Few days passed by rather quickly as the two boys absorbed themselves in their training. Tanjiro is still sticking to his methods of training while all in a while regaining back his lost strength and stamina from their previous mission.

BoBoiBoy, on the other hand, decided not to be brash about his methods and takes it a bit slower than usual. In his Penta Split, Second Tier forms enabled, they practiced non-stop with their breathing. Following the events that transpired a few days back, Cyclone and Thunderstorm are currently having a friendly spar against each other. They also made a vow not to do any catastrophical damage to the backyard anymore.

What happened last time had angered Shinobu.

"This feels familiar!" Thunderstorm dodged a kick by ducking his head down and followed up by a straight punch.

"I know, right?" Cyclone swerved his head at the side to avoid the incoming punch. He jumped away to gain distance between themselves.

"Remember that day when we were still little?" The Electrokinesis dragged his feet towards the idled Aerokinesis. With a swift leg sweep, he unsuccessfully hit Cyclone as he bounced out of the way in the last second.

"Uh-huh! I called you something that kinda made you go ape on me!" Cyclone laughed while in the air. The moment he landed, he changed the trajectory of his legs and rushed at the red thundered BoBoiBoy with a fist ready. Not quick to realize the sudden action, Thunderstorm crossed his arms to meet the other's fist colliding with his bare forearms. They bruised as Cyclone's punch packed quite nicely.

What ensued next are barrages of thrusting their fists and swinging their legs towards one another. The other element manipulators, having finished their training, watched from the sidelines. Blaze was cheering for his fellow troublemaker as he kept pummeling Thunderstorm with his agile movements. Ice quietly spectated the short tempered elementalist as he continued blocking Cyclone's attacks in rapid succession. Quake took note of their fighting styles with keen observation.

'From what I see, Thunderstorm could barely keep up with his bouncing opponent. However, he is always one step ahead in terms of evading his attacks with quick speed. Their reflexes completely matched against each other.'

'But the purpose for this training is to help them reach further heights. Agility and speed are their two specialities that they are basically good at. Without those two, they won't be able to dodge any form of attack the opponent can throw at them. As so, it's quite also an advantage to outmatch your opponent using quick-based moves.'

Neither of them let up with their attacks as they kept throwing them left and right. It proved futile when they continued to evade them. Seeing as they can't land a hit to each other, they decided to end it already.

"That's it! I give!" Cyclone held up his hands like he surrendered. "You definitely gotten faster than last time, Thunderstorm!"

"Last time?" Thunderstorm frowned. "I wasn't even trying last time! I bet I can beat you without breaking a sweat!"

"Yeah, whatever." He let out a big grin.

"You both did good." Quake ruffled Cyclone's hair while he pats Thunderstorm's shoulder. "Keep at it, you guys."

"Hehe! Thanks!" Cyclone beamed and lets out his tongue while smiling.

"Hmph... he only gotten lucky this time." Thunderstorm crossed his arms and strayed his head to the side. But on the inside, he appreciated the small gesture.

"Hey!" They heard Tanjiro with a towel on his head. "How goes your training?"

"We made good progress. We're just about to finish up and grab some lunch." Quake answered. "How about you?"

"Same here. Now that you mention it, I'm getting hungry. C'mon, let's grab some food!" Tanjiro stormed inside the mansion.

Quake gestured for the rest to merge back into BoBoiBoy, and so they did. Indeed he changed back into the original, he felt even more tired than usual.

"Phew... I gotta learn not to go overboard." BoBoiBoy stuffed his hands in his pockets and proceeded to go the designated place to eat. While in his thoughts, he recalled about the last conversation he had with Yaya the other day. Lately, that must've been the reason why she is avoiding him whenever she sees him around the mansion. Normally, such a thing would happen whenever there are some knots that need to be tied properly.

'Maybe... All couldn't have happened if I hadn't mentioned her about sparing Eiko's life.' He regretted ever talking about that. It was too late to rewind back to their conversation now.

'I'm sure she understands what I do. Any normal person couldn't do what they don't do, but I'm not normal, or am I even normal in the first place?'

'In fact, what is normal here?'

He wanted an answer. As expected, nothing popped in his head, or no one around to answer it for him. He shook his head, dropped any thoughts he may had in his head and kept on walking.


