No matter how many times he struck the thick wall of compacted debris, the results were the same. More chunks of rock tumbled down threatening to cause more of the ceiling to cave in towards them. 

 

The room had been divided, dust floating about forced many coughs all around. 

 

"Is anyone dead?!" 

 

"I don’t think they'd be talking if they were!" 

 

 Many Setsu groaned. 

 

"Nice response!" 

 

“You almost killed me with that one” 

 

Voices bounced by Yoshigawa, who forced himself to his feet, pushing aside the Setsu who'd tackled him out of being crushed. That Setsu thrashed into the liquid filling the room, gasping when he nearly gulped whatever it was. The clouds of dust slowly rolled down, mixing in with the strange liquid pumping into their vicinity. Yoshigawa rose, with intentions of breaking through. 

 

“Lord Fukushima, you mustn't act blindly!” Natsu announced, but Yoshigawa wasn't hearing any of that. 

 

All he thought about being that stray on the other side of the rocky pile. The one that had Naomi’s heart gem. "Ain't no way he's running off" Yoshigawa growled. Jeels red scaly body came to mind, specifically its tail when it nearly had gotten Natsu. Out of those scales, Naomi's aroma was being emitted. He was using away her heart gem. "If I don’t get to him, I'll never get it back and she’ll die!" Yoshigawa couldn't stand even thinking of that. He had to hear her, he had to see life in her eyes.

 

Desperation took him over, causing him to run in and punch against the foundations of the wall, followed by a surge of orange Retsu bursting against where his arm lodged. To his annoyance, two rocky pieces of debris fell down towards him forcing Yoshi to dive backwards, making him aware of the strange liquid pumping into the space from faulty pipes over them. Some of that liquid splashed by him. Only then did he begin to feel weakened. Whatever this liquid was, was draining Retsu somehow. Its contents… glancing back, Yoshigawa spotted the different Ikigai members standing on different rocky formations floating around in order to avoid the content, having caught on to what it could do. 

 

"Just what have these Strays been experimenting with?" Natsu thought aloud. She glanced back at an unconscious Moriko being treated. Onora was passed out undergoing some healing herself. A needle injected into her arm sent a blue liquid into her veins. 

 

"You might want to jump out of there!" The voice of a subordinate made Natsu focus her attention on Yoshigawa, urging him to do so. 

 

“It’s not moving at all.”  Yoshigawa assessed. 

 

 “Hmph, Naomi’s life depends on this” Yoshigawa rotated his wrist about, considering how he’d go about getting through the solid blockade.  

 

“What is a Fukushima even doing here?! He must be conspiring with the enemy, trai-” Yoshi heard behind him. An Ikigai Setsu flew by Natsu with his saber drawn, he swept in for Yoshigawa but found a fist smashed through, shattering the fangs in his mouth when he’d screamed as a means to empower the thrust he aimed for Yoshigawa's throat. 

 

That single action followed through with Yoshigawa spinning his fist sideways, too close past the Setsu's forearm for the saber to have ever touched Yoshigawa. On the contrary, it was Yoshigawa who struck, delivering a follow up elbow to the Setsu’s temple that threw the Setsu off balance. His body flopped into the water as Yoshigawa glared at the other Hachi Setsu on different rock formations. 

 

“I'm not in the mood for bullsh*t, all of you get to breaking this or I’ll break you!” 

 

“Pretentious Rikuto, I don't follow orders from any Fukushima!” shouted a young blood, followed by the others agreeing. They all splashed into the water to rush Yoshigawa who brought his hands up, creating an orange flow of Retsu. Before they could reach him, they found something zipped by them splashing into the darkened area in front of them. The waves created from the separated friction of the shot, blew by them. 

 

A saber impaled the ground. It was Natsu’s. All of their attention went to her as she stood where she’d been with a hand on one hip. “I can’t believe this…” 

 

"The hell is wrong with you young bloods?! Do you even know what it means to go against a Rikuto? Of the Fukushima no less?! Do you want your lower clans killed? Stand down and never forget your place!" Her words instantly constrained the Setsu’s.

 

 "And you, M'lord," Natsu sighed at the apparent kid she felt Yoshigawa was. 

 

 “We’re not enemies here. Let’s not get full of ourselves. I understand your urgency; we have comrades on the other end as well, but we have to go about this with caution not desperation-” Natsu found herself cut off. 

 

“Hahahah- you might tell yourself that to justify your own weaknesses, but I'm not taking that. You bunch of pawns.” Yoshigawa’s brief laughter died with him turning away. 

