Chapter 17: Aftermath

*Grunts*

Aku struggles to walk through the alleys as he carries Yaki in his arms. His arms plastered with his blood just as his clothes were. His Shiryoku was put away now however with nothing but determination in his eyes.

'Stay with me. Yaki. I...I will save you, I promise, I swear to it…'

His tears fluctuated with the blood on his face.

'I swear I will.'

He listened to her silent heartbeat.

'I have to...'

He trudged through the alley carrying his sister's lifeless body. His legs felt weak, his arm felt sore, and it felt like there was a hole in his chest still. After all that rain was the only thing that accompanied him.

*Drip*

*Drip*

'This wasn't supposed to happen, he knew who we both were which means it had to them. Shit…That doesn't matter right now. Right now all I need to do is make sure Yaki lives. There's only one way to ensure so…'

The rain roared as loud as a dragon. A vivid dream it all felt to Aku. A timing of written solitude with the thought of losing his sister.

'...And after this I'll make sure no one or anything comes close to her again like that. No matter what even If I have to sacrifice myself as long as she lives!'

*Bump*

…

*Bump*

'Her heartbeat is getting slower!'

Blood was still dripping from Aku's chest as he carried his sister. His wounds were covered by only his torn up clothes.

*Bump*

…

…

…

*Bump*

'I'll find him…I'll find him and I'll kill him with his own hands.'

He held onto his sister tighter.

'Pull through this Yaki so you can smile again. Live the life you deserve and forget this ever happened.'

*Bump*

…

…

…

…

…

*Rainfall*

'His abilities were as vast as possible the wounds aren't even healing fast enough.'

The rain slowly washed the grub off of Aku's face as he trudged through another alley. He felt his wounds sting as the rain hit them, it was heavy rain the kind that feels like hail. Aku found himself looking at his sister's face. He thought back to their childhood for a moment as it was a rough but troubling childhood to look back at.

***

"I'm your big brother Yaki, I'll always protect you.."

A younger Aku told his baby sister as he stood tall amongst a couple of men who were dead at his feet. He held his sister in his arms.

"No matter what I promise."

***

Memories like those haunted Aku but in a good way. He always found a way to protect Yaki from the world he had to live in constantly and now.

'It's all gone…'

*Bump*

…

…

…

…

"Please…Yaki stay with me I can't lose you too!"

Aku's tears were somber but not visible as the rain was their cover.

'I need…I need to do it...I have no choice!'

His nose went to work as he began to smell something. He walked towards a corner looking around to see a couple kissing and groping each other.

***

"Daniel mmm…Daniel you're so hot."

The boy's hand started to slowly trickle down her waist.

"You're so hot too."

"Da…daniel stop"

"Wha-Why?"

"Daniel! Look!"

The Teenage boy turned around as his stomach dropped seeing something straight out of a horror movie. A demon slowly set down a little girl that had blood all over her clothing. Their presence felt like a true terror.

"What do we do?"

The girl's question loomed over his head as he turned his back to her.

"Run…Riley."

"Wha?"

"Ru-"

*Crack*

Blood spilled all over the girl as The demon stood there with their hand through Daniels chest. It pulled out his heart, slowly licking the blood off their hand, and then stared at the stunned girl.

'I'm gonna die.'

Riley thought to herself as her thoughts were nothing else but that. However the demon turned around and walked towards the little girl. It propped up the little girl and squeezed the heart. The blood went into the girl's mouth. Riley ran as fast as she could.

"Help!"

***

Aku sat down with his sister in his lap as had thrown the heart to the side. He looked over at the boy's body.

'She must live...no matter what.'

Aku then smelled something as he heard light footsteps.

'No that smell…that's another Yami demon. They caught wind so fast, what do I do? My wounds won't heal all the way from that. Yaki…Yaki isn't up yet either.'

Aku then picked up his sister again and ran to the closest cover.

'How do I get out of thi-'

"You look pretty rough."

Aku turned behind him as his thoughts were interrupted. The man's stern voice was strong but kind, as he wore a mask and a hood that still showed off his long white hair.

'I…I can't smell him at all.'

The man made no move and just stood over him and Yaki.

'What do I do?'

"Why did you kill that boy?"

Aku looked over at the boy and then at his sister.

"Why do you care?"

Aku's senses concentrated as hard as they could and yet they couldn't tell him a thing about this man. Aku was worried, he didn't know what to do out of fear of the silence he made a decision.

'I have to run!'

He sprung up attempting to kick the man back but he didn't budge not in the slightest. Aku used that to his advantage and used it to jump off of him as he started to scale up the building next to them.

'Maybe I can go to the boss, maybe he can help?'

"You're slow..."

The man grabbed Aku's shoulder on top of the building. Aku tried to hit the man as fast as he could but his effort was caught by the man's hand. Aku felt a jab at his neck as his surroundings went black.

"Ya…yaki!"

The man made a few hand signs as suddenly Aku and Yaki disappeared. The man looked at the moon and started to walk off.

"Teenagers."

The man chuckled to himself.