Monou High School stood in silence with not even a stone tumbling. A hush had been drawn over the land for the moment that two fierce pairs of eyes exchanged looks. The sun high above looked down about the battlefield with anticipation as the two stood unmoved for seconds. A strong gust was the signal to break when Yuki turned away from Demosthenes towards Saki lying on the ground still desperately fighting to stay conscious.

He knelt down to lift up her head seeing her light blue eyes defiantly staring up to him. A gentle calm came over his eyes as he watched. “It’ll be alright, Saki. Let me protect you now. You’ve been protecting me for long enough.”

She could not answer him immediately, but through the pause gained some strength. “…Yuki…please…”

“I know, Saki,” he said brushing aside a few strains of her black hair that had gotten in her face. “But I can’t stay by and watch my friends be hurt because of me. You know how much that hurts me.”

Saki coughed before her closed her eyes momentarily in understanding. As she stared at him there was a different look that she had seen in such a long time. ‘Yuki’s willing to fight, but it’s not because he’s doing it to enjoy it. There’s a kind, gentle look in his eyes like when he was much younger. Please stay like that, Yuki…’

He laid her back down on the ground. Yuki stood back and closed his eyes for a moment. Green waves burst from his feet quickly expanding out beyond the school faintly disappearing. Particles of energy lifted up from the grass, sidewalk and wall filling the air with a dancing show of lights. The energy began to be drawn into groups as it hovered over students that lay on the ground and entering their bodies filling them with warmth. Wounds, scrapes and bruises were all quickly mended together restoring vitality to them. Voices were murmuring across the school grounds as the light faded away.

“Everyone listen up!” Yuki declared across the field with a loud as possible voice. “Once you can move please run away out of the school.” There was a pause in his words as he thought back to what they had all done for him to protect him. “I’m grateful that you protected me, but this is my fight to deal with now. I don’t want anyone else to be hurt because of me.”

Demosthenes watched on monitoring the skill of Yuki having become curious. He could clearly tell that he was no longer staring at the same child he had faced the day before. The change that he had undergone was sudden and drastic; if he moved without knowing his enemy it would only mean inviting death. ‘He’s able to heal this many people at once? Does he truly bare the power of the King?’

Saki stood up walking over to Yuki once she had been healed. “Yuki, let me fight with you!” She was clinching her fists tightly trying to hold down the boiling emotions that were threatening to rage with her.

“This is his fight, Saki,” Ayumi said flatly as she approached from the opposite side. Her stance was completely ignoring the fact that she had been injured previous, while many of the student felt compelled almost to hobble away.

“But I—“

“Hey, wake up man!” Hiroshi shouted in panic as fear was woven through his voice. They all turned around running over to Hiroshi’s side where Kazuhiro was laying. Kazuhiro’s still body was unmoved by Hiroshi’s shaking. All of the wounds that he had suffered were repaired, but he still remained unconscious.

Yuki knelt down next to Hiroshi staring at Kazuhiro emotionless face trying to find life. He turned back over to Ayumi to looking for an answer from her. “Why isn’t he waking up? I healed his injuries!”

Ayumi joined them on the opposite side examining his body before checking for a pulse at his neck. She looked up at Yuki once she had finished. “He’s dead,” she hollowly said.

“What?! But I healed him, Ayumi! He should have been fine!”

“You can’t bring back the dead, Yuki. You can fix his body, but not his soul.”

“What are you talking about?” demanded Hiroshi looking between them. He was still holding on to his friend’s hand. Tatsuya had finally joined them hearing the worried voices. Hiroshi was barely keeping his voice from failing him hearing Ayumi’s declaration.

Ayumi stood up starting to walk away from the scene. It was not her place to be. However, Hiroshi grabbed her wrist quickly holding her from leaving. “What do you want?”

“Fix him, damn it! I-I…” Hiroshi’s features were wavering under his emotions. His lips were quivering from the thought that his friend was really dead. “I know! I know about you! I don’t understand it, but you can fix him!”

Everyone froze when Ayumi loudly slapped Hiroshi across the face. “Dead means dead! We aren’t gods!” There was hidden emotion behind the words that she spoke with a meaning that only she could understand.

