Thousand-year Curse (1x1 w/DarkMudkip)

Amaya barely had the time to raise her arm to shield her face, the first orb hitting the ground inches from her feet and destroying the ground as it tunneled into the dirt.
Megohime picked her head up, nodding weakly before stumbling to Masamune and falling into his shadow, barely able to make it to him.
 
Masamune walked away, "I'll be back another time to finish the job. One of two isn't so bad."
"Aki...Aki, you'll be..." God, what could he tell her? She was dying and he couldn't help.
Don't die...don't die...d̶͍̆o̶̳͘n̷͖͊'̵̣̓t̴͓̔ ̸͍̕d̴͒͜i̶̬͛e̵̳̒.̷̞̋.̷͉̽.̴͖̀y̸͚̘̝͂̓ó̷̝̫̙̿u̵̗̐̋̋ ̸̬͂͘c̷̞̍̔ȧ̵̪͕n̵̜̠͕̾'̸̨̞̫̑̉̋ṯ̵̱̄̓̔ ̶̘́̿d̴͈̉͛i̸̺̯̓ȩ̷̛̖̠́.̷͔̞̗̑.̷̡̗̳͋̀̊.̷̩̄̑͝ỹ̸͖̥̲̏͘ò̸̧̦̟̩̱͊̀̌͝û̸̜͈̮̩̇̆͜ ̴̢̰̣̈͌͐̉ͅc̴̠̟̄̔̐a̷̳̽n̸͔̞͚͓̤̉͊̔̇͠'̷̥̯̳͈͂t̴̩͉̿̀̃͝ ̷͉͙͊l̸̘̓̃̆e̷͇̭̰̪͐̌̔̆ͅa̸̜̪͂̎v̵͕͓̤̦͈͆̇̒̐e̷͔͓̪͓̲̒̉͐̄̈́ ̵̻́̏̍̑Ỷ̸̺̯u̶̫̰͗k̶̡͚̈́͝ͅi̶̢̱͍͇͇͆͗͂́m̷͈̯̟̯̬̀ù̷̻͔̙͙̳ŗ̴̡͓͓͙̍̈́̑̓͘a̷͚͐̈́!̴̬͑̿̇́!̶͈̤̟̜̀̈́̍̄̚ͅ

Mitsunari sat before the shrine that housed the Otani family shikigami, as was his duty as oldest to give thanks to them for guarding the family line for centuries. There was a bitter cold and the candles that were lit before the proud statues of a kitsune and kama were blown out before relighting with a haunting pale green fire. Mitsunari's eyes widended in slow shock.
"N...No...Akihime..."

Yukimura was at the school, training as he waited for Akihime to come back from visiting Sasuke's temple. It was nice and quiet, perfect for training, before a massive and terrible weight of grief fell over him.
"Yu...ki..." Ghostly pale slender arms wrapped around his chest from behind, holding him tenderly, "I won't...leave you...Yuki..."
 
Amaya couldn’t see Akihime, Sasuke blocking her view of her, but she could see the blood. She sat there frozen, staring at Sasuke in silence before she managed to speak. “Sasuke.. help her..” She spoke quietly. “Heal her wounds..!” She ordered.

Yukimura had been mid swing when the cursed energy forced him to freeze. The voice he heard was haunting, but painfully familiar. There was no doubt about it, whatever was behind him was a curse, so why did it sound like Akihime? He turned his head slowly, almost not wanting to, but he had to.
 
"I-I..." Sasuke shook gently, "Amaya..." He moved, his face twisted in heartache, "I-I...failed..." Akihime was still as the grave, her expression soft as she stared up at the sky, cheeks stained with blood and tears.

The curse that stood behind him was dressed in a fighting kimono with samurai style shoulder pauldrons, her skin sickly and pale. Her hair was dark and flowy with a nonexistent wind, bangs hiding her eyes from him. But she smiled when he turned and the familiarity of it stabbed his heart as an image of Akihime flashed over this curse.
"Tadai...masu..." She said slowly, warmly.
 
Amaya stared blankly, shaking her head slowly. “No.. no, fix this..!” Her voice cracked and tears fell down her cheeks. “You’re a god, fix this!” She demanded, crawling toward the two on the ground.

Yukimura stared in horror, dropping his training weapon on the floor. “Akihime..” He whispered. What had happened? She had only gone to the temple, so why was she a curse here in front of him, this had to be a trick.
 
