Shiemi's POV:

I feel the reassuring hand of Koko's on mine, and I only nodded, pressing the herbs against the girl's wound. "Something's happening inside her. It- Nee, get me something for poison please." I command, my voice filled with a little more confidence. I start to concentrate, and then start to slowly plunge my hand into her stomach from the hole in her body, resisting the urge to gag, or to look away from the blood pulsing out of her abdomen again.

"Oh my God," Koko gulps down bile as she looks away, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Konkemaru did not look over to her stomach; his eyes were locked on hers as he held her hand over her tail. Her chest heaved up and down painfully, each beat of her heart weakening. She was on death's door, so close to death yet so far away that she could see through to the other world.

"S-Stay with me, Hoshimi-san." I whisper, and close my eyes, and gasp in pain when I rip out a flaming piece of metal. The flames atop the chip of metal was black and full of venom; one touch of it would doom you. "Nee-chan! Please get the poison herbs!" I demand, starting to cough. "E-Everyone, cover your nose and mouth! Don't breath into the gasses!" I state, choking down the air around me. I did not care if I was going to get hurt- or even die- all I wanted to do was protect Hoshimi- Yukio's sister; Nat's sister; Rin's sister. She was precious to all of them, I could not let her get hurt. I was not as precious as she was to them, and I understood that. So, I will protect her, and make sure that she receives the love she needs.

"B-But what about you?!" Koko squeaks, her voice muffled by her tie wrapped around her mouth and nose. I only shake my head, and smile as I start to push the herbs against her wound, smiling as it starts to close up; the process was slow, sure, but at least she was getting better.

"Don't worry about me." I chided, a soft, sweet smile on my face. "I want to protect my friend. That's why I came to become an Exorcist. I have to protect the people I love. And I love Hoshimi. She is precious to everyone." I cough, looking down at my fingertips, of which I had gripped the metal with. They were blackening, the skin peeling and claws bloomed from the reddening skin. Hallucinations. "Get her to the infirmary, quickly!" I command, starting to cough more as I wrap my hand in a bandage.

"But what about you?! S-Shiemi, your arm!" Koko gasped, about to touch it; but I quickly pulled it away from her.

"D-Don't touch it, please!" I whimper, feeling my fingers and hand start to grow numb. Koko gives me a surprised look, clearly worried of my behavior change. She nods, starting to run with Hoshimi in her arms, Konkemaru trailing behind her. I start to see my vision dance with black spots, and then I see Rin's figure running to mine as I fall to the side. The venom had gone to my shoulder, to my neck. It was still spreading. Soon, it would reach my heart.

Then I would be dead.

Yukio's POV:

I trudged along with Rin, Nat and Bon, my eyes not able to meet Nat's. How could she forgive me, when I was willing to shoot her? Of course she would. Of course she would. She's Nat; she's Natsuki Hatome, the shy and timid and weird and overprotective and overly selfless girl that had a broken past. Of course that Nat would do that. The light dimmed, but shined even brighter upon us as we got closer, pain searing through the left side of my head.

"Close your eyes!" Rin shouted, and grabbed onto my hand, his eyes squinted shut. "Nat! Where's Nat?!" He bellowed, searching with his hands. We could hear a faint sound muffled, and so we turned to the source, stretching our free hands out.

"Calm down! I have her, she's with me." Bon's voice rang through, causing us to sigh in relief, stopping. "Anyways, why're you worrying so much? I've got her, she's with me." He grumbles, the girl close to him, cradled against his chest. "I'll carry her." He states with a finality in his voice, picking the brunette up with a soft grunt. Squeaking, Nat only huffed, looking at us pleadingly. Rin immediately took her from his arms, dusting her off.

"Jeez, you startle her right after she comes outta Gehenna!" Rin snorted, holding her close to him. Nat seemed to have a slightly happy, but also some deep grief at the mention of the name of the Demon world. "She's ours, you have to prove your worth of deflowering our pure baby girl!" Rin shouts, then holds her even closer as she yelps and starts to squeal, trying to get out of his grip.

"Get your head out of- Shiemi!" She cries out, stumbling to the girl who was laying on her side. Rin seemed even more worried, his expression serious and his eyes wide.

"Shiemi! Shiemi, wake up!" He cried, shaking the unconscious girl's shoulders. She didn't move; her head lolled around as she held her arm. Nat started to sob, golden light coming from her hands as she started to wrap vines around her arm to her shoulder, ripping off the sleeve.

"Shi-chan...Shi-chan, dai-jou-bu...I-I'm here to help…" She stuttered, her eyes tearing up all over again as Nee only started to fade. "Nee-chan, no!" She cried, reaching out for the familiar. "S-Shi-chan…" She whimpered, her fingers trembling as she concentrated, the vines breaking and showing healed skin. Nat bandaged it quickly, pressing her ear against the blonde's chest, then letting out a soft, utterly broken wail.

