Chapter 24,

Kameko fell to the ground coughing up heaps of water. Just behind her was Ichirou dodging a mixture of water and rocks, flipping, running, jumping like an acrobat. Unlike Kameko who was weighed down by her heavy armour, he was doing much better at having not been hit once since the battle began. Kameko on the other hand was having a much more difficult time, having been hit countless times she was sure bruises were forming all over her body and her head was spinning. She was seriously ready for this battle to be over and done with. Yet Kameko got up once again and rushed at the monster with her swords, it was distracted and she slashed at its massive rock leg with her short swords.

The rock and water golem tilted its head down at her, drew back its leg and struck her, making her fly back once again. 'Alright, my swords are not working at all.' Kameko thought to her self as she picked herself up again. She needed a new plan. Kameko looked at her bag that was hidden under a small rock pile near the woods and thought about all the drawing inside her book. None of them would be able to work. She could ask Ichirou to keep it busy while she drew something useful, but her mind was blank about what could possibly beat it. If Ichirou could get close enough then he could speed up the Golems ageing prosses and kill it that way. But it was as if the Golem knew of Ichirou's Alice because the Golem refused to allow him to get close. 'I'll distract it then. That's something I could do.' Kameko, feeling a little useless at this point, took off her armour and ran at the monster.

"Hey over here!" Kameko yelled at the monster. The golem and Ichirou stopped fighting and looked at her, Ichirou asked what she was doing, but Kameko ignored him and continued to wave her arms and back away slowly. "Come at me you big loser, if you could even catch me." Kameko's bones were screaming at her to stop moving, but she knew she had to help. Ichirou, understanding what she was up too, crept up on the Golem from behind. Kameko smiled and looked back up at the Golem. It was much faster than she anticipated, The Golem was running at her at top speed and was upon her in a matter of seconds. Kameko tried to dodge the monster like Ichirou was doing earlier, but she was not ready for the speed of this monster. The rock fist came flying at her face and, unable to dodge, sent her tumbling to the ground. Smashing her head against the ground, she lost consciousness.

Darkness, pain, couldn't move, Kameko laid floating in an endless sea of pitch black unknown to her as she floated. The pain was very obvious to her, she couldn't escape it, it was all over, she knew if she tried to sit up she would just fall back down. So she laid there, floating endlessly. She could hear someone calling out to her, but she ignored it, trying to focus was too painful. In the mitts of floating she could feel herself being moved around. It hurt but she couldn't control it.

'Please, I can't loos you.' Kameko heard the words vibrate through her head. God it hurt, she wished whoever was talking would just shut up. Her face was getting dripped on. Water? Grey clouds formed overhead and started to rain. Kameko groaned and tried to shield herself, but moving hurt too much so she just let the rain fall on her.

'Kameko?!' Again those words where all around her much louder than before. She ground again in pain, why won't it stop? She was moving again, then it all stopped she was on something cold, uncomfortable and hard. Grey, flat, rock formed underneath her. Kameko much prefered floating. Then warmth and cracking sounds were all around her. It was nice, the noise was calming and the warmth felt good on her aching body. Kameko smiled in bliss and drifted off again.

Kameko opened her eyes and was hit with a wave of pain. She groaned and held her head.

"Kameko?" Ichirou crawled over.

"Not so loud, please." She begged. "Hurts too much." Kameko looked around, they were in some cave different from the one they used a day ago. "Where are we?"

"A cave I found near the Golem. A bear was living here but I got him to go away. Don't look at like that, I had too. You were unconscious I had to find somewhere to stay while you were out!" Ichirou defended himself.

"Okay, Okay stop talking so damn loud." Kameko covered her ears. "As long as you didn't kill it... I'm sorry," Kameko muttered after a short while.

"For what?" Ichirou questioned giving her a confused look.

"I messed up. I couldn't help you at all, I got knocked out, you had to take on the Golem alone and then carry, and take care of me." Kameko had tears in her eyes. "I couldn't do anything, I'm such a screw-up."

"Are you kidding me?" Ichirou almost yelled. "You helped me out so much. Without you, I wouldn't have been able to get close to the Golem. We won because of you." Ichirou tried to reassure her. But Kameko shook her head slightly.

"No, we could have done much better if I could think of something to draw to save us. But I had nothing. So instead I distract it only to end up losing like that. Did you beat it in the end or did we have to retreat because of me?"

"No, No, I killed it with my Alice and found the object Kaname wanted. All because of you." Ichirou held up a bottle. "When I saw the Golem hit you and you weren't getting back up like always... I didn't know what to do. I killed it with my Alice and ran over to you, you weren't moving and barely breathing. I picked you up and you started making noise, I was so relieved, I brought you here and went to get our stuff when I knew you'd be safe. You really scared me. I'm so happy you're okay. " Ichirou gave a sincere smile held her hand. Kameko gave a weak chuckle.

"Don't worry, you won't have to walk back to the academy." Kameko sat up and held her head.

"What do you mean?" Ichirou asked, confused.

"Well, if I died you'd have to walk back right? But I'll be okay so I can draw us a ride home."

"That's not why I'm happy you're okay-"Kameko's stomach growled.

"Well, whatever, I'm hungry. Do we have food left over?" Ichirou sighed and went over to his backpack.

"Not much." Ichirou pulled out a small handful of rations. "Just this." Kameko chuckled.

"you gluten, how much did you eat while I was out?" Ichirou glared.

"I had to eat, you were out for a few days." Ichirou nearly yelled again. But Kameko didn't care, she was more concerned with what he said.

"A... A few days? How long exactly?" Kameko looked at him in alarm. Ichirou's face softened.

