"Ayame-chan!!" chimed some soldiers as they tried to catch up to her, "What are you doing so early in the morning? Want to come with us for a run??"
"Sumimasen, I can't go with you boys today. I have a meeting this morning and I have to make sure Yamazaki-shousa gets up in time."
'That guy...' the two vengefully watched her go into his room. 'It's no fair!!'
"Shousa~! Wake up~!" Ayame chimed as she closed the door behind her. Much to her surprise, he was already up and in the middle of buttoning his shirt. "I-I thought you'd still be sleeping."
"Yare yare," Yamazaki sighed as he pulled on his suspenders and walked over to her. "We have a meeting today, don't we?"
"R-Right!" She looked back and forth. "But your room is... is so clean..."
"Oh, I couldn't sleep last night so I ended up organizing my stuff. You don't like it this way??"
"Anyway is fine. But you always seem to surprise me, Yamazaki-shousa." She noticed the photograph slid in the mirror. "I've never seen this one..."
"Kaede-kun sent it to me in her last letter. It's her newest school portrait." he explained, standing behind her, "Sorry I didn't show it to you; Kaede-kun asked me not to."
"She's still very angry at me... But you two have gotten really close since..."
"A-Ayame..." He turned her around and cupped her face with his hands. "Kaede-kun still cares about you most, but she's waiting for you to go to her and apologize. In her letters, she's always asking about you. I'm sure everything will work out. After all you two are sisters; nothing can ever change that."
"You're right..." she said, trying to cheer up, "We'll visit Kaede-san as soon as this mission is over."
Yamazaki's eyes fell. "Ayame... actually..."
"Hm? What?" she asked, blinking at this serious expression. "Shousa...?"
"Aa, it's nothing... Forget about it."
Ayame thought this was very odd as she went to sit down on the bunk. 'Usually he speaks his mind... Maybe it really is nothing, but I can't help but feel that...'
Suddenly, there was pounding on the door. "OI!! YAMAZAKI!!! WE KNOW YOU HAVE AYAME-CHAN IN THERE!!! YOU SELFISH BASTARD!!!"
Yamazaki shrugged and went to sit next to Ayame. "There's always some kind of interruption... But we still have plenty of time before the meeting, don't we??"
"Un!" Ayame replied, putting her arms around his neck, "Plenty of time..."
They shared a couple of kisses, before finally getting annoyed with the excessive noise outside. "KNOCK IT OFF!!!" they both hollered, throwing some books at the door. Soon, the pounding stopped.
"Since the mood is gone, shall we go have breakfast before the meeting?" Ayame asked as she got up and handed him his military jacket.
"I suppose so." He put his jacket on and zip it up. Ayame reached over and fastened his collar. "Thanks..." She just flashed him a bright smile and turned for the door. "Aa, wait!" he gasped, stopping her with a hand to her shoulder.
"What?"
Yamazaki walked over to his desk and took out an envelope. "T-This is... for you..." he stammered, handing it to her.
"Eh? For me?" Ayame looked down at the sealed envelope. He had written on it not to open until after the mission. "Why?"
"The contents are very important. I-I want you to read it... because I can't seem to say it myself..."
'Why all of a sudden?' she thought, watching the nervousness rise in his face. 'He's never been afraid to tell me anything before... Why...?'
Yamazaki sensed she was worried about this and reached for her again. "I'm sorry. I wish I were strong enough to tell you face to face. But I can't." he said into her hair, "Ayame, you mustn't forget that no matter what my feelings won't change..."
"Shousa..." She slowly relaxed. They then smiled at each other and turned for the door. 'But... this letter...' she thought as she slipped it into her pocket, 'What could it be...?'
* * * * * * * * * *
The meeting was at 10:00 hours. Ayame and Yamazaki walked into the conference room. Yoneda, who was already downing the sake, gave them a big grin. "You two look awfully cute today... Everyone's calling you the 'married couple of the military'."
"S-Sonna..." Ayame stammered, blushing.
"U-Uresai..." Yamazaki grumbled, blushing.
Kazuma waved his hands over at them. "Please don't start an argument. Someone will be here any minute with the revised orders."
"I'm already here," said a voice at the door. But this one didn't look familiar to the Tai Kouma Butai. "I'm Fuuji... I took over for Sakakibara."
"What happened to Sakakibara-tai??" Yoneda asked.
"He was injured on the last mission and is being hospitalized. I hope we can work together, Tai Kouma Butai."
"We're looking forward to it." Yoneda replied, getting up from his chair, "Shall we begin?"
Fuji nodded, going to pull down a map of Tokyo. As he spoke, Kazuma stared down. 'I've already heard this plan before... but in the real context.'
