Warning: There is a tiny little bit blood and gore in this chapter. It's still in the T-rated range but if you don't like your favorite characters to bleed, you might not like this. *evil laugh*

A/N: Uhh... More votes poured in. Thank you guys :) :) :)

Chapter 9

The screeching sound surrounded her again as it pierced through the darkness. Her huffed breaths became visible in the cold air of death as she waited. She knew this place. Looking around her she spotted the rotting bodies which crawled toward her.

Announcing its arrival the screeching grew slowly louder. It was coming closer.

Like the last time she'd been here, she felt no fear as the cold hands of the dead grabbed her, embraced her and pulled her down.

Between the weeping and groaning of the rotten bodies the screeching was getting louder. And she waited for it to come closer, second by second dropping by.

Out of the pool of broken limps and rotten skin it finally rose. The white face.

A gurgling giggle left her throat as she recognized that face. So it really was her.

Out of nowhere she heard Rokuro's voice echoing through the darkness. "You killed her." He wept soundly. "Mayura – you killed her."

She heard her mother's voice. "You are not my daughter."

Then her father angrily spat the words: "What a disappointment."

The voices began to combine into a chore of accusations as more of them started to join in. Voices of family members, old and new friends humming the tone of disgust. After a while they faded as the hate within their words grew stronger.

Everybody left her alone. The pain was the only trace of an human heart that once rested in her chest.

She was lonely in the darkness as the white face started to decay in front of her eyes. The skin sunk to the bones and she turned away. She scanned her surroundings.

Where was he? Hadn't he come to say goodbye, too?

Her eyes searched for him. Finally, after she turned around, she detected him. He was standing behind her. His face lacked any emotion but his eyes were the sharp blue she used to know in another life. In all his glory he stood there, wearing nothing but his rosy skin. With the darkness painted in the background he looked as if he glowed. The portrait of an angel. Slowly he walked towards her.

A long forgotten emotion pierced her chest. The corner's of her mouth acted on their own.

She shifted her body into his direction. No words left her lips as she waited for him to reach her.

He stopped. Mere inches kept them apart.

All of a sudden his arm snapped forward.

His hand pressed to her throat. Throttling her. The tiny rest of her life vanished as his image blurred.

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She hadn't missed the thick miasma on the lower levels of Magano. She hadn't missed the mass of the yin aura weighing her down. Definitely not. She definitely hadn't missed being in the lower levels of Magano. But she knew it was necessary. If she wanted to be an acceptable head to her father's house, she had to become a good exorcist. She had to live up to the expectations directed at her as one of the Heavenly Commanders. And she had to become stronger to keep up to Rokuro and Adashino-san.

So she ignored the smell that made her eyes water, she ignored the pull of gravity, she ignored her anxiety and fears as she stepped up to Shimon who shared the executive plan with his comrades. Like always he was competent. He was a great platoon leader, summing up all known facts and presenting a plan with no holes to fit in. The mission goal was to exorcise an A-class impurity, two weeks old, which was last seen at the western outskirts of level four. Besides Shimon and her three other members of the Ikaruga clan completed their unit.

Mayura knew he would manage to finish the mission successfully due to his strategical and prudent mind. And she knew she could trust her life to Shimon.

Just then the dream she had the night before crawled to the surface again. A dream that had left her with a constricted throat and made her desperately gasping for air when she had woken up. No, she knew she could trust him. Her dream had to be wrong. Shimon would never hurt her. Even if it was mostly because of her father, he wouldn't be able to harm her. Well, he had implied she was important to him. However, Mayura knew it was Shimon's way to watch out for his comrades anyway. Even if he had dealt with many loses, she knew he did not like making sacrifices. That dream must have been fantasy and if it was more – perhaps something inside her tried to stir distrust towards him?

Mayura shook her head trying to wave of the anxiety the dream had printed on her. She actually owed him and had no idea how she could ever thank him. Again he had taken care of one of her problems and persuaded the chief exorcist to send her on more challenging missions. She would try to repay him at least a little bit by putting up a good fight today.