Hearing the words had hit Hiroshi hard as he collapsed to the ground next to his friend. Tatsuya remained quiet trying to hold back tears. “…Kazuhiro…”

Yuki stared down at Kazuhiro’s body feeling his own emotions raging out of control. They were causing his arms to begin to shake soon followed by his body. However, it was not fear that made him quiver so; anger was boiling in his blood. He had been calm before thinking that he could save everyone and defeat Demosthenes, but it was different now. ‘He killed Kazuhiro… He killed my friend…’ Yuki started to turn slowly away from them towards Demosthenes, his head tilted down with his dark blue hair hanging over his eyes blocking them for view. ‘This was just supposed to be about me… How could he…’ His body felt warm as though a fire was burning in his blood. ‘I can’t let this continue any longer…’ The pounding in his heart was all he could hear through the echoes of Kazuhiro voice screaming out to him.

“Ayumi…Saki…” Yuki said softly through tremendous control that still was barely enough to keep the shaking from his voice. “Take them away from here please.”

“Yuki! I’m not leaving you!” Saki screamed starting to run for him only to be stopped by Yuki.

His head tilted over his shoulder with only one eye connecting with her. Deep despair surrounded by an immense fury glowed in his light brown eye. It had frozen Saki in her step. “I’m sorry, Saki. I don’t want anyone to see me like this.”

The emotions that were being transferred through his eyes were choking off her voice. ‘He’s struggling…that’s why I should be here!’ However, her own body was not acting as he wished, still paralyzed. “You don’t have to face this alone, Yuki! I know—“


“Please!” he shouted interrupting her quickly feeling the flames in his body getting fiercer. “I can’t protect you like this…and I don’t know…what’ll happen right now. Ayumi…” Yuki appealed to her hoping that she would understand and grant his wish.

“I understand,” she said calmly.

“Ayumi?!” questioned Saki turning around.

The snow field had suddenly activated for her and raising a wall around her perimeter shutting off Saki from Yuki. Dull pounded from Saki could be heard through the semi-opaque ice barrier as it began to move with Ayumi forcing the others to move. They were soon out of sight having gone straight through the school.

Yuki returned to face Demosthenes with waves of energy starting to pulse from his feet through the ground as an ill omen. Demosthenes had been patiently waiting the entire time just simply watching. It made Yuki feel even more enraged as though he was just an observer rather than one that had actually killed his friend. “…Demosthenes Alexander…”

“…Yuki Hayashi…”

Chapter 59 – The True Awakening

“So it seems you’re finally ready for our duel. Prove to me that you deserve the title of King!” His field had been up the entire time, but an intensity seemed to glow from it as a couple waves pulsed from his feet. He tightened his grip on the spear in his hands waiting for Yuki to summon his field.

A wind drew down to Yuki like a tornado seated atop him acting like a funnel on the clouds in the sky. It poured the clouds out into the ground rapidly to hit like an explosion. Pulsing waves issued forth stronger from Yuki’s feet passing by Demosthenes and continuing beyond him. ‘He’s got a flair for the theatrical it seems, but his range…’ The forced feed clouds hung like a fog creating an uneasy tension that concealed the raging torrent.

“No…” pierced Yuki’s voice through the fog as it began to evaporate into the air. “This won’t be a duel!” Yuki’s face was narrowed in uncontrollable emotions once he was revealed through the dissipating clouds. The pulsing waves became thicker as they were being released from his feet as though they were clumping together. The slowly vibrating earth beneath them seemed to be responding to his fury that was barely being held in check by Yuki. “You killed Kazuhiro! You killed my friend! I won’t let you think this is a duel anymore!” There were thin streams of tears in his eyes as he was shouting the words. Then as though his declaration had been the final lock on the cage of his heart the earth leapt into the air. A wave of earth broken apart by the unnatural bending rose from Yuki shooting out like a shockwave at blinding speeds. Everything it is wake was completely altered as the wave did not seem to stop. No buildings were left as far as the horizon could be seen just a vast field of tall grass and infrequently placed trees.

The old man had barely been able to defend himself from the release of the field. It had only been his own field strength that dampened it enough for him to brush it off as an illusion. He had no time to react, it had such speed. ‘Such power…I can’t see an end to his field…it’s been a while since I’ve seen such power displayed…’ Demosthenes reaffirmed his hold on his spear staring down Yuki.

“…Yuki…” Saki nearly whispered as she watched from what Ayumi had declared a safe distance. She was still keeping them from leaving, but allowed a clear barrier for them to be able to see.

