Mayako heart hammered in her chest, she was so relieved to see Arita had come to her rescue she tired to move but and intense pain shot through her each time she tried to move her arm or legs. "Arita" Mayako called as pain shot through her, Arita looked over at her and saw the pained look on her face and his fists tightened he looked over at Yumito who was getting up from the ground. "You bastard" Yumito had a small trickle of blood coming down from his lip and he whipped it and it smudged on his hand he chuckled a bit, then he looked at Arita "Well, it's been a long time since someone drew blood from me" Arita scowled "Your going to be bleeding more soon" Yumito hummed in amusement.

"I see, so your going to help this monster" Yumito looked at Mayako who's eyes shuddered Arita growled "Damn right I am!" Mayako's heart started beating faster, what was it about Arita that was making it do that? Yumito chuckled "Another fool wishes to go against the Elder Council" Arita gritted his teeth "Look, I respect you for drawing blood, so, why don't you just give up on the idea of helping this monster" a dark look came to Yumito's face "And I won't have to kill you" Arita smirked "Not on your life phoenix boy" Yumito grinned. "So, you know what type of spirit I am?" Arita nodded "Yeah, I can tell just by your smell" Yumito chuckled in amusement "I see, you know what I am, and still you intend to fight me" Arita nodded "I don't care what you are, I'm not going to let you hurt or take Mayako" Mayako's eyes shimmered.

"Arita" she mumbled Arita looked at her, he smiled "Don't worry Mayako, I'll get you out of here" Mayako nodded, Arita chuckled he then looked back at Yumito with a scowl who chuckled "I guess there's no helping it then" Yumito cracked his neck "Looks like I'll have to bury you" Arita readied himself. Yumito chuckled and vanished, Mayako gasped but Arita seemed to not be disturbed by it "How is he so calm?" Mayako wondered it was then in a split second that Arita moved his head and right at that moment Yumito appeared and Arita threw a punch right at his face. Yumito was surprised so much so, that he jumped back causing Arita's punch to miss Arita chuckled "Whats the matter I thought you were going to bury me?" Arita grinned Yumito gritted his teeth, was it some sort of coincidence that Arita had looked right at him right as he reappeared?

There was no way that someone could fallow his movements, he calmed himself, "Well, I don't know how you did that but, it won't happen again" with that Yumito vanished again, again Arita didn't move a muscle and in another split second he turned his head just as Yumito was rushing at him with a fist. Arita wheeled around and let his leg fly, Yumito saw this and tried to move out of the way but Arita scored a hit on him, Arita's leg collided with Yumito's arm and sent him flying to the ground. Arita chuckled, "That all you got?" Yumito quickly rose off the ground, he growled in rage as he glared at Arita "Don't get full of yourself!" Yumito screamed and in a blink he vanished again, Arita sighed "The same trick..." he turned and met face to face with a surprised Yumito "Won't work forever!" Arita threw his fist and it connected with Yumito's face. "This is for Mayako!" Arita shouted as he put more force behind his blow and sent Yumito flying back, blood flowed from his nose and mouth

Arita let loose a flurry of punches, he started to shout and yell loudly as he threw each punch as it connected with Yumito's face, he then threw in some kicks, he was throwing everything at Yumito, this guy deserved it for what he had done to Mayako he even threw in a clothesline and slammed Yumito into the ground Arita then started to stomp on Yumito "Hows that feel!" he shouted as he continued to stomp, "Does it feel good you prick!" all Yumito could respond with was gasps of breath. Mayako couldn't believe what she was seeing, she had never seen Arita so vicious before "Wait..." she mumbled, she had, it was when she was about to get stabbed, Arita had acted the same way, for some reason, she didn't like it when Arita acted like this, a feeling welled deep inside of her and she shouted "Arita!" Arita stopped stomping on Yumito and looked over at Mayako who had a sad look on her face "Mayako?" it was then at that moment that Arita remembered why he had even run in to the fray, it wasn't to beat the ever living crap out of Yumtio, it was to save Mayako, he shook his head "I need to get her out of here" as Yumito gasped for breath on the ground he ran over to Mayako "Time to go!" Mayako gave a puzzled look that changed to one of surprise when Arita picked her up and held her in his arms. Mayako gasped, "Whoa! Arita! What are you doing!?" Arita chuckled "What else, I'm getting you the hell outta here" Mayako's face went red Arita grinned "Alright, hold on it's going to be a little rough" Mayako raised an eyebrow "Wait? Hold on? Why?" it was then a smirk appeared on Arita's face, he set his feet and looked straight ahead it was then Mayako could see what Arita was planning on doing. Mayako started to get nervous, "Wait, Arita, your not planning on.." before Mayako could finish Arita sped off, Mayako started shouting and yelling as Arita picked up speed, in a second flat they had made it through the town exit and kept going and Arita increased his speed again.

