kaede countered with a kick rather than her usual fists. “Stay down!”

Miyako’s body flew back crashing through the wall. Explosion on metal and earth jumped up from the collision. She disappeared amongst the smoke. However, it became clear that it had not done enough to her as coughing came through the thick clouds.

“Damnit…I’ll keep beating you down until you can’t move anymore!” Kaede flew in at her top speed unwilling to wait on the smoke to clear. Which proved to be a poor plan as Miyako caught her by her wrists. Before the speed caught up to her body and threatened to flip her painfully around, Miyako used her foot to throw her into the air.

The auburn haired girl sailed over the grass street outside of the school until she crashed into an abandoned home. Miyako flipped up to her feet and looked onto the site. “You’re going to have to keep trying if you think you can do that.”

Grabbing at her shoulder, the pain left from the kick she took throbbed loudly. Her body did not feel pleased that she wanted to ignore it as well. All of her other injuries were minor she told herself. Which was largely true. Added and stacked upon each other started to make them less minor. ‘Damn, that last hit really took a lot out of me. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to end this fight in any reasonable fashion. Killing her or not, both are not going to be very easy anymore. Not that I have the time to be complaining…’

Another truth, Kaede already recovered from the surprise throw and started to leave the home. She looked about as pissed off as she had been before, but made some failed attempts to look more pissed off. None of it was working, though Miyako knew what she was trying.

None of it mattered in the end. Miyako charged after Kaede once more not letting their fight slow down for long. It was the only way to keep her mind off her body’s failings. Everything was getting sluggish, but she pushed through the only way she knew how. “Don’t give me that look! Things are only just getting exciting!”

It had been a while since she had fought a battle where she was not protecting someone. Reality was that she still fought even now to protect, but it was different than other fights. There was no one that she was keeping out of harm’s way. All of the attention and energy could be put into the fight. Such fights had long left her behind due to how she chose to live her life after that fateful day. She might have never wanted to fight in the past, but still did in spite of it. So it was never for fun or the thrill of battle. Even now, she could not feel a thrill of it. But it did push her and make her strive to find how much she had inside her to give. Such a fight was not really something she was familiar with. She sort of liked it as much as she hated the situation.

She exchanged blows with Kaede knocked each other backwards into separate ruined houses. The hit slowed her body down enough that Kaede came after her. Miyako only managed to get to her feet when the blow came in for her. Her fist came up to meet her head-on.

A shockwave blew out from the collision ripping apart the fragile house. Debris flew in all directions as Kaede suddenly grabbed Miyako’s wrist. She pulled on Miyako and threw her over her head and back down into the shattered floor.

Miyako laid in a body sized crater of her own making, but she snapped back to life and clutched onto Kaede hand tightly before she released. Showing her the same kindness, Miyako threw Kaede into the floor. The two women connected together pounded each other into the completely unrecognizable floor until they both laid on their backs panting from the exertion.

“You’re so annoying,” complained Kaede still unable to kill Miyako.

“I’m not going to lose.”

“I’ll still make you!”

“Try me.”

They staggered to their feet equally unwilling to resign the fight. Their bodies both yelled at their stupidity for ignoring them, but it went on deaf ears. Both focused on each other. Defense had disappeared from their attempts as both laid down a heavy blow in the others face. The force shot them out of the ruins and through several neighboring homes.

Forcing herself back up to her feet, Miyako began to walk out of the house and towards Kaede. Blood and bruises covered her body. Her clothes were in shreds only holding together out of kindness than anything else, not that Kaede looked to be in much better shape.

However, a strange red glow came from Kaede that made Miyako force open her half-closed eye. “…the hell?” She slowly started to move closer and closer trying to figure out what was going on with Kaede. The glow became a haze that seemed to surround her whole body. ‘…it’s like she’s on fire…literally…’

Before she could get too much closer, a fireball suddenly flew after her. She had to duck out of the way of the surprise attack. Behind her, the house blew up in flames casting gusts of wind to her back. ‘A completely different power…’ Little time remained to think about the situation as another similar attack forced her to dodge.

Rolling out of the way, Miyako found several more fireballs coming to where she landed. She jumped out of the way just in time to ride the explosions forward. They rocked her around and forced her into the ground roughly as she clawed at the earth to recover.

Already on top of her, Kaede stood with her left fist a lit with flames. Miyako rolled away to dodge the first and second punches that left the ground melted and smoking. However, she could not get away from the third taking it straight to the upper arm. The searing pain roared through her body and she yelped. Forcing Kaede off her with a kick, she managed to be released from the burning.

Miyako stood up with her left arm feeling numb and not moving the way she wanted. She finally got a good look at Kaede to see that once more she got a change in haircut. Her hair had grown out in length to hit near the middle of her back and large spinning and wrapping curls laid over her shoulder. “So your power is connected to your hair, huh?” Seeing it a third time made it all clear.

“That’s right. I have several different powers thanks to the way this power works. You never stood a chance against me! My flames will burn to you ash!”

To be continued!

[Andromeda]

However, a strange red glow came from Kaede that made Miyako force open her half-closed eye. “…the hell?” She slowly started to move closer and closer trying to figure out what was going on with Kaede. The glow became a haze that seemed to surround her whole body. ‘…it’s like she’s on fire…literally…’

Before she could get too much closer, a fireball suddenly flew after her. She had to duck out of the way of the surprise attack. Behind her, the house blew up in flames casting gusts of wind to her back. ‘A completely different power…’ Little time remained to think about the situation as another similar attack forced her to dodge.

Rolling out of the way, Miyako found several more fireballs coming to where she landed. She jumped out of the way just in time to ride the explosions forward. They rocked her around and forced her into the ground roughly as she clawed at the earth to recover.

Already on top of her, Kaede stood with her left fist lit with flames. Miyako rolled away to dodge the first and second punches that left the ground melted and smoking. However, she could not get away from the third taking it straight to the upper arm. The searing pain roared through her body and she yelped. Forcing Kaede off her with a kick, she managed to be released from the burning.

Miyako stood up with her left arm feeling numb and not moving the way she wanted. She finally got a good look at Kaede to see that once more she got a change in haircut. Her hair had grown out in length to hit near the middle of her back with large spinning and wrapping curls laid over her shoulder. “So your power is connected to your hair, huh?” Seeing it a third time made it all clear.

“That’s right. I have several different powers thanks to the way this power works. You never stood a chance against me! My flames will burn to you ash!”

Grinding her teeth together Miyako swore a terrible curse under her breathe. Her right hand clutched her left shoulder as though it helped to ease the injury. “I may only have one good arm to fight you, but fight you I will! Not until you’re eating dirt will I stop getting back up to stop you! To stop Takako’s madness!”

Flames glowed about both of Kaede’s hands as though her skin was on fire. “Pretty brave words for someone that’s about to fall over!” She charged forward with flames bleeding off her fists as the distance closed. Once in range, her already wound up swing released straight for the unguarded Miyako.

However, her fist came to a sudden stop before it hit the desired target. Miyako’s still good hand had blocked the first thrown punch her fingers closed around over top of her fist. “I’m not going anywhere, bitch!” Pushing back against Kaede, Miyako wound up with her injured arm, as unwise as it was, and decked her with everything she had in her arm.

While lacking in the same power she had before, it still pushed her back a little unable to keep the same stance. Smoke rolled off of Miyako’s hands from confronting the flames. “Thinking that I’m weak because you got one of my arms will be a grave mistake for you.”

Chapter 335 – Back-to-Back into the Fires

“Tch!” Kaede rubbed at her chin to wipe away the blood. The flames around her hands appeared to have little effect on her, as expected. “We’ll just have to see about that!”

Jumping back into the fight, Miyako was not about show any weakness towards her opponent. ‘I need to make her doubt that this is slowing me down. Anything to put her off balance with that flame. She’s got range and melee now.’ She did not know what her left arm was doing half the time in the melee, but it was partially useful.

In the middle of one of the punches, Kaede’s left hand’s flame grew brighter. Sensing a more powerful attack, Miyako dodged by falling over to her right side with support from her good hand. A fireball shot over her where her head used to be only moments before. While landing on her hand, she threw up a kick knocking Kaede off balance.

Kaede started to tip over, but shot out another blast of fire from her right hand. Only falling on her back did Miyako evade the close call. Her clothes had slight embers glowing red from it just passing over her. Miyako rolled over and stood on her feet before Kaede, giving her the opportunity to strike.

Flames flew past her shoulders as she sidestepped attacks to get inside her range. However, Kaede rolled over to keep outside of any attacks. Misses left small craters for Miyako. She kicked some rubble from the house they blew up to keep the pressure on while she closed again.

The two danced around the remains of the house dodging most of the things coming in acting as though they were leveling off what they had not destroyed of the house. Little progress had been made against either after the initial opening attacks. They broke after the last pieces of the house collapsed around them. Out of breathe and stubborn, neither gave any ground up.

Taking stock of the situation, Miyako needed a new plan. “So you’re all just smoke then?”

“I’ll kill you, don’t you worry!”

“Makin’ me yawn is more like it.”

“Big talk isn’t going to fix your arm. I can tell you’re not able to dish it out like before.”

“I still have enough to deal with a snot-nosed brat like you!”

“Going to show me because you’re an adult?”

Miyako had enough time to recover herself and charged back into the fight. “No, it’s because I take down evil wherever it stands!” She clashed in the middle with Kaede. Flames sparked and billowed around them.

“Evil is it? This is just freedom!”

“Nothing as twisted and depraved as this is freedom!”

Her left hand was not keeping up with Kaede as much as Miyako liked. But she kept forcing it to do work. Kaede saw through the struggle and channeled more of her flames against her. “Takako enlightened all of us! But sometimes there are those that must die!” Suddenly the flames grew in size and exploded immediately in front of them.

The blast threw Miyako back away from Kaede. Her back clawed at the ground until the friction sent her tumbling end over end into a completely different house. This house had still remained standing during their fight. Miyako’s arrival in the house did not turn out well for the home. An explosion of smoke and debris followed her wake.

Coughing and panting heavily, Miyako still survived the point blank attack, though the same could not really be said for her cloths. Already torn to shreds from the fighting, the explosion had finally finished off any hope it had of still serving its original purpose.

Miyako forced herself back up on her feet though her body complained. “Come on, get moving.” She had to fight and convince it to move on her command. The outlook on her body was not improving with the fight, not that she expected it to do so. But the girl was being more of a challenge than she imagined.

Slowly working through the house, she began muttering to herself. “Well, at least she should have been hit as hard as me doing something so reckless. Can’t believe she did that…” However, as she was coming out, Kaede was already charging in after her. “…damnit…”

Flames completely engulfed her fists that threatened to lay down a barrage. The first hit square on Miyako’s chest knocking her back. When Kaede attempted to close the distance, Miyako chucked debris at her though the flames destroyed it before there was any harm. It gave enough room for her to dodge out of the next round that left only smoldering craters. “My flames are going to roast you alive!”

Rolling and back stepping, Miyako found herself on the defense against the new current in the battle. Kaede tried to mount an assault, but could not land a solid blow. The flames around her continued to grow beginning to consume her arms as well. “Stay still!”

Miyako took pause in the fighting bothered by what she was seeing. ‘What’s with her flames? Are they out of control? She was only using them around her fists before, but it’s gone up to her shoulders almost now.’ While she had not been focusing on it the entire time, the flames had been progressively expanding over Kaede’s body for the last few minutes of their fighting. Before it had just seemed like her hair was on fire and her hands were coated in flames, but now it looked to be trying to consume her body.

The size the flames reached at her hands had stretches of tendrils rising off her. It no longer appeared like they were under her control. Thoughts of it running out of control worried Miyako more than needing to dodge the attacks coming in as Kaede resumed her offensive. With each motion, she saw it take more and more over. The flames were like pillars at her hands making even staying ahead of the attacks difficult.

With each miss, the flames grew closer to her. She could feel her skin drying out and blistering from the proximity of the heat. It was drawing the moisture out of the air it seemed with the intensity. ‘Damn…is she actually getting more powerful the longer we’re fighting? What’s going on with her power?’

“I will burn you! Burn you!” Rage burning as hot as the flames upon her skin, Kaede charged straight for Miyako in a blur. She turned into a red streak with the flames trailing off her.

Pulling away the initial straight punch that Kaede threw was easily avoided. But the fury built up in her body already had flames covering up half her body. The proximity was enough to draw off the sweat from Miyako’s skin. A follow-up punch knocked her off balance and flames shot out of both hands kicking her body back.

Miyako crashed through the ruins of the house and smashed through two more houses before collapsing out in the street with only the speed of her flight holding the flames at bay. As she stopped in the grass road the flames clinging on to her rose. Life returned to the fires desiring her flesh.

Glancing down at the Kaede’s flames, they stuck around in ways that they had no before. Even caught on her from previous attacks, they did nothing past the initial damage. They were a part of her and unless she threw it, it did nothing else. And even thrown, it had weaker power. ‘Seems she’s become a victim of her own power. It’s like it has a life of its own.’ Scooping up some earth, she snuffed out the flames attached to her. A bit of stubbornness existed in them, but they went out. And in time, Kaede tracked down the path of destruction left behind.

She rushed in without a second thought for Miyako. Only barely getting back to her feet, Miyako was not ready for Kaede. The only thing she could do was confront her head on, which meant a painful clash. The collision alone was enough to kick her feet out and almost knock her prone. Only resolute will kept her from folding on the first seconds. Cracks crawled away from her feet as she tried to anchor herself.

Worst came the flames that had stretched from her upper body down to her waist now. The only parts of Kaede still not fully consumed by her flames were her head and legs, both of which seemed to be inevitability. Touching hands as they struggled in a battle of strength was bad enough to keep burning her skin, but the close proximity of the growing intense heat threatened to give her first degree burns.

Her legs already felt like mush before it all started, their collision and struggle only made it feel like a certainty rather than just a feeling. It was only a matter of time for her strength to give out. Miyako knew her situation well enough that she was not winning it. Not with her caught off guard. She merely held in because she needed to or be thrown back once more. Losing ground again was not something she could afford.

Taking advantage of her position, she did the only thing left to her. She collapsed her position and used it to throw Kaede off her. Tossed behind her into the ruins of a house, her body universally sighed a relief along with her. What looked like steam rose off her exposed skin from the heat. “Damnit…what’s it going to take to keep her down…”

While Miyako straightened herself out to prepare for the next round, an explosion of rubble from the ruins blew free everything that had fallen on top of Kaede. The flames had spread more with everything but her head engulfed now.

Miyako tried to keep her heavy breathing under control, but her chest was pounding too hard for that to be a reasonable effort. “That’s impressive…” she remarked, needing a pause to breath, “She looks even more pissed off than before, which I didn’t think was actually possible.”

Screaming to the night sky, Kaede voice almost sounded more like a roar than human. She fixed her glare towards Miyako. “I’m going to KILL YOU!”

“…she losing it?”

Kaede no longer seemed to be meeting gazes with Miyako. Something had overcome her eyes. The flames finished their consumption of her body. Barely visible through the haze of the fires, she looked like a living flame now rather than a human. To match with the change, she screamed once more no sounding human. It had a savage, bestial tone to it that belied the real threat approaching.

“What the hell?” Miyako staggered a step back confused by what she saw. Before her eyes, she watched as Kaede’s shape changed. At first, she just thought she was bending over for a charge, like a sprinter, but that was no longer the case. Her body transformed as the only best way to describe what she witness unfold.

The thing or being that Kaede became was not something Miyako could describe in a single word beyond monster. No living animal she knew of had an appearance like that of what Kaede became. Only images from fiction or movies could come close to even a half accurate image and that still failed. It had hard to tell if she was covered in hair or flames anymore or flaming hair. But it was clear that it was a fire monster whatever Kaede had become.

Even worse still, Miyako was no ready for when she or it charged after the roar leveled everything around it. She could not even see it move, it was not even a blur. Miyako coughed up blood while she flew backwards. She was not even sure what hit her. It did not feel like what she thought.

An explosion from the crash of Kaede five blocks away was all Miyako saw as she collapsed on the ground. ‘So fast…she actually got like three times more powerful…damn…’ Her whole body felt like paste, but it did not stop her from forcing herself back up to her feet. She checked her body where it felt like she was hit, but saw nothing.

Miyako glanced over in the direction of Kaede. “Did she miss me? Merely passing by from her power did that to me? Damn… I really don’t like this…” She felt the thumping of the fire monster, likely recovered. “So she can’t control her new power…”

The monster came stalking back toward Miyako who had only bravado to stand on, not that her confidence made it look like that. ‘Winning the fight is about having the confidence even against the odds.’

Straightening out her back, she stepped forward giving whatever Kaede had become to signs of fear. She ripped her completely tattered shirt off leaving only her sports bra to protect her. It had only been getting in the way. Miyako proceeded to wrap what remained of her shirt around her hands and forearms almost looking like a boxer. Finished, she lifted up both hands ready to fight once more. “It’s time for some monster slaying!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

An explosion from the crash of Kaede five blocks away was all Miyako saw as she collapsed on the ground. ‘So fast…she actually got like three times more powerful…damn…’ Her whole body felt like paste, but it did not stop her from forcing herself back up to her feet. She checked her body where it felt like she was hit, but saw nothing.

Miyako glanced over in the direction of Kaede. “Did she miss me? Merely passing by from her power did that to me? Damn… I really don’t like this…” She felt the thumping of the fire monster, likely recovered. “So she can’t control her new power…”

The monster came stalking back toward Miyako who had only bravado to stand on, not that her confidence made it look like that. ‘Winning the fight is about having the confidence even against the odds.’

Straightening out her back, she stepped forward giving whatever Kaede had become to signs of fear. She ripped her completely tattered shirt off leaving only her sports bra to protect her. It had only been getting in the way. Miyako proceeded to wrap what remained of her shirt around her hands and forearms almost looking like a boxer. Finished, she lifted up both hands ready to fight once more. “It’s time for some monster slaying!”

Roaring down at Miyako, the transformation Kaede had undergone did more than alter her shape. She now stood at a greater height than Miyako. Hunched over, the height easily surpassed two meters with no effort. With a head half the size of her own body, Miyako stared up into teeth and flame.

She could only look undaunted. Nothing human remained inside the black and red eyes of the beast. Only through complete confidence could she make the instinct driven monstrosity not attack immediately. Her look made it question if it could win as Miyako looked like she was only on a whim not completely destroying it. Her well practiced death stare returned. It gave her the look of complete control and superiority, which only she knew not to be true. It had lost any sense of rational thought, forgetting that they had already been fighting.

Another roar coughed up some flames into the air. They did not touch Miyako, but she could feel the intense heat from just the proximity. It was worse than the near miss she had. Then the heat was brief enough that she could only feel the power that passed by. It nearly felt like it had dripped hot coals on her face. The stinging in her skin did not go away even after it stopped roaring. “I didn’t think your mouth could get more foul.”

Almost in response as though it understood Miyako, it roared back at her getting even more in her face. ‘It’s testing me. To see how I react. I wants to see my fear. She really has just become a mindless beast… What sort of power is this and how does this even connect with the rest of her powers?’ She had too many questions. But questions were not for the moment. Their standoff would not last forever.

Someone had to make a move.

Chapter 336 – Back-to-back in the Jaws

Miyako wanted to be the first to act, but she did not know what to expect from the transformation. Speed and power were already far more than she even thought was possible. There was no guessing what other secrets might be stored in the new body.

She began to slowly pace around what remained of Kaede. It merely watched her seeing what she would do. Instinct told it that Miyako was still dangerous. It gave it pause in immediately attacking.

Yet that would not last forever. Something that seemed to carry over from Kaede was impatience. A drawn out stare down would not happen. After thirty seconds of Miyako’s pacing and sizing up her challenge, the beast signaled its next charge with a roar that carried over into its attack.

The danger of the situation was something Miyako understood acutely. A near miss was enough to leave her feeling as if a train had hit her. She did not want a direct hit. It was the main reason she went to pacing around her target. Since she was already in motion, it made it easier for her to dodge quickly to the side. Not that it was completely without risk.

Even using her arms as a shield during the charge, the force still knocked her off her feet and flying backwards into the ruins left over from their earlier fight. Laying prone once more, her body did not want to be moving, but she forced it to get going. It was still a struggle. “Damn, I knew it was fast, but still this is stupid…” She clinched her fists keeping them ready as though that was the only thing she needed to fight. “I knew it was coming and I was still too slow.”

The train had already started back up though, as the sounds from it grew louder. Miyako complained and cursed under her breathe watching the embodiment of rage storming at her. She jumped out of the way just in time, but noticed that it still would have missed her.

Miyako watched it crash into the ruined wall of the school grounds, a reminder that they had been fighting within the crumbling building. “I was right. It gained all this power and speed, but can’t control it. That may be the only thing working in my favor. Not that I know how much of a favor it actually is to have…”

She began to make her legs move again working towards the beast. It already turned around recovered from its collision. Already looking pissed off, it was hard to tell if it was any angrier from the failure. ‘I need to keep moving… It’s my only shot…’ Miyako charged forward with a sluggish start that quickly became more natural.

As she came charging in for the creature, it lowered a little rearing up for an attack. She spun around kicking at some of the rubble around her throwing up a screen in front of her. Some of it was smoke and the rest high-speed projectiles.

Small chunks pelted the monster with the flames coating most of its body vaporizing them quickly. The larger pieces were enough to make it howl in annoyance. But it did enough to distract for Miyako to get in close. ‘Just need one good blow…’ She had everything that she needed lined up. The chance was not going to get any better than the one she had.

Winding up for the throw, Miyako pushed herself faster than she had ever been before while her muscles yelled at her to stop. The creature was still thrown off by everything that it had nothing ready. Even its defenses were down. Only the flames were in her way.

Cloth wrapped in her torn shirt, it was all that protected her fists from the intense heat as she came in swinging. Anyone else would have told her that she was an idiot to run in swinging with her fists against something that could fry her up like an egg (well everyone but Seiji, he’s cheering her on), but something like stupid or smart did not factor into the problem. She had fists and they still worked, mostly, so she was by hell going to go swinging.

Miyako’s stronger right arm released from its hold as she finished the distance. Hitting square in the what was probably the bridge of the nose, there was a loud crack. Flames flashed up around her looking for more to consume, but struggle to get a hold of her flesh.

“Damn, bastard!” she roared in pain feeling the heat, but worse than that. The cracking sound did not come from her breaking the skull of the beast. It came from her hand. “Hard headed bastard!” Not that it stopped her from swinging in with her other arm, somehow still working.

Not as loud, but there was another crack. It became clear to anyone what was happening, but that did not stop her from continue. “Just go down!” She kept slamming her fists into the head of the creature with no regard for her hands or limbs. If she had she would have started biting at it, if it helped.

In the entire fight so far, never had Miyako had the best shots. Each punch easily surpassed the fight before and each blow that preceded it. It seemed impossible, but her power actually increased despite her injuries that mounted with each throw.

Yet the beast only seemed to be flinching from the attacks. The force of the blows pushed down its head a little, but returned to position quickly. However, as time passed groans came from the creature signaling signs that it might actually be feeling what was happening. Miyako saw it as such a sign to keep delivering the pain. “Feeling that now! I just needed to warm up!”

A loud roar broke through the blows as the monster jumped away in a blur. Miyako was left with no target other than the ground, which came up quickly to her fist. The collision exploded earth and debris in all directions and filled the whole area with smoke.

Rather than wait on the wind to clear things out, the creature roared in the direction of Miyako blowing away all of the smoke. All that remained was a crater so deep that Miyako could not be seen. The beast had to walk up to the edge of the crater that had consumed nearly the entire block. Down at the epicenter of the blast stood Miyako glaring up at the thing that had been Kaede. The flames of Kaede still lingered on the edges of Miyako’s fists clinging to the cloth strips.

Giving the creature her full attention, Miyako threw up her fist challenging it for another round. “Afraid now? I told you! This is monster slaying!” She snapped her arms down to her sides suddenly snuffing out the flames.

The monster opened its mouth filled with long teeth that were easily as large as her hand. Flames lit up the throat until it coughed up a stream of fire. Slower than the normal attacks from the beast, Miyako jumped into the air with ease to avoid it. Though the next attack was already launched. Hardened arcs of fire that looked more crystalline than fluid flew at her.

“What?!” Miyako could do nothing to dodge them. It was not as though she could actually fly like others. She was completely open to the attack. Putting up her arms for protection once more, the first arc missed her, like before its aim was something that left a little something to be desired. However, it was a storm. It did not try for accuracy when it was covering the entire field. One would hit, it was a certainty.

Which was very true. One hit collided with her forearms. It sliced into her flesh with ease. However, before it could go all the way through, she converted the force into something that she could use to change her direction. Allowing most of the energy from the attack to be deflected away, she pushed off from it. Blood trailed off her arms once more.

She had tried to use the attack to throw her in range of the beast for another attack, but it came ready for it. It no longer seemed to be hesitating in fighting her. Whether it feared or not, it knew that it had no other choice but to fight. Such an outlook made it more dangerous than before.

It swiped its claws out at Miyako as she came in reach and far before she could even think of landing any meaningful blow to it. The claws themselves did little to her that the previous attack had not done worse. Rather, it was the force and weight of the arms that she felt. It was that which sent her flying through the air and back into the crater of her own creation.

Crashing in the wall of the crater opposite of the beast, Miyako groaned from the pain. “Damn, still got plenty left in you, huh?” She ripped her limbs free and began to dig the rest out when a fireball greater than herself filled the entire view. “Bastard!”

Her voice disappeared into the noise of the blast left behind by the fireball.

Crumbling debris rained down over the area where Miyako had been. There was nothing but smoke and earth in the whole site.

As the screen started to fade away, a figure appeared through it all. It was Miyako panting heavily from the effort. Surrounding her, a new crater, not nearly as large, appeared. In the last moments, she used the force of her own attack to attempt to cancel out the fireball. It mostly worked. Much of her skin was red and raw from the attack, fortunately it did manage to act well to seal up her wounds.

Frustrated that Miyako still stood, it roared down at her. She smirked back keeping up her confidence, even if it was unfounded. “Thought you killed me, didn’t ya? You’re going to have to try harder than that! You’re still half assing it, I see that part of you hasn’t changed!”

It was probably an unwise thing to taunt the creature. Only its lack of understanding on language saved her from an immediate attack. Yet, it still understood the intend delivered at it. It was a declaration, a challenge to do better. Instinct told it that much, she could tell.

Smashing an arm against the earth, the ground started to rumble and complain once more. Strange noise came out from where Miyako stood. She looked down in the direction that it came from. “…the hell is that?” Her instincts told her to dodge, which was still too slow.

A pillar of fire broke through the earth next to her. Accuracy still being something to ask for, it had missed a direct hit against her. But it still consumed her right arm, her still good arm (mostly good at this point). Miyako howled in pain pulling out of the fires, but not before it already claimed what it wanted.

Her arm was gone.

Incinerated in the flames, all that remained was half a stump from the upper arm. She ground her teeth through the pain and slammed her feet into the earth for support. “You think that’ll be enough to stop me!” Without thinking, Miyako jumped forward at the beast.

Ready to receive her for the finishing blow, it prepared the next attack. However, Miyako surprised it by not actually connecting with it. Her aim was below it. Her remaining injured fist rammed into the earth underneath it. The wall of the crater she made exploded around both of them.

Crumbling and throwing debris in all directions, the beast fell off balance into the new crater that Miyako created. She landed on top of it with her eyes lit with fury. “I only need one fist to kill you!” The first blow she made cracked the earth using the body of the monster to do. The second and third expanded them until she punched it into a new crater. She yelled the entire time unable to stop with each punch getting stronger than the last.

Something cracked, it was low and dull, but something had broken. This time it was not Miyako (she didn’t really have much left to break in her state). The beast roared in pain feeling the blow after blow now. The flames around it did nothing to save it from the fury of Miyako.

However, it had enough of the pummeling and threw Miyako off its body. Roaring once more, it jumped into the air after Miyako still suspended before the fall. She caught the edge of the body with her hand as it crashed into her. The force of the impact coughed up blood from her, but not before she pushed off and spun around kicking it in the head to shoot it back to the ground.

A massive pillar of smoke kicked up from the crash of Kaede’s monster body. Miyako dropped to the ground on one knee feeling the pain in her body. The last hit was nearly direct only being in the air softened it a little. It was still not enough to completely shrug it off for Miyako. Blood dripped over the earth as she coughed. “Damn…I can’t feel anything…I don’t know even know if I’m alive or dead anymore…”

Hearing a roar of the monster told Miyako all she needed to know about the condition of it. She pushed off her leg with her left arm. “Not that it matters. My fight isn’t over yet…” It started walking towards the crash site, but that was an unnecessary effort.

Though crashed, it recovered quickly. It came charging out of the smoke with one eye closed. Buried in all of the flames, it was hard to tell the injuries that it sustained, but it actually felt them now. Charging straight for Miyako, there was no chance it was going to miss her this time.

But Miyako did not make any signs to dodge the attack. She could see it coming, but did nothing to save herself.

The two smashed into each other with the beast winning the fight with ease. There was no effort or challenge to be had going straight against the raw strength. Miyako did not have a chance. But she did it anyway.

She planted her feet into the earth as the force of the beast’s charge drug her through carving out trenches the size of her feet. Blood coughed up again from her mouth as this blow was real. There was no padding or escape. It was a full on collision that Miyako lost. Crimson liquid streamed down her lips and mouth in amounts that questioned how she still stood

Yet she did.

After the initial collision, Miyako somehow managed to recover. Her hand came up and grabbed the beast around the neck. The flames burned into her arm, but she hung on to it despite it. Not being able to feel anything helped her out more than she knew. “You’re not going any further!” Miyako pressed her feet into the earth forcing it into a battle of strength once more. The momentum was against her though. Their battle pushed her far away from the school and through ruined buildings. But even that started to change. The signs of Takako’s destruction started to fade away.

The beast’s forward progress started to slow and not because it had stopped. Miyako had somehow actually managed to push back. Her legs were half buried nearly and the street was completely torn up. But she held in against it. “I’m stopping you right here!” Leaning even more into her position, she began to move her feet rather than holding. It did little to change the course, but it was making slow progress.

It took several blocks, but she had managed to bring the beast to a halt. Their battle of strength renewed now with both struggling. Neither could make the other budge, but the beast roared in anger that it could do nothing anymore.

Miyako tightened her awkward grip around the beast’s neck and threw everything she had into it to push it back. It was slight, but it slid away. It was on the defensive. “I won’t allow you any further! This is a line that you can’t cross!”

Behind Miyako, as she already knew, stood the homes and buildings of people that still survived. If their fighting pushed any further, they would be in danger. All of their effort to reclaim the territory and save the people would have been wasted if she smashed it up from their fighting.

However, it did not seem to understand that point. It did not care about those things at all. Only destruction was on its mind and it had to kill Miyako. And anger fueled it more knowing that it was losing suddenly in strength. The beast roared and pushed back against Miyako with everything it had.

She bumped up as it all surged through it. Her feet lost traction and they charged forward with her unable to stop the charge. Around her she saw the signs of the neighborhoods passing her, the signs that he knew too well.

Life.

Miyako screamed through her whole body. Her face narrowed and sharpened to that of a demon nearly as she threw herself into the earth bringing them to a grinding halt. “I said no further! And I meant it!” The beast challenged her still, but she hung in against it refusing to move. Flames on the body jumped out trying to burn her, but she clamped down tighter on her.

She began to push it back out of the neighbor and back into the ruins. It struggled with her unable to do what it wanted.

“I am the wall that protects! I will not break! This is my sole purpose!” She roared again bring everything that she had left to bare in her body. Her muscles tightened and expanded as the earth crushed under her feet. “You will not take another life!” Channeling everything through only one hand, she managed the herculean feat of actually starting to lift the beast off its feet. “This is where you fall!”

She pulled the monster completely off its feet and swung the entire being through the air. Miyako slammed it back down into the street. A massive crater grew out of the collision that ate up the whole block, fortunately she had taken them back in far enough to safe limits.

Down at the bottom of the crater with the beast, she unwrapped her arm, but was caught on something. Buried deep in all the flames, she ground a hairpin. Miyako forced her arm free taking the hairpin with her by accident. Partially embedded in her arm, she ripped it free with her teeth and dropped it in her hand. “The girl was wearing that in her hair…”

Then suddenly, the flames went out on the beast causing Miyako to step back not sure what was happening. Another transformation seemed to be happening, but it was reversing the changes. It was not long before the girl known as Kaede resurfaced, though unconscious.

Victory finally came to Miyako. She lifted up her arm over head Kaede. “This will put an end to it all…” Miyako quickly threw her fist down, but coughed up another large amount of blood. Her body had finally reached the end. The fight was over and it no longer could agree to keep going. She collapsed on top of Kaede passing out.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yumi stared at Yori unfazed by his emotional state. “To put it clearly, if you want to move past me then you must defeat me. It’s that simple.”

“You’re saying I must fight my own sister!”

Tatsuya walked up the couple steps to Yori. “Hey man, one of us can do this—“

“If that’s what you want, fine!” Yori charged at Yumi with a black field coming up around him. It quickly charged into a sphere firing point blank at her. Smoke exploded out in all directions completely blinding everyone. All around the building shook violently from the explosion.

“Damn!” yelled Tatsuya, unable to see anyone in all the mess. “I didn’t think he had it in him…”

“The strength of siblings…”

Wind suddenly started to blow through the hall and stairwell clearing out the smoke. Quickly, he was able to locate Hiroshi, but the siblings were not in front of him as they had been. In fact, there was a lot that was not in front of him anymore. “Hell…there’s not going to be much left of the school at this point…” Only pieces of the stairs remained and the floor. Most appeared to have been destroyed in Yori’s blast.

Also tore away was the classroom that stood at the top of the stairs. All the walls were gone along with the floor and ceiling. Even parts of the first and third floors were not present. As the cloud fully cleared out, the night of the city could be seen beyond.

Yori had blasted both of them out of the school into the courtyard below. However, Yumi seemed to know it was coming and used her barrier to block all of the blast from harming her. Only the environment was damaged. “…Yumi…”

Whatever it was that stood in control of Yumi stared across the ruined field at Yori. White particles hovered around her looking ready to act. “Would appear you’ve begun to hone your power that you awoke recently. This still is within my forecast.”

“I don’t give a damn about your forecast! I want my sister back! And if I have to do so by force I will! None of you are stopping me until Yumi is normal again!”

“That may be an impossibility for you.”

Black blades materialized in Yori’s hands. He did not think about possibilities or logic when it came to Yumi. She was his sister and his family. That was all that matter. “I will make it happen! I am her brother!”

“Matters of family…I expected as much. But that’s not what Yumi needs right now.” The white particles slowly began to take on a different color, transforming into purple.

Jumping in with his swords, Yori had little interest in what the woman had to say. “You know nothing of what Yumi needs! Nothing!” She stood between him and his sister, that was all that matter. However, she stopped his blades with merely the palm of her hand. “What?!”

