Mobile Legends Anthology

The Last Scarlet 9

With the sun starting to rise above the mountains, Hanabi awakened from her deep slumber. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times to clear her blurry vision.

"Good thing you're awake," Hanzo stated, "prepare and we'll leave–"

Not letting him finish his statement, Hanabi threw her pillow right on his face.

"Put some shirt on and I'll listen to whatever you're saying!" she yelled as she covered herself with the blanket to hide her blushing face.

Hanzo just finished bathing and was half-naked. Water was still dripping off from his hair down to his lean and fit torso. Not to mention, Hanabi got a full view of his six-pack abs which almost made her burst.

"What? Have you fallen for me now?" Hanzo snickered while wiping off the water from his hair. And without any second spared, another pillow was thrown at him but this time, he was able to dodge it.

"As if!" Hanabi snarled at him. She got up from bed with her eyes only looking at the floor. She headed to the bathroom but before reaching the door, Hanzo stepped forward and stood by the door.

He somehow wanted to tease her and fortunately for him, it was a success annoying the Scarlet ninja. Hanabi tried to shove him out of the way but he wouldn't budge. Even if she was staring daggers at him, he simply returned a smirk.

"Get–" Hanabi stopped midway when a sudden blow of sharp wind had blasted their room open.

"Sorry for interrupting but I simply cannot idle for too long when my dearest brother is lowering his guard," Haruko said with bloodlust surrounding him. He was holding a katana but Hanzo could feel a strange power coming from it.

"I'll take him on, run away from this place as fast as possible," Hanzo instructed but Hanabi could not move an inch. Her widened and frightened eyes were fixed on Haruko as if he was the scariest man she had ever encountered.

Hanzo held her hand tight and yelled, "I said run!"

Seeing Haruko's katana reminded Hanabi of the annihilation of her clan. It was the weapon wielded by one of the assassins sent by the Shadow faction and the surge of power coming from it, it was the same as the power she felt back then. Her strength and the strong front she built around her to hide her cowering self slowly broke into pieces.

The fear and anguish she felt while watching her family die on the hands of assassins came rushing back to her. She lost strength that instead of running, she fell on the floor with a thud.

In a pinch, Hanzo had no choice but to carry Hanabi and take him as far as he could.

"Hey, hey, I came here just for you so you better not turn your back on me," Haruko stated as he jumped right in front of the two. Without hesitation, he raises his sword with the intent of killing his twin brother.

Of course, Hanzo wouldn't let him do whatever he wanted so he opened the soul portal which immediately brought Haruko down to his knees.

Hanzo grabbed Hanabi's hand and they darted away as fast as possible. He didn't know why she was so shocked to see Haruko when it wasn't the first time she encountered him. Upon reaching the forest, he let her sit for a while so she could calm down.

He held both of her shoulders and was about to speak but he was deemed speechless when he saw her shedding a river of tears. Out of impulse, he pulled her close and hugged her.

In between her sobs, Hanabi muttered, "Didn't... didn't I tell you to put some shirt on?"

Disbelief showered over Hanzo because of all the things she had to say first while crying her heart out was something unnecessary at the moment. He wanted to whack her head with the hope that her craziness would be shaken away. He was about to give her a quick lecture but his tongue backed out when she suddenly wrapped her arms around him.

"Don't leave me, okay? You're going to protect me, right? No matter how the two of you looked the same, please, please, be the one to save me," she begged. Clenching one fist, Hanzo hugged her back and caressed her with his other hand.

But there was no time to waste, thus, he looked at her in the eyes and asked, "Why did your eyes almost drop out from your eye sockets when you saw Haruko?"

Hanabi wiped off her tears, making her eyes redder than before. Then, she replied, "He is one of them. Hanzo, your brother is one of the assassins who killed my clan!"

"You just realized that now?"

Hanabi shuddered upon hearing Haruko's voice from above them. Raising their gaze at the tree, they saw their enemy staring down at them with a smile plastered on his face. Hanzo immediately summoned the Ame no Habakiri and pushed Hanabi away before charging towards his brother.

A huge wave of force propelled around the area as their weapons clashed. Hanzo pursued Haruko who was fighting him with no seriousness at all. It was as if he was just playing around and making a fool of him in many ways.

"When did you become this weak, Hanzo?" he teased. He saw Hanzo fought many times already and unlike his past fights, he was holding back at the moment which was making Haruko mad. "Does it have something to do with that Scarlet, huh?"

Hanabi gritted her teeth as she watched the two fight from afar. She clenched her fists before running towards them. She won't just watch, she won't just stay still when she could seek revenge now that one of the assassins was just in front of her. This might just be her only chance to kill Haruko and she wouldn't let it slide easily.

"I'll kill you!" she yelled on top of her lungs as she hurled her Higanbana towards Haruko. She also summoned her demonic scrolls and threw them with no hesitation.

However, Haruko managed to dodge every attack thrown at him, and with just one swift cut through the air with his katana, Hanabi was sent flying in midair when the sharp wind from the sword struck her.

"Don't get distracted!" Hanzo interjected as he threw the Ame no Habakiri towards his brother. Though Haruko dodged it, Hanzo outstretched his arm and his sword stopped moving. Clenching his fist, his weapon vanished but materialized back on his hand. Without sparing another second, he flickered in front of Haruko and swung his sword.

Their sparring seemed to go on forever and without them knowing, Hanabi was slowly being devoured by her own madness.