Pinkshuchan: LALIHO! Hey everyone! Pinkshuchan here! Last chapter was a sad chapter, but now I have a sweet chapter here. Here it is! Enjoy!

Chapter 36

The Sakura and the Chrysanthemum

Eiri stood before the graves of the monks that died from possession of yokai and being slain by Eiri and the others. It was lucky that not all of the monks were possessed, for some were hiding in the temple's secret hiding places. With the amount of monks still alive and not possessed, the temple could still run. But the fact that many, including his father, were taken over by yokai, it was depressing. He stood at their graves which were close to the biggest sakura tree in all of Kyoto. He believed that they deserved a proper resting place.

"It seems that the Dark Venom is now possessing yokai with the ability to possess humans. Very interesting."

Eiri rapidly turned around and looked at the direction of the voice to see Yama-uba standing there. He lowered his guard and looked back at the graves. "You show up in the weirdest times Old Hag."

"I only show up when it seems my assistance is needed," Yama-uba replied, "That doesn't mean I'll show up every time you need help."

"Then why show up at all?" Eiri asked, feeling confused and yet curious by her words.

"I'm more like a guide towards you and your comrades. When it seems that your hopes and your determination have fallen, I am here to raise them back up so you will have the confidence to fight Yuki."

Eiri glared at her. "How can you do something like that?" he yelled at her, "Can't you see what Yuki has already done? He has more than a million yokai on his side all over Japan, and he took so much from me. He took my family and he took my pride. There's no reason to fight."

"Oh? I'll have to disagree with you. On the contrary, you still have one reason to fight." She gestured her hand to one of the sakura petals that was heading to where Eiri remembered was where the temple's yellow chrysanthemums were. Guessing this was one of Yama-uba's ways to 'guide' him, he followed the petal into the chrysanthemum field. Once he reached it, he saw the answer of what Yama-uba meant, for there, standing in the field, was Shuichi holding one of the chrysanthemums. The monk walked over to the kitusne hanyou only to have the latter face him and smile. Eiri walked over to him.

"What are you doing?" he asked the pink haired boy.

"I was just admiring the chrysanthemums," Shuichi replied, "They remind me of you. Their colour is the same colour of your hair."

"I highly doubt that just because their colour is the same of my hair that they are similar to me. Chrysanthemums are a symbol of a long healthy life. I don't think that may be the case in our predicament."

Shuichi stood up and looked at Eiri directly in the eyes. "True, but what about the sakura? I've seen them all around Kyoto but I don't know what they mean."

"Sakura's are the symbol of the transience of life. When the sakura petals fall, they symbolize the lives of fallen soldiers that had died in battle."

"Complete opposites?"

Eiri nodded. "That's why the chrysanthemums are far away from the sakura."

Shuichi looked away. "They don't have to be."

Now Eiri was confused. He looked over at the pink haired boy. "What do you mean?"

"It's like with humans and yokai," Shuichi began, "They are complete opposites but yet they are at the same time very similar. Yokai look and live differently than humans, but at the same time they have similarities. It's the same with you and me."

Eiri shook his head out of disbelief. "Interesting, but I can't see how the sakura and the chrysanthemum can work out that way."

Shuichi began to think. "Well, they're both on life right? The sakura is the sign of a short term life and the chrysanthemum is the sign of long life. Some people die earlier than others and some later. But we all still live; we just don't have the same times of death. And you said that fallen sakura petals are a sign of the fallen soldiers that died fighting. Well, they fought and died so everyone in Japan could have a longer life."

Eiri looked up at the sky. "I never really thought about it that way."

Shuichi looked back at him with a confident look on his face. "Yuki, let's make a promise! Once the war is over and the Dark Venom is gone for good, let's plant a seed that would make the biggest sakura tree in the world and plant yellow chrysanthemums around it, as a sign that even though there were lives that were taken because of the war, they would be able to be in peace as those that are still alive can live a long life."

The monk shook his head. "I highly doubt that people can get that message just by looking at a sakura tree and some chrysanthemums."

"Still, it would be something good to do," He took Eiri's hands into his own. "Please Yuki! It would be beautiful."

Eiri sighed. He didn't get what was so important about it. But then he looked deep into Shuichi's eyes. He looked confident that they were going to defeat Yuki and the Dark Venom; confident enough to know they were going to defeat the Dark Venom. Eiri was beginning to feel a little confident himself. He now knew what Yama-uba meant. He still had one reason to try to beat Yuki and that was because of Shuichi. Eiri knew now that he must fight for Shuichi's happiness and Shuichi's happiness was the happiness of all of Japan.

Eiri began remembering realizing that he can defeat Yuki. As long as he had Shuichi and the others with him, he would be able to overcome everything Yuki throws at him. After all, it was because of everyone that he was able to save the Four Great Yokai from the Dark Venom. It was because of them that he was able to defeat the yokai that possessed his father even if he couldn't save the old man himself. And his father's final words before he died; he told Eiri that he was sure his son could defeat Yuki. That was enough for Eiri to stand back on his own two feet again. And Shuichi's promise was another confidence booster.

Eiri nodded. "Alright," he replied, "We'll defeat Yuki and then plant that sakura tree and those chrysanthemums."

Shuichi's eyes sparkled before he wrapped his arms around Eiri's waist, leaning his head on the monk's chest. The latter wrapped his arms around the other in a tight embrace. They stayed this way until they heard a familiar voice calling to them.

"Hey! Bro! Shuichi!" they could hear Tatsuha calling to them, "C'mon! That old bitch Yama-uba said we need to get a move on before anyone else gets hurt by the Dark Venom." A yelp followed that call in which they could only guess that Yama-uba didn't appreciate being called an 'old bitch' and whacked him in the head with her cane.

Eiri and Shuichi looked back at each other before leaving the chrysanthemum field to meet up with the others. Once they got there, they began to wonder where they should go. Eiri closed his eyes and began focusing all his energy, trying to find the destination they need to go to find the yokai his father told him about that Yuki created. The aura pointed in the direction he remembered was where the village of Izu was. The others agreed to Eiri's suggestion and went in the direction of Izu.

Meanwhile, Yuki had noticed what Eiri and the others were going to do and laugh. "That monk must be joking if he thinks that he can defeat the yokai I created," He slithered through the halls of the dark castle he was in into a room filled with spider webs. "You are first. Destroy that monk and the kitsune hanyou! I don't care about the others. They're not important. But the golden haired monk and the silver kitsune hanyou must be destroyed before it's me that's destroyed. Now go!"

"Yes Master Yuki!" the being within the room replied before walking away. Yuki chuckled as the yokai went to do his bidding. Soon, there would be no one to stand in his way.

Pinkshuchan: Well, I feel that things are going to get tougher for our heroes. How many of the yokai has Yuki created? Will Eiri be able to defeat those yokai? Read and Review everyone!