Her red hair flowed in the slight breeze that resided within the meadow. It seemed as though she outperformed the flowers themselves with her pure beauty and sweet scent. Her deep yet bright blue eyes reflected Yami off of them.

Yami began to stutter as he spoke to her.

“S-S-Shippai! What are you doing here?!?!”

She smiled.

“I'm your second teacher! Well, I won't be doing any of the teaching for the most part, I'm mainly going to back up Shitto with my healing abilities. I suppose they're mainly for you, though.”

Yami glared at Shitto.

“You knew about this?”

“Of course I did,” Shitto replied. “We're training you to use a Sirushi Inochi that is used for attack, so this is no horseplay we're dealing with.”

“Anyways,” Shippai began. “He will be teaching you how to use your ability, and I will be here to heal you in the event that you harm yourself.”

“Alright Yami! Enough with the boring explanations,” Shitto said excitedly. “Let’s get on to the nitty-gritty training!”

“Let’s do it!”

Shitto stood five feet away from Yami. Yami had rolled his sleeve up and gripped his left forearm.

“Alright Yami,” Shitto said, grinning. “Like I said earlier, your square proves that you have a creation technique. Try forming a basic shape, like a polygon.”

Yami gulped. He began to build up an abundance of life essence in his forearm, and tried to think of a shape to create.

“A polygon, huh? What shape should I try to make? I could try to make a triangle like Shitto’s sword.. Nah, that seems to cliché.”

Looking around for inspiration, Yami’s eyes glanced to the forest. Then to a flower petal, then over to Posche. But what Yami visualized was Shippai’s eyes.

“That’s it. I’ll make it as spherical as her eyes.”

Pushing the life essence into his mark, Yami felt a different feeling than that of the Transparency and the pooling of the ink. The mark seemed to absorb the life essence and release it in a different form, similar to that of a coal furnace. Eating up the life essence, it spewed out a bright blue color, yet at the center it was so bright it appeared as white. The substance began to pool itself into a circle on Yami’s palm. Although it looked dense and slimy visually, it was as light as air, and Yami could hardly feel it on his skin.

“Hey!” Shitto patted Yami on the back so hard he lost focus. “You're a child prodigy!”

The life essence had suddenly lost its shape and pooled out of Yami’s palm before dissipating into nothing.

“I'm the same age as you, and next time don't hit me!”

“Regardless, nice job! It took me a week to achieve my handle, so I suppose this isn't a bad start. Try again, but hold it for five minutes.”

Yami pooled the life essence back into his palm and formed the circle again. He could feel his life essence continue to pulse throughout the mark, and within ten seconds, life essence had begun to pour over his hand yet again.

“Too much.” Yami looked inquisitively at Shitto who had said this. “What? I'm just telling you how it is. You are not limiting how much goes to your mark. That's why it's overflowing like that.”

“Hey! That's not how he needs to be teached,” Posche yelled at Shitto.

“Phil, my man, we have two different teaching styles. He will learn just as much if not more with straightforward help rather than vague answers.”

“Fine. If he doesn't completely master his Sirushi Inochi by the end of this week, you're out!”

“Phil, you asked me to help you teach him. Is this really what you wanna do?”

Posche didn't answer. He simply looked back down at his book.

Shitto chuckled. “I hear you loud and clear! Alright Yami, let's pick up the pace!”

“Really, Shitto? You said it took you a week just for the handle! How the hell am I supposed to do this?”

Shitto held out his hand.

“Because you're a badass! Now let's show Phil who the REAL teachers are!”

Yami smiled.

“Yeah!”

Yami slapped his hand against Shitto’s. The gripped at the fingertips, then let go again.

“Now pool it up again, but try to imagine that you have to form a barrier around it to keep it from going over. Like a dam.”

“Or like how I made my battery.”

Yami once again poured life essence through his hand, this time with only half the force. As soon as it had covered his palm, Yami quickly stopped his flow of life essence. What was on his hand had disappeared.

“Just because you manifested it doesn't mean you don't need to control it, Yami. When you stop sending life essence, you can't lose so much focus that you forget about the main part.”

Yami formed the circle on his palm yet again. This time, he slowly stopped flow of his life essence, being careful to maintain the shape and not spill any life essence over his hand. Once he felt the flow stop, he looked towards Shitto.

“Now what,” he asked hurriedly?

“Now play around with it. It's pretty much silly putty until you find the form it wants to take.”

“Like silly putty? I've never been one to play with it, but one thing I always do is…”

The life essence in his palm began to twirl around in his palm, as if it were coming alive.

“Posche… you begged me to come here for this? He hasn't made any headway since you first told me he had a Sirushi Inochi.”

Posche didn't look up from his book. He flipped a page and directed his voice towards the questioning Shippai.