It had been months since she had last fought at Shimon's side. Back then she had been as reluctant as before to kill impurities. Since that fight she hadn't exactly gotten used to it, but she managed to handle the uneasy feeling rising within her every time she did. If it saved lives, she would make a serious attempt to grow beyond her limits.

Their squad quickly crossed the level to the last confirmed location of the impurity with Shimon leading the way. The air was polluted with miasma making it much harder to breath as they walked through the wasteland of Magano. At a cliff he stopped, making a sign for them to wait.

"Kuukuuu, bringing me my meal?" The inhuman, crackling voice came out of nowhere.

Standing on alert Mayura searched the ground below for the impurity. The miasma clouded her senses. She skipped her eyes to Shimon who seemed to have a hard time locating the impurity, too.

All of a sudden the earth below them shook and crumbled. Rocks were shooting to the sky as the impurity broke through the earth. Dust and pieces of earth blurred her sight. With a powerful jump Mayura evaded the surprise attack.

While she was still in the air, she heard Shimon chanting a spell. "Tenshougen-pu, Shuzen Zappa. Kyuu kyuu nyo ritso ryo." She watched his sword turning into the enchanted gear of Suzaku, a great sword that was more than half as big as the person who wielded it.

After Mayura landed on the ground she searched for the other members. She spotted one of the Ikaruga member far away. That attack must have send him flying. Pulling out a talisman of her large supply she sprinted to him while watching a part of the enemy blocking a thrust of Shimon's enchanted sword.

She reached him fast. An arm was broken and he was squinting his eyes in pain. "Abira unken sowaka," the healing spell instantly worked and the red haired boy smiled gratefully at her.

Behind her she heard the rumble of a massive impact. Shifting her gaze to the battle she saw Shimon and the other three members pushing the impurity back. The impurity was huge. It's large body was similar to the build of an human body.

Rushing in to help Mayura drew the talisman of the binding hold, planning to give Shimon some space for his long range attacks. When she was near the impurity she chanted the spell. "Gaihou goura. Kyuu kyuu no ritsu ryou. Shibakuhou."

Snakes of enchanted powers wound themselves around the body of the huge impurity, restricting its movements. While it struggled against the firm grip, Shimon backed away. The other two members tried to hurt the impurity with their enchanted swords. But it didn't seem to care much. Its giggle etched her ears like acid.

"On gyarodaya sowaka. Gouten karura. Kyuu kyuu nyo ritsu ryou." With one jump Shimon left the ground. His sword had changed to its true form. Suzaku's wings held him high.

Mayura stared in wonder at his figure in the sky. When he was fighting he was truly beautiful. His every movement was graceful. No wonder they called him a prodigy.

"Kuukuu." The impurity's giggle reached her ears breaking her out of her stare. Preparing for its next move, Mayura took another talisman into her hand.

With a roar the impurity broke out of the binding hold, slashing out at the flanking exorcists.

She chanted, "Shichinan sokumetsu. Shichiri sokusei, Kyuu kyuu nyo rityu ryou." Just in time a shield appeared around them blocking the blow. Mayura sighed. She had made her move in time. But the fight had just begun.

"Fuu fuu. Humans, all you do is struggle." A dark talisman appeared in front of the impurity floating in the air.

A shocked gasp left her. Since when did A-class impurities use talismans? She had seen it with Basaras but this was new.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shimon rushing to attack the impurity.

"Kanagirikoe no sasu. (1) Kyuu kyuu no ritsu ryou." Before Shimon could reach the impurity, its hand changed into a large thorn which it thrust into Shimon's direction. He evaded the attack but had to block the other fist which pushed him back. He flew half a mile before he caught himself.

That impurity was strong and fast if she didn't keep her focus this might end badly. She had to power up too. Taking out the talisman her father had entrusted her with months ago she called upon the power of the Guardian Byakko. "Byaku ren kohou, Kyuu kyuu no ritsu ryou."

Nothing happened. A shower of ice run over her back. What was going on?

