We all turned around in circles, unable to believe our eyes as it gently snowed on us. Where were we? How did we get here? Did we walk through a portal? Snow sprinkled my hair as I looked around, trying to figure out how we could have possibly gotton here. I came up with nothing.

There were footsteps behind us, near silent in the snow, and we turned around to see a man in bandages walk in front of the frost covered doors. It was the same bandaged person that was in Scott's house when Void kidnapped me for the second time, and I realised with a shiver that this was the Nogitsune.

I frowned, instantly noting something was wrong. I didn't feel any desire for this creature whatsoever. This was still the Nogitsune, just in a different form, so I should have still felt attraction towards it, but I didn't. I felt nothing. Why?

As soon as Stiles spotted the Nogitsune, he pushed me further behind him, stumbling a bit in the act. I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind and looked over his shoulder at the Nogitsune, fear pooling in my stomach.

"Like I promised, Stiles," the Nogitsune rasped. "We're going to kill all of them. One by One."

Just as he finished his sentence, Oni appeared, their katanas raised. Kira whipped out her own katana and their weapons let out a loud clang as they met. From the corner of my eye, I spotted an Oni slinking closer behind me and spun around, fire burning in the palm of my hand.

I was ready to fight, and finally make my powers useful. This would not end like last time. No one would die on my watch. No one.

"What the hell is this? Where are we?" Scott asked, his voice betraying none of the emotions he was feeling.

"Between life and death," the Nogitsune answered.

Lydia whispered from behind me, "bardo."

I focused on the Oni standing before me, and the comforting presence of Stiles' back pressed against mine.

"But there are no peaceful deities here, Lydia. None except for the Fire Nymph standing next to you," the Nogitsune said.

I risked a glance behind me at the Nogitsune.

"Right now, I am anything but peaceful," I threatened.

The Nogitsune chuckled, as if I'd said something to amuse him. I scowled.

"You are dying, Stiles," the Nogitsune said.

There were Oni surrounding all of us now, so I turned around. They wouldn't hurt us yet, not until the Nogitsune gave the order. I still kept my eyes trained on the Oni standing behind me, just in case.

"And now everyone you care about is dying too," the Nogitsune finished.

Stiles immediately looked to me and everyone else, panic in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Stiles asked shakily.

"I've captured almost all the territories on the board, Stiles," the Nogitsune said. "The hospital, the Sheriffs station, and now the animal clinic."

Everyone looked to one another uneasily, worrying for their friends and family. I shifted closer to Stiles.

"Do you know the ritual of seppuku, Stiles?" the Nogitsune asked.

"No," Stiles answered shortly. "And I don't want too."

The Nogitsune continued like Stiles had never spoken.

"When a samurai disembowels himself with his own sword to maintain his honour, but that is not the cut that kills him," he said. "The killing stroke is made by his Kaishakunin, who beheads the samurai with his own katana."

I blanched at the thought. Where was this going? What did it mean?

"Y/n... Y/n is your Kaishakunin," the Nogitsune finished.

Everyone looked at me, even the Oni, and I looked up at Stiles, my eyes wide. The Nogitsune didn't really expect me to kill Stiles, did he? Because I wouldn't. I was not about to decapitate my boyfriend. Nope.

"I'm going to make your lover kill you, Stiles," The Nogitsune said, walking forward. Stiles glanced at me before back at the Nogitsune. "And you're going to let her because just like you, they're all going to die. Everyone touched by an Oni's blade. Unless Y/n kills you first."

The Nogitsune stopped walking, only a couple of metres away from us now. Stiles pushed me away a bit to put more distance between me and the Nogitsune.

"Why?" Stiles asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"To win the game," The Nogitsune's gaze slid to me. "And the prize," he added.

I scrunched my nose up in disgust. I was in no way a prize. It made me curious again as to why I wasn't feeling desire towards the Nogitsune, because if I had been, I would have secretly been elated at his words and disgusted at myself. But I wasn't.

"You won't touch her," Stiles said protectively.

