Kozuna
With how much dashing around I'd done beforehand, finding my way back to the entrance wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. But, I did have to move at… average human speeds. It's not like I could leave Anari and Tyuyo in the dust. However, despite saving them being my objective, my thoughts were still filled with Shin and his motives…
Electrocuting and knocking out soldiers didn't even grab my attention in the slightest as I led the group to the exit. We needed to escape as fast as possible and not let Shin's sacrifice go to waste… And he was clearly clouding Anari's mind. She could hardly concentrate.
The tear that rolled from his eye… Anari may not have seen it, but I knew full well what was going through Shin's head. I could only wonder why he'd decided to help us…
But it was no use dwelling on it.
"So... What happens when we get out of here?" Tyuyo asked, tugging Anari's shirt.
"Oh, um… We'll worry about that when we get outside, okay?"
She halfway doesn't even sound like herself…
I quietly exhaled, shaking my head.
Just focus on clearing a path, Kozuna, let Anari handle Tyuyo…
Following the directions I received earlier to the best of my abilities, I could only try to not make mistakes... And before long, after passing plenty of dead and unconscious bodies littering the once-shiny halls, we came upon the exit. Nikai stood guard there in his shadow form… and even more bodies were piled up to his sides like giant mounds of dirt…
He formed a smile beneath the shadows.
"Finally… you guys made it... Ty, you're safe with me…"
Tyuyo slowly stepped behind Anari, gripping her shirt and peeking past her waist.
"W-what's t-that..?"
Ohh… Tyuyo never actually saw Nikai like this… did he..?
Anari and I glanced at each other with worried looks on our faces... No amount of explaining would make a traumatized child be able to comprehend the situation, especially in the heat of the moment... Rather, with just a quick exchange of glances among one another, we collectively chose to… "stretch" the truth.
I waved my hands frantically and fake-smiled.
"H-he's a friend. Don't worry about it, you can trust him."
"...he doesn't…" Nikai quietly sighed, turning his back to us. "I wish I was never born like this... Let's go… I'm… getting tired…"
Just behind Nikai was a ladder built into the wall. He took the lead, with Anari and Tyuyo following shortly after. While the others were leaving, I found myself standing around, almost falling into a daydream before catching myself… I was gradually… losing feeling…
My curse is starting to feel… weaker…
Breathing deeply, I hurried up the ladder and promptly shut the hatch as I exited the council facility… There was no reason to stick around anymore…
***
Free of the confinement of those twisty hallways, I realized the entrance was accessed via the interior of a standard home. Though, it was probably just one entrance of multiple… I grabbed the nearest piece of furniture I could find and hastily began pushing it over the hatch, only for Anari to stop me…
"Kozuna, you should leave that open for Shin... He'll come out of there eventually…"
Lips pursed, I averted my gaze.
"Yeah... Sure."
Nikai kicked open the front door, his shadows instantly beginning to grow…
"Sun's setting… And soldiers are everywhere. Fuck."
"Get away from the door!" Anari shouted, attempting to grab Nikai.
It was no use, though… With the moon rising and the sun doing the opposite, the situation quickly progressed to getting out of hand. Again. Nearby soldiers had caught sight of Nikai walking outside, and they didn't waste time. Seeing something like that, they were shooting on sight, not that it was gonna do much good.
I rushed over to shut the door, leaving Nikai to deal with the soldiers. Going after him wouldn't make the situation any better.
Anari's brow raised, and her tone grew more… bossy...
"Kozuna, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be helping?"
"Nope. He opened that door, knowing what would happen. Nikai is on his own. We ne-"
"Wait… You're saying that thing is my big brother?"
...fuck.
I practically facepalmed in my mind… Then puffed my lips out physically, refusing to meet eyes with anyone at that point.
"Yeah, that's Nikai… But more importantly... the last time he went all crazy, I just barely managed to stop him... And he's only gonna get stronger as the moon rises... So I say let the guards handle him for now. If they capture him, at least he won't be able to... leave, for now… We gotta get Nikai to stay, and work on getting fair treatment for cursed people. That said-"
"That said? That said, what? What are you planning, Kozuna? And what do you mean by, 'stay?'"
