If there was one word to describe the sight that lay before him, Armageddon would fit the best. That and the word, Apocalypse. There was no other way to describe the scene. It was worse than what the movies could depict. Not even Lovecraft's mentally ill brain could concoct such a hellish landscape. Mountains were seared. The earth was scorched. Men, women, and children were defiled in such ways that Lucifer himself would be reviled by the very sight of it.

It was simply Hell on earth in the most literal sense.

And how he found himself in this landscape was not to his knowledge.

The sky shattered above him.

Legions of Angels and Devils clashed across the skies. A scene that was described only in the Book of Revelations.

A white-haired angel with black wings led legions of demons and all manner of hellish creatures against the winged beings of Heaven.

But the Devil's efforts were in vain.

A flash of white and red shattered the chaos of war.

And he saw her.

With a flourish of a shiningly bright blade, the sky and the world split in twain and the Devil himself screamed a name.

"SHIN!"

"SHIN!"

"Huh? What?"

He heard a chorus of laughter around him. Shin looked around. Right, he was in class. I wish Sona-kaichou didn't hire an entire devil entourage to fix the school, he thought.

"Mister Faulkner, if you think that my class is so boring that you feel the need to sleep, then can you give me the answer to this equation on the board?" the teacher asked.

"Errr…" Shin squinted. Was this a differential? "I don't know."

"Then I suggest you pay attention. Now, where were we? Oh right, as defined by this equation, an N-Graded Vector Space is…"

He felt three pairs of eyes on him.

Issei, Asia, and Sophia were worried for him. It was understandable. He didn't know when it started but it did. At first, he had chalked it all up to PTSD but that was simply not the case. Shin was having dreams. Nightmares of that Unknown God. It all began after the battle to defeat Kokabiel.

"Psst, Shin!"

He turned around and saw Issei looking at him with worry in his eyes.

"Are you alright? You have more bags under your eyes than a damn grocery store," Issei whispered.

"I'm fine. I've just not been getting much sleep lately. You know, finals and all."

"Shin, finals aren't for another month? What the hell is wrong with you?" Issei hissed.

"Mr. Hyoudou. Mr. Faulkner. It seems that there is some wonderful secret that you would like to share with the class? Something perhaps pertaining to the calculation of vector spaces perhaps?" the teacher asked.

"Er, no ma'am. We're just talking about our work schedule," Shin hastily said.

"Please talk about that during lunch and not while I'm talking about graded vectors. Especially you, Shin. I've read your career sheet," the teacher said. She turned around and continued rattling off about the extra grading on graded vectors.

"Sorry, man. It's just that you look like shit," Issei said, biting into his melon bread.

"Yeah, it's fine. I don't know if it's stress or if I'm having PTSD. I haven't had nightmares since four years ago," Shin said, leaning back in his chair.

"What happened four years ago?" Sophia asked with a mouth full of onigiri.

"I… I had an accident on a mission and Onee made me stay home from missions until I could get my powers in check," Shin replied.

"I didn't know you were her partner," Sophia said.

"Me neither. Is that the reason for your… vacations?" Issei asked.

"Yup," he said, popping the P.

As they talked, the class suddenly erupted in a fit of whispers.

It's her.

The Boss is back.

Oh shit! I forgot that I owed her money!

Everyone, don't bump into her.

"Shin."

The three turned around and saw Akane standing in front of them with a bag in her hand.

"Onee?" Shin raised an eyebrow. Why was she here?

"You forgot your lunch. Were you really just planning to eat melon bread for lunch?" Akane asked, placing the bag down and putting her hands on her hips.

"Er… we were in a hurry?" Shin said.

Akane pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, take better care of yourself. If I knew you were going to be like this…"

"Wait! Onee! I promise! I'll look after myself!" Shin pleaded. He leaned towards her and clasped his hands.

"..." Akane scanned his face and sighed. She patted his head and smiled. "I can never win against you when you're like this. But…" She flicked his forehead, sending him back into his chair. "Make sure you don't forget your food. This is the fifth day in a row that I had to come bring your lunch over. You two. Make sure he's eating properly."

Her gaze pinned Sophia and Issei to their chairs and they nodded mutely.

"Don't worry, Aka-nee. You can count on us to look after Shin," Issei managed to squeak out.

Satisfied, Akane left the classroom, leaving a sea of terrified gazes in her wake.

"Jeez, I didn't know Akane-senpai would be this scary and everyone in the class looks like they're trying not to attract a lion's attention," Sophia commented.