During the night hours, BoBoiBoy sat up on top of the rooftop again, trying to perfect Total Concentration Breathing. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were all sound asleep back at the ward so he'll have no worries of anyone disturbing his meditation.

'Ever since I started training, I already gained back most of my stamina. Then after that, my lungs had also gotten stronger. With that, I can run even further and not having to worry about stopping for a breather if I want to. And the best thing is, I finally gained back my lost Second Tier forms of Lightning and Wind. It's a huge sign that I'm making great progress than I ever thought.'

'Now my initial goal is to completely master Total Concentration, Constant. Yaya, Kanao, and all Hashiras had already mastered it. If they can do it, hell, I can do it too! As of now, I'll start breathing slowly while bringing in air into my fingertips.'

In the midst of his meditation, Sakonji Urokodaki, Kazuhiro Hisashi, then finally Hang Kasa all appeared in his mind.

'Tok Kasa... Mr. Urokodaki... Mr. Hisashi...'

He imagined Kazuhiro yelling at him in his mind.

"How dare you... BREAK MY SWORD IN HALF!"

A visible sweat dropped on his face. 'I... I'm sorry about that.'

'They're reforging my and Tanjiro's swords currently. I hope we won't disappoint them again next time we use the swords.'

He realized he distracted himself from his meditating while thinking about the three men in his mind. Sweeping any unnecessary thoughts out of his head, he puts effort of closing his eyes, hands laid out in a meditative manner while sitting down in a cross.

After that, he breathed in.

Then breathed out.

Breathed in.

Breathed out.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...-hoo!~"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Y...-..o!~"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Yo.-.oo!~"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Yoo-hoo!~"

He snaps his eyes wide open.

"Yes?!"

Feeling a presence near him, he turns his head slowly to see none other than the Insect Hashira leaning her head closer to his.

"I can see you're working very hard."

A heavy blush crept up to his face by how much she closed the distance between them.

"Even though your friends except Kamado went off somewhere..." Shinobu said, still keeping her face closer. BoBoiBoy was at a loss for words and feeling a bit mesmerized.

Thankfully, she moved herself away to allow him to get some space. His blush evaporated quickly, but his heart wasn't ready for that.

"Don't you feel lonely all by yourself?" Shinobu asked while she sits herself down right next to him.

"Nope! Once Tanjiro and I mastered the Total Concentration Breathing, we can also teach them, too!" His enthusiasm radiates off of him as he said it.

"You have a beautiful soul, don't you?" Shinobu casted an angelic smile to his way. Seeing it made BoBoiBoy tints his cheeks red. Just seeing something about her really makes him flustered.

Not trying to be embarrassed about it, he forced himself to face forward while Shinobu sat there with him.

"Um... Lady Shinobu? Why did you decided to bring us all here in the Butterfly Mansion?" He asked a question that has been bugging him.

"Well, Nezuko's existence has been officially acknowledged, and the four of you were injured so seriously." Shinobu answered. "And also, I'd like to entrust my dream to you."

"Dream?" BoBoiBoy repeated.

"Yes." She said. "My dream is that we can become friends with the demons. I'm quite sure you can accomplish that!"

Since he is almost quite certain about Shinobu's way of saying things, he has been secretly keeping tabs on her about her voice. While connecting this to the way she conversed with him or anyone she met, it was certain that this pattern continued to repeat until it led to this point. No longer trying to keep it a secret, BoBoiBoy turns his head towards and Shinobu mirrored, then asks.

"Are you angry?"

And just like that, her eyes shakes with low integrity and her smile disappeared.

"I'm sorry for not saying these days ago because I couldn't find a perfect time to say this to you." He paused.

"I've been listening to your voice and I'm sure that you're holding back the urge to shout or say anything rash or foul, even though you're always smiling."

It was like that. Shinobu, herself, was found out. She didn't know what to say about that except telling him what he needed to know about her.

"Yes... You're right. It might be true that I'm in a constant state of anger. Ever since my beloved big sister was slaughtered by a demon. Every time I see the tears of those who've lost their loved ones to a demon, every time I hear those cries of despair, the anger keeps building up inside me and continues to swell."

"Deep down in the innermost depths of my body, there's a revulsion that I can't fight. I'm sure the other Hashira feel something similar, as well. Well, this time, they saw Nezuko, who's never devoured a human, with their own eyes, and they've memorized her presence. Out of respect for the Master's wishes, I don't think anyone will raise a hand to her."

