The Crooked Silhouette

Chapter 22: The Battle

"You must be kidding me!" Hebi sprung backward, widening the space between him and Tatsu. Tatsu curled his lips to taunt at The Ophiuchus. "You are just days-years old on The Dimension, and you claimed you'll kill me? For good? Too hilarious this is!"

A stream of bloody river splashed on Hebi to lock him. Identifying from the smell, it was indeed made of blood. Yagi straight away shifted to Mizugame, eyes ogling at him for doing something out of norm. The lobby was poor of water resource, Mizugame relinquished his own blood to produce a fake river from his vase. Due to the enormous domination the enemy endowed with, he had to take out large amount of his own blood to amplify much larger energy so that he could counterattack.

Finally this so-called coward Aquarius willingly surrendered his own flesh and blood for the sake of The Dimension.

"Just ignore me!" He yelled from behind the river, "I'm all good! My blood won't dry up just because of this!"

"I won't ask you to stop, Mizugame!" Yagi smiled in gratification. He formed his horns and detached one, posing in fighting stance. "Thank you for befriending me, Mizugame!"

There was no answer from The Aquarius, but Hikari could say Mizugame was blushing. He seldom received compliments thus getting one was almost humiliating to him.

Hikari focused on the ensnared Hebi. Mizugame's artificial bank was thicker than usual, hence the robustness it held to cage Hebi was reinforced than usual. Yagi was utterly pacified by Mizugame even though he has consumed his own blood. It subconsciously indicated Mizugame's willingness to contribute more.

"I don't really get the whole idea, but I could say you're a bad guy, Hebi!" Mizugame sounded so bold but his voice was stuttering, "We won't let you fool any of us!"

"Tsk!" Hebi grunted as he grasped the situation was not on his side. Everyone perceived him as a very big threat no one could abandon, even though there was obviously a bloodied Tatsu before their eyes.

He would not win.

He lost already.

"Not yet."

A mysterious bravery knocked him to his senses. Hebi just nudged a little to break Mizugame's rigid grip, leaving Mizugame and Yagi to gape in dubiety. Hebi jeered at them before took only a leap to instantly hit Tatsu right at the abdomen.

The Human groaned painfully and fell on the floor. Fine dust flew everywhere as the effect, and Tatsu gasped since he received such tremendous blow by Hebi. It was bizarre that Hebi could land a hit on Tatsu, estimating from his brawn smack.

"Have you stopped being a Human, Koichi?" Tatsu smirked at the latter. He was to piss him off, but Hebi was convinced that he has abruptly become much more powerful than Tatsu. Tatsu could perceive the sensation, and his smirk gradually dissolved.

"I've never become a Human, I must say," Hebi's shoulders vibrated from his subdued merriment, "You, Humans, are the foolish ones for believing me as one."

Tatsu's brows entangled in between. "We? The foolish one? You don't even know me while I'm obviously appearing here as a Human, and you're saying we, Humans, are the foolish ones? Oho, if there was no Human living on The Earth, you guys were not even exist as a neuron!"

Hikari never recognized Tatsu had such vulgar mouth. Tatsu might consider it a jovial joke, but it was plainly a scoffing to Hebi and indirectly to The Dimensionals. Those who heard him dove into a queer silence, and not even Hebi ventured to reply.

"I believe it was because of you," Tatsu slanted his one head on one side, brows furrowing but his eyes widened as wide as they could, "that Tsuya was about to evanesce from The Dimension. After Tsuya's passing, you simulated as a Human named Koichi. My naive old self did not know who you were because I've disintegrated apart of my memories. That discarded memory was including my mischievousness, brought together with Tsuya to here. That was why he seemed so malicious before your eyes. Actually he wasn't, and he isn't."

"You're putting wrong incrimination on me, Tatsu," Hebi grinned ear to ear to counter Tatsu's blunt judgment, "You were the one removing him from your life, I must say. It wasn't my fault that he was in brink of death even on this world. You were the one overlooking him!"

In between the fraught argument of Tatsu and Hebi, Yagi and Mizugame sought on assassinating Hebi. Yagi favoured close combat while Mizugame was primed with his vase. Yagi scraped Hebi but Hebi shielded himself with his arm. The scratch was stinging, just enough to cause Hebi to flinch. Hissing in pain, Hebi took a glimpse on his wound. Yagi surely had self-healing ability, but his scratch was superlatively damaging him.

