Take Me With You

by Ash Masters

  *

  The girl stood over Ayumi’s quivering body with a smile on her face, watching the naked, bleeding girl claw herself, emulating what the Nightmares were doing to her inside her mind.

  ‘ARGH!’ Kouji roared as he brought a fist down on the side of the girl’s face.

  The girl didn’t flinch and with fist still on her cheek she turned to glare at Kouji as if she had already decided his fate. With her eyes now away from Ayumi, she stopped transmitting Akira’s power and Ayumi returned to reality to fill the world with her tortured screams.

  ‘C’mon, it’s you and me.’ Kouji readied his fists, moving to strike again. However, the girl was eclipsed by a wall of black feathers that exploded from between of them, fluttering away before coming together to create a black mass. The texture of the feathers melted so that all that stood between them was a smooth figure that was steadily becoming human in stature, details becoming increasingly identifiable; clothing, facial features then lastly colour.

  Standing between the two of them was Sayuri who didn’t look particularly happy. ‘Asuka.’ She spoke with narrowed eyes, slapping her daughter with the back of her hand.

  Asuka’s head was thrown to the side but when she returned to her mother she was met with Sayuri’s powerful, purple gaze – the same eyes Kioshi had when using the Xero Xone. ‘Go now.’ She directed at Kouji. ‘Kioshi needs your help and this isn’t your fight. My daughter and I need to have a chat.’

  Kouji was at a loss for words but anger bubbled inside of him directed at the woman who had intervened and prevented him from showing his worth to the world that he was realizing was starting to cast its shadow on him.

  Sayuri turned to face Kouji and gasped at who she saw. ‘It’s you...’