Sequence 6

Shuji opened his eyes to gray. But the skies were clear today. When did an overcast roll in? How long had he been out? It was cold now. The young Lancer pressed his palms against the ground and pushed himself up. Where exactly was he?

His vision was a little fuzzy, but he turned to his right and saw a large, pale outline. What was that? As his eyes focused, he began to remember why the sky was gray.

Shuji’s first thought was the Oni he had fired at. He turned his head quickly in Umeki’s direction and the massive pale figure on the ground. Shriek had landed; good. He hated admitting this, but one more use of Shriek might’ve taken more than his consciousness.

Shuji’s second thought was his weapon. His eyes crept along the concrete until he found the white-handled blade a few centimeters away from him. Shuji picked it up before rocking forward to try to stand. Standing up was wobbly work, but Shuji climbed to his feet.

Shuji shot a glance at Umeki and her Oni, and he decided that could wait for a moment. In a few steps, he was standing directly over the second Oni. Shriek’s effects were beginning to wear off, and it was starting to stir. That wouldn’t do.

Placing his right foot on the Oni’s head, Shuji rolled its head to expose more of its neck. He then bent and made quick work of it. Three cuts were all it took once again.

Slowly, very slowly, he made his way towards Umeki. His side was obscenely sore from the cut. He hadn’t known an Oni to use its claws like that before. It had honestly surprised him. On the way over, he turned off Deafen such that it wouldn’t send Umeki in a panic when he got there.

After a half minute, he had crossed over to stand between her and the Oni. He looked over at Umeki but didn’t acknowledge her further. She’d let him down, and even Umeki knew it.

Again he went to the task of taking the head off the Oni. Shuji’s motions were becoming less labored. The toll it took was finally dissipating. It didn’t exhaust him or his spiritual energy, but it wasn’t without its side effects. With its job done, Shuji dropped his weapon and whispered a small thank you. It dissipated before it hit the ground. After the Oni disappeared, he noticed a tiny speck of blood near his foot. It was in the wrong place to be from his cut, and Oni blood didn’t remain after they died.

Touching his hand to his left ear, Shuji sighed as his suspicion was confirmed. Two uses of Shriek had caused his ear to bleed. Damn.

“Are you okay?” he asked his subordinate.

“Thank you for saving me. I... I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

“Well, if it hadn’t been for me, you would’ve been eaten.”

“Thank you.” She seemed embarrassed. It was as if her weakness was news to him. He studied her for a moment. He was unconscious and still got up; why was she still on the ground?

For a moment, his eyes fixated on her weapon manifestation. It was a fan. So that’s why she’d lost. It was impossible to win with such a flimsy weapon. Did her spirit hate her that much that it gave her this? Or maybe she didn’t have enough experience and she couldn’t use its abilities. Shuji didn’t see the irony in calling someone weak when his powers had knocked him unconscious. Not at all.

Then his eyes moved lower, and he spotted the cause. Her right calf had a small break in its curve. Groaning at the inconvenience, he squatted down next to her. “Hold still,” he mumbled. Without bothering to explain himself, he reached for her calf and ran his hand along the bump. As his hand slid over it, she visibly winced.

“That hurt.”

“So that’s why you didn’t stand. That makes sense now.”

“Well, yeah. It hurt. Just give me a minute; I can walk,” she said defensively, looking away.

“I doubt you can. Your fibula’s broken. And you shouldn’t try to endure that pain for a mile walk.”

“Well, I can call for a pick up then. If you don’t think I can walk,” she replied quietly, turning away. For whatever reason, it seemed like he’d slapped her across the face.

“Send your weapon back.”

“What?” she turned back to meet his eyes.

“Send your weapon back.”

“Why?”

Shuji looked around for a second and then looked back at her. “I don’t see any more Oni around, do you?”

“Oh. you’re right,” she agreed reluctantly. She held up her fan and a small rift opened to take it away. After the fan was gone, he grabbed the hand it had been in. She looked at him with a confused face, but Shuji stood.

“Here, lean on me. We need to walk back over to the poles before I take the barrier down.”

“But…”

“That’s an order.” She complied. Again, there was a bit of reluctance. She placed her right arm around his shoulder and together they walked over to the poles.

“When normal people looked into the barrier they’d just see us standing there. It’s an illusion. To avoid raising suspicion, we should be close to where we were when the barrier formed.”

“Oh,” she said with a blush. Ever since he’d been helping her walk her face had been red. Was she embarrassed about having to be helped? Or perhaps about the fact that she wasn’t necessarily light?

As they leaned on the poles, Shuji looked up at the gray barrier once more. Outstretching his left arm, he turned up his palm and uncurled his fingers. Then he clenched them and he willed the barrier to disperse.

The gray sphere around the pair began to shrink back down until eventually, it disappeared into Shuji’s palm.

“How did you do that?” Umeki asked under the now blue sky.

“I’ll teach you some other time.” Umeki reached into her pocket to get her phone. “Don’t bother. It’d take forever for a car to get here in this traffic. It’d be quicker just to walk.”

“But you said you didn’t trust me to walk.”

“You won’t be walking,” he spoke as he walked in front of her. He bent his knees to crouch slightly. “I don’t want my first mission to end in a rescue. Bad for the reputation. Well, hurry. Get on. That’s an order.”

Umeki didn’t even try to argue. He felt the massive change in the weight his legs were carrying. After a moment to adjust, he began to walk. Careful not to move her broken leg too much, he got it situated in what should be a safe position.

A few moments later he felt her stir. “Yotogi-san…”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for carrying me. And saving me.”

“Umeki-san.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re heavier than you look.”