Fumiko ran through the house quickly with the image of the girl still burned in her mind. The pani her body pou her heart enough to make it burst. ‘What was that? Was that an animal?’

  She didn't bother closing the door as she turned wide to make it in the dire of the young girl. Once Fumiko made it in view she could see that the girl still ran screaming to ahat might hear her. Unfortunately, everyone ignored her pleas, too afraid.

  Behind the girl was a blurred brown-gray mass that looked nothing like what Fumiko had ever seen before. It was signifitly rger than the girl and ran on fs; luck was the only thing that was saving the girl from the creature. ‘Is that another one of Yuki’s creations in this world?’

  The creature let out a deep roar that caused her to trip in her fleeing. Fumiko was still too far away from the two being forced to watch as the girl was ered by the predator. While Fumiko was tall and had long legs she was hardly athletic, a fact that she was cursing now. ‘I’m too far away still! I won’t make it!’

  Her shriek drowned out the roar, when the animal’s cws ripped across the girl. It tore into flesh and clothes. “Stop it!” Fumiko looked around quickly, still running, to find a palm sized stone iall grass. She picked it up and threw it at the animal without sidering the sequences.

  There was a dull thud as the sto the back of the animal and bounced off almost ued by the weight. The animal turs head a little trying to figure out what had happened. It had bought Fumiko enough time to finish the distand slid around in front, putting her back to the beast. “You’re safe now.”

  The little girl coughed briefly, still trying to adjust to the new situation. “Who are you?”

  “You just think of me as a Big Sister!” Fumiko spun around, narrowing her eyes iermination to stand against the beast that was nearly as tall as she.

  Chapter 62 – Staring Down the Beast

  Her brave words only fused the girl further as she tried to collect herself. The girl crawled away on her back pushing with her legs through the grass away from Fumiko. A foul odor breathed out from the animal’s mouth like a fine mist of tendrils. “Pl-Ple-Please…”

  “It’ll be alright.” She sounded fident in what she was saying. Yet Fumiko could feel the untrolble terror creeping through his skin. The thing before her was something that she could only imagine, and that scared her. This was not a simple bully uy ing on too heavy. She faced a monster with pure al desires breathing down her merely held back by whim.

  The fged beast pawed its fs at the ground throwing back grass. Its brown short fur that covered the entire body was interspersed with thick gray hair like strains that grew along its spine unduting about with a mind of their own. The first pair of eyes was set in front of the face while a sed pair were at the side all focused on Fumiko.

  A quiiffing of the air by its wide and elongated nose looked for the fear that she tried to ceal. The head of the animal was rger than half of her body with a mouth that looked like it could snap her in two with only oe. Several rge fangs, three times thicker than her evehumb, in the front were pushed out and exposed giving a clue to what the rest of the mouth would look like.

  Fumiko slid a foot back as the seds ticked away for her. She felt ered knowing that she couldn’t run and couldn't fight with nothing but her fists. Unfortunately, time had run out as the creature ceased its hesitation and shed out with heavy paws, cws already extended.

  She had only moments to reabsp; Moving on instinct, she turned away from attack trying to get into the grass. Her waist took most of the cws dragging through her blouse and flesh quickly turning the blue cloth reddish violet. Fumiko let out a short yelp trying to hide the pain.

  The child stared up at her pleading with her eyes. She could only scream through her hands. Fumiko forced her eyes to focus on the girl already quickly being overe by the pain. ‘I wish Yuki was here…he would be able to do something about this…’ The girl suddenly stretched out her hands towards Fumiko. It snapped her mind baarrowing on the problem before her. ‘No! I’m here and I have to do something!’

  “ you run?” The little girl gave her a quiod with uainty. “Good… When I say to, start running to the house…”

  The strike for Fumiko came. She dropped herself down into the dirt. Missing surprised the beast for only a moment, but Fumiko was already turning around with a thick clump of dirt and grass in her left hand. She tossed the clump at the face of the animal. “Run!” The animal let out an annoyed roar. Fumiko was hit by the back of the f in the wild swings knog her through the grass.

  The girl had stopped ieps hearing Fumiko being strubsp; “Big Sister!”

  “No! Run away!” Fumikled to get back to her feet, but the st hit she took had khe wind out of her as well as her banbsp; She dropped bato the grass as the animal’s berserk rage drew close to crush her under foot.

