Kakashi and Eya appeared in front of a building, behind them was a green garden with snow on the corner, green grass in the middle, and bushes as the border.
Eya climbed the long stairs followed by Kakashi. He was having trouble breathing, he felt like he was choking on something that would not come out of his throat.
He grabbed his neck and groaned. Eya stopped, she glanced over her shoulder. "Just what is Hitori-san doing? Why is he letting him hurt him?"
Kakashi collapsed on the stairs. "Tengoku, he is killing that boy!" Kakashi puked saliva.
She climbed the stairs. "Kaka—"
He raised his hand and said, "The Protector's bond, I never knew it would be this painful."
"Let me cast a—"
"Save your mana. My pain will fade, it will eventually. You need to go."
Eya shook her head. "I need you with me!"
"You need to make the pain stop. Rush to that boy and protect him, the pain will fade, and I will be able to catch up."
"But—"
"We do not have time!" he shouted. "Just leave already! I will be alright, Eya-nee… I will follow you."
Eya gulped. Suit yourself, she wanted to say. "I will be waiting," she said and disappeared into the building.
Kakashi nodded as he watched her climb the stairs and disappear in the building.
Kakashi fought his pain, stood on his feet, and followed Eya.
After he climbed the first five stairs, the pain kicked back again.
'It feels like I'm dying… Hitori is dying.' Kakashi looked at the busy morning ministry morning.
Kakashi took the sidewalk, hiding from the staff workers and other citizens. He took the staff's way to the Ministry of Adventures. Even if someone stopped him he would show his S-Grade card and they would allow him to enter their houses.
Senso raced through the woods, he could see the fire in the distance.
"Hitori!" He shouted.
Tengoku dropped Hitori and raced to Hidari.
"Now what the fuck is happening?" He grabbed Hidari's collar and pushed him aside.
"He is not opening!" Hidari replied.
"Hey, you cuckold wizard!"
Hidari frowned. 'Cuckold?'
"You open the dungeon right now or I will kill you later!"
No reply. Then Hidari had a strange thought.
"Sir, contact Kuzu."
Tengoku pulled a radio receiver and clicked on the call button.
"This is Kagaku on this side, do you copy me, Kuzu Erabu?"
No reply. Kuzu's receiver had burned with him.
Tengoku tried again. Then he turned to Hidari and shook his head.
Hidari nodded. "What if the wizard is working for Hitori?"
Those words came out hesitantly. Even he was afraid to face that possibility.
"What are you saying?"
"What if Hitori had offered him more money? He trapped Onogi and Kuzu in the dungeon, ambushed them, and… now left us here to die?"
Tengoku seemed convinced. He looked at Hitori. "It would be a waste of time to ask him." He glanced at Hidari. "Arm yourself. I'm fed up with running, we will end this here. Does not matter who is coming."
Tengoku drew his katana and pulled it on his shoulder. Hidari cocked his gun, turned, and aimed in the burning woods.
The woods rustled, and a tree on fire collapsed and took another tree with it.
They both turned in the direction the man was coming from, the direction from where the trees were falling.
Hitori lifted his head. "Eya-nee? Kakashi?" He muttered.
Hitori could not look on the other side, he could not recognize the voice from before due to Tengoku's commotion.
He hoped it to be Atama-sensei or Senso-sensei.
Perhaps the wizard really betrayed Onogi when Kamiya offered him extra money, and now Kamiya was coming with support.
Or maybe… it was Kakashi and Eya-nee. Maybe they have arrived.
When Hitori was done fantasizing about the possible outcomes, he noticed the movement in the woods had died. Hitori still could not see, but now he could hear either.
Hitori raised his hand and fired another fireball. Tengoku turned around and blocked the fireball with his katana.
He jumped and slashed his katana at Hitori, the blade did not reach Hitori but the shockwave chopped the wood behind him.
"You stay put!" Tengoku whispered in a tight tone.
"You are blocking my sight! Move out of the wave."
And for some reason, Tengoku moved out of sight. He looked at Hidari and lifted his two fingers, he moved his fingers towards the woods, it was a gesture for Hidari to advance with patience.
Tengoku walked to the left corner and Hidari walked to the right. They took cover behind the burning woods, leaving the main path open for Hitori to watch.
The woods in the distance were still. Hitori's heart picked pace again. What happened? Did the monster from the river take his help? Where was Atama-sensei? Kamiya? Kakashi?
Hitori lifted his hand again, the pain kicked in and made him scream. Tengoku threw a sharp glare at Hitori, that did not help, though.
Tengoku took a step in the dark, and Hidari followed. They were holding their weapons in front of them, at guard, as they advanced in the woods. They dodged the fire and sneaked through.
Hitori could have shouted and exposed their positions, but he was not sure about his allies' position, he did not know who was coming, and he was not aware whether they were alive.
A wood moved. Tengoku and Hidari paused, exchanged glances, then looked at the woods again.
Tengoku raised his wand and slashed three trees in front of him, the swing extinguished the fire around him.
Hidari drew a small knife and cut the dry plants in front of him. He lifted his head and took a look around, fire had spread.
He thought, 'If this goes on, this will start a forest fire.' He did the mistake of looking away from his target.
A beam of brown-red beam erupted from the woods and landed on Hidari's neck– resulting in him screaming his lungs out.
Tengoku jumped, his mouth dropped, and his eyes widened. He found Hidari dropping into the snow, choking on something, he could not see anymore.
A silhouette whooshed in through the dark, Tengoku swung his katana, he was expecting the opposing force.
Senso's katana pushed Tengoku back, Hitori saw a glint as the fire around them rose. Senso struck another strike on Tengoku.
Tengoku pushed the katana to the other side and retreated from the attacker.
Senso rose from the woods, he patted his chest, extinguishing the fire. Then suddenly, Hitori heard a scream.
"Aah! T-The fire…" It was a familiar voice. Hitori raised his eyes and pulled his jaws together.
"Eya-nee," he muttered.
A hydro pump squashed through the woods, extinguishing the fire around the source.
She lowered her wand and then Hitori saw his face, her tiny body, and her skirt burned from the bottom which revealed her bright thigh.
Hitori pushed against the chopped wood behind him. He was expecting Kakashi to arrive from behind, but he did not, his smile faded.
Eya checked Hidari, he was dead. She granted him an instant death, he did not deserve it, though, but she was low on time. She could not risk him crawling on the ground struggling for life and firing a mag all around.
Tengoku glanced at Hidari. He was dead. His gun was falling out of his hands, blood was coming from his mouth along with a strange foam.
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