Kamui approached the tall, suited yokai a few meters in front of him, weaving through the crowd of oblivious teens, unknowing of the carnage that awaits them in mere seconds. The sadistic smile of Hajime swept across the room, as he reached into his suit jacket.

Kamui heard Hajime’s fingers clasp a metal chain, and as the tall yokai’s hand began to emerge from his suit, Kamui stood merely a foot away from the man, and said in a loud, stern voice, “Hajime!”

Hajime’s hand halted, and he tilted his head down, turning it towards Kamui and staring at the yokai below him for a long moment, before his eyes widened in surprise. “Kamui?” Hajime asked. Kamui stared up at the tall yokai in front of him, and Hajime turned his entire body towards Kamui, letting go of his chain with a wide smile coming across his face. “It is you! Kamui! Man, I haven’t seen you in what feels like forever, how’ve you been buddy!?”

Kamui forced a smile, “Yeah, I’ve been good. Just been going around, causing trouble.” Kamui said jokingly.

Hajime laughed, “For the humans right!? Can’t have you fucking with your fellow yokai can we? Then again, I can’t really imagine you causing any trouble for yokai, you always were a bit too straight laced for that!”

Sorin glanced at Kamui in disbelief. “I have a hard time believing a monster like you can be called ‘straight laced’.”

Kamui ignored Sorin as he continued his conversation with Hajime. “So Hajime, I was thinking, I grabbed this kid’s body…” Sorin stared at Kamui. The yokai continued, and he said quickly, “But the kid won’t leave and he can force me out of control! If you can help me get rid of this kid then we can start killing some shit!”

Sorin’s expression flared up in anger, as he prepared to fly back into his body and force Kamui out, however the boy stopped, as he looked up and saw Hajime’s expression. What he was expecting was an expression of a maniac, ecstatic at the thought of more killing taking place, but Hajime simply stared at Kamui, with a serious, almost concerned expression. The yokai spoke to Kamui, his usual excitement gone, “Kamui, are you being serious?”

“One hundred percent! All we need to do is get this kid’s soul out of his body and we can team up!”

“And Kamui, tell me, why haven’t you simply… left his body and found a new one?”

“What kind of a question is that? I can’t let this wimpy kid win! I need to take over this body to prove that I’m better than him!”

“Ah, so it’s a matter of pride, is it?” Hajime let out a deep sigh. “Kamui, this might be difficult for someone as stubborn as you, but I’m gonna need you to put aside your pride and leave that body right now.”

Kamui’s smile faded, as he stared at Hajime in confusion. “What?”

“Leave that body right now. This is an order, Kamui. I rank higher than you so you should follow orders.”

“B- But why!?” Kamui asked, now beginning to panic. “What’s so special about this body!? It’s just some stupid kid!”

Hajime let out a sigh, “In reality I don’t even know the whole reason why, but all I know is that the yokai of my rank and above were given an order by the Emperor to eliminate any body that was able to resist yokai control.”

Kamui’s expression twisted in shock. “This is… an order from the Emperor?”

“I imagine they didn’t tell the lower ranking yokai like you because they didn’t want to spread fear that the humans had figured out how to resist control. This was a direct order from the Emperor, I can’t make an exception for you Kamui.”

Kamui stared at Hajime for a long moment, before gritting his teeth and tightening his fists. “I’m not leaving this body, Hajime.”

Hajime let out a disappointed sigh. “Damn it, if you had been warned about those humans you might’ve known to get out earlier. This whole thing could’ve been avoided! I always knew you should’ve been higher ranked, but just because you once had a soft spot for humans they never let you…”

“Watch it.” Kamui interrupted. “This isn’t about my rank, this is about me, Hajime. I’m staying in this body, that’s my decision, and so you don’t have a say in it.”

Hajime stared down at Kamui for a long, drawn out moment. Although the dance music rang out all around them, at that moment the world felt completely silent and still, as the two yokai stared at each other, unblinking, unflinching. A small smirk came across Hajime’s face, as he looked down and spoke to Kamui, “Then you’ll die.”

