Izumo Kamiki was covered in the blood of her best friend Noriko Paku, a scream caught in her throat. There wasn't much left of the body, just the torso shredded at the waist. The blood mixed with the sweat on her brow and dripped into her eyes, blurring everything Izumo looked at. Or maybe that was the doing of her tears. Her hands were trembling as she reached out to Paku, a tiny part of her brain insisting that maybe if she just shook her shoulder she'd wake up like when they'd had sleep-overs or one of them had fallen asleep during a study session. Izumo's hand clutched Paku's shoulder tightly and she shook with all her might. The torso wobbled on the ground, blood oozing from torn organs and intestines. It looked like she was wearing the True Cross uniform skirt, maybe a darker shade of purple than it normally was. Paku's blood had dyed Izumo's skin a crimson colour and stained her clothes with brown splotches. It was almost as though she'd simply been sprinkled with dirt, nothing more.
"W-wake up, please," Izumo urged softly. Her entire body was trembling, the world was spinning. Next to where she'd collapsed onto her knees lay two discarded summoning papers, her blood smeared messily across the symbols that had been drawn on in great haste. The papers were ripped to shreds now, as useless as they had been to her in a fight.
"Paku, please, we have to go. You have to get up and put on your shoes. You're missing your shoes, we have to find them before we leave, okay?" Izumo gave a panicked laugh and gestured to her friend's nonexistent lower-half. If they found her shoes, maybe her legs would be attached.
Paku's head lolled from side to side as Izumo's shaking became more violent. Why wasn't it working? Just wake up already! Finally, her head snapped to look at Izumo, Paku's eyes completely vacant devoid of any thoughts, even of her last which had been, please god end this pain. And finally Izumo saw that, the reality, that set a fire in her stomach to burn the acid up her throat. She scrambled to her feet and darted away to vomit. It was the contents of an empty stomach, bile and not much else, but she continued to dry heave through her sobbing.
Izumo eventually slumped down next to the fountain. She and Paku had been having lunch, that was it, she could almost picture it. The sun had still been warm in place of the overcast shade that had spilled from Gehenna and consumed the sky. Paku had made bentos for the both of them. It was the most amazing thing Izumo had ever tasted-aside from Okumura's cooking. Izumo tried to think about sitting in the grass while it had been green, rather than coated in a thick layer of ash, next to her friend who was now just a corpse.
In the distance she could hear screaming and she wasn't sure if it was human or not. There was just so much of it and it was so very loud...she slapped her hands over her ears and curled into a ball, teetered on the edge of the fountain. Paku had been all she'd had, her only real friend. The other exorcists, they weren't really there for her like Paku had been, they couldn't possibly care about Izumo, not really.
"Kamiki?"
The voice was too deep but Izumo murmured, "Paku?" as she raised her head, eyes straining through tears to see who was speaking.
Renzou Shima was crouched in front of her, hand outstretched hesitantly, hovering just before her shoulder. He was looking at her with what could only be the most painful concern Izumo had ever seen. She didn't understand, it barely registered in her head.
"Are you all right?" He was looking at all the dried blood on her now, thinking it was hers and not her friend's. Funny that. Izumo hadn't even lost a drop of her own blood, only a bruise over her right eye and a sore wrist. It was as though all that had happened to her was a bit of a trip over a crack in the sidewalk.
Her bottom lip trembled as she tried to speak. "What...what happened? Did you see the demon? Is there still a demon? I don't understand what's happening."
Izumo was staring over Shima's shoulder at Paku now. Still unmoving, still a corpse. It didn't make sense.
"Izumo." She jumped as Shima's hand touched her shoulder gently. "The gate to Gehenna was opened. Yukio and Rin...they, uh, almost died trying to stop it and they managed to send Satan back, but we can't close it. We're waiting for the Illuminati or anyone, but I had to come and find you and make sure..." He swallowed and glanced quickly behind him at Paku and then back. His grip tightened on her shoulder.
"She made us bentos," Izumo said softly, her throat hoarse. She collapsed into Shima's arms, nearly knocking him onto his back. All the strength had left her body, she couldn't even cry, could barely breathe. But in Shima's arms she felt a certainty that crept into her heart, a certainty that things, no matter how bad things got, his arms would shield her.
