"Itsuyushi Koshiko." The name leaves a bitter taste on my tongue.

"Did you miss me? It's been years since you left me in the final selection." She tilts her head to the side, touching her lips with her index finger with a sly smile.

"Final select- Yashimi, do you know her?" Tomioka-sama's voice fills with surprise, but he kept it hidden. "Yeah.. I.."

"Awwh, did you not mention me to your new friend?" She straightens her head and grips on her sword. Her head turns to Tomioka-sama. "You know, we went to the same final selection. And we fought side-by-side,"

She turns to me again and sprints to me, about to swing her sword, "but you left me there to fucking die," I dodge her strong swing of her sword, jumping back. "And I didn't mean it."

"HA! Yeah, right! You--"

Itsuyushi jumps back, her aura growing a little from shock as Tomioka-sama swings his sword to her. "Aren't you a quiet one." Tomioka-sama swings his sword again, but she jumps a few feet back, "Hold on now, I haven't swung my sword at you. It's called taking turns, you know."

Both of her hands grip on her black handle, and she swings her sword to Tomioka-sama's neck with an evil grin plastering on her mouth.

He was about to dodge it when she suddenly disappeared. "?!" My eyes widen in shock and fear, but Tomioka-sama's eyes stay intact.

"Where-- " My touch sense detects a force behind me, and I swiftly duck, swinging my sword to where I think is her abdominal area.

"AHH!" Itsuyushi's screams echo through the area before quickly desending. "Cut me in the stomach, huh? Well, I'll have you know that minor damage isn't a problem. I can just regenerate it." She laughs, seemingly enjoying my tight fists as her abdomen regenerates.

Of course, it regenerated. She's a demon, dumbass. "You're so stupid, even now, Yashimi."

Her abdomen regenerated, but blood still appeared on her upper skirt. I stand and take my stance, holding my hands between my hands as my eyes catch Tomioka-sama swiftly sprinting and aiming for Itsuyushi's nape.

With speed almost as fast as Tomioka-sama's, Itsuyushi immediately spins and clashes her sword with Tomioka-sama's.

"Shut up." Tomioka-sama's voice laces with annoyance. His eyebrows faintly slant in anger after hearing Itsuyushi say one more bad thing about me.

With speed as a Hinoe, I focus all my energy on my legs and sprint towards Itsuyushi, swinging my blade as if her neck is a magnet.

"Now, now. That isn't fair if I fight both of you." Her body suddenly bursts into flames, and my body unexpectedly collides with Tomioka-sama's, landing us both on the hard ground. Itsuyushi had disappeared along with the burst of flames.

"Ah..-" I pick myself up, only to have met with blue eyes staring deep into my irises. A slight pink-tinted warmth sensation hovers over my cheeks.

I shake my unforgiving thoughts and pull myself from Tomioka-sama's hold around my waist, and he willingly lets go as I whisper, "gomen, Tomioka-sama.!" I say lowly, slightly feeling blood warming up on my cheeks as I turn to Itsuyushi smirking at us.

"Ah, I see," her smirk turns into a knowing grin, "are you two in love?" Her voice seemingly teases us. I hear the ground crunch under Tomioka-sama's feet.

"We are not in love."

Those five words made something in me crack slightly, but I ignore and push those stupid feelings away. I didn't have time for love and romance because there was no prediction on when I would die.

"It's best if you stop with the nonsense talking, Itsuyushi. It doesn't make you look good." I roll my eyes at her. "You're one to talk, Yashimi."

A burst of flames appears a few feet away from us, and out comes Itsuyushi, gripping her sword, and the flames slowly settle down until there is nothing to see. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about.."

She places her finger on her lower red-tinted lip, grinning. "Ishizuko Shikogawa?" She grins wider when she notices my grip on my handle tightening.

I clench my jaw and tighten my teeth behind my mask. On the outside, I seem calm and steady, but behind my facade? I was everything but calm and steady.

How dare she mention his name!

"It's hard to know if you are feeling angry," She motions her sword on a swinging position, "How about we take that lovely mask off and see how hideous you've become."

She disappears in one flicker of a flame lighter. "Where th--" Tomioka-sama pushes both of us to the floor immediately when Itsuyushi disappeared.

"Fast speed, huh water hashira?" She slyly says, and with using her sword, swings it in our direction.

Tomioka-sama's hold around me tightens as we are being thrown to a nearby tree, and I sink my face deeper into his chest. I expected the hit, but instead felt nothing but a muffled instead.

"Tomioka-sama!" I look up at him, hearing him whince at the strong impact. He lets me go, and we both sit up. "You both look helpless." Itsuyushi says, her voice seemingly bored out of her mind.

"Why you little-" My sentence cuts short when Tomioka-sama's hand wraps around my wrist. "..." He looks like he wants to cough but doesn't.

The air seems thin, and shit, I need to take my mask off. The air is getting lesser and lesser.

•

•

☆•Giyū POV•☆

A cough almost erupts from my throat, but I push it down. My hand is still on Yashimi's wrist. That demon isn't worth earning her words anymore.

My back throbs from the forceful hit from the thick tree. I had to jump in and duck Yashimi to the ground. She couldn't see that demon's speed, and she was about to slice Yashimi's mask.

Yashimi stands and pulls out her hand, to which I gratefully take. I unsheath my sword, and she takes hers, both of us taking our stance.

"She isn't too strong, but she is fast. Keep up with me. Make sure to stay close to my side." I whisper to her, my eyes still looking on the demon, waiting for any sudden attack and movement.

My mind is so on edge. My shoulders don't motion down, and my heart is beating out of my chest, but I'm not having any sinking feelings in my chest.

"Now." I let my whisper lightly flow and sprint to the demon, about to swing my sword as I feel Yashimi's presence behind me.

Good thing she can catch up.

"Water breathing. First form. Water surface slash." I swing my sword. "Aim for her neck, Yashimi!" I loudly instructs as my sword and the demon's clash together.

Yashimi jumps up, and behind the demon mid-air, motions her sword to the demon's neck, taking a swing. "Shit.." I lowly mutter.

Yashimi swings her sword from behind, yet only deep red paints of blood gush out, and Yashimi lands on the ground with her feet, with her sword still in hand.

I managed to cut her right hand from the wrist. "You pieces of shits!" She yells and screams, "Blood demon technique. Flames of explosion!" And her gush of blood exploded right in front of me.

I jump back and look back at the smoke that wasn't going out anytime soon. My eyebrows arch and I couldn't contain my anger when the smoke revealed the demon looking down at Yashimi as Yashimi bang her hand on her chest.

"Get the hell away from her!" I harshly order as I sprint and swing my sword towards the demon.

Suddenly, a burst of unexpected flames shot up, forcing me to retreat from jumping even more forward. "What the hell?..!" I say under my low breathing. "Yashimi!" I run around the flame, but it seems to have surrounded them even at the top.

The flames cackled at me as I tried to slowly push my hand inside but immediately retreat when the heat forced me back. "Fuck!" A yell rips from my throat as anger rises almost immediately.

I needed to get in. Somehow.

I look around, trying to find water. Somehow. I just need anything to calm the flames down.

Suddenly, a faint sound hums in my ears. Sobbing of a young woman whispering, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen." Over and over again.

I stopped dead in my tracks as my mind raced, and my eyes widened a little from the shock that sank in my stomach, I could feel my eyebrows slatingting even deeper.

Anger boils in my mind as it races through every bad situation it could get to. "What the hell is that demon doing to Yashimi?!"

"My Yashimi."