~~~Episode TwentyFive~~~
Yuri stepped back to back with Yoshi and Yumi, flames dancing around her fingertips. More NightScreamers has appeared, along with dozens of shadows that crawled lazily towards them. This couldn’t continue. Yuri could already feel that she had reached her limits, and she could tell by Yoshi and Yumi’s breaths that they two were exhausting.
Yuri tensed as a NightScreamer came zooming down at them.
“Stop.”
The NightScreamer froze, quickly flapping its wings forward and backing away from the three as a cold voice had spoke. The heartless all back up as a cloaked figure walked forward. Yuri shivered as she made eye contact with the man, his red eyes piercing into hers. Yoshi and Yumi shrunk back slightly,
“It’s Kimmoto!”
Yoshi whispered, her voice edged with fear. Yuri narrowed her eyes.
Kimmoto, the king of vampires and the largest threat to Vampire Slayer School. He was the very reason Hiroko and the others were being trained to kill evil vampires, and Yuri knew he was powerful. She could feel his energy radiating off of himself as he approached them. He smiled, revealing his teeth as he stood in front of Yuri.
Haku kept up with Hiroko with ease, almost passing her as he ran. Yuri’s signal had faded, leaving a very faint trail of smoke in the air that was fading. Zeph, Kiyoshi, and Sakura were right behind them, tailing close behind. Haku glared as he saw heartless ahead.
“Damn! At this rate we won’t make it in time to help Yuri!” he said angrily. Zeph looked ahead,
“Haku, Hiroko, go on ahead! You two can jump those heartless with no problem! Kiyoshi, Sakura, and I will handle these heartless!”
Hiroko glanced over her shoulder,
“You sure?”
She asked. Sakura grinned,
“Of course! Now go! We’re just slowing you guys down!”
Hiroko and Haku looked at each other, then nodded. With a burst of speed, the two ran ahead, heading right into the mass of heartless. The two leapt and darted, trying to avoid any conflict with the heartless as they hurried. Farther back, they could hear the crack of a whip as Zeph and the others fought.
Soon, they came to a clearing, where a tall, dark figure stood. Hiroko’s eyes widened, and she came to an abrupt stop. Haku stopped in front of her, noticing two figures on the ground.
“Yoshi, Yumi!” Hiroko shouted, though she stayed still. Kimmoto turned, smiling darkly at Haku and Hiroko. Haku glared, unsheathing his katana in a quick flash, and pointing one at Kimmoto.
“You creep! Where’s Yuri!” Haku snapped angrily.
Kimmoto shook his head,
“You rude little boy. You have no right to speak to me like that…especially being what you are.”
Haku stiffened, the anger in his eyes replaced for a moment by fear and shock. Hiroko noticed this, and now wondered what Kimmoto meant. But Haku shook his head slightly,
“I have ever right to speak! Now where is Yuri you creep!”
He shouted. Kimmoto merely snapped his fingers in reply. A dark mass rose up from the ground, and Haku realized he was staring at pure darkness. A NightScreamer flew out, Yuri in his claws. He thrusted her forward, and she fell harshly to the ground in front of Haku and Hiroko.
“Yuri!” Haku shouted, quickly running forward and kneeling beside her. Kimmoto smiled smugly,
“She put up quite a fight…so I decided to show my special attack. Few see it, she should be privileged.”
Haku didn’t speak, staring at Yuri. She was pale, her eyes closed and her clothes tattered. She looked horrible, and had cuts and bruises all over, including a strange cut on her face that resembled a crescent moon. Haku put a hand on Yuri’s shoulder,
“Yuri…” he said, his voice soft. Hiroko watched as Haku began to shake. He stood up, his lightning blue eyes glaring at Kimmoto.
“You filthy bat! You’ll regret hurting her!”
Haku said. He gripped his katana tightly, but Hiroko could see something strange happening. It was as thought Haku was struggling to keep a hold of his blades, as though they were being forced from his grip…
Haku ran forward with a yell of anger,
“Haku, wait! Don’t!” Hiroko shouted, but Haku kept going. He leapt, his blades flashing in the faint light as he came down at Kimmoto. Kimmoto narrowed his eyes,
“Foolish whelp.”
