Reaching behind him, Yami grabbed his pocket knife. Flicking it open in his right hand, he began to analyze the attackers.

“There are so many!”

Posche stared out of the window.

“I agree. There’s no way they’re not connected. It must be an organization, in which case, we need to find out who is in charge.”

Shitto chuckled and formed a sword in his hand out of his life essence.

“Only one way to find that out. Interrogation!”

Posche walked over to a closet in the room. Sliding his hand down the door, then reaching inside, he withdrew a large axe.

“I’m ready.”

Shitto gripped his sword tightly in his hand, and a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead.

“I was born ready.”

Shippai rolled up her sleeves and put her hair in a ponytail. Posche reached back inside of the closet and tossed her a knife with a 6-inch blade, which she firmly gripped in a reverse edge out grip.

“I’m ready.”

Yami glanced at their faces, then turned towards the horde of people. Upon seeing Yami, they began to sprint at the school. Yami formed a sphere in his hand.

“Let’s go.”

Leaping towards the window, Yami thrust the sphere in his left hand at it, causing it to shatter, allowing him to leap through. Posche, Shitto, and Shippai followed.

Rikai looked around in the room she was in. Familiar faces of her classmates and teachers flooded her vision.

“Where are we? Mr. Posche just told us to get in the room, and that we were being evacuated, but it seems like no one knows what’s going on.”

A face of shock came over Rikai.

“Where is Shitto and Yami? I haven’t heard their voices. Students have stopped coming into the room, so they couldn’t have been left behind, could they?”

Panicking, Rikai began to shove her way through the crowd, desperately trying to find Shitto and Yami.

“Hey! Rikai! Over here!”

Rikai turned and saw hands waving over the crowd. Parting the sea of people once again, Rikai approached a group of her friends.

“Hey guys. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Not really, no. We heard Mr. Posche say something on the P.A., then before we knew it, we were all being shoved in here. No one really knows what’s going on, either.”

“I see. I’ll be right back, I’m looking for some people.”

“Okay. Don’t get lost in the crowd!”

Rikai began to fish her way through the crowd once again, but almost immediately after leaving, she began to hear her friends quietly talk amongst themselves.

“Did she say she’s looking for people? Surely she couldn’t have meant…”

Rikai shook it off and continued walking. As she shoved people around, she began to hear more and more conversations. Passing a group of boys, she overheard them talk.

“I heard it’s super dangerous, and that the school is being attacked again.”

“No way, again?!”

“Yeah, and I bet it’s Yami’s fault again, too.”

Putting distance in between them and herself, she heard another group of people talking.

“Shitto helped guide us to a doorway into here. He sure is courageous!”

“Did he make it in too?”

“I’m not sure…”

Walking more quickly now, Rikai heard a cluster of girls chatting.

“Besides, we’re all safe in here.”

“How do you know?”

“Because Mr. Posche shoved us in here! He protected us from the terrorists last time, too!”

“I heard that Yami helped wipe the floor with them, though.”

“Yeah! Besides, HE was the one who put ME in here!”

Rikai paused.

“What do you mean, ‘he put me in here’?”

“He came to my class, opened this room, and told us to take shelter in here. He said that we were being evacuated.”

Rikai grabbed this girl's shoulder and spun her around to face her.

“You mean that Yami was the one who put you in here?”

The girl, who was confused and visibly shaken nodded her head.

“No.”

Rikai let go of her shoulder and turned back to continue pushing her way through the crowd.

“That can’t be. There’s no way that he is out there.”

“YAMI! SHITTO!”

The only response was that of a dense crowd talking amongst themselves.

“They couldn’t have left me behind again. They can’t be facing an unknown danger right now. They can’t.”

Rikai’s body popped out of the crowd and was up against a wall. Looking to her left, she saw a door. Forcing herself behind people, she finally arrived at the door. Sliding it open, she found that no one was present in the room. Closing the door behind her, she began to investigate the room. Almost as prominent as the oval table in the center of the room was the staggering amount of weapons aligned around the wall. Grabbing a katana off of the wall, she unsheathed it to find a freshly sharpened blade.

“What exactly is this place?”

