Hey everyone! 
After battling a week of cold and procrastination, I bring to you the 11th chapter~! 
And this will definitely not have happened if it weren't for my readers out there (silent ones too ^_^)~ Thanks for the encouragement and support guys!
Like the previous chapter, I wanna make a huge shoutout to kevinwkl, for helping/advising me again for this chapter... it could have almost turned into a ship wreck in the Bermuda Triangle if it weren't for him, literally. 
Another shoutout I'd like to give is to my best friend M0cchi who gave me some ideas and pointers that could improve one's 'enjoyment' on a certain scenario in this chapter. Thanks you two 
Hope you guys will like it. And feel free to pop a comment or two so I can see your reactions to this chapter, yeah? 
WARNING: This update MAY~ have disturbing scenes (no not sexual disturbing scenes lol). Yes this is my very first 'WARNING' tag 
Indestructible Fire
ACT XI
Jurina’s POV "Nnghhhhh.... Graaaaahhhh!"
I exclaimed, grabbing a bunch of my hair and ruffling it hardly in frustration. I got up from the sofa and kicked the coffee table right in front of it, and yes it actually hurt a lot that I felt like crying. Ugh. What the heck am I doing?!!!
I paced myself around the living room, biting the nail on my right thumb, worried sick about Rena-chan.
But if I go see her now she'd be all.
"Get away from me, you sore loser!"Or,
"What? You decided to admit you're pathetic and need to rely on others after all?""GRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
It was frustrating! Horribly, horribly frustrating!
Not only that… since us ‘Guardians’ need to do that r-ritual crap to get our energy, I'm gonna be half-dead if she’s not around!
"Dang it..." I tensed my hand to emit a small flame, "... There has to be a way I can use these powers to a certain extent... When I trained with Airi everything was fine... I don't get it..." I tried throwing a fire ball at the TV, hoping it gets destroyed but no, it just vanished upon contact. I punched the sofa hard, expecting my force along with my flame being able to put a hole on it, but no, it did not and just bounced back as a sofa normally would when someone or something hits it.
"Have I forgotten something...?" Questioning myself in a quiet and empty living room definitely didn't make me feel anyhow better.
I tried recalling the training that Airi last had with me, at the training dojo before she went AWOL and eventually tried to kill us... I kept thinking what had made my punches connect. Anger?
*POW!*Punching downwards at the table didn't work. And it really hurt!
Because I realized how useless I was?
*POW!*DEFINITELY NOT NEGATIVITY... OWW!!!
"Gosh darn it!" I shook my right hand in pain, blowing onto it.
Perhaps I should take it outside... If I'm lucky, throwing myself into danger could probably work... I mean, in cases of self-defence it SHOULD work right?
Lo and behold, my wish was granted when I opened the door. A horde of 'Dolls' was right outside of the doorstep.
"A-Ah, sorry… I must’ve opened the wrong door, ehe~" I quickly slammed the door back but before I could lock it, one or two of them at stormed in, pushing me with quite a strong force and I fell backwards near the stairs. I cringed in pain as I slowly pushed myself up to see the whole gang crashing into Rena-chan's home. I struggled to get up but when I did, all I realized was that they have blocked my path forward…
“Crap…” I cursed, “It’s do or die then huh…” I forced a grin, “… Even if I can’t use my powers properly I-I’m confident in s-self-defence…!”
… Is what I had told Airi back when we first met…
… How much longer am I going to keep lying to myself?
I honestly am not as strong as I think I am…
It seemed like my taunt riled them up as they began to approach me and some were trying to claw at me but I quickly made my way up the stairs until one of them managed to grab me on my ankle as I was running up the stairs, causing me to fall backwards to the ground floor.
The 'Dolls' were now pretty much surrounding me, and were hell bent on not giving me any breathing space.
... Am I really gonna die like this?
But f I die... Won't Rena-chan die?
I got her here and if she dies again it's my fault...
Where is my resolve...?