"N-nothing... Anyway, I need to reach Sand Tower and free someone... With the whole city in chaos, it's the perfect time to get him outta there... Ah… but there's also an anti-curse field up there…"
"No... No, no, no, no, NO! We have a problem right here, right now! Right outside that door! Don't cause more issues by setting some criminal free! You're gonna let Nikai rot in prison, just to free someone else?"
She doesn't understand...
"The soldiers can't stop Nikai, believe me... But they can slow him down. That should buy me enough time- hopefully- to save my friend. After that, I'll come back and… deal with Nikai... If all goes well, then both of them can hide out somewhere until we get this whole thing sorted out."
"Do you honestly think Nikai wants to be cramped up in one place? That's the entire reason why he was found out! We tried to hide him away, and he WASN'T HAVING IT!"
I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath. My fingers were twitching by then, thanks to the pointless argument with my ex-squad leader…
"Anari… If you have a single good idea, that doesn't involve shooting down every one of mine... I would fucking LOVE to hear it."
Tyuyo backed away from us tearfully, and that caught our attention fast. It was easy to forget that at the center of everything, was a child forced to be going through all the bullshit we were dealing with… We couldn't keep thinking of ourselves and only what we wanted to do. Tyuyo was more important.
"Here's what's gonna happen... You wanna free your prison boyfriend, Kozuna? Go ahead! I'll take Tyuyo to Zara's place... He'll be safe up there, at least..."
I scoffed and rolled my eyes…
"...yeah, like I'm the one with a prison boyfriend… While you're there, maybe come up with a plan for securing Nikai? And get in contact with Commander Kaiten; see if he can get a helicopter on the roof of Sand Tower. I may need an extraction."
Anari disregarded my boyfriend comment and nodded- though noticeably pissed off, based on the glare in her eyes. She grabbed Tyuyo's hand and made for the back door, while I sighed and rubbed my face...
"I'm sixteen years old… There's no reason I should be this damn stressed… Whatever…"
Well, which way do I exit..? Front door? Back door..? Oh, I know where I'm leaving from...
I crouched and charged my energy, then sprung upward and kicked a hole through the second floor and roof. The wind blew around me fiercely as my kick took me way above roof level, the soldiers that hadn't yet been killed easily noticed me.
"Is that Kozuna?"
"First this thing, now him!?"
I wanna just… leave them to deal with Nikai, but… Ahhh, damn it…
When my feet hit the slanted roof, I whipped my arm at Nikai, striking him with a thunderbolt.
If I can get him to follow me… Maybe I can use it to my advantage…
I'd already located the direction in which Sand Tower stood; all that was left was to lead a rampaging Nikai the same way. And with a direct hit to his shadowy head, Nikai followed me without a second thought, his curse undoubtedly guiding his actions…
It's better that I focus on keeping Nikai on my tail… I don't actually need to fight him right now. If I remember correctly, the anti-curse field is only active inside, on the higher levels. If I can get Nikai to attack that general area, maybe I can free the other prisoner and get the field destroyed simultaneously. Hopefully, I can keep my curse from deactivating for now… And hopefully… I'm not making a mistake.
With the monstrosity of shadows barreling me, faster than expected, the city was lighting up in flames. Nikai did an... absolutely fantastic job of making things bright, as if the sun had a night shift… His power was pure chaos- despite me being his only target, he didn't hesitate to cause destruction along the way.
In practically no time at all, I was coming up on Sand Tower, after hopping between rooftops…
***
The spire rose high into the sky, so high that I realized I might not be able to just… run up the wall. Not before gravity- or Nikai- could stop me…
I can scale small structures just fine… But a skyscraper..? Well, I have to try…
Nearly across the street from the tower, I stopped moving to get a visual on Nikai- and also to catch my breath. He was already charging up another blast and pretty much in the process of firing it… I had to be at least SOMEWHAT up the tower before he could fire, or my plan probably wouldn't work…
God, this is totally reckless… And I'm really getting tired… So much running around… If only my curse boosted my stamina instead of just my force… Still haven't recovered all the blood those councilors stole… Am I just winging it at this point?
Soon enough, Nikai climbed atop a building, after leaving behind countless homes decimated... Another sphere was building between his palms, dripping energy on the rooftop like it was too much to contain…
I had to make a move.
