Obseeeeerve.

[spotto]

Falalala.

Chapter 30: Paired

The fading glow blemished in her view. Everything paused suddenly, and there was no sound, no movement, nothing. Her eyes looked over the scene, the disaster, and scanned it with no thought whatsoever. There was no time to think, and besides, she was far too overwhelmed to even do anything else than look. It was as if the whole thing took a million years to pass, as if time was frozen itself, as if something had completely stopped her insanely beating heart. And with that, Ako looked up at her surroundings, at Yuuna.

In a flash, everything disappeared, and her view changed into the flying sky, seeing the clouds, the sun, and its utmost blueness. She could feel the force of the air slicing pass her body as she dropped down below, back onto the ground. It was then when nothing else happened anymore. Like she was asleep, unconscious, for maybe she was…

”Ako! Wake up kiddo!”

Huh? Oneechan?

”You’re such a deep sleeper. What do I gotta do, kiss you or somethin’!? This ain’t sleeping beauty!”

What…what’s happening?

”Kazumi-san, I don’t think…she wants to wake up just yet.”

Who is that…?

”Oh c’mon Sayo, what’s the harm? It’s been hours already. Ako can’t miss all the action!”

I don’t understand…what just happened? Where’s…Yuuna…Yuuna…?

”Don’t bother, Kazumi.”

…Yuuna?

A blur of colours swirled into something comprehensible as Ako sat up, rubbing her droopy eyes. She didn’t even try to figure out what was happening. The young chick jumped into the air and ran straight for that voice, that humble sound that she thought would never be heard again was standing right there in front of her.

”YUUNA!”

”Aaagh!” The otter fell backwards as the smaller animal slammed into her with the biggest hug any little chirp could give.

Kazumi formed her functioning wing into a fist and pumped it into the air, “Yeah! I win! I knew she’d glomp ya! You owe me, Yuuna!”

”You’re not supposed to wake up a sleeping child—DWAH!?” Yuuna felt the slightest of pecks on her cheek, was the innocent little bird kissing her?

”Oooooooooh,” the other yellow bird taunted, annoying the otter further. She growled and shook her paw at Kazumi, “Oi! Don’t start getting all mushy on me!”

The canary hopped up and down, pointing, “Haha! I see you’re getting a little red there. You’re enjoying being bombarded by a little kid bird, don’tcha!?”

”N-no, er…I mean…”

”Yuuna…you’re alright! You’re alright!” Ako yelled, “HOW ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?!? Oh who cares, that doesn’t matter, as long as you’re alright…”

Kazumi shrugged as she continued to watch the comforting animals, “I don’t know either. There was this panda and—huh, I wonder where it went. It really helped us, and was all confusing and such.”

”First you explain to me who the hell that FLOATING THING IS!” Yuuna pointed at the spirit hovering above Kazumi. The canary and ghost were shocked to find that the otter could now see Sayo. It was an amazing breakthrough for the ghost who started crying in utmost joy.

”YOU CAN SEE HER!? Holy crap.”

”Uh…I can see her too…” Ako added, which caused them to almost die of heart attacks.

Kazumi turned around, trying to breathe properly nodding her head up and down while flapping her wings for a bit; she then turned around to face them once again.

”Okay, how can I say this…um, well…she’s essentially…a ghost.”

”A GHOST!?” Ako jumped onto Yuuna’s face, covering the otter’s mouth and causing her to talk in a muffled speech. As Yuuna tried to pry the terrified chick off her face, she lost her balance and fell onto her back on the dirt. The otter continued to wiggle around to try to get Ako off, even rolling around.

Kazumi took a deep breath, “Maybe you should let me finish.”

”THAT’S A GOOD IDEA. FIRST I NEED TO BREATHE MAYBE.”

Ako finally noticed she was suffocating the otter and quickly jumped off, still clinging onto her so tightly as if she never wanted to be separated from the otter again, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Ack! I’m really really sorry! I was just…ahh…there’s a ghost…”

”Don’t worry Ako! Sayo-chan here’s a good ghost. She won’t hurt no on—…actually…”

”Kazumi-san? What is it?” Sayo scratched her head, confused.

Kazumi grinned, rubbing her chin, and suddenly pointed at Yuuna, “BUT IF YOU DON’T LISTEN TO ME. I will SIC SAYO ON YOU!”

