This was hard to write, to be honest. I'm so utterly stupid when it comes to word play and getting the personalities right that this took longer than it should have. Well, gotta go work on other chapters! Hope you're as hyped for them as I am :D

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

So, let's get on with the story.

I asked Oikura why she went there and she glared at me.

Oh. I'm an idiot aren't I?

I'd forgotten that Hachikuji had taken up the position of the Kita-Shirahebi Shrine god. This was something that happened very recently; something that I'd really shouldn't forget, even if temporarily.

As realization hit me, Oikura hmphed and proceeded to walk faster up the shrine steps.

...

"Oi! What are you doing, trying to leave me behind?!"

Oikura hmphed again, "I really despise people who don't have the motivation to remember anything."

"You really do despise everyone..."

"That's not true; I quite like Hachikuji-san. She's actually responsible unlike a certain aberration I know."

"Wait–wait-wait… That's not fair! She's a god she has to be responsible. Me? I'm a stray half-vampire oddity that isn't bound to any duty! No, I'm not even an oddity!"

"You have just fallen even lower than you already were. That's not like you."

She paused, "Part of you isn't human. That's enough excuse to call you an aberration."

… That kind of stung. Not that I'd admit it though.

And exactly how low am I in Oikura's eyes? Actually, never mind that. I don't think I really want to know now that I think about it.

But it's not like she knows me all that well. She'd never seen the other half of my personality. What do you mean there's no other half? Of course there is! It's the one that came up when I saw Kiss-shot eating Guillotine Cutter. It's the one that popped up when I thought Yotsugi killed Tsukihi.

Am I making any sense? It would truly be troublesome if no one understands what I am saying, as I would have to reword everything and repeat myself.

...

Anyways, back to the main point.

As expected, Hachikuji isn't at the temple. She is a patrolling snake god, after all.

Then I remembered. We were supposed to meet Hachikuji-san here, weren't we? Something about blessing and giving luck to Oikura. Then that means that she wouldn't be doing her daily patrols, and would be patiently waiting inside.

Hopefully she is waiting patiently.

…

I honestly believe that Hachikuji just wanted to do something a more experienced god would do. Or show off her new godly abilities. One of the two.

I really do hope I can get this over with. I haven't bought any ero books this month, and I've just saved just enough to buy some. My wallet's still bleeding from all the doughnuts I bought Shinobu though.

Back to the main point—

As we finally finished ascended the stone stairs and reached the Kita-Shirahebi Shrine, we ran through the front gate to greet my old friend. Er, correction: I ran. Oikura walked behind me and rolled her eyes.

We didn't expect the place to be trashed.

The stairs and the first couple of steps in where unscathed. The temple grounds, however, were a different story. It was utterly wrecked.

It was like how it was 15 years ago, when the ashes of the First had first gathered there.

It was absolutely destroyed. The temple itself had caved in, the once-proud huge oak lopped down. Scratches covered the tiles. Wind damage?

No, it was even worse than its state 15 years ago.

When I'd saw it, I ran up to the main house and started lifting the rubble and debris away in a frantic manner.

"Hachikuji! Hachikuji-san!"

I know it's silly to think that Hachikuji might be trapped under what remained of Kita-Shirahebi but I think it's always good to be safe. I mean, while Hachikuji hasn't been a god for too long, she still is a high-level aberration.

The way the temple was caved in was as if a huge sword or hammer was swung down on its roof.

The face of the tree's stump was too smooth, too clean.

"The temple appears to have been demolished by the means of a sword, does it not?"

Well, brilliant minds do think alike.

I kneeled in front of the temple doors and tried to peak under the rubble that I couldn't lift away. To my dismay, I saw a single bloodied hand reaching out towards me.

It was small and lithe like a child's but undoubtedly the hand of an adult.

I collapsed onto my knees and mourned.

"Hachikuji… Hachikuji-san!"

I'd cried. No tears fell down my face, but they nevertheless gathered in these accursed immortal eyes of mine.

Oikura looked down on me with pity and seemed to want to lay a hand on my shoulder. But seeing as she didn't, I can only assume that she wanted to give me some privacy.

"Let's clean this up. I think... Hachikuji would have liked her final resting place to be clean, right?"

Funny to see Oikura saying that. Those words were more like me than anything else. No, they were too wise. Was I ever that wise?

I laughed bitterly.

"What now? Are you trying to imitate me?"

I know it was cruel of me to snap at someone who only wanted to comfort me. I know it was selfish of me to want her to retort and continue to attempt to comfort me even though I had pushed her away harshly.

What a horrible person I am.

She averted her eyes and turned away.

"Then I'll do it myself."

Oikura huffed and bent down. She struggled to lift a fallen wooden pillar, her hands already turning red from the strain.

Looking at her, it was pitiful. She was trying to do something so can't do even though she very well knew she couldn't.

