Chapter 34: I did not hoodwink anyone!

Part 1

3rd Person POV

An angry cry was heard and a figure was sent flying away, crashing in a pile of folding chairs, the figure stood with some difficulty. Holding one bow in hand, with black hair and green eyes, the figure, Nora coughed some blood before using the sleeves of his sweater to wipe the blood off.

"Heck, I want to go home and be spoiled by Yasaka-san so bad." Nora complained. "Ah, ah, I want to sink in that fluffiness again."

Nonsensical words came from his mouth, but it was not like he was not doing anything else, but he could not. His left hand using the bow (which he used to wipe the blood off) was in good health, but the other one was bloodied all over and he could not move it, although a whitish glow was covering and the damage was recovering, it was not an instantaneous action.

Wobbly on his feet, he tried walking from the pile of folding chairs.

"GguIIUuuuuI!"

A cry was heard again, and a large figure came dashing in Nora's direction.

"That is going to hurt." Nora commented.

Before he could jump to one side to avoid, a shadow stood in front of Nora and the approaching figure.

Long silver hair tied in a high ponytail appeared on his view, and Nora instantly panicked, dropping his bow, he planned to use his healthy hand to push the silver-haired girl's Tomoe, away even if that meant to receive the full charge of the creature. Nevertheless, Tomoe raised her hand to stop him in place, looking backward; she looked at him with a slightly lonely and sad smile, before it became a resolute look.

"It is ok, Tomoe is here, she will not hold back in lending her strength so you can rest for now." Tomoe said before looking at the front again.

Immediately, Nora could feel something different about her. With her aura overflowing, she did not give a calm impression, but rather an aggressive one.

Firmly planting one foot in front of her, she extended her hands forward just in time for the creature to arrive.

The black boar, who despite lacking one leg charged at an impressive speed, was convinced that it would turn the two in front of it into a bloody mess, but it did not expect what happened next.

The black boar's tusks collided with Tomoe, or rather, with her hands. The girl sunk on the ground a few centimeters, and where each of her feet were some cracks formed on the surface. Nevertheless, Tomoe did not budge, nor she moved from her place. A hot breath escaped her lips and she released the now confused and idle boar.

"You will get no mercy, thanks to you, I will lose a friend." Tomoe muttered in a low and angry tone. "...no, it might not be completely your fault. After all, my kin seems to be hated for many reasons."

Once she said that she changed her posture and delivered a kick to the boat. Sounds of something breaking were heard, and the boar was lifted from the ground for a bit before falling back again.

"GuIiiiiiIiIiIIIIII!" It angrily cried.

Stomping the ground, it prepared to attack Tomoe again, but she did not stay idle but rather got covered in a whitish glow before continuing her assault. She punched it with her right fist and connecting it with simple footwork; she spun and used the impulse of the spin to land another kick with her right leg after changing her posture to use her left one as the pivot point. The creature wanted to retaliate but it was not given a chance by the angry Tomoe. Kick after kick was given to it and it could not even cry.

The boar found it absurd how such a tiny individual had enough strength to drive it backward with her kicks, but it had better things to worry about since the damage was also pilling up. The creature had preyed multiple times on individuals of similar built but they were just feeble humans who could only cower in fear, there were a few who fought back or at least tried, but they were pitiful efforts since they could not hurt it. The younger one from before was also putting an unusual resistance, after it took one of its eyes, the younger one shot at it whenever it had the chance.

"You might be tough, but when you face someone who can ignore that you become something easy to deal with it. Did you enjoy hurting him? Then, in his stead, I will enjoy causing you pain." Tomoe muttered with a slight smile on her face and it had a sadistic tinge to it.

Unbeknown to Tomoe, and even to the creature itself, the black strings of smoke coming from it was affecting Tomoe, her actions were becoming more aggressive and violent. Like it had a will of its own, the smoke sought Tomoe and was unknowingly absorbed by her.

Tomoe ignored this and she continued to mercilessly strike the boar. On her forehead, two small bumps had formed, but she was too concentrated on her actions to notice.

"O' fierce wind, envelop this arm of mine, and grant it your blessing, Wind Enhance" Tomoe swiftly chanted, and a sudden wind pressure covered her arms.

Adding more power to her blows, the creature was almost blown with each punch.

Whether this was simply because the spell Tomoe cast was the sole reason or her added aggressiveness, it was not clear.

Nevertheless, Tomoe was not the only one getting more aggressive. The boar was also pilling up a lot of anger; it could not tolerate being driven to a corner. With so many hits, it was already feeling numb. The pain was beginning to affect it less so it waited.

Finding the creature's movement more sluggish, the girl smiled widely and prepared a different blow. As soon as she hit it again, she changed her posture, interlocked her fingers, and raised both arms to slam the creature. However, that movement left her wide open, and the black boar was waiting for that. Taking a large amount of air, it prepared for one of his cries that created shockwaves. Tomoe noticed this but she was not going to be able to dodge in time. The healthy eye of the boar observed how Tomoe noticed that she made a terrible mistake and it seemed to enjoy her predicament.

Opening its mouth large enough, it was going to use its attack before something seemed to, no, it flew from behind Tomoe using her as a cover and its trajectory seemed to form a curve, and that something had a familiar shape, the boar recalled that minutes ago someone was using them to attack it.

The boar had completely forgotten about Nora, who not only shot one arrow, but many more, he did not stop and the first arrow the boar saw was just that, the 'first'. Several arrows followed after that one and they were following one course, and that was the path to its mouth. They all hit the target, and the creature realized that Tomoe was not the only one who got full of herself, by opening its mouth so wide, it made it easier for the arrows to enter its mouth. By the time it managed to close it, several arrows made their way into it, and as it happened before, the boar felt an uncomfortable feeling on its stomach.

"I hope that it fills you up, a diet full of salad for you, over-sized boar." Nora spoke.

Tomoe froze like a child who did something wrong when she heard his voice, and she calmed down somewhat. She did not dare to turn her head back so she maintained her eyes in front, Tomoe watched as the creature struggled in place before sharp branches began to sprout from all over its body. The creature could not even cry out since the first and biggest branch sprouted from its throat. Black blood splattered all over the place until the black boar was no more, instead, a messy pile of flesh, bones, and blood was left surrounding several trees that reached the ceiling and had been rooted on the ground.

With a dazed expression, Tomoe forgot to wipe the blood that was splattered on her face. However, she did not do so since a hand extended and gently used a handkerchief to do so. It made her jump in surprise, and she moved away, evading that hand. Nevertheless, the hand was merciless (?) and chased after her. Tomoe had to avoid and dodge the hand multiple times to evade looking at the owner of the hand in the eyes, but soon, she ran out of space to run to. With nowhere to go, she had her back against a blackboard. Panicking, she tried to escape from her left, but a hand slammed the wall and blocked her movements so she tried the right but the same thing happened again.