”Didn’t you just say she was harmless…?”

”Kazumi-san…” Sayo chuckled, an impossible sweatdrop coming off the back of her head.

Ako finally got a good look at the very much alive otter, “Yuuna…?”

”Yeah?”

”You look a little different, somehow…”

Yuuna looked at herself, not even noticing her own body, “Huh. That’s strange. I have a scar on my stomach…”

”And you’re wearing something on your head for some reason.”

”I didn’t put that there, but…I think I look AWESOME like this! Hyah! I’m Yuuna the KID! How’s that for a nickname!?” Yuuna made a pose, winking as she stared at Kazumi.

The canary crossed her wings, “I dunno, what makes you ‘Kid’ potential, eh!?”

”I AM INVINCIBLE. THAT’S WHAT.”

”You thank that anonymous panda for that, and for the record—“

BOOM!

The whole den shook suddenly, like a vibration from a large explosion from afar. The animals looked outside the den, wondering what had just happened. Kazumi gritted her teeth; she had a bad feeling about this. Something inside her gave her thus gut feeling that something bad had happened. She slowly approached the mouth of the den, when she heard a growl from outside.

”Eh…?”

”We found you finally, you stupid canary…”

Kazumi stepped backwards, as she saw a large muzzle poke into the den. The canary continued to slowly walk backwards in fear, until she tripped on a pebble behind her, onto her precious tail, “Ow!”

Yuuna quickly ran in front of the fallen canary, noticing that her dead leg was completely functional for some reason. She eyed two wildcats entering the den.

”Where’s the goat!?”

”For the last time…I don’t KNOW!”

The cheetah stopped the panther from advancing with her front paw, “I’ll field this one, Madoka. I have a grudge against these animals…”

”You sure, iincho?”

”Yeah. You go find Misa. It’s obvious she isn’t here. I can handle this.”

Sayo looked around, hoping for perhaps an escape route, but was disappointed, “We’re trapped in here!”

”Don’t worry about a thing,” Yuuna started, “I feel like I can accomplish anything today.”

”Don’t get overconfident, Yuuna…” Kazumi said quietly.

The otter grinned, “No worries. I got claws and teeth.”

”Ooooh, that’s very nice,” The cheetah replied, “I got bigger claws and teeth.”

”Just because you have something bigger, doesn’t mean you have an advantage,” The otter narrowed her eyes at the cheetah, “We’re finishing this here and now. If I win, you leave us alone forever.”

”And if I win?”

”…you obviously get to eat us.”

”I like those odds.”

”Then let’s get this over with.”

”YUUNA! DON’T GAMBLE OUR LIVES YOU IDIOT!”

Ako clasped her wings together, watching the upcoming battle in anxiousness.

-

”KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!” The echo of a tiger’s scream caused all the birds to fly off in the entire forest. There was an explosion that threw the dust sky high into the air. Trees were knocked off from their roots as the habitats of several animals, including one particular squirrel, were destroyed forever.

”KU FEI!” Setsuna yelled, but she did not dare take one step away from her beloved Ojou-sama, “DAMNIT! What the hell is going on now!?”

Konoka watched the massive chaos, “It looks like Chisame-chan…snapped the snake in half so easily…”

”And NOW she’s trying to kill us. Yes, this is just what we need.”

The debris cleared and the shadow of a vicious fox and a struggling tiger reappeared. Ku Fei was puffing insanely fast, too tired to do anymore. The snake was one thing, but this threat was a whole new level. She could barely stay standing up, looking up at the enormously powerful fox. One of the tiger’s eyes was sealed shut from a long slash by the fox, so the wildcat had limited vision. Ku Fei dug her claws into the ground in frustration. At least she was barely able to dodge the snake, but she could only absorb the attacks being thrown at her by Chisame. What was this fox thinking? And since when did Chisame have so many tails?

”Chisame-aru…what are you doing-aruyo?” Ku Fei managed to ask, as her limbs started to shake. The tiger’s body was going to break.

Her only response was a grunt. The fox prepared itself to strike again, but Ku Fei did not move. She couldn’t move. The tiger was almost at her limit, and another movement would cause her collapse. She continued to breathe in an insane pace as she could only stare at the fox; stare at what could end her in only a quick swipe with its claws. The tiger’s one functioning eye was staring to close, in a large attack of fatigue. Not only that, but the tiger was dizzy and starting to sway. She could do nothing now. Ku Fei was completely vulnerable.

