7. Darker Days


Ohgami Ichiro stood alone in his hospital room, looking out the window. It was raining hard outside, and once in a while, a thunderbolt would break the dark sky. The trees were swaying violently with the wind, and the raindrops fell like bullets.

But he wasn't looking at the storm; it happened that he was just facing the window. His thoughts and concentration lapsed back into the battle, which happened only yesterday.

The cloaked man had defeated the whole Hanagumi. Each of them fought bravely, but proved no match for the immense power of their enemy. Each of them was severely injured, but luckily, Ohgami found out only a few moments ago that they were going to be okay.

But the strangest thing was, even though Ohgami, too, fought in the battle, and got injured too, he left the battle unscathed. There wasn't a single scratch on his entire body. His bones were healed. His bruises were gone. It was as if he was invulnerable.

But he remembered the pain that he experienced. He felt his bones break, his flesh rip, his blood spill. He remembered being flung to that accursed tree several times, feeling his body crack under the powerful force.

But even Yoneda confirmed that when he was found lying on the battlefield, his hair longer than before, he wasn't wounded or bruised at all. It was as if he healed after the battle.

Thinking about that, now he wasn't sure what really happened in the battle.

He brushed his hand through his hair, which was returned to its usual style. It was odd that his hair would instantly grow long in the battle, and he wouldn't even believe it until Yoneda showed him his cut off hair.

And he wouldn't even believe it that he alone had destroyed the cloaked man and the entire Wakiji army. He remembered nothing after seeing Sakura being strangled. After he yelled "STOP IT!" everything was black. His memory skipped from the battle to the present, which was the hospital room. He tried so hard to remember but nothing seemed to come up in his mind.

But he told himself that he shouldn't mind these things. The important thing is, the battle is over, and they survived.

First things first, he decided, so he chose to check up on the girls, to see how they're doing. He could think up of other things later once he knew that the girls were all right.

So he stood up with ease and left the room, going all the way to the reception desk.

"Er, excuse me," Ohgami asked, " Where could I find the hospital room for the Hanagumi?"

The receptionist, a tired old nurse with her hair tied up in a bun, looked at Ohgami for a while. Her eyes strayed from his face down to his wrist. She then pointed at it and said, "Shouldn't you be in your room?"

"Huh?" Ohgami responded, then looked at where she was pointing. She wasn't pointing at the wrist, he realized, but on the nametag around it. In clean, inked, handwritten letters was his name, "Ohgami Ichiro."

"Oh, I don't need to, really," he replied, "I'm okay now. See?" He started to flex his arms a bit.

"Hmm," she murmured, scanning at him with an appraising look on her face, "You do seem to be okay."

"Yes!"

"Now, who's room was it again?" the kindly nurse asked.

"The Hanagumi," he answered.

"Well, let's see now," she said, while skimming through files and folders, until she drew out one folder, and read through it. "Ah, here it is," she said. She wrote down the room number on a small slip of paper and handed it to Ohgami.

"Here you go. A word of advice, though. I saw those girls being brought in and they looked like they were in bad shape. A little peace and quiet would do them good."

"Hai," was his reply.

"Well, off you go now," she said, weakly smiling.

"Thank you, Mrs. Maeda!" And he bolted off.

Later, it dawned to him that he had never met that nurse before, and yet, he already knew her name. Even more, he also already knew that she was married. The realization stopped Ohgami's fast feet for a while, to pause, but after a few minutes, went on running again.

He had already dismissed the thought. Ohgami might have taken a glance on her nametag or ID card, and read her name. The only way to know a complete stranger's name without the aid of any clue would have been to have read his or her mind, and he was sure that he was unable to do that. The only people who could do that were people like Setsuna, the sadistic little boy who aided Satan Aoi. The only people who could were from the dark side.

A few minutes later, he reached the room's door. Quietly, he opened it.

And his eyes shot open.

The room was oddly very noisy and lively, contradicting to the quiet image Ohgami had in mind. Kanna and Sumire were arguing again, calling each other names, while threatening to bash each other's skulls with their crutches. Maria was reading a book quietly. Sakura, Kohran, and Iris were playing a game of hanafuda.

All this happened with their bandages on, and some even had their arms in a cast. Despite their injuries, they were acting pretty normal.

Thank God, Ohgami thought, and entered the room.