As I closed my eyes, feeling the eminent pressure surrounding me and feeling parts of my flesh probably getting ripped apart by those 'Dolls', Rena-chan's figure appeared. It was an image so vivid that I could feel like it was real and I reached out to touch her face... Her face of disappointment when she slapped me... and now, she’s walking away… further… further…
… Don’t go…
… Please…
It was that moment my body was acting on its own, vigorously trying to shake off the ‘Dolls’ all over me and throwing light punches and kicks that would hopefully just knock them off me enough so I could make a dash for it.
When there was finally an opening for me, I quickly got up until I felt the sharp sting all over and noticed all the agonizing flesh wounds and cuts around my body that dragged me back to the floor. But I knew I had to get out of there somehow. I can’t let my physical limits drag me down at this kind of moments…!
“Maybe… just maybe…” I let my arms rest to my sides, palms opened as I looked towards the entrance before me, “… If I can’t fight properly right now… maybe I can at least fly…”
I tensed my hands, feeling the weak flame emitting around it.
“… Just strong enough to blast me out of here…” I closed my eyes tightly, “… Please… work just this once… for Rena-chan to continue living on!” I imagined how Ironman would have flown right after and thankfully, it worked, sending me flying towards the cold, hard road right outside of Rena-chan’s house that was thankfully ‘Doll’-free.
I cringed in pain, realizing at the same time that my flame had already been extinguished after that short burst of desperation. That must have taken a toll of my energy supply within me and now I'm already starting to feel even weaker than I already am without Rena-chan... this isn’t good…!
I tottered my weakened and badly injured body as far as I could away from Rena-chan’s place, tumbling down whenever my injured legs gave in and struggled to get to safety. I would look back for a few seconds to see if I was being followed (which thankfully I wasn’t) before literally crawling forward whenever walking didn’t seem like a good idea at that point of time.
I was probably moving in a manner more zombie-like than those ‘Dolls’… I could totally imagine myself in the Sahara desert without any rations, dragging myself towards an oasis…
… What the heck am I saying…
“Nngh…” I let out a tired grunt before spotting a clinic sign that was still powered on, “… I… should be safe there… I need… to patch up…” I got up on both legs slowly, after crawling most of the way here, walking step-by-step towards the clinic that was a stone’s throw away from where I was but it felt like ages to get there.
Upon unlocking the door, my body was really on the verge of giving in completely as I literally threw myself into the small reception area of the clinic. My vision was getting blurry with every breath I took…
Is it… really going to end here…?
“…… have here.”… Rena-chan… I’m…
“… see…”… I’m sorry…
“… help you.”……
- x - x - x –
A figure quietly closed the door behind her, leaning against it with a sigh.
“You know we shouldn’t be acting on our own accord, Hikari.”
The figure was subtly startled by the sudden voice that came from right beside her, “… Oh. Yami. It’s just you.”
Yami went right in front of her and grabbed onto the collar of her cloak, pulling her closer in frustration, “What do you mean it’s just me? Why did you help Matsui J?”
Hikari tilted her head to the other side, not wanting to meet her partner’s eyes behind her mask. Yami clicked her tongue and let her partner go roughly, letting out an irritated grunt.
“I… want this game to end how it should end…” Hikari said softly, head hanging low.
“Huh?” Yami turned around to face her partner, not quite able to hear what she had just said.
“… It’s nothing,” Hikari shook her head, “You’ll help me think of an excuse right, Yami?”
Yami simply shrugged in response, her mind already having a hopefully good enough excuse for the higher ups. Her partner thanked her casually.
“By the way… where’s Takayanagi?”
"Either taking a break till the break of dawn or out searching for Matsui R. I honestly couldn’t really give a care about Takayanagi. I mean… why suddenly put her back in the game?” Yami sighed, “… I’ll never understand how Charon-sama thinks… or even you-know-who in that matter.”
“Because all you care about right now is confronting Yamamoto Sayaka about what happened.”
Yami went dead silent.
“I really don’t understand how your relationship works with her even till now. I really don’t. I mean, couldn’t you have just told her who you were when we met them the first time in this ‘game’?”
“… Time to exit the battlefield,” Yami replied Hikari’s statements of frustration with a low tone of voice and vanished shortly after being shrouded in darkness.
Hikari took off her mask, with her bangs shadowing her orbs right beneath it and looked towards the moon that was slowly being covered by the clouds. She frowned at the sight of the radiant moon being hidden behind the clouds before putting her mask back on slowly.