The fox brought down her paw, slamming it into Ku Fei’s torso and throwing her forty feet into the air. The tiger fell back onto the ground, hard, causing the ground to crack beneath her. The fox approached Ku Fei, feeling the need to finish the immobile tiger off.

”Get up Ku Fei! Get out of the WAY!” Setsuna yelled, but it seemed as if the wildcat didn’t hear her at all, “I can’t leave…Ojou-sama…”

”No, please help Ku Fei, Secchan…”

”But it’s my duty to protect you…”

Konoka frowned, “If Ku Fei doesn’t survive, I will never forgive you! Does it look like I need protecting right now!?”

Setsuna clenched her Yuunagi tighter, and nodded, “Please be safe…Ojou-sama.” She jumped into the air, heading towards Ku Fei, but her valiant decision wasn’t in time. The fox ploughed towards the tiger with its claws shown. As it dived at the helpless tiger, it suddenly found its claws deep into the dirt.

”Where’d Kuu go? She couldn’t have moved at all, and if she did, not that fast!”

The fox turned its attention to the koala standing alone at the other side, running towards her.

”No! OJOU-SAMA!” Setsuna picked up her pace, speeding towards Konoka with her sword’s blade aimed straight at the fox, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but if you dare touch Ojou-sama, I won’t hesitate to kill!”

The fox turned around and took the slash from Setsuna’s sword with its paws, grabbing onto it. This surprised the crane, when suddenly the nine-tailed kitsune started to drive Setsuna backwards. Setsuna was being pushed towards a large tree behind her, and if she made impact, she’d be impaled by her own sword…

-

A weakened tiger was placed on the ground nearby from the fight. Ku Fei was surprised that she wasn’t stabbed through by the claws of a vicious fox. She looked up to see who had managed to save her, and even carry such a large animal. Ku Fei still wasn’t full grown, but she was the size of some of the wildcats around now. The one working eye of the tiger looked to be tricking her…

”Hey…you’re that bear-aru…that isn’t right…” The tiger rubbed her eyes, blinking several times.

”You owe me, a lot.”

”M-Mana!?”

Suddenly, the tiger jumped up and went into a fighting stance, her energy coming out of nowhere, “What do you want-aruyo!?”

”If I knew you had that much energy left in you I wouldn’t have wasted my time saving you.”

Ku Fei growled, “No one asked you to do that-aruyo!”

”I was just in the moment. You should be thankful,” Mana walked back towards the loud sounds and explosions, “I need to go fulfill my mission.”

”So you’re being paid for this, aru!?”

”Pretty much.”

The tiger frowned, “So you were paid to save me…wonder who would do that.”

”Just for your information, tiger. I was paid to protect the peak. I just figure that a bloody tiger all over the place wouldn’t please Evangeline. I won’t take any chances that would cause me to earn less money here,” the bear said, and then walked off.

The tiger continued to stare at the direction the bear had walked off, “Really-aru? That’s a pretty shabby reason-aruyo…” She quickly limped back towards the fight.

-

As the fox madly drove the crane towards the tree, it suddenly swiftly spun around, grabbing onto the crane’s trusty sword and shoving it into the air like a javelin towards Konoka, tricking the crane. Setsuna was cunningly ready for this, as she knew that all foxes were sly like so. The white bird boosted herself off the tree she was about to be smashed into and flew into the sky like a rocket, sending herself towards her Ojou-sama.

The crane managed to make a fancy back flip in the air that was able to propel her enough to grab the sword, but the fox wasn’t out done yet. The nine-tailed kitsune swished its tails, which created a powerful wind that knocked Setsuna right into the other tree, successfully impaling the crane.

”SECCHAN!”

The bird slid down the tree like a rocket, just the same as how she flew into the air. Konoka ran towards the crane, managing to catch her. The fox leapt towards the two animals, about to attack, when out of nowhere and swift swipe of silver turned its attention away from the koala and crane.

”Hey! You stupid fox!” A black rabbit had entered the area, “Who said you could hang around here!?”

The fox growled, narrowing its eyes at the entrance of the Dark Evangel.  

Evangeline snarled at the nine-tailed fox, circling the orange canine demon of some kind. She smiled with a glint of confidence in her eyes, licking her lips.