"Oi! Taichou! Ya came just in time! Sumire here's gonna throw her bedpan at me!" Kanna shouted, while deftly avoiding a flying shoe.

"Kanna-san, will you do me a favor and SHUT UP!?" Sumire demanded, then her attention shifted to Ohgami almost instantly, "Konnichiwa, Chuui! How are you?"

"Taichou, I'm glad that you are well," Maria said.

"Onii-chan's okay! Iris is so glad!" Iris exclaimed, dropping all her cards to cover her reddening face.

"Ohgami-han! It's nice of you to drop by, ya! These two are bad players," she said, pointing at Sakura and Iris, "I need a challenge, ya!"

"Kohran, that's not a nice thing to say! Ohgami-san, welcome back! Are you okay?" Sakura asked, smiling radiantly.

Ohgami was overwhelmed at the barrage, but he replied bashfully, "I'm okay. I'm glad everybody's doing okay, though. I thought the worst had happened…"

"Taichou, don't worry! We're stronger than you expect! Ouch!" Kanna gasped, as she accidentally raised her arm with a cast.

"But I have to ask, Taichou, you seem to be doing very well. What kind of treatment did they give you?" Maria asked, somewhat amazed at Ohgami's condition. She was expecting him to have, at least, an arm with a cast.

"Well, it's kinda like…shihainin?" Ohgami almost jumped when a wrinkly hand suddenly slapped his shoulder.

"Hey, Ohgami-kun, you look well! But these girls need their rest! You can come back later," he said.

He saluted and said, "Sir, yes, sir!"

Then he faced the girls, "Minna, sorry I have to leave so soon, but I promise to come back later!"

After leaving the room, which was still full of noise, Ohgami walked with Yoneda's slow pace down the corridor of the hospital. He observed that the commander had a grim look on his face and the captain thought that he might know what he was thinking.

"Sir, if it's what happened on that battle, I really don't know. I can't even remember leaving it," Ohgami said.

Yoneda shook his head, saying, "But it's odd, Ohgami-kun. I can't get it out of my mind. How could you have left the war without any wounds? And where did your power come from? Yuri-kun said that when your power surfaced, your energies surpassed the cloaked man's energy!"

"S-surpassed?!" Ohgami couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Surpassed. The readings show that when your hair grew longer and your aura manifested, your spiritual power grew at an exponentially rapid rate. It grew stronger until you exceeded your enemy. And you defeated him too, plus his whole Wakiji army!"

"But…Shihainin, you know that I don't have that much power! If I had, I would've been able to join the Haja No Jin!"

Yoneda nodded his head. "Hai, I know. Even now, I can't feel the same power you used at the battle. It seems to be dormant now."

Ohgami was starting to feel unsure of his new "power." "Was there anyone else who was hurt?"

"Honestly, many buildings were destroyed and many were killed by your sudden burst of power. But don't worry. Everybody is pointing fingers at the cloaked man. After all, he did start the siege."

"S-sir…what do you make of it? What do you think happened to me?" Ohgami asked nervously.

"Ohgami-kun…honestly, I have no idea."


It had only been a few minutes since Yoneda left the hospital to return to the Teigeki. Ohgami had already said his goodbye to him, and the Taichou then returned to his hospital room, which was barely needed for him now. This was reserved for patients, and he knew that he wasn't in the condition to be one.

But anyway, he slumped down on his creaky bed and sighed. He felt miserable. The girls were probably doing all those things so that he won't feel so bad. But in truth, they were probably hurting inside as well.

When he took this job of becoming their Taichou, he made it his top priority to safeguard them, despite the dangers of war. He tried and tried to do everything safe for them, fighting with them, but he lacked one thing, which could have helped him protect them.

That was power.

If only he was stronger, if only he had more spiritual energy, then they wouldn't be in this situation. But it kept ending up with the girls protecting him. Their powerful energies always left him behind. They were powerful when combined, and he felt that he was nothing more than a hindrance.

He was weak; he admitted it. So what if he could run all over a beach with heavy stone sandals? So what if he could fight well with two katanas? So what if he was a strong aggressor in a fight? So what if he came up with the Formation to Repulse Evil?

At first he thought he was strong. He could fight well then. He was smart in devising strategies. But seeing the girls being crushed and destroyed by that cloaked man, made him realize that that wasn't enough. He needed more power to protect them. Seeing Sakura being strangled made him realize how weak and helpless he was. He had to have more power. He'd do anything to gain that power.