"Why are you running? I know that my looks are not the best out there, but I doubt that is the reason you can't look at me in the eyes." Nora muttered.

Despite his forceful actions, he did not use a harsh tone, but a soft and kind one.

"A-Are you not scared of me?" Tomoe asked in a nervous tone.

The girl did not dare to look at Nora just yet, so she did not see him blink in confusion. He remained silent as he tried to think what she could be talking about.

"I am very strong, my punches were strong enough to lift that thing, don't you find it scary? That a girl has so much raw strength, boys do not like that, do they?" Tomoe timidly said. "I got called things because of that once before, so I understand if you dislike it. I can also leave before you so-"

*SIGH*

An exasperated and deep sigh was heard and Tomoe shut her mouth.

"Listen here, I can understand that you went through some bitter experiences. I cannot imagine how you must've felt at that time; I won't try to say nice words now because they won't sound honest." Nora muttered. "However, I have to say this…"

He pulled Tomoe closer to her by grabbing her uniform's collar until they were staring at each other in the eyes.

"Do not insult me like that again." Nora spoke in a serious tone. "Scared of you? ME? I could ask you the same question, look here; I got a pair of soft cat ears and tails growing out of me."

Releasing her, he took one of her hands and put one of his tails.

"Usually, people do not have these on them, and despite my confidence in their softness, I can tell that many would frown when they see them. You cannot expect everyone to like your appearance or your quirks, however, you must not judge everyone based only on a bad experience." Nora exclaimed. "The world is a big place; I can assure you that in the supernatural world, you will not be judged in that manner. I can guarantee that your talents will be sought by many."

Pulling a handkerchief, he used the moment when Tomoe was distracted with his tail to clean her face and neck, leaving her spotless.

"Done, you are pretty again." Nora nodded to himself. "You should be aware of something; I would never mind something of that level. My mother used to train me, and when I got good enough at evading her Senjutsu bullets, she started to throw wooden logs at me. Haha, and then, when I was able to dodge logs of my size, she just pulled out whole trees from the ground and threw them at me, she was such a funny person, however, I never frowned at that. Despite her rather exaggerated methods of training and display of strength, she was a good person."

Tomoe stared at Nora with cold sweat running down her back, she felt the need to retort but she was not sure where she should begin with.

"I understood one thing, and that is how you will not judge me." Tomoe decided to not comment on his latest words. "You are a good person, huh. Sorry, I only thought that you were a future playboy."

"We need to have a serious talk about the way you see me, how rude of you." Nora complained with his arms crossed.

Looking at his sour expression, Tomoe giggled.

"By the way, I know that it was sneaky of me to distract you using my tails, but… how long will you keep holding it?" Nora pointed at Tomoe's hands.

In response, she just looked the other way and started to awkwardly whistle. However, she soon tilted her head.

"When did you heal your wounds? I didn't know you had Phenex Tears." Tomoe concluded.

The girl finally released his tail and focused on his earlier-injured arm.

"Feel free to be amazed, I am a doctor so I fixed it myself, I have nothing fancy like Phenex Tears after all." Nora nonchalantly shrugged his shoulder.

Tomoe did no comment about his words, but she found it hard to believe. The window of time he had since she started to fight was too small. Searching in her memory, she recalled a certain individual. A woman whose abilities were mentioned repeatedly in her birthplace, and-

"You are amazing." Tomoe praised the boy to not worry him with her silence.

"Ehem." Nora smiled and nodded.

…

…

…

"Was it necessary that you put everything in that place inside your pouch?" Tomoe asked.

After dealing with the boar, they had nothing else to do in there so they left and kept moving forward.

"Totally! They were not going to be used anyways. It is called recycling." Nora said in a righteous tone.

Face palming, Tomoe did not feel like touching the topic anymore.

Suddenly, Nora's steps came to a stop.

"You gotta be kidding me." Nora took a deep breath before exhaling. "Say there, my pal Tomoe."

Smiling slightly at his choice of words, but half-worried for his sudden actions Tomoe stopped in place as well.

"What is it, Shiki-sensei?" Tomoe inquired.

"You plan to stick with that way of calling me huh." Nora shook his head. "Anyways, I was wondering, do you feel like fighting again?"

"Huh? Sure, Tomoe can still fight." Tomoe doubted her hears but she answered nonetheless.

*sigh*

Nora sighed and grabbed her hands before a white glow covered them. Tomoe who was unsure how to react to the sudden skinship first tried to pull her hands away but soon she stopped since she understood what Nora wanted to do.

"Is it alright?" Tomoe questioned in a worried tone.

From what she knew, sharing Ki was a rather difficult process and the transference was not always easy, one could spend great amounts of Ki and wouldn't necessarily be able to transfer it all but a small part.

"This is nothing." Nora replied before releasing her hands. "Please don't act tough, lying about your physical state to not to worry is thoughtful of you, but I would rather know every single thing that bothers you. For you, it could be a simple mosquito bite, but you never know if the insect that bit you was one or it was a poisonous one. Wounds and exhaustions pilling up are no good."

Seriously scolding Tomoe, the boy directed a glare at the path ahead.

"Be prepared, the path will lead us to a tough battle." Nora said before walking forward.

"Can't we avoid it?" Tomoe inquired but still followed after him.

Shaking his head, Nora looked down with a complicated expression.

"There are some black-cloaked people ahead, I need to catch one alive… and..." Nora left his words unfinished and said no more.

Part 2

Shirone's POV

"I have finished my business, Shirone-sama." Shion bowed as soon as she saw her.

With a judging expression, Shirone was thinking about how many stars give the sweets in front of her. They were by no means bad tasting, however, Nora's ones win in everything you try to compare them to.

Nodding at Shion, Shirone narrowed her eyes and pulled a booklet and a pen from her pouch.

"Using Nora as the standard, I will give it 2.5 stars. Well done, Maid-san." Shirone concluded.

Sweating, Marion was not sure whether to laugh or cry, she had confidence in her skills but the white-haired girl sure gave harsh reviews.

"If Yasaka-san had given you a review, you wouldn't even get 1 star, she is very picky." Shirone read Marion's expression and replied.

That comment made Marion sweat even harder.

"Heh, we have arrived, the twins and daughters of the wind bring you an important message." Kaguya landed on one side and closed her wings before hiding them.

"Report. We found the Himejimas and contacted them for you, they want to ask talk to you, Shion-sama." Yuzuru spoke in a languid tone.

Following her sister's action, she landed a beat late but gave a complete report.

Thinking that she needs to have a chat with their father to scold them for not following what she said, Shion did not reply at once. Instead, she wondered what to do with their proud and smug expressions.

"Well done, you two. I think your actions deserve praise, here." Shirone spoke and pulled two homemade candies from her pouch.

She felt reluctant to share them, but they were helping her to find the now lost Nora. These were made by him so it was like he was paying them instead, and that seemed fair for Shirone.

Sharing a look, the two orange-haired girls walked near Shirone, who handed them three candies to each of them before frown and taking one back from each girl.

