Not much time. That had been the watchword for today, but- not much time, so she made her decision quickly. Tadase would be okay. She could still feel him pulsing away inside the building, and he was clearly getting weaker, but Amu couldn't imagine him actually getting hurt. That wouldn't be like him at all, so she trusted him to handle himself.
Kukai was, if anything, doing too well. Every few seconds he carried another student down from the roof and there were going to be lots of photos. Not that she wanted him to leave them there, but- no, never mind, he was probably enjoying the challenge. He'd be fine.
Nadeshiko however was fighting. While Amu ran, she saw one of the demon-harpy-roc-
things finally get past Nadeshiko's guard, its claws lashing out and into her side. Nadeshiko flinched but her naginata was there a moment later, slashing down, almost taking off the demon's claw and- the monster's talons were sharp, but Amu couldn't see any blood on them. Nadeshiko's kimono had been torn into ribbons though she wasn't 'dancing' like someone who'd been hurt. Maybe it had only hit her clothing?
The creature recoiled, but not fast enough to avoid a naginata to the eyes.
A moment later the second harpy swooped in to back its fellow up, but Nadeshiko's weapon was already moving to catch it. It let out a screech as it tried to brake in midair, wings beating the air frantically, and then-
Was caught by a flash of steel, slicing cleanly through the wingtip and sending the demon spinning to the ground. A moment later it crashed, and a moment after that, a second flash, and a burst of lava as the second one died. Amu couldn't pay too much attention, because three
more rocs were making their way out of the building and down towards the two of them, but she'd nearly made it to Nadeshiko now and-
Okay, yes, she'd definitely had the right idea to stay here.
Closing the rift would be wonderful if she could do it, but she couldn't. She couldn't. Almost definitely not! Saaya had nearly killed herself trying, and, and-
-and it was a stupid plan, anyway.
It wasn't like she could just
pretend-
"Hey!" Amu shouted, drawing Nadeshiko's attention. The other girl glanced her way, eyes widening. Her mouth opened a little as she saw the state of Amu's uniform. There was more than a little bit of blood there, wasn't there.
"Are you-" Nadeshiko began, before cutting herself off. "What are you doing here?"
Amu's mind stuttered, her mouth hanging open. A moment later she shook her head.
"Helping," she answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "It's, uh, not my blood. I'm fine. Mostly. Um. What do you need?"
Nadeshiko was still looking at her, her expression unreadable. Then her eyes flicked back to the building. Amu didn't need to turn to know the new group of demons was getting close. The sudden shift in Nadeshiko's posture was clear enough.
"Watch my back," she decided.
"Right."
It took Amu just a moment's focus to project her not-a-magical-girl-outfit, her clothes transforming into something a little more appropriate for a fight. And maybe a little less appropriate for being outside her house, she thought, cringing slightly as the photographers came to mind. She'd never thought of it that way but she'd never gotten photographed while wearing it either! She could practically feel the cameras going off.
That wasn't to say it was immodest, exactly. Her outfit was a riotous combination of a green bodice with a pink, floofy skirt. The top covered her chest, and the bottom covered her hips and her legs, so it wasn't like she was indecent. It was just...
Nadeshiko snuck a glance her way, her lips quirking upwards fondly.
The outfit was just really childish, wasn't it?
"I know, I know," Amu muttered, her cheeks reddening. "I didn't have a lot of time."
Nadeshiko giggled, and turned back towards the building, a new lance appearing in her hand.
"I think you look nice," she said.
Amu felt her cheeks heating, and her mind stalled.
"Um, thanks," she murmured.
And that was another whole thing, because 'Nadeshiko' was actually Nagihiko, a boy, even if she was acting and looking like a rather cool girl right now, and- and- and it wasn't important! Demons! Fighting!
⁂
Two teenagers were harder for the monsters to deal with than one, even if one of them was tired.
Amu didn't have a weapon. That was, she didn't have a bladed weapon like Nadeshiko. She did have a club, and there were broken branches from the trees lying all over the place, so realistically she always had a weapon. If they'd had the time, they could have had a bonfire. Which was the sort of thing she shouldn't be thinking about, but her brain was really having trouble settling down.
The two rocs dived down, screeching in a way that made Amu instinctively flinch back, but then her mind latched onto a piece of wood stuck in the ground and flung it up towards the demon. It was an inaccurate throw, but sufficient to hold it off while Nadeshiko spun the weapon around her position. The harpy in front went down in a shower of black feathers, the weapon impaled straight through its torso. They weren't getting weaker, Amu thought. Nadeshiko was getting better at fighting them.