”It’s been a while since I’ve faced a worthy opponent…this will be fun.”

Behind the battle of great magnitudes taking place, Konoka held the fallen crane in her paws, tears dropping from her eyes. As she watched the white crane smiling which only crushed her more, her tears became heavier as she held onto her bodyguard in agony. The liquid of horror spilled onto Konoka’s lap, damping the soil beneath them, and there was so much it overwhelmed them.

”Secchan…it was a mistake for me to ask you to help Ku Fei…I wasn’t thinking about you!”

The crane raised her wing weakly, “No, Ojou-sama…you were right. I should care about those around you as well. It…is not well for K-konoka-ojou-sama t-to…be stressed out with t-the death of her…c-comrades. I should protect your…e-emotions t-too…”

”That means you shouldn’t die either, Secchan!!”

”I g-guess I can’t b-be a good…b-b-bodyguard either…K-konochan…”

”Secchan! Secchan! No!”

As the crane started to close her eyes, her eyeballs ready to roll back and stop the functioning heart for the last time, the koala edged closer with her body towards the young bird, tears still falling and soaking up the crane’s feathers. Time seemed to stop all together when the koala seemed to make magic as her face drew closer to the bird’s…

Suddenly, as Konoka the koala rested her forehead onto Setsuna’s, a beam of great light beamed out into space and anything beyond. The koala opened her eyes, her pupils exhausted from the shocking sight. The tears were frozen as she saw the white bird get up again, with no injury whatsoever, nor death. The bird turned to Konoka.

”You…”

”SECCHAN!!!!”

-

Yuuna: HA! TRICKED YOU! YOU THOUGHT THEY WOULD KISS!

Ako: I bet they weren’t tricked and that you’re wasting your time…

Yuuna: NO WAY. I bet I DID.

Ako: And I bet you didn’t.

Yuuna: I SO DID.

Ako: Why are you referring to yourself? You didn’t write the story.

Yuuna: But they were tricked, were they not?

Ako: They weren’t.

Yuuna: SURE THEY WERE.

Ako: And who are they?

Yuuna: Our one fan.

Ako: Who is smart enough to see that coming.

Yuuna: I bet she didn’t.

Ako: No, she did.

Yuuna: YOU HAVE NO PROOF!

Ako: You don’t either.

Yuuna: WELL I STILL STAND BY MY BELIEF!

Ako: Okay, you do that.

Yuuna: YES! So, I’m wondering why we’re the only ones here.

Ako: Yeah…it is after all omake time…it needs Ku Laozi and stuff.

Yuuna: KUUU! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?!? WHERE’S OUR MEAN DIRECTOR!? AND THAT CURTAIN PULLER WHO’S ALWAYS LATE!?

Ako: How odd…

Yuuna: Get in character already!

Ako: Why should I? I’m only a supporting character.

Yuuna: There we go!

Ako: Damnit.

-

Meanwhile…

Ku Fei: Where am I-aru?

Mana: What are you doing in my house?

Ku Fei: I JUST SUDDENLY POPPED UP HERE FROM THE STAGE FOR THE OMAKE-ARUYO!!!

Mana: …omake?

Ku Fei: Oh wait, WE INVITED YOU TO BE A GUEST AND YOU REFUSED-ARU!

Mana: I don’t have time for stupid things like the—

Ku Fei: WE WORK HARD FOR THAT SHOW, DO NOT INSULT IT-ARUNE!

Mana: Right…

-

Another meanwhile…

Kazumi: Huh…where did that omake stage go? I’m late…it should be here…

Sayo: *comes flying by* OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Kazumi: Eh? Sayo-chan?

Sayo: THE OMAKE IS MISSING! THE OMAKE IS MISSING!

Kazumi: EH!?

-

Misora: Well I understand how misplacing the stage is fun, but why do I have to separate them in CERTAIN GROUPS!?

Haruna: Because love has a beautiful scent and HILARITY WILL ENSUE! NOW COME WITH ME LET US GO HAVE SOME FUN WITH MY MAIN BUDDIES!

Misora: You’re just using me for my inexperienced magic. *sadness*

Haruna: Oh, and kids? TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS! I promise great laughter. BYEBYE!

-

And I apologize for the subpar omake...*cries*

-
R-POTE: Hakase/Ako