The Hinomoto Rebellion (54 page)
As she stared at the hovering Ryoku, Andrea felt energy to her right. She heard D yell “
DRAGON’S RAGE!
” and had just enough time to jump to the side as a beast made from water suddenly crashed into Ryoku. The water dragon smashed into Ryoku and took him to the ground, splashing back into nothingness as it hit and leaving Ryoku in a huge puddle.
26 and Fushi ran through the halls, following Andrea’s blood trail from Yasakuto’s office.. After a few minutes they came to an open door leading to steps that went up to the roof. Rain was pouring down the steps by now, soaking the carpet.
Looking up, 26 could just see the back of Roni’s head. The girl was standing out in the rain just outside the doorway. Fushi pushed past 26 and clattered up the stairs. “Roni!”
The younger girl turned, her eyes lighting up as Fushi and 26 came out into the rain. She hugged them both, then they all looked toward the sounds of battle. Through the storm they saw three figures fighting each other, circling around in a ballet of kicks and punches that was deadlocked.
Ryoku turned and planted his foot straight into Andrea’s bleeding shoulder. She hit the ground with her butt and rolled, letting a scream past her lips as she did so. D quickly stepped around and grabbed Ryoku’s left arm, spinning him away from Andrea so he could throw a punch at his face.
“We’ve got to help them,” 26 stated, taking a step forward. Roni quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist, causing her to look back.
Kemono
glowered, but stepped back and continued to watch the fight through the rain storm.
Andrea was back up, though her legs felt like they had no bones left in them and she could barely focus her gaze through her wet bangs and heavy eyelids. All she wanted to do right then was lay down and go to sleep. She mentally chanted one of the mantras that Kanjou had taught her before closing back in on the battling souls, walking slowly so she could be sure her legs would hold her.
Ryoku landed a hard uppercut into D’s stomach, causing him to hunch over. The black-winged angel brought his knee up and smashed it into D’s forehead. The Aka Ryuu slumped to the ground, coughing and clutching his stomach as Ryoku leaped on top of him, pinning him to the ground.
“Well, Densetsu. I must say, this has been amusing, but I’m getting bored now.” He put one of his hands near D’s forehead and pulled his other arm back, his bow and arrow shimmering into existence as he did so, the point of the arrow a centimeter from D’s flesh already. “Say good-bye, better half.”
D’s eyes widened as he stared down the shaft of the arrow. For a brief second, he thought this was going to be his end.
Killed by your own soul. This isn’t a good way to die!
A set of arms suddenly wrapped around Ryoku from behind, coming up over his neck and maneuvering around the large black wings. One hand latched on to Ryoku’s head and twisted, while the other grabbed his aiming arm and yanked skywards. The shock forced him to release his bow string, which sent the arrow flying up into the gray clouds.
Andrea ripped Ryoku off of D, throwing herself to the ground as she moved her arm in an attempt to get a choke-hold on him. Her legs came around him and locked around his waist as she tried to keep her head down and away from flailing limbs as she held on to him.
D’s other half thrashed, clawing at Andrea’s arms and trying to roll over so he could attack her. She maintained her grip, burying her head between Ryoku’s shoulder blades so she wouldn’t get knocked unconscious by his muscular wings.
D was already on his feet. “But you’ll get caught in it!” Andrea saw stars as Ryoku raised his body and smashed her back into the roof. She could feel the arrowhead digging deeper into her bloody shoulder as she clung desperately to Ryoku’s torso.
Ryoku roared with rage. “I’ll kill you, Tiger!” he screamed as he smashed her into the roof again. Andrea gurgled something unintelligible from behind him.
D’s mind raced as he watched the two thrash on the ground. Andrea was right, he’d never got a better shot to try the rejoining. At the same time, if she got caught in it he knew what it would do to her. Ryoku’s version stole souls if used on anyone but D, and as much as he wanted to be whole again, he didn’t want to sacrifice Andrea in the process.
But if he didn’t do something soon, Andrea was going to die anyway. He’d noticed how weak she was, and each time Ryoku rose up and smashed her back down into the roof he could see the pool of blood her oozing shoulder was leaving on the concrete. If Ryoku didn’t get lucky and smash her skull open with either a wing or the roof, she’d bleed to death.
D muttered a curse and widened his stance, gathering his ki into his center as he focused on making himself whole. A ball of crackling white energy flickered to life in between his palms as he closed his eyes. Lightning sliced the sky in half, causing harsh shadows across the three combatants.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” 26 replied, stepping back as well. The ball of ki D was holding grew larger, arcing out in white hot streaks. She turned and followed the other two down the steps, clamoring toward the hallway below.
D pulled back his ki-encased hands as streaks of light curled up his arms and across his chest. His hair billowed up in a wind that wasn’t felt by anyone else.
“MIRROR’S...”