  Disobeying Fumiko, the girl met with her kneeling in the grass. She tried pulling on Fumiko’s arms to get her away from the animal. Fumiko tried to insist that she run away on her own, but the girl refused. “Please, Big Sister!”

  ‘Big Sister!’ echoed a voi her mind.

  Fumiko’s eyes grew wide for a moment as she thought she saw someone familiar to her in pce of the girl. The image faded away from her, but the encement from the girl was enough. It was just in time as the animal’s out of trol stomping thundered o her feet. Fumiko made it to her feet and fled the area into a neighbor’s property that became rown with vines.

  She paused at the er of the house looking back towards her own house. ‘I hope it doesn’t follow us, but what if there are more of them around…’ Fumiko turo look down at the girl to che her. The girl started to cry with one hand hanging tightly onto her torn blouse. “Hey, what’s the matter? We’ll be safe now!”

  “But you’re hurt because of me!”

  “Is that all?” Fumiko softly patted the girl on the head to try to ease her pain. “I chose to help you, you didn’t make me. So you shouldn’t feel that this is your fault.”

  “But—“

  “More importantly, how are you feeling? The monster got you once.” Fumiko k down to look at the clothes and to see how badly she was injured. The green and white one piece dress was only partially soaking up the blood. “Does it hurt?”

  “No…”

  “You’re very brave. I’m Fumiko, what’s your name?”

  “Mieko…”

  Fumiko gave the girl a reassuring smile to try to fort her a little. “Alright then, you ready to go? We probably shouldn’t stay here much longer.”

  “Big Sister Fumiko…”

  “Yes?”

  Mieko grabbed tightly onto Fumiko’s blouse, her fear transferring through her hands. “Is there anywhere safe?”

  “If we make it to my house we should be safe, but we’ll have to gh the babsp; You up for that?”

  “…yes…”

  Fumiko stood up and led her through the sidewalk around the house into the babsp; O seemed, a pounding thunder could be felt through the earth as the creature came running down. It had put some urgen their steps rushing to the back wall that divided all of the properties. Fumiko checked behind them to see the creature speed past the house. ‘It’s lost us…but we should stay in the back just in case…’

  Mieko was the first up on the wall with Fumiko’s help. The height was less of an effort for Fumiko as she joihe girl. There was a narrow path on the wall mostly covered by pnts or vines, but the house was only a few lots away from them. However, a familiar growl from behind him forced their gaze babsp; They were just in time to see the beast leap into the air clearing the wall effortlessly, three houses down, having rediscovered their st.

  ‘It found us?!’ The two of them froze for a moment, uo believe what they were seeing. A creature se was able to move so smoothly through the air. “R-Run!”

  The pnt covered path threateo trip them. Mieko had already been caught by Fumiko once from falling. However, when Fumiko looked back she saw that the brown-gray beast was getting even closer to them. It made her lose her footing and nearly sprained her ao keep herself up. She had to bite through the pain as they were almost to her house.

  I neighbor’s back area was a shelf of potted pnts that escaped being recimed. Fumiko slid to a halt at the shelf a down to pie up. ‘I’m sorry, please five me!’ She waited until the beast was about to leap again and threw the cy pot, less than a house away from them.

  Already enraged and o, the animal didn’t try to avoid the flying objebsp; It shattered instantly on its hard head c its entire face with potting dirt and a rge leaf pnt. The blindness and shock preve from leaping, but all of its momentum remained and crashed into the wall.

  Fumiko sighed quickly, but it was soon. She could hear crag just before the entire wall around the beast exploded into shards followed by the travelihquake-like force through the rest of the wall. Fumiko and Mieko were uo keep their bance, falling backwards away from Fumiko’s house while the beast tio charge unhindered by the wall and collide with their family’s wall.

  An exposed root in her bad Mieko safely on top of her, Fumiko wasn’t certain if she should be sighing in relief that they were still alive. She lifted her head up to look down at Mieko. Her small frame could be felt shaking through into Fumiko without seeing her fabsp; “Everything’s fine Mieko. We’re still alive, right?”

  “…mmhmm…” The deafening noise unseen oher side of the wall was only heightening her ay. She could not see what was happening, but hearing it was making it seem even worse. It seemed hopeless.