 

“Universal law, come to me... Comma galeon drum.” Vibratory force strengthened about becoming more visible from the ground to Yoshigawa’s palm. The liquid below Yoshigawa was pushed away from him as the lower portion of his jeans dried, rapidly blowing about. Aiming his palm forward, the witnesses of this technique were shocked to see the rocky debris being pulled in and shot up towards the top, causing a constant circular motion to rotate the rocks into crushing and grinding against themselves. Below this, they noticed space to slip through to the other side was beginning to form. The liquid flowed about in clumps, prompting those behind Yoshigawa to evade. 

 

 “This Rikuto!” They ate their earlier words, impressed by what they were watching. None could doubt or hate Yoshigawa, who was dissatisfied with himself. He couldn’t do it fast enough, the liquid was getting in the way. “When it grows big enough, I'll slide through,” he told himself, preparing his plan. He anticipated the growing crevice developing into a passage. 

 

From the other end, Jeel noticed the once shut rocky wall was slowly beginning to seemingly elevate along with something else. 

 

“Jeel we have to get going, we’ve been told by Neifer” 

 

 “Aw come on, you go on ahead then I’m sticking around a pea-bit longer!” Jeel explained to another Stray, finding himself a nice seat on top of a formed cliff edge overseeing the vast misty space below. 

 

“Nibla, you're going to eat that when you’re done?” Jeel went on to ask, his voice echoed; staring at someone who’d slipped through. An Ikigai Setsu. Jeel observed the poncho that flapped about. 

 

 [Panel of what Jeel see’s. Bukuro] 

 

Nibla didn't respond. “When did this guy get through?” he thought to himself. He seemed familiar to the Stray. Water continued to flow between the two, slowly filling up the room from open pipes that hung down in the distance. Sensing the impending danger of the ceiling still cracking about, Jeel chuckled deciding to stick around a bit longer. He didn't have to fight himself, he only had to swoop in and eat the prey when Nibla killed it. 

 

Jeel relished in what’d ensue, seeing the two engaged, diving into the different rocky formations sticking out of the dusty waves that swished about below their angled trades of clashes. 

 

“This guy. His movements…” Nibla recollected a fight he'd seen when he was a boy. On an unforgettable day when he’d lost everything as flames danced around his village. Someone he knew fought against an enemy Setsu amongst those who'd raided his home. They were engaged in aerial combat, using the thumbling structures around them. Except now, instead of that someone he looked up to, it was now he himself in combat and instead of the scorching flames that ate away at all of his surroundings, there were waves erupting from the floating formations crashing and colliding with other structures in their premises. 

 

Nibla jumped onto a smaller one, using it to skate for this enemy who jumped over head, onto a higher platform and used it as a stepping board to fly down towards Nibla like a hawk on its prey. 

 

In this instance, Nibla got a clear view of this fellow’s face. The slim emerald beard as if it'd never aged. Lunging forward, the individual’s saber pierced through Nibla's hand, only for Nibla to grab a hold of the Setsu's throat, proceeding to choke slam him into the depths below them. He weighed like nothing, not being a shock to Nibla since he seemed slim. Still, it suddenly felt as if the Setsu had dissolved from Nibla’s hold. 

 

Before he knew it, the Setsu no longer was in his hold. Droplets of water rained down slowly around Nibla who turned in search only to see something coming in rapidly moving at the corner of his sight. 

 

That's when he felt it. Something lodged into his ribcage, below him the Setsu glared at him, his Ikigai cap flown off behind him and onto the shaking waves as Nibla coughed, feeling the saber go through his ribcage, shooting up his shoulder. 

 

In this position, Nibla dropped his elbow on the Setsu's head several times, but he wouldn't budge. The memories of this Setsu's blade pulsed into Nibla, as Nibla's memories were taken in just the same. They'd finally crossed paths. He who disabled Nibla’s childhood friend, Emias. An act that resulted in her rape and murder at the hands of the monsters that surrounded he who Nibla stared at. 

Visions of the moment when she’d dropped flashed through his mind; the sight of a saber impaled through the upper part of her shoulders amongst her struggle to get free. From his position on top of a crumbling hill that looked on to what’d once been his home, Nibla watched the shadowy fiends pass this monster as he only distastefully observed, but didn’t stop them in their vicious act. 

 

The one he sought to destroy by finally making it to Osaka, the one Setsu he wanted dead out of all the Hachi… was right under his nose, having executed the very move used on his dear Emias. 

 

A rage filled Nibla as it did his younger self. That younger self flew in through the flames, only to find himself fighting desperately, eventually being caught by three Setsu kicking him about until the chimney of a nearby building collapsed on Nibla. They’d assumed him dead amongst the burning pile of wood. Wood that lit ablaze, burning against an immobile Nibla. Nibla’s sights filled with smoke as he heard their laughter and praise, to a..  

