Hollows Eve

Chapter 9

.: HOLLOWS EVE CHAPTER 9 :.

3rd Person

As the day now descends into night, a tense situation that stirred up a cesspool of drama from the lakes of past regret resurfaced. Now it's time once again to re-visit the world of the living before we dive into the deep end of the tale that is to come.

It's nearly evening now, the sun is busy setting, and Kaila, Reyabe, & Gajenma are busy enjoying themselves at the Arashiyama Saga Toriimoto street corner, enjoying a bite to eat at one of the fancy restaurants the street district has to offer. However things aren't so fun for one such girl, as she had to bear the brunt of such drama as the center of the "lover's quarrel" that had transpired.

"Mmmph, this Oyako Donburi is De-Lish! How's the Miso soup Gajenma-" Gajenma was slurping his soup before she could say anything, shoving the deluxe miso soup ramen that came with it down his gullet.

"Mmmh! Mmhyah it's good! *munch munch munch*" Reyabe had a slight disgust in her eyes, she knew he was a boy, but even boys don't get that wild about their food. Then again, this IS technically an anime kind of story.

"Ugh... talk about your hefty eaters, boys are always such animals Right Kai? ... Kai?" Reyabe turned over to look at Kaila who was simply staring down at her food she had ordered, a Teriyaki Chicken Yakisoba with Egg Rolls and a side of shrimp fried rice, a Simple delicacy that her mom would probably make.

But even then... after what transpired, she couldn't help but feel down. Kaila had a slightly depressed look on her face as she simply starred at her Yakisoba...

"Kai?" Kaila started remembering things about her past as she stared at the Yakisoba, her past was a bit of a minefield of traumatic events that she desperately needed help getting over. Most of them... They connect to her best friend, Tomomi.

She started remembering what they would argue about regarding... "Her". Amusing Otsukemi, who was a catalyst for the strain in their current friendship. Everything would be different had Otsukemi not been around, but ever since then, the relationship drama revolving around Tomomi, Kaila & Amuki has been palpable. Nothing short of tiresome for Kaila, but mostly troublesome.

She remembers getting in Tomomi's face once as Reyabe said again "Kai?!" And she kept shouting at her to try and wake her up as her eyes got more and more tense as she also remembered the things they said to each other.

"OH REALLY?! Then why her?!"

"I don't see your name on my chest Kaila?!"

"I never said that... "

"You're being paranoid..."

"No one can take me away from you... "

"Stop acting like YOU OWN ME!"

Kaila closed her eyes and re-opened them once she heard Reyabe for the final time say... "KAI!". Her eyes instantly sprung open and she looked directly at Reyabe. "What!? What is it?"

"What's with you?... Are you ok? Your just...sitting there staring at your food. In fact... You haven't said anything since this past afternoon. What's wrong?" Reyabe asked, generally concerned.

Kaila simply blinked twice and then looked down, not responding to her question. Reyabe put her hand on hers in a friendly way and held it tightly. "Hey... C'mon Midnight. You can tell us, we're your friends remember?" Reyabe said with an empathetic tone of voice.

"Is it because of what happened between Tomomi & Amuki?" Gajenma said with a softer tone compared to how he usually speaks, causing Kaila to look down slightly more.

"... Yeah... actually guys... I'm not really all that hungry..." Kaila put down some Yen on the table for them so they wouldn't have to pay for her meal. "Thanks anyways... I think I'm gonna go find Otsukemi... I'll see you later." And so she got up from her seat and left the restaurant, leaving Reyabe & Gajenma puzzled.

They looked at each other then looked down at their food, the awkwardness was there, but not from them being alone, just from how they felt about the relationship drama.

Kaila started to walk across the most famous Arashiyama landmark, the Togetsukyo bridge as she tried to find Amuki Otsukemi. The girl in question just so happened to be sitting on the bridge side looking down at the water with shadows covering her eyes. She looked as if she was about to break down inside...

Kaila spotted her and let out a large sigh... "*sigh... Here we go..." She couldn't get over the feeling that she had in her heart, so in order to rid herself of that feeling, she had to abandon the feelings she had about the situation, the feelings she had for... him.

She began to walk over to her and stopped about halfway... "Hey... you ok?" She asked Otsukemi while she kept looking down.

"And just what do you want?..." She asked with a sour tone.

"Look... I don't like this anymore than you do... I mean... Tomomi's pretty bummed out about it too... He doesn't want it this way...but your not the only one who-" Otsukemi got up and looked at Kaila with the shadows still in her eyes.