  Fumiko lifted Mieko back up to her feet. She could only see smoke and debris from the wake of the creature. Being halted had only served to increase its anger. It moved once more and roared loud enough to rattle the windows. It felt as though it ierg her down to her bones making them shake and crack from merely below. ‘I thought being in a house would be safe, but a stone and brick wall wasn’t even enough! What do I do?!’ She turned around to look down at Mieko. “ you still run?”

  “…I-I don’t know… We ’t escape it! And there’s nothing to protect us from it!”

  “It’ll be alright! You trust y Sister Fumikht?”

  “…mmm…” The hesitation from Mieko made Fumiko try f her again. Mieko tched onto her quickly making it difficult for her to move around. “I’m scared, Big Sister Fumiko…”

  Fumiko gave her another pat on the head hoping to ease her. “I’m here to keep you safe. Nothing will happen to you!” Fumiko managed a warm smile for her to give her strength. The ragged little girl nodded more certain now. “Let’s get out of here!”

  They escaped from Fumiko’s house through the narrow path into the grass street. Behind them the thunder of the beast rose once more. Their head start didn’t st as the beast barreled through the house they had just left, taking out a rge er of the home itself. Dust and debris settled behind it as it turowards its targets once more. Fumiko had only looked back quickly at it to know how far away they were. ‘I say all that, but I holy don’t know what we do…’

  ‘…Big Sister!’ There was a distant tug on her arm that made her feel as though she was hearing voices again.

  Her heart pounded in her chest more from uainty and desperation than fatigue. She wasn't used to all this running, but it didn't seem to slow her down. ‘I have to keep her safe… But I’ve never felt this…’ The blood in her veins ran cold with her mind uo get the images out of her of what she saw that thing do. ‘…scared…’

  ‘How am I going to get out of this?’ Losing their distance Fumiko turhem down the reet hoping to gain some of their safety. Unfortunately, the rge animal cleared the er of the wall and actually put it even closer to them. ‘…this thing wants blood! I ’t stop it and I ’t outrun it!’

  “Big Sister!” Mieko cried as she tripped. Fumiko lifted her into her arms.

  She turned down the street running close to the property wall. However, the beast ig and crashed through. Debris and greenery from the explosive impact of the animal flew up around them. All of the fusion threw up pieces at Fumiko with most missing her, but a couple struck her in the head and arm separating Mieko from her.

  ‘Big Sister!’ A faint image of anirl id over Mieko's flying body. Her eyes already started to lose focus before her head smashed against the edge of the b wall. It dropped her painfully like a doll face first in the grass and dirt h around sciousness. ‘…Kimiko…’ Fumiko tried to stretch out her arm in the dire that she thought Mieko was seeing a brownish blur moving away.

  “Big Sister!” screamed Mieko panicked as she was being ered by the animal against the wall. She looked around, settling deeply into fear when she saw Fumiko lying on the ground lookio her. “Big Sister! Please help me!”

  ‘Big Sister!’

  “Big Sister!”

  ‘…Big Sister…’

  The dull ringing in Fumiko’s ears made it impossible for her to hear anything. All she could hear was an eg familiar voi her mind. ‘…Kimiko? Sister… Where’s Mieko?’ There were suddenly images fshing through her mind, all of them covered in blood almost impossible to see clearly. ‘Sister! I promised I’d protect you! Mieko?! I must… I ’t let another one down!’ Fumiko pushed herself back to her feet struggling with blood dripping down the side of her fabsp; She straightened up starting to stagger towards the animal with her eyes being sharper aermined.

  A gloeared to refle her deep green eyes as her hair began to blow around her. “Not again!” Her voice seemed to have a percussion affe on the area ringing out through the area. The walls that divided the houses developed cracks quickly expanding from her position as the windows were , shattering to pieces. As though there was a forderh the ground, the fragile crag walls caused them to explode into debris flying up into the air away from Fumiko.

  The glow that had been in her eyes was expanding to cover her entire body in a light e-greehat slowly bled off her twisting into the wind above her. They became tendrils that pyed through the air leaving a trail behind. At first only a circle, but then two interseg triangles before straters appeared apanied by pictographs. It began to fsh and glow moving to the animal unleashing a fiery n upon it.

  Fumiko didn’t know what was going on trapped in the moment with her eyes growing wide in shod fusion. “Yuki?! Is that you?”