She explained, without a smile on her face, without a forceful tone on her voice. BoBoiBoy kept silent as he listened to her story.

"My big sister was a kind-hearted person like you and Kamado. She had sympathy for demons. Even when she was on the brink of death, she still felt pity for them. I couldn't bring myself to feel that way. How can you feel sorry for something that's killed humans? I've never heard of something so absurd. But if that was how my sister truly felt, then I must carry it on. If there's a way not to kill these pitiful demons, I have to keep trying to come up with it. Without ever extinguishing the smile that my sister said she loved..."

Within her mind, a memory of a 14-year-old young Shinobu Kocho cried on her big sister, Kanae Kocho, who laid in her arms as she is lying on the pool of her own blood and her blade snapped into pieces.

"Sister!" Shinobu choked on her tears.

Kanae, presumably to have lost her voice to say her final words to Shinobu, passed away leaving tears in her eyes.

"SISTER!" Shinobu cried.

"But now, I'm a bit exhausted. Demons do nothing but lie. Losing all reason out of self-preservation, they murder humans with their instincts laid totally bare." Shinobu said not before standing up.

"BoBoiBoy, please do all that you can. Along with Ka... Tanjiro, please find a way to protect Nezuko until the end. Knowing that you two are working so hard in my place reassures me to no end. I can rest easy now."

The night breeze swayed as soon as she said it. BoBoiBoy continued staring at her for a while after processing her story into his head. It would make sense for her to feel this way. Losing a loved one to a demon often makes a person undergo a different change that completely derailed them from having a normal and perfect life destiny had originally laid out for them. Once she had revealed everything to him, BoBoiBoy can finally see the glimpse of the real Shinobu Kocho just a few moments ago.

He wanted to tell her. Tell her about the other event that happened in Mt. Natagumo, wherein he had changed a certain demon's heart and had them turn over a new leaf. However, feeling the atmosphere slightly tense, he will have to wait until it is time to finally talk to her about it when knowing the right moment. He had committed a mistake with himself with Yaya. He will try again, this time, with someone who realized their ways.

"Your Total Concentration Breathing has come to a halt." Shinobu said as she reverted back to being herself again. BoBoiBoy was fascinated by her story, he forgot what he was doing.

Seeing him hesitate and stutter brought back her smile once again.

"And BoBoiBoy, one more thing." Shinobu held up her finger. "It's regarding the damage you dealt in the backyard. I expect you do a great job repairing it by the time your training is over. Understood?"

Despite the cheerful question, it didn't exactly reassured the other boy with his hand scratching the back of his head sheepishly and laughing a bit nervously. Finishing her business of checking up on him, Shinobu vanished instantly.

And now, it is just himself alone this time. He'll have to relay this to Tanjiro once he finishes what he needed to do here.

"I promise. I'll work very hard on it!"

Then he focused back to his meditation.

The next morning didn't go well with BoBoiBoy. The reason is that he stayed up all night trying to perfect his Total Concentration Breathing, he lost all of his sleep. Tired to even go on, BoBoiBoy decided to get a few hours rest.

Feeling sorry for him, Tanjiro supplied him any food he can find and put it on BoBoiBoy's tabletop and covered it up with plastic. If he ever missed out on breakfast, brunch, or lunch, that'll be his meal for the day. Like any other training day, Tanjiro trained again, Zenitsu tried to womanize Aoi which he failed miserably, and Inosuke still asleep in his own bed and not feeling motivated enough to start training.

Without any sort of noise, a glimpse of a pink hijab girl peered open the door carefully as to not cause any sound. She entered herself because she wanted to check up on him after neglecting him for a few days. The guilt still carried with her.

She sighed to herself for how insensitive she became towards him last time. As she took a seat beside him again, she couldn't help but to see his sleeping peaceful face. Any person outside of the walls here would be horrified to know they've been risking their lives to slay demons since that is their occupations. Imagine the despair spread among their faces if they ever come across such beings that ever slaughter countless humans. No one would be able to stay sane after so long.

But somehow, seeing his sleeping expression, totally lax, his body rigid, from all the intense training he endured. He wondered through the outside world while facing demons that are twice as terrifying than any nightmares anyone could have experienced. No matter how many horrid situations he faced, his purity or kindness still remained.