"What is it with you?..." She said with her voice breaking slightly.

"What?..." Kaila asked her.

"What is it about you that he enjoys?... Why is it that he prefers you over me?! Because you were first?!" Saying things as if it were a game.

"What?... No! This isn't a game or competition! Look it's not like that, you need to let go of that kind of thinking." She told her while extending her hand, still with a somber, yet slightly scarred look on her face.

Otsukemi gripped her fist... She was still very angry and bitter. "I just wanted to come to you and try to make amends... I know this isn't the way that you wanted it... neither did I... I'm not gonna say this is your fault either... but I promise you I don't like him like that. If you can't trust him then-"

Otsukemi stopped her in mid-sentence. "Y'know it's funny... you talk about trust... and yet you broke his a long time ago...to think all of a sudden... .things could just... FLIP like a coin in the air in terms of who you care for...? Who are you trying to prove it too?... me?... or yourself?..." Otsukemi started to cry, and the look of shock spread over Kaila's face as well, she covered her mouth and also shed a couple of tears.

"You think you might not like him... you talk as if I'm the bad guy... and yet here you are stealing him from me once again. Using such under-handed tactics... You proved your disinterest long ago and now your coming back to try it again?... Well I see where his loyalties lie... I loved him y'know... I ACTUALLY loved him! I'd do anything for him and what did you do?! NOTHING! You can't do nothing for him because you're not a woman, your just a scared, 16-year old midnight blue haired freak!" She started to scream out loud.

Her words struck Kaila hard like a brick to the face, they struck so hard that she started to cry... "Both of you are just playing with my heart... so fine then... Since I got in your way back then you get In mine now?... I guess we're even then..." Otsukemi gripped her fists hard and didn't look at Kaila at all. She just kept those shadows over her face.

"I never expected Tomomi to be so into a coward... When push comes to shove you can barely defend yourself... You have to complain about it to him... I wanted to spend so much time with him but everywhere I go it's always about you. I'm done with it... There's nothing you can say to make me feel sorry for you. Go away. And leave me alone you cowardly bitch." She savagely turned away from her, and started to walk away, teary-eyed while takin slow steps and walking off by herself.

Kaila had never felt so hurt, so insulted... she silently cried while just standing there... ever so silently... feeling like she had just been stabbed multiple times as her chest had a sharp pain inside of it. She even started to sob a little and had ran off to be alone, curling up in a fetal position behind a tree near the Togetsukyo bridge.

Little did she know, a certain someone was waiting for her. He had been silently watching over her the entire time... As Kaila cried in her knees, she heard a familiar voice tell her something...

"Hey. What're ya' doin'?" It was Jack. That unmistakable Australian accent can't be taken lightly. Kaila looked up from crying in her knees and started directly into Jack's pumpkin face from below.

"Jack... what do you want?... I'm not in the mood. Go away..." Kaila looked back down and kept crying. "I ain't here to pester ya. Why the hell are ya' bringin' the waterworks?" Jack said with an in-characteristically sympathetic tone of voice.

"Why the hell do you care?... *sniff*..." Kaila said while weeping in her knees.

"I wouldn't exactly say I "Care", but I wouldn't say I don't care either. I'm responsible for lookin' out for ya. So what's the matter?" He asks again.

" *sniff* ... I'm fine... I said go away." She said while continuing to cry.

"Don't gimme that bullshit. When a woman cries, either a man comes down and does whateva' he can to wash the tears away, or 'ere's somethin' that's been boilin' in the pot a li'le." Jack stooped down to her level and put his hand on her head.

"C'mon midnight, why don't you tell ol' uncle Jack what's wrong?" Is this the same Jack Von Lantern from before? What exactly changed within him? Has he truly always been like this?

Kaila looked up at Jack with tears still running down her face. And once the evening sun, turns into the nighttime moon, Kaila had finished telling him everything he wanted to know.

"And that's why I'm here... sitting down by myself. I was crushed so hard... It hurt so badly..." She said while continuing to cry a bit.

"Ahhh... I see. The past can hold some great scars... Some cut deep like wounds... and some are eternal wounds that can't heal" Jack said while having his arms folded with his back to her while his cape blows in the night time wind.

Kaila looked up at him and wondered what he meant by that. "What?..." She asked him.

"Sometimes... when bad stuff happens to us... we get these... "Mental Scars" on our brain that make us look like a bloody cactus pusher. There's always gonna come a gutter in our lives... A body can't take a stabbin'... the skin is frail like that... As of right now your brain... your thoughts... are like skin. Skin that's easy to pierce... If ya' cut into it it's gonna hurt badly. Cuttin' yourself is like killin' yourself..." He turned slightly to look back at her. "Do you wish to kill yourself?..."

