- Momiji -

"Alright then," Ryu said, much to Momiji's surprise. She didn't think he would accept.

"Master Ryu, I don't think..."

"Come on, Momiji, It will be fine." He said.

"Shouldn't we go check on Omitsu and the other villagers?"

"I've already seen Omitsu, She's fine and so are the other villagers."

Out of arguments, she followed along as they all walked out of the dojo.

Momiji wasn't sure if she liked this idea. While there was no doubt in her mind Ryu could take on both Ayane and Kasumi, that was under normal circumstances. Ryu hid it well, but she could tell his condition had only gotten worse.

Standing in the open field outside the dojo, the ninjas bowed to each other and began to spar.

Ayane immediately targeted Ryu, leaving Momiji to deal with Kasumi.

Kasumi dashed at her with a shoulder strike faster than anything she had ever seen. Momiji just barely managed to block the attack. She crossed her arms in front of her, stopping the strike inches from her face. She stumbled backwards a few steps. Kasumi used this opportunity to grab her wrist, striking Momiji in the stomach and dashing behind her.

Momiji stumbled back a few steps clutching her ribs. Kasumi was indeed a formidable opponent. She looked over to see how Ryu was doing. He held his ground against Ayane's fury of attacks, but it was quite obvious he was being overwhelmed.

Before Momiji had to chance to think about assisting her master, Kasumi was on the attack again.

Dashing forward once again, Kasumi launched herself at Momiji, Bringing her knee up and aiming it at Momiji's head. This time she was ready for her. Grabbing Kasumi's knee and using her own momentum, she threw her to the ground. Kasumi jumped to her feet quickly recovering. This time Momiji went on the offensive.

She ran forward, latching on to Kasumi's wrist. Stepping on her knee and hopping on to her shoulders, she put Kasumi in a headlock between her thighs. Shifting her weight forward she sent her toppling forward. Landing on her hands she did a tight roll sending Kasumi flying over her. Completing the roll and popping up on her feet, she saw Kasumi do a quick flip in mid-fall and land on her feet.

Glancing over, she was surprised to see Ryu on one knee, covered in sweat and breathing heavy. Ayane standing over him looking just as surprised. She had never expected to win with this little effort before. Momiji cursed under her breath.

"Master Ryu?" Kasumi asked hesitantly.

"I'll be... fine... In a... few... minutes," He huffed.

"We're still tired from our trip here, we had to do a lot of fighting with little rest," Momiji said, she was trying to save her master some embarrassment.

Kasumi and Ayane exchanged looks. "I think it's best if we call it a day for now," Kasumi said.

"Yes," Momiji said quickly. "Master Ryu and I will go get some rest,"

Ayane and Kasumi bid them farewell and headed back to the clan. Momiji stayed behind while Ryu caught his breath.

"It's getting worse isn't it?" She asked after a few moments.

"No, I'm just tired, we did do a lot of fighting after all,"

"This isn't funny,"

"I know, I didn't mean to worry you," Ryu said, getting up.

He pulled her into his arms. "It's going to be fine," He said gently, stroking her hair.

She closed her eyes, she could hear his steady heartbeat. "Just please take care of yourself."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, "We should head back and check on the villagers," She said pulling away.

They headed in the direction of the clan. "Did Master Hayate know anything more about Nyx?" Momiji asked.

"No, he didn't know much more than us. We'll be spending the night at the temple so he and I can discuss it further," He said. "Rachel is here as well. She'll be helping out."

Momiji was happy at this news, she hadn't seen her fiend hunter friend in a while. And the more people fighting Nyx would mean less strain on her Ryu.

When they got back to the clan wall, two people were waiting for them. One of the clan's shrine maidens, and Rachel.

"Well if it isn't the little shrine maiden," Rachel said, smiling.

Momiji smile as well. "Rachel, it's good to see you," She said embracing her friend.

"Master Ryu, I was sent by Master Hayate to escort you to your fellow clan member," the shrine maiden said, bowing to Ryu.

"You catch up with Rachel, I'll check on the villagers," He said to Momiji

Ryu followed the shrine maiden as she lead him through the residential area of the clan.

"We'll be sharing a room," Rachel said as they started walking back to the temple.

"How have you been? It's been so long," Momiji asked.

"Oh, the usual," She said, waving a hand airily. "What about you? What happened to you the last few days? I only got a vague idea from Ryu."

Momiji gave a detailed run down the last couple of days. Including a short rant about Ryu's injury and stubborn refusal to not make it any worse. "You don't know any way if curing him do you?" She asked.

Rachel pursed her lips. "No, I don't..."

"...Is there a way to cure him?" She asked hesitantly.

"I think that's something you should talk to Ryu more about,"

Momiji had a sinking feeling in her stomach, She would have to talk with Ryu this evening.

- Ryu -

The shrine maiden escorted Ryu to a small villa on the outskirts of the city wall. Omitsu greeted him as he entered, the building was much like a downsized version of the temple. With hallways leading out on either side and a courtyard In the middle.