“On the contrary, you’re more in the dark about your own sister than you seem to think me to be.”

The woman had confidence in spades. It was not even arrogance; she knew she held the superior position to him. Such a look irritated him, especially since so far he had not been able to do anything to prove her wrong. She towered over him in an overbearing presence despite her size and stature. It was as though none of the physical matter to her. This woman was a tower that he could not climb or go around.

Whoever it was inside his sister’s body, she managed to not look like the sister he knew. Even though they shared the same face, the expressions and aura were completely different. It was not even the fact that she had pure white hair or deep blue eyes rather than soft average brown. He almost swore that he saw a different life buried in the carves that shaped her face.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Even though he was not making any progress against her, he still pushed in with his body as though it would break through her defense. “Are you saying I don’t know my own sister?”

Suddenly, a force shot out from behind her hand that sent Yori tumbling back. He clawed at the air finding brakes until he stopped on the ground. The woman lowered her hand staring down at him. “I thought I made that pretty clear that a question was unnecessary.”

“You’re the stranger here!” He kicked off the earth and jumped back into the fight, unfortunately he ran across what appeared to be a trap. A beam of light shot through the earth where he stepped. Only his reflexes saved his foot from being cleanly removed.

“I am a stranger. My life has nothing to do with either of you.”

“Then leave us alone!” Yori released his left hand turning the black blade into an orb of energy that he shot out at the woman. “We don’t need you!”

A counter beam shot out from the side completely over taking the attack. Through the smoke, the woman inside Yumi’s stared across at Yori. “That’s where you are wrong. She wanted us.”

“She didn’t want you at all!”

“We were brought here because of her.”

“No, you were made by arrogant bastard that’s developing a god complex!”

“There is a reason for this.”

“No, the only reason I see here is the one I allowed to be ignored when I listened to my sister. I never should have trusted him. It’s always just been the two of us, that’s all there needs to be!”

“Looks like we’re finally getting to the core of the matter with you.”

“Shut up! I don’t need to hear anything from some fake personality that thinks it knows what’s best!”

“Better than someone trying to maintain a fake relationship.”

Chapter 337 – The Moon Rises

Yori did not know why he kept talking to the woman. She had nothing to do with them. She was merely a wall that he needed to crush in order to reach his sister. ‘She’s the reason why Yumi’s changed and keeps changing. It’s because of that bastard and this fake woman that she’s not the sister that I know!’

Reforming his blade, he charged back in for the attack. Detecting another trap, he swiftly dodged out of the way, but only ran head first into another. It blew up in his face covering the area in light and smoke. However, it did not rest with just the trap, another several blasts went into the smoke.

Analyzing the results, the woman quickly assessed the situation and halted her attack. “He’s put up a barrier.”

Within the black barrier, Yori took pause finding that the situation was quickly falling out of his hands. Though it looked more as if it never was, not that he openly would admit to such a thing. “Damn, it’s like she can see the future, knowing where I’m going to be before I’m even there.” Unfortunately, he did not have much time to think about the mystery of the woman’s clairvoyance. Another beam shot up through the ground inside his barrier.

He had to use his blades to try to deflect the energy, but not before it ran up part of his upper arm and shoulder leaving red seer marks from the attack. Yori bit through the pain. ‘This isn’t as painful as the battle with Athene… This is nothing compared to that…’ Trying to shrug it off was not very easy for him. Despite all of the training he went through, it was still different for him to deal with it. ‘It’s like she said…I’m still soft…and inexperienced…’

Yori stood up blasting out his barrier to wipe away the smoke that prevented him from seeing his wall. Immediately gaining visibility, he had another beam shot at him. Not even his reflexes were enough to react to it. Only by luck of his blades being where the beam came at did he have any chance. It immediately pushed him back as he quickly tried to put his weight behind his blades to deflect the attack.

His blades were not enough for the power behind the attack. Cracks appeared along the black blades the longer that he held against them. They had to break eventually, Yori struggled to hold their form together, but nothing he could do was enough. It only prolonged things. When they finally broke, he managed to move himself out of the danger, but they still tore through part of his shirt.

“Misguided and weak.”

Looking across the field at her, the situation had remained unchanged. It annoyed him how much she breathed her superiority with every word and expression. “Shut up! Shut up! SHUT up!”

“You’re quite the disappointment considering how much she values you.”

“Enough with your lies!”

“You’re pathetic. A small man stuck in the past. You’re looking for a bird in a cage, not your sister.” A purple barrier appeared around her and quickly turned into shards. Countless pieces hovered in the air spacing out over the entire field. “It’s best that I take you out now before she learns the truth of how petty of a being you are now.”

Yori screamed and charged straight for the woman without thinking about his situation or the one that developed before him. All he had armed with him were his swords, which already showed to not be very effective against her. Yet, he did it anyway. She had spouted enough lies. “That’s enough from you! I’m taking back my sister!”

Shards started to spin around in the air. One shot out for Yori that he dodged, but only went into the path another prepared for him. His sword cut through it, but he had to evade again. At every turn, she had counters and traps prepare for him. He actually ended up getting pushed back rather than making any progress towards her.

At every step he made she seemed to predict it and made attacks at them. It was barely keeping his footing against her. Her attacks became more lethal as the fight carried on. He could not hold them off simply with his sword. Glancing blows snuck past him that his abilities could not make up for.

Before long, he had minor cuts along his arms and legs in an effort to protect his body. None of it mattered in the end. ‘She’s just toying with me it feels like. Every time she looks at me it’s like she saying that she can kill me whenever she wants. I hate that look…’

“Is this going to be where you end?”

“Kill me if you seem so certain of it. You said that you would.”

“Already giving up. Was all that effort you claimed to make pointless then?”

“Shut up… I didn’t train to fight with words.”

“You already lost in words so fight with what you have left.”

“With what I have left… I really hate you…”

“Only because you know that I speak the truth.”

“Nothing of what you say is the truth.”

“Then prove your claim.”

The fight had barely even gotten started for Yori, but it the first time he really had a good reason to fight. His fight with Athene was pointless even though he gave it his all for her sake. It somehow felt different for him. Back then his body respond and he could keep up, but against this woman he was already feeling exhausted. His body was being sluggish.

‘I don’t want to die…’ That was the only thing he knew to be true at the moment. The woman had said so many things that it had his mind completely scrambled. He had questions and doubt popping up everywhere. It was distracting.

Yori struggled to move his body. It hurt, hurt a lot. He moaned and complained to him. This was not the sort of thing that he did. He was a student and a brother. Fighting was not something that he did. That was for the bastard Hayashi and his friends, not him. Yet he had been dragged into their world. ‘I followed Yumi to this end…she wanted to go… I’m only here because I wanted to watch over her and keep her safe. This whole thing is dangerous and she’s being naïve thinking that she wasn’t going to be hurt. Everything that she already suffered in Atlantis…’

He did not feel like he had the sort of resolve he saw in the others around him. They believed more strongly in what they did than him. He just followed along. It was not his fight. But they had his sister and they forced it to be his fight too.

Glaring across the area at the unknown woman, Yori found a little piece to make his legs move. They shook and wanted to run away. Every part of himself told him that this was a losing fight. She could kill him whenever she wanted. He knew this, but he had a small piece to cling on to. Something that was not empty or fake to him.

Hardening up his blades, he stiffened up his stance. “I’m a stranger. I’m not a fighter. I hate you. And I hate this situation. I don’t belong here. But I know one thing! I’m her brother and that will never change! Lies, fake, truth, whatever you want to say! Brothers fight for their sisters! End of story!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yori struggled to move his body. It hurt, hurt a lot. He moaned and complained to him. This was not the sort of thing that he did. He was a student and a brother. Fighting was not something that he did. That was for the bastard Hayashi and his friends, not him. Yet he had been dragged into their world. ‘I followed Yumi to this end…she wanted to go… I’m only here because I wanted to watch over her and keep her safe. This whole thing is dangerous and she’s being naïve thinking that she wasn’t going to be hurt. Everything that she already suffered in Atlantis…’

He did not feel like had the sort of resolve he saw in the others around him. They believed more strongly in what they did than him. He just followed along. It was not his fight. But they had his sister and they forced it to be his fight too.

Glaring across the area at the unknown woman, Yori found a little piece to make his legs move. They shook and wanted to run away. Every part of himself told him that this was a losing fight. She could kill him whenever she wanted. He knew this, but he had a small piece to cling on to. Something that was not empty or fake to him.

Hardening up his blades, he stiffened up his stance. “I’m a stranger. I’m not a fighter. I hate you. And I hate this situation. I don’t belong here. But I know one thing! I’m her brother and that will never change! Lies, fake, truth, whatever you want to say! Brothers fight for their sisters! End of story!”

“So that’s what you’ve settled upon.”

“Yes! I’m going to kick your butt and drag you out of my sister!”

“I guess I’ll give you a point of consistency if nothing else.”

“You going to fight or talk?”

Many of the shards from her barrier still hovered around her. A few of them stopped to angle their positions in his direction. “Oh I can fight, since that seems to be all you’re willing to do. But you won’t find the answers you want and you won’t be able to defeat me.”

Yori had enough of her posturing. He drew in more of the black energy into his blades to grow their size. “I’m not wanting answers from you! I’m wanting my sister!” Charging in after the woman once more, he had seemed to have completely forgotten about how the fight played out before.

She sighed in disappointment watching him. “And that’s why you’re weak.” A glow charged up behind her surrounding her in a purple outline. “It seems my more subtle attempts to show our difference has failed to reach you.”

“I don’t care about whatever difference you claim to have! It won’t stop me from getting my sister back!”

“As you are you won’t ever see your sister again.” The build-up drew to completion as the intensity of the light made it difficult to even see the face of the woman. “So let’s show you why you can’t beat me.”

The light behind her suddenly disappeared and then flashed over the whole area. In an instant, there was purple light coming from all directions. Yori saw nothing, but beams of energy. None of them had the same intensity from some of the ones that he had seen tossed around before, but their count exceeded any sort of expectations he had for what she might have been capable. “Too many…”

Chapter 338 – The Full Moon

Dodging was a meaningless effort. The attacks came from so many different sides and angles that he had no hope of being able to evade. Even if he had the speed of Saki, he doubted his ability to be able to come out unscathed. It was only made worse by the fact that he had enough reaction and reflexes to see it come and think about the imminent situation while still feeling hopeless.

He lowered his arms accepting his fate. ‘I really am just all talk. I’m so out of my element doing any of this. I’m no hero or even a wish to be one. I don’t dream of fighting aliens or monsters like that bastard probably does. All of this just proves my thinking… I’m normal, just someone wanting peaceful life, yet unable to do even that.’

“Giving up already” barked Athene, “We’ve barely even gotten started.” Her field of needles disappeared.

“I’m tired. It’s already been ten minutes.” Yori complained wiping away the sweat from his brow.

“Ten minutes? The battle has only started in ten minutes.”

“Yeah, but I’m not built like you. You’re soldiers, I’m not used to this.”

Athene walked over and forcibly picked him up off the ground. “You’re right, you’re not built like us. You’re built better.”

“What are you talking about? I’m just a regular guy, a normal person.”

She poked him in the forehead with a quick flick of the finger. It did more to hurt her than him, which was why she made sure not to do it very hard. “Normal? You’re not like us or the King, but you aren’t normal either. You and your friends have different bodies now with attributes that far exceed anything I could hope to do.”

“I’ve seen the way you able to move. I could never do that.”

“Everything I do is within the rules and limits that I create. The one thing I can’t change is my body. I’ll never have the natural reflexes or speed that you can have.”

“There’s nothing natural about what Saki or them can do.” He looked around the wide open field. It had been the site of the battle between the Titans and them. All of their destruction wrought upon the land had already been mostly cleaned up. They had made a mess of the entire area, which as he learned after the fighting, was one of the major trade routes in and out of the capital. So the clean-up ended up getting prioritized for the sake of stability. Even Yuki had helped out, despite a lot of protesting from the court.

He looked back towards the massive walls of the capital. The ridiculous holes punched in it still seemed impossible to believe. He knew most of the damage was from Saki. “I’ll agree no normal human can do that, but I can’t do that either. It’s a little scary knowing that she can do something like that.”

“She had a reason. And often that’s all you need to go beyond your limits and do something scary.”

Yori looked back at Athene. He caught the glimpses of her walking their her own memories. Her words were not pointed just at their topic, that much he understood. “But now we can move on past that. It’s peace now.”

Athene gave him a bit of a smirk. “You don’t strike me as someone that naïve.”

“No, I guess not. Not anymore at least…”

“Somewhere inside of you, you could be capable of something like that. You demonstrated that during our fight.”

“Yes, but it was all just rage and anger. I wasn’t in control of what was happening.”

“Fights are rarely going to be emotionless. But having control during the rage is important and that’s why you’re here.”

He nodded a little hesitantly for her. “I did ask you to train me to be able to use my power so that the next time I needed it I wouldn’t be mindlessly throwing it around, but I didn’t ask you to make me into a soldier either.”

“Do you not have self-defense training in Japan?”

“Well yeah, I guess so…”

“Do you think of that as a soldier’s training?”

“I guess not when you put it like that.”

“Now let’s continue.” She turned her field back on bringing out all of her weapons for him to dodge.

A bit of sweat dripped down his face seeing everything and the seriousness on her face. “I’m still pretty tired from our last practice.”

“That’s something we need to work on. Your mind needs work. Your body can handle so much more. You have the potential stamina, but you’ve convinced yourself you don’t. You need to believe in yourself. You’ll lose the fight before it even begins if you can’t believe in yourself.”

‘I thought I had gained that confidence from the month long of training that Athene. I guess that was fake too…’ Yori clinched up his hands around the blades frustrated with himself. Everything that Athene taught him went to waste. ‘Damnit! I just wanted to protect Yumi! That’s my only reason!’

Pulling up his swords, Yori prepared himself for the onslaught. ‘No matter what happens this is going to hurt. Fatigue or pain… I’m not going to like it. This isn’t me… But I’ve got no choice… I jumped in!’ There was no chance that he had in even deflecting everything. That much he knew. Dodging, deflecting, whatever there was beyond that, none of it was going to be enough. It was going to hurt, but he had to try anyway.

Countless beams arced towards him. He wanted to try to dodge what he could, but it was a saturation style attack. He had no hope of even dodging the first wave. He could only pick where they landed. He spun around his blades taking off some of the worst beams, but others went through as he expected.

The pain was not as bad as he thought. It was more of the force of the impact than anything that he felt. All of it still was a losing effort on his side. And eventually, he could not keep up with the volume. Everything that remained broke through his weak defense.

As a last effort, he remembered his barrier after it was nearly too late. He cursed himself for failing to remember to use it. But even that shattered as he was not prepared and the bombardment could not be stopped.

What remained blasted against him casting him down to the earth. Around him the ground riddled with some holes reminded him of the power that hit him. “Ugh…the hurts…a lot…”

“I’m a little impressed you survived as long as you did.” She glanced down at Yori, still unmoved from her spot, after he knocked her out of the school. “That training of yours amounted to something it seemed.”

Yori coughed trying to get himself back on his feet. While he did not have holes in his body like he pictured, his clothes were torn and blood streamed from too many small wounds for him to count. “Not enough…”

“No, as I said you can’t beat me.”

Forcing himself back to this feet, he pulled out his swords once more. His body felt weird and his head did not seem to be seeing straight, but he knew that he was standing. Standing counted for something at this point for him. ‘Barely a couple of minutes into this fight and it already feels like I can’t go on… damn how am I going to save Yumi like this? However…’ The energy in his blades pulsed weakly trying to keep their form.

He aimed one of his blades at her directly as though he attempted to bait out a challenge from her. “I’m still going to save my sister. It doesn’t matter if I can’t beat you.”

“So you still refuse to see the truth.”

“Seems that I’ll have to borrow a page from Tsuji’s playbook.”

“That’s unwise.”

“Yup, it wouldn’t be one of his moves if it was wise,” grinned Yori. He sort of refused to admit that he had been doing very Seiji like things the entire time, but no need to focus on the denial. More important matters confronted him.

Black energy appeared around Yori in large orbs. As each orb appeared, his body started to shake more. He struggled to keep his body together while summoning up the energy. The stress upon him was more than he expected. It went past his practice, but that was point. “I can’t be holding myself back anymore.”

“Anything that you try I’ve already foreseen.”

“Is that right? Then you foresaw this?!” All of the orbs hovering around Yori suddenly took form and became swords as well. They all gathering around his sides ready to strike. “You’re not the only one that can set up a barrage!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Black energy appeared around Yori in large orbs. As each orb appeared, his body started to shake more. He struggled to keep his body together while summoning up the energy. The stress upon him was more than he expected. It went past his practice, but that was point. “I can’t be holding myself back anymore.”

“Anything that you try I’ve already foreseen.”

“Is that right? Then you foresaw this?!” All of the orbs hovering around Yori suddenly took form and became swords as well. They all gathered around his sides ready to strike. “You’re not the only one that can set up a barrage!”

“You’re able to control your power. I’d be disappointed if you couldn’t do that.”

It got no reaction out of her that he hoped. Yori wanted to see something even a little bit of shock or surprise from her. Anything to give him a point, but she did not even do that. She only seemed to be closer to disappointment that he was making what he was doing into such a big deal.

However, for him it was not easy to do. It took a lot of concentration for him to just maintain them. Sweat already started to bead up on his forehead and along his back. ‘I never really practice something like this. At least to these numbers… I’m used to doing this with only a couple. I just figured I should be able to do more than that.’

Trying on his mind or not, Yori knew that if he did nothing his sister would be lost to him. Such thoughts were not an option. This was the only thing that he could do.

Pulling back on the swords, he launched them at the woman. They all flew straight in formation for her. But a purple barrier erected meters away from her caught all of his attacks with ease. He grimaced seeing his failure. ‘…damn…’

“Your tactics are so simplistic. It’s like playing shogi with a five year old.” She started to look bored letting down some of her guard in front of Yori. “You don’t deserve to stand before me if you can’t even approach the steps.”

A few barrier shards appeared in the air around her and fired out beams at Yori. They went straight for him with no attempts to surround him. ‘…now she’s getting cocky... This may be my only chance!’ Yori dropped his barrier in front to take the attacks and even strengthened it knowing what he had dealt with before from him. Prepared behind him, he started gathering up his energy for a swift counterattack just as he held her off.

As the beams hit his black barrier, Yori finished letting the energy collect. It was fewer than before, but he was able to manage it better. It was about control and he needed it. ‘I’ll take her back from you!’

In moments before his counterattack, a force slammed him from behind. It staggered him forward and shot waves of overwhelming pain through his shoulder and back. He collapsed to one knee unable to remain standing. “What happened…” Something warm began to flow down his back like water. His hand reached back trying to figure out what happened to him.

The pain did not pass and his arms movements only made it worse for him. Yori felt like he was going to smash his teeth trying to bit through pain. And worse still was that he realized what was wrong. There was a large wound on his back across his shoulder. His right arm no longer had the same comfortable range and he did not even feel like he could force it from the damage he took. “How?!”

Looking ready to fall asleep, the woman began to hover in the air as though it was more relaxing. “It’s a simple tactic. A feint. You would have died on the battle in the feudal era within seconds with such poor understanding of the battlefield. You’re no warrior.”

Tidal waves of pain crashed over Yori bringing him down completely. He felt as weak from when Athene cut him across the chest. ‘There’s no one here to save me this time… Am I going to die in front of my sister?’

Collapsed to the ground, his eyes started to close no longer able to stay open. Darkness overcame him.

Chapter 339 – The Dawn Edge

“Yori Mizuno?” called Athene, staring down at him.

Yori snapped awake with a gasp and caught full view of Athene. His face went red with embarrassment. “I passed out again didn’t I?”

“Convincing you that you have more than you think is more troublesome than I expected.”

He sat up pulling away from Athene. She might have been an adult and someone already with Simonides now, but that did not change the situation for him any. Most of his embarrassment flushed his face over his own inability that had not really made a lot of progress over the last two weeks. It was an easy cover up. ‘She’s the only person that I’ve talked with that actually seems to talk to me and not just at me. The other things certainly don’t help matters. She gets so close and doesn’t even think about it. Need to calm down…’

Taking a breath in and out, he took control of his mind and body once more, sort of. Fatigue ran thick through every part of his body. “I’ve passed out enough to make myself look anemic, but still doesn’t make me get used anymore to how weak I feel after it. It’s not just physically exhausting…”

“It’s all about practice and training.”

The field around Athene dropped and then returned as something familiar. He had seen her use to plenty of times before for his training. “You’re not going to make me start practicing again immediately after I woke up?” His hands were already preparing to pull himself away from the situation if needed.

Athene shook her head taking a seat next to him. “No, this time you actually did run out of power. As a Meso Prosecho user I understand how you’re feeling. Physical fatigue is something I can ease, but mental exhaustion is not something that we can recover. It’s one of our few limitations.”

“You’re able to do so much with your powers. That seems like a strange thing not to be able to do.”

“The mind is a complicated organ. Even we don’t really truly understand it with all of our abilities. We’re just as likely to do harm. In the our history, it’s been said that when we tried to change and alter the mind it ended up breaking people, driving them insane or just going catatonic. So we limit ourselves greatly in how interact with the mind. Memories are the safest as they are something easier for us to understand, if that makes any sense.”

“A little…” It seemed a little arbitrary with their powers. Especially given what he had seen. “Then what about Hayashi and what he did to us? That was more than a physical change. He altered our minds and what we are mentally capable of doing.”

“I’d advise you not to speak about such things very openly. The King’s covered up the facts on you and your friends with your powers making you all out like you’re one of us. If the truth was ever to be learned about you…”

“Great…yeah that’s not something we need or even you. But should what he did even be possible or we safe?”

Athene went silent for a moment, not giving Yori an encouraging feeling. She looked to be searching for something that would give him the answer he wanted rather than the one that he needed. However, he stretched out his hand towards her lightly touching her hand not thinking about things. The look that he gave her told her enough. “What he did was never seen or even considered possible. So I don’t have a good answer for you. So far none of you seem to be exhibiting any signs. But this is unknown territory for everyone. We don’t know how this will affect you in the future.”

“So we could all be ticking time bombs…”

“I don’t know. Anything is possible.”

“Since we don’t know let’s keep this just between us. No need to start panic or worry.”

“Probably for the best for now, just watch yourself and the others.”

“Yeah, that might be the only thing I can do.”

She stretched out and flicked his forehead again as she seemed to have a habit of doing when he was being self-pitying. “You’re capable of more. You just have to believe in it. I told you before.”

“I know, but I’m really only seeing this as defensive training so I can protect myself and my sister if the need comes to it. I’m not planning on starting fights or even trying to finish them.”

“You never know what the future will have for you. So it’s best not to assume.”

“I know myself well enough. I’m not like them. I don’t enjoy any of this and want nothing to do with it. But I’ll learn to be ready.”

Standing up, Athene had finished her work with her field on Yori. She stared off at the village where they prepared for the party for the King. The excitement was impossible to ignore. It was positive to see. She turned back towards Yori. “We all have our reasons and not always does fate allow us to act in the way we like, but the way we must.”

The way she spoke left Yori silent. He could not really say anything to counter what she said since there was experience coming from her words. It was not something he was so blind in to ignore. Realizing that his body actually felt good, though his mind was still loopy, he attempted to stand. Having his mind still not working with him proved his recovery to be still off a bit.

Athene walked back towards Yori with something else on her mind. “Which is why I want to remind you of something else while you’re recovering. You may not want to fight or even win, but if you plan to survive you’ll need to be able to think while you’re fighting. In the simplest terms, a battle is like a game. It’s not just about being stronger or faster than your opponent. It’s often more about outthinking your opponent. If you’re a step ahead of them speed won’t matter because you will know what they’re going to do before they do it. If you can do that then winning or surviving, it’ll be yours.”

‘Why am I remembering that now? Is this the flash your life before your eyes situation?’ In the darkness, Yori traveled through his mind, but he was not picking up on the obvious yet. It still eluded him. ‘If I was wouldn’t it be something about Yumi instead? This seemed more pointless for me…’

His mind remained fully awake, though still not clued in. He went over the meaning of remembering his training with Athene. But while he thought about it something a little important finally came to him. ‘I don’t feel like I’m dying. It’s not like with Athene… Wait…’

Opening his eyes, Yori still felt the pain in his back, though it seemed to be calming down a little. Moving is arm still was difficult and slow, but he could push himself up. As he stared at himself, he felt a little embarrassed at his overreaction.

“Done playing dead?”

Yori snapped his gaze back over to the woman. She waited on him to return despite having the time to kill him. ‘She’s not interested in killing me. Why? Is it because I don’t even rate a thing of interest to her?’ If that was the case, she annoyed him. But she was remained largely a mystery to him. She was not like the last persona that he met.

Forcing himself to his feet, he did what he could to pass of the pain. It throbbed and wanted attention, but he did not really have the time for it. He pulled out of his swords in his hand, but noticed his right felt a little weaker. ‘My shoulder injury is affecting it… This isn’t going to make this fight any better…’

He charged in as he had no better plan. His previous attempts had failed and just wasted his mental energy. It was already feeling the fatigue from him doing more than he should have been in the fight.

The woman’s disappointment only seemed to grow watching him. “Back to your blind attacks now.” She effortlessly countered him at every turn. Nothing he did would get anywhere close to her. And she even started to look more bored with the situation.

Panting from the activity, Yori came to a stop needing a break after his minute long attempt break through her defenses. ‘Damn, everywhere I turn she’s stopping me. It doesn’t matter what I throw at her she just stops it all. I don’t have the speed or power to even think about overwhelming her either…’

It was then that he recalled Athene’s words. It finally made sense to him. ‘Like a game, she said…’ Yori suddenly remembered an offhanded comment that the woman made to him. ‘…shogi…I’m not that good at it, but maybe if I think about it like that…’

Yori released his swords and began to focus on his power. It was a rough plan, but it was the only one that he had. ‘I don’t even know if this will work, but it’s my last chance to be able to do something against her.’ His barrier came up around him along with orbs of his energy floating outside of the barrier.

Glancing casually back at Yori, she noticed the changes. “Going back to your old method of not thinking.” She did not even need to move a finger to move around the shards of her power around.

‘I know that she likes traps, feints and counters. That’s about all I know, but if I can plan for her planning, then maybe I can finally see that confidence crack.’ Yori knew that she grew tired of his attempts and every time that he tried to do something she just smacked him back down. He counted on it this time.

As expected, she had a frontal attack prepared for him, but he glanced around and with the help of the shine off his black barrier, he saw some purple lights reflected in them. ‘Knew it, she’s got some behind me again too. Same thing, she’s thinking I’ll fall for it. Time to surprise her a little!’ Before she fired off her attacks, Yori jumped the gun having already planted enough power in them and since they were orbs it did not have to indicate their direction of fire. Rather than the forward attack as expected, they went behind him and into the air taking down her real attack.

“Hm…I’m relieved that you’re not that poor with your memory. But if you think that I didn’t plan for that.” Another attack came out from below far out of sight and hidden behind some debris that he had no chance of seeing.

Yori pulled around his barrier stacking the thickness for the attack. Purple light flashed brightly over the area as the powers clashed. “That why I have my barrier. I knew that you’d see more steps ahead of me. That’s the sort of person you are.”

“Then you should have seen this coming as well.” Another set appeared in his opening left by the gaps he created in the barrier. The beams fired quickly at his exposed back. But two swords dropped down quickly materialized to deflected the beams away.

Getting some of his strength back, Yori straightened himself out. “And I knew that you’d try to capitalize on that like last time. I did that intentionally to draw out your fire.” Another sword appeared far outside of his battle radius nearby the woman.

Shooting at her without any hesitation, she glanced at it as the whole area with the sword became is distorted. The earth became to curve from some unknown force that crushed it with ease. However, it was just a distraction for the real attack that he had setup on the opposite side. She had to quickly adjust her flanks and re-establish her line uses pieces of her barrier to take the hit.

She straightened up a little looking down on Yori once more. “Finally making use of that potential of yours. Maybe this will be a more interesting battle now.” The number of barrier shards in the air around her double along with even more orbs of energy materializing. She armed herself for a battle against Yori.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Getting some of his strength back, Yori straightened himself out. “And I knew that you’d try to capitalize on that like last time. I did that intentionally to draw out your fire.” Another sword appeared far outside of his battle radius nearby the woman.

Shooting at her without any hesitation, she glanced at it as the whole area with the sword became is distorted. The earth became to curve from some unknown force that crushed it with ease. However, it was just a distraction for the real attack that he had setup on the opposite side. She had to quickly adjust her flanks and re-establish her line uses pieces of her barrier to take the hit.

She straightened up a little looking down on Yori once more. “Finally making use of that potential of yours. Maybe this will be a more interesting battle now.” The number of barrier shards in the air around her double along with even more orbs of energy materializing. She armed herself for a battle against Yori.

‘…crap…’ The feeling of being more in control of the fight left him unprepared for the woman actually coming at him in earnest. ‘I had a feeling she was withholding power, but nothing like this…’ He had only barely seen how much Yumi could do in the battles in Atlantis. So he had very little to work on for his expectations.

Sweating a little, he uneasily slid his leg back getting the feeling he was in over his head again. He committed himself to the fight, but doubt popped back up with a vengeance. Not that he was allowed much room to take action on it.

Now that he displayed some amount of competence, the woman in Yumi’s body started taking their fight seriously. She opened with a significantly larger barrage on him than she had used previously. None of his plans had prepared for such a scale of assault. ‘I can’t be running now… Not with my sister in front of me!’

Making use of his only motivation, he hardened his position and focused his attention. What little plans he had setup for a major counterattack by the woman he used up just clearing out the initial wave. It only covered a third of the attack. Afterward, he had to get more creative making use of his shield, weapons and energy attacks just to try to stay ahead. But it still left him with third. It was not enough to completing take down her attack. ‘She’s got a numbers and tactical advantage over me… How am I supposed to beat her like that?’

There was still leftovers that he had not dealt with and they were upon him before he could think about the problem. All he managed to do was dodge what he could and take the rest. Everything he could not stop slammed into him throwing him backwards across the ground.

Chapter 340 – Dawn Light

Coughing his throat nearly hoarse, Yori was still alive, somehow. Blood dripped down his face and soaked into his cloths. “Damn…how am I going to do this?” He used a collapsed chair for support to stand up. “Huh?” Yori looked around not even realizing that he was crashed into someone’s home. “Oh yeah, we’re not on the school grounds anymore…”

Staring around at the destruction he caused from just colliding with the house gave him a moment of pause. It was just another reminder of how different he was now. “All my insistence on being normal… This isn’t normal. None of this is…”

Though he did not have much time for such thoughts as he picked up the woman controlling Yumi through the hole he created. “Right, our fight isn’t over.” He glanced around at the sound of something off only realizing in the last moment that it was another attack. It punched through the house hitting the ground where he stood only a moment before.

While he turned in air, his eyes sought out the next attack. ‘I know that’s not the only one she’s got. She’s not like that. This is only a setup so that I go where she wants me.’ Using his barrier along his arms, he caught sight of the attack. Since he reduced the barrier size and increased its thickness, he was able to use it to block the attack. Yet she had already planned for that as well with Yori detecting another attack.

He crashed to the ground again. Only changing where it hit him saved him. ‘She’s getting lethal with the attacks now. I guess she’s seeing me as a serious threat now…’ Pulling himself out of the rubble, he wiped away the smoke that masked his vision. ‘She can see three or four moves ahead of me and I’m only looking one or two at best… If I’m going to be able to stand on even footing I’m going to need to do something to throw her off. Something she can’t predict.’

Another attack came in after him, which he took head on rather than dodging as he had the habit of doing. His barrier could manage it. After a little bit, he saw the next attack meant for him, but nowhere he stood. ‘She expected me to be there rather than here… She already knows I like to dodge rather than be hit, though I hate risking being hit, this might be the only way I can work.’

He launched a counterattack immediately in timing with her second strike. Being in the house, he had a lot of guesswork at her location. Jumping around the house to avoid her previous attack made it difficult to see her. ‘This really is just like a game of Shogi, she’s playing. Positioning, counter positioning. Forcing moves and threatening. It’s all tactics for her… I’ve got to play on her level…but she’s better at this than me… I was never great at Shogi…’

Running through the ruins of the house, he started to work on his own plan of attack. He kept things simple for himself. She had better prediction than he hoped to match, but he could count on that. It gave him a place to counter from knowing what she would know him.

She already made adjustments to her attacks knowing that he stopped trying to be so predictable. As he moved around, she planned for more variables. ‘Damnit! She’s able to have this many alternate plans set up? Just how is she able to keep track of this many plans at once?!’

The more things dragged out for him the more it became clear how skilled the woman truly was in tactical battles. Yori struggled just to keep his own plans together against her.

An explosion from the roof of the house preceded the appearance of Yori. Landing on the roof, he had a better view of the woman than before. ‘I don’t know how much longer I can keep this going…’ He spared the moment to breathe after all of the running.

Then the game began.

Attacks positioned themselves in the air against Yori. He immediately responded with counterattacks lined up. A defensive line came up to stop her. But she clearly had more at her ready. Flanking attacks came out and he spread out his line to cover them.

Then she repositioned everything in a new line up. Yori could see how different the attack was from the others. It was no longer about direct attacks. She was playing mind games with him now as well. She moved to out position him.

Always one step behind reacting, but ready, Yori managed to mostly stay even with her. It was hard to try to absorb everything that happened. The sky was filled with their attack move and darting around in feints and flanking maneuvers.

Yori wiped away the sweat and blood that collected on his forehead. ‘Focus…she won’t let you up…even breathing is wasted time…’ He was more right than he wished. The exact moment he paused in their dance, she punched to his defenses. It all collapsed in an instant.

“…damn!”

“You played well for a novice.”

The part of the roof Yori stood up collapsed underneath him. He spun down while keeping an eye on her. “I’m not done yet!” Behind him in the darkness of the house, a bright light grew out.

Tilting her head a little, she swiftly analyzed the situation. “So you’ve been diverting part of your power to charge up that. You sneak a cannon behind your defense. Impressive…”

As he disappeared out of sight, Yori gave a small grin. “Always have an ace up your sleeve.”

The mass of energy finished its charge releasing all of the stored up energy the moment he left. Shockwaves from the initial release ripped the roof off the top of the house as the beam completely obliterated the shards of wood and clay. Kick back from the force blew out the floor and walls of the house bringing it all raining down around Yori.

A crater remained where the house used to be with Yori collapsed at the bottom. Pillars of smoke completely surrounded the area as the black energy raced through the sky for the woman. Even before it reached her the black light shining from it darkened her skin and appearance. All of her attacks lined up for Yori were washed over like a tsunami crashing into the shore.

Nothing remained behind.

However, she did nothing more to counter his attack. Yet with an attack of such size, it seemed unlikely anything she had could actually change its course. The mass of energy would easily overtake her. Yori could finally rest at ease having beaten her at her own game.

Black completely surrounded her leaving nothing of her visible from the outside. It continued on past her taking over the space around her.

