Rest of chapters at http://kalciane.tnim.org/ab.



.06. - Seki



"I had that under control, y'know."

Seki looked rather displeased as he and Hikaru floated serenely through the 
night skies, riding upon a makeshift platform comprised of multiple ice 
blades. His partner decided to remain silent, giving him an amused look as 
they gradually descended towards the ground, their trajectory leading them 
towards the edge of the downtown sector. It was already well past midnight, 
and as such no one was out on the street to notice the strange sight of the 
two men as they floated past an iron-wrought fence towards a large mansion.

The building was almost pure white, sporting a flight of steps which led up 
to an elegant ivory door trimmed with gold. Roman columns were placed in 
regular intervals around the entirety of the structure. The pathway was 
paved with slick black marble, leading from the entrance stretched down the 
stairs and outwards nearly a quarter mile in all directions. A large ivory 
fountain splashed gently in the distance, a few feet away from a fence 
entwined with thick flora that stretched around the circumference of the 
property.

Seki jumped off the platform as they glided down onto the marble walkway, 
landing solidly in a crouch. Hikaru descended besides him, the ice blades 
dissipating as his Guardian sank back into his soul. Without a word, he 
proceeded towards the estate, giving Seki an amused look as he passed by.

"Now wait just a damn second!" Seki growled, sprinting forward to keep 
pace. "You don't believe me, do you?"

Hikaru's lip curled slightly. "Your definition of 'control' is strange 
indeed, Tsukichiro. You certainly appeared to be at a disavantage against 
the girl."

"I was just caught off guard for a sec. Really," Seki insisted. "Look, 
*you* try fighting her next time."

"I do not really think I have to." Hikaru lightly dusted a bit of lint from 
his lapel, his steps brisk as he continued towards the mansion. "It puzzles 
me why Kail insists upon bothering with you."

The insult seemed to hit home as Seki abruptly shifted in front of the 
other man, fists raised. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" he shouted.

"Merely an observation of your disappointing skill, my dear friend," Hikaru 
responded smoothly. "Considering all that you have touted yourself to be, a 
simple Arms-type should not have been able to best you."

Seki grunted in response, looking fairly unhappy with himself. As much as 
he hated to admit it, Hikaru was right. He was supposed to be a special 
Host, so there was just no excuse for why he'd fought so poorly. It had 
been a while since he'd fought anyone besides Hikaru, though, and those 
matches were usually nothing more than glorified sparring sessions. The 
assignment with Reiya had been something he'd been looking forward to, his 
first *real* match in a long while - and he had found himself defeated in a 
matter of minutes. How utterly crappy.

And worst of all, the girl had done nothing that he hadn't already seen in 
the times he had been observing her. Somehow, she had managed to out-think 
him, and while that probably had been due to him being caught up in the 
heat of the fight, it was still a blemish on his record. Seki had been one 
of the best fighters in the underground circuit, even if that track record 
had been mostly built up off of fighting normal humans.

"There's something about that girl," he muttered to himself. "Too fast. 
That's what it was."

Hikaru turned his head slightly at Seki's words. "Quite the opposite, 
Tsukichiro. You are simply too slow. Your entire style lends itself to 
gaping - "

"Yeah, yeah," Seki mumbled, waving his hand dismissively in the other 
Host's direction. He had gotten the lecture about his style many times 
before and had no real desire to hear it now. If the girl hadn't been 
around so many high objects, maybe he would've done better. He had never 
fared well in places with lots of obstacles, preferring a level battlefield 
instead; something that was rooted in his street-fighting days. But those 
days were long gone, now, as he had quit not long after his Guardian had 
awakened.

The walkway narrowed into a straight path that led up the flight of steps 
leading into the lavish entrance. Seki tugged on his fingerless gloves, 
tightening them until they were somewhat uncomfortable. He had to prepare 
himself. This was the big moment that he'd been waiting for, the final 
report on the girl. They had been keeping tabs on her for months, and now 
her fate - whether she knew it or not - was in their hands.

He already knew that Hikaru was going to speak against her favor, but Seki 
didn't particularly care. He had been planning what he was going to say 
ever since he'd laid eyes on her. Something about her quiet mien and sullen 
air attracted him, though he wasn't sure why. At first he'd denied it, but 
he was beginning to wonder if some part of him hadn't deliberately thrown 
the fight in order to avoid hurting her. But more than that, he was sure of 
one thing: she was the person that they had been searching for, the one who 
would start the new era of humanity.

He was going to do everything he could to make sure that she would be 
chosen... and after that, he was going to ask her for a rematch. There 
would be no holding back again.

The door opened as they approached, revealing a lavish corridor lined with 
ceramic sculptures and rich carpeting that stretched from wall to wall. 
Hikaru stepped through and proceeded down the hallway without hesitation, 
heading towards a massive oaken door that lay at the very end of the 
hallway. Seki followed suit, not even pausing as the palatial entrance 
swung shut by itself behind him.

__________

Angelblade

by Jeffrey Yang

09.25.03 to 10.07.03

__________


The two men made their way down the hallway towards the oaken door, the 
greenish halo around the seams growing stronger as they drew close. Once 
they were standing in front of the portal, Hikaru reached out and placed 
his hand upon the wood. Light filtered outwards between his fingers, and 
the door swung softly inwards to reveal an expansive chamber festooned with 
colorful ribbons. Some hung from the posts of the canopy bed in the middle 
of the room, while others curled lazily from the myriad of portraits 
hanging upon the walls. Every inch of the interior was adorned with 
carpeting or veils of a light emerald tint, casting the surroundings in a 
somewhat sinister miasma.

Standing next to the bed was a tall figure swathed in black silk, his long 
silver hair a stark contrast to the darkness of his deep purple overcoat. 
He was leaning past the drapery, tending to the person within, and as soon 
as Seki and Hikaru entered, he drew back to look at them with a pale smile.

"The princess is sleeping," the man said in a hushed tone of voice, walking 
towards them quietly. "We shall conduct our business elsewhere."

Hikaru nodded once and slipped back into the main hallway, waiting for the 
other two men. Once they were out of the room, the door closed itself 
behind them, clicking softly as the lock slid into place. They proceeded 
down the hall and turned into a corridor that opened out into a wide 
reception room, outfitted with the same decoration as the hallway. Stairs 
led up to a balcony which jutted out into the open night, and a cold wind 
filtered past the windows, ruffling the silken curtains around them.

Hikaru and Seki watched as the silver-haired man began pacing up the stairs 
thoughtfully. "So, tell me how tonight's observation proceeded," he said.

"She came, although it was because we had planned for it," Hikaru began. 
"Her actions were careless... lost, like the wanderings of a stray sheep 
searching for her master. It was by chance that she happened upon 
Tsukichiro and myself, perhaps owing to the focus of our Guardian energies 
in such close proximity; undoubtedly, it would have felt like demonic taint 
to her."

"And the subsequent fight?"

"Tsukichiro was miserably defeated - "

Seki growled and slammed his fist against the wall, nearly shattering a 
vase perched close by. "I wasn't *defeated!*" he shouted in protest. His 
tone elicited a displeased glare from the man, and he forced himself to 
quiet down before continuing. "I went easy on her. No point in trashing the 
trophy, right, Kail?"

"The sentiment is admirable but unnecessary, Seki." Kail moved halfway 
across the balcony in silent contemplation. "I need to know whether or not 
she has surpassed expectations, and your selfish intentions only clouded 
the results."

"I'm sorry," he mumbled half-heartedly.

Kail chuckled softly as he swept across the balcony, his hair a luminous 
cascade beneath the moonlight. "There is no need to be. Tell me how well 
you fared, and we shall proceed as we planned."

