Shadow Of Akihito (boy x boy) COMPLETED

Finally

I feel a fire deep in my heart, an anger that has nothing to do with myself. That voice, the one from my dreams, comes back. It's in my head, in my heart. And I finally realize why it was so familiar. The voice was me the whole time, but not me. As red fire erupts around my body and a shockwave rips across the courtyard, I finally understand.

That voice was my Spirit Form. Our Forms are us, but not. They're like alternate personalities, but they're the same as us, only slightly different. I feel him and myself melding together and that's when I find what I'd been missing all these years. All this time, I've felt like a stranger and this was why. I was missing a part of myself. 

"You've freed me. Now we can finally be one. We can finally be complete," he whispers in my head. "Let me do what I do best." I can still see and control myself, but I can feel him guiding me. I never knew entering your Form would feel quite like this. It's an eerie, yet comfortable feeling. When I look up, I understand why the demon stopped. In my hand is a katana that's longer than I am tall. The blade has red veins snaking along it. It emits a faint red glow. I can feel, almost see, my essence behind me. I know there's a red glow coming from my shoulder blades, forming what you could call angel wings.

I lift my head, fury curling my lips. "Wrong move, demon, you're in check. Now, it's my move." I drag my sword along its hand, slicing a long gash, It sizzles and the demon howls again. I swing my sword around until its parallel to the ground, pointing behind me. I grip the hilt tighter and charge. The demon shoots essence at me, and without thought, I freeze and raise my sword. If I were to dodge, it would hit the mom and son behind me. I hold fast as my sword struggles to cut through the black mass. 

When I manage it, the black turns to ash and disappears. Again, I charge the demon. With a battle cry, I suddenly put on a burst of speed. The next thing I know, I'm behind it. Like a delayed reaction, black blood sprays from the slash in its side. I turn around, raising my sword, and leap high into the air. I'm simply a red blur as I spin through the air. I fall, slicing a spiral down the demon. When I land, the demon sinks onto its knees.

"Checkmate," I say. Then, I jump forward, plunging my blade into its heart as it falls onto its back. Before it hits, it turns to ash and I land hard. I stand up slowly, the red glow fading. My sword disappears and I feel weakness hit me. After all, I was severely injured. Only my Form kept me from collapsing earlier. I turn to the woman to ask if they're okay. I hear Sensei and Suguru calling my name. I step forward, then my vision goes black. I feel my body hit the pavement, but I don't register the shock. 

I wake up not too much later. I hear Sensei and Suguru talking over me. I open my eyes, squinting at the brightness. My vision clears and I see them kneeling beside me. I shift as I hear what they're saying. It seems Suguru's explaining what happened. 

"Um, sir," Emiko says haltingly.

"What is it?"

"I a-actually recorded most of the fight on my phone, if you'd l-like to see it."

"That would be really helpful. I'll find you when we get back."

"Oh, he's awake," Suguru comments.

Sensei turn to me. "We're going to get you to the infirmary. Just hold tight, alright?"

I quickly sit up, instantly regretting the action. "Are they okay?"

"Akihito, you need to lay down. You're injured and shouldn't move."

For once, I ignore Sensei. I manage to stand up. I see the woman comforting her child not far away. I approach her. At the sound of my footsteps, she looks up. "Are you two okay?"

Tears enter her eyes. "Yes, we're not hurt at all. And it's all thanks to you. You saved us."

"It was nothing. I'm just happy you're not hurt."

"How can I ever repay you?"

I shake my head slightly, mindful of my head injury. "No. You don't need to do that. Seeing you both unhurt is all I need."

"Please, there has to be some way for us to thank you."

"Just..." I take a deep breath. "Raise him right. And never stop showing him love."

She gives me a puzzled look. "Um, sure. I can do that."

"That's enough." I stumble, my head feels light. Suguru supports my weight and he helps me walk to the bus. Fortunately, Sensei managed to get it working again. Suguru lays me down on a seat and takes the one across from me.

He stares at me as I lay limp. "Everyone's talking about what you did. It'll be a hot topic for a long time." He glances away. "We all just sat there, frozen with fear. We should've helped that child. When you went out to fight it, we should've joined. But we-I just stood there and did nothing. You're not the useless one, I am."

"Don't say that," I argue. "You're the strongest one of us all. Had you fought it, it would've been dead before it could blink. You're far from useless."

"But I froze."

"And so did all of us, including me. I froze in the beginning, too. We've been training for this moment, but nothing could've made us ready to face it. Don't beat yourself up."

Then, his eyes light up. "You're right. And I was right, too. You're definitely not useless. I knew you were powerful, that was easy to tell, but I didn't know how much until then. I've never seen a Form as powerful as that. The shockwave nearly knocked us over. You finally found your Trigger. Your Form erupts when you're protecting the innocent."

"Yeah. I guess so."

"Well, that explains why it didn't happen before. Nobody was in a life-threatening situation."

"I never knew it would feel like that," I mutter.

"Yeah, it's pretty jarring at first, huh? I wish I could've explained it to you before, but I couldn't find the words. Plus, the feeling is slightly different for each person."

"It was weird. I felt like there was two of me in the same body."

"I heard that can happen. It IS a different part of you after all."

"I could hear his voice in my head. I felt him guiding my actions, even though I had control. He used my voice to speak," I continue.

"Woah. That must've been strange."

"It was. But it was...comforting almost. Like I'd finally found a missing piece of myself."

"Well, since you'd gone so long without entering your Form, which most do early on, I can imagine why you felt that way."

"Yeah," I whisper, consciousness slipping away.

"Akihito? Akihito!" Then, everything turns to black.