Kaila blinked twice, slightly appalled that he would even ask such a question. Tears were still slightly streaming down her face. "I didn't think so Midnight." He said, as he turned is head back towards the moon.

"I'll tell ya' right now I ain't havin' it. I have to deal with your constant cryin' & moanin' on the regular basis. I ain't gonna deal with you cryin' to kill your spirit. Though this does have it's benefits... now i know the perfect way to train you to use the reaper claw." He said to her.

"...Jack..." Kaila said while narrowing her eyes slightly.

"You can't go off on a tizzy like that y'know. It's a bloody shame how much you'd hold somethin' in. Your like a cannon that keeps it's lid closed and tries to fire. It'll explode on you unless you let go and let it out. So... let go of the past and fire that cannonball. Don't keep it still... Let it explode sometimes... Your feelings are stronger than you'd expect." He continued to say.

Kaila's tears finally dried up, even though his words were kind of harsh in a sense, they were strangely... comforting in a way. Almost as if he was actually trying to help cheer her up in his own way. Kaila smiled a bit, and finally managed to sit on her knees with her hands on her legs.

"...Thank you. Jack. I appreciate the talk." She said, as Jack looked back at her and smiled. "Yeah yeah..." And then continued to look back at the moon.

Before Kaila could get up and perk up a bit more, she remembered something... "*gasp* Wait... I just remembered... Otsukemi went off on her own."

Jack turned around all the way and looked at her confused as to who she was talking about. "Hm?... Otsukemi?... OH you mean that Amuki-look alike. What about her?" He asked while folding his hands.

A flashback plays of the events from that fateful afternoon, where Kamina and his cronies attacked Kaila & Tomomi. Kamina had retreated in utter defeat, but took one good look at Otsukemi before leaving.

"Before Kamina left he eyed Otsukemi... she's out there. All alone. By herself." Jack's facial expression changed from his usually creepy visage to one of complete confusion.

"Heeeehhhh?" A question mark also appeared over his head.

"OH for god's sakes! Kamina and his goons might try to attack her in the middle of the night you moron!" Kaila yelled at him with an angry anime expression on her face.

"Oh I knew that. I figured that out moments ago." He said while motioning that he got the message before hand with his actual hand.

"Then why did you just play dumb like that?!" She asked with slight comedic anger.

"I was wondering why I should care?" He said with his eyes closed and his arms folded, causing Kaila to comedically fall down on her head.

"Come on Jack! She could be in serious danger." She said while clutching her palms. "Besides I want to make things right with her." She said to him with a worried tone of voice.

"And since when was that bloody blue Bunsen-burnin' b***h my problem? I'm responsible for you, not that pink-haired She-Devil." He said while folding his arms and looking away coldly. Yep, the Jack we all really know is back ladies & gentlemen.

"But Jack she could be in danger! Besides eh... Kamina... Kamina! Kamina and his gang of goons have it coming! Think of it, you could do so much to them!" This actually somewhat peaked Jack's interest.

He slowly looked back at her as he turned his head. "...Go on..."

"Just think of it... You could scar them for life and make sure the unjust and evil pay for their actions. You could cause them some serious nightmares and make them afraid so that they don't bother us again! I COULD make it so that they don't ever bother us again! And plus... doesn't she slightly resemble Amuki anyways?" She said while tilting her head.

Jack's eyes spread as he looked slightly angry that Kaila would compare Otsukemi to Amuki Nagasaki back in the Hollow World of Purgatory... But Jack then looked down and a picture of Amuki's beautiful, bright and cheery face popped up in his mind.

"Amuki...Love..." Jack had said to himself as he looked down. He gripped his fist and looked right at Kaila. "That's the bloody oath ain't it?..." A beat of nervous and awkward sweat dropped down Kaila's forehead.

"Ok your really gonna have to stop talking like your from Australia cause I can't understand a word you're saying." She said with an awkward expression on her face

"I'm sayin' it's true you dumb broad!... Ugh... Alright..." Jack rolled his eyes and slightly frowned.

"You mean?..." She said while looking hopefully. Jack simply eyed her and smirked a bit.

"I could use a good work out...Who knows?... It might be fun." He said to her.

Kaila simply perked up all the way finally and stopped crying all together. Can you believe it? Jack actually managed to make her feel better. In his own way I guess, but still! Anyways...

