A and K Chapter 78: Another Blast From the Past

Elsewhere, Yui, Rie, Alexandria, Shigure, and Athena had reached the house. Dai sat there on the couch. He watched as they came over to them.
Dai: I didn’t expect you to be here.
Yui: Dad, where is Kei?
Dai: I don’t know.
Rie: You don’t know?
Dai: He looked around for clues and must have found something, and headed off somewhere.
Alexandria: Then we wait here?
Shigure: We might have no other choice.
Back in the abandoned building, Kazuhiro charges into Kei’s chest. Kazuhiro throws him into the wall. Kei isn’t given a moment’s reprieve to recover. Kazuhiro grabs Kei’s hair, forcing Kei’s head down, and throws a knee into his head. Kei stumbles backwards and uses the wall to give him something to lean on while his vision was swimming. As Kazuhiro charges at Kei again, he sidesteps him letting Kazuhiro throw himself head first into the wall. Kei holds himself up using the wall. Kazuhiro rolls around on the ground.
Kei: Tell me now Kazuhiro, what did you do with my mother?
Kazuhiro: Like I’m going to tell you.
Kei reclaims his sword from across the room, and holds it over him.
Kei: You are going to tell me now.
Kazuhiro: Even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you.
Kei: (Stunned) What do you mean by that? You don’t know where my mother is?
From out of nowhere, a punch knocks Kei away. He rolls near to the hole in the center of the room. he looks up to see someone standing there. She wore a pair of jeans with one half of the pant legs gone. She wore black tennis shoes. She wore an orange top that left her stomach exposed with no sleeves. Her blonde hair was tied behind her head with a white scrunchie, along with some stray bangs. A pair of black framed glasses sat upon her nose. One dark blue and one dark green eye stared at him. Her face looked like she hadn’t missed a day of her youth. She spoke in a low soprano. Around her arms were two fingerless black gloves she had always used for fighting.
???: Been a while, Kei.
Kei is wide-eyed.
Kei: Saki…
Saki: Hope you haven’t been beaten up too bad.
Kei: (Thinking) This is bad. Beating Kazuhiro by myself, I knew that was going to be difficult, but beating both of them, especially in my weakened state.
Kazuhiro: You took your...(coughs)...sweet time.
Saki: Sorry had to make sure everything was in place.
Kei: Saki, where is my mother?
Saki: I can take you to her, for a price.
Kei: I’m not giving up Alexandria.
Saki: I never said anything about her.
Kazuhiro: Saki.
Saki: The person I want is you.
Kei: Me? Why do you want me?
Saki: So let’s make a simple wager, if you can defeat me, we won’t bother you ever again.
Kei: (Thinking) Saki, you were always a gambler, from mahjong, to cards, now this?
Kazuhiro just waits off in a corner. Kei manages to stand up.
Kei: Fine, I’ll take that bet.
Saki smiles.
Saki: Then let’s go.
Saki places her hands in front of her face to guard it and then charges at Kei. Kei swings his hilt at Saki, but she nimbly dodges the hit and throws an uppercut at Kei which just barely misses his chin. Saki quickly moves her hand back to her face and then promptly throws a couple of jabs to which Kei does his best to avoid. Kei can’t help but get winded as Saki continues to pick up the speed. Kei, in his weakened state, gets winded easily. It isn’t long before Saki is connecting with all her punches. With all her jabs and punches, she’s easily proving too much for a weakened Kei. An uppercut knocks Kei off his feet. He hits the ground. Even if he was fully fresh, he understood it would’ve been tough. He recalled when Saki and him used to spar.
Kei: WHOA!
Saki had just barely whiffed at Kei’s head.
Kei: What are you trying to do? Knock my head clean off?!
Saki: That’s the point. Duck, evade, and counter. If you can tap me with a clean hit, then you win a point.
Kei: Saki, you do realize no one in our group has ever landed a punch on you?
Saki: That’s what makes it fun and challenging for me! Now let’s go Kei, no holding back!
Saki charges in and Kei whiffs another punch. Saki lands an uppercut on him and Kei lands on his butt from the hit.
Kei: Owww...Saki, there’s a thing called holding back, have you heard of it?
Saki: Now what would be the point of holding back? It would hurt your pride and make me look like I have an ego. Now come on get up.
Kei quietly does so.
Saki: We’ve still got a lot of training to do.
Kei: Saki, why are you here? Why now?
Saki: To test you, and it looks like you’ve still got some training to do yet too.
Kei: (Thinking) Training? What the hell is she talking about?
Kazuhiro: Saki, we’re here to get the girl.
Saki: I’m here because I want to be here. Nothing else, Kazuhiro.
Kazuhiro: Are you saying you’re double-crossing me?
Saki: Well, you gave me everything I need, so yes.
Kazuhiro: You backstabbing…
Saki: Oh c’mon Kazuhiro, you knew already that only things that keep my interest are what I am most interested in. Frankly, you’ve definitely lost a step since then.
Kazuhiro: Do you forget why we agreed to work for the branch?
Saki: You believed in all of that?
Kazuhiro: What?
Saki: I simply used the branch to get what I wanted, nothing more. I play for my own team.
Kazuhiro charges at her.
Kazuhiro: I’ll make you pay for eating those words.
Saki ducks under Kazuhiro’s punch and Saki grabs his arm. Saki turns her back to Kazuhiro and throws him over her shoulder into the ground with a thud. The part of the floor immediately gives way. Saki immediately tries to grab for him, but he kicks her hand away.
Kazuhiro: I’d rather die from my shame.
Kazuhiro falls to the first floor with a hard thud. He was dead on impact.
Saki: Stubborn mule. I was going to help you.
Isao hears the floor crumble and sees Kazuhiro hit the ground.
Isao: (Thinking) Kei would not have let his enemy fall like that.
Isao runs to the stairs and quickly travels up to the third floor. He sees the part of the floor that had recently given way, but no one was there.
Isao: (Thinking) How curious. Where did Kei go?
Isao quietly leaves the building and looks around. To his surprise, nobody was there.
Isao: (Thinking) There not anywhere around anymore.
Isao, unsure of what to do with Kei gone, returns to the house. There he finds others waiting for him.
Yui: Its Isao!
Dai looks up at him.
Dai: Is my darling Kokoa alright?
Isao: I don’t know…
Shigure: How is Kei? Where is Kei?
Isao: I don’t know.
Alexandria: What do you mean you don’t know?
Isao: He kind of just vanished after his fight with Kazuhiro.
Shigure: Vanished? What do you mean vanished?
Isao: Just...poof.
Yui: Then what happened to Kei?
Isao shrugs as confusion now gripped the group.
Category:A and K
Category:Novel Chapter