It was the shockwave that snapped Izumo back to the present, rocking her on her stool and smashing the window shades open. The boom echoed in her ears as she stood up in a daze, holding her summoning papers in her hands. It had been so much quieter in Kyoto, she was still getting used to the screaming and roaring and explosions that happened almost every minute here. She moved to the window to batten down the hatches, but the sight of the city made her pause. It looked like an alien planet, seven years in the making, tall buildings beaten down to the size of shacks, trees ripped and uprooted, blood staining the cracked pavement. Maybe this was a tame version of what lay beyond the gate of Gehenna, a kind of vacation Hell for demons looking to get away from it all. Izumo pulled the window shut and fixed the latch with a piece of thread. It was the same type of thread she'd used to stitch Shima up. She blushed thinking about it; how amateurish of her, and after all that practice with real medical tools. A part of her had been looking forward to showing off.
She retook her seat by the door, keeping an eye out for Ryuji and hopefully Shima, intact at least. It was foolish to worry about him so much, considering he'd survived for so long at ground zero. Izumo touched her lips, the tiniest of smiles tugging at the corners of her mouth. She'd imagined what it had been like to kiss a boy, sometimes, when she was trying to drown out all other noises and drift into sleep. Somehow, as only he could manage, Shima had surpassed her expectations. Somehow, it seemed he'd been given two chances at a first kiss. The first time, the real one, had been a surprise when he'd asked her to come to visit in Kyoto for the summer, only for the sixth time. Izumo had finally said yes and he'd simply leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. It hadn't lasted more than a few seconds, but the feeling was etched into Izumo's mind for eternity. Startlingly sweet and immensely soft.
"I guess he likes to keep up the tradition of romance," she sighed, thinking of the desperate kiss they'd shared only a day ago. That was the kiss that still lingered, like the original had, but in a different way. A scary way. Hidden under all the passion, it had seemed like a farewell kiss, something he would have given her with a whispered "Sayonara" in her ear. Her words to him before she'd left to Kyoto with Ryuji and Miwa.
Sayonara, Ren-chan, because she'd been so certain she'd never see him again. Izumo caught sight of the blood trailing out of the room. Shima's blood. She clenched her fists, her summoning paper crumpling in her palms. She'd ran away after that first kiss and she'd said goodbye when Shima had needed her there. There was no way she was letting that last, sad farewell kiss be the end of things. Following almost exactly in Ryuji's footsteps, Izumo trailed the blood.
Renzou Shima held his stomach as he peered out the window into the courtyard. It was empty, no sign of either Rin or Shura. He turned back to Ryuji, who was sitting in the corner, shuffling through a bag of medical supplies.
"So you saw them leave?" Renzou winced as he walked over and pulled up a chair.
"Yeah and I still have thorns stuck up my ass," Ryuji grumbled.
"Okay, well I'm not going to even ask what that means."
"It means that coming back here was more of a pain in the ass than even I could have imagined." Holding up an un-labelled pill bottle, Ryuji shook it and tossed it back in the bag. "Who else is missing?"
"Uh, Shiemi, but Shura went to find her so I'm sure she's fine by now, right?" Renzou gave a tiny, half-hearted chuckle. "And then of course Yukio is off being...Yukio. I dunno, I've honestly tried to stay away from the whole mess as much as possible."
"Gambling."
"Finding hobbies, sure." Renzou shrugged.
"Would you have come with us?" Ryuji set the bag down. He looked at Renzou in his good eye. "Given a chance to do things over again...would you have come with us to Kyoto?"
Renzou gave another light chuckle and shook his head slowly. "Naw, I wouldn't have been much use to you guys anyways. I mean, as much as I would have liked to say goodbye to, uh, to everyone I think it worked better this way." He tapped the side of his head. "Saved the best memories up here, I can think of home like that. The three of us trying to catch ghosts just so you could get a leg up on Exorcist training."
"You and Miwa stayed out in the cold with me all day that one winter, right? Looking for a banshee my father had made up." Ryuji grinned.
An explosion shuddered the building and he braced Renzou before he toppled out of his chair.
"That was too close," Renzou muttered. He clambered back to the window, Ryuji close behind him. Before they reached it, a scream found them and Renzou stopped cold.
"Izumo." He grabbed the windowsill and leaned out, squinting through the grime and smoke to find her. There was another whoosh of hot air as the corner of the courtyard exploded, rubble flying through the air and smashing against the building near the window.
Izumo burst out of a cloud of black smoke, blood streaming down her arm as she stumbled across the courtyard, headed for the building. A figure dropped down in front of her, cutting off her exit and with a flick of his wrist, sent her flying backwards into a tree.
"We have to get down there." Renzou's voice cracked with panic as he whipped around to Ryuji.
"I'll go. You're injured, you stay here." He started for the door but Renzou followed after him.
"No I'm not, I'm going down there and we're going to save her."