Flash forward, now we're back within the grounds of Northern Kyoto in the regional city, where Amuki Otsukemi lives, and where Kamina and his gang often scrounge around.

Amuki Otsukemi is seen walking by herself, past multiple people amongst the city streets, not really watching where she's going because generally she's still very down about the situation that had transpired earlier. She even bumped into a few people on the way home.

"Ow! Watch out lady!" A disgruntled citizen rang out at her. She didn't care, she kept on walking and never looked back, still with those shadows over her eyes. Eventually after she had gotten out of the city limits she started down a stone pathway into one of the regional street districts she lived on... that's where we see a grave smile in the midst of the shadows.

"I can't believe this... Now the one I cared for hates my guts... I swear I'll never forgive that stupid midnight b***h. For all that she's done... I won't forgive Tomomi either." She kept telling herself, however her head peered up slightly as she began to hear footsteps on the stone path.

It looked like a bunch of feet were walking a little ways away from her, but were following her. So she slightly picked up the pace and kept walking, but the feet drew much closer.

"I am not in the mood for this right now..." She continued walking and ignored the footsteps, looking back and seeing that no one was there however didn't reassure her of her safety.

She grunted and continued walking, albeit with a much faster pace. However a bunch of shady figures appeared from behind several houses and street corners, and started walking faster behind her.

A feeling of danger filled the air as Otsukemi was certain at this point someone was following her as she continued down the pathway to her home, but decided to cut through an alley in order to lose the people following her. Not the best idea...

Otsukemi picked up the pace even more to the point where she was running, but the people kept following her. Finally she decided that enough was enough...

"Alright STOP! I'm not in the f*****g mood assholes so you better scram or else I'll-" She turned around and looked angry, but no one was there once again.

"What?... must be my crazy imagination. Damn... that whole situation must've taken more out of me than I thought... I really need to get home." As Otsukemi started to turn around... She felt a big presence right in front of her, overshadowing her.

She bumped into a person that was standing right in front of her with his arms folded... She just happened to be in the worst possible place, at the worst possible time.

"Well...I hate to stall you but, We'd like to chat a bit if you don't mind MISS." Kamina was right there with his arms folded, standing there with his goons right by his side.

"Kamina..." Otsukemi said with a shaky kind of Voice and a terrified look on her face.

The next thing you hear is a crashing sound and Amuki Otsukemi grunting, then some struggling with Otsukemi being planted on the wall.

Kamina now has Otsukemi in his grip, pinning her viciously to the wall while all of his cronies surround him. "Let go of me you bastard! What do you want from me?!" She said to him while squirming around in his grip.

"Nothing much. I just decided to play with you a little bit in order to get a certain someone a little ANGRY." him and his goons started to chuckle.

Otsukemi's eyes started to widen, as she had a both angry, and scared look on her face. "Look whatever you want with that midnight-blue haired b***h I want no part in it! I have nothing to do with it! OK! So let me go!" She screams at him.

Kamina grabs her chin with two fingers and turns her face towards him so they can meet face to face. "Oh no no no no noooooo my dear... I'm simply offering my two cents on that little lover's quarrel you had today. You think that your little boyfriend can get away with kicking my ass? Not a chance. I'm the baddest son of a b***h in these parts. So instead of getting it through to them... I'm gonna have to get it through to you." He said to her while smiling deviously.

The next thing you hear is a spitting sound, followed by a grunt from Kamina. "AGH! YOU f*****g b***h!" Kamina smacked her right into the face and then grabbed her by the hair, holding her up to make her scream.

"AAAAGGHH! LET ME GO YOU f*****g POSER!" She said out loud. "HELP!"

"No one can save you. Especially not your little boyfriend-... OHHHHH wait a minute. That's right, he's not your boyfriend anymore." Kamina then savagely pinned her back onto the wall with a red mark on her cheek.

"Tell ya' what? I'll forgive that little logic you shot in my face, if YOU... become MY girlfriend." He smirked devilishly, knowing that kind of thing would piss off Tomomi.

"Screw you! I'd rather die than be with scum like you! Whatever your gonna do just do it to me! I don't care! Because Tomomi will be on your ass by tomorrow morning! And the next place your gonna wake up is in the f*****g morgue!" She said, roaring at him with intense anger.

"Oh REALLY?... well then I guess I'd better live it up... stand back boys." And with that his "Boys" stood back, backing away from the scene entirely.

"What're you doing Kamina?" One of the boys with a beanie cap and black hair said.