Maybe she hadn't concentrated enough? Swallowing down her fear she tried it again, focusing her spell power onto the talisman anew. "Byaku ren kohou, Kyuu kyuu no ritsu ryou."

Still nothing happened. Sweat ran down her neck. What was it supposed to mean? Had Byakko left her without her noticing? Was she too weak? Despair nibbled at the corner's of her mind and all confidence left her. What the hell was going on?

Someone called out for her. Her mind reentered the now and then. As she turned around she saw it coming. The large thorn shoved into her direction. She had no chance to escape that attack.

She closed her eyes as she awaited the finishing blow. The sick noise of pierced skin and flesh rang to her ears and warm liquid splashed onto her face. When she opened her eyes she saw a screen of vermilion red. Looking up she recognized the back of Shimon. The enchanted thorn was sticking out of his back, his blood dropped from its sharp peak. The impurity pulled the torn out, through the hole that was now in Shimon's right shoulder. He hissed in pain and spat blood to the ground.

"Shimon!" She held him as he fell to his knees. Utter fear clutched on her.

After coughing more blood, Shimon send her a punitive gaze. "You let your guard down."

Trembling hands fumbled with her talisman holders, as she searched for her healing talisman. "I'll heal you."

"No time. It's coming." He pulled her to him and took off, barely saving them both from another attack.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she watched the blood pouring from his mouth and from the hole in his shoulder. It was her fault Shimon was hurt. Dark thoughts filled her head. An inhuman voice reached for her as her mind drifted away.

"Mayura, I need you to keep your focus." His voice brought her back.

He was right. They had an enemy to take care of first. And then she would have to apologize to him.

Below them she spotted the other three who fought with the impurity. They weren't able to reach its body due to the massive thorn the impurity wielded over the ground.

Shimon landed at a safe distance. With slightly shaking legs she stepped onto the ground. It felt odd to fly.

He hissed again and threw a hard gaze at her. "Can you take care of that thorn for me?"

Her stomach twisted at his silent scolding but she nodded. Even if she had been proven to be a burden yet again she would make sure she could assist him at his final strike.

Shimon took off into the air and flew outside of the impurities. Running to the battle Mayura send a large load of spell power to the talisman in her hand to make sure that thing wouldn't be able to swing its thorn again. She chanted the spell of the binding hold. While she prayed this would work she watched snakes of enchanted powers wound themselves around the thorn in a firm grab.

She heard Shimon conjuring the screen of blades from up above that only his enchanted gear was able to procure. "Sekitei mugen byoufu. Kyuu kyuu nyo ritsu ryou." The feathers flew through the air as the impurity was unable to lift his thorn. Trying to fend of the blades it waved his other hand in front of them. The feathers cleverly made their way around its arm and pierced their goal at numerous places. With a last roar the impurity broke apart.

Lifting her gaze to the sky she saw him levitating. Shimon really was amazing. Although he was heavily wounded he kept his focus and was able to launch a massive attack that needed him to concentrate each of his blades. She wished he hadn't been hurt because of her.

She ran towards him as he slowly lowered himself to the ground holding a hand to his wound. Quickly she began to heal it with a spell. Her anxiety made her tremble. At least she managed to close the wound a little but Shimon's erratic breath and glassy eyes made her fear the worst. They had to get out of here. Now.

Supporting his weight with one of their squad members she helped him walk to the exit. The dark voice inside her head grew louder and she felt nauseous. All of this was her fault.

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This. This was worse than the injury that had healed for the most part.

Some wounds were so deep they left scars even when healed. After having spend years fighting against impurities Shimon had a whole collection on his body. The origin of their newest addition was very strange though. He would have to report this abnormality to Arima-san. An A-class impurity being able to use an enchanted weapon that was able to break through his armor was a bad sign and a danger to the Exorcist Union.

However, no wound could compare to the torture he had to endure right now.

Why, why for heaven's sake did they have to send his brother? From all the people in the main house of the Ikaruga clan, it had to be him.

While the nurse continued her tests on Shimon his brother Keiji continued his teasing. Shimon lay on a hospital bed with a naked upper body while the nurse palpated him in search for inner wounds where miasma might have sipped in.