She heard a small noise. Turning to the source, she saw a cabinet. Sheathing the katana, she walked over to the cabinet. Hearing a noise once again, she clearly heard screaming, as well as hundreds of stampeding feet.

“This can’t be..”

Pulling the door open slightly and taking a small peak, she gasped.

“KEN!”

A purple sword sliced through a man’s abdomen, causing blood to paint the surrounding area in a dark red. Shitto wiped the blood off of his face with his shirt.

“Hey! How are you guys holding up?!”

Posche had a strained face as he gripped the handle of his axe with two hands. A man who resembled more of a grizzly bear than a human grabbed the handle and attempted to pull the axe away from Posche. Pulling his leg up, Posche kicked the man in the stomach as if he were breaching a door. The man maintained his grip as he fell, causing Posche to lose his axe. Behind him, he heard a woman yell. Quickly turning, Posche caught the woman’s forearm as she tried to stab him in a downward motion. Wrapping her arm behind her back, Posche got behind her. With his right arm, he began to choke the woman. Feeling herself losing consciousness, she tried to shake Posche off of her. Turning him 180 degrees, back to where the encounter started, she pushed herself backwards off of the ground, causing Posche to stumble backwards, with the woman landing on top of him. With his arm still firmly wrapped around her neck, Posche squeezed tighter. The woman began to stop squirming, then her grip loosened on the knife. Feeling relieved, Posche shoved her off of him and wiped the sweat off of his eyes. As they opened, he saw the large man raise his axe in the air. A hand wrapped itself around his neck like a snake, then quickly slid back down, slitting his neck open, causing blood to spray all over Posche. Wiping it off of his face, he saw Shippai covered in blood with the knife he gave her.

“Mr. Posche and I are doing fine!”

“Who I’m most worried about,” Posche said, “is Yami.”

Turning his head, he saw a mob of people completely ignoring them and heading in the same direction as everyone else.

A blast blew a man into the swarm that was surrounding Yami. At least a dozen more bodies fell over as the man tumbled into them. Yami formed another sphere. Turning to his left, he drove the sphere towards a man who grabbed Yami’s arm. Hearing more people swarm behind him, Yami strained his arm, allowing him to break free of the man’s grasp. Driving the sphere into the ground, a large cloud of dirt and debris flew into the air. The man who grabbed Yami rubbed his eyes, but as he removed his hand, a throwing knife drove itself into his skull. Darting out of the dust, Yami held his knife pointing in front of him. His speed drove his knife into the stomach of one person, allowing for his hand to slide through and into the stomach of another. Yami pulled his hand out of the two bellies of these strangers and flicked his knife downward to get some of the blood off of the blade. Behind him, he heard a man yell. Leaping well over the man, Yami did a backflip over him. Upon landing, Yami formed another sphere and drove it into his back, blowing him into another crowd. Now panting, Yami tried to regain his breath.

“This isn’t good. I’ve probably killed more than two hundred people, and they are still coming. There is no end to them.”

Seeing a woman charge toward him, Yami attempted to form another sphere. A very tiny ball was made in response.

“Come on you fucker!”

Straining his arm, a medium size sphere was created. Having no more time, Yami thrust the sphere into the woman’s stomach, only blowing her back a foot. Sweat poured down Yami’s face, mixing with the blood already present. He was panting even more now.

“This isn’t good. I’m almost completely drained. There’s still more coming, too.”

Yami looked up. The circle began to envelope him.

“So this is how I die. Despite trying to end it earlier, these past few months have really made me happy. I have dreams and aspirations now. I want to fall in love. I want to get married. I want to have kids. I want to get old. I want to be… loved.”

A tear rolled down Yami’s face as he lay on the ground, staring at the cloudy sky.

“You know, Yami, you do not have to die today.”

Hearing this familiar voice, Yami gasped.

“I thought you were gone, Akahishi!”

Akahishi chuckled.

“I will never be gone, Jinsei no Hogo. Now, how about I lend you my power?”

Yami gulped.

“Fine.”

