Scared of Me [Solo]

She choked and spluttered as her face hit the water. Panicked and tried to pull away. Her hand tore at Amenonuhoko's vice-like grip around hers. Pulled further and further down into the darkness with no end in sight. Glanced frantically over her shoulder to see the surface, nothing more than a darkening grey sheet above her head, rapidly fading. Couldn’t hold her breathe anymore and blew out a stream of pale bubbles. Waited for the water to fill her mouth and lungs. For the red in her vision to fade to black and asphyxia to finally come in and-- nothing happened. She breathed in. Blew out.

More bubbles.

Her brow furrowed in puzzlement. Blew again just to make sure she wasn't imagining things while drowning. Oxygen deprivation was supposed to be one of the worst ways to die, aside from burning alive and so many others that she'd discovered along the way. Bubbles continued to stream from her nose when she blew out. Sneezed when she tried to sniff and managed a nose full of water. Nothing wrong with her lungs though, the longer and further down they went, the easier everything seemed to get. Said sneeze was impressive and echoed loudly throughout the area. She watched the silvery cloud wiggle its way toward the surface above them.

What the hell and why?

”And that’s one reason outta many why we’re gonna talk.” Amenonuhoko grumbled ahead of her. Pulled down sharply to put the trailing hybrid down at her side once more. Glanced behind her own shoulder to see the troubled furrow to the scarlet eyed woman’s brow and felt her mouth twist unhappily in response. She hadn’t noticed, yet, probably would the moment they set foot on solid ground, that she’d changed the moment she’d come through the line dividing the surface from dark depths. Wouldn’t probably catch on too terribly quickly unless she managed to word things just enough that two and two connected to make four. Maybe then… just maybe then they’d be able to move over this little almost-but-not-quite thing they had going on after that last moment of understanding between them.

Decided to distract her before the storm beginning above could build further. ”Instead of freaking out, look around you.” She suggested with a gut churning reluctance. This was the beginning and Sekai didn't even know it. ”This is where I usually am, after all.”

She’d run; Amenonuhoko hated her own lack of faith in the wide eyed, white haired woman she dragged down with her. She knew her all too well, she was part of her, after all, and her own reaction upon discovering...well, what she'd found her 'home' in wouldn't garner a reaction worth mentioning again. Fear and panic were at the top of the list and this whole stupid fucking mess was going to get uglier before it would get any better. Not a pleasant experience or one she was looking forward to having to endure in a much more extreme manner than she herself had back in the past.

It was going to be for the best, she tried to convince herself. She, no, they were going to have to go through it together this time. Instead of one side being the one to deal with it all and the other pretending it didn’t exist until the other part threw it back in her face at the most inconvenient of times.  Nightmares were a tiring way of trying to communicate what needed to be resolved and were almost never properly deciphered in their symbolism, and Amenonuhoko was entirely too ready to deal and move on to more important matters.  

Light shimmered below, drew both their gazes downward. Easily dwarfing the rest of the broken landscape was a magnificent crystal tree. Glowing brightly with a brilliant and eerie pale light, the branches and blossoms scraped and clinked against one another in an invisible breeze. Almost like some sort of strange wind chime, the sound was somehow familiar to the white haired woman as they descended further. Nearly to the small structure, broken down and damaged, comprised of plain stone. Matching in color was a haphazard array of columns, broken away buildings, rooftops-- or what might have been them, she though a few looked like chimneys poking upwards from the inky-black depths-- and what looked suspiciously like power poles jutting free from the water itself.  They landed without much of a thump. Sekai’s boots louder than the whisper of Amenonuhoko’s bare feet as they settled atop one of the massive, twisted roots protectively encircling the small gazebo at the trunk’s base. 

Sekai gaped, slack-jawed, at the massive wisteria glowing almost blindingly bright and pulsing with a soft, powerful light all its own. What a strange and intriguing place this was-- even Kiyohime was wrought with exquisite detail down to the number of petals and new runners they'd agreed she could keep in that brightly glowing stone. Beautiful, but artificial somehow-- sad because it was hard and cold and without the life and warmth she was accustomed to. Without everything comforting that world above her had to offer-- sunlight and life and color. A fake and cold imitation of the genuine thing; a pretty lie for the eyes and mind. 

Amenonuhoko's mouth twisted in wry, thought silent, agreement. Eyes flicked up to the dimly visible speck of light representing the surface of their world. Today, she vowed. A promise to herself she fully intended to keep. “Welcome to the graveyard I was born in.” 

“Graveyard?” Sekai glanced around. Startled by the naming of such a quiet, if a little scary, place as a ‘graveyard’. She didn’t see any memorials, no headstones and family plots neatly arranged and separated by small iron or wooden fences. No incense bowls, shallow and filled with sand, and altars on which to place offerings for the spirits of the dead. Nothing about this felt like a graveyard either. Solemn, certainly, and cold and lonely... and maybe quiet. That was definitely an attribute in of itself.

“Why would you refer to this place as a graveyard?” She asked, tore her gaze away from a scenery both somehow familiar and alien.

Still didn’t seem to notice anything immediately off about herself. She should have known it was going to be like this. Really, they were both so fucking stupid and stubborn and dense and in denial regarding certain matters that they might as well be called that river in Egypt. “You really wanna know?” She replied easily. Too casually with her heart leaping into her throat from anticipation. Almost prayed to the gods she was steadily believing more and more didn’t exist-- at least, not in the manner they’d both been brought to believe.  Please say yes, she thought as she waited. Please say yes so we can get this ugly scene done and over with. Say yes so that we can throw down the way we need to. Say yes so that you'll quit holding me back and I can keep you from holding yourself back.

That, among other issues, was the biggest sticking point in their bond; Sekai was all about restraint and Amenonuhoko wanted them to fly.

”You mentioned we needed to talk… so, um, this was part of it, right? You calling this a graveyard… the reason why that is-- that’s what you mean by ‘this was getting in our way’, right? I’m strong enough now. I can handle anything that comes our way-- at least, most anything. ...we, um, have to work out what to do about people on Era-- Obsession' level.” She had to believe in that. She had to. With power so firmly in her grasp, with a soul strong enough to fight almost any who came her way and come out unscathed… there was no way she couldn’t face this last part of herself. Absolutely no way. She was stronger than this. Stronger than anyone had a right to be. She was so earnest and pleading with the black haired spirit that she'd forgotten her wounded side and arm entirely. Believe me, her eyes begged, believe in me even if I'm wrong and will be proven so again and again.