While the attack kept up the intensity, Yori started to pick himself back up. He wiped away the smoke around him to get back up. Sweat covered his body. “Finally… It was nearly impossible keeping it together the whole time, but it paid off for me. Her over-confidence defeated her in the end.”

Yet as he watched his attack, there was unsettling feeling he got watching. “The hell? What is this that I’m feeling?” Then a split developed in the black waves of energy. He knew what it had to be. Yori stepped forward in surprise. “Impossible! That had all of my power! She can’t have survived unscathed!”

The black energy finished its pass and continued into the sky destroying the cloud cover before disappearing into space. Still standing unmoved from her place was the mysterious woman. She turned her gaze down to Yori. “You’re right that there is a powerful advantage having saved an ace. But such tactics are only for those that are weak. True power doesn’t require the reliance on such desperation.”

Yori’s shoulders slumped from his neck. “That’s not possible…”

“This is possible. This is the reality.” She pointed her finger down at the ground. A massive crater, one that eclipsed Yori’s, ripped through the neighborhood destroying all of the homes. All the debris came floating up into the air. “I told you before this started that it was going to be impossible for you to defeat me.”

He still could not believe what he was seeing. The power that she displayed went beyond anything that he thought possible for Yumi. Even worse, she did not even look to be breaking sweat still. “You can’t be this powerful! We all got our powers at the same time!”

“But everyone’s evolution is different and more than any of you, Yumi’s desires for power eclipses all of you. Thanks to the desperate battles she found in Atlantis, her power is rapidly advancing to meet with her wishes. This is still nothing compared to what she desires.”

“You’re lying! Yumi doesn’t wish for power, not this destructive power!”

“You’re the one that’s clueless. You claim to know your sister, but you know nothing about her. This is what she wished to be.”

“Not that again! I know my sister! You’re just a fake personality created by the bastard!”

“I might be fake, but I know my place unlike you. So who is actually fake?”

“Stop acting like you know anything!”

“Denial will only lead you to your own destruction.” She motioned to the debris that floated around her. It all flew down at Yori in sizes that varied from small pebbles all the way to massive chunks of earth or houses.

Gritting his teeth together his body was already tell him no. “Damnit!” Swords appeared in his hand as beams erupted from the crater around him. He used the opening volley of his attack to thin out the storm while he jumped into the debris storm. Within the moment, he body attuned with his memories of fighting against Athene. The training carved into his muscles remembered it all. It moved without his thoughts as though it was the most natural thing.

His blades sliced through piece after piece giving him a path through the storm. From the side, he called upon spare blades he had in the air to flank her. She quickly countered them before they even got anywhere. He kept materializing attacks as she shot them down. She saw through it all, but he kept cutting a way to her.

Unfortunately, buried behind all the storm was a purple beam coming straight for him. He punched out of the storm already seeing that she had another attack lined up outside. She left him with only exit through it. It was obviously going to have attack as well, but he charged it in flying through the air. Deflecting them off his swords, he lined up a series of feints and flanking attacks. She had more than he had planned completely wiping out all of his attempts.

Yori spun through the air dodging and jumping around trying to stay ahead still three steps behind her. He took a lot of damage when she wanted it to happen, but he survived biting through the pain and reaching out for her.

Stretching out his blade, he closed with her getting the closest that he had been since the start. However, she stopped his sword with just the tip of her index finger. Surprise flashed through his eyes.

“You’re finished.”

“I can still keep going!”

“No, this is the end for you. I only allowed you this close, because you’re out of power. I knew how much you had left and allowed you to be here so that you could understand that you’ve failed. You can’t win.”

“What?!” The energy in his sword suddenly evaporated into the air and his body slammed like a truck just fell on him. He fell through the air crashing into the crater he created before. “No! I won’t…”

She appeared down at the edge of the crater. “You already exceeded your limits a long time ago and had been forcing your reserves empty to reach this point. You can’t fight anymore.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Stretching out his blade, he closed with her getting the closest that he had been since the start. However, she stopped his sword with just the tip of her index finger. Surprise flashed through his eyes.

“You’re finished.”

“I can still keep going!”

“No, this is the end for you. I only allowed you this close, because you’re out of power. I knew how much you had left and allowed you to be here so that you could understand that you’ve failed. You can’t win.”

“What?!” The energy in his sword suddenly evaporated into the air and his body slammed like a truck just fell on him. He fell through the air crashing into the crater he created before. “No! I won’t…”

She appeared down at the edge of the crater. “You already exceeded your limits a long time ago and had been forcing your reserves empty to reach this point. You can’t fight anymore.”

Yori struggled to even push up off the ground. His body was so empty and trashed that he felt like he was not even in it anymore. Worse still was that he felt that she might have been right. ‘Nothing’s working! I can’t even get my arms to move for me.’ Panic ran through his eyes. It was the realization of the truth.

The woman walked down into the crater towards Yori. “So you understand now. This is the end of your struggling.”

‘She’s right… damnit!’ His body heaved nearly exploding his ribs with their force from his body’s exhaustion. None of it could be felt, but he knew that once the feeling returned he would be suffering. All he could do was roll over on his back. “…now…you’re…going to…kill me…”

She looked down at him with slightly distant and penetrating gaze in her eyes. “I’m less inclined to do so.”

“Isn’t…Takako…”

“Yes, she wants you all dead. Though she’s more interested currently in Yuki Hayashi any of you. He is the primary objective.”

Something close to that of a sign escaped his lips. He could not really it really well over the pounding of his own heart. “…again…”

“From a tactical point of view, he is the most dangerous element facing her Takako. But she won’t get very far since she had no ambitions.”

“…you’re not…”

“Under her mind control? No, I am just like everyone else. She had a harder time with this body due to the way it was remade, but it is no less different than everyone else. I just haven’t succumbed to the mental corruption like the others have.”

Fighting with his body, he managed to get an arm moving. Something motivated him again. The same thing that kept him fighting before. It gave him the energy to move, as bare as it was. Yori at the edge of the jacket of the uniform like it was keeping him upright. “…sister…Yumi…is she…”

“Still single-mindedly focused on Yumi. She’s asleep within where it is safe.”

“Give her…back!”

“Seeing you I’ve determined it to be ill-advised.”

“You’ve determined… You! Determined?!” Suddenly, Yori had the strength to stand on his own again. He lacked any of his powers, but he still had his physical strength to use. Yori threw out his hands grabbing for the woman as though he might be able to rip her out of Yumi’s body. “Give her to me!”

Chapter 341 – Sun and Moon

His hands hit a barrier rather than what he aimed for. What strength he had fought against her to shatter the wall before him. For being exhausted beyond all reason, he held up his fight. “Give!”

She looked a little disappointed watching him struggle. “Your obsession will be the death of you one day.” Pushing back to get him off her, she found that his strength had somehow manage to exceed her power.

Cracks began to appear along the barrier where his fingers pressed in. His strength actually looked to be increasing. “You won’t stop me!”

For the first time, she had surprise crawling up her face watching Yori overpowering her through sheer strength and obsession. The power behind him made her feet slide a little as she struggled to keep her position. “You surprise me. To think that you’d be able to summon up this much purely on self-delusions.”

“The only thing that’s a delusion here is you!”

“You’re so blind.”

“Just go away!” The barrier completely shattered with the last push that Yori made. He grappled with her for a brief period before she knocked him away. It wasn’t enough to make him stay down, only sliding away with his feet still planted in the ground.

He charged in after her taking swings at her with unexpected agility and control. A focused look that had not been present before seemed to be driving him forward. The fuel it gave him allowed him to keep coming after her. “Such tenacity should not be possible.”

“I told you already! I’m not stopping until I get my sister back!”

Blocking with her barriers, which shattered quickly from the impacts, she kept him from getting too close. But he jumped around the ground laying down kicks and punches that shook her defense. Though he had not managed to use his powers to break her barriers, his strength continued to do things he had be unable to achieve else wise. It actually became a struggle for her to keep her usual passive stance. “I didn’t think you’d actually force my hand.”

She lifted up her hand as Yori approached again and the space around him distorted. His body was immediately bowed. A crushing weight slammed into his back and shoulders. It hit from the top forcing him down.

Yori pressed his hand to the earth trying to keep himself from collapsing under the weight. As he struggled the pressure increased. It crushed his body into the earth beginning to give under him. “You…won’t…stop…me…”

“However much strength you seem to have it’ll all be crushed. You must be stopped here.”

Increasing in weight, Yori felt his back being pushed further to the earth. All the ground around him bowed around him. Soon even the earth could not hold it together and broke away from the part not being crushed. “I…won’t…” He started to force himself back up against the crushing pressure. His back could not straighten out, but he staggered forward. One foot dragged forward with it smashing through the earth when he dropped it down.

“Unbelievable…”

“…I…will…” Yori made another step forward. Another followed and another after. He slowly started to stretch out his hand fighting against the weight that forced it down. The edge of the pressure was in reach.

“It’s truly ill rational the strength gained through such deception.” She then took a step forward suddenly building up power in her free hand. Waves of energy pulsed from the purple orb that gathered up. It quickly drew in power until arcs began to orbit around it.

Directing the energy in waves, she sent it at Yori, unable to do any sort of evasion. He lacked his power to defend or deflect it coming at him. Yori could only brace for the arcs. They sharpened up into blades that sliced through his out-stretched arm.

Quickly diced up by the attack, his left hand fell to the crushing weight with his fingers and forearm shattered around. Blood poured out of his wound as he collapsed to one knee. “…damn…”

She increased the pressure forcing him down into the dirt. “This is where your journey ends. You’re unable to see past your own hand. Such selfishness is only corrupting.”

“I…don’t want…to hear…that coming…from you.”

“You don’t want to hear it at all. You’ve convinced yourself of your justifications.”

“You…know…nothing…”

“Self-deception is the worst poison of all. It’s rare to find an antidote in time before it consumes your life.”

The weight on him suddenly disappeared. Despite his arm, he did not feel any of the pain. If he had not seen it happen, he would not have even known about it. He attempted to get back to his feet to return to the fight, but purple energy surrounded him.

Wrapped around his wrist and ankles, it floated him into the air away. Several more bindings latched to his waist and legs keeping his movement completely locked down. He attempted to struggle against the bonds, but there was no movement. Even the strength he had found seemed to have left him.

Nothing was left.

“I gave you plenty of chances to figure it out on your own. But it seems the poison had run its course already. There doesn’t seem to be anything else that can be done.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“For a dead man you still have a lot of confidence.”

“You haven’t killed me yet.”

“No, but I gave you your last chance. Takako has become very insistent on seeing you die and I’m inclined to grant her that wish.”

Yori had lost any of his uncertainty through the fight. And his the numbness in his body left him with little fear. He only saw his goal. “Kill me if you can. You’ve talked about doing so since the beginning, but still have yet to actually go through with it.”

“True. I only spoke in threats until now. I merely wished to test you and you’ve failed. You’ve been given more than enough chances. So now I’ll make good on my promise for you.”

“I’m tired of listening to you anyway.”

“Such a disappointment.” The purple orb in her hands began to glow brighter dragging Yori towards the woman. She stared into his eyes one last time. It was her last attempt to find what she sought. Yet it was missing, just like before. There was no finding it.

A sigh escaped her lips. She closed her hand stopping Yori just inside of arms reach. Her right hand flattened out coming to a point as she lifted it back. “Any last words?”

“Go to hell.”

“You’ll be going first.”

“At least I won’t have to see you corrupting my sister anymore.”

She threw out of her hand piercing his chest in a swift blow shooting out blood through his back as her bloodied hand exited. His blood poured out around her arm streaming down dripping to the earth.

Pulling her hand free she threw out Yori’s body to the ground. The hole left in his chest pulsed blood. Yori coughed and choked on the blood that poured up his throat. He continued to fix his eyes upon what should have been his sister. “…damn…you…”

“A miserable soul…”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Hiroshi and Tatsuya both turned to look where Yuki disappeared into the night. Neither knew if he was alive after taking such a kick. Unfortunately, they did not really have much time to think about it. Saki made her stance clear. She held the line keeping anyone from advancing past her.

They stared a little awkwardly at each other not completely sure what they were going to do. But Saki made their decision for them. She saw them both as threats, naturally. So she turned her attention to them. Her body disappeared and then popped up in between them. Spinning out, she took them both out with a kick to Tatsuya’s stomach and punch to Hiroshi’s face.

Being more resilient than Yuki, they only flew back into the placed classrooms. Tatsuya saw it coming a little better than Hiroshi. He recovered quickly in mid-air and landed on top of a desk, though his force did cause it to slide backwards. When it came to a stop he heard a strange moan pop up from behind him. The thought that he might be surrounded by more of Takako’s army put him on edge.

Such a thought immediately left his mind once he took in the classroom. “What…the hell?!” A strange odor wafted through the air. He quickly tried to shut his eyes, but he still heard the sounds of all of the different voices coming from around him. ‘What did Takako do to them…to make them do THAT?!’ He really started to believe in Yuki’s theory that it was mind control. It was the only way to explain something so impossible.

Tatsuya jumped off the desk wanting to return to the hallway immediately. He could not take all of the sounds coming from the room any longer. Saki stood waiting for him, likely knowing that it was not enough to take him down. She already had another fist ready for him. But he slipped around it with very little effort.

Saki glared over at him, her left arm still fully extended. “Tatsuya…you won’t escape me this time.”

“I’m going to have to be a little more serious this time around if I’m expecting to live through this.” He pulled up his shirt a little after it had been pulled down from all of the rough treatment. Their fight resumed.

“Your death is assured this time.”

Roughly adjusting his position, he shifted his weight around on his feet getting prepped for the fight. “I’m not really a fan of assured death,” he joked awkwardly, “I prefer the more certain life sort of thing.”

Annoyed with his clearly lack of serious commitment to their fight, Saki spun around to kick him. Unfortunately, all that she hit was the air with disappearing image of Tatsuya. She ground her teeth with the bone nearly audible. “You coward! You won’t fight, you just run away!”

Deeper in the hall, Tatsuya surfaced out of reach of Saki. He stroked his shirt with a little uneasy after the near miss. “Death isn’t exactly the sort of motivator for me.” All his joking, he knew the gravity of his situation. ‘Hiroshi’s not really well suited to this sort of fight. His things need preparation and they restrict him to the rules along with anyone else. He can’t exclude people. So all it would do is create a stalemate and we need to get to Takako before anyone else.’

He glanced around the hall trying to find Hiroshi anywhere. After the opening attack by Saki, they had lost each other and he did not need Hiroshi doing anything stupid. ‘I was better prepared for the attack than him. But he’s not dead from just that I know.’

The hesitation was all that Saki needed to make another attack. She grew more cautious of Tatsuya and his strange ability to dodge her unlike anyone else had been able to do. However, she connected to him that time. From the force of the attack alone, she pounded him backwards and through the floor partially. His body might have been able to take her attacks, but the building was not made of such materials.

Splinters and shards of wood jumped around his legs as he fought for a hold. He quickly lost his ground in a very literal sense. ‘Crap…this isn’t going to work…’ Just as the ground gave way he jumped away disappearing from Saki’s sights for a moment.

He saw the way things were going with Saki. ‘If I’m going to do this I’m going to need to get out of the school.’ While he started trying to think of ways to get Saki out of the school, a crash from a neighboring classroom distracted the two of them. ‘Is that…’

More noises came from the room. It became pretty clear who it was. Saki reacted sooner than Tatsuya becoming a blur. Tatsuya was half a second late on his reaction. “Damn it!” She was after Hiroshi to finish what she started. He pushed all of his speed to get into the classroom. ‘I thought she wanted me… I don’t need her to have a short attention span!’

The sound of desks breaking along with two fighters clashing echoed from the room as Tatsuya broke through the wall. He used everything he had in his speed to throw it behind his fist. It connected with Saki’s cheek shooting her through the room and windows out into the neighborhood in a large explosion of dirt and debris.

Tatsuya slid to a stop just before falling out of the school. He looked back at Hiroshi before glancing over at his work. A pillar smoke in the distance showed him how far he had actually sent her flying. Sweat dripped down the back of his head realizing he over did it. “Damn, I didn’t know I’d hit her that hard. I haven’t no clue what I hit with her.” He clapped his hands together praying that no one had been injured from what happened.

“Tatsuya! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Turning back to Hiroshi, he could see that he was understandably upset. “Hey man, it wasn’t part the plan.”

“What was part of the plan then?”

“I was trying to save you!”

“And what about those that you might have killed!”

“I wasn’t thinking about that at the moment.”

“We’re in our own city! We’re supposed to be protecting the people here!”

“I know that! But this sort of battle isn’t going to be clean!”

Hiroshi rushed over to Tatsuya and grabbed him up his collar. It mostly just pulled at his shirt than anything else. “Tatsuya! We—“

There was no chance to try to yell at him anymore as Saki burst through the wall with a very pissed off look in her eyes. During the entire argument, Tatsuya had been checking on Saki knowing that she was no more harmed by the attack than the first punch she got on him. He pushed Hiroshi back as Saki’s collision with Tatsuya ripped them through the classroom.

The initial impact alone sent out a shockwave that rattled the entire room. As Saki’s propelled force sent Tatsuya back they decimated the floor and walls crashing into the next classroom on the other side of the school.

Tatsuya’s whole world felt like it had been turned upside down and shaken up in a blender and then poured out. He laid prone in the classroom amongst the bodies of other classmates. It was the room that he wanted to forget. Kicking her off of him, Tatsuya grabbed a couple of desks and spun them around him whacking Saki with them. The metal and wood splintered into dust nearly, but they still dropped Saki into a different part of the school.

Across the room and hallway, he saw Hiroshi hurrying to his side. “Don’t!” he shouted holding up his hand towards his friend. “This is my fight. I’ve got her attention you go where you need to be!”

“You can’t beat Saki alone!”

“Hey have a little confidence in your friend!”

“She’s been protecting Yuki from bullies since school started, she’s better in a fight than you are!”

Coughing, Tatsuya just felt in his body what Saki had done to him. “I’m fully aware of that. But someone has to stop Takako and that should be you! Only you know what must be done, what has to be done! I can’t do it!”

Grimacing, Hiroshi’s face betrayed his distaste for what Tatsuya said. But his expression twisted and changed understanding the situation. He put himself on the course and he knew what he needed to do as Tatsuya told him. As all the thoughts ran through his face, he finished reconciling things with his fate. “Fine, just stay alive until I kill Takako! If Yuki’s right, Saki should come back to her senses!”

“Of course! I’ve got no plans on dying today!” He watched Hiroshi run off in the direction of Takako. Once out of sight, he turned to look back in the direction of Saki and the cloud that covered her. She walked out of it shortly still looking pretty pissed and with her cloths a little torn up for the trouble. “No plans by me. I can’t speak for her plans…”

Chapter 342 – The Reverse Mirror

Walking out of the classroom, Tatsuya met Saki out in the hall again. He glanced around at the condition of the school. In the distance, he heard flames going off from Haruo’s fight that they left him to handle. “It’s a miracle that this school is holding together with everything we’re doing to it. Yuki’s going to be pretty pissed that we’ve wrecked all of his work.”

“He’s already died.”

“Now you’re just making assumptions.”

“He couldn’t have survived my kick.”

“I guess we’ll find out.” Pretending that he knew what he was doing, Tatsuya tried to imitate something that he saw in a martial arts movie for a fighting stance.

Saki glared at him like she was insult in his efforts. “You’re full of openings.”

“Then try me.”

Taking the bait, she charged after Tatsuya without a thought to what he was capable of doing. He moved around her as she completely missed once more. However, it was something that she had gotten used to seeing and stopped. She spun around with her leg destroying the wall of the hall to toss a storm of debris at him.

Some of the debris hit and a lot of missed. It staggered him out of his evasion and she closed the distance. He knew it was coming, but could do nothing to stop her. Saki pummeled him into the ground crashing him down to the first floor in a rain of debris.

It took Tatsuya a moment, but he emerged from the debris and crater he formed. A bit of blood dripped down from his forehead where he smacked into the ground and foundation of the school. He examined the rest of his condition to be sure of no other injuries. While looking around he saw his shirt torn up from the fall. “You ripped one of my favorite shirts, Saki,” he shouted back up to the second floor. “Hope you plan on replacing this!”

All he got for his troubles was some debris she shot down at him. He batted it away with it not strong enough to actually harm him. Before he went back up, he looked around to find Miyako. He could see her further down near where they last saw her. She had her hands full with all of the students and others attacking. ‘She’s still kicking…I’m glad.’ As he began to jump, he felt the school shudder from all of their fighting.

Just as he leapt back up to the second floor, the third floor collapsed down near where Yuki originally fell. The damage spread quickly and collapsed the second floor as well. Tatsuya paused realizing that everything falling was on top of Miyako. ‘She’ll be fine…that wouldn’t even harm her anymore…’

Thinking about someone else other than his own wellbeing was a bad idea as he remembered. Saki did not give him much time to do nothing. He thankfully saw her coming and managed to evade her attack. She had improved her reaction time against him and followed up with a second swing. It required a lot of correction, which in the steps between seconds was an eternity.

He could dodge it as well, but not the third that she had. She was already on top of him and the amount of correction was almost non-existent. Tatsuya knew he could not do anything to evade the attack. Putting up his arms, he did everything to fortify his position to her attack. The force of the hit knocked him back, but he managed to stay on his feet.

Shockwaves ripped through the hallway tearing up the fragile walls. The school shook a little as each hit it took made it less safe to remain within. More of the third floor came raining down around him. None of that stopped Saki from charging through. Since his defense mostly held, she did not plan to stop until he went flying.

Each blow she left on him pushed him back further and further. While he did not have a good sense of space, he knew that he was going to run out of floor soon. Behind him was the destroyed part of the school that Yori wrecked in his opening attack on Yumi. ‘If I fall, she’s going to take full advantage of me being off balance. I need to do something, playing defense isn’t helping me here…’

Tatsuya tried to dodge out of Saki’s punch, but it opened up his defenses. He ended up taking part of the power from her fist to his shoulder. It knocked him a little off balance, but it did at least put him into a better position against her. Taking her extended arm, he grabbed her and threw her down the hall the way she sent Yuki. “At least we’ll be out of the school now.”

Following after Saki, he jumped through the school on what remained until he came out to the night air. Saki had already landed safely not giving him a chance to keep his momentum. He landed on top of a house that still somehow remained standing after Saki crashed through it. “I’ll be able to utilize the full extent of my powers out here.” Tatsuya suddenly became blurry to Saki’s eyes until she started to see two of him. “This is something new I figured out my power can do. Let’s see how much trouble this causes you.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Shockwaves ripped through the hallway tearing up the fragile walls. The school shook a little as each hit it took made it less safe to remain within. More of the third floor came raining down around him. None of that stopped Saki from charging through. Since his defense mostly held, she did not plan to stop until he went flying.

Each blow she left on him pushed him back further and further. While he did not have a good sense of space, he knew that he was going to run out of floor soon. Behind him was the destroyed part of the school that Yori wrecked in his opening attack on Yumi. ‘If I fall, she’s going to take full advantage of me being off balance. I need to do something, playing defense isn’t helping me here…’

Tatsuya tried to dodge out of Saki’s punch, but it opened up his defenses. He ended up taking part of the power from her fist to his shoulder. It knocked him a little off balance, but it did at least put him into a better position against her. Taking her extended arm, he grabbed her and threw her down the hall the way she sent Yuki. “At least we’ll be out of the school now.”

Following after Saki, he jumped through the school on what remained until he came out to the night air. Saki had already landed safely not giving him a chance to keep his momentum. He landed on top of a house that still somehow remained standing after Saki crashed through it. “I’ll be able to utilize the full extent of my powers out here.” Tatsuya suddenly became blurry to Saki’s eyes until she started to see two of him. “This is something new I figured out my power can do. Let’s see how much trouble this causes you.”

“Is that all you can do?”

“Eh?” That was not the sort of response he expected to get from Saki. She did not even look worried about it. He was not thinking she would be surprised, but a little bit of concern or annoyance at something that would give her trouble. Yet she looked disappointed.

“All you make is two?”

Tatsuya leaned forward on the roof a little finding that he was more surprised and shocked, which should have been on her face. “A-all! It took me two weeks to figure out how to do this! I like to see you do better!”

As requested, Saki began to become blurry until she separated into two copies and then another. She stopped at creating six copies of her through her speed. “And I figured this out in the middle of combat.”

“Now you’re just showing off,” he joked trying to hide his insecurity. ‘Damn, this is bad. She can do all that and doesn’t even look like she’s trying still. How am I supposed to even get a draw with her? Hurry up, man. I’m not going to be able to hold out for as long as I thought against her.’

Chapter 343 – The False Mirror

Saki did wait long before making her move against Tatsuya. She was confident, but not one to show boat. There was no need for her to be dramatic about her fight. None of that had changed since joining Takako.

All six copies of Saki leapt to the roof after Tatsuya. It was only thanks to his ability that kept him from being completely destroyed in the first second. She once again missed him. While he was already airborne, she crushed the roof that he stood upon a moment before. It all happened in a blur, but he saw multiple streaks from Saki for each of her copies.

As he came to a rest, he watched the house collapse into pieces as Saki stood on the debris pile. Though he noticed as she stood on it, the debris was moving quickly. Eventually, she stood on a flat surface of the floor.

It took him a moment, but he realized what had to be happening. ‘It’s like in those anime…’ The moment he thought that he became a little depressed with himself that he was thinking like Yuki would. But it made sense. ‘This all did come from his mind, so it’s not surprising that these sorts of things would work this way.’

Little time remained for him as Saki returned to the offense again, but armed with what he figured out he could dodge her again. It took a few more attempts for him to be sure. ‘I was right. She didn’t actually copy or clone herself. They don’t have independent movement. It is just her moving so fast and intentionally taking pauses in her movement. They’re all just after-images. There is still only one Saki.’

The discovery made him grin a little. Learning such a piece of information did not make her as threatening as she seemed. It was still frightening to ponder the fact that she could move so fast as to create six after-images. But Tatsuya could take such a thing.

He kept dodging her using his two copies to throw her off. She quickly realized as she managed to land a punch on what, that it was not actually real. Her fist went right through him. It left her to pause in surprise. This opened her up to a counterattack.

Tatsuya immediately took advantage of it by attacking from the real one of him. He did not have any speed behind his punch, so it did not have the same sending power as before. But he still connected with her cheek. The power behind it knocked her back off her feet. She had no defense up, not expecting it. So he got the full advantage of his strike.

Tumbling end over end for a good fifty meters before she managed to come to a stop, Saki crashed through two homes. Columns of smoke spread out from all of the destruction she wrought from the attack. But she did not stay down for long.

Saki nearly seemed to be flying back the way she was covering the ground. If he had not seen her coming from so far away, he probably could have been knocked out by the sheer speed she approached. However, since he could see her coming so easily, it gave him plenty of setup. He tripped her and flipped her all in the same motion sending her sliding into the earth.

The force behind her body was enough to carve out the earth across the street and into a house. It buried her about a meter below the ground in a tunnel she created. Tatsuya could hear her screaming curses at him, unfortunately through the earth her voice did not carry very well. ‘Seems her over-confidence is working out in my favor. But I don’t know how long I can keep this up. She doesn’t seem to be even breaking a sweat and I can already feel my body getting tired. I’m not used to such an intense fight.’

He had been keeping his movement limited knowing that he had poor stamina. None of this was his sort of life. All his school life consisted of before these dark days was hanging out with friends and trying to do the least amount of work possible. He was content with being lazy. Unfortunately, the new life he led did not allow for such luxuries anymore.

While he tried to preserve his energy, Saki worked on getting out of her hole. The tunnel she dug with her body left her a stuck firmly behind a meter of earth. It did not take long for her to get enough room made for her to free herself. When she did a column of earth exploded into the air as she punched her way out.

As she walked out of the cloud it looked like she had her own that she generated from her fuming emotions towards Tatsuya. She was dirt caked and a little bruised from everything. Not nearly as worse for wear as Tatsuya, but it actually looked like he managed to do something to her.

Unfortunately, the anger in her eyes made him sweat a little in worry. She looked even more pissed than before, which seemed impossible. Yet it was true and it was all going to be taken out on him. ‘And suddenly, I want to swap out with Hiroshi…’

He noticed that she was not trying her after-images anymore. It was not giving her an advantage against him. ‘I had hoped that she keep it up for a while longer. It would have drained her energy faster…’ Once he figured out how it worked, he knew it could use it against her. Sadly, it did not last longer for him.

Saki charged after him quickly closing the distance, but stopped just before him. He was already in the act of dodging when she raked her foot through the earth spitting up debris in an arc at him. Debris shot through both of the copies of Tatsuya leaving Saki confused. She paused not sure where he went. “Come out you bastard!”

“Alright.” He popped out behind her getting another hit on her. It knocked her forward, but did not send nearly as far. Tatsuya felt something a little off about the impact. ‘Did she block me or am I getting more tired than I thought?’ Whichever was the case, Saki jumped back on her feet almost the instant she tumbled over. She jumped back after Tatsuya before he had much of a chance for anything. His attempt to dodge chance a direct hit into a glance blow, but it still sent him flying backwards into the ruins of the house Saki destroyed earlier.

Somehow, it actually feel worse than before even though he was certain she did not hit him as hard. “Urgh…” Tatsuya tried to get up, but Saki did not want to lose her advantage at him. She landed with a sharp kick to his stomach as he was pretty sure the sound of ribs breaking echoed out through his body. Blood shot up out of his mouth along with the air knocked out of his lungs.

Following up with a kick in the side of his ribs, Saki assuredly broke several. The force sent him up in the air and she leapt forward slamming her elbow into his chest shooting him back into the earth. His impact shattered the earth and dented it.

Another stream of blood escaped his lips as he coughed and nearly choked on the blood. He frantically manipulated his copy and threw up some of the dirt to temporarily blind Saki.

“You bastard!” she screamed as she tried to rub out the tiny particles of dirt. She still roughly knew where Tatsuya was and spun around her leg to try to take him out. It only caught a small piece of him. “Get back here!”

Tatsuya escaped quickly to get out of sight of Saki. There were plenty of houses in the neighborhood, all abandoned. So it gave him the options that he needed. Putting some distance between her, he stopped up against the wall and nearly crumpled over. ‘Damn…I didn’t think she’d wreck me so fast. The difference in our power is too great… I don’t know how much longer I can keep her busy.’

The screaming of Saki’s anger and pain ripped through the neighborhood. It only made Tatsuya try to hide even more. His body did not want to go back out there against her again. He had cleaned up a little bit of the blood, but it was already everywhere. ‘How bad she did mess me up?’

“Tatsuya, you bastard! Get out here!”

‘No, I need to keep buying time for Hiroshi.’ He peeked around the house trying to get an idea of where Saki was. Unfortunately, there was just too much still. Tatsuya hugged his stomach trying to work through the pain. ‘This isn’t going so well…’

In what was likely enough time for Saki to get the dirt out of her eyes, the ominous sound of things breaking lowly echoed around the empty neighborhood. ‘She sounds really pissed off…’ Odd noises from the distance started to give him an uneasy feeling about things. She could not find him clearly. ‘What’s she doing? Trashing the place in anger? There’s no body living here at least.’

Before long though, a strange sound screamed towards him. He did not have enough time to react to the explosion that leveled half of the house nearby him. ‘The hell!?’ Tatsuya tried to lean out to see if he could figure out what happened, but another explosion went off on the opposite side.

“You can’t hide from me!”

It began to come to him. Another explosion further in the distance destroyed what remained of a house. ‘Is she throwing things around trying to level the place until she finds me?’ As he watched another house blow up, he paid more attention to what happened. He saw a large chunk of earth colliding with the house moments before it collapsed. ‘I’m right… Damn, this isn’t going to take nearly as long as I hoped for her to find me. I’m running out of hiding spots fast and I can’t hide in areas that would draw her fire towards living areas.’

Precious seconds drained away as Tatsuya tried to think of something to do. Stress and pressure did not help him think faster. His mind drew a blank on anything that he could do. ‘…damnit…wish Yuki built me better…then I could hold my own against Saki better. She’s just too strong…’ He had no options, save for one.

His house was the last one still standing in the area. It made it pretty easy for her to figure out. Saki leapt through the air landing on the roof of the house. A few of the clay tiles slid off falling at Tatsuya’s feet. “So this is where you are.”

“Damn! Out of time.”

“That’s right.”

Tatsuya stood up to face Saki directly. The pain from his ribs seemed to have disappeared. He was not sure why, but it helped him if he was going to fight. ‘I’ll have to make the first move otherwise things will play out the same as before.’ This was his only option.

Flinging a couple of the mostly whole roof tiles back at Saki, he used it as a screen. She cut them down with her arms leaving her completely open for Tatsuya to punch her into the house. Everything shook from the impact, but the house remained standing, somehow. Keeping up his attack, he pulled out pieces from the ruined roof to throw at her. The smoke made it difficult for him to locate her, so he listened for the different sound when it hit her.

Once he heard the right sound, he jumped down swing with a large chunk of wood he found. It shattered immediately on impact against Saki with the force that he brought upon it. Saki still staggered back as the blow created a gust that cleared out the clouds. He picked up anything nearby him to keep swinging at Saki, anything to keep her off balance.

In the middle of a swing, Saki caught the latest thing he was swinging, part of a sink. “That’s enough of that!” Tatsuya received a good look at Saki, his attacks left her bloodied in the face and arms. Her pissed look had reached a new peak as she wound up her punch. He tried to back away and dodge her, but Saki grabbed a hold of his arm. “You’re not getting away from me this time!” Her fist slammed into his stomach shattering the house’s floor and foundation as his body carved out a crater to lie in.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Tatsuya stood up to face Saki directly. The pain from his ribs seemed to have disappeared. He was not sure why, but it helped him if he was going to fight. ‘I’ll have to make the first move otherwise things will play out the same as before.’ This was his only option.

Flinging a couple of the mostly whole roof tiles back at Saki, he used it as a screen. She cut them down with her arms leaving her completely open for Tatsuya to punch her into the house. Everything shook from the impact, but the house remained standing, somehow. Keeping up his attack, he pulled out pieces from the ruined roof to throw at her. The smoke made it difficult for him to locate her, so he listened for the different sound when it hit her.

Once he heard the right sound, he jumped down swing with a large chunk of wood he found. It shattered immediately on impact against Saki with the force that he brought upon it. Saki still staggered back as the blow created a gust that cleared out the clouds. He picked up anything nearby him to keep swinging at Saki, anything to keep her off balance.

In the middle of a swing, Saki caught the latest thing he was swinging, part of a sink. “That’s enough of that!” Tatsuya received a good look at Saki, his attacks left her bloodied in the face and arms. Her pissed look had reached a new peak as she wound up her punch. He tried to back away and dodge her, but Saki grabbed a hold of his arm. “You’re not getting away from me this time!” Her fist slammed into his stomach shattering the house’s floor and foundation as his body carved out a crater to lie in.