"Nothing... I'm gonna give her all the love she deserves. MORE love than Tomomi ever could give her." Otsukemi let out a scared whimper, as Kamina started to unbutton her shirt, showing her cleavage and swimsuit top.

"Whoa whoa whoa, Kamina your takin' it too far! Chill out man." One of the guys said.

"SHUT UP! I know what I'm doing. Don't you dare try and stop me either, otherwise I'll kick your ass!" He said while looking at them angry, with a hostile stare that meant "I mean business". All of his cronies could watch as Kamina was about to commit the deed he was about to commit.

"Now how about I show you what it feels like to be... REALLY LOVED?" Kamina grabbed her breasts and forced her body against the wall, starting to forcibly kiss her neck.

"NOOOOO! GET OFF ME! HELP!"

Suddenly, a clanking sound as heard, in fact, SEVERAL clanking sounds were heard.

"Hmmm? What the hell?" It seemed like something was rolling right up to Kamina & Otsukemi. The object was green, and had a Jack O' lantern like face on it with spikes protruding out of it. Also it had what looked like a fuse shaped like a pumpkin stalk.

"The hell is that?" One of Kamina's men asked, before anyone could answer, the object exploded in everyone's face. Releasing a horrid stink that clouded the entire alley.

Everyone was coughing violently, as the stink was so bad that not one person could stand it. Not even Kamina. "What the hell's going on?! Where did that stink bomb come from?!" One of the frightened cronies rang out.

"I don't know man?! But I cant see anything!"

"Kamina?! Where are you- GAGGGH!" A slicing sound was heard, as one of Kamina's men went dead silent.

The stink managed to subside, there was a fog of smoke covering the area, but the stink managed to fade away. So for the time being, the alleyway was clear. All of Kamina's men looked around frantically, all of them virtually terrified beyond belief already.

"What the hell was that?!" Amuki Otsukemi uttered out of her mouth while shaking.

"I don't know! Shut up and stay still!" Kamina told her, while looking around.

"Kamina!... Look..." One of his boys had told him. Kamina looked downwards to see a horrible surprise waiting for him. One of his men, the boy with the beanie hat and black hair on his head... his chest had been sliced open. And his blood was leaking out onto the ground.

All of his other cronies had uttered shocked gasps and one ever threw up in disgust. Kamina's eyes had widened in shock and anger at the horrible happening that just flashed before his very eyes. "What... THE f**k?! WHO DID THIS!?" He roared out.

"Oh my god..." Amuki Otsukemi was shedding fearful tears with her hands over her mouth, she was shocked. She had witnessed a death for the first time. But before anyone else could take in the situation... There was a slight growling heard amidst the darkness of the alleyway.

"What was that?..." One of Kamina's men had asked out loud, followed by Kamina grimacing in fear at the situation he was in. He didn't want to admit it... but virtually he was terrified.

Out of the darkness came pumpkin vine roots, which grew along the walls and spread quickly... as the boys started to back up and run away in fear, the vines started to grab three of them, taking them inside of the darkness.

They're screams of terror filled the air as they were dragged inside of the darkness by the vines. "AAAAAAAAHHH! KAMINA HELP US!" They said as they were slowly dragged inside.

"What the f**k?! WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHO THE f**k IS DOING THIS-" Kamina panicked for a second before hearing more footsteps coming down the alleyway's entry port.

A familiar figure, shrouded in darkness by the moonlight's glow, with a witch hat that appeared to be orange on, walked down the alleyway.

"Wh... Who are... Who the hell are you?!" One of his cronies asked.

Without thinking the figure rushed at them, nearly breaking the stone pathway apart with her great strength, and socked one of them in the face. Following it up with a roundhouse kick into the darkness, sending them flying inside, screaming for their lives.

"WHAT?! WHAT'RE YOU- AGGGH!" The figure whipped around and kicked the other goon in his stomach very hard, while kneeing his face, following it up by a double face punch. She whipped around and grabbed his arm, breaking it with her palm and throwing him into the darkness with a judo flip.

All you could hear is their screams of terror and pain, as well as flesh ripping, and the grunts, growls and screams of a deadly monster inside of the darkness. Kamina at this point was visibly shaking in his boots. He had no idea how much trouble he was in...

"Wha...Wh-what...What's going on?!... Who the hell are you-" Before he could even finish his sentence, the figure started to walk towards him. She pinned him to the wall by grabbing his throat, making him let go of Amuki Otsukemi.

Kamina was choking quite badly, as the figure had held him up by the neck. "No... That can't be her...?" Amuki Otsukemi thought to herself.

