Beep beep beep

Yami rubbed his groggy eyes. He looked at his alarm clock and saw that it was 7:00 a.m.

“Wow, I woke up on time for once.”

Going through his morning routine again, Yami was interrupted by a knock at his door. As Yami opened the door with his toothbrush still in his mouth, he was surprised to see Shitto.

“Shitto,” Yami said with his mouth still full of toothpaste, slightly muffling his voice. “What're you doing here?”

Shitto smiled.

“I'm here to walk to school with you, of course!”

Yami shut the door in his face.

“Yami, that's a little mean, don't you think?”

Yami walked out of his house to find Shitto was sitting on his porch.

“Shitto, you are serious?”

“Why else would I come over here. To say hi, just to see you later at school?”

Yami began to walk down his porch steps and down the sidewalk.

“Seriously though, Shitto. What's up?”

“Phil asked me to escort you to school to make sure that if you are attacked, you have some back up.”

Yami acknowledged this with a subtle “oh,” but stopped next to a house with a large porch. From under it, two dogs came out and ran at Yami.

“Those strays are gonna attack Yami!”

Shitto began to run at them, but stopped when he saw Yami reach out to them and begin to pet them both.

“Sorry, Shitto. These two are my friends! I pet them everyday on my way to school. They're very friendly if you'd like to pet them.”

Shitto reached out. One of the dogs walked to him and Shitto began to rub his head.

“Well guys, keep it real. I gotta go to school now.”

Yami and Shitto continued walking to school. Nearing the entrance, Yami looked inquisitively at Shitto.

“Do we have any classes together?”

Shitto and Yami both pulled out their class schedules and reviewed them. Upon examination, they both let out of sigh.

“Only first hour, huh?”

“Yup,” Yami replied. “Too bad it's English, too.”

“You guys have English first hour too?”

Shitto and Yami turned around to greet the warm voice. This voice belonged to Rikai Ikko, whose hazelnut hair was just as elegant as her voice.

“Oh, how's it going Rikai?”

“Pretty good. This year is gonna be hard I think.”

Yami looked at her inquisitively.

“What makes you say that?”

Rikai thought for a moment.

“Well, we're freshman now. We'll have to work our way up to the top again.”

“And then,” Shitto chimed in, “we'll be freshman again in college, and then for our workplace.”

Rikai smiled.

“That is true.”

“Yami!”

Yami spun around to find Posche.

“Oh, hey Mr. P!”

“How was your summer Yami? And hello Rikai, Shitto. How are you both?”

“Doing well,” they replied simultaneously.

“Yami, can you help me bring some stuff into my room?”

“Ya,” Yami responded.

As Posche and Yami walked towards the parking lot, Rikai turned to Shitto.

“Did you see him at all this summer?”

“Nah. Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Rikai began, “I heard that he had a falling out with Shippai, and I didn't know how he was doing…”

“Should've just texted him. He wouldn't have minded.”

“I guess you're right.”

“C'mon, Rikai. Let's get to class.”

Posche opened a door that led to his classroom from outside the building, but it instead opened to the office where Yami had pooled his life essence into the ink.

“What're we doing here, Mr. P?”

Posche opened a drawer from behind his desk, and rustled around in it for a moment before pulling out a large plastic container that was translucent, as well as a notebook.

“This is your first assignment for the year, Yami. In this container is enough ink to make multiple Sirushi Inochi, and this notebook contains every piece of information I have my Sirushi Inochi. You need to learn it. Soon.”

“Why all the urgency, Mr. P? I haven't even mastered MY Sirushi Inochi, and you want me to learn yours?”

“You must. Have you already forgotten what happened two weeks ago? People are after you, Yami. So you need to train every moment you have, and I won't be able to give you access to the meadow or the library any time of day, so it is up to you to learn how to transport yourself.”

Posche opened the door, which opened from a closet in his room.

“Now get going. Class will start in a few minutes.”

“Right. Thanks, Mr. P.”

Placing the ink and journal into his backpack, Yami ran off to look for Shitto and Rikai. Posche let out a sigh.

“I wish all of my students were like that.”

The sun was now just past the middle of the sky. A large herd of students walked out of Shifuku High School. Included in this crowd was an exhausted Yami, Shitto, and Rikai.

“Even though today was freshman orientation, I'm exhausted,” Rikai stated, which was a feeling her peers shared.

“Man, I am too. What about you, Yami?”

…

Yami seemed lost in deep thought.

“I need to finish the book, learn Posche’s Sirushi Inochi, MY Sirushi Inochi, and go to school on top of that…”

Shitto smacked the back of Yami’s head.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“We asked you a question!”