The girl was dead.

Shiemi was dead.

And they were going to pay.

Rin's POV:

Shiemi. Shiemi. Shiemi. That was the only thing running through my head then. She laid there. Dead. Not breathing. Something hurt her. He hurt her. My claws started to grow, as I thought about how he hurt her. "He hurt her...he hurt Nat… Hoshimi… now Shiemi...not them...anyone but them… they're my nakama...my friends…"

I felt myself start to grow angrier and angrier, my ears pointing and growing, my teeth bared and my tail lashing out. I roared as I slammed the ground with a fist, and I heard the yelp of Nat as she covered everyone with a barrier of earth, Bon holding Shiemi against his arm. I let out a scream, my mind growing wild as I thought about the person who hurt Shiemi.

"Yamete, Rin!" I heard Nat call, holding the sword in her hand. My own sister...Onee-chan…she would hurt me, she- "Look, Onii-san!" She then yells, holding the sword and throwing it away from her. "See?! I won't hurt you. Never, Onii-san!" She stepped forward, now starting to venture towards me; she stepped in spots of my eyesight, and did this very slowly so she wouldn't startle me. This girl knew her stuff.

"What do you mean?! Everyone's hurt me! Everyone's ignored me, and not loved me! She- she loved me! Now she's gone! I have nothing-"

"Yes, you do!" She sobbed out, now gripping my shoulders. Tears slid down her grime-covered cheeks, and she looked up at me. "I love you, Rin! I love you so much it hurts! I've grown up with you, seen your happiness, your tears, your fights, your blood! How can I not love you! I love you, and Yukio, and Hoshimi, and-and Shi-chan...I love minna! And it won't be without her! I...I know the pain of losing someone. I know the pain of losing your family, your nakama."

"I know that sick feeling in your gut that's called guilt. I know the slither up your spine that's anger. And I know the stabs of a knife in your heart that is sadness. But we all learn to overcome it, Rin! That's how we smile everyday-that's how we keep living! That's how we love, Onii-san! I've learned to love everyone here, even if-" She stops, tears are running down her cheeks too much for her to speak too clearly.

She gulped down another sob, and continued. "I-I know it hurts right here." She whispered, pointing to my chest, then clutching her heart. "I know it does. It hurts so bad that it's unrepairable if someone were to try and fix it. I know your pain, Rin! So-so let me bear the pain with you-as your friend-as your sister!" She cried, pulling me by my shoulders into her embrace as she let out her tears into mine. My eyes widened, the me in my mind starting to pull away from the demon that was a part of my father.

"N-Nat… Onee-chan…" I whisper, my eyes starting to tear up as I let out a harsh wail, my heart breaking into pieces as I clutched onto the girl in front of me as I realized the harsh truth- there would always be sin; death; tears; pain in our hearts; Satan would live in all of us. Satan would reign to live, and he would always conquer us if we let our fear and our pain overcome us.

"She'll be fine. She'll wake up." She whispered to herself and to me, as if she was trying to push away the fact that the girl named Shiemi- the girl I loved- was dead. "We can get her to a doctor, we can-" She stopped, and started to cough uncontrollably.

"Nat!" I heard Bon call out, but Yukio caught her as she fell to the side.

"Daijoubu, Onee-san." He whispered to her, picking her up. Her arm was blackening, falling limply to the ground. Haru whined, and started to limp. Yami had gone with the others; he was close to Hoshimi almost as he was to Nat-they lived together, the three-excluding Haru and the other familiars, of course- and so he wanted to protect his 'second owner', but also the girl he truly loved and cared for.

"S-Shiemi's arm is okay...right?" She whispered hoarsely, blood running from her lips. "Maybe..I can see Daichi soon...and my-my-"

"Don't say that, Onee-san!" Yukio cried, his voice cracking. "We love you here, please-don't leave us!" He held her tighter to him, and started to cry. It seemed like he was finally breaking after so much emotional breakdowns. "I don't want Hoshimi, or Shiemi, or even-even Daichi- to be gone! I want them all to be here, so we can all just be happy! I want to just be able to make sure that you're all safe, that you're happy!" He holds her tighter, and Nat only gives a bloody smile.

"Like-like a dad?" She whispered, and chuckled. "And Koyalee would be the mum. I can see that." She smiled cheekily, though it only made her cough harder.

"W-what?! Chigau! I-I mean- nevermind! Suguro! Let's go to the medics, we need to get them healed quickly!" Yukio tried to ignore Nat's comment, and started to run towards the edge of the city, Bon trailing behind him.

I smiled faintly, but then looked ahead to the light that burned through everything it touched. I smirked lightly, cracking my knuckles as I unsheathed my sword.

"Now it's my turn to kick some ass."