Chiharu flipped over to Yumi. Watching her sink deeper made her tighten her fist. ‘It’s just like what he did with those earrings. There’s nothing I can do…’ She turned back to Photine. ‘…dammit…’ Their usefulness had ended in Chiharu’s mind. A quick punch knocked the woman unconscious. Chiharu dropped the body out of the way to return to Yumi.

New problems surfaced with the revelation of the sealing. Chiharu didn’t know the right words to use. She reached out for Yumi, but held back pausing at the last moment. ‘I need to motivate her…we need to move, but she’s…’ Her fist tightened up with her thoughts. It attempted to strengthen her determination, but it felt empty.

Everything changed from before. Chiharu berated Yumi on her weakness in the past, but she could say nothing anymore. It wasn’t about strength of character or resolve. She wanted something to say. ‘What can I say? Nothing can be done…’

Chapter 163 – Striking Shadow

Yumi caught sight of Chiharu out of the corner of her eye. It surfaced her from the pit. She had partially forgotten that she was nearby. The thoughts she had focused her away from all of her surroundings. She forgot they still stood in enemy territory. Yumi could only think of how useless she was to everyone. The seal left her with nothing. She could feel how well it worked.

The empty alone feeling that encompassed her made sense to her. It was the absence of her powers. She only had them for a short time, but they were a part of her. She grew to understand them and accept them. They were a part of her as much as her arms and legs were a part of her body. Their loss ran deeper than she imagined.

She was normal, again.

Yumi looked over at Chiharu. She made stiff motions to get her body to move. ‘I never thought I’d actually miss them. I’ve gotten so used to them. It really is lonely without them.’ Her thoughts brought her back to Chiharu. They stayed out of reach in spite of their close proximity. ‘Chiharu…she’s bothered by something… It seems strange that I can actually read her face.’

Loosely staring at Chiharu, Yumi’s thoughts consumed her. It pulled her away from the spiral. ‘I’m holding her back… I can’t be depressed. I might have no powers, but I can still walk! I can’t let this stop me!’ Yumi braced her free hand against her leg. The sword made her entire body awkward, something she was going to have to adjust to dealing with now. It was just an obstacle. ‘I’m alive still. So I’ll find a way out of this. It’s not over!’ Her hand pushed against her leg to get her body standing. Shakily, Yumi planted her feet firmly back in the ground.

‘This is going to take some getting used to…’ She looked down at Chiharu, still unmoved. It felt a little strange to her. She didn’t think she would need to give her comfort. “You don’t need to worry, Chiharu. I’m alive.” Yumi leaned down a little, offering a hand out to Chiharu. She worked up a reassuring smile.

Chiharu took a glance up, waking from her thoughts. ‘She’s standing? She was just down before…gone…’ Uncertain, she stood up on her own to meet eyes with Yumi (as much as she could given the height difference). “…that sword…”

“It doesn’t hurt. It’s a little weird, but I’ll get used to it.” She kept working on her front with Chiharu. ‘I can’t show her any weakness. I can’t let her stop because of me.’

A narrow look came across Chiharu’s eyes. She watched Yumi fit a mask awkwardly to her face. ‘…she’s…’ It took her only a second more to realize everything that Yumi was doing. When she did, it all turned back on Chiharu. She stared at herself.

“I’ll figure out a way. You don’t have to worry, Chiharu. There might be a way to break the seal if I just think about it.”

Everything in Chiharu turned rigid. She spun around facing away from Yumi. “Of course. I wasn’t concerned about it.”

Yumi gave a small grin, glad to see Chiharu acting normal again. Her eyes lowered to the ground for a moment, but quickly focused ahead of her. “We need to get away from here. There might be more coming.”

“You’re correct.” Her head turned about scanning the area for any threats. Nothing came to her, but she remained cautious. A short tilt of her head towards Yumi, connected them. “I’ll take you to your brother. Then we’ll find the others.”

“You found Yori?!” exclaimed Yumi, nearly falling over with excitement. She ran up around Chiharu to get a look at her directly. “Where is he? Is he hurt? Did they do anything to him?”