Amenonuhoko regarded the sight of the armored woman before her. Clad from the neck down in that stupid samurai inspired armor, Sekai resembled a child posing as some sort of fantasy warrior better suited for a convention they both pretended they’d never attended. Looked more like someone trying to be a warrior instead of looking into what it truly meant to be one there in their world or understanding what that armor truly represented in the grand scheme of things. Glanced down at her own bare feet, to the swaying hem of the white gown clashing against her dark skin and darker hair. Heaved a massive sigh and pushed away the shoulder length locks from her face.

”...I don’t think you really understand why you’re here.” She said finally. ”Or the magnitude of what you’re asking me to do.” Added that on for good measure. Took another moment to fantasize about the ways she'd break the kneecaps of that smug bastard who'd better not have left them alone and vulnerable to attack after his interfering bullshit. 

--
WC: 1544

Thunder rumbled overhead.

Silver eyes turned upward to see lightning fork high above their heads. An aching twist in her chest and gut intensified as seconds passed. Her fear of Sekai's reaction-- that the girl was going to cut and run-- was confirmed almost beyond a certainty with just that one beseeching glance. Noted that Sekai’s head also turned to the sky far, far away from their current location. She knew too; and she was trying to be the same falsely brave idiot she always was to prove that she wasn’t weak. We really are stupid. She thought to herself with a scoff and shake of her head. Naginata manifested within her hand. Glowing white as the tree behind them as she hefted its blade high into the air. But what can we do? We both want the same thing even if she doesn't realize it yet.

”This is how it's going to go; if you run away, I’m going to hunt you down-- and we’re having that conversation no matter what you say or do.” Amenonuhoko finally warned. Let fate fall where it would; this conflict was inevitable and so was her immediate and instant failure therein. That bastard outside this world might call himself Destiny or Fate or whatever; but she was the one who would, in the end, decide what the end result was. No matter what; she would never, ever rely on his stupid manipulative bullshit in order to get what she wanted. 

A pulse of power radiated from her."I hope you're ready; because this is going to hurt." Sent a high spray of water from all directions. Droplets rose, higher, higher. The rest followed, slow but sure; summoned forth by a gravity more intense than the one that held the rest of the endless expanse of water until their positions were reversed. That vast flat expanse of pitch-black sea above obscured the safety of the surface above. Cut off the easiest escape as the true form of the remnants below revealed themselves in the harsh, clear, and ugly light radiating from the crystal wisteria like a heatless sun.

Sekai stared. Uncomprehending of the sight before her own two eyes. She’d been right; they were buildings… but they looked as if they’d been torn asunder by a force greater than the many hands and machines used to construct them. Jagged glass in broken windows. Large, gaping holes in the buildings themselves. Rafters and twisted beams jutting forth. An earthquake? She could certainly see the thunder above rattling matters so intensely-- the lightning too-- that the storm tore through the area like some sort of twisted typhoon. Rebar jutted forth in twisted angles. Broken glass glittered like stars on cold ground. "I don't understand." Sekai began, turned to give an entirely too confused look to the grim looking spirit standing a handful of steps behind her.

”Did I cause this by being…” She hesitated. Tried to find the words that best suited the occasion and level of destruction before her. ”by being my usual self?” A lame response, but one that also encompassed all of her usual foolishness. The indecision. The penchant towards panic and fear and all that would drop the boulder of destruction down a very sharp, steep hill. Hesitation that cost others their lives and inflicted more emotional and psychological scars on her person as a result of her inaction. 

Silver eyes didn't hide anything she felt. The trepidation, the anxious knowing that all was about to go wrong and the none too gentle show of resignation in both face and tone. "Are you sure you don't recognize this place?" Amenonuhoko tossed her hair out of her face. Chose not to even acknowledge the question when Sekai already had the answer. Her feet lifted off the ground, unbound by the laws in which she herself commanded. One knee drawn up to her chest for her chin to rest. The other curved beneath her. Her weapon was held close, head tilted just enough to lean the side of her head against it. Still glowing. Still sending those strange pulses into the air and world all around them. Drew nearer and nearer-- and pushed further and further. Tide drawn to the shore and away from it. Was the girl in front of her the shore or the sea calling her home?

Sekai looked back. ”N-no..” she trailed off, at a loss for what more to say. Something was familiar, and she couldn’t put her finger on what that might have been; felt as if she were the biggest fool in existence for missing something that should be so simple and obvious that even a child could understand. Focused on the array of formerly sunken buildings and twisted structures. Really tried to figure out why the odd scenery brought out the sickening sensation of wrong that only built itself stronger and stronger. Noticed a sign, crumpled as if hit by a major accident, only a few feet away. Her steps crunched loudly in the stifling silence. One step, two, and then five and eight and she could bend over, hands on her knees, crouched just enough to see the name and number printed so neat--

"You should, you know." Amenonuhoko's voice echoed from somewhere so very far away.

Her mouth opened; snapped shut in the next moment as Sekai shook her head.

Slowly from side to side.

No. No...!

Denial.

Rejection.

This wasn't supposed to be here. This wasn't what she wanted reflected in her soul. This wasn't her; this wasn't the way she was. She wasn't this-- this wasn't her and this wasn't what her soul should reflect. 

From that metal telephone pole that'd toppled, snapped like a fragile twig to the chunks of jagged concrete neatly thrown in a chaotic heap in a mirror replica of the street outside of her former therapist's office. The road, what was left of it and debris strewn as it was, started to bend itself beneath her. Each trembling step backward, the ground swallowed whole objects to get them out of her way. Shifted with an unholy groan to move them. Snapped, fallen power lines draped over bodies-- so perfectly rendered and life-like and broken the way-- quietly disappeared into the ground, their no longer smoldering victims with them into an unmarked grave.

"This is where the world you knew ended, Sekai." Amenonuhoko said quietly.

There was no fire. No smoke or cries of the dying and wounded. No sirens or shattering glass or dull groan of buildings imploding. No howling of Hollow or flashes of cero and bala slamming into buildings. Everything lay as if crystallized in time; a macabre and frozen world of glittering glass encased the all too familiar remnants of Karakura Town. Watched the way her face drained of color and her pupils blew out to nearly swallow the whole of the red-and-green color in her eyes. Fear, rank and sour, filled the entire area the way it had back in that day.  Knew that she could still hear screaming. So much screaming. So much fear and-- a hand against her shoulder, cold skin against her back as her own voice whispered at her ear. Pierced above the screaming and the thunderous roar resounding all around her.

"This is where we died." Her voice echoed. Mingled as her own and Sekai's and neither all at once.