“… I wonder if we—no… you, made the right decision to return and help Charon-sama…...”
She opened a light portal in front of her and slowly stepped into it, mouthing her partner’s real name as she vanished into thin air.
- x - x - x –
Jurina’s POVDarkness.
All I see is darkness before me.
No, that’s not exactly true—wait…
… It’s Déjà vu all over again… but… but this time I know I’m in some kind of cell… a prison cell…?
I slowly got up, using an arm to support and push me up until I realized that both my wrists were chained together. Looking downwards, I noticed my legs were chained in a similar manner as well… I shifted my gaze to check around my surroundings and it was nearly pitch black, save for a flickering light source through a small window panel on the metal door that could probably fit a small parcel.
Thankfully I wasn’t chained too tightly and could move around. Right when I got out of bed, I heard a loud scream that came from right outside of my door. On instinct, I went to the door and peeked through the small window panel there. What I saw…
… Traumatized me.- x - x - x –
A girl was hanging a few metres away from the blood smeared floor beneath her, her wrists tightly chained up by chains hanging from above which had already showed eminent scarring as she tried to escape from the predicament she was in. A man with a dishevelled outlook, was frantically trying to gag her with a cloth which he tied around her mouth. It prevented the girl from shouting, but it did not break her will to escape.
“S-STOP MOVING, RENA!” The man yelled as he swung a hard punch across her face. It made the girl bite on the cloth hard in pain, as much as she would like to shout right now, it didn’t seem likely she could.
“… R-Rena-chan…?” Jurina said to herself, her body trembling at the sight and her eyes widening so much so that her eyeballs could easily pop out anytime.
Matsui Rena was being tortured by a man right before her eyes. Not just any man, but her own father.
“N-Now… let’s see here… h-hehe…” His hand that gripped onto a plier shook violently as he approached his vulnerable daughter, his lips quivering with anticipation. The glint in his eyes was that of a sadist, ready to torture his victim. He knelt down to where Rena’s feet were, both tied up tightly by a rope, with both her feet facing forward.
“Which nail would you like me to remove first huh…? My dearest Re-na-chan?” He let out a sadistic laughter, followed by an excited grin as he readied his plier on Rena’s right toe nail, “… Maybe this one first…?!”
Jurina was on the verge of falling into despair as she placed her cold, sweaty palms onto the door, shaking fearfully at what was going to happen.
“N-No… N-NO FREAKIN’ WAY HE IS GOING TO—"
…
Rip.
“MMMMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPPPPPPPHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“R-RENA-CHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
With the cloth gagging Rena’s mouth, shouting out her pain seemed impossible. Every single plead she tried to get through turned into raspy, desperate moans from her cracking throat. It gave pleasure to the man who was supposed to be her very own father but on the other hand, it made the blood in another girl who was witnessing this boil in livid rage.
Jurina dreadfully pounded at the metal door with both her hands. Over and over, hoping it would catch the attention of the man at least, but it was as if the room she was in, and herself, never existed and the man proceeded with denailing the right toe nail of his daughter. Her pained, muffled moans resounded throughout the torture chamber as he proceeded with the other nails on her right foot, enjoying the tingling sensation each time he rips off a nail which causes blood to be spilt.
Tears gushed out from Rena’s eyes uncontrollably due to the physical torture done onto her right now. With each nail being plucked out of her with the plier, it dealt damage not only to her physically but mentally. As her father moved on to his daughter’s left foot and she couldn’t do anything to stop it but slowly fall into insanity as her father’s maniacal cackles turned louder and louder, her whole body fell limp. She wanted to just faint but it was as if she was psychologically challenged to stay awake, and alive, no matter how much pain she had to suffer.
Returning to the girl who was locked up, she was still desperately lunging herself at the door, shouting Rena’s name over and over again. Her voice growing hoarser at every cry she made. Jurina’s tears streamed down her face which showed a broken expression. She wanted to save Rena at all costs but what was in her way was just a metal door. She was inevitably powerless, but she didn’t want to give up, despite her arm was feeling the sore from all the ramming she had done, and her fists had begun to form calluses due to the strength of the impact of pounding furiously at the metal-plated door. Looking through the window again, she could see the man tossing the plier to the floor and now from his pocket, he had taken out a switchblade. He threateningly pressed open the knife, placing it directly under Rena’s chin, pushing her face upwards to face his. Jurina bit her lip hard enough for it to bleed at the sight and in fear of what would be imminent.