"Hey, what's she talking about?" Issei asked.

Shin paused halfway in opening his bento.

"Shin… come on man. You always look so tired nowadays. I'm tired too but that's because Buchou's been riding my ass," Issei said.

"I've been training with Onee every day to learn the Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu. I asked Onee after the fight if she could teach me and she's been doing it every day. I've also been practicing behind her back to at least pull off one of the moves," Shin said, grabbing the chopsticks.

"Ahhh, sparring sessions with her must be nuts. That speed. That strength. Not to mention those skills," Issei said.

"Yeah, how are those spars?" Sophia asked.

"Um… well… have you ever wondered how a paper bag feels when it's being tossed around by wind?" Shin asked.

The two shook their heads. Clearly, such an analogy was strange to them.

"That's what I feel like," Shin said, popping a hotdog in his mouth. "It's like no matter how I try, I can't even do one swing using the style. Onee constantly knocks me on my back every day. It's like the gap between us is growing bigger every time I see her."

"Come to think of it… why are you trying to learn her sword style?" Issei asked.

"Because I want to be like her," Shin said.

"I thought you wanted to stand by her side?" Sophia recalled.

"I do, I do. But… to me, Onee is the biggest wall I have to overcome, and to stand by her side, I might as well learn how she fights," Shin said, popping another hot dog in his mouth.

Issei and Sophia looked at each other in worry.

"Dude, I think you might be overdoing it," Issei said. "I love to train as much as the next guy… er Yuuto but…"

"Yeah, yeah. Onee told me that too but…" Shin gripped his chopsticks. "She doesn't know how it felt to be that helpless…," he whispered.

"What?" Sophia asked.

"Huh?"

"You said something at the end there. I didn't quite catch that," Sophia repeated.

"Oh, I said that I have to catch up to her," Shin said.

Issei said nothing. He furrowed his brow slightly and sighed. Maybe he was hearing things.

"Is it really okay for you to not be at the pub, Onee?" Shin asked. His hands were behind his head.

Akane walked ahead of him with Sakura strapped to her waist.

Akane was strangely quiet. If they were at school, he'd chalk it up to her normal chilly personality but around him, it was weird not seeing her brother-complex flare up like it usually did. Her eyes seemed to be strangely distant and so did her demeanor.

"Oi! Onee!" Shin grabbed her shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was deep in thought," Akane said, smiling.

"Are you okay?" Shin asked.

"Never felt better. So we're going to continue where we left off yesterday when we get there," Akane said.

"Hey, guess what? I can make two bonafide Holy Swords now! That means that we can go on missions again right?" Shin asked.

Akane bit her lip. Her red eyes gazed upon the excited look on her younger brother. For a 17-year-old teenager, Shin looked like he just aged backward four years. Akane said nothing and turned around. They were almost there. She was going to keep her promise to her younger brother.

I'm not going wrong with this. Shin's progressing nicely with the Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu… Akane thought.

"Hey, Onee, thanks for taking the time to teach me. I know between graduation and the pub, you're really busy. Not to mention the missions," Shin said.

"Eh? Shin, I'll always have time for you. As your big sister, I'll always be there for you to help and guide you with anything you need," Akane said. She paused briefly in their walk and turned around.

She brought her face close to her brother's and gave him a piercing stare. "So don't you ever feel like you have to beg me for anything, got it?"

"Er… I just said thank you," Shin said.

"Like I said, it's no problem," Akane said. She flicked his forehead, causing Shin to stumble back slightly.

Akane smiled and continued their walk.

The two stopped at their ever-familiar training area. Akane turned around and crossed her arms. "Alright, let's go over a brief rundown of how to perform the Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu. Since I know you and I have extremely different senses, we'll have to leave that for another time and compensate with the Raisai Senkan charm because as I've said when we started…"

"Your version requires a higher sensory level than the standard," Shin finished.

"Right. Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu is just like the Onigari-Ryuu, involving rapid strikes and explosive battoujutsu attacks in order to rapidly overwhelm our opponents. But you and I both know that it doesn't just stop at swords. Many practitioners of the Onigari-Ryuu have incorporated different weapons with different techniques over the years such as you and Kureha with firearms. However, my version demands a higher level of dexterity and skill. Not only do you need to be able to draw and strike fast, you must be able to put out 100% of the effort your muscles can produce and using Ki to enhance those strokes," Akane said. "Watch. I'll do it without Ki so you can see the effects."