Ryuji stopped, pulled a gun from the holster around his hip, and pressed it to Renzou's head as he limped forward. The muggle rested against the middle of his forehead.
"I'm not losing anymore friends." Ryuji's eyes were clouded with fear.
"Then you won't shoot me, will you?"
He lowered the gun to Renzou's thigh, finger hovering over the trigger.
"We don't have time for this bullshit, Bon. You don't want anymore friends to die? Then stop being so afraid of losing them. Stop being afraid of the worst. You're the strongest person I know, but right now it's like I've lost my friend, like I've lost Koneko, like we might lose Izumo. You can't afford to be afraid." Renzou stared him down until another explosion pushed him forward. He placed a hand on the gun and held it up with Ryuji's hand. "We're fucking exorcists, and we're gonna kill a fucking demon and save a girl."
Somehow, despite the pain and the bleeding, Izumo found the clarity of thought to mentally kick herself for not being careful. How long had he been tracking her? He'd probably been following her since she'd left the building.
Coughing up thick, bloody saliva, Izumo pulled herself upright. Bark had torn up the skin on the back of her neck and dug into the soft flesh of her upper arms. She had just enough time to get back to her feet before Amaimon appeared in front of her again.
"The book?" He held a hand out to her expectantly. "Nii-san was disappointed when I didn't come back with it last time. We can't have that again."
"I don't have any book, idiot!" Izumo screamed in frustration and pain. She dug a pair of fresh summoning papers from her pocket, blood streaming down her arm onto the pages.
"I humbly call the Gods of Harvest. Follow my wishes, leave none unfulfilled!"
Uke and Mike burst forward, lunging for Amaimon as Izumo darted in the other direction, starting for the dormitory again. She had to make it. She was going to make it. It couldn't be a farewell kiss. Just one more.
Her heart skipped as Shima and Bon appeared in the doorway, rushing towards her. In the same instance a guttural yelp echoed behind her. Uke disappeared in a violent burst of white smoke. She reached the boys just as Amaimon snapped Mike's neck.
"Pests," he tutted, starting towards the three of them. He took two steps and then winced as two bullets dug into his chest. Bon fired again as he spoke over his shoulder to Shima and Izumo.
"You two get inside, I'll deal with this."
"This isn't what I meant about not being afraid," Shima said irritably, holding Izumo tightly to his chest.
"Don't even worry about it," Bon shot again as Amaimon drew nearer, becoming angrier by the second, "I'll be right behind you."
"Bon!"
He turned back to the demon just as Amaimon threw a pebble. It was tiny, smooth, and tore right through Bon's shoulder, knocking him backwards onto the ground.
"I don't appreciate being shot," the demon said with a bored tone.
Izumo couldn't do anything, Uke and Mike were gone and she wasn't strong enough to summon anything else without it turning on her. Shima gave her a meek smile.
"Check on Bocchan, okay?"
She nodded numbly and hurried over to Bon. Shima took a deep breath and bit his thumb. He dragged it over his left arm as he spoke, "Let me shed the blood of those you might shed that of the innocents." The demon sword emerged from his arm and he held it with both hands, pointed at Amaimon.
"One of your new hobbies?" Bon asked as Izumo helped him sit upright.
"If you hit on Shura long enough, eventually she teaches you a thing or two." Shima realized how that sounded and blushed at Izumo. "What I mean is...she, uh, showed me how to..." He waggled the sword at her. "She showed me how to do the thing."
"So you're the one who possesses the demon blade Kage Ketsueki now. I would have never guessed." Amaimon observed the sword.
Shima didn't say a word, he lunged forward slicing at Amaimon's side. The blade barely missed, clipping off a patch of his jacket. Amaimon leapt backwards and raised his hands, a large chunk of earth lifted into the air and flew towards Shima. Izumo flinched, bracing for impact, but a metallic clang hit her ears. She blinked and looked up as the sword sliced through the earth and stone, splitting it into two halves. Shima grinned and attacked again. Each movement was fluid and eerily calm. It was hypnotizing.
"Are you okay?" Bon distracted Izumo from the display and she nodded.
"I'll be fine. You?"
"My shoulder's shot, but you won't hear me complaining." Bon got to his feet and helped Izumo up. His eyes flicked over at the sounds of the sword clanging against stone, then back to her. "Why would such a high level demon be attacking us?"
"He...he mentioned something about a book." Izumo kept her eyes on Shima, a tiny gasp escaping her lips as he just barely dodged a strike. He was growing tired. "I don't know what he wants. I don't understand why this is happening."