"The enemy will be attacking this area today and you need to stop them from advancing north. We will lure them here with a trap, using the Majinki..."
"What?!" Kazuma lifted his head and stared at Fuji; he hadn't heard this part. "Majinki??"
"That makes sense..." Yamazaki uttered, "Since the enemy has always been attracted to the Majinki more than any of us..."
"Isn't it a bit dangerous?" Ayame replied, "I mean couldn't the enemy actually get the Majinki into their possession??"
"If that happens, we'll be in a lot of trouble," Yoneda noted, "There's no way we can let them have it."
Kazuma nodded. "If we want to finish them off for good, we have to lure them to one place and defeat them once and for all."
"Right!" Fuji said, "My men and I will give you as much back up as possible. There are about 100 men in my troupe. On the last occasions, the enemy has conjured magic that created natural disaster... We have to limit the casualtiess, so I'll have my men evacuate the area in advance."
'While this is happening...' Kazuma thought as the other discussed the plans, 'Kyougo and his men will attack the underground breeding grounds in Ginza... Yet, they are not going to evacuate the area, so it won't tip off the enemy of the surprise attack...'
"This mission seems dangerous, but I think we could pull it off," Ayame noted.
Kazuma stared towards her. 'There are also preparations for the Spirit Cannon to be transported if needed... for Ayame...' He forced a smile and finally responded in his normal demeanor. "Of course we can!"
* * * * * * * * * *
After leaving the meeting room, the group joined the assembled soldiers outside. They were all filing into their jeeps that will head for the designated area.
"We need to be there by 12:00 hours," Yoneda noted, looking at his watch, "Kazuma, did they give us an approximate time the enemy will show up?"
"No one knows where their base is yet," Kazuma said, "So the time we have to wait is not determined."
Standing in the middle of the road was a woman, so the jeep had to stop. Yamazaki jumped out of the jeep and ran towards her with Ayame close behind. Yoneda and Kazuma both came out and stood outside the jeep.
Yamazaki skidded to a stop and stared at her smiling face. "W-What are you doing here?" he asked as she placed the suitcase onto the ground and walked towards him, placing her hand to his cheek. "Miroku-san...?"
"I just came to tell you that I'm going back to Kobe to finish my research. And this morning I had a meeting with Kanzaki-san. I gave him information about those who plotted against your father... and also you. From here on, you don't have to worry about them."
"B-But isn't it dangerous for you? Why did you do such a thing??"
"Because I'm tired of being scared and helpless... I'm not going to run from it anymore. If I can do something for what I care about, then I'm going to give it everything I have... even if it means that I..."
"Miroku-san..."
She just grinned at his surprised expression. "I really do hope you come and visit me again. Soshite..." She peered over his shoulder at Ayame. "Please come along next time, Fujieda-san. We'll have a ladies' chat over tea."
"Hai..." Ayame uttered, "I'd love to, Hasokawa-san..."
The two exchanged a brief smile, and Miroku started to back away. "Good luck on your mission. Take care of yourself, Shinnosuke-kun, Minna-san!"
"Thank you, Miroku-san..." he said softly, as he turned back towards the jeep. Even as they were driving away, Yamazaki didn't take his eyes off the woman - her standing in the middle of the road with her long black hair flying in the wind. 'She did this... even if it meant...' Soon, he couldn't see her anymore. 'Miroku-san...'
There were the sounds of gunfire. Everyone in the jeep lifted their head in surprise. "Mi... Miroku... san...!" Yamazaki gazed back to where they came, but realized they were still moving forward at a greater speed. "What are you doing?!" The driver paid no attention as he continued to push down on the gas. "TURN BACK THE DAMN CAR!!" Yamazaki exclaimed, climbing up front and grabbing the man by the collar.
"D-Dame desu!!" Ayame gasped as there was a struggle in the driver's seat and the car began to swerve. Finally, she managed to squeeze herself up front in between the fighting two (and poor Kazuma who was in the passenger seat) and stepped on the brakes. Everyone in the car lunged forward as the jeep came to a sudden stop. While they recovered from whiplash, Ayame took over the wheel and turned the car around.
"MIROKU-SAN!!" Yamazaki yelled as soon as they came to the place where she was last. The area was empty and there was nothing left but a single piece of paper crumpled on the ground. Yamazaki knelt down and picked it up, taking took out his glasses so he could read it. In Miroku's handwriting, he saw: Y A M A T O. 'EH?'
By now everyone had gotten out of the jeep. Yamazaki slowly turned around, feeling a little distraught as he walked towards them. His eyes glinted over at the driver. "TEME!" he exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders and slamming him against the jeep. "What the hell were you thinking?!? Did you know what happened to Miroku-san?!?"