"This is my payment for hiring them." Shirone nodded Ina satisfied manner after giving herself an excuse to eat more candies.

It was something she did not consider until later, but Nora had given her a large number of sweets for herself only so she did not need an excuse at all.

Chuckling at Shirone's actions, Kaguya ate one candy. Her reaction was to widen her eyes and eat the other one immediately, but she had a sad face when she noticed that she only had two to begin with. Yuzuru waited until her sister finished eating hers before trying one and her reaction was the same.

"If you two finished your antics, take me to those people, we must regroup with Shiki-sama." Shion urged the twins.

Giving one pitiful look to Shirone who shook her head, Kaguya sighed and pointed to one place.

"They are close to that side of the barrier, follow my lead." Kaguya said and walked away.

Shion and Yuzuru left soon after her, leaving Shirone and Marion alone. Curious, Shirone changed forms and stood in front of Marion who picked her up with a wry smile on her face.

"As you wish, I will follow them as well." Marion muttered before carrying Shirone.

3rd Person POV

"To think they would only believe us after seeing Shirone-sama in cat form." Shion commented.

After being offered a method of transport by the Himejimas, Shirone, Marion, and Shion decided to get in and being taken to the base that the Himejimas established. Kaguya and Yuzuru decided to fly so they left Shion and Marion to converse with each other given that Shirone limited herself to only listen. To have a little bit of privacy, Marion had cast a spell to make their spot on the van soundproof.

"It is probably because they recognized her since Murmur-sama carried her when we met Himejima-sama." Marion replied.

Raising an eyebrow, Shion couldn't stay quiet at Marion's choice of words.

"Murmur-sama? Why are you calling Saya-sama's child in such a manner?" Shion questioned.

"T-That..." Marion did not know what to say.

Recalling her experience with Yasaka, Marion jolted.

Sighing, Shion closed her eyes for a moment before she pulled a fan from her sleeves. Opening it and closing it for a moment, she gave a side glance at Marion and waited until she lowered her head.

"My apologies, I made you remember what happened with Yasaka-sama, didn't I?" Shion muttered. "I am a little sensitive regarding subjects involving her and her child, I am in debt to Saya-sama after all. First of all, I believe that while I do not agree with Yasaka-sama's methods, just by hearing you calling her child like that I am find it displeasing. I am sure that Yasaka-sama was also bothered by it so I would recommend you to raise your survival rate, please do never call him 'Murmur-sama' in front of Yasaka-sama, no, I believe that you should not call him as such in front of an acquaintance of Saya-sama. You must be thankful that Shiki-sama is a very tolerant person because the person who must feel most bitter about his new name is him."

After giving her long speech, Shion noticed a figure laying on her lap.

"She is a good girl, do not bully her." Shirone muttered in her cat form.

Smiling wryly, Shion gently petted her.

"I will be careful in the future, if Shirone-sama says so, this child must truly be a good child." Shion spoke to the catgirl and then turned her head to face Marion. "This child is giving you her trust, do not disappoint her. I am sure that Yasaka-sama must've cooled her head by now, someone already spoke to her and before I left, I heard that she wanted to speak to you as well. As long as you face her with an honest heart, I guarantee that she will treat you better than before."

Finishing her words, Shion planned to fan herself, but she found her fan to be kept in place by a curious Shirone who was using her paws to touch it.

Smiling again, she offered to the catgirl to play.

Marion was lost in thought so she did not see that. The young girl had a lot to think about, and she kept frowning continuously during the travel.

...

...

...

After arriving at the place where the Himejimas had their camp, Shion skillfully dealt with the members through regular conversations. Not everyone was happy to see a group of Youkais, but there had been some orders from Suzaku to treat Nora's allies with kindness and respect so there were no brawls, although she probably meant Shirone and Marion, no one questioned given her absence.

Curious about everything, Shirone wanted to take a look around. Of course, Marion became the carrier of her cat self, and Shion Sent Kaguya and Yuzuru after them just in case. Marion was still injured and they both needed protection.

...

...

...

Alone, Shion walked away in another direction amidst the stares from the Himejimas. The abandoned mansion they were using as a base had been used by the black-cloaked people, and Shion had confirmed it after 'talking' with her prisoner before 'taking care of him'. However, despite her best effort to 'talk' to him, he seemed to reside in another place that was raided already. Nevertheless, a mansion such a this, abandoned for years and not maintained or cleaned should have them around, spiders that is.

...

...

...

It took her a while but she found several nests where they resided, asking here and there to what you could call her distant relatives, gave her some insight about what this mansion was about.

"Shiki-sama, you are truly her child. You got mixed up in a rather troublesome affair, didn't you?" Shion giggled amusingly. "How nostalgic, I wonder if Saya-sama were around with you, how much trouble would the two of you get into? One black cat is supposed to be an unlucky sign, but you two take it to another level."

Her expression carried some worry about the young Nekomata, but she also seemed to smile fondly as she remembered her friend. That reckless woman did not ask for help because of everyone's injuries or situations, but that was not something they could do anything about. They could lend a hand to her child though.

"My dear family members, did you say that there are more of our kin inside? I will go and ask them for more information then." Shion muttered as she held a small spider in her hand before she gently lowered it to the ground.

With her next destination decided, she walked away. Her kimono swayed with the wind and the sun rays made her figure stand out, and that gave off a mesmerizing sight, however, she was the only person in the place to notice that, along with her shadow. The shadow did not have a human shape, but it rather had a form of a large spider.

? POV

"Nya Nya...!? They are not here-nya." A young girl with black hair and hazel-gold eyes muttered in a slight down-hearted tone.

A group of young girls, who were wearing hakamas and kimonos, were standing in front of a certain hotel, they all had lovely appearances so they would usually gather a lot of attention, but for some reason, the surrounding people seemed to avoid them, or rather, it was like they did not exist for anyone else.

"I am afraid that such a thing was what I learned... Nya." A girl slightly older than the first one spoke, she also had black hair.

"It is ok, Reiko-nya. Even if you failed, I won't make you go through that raining again-nya." The first girl muttered.

Her words caused the second girl to sigh in relief.

"Shizuku-nya." The first girl called out.

Among the girls, a young girl with blonde hair walked out.

"We must find Shirone-nya bad Nora-nya. I heard about your training-nya, go find some clues-nya." The girl ordered.

"Etto, Kuroka-sama... Do you want to send me, your escort to do that? Shiki-sama will punish me if he finds out I left you alone... again." The blonde-haired girl, Shizuku, muttered in a hesitant tone.

"Nonsense-nya. You want me to send one this girls-nya? They do not know how he looks-nya." The girl, Kuroka, replied.

Kuroka gave Shizuku a look of 'why do you ask something so obvious?'.

"...That is an awfully logic reason. Kuroka-sama, you not only became stronger, but smarter as well. This Shizuku is moved to tears." Shizuku spoke as she pulled a handkerchief and used it to dry her fake tears.

