Chapter 1: Fade to Black, Chapter 1 : Cursed With A Blessing

Boss we've been tailing him for almost four weeks now." One muscular guy wearing a sleeve cut, green muscle shirt with black cargo pants said as he followed an older man. The older man was a short, bald man with a long greyish-white beard. 

"Shira, you lack patience." The older man responded. 

"Master Inyo, it's been long enough. We're wasting time that we don't have!" Shira replied. 

A young lady ran up behind them. She was in a light blue and white kimono with socks and sandals. 

"Which way did he go?" she said. 

"See!" Shira confirmed. "Mashiko couldn't keep track of him neither!" 

"Shhhh!" Inyo said as he darted to the edge of the corner. 

Shira and Mashiko followed and all of them peeked around the corner. They weren't the only ones following this young, slender man. 

"I wonder if I'll find anything here" He was in a blue hoodie with blue sneakers. "Most of these buildings are ransacked" 

The boy didn't notice, but he walked right past a group of thieving bandits. 

"Hey!" The leader of the bandits called out. 

"Huh?" The young boy uttered as he turned around. 

The group of bandits surrounded him. 

"What's your name, boy?" The leader said. 

"I'm Yoto". 

"Hmph. I thought your name was stupid." The leader responded as his men laughed. 

"What, why?" 

"Because only a fool would walk towards us? Do you know who we are?" The man said as his posse all slowly equipped a variety of weapons. 

"No, not really. But, you remind me of this one homeless guy I caught stealing food from a lady and her baby" 

"Tch" the leader ordered. "You're a funny guy. Unfortunately, I don't really have a taste for comedy" 

Three of the bandits closed in on Yoto and swung their knives at him. Yoto quickly evaded, and leaped out of the way. 

"Oh, you're thieves?" Yoto said blatantly as he sighed "I'm tired of seeing people like you." 

"Wargghhh" the leader uttered. "You've got a lot of nerve!" 

"Kill him"

All of his men started firing. But, Yoto deflected all of the bullets with his finger. 

"What?" they uttered. "H-how?" 

"You want to see death?" Yoto uttered as his voice deepened. "I'll make it up close and personal for you" 

In an instant, Yoto's hair spiked straight up. His eyes

turned black, and he developed a dark, sinister aura. 

"Boss, it's one of the rejects! They're everywhere!" one of the men shouted. 

"It's too late to run" Yoto claimed just before he rushed in. 

  

Yoto sliced through the leader's chest and used his body as a bat to beat the next down with. Next, he grabbed the next two by their heads and smashed their brains into one another. The remaining three tried to shoot Yoto in the back. He turned around and gave them a glare that made their courage melt. As As Yoto slowly approached, nothing but fear consumed their hearts. He raised his hand, as it glowed with energy and decapitated all three in one swipe. Soon after, his aura vanished. His hair returned, and his eyes returned back to normal. But, Yoto Kyojin was not happy with what he saw when he regained his senses. He fell to the ground as he noticed the bloodshed caused by his actions. 

"What's wrong with me?" He cried. 

"Stop crying!" Yoto heard a deep voice say in his head. "It's infuriating"

Hearing this just made things worse. 

"Get out of my head!" Yoto yelled as he grabbed both sides of his head. 

The three people from earlier were watching from a distance. 

"Inyo, are you sure he's equipped to work with us?" Shira asked. "He doesn't look stable enough to embark on a mission as important as ours" 

"Yes, I see" Inyo replied. "But, we can't do this without him. Tamuro is the final piece to bringing peace" 

"Yeah, but...I don't think that-" 

"Wait" Mashiko interrupted. "He's gone" 

Yoto and the bodies of the people he killed were nowhere in sight and all that was left was their blood. 

"He took their bodies with him?" Shira asked.       

                     

*The next day, Yoto was walking along a stream with burying the bodies of the man he killed* 

"So, your name is Tamuro and you're a powerful spirit that has killed other powerful spirits?" Yoto stated as he dropped a shovel. 

