ヒカリ の シイド
Hikari no Shiido
T H E S E E D O F L I G H T
“M-matsudai-niichan?!” exclaimed Fujin, gray eyes wide with shock. Matsudai nodded. “B-but, how? Oniisama, how is he here?!”
Kanji shifted uncomfortably, the bone-cage gone. Matsudai spoke instead. “Fujin… I didn’t want to tell you.” He hesitated. “I didn’t want to worry a little kid like you. I’m… I’m the Dark Elemental. I, myself, asked Kanji not to tell you.”
“Oniisama… you knew?” asked Fujin, in a tiny voice. Kanji didn’t reply. “But… why didn’t you tell me? I have to know, we need him!”
Mizu and the others all pointedly stayed out of the conversation: Mizu whistling, Aisu looking around, Yuni staring at the ground, and Kogasu coughing.
“You guys knew, too, didn’t you?” accused Fujin.
Kanji answered. “Yes. They did.”
Fujin paused, a pensive look on his face. After several long seconds, he broke into a grin and said, “Well, Matsudai-niichan is here, so everything is fine!”
“You know that I’m not your brother, right?” reminded Matsudai.
“I don’t care,” replied Fujin childishly. “Matsudai-niichan.”
Kanji gritted his teeth. “He isn’t your brother, so you shouldn’t be calling him that!”
Fujin looked up at Kanji. “Oniisama, you sound like you’re in pain. Are you?”
“No, I’m fine, but you’re addressing a total stranger as if he were a brother!”
“Kanji,” interrupted Aisu sharply. “Just let him, he’ll grow out of it!”
“He’s my responsibility, and he will listen to me!”
“But he’s just a little kid, he’ll grow out of it!” insisted Aisu.
“Are you sure they’re not married or anything?” commented Matsudai to Fujin with a smile. “They sure fight like it!”
Aisu stiffened. “What was that?”
“You… fight… like… a… married… couple?” replied Matsudai hesitantly. There was a resounding crack as Aisu slapped Matsudai across the face. “W-well, you do!” protested Matsudai.
Another crack could be heard throughout the field, and Kogasu suggested snidely, “Maybe you should shut up now!”
The land around them began to change. “Uh… it’s changing again!” said Mizu. The hills became flat, and the group plummeted to the ground.
“I don’t think I like this world!” whined Fujin. He shivered. “Is it just me, or is it getting cold?”
“Why are you cold?” demanded Kogasu, indicating their sleeves. “Your sleeves are really long, and mine are short!” As he said this, snow began to fall.
“Told you it was cold!” remarked Fujin.
“’Told you it was cold!’” mocked Kogasu.
Fujin ignored him. “If there’s an Elemental here, I think we should find them before we freeze!”
It began to snow heavily; the land turned into a snowfield. Matsudai pointed to a small figure in the distance, a girl, standing in the midst of the blizzard. “Could that be the Elemental?”
“Perhaps,” answered Aisu, heading for the girl. “She’s the only one we’ve seen here.”
Kanji studied the figure from afar. Suddenly, he seized Fujin’s collar and threw him aside, shouting, “Don’t get near her!” Upon hearing this, Matsudai kneeled to the ground.
Kanji darted toward Aisu. The girl looked up and smiled. A shiver went up Aisu’s spine; the girl’s eyes glowed red, and she raised her hand. Kanji dove at Aisu, grabbing her and falling to the ground. The girl slammed her hand into the ground, and in the spot where Aisu had been, mere seconds before, jutted a sharp earth-spire. Surrounding the rest of the group, except for Matsudai, was a tight formation of spires, penning them in, rendering them unable to see the goings-on.
Aisu looked up to see Kanji’s face a half-centimeter away from hers. Seized by a strange impulse, she gave him a quick kiss. “Thanks.” She blushed slightly.
Kanji went bright red and scrambled to his feel. “I-I-I- it’s alright!!”
The girl slammed her hand into the ground again, penning in Kanji and Aisu in the same manner as she’d done to the others, though the spires were smaller.
The world around them then changed. Fujin now lay in a small crevice formed by two rocky hills. He sat and turned to see what was going on. The little girl pointed at him with a sinister smile. Razor-sharp rock shards rose from the ground and flew towards him.
* * *
“Mizu… can you use your magic to lift us over the top? I feel so helpless!” said Yuni.
Mizu nodded and concentrated. A swirl of purple wind appeared underneath them, propelling them upward. She concentrated harder, but was only able to lift them to the top of the spires. “I can’t go any further.”
Yuni peered over the tops of the spires and gasped.
* * *
“Lift me up!” commanded Aisu. “I need to see what’s happening!”
“But Fujin’s my-“ protested Kanji.
“You’re too heavy for me to lift!”
Kanji rolled his eyes and picked Aisu up so she could see over the spires. She stomped on Kanji’s head. “Don’t you dare look up my dress!”
* * *
“Look out!” shouted Matsudai. He dashed toward the crevice, facing Fujin, blocking the entrance. The rock-shards pelted Matsudai’s back, tearing at his skin and clothing.
“Matsudai-niichan!” screamed Fujin.