Rena’s eyes that met her father’s was that of a dead person. Her face, pale as white as snow. She could be presumed dead if seen from afar but up close, her heart still pounded for its dear life, not wanting Rena to die. Rena’s mind, however, had already succumb to its limit of endurance, and had shut down completely. Her father frowned at the sight of his daughter beginning to feel numb after the denailing. He wanted more. He cut the cloth that was gagging her open for her, letting Rena’s accumulated saliva spill downwards to the floor and she coughed repeatedly to clear her throat.
“Are you enjoying this Rena-chan?” Her father spoke, pulling his daughter’s hair to lift her head upwards. Rena didn’t say a word. She looked away from his eyes and that was when her father, impatiently, drove the switchblade into her left eye and gouging it out, causing Rena to scream at the top of her lungs with nothing to muffle her as blood began spraying out from where her left eye once was.
Jurina, all rattled up, pounded even harder that she knew by now a few bones in her fingers may have been broken due to the intensity. She had completely lost her voice to even choke out Rena’s name now. She slid downwards, both hands still on the door, in tears while mouthing “stop” over and over again.
Rena’s father didn’t stop though. He decided to gouge out Rena’s right eye as well, making her completely blind at that point and all she could do was wail in traumatising pain. Her father merely tossed Rena’s eyes to the floor and stomped on them, laughing hysterically at the bloody mess. He then proceeded to slash Rena, as if he was doing a masterpiece of a painting. It was then, when he was pleased with his ‘masterpiece’ and that Rena had stopped screaming due to her broken vocal box, her father decided to end the fun by stabbing the bloody switchblade into her heart, ending Matsui Rena’s life and torture once and for all.
Jurina knew she had let her best friend die all over again, but in the most agonizing and traumatising way possible. And she couldn’t even do a single thing to stop it.
The door suddenly swung opened for her, revealing the darkened figure of the man she would gladly kill and get into jail for it if she possibly could but as the door was too suddenly opened, she was surprised by a strong kick that pushed her backwards near the bed she awoke from. Jurina couldn’t speak nor growl at that moment, so to put her burning fury across, she got up immediately and lunged herself at the figure who swiftly dodged her staggering movements until when she was about to make successful contact with a swing, she was caught by the figure with both hands on hers, and pulled closer to the figure, revealing a shocking bloodied face change.
Without realizing it, Rena’s father had suddenly became Matsui Jurina. However, this Matsui Jurina had eyes of a cold-hearted murderer. Her body frame had also changed to how Jurina looked like and she definitely overpowered the broken-hearted Jurina. Blood was splattered all over her as it did to Rena’s father, and it was Rena’s blood.
“Matsui Rena died because of you. Because of ‘us’,” the other ‘Jurina’ smirked.
“…” Jurina clenched her teeth, glaring at the perpetrator who was grabbing onto her hands, not wanting to let go, “…… k-ki… kill… y-y… you…” Jurina managed to strain her pained throat and mumble those words under her breath, audibly enough for ‘Jurina’ since it was eerily quiet.
‘Jurina’ clicked her tongue, easily dragging Jurina out of her cell and tossed her into the puddle of blood that was formed near Rena’s corpse, covering the poor girl in blood. Jurina choked at the taste of Rena’s blood that accidentally got into her mouth when she fell into it and when she turned around, she was flabbergasted at how Rena looked like. She would cry and scream at this point but only her tears had started flowing and eyes of pure anger shot at the other ‘Jurina’, who just responded with a smirk and approached Jurina casually as if she never thought of her as a threat.
"R…… RAAAAAGHHHH!!!!!"
All of a sudden, Jurina had slammed both her fists on the ground, the chains that bound both her wrists smashed open. Anger couldn’t cover all that she had felt at that moment. At the same time, a powerful force was released from her body as a red-coloured aura and it coated her whole body, subtly healing her injured hands and her throat in the process. The amount of force and power released was even able to push 'Jurina' back a little.