At least that's how she sees in him. He didn't hesitate to confront a demon, at least that's what he had said to her and not actually seen it in person. But knowing BoBoiBoy, the only one who she can call as a friend, he makes reckless decisions that are surely the most dangerous yet the most effective. Even if he is afraid, scared, terrified, he still took action. It worried her to the fact that he might've gotten any sort of trauma while encountering any demons his way. If there were, she'll be there to take care of him if... no... when he needs it.

She compared herself to BoBoiBoy to see if which one of them is the saner one here... or normal.

'What even is normal nowadays...?'

Drowning herself in her own thoughts, BoBoiBoy sluggishly stirs awake in his sleep. The bags in his eyes proved that he is sleep-deprived yet he can still manage to stay awake. His yawning snapped her out of her train of thought as she looked at the person she hadn't expecting to be awake.

"Y-Yaya? Is that you...?" He said with drowsiness seeping in his tone while rubbing one of his eyes. He sat up in his bed to get a good look around.

"Yeah, it's me, BoBoiBoy." She confirmed herself. "How are you feeling?"

Feeling surprised with the question, he answered. "I feel a little dizzy. I've been training every day to make sure I stay in top shape, but I'm not really keeping an eye on my health too much. Not to mention, I stayed up all night trying to master Total Concentration, Constant. So I didn't get enough sleep that night."

"That would explain you having to sleep the whole afternoon." Yaya mused.

"I-I slept through the whole afternoon?!" Now fully awake, he exclaimed. "What time is it?"

Yaya giggled. "Relax BoBoiBoy. It's only 1 in the afternoon so you didn't sleep that much."

"I see..." He relaxed back in his bed. He even sees the food covered in plastic laid out on the tabletop beside him.

"Is that for me?" BoBoiBoy pointed at the food.

"It would appear so." She answered.

"Did you make this for me?"

"Hehe. Of course! Tanjiro came up to me and asked me to make some food for you." Yaya answered.

"Tanjiro? I swear, that guy..." BoBoiBoy smiled. Grabbing the food and removing the plastic cover off of it, he chows down to his food immediately. He didn't realize he was that hungry. Yaya only watched him eat silently.

After a few minutes passed, he wondered how she's here specifically.

"Hey Yaya, can I ask you something?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"Are you... avoiding me?"

That caused her to look at him nervously. "Uhh... well... I guess so."

"If it had something to do about last time we talked, then I'm sorry. I know it was a stupid thing for me to do but I'm taking responsibility for it."

Yaya slightly flailed her hands like a klutz. "N-N-No! In fact, it's my fault that I said something about it! I just... overreacted... that's all."

"Yaya, none of that was your fault." He frowned. "But I'm sure you understand why I did it, right? Like if you were in my place, wouldn't you be able to do it otherwise... or not?"

"I don't see a way there. If anything, I'm left with no choice but to choose anything that the situation calls for it. Whether to kill or give mercy." Yaya gazed downwards.

"I'm not really fond of killing. It just... scares me. The one time when I accidentally hurt a demon with a sword, that was when I felt horrified of my actions. I never felt anything like it compared to me who punches aliens and robots with gravity powers. It felt all too different."

"Different? I thought you already gotten your fear over demons?" BoBoiBoy asked. As much as he doesn't want to, he's interested to what she had experienced.

"Remember when I trained as Lady Shinobu's Tsuguko?" Yaya waited for his response, to which he responded with a nod.

"When I first started to train, I felt like I was letting Lady Shinobu down because of my fear for demons. Because of that fear, I find it very hard grip on my sword when I first saw one. I couldn't fly knowing I don't have Gravity powers anymore. I didn't know what to do because I was so weak, I couldn't defend myself properly."

"But didn't you say that you're motivated to train in becoming a Tsuguko?" BoBoiBoy interrupted, a little confused.

"I'm getting there." Yaya stops him. Lastly, she lets out a breath. "I think it's better if I tell you everything but it's a long story."

"I have time." He replied. "I actually wanna know the things that happened to you."

She sighed. She knew it's going to take a while to get her thoughts sorted out to make a story. Knowing BoBoiBoy, he tends to get a little impatient whenever someone tells him long stories. But since it's her, he'll listen attentively.

"It started with a test Lady Shinobu handed out to me with..."


