Smoke billowed into the air from a nearby suburb. Shinkai grinned.

“So, you chose some poor bastard over there? You truly are heartless, aren’t you? There could’ve been mothers, animals, children, yet you chose to potentially kill any number of people over one, pathetic excuse of a girl?”

Yami clenched his fists.

“You’re one to talk.”

Shinkai looked at Yami as if he were a child.

“What was that?”

Yami turned away from the cloud of smoke and faced Shinkai.

“You have no right to call her a pathetic girl. You put countless innocent lives in danger just for the sake of gaining more power. I could care less if I had to make that decision a thousand times over. It wouldn’t make Rikai pathetic in the slightest!”

“Yami…,” Rikai mumbled to herself.

“Fortunately, we won’t have to do it a second time.” Shinkai said. “Father, bring him back to me clinging for life.”

The mayor charged towards Yami. Swinging his fists in the direction of Yami, the mayor acted as if he were a wild animal. Blocking the incoming attack, Yami swung his left leg at his opponent’s in an attempt to knock him over, but to no avail. It was caught mid-swing by the mayor, who promptly threw Yami into a window, causing it to shatter, as well send Yami flying into a wall on the opposite side of the room.

“Yami!”

Rikai began to run towards the shattered window.

“Rikai! It’s okay! Just get somewhere safe for now! I can’t keep both of us safe!”

The mayor lept through the window and raised his fists as if to hit Yami on the head like a hammer hits a nail. Yami rolled to his left to avoid the attack, which promptly resulted in shards of floor tile spewing around the room. Yami broke a metal leg off of a desk and ran behind the mayor, placing it on his throat and pulling it towards him, trying to make him lose consciousness.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you? You’re attacking your own school!”

The mayor grabbed the leg of the desk with both of his hands. Quickly, smoke began to flow out of the gaps between his fingers, and the leg became so hot that it caused Yami to let go of it. The mayor strained his hand, and the metal leg became engulfed in flames. The mayor threw the leg at Yami, who formed a sphere and braced his left arm. The leg hit the sphere with such force that as it crushed, the flames present continued travelling towards Yami, burning his arm. Letting out a cry of pain, Yami began to inspect his arm. His arm was blotchy with red marks and peeling skin.

“Damn it! I can’t make the same mistake with this guy. Without direct contact from his hands, I’ve already got second degree burns.”

Yami’s train of thought was destroyed as the mayor lunged at him again. Yami withdrew his pocket knife and tried to avoid the man pummeling towards him. As Yami slid underneath one of the mayor’s arms, his right shoulder was quickly grabbed by the other. Feeling the heat of the palm that held him hostage, Yami instinctively formed a sphere and swung it towards the arm. Just before contact, the mayor let out a large flame that wrapped itself around Yami’s body. Letting out a scream of pain, Yami finally blew the arm off of his shoulder. The hand hit the wall with such force that it broke not only the brick wall, but also the hand. Blood dripped out of the broken hand as the mayor tried to find his way out of the dust cloud that formed after shattering the wall. The dust cloud finally subsiding, the mayor looked around the room for a sign of Yami. There was no trace.

Yami darted down the hall towards a pair of doors that led outside. His body was covered in burns of various degrees, with his shoulder being almost completely charred. Pushing himself through the doors, Yami ran towards a sprinkler in the ground. Seeing a hose that connected it to the school’s water supply, Yami made quick use of his knife to cut it and pour to ice cold water onto his shoulder.

“Shit. I can’t feel my shoulder at all. He burned it VERY badly. If he shoots a fireball as large as the one from earlier and I take it head on…”

The door creaked open behind Yami. Yami turned to see the mayor standing in the doorway. Forming another sphere, Yami lept onto the roof above the doorway and slammed his sphere into it, causing to ceiling to collapse onto the mayor. Peering over the edge, Yami saw a hand sticking out of the rubble. It was broken and bleeding.

“I got him. Now to take care of Shinki.”

Rikai ran over hundreds of corpses as she attempted to go back to the closet from which she came.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

Rikai turned to see Shinkai standing on top of a body as if she had been there the entire time.

“Shinki! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Does it really need to be explained to you? Though, I suppose you have always needed someone to help you get things through your thick skull.”

“Just tell me!”

Shinkai sighed.

“It’d be a millennia before you understood it all, so there’s no point in me telling you. All you need to know is that both you and Yami are going to die.”

Rinkai gulped. Trembling, she withdrew her katana.

“I-I’ll never let you do that. I’ll stop you here and now.”

Shinkai looked Rikai in the eyes very seriously. Rikai held the katana tighter. Shinkai’s look of seriousness soon cracked with a grin, then laughter.

