The Dream Shifter

Chapter 142

When the light finally came to an end and Akihiro could see finally the horror that he saw made his eyes widened almost letting his eyes fall out. Two of the teens that had been on the wall were missing and a blood spray was left on the wall. The next moment a low growl permeated the air setting everyone's hair on end. It was a primal growl that only knew the law of nature. A large transparent white tiger leapt over the wall and stood over Haruo in protection bearing its fangs at the boys.

Haruo's body remained still slowly bleeding into the ground. Above him the white tiger let a low growl seep through its teeth. It was pure white seeming almost divine. There was no hint on it that it had been the cause of the screaming and injuring of the missing two teens. Proof or not, Akihiro knew that it was the only one to have been able to do it.

Akihiro took an uncertain step back feeling an uneasiness in his skin. He looked at Haruo closer trying to see if he was dead or not. "What's goin' on?!" It was too difficult for him to tell if Haruo was alive and there was no chance of getting near with the beast hovering as his guardian. "It an'ther ability of tha kid?" He could not see over the wall at Yuki, but figured he was not looking in the best shape to be able to do it.

The remaining two punks on the wall were able to get a look at their companions having finally recovered from the initial shock of what happened. Unfortunately, the moment that they saw their friends they fell backwards running away from the sight. "T-they're…"

"R-r-ripped tah pi-pi-pieces!"

Akihiro narrowed his eyes trying to keep his composure. The fear was already attempting to creep into him. The mere presence of the creature was enough to c***k his resolve. He could not let it do anymore to him. "If its fer ya I'll just kill ya and it'll vanish!" Blades were summoned up from the ground once more around Haruo's body.

Chapter 82 – Emotional Control

The tiger took hold of Haruo's uniform in its semi-opaque mouth and jumped out of the blades just in time to keep Haruo safe. However, blood was still dripping from him in the air draining his life away. Akihiro tracked the beast launching more blades at it from any nearby surface. "Damn! Tha thing's fast!"

Across the property in the grass street Katsu had taken a momentary break from his enjoyment. He gave an unsympathetic glance to his frighten g**g members and the blood that dripped eerily down the wall from where the monster had attacked. "Seems like Hiro's having fun with the kid."

Yuki coughed a little and focused his eyes through the pain that he had been enduring. He gave a rough smirk to Katsu. "Guess it's time I gave up on this strategy…"

Katsu tilted his head to Yuki becoming a little curious what he might be planning now. "Oh? Still think you can get out of this?"

"Definitely!"

"You're copy is currently occupied with my boys and turning invisible won't help you here. You've nothing you can do!"

The teenager that was holding Yuki by his neck tightened his arm around in response to his confidence. Yuki coughed again grasping for air until he adjusted. He gave Katsu a very assured look. "I told you before…I'm complicated!" Yuki turned his eyes over to his copy for a moment. 'I guess I can't worry about what it'll happen once it's gone… Now or never!'

Yuki's clone that was fighting with Takaoka and his g**g suddenly came to a stop. He had let out a final grin before vanishing from their sight. The real Yuki gave a cunning smile as a thin ring of light broke from his feet unnoticed by anyone. A moment later the entire grass street became a massive pyre that stretched to the sky. The screams of those caught in the blast were nearly drowned out by the flames. Out of the wall of fire leapt Yuki completely unharmed by the fire landing on the b****y wall. He tilted his head back toward the fire feeling the heat whipping at his face. "That should be enough for now…"

He jumped down seeing the two bodies of the teenagers that he had heard screaming when the white light had blinded everyone. His face turned grim seeing their mutilated bodies. Yuki dropped to his knees trying to keep his emotions in check. "More deaths on my soul…I…" Suddenly one of the kids coughed shallowly alerting Yuki to him. A glimmer of hope returned to him as he checked the other boy as well seeing that he was barely hanging on still as well. "They aren't dead yet!"

There was a distant roar that pulled Yuki's face up towards the end of the property's grounds. "Haruo!" Yuki eyes had grown wide the instant he saw how badly Haruo was cut up from the fight. The animal slowly approached Yuki. The fierce merciless stare of its eyes never left Yuki. When it reached him it placed Haruo down in the grass. The beast's expression seemed to change almost understanding the kindness in Yuki. "You trust me?"

Haruo coughed painfully from his numerous internal wounds that were slowly killing him if it was not for the massive blood loss. It broke Yuki from any questions or concerns he might have had about the situation. "I've got to heal them, but I have to take down the other field. I guess they've suffered enough mental scarring. I hope I can do this in time."