Yoto just finished digging holes in which he placed the thieves bodies in. 

"Yes, I've told you plenty of times. Do you not believe me?" The dark voice in Yoto heads replied. 

"I believe I'm either crazy past any professional's help, or this is punishment for all of the things I've done" Yoto replied as he dropped a body in a hole.  "Whichever one you pick is fine with me" 

"Honestly, it can't be that hard to believe." The voice replied. "Don't you always feel a supernatural power taking over when you're in the face of death. That's me lending you my power, to ensure your survival" 

"Everytime I feel that power I wake up in bloody scenes with dead bodies. If that's the nature of this supernatural power, then that would mean I've been cursed with a blessing." Yoto stated as he paused. "Why would you want to keep me alive anyway? If you were trapped within me, wouldn't that set you free?" 

"This is the world we inhabit, Yoto" the voice stated. "It's the way of survival. And no, our life sources are connected. The only way for me to be both free and alive, is if you-" 

"Yoto" Inyo said as he tapped him on the shoulder. 

Yoto turned around slowly, and looked at the two behind him very nonchalantly. 

"Please don't tell me you're thieves, I've killed enough of them already" Yoto said after he turned around. 

"Hey, don't try to -" Shira started. 

"No we're not thieves" Inyo interrupted. "I'm Inyo, this is Mashiko and Shira" 

"Nice to meet you finally" Mashiko said. 

"What do you mean finally?" 

"We've been watching you for awhile" Inyo admitted. 

"Watching me? Why?" 

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"We've seen your capabilities, and we thought you'd be a great fit for our organization" Inyo stated. 

"I think you have me confused for someone else" Yoto replied as he continued throwing bodies in the hole. 

"You dug a grave for them?" Mashiko asked. 

"Well...yeah, I didn't want to leave them in the street. It's not something people should see" Yoto stated. 

"We agree" Inyo stated. "Our organization shares the exact same opinion. That's why you should join" 

"What exactly does this organization do?" Yoto asked as he dumped the last body in the hole and started using the shovel to cover it with dirt. 

"We are the only group that publicly opposes the Drowning Fist" Shira answered. 

"The Drowning Fist, isn't that the name of  that infamous rock band old people hated a decade ago?" Yoto asked. "I never understood why people didn't like them."

Shira just looked at Inyo and shook his head. 

"It's a group of organized criminals. All of the thieves you've been killing are probably under the leader, Tabuke Erijime" 

Inyo look in the distance as he heard the trademark siren the drowning fist fancied as their theme. 

"Let's take this discussion somewhere else" Inyo requested. 

"Why should I?" Yoto stated. 

"We have alot of answers to the questions you have" Shira stated. 

"Don't you want to know the truth to the way you are? Mashiko asked. 

After giving it some thought and factoring in the fact that these are the first people Yoto has met that didn't want to kill him, he was convinced it was worthwhile. 

"I guess we're going" Yoto thought.

            *Relocated at the L.S.A. Headquarters* 

 Yoto, Mashiko, Shira, and Inyo were all sitting at a table. 

"To begin things, let me provide the basic knowledge" Shira said. "Beyond earth, there is a underworld called Murta also known as the shadow realm in which many beasts, demons, and ghosts known as kosho reside. People who bare ties to the shadow realm are called Koshomuras or as those thieves called you, rejects. The beast or demon within a koshomura gives them a magical power called shallow. That's the supernatural energy you possess when you lose control."

"So, the voices I've been hearing in my head...is because I'm a koshomura" Yoto stated. "For so long, I thought I was crazy or this was some form of atonement" 

"Atonement for what?" Mashiko asked. 

"That incident with those thieves was not the first time bloodshed was caused by my hands. Even before I possessed Shallow, I've had to kill to survive. I remember these killings better than I do my parents faces" 

"So they died then...When?" 

"I can't remember" Yoto stated. 

"So you're probably like me" Mashiko stated as she grabbed Yoto's hands. "I'm the same way" 

"You are?" Yoto stated as he grabbed Mashiko's hands back.