Under the influence of pain killers breaking down his fever it might have been possible that he had told Keiji the reason for his injury earlier, including a huge thorn and a pretty blonde in the story. Now he had to deal with the consequence of his blabbing.

When he was free to go, he would need to have a little chat with the others. They must have told Keiji about his injury right after they were finished with their own examinations.

"Can you repeat the part in which you threw yourself in front of her without thinking about it?" Keiji grinned at him. He stood at the foot of the bed Shimon was currently sitting on. The spartan hospital room offered no niche to hide.

Shimon wasn't able to suppress a small blush rising to his cheeks. Some machine beeped in the background reflecting the slightly speeding up of his heart beat.

"Come on, Shimon. Don't be embarrassed about it. I'm happy for you." An actually honest smile was now on Keiji's face.

"I'm not embarrassed." Shimon knew if he gave in now, he would never see the end of Keiji's teasing.

This only added fuel to the fire for Keiji grinned again at him. "When are you going to confess to her?"

"There is nothing to confess." Unnerved Shimon crossed his arms. The nurse gave him a tab. Her glare delivered the message immediately. In response he unfolded his arms again and instead sent a glare of his at Keiji.

Keji lifted his shoulders in an exaggerated motion. "Sure. I also randomly throw myself in front of some person risking my life every chance I'll get." His voice was dripping with irony.

For the hundreds of times today Shimon wished it had been a maiden or someone else of their staff that had been sent to pick him up. He wondered why Chiiko and Keiji insisted on him having feelings for Mayura. It wasn't like this was not true – in some ways he might acknowledge it as a fact – but it was much harder to ignore it with two nosy siblings poking into his privacy. They loved digging at his vulnerable spots. Maybe they did so because he didn't have that many. "Did Chiiko set you up on this?"

Keiji rubbed his chin with one hand, scrutinizing Shimon as if he was onto something. "No, but I would like to learn what she knows."

Please, no. If this was hell, he did not knew what it would be like when Chiiko learned about what Keiji earlier called his heroic stunt. "There is nothing to know. Can you please stop?"

Just then a knock interrupted them. Gladly Shimon called the person in. He felt relief and horror when the subject of their conversation entered. Ignoring this unsettling mix of feelings and Keiji's raised eyebrows, he looked at her. Mayura was still clad in her battle suit and had dark rims under her eyes. "What are you doing here? I figured you would be finished by now."

"They just needed to make extra tests on me." The fidgeting of her fingers and the drop of her eyes told Shimon that she might not have received the best of news.

"Is everything okay?"

"Hn." She nodded and failed at an easy smile.

Shimon knew better. He had seen the shocked look on her face as she was spaced out in their fight against the impurity. She had looked as if she had seen a ghost. Maybe Kankuro-san would give him some insight on this and on the reason's for her long examination later.

Something was going on. And it wasn't as if this idea came to him at this very moment. Even before they had entered Magano Shimon had been worried about her.

After his latest talk with Arima-san his suspicions had been confirmed that Arima knew more than he admitted. Shimon had reported his doubts about the origin of Mayura's dream and the Fenghuang prophecy that had appeared right before them. Arima-san had mumbled something sounding like "So it begun." and asked Shimon to look after her.

He hadn't explained what the Fenghuang-prophecy meant after Shimon inquired about its origin. Instead he asked Shimon out of the blue, if he knew the only spell that molded someone's yang aura into somebody else. Because Shimon had not heard of such a spell before, Arima told him it was the Nanase no harae (2). Afterwards he had dismissed Shimon bluntly, allowing him to take Mayura on challenging missions that he would attend himself to. When Shimon had left he felt like he had learned nothing at all. Moreover he was deeply confused about Arima's sudden quiz. Nanase no harae? What was that spell?

Shimon focused on Mayura again. She looked pale. The small rings under her eyes emphasized the paleness even more.