'Jurina' was a little stunned by the amount of hidden power overflowing from Jurina. She then smirked, "That's it…"
"I… WILL… KILL… YOU!!!!!!" With a kick on the ground, Jurina was able to propel herself towards 'herself’ with an incredible speed.
Despite Jurina charging at her with the intent to kill, 'Jurina' remained standing there with no intention of retaliating but instead, her arrogant smirk changed into a warm smile.
“You have finally found a reason to fight..."
"HRAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!" As Jurina swung her flaming claws down, time slowed down.
“Keep hanging on to this reason. You're ready. For now, it's time for you to…”
As Jurina's flaming claws came slashing down on 'Jurina' cutting her in half, everything went white.
...
...
...
“…...wake up....”
With the final echo of the words that resonated in her mind, Jurina’s conscience was brought back to reality…- x - x - x –
“RENAAAAAAAAAA--!!!!!!”
Jurina shot up from her sleeping position immediately, drenched completely in cold sweat if only her bandages didn’t help absorb some of it.
“CRAP! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT DREAM--?! OWW!”
She cringed in pain as she held onto her abdomen that had been nicely patched up and blood slowly seeped out, probably due to the sudden tension. She noticed that all her injuries had been properly tended to and her blouse was folded nicely as a makeshift pillow.
“… Who…?” She asked no one before her body started trembling when she recalled the traumatising nightmare she just had. It seemed way too real and that had mentally scarred Jurina, though it seemed to have ended on a weird, encouraging note.
“Gosh darn it…” Jurina buried her face in her glove-cladded hands until a thought within her mind made her realize something. She lifted her face away from her hands and looked at her hands. In the dream, she didn’t have her gloves on and not only that, she was chained until AFTER Rena has died. She was completely and utterly powerless. But now, by a miracle, she has a fighting chance to protect Rena when she couldn’t. Yet now, because she was stubborn, an unfortunate predicament happened between the two of them and in a way it was because Jurina was taking everything too lightly.
Nevertheless her mind was clear now. She had one goal in mind right now and it’s to protect Rena till the very end. And failure was absolutely not an option in these dire times.
Despite how traumatising that nightmare was for her, Jurina knew it was some sort of wake-up call for her from deep within her consciousness.
This moment of clarity for Jurina was enlightening but at the same time, creating doubts on her resolve to win. If they won, would they return to the world they came from? Wouldn’t that mean Rena may or may not return to the life of being abused by her violent father and if that happened, will she ever get another chance like this and the cycle continues? Or would she end up like Sayaka and Miyuki, who ended up joining in another ‘game’? It was mind boggling.
Jurina shook her head, snapping herself out of her deep thoughts,
“… If I want to think about the future, I need Rena-chan by my side… and we can discuss about this…”“… Matsui Rena’s whole existence has always been the source of my power...” Jurina clenched and unclenched her hands, looking at them with serious eyes,
“I live and breathe for her and her alone now. I'm here to protect her... to see the ‘game’ all the way to the end with her, not to keep running away whenever it's convenient... And definitely not to just be all talk...”Jurina got up from the tattered bed she was resting on and put on her blouse, exiting the room she was placed in and headed out of the clinic. The sun was already up to her dismay but due to her mysteriously helped by someone, she was able to move without much issue. The only thing is that the daily ‘hunger’ had officially kicked in, making her weakened.
“With her out there on her own the whole night, she could be in danger...” Jurina spoke aloud, an expression of worry plastered on her face as she began to walk away from the clinic.
“I have to find her...” Jurina started to run with whatever non-power reliant energy she had in reserve, “Please be okay, Rena-chan…!”
- x - x - x –
A few hours ago……
Rena's POVI was tired. All I wanted was to get a good rest and go to school the next day… but with the whole 'game' thing going on, I doubt I'd be getting any of that anytime soon. And the fact I’m not a normal high school student doesn’t help.
As I walked through the quiet and eerie street towards where my so-called partner and I had just came running out from, I prayed that none of those weird 'Dolls' would appear. Sure, I’ve got basic self-defence skills at the back of my head but against those ‘Dolls’ that need special powers to get rid of them, I’d rather stay away from them.