She widened her stance and held her hand above the hilt of Sakura. In one stroke, Akane drew her blade with blinding speed.

Shin could tell his sister had held back. What he was just a blur after all but if he could see it, that meant Akane had held back.

The rock in front of them was split down the middle in such a perfect manner that it looked as if a machine had done it.

"You didn't use ki for that one?" Shin asked.

"No, but you will. You need to channel all the Ki to your muscles simultaneously when using sword arts from the Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu while also moving all your muscles in unison. That's why I said it demands a great deal of skill and dexterity that most people… and I say most, don't have. You need to have some level of control over your own body," Akane said, sheathing her sword.

"Alright, so I need to have body control and ki control? At the same time? We've been practicing this for five days. I think I can get this down. Alright, let's see. Use Raisai Senkan for this. I don't want you accidentally almost chopping an arm off like yesterday," Akane said.

"Onee, you know that was an accident. Besides, I got this," Shin said. He constructed a katana and widened his stance like his older sister did.

"Your stance is too narrow." Akane walked around and smacked his ankles with Sakura's scabbard.

Shin grimaced and widened them a little.

"A little more," Akane said.

Shin nodded and shuffled his feet apart just a smidge more.

"Good. Now, use Raisai Senkan and we can get started on katas," Akane said.

Shin nodded and relaxed his stance. He pulled a white talisman from his pocket and channeled magic power into it. "Seidodoku-fu: Raisai Senkan. Come forth with accordance to law."

Shin's eyes glowed blue and a strange ring formed around his pupils. His vision sharpened considerably, allowing him to take in the world in far better detail than a normal human. The birds in the sky flew in slow motion and he could even see the movements of the insects and the blades of grass.

"Ready?" Akane asked.

"Ready," Shin said. He resumed his stance and held his hand over the sword.

"Go."

"Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu: Shin'en Kougeki!" Shin rapidly drew the blade and slashed several times at a rock.

"Again. Too slow. Look at the rock. It's not even scratched!" Akane barked.

Shin grimaced. Onee's in Sergeant mode now, he thought. But he was determined. If this was what it took to begin stepping down his sister's path to strength, then he would continue. Now, and when it was all over.

Shin sheathed the blade and performed the attack once again.

"You're not being precise with your strikes. Again!"

And so, this living hell for Shin repeated over…

"Again!"

…and over…

"Again!"

…and over…

"Again!"

…and over again.

"Do it again!"

"Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu: Shin'en Kougeki!" Shin rapidly drew the blade and sliced the rock several times. This time, his eyes widened in triumph when he saw his blade slice into the stone. His next rapid stroke sliced into it, making the cut deeper. With one final flourish, Shin poured a little bit more mana into the attack and moved faster than he expected.

The speed was too much for him to handle.

His strike missed and he barreled towards his sister. His blade gleamed with a metallic silver light.

"Onee! Watch ou-"

Akane had seen his attack coming from miles away. She parried Shin's katana, sending it in a different direction.

The blade struck the rock and snapped in half due to the angle at which it struck.

Akane sighed. "That's why I told you to spread your ki out unilaterally," Akane said.

"Sorry, that was my bad. But I felt like if I focused more ki into one area than others, then maybe my strikes would increase in speed and strength," Shin said.

"Yes but at the cost of control. The speed and strength that you're already using just for those strikes require a fine level of finesse to handle. Adding more than what you're capable of can lead to potentially fatal movements in battle," Akane said. "Make us bokken. I'll spar with you to show you."

Shin nodded. His arms ached like hell. He constructed two bokken and tossed one to his older sister.

Akane caught it and brought the sword down to her waist.

Shin assumed a stance and eyed his sister.

She didn't assume a stance. The only time she took stances were to demonstrate movements to him. To her and her godlike perception, stances were pointless.

"Begin."

Shin rushed towards his sister and swiped his bokken at her.

Akane blocked the blade and pushed him back.

"In this spar, you can use Musou and the regular Onigari-Ryuu but no using our Authorities. Using a Contract during this fight would be pointless," Akane said.

Shin nodded and rushed back in. "Onigari-Ryuu: Isshin!" He gripped the blade and swung.

His eyes widened when his sister deflected all twelve blows he sent in her direction.

Akane thrust her sword towards Shin.

Shin blocked the attack but the force of her blow sent him sliding into a tree.