In a split second, Hajime reached into his suit jacket. Kamui spotted the yokai’s movement, and he quickly raised his right foot, leaping off the ground with his left just enough to slam his foot into Hajime’s chest, pushing both the yokai several meters away from each other and stunning Hajime for a brief moment. As Kamui landed several meters back, he stood up, with the crowd of teens staring in shock at the two yokai, as Kamui screamed into the air, “RUN!”.

A moment of confusion passed in the party, but after that moment had passed, the house was filled with terrified screams as the countless teenagers attempted to rush out the door. Kamui turned around, rushing through the crowd and putting a massive conglomerate of teens between him and Hajime. Hajime clicked his tongue in annoyance, before turning towards the crowd of fleeing bystanders and smiling. As the yokai finally reached into his jacket and drew his weighted chain, he pulled back the weapon, then swung it at full force towards the crowd, excitement filling his eyes as his chain came closer to tearing through human flesh, but before it could a metal clang rang out throughout the party, and Hajime looked forwards to see Hiro, holding a katana, standing over the weight he had just deflected with his sword. The young boy looked towards Hajime, as he placed his sword in a defensive position, prepared to engage his enemy.

Hajime chuckled, as he took slow steps towards Hiro. “Well then, we’ve got a little bite sized samurai here have we? You’re the baby brother of the Moritoshi family?” Hajime said in a condescending tone.

“You’ve met my brother, I assume?” Hiro asked, his gaze constantly switching between Hajime and the chain in his hand.

“Yep. Was kicking his ass too, until he got a cheap shot on me and cut my hand off. Luckily I grew it back, being a yokai is great like that, it’s barely even been a day and I’ve already got a new hand!”

“I imagine all yokai think that.” Hiro said. “But to me, being able to heal like that just makes you all seem like disgusting freaks.”

“Wow, are all Moritoshis this rude!? I guess being an asshole runs in the family.” Hajime pulled back his chain, swinging it in circles beside him in the air as he prepared to throw his weapon forwards. “Maybe I should teach a twerp like you some manners!” Hajime yelled, as he threw his chain directly forwards.

Kamui quickly sprinted into the living room, and Sorin immediately forced him out of the body, turning to him angrily.

“What the hell is wrong with you!?” Sorin yelled. “We had a goddamn deal, and you had to go and screw it up!”

“Hey in my eyes it’s your fault for trusting me.” Kamui responded. “I’m a yokai, didn’t you see how many people I killed the other night? If you really thought I was gonna start protecting them now then you’re just a shitty judge of character.”

“You are a horrible person, and I am never trusting you with my body again!” Sorin angrily paced around, as he took a moment to catch his breath before yelling at Kamui once again. “What were you thinking would even happen!? We almost got killed because of you!”

“Hey I thought you said, ‘I’d rather get my brains splattered then not save people’, or some self righteous bullshit like that.” Kamui said, his words causing Sorin to hesitate for a moment, allowing the yokai to continue. “I thought that he might know why I can’t properly possess you and he could help me out, it was that simple. You would’ve done the same thing in my situation, how was I supposed to know he was gonna go and attack us!?”

“I don’t care! I don’t give a shit!” Sorin yelled. “I am never, ever giving you my body again! You will never fight another battle with me, you will never kill another person with my hands, and you will never control my…!” Suddenly, the sound of clashing metal caught Sorin’s attention, and he turned around, attempting to look over the crowd still rushing out of the house.

Hiro leapt to the side, avoiding Hajime’s chain, then immediately rushed forwards to unleash an attack against the yokai threat. Hiro swung his sword, his attack being blocked by Hajime tensing the chain between his hands. Hajime smiled, then swung his right foot around, slamming it into Hiro’s side and sending the boy flying across the room, smashing into a wall.

So this is the power of yokai… Hiro thought to himself. I never imagined… they’d be so strong…

Hajime laughed out loud, as he began taking steps towards Hiro. “What’s wrong, little samurai!? Is this actually your first real battle or something!?”

A moment passed where Hiro’s sword began slipping out of his hands, the young boy ready to lie down and concede to the power of his opponent, however the loud voice of his brother screamed to him in his head. Stand up and fight! Hiro’s eyes snapped open, his grip tightened on his sword and he stood up tall, ready to face his opponent once more. The voice of Hano kept on ringing out in Hiro’s mind, Getting hurt is simply part of the job. You need to be able to stand up and fight. Even after getting punched, kicked, stabbed and shot, you need to stand up and fight until your opponent is defeated. Hiro smirked, as he muttered to himself, “I guess the training we did really did pay off, big bro.”