Gave the cold, hard truth of what might have been versus what reality was like in that very moment. The lie of the surface world; so vast and wide and mirror-like in its reflection of a beloved blue sky pitted against the skeletal remnants of an event that had irreparably destroyed what she could have been and turned her down a path she never should have walked. Their world should have been different than this disaster-- and because she had refused to acknowledge its damage. Because she'd stubbornly refused to sit down and take the time to recognize and handle the trauma she'd endured and the six months of chaotic, ever constant fear and panic by pretending she was stronger than she was... they were like this. Not even she understood or knew what the world was supposed to have been.

Time lost. Possibility and potential forsaken in the name of cowering like a child from the monster lurking in their closet.

--
WC: 1394

She couldn’t quite keep the disgust and disappointment off her face as Sekai attempted to hurl herself past with a shrill cry and pupils so blown her eyes may as well have been black. Caught her by the nearly destroyed arm and hauled back her fist. "Why do we always have to do this the hard way?" She demanded to the fear deafened woman. If she didn’t want to do this right, then she could have a repeat performance of that night in the hotel-- and not Roppongi at that. 

She landed a devastating punch, a beautiful strike if anyone asked-- square into the other woman’s nose. A repeat of before, if she remembered correctly, and probably not the last time. Heard and felt the rush of wind just before her vision danced with stars and a boot shod foot planted itself in a rather well timed kick square to the gut. ”You fucking coward!” Amenonuhoko wheezed. Sucked air like a fish out of water as she fell to one knee. Watched her hair stream behind her in a wavy banner of surrender as she fled for the tree from beneath the curtain of her bangs. Bared her teeth in feral parody of a smile and shoved herself forward. Her weapon shifted. Shrank and reformed into a curved bow nearly as tall as she was. Notched the shaft of the shimmering arrow into place. Feathers brushed against her cheek as she shut her left eye and took aim.

Three. Two. One… Soar!

Tension rolled off her straightened fingers with a twang of the string vibrating through her body. Watched in grim satisfaction as the projectile pierced through the encroaching shadows to cleanly sink into the back of her right thigh. Laughed, loud and cruel and exactly as Sekai would have expected of someone capable of such a trick to do. Hollow, empty laughter in reality. Desperation and fear that this would be their end; this was as far as they would come and there could be no overcoming the one big thing that continued haunting their every fucking step. She couldn't be kind. She couldn't be merciful. She couldn't keep falling in the same goddamn trap over and over again.

”I knew you were going to do this.” She snarled. Pressed on without so much as a moment’s consideration for the sobbing woman frantically trying to snap and break the arrow out of her. ”You fucking ran, again, just like you said you wouldn’t.” A flash and shards of crystal snapped up and out like barbs. Stabbed deeper into flesh and through the fingers trying to pull it out in warning. Everything Sekai could do, Amenonuhoko could, and would, do in return-- and make it worse. Sekai had honor and reservations, held down and back by the fools who chose, chose, to place the burden of their expectations of who she should and shouldn't be upon her shoulders. 

She was the freedom from all of that nonsense.

The leisurely walk turned into a hurried, temper guided jog when Sekai finally rose and tried to hobble away as fast as she could go. That little masochist and her uncanny power to just pretend it didn’t hurt! She should be screaming. Begging her to stop and let her go. Should be telling her off for shoving something like that on to her so unexpectedly and with no warning. She should have… she should have flat out said she didn’t trust her instead of putting up this farce of resignation and self-flagellation.  ”I told you, I fucking told you I’d hunt you down if you tried to back out after giving your word!” She bit out. Thumped her square between the shoulder blades with a wedge of stone. Meant to bruise more than cause any real injury.

”'I can handle it! I’m sooo strong now! I’m not going t--' motherfucker!” Foot swung to connect with a painful thump against her armored side. Swore venomously with a loosely connected string of epithets as she hopped on her good foot and massaged the pain out of her abused toes. She’d cut herself off mid-mocking word. Kicking someone bare footed with armor was not one of her brightest ideas.

Sekai's eyes darted to one side. Nearly blinded by pain, a flutter of white cloth in her peripheral vision sent a jolt of panic fueled adrenaline through her system. Weight came down on her injured arm and a shriek not unlike a rabbit's death knell ricocheted around them. No. No. No. No! He wasn’t supposed to have been there. Her breathing was loud, ragged, and entirely too quick to be healthy. Spots danced in her vision and she could not get enough air. Never should have come back and here he was and she and her friends and family were dead and there was nothing she could do! She was trapped here, with him, without help without Takua or Aya or Amaya or even that stupid Yaksha to save her from the worst that was yet to come. Eyes unfocused, seeing the ghost of someone no longer there-- no longer a threat in her world. She knew him. The white garments. Exposed skin. She’d see his Hollow hole before too long. Hands in his pockets like he had no care in the world beyond what kind of amusement he could find that day. Short-ish dark hair and eyes gleaming with ill intent beneath silver eyes that bore straight through her body and stared directly into her sou--

Wait.

Silver…?

Cold water threw itself on the wildfire of her thoughts. She blinked tears from her vision. Felt their heat stream down her cheeks and left cold trails in their wake. His eyes weren’t silver. The stars that illuminated her vision, the world narrowed to the dark skinned fist moving in alarmingly slow motion ever closer to her face, matched the color of her attacker’s eyes. Sekai hit the ground with an undignified thud. Dazed, she didn’t have the air in her lungs or the wits to protest the sharp fingernails digging into her scalp and hauling her forward by her hair. Dangled with scalp burning in protest from the other woman’s unrelenting grip as she was pulled up and up and up away from the ruinous landscape below. Watched the corpses and skeletons and desecrated city shrink. Chin bounced against something hard and cold. Vehement cursing and snarling from the person dragging her along dimly registering in her mind as her eyes finally refocused.

Silver trimmed armor and black hakama tucked into greaves met her gaze. Why…? She hadn’t released. Hadn’t said the incantation. Winced as she turned her head. Caught the flutter of white fabric-- the gown she was accustom to seeing herself clad in on her very angry spirit. ”Wait.” Sekai managed a feeble protest. Now that the flashing red and black in her vision was fading back to something resembling normality and air was finally coming back into her starved lungs.

This was wrong; Amenonuhoko was supposed to be the one armored. The side of her raring to fight and defend herself and say whatever was on her mind. The strong one. She was the culmination of everything she wasn’t; tough and strong and able to face something like Karakura Town’s ruins without so much as flinching-- She yelped as they came to an abrupt stop.

Flash of lightning pierced through the darkness to illuminate the spirit’s fury filled profile. ”Three seconds from throwin’ your dumb ass outta here and going for that piece of shit to give him a piece of my mind and you just had to fucking go there.” Amenonuhoko glared down at her. Shook her white knuckled fist wrapped in wavy snowy hair for emphasis. Ignored the way her voice shook ever so slightly. Really ignored the quiver of her lower lip. Bit down hard enough to draw blood to stave off the tears.

