[ The euphoria that he actually managed to get a hit in on the demon despite the current state of his shoulder doesn't last long. He doesn't get scared or anything when Kazama shows his true form (because this is Shinpachi, he just doesn't get scared ever) but there's still the fact there's little he can do in return once the demon starts attacking with more and more fury behind each slash. He tries to block the strikes, but they just come so quickly and with such strength that it's a half-done effort. And Shinpachi only gets slower and slower the more he gets hit - blood wells up from cuts on every part of his body, his haori completely soaked with blood and little more than shreds that are barely still hanging together at this point. He wants to tell Chizuru to stop when she runs in as well, but at that point he's already practically lost the strength to, having been forced to his knees and then finally to the ground. Every part of his body hurts (as evidenced by the fact he can hardly move, although he's still trying to do so, since he has to get back at Kazama somehow, he can't let it end like this) and his breathing is incredibly uneven as he lies there, fighting to at least keep his eyesight, to make sure he doesn't pass out.
It's pretty pathetic that it's all he can do, but on the other hand, it's practically a small miracle that he's still alive after all those blows.
When he thinks the final strike is going to happen, it doesn't come. Instead he feels a force on his head, fingers digging into his hair, and his face is lifted from the floor only to meet Kazama's gaze. Shinpachi can't force his body to still do much of anything at this point (and it's so incredibly aggravating) but the least he can do is still glare at the demon even now, even in his current state. Resistance until the very end, even if it's in pathetically small ways.
But then he still isn't finished off. Instead the man slowly starts to understand what Kazama is doing when he walks off and towards Chizuru instead. He's intending to leave him like this (although that doesn't give him a too great chance of survival anyway with the rate he's bleeding at unless someone happens to stumble upon him, but he's not even thinking of his own state of being right now) and take Chizuru with him. No--
He tries to gather every single last shred of strength left in his body, tells his body to move, to get up, to save her already. But it's impossible, his body is completely at its limit. Even now she's calling out for him (even now she's thinking about him rather than about herself) and he feels so incredibly pathetic and weak for not even being able to save her, the most brave and selfless girl he's ever known.
Shinpachi has to save her, he knows it, he can't just let her be taken away since they made a promise, dammit, but there's nothing he can do, he'd already be lucky enough to just walk out of this with his life but as he is right now he can't even reach for his sword--
In a desperate attempt to get up that of course fails and makes him fall back onto the earth again, he hears a very dull clunk against the ground. It takes him a moment to realise what it is, but then he realises it. Right before he left he had an argument about the ochimizu as well, and even though he insisted on not taking it with him he did have the bottle in his hands when he had to quickly head out, he must have slipped it into his clothes so he could put it back later (or smash it on the floor when no one would be looking).
...
That means there is a chance.
An extremely cruel chance. He doesn't want to take it, even now. He never wanted to take it before. He hates the ochimizu and all it stands for, he hates the idea that people are being turned into rasetsu, he would be fine with dying, that's what a warrior is supposed to do, but he always said he'd never become one of those under any circumstances.
If this situation was any different, if it was just about him, he would have let himself bleed out right here. But this isn't just about him, it's also about Chizuru and the fate she's got ahead of her, being handled as nothing more than something to produce babies by that demon against her will--
He made a promise.
He made a promise.
He made a promise.
The more he repeats it in his head, the more the possibility is starting to seem real. (And the more he starts to hate himself, little by little.)
Knowing he has no choice, he weakly tries to get the bottle out of the folds of his clothing and closer to his face, fumbling to even get it open. He stares at the liquid and his stomach turns, but he knows there's no other choice. He'll die anyway. And Chizuru has been so selfless, throwing herself into harm's way for him, getting herself hurt so much that she almost cried. He's be a pathetic guy to not take it - although he still knows it's no excuse, not to him.
Shutting down all of his thoughts, Shinpachi brings the bottle to his lips and pours the contents straight into his mouth, swallowing thickly.
A surge runs through him and it's one of the most aggravating things he's ever felt, like his body is changing, like the blood in his body is boiling and then suddenly goes ice cold, and pieces of flesh and cuts start to mend until Kazama's beating is hardly visible if it wouldn't be for Shinpachi's clothing giving it away. His eyes go from blue to red, his hair turning white as snow.
