Ch 9: Suzaku Himejima

Sharon's fist met with Baraqiel's lightning clad fist, and as the moment they collided, a shockwave blasted the two back and into the trees.

Shuri covered Akeno and herself with a small protective barrier, canceling the collateral damage caused by the Shockwave.

Both Akeno and Shuri rushed towards the two to see if they were injured and were left shocked by what they saw.

A coating of aura surrounded Sharon, as it vibrantly displayed its beauty.

The flames had completely evolved, as they were partially blue and partially white.

The heat that emanated from the flames was strong enough to affect Shuri and Akeno, who were more than 10 meters away.

Sharon, seeing the two approaching, rapidly retracted the flames as he slowly got himself out of the crater he made with his crash.

"Damn, I'm nowhere near strong enough." Sharon muttered as Baraqiel flew towards him.

"That was quite exhilarating, not bad, young man." Baraqiel commented as Sharon slowly stretched his body.

"Yeah, but I didn't even leave a scratch on you." Sharon said as Baraqiel just deadpanned.

"If you left a scratch on me, I wouldn't deserve to be called a Cadre. I am one of the strongest Fallen Angels in existence, you know?" Baraqiel said as Sharon shrugged his shoulders.

"Meh, it's not like I can't set that as my goal for now." Sharon said as Baraqiel just sighed and walked towards Shuri and Akeno.

"Did you two enjoy the show?" Baraqiel asked playfully as he looked at Akeno, hoping to see her rush to him and check if he got injured. However, you don't always get what you want.

"Sharon-nii! Are you okay? You're not hurt, right?" Akeno shouted as she ran to Sharon and stood beside him, with an arm around his back to support him.

"Hahaha, I wouldn't get hurt by something like this. Your big brother is a lot stronger than you think, Akeno." Sharon said playfully as he patted her head with a smile on his face.

Seeing this, Baraqiel felt betrayed once more, but before he could do anything, Shuri caught him.

"Darling, you're not hurt, are you?" Shuri asked with a smile as Baraqiel scoffed as he turned away and said, "As if I would get hurt by a pipsqueak like him."

Shuri chuckled a bit as Sharon and Akeno made their way back home, with Shuri and Baraqiel following.

*Scene Change*

It was a sunny day, and the birds were chirping their usual songs as they flew around.

"Why haven't they returned yet? They just went out to deal with Shuri. Even the Fallen Angel wasn't there." An old man muttered as he stood in front of a large gate

The gate led to a large ceremonial room, covered with beautiful and radiant gems and crystals. Had it been a normal time, it would've been one of the most beautiful interior designs ever. However, now, it was anything but normal.

Powerful flames rose furiously from the floors as the fire made the gemstones and crystals within the room melt at insane speeds. It was like the inside of a running kiln.

However, inside of that room was a young girl. She looked no older than 10 years old and was currently seated in the middle of the room.

Her clothes had been completely burned through. However, an ornate orange-and-red robe in the shape of a bird's wings covered her body.

The bird's wings consisted of feathers that were orange-red, exactly like that of the divine creature, The Pheonix.

The girl seemed unbothered by the flames as her facial expression was calm and collected. Not a single bit of pain could be seen.

The girl's eyes slightly twitched as a gust of wind emitted from her body, pushing the heat outwards.

At the same moment, the old man guarding her room was launched backward as he felt inhumane heat brush past him.

"Suzaku, you can do this. You need to do this." He muttered quietly as he went back to guarding the room, preventing anyone from approaching.

Days passed as the room had shown no signs of opening. However, one week later, the doors burst open as a young girl with long black hair exited the room with Pheonix colored robes covering her body.

As she walked, a faint fiery aura of a Pheonix could be seen behind her.

"She did it! SHE DID IT!!" The old man screamed in joy as he announced to everyone nearby that the potential heir to the Himejima clan had successfully completed the trials to become the head of the clan.

Cheers filled the small town as everyone rapidly left behind what they were doing and headed to the clan's main room. It was a large room, in which any important matters were discussed.

As everyone had finally reached the clan's main room, Suzaku entered, followed by the old man.

The old man was none other than her great-uncle, Suou Himejima, the Clan head.

"Greetings to the clan head." Every member of the Himejima clan that was present said as they all bowed.

The old man nodded as he walked towards the large chair in the center of the hall.

He motioned for Suzaku to follow him as she nodded and followed.

He took a seat on the chair as Suzaku stood to his side.

"Suzaku has just completed the trial and is qualified to become the Clan Head. However, I will stay in this position until she comes of age. Although she's not the Clan Head yet, she is next in line, so I expect you all to remember that." Suou said with a stern voice, causing the others to nod their heads rapidly.

The old man talked some more and dealt with some internal issues within the Himejima clan with Suzaku to give her an idea as to what she was in for.

*Time Skip*

It had been around 2 weeks since Suzaku was formally announced to be the next Clan Head, and she was currently on her way to place she usually visited.

Around a half-hour later, she arrived in front of a small house and proceeded to knock on the door.

As she knocked on the door, she noticed some sounds coming from nearby and decided to check it out.

Baraqiel had left to the Grigori again, and as such, Sharon was training on his own.

Sharon was currently shirtless as he was practicing the control over his fire. It was a beautiful scene as the blueish-white fire vivaciously swirled around him. Although this fire was much more difficult to control compared to the previous red fire, it was much more powerful, as it was much hotter.

Drops of sweat trickled down Sharon's face and upper body as Suzaku had just reached him.

Seeing his naked upper body, she felt her cheeks getting a bit red, as he looked very attractive. However, what attracted her even more was his masterful control over the fire surrounding him and the dedication he was putting in.

As someone who also practices the art of fire control, she knows how difficult it is to be able to control the fire and to be able to make it listen to you. It was even harder to make the fire flow like water in a smooth motion.

Although Sharon was not at that stage, he was rapidly approaching it.

Suzaku took a step forward as she saw Sharon's partially dragonized form.

Ever since he had unlocked the dragonification ability, he had been training to utilize it with maximum control and efficiency. The part he focused the most on was dragonifying his body with dragon scales.

When Suzaku took a step forward, a blast of fire surged towards her, streaking through the air like a comet.

A Pheonix appeared around Suzaku as it encased her within its hold, protecting her from the fire.

However, before the fire made contact, it dissipated.

"Hmm? Oh, Suzaku ... what are you doing here?" Sharon asked as Suzaku felt something was wrong.

She had a very close relationship with both Akeno and Sharon, and over the months they spent together, it only grew closer.

In fact, Suzaku even gained a slight crush on Sharon, seeing him training so hard every day, and how he wouldn't stop until his body could no longer take it. She admired his dedication and began to look up to him.

However, now, hearing such a cold tone from the boy she grew to like, she felt like something was gripping at her chest.

'What is this? Why is he acting so cold to me?' Suzaku wondered as she looked into Sharon's unwavering yet emotionless eyes.

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Alright, so that's it.

I hope I didn't screw up Suzaku's plot with this chapter, but I'll most likely be turning Suzaku into an AU character. I'm not sure how I can efficiently add her to the story without delving into Slash/Dog, so I apologize if you wanted to see Suzaku join Slash/Dog and follow the plot of the spin-off.

Anyways, I will be returning to regular updates on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from next week.

If you enjoyed what you read, make sure to add it to your library, and if you want to, give the story some stones!

Do leave comments, as I'll read each one and take it to heart on how I can improve my writing.