The Dream Shifter

Chapter 105

The fading warmth in her body was able to smile softly to him. "…th..ank…you…" A constant ringing filled the room. There was a moment of silence as Yuki froze.

He snapped his head up towards her breaking away the tears that sprayed through the air trying to see that his mother was still alive. "Mother! I'll keep smiling for you if you just open your eyes! So please! Please…open your eyes just once more for me…" There was no response from her apart from the lasting smile that was left on her face with the ringing in his ears. "Mother! Please just once more…open your eyes! I promise! Mother!" Yuki head fell into the sheets weeping and screaming until his throat ran dry. Yet he continued even when his voice gave out. None of the doctors or nurses dared to enter the room. After his voice had been lost and his tears dry Yuki stood up and left the room in silence. It would be a silence that he kept for a month with no one able to understand what he was thinking.

"No! That's a lie!" the boy shouted trying to deny what Yuki had just seen.

"It's the truth! You never made a promise with her to stop fighting! You made with yourself!"

"It was me?!" Yuki said still not able to believe what he had seen. He had thought that he knew his memories, but they had become twisted somehow. As the realization suddenly set in there a massive weight released for him and a new light shining that he had not seen in so long.

A distant voice from his past came whispering him. "You got into a fight again, Yuki? Remember your fists are to protect others. Promise me, you'll use them to protect the ones you love, Yuki." The voice belonged to his mother when Yuki was still young. Yuki was able to remember how she had always scolded him about his fighting and that she made him promise that every time got into a fight.

'That's right! It was after father died and I started fighting anyone I saw. She would always make me promise even though I kept getting into fights. When mother got sick I blamed myself; I thought that it was because I hadn't kept that promise. But now I remember the truth!' He could look forward once more with a clear heart and mind. "I will, mother! I have the power to protect my friends and I will use it!" Yuki shouted up to the ceiling with the ground suddenly shining. The cracks began to appear in the earthen wall that protected him. Violent waves were issuing forth from feet with each coming faster than the next. The boy held a worried look on his face before he faded away. The child faded away in silence with an almost sinister grin on his face.

Outside Demosthenes began to march forward not waiting for the dust cloud to disappear. However, he came to a stop when he felt the ground shaking suddenly. Soon beams of light burst from the cloud followed by pulsing waves. "Is it…" A wind broke from the epicenter pushing away the cloud. The stone fortress that had protected Yuki was developing numerous cracks making Demosthenes' eyes narrow in concern. A moment later the entire field shattered to pieces vaporizing into the air as Yuki stepped out.

The wind blew up again spiraling around Yuki as a light covered him. Pulled into the center were particles that laid upon his body shining brighter until shattered away to reveal new clothes. He was wearing a distinctly more Asian inspired wardrobe that crossed between a formal robes and a fighter's gi. Yuki had a new look in his eyes as he stared down Demosthenes with unseen determination. "I won't let you hurt my friends any longer, Demosthenes. I promise will protect everyone!"

Monou High School stood in silence with not even a stone tumbling. A hush had been drawn over the land for the moment that two fierce pairs of eyes exchanged looks. The sun high above looked down about the battlefield with anticipation as the two stood unmoved for seconds. A strong gust was the signal to break when Yuki turned away from Demosthenes towards Saki lying on the ground still desperately fighting to stay conscious.

He knelt down to lift up her head seeing her light blue eyes defiantly staring up to him. A gentle calm came over his eyes as he watched. "It'll be alright, Saki. Let me protect you now. You've been protecting me for long enough."

She could not answer him immediately, but through the pause gained some strength. "…Yuki…please…"

"I know, Saki," he said brushing aside a few strains of her black hair that had gotten in her face. "But I can't stand by and watch my friends be hurt because of me. You know how much that hurts me."

Saki coughed before her closed her eyes momentarily in understanding. As she stared at him there was a different look that she had not seen in such a long time. 'Yuki's willing to fight, but it's not because he's doing it to enjoy it. There's a kind, gentle look in his eyes like when he was much younger. Please stay like that, Yuki…'

He laid her back down on the ground. Yuki stood back and closed his eyes for a moment. Green waves burst from his feet quickly expanding out beyond the school faintly disappearing. Particles of energy lifted up from the grass, sidewalk and wall filling the air with a dancing show of lights. The energy began to be drawn into groups as it hovered over students that lay on the ground and entering their bodies filling them with warmth. Wounds, scrapes and bruises were all quickly mended together restoring vitality to them. Voices were murmuring across the school grounds as the light faded away.

"Everyone listen up!" Yuki declared across the field with a loud as possible voice. "Once you can move please run away out of the school." There was a pause in his words as he thought back to what they had all done for him to protect him. "I'm grateful that you protected me, but this is my fight to deal with now. I don't want anyone else to be hurt because of me."

Demosthenes watched on monitoring the skill of Yuki having become curious. He could clearly tell that he was no longer staring at the same child he had faced the day before. The change that he had undergone was sudden and drastic; if he moved without knowing his enemy it would only mean inviting death. 'He's able to heal this many people at once? Does he truly bare the power of the King?'

Saki stood up walking over to Yuki once she had been healed. "Yuki, let me fight with you!" She was clinching her fists tightly trying to hold down the boiling emotions that were threatening to rage with her.

"This is his fight, Saki," Ayumi said flatly as she approached from the opposite side. Her stance was completely ignoring the fact that she had been injured previous, while many of the student felt compelled almost to hobble away.

"But I—"

"Hey, wake up man!" Hiroshi shouted in panic as fear was woven through his voice. They all turned around running over to Hiroshi's side where Kazuhiro was laying. Kazuhiro's still body was unmoved by Hiroshi's shaking. All of the wounds that he had suffered were repaired, but he still remained unconscious.

Yuki knelt down next to Hiroshi staring at Kazuhiro emotionless face trying to find life. He turned back over to Ayumi to looking for an answer from her. "Why isn't he waking up? I healed his injuries!"

Ayumi joined them on the opposite side examining his body before checking for a pulse at his neck. She looked up at Yuki once she had finished. "He's dead," she hollowly said.

"What?! But I healed him, Ayumi! He should have been fine!"

"You can't bring back the dead, Yuki. You can fix his body, but not his soul."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Hiroshi looking between them. He was still holding on to his friend's hand. Tatsuya had finally joined them hearing the worried voices. Hiroshi was barely keeping his voice from failing him hearing Ayumi's declaration.

Ayumi stood up starting to walk away from the scene. It was not her place to be. However, Hiroshi grabbed her wrist quickly holding her from leaving. "What do you want?"

"Fix him, damn it! I-I…" Hiroshi's features were wavering under his emotions. His lips were quivering from the thought that his friend was really dead. "I know! I know about you! I don't understand it, but you can fix him!"

Everyone froze when Ayumi loudly slapped Hiroshi across the face. "Dead means dead! We aren't gods!" There was hidden emotion behind the words that she spoke with a meaning that only she could understand.

Hearing the words had hit Hiroshi hard as he collapsed to the ground next to his friend. Tatsuya remained quiet trying to hold back tears. "…Kazuhiro…"