The pain in her arms sharpened her attention. It reminded her that she had someoo protebsp; ‘Hitomi…Yuki… I’m sorry, Hiroshi.’ Saki felt her leg muscles tighten on her preparing for her t forward, already warmed up from the sprinting that she had to get back to the warehouse. A burst from her feet sprung her into the bat that Ayumi was already engaged with the man of vines.

  Chapter 20 – My Brother’s Keeper

  “Saki!” Yuki tried to move his body, but it wouldn’t budge for him as though it seemed to know something that he did not. He couldn’t stand seeing Saki out there getting hurt because of him. Yet there was nothing that he had been able to do to ge it. It was like this for him all the time. ‘Why ’t I move? She ’t fight this sort of person. He’s not normal. Move legs! Saki’s going to get killed out there!’

  Ayumi pulled her focus ba the assassin after the sudden arrival of Saki to protect Yuki. She cut away the vihat got in her way. An annoyed expression came over her as she dealt with the vines like they were beh her. The sword tightened in her hands glowing off the light behind her as she readied her assault.

  Saki didn’t wait for any word from Ayumi as she charged straight for the man without any sideration for her safety. She put up her arms to take a couple vines. Blood sprayed into the air as she pushed on to her target. Nothing stopped her as vitempted to take hold of her, but missed getting a hold.

  The speed of a sprinter gave her an advahat the assassin was not expeg from Saki. Closer to the man, more vines came up to stop her slig at her clothes trying to put up a wall to stop her. Single minded focus drove her deeper.

  Ayumi extended her snow up, freezing the vines in pbsp; This gave Saki a hurdle to jump over. Lifting off from the frozen ptform, she used all her momentum to throw herself into the air. Recklessly, she flew i first to her target.

  All the vines grasped at the air as she sailed through nding her feet directly in the chest of the man. The impaocked him back, kig the air out of him. Stunned for the moment, Ayumi took her opening and followed up as Saki came th nding in the snow. The sword in Ayumi’s hands hung down against the snow as she charged forward drawing it up in an arbsp; A fsh of the bde against the assassin ripped through staggering the man backwards.

  Saki returo her feet, ign the tears to her school uniform, staring down the assassin. She couldn’t tell if they ehe fight. She waited.

  Ayumi leapt back after finishitabsp; The vines had broken free from her id threateo attack if she pressed a kill. ‘Not dead yet… And his vines seem to have a mind of their own. Expins a few things.’ The moment to breathe was coldly weled by Ayumi as she turo Saki o her. “What do you think you’re doing and attag so recklessly too?”

  Heavy breathing from Saki had held back her words as she caught herself and brought her body’s rhythm bader trol. “ we debate this after we defeat him?” Saki pulled her hands up sliding herself into an offeance ready to strike at the slightest movement. All of her training at the dojo was going to be put to the test.

  “What do you mean ‘we’? This one’s mine. You don’t stand a ce against someone like this. You’ll only get in my way.”

  “I just kicked the guy. I’m not defenseless here. And st I checked, you don’t have any martial training.”

  “I’m not who… No, that wasn’t enough to kill him.”

  “We don’t really have the time to debate this. From my perspective I just helped you. So until that stops being the case, I’m staying.”

  Ayumi caught the ge in demeanor from Saki seeing the serious look in her eyes. ‘There’s no ving her.’ A sigh came out of Ayumi’s mouth as she looked down at the ground. Around the snow id the remaining viill focused on by the man.

  She lowered her off hand to her side as the snow pushed aside revealing a narrow length of ibsp; The ice rose up until it came into tact with her hand. Her hand grasped the end of the ice breaking it free from the ground and whipped it sharply through the air. In a blur it ly morphed into a basic straight sword.

  “If yoing to fight, take this. It’s lighter than a metal one, but about as strong and sharp. It shouldn’t slow down your movements.” Ayumi tossed the ice sword over to Saki, being caught quickly. “Just don’t leave the snow or it’ll disappear.”

  Questions that should have been asked went silent. In the heat of battle acceptance won over. Saki gave Ayumi a short smile and nod in uanding. She looked down at the sword, seeing partly through the semi-opaque bde. It was cool, but not freezing to her hand nor did it eve. She had never felt ice like this before. “Right! A little different from what I’m used to.”

  They drew towards the shade where the man began to move again with the vines surrounding him putting up a like barrier. Out of the darkness came a smooth, nearly sweet and kind voice that seemed amused. “You’ve e back for your revenge? This should be iing.”

  The man stepped forward bringing the pnts with him reag the edge of the light. A green light suddenly burst from him altering all of the ground around him into a green field of grass and vines with flowers interspersed throughout. The field collided with Ayumi’s snow melting and shifting fighting over dominance.

  The barrier around him dropped away with the vines returning into the ground whispering in wait. The man revealed himself to be surprisingly handsome behind the viaking the two back a step. He had a fair fad soft light blue eyes that matched with his voice that made him appear youharuly was. Medium brown hair finished off his young appearance kept short and close to his face ating his shape.

  His white uniform was repced by loose green pants that tied at the ankles with red tape. A matg green short trench coat cut off just a little after the thighs. Cuts in the cloth at four ses covered around him except for the middle se in front of him. The coat buttoned half with a long strip of material ing around from the right side of the coat over and behind snapping into pce at his babsp; Underh his coat was a red tank top kept ly in pbsp; A red sash tied in around his coat at the waist keeping all of the excess from being free. Along his right sleeve there were several red strips ed matg in color for the b that went around the coat.

