The Dream Shifter

Chapter 158

Before any answers or greetings could be exchanged though, Seiji burst out of the line up and charged Yuki. Taken completely by surprise, he decked Yuki hard nearly dropping him if that had actually been his intention. "What's the hell matter with you?!"

Yori and Fumiko managed to sweat a little surprised and stunned by his solution. "Guess he really does only think with his fists," commented Yori.

"Yeah, after all that about saving his energy. He probably only was doing it so that he could punch him…"

Seiji snapped his head back at the two commenting on him. "Stop with your commentary!"

"He's got good hearing…"

"Yuki!" screamed Yumi coming quickly to his aid. She tore him away from Seiji so that he could not be beat up any further. "What do you think you're doing!? Punching him isn't the solution!"

Seiji looked down at the girl's pleading face, but held his ground. "I know him better than any of you do! I know what'll get through to him!"

Amongst the arguing Yuki pulled himself back to reality. The sore throbbing pain in his cheek told him that something happened. In his confused state he tried to figure out why his face hurt so much. Eventually, he realized that Yumi and Seiji were standing in front of him yelling. The pieces quickly fell into place for him afterwards. Yuki pressed forward pushing at Seiji. "You hit me didn't you! Why?"

Yuki's voice pierced through Yumi's yelling with Seiji. Seiji immediately turned to face him no longer interested in what Yumi had to say to him. "What do you think you're doing here? Planning on leaving without telling anyone?"

The accuracy of his accusation made Yuki lean away from Seiji in hesitation. 'This is what I wanted to avoid.' Yuki remained quiet not giving Seiji a response.

"You got anything to say?!"

While Yuki held his lips shut, Yumi uneasily watched them. As the seconds passed for her it became more difficult for her to keep quiet. She understood the reason for why Yuki left without a word. She was certain that Yori and Fumiko knew as well. 'There's nothing going to be gained from forcing Yuki to say it. I've got to do something!' Yumi stepped between the two boys locking stares with Seiji. He did not scare her despite the intimidating aura he was amassing around him. "I think it's pretty clear why Yuki did what he did! Beating him up won't change that!"

Seiji started to protest, but Fumiko and Yori appeared at his sides and started to pull him away. "Just give him some room. Pretty sure you'll figure out once you calm down."

"Stop patronizing me!"

Fumiko looked over to Yori and commented to him, "The little ninja girl's right. He does know big words."

"I have a name you know. I'd suggest you use it in the future," Chiharu ordered lowly appearing behind Fumiko.

"You?!" shouted Fumiko stumbling away from Chiharu and Seiji. The sight of the little girl before her had stolen her breath and a year of life, she was quite certain. It took her a while to recover enough for words. "When did you get here?! I thought you decided against coming!"

Chiharu narrowly glared at the tall girl like she was trying to make it seem like the height made no difference, which considering her entrance managed pretty successfully. She did not even give an acknowledging glance to Yuki as she examined everyone that was present. A slight lowering of her eyebrow was all she gave. Once she finished she looked back at Fumiko. "It's for me to decide what I do. An explanation to you is unnecessary."

Fumiko recovered enough by that point to become offended by the little girl's arrogant attitude. While she might have been using her height as an advantage, her perception of the ninja being small made her fear her less than before. "Now listen you!"

"See!" interjected Seiji seeing a moment to find a comrade against his obnoxious foe. "You understand why I can't stand her!"

Haruo sighed to himself already starting to regret his decision to follow them. The idea of a group of noisy kids made him want to turn around. 'Perhaps it would have been better to remain behind after all…'

Through all of the confusion, Yuki happened to glance around noticing Haruo keeping to himself. "Hey, Haruo!" he yelled out cheerfully, seemingly forgetting the fact that he did not want all of his friends around him. Yuki noticed the wincing Haruo, from being spotted, and he grinned.

During the greetings, Seiji had a surprising moment awareness and clarity. He threw his hand out pointing over at Haruo appearing to be accusing him. "How did you get here? Were you following us the whole way?"

A couple of the teens exchanged looks feeling equally curious to know how Haruo had found them. Yumi came out from around Yuki wanting to invite Haruo into the group, seeing out far away he kept himself. "Is that true? You were following us? You could have just walked with us."

He hardly wanted to explain himself to them. Providing a reason for others was not one of the things that tried to give. It seemed more the case that they should just accept the outcome and not pry. However, when he glanced at Yuki he received a look from him that tried to encourage him. Haruo got the feeling that Yuki wanted him to take the opportunity. He remained reluctant, but gave into the request. It was in a fact a simple one. "I was following about a kilometer behind."

"What?! A kilometer!" Seiji's incredulous reaction drove him over to Haruo needing more of an answer. He peered down at Haruo with a demanding expectation in his stance. "That's impossible! You couldn't even see us in this darkness!" He pressed his position nearly invading the same footing with Haruo to get an explanation that made sense to him.