"Maybe you don't know that my claws are almost poisonous, Hebi," Yagi scoffed at The Ophiuchus. "I don't have venoms like Sasori, but my scratch produces unforgettable wound you may bear for your entire life."

Hebi sniggered at Yagi, "You are so full of yourself, Yagi The Capricorn!" He gently brushed his cut and in less than three seconds, it closed up, leaving no remnant on Hebi's arm and simultaneously gaped Yagi. "Maybe you don't know that my ability is copying your ability, I must say."

Only Yagi was fully aware how destructive his claws were, and he dilated as he witnessed Hebi emanating similar claws to his. He just digested the situation when Hebi struck on him and imitated Yagi's attacking method. The most farcical part was Hebi's claws stung much more painful than Yagi's.

Yagi whirred in pain while caressing his wound on the face. His self-healing bogged down thanks to Hebi. "Damn Hebi!" He cursed.

"Tatsu loathe it when you swear," Hebi wiggled his finger in sarcasm. "I've been knowing Tatsu for quite some time, I must say."

"And I must say you've also forgotten about me."

A massive punch moored at Hebi's face. His distorted facial expression remarked its power, and he was hurled to the wall, shattering it into crumbles. Tsuya's wobbly feet somehow helped him standing up, and he balanced his breathing pace as he espied at Hebi.

"I will be the one killing you, Hebi!" Tsuya broadcasted, as stern as if he was not badly injured. "I am Tatsu's silhouette, a crooked one, but he is only a decoy here! In The Dimension, I am a real thing and don't you ever hurt him while I'm still able to confront you head on!"

Hebi spit out blood. Due to Tsuya's ambush, sore body ripped through him and he could feel some cracking in his bones. Blood trickled down his head as it smashed hard on the walls, but he did not seem to waver. He marched almost calmly towards the composed Tsuya.

"Tsuya, you stay back," Tatsu shoved Tsuya away to evade him from contacting Hebi, "Let me kill him. I've been itching to kill him with my own hand."

"No, Tatsu! You shan't!"

Just by an arm grip, Tatsu immediately loosened his furrow. His face instantly lit up as if Tsuya delivered positivity to him.

"Just take it as my chastening for injuring you in the library," Tatsu mumbled but audible enough to Tsuya.

Tsuya squeezed his grasp. He disliked if Tatsu became very malevolent even on The Dimension. Tatsu was not obliged to retrieve his past back, but because of his keenness, Tatsu regained his lost memories and ran an amok soon after. Tsuya was badly crushed from Tatsu's rampage but later, The Human got his sense back.

Tatsu reverted to how he was when he and Tsuya befriended. Twelve years have passed, but since Tatsu was the one creating Tsuya, he cherished him too much to the point he would enrage to whoever hurting Tsuya.

He was the sole protector of Tsuya. He would not remove Tsuya from his life.

Tsuya was his life. His world.

"Tatsu, I don't want your parents to hate you. I don't want them to neglect you anymore. They are your parents, they should love you," Tsuya was influential as a Spirit.

He did not want to see Tatsu being shirked by his parents. He has observed everything, and it tormented him too much to the point he once deduced Tatsu as an adopted son. The aversion multiplied when the parents were aware of his 'presence'.

"I don't need them, Tsuya. I just need you."

"They should be the one you rely on. You may rely on me, but I'm not factual."

"They don't even treat me as their child when we were kids. How can I rely on them?"

"But they treat you well now, right?"

Tsuya swerved Tatsu's hand from him as an evidence that he would not fall into Tatsu's enticement. Tatsu has been the one coaxing him all these while (during his life on The Earth), thus he ought to certify he would be the one Tatsu had the trust on.

He would help Tatsu restoring his relationship with his own parents, even if it means he would pretend to be dead.

"If they really loved me, they would help both of us, not to force me forgetting you!"

Tsuya's shimmering eyes did well in portraying his anguish. Both Tatsu and Tsuya refused to bow at each other's demand.

"Don't you love me?"