"Ah, the naivety of a child."
Bon and Izumo both glanced up behind them at Mephisto Pheles sitting in the air behind them, a warm grin on his face. He dropped to the ground daintily and patted them both on the head.
"It's been too long, my lovely students. How was Kyoto? Abysmal, I assume. Yes, yes, Satan's been quite busy bossing everyone around. It's a shame really, how intent he is on destroying the entirety of this country I've come to love so dearly." He didn't even look at them. Izumo shoved his hand away. "What have you been doing?"
"Keeping an eye on my darling little brother, of course. He's about to do something incredibly foolish, I'm afraid." Mephisto's focus remained on the fight. Izumo tore her eyes away from him to look at Shima. Her mouth hung open. Shima was on his last legs, staggering backwards and only blocking. She moved forward towards him, but Mephisto caught her arm.
"It's it amazing how cruel the world can be?" he said softly.
Izumo tugged, trying to pry her arm loose from his vice grip. It was impossible. Shima grunted as Amaimon battered him down to the ground, fists bouncing off the demon blade.
"Every little mistake can cost a life these days." Mephisto gave Bon a side-glance as the boy rushed forward only to crash into an invisible barrier. He slammed his fist against it as Amaimon broke through Shima's defense and hit his shoulder. It snapped and Shima cried out as his shoulder popped out of its socket.
With one hand, he raised the sword to guard against Amaimon, but the demon knocked it aside easily and grabbed the back of Shima's head with one hand, lifting him off the ground. Shima grasped at Amaimon's hand as best he could, struggling with what little strength he had left to get free.
Mephisto finally released Izumo and she crashed against the same barrier as Bon, slapping her palms on the hard air, tears streaming down her cheeks. She needed one more. She could barely remember the feeling on her lips now. It couldn't be a farewell kiss.
Shima dropped his hand and reached for his sword as Amaimon pulled his arm back to strike. Two things happened in the same instance. The demon blade Kage Ketsueki disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared lodged in Amaimon's chest just as the demon drove his hand through Shima's stomach clean through to the other side. Blood splattered over Izumo's feet and she staggered backwards.
"NO!" Bon screamed, hammering his fist against the barrier.
"The demon blade Kage Ketsueki is quite special. It holds Gara Gara within it, a marvelous failsafe." Mephisto appeared over by Amaimon, who dropped Shima and stared down at the sword in confusion. "Kage Ketsueki is no fan of demons, my poor brother." Mephisto pulled the sword free, jerking Amaimon's body forward slightly before it disintegrated into dust.
Izumo staggered forward, her arms stuck to her sides. Shima looked like himself save for the gaping hole in his stomach. Tears rolled down her cheeks as Izumo frantically thought about how she hardly had enough thread to sew him back together.
"Renzou!" Bon overtook her in two strides and crumpled to his knees next to Shima. He didn't cry, he hadn't cried when Izumo and Tatsuma had helped him bury Konekomaru. Now he wore that same expression, almost as dead as his friend. Izumo couldn't stomach it, the stench of blood, how thick and quiet the air had suddenly become, that lingering feeling on her lips.
Bon closed Shima's eye and murmured a prayer for him. Mephisto approached Izumo with the demon blade slung over his shoulder.
"A horrible thing, in fact the most horrible thing, is the struggle to find balance, don't you think? Between good and evil and life and death. Who deserves what and why? Well here's the simple truth." He handed the sword to Izumo and she looked at it blankly before hesitantly gripping the handle. "Justice comes with reason, revenge comes with passion. In death there is reason and in life there is passion. Death is the what and life is the why. So, then, if you know the what, the end of all things, then what's the point, hm? Why even bother fighting?"
Izumo thought back to their first meeting after seven years, about her apology.
"Don't be. You did what you thought was right." He hadn't even batted an eye before forgiving her. Don't be sorry. Easier said than done because in her heart Izumo felt nothing but regret and sorrow. The sword was so heavy she could barely hold it up. It was like she was trying to carry Shima's memory in hands.
"It's funny, don't you think? Humans and demons both ask why and neither are ever satisfied with the answer they receive. Why did he have to die? Why am I still alive? Why does it even matter?" Mephisto adjusted his hat and glanced up at the sky. "Looks like rain."
The first few light pellets of rain began to fall as Bon continued to chant and Izumo stared down at Shima's body. It was like Sir Pheles said, every time her mind asked why she couldn't muster an answer. It was like with Paku, nothing made sense, her mind was blank, filled with the echo of her own voice.
Sayonara, Ren-chan.