Hands on the handle of the sword, the pink hijab girl took off in a sprint to find her assigned target. Her objective is to find an item that Shinobu left out to find in the middle of thick forest.

"Like a needle in a haystack." Yaya muttered. She looked every nook and cranny everywhere for the item.

'I'd like to exercise your external senses if you have what it takes to become my Tsuguko, dear Yaya. Please don't fail to disappoint me now. If you can't find the item I laid out for you when night falls, then you have failed as my student and I'll no longer accept you as one.'

Shinobu's words boomed in her mind. Without ever letting up, Yaya tried to backtrack where she was at from the beginning. To start off, she chose another different route that goes off-track and trekked to a whole new territory for her. In fact, the whole forest around her are newer territory as she never had been here.

Seconds turned into minutes.

Minutes turned into hours.

Hours turned into a full day.

And still, she didn't turn up with anything.

"Did I... fail again?" Yaya said with dread. The sun was beginning to set. And night time fully bloomed the sky.

However, she discovered something she didn't even realized before. Shinobu had never specified what sort of item she was looking for. Perhaps, it was a way to project a sort of objective in her mind to keep her from distracted from her fear, or possibly anything that will cloud her mind. It may have been something, but it's the only thing she can ever think of right now.

'She's trying to test my perception. Maybe this is the purpose of this training. But if there was an item around here, then she should have left some tracks around. She had to make things difficult for me to see properly in this thick forest.'

Feeling fatigue slowly consuming her body, she relied on her eyes to examine the way back home to the Butterfly Mansion. The moon barely illuminated the dimly lit forest with its dense trees blocking the light from penetrating.

She felt as if she was being watched from the shadows. In the forest, the feeling she got is the sense of awareness. With her hands on the sword, she applied her stance, which involved putting her arms in front while making sure her pose stays in a defensive position.

"Who's there?" She asked which she will soon regret afterwards. As the sounds of the rustling of the bushes gets louder, mysterious figures jumped out of their hiding spots and revealed themselves to the pink hijab girl.

"Well, what do we have here?" A male demon narrowed his eyes. "Fresh new meat for dinner."

Yaya gulped and broke a sweat beside her face. She gripped the hands of her sword shakily.

"Look! She's totally paralyzed in fear! This makes this easier!" Another said while licking his lips in hunger.

"P-please, I don't want to hurt you." Yaya backed off as she said. This elicit laughs from the demons.

"Hear that?! Looks like someone doesn't realize who they were up against!" The demon said.

"Listen up here, brat!" One pointed their claws at her. "We're just gonna take nice and slow and rip your guts out! Don't worry. We'll make sure to make it as painless as possible."

Before she can even say anything, the demon lunged at her with his claws ready to tear her. Yaya miraculously evaded with enough speed to move away from her terrible fate. The demon behind her tried to pounce on her. Somehow, out of instinct, Yaya swung her sword quickly, completely slashing off the demon's arms.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Yaya apologized, her caring nature slipped that makes it her downfall. She was about to go over to check when she felt herself getting grabbed from behind.

"Nowhere to run now!" The demon laughed while pinning her. Yaya desperately attempted to pry out of the demon's iron grip.

"You hacked off my arms..." To her horror, she witnessed the demon getting back up with his arms severed before they were regenerated back to normal, like it was never cut before.

'They can... regenerate...?' She thought with a horrified expression.

"Grrr! Hold her down, dammit!" The first demon ordered the second demon. Soon later, she was then got in a chokehold with no way out. The strength of it becomes too unbearable for her to breathe well. She dropped the sword she was holding on the entire time as the pressure keeps building up.

"I'll tear you to shreds for what you did to me!" The first demon lunged at her with pure malicious intent of killing her.

'Somebody... please... help... me...' Tears released from her eyes.

As if her prayers had been answered, two other figures jumped in and swoop the demons away from Yaya. The latter coughed up and let air enter into her mouth as soon as she can get. As her coughing ceased, she glance up to meet her saviours.

"Lady Shinobu... Kanao...?" She slowly said. Her windpipe almost got crushed by the demon's unbelievable strength.

"Leave this to us, Yaya." Her unchanging sweet voice echoed in her ears. Knowing what they can do, Yaya stayed behind them.

"..." Kanao held up her neutral face and looked at the demons with an unknown type of emotion.