Mashiko nodded. 

"Yes, all of us, including Mashiko are koshomuras." Shira stated as he grabbed Mashiko and slightly pulled Yoto's grip from her hands. "That's why it's even more important to combine our powers for the world's sake" 

"I don't know" Yoto stated as he looked down. 

"Please" Mashiko stated. 

After gazing into Mashiko's eyes, Yoto agreed. 

"Fine" Yoto stated. 

"Great" Inyo stated. "You're involvement is essential" 

"Thanks but why?" Yoto asked. "Why am I this special?" 

Shira stood up and built his aura and extended his arms to Yoto. 

"It's because you have Tamuro, the shadow entity" Shira stated. "He's one of the strongest of all in the Shadow Realm" 

"He is?"  

Mashiko nodded. 

"Tamuro" Yoto thought. "I've never knew your name" 

"Now you know that and the truth" Tamuro replied. 

"Now we need to discuss Tabuke" Mashiko said. 

"Ah, yes" Inyo added. 

"Tabuke Erijime is the leader of the Drowning Fist. This group overturned the government quickly and put us in a state of Anarchy. Alot of people are being killed when they reject him." Mashiko said. 

"He's also a Koshomura" Shira added. "And he's planning to create an army of koshomuras" 

"He would've came after you sooner or later, Yoto" Mashiko added. "Having Tamuro under you're control would make him unstoppable" 

"So Tamuro is just some crazy freak of nature?" Yoto asked. 

"Not exactly the wording I'd use, but sure" Tamuro stated. 

"Yes" Inyo stated as he stood up. "Out of the hundreds of thousands of koshomuras, only a select few could rival Tamuro's power. And a good number of them have already been defeated by Tamuro." 

"Damn, Tamuro" Yoto thought. "I apologize for undermining you so many times." 

"So, what are the other ones?" Yoto asked. 

"Well, we know that one of them, the Skeleton King, is way too powerful for Tabuke to control. Many have died trying to become it's koshomura. The Skeleton King is the only spirit that has killed many bloodlines without being trapped within a koshomura." Shira stated.

"Is that uncommon?" Yoto asked. 

"Yes, when a spirit gets the taste of blood, it can go on a frenzy."

"That's frenzy causes it to want to taste more of the same blood, and the only people who share the same blood are family members." Shira added. 

"That's why they usually kill entire bloodlines, and that's how you and I became koshomuras." Mashiko continued. 

"When one member of the bloodline survives a frenzied attack from a spirit, that spirit becomes trapped within it" Inyo concluded. 

"But how can someone survive if the spirit has a taste for it's blood?" Yoto asked. 

"That is something we can't answer" Inyo said. "Many call it destiny" 

"So what about the other koshomura then?" 

"Her name is Mara, the spirit of the mirror" Tamuro replied. 

"Tamuro?" Yoto thought. 

"We've crossed paths a couple of times" Tamuro stated. "She is difficult to deal with" 

"Difficult she is" Shira said. 

"How did you....wait...you can hear Tamuro too?" 

"Yes, it's Kintaro" Mashiko explained. "It allows him to interact with other koshos" 

"That's how I knew Tamuro was in you the entire time" Shira stated. "But the spirit of the mirror, Mara, is super powerful. If you look directly into her eyes, she'll absorb your soul"

"It's true" Tamuro stated. 

"So what's the plan to stop Tabuke?" Yoto stated. 

"Yes, to the main deal" Inyo stated. "The first step of our plan of defeating Tabuke starts with you" 

"Me?" 

"Amongst a few others, yes. We need to gather as many koshomuras as possible and train their abilities" Inyo stated. 

"You're strong, Yoto" Mashiko stated. "But, if you train to work better with Tamuro, you'll be even stronger" 

"Your skill with shallow is only the tip of the iceberg" Shira stated. "With the proper training, you could become stronger than tamuro would be alone." 

"And that's why while Shira and Mashiko locate the last koshomura in this area, you'll spend time training with me" Inyo stated. "Now, let's get started"

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