But at the same time, it seemed utterly beautiful. A weak girl trying to be strong. An impossible task being fulfilled.

I laughed bitterly once more.

"What are you doing? Here, let me help you."

I gave her a hand and we went on, cleaning up the mess that was the Kita-Shirahebi Shrine.

"Now that this mess has been cleaned up, let's decide on how we should deal with this situation," Oikura ordered me. I twitched a bit in annoyance, but let it slide by. There were more important things to take care of.

"Well, looking at how the way the damage was dealt, I'd say that it was quite a powerful aberration that caused this."

Oikura pondered my words for a moment, "Could it be another vampire? This aberration is strong enough to take down a god, whether the god was inexperienced of not."

"No. It's not a vampire. Judging by the marks on the ground, I'd say it's some other oddity that fights mostly airborne."

"And vampires don't?"

I pondered that a moment. All the vampires I've have always fought with their feet on the ground, unless they can sprout bat wings and just chose not to.

"Let's just go with the assumption that it's not, but don't completely throw that possibility off the table."

"…"

"Is there anything else you may like to add?" She asked me. I started to perspire.

Oikura just stared at me after she was met with a blunt silence for a while. I sweated a bit more. Her gaze is almost as scary as Senjougahara's.

"Is that all you can come up with?"

Yes, that is. I'm not going to admit it to her straightforwardly though. My ego is bruised enough as it is, with looking downright pitiful earlier.

"Well… at least I know how to advance this situation."

"Ne, Hanekawa; what do you think of this predicament?"

"Hmm… Araragi-kun, you said that this oddity is similar to a vampire but is most definitely not one?"

"… Um, sort of. But what about that?"

"… Sort of?"

"It's a possibility."

Hanekawa didn't say anything for a bit. I think a minute or so passed before she replied to me.

"Then you should know already. I'd suggest asking Shinobu-chan, however. She knows more than she lets on."

"…"

"You really do know everything Hanekawa-san."

"I don't know everything; I only know what I know."

I smiled a little, and hung up.

—Wait, I didn't get to thank her. Oh, well. I'll thank her after this is all over. Hopefully this will be resolved quickly without anyone on my side getting hurt. Well, seriously hurt that is. We can't exactly deal with a vampire-like oddity and walk away unscathed.

I however wouldn't mind if this oddity ended up completely beat up after all of this.

"So what did she say, Koyomin?"

"…It's not Koyomin; it's Koyomi!" I retorted on habit. I turned around to face the person who had called me by such an embarrassing name.

"Gaen-san?!"

Said woman grinned, "Ara ara… Looks like this Onee-chan bit her tongue…"

"That was on purpose! And stop copying Hachikuji!"

I tensed up a bit after that, but let it slide.

Well this was awkward. How this came to be was beyond me. Having a supposedly casual conversation with a spontaneously appearing woman in a grim situation such as this was most definitely not a page in my book.

How embarrassing. How embarrassing indeed.

I mentally shook my head and sweatdropped. I realize that I really should just leave this situation and go start another section— with a line break, I might add. Then I would have at least a little bit of a break to mourn my loss.

"Ah! Koyomin, this is an awkward question, but your careful description of what you want to tell next can't possibly be a line break and a new situation, could it?!"

I started to sweat, "N-no… It's just your imagination, Gaen-san."

"Whew, and I thought I'd have to break the fourth wall even more and destroy that line break in order to continue this conversation with Koyomin," she responded in a relieved voice. Gaen wiped her brow and smile sheepishly at me.

That woman can be really scary sometimes.

I stuttered, "W-Well, speaking of the conversation we had… Why are you here?"

"It's because I called her here when you were busy on the phone," Oikura glared at me.

I jumped a little. I hope my vampiric speed made me jump so fast they didn't see; my ego can't take any more of this abuse.

"How nice of you to forget me so quickly," she huffed.

I sweatdropped for the nth time.

"I'm here too!"

I turned again, "Ougi-chan?!"

She smiled, "I'm part of you, so I know what you path you should really take. So I came!"

"You shouldn't say that… What if you get hurt again?"

Ougi smiled, "Aw… Isn't it nice of you to worry about me…? Ojii-san officially 'instated' me as his niece, so there's no harm done."

She leaned into my face, "I'm not lying, because I am both you and Ojii-san's niece. Isn't that brilliant?"

Ougi leaned away and faced Gaen-san, "Fun and joking aside, let us get to the main issue here."

She stared fiercely at me. I took a step back.

It wasn't like I was scared of anything like that. Ougi-chan wasn't even staring at me with anger, contempt, hate, or anything along those lines. It was just so out of character for her to act like that, and towards me of all people. Does that mean that I deep down, I actually hate myself? Or at least dislike some part or unknown thing that lay in my bosom.

