"Am I dead?" I felt Ichiru tense as I voiced the fear.

"No," Ichiru finally replied after a long silence. "Not yet. You have to leave."

"Why not?" My hands clenched in fear. "Do you not want me?" The thought hurt, and it seemed plausible. Too plausible. Slowly I began to pull away, feeling worn down.

"No," Ichiru pulled me back into his arms. "You belong in the light. Not here. Not in death." A small light appeared in the distance, the faint glow catching my eye.

"I don't want to go," I clung onto Ichiru's shirt. He seemed so alive now. No blood. No death. He was warm.

"You'll come back eventually," Ichiru moved towards the light, taking me with him. "I'll always be waiting."

"No!" I couldn't bear the thought of leaving him again. "I won't go."

"You will," Ichiru hugged me. "I won't make you leave the light."

"I don't want to go to the light," I returned the hug. "I'll stay in the darkness with you."

"You won't," Ichiru let go of me. Slowly, I felt myself getting pulled towards the light, like a magnet. "I love you."

"No!" I tried to hold on, but he had already let go. "I won't go!"

His face was serene as he smiled kindly, a trace of sadness, but full of care.

Perfect.

Don't leave me.

Light blinded me, washing over me. All I could see was white.

"What are you?!" That was the first thing I heard as I came to. Light still blinded me, engulfing me, but through all the brightness, I saw Rido's form, backing away as he tried to shield his eyes.

"Ichiru." I didn't care about Rido anymore. Tears trickled down my face as I stared about me, completely oblivious to the light that blinded me. Grey walls. Cobbled pathways. I was back in Cross Academy.

Ichiru wasn't.

I couldn't help it. Burying my face in my hands, I cried for Ichiru for the first time. Salty tears ran down to the ground, mixing with the blood that stained the stones.

You shouldn't be sad.

Ichiru?

I'm still there.

Where are you?

I'm with you.

With me where?

In spirit.

I can't see you, I can't feel you. Are you there?

Duck.

Duck?

Something crashed into my side before I could react, sending me flying to the left. With a cry of pain, I crashed into a tree, the thick bough smacking my side.

"A fallen angel," Rido's blue and red eyes were cold as he observed me lying crumppled on the ground. "I thought you were dead."

I'm not.

"I've never heard of anyone being given a second chance," Rido's blood whip slithered along the ground towards me. "Tell me, how did you do that?"

"Do what?" My voice was hoarse, rough like sandpaper.

"Come back to life," Rido's blood whip sliced through the air. I couldn't move quickly enough and the  weapon struck my cheek, a long slash appearing. The warm wetness of blood dribbled out of the wound, beginning to trickle down my jaw.

"Don't bother," Rido's whip snapped through the air again as I got up slowly. Before I could react, the thin line of red had reached me. A vicious slash on my neck left me gasping for air as I sank to my knees.

"Pathetic," Rido smirked. Raising his whip one more time, obviously aiming for my neck once more, he flicked it out gleefully. 

"No," I whispered, raising my hand, trying to block the blow hopelessly. 

A burst of white sparks shot out of my palm, meeting the whip in mid-air. They clashed, but almost immediately my white sparks disappeared, leaving the whip to fly in my direction once more. 

I stared at my hand in disbelief, trying to understand what just happened. White sparks. What was that? A rush of movement made me look up and instinctively I reached out to grab the whip. 

The whip pulled taut as I clung onto it. The thickened blood bit into my hand as Rido yanked back, trying to free the whip. Everything in me screamed that if I let go of the whip, I was doomed.

Take its power.

What power?

Take the whip. Use it for yourself.

There's the little problem that it's attached to Rido's finger.

It's power. Use the power of the whip for yourself.

How? What power?

Absorb the whip. It's blood isn't it?

Blood. I looked down at the whip uncertainly, trying to figure out how exactly I 'absorb' a whip. In my hesitation, my grip on the whip loosened and immediately it flicked up, knocking my chin and head back as Rido regained control of it.

Idiot.

"Brave stunt," Rido remarked, his whip dangling teasingly from his finger. "But you lost."

"I haven't," I muttered under my breath, getting to my feet. Facing Rido properly now, I glared at him. My neck and cheek hurt and he was to blame.