Kimmoto lifted his arm, and a blast of darkness formed, exploding like a river and slamming into Haku. Haku shouted in horrid pain as the darkness wrapped around him, suspending him in midair. Hiroko couldn’t just stand here and watch this. She ran forward, unsheathing her katana and leaping forward. Her blade cut through the stream of darkness, but nothing happened. It was as though her blade didn’t exist. Kimmoto laughed,
“It’s no use. I’ll slowly kill this obnoxious creature and ends it misery! It has no right to live among us.”
Suddenly a sharp flash filled the clearing, and Kimmoto hissed in agony, stumbling back. The darkness holding Haku shrank back, and he fell to the ground. Kimmoto growled, turning angrily as a blonde man walked forward, his blue eyes narrowed ever so faintly.
“Renjiro…so you’ve finally showed.” Kimmoto said. Renjiro glanced at Hiroko as she tried to awaken Haku,
“Hiroko, get your friends out of here. I’ll handle this.”
Renjiro said, his voice calm. Hiroko nodded,
“Yes sir!”
She said. She had never seen Renjiro fight, and although she was curious, she quickly obeyed him, slinging Haku’s arm over her shoulder as she carried him. A NightScreamer came at her, but a figure suddenly flickered to life beside her with a bow and arrow. It was a clone of Renjiro, one of his illusions, and with a single shot it killed the NightScreamer. Kimmoto shook his head,
“You have no chance against me Renjiro. Your students have showed me just how ‘great’ your school is, and I’m not impressed.”
Renjiro tensed, stepping forward confidently.
“I assure you, these students are no where near my level. But, they’ll surpass me by the time they graduate my school, so let me show you what to expect Kimmoto.”
Hiroko pulled Yumi back behind the bushes beside Yoshi. She had managed to get her friends out of danger…but she didn’t know what to do now. She winced slightly as she heard the battle begin, and her eyes turned to the clearing where she had left Renjiro.
Renjiro sidestepped, dodging a stream of darkness. Another illusion appeared, slashing at Kimmoto with a gold sword that was lined with flames. Kimmoto leapt back, dodging that and then another illusions spear. Kimmoto landed, and wings arched up from his back. He took to the air, dodging a blast of fire from a Renjiro illusion below. The real Renjiro was occupied with dodging the darkness that continuously stabbed and lurched for him, chasing after him hungrily. It ripped through several of his illusions, causing them to ripple and fade. Renjiro leapt straight up into the air, and the darkness came up after him. Suddenly, a tight grip clawed into Renjiro’s shoulders. He shouted, looking up to see Kimmoto had grabbed hold of him. Kimmoto grinned, and Renjiro looked down to see the darkness engulf him, wrapping around him and sending jolts of pain shooting through him. Kimmoto cackled, flying back.
“And so this is the end of the mighty Renjiro! You’ve lasted much longer than any of my opponents, but now your soul shall be devoured by the darkness.”
Renjiro suddenly laughed, and Kimmoto stared in confusion.
“What makes you think this is over?” Renjiro said, his voice echoing. Kimmoto whipped around to see Renjiro coming straight at him, an orb of light burning lively in his hand. The Renjiro held by the darkness flickered and faded, revealing that is was an illusion. Kimmoto’s red eyes widened in furious shock, and Renjiro slammed the orb into Kimmoto’s chest. The orb burned into Kimmoto, ripping through his cloak and tearing into his skin. Kimmoto let out an ear shattering roar of pain, lashing out with his claws and stabbing them into Renjiro’s stomach. Both fell to the ground, falling away from the other. Silence filled the air, and the heartless began to fade and disappear, sinking into the shadows.
The sky was brightening on the horizon as Akina and Jiro came to find Kazuki knelt down beside Renjiro. Kazuki turned as the two came up,
“The students are that way, not to far into the forest. They’re all hurt and tired, and we need to get them back to the school as soon as possible.”
He informed them. Jiro nodded,
“I’ll help get them back. You two help Renjiro.”
He ran off in the direction Kazuki had pointed out. Akina came up, looking down at Renjiro.
“Lets get him back…” she said quietly to Kazuki.
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“You rude little boy. You have no right to speak to me like that…especially being what you are.”