“Just watch. He's already mastered Transparency, and has a basic understanding of Phys Mods. He's a natural.”

Shippai’s expression was unchanging.

“What's your game, Posche? This child doesn't need three people to train him. He should learn everything on his own.” Shippai paused. “Unless, of course, you're hiding something.”

Posche turned another page. Shippai glared at him.

“Well, Posche?”

Yami had a thin rod of life essence still dancing in his hand.

“Alright Yami, that's enough for today. It's getting late.”

Yami looked at Shitto like Shitto was still in the 6th century.

“What do you mean? Look, the sun's not even close to the horizon! It's directly above us!”

“Silly, silly Yami. This meadow is not affected by our world’s time. Have you seriously never noticed it?”

Yami opened the door to the outside world. Sure enough, it was dark out.

“Huh. Good call, Shitto. Well, I guess I’ll be on my way.”

“Be here by 9:30 am tomorrow,” Posche said.

As Yami shut the door behind him, Shitto sighed. Walking over to Posche, he sat himself down against one of the trees that Posche had his hammock tied to.

“I suppose you two are wondering why I need you both, as well as the prowess that this boy has shown.”

“And you better tell us without going around any questions,” Shippai growled. “Now get to it.”

“Well,” Posche began, “This boy is the Jinsei no Hogo.”

Shitto and Shippai did not move their faces, and their expressions did not change.

“He already has a large amount of life essence, as Shitto saw first hand. The fact that he can even manage to learn so much in such a short amount of time proves it. How long did it really take you to perfect the handle of your blade, Shitto?”

“It took me about two months. Yami may actually be able to perfect his Sirushi Inochi within a week. You knew that, didn’t you.”

Posche nodded his head.

“I still don’t understand,” Shippai said. “Why do you need ME of all people? I can only heal. Shitto is the only one who can teach him what he needs to know.”

“It’s for that very reason that I need you, Shippai. Shitto, what you saw earlier when testing his soul capacity could not have been a mistake. When Yami infused his life essence into the ink, I felt how much power was in it. It was a far too vast amount for even the Jinsei no Hogo. I think that Yami has something else inside of him, but I’m not sure as to what that is. In the event that this “thing” awakens, he may cause serious injuries to all of us. That’s where you healing ability would come into play.”

“Phil,” Shitto said, “no one has ever gotten a red on that test.”

“He got a red on the soul capacity test?” Shippai glared at Posche. “Why don’t you tell me these things?”

Posche set down his book.

“Do you want to inform the kid that he is going to be the target of almost every echo? Do you want to tell him how powerful he is, and that it is his duty to protect every soul on Earth?” Posche had raised his voice.

“He’s gonna find out one way or the other! You hiding this from him will just make him trust you less and less, and you don’t realize this,” Shippai yelled!

“I’m with Shippai,” Shitto said. “If he really is the Jinsei no Hogo, there’s no sense in trying to hide it from him. It’s hard enough trying to act like it’s the same process that everyone goes through with him. We need to tell him sooner rather than later. If he becomes awakened any further, his life will be in danger, Phil. We should tell him tomorrow.”

“WE CAN’T!” Shitto and Shippai looked shocked as Posche screamed. “WE DON’T HAVE A CLUE AS TO WHAT HE IS, AND TELLING HIM NOW WOULD BE LIKE PULLING THE PIN ON A GRENADE FULL OF GOD KNOWS WHAT!”

“Posche, you need to grow up. This is a child's life you’re putting in danger. I’m not coming until you tell him.” Shippai walked over to the door and slammed it shut as she walked out.

Posche had his fingers intertwined and was looking at the ground.

“And you , Shitto?”

Shitto shrugged.

“I really think you need to tell him. I won’t pause training, but as you said, Yami is full of unknowns right now, and I’d rather not risk it without Shippai around.”

Posche remained silent for a moment.

“I think he has Haisen trapped within him.”

Shitto acknowledged this, yet remained silent.

“When we were training for Transparency,” Posche started, “he described the making of his second soul holder as crystal-like. The only thing I can think of along with his ridiculous amount of life essence is that somehow Haisen has been sealed inside of him.”

“But he is a legend. And even the legend says that Haisen was defeated by the master Jinsei no Hogo. So how would he randomly appear in Yami, millennia later?”

“Like I said, it’s just a hunch.”

Shitto stood up.

“Well, I’ll be back here tomorrow. Catch ya later, Phil.”

Posche stopped Shitto before he walked out of the door.

“Shitto. Don’t tell Shippai this. I don’t trust her.”

“Got it, teacher.”

The sidewalk was barely lit enough for Yami to see as he walked. The sound of his shoes hitting the concrete resonated throughout the neighborhood.