 ”You think I didn’t flinch? You think I enjoyed being stuck here, alone, with no fucking idea what I was doing here or how to get you to fucking listen?” Amenonuhoko bit out. Couldn’t quite see much other than the flash of pain and uncertainty in the rounded face. She released her grip, shoved her away just long enough to spin her around and grab her by the lapels of her kimono. There was no pride. No haughty princess standing before a disrespectful peasant.

Just raw and unbridled fury and shame.

”I did what any sane person would; I freaked out. I panicked and cried out for someone, anyone to save me-- to save us.” Tightened her grip on the cloth. Shoulders hunched about her ears and chin set in the same stubbornly familiar manner of one trying not to cry. Endless months of loneliness and fear. Isolated. Unable to do anything but keep calling and calling until there was a chance Sekai could hear and would finally acknowledge her. If someone could see her, sense her, then maybe... maybe they would tell Sekai. She could give them a message to deliver and they could finally meet. They wouldn't have to be divided anymore. They could be a team; she knew what she needed to do. She knew how to accomplish that-- it would take time and reason and a lot of crying and yelling on Sekai’s end but… but they could do it.

And then that interfering bitch, courtesy of Nazomi’s influence, had complicated matters all the more. Had kept her gagged and bound in actual fucking chains until it was almost too late and Sekai had nearly listened and given in without knowing a goddamn thing. Nearly killed them both just when things should have gotten better.

Sakuya's Hollowification hadn't been part of the plan. A devastating blow to them both, she'd reeled from the revelation and had tirelessly worked, frantic, to throw good memories and bad-- of their fights and their good times and the love they'd had to make her come to the right decision. They would work together, she and Sekai, and they could set her free! They could relieve her and others of their pain; disperse and purify it the way they'd wished to ever since Hi-to had declared none but Shinigami capable of such a thing and had longed to become, even just a little, in order to do just that. But it wasn't the end of the world. Not really. They could overcome it-- together! 

Hi-to's betrayal had nearly killed them both. Despair had driven them together for one beautiful moment where maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't have had to split and become two when one would more than suffice. Takua's fucking idiocy had robbed them of that chance and that small crack had grown impossibly wider and wider until, cornered by those stupid Shinigami in the midst of trying to reach Sakuya again, that crack became a fully formed schism.

Passive, sad, and lonely Sekai who bound herself with restraint and others' expectations.

Aggressive, angry, and lonely Amenonuhoko who swore to make them pay and liberate them both from those goddamned chains.

”Why are you looking at me like that? I wasn’t here because of Ashte or my own volition.” Amenonuhoko directed her gaze to the world above them; a place of sunlight and fluffy clouds when they weren’t being the moodiest not-teenagers on the face of the planet. Yearning. How long had she wanted to be there, in a world more to Sekai and her own liking? A place of light and freedom and wide open spaces where they were safe and could see and feel anyone and anything coming their way.

A world of emptiness and life waiting to be filled in and cultivated with their hands and merged vision. "I wanted to be there. With you. Like we should have been when this all started."

--
WC: 1980

"Ame--" She began. Stopped immediately when the spirit held up one hand to cut her off.

Eyes still remained on the sky. "I don't want your fucking pity or your empty apologies." No heat in her words. No razor blades to cut her to ribbons where she stood. She apologized anyway, just like she always did. Not knowing what else to do other than make amends as best she could. To try and 'be better' without understanding what that really meant she needed to do. She wanted... she wanted what she couldn't see Sekai giving at that time. Not with the way thunder and lightning lashed the world above; the din even reaching the depths of this hellhole in a muted rumble and flicker.

What did she want then?! 

If not an apology, if not a heart to heart talk the way she'd implied this would be-- then what? What did Amenonuhoko want from her and why wouldn't she just come right out and say it the way she said everything else? "Why didn't you just go up there? Like you did before?" Sekai asked, finally. Gestured to the world above so very far away and out of her reach. Rubbed her eyes with her good hand, uncaring if the blood mingled with her tear streaked cheeks in macabre makeup. "If you hate it down here so very much, and I do not blame you for that, why didn't you come find me?"

Silence stretched between them. Amenonuhoko refused to tear her gaze from the 'heavens' above. "You wouldn't let me." She replied, finally. Reluctant to do so. Hated her just a little more for forcing the issue when all she really wanted to do was throw a tantrum, beat her ass around the world some more and then throw her out with a myriad of threats meant to keep her moving forward. "You ran away from me the same way you ran away from Asgard in his creation and from the power, and thus the responsibility to use it properly, that you should have accepted a long time ago." Her hands spread as if helpless, dropped back listlessly to her side.

"I was--"

"Scared." Shook her head and still didn't look at the woman staring, shocked, at her. "How could I not know that? I am you, remember? As much as you keep trying to put it off, as much as you don't want to admit it; we're the same." A short, bitter laugh. Finally tore her gaze away from the sky to send her a piercing stare. Cut through flesh and bone to the heart of her. "I am the side of you that will always get in the way of your prim and proper behavior-- because we deserve freedom instead of chains; I am everything you hate in yourself that you should love and embrace."

"Would you just shut up?!" Sekai exploded. Ignored the burn in her thigh, arrow lodged deep as ever, and launched herself upward. Reached out to seize the woman by her shoulder. Held her in place so she wouldn't hit her and flaunt off somewhere to taunt her for being a complete and total failure. "I hate the side of me that enjoys feeling superior over others! I hate the side of me that sits there, gloating silently ,and reveling in the fact that I can take someone's life in a snap and there's nothing they can do about it."

"I hate knowing that one mistake. One slip. and I'll be branded as the same kind of monster he is and always will be no matter what world he's in!" Her eyes welled up with tears. Shoulders shook, ignored the stabbing pain in her body and the scream of broken bone and tattered flesh. "I know acknowledging you means I'm going to have to accept what I don't want to believe myself capable of." She spoke in a voice that trembled.

Kept herself restrained even then. "You are the side of me who will do anything necessary in order to make sure we don't get hurt-- and that's why I hate myself; I hate the fact I will have to be cruel. That I have to be violent and use lethal force. I hate you for making me have to realize I'm doing this all not for altruistic purposes-- but because I'm tired of being the one who always gets hurt." She forced herself to turn back to Karakura's ruins. Dropped her hand away from the spirit's shoulder.

Crystallized and held in suspended animation in eternal reminder of her biggest failure to date. A place so vital to her current identity and existence. "You said this is the place we died?" Rhetorical question. She didn't anticipate a response nor did she particularly want whatever snarky comment might come out of the spirit's mouth.  Hated her. Hated herself. Hated this whole fucked up situation and the consequences that would come of it. Of the conflict inevitable in her future. Friends would turn to enemies. Enemies to mere names to be forgotten by time as grains of sand washed away, nameless, upon the ocean bottom. She could lose them all. She could save many of them or only one or none at all in her haste and naivety. 

