"You know where your loyalty lies…" A familiar face looked down at me deviously. It's face was the color of obsidian and it's skin scaly and rough. A twisted grin played on it's lips as it's fingertips sparked with flames.

I twisted in my bed sheets, eyes scrunching up.

"You'll never be one of them…" I searched my surroundings frantically, trying to grab hold of some piece of reality, but my efforts were pointless. I backed up, trying to get away from this demon's touch.

I turned over, groaning slightly.

"My sweet child, it's time for your spirit to awaken!" It outstretched it's long fingers of one hand with the other on my throat. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. It touched it's burning finger to my forehead and it's eyes glowed a bright gold, and soon enough, so did mine.

I got up quickly, my curls sticking to the sides of my cheeks with cold sweat. I was hyperventilating, and my eyes searched the room frantically.

'What the hell...It was just a dream…' I thought to myself as I stood, putting my hair into a high ponytail. I looked down, and I was still in my practice clothes. I also had on my headband. Didn't I get home safely? I knew every time I got home the first thing I did was change. So why didn't I that night? I shook my head, trying not go get worked up again- I had enough crazy for one night. I slipped out of bed and dragged myself to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face.

Then, I felt a presence behind me. I was ready to attack when I realized it wasn't a threat.

"Rima! Thank goodness, you're up! I was so worried!" Kusukusu exclaimed, hugging my cheek. I gave her a soft, forced smiled, hugging her back.

"How did I get here?" I asked her, confused. I could have sworn I was just past the tree that marks halfway.

"Nagi carried you here!" Kusukusu smiled, giggling. My cheeks turned a bit pink, but I shook it off.

"I guess I'll thank him at training today then…" I turned slightly to look at the alarm clock on my dresser.

"2:34 am, huh? Well, I'm already awake, and I don't plan on going back to sleep. I might as well get a work out in beforehand." I stood, dressing myself in my black sweatpants, white tank top, wrapped my hands in athletic tape, and headed to the gym.

I opened my door, and stepped out of my home, delving into my thoughts. What had happened? Why did I get so sick suddenly?

'You know where your loyalty stands…' Yeah, to the people I train with everyday. There was no question about it. So why did I feel so misconstrued?

'You can never be one of them…' What did that even mean? I was already apart of them. I think?

"Ouch!" I yelped. I was so consumed in my thoughts that I walked into the glass. Kusukusu giggled, and opened the door. I smiled at her, rubbing my nose slightly.

"Rima…is your nose bleeding?" Kusukusu asked as if she was confused. I looked at my hand, and there was a substance in it, although it wasn't red. Why was my blood…black?

"Um.. Yeah, I think…It's okay, I'll just go to the restroom and get it cleaned up…" I trailed off. Something weird was happening to me, and I had no idea what it was. First the unexpected nausea, then fainting, now the black blood? What was wrong with me?

I got some tissue, wet it, and put it over my nose, tilting my head back. I glanced at Kusukusu, who looked at me worriedly. Once I stopped bleeding, I threw the tissue away and washed my hands, wrapping my hands in more athletic tape. I headed over to the fitness area, and went to the elliptical. I pressed quick start, and flipped to a song I wanted to listen to on my iPod.

"Ezo…no. Anthem…nah. Babymetal…? Yes!" I turned on Ijime, Dame, Zettai- my favorite single by them- and headed with my workout. My music was blasting in my ears, and I was unaware of the outside world-the way I liked it.

Sore sae mo mote-nakute

hikari to yami no hazama

hitori.

Kizutsuita no wa

jibun jishin dake ja naku

mitsume-tsuzukete kureta

anata.

A tap on my shoulder ripped me from my wonderland.

"Rima-tan listens to heavy metal?" I turned to see Yaya, in work out attire as well. She adorned a bright pink water bottle in one hand, and a yellow towel in the other. Pepe sat on her shoulder, sleeping comfortably.

"Yeah. It's the only genre I have on my iPod, to be honest." I admitted, letting her search through my artists.

"Wow…okay then!" Yay smiled brightly, handing the iPod back to me. I looked at the time on my iPod, and it read 3:25 am.

"Yaya, why are you up?" I Asked her. She looked at me, and giggled.

"Yaya couldn't sleep. She had a dream that her little duckies were eaten by a big bad wolf!" Classic Yaya.

She mounted one of the treadmills, pressed quick start as well, and began.

As I ran, I got lost in my thoughts. The demon looked so familiar. It was like I had seen it before, but it was repressed. Why did it's eyes glow the way they did? What did it mean by loyalty? What did it want from me?

After about three hours, we headed to the training grounds, and were greeted by our friends.

"Hey, Fujisaki, come here for a second." He looked up, obviously concocting a battle strategy, but walked over to me anyways.

"What's up, Rima-chan?" He asked, a slight smile on his face.

"I wanted to thank you for taking me home last night." I muttered, turning my head slightly. He chuckled, and turned, as if he was going to walk away.

I turned as well, surprised that I got no, "You're welcome," or "It was an honor,". I felt someone grab my head and ruffle my hair.

"It was no problem, Rima-chan." Nagihiko smiled widely, letting go, and finally walking away.

Swish

"Rima-chan! You threw a shuriken at me!" He exclaimed, surprised at the sudden aggression shown by myself. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose out of habit. The two leaders shouldn't have acted so dysfunctional, yet that didn't mean that we would stop.

"Okay, everyone." Nagihiko spoke up. "Today we'll be working on defense trainings. I've set up groups; Myself against Kukai, Rima against Amu, and Yaya against Tadase. First up; Yaya against Tadase."

The two stepped up to the platform-approximately the size of a football field; the room was dark and silent. A flash of light went over the whole room, and turned off, then only going over the two on the platform. They looked at each other, determinedly. The platform rose, creating a pit surrounding them.

"The first one to knock the opponent off their feet shall be the victor." I said. Nagihiko nodded, as well as the opponents.

A bell chimed, signaling the beginning of the match.

Yaya charged at Tadase, taking out her gun loaded with pellets, and fired. Tadase flipped out of the line of fire. He took out a homemade flash grenade, pulled out the pin, and rolled it in Yaya's direction. She took no notice to it, and once the time was up, it blew up, stunning her. He took rope and tied it around her in her moment of weakness and rolled her off of the platform, into the pit of foam.

"Victor…Tadase…?" Nagihiko said with wide eyes. Tadase gave of his shining smile, and then jumped into the pit, helping Yaya out of her bondage.

"Wow, Tadase…" Yaya looked at him, surprised.

"Next, we have Amu and Rima."

As Amu and I stepped onto the platform, we smiled at each other. They were then crossed by the determination within us. Neither of us had planned to lose.