"You... Hide. Right now." The girl had said to her. "Oh... O-ok!" Without even thinking about it, Otsukemi hid behind a corner but peeked her head out in order to see what would happen.

The girl turned her attention back to Kamina, whom she was choking very badly, sinking her sharp claws into his neck, causing it to nearly bleed.

"AAGGH! AGGH...GAAAHHH...AAAAHAAHHH...PL-PLEASE...DON'T...DON'T KILL ME..." He begged, as the girl held him up, choking him to near death.

"Listen to me... I'm sick and tired of your bullshit... So ... I'll give you one ultimatum... If you go near my friends again... I'll kill you. If you EVER so much as touch a hair on Amuki's head again... I'll kill you. And if you tell ANYONE... about what has happened behind this alleyway... including the police... I'LL f*****g KILL YOU." The girl extended her hand and a bunch of dark, black reishi with an orange glow gathered around it. It formed a black scythe in her hand that inched its way up to Kamina's neck.

"And trust me... you don't want to meet your fate by the Judgement of my blade... It's a fate worse than death." She said, her face was finally revealed underneath the moonlight... Her yellow eyes... her black hair... It was Kaila Amiyuki. Using the power of the reaper claw.

"No...NOT YOU... P-PLEASE...DON'T KILL ME I BEG OF YOU... I WAS ONLY KIDDING!" Kamina was visibly crying with intense fear. He was terrified out of his mind. Kaila mercifully dropped him and let him run off crying.

"That's right... run." Kamina ran off screaming and crying in fear.

Otsukemi peaked her head out from the corner she hid in, she had looked back into the darkness. The growling and violent sounds had finally stopped all at once, but then she looked at Kaila, who was once again shrouded in darkness.

"W... Wh...who are you?... Why did you...?" She asked while shaking, still visibly scared.

"Because... NOW we're even." She looked at her with her haunting yellow eyes, striking fear into her heart, but also reminding her of who she was. However, after she looked at her, Kaila ran off without saying a thing.

"No! Wait...! Was that... that couldn't have been..." She said. Looking down at the stone pathway, while also looking back up at the moon...

Meanwhile... Kaila had re-located to the roof above her. "Well... that takes care of that. Thank you by the way Jack. I really appreciate this... You didn't kill those boys did you?" She said to him. Jack was right next to her, folding his arms.

"Nah... Just roughed 'me up a bit. That's all. Though they're gonna be stuck for a while, they may go a li'le missin'. Heheheheh..."

The next thing we see is inside of the darkness, where all of Kamina's cronies, all 5 of them are pinned to the wall by sticky, slimy pumpkin vines with spines on them. Some of them are bloodied, with pumpkin carved marks entrained in their bodies.

"Good thing you told him not to say a word. Otherwise we'd have a problem." Jack said while folding his arms.

"What about the boys? What're you gonna go about them?" She asked while looking at them.

"Don't worry your li'le head about it. The vines should wear off by tomorrow mornin'. If they're leader's smart, he'll know to tell 'me to shut their traps about this li'le incident. Hmhmhmhm... AGGGGGHH." Jack stretched out his "Muscles" if you can even call them that.

"I say... It's jolly good to spread a li'le panic once in a while." He said to Kaila. "Oh and... Your welcome." He finally said your welcome. He really DOES care.

Kaila smiled at him for once. "Wow... you really do care. Guess I Was wrong about you... And Amuki was right." She hugged him for the first time.

"Ey! Cut the cheese! Get off me!" He said, as the moon panned up and changed from night into day.

The very next day, Tomomi was seen sitting at a tree right near Nakayami Junior high, somewhat annoyed. As he intentionally missed the meeting at the tree of life today just so he wouldn't run into Amuki Otsukemi. However, just as he thought he had avoided her...

"Ummm... Excuse me Tomomi?" Tomomi had his hands behind his head while sitting down. He opened his eyes and looked right up at her, turning his head. "Hmm?"

"You... mind if we just talk...? for a second...? " She said to him.

A few minutes later, Kaila, Reyabe & Gajenma arrived onto the scene. Walking through the school gates just in time to catch their first class.

"Thank god we made it! I couldn't wait for Mr. Relationship problems anymore." Reyabe said. Referring to Tomomi's absence.

"Oh come on Reyabe, he's going through a tough time. He might not even be here today, so cut him some slack." Kaila said.

"What?! Girl you know damn well as i do, you were in the thick of that Lovers quarrel last night. In fact you were all depressed and crying over it. What's with you? Why're you so chill today?" Kaila's eyes looked away from them innocently.