It was at this time Yumito got up from the ground he coughed, his face was a beaten mess with bruises and gashes that were oozing blood, and his body was racked with pain all over he could also tell some bones were broken, he looked over and saw Arita running off, he gritted his teeth "You bastard, you'll pay for this!" meanwhile, Arita was still running like he was being chased by the devil with his mind focused on running to get Mayako away safely he had no idea that he had made it clear away from the town. Not until Mayako shouted at him, "Hey! Arita stop!" Arita snapped back to reality and slowly came to a stop he panted heavily and was sweating like crazy, he looked around and then down at Mayako "How'd we get here?" Mayako sighed in exasperation "It was you! You dumb cat!" Arita blinked in a puzzled manner "You mean you don't remember!" Arita shot a nervous grin. Mayako sighed "Look, you picked me up and just started running" it slowly came back to Arita, "Oh yeah, that's right" Mayako grumbled it was then Arita smiled "I guess I really wanted to get you out of there" Mayako blushed and her heart beat hard "I...I see..." Mayako looked away, she still had no idea why but, whenever Arita smiled at her her heart would go crazy. And why was it she felt so safe being in his arms, Mayako swallowed a bit "Tha.." Arita hummed "Tha?" Mayako grumbled "Than..Thanks" Arita's face went red, "What?" Mayako grumbled again "I said thanks! I'm thanking you for saving me you dumb cat!" Mayako turned her head to face Arita it was then she noticed how close her face was to his.

She blushed, and he did too, "So, uh, thanks" Mayako blushed harder "D..Don't mention it" Arita said as he blushed harder as well the two had no idea but, their hearts where beating at the same time but it seemed they didn't notice because they were staring at each other. It was then Mayako let out a gasp, "Whoa! What's the matter!?" the blush on her face vanished, Mayako grumbled and glared angrily at Arita "You didn't grab my bag!" Arita had a blank look on his face "Your bag?" Mayako nodded "Yeah! how come you didn't grab it while you were running you idiot!" Arita grumbled the blush leaving his face as well "There was something more important then a dumb bag!" Mayako grumbled. "And what would that be!? That bag was important! My clothes were in there!" Arita growled "You were more important!" Mayako shut up dry, Arita sighed "All I thought about, was getting you away safely" Mayako blushed "I wanted to get you away from that guy, I didn't want him taking you away from me" Mayako blushed harder "Your clothes can be replaced, you can't" Mayako's face went a red as it could. Her heart pounded in her chest, what was it about Arita that was making her feel like this, "I see..." she looked away "I'm sorry" Arita blushed "It's alright" silence fell, and after a while it was broken as Arita opened his mouth.

"Uhm, we should keep moving, there's no telling how much distance we put between us and the Elder Council" Mayako was still looking away but she nodded, "Yeah, lets do that" Arita simply nodded and then he started to walk off, at that moment for some strange reason Mayako held onto Arita a bit tighter despite the pain coursing through her. Mayako still had no idea why, but, she felt the strangest urge to kiss Arita but, the urge was cut short when an image of Keishi came to her mind, what was going on? Why was it that whenever she had these feelings for Arita, she'd picture Keishi for some odd reason. What was going on in her head? [Ch.26 END]