Shitto screamed as he drove his sword into the abdomen of another person. The serrated edge was faded, and the blade was much more dull. Feeling a blade go through his right arm, Shitto swung his left hand behind him, hitting the attacker in the temple. His sword had disappeared. Gasping for air, Shitto began to dart towards the school. Charging, Shitto broke through the glass in the front hall, causing his body to become covered in cuts. Running back through the halls, the crunching of glass behind him assured him that he had followers. Finding himself back in the classroom that he, Shippai, Posche, and Yami prepared for the assault, he slammed the door behind him, holding it shut with his left arm. Behind him, he heard a gasp. Turning towards it, he saw the closet door quickly shut. Shuffling to the broken window, Shitto grabbed a shard of glass and gripped it so tightly in his left hand that it began to bleed. Walking over to the closet, he pulled the door open to find Rikai holding a katana in a foreign room.

“Rikai!”

Hearing pounding on the door behind him, Shitto dropped the glass and flung his body into the closet, shutting the door behind him. Running to the opposite side of the oval table, Shitto pushed his body against it, moving the table close to the cabinet. Rikai saw what he was trying to accomplish, and assisted him. Hearing the comforting thud of the table hitting the cabinet door, Shitto fell over onto the ground. A pool of blood began to cover the area of floor he laid on.

“Shitto! Stay here!”

Opening the door to the main room, Rikai called out into the crowd.

“I need a stretcher! We have badly injured here! Hurry! Please!”

The crowd shifted their gaze onto Rikai, and onto the room which was previously unexplored. Running back to Shitto, Rikai placed her hand on the stab wound and began to apply pressure.

“R-Rikai…”

“Don’t speak. You’re safe now. Just hold still, and save your breath.”

Shitto continued panting for air. A pair of teachers carrying a stretcher burst into the room. Placing Shitto onto the stretcher, another teacher arrived to block students from entering the room, which was filled with weapons. Following the stretcher, Rikai held the katana firmly in her left hand. As the stretcher parted the crowd, students were mumbling amongst themselves, some complimenting Shitto on how cool he was, others fearing for themselves.Finally reaching the empty medical bay, three teachers equipped to do surgery retrieved Shitto from the stretcher. They quickly went to work on Shitto, cleaning his wounds with saline, then stitched the wound shut. They also wrapped his cuts which he received from breaking through the glass pane with an anti-bacterial cream and bandages. Upon completion, the three teachers walked towards the sink to clean their hands. Rikai sat on a bed next to Shitto. He opened his eyes and turned towards her.

“What’s… up?”

“Is Yami still fighting?”

Shitto nodded. Gulping, Rikai clenched the katana in her hand. She stood up from the bed and began to walk towards the exit.

“Rikai!”

Shitto’s muffled voice was not loud enough to get her attention. Trying to stand up, Shitto tumbled and fell onto the floor, allowing Rikai to walk right out of the room. Teachers rushed to help retrieve Shitto off of the ground as he became unconscious.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop her, Yami.”

Pushing through the crowd, Rikai forced her way to the war room once again. Attempting to enter, she was stopped by a teacher.

“You can’t come in here. It’s too dangerous.”

Rikai drew the katana and pointed it at him.

“I was the one who found it, jackass. Let me through.”

Putting his hands up, the teacher backed away from the door, allowing Rikai to enter. Pulling the table away from the cabinet, Rikai opened the door. Climbing through, she found that the closet had been tipped over. Crawling onto the tile floor, she stood up and looked out of the broken window. She gasped at the horror of hundreds of bodies coating the front lawn of the high school. Climbing through the broken window, she began to walk towards a girl with red hair kneeled over Posche. A green ooze was pouring down her arm and was coating Posche’s chest with it.

“Wake up, damn it! You can’t die now!”

Nearing her, Rikai spoke.

“Is that.... Mr. Posche?”

The girl turned to face Rikai. Tears were rolling down her bloodied face.

“Yes… Though, I think he’s….”

The girl began sobbing into her hands.

“What’s your name?”

The girl looked at Rikai.

“I’m Shippai.”

“This is the girl who rejected Yami, right? What is she doing here?”

“Where is Yami?”

Shippai shook her head.