"Kill them!!" The demon shouted with malice.

Shinobu turned to Yaya and gestured her with one finger. "Close your eyes, dear. I don't want to see you witness this, okay?"

That sounded kind of unnecessary to do, but she couldn't decline her order. She did as she was told and closed her eyes as tight as possible. While having them closed, she can't really see what was happening around her anymore. Instead, she relied on her ears of what is happening around her right now.

First, there came the demons, screaming. She presumed that they were yelling in pain or enjoying the slaughter. Either way, they were shouting some unintelligible screams that don't made any sense to her.

Second, the sounds of the blades sticking right through something that is made of mass. She can guess it was their swords that struck on their vital parts of the body.

Third, the sounds of blood gushing out of something that struck them in the first place. She didn't want to imagine what was gushing out from but she can only take a wild guess and say it's from the chest area or the head. Both were horrifying for her imagination to run.

And lastly, the sounds of bodies thump on the ground. There's no denying with the way it sounds. After the blood splatter from their bodies, there is no way to survive as something as that. Even through sheer willpower wouldn't be able to overcome as something fatal as that.

"Alright, you can open them now."

It reassured her to know it was Shinobu that said it. Slowly opening her eyes like a garage door, she immediately wanted to close them right away. Right in front of her is a bloody massacre. Every limbs were torn out of their bodies like twigs. What's noticable about them is that their bodies begin to ashen into dust, leaving nothing but their trails and pools of blood lying around.

Arriving back to the Butterfly Mansion, Yaya was treated by Aoi who keeps the whole mansion in check in case Shinobu and Kanao are out doing something. Shortly after being treated, she was sent immediately to her room.

Sliding the Japanese themed door open, Yaya entered and was greeted by a sense of being home. The kind where she would constantly feel back in the original world, but this one hits different to her.

She cleaned herself afterwards and laid rest to one of the chairs rested in the room.

What happened earlier transpired in her head. The demon that held her and began choking her made her shiver. She was moments away of becoming their 'dinner' hadn't Shinobu and Kanao arrived right on time.

'Is this... what it is? Fear?'

She didn't consider this thought back when she had her Gravity powers. This made her confident in her own skills, feeling nothing can hurt her. Reality struck her as she now knows that she no longer had her powers anymore. Feeling dreadful with the demons wandering around at night with nothing but her sword to defend herself with.

A sound of a knock pulled her out of her deep pondering. The silhouette behind the sliding door is barely identifiable but Yaya knew who it is.

"Yaya? It's me." Aoi's voice was behind it. "Do you mind if I come in?"

Yaya doesn't want to see someone right one but she would feel bad for declining her.

"No, I don't mind. Please, come in." With that said, Aoi opened the door while holding what looks like food on a tray.

"Lady Shinobu asked me to bring you some food since we thought you couldn't... you know." She didn't finish what she going to say, lest it would make the pink hijab girl uncomfortable. Yaya only giggled in response.

"Thank you for the food, Aoi!" She flashed her a smile. She happily took it and began munching on what she first picked up.

"I heard you failed again." Aoi said softly, something that made Yaya pause her eating and look at her with saddened eyes.

"Yeah." She said. "But don't worry! I'm sure next time I'll get it done before going to Final Selection!"

Aoi smiled at her optimism. "Good luck with that, Yaya. I have full faith in you."

Yaya dropped her earlier attitude and looked at Aoi seriously.

"Hey... Aoi?" Her voice was barely a whisper. The other girl leaned her head closer.

"Am I... too incompetent?"

A question Aoi didn't expect had caught her off-guard.

"Incompetent? What makes you say that?"

Yaya sighed. "It's just... I can't seem to meet Lady Shinobu's expectations. Whatever I do, I tend to mess up and fail lots of times. I can't even kill a single demon, let alone try to incapacitate one. I'm not even fit to be her Tsuguko!"

And with that, her dams cracked up and she couldn't resist it anymore. Right in front of Aoi, she sobbed deeply. Her teardrops dropped to the food she was eating. She felt pathetic to herself for being mentally and physically weak.

A hand dropped on top of hers followed by a reassuring squeeze. She looked up, with tears blurring her vision, and see Aoi giving her a weak smile.