How was she supposed to respond to this 'graveyard' of regret and guilt? This ruin comprised of failure and all of those who'd lost their lives within it because of her and others' ineptitude?

What was she supposed to do in this situation; confronting the demonic baggage that tied her down and its sparkling reminder with no guide or hint as to how to go about it or what she needed to even do to get rid of it all. An answer came hot on the heels of the chill sweeping down her spine. Confronting the-- goosebumps erupted across her skin. Her good hand tightened into a fist tight enough her nails cut crescents into her palms and relaxed. Lifted and pressed her palm against the wound in her side and narrowed her eyes. Torn and tattered flesh knit itself back together, step by step by step, until there was nothing left. Not a trace of what he had done in that opening strike. Settled it against her arm and repeated the painstaking process of realigning bone, shredded flesh, and snapped ligaments back into their proper place. She winced visibly as her body protested the strain and reluctantly gave way to her command. She would have to do this the hard way; just like before. Just like always.

Amenonuhoko canted her head to the right. Silver eyes narrowed as a subtle shift in the woman's body and mind shifted accordingly. She didn't dare get her hopes up now-- not again. Not after she'd just cut and run. ”So what're you going to do?” She asked. Unable to bear the long silence stretching between them any further. Braced herself for some stupid schpeal about how it would have to be an answer she'd find out 'later' and 'after' the warning to Seireitei had been delivered.

Amenonuhoko; the name of the spear given to Izanagi and Izanami upon their descent from the heavens to the mortal world below. She churned the primordial seas into a froth, and from the droplets that fell, the landmass known as Japan was created. None knew of what became of the sacred weapon after that, her name and legacy lost to time and discarded as unimportant other than that one influential moment.

Sekai; a name given with the hopes and desires her fickle, defiant mother had bestowed upon her. A child raised with the intention to become one who would inherited the wisdom and common sense much lacking in her generation, and a child who had, in her own way, become the very thing her name represented to her mother.


Yes; she would have-- and she was going to do just that. Her eyes lifted to the heavens above. The shifting mass of water lazily reflecting the lightning of the storm above and the sharp white light emanating from the quartz wisteria. Cast themselves back down to the ruins, and finally, back to Amenonuhoko herself. ”How far are we going to go?” She asked the spirit, eyes locked to the other woman's own. Steady resolve reflected in the wide silver gaze opposite of her.

--
WC: 1400

Amenonuhoko found herself caught off guard by the politely worded question she herself had asked her at the beginning of their battle with Obsession. Felt her heart beat a rapid rhythm against her ribs. Don't do it, she warned herself. Don't fall for her stupidity again, she'll only let you down. She'll only let them all down just like she always did in the end ”...to the end.” She answered warily. Hope and uncertainty warred within them both as they stood on opposing lines of the conversation. Pushed for confirmation. ”Why?” A myriad of unfinished questions summarized in that one word.

Sekai didn't smile like she should have. Couldn't bring herself to do so, knowing what was to come and what was at stake. ”You know why.”

”I'm not going to go easy on you.” Amenonuhoko warned. Gave her a chance to back out now before it was too late. ”You'd better be sure or you'll--”

”Lose everything.” She finished the spirit's sentence without a trace of hesitation or weakness shaking her voice. The spirit didn't need to tell her twice; this wasn't something they could afford to ignore anymore and they needed to, whether or not Sekai was willing and ready for it, handle it now. ”I know what I need to do.”

Amenonuhoko smiled for the both of them. It didn't reach her eyes. She didn't dare give them the full benefit of the doubt. Not right now. Not yet. ”Don't let me down again.” And vanished. Went to steel her nerves and take up the mantle she'd been ready to from the very beginning.

”Chiron-san.” Sekai summoned the safeguard between herself and the rest of the world-- the memories he held and that of Erasmus' own now safely locked away.

He was there, hovering uncomfortably close as always, and awaited her command with an unusual gentleness to his serpentine features. “You called, mistress?” A dry drawl in direct contrast with sharp eyed interest and hunger in his gaze. The events had played out rather fantastically from his perspective. A whining infant versus her teenaged counterpart. Neither of them mature. Neither of them even remotely pretending to be such a thing anymore. One wished to be bound and restricted while the other yearned to fly.

Sekai sucked in a long, shaky breath. Exhaled as she turned her eyes to the sky above and lifted one hand to the air. A loud crack, gunshot-like in its echo, shook the surrounding city as the slender white shaft and wickedly curved crystalline blade of her naginata responded to her call. She glanced to the glowing tree and bowed once in quiet appreciation. Knew that, seventy feet up and seven feet down the branch, a runner had broken off completely in offering. She reached down and frowned. The arrow in her thigh was gone and so was the wound in its place. Amenonuhoko's own subtle way of showing her approval, apparently.

”Help me.”


–


Her world was burning.

Thick, choking smoke and flames rose high into the air. Sirens wailed. Car alarms shrieked alongside the howls of the masked Hollow rampaging across the city. Cero of every color seared across the sky like demonic fireworks. Bala punched holes and exploded upon impact; concrete, wood, metal, glass, or flesh; everything broke and snapped. Weeping souls, some bound in chains, others running without understanding there was no escape. There was no hope for them in this living Hell made manifest.

Pressure popped her ears, her head shook from one side to the other to clear the sensation with a scrunch of her nose in distaste. Looming and ever present, breathing down her neck and driving her forward in headlong rush to death, she could feel his reiatsu. Watched the innocent lives crumble to literal ash, blown away and incapable of surviving the King of Las Noches' spiritual pressure. Her boots beat a hollow tattoo against the torn asunder streets. White braid streamed out behind her as she kept her gaze level. Her blade flashed, swept out to cut down the Hollow in her way. They shattered like glass, falling like glitter to pepper the ground.

She did not relieve her conversation with Takua; she didn't regret that part of the entire event. She had done what she thought was best at the time-- though, if she really wanted to admit it, she should have told him to choose a side then and there and help her get to Hi-to. The three of them could have worked together to take out almost any threat that came their way. Could have fought side by side.

Why hadn't she considered that possibility? Swept through the school and relived the conversation there-- embarrassing as it was-- and killed the score of Hollow she'd tried to distract. Didn't hesitate that time with Koori and Nazomi and the spider Hollow. The little Quincy didn't have to go wide eyed and create an Arrancar there on the spot out of sheer panic and trauma induced flashback. Kicked herself for ever having mistaken Kizen for Hi-to in the heat of the moment; she'd been so desperate to have someone help her that she'd wished for the comfort of the familiar. She sent him in the direction to help others after delivering a message to her brother to help her only if he could do so safely.