 

"I’m Bukuro Nishima, farewell.” Nibla heard the Setsu say in the present moment. 

With those words, a pulse spread out of the Setsu’s saber, erupting within Nibla's insides. His body was blown backwards by Bukuro's vibe. Nibla collided, bouncing off of the water’s surface until he found himself submerging into the water. The frontal portion of his body was destroyed, releasing thick clumps of blood. 

 

 "My Retsu's being drained… I didn’t manage to kill him with that move," Bukuro thought quickly, observing his attack hadn't been lethal due him standing in a liquid that drained his Retsu. 

 

What resembled an exploding geyser blew out of the water, as did several other explosions headed straight for Bukuro. Before the latter had time to turn sideways, Nibla was right at his side.

 

 [The liquid gives users that use the pellets, the capability to gain Retsu properties absorbed by the water. Properties go into the skin of the organism.] 

 

 

Nibla’s body contorted with a series of front dives, causing thorns to shoot around Bukuro. Bukuro himself caught on, slashing them by rotating, only to find one graze his pale cheek. The cut caused bleeding. His blood soon splattered into the liquid, making the liquid suddenly glow a bright steaming red that blew Bukuro’s hair sky high along with his shocked expression. 

 

 Bukuro found himself airborne, briefly lost in a dizzy spell. His body dropped towards the red glowing liquid, only for his body to be blasted up upon contact with the liquid. A scorching pain filled his back as his clothes were tattered all over. He found himself falling again, this time towards his left shoulder. 

 

That time, the pain woke him up as he was blasted a third time. He forced himself to kick over onto a solid surface and noticed his right arm was now missing. Blown off during the times he’d fallen back down. At such a moment, Bukuro couldn’t help but reflect on his sister. He’d heard she went missing, personally rushing to the factory. His tracking, leading to this being. A being who had Moriko’s scent all over him. He reeked of her blood and the scent of a primal beast. Whoever this Stray was, had to be killed here and now. 

“May I ask… where are you from?” 

 

“I’m from the lowest pits of Toneru’s sewage, the place you BASTARDS TURNED INTO HELL!” Nibla rushed in swinging his arm for Bukuro who swung his only arm with his saber and blocked, only to be swept to the ground, grabbed and chucked towards the water. His back collided with the red surface as an explosion tossed him across the room straight against a wall. His armor partially melted as he heaved, breathing weakly. 

 “Toneru, Shingensora… “ He thought. “That’s right.” 

 

 “I’m sorry I don’t remember you... though it’s only right for that place to finally come back to haunt me.” Slouching out of the crevice, he dropped to his knee. Nibla’s body walking through the water in the distance was a blurry image now for Bukuro. 

 

 “I never expected them to come blasting like this.” 

 

 “They were all destroyed, I’m the only one left …” Nibla spoke out, suddenly feeling a scorching pain along his ribs. “FUCK!” He blurted out, the pain growing with the wound opening further, revealing his shattered ribs. Nibla quickly dropped to the water so it’d heal the wound, but to his surprise, it wasn’t healing. “Some kind of malfunction?! At a time like this?!”

 

 “GRRAAAHHHH!” That’s when it hit Nibla, his heart felt as if it were ablaze; the pain was returning from the earlier deadly blow Bukuro had dealt. Flopping forward, he understood he’d be dying the moment he left outside of the waves that kept him alive. “If this is to be my grave, I’ll finish you!” Nibla slammed his palm down to the red water, causing waves to shoot towards Bukuro, who forced himself to backflip onto the wall above himself. He tried to dash sideways, but found Nibla dashed in, jumping up to catch him in midair. The pair clashed their weapons as Bukuro spoke under his breath. 

 

 “Haisen-RAH” 

 

“Where am I?” Nibla turned his head around. His perspective had completely changed;  everything was pitch black. “Did… did I die?” 

 

 “No… Not yet,” Nibla heard behind him. He turned around to see that the elder Setsu Bukuro was behind him. 

“I trapped you in Haisen-Rah, this is my Gando zone. By the end of this,” Bukuro paused. “We will dissolve within this sphere. Our bodies will be nothing but bones and that devilish liquid you created will dissolve as well. The sphere will overtake the entire room turning it into nothing more than smoke.” 

 

Outside of this rotating sphere, Jeel watched, sucking his teeth. “What a heart gem, keheheh.” 