Coughing up blood, it felt like he had been dealt a lethal blow the way it hurt. He had no idea how much damage it did to his body, but it felt like she broke everything. His body crumpled up in the crater. ‘I can’t really feel my body… This isn’t good! Hiroshi…’

Saki stood back up to stare down at the shocked Tatsuya. “You never stood a chance against me. The little tricks that you had were just tricks, not real strength like what I have.”

He felt like saying something witty back to her that would just get him hit again, but nothing came to him. It might have been the first time in a while that he lacked a comeback good or bad. ‘Damnit…this isn’t looking good. I can’t move…’ Tatsuya knew that nothing had happened yet. Or at least that was what he convinced himself. He knew nothing of how Takako’s powers functioned other than their guesswork. So he worked until the assumption he would see a change. Which meant for him, he still needed to fight.

Moving his body appeared to be a futile effort. Nothing responded to him. The fact that he could not feel his body did not actually scare him. He would have actually needed to put that together to have made that feeling pop up. Saki’s menacing appearance gave him more than he needed for things to think about.

Jumping down into the small crater she made, she stood next to the paralyzed Tatsuya. “After I’m finished killing you, I’ll hunt Hiroshi and kill him as well. Then your little rebellion will be over.” She delivered each word with clear measure intent. A lethal, deadly intent unmistakable for anything.

Death.

Chapter 344 – The Broken Mirror

Saki drew her hand back not even hesitating to make the act. The commitment that she had actually left Tatsuya a little terrified that this was the same girl he knew. Unlike so many of the others he ran across that looked dead inside from Takako’s control Saki looked completely aware of her actions. That awareness made it even worse. As though blind innocence somehow made mass murder better.

It was an unsettling side of Saki that he never knew existed. Even during the attack on their base, she focused on people that she knew rather than the murder spree of the rest of the group. Tatsuya had never seen such a look from Saki.

Mustering his strength, Tatsuya found that he could move a little bit now, though mostly only his mouth. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

She paused. “That’s rather vague.”

“Right now.”

“I’m going to kill you. That’s pretty simple to understand.”

“Yes…” And he suddenly felt like he was talking to a child. One that really did not understand the weight of their actions. “You say that… But you realize what that means?”

“You die. This isn’t complicated. What point are you trying to make?”

He sighed as she still missed it. “What I’m trying-“ Pain suddenly revealed itself to him, which had been missing before. It was still numb and distance, but it sharply stopped him as his intensity rose. He drew himself back a little to keep control. “What I mean is this is murder. That’s what this will make you if you cross this line.”

“Is this supposed to be your efforts to plea for your life?”

“I’m trying to stop you from doing something you’re regret!”

“I kill Takako’s enemies, there’s nothing to regret.”

‘I feel like I’m in a loop now. It’s at least stalling her. So there’s that.’ Distracted a little, he turned back to focus on the bigger issue he was hoping to tackle. “You’ll be killing someone, Saki! It’ll make you a murderer.”

“I’m already one. Another death isn’t something that’s going to bother me,” she replied so casually it did not even seem like she realized what she said. It was too big of information to drop. So she clearly could not have meant it. It had to be Takako’s doing.

Takako thought that way at least. “You only just joined Takako’s side! You can’t have killed anyone!”

“But I have.”

“We’re not talking about the others with her, just you!”

“Of course. I’m not taking credit for someone else’s work.”

“You haven’t been here long enough to have!”

“While that’s true. I’m not talking about having killed anyone for Takako.”

“What?!” Tatsuya wanted to draw back from Saki, but nothing in is body wanted to move. He did not like the direction things were taking. It hit him harder than he thought it would.

“We were fighting for our lives.”

“Are you talking about where you all disappeared to for months?”

“Of course.”

“But it was an accident or something right?”

“I did kill a lot of people by accident, but no I killed a man intentionally.”

“Saki?!”

“He was trying to kill Yuki. Yuki would have just let him live, but I knew he’d just come after us again. So I killed him.”

Tatsuya needed to let it all set in. He could not believe what he was hearing from her. The meaning of the words hit him immediately, it was why he tried to question it. Yet it was the truth. She did not seem to be lying to him. ‘This means that before all of this. Before Takako, under no influence. She…killed…a man. She really does understand…’

She lowered herself down towards Tatsuya, her hand still had not left its prepared position to kill him at a moment’s notice. “They figured out the final numbers after all of the fighting, but there’s no way to be completely certain how many of them I killed or Yumi might have. But it’s a very realistic possibility that I’ve killed more than anyone in Takako’s army. What’s one more when I already have killed thousands.”

‘She really is…’ Tatsuya found a little bit of strength in his body to move, but Saki grabbed his ankle with her free hand. She was not letting him escape. ‘Thousands?! What the hell happened to change Saki?!’ He stuttered on his words feeling true fear seeping into his body. “Y-you’re—“

“Evil?” Tatsuya did nothing to respond to her question that finished his incomplete statement. She did not smile at him, her face had lost the pissed off look. She just looked serious and committed to her action. It was as if it was just normal for her, business to handle. “That’s fine. It is what I am. Someone must stand in the darkness for someone else to be in the light. Now that Takako is here, she has become that person.”

‘Hell…she’s really going to kill me. I’m going to die!’

“Looks like you don’t have any more questions. It’s time for your death. I’ve entertained you more than enough.”

The moment had come. Saki’s arm tensed up once more this time actually going for the kill strike. Preparation ended. Death approached.

Death.

Tatsuya found himself for some reason thinking about Hiroshi in his last moments. His thoughts rewound back. While he recalled the better times that they had when the world was still normal, it was recent times that came to him.

He recalled the day that Kazuhiro died. The scene with Hiroshi holding into his body screaming at Yuki to bring him back. It was a time that he thought about regularly whenever he saw Hiroshi. It was not something that he could easily forget.

The days after haunted him with the memory. A memory that he wished to forget on most days. And his only option became deflecting. It was only because of Hiroshi that he had managed the illusion that he had overcome the memory.

Day after day from then, the sight of Hiroshi’s expression forced him to do everything. That was the only reason that he had. He was needed by Hiroshi.

‘Why am I remembering this stuff now? Is because I’m still guilt ridden by it all? Because I’ve been using Hiroshi as my only means of dealing with the grief? This isn’t how I imagined my lasts moments to turn out. Just filled with regret...’

All he saw was regret.

But the scenes continued to play over for him. They did not stop as though they wanted him to remember in his vain effort to ignore them. All of the effort came back at the end. Proof that troubles could not be run away from no matter the effort.

Tatsuya kept seeing images of Hiroshi. It was all focused on his friend. The grieving friend that he forced to overcome his stand still by pushing him forward. His friend that became so swallowed by it all that he could not function. He did want to continue on. He pushed him.

Progress.

Forward progression was all he could offer him.

‘Hiroshi!’ Snapping his eyes open, he caught Saki already in the motion of throwing her hand at his heart. He already knew their strength difference would not be enough. She had better skills and power than him.

His body fully responded to his desire. He slid down in the last moments causing her shaped hand to graze his shoulder painfully. Her hand embedded into the earth from the force. Tatsuya snapped his leg free from Saki’s distracted hold and immediately kicked her off of him.

He leapt away from Saki getting to the edge of the crater as she recovered. The blood dripping from her fingers reminded him of what might have happened. His hand clutched his wound. It was shallow and not enough to throw off his arm completely.

Saki looked over at him questioning his suddenly rediscovered strength. “Found the will to live.”

“More like I realized I couldn’t leave someone alone in this world.”

“I’ll be killing him after you, so you can die knowing that he won’t suffer for long.”

“Not the sort of encouragement I’m looking for at the moment.”

“I will kill you.”

Tatsuya wiped the blood away from his mouth. His body complained to him for standing up with his injuries. He could not feel them too much and that was a good thing. Will was the only thing keeping him standing now. “Let’s see if I can avoid that fate.” He leapt over the crater going straight for Saki as his resolve became stronger than before.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

His body fully responded to his desire. He slid down in the last moments causing her shaped hand to graze his shoulder painfully. Her hand embedded into the earth from the force. Tatsuya snapped his leg free from Saki’s distracted hold and immediately kicked her off of him.

He leapt away from Saki getting to the edge of the crater as she recovered. The blood dripping from her fingers reminded him of what might have happened. His hand clutched his wound. It was shallow and not enough to throw off his arm completely.

Saki looked over at him questioning his suddenly rediscovered strength. “Found the will to live.”

“More like I realized I couldn’t leave someone alone in this world.”

“I’ll be killing him after you, so you can die knowing that he won’t suffer for long.”

“Not the sort of encouragement I’m looking for at the moment.”

“I will kill you.”

Tatsuya wiped the blood away from his mouth. His body complained to him for standing up with his injuries. He could not feel them too much and that was a good thing. Will was the only thing keeping him standing now. “Let’s see if I can avoid that fate.” He leapt over the crater going straight for Saki as his resolve became stronger than before.

She easily watched him come straight at her. It had not been the first time he jumped into the attack, but she knew how he worked. Anticipation mounted waiting on him to make his move. The sneak attack or diversion that he seemed to favor, knowing that he could not take her straight on in power or skill.

Yet she waited.

The moment never came. What did was Tatsuya suddenly teleporting the last distance right in front of her slamming his fist into her face. Enough speed pushed his strength behind his punch to send Saki flying over the ground for several city blocks.

Breathing heavily, Tatsuya watched the pillar of smoke rise into the air from the impact. ‘This isn’t over yet. I’m about to collapse and she’s still getting warmed up. But I can’t stop…’ He knew if he stopped to pause that everything keeping him standing would evaporate. That was how it felt. “I wonder how pissed off she is now,” he joked to himself waiting on Saki to return.

Chapter 345 – The Shattered Mirror

A scream ripped through the area. It was one that was of not surprise. And it only preceded her return by moments. Saki charged in full speed at Tatsuya angered that she fell for his tricks again. However, before she got even ten meters away from him a large metal rod flew at her. She effortlessly knocked it away, but it was merely a distraction.

He appeared on her right flank delivering another punch. Off guard and unprepared, she bounced off the ground and in the air. Tatsuya immediately leapt to her side and brought both of his hands down together. Saki’s body crashed into the ground creating a crater around her.

Landing at the edge of the crater, Tatsuya waited for the smoke to clear. ‘How long can I last like this? I never really fought for so long or so hard before. I feel like I’ve become used to fighting losing battles, but this is completely different sort of losing battle.’

However, he did not have to wait long for her to return. She dived back into the fight bursting out of the clouds with Tatsuya firmly locked in her sight. As her fist came down upon Tatsuya, it went through as though there was nothing there. Saki blinked in confusion watching the image of him disappear.

Tatsuya popped up on her flank again throwing out his fist. Though he connected with her solidly, she only staggered a little. Her feet planted themselves firmly into the earth to take it. “I’m getting tired of your tricks!” she roared as she returned to the attack.

Her arm flew out for Tatsuya’s head, but missed somehow. She recognized it as what had happened before in their fight. As she missed, Tatsuya snuck inside her defense countering with several quick blows. Lacking the power behind his fists, he could not push her back or knock her down. She went after him again trying to adjust, but missed again.

Saki did not understand it still. She kept thinking that she had him, but then would miss instead. Yet he would appear and counter her. Despite seeing repeatedly, nothing she did managed to adapt to it. It did not make any sense. “Damn you! Just die already!”

“I’m not going down!” As he went in for another attack, but it was stopped by Saki’s hand. She fought him in a battle of strength. It was his already injured hand, so he could not support it as well as he wished. The struggle was going poorly.

She kept pushing back on him bit by bit. “You’re predictable. Even if you have strange ability to keep dodging my attacks, you’re no fighter. You’ve got no skill or experience. You can’t beat me!”

“I haven’t been fighting you thinking I could win.”

“You futilely believe Hiroshi will be able to reach Takako.”

“He will! You can’t protect her while I’m fighting you!”

“Is that what you think?”


Surprise and confusion took over Tatsuya’s face and he completely lost his position. Saki broke through his defense and knocked him off his feet. Without her speed, her power did not have the same sort sending power. Tatsuya only fell over a little bit before recovering. “What are you saying?”

“That should be pretty obvious! I’m not the only one that guards Takako!”

“…damnit…”

She began to laugh at Tatsuya’s naivety. “I only just returned home. You really think that Takako didn’t have someone else guarding her before I came around.”

‘She’s right… I never really thought about it.’ He began to think about what Hiroshi might be doing. All his planning on him fighting Takako and taking her down had been everything he pinned his fighting on. His mind tried to figure out who it might be, but Takako was not someone that he knew very well. ‘She’s Saki’s friend, not mine. I only really knew that she was on the track team, that was about it. After she was hospitalized, she was never back at school until now. Vegetable to conqueror is a strange move. Could her guard be the source?’

Tatsuya pulled himself together. He had too many questions and it was not helping the situation with Saki. “Who is it? Who’s protecting her still?” Focusing on the more important matter at the moment, he hoped to know if there was a risk of Hiroshi not reaching Takako.

“You don’t have to worry. They’ll keep Hiroshi entertained until I return.”

“Who?!”

“That’s nothing you need to concern yourself over. You’re going to be dead soon!” Saki lowered a little into her usual fighting stance preparing to attack.

There was nothing he could do to prepare anymore. Tatsuya knew how much of a difference she had. It was always a stalling game. The game had just changed. It was more of a death game now. Such an outlook was not the sort of view he wanted. ‘It may very well come down to living as long as I can. Hiroshi won’t be able to kill Takako if he has to deal with Saki. I don’t know if there’s anyone left that can actually stop Saki…’

“Now that you understand how hopeless you’re situation is—be so kind as to die!” Saki leapt at Tatsuya bringing her might upon him once more.

‘…damn…things just keep getting worse…’ Taking advantage of his power, he dodged Saki’s opening strike. But he had to dance around their field to stay ahead of her. She was on the full offensive not letting him make any move of his own. And even dodging was not enough.

She caught a piece of him as her reflexes adjust to him. ‘Damn!’ Tatsuya slid back trying not to fall over. With her coming at him still, allowed himself to fall when he realized it was the best option. Her attack flew over him while he launched himself with his feet into her stomach as she came in range. The hit knocked the wind out of Saki and kicked her up in the air.

Grabbing some spare wood around their current location, Tatsuya spun around whacking Saki with the plank a few times before it shattered. It was enough to keep her in the air while he whaled on her. He grabbed for more weapons to swing at her needing to do anything to keep her stunned. Eventually, she recovered from it as blocked his attacks. Rather than continue seeing that his makeshift weapons did nothing more to her, Tatsuya grabbed her arm and slammed her into the ground. He quickly threw his foot into her side doing anything to keep her down. ‘Just stay down, Saki!’

A couple of kicks in though, she grabbed his leg and spun him through the air into the ground next to her. She threw down her arm even while she was prone to pound him into the earth more. Tatsuya did what he could to block the damage with his arms, but it still channeled through his body.

Tatsuya coughed and bit through the pain as his body weakened. ‘I don’t have much left in me.’ He kicked over at Saki to push her away from him. It gave him enough distance to be freed up. He stumbled back to his feet as Saki flipped back up. ‘I’ve only got one trick left in me. She’s seen everything else already. It’s only going to keep her off balance for a bit. Finish the job, Hiroshi!’

Focusing on his remaining energy, he prepared for the attack. Saki struck first as he expected. She wanted him dead to get back to Hiroshi. That gave him the opening that he needed. Tricking her with his copy, he kicked up a smoke of dirt to mask his escape.

He jumped out of range to get the room he needed. Once he saw Saki charging out of the cloud, he went on the attack. Meeting her in the middle, he went through her. She missed the attack, but her reaction prepared for the real on coming straight at her, only it went through her as well. Several copies of Tatsuya went through her as if he was a ghost. “What are you trying now—“ A punch actually connected with her knocked her off her feet.

As her body flew through the air, Tatsuya sped over catching her quickly in an underarm pin, or at least his attempt at one. He squeezed his arms around her torso and arms trying to keep her from moving.

“You think you can hold me?!”

He could feel her struggling. Because it was a bad angle for her, she could not use her full strength against him. “As we’ve been fighting, I realized that your actually strength isn’t much different from my own. It’s the speed that’s been making up for your lack of power. So in a straight up test of strength, you’re not going to be in that much of an advantage.”

“I don’t need my strength to break free.”

“Just try—“ Suddenly, Saki bashed the back of her head back at his face. It hurt, but he held together until she whacked him again. His grip started to fail as she repeatedly smashed her head into his.

Saki ripped free from his loose grip and spun around with her leg kicking him in the head. Toppling over through the earth, she jumped into the air ramming her knee into his stomach. As Tatsuya coughed up blood into her air, she rolled over him and grappled him in a classic judo arm lock.

Pinned to the ground and his arm pulled to its limit, Tatsuya struggled with what little strength that he had. Saki did not stop pulling on his arm taking it further than just a pin. He felt his joint in his elbow straining as she applied pressure. ‘Can’t…hold…’

A low popping came from his arm as he screamed pain. Saki released his broken arm and wrapped her arms around his neck and head. Tatsuya grabbed at her with his only good arm trying to deal with the pain at the same time.

“This is the end for you.”

“Saki…”

She quickly shifted her hands and gripped his head. “You can’t trick your way out of this!”

However, before she could snap his neck a massive force slammed into her head throwing her free of Tatsuya. Tatsuya coughed and collapsed to the ground grabbing at his broken arm attempting to nurse it. He rolled his head over a little trying to who had jumped into the fight. His eyes widened in surprise. “Why…?”

Saki stood up shaking off the ringing pain as half of her face was soaked in blood now. She glared over at the Tatsuya and then up to the figure that interrupted her. Her eyes widened as well in shock. “Why are you here?!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Across the room and hallway, Hiroshi rush to get to his friend. “Don’t!” Tatsuya shouted holding up his hand towards him. “This is my fight. I’ve got her attention you go where you need to be!”

“You can’t beat Saki alone!”

“Hey have a little confidence in your friend!”

“She’s been protecting Yuki from bullies since school started, she’s better in a fight than you are!”

Hearing the way Tatsuya coughed worried him a little. He knew that Saki’s attack caught up to him. “I’m fully aware of that. But someone has to stop Takako and that should be you! Only you know what must be done, what has to be done! I can’t do it!”

Grimacing, Hiroshi’s face betrayed his distaste for what Tatsuya said. But his expression twisted and changed understanding the situation. He put himself on the course and he knew what he needed to do as Tatsuya told him. As all the thoughts ran through his face, he finished reconciling things with his fate. “Fine, just stay alive until I kill Takako! If Yuki’s right, Saki should come back to her senses!”

“Of course! I’ve got no plans on dying today!”

With the needed assurance from his friend, Hiroshi ran into the hall and away from the battle between two friends. ‘Please, be safe…I’m sorry for dragging you into this… I’ll finish this for all of us!’

Chapter 346 – Water Works

It was a little miraculous, but the part of the hall behind where Saki guarded held together (part of which is only because time-wise, this is before the fighting escalated). While it was darker than usual with most of the lights out by now, Hiroshi found it familiar still. It should be, it was his school until a couple of months ago. Which only made it even more unsettling for him.

He felt like he was going through a haunted house built inside his school, except everyone had forgotten to actually put out the decorations. ‘So unnerving…it’s like a horror movie…’ Chills went down his spine even as he worked to ignore as much of it as possible. Everything was only made worse by the fact that it was his school.

Hiroshi focused on the end of the hall. When it was a proper school it was just a normal end of the hallway. There were stairs going up to the third floor and down. Nothing out of the ordinary. However, now it seemed that it was completely blocked off. It was a make shift construction with some awkwardly placed sliding doors and a wall that was taped together. ‘Now it looks like a haunt house…’

No guards protected the door, something he felt as odd. However, they could have been sent to fight in their invasion, which seemed to be predicted by Yumi. It benefited him either way. “Takako’s behind there…”

There was some uncertainty still in Hiroshi. Behind the door was the unknown. Only those part of Takako’s army had been back there. No one ever survived. He was not sure what to expect from it. Given how the rest of the school turned out, it seemed only natural that the place with the boss would be take to the extreme end of it.

Grabbing the handle, he hesitated more thinking about the possibilities. ‘Will I be able to keep my sanity? Can I kill her while surrounded by whatever depravity that she’s carrying?’ Hiroshi’s hand shook a little as he tried to keep himself together.

“Are you coming in?” a voice whispered through the door. It felt distant, barely making it through the distance to him.

He did not really recognize the voice. It was clearly a girl’s voice, but for him it could have been anyone. ‘Is that Takako? I never really met her other than when she was with Saki. So I mostly just know what she looks like and even then I needed someone else to verify.’

However, he had an invitation, not that he planned on asking for one. But the fact that someone knew that he was outside the door unnerved him a little. ‘She’s able to see or sense me? I don’t want to be thinking like Yuki, but if this is like anime maybe she can sense power? We haven’t had anyone develop that ability though.’

“I know you’ve come, Hiroshi Kuroda.”

‘She even knows me.’ There was a bit of panic as the horror environment really started to affect him. ‘She just knows me from Saki and the others.’ He tried to calm himself. The longer he stood still the harder it became to move. Hiroshi started fear that he would not be able to do anything. ‘I never imagined her presence would be so overwhelming and she’s only speaking to me.’

“Do I need to get someone to open the door for you?”

‘Someone else? Damn, I don’t need to be fighting someone before I even reach Takako.’ The thought of there being anyone else inside other than Takako forced Hiroshi hand. He made the move out of resolve and control. Takako had too many pieces in her favor. He needed to act first rather than after her.

To his surprise, the rest of the hallway did not look much different from the part behind him. In fact, it actually looked better off than the rest of the school. It looked very clean as though it had been untouched by any of the corruption made by Takako. Such an appearance made the whole thing just more unnerving to behold. But he made his first move.

“You feeling brave now?”

‘Damn her voice is getting on my nerves.’ He could feel the overwhelming confidence coming from her. She was in control of everything and wanted everyone else to feel it. In so little effort, she easily fixed her position as dominate. ‘This feels nothing like the girl I remember hanging around Saki.’

He cautiously walked down the rest of the hallway. Once he reached the end of the hall with the last classroom, he saw where the doors had come from. Instead of doors, there was a black sheet hanging over it. ‘A little on the nose…like their uniforms…’ The almost cliché nature he saw started to give him back his composure.

Drawing back the sheet, he saw numerous more hanging through the classroom. Without the desks and chairs orderly placed in rows, the room had a larger scale to it. It almost did not feel familiar to him, like the inside was larger than the outside.

“Welcome to my room,” the voice echoed through the large space. They were still out of sight, but clearer to hear.

Hiroshi glanced around the room trying to get a read on the space and anyone that might be hiding. “I like what you’ve done with the place. I always thought the school would look better with a little black.” The joking helped him forget a little about everything still unnerving him.

“You sound nervous. This your first time in a girl’s room?”

“Nah, I’ve been in plenty.”

“Is that so? My style’s a little different from other girls.”

“I noticed.”

“How you enjoying the new curriculum I’ve introduced?”

“Very educational.”

“I thought so.”

The casual nature of how she spoke to him while still maintaining the dominance made it difficult for him to even think of her as a teenager anymore. She seemed like someone else. The atrocities that he had seen her allow or create did not seem like that of someone that was still a child. It never made any sense.

He finally arrived through all of the sheets to the source of everyone’s pain and misery. Despite having a grand attempt at a throne to set upon, it was still just a small teenage girl. The look in her eyes went beyond any darkness the rest of the school presented. She was the source of darkness. It was conflicting paradox to stare at. “Takako…”

“We meet again.”

Hiroshi paused darting his eyes around the room for any signs of someone else. He was not going to ignore the threat she made earlier. Nothing came to him for the moment. It seemed safe. “Do you really remember me?”

“Not so much, about as much as you likely remember me.”

“For someone that was supposedly a vegetable, you’re looking pretty alert.”

Takako casually ran her finger down her cheek until she rested her head in her hand. “What can I say? I got better.”

“I think this goes beyond just getting better. How’d you get better?” It was one of the biggest mysteries that had yet to find an answer. Those that knew her and her situation, knew it was impossible for her to recover. Yuki and Saki never explained to him the details. He just knew what they wanted him to know. The kidnapper that grabbed Saki had taken Takako as well. The only difference was that the whole incident left her completely traumatized and mentally scarred.

He never fully accepted their explanation at face value. But given the situation and the way it affected them, there was never a place where he could just force the truth out of them. It was a delicate subject, especially for Saki.

Takako leaned forward a little from her throne of chairs and desks. “Oh you haven’t earned the right yet to be asking me such questions.”

“Right? The hell?”

“I let you inside as a courtesy from one leader to another. But I’m still waiting for the King to appear.”

“King, what King? What the hell are you going on about?” Hiroshi took a step forward only to be suddenly cut off by a new figure, one that he had not seen in the room before. It was another girl, one that seemed about as familiar to him as Takako. ‘How’d she get in here? Is this the person that Takako was threatening me with?’

“You’re not allowed any closer to Takako,” she stated clearly.

He looked up beyond the girl to Takako. “Afraid to face me, leader to leader as you said?”

“As a leader, you must prove yourself worth my time. My time is already reserved for the King. So you’ll have to show yourself to be interesting than him.”

“King again?! What the hell are you saying?”

She grinned down at Hiroshi. “So you don’t know. I guess they really don’t trust you.”

“What are you talking about?! Tell me!”

“You’re just a pawn in this game. Kill Hitomi and maybe I’ll reconsider your position in this game.”

He grabbed at Hitomi’s shoulder trying to push her aside, but found that she was stronger than he imagined. She batted him away and twisted his arm keeping him down. Hiroshi clutched his shoulder while struggling with Hitomi’s strength. “Damn your game!”

“But I thought you enjoy games. That is the sort of power you got from him.”

His eyes widened a bit in surprise that Takako knew what his power was. “What?!”

“You like jokes and things that are entertaining. So Hitomi should amuse you.” Takako turned her eyes down to Hitomi staring at the back of her head. “You know what he wants to do you, Hitomi.”

The light in Hitomi’s eyes suddenly dimmed a little. A strange sense of awareness came over her as she seemed to be picturing it. “He wants to kill me! A-and that’s not all! After he kills me, he’s going to t-tear off my cloths! A-and…and…and! Even that too!”

“Especially that, Hitomi. He wants to do that and more. That’s just the sort of man he is.”

“NO!”

“You know what to do.”

Hiroshi wanted to protest the slander, but the pain in his arm was occupying him. Yet he could see the gears turning in her head as she seemed to be imagining everything possible. All of the worst things that could happen to her. Things that he would never do, but she did not seem to understand that.

And then something happened that he did not understand. She started to cry. It was slow to start, but it became loud. And it was not because of her voice. No, he heard a massive roaring river of water pouring down upon him. The mass of the water slamming into him pulled his body and strained his shoulder. However, Hitomi let him go allowing him to be taken away by the sudden appearance of a wild river inside the classroom.

The water crashed upon the walls pounding him into it before spreading out in all directions. ‘Can’t…move…’ He tried to stand or even crawl away, but the pressure of the way was too great. It had him pin up against the wall. Through all of the roaring he could not hear the cracking of the wall as stress built up.

Then it was all over. The water finally eased up and he dropped to the floor completely soaked. He coughed and choked on the water that forcibly entered his mouth. The entire room filled with water now. At least half a meter of standing water hung around as it was still trying to pour out into the hall. “Ugh…”

“She should be able to entertain you.” Takako leaned back in her throne. “You have my permission to kill him if you so desire.”

“Thank you, Takako. Such evil should be purged from this world.”

Seeing Hiroshi standing back up on his feet and preparing for the fight to come, Takako smiled. “Will you be able to kill her? A girl able to literally cry rivers.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Hiroshi wanted to protest the slander, but the pain in his arm was occupying him. Yet he could see the gears turning in her head as she seemed to be imagining everything possible. All of the worst things that could happen to her. Things that he would never do, but she did not seem to understand that.

And then something happened that he did not understand. She started to cry. It was slow to start, but it became loud. And it was not because of her voice. No, he heard a massive roaring river of water pouring down upon him. The mass of the water slamming into him pulled his body and strained his shoulder. However, Hitomi let him go allowing him to be taken away by the sudden appearance of a wild river inside the classroom.

The water crashed upon the walls pounding him into it before spreading out in all directions. ‘Can’t…move…’ He tried to stand or even crawl away, but the pressure of the way was too great. It had him pin up against the wall. Through all of the roaring he could not hear the cracking of the wall as stress built up.

Then it was all over. The water finally eased up and he dropped to the floor completely soaked. He coughed and choked on the water that forcibly entered his mouth. The entire room filled with water now. At least half a meter of standing water hung around as it was still trying to pour out into the hall. “Ugh…”

“She should be able to entertain you.” Takako leaned back in her throne. “You have my permission to kill him if you so desire.”

“Thank you, Takako. Such evil should be purged from this world.”

Seeing Hiroshi standing back up on his feet and preparing for the fight to come, Takako smiled. “Will you be able to kill her? A girl able to literally cry rivers.”

The taunt from Takako made Hiroshi pause for a moment not completely sure he heard correctly. He wanted her to repeat that. “What did you say?” It seemed impossible. Just too absurd to be real.

“You heard me.”

“You can’t be serious.” Tonal shifts in their conversation left him getting too lax in his position. He quickly stiffened up once he realized his mistake.

Takako laughed a little amused with his reaction. However, despite the laughter, she remained very serious through the whole exchange. “I’m not lying to you. This is very real.”

“What sort of joke power is crying?”

“You think it’s a joke?” Takako glanced down at Hitomi with a long stare. There were no words as though she was communicating with her mind.

Which would be a good guess from Hiroshi as the girl suddenly began to scream for no reason. “No! Takako is… S-She’s…!”

“The hell’s going on? Nothing’s happened, why she is freaking out?” He caught the slip of a smirk on Takako’s lips as she had done something devious. “Oh hell…mind powers…” Hiroshi returned his attention to the girl, but it was already too late. “Oh hell…not again!”

Chapter 347 – Water Games

Water had not finished pouring out of the classroom from the last torrent. A renewed wild river burst forth from nothingness like before. The intensity somehow exceeded the last. Peaks in the water brushed against the ceiling making the tiling rattle as it stormed forward like a runaway train.

Unprepared for it once more, Hiroshi did nothing, but take it all head on. Slammed to the wall as it groaned under the strain, he became fixed. The pressure was too great for him to break free. All he could do was ride out the water until the pressure dropped.

Whether the perception of time changed or it was really happening, it lasted longer than last time to Hiroshi. He felt his body being forced back into the wall. It still held, but it did not seem like it was going to last for long. ‘How is something like this even possible? It doesn’t make any sense…’

Making sense or not, it was the reality of the situation. Hiroshi had to believe it to be real, even if he did not want to believe. Once the water pressure eased up enough for him to take control, he pulled out from the direct line. Water rained from him as though he had been in a downpour, though it felt more as if he had been at the swimming pool.

Coughing again, he had to clear out the water forced down his throat. ‘I’m going to need to be better prepared. At this rate, she’s going to drown me before I do anything…’ Trudging through nearly a meter deep of water now, Hiroshi felt his movements being a little restricted. ‘Is this her plan?’

“Still think of her as a joke?” Takako taunted from her perch. She looked to be enjoying her position above everyone else.

Wiping away the water from his brow, Hiroshi whipped his head around trying to get off more of the water. “If all she can do with it is make me waterlogged then it’s still a joke. I don’t know what Yuki was thinking when he gave her that power.”

“There is no wasted power! It all has its purpose!”

“Sounds like more like rationalization for being dealt a crap hand.”

“I wouldn’t be making assumptions.”

“What else she got? A sad story to go with the tears?” Hiroshi was not sure if taunting was such a good idea, but he found it hard to take the whole thing seriously. ‘She’s lost all sense of reality if she thinks that this is going to be any challenge for me.’

However, confidence in his situation was misplaced. A massive hand of water emerged from the water slamming into Hiroshi before he could even make any attempt to dodge. His back cracked the wall behind him and dropped him back into the water.

Hiroshi jumped back out of the water with his body dealing with the shock and pain. “Damn! What the hell was that?!” His hand patted his chest trying to see if there was anything he could tell was done to him. Dull pain echoed around his body, but nothing that was going to slow him down.

Laughing from on high, Takako looked just as entertained. “I told you not to make assumptions.”

“That wasn’t crying! That was a hand made of water!”

“Sounds like your confidence has turned to complaining. Thought you said this was going to be easy for you.”

Takako did wonders to annoy him for only talking and not even being the one that he was fighting at the moment. “I’m not complaining, it doesn’t make any sense!” While he complained about the logic Hitomi went on the attack again. Since he knew that she could somehow make hands out of the water he was more prepared for it now.

Trying to move around in the water slowed down his movements more than he realized. The more he wanted to move faster the more it dragged on him. He could not easily escape the attacks. His agility was nowhere near to that of Saki, but still was able to stay ahead of the attacks mostly. But it only led him into being hit straight on by another blast of water direct from the source.

Even stronger than the previous two, it pinned him to the wall. The multiplied stress on the wall became too much for it to take. Cracks rapidly jumped around Hiroshi’s body as warping began in the surface. It only took a few seconds for it to shatter completely throwing him through the wall along a raging river of water.

His back smashed into the cement of the stairs that led down to the first floor as water poured on top of him and leaked out from the hall. It had found an escape route, but it looked to be flooding at the bottom. The water rolled him over the stairs and pushed him down to the first landing.

Staring back up at the hole, he started to regret his choice of words. “Damnit…none of this makes any sense. How does any of this work out?” Hiroshi picked himself up off the stairs. He looked down trying to figure out why the stairs was so full of water. ‘They blocked this side off… I guess with Takako here it makes sense.’ The water level was quickly on the rise.

Leaping back to the second floor, Hiroshi returned to Takako’s throne room. Hitomi looked to be waiting for his return and Takako wanted more entertainment. She really seemed to see herself as the King with Hiroshi and Hitomi just her jesters at her court.

“Still feeling confident?”

He had grown tired of the whole situation. It was ridiculous to him, someone attacking him with rivers of tears. Takako did not take him seriously. She was waiting on someone else other than him. Hiroshi hit his limit of what he could take. “I don’t care anymore! I’m taking you both out right now!” Nearby him was a waste pile of desks from the room. He grabbed one of the wood desks up and swung it at Hitomi.

Unfortunately, all he hit was air. There was nothing standing where Hitomi was. Hiroshi looked around the room trying to figure out what happened to Hitomi. He found her to his left just behind him winding up another punch. Using the wood desk for a shield, it took the initial blow, but completely shattered as the force stormed over it. Forced back, Hiroshi went sliding back towards Takako.

His body bobbed in the water as he tried to process what happened. ‘She was there one moment and gone the next… She got another strange ability?’

Takako leaned down from her throne to look at Hiroshi’s face half submerged. “You’re very disappointing. It seems that I was right in guessing that you aren’t worth my time.”

“Urgh…you…”

She tilted her head a little as it seemed like he had something on his mind. “Something to say?”