“I’m sorry, Rikai, but you? You are too pathetic to do anything! But I must give you some respect for making me laugh!”

Rikai held the katana firmly.

“You don’t know what I’m capable of, you rotten bitch.”

Shinkai looked down upon Rikai.

“I’m fairly certain that you’re only capable of crying. At homecoming alone you could’ve filled an olympic swimming pool. Besides, there was no need for you to risk your life over him. He doesn’t even love you!”

“It doesn’t matter!” Rikai looked at the ground.

“Hmm?”

“Even if he doesn’t love me… Even if he hates me with all of his being…” Rikai looked Shinkai in the eyes. “I love him! So long as he is happy, I’m happy! That’s why I’ll risk my life! And that’s why I’ll kill you!”

“Well said. Let’s settle this then, Rikai.”

Shinkai reached toward the ground and withdrew a dagger from one of the many bodies surrounding her.

Rikai yelled as she charged at Shinkai, who simply grinned and ran towards Rikai.

“I can’t win, but I have to try. If I don’t, then I’d be no better than the people who look at Yami with cold eyes.”

A clash of metal was heard as a blade collided with another.

“Long time no see, Rikai.”

Yami stood in between the two girls. In his right hand was his pocket knife, which was connected with the dagger that Shinkai wielded. In his left was Rikai’s wrist, preventing her from slicing Yami with her katana. Gritting her teeth, Shinkai lifted up the dagger and attempted to swing at Yami from his waist. Letting go of Rikai’s wrist, Yami threw the knife in the air. Catching it in his left hand, he swung down at the dagger, successfully deflecting it. From seemingly nowhere, the mayor flung himself at Yami. Yami let go of his knife due to the sudden impact of this large man, and lost the air in his lungs as the mayor landed on him. Feeling his left arm being pinned down to an extent that he couldn't move it in the slightest, he raised his right arm towards Rikai.

“Rikai! Toss me that!”

Seeing his right hand in the air, Rikai flung her katana towards him. Catching the hilt, Yami flipped the blade around in his hand to drive it through the mayor’s side. Spitting up blood, the mayor rolled off of Yami. Throwing himself away from the mayor, Yami tried to regain some of the breath he lost. Without warning, a dagger tried to slice at Yami. Deflecting it with the katana, Yami launched a counter-attack, pushing Shinkai back.

“There’s my opening!”

Seeing Shinkai’s left hand in the open, Yami guided his katana over to it. Instead of hitting its intended target, however, it found itself slicing through the palm of the mayor’s right hand, who had dove to protect Shinkai.

“Good job, father!”

Fearing another tackle, Yami fell back a distance away from Shinkai and the mayor. Shoving his katana into the ground for balance, Yami took a knee to catch his breath. Rikai promptly ran up to him.

“Yami! Are you okay?”

Panting heavily, sweat beaded all over Yami’s body.

“I’m a little bit burnt, that’s all.” Yami maintained sight on the two targets in front of him. “What about you? Are you hurt?”

Rikai shook her head.

“No, I’m fine.”

Shinkai walked next the mayor.

“What’s wrong with your left arm?”

Upon inspecting it, she saw it was broken.

“Here. I’ll help you out.”

Yami wiped his forehead.

“Rikai, liste-”

“Burn to a crisp!”

“What?!?!”

Shinkai held up the mayor’s left arm as he launched a large fireball towards Yami and Rikai. Pushing Rikai behind himself, Yami looked determined. Gripping the katana’s hilt in both hands, Yami strained his arms. As the fireball prepared to hit Yami, he lifted the katana above his head. Swinging it towards the ground with tremendous speed, Yami sliced the fireball with the katana, allowing it to split in half and go in opposite directions, leaving Rikai unharmed. Yami’s hands, however, gained a few more burns. The katana glew a bright orange from the amount of heat it was exposed to. Gripping the katana in his right hand, Yami lifted it as if it were a javelin, then threw it with as much force as a hunting bow would hurl an arrow. The katana burrowed itself into the palm of the mayor, and travelled through his arm until it poked out next to his shoulder. Shinkai sighed.

“I guess that was the extent of what you could do, father.”

Grabbing his chin and the back of his head, Shinkai quickly twisted the mayor’s head, snapping his neck. His body fell over onto the cold ground. Rikai gasped and covered her mouth in shock. Yami wore a serious look on his face as he stared at Shinkai, who looked up from her father’s body and smiled at Yami.

“You truly pushed me to my limits, Yami. Normally, I’d retreat from here and attempt to build another army, but I’m out of time. I have to kill you now.”

“Why? Why today?”

“Simple. Because I die today.”

