Kyoryu stood still for a moment before unbinding Reon. Hitori tried to lift his head and look at what was going on behind him, but the pain threatened to increase.
But he could at least watch Akira's expressions. Hitori lowered his head. Crossing the line of his stomach, he saw Akira staring at Hitori's room with a relieved smile on his face.
"I will look after her," Kakashi said before pulling Reon inside.
Kyo glanced over his shoulders and saw the men pulling the hooks of the dynamite bombs. The fire had finally settled outside, and now they were willing to start another fire.
"Quick," Hitori said. "They have got dynamites."
"Yes, they do. But do you know how many they have?"
"NO," he said in a cracking voice, "but we can not risk it. Does not matter how strong the shield is, I bet Eya-nee is tired now. So we should really not risk it."
Kyoryu stared at the shield. And it was true that Eya has been holding for quite a while. Bullets were a different case, but dynamites were a case to fear.
Just when he was about to decide not to move, the five men lifted something that looked like a scroll with fire sparking from both sides. Then they raised their other hands. Two scrolls with one man. Ten scrolls with five men.
He turned and said, "Alright, she can not hold against them." He lifted Hitori off the ground with levitation. "Get away from there, Akira, we need to rush upstairs."
Kyoryu jumped on the first step, then sped to the first landing. Akira reached the first landing and asked, "What about Kakashi?"
"Yeah, what about Reon? She is downstairs."
Kyoryu climbed the second half of the stairs, then stopped on the porch leading to the master bedroom. "They will be alright. Now that Kakashi is back, they will be alright."
They entered the master bedroom. Eya was sitting on the bed, still concentrating on maintaining the defense.
Kyoryu threw Hitori on a chair and made him straight sit– which he could– not easily, but he could sit straight.
He noticed the buckets of sweat she was sweating. The summer heat, then this hard work. Hitori was sure even he had sweat buckets. Not just him, but everyone.
The creases on her forehead told him she had a headache. God knows what else was of her was hurting. Maybe her legs, because of sitting in a seiza position for so long. She might even end up having cramps if she gets up.
In the middle of his thought process, he heard something. At first, it was just a slight disturbance that would have been ignored, then it exploded.
He could imagine the fire taking over the woods and the wooden walls. He leaned forward and tried to look out, but the pain was still hurting him.
But Eya. if he can not see what happened outside, he can at least watch Eya. She was tensed, more than she was before. Her fists were clenched and she was grunting.
Someone was approaching him, he could hear the footsteps as he was sitting closest to the door. He could hear someone banging the stairs as they climbed up.
The men could not have broken in since Eya was still deep in her incantation. Hitori turned his head this time and looked at the porch from the side of the door frame.
"What is it, Hitori?" he asked as he walked to Hitori.
Hitori held his breath and waited till he saw purple hair poking from the staircase. His eyes lit with excitement and a smile spread on his face. "Reon!"
He grabbed the armrests and pushed himself off the chair. Reon climbed the stairs and reached the porch.
Akira watched in amazement as Hitori stood on his feet. He stepped forward and raised his arms, but when Hitori took a step, Akira lowered his arms.
Kakashi was with Reon, but Hitori was too focused on Reon to even notice him. She sprinted to Hitori and he stood in the doorway with a smile.
Reon stopped in front of Hitori, panting, yet not daring to hold him. "Wh-What happened? What was that explosion?" He knew, but he wanted to confirm– or he wanted the details.
"Move out of the way, boy, let the men talk," Kakashi said as he squeezed himself into the room from the little space available on the side.
"T-They are using explosives. What are we doing upstairs? Should not we counter or something?"
Hitori nodded. "I said so, but they have something else planned. And believe me… I am not in the position to strike back."
"So that means you gave up," she said in a sassy tone.
Hitori shook his head. "The dynamites would not kill us. In a battle, they are two main things: Attack and Defense. What we are doing is the latter part.
"Of course, counterattack, betrayal, and ambush exist; but even they are subparts of the main two pillars."
Reon chuckled. "As long as we live… this war continues."
"As long as we live… yes," Hitori said and nodded.
Reon opened her mouth but a loud explosion outside interrupted her. Hitori lost balance on his feet and crumbled to the floor.
Reon bent down to grab him, but when Kakashi shouted for everyone to get down, she did not try to fight back.
Hitori grabbed onto the door frame, and Reon grabbed his arm. "Stay down," he said, "the house is shaking."
The door came swinging at him but stopped in the way as Reon's legs were standing as barriers.
The shaking stopped, but the noise outside continued– shouting, cheering, cursing, and perhaps the sound of the fire as it swallowed the house.
A piercing shriek made Hitori jump. He glanced around and saw Eya opening her eyes with a frown.
She threw her hands on the bed and shouted, "That motherfucking son of a bitch—" Then her eyes fell on the people around her.
Everyone was staring at her, and she stared back, too. But only for a second or so. No one moved, and the rumbling had stopped too.
Eya blushed. She looked the other way and muttered, "T-They broke the shield."
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