“I was hoping you were going to stand up as you stared down mocking me. Then I’d at least get to see your panties.”

“I had forgotten how much of a pervert you were.”

“I’m a teenage guy,” he smirked.

“You’re going to be dead.”

Hiroshi stood up out of the water looking a little changed. “I can’t have that happening.” His eyes narrowed a bit as his features suddenly sharpened. Determination settled firmly in his eyes. “If this is going to be a powers battle, then I might as well use mine as well. I had wanted to let this until I was dealing with you, but seems that won’t be the case.”

“Going to make us play Darumasan ga Koronda again?” she taunted, not very impressed.

He smirked up at Takako before walking away. Pulling up a stray piece of wood, he armed himself and began walking towards Hitomi. She only stood there making no action. Hiroshi began to lift it up holding it like a stake.

“Hitomi, what the hell are you doing?! He is—“ Suddenly, her voice stopped. Takako opened her mouth again trying to give her orders, but nothing was coming out. She screamed aloud testing her voice, but every time she tried to say anything else nothing came out. Her voice was gone.

With no guard up or reaction to his approach, Hiroshi rammed the broken chunk of wood into Hitomi’s chest. The force sent her flying back out of the classroom and into the stairwell. The wood in Hiroshi’s hand completely shattered on impact. Small traces of blood sprayed through the air, but he did not get a killing blow. “Damn, it was too shallow and this wood was too weak.”

Takako stared in shock at Hiroshi not understanding what was happening. Her expression quickly changed to anger as Hiroshi was ruining her entertaining. “What did you do?! What did you do to me?!”

Glancing over his shoulder, he looked back at Takako. “Did you forget already? I play games.” He smirked a little glad to see that he finally pulled one over on Takako.

“Takako?” called out Hitomi, from the stars, “Where are you? Takako?”

“I haven’t moved! Get back in here!”

“I can’t find you.”

“Are you blind?!”

“Yes.”

“What?!” She looked down at Hiroshi again. The knowing expression on his face made her even angrier. “What the hell did you do?!”

Hiroshi turned to face Takako directly. “This is all a game and a game has rules. A game’s rules are unbreakable. Welcome to my world.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

He smirked up at Takako before walking away. Pulling up a stray piece of wood, he armed himself and began walking towards Hitomi. She only stood there making no action. Hiroshi began to lift it up holding it like a stake.

“Hitomi, what the hell are you doing?! He is—“ Suddenly, her voice stopped. Takako opened her mouth again trying to give her orders, but nothing was coming out. She screamed aloud testing her voice, but every time she tried to say anything else nothing came out. Her voice was gone.

With no guard up or reaction to his approach, Hiroshi rammed the broken chunk of wood into Hitomi’s chest. The force sent her flying back out of the classroom and into the stairwell. The wood in Hiroshi’s hand completely shattered on impact. Small traces of blood sprayed through the air, but he did not get a killing blow. “Damn, it was too shallow and this wood was too weak.”

Takako stared in shock at Hiroshi not understanding what was happening. Her expression quickly changed to anger as Hiroshi was ruining her entertaining. “What did you do?! What did you do to me?!”

Glancing over his shoulder, he looked back at Takako. “Did you forget already? I play games.” He smirked a little glad to see that he finally pulled one over on Takako.

“Takako?” called out Hitomi, from the stairs, “Where are you? Takako?”

“I haven’t moved! Get back in here!”

“I can’t find you.”

“Are you blind?!”

“Yes.”

“What?!” She looked down at Hiroshi again. The knowing expression on his face made her even angrier. “What the hell did you do?!”

Hiroshi turned to face Takako directly. “This is all a game and a game has rules. A game’s rules are unbreakable. Welcome to my world.” It might have been the middle of a fight, but Hiroshi could not help a bit of satisfaction from pulling one over Takako. There was no time to gloat as Hitomi had finally managed to make it back up the stairs. She may have been blind now, but it was not hard to get back when there was only one path.

While he watched Hitomi return, Hiroshi shifted out his position in the water to keep his location unknown. ‘Thankfully, neither of them seem to know what the game is that I’m running. Considering I picked it up from a foreigner a while ago, this is going to be a lot harder for them to figure out.’

“What are you doing, Hitomi? He’s—“ Her voice stopped again before she could give Hitomi any advice. Takako kept trying to do anything to warn her, but nothing worked. “What did you do to me you bastard?!”

Already arming himself with something stronger than last time, Hiroshi aimed to finish the fight before it dragged out any longer. ‘I’m not going to let Takako keep getting things the way she wants. The others would consider this cheating, but this is life and death. There’s no cheating.’

He glanced over hearing the frustrations of Takako as he moved closer to Hitomi. Not silently stewing in her annoyance, there was something deeper bothering her that Hiroshi did not pick up on. None of it mattered to him though, he just planned on killing Hitomi.

Lifting the jagged piece of metal he found from part of the trash pile in the room, Hiroshi prepared to end another life. ‘I’m sorry. This is just how it has to be.’

Breaking though thick silence, Takako yelled across the room at Hitomi. “Why aren’t you listening to me?!”

“Huh?”

Distracted just enough, the aim of Hiroshi missed the vitals and the metal bounced off the sternum. The hardness of her bones saved her, but still knocked her through the thin walls and out into the hallway. “Tch! Failed again. Girl’s got luck.” He began to walk to the doorway to finish things off while Hitomi was down.

Takako however had different things in mind. “Hitomi! Do you remember what he’s going to do to you?”

Hiroshi glared over at Takako in an instant knowing what she was planning. Unfortunately, he had no time to actually stop the tears. The girl immediately went into a horror-fueled outpouring of tears. “Damnit!” He was washed back into the classroom as a tidal wave of water slammed against him. The water rose once more despite having started to empty out a fair bit in their lull. It easily returned the surface level over a meter from the floor and then some.

Once freed from the pressure enough to settle into the water, Hiroshi returned to wading through to make it through to Hitomi. ‘I didn’t think they’d give me this much trouble.’

“Get up! You just going to let him do whatever he wants to you?!”

’She seems oddly bothered by all of this. Is she feeling threatened?’

“What the hell did you do to me? Answer me!” Takako fumed with just barely controlled anger that stirred to the edge. She seethed on her throne being made a fool by Hiroshi. “How did you stop my power? That’s not something you can do!”

He looked over at Takako while he trudged through the water. “Did you forget already? I make the rules here. You’re in my game.”

“But your opponent is over there!”

“Yes, which is why she’s playing by the rules. However, I couldn’t have you get in my way. So I made you the referee.” Hiroshi smirked a little, as Takako seemed to start to understand what it meant. “You’re a neutral third party. So you can’t do anything to help her win the game.”

Chapter 348 – Water Polo

“Referee?!” Takako stood up in surprise to hear such a thing from him. She had disbelief in her eyes. All that quickly changed though as a new thought came to her. “So you say I can’t interfere in your fight?! Is that what you think? Don’t think so little of me!”

Hiroshi paused to fully watch Takako. She still presented a significant danger to remain cautious. He did not know what she could possibly do in her situation, but Hiroshi was not about to assume she could not find a loophole.

“I have an army,” she laughed, having come to her own conclusion. She tossed out her hand at Hiroshi to call to him directly. “I’ll just bring someone else that isn’t bound by your game rules!”

‘Oh is that it? I guess I got worried for nothing.’ He smirked a little with relief that he had overestimated her resourcefulness.

Takako immediately caught sight of his dismissal of her plan. “What are you smirking about?”

“You don’t play many games do you? The referee is neutral. Because you’re the referee you’ve lost connection to everyone outside of my space. You’re only supposed to watch for the safety and fair play of those players. So sit back while I kill your supposed guard.”

Grinding her teeth together, she had the look of annoyed acceptance. She was stuck in the scenario that he created for them. “You can’t kill her if I’m supposed to be keeping things safe.”

“You’re job is to make sure that we don’t drown. Not that we don’t kill each other.” Hiroshi tightened his grip on the chunk of metal in his hand. “Now, if you’re done trying to find loopholes I’ve got someone’s life to take.”

The furrowed brow carved into Takako features smoothed out. She glanced over at the hole that Hitomi went through. “Have you had long enough?”

Hiroshi jerked his head over quickly not realizing that Hitomi had done nothing the entire time that they talked. Which should have been a clue to him had Takako not been distracting him from his objective. The water currents suddenly changed as Hitomi took command of them. ‘Damnit! She played me!’

Not just one fist of water broke through the wall for Hiroshi. Several went for him as though needing to be sure that they were hitting their target. It was a wide attack, which only made it more difficult for Hiroshi to dodge. The ceiling prevented him from jumping and move out of the way was not possible. He could not make it in time, but he still tried as they crashed into him.

Thrown into the wall, the windows blew out into shards raining down to the ground below. The wall had more durability, due to being an exterior wall, but it still bowed to the force. Hiroshi coughed with the air knocked fully out of him before being dropped into the water face first.

Hitomi began to wade through entering the classroom. Tears of water rolled down her face keeping the water level constant with an ominous approach.

Nearly gagging on the water, Hiroshi jumped out of the water coughing again. Unfortunately, it seemed that Hitomi had gotten better at tracking his voice while blind. She had another attack launched for him the moment she heard anything out of him. He dove out of the way, but the water level made it difficult to do so cleanly as it clipped him.

Hit in the leg, he was carelessly tossed up into the broken window. The remains of the glass shards shattered unable to break his skin. However, it was enough for Hitomi to zero in on him again. She did not know that he was already falling and most of her attack missed without him even trying.

Quickly recovering, Hiroshi started to move again needing to get away from where she believed him to be. ‘Damn…she’s already getting used to this. I’ve failed to kill her twice and now I don’t even know if this game will last long enough for me to get another chance. I’m going to have to switch…’

She waited him out watching with her ears for any sort of movement that he could make. The tension in the room mounted. Running water mixed through the whole room giving a constant noise to keep things from being in stillness. It mixed in with the shifting waters keeping Hiroshi hidden.

Knowing that he could not get close to her anymore without being detected, Hiroshi changed his strategy. He retrieved a random piece of floating debris, large enough for his needs. Throwing it into a different part of the water, the splashing it created redirected Hitomi’s attention away from his direction.

While she attacked an empty corner of the room, Hiroshi charged in quickly to take advantage of his opening. Unfortunately, Hitomi dodged out of the way at the last moment. She quickly countered the whole area around her with fists coming out in multiple directions. One hit Hiroshi throwing him up against Takako’s throne.

He wiped away the water from his face while planning out his next move. ‘She’s still got her speed. She’s like Saki almost. This is truly becoming a futile effort now…’ Hiroshi tried to move silently through the water while thinking, but Hitomi continued to improve now able to find him without even him making a sound. None of it made sense to him anymore. He was losing at his own game now and she still had not figured out the rules.

Suddenly, the water around him warped and jumped up around him. It trapped him before he could even make a move. The water latched onto him holding him in place. Ahead, Hiroshi saw Hitomi gathering up a large amount of water for an attack. ‘I can’t move! How did she find me so fast?’

Little mattered to the questions as Hitomi launched her most powerful attack yet at Hiroshi. There was no ability to dodge or defend. The full force of the attack slammed into his body. It broke him free of the bindings and threw him to the wall. The wall lasted only moments before it completely crumbled.

Water poured out of the hole in the wall as the fist followed down sending Hiroshi into the ground. Dirt flew into the air as the earth started to turn to mud from the water. A crater began to fill with water from Hiroshi’s impact.

Hitomi walked over to the edge of the school staring down at the aftermath. She watched to see the outcome of Hiroshi and if she needed to do more. “My sight is back…” It had taken her moment to realized that Hiroshi’s power no longer had an effect on her.

“Bastard’s finally dead,” Takako commented.

“No, I think he’s still alive.”

And she was right. Out of the clearing smoke, Hiroshi’s body surfaced out of the water. He washed up to the edge of the crater from the motion of water. Even though pain covered every part of him, he found the strength to drag himself out of the water. ‘Damn…I thought I was going to die… Not sure how I lived, but everything hurts…’

Confirming that he was alive, she jumped down from the second floor. Hitomi landed on dry earth only a few meters away from Hiroshi. “It’s time that I kill you to protect myself.” She lifted her hand up beginning to summon all of the water in the crater to her side. It sloshed around barely held together with a gentle mist raining around it.

Hiroshi staggered while he pulled himself back to his feet. His fists clinched together to tighten his resolve. For a moment, his determination wavered. ‘This is the only thing I can do. I have to put everything on the line if I’m going to win!’ He straightened himself up to prepare. “I have one last game to play. The rules are simple to understand. The loser dies. I’m bad with naming things, so I just call it the Death Game.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Water poured out of the hole in the wall as the fist followed down sending Hiroshi into the ground. Dirt flew into the air as the earth started to turn to mud from the water. A crater began to fill with water from Hiroshi’s impact.

Hitomi walked over to the edge of the school staring down at the aftermath. She watched to see the outcome of Hiroshi and if she needed to do more. “My sight is back…” It had taken her moment to realized that Hiroshi’s power no longer had an effect on her.

“Bastard’s finally dead,” Takako commented.

“No, I think he’s still alive.”

And she was right. Out of the clearing smoke, Hiroshi’s body surfaced out of the water. He washed up to the edge of the crater from the motion of water. Even though pain covered every part of him, he found the strength to drag himself out of the water. ‘Damn…I thought I was going to die… Not sure how I lived, but everything hurts…’

Confirming that he was alive, she jumped down from the second floor. Hitomi landed on dry earth only a few meters away from Hiroshi. “It’s time that I kill you to protect myself.” She lifted her hand up beginning to summon all of the water in the crater to her side. It sloshed around barely held together with a gentle mist raining around it.

Hiroshi staggered while he pulled himself back to his feet. His fists clinched together to tighten his resolve. For a moment, his determination wavered. ‘This is the only thing I can do. I have to put everything on the line if I’m going to win!’ He straightened himself up to prepare. “I have one last game to play. The rules are simple to understand. The loser dies. I’m bad with naming things, so I just call it the Death Game.”

“Death Game?” replied Hitomi with a heavy amount of skepticism. She paused for the moment willing to entertain Hiroshi for a moment. There was a fair bit of caution that Hiroshi had earned from Hitomi, due to his last game he played with her. She could understood how real his power could be.

He shrugged a bit with a weak smile. “What can I say, I’m unoriginal. But it’s an accurate title.”

“The loser dies?”

“That’s right. Any game has a winner and loser. Just in this case the rules state that the one that loses is killed. It keeps things simple and insures this is the end. One of us isn’t walking away from this game alive.”

“And how is a loser determined?”

“That’s simple as well. It’s score based.” Hiroshi pointed with his finger to the air above them. Hovering well out of reach of them were gigantic zeroes along with the names of the players. It angled in such a way as to follow them always been readable. “Since this is a game of death, the first person to hit four points dies.”

“How are points gained?”

“By getting hit by your opponent. It’s like at a kendo competition. Each hit is a score, just points are awarded to the loser rather than the winner.” Hiroshi motioned over to Hitomi with a massive list of text appearing before her. “See very straightforward. Besides the other forty-three pages of regulations. I can wait if you want to read them all.”

Annoyance popped up in Hitomi’s face in the form of an anger vein on her forehead. “You’re just stalling now!” Shortly after the text appeared, as though there was a holographic projection in front of her, an acceptance confirmation came. It asked if she understood and accepted the rules of the game. She immediately slammed her hand down on the registration panel.

A light ping went off as it accepted her approval. The text disappeared and a large countdown appeared between them. It was already in the process of going down when Hitomi tried to move. She made no real movements, as the game held her down until the countdown ended.

“Game Start!” appeared between them signaling the commencement.

Chapter 349 – Water Competition

Taking the first attack immediately with faster reaction times, Hitomi swung down her arm directly the water on Hiroshi. He braced for the attack as the water pushed him backwards before the tension in the water snapped. Water rained down over the whole area leaving the earth wet.

Hitomi glanced up to the score to see that it still read zero. In confusion, she shouted down to Hiroshi, “What game are you playing?!”

Recovering from the attack, Hiroshi did little to bother with his soaked appearance. “You didn’t look at the rules. This is a no powers fight. Only physical contact by the players counts as a point.” He saw Hitomi charging at him enraged over being tricked into the game. She was not even using her full abilities, which Hiroshi already had seen before. It made it very easy for him to dodge her and tap her lightly on the shoulder. “Like this.”

A point went to Hitomi’s score.

She quickly turned around skating over the softened earth a little. Enrage further by losing a point to Hiroshi, she charged back at him at full speed. She disappeared from Hiroshi’s sight only leaving behind splash of water.

Hiroshi had no chance of doing anything other than facing the attack straight on. She moved faster than his eyes could follow. The blow sent him flying back and tumbling through the earth until he came to a stop by the earth wall perimeter.

While Hiroshi was taken out, she went to check on the score. It read one to one now, a tie. Still angry, she looked a little reduced in her rage. The success seemed to have allowed for a small release.

‘Damn, I should have included a rule for knocking your opponent off their feet. I may still die before she loses.’ Shaken by the whole thing, but surprisingly not feeling any worse, Hiroshi managed to get himself back on his feet. ‘This was the only way to insure the fight ended quickly. I just have to makes sure to stay alive…’

Feeling more confident now with a point on her side, she charged once more after Hiroshi. She took advantage of her speed to make it impossible for him to even dodge. Her punch easily landed inside Hiroshi stomach knocking him back into the wall.

The score remained still.

More confusion and anger set in. She unleashed a hail of punches though most of them missed Hiroshi as he got away after the first couple. Just as she finished her attack, he jumped through the air landing his hand on top of her head.

Another point.

Hitomi glared over at Hiroshi as he weakly smirked. “You’re the one that ignored all the rules before accepting. This is your own fault.”

Her rage refueled quickly as she threw out her fists at Hiroshi. He blocked a few of them with his hands with the score remaining unchanged. While in her emotional state, he was able to manage with her attacks and speed a lot more easily. “Damn you! I won’t allow you to have your way with me!”

Throwing her off him into the mud, Hiroshi took it as a moment to pause and recover. “I’ve got no interest in that sort of thing, not that you’d believe me.”

She quickly jumped back to her feet and attacked him openly with no method. All her intent was to gain the next point that she needed. However, the score never changed no matter how many times that she hit him. She tried all manner of options and locations. All she did was bruise up Hiroshi more than he was already. “Why can’t I get another point?!”

“Because the rules say you can’t. There are specific scoring rules.”

“Scoring rules?! You said physical contact scored points!”

“Yes, but I didn’t say anything about the condition or special rules we’re playing by. We’re using the House Rules Set, meaning that there are only certain ways you can score points.”

“What!? You didn’t say anything about that!”

“I did offer you the chance to read the rules.”

“Damn you…”

Hiroshi gave her a bit of a smirk, his body starting to come back around to him again, through all of the bruises. “I’ll give you this little hint then, since I feel so bad for you. The reason that you can’t score a point is because your feet can’t be touching the same surface for each point.”

“Same surface?” She stared down at her feet seeing the ground. It took her a moment, but she put it all together.

Suddenly, all the water that she had created before rose up out off the ground. While what he already mixed to be mud stayed behind, it generate enough for her. “You’re little hint is going to be the death of you!”

Water poured down over the ground, but kept a specific form unlike before. Hitomi funneled it into river that flowed straight to Hiroshi. It ran for more than a meter deep as a wild rapid. Once she setup her path, she jumped up onto the water with her feet landing on top and not actually sinking into the water. While the water sped away, she remained still floating on top. “You didn’t think I could do this did you?!”

Allowing the river to take her along now, Hitomi raced towards Hiroshi who found the pressure of the water and tumultuous water more difficult than expect. She came down kicking Hiroshi in the chin knocking him out of the water.

Second point, tied.

Hiroshi quickly snapped himself out of the stun of her attack to grab a hold of the tall wall of earth. He used it to pull himself back into the fight and fly over to Hitomi. The river already started to turn away and fall off as she finished with what she wanted.

He grabbed a hold of her while in mid-air and spun her around getting himself to land his feet into the water before it all scattered.

Third point scored.

Once he had what he wanted, he separated from her jumping away before he took any more of a pummeling from her. He skidded a little over the muddy ground. A grin came across his face as it all worked out. “I only told you that rule because I wanted you to use your water.”

“Damn you! I’m going to kill you!”

“It’s looking more like you’re going to die. One more point.”

“How did you even get that second point? You weren’t touching anything!”

Shrugging, while keeping the secret to himself. He dodged the next round of strikes by the enraged Hitomi. Unable to keep her anger in control, she lost any sort of accuracy that were in her attacks. Hiroshi effortlessly worked around her. He threw out his leg to trip her.

Falling on her face, Hitomi quickly jumped up again before Hiroshi could even make an action. She went wild with her attacks trying anything to get another point. “I won’t die! I won’t die!” Water quickly began to pour out of her eyes soaking the earth.

Hiroshi struggled with the pressure not able to completely stay ahead of the new rivers. Even through the ground gave more places for the water to pour out into, the volume she produce still managed to give standing water.

She leapt after him as he dragged out of her range. Jumping around the water, she closed the distance before leaping after him punching him out of the water and into the crater she created, from when he fell out of the school.

Third point, tied.

Water quickly filled up the crater into a pool once more. He left the pit before it became too filled with water. ‘Damn…she’s been so caught up in her anger it’s been difficult getting the last hit in I need…’

Hitomi saw the gigantic numbers out of the corner of her eye. It had calmed her down a little seeing that she finally got the third point that she was looking for from the game. “It’s tied now.” A little more in control of her situation, she remembered what she did to get the point, which also led her to another realization. “There’s only three possible points to gain! This game can’t be won!”

Water still poured off of him and his feet sank in the earth a little. He wiped away the water hanging to his brow. “Is that what you think? There’s a fourth point. I wouldn’t make a game unbeatable.”

“A fourth point? How?”

“That’s my secret.”

“Bastard! You did this on purpose!”

Dark shadows hung over Hiroshi face as he slowly walked forward, his determination unbreakable. “Of course, I never said I made a fair game, just a winnable game. This is the moment where you die.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Hitomi saw the gigantic numbers out of the corner of her eye. It had calmed her down a little seeing that she finally got the third point that she was looking for from the game. “It’s tied now.” A little more in control of her situation, she remembered what she did to get the point, which also led her to another realization. “There’s only three possible points to gain! This game can’t be won!”

Water still poured off of him and his feet sank in the earth a little. He wiped away the water hanging to his brow. “Is that what you think? There’s a fourth point. I wouldn’t make a game unbeatable.”

“A fourth point? How?”

“That’s my secret.”

“Bastard! You did this on purpose!”

Dark shadows hung over Hiroshi face as he slowly walked forward, his determination unbreakable. “Of course, I never said I made a fair game, just a winnable game. This is the moment where you die.”

The darkness hovering around Hiroshi made Hitomi take a step back. For the first time, her Takako fed delusions of Hiroshi started to match with reality. “A winnable game? Only for you!”

“Of course, I made the game so that I would win. You’re an obstacle in my path and I’ve already wasted enough of my time and strength on you when I should be facing Takako to end this nightmare.”

Panic started to settle deeper into Hitomi. She already feared her own death thanks to Takako, but it was no longer an illusionary one. Once she understood that it was truly going to happen the true fear set in with thick sharp claws around her whole body.

Water fell out of her eyes in a massive tidal wave that managed to surpass her in height. Hiroshi glared at the impressive feat. A wall of solid unflinching water raced towards him. ‘This is her true power…real emotions fueling her power…’ Usual pangs ripped at his chest. His hand clutched against his body.

He dragged up his determination and moved forward. As the water fell upon him, he did not even attempt to dodge. It was hard to call it an attack in the same sort that Hitomi used previously. It was closer to flailing about in helplessness.

“I don’t want to die!” Hitomi started repeating it over and over again as she became more scared.

However, Hiroshi kept his course. The water crashed upon him blowing everything away that it met. Yet, Hiroshi appeared on the other side of the wave. He looked no less wet for his trouble. It appeared as though the water passed through him without touching him.

The sight of Hiroshi’s unaffected body only intensified Hitomi’s reactions. “Impossible! The water should be affecting you!” More and more water poured out of it. None of the gigantic waves could do anything to stop Hiroshi as he began to walk towards her. With each step that he closed their distance, the greater the waves became even though nothing they did could stop him.

“I made a special rule to allow me to not be affected by your water attacks when I make a specific gesture with my hand.” He appeared through the last wave in front of Hitomi with only centimeters between them. “It’s not your fault.”

“N-no-no!” Hitomi backed away a step before turning to attempt to flee from Hiroshi. A single foot of his drop to the ground making cracks that shot out towards Hitomi. The earth crumbled beneath her feet until she no longer had any balance. She felt backwards on her back sliding back to Hiroshi’s feet. “I don’t want to die!”

Hiroshi stepped forward walking onto Hitomi’s torso. He knelt down close to her seeing the terrified look in her face. “Perhaps now at the end you understand how all of those you’ve killed have felt. You’re getting the easy way out, you won’t have to live with this any longer.”

“P-please! No! I don’t want to die!”

He stretched out his hand touching his index finger to her forehead. In the sky behind him, the score changed to four for Hitomi. Big text appeared insensitively congratulating Hiroshi on his victory. He stepped off her body as he already saw the light from her eyes fading.

“I don’t…want to…die…”

Hanging his head, Hiroshi stay next to her while her life disappeared. “I’m sorry. If I knew another way, I would have tried to save you.” In moments, his power stole away the life of Hitomi leaving behind a lifeless corpse. Much of the water fueled by Hitomi’s power began to disappear.

Hiroshi stood up holding to his resolve. He had to bite his lip as his arms shook. Casting his gaze over to the hole in the second floor where Takako stood, he could see the end of the darkness. The path however remained bloody as he remembered it. “Hate me and scorn me. Tell me I’m doing the wrong thing, but this is not my world or my rules. These are Takako’s rules and if this world of hers is to end someone must play by her rules.

“We probably can’t go back to be friends after I finish this, even with the world righted. You’ll never forgive me for my actions. But I do what I must to save lives with what little power I’ve been granted. This will be the end.”

Chapter 350 – Waterfall

Jumping up to the hole, Hiroshi returned to the classroom that Takako claimed as her throne room. He slowly approached to base of the twisted throne. “I passed your little test.” Hiroshi had trouble feeling his body after his fight with Hitomi. While he was not completely broken, it still left him weakened. He did everything to hide it from her.

There was a stillness in the manner of which Takako held herself. “Yes,” she responded with measured control. Hidden within the single word was a mountain of emotions. It was difficult to pick them all apart from another, but one very clearly came out in front of the others.

Rage.

While even that was kept in control, not all of it could be contained. The casual capricious attitude that she had before when addressing Hiroshi disappeared. Despite everything that he had seen thus far from her, he thought she looked the most human now. ‘This is a little unnerving. It was easier when she looked inhuman.’

“You killed her.”

“You sent her.”

“You cheated.”

“I won by any means.” Hiroshi did not expect her to be so focused on the death of Hitomi. He did not see it having such an impact on her. It made him wonder what she was to her.

“You killed her.”

“What did you expect?”

“For you to die.”

“Sorry to disappoint.”

“You shouldn’t have won.”

‘She’s getting stuck in a loop.’ The flow of the conversation was very different from the last time that they talked. He still did not have any empathy for her or the situation, but she continued to defy his expectations. “Things won’t work out like you planned.”

“Is that right?” Takako stood up from her seat to stare down at Hiroshi. The swirling mass of emotions that stayed under the surface looked to be slowly rising the longer that their conversation went on.

“I don’t know who you’re waiting for, but they’ll have to get in line. I’m coming for you first.”

She slowly took a step down the throne followed by another. “You think just because you’ve protected yourself from my power that you can beat me?” The confidence, though borne partially out of anger, resurfaced for Takako. She started to look more in control, yet also losing that control. Hints of emotion fueled insanity filled into some of the cracks developing.

A flicker in Hiroshi’s wall appeared at the remark. “You knew about that?”

“Of course, we made many plans knowing who you would have available to you. The tactician that I gained is very adept and her forecasts have all played out exactly how she foresaw.” As she slowly made her way down the steps to Hiroshi, she recounted more of what she was told. “She even said that Hitomi would die. I refused to believe her, but it seems that she was right about even that. She’s a rather disturbing woman.”

“Coming from your lips, I find that difficult to believe.”

The steps seemed to be eternal as she was still walking down, albeit slowly. “Where others quickly embraced what I gave them because they couldn’t take what they saw with their virgin eyes, she did not even blink. She looked like she lived in such a world and it was commonplace. And her mental barriers are truly impressive, even I couldn’t penetrate through all of her defenses.”

‘Someone that Takako couldn’t completely capture?’ Such a thought unnerved Hiroshi as he pondered the meaning of her words. “Why are you telling me all of this? You’re making it sound like you’re not actually the boss.”

Takako finally stopped reaching the floor of the classroom. She was shorter than him. The small looking girl that had the entire neighborhood in a grip of fear still had an unassuming appearance. All she had working for her was presence and reputation. It built her up into a grand figure that still was just a small being.

Just a child.

“I am the one in charge here. Make no mistake, I control even her.”

“So what’s the point of all of this?”

“No point. Just killing some time before I kill you.” She carried the confidence in her speech well. Takako believed without any doubt how things would turn out. “Like with Hitomi’s death, your fate has already been foreseen as well. You will fall to my hands.”

“Another one of your tactician’s forecasts?”

“That’s right.”

“As you already stated, your mind control powers won’t work on me. And your army is being kept busy downstairs. You have no more moves to play.”

She tilted her head a little amused by Hiroshi’s groundless confidence in her position. “Is that what you think? So you think that I’m a helpless little girl without my power?” Suddenly the room started to shake from all sides. “Why don’t I show you how wrong you are in your assumption.”

Hiroshi braced himself not quite sure what she had planned. His eyes darted around the room not seeing any signs of other troops or traps. It did not seem like she had some secret weapon still being withheld from use. ‘Can she still use her mind powers on me? Are they not what we think?’

The throne behind her began to twist and break. All of the metal and wood starts to turn to particles seemingly reacting to whatever power that Takako was summoning for their fight. It was still all just show as nothing had happened yet.

“Allow me to impart upon you the reason that you will lose.”

“Huh?”

“Your resolve you’ve been clinging to so tightly.”

“What are you going on about?”

The entire throne had finally disappeared with the air around Takako becoming thick. Her presence intensified with her intent to kill. “It’s a little secret that no one knows about. Hitomi was the first one that joined me. I never allowed her to leave this room until today.”

“What’s your point?”

“Hitomi joined me willingly. She was never under my control. I did feed her what she needed to fight, but she was still free from me.”

Hiroshi’s eyes widened in shock at hearing such a revelation. He could not move his body. “You’re lying. That can’t be right!”

“She’s the only one that I never had to use my powers on. Her monumental level of worry for my wellbeing made her loyal to me. I kept her in the dark about most of the things that happened outside of this room. She was my last true friend. And you killed her!”


Far across the neighborhood away from the fighting, a deep trench carved through the ruins of what had once been a pleasant line of homes. Smoke rose in columns from all of the destruction wrought by the impact.

Buried partially under the foundation of the last of the houses that finally stopped the impact, debris began to move. Out of the darkness of the rumble a hand punched through wood and brick. It looked a little dirty and bruised, but no worse for wear.

A slight haze appeared around the hand as a mist of particles started to emit from deep within. The pile began to shift and fall away as it was effortlessly cleared away. Standing up, he looked around at the damage and then in the far distance to the school. Lights and explosions were going off around the area, but his eyes were normal. He did not know what was happening. “Damn, I can’t believe they knocked me out for the entire length of the fights. I’m awake now and I’m ready to put an end to all of this! Just hang in there everyone!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Choking and gasping, it looked like the end for him. He was already certain of it. While he was no doctor, he was quite certain that his heart had been pierced or destroyed. The human body could not survive without something so important. It was just stating the obvious.

Yet, he did not feel like he was on death’s door as he should be. In fact, the cough he had only worked to clear out things, not because it was struggling. Something was clearly wrong.

Yori forced his eyes opened once his consciousness had finally returned to him. He blinked a little, still not convinced of reality. It was impossible. Then the pain from his body threw itself upon him with overwhelming intensity. Rebelling against his sudden movements, it did everything to make him regret the naïve and cliché response. “It hurts…”

“But you’re still alive,” someone familiar replied.

Pain overrode his ears, not making it clear who it was that spoke to him. His mind immediately put what had logically happened together.

Sigh.

“Hayashi…”

“Eh? You see him?”

Apparently, he needed to get his ears checked as he realized. The confusion in the voice made him put more effort into his senses. Yori turned his eyes in the direction of the voice to find someone a little unlikely next to him. “You…”

“Yup! How you feeling man? I’d help you up, but well…reasons…”

While his body still hated him with painful burning passion, he forced himself up. His legs were clearly not ready for him, but he could at least sit up. There remained a lot of questions swirling in his head. “Seiji Tsuji, what are you doing here?”

Seiji actually looked worse off than Yori felt, though Yori still could not see all of the damage on his own body. The heavy amounts of fresh bloody that covered his body along with countless talismans protecting him, he looked like he should be in the hospital for months of recovery. Despite the appearance, he sounded more alive him Yori felt. “I’m here because you needed help. That’s what friends do!”

‘Friends? I thought we were on different sides… He’s so simple, but I guess that isn’t a bad thing…’ As Yori tried to get more of the picture on his own body, he looked at the blood that soaked into his cloths. The hole where Yumi’s personality had pierced his heart stood as a reminder of his battle. “How am I alive, if Hayashi’s not here?”

“Nerine is with me. I got her to heal you up, it was a rush job due to the situation. All she could manage was repairing your heart.”

“I see…makes sense…” It still left him with questions. However, moving from his injuries to Seiji’s he realized that there was something wrong with the picture of Seiji supposed normality. “What happened to your arms?”

“Oh this?” He acted very nonchalant about the thing as though missing limbs was something common. Motioning with his shoulder and stump, he called attention to his left arm. “That I lost in my fight with one of Yumi’s friends.” Waving with his talisman covered right arm, Seiji explained its loss next. “This I lost while fighting Yumi.”

“Fighting Yumi?” Suddenly, he realized that he missed a lot more details. He also now felt the ground shaking. It almost felt like an earthquake, though it was too gentle for something like that. Yori searched around feeling as if he was missing something very obvious.

Which was accurate.

Ahead of him, across two city blocks of destruction, he saw explosions of power and light. With each blast, the ground vibrated. It took him a little bit for his eyes to focus, but he could see enough to pick out the details. “Yumi!” He immediately started to cough and gasp as his body refused to accept his movements.

Unable to use anything useful to stop him, Seiji leaned blocking his path a little. “Hey man, you need rest. You got thrashed pretty badly.”

“But my sister!”

“Nerine’s fighting her, though from what I can tell it looks more like Nerine’s stalling. I don’t understand it, but whoever’s in control of Yumi right now is far more powerful than Yumi’s ever been before. I don’t think there’s anyone of us who could actually stop her.” Seiji glanced over quickly at his arm that he lost to Yumi.