"I find it very strange that even though Hachikuji has ceased to exist, we are all happily joking and fooling around," Ougi paused, "Or rather Araragi-kun does; somewhere deep inside his subconscious."

Now that I think about it, she was right. In fact, she was so right about something so apparent that it amazes me how it flew right over our heads like the wind.

It seems that I'm not the only one who thinks so. Even Gaen-san, who claims to know everything (and I believe her), was deceived. And Oikura, she looks disgusted at herself.

"That's certainly odd. To think that even I didn't realize…" Oikura muttered out loud.

"Could this perhaps be the work of a Kaii?" I asked Gaen-san.

She opened her mouth to respond, but Ougi cut her off.

"Don't ask questions that you yourself already know the answer to. It wouldn't help anyone."

And once again, I realized she was right. I suppose that she can't be wrong in regards to myself, as she is what lies at the core of my heart and soul.

"Think about it— why do we not grieve the loss of Hachikuji-chan? Is it because she isn't dead and we all know it? But all of us, even Gaen-san believes that little ghost loli is still wandering around town, doing her duty as the god?"

No, it wasn't. It was because we'd all come to the conclusion that Hachikuji was erased by an oddity that had specifically targeted her— because he or she or they would have quite obviously gone after me, Oshino, or Gaen herself if they were just another meddlesome aberration passing by.

This was an attack done by an organized enemy or enemies that had clearly aimed for someone or a someones, if that was a word.

"And the reason why none of us have actually advanced on this topic is because I'm denying it, right?"

I pressed on, "It's because of the fact that I am subconsciously denying the fact that Hachikuji is gone that we're stuck here."

"Because I'm once again warping the world around me to fit my hidden desires."

Ougi gave me a round of applause, as if I'm supposed to be proud of realizing this fact. I was not impressed, only disgusted and suddenly very afraid of myself.

"Shinobu. Wake up, Shinobu!" I called out to my shadow.

No reply. That was expected I suppose. If I'm in a sullen and depressed mood, so is Shinobu. I know I don't feel like doing anything, so even if she hears me, she wouldn't move an inch from where she is.

"Come on! I'll buy you a Golden Chocolate Donut from Mr. Donut later, okay? So come on out."

She poked her head out of my shadow.

"How about you make that five Golden Chocolate Donuts?"

I crossed my arms and stared down at her intently with an unwavering gaze.

"Make that three and we have a deal."

She grumbled under her breath and slid out from the dark confines of my shadow.

"What do you want, my Master?" she asked sourly.

"Who or what is the Kaii that attacked Kita-Shirahebi and deleted the existence of Hachikuji?"

She remained silent for a moment, surveying the wreckage that was the remains of the Shrine. The sun dipped behind the mountain, night befalling us. This place is suddenly very ominous.

"Are you sure that you want to know who that might be?"

I pursed my lips, "It is necessary, Shinobu."

She turned away from me, and held her hands together. A strange sadness surrounded her in place of the usual superior air that she holds.

"Let us start from the very beginning then."

"It was about 200 years ago or so where there was a serious conflict between Oddities. It occurred in Spain, or perhaps Italy of Portugal.

"Two very powerful well-known clans were clashing over territory rights, leading to the deaths of many humans.

"It added to the already growing casualties from the Cholera Outbreaks, throwing humans into even deeper despair.

"The Vitesse Dieu and the Deslizando a la Gloria were fighting over strips of land that would later become Andorra, disputing over who staked the land first and that trivial childish matter.

"Their pride refused to give in to the other, and it soon turned into an all out war.

"I don't feel the need to explicitly explain all the unnecessary details, so I'll cut to the chase.

"Their scuffle drew together aberrations of high power and ability, initiating the war. One of such was a famous demon named Mephistopheles.

"He was a cruel-hearted oddity in the eyes of many. He was considered the sole reason why the brave scholar Faustus sold his soul, and the epitome of the Devil himself.

"A power-hungry monstrosity indeed.

"I myself was visiting the country's famed landmarks with an oddity I was somewhat acquainted with.

"In short, I was drawn into the war when the Vitesse Dieu killed my friend, who'd lost his short life as a non-immortal oddity for me.

"I'd owed him for not properly protecting him, as his senior. So I flew into the war, hoping to wipe out the Vitesse Dieu myself.

"That demon just so happened to have the misfortune of being my opponent, but he nevertheless left a lasting mark on me.

"In the end, powerful Kaii from around the globe came together to break the fight apart. An order was established to prevent such a thing from happening again, for the loss of humans would result in the loss of oddities.

"The five strongest oddities were determined to be the 'Pillars of the Supernatural World'.

"The First was obviously me. The Second is now deceased, and the Third and Fourth you need not to know. The issue was the Fifth.

"The Fifth was Mephistopheles, who had won not by strength but by wit.