"You're not alone, Yaya." Aoi said. "Before I met Lady Shinobu, I used to be like you as well. Demons. They terrify me and all I could do is run away. That's the only thing I am basically good at, honestly. I'm much worse than you, Yaya. Instead of giving up right there, yet, you still chose to keep going that nobody else wouldn't."

"Aoi..." Yaya muttered.

"So that's why, I'm going to follow in her footsteps in becoming a doctor. Fighting people isn't suited for someone like me. I've decided it because there is not a lot of people who wanted to support Lady Shinobu. By becoming her apprentice, I'll help her in many ways I could."

Aoi held up Yaya's hands.

"When we first found you, you reminded me so much of myself back then. Besides Kanao, you're the first to make me have some reassurance other than Lady Shinobu or anyone. I'm happy to have a friend like you."

Feeling a stir of emotions inside, Yaya felt, for the first time since she got here, welcomed. Talking with the girl in front of her made her think of Ying.

Ying...

Her best friend...

"I... I don't know what to say." Yaya managed to squeak out her voice.

"You don't have to." She said.

"I'll be counting on you from now on, Yaya. Please do all you can to help Lady Shinobu. It makes me feel happy to know you'll be helping us. You're giving it your best shot."

Aoi affixed a soft look to Yaya. Something like Ying would do when she was feeling distressed or hurt. She felt a pang in her heart by thinking of her Chinese best friend but puts on a strong front to not let Aoi worry about her. She had enough of crying for one night.

Afterwards, Aoi took the tray and proceeded to the door. She looked back at Yaya once more before opening the sliding door and excused herself out, leaving her to her own devices once again.

Aoi's words rang in her ears. She knew what's had happened with her. Her parents were killed by demons. She had nothing to do about it because of how scary the demons can be. Not when Shinobu brought her in to the Butterfly Mansion and started taking care of her like she is her own daughter. Same thing goes with Kanao, who had suffered a tragic past. Without Shinobu, they wouldn't have survived what was coming for them out in this cruel world.

Just like Yaya should've been hadn't Shinobu discovered her.

Yaya had enough. She's tired for being too weak. This time, with a burning passion blazing in her, she'll protect those who cared for her, and for those she cared for. Starting today and tomorrow.

She'll grow enough to become independent and become strong.


"I just had to do what I had to do. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have become who I am today. Now because of it, I've grown to not become afraid of demons and take a stand. And at that point, Lady Shinobu had acknowledged my potential and offered me to be her Tsuguko. And further on, you already know the rest from what I told you days ago."

She ended with a sigh. It took longer than it should've as the clock turned faster than they expected. Time advanced when you're idling for too long. The same cannot be said when you're doing any recreational activity.

"Wow..."

He didn't know what to say about it. Yaya, on the other hand, had a different reaction.

"Really?! I just told you what I've experienced and all you can say for yourself is wow?!"

The boy broke into a huge smile and laughed. The girl soon dropped her frown and slowly mirrored his expression.

"Sorry for ruining the mood." He said in between laughs.

"You're an idiot!" She said playfully, seemingly forgetting about the somber atmosphere that had loomed above them.

"I honestly don't know what to react from that, Yaya." He finally said, now looking her straight in the eyes. "But I can say is that I really admire your resolve about yourself. The same thing also happened to me while I was training these last few years."

"That's true. You did say that to me before." She broke her gaze to him then looked out the window.

"Now I'm wondering what will happen to us if this keeps going."

He tilts his head. "What do you mean?"

She stared outside. "It's kinda strange that a phenomenon like us getting trapped in an era like this would happen. Out of one in a million chances of that happening, I can hardly believe it. But then again, we live in a world where Power Spheras with unspeakable powers exists and aliens that come and wreck other planets."

"It's a crazy life we live in." He grinned. "But all in all, it's quite fun, right?"

"Fun? You say that just because you're easily excited by all the little things in life, aren't you?" She smirked.

"Oh, maybe not so fun when we're in a world full of demons, but still. Fun!"

"That's besides the point! But I guess that's also true."

They spent another hour talking like they haven't met for a long time now. To them, it felt really refreshing to talk with one another instead of their other friends in the Butterfly Mansion. In this world, all they need is to rely on each other if they want to find a way back home, if such a thing like that is possible for them both.

The day passed like no other days, leaving them feeling contented with one another.

To her, talking with BoBoiBoy is more than enough as a gift for her belated birthday.