"Iya! I don't know!!" the driver gasped, "Someone save me from this maniac!!"
"Yamazaki!" Yoneda quickly retained the boy, "Calm down! This guy obviously didn't know anything. He was just doing his job and that was to get us to the site. As for the woman, we can phone the police."
Yamazaki looked towards Kazuma for other options. "I agree with Yoneda-chuujou. We've got to keep going if we want to be in position on time. The police will take care of it, Yamazaki."
Yamazaki slowly nodded his head and went on into the jeep ahead of everyone else. The driver recovered and the others started to go back in. Ayame paused to pick up Yamazaki's glasses that had fallen on the ground and finally caught up.
"Ano..." She sat next to him in the back and held up his glasses, but he wouldn't respond. "Shousa, I'm sure that Miroku-san is all right."
He finally turned towards her. "You're right. I shouldn't worry about it right now; I better just concentrate on the mission." Ayame could sense the tension in him couldn't go away and reached for his hand. The warm touch calmed him for the moment.
* * * * * * * * * *
They arrived at the checkout point roughly on time, but it looked like there was nothing going on. Waiting for the orders to move, the Tai Kouma Butai hung around the deserted street corner. Yamazaki ran off to use to phone, but by the time he came back, nothing still had happened.
"The cops said they'll search the area..." he grumbled, sulking against the lamppost, "I wish I could go look for Miroku-san, but I'm stuck here. Dammit!! I hope this mission goes pretty quickly."
"I see..." Ayame then reached into her pocket and felt the envelope and glasses with her fingertips. 'I wonder what Shousa wrote... Hm... Masaka...' Her cheeks reddened as a possibility popped into her mind.
- Dearest Ayame-san, I know it's a bit sudden and we're still very young... but would you marry me? -
'Kya! Sonna!' she cried inwardly, 'I have my military career to think about and I'm much too young to get married! Shousa isn't too crazy about the idea either... Demo...'
She remembered him telling her once: "When there's peace in Teito, we could finally..."
'Finally what?!?' she asked herself, 'No, it can't be a proposal... Unless... it's a...'
- Ayame, we've had a lot of fun in the past and I care about you a lot. But for the sake of our own ambitions, I think it's better if we break up. -
Her face saddened at this possibly. 'It could be that too...' she thought, looking towards the young man gazing off into the distance, 'Shousa, what did you write me??'
"Waaachu! Aaachuu!" Yamazaki sneezed a couple of times and Yoneda handed him a handkerchief. "Thanks... But, this is awfully boring... waiting around in the cold for the enemy to show..."
"Baka yarou!" Yoneda hollered into his ear, "You want them to show up now??!"
"Shirei! I was just saying...!"
While they got into another argument, Ayame glanced at her watch. 'It's been already an hour since we called the police. I hope they find Hasokawa-san soon. I hope she's all right. Yamazaki-shousa is trying not to think about it, but I'm sure he's very worried inside. Shirei and I have been distracting him as much as we can. And Taisa...'
She stared towards the solitary man by the jeep. "Ano, Taisa..." She went over to him. "Are you all right? You seem a bit tired..."
"Aa?" Kazuma rubbed his eyes. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"But..."
A soldier ran over and came between them. "I have the report! The area has been cleared, so you can release the Majinki now!"
Yoneda replied, "I'll do it." He walked over to one of the jeeps and took out a special black chest that had a spiritual shield that kept all powers inside. This was later designed so that they could transport the Majinki without the enemy sensing it. Once the seal was broken, the power was made known to all those who could pick it up. Within seconds, the extreme power of the Majinki had attracted three men in traditional clothes, who appeared on the rooftop of a building in a gust of smoke.
"We are the last of our clan! You have defeated our brother, Raiko, so we want revenge and the Majinki!" said the tallest one a gray hakama, "This is Kazuya!"
"Midori is here!" chimed the frailer looking one in a green kimono.
"I am Usada!" replied the other one, wearing a blue hakama, "There's only a couple more minutes before all of you are doomed."
"What are you talking about?!" Ayame demanded. They instantly took notice of her and combined a blast in her direction. "KYAAA!" Yamazaki grabbed her and rolled out of the way. "Thank you..."
Yamazaki got up and started waving his fist at the enemies. "HEY!!! What's the big idea!?! Don't even think about trying that again!! I'll take on you three bastards myself!!"
"Ara ara..." Ayame stammered, with sweat beads on her face, "Please try to calm down, Shousa..."
Kazuya turned to his brothers. "What's this guy's problem?"
