When Darkness Turns to Light

Breaking Through

Recappy From the Last Chappy: The man stared forward soullessly with unusual eyes. Around grey irises, his sclera was marked with many ripples. Above those eyes was a shinobi hitaiate with a scratch across four lines; he was one formerly of the Rain Village. Black hoop earrings ran up along the lobes and tops of either ear; plugs pierced horizontally through his nose; and two pikes also pierced through his bottom lip. He wore a black robe with a wide, high collar and artistic red clouds. Bright, spiky orange hair rested on his head.

He was unfazed by Hades' statement. "Taking this path will lead to great pain, and great suffering . . . proceed."

Chapter Eleven: Breaking Through

Days had gone by since the group had departed from the Olympus Coliseum, and Hikari's drawback had passed. For their successful efforts in combating Cerberus, the boys had achieved "Junior Hero" status; apparently, they did not understand what it took to be a "true hero," and consequently could not be dubbed so. They did not let that get them down, though, and were still all smiles in the Gummi.

Hikari sat upright within the Gummi, tabulating her remaining kunai, senbon, shuriken, and other items that she would store in her pouch and holster. They were separated into piles, depending on what they were, and kunai that were too dulled to be of use were set aside separately. She would summon more to be held in the pouch through a scroll in a drawer by the bunk.

She picked up one of the kunai and eyed it closely, checking for wear, tear, or rust. After expelling warm breath onto it, she used the sheet to clean it, and checked again. There were a few small scratches, but for the most part, all she saw was her eyes, brow, and bangs. Satisfied with it, she set it with the pile of useable kunai. As she did so, her eyes fell on her right wrist where a new accessory was present alongside her bracelet of summon gems.

Sora entered the infirmary, grinning widely enough to exhibit nearly each of his pearly whites. He appeared to be absolutely victorious, wearing a brighter expression than she had seen even in Disney Castle. Sitting up in the bed, she turned her head a little and watched as he bounced toward her side; Donald and Goofy lagged not too far behind. Cloud had left not long prior.

"Hiki! We did it-we beat Cerberus!" he jeered, coming up on her side. Putting his hands on his knees, he leveled his face with hers and asked, "Are you okay? We saw Cloud carry you out."

She lifted her head a little, looking him in the eye. Those bright blues-though of a slightly different shade-reminded her of Naruto then; she flinched a little in response, but responded lightly, "I'll live." She turned her head and looked away.

He beamed brightly and teased, "Hee hee. Looks like I'm stronger than you now."

Her yellow eyes glanced toward him. "No, I wouldn't say that. I wore down Cerberus, and you had help afterwards. I'd call it a . . . fluke, at best."

He frowned. It was more than that; he had beaten the dog when she could not. Pouting, he muttered, "It wasn't a fluke . . . !"

Hikari pretended that she had not heard him. She spoke a little louder, intending not to sound condescending, but to make sure he heard her. "On the other hand-," he perked up a little; she looked at him, "-the tournament . . . that was not a fluke, was it? Up until Not-Naruto . . . hn . . . not bad."

Tickled pink, the brunette smiled once again, feeling warmth in his heart. "Oh!" From his pocket, he procured something small enough to be shielded from her view as he took her wrist; the movement made her wince. "This was left behind when we defeated him. It looks like Brave Warrior, which I don't think I could've done the tournament without." He slipped an Inferno Band on her wrist; it was much like Brave Warrior, being simple, but had a rose tinge to it. "Since you were totally owned by Cerberus, I thought it might help you in your recovery-and in future battles."