Her words made Kuroka reconsider having brought it here.

"Amazing... Nya, she is retorting to Anego... Nya." Reiko whispered while observing from one side.

"Reiko-nee, it is surely because Shizuku-dono must have a high hierarchy. I can only imagine what Nora-dono would be like since Anego speaks like he is a hero." A girl with similar looks but slightly younger than Reiko commented with shining eyes.

"Shhh! Do you want to go through that training again-nya? She is engrossed in her talk now, but who knows what she would make you do if she heard you without using 'Nya'... Nya." Reiko quickly covered her little sister's mouth.

In a sign of companionship, the rest of the girls covered for the young one blunder by moving in front of them.

That action moved Reiko to tears, and she vowed that this friendship would last forever.

"But... Reiko-nee... We are not catgirls... We used Youjutsu to create an illusion to look like one but at the end we..." The younger sister muttered.

Understanding her sister's worries, the older girl gave her sister a resolute look and said.

"What do you think Anego would do to us when she finds out-nya? For now, we have to keep acting until she goes back home-nya." Reiko shamelessly spoke with a bright smile.

"At the end, we are just hiding it...!? *Sigh* Reiko-nee..." The younger sister wondered how long will her luck last with a sister like this.

"You girls don't need to worry-nya. I know it all-natural." Kuroka interrupted the sisterly duo.

Both girls jolted in surprise and saw Kuroka looking at them with compassionate eyes. Looking behind, their so-called friends avoided their looks by whistling a bad-themed song. Shizuku was staring at them with her hands in a praying pose like she was praying some god for their salvation.

Cursing their so-called friends in their minds, and taking note to get revenge against that blonde-haired kitsune, the sisters fearfully hugged each other.

"It is ok-nya... There is no need to fear, I can understand what happened here-nya." Kuroka spoke in a compassionate tone.

The sisters could feel a holy and righteous aura coming from Kuroka's understanding expression. Perhaps they were hasty to expect punishment, Kuroka was a kind and smart girl so she would surely-

"Fate played a terrible joke on you-nya. You, regardless of your race, you always felt that in your heart you were catgirls, right-nya?" Kuroka gently embraced the two dumbfounded sisters. "I would never judge anyone with such a mindset-nya, you girls deserve to be happy-nya. I will make it so that you two become the most amazing catgirls around-nya."

The sisters could see their 'friends' holding their laugher, no, there was one who exaggerated and was banging the ground with one hand while she covered her mouth with another one. That damned Shizuku, she will feel their wrath.

With such a drive, the group keeps joking (?) for a while longer until Shizuku was sent to look for clues about Shirone and Nora.

Part 3

3rd Person POV

Two figures were walking in a dark tunnel, Nora and Tomoe Could be distinguished easily in the dark thanks to their red and green eyes that seemed to shine in the dark, something that they were both unaware of or did not seem to mind.

"Can you hear it?" Nora asked as he stopped.

"Yes, Shiki-sensei. There is a fight up ahead, we should hurry, they could be the rest of-" Tomoe was about to run off but Nora stopped her.

"It is those people ahead and..." Nora bit his lips. "During the fight, there will be a moment where I will ask you something strange, at that time, if you do not agree to it, just take your distance and do not get involved. Could you do that?" Nora asked in a serious tone.

Noticing his tone, Tomoe stared at his green eyes before saying.

"I... cannot guarantee that I cannot make promises that I am not sure I will be fulfilling, but Tomoe will help you if you need her help. Yes, that is how Tomoe usually is and that will not change. Yes." Tomoe nodded. "This time, I won't show you an unsightly appearance so you can expect a lot from Tomoe!"

In a resolute tone, Tomoe exclaimed.

Smiling in response Nora turned his gaze ahead and pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Listen, I think that..." Nora began explaining what he had in mind.

...

...

...

Several people were laying down on the ground, they were not moving and small pools of blood had formed below them.

"Nothing is working!"

"No, no... Stay away! Argh!"

"Useless trash, keep pushing her. She is only one and she cannot walk. We must not waste this chance, we finally corrupted that wielder after much trouble. She went berserk but it is only temporary!"

With black cloaks covering them, several individuals were surrounding a figure looking much different from them. They yelled several things, some yelled in fear or distress, while others tried to maintain their formation. However, little by little, they were being overpowered by the lone figure they surrounded.

In an awkward posture that was half-kneeling and half-standing, making it difficult to accurately calculate the height of the figure, you could describe it as a 'her'. Long messy hair that covered her face made it difficult to describe her features, but shining red eyes were peeking behind that messy hair, along with a pair of black and large horns. Looking too big to be a regular woman, the figure was like an enlarged version of one with her clothing barely tearing down completely. The skin was black and there did not seem to be special features on the figure besides long and shapes nails, which the figure could control in length at will to attack, and strings of black smoke would sometimes leak from her body.

"Newbie! Come here, I have an important duty for you!"

One voice called out, and from the group, a black-cloaked individual ran in the direction of the voice.

"Yes, sir?"

"There is an important task for you."

Gesturing him to come closer the individual, who looked of a higher standing since it was able to give orders and others followed them, pulled a black seed from his sleeve, and swiftly deposited it in the other individual's mouth with one move of his hand.

"Newbie, sometimes you need to make sacrifices. It pains me that you have not been around enough to be able to take one of these and be able to survive, but your accomplishments will be recorded and be passed to our God."

The one who swallowed the seed was only half-listening, the changes occurring on his body were was on his mind. First, he started to cry blood, until his blood turned black. His eyes fell off his face, and a black aura swallowed him whole. A dark aura exploded and in its place was a figure which had a pair of tentacles where the arms were supposed to be, the missing arms had fallen on the ground and the rest of the body remained relatively normal.

This transformation picked the interest of the lonely female figure but 'she' limited to warily growl.

"It might not work with her, but a simple puppet like you wouldn't cause any trouble, would you?"

In a relaxed manner, the cause of the recent spectacle pulled a strange-looking crystal with weird and ominous symbols. Raising it in from of the new creature, made it growl before it turned to face the female figure.

"As long as she becomes one of us, I can get a more powerful version of this along with getting closer to our God."

The black-cloaked figure muttered to himself, ignoring the looks it received from his allies.

A confrontation between the two creatures seemed imminent, and with the support from the black-cloaked individuals, it was just a matter of time before the female figure was restrained. However, just before the creatures started to fight, a sound was heard and one of the black-cloaked individuals fell.

No one noticed what happened until it happened again. The one who discovered that his ally was death, quickly looked around and found the first one to be attacked dead as well.

"An attack! Be-urgh."

He was not allowed to give a full warning before he suffered from the same fate as his allies, and an arrow had pierced his skull.

"Bullying a girl, you guys are the worse. I say, don't you think we should lend a hand to that... Hmm, unique lady over there?"