Seki grunted assent as he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over 
his chest. "Wasn't that big of a deal, really. She's got a pretty unique 
energy signature, so I felt her coming a mile away. Of course, she wasn't 
gonna just up and fight me. You guys know how she is. So anyways, I bust 
open the back door and hop on through, making sure she follows me. Silly 
girl, heh, likes defending peace and justice so much she never thought 
anything else might've been wrong..."

"I would think you unqualified to judge others about their 
single-mindedness, Tsukichiro." Hikaru's tone was flat, although the wicked 
amusement was still there.

"Hey, you shut up, okay?" Seki grumbled. "I don't say anything about what 
you do, and you don't say anything about why I fight. Got it?"

Hikaru smiled congenially with no irony whatsoever. "As you wish, my friend."

"Anyways. Like I was saying..."

He finished the recount of the fight without leaving anything out; omitting 
his side of things would've made it seem as if Reiya was too powerful for 
their purposes, and omitting her side would've made her look insufficient. 
Once he was through, he glanced expectantly up at Kail, who had paced 
across the balcony towards a shelf of books on the far end of the room.

"So, whaddya think?" Seki called out, stretching languidly in place. His 
arms were getting twitchy from not hitting something.

"Interesting," Kail murmured, running the tip of his finger over the spine 
of one of the books before him. "Hikaru, how much of it did you witness?"

"All of it," he replied calmly, glancing over at Seki. "I had figured that 
my partner would inevitably make a fatal mistake in his fighting, and 
predictably enough he did."

Seki didn't bother reacting this time; he knew that Hikaru had said that 
just to get a rise out of him, and he wasn't about to give him the 
satisfaction. Instead, he shrugged nonchalantly and took a seat on one of 
the lavish recliners in the room, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. 
"I think she's good for it. Fast, solid, no real attachments to anyone but 
those two friends of hers..."

"They will be of concern, should we decide to proceed normally," Hikaru 
interjected quickly. "The water Host finally broke through earlier tonight. 
It is only a matter of time until the Evoluder Host follows in his footsteps."

Kail seemed rather pleased upon hearing that, turning away from the books 
to regard Hikaru with a wolf-like interest. "Is that so? This is good to 
hear, quite good indeed... I had not expected it so quickly with the water 
Host. The Evoluder, though... she will need to be reigned in soon. We 
cannot allow her power to go unchecked, especially should her sense of 
morality come into play against us."

Hikaru smiled thinly as he replied, his voice softening dangerously. "We 
should take care of her, then."

"Dibs on the water Host," Seki joined in, waving his hand lazily in the 
air. "I've been waiting to take that little shrimp on forever."

"I do not believe that would be a good idea, my friend," Hikaru replied. 
"After his breakthrough, you may find yourself hard-pressed to win against 
him. Did you not see how he moved against the wind Host?"

More of that barely-veiled contempt. Seki found it absolutely infuriating, 
especially since he was right. He was really going to have to go all-out 
against Hikaru at some point during one of their sparring sessions and blow 
off some steam. "Peh," he spat. "I'm not afraid of him. Infuriel's not 
gonna be extinguished by some little twerp throwing rain at me."

"I believe Hikaru has a point, as much as you would prefer not to admit 
it," Kail rejoined. "Although you may have been going easy on our little 
Reiya, I cannot allow you to compromise our mission."

"Hey, now wait just a damn minute, Kail!" Seki lifted himself up from the 
chair and strode up the stairs after him. "You can't be serious!"

But Kail shook his head firmly, turning to glance over at Hikaru. "Tell me 
what you think of this last development."

Hikaru nodded, smoothing out the lapels of his suit as he spoke. "The 
swordfighter is still incomplete. She has not been properly motivated to 
breakthrough... unlike the water Host, who has realized his powers; and the 
Evoluder, whose potential lies in wait for us. I believe the key rests not 
within a potentially fatal situation, as the girl clearly has no fear of 
losing herself."

"What do you believe it to be, then?"

The ice Host's eyes narrowed, his expression unrelenting and cold. "Her 
psyche has healed to the point that she no longer fears the pain she brings 
upon herself... but I can see the lingering artifacts of her trauma in her 
face. She hides herself well behind her Guardian; however, a castle of 
glass is still made of glass, when all is said and done."

Seki glanced down at Hikaru over the balcony railing, rolling his eyes. 
"Hikaru, you're full of it, y'know that?"

The other two ignored him. "Then what do you suggest we do?" Kail asked 
quietly. His expression had calmed somewhat, resigning itself to grim 
contemplation.

"The pieces of the puzzle are falling into place," Hikaru continued. "Her 
allies remain the only key to her grip upon reality. Without them, her 
purpose is deprived of substance; her world shall become hollow, and she 
will be easily available for our purposes, without so much as a blow landed 
against her."

Kail slowly smiled as he envisioned the process, a fervent bliss mounting 
as he mulled over the words in his mind. Yes... yes, it was perfect. 
Hikaru's plan was utterly brilliant, as they had always been; once Reiya 
had resigned herself to fall docilely into their grasp, they would finally 
be able to realize their one dream - the wishes of the princess that slept 
within the castle.

"Magnificent, Hikaru," he said warmly. "Excellent. I believe this will 
do... Hikaru, bring me the water Host. Do you believe you will encounter 
any trouble?"

"None whatsoever, and I will ensure that circumstance does not favor him 
again."

"And you, Seki..." Kail turned his gaze towards the young man, who was 
still sulking and half-dangling over the railing in boredom. "I expect you 
to have the young Evoluder for me when I return."

Seki straightened himself, clasping his hands behind his head. "Damn, show 
me some mercy, will ya? I get all soft against these cute girls you're 
making me fight, and it's making me look bad in front of old frosty over 
there." He jerked his chin in Hikaru's direction.

"You will simply have to learn to compensate for your own weaknesses, Seki. 
We cannot always get what we desire, but we can make the best of what we 
have." Kail swirled his overcoat around him, the ridged shoulders of the 
leather garment creaking softly. "I must see to the princess for now... I 
expect you two shall not disappoint me."

"Of course, Kail." Hikaru smiled as the man exited through the doors, 
undoubtedly headed back towards the chamber of ribbons. "Be sure to send my 
love... dear friend."

"Man." Seki swung himself over the railing and landed on the carpet with a 
dulled thump. "This really sucks, y'know that? Why do I gotta be stuck with 
babysitting duty?"

"Perhaps it would be due to the fact that you are not fit to fight anything 
better," Hikaru pointed out.

The fire Host tromped across towards him, leaning forward so that he was 
uncomfortably close to the shorter man's face. "Okay, what the hell's wrong 
with you? Lay off!" he shouted. "I don't need your crap about this anymore. 
I *get it.*"

But Hikaru showed no trace of being intimidated; instead, his expression 
twisted into something like feral rage. "Stay back, Tsukichiro, unless you 
wish for me to show you the depths of your inferiority."

Seki raised his fist, perfectly willing to oblige him at first - then 
paused as a thought occurred to him. Hikaru usually didn't care what he did 
as long as Kail's objectives were completed, and in that regard he had 
never had any problems (up until tonight, anyways). Granted, his methods 
could have been more refined, and his partner had always liked to jab him 
relentlessly about his lack of finesse. But Seki liked how he did things, 
and wasn't about to change just because some preppy prettyboy asked him to.

So the sudden attention to his loss seemed almost uncharacteristic of 
Hikaru's cool and detached mannerisms. Maybe the man was worried for him, 
although he had a hard time imagining that would be the case. Hikaru had 
always struck him as having a somewhat one-track mind, even by Seki's own 
standards; more likely, Hikaru was worried about the plan falling apart 
because of his loss (which struck him as overly paranoid and just a bit 
stupid).

