Hanabi

Chapter 43: Red

- It’s getting cold, it’s weird and I don’t like it. - said Haruna, her hand tight on the handle of the katana.

- Not only cold, but it's also getting dark. - Mami commented in a weak voice. Her hands were shaking. Her shock was partly because she wasn't used to how heavy that sword was, partly because of the hammering pain in her head and body, and partly because it was still extremely surreal to her that she just fought an Oni almost as an equal. No running, no being forced on the ground or some gravestone for the thing to feed on her blood and energy. She actually fought alongside Haruna, and they won. She wouldn’t be able to describe the emotions that were coming to surface now if she tried.

The girls ran back to where they left Rina and Tomoko; Haruna going really fast in the front and the other two following more slowly. Tomomi looked exhausted, her face was red and her breathing was heavier. It became difficult for her to keep going after being forced to play the flute and run around at the same time. Mami was afraid she was going to pass out if they weren't careful.

Moreover, Mami was scratched all over her arms from the fight and it burned in acute pain. She had cleaned the blood from her face on her sleeve the best she could, but the numbing feeling on her nose was still there. Fatigue and pain from the heavy punches and scratches delivered by the gigantic Oni were settling in her body and it made things even more difficult than they were before. The voices resonating inside of her head seemed louder instead of weaker; an opposite of what Mami thought was going to happen after they killed the creature.

Things were looking and feeling worse, not better.

When they reached the other girls, such impression only intensified. Both Tomoko and Rina were busy trying to escape the three Oni that were still left. Tomoko, who previously played around with the creatures like she was dealing with a bunch of stupid morons, now could just dodge their attacks and nothing else. The signs of exhaustion were evident, both in her human and nekomata forms. Rina on the other hand, wasn’t even returning to her human form anymore. It was easier for her to not get hit as the small white fox.

Mami figured Haruna must be pulling strength out of her spirit, because there was no other way for the girl to have that much stamina left. The shorter girl ran faster, the katana positioned to her side and ready to slice through anything that came in her way. The three Oni were drastically different from one another; one of them absurdly slim and with multiple eyes, a head taller than Tomoko, and bat-like wings under its arms; another one that looked about Haruna’s height, but moved much faster than the others; and the third one that was almost as big as the previous ones, with gorilla-like arms placed defensively in front of its body.

Tomomi’s eyes moved from one to another, over and over again while she played, feeling exhausted. The only thing in her mind now was the wish that she could keep going until they got rid of them all, because it felt like the air was getting much harder to breathe. She followed Haruna’s movements with her eyes, watching how she attacked at the same time that the creatures clearly realized their primary targets were back in their attack range.

Haruna went for the smaller and faster one first, while Rina evaded another attack from the bigger one. The one with wings looked around itself and took the odd decision of taking some steps back from Tomoko. The nekomata squinted her bright green eyes. She didn’t have a good feeling about any of that.