"Looks like we attacked his girl," replied Usada, "I'm finding this very amusing."
"Erhem!!" Midori impatiently walloped his brother with a fan, "Remember what we came here for!!"
"Hai hai..." Usada noted, "But four on three isn't really fair... Let me help out our odds." He then conjured some nymph spirits to assist them. "Let's go and fulfill our destiny!"
Immediately Fuji's squad started firing at the nymphs, giving enough time for the Tai Kouma Butai to push against them. This happened faster than Usada could reproduce the creatures. Frustrated, he appeared in front of Yoneda and attacked him.
"GWAH!" Yoneda gasped, getting close to being slashed in the chest. Fortunately, Kazuma arrived and blocked it with his sword. The two of them broke into an exchange of swings. 'Kazuma...' Yoneda could recognize the look in his face. The red eyes were evident, the coldness returning. 'KAZUMA!!'
"Bastards!!!" Yamazaki hollered, still angry at them for targeting Ayame. But Midori kept cleverly teleporting out of the way before he could swing through. "STAY STILL, DAMMIT!!" Yamazaki lost all patience and released his power. Hundreds of ice spikes burst out of the ground and skewered Midori. In seconds, he evaporated into dust.
'Shousa...' Ayame had seen this as she battled Kazuya. 'You've gotten so much stronger these past days... Is it because...' She leapt up in the air and flipped over Kazuya, landing behind him and slashing him across his back. As he fell down, she shook the blood off her sword. She then caught Yamazaki's eye. 'Because of me... or...?'
The only other battle still going on was Usada versus Kazuma. But when Kazuma had an opportunity to go for the kill, Usada teleported out of the way. He appeared in front of Ayame, catching her off guard and knocking her sword out of her hands. "I'll at least defeat you before I go! Ahaha!!"
Ayame stared in shock as the blade came crashing down towards her. "NOO!" Yamazaki cried, too far away to save her. "AYAME!!!"
"Uggh!!!" A sword stuck through Usada; Yoneda stood behind him. "Don't even think about harming my precious daughter, Ayame-kun..."
"Shirei..." Ayame gasped, looking relieved. But Usada hadn't died yet. "Eh?"
"It's too late..." he chuckled as he cringed with pain from the wound. "It's too late for you! The cycle is complete! Ahaha!"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Yoneda snarled, as he twisted the sword. Usada finally died and turned into ash that fell at Yoneda's feet.
"Ayame!!" Yamazaki rushed over to check on her. "It's okay... I'm here..." Holding onto her, he smiled into her ear. "We defeated them, so I guess our mission is complete and we can go back."
"Un..." Ayame nodded, leaning on him. "But, what did they mean: 'fulfill their destiny'... Maybe... they wanted to die...?"
"Eh? What are you talking about?" Suddenly, the ground started to shake. The two tumbled away from a crack that had creased across the street. "The ground is opening up?!?"
"What the hell is going on?!" Yoneda gasped, he and Kazuma going for cover. A green light was beaming out and something was emerging. "WHAT THE...!!"
"T-That is...!" Kazuma's face went pale. "The 'Great Kouma'... the biggest of the demons..."
"NO WAY!" Yamazaki exclaimed, trying to brace Ayame from the flying debris, "So those guys were trying to wake this thing up by getting killed off on purpose?!?!" She suddenly broke away from him and gazed up at the demon. "Ayame...!"
"I'll be all right; you don't need to protect me."
"Okay, but..." he stammered, watching as she started to move pass him. He stopped with a hand on her shoulder and whispered softly, "I love you."
"Yamazaki-shousa..."
"YOU TWO!!" Yoneda hollered, "Get your minds back at the situation at hand!!" The four of them could see the 10-foot beast breathing fire.
"H-HAI, SHIREI!!!"
Ayame readied her sword. 'The battle with the legendary Kouma... No one who has survived against it... But we can not give up...'
"There it is..." Yamazaki uttered, as he and the others looked on the oversized demon. "It's big!"
"EH?" Ayame noticed that the wings had started to flap and it was leaving the ground. "Where is it going?"
They watched helplessly as the Kouma lifted off into the red sky and flew off into the distance. "What now?" Yoneda sighed, "We don't know where it's going..."
Kazuma lowered his head. "I know where its going." Everyone stared towards him in surprise. "I'll explain it on the way there..."
* * * * * * * * *
Next Chapter: "Eyes of A Demon" part 2
At that time I didn't know what would happen. And when it did, I didn't know what to do next. The images that came through my mind I cannot forget:
Teito in flames
The falling sky
Yamazaki-shousa's words
And Taisa...
I can't stop shaking, Kaede-san