"You have," Rido heard my words. Without saying anything else, he ran forward, his blood whip swinging as he aimed for me. 

There's your chance.

Chance? I froze as the dark red whip plunged through the air in slow motion.

Take it!

Startled into action, I leapt up towards the blood whip, meeting it in the air. It struck my hand hard, a deep long cut forming but I was too preoccupied to care. Clamping my fangs down on the thin whip, I tried to absorb it like he said. 

As soon as I bit down on the whip it disappeared, turning into faint trails of red gas. That red gas surrounded me, as I inhaled it hesitantly. As it all flowed through my body, I noticed a difference about me.

Light was building up on my skin, little orbs and sparkles that glowed with a strange luminence.

"You dare!" I turned just in time to see Rido leap up at me, his fangs bared and his eyes furious. Hands reached for me as I began my downfall plummet back to the ground. 

I landed on my feet. Hard. Stumbling as I landed awkwardly, I glanced up to see what Rido was doing. 

He had regained his cruel composure and now stood, facing me. 

"It's not that easy," he smirked. Slowly, with careful deliberation, he raised the tip of his finger to his mouth, a sharp fang sliding out to pierce it. In turn, blood dribbled out of the wound, slowly elongating and thickening to form another blood whip.

I stared in growing disbelief and dread as I watched him flicking his wrist, testing the newly formed whip with ease.

"I'm tired of this," Rido flung out his arm, sending his whip flying towards me. "I'll just end this now."

You were saying something about absorbing his power?

The whip struck me straight in the chest before I could get a chance to hear a reply. The force of the blow threw me backwards onto the ground as I tried to catch my breath. Rido's face leered above me in the air, the grey light of the sky outlining his red and blue eyes.

"End of the road." Raising his hand, I saw that he held Ichiru's sword. The silver tip of the anti-vampire sword glinted in the fading light as he plunged it down, towards my chest.

Fear and terror made me act as I rolled to the side, hearing a clang as the sword struck the ground just where I had been. Rolling to my feet, I lunged for Rido, crashing into him and making him drop the sword. With a metallic clatter it fell to the ground as I pinned Rido to the ground.

A hand grasped my neck just as I realised what a mistake I had made. Rido straightened up, his hand pressing me to the ground by the neck. His grip was strong, as my fingers scrabbled to make him release his hold.

Choking, I writhed below him as he scrutinised me maliciously.

"No," I gasped out, feeling him press down harder. How much longer?

There was no reply, only empty silence. Ichiru was gone.

In desperation, my fingers fumbled along the ground, trying to find the sword Rido had just dropped. My fingertips brushed against something and a small spark of hope lit up inside me. It was close by.

I stretched, feeling my strength wane as I slowly lost air, my head pounding and my eyes blurring. My hand scrabbled for the sword handle, trying to grab hold of it. 

Finally my hand landed on a metal grip. A spark stung my palm as I held it, but desperation made me hold on. As I tightened my grip on the sword, I felt my mind hover on the edge of unconsciousness, unable to find the energy to lift the sword and stab Rido.

Maybe I should give in.

"Let go of her!" The voice sounded so familiar, full of concern for me and full of kindness. 

Ichiru.

Mustering up what strength I had, I raised the sword, plunging it into Rido's chest. The grip on my neck loosened and fell away as Rido fell to the ground, clutching his chest. 

Blood and blue static mingled beneath Rido's fingers as Rido stared at me in shock, his hand grasping his chest.

"You're stronger than her," Rido's lips twitched into a malicious smile, despite his dying condition. "Much more." 

With a final crack, he shattered into a million pieces, the shards that were once Rido Kuran littering the ground.

~~~~

HIIIIIIII! Did you like that chapter? Saki defeated Rido! *jumps up and down in joy* I'm sorry if I made the fight drag on a bit - I thought it would be dodgy if Saki defeated him quickly, since it doesn't seem like something she would do XD. And don't worry, that's not the last chapter. I'm pretty sure there'll be more for me to write ^,^ And we're almost at 5k votes guys! Just 48 more votes and we've reach 5k! \^0^/ Let's do this guys!

~Evil_incubator

P.S I know, I just updated yesterday, but hey, there's not much to complain about is there? XD