"Are you sure about that?" the Nogitsune asked.

Instantly, the Oni had their katanas out and I turned around once again, pressing my back against Stiles' back as the fire in my hand burned brighter. Beside me, Lydia moved closer to Scott, whose eyes were glowing, teeth sharpening, and claws growing out of his hands, and Kira raised her katana.

An Oni lunged at Kira, and the fight begun.

I threw a ball of fire at the Oni directly in front of me, pushing it back. I threw another one, and another one, weakening the demon. From the side, I saw a katana being raised and quickly formed a shield of fire, protecting me from the blade that smashed against it.

I felt, rather than saw, Stiles fall to the ground. His comforting presence left me, and I turned to find him on his knees a few feet away from me. I ran to him, shooting the Oni I had previously been fighting, with a fire ball strong enough that it slammed the Oni into the back of the hedge.

"Stiles? Stiles! Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes," Stiles managed to say, but his voice was hoarse, and he could barely keep himself from face planting into the snow.

Lydia ran to Stiles, keeping him balanced as I fought off another attack from a different Oni. I created a circular shield around us with fire, similar to the one I used to protect Void, and moved to Stiles, wrapping both my arms around him.

Stiles looked at me with his tired eyes questioningly and I grinned.

"Body heat," was all I said.

Lydia gripped my arm, looking nearly as pale as Stiles as she watched the fight through the flickering flames of the shield. My energy wasn't nearly as strong as it had been last time with Void, because I'd been fighting the Oni before I created the shield, and though I had body heat, it wasn't enough to give me energy, only to keep my energy levels where they were while I continued to use my power.

"This can't be real," Lydia said.

"Seems pretty real to me," I replied.

I looked through the flames of the shield just in time to see an Oni disarm Kira, her katana landing a few feet away from the shield. Two Oni surrounded her, pointing their katanas at her threateningly. My heart leapt out of my chest in fear.

"Put the fire out," Stiles said from beside me.

"What?" I asked, unable to tear my gaze away from Kira.

"Just do it," Stiles ordered.

I hesitantly followed his command and got rid of the shield. I wasn't sure what he was going to do, but I trusted him.

Stiles crawled towards Kira's katana, curling his fingers around the hilt. With my help, he managed to stand up straight, and immediately pointed the katana on his stomach. Instantly, the Oni stopped fighting and backed away.

"Stiles! No!" Scott yelled.

"What if it saves you?" Stiles asked, looking from Lydia, to me, to Scott. "What if it saves all of you?"

I shook my head furiously.

"What if it's just another trick?" I asked desperately.

"No more tricks, Y/n," the Nogitsune said. "End it. Let him fall on his own sword. Do for him what he cannot do for himself. Do it, Y/n. Be his Kaishakunin. Give up the game."

By now, Stiles was shaking as he held the katana, and it was all I could do to stop the bile rising in my throat. I couldn't do this.

"Y/n, you can't do it!" Scott pleaded.

I felt myself panicking. I felt heat and power rise inside my body. I felt myself losing control of my powers. I threw my hands up in frustration, causing flame to fall on the floor surrounding me. I couldn't kill Stiles. I wouldn't. But what would happen to the people cut by the Oni's blade? They'd die, because of me.

Stiles suddenly stopped shaking, his arms going limp as his eyes focused on the flame diminishing on the floor around me.

"Y/n," he said, not looking away from the floor. "Your fire."

"What about it?" I asked.

"Look at it."

I did as he asked, looking down just as the last of my fire diminished. I was about to ask him what was wrong when I noticed it. The snow. It was still there. The snow hadn't melted. I looked around more closely and noticed a schoolbook hidden behind a bush and a school desk covered in snow. My eyes widened when I realised the truth.

I looked up to Stiles and found him already looking at me, shock plastered across his face.

"You have no moves left," the Nogitsune said, irritated that I hadn't killed Stiles yet.

"Actually, we do," Stiles said, throwing Kira her katana. He looked me in the eyes as he said, "a divine move."