I clenched tightly onto the pistol Sayaka-senpai had given me, stopping and pointing at wherever weird sounds could be heard. I don't know if it was my conscience working up on me or if there really was something out there, looking and following me but I needed to get through this place otherwise I'd be stuck out here like a lost sheep...
Worst case scenario would be that I die here. And over my dead body would I allow that to happen!
Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound coming from a tree at a small park on the way to Sayaka-senpai's home and the rustling gradually became more vigorous and I pointed my pistol with shaky hands towards the top of the tree. I couldn't see anything due to how dimly lit the streets were, and hoped it wasn't anything else but a bird or a cat, and that had, I have to admit, made me feel rather scared.
“Jurina...!”
I had subconsciously called out her name... And it stopped my shaking and in fact, calmed me down...
... Why--...
A cat leapt down from the tree in the end, with a bird in its mouth and a sense of relief grew within me. I continued onwards for a short while until my stomach growled.
“… I guess I haven’t really eaten…” I looked at the dimly lit path ahead of me.
Maybe I should take a short detour first before meeting up with Sayaka-senpai and Miyuki-senpai. It’s really late after all… I wouldn’t want to bother them… mmhmm.
I nodded at my own thoughts before bucking up my courage to actually break into someone’s home that was just around the corner.
Upon entering it, I couldn’t help but frown. I know that this is some sort of artificially made world but it still doesn’t change the fact that there were ‘people’ living here before the ‘game’ started and they turned into… zombie-like creatures known as the ‘Dolls’… I can’t believe we’re suddenly in some post-apocalyptic world like some kind of movie…
I tried to switch on the lights but they didn’t seem to be working. Fortunately there was a fireplace in this house, which was absolutely unconventional in Japan but I definitely don’t mind right now.
I knelt down in front of it to check if I could use it.
“Let’s see…” I looked at the few pieces of wood stacked in it and touched it, checking if it wasn’t wet, “Looks like this is usable,” I smiled.
Now to look for something to start a fire with…
I quickly got to the kitchen in hopes of finding a box of matches in the drawers. It was nearly pitch black if it weren’t for the moonlight that shone through the windows… but I managed to find what I needed and went back to the fireplace to start the fire, lighting up the place and not only that, it could keep me warm through the night.
“Now to get something to eat…” My stomach growl again, apparently in agreement with my statement and I went ahead to the fridge, hoping to see something I could fill myself with... I can’t believe I’m stealing from someone else’s fridge though…
“Hmm…… I guess this is good enough for now…” I took a piece of sweetcorn from the fridge that still managed to maintain its minimum coldness even when its off and went back to the fireplace, carefully barbequing parts of it since I’m not crazy enough to want to burn my hand. At least having food heated up slightly is better than having it cold…
After warming up my food, I sat in front of the fireplace, looking at the fire dancing before me as I munched down on my finding. It was weird… the more I look at the fire and listen to the crackling sounds it was making, the more my heart sunk, and the more watery my eyes felt…
Ah…
I think I know why…
… Jurina…
I broke the tip of the sweetcorn I had finished and threw it at the fire in mild frustration, making it grow larger for a moment until it went back to its warm-looking level. That didn’t seem to help when my mind was playing tricks on me and reflected Jurina’s face… and my time with her so far…
“Maybe I overdid it…” I tugged my knees closer to my chest and lied my head onto them, my other hand holding onto the remaining half of the sweetcorn, “… Maybe I should’ve stepped into her shoes to think before I yelled at her on impulse like that…”
I lifted my head back up and looked at the fire once again and Jurina’s saddened face appeared in my mind, the face she showed me when we argued a while ago…
“…I shouldn’t have left her…”
I know she cares about me… I know I’m here because of her sacrifice in the ‘real world’ but I’d rather die being protected by a valiant warrior than a person who would choose to run away or fight only when something possesses her…
Nonetheless, she’s my Guardian… and she needs me.
And I need her too.
I let out a sigh as I quickly finished my leftover sweetcorn and stood up, walking back towards the kitchen to wash my hands. I turned the faucet and it didn’t work. Right. This whole house doesn’t seem to have anything working but, thankfully, the fireplace… I sighed again until a paring knife next to the sink caught my attention.