The second swooped towards Amu. Later on she'd remember only glimpses. Sharp claws and burning eyes, and-
She grasped a club that hadn't existed a moment ago—the heart rod, demoted to bludgeoning weapon—then flung it up hard enough that both her muscles and mind burned. It shot up and caught the thing in the chest, its claws bare millimetres from her skin. There was a screech, and a crunch, and her arm went numb from the impact. She felt its claws rake across her arm, trying to cling as it was sent flying, but the damage wasn't much. She could fix—did fix it, though—she felt a burning, bone-deep ache in her arm as the flesh knitted itself back together, blood soaking through the dress the demon had just cut to shreds, but she had too much adrenaline in her system to stop.
In the meantime three more of the monsters winged their way towards them. She spared a moment's thought in gratitude that it was only three, only a few at a time, and that they didn't go for the other-
She corrected herself, catching a glimpse of Makoto—her classmate—and two others standing between another roc and a group of possible second-graders. There were more demons. She just hadn't seen them. Makoto shouted something angry, while behind her a girl Amu swore she'd seen at lunch was lying on the ground, pale and motionless. A fifth girl was bandaging her with- was that frozen light? It looked like the moon-shard in her bedroom.
The demon went for Makoto, then had a wing ripped off for its trouble. A sharp bang- an electrical arc skittered across Makoto's skin- Makoto screamed, though the demon got ripped to pieces.
Amu looked away. Down. Then stepped back sharply; the ground underneath her was starting to melt. She cast a desperate glance at Nadeshiko, who nodded. They stepped sideways, away from the trees. And lava.
Then the trio that were winging towards them were
there, almost upon them, so the next moments were a blur of motion. Her mind seized on another broken piece of wood laying at her feet. It was only a moment's effort to send it flying upwards with as much force as she could manage—it shattered mid-air, but—the almost supersonic shards of wood caught the demon in the gut with a sickening, staccato of wet impacts.
The creature let out a scream. A second later the air was filled with burning black feathers as it tried to twist away, its body sheared nearly in half.
The lava-like blood spilled towards her. She caught it on a telekinetic umbrella. A few drops still touched down in her hair, setting it on fire.
She patted it out. Her hair was left a little singed but otherwise unharmed.
That had been exhausting. She couldn't do it again.
Nadeshiko's blade took another demon's head clean off, the body falling neatly to the side, molten blood igniting the ground to her friend's side.
She tried to be smarter with the third one. As it winged its way towards her, Amu conjured the thickest pair of jump-ropes she possibly could, capped at the end with the largest jawbreakers she could manage. The roc was moving fast, though, so the bolas she lobbed at it weren't especially accurate. The demon managed to dodge to the side, and the first one missed, though the second one clipped the tip of one wing, causing the demon to falter in mid-air.
The roc screeched triumphantly, turning on its side to dive towards them, and-
Amu grinned a little madly as she watched the monster's expression falter. A moment later it realised its mistake, but by that time the makeshift bola was already hurtling towards it from behind under the control of her telekinesis, and the only thing it could do was scream.
A second later the bola's weighty, hard jawbreaker slammed into its back, wrapping its wings together and sending it careening until it slammed into the ground. Amu didn't give it a chance to recover, but sprayed it with sticky, goopy honey, pinning it to the ground.
Nadeshiko's naginata flicked, the range put to artful use. That was three more demons dead.
Three more packs took off from the rift. Amu's breath caught in her throat as she watched the demons fly, a dozen black specks rising above the school grounds. She glanced back towards her dad, who was standing there impotently. Holding Saaya, who seemed to have fallen unconscious. She could see some students running for cover, or just running away, and- and-
She staggered. It took her a moment to recover.
She looked at Nadeshiko, who was also staring upwards. For a moment her friend's composure broke. Nadeshiko's fingers whitened on the hilt of her naginata as she took a deep breath, and-
More of her classmates were organising themselves. In the distance she saw Utau, dressed in a gym uniform, her face set and focused. She was standing with a small crowd of girls Amu had never seen before.
An intangible pulse rose from the grade-school building. A single one of the demons screeched, seizing in jittery, spasmodic flight, and then it fell. It hit the concrete roof head-first, though Amu couldn't tell if it was unconscious or-
"Hey!" she shouted at the remaining demons. "Over here!"
She punctuated her shout with a glob of honey.
It fell a good two dozen metres short, but it was the intention that counted. One of the packs wheeled around, and began making their way towards them.