"You already have it."

Ohgami looked around, and saw that no one was in the room besides him.

"The power to protect."

"Who are you?"

"A friend. Trust me. You already have enough power to protect those girls."

"What do you mean?" He was beginning to become eager.

"Just now, you were able to read the mind of that nurse. That's a sign of your increasing power. Before that, you were able to defeat a whole Wakiji army and that cloaked man. Also, you completely healed after the battle. Now, isn't that a sign of your true power?"

"But, I don't know how to use it."

"You will, in time. Just listen to me. The girls will be protected. Sakura will not be harmed."

"Sakura-kun…"

"Your power will soon rise to be the most powerful energy the world will face. No one can defeat you. You will never be left behind, because you are always on top."

"Really?"

"Yes. You can finally protect the people you care for."

"Then teach me."


Soon after, Ohgami had left the hospital, first saying good-bye to the girls, who all had to stay for a few more days. On Kasumi's car, he went back home to the Teigeki, the playhouse and base of operations of the Teikoku Kagekidan. Then, without stopping anywhere else, he headed straight for the dojo.

He put on his karate gi, did a few stretching exercises first, and then he faced a punching bag.

And his training began. He pummeled the punching bag with strong, lightning-fast punches and kicks. His movements were fluid, like one step led to another, then another. It was almost like a dance, where every timed movement was crucial, and Ohgami was fighting so smoothly, that no move hindered the other, and all were unleashed with unyielding force.

In a few moments, the punching bag was riddled with dents. A small seam had already burst, with sand seeping out.

"Not yet!" He muttered, and then leapt into the air and did a powerful roundhouse kick, utterly destroying the punching bag. Sand burst everywhere as the canvas was buried under piles of sand.

His hands and feet were red after that. His arms ached when he moved them, and his legs found it hard to walk.

But his determination was stronger. He went to another punching bag.

"Again!"

And this continued for the rest of the morning. He briefly stopped to eat lunch, and then returned to the dojo, this time with two katanas, one in each hand. A practice dummy was prepared, its wooden humanoid body stuffed with straw.

Then, he began again. Like his previous training, each blow was delivered perfectly, and linked to the next. The swords never clashed against one another, and his movements changed from high, to medium, then to low. The wood broke into splinters with each slash, and after the training, the dummy was nothing more than a suspended heap of wood.

And again, he was not yet satisfied. Bringing up his swords, he slashed downwards with extreme force, splitting the dummy into four pieces, and then while the pieces were in mid-air, he began a rapid succession of slashes. His hands were almost like a blur as the blunt wooden swords minced and diced the wooden pieces.

He stopped, and a pile of perfect wooden cubes fell on the floor. He sliced and diced a whole dummy with two katanas.

And still, he wasn't satisfied.

"AGAIN!!"


At first, it seemed to Yoneda and Ayame that Ohgami's intensive training was beneficial. Working day and night, building up his body and technique, stopping only to eat and sleep, Ohgami was indeed becoming stronger. Such a training regimen was hard to keep up with, and it needed firm dedication.

But as the hours and days passed, they were getting worried. Ohgami was putting himself into torture, it seemed. His body was beyond his limits, but Ohgami pushed himself to train harder and harder until his sweat fell like rain, and his breathing was ragged and dangerously hoarse.

"Ohgami-kun," Yoneda said, watching Ohgami thrash another punching bag, "That's the twenty-fifth bag you're going to destroy."

He did not answer, keeping up his combination of attacks perfect and seamless.

"Don't you think that this is going a little too far? I know this training is good for you, but if you keep pushing your body like this…" but his last words were drowned out as the punching bag was again, obliterated.

Ohgami stood up straight, and breathed deep. Then, he faced the next bag.

"I don't need your pity," he muttered, and continued his thrashing.

"It's not pity! It's concern, Ohgami-kun! You're killing yourself by doing this," Yoneda exclaimed, watching another bag being beaten.

"I don't need that, either. What matters is that I become stronger," he muttered, as his fist plunged right through the punching bag.

And that was the end of their conversation. Yoneda concluded that there was nothing to stop him, and relied on one thing to stop him: fatigue.

But not even fatigue could stop Ohgami's training. He never seemed to run out of stamina, despite the harsh exercises he had put himself through. It was either adamant commitment or utter madness that was keeping his energy up.