Hiro dashed towards the enemy, his sword ready to strike at any moment as Hajime laughed in excitement. Hajime threw his chain forwards once more, and Hiro leapt diagonally forwards, avoiding the attack but keeping his momentum, as he continued running at his enemy. As Hiro reached his opponent, he thrust his sword, stabbing it towards the yokai, however Hajime quickly sidestepped to avoid the attack. The suited yokai pulled back his fist, and he prepared to unleash a devastating punch towards Hiro. The young boy saw the attack, and his brother’s words once again rung throughout his mind.

I gave you one and a half seconds to react to me changing my stance, the yokai won’t even give you half that much time to react. When you’re in a real battle you can’t afford to stand there wide eyed at an attack meant to kill you. The words rang true, as Hiro had barely any time to avoid the attack, but he took his brother’s words to heart, and immediately ducked underneath the yokai’s fist to dodge the incoming strike. With his enemy’s torso now directly in front of him, Hiro pulled back his sword and sliced it directly across Hajime’s chest, leaving a deep bleeding gash. Hajime screamed out in pain, then looked down towards Hiro. Hajime raised both his fists into the air, balling them together before swinging them both down at once towards Hiro, the young Moritoshi barely leaping backwards to avoid the yokai’s combined fists as the attack smashed into the floor below, breaking the floorboards. Hiro quickly began running towards his opponent once again, however as he reached Hajime, the yokai’s hand suddenly reached up, grabbing Hiro by his shirt’s collar, and as the yokai stood up, he spun around, pulling Hiro through the air, before throwing the boy directly into a nearby wall and causing his back to smash against it.

Hiro began to slide down the wall, the energy fading from his body, however he grabbed his knee and forced himself to stay standing, as the strain of battle made itself evident on his tired face, and his shaking hand that was still holding tightly to his sword. “Gotta… keep fighting…” Hiro muttered to himself, taking heavy breaths every few words as the pain rushed through his body. “I can’t… lose here… I’ve gotta… stand up and fight!”

Sorin watched his friend face off against the yokai from the other side of the crowd, and the boy turned towards Kamui once again. “Kamui, I need you to make me a promise.”

“I thought you were just spouting that shit about not letting me back into your body.” Kamui responded. “The fuck can I even do if I’m stuck in spirit form like this?”

“You can’t do anything, but that’s why I need you to make me a promise.” Sorin took in a deep breath, then stared at Kamui once more. “I am willing to let you borrow my body, however, the only things you are allowed to do while borrowing my body are fight yokai and anyone else that might harm me, you or any other humans.”

“Sounds like a shitty deal.” Kamui spoke. “What reason would I have to agree to that deal?”

“Because the yokai are your enemies now too. Hajime said that order was given to all the yokai of his rank and above, right? That means that every yokai of equal or higher rank than Hajime has been ordered to kill you. I can’t fight off enemy yokai, but you can, and if I die then you die too. You need my body to fight off Hajime and any other yokai that come for your life, and so unless you suddenly have a change of heart and decide to leave my body for good, we both need to work together to live. If you don’t agree to my conditions, or if you break them in any way, then I will take back my body and never let you back in, and if we die thanks to that then it’ll be your fault.”

Kamui stared at Sorin for a long while, before scoffing in annoyance. “I’d love to just say ‘Fuck you’ and not agree to the deal, but if more yokai come after us then I won’t have much of a choice, will I?” Kamui crossed his arms, looking away from Sorin as he forced the words out of his mouth. “Alright, fine! It’s a deal, I won’t kill any humans while I’m in your body!”

“Alright. We’ll also have to keep our secret that you’re still in my body.”

“You’re changing the deal asshole!” Kamui yelled.

“If you want to die you can decline my offer.” Sorin said sternly.

“Fine! But fuck you.” Kamui looked around the room. “It’ll be a lot harder for Hiro not to notice I’m a yokai if we’re fighting Hajime right next to him. How’re we gonna keep that secret exactly?”

