Shippai kicked Yami’s shin, causing him to fall to one knee. Shippai swung her free hand towards the arm that held her wrist, but was unsuccessful as Yami caught that one as well. In a last-ditch effort, Shippai raised her knee in an attempt to hit Yami’s chin, but was quickly caught off guard when Yami flipped her entire body over his head. Her back hit the hardwood floor with a loud smack, and within a moment, Yami had already flipped her onto her back and restrained her wrists.

“What the hell were you trying to do, Shippai? We’re your friends!”

Shippai’s face of struggle subsided along with her squirms that tried to give her freedom and was replaced by a grin.

“Friends? You all?”

As Yami stared at her, he began to feel immense pain in the hands he was using to restrain Shippai. As the pain grew, it proved to be too intense for Yami to handle, causing hi to release Shippai, who in turn tried to slash him with a knife. Yami blocked the knife the edge of his forearm, then tried to palm strike her stomach, but to no avail as she slipped out from under him. Attempting to flee, Shippai darted towards the window. Yami tried to stand, but stumbled as he felt immense fatigue once again. Unable to think of any other action that would suffice, Yami reached behind himself and grabbed his throwing knife. Shippai leapt out of the window and sprinted through Rikai’s backyard. Yami hurled the knife, which, at breakneck speeds, cut through Shippai’s abdomen and continued through her body until it came out the other side, crashing through a fence and hitting the side of a house before stopping. Breathing heavily, Yami wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

“I think I got her.”

Jitsubutsu slowly picked himself up out of the rubble.

“That girl…”

Rikai ran up to Yami.

“Are you alright? Did she get you anywhere?”

Yami shook his head.

“I think I’m fine for now.”

Holding up his hand, Yami sent life essence out towards his throwing knife, which flew back towards him. Catching the handle, Yami noticed the knife felt heavier.

“It’s a trap,” Jitsubutsu yelled!

“It doesn’t seem to respond to my life essence, so it’s unlikely I can throw it… Jitsubutsu and I could survive, but Rikai…”

Yami pushed Rikai away from him as he gallantly rose to his feet and crashed through a window. As Rikai tried to look out of the window, she was greeted by a bright flash, then a deafening explosion. The force of the blast took out the wall behind Yami, as well as form a crater nearly 3 feet deep. Yami was propelled away from the blastr, crashing into a fence. Coughing blood, Yami hazily attempted to assess the situation.

“It looks like my clothes took most of the blast for me, but it still did this much…”

The last thing Yami saw was Jitsubutsu and Rikai running towards him as he blacked out…

BOOM

“Sounds like it worked.”

Shippai limped through some alleys, blood pouring from the hole she was covering with her hands. Leaning herself against a wall, green life essence crept down Shippai’s arm and engulfed the afflicted area. The impact the knife had on Shippai’s body was staggering, creating an effect similar to a bullet. As the green life essence seemingly pulsated around the wound, Shippai continued to maintain focus, and after a few moments, she moved her hands to reveal a completely healed wound, set aside a small scar. Taking a few deep breaths to collect herself once again, Shippai regained her anger, kicking a nearby trash can in blind fury.

“I should’ve just killed him! If it weren’t for Yami waking up now of all times… That damn boy!”

Shoving a nearby door open, Shippai walked into a suite. Laying herself on the soft bed, she reached her hand out, creating a void that it slipped through. Out of the void she withdrew a bag with a yellow ‘W’ on it. Inside the bag was two hamburgers and some french fries which she seemingly swallowed whole.

“It doesn’t matter. In time, he’ll fall along with everyone else…”

“Don’t do it, Yami! We can change this ourselves!”

Yami clapped his hands firmly together.

Yami’s eyes slowly opened.

“What the hell was that?”

As Yami placed his hands behind him in an attempt to sit himself up, he quickly refrained from doing so. Looking at his hands, he saw that the were blistered and raw. Using his elbows this time, Yami slowly got himself up from the bed he was in. Looking around, he noticed that he was in Rikai’s room, a sight that put him at ease. His entire body ached from the encounter with Shippai, but that was something to worry about after he had ensured that everyone was safe. As he reached for the doorknob, the door swung open and hit him in the face, making him crash to the floor. On the other side, Rikai stood with a towel covering her body and another wrapped around her hair.

“Yami? You’re awake?”

Yami rubbed his face.

“Yeah, I just woke up. Is everyone okay?”

“Of course! You’re the only one who took the blast! If you weren’t already beat up enough, I’d hit you right now.”

“Silver linings.”

“Why don’t you wait downstairs. I’ll get you some food.”

“Sounds good.”

Yami walked out of the room and down the staircase to see that it was dusk. Amazed that he had been out longer than he thought, he noticed that Jitsubutsu was examining Yami’s throwing knife on the edge of the floor where the wall once stood. Yami approached him cautiously as if not to disrupt his work.

“Hey, Jitsubutsu.”

Jitsubutsu continued to work.

“Finally woke up?”

“What the hell happened yesterday? The last thing I remember is going to sleep at Make’s place.”

“It seems as though your body can only recover its lost life essence in this world. As you depleted it all in your training with Muhai and myself, you finally ran out and had to return.”

“I see. Thanks for bringing me here.”

Jitsubutsu sat the knife down.

“That aside, who was the girl, Yami?”

Yami sat next to Jitsubutsu.

“She’s… she was an old friend. She was one of my teachers when I was learning how to use Sirushi Inochi.”

“Do you know what her Sirushi Inochi is?”

“Yeah, she has one that heals people.”

“Then how did she use multiple other Sirushi Inochi?”

“I-I don’t know…”

“Yami, before I began mentoring you, I told you that the most likely reason you have Haisen within you is because there is a calamity waiting to happen. This girl is connected to it.”

“Does she have the same power as us?”

“No, it’s not like that. She still wants us dead to obtain our power, so there must be something more to the story.”

Yami clenched his fists.

“Yami, you must continue to train to control Haisen. You’ve done well thus far, but you mustn’t become arrogant.”

Jitsubutsu stood up and began to walk towards the front door.

“Hey! Where’re you going?!”

“I’m going to go kill her.”

As the front door swung open, Jitsubutsu looked back.

“It’s likely I won’t be coming back, Yami. If you get into any tight situations, remember that Make, Muhai, even Sylphera will help you.”

Yami stood up and walked over to Jitsubutsu. He extended his hand.

“Thank you for all your dedication to my training. I swear I won’t put it to waste.”

“The honor is mine. I feel you’ll become a far greater Jinsei no Hogo than your predecessors.”

Jitsubutsu and Yami made eye contact as they gave each other a respectfully firm handshake. Jitsubutsu walked out of the house, shutting the door behind him.