Nadeshiko shifted her weight, her stance lowering.
The second pack didn't join the first. Instead it banked, turning away and towards the high school. The third pack split; a few of the demons followed the second, while the rest continued on towards Amu and Nadeshiko. This wasn't... optimal. Nadeshiko threw her a worried glance, but Amu was a bit too busy to pay it any mind. She'd decided the situation had a simple fix. They couldn't let the demons notice Kukai, still busy on the roof, so-
She stretched out her hand, trying to pretend like she was holding a gun, and fired a pair of bolas at the incoming flight.
Then another.
She missed the first shot , but the second was more successful. One of the demons slammed into a tree with a screech, punctuated with snapping branches and shattering bones. Another demon plummeted to the ground and was pinned by a glob of honey, its wings glued down. A third was knocked off course, and then a fourth-
She was getting the hang of this. Her mind burned, but she was getting the hang of this.
Amu didn't bother watching to see if they were killed or not; she left that to Nadeshiko. Instead she settled in to play anti-air, keeping them from swooping down to attack them—well helped by repeated pulses from what she was sure was Hikaru, slamming into the demons' minds and causing them to falter. She could practically see his smug grin from here, and-
"How many are there?" Amu wondered, not really asking anyone.
The other pack, however, didn't make a move towards her or Nadeshiko. Instead they turned and started towards the high school, where Utau was waiting for them. Amu couldn't see it well from here, and didn't have the time to spare in any case, but she spotted repeated beams of pure telekinetic force peppering the sky from the corner of her eye.
Then the rift
pulsed. A loud crack filled the air and Amu was thrown to the ground by the sheer force of it, her ears ringing. For a moment she could only stare up at the sky, her thoughts disordered. A huge block of concrete tumbled past. It crashed into the ground nearby, crushing the remains of one of the demons she'd just killed.
When she looked up again, she saw a hole in reality.
It was the same size as the rift, except it wasn't there. Her eyes refused to focus on it. A darkness so absolute that it wasn't darkness at all. It was a hole in the world. The school around it flickered like a broken television, red-and-green-and-blue-and-purple light spilling from the gap, and-
Her head hurt.
She slowly got to her feet. Her legs were shaking.
No more demons seemed to be coming. She cast a glance towards the high school.
The other flight had been decimated. There were two demons still in the air, but as she thought that she saw one of them caught in a burst of fire.
Fire? Fire. Not Utau, then. Amu turned in a circle, searching for more enemies, and found nothing. A burning tree crackled in the background. Continuing her turn, she saw a group of trucks just skidding to a halt in- in the middle of the garden.
One of them had sirens blaring.
Amu hadn't heard it until now.
She was barely hearing it now. Her ears rang. Her head ached. She was tired. So very,
very tired.
Someone was shouting, and-
"Are you okay?" Amu asked, turning towards Nadeshiko.
"Fine," she replied. Her voice was steady, despite the blood on her clothes. She was staring at the rift, her grip on her weapon slack. "I think," she added a moment later, and then shook her head.
"Me too," Amu whispered.
Nadeshiko let out a weak chuckle, her posture slumping a little, leaning on the naginata.
"Is it over?" Amu asked.
"I hope so," Nadeshiko murmured.
They kept watch on the rift until a group of men and women in dark fatigues and helmets approached them, carrying guns. Amu slumped to the ground. Really, she ought to have been scared. Or at least worried. But all she could muster was a mild curiosity.
They stepped right past her, anyhow.
Amu turned her attention back towards the rift, watching as they set up a barricade, as well as some kind of machinery. A few remaining demons had attacked, and been shot down. She watched as the hole in the world flickered, the image of the school behind it stuttering.
A woman dressed in a lab coat with short black hair implausibly set in twintails started gesticulating up at it, talking in an excited tone to a man wearing a black suit, but Amu couldn't quite make herself pay attention.
She looked away.
The school was a mess. There were chunks missing from the building, and even if the worst had been dealt with, there were still injured students. She could still feel Tadase inside the building, apparently trapped. There were a lot of paramedics running about and she could hear people shouting, but her attention was caught by something else.
Makoto was sitting on the ground, next to the girl who'd been hurt, a worried frown on her face.
Amu stared for a moment, then blinked. She could heal Makoto's friend. That was-
No, she couldn't.
Her mind ached at the thought of doing pretty much anything.
She dropped back onto the grass, staring at the sky, which was still how she'd last seen it, clear and sunny.
Then she closed her eyes.