Ayumi narrowed her eyes in concern as she analyzed the scene. ‘His field is far larger than it’s ever been… There’s something wrong with this field…’

Yuki stood in the grass unarmed still wearing the white pants of a gi that hung loose on his legs. The white formal appearing robes over the upper part of his body were separated into layers. A longer sleeve form fitting undershirt extended out from the robes to a little past his elbow. Held over top was the second layer to the robes held loosely to his body with a thick obi around his waist up to his stomach. The third layer of clothes fell over top the two bound layers like a long vest-like coat. Laid out upon the silk material were pale organic designs stitched to produce a raised surface on the clothes.

Across the grass in a lower cut grass field stood Demosthenes with a couple spare weapons littered in his field. “You need a weapon for us to begin,” he beckoned out to Yuki.

“For this fight I don’t need a weapon!” retorted Yuki as he charged forward into a full sprint.

Demosthenes could see that Yuki was serious about take him on with only his fists and accepted his resolve. The spear sung through the air as he made a slicing swing once Yuki came in range, but Yuki evaded the attack by changing his movement. ‘His reflexes are faster…’ Another swing at Yuki was dodged as he was keeping him at a distance. A quick series of swings from the spear left them still unchanged. Yuki was avoiding any attempt gaining barely any ground in reaching him through the range of the spear. Tactics were changed as an opening was found allowing him to thrust at Yuki.

There was a dull ring of the blade’s metal at the spear came to an empty stop. It caught the old man off guard seeing Yuki stopped the tip of the spear with merely his palm. A faint wave echoed from his hand as it held back the spear at no more than a centimeter from piercing his skin. Their actions were paused there as Demosthenes gauged what had occurred.

The spear retreated back and took another swing down at Yuki with it being suddenly blocked by his crossed forearms. Once more the blade was held a short distance away from his skin never making contact. Demosthenes continued to test out Yuki’s defenses never able to make it through to wound him. In the last thrust Yuki blocked the blade with his left hand coming in close to Demosthenes and gripped it bare. His right hand then rammed through the shaft of the spear slicing it in two as he spun around. Baring out the spear head, his left hand clasped the shaft at the end of the blade head rotating to run it into the old man’s ribs.

Demosthenes staggered back a step taken aback by how swiftly he had been countered. He had been unable to remove the spear in time and now blood was slowly dripping from his wound. The pain was stabbing deep into his chest from spear as he ripped it free from his body. Even through the pain his mind was still trying to understand what Yuki was doing. “You…You blocked everything. How?”

Yuki adjusted himself to face the man still with rage filled eyes that had been staring at him the entire time. “It’s nothing that a dead man needs to be concerned with…” He raised up his hand with his fingers aimed flat. A moment later the tensed muscles released burying the hand in the chest of Demosthenes. Yuki pulled his hand out trailing blood through the air with is coated fingers. There seemed to be a release in his features as Yuki stepped back.

The old man collapsed to his knees before falling over, shock still etched into his face. Yuki closed his eyes taking in the moment. His mind was still holding images of Kazuhiro, playing repeatedly for him during the fight. “I’m sorry, Kazuhiro…please forgive me…” A stream of tears fell down his shut eyes as he pulled his head back to face the sky.

Cold wind suddenly blew through the area pulling Yuki’s eyes open. There was something inside him that was telling him something was wrong. It broke through his sorrowful emotions trying to clear his mind. Yuki alerted himself scanning the area seeing nothing, but a large circle of shortly cut grass embedded in his own. “What’s with the grass here?” he said slowly realizing that it did not make any sense. He marched forward searching everywhere trying to understand what was going on.

“It would seem you’ve found your strength,” a bodiless voice declared.

It only took Yuki a moment to recognize the voice as Demosthenes. He turned back towards the body, but it was no longer there. The body had disappeared completely. “Where are you?”

“Right here.” The source of the voice became visible as though a mirage had been lifted from the area. It was the old man standing completely unharmed by any of the attacks from Yuki with a renewed spear in hand.

Yuki narrowed his eyes in confusion. “What are you immortal? I’ve seen you killed twice.”

“Seen yes, but no I’m not immortal. I simply created a weak copy of myself to test your worthiness.” He lowered his spear down into an attacking stance.

“Weak copy?”

“Yes, I’m the real one. So the real battle begins now!”

To be continued…