An explosion rattled a stone building, causing dust to fall onto a small blonde girl, about five years old. This girl wore tattered clothing, and looked as though she had not had meal in days, and a bath in months. Crying, she held onto a teddy bear tightly, hugging it in her arms as if it were the only thing she had left in the world. Rustling was heard outside, and a man yelled ‘Breach!’ as the door to the building was kicked in. A woman walked over the girl and pat her head.

“It’s okay. I’ll be right back, dear.”

The girl looked up from her teddy bear to watch the woman pick up a submachine gun of some sort, closely resembling an MP5. The woman walked through a doorway, and the sound of screaming and gunshots collided with one another until one final sound ended them both. A thud. A group of soldiers walked through the doorway and saw the young girl hiding behind her teddy bear. One of the soldiers set his assault rifle onto the same table that the submachine gun had sat, and reached out his hand towards the girl.

“We’re not here to hurt you. Please, come with me, and I can get you to safety.”

Looking away from his hand, the girl saw blood slowly crawl through the doorway. The girl screamed in horror.

A girl, blonde, sat in front of a mirror and brushed her hair. She was about eleven years old, and was clean, and was also well fed. Setting down her brush, she walked over to her bed and picked up her backpack. Placing it on her shoulders, she ran out of her room, down her stairs, and out of her house. Two other girls who wore the same uniform as the girl waveed at her as she caught up.

“Geez, you’re always getting later and later.”

The girl laughed anxiously.

“Sorry, I’ve been getting up late.”

“What, do you stay up at night?”

The girls laughed together.

As the bell rang for school’s dismissal, the girls walked back to their homes together. Waving goodbye, the blonde girl walked into her house. Setting down her backpack, she went into her kitchen. Opening her fridge, the girl withdrew various snacks and beverages. After finishing them, the girl began to clean her household. First, she did the dishes. Then, she vacuumed. Next, she dusted. Finally, she took out the garbage. Wiping the sweat off of her forehead, the girl walked upstairs and into her bathroom. Disrobing, the girl turned on the faucet in her bathtub. Soaking in the water, the girl relaxed. After about a thirty minutes, the girl stepped out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around herself, walking back to her room. Putting on a long, white shirt, she picked up the covers on her bed and slid herself into it. Falling asleep, the girl turned to face her window, which allowed her to see the starry night sky. She fell into a trance while staring at the various stars. Her trance wasn’t even disturbed by the door to her room creaking open, allowing light to flood in and hit her window. A large shadow stood in the doorway. It was a man. A zipper was undone in the doorway and the man shut the door behind him as he entered the room. Feeling the covers lift up and another person slide into the bed, the girl bit her lip.

“Hey there, sweetie. You gonna help daddy out tonight, again?”

A tear rolled down the girl’s face as the bed began to shake back and forth.

A girl lay in a hospital bed with tubes sticking into her arms. A doctor walked in with a clipboard.

“Hi there. We’ve just gotten your test results back. I’m afraid I have some bad news. According to our results, your ailment is terminal. We suspect that you have about two years. I’m so sorry. If you have any questions, or need anyone to talk to, everyone here is ready to talk with you.”

The doctor walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. A man sitting in the corner of the room gulped.

“So.. I guess our time together is limited for only a couple more years, huh.”

The man unzipped his pants.

“We should make the most with our time.”

The girl spread her legs open. Her genitals were covered only by her thins hospital gown.

“Wow, you’re getting more friendly with me!”

As the man climbed on top of the hospital bed, the girl reached over, and in her bag, she withdrew a pistol. Blood splattered as a bullet drove itself through the man’s head.

“Fuck you!”

Crying, the girl placed the pistol against her temple. Screaming, she pulled the trigger.

Hospital staff burst into the room to investigate the loud noise they had heard. Seeing the body of the man, they urged each other to call the police. The bed was empty, and the window was open.

A knock on the door was heard by the butler as he was doing chores for the household. Opening the door, a blonde girl greeted him.

“Hello, madam. How may I be of service to you today?”

“Hello. I would like to speak with the homeowner, please.”

“No soliciting.”

“I am a family member.”

Astonished, the butler scurried away.

“One moment, madam.”

Walking into the room was the mayor.

“Who are you, claiming to be my family?”

The girl looked the mayor in the eyes.

“What do you mean?”

The girl blinked hard.

“I’m Shinkai, your daughter!”

The mayor blinked.

“Pardon me! I had no idea where my mind had went! Please, come in!”

Yami looked at the mayor who was laying on the ground.

“So that’s why no one knew he had a daughter. It’s because he never did.”

Shinkai stared at Yami.

“You know what I have to do, Yami.”

Yami formed a sphere in his fist. He began to rush towards Shinkai. His eyes met hers.

Yami fell onto the cold ground.