Chapter 68 – The Mistake.

Chapter 68 – The Mistake.

The next day, the girls went into downtown Kyoto to do their Christmas shopping. Kana wanted to hit up several shops, so Yumi dropped them off in front of Kyoto's largest mall. Mika and Naomi wanted to get gifts of their own, and Kana was also going to use this opportunity to stealthfully get the material to celebrate Akagi's upcoming birthday. Birthdays weren't something that most of Akagi's followers celebrated, but when Kana broached the idea of a party, they were surprisingly receptive. After some discussion, they decided to have not just a birthday party but a celebration of Akagi's return from FWO. It wasn't going to be a surprise, but Kana still had fun keeping things on the down low from her sister.

"Its a bit chilly out today." Mika shivered as they entered the mall.

"We'll, we've been lucky with the warmer weather this year, so it was bound to happen eventually." Naomi gave a wry smile, she was not a fan of the cold. “Also Mika, I thought you would be good with the cold now since you hang out with those two Yuki-Onna so much.” She'd been spending a lot of time with the two sisters either at her own home or Akagi's estate.

Mika stuck out her tongue in response. "Sure they can use cold magic, but their bodies are actually nice and warm!"

"Really? It's not that cold out, is it?" Kana was in comparatively light clothing, to the point that Mika and Naomi questioned her sanity. "I don't think it's that bad out."

"Do you never get cold?" Mika pouted. "Now that I think about it, I can't recall seeing you ever wear heavy clothes before." She recalled Kana showing up to her house in shorts during a fringed snow storm freshman year.

Kana gave a smug smile. "I guess I'm just lucky! I never seem to get too hot or too cold."

"Maybe Mizumi was right. Kana is probably a Yokai." Naomi shook her head with a sarcastic smile. "Maybe she's a shadow Yuki-Onna."

"Yeah, if her body is a shadow like Akagi's, then not getting cold would make sense." Mika decided to play along. "Also if she's a Yuki-Onna, I guess I'm getting girlfriend number three!"

"You'd have to outcompete Hishya for that one." Naomi said as both laughed. "Besides you you really want Scary Kana as your girlfriend?"

Not finding the joke funny, Kana bonked her two friends on the head.

"Owchi!" (Mika)

"Ack!" (Naomi)

"Any more funny comments?" Kana asked with a raised eyebrow and a still raised fist.

The two rubbed their heads.

"She's definitely got the anger issues like her sister." Naomi continued with her comments which caused Kana to chase her around in circles for a bit.

"Help me, Mika! The evil Yokai is going to get me!" Naomi ducked behind Mika.

"I expect this behavior from Mika, but not you, Naomi." Kana sighed. "Is this payback for making you two study?"

The two perpetrators merely whistled instead of answering.

"You two drive me nuts....." Kana turned around and started walking away. "Come on. We've got shopping to do."

"Run for you lives!" (Civilian C)

People began to panic as more explosions echoed throughout the building. Things quickly devolved into a panic as the building shook.

*BOOM**BOOM* *BOOM* *BANG*

Explosion continued to rock the building as flames and smoke began to erupt from other directions.

"We should get out of here!" Naomi exclaimed, her face showing fear.

"Right." Kana grabbed the bags, and the three bee-lined for the nearby exit, but were stopped by the sound of glass breaking and an overhead voice that called out to them.

"What have we here?" Sumeralia laughed as she looked over the terrified faces of the people in the mall. "Trying to escape? Sorry, but I won't make it so easy!" She was floating in the air after having come through the glass rotunda in the ceiling. Seeing people attempt to escape through the doorway, she chucked a fireball at the door, which killed several people and collapsed the entrance. "Now, then. It looks like you're all trapped in here with me." She licked her lips like a hungry predator.

"Why are you doing this!" Kana yelled. "This isn't a game! These are real people your hurting!" She wanted to try and reason with the harpy lady.

"So what?" Sumeralia chuckled. "I wanted to kill them, so they died. Do I need some grand reason?" she continued. "Why should I care about how my prey feels?"

"Please, there's no reason to do all this. You don't need to hurt more people." Kana pleaded with her to stop. "I'm sure you can live in this world without doing things like this!"

"What's with all the yelling?" Hijax walked through a nearby wall, holding a man by the skull in his right hand. "Sumeralia, why are you wasting time talking to these people? We need to take out as many as possible before the fun police shows up." He crushed the skull of the man he held in his hand. "Though maybe fighting one of those idiots would be fun?" He laughed as he wiped the blood off his hand.

The girls were horrified by Hijax's presence. He was an ogre and quite the powerful one at that. His massive frame towered over them, and he was an order of magnitude larger than the three of them put together. But more than that, he seemed like a genuine monster, unlike the other players they'd met.

{H-he's a real monster!} Kana was terrified, and Mika nearly collapsed on the floor in fear.

"W-w-w-w." Naomi began to shake.

"I know, I know." Sumeralia charged up a blast in her hand. "I was just dealing with them now!" She screamed as she launched a fireball at the three girls.

As it approached, time seemed to stop for Kana, and her life flashed before her eyes. All her regrets, her sorrow, everything played for her until it ended on the smiling face of her sister on the day that FWO was released.

{I-am I going to die?} Kana's mind blanked as it came towards her and she realized it would likely kill her. With one last breath, just before the fireball hit Kana cried out for her sister. "Onee-chan!"

*BOOOOM*

The fireball impacted Kana dead on and exploded causing significant damage to the pavilion area as well as starting other fires.

However, rather than instantly die as one would expect, the three girls were launched backward. Their hair was singed, and their bodies slightly burnt, but they were still alive. Kana was knocked unconscious as she took the brunt of the impact, but Mika and Naomi were not. They could barely see in the smoke and found themselves unable to speak due to burns to their throat. Around the three of them, a dim purple film covered them from head to toe, almost like film. After a few seconds, it grew bright before shattering like glass, and the particles flew into the air before disappearing.

Hijax and Sumeralia were surprised to see the three girls survive the explosion, but just as the harpy charged up another blast, a black swirling portal formed just in front of Kana. Out from it stepped Akagi, who looked around the room. Her eyes came to rest on the unconscious form of her sister lying in front of her and her eyes grew wide as her entire body started twitching.

"KANA!" (Akagi)