"Peh." He backed away and tightened his gloves grudgingly in a show of 
defiance. "I'm gonna go out and get some air. You gonna do anything before 
you go out looking for the water guy?"

Hikaru's polite expression was obviously forced as he dusted his suit off 
indignantly. "I have some reading to attend to, Tsukichiro. We shall meet 
again tomorrow night, and as Kail said... I expect you not to disappoint me."

"I work for Kail, not *you,*" Seki said emphatically as he strode back out 
into the hallway. "So don't act like you're my boss... cool?"

"... very well," Hikaru said, so softly as to be almost inaudible. "I 
suppose we are... 'cool.'"

"Good, good. Now, I got some work to do. See ya."

And with that he went on his way, moving back down the hallway towards the 
entrance without so much as a second glance behind him.

_____


Seki decided on taking a walk in the area around the estate as he jogged 
down the flight of steps. He wasn't terribly fond of nature, but he had to 
clear his mind a bit, and his usual hangout - a somewhat tacky bar a couple 
blocks down the street called the Homerun King - was already closed. That 
was the place he'd gone to after his first overwhelming victory in the 
pit-fighting circuit, and his subsequent visits had given the place 
something of a reputation. But even if he could have gone, he didn't really 
feel like it. As fun as the guys were, they wouldn't be able to understand, 
because they were not Hosts.

He eased himself over a low fencing that bordered one of the many topiaries 
the princess liked to keep around, even though he knew that she never left 
the confines of her room. The paths were cut narrowly, intended for someone 
with a far more delicate gait than his; Seki minced his way through and 
headed for a bench in the midst of the grass giraffes and elephants, 
sitting back with a slight grumble and looking silently up at the sky.

There had only been one other swordfighter that he remembered, and he had 
fought nothing like Reiya. The match had been after he'd secured a few wins 
under his belt, so it had been still relatively new for him at the time. 
But even then, Seki had never been afraid of fighting, even before he'd 
received his Guardian. It was just a part of him, stemming back to its 
roots in playground brawls and graduating to after-school rumbles. 
Receiving Infuriel had just been the final step in him deciding what he 
wanted to do with his life.

The fight had gone on longer than he would've liked, although that was 
probably due to his inexperience at the time. Despite the years he'd spent 
fighting, he was still new at being a Host, and holding himself back so 
that he didn't end up killing the other person was rather odd for him. But 
this guy was different; Seki felt the spark of a Guardian in him. It was 
the first time he'd come across another Host in the ring, and he was so 
surprised that he nearly ended up losing the match.

In the end, he had managed to best his opponent through sheer blind luck. 
But a win was a win, and it was celebrated at the Homerun King just like 
the others... and by the time Seki was upon his fifth glass of Snakebite, 
he found that he didn't care about how close the sword had come to 
puncturing his throat a couple times. If it came down to a matter of taking 
someone's life, then he would do it. He just didn't see a need to as of yet.

Now as for Reiya... she was different. She knew what she was doing, even 
from the first time she had met one of the demons on one of her nightly 
walks. The way she carried herself, the grace that permeated every 
motion... it was as if she had been born to be a Host. Seki had fought a 
number of Hosts in his time, especially after the eventual shift into 
excluding normal humans from the circuit he was in. Many of them had 
talent, but none of them had the same finesse and style that she did.

He was pretty sure he'd fallen in love at some point.

Granted, the Evoluder girl was too young for him, and her Guardian was 
breathtaking but not even human. The only interest he had in Toji was a 
chance to beat the living hell out of him; of course, it looked like Kail 
had deprived him of that particular pleasure as well. The thought of what 
he was going to have to do to Minaki in order to get Reiya under their 
control was a bit distressing... but ultimately, it was unavoidable. 
Hikaru's observations about her had been right, whether Seki liked it or not.

Come to think of it, Reiya was a lot like himself in many respects. They 
were both somewhat solitary in nature: while Seki had no problems sharing 
boisterous conversation with friends, he had no one truly close to him. He 
had met Hikaru after meeting Kail, and Hikaru always been so wrapped up in 
his own plans that Seki had never tried to approach him. Similarly, the 
princess was someone he'd only gotten fleeting glimpses of; he knew nothing 
about her beyond that Kail was apparently in love with her, even though she 
always sleeping.

But above all, Reiya had chosen her own path as a fighter. That was the one 
thing that Seki admired so much about her, even more than her skill with 
her Guardian and her dark beauty. She had made the choice, even though 
she'd never admitted that in the times he'd listened to her confide in 
Minaki after one of their missions. Reiya had been the only one to 
unflinchingly face the demons; without her, the water Host would never have 
done so, and the Evoluder wouldn't have had the initiative to try. That 
kind of courage was such a rare thing in an experienced Host, let alone a 
fledgling one as herself.

Seki felt himself nodding off as the first streaks of dawn threaded their 
way across the sky, and he closed his eyes as he leaned back on the bench. 
It was such a long time ago that he had been in the same situation as those 
kids... in a way, he felt jealous. He hadn't been too fond of studying and 
tests, but there was something about going to school that seemed nostalgic 
to him. It was also something he would never be able to go back to even if 
he'd wanted, and sometimes when he thought about it, he began wondering 
what would've happened to him if he had never come across Infuriel.

Like most Hosts he'd talked to, fought, and observed, the awakening was the 
defining moment in their existence. His own had come during a fight in the 
third or fourth year of high school; he wasn't very sure which, as his 
academic career in Hoshimi Academy had been mostly defined by pummeling 
people who didn't like him. This one time was different, though. He had 
been ambushed by three or four of the idiots, and before he could defend 
himself the leader was standing over him, planting a foot in his chest.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you, Tsukichiro?" he jeered, grinding the 
sole of his boot downwards.

But Seki refused to give him the pleasure of screaming; instead, he simply 
gave him a dangerous look as he struggled against the ones holding his arms 
and legs down. "Coward... you damned coward..." he seethed. "You're so 
sorry you had to get help to take me by surprise... where's the - "

"Shut up!" The man stomped down mercilessly, causing Seki to wince briefly. 
"Shut up! Don't push me, Tsukichiro. You're in *my* hands now, so you best 
be doing what I ask you, you got that?"

But Seki was gazing dazedly up at the sky, not really listening. For a 
second he thought that the blow had knocked the wind out of him, enough to 
fill his vision with green butterflies. But at the same time, he had never 
felt so... *alive*. Every vein of his body throbbed with energy, the 
familiar rush of adrenaline pumping powerfully through him; it was as if he 
relished the challenge of finally being toppled from his proverbial throne, 
no longer content with being solely undefeated in his reign at the school.

The leader was kicking at him now, but for some reason they felt like mere 
taps upon his chest. Seki shook his head slowly and blinking a few times - 
and the butterflies were gone as soon as they had appeared. Then he lifted 
his arms up, as he was tired of being held down. Amazingly, he found that 
he had no problems doing so... and managed to lift the two men along with 
him in the process.

"Heh... gimme a break," Seki muttered as he looked between the dumbfounded 
men, shrugging them off easily as he stood back on his feet. "You wanna 
throw down? Let's go. *Bring it*, bitch!"

He cocked his hand out, gesturing at the five men with a quirky grin on his 
face. Three of them had already backed away near the lockers, well out of 
his way; the other two - including the leader - looked rather unsettled at 
the strange burst of strength, but otherwise unfazed.

