Sureiyazu

Episode 49: Inochi

"Kasai, are you sure you -" Akuma tried again.

"No," Kasai said stubbornly, anger the only thing keeping her eyes alight. She turned back to the demon again.

She leveled Inochi with the ground and charged forward again - 

And suddenly the fire was gone.

The air lightened and the grass miraculously changed back to its happy green color, but Kasai simply stood there, Inochi piercing the air where the demon would have been if she were a millisecond faster. Time seemed to be suspended in that single moment - the moment when she realized that she hadn't slain it.

And then she collapsed to her knees, dumb with shock and disappointment. Her face was streaked with dirt and sweat and her heart beat fast. But it was over. The demon was gone. Dakufaia was gone. 

"Kasai!" Akuma exclaimed, seeing her fall. She and the others ran over. 

"Kasai, are you okay?" Hachirou demanded. 

"Are you hurt?" Aya asked.

"You know," Shinrin said loudly, "I thought you said there would be -"

"Shut up!" Aya hissed. Shinrin shrugged. 

"Kasai?" Yuri said tentatively. 

"Kasai . . ." Heishi said slowly.

"Kasai!" Hachirou said again, frantically. 

But she just sat there, uncomprehending of what had happened. Dakufaia had been there, in front of her, and she hadn't slain the demon. How could that be . . . ?

"Are you alive?" Ryou asked helpfully. 

Hachirou knelt next to her and waved his hand in front of her face. "Kasai . . ."

Finally she blinked and then seemed to register all the people around her. "Oh, hi there."

The group let out a sigh of collective relief. 

"Don't space out like that, Kasai," Aya scolded as a smile crept onto her face. "You scared us."

"Sorry," Kasai said quietly. 

"Okay, that's too much trauma for her," said Hachirou, standing again. "She just apologized."

"And apologized softly," Akuma added.

Kasai laughed a little at that. "What do you want me to say?"

No one answered.

"Oh, nobody wants to be the mean one?" Kasai asked. "Alright. My story's a long one though."

~~~

Dakufaia growled, the flames of its body hissing and taking on a color closer to blood than flame. 

"I could have easily crushed them." 

"The time was not right," said the king sharply. 

"The Kasai one would not accept help from the others. It was the perfect moment to remove her from the equation."

"No."

"You pretend to have plans for us, but I am beginning to doubt that."

"Doubt all you want. If you want to conquer the humans, you need to be concentrated."

"And we were."

"They destroyed the small army I put there. I did not want to lose you to them."

"But Kasai! She is at her weakest on her own."

"Trust me. This is for the best."

"I know her. I know her weaknesses."