Rikai chuckled as they walked home.

Yami sat at his desk, blindly watching television with his hands in the ink, saturating it all. As the episode ended, Yami pulled his hands out of the ink. Similar to before, his hands had no trace of ink on them.

Creak

Yami’s door opened behind him. Surprised, Yami turned around fast to see his sister, Reikoku Shinpai.

“What do you want, Rei?”

Yami closed the ink and put it away in a drawer in his desk. Behind him, he heard a piece of paper fall to the ground.

“I'm going out with my friends, so you have to do these chores. Bye.”

Yami walked over to the paper and picked it up. As he inspected it, he felt anger boil inside of him.

“Rei,” Yami yelled at her!

“What?”

“Paint your room?” Yami crumpled the list and through it at her. “You know damn well you wouldn't do this yourself. Now get lost.”

“YOU LITTLE SHIT! I'M GONNA TELL DAD!”

“Still can't do anything but yell at me and tell on me, huh?” Yami slammed his door shut.

From under his floor, Yami could hear his sister call for their father. Yami could just barely hear their muffled voices.

“Paint your room? I’m not paying for that shit. Fuck your friends, you can stay in your room and stare at the paint for tonight.”

“But Da-”

“I said no you stupid bitch!”

Yami sighed.

“Yet another charming night in the Shinpai household…”

Yami got the ink out of his drawer and continued to saturate the ink with his life essence.

“Hopefully I’ll have some peace and quiet for the rest of the night.”

Rikai sat alone atop her bed in her room, talking on her cellphone.

“...ya, this year is gonna be so much fun! ...Yami? I have one class with him, why? ...What? Why do you get more classes with him?!”

Rikai hugged her pillow tightly.

“Let me know if anything happens. He seems… different this year. I think that Shippai really got to him… Oh, it’s already 10 p.m.! I’ll talk to you later, Shinki! Bye bye!”

Pressing the red phone icon, Rikai set her phone next to heer on the bed.

“I really do hope that Yami and I talk to each other more…”

Yami walked with Rikai and Shitto to school the next day. Rikai noticed that Yami’s right hand was tightly clenched.

“Hey, Yami. What’s wrong with your hand?”

“Huh?” Yami looked down at his hand, and noticed it was tightened. Relaxing his hand, he laughed. “Sorry, my arm is sore from working out last night, so it was just tightened up.”

Rikai looked attentively at Yami’s body.

“He does seem to have gotten more buff…”

As they neared the school, Yami stopped suddenly. Both Rikai and Shitto turned to look at him.

“Hey,” Shitto said. “What’s up, Yami?”

Yami walked away from Rikai and Shitto.

“Sorry, I gotta go see Mr. P. I’ll see you guys in English!”

Rikai and Shitto continued to walk towards their class.

“Very nice job, Yami!”

Yami’s right forearm was now covered with a zigzagged line.

“I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m working on it.”

“No,” Posche said. “Seeing as though you can already use Transparency with it, it should be no trouble for you to learn it, especially since you know how it works.”

Yami sat himself down in a hair and sighed.

“Mr. P, this is seeming very overkill. It has been nearly 4 weeks, and no one has attacked me. I’m starting to think that the first guy was just a fluke.”

“Yami, if you do not want to become strong to protect yourself, become strong to protect others.”

“Ya, ya. I’m off, Mr. P.”

Yami walked out of Posche’s classroom. As he turned the corner, he ran into something. Allowing a small “ow” to slip out, Yami looked to see what he had ran into. A blond girl lay on the floor.

“OH! Are you okay? That was totally my bad, sorry!”

Yami reached his hand out to pick her up. Opening her eyelids revealed two orbs that were frost blue.

“No problem, accidents happen. But man, you sure ran into me hard, didn’t you?” The girl giggled and grabbed Yami’s hand. Pulling her up, Yami noticed that her knee was bleeding.

“Oh, I can give you a bandage for that knee. What’s your first class?”

“I have P.E. first hour.”

“Let’s sit on this bench then.” Yami took a knee as the girl sat on the bench. Yami opened a compartment of his bag and retrieved a large bandage. Taking off the plastic cover, Yami firmly placed the bandage on her knee.

“There we go, good as new!”

“Thank you, um… What was your name?”

“Yami. Yami Shinpai. And yours?” The girl blushed and showed a face of shock.

“You’re Yami Shinpai?! You’re in my fourth, fifth, and sixth hour! I’m Shinkiya Acuta, but everyone just calls me Shinki.”