Sorin looked around the room. On the coffee table in the center of the room he noticed a hoodie, left behind by one of the fleeing bystanders, and on the wall his eyes were drawn to the red and blue oni masks he had seen the previous day. “I think I’ve got an idea.” Sorin said.

“I’ve got to keep fighting!” Hiro spoke to himself, attempting to motivate his legs which were slowly failing him and buckling over.

Hajime approached Hiro, the yokai swinging his chain in a circle once more as if to taunt his weakened opponent. “Oh this is rich! The heir to the mighty Moritoshi clan, brought to his knees so easily!” Hajime smirked at the boy. “I can keep fighting like this all night, kiddo. You think you can say the same?”

Hiro stared spitefully at his opponent, beads of sweat rolling down his face. The boy’s legs finally managed to move, and the boy managed to stand tall, his sword in a defensive position, with Hiro breathing heavily as he stared down his opponent. Hajime raised his chain, ready to swing it and crush Hiro’s body. Hiro watched, and he forced out the feelings of fear and regret that were slowly overwhelming him, as he stared at his imminent death. Hajime began chuckling, signalling to Hiro that his life was almost over, but as the yokai prepared to unleash his final attack against the boy, a humanoid figure suddenly leaped over the crowd of teens, slamming its fist into the back of Hajime’s head as the figure landed, knocking Hajime onto his knees as the figure stood tall. Hajime scrambled back, standing up a few meters away as he turned to look at the figure behind him. He saw a teenage boy, wearing a black hoodie around his head, and a red, wooden mask depicting an oni that covered his face, the boy’s eyes peering through the mask’s holes.

Kamui stood tall, feeling a slight tinge of embarrassment as he stood before the confused Hajime. “This mask is fucking stupid, and way too uncomfortable.” Kamui muttered, only loud enough for the spirit form Sorin directly next to him to hear.

“Just endure it for now.” Sorin replied. “We have to preserve our secret, otherwise Hiro will catch on and we’ll be as good as dead.”

“If this doesn’t work I’m jumping off a cliff and killing both of us myself.”

Hajime stood up tall, as he prepared to swing his chain, staring at Kamui in confusion. “That punch was too strong for a human… Kamui?”

Hajime came to a sudden realisation, and he quickly leapt several meters to his side, barely a second before Hiro thrust his sword through the air where Hajime’s heart was a moment ago. As Hiro slowly regained his strength, he turned to Kamui and placed his sword in a defensive position, ready to attack.

Kamui realised Hiro’s intentions, and put his hands up while talking to the boy. “Hey wait, I’m on your side here! That asshole’s my enemy too!”

“And how do I know I can trust you?” Hiro asked. “You’re a yokai, how do I know you’re not gonna stab me in the back the second we start fighting?”

“I could’ve let him kill you, you know! But I didn’t, and now I’m offering to help you!” Kamui yelled. “There are three outcomes here, one has you not trust me and die to Hajime, one has you trust me and be backstabbed, and one has you trust me and we both come out alive! Wouldn’t you rather take a risk if you’re gonna die anyway if you don’t take it!?” Kamui watched as Hiro thought for a moment, still unsure what to do. Kamui then continued, “Isn’t there anyone you want to protect?” Suddenly, Hiro’s eyes widened in realisation. “You can’t protect them if you’re dead, you know. We need to work together to fight this guy.”

Hiro muttered to himself, “Damn it… I don’t really have a choice after you say that, do I?” Hiro turned his stance towards Hajime, and scoffed at Kamui. “You’d better not stab me in the back, freak.”

Kamui chuckled, hiding his annoyance. “I could say the same to you, in fact I’d say I can trust you even less that you can trust me.”

Hajime looked at his two opponents, both of which were now facing him. As Hiro regained his breath and Kamui put up his fists, ready to strike, Hajime began swinging his chain in a circle beside him once more. “Two on one, eh? Fine then, I’ll just kill you both.” The yokai said to himself, as he began slowly approaching his opponents.

Kamui spoke to Hiro while keeping his eyes locked on Hajime. “I’ll attack first and try to make an opening. You’re the one with a sword, so once I make an opening you rush in and deal the finishing blow.” Kamui rushed forwards, running at his opponent with Hiro trailing behind by a few feet. “Let’s take this asshole out!”