Tch! It's just like yesterday. She's holding back but I can clearly see it. The gap between us is as overwhelming as ever. If that's that then…

"Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu: Shin'en Kougeki!" Shin assumed the draw stance and dashed towards Akane.

In a burst of speed, he appeared in front of her and rapidly drew the bokken, slashing and hacking at his older sister several dozen times.

Akane moved and danced around his blows. Her eyes moved rapidly, seeing each and every direction his strikes came from.

"In the end… your technique is still full of holes." Akane dodged the final swipe of Shin's Shin'en Kougeki.

Shin panted and looked at his older sister. She wasn't even winded. He gripped the sword tightly and clenched his jaw.

He let out a battle cry and rushed Akane once more.

He would succeed.

I can do it!

I can pull off this technique perfectly!

I will reach her!

Shin swiped the bokken at her head.

Akane parried the blade.

He quickly recovered and brought it down in a ferocious downward strike.

Akane sidestepped the attack.

"Haaah! Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu: Shin'en Kougeki!" Shin widened his stance and slashed his sister again.

"I realize that we're in the middle of a spar, Shin-chan, but…"

Shin suddenly found himself looking at the sky. He had been knocked on his back once more.

"This time, your movement was full of holes and openings," Akane said, looking down at his downed form. "Should we stop now and go back to practicing?"

"No…"

"Hmm?"

"I will land one hit on you today! Even if it's just a glancing blow! Then we can go back to learning! And besides, this is learning too…"

Akane tilted her head in confusion.

"Learning from experience!" Shin jumped to his feet and swiped the sword at his older sister's neck.

Akane blocked the attack, holding it there.

"Tch!" Shin pushed against his sister's bokken, gaining no ground. He jumped back and stood still, panting as he analyzed his sister's demeanor.

"Shin-chan, I told you we would spar to show you how many holes you had in your technique. I've seen them. Especially here," Akane said, pointing to his left.

"Huh?" He bit down a scream when he felt his sister's bokken hit his left leg.

"You like to leave that area open when you do the Shin'en Kougeki." Akane raised her sword and swiped at his chest.

Shin dodged the attack narrowly.

"And when you do downward swipes, you telegraph your attacks too obviously. What happened to rapid and strong?" Akane said.

Shin clenched his jaw. He rushed towards his older sister and repeated the same technique.

"Here."

Block.

"There."

Another block.

"And finally here."

Shin found his final blow being sent into the air. He coughed, feeling the weight of a palm strike from his sister hit his abdomen. He stumbled back and fell to his knee.

"Like I said, your technique is still full of holes," Akane said, lowering her hand. She brought her sword down to her side and held her hand out.

"I give. You win again, Onee," he admitted. His left hand was balled into a tight fist.

Shin grabbed her hand and got up.

"Still full of holes, huh?" Shin said, smiling bitterly. "Do you think I can get it down eventually? I mean, it took you a few months to fully develop the style."

Akane smiled sympathetically. She reached up and ruffled his hair, bringing him into a one-armed hug (headlock).

"Ow! Wait, what the!? Onee!"

"Don't worry about your skills. I think that you can do it. You'll find your own way," Akane said, giving him a noogie.

"Hey! Cut that out!" Shin yelled, breaking free from her headlock. He turned around and sighed.

Akane frowned, looking at her brother's back. His body was tense. She reached out to touch his shoulder when Shin suddenly slapped both his cheeks with his hand.

"What are you doing?" Akane asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Watch this! At least I think I can do Shin'en Senkou!" Shin said, grinning.

He ran over to the rock he was mercilessly assaulting with the Musou-no-Onigari-Ryuu earlier and assumed the draw stance.

Akane's eyes widened considerably.

"Eh? Wait! Shin'en Senkou needs more muscle and ki control to-"

The woods were soon filled with Shin's cry of pain.

"Ara, it's been a while since I had to do this," Akane giggled.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up," Shin grumbled.

He was currently in the most embarrassing position he envisioned himself in. Akane was giving him a piggyback ride back to the house to get healed by Asia. Using the Shin'en Senkou had caused him to sprain his ankle. Shin had clearly miscalculated the level of skill needed to pull off such a high-speed, high-impact technique. But for some reason, it felt nice.

"The last time I had to get carried back was when I was 12. Remember when we were practicing the Onigari-Ryuu and I was learning how to properly use Mystic Gear?" Shin asked.

"Hmm? Yeah, I remember that. You were such a cute kid back then. Where did the days go?" Akane said in faux distress.

