Fire Force fanfic (the OC/Benimaru)

Chapter 3

"So the vision told you that Asakusa will turn into a sea of flames, right?" Benimaru asked, his arms folded on his chest and hidden under his sleeves.

"Yes," Ouka answered hesitantly.

Here they are at the middle of the town, watching many Asakusa citizens bantered with each other. These angry townspeople apparently went through the same thing as Benimaru earlier: mistaken identity.

"I saw you flirting and going out with our neighbor's daughter!"

"But I was drinking booze with the guys all the time!"

"You fled away without paying for the food!"

"I didn't even eat at your restaurant today!"

The two hikeshi from Company 7 could only observe in confusion.

"More like, Asakusa turns into a sea of misunderstanding," Benimaru commented. He put his hand on the back of his neck and groaned, "This is much harder than putting out stupid fires."

"Couldn't agree more. What if this commotion is somehow related to..." Ouka trailed off as a figure hastened toward her from the corner of her eyes. She turned to her left and recognized a woman about the same age as her, seemingly angered.

"Ayuzawa? What happened—" Ouka was rendered speechless when the woman suddenly pointed her index finger right at her face, as if she was found guilty to a crime.

"What do you think you're doing, huh? Hanging out with my fiancé at the lake when it was empty and dark like that?" Ayuzawa barked.

A loud "Huh?" escaped from Ouka's mouth. "W-what do you mean?" she spluttered.

"Don't act dumb, Ouka. I saw you and him with my naked eyes!" Ayuzawa hissed between her breath, trying to not cry as her eyes began to get moist. "You two were linking arms together, kissing each other's cheeks so many times that it made me want to puke." She showed her frustration by putting her hands to her hips and squared up her shoulders.

"You did what?" Benimaru butt in, mildly astonished.

"Waka!" Ouka whirled around. "Remember. This is another mistaken identity case."

Benimaru closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? We rarely hang out with each other lately, so I assumed you were busy taking care of the shrine or..." He purposely left his words unfinished with a provocative tone.

"Or what?" Ayuzawa shoved Ouka aside to look at Benimaru. "You think she's up to something, don't you? I knew it!"

Ouka sent him a baleful stare. "Look, I would play with you whenever I can. But we need to bring this town back to its peaceful state." She reached for the three-section staff she kept on her back and pulled it out.

"Staying here wouldn't solve the problem for me. Benimaru, you get to the bottom of things here while I go inspect other areas. Can you give me some fire?"

Benimaru generated a huge size of fire on the palm of his hands. "Is this enough?"

She concentrated on the fire until it transforms into a wolf that acts as her guardian and hunter.

"Thanks," she replied. She took her leave in a rush, ignoring Ayuzawa's calls along the way.

"Eh, she's really focused on doing her job," Benimaru muttered approvingly.

When Ouka had gotten far from her captain and Ayuzawa, she whispered to her wolf, "Is something heading toward us, Garo?"

Garo whined in its own way of saying "No."

Ouka stopped running to take something out from her pocket. It was a piece of torn white cloth. She made Garo smelled it for a few seconds. "You get the scent? Now go hunt for the person with this scent." She instructed it.

Garo barked once and leave instantly.

Ouka kept the piece of white cloth back in her pocket, but her grip on it remained. Flashes of memories from two years ago came into her mind unwelcomed; she fought against a man in all-white clothing, the man mysteriously turned her father into an Infernal, Benimaru and Konro came to her rescue, the Asahanada temple was destroyed in the fire.

Rage glared out of her eyes shining in bright emerald green. "If those white clad people are behind all this, I won't let them go this time." She pulled her hand out from her pocket to hold her three-section staff with both hands, then hurried along to catch up with Garo.

An intense burst of flame suddenly flared out of nowhere, like a giant pillar emerging from the ground. Ouka skidded to a halt in caution. Another flare appeared. More and more pillars appeared as the previous ones died away seconds right after.

"Infernals..." she whispered to herself.

But why there are so many of them at the same time?

On the other hand, Ouka's psychic connection to Garo enables her to feel what Garo feels. And the sharp sensation that sent her chills just now screamed bad news on Garo's side. She whirled around instinctively, as if she knew his whereabout.

Looks like whoever did this mess to this town noticed Garo and wiped him out. She clicked her tongue, slightly irritated. Even if I go chase them right now, they might not be at the same spot where Garo found them anymore.

A man nearby turned into an Infernal, causing the people around Ouka to start panicking. The Infernalization resulted in another transient pillar of flame that burned its surroundings.

"Calm down, everyone!" Ouka shouted, her eyes flitted everywhere as she watched people running away in different directions. "Don't go over there! Watch out for Infernals!"

She let out a quiet grunt upon realizing that nobody was listening to her. Just then, a comrade from 7th greeted her and asked if she needed his assistance.

"Where's Benimaru?" Her expression and voice were calm despite all the chaos going on.
"He's handling other Infernals at the moment."

Ouka faced the Infernal and pointed her weapon at it in a valiant manner. "Guess I'll put him to rest. It's okay, you may return to your squad and help our folks out."

She waited until the guy was gone, then proceed to use her skills.

"Suzaku no Mai: Shinwa."

Ouka stretched out her hands like a pair of spread-out wings. The next second, every fire within a 100-meter range of her surrounding flew toward her and covered her entire body in flame. The flame swirled stronger and stronger until it forms a fire tornado as high as a two-story building. She twirled her three-section staff and pointed it at random nearby buildings. The fire tornado flowed through her weapon before shooting out at the buildings like a huge laser beam and lanced right through them.

"Tell me if you think these buildings aren't enough for you to go in peace," she raised her voice high enough for the Infernal to catch her words. "The Demolishing King of Asakusa is kinda busy right now, so I hope you don't mind being put to rest by the Maiden of Asahanada."

The Infernal was on his knees wriggling in pain, but he forced himself to lift his gaze at Ouka. There was nothing but two voids of sorrow and pain in his empty eye sockets. Ouka wished to relieve the Infernal's suffering more than anything. The Infernal slowly stood up and staggered to her, most likely to seek salvation from her.

She took a deep breath and came closer. "Thank you," her voice dropped into a softer note, "Way to hang in there."

Her three-section staff stabbed through his heart in a quick, decisive movement. She lowered her head and closed her eyes, sending silent prayers skyward.

"Alright, now," she folded her weapon back and left the place in a rush. "Gotta find the captain and tell him to do his job for real."