Ms. Celsi [4]

Arca was sent flying again, while at the same time, Aswa - who was facing away from Celsi - placed his hand behind him.

This prevented him from being thrown back because he was holding onto Celsi's leg. He then pulled her forward before turning around to deliver a punch to Celsi's face.

*CRACK!*

Celsi blocked it by grabbing his fist.

Aswa followed up with a backflip kick (jumping backward into a 360° rotation and kicking with one leg at the peak of the spin).

*WHOOSH* *CRACK!*

Celsi blocked the attack with her hand.

At that moment, Celsi realized the boy's strength - the ground beneath her feet slightly cratered from the impact.

"You can see my movements too? No... you're just using tricks! Just like that other brat!!" Celsi seemed momentarily surprised.

"Finally got to attack you!" Aswa said with a grin.

For a few seconds, Celsi's vision turned white again. She saw the image of a small child within Aswa, smiling at her.

Aswa then grabbed the hand Celsi had used to block him and performed a handstand on it, his body facing away from Celsi.

From this position, he delivered a downward kick with his heel aimed at Celsi's left shoulder.

"Enough playing around!" Celsi declared.

She released her grip on Aswa's hand, causing him to fall from his handstand position.

But this only made Aswa's kick land faster.

*CRACK!*

Aswa was sent flying to Celsi's left, crashing into a goalpost after being hit by a backfist strike (a sideways punch with the left hand).

*WHOOSH* A brick came flying toward Celsi.

Celsi simply tilted her head to avoid it.

Arca then charged at Celsi.

Just as Arca realized Celsi had disappeared, she reappeared above him, performing a handstand with her hands planted on his shoulders.

Celsi tightly gripped Arca's shoulders before executing an acrobatic throw, slamming him into the ground.

*CRACK!*

She followed up with an axe kick (raising her leg straight up before driving her heel downward).

*THUD!*

The kick landed squarely on Arca's face. After that, neither of them moved, and the battlefield fell completely silent.

Celsi paused for a moment before looking up at the pouring rain.

Behind her lay an unconscious Aswa. The scene reminded her of an unforgettable event from her past.

Celsi's vision turned white as she recalled the memory.

"Why are you doing this, sis?! Didn't you fight for our sake?!" a voice cried out.

"No!!... I fought for us!!" Celsi had responded years ago.

"Why? Why have you changed now? Everyone struggled so you could walk the right path! You said you wanted to protect everything! But now you're the one destroying it all!" The voice was full of sadness and disappointment as it hugged a bloodied figure.

"R-Rui... The outside world isn't what you think! I'm doing this to protect you!" Celsi had pleaded.

[Rui - Celsi's Younger Sibling]

"I don't care... I hate you!!" Rui then ran away aimlessly, passing through gangsters.

"Don't touch him!! Anyone who dares to hurt him will die by my hand!!" Celsi's warning made them freeze in fear.

After that incident, Rui disappeared. Celsi searched everywhere, even putting up missing posters, but couldn't find him.

Six months later...

"Eh, you rarely ask me for favors. You're my trump card, so I'll help as long as you stay loyal, Celsi." A man in a leather jacket and helmet spoke to Celsi.

"Please help me find my sibling," Celsi begged.

"Fine, but there's a condition."

"I don't care what it is, as long as I find them."

"Really?! Well, my drinking record is 70 bottles of alcohol in one day! Your condition - if you can drink 80 bottles, I'll reunite you with them! Think you can do it?!"

Celsi sighed deeply. "Fine, bring me 80 bottles."

*CRASH!*

Outside, someone was beating up gangsters. "You're the ones who changed my sister! Die, you bastards!!"

"W-wait, kid! Weapons are off-limits for children! And is that a bazooka?!"

It was Rui, dressed entirely in red, relentlessly firing the bazooka at the gangsters. "I don't care! Give me back my sister!!"

Inside, Celsi was swaying unsteadily, struggling to stand straight.

"WOHOHO! You drank 80 bottles without passing out?! You broke my record! Congrats, now get out there!!"

*BOOM!!* The building shook from explosions outside.

Celsi staggered out as commanded.

"Sis!! Where are you?! Come back to me!!" Rui kept shouting while bombing everything in sight.

Finally, Rui spotted Celsi exiting a building. "Sis! It's me, Rui!!" He waved enthusiastically.

But Celsi's vision was blurred, and she couldn't hear anything. When their eyes met, Rui smiled brightly - but Celsi only scowled.

"I've been looking for you, sis! Come back with me! I'll change you back to how you were!" Rui smiled hopefully.

But - *STAB* - Celsi impaled Rui through the chest with her hand.

"S-sis—" Rui collapsed, unconscious.

In Celsi's drunken haze, she had mistaken Rui for their father who abandoned them. "Goodbye... Dad!!" She then passed out.

Both siblings lay bleeding as gangsters watched silently. The sky darkened ominously.

After 15 hours, Celsi woke up. "Why am I sleeping here...?" She sat up, confused.

She noticed her hand resting in a wet puddle. "Water? Did it rain?" But when she lifted her hand, she realized it was blood.

Her eyes followed the blood trail to Rui's lifeless body.

"E-eh... R-Rui?!" Her voice trembled. "N-no way... Rui?!" Tears began falling.

"RUIIIIII!!!" Celsi's anguished scream echoed as she broke down completely.

She remembered the drinking challenge and turned toward the gang leader's hideout. "Y-you bastard!!!" She glared through her tears.

The leader had left a tablet nearby. When Celsi played the video, she saw the truth - she herself had killed Rui.

As rain poured down, the tablet short-circuited and died.

Cradling Rui's body - now drenched in blood and rain - Celsi sprinted at inhuman speed to the hospital. Doctors immediately rushed Rui into surgery while Celsi waited, her bloodied form hunched on a bench.

"Damn it... Damn it!!" She cursed internally.

*"Beep... beep... beeeeeep—"* (The flatline sound)

The doctor exited. "S-sorry... The patient has— Eh? Where did she go?"

Celsi was already running. She ran endlessly until stopping in an empty field. Weakly raising her face to the storm, her tears mixed with the pouring rain.

[Present]

Now standing in the same rain, Celsi whispered: "Rui... I'm sorry! If only I'd listened to you just once... I would've done everything you asked!"

Aswa's finger twitched.

-TO BE CONTINUED-