"Yeah. You were a chuuni back then, Onee," Shin laughed.

"Hey. No need to bring up my dark history now, Shin-chan," Akane said in mock anger.

"But… this brings back memories," Shin said.

"If you were a bit smaller, you could nuzzle into my shoulder like you did when you were a kid," Akane teased.

"H-Hey! I'm a grown man! Just being carried by my older sister is a bit embarrassing, you know!" Shin stuttered.

"Yeah, you are," Akane said.

A moment of silence passed between them as they rounded the corner to their street.

"Hey, Onee."

"Hmmm?"

"When can we start going on missions together again?" he asked.

"After the school year ends, we'll see how it goes," Akane answered.

"It's going to be fun, I think. Going on missions with Onee again. Maybe I'll take some jobs with Sophia too. It'll be good to get back out there," Shin said.

"Hey, Shin. Why do you want to be strong?" Akane asked.

"Why? Well… uh, that's a bit embarrassing," Shin said.

"Why is it embarrassing? It's just the two of us here," Akane said, slowing her steps as they arrived at their house. She whistled for Ran or whoever was home to open the gate.

"I want to be like you," Shin said.

"Like me?" Akane was taken aback by this answer.

"Yeah, Onee is so strong and confident. Sophia even knows who you are. Everyone wants to hire you. I want to be just like you one day," Shin said.

Akane remained silent. The gate clicked and Asia opened it. Her eyes widened when she saw Shin being carried by Akane.

"Eh? Shin-san! Onee! What happened?" Asia asked.

"Ah, I hurt my foot during training. Mind taking a look?" Shin asked.

"Let's get inside! I'll help him from here, Onee!" Asia said.

Akane lowered Shin to the ground, allowing him to balance on one foot as he and Asia went inside.

Shin laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling. The day had gone as he expected. Vivi slept in her bed, snoring soundly while Ran curled up at the foot of his bed. The dog had been sleeping in his bed lately. He didn't mind. It helped mitigate the dreams he'd been having.

The day's events replayed over and over in his mind.

"It's just like yesterday," Shin muttered. He sat up in his bed and contemplated what to do next. He reached over and stroked Ran's fur, rousing the Shikigami from sleep. "Ran, come on. Let's go."

"Master…?" Ran yawned and sat on her haunches.

Shin walked over to his closet and pulled out his jacket and talisman carrier.

"Master, I highly advise getting some rest," Ran said, yawning into her paw.

"I will. I'm just going to practice for a few hours," Shin said.

"Master, Tsukuyomi's at his apex right now. I highly doubt you'd get enough rest for school and work tomorrow," Ran drawled.

"That's a weird analogy. But then again, both of us have been acting weirdly since the fight," Shin said.

"Alright. I'll go with you, Master, if only to keep you out of trouble," Ran said. She hopped down from the bed and walked around Shin's legs.

Shin smiled and grabbed her by the back of her scruff. He placed her inside his jacket and slowly opened his door. His eyes scanned the hallway and his ears perked up. Sophia and Asia were snoring soundly. Ravel's screams of rage could be heard from the same room. He often wondered how the two could sleep when Ravel did that but he sensed magic wafting off the door.

"Onee and Riser should be asleep too. Onee has to go to the pub tomorrow before school," Shin muttered.

"Master, I advise we go now," Ran said.

"Right, let's go," Shin said. He crept down the hall and tiptoed down the stairs. Looking around the living room for any signs of someone awake, Shin sighed in relief. He slinked to the door and opened it slowly. He closed it and locked the door.

"We're in the clear, Ran!" Shin said.

"Shhh, keep it down, Master!" Ran hissed.

"You sounded like a cat just then," Shin whispered.

The two bickered quietly as Shin jumped over the wall. He ran down the street, all the while never knowing that a pair of red eyes were watching him.

I'm on a binge with these chapters. We have officially started the second half of the third arc. After this, we finally move on from canon and into the... relatively unknown. One, these string of chapters are going to slow down because:

A. I have work.

B. I have class.

When you're literally a semester from graduating, the amount of time you have are delegated to weekends and breaks. The rest is for prep and looking for some place to hire you to work after. Anyway, let's go over what happened in this chapter. Shin is trying to become stronger and training underneath his older sister and we're prepping for the arrival of the Three Factions in Kuoh. Maybe. Next chapter.

Anyway, remember to leave a review and to have a great day or not, the choice is yours.