Chapter 48: A Dream Eater's Warning
As Yoji and Yumekui, who were riding on Ifrit, Yoji noticed Megami was there, much to his sudden confusing surprise. He stopped Ifrit and got off after confronting Megami.
Yumekui became surprised as he noticed his onee-san had returned.
"Megami-onee-sama..."
"Long time no see, my dear Yumekui-kun." said Megami, smiling.
Yoji wondered what was Megami doing here and realized that she was supposed to be Yume's final opponent of the nightmare game. Then, he began to ask, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you suppose to be Yume's opponent, Megami?"
Megami knew that Yoji was wondered about that and chuckled with delight.
"Yes, I am supposed to be Yume's last opponent for this game, but there's a slight problem for this game."
To Yoji's bewilderment, he asked her once again, "What are you talking about?"
"As long as Yume's deeply asleep, I was replaced. Unmei became her opponent instead."
Yoji became shockly surprised as Unmei became Yume's opponent instead of Megami.
"How do you know about this?"
"Kabuto-san told me. He failed to stop Unmei from entering Yume's subconscious, her dream world. When I tried to enter Yume's dream world, there was a barrier."
"A barrier?" Yumekui replied.
"Yes, Unmei have a charm with him. Once he has that item after entering Yume, I cannot enter Yume's dream world as well, thus a barrier appeared."
"If Unmei became Yume's final opponent, then why are you here?" Yoji asked.
Megami chuckled once again.
"I came to see Yori-kun. He just left and went ahead to the eighth floor."
"Yori?" Yoji replied after realizing that Yori had confronted Megami. "Why did you came to see him?"
"Since you don't have true darkness, I've chosen Yori-kun as my new puppet leader, however he turned my offer down despite that I wanted to help him." she answered.
"You wanted to help him?"
"Yes, there is a reason why Yume has chosen as the challenger of this game. Of course, I know you're not aware."
Yoji became confused after realizing that he's not aware Megami mentioned.
"I'm not aware? What did you mean by that?"
"The reason that Yume has chosen as the challenger because Kabuto-san kidnapped her by borrowing my Akuma Akumu. That's why I wanted to help Yori-kun by finding the kidnapper." Megami answered.
Much to Yoji's shock, he never knew that Kabuto would kidnap Yume and use her as the challenger. All this time, he became speechless. Yumekui watched him with worry.
"Yoji..."
"Kabuto... kidnapped Yume."
Before he and the others infiltrated the Crimson Butterfly Castle, Yori and the others already entered the door the castle which Yoji had summoned it. As Yoji entered the door soon, Ayumu began to call him.
"Yoji-kun, before you leave, there's something I must tell you."
"What is it, Ayumu-san?" Yoji asked.
"I need you to look after Yori-kun. I want to make sure that he's all right." Ayumu replied. "And there's a reason why Yori-kun wanted to save Yume-sama."
"A reason?"
"I'm sure you'll find out on your own. So please look after him."
After he was told to look after Yori, he never knew that Yori wanted to find out who's Yume's kidnapper.
"By the way, did Yumekui-kun told you about Yume's dreadful fate?" she asked.
Yoji became unaware that Yumekui didn't tell him about Yume's fate if she did not complete the nightmare game.
"Her fate?"
"I see. He didn't tell you then. After all, Yume is aware about her fate."
"What kind of fate are you talking about, Megami?"
"Why don't you ask Yumekui-kun? Of course, he came here to warn you," she suggested.
Yumekui hesitated after he didn't warn Yoji about what'll happen to Yume.
"Yoji... The reason I want to warn is..." However, the young dream eater can't tell Yoji without confidence.
"Has fear taken hold of you, Yumekui-kun? I understand, I'll tell him instead. If Yume fails to complete the game, she'll be a prisoner and puppet."
Yoji became shocked vastly after realizing that Yume's fate wasn't death.
"Yumekui, is this true?" he asked.
Yumekui reluctantly nodded.
"Kabuto-san told me about that he'll use Yume-san once she fails to complete it. That's why I have to warn you..." he explained.
Yoji became silent after realizing that what will happen to Yume. He got on Ifrit and grabbed Yumekui by hand to get on its back.
"Let's go. We have to go after Yori." he said.
As they went to the eighth floor and left, Megami communicated with Yumekui telepathically, much to his surprise.
"Yumekui-kun, I know you have something else to warn Yoji-kun. If you don't tell him as soon as possible, Yume won't be seen ever again." Megami reminded her ototo-chan about the second warning she mentioned.
"Is something wrong, Yumekui?" Yoji asked as he turned his head at him.
"Huh? No, nothing..." he replied as he shook his head.
Meanwhile, Yori arrived at the door to the eighth floor and opened it as he noticed so many white camellias with surprising awe. As he looked around, he suddenly saw Yume sleeping on the bed.
"Yume!"
He went towards her and cradled her body.
"Yume, wake up. Open your eyes," he called. However, Yume cannot wake up as she's in a deep sleep. "I don't get it. Why can't she wake up?"