And Ohgami had gone through it for a whole week straight. He only stopped to eat and sleep, and when he did eat, he ate alone.

Ohgami was also becoming increasingly aloof. He rarely talked to anybody these past few days, and the only sounds that came out of his mouth was grunts, his breathing, and his battle cries. His daily schedule was to eat, train, train, train, eat, train, train, eat, train, train, and finally, sleep. And no one, not even the commander, stopped him.

Even the Hanagumi, who had just returned, was suspecting that something was wrong. Kanna, the strongest in terms of physical strength, confessed that even she couldn't go through Ohgami's training. It was as if Ohgami had changed completely.

As bad as it already was, his harshness to himself rubbed off on them during virtual Kobu training. Although they did fairly well during training, Ohgami demanded more from them. He wanted them to exceed their limits, to be far stronger than they already were. And he was going to keep pushing them non-stop until they did.

"I…I'm tired…Ohgami-san, let's rest, first," Sakura suggested, taking off her goggles to rub her red eyes. Her back hurt and her hands were stiff from all the Kobu handling.

"Sakura-han's right, Ohgami-han! We're exhausted, ya!" Kohran added.

Ohgami's reply was simple, but harsh. "Keep going."

"D-demo!" Sakura protested.

"My orders are absolute, Sakura! Do as I say!" Ohgami screamed, his voice steaming with fury. What made it worse, the volume of his voice was multiplied because he was at the control booth.

"H-h-hai! Sumimasen!" Sakura apologized, and reluctantly put back her virtual goggles, Kohran following suit.

"The Kobu won't last from all this pressure…how can we?" Kohran muttered, which was barely audible.

And somehow, Ohgami heard, all the way from the control booth. "Kohran, if you have any objections to my commands, I'll be happy to strip you of your rank and send you back to Hanayashiki as a car mechanic. Do you understand?"

Kohran shut up and started to train again.

Soon, their energy levels were dropping like flies. At first, their power was at their usual maximum, but only after a few hours, they were at an all time low. Their eyes were blurry, their bodies were sore, and they badly needed rest.

But Ohgami was obdurate. He wouldn't let them stop until they could improve, and unfortunately, at their current condition, they couldn't even lift a finger.

A scared Tsubaki, who had been watching them being tortured, reported to Yoneda what was happening. And indeed, Yoneda was furious. After being asked by Tsubaki not to reveal who spilled the beans, Yoneda went to the virtual training room.

"Stop this, at once!" Yoneda ordered Ohgami, but the captain kept looking at the meters and screens, showing the girls' bleak statistics.

"I suppose Tsubaki told you?" Ohgami calmly said, without facing him.

Yoneda was startled a bit, surprised that Ohgami knew, but regained his resolve and shouted, "This is too much, Ohgami-kun! I don't know about you, but the girls are tired! Let them rest!"

As cold as ice, he replied, "Shire, this is for their benefit. I'm not sending them into war just to die."

"But your methods are way too harsh!" Yoneda protested, "Your old training regimen was already enough and it effectively did the job! But this is more than necessary. This isn't training, Ohgami-kun, but torture!"

Then Ohgami faced Yoneda, with eyes cold like ice, and said, "Then I won't lead a band of weaklings whose sole purpose is to go out and get themselves killed. Excuse me, but I'm wasting my time."

With that, Ohgami left the room. Yoneda immediately ordered the girls to stop training.

"Haa…I'm exhausted!" Kanna shouted hoarsely, "I never had this much training even back in Okinawa. This is agonizing!"

"Something is wrong with the Taichou," Maria said, wiping her forehead, "He's not his usual self."

"Something's wrong with Chuui, all right! He's a damn psycho, that's for sure!" Sumire shouted exasperatedly.

But Sakura knew Maria was right. Ohgami was not himself, like somebody else replaced him with a terrible slave driver.

As Sakura, with trembling legs, climbed down, she went to see how Iris was.

And she was startled to see her still sitting, squeezing Jean-Paul so much, some of its stuffing was seeping out of the seams.

"Iris? Doushita?" she soothingly said, stroking her smooth blond hair.

The little girl said, "Sakura…something's wrong with Onii-chan… he's not himself…Iris can feel it…he's so scary…he's not Onii-chan…Onii-chan is gentle and kind…not this mad person…"

"Iris…"

"Iris is so afraid…so scared…what happened to the real Onii-chan?" She muttered, her sobbing becoming quieter.