Sasuke moved and held his hands out over Akihime, covering her in his cursed energy as he focused. He suddenly gasped in pain and jerked away from her body, fighting the wail as it threatened to leave his throat.
"I-I can't...! Sh-She's gone...!! There's nothing to fix...!!"

"Daijoubu..." She reached to hold his face gently, "I won't ever leave your side. I promise."
 
“Do it again!” She ordered, making her way to his side. “Use my cursed energy..! Use it all..!” She said, desperate.

Yukimura dropped to his knees with a scream of anguish, his tears burning his eyes. He knew he should have gone with Akihime to the temple, he should have pressed the issue and gone with her regardless of what she had said.
 
"Amaya, I can't!! She's passed on already!! She isn't coming back!!" He yelled, his voice tight with tears. He couldn't tell her, refused to tell her what he already knew: Akihime was a curse now, and she was lingering around somewhere.

Akihime became alarmed but stayed where she stood, head tilted down to watch him, "Yuki...?"
 
Amaya gathered up Akihime in her arms, holding her gingerly even though she got blood on herself. Her dearest friend had been killed, and it had been because she had come to find her. Amaya cried silently, gnashing her teeth and shaking, it shouldn’t have been Akihime.

Yukimura felt rage and despair in his broken heart. “Who… What happened..? Who did this?” He asked weakly, unable to bring himself to look up at the curse standing over him.
 
Sasuke sat quietly with her, tears pouring down his cheeks, "I-I'm sorry..." He muttered numbly.

What happened? What happened?? She didn't really remember. She just remembered...
"Masamune..."
 
Yukimura looked up in numb confusion- Date, the man who they had been allied with? “Date? Why?” He asked weakly, feeling his anguish turning to hate.
 
Yukimura clenched his fists, standing with a scowl. Had the temple also fallen? What if Sasuke and the priests? Masamune should’ve been dealt with long ago, should’ve been put down like a rabid dog, and now Yukimura would see that such a thing would happen.
 
"Daijoubu...?" She frowned, tilting her head slightly, "Why do you look so angry...? Are you angry with me, Yuki...? Did I upset you...? Please, don't be upset with me..."
 
Yukimura didn’t know how to respond, for a moment he thought of exorcising her, letting her soul free, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He looked away from her with a frown. “N-No.. I’m not angry with you..” He said softly. “I’m angry at what was done to you…”
 
"Don't kill me..." She pleaded, like she could feel his thoughts, "Please...please don't make me leave you, Yuki...I'll do anything...! Don't exorcise me, please...!" She begged, her energy going wild with her emotions.
 
Her words were like a dagger through the heart, and he almost started to cry again right there. “I-I wasn’t..” He couldn’t lie either. He turned his head away in shame. “I won’t.” He promised softly. “I won’t let you die again..”
 
"Arigatou...~!" She swooned weakly, tears dripping down her cheeks as she smiled, "I'll protect you...! I'll always protect you...! Nothing will keep us apart, Yuki...~!"
 
Yukimura felt wrong, this whole situation was wrong. Wasn’t he perverting things by keeping her curse around? Wouldn’t he be exploiting her to serve his own feelings? He couldn’t think about that now, all that mattered now was Date, once he was killed, he could worry about the rest. He left the school without a word, heading straight for Sasuke’s temple.
 
Akihime followed him happily, a smile on her face as he trailed behind him. Though, when he grew closer to the temple, she started to lag more and more.
"Yuki..." She stopped him at the foot of long stairs, looking terrified behind her bangs, "I-I can't...I don't want to go up there..."
 
Yukimura frowned, stopping to turn and face Akihime. “We need to speak with who’s up there.” He said softly. “Can you wait down here..?”
 
Yukimura hesitated, but he needed to speak with Sasuke, he had no other choice. He headed up the steps and sought out the curse, frowning at the state of the temple.
 
It was in near crumbles, stone and trees destroyed around him. At the top of the stairs, Sasuke moved into view, his robes red with blood, and he hid his mouth behind his fan as he always did.
 
Yukimura felt his eyes burn with tears at the sight of the blood, knowing who it belonged to. “Where is she?” He made a face, correcting himself. “Where is her body?” He hated saying it aloud, not wanting it to be true.
 
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