"Ohhhhhh... I don't know. I just am. I got over it last night after... "thinking it over"." She said, prompting an eyebrow raise from Reyabe.

"That's just like you my beautiful princess! Always so strong! I wish I could have your strength. It's truly inspiring!" Gajenma had stars in his eyes. "Yeah how about "Shut up"? Gajenma?" Reyabe said with a nervous sweatdrop going down her face.

However, his face changed back to a normal expression. "Hey... look over there." Gajenma pointed to the school's entryway. As the girls looked over, Kamina and his gang were there.

"Oh great. Kamina and his gang are back again." Reyabe said.

"Hold on guys, I don't think they'll be bothering us today." Kaila said. And it turns out she was right.

Once Kamina saw Kaila, he immediately tensed up. All of his gang members were bandaged up with visible wounds. Kamina only had a bandaged neck due to all of the choking from last night.

"Oh shit... IT'S HER! RUN BOYS!" Kamina and his gang split in fear. which caused Reyabe immense confusion.

"The hell is they're problem? That's not like him. Kai, will you tell me what's up? What did you do?" Reyabe asked while looking at Kaila.

"Trust me. It's better you not know Reyabe. Hehehe!" Kaila giggled, actually a bit happy at the situation.

Reyabe also noticed something else strange, and pointed behind Kaila. "Uhhhh... Kai?"

"What?" Kaila said. She then turned around and looked at Amuki Otsukemi, who had walked right up towards her.

"Hi..." She had her head down and her hands behind her back. Tomomi was also right next to her, with her expression changed as well.

"Listen... K...Kaila... I just... wanted to say I'm sorry... for all of those hurtful things I said...Your right... I consider us even now... but... not in the same way as before. I hope that... we could... y'know... move past all this drama and just... be friends?" This is a change of pace. Otsukemi is actually apologizing for her actions.

Kaila folded her arms and blinked twice. "Well..." She unfolded her arms and closed her eyes instead, giving her a slight smile. "Alright. I'd personally like to move past all this drama too." And with that the two of them shook hands finally and called it a truce.

**********

Even later, once school had finally dismissed. Kaila & Tomomi were actually walking home together, finally relieved that all of that tension was gone between them and Amuki Otsukemi. It seemed like everything was fine now, years of drama and tension, and the load that came with it…... it was finally lifted off of their shoulders.

"So uh…. What did she say to you?" Kaila said while walking next to Tomomi. Gajenma & Reyabe split from their friends and Otsukemi had left to go home after the tragic event that happened to her last night. However she remained thankful for what Kaila had done to save her life.

"She said something about last night… I didn't really believe her, but she said that you…. Saved her life last night?" He mentioned out loud.

"Kamina and his band of jerks were trying to "Have their way" with her. So I stepped in and save the girl. No sweat, I didn't even have too. But my better judgement told me to." Kaila folded her arms and looked down slightly, a little embarrassed that she would say something like that.

"I couldn't just let her suffer like that. Also, I don't think that Kamina will be bothering us much longer." She said with her eyes closed.

"Huh? Why not?" Tomomi asked Kaila. "What did you do to him that's got him so spooked? And how were you able to find her in the middle of the night?" Tomomi kept asking questions, causing Kaila to grimace a bit.

Tomomi's eyes widened a bit, getting the message that he was prodding too much. "Uhhh… I'm sorry. I'm just curious Midnight. Seriously? You can tell me? I won't keep anything from you, so why keep the simple answers from me?" Kaila's hair covered her eyes, as she remembered Jack's words about not telling anyone of her place in Purgatory. It's one thing to use your powers for your own personal reasons, but it's another to lie about them to your best friend.

"I….I just so happened to come across her. That's all." Tomomi was not convinced. But he knew how soft and fragile she was.

"Look…. *sigh* I guess I can't force it out of you. To be honest it's not even that big a deal. But…... Y'know something….? " Tomomi said softly.

They stopped under the tree of life as the sun was beginning to set and the nighttime sky rolled in. Tomomi stood in front of Kaila and grasped her shoulders, then held her close as the two of them shared a warm embrace. Which caused Kaila to blush while being held by Tomomi. She always felt that his hugs were the warmest.

"Tomomi…. "She said softly. "I really should be thanking you. I don't know how you did it…. But you managed to wrap things up before they got too ugly. It's weird how many miracles you work into my life y'know that?" Kaila blushed profusely at Tomomi's words. She never heard of him talking like this, even back then when they were children. They've known each other almost all of their lives, and never once did Tomomi say something so sweet. Though he has always cared for her, working miracles into his life is a bit of a stretch. Even for him.