Colin was another story entirely and to her complete lack of surprise; they fought like they had at their first meeting. Like they had at their second. And again at their final meeting when she'd been too blinded by fear and pain and regret and hate to do anything other than run. He came with her for a little ways and had to turn back when the weight of the King's spiritual pressure staggered him. Begged her, again, to come with him and railed at her with insults and curses when she refused. She didn't cry that time, but she told him she would see him again-- and gave him her address in Nagano if he needed somewhere safe to wait. Told that stranger with blond hair and a Westerner's appearance, so like and unlike Colin's, where he'd run and why-- and trusted him, again, to hold fast to his word to keep him safe.

He told her again to have faith; and this time she chose to do just that.

She met Sol again; the rambling, erratic boy with berserker tendencies who screamed out orders the way a drill sergeant spat insults. She didn't hold him back this time, fought at his side instead of reluctantly following along. Their injuries weren't as numerous as they had been back then. He fell unconscious when the second blast hit. Her power still a pale reflection of what she was capable of-- though she utilized it with better control and accuracy than her blind panic and intuition of the past. Pulled herself away from the curled forms of both Sol and the child she'd managed to protect; she'd saved two lives and hadn't remembered doing so.

Ashte's influence, Chiron reminded her, and she inclined her head wordlessly in agreement. Ashte's and her own guilt at having lived had erased the good she'd done.

Sekai kept running. Naginata formed from the branch in hand. Closer and closer and closer to the King himself. She healed her injuries. Kept herself going well past the point she'd collapsed the last time and had Aya pick her up and take her to Las Noches. Rounded the corner to find the burning car and a white clad, idle form surveying the destruction with bored satisfaction waiting there and froze. Heart in her throat, stomach threatened to empty itself of what little remained out of paralyzing fear. Her vision swam. Face scrunched, prepared to crumple and collapse into a fit of hysterics as everything turned from hope to despair in an instant.

How could she think herself even remotely prepared for this?

Small spikes lined the weapon, bit deep into her hand with a sweet sting and throb as pain threw her out of the spiral. Back to reality. Face to back with none but the world and the enemy of it in her sights. She had relived this moment time and time again; every possible encounter and scenario burned itself in her mind. Obsessively written out and poured over in attempt to overcome every single blood soaked, destruction strewn memory and nightmare that plagued her for the last two and a half years. Her knuckles whitened. Fingers clenched the shaft of her weapon in a death grip. No blood loss. No state of shell shock to fool her into being brave. No death wish to be granted by following in Takua's footsteps and forcing another to grant what she wanted. As if scenting prey on the wind, his dark head lifted. Body language shifted, tensed. Foot lifted, set down on a fragile skull and crushed it to glittering dust beneath his heel.

”You.” Contempt bordering on hatred poured from her lips. Manifested in a single word spat like venom sucked from a festering wound. A flash of memory; of forest green eyes, one closing in a wink, as he stood beside a sweet faced woman observing the battle between another Captain and one of the Broken. What weapon he'd had at his disposal, she couldn't recall. Fear and sleep deprivation had erased quite a bit of detail from her memory. Sword, like other Arrancar, or a blackened, twisted mockery of the naginata she herself wielded, she didn't know. Found she really didn't care because that was back then in a world where fear had been the master and she enslaved, helpless, to it. Thunder drowned the words torn from her lips in a primal scream born of fear and long suppressed fury.

Not this time.

--
WC: 1641

Blood fanned in an arc and splattered against cement.

Stood out in stark contrast to the too bright light shining down like some sort of demented, blue tinted sun. Her back dented the wall. Cry of pain abruptly cut off. Spiderweb cracks radiated in chaotic lines away from the impact site. She coughed, hacked up and spat a glob of bloody saliva to the ground. Wiped her mouth with the back of her vambrace and glared through the tangle of her hair at the mocking form before her. Pushed herself forward and away with a crack of crumbling stone and musical tinkling of falling glass. Her shoulders heaved, breathing heavy and labored as she knelt and scooped up the naginata from its fallen place beside her. Not yet. She wasn't finished yet-- not by a long shot.

He brushed away a thin film of dirt off his white clothing as if it were cat hair. Crooked two fingers in beckoning toward her scowling form. Bring it, his smirk suggested. Bring it and watch just how low he could bring her and how quickly she'd be begging for mercy.

Sekai flipped the blade of her naginata, curved angle faced the bastard before her. Launched herself forward with a sharp kiai and struck. His parody of her weapon lifted in a flash. Met her strike head on with a screech of metal versus stone. Sparks showered, her jaw clenched hard enough a molar would surely crack before long. Sweat beaded across her brow and dripped in chilling trickles down her face. Her feet planted against the ground, threw her full weight and strained against the strength of her opponent. This wasn't the same Karakura she'd abandoned in her terror; and she wasn't the same girl who'd run straight into the worst of it in hopes of meeting her end.

Flicked her gaze over his shoulder and back. Light intensified about the blade's keen edge, upturned car lifting with a scrape and groan behind the white clad man. Pulled sharply and leaped back, free hand closed in a tight fist. Crumpled, dented the protesting metal and scraped it together. Gasoline set ablaze by spark and a dull whuump as the car exploded. A distraction, nothing more; she didn't expect it to hurt him.

That was Asgard's job.

A mountain cat's scream, so much like that of a woman being murdered, split the air as thunderous footsteps rushed from the opposite end of the battlefield. Diamond-like claws flashed and caught fabric. Chunks of stone broke away as naginata struck back in retaliation and a snarl returned for the feral guardian's trouble. Sekai threw herself back into the fray. Stone stopped mid-fall and hovered, razor edges formed and soared as she pelted him with projectiles. Blew up three or four at a time, constant flashes of detonating explosives. Sharp shards sent every which way and seized, returned time and time again to cut through clothing. Attacked every inch of exposed flesh she could see. Face. Eyes. Arms. Throat. Blind him with blood flowing into his eyes.

Kept him off balance with the earth itself attacking his legs. Tried to snare him in place. Spikes jutting forth to impale foot and leg and more alike. His mouth moved. Said something she figured was mocking and meant to disarm her in some manner or another. She couldn't hear a single filthy lying word that came out of his mouth. Her ears stopped up, sealed shut by her own manipulation. Her heartbeat and blood pounding the only sound in the uncanny silence. Gritted her teeth, spun the naginata hand over hand and struck. A straight and true blow that carved a line against his smiling cheek.