Lacking the height against Seiji did not make a difference for him. The rough exterior of Seiji had no effect over him either, considering his past. Standing his ground unaffected made more of an impression than words. "I tracked your smell."

"My smell?" Confusion for Seiji dropped in first, but followed by something less expected. Rather than becoming angry for what could have been easily seen as an insult Seiji started to check himself. He wondered if there was something that he was missing and everyone else had kept to themselves. "I don't know what you're talking about. Just because I slept outside doesn't mean I smell! You some sort of dog?"

"No, I had my blood hounds track you."

Seiji looked around Haruo trying to find the dogs that he spoke of, but failed. "I don't see them. Where are they?"

"I released them. I don't need them at this moment."

"That's enough. You shouldn't keep pressuring him," interrupted Yumi. She saw that the half answers that Haruo was responding with finally starting to get on Seiji's nerves. They had just begun to get along together and she did not want to jeopardize that so soon.

The priest-in-training begrudged her the request. However, he stomped back over towards Fumiko. It did not seem that he was finished yet. He had not forgotten about Chiharu. "And what about you? You keep popping in out of nowhere like you're some sort of shadow! How'd you get here?"

"I tracked you by your smell," she mocked. It did not matter to her how much it was pissing him off. She allowed herself a small curl at the end of her lips being certain that she could see his face turning red with anger. "You're an easy one."

"Why you…"

After one fire was fought off Yumi dragged herself in to prevent yet another one. She forced her body between them separating them. "Don't fight again!" Yumi fixed them with a long glare each that actually seemed to work in making them back down.

Yuki managed some awe shocked looks watching Yumi handling everyone with surprising ease. He leaned over to Ayumi while Yumi finished up with them. "What happened to Yumi? I don't remember her ever being this direct or commanding."

"Perhaps she's showing off for someone."

"Showing off for who?"

She sighed in her own regret for thinking that Yuki would understand without her saying it directly. Her hand brushed through her hair taking a pause for consideration. It did not seem to be worth the effort. "Does it really matter? She's keeping them under control. You should be glad."

The sudden change in attitude from Ayumi took Yuki back a step. He felt like she was attacking him in an ever so slight manner. It made him stop to watch Yumi walking back to him. "Guess you're right. She actually looks pretty cool out their putting Seiji in his place." Yuki became drawn in a little by the changing that Yumi created before his eyes.

An interrupting glare from Ayumi broke him free. He worked to shake off the strange feeling. Yuki realized in the next moment that he needed an answer. "I'm glad to see everyone again, but why are you all here?"

"I think that's pretty obvious! Same reason as me!" Saki shouted from behind Yuki, arriving late.

Yuki turned around surprised and glad to see Saki had finally come. A quick second of relief flowed over him before he ran over to meet her. "Saki! You were able to find us!"

She saw Yuki coming at her looking to give an overly excited hug. Saki took a swift side step, which blurred briefly, dodging Yuki's tackle. As Yuki began to trip from missing her, she reached out to stop him. "You know I wouldn't leave you to go off into the unknown without me!" Afterward, she positioned him back into an upright stance.

"Thanks…" Yuki said slowly hesitating a little after nearly being left to fall over. He looked back at the rest of his friends that Yumi had managed to wrangle in closer. Seeing how many that showed up left him a little surprised. He had not expected that people he had barely met, except under extreme circumstances, wanted to help him. It certainly pleased him and worried him. The thing he feared the most if he had told anyone had happened. 'I can understand Seiji, but everyone else? Why? When it'll be so dangerous? Do they even know how dangerous it is?'

Yuki swallowed slowly still taking it all in. He checked back with Saki seeking some support. Unfortunately, Saki seemed to be fine with them coming and silently disagreed with Yuki's giving into his fears. It felt like they were all backing him into a corner; however he could not let it stand. "You want to come with me? Do you even know what I'm going to be doing?"

Yumi made an acknowledging nod along with a couple of the others. "We may not know everything, but we do know enough to make a decision. You're going to confront the people trying to kill you." She held back on her fear that he would be planning on remaining. It was too early to try to start changing his mind.

"And those people are very dangerous. Look what one of them did to the school! There'll be plenty more like that where I'm going. These aren't the sort of people that you can handle with conventional thinking."

"If a weakling like you managed to survive the assassins, then there shouldn't be any problems."

The attitude that Chiharu had did not surprise Yuki much, but he knew that she did not have any clue to what was actually happening. She was never around when he used his powers or any of the assassins. "Don't underestimate them with a cocky attitude. They are nothing like the ninjas you've faced.

Chiharu attempted to bark back a quick retort, but Yumi cut her off. "We understand the dangers. Some of us have seen firsthand what they can do. We knew before we decided and we still came."