⁂
She woke up a few minutes later, staring up at a man(?) roughly Ikuto's age. He was dressed in all black. Black boots. Black pants. Even a black jacket, with a black cape. White hair and white gloves, though. And the outfit was actually kind of cool-looking, she had to admit.
He spared barely a glance for Nadeshiko, still sitting with the lance on her knees.
"Himamori Amu," he said. It wasn't a question.
She blinked, staring at him.
"Yes?" she asked, a moment later.
His eyes were dark, and his lips pressed into a thin line. He wasn't happy, that much was obvious. But he didn't seem upset with her. They took in her appearance, singed and covered in blood, and his expression shifted into a slight frown. At some stage her transformation had worn off, revealing her school uniform, which was torn and stained, and-
"Do you know why we're here?"
She shook her head.
"To deal with the rift?" she hazarded, glancing over at the black hole in the world.
"There is also that," he agreed, "but I was asked to come here by my... cousin. She can be very- insistent."
His lips quirked upwards.
"Ah," Amu murmured, and sat up. She rubbed at her eyes, and her fingers came away wet. She wiped them off on her skirt, then rubbed her eyes some more. She wasn't crying, she didn't think. Her eyes were just full of soot, and now she wasn't fighting anymore, her body felt heavy. She wanted a nap.
"Don't do that," the boy… man? Teenager? -snapped. "You'll hurt yourself. Here, pour this on your eyes."
A moment later he handed her a bottle of water.
"Right," Amu said, her voice slurred. She blinked a few times, but- no, the tears weren't going away. She stared at it blankly for a moment, her mind going blank, and then nodded. She did her best to pour it on her eyes, and-
She let out a little yelp as the pain hit. The water was freezing, and-
"What is this?" she demanded. "Ice-cold water?!"
"Obviously," the man replied, his voice flat.
Amu glared up at him, then at the offending bottle, which it seemed he'd gotten from a vending machine.
"This is cruel and unusual punishment," she accused, but he just shrugged, throwing a second bottle at Nadeshiko. Amu went back to cleaning her eyes, and-
Oh.
Oh, yes, that was a good idea.
It took a while, and her eyes stayed sore and bloodshot, but her vision cleared up.
"Thank you," she muttered, blinking her eyes open. "What's your name?"
"Hotsuin Yamato," he replied, then paused. Amu didn't fill the silence. She was feeling more alert, but that only made her realise just how tired she was. She wanted to sleep. "Himamori," he said after a moment. "Do you remember what happened?"
She tilted her head, frowning at him.
"The Yamamoto girl-" He almost bit out the name, like it had an unpleasant taste. His mind stunk of annoyance. "-broke every rule in the book to get us here just one minute earlier, and she was right to do so. Can you tell us what happened?"
Amu hesitated. She remembered a lot of things that had happened, but...
= = =
I can't imagine why Amu would consider her outfit at all childish.
The fight seems to be over, but here comes the aftermath. You have a number of decisions to make, and I think this is going to be a plan vote—so start your votes with "[X] Plan Foobar"—but here's a number of points you should probably hit.
- Hotsuin wants to know what's going on.
[ ] Try to get away. You have a dad to go back to. Among others.
[ ] Tell him as little as possible.
[ ] Avoid mention of Saaya, specifically.
[ ] Avoid mention of how you personally function.
[ ] Avoid mention of <insert friend group here>.
[ ] Avoid mention of exactly how you think the rift got started.
- Tadase seems to be trapped inside the building.
[ ] Just point out that he's trapped.
[ ] Do that, but also explain how helpful he was.
— At least, Amu assumes he was being helpful. It's plausible.
- Demon fight
[ ] Explain as little as possible
[ ] Explain what exactly you did
[ ] Leave it to Nadeshiko
- Utau is probably ready to tear her hair out. You can try to get some word to her, though at this range a burst of emotion is about the best you can do. Alternately you can shout at her.
[ ] Ask her to come help
[ ] Warn her away.
- Ami is outside as well and feeling very proud, you can feel it from here.
[ ] Warn her away? It's unclear if that'll work.
[ ] Punt her towards dad? It's also unclear if that'll work.
- Miki is probably headed your way.
[ ] Let her. You can use the support.
[ ] Warn her away.
- Hotsuin would probably accept being asked some questions in return.
[ ] Ask some!
— Which ones?
[ ] Don't. You're tired.
= = =
As you can see, there are entirely too many possible options for a traditional voting setup. Don't feel too bothered if you miss some important element; I'll think up options that fit with whatever vote wins.