  “Getting serious now?” Ayumi narrowed her eyes, not certain how much of a ge this would be now that he had pulled out his full power.

  “Indeed. It seems that I must, now that it is two on one,” he said with a pleasant smile on his fabsp; He grabbed a vihat was slithering along his shoulder and ripped in two taking the length of it. The two girls moved slightly, adjusting their stances defensively, uain by the absp; “So cautious.”

  In his hand the vine appeared to wither and die turning brown thinning out. It slowly turned leathery iure until it became a whip that he coiled up in his hand. “Shall we?” He turned himself a little adjusting his stah the whip staying further away.

  ‘He’s enjoying this…’ Saki shifted her defeo adjust for the ge. Out of the er of her eye she monitored Ayumi’s movements pnning to time her as in step. The iy in the air increased with Saki feeling the lethality. She pnted herself firmly, she wouldn't turn away.

  The man’s vines lunged forward out of the ground at the both of them with his hands giving orders to increase their rea time. Ayumi and Saki leapt out of the way to evade only to be immediately tered with more pnts ging dire almost instantly. Arcs of bdes dahrough the air. The two nded on the ground a moment after with the drop of the pieces of pnts in the snow.

  Saki used her leg strength to get into striking distance while Ayumi worked to slow the progress of the pnts with her ibsp; The man brought up the whip in his hand that suddenly gleamed like a razor sshing at the ice sword in Saki’s hand. The bde snapped off without challenge as the whip followed through slig through the cloth on her shoulder and skin as well throwing blood up.

  Saki rolled out of the way quickly, seeing that her attack failed. Oopped, she stared questioningly at the sword. The bde suddenly restored its lost shape, growing out to return to its normal length. She turned her head over her shoulder catg Ayumi's gaze. More questions filled the back of her mind.

  “That sword will never do you any good at this distance.”

  “I guess we’ll see.”

  Ayumi pushed closer, breaking the vines away held frozen in ibsp; She cut away a strike of virying to make ground towards the man. New vines surfaced to block her way. Some flowers suddenly grew with the vines making her cautious. Buds popped up on the vines as well opening into small flowers of red and e. It was only moments before needles unched from the opened buds. Ayumi reacted by raising up snow to take the hits.

  Yuki watched from the back with his fingers biting into his palms frustrated with his inability to help. From his view he could see Saki getting hurt because of him repeatedly. He khat she was losing blood and had to be losirength, but there was nothing that he could do. ‘Why ’t I help her at a time like this? Aren’t I supposed to gain strength from seeing her hurt? Aren’t I supposed to find my power and save her? Why?’

  He dropped to the ground pounding his fists against the t ign the pain. ‘I want to help! Saki needs me! I o do something!’ Yuki coughed, feeling a pain stabbing at him from the wounded sounds of Saki eg through him. She was visible to him even if he did not look at her. It was clear to him what was happening and every injury she took cut deeper in him. ‘Saki! Please… Saki…’

  Saki tried to evade the swing of the whip, but her legs were slowing down. She held up the sword hoping that it would take some of the impact away from the whip before it sliced into her. The amount of small cuts she had taken started to add up draining away her life through the blood that dripped and soaked into her clothes.

  The sword held against the whip this time as it spun around the bde catg both of them a little off guard. However, while Saki tried to uand, the man seemed to know almost immediately. “Fog on this sword now too, Ayumi? Divide your attention too much...”

  Ayumi dropped to the ground throwing her fists into the snow produg a shockwave in the snow. The nearby snow altered its state into ice daggers. A momehey flew out in front of her ripping through the pnts. They came to a halt at a sed yer of vines ag as a barrier to the man. “You talk too mubsp; Start fighting and stop with these games.”

  “Did I wound your pride?” The barrier lowered, spinning quickly around him. They ged their state, sounding almost like a saw bde as the edges became narrow and razor in form. “Very well. If you wish for me to be serious it is your funeral.”

  The whip in his hand ged again. Still ed around Saki’s sword, barbs of metal grew out of the leather. It pulled on her sword threatening to break her stail the on disappeared from her hands. Only for an instance, but long enough for the whip to drop and the sword re-materialize.

  Saki tried to step back, but felt the kicked up gusts from vines spinning behind her. She didn’t realize she had bee caught in his trap. ‘So many of these things are beyond me, but I’ve got to focus on what I know and do. However, Ayumi keeps baiting him into being serious. I don’t know how much more of this I take.’

  She ched her hands around the hilt of the sword tightly using its stability for her own to give a foundation as she stared down the fner. Blood tio slowly pour down her arms, wetting her hands and the green ground underh.

  Out of the spinning vines came hundreds of needles that Ayumi blocked with her ice wall. However, the attack was not over as dozens of vines u her shattering the wall. The destroyed ice wall and array of needles knocked her babsp; ‘The strikes are faster and sharper than before… My usual tricks aren’t going to stop him anymore. Will I have to…’ Ayumi bit through the pain as needles dug into her skin and thick vines ripped through her clothes drawing blood.

  Saki suddenly felt the sword melt in her warm hands as though the state of the water had just ged. However, she did not have a ce to question it as the barbed whip came at her shattering the bde into dust.

  A quick follow up, hit her across her chest and back as it ed her around. The metal barbs dug into her skin f her to grieeth together just to bear with the pain. Her pain did not cease as the man sadistically pulled the whip babsp; As it returned, it tore through her flesh and clothes, ripping her skin open. Blood sprayed over the ivy under her as she colpsed screaming.

  The pendulum of battle swung back.