Hajime threw his chain towards Kamui, the masked yokai easily sidestepping and avoiding the chain. A moment later, Kamui was barely a foot away from Hajime, and the masked yokai threw a punch upwards, directly towards his opponent’s face. Hajime moved his head to the side, avoiding the attack, then pulling his chain towards him to make the weight fly back to its owner. As the weight flew towards Hajime however, Kamui grabbed onto the chain, stopping the weight and preventing Hajime from attacking with it. However as he held onto the chain, Hajime looked down and smiled, as a surge of electricity flowed through the chain, engulfing Kamui’s body in a dancing blue energy. Kamui recoiled in pain for a moment, before letting go of the chain and taking a step back, breathing heavily as Hajime took a step towards his opponent and threw a punch. Hajime’s fist slammed into the side of Kamui’s face, for a brief moment flowing more electricity into the yokai in the young boy’s body, as Kamui stumbled a few feet back once more. Hajime walked towards Kamui, lifting his fist and preparing one more blow, but as he did he felt a rush of wind, as Hiro rushed towards Hajime’s back with his sword in hand, preparing to attack. Hajime quickly turned to face Hiro, but as he did Kamui worked up his strength to sweep his leg across the floor, tripping Hajime over and causing the yokai to begin falling onto the ground, right as Hiro plunged his sword down. Barely a moment before Hajime fell to the ground, he lifted his left hand, grabbing the blade of Hiro’s sword as it sliced through the air, and as Hajime fell onto his side on the ground, electricity rushed through the metal blade and into Hiro’s body. The young boy recoiled for a moment, but he held tightly onto the handle of his sword, and as he turned his head down, his teeth clenching, his muscles shaking and tensing, the boy pushed down onto Hajime’s grip, his sword cutting deep into Hajime’s palm as the young Moritoshi endured the pain.

Hajime was left in shock. “What the fuck even are you!?” He cried in confusion.

Hiro clenched his teeth, his eyes seemingly about to pop out of his head as his entire body tensed as though it was about to explode. “You… will… die!”

Hajime stared in awe at Hiro, before frustration took him over, and Hajime began to stand up, holding tightly to Hiro’s sword as it continued to dig into his palm. As Hajime stood up however, he suddenly sensed danger from behind, and not a moment later Kamui’s foot smashed into the side of Hajime’s head, sending the tall yokai flying across the room and into a wall, as he left Hiro and his sword behind, the electricity immediately stopping.

Kamui turned to Hiro, as the boy breathed heavily. “You okay?” Kamui asked.

Hiro scoffed, then turned back towards Hajime. “I’m fine!” He snapped, as he rushed towards the enemy, with Kamui following soon behind.

As Hajime regained his composure, he turned to his two opponents, both running towards him, and the tall yokai quickly swept his chain across the floor of the room. As the two ran towards Hajime, Kamui managed to hop over the chain and maintain his dash, however Hiro failed to do the same, as the chain wrapped around his legs, causing the boy to begin tripping over, the sudden trip causing him to accidentally throw his sword forwards. As Kamui overtook Hiro, he dashed forwards, grabbing Hiro’s sword out of the air and continuing towards Hajime. Hajime, now staring at his remaining opponent in a panic, realised that he was out of options. His chain was wrapped around Hiro and could not be used, and he could not fight an armed opponent with his bare fists. As Kamui drew closer by the millisecond, Hajime’s immediate gut reaction was to place his forearms on either side of his face, shielding his head from the incoming attack. Right as he did, Kamui swung the sword, the silver blade slicing through the air and rushing towards Hajime, as it cut into Hajime’s left forearm, leaving a deep wound on his flesh and only being stopped as the blade collided with bone. Hajime screamed out in pain, and he quickly pulled back his chain, the metal links unravelling from around Hiro’s legs as the weight flew towards Hajime. Kamui quickly stepped away to avoid the weight, as it flew through the air, past Hajime and directly through the wall behind him, leaving a large hole in the wooden wall. Kamui and Hiro were left in confusion for a moment, as Hajime turned around, and shoulder slammed his entire weight through the wall, making a much larger hole and leaving Hajime now outside of the house. Hajime stared spitefully at Kamui and Hiro, as he held the bleeding wound on his left arm.

