Web of Scarlet

Silver Haired Demon
"Carry me."

"No."

"Carry me." More insistent this time.

"No." The same monotone voice as before.

"Carry me!" Voice rises higher.

"No." Calm.

This argument was happening between a silver-haired boy who appeared to be his teens, and a brown haired girl in pigtails. She was losing this argument.

"I don't feel like walking Awai!"

"I don't feel like carrying you." Awai shrugged. "You're not injured Isshō. You can walk."

"I don't want to!" Isshō insisted.

"Fine." Awai said calmly. "I'm going home. Whenever you feel like coming, I'll be there." He started to walk off.

"W-what? WAIT!" Isshō started to run after him, before settling at a walking pace beside him. Awai's mouth twitched, but he didn't smile. "I figured that would get you moving."

"No fair!" Isshō said huffily.

At a fork in the road the two were walking on, the legendary Kensei, Sadow, and his trio of courtesans detected the two spiritual signatures.

Ouka smirked. "Pretty big. Should we kill them, Sadow-sama?"

Sadow looked uninterested. "Children, Ouka. None of our concern."

"Do you feel that...?" Awai asked, his eyes scanning the area. "High spiritual pressure. Alot of them."

Isshō looked excited. "Can I have a go at them!? Please?"

Awai sighed. "If they decide to come after us, I'll be nice and give your first shot."

Isshō smiled brightly.

Upon seeing the two walking their way, Tanseki beamed at them "Hello little ones! Awww they're sooo cuuute~!"

Hinotori scolded "Stop being such an airhead, Tanseki." She turned her gaze toward them "Run along kiddies. This is no place for children."

"We're not children." Awai said in the same monotone he talked to anyone with. "Why don't you be on your way?"

Isshō looked them over. "Can I go at them now?"

Awai sighed. "I told you to wait..."

Ouka smirked and walked over at them with a condescending smirk, patting Awai's head lightly "Kid, have you any idea who we are...?"

"Don't know, don't care." Awai replied, batting her hand away. Damn woman wasn't that much taller than he was.

"I honestly don't care either." Isshō replied. "You're people, so what?"

Hinotori corrected "You're standing in the presence of the Messenger of Death, Sadow Yatsumaru!"

Almost on cue, Sadow turned and glared at the two with menacing, glowing red eyes.

"And you're standing in the presence of Shinigami Isshō and Xiāochú Awai." Awai said, bored. "So what?"

Ouka began laughing loudly at them "You've never heard of Sadow? Of how many people he's killed? Of-"

Sadow cut her off "Spare them the stories, Ouka. Why don't we just show them?" Upon finishing his sentence, Sadow appeared behind Isshō, stroking his hand down her cheek gently "Such a pretty face... I take it this boy is your lover?" He smirked at Awai "I bet you think you can protect her... I bet you think you can save her delicate, pure little soul..."

"I would like to go on record for saying Isshō is boy." Awai said, smirking slightly. "And he needs about as much protection as an angry pit bull." Isshō smiled at this, vanishing with surprising speed to appear next to Awai. "If you want to show me what you can do, I'll be more than happy to take you on." He said, smiling.

Sadow smirked at them "First, a question. Why do you dress as a female if you are not one? Isn't that denying your natural order?"

"Spent too much time around my mother?" He suggested casually. "Anyway, can. we. get. started!?" He drew his blade. "I want to have a bit of fun."

Awai sighed, floating easily up to a tree. "I'll watch from here!" He called down. "Don't bruise him up too bad!"

Sadow smirked down at him without unsheathing his sword "Very well. Face death, child! With sword in hand, charge straight into the bowels of Hell, never to return!"

"I'm not here to listen to poems." Isshō said, yawning. He charged in, and performed an upsidedown, rotating, similar to a tornadoown rotating , similar to a tornado, aiming to deliver multiple kicks to Sadow.

"Starting off with Panchira Torunēdo..." Awai thought. "Guess he's not going for his sword yet."

Sadow caught Isshō's foot by the ankle with his hand and threw him toward a nearby tree with ease.

He flipped in midair, landing on the tree with his feet, and pushing off. He appeared in front of Sadow, flicking his middle finger towards him, sending a blast of pure physical force towards him.

Sadow tilted his head to the side and let the blast from the movement tear through the bark of the tree behind him.

Isshō put on a pouting expression. "Fine, you wanna keep dodging. I'll show you." He vanished, appearing behind him. "Let's try and get you to leak." He said, thrusting his blade forward towards Sadow's back.