“Why did you sound so surprised to find out I was Yami?”

“Well, Rinkai told me about you, and I heard your name in class, but I didn’t expect such a coincidence!”

The bell rang, signifying that class would begin shortly.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later, Yami!”

“For sure! Adios, Shinki!”

As Yami and Shinki began to walk away from one another, Shinki blushed.

“So… You're Yami Shinpai… It actually worked!”

Sitting in his seat, Yami set his bag down next to him. As he sat back upright, Rinkai turned around to face him. She smiled.

“Where have you been, Yami?”

“I’ve been helping Mr. P setup his lab. Poor guy can barely lift 10 lbs!”

Rinkai let out a small giggle.

“That’s so like you.”

Yami looked at Rinkai inquisitively.

“So… like me?”

Rinkai nodded.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“What do yo-”

The teacher walked into the room and dropped his bags. Class started. The teacher began to draw on the whiteboard and lecture the class.

“Oh, Rinkai,” Yami whispered. “I met this girl named Shinkiya Acuta. Apparently she’s your friend?”

“Oh, you mean Shinki?!?!”

The teacher turned to look at them, halting class temporarily. Yami and Rinkai turned and looked at the board and became quiet.

“As I was saying before our interruption, the subject directly interacts...”

Rinkai turned herself back towards Yami.

“Anyways, ya. Shinki is my best friend! She just moved her this year. Maybe we could all hang out sometime, us three and Shitto!”

“Ya,” Yami responded. “That sounds good.”

In his room, Yami was swiping his right hand on his door. The zigzagged line was know starting to gain some curvature. Yami opened his door into the meadow.

“Despite all the training I’ve been doing with Mr. P’s technique, my own Sirushi Inochi is still lacking.”

Yami began to form spheres and slam them into trees. The tree remnants flashed a greenish-yellow.

“Hello, Yami. Would you pay me a visit? I am getting ever so lonely.”

“I’m not listening to you, Akahishi. I thought we’ve already been over this.”

“What a shame. I thought I could truly help you with your training this time, but alas, an old dog can never keep up with puppies.”

Yami sat down underneath a tree. As he began to doze off, Yami set an alarm on his phone for 6 a.m., and fell fast asleep.

“You know, Yami, more things happen in your life than you can see.”

Yami’s phone woke him at 6 a.m. as he had set it to do so. Trying to stand up, Yami felt a pain in his left hand.

“Man,” Yami thought to himself. “I took training a little too seriously yesterday.”

Opening the door from the meadow to his bathroom, Yami began to disrobe. Taking off his shirt revealed that he had become not only more toned, but had more muscle mass as well. What was worrisome, however, was his left forearm and hand. Burn marks and cuts went all the way up his arm to his elbow, which was worst at the palm of his hand.

“This isn’t good. Looks like I’m staying home today.”

After showering, Yami cleaned his arm more properly and bandaged it. Laying down on his bed in his sweatpants, Yami looked out of his window. The month of October had begun to show its beauty. The various colors of the oak leaves calmed Yami to the point of entering slumber once again.

“Hey, Rinkai!”

Rinkai walked up to Shitto.

“Hey Shitto!”

Rinkai looked around.

“Where’s Yami?”

Shitto shrugged.

“He texted me and said he was staying home for the day.”

“Is he sick?”

Shitto shook his head.

“No, he said he hurt his hand yesterday.”

“I see. Maybe after school today we can go check on him?”

Shitto smiled.

“Ya, I’m sure he’d like that.”

Sitting down in the classroom, the teacher began his normal lectures.

“Still, I wonder how Yami hurt his arm.”

Without notice, the door to the classroom flew off its hinges and hit the teacher, sending him into his desk. The students in the classroom gasped and stood up. Blood began to flow from behind the desk. The clicking of boots echoed as a man in military fatigues entered the room.

“Which one of you is Yami Shinpai?”

No one in the room answered him.

“Oh, of course. May I introduce myself. I’m the guy who will slaughter everyone in this school if you don’t tell me who Yami Shinpai is.”

“Y-Y-Yami isn’t h-h-here today,” one of the students managed to spit out.

The man walked over to the student and grabbed him by the collar.

“He isn’t here today?”

“Y-y-yes sir.”

The man dropped the boy.

“I like you. I’ll let you leave. Everyone else, you are staying here.”

The boy began to run towards the exit. A desk flew and hit the boy in the legs, causing him to fall and yell in pain.

“On second thought, the more hostages I have, the more likely it is that I will get him.”

Shitto grabbed Rinkai and put her behind him.