“You two bastards are gonna regret this… I’ll make sure to ruin every part of your puny little lives.” Hajime threatened. Kamui stepped forward, ready to engage, but before he could Hajime dashed into the street, running at speeds impossible for humans, as the tall yokai escaped the scene.

Kamui looked at Hajime as he ran, wondering if he should pursue, however the sudden tiredness he felt from the previous electric attacks seemed to drain Kamui of all his energy, and so he accepted that he would need to let Hajime go. Kamui turned to Hiro, the young boy still on the floor, and the yokai tossed the boy’s sword back to him. As the sword landed on the ground a few feet away from Hiro, the young Moritoshi quickly stood up, grabbing the katana and placing himself in a defensive stance, before looking forwards and realising that the masked yokai before him was already gone. Hiro looked around in confusion for a moment, before letting out a sigh, and leaving the scene of the battle.

Sorin snuck out of the backyard of a nearby house, as he integrated himself into the crowd of terrified youths waiting down the street from Hiro’s house. Sorin looked around at the crying faces and terrified wide eyes, and he breathed a sigh of relief that at least Hajime seemed to have the courtesy to retreat the other way. Police soon arrived on the scene, and around the same time, Hiro reappeared to the partygoers, as he walked through the crowd checking on every guest. As Hiro looked around, he spotted Sorin, and he quickly rushed over to his friend, the boy immediately placing his hands on Sorin’s shoulders and looking around his body for wounds.

“Are you hurt!? Did you make it out okay!?” Hiro asked in a panicked voice. “Sorin, I’m so sorry, this is all my fault! If I just hadn’t thrown this party then none of this would’ve…”

“Hiro…” Sorin interrupted his friend, and Hiro looked back at Sorin’s face. “It’s okay. None of this was your fault, in fact the only reason why none of us are dead already is because you stayed back there and stopped that guy from giving chase.” Sorin smiled at Hiro. “You saved us, Hiro.”

Hiro stared at Sorin for a long moment, before letting out a small chuckle. “Thanks, Sorin. God, here you are consoling me on a night I was supposed to be helping you.” Hiro relaxed his body, quickly falling over onto his behind and sitting down on the ground as he breathed heavy breaths. “Do you even want a ton of friends? Like, you really didn’t seem too excited about all this.”

Sorin sharply exhaled, as he looked away from Hiro, embarrassed. “I think I’m good… having lots of friends is nice and all but, I think I’m happy with just one. Besides, some of those guys and girls kinda seemed like jerks.”

Hiro stood up, placing his arm around Sorin in a friendly side hug. “Agreed. From now on Sorin, it’s just you and me, just two bros hanging out together, and maybe Hano if he’s free.”

As Hiro said this, the boys were approached by a young girl, who Sorin instantly recognised as Tia. “Hey, are you the guy who stayed behind?” Tia asked, causing Sorin to freeze in terror. “I was actually just wondering if you could tell me how it all happened, I’m sure it was all really cool!”

Hiro looked at Tia, then smiled. “Oh yeah, that was me. But you know, I couldn’t have done it without my best friend Sorin here, have you met?” Hiro pushed Sorin forwards, causing Sorin to sweat bullets as he was placed closer to Tia. “He helped me fight off that guy, we were side by side the entire time, he even saved my butt a few times, so it’s really him you should be thanking and not me.”

Sorin’s eyes darted back towards Hiro, as tension overwhelmed his body. “Wait, what!? No, that wasn’t me, I was just…”

Hiro leaned towards Sorin’s ear, and whispered to his friend, “Just play along, okay?”

Sorin looked back in confusion at Hiro, then he turned to Tia, as he tried to maintain a smile against the girl in front of him without showing his anxiety. Tia looked at Sorin for a moment, confused, before smiling at the boy. “Oh, you’re Sorin? It’s good to meet you! I’m Tia.”

Sorin’s tension began to fade away, as the girl’s friendly smile seemed to reassure him that there was no ill intent. The boy smiled back. “Thanks… really nice to meet you.”