Sadow smirked and caught the blade in his armpit, turning quickly and flipping Isshō onto his blade. Retrieving the sword, he stabbed it into the ground next to Isshou's head and backed away slowly.

"Wish. Shinkon." He was covered in gust of smoke.

Awai looked on, smirking. "Here we go now."

As the smoke died down, and Isshō was gone. Standing in his place was tall young man with long purple hair and gray eyes. He wore a black/gray outfit with gray boots and a golden bangle with a large crimson crystal on his left hand.

"Oh boy..." He murmured, looking around. "Now why the hell am I here?" He looked again. "Let's see...somewhere I don't know, middle of a battle. Isshou's using me to bail him out again." He sounded more irritated than anything.

Sadow gazed at the new individual before him "Hmmm? This is interesting." Tansuki pointed at the newcomer dramatically "W-W-Where did he go?! Who is this?!"

"That is Isshou's special technique, Yuigon." Awai explained, his smirk not having faded. "It allows him to transform into anyone who's name and face he knows." He looked at Sadow. "Your subordinate gave us your name and Isshou's got full view of your face. If he so chooses, your powers are his to wield, Sadow Yatsumaru."

"So that's your name, eh?" Yuzuru asked, looking at Sadow. "I take it your the opponent."

Sadow grimaced "A copycat? How unfavourable. I have to protect my image, lest your friend poses as me to someone else. What was your name again, Copy-Cat Warrior?"

"I am, Visored."

Sadow grinned sadistically while clutching the handle of his blade "... Excellent! You're starting to remind me of them... Now, ... kill me! Cut me down! Blast me into oblivion!" Upon fully drawing his sword, which emitted a sort of ringing sound, he held it in one hand while keeping it tilted to the side in a semi-serious guard.

"Why do I always get paired up against the nuts?" Yuzuru sighed. "To be honest, I don't feel like fighting. But you're not gonna give me a choice, are you?"

Sadow smirked "Only weaklings wish not to fight. Weaklings or cowards!" At this, he charged toward Yuzuru with sword outstretched to stab him in the chest.

Yuzuru jumped back, and up, frowning. "This guy is about as bad as a Kenpachi..." He thought. "Rikujōkōrō." He said, pointing his finger at Sadow. Several yellow rods shot of of nowhere, heading right towards him.

"I can see why Isshō would use Yuzuru." Awai thought. "He's fast and excels in Kidō. Issō lacks any skill there, so Yuzuru gives him a bit more variety to choose from."

Within a quick flash, Sadow was caught by the rods as he was trying to jump up toward Yuzuru, falling back down to the ground hard. He struggled but couldn't break free of the rods, to his frustration.

Yuzuru descended. "Time to get you out of the way..." He said, his expression cold. He raised his sword up.

"Seinaru Hane no Nagare." He poured spiritual energy into his blade until it took the form of a gigantic glowing feather roughly the size of a skyscraper. "Sayonara, Sadow Yatsumaru." He swung it down, intending to crush him there.

"Drink, Kyuuketsuki..."

Tanseki gasped and screamed "Sadow-sama!" Ouka, however, smirked as the feather came down onto Sadow's body, slicing it in half and creating a large crater where two halves of his body lay in a pool of blood. The had shattered from the impact, and Sadow's look was utter surprise up at Yuzuru's face.

The feather dissipated, turning back into a sword. Yuzuru looked down. His opponent was dead. The question now was, did he really get him?

Awai frowned. That was easy, much too easy. He had to be ready to protect Yuzuru if something happened.

Sadow's corpse stirred slightly as his companions stood on edge, ready to witness one of the rare moments in which Sadow would be using his Shikai.

A cracking sound was heard as Sadow's torso jolted up a bit, blood spurting out of his mouth and trickling down the sides.

"Oh boy..." Yuzuru muttered, jumping back. "I did not wake up to witness this."

Sadow's body continued to jolt, making snapping sounds as something was starting to burst through his chest.

Yuzuru waited, looking apathetic.

After a few long minutes, nothing happened.

The trio of females looked disappointed. Suddenly, a green-coloured blade stabbed through Yuzuru's foot from under the ground. Sadow had actually dug from beneath his back, into the ground, and toward Yuzuru in the entirety of the time they were waiting. Having successfully nailed Yuzuru to the ground, Sadow himself sprung out half-way and sank his fangs into Yuzuru's leg muscle to draw his blood out.

Or, he attempted to. However, he was repelled by a glowing pink barrier. Yuzuru didn't summon it, and looked to see who did. Awai was sitting calmly in the tree, his hand held out lazily. "What are you waiting for?" He asked, irritated. "Move!"