"Three days." Kameko gapped at him. Three days? Kameko was not ready to hear that, She figured she was only out less than a day, or a day at most but this was way too long. Kameko got up, swaying a little bit, Ichirou rushed to her side and kept her in balance. "You should keep laying down." Concern evident in his voice.

"No, I've been sleeping for too long. It's time to go home." Kameko walked over to her bag and took out her book. "I've made you stay here all alone. Let's go." Ichirou tired to keep helping her but Kameko brushed him off her.

"Let me help you, You're obviously weak," Ichirou interjected.

"Yeah, I am!" Kameko turned on him. "And I hate it, I'm so weak I can't do anything alone. I suck at fighting, I take way too long to recover, I can't help you in any way at all. I'm the worst partner ever and I always end up needing help. I let my emotions get the better of me every single time... It's time I grew up, take care of myself and not rely on anyone."Kameko was shaking and crying again.

"There's nothing wrong with asking for help Kameko." Ichirou held her wrist. "You're not weak, You're just weak right now because you were injured. Kameko." Ichirou called out to her. "You're strong in the sense of not giving up. You're not as good as fighting as I am, that's because I was taught at a younger age. I've been in this game longer than you. Everyone messed up every now and again. Remember when I was teaching you how to fight and you cut my arm? I messed up that time didn't I?" Kameko lowered her head but nodded. "There's nothing wrong with showing emotion when your with someone you can trust. As I have told you before, you can rely on me anytime." Kameko looked up at him tears streaming down her face.

"I don't know what to do!" Kameko sobbed, letting it all out. "I'm so lost and confused, everything is so new and scary. Fighting monsters, having adventures is all I ever wanted while growing up. But now that I'm here, I don't know what to do. Who to trust. When we first met you were mean and intimidating, then you just kinda changed for no reason that I could see, So is it all an act? Are you just pretending to be nice, so I trust you? Are you just waiting to betray me? Yuuka was nice to me right away, she offered me her friendship. Told me about herself, confided in me. But I fucked up, and now she hates me. Threatened me, used her Alice on me, and now if I try to talk to Ren or Kaoru, she'll kill me. Why does Kaname want these things? Am I helping the bad guys or the good guys? Am I just a pawn in someone else's game? Do I even matter? Or can I just be discarded when I'm not needed anymore? Is just ending it all better than being here? Would anyone even notice?"

Kameko's leg couldn't hold her up anymore, With all her emotions pouring out, her body weak from the fight, she collapsed. Sitting down with her legs covering her chest, Kameko buried her crying face in her knees. Ichirou watched her break down in front of him. "I would care." He sat next to her. "And to tell you the truth." Ichirou started, "This whole missions thing is also confusing me. When I found the bottle in the middle of the ash that used to be the golem and picked it up, the ground once again transformed from green lush fields to dead grass. Not black like the other mission but all life was sucked out of the area. I don't know whats going on, but should we even bring this to Kanem? But we have to, Kaname was nothing but nice to me since I became a special star student. And I don't know what will happen if I don't obey her... The reason I was so mean to you was that I wanted to see what you'd do. Obviously, it was not a smart move, but we all make mistakes. And I'm sorry. I mess up." Kameko made an odd mix of a laugh and a sob.

"I guess we're a couple of screw-ups." Ichirou smiled and hugged her. Kameko didn't move. Stiff as a board she let him hug her. She hadn't received a hug since her mother hugged her goodbye. "I-Ichirou?" Kameko's voice shook. "Are you okay?" Ichirou released her.

"Sorry, I didn't know what else to do. my body just acted on its own." He gave a weak smile. Kameko blushed and smiled back.

Kameko sat in class half paying attention to what Mr Aoi was teaching, she looked over to Yuuka's desk which sat empty. 'She must be on a mission.' Kameko looked over to Karou and Ren who were taking notes in silence. Wishing she had someone to talk too she thought about accepting a counsellor. 'I guess I could just confide in Ichirou. Counselling won't work, I might not be able to open up to them.' Kameko started to doodle.

The bell rang and Kameko gathered up her books. Lunchtime, Kameko was so used to eating on the rooftop with Yuuka, but now she'll have to find somewhere else to eat alone. Just like in her old school. Kameko got her food and ate in silence alone while she drew in the book. Before long the bell rang again and she was back in class being bored. 'Is this just how it's going to be now?' Kameko thought to her self. 'Just sitting in class waiting for it to be over? It was fun with Yuuka.' She took notes. Soon the school day was over for the day and Kameo was walking back to her dorm room.

The day went by so fast, but not in a typical fun way, everything was just skipping her by as she walked back to her dorm room with her book in her arms. Head hung low she listened as people around her were laughing and playing with their friends. Kameko sighed.

A blond golden cat sat on her red velvet pillow looking down at the phial Ichirou and Kamiko brought to her on their first mission. A small blue pearl was inside the glass container, the cat knew that if she tried to take the stone out it would shatter into tinny little pieces. Kaname morphed back into her human self, bottle in hand she opened a cabinet filled with phials of all the same shape and size all with a faint glow emitting from them. Kaname smirked triumphantly, she added one more bottle to her collection and closed the doors.

"Is everything ready?" Akifumi asked from where Kaname was sitting. She turned to her husband.

"Almost. We just need one more little important ingredient." Akifumi shook his head.

"Hasn't she been through enough?" Kaname's smile left her face to be replaced with a frown.

"Not nearly enough."

Wow, that one took a little longer than anticipated but here it is. Sorry everyone for taking so long but I'm losing interest in this :(

I will try my best to finish the story, but I am sorry I wouldn't hold my breath. Thank you all so much for reading, and as always have a good one BYE BYE!