“I don’t know. There were so many people… We got swarmed… I think we lost Shitto, too.”

Rikai hugged Shippai.

“Shitto’s safe. He’s inside of the evacuation shelter. You should head there, too. I’ll help you take Mr. Posche as well.”

With Posche’s arms wrapped around their shoulders, Rikai guided Shippai to the cabinet.

“Inside there are people who can help you two. Get some rest.”

“What about Yami?”

Shippai looked out towards the lawn.

“I’ll find him.”

Rikai shut the door behind Shippai and departed to find Yami.

Body after body was blown into the swarm of people surrounding Yami. Covered in blood, Yami killed person after person. Running into the crowd, Yami wielded his pocket knife in one hand, and sphere in his other. Slicing through bodies as if they were butter, and sending them flying like a ball, Yami continued his rampage. The crowd had been reduced down to nearly twenty people. Yami lept thirty feet in the air, then, aiming at the ground, formed another sphere with a ten foot radius, eliminating the remaining attackers. Landing on the ground, Yami wiped his face with the remainder of his shirt. His clothes were so torn that his shirt was discarded after wiping his face, and his pants had tears all along them.

“Well, well, well. You have certainly outperformed what I had expected, Yami.”

Opening his eyes, which were now black with a jagged red line, Yami faced Shinkai and her father. Seeing Shinkai, Yami’s eyes turned back to normal.

“Shinki? W-Why are you here?”

Shinkai chuckled.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m the one who came here to kill you. I expected you to fall, but it seems like you are much stronger than I expected.”

“But…. but Shinki… why would you do this? So many people died…”

“Yes, and it is quite a shame. They were going to be my servants after I killed you and obtained your power for myself, but I suppose I’ll just have to get new ones.”

A tear rolled down Yami’s face.

Rikai heard a large a explosion. Turning towards that sound, she began to run at it.

“Yami… Please be safe.”

Nearing the sound, she hugged a wall of the school. Peaking around the corner, she saw Yami on his knees. A tear rolled down his face.

“Shinki… Why do you want to kill me?”

Rikai gasped.

Shinkai was looking down on Yami.

“Father, kill that girl over there.”

The mayor held his right hand up towards the corner of the school. Yami turned his head to see Rikai standing at the edge. Shaking, she drew her katana.

“R-Rikai! Get out of here! You’ll be killed!”

Feeling her emotions begin to bubble inside of her, Rikai began to tear up.

“And what about you?! You keep thinking about other people, but what about yourself?! I’m tired of you being so arrogant, Yami!”

“Rikai…”

“Enough chit-chat,” Shinkai yelled! “I’ll tell you what’s about to happen, Yami. My father here is going to shoot a huge ball of fire at poor, little Rikai over there. Seeing that you are so far away, there is no chance for you to reach us, and believe me, my father has a better reaction time than you, so you better not try to attack us. The that I see it, you have two choices. Option A: You let my father shoot this bitch and we continue to talk as adults. Option B: You use that Sirushi Inochi of yours to knock the fireball over into those suburbs. You have 3 seconds.”

“1.”

Yami gulped.

“She’s right. I don’t think I could reach them in time, and there’s no other angle I could hit it from. All I can do is hit it.”

“2.”

“Yami! Just let it hit me! Don’t risk harming someone else because of my mistakes!”

“What is over there? Wait a second…”

“3.”

The mayor formed a large ball of fire in his palm.

“Let’s see what you do, Jinsei no Hogo!”

“That’s the only choice. I’m sorry.”

The ball of fire ejected from the palm of the mayor. Rikai shed a tear.

“I’m sorry Yami. I really messed things up this time. I wish I could’ve told you everything… How I felt… How much it hurt to not see you… To see you with her… I want to know all about what you’ve been through… I hope we can speak in the afterlife, Yami.”

Rikai watched as the ball of flames travelled towards her.

“Goodbye.”

In a flash, Yami formed a large sphere in his hand and collided with the side of the fireball.

“If I hit it at this angle…”

The fireball was sent flying in the direction of the suburbs. Yami landed from his leap at the fireball. He watched as it landed and a cloud of smoke began to form.

“Goodbye, dad.”