"I don't know, Iris…I don't know."


After putting Iris to bed, Sakura headed to her own room and after dressing into her nightgown, slumped down on her bed. Exhaustion caught up to her as she felt her body become so heavy when she lied down.

But despite the fatigue, her mind was somewhere else. She kept replaying what Iris had just said a few hours ago.

"What happened to the real onii-chan?"

She was determined to know what happened to Ohgami. Perhaps it might have been some kind of side effect of their last battle, or a late effect from when the time he was stabbed at Ueno. Whatever reason it may be, she wanted to find out.

Why? It's because she's terribly worried about him.

Never had Ohgami been so harsh and cold. Sure, he was a bit scary when he wanted to train them on the Formation, but this was way too much. He was driving them to the edge, pushing them to their limits.

And since when did Ohgami care about power? All he ever cared about was teamwork and proper synchronization with the Kobu, not being strong. He once believed that no one needed to be strong as long as there was someone to help. But now, his philosophy was reversed. Be strong, or be trampled.

She had to do something. She had to find out why Ohgami was acting like this. She had to turn him back into his usual self.

Sakura terribly missed the old Ohgami.

"Ohgami-san…" she murmured, as she slowly scurried under the covers. There were traces of sadness and worry in her voice. She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep.


The next day almost passed too quickly without any training to do. It seemed like Ohgami had forsaken the team, regarding them as weak cowards, and had resolved to just train himself. As usual, he only stopped to eat, and as night came, he returned to the dojo with two wooden katanas he had retrieved from his room.

And to his hidden surprise, he found Sakura there, holding one wooden katana in her hand.

"What're you doing here?" Ohgami asked almost exasperatedly.

She just pointed the dummy sword at him. "Ohgami-san, I challenge you."

He seemed amused, but it faded all too quickly. "Get out of here, Sakura. This is my training time."

"Ohgami-san, I demand that you accept my challenge," Sakura said, her sword unwavering.

His dark, cold eyes seemed to examine Sakura, who remained adamant about her challenge. He had this intimidating expression on his face, but Sakura still stood silent.

"You seem confident enough," Ohgami finally said, after his observation, "Well, if you're really up to it…but don't get me wrong. I won't go easy on you."

"I wasn't expecting that. Now, let's fight," Sakura said, readying herself, her sword on the forefront. Ohgami adjusted into his battle stance, his two swords crossed.

"KIAI!!!" Ohgami screamed, and began his attack quickly. He lunged at her, both swords raised, ready to slash. Sakura, however, remained still.

He continued his attack, however. He had lost his calm; he was now an enraged berserker.

And he brought his swords down at deadly speeds.

And Sakura moved, bringing her own sword up to deflect both attacks. Ohgami's swords were blocked when Sakura moved her sword up.

The sudden deflection sent him moving backwards, almost losing his balance. Ohgami was mildly amazed at her quick counter, but he wasn't going to be beaten by the likes of her.

He charged again, now his wooden blades in a dangerous flurry of slashes, each attack not hindering the next, each blow delivered with unfaltering power.

But despite the power of the attacks, Sakura was still able to deflect each and every attack, as if she was reading his mind.

"DAMN YOU!" Ohgami shouted, as he jumped back. He was already out of breath, and sweating. But Sakura remained on the defensive, moving only her sword and her feet.

Even more infuriated, he lunged again, delivering more attacks. But they were more likely to be desperate than effective. Again, Sakura was able to anticipate and block each and every blow.

This was her chance. With a quick movement, she thrust his left hand, making him drop his left sword, then slashed the right, dropping the right sword, then brought the sword up to his neck, but stopped it before contact. The wooden edge was dangerously close to his throat, and Ohgami was still and nervous, drops of sweat dripping down his face.

The match was over. Sakura had won.

She put her sword away from his throat and sheathed it in her belt. Ohgami stumbled down and caught his breath.

"I…I don't understand…I've trained so hard…to be beaten BY YOU!?" It seemed like a total outrage to be beaten by Sakura.

Sakura calmly replied, "Yes, I can feel that there's so much force in your attacks. I'll admit, if one of them hit me, my bones would've shattered. But your attacks were wild, and were easy to anticipate. You relied too much on a one-blow finishing stroke.

"But even then, even if you have so much power, it's useless when it's not concentrated and used properly. Power isn't anything when you don't use it to protect and defend something you care about.