She looked at me, a first in a while.

"You should be careful fighting him. While you are weak, you still hold the position of the Second, my Master."

"That man will stop at nothing to steal your throne, or even mine, from under us."

I held that thought for a second. Fear is a feeling I have been feeling for quite a while now, I suppose.

"Anyways, I find it odd that you didn't interrupt me even once the entire time I spoke," Shinobu huffed, "Are you think about looking at my panties or something?"

"No, and even if I was thinking about peeking I wouldn't look for the band-aid you call 'panties'"

Let's skip over this Black Scene.

"So I was thinking about my power and how much it could hurt everyone if I didn't learn to control it," I responded to her question.

"It wasn't that I didn't want to pay attention; it's just that I worried that I'd hurt you if I suddenly voiced my questions and that led to the manifestation of my desire to know what fill the gaps."

Shinobu harrumphed, "If that was the case, the world would have gone haywire by now. It's a subconscious desire that triggers it, I believe. By keeping it to yourself, you may have warped me to answer your questions whether I'd intended to or not."

I thought back to the story she told me. Did was it necessarily of her to explain exactly why she was there? She could have just said that she happened to stumble upon the war and for some reason joined in.

This power of mine is getting more and more uncontrollable.

"Mephistopheles… That is another 'someone' that this Onee-san happens to not to wish to know about," Gaen-san stated. She sat up from her place that was the foot of the main building.

"What a troublesome opponent," She looked upwards and sighed.

"Why is that so?" I asked her, "Aside from his intellect, I mean."

Gaen held her cap with her hand, a dark look crossing her face.

"Mephistopheles is as strong as any high-tier vampire," she paused.

"Energy drain happens to be a trait of demons, or more accurately, the devil minority."

She took a sharp glance at me, "I believe you know the difference?"

I suppose you could say that I do. After all, Oshino loved to run his mouth sometimes.

A superior sub-species of demons. Those that can use elemental fire and grow stronger in the shadows. What a troublesome bunch.

I nodded, "So he is a devil?"

Gaen slyly smiled, "Ara ara… It seems you aren't as dense as I thought."

My self-esteem has suddenly dropped to a dangerous level.

"Indeed he is. Not only does he use energy drain, he once fought Kiss-shot and almost lopped her head off her shoulders."

I stated to sweat again. I have to go up against someone like that?

"Araragi Koyomi," Gaen started. I was taken aback by her words. It is not like her to address me so formally.

"You remember the promise you gave Yozuru-kun, right?"

I swallowed. Hard. Her head was tilted, her hair swishing to her side. Those eyes of hers peeking out from underneath her cap. Dead serious.

I only looked down and let my long bangs hide my face. A second later, I gave Gaen-san a stiff nod.

She looked down on me and narrowed her eyes. Silence.

And suddenly, in the most abrupt manner of abrupt manners, the woman name Gaen Izuko swiftly turned towards Oikura.

Oh crap, I've forgotten her again.

"Oikura-chan, do you mind doing me a favor? You see, I left something at Hitagi-chan's place. Do you mind if you go get it for me?"

"Oh, and can you tell her where I am now?"

Her smile was eerie. She had tilted her head in that odd way once again, her hair swishing around her face. From where I stand, I could not see her eyes.

Oikura, who had surprisingly stayed quiet along with Shinobu-chan, slowly nodded and sprinted away.

"Now that that's taken care of… former vampire, take out the Kaii Killer and give it to Koyomin."

Her voice was hard but smooth all the same.

Shinobu pouted a bit, but complied. She fidgeted a bit before opening her mouth and letting the hilt-less katana slide out. She tossed it up, flipped it, and threw it straight at me.

I would be lying if I said that I didn't surprise myself by catching it and not having a single scratch on me.

At that time I still was somewhat puzzled as to why Shinobu so obediently complied. But seeming as Ougi-chan looked on with a perfect understanding of what was going on, I assume that I do as well, only anywhere but my conscious knowledge.

"Nothing for Ougi?" I asked Gaen-san.

"I'll be staying here, thank you very much!"

Forget I even asked. Please.

"Now then…" Gaen's mood darkened. The wind suddenly picked up, blowing her cap off her head. Gaen turned towards the trees and frowned.

"Shall we start? Mephistopheles."

And thus, the story of Koyomi End begins.

I somehow managed to write around 4,000 words and I'm surprised. I couldn't write another hundred because it just didn't fit if I added more to this chapter. I read it over and over and fixed the dialogue ten times over, but I still think that it's best that I leave it like this.

I'm going to finish that chapter of Our Last Hope that's been sitting around for weeks on end. I mean seriously, the amount of research I have to do to make the chapters filled with foreshadowing, references, and not-so-inspiring quotes is amazing.

So, what'll happen next? Hope you try to guess…