Chapter 36

Hanzo immediately backs away before the Higanbana would scratch him. He knew too well that if he is cut by it, even if it's just a little, it would cause immense pain because of the demonic power it possesses.

Nephila still persists in attacking him so Hanzo has no choice but to summon his Ame no Habakiri. Their weapons crash against each other as they go all over the place.

Gritting his teeth, Hanzo cannot bring himself to hurt Hanabi. May it be out of guilt... or maybe love? But seeing her changed into something he did not expect is a shock.

"You," Hanabi states as she pauses for a while, "seem familiar."

Just then, Hanabi remembers the night she went out with Kenshin. He was the person whom Kenshin attacked with a reason that he did not tell yet.

"Speak to me after you remember who I am," Hanzo claims as he charges towards her. With his sword parallel to the ground, he could knock her off unconscious but even with a swift swing of his weapon, Hanabi dodges it with much ease. She vanishes in front of him and he felt her presence behind him. Hanabi is about to thrust her kunai right behind him but all she hits is a black puff of smoke.

She summons her Higanbana once more and jumps back, only to see Hanzo hitting the solid ground with a loud thud that cracked upon receiving the damage from his weapon. This time, it is her chance to grab victory. Her spider limbs from behind appear with a simultaneous clicking sound.

With her stealth improved, she lunges forward and before Hanzo could defend himself, the kunai pierces through his flesh right in his abdomen. Looking right into her eyes, he sees a new version of Hanabi. The woman in front of him seems to be not the Hanabi he once knew before.

Still, he holds her wrist with a tight clutch and forces her to remove the kunai even if she is resisting.

"You have improved a lot," he states with a low tone of voice, "but you are fighting for the wrong thing."

Hanabi smirked while staring daggers at him. She pushes him and before he could do anything else, she lifts her right foot and kicks him right where she wounded him. The demonic power from her kunai that infiltrated his body starts to crawl around Hanzo's body—weakening him bit by bit.

"You have grown weaker, Hanzo," she states while her Higanbana turns on her hand, swishing against the wind. The power of the Ame no Habakiri that resides within Hanzo tries to defy the demonic power, thus, causing more pain.

Hearing her words makes the Akuma ninja look up to her whilst being on his knees. Her red-colored eyes that seem to radiate her bloodthirst stare directly at him.

"You think so?" he responds before vanishing in sight, leaving no trace at all. Hanabi stands where she is—unmoving—and tries to sense her surroundings. She closes her eyes and heightens her hearing ability. A swift change of wind behind her catches her attention and Hanzo did appear behind her. But with her limbs that serve as her legs, she manages to distance herself from him and shoots her kunais. And to corner him, she throws her Higanbana beyond that would come back flying before he knew it.

With another kunai at hand, she charges towards him.

"For what reason did you come here for?" Hanabi asks she comes in contact with him who gets to block her sets of kunais. To weaken Hanabi without much hurting her and to neutralize the demonic power inside his body, Hanzo opens the portal of soul reap. Ranging from about half a kilometer, the area is under his control. His soul reap is a portal, not to other dimensions, that he could drain his enemies' energy and uses it on his own advantage—either heal or strengthen himself. And just as how its name states, it is also a portal that could separate a soul from a body.

"To stop this insanity you got involved in," Hanzo replies as he walks towards her. Kneeling in front of her, he holds her chin and lifts it up to meet her deadly glare.

"Judging with your looks and behavior, I bet you remember me?" he adds, "And this mess you and whoever those you are with, is this what you came here for? You abandoned your duty for this kind of shit?"

Unable to fight back due to her energy being sucked out of her, Hanabi could not stand on both feet. And seeing Hanzo still the arrogant brat he was before, it annoys her.

She flashes a smile of bitterness and snarls, "You do not know anything."

Scoffing at her response, Hanzo tightens his grip on her and with gritted teeth, "How am I supposed to know when you disappeared without saying anything?"

His words strike her—it is the truth, that is why. She remembers the night she left the infirmary where Hanzo was treated when he was poisoned but it was the best choice she had that time. She could not say anything but she did know one thing—turning her into Nephila is against her will. But the kindness that the other VENOM squad members showed changed her perspective. Along the way, she came to love herself being the Nephila and that magic cube that Gusion wanted, she wants to lend him a hand to get it.

"Gusion and the others," she states, "they never rubbed my weaknesses right on my face. They never judged me by my own weakness alone. They never isolated me in the group and accepted me. Those things that I should have received from you, they are the ones who did it! Now, tell me, is this insanity?"

And before Hanzo could respond, the Higanbana comes rushing back towards him. But thinking that she could finally regain her strength and defeat him, it is a wrong speculation since Hanzo's Ame no Habakiri blocks the attack. He is about to bring her to Lesley so she could take the serum but even before he could touch her, Gusion intervenes. He comes flashing like a lightning strike with his daggers glowing green in the dark.

Hanabi's eyes widen in shock as she sees the scarlet blood that came from Hanzo. She could not move as Gusion and Hanzo fight against each other right before her. Though she knows that Hanzo is a skilled assassin, she is afraid that Gusion might overpower him, especially that he also excels in controlling light elements. And what truly worries her is that the soul portal seems to be ineffective on Gusion, if she won't stop her, then he might kill him without showing any mercy.

"For some reason, you annoy me," Gusion states as his dagger screech against Hanzo's weapon. But then, he keeps his distance upon sensing the unusual energy from the Ame no Habakiri.

"The feeling's mutual, you strange-looking whatever you are," the Akuma ninja replies with gritted teeth. He is already close in bringing Hanabi back to her usual self but this guy just knows when to perfectly intervene.

"Please, stop." Those are the words that came out from her mouth but it isn't loud enough. She crawls her way to their direction, wanting them to stop before they could hurt each other. She curses under her breath for being such a weakling up until that moment. The inferiority she felt before also comes to haunt her again.

But then, the hooded man she met just a few hours ago appears before her and carries her in his arms. Accepting his help, Hanabi asks for yet another favor.

"Stop them, Kenshin," she begs but for the first time, Kenshin did not oblige like how he did in the past. "Please."

"You are my top priority," he replies before taking her away.

"Hanabi!"

"Nephila!"

The two assassins halt in their fight upon seeing Nephila being taken by a man they do not know of.

"This is all your fault!" Hanzo snarls at the Emperor Scorpion as they run side to side to catch up with the hooded man.

"Shut up, weakling! Taking her back is the priority," he replies. And seeing the wound he just inflicted in him healing on its own, it annoys him for it makes it look like he is no threat in front of him. But he has to set that aside and save Hanabi before it is too late.

"Who is that, anyway?" Hanzo asks but just like him, Gusion has no idea as well. He thinks that it could be Kenshin since he is the only man that Hanabi is close with other than them but the power he emits is different.

"I don't know," Gusion replies, "but it could be her man."

"Fuck you," Hanzo curses under his breath before running ahead of the VENOM squad leader.

Now that Hanabi regains her memories, lies, and truths that have been fed to her starts to clear up. Though she comes to understand some things, confusion still lingers. It seems to devour her for she cannot determine if Kenshin is still her enemy or an ally now.

"What's wrong?" Kenshin asks when he feels the stare of the woman he is carrying.

"Why did you lie to me, Kenshin?" she asks.