Yuki closed his eyes concentrating on what he needed to do. Behind him the bright wall of flames evaporated into the air without a trace of having even been there before. An instant later a pale green glow was already coming from Yuki's hands as Haruo and the two punks were surrounded by the warmth. Wounds were quickly closing up and fixing themselves.

Katsu blinked as he had stopped screaming thinking that he had been on fire. The rest of his boys were collapsed on their knees in shock. Most were panting heavily from realness of what had just happened to them. "What's going on?" He turned his head around with his body trying to get a look at the area. Everything was exactly as it had been before with not even a blade of grass slightly singed for the blaze. "It was an illusion?" It was the only explanation that he could come up with from what he was soon. He was not even burned.

"Boss? What happ'ned?" Takaoka asked being the first one to stand back up on their own.

"Not completely sure…" He examined his hands still needed to have that physical proof that there was nothing wrong. 'The heat and pain all felt real! Is that another one of his powers? He some illusionist?' Katsu tried to figure out Yuki from what he had already seen; unfortunately even being illusions the clone was not a fake. He could tell from the fighting that Taka's group had it was certainly real.

When he started to think about Yuki more he realized that he could not see him anywhere. The harder he looked the less he liked the situation. There had been no sign of Haruo as well. "Something's not right. Start looking for them!" He began ordering around the teens even though they were still very shaken by the illusion.

Still out of sight for the moment, Yuki was almost finished with the work on the three boys. He had been listening to Katsu and it was making him anxious. 'I'm not too well hidden, but I don't need much more time!' The two street g**g members were taking more time to fix than Haruo, who was nearly completely finished. The wounds that they had withstood from the creature were far more grave and difficult to fix than patching up Haruo's cuts.

There were a few low groans from Haruo as he started to come around fully. The light that had covered him faded away. He felt a little stiff, but surprisingly well. Haruo looked at his hands and then clothes seeing all of the holes. 'I know that I was hurt, but the pain's all gone. How's this possible?' Once he could no longer find answers to what happened with himself he looked up. It had been in part to the green light that he finally noticed that pulled his eyes to Yuki. "What's going on? Why am I not injured?"

Yuki gave Haruo a puzzled look for a moment. "You sound disappointed. Would you rather be on death's door?"

"No, but how's this possible?"

"Because of me." Most of the work was working on its own at the stage that Yuki was at that he could afford a slight distraction. "My power allows me to do anything I need. In this case fast healing. I replaced the blood that you lost as well up to a safe point. Anatomy isn't my strength, but I figured you lost enough that you make it difficult for you focus or function." Yuki paused his words hearing some noise coming closer. They had been keeping their voices low, but it would not be enough. "You'll need it to be able to survive this…"

"I guess I'll have to accept that for now." Harou tested out his body a little while still keeping seated to remain out of sight. He knew that even after what happened that Katsu and his g**g would not give up until they found him. They would just hunt him down again and he would have to deal with it again. There was no longer any choice in what he had. 'This has to be resolved…' He turned his head to take in the area and found the transparent tiger lying down next to him waiting, somehow ignored by him through everything he had to absorb.

When he finally realized what it was that was next to him it making him panic almost. However, in the moments after there was an odd familiarity about the animal. He could not understand it, but there was something about it that he knew that he could trust. It almost felt like it was a part of him, distant yet connect through an invisible thread. "Is this…"

Yuki looked over at the tiger and nodded to Haruo as finished the last bit of the teens. "Yeah, I'm fairly certain that it's your power. Though you've got me on how it works." He shut down his field and moved the two boys out of the way near the wall to sleep off their time. Once they were taken care of Yuki moved to look around the wall trying to take in the surroundings. 'Surprised we got this lucky…' Yuki pulled back from the wall and approached Haruo. "They're more spread out, but we shouldn't have any trouble dealing with them. The one that I'm more concerned about is that guy Katsu and his power…"

Haruo stood up ignoring whether he would be spotted or not. "This is my problem. You're free from his g**g. I'll handle this alone." The tiger that had been looking like it was almost sleeping rose up sticking close to his side. Haruo began to walk for the gate of the house building his determination back.

"Hey!" Yuki reached out for Haruo's arm, but the tiger that had been ignoring him up till that point turned on Yuki. It gave him a deep growl making Yuki back off. "They aren't just planning on beating you up a little and calling it a day! They're out for blood now! You need my help to deal with them!"

"Just stay out of sight and keep yourself out of their hands. I don't need anyone's help." Haruo rebuffed him quickly and pushed through the gate of the property. While most of the punks that could still hold it together were scattered off looking for them Katsu was still standing in the middle of the grass waiting. "I'm here, Katsu," Haruo said evenly. Haruo's tiger walked up behind him staying at his side looking ready to pounce at a moment's notice.