Khaos Wars

Chapter 15 - Nikka's warning

The adrenaline rushed through Ryuuzaki's body as he ran down the endless corridor. His perception of time had completely vanished. For how much longer did he have to stare at the cobblestone blur before him? At the darkness in front of him? There were no doors or windows in this hellish place; no exits. He was trapped here, trying to outrun the bloodthirsty beast that chased him, for all eternity.

Ryuuzaki looked behind him; the monster was closing in. He tried to scream for help, but not a sound came out. He was getting tired and noticed how his running slowed down with each step. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the beast caught up to him. One step. His body felt so heavy. Another step. A light at the end of the tunnel; he could make it. A sense of relief hit him, he only needed to push forward. A little more. The light slowly closed in.

Suddenly he hit the cold, hard cobblestone. His scratched-up hands shook violently as he tried to push himself back up. A giant paw grabbed his legs and dragged him backwards to his doom. Ryuuzaki turned around and saw the monster's strangely familiar blue eyes right before...

***

Ryuuzaki startled and quickly sat up. He was covered in sweat and his head felt heavy. He looked down at his still trembling hands; no scratches. Confusedly, he glanced around the room; he found himself back in his bedroom. Another nightmare. Would they ever end? A knock on the door abruptly interrupted his thoughts. A few seconds later the door carefully opened.

"Ryuu, you have a guest. Come downstairs" Hiroto, his father, informed him.

"Do I have to?" Ryuuzaki asked tiredly. He then proceeded to check the ceiling; the patterns were still the same. He sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. Who would be looking for him? Tsubasa? Maybe he came to try to get his job back; he needed the money after all. Though Ryuuzaki didn't want to, he got ready for the day and went downstairs to meet his guest.

In the staff room stood a tall, almost scrawny girl. Her smooth, raven black hair was tied up in a high ponytail that reached down to her hips. She wore a dark gray sweatshirt tunic with leggings and knee-high boots. Covering her beautiful brown eyes were... sunglasses?

"Sachiko!" Ryuuzaki ran up to his girlfriend and gave her a hug and a kiss. A month had passed since last time he saw her because she lived pretty far away. He had often wanted to visit her, but his many responsibilities here had hindered him.

"Hey Ryuu, nice to finally see you again. But I have to ask; would it kill you to visit me once in a while?" Sachiko said in a joking manner. He let out a small laugh, though he knew she actually meant it. After all; she had a hard time at home. Her parents always favored her younger sister and Sachiko would be the one to take all the blame for everything. He had witnessed it several times himself and it made him furious every time. Truth be told, it surprised him that they had allowed her to come here, no, they wouldn't have; she must have snuck out. But he didn't want to bring that up now and ruin the mood.

"What's the deal with the sunglasses?" Ryuuzaki teased her and reached a hand out to take them off. To his surprise she blocked his hand and pushed it back. He stared at her for a second; when did her grip become so strong?

"I'd rather keep them on. Please respect that." Sachiko's voice suddenly sounded kind of wistful. He apologized and decided it would be best to change the subject. There was so much he'd wanted to talk to her about and he finally had the opportunity.

As they spoke, Yumiko came out the kitchen carrying a tray full of food and drinks.

"Who's the new girl; number six? You think you can handle one more?" Yumiko teased him as she walked by. Ryuuzaki nervously looked at Sachiko, who stared suspiciously at him. He had only told her about Emiko's powers when they had teamed up to find the rest. Shortly after Kazuki had died and he never got to tell her about the rest. Oh well, she had to find out sooner or later.

Just then a yell caught his attention. Yumiko. She had tripped and all the plates with food were in the air about to spill onto the floor. Before he could take a step, Sachiko had already cached everything and carefully placed them on the tray Yumiko had picked back up. She stared dumbfounded back and forth between Sachiko and Ryuuzaki.

"You'll have to be more careful." Ryuuzaki walked over to Yumiko and helped her stand back up. As she got back up on her feet, the realization of what happened hit him. Sachiko's reflexes were exceptional, but bizarre; as good as, or better than the magical girls'. She had reacted almost as if she knew Yumiko would drop those plates.

"When did you become such a charmer? I mean, I already knew you were a ladies man, but-" Yumiko taunted him.

"Haha, funny as always." He interrupted sarcastically "Yumiko, this is Sachiko; my girlfriend."

"Oh... Who would have thought?" Yumiko said with a big grin and Ryuuzaki answered her with a frown.

"Shh! Do you guys hear that?" Sachiko asked. Nikka's robotic voice faintly rang in the air, seemingly coming from the changing room. Shortly after the door burst open and Nikka flew towards Sachiko, followed by Zakura halfway changed into her uniform; she didn't have the apron on and the uniform shirt was put on backwards. She didn't wear any shoes either.

"Danger. Danger. Enemy. Danger. Danger. Enemy." Nikka spun around Sachiko and kept repeating itself. Sachiko took a few steps back and tried to shake the robot off in a slight panic. The sunglasses made reading her expression hard, but Ryuuzaki could tell she was getting quite anxious. He couldn't stand watching Nikka harass her like that. In a moment of blind rage, he grabbed the tiny, fluffy creature and threw it on the wall. It hit it hard and fell to the ground.

"Zakura, I forbid you to bring that broken thing into this restaurant ever again." Ryuuzaki said in his most serious tone. He noticed Yumiko in the background slowly and awkwardly exiting into the dining area. He didn't pay her any attention.

"But Ryuuzaki-san, you know how important Nikka is for us, we need her." Zakura sounded almost desperate. The robot had already flown back up and returned to her.

"Get it out. Right now. That useless thing is only right 50% of the time anyway." Ryuuzaki angrily pointed at the exit door and Zakura quietly walked towards it. Right before she left she turned towards him and gave him a concerned look.

As soon as Zakura had gone outside he was left in complete silence. Sachiko carefully went over to him and put her pale hand on his shoulder.

"Ryuu... are you sure that was the right thing to do? Sounds like Nikka is really important to all of you, even if it is wrong sometimes." Her voice was soft and calming, she always spoke that way to him when he was stressed out.

"How do you know about that?" His eyes widened with surprise. Who could have told her?

"I put the pieces together, I already knew about Emiko so figuring out the rest wasn't too difficult." Sachiko suddenly sounded more serious as she crossed her arms. Right then the door from the dining area opened once again. This was why he rarely went down here; someone would always barge in and interrupt whatever he was doing.

Suddenly the smell of roses filled the air around Ryuuzaki. Emiko. She seemed to be in a haste and rushed over to him.

"Ryuuzaki, I need to talk to you; it's about Daisuke, he knows Nikka a-and-" Emiko frantically whispered.

"Emiko, I don't have time for this." He answered her briefly. He was fed up with that robot, just hearing its name made him furious.

"But you don't understand! She called him "master"!"

"Again with the "she" thing? It is a robot, Emiko. Nikka clings to whoever it finds convenient at the time; me, Zakura and now Daisuke." Ryuuzaki brushed her off again.

"You don't get it, he didn't tell us about her. He might be hiding something big." Emiko raised her voice slightly.

"Daisuke saved your lives, big deal he didn't tell you about the stupid machine."

"That "stupid machine" is the reason we have our powers! Don't you see how important this is?"

"Emiko, enough!" She froze bewildered in place and Ryuuzaki turned his back to her. "Go bother someone else."