The Core

“You’re saying she stole that spellbook?” Yusato kept his hand above the ground as he locked eyes with the women.

Wind blew through the area, ruffling their clothes around as the birds chirped.

“That’s right. She’s a thief.”

Mira’s eyes, fragile as glass, met with Yusato. She hugged the spellbook close to her body.

She seemed awfully attached to that thing. Truthfully, Yusato didn’t really know who to believe.

But Mira was supposed to be his partner. He needed her to be on his side.

Not to mention, there was that face he couldn’t possibly refuse again. Doing so would make him heartless. And so, he decided to defend her.

Fire surged up around Yusato’s body as he slapped his hand onto the ground. The sparks of fire shimmered and crackled around him as he grinned.

“Sorry about this, but if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave this thief alone.”

“Are you opposing the Black Moon?”

Flames continued to spin around Yusato while he stood up. “Only if you try to hurt her.”

“How bold of you.” Magic daggers protruded from the woman’s hands as she reached for Mira’s neck. “Bold and stupid.”

Mira screamed as her neck was cut by the dagger.

A blast of fire erupted from Yusato’s mouth and the women leaped up into the trees.

Several leaves fell down from all over. Based on the sound of each of the trees rustling, she had to be constantly moving between them.

“Now she’s hiding huh.” Yusato flexed his fingers.

He knew she was in the trees..Figuring out that much was simple enough. The problem was being fast enough to hit her before she moved again.

He gasped as dozens of magic daggers rained down on him. They nicked him in the arms, legs, and shoulders.

Losing his footing, an iron dagger came right past his cheek, grazing his skin.

Yusato covered the wound. He didn’t have any time to process it however as piles of leaves fell from the trees. And within those leaves came a mix of the two types of daggers.

Holding out his arms, Yusato summoned a wall of fire in front of him that blocked and melted away all the daggers.

Pins and needles shot down from the trees as well, meeting with the fire wall. Yusato winced in pain as some of the needles struck his back.

Spikes of fire burst from Yusato’s back, striking through the needles and breaking them apart. The thin scraps of metal fell to the ground.

As he calmed his breathing, Yusato focused his senses. He scanned around for where the sound of the rustling leaves was the loudest.

“There!”

A fireball shot out from his palm and struck the tree to his right. The women flipped out of the tree, slamming her leg against Yusato’s jaw.

Yusato skidded across the ground, digging up dirt as dirt as he did so. He wiped his bruised lips and smirked. “Found you.”

“Go ahead and pat yourself on the back.” The woman came swinging her fists at Yusato as he evaded her blows.

A sharp pain struck his cheek. “She hit me?” But as he looked closer, he realized she was still holding small needles in between her fingers. “I see.”

The woman fell leaned back just as Yusato’s knee came for her face. She pivoted around and smashed her fist into his gut.

The crushing pain from the punch plus the piercing pain from the needles caused Yusato to double over before the woman kicked him to the ground.

She stood over Yusato, her arms folded and a satisfied smile on his face. Yusato spun around on the ground as the embers around him mimicked his movements.

He kicked himself up off the ground and delivered a powerful blast of fire at close range. The woman brought her forearms in front of her face to shield herself from the attack.

A harsh growl came from within the flames. Within seconds, a claw of magical aura shot through grasping at Yusato’s neck.

Yusato swiftly swerved out of the way and his flaming knuckles met with the women’s. They both delivered a series of blow to the other without letting up for even an instant.

Blood flew out of Yusato’s fingers as each time he hit her first, he was wounded by the needles and daggers in her hands.

The fire surrounding Yusato’s fists swirled and intensified by the second. With each punch he threw, the searing heat from the flames grew even more and started to burn the women’s skin.

“I’ll make you regret opposing the Black Moon,” the woman said as she slammed her fist against Yusato’s jaw.

Yusato’s feet dragged across the dirt as he planted himself in the ground. He threw his fist forward again, driving it into the women’s solar plexus. She coughed up blood while stumbling backwards.

“Why?” A low, quiet voice.

Yusato blinked, but still kept his hands at the ready. “Huh?”

“Why are you protecting her? She’s a criminal.”

Good question. That was Yusato’s immediate thought. He knew he really didn’t have any basis for choosing Mira over the Black Moon, other than his own selfish reasons. But admitting that here in front of both of these girls certainly wasn’t going to do him any favors.

Lying was out of the question too. So, then what could he say here? Why was he trying so hard to protect Mira? As he thought harder about that question, he started to chuckle a bit.

The women scowled, her hands sharpening into magic claws again. “Are you laughing at me?”

“No,” Yusato said. His smile grew even more. After he thought about it became so obvious, he questioned why he even had to think about it in the first place. It’s been a core part of who he was since the beginning. “I’m laughing at myself.”

“Laughing at yourself?” She brought her claw up to her face and bent her knees. “What kind of nonsense is that?”

Fire billowed and flickered around Yusato’s figure. Then, it began to twist and morph in his hands. “I’m protecting her…because she asked for my help. I never turn away from someone who needs my help. No matter what.”

A bow and arrow composed of fire materialized in Yusato’s hands as he aimed it directly at the cloaked women.

The flaming arrow came straight for her and burst into even larger flames upon impact. The fire blew around wildly. The sizzling sound of the fire was so loud Yusato was sure they could hear it back at the center of the town.

The women walked forward from within the flames, a veil of magical energy framing her body. The magical energy took on the shape of razor sharp spikes as she lunged forward.

“Yusato! Look out!” Mira cried out to him as her spellbook started to glow a golden hue. It lifted out of her arms and suddenly opened up and flipping through its pages. Mira’s eyes widened as she stared at the spellbook. “It opened…It finally opened again.”

The women continued rushing for Yusato, the spikes around her body buzzing and spinning wildly out of control. Mira closed her eyes and held up both her hands.

And then, that same bright golden light from the spellbook expanded and shrouded the entire area.