The 4 of them reunited at the hospital rooftop. 

Upon seeing his sister, Keisuke had immediately stopped for a while, "You're really Neechan, right?" 

Natsume had laughed at that question, "Of course I am! Who else would I be, otouto?" 

Keisuke had smiled back before he hugged her tightly, "Welcome back, Neechan." 

Akinori and Touma had only watched. 

Then, Akinori hugged her and the 4 of them went down to sit at the garden.

"How did you guys deal with that magic, though?" Touma pointed the elephant in the room. Natsume nodded. 

Akinori and Keisuke shared a knowing grin. 

A few minutes earlier....

The fight was NOT working out and Akinori was ready to pull his hair out. 

Orochi and his attacks didn't even leave a scratch on the magic, since it could just disappear and reappear. Also, it was very powerful, and it had already taken out Orochi 5 minutes into the fight. 5. MINUTES. 

Right now, he and Keisuke were dodging its attacks on Suzaku as he and the magic fought in the sky, Suzaku's attacks and the magic clashing in a flash of brilliant lights. 

"Come on, now! It's no fun if you keep on dodging and running! I WANT A REAL CHALLENGE!" 

Oh right, the magic could talk. Go figure. Their luck just got worse. 

Keisuke growled in annoyance as he clung onto Suzaku, "This thing is crazy strong!" 

"Akinori, Keisuke, I highly suggest that you two think up a plan NOW!" Suzaku shouted as he continued his barrage of attacks. "I give myself around a maximum of 10 minutes before I tire out!" 

Akinori looked at Keisuke, trying to not snap at him due to his tire, "Keisuke, don't you have a plan now?!" 

"Akinori, we just started fighting around 7 minutes ago! How do you expect me to think one up in that span?" Keisuke replied. "The last one required an hour or so!" 

"It's either you think of a plan right now or we're goners!" Akinori snapped, but then covered his mouth, regret flooding into his heart. He had not meant to say that. 

He looked at Keisuke's reaction, and that regret weighed heavier on his heart. 

Keisuke looked completely shocked. His face literally spelled out his emotions, which, as Akinori had learnt over the months of his membership in the Youkai Tanteisha, were not often. 

Nor was it a good sign. 

There was a bit of silence before Keisuke grabbed his head and, to his shock,  smiled a bit sheepishly at Akinori, "Every human has their limits, I suppose. Don't worry, Akinori, I'm okay with it." 

Akinori's eyes widened, "You sure Keisuke?" 

Keisuke shrugged, "Well, you're the one who actually did something while Touma and I were down, so it's natural for you to be more tired than the two of us. Plus, we're friends. Don't friends do that?" 

Akinori loaded that, and he smiled back, "Yeah, I suppose so."

The two of them grinned at each other before they got serious. 

Keisuke managed to think of something in 5 seconds, "Suzaku, how long do you have left?" 

"Around 6 minutes. Why?" Suzaku replied. 

"All right then. Good enough," Keisuke then looked at Akinori. "Do you have a power seal with you?" 

"Yeah, I bring 2 everywhere I go just in case. Why?" Akinori took it out from his pocket.

Then, Keisuke grabbed it and stuck it to his dagger, causing it to glow. 

Akinori understood the action, and he felt completely horrified, "Keisuke, you wouldn't!" 

"Stabbing that thing isn't much compared to what it made Neechan do to you and Touma," Keisuke replied. 

"You too, Keisuke-" "It's nothing," Keisuke shook his head. "Don't worry about me. I've dealt with this before. At any rate, that thing has to be stopped to bring Neechan back." 

"I won't let you do this alone, Keisuke," Akinori shook his head as he grabbed the hand that was holding the dagger. "We do this together, for Natsume and Touma. Deal?" 

Keisuke looked at him for a while, before he sighed, "You were going to insist no matter what, wouldn't you?" 

Akinori grinned. 

"Fine then," Keisuke smiled. "Suzaku, meet that magic head on!" 

"All right!" Suzaku nodded before he turned around and headed straight for the magic. 

"Finally! You guys stopped running! Now we can have FUN!" the magic sped for them. 

Keisuke called out, "Return to the watch on my call, okay?" 

Suzaku just sped even more as a response. 

The two of them held onto Suzaku while the distance between them and the magic decreased by the second. 

Keisuke crouched a bit, "Get ready to jump, Akinori."

"Ah," Akinori did so.

"5.... 4.... 3.... 2... 1-NOW, SUZAKU!" Keisuke yelled. 

Suzaku lifted up for a while due to the shock, but he quickly returned right on top of the mist. 

The mist was not ready for them as Akinori and Keisuke stabbed it together with the dagger. 

There was a flash of light as the mist screeched in pain, and the two of them had to close their eyes for a while. 

When the light dispersed, they opened their eyes just in time to see a magenta aura become a seal, which floated to Keisuke. 

Keisuke looked at it with a smile, "We did it, Akinori." 

Akinori nodded, "Oh." 

Present time.

"You guys grew closer without us?!" Natsume mock-gasped. "Keisuke, Akinori, how could you?!" 

Touma nodded, "How could you?" 

Akinori laughed, "Well, excuse us for getting into a fight full of stress and tension!" 

Keisuke burst out laughing.

The 3 of them didn't say it aloud, but Natsume knew that they had forgiven her. 

Despite the words she had said, despite her actions, they still forgave her. 

And that just made her feel more happy for having friends like them.