Mission of Love

Chapter 5: Third Wheel

Atsushi's POV:

Harumi is walking ahead of me, talking to Akutagawa cheerfully. It's almost like he's forgotten who he is supposed to be working with.

Although, he doesn't seem to interested in Harumi's small talk.

"The stairwell is ending, we should focus on what we might face," Akutagawa dismisses her and speeds up, leaving Harumi with a sour face with a little bit of hurt.

"We're almost there," I say. "One more floor." And then it'll be over. For some reason, I don't feel excited.

"Weretiger, we don't know who the enemy will be. Stay sharp, or you'll kill us all," Akutagawa growls at me as he prepares Rashomon. 

"Come on, we're all excited to get out," chides Harumi, clutching her bleeding arm. 

"Ah yes, we should get a move on," I sigh. Akutagawa huffs and continues walking, his coat trailing elegantly behind him with his hands in his pockets.

We reach the stairs and quickly clear the second-last floor. 

"Now for the gem," Akutagawa brushes his hands. 

"Please don't die," Harumi pleads, clasping her hands together. She looks like she has a lot of stress built up. Hopefully we all make it out alive... and destroy the gem before Akutagawa and the Port Mafia can use it for their own evil crimes. 

"Shall I remind you that we have a mission to do?" Akutagawa snaps impatiently. 

"Alright, then let's go," I clear the last set of stairs and enter a dark hallway. I feel a surge of power as we near the gem.

Harumi trails behind us, but I notice something weird. She hasn't said anything for a long while, and her blood has suddenly stopped. She is probably in too much pain.. I feel guilty for not trying harder to help her, but we lacked too many resources.

"This is it, once we walk through this door we are at risk," Akutagawa warns, glaring at Harumi once, then me. 

I simply nod and ready Byakko. Akutagawa cautiously holds the doorknob and slowly slides open the door. 

We enter together and collectively stare at the enemy that resides before us. His head jerks backward, and his mouth gapes open. White, bubbly drool drips down. A slender man who had claws lets someone, who likely attempted to get the gem, fall the the ground with blood spilling everywhere. 

"Care to join him?" the thin man says ominously.  A shiver is sent down my spine, I take a deep breath. Akutagawa shoots me a glance. I don't know what it was for or why, but I return it anyway. I couldn't tell what our intentions were, but whatever they were we would need to defeat this enemy to find out.

Akutagawas POV:

I hear chuckling sounds behind me. I whirl around in unison with Atsushi and see Harumi, her blue orbs glinting—no, glowing—  and a golden aura wrapped around her body. 

"If you've made it to the top of the tower... surely you can withstand the power of the guardian?" Harumi speaks in her own voice, but there seems to be a menacing voice underneath, like a low backtrack for a song. 

The monster shifts behind us, making us glance at it in alarm. In that moment, Harumi leaps forward and strikes two fingers to the spine of Atsushi's back and shoulder, paralyzing him. 

"I quite like this body," drawls Harumi, her smooth voice rich with honey. "So agile... and delicate." She draws one of her fingers on Atsushi's jawline. He tries to move his hands to smack her away, but I remember that she just paralyzed him. I raise my foot and slam it on her head hard while she was turned away from me.