Loneliness (Uraboku Fanfic)

Chapter 12

(Y/n)'s POV

Hotsuma and Yuki immediately ran towards him. I chased after them.

"Guys, wait!"

They stopped when they heard giggling above them. Ashley was here. Hotsuma attempted to attack her but missed. She landed in front of Shusei.

"Not bad, Giou Zweilt," Ashley commented.
"You're Ashley?" Hotsuma asked.
"Don't you mean Ashley-sama?" she replied.
"Geez, answer with an actual answer, Ashley-sama." She glared at me.
"Yuki, get Shusei," Hotsuma said.
"Got it," he said. Ashley and Hotsuma started fighting while Yuki ran to Shusei.
"Yuki, let me!"

I stopped him from grabbing the thorns and used my katana to cut it. He caught Shusei just before he fell. Yuki started to heal him.

"Yuki, don't-"
"No, (Y/n). You're always doing things for others and protecting me. Let me do this for once, that's what I'm here for," he exclaimed. I hesitantly let him.
"This is pointless. That Zweilt will never wake up again," Ashley told Hotsuma.
"What does that mean?" Hotsuma asked, angered.
"He's a beautiful, silent doll. I'll let you sleep beside him for all of eternity," she replied, smirking.
"What did you do to Shusei?!" Hotsuma asked angrily.
"I didn't do anything to him, this is what he wanted," Ashley replied innocently. I cut her hair so that Hotsuma was released.
"Let me take her, I have some business to settle here." Hotsuma nodded.
"My beautiful hair!" She screamed. She used her hair to push Hotsuma against a wall.
"Hey, your fight is with me!" She just giggled and attacked me. I surrounded her in poisonous cherry blossoms.
"Ahh! Let...me go!" Her hair came towards me and wrapped around me. Suddenly, she started laughing.
"No one has ever been known to come out of that alive," she exclaimed wickedly.
"Well, I'll just be the first person then." Hotsuma slowly stood up and cut her hair. I was immediately released.
"Thanks."

Yuki was ordered by Hotsuma to look after Shusei. Ashley broke out of the cherry blossoms, all covered in red spots.

"You're speaking nonsense. Shusei wanted this? There's no way that's true!" Hotsuma said.

He ran towards her and attempted to slice her but I ran in front of him when she was about to slice him with her long, witch-like nails. Her hair trapped me again, only in a stronger grip.

I struggled to break free. Hotsuma was arguing with Ashley while I tried to call Flare but she had covered my mouth as well.

Flare! Help me, please!

She didn't reply. They continued to argue as her hair continued to grow tighter. No, I had to get free.

"Stop it!" She noticed the cherry blossom on my arm and smiled evilly.
"You're gonna die today, (Y/n)."

I looked at her in fear as she walked towards me. I looked at my katana which was underneath me and muttered a spell under my breath. It immediately sliced through her hair, letting me go. She turned towards Yuki after giving Hotsuma a serious injury. I ran towards him and tried to heal his wounds.

"N-no, help Y-Yuki..."
"I know, I'll kill him first," she exclaimed. She was staring at Hotsuma.
"Pfft, like I'd let you."

Yuki's expression still stayed the same but immediately changed to one of worry when he saw how badly injured I was. She was about to slice Hotsuma but I hugged him.

No one needed to get hurt because of this. I was waiting for the attack but it never came. I opened my eyes and noticed that Yuki had saved us.

"To save them, you intend to sacrifice yourself?" Ashley asked.
"You don't understand. You don't understand what it means to protect the friends you love," Yuki replied fiercely. Hotsuma slowly got up. He smirked, showing that he was ready to fight her.
"You should have stayed asleep," she said sadly. Suddenly, she appeared behind us. I grabbed her throat and slammed her against the wall.
"Leave. Us. Alone."
"That hurt, you're gonna have to pay for that," she exclaimed. I glared at her. She used her hair to grab Hotsuma and myself. We were tied together in a bone-crushing grip.
"Hotsuma! (Y/n)!" Yuki yelled worriedly.
"Take care of Shusei," Hotsuma replied. Yuki was pulled into the air by thorns.
"Ashley, stop this!"

She smirked and tightened the grip. She held out a dagger, attempting to pierce my cherry blossom. Oh no... Damn it!

"Stop this!"

She slammed us against the wall and ground endlessly. I chanted a spell and broke free of her torturous hair. Hotsuma was barely breathing. I managed to stand up and chanted another spell.

Now I had four daggers in each of my hands. I threw them at her, all of them hitting its target. Hotsuma slowly got up and headed towards Shusei.

"I thought you were my partner. No matter how painful or pathetic, we live. I thought we would keep living together-"
"He's dead! He betrayed you and chose to die alone!" Ashley screamed.

I jumped out in front of Hotsuma and got grabbed by her hair but this time, I was prepared. I sliced through her hair. I needed to get this right. Suddenly, a sword struck her stomach.

"I won't let you hurt my partner anymore," Shusei exclaimed. He stood up and walked towards us.
"Thank you, Yuki," he said.
"I'm so relieved," Yuki replied. While they were having their reunion, Ashley 'turned crazy'.
"You ruined my clothes, you'll pay for this!" she screamed. Wings popped out of her back and marks appeared on her face.
"Oh, so you're getting serious now?"

I smirked and similar wings grew out of my back (they're more dragon-like). Only, I had a tail and horns instead of a mark.

"This is dangerous, stand back," Hotsuma told Yuki.

I cracked my knuckles before jumping and kicking her in the jaw. She grabbed my leg and slammed me into the ground. I quickly stood up and started punching her.

"Arise, master of power, god of the skies. Let me see, 'Limitless Boundaries'!"

An attack shot out from the ground and injured Ashley badly. She screamed in pain. I let Shusei and Hotsuma take over for a little while before I attacked again. She was growing weaker and weaker.

Her attack got trapped in a shield. All that could be seen was smoke. Shusei told us her whereabouts. Hotsuma and I combined our attacks and aimed it at her. She fell down, defeated. Something was coming.

"Guys-" Shusei was shot in the arm. He bent down in pain.
"Damn, I missed. I'm rusty, guess my hand slipped."
"Guys, watch out. There's two of them." I blocked his attack right before Hotsuma was hit.
"You're not the only ones who work in pairs."
"Fight me."
"We're not as weak as we were before, cherry blossom. We're winning this for sure."
"I'd like to see you try." I charged at them, making sure to keep up my speed.
"Hotsuma, take Ashley!"

I got hit a few times by those opasts, but since I was in my 'other form', I was stronger than them. Why were they this fast? They were way easier to defeat back then.

"(Y/n), you've grown weak."
"Says the one that's losing."

Hotsuma grabbed me and switched roles with me. Now I was fighting Ashley. I cast a spell on my katana and sliced through her body just when Luka came and did the same.

"Sorry I'm late," he exclaimed. We defeated the other two opast as well. *sigh* I really had grown weak.
"Is it over?" Yuki asked.
"Yes," Shusei replied. Suddenly, the whole place turned chilly.
"Stay back, Yuki. It's Reiga," Luka said. His coat fell off, revealing a face that I should've realised before.
"Kanata-san...is Reiga? No..." Yuki exclaimed, shocked.