"I hope you remember that, Ohgami-san."

And with that, Sakura turned her back on him, and quietly walked out.

Then, all of a sudden, Ohgami lunged for one of the swords, and in one powerful stroke, slammed it right across Sakura's waist. Intense pain coursed through her body as she stumbled down, hoarsely screaming.

"You're too soft, Sakura! The battle is alive! You can never predict what the enemy might do, so beat him down while you're ahead!" Ohgami said hysterically, enjoying the sight of Sakura writhing on the floor, gripping her side.

"O-o-Ohgami-san…doushite…" She muttered before fainting

He was laughing like a madman, seeing Sakura falling to the ground, blood trickling down her chin. This was the way it was meant to be. Power was reserved for those deserving, no matter the cost.

Then, he stopped laughing.

Then, he dropped his sword. Realization hit him hard as he saw Sakura lying unconsciously on the floor. His heart exploded with depression, regret, and despair at the same time. His eyes widened, his knees shook, his hands were clammy, and his face was dripping with sweat.

"S-Sakura-kun…no…what have I done?" He murmured hopelessly, his voice weak and pathetic.

Then, he ran off, dwelling in his own shame, stopping only in his room.

"Oh god, Sakura-kun…what have I done…WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?" He screamed.

"I did nothing, Ichiro. This is your own doing."

"No…this is not me…I'll never hurt Sakura-kun…I'll die before I cause any harm to her."

"Then tell me, whose hand clasped the sword and attacked Sakura?"

"…"

"I'm right."

"No…stop it…stop it, please…just leave me alone…"

He opened his eyes, finding himself in a dark corner of his room, where barely any light shone. In fact, the room barely had any light at all. The windows were shut and the curtains were closed.

The room itself was a horrible mess. Tables were turned over and chairs were broken in half. A vase was broken and dying flowers were on the floor. The bed sheets were ripped by what seemed to fingers, and the mattress was ridden with holes. The window glass was shattered, and the closed curtains were ripped. Torn pieces of paper were scattered all over the room. Finally, blood was on the floor and on the walls.

Ohgami's blood.

"No matter, she deserved it. She was weak. You were strong. That's how things work."

"No it doesn't…Sakura-kun…"

"You've gained so much power. It's only fitting that the weak challenge you, no matter how meaningless it may be."

"No…stop it…"

"That's true. The weak are jealous of the strong. That's why the weak hate the strong."

"Stop it…"

"They all hate you now, Ichiro, just because your aim was to become strong."

"Please…stop it…"

"Kohran hates you. Sumire hates you. Kanna hates you. Maria hates you. Iris hates you. Sakura hates you. Everybody hates you because you're stronger than them."

"Please…"

"That's why it's your fault. You slashed her from behind. She deserved it. The strong crushes the weak. It's not the other way around."

"Please stop…"

"I thought you wanted to protect them? You have to make them bow to you first…to acknowledge who's more powerful. Weaklings cannot take control and protect."

"…protect?"

"Indeed. Or are you a weakling, yourself?"

"No…no…"

"Then stand up and claim your power. They will all bow down to you and your dreams will come true. Power is not used to protect, Ichiro, but to destroy. Destroy your oppressors and the weak, so that you will become the sole power in this world."

"…"

"Only then, will they bow to you."

"No…no…"

"Sakura will die by your hand, because she oppressed you, and is weak."

"NO!"

"Claim it, and destroy…"

"NOOOO!!!!!!!!"
The room exploded in a powerful violet light, blowing off the walls. Dark energy started to swirl to the inside of the room, as Ohgami stood, floating in the air, as the power drove itself to him and started its transfer of power.

His hair grew long again, and his skin became deathly pale. His nails grew longer and sharper, and now had the color of crimson blood. A sleek black cloak and leather clothes replaced his old clothes, which were burned from the explosion.

The power began to swirl around the floating Ohgami; each and every tendril of dark power was absorbed into his system.

The wind calmed down as Ohgami floated softly back on the floor on his feet. He looked at his new body and he felt his new dark power.

"This is so much better," Ohgami said, in his usual voice, but now, it seemed like it was accompanied by a darker, deeper voice.

"Thank you…"

He chuckled to himself as moonlight struck him. As the pale light passed by, he slowly began to disappear.

"Tenkai has returned."

And he completely vanished, forgetting his burned room, his destroyed belongings, and his own memories.