Not gonna lie, I struggled a lot with writing this. I didn't want to pace it too fast, but this story arc as a whole felt laggy, and I wasn't sure if the upcoming reveal is too suden or too obvious or not obvious enough... along with what I knew had to happen in this chapter. I'm SO sorry, guys, but I had planned this a while ago... please let me know what to do if I want to implement this sort of thing in the future, and how to do it.

...I'm sorry... *bawls*

Chapter 32: Uh-oh

The second demon – a waitress at the inn – slumped on the ground before dissipating into smoke, leaving several confused villagers wondering where she'd gone as Iris walked through the front door, inspecting the robe.

"Not a scratch," she muttered, turning her arm over.

"Yes, but you're all out of breath." Tobi responded from inside her bag. "Are sure you can handle three at once when we get to Rao's temple?"

"I'll have you, won't I?" Iris looked at him. "It won't be a problem."

"You're not scared?"

"Don't be ridiculous." She walked towards the entrance to the city. "Now, we just have to wait for Waka to get back from… ah-hah!" Her eyes flickered over to where she'd spotted a figure with a tail sprint into a large building – the kimono shop. It already reeked of curses and despair, and she could hear wails and calls for help inside. "Let's get to it, Tobi!" She dashed towards the kimono shop, failing to notice Tobi shifting uncomfortably inside the bag.

"Iris, I have a bad feeling about all of this…" Tobi muttered as they walked into the tainted shop, and he twisted into his more powerful form. "Something isn't right."

"Well of course not, the place is cursed." Iris pulled her blade out. "Well, at least for now."

"I'm serious, Iris, I can't shake the feeling we're walking into something bigger than…" Tobi trailed off, staring at something. "Oh, goodness…"

"What are you-" Iris stared. At the center of the room, a small circle of people – children, their mothers, a father, the shopkeeper's wife – were laid out, brutally torn up and dying quickly. Iris ran over, and looked from one to another, desperately looking for one that had been spared, but to no avail – half of them were already gone, and the few living were drawing their last breaths. "No…" She clenched her teeth, and looked up. "Whoever did this pays, ya got it?!"

"Oh, we don't think so," the third demon of Sei-An City stepped out, tail swishing, "silly Ayame. You think you can beat"

"All four of us?" Three more foxes, each in a different colored mask, appeared from the shadows.

"You don't even have the sacred sword…" one of them chuckled as the three began to circle her.

"…Not that it would do you any good…" The second one snickered.

"Poor Rao…" the third one added, "without her prayer slips, she never stood a chance…"

"Must be lonely, dead in your own temple up on a hill, your only hope destroyed on you…"

"And now, the only hero this city has is about to be our lunch…" all four laughed. "Oh, what fun this shall be, hearing you scream for mercy…"

"Shut it!" Iris swallowed, trying to ignore the pounding in her chest that threatened to deafen her. One laughed, and she swung, knocking the mask on the thing to the ground. Large puddles of dark blood hit the ground in thick and gooey drops. The demon glared, and Iris smirked before it lunged.

She ducked. It was behind her. She spun, and swung again, plunging her blade into its shoulder when it leapt. Tobi swung at another one with his fists, and she heard another one yelp. The one she'd hit growled and tried to spring towards her, but fell from the limp and instead bit at her robe. The fabric would not give way, and Iris kicked it before driving Poet's Wrath into its heart, and watching it dissipate in a furious yowl.

"Iris!" She spun, and saw Tobi surrounded. The unmasked one lunged at him, and he grabbed it, throwing it to the ground.

"Hang in there, Tobi, I'll deal with the other two!" Iris ran forward, but the other two were way ahead of her. In rapid succession her head, the back of her scalp, her stomach, and her back were suddenly hit hard by their heavy tails, and Iris felt the blade lave her hand. She broke out of the onslaught and reached for the blade, but they were back again, knocking her to the ground, cackling.

"Iris!" Tobi ran to her, but was knocked down by the unmasked demon, who slowly strode over, smirking.

"Iris, hm? What a fitting name. Lift her up." Iris felt herself pulled up by their tails, while her back slipped to the ground. "A fitting name indeed – Iris, a flower. Very pretty," the demon's tail went to her bag, and rummaged around, ultimately curling around the sacred dagger Himiko had given her and holding up for her to see, "but ultimately weak and useless. Iris… goodbye." It brandished the blade above its head, before plunging down to her heart.

"AAAAGH!" Wait, that wasn't me! Iris's eyes snapped open, and she watched in horror as the blade sunk into Tobi's bandages, the hilt glowing with power as the paper he was made of began to unravel and wrap around it.

"Tobi!" Iris tore herself out of the demons' grips, and found her blade on the floor. There was no pain. There was no sadness. There was only anger and determination. "You're gonna pay!"

The unmasked one went down first with two blows to the head, too stunned from her breaking free and seeing one of his own sacrifice themselves for a human to even think about dodging. The one who'd hit her stomach was next, and she'd served like with like via one deep stab just below its diaphragm after knocking it into the wall. The third was the easiest of all – it just stared in horror and fear, and a single cut to the neck stopped its shaking. Iris stood for a moment, watching them all dissipate into smoke, before the anger cooled and panic set in.

"Tobi!" Iris dashed over to where the slowly shrinking mass of unraveled bandages lay, still slowly wrapping around the dagger. She tried to pull it out, but they stuck fast. "Tobi! Tobi, say something!"

"…Iris…" the voice was faint, and Iris felt her throat tighten at the sound of it. "Iris… you beat all of them…"

"But I couldn't save you…" she looked at the people who hadn't recovered – three or four adults – and weren't moving. "I couldn't save them…" water was threatening to spill down from her eyes as she looked at Tobi. "Tobi, I'm sorry, this dagger wasn't supposed to hit-"

"Yes…" the bandage were changing now, and the red ink was changing black and forming holy symbols along its length as it coiled around her wrist and became thicker, smoother in material. "It was. Thank you, Iris…" the eye, the only thing left in red, melted away into one more symbol, and the thick silk ribbon – the Prayer Ribbon – glowed gold, undisturbed by Iris's tears splashing down on it.

"Tobi…" Iris clenched the ribbon in her hand, and let the torrent of emotion spill out in broken sobs.