 

 Within the darkness, a single pale entity floated above the two, singing a sorrowful song. Nibla glanced up to this, seeing it take the form of Emias; the one Bukuro had slain. 

 

“What is that?!” Nibla questioned, only for Bukuro to respond, “It’s the first enemy Setsu I’d ever killed … I couldn’t forget her.”

 

 “Why?“ Bukuro recollected her asking him. “Why are you allowing someone else to taint your essence? We’re living here peacefully!” Bukuro reflected the conversation he’d had with Emias amongst the combat that took place. “I didn’t understand at that time, these were the savages who’d killed my father and uncle. Why should I listen? I didn’t care enough for what happened to other Setsu outside of my region.” 

 

 “We were told you were all vicious fiends that went against the Shingensora parliament and even killed the grand Rikuto and his daughters in an assault to run them out of their lands they’d gained.” 

 

“We were told, you deserved what was coming.” 

 

 “I’d later come to know it was much deeper than that… “ 

 

“We were lied to… both you and I.” 

 

Bukuro focused on Nibla, recording their conversation into his heart gem.

 

“The moment of death… this is when he’ll spill some information on who he’s working with...” Bukuro thought to himself as he chose his words carefully, staring at Nibla who ran in and punched him to the darkness of the ground.

 

“To the very end, Moriko…” Bukuro contemplated, in sorrow. He’d done all he could to become strong enough for her not to have to step outside of the walls of their clan. “Yet, even in that I failed to raise my rank enough… my dear baby sister.” The urge to cry came upon him, but the tears wouldn’t even come out. 

 

“The autumn leaves rest as I’m put to sleep much like we once did” Bukuro reflected, the moment he fell to his back. He couldn’t help but imagine himself on an occasion he’d laid under a tree with his little sister talking to him about how cool he was, how she wanted to work alongside him to make their clan proud. “If only she knew… in the end, I failed her,” he thought, seeing an enraged Nibla flying in for him. 

  

“Perfect, you can’t escape me then!” Nibla shouted, having ignored what Bukuro had been telling him. Bukuro dropped backwards again upon attempting to stand as Nibla went in, landing on Bukuro’s chest. Nibla proceeded to punch him repeatedly, drawing blood along his knuckles until he grew unsatisfied by the fact Bukuro wasn’t begging, but instead kept a blank expression. His swollen eyelids provided subtle visibility, though eyes didn’t reflect life.

 

No matter how much Nibla punched him, he didn’t feel good. “Because of you I lost everything, everyone I loved; I thought this was the moment I’d want. But I won’t be satisfied until THIS WHOLE REGION IS DESTROYED!” 

 

 “And then what...” Nibla heard Bukuro respond. “You’ll affect a boy that was once like you … you’d end up right where I am” 

 

 Nibla’s eyes widened as if he’d heard something he’d tried to ignore well over one thousand times. “Justifying your behavior instead of taking responsibility… “

 

“Then what’s your solution HUH?! I WAS TURNED TO THIS! THIS isn’t satisfying if you don’t beg FOR YOUR LIFE!” Nibla leaned up, kicking his foot against Bukuro’s gut, causing him to cough up blood. “COME ON, BEG! DON’T YOU WANT TO LIVE?!” 

 

 “After everything I’ve seen… what I did… no I don’t. Any real soldier will tell you that. Mission after mission, destroying others just like me… for the gains of those incapable of resolution. I’m relieved that I finally get to rest.” 

 

 “NO YOU WON’T!” Nibla dove onto Bukuro, viciously beating him for the words spoken when he suddenly felt a burning sensation along his flesh, the atmosphere within the confined space grew stronger. Nibla reached for his shoulder only to feel the surface beginning to bubble as the singing above him grew stronger. He looked up to see Emias, bringing her hands to her chest as the pale flesh along her rib cages, parted into wings. Her heart gem rotated at the center. From such wings, floated what seemed to be pale feathers but upon a feather landing against Nibla’s face, he felt a scorching burn against his forehead that made him cry out as he tripped off of Bukuro, becoming paralyzed. He dropped to the ground. “WHAT?! WHAT IS THIS?!” 

 

 “I told you…”

 

 “The Gando Zone is expanding, It’s cancion sin cara, by the end of this; we’ll both be purged for the sins we’ve committed. This is our moment to recant for all we’ve done.”

“That up there… I took Emias heart gem after what’d happened, as my first kill. We were told to bring the heartgems of all enemy Setsu we'd killed. Of all the heart gems I'd gathered, I kept that one. A momento for myself, but eventually came to reflect deeper than that selfish reason I kept it.” 