“She shouldn’t be fighting! I need to get to my sister!”

“We need to leave this up to Nerine. She’s the only one in shape to fight her right now. We just have to hold out until Yuki can put a stop to Takako, then Yumi will be free.”

Chapter 351 – Shouting to the Darkness

Far across the neighborhood away from the fighting, a deep trench carved through the ruins of what had once been a pleasant line of homes. Smoke rose in columns from all of the destruction wrought by the impact.

Buried partially under the foundation of the last of the houses that finally stopped the impact, debris began to move. Out of the darkness of the rumble a hand punched through wood and brick. It looked a little dirty and bruised, but no worse for wear.

A slight haze appeared around the hand as a mist of particles started to emit from deep within. The pile began to shift and fall away as it was effortlessly cleared away. Standing up, he looked around at the damage and then in the far distance to the school. Lights and explosions were going off around the area, but his eyes were normal. He did not know what was happening. “Damn, I can’t believe they knocked me out for the entire length of the fights. I’m awake now and I’m ready to put an end to all of this! Just hang in there everyone!”

Yuki cleared away the remaining debris to free himself up. “I’m sorry,” he apologized to the house before slowly rising into the air. “I’ll need to come back after this is all settled to help fix the neighborhood.” As he rose over ruins of the house and trees, he got a better view of the neighborhood. “Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

He began to move towards the school still seeing battles happening. Though with all of the destruction, less was happening than he could judge. “I guess, while I’ve been out a lot of the fighting has already been settled. Since there still remains some fighting, that must been that Takako hasn’t been stopped. That’s good, I can’t allow anyone but me fight her. This isn’t their problem.”

Quickly moving to the school, he stared down at the destruction. There was plenty of wide scale damage, but the lines and paths carved out along with the craters told him a story of the battles. He understood better everything that happened. “I’ll stop all of this pointless fighting.”

One of the fights Yuki saw continuing came through his area as he flew over. The force coming off the fight disrupted the air knocking him around and off course. A small thud dully echoed in the area as he fell into the ruins leftover from their fighting.

His mist protected him from any damage other than being shook around in the head. It took Yuki a few moments to get his focus back and stand on his feet. Concentration re-gathered the dispersing mist. “It was all just a blur. Who’s fighting?”

Shaking his head, he put his attention back towards the school that he had been trying to reach. “I have to get back. Whoever is fighting won’t have to once I stop Takako.” He began to fly into the air again having to focus more with the turbulence caused.

However, as he got into the air, he could hear the sounds of their voices. They were much closer than before. And that was when his contradictory decision surfaced. It was not something that he could ignore. Which given that everyone fighting was someone that he knew, it was going to be pretty hypocritical that he could not ignore any of the fights.

He justified it to himself as he flew towards them. Something bad was about to happen if he did not step in to stop it. Gathering up spare materials from the ground of the ruins, he fashioned himself the only sort of weapon that he could in the time he had. He had no time to change his powers for something more useful.

Using his mist to crush the materials densely into a mass, he launched it straight for his target.

Saki.

Before she could snap his neck a massive force slammed into her head throwing her free of Tatsuya. Tatsuya coughed and collapsed to the ground grabbing at his broken arm attempting to nurse it. He rolled his head over a little trying to who had jumped into the fight. His eyes widened in surprise. “Why…?”

Saki stood up shaking off the ringing pain as half of her face was soaked in blood now. She glared over at the Tatsuya and then up to the figure that interrupted her. Her eyes widened as well in shock. “Why are you here?!”

Already landed on part of the ruined house nearby, Yuki’s mist disappeared for a moment and then reappeared nearly as quickly. “You shouldn’t be so shocked. Your kick hurt a lot, but I still had my defense up when it happened. I’m not dumb enough to walk around the school without being ready to be attacked. I don’t have the reflexes of you to be able to be reactive.”

He glanced over at Tatsuya, who had seen better days. “So you did come.” However, he did not get much time to react as Saki immediately charged for him looking to put Yuki down for good.

Tatsuya tried to move for her, but his body had enough. He staggered to one knee as all of fighting with Saki suddenly dropped itself on him. “Not now! Yuki!”

Nothing of what happened Yuki could even see. It was not even a blur. All he felt was the pressure left by what happened in the frames of time between which Saki flew at him. However, she was nowhere near him anymore. A minor holographic read out ran out some text nearby his eyes informing him of the results. “I see, so that’s what happened.”

He looked up into the sky no able to see anything, but seemed to be looking for something. “She’s got protection from my powers too. If she does like Kaede and Katsumi, I’m going to guess everyone in Takako’s army does. There’s some questions to be answered about that.”

Yuki floated down next to Tatsuya to check on him. He saw more read outs nearby giving him reports on his condition. “Sorry, I don’t have the time to heal you up, but there’s nothing life threatening.”

“What did you do? All I saw was something hit Saki and sent her into the air, but she moves too quickly.”

“Yeah, she does.” An explosion of earth and debris shot up from behind Yuki, where had stood before. He turned around with expectations, knowing that things were not completely settled. It took nearly a minute, but the figure walking out of the column of smoke that he waited for can come. Saki resurfaced looking even more bloodied from the last attack Yuki made. “Before I started this assault on the school, I knew that I had the chance to be confronted by the three of them. So I crafted powers to deal with each of them. Unfortunately, they had better planning then me.”

The mist around Yuki grew in thickness completely masking out his appearance just as Saki came charging back in after him with single-minded purpose. However, she never made it through the mist. It slowly began to disperse showing Saki standing still no longer moving forward.

Yuki walked towards his friend. “What do you think you’re doing, Yuki?!” shouted Tatsuya trying to reach out with his good arm after him. “She’s dangerous, she’ll kill you!”

However, Yuki continued forward and Saki made no movement. He stood only centimeters away from Saki completely undaunted by her killing instinct. “I’m sorry, but I need to hang on while I stop your friend. Everything will be alright soon.” Then Saki suddenly dropped to one knee with her hands slamming into the ground cracking the earth a little.

Turning away, he gathered up his mist to begin flying away. Tatsuya looked over at him wanting answers. “I took care of Saki. I’m giving you the last bit of my trust in you Tatsuya to do the right thing.”

“But Yuki!”

“She can’t hurt anyone anymore. I’ve placed highly dense weights on her body. She’s barely got the strength in her to just stand up. While Saki is fast, he lacks the same superhuman strength. So this will hold her while I deal with Takako.”

Yuki departed the battleground with Tatsuya still staring a little confused about it all and shouting for him. He could not stay any longer than he had already. ‘I’ve got to get to Takako quickly. If Tatsuya’s here, then Hiroshi is as well. And knowing things, he’s already trying to kill Takako. I can’t allow that to happen!’ In the distance, he could see the school and his destination arriving.

Even in the darkness with only the moon to light the area, Yuki could see how badly the school had been damaged. Most of the south wing had been destroyed. He remembered Saki kicking him through that part. However, since he had been gone it looked even worse than he feared.

Landing upon the roof once more, it felt like the school was quivering in pain. “This is even worse than when Demosthenes split the school in half with an earthquake. This won’t be a simple fix like before. It’s going to be better just to build an entirely new school at this point.” He slowly walked towards the hole that Seiji created for them. “It’s surprising that it’s held together still. It feels like it’s going to collapse at any moment.”

He jumped down the hole finding that the floor was now missing. Needing his mist to hover between the first and second floors, he finally made it to parts of the second floor that still stood. Moving quickly, he hoped that he did not need to fight anyone else other than just Takako. ‘I hope I’m there in time…’

Arriving at the end of the hall, he found what was Takako’s lair. However, what he did not expect to see inside left him staggering a step back.

Crumbled up in the corner of the classroom opposite of Takako was Hiroshi. His whole body completely bloodied and mangled horribly. He could even see bones poking through skin. It made Yuki turn away having trouble with the sight only to see Takako grinning. She looked pleased to him. “You’ve finally arrived, King.”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Arriving at the end of the hall, he found what was Takako’s lair. However, what he did not expect to see inside left him staggering a step back.

Crumbled up in the corner of the classroom opposite of Takako was Hiroshi. His whole body completely bloodied and mangled horribly. He could even see bones poking through skin. It made Yuki turn away having trouble with the sight only to see Takako grinning. She looked pleased to him. “You’ve finally arrived, King.”

Yuki’s eyes darted around the room examining everything within. However, it did not leave him with a lot to work from. ‘It’s the emptiest room in the entire school… There’s nothing here.’ Each corner and surface of the classroom looked almost too good. It looked completely untouched. An eerie feeling sank into his body looking at it.

Glancing back at Hiroshi, none of it made sense. ‘He’s a complete mess, yet it doesn’t even look like a fight happened in the room. What’s going on?’ The only stain in the entire room seemed to be him. Not even the blood that dripped from him seemed to be staying. ‘None of this is real…’

He returned his sights back to Takako. Source of all the problems, she simple seemed to be standing there. Not even watching him, just standing waiting. ‘Why is she doing this? It doesn’t make any sense for her powers…’

A terrible cough ripped through the forced silence of the room. It sounded as though Hiroshi was going to die. Compulsion had Yuki’s legs nearly running to get to him in time, but he dragged himself. Takako might not have made a move yet, but he could not risk letting his guard down against her for even a moment.

With each moment that passed, it became more clear to him that she seemed to have no interest in doing anything to stop. ‘What’s her game now? I expected her to be different. Insane or crazy, murderous, anything, but what she is now. She’s defying quite a few of my expectations.’

Once he was near enough to Hiroshi to not yell across the room, he took a look at the progress. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a broken toy.”

“Are you still in pain?”

“Of course…actually no?” Hiroshi blinked a little confused that he had become so expectant of the pain that he did not recognize when it was gone. He could not move his body, as he was still too exhausted to move.

“Good, I can’t do a perfect job right now, but you should no longer be in any danger.” Yuki began to walk towards Takako, still perplexed by the whole situation.

Pressing his back against the wall to get a little leverage, Hiroshi stood up, but immediately fell back down. “Damnit…” Nothing was working for him. He had to watch Yuki do what he should be doing. “Yuki!”

“If you’re going to tell me to kill her you’re wasting your breath.”

“Be careful. She’s somehow got more tricks than we ever thought possible.”

Narrowing his expression as he stared across the room at Takako, his personal fight with her began. He believed he prepared himself for anything to happen. But such preparation was empty before Takako. “I’m starting to get that feeling.”

Chapter 352 – Awaited Arrival

A slightly bigger smile grew across Takako’s face seeing the seriousness coming through Yuki. She seemed to have an eagerness in her eyes. “Finished everything that you wanted to do?”

“You’re surprisingly accommodating,” he noted, still not sure what Takako’s goal was. Now that he confronted her, she became even more of a mystery than before. “I expected you to stop me.”

“I have no interest in giving you more fuel.”

“Fuel?”

“I’m very aware of what happened the last time someone you knew was killed in front of you. I’m not making a mistake like that.”

His eyes narrowed a little still trying to get a read on Takako. “I see, so you’re not as generic cliché as you seemed.”

“There’s the playful banter that I was expecting.”

“I don’t really have the mood right now for any sort of casual humor.”

“But I was so looking forward to a lively exchange before I killed you. You’re disappointing my image of you.”

“Then we’re both ignoring expectations.” She had a playful, not quite child-like behavior while still fixed with blackness that hung over her tainting everything. If he could see aura’s he knew that her’s would be black as space.

However, he wanted some answers from her. ‘Hopefully, I can understand more about her before the fight begins. I’ve yet to fight her, but with how badly Hiroshi was after his fight she is on a different level than the others I’ve fought. Worse still, she’s likely got whatever inhibiting power so I can’t be direct. This is likely going to be my hardest fight yet…’

It was all calculated, even though he stalled. “So what happened to you? After you were kidnapped, we found you completely broken.”

“I got better.”

“That’s intentionally vague.”

“You’re just delaying, because you know that you can’t defeat me.”

Keeping most of his reaction in check, Yuki continued to push the issue. There were too many unanswered questions and nothing about the entire situation made any sense. “Even if I’m delaying, I’m still trying to understand how this all happened. You don’t just recover from brain damage.”

“I wouldn’t say what I had was brain damage.” The smile dropped from her face. Memories of the event came back to her. She matched the grave seriousness of Yuki as she resumed explaining. “Saki explained it to you. The only problem is that unlike her, I knew nothing about what the man that had kidnapped me. Though thanks to her, I now know the whole picture.”

‘So she can either read memories or Saki just flat out told her. That explains why she called me King then.’ Takako carried all of his secrets on top of her own. That made her exceptionally dangerous. He could not allow those secrets to escape, but he had no way of knowing what she planned to do. It put him in a position that he found very distasteful. “So you know everything then.”

Takako seemed to pick up on the hints of desperation in Yuki’s voice. “That’s right. I’m aware of who you are. And that the man that kidnapped me was looking for Ayumi, not you like everyone thought. Because I knew nothing, I hadn’t even met her before, the man could not find anything in my mind. He was quite thorough, convinced that I knew something and only when I broke did he understand.”

“The damage was done…”

“That’s right. Not that he really seemed to care about what happened to me or the others. I was left in that hospital completely broken unable to comprehend or acknowledge anything. My own awareness of my identity was gone.” She lifted her hand to point at Yuki no longer passive. “And you just left me like that doing nothing.”

“I couldn’t control my power at that point. And even now, I couldn’t have fixed the damage. I might have made it even worse.”

“What could be worse than being locked in a prison unable to move, think, react, just forever bound? I’m was a bystander in Ayumi’s personal war!”

“Is that why you’re doing all of this? Taking out your frustrations upon innocents because you were done the same to?”

“All of this?” Takako stretched out her arms to her sides calling out to the city. “No, all of this is your fault.”

“Me? What did I do?”

“You gave me this power. And as I’ve figured out thanks to the thousands of minds I’ve tapped into you, I’ve reached the conclusion.”

Yuki already had an idea where she was going with everything. ‘This is why it’s my problem to solve and not someone else. All of this is coming back to me. If I hadn’t made that mistake and lost myself in my emotions none of this would have happened.’ He was going to hear her out though. Every piece he gained from her would give him more of an idea of what her power was and her thoughts. She was an unknown to him.

“It’s your fault because you gave us powers that matched with our personalities or wishes. You gave us what we needed or wanted. And that’s why I have this power. Why all of this is happening. In order to escape the prison you left me in I had to use my power. You gave me the keys for my own escape.”

“How does mind control allow you to regain your sense of self?” It was back to the same question as before. Even if he started to understand part of it. How she returned from the vegetative state she was in before made no sense to him. There remained a piece missing.

“That’s because my power isn’t mind control.”

“What?! You’re taking control of people, what could it be other than mind control?”

“Perhaps you should be asking yourself that question. You’re the one that gave this to me.”

“A hundred million people potentially got powers, I’m not going to know what every single person got!”

“Then you’ll just need to figure it out.”

The atmosphere suddenly started to change in the room. Yuki could feel that their conversation came to a close. Takako decided for him that the time for talking was over. ‘I’m not ready yet to fight her. I don’t know anything about her power if it’s not mind control. I can’t even guess how Hiroshi was beat up. I need more information to build a plan from!’ He kept his uncertainty and hint of panic as managed as he could. Going blind into the fight ended up being the only thing he could do.

“Once you’re dead, I’ll be free completely. I’ll be safe once more!” She suddenly shifted into a very familiar fighting stance. Takako was ready.

‘Saki?! She’s using the martial arts style we learned at the dojo! But how?’ Yuki did not get much time to think about it as Takako disappeared from his sight. All he felt was a force slamming into him. It rocketed him through the classroom and out the school. Explosions popped with each wall he hit on the way out.

He was prepared for such things to happen. After Saki sent him flying, he had plans in place to prevent that. However, it did not seem to be actually doing its job. Yuki could only rely on his power to help him when dealing with people physically far faster than him.

His powers stopped him after flying for nearly a kilometer in the air. Hovering above the city, he stared back at the school. He tried to ignore the pain that was throb in his side from whatever she hit him with. Yuki only had guesses. “Damn, she’s as fast as Saki it seems. Though, at their speeds, I can’t really say how accurate that is coming from me. Not that it really matters, it screws me over either way.”

Yuki pushed himself back through the air towards the school. He still did not have much of a clear view of Takako’s abilities. “I already had guessed as much that the powers lined up with the individual. So I figured that being on the track team, she’d have speed and agility like Saki. Just glad she lacks the physical strength. I’d probably be dead if it had been Seiji.”

As he moved to the hole in the school, he saw Takako waiting for him. She seemed to know that it was not enough to take him down. Though it made him think back to her little comment before she attacked him. “What did she mean by being safe?” It was a strange comment that started to nag on him.

Landing back in the school, but outside of the classroom he saw a completely different state of affairs. Water hung from the walls and stairs, though very thinly. It looked to be evaporating at an unusually high rate. While the state of the school looked in poor repair. Damage from the fighting before made it clear that Hiroshi had been busy.

Yet, when he stepped into the room everything was clean and untainted. The unnerving sense about the place came back. He did not understand it other than he had a good guess the source. Staring at Takako, she gave her introduction to him and their fight to bring an end to the chaos started. “It’s time that I resolve the problems I created. I won’t be dying today, Takako!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

As he moved to the hole in the school, he saw Takako waiting for him. She seemed to know that it was not enough to take him down. Though it made him think back to her little comment before she attacked him. “What did she mean by being safe?” It was a strange comment that started to nag on him.

Landing back in the school, but outside of the classroom he saw a completely different state of affairs. Water hung from the walls and stairs, though very thinly. It looked to be evaporating at an unusually high rate. While the state of the school looked in poor repair. Damage from the fighting before made it clear that Hiroshi had been busy.

Yet, when he stepped into the room everything was clean and untainted. The unnerving sense about the place came back. He did not understand it other than he had a good guess the source. Staring at Takako, she gave her introduction to him and their fight to bring an end to the chaos started. “It’s time that I resolve the problems I created. I won’t be dying today, Takako!”

“You’re confident that you kill me.”

Shaking his head, he corrected everyone’s natural instincts it seemed. “I’m not here to kill you. I’m here to stop you. There’s a difference.”

She laughed a little as the naïve notion that Yuki still clung to despite everything. “You’re not going to be able to do anything with that sort of mindset.” Suddenly, Yuki disappeared and reappeared in front of her swing his fist. ‘What?! When he get there?’ Takako barely had a chance to put up her arms in defense. However, his fist went right through as he faded away.

Yuki stared at the results, appearing back where he stood. His eyes narrowed a little with some slight disappointment. ‘Figured as much. She’s got the same weird protection against my powers. I’m going to have get more creative if my powers won’t do anything to her.’

It took Takako a moment to shake off the whole experience. Once she understood what happened, she smirked a little. “Playing tricks on me.”

“No more than you.”

“What are you referring to?”

“I mean this classroom. I know you have some illusion cast over the room. That little punch you gave me let me into that.” He still did not know why she did it. ‘It’s a meaningless effort as far as I’m concerned. She’s not doing anything with it. So what cast the illusion?’

Her shoulders lifted a little in her shrug to casually throw off the declaration. “You didn’t give me a lot of time to clean up. I can’t be having a messy room for the King.”

“I’m just average high school student right now.”

“Now who’s casting illusions,” she shot back at Yuki.

Remaining on edge around Takako, Yuki did not know when the attack from her would come. Not that he would be able to see it, he knew. Everything had to rely on his powers reactions. He left everything up to the faith of his powers he made to battle someone like her.

Between breaths, she disappeared and then appeared on the opposite side of Yuki. She spun around her arm taking him out at the neck. However, her hand went straight through him rather than hitting anything solid like she expected. “Eh?” A fake?”

“That’s right,” answered Yuki appeared in a different part of the classroom.

Annoyed that she could not target Yuki so easily, she launched something at him. It just was a light kick of her foot, but it still shot like a bullet at him. A small piece of debris that did not exist in her illusion, though remained real to her. Blowing through Yuki’s head blood sprayed back all over the walls. His body fell over, slumping against the wall.

Shock went through both Takako and Hiroshi, unable to believe that Yuki just died so simply. “Yuki?!” yelled Hiroshi, not wanting to believe the sight. Laughter came up from the other side of the room where Takako stood. He glared over at her helpless to do anything.

“That was pathe—“ Interrupted in the middle of her laughing, Yuki appeared swinging his fist again at her. She had no defense up at the moment. He capitalized on her weakness ram her fist into his face. This time it connected throwing her out of the classroom with blasts sounding off as she broke through wall after wall.

Yuki stood defiantly looking down the hole where he sent her. “Amateur…”

Chapter 353 – Mind Games

Nearly as much noise broke through the darkness of the school as Takako returned. She had a healthy looking bruise on her face from the punch that Yuki gave her. Along with it in accompaniment, confusion and surprise painted her eyes and mouth. “What did you do?! You shouldn’t be able to hit me with your powers!” Her hand lightly touched the pain in her cheek with the look of being out of place.

Takako was a girl that had never fought a day in her life. Before the incident, she was just a normal girl going to school. She had the track team and her friends. But there was nothing else special about her. So the notion of hitting, even by her parents, was foreign to her. As much as what Yuki did to actually connect a punch with her, the fact that she was even injured surprised her equally as much.

However, Yuki merely remained quiet continuing to watch how things played out. He had to stay on top of his concentration for her.

She immediately dove after him wanting revenge for the hit that should never have touched her. Yet, the same problem as before occurred. The Yuki she swung at was not real. He reappeared in the room and she jumped after him. None of them were real. “You can’t touch me!” Another punch from Yuki connected with her sending her into the wall. It lacked as much power, but still sent her off her feet.

Staring on from the sidelines, Hiroshi was the only one that had a good view of what happened. He understood how Takako would be so confused. In such a situation, he was not sure he would have thought of the same thing. ‘Yuki’s found a way to fight Takako. He’s the only one of us with different means of using powers. I didn’t have any idea that she would have found a way to deal with them. But this way…’

He watched the two in their introductory dance. Takako being pushed back with Yuki exploiting her weakness. While he could not boast the same degree of familiarity and experience as Yuki in fighting, the last month and more gave him a sense for level of skill from an opponent. It was not always accurate or helpful and got him in trouble on a few occasions, but it was an improving skill of his.

To behold the two fight gave him the time to test it. He could see what Yuki was doing and reading into his actions gave him insight into the fighting mind of his friend. ‘He can’t fight her normally, as he probably would like due to something negating his power. So he’s keeping her off balance and emotional with all of the illusions. Once he got her riled up from the first hit, she hasn’t been focused at all. She can’t see what he’s doing, even though I know she has the capability to be able to. Yuki’s timing is just right to capitalize on her confusion.

‘That first punch, wasn’t even a punch. Because of the timing, Takako just thinks he’s punching her. It’s all part of the illusion. He’s matching the timing of his illusion hitting her with a secondary attack. He’s using something real that isn’t created by his power and launching that in time with his attacks. And while we were both in shock over his faked death, he used that chance when Takako’s awareness was at it’s lowest! He’s playing her in his palm. The battlefield is completely under his control!’

Hiroshi had to look at Yuki carefully feeling like he was seeing someone else out there fighting Takako instead. ‘It’s hard to believe this is the same person that I met at the start of the school year. I know I didn’t know what sort of life he had before high school, but even being told what I know this is far exceeds what I would expect. He might actually be able to win…’

While he did believe in Yuki’s power, what he dealt with fighting Takako before made him question if anyone could defeat her. It was not even arrogance in thinking that he was better than Yuki. He was not sure there was anyone that could win. ‘He might be able to overcome all of her tricks!’

Yuki came to a landing after knocking Takako down again. The real one could not be seen and Takako had long forgotten that fact. Despite controlling her own illusion, she had forgotten that all she was fighting was one as well.

She did not stand up immediately. Looking up in annoyance from her position on the floor, she saw a different sort of person than she had seen walk through the door. He looked upon her with determination and seriousness. “It’s you… You’re the one.” Takako wiped away a bit of the blood that came up from her lip that cracked from the last hit.

“What do you mean?” Yuki had no idea what had come over her. Reading her expression, he could see that she was realizing something. However, he did not have a clue what she discovered. She gave him no context.

Takako stood up slowly looking a little more calm downed from before. The bruises on her face only scuffed her up. She still had plenty of fight left her, by the look in her eyes. “I knew you both from the rumors around the school and the one that Saki stood in front to protect on a daily basis. The one that was more nerd than fighter. The one that fled from a fight.”

“What’s your point?”

“After I got the chance to walk through Saki’s mind I saw someone different in her mind.” Takako straightened herself out looking like she prepared for something. “I’ve gone through enough minds to know that people remember and see things very differently than reality. People are filled with self-delusions. I counted Saki in the same camp.”

“But?”

“You’ve got the same look that I found in Saki. It’s different from when you first walked in here. You were convincing yourself of what you were doing before. Now you’re committed, naively to that course. And you’ve got that look now. The same look Saki knows and fears, when you get serious. When you become absorbed in a fight. You don’t care how inexperience I am in fighting. You’re bring it all.”

“I’m not going to be able to stop you any other way. You might have been a normal school girl at one point, but now you’ve become twisted and corrupted because of your power. I can’t fight you half heartedly if I expect to save you.”

The demeanor from Takako changed ever so slightly. It signaled a shift in their fight and an increase in the intensity. “I don’t need saving. I blame you for all that you’ve done. This is all your fault as I said before. But I’ve also already accepted the reality. You already saved me!” Takako disappeared on Yuki attacking the fake.

She jumped to the next and next still not finding the real Yuki. However, when the fake Yuki came out to attack, she was able to dodge it this time. Behind her the wall took the shot that Yuki set up for her. ‘What was that? That didn’t feel like a punch,’ she questioned internally.

‘He missed!’ Hiroshi thought in surprise. ‘Is she seeing his attacks now? If so, what’s he going to do to keep the fight on his side?’

Yuki’s clone moved around staying ahead of Takako with agility impossible for his normal body. ‘Damn, I didn’t it would happen that fast. I knew I couldn’t survive on that trick for long, but I still need more time. It’s not ready yet!’

As their fighting reached a pause, Yuki stepped onto the questioning subject that Takako introduced. “What do you mean that I already saved you?”

“This power you gave me. Without it, I never would have recovered.”

“What are you saying? What power did I give you?”

“The perfect power for someone like me. It took some time for me to realize it and I had some help. Thanks to them though, enough of my consciousness returned. Though I wonder if they regret doing what they did to me. Since they were my first subjects.”

More mysteries compounded as Yuki only continued to learn now revelations that pushed him further away from understanding the truth. The puzzle before him was far more complex than he imagined. “Who helped you? Someone with powers?”

“So let me show you what I’ve gained thanks to you saving me!” Suddenly, Takako appeared besides herself. Multiple copies of her stood in a line together. “Let’s see how long you least against me like this!” Six copies of Takako charged at Yuki faster than even Hiroshi could see. An explosion of debris filled the whole room.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

As their fighting reached a pause, Yuki stepped onto the questioning subject that Takako introduced. “What do you mean that I already saved you?”

“This power you gave me. Without it, I never would have recovered.”

“What are you saying? What power did I give you?”

“The perfect power for someone like me. It took some time for me to realize it and I had some help. Thanks to them though, enough of my consciousness returned. Though I wonder if they regret doing what they did to me. Since they were my first subjects.”

More mysteries compounded as Yuki only continued to learn now revelations that pushed him further away from understanding the truth. The puzzle before him was far more complex than he imagined. “Who helped you? Someone with powers?”

“So let me show you what I’ve gained thanks to you saving me!” Suddenly, Takako appeared besides herself. Multiple copies of her stood in a line together. “Let’s see how long you least against me like this!” Six copies of Takako charged at Yuki faster than even Hiroshi could see. An explosion of debris filled the whole room.

Hiroshi tried to lift his arm up to guard against all of the dust and debris throw around room, but it failed to move well for him. The cloud completely engulfed him along with the two fighters. Only in the split seconds before the chaos happened could he see what happened.

The multitude of Takakos gave Yuki’s clones trouble. Initial dodging proved to only go so far. Her speed increased dramatically making the old speed that Yuki’s clones worked at ineffective. She destroyed the clones quickly. The pace that she took made it look like she would find the real Yuki in time.

All the clouds kicked up were from the speed at which Takako moved. The illusion that she held on the room seemed to be weakening as the dirty parts began to seep through piece by piece. Yuki had chipped away at her, but it was still far from a victory for either.

Yuki remained hidden from her sights and she had plenty of fight left in her. Neither were ending any time soon. ‘Now that Yuki showed her that he’s serious in fighting her, she meeting him head on. This is where things heat up now. Will you be able to still keep the advantage Yuki, now that she’s started to play her cards? The same cards that defeated me with ease…’

Chapter 354 – Mind Tricks

Moving at such speed seemed like it should have started to affect Takako, but she showed no signs of weakness. She dealt with the Yuki clones as fast as they popped up. However, since none of them were real and what she did really did not destroy them it was a completely pointless exercise by her. Not that she seemed to be willing to listen to such arguments.

Takako finished off the remaining clones with signs of no more appearing. She turned around seeking out Yuki in any part of the room. He was nowhere to be seen. “Going to stop hiding?!”

“Seems that I will have to take you on directly,” answered Yuki, materializing out of thin air to her right. He threw out his fist while he was appearing leaving her little time to react. Though with her reflexes and superhuman speed it was still plenty of time for her.

Intercepting his punch with her right hand, she looked ready to counter, but was suddenly hit from a completely different direction. The blow knocked her off her feet and against the wall of the classroom. It lacked the same sort of power, but it still left a mark.

Rubbing her cheek, Takako looked on confused at Yuki. ‘I know I saw a hand hit me. But I didn’t see anyone. It wasn’t him, but who hit me? There another person with him?’ She tried to figure out what happened, but her sight had not been focused on it.

Hiroshi stared on a little stunned at what he saw. It left him a little unnerved having seen it. ‘It’s frightening all of things that I see him do…’

“I might be normal, but don’t think it’ll be easy.”

“Damn you…” Takako stood back on her feet. “All you’ve got is tricks.”

“Did you really think that I would give you a fair fight? With everything on the line I’m not going to be nice.” Yuki rammed his fist into her face while he finished talking not waiting on her to take the action.

Her head smacked into the wall cracking the dry-erase board. The next couple of hits knocked her head through the wall completely with her shoulders denting the board as she dangled there. She still breathed and more intensely than before, likely angered.

‘Is he going to be able to win?’ There was some uncertain hope stirring around in Hiroshi’s mind. He still could not count Takako out of the fight. She still had plenty left in her. But he started to understand how committed that he was to the fight. ‘Come on, Yuki…’

Dragging Takako out of the wall, he threw her down to the floor across the room. All the while, he rained down attacks on her, this time not hiding that they were not his actual hand this time. There was no need for tricks at the moment. “I would have just suffocated you from the start if it wasn’t for your array.”

Laughing, a slightly bruised, though not bloodied from all of the recent attacks, Takako woke back up. As to be expected, she was not injured from all the attacks. She only looked in a little disrepair from the fighting. “So heartless of you.” Standing up, Takako carried a dark shadow over her face concealing an uncertain intent. “You’d make Saki cry to hear you talking about killing me.”

“It’s the fastest way to knock you out so I could undo all of your deeds. I already made myself clear that I don’t plan on killing you, just ending this as fast as I can.”

“Ending this as fast as you can?” The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed as she spoke. It felt like they were in the desert. A strange glow came off Takako introducing a new killing intent not present before. “How far is that confidence going to take you when face with this?”

Flames erupted up around Takako bathing her in the red-orange hue. Both of her arms transformed into flames along with the ground. Circular arrays began to appear in the air building up. Takako’s powers completely changed, no longer making any sense to Yuki.

Off on the side, Hiroshi understood well what he was seeing. ‘This is where it begins. They’re both using tricks, but I still don’t know what Takako’s trick is… I failed to figure it out. Yuki…’

“You think that’s going to worry me?” scoffed Yuki maintaining a stonewalled expression when faced with something new. ‘That’s troubling…it looks like she’s got control of Fumiko’s flame judging from the magic array’s I’m seeing. I think I’m starting to get a picture of the whole now…’

Magic threads channeled into the arrays building up several fireballs before Yuki. The speed that Takako worked at now made it easier for Yuki to manage things on his own. Physical speeds were not something he could handle unaided. So he prepared his own field for the incoming attack. ‘Law switch, rule set #1!’

Mist returned around Yuki as he made the switch in his powers. ‘This is already getting more complicated than I want. Thankfully, I’m somehow able to remember all of this. I guess it’s part of the power.’ Filling out the space around him, he had his normal protection back.

“You think that’s going to be able to protect you?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

She took the challenge and finished the build-up of magic. Flames shot out at Yuki in a barrage. There was no holding back or easing into the battle. Takako pushed up the intensity of the battle quickly. “Handle these flames then!”

Guiding the mist in front, the flames clashed blowing out parts of the mist, but it still held strong against the attack. Behind his mist, he caught flashes of orange from the magic exploding. He saw it poking holes through, but only the heat so far had penetrated through. ‘I’ll need to make it thicker for the next round. I held back too much.’

The next round however was not so simple. Takako looked ill pleased by the lack of results from her attack. She immediately went to the bigger guns. Larger and more complex arrays appeared around her and on the ground. “Don’t get cocky now!”

“Oh hell…” Yuki jumped out of the way knowing that his mist did not have the strength to block such an attack. Several thick streams of flames roared just over him. What mist hung around him still as he moved was completely obliterated by the attack.

Takako could tell that her attack was far more successful and something that Yuki feared. She grinned a little moving her arms around to alter the flames’ course. “I’ve got full control over this! Don’t think you can escape me!”

Yuki took cover out in the hall that he punched through with his mist. He had to stay on the move as Takako did not stop searching for him in the most brutal force way possible. ‘Damn it… It’s still not ready! I’m using so much of my power right now on the mist… The heat alone would have roasted me already without it…’

He was not likely his current situation with Takako. ‘I’ve let her take control of the battle now. I can’t allow her to maintain the pace. If I don’t control the pace then I lose my only advantage in this fight. It’s already an uphill battle against someone that my powers won’t work on directly.’

A slight glow came off his mist that surrounded his body that protected him from the bulk of Takako’s flame. It was not perfect, but it did what he needed to remain in the fight. Sweat still dripped down his face from the flame attacks narrowly missing him. He jumped down the dirty hall feeling his skin nearly boiling from it just passing over his leg.

It was only for a second, but it felt like it had been an hour. His leg screamed at him from the stinging. The burn was bad, but he was going to have to live with it. Yuki threw himself into the classroom, thankful that it was actually empty. His mist returned to his side not needing to protect anyone.

Panting a little from the effort, Yuki could tell that he was finally getting warmed up from all of the dodging. Up until that point, he remained fairly stationary using other things to fight for him. He did what he could to ignore the burned skin. It felt worst than it actually was he knew. And he had been through far worse than some burn.

