"What if we left this place now," Takeshi said as he stepped forward, but before he could even finish his sentence, four dark silhouettes emerged from the undergrowth.
"Leave?" said the first in a somber tone, casting a glance at his fallen comrade's corpse without showing the slightest trace of emotion. "Why leave now, when the party has barely begun?"
"Well… we've already taken part in quite a few parties," Takeshi replied with a sigh, his face looking weary. "We just want to take our leave now."
"So it's you who've been stirring up shit in the city?" the man continued, drawing his conclusion. "…and I suppose you're also behind the cowardly assassination of our captain?"
"Hey, I'm not into your delusions about assassinating God knows who!" Yoshiro snapped, annoyed at being lumped together with Takeshi in this madness.
"Shut the hell up!" Takeshi cut him off, throwing him a dark look. "You really can't help acting like a bitch… ever heard of solidarity?"
What kind of solidarity was this idiot talking about? It's not like Yoshiro had ever asked to team up with him. If it weren't for Ayano, he would've already tried to slit his throat. In fact, despite days of observation, he still hadn't managed to figure out the reason behind Ayano's interest in this guy.
All he ever caused was trouble. Ever since he'd left prison, most of these rebels had attacked them because of his bullshit… girls are attracted to bad boys that's what people say.
Shit… not Ayano too! Yoshiro sighed heavily in his head. She seems so mature, yet… no, I can't believe it. There has to be another reason.
Just as Yoshiro was about to speak, a hoarse voice interrupted him. "Why bother talking to them anyway? The order was to eliminate everyone we come across, wasn't it?" said a second man in black as he stepped forward.
He didn't even wait for an answer before attacking without a second thought. Since Takeshi was more prepared, the attack was aimed directly at him.
[Katon: Fireball]
He took a deep breath, rapidly filling his lungs with air. In just a few milliseconds, he exhaled a massive fireball, threatening to engulf Takeshi entirely. "Die, you bastard!"
The Katon! Takeshi thought, somewhat amazed by this legendary technique that most main characters seemed to use. Damn… too bad it's a guy using it… well, I guess that's just how it is. Anyway, I finally get to test my new skill.
With that final thought, his face almost lit up like a child seeing his parents come home after a hard day.
[Suiton: Water Mirror]
Quickly drawing his katana, he swung it in a circular motion, suddenly causing what looked like a mirror to appear. "Let's see the result," Takeshi smiled as he watched his technique completely swallow the attack.
"What the hell is this?!" the guy exclaimed, incredulous. He had made sure Takeshi couldn't anticipate his actions and had launched the attack as fast as he could. Dodging it would have been a miracle but this… his Katon had simply vanished, as if it had never existed. And that thing he squinted beneath his mask. "A mirror…" he muttered, trying to make sense of what was happening.
"Wow!" Takeshi exclaimed, clearly impressed by that girl's technique. He hadn't even noticed the exclamation or the name the guy had uttered.
It was strange this technique wasn't unfamiliar to him. Seeing the mirror, it wasn't exactly like that girl's, but he could still recognize it. How had it ended up in this guy's hands? Who was this man?
While nearly all of them were asking themselves the same question, Takeshi didn't stand around doing nothing.
"How about we test the offensive side now?" His smile widened into something rather sinister. "Return to sender!" he shouted, laughing heartily.
Suddenly, the temperature skyrocketed. The mirror shone with a golden glow as an enormous fireball shot toward the group, whose members weren't far apart.
"Shit…! Get away, now!" the first man shouted at the top of his lungs as he leapt aside. Two others reacted quickly, barely avoiding the flames of hell.
Boom
Unfortunately, one of the four wasn't lucky enough to escape. A massive explosion echoed through the forest, plunging it into silence, followed by the cries of birds taking flight.
The sickening smell of burnt flesh slowly rose into the air, making every head turn toward the site of the explosion.
Steam drifted slowly from the blackened trunks of several trees, and in the midst of the chaos, a silhouette still stood dried out to the point where even the bones were visible.
Suddenly, a breeze blew, causing the man or rather, what was left of him to collapse.
"Magnificent!" Takeshi applauded, his voice resonating like that of a psychopath as he admired his work. Even Yoshiro and Ayano were shocked they had never known that Takeshi could use such a technique. The reason?
He had never used it until now. It seemed that the longer one stayed beside this madman, the further one drifted from boredom. Yoshiro was starting to see a hint of the reason behind Ayano's interest in this son of a bitch.
Fuck! he thought, snapping out of his stupor.