 

The pale feathers continued to float in, gracing Nibla’s body as he cried out in agony; the bright light he once saw as a dot in the eternal darkness around them drew closer. She was coming in for both of them. 

 

 “EMI!” 

 

“STAY BACK! I’M DOING THIS FOR YOU! HELP ME GET OUT!” 

 

“That’s what I’m doing,” Nibla heard Emias above the sorrowful singing that her being let out, touching all over his soul. The overwhelming melody, too comforting for him to resist giving in. The tension along his arms, he felt it leave his strength. Nibla heard sulking, tilting his head aside to the once mute warrior he’d been fighting. 

 

 “You’re a warrior, what are you doing crying?!”

“There’s nothing to hide here, as we’re both about to go now” Nibla heard Bukuro say as tears soon formed in Nibla’s eyes. He felt the warm stream flow along his face, filling his ears. 

 

“We were all played, and still we are. Those who’ve done it are still out there, but I won’t be there for my sister,” Bukuro reflected aloud. 

 

“Your sister…” Nibla found Bukuro’s memories within his mind, now understanding that girl he’d tortured was this Setsu’s sister. A Setsu not so different from himself.

 

“I understand, we’re both victims to this… but I cannot accept this victim role, I had a choice. Every waking day, I just didn’t want to accept it. I felt I needed to do it for you, Emias. I never got to tell you, but I was thankful you looked after me so many times even though I didn’t deserve it.” Nibla glanced to Emias who drew closer to the pair, as he no longer felt the pain of his body dissolving. 

 

“But you did well for yourself, for a human…” Bukuro interjected, drawing Nibla’s attention to his words. “Were you experimented on at this location by someone with roots within Osaka?” 

 

“No. I was barely alive when I woke up in this body. I was much older. I’d been unconscious for an extensive amount of time, indebted to… someone that we aren’t allowed to talk about.” 

 

 “Someone?” 

 

“That someone, is it their goal to destroy Osaka as well?”

 

“Not only Osaka. He seeks to rid Japan of the Tensei’s hold. To place the Bakafuu in its place or at least that's what I was told.” 

 

 “But just as you have loyalty to your side, I do as well and cannot say anything else” 

 

 "I'm no snitch-" 

 

“I’m sure your friends have their reasons for targeting Osaka. I don’t blame them as there are some clans within our region that hold grudges. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were connected with this somehow. For you strays to even make your base of operations this abandoned factory…” 

 

Their conversation came to a close upon Emias touching down above the pair. Her graceful form laying onto Nibla. Their foreheads touched as the wings flapped backwards and erupted. The sphere itself expanded outwards, exploding and pulling in all of the liquid in the process. A thick fog filled the entire space, forcing Jeel to shut his eyes and dive onto the devastated area that now was burned to a cinder. 

 

Among the rubble, he dug about until he found an emerald gem pulsing with another heart gem not so far. That other one a lime yellow. “Perfect, two for ONE! AHHHWOOOOOU!” 

 

“What a week!” Jeel celebrated, throwing the two gems slightly over his head. His tail spun upwards, wrapping around the two heart gems that’d been thrown above him. 

 

Moments later he felt tingling all through his body, leading him to squirm and dance in place, gripping his inner thighs with his hands criss-crossed. He jumped a foot from the floor, landing on one foot as he turned away. 

 

“Osaka’s filled with so many goodies! Wait until I FIND YOU, ARIMMA!” 

 The debris of the wall finally shattered as Yoshigawa rushed through and spotted Jeel. 

 

 Jeel felt his body freeze “Yoshigawa!” A feminine voice screamed in Jeel’s head causing him to flinch. 

 

 “Yoshigawa?! Who's that? Oh! The brat from earlier, so you’re something to that broad ah-” Jeel snickered. 

 

 The rumble exploded as Yoshigawa flew onto a boulder, clearing mist. He glared up. “NAOMI!” 

 

 “Ah, the lover boy again! Are you upset I took your girlfriend’s heart?!”

“You sick BASTARD!” 

 

 “Ah, medicine to love- come and join her, give me your heart gem!” Jeel flew down, slinging his tail at Yoshigawa, who clashed with his claws. More of the Ikigai broke through, forcing Jeel to fly back up to the platform he’d been on. Yoshigawa tried going after him, only to find Jeel struck the ceiling again, causing it to crash down towards Yoshigawa and the other’s again. 

  

 

 “That girl of yours won’t stop crying your name, kyakekekehe!” 

 

“Be a good girl and disappear after giving me all your energy!” Jeel shouted in his head, seeing Naomi attempting to force him back so she could take over, as he disappeared through the crumbling tunnel in the factory.