A nonchalant voice commented, and soon from one of the tunnels leading to the battlegrounds a figure emerged. A boy with black hair, and green eyes that seemed to shine in the dark was holding a bow in a shooting stance with an arrow nocked and ready to shoot again.

"Yes, I do agree with that, Sensei. For now, do you think we should pummel them until they cannot move?"

A voice replied to the boy, and soon a female figure taller than the boy emerged as well.

However, her figure blurred before any of the black-cloaked individuals could take a look at her. In a matter of seconds, one of those black-cloaked people was sent flying and in his place, the female figure stood.

Tomoe's POV

Before they could catch her with their eyes, Tomoe had sprung into action and blown off the first black-cloaked person she saw with a punch. She was taught that these people were cultists belonging to a particularly ominous and crazy cult that must be stopped at all cost so there was no need to hold back. Despite noticing their arrival, not all the cultists were in a position to face them just like Nora told her, they seemed to be interested in trying to restrain a lone figure.

Since he asked, she decided to Hodge better than figure should be an enemy or not after dealing with the cultists. That female figure, which had purple hair, had something that gave her a familiar feeling. Just like her mother, she had a pair of horns on top of her head, but Tomoe Could not be completely certain if that was because that figure also had Oni blood coursing through her veins or she ended up looking like that thanks to whatever the cultist might've done.

One simple look revealed the number of enemies she had to take care of. One monstrous creature with tentacles instead of arms, and less than twenty cultists after Nora and she put a few of them out of commission.

Turning back to look at Nora one last time, he stared back and her and nodded, and as they discussed she went in a clockwise direction to wipe the enemies. Putting her left foot on the ground, Tomoe pushed herself forward to face her next targets. Two people were waiting for her, one of them had a hand extended in front of her, her, the hood of her cloak had fallen so she was able to see her face and how she was chanting some kind of spell. From behind her, a man had thrown straw dolls to the ground that sprang into life and grew in size. On a closer look, those folks had strips of paper tied in their necks, and the man had an ofudas on his hand. Between the woman and the man, Tomoe judged that the spell caster woman had to be stopped first, or she could an annoying opponent to face if she could chant behind a pair of golem-dolls (?) that provided her protection.

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She could hear the rustling of the wind, but she did not worry, she continued to dash and soon a few arrows struck the dolls, but pierced through and did not stop them.

"Haha, it is a shame but arrows or bullets can not damage them."

The cultist holding the ofuda mocked. His words made Tomoe briefly question the use of a golem that could not guard you against harm and let it pass by, but she erased that thought and continued to dash while reducing the distance. Once again, arrows passed her just as the straw dolls stood on her way, and this time vines grew a second before they passed through the dolls, with vines extending over the dolls, they were soon tied up and their movements were sealed.

"What!?"

"Are you stupid? Make some more she will catch up to me soon-"

A surprised cry came from the straw doll user. The spell caster tried to rebuke him but she did not have the chance. Tomoe had entered a striking distance so she delivered a heavy kick, stopping the spell caster from her chanting, or simply interrupting her since she jumped backward and continued her spell.

From the shadows located on the ground, arms made of the darkness coming from the shadows aimed to tie down Tomoe by holding her feet.

Understanding the risks of that, Tomoe used light footwork to evade the arms trying to hold her but she ended up getting caught by a couple of them. Before even trying to break them apart herself, arrows rained down on them, dissipating them.

"Argh! Help me! They are not stopping!"

A yell picked her interest and when she turned her head to the origin, Tomoe saw the doll user being covered in vines that came from several arrows, some were lodged on his body while others had taken root on the ground and continued to spread his way.

Her fighting spirit was ignited after seeing how much the boy was doing so Tomoe put more effort into her actions. Using Senjutsu, she put more force on her arms and legs, jumping at a faster speed, she was able to catch up to the spell caster, and before she finished a new spell, Tomoe palm-stroked her on the solar-plexus.

With one down, she was about to finish off the man caught in the vines, but they had tightened around him, including his neck so there was not much to do on that part.

"Two down...". Tomoe muttered.

Inwardly thanking Nora for his support, she lightly slapped her cheeks to wake up. It was no good that she relied on him so much. It brought her a feeling of safety, but she felt the need to work harder since she was older. It was no good to let a child do all the dirty work. As his friend, Tomoe wanted to prove that they were equals so signaled to him that she was alright, to which she got a wry smile in response.

They had been able to take care of the cultist without interruption since the fight between the creatures had been violent and took all the attention of the black-cloaked people and their upper hand had been running around so they had no time to spare. That would be helpful, but she doubted that it would always go that well. Nora told her to avoid that female figure and focus on the others so she would do that, once that they were taken care of, the creature was next. She was not sure what he had in mind, but if things went south, Tomoe planned to unleash her full power. Even if her mother warned her not to, and the consequences would be difficult to fix, she did not think that going toe to toe with those creatures was possible without doing it. In particular, that purple-haired figure gave her the chills whenever she struck the tentacle creature.

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They had considerably reduced the cultist forces by half and they were no longer able to act without interference. A man, who seemed to be the leader of the black-cloaked people sent the tentacle creature to deal with them, breaking the already collapsed balance of the fight between creatures. Having to deal with the female figure with less support made the tentacle creature receive damage multiple times. However, some of the cultists cast spell of a dark nature, summoning dark blobs that were used to patch up the creature.

"You are the people who intruded on our base before, it seems only one of you perished."

The leading cultist spoke in a condescending tone.

His words almost made Tomoe lash out, but Nora who regrouped with her pulled the hem of her skirt to stop her. When the girl turned to see him, he shook his head and walked in front of her.

"Well, it happens. However, you also seem to have that problem, don't you? Your numbers have been reduced quite a bit." Nora spoke with a smirk and a shrug of shoulders.

This time it was the turn of the cultist to get agitated, even the rest of them were riled up.

"Oh my, was that a touchy subject for you guys? I am sorry, I have been told that I lack in delicacy for quite some time. My apologies, I did not want to remind you of the people I killed." Nora muttered with an apologetic tone while he lowered his head.

Beside him, Tomoe could see that despite his words, his hand kept moving and he was sneakily seeding some seeds frying so she turned her head to observe the cultist avoid them from noticing. It was on time to feel the full brunt of killing intent they were letting out in Nora's way. Tomoe wanted to shield him but he kept tugging the hem of her skirt.

"I will catch their attention for now, and while I do that, you should take care of those people reinforcing and repairing that monster. I think we can easily crush them as soon as that thing is down. Avoid that girl for now." Nora whispered.

Using the shadow of his lowered head, he used a low tone to inform her of his unilateral plan. Inwardly sighing, she kept her face straight and looked around for a bit until she located her targets. There were two going to her left, following clockwise direction, and one lonely cultist standing in the middle of the cultist who seems like the boss, and the tentacle creature.

The two targets were closer so she waited until Nora released his hold, and just like she expected, he did so. Not before pulling a handful of seeds from the pouch, using his Ki on them, and throwing them in the cultist direction.

