“Ready Shitto?”

Rikai began putting on her shoes.

“Yeah. I wanna go to the deep fried foods first.”

“After we find and take care of Shippai. If we can do that, I’ll even pay for your food.”

“You got yourself a deal!”

A bustling crowd worked its way down narrow alleys towards Shoturo River with stalls and tents set up along the paths.

“Shippai! We’re over here!”

Shippai turned to her right and saw a group of four girls standing underneath a tree.

“Sorry I’m late, I had to do some stuff.”

“No prob.”

Shippai awkwardly stood with the group of girls.

“So what’re we gonna do?”

“We already went through and saw the festival, so we were gonna stay here until the fireworks start.”

Shippai looked at the sky, which was quickly turning dusk.

“I guess I’ll go look around, then. I’ll meet you guys back here?”

“Sure!”

Shippai waved goodbye, then merged into the crowd once more, this time walking parallel to the river.

“It’s almost time… I need to make sure Yami isn’t here.”

Shippai broke away from the crowd and hid away in a nearby tent. Focusing her life essence into her head, she tried to sense if there were any other echoes nearby.

“Hmm… Looks like there’s only one runt. It’s probably Shitto. I’ll just take him out with the rest of the crowd.”

“You picking up anything Shitto?”

Shitto strained his muscles.

“I sense her, alright. She isn’t even trying to hide! It’s as if she’s taunting us!”

“Let her. We need to go get Yami.”

“And do what? He’s out, Rikai! You know how long it took for me to recover, think about Yami! Not to mention he’s got that whole ‘Haisen’ thing going on…”

Shitto continued to follow the crowd into the festival.

“What exactly is that ‘Haisen thing’?”

“Too little time to explain. All you need to know is Yami has a very bad, very powerful monster trapped in himself.”

“Is that why he goes crazy sometimes?”

“That’s the thought.”

Rikai was bumped into Shitto by a rambunctious member of the crowd.

“Sorr-”

“Rikai?! You’re going out with Shitto now?!”

Rikai and Shitto turned to see the same group of girls who greeted Shippai. Rikai quickly got away from Shitto.

“No, no, no, no, no, it’s not like that! We just came as friends, and someone bumped me into him!”

“I don’t blame you! He’s definitely hotter than Yami!”

“Plus he’s not a criminal!”

“Or a scumbag!”

“C’mon Shitto, we’re leaving.”

As Rikai began to walk away, Shitto grabbed her arm.

“Have you guys seen Shippai?”

“Oh, so you really aren’t going out with Rikai, huh. Yeah, she went over that way. Said she was gonna check out the festival before the fireworks started.”

“Thanks!”

Shitto let go of Rikai and started walking in the direction the group had pointed.

“Why’d you even ask? You said she isn’t hiding!”

“That’s the problem: She has so much pressure that I can’t pinpoint her location.”

“Are we that out of her league?”

Shitto shook his head.

“No. We can take her down if we act fast.”

Rikai was put at ease with Shitto’s response, but she still felt uneasy.

“How are we gonna go about taking her on? It’ll be too dangerous to put everyone in harm's way.”

“We’ll have to. Plus, if we can’t end up beating her, it’ll give people time to get out of the festival. That way, we’d at least still be saving people.”

Rikai nodded in approval.

“Alright, let’s find her and stop her!”

Haisen fell to one knee. Out of breath, he closed his strained eyes.

“I’m sorry, Akahishi, but we need to end this. I need to get back to my friends. It’s been months since I’ve been trapped here, hasn’t it?”

Haisen shook his head.

“No. Although it may feel like an eternity, it has only been a day or two. For some reason, time is distorted in this seal.”

“I see. Maybe there’s a way to manipulate the seal’s time to go faster or slower…”

“Are you going to torture me more?”

Yami laughed.

“No, but that’s a good idea. I’m thinking about coming to train here with you more often. I feel like I’m leagues above where I was a couple wee- I mean, days ago.”

“Keep in mind your body hasn’t been doing this, only your mind has. Your body may tire too quickly if you fight like this in the real world.”

“Never thought about that… thanks, Akahishi!”

Haisen shook his head.

“I’m not trying to be helpful, I just don’t want to go down with you! Either way, there’s no use talking about what happens when you wake up if you don’t know how to. I’m fine with kicking your ass for eternity, but your body is probably malnourished, and you’ll die soon.”

Yami jumped up in shock.

“You’re right! You have any idea how I get out?”

“I’m not sure, you’re the one who opened the seal.”

Yami looked down at his right hand. Despite the seal not being visible, he felt its presence.

“Hey, I have an idea.”

Haisen looked at Yami with disgust.

“What the hell is this?”

“C’mon. I think this is the only way to do this.”

“This better work…”

Haisen stood up and shook Yami’s hand.

Shitto and Rikai followed the crowd to one of the two bridges that crossed over the river. As they walked along it, they felt it shift constantly from side to side as if it were shaking.

“I can’t believe that this bridge still feels the same after all this time! I remember when I was little it shook me around just like this!”

“Yeah, it never gets old, does it?”

As they finished crossing the bridge, the neared a small temple-esque building. Shitto and Rikai both froze as they saw locks of red hair flowing in the breeze.

“So, you guys finally made it? I was sad that you didn’t bring Yami, but I’ll have fun with him later.”

Rikai stepped forward.

“It’s over, Shippai. Just give it up now.”

Shippai began to laugh maniacally at them.

“You two think you can stop me?”

Shippai turned to face Shitto and Rikai. Her blue eyes were now blindingly white.

“I’ll show you just how much you pale in comparison to me.”