He dodged and tested trying to deflect the flames with his mists. The flames burned straight through the angle wall he created proving that it was still not enough. ‘The intensity of the flames and force is too much for my mist to handle. It’s not a very strong power against something real…’

Yuki kept ahead of Takako’s attacks no longer feeling the pain in his leg. The adrenaline had begun pumping through his body. But her attacks came in stronger and more focused as each minute passed. He was having trouble staying out of the way. ‘I can’t believe I hear that Fumiko supposedly has an even more powerful flame than this…if this is truly her power Takako’s wielding…’

Manipulating his mist in the hall away from him, he flung some debris into the classroom at Takako. It gave him enough of a distraction for him to jump back into the room. Though it did not take long for her to immediately return to attacking him directly. Skating around on his mist, he pulled it around to guide his body around the room to keep dodging her attacks.

Annoyed that Yuki remained out of her grasp, she covered much of the floor in flames trying to limit his area to dodge. “You’re fast on your feet. Can you still keep up?” The flames became more streams and columns than fireballs anymore. She stopped using any of the small attacks.

Out of room, Yuki ran up the side of the wall and to the ceiling hanging upside down. “There’s always somewhere to go. Unless you fill the entire room with fire you’re not going to be able to stop me.”

“Is that right?” A smirk came across her face hinting at something new in store.

The unsettling feeling coming off Takako made Yuki worry a little. ‘She’s already shown herself to be fast and control fire magic on top of her mind control powers. This is way too many powers to be normal. I’m really worried about where my theories are headed. If I’m right, this is going to be even worse than I imagined…’

Suddenly, Takako’s right arm transformed into water leaving the flame on her left. Soft blue magic arrays appeared in the air next to the fire. The two different elements mixed together spreading steam into the entire room.

Yuki slid back over the ceiling wanting space for reacting. ‘I don’t like this. She’s blocked off my ability to see her attacks. I don’t have anything useful for clearing it away. The mist isn’t suited for that purpose.’ He built up the mist into a thick wall with multiple layers extending outward as early warning for attacks. It was not much, but it was all he could prepare on short notice.

However, he was getting a strange feeling from his mist. Something was bumping into them, but it was not a normal sort of attack. ‘What’s this feeling? What is Takako doing?’ Then he suddenly felt the whole school shaking. It reminded him of the earthquake that split the school. Though it did not have the same sort of feeling. Everything about it feel strange, but still violent.

Something bumped into him against his back. He immediately whipped around and sliced through it with his mist only to find that it was a branch. “A tree? Huh?”

Then the mist started to clear away and more branches pushed into his personal space. He had to float in the air as the ceiling no longer was available. Parts of the schools rained down in chunks of debris as a massive tree ripped through what remained of the school.

No longer contained in the room, the steam dispersed and faded away. It was not just one tree around him. Yuki found himself inside a forest suddenly. He could not even really see the school anymore. It laid in a pile of awkward debris and half of the neighborhood went with it. “What’s going on?”

Takako appeared walking out from the shadows of a thick trunk. She had the confident look back, no longer looking like she was playing Yuki’s game, but her own now. “Thanks to my power I can bring out the full mastery that even they don’t know yet! Think you can stop me now a master of all powers!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Yuki slid back over the ceiling wanting space for reacting. ‘I don’t like this. She’s blocked off my ability to see her attacks. I don’t have anything useful for clearing it away. The mist isn’t suited for that purpose.’ He built up the mist into a thick wall with multiple layers extending outward as early warning for attacks. It was not much, but it was all he could prepare on short notice.

However, he was getting a strange feeling from his mist. Something was bumping into them, but it was not a normal sort of attack. ‘What’s this feeling? What is Takako doing?’ Then he suddenly felt the whole school shaking. It reminded him of the earthquake that split the school. Though it did not have the same sort of feeling. Everything about it feel strange, but still violent.

Something bumped into him against his back. He immediately whipped around and sliced through it with his mist only to find that it was a branch. “A tree? Huh?”

Then the mist started to clear away and more branches pushed into his personal space. He had to float in the air as the ceiling no longer was available. Parts of the schools rained down in chunks of debris as a massive tree ripped through what remained of the school.

No longer contained in the room, the steam dispersed and faded away. It was not just one tree around him. Yuki found himself inside a forest suddenly. He could not even really see the school anymore. It laid in a pile of awkward debris and half of the neighborhood went with it. “What’s going on?”

Takako appeared walking out from the shadows of a thick trunk. She had the confident look back, no longer looking like she was playing Yuki’s game, but her own now. “Thanks to my power I can bring out the full mastery that even they don’t know yet! Think you can stop me now a master of all powers!”

“I guess that finally answers a question,” Yuki replied as Takako let slip a rather important detail about her power.

“Knowing doesn’t give you an advantage.”

“You’re right.” The pondering of the situation with Takako’s power made him pensive. ‘This is even worse than even I anticipated from my theory. I expected that her mind powers were an off variant from the standard fare, if she was really using other powers. However, I expected her to fall within the normal logic of not being versed in the power and that being a weakness I could exploit.

‘This is even worse since I can’t even anticipate her powers now. It seems I was right that what Takako was using was stolen powers from Fumiko, but to make a forest from magic. This far exceeds what Fumiko’s current power is. The scale as well… with an army of hundreds or thousands, the number of powers she has to use has suddenly made this fight my worst nightmare.’

Chapter 355 – Mind over Matter

Barely hanging on to a branch high up in the canopy of the forest suddenly created by Takako, laid Hiroshi. When the forest was created, he lost his wall to lean against and the floor to rest on. Takako rudely ripped that away from him. His body did not enjoy the ride that he took up further into the sky. While Yuki patched him up, rough movement still shot pain through his body. “Damn, Takako…who knew she could do this…”

He held tightly onto the branch struggling with his body to keep balance. It seemed that the threat to his life or at least health forced his body to start responding to him again. It was not perfect, but he could manage himself.

“This is just insane,” he commented, staring down at the two. They seemed less impressed with what happened than him. Just that fact alone left him a little unnerved.

Yuki panned around the forest getting a judge on the scale. The density of it was not so thick that he could see not see between the trees. They were thick, gigantic trees, but not spaced too closely. It was easy enough to see the weak lights of the city around them, though it suddenly felt very weird seeing it through such a view. The sky however was completely gone. The leaf cover of the canopy was still thick. He quickly lost sight of the ceiling.

Yet he could still see in the forest. Part it had to come from him already being a little adjusted to the night. But it was clear that there seemed to be a very soft glow coming off the green life Takako sprung out. ‘Glow of magic?’ It was the only guess that he had for the reason. However, it made things simpler for him. A backup law was not needed to keep fighting.

“Fumiko seems to have a lot more potential than we realized.”

Takako smirked a little feeling the confidence of being in control of everything. “This isn’t her limit. There’s plenty in her powers that I’ve yet to show.”

“Figured as much.”

“Fumiko?” asked Hiroshi, to himself, “That name is familiar. Yuki seems to know her. Wait, the way they’re talking…Takako can use that girl’s power? Then that means…” It all finally started to come together for him. He lacked the same sort of inherit understanding of powers in the way that Yuki did. His mind did not work like that, though he doubted most people’s minds thought the same way that he did.

So the pieces did not all fit together for him completely. But it started to make sense to him now that he listened to them in Yuki’s stalling tactic. “Does that mean Takako’s power isn’t mind control, but the ability to steal other powers and use them better than the owner? But that doesn’t explain her army. What is it about her powers that I don’t understand?”

Hiroshi still felt lost when it came to Takako. She had thrown several different powers at him in their fight. None of it he saw coming. His power could do nothing against her. “I guess I at least now have an answer to why she had so many powers. But we’re still missing a very important piece to the puzzle that makes this whole thing make sense.” Hope was all he had to rest on finding that answer before Takako’s new power.

Even hope seemed a strange thing to bet on. He felt like he was being shallow and fickle waffling on Yuki’s chance to beat Takako. It changed back and forth between the two as the battle carried on. And as he learned more about Takako there was less hope to pass around. It worried him more than he cared to admit.

“With the ability to master any power and use it at will, she’s the worst sort of person for Yuki. She can do similar things that he can, but is superhuman and immune to his powers. This situation just keeps getting worse and worse…”

Jumping to the next branch in front of her, Takako looked to be taking on a new stance to resume the fighting. “Enough of your delaying. It’s time that we put an end to you.”

“It’s going to take more than what you’ve shown to do that.”

“Then let’s get started!” Several magic arrays appeared in the air around Takako rapidly finishing their casts. “I’ve been taking it easy on you until now!”

“Is that so?” Even while he spoke, he saw her attacks launched. ‘Metal? That’s an unexpected magic power. It’s pretty rare for any fiction to consider metal an element. But it makes sense, like fire or water, metal comes from nature as well. It’s more natural than the fire commonly used in fiction.’ While he took a moment half admiring and half analyzing it, hardened metal rods flew at him.

Mist still hanging to his legs pulled him away into the air to dodge the attack. Where he stood the metal ran straight through the wood completely unaffected by the thickness of more than a meter of wood. ‘I don’t know how dense that wood is, but that’s a little worrisome it has that much force. Any sort of direct hit is going to be near lethal with blood loss…’

Flying around the forest, Takako kept up the assault. Yet none of them hit him. Yuki started to question the seriousness of her intent. It lacked the same sort of intensity as the fire. But his detection system suddenly alerted him to an attack from a different direction. He dodged it without too much trouble, but it was the fact of where it came from that bothered him.

Yuki glanced back in the direction trying to understand what happened. ‘She’s not in that direction… So far I’ve only seen attack come from her. It appeared that was her limit. However, she can control the magic at will even after release. Is that at work? She stopped doing that with the metal magic, treating it like a projectile.’

As he analyzed the situation more, Takako did not give him time to pause. Most of her attacks came from the same direction that he came to expect, but every so often she tossed in another stray on that did not act like the others.

The fact he kept avoiding her sneak attacks began to show visibly on her face. She did not like that he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Her attempts were getting nowhere. Confidence in her own cleverness revealed her inexperience. She immediately jumped to more direct and less disguised attacks.

It began to give Yuki all of the data he needed to understand what was happening. While it was faint and gone almost immediately after it finished, he saw it long enough, a magic array. One that was nowhere near to where she stood. ‘I see…that explains that then…’ The more he dodged, the easier to begin to see confirmation of it. ‘Well that’s going to make things even more complicated… In the hands of someone more experienced, I’d probably be in a lot more danger than I feel…’

What she lacked in experience, though she made up in sheer power. The vast reserves that she seemed to have to manage the magic had to give her credit to her natural talent. And to make things worse for Yuki, she was only more annoyed with him dodging everything. Arrays rapidly began to increase until it felt like there was a mini sun with how much light the magic generated around him.

All Yuki could do was keep moving. ‘The moment I stop is the moment I get surrounded… I can’t do anything about this…’ Below or above, left or right, he already nearly was surrounded by her attacks. Behind him, he left a wake of destruction as shards of wood exploded and rained down.

‘There’s nothing I can do but evade right now. I’m back again with the fire… I needed to turn this around…’ Yet, Takako was already thinking of other things for Yuki. A brighter light than all of the magic arrays suddenly filled Yuki’s vision. “…damn…” He recognized it and it was an even worse threat.

She forced him to fly down to avoid the massive pillar of flames coming at him. Fire and metal made the combination even worse for him. And now that he had to change his direction away from what he had been driving, he went straight into a trap.

Yuki paused in air seeing all of his exits closed. A sphere of arrays surrounded him. “Damnit!” His eyes scanned the area looking for any point of weakness. ‘Didn’t expect her to actually lay a trap. She’s getting smarter in the middle of the battle… Her inexperience was my one major advantage…’

Delaying her attack, Takako jumped around to get closer to Yuki. She grinned with satisfaction. “Can’t talk your way out of this.” The magic in the arrays grew brighter as she taunted him with his death.

Not giving her the look that she wanted, Yuki held a determined expression. Harsher lines carved around his mouth and eyes watching her. “Only a complete amateur gloats about having victory without actually having it.”

“Is that right?!” Anger surfaced quickly on her face. She lifted up her arm wanting to execute him with her own hand, as unnecessary as it was. “Let’s see if you can even speak after I’ve reduced you to nothing but bloody holes!”

‘She’s firing soon… She should have not made it clear when she was attacking…’ Yuki watched her hand slowly move for the action.

Just before she fired, a thick mist spread out through the entire space all the way out to the arrays. It completely blocked out Yuki from Takako’s sight. “I don’t need to see you to kill you!” She fired everything that she had gathered shooting through the mist.

Ill-omen wet sounds escaped from the uncertain void containing Yuki. “Yuki!” shouted Hiroshi from far above unable to do anything to stop his friend from being killed.

Blood dripped out of the air from the bottom of the sphere of mist. Despite everything, the mist seemed to still hang around making it very clear to Takako that Yuki still lived. A large array appeared over her head completely eclipsing her in size. “Die, you bastard!”

A ten-meter thick column of flame erupted out of the array in a straight line for the mist. It completely engulfed the mist punching straight through with nothing stopping it. The massive amount of magic could not be maintained for long as it faded out. But the mist could not be seen.

Cracking sounds of wood breaking echoed through the forest. Several of the giant trees had been completely cut through with the upper parts falling while large holes bore through trunks of those that remained standing. The earth rumbled heavily like an earthquake as the forest began to settle from Takako’s attack.

Takako grinned with delight to see that Yuki had been completely obliterated by the attack. “He’s gone! No one can stop me now!” She laughed with her victory secured now.

A low cough came from a short distance away from Takako interrupting her. “You’re getting ahead of yourself,” Yuki corrected.

“What?!” Takako’s grin quickly disappeared as her reality was shattered. She looked around narrowing in on Yuki’s location. He laid up against a tree with blood dripping from several shallow cuts along his arms and legs.

Anger surfaced again as she repeated her pattern. “How?! How are you alive?!”

“…luck…” he answered with a slight mocking grin.

Countless arrays appeared behind Takako. She shouted like a crazed person at the sight of Yuki. “See if luck will save you from this!” Metal rods fired out of the arrays repeatedly no longer closing up after their discharge.

Yuki’s mist pulled him away from the target zone as the tree he left shuttered under the pressure of hundreds of quarter-meter long rods punching through it. The mist alone kept him out of harm’s way. But it only made Takako more angered.

All of the arrays merged into a single array and their magic shifted. Fire roared forth, but could not touch Yuki. Takako brought in more arrays from different angles, though smaller. She moved the arrays around while keeping up with Yuki. She pushed him closer into another trap. “Luck won’t save you!”

The fires converged on his position as Yuki came to a stop further up the tree. As it moved in on him, he no longer looked to be dodging. Takako grinned looking like she had him pinned this time. However, something suddenly flew in the last moment stopping the fire and turning it away as it could make it through.

“Impossible!”

Yuki whipped his arm around throwing off all of the magic flames as tiny embers hung in the air. A surprise appearance of a metallic gauntlet had covered up his right hand and forearm. “I won’t need luck. I have my mind! Now I’ll show you what real experience means!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

All of the arrays merged into a single array and their magic shifted. Fire roared forth, but could not touch Yuki. Takako brought in more arrays from different angles, though smaller. She moved the arrays around while keeping up with Yuki. She pushed him closer into another trap. “Luck won’t save you!”

The fires converged on his position as Yuki came to a stop further up the tree. As it moved in on him, he no longer looked to be dodging. Takako grinned looking like she had him pinned this time. However, something suddenly flew in the last moment stopping the fire and turning it away as it could make it through.

“Impossible!”

Yuki whipped his arm around throwing off all of the magic flames as tiny embers hung in the air. A surprise appearance of a metallic gauntlet had covered up his right hand and forearm. “I won’t need luck. I have my mind! Now I’ll show you what real experience means!”

Bearing her teeth ever so slightly as she ground them together, Takako’s frustration with Yuki grew along with her confusion. “Real experience? What’s experience going to do when you can only run away from me?!” She felt the confidence coming off of Yuki now that he suddenly had his armored gauntlet. It was not that he seemed like he was mocking her. Rather, she could tell something was different about Yuki now. She did not understand it, but her body could tell.

Despite what her body was telling her, she put power into the magic array again. It quickly built up power firing another column of flames at Yuki. “What’s some scrap metal going to do against overwhelming power?!”

The red glow of the flames engulfed Yuki as he remained unmoved by her attack. He merely lifted his armored hand up. Splashing upon him, the column split in parts divided around him and continued on. After the attack passed, he came out of it with only a slight glow to his skin from the heat. “This is a lot more than just some random scrap of metal,” he replied showing it off to her.

It had already kept him safe twice. Takako let out a low growl of annoyance. She did not understand how he was standing up to her powers now, when she had him on the ropes before. ‘This shouldn’t be happening! I had him! He should have been killed!’ He refused to go down. Yuki defied her at every turn. “I don’t care! You must die!”

More arrays appeared as she became desperate to bring an end to Yuki. He became too much of a threat. She threw everything into flame and metal attacks. But none of it worked against Yuki. The metal rods bounced off the armor, even with the sharpened edges. And the flames could not even touch him.

After the wash of attacks ended again, another gauntlet appeared on his other forearm. ‘It’s finally all finished. I’ve stalled long enough…’ All around him the air filled with metal parts. Snapping on to his body, he quickly was covered from the neck down in armor.

Chapter 356 – Mind Steel

Painted in red and white with blue and black highlights, the armor closely formed to Yuki’s body while still appearing to have flexibility. The metal glowed softly from all of the magic in the air giving it a slightly halo around it.

Takako lost most of her frustration staring at the surprising turn that Yuki took in the fight. She did not expect him to don full body armor to fight. “Think you’ve seen one too many American movies,” she commented, feeling less impressed by what she saw as Yuki’s apparently answer to defeating her.

The remark made Yuki’s brow twitch a little. “It’s called Powered Armor. But don’t think that this is just like what you see in movies or you’re going to be regretting it quickly.” His last piece flew in snapping to his head and closing around his face finishing the armor.

Grinning, Takako dropped her guard having trouble taking it seriously. “You think you can do anything in—“ Suddenly Yuki disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared in front of her swinging his armored fist.

Surprise painted over her face she saw flew backwards crashing into a tree. The force sent cracks through the trunk and partly embedded her in the wood. Leaves rained around from the shuddering tree.

Coughing to get her breath back after the surprise attack, Takako ripped her body free from the trunk. Her face stung from the hit more than any of the other hits Yuki made on her. It made her angry. ‘There was something very different about that hit than all of the others that he made… What did he do?’ She glared down at Yuki resting one tree away from her. “What did you do?!”

“You seem to pick up fast.”

Hiroshi stared on in surprise from above. He managed to get himself back into a safe spot on the tree. It gave him the perfect view to watch the battle. “That wasn’t a trick… Yuki actually hit her with his fist or rather the armor. But how? I thought he couldn’t touch her with his powers. She neutralizes his power.”

“Don’t mock me!”

“I’m not. You’re more than just lucky. It would seem you’ve got some inherit talent.” While he paid her compliments, it troubled him. ‘I had hoped to get more out of my surprise than a single hit.’

Inside on the screens within his helmet, a message ran across ‘Searching…’ It had only started the work with no display for the time it would take. While it ran, Yuki focused on the plan.

Aiming his hand at the tree that supported Takako, a mass of energy formed quickly. It shot out from his palm completely destroying the section of the trunk it hit with the whole upper half pulled down by gravity.

While Takako leapt up to the top side of the truck Yuki out meeting her in a momentary stare down. He closed the distance quickly hitting her in the face, but she only slid back a little. She attempted to counter with a return strike, but Yuki blocked it with his arm while punching her again with his free hand.

Takako was on the defense unable to hold up to Yuki’s barrage. She slid back more on the tree as punches wailed on her. Lacking her defense and his blows more powerful than before, her face started to get bloodied from all of the attacks.

Yuki turned around swiping her off her feet with a low kick. With only a few meters left in their fall before hitting the ground, he grabbed her ankle. Spinning her around quickly he threw her down into the ground with all of the force from their fall and what he added to it.

A crater ripped through the earth catching Takako eventually as she came to a stop. Though a modest hole compared to some of the others this night, Takako was left stunned from everything happening.

She was losing.

Landing out on the edge of the crater, Yuki stared down at the smoke cloud waiting on a reaction from her. He could still see her through the clouds, but it was not his goal to kill her. So he did not push his advantage. The search still continued, but seemed to be getting closer to the results he was needing. ‘Should have put in a more powerful CPU, but I made this for combat…’

The earth rumbled softly transferring it through his metal to his body. She was pissed off. Her hands slammed into the ground at her frustrations. A scream voicing that emotion ripped through the air. All of her plans seemed to finally be hitting a point where she had to accept that she could fail. She might have been angered before and annoyed, but she still felt in control. This time she was losing control and she had to admit it to herself.

A blast of fire shot out from the bottom of the crater creating the necessary force to blow away the smoke. Takako stood glaring up at Yuki with her black uniform torn from the collision. “Bastard… what did you do? How you can possibly touch me?! It’s impossible!”

“Nearly nothing is impossible with my power. You should already know that.”

“But I can negate all your power!”

“Yes, you can.”

“Then how?!”

“I told you before already. This is the gap in our experience.”

Takako growled at Yuki not accepting his answer. She pounded her foot into the earth as new magic arrays formed. “Well if you’re not going to tell me, then I’ll just drown you!” Water rushed forth from the array charging straight for Yuki.

Unlike the flames, the water surrounded Yuki with him unmoving. It spun around and filled the area until eventually spilling away. Yuki remained stationary and unreactive. “This suit is air tight. You’ve got the wrong approach.”

“Then how about this!” A new array formed with sparks jumping around it before energy even formed. Lightning leapt out to Yuki and the water completely electrifying the water that still hung around him. It bounced and clung to the metal armor lighting up the well polished surface.

Yet Yuki made not reaction still. Takako became even more angry from Yuki just mocking her efforts. She threw out her hand directly calling magic into a massive array. Lightning built up quickly as greater magic appeared. The array expanded and doubled with the formula increasing in complexity.

The ground around Takako began to shake. Tiny pieces of rumble began to roll and bounce around as the power increased. Leaking magic transformed form into lightning striking the ground. Jumping around from surface to surface the entire crater became alit with the blinding light. “Take this, the next level of magic!”

Measurements of the energy build up displayed across Yuki’s screen as the light filtered through not to blind him. ‘Damn…this is a lot more power than I anticipated on. I don’t think even this suit could take that even using a grounding antenna… Hurry up on the search already! My winning the fight has made her desperate.’

Yuki disappeared in a flash of light and then reappeared behind Takako. She began to turn around just as his fist came out to knock her into the earth. The lightning magic disappeared quickly as the source for the array disconnected. Magic shattered into particles as the array collapsed.

“Damn you!” muttered Takako from in her tunnel Yuki dug for herself. She blasted a hole through the earth with her fire to quickly clear space.

“I’m not going to be so kind as to just let you take all that time to charge up an attack. Such attacks are a weakness in this sort of fight.”

“You bastard!”

“Curse me all you want, but you’ve watched too many anime if you think I’m that considerate.” Yuki charged straight for Takako even as she threw out fast cast magic. Its power was too weak to even be something to slow him down.

Knocked into the air, Takako fought to keep control of her body as Yuki completely dominated the field. Blood sprayed through the air as she went through two trees before coming to a stop. She caught herself on the edge of the branch and landed with her legs cushioning her impact.

He landed on a separate tree a short distance away from her. The way the last round went bothered him. He could tell the difference. ‘She’s getting used to the pace. She’s quickly adapting to the situation and she’s able to recover from my blows. I need that search to finish already… I can’t waste my move without exact coordinates…’

The magic in the air disappeared suddenly. Takako stood up taking a new stance. Around her the air took on a new charge. Once more her presence had changed and Yuki knew what was happening. ‘She’s given up on Fumiko’s power and moved to someone else’s power. Whatever it is that she throws at me this armor should be able to take it.’

Holding off his attack until he knew what she was planning gave Takako all the time she needed. She leapt from her tree going straight for Yuki. Her increased speed forced Yuki to disappear in a flash of light. She glanced up to the new location he moved to. “I see… You aren’t actually moving that fast. You’re doing some sort of teleporting.”

‘She’s figured out my movement. With their eyes it’s not surprising, the light I use to mask my transport only works for so long before someone with enough time figures it out.’ He could feel his advantage starting to slip once again.

Returning to the attack, he leapt for Takako. He disappeared and reappeared striking her completely open flank. However, his punch did nothing to her. There was an odd dull thud he got from the strike, but nothing more. He made a couple more attempts, but nothing got through to her.

Takako turned to look at Yuki. “You’re punches are too weak…” She then delivered a punch back in his stomach launching him through several trees before systems took over to stop him.

He coughed having trouble suddenly. Blood dripped from his lips as he understood well what had to have happened. “…damn…this isn’t good…” Then a warning displayed on his screen. It alerted him to a damage in his armor that was spreading quickly.

He jettisoned the parts that were damaged realizing something was wrong. It left his right side completely exposed. His hand caught one of the pieces that was damaged seeing it continue to erode away. “Some sort of acid or rusting power… This is bad… She’s going to be able to completely take me apart without me even hurting her…”

To be continued...

[Andromeda]

Returning to the attack, he leapt for Takako. He disappeared and reappeared striking her completely open flank. However, his punch did nothing to her. There was an odd dull thud he got from the strike, but nothing more. He made a couple more attempts, but nothing got through to her.

Takako turned to look at Yuki. “You’re punches are too weak…” She then delivered a punch back in his stomach launching him through several trees before systems took over to stop him.

He coughed having trouble suddenly. Blood dripped from his lips as he understood well what had to have happened. “…damn…this isn’t good…” Then a warning displayed on his screen. It alerted him to a damage in his armor that was spreading quickly.

He jettisoned the parts that were damaged realizing something was wrong. It left his right side completely exposed. His hand caught one of the pieces that was damaged seeing it continue to erode away. “Some sort of acid or rusting power… This is bad… She’s going to be able to completely take me apart without me even hurting her…”

Now that Takako had the advantage return to her side, she regained her confidence. Grinning once more to herself, she jumped from tree to tree closing the distance with Yuki. The fight turned more cautious for him as she could destroy his armor with ease now. A fact that she tried to do everything to take advantage of in their fight.

It became a dodging game once more for Yuki as he could not allow Takako to touch him with any of her attacks. Such a condition made it difficult for him to find an offense. ‘Switching powers around conveniently to counter is as dangerous as I expected. It’s like mine, but without the weakness. I have to plan ahead…’

Risking the attack, Yuki turned and rotated on his landing on the tree. He ran down the tree a little as Takako missed above him. Wood shards pelted his armor as he got clear. The window was small, but he had enough time to make a counterstrike.

Thrusting off the tree, he threw everything into his punch. Striking inside her defense, his armored hand slammed into her stomach. Force alone shot her into the air and through the canopy. Yuki watched for a moment to know how she left before landing on a lower branch.

He lifted up his hand. Even though it was not his real hand, he felt it through the metal. It was clear to him as it was the time before. ‘She said weak, but that’s not it…’ The confirmation only worried him more for the future of the fight.

However, he did not get much longer to ponder it. Alerts came up on his screen. “What?!” Something was coming and fast. He jumped out of the way the moment the sounds started to blare.

A long pole, of a material that he could not immediately recognize, appeared shooting through the air piercing the tree with great force despite being blunt. Shuddering until the force, the tree shed leaves as several more poles split the tree in half.

Takako, already recovered, came floating down from the sky. She no longer seemed to be thinking about jumping around. “I thought I already told you that you’ve got a weak punch.”

‘Completely unscathed now… Before, when I hit her I could see the effects. That’s not the case now. It doesn’t feel like I’m hitting her, feels like I’m just hitting a wall…’

Chapter 357 – Mind Without

More poles shot out from Takako’s hand at Yuki. Their number and speed made it difficult for him to dodge on his own abilities. The superhuman part of her started to come out again. Most of them missed him as he could get out of the way in time, but not all of them.

His arm jumped as the armor deflected the pole. Thanks to the laws he had in place, it did almost nothing to his physical body. However, that was not the worst part. He saw his armor melting again forcing him to drop parts of his protection around his elbow and forearm. His hand remained intact.

He dodged more of the attacks as she ripped the tree to pieces. Yuki watched the attacks continuing to take in the information. ‘Not only is she using different powers, she’s combining them together. Fumiko’s magic forest is still in effect in addition to this acid power and now the strange pole creation ability. Stolen from people, they’re both too different to be from one person.’

The poles he would have liked to examine a little, but he could not even touch them. He wanted to know what material they were. It would mean a potential counter to her powers.

Looking for openings in Takako became harder. As Yuki already noticed, she had been improving throughout the fight whether she became aware of it or not. Such natural talent only made things all the more challenging in a fight he was already becoming the ant in a giants fight.

Only his experience in fights gave him the edge still, he could find counters to slip through between her attacks. He threw Takako down to the base of the forest. However, she landed on her feet before there was even a risk. ‘Damn…’

“You’re getting more predictable,” she commented up to him.

‘She really does have another power activated. Her body his too hard to just be defensive strength.’ He clinched his hand thinking about his options. ‘I’m not going to be able to do anything with how I have been… Damn search is taking too long!’

Standing with confidence burning strong, Takako looked like she already had victory in her hands. A clear sign of her amateurish nature. One that Yuki took up immediately as he disappeared in a flash of light. “You think you can sneak up on me with that move?” Takako mocked as she turned around to where Yuki appeared. She grabbed him out of the air before he got close enough to do anything. “I thought I made it clear that I’ve already seen that move of yours.”

Suddenly, what she was holding disappeared thanks to the power of her negation. “What?!” She spun around getting a strange feeling behind her.

A massive energy blast completely filled her vision. The force of it shot her off her perch and threw her through three trees before coming to a stop. Yuki came to a rest on her tree with the blast over. “I know.”

Ripping herself out of the tree once more, she glared over at Yuki. “Bastard…still up to your old tricks.” She staggered a little with surprise taking over her face. ‘Something off about my body! What did he do?’

Yuki watched through his magnified image on the visor of his helmet. ‘Good, seems that I’ve still got something. Though, that power isn’t unlimited. The reactor can’t manage that powerful of a blast. Though it’s still troublesome that it took releasing the safeties and using the full power of the suit just to wind her a bit. That tough skin of hers is going to be trouble.’

Finding her legs finally, Takako floated back out into the air. Her body had cuts and scraps thanks to Yuki’s attack. Though her cloths had taken more of the damage. It was only thanks to have reinforced materials used in the weaves that kept it from completely falling apart. “I’m not going to allow you get another cheap shot like that in!”

“This is a fight with lives on the line. There’s no such thing as a cheap shot.”

Taking Yuki’s word to heart, a grin came across her face. Weapons suddenly appeared in the air around her, along with fireballs, black orbs and about five other sorts of powers that looked less offensive in nature. “Then you won’t hold this against me!”

“…crap…” muttered Yuki, looking at Takako taking their fight to a new level. None of which he was prepared to deal with. So many different powers were in play that he had no clue what to expect from them.

The attack immediately went out on him. Evasion was the only tactic. He needed to see how the attacks moved and damaged before even thinking he could take them head on with his suit. ‘If she’s smart she’ll be using the acid power lacing all of her attacks. Which means any move she uses will be deadly regardless of what the real strength of it is. It’s the only way I can think. I can’t assume she’s going to be stupid at this point. Not with the way she’s improving…’

As the offense by Takako went on the forest became more cut down leaving piles of massive chunks of wood on the bed of the forest. The fury of Takako began to leave large holes in the canopy with the moonlight breaking through. Rays of the moon tinted everything a soft blue as blood lust filled the air.

However, none of that helped Yuki in the fight. He struggled to keep up with Takako’s assault. The barrage became heavier as she grew tired of missing. Nothing was going to last forever. And he did not have the same sort of stamina and Takako. Even with all of the work of his laws keeping him from feeling the effects of the fight, it only worked so well. A slip up was bound to happen.

Like a row of dominos lined up, when it came it was a cascade effect. Takako jumped on the advantage to exploit every last bit. She was not about to let him win anymore.

With three-quarters of the forest already gone and Yuki laying on the ground blood streaming down his arms and legs. He had run out of options. Most of his armor had to be thrown off, the melting power dealt with it too efficiently. All that remained for him were scattered pieces on his chest and legs with his hands and helmet still intact as well. Cracks lined his visor reducing the working parts of his screen.

He stood up struggling with his body. Fatigue clearly had started to take a toll of him. ‘I’m a little surprised I managed to go this long. This has already gone on longer than any of my previous fights. I guess the laws do make a lot of difference. I would have keeled over long before I even started really fighting with her a month ago.’ Despite the situation, he knew that he still had more left in him. Feeling a little tired was hardly a sign of him quitting.

Fortunately, all of his stalling had finally paid off for him. A beeping came across his screen. Half of the message was cut off due to the damage from the cracks in his helmet, but it was enough. He finally had what he had been waiting for since he started.

A way to bring an end to the fight.

‘This is going to be my last charge. The suit in its state can’t take another blast.’ He clinched his hands together staring up at the next attack that Takako pulled together. It looked like a child’s toy box of random ideas. She wanted to end things just like him. ‘All or nothing now…’

Using the thrust that remained in the suit, Yuki hovered up over the ground. Across his screen displayed the energy build up. The metal of his armor started to shake from the pressure unable to maintain its integrity without the rest of the pieces. ‘Law switch, rule set #4b!’

A sudden light grew out of Yuki with blinding intensity. It was a pure thick all encompassing light that nothing could penetrate and painful. Especially to those with enhanced senses like Takako. She covered up her eyes unable to see beyond the field her device negated. “What?!” The light bleached her entire body bathe in the white. Takako moaned in pain as her eyes screamed at her. “Trying to blind me?! You can’t win!”

Throwing out her attacks, it was no longer concentrated like before. She tried to hit everything no longer sure where he would come from. However, it was not long until she felt something different, yet familiar. ‘This feeling…’ She knew what it was, Yuki’s energy attack. ‘Why does it feel so strong? It wasn’t like this before!’

Tossed out of the light, she flew through one tree and continued on into the sky uncontrolled until she could stop herself. It stung her body feeling the attack. Her cloths smoked from the attack and there was even slight damage to her skin as blood gathered. “Damn you! Still got fight left you!”

As the white light faded away, Yuki’s armor crumbled away. It had become completely useless. He was open and bare to Takako’s attacks once more. He hovered in the air with his mist around him, returned to his former powers. “You’re too far away. My hearing isn’t that good.”

Quickly jumping with her speed, their distance disappeared. Takako stood before him only meters away. “This better?”

Yuki stared at her unmoving. Anger filled her face, even more so since he lacked any sign of giving up. “Yes.”

“Your toy armor is gone. You’ve run out of options.”

“We’ll see about that. Try me.”

“You can’t beat me!”

“I think you have that backwards. You can’t beat me.”

“What?!” Takako started to laugh. Confused and amused, she did not know what his game was. “Is that so? Then let’s see about testing that!” She flung her fist at Yuki faster than he could even see. Yet it did nothing. Her hand stopped on his face unable move. “What?!”