And as he transforms into something different, Shinpachi grabs his sword and rises to his feet again.
(Don't think about the way it feels so awful, don't think about how much you hate yourself for doing this, don't think of anything but what you're doing this for, her and the promise you made, he tells himself, and he grits his teeth.
Time to be the biggest pretender.) ]
Turn around and put her down. [ At first his voice is at a normal volume, but then as he speaks up again, it rises, almost like a growl. ] This isn't over yet..!
no subject
It's pretty pathetic that it's all he can do, but on the other hand, it's practically a small miracle that he's still alive after all those blows.
When he thinks the final strike is going to happen, it doesn't come. Instead he feels a force on his head, fingers digging into his hair, and his face is lifted from the floor only to meet Kazama's gaze. Shinpachi can't force his body to still do much of anything at this point (and it's so incredibly aggravating) but the least he can do is still glare at the demon even now, even in his current state. Resistance until the very end, even if it's in pathetically small ways.
But then he still isn't finished off. Instead the man slowly starts to understand what Kazama is doing when he walks off and towards Chizuru instead. He's intending to leave him like this (although that doesn't give him a too great chance of survival anyway with the rate he's bleeding at unless someone happens to stumble upon him, but he's not even thinking of his own state of being right now) and take Chizuru with him. No--
He tries to gather every single last shred of strength left in his body, tells his body to move, to get up, to save her already. But it's impossible, his body is completely at its limit. Even now she's calling out for him (even now she's thinking about him rather than about herself) and he feels so incredibly pathetic and weak for not even being able to save her, the most brave and selfless girl he's ever known.
Shinpachi has to save her, he knows it, he can't just let her be taken away since they made a promise, dammit, but there's nothing he can do, he'd already be lucky enough to just walk out of this with his life but as he is right now he can't even reach for his sword--
In a desperate attempt to get up that of course fails and makes him fall back onto the earth again, he hears a very dull clunk against the ground. It takes him a moment to realise what it is, but then he realises it. Right before he left he had an argument about the ochimizu as well, and even though he insisted on not taking it with him he did have the bottle in his hands when he had to quickly head out, he must have slipped it into his clothes so he could put it back later (or smash it on the floor when no one would be looking).
...
That means there is a chance.
An extremely cruel chance. He doesn't want to take it, even now. He never wanted to take it before. He hates the ochimizu and all it stands for, he hates the idea that people are being turned into rasetsu, he would be fine with dying, that's what a warrior is supposed to do, but he always said he'd never become one of those under any circumstances.
If this situation was any different, if it was just about him, he would have let himself bleed out right here. But this isn't just about him, it's also about Chizuru and the fate she's got ahead of her, being handled as nothing more than something to produce babies by that demon against her will--
He made a promise.
He made a promise.
He made a promise.
The more he repeats it in his head, the more the possibility is starting to seem real. (And the more he starts to hate himself, little by little.)
Knowing he has no choice, he weakly tries to get the bottle out of the folds of his clothing and closer to his face, fumbling to even get it open. He stares at the liquid and his stomach turns, but he knows there's no other choice. He'll die anyway. And Chizuru has been so selfless, throwing herself into harm's way for him, getting herself hurt so much that she almost cried. He's be a pathetic guy to not take it - although he still knows it's no excuse, not to him.
Shutting down all of his thoughts, Shinpachi brings the bottle to his lips and pours the contents straight into his mouth, swallowing thickly.
A surge runs through him and it's one of the most aggravating things he's ever felt, like his body is changing, like the blood in his body is boiling and then suddenly goes ice cold, and pieces of flesh and cuts start to mend until Kazama's beating is hardly visible if it wouldn't be for Shinpachi's clothing giving it away. His eyes go from blue to red, his hair turning white as snow.
And as he transforms into something different, Shinpachi grabs his sword and rises to his feet again.
(Don't think about the way it feels so awful, don't think about how much you hate yourself for doing this, don't think of anything but what you're doing this for, her and the promise you made, he tells himself, and he grits his teeth.
Time to be the biggest pretender.) ]
Turn around and put her down. [ At first his voice is at a normal volume, but then as he speaks up again, it rises, almost like a growl. ] This isn't over yet..!