“Rinkai,” he whispered. “Text Yami and tell him to get to Posche’s class.”

“But, that guy, he killed our teacher and he’s gonna kill Yami too!”

“Do it!”

The man turned to look at Shitto. As he began to walk over to him, Shitto let go of Rinkai.

“Now who are you? You seem like a tough guy.”

Shitto glared at the man. The man began to inch closer to his face until there was virtually no space in between them.

“You know where Yami Shinpai is, don't you?”

“No, but I know your mom sucks a good dick at the local soup kitchen.”

The man grabbed Shitto’s left arm and snapped it with just his index finger and thumb. Shitto let out a blood curdling scream. Shitto received a flurry of punches to his stomach that made him cough up blood.

“That was a funny joke! You got anymore?”

“No, but I have to ask. Who taught you how to punch? Your mother?”

Another swing was sent towards Shitto, but Shitto avoided it.

“C’mon dude, you have to swing faster than that.”

Students hurriedly walked into a closet. Whispers could be heard, most of which asking if this was a drill, if someone had died. Posche began to close the door behind the last student.

“Keep walking down the trapdoor. Keep heading straight until you reach outside. The cops will rescue you there.” Posche shut the door to the closet and slid his hand down it.

“There. Now even if I fall to these terrorists, they won’t get the students.”

Posche hugged a wall as peeked through his door. In the hallway, he could see three people. All of which had masks. One in the middle was much more slim, and looked more feminine compared to the other two, who were much more masculine.

“I thought Akiji was going to grab the kid and leave within a couple of minutes! What’s the hold up?!”

“Shut it! He said he was absent today, so we’re gonna have to find his house.”

“So, they’re after Yami? I have to stop them, somehow.”

The group was about to pass Posche’s door.

“Oh well. You guys see the game last ni-”

A gurgling noise was heard as one of the men fell with a slice across his throat. Posche stood behind him with a scalpel in his right hand.

“You prick!”

The other man leapt towards Posche at an alarming speed, promptly leading Posche to fall backwards as if to avoid the man barreling at him.

“So, they’re using Phys Mods? I’m not gonna stand a chance unless I can take this guy out fast. As for the girl…”

Posche darted down the hall and hid behind a pillar.

“I’m going to have to determine what it is she has.”

The woman pointed at the pillar Posche was behind.

“Go get him, Jiro.”

Posche looked behind him to see the man dart at him again.

“What the hell?!?! He got faster!”

Jumping to the other side of the hall, Jiro crashed into the pillar that Posche had been behind. Letting go a sigh of relief, Posche turned his attention to the woman, who remained in the same spot she was earlier.

“Looks like I’ll have to take her out first.”

Posche threw the scalpel at Jiro’s leg, hitting him in the upper left thigh. Jiro promptly let out a scream of pain. Taking advantage of this time, Posche drew another scalpel and darted at the woman.

“You’re mine now!”

The scalpel was on point with the woman's eye.

A fist punched a brick wall with such force that it left a clean hole. Shitto was now on top of a bookshelf. His left arm was now turning shades of purple and red, and was limp. Shitto looked around. Everyone was gone.

“Thank god everyone got out. Now I can use my Sirushi Inochi.”

A purple substance began to crawl into the shape of a small dagger.

“Let’s dance, prick!”

Shitto jumped off of the shelf and ran at Akiji. Akiji threw a nearby desk in the direction of Shitto, who side stepped to the left and vaulted over a desk. Leaping back at Akiji, Shitto flipped the knife over in his hand to do a more powerful stab. As he landed, Shitto felt the knife drive into Akiji.

“It’s over.”

A hand grabbed Posche’s leg, pulling him back and into the floor. The impact was so hard that it caused Posche to spit up blood.

“You underestimated Jiro. Now, you’ll die.”

“At least I managed to save some of my students. Yami should be okay now, too. The cops will arrive any moment now.”

A foot stomped on Shitto’s body. Grabbing him by the face, a hand pulled Shitto up.

“It’s over? Take a better look, pal.”

Through the gaps between his fingers, Shitto managed to look. Akiji had a knife sticking out of his right shoulder.

“I could’ve sworn I got him in the heart!”

“You missed, kid. Now tell me where Yami Shinpai is, and I won’t make your end hurt as much as I want it to.”

“Go… To…. Hell…”

Akiji chuckled.

“You got balls, kid. I’ll give ya that. But now, I’ll kill you and go find Yami.”

A rainbow throwing knife drove itself into the elbow of the arm holding Shitto, causing it to drop him. Yami stood in the doorway of the classroom.

“You won’t have to look far, you bastard!”