"I dunno what you pulled," the leader muttered, lifting his fists up close 
to his face. "But it ain't gonna do you any good!"

With that, he charged forward and swung his arm out at Seki's gut - and he 
only had a moment to realize that the man hadn't bothered to move or block. 
His punch landed solidly... but even as the shock of impact faded from his 
fist, he knew that it had not moved the other man back a single inch.

"Peh, is that all?" Seki snaked his arm out, and in a flash the leader felt 
himself being lifted into the air by his throat. "That's pretty sorry, man. 
Now. Lemme show you how it's done!"

Flames exploded out from his fingers, burning at the man's throat... and 
before he could scream, Seki whipped his hand around and tossed him through 
the air against the reinforced steel bars of the school's fencing. There 
was a loud clatter of metal, followed by a dulled thump as the man tumbled 
limply onto the ground. Then he turned to face the other four -

- to see them desperately running away, having already seen more than enough.

Seki glanced down at his hand in mild surprise, flexing his fingers a 
couple of times. "Damn."

He wasn't sure where the flames had come from, and right then he didn't 
particularly care. The exhilaration was still coursing through him, and it 
was only later that he realized a few things that didn't sit right with 
him: one, the ease with which he'd pulled himself free; and two, and the 
butterflies. As strong as he was, he knew his limits and there was no 
plausible explanation for how he had been able to throw his attackers off 
so easily. And the butterflies still made no damn sense. Why butterflies? 
He'd never seen anything like it in his life, and there was no doubt that 
there had been a bunch of them fluttering around.

He went on in doubt for years until the day Kail came to him... and the day 
he saw the princess.

If nothing else, Seki wanted Reiya to meet the princess. He had a feeling 
that, as introverted as the girl was, the two would have gotten along with 
each other. The fact that the princess was always asleep didn't really make 
a difference to him; she was probably walking around the gardens and the 
castle when he wasn't looking. And with as many questions as the girl had 
about her Guardian, herself, and her purpose in life... Seki knew he wasn't 
the one to answer any of that for her, but the least he could do was bring 
her to the person that could.

He glanced up the sky once more before swinging up off the bench and 
jumping over a leafy horse, his clothes rustling softly behind him. There 
was work to be done soon, and he had to make sure he was well-rested for 
it. No sense in failing another mission; he had no desire to be bitched out 
by Hikaru and Kail again, and if he let Reiya go the way she was now, he 
had a pretty good feeling that he wouldn't have forgiven himself for it, 
either.

_____


It was almost noon when Minaki finally woke up, and for a terrified instant 
she thought she was going to be late for school again. Only when she 
glanced over at the calendar hanging on her closet door did she notice that 
it was Saturday, and with a soft sigh she slumped back onto the edge of her 
bed, silencing the alarm clock with a light tap of the snooze button. She 
went over her mental itinerary and found that she had very little to do: 
once she got some homework out of the way, her entire day would be free.

She had gotten used to finishing her homework at school to prepare for the 
weekend, which was when she usually went out with Reiya at nights for their 
missions. There seemed to be cycles in their excursions; at times, they 
found themselves hard-pressed to keep up with the waves of monsters, and 
other times it was as if they had vanished from the city entirely. The last 
time they had fought together was during one of those lulls, and Minaki 
found herself growing worried with the way Reiya was acting. Somehow, it 
was as if she didn't trust her anymore.

The thought of that refused to leave her as she riffled through a stack of 
papers from her English class. Was that why Reiya had been so elusive 
lately? She had avoided her after school, and again when she and Toji went 
to the south-side. The only reason Minaki could think of was that Reiya had 
wanted to try and bring Toji further into accepting his role as a Host, 
figuring that he needed more attention. But she had not seen any signs of 
it coming, and it wasn't until her abrupt absence that Minaki realized how 
much of herself she had been putting into Reiya's cause.

Her mother's voice broke through her thoughts as a few knocks came at her 
door. "Minaki? Your friend is here to see you."

Minaki's heart jumped. Friend? It had to be Reiya, here to reassure her 
that everything was all right. All of her fear and doubt vanished 
instantly, and with a cheerful "hold on!" she was smoothing out the front 
of her blouse so that she would at least look presentable. Once that was 
out of the way, the girl darted out of her room and nearly sprinted down 
the hallway towards the front door, eager to see her friend waiting for her.

But it wasn't Reiya standing there; instead, it was Kaname, looking as 
disheveled as ever and rather flustered. "Yo," she muttered, flopping her 
hand around lazily in greeting.

"Kaname?" Minaki murmured, tilting her head inquisitively to the side.

The girl averted her gaze. "What."

"Um... is there anything I can help you with? You left pretty quickly last 
time, so I figured you had to go..."

"Lemme in." And before anyone could stop her, she had pushed past the 
threshold and was moving down the hallway, leaving a series of muddied 
footprints on the carpet.

Her mother glanced down the hallway, her features wreathed with confusion. 
"Dear, is there something wrong?" she said.

Minaki shook her head and smiled apologetically. "I'm not sure. I'll clean 
that up in a little bit... please give me some time." And with that, she 
moved down the hallway and slipped back into her room, closing the door 
quietly behind her.

Kaname was lying down on the bed as if it was her own, holding a magazine 
above her and trying to figure out some of the longer words in it. She 
barely afforded Minaki a glance until the other girl sat down besides her, 
gazing down at her face to see if there was something in her expression 
that she should have noticed. But the mask was perfect; she saw nothing 
behind the same sullen indifference that had always been there.

There had to be a reason for the abrupt visit, if it could be called that. 
Minaki prodded Kaname on the arm, prompting an annoyed look from the girl. 
"What?" she muttered.

"What are you doing?" Minaki said quietly. "I don't mind if you come by to 
see me, but I wasn't really expecting - "

Kaname shifted her attention back to a magazine article she wasn't really 
reading. "Is Reiya here?" she said blithely.

"No... I don't know where she is. Why do you ask?"

"I thought you two hung around a lot." Kaname seemed to be sneering, but it 
could have just been a drifting shadow. "I guess I'll leave, then."

Minaki frowned at that, standing up over her bed and placing her hands 
akimbo. "You will not go," she said sternly, "unless you tell me why you 
came barging into my home and my room first."

"I was looking for Reiya."

"If you were looking for her, why did you come here?" Minaki's frown 
deepened slightly as she recalled what Toji had told her about how last 
night's mission went. "You've been watching us this whole time. You should 
already know where she lives."

Kaname growled and tossed the magazine onto the floor, glaring at her. "How 
am I supposed to know where she is?! I'm not a damn psychic!" she spat.

Despite the hostility, Minaki only shook her head. Even in the short time 
since she'd met Kaname, she knew that it was just a front for what she 
really wanted to say; Reiya probably had almost nothing to do with it. 
Gently, she reached out and laid her hand upon Kaname's shoulder, crouching 
down at the side of the bed so they were almost eye-to-eye.

"Why are you really here?" she murmured.

The apparent lack of anger mollified her, enough so that she rolled over 
onto her side to avoid returning Minaki's look. "Because your idiot friend 
beat Keiya up," Kaname mumbled. "And now I can't find him anywhere, and 
it's *all his fault.*"

"... then why are you here?" Minaki repeated, sounding honestly puzzled 
this time.

"Because I can't find Toji *either!*" Kaname snapped. "I can't find anyone! 
I'm all alone now and I can't even beat up my enemies! This sucks! This 
*really sucks!*"

She looked almost ready to break down into tears at that moment, but 
managed to fight it back in what must have been a tremendous bout of 
willpower. Minaki sighed softly and shifted closer on the bed, her arms 
encircling the other girl to stroke her shoulder and back comfortingly. 
"Kaname, just calm down, okay? Everything will be all right - "

"How can you say that?! Everything *won't* be all right! You don't know 
anything about what's happening!"