Wary and prepared for any sudden attack, a black magic circle appeared in from of the leader cultist, shielding him from the seeds, that did not grow and it made things awkward.

"A failure? Your pathetic intent to distract us will make no difference."

The cultist in command spoke.

"Ops, I miscalculated." Nora playfully stuck his tongue out. "Well, I lack training so it happens sometimes. Kaa-san hell-course failed."

Nodding, Nora winked Tomoe's way. Somehow, she understood what he meant, and he was not trying to flirt with her. One last time, he threw a few seeds in front of him.

Hours ago, without knowing much about him, she would have questioned his action, and honestly, part of her still does. However, Tomoe decided to ignore the incoming spells thrown at him and she ran. As she passed him, she could hear a familiar sound, a wall of trees was growing up in front of the cultists, they did not completely stop them from trying to attack Nora and Tomoe, no, the way the tree grew were a perfect cover for Tomoe, and behind her, the girl heard the same sound so a wall of trees had grown in front of Nora given that there was an impact sound.

Smiling faintly, Tomoe focused on her task. The boy would be ok, so she could fight relaxed.

MC's POV

Now then, I got myself targeted on purpose. Now what?

Even if I try to keep this wall of trees to protect me from harm, I doubt they would just keep attacking me and ignore Tomoe-san. I had successfully thrown some to riddle them up for a little with some delay, but I think that the tentacle creature would be able to easily smash those. Making the seeds grow with some delay is not a way to grow them too strong after all.

Using Kasha is my way to attack or keep using arrows. Maybe I could combine both? I am not a shounen manga main character so I can't just have a power-up in the middle of a fight.

Obstructing the area so I am the only one that can move freely would be nice if Tomoe-san was not here, but I cannot deprive her of her movement.

Little by little, the attacks sent flying were breaking apart the wall of trees so I did not have much time to think.

Equipping my bow, I took some distance from my shielding and nocked an arrow. I had never tried this one but I guess that it is worthwhile to do so.

Mushrooms, do your thing.

Everyone, don't do drugs.

As soon as it broke, the wall of trees sent pieces flying everywhere. That gave me some cover since they could not aim at me at once, I shoot nonstop.

The leader of the black-cloaked people had a tight defense like I expected so the arrows bounced back from the magic circle protecting him. My always soft ears caught how Tomoe had punched one of the targets, I think. So I still needed to give her a cover.

"That's all you can do? Listen, I know that you guys are a pathetic bunch, but show some guts. I am just a kid, a kid. Only one defenseless kid. Your reputation after failing to take care of me will... Heh, well, will you even have one?" I mocked.

Using my head the best I could, I came up with ways to piss them off.

My trick might take a while so I changed my approach. In case Tomoe-san gets mixed up in it, I pulled a small vial to fix the effects of my attack.

"Sir, something strange *cough*, mushrooms, they grew up from the arrows."

"Some weird powder is being released from them. Zen? What happened to you!?"

"Kashima, something weird is... *Cough* what is with that powder!? It is not stopping."

Smiling in response to what I heard and saw using my ability, I could see how the chaos was unfolding on their ranks.

Kaa-san, you sure kept some weird stuff stored. I had read about this kind of mushrooms before, they grow at an incredible speed. Not to mention the fact that they grow everywhere and spread the spores at an unbelievable rate. They are basically a harmless kind, although it has a family tree that gives you the chills. However, even if they are 'harmless', it just means that your life is not at risk. Having things grow on top of you is scary and they also-

"I can not feel my arm! What are these things!? SOMEONE TAKE THEM OFF!"

They have a pretty strong paralyzing effect.

Seeing how the chaos was breaking formation, even more, the black-cloaked guy who seemed to be the leader no longer paid attention to me. Since that was the case, I went to check on Tomoe. I cannot be certain if she inhaled the spores or if they got stuck on her skin.

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...

Luckily, she was fine. I arrived in time to see her delivering an ax kick into one of the guys she was fighting. I wonder why do girls like red that much? Asking will get me in trouble though so I will remain with that question in my mind.

A chill went down my spine as I distracted myself with that stupid question and I ducked just in time to evade a whip-like strike that passed where I was just standing.

Turning back, I saw the tentacle creature ignoring that purple-haired girl who had been changed somewhat, it was now coming our way. As for the black-cloaked people, they were running in the tunnel's direction.

Great.

Now, we got these two for us alone. Yay!

"My pal, things have changed. Do you think you can keep going?" I yelled.

Tomoe-san, the only other normal person (?) around, since the black-cloaked guys either ran away or are knocked unconsciously, looked at me like asking me how did things reached this point but still took a stance and started to chant something swiftly. It was basically invisible to the naked eye, but given the concentration, I noticed how the wind covered her arms.

I recall that she used that technique before, and it is pretty interesting. Well, that aside, her actions are better than speaking any words.

"We will take the tentacle monster, is that ok?" I asked aloud.

Tomoe-san turned to look a the girl who had a larger form now for a moment but she changed her stare to our target.

I had spoken to her about that girl. The Ame-no-murakumo owner, whom I had read about from Yasaka-san's documents which I sneakily took a look at before.

What did they do to her?

With my bow in hand, I gave one last look to the escaping enemies. They were running away but I had to deal with this thingy first. Preparing an arrow with seeds, I shot several times around the feet of the creature. The seeds germinated into countless vines that twisted around the creature's body, however, the tentacles were still able to move so I did not completely seal its movements.

Before anything, I used Youjutsu to create a few fireballs and threw them to the still-growing mushrooms. Friendly fire is no good, and my technique could cause me trouble later on.

Changing modes, I stored my bow and went after Tomoe-san who was already exchanging fists with the creature. The sounds I could hear from my position tell me that she was going all out.

The black smoke going out of the creature was on the rise, and the same could be said from that girl.

Dashing, I formed claws on both of my hands.

"Hold one of the tentacles." I shouted.

"Understood." Tomoe-san instantly replied.

She evaded several tries of the creature to injure her, and when there was an opening, she launched herself and grabbed the right tentacle.

There was no need to say anything else, I swung down my claws continuously in one place. It was tougher than what it looked but it was easier to damage than the black boar.

"Careful!" Tomoe-san warned.

We both had to jump back to avoid an attack from the tentacle creature. It had swung down its other arm (?) to crush us, but we evaded it.

Thankfully, I noticed that the damage was still there, and while exchanging a brief look with Tomoe, we sprang into action again.

This time, I waited until Tomoe attacked it on its torso and it almost lost balance to jump onto it. Using a seed on hand, I grew a vine and started to tie it around it. I did not tell Tomoe-san anything, but she used her fists to send the tentacles flying. Thanks to her timely support, I managed to keep one tentacle tightly wrapped in vines. Doing my best to strengthen my body, using Touki and Senjutsu, I brought down the tentacle to the ground. Tomoe-san sent flying the other tentacle and helped me to hold down the one in my hands. Using that chance, I grew a tree with the tentacle on its center, and while I expected this thing to free itself, I repeated the action a couple of times.