"It's no use to wake her. She's in a very deep sleep."
To Yori's surprise, he turned around and noticed someone he knew from the last mission.
"You!"
Yori noticed Kabuto had came after him.
"Although it's our second time, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Kabuto Yakushi and I'm an acquaintance of Megami."
Yori became shocked as he realized that Kabuto was Megami's acquaintance.
"You know Megami?" he asked.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama and Yokami were once acquaintances and had the same interest such as creating forbidden researches." Kabuto explained. "And to think that you're the first person who obtained true darkness from Megami, I never knew that you're the one who helped her to find her true self."
After noticing that Kabuto realized about the incident, he became irriated after being mentioned. Yori gently laid Yume on the bed and began to prepare himself to fight Kabuto.
"If you ever mention that in front of me, I'll kill you!"
He went towards his opponent in a quick speed by starting with a punch, only to be blocked by Kabuto.
"Is this all you got?" he asked.
Kabuto grabbed Yori by the collar and threw him to the flowerbeds of white camellias. He stood up after being thrown. He used four yami bunshins and prepared to attack Kabuto by left, right, front, and back. However, Kabuto took four of them down in a quick attack.
"I'm not here to fight you, Yori-kun, but I must tell you to give up on your mission." Kabuto suggested.
Yori became shocked that Kabuto asked him to give up the mission to rescue his twin sister.
"Why would you ask me that?" he asked
"Of course you are aware that if Yume leaves without completing the game. You and the others will die although you're outsiders, interfering the game." Kabuto explained. "It's for your own good."
"I cannot do that. I know my life is more important than this mission, but I'm not leaving without Yume," Yori protested.
"Is that so? But don't you have another reason other than rescuing your dear twin sister?"
Yori shockly noticed that Kabuto mentioned he had another reason other than rescuing Yume.
"You're supposed to find Yume's kidnapper, am I right, Yori-kun?" Kabuto complied, reminding Yori that reason. "I'm sure you already realized why."
"What are you talking about? How do you know about it?" Yori asked with bewilderment.
Kabuto shook his head after Yori wasn't aware.
"It seems you don't understand at all. Very well, I'll tell you then. I'm sure you won't be surprised about this."
Yori became tensed after being told that he will not be suprised.
"The truth is that I'm the kidnapper. I'm the one who kidnapped Yume," Kabuto confessed without holding back or hesitation.
After he confessed, Yori became shocked as he realized that Kabuto kidnapped Yume by using Akuma Akumu to attack the twins back then. As he found out, he became enraged as he tightly clenched his hands. With Yori's rage, he unawarely tapped his true darkness, showing Kabuto astonish.
"To think that Yori-kun is the first person obtained that power from Megami, his true darkness is the same as Unmei's."
Noticing that Yori's rage became very powerful, Kabuto summoned some Akuma Akumu to stop him. The Akuma Akuma attacked Yori, however he had taken all of them down in a quick attack. After the Akuma Akumu were defeated, Kabuto knew that he had to take Yori down as soon as possible, knowing that the latter's true darkness became too strong.
He summoned his two corpses in his image from the scroll and commanded them to restrain Yori from using true darkness harshly.
The two corpses immobilized Yori with their chakra no mesu as his true darkness disappeared all the sudden and finally restrained his both arms.
Yori tried to struggle, but to no avail from trying to free himself.
"I never knew that you really hate me because I captured Yume, using the Akuma Akumu I borrowed from Megami."
"Why... Why did you kidnapped Yume?!" Yori asked with a glare.
"Why, you asked? I'm only using her to complete the nightmare game. Of course, you know that Megami is part of the game and she's her last opponent."
Yori became shockly surprised that Megami was chosen to be Yume's last opponent.
"However, there's a slight change during the game. Unmei chose himself to be her last opponent."
To Yori's confusion, he didn't knew his counterpart would become Yume's final opponent.
"Unmei became... her opponent?" he replied.
"Despite that he's not one of the Seven Shinobi of Nightmares and is not chosen to participate of the game, he independently entered Yume to her dream world. I never knew that Unmei's face is the same as yours."
Yori became surprisingly shocked as Kabuto noticed that Unmei had the same face.
"You saw Unmei's face?" he implied.
"Yes, to think he had hid his face all this time, no wonder he only showed his face to Megami."
After Unmei had entered Yume's dream world, Megami appeared as Kabuto noticed she came. As Megami came to the chamber, she began to notice the mask with the mark of the black dragon, which was belonged to Unmei, and picked it up from the ground.
"This is Unmei's mask." Megami stated. Wondering why the mask was here, she went towards the sleeping challenger and tried to enter Yume's dream world, however, there was barrier around the latter's body. "A barrier?"
"Unfortunately, Unmei went inside of her, using a charm to summon a barrier. After the barrier is activated, you cannot enter." Kabuto explained to Megami.
"Is that so? I never knew that Unmei would become Yume's last opponent instead of me."