"Maybe not... but I know how it feels to not have someone you treasure 
close when you need it," Minaki said quietly.

Kaname turned back around with a venomous glare, though her eyes did bear a 
touch of guilt. "I don't treasure Keiya, you stupid-head," she said 
uncertainly. But the answer seemed more like reflex now, a final defense 
before a silent admittance to the contrary. "What, is your precious little 
Reiya ignoring you?"

"She hasn't come back since last night," Minaki replied matter-of-factly. 
She didn't want to be cold, but what could she do? Looking weak would only 
have served to make Kaname all the more self-righteous, and without some 
pretense of indignity, she probably wouldn't have believed that Keiya had 
really done anything wrong. "So I guess you can say she's ignoring me... 
much like how he's ignoring you."

"But Reiya doesn't count!" Kaname insisted, balling her fists up.

Minaki's frown almost slipped into a hostile scowl, her fingers twitching 
briefly as she felt herself wanting to do something - *anything* more than 
simple verbal sparring in order to prove her wrong. But that, too, would 
have only worked against what she was trying to do. "Maybe not to you," she 
finally said, tight-lipped. "But then again... I don't think Keiya counts, 
either."

That was when Kaname suddenly deflated, as if all the anger had been 
drained from her small form. Her shoulders slumped and she curled in on 
herself upon the bed, the last of her hope fading from her eyes. Minaki 
reached over to try and comfort her again, and was slightly dismayed at the 
sudden lack of fiery resistance. She had been wanting to avoid this, but in 
the end she had been left with nothing else to work through Kaname's 
recalcitrance.

The girl pressed her face into a pillow, her shoulders shaking. "I hate 
you," she whimpered softly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that." It was a lie, of course, but it had 
to be said - both to try assuage her own guilt, and to elicit some reaction 
from Kaname besides depressed resentment. "But I know how you feel. I 
really do... I just wanted to show that to you."

"You stupid jerk! You didn't have to do it like that!"

"No, I didn't... but I don't think you would've listened otherwise." Minaki 
smiled a bit lopsidedly, blinking as she felt a stinging at her eyes. "I'm 
very sorry, Kaname. But will you believe what I have to say now? Would you 
like to go out with me? I need to go get some groceries for Mama, and you 
can probably use some fresh air - "

Kaname wheeled around, revealing her reddened cheeks and tear-stained eyes. 
"No! I'm not going out like this!" she nearly shrieked. "I won't - "

"Stop being silly. I can clean you up first," Minaki said, her smile 
widening hesitantly. "Come on. I promise you'll be okay."

"NO!"

Minaki pouted for a second. "What if I buy you ice cream?" she offered. 
Despite the commotion, she was starting to giggle softly even as she tried 
to stop herself.

"Ice cream - " Kaname hesitated as she considered it, not noticing the 
other girl's mirth as she lowered her face into her arms. "... really?"

"Uh huh. There's an ice cream shop just a little bit down the street. It's 
really good, they make everything in their store."

The thought of being patronized or bribed never even occurred to Kaname as 
she mulled over whether or not Minaki was being serious. The offer was a 
nice gesture, but there was something weird about her that she didn't 
immediately want to trust, almost as if it was *too* nice. But she still 
remembered the last time that Keiya had taken her out for ice cream; it was 
not too long after they'd first met, in a situation not unlike this one. 
That was the first and last time he'd done such a thing, and she had a 
feeling that if she hadn't gone with him back then, he probably wouldn't 
have bothered with her again.

She looked up to see Minaki still gazing at her with a warm smile, her 
brown eyes filled with hope and asking for her trust. She was nice, yes - 
enough for Kaname to find her utterly unbelievable and dishonest, her mind 
unable to comprehend the thought of someone who would be so willing to help 
others unquestioningly. Perhaps that was her own fault this time. Perhaps 
she was so inured to the hardships of her existence that the goodwill of 
someone with a different lifestyle seemed only unreal to her... and were it 
not for Reiya's absence, Kaname never would have believed that Minaki could 
understand her own situation.

At long last, she lifted her gaze so that their eyes met. "Do they have 
mint chocolate chip?" she said timidly.

"I think they do." Minaki looked positively exuberant now as she reached 
for Kaname's hand to tug her upwards. "Why don't we go take a look?"

And in that moment, Kaname felt the twinges of something she had not 
experienced since she had found her Guardian, an emotion so pure that it 
managed to cut through the anxiety in her heart. It made no sense to her, 
but the feeling was undeniable - and as she hesitantly returned Minaki's 
smile, she realized that she didn't care anymore. For the first time in 
recent memory, she found that she was happy.

_____


A few minutes later the two girls were strolling through the pristine 
walkways of the Parkway Plaza, one of the new shopping districts that had 
been built as a part of Hoshimi's downtown renovation plan. Most of the 
buildings sported a comfortable-looking brick exterior, surrounded by a 
series of ramps and stairs which provided access to a variety of eateries, 
coffee shops, hobby stores, and other establishments. The Waddling Penguin 
was situated in between a pizza place and a copy center, looking rather 
nondescript in the midst of everything else; Minaki, though, looked right 
at home as she sauntered through the entrance, jingling the bell on the 
door merrily.

Kaname followed after her somewhat awkwardly, glancing around the interior 
warily. She still remembered the last time she'd been in the downtown 
sector, and how she had found it utterly reprehensible; all the clean 
tiling and smooth brickwork was a jarring contrast to the shop Keiya had 
taken her, which had been little more than a dirty nook in one of the 
stripped-down mall blocks in the south-side. Somehow, Kaname mused dryly as 
she glanced at the spotless walls and the racks of candy on the wall, the 
store seemed almost like Minaki herself.

But she wasted no time scurrying over towards the cooler, pressing her 
hands and face on the glass to get a better look. This place had many more 
flavors than the one she was used to, although some of them made her 
visibly wince in disgust. Coffee? She had tried some once in the Family 
Motel and found it gross. Red bean? Beans were what went with rice and 
tortillas, not ice cream. It took her a while before she found the prize: a 
full canister of mint chocolate chip, sitting on the far right of the fridge.

"I want that," she said promptly, pointing in case either of them had any 
doubts. "Lots of it."

The clerk's smile didn't fade, though she did seem just a tad uncertain. 
"So, uh... a double scoop, then?" she asked politely.

"*Triple* scoop." Kaname wasn't sure how much ice cream that was, but if 
Minaki was paying then she was going to go for broke. "With fudge on top."

Minaki looked faintly embarrassed as she glanced over at the clerk, then at 
the other girl. "Um, Kaname..."

"What? You said you'd buy it."

"... are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yes, it's what I want!" Kaname shot back, looking vaguely annoyed that it 
had even come into question. "Make it snappy."

The clerk gave Minaki a puzzled look, but began doing as she was told - and 
a few minutes later, the two of them were walking around the plaza once 
more, gingerly lapping at their cones. They looped around the walkway once, 
managing to finish half of their ice cream in the meantime; another and the 
sun overhead began turning what was left of Kaname's cone into a sticky, 
chocolatey mess. That was when she decided to take a break on one of the 
polished wood benches near an alleyway, where the surrounding air was still 
relatively cool from the shade of the buildings.

Minaki sat down next to her, still smiling as she crunched down the last 
bits of her strawberry scoop. "I hope you feel a bit better," she said softly.

