Chapter 28 #2
“Shit!” Aimee pressed her back hard against the boulder. Was he the snake? A shape-shifter? She hadn’t thought there were shape-shifters like that in this world.
“What do we do?” Iruka whispered, crowding in beside her.
“Do you want me to deal with these ones?” the voice of the man beside Renji asked, cold and casual.
“No, no, Doruto.” The monster, or whatever it was, exhaled with mock patience. “I think I deserve a little fun after all that work, don’t you think?”
“Whatever you say, Kazuma,” the other man snorted. “I’ll get the patients wrapped up and prepared for transport. But don’t play too long. The proctors are already looking for us.”
Aimee’s blood ran cold, even as a familiar shiver slithered up her spine. Kazuma. That name again. It was the same person who had supplied the Veilroot formula in Midoriko. She clenched her fists tightly, her nails biting into her palms. This is the guy responsible for Kiba’s suffering that day.
“Kazuma?” Iruka’s frown deepened. “The Hi Haven traitor?”
“And the guy who gave the drugs to the rogues in Midoriko,” Taiga finished, standing abruptly. “If anyone needs an ass-kicking, it’s this guy.”
“He’s Ryōsh level, one of the legendary Oni, you fool.” Iruka hissed as he stood. “You’re going to get us all killed.”
Taiga grinned and held up one half of his locator, a twin to the one Aimee had left on the body by the canyon.
“We just have to keep him distracted long enough for the Proctors to get here. Plus, you know Kiba-Sensei will come running with two of our trackers broken. He likes to pretend he doesn’t care, but he’s really just a mother hen. ”
Aimee exchanged a glance with Iruka, and she saw the realization dawn in his eyes.
“Not an idiot! We should be able to last at least a few minutes.” Iruka grinned, raising his fist for Taiga to bump. “I have a few more questions for the snake, anyway.”
And together, they stepped out from behind the boulder to face the monster head-on.
Just keep them alive long enough for Kiba to get here, she reminded herself, tightening her grip on her blades.
Kazuma barely acknowledged their presence, idly picking at his fingers. Only after a long pause did he glance up. “All ready, then?”
Before he could say anything else, Aimee darted forward, her twin short swords extended out before her.
She aimed low, slashing at Kazuma’s midsection, but the man countered with a gust of wind, throwing her off-balance as he sidestepped, his movements almost leisurely.
While she tried to recover, a massive snake shot from his sleeve, hissing and snapping at her head, forcing her to duck and roll to the side, its fangs clamping down on empty air.
Iruka followed her, hurling a pair of kunai directly at the enemy’s chest, but he flicked his wrist, and another gust of wind knocked the blades away.
Iruka didn’t stop, though. He immediately conjured his own element, a sharp wind shear that sliced toward Kazuma’s legs, driving him away from Aimee.
Taiga charged in next, his fists glowing with the weak, erratic pulse of the earth element as he slammed into the man.
The ground shook beneath his feet, cracks spidering out from the impact point, but Kazuma merely raised an eyebrow, swatting Taiga aside with a slap to the head that sent him crashing into a nearby boulder.
“Not terrible. You all move better than most Tanshi.” His lips curled into a pout. “Shame your training ends here.” His gaze found Iruka as a cruel smile spread across his face. “Soon enough, you'll be able to ask your parents how they died directly.”
“Screw you, asshole!” Iruka leaped forward, slashing the air with his kunai, summoning a powerful wind shear that barreled toward Kazuma.
But Kazuma moved, his body stretching unnaturally as he dodged the attack, raising an arm.
Another snake flew toward Iruka, this one thicker, darker, and more menacing.
It coiled tightly around the boy’s torso before sinking its fangs into his neck.
“Iruka!” Aimee shouted, rushing forward, but Kazuma intercepted her with a swipe of his hand, sending her skidding back with another blast of wind.
Fucking wind! She gritted her teeth. The monster used it better than even Kiba.
“Hey, you!” Taiga roared, charging in again.
The earth rumbled and cracked with each step before surging upward to form a jagged pillar straight at the enemy. The impact sent a deep grumble through the stone, but Kazuma only laughed as it crumbled at his feet.
“Seems like you haven’t quite mastered Mana use yet, have you?” With a casual backhand, he sent Taiga sprawling across the sand.
“Come now,” Kazuma taunted. “Surely you can do better than this? Has your Sensei taught you nothing?”
Aimee growled in frustration, pushing herself to her feet just in time to see Kazuma extend both arms toward her, each one splitting into a mass of writhing, hissing snakes.
Before she could react, they wrapped around her torso, constricting tightly and pulling her off the ground, dragging her toward him.
“Aimee!” Iruka called, struggling in the grasp of his own serpent.
Kazuma’s grip tightened as he pulled her against him, his voice a low, dangerous hiss in her ear. “Is this a game to you?”
“What?!” Aimee gasped, struggling to free herself.
She had no idea what he was talking about.
But, before she could respond, Taiga’s voice rang out from behind them. “Let her go, you monster!” Then, his hair ignited, flames of every color licking up from his scalp as his eyes blazed with the raw power of fire coursing through him.
Oh fuck. He was releasing whatever it was inside him.
Taiga’s hands moved rapidly through the air, forming a series of symbols, and a beam of heat erupted from his palms, aimed directly at Kazuma and Aimee.