"You keep me going, and getting stronger, while also having my back too. Even the backs of those I once considered my friends, but you consider your enemies. That kind of devotion is hard to come by Kaila. So thank you." He said to her, peeling her back a bit and looking at her while Kaila looks back into his eyes, blushing profusely.

She then looked down and smiled shyly, always somewhat afraid of her feelings. "This isn't the time you jerk…. Stop trying to butter me up." She said in a sweet tone, obviously playing around with him.

"Aw come on. I can't thank my best friend?" He said while smiling a bright and encouraging smile.

"That smile….. It always gave me strength…" Kaila said to herself in her mind.

"Still though, you never told me how you got Kamina off our asses? How'd you do it Kaila? Didja beat him to a bloody pulp?" If she did that then she'd be no better than Kamina. However, she did Technically try to kill him…? I guess she's still not better.

"Well…. I…. uhhhh…." She was reluctant to reveal the truth to him, but after a moment like that, she'd hate to ruin it by keeping secrets. So Kaila opened her mouth, but something fell onto her head.

"OW! What the hell? What could fall from this tree? It's full of Sakura petals!" She said slightly angry while rubbing her head.

"I don't know…" Tomomi looked down while rubbing is chin, and then saw one of Jack's green stinkbombs….. Which means…..

"BOOM!" An explosion of stinky gas went off right in front of them! Kaila & Tomomi were coughing profusely as a result. It stunk SO bad, like a skunk bathed in garbage that's been put through a meat grinder.

"Agh! *cough cough cough* What the hell?! Where'd all this stink come from?!" Suddenly, Kaila heard some laughing nearby. The cackling sound of hysterical laughing belongs to none other than Jack, who threw down the stink bomb as a prank. He fell out of the tree and fell head first onto Kaila's head in his human form.

"OW!" Kaila said as Jack fell on top of her.

"AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Gotcha' mate! HAHAHA! You should've seen the look on your face!" Jack cackled like a loon. Which elicited growls from Kaila, the vein mark of traditional anime anger grew on her forehead so much, that for some reason she could now pick up an entire tree and chase after Jack with it. Swatting the ground cartoonish-ly while running after him to make him pay.

"YOU ASSHOLE! YOU ARE SO DEAD JACK! COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW SO I CAN MAKE PUMPKIN PIE OUT OF YOUR f*****g FACE!" Kaila screamed in a rage while running after Jack for his "prank".

Tomomi was left coughing profusely, but he wouldn't really accept no for an answer. "*cough cough* Ok then I guess I'll just see you later!" Tomomi said sarcastically as Kaila chased after Jack.

***********

Later on that night…. Tomomi had gone home and climbed up the mountains in order to finally go home unscathed, but with a petulant stink soiling his clothes. Seriously that stink bomb was hefty in aroma.

He opened the doors of the Takuro Gardens main dojo and had went in looking for his grandmother. "Grandma, I'm home! You here?" He asked out loud.

Grandma Takuro was sitting with a new kimono on that was scarlet colored with a yellow stripe over a blue stripe on the folds of the collars and breastplates on it. She also had her hair in a long, braided ponytail this time. "Tomomi-san, welcome home. It took you awhile, where have you been? And WHAT IS THAT STENCH?!" Even she couldn't stand it.

"Yeah I need a bath, someone played a massive prank on me & Kaila and got us with a stink bomb. Didja hear the news by the way? Kamina and his thugs have all gone into hiding recently. Something spooked them last night so bad that they don't even wanna come outside anymore." This for some reason got Grandma Takuro's attention.

She immediately perked up and opened her eyes, as she was sitting in a position of meditation, but didn't bother to come up and see what Tomomi was doing. She was focusing. "Is that so…... I knew I suspected something recently in the area… but I didn't think it would be true…. " She said.

Tomomi looked at her puzzled and blinked twice. "Wait…. What?" He said to her.

"The bath can wait Tomomi-san. Let Grandma Takuro teach you a personal lesson in spirituality and tell you exactly what I found that fateful night." She said to him.

"Wait you know what happened?! I tried to get Kaila to tell me but she couldn't because… well Jack threw down a stink bomb." He said while gripping his arm lightly.

"I don't know everything… but…. I did sense a spiritual presence within Kyoto last night…. As all spiritual shamans who can see the dead feel…..Come and sit down Tomomi. It's time I told you about the meat of the spiritual world. In-depth. So you can get a true understanding of what you might be dealing with….."

.: TO BE CONTINUED :.