Kuro-Koji

“Which family was it again? I’ve lived a long life, y’know, you can’t expect me to remember everyone I killed.” When Kuro-Koji said this, Rentarou didn’t hesitate to swing at the Kitsune with his expanded arm. However, the only thing Rentarou made contact with was a shimmer of gold.

“Where are you?”

“Maybe… try the roof.”

“Rentarou, don’t fall for his taunts.” When Yukimura said this, Rentarou turned to her with a solemn expression on his face. It was as if his rage had been suppressed, even if it was for just a moment.

“Yukimura, I have to be the one to slay this yokai. He killed my family, and just because you can’t get revenge on the yokai that killed your actual family, doesn’t mean I can’t do the same for mine.” With those words said, Rentarou expanded his legs, channeling the strength of his muscles, and tore through the house’s ceiling.

When Rentarou landed on the wooden roof, he didn’t give Kuro-Koji time for his sweet talk. Rentarou expanded his arm, swinging down on Kuro-Koji like a club. Kuro-Koji dodged, sidestepping the punch, and when he did, three blue flames appeared behind him.

“Feisty, aren’t we? Don’t you care about how, or rather, why I’m here?”

Again, Rentarou didn’t speak; the only sound that exited his mouth was grunts. He only swung his left arm, and after Kuro-Koji evaded that attack, Rentarou aimed to sweep him with his leg; however, that attack ended in failure as well.

“Oh, now I remember you. You’re the brother of that Ozeki girl.” Kuro-Koji’s laugh at the edge of the roof caused Rentarou’s blood to boil more than before. “How is she doing now?”

“Don’t you dare talk about my sister!” Rentarou’s breath was ragged as he expanded the muscles in his leg to give himself explosive speed. If it were the actual Kuro-Koji, Rentarou’s attack might’ve harmed him, but the figure he attacked wasn’t real. It was only another illusion that caused Rentarou’s fist, and the rest of his body, to phase through it and plunge to the ground.

Yukimura heard Rentarou fall, but she didn’t concern herself with checking on his condition; she only kept her sword in front of her and her eyes closed. I have to find his true body.

When she had that thought, the sound of footsteps manifested behind her. “What about you, would you like to know why I’m here?”

Don’t fall for his tricks; he’s only trying to distract you.

“Aren’t you curious why I lingered around at the scene of the crime?”

You’re not getting in my head.

“Don’t you want to know why, as soon as I got unsealed, I killed that woman?”

Found you.

Before Kuro-Koji could ask another question, Yukimura launched her blade at the windowsill where the yokai first appeared. And instead of breaking the glass, the sword seemed to pierce something as black blood dripped onto the floor; that something was Kuro-Koji. Yukimura began to approach Kuro-Koji after her sword pierced his right shoulder.

“Now tell me, why are you here?”

“Because a monkey promised me payment.”

“What monkey?” Yukimura’s icy eyes looked down upon Kuro-Koji as he gripped his shoulder. However, Kuro-Koji didn’t give an immediate response; in place of that, three blue flames appeared behind him. Upon this sight, Yukimura didn’t hesitate to rip her katana out of Kuro-Koji’s body. When she did, Kuro-Koji smiled as those flames launched out around him.

Yukimura was able to slash two of the flames that were immediately in front of her; however, one got past her, aiming at Shin. Yukimura’s attention shifted from Kuro-Koji to that stray fire, as she shouted, “Lance.” However, Kuro-Koji’s attention didn’t waver for one second.

While Yukimura was concerned with Shin’s well-being, Kuro-Koji unveiled his fox-like claws. He was about to use those claws to land a surprise attack on Yukimura, but not even he could expect Rentarou to bust through the walls of the house to punch him square in the face, before grappling him.

Despite the pain he felt, Kuro-Koji’s attention was focused more on the house that was falling apart than on himself. There was only one thought coursing through his head at this time: my payment!

Kuro-Koji sent out blue flames to disintegrate the debris before it could fall on top of Yukimura and Shin, and at the same time, Yukimura said, “Barrier.” Yukimura swung her sword in a circle around her, freezing the air it slashed, to form a sphere of ice around them.

Good, my prize is safe, now I have to deal with this brat.

The Kitsune and Rentarou stumbled as they tumbled their way into the forest, only stopping after colliding with one of the several Japanese cedar trees that surrounded them. When they stopped, Rentarou was straddling Kuro-Koji and didn’t stop punching him. Rentarou punched Kuro-Koji’s skull, getting sloppier with each hit, until he heard his fist crack, but even that was not enough to stop his barrage; the only thing that did was the shimmer of gold as the illusion could no longer sustain itself.

“Where are you, Kuro-Koji?” A streak of tears and rain dripped down Rentarou’s face. “Reveal yourself!”

“Now, now, no need to yell, Ozeki boy.” Rentarou could hear the voice coming from behind him. So, to lunge at him, he forsook all his other senses to make this one strike count. Kuro-Koji, who saw this attack clear as day while holding onto his cheek, merely jumped, leaving Rentarou to plunge into the newly formed ring of fire that surrounded the two.

When Rentarou stood up from the blue flames, burn marks lined his body. However, he didn’t care at all. The only thing Rentarou cared about in this moment was hearing the satisfying cracks of Kuro-Koji’s bones as he begged.

“How did you like the taste of my flames?” The voice echoed around the ring from countless clones of Kuro-Koji. “Are you—”

Rentarou slammed his fist into the group of illusions as he expanded his body nearly to the height of the trees around them. Rentarou could feel his heart throbbing from each of these sudden uses of his ability, but he only released a primal scream in return.

Kuro-Koji, the real one, was not deterred by Rentarou’s display of strength; instead, Kuro-Koji used the boy’s massive arm to run up to Rentarou’s face. Upon reaching it, he jumped off, pointing at the spot between Rentarou’s eyes before unleashing his blue flames there.

As the fire scarred his face, Rentarou covered his face while screaming. He was going to attempt to punch Kuro-Koji out of the air, but his arm began to contract, and when his arm did, the rest of his body followed. His body couldn’t take it anymore, not just the damage from the flames, but the strain of transforming so many times and so rapidly.

Rentarou stumbled onto the ground after exhausting his supernatural strength, looking straight at the ground. He felt pressure on the back of his skull as Kuro-Koji stepped on it.

“Be proud of yourself, most people don’t live long after being afflicted with Nebutori, but you turned it into your power. Well done.” Kuro-Koji said this as his hand stretched out above Rentarou’s body, a blue flame forming in his palm.

“Blizzard!”

A swarm of ice shards launched themselves at Kuro-Koji, causing him to focus the fire in his hand to burn them, rather than burning Rentarou. The caster of those shards, Yukimura, appeared with her blade in hand. However, his attention was not on the female Onmyoji in front of him; it was on Shin, who was on the ground a few steps behind her. He tried to leap toward the Kishin boy, but his leg was being pulled on by none other than Rentarou.

“You’re not going anywhere. I’m going to kill you!”

“Just die already.”

Kuro-Koji warmed up the fire in his hand faster than before, but a force sent him flying backward before he could incinerate Rentarou’s barely conscious body. The person who kicked him was neither Yukimura nor the Kishin behind her; it was someone with more experience than both of them combined.

“Don’t fret! Satori is here to save the day!”