As soon as Andrea heard D start the attack, she unlatched her legs from around Ryoku’s waist, doubling her grip on his neck as she contorted herself to put her feet underneath his shoulder blades. Ryoku thrashed his wings, nearly knocking Andrea away from him, but she gritted her teeth and held on.
“GATE!”
Andrea unlatched her hands from Ryoku’s neck, slammed her palms back onto the concrete, and shoved with all the strength she had left in her, sending Ryoku to his feet directly in the path of the attack. As the ki enveloped Ryoku, Andrea flipped her legs over her head, hit the ground with her legs askew, and gave a few half-hearted rolls to attempt to get out of range.
The rooftop exploded with light that lit up the sky and made even the gray clouds turn pure white for a few moments. Two male screams erupted out through the city, causing anyone in the vicinity to turn and look. From down on the ground, a few of the reporters braved the rain to capture the tower of energy that rose from the roof and into the clouds, opening a patch of sky from the rainy cover.
Andrea felt herself get picked up and hurled across the rooftop. She blindly groped for anything to grab hold of before she was pitched over the edge. She felt her legs fall away into the air, but could see only white around her. Her injured arm was refusing to work, but just as her hips went out into open space, the fingers on her good arm clenched around something solid.
The Tiger heard D and Ryoku’s twin screams reverberating in her head, heard her own scream as the energy whipped around and over her, tearing at her skin and her clothes. She felt that she was in the hottest fire ever created. Finally, the two male screams converged into one, and then it was only Andrea’s voice that pierced the air.
After what seemed like an eternity, the white hot light subsided. As the blast of ki retracted in on itself, Andrea felt her skin no longer burning, and her vision slowly came back. She found herself gripping on to a pipe, her body halfway over the side of the building and her left arm hanging useless at her side. Above her, the sky was clear and blue, the only evidence that the rainclouds had ever been there was the wet buildings and trees.
Andrea grunted as she gritted her teeth and pulled herself back up onto the roof using her good arm. She flopped to the concrete, face down in a puddle of water, and decided that she was too tired to attempt to move anymore. All she wanted to do now was sleep. Her eyelids felt heavier than they’d ever been.
Her eyes focused on a shape that was coming toward her. As she squinted, the shape came closer and she suddenly realized it was D. Yet, it wasn’t him all at the same time. He was still wearing the same clothes, though they were ripped and stained in many places now and the sleeves were gone completely. It was his face that Andrea realized was the most different though. Aside from his hair now being a shade of dark violet, and his eyes being purple and silver, his face was different. His expression and the way he moved were all uncharacteristically D, and it made Andrea give a weak smile as he ran toward her.
she thought as she closed her eyes.
God, I’m tired.
She heard him calling her, even felt him slide an arm under her and lift her up so she was half sitting and half leaning against his chest. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment to look into his.
“Andrea. Hang on, okay? Just hang on, I’ll get you help. Please, just don’t die on me!” There were tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
The Tiger reached up weakly with her uninjured arm and stroked D’s purple hair. “So... there you are,” her hand fell away as she closed her eyes again. “Purple looks better on you... Taro.”
“Oh god, Andrea! Please hang on! Don’t go to sleep on me, stay awake!” He tightened his grip on her and shook, trying to make her keep her eyes open.
D suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and turned, his eyes full of tears as he stared up at Shogun Kunota. The Shogun walked around in front of D and knelt on the other side of Andrea. The two of them stared for a moment, and there was a strange gleam in the Shogun’s eyes as the two men regarded each other. Kunota put his hand down to Andrea’s neck and felt for her pulse.
“Don’t worry, Densetsu,” the Shogun said with a calm smile, “She’s strong. She won’t die, not yet. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”
Every once in awhile Andrea felt that she was coming close to consciousness, but she continued to let herself drift off back to sleep before waking up completely. During the periods where she was partially awake she could hear noises and voices that sounded far away, but familiar. Roni, Fushicho, D, Kanjou, Deuce, Foxfire and his wife, Shogun Kunota, and more voices that she didn’t recognize came through to her, urging her awake though she continued to let herself fall back in to the peaceful abyss.
She drifted along in darkness, relishing the dreamless sleep while she could get it. She wasn’t sure how long it went on, but it seemed like a long time of falling in and out of half-consciousness before she was able to flutter her eyes open all the way. Her blue eyes tried to focus, but were blinded by sharp, cold light at first. She let out a low groan and squinted, allowing herself some time to adjust.
The first thing that she noticed was that she was still very sore. Every part of her body felt like it had been beaten on by a hammer, and the only thing she could move somewhat was her neck. She turned it slowly to her right, noting that she was in a hospital room and was half-way sitting up in the mechanized bed. The walls were a soft eggshell color, and there was a window that had a tree and a white brick wall outside of it. Simple pale blue curtains hung on either side of the window. In the far corner near the ceiling was a television set that currently had the sound off, however, Andrea saw the footage that was playing and immediately recognized
ronin
and
Kemono
charging on the Capitol. She gave a small smile, then continued looking around the room once a reporter came on the screen and began talking.