Yuzuru didn't need telling twice. The barrier had repelled the blade from his foot, and he jumped, landing on the tree trunk that Awai was sitting on the branch of.

"Care to explain why you helped?" Yuzuru asked.

"Simple, the body your form is using belongs to Isshō." Awai said with the same monotone. "I don't need it scarred up to bad."

"Of course." Yuzuru sighed, jumping down to face Sadow. "Hello, beastie."

Sadow hissed bitterly and slammed his massive, clawed hand at the tree Awai was on "No... intrusions! Nothing stands between me and my prey!" After uttering this, his bladed arm morphed into a rather heavy-looking battle axe, which Sadow clearly had no problem in wielding seeing how easily he swung it toward Yuzuru. "My sword wants your blood... as do I!"

Awai merely jumped to another tree, while Yuzuru jumped into the air, landing on the flat side of the blade, then pushing off into the air from there. "Dance with beauty and grace. Aoihime." His blade morphed into a silver longsword with a sapphire gem in the center of the sword. At the same time, seven blue energy swords resembling the physical Shikai form of the sword appeared. "Go." He said and one of the swords shot towards Sadow.

Sadow hissed and jumped to a nearby tree, mimicking Yuzuru's movements and speed. As he repelled off, the tree snapped in half loudly from the force of his muscles.

"So, he thinks he's fast." Yuzuru thought, one of his swords sweeping under him for him to stand on. He thought for a moment. In Shikai, all his attacks were mainly defensive, so he'd have to get creative if he wanted to get anywhere. "Spin." He ordered and one of his swords flew towards Sadow, spinning like a drill to increase power.

With a swatting gesture, Sadow's large arm knocked the sword out of his idley. He continued to charge toward Yuzuru, preparing his axe to behead him.

"Sakenshu." Three of his swords shot forward to form a large triangular shield. While the surface was flat, the edges were as sharp as the blades themselves, which were pointing towards Sadow. Yuzuru stood floating on one of his swords behind the barrier, ready to move at a moment's notice.

Suddenly, a ball of yellow energy shot forth toward Yuzuru from behind. Seeing this, Sadow stopped in mid-charge, his heels digging into the dirt hard.

"MOVE!" Awai called out, alerting Yuzuru. The hoverboard immediately took him higher, the shield dispersing so the energy ball shot towards Sadow instead.

Sadow guarded against the blast with his bladed-arm, yelling at Ouka "Stay out of this!" Ouka, disappointed by her failed attempt, nodded and did as commanded.

Yuzuru groaned. He drew a smoke bomb. "Bankai." He threw the bomb down, concealing him a blast of smoke. His voice came from behind the smoke. "Konpeki no Joō." Out of the smoke came what could possibly have been thousands of glowing blue swords.

Sadow's eyes widened in surprise at the awesome power before him. Legions upon forests of swords had been presented against him, like an army standing before him. He gritted his fanged canines and charged forth, screaming a war-cry as his bladed arm formed an axe once again and he raised it to guard the soon-to-be incoming blades. His large hand formed a balled fist to also deflect any oncoming swords.

From inside the smoke, Yuzuru's voice sounded. "Ken no Arashi." The thousands of swords he had now created began to circle around Sadow in a frenzy, to cut him from all sides, shredding him.

Sadow ignored the cuts he was receiving, focusing solely on Yuzuru. He batted many swords out of his way, nearing the user with a rage fueled by pain.

"What is this guy? He isn't normal." He raised his sword. "Ken no Sekai." His swords stopped from circling around Sadow, now forming multiple Sankenshu shields which formed a large dome around them. The moment that dome formed, Yuzuru's spiritual signal could be felt all around it, making it difficult to determine where he was, even if Sadow thought he was still behind the smokescreen.

Sadow jumped straight through the cloud of smoke, preparing for what might be behind it.

Swords immediately shot from all directions, while Yuzuru delved deeper into the smoke, obscuring himself.

Sadow felt it immediately. The sharp pain inside him. He looked down to find a blood-covered blade protruding from his chest, just barely away from his heart. He gasps for air as he falls to his knees, the pain causing him to start to lose conciousness. The others screamed his name but all he could hear was a ringing in his ears, his vision blurring "Goddammit... No... This isn't over, dammit! No!" Clenching his teeth, Sadow dug his fingers into the dirt as blood trickled onto the ground, dripping off the tip of the blade.