"Yeah. I guess." Kaname leaned back, kicking her feet up on a nearby 
trashcan. She wasn't about to admit it, of course, but she really was 
feeling better. Between the pure rush of energy from all of the sweetness 
she had absorbed (both from the ice cream and from Minaki herself), she had 
a feeling that maybe, just for once, something was going to go her way. It 
had been far too long since she could remember when life didn't suck, 
enough that she had almost let herself become used to it.

Maybe that was what Minaki had been trying to tell her all along when 
Kaname was still lost amidst her own guilt and anger at Keiya's 
disappearance. Though she still felt rather irritated at how he'd left just 
like that, it wasn't the first time he'd done so - and most of the 
antagonism was already gone. Not that she had forgotten about it, but she 
knew that worrying over Keiya wasn't going to do her a terrible amount of 
good because she just had no grasp of how his thoughts worked. But in the 
end, he came back. He always did, and it was the one thing she could still 
trust in.

Minaki certainly did seem pleased, swinging her legs back and forth as she 
gazed about the plaza in silent contentment. At least, Kaname thought, she 
wasn't going to have to listen to her pleading and whining anymore... even 
if all of said pleading and whining had ended up doing her good in the long 
run. She opened her mouth to say something when an unpleasant flicker of 
energy flared through her thoughts - and she was on her feet instantly, 
glancing around at the rooftops. There was a Host spying on them.

"You feel it too, don't you?" Minaki murmured quietly, looking around with 
noticeably less vigor. Though she wasn't certain who was watching them, it 
was obviously not Reiya or Toji... which only meant that whoever it was 
probably was not going to be very friendly.

Kaname nodded absently, grumbling as the presence darted past them to perch 
itself overhead towards their left. Whoever was up there had no idea how to 
conceal himself, and she felt herself getting annoyed again. Maybe some 
Host wandering around had decided to pick a fight, and if so, he couldn't 
have picked a worse time. A sharp flicker of purple light cut through the 
air as she let her Guardian come to the forefront of her thoughts, its twin 
metal blades shimmering to life above her forearms.

"Hey, you!" she shouted, grabbing her cap and twisting it around to point 
backwards. "I know you're up there. Quit making an idiot of yourself and 
come out!"

Much to her surprise, the Host peered out from over the edge of the 
building with a sheepish look on his face. "Aw, man... I'm just not any 
good at this hide-and-seek crap," he muttered, wiping his face with a 
gloved hand.

Neither of the girls had seen him before, and for an instant Kaname 
wondered if it was another one of Minaki's friends. The look on her face, 
though, said otherwise; Minaki was far too tense and edgy, even though the 
Host that stood above them certainly *looked* forbidding: an older man 
dressed in all black, his skin tanned and rough. The leather jacket he was 
wearing creaked softly as he shifted himself into a sitting position upon 
the edge of the building.

"What do you want from us?" Minaki said quietly. She was trying to sound 
calm, but even Kaname could hear the nervousness in her words.

The Host suddenly looked crestfallen as his gaze moved between the girls. 
"And there's two of you. Damn it," he sighed. "I'm not gonna try and be all 
stylish about this, okay?"

"About *what?*" Kaname snarled, grinding Rave's blades together.

"Look, my name's Seki and I'm here to kidnap the Evoluder," the man mumbled 
guiltily, pointing at Minaki. He didn't sound happy about it at all. "If 
you wanna make it easy, just come along and don't try to fight. I feel 
rather crappy about having to do this as it is..."

Minaki frowned and took a step back, lifting her arm as she felt Kalciane's 
presence well up from within her soul. There was that word again: 
"Evoluder". It seemed as if everyone except her knew what was going on... 
"How can you ask that?" she called out. "Who sent you to do this?"

"Can't tell you that, of course," he said with a shrug. "That wouldn't be 
any fun now, would it?"

"You're not gonna kidnap anyone!" Kaname shot back, lowering herself into a 
crouch. Rave's blades sparked with energy, the ground beneath cracking 
beneath the force of her Guardian's aura. Something was different this 
time; the power welling up from within was the familiar sensation it had 
always been - but now, she wasn't fighting for just herself anymore. Even 
if Minaki didn't need her help, she was going to get it... whether she 
liked it or not.

Seki raised his hands defensively, scrambling away from the edge quickly. 
"I just need her to come with me for a bit!" he said, frowning 
thoughtfully. " - okay, maybe that does sound kind of bad - "

Kaname had heard enough. In an explosion of lavender power she was flying 
upwards towards the top of the building, her Guardian's blades glinting in 
the air. Her sneakered foot lashed out towards the brick siding, and she 
propelled herself in a vicious arc towards Seki with both arms extended. 
"RAVE STRIKER!"

"Please stop shouting!" Minaki called out from below.

Powerful though it was, the attack was far too obvious. Seki easily flipped 
back and away as Kaname smashed into the side of the building, taking a 
good chunk out of it in a shower of cement and brick. The girl rebounded 
from the impact like a violet comet, coming to a dizzying stop on the 
opposing rooftop. Bits of debris flaked away from Rave's arm-blades as she 
lowered her hands to shake them out. She felt Kalciane's presence darting 
back and forth in the corner of her mind as Minaki rapidly scaled the 
alleyway below her,

Seki clenched his fists slowly, the leather of his gloves stretching 
tightly with each finger curling inwards. "So you wanna fight, huh?" he 
said dangerously, a grin spreading across his face. He had wanted to avoid 
this, but if the girl was going to challenge him, he wasn't about to turn 
her down. "I don't usually like beating up little kids, but if you wanna do 
this, then..."

Minaki swooped up from below an instant later, her arm lifting outwards 
with a burst of gold and sapphire light. "There is no need for this fight," 
she stated calmly while her Guardian crackled into existence besides her. 
"If you want me to come with you, I'll go."

"What?!" Kaname nearly shrieked. "Minaki, what the hell?"

"I'm not going to let you get yourself hurt because of me!" Minaki insisted.

Kaname growled and clenched her fists angrily. "No! You're not going!" she 
retorted, glaring at the other girl. "I'm not gonna let you just *leave*, 
you idiot!"

Minaki took an uneasy step back, her expression torn between anger and 
regret. The man's energy was unlike anything she'd felt in her other 
fights, although the difference was probably too subtle for Kaname's 
lesser-developed Guardian to have noticed. There was some strange duality 
to it, as if two Guardians had been entwined into a single being... but 
that simply wasn't possible. Whatever it was, she was in something of an 
impossible situation. She wasn't about to let Kaname try and fight Seki by 
herself against this strange Host, and leaving her behind would've been far 
worse. After all the time she had spent trying to get her to open up, the 
last thing she wanted to do was to betray that small amount of hesitant 
trust which she'd been given.

She didn't know if the two of them would be enough, this time. But given 
the choice between forsaking her new friend and losing a fight...

"Very well," Minaki murmured after a long bout of silent contemplation. 
"Kaname... get ready."

That was exactly what Kaname had wanted to hear, and she wasted no time 
bringing her arms forward. A shriek of metal slashed through the air as her 
Guardian's arm-blades snapped outwards, repositioning themselves to jut 
from her forearms like claws. "Let's kick this guy's ass!" she shouted.

"Well, hell. Guess I'm gonna get to have some fun after all." Seki's grin 
widened as he stretched one arm behind him, his fist tightening as hard as 
it could. He raised his other arm forward to gesture defiantly at the two 
girls. "BRING IT!"

Kaname was already rocketing through the air in a trail of purple energy 
that flared around her in a wide swath, and Seki was more than eager to 
meet her rush, the two clashing fist against blade. Tongues of flame 
engulfed Rave, and she had to pull herself back after a few seconds with a 
brief wince. His Guardian was incredibly honed; any further contact 
would've ended up hurting herself. Instead of locking against him again, 
she landed and began throwing a dizzying array of punches in his 
directions, the air rippling about her arm-blades with each swing.

