Arashi paced back and forth impatiently, her arms crossed tightly across her chest and her mouth drawn up in a frown.
~Where is he?~ Arashi thought to herself.
~He should be here by now~
She sighed loudly.
~And yet, I'm worried about him.~
"Arashi?" Kamui asked of her timidly.
Kamui wasn't a timid person, which worried her greater than she already was. He must sense something too. Arashi looked at Kamui, deep into his large, violet eyes filled with sadness. Even though he was only a year younger than her, she felt as if he were a fragile child, in need of protection. Arashi wiped Sorata out of her mind as she glanced at Kamui.
"What?" she responded.
Kamui opened his mouth to say something, when all of a sudden, he felt a strong wind followed by a loud BOOM coming up from behind her. She knew who it was without turning around from the look in Kamui's eyes. A look of hate mixed with love and pain. Fuuma jumped down from the large, stone ledge he had landed on and advanced toward Kamui.

Kamui would not be able to fight. Still weak, from the death of his loved one, Kotori, he was too sad to fight. He would never be able to face Fuuma because of his mixed feelings of love and hate.
Arashi became increasingly worried about Sorata, he was supposed to have met them an hour ago. Sorata was Kamui's protector and she was shocked that he hadn't arrived yet. As Kamui started to walk towards the advancing Fuuma, Arashi heard Princess Hinoto's gentle voice echo through her mind.
~Please Arashi protect him. Protect Kamui.~
She had not heard her voice in weeks, as Hinoto was very ill and bedridden. Arashi felt a need to carry out Hinoto's wish, with or without Sorata's help.

"Kamui!" Arashi called out sharply, in a voice barely her own. "Don't! Let me handle this!"
Kamui shot her a defiant look and continued walking towards the angered Fuuma.
"Kamui!" Arashi yelled again. "NO!" She screamed as Fuuma lunged violently at Kamui.
Without another thought, she summoned her sword from her left palm as she took a fast dive in front of Kamui, thrashing her sword at Fuuma. Fuuma struck her with his own sword and she collapsed to the ground, greatly wounded.
"Arashi," Kamui murmured, as he quickly crouched down next to her unconscious body.
"Arashi!" Kamui said again, this time much louder.
Fuuma looked triumphantly at Kamui, an evil gleam in his eyes and was gone in an instant, laughing evilly. Kamui continued to kneel over Arashi, when he suddenly heard the sound of quick paced footsteps, heading his way. Kamui turned and walked towards the footsteps.
"Kamui!" Sorata yelled, running frantically towards him. "I felt something. Are you alright?! Are you wounded?!"
"I'm fine," Kamui stammered, realizing that Sorata didn't know that Arashi had been with him.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Sorata said, sounding more relaxed. "I was summoned to the temple, more shit is happening."
He chuckled. "We've got a crap load of work to do, Kamui. I ran over here as quickly as I could. But you're ok, so I don't know what that strange feeling I got was."
Sorata rambled on, until he took notice to the upset look on Kamui's face. Sorata looked at Kamui, a serious look on his face. "What? What happened?" Sorata asked, thoroughly concerned.
"Sora..Sorata, Arashi...She was with me," Kamui stammered.

"What? WHAT!" Sorata yelled. "Where is she?! WHERE IS SHE?! What happened to her?!"
Kamui turned around and pointed behind him, to a small pair of legs. Sorata turned pale and ran over to the direction Kamui was pointing to. He kneeled down beside Arashi and turned her over, only to reveal a very deep cut in her shoulder and a slight line of blood trickling down her face.
Sorata began frantically ripping of his jacket and shirt, compressing them firmly onto Arashi's wounds. "Arashi," he murmured. "Arashi. Arashi!"
When he received no response, he picked Arashi up, carefully and ran her to the Diet Building, with Kamui following in tow. Upon arrival to the Diet Building, Arashi's wounds were dressed and she was put to bed. Sorata stayed by her side, overcome with sadness, not knowing if she would ever wake up.

Kamui stood outside Arashi's door, feeling a very strong feeling of guilt. Subaru quickly came walking up to Kamui; a look of concern on is face.
"How is she?" Subaru asked, looking attentively at Kamui.
"She...she still hasn't woken up."
Subaru looked into the room, at Sorata sitting by Arashi's side. "And how is Sorata?" he asked.
Kamui shook his head and sighed. "He's been by her side for the 15 hours that she's been here" "He won't eat, he won't sleep…if he's not praying for Arashi, then he's just sitting there crying."
Subaru leaned against the door. "She'd better wake up soon. For all of our sakes."

"Arashi" Sorata murmured, as he ran his fingers through her long, jet-black hair. "I...I didn't mean for it to turn out look this. If I had been there like I was supposed to, none of this would have happened."
Sorata grabbed her hand, holding it tightly in his own. "I love you, Arashi. I love you like I've never loved anyone else before in my life. I can't help it or contain it. Even if you don't feel the same way as I do. I love you. And you can't leave me."

Arashi felt something warm and wet hit her face. She opened her eyes and felt it again. Realizing that she was at the Diet Building, she struggled to turn her head to see what kept falling on her face. Upon turning, her gaze fell upon Sorata, his face buried deeply in his hands, murmuring to himself, and every now and then, a teardrop escaping from his cupped hands. She tried to turn over on her back, but was engulfed in a searing pain coming from her left shoulder. Arashi groaned softly in pain. When she did, she saw Sorata drop his hands from his face and look at her in disbelief.
"A...Arashi," he whispered and reached down and held her tightly, burying his face into her neck.
Arashi stared straight ahead, awkwardly, not knowing what to do. She felt Sorata's tears and the shaking of his body as he cried. Then, ever so slowly, she brought her arms around him, loosely at first, but then gradually holding him tighter, tears starting to drip down her own face as well. She ran one hand through his hair and closed her eyes, wanting to stay that way forever.
They stayed like that until Kamui entered the room a little while later. As soon as she heard the door open, she let go of Sorata. He sat up, staring at her with a look of disbelief in his eyes. She had never shown him such affection until now. She struggled to avoid Sorata's glance, and instead looked at Kamui, who practically threw himself at her, sobbing his apologies. She calmed him down, and after a while, Kamui left, leaving Sorata and Arashi alone again.

Arashi looked at him calmly. "Sorata, I want you to go eat and then get some rest."
"But...but I don't need..."
Sorata was interrupted by Arashi. "I want you to go. Now," Arashi said, firmer this time. "Go rest please."
Sorata sighed, gave one last look to Arashi and began to leave the room. "Sorata," she said, hesitantly He turned around, expectantly "Thank you," she added. He smiled and nodded and headed out of the room.
~Does he know?~ Arashi asked herself.
~Does he know how I feel?~ She asked herself again as she dozed off to sleep.

Later that night, a tall, shadowy figure lingered outside Arashi's doorway, before entering. The figure sat down next to his sleeping beloved and stroked her face. The figure smiled, his mischievous smile.
"I love you too," he said, before leaving the room.

Want to go home?