ヒカリ の シイド
Hikari no Shiido
T H E S E E D O F L I G H T
“Matsudai-niichan!” Fujin screamed again.
A warm trickle of blood ran down Matsudai’s back. He smiled gently. “Fujin-kun… thanks for trusting me when no one else would… be a good little brother for Kanji, okay?” He winced.
“Matsudai-niichan… why are you saying this?! You aren’t going to die, right? You’re really strong, you can’t die!!” exclaimed Fujin.
Matsudai shook his head weakly. “I think I really am going to die…” He groaned. “But… don’t think of it as a bad thing. Don’t let Evil get the worlds, or the last Elemental, okay? Give ‘em a good punch in the gut for me…” Matsudai slid to the ground, unable to support himself longer. His eyes closed; he lay still.
“Matsudai-niichan…?” whispered Fujin. “Don’t die… please don’t go…”
The girl, who was now exposed as the Earth Elemental, laughed, snapping Fujin back to his senses. He stood up, not remembering kneeling. His image wavered; he was his sixteen-year-old self again. “How dare you hurt someone that I care about…” he asked dangerously. “How dare you…?”
The Earth Elemental laughed again and pointed at Fujin a second time. Fujin flung out his hand, engulfing the shards in blue light, dissipating them. The Elemental dashed toward Fujin, snatching a rock-sword that had suddenly jutted out of the ground. She thrusted it at him.
He held out his hand, palms out. A circle of blue light appeared in front of him; the sword crashed into it and shattered, and the Elemental staggered back. Fujin pulled off his necklace, turned it into the flute, and played several notes. He let go, it floated in front of him briefly, and then turned into a staff, made of pure aquamarine crystal, with a six-sided amethyst floating above the tip.
He spun the staff around quickly, and it soon was nothing but a blue blur. He stopped spinning it, and a blue circle remained. He made several slashes with the staff, leaving a purple star in the middle. He thrust the tip of the crystal through the center of the star, and from it shot a beam of blue light. “Akua no Kousen!” Fujin shouted. The beam hit the Elemental, propelling her back several feet. Fujin warned her, “That’s not nearly all of my strength!” and she disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
Fujin dropped his staff and returned to his normal self, then ran to where Matsudai lay.
* * *
Kanji looked up. “What’s happening?”
Aisu stepped on his face. “Don’t look up!”
Kanji went red! “I wasn’t!”
“Right,” answered Aisu sarcastically. “Now shut up and let me see!”
The spires disappeared, and Aisu lost her balance, tumbling down. “What goes around comes around!” teased Kanji.
Aisu groaned, then looked up to see what was going on.
* * *
Mizu gently lowered the group and began to walk toward Fujin.
* * *
Fujin shook Matsudai’s body. “Wake up!” he insisted. “Wake up! Matsudai-niichan, wake up!” Fujin’s crystal-clear tears fell onto Matsudai’s cheek. “Please wake up…”
Kanji put his hand on Fujin’s shoulder. “It’ll be alright…”
Fujin shrugged the hand off. “No, it won’t…” The amethyst on his staff glowed, and a light blue barrier grew, pushing Kanji and the others away from Fujin and Matsudai.
Kanji slammed his fists on the barrier. “Fujin, let me in!” he shouted, “Let’s go! We have other things to do, you can’t be selfish!”
Fujin shook his head. “No more… I don’t want to be the Hikari no Shiido any longer… then no one will get hurt because of me…”
“Kanji… he’s not going to listen. I want to help him as much as you do, but we can’t. Let’s get some rest,” suggested Aisu gently.
Kanji’s gaze lingered on Fujin a moment longer; he then followed Aisu.
* * *
The next morning, Fujin awoke, head resting on Matsudai’s chest. “Ohayou, Matsudai-niichan!” he exclaimed.
Matsudai didn’t move. “Matsudai-niichan?” repeated Fujin.
Outside the barrier, the world returned to being a grassy field. Inside the barrier, however, it remained the same. “Matsudai-niichan… why won’t you wake up?” Fujin asked, holding back tears. “Wake up… please… you’re not hurt…” A tear fell from Fujin’s cheek onto the center of Matsudai’s chest. Unbeknownst to him, Matsudai’s wounds healed, and his clothing was no longer torn. “Matsudai-niichan…” Fujin buried his head in Matsudai’s chest.
The color returned to Matsudai’s face, and his fingers curled slightly.