So many questions came in at Chiharu that she felt a twitch in her eye. The mood swing and emotions were more than enough for her to deal with on top of a barrage of demands. A hand rose to the bridge of her nose trying to calm down the urges. It was mostly successful. “He’s unconscious, but he doesn’t look physically injured. I can’t speak of his mental state.”

A bit of relief washed through Yumi, but the last few words from Chiharu concerned her. “Mental state? What do you mean?”

“I found a woman with him, in a white uniform. She’s the reason I was delayed.” Chiharu paused thinking about her blunder. It went ignored by her until she brought it back up. She couldn’t believe she fell for such a trap. “They were likely interrogating him and possibly torturing him for information. They might have gotten it.”

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“…no…” gasped Yumi, trying to hold back thoughts of her brother’s torture. “I remember seeing him in pain…but I don’t know what they did to him…”

Chiharu began to move away from Yumi. “First, we’ll get your brother and then start out. The others are around here. I’ll find them quickly.”

“Right!” Yumi shuffled her feet a little trying to catch up to Chiharu quickly setting pace. Something about her body felt sluggish. She didn’t remember having trouble moving it. ‘Was I always this slow?’ Yumi broke out into a bit of a jog to close their distance.

It didn’t take them long to reach the spot Chiharu left Yori. He rested mostly out of sight from anyone not paying attention behind turned over tents and chunks of debris. Chiharu didn’t have a lot of time to think of a better solution. ‘Glad no one found him. I took a risk leaving him unattended, but it couldn’t be helped.’ She disappeared for a quick moment grabbing Yori and brought him out to Yumi. “Keep an eye on him, while I go figure out where the others are located.”

“Of course!” Yumi started to reach out to take her brother back. She felt a pounding in her chest. The time he had been gone felt so long, but they were together again. Her hand almost touched him. His eyes suddenly snapped open and he stared straight at Yumi. The gaze pierced her and went through her. Yumi jumped back with her breath lost for a moment. It made her blink, but when she opened her eyes again Yori was still unconscious. ‘What?’

Chiharu lowered her brow a little watching Yumi become startled. “Something wrong?”

“Huh?” she muttered, before looking back at Chiharu. She shook her head trying to remove the thought from her mind. “No, of course not. Why would anything be wrong? I’m just relieved to see him.” Yumi looked down at her hand. It was shaking uncontrollably. It ran back through her body connecting to the pounding in her chest. Her body remembered it strongly. She could only force her mind blank as much as she could.

‘…Yumi…’ whispered her brother’s voice from behind her. It slithered in her ear twisting around with a wet slick feeling that knocked her balance off. A chill ran down her back just hearing her name.

“…hmm…” Doubt still covered Chiharu’s face, but they had more pressing matters. She didn’t dwell any longer on the awkwardness. “Take him and I’ll start my search.”

Yumi nodded to her. She steeled herself and quickly reached out to take Yori from Chiharu. Her eyes almost closed, too afraid, but she forced them to stay open. ‘I can’t let Chiharu know. I’ve got to deal with this myself.’

Locating a shadow quickly, Chiharu positioned herself to disappear. She glanced over at Yumi one last time. More than one concern went through her mind. “I’ll be back soon.” Chiharu disappeared into the shadows leaving Yumi alone with her brother.

Cradling Yori in her arms, Yumi watched Chiharu fade away into the shadows. The awe of seeing it for the first time might have meant more for her if she wasn’t trying to keep her body from shaking. She clenched her hand into a fist trying to manage her fear. ‘I’ll be fine. She’ll only be gone for a minute or so. Just have to hold out.’ Whispers drew in around her ears clawing at her sanity. Flashes of images snapped around her eyes. Yumi shut her eyes. ‘How can I be afraid of my own brother?’

Floating in the empty space of the dimension between shadows, Chiharu started her search. The chaos caused by the fighting destroyed any sense she had of the camp. She was fortunate in locating Yumi as quickly as she did, but Fumiko and Seiji were different. Too many shadows were destroyed and too many new ones appeared. Chiharu had to start over getting a grasp of the layout.