"Once again." Tomoe-san muttered with a smile.

I wanted to do the same, but I could only worry since her smile was taking a blood-thirsty vibe. On closer observation, the black smoke coming out of the creature was being absorbed into her. The same thing was happening to me, but there was a difference. Hanging on my chest, the magatama I got from Forest Wraith was giving a gentle light. I could feel my mind refreshed, and this was something that happened before when we face the boar.

In that fight, Tomoe-san looked like she lost a bit of her composure and she got a bit wild. She still seems ok, but I need to be careful. Fighting that thing is more dangerous than I thought.

Following after my pal, I found her already in position so I swung down my claws again. The creature tried to free itself, but it had a hard time doing so. Nevertheless, it won't be tied down forever. Sweat was starting to pour down on Tomoe-san's face, and even her shirt was wet with it.

My claws were pretty useful to cause spread damage but it is difficult to cause concentrated ones. With that thought in mind, I changed the shape for a bit until it formed a blade on each hand, then I continued to attack repeatedly at one point. This time, the cuts were deeper and I soon was able to sever the tentacle.

Tomoe-san sent it flying far away and it continued to wriggle on the ground. We were now standing with the creature at one side while it tries to free its trapped tentacle.

"Let's finish this, Shiki-sensei, I will show you what Tomoe is made of." Tomoe-san spoke in a confident tone.

In response, I jumped on her and pinned her down.

"C-calm d-down, Shiki-sensei! Y-you can't unleash your desires here, please, think of the TPO." Tomoe-san muttered.

The blush on her face made this more awkward, and while she looked cute, I want her to be more careful with her choice of words. It sounded like she would be ok if it was somewhere else.

Rolling my eyes at that, I quickly stood up and dragged her away.

A tearing sound caught our attention and we saw the transformed girl, who took a long time to get to our position since was practically crawling, used her elongated nails to slice apart the tentacle creature like it was tofu. It seemed like the support from those people was more useful than I anticipated.

"I am sorry, I jumped to conclusions." Tomoe-san apologized with a crestfallen look.

"Don't sweat it. I suddenly pushed you down so it can be easily misunderstood." I muttered.

Honestly, I know that she is not into me so I won't get the wrong idea. The feeling she gives is friendly but not pink-colored like Suzaku. Ki-sensei will prevent me from mistaking that so hurrah for Ki-sensei.

Now, the creature was something I can't even describe. There was a lot of aggro from the purple-haired girl.

"Shiki-sensei. From here on, I will follow what you say as I promised, but I don't think that it will peacefully give up." Tomoe-san commented. "My advice is to simply take it down, I don't have a deep knowledge about it, but there is no turning back."

Tomoe-san tried to hint at something, but I was not going to listen. Yasaka-san was looking for her so the Ame-no-murakumo's owner must be quite important, nevertheless, in the canon, there was never any news of someone like her. She was not even mentioned, so it can be said that her 'destiny' is to perish, and that bothers me. The two silly cats, the mother and daughter duo. Their fates were sealed, however, I was able to change that. I won't sacrifice my life for her, but I won't be able to sleep at night if I don't try to help her.

That said... How?

"I suggest that we put that person to rest. From the looks of it, a woman was used to make her. Given that the cultists were fighting against it, it went wrong when they tried to turn her into that creature. It would be a terrible punishment to leave her like that." Tomoe-san suggested.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I thought for a moment.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

She looked normal, but her words continued to hint a violent t resolution. It somehow makes her earlier calm and composed self to be out of character.

Before she replied, I took off the collar and put it around Tomoe-san's neck.

The negative aura of the black smoke could be felt stronger than before, but I noticed that the magatama shined stronger for a moment and Tomoe-san breathed deeply before taking off the collar and putting it back on my neck.

"Always have that on your neck, and never show it to anyone ok? Thank you for using it, I feel much better now." Tomoe-san said in a serious tone.

Writing some symbols in the air, I noticed how a strange glow covered her for a moment.

That confirms that she is not a human, that was Youjutsu, and when she used it. Her true aura leaked for a bit. I only felt it given that I was paying attention.

"My head feels a lot more clear, but what I said still stands. I have not heard of anyone recovering from it." Tomoe-san muttered as she pointed at the girl, who was busy pounding the mess of flesh the tentacle monster became.

That's some real hate she got there. What the heck did they do to her?

Something bothered me when I looked at her, so I searched my memories.

"Tomoe-san, doesn't she look smaller?" I questioned.

That was an important question. I continued to observe the girl, and I indeed got the feeling that she getting smaller. The strings of black smoke coming out of her were continuously leaving her.

"Huh? Now that you mention it, that seems to be the case. If that's true then... that magatama. Do you know how to use it?" Tomoe-san asked in a hurried tone.

I shook my head as a reply. Until recently, it was still regaining a green hue. It did not do anything at all, it is now that it has actively reacted.

"A Shrine Maiden is the type to know about that stuff so I am clueless in how to use it." Tomoe-san clicked her tongue.

Suzaku-san is not here, unfortunately.

Going with that logic. I think I know what she wants to do.

"Tell me about it." I asked.

Tomoe-san looked reluctant but she spoke about it.

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...

To clean the soul, I once heard that magatamas had that use. Among other stuff they could do, I think that is what I need right now. I recall how when the creature I faced with Suzaku-san died quite unsightly when some kind of time limit arrived, and I don't want that to happen to that girl.

Despite my wishes, I tried calling out to her but she did not respond. Although that growl she muttered could be said to be an answer. Luckily, she was uninterested in us. However, if we got too close she will sweep her hand in a threatening manner.

Peacefully resolving this sounds difficult. I guess this calls for plan B. One I read about before, Beast Plummeling Method. Brutish, but we are running out of time, her size is reducing... no, she is getting her normal size back.

Part 4

? POV

The girl was starting to feel weaker. She had rampaged a lot and dealt with her captors, but not all were taken care of, they had joined forces and put a strong resistance. Her limited movements were a downside for her so she could not chase after them, and when she was managing to do better after getting used to her body. They created a strange creature to fight her. It was weaker than her, but they somehow help it to resist her attacks and recover the wounds she caused.

It did not take long before new people arrived. They were different from her captors and they seemed to be unfriendly to them. It filled her with joy when she saw them attacking her captors, however, she was not going to acknowledge them as allies. She had no allies anymore.

The fight went on until they made her captors run away. She could only begrudgingly accept that she will not be able to kill them. The wounds on her legs and arms are terrible and she might no longer walk or wield anything. Remembering that, rage filled her head, and her body started to move by itself. When she regained control, she was mercilessly pounding a bloody mess of something. Her head just told her to continuously do it so she did not stop.