That one line triumphantly flinched Tsuya from readying for an attacking stance. He slowly shifted to Tatsu.

"If you didn't, why did you summon us by using The Zodiacs?"

The debate was ascertained by everyone there. Yagi and Mizugame sometimes peeped Hikari by their eye tips. Hikari seemed dumbfounded as Tatsu and Tsuya spoke, as if he was a total stranger. He actually was not a stranger to both Tatsu and Tsuya – Both of them were close to him – the case was that Hikari could not see Tsuya on The Earth.  Deep inside, he doubt if Takeru and Kei actually knew Tsuya.

Hikari was the oldest friend of Tatsu other than Tsuya. He believed Tsuya was present, but he never saw how Tsuya looked like. Frankly he was stunned at the similarities both Tsuya and Tatsu bore, and once he witnessed them, all those memories returned briefly.

"If you don't love me as a friend, why you called me? Why you called us?"

Tsuya slumped over Tatsu's inquiries. It was heart wrenching. The only reason he assigned The Zodiacs to bring The Humans to The Dimension was because he longed for Tatsu. Hikari, Takeru and Kei were Tatsu's close friends, and he assumed Tatsu might rave to get back home if he was taken alone, so he took all of them.

Tsuya has already discovered who Koichi was, even from before his death.

Tsuya squatted on the floor. His shaking shoulders depicted his sobs. "I'm sorry, Tatsu. I'm so sorry."

He never wished to hurt anyone especially Tatsu. He did not want Tatsu to defy his parents, but he did not want Tatsu to forget him forever. If Tatsu did, he would vanish eternally.

"I don't want to die. I never want to die. I still want to live."

The scene was far more grieving. Tsuya, The Spirit that The Zodiacs were dreadfully terrified of, was weeping his eyes out, and Tatsu immediately dragged him into his embrace. Despite his death, Tsuya still could feel Tatsu's warmth, and Tatsu still could touch Tsuya. In fact, the sensation was much more attainable than during Tsuya was still alive.

There must be it. Tsuya on The Earth was invisible. The current Tsuya was actual.

"I'm sorry, Tsuya. I'm so sorry that I've killed you back then." Tatsu immersed his face into Tsuya's crook of neck. The misery he has endured ever since Tsuya died was unbearably tremendous, but the grief ended soon after he completely demolished Tsuya from his memory.

Since Hebi acted as Koichi and befriended Tatsu, Tsuya has not vanished fully even from The Dimension. Tsuya was entrapped in a magical stone and failed to release himself because Hebi blocked Tatsu from reminiscing him. Hebi was the perpetrator of Tatsu’s stalled memories with Tsuya. At the same time, Tatsu's parents disallowed Hikari to mention even Tsuya's name to avoid any memory recalling.

"You are the one to stay back, Tatsu."

Tsuya was still granted an ability by The Angels. With his power, he tied Tatsu's limbs to hold him from moving. Tatsu was about to grunt in displease as Tsuya teleported him towards Shishi, Barachiel and Michael which have safely retreated Gabriel.

"Only I of The Earth know who Koichi is, and I will kill him by myself," while his gaze fixated at Hebi, his left hand groped the air. "You hear this, Takeru? This creature was Tadashi's murderer!"

"I heard you very clearly, Tsuya!"

Every of the spectators spun to see Takeru, Kei, and The Zodiacs other than Yagi, Mizugame, Shishi and Hebi, arrived at the lobby. Even Sasori was there and he walked just normally. Yagi and Mizugame ogled at him in incredulity.

"Tsuya never injured me in the first place," Judging from the mimic, he seemed tired of answering probably the same question over and over. Merely because everyone encountered him would ask him so, hence he grew fatigue of it.

Then, the spectators shifted back at Tsuya. Tsuya could sense they were staring at him, but he turned them down.

There was a much more important issue than entertaining them. He had a cunning Zodiac needed to deal with.

"There is a reason why I put Ohitsuji with you, Koichi."

Right before Hebi could ingest what Tsuya was defining, a long sword pierced through his abdomen. He could only take a glimpse of an incensed Ohitsuji as The Aries tugged his sword and slashed to the right, disjoining Hebi's upper and lower bodies.