She kept searching for minutes without any signs. All of her windows in her range gave her nothing, forcing her to move out away from Yumi. She knew where she was, but it still nagged at her. The strange actions bothered her. ‘They’re here somewhere…’ Chiharu forced her to focus on the immediate problem.

“If you’re wondering. I’ve negated your power,” a voice echoed through the void.

It didn’t immediately reach out to Chiharu, but lingered around her. She searched out with a sense of direction.

“Watching your fight with Stamatia I saw something was off about you.”

The voice grew louder for Chiharu drawing her in. ‘Why can I hear someone so clearly from in here?’ Chiharu was still learning about her powers, even though she had a firm grasp on it. She found it to hold many secrets even after all of the practice.

Chiharu reached a window to the outside that felt promising. She got a better angle and clearer view. A body matched with the voice she heard.

“Seems my guess was correct.”

That was all she needed to confirm it. Chiharu slipped out of the shadow back into the real world. The air felt oddly thick with heat unlike the area of the camp she came from. It also looked far worse than she had seen. Craters and small fires gave her a small picture of the battle. ‘This must be her doing, doubt the muscle head could do this with his fists. There’s too much charring and fires.’ She felt confident Fumiko was nearby.

Her confidence pushed her out from safe cover to get a better view on the one she heard. She caught sight of them grabbing someone, but they partially obscured them with their body. Chiharu worked around the debris to improve her sight.

“I don’t know what this means you are, but you’re as normal as everyone else now.”

Chiharu watched a middle-aged man put the individual over their shoulder. ‘He’s got the white uniform, so he’s one of them. He’s probably got her…’ Quickly making the decision, she leapt out from her cover. A clear opening stood in front of her giving her all the time she needed to turn the fortunes.

Not realizing she had help, Fumiko kicked and punched the man to break his hold on her. She still had enough strength to manage to surprise him. It knocked him off balance giving her the time to push away from him.

Unfortunately, everything unplanned happened in Chiharu’s way. Her reflexes kept her from any injuries in the chaotic exchange, but also killed her opening. She still connected her fist with the man. The strength and angle lacked any meaningful force. It was enough to knock him off his feet and momentarily stun him. However, it didn’t last for long.

Salvaging her failure, Chiharu regrouped with Fumiko and stood between them. The fatigue from her previous fight came out plainly to Chiharu’s examination. ‘She’s in no shape for a real fight with one of these. I’ll have to handle this.’ Chiharu lifted an arm to keep Fumiko from trying to advance. “I’ll deal with him.”

“Chiharu!” Fumiko’s excitement overcame her reason and Chiharu’s insisting arm. She pushed around in front of Chiharu wanting to get a better look at her. Her hand went all over Chiharu’s face. “I was looking for you! What happened?”

Batting away Fumiko’s friendliness, Chiharu worked to keep her stern expression. “I’ll explain later. We have more important matters to deal with.” Fumiko’s distraction slowed down her reactions. It was almost too late before she noticed the man’s attack coming in. She only felt the displaced air as a sign. Chiharu forcibly pushed Fumiko aside and brought up her arm and half her back to block whatever was coming at them.

A tearing sound came from her upper arm as the invisible attack ate into her ninja garb. It ran shallow and only barely caught a taste of her skin. Chiharu glanced down to see the paper-thin cut develop on her skin. She narrowed her eyes down across the camp to understand what he did. It was still a mystery to her.

“Chiharu! Are you alright?”

She pushed Fumiko back, as her concern turned overbearing. “I’m fine. This’ll be simple if that’s all he’s got.” Her hand retrieved a kunai from her clothes preparing for a counterstrike.

The older man didn’t seem affected by Chiharu’s confidence or shrugging off his attack. “Don’t underestimate me from one attack. I’m only getting started.” A ripple came from his feet. His clothes transformed to a trench coat and the ground surface suddenly warped. It no longer appeared to be a solid making Chiharu sink a little and then rise. Everything was in a constant state of flux. “Try to keep your balance in my Field!”