SHIT! Aimee thought as the searing heat bore down on them. A little blinking probably won’t break the Rules. She closed her eyes, twisting reality, and teleported just a foot out of Kazuma’s grasp, dropping to the ground and gasping for air.
The heat beam struck Kazuma across the face just as he jerked away. Hissing in pain, his once smug expression twisted into one of pure rage as he clutched the scorched side of his face, smoke rising from the burn.
Taiga sprinted to her side, and with a grunt, he dragged them both away from Kazuma’s looming figure, sand kicking up beneath their heels.
“You okay?” His voice was tight with concern.
“I’ll live,” she gasped as Kazuma turned to face them, her mouth falling open at the sight.
The melted flesh of Renji’s face peeled away, dripping like molten wax from a cursed candle, revealing the pale, smooth skin underneath, as if sculpted from polished bone.
His dark, serpentine eyes glowed with flecks of purple, the slitted pupils narrowing as his lips curled back, revealing fangs far too long for a human mouth.
“I’ll kill you, boy!” he shrieked, stepping toward them as more of the flesh mask he had worn fell away in chunks, revealing the true face beneath.
Aimee flinched, her hand flying to her chest, and for a moment, the world tilted.
Kaz. The name tore through her mind.
Whaaat have I done? Her heart slammed against her ribs as memory tore through her—snatches of another life that had been stolen from her.
His laughter in the dark. His steady hand in battle.
The heat of his mouth when she let herself forget the Mission.
A man she had loved—and left—without a word when the Pattern ripped her away.
And now here he stood before her, twisted, monstrous. Yet beneath the ruin, it was impossibly, unbearably, still him.
“Kaz?” Her voice was barely audible.
Her knees weakened as a sob rose in her throat, threatening to choke her. Panic surged, her heart breaking as the memories of their past together and the reality of what he had become collided in her mind.
“Kaz?” she repeated, but he didn’t hear her.
“I will kill you all!” He took another step forward, completely oblivious to the woman before him.
He raised his hands, and the air heaved upward, pressure coiling into a vortex that spun around his fingertips before bursting into a roaring cyclone.
It was stronger than anything Aimee had ever encountered, more powerful than any elemental attack she had seen in this world, save for Taiga’s fiery outburst just moments ago.
Then, it was barreling toward them.
But Aimee’s legs refused to move, her mind still spinning.
Then Taiga coughed beside her.
You can’t let them die! She wiped the tears from her eyes, and with an inhale, forced herself to focus, pulling the threads of her Will together into a barrier.
I’m sorry. She huddled over Taiga, just as the attack hit, barreling into her with the force of an avalanche.
Her whole body shook under the pressure as she fought to keep the shield intact.
More tears streamed down her face, and behind her, Taiga’s labored breathing was the only sound above the storm.
“I’m so sorry,” Aimee whimpered as the wind screamed around her. “I’m so sorry.” The words spilled from her lips in a chant, each one a desperate plea as she struggled to hold the barrier, even as her heart crumpled within her.
“You were everything to me!” Kazuma bellowed.
A sob tore from Aimee’s throat, and her shield began to buckle. The energy wavered under the force of his attack, cracks forming along the edges of the barrier.
Then, before it could shatter completely, Kiba appeared, yanking her and Taiga out from under the barrage, dragging them both further away. They landed hard on the ground, the air thick with dust and sand, making it nearly impossible to see anything beyond Kiba’s face.
“Are you okay? Aimee, talk to me. Are you okay?” His worried eyes searched her for any sign of injury.
She could barely nod, her vision dimming as the world tilted dangerously close to darkness.
“Stay with me, love.” He held her tight in his arms. She could see two other shinobi cutting the snake from Iruka, and his form slumping to the ground. “Stay with me.”
Aimee looked past Kiba’s shoulder, catching the hazy outline of Kazuma. Hi Haven Ryōsh surrounded his lean form, their weapons drawn, including the Hi Seishō himself standing at the forefront.
“We came as soon as we knew he was here,” Kiba whispered gently, his voice full of regret. “I’m so sorry you had to face him alone.”
She looked back at Kiba, her hand trembling as she raised it to his cheek, needing his warmth to ground her. Then, burying her face in his chest, she tried to block out the torrent of memories threatening to overwhelm her.
This is my life. This is my life. She repeated the mantra, willing herself to stay in the present.
“Oh, love.” Kiba kissed the top of her head, arms pulling her tighter against his chest. And for a moment she let herself sink into him, the steady thrum of his heartbeat almost enough to drown out the chaos within her own.
Then the moment shattered as a raw howl of agony split the air, sharp enough to rattle her bones, yanking her gaze back to Kazuma.
“All for nothing!” he cried, the sound broken and desperate. “How could you!”
Kazuma screamed again, and then another, more guttural sob followed, full of despair.
“Come quietly, traitor,” the Hi Seishō commanded. “There’s no need to draw this out any longer.”
For a moment, Kazuma’s focus snapped from Aimee to the Hi Seishō and then back to Aimee. His sobbing stopped, and his face hardened.
“All for nothing,” he closed his eyes briefly, pulling himself together, his face going cold and emotionless as he addressed the Hi Seishō.
“Come quietly?” He laughed. “Now, where is the fun in that, hypocrite?”
Then, before anyone could move, his body shimmered, fading from view.
“Come and get me. We’ll see who goes quietly.” His voice echoed, and then he was gone.