Little Help

“Pesky old man!” Duna grunted, flicking his staff forward. The man attempted to whisk away the Chief’s cane and open a counter for his multiple arms, but his opposition had already learned that intention.

However, a contest of strength was unwise. Uncle Kuroda, aged as he was, couldn’t hope to compete against a transformed Stigma wielder. And so, he didn’t. Though his speed was lacking, he still managed to lean backward, using the force against him to help push him away from danger. It was a downward hit, yet the timing was impeccable — Duna only managed to hit the ground, while the Chief didn’t stagger one bit. Such swift movements even took me by surprise; I never knew he could fight like this…

“Urgh!”

The sound wasn’t made by either party, but by my own mouth as another splitting headache came crashing like a wave. Why did I think those words? I’d seen the Chief fight before. But… I couldn’t remember much else. Where did I see him fight? And against whom?

“I’ve had it with you!”

A loud smash woke me up from my trance. Immediately, a wooden shard appeared right next to my face. There was no time to dodge, only enough for me to raise my hand in defense. The splinter pricked through my skin like a bullet, and soon enough, my palm felt the warm, crimson liquid slowly flowing out.

The Chief must have thrown a chair onto Duna for cover. In a closed space like this, it would be best to use your environment to your advantage, after all. There wasn’t a lot of furniture, but a few chairs were more than sufficient for a sneak attack.

When I came to, the Chief was nowhere to be found. However, from behind some of the tubes at the corner, I could vaguely see the sparks from a barrel.

Surprisingly enough, none of the glass had been broken. But it was easy to consider if you remembered the fact that these tubes were used to house monster-fied people — it was natural that they would be stronger than their appearance.

And it also made them the perfect barrier, even against the onslaught of a Stigma wielder.

Duna, despite his attacks, had never actually tried to advance and hit the tubes. In fact, it almost seemed like he was deliberately holding back. His swinging mainly hit air, but there weren’t many things to deflect either — the Chief had stopped shooting as well. Naturally, since bullets were limited, and I doubted that he’d bring that many extras. But one thing was clear: they were both avoiding a direct confrontation…

As well as directly avoiding me. Which I could definitely use to my advantage… but for which side?

… No. I shouldn’t think like this. It would just be the logical thing to do, helping the side in need. The Chief had placed his trust in me, so I should place a bit of trust on myself as well.

That maybe, the person that had always been inside me would resurface with this act of help.

I scanned around the environment, searching for anything of use. However, what returned was only disappointment — the furniture had already been destroyed, leaving only shards and splinters on the ground. The tubes remained, sure, but they were stationary. And not to mention Duna’s clones were still lurking around; the Chief might not have noticed them, but I could tell that they were hiding within the shadows of this room. One on the ceiling, another within the cracks of the floor, and a third one in the opposite corner, hidden behind the tubes as well.

But I couldn’t exactly just shout it out — for one, Duna would still be in control. An irrational act could alert him, and put me in danger as well. But at the same time, if I just stood here and did nothing, what would be the difference?

I needed to do something. But at the same time, these two had decided that time was a luxury.

Duna had grown tired of waiting around. With a booming shout, the man charged forth with his iron staff, while all of his clones jumped out from hiding. The Chief, seeing this, rolled out of his hiding spot as well, running with all his strength towards the tubes on the other side of the room.

However, there was something different about them. Somehow, Duna was slower, while the Chief was faster than usual.

“That’s it!”

I got down on the ground and picked up splinters as fast as I could, just in time as Duna’s clones crashed into the main tube. Instead of a loud breaking sound, it was more like a thud of a blunt object — the tube remained unscathed, as I had predicted before. And this was the perfect moment.

“Take this!”

I threw the splintered wood and glass shards at Duna, all while running away as fast as I could. These things weren’t meant to deal damage, of course, but they were perfect for obstructing vision — even if his head was protected by the mask, having to dodge the splinters meant that he had a blind spot for just a few seconds. And while I had no weapon that could defeat him, the Chief certainly would.

Seeing the opportunity, the Chief fired his shot. A thundering sound, the stench of sulfur, and a spark flew. The bullet ripped through the air, spiraling straight into the armor of the still struggling man. This time, the Chief aimed right between the eyes, so even if it didn’t kill, the damage would be severe.

Of course, assuming that it hit.

None of us could have expected it, for the perpetrator had timed it perfectly along with the gunshot. But a keen pair of ears would be able to tell — there was a second sound, painfully similar to the first, occurring just barely a millisecond after.

Along with the sound of a gun, was a sound of thunder. And along with the sound of thunder, the bullet had been perfectly cut in half before it could reach its target.

She had finally appeared before me again. That black skeletal armor. The tengu-like kabuto. The weird, double-ended sword.

“Are you Kana… Or are you Reiko?” I asked.

“That’s Reiko?” The Chief raised his voice in shock.

“It’s… a long story,” I turned around, trying to answer. But before I could continue, the individual had already interrupted me.

Still hiding her face behind the cold, dark armor, the girl spoke:

“Who do you think it is?”