Kabuto began to wonder about Unmei's face after he already saw the same face as Yori's.
"There's something I need to know, Megami."
"Hm? What is it, Kabuto-san?" Megami asked.
"It's Unmei. Before you came, I just saw his face just now." he answered.
Megami became surprised as Kabuto saw Unmei's face.
"You did?" she replied.
"Yes, I understand why you don't let Unmei show his face to your recruits," Kabuto realized. "I'm sure you have a reason, Megami."
"A reason, huh? I see you realized that Unmei's the same as Yori-kun, am I correct?" she implied.
"Yes. Unmei's a half-Akuma Akumu, of course. But why did he have the same face as Yori-kun?"
"It's because Unmei has the blood from the original himself. Yori-kun, that is." Megami answered. "You see, before I came to Otogakure in search of my chichiue, I took some blood from Yori-kun after I spared his life when wounding him. Three years ago, I created Unmei, using Yori-kun's blood and one of my Akuma Akumu. Thus, he's Yori-kun's opposing counterpart."
Kabuto began to wonder about Megami's relationship with Yori Yukisaki.
"How did you know about Yori-kun, Megami?" he asked, curiously.
Megami chuckled as she smiled and answered, "Let's just say that he's a very important person to me."
As Megami disappeared within the crimson butterflies, Kabuto felt suspicious about Yori after noticing that Megami knew him.
After a conversation with Megami, Kabuto used his scalpel encoated with chakra no mesu on his right hand.
"Now then, if you refuse to abandon your mission, then I have no choice, but to kill you."
As Kabuto was about to kill Yori, Ifrit stopped him as it ambushed him from above, much to the medical-nin's shock. As Ifrit was about to attack Kabuto, he moved away from the flame demon. The two corpses released Yori from being restrained and tried to attack Ifrit. However, Ifrit spitted two fireballs on each corpse as the two began to burn in flames and dropped on the ground.
Ifrit took Yori to Yume to make the latter to feel safe. Yumekui got off from its back and stayed with Yori as well.
Yori surprised as he didn't noticed that Yumekui came.
"Yumekui."
"Yori-san, are you alright?" the dream eater asked.
"Yeah, I'm all right."
Yoji confronted Kabuto as he commanded Ifrit to come back. Ifrit came to its master's side after jumping over from the other side.
"I never expect you would come all the way here, Yoji. Despite you're the former puppet leader and shinobi of the nightmares, you independently guided those outsiders to this castle." Kabuto stated.
Ifrit began to transform to its orignal state as the chakrams and Yoji grabbed them as he was about to fight him.
"I'll burn you to death," Yoji threatened with an enraged look on his face. "I won't let you keep using Yume."
"Well, I never knew you hate me so much after you realized I will use her once she fails to complete the game," Kabuto noticed Yoji knew about Yume's fate after failing to complete the Seven Stages of Nightmares. "Tell me, Yoji. Why do you keep protecting Yume even though you're done playing your role as her partner and protector?"
Yoji knew that Kabuto did kill Yume's sensei three years ago and promised her to protect from him no matter what.
"I wanted to protect Yume because... I don't want her to feel more pain and sorrow. That's why I won't forgive you for what you did to her!" he exclaimed.
Kabuto noticed that Yoji already realized that he killed Kai Kurosaki three years ago. He never knew that Yoji would kill him for taking someone important away from Yume.
"Is that so? You want to protect Yume just because I killed someone precious to her three years ago."
Yori became shocked as Kabuto killed the important person to Yume three years ago after he confessed.
"Someone precious?" he replied.
Yoji prepared himself to fight as his rage became stronger.
"I'll kill you even though it's a rematch. I won't lose to you ever again."
Yumekui became shocked that Yoji was about to fight Kabuto even killing him. He remembered that his onee-sama told him about Yume's other dreadful "fate" as he recalled her words.
"If you don't tell him as soon as possible, Yume won't be seen ever again."
Not wanting to let Yoji kill Kabuto, he began to shout to stop him.
"Yoji, don't kill him!" he yelled.
Yoji noticed that Yumekui shouted at him not to kill Kabuto, much to his confusion.
"Yumekui, what are you talking about? He's the one who kidnapped Yume. You told me that he'll use her as well after she fails to complete this game."
"I know... but you can't kill Kabuto-san. Yume-san will... Yume-san will..." With hesitation and fear took hold of Yumekui, he tried to bring it up with reluctant confidence without any choice. "Yume-san will disappear if you kill Kabuto-san!"
As Yumekui told Yoji about Yume's other fate, Yoji became speechless and shocked as Yume will disappear if he kills Kabuto. Not just only Yoji but with Yori as well, he became extreme shocked after hearing that his twin sister will disappear.
"Yume will... disappear?" Yori replied with fear.
Yume's other fate was revealed. But what are Yoji's choices, kill the host of the Seven Stages of Nightmares or spare him in order to not let Yume disappear forever?