Laughter in his dull eyes. Laughter on his mouth. Asgard shifted, gigantic cleaver in hand as he swung down. The smaller man dodged with little effort. His blade rose to block the next strike and struck out, pierced through the golem's leg. Dark light flared and Asgard flew back-- repelled much as Sekai had been moments before. The crystal leg exploded; a trick she'd used against Shinigami in the past and sent debris scattering every which way. Jagged stone and potent spiritual power ripping and tearing and searing furrows in his body.

Sekai swung, drew the shards all around her. Lifted them higher, higher, higher still. Rumbling as Asgard caught on to her plan and did much the same. Threw everything he could get his fingers on, broke them apart, and cast them to the sky. Reinforced steel and concrete taken from the battlefield shrieking and groaning as he assimilated them into his very being to restore his leg. Charged the white clad form again. Knocked back. Roared in fury and went for him again. Double teamed with Sekai from the side and back. Both of them repelled in opposite directions. Threw themselves forward again. A snarl of upraised roots snared his leg. Asgard swung one over-sized fist, slammed directly into the man's shoulder and side with a horrific snap of bone. Laughter and the golem shattered into multiple pieces.

Sekai's power flared and drew what was broken back together and reshaped him. Slipped in while he was too busy gloating and aimed to gut him. Her naginata clipped his side. ”Tch. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. Badly timed or his luck on the battlefield was significantly better than her own. She tucked, dropped down to one knee. Spun the counterweight of her weapon up and cracked him across that smug jawline she hated so much and lunged. Foot lifted, slammed home into his gut with as much force as she could muster-- that move had been so much cooler in the movie and her damned foot ached even with the protective boot from the impact. ”They painted you out to be the kind of demon even Western religion cannot bear to fathom.” Her fists clenched tightly around the shaft of her naginata. Held the weapon as if it were the only thing holding her steady in the world falling to literal pieces around her.

Air rushed from his lungs in a fetid wave across her cheek as he doubled over. She curled her lip in a primal smile more at home on one of the bestial Hollow than that of a human woman. Spun and brought the full force of the counterweight of her shaft atop his exposed back. Focused and pushed. Her naginata flared with light throwing shadows every which way and pulsed. The world responded to her call and flung the white clad man far from her position. His limbs flopped-- a ragdoll thrown from the top of the stairs-- the higher he went. Halted himself abruptly in mid-air and remained in place. Righted himself with a condescending waggle of his finger in her direction. His wounds began to close before her eyes. Hovering, no doubt as he had during the initial peace prior to Karakura's destruction, high into the air. Lording over her like he was some sort of god who would not, could not be stopped. Sneering. Looking down on all of them. Laughing from his place high upon on a throne he had no right to claim.

Her throat burned as she shouted up to the one floating up above them all. ”The two people dearest to me drilled it into my head that if you chose to attack, if you chose to send your Espada, that there would be nothing I or anyone else could do.” He'd all but taken out Seireitei, after all. Conquered and corrupted those they needed the most. Branded them traitors and lured them into acts that would turn them against one another like starving animals. ”I believed them. Why wouldn't I? They had no cause, no reason to lie about you or what they had seen you do with their own eyes.”

Heat built within her veins, stole its way up her cheeks until she felt her ears burn and cheeks redden to the point they should have blistered. ”I let them 'protect' me, for all the good it did, and in doing so, may as well have signed over Earth and the those who live there into your possession.” She was painfully aware of her mistakes. That hopelessness she'd felt. Overwhelmed. Outmatched. Outclassed and with no option other than to pick a direction and run. ”I was even happy to be kept out of the conflict. Imagine the irony of that; a woman who desires nothing more than her own death actively going out of her way not to seek it!”

Disgust wrote itself in the way her eyes scrunched nearly shut, teeth bared and jaw clenched. One hand flung itself from her weapon and snapped to one side in violent temper. Left foot crashed down with a resonant thud. The ground cracked and split in a widening crater below. ”Not this time.” Concrete and glass rose slowly from their resting place into the air. Hung in suspended animation, twisted slowly in place with each second that passed.

His hand lifted. Summoned a vast army of blackened, jagged splinters from the water above. Shining and slick like oil on wet pavement, the damned thing blocking her path up to the heavens-- to blue skies gone stormy-- was in her way. Just like him. Just like she had been. Forest green, dull in color, met the furious scarlet of her gaze. His mouth pulled into a grin and he dropped his arm. Sent the blizzard of obsidian crashing down from the heavens upon the weak child barking at him from below.

She threw her arm forward in silent command the second after. Felt the burn and tear of muscle from the sudden, violent moment and watched stone and glass and crystal and jagged steel fling themselves up and forward as if fired from a cannon. Reset her stance. Feet shoulder length apart and knees bent. Naginata swung up and out to one side, held almost pathetically loose in her grip. Hefted it up in a flash of green light trailing brightly in ever shifting colors behind her and spun the shaft between her hands. Faster. Faster. Faster. A whirling, glowing blur in the darkness, Sekai shoved a wave of repulsive force beneath her feet and launched herself into the shadowy sky.

Shifted mid-flight.

He launched himself forward to meet her amid a debris field.

Light erupted from both sides. Sickeningly bright shade of green versus the splay of shifting summer greens and golds. Stone turned blindingly bright as the world around them erupted into supernovas of light and concussive force.

 The two combatants slammed bodily into one another. Naginata falling from their fingers, forgotten, as the battle turned into an all out knock down, drag out war for survival.

--
WC: 1800

A terrible snap as she hit the ground with his knee digging into the small of her back. Pain flooded her veins and turned to terrifying numbness from the center down. One calloused hand seized the back of her neck. Fingers tightened, squeezed in preparation. She screamed; a high, thin sound that shattered glass in the immediate vicinity. Her energy exploded, flooded through her veins and assaulted the damage done to her body with a vicious, unrelenting heat. Not this time. Not ever again would she allow herself to be pinned, helpless and waiting for the end to come at someone else's hand. Rubble hurled away as the ground beneath her caved in. Flesh and bone twisted beneath his weight in a warning that came too late.

Sharp spikes slammed through vulnerable skin and muscle; a series of vehement, shocked curses fell unheard from his lips as he jerked and tried to pull away. Since when, he eyed the shimmering spikes, had a mere human gained the ability to quite literally turn herself into the equivalent of a fucking cactus or stinging nett-- A spiked fist drove itself into his stomach. Another followed shortly in its wake in a one-two combo as the white haired woman retaliated, seemingly recovered from her wounds. Doubled over in pain and surprise, he didn't see her knee rising up to meet him until stars exploded in his vision and the world swam in a haze of flashing red and black. Recoiled with a stumbling step, felt her hands against his form and shove him back. Legs tangled, tripped over a network of jagged roots that dragged him down.