“Why didn’t you go back to our home?” The mysterious voice of Akahishi disrupted all of Yami’s thoughts.

“Is that you, Akahishi?”

“It is indeed, my dear Yami. Now, why is it?”

“I didn’t realize you wanted me to go there again. Hell, I didn’t even know you were real! I thought that was just a dream!”

“Dreams,” Akahishi began, “Can be reality within a blink of an eye. Though, I suppose, this has ALWAYS been your reality. Now, why don’t we head back there?”

“You mean in my dreams again?”

“Why waste your time on silly daydreams when you can go experience the real thing?”

Yami kept walking towards his house.

“Fine. Tomorrow, you won’t have such a luxury as to ignore me. I am the most persistent of beasts, like a cockroach, yet I am as mighty as a lion.”

“Whatever, you were trapped inside of a cave, so you can’t be too much to handle. Go ahead and sleep for a few more millennia, why don’t you.”

“Full of wise jokes. You are quite the clever one, Yami. Answer me this: What about Posche? Why didn’t you ask him yourself about your history as the Jinsei no Hogo? Surely your heart desires answers to the burning question of ‘What am I?’”

Yami did not respond.

“Well?”

“I trust Mr. P far more than I trust you. If it is something that is actually important, I’m sure he would’ve told me by now.”

“Suit yourself. You will see, and when you do, you will understand me. Goodbye now, Yami.”

“Don’t come back!”

As Yami entered his house, he prepared for a berating from his father, but he was nowhere to be found. Yami walked into the kitchen to find a note from his sister.

“Ah, so I have the house to myself this night. No better time to game than tonight!”

Yami darted up the stairs and into his room, turned on his computer, and clicked a voice chat program. Just as he was about to click the “Join Call” button, he quickly flicked down to his internet browser and searched “Akahishi,” yet no results turned up.

“Trying to find out more about me? No chance, Yami. You would have to find a book about the history of the Jinsei no Hogo for that. Even then, it is unlikely you will find me. Why not just ask Posche? Better yet, go to our home!”

“No. There has to be something online.”

Yami frantically searched for other keywords, such as “Jinsei no Hogo” and “Pǔbiàn Fǎnxiǎng,” yet nothing appeared.

Shaking, Yami sat in his chair, silently worrying over his burning questions.

“Interesting, is it not? It is as if the entire world does not know of the world hidden right amongst them, the world of Pǔbiàn Fǎnxiǎng. Right under their noses are people with extraordinary powers.”

“There has to be SOMETHING. There’s no way!”

“The only place I know of that may have your answers is a library, yet it is not the type of library that you may be thinking of. There is a library known only to master Pǔbiàn Fǎnxiǎng that is filled with knowledge of Sirushi Inochi and the like. Do you know who may have access to such a place?”

Yami stared blankly at the computer screen.

“...Mr. P…”

Posche opened the door to his basement. He yawned as he walked up the staircase to the first floor of his house. As he reached the top step, a hand reached towards him from around the corner. Grabbing his collar, the hand hand threw Posche against a wall, causing some framed pictures to fall over. Through the darkness, Posche could only see a hooded figure. It held up its left hand, and as the sleeve fell, a Sirushi Inochi appeared on the figure’s left forearm. The hand balled into a fist, and the fist became covered in a dark blue coat of life essence before the life essence took the shape and tenacity of electricity.

“Give me the Jinsei no Hogo, or you lose your life.”

Posche looked the hooded figure in the face, and replied.

“Or you can go fuck yourself.”

Posche spat in the hooded figures face, causing it to stagger backwards. Posche grabbed a kitchen knife that was next to him on a nearby counter and ducked. The figure pounded a hole straight through the wall.

Posche drove the kitchen knife through the abdomen at such an angle that the figure began to be picked up with the momentum of the blade. Posche drove the knife, along with the figure that was picked up by it, down onto a table.

“How did you find us so easily,” Posche asked, now with his arms covered in the figure’s blood?

The figure chuckled.

“You think I would go down this easily?”

The figure grabbed Posche by the arm and flung him over the other side of the table, causing Posche to slam his face into the side of the table. The figure pulled the knife out of itself and threw it away from Posche.

Posche, now trying to stand up, was interrupted by the figure, who grabbed Posche by the hair.

“If you aren’t gonna tell me,” the figure said, “then I have no point in letting you live.”

The figure swung Posche around 180 degrees, slamming him face first into a wall. The figure repeatedly slammed Posche’s face into the wall until eventually dropping him on the floor. Posche’s face was badly battered and bloody. The blue electricity formed on the figure’s hand again.

“Goodbye, Posche.”

As the figure started to swing its fist towards Posche, a bright blue sphere slammed into the side of its torso, sending the figure through the wall into another room.

“First,” Yami yelled, “he’s gonna answer my questions!”