In the end, that poison really has gotten to me. This is bad.

Damn it, this is what happens when I decide to over think something important. I think that I'm actually dying this time. "Oi, oi, oi", Juuji said with a mischievous smile when he caught me hesitating, "Could it be that you're finally getting tired ?" I was standing beside him, trying to focus on Seiji's movements. "I don't know.. what you're talking about", I mumbled softly. I was clinging onto the wound on my side. I could feel the sharp pain worsen. I would've ate another one of my sweets to discard the pain like before, but I had a feeling that it would've just made it worse. So I didn't. Juuji reached for my hand and pulled me back into him. At that point, I was struggling to maintain my balance and almost fell over. He caught me and was looking down at me with that same, mischievous smile. "It's not good to lie you know ?", he said as he moved in front of me and suddenly placed me on his back, "Especially when I'm here. If you plan on dying, then I really will take the chance to kill you myself." I chuckled and clung onto him. "Jeez", I said with a grin, "What a demanding person.."

"JUUJI LOOK OUT !!"

He had jumped upwards and had barely missed getting hit by Kaori. She was looking up at him with a scowl. I was sure that she intended to follow after him but Azalin threw something at her which caused her attention to turn back to her and Sara. "And where do you think you're going !?", is what Sara had shouted at her, "You're leaving yourself wide open !" I watched as Kaori turned around and went back for Azalin. But Azalin being Azalin, dodged and fought back. Besides, she had Sara with her. She wasn't exactly alone. I wanted to help. I wanted to help them. I didn't want to leave them alone to fight like this. But Juuji.. while Kaori was distracted, he brought me to a place where I would be able to recover. It wasn't that far away from where they all were. He slowly sat me down against the trunk of the tree and took his off jacket. He placed it on me and loomed over me. "Don't do anything rash", he said in a scolding yet, jokingly manner, "Got it ? You need to recover. Don't die on me either." I chuckled and put on his jacket. "No promises", I said, before he disappeared.

When I was left alone, I took out my pendant and stared at it. I had a choice. To either worsen my condition and stay afar to let them fight on their own, or to worsen my condition and help them. They both seemed like bad options. I reluctantly opened my pendant and stared at the candy that was in my hand. If push comes to shove, then the worse thing that could really happen to me is that I die.

Oh well. I don't care for this life anyways.

There was a surprised look on Sara's face when I appeared behind Kaori. I brought a finger up to my lips and smiled as if I were going to tell a secret. I was going to hit her on the back of the neck when she suddenly turned around. She managed to grab my arm and throw me over her shoulder. I did a front flip to avoid crashing into the ground. I stopped beside Azalin, who kept her gaze on Kaori. "Not this time", Kaori said as she pointed towards me, "I won't allow you to make a fool out of me again !" I shifted my position and went to her first. "It doesn't matter", I said when she blocked me from hitting her, "Sometimes there's a thing called a second chance." Kaori shoved me back and followed after. I caught her hand and made sure to keep her in place. The thing that Azalin had put on her was still on effect. Did I draw out her attention already ? "There's no such thing as second chances", she snapped, "Especially for people like us !" I released her arm and kneed her in the stomach. She flinched at the pain. "I won't argue with you on that", I had mumbled.

"Shiori look out !!" I moved back just as I noticed a quick but faint gleam appear right in front of me. When I looked up, Seiji was suddenly standing there. He stood in front of Kaori, glaring. As a response, I stared back. Kaori reluctantly sat up and took deep breaths as she clutched her stomach. Juuji was no where to be seen. However, judging on the wounds that were on Seiji, I assumed that he had something to do with it. I just didn't know where he was.

"Seiji", I called out, "You look exhausted. Why don't we put an end to this ?" He smirked. "And how exactly do you plan to do that ?", he had asked, "Do you plan to kill us now that we're like this ?" I shook my head. "No", I replied sternly. "That's not what I aim to do." "You lie", he said. "Aren't you the one who's trying to..." Before he could finish, he was cut off. We all turned towards the direction of the noise. Something seemed off. Not that far away from us, there was an explosion. Following after, a rushing Juuji. "Where the hell have you been !?", Sara shouted as she hit him. He looked a bit distracted. "Shut up", he replied, looking about, "We gotta leave. That person is trying to do something." "Who ?" From the corner of my eye, I could see a look of concern on Seiji's face. "That person that I saw moving around while we were all distracted by each other", Juuji said sternly, "They're trying to kill us by keeping us here." "Who is this person ?", Azalin asked, narrowing her gaze. "I don't know", he replied, "I tried to follow but was caught off guard when I saw that explosion. We have to leave !" Kaori and I exchanged glances. She averted her gaze.

"She knows", she mumbled softly, "She knows that we've failed to kill you." "I don't understand", I replied, "I thought your goal was to bring me back to Makai." "That wasn't just it", Seiji said. "What ?" "After bringing you to Makai,we were supposed to bring you to that person. After, they planned to kill you in order to widen the seal that opened to the human world." "So they were just going to kill you off for failing ?", Sara asked. "Seiji it sounds like they'd kill you whether you succeeded or not !" Seiji didn't reply. Again, there was another explosion. It was getting closer. I could feel a hand on my wrist. It was Juuji. "What're you doing ?", I asked as I stared at his hand. "Leaving", he said sternly. "Wait", I said as I broke free from him. I moved away from them. "What do you mean by wait, we can't-" 

There.

This is...!

"DON'T MOVE."

"What're you talking about Shiori !?"

After a moment of looking though the area, I finally understood that uneasy feeling that I had. I finally realized to why something felt off the moment we heard that explosion. We had fallen for a trap. Whoever led Seiji and Kaori on their mission was here. It was all planned out. They were watching from somewhere nearby. "This is a trap !", I called out, frowning, "Don't move, there are red lines by your feet !!" "What do you mean..", Sara replied reluctantly as she looked around, "I don't see any.."

....!

Before I could hear Sara finish, I turned around to see a flash of red light moving in my direction. Following after, a wave of dust. As a reflex, I crossed my arms to brace myself from that light. I knew that it would eventually come to hit me but... It didn't. My eyes widened when I caught sight of a silhouette that appeared in front of me. Amidst all damage and loud noises, I could see a white light.

"You're...!"

Shortly after, it all subsided. The dust.. the lights. To my surprise, so did my focus. Before I knew it, everything disappeared. Black.