I cleared the road from the closest building in a single leap and dug my fist into the sandstone wall with a speed-boosted punch. Luckily, my hand dug into the wall just enough that I didn't slip and fall. I grabbed the wall with my other hand and hastily propped my feet up against it, charging up what little energy I could before unearthing my fist.
In my peripheral vision, I could see Nikai aiming at me. I couldn't wait any longer. Yanking my hand free of the sand, I immediately bolted upside the tower, my wobbly legs carrying me as fast as they could.
Gotta hurry and reach the top before Nikai lets loose. That's my only chance. The way Nikai attacks- he's chasing me with intelligence. Just… not his own.
In the near distance, a low-pitched yet loud explosion invaded my eardrums. Nikai had fired his energy at me, and I wasn't even ready…
His energy struck the center of the tower, just a few inches below my feet. I was left holding on, with my eyes damn near bulging out of my skull.
To no surprise, his attack whisked right through the tower, searing a large portion of it away. The base was okay, but all the upper levels were gonna plummet in just about two seconds. It was starting to feel like I was playing chicken with my own life.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…
Before I knew it, the briefly-separated upper portion came crashing down in a cloud of smoke and dust, right on top of the tower's lower half. All while I was forced to hold on for dear life, which didn't last very long.
Fucckkk… Not only is the other prisoner at risk... But if any ACTUAL criminals survive, they might escape and cause havoc…
I'd already lost my footing by then and sufficed to just rush up the ever-falling spire. The other prisoner was somewhere near the peak, and apparently, Nikai must've thought it'd be funny to KEEP shooting energy balls at me.
Not only was I scaling Sand Tower as it collapsed beneath my feet, but I also had to dodge projectiles like I was literally living inside a damn video game…
He better be preparing to escape. There's no way that dude is inside the tower, sleeping like a baby…
"Here I thought things were bad underground. Heh..."
Pressing my feet hard against the tower, I sprung away.
Time to put this "plan" into action… I've gotta use my curses in tandem…
Winding back my arm, I used electricity to propel myself toward the area I estimated the other prisoner to be at... It wasn't exactly an exact measurement or anything, but it was definitely a surefire way to break open the tower…
Upon closing back in on the tower, I kicked right through the wall and found myself rolling around inside moments later- in the same cell as the other prisoner. His hair whipped every which way as he bounced around thanks to the whole fiasco…
"Kozuna? What the shit is going on?" he asked, unable to get to his feet.
"I'll- OW!" I banged my head into the steel bars. "I'll explain later! Let's get outta here!"
Before he could respond, I grounded myself as best I could and caught hold of his wrist. And without wasting a second, I bolted right out through the entrance I'd created only moments ago.
I basically gripped him by the wrist while he flailed about through our quick descent from the skies to the ground… But thanks to my curse's power, the landing wasn't painful at all. And I acted as a cushion for the other guy, though he didn't land on his feet so easily…
"Damn… What was all that for?"
"Clan's in chaos. I'm freeing you. You okay?"
The building was pretty much about to come crashing down on our heads, but for some reason, we found the time to speak a little bit…
"Am I okay? I should be asking you that… Idiot. You were gone for days. Heh, thought they killed you or something… I was getting used to the silence again..."
"What, were you actually worried about me?" I chuckled softly and began walking toward Nikai… "If you want to escape the Ozukashi, here's your chance... I won't bore you with what's happening, I doubt you're interested…"
I received a scoff, and the first slight smile I'd seen on his face…
"You were set on freeing me… Without any other reasons? Like helping you deal with that… thing over there..?"
"I've dealt with him before- and won. I can handle it. You should get going."
He shook his head...
"We have some unfinished business..."
"Unfinished business?"
"Tonura. Mifune Tonura."
"To- Your name's Mifune Tonura!? Hold on, are we friends now or something?"
"Don't get ahead of yourself." Mifune dusted himself off and stepped to my side. "I think you're gonna need some help dealing with… him… So, how about I teach you to activate your curse later. For now, I'll just… let you see mine in action."
Gazing at a proud Mifune, I simply smiled.
"Hell yeah, let's do this."