"Haruka!" Youko called as she parted, obviously trying to keep up with his fast pace. It was nearly sundown and Haruka suddenly asked Reika where Kantarou used to live. Upon receiving his answer, he dragged Sugino, Mu, Rosalie and Youko along.

"Onikui! Where are we going" Sugino asked.

"Mu!" Whatever that means…

"The ritual is starting in an hour!" Rosalie stated.

"I'm just making a quick visit to Saeko." Haruka replied as he stopped in front of a huge Japanese mansion.

"Don't" (Sugino)

"Tell" (Rosalie)

"Me" (Youko)

"KAN/ KANTAROU USED TO LIVE HERE!" (All except Haruka)

"And who do we have here? Such strong auras… including the Onikui tengu's coated with a tinge of Kan's aura… I guess you must be his friends…" An old voice called out as the huge wooden gates opened.

"Are you Kantarou's stepmother- Ichinomiya Saeko?" Haruka asked politely.

"Indeed, do come in and have some tea…" Saeko spoke as she led them into the house. "So… you must be here to know more about that son of mine… or you can say… my stepson." Haruka nodded quietly at Saeko's question while the rest of them sat down, dumbfounded, except for Mu of course, who was eating the onigiris without a care in the world.

"That poor child…his mother never liked him, not a bit at all only the family fortune and after her death, Kei, his father, also my husband, remarried me and of course, I knew what the child could see. Since then I'm a miko as well. He was scared ever since, to lose someone close to him. Then, Reiya came into the picture and brightened up Kantarou's life. But that ritual went wrong many years ago and that demon took Reiya's life along with it into the lake. Kantarou was grieved by her death and that was when the search for you, Onikui, began. He thinks that he broke the promise he made to Reiya. One; that he would protect her till the very end. Two; that he would watch her do the ritual. He broke the second promise by leaving the ritual grounds and… you know the rest…"

"I see…" Youko whispered as she lowered her head sadly and Sugino patted her back softly.

Just before they left for the ritual grounds, Saeko pulled Haruka aside and told him, "Be warned… You must be careful of the decisions that you make later on… else you will regret it forever.

With that, Saeko smiled and said, "Well, be careful along your way."

The ritual takes place from dusk to dawn and it is practically a long tiring talk for the main person doing it. It has been an hour and Haruka, together with the others were already starting to fall asleep! But then…

"RUMBLE!" an unusual earthquake shook the town.

"Wha-what happened? I'm dreaming I 'm in a wonderful dreamland and what?" Haruka said dreamily.

It was the water serpent along with the ghouls of the drowned villagers. It was something neither Kantarou nor the others refused to believe.

"Re-Reiya?" Kantarou and the others gasped. Reiya stared at him, standing above the water serpent with ropes connecting her to the serpent and the villagers.

"It's spiritual binding! The technique which the Tachibana family created!" Rei yelled.

"What does it do?" Sugino asked.

"It binds the user to the demons! The other attack is used by the Ichinomiya family."

However, Kantarou stood there stunned. Just as they wanted to ask Reiya something, Raikou and Ibaragi appeared on the opposite shore of the lake.

"Now Ichinomiya… how would you like the person you had cared so much for to turn against you?" Raikou mocked and laughed as Ibaragi smiled evilly.

Now, Reiya spoke words which Kantarou had never wanted to hear…

"You broke your promise to me Kan." Then, she commanded the ghouls to attack the group.