Failure

When I saw Shin tumble out of the Johari mirror, I ran to his side without hesitation. It only took a few seconds to get close enough to touch him, and when I did, his usual warmth wasn’t there. Don’t tell me he’s… I could feel tears beginning to swell in my eyes. “Shin, don’t die. I need—”

“Are you an angel?” A tear ran down my face when he asked that. He’s alive, thank goodness. I gripped onto his body, unintentionally squeezing him. “Ow, Suki, that hurts.”

I immediately backed off when he said that, letting his head fall to the ground. “I’m sorry.” I could feel my face burning up before he responded.

“No, it’s fine. If I can feel the pain, that means I’m still alive, right?” Shin started to stand, and I helped him get onto his feet. However, when I made contact with him, he had a pained expression on his face.

“What’s wrong, Shin?”

“Nothing, Suki, I’m fine.” He may have said that, but his face told another story.

“Liar.” Before he could respond, I began to inspect him, and my jaw dropped when I saw his left arm. It was now as red as his right one, and it possessed the same crimson lines as well. Did it spread? I need to check. “Shin, take your shirt off.”

“Huh?” I saw his face flush red, but I didn’t care. After he stood up, I started to grab his shirt. “Wait… Yukimura… you’re going too fast.” When I lifted it, I saw the state of his chest mirrored that of his arms, and it didn’t stop there. The red skin and crimson lines seemed to run all the way from the neck down to his feet.

“Shin, what happened to you in there?”

“I…” He was panting as he put his shirt back on. “I rejected Shuten-douji. He said he was going to kill you, and when he did, I snapped. So, I rejected him and his power. But it seems like his mana is still in me, and it might have forced the seal to spread.”

I could only stare at him as he said those words with a smile on his face. I wanted to think to myself, but I accidentally said what I was thinking out loud. “How can you be smiling right now?”

Shin laughed a bit before he answered my question. “That’s because the Kishin doesn’t have my body, and you’re safe. That seems like a win to me.”

“No, it is not a win.” King Enma spoke up before I could say anything. “If you failed to contain the Kishin within yourself, then you did not win, Yasura.”

“If I did that, then he would’ve taken over my body, King Enma. That would’ve been freeing him!”

Shin coughed shortly after speaking back to King Enma. I turned back to Hinako and Rentarou, and I could already see his sister rushing to help. When she got to where we stood, she began to recite her silent incantation. Hinako did this while King Enma proceeded to speak.

“Either way, you failed me, Yasura Shin. And since you are a failure, you and your people no longer have a right to be in my throne room.” King Enma snapped his fingers before he called two names: “Gozu! Mezu!”

The room was enveloped in King Enma’s golden mana. When it faded, Gozu and Mezu were in front of King Enma, kneeling before him. “Escort them out to the well of returning for Tokyo. I did say I’d return them to Tsuchi if Yasura at least attempted, and attempt is all the boy did.”

“Yes, sir!” Both of the yokai shouted as they saluted toward King Enma. Afterward, Gozu turned to Takeda and Rentarou, while Mezu turned to me, Hinako, and Shin.

“Wait!” Takeda pleaded as Gozu reached his hand toward him. “King Enma, I still have questions for you.”

“I said I’d only entertain your questions while Yasura is within the mirror. Now that he is out, so is your time for questions.” Gozu picked up Takeda after already having the struggling Rentarou in his grasp.

“Just let me ask you this: why are we returning to Tokyo? We entered from Kyoto.”

King Enma chuckled as he stood up straight on his throne. “That’s where the war will start, Takeda.” As he said those words, Mezu proceeded to follow Gozu after carefully picking Hinako, Shin, and me up.

The only one who remained in the throne room afterward was King Enma. The only word I heard him say when we left was “Next!”

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If it wasn’t for Gozu and Mezu carrying us, I don’t think we would’ve made it in time. Their gigantic bodies were able to cover a minute’s worth of walking in a single step. However, it still took them a few minutes to get to the well of returning.

Once they were three steps away from the well, they set us down on Hell’s sandy floor. “This is as far as we go for you lot.”

“But why? Is three more steps that much?” Rentarou asked while kicking Meido’s sandy ground.

“That’s because we have a job to do. So like Gozu said, we have to leave now.”

“Tsk! Useless.” While Rentarou bitterly started to follow Takeda, I watched Shin stand still. He was looking at Mezu and Gozu for a moment before he started to wave at them.

“Thank you for the ride! Mezu! Gozu!” I smiled at the sight, and I was about to join him, but I suddenly felt a surge in mana.

Out of instinct, I grabbed two things. The first was my talisman, which I channeled my mana into to summon my sword. The next was Shin’s arm. Thankfully, I was able to pull him back in time. As soon as I did, I saw Gozu and Mezu's bodies divided into fragments of their large frames. I also saw a figure dashing toward us from that direction.

“Shin, watch out!” I had enough time to yell that as I let go of him to place both my hands on my sword. Once I did, I felt the weight of my sword shift.

“What’s—” Shin didn’t even get to finish his sentence as the clash of metal drowned out his voice. Two daggers landed upon the blade of my sword. There was so much weight behind them that I nearly mistook them for swords.

While I was struggling to hold them back, I heard two things: footsteps and a voice. The footsteps were coming from behind me. From the thud of the shoes, it must be Takeda’s footsteps. However, the voice I heard was coming from in front of me.

A familiar light voice filled the area as if they were having fun. I could hear the person behind the daggers’ giggle as they said, “Ah, darn. I was hoping to take you out quickly, Yuki. I guess my surprise attack failed.”