He noticed that due to his inner musings an uncomfortable silence had filled the room. It wasn't long before Keiji broke the air and smiled sweetly at Mayura. "Mayura-chan, I heard this one dragged you to Magano. I'm glad nothing happened to you."

A small blush rose to her cheeks. "T-thanks."

Keiji walked to her and took her hands into his. "I leave my baby brother in your careful hands for a moment. Can I bring you a tea?"

Shimon watched the exchange between them with frustration kicking in. Was Keiji flirting on purpose with her?

"That- That would be nice."

Shimon threw Keiji a deadly glare but that one simply left throwing Shimon a thumbs-up back over Mayura's shoulders. Had his glares lost their impact?

When the door fell into its hinges Shimon sighed. At last he was getting some salvation. Now he only had to deal with Mayura who alone was a hand-full to him.

Said girl looked insecure and bothered as she watched the nurse continuing her treatment on him. He had known she would take the blame on her. "You don't have to feel guilty about this."

The insecurity in her eyes turned into something reproachful. "But it was my fault. If I hadn't lost my focus, you wouldn't have needed to shield me."

If it had been someone else, he would react differently. Shimon knew, he was lenient about her. But he wanted her to stop blaming herself. "Your fault is that you think more about others than about your own life. You were totally open back there."

Her gaze met his, solid with worry. "Says the one who threw himself in front of me. You could have died."

"And you would have died if I haven't done it," he replied roughly.

Half a step she backed away and cast her gaze down. "I'm sorry."

Was it because of her politeness that she felt the need to apologize so often? He had to restrain himself from sighing and looked at her sincerely instead. "Don't be. Just be more careful next time, okay?"

She watched him for a while before she affirmed his question with an hesitant nod. "Okay."

Mayura still looked tired and slightly sad. Again Shimon thought about Arima's request, one he had spoken in a low and dripping sweet voice. Could you look after Mayura-chan? And make sure she does not dwell onto her dream to much. Dark thoughts leave room for dark spirits.

How was he supposed to do that? It wasn't a question of accompanying her to missions. Her dark thoughts would come before and after missions.

He had thought about this before – from the moment he left Arima-san's office – and since he would be free on the weekend he might as well realize his plan he had been reluctant about at first. A plan to distract her. "Listen... I was thinking. Do you have plans for next Saturday?"

"Huh?" She looked at him questioningly with blinking eyes. She probably didn't expect the sudden change of subject.

He cleared his throat and tried to stay casually with his explanation. "I know these procedures. The doctors will subscribe me some rest for the weekend and you're looking like you could use a day of rest, too. So why shouldn't we go shopping or something?"

Her face turned red as fire. "Ye-es."

Clearly he was doing something wrong. He just did not know what it was. At least he wasn't forcing himself onto her like last time as Chiiko had implied when he had asked her, what he'd done wrong the day he and Mayura bought talisman holders. Instead of mentioning Mayura's sudden nervousness he chose to stay casual. "Great. Is there something you want to do?"

A giggle suddenly appeared from his right reminding him about the third person in the room. He had totally forgotten about the nurse. He looked at Mayura again. Now that he thought about it, maybe the nurse should take a look at Mayura who by now did not look sad and tired but was so red in the face she looked like she was suffocating. Had he just said something wrong again?

He wished Keiji would return soon to lighten the mood and spare himself from making things worse. How long did it take for his brother to get three cups of tea, anyway?

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(1) That spell is my own invention and I'm not proud of it. XD It's supposed to mean something like piercing cry. But I'm not that well reversed in Japanese.

(2) Nanase no harae - "Seven tides purification" used to transfer defilement. It is actually a ritual of early Shintoism with an Onmyoudou flavour from the Heian-period. Onmyoudou was originally just a practice to read prophecies. Only with the kami worship in the early Shintoism came the ideas of spirits and purification etc. Shintoism therefore is a mix of Buddhism and Onmyoudou. That's why I'm going to use Shintoism spells just like Sukeno-san. Probably not as accurate as he does though.^^

A/N: Comic relief is a virtue! (Hehe, Keiji is shipping ShiMayu, too. :P)

Don't forget to vote.^^