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Stopping, the girl was feeling exhausted. The feeling of power and strength that filled her up was no more; she was starting to feel pain all over her body again. The two people who came, one black-haired and one silver-haired, signaled and even tried to speak to her. However, she was not in the mood. They were annoying, and she would've attacked them had she not been getting weaker.

Nevertheless, she could not feel that they were trying to attack her. The boy and the girl looked concerned. In particular, the boy seemed anxious. She could not understand, why would he be anxious? Did they know each other before? She can't remember, she can't even remember her name so she won't remember his.

Somehow, she found that a little sad.

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Growling, she resisted with all her might. Those two, they were enemies, enemies. They had tied her, and her weakened self was lacking the strength to resist. They were crafty and were careful enough to avoid having that green rope, no, vine to tie her far from what her nails could reach. No, it was different, her nails were shrinking. She was going back to her helpless self.

No, no, no.

She does not want to get weak.

Her position was perfect to bite the boy who was muttering something to her so she wanted to at least erase one of her new captors but he-

"You might not be listening to me; your state is something I hardly know about. However, Akiko, I want you to know that we want to help you. Let us help you." The boy spoke in a heartfelt tone.

His words reached her so she stopped moving.

Akiko, Akiko... yes, that was her name. Did he really know about her? Did he know her? No good, she could not remember. However, she stared at him and she noticed how much did he suffer to tie her. She had sent him flying more than once, blood was tainting his clothes and he was still bleeding from some places. The girl near him was no different, her uniform was bloody, and dried blood was on her face, although she looked better than the boy. If she remembers correctly, the boy helped her out once she was bleeding a lot and she got better quickly. Perhaps they are not bad people.

The boy got closer to her, and he put her a strangely shaped collar.

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...

It might be too late; she could feel her body like it used to be. The boy quickly took off his sweater to cover her body, but she could not afford to be ashamed. She was getting sleepy.

It gave her a strange feeling, those two, were different from everyone else she could remember. They were desperate to help her.

The boy was trying to do something to help her and the girl was awkwardly assisting him, but the girl, Akiko, knew that it was useless. It did relieve the pain she was feeling so she was incredibly thankful to them, at least, she will have a peaceful end.

The girl was shedding tears as she looked at her and the boy was biting his lips as he continued to do something, and she wanted to reassure and thank both of them, but her arms were not budging.

"Don't give up, come on. You are a tough girl, you have survived until now, just a bit more, just a bit more." The boy muttered.

She is no tough at all, she is tired and she wants to rest.

Almost like he could read her resignation from her eyes, the boy put a sad look and lowered his head. However, when she thought that he had given up, he stared at her with a pair of determined eyes.

"You see, I am a bad guy. I am selfish, I like to do things as I like and how I want. I am inconsiderate and hardly listen to others. So... why should I do as you want? You won't die, I don't want to let it happen. I will ignore your wishes." The boy spoke in a straightforward voice.

She found his unreasonable words a little funny, but she could not laugh at them. The girl who was with him seemed to smile for a bit at that and she strongly nodded.

"Are you ok with letting things like this? You never had a fulfilling life, did you?" He asked.

No, she did as others wanted. Her memories were blurry, but she could remember being denied many things she wanted.

"Don't you have someone special to go back to? If you don't, you can find one as soon as you recover. Fall in love and enjoy it. You still have a long life to do so!" The boy muttered.

She did not recall anything like that so she was not sure what to think, but she did find it empty to leave without doing that.

The boy had grabbed her hand and a warm feeling was feeling her up, she could see their locked hands shinning in white. The girl, seeing that followed his actions.

"What about those people? Can you forgive them? They are still running around this place, I can help you get revenge so don't give up. Stand, fight. Don't die, please." The boy pleaded.

She didn't want them to escape, to do what they did to her to others. No, she did not have such a lofty wish, she just wanted to kill them out of her own volition, she... hardly care about other people, for some reason, she felt apathetic about it.

Clenching her teeth, she tried to move, but she could not do so. The sleepiness was getting stronger, she felt bad, but she couldn't fulfilling their expectations. She was tired, her body did not want to live anymore, no, perhaps she did not want to. Part of her was afraid, what was next? Could she really do it on her own? Revenge? Live? What if they catch her again? She did not want that. Her eyelids were closing and everything was turning black.

"If that is not enough for you, I will help you. If you can't live for yourself, live for me. I will help you get revenge, I will help you live a normal life after that is over. Just don't die." The boy exclaimed a little desperate.

She opened her eyes at once.

Will he let her live a normal life? She only has to live. She doesn't need to think about doing it alone. He will help her, she is not alone.

"Tomoe promises to lend you hand, so I also ask you to live." The girl, who called herself Tomoe, spoke as well.

She is not alone.

"N-na-me." Akiko spoke using all she had, but her voice was hoarse.

"I am Tomoe, call me like that." Tomoe spoke with a smile on her face, and despite her tears, she was doing her best to smile brightly.

Nodding, or at least trying she turned to see the boy.

"I am Nora. I am also known as the ultimate cat, but Nora is ok-ouch. I am trying to create a nice mood here." The boy, Nora, replied while rubbing his head that Tomoe had hit.

Inwardly laughing, Akiko wanted to confirm his words.

"T-the t-tru-e?" Akiko asked.

Her voice was faint and it looked like it would go off at any time, but he heard her.

"Don't worry, you might not know it, but I am a devil. Devils are the type to complete their contracts, since I consider this a contract, I will be fulfilling it." Nora muttered while winking.

A contract? Then he will ask something in exchange. What could she give him? She does not have her sword. It was quite important so it would surely be worth a lot. Since he will be doing that, she can-

"M-my lif-e, you help me, and, my life, is yours." Akiko did her best to mutter those words before falling asleep.

She felt tired, her body wanted to give in, but she did not give up. She embraced the warmth her two Saviors were giving her as she rested.

She will surely wake up again.

3rd Person POV

"Could you please not look at me like that? I did not ask her that. She is just confused." Nora exclaimed. "I did not hoodwinked anyone!"

His eyebrow was twitching and he tried to explain himself to Tomoe.

The sleeping girl, Akiko had dropped a bomb before going to sleep, and now Nora had to suffer from it.

Tomoe could give him a reproachful look since Nora had told her that Akiko was out of danger for the moment. They were both exhausted after sharing a large load of Ki with the girl so she could stay alive and the tension had worn off so they were able to relax for a moment.

"You hoodwinked her while she was weak and defenseless. There is no excuse." Tomoe scolded.

Or not.

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Author's Notes

That aside, here is the chapter, we got a glimpse at the different enemies from the 'cultists'. Nora's and Tomoe's abilities were displayed as well. For now, Tomoe used only her strength. While it was mentioned before, I will mention it once again here, she is an oni. The purple haired girl, who is supposed to look like Saeko Busujima, and got the name Akiko is also one. If you have any other question, you know how to ask them. I ask for your opinions on the chapter… and how the fights looked.

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