Loyalty (KHR, Hibari x OC x Mukuro)

Chapter 18

I look up from the books on flames that I took from the media center and take out a mist ring and a box. I open the box and watch as my scythe comes out. Then, I check the book again. "There are hard flames...and soft flames..." I mutter to myself. I surround the scythe's blade in flames and glance at the indigo flames before turning back to the book. Soft flames are surrounding my scythe, but does surrounding my weapon in these flames strengthen my attack? 

I grab a piece of scrap metal that I brought with me to test this. My eyes widen as the metal gets cut cleanly very easily. It's almost like cutting through cheese... I put the scythe away before taking off my mist ring and put it back. That's interesting... I wonder if anyone knows about that? I certainty wasn't told about anything like that.

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I look up as Bianchi comes into Dokuro's room and suggests, "You've been looking after her for a long time. Why don't you take a break?"

I shake my head. "It's fine. I can handle it. Besides, if she falters again and her illusions stop then only I can re-create them," I reply. I pause.. "...Sorry about that, I didn't mean to sound so arrogant... It's just that there aren't any other illusionists around, so it's been bothering me more than I'd thought. It's hard to train without someone to teach me."

"What about Lal Mirch?" she suggests.

I shake my head. "There's a difference between using a Mist flame and being an illusionist. I know that illusionists can use Mist flames, but not all people who can use them are illusionists," I explain. I let out a long sigh. Training on my own is tough...

Suddenly, Kusakabe bursts into the room. "Sato-san, I hate to ask you to do this, but..." he begins. I wait for him to continue. "Could you please go to Kyo-san's side of the base and stop those two from fighting?"

"Of course," I reply. I stand up, and then something hits me. "Wait...the Hibari-san from this era has gotten really good at dealing with illusions, right?" I ask.

He nods slowly. "Yes, but..."

"It'd be my pleasure to take care of their fight," I say. "Bianchi-san, please take over for me." I run out of the room, leaving one very confused Kusakabe and a smiling Bianchi.

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I walk into the room a bit hesitantly and I look blankly at the situation for a second. The adult Hibari and the adult Sun Guardian are glaring at each other. "Um, sorry for the intrusion..." I begin. They both turn to me and their glares are lost momentarily. I turn to the adult Hibari and say, "Hibari-san, I'm sorry for asking, but...would you mind helping me train again? I heard that you're very skilled at dealing with illusions. From what I heard, you're probably the best around here."

He stands up and walks past me. "Let's go." There, mission accomplished.

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We go to the vacant room that I was training in a while ago. "I...To be honest with you, I'm a bit scared. It worries me that in this time period, my illusions may not work as well as ten years ago." I wonder why I trust him so much... It's strange. Maybe it's because of what Bianchi-san told me when I first got here. I start to blush a little and then I shake my head. "A-Anyways, could you please give me areas to improve on? I know you can't teach me how to improve my illusions, but knowing what's wrong with them would help very much," I explain.

He looks amused, so I look at him blankly. He explains, "The Kasumi from this time period said the same thing."

I smile a bit and mutter, "At least my fear is reasonable then..." Then I ask, "Are you ready?" He nods. I put on a mist ring and create an illusion.

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I'm feeling a bit more fatigued than expected, but it was worth it. I know the different techniques that were developed to see through illusions and I also thought of ways to negate them. I smile happily. It's been awhile since I've trained like this, so I feel pretty satisfied with my progress. "Thank you for your time, Hibari-san," I say.

He nods. I expect him to leave, but then he says, "How are your combat skills?"

"My combat skills...They weren't too shabby for ten years ago, but for this time period..." I say. "So in other words..." I shake my head.

"I see," he says. He takes out a pair of tonfas. "Let's begin then." 

I nod and open up a box grip my scythe. He lunges at me and I barely manage to dodge. Shoot, he's fast. I consider using the fourth realm, but I hesitate since I know that even the adult Hibari still hates Mukuro. 

Hibari lands a pretty solid hit and I wince as I jump back. This is tough... I can't find any weak points. I guess it doesn't help me in this case since my future-self apparently worked with him. I jump back again and use the wall to push off of in an attempt to move to a different area faster. If I can get behind him, then I attack his back at least once...hopefully.

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I'm having a hard time hiding the pain I'm in now. Illusionists are especially weak to pain, I've always known this, but I always managed to hide it somehow in the past. I start to cough up a little blood and Hibari hesitates. "Sorry..." I admit quietly, "I've reached my limit for today..."

He nods and puts his tonfas away.

Sometime in the middle, I decided to use the technique that I figured out earlier. I managed to slice off small chunks of his tonfas, but it didn't help too much. Actually, since they weren't straight slices, it only ended up inflicting more damage on me. It wasn't completely useless though.

I wince a little from the pain and continue to hide it as best as I can since Hibari is still around. After he leaves, I can stop pretending that the injuries don't hurt so much. He seems to realize that I'm pretending though. "Come."

I look at him blankly, but I follow him into one of the rooms with the medical equipment in it. I continue to look at him blankly as he starts to bandage the cuts for me.

When he finishes, I say, "Thank you..."

He nods. "I owed your future-self. Consider it paid back," he replies. I nod and he starts to walk out. Then he mutters quietly before he leaves, "Watch yourself tomorrow. Don't die." 

My eyes widen a bit, but I don't say anything. It hasn't been decided if I'll be fighting tomorrow or not. It's strange though, Hibari-san is acting out of character...