Now!

Sekai threw herself atop the sprawled out form before he had a chance to recover. The earth groaned beneath them both, shackles of glistening white stone to match the pendant swinging around her neck rising up to lock his limbs down at the wrist, elbow, knee, and ankle. Hold him down. Prevent him from even moving his head from one side to the other-- a band clamped down around his throat. Pressed down hard enough to prevent him from speaking. Positioned herself so that she knelt against his chest, spikes piercing through his skin to go straight to bone. One look into forest green eyes and her gut roiled in protest. What she was about to do-- what she wanted to do-- was wrong on so many levels.

But, for once? She didn't give a fuck.

This one, she thought as her fist drove into his face, was for the lives he'd taken in his own world. Clipped the space just above his brow. This one was for the seven hundred thousand lives he destroyed. Their names and faces flashed, so many different expressions and colorful lives, in her mind's eye. For Freyleif. Jian. Colin. Weylin. Angeni. Another blow on the opposite side of his face. This one was for Marshal. Calypso. Adimus. Kohaku. Koori. A third strike to the same side. For Karakura as a whole. A fourth. For every individual life he'd ruined and family he'd torn asunder with his arrogance.

This one, she thought with a grunt slipped from between clenched teeth, was for the damage he had wrought upon Seireitei. For Seryu. Nagisa. Tomie. Her fist connected sharply with his left brow. Came down a second time just beneath it to blacken his eye. That one was for the scars he left behind; for Hi-to. Maya. Tokiyo. Those so utterly torn asunder psychologically and physically by the orchestrated betrayal of one of their own that they perpetuated the cycle in their own personal lives. For the bonds he played against one another, twisted and transformed for his own sick, twisted amusement. Takua. Erasmus. Yaksha. Souta. For driving them to be anything other than the forces of good-- and she meant good-- in a world in dire need of it. For manipulating and controlling them through fear of retaliation.

A particularly heavy blow split his bottom lip wide open. That one was for Miyuki. As were the next half dozen that fell after. She broke his hands for using them to hurt her. Split his lip a second time for the lies he'd told her. Broke his jaw for the false hope he'd led her on and on with until she'd fallen apart. For throwing her away because she wasn't “worth” his time.

Reiryoku swelled, channeled itself into her fist as Sekai's arm cocked back. Paused as the face beaten and bloodied nearly featureless changed between one blink of an eye and the next. Tilted her head to one side in puzzlement as dark hair turned to white. A darker, more sinister version of her own Reishi replaced the illusion of sickly green that'd plagued her nightmares and she knew without even needing confirmation who lay beneath her. Only one left in her; one final blow she had to deliver. ”If I fail? It's not going to be because of anything that man did.” She told the gurgling form pinned beneath her. Her voice hoarse as if she'd been screaming at Tokyo Dome for one of her favorite musicians for hours on end. Didn't even bat an eyelash at its sound. ”It's not going to be because of Karakura Town and what happened then.”

Steeled herself.

”This one's for me.”

And brought her fist down with everything she had in her.


–


Water fell in fat drops. Half a dozen and more followed. Cold and draining as they struck her skin, Sekai remained hunched over. Her fist deep in the ground where she'd gone through the figure's skull. Blood and jagged bone protruded from her arm up to the elbow as she stared, gaze vacant, straight ahead. Ragged breathing had calmed down significantly, shoulders and chest no longer heaving with exertion. No sobs. No angry wailing or screaming as if she were being torn asunder from the inside out. Just a dull, gnawing ache where so much pain had lived.

She felt Amenonuhoko before she saw her. Burning ruins and smoke stained skies faded back to the shadowed stillness of a drowned world exposed to the light of day. ”That was easy.” She lied with a falsely cheerful tone. ”I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.” A snort of laughter and a light cuff against the back of her head was her response. One strong hand firmly grasped her arm and hauled her to her feet. Arm threw itself around her waist to support her when she swayed and her knees threatened to buckle.

”Because you're an idiot, obviously.” Silver eyes scanned her worriedly. Beaten to hell and beyond, again, she'd really taken everything built within her and unleashed it. ”How's it feel now?”

”It still hurts.” She answered honestly and wearily reached up to shove tangled white locks out of her face. Wanted to kick herself for the sting of tears. ”I thought,” Sekai faltered. Wasn't sure exactly how to put it. ”I thought that doing things that way would fix it-- that the pain would disappear.” Forced a silly smile on her face that wobbled the longer she tried to maintain it. ”Stupid, right?”

”Maybe.” Amenonuhoko offered a shrug in response. Walked the two of them to the place their internal war had begun. ”But you gave it a shot anyways, so why should I call you stupid for that?”

”Because it didn't work?” Sekai replied, her stare incredulous as she glanced up to the taller spirit. ”Because I probably failed whatever test you had in store for m- ow!” She yelped, free hand reaching up to slap the stinging spot against her forehead. ”What was that for?!”

”Being stupid.” Amenonuhoko responded cheerfully. She completely ignored the severe scowl cast in her direction for the comment. Slowed her pace and released her arm from around the other woman's waist. She moved away from being the support at Sekai's side to stand in front of her. ”I told you before, didn't I? I wasn't going to go easy on you and you beat me anyway.”

Her image, that of a dark skinned woman with piercing silver eyes and chin length black hair bound in braids, shifted. Once again took on the form of an arrogant countenance with fair skin, dull green eyes, and hands shoved into the pockets of his uniform. Changed back to herself. ”I told you back then too, when we first met, that I was everything you hate.” Chewed her lip thoughtfully as she contemplated where and how to proceed from that point. Lifted one hand and began ticking points off with her fingers. ”You didn't take advantage and run like a little bitch-- I'd have been impressed and pissed at that strategy, for the record. You used the powers at your disposal not only to recreate the memory down to the last disturbing detail, but to change it to the way you'd really wished it had gone.” A third finger joined the rest. ”Most importantly; you acknowledged that you, not other people, were the one who'd decided you weren't worth the effort to save and thus let yourself be weak when you had much better options available to you.”

”And the fighting?” Sekai asked, more than a little embarrassed at the praise heaped on and stung at the sheer magnitude of her own stupidity blown wide open.

”You're not aggressive enough. Obsession pointed that out just Takua, Hi-to, and even that defective Sybian who'd better be waiting told you.” Amenonuhoko immediately responded without holding back. ”You take too long to decide what you're going to do and you get stuck in your head because of it. Quit thinking strategy unless you really need to, and just put that motherfucker on the ground.” Paused thoughtfully. ”Or in it, honestly.”

--
WC: 1633