A bunch of kids were playing games out in the courtyard. He could see Sanji and Sakura among them. He was glad to know they were safe.

"It's good to see you, Ryu,"

Ryu turned around to see Muramasa. He figured he would make it out of Tokyo.

"Muramasa it is good to see you well,"

"I trust you are doing your best to take care of yourself?" Muramasa said with a pointed look.

"Of course, your health elixir helped greatly," Ryu lied.

"Speaking of, you were going to explain that," Omitsu said walking over."

Ryu gave Omitsu a quick overview of what had happened since the village had been attacked.

"I see, you should probably get some rest then. Tomorrow will be busy for you."

He bid her and Muramasa a goodnight and headed back to the temple. He hopped Hayate would still be there so they could continue their conversation from earlier.

When he entered the temple a shrine maiden showed him to a guest room.

"Is Hayate still here?" He asked her.

"I believe Master Hayate has retired for the evening."

Ryu thanked the shrine maiden and went inside his room. It wasn't anything fancy, just a small room with a bed and a nightstand. There was a door that connected to a bathroom that he used to wash up and change into a dark blue robe that had been left for him.

When he came out of the bathroom, he noticed a bowl of health elixir had been left for him. He picked up the bowl, it was filled to the brim with silvery liquid. He downed it and walked out of the room. He needed to have a conversation with Momiji.

He found her sitting outside in the courtyard by the pond, she had already changed and was wearing a light-colored kimono. He walked over and joined her.

The water glittered and sparkled with the reflection of the night sky above it.

"We'll begin preparation tomorrow," He said. "I don't want to waste any time so we will probably head out towards the entrance to the underworld sometime around noon."

"Ryu, I've been thinking," She said. Turning to look him in the eyes. "Is it really best for you to go on this mission?"

He gave her a steely look.

"If exerting yourself only makes your condition worse, wouldn't it be better for you to sit this one out?" She continued, while his expression got colder and colder. "Master Hayate, Kasumi, Ayane, Rachel and I should be more than..."

"No,"

"But..."

"But nothing, your suggestion is foolish. You really expect me to stand by while you put yourself in danger?"

"You need to rest so we can cure..."

Ryu looked down, he couldn't meet her gaze any more. She stopped, realizing the truth. Ryu remained silent.

"There isn't a cure... Is there?" She asked, doing her best to keep her voice steady.

"I'm sorry for not telling you, but we need to focus on the task at hand and..."

She got up and turned her back to him. She couldn't look at him.

"So then what? If we do defeat Nyx then what? Do you want me to watch you die slowly while telling me it was for the best?"

Tears were rolling down her face.

"It's not as bad as all that, if I continue to take health elixir I should be able to live for years and..."

"And if you don't exert yourself Like you are about to do?"

"And in that time we can look for a solution," He finished, disregarding her statement. He stood up.

"I can't risk your life, which is why you're going to stay here. Hayate, Rachel, Kasumi, and Ayane will accompany me which should be more than enough to deal with Nyx. I want you to take the villagers back to the Hayabusa village."

She spun around, her mouth falling open. For a second she couldn't comprehend what he was saying, then the sadness that had been on her face previously was replaced with a look of outrage.

"You're joking right, you can't seriously expect me to sit this out," Her voice shook from suppressed rage.

"This isn't a debate..."

"You can barely fight!" She was shouting now.

"You can barely throw a punch without running out of energy but you think I'll slow you down?"

"This isn't about your capabilities,"

"Oh, then what is it about exactly?"

"It's because I..."

He couldn't say the words he wanted. Not knowing he didn't have a lot of time left, It wouldn't be fair to her.

"Because I don't want to lose you the same way I lost the village like I lost Kureha." He said softly, putting his hand on the side of her face.

She batted it aside, tears were streaming down her face again and she wouldn't look at him. "Don't use her against me,"

"You're so selfish!" She shouted at him.

"You only care about how you feel about this, you don't give a shit how I might feel or anyone else,"

"That isn't..."

"I can't deal with this right now," She said, throwing her hands in the air and turning around. "Do whatever the hell you want."

She stormed out of the courtyard.

Ryu sat back down and put his face in his hands. He hadn't expected this conversation to be easy, but he didn't expect it to end like this.

"That wasn't the best way to handle that,"

Ryu looked up to see Hayate standing over him.

"I suppose you heard all of that"

"Just the 'you're selfish' part, which I agree with," He said, sitting down next to Ryu.

"Why didn't you tell her about your theory? If Nyx really is after her, then I'm sure she wouldn't have made quite a fuss."

"It's getting late," Ryu said, getting up. "We should both get some sleep, we have a long day tomorrow."

He didn't feel like having this conversation now. Truth be told his reasons for leaving Momiji behind had little to do with Nyx.

He went back to his room. He knew it would be a sleepless night.