The hesitation that had been in her fight against Minaki was gone 
altogether, as he seemed perfectly willing to trade her blow for blow. Fire 
and steel met repeatedly, Seki having no problems meeting her attack while 
deflecting some of her punches aside with his fists, parrying the others 
with his forearm. Kaname tried jabbing her blades past him, but to no 
avail; her arms were too short, and Seki easily slammed his fists around 
her Guardian as they stabbed towards him. Flames burst from his fingers, 
the heat quickly moving past tolerable levels... and Rave suddenly screamed 
in pain within her head, begging her to do something.

"Still want more, kid?" Seki sneered, grinding his hands against the steel 
blades. "You sure you can handle it?"

That was when Kalciane came from the side with a massive spinning kick 
aimed for Seki's head, the angel's wings outstretched behind her in 
glorious curves of amethyst. He ducked back just in time, releasing 
Kaname's Guardian from his grasp - and brought his arm up just in time to 
intercept another wicked roundhouse. He briefly wondered if he had gone 
past his limits: between the two girls and the Evoluder, he was going to be 
hard-pressed to win even with Infuriel.

But as he retreated along the length of the ceiling, alternatively ducking 
and blocking Kalciane's series of high-angled kicks, he noticed that the 
Host wasn't fighting at all. Perhaps that was why Kail was so interested in 
her; it was rare to come across an Evoluder, one who didn't fight by 
herself even more so. That made it a lot easier, and he felt confidence 
surging through him again as he spun himself around behind the angel, 
slamming his elbow into the back of her head. Without Minaki in the way, 
taking her Guardian and the other Host down was going to be a piece of cake.

Kaname let out another growl when she saw Kalciane falter, bringing her 
fists up. Each half of her Guardian snapped back in place along her 
forearms, and with a fierce cry she swung them forward to send both blades 
tearing through the air in Seki's direction. The fire Host barely wheeled 
around in time to defend himself, curls of flame flicking around him as his 
arms shifted to knock the blades aside. His Guardian was the only thing 
that stopped them from simply slicing through his flesh as if it was 
paper... and with an equally powerful shout of rage, he flung them right 
back at Kaname.

The blades were her own, of course, and even imbued with flames they simply 
affixed themselves back in place above Kaname's arms as she charged 
forward. In the meantime, Minaki's Guardian had managed to recover, and 
Seki abruptly found himself caught in between and angel and tomboy bore 
down upon him from each side with breakneck speed. He quickly shifted back 
to the side when Kalciane suddenly inverted herself onto her hands, both 
legs swinging out at his face in a gravity-defying spin - just in time to 
feel something slash through the cuff of his jacket as Kaname's Guardian 
scored a deep gash along his arm, the force shearing past Infuriel's 
defenses and drawing blood.

Seki had only a split second to curse himself out for being so careless 
before Kalciane tore through the air in a deadly vortex, her wings and 
hands trailing golden light as they spiraled towards him. The blows landed 
hard upon his fists, sending him skidding back against the opposing edge of 
the building with a grunt of pain; he glanced over at the other buildings 
below and slammed both fists into the ground just as Kaname swung 
ferociously at him, ripping the front of his shirt wide open. Then he was 
airborne, the force of his Guardian carrying him towards an adjacent rooftop.

He had precious little time to plan his strategy. The fight was gradually 
wearing him down, and he realized that for once, he was going to have to 
listen to Hikaru's advice. Divide and conquer, he had always said. The 
Evoluder was far more skilled and powerful, but the tomboy wasn't so weak 
that she could be totally ignored. Somehow, he had to separate them; one at 
a time, he had no doubt that Infuriel would be able to win out. But it 
wasn't going to be easy isolating them...

There was no more time to think as he landed next to an abandoned alleyway, 
his legs tucked in a crouch. His opponents were right behind him, and he 
felt a rush of air around him just a burst of energy rang in his ears. 
Something sliced through the air from above, and on raw instinct he 
propelled himself towards the side in an attempt to roll away from whatever 
the hell was gunning for him.  From behind his raised arms he saw Kalciane 
floating in midair, her wings arched at her sides to slow her descent as 
individual feathers knifed out at his arms and shoulders. Kaname was 
nowhere in sight, but he had no time to worry about that; the wing-shrapnel 
was everywhere, his Guardian grunting with irritation as he felt his jacket 
being gradually shredded beneath the assault.

The barrage ceased by degrees, leaving Seki panting with mild exertion as 
he lowered his bloodied arms. No sense wasting his Guardian's energy on 
such a weak attack; he had to save every ounce of strength if this was 
going to work. Through the sweat stinging his brow, he saw Minaki descend 
carefully next to her Guardian, folding her arms over her chest calmly. 
Kaname joined her a moment later, adjusting her baseball cap so that it 
rested snugly once more upon her head.

"Would you like to stop?" Minaki murmured quietly, her tone betraying no 
sign of exertion. "I don't think you can handle the two of us at once."

"Heh..." Seki dusted his ruined jacket sleeves casually, ignoring the 
twinges of pain shooting through his arms. "That's where you're wrong, kiddo."

Kaname cracked her knuckles testily, grinning at the prospect of more 
violence to come. "Oh yeah? You don't look so hot anymore, smart-ass. What 
else you got up your sleeve, huh?"

"Just a little something-something I save for loud-mouthed brats like you." 
He pretended to stumble back as if he was dizzy, letting himself pitch over 
the building and into the alleyway... waiting for one of them to give chase.

And sure enough, as he tumbled back he could see the sun being blotted out 
by Kalciane's magnificent form as she snapped her wings outwards to dive 
towards him like a golden raptor. Seki quickly turned himself upright in 
midair and landed on the ground first; his arm shot outwards, crimson 
flames erupting in a geyser from his clenched fingers. As the angel closed 
in on him, his Guardian quickly took shape in his fist, bringing a searing 
wave of torrential fire and sound around to bear on her.

"INFURIEL!!" Seki screamed, his expression twisting with maniacal fervor as 
he poured every ounce of willpower he had behind his Guardian. The air 
around his body was wavering from the sheer heat as the hammer dug into the 
angel's armor, throwing off sparks of golden light. "Kalciane... you shall 
BURN TO ASHES!!"

Minaki glanced over the edge of the building and shrank back almost 
instantly, for the power emanating from Seki's weapon was palpable even 
from where she was. But it was already too late for her angel; piercing 
screams of pains echoed through her head unceasingly as Infuriel tore 
through her defenses like paper. Minaki was about to throw herself over the 
edge despite everything, if only to save her Guardian... but she found 
herself quickly being pulled away, hot tears running down her cheek as she 
screamed along with the voice in her head.

"Let me go!" Minaki sobbed, kicking and flailing to no avail against 
Kaname's grip. "Let me *go!*"

"You idiot! You'd only get hurt!" Kaname was more worried than she was 
actually angry, her gaze lingering upon the reddish glow coming from the 
alleyway. She could only imagine how Minaki was feeling now, but the more 
pressing concern was with Seki now. A short time ago, she would have still 
been under the pretense that she would've been able to fight him alone and 
still come out victorious, but that notion was gone now. There was no doubt 
in her mind that without Kalciane in this fight, it would be only a matter 
of time until...

A final, decisive snarl echoed through the alleyway and the inferno 
gradually died down, leaving an eerie silence in its wake - and at that 
exact moment, Kaname felt Minaki slump down in her arms lifelessly. She 
quickly checked to make sure that she was still breathing before setting 
her down carefully to the side.

