Junepais Shadow

“Now's not the time to be joking around, Junepai!” Yuya quickly stood, the fog parting once more as another one of those creatures leapt for Junepai. He stretched a hand outward, catching it mid air, a powerful and dreadful force emanating from his palm and blasting the beast into nothing, black blood spilling into the air.

“Let’s get married. You can dress like a pretty girl again, and we can get married. You can be mine.” Black smoke-like ropes tangled themselves around his body, the air around them growing thick.

“J-Junepai.” Yuya took a step back as he took a step forward, his eyes searching for him, only to find nothing.

“Let’s get married!” He shouted, charging toward him with a hand stretched outward.

Suddenly, appearing from the fog, Himeno stood between the two, hand clasped around Junepai's face.

Damn it, she thought, I didn’t have to get involved.

Junepai sputtered, stumbling backward and shaking his head wildly. He stared her down with fierce eyes, his hands balling into fists at his sides.

“What’s going on here? Why are you attacking your own teammate?”

“S-somethings happened to him, I don’t know what, but he started acting strange all of a sudden.” Yuya cowered behind Himeno.

“Well, I can’t have you lashing out and getting people killed.” She calmly spoke.

“Don’t get in the way of our love!” He held out his arms, the shadows growing thick, a yellow aura pouring over his eyes until they were completely covered. He charged forward without another word, the two of them disappearing from Yuya's view entirely as a burst of wind sent him onto his back.

Himeno was swept from her feet, her body barreling out of control until she slammed into the ground, her vision flashed black and white, and a powerful throbbing sensation pounded in her skull. A shadow flashed in her vision, a hand extending downward and plucking her from the ground, its grip tightening around her throat. It reeled its arm back and threw her forward, dead trees and fog blurring in her vision. She could hear the sound of loud popping, her body slamming through several trees, her momentum eventually being halted as she slammed into one last tree. She fell to her knees, wincing in pain.

“Or maybe, we could get married instead.” His voice sounded distorted, a hint of deep bass causing the world around them to boom, “You do look quite sexy when you’re on your knees like that.” He remarked, approaching her from the fog with a saunter.

Himeno ignored him, getting back into a standing position and holding her fists out before her.

“That makes you so much less attractive.” He began to cackle before rushing forward again.

Himeno stepped to the side, twirling her body behind Junepai, her hand extending outward and clipping his shoulder, his body spinning back and flipping out of control. He landed on his neck, his butt face-up in the air. With a kick-up, he was back on his feet in an instant, glaring back at her and growling.

“What a pervert.” She finally spoke.

“Pervert? You should know better than to call a man a pervert.”

They looped around one another a few times, Junepai sneering the entire way. He rushed in once more, swinging wildly. She ducked between his swings, stepping back with each dodge, her eyes darting over every part of his entire body in an attempt to find an opening. He planted a foot forward, sending out a powerful cross, the wind bending around his fist and howling. Himeno slapped his arm away, immediately countering with a jab square on his face, then another, then another. Before he could fully recuperate, she stepped forward with a powerful hook, landing a clean strike on his cheek.

Using the added momentum from her strike, Junepai twirled his body around and raised his arm, swinging with an open palm. His hand met air as she ducked beneath his attempt at a counter, her legs close to the ground, and her fingertips dug into the dirt beneath them. Her body crashed into his, her shoulder digging into his abdomen, both their bodies being swept from the floor. Junepai wrapped his arm around her head, slamming his elbow into her spine repeatedly. Unable to bear the pain, she let go, both their bodies thudding against the ground.

Before he could make a full recovery, Himeno was already charging forward, leaping forward and slamming her knee onto his jaw, the two of them tumbling back onto the ground once more, spent. She panted, clawing through the dirt in her struggle to stand. She turned back, fully expecting Junepai to be trying to stand.

He was out cold, and the shadows that wrapped themselves around his body had disappeared.

NN continued to leap away from both the monsters and his new attacker, trying his best to dodge every attack. Every few attempts, Shindo's blade would catch him, or one of the creatures would manage to catch him by surprise. There were small cuts on his face and on his sides.

“Are you acting on Himeno Takeba's behalf?” He shouted through the fog.

“I can’t have you exposing my teammate.” Shindo simply replied. He charged forth, slashing upward, the wind around his blade whooshing. The metal plate on NN’s chest split in two, falling into the fog beneath them. At the same time, a Mana-feeder pounced from behind, latching itself onto his shoulder and sinking its teeth into the side of his neck. NN pointed his finger over his shoulder, blasting the creature away, his own blood mixing in with the black ichor, a crimson shower pouring from his neck. He clasped a hand over the open wound, a silent wheeze escaping his lips. He stumbled backward a few times, holding a hand out as Shindo quickly rushed forward, raising his blade above his head and slashing downward. NN met his slash mid-way, catching the blade with his bare hand. With a blank expression, Shindo poured his mana into the blade of his katana, enveloping it in a gentle blue aura, slicing through the upper half of his hand with little effort. His expression darkened, watching as NN gasped for air, his body falling backward and thudding against the floor, the fog consuming him.

“I’m sorry, it had to be done.” He used his sleeve to wipe away the blood staining his sword.