Collapsing, Sadow began to feel cold. His eyes wandered everywhere but he didn't understand what he was seeing. Everything was a mixture of colours. He felt like he was dying. Twice he tried to get up, only to fall back onto his side, hurting him even more as the blade cut it's way deeper from his movements. Finally, he gave up. He accepted defeat, resting the side of his head on the dirt as drool ran out the side of his open, drying mouth. His eyelids, slowly, began to close.

"Ken no Arashi." Sadow's body began to rip from the inside out as swords form on the inside. The dome Yuzuru had created was special. The more time a person spent inside it, the more they would breathe in microscopic particles which he uses to form his swords and barriers. After this, Yuzuru could form the swords inside of their body. The swords began to spin upward as Sadow's body was completely shredded. The dome crumbled, and the smoke began to clear. Yuzuru was standing there with his sealed sword.

"That's finally over..." He said, sighing.

His entourage were devastated. Ouka, in fury, aimed her Kido gun in a vain attempt at revenge and fired it straight at Yuzuru, intent on blowing off the look of relief on his face. Hotonori remained at the ready, in case either one of them attempted to retaliate. Tanseki, however, was crying to herself, looking away from the carnage.

Awai simply erected a barrier which absorbed and reflected the attack back at Ouka. He descended from his tree calmly, gently landing on the ground. "Your time is almost up isn't it?"

"That's right." Yuzuru said, frowning. "Guess I'll go now, keep your little boyfriend from being any more inconvenienced." Smoke began to surround him, as his form began to fade. "Let's hope my next visit is a little less...troublesome..."

"I doubt it." Awai replied as Isshou reformed where Yuzuru had been. Before he could say anything however, he fainted dead on the spot. Awai sighed, picking him up.

"How disappointed you must be." He said, smiling. "I am finally carrying you and you're not even awake to realize it."

The blast came back at Ouka and, before it could hit her, was redirected by the quick swing of Honotori's sword. She glared at Awai with clear hatred "Ouka... Tanseki... Let's go..." Tanseki looked up, tears covering her cheeks "But... what about..." Honotori cut her off "Now." Ouka glared at Awai from behind Honotori, silently vowing to kill both for what they had done.

Awai sighed, placing his lips on Isshou's forehead. "So exhausted for someone who didn't even fight. Let's go home." He faded on the spot, leaving no trace of his energy at all.

One Ending, Another Beginning
A loud roar of applause was heard in a dark room. An arena was lit up with lights while the audience sat in complete darkness, watching warriors and monsters of all manner of species fight and kill eachother for their entertainment. Inside a large booth at an elevated level from the rest of the crowd, the room was slightly smokey from the man watching the show's cigarettes. The clink of ice in his small glass of Scotch was like a ring of superiority as he sipped it delicately. His glowing, almost cybernetic, eyes followed every movement of every combatant in the arena as they tossed, turned, flipped, crouched, rolled, sliced, bashed, shot, and killed eachother to the glee of the blood-thirsty spectators. Humanity wasn't the only race in existance that enjoyed violence.

A woman with stitches on her face but still a beautiful, almost angelic appearance glided in the room, adorned in a female Japanese-styled outfit and guarded by two Samurai. The Gentleman watched on, not looking at her "Those are not needed. My bodyguards are outside, enjoying themselves to some cards and drinks as well as a good view of the fighting." Lady Kanpu watched on as well "I like to keep my men disciplined and dutiful. Besides, security is important, especially in venues such as these." He countered "I have need of them to be gone. I have news that are for your ears only." At this, Lady Kanpu held her hand up lazily and the two armoured guards left after a formal bow.

The Gentleman continued "Do you remember that assignment I told you about two years ago? The Death's Head Project?" She nodded "How could I not when a vast majority of not only your resources but mine and all of our shareholders are being put into it?" He handed her a file labeled DEATH'S HEAD and she opened it, her eyes widening in shock at what she saw. The Gentleman took another puff of his cigarette and breathed out the smoke with a sigh of relief "What you are seeing is true, real, and by all means unaltered in any way. The man who calls himself Sadow Yatsumaru of the North is no longer among this level of living. You are to fix this." A drop of sweat guided it's way down her chin and onto a photograph of Sadow's mangled remains. She steadied herself. It was not wise to show weakness to a powerful man such as the one next to her "So... It's begun, then." He nodded and sipped his drink again "As I told you, two years ago, you have available to you all the resources you can ask for so long as you bring him back before he ever has a chance to re-emerge. Is the task clear enough to you?" She nodded "Crystal. This man will live again."

END