If Minaki had fallen unconscious from strain, it could have only meant one 
thing.

She let the blades at her arms twist forward once more, the metal digging 
into them until she felt warm blood trickling down her skin. There was no 
turning back now. She had to win, for Minaki's sake; she couldn't let this 
man just destroy everything she had; she couldn't lose again. Where was 
Keiya when she needed him? That was the one thought that wouldn't leave her 
as Seki landed upon the rooftop, his hammer poised to strike.

"Whaddya think of that?" he said gruffly. His voice was different now... 
more aggressive and animalistic. "Not so confident now, are you?"

Kaname didn't bother responding, for nothing she could have said then would 
have made a difference. Instead, she let out a scream at the top of her 
lungs - one of pain, anger, and frustration. She felt her Guardian's 
resolve throbbing powerfully through her veins as her body spun through the 
air, arms extended in a final attempt to strike down the man standing 
before her. He was suddenly everything she hated about her life, all that 
was wrong encapsulated in his brazen sneer, and she was going to try and 
destroy her problems in the only way she knew how.

Blinding light filled her vision, a scorching heat enveloping her entire 
body within seconds. She tried to scream, but to no avail; her Guardian was 
siphoning all of her energy to protect her from being completely 
incinerated. Kaname felt herself hover in midair for the briefest of 
moments, unable to move or even utter a single word. Then pain shot through 
every part of her body, her mind hazing over instantly.

*Minaki,* she thought as blackness overtook her. *I'm sorry...*

_____


The sun was almost below the horizon when Toji arrived at the playground a 
few blocks from his house, a part of an expansive public park that had been 
around since before he was born. The grounds were predictably deserted; 
once the downtown revival movement had begun in earnest, a larger park had 
been built a couple of miles away, more or less drawing all of the traffic 
away from the older, less-pristine one. Still, it held no small amount of 
nostalgia for him, for it was here that he and Reiya had first practiced 
with their Guardians together. Every so often, he liked to come here to sit 
quietly and think.

It was the weekend, the time when the two of them usually went out on their 
excursions after taking care of their homework. Reiya paid little attention 
to the assignments, giving it a cursory effort at best; Toji, though, had 
began putting himself more into his studies over the past few months. He 
remembered when he had still been excited about his Guardian, wanting to 
know more about it and to test his limits - but after a while, the thrill 
had worn off, leaving him wondering as to what it would do to him. That was 
when he had began making excuses... not because he was actually swamped in 
work, but because he didn't want to go down that unknown path any further.

He wasn't sure if she had actually believed his excuses or not, as Reiya 
had always been unfathomable to him. But more than that was how she had 
just left after their encounter with Keiya, saying that she needed some 
time to "be alone". What was that supposed to mean? Even if she was going 
to come back, was she planning to think this whole thing through on her 
own? She had been so insistent on them working together in the past... it 
just didn't make any sense to him.

Which was why he was taking his own time to be alone, he supposed. With his 
new power, he was going to have to be even more careful unless he lost 
control of himself.

His Guardian's soft presence flowed into his thoughts, its voice seemingly 
amused. *New power...* it tittered. *No... something that has been here all 
along...*

Toji shook his head as he gazed out at the weeping willows poised at the 
edge of a small pond past the playground. Perhaps that was true. Maybe the 
power had been there all along, and it was only his own hesitation that had 
locked it away. He certainly didn't *feel* very different now, though; some 
part of him had expected his entire view on the world to change as soon as 
he got home. But his parents were still the same, barely noticing him as he 
walked through the door. His house was still the same, and his schoolwork 
remained irritatingly unfinished.

And worst of all, he still wasn't any closer to understanding why Reiya had 
done what she did. Why she had simply left... why she was even fighting the 
demons at all. At least he had won when it had counted.

*I can only help you in so many ways, Toji...* Liquis interjected softly. 
*The rest... you still have to help yourself...*

Toji sighed briefly before he felt his Guardian suddenly bristling with 
hostility. Someone was watching him... a Host, whose energy signature 
didn't belong to anyone he knew.

"Quite a lovely evening, is it not?" came a smooth, refined voice from 
above him. "I do so love Hoshimi at times. So many places where nature's 
simple beauty still shines through the ugliness of industrialization."

"Who are you?" Toji said carefully, sitting up from the slide that he'd 
been perched on.

A man garbed in an immaculate white tuxedo emerged from behind one of the 
trees, his eyes and hair a light, icy blue. He was smiling congenially, 
although Toji felt no warmth whatsoever from the gesture. His first impulse 
would have been to question why he was dressed so formally, but it didn't 
strike him as a particularly good idea right now.

"My name is Hikaru Ijisawa," the man replied coolly. "A pleasure to make 
your acquaintance, for I have been waiting a long time to meet you... Toji 
Kizuda."

Toji instantly eyed the man warily as he heard his name being spoken aloud. 
"How do you know who I am?" he demanded. "Are you one of Keiya's men?"

But Hikaru only shook his head, chuckling mirthlessly. "No... indeed I am 
not, and I feel slighted that you would consider me on the same level as 
those ruffians," he said. "I am simply... how should I put this... an 
observer. A person who has taken interest in your activities, and has for 
quite some time now - "

"Why?!" Toji shouted abruptly. "Why do you people have to always interfere? 
I just want to live my life, damn it! Why can't you leave us alone?"

Hikaru seemed mildly perturbed at the interruption, and the air around him 
abruptly grew much colder as he frowned imperceptibly. "Such impertinence, 
my dear Kizuda. I merely need you for an experiment. Shall we go about this 
the difficult fashion, or will you come along amicably?"

Toji's response came in the form of a tremendous rush of water as his 
Guardian drew the entire pond outwards from behind him, the liquid 
coalescing around his torso in a dozen transparent ribbons poised to strike 
like vipers. He slowly shifted his feet apart into a solid stance and 
uncurled his arms outwards, palms facing up as his fists gradually opened.

"I see." Hikaru straightened the lapels of his suit and lifted his hands 
outwards, his own fingers curling in on themselves, his hands spreading 
before him like claws. Dirt crunched softly underfoot as one of his legs 
slowly edged forward, every muscle tense with anticipation. "You have 
chosen your destiny, Kizuda... and while I know that I will undoubtedly 
enjoy every second of this fight, I will also warn you that you have made 
the wrong decision."

Not wanting to hear another word, Toji suddenly burst forward towards his 
opponent, his arms shifting inwards in preparation to strike. But something 
felt wrong, even as the first of Liquis' ribbons lashed forward; that 
oppressive cold was still hanging in the air, and it spread with insinuous 
grace within his mind as Hikaru easily parried the attack with one hand. 
Toji quickly drew back before it could go further... and realized what had 
happened as he glanced up.

Hikaru was standing calmly in place, a small smirk on his face. A single 
blade of ice was hovering serenely besides him.

"Do you see now?" he said wickedly. "You are powerless against me, Kizuda."

Toji's hands twitched as he felt Liquis' shivering... whether it was from 
fear or the suffocating cold was unclear to him. One thing was certain, 
though: he was going to have to put his all into this fight, or he would 
probably never be able to see Reiya again. The mere prospect of that was 
enough to make him feel angry all over again, frustrated with the dawning 
realization that he was never going to get anywhere. But there was no more 
time to think as he lifted his arms and charged forward, shouting as he 
brought every single one of his Guardian's tendrils to bear upon his enemy.

_____





-- bellreisa

Writings        http://bellreisa.tnim.org
Wiki            http://ciel.ath.cx:8080/cielwiki


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