“How’s that test?” he mocked.

“How dare you!” Takako threw up a barrage of blows against Yuki. None of them did anything to him. She backed up a little and threw everything she had in her powers at him. “Damn you!”

Recovered from his injuries enough to start moving, Hiroshi escaped to the ground during all of the destruction. “What is going on? How is he taking it all?”

“It’s not possible!” Some fear started to leak into her voice as she slid back. She did not understand what nothing was working against Yuki. In the last attempt, she threw a massive amount of power into a gigantic blast that obliterated any of the remaining trees in the forest. It turned the whole city into day with the intense light coming off of it.

Yuki narrowed his eyes as her desperation. “It won’t work. It’s pointless.”

“I’ll show you what’s pointless! Let’s see you take the power of a sun!”

“Damn…but thanks for letting me know what power it was. Law switch, rule set #4c!” Suddenly the mass of energy that Takako generated disappeared and the light of the moon returned to the city.

Disappearing and reappearing in front of Takako, he swung his fist. Slamming into her cheek, a massive of shockwave ripped through the school grounds tearing up the earth and debris. Takako flew backwards kicking up earth as she tumbled over the ground. “You idiot! That was enough power to destroy the entire planet!”

The blow dazed her, though only for a moment. She pulled herself free from the debris. Blood dripped down her cut lip. The pain felt worse than his other attacks. It made her grind her teeth together staring down the hundred meter long path she carved out. “How?!” She threw her foot into the earth sending out cracks as it got stuck.

“Tch!” she groaned as she ripped it free and sped back to Yuki. Her speed kicked up a gust that blew against Yuki as the only thing that seemed to affect him. “What did you do?!”

“My powers can truly be cheating when I want them to be. To the point of being unfair. Against someone like you, I can make them utterly broken.”

“That’s impossible! I can negate your powers!”

“Not anymore.”

“What?!” Yuki produce a small band like strip of black plastic weave with a thin metal device attached around it. “My device!” she gasped in surprise. She immediately swiped it back from Yuki, who did not resist.

“It’s worthless to you now. I completely destroyed its inner workings.”

“When?”

“During the last attack I made. It was just a distraction. Thanks to the disrupting nature of the device, it took me a while to lock down its location. But without that, you can’t do anything to me.” A dark shadow quickly ran down Yuki’s face. “I’m normally all one for fair play. But you lost that privilege the moment you started twisting and corrupting people, making them kill on your whim. This is the end, Takako!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

The blow dazed her, though only for a moment. She pulled herself free from the debris. Blood dripped down her cut lip. The pain felt worse than his other attacks. It made her grind her teeth together staring down the hundred meter long path she carved out. “How?!” She threw her foot into the earth sending out cracks as it got stuck.

“Tch!” she groaned as she ripped it free and sped back to Yuki. Her speed kicked up a gust that blew against Yuki as the only thing that seemed to affect him. “What did you do?!”

“My powers can truly be cheating when I want them to be. To the point of being unfair. Against someone like you, I can make them utterly broken.”

“That’s impossible! I can negate your powers!”

“Not anymore.”

“What?!” Yuki produce a small band like strip of black plastic weave with a thin metal device attached around it. “My device!” she gasped in surprise. She immediately swiped it back from Yuki, who did not resist.

“It’s worthless to you now. I completely destroyed its inner workings.”

“When?”

“During the last attack I made. It was just a distraction. Thanks to the disrupting nature of the device, it took me a while to lock down its location. But without that, you can’t do anything to me.” A dark shadow quickly ran down Yuki’s face. “I’m normally all one for fair play. But you lost that privilege the moment you started twisting and corrupting people, making them kill on your whim. This is the end, Takako!”

Takako smirked a little and suddenly began to laugh at Yuki. That was not the reaction that he expected to get out of her when he told her that he stopped her. ‘What’s wrong with her? I don’t need her to have a breakdown now because she’s lost.’ Unfortunately, Yuki’s gut was telling him something else. There was something wrong with the situation that did not feel right.

She was not laughing because she felt that she had lost. In fact, it seemed like she still had something left to play. And it left Yuki feeling very unsettled. He did not know what it was, but he had to finish things with her. ‘I just need to neutralize her powers… There’s nothing that she has left that can stop me.’

A quick shift of his powers off and on, he already arranged a new set of rules to deal with most of the threatening aspects of her power and abilities. He just needed to bring everything an end now. “It’s over now.” Materializing massive weights, they snapped onto Takako’s wrists and ankles restricting her movements.

Glancing down at the balls and chain that he made, she did not seem very bothered by all of it. “This is rather mundane for being a junky for the fantastical.”

“Practicality over complexity. You understand very simply what it is without my explanation.”

“True enough. I know this is pointless.” She lifted her arms up a little still within the range of the chains. The confidence in her expression still had not dropped.

The look he got from Takako only worried him more. ‘What’s she planning? She’s acting like she can still fight…’ Yuki did not know what she had planned, but he quickly shortened the length of the chains restricting her movements.

“Still hung up on this idea that you can keep me restricted.”

“It’s time for you to surrender, Takako.”

“I haven’t lost yet.”

“I’m willing to listen. Put everyone back to normal and we can talk. We can find an answer to this that doesn’t have to involve anymore bloodshed.”

She sharply changed her expression. Harsh lines drew over her face as she became very serious with Yuki’s bargaining. “That’s an unacceptable term. I won’t give anyone back. Because I won’t, you must die. Otherwise this never ends.”

“That’s not the only way. There’s always a solution.”

“Not here. This is my solution and because your morals won’t allow you to accept it, we will never see eye to eye.”

Yuki felt like he was touching into a rather important piece of missing information. ‘There’s something there. Something she’s implying. I feel like this is the reason for all of this! But she’s still holding back on a full explanation!’ It seemed Takako was set on a death fight between them. He could see it in her eyes with how resolved she was while she talked now. “I can’t understand your situation if you don’t explain things to me.”

“It’s a pointless discussion. I already know how it will turn out. This is the only way things will be settled.”

“Damnit! Things don’t have to continue like this!”

“You’re right about that.” Takako pulled her arms up tensing the chains further. “I’m going to end this farce. You seem to be under the false impression that you’ve got the upper hand now that you don’t have to worry about my device. Allow me to show you how wrong you are!” She suddenly lifted her arms up taking the solid black metal balls in the air with her.

Grinding his teeth together, he started to understand that the fight was far from over. He did not understand how she was doing. But he knew what this appeared to mean. “Those are a five hundred kilos each.”

“Is that all? No wonder they’re so light. You must not think much of me.” He quickly changed the mass in the material doubling the weight and it did very little to change her reaction. Doubling it again and again, he finally started to see a little struggling out of her. “Now you’re making me work a little.”

“I took away all of your superhuman attributes. What are doing?”

Bored with the demonstration, she snapped the metal bindings around her wrists. She quickly did the same to the ones on her ankle. Now freed, she met Yuki with a very confidence gaze once more. “Is that what you tried to do? Afraid that it doesn’t work on me like that.”

“I see…” It would seem that the fight was not over as Takako had decreed. Though it was a strange situation where it seemed that neither could do something to the other to end the fight. ‘This can’t end in a stalemate. No, she’s already planning on winning. She’s going to try to outlast me… I can’t fight with the same sort of stamina as her. I’m going to have to get a little more aggressive with my tactics.’

Chapter 358 – Mind Lock

Takako took the opportunity to charge at him to force him to use his powers up. Like Yuki assumed, she planned on doing the exact same thing that Saki did in one of her fights. She was going to burn through all of his power until he ran dry. However, to her annoyance she hit a wall. Attempting to break it, it did nothing. An invisible wall stood before her that did not even make a slightest indication that she could damage it. “Going back to cheating powers.”

“I did say I wasn’t going to be fair.”

“You can’t stop me.” She walked around feeling the surface of the wall looking for the edge. However, she came to a corner. Checking the other side, there was a corner as well. Takako jumped over to the side behind her and found a wall there. Stretching her hands up, she felt a ceiling as well like she expected. “You forgot one thing.” She wound up her fist and rammed it into the ground to create a crater.

Or she thought she was going to that. All that happened was a dull echo bouncing through the chamber. She glanced up to Yuki with annoyance. “You really think I’d forget the bottom?” he questioned.

“So your plan is to bore me to death?” She sat down seeing that she had no other options at the moment.

“Hardly. I’m ending this like I said before. Even with superhuman abilities, you’re still a human. Nothing I’ve done has altered that. Which means you need air to live.”

Takako threw up her hand against the surface of the wall. It took her a little by surprise. “You’re going to suffocate me? Thought you said you weren’t going to kill me.”

“I just need you unconscious. I should be able to figure out a way to keep you in an artificial coma until I undo everything you’ve done. Then I can deal with you again and you will explain everything.”

Her fingers pressed tightly against the invisible wall. “I’m not going back! The only way out of this I will accept is death! I’m not going back to a living death ever again!” Some genuine fear slipped through into Takako’s face as she understood the extent that Yuki was willing to go against her.

The sight that Yuki saw made him even more curious what made her so afraid. It was not as simple as she seemed to imply from her words. There was something deeper that he saw behind her eyes. Something that sat at the core of everything. He just did not know what it was still. “You’re out of choices, Takako. I already gave you the conditions for your surrender.”

“And I already gave you my answer.”

“Then this is the only outcome.”

Grinding her teeth together, Yuki had pushed her into a corner that she did not think that she would have been put into. She looked around her invisible chamber quickly. And then looked down at the floor again that she sat upon. “There’s a benefit to having a thousand abilities.”

“You can’t escape, Takako. I’ve made it completely invulnerable to any forms of damage.”

“Is that right?” she taunted, calling his claim as though it was bluff. Even though it was not a bluff he made, she still stood up preparing to take action. “I’ll show you that there is still a way out!” Wiping off the blood from her face from the punch that Yuki made, she wound up her fist.

‘What is she trying now? What ability could she have that I haven’t accounted for?’ Yuki did not feel like he was being confident for no reason. Yet, he could see that Takako felt assured of her success. There was a fear driving her to keep fighting and never give up. One that he was not going to be able to beat with simple half-hearted attempts.

Throwing her fist down against the floor again. There was a very slight delay, but suddenly the entire chamber filled with dust from the earth. Takako had somehow managed to break free again. She defied the expectations that Yuki had and made him question if he could actually stop her anymore.

Out of the crater filled with dust clouds, Takako emerged with a slightly bloody looking fist for her troubles.

Yuki still had trouble understanding what she did. He knew it was power that Takako possessed, just not what power could do that. “No amount of brute force could have broken that.”

“No prison is inescapable.”

“It would seem that way.” Yuki threw up more invisible barriers that should have been unbreakable to hold back Takako. Yet, she smashed through them with her bloody fist. She kept getting closer to Yuki. It was becoming dangerous once again to fight her. The methods that he thought would work on bringing her to a stop failed.

She met him with her speed with all of his other defenses down. The only thing that protected him still was his mist. Her fist ripped through it rocketing Yuki across the ground never touching it.

The impact alone made him cough off blood. His mist had done a lot of mitigate the damage, but he could not avoid all of it. Most of it was the sheer force coming through the displaced air around her fist rather than physical hit, which did not actually make contact. Had it, he would have died immediately.

Once he understood what was happening to his body, he could stop himself with the mist before it got too harmful for him. He hovered over the ground seeing Takako in the distance coming after him. ‘There’s one last trick she’s playing. Unfortunately, I can’t do anything about it, since I don’t know what it is. So the only option I’ve got is just hit her with enough power to knock her unconscious. I just don’t know how much power that is…’

Yuki prepared to receive Takako as she came after him. She destroyed more of his barriers to reach him. It became clear to her that her punch worked on him, even if he still stood. She just needed to keep it up now. A forced exhaustion like Saki was no longer needed. Takako could just kill him out right.

Yet her fist went right through Yuki and he disappeared into a puff of smoke.

She looked around for Yuki surprised to see him so close to her. And he had already gathered up power of something. “Let’s see if I can avoid looking like a copycat with this!” A massive beam of energy shot out of his hands straight up into Takako. It completely engulfed her with not even a silhouette appearing.

As the light from Yuki’s attack faded away, he could see Takako falling in the distance. He panted heavily feeling that straining his body and mind. It was hitting him harder than he expected. “Hopefully, I didn’t kill her.”

Flying over to Takako, he checked out the effects. However, even before he finished making it over signs of movement could be seen. Takako staggered to her feet making Yuki stop early. He then tried to avert his eyes away from her.

The blast completely destroyed her cloths and underwear, but also something else a little more important and critical to the mystery. Apart from severe burn and wound marks from the blast on her skin, it seemed that there was skin peeling off her skin. She had an outer layer of skin that was nearly completely vaporized from the attack.

Under that on her own skin, Yuki found something shockingly familiar. Across her entire body she had scars, but they were not battle scars or just accidents from growing up. They were recent and most definitely intentional. “You didn’t?! That’s why my powers aren’t working on you!”

Takako smirked despite the fact that her secret had been revealed. “That right. I figured you might be able do something with the device or it just could not work. So I needed a back-up plan.”

“And that plan was carving the array straight into your skin?!”

“Your powers can’t penetrate me to alter me anymore. I’m immune to your powers!”

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

Under that on her own skin, Yuki found something shockingly familiar. Across her entire body, she had scars, but they were not battle scars or just accidents from growing up. They were recent and most definitely intentional. “You didn’t?! That’s why my powers aren’t working on you!”

Takako smirked despite the fact that her secret had been revealed. “That right. I figured you might be able do something with the device or it just could not work. So I needed a back-up plan.”

“And that plan was carving the array straight into your skin?!”

“Your powers can’t penetrate me to alter me anymore. I’m immune to your powers!”

“You’ll never be able to go back to the person to you were!” he shouted in surprise that she would actually make such a choice. Yuki had trouble understanding it. ‘The more I’ve seen of Japan since I’ve returned the more doubts I’ve been having about whether my accident could be called a good thing or a bad thing. Initially it seemed like a blessing in disguise perhaps, but now… It’s hard to even consider that…’ All of the reminders came back to him as flashes of memories turning his face grimly narrow.

Scales of a snake, possibly, began to appear over her skin. The scars of the array she cut into her body remained highlighted as she completely covered herself up once more. “What makes you think I want to go back to the way I was? Just because you made all of us like this, doesn’t mean you get to decide what we do. You don’t control us! I’ve embrace the power you gave me and I never want to lose it!”

He could tell that she started to prepare for their fight once more. Something that he was not fully ready for anymore. Everything that he had to use was lost. Things started to look grim for him. He lost his options and diplomacy failed. “So we’re fighting…two incompatible ideas.”

“That what a fight always comes down to. I’m fighting to live and you’re fighting to kill me.”

“I already said I’m not killing you!”

“What you will do to me will be the same as death! I was already dead before none of you just wanted to admit it. But because you didn’t put me out of my misery then, I did have another chance at life.”

“You’re saying this is all my fault?”

“I already said that before. You’re both the one that killed me and saved me. And both times you didn’t do it by your own hand.”

After it all happened, he already leveled all of the blame on himself. Hearing it from someone else did nothing to relieve that burden he carried. Resolved to see the end was all he could hold on to anymore. “That’s why I came to see you personally. Your actions are my responsibility. So ending this is also my responsibility.”

Chapter 359 – Mind Break

“But none of your powers can work on me!” Takako yelled while she charged at Yuki taking on the claws of an animal in place of her nails. She slashed out at Yuki using her speed to keep him from being able to see her. Only the mist surrounding him protected him from the attacks. Despite the protection, the force of the attack still bled through to him. He slid back only able to defend.

Her confidence in the fight returned in the way she attacked. She stopped caring about her power that could shatter Yuki’s Kasou-ryoku abilities. Brute force seemed to be her focus. The desire to crush him with her own hands seemed to be the emotion riding strong in her eyes.

Knocked off balance from the latest attack, Yuki staggered off his feet. She leapt into the air and spun around bringing her whole leg to kick him in the stomach. His mist could only do so much to resist the attack. The force shot him into the earth only a short half meter below him. A crater dug through the ground and sent out cracks where it did not carve.

She landed down next to Yuki covering a smirk on her face. “There’s no way you can win! I will beat you into a bloody pulp!” Throwing her hand down, she tried to punch him further into the crater, but only it was the earth instead.

Freed from the crater by his mist, Yuki stood at the top of the crater. However, his mist had disappeared. As Takako looked back at where he moved to, the armor she destroyed materialized over his body.

“I already broke that, what makes you think that’ll do anything different this time?”

“Because one was real and this isn’t.” Suddenly, the metal plating o his arms opened up allowing for multiple missile launchers and laser batteries to appear that were physically impossible to have been inside.

She shrugged off the threat that Yuki made. “If it’s not real, then there’s nothing it can do to me.”

“Is that right?” He fired everything off from the weapon platform that became his arms. Multiple explosions ripped through the area completely altering the crater and surrounding landscape once more. Takako completely disappeared amongst all of the flash and light.

But out the other end, she flew out with smoke trailing off her. She grimaced a little in reaction as she tried to get clear to Yuki, but found him flying above her. “Bastard!”

Blue bursts of exhaust came off his back as the thrusters redirected him to Takako. He swung out his arm with red lines lighting up along it as he charged up his attack. In the final moments before the swing, thrusters lit up along his forearm and elbow bringing more power behind his punch.

Metal crashed into scales in a hail of sparks as a shockwave blew out through the air tearing the cloud of smoke, from his missile attack, in half. Takako shot down into the crater below shooting up a massive pillar of smoke.

Following up the attack, Yuki shot a large blast from his hands. Yellow light carved through the smoke drilling straight for Takako. Blasted outward from the impact, it all cleared around only for another explosion to replace it.

He hovered over the site staring down through the clouds with the visor’s internal displays. ‘How much can she take before she finally exhausts? I’m holding back as much as I can. The degree of power I need to even slow her down is a little scary to wield.’

Takako surfaced from the smoke as it cleared away. She stood still, but many of the scales along her arms and stomach were missing or damaged. Thin trails of blood dripped down her skin from the attacks. Despite her claims, Yuki injured her. Something that infuriated her as much as it confused her. “Damn you! You shouldn’t be able to harm me!”

“You’re forgetting that I already did during the previous attack I made. Seems you were so caught up in your gloating over out smarting me that you didn’t realize the flaw. The array itself doesn’t generate a negation field, it only resists change from my power. My alteration powers have no affect on it. However, it can’t do anything about the actual force or energy being applied by my attacks. You’re still a human with human skin. All that I require is enough force and I still damage you.”

The answer only frustrated her further. Her arrogance disappeared quickly in the wind that blew away the smoke. Yuki completely deflated her efforts. “You bastard! I won’t accept you! Never again!” Snake scales began to disappear from her body leaving her naked once more. All her animalistic properties left.

Nothing seemed to be replacing her scales that she shed. Yet, there seemed to be something strange about her skin. It stopped having the same properties that render as skin. The luminance disappeared and the softness hardened. It almost appeared fake. “Try to scratch me with my hardest skin I have available to me!”

Yuki narrowed his eyes staring down at Takako trying to figure out what changed. He could tell things were not the same, but it was only in the subtly. ‘Hardest skin…I’m going to have to actually try to kill her at this point I fear to harm her…’

Testing out her skin was his only option. Without data, he could not calculate how power he was going to need to generate to still harm her. Power built up within his powered armor once more. It took it all the way to what he programmed as the limit. The previous amount he used had only been about half of it. A full power, he expected something.

Yet it would disappoint that expectation. The massive beam of energy blew a deep hole into the earth, but the ground that Takako stood on as well as her remained completely untouched. She did not even seem fazed by what happened.

While Yuki reacted to the lack of any results, Takako took command of the battle once more. She threw up her hand and pulled Yuki out of the sky without even touching him. He crashed into the earth with a heavy thud coughing up a small plume of smoke.

She walked over the air back to land. Blasts out of the smoke bounced off her body and flew into the air before exploding. “Too much for you?”

“I just need something stronger…”

“You won’t have that chance. You’ll have to turn off your power to do that.” Takako stretched out her hand where Yuki stood in the clearing smoke and pulled him towards her. She raised her foot up to let him ram into her foot. All the efforts he made to attack her failed as she wrapped him over her foot. She flung him back away into the spot she ripped from him.

Metallic thuds echoed from his impact. Yuki staggered a little as he rose to his feet once more. The fatigue from the physicality of the fight weighed on him with each passing second. ‘Telekinesis now…more and more troublesome…’

He could only blast the chunks of earth that she tossed at him. She looked to be fixed on wearing him down with constant attacks knowing the weakness of his own power. ‘Is so scared, afraid of this living death…’

While he endured the assault, Yuki wanted to find a way to end the fight once and for all. She setup a situation that looked more unfavorable for him as he stared at it. He missed a lot of the pieces still to Takako, but he was convinced he had enough to get an answer needed to win. ‘I just need to solve this mystery, even if it is only part of it. I just need to find a way to neutralize her. Afterwards, I can work on a permanent solution to this problem…’

Unfortunately, his reflexes could not keep up with the attack rate that Takako set. She quickly started to get hits through on him. He staggered back with each hit as his had to change to a guard stance. ‘This being saved and living death is the key. She’s afraid of losing her power because she’ll go back to the way she was before. That means her power is…it’s not exactly what we thought…’

A massive white ball of energy suddenly appeared in front of Yuki speeding towards him. He did not have the time to even attempt to attack or detonate it early. ‘Damn! Can’t stop it!’ Digging in his feet to brace for the attack was all he could do to prepare for it. And even that was only moments before it hit him.

Yuki took the full force of the blast. Upon impact, the tightly packed energy exploded ripping through the earth with equal impressive scale as Yuki’s attack. However, through the fading light of the attack, he appeared hovering over the large pit. ‘Glad it was only an explosion rather solid energy. That would have hurt more.’ His armor came out of it completely unscathed.

“Tch…you’re invulnerable.”

“Of course.”

“Then try this one on for size!” Another massive ball of white energy rapidly grew out of her palm. However, weaved through the energy was something that left Yuki unsettled. He immediately recognized it.

“So that’s how you did it. One of your powers you can create the array within other powers. It’s just enough to weaken my power.” He thought back her when she wiped the blood off her face. ‘So that’s what it was. She carved it into her blood giving her a surface that weakened my power for her to punch through.’ The problem was that he should have been focused on her attack, which launched at him.

He had enough time to fire his thrusters, but it did nothing. “What?! I can’t move…” The energy flew at him and in the moments before it him he remembered what she had done before to him. ‘Telekinesis…damn…this is bad…’ It completely engulfed him as another explosion rocked the neighborhood.

Shot out of the explosion, Yuki’s body, covered in smoke, fell to the earth. He crashed into the ground in a small puff of smoke unmoving.

Takako leapt over the distance to land next to him. Stripped of his shirt and completely torn pants, Yuki’s skin was covered in pockets of wounds and streaming blood. She leaned down and pulled him up by his neck. “This is the end.”

Coughing up blood, Yuki cleared his throat forcing his eyes to open. “Takako…I’m sorry…”

“Apologizes don’t fix what happened to me. I can only be secure in my life with you dead. And that won’t even equal an apology.” She began to squeeze his neck, but stopped suddenly. A sharp pain ran through her skull. Something was wrong, she knew. But she did not know what happened.

Yuki fell back to his feet now free from her grasp. He looked upon her with sad eyes. “I understand a little of it now… I’m sorry, this is the only way…”

Shock painted over her whole face as she could tell what Yuki did on some level. She understood what was coming. Takako staggered back feeling things slipping away from her grasp. “You! Ba-bastard! You would choose their freedom over mine! I hate you!”

“That’s fine. It’s justified. I can’t find the right answer. There’s only terrible answers right now. But I’ll fix this somehow.”

Gathering up her fading strength, Takako charged at Yuki throwing out her fist. The power behind it significantly reduced that he only staggered back. It still left him with a bloodied lip. “I’ll kill you before you can imprison me again!”

Buried under his reluctant resolve, Yuki pulled himself back up to face her down in the end of their battle. “I’ll be there for you at the end. So you won’t be alone…” Yuki threw back a disheartened punch forced to keep fighting against Takako.

To be continued…

[Andromeda]

“Apologies don’t fix what happened to me. I can only be secure in my life with you dead. And that won’t even equal an apology.” She began to squeeze his neck, but stopped suddenly. A sharp pain ran through her skull. Something was wrong, she knew. But she did not know what happened.

Yuki fell back to his feet now free from her grasp. He looked upon her with sad eyes. “I understand a little of it now… I’m sorry, this is the only way…”

Shock painted over her whole face as she could tell what Yuki did on some level. She understood what was coming. Takako staggered back feeling things slipping away from her grasp. “You! Ba-bastard! You would choose their freedom over mine! I hate you!”

“That’s fine. It’s justified. I can’t find the right answer. There’s only terrible answers right now. But I’ll fix this somehow.”

Gathering up her fading strength, Takako charged at Yuki throwing out her fist. The power behind it significantly reduced that he only staggered back. It still left him with a bloodied lip. “I’ll kill you before you can imprison me again!”

Buried under his reluctant resolve, Yuki pulled himself back up to face her down in the end of their battle. “I’ll be there for you at the end. So you won’t be alone…” Yuki threw back a disheartened punch forced to keep fighting against Takako.

“I’m not looking for your sympathy!” she shouted as she staggered back from Yuki’s punch. A bolt of pain shot through her mind as she felt it all slipping away from her. Takako mashed her teeth together bracing herself as her gums bled.

She threw herself back into the fistfight with Yuki throwing out another blow. Yuki’s power had already started to take its toll on her body. She had trouble focusing feeling everything being sapped from her. Even though she was stronger and faster, she could not keep it all together. ‘I can feel it all returning…can’t keep it all…straight…’

Feeling completely helpless, Yuki stayed with her. But she kept attacking him proving to him that he could not simply just leave her without his guard. He had to block her attack. She still had powerful hits for a normal human body like his. It was like trying to fight a trained boxer. Each blow felt like being hit by a truck. He did not have much of his own power to focus on his defense in his shape.

He struggled to get his body to move the way he wanted it to against Takako’s assault. She still was in better shape than him. Dodging was not really an option he could ask for from his body. All he could hope for was a guard. Even that she knocked him off his feet.

Yuki slid on this back over the beaten and battered school grounds. It looked nothing like what it had when he arrived. If he did not know better it could have been mistaken for a junkyard, a very strange one, but the destruction leveled everything. Their fight finished off what remained of the school and even the neighborhood.

Lifting his head up as Takako approached, he rolled out of the way of her stomping to break his ribs. “You can hate me. But you’re still a victim. I will fix you!” He could tell that his refusal to still kill her at the end and try to understand her only made her angrier. A foot came down to try to silence his noble prattle.

He grabbed her ankle and flipped her own her back. Yuki jumped over trying to pin her down and let this powers finish the job. “I won’t fight you anymore! I don’t need to! I’ll help you! Just let me!” Strength in his arms did not have the same that she could still bring, even with her concentration shattered.

It only took a few seconds for her to struggle and kick him off her. Grasping her head, she tried to delay it all even though it funneled into her rapidly uncontrolled. “Argh! Gah!” she screamed in pain and memories as she could now remember the interrogation vividly. Takako punched herself sharply spraying up blood from the blow.

“It’s clear again…” She had a moment recovered. “I’m not giving you a choice! I reject you! This is the only solution!” Takako wound up another fist. “I’ve been through thousands of brains with thousands of powers! I know this is the only answer!”

Bracing himself for the hit was all he could manage in time. While he tried to talk her down, he did not prepare himself to keep fighting. He was running out of time.

Small bits of power came back into her attack picking Yuki off his feet and tossing him a few meters. A pile of nearly debris nearly broken down to dust gave him a softened landed. It kicked up a cloud around him that made him cough. “You haven’t looked at all the options.”

“I have!”

“There’s still my power.” Yuki stood up once more just as stubborn as Takako. He only saw his way as the only solution. Laying down now would only prove to her that she was right.

She charged over to Yuki aiming to take him down finally. “The powers of a weak human?! You’re the one that gave me this solution in the first place! And now you’re regretting it because it’s too messy! You don’t get to stand above everyone when you’re dirty than all of us!”

Rather than hitting him in the face, Yuki caught her fist. It made him nearly slip as his feet did not have the full support to take it. The veins around his muscles bulged as stress impacted his arm. “I am dirty. But I’m still just human and I make mistakes like everyone else. This is my mistake! So I’m fixing it right here!” Yuki swung back at Takako knocking her back.

Chapter 360 – Mind Wipe

“Takako!” Saki suddenly exclaimed, as she ceased struggling with the weights Yuki left on her. She looked around the area in search of Tatsuya. He leaned against a couple of boards stuck in the ground watching over her. “I need you to free me, Tatsuya.”

“Yeah not doing that. Until I know things are finished and you’re free from Takako’s control you’re not leaving.”

“Damnit Tatsuya! I don’t have time to convince you that I’m myself again! Yuki’s won, I need to go now!”

“Because Takako’s telling you to kill him.”

“No, because I have to kill her!”

Tatsuya looked down at Saki trying to understand her. He felt some doubt surfacing in the back of his head. ‘Could she be?’

Blow after blow, Takako and Yuki continued to barrage the other with their fists. He finally fully committed to standing with Takako until the end. There was no half-assing it for her. He gave her everything he had left, just as she was doing the same.

Yuki’s body covered in blood as much as it did with Takako. He could not hear the panting of his breath as his lungs told him to stop. The feeling in his chest from the multiple blows he took could no longer be felt. It was only the fight.

Blood stained the earth with each hit. Their feet dug into the ground to keep from sliding away and their backs locked up right. Nothing would stop them anymore.

He stared at Takako watching her face react. Even more than him, she went through worst pain. ‘I won’t fold and I’ll stay resolute for you. You’re struggling so hard to live. You just wanted to be normal again. I’ll see to it that you are. This, I promise you. I will fix this, Takako! This is not the way we’re supposed to be. You’re the proof of my mistake.’

Takako threw out an awkward punch that Yuki met head on with his own. It rattled their arms as they collided. “Damn you! Even now you’re still looking at me the same! You refuse to kill!” She grabbed his wrist and pulled him to throw, but he grappled with her.

A little rusty and long out of use, he used a reversal move that he remembered from his old dojo days. It looked familiar to the style that Saki used. Throwing Takako to the ground, he pinned her to try to end the fight. Her strength still fought to overpower him. “I told you before, I’m going to save you! I will make it my life’s goal to save you!”

“You just need to die, you bastard!” she screamed as her mind flooded all the way to breaking point for her. Saliva bubbled around her mouth and she fought to keep her sense of self. Takako threw everything to her strength to try to break free.

Tiny portions of her superhuman strength surface enough to snap out of the pin. It nearly broke Yuki’s arm leaving him unable to defend against her. She grasped at his neck trying to squeeze even while her brain felt on fire. Her throat continued to scream through her voice even long after it went hoarse. “Yuki Hayashi!”

“Ta…ka…ko…”

The pain became too much for her to bear. Her body finally collapsed next to Yuki. The consciousness in her eyes began to fade away and she lost focus on everything. “Yu…ki…Yuki…ki…Yu…Yu…”

Coughing as he pulled himself together, Yuki fell into melancholy staring at Takako. “I’ll stay by your side, Takako. I know you’re scared. But I’m here. I’ll find a solution one day. I promise you!”

“…ki…ki…Yu…”

Tears built up in his eyes having to watch as she lost any sort of sense of reason. The prison began to rebuild itself as though it had never left. It always watched her at her back waiting for the moment of weakness. The moment when she dropped her guard and it snatched her away from life.

Living death.

Suddenly, Takako’s arm jumped out taking Yuki’s arm. A brief moment of lucid consciousness had fought and struggled against everything to come back. “Kill…me…” It was all gone once more. The prison continued to bury her deeper and deeper into a black void of unending solitude and non-existence.

“I’m sorry.” Yuki lifted up her hand dropping his head to her. His whole body shook unwilling to accept her request. He could only repeat his promise he made to her. The one that she could not accept. The one that she threw back in his face at every attack she made.

“Don’t worry. I’ll give you rest, Takako,” an unexpected voice said at a distance.

Yuki looked up from Takako in surprise to see Saki freed. “Saki!? What are you doing here?”

“Finishing the job.”

“What are you talking about? This fight is over and Takako can’t hurt anyone!”

“The job I gave myself.” She began to walk down into the crater that Yuki and Takako ended their fight in. Behind her Tatsuya followed as though watching her.

Yuki stood up feeling he had one last thing to do. “Job, what are talking about? This isn’t something for you to do!” He could see the uncomfortable and unfamiliar, yet familiar look in Saki’s eyes. It was not something he ever dreamed to see in her eyes. He saw it in other people, but to see it in his friend’s.

Saki stopped in front of Yuki staring across at him, Takako over his shoulder on the ground completely unable to acknowledge even her own existence. “When I left that day to see Takako, I promised myself to do two things. Convince her to stop and if I failed at that, I would kill her with my own hand.”

Reaching out to grab her by the shoulders as though that would do anything, Yuki did everything in the motions to act as if he could stop her. “Saki, you can’t! I won’t let you kill her!”

“She’s my friend! I might not have known her as long as I’ve know you, but this is what I must do as her friend! This is not a life for anyone to live.”

“But I can save her, Saki!”

“Can you, Yuki? You barely understand your powers and you don’t even know how you gave us powers to begin with. Do you really think Takako deserves to suffer such a life on a chance?”

“I know I can do it! Please give me time!”

“Yuki! This is the right thing to do!” She lightly threw off Yuki’s arms to walk around him. Before her laid her friend and the last act she needed to do for her.

“And that’s exact why I should to do it,” echoed Hiroshi appeared on the opposite side of the bottom of the crate right next to Takako. He had a battered looking body, but seemed to have recovered enough to stand.

Saki jumped in next to Hiroshi looking to intervene. “What do you think you’re doing, Hiroshi?” She grabbed his hand preventing it from acting.

“She you’re friend. You don’t need to kill a friend. I’ve already killed so many of my friends. I’ll do this and you can place that hate on me rather than upon yourself. I’ll bear that in your place.” He struggled with Saki to get his arm free.

“This isn’t your place! You’ll break if you think you have to carry the world!”

Hiroshi grinned a little seeing the look in Saki’s eyes. It was an all too familiar one to him. The same he saw in his own whenever he looked at the mirror. “You’re already carrying too much for him. This one’s on me. I can afford to stop, you can’t, not now!” To everyone’s surprise, he threw Saki off. She fell on her back sliding away a little.

She tried to scramble to recover, but it was all too late. Hiroshi finished the job all of them began. His hand dripped with blood as he stared down at Takako. Her life quickly faded away and he stayed at her side the entire time.

Takako was dead.

The war ended finally.

Yet none of them could be happy or glad. There was no way that any of them could be.

“I’ll remember how bitter this tastes, Takako,” Hiroshi finally said, “So this never happens again.”

To be continued…