"Wait...do you hear that?" Logan stopped in his tracks, holding up a hand. He was at the head of their small group now. Their initial rapid pace had quickly slowed due to fatigue and the frigid temperatures. They were not at all prepared to climb a mountain, let alone in the wee hours of morning. Masaki had assured them it wasn't that far now, but even if they reached the shrine in time Logan wondered if they would be in any condition to fight.

"It's just the wind," Masaki chattered, but Logan scrunched his brow.

"No...it's something else..." he whipped his eyes to the heavens, and his jaw popped open. Five people were flying through the air like birds, quickly zeroing in on Logan and the others' position. Demons? Or mutants? Were they being attacked?

Suddenly something whooshed past Logan, landing with a small puff of dust on the rocks at his feet.

"Nii-chan?" Bon asked, incredulous.

"That's the chick's little demon friend thing, right?" Logan asked, recalling his initial meeting with the exorcists, "Then...does that mean?"

They all craned their heads up towards the sky once again, the people in the sky now unmistakably familiar.

"What the hell?" Bon yelled, and Logan merely shook his head, for once speechless.

"Nii!" The little green dude squeaked, and suddenly a mass of vines burst from his chest like a nest of snakes. Little trees sprouted from the ground, quickly springing up six feet, no twelve feet...they grew taller and taller, forming a frame for the vines to wrap around, weaving a net to catch the falling kids.

"What...the hell..." Logan repeated Suguro, eyes wide as Yukio - his coat flapping wildly behind him - crashed into the net. There was no way for a net even that large or tall to save someone falling with that velocity, right? As the rest of the kids crashed into the net, though, their descent slowed. Some of the vines wrapped around them before releasing them again, slowing their haphazard fall even more.

Bon rushed forward, reaching the strange plant structure just as Yukio reached the ground.

"Okumura-san! Okumura-san!"

Logan followed, watching as the vines lowered each kid to the ground before abruptly vanishing. The little green guy wearily floated up towards Shiemi, who cradled the critter lovinly to her bosom.

"I take it you must be Yukio Okumura, and the exwire class from True Cross Academy," Masaki said as the students stumbled to their feet, eyes wide, seemingly surprised they were alive.

"Yes...I'm Yukio Okumura..." Yukio said, trying to straighten his coat with shaking hands, "And who are you?"

"I'm Masaki Nobu, the priest at the Asama shrine in Kawaguchiko."

"Okay, enough with the pleasantries! What the hell was that? Can you fly now?" Logan interrupted, causing Yukio to adjust his glasses and clear his throat.

"The kodama residing in Aokigahara helped us get this far. We're trying to reach the shrine and stop Iha-naga."

"Same here. And I'm guessing you know she has control of Okumura? I don't know how she's doing it..." Suguro stated.

"We do. She has a heart fragment of the god Okuninushi and is using its magic to control demons. She revealed it to us when she came and kidnapped Yukio."

"Wait! Iha-naga has Yukio?"

Okumura glanced into Logan's eyes before glancing away, "Yes. I'm sorry. There's nothing we could do."

Logan clenched his fists and turned away, "We still have to sunrise to kill this bitch, right? Let's get moving."

"We still don't know how to stop her, though!" Izumo said, still clutching her side. Shima and Shiemi carefully lowered her to the ground, but she still winced.

"Let me treat that wound, Kamiki-san," Shiemi said quietly.

The group stood in silence for a moment, considering their situation. They were facing two powerful foes, and only had about an hour before their window of opportunity vanished. When the sun rose, the sacrifice would begin. All those people would die, and Iha-naga would become too powerful for them to stop.

For a moment Yukio considered leaving. They had recovered Logan and Suguro - they could probably make it back to the Order while the goddess was distracted and come back with enough powerful exorcists to stop Iha-naga. That was the logical thing to do. Shiemi was exhausted, Izumo was injured, and Yukio was the only qualified exorcist here, and he was running low on ammo. He always made a point to be well armed, even just around the cram school. But fighting those demons off in the forest had nearly wiped out his resources.

But if he did turn back now, thousands would die. Not to mention, what would happen to Rin? There was no denying he was a threat if the Order saw him like this. If they didn't kill him on the spot, he would surely be executed upon their return. That is, if the exorcists could even manage to kill him.

Yukio took stock of his weapons, sighing.

"What if we could get the heart fragment away from her?" Bon said, "That's why she's so powerful, right? And it's how she's controlling Okumura."

Konekomaru shook his head, "That could work, but we can't get close. Even at that distance, the miasma was almost overpowering. The heart fragment is toxic - I'm sure if someone actually laid hands on it, it would kill them."

Logan perked up, disconnected thoughts that had been floating in his head for hours now suddenly falling into place.

"I could get close. It wouldn't kill me."

Okumura clenched his fists, "No, it's too dangerous."

"We don't have much of a choice, bub. Iha-naga's got Yukio, and your brother. I'm not going to abandon them. Are you?"

"Even if you are immune to the heart fragment, how are you going to get close enough to the goddess? And destroy it? We're not strong enough," Yukio hissed.

"That's bullshit. I'm going to save my friends, whether you're coming or not."

"My students are injured, and exhausted!" Yukio shouted to Logan's back.

"Yeah? I don't see them complaining."

Yukio turned to see the exwires looking at him with determined expressions.

"We're not afraid to stay and fight," Bon state firmly.

"Pease, Yuki - we have to save Yukio-san and Rin," Shiemi pleaded, eyes once again teary.

"But Izumo-"

"Don't take pity on me!" With a grunt, she stood to her feet, looking annoyed, "We've come all this way, it would be stupid to go back now."

Yukio looked into each of their eyes, then let his gaze drop to his feet.

He was an exorcist, a teacher - he was responsible for his students' safety. He should follow protocol and contact the Order, he should get the exwires and Logan and the priest to safety.

"Alright, we'll go ahead. But we need a plan."

"We're a little short on time, bub."

"We are not going in blind. This is already dangerous, let's not make it suicidal," Yukio growled.

"If I may - I have an idea," Masaki spoke up, timidly stepping in between Logan and Yukio's fiery glares.

"What?"

"I may know something that will help us defeat Iha-naga."