“I do have a gun… but having a knife would be useful too…” I said to myself as I took the paring knife and carefully made sure it was still durable and sharp enough to be used.
“Mm,” I smiled, “This is good enough.”
I looked outside the window to reassure myself that no one was around before returning to the fireplace and sat on the sofa this time. I could feel my eyelids feeling heavier and heavier as I listened to the soft, crackling sounds of the fire before me. My consciousness ebbed away as I succumbed to the darkness...
- x - x - x –
Threatening footsteps slowly approached the house Rena was in, observing the smoke coming out from the chimney before stepping closer to the door. She lifted the hand with her dagger in it and the ground by her side began to rumble.
Inside of the house, a certain Matsui was awoken by the shaking.
“W-What’s going on?!” She exclaimed, getting up from the sofa and ran towards the window near the entrance where her eyes widened at the sight of a boulder being raised and ready to be launched.
“O-Oh no!” Rena almost tripped when she swiftly turned back to run but thankfully she managed to get as far back into the house as she possibly can before two large boulders was launched into the house, destroying the walls of the entrance. The figure knocked down the door with ease and stepped into the house, looking for her target that had escaped.
Rena, on the other hand, managed to get herself into the wet kitchen that had a door leading outside, but was locked.
“N-No!” Rena exclaimed in panic as she shook the locked door hardly. She took out the knife she had on her and tried to wrench it but to no avail. She hurriedly changed to her gun instead but by the time she stepped away to aim at it, the figure had entered the room she was in.
Rena noticed the shadow lingering behind her and trembled, looking over her shoulders in fear before turning around completely with her gun pointed at the figure’s face.
“A-Airi… I-I don’t want to do this…!”
‘Airi’ did not seem fazed by Rena’s actions but readied her knife at her threateningly. Rena had her back on the locked door now, the gun in her hands shaking violently as she tried her best to stabilize her aim. Her index finger, hesitantly placed on the trigger. But seeing how ‘Airi’ was ready to stab Rena at any moment now, she pulled the trigger.
*BANG!*Her body felt a jolt due to the recoil of the gunshot. Her eyes, shut tight. But when she opened it, a rock shield was formed from under the floor tile that blocked her view of ‘Airi’ and it rammed into her with much force that she was being sandwiched in between the rock shield and the door. Her ribs probably broke a few bones and she coughed blood at the impact, but with her will, she lifted the gun weakly at the door lock and shot at it once or twice till it swung open, throwing her out of the house.
She used her legs to kick herself away from the house, cringing in pain of her broken ribs while pointing shakily at ‘Airi’ who transformed the rock shield into tiny stone-like objects which then shot at Rena, causing her to swat at them like as if they were flies but at the same time, they dealt bruises onto her arms and face.
‘Airi’s’ expression didn’t change when she saw Rena finally down for the count, breathing heavily in exhaustion from the attack. She took the chance to form a cross-like pillar from beneath Rena that lifted her upwards and bounded her in mid-air. It was as if Rena was being crucified, with her wrists and ankles bounded by earth.
Rena tried her best to wriggle out of it whilst feeling the sharp pain of the aftershock, but of course, it didn’t work.
“A-Airi… I-I don’t understand… w-why are you doing this? Weren’t we friends…?!” Rena hoped that something would stir in ‘Airi’s’ heart but no. The latter lifted herself up with a pillar she formed from under her foot to meet Rena’s eyes through her mask.
Thanks to the morning light, she could see her masked ‘friend’ clearer. The eyes that shone through the mask was that of someone who had succumb to despair. It wasn’t the eyes of the cheerful otaku-like girl she knew heck… something felt off about those eyes… as if it wasn’t Furukawa Airi’s eyes…
“… You’re not…… Airi…?” Rena said in a weak voice. Her instincts told her it wasn’t Airi.
The figure of course remained silent but placed the knife sideways and directly at Rena’s throat, ready to slit it. Rena, for some reasons, wasn’t afraid. Heck, she herself questioned why her heart rate was suddenly steadied when it was pounding like crazy a moment ago.
It was all answered the next moment.
“GET AWAY FROM RENA-CHAN!!!!!!”
As if on time, a flaming punch directed at ‘Airi’s’ face—or I should say, mask—shot her a few metres away from where she was standing and crashing into another house a block away from where they were. Jurina landed on the platform that ‘Airi’, arriving like a hero, albeit limping a little due to the fact she had yet to get proper energy from her Master yet.
“J-Juri—"
“Are you okay?” Jurina asked in worry, cupping Rena’s face with her hands. The sudden action surprised the captive Matsui, especially when she noticed that there’s something different with Jurina now. Her eyes were burning with resolve despite having a worried frown formed on her lips.
“I-I think I might have broken—“ Rena’s eyes shifted to an incoming figure, riding on a wave of rocks that destroyed the buildings it passed through, “J-JURINA LOOK OUT!”
“--?!” Jurina let go of Rena and jumped down from the platform, landing on both her feet after using both the flames on her hands to propel her slightly to safety and jumping away immediately when ‘Airi’ dived downwards towards Jurina, causing a crater.
“Thank goodness I touched Rena-chan… my flames are a bit charged and I’m a bit more energized at least…” Jurina thought, before proceeding to dodge ‘Airi’s’ rapid strikes until she saw an opening that would allow her to at least rip the mask off her opponent’s face, and did so in that instant.
“Stop this Ai—C-CHURI?!” Jurina exclaimed in shock when she ripped the partially broken mask away from Akane’s face, revealing her emotionless expression as she jumped away.
That was when a barrage of lightning-charged arrows came shooting from above, targeted at Akane which caused a large dust cloud over the surroundings.
“Kiddo!”
“S-Sayaka-senpai?!” Jurina looked over her shoulder at Sayaka who placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You can’t handle her right now, we have to get out of—"
“R-Rena-chan’s--!”
On cue, Jurina noticed a figure leaping downwards to where she and Sayaka was standing, with a confused-looking Rena safely in her arms.
“Let’s get going, Sayaka!”
Sayaka nodded at her partner who did the same before the three of them (Rena is still in Miyuki’s arms) made a dash for it.
Along the way, Sayaka noticed a figure spying on them from one of the rooftops before disappearing into darkness, causing her to clench her teeth but decided not to make any sudden detours, at least not now.
- x - x - x –
“Looks like Sayanee got you, Takayanagi,” Yami appeared from behind, chuckling in amusement of seeing Akane coughing due to the dust cloud that gradually dispersed after her targets and their rescuers disappeared from her sight.
Akane turned back, shooting Yami a death glare which the latter shrugged at.
“Looks like you blew your cover as well,” Yami said, walking towards the broken mask in the rubble and picking it up, “Seems like you won’t be needing this to hide your identity unlike Hikari and me now, huh.”
“… I… won’t fail… next time…” Akane said in a low voice.
“Hmm?” Yami turned around.
“… I’ll…” Akane’s eyes burned with rage, “… kill Matsui Jurina… and Rena…”
Yami responded with a smirk before walking towards a shadowy area and disappearing into the darkness.
- x - x - x –
In a bedroom somewhere......
“You’re going to play hide and seek with Oshima Yuko and Kojima Haruna again, Atsuko?”
The shorter girl spoke on the bed, lying casually with both arms behind her head on the pillow as she watched her partner getting dressed. Right after Atsuko had fully buttoned her shirt, she turned to Minami, “… Yes.”
“Hmm?” Minami looked to the bedside table and spotted Atsuko’s glasses, “Wait for a moment,” she got up immediately, and walked towards the leaving Atsuko despite being bare naked and tip-toed slightly to put the glasses on for her.
“I hope you get them good, Atsuko,” Minami smirked darkly, “I’m sure I gave you enough energy last night to kill them off today.”
Atsuko’s expression did not change and she simply nodded as she left the room Minami and her were in. Minami slowly walked towards the bedside and took a photo frame into her hands. It was a collage of photos of her and Haruna with Haruna’s face crossed out. An evil smile creeped onto Minami’s face as her fingers glided over the photo frame.
“Let the show begin… the finale where you both die… Oshima Yuko… Kojima… Haruna.”
Topic: